In the Cold

In the Cold






This is a story I made up for Evi-Storm’s couples writing contest. Mirru is my OC, and yes I included her in the story. So if you don’t like that, than take your hate somewhere else. Don’t hate-spam on here. I get enough of that about Mirru already.

Lloyd looked up at the monitor.

“What do the red dots mean again?” He asked, directing the question at Nya.

“That’s where there has been suspicious activity and sightings.” She replied, looking at the monitor as well.

“What is it?” Kai asked aloud to himself.

“We don’t know. But witnesses say they saw flashes of green, red, and maybe a few other colors.” Nya said, reading off the monitor. “And they seem to be all over the birch wood forest.”

“You mean near my old home?” Zane asked. Nya nodded. “Thankfully we cleared the lab out. Because if they were able to start some of my fathers creations it would be catastrophic.” Jay nodded and looked at the monitor. Mirru walked up next to him and scrunched up her eyes.

“They seem to clump in that one area.” She murmured to herself. “Maybe they have a small place they can stay and whether out the snow in near there.” She continued as Sensei Wu walked over to them.

“I highly suggest you check it out now.” He said, taking a sip of tea from the cup he was holding. “We can’t afford to let anything evil get a foothold in Ninjago. If it is not evil than make sure it can get proper shelter until winter is over.” He continued. Cole nodded.

“I’m coming to. You guys have been leaving me out of these missions way to much.” Nya put in. Jay and Kai began to protest but Nya cut them short. “And I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Right. Lets go you guys. Hopefully we won’t be out for too long. It’s still snowing pretty hard.” Cole said, heading for the front door. The other followed him out the door.

“Be safe!” They heard from behind them. It sounded like Dr. Julian.

“We will be Father. Don’t worry.” Zane reassured him. Lloyd followed Cole wearing a green hat with a gold stripes and a gold pom-pom. He looked mortally embarrassed.

“My mom made me wear it.” He groaned. Mirru grinned and pushed her black bangs out of her eyes.

“You can take it off when we loose sight of the house.” She whispered to him. Lloyd grinned back and pulled the wool hat down over his ears.

“Right.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane stooped down to examine the footprints in the snow. The falling snow had already covered the other tracks decently, Jay had been lucky to spot these under a well covered pine tree. And even than not that many tracks were left undamaged.

“I sense that we have seen the ones who left these tracks before. But I cannot recall who left them.” He said, standing up and brushing the snow off his knees. Cole sighed and a puff of steam appeared.

“Great. A surprise.” He grumbled. “Usually surprises are nice, but this means we won’t be prepared for whatever we’re hunting.”

“But we will also be prepared for anything.” Mirru put in and Cole shrugged.

“Whatever, it, or they, are, it’s still on the move. And we’re wasting time.” Kai said, walking out from under the tree back into the falling snow. Lloyd, and than the others followed Kai, running along the snow covered path. The snow had stopped falling and Zane had expressed the hope of than finding more tracks. After a little while Kai stopped short, skidding in the snow.

“What is it Kai?” Nay asked, moving to stand next to her brother.

“The footprints. I think they’re the same ones.” Kai replied. “And there are a lot of them.” He continued, surveying the area. Zane stepped forward to see the tracks.

“They are the same ones. And they are in a hurry.” He observed. “Do you think they know that we are following them?”

“Lets keep going. They may not know yet.” Cole said, continuing down the path. The others followed after him. After a little while Cole cried out and the others stopped.

“The tracks are gone!” The others huddled around to see.

“What? They just disappeared!? How?” Jay exclaimed, looking around to see if he could find more tracks.

“I don’t know.” Mirru said. “Zane, do you have any idea?”

“None. But I doubt that the things we’re chasing just vanished into thin air.”

“I’ll go check around.” Lloyd said walking over to the side of the clearing. Zane touched one of the last tracks gently with his fingers.

“Something wrong Zane?” Kai asked.

“The tracks are so familiar. I just... Just can’t place an identification on them...” He murmured, making a fist.

“It’s okay Zane. We don’t expect you to.” Mirru said, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small smile. Zane smiled back and than went back to looking at the prints.

“I might remember them.” He said softly, developing an look of intense concentration. “I think that they’re-”

Lloyd cried out and fell to the ground with a thud, the stone that had been thrown at his head rolled a few inches and then came to a rest near him.

“Lloyd!” The others yelled in unison, starting to run over to him, but small packets of something were hurled at them from the bushes and burst open at their feet releasing a thick dark green gas. The ninja and Nya stumbled towards Lloyd, and than collapsed.

“Sleeping... gas.” Zane muttered as he felt an intense drowsiness. He thought he caught a glimpse of orange and blue as the darkness descended upon him and his breathing deepened into a snore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane felt himself drifting in and out of consciousness. He was in a wooden crate with someone else. He couldn’t tell who. He felt his eyelids growing heavy and he gave into sleep again.

Zane blinked his eyes, not feeling the heavy curtain of drowsiness that had enveloped him the first time he had awoken. He was still in the crate, but it was darker. So much darker. That meant he was either in a dark environment or night had fallen. Or both. He blinked as he heard coughing from next to him.

“Who is that?” He asked into the darkness.

“Zane? It’s me. Mirru.” The darkness replied.

“Oh okay. Hey Mirru.”

“Hey Zane.”

“Do you think we can get out of this crate?”

“It should be easy. Just wood. The trouble will be determining which side is the bottom so we aren’t just trying to break the bottom of the box.” Mirru noted.

“Very true,” Zane replied. He heard some knocking sounds and stiffened. “What’s that?”

“Just me. I’m trying to figure out which side is the bottom. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He heard some more knocking, and than Mirru spoke again.

“I think I know which side is the one of the sides of the box. Just give me a minute.” Mirru said. Zane nodded, though he doubted she had noticed. He heard a louder banging against the wooden crate, and than a cracking sound as the side of the box splintered and burst outwards against Mirru’s attempt to break it.

“Got it.” Zane said, scooting outwards, and unfolding himself as he was freed of the box.

“Yep.” Mirru said, and he heard a scratching sound that he assumed was Mirru getting out of the box as well. Mirru stood up and stretched, the cramp in her legs and her neck made her feel like she’d been in there a while. “Zane, how long were we in there for?”

“3 hours 47 minutes and approximately 19 seconds.” Zane repeated instantly. Mirru nodded and grinned a little.

“Right, Sensei is probably looking for us.” She said, and than a thought struck her. “Zane, where are the others?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cole banged against the wooden box, which gave way easily.

“I’ve got my side Kai.” A crack followed which assured Cole that Kai got the top of the box. He rolled out of the box and laid on his stomach against the stone floor.

“How’s Lloyd?” Kai asked. Cole placed a hand against Lloyd’s forehead.

“He’s still asleep, and he’s got a pretty decent size bump on his head. He probably won’t wake up anytime soon.” He said, shaking his head. Kai grimaced and began to pace.

“Well, where are we anyway?” He asked. “And where are the others?”

“Let’s focus on our surroundings. But the swords should give us enough light to see by.” Cole said, going for his hip where the hilt of his sword was. His hand went through the air and he stumbled a bit. He patted his hip and than circled the area he was standing.

“Oh no. Oh no no no no no.” He heard Kai saying. “Cole, my elemental sword is gone!”

“Mine too!” Cole exclaimed, quickly going over to the crate next to Lloyd’s prone body, quickly looking for his sword’s familiar glow.

“This is bad Cole this is bad! Now how are we supposed to get out?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jay stood up as he crawled out of the box, he helped Nya up and kept a hold of her hand as he took a quick walk around in a circle.

“Zane? Mirru? Lloyd?” He called out into the darkness. A slight echo followed his call.

“I think it’s just us Jay.” Nya said, stepping closer to him.

“Where are we?” Jay asked aloud.

“Judging from the echo I would say a cave.” Nya said. Jay nodded and looked around. He stopped as he spotted a small shaft of sunlight.

“Nya look!” He exclaimed, running over and pulling Nya along behind him. He let go of her hand and climbed up the rocks covering what he thought was the entrance of the cave. He climbed up as far as he could go, some dust falling down on him, but the little shaft of sunlight was still several yards above him.

“You’ll never reach it Jay!” Nya called up to him.

“Maybe not, but I can make it bigger!” Jay called down, going for his sword. He patted the area and couldn’t find it. He coughed. “Uh, Nya... You wouldn’t happen to see a faintly glowing hilt of a sword down there would you?”

“No. Why?” Nya asked? Than she sighed. “Did you loose your sword Jay?”

“No! Jay answered shakily. “I’ve just... Misplaced is all...” Nya sighed.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure someway out.” She called up to him. Jay jumped down and than walked over to Nya.

“Yeah, I guess.” He said, putting an arm around her shoulder. “I wonder how the others are doing right now.” He murmured to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mirru paced, mumbling things under her breath. Zane sat on the floor nearby, watching her. He found himself staring at her in the way that Jay stared at Nya. He quickly shook his head and went back to turning their situation over in his mind.

“Okay. We don’t have our elemental swords so we can’t blast the rock and get out. But we do have a nindroid so we can at least see.” She said, gesturing at Zane, who’s head was glowing. “We don’t know where the others are or how they’re doing. And we don’t even know if Sensei knows where we are or the predicament we’re in. Not to mention, it’s freezing!” She ended, rubbing her arms and her breath visible in the dim glow of Zane’s head.

“Nothing I can do about that.” Zane said, attempting to make a joke.

“I know. Not your fault.” Mirru replied, grinning and rubbing her arms. Zane sighed and didn’t try to explain it was a joke. Mirru looked at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” Mirru looked at him a little longer, than shrugged, her breath coming out in clumps of steam. She sat down cross-legged near him and rubbed her arms. Zane pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned back on his hands and against the cave wall. Ever so often he shot a glance back at Mirru.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jay put his arms around Nya who was shivering fiercely. He felt the goosebumps on her arms and silently cursed himself for not having the ability to see into the future. Than maybe he could’ve brought a sweatshirt for her.

“Thanks Jay.” Nya whispered, pressing into him. Jay smiled.

“It’s okay. Sorry I don’t have a sweatshirt.” He replied.

“It’s not your fault.” She murmured.

“I wonder how Lloyd is doing right now. I mean, he did get what looked like a pretty nasty bump on the head.” Jay said. “And how the others are doing. I didn’t really get to see what happened to them, I mean, we were kinda asleep at the time.” Nya grinned in spite of the predicament that they were in.

“Yeah. I wonder where they are.”

“Well wherever they are whoever is with Zane will be lucky. He could just have his head glow and he would be fine.” Jay said. Nya laughed a little.

“Really? His head glows?” Jay nodded and grinned.

“Yep. Like a lightbulb!” He said, shouted actually. Nya giggled and leaned against Jay and Jay held her tighter.

“I wonder what gassed us. I mean, Zane was about to say.” Nya mumbled. Jay shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess.” He replied, trying not to seem too curious. But on the inside he was aching to know. “We’ll know when we see him again.” He finished.

“Yeah.” Nya replied.
“I wonder if Zane got put in a crate with just Mirru.” Jay said, smiling a little. Zane had only trusted him to tell his secret to. Nya looked at him quizzically.

“Why?”

“No reason.” He replied, grinning. He was the only one who knew that Zane had a crush on Mirru. He wondered if the others had noticed that fact. He shrugged it off. Zane had been trying to get up the nerve to tell Mirru for a while now, but every time he got up enough courage to talk to Mirru about that someone else always walked into the room. And Zane would end up back at square one again.

“Okay.” Nya said, but Jay could tell she was curious.

“I’ll tell you why later. Or maybe Zane will. Or maybe- Never mind.” Nya sighed and rolled her eyes. She loved Jay, honestly. But sometimes he could be a bit annoying. But she knew of his inability to keep a secret and knew it was only a matter of time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It was the Serpentine.” Zane said with conviction. Mirru furrowed her brow.

“Are you sure? Because they all seemed to disappear together.” Mirru replied.

“I think these ones decided to stick around. Maybe hiding in the abandoned tombs.” Zane said. “And do you remember what Nya said this morning? Red and green. Those are the colors of two of the Serpentine tribes. And before I fell asleep I caught two colors. Blue and orange. The colors of the other two tribes.” He continued. Mirru nodded.

“You’re probably right. But why did they wait to resurface?” Zane shrugged.

“That’s a questions for a philosophizer. Not a Nindroid.” He replied and Mirru grinned a little. Zane noticed just how badly Mirru was shivering. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I just don’t do the cold well, unless it’s windy.” She replied, steam coming out of her mouth. She rubbed her arms, even though she was wearing her sweatshirt she was colder than she had ever remembered.

“I bet you’re wishing you had Lloyd’s hat.” Zane said and Mirru grinned ruefully.

“Yep.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai paced and rubbed his arms, shivering. He was never good with the cold. Ever. He blamed the fact that he was the fire element.

“How’s Lloyd?” He asked Cole.

“Still asleep. I think we’re stuck in here until either he decides to wake up or Sensei comes.” Cole replied and Kai sighed.

“Than he better decide to wake up soon.” He mumbled, pacing. Cole shrugged and rubbed his arms.

“Yep,” was all he said.
“How do you think the others are doing?” Kai asked. Cole shrugged.

“I don’t know. I wonder if they’re all together or if they’re split up some more.” Cole said, frowning in concentration. Kai shrugged.

“I don’t know. I just hope Nya is with Jay.” Cole grinned broadly.

“So you do admit you’re alright with Jay being with Nya!” He exclaimed. Kai’s face flushed as he realized he just gave away the thing that his stubbornness had made him hide.

“Maybe I am alright with it! But I swear if you tell you anyone I’ll throw you off the nearest cliff!” He snapped. Cole grinned.

“I won’t tell anyone. Maybe.” Cole replied and Kai just huffed with annoyance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sensei paced up and down the hall. The others watched him from the doorway, not wanting to say anything to him.

“Wu, they probably-” Garmadon began, but was cut off by Sensei’s explosive reply that they had been trying to avoid.

“They’ve never taken that long unless they either stopped to get pizza again or they got into trouble, and they haven’t gotten pizza since the last time I had chew them out for it!” He snapped back. Garmadon was about to deliver a scathing reply when Misako placed a gentle hand on his arm.

“He’s just worried about them, that’s why he seems so angry.” She said quietly to her husband. Garmadon sighed and looked at his brother again.

“Wu, we’re all worried about them. But you have to remember they are more than capable of handling themselves in these sort of situations... Whatever the situation here be, either trouble or pizza. But you can’t loose your head brother.” Garmadon said, making a light joke to try and ease the thick tension that was in the hallway. Sensei Wu sighed and seemed downcast.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Garmadon walked over to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s all right.” Dr. Julian coughed and everyone turned to look at him. He had been silent through most of the event.

“I placed a tracker inside of Zane in case something happened to his memory or such. And I could get The Falcon to locate him for you. That way we’d at least know where one of them was.” Sensei practically pushed Garmadon over running to Dr. Julian.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” He demanded, seemingly forgetting the so recent conversation.

“I didn’t realize that was why you were worried. I thought it was because you were running low on your favorite tea.” Julian explained, staying calm.

“Well could you get The Falcon to locate Zane?” Sensei asked.

“Of course!” Dr. Julian replied, walking away and to the room with the monitor and computers. The Falcon was perched on the windowsill, watching the others walk into the room. Dr. Julian typed in a command on his smaller laptop computer. The Falcon’s eyes turned a bright blue and it flew out of the window, screeching.

“Now what?” Misako asked, watching The Falcon fly off.

“Now, we wait.” Dr. Julian replied. Garmadon groaned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mirru took a deep shuddering breath. She had lost feeling in her hands and feet a little while ago. She rubbed her arms and tried to curl up into a ball without falling over onto her side. Her breath came out in great billows of steam and she shivered uncontrollably. She wished she was wearing anything but jeans. They didn’t insulate warmth very well. Well, maybe not shorts. It would be disastrous if she was wearing shorts.

Zane looked at Mirru out of the corner of his eyes. She was shivering, but kept on insisting she was fine whenever he asked her if she was alright. He decided to try again.

“Mirru. Are you sure you’re fine?” He pressed. She nodded.

“Positive.” She replied, not giving in. Stupid pride, she thought to herself. Zane looked sideways at her. Even in the dim light his head gave off she looked pretty pale.

“I don’t think you’re fine Mirru.” He continued.

“You’re opinion has been noted.” Mirru replied, rubbing her arms. Zane shook his head. Mirru didn’t look at him, she was afraid to find pity in his eyes. She didn’t need anyone pitying her. She sneezed three times in succession.

“Are you positive you’re not cold?” Zane asked again.

“I must’ve gotten a feather in my nose or something like that.” Mirru mumbled. Zane rubbed his hands together and looked away, than back at Mirru who was only sitting about a foot away from him. He didn’t feel the cold that much, but even to him it was a bit chilly. And if he felt the chill than Mirru must be positively freezing. He leaned back against the wall and kept on shooting glances back at Mirru.

He took a deep breath. Zane, the worst thing that can happen is that she yells at you and never speaks to you again. He told himself, trying to convince himself that she was cold and it was time she knew. He would never get a better chance than this. Or maybe it’ll cause someone to find us. He thought, and smiled ruefully. He took another deep breath and let it out, than gulped. Now or never.

He scooted over a little towards Mirru. He scooted over another few inches till he was right next to her. To late now. He gulped. Please, let her not react violently. He thought, and he put his arm around her shoulders and looked away, not wanting to see how she reacted.

Mirru jumped and little and looked at the Zane’s hand on her shoulder. She felt a feeling of immense happiness spread through her. Don’t overreact. This may mean nothing. She shook off the thought that it may not mean anything and just leaned against Zane and closing her eyes. Zane opened his eyes, noticing that nothing had happened other than the fact that Mirru was now leaning against him. He grinned and just leaned back and smiled.

The sudden beeping noise made them both jump.

“Um... Zane. Do you have a self-destruct switch?” Mirru asked nervously, turning to look at him.

“Not that I am aware of.” Zane began hesitantly.

“Well the noise appears to be coming from your body cavity.” Mirru remarked, scooting away unhappily. Zane opened up his chest door and looked down. A small bright blue light was flashing on and off, a chirping noise accompanying the light.

“What is that for?” Mirru asked and Zane just shook his head.

“I have no clue.” Was his reply. Mirru looked at it.

“Do you think it’s a signal of sorts?” She asked him and Zane just shrugged.

“Maybe.” Zane pressed the source of the blinking blue light and it shut off. “Well whatever it was it’s not flashing anymore.” Mirru nodded.

“That’s good. I hope.” She replied.

They both just looked at each other, not knowing exactly what to do next.

“So... I kinda...” Zane began, than trailed off, not knowing what to say next. He continued, somehow finding the courage to continue. “Mirru, I’ve liked you for a while now. Like liked you. Like that way. Not like you just that but like you that way. Like in the way that I li- I’m going to stop talking now.” Zane quickly said when he realized that he was probably just going around in a circle and was probably confusing Mirru. A lot. Mirru grinned and scooted forward so she was sitting in front of Zane.

“I’ve liked you like that too Zane.” She said, just looking at him and feeling a deep immense relief. Zane grinned and felt a massive load being taken off his shoulders. They just sat there looking at each other.

Maybe it was a good thing that they heard a familiar screech. They both ran to the entrance of the tunnel where a small hole had been made. From the hole they spotted The Falcon. Mirru grinned with relief, because she really couldn’t feel her hands.

“Sensei should know we’re here now!” She exclaimed, looking at Zane. He grinned.

“He’s a little late. After all, I’ve already said what I’ve needed to say.” Every time Zane had tried to tell Mirru how he felt about her someone else always interrupted. Mirru looked slightly confused, than shrugged it off.

“Okay.” Mirru simply said. The Falcon screeched and flew off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The monitor showed Mirru and Zane pointing at The Falcon and saying something.

“Julian, do you know the area?” Sensei Wu asked, looking at Dr. Julian.

“Yep! It’s near my old home. Those are the Frost Caves.” He replied. “A large above ground cave system in the small cliff near the birch forest.”

“At least we know where Zane and Mirru are,” Garmadon said. “But where are the others?” He asked, feeling a worm of worry in his stomach for his son.

“Maybe they’re in the same cave. Or in a different cave but nearby.” Sensei reasoned. Garmadon nodded. It made sense.

“We can take the Ultra-Dragon there.” Garmadon said, he turned to Dr. Julian. “I assume you know the way there?”

“Get me to my old lab and I can take you there!” Dr. Julian promised.

“Good, lets go.” Sensei said, walking out the door calmly. The others followed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane and Mirru sat against the cave wall. Soon they heard the wingbeats of a creature with a very large wingspan and they ran over to the entrance of the caves. As they had suspected it was the Ultra-Dragon and on his back were Sensei Wu and the others.

“Sensei!” Mirru yelled and flicked a pebble out of the small hole in the wall. Misako pointed at their cave and they ran over.

“Are you guys all right?” Dr. Julian asked, and Garmadon shoved him to the side.

“Where’s Lloyd? Is he alright?”

“We’re fine, and it’s just me and Zane.” Mirru replied and Zane nodded.

“There’s a box...” Sensei said, and Zane and Mirru craned their necks to see him. He had picked up a small wooden crate. He pried open the top and held it up so the people in the cave could see. “Are these yours?”

“That’s my elemental sword!”

“My chakrams!” Mirru exclaimed happily.

“Take better care of them.” Sensei said.

“We’ll explain how we think they ended up in the box when you get us out and we’re with the others.” Zane said.

“All right. But you guys may want to step back.” Garmadon said.

“Why?” Mirru asked.

“Just step back Mirru.” Zane said, leading Mirru to a niche in the cave about 10 yards away from the cave entrance. He stood in front of her and nodded to the people outside.

There was a loud blast and the light of the afternoon was suddenly cast into the cave and Mirru covered her head because some smaller rocks had fallen from the ceiling.

“Are you okay?” She heard Zane ask. She nodded and they both stepped back. The rocks had been completely blasted away. There was some stray ice formed on the edges of the cave entrance and some electricity sparked from rock to rock. Mirru would later say that the Ultra-Dragon seemed to have a smug look on it’s faces.

“That works.” She commented and than grinned. Sensei walked over to her and Zane and gave them back their respective weapons.

“Now to find the others.” Sensei Wu said and walked back over to the Ultra-Dragon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Kai! Cole! Lloyd!” Sensei yelled. So far they had gotten everyone but those three. The others had split up so they could cover more ground, traveling in pairs. He had noticed that Zane and Mirru were holding hands now, but decided not to comment on it. Yet.

“Guys?” Jay hollered. They had all covered, pretty much the entire area. Dr. Julian said there were still a few more caves.

“Shh!” Nya said suddenly. Jay looked at her with confusion.

“What i-”

“Shh! Everyone be quiet!” She yelled, and everyone stopped talking. Then they heard it too. A faint tapping noise that sounded like stone against stone coming from a nearby cave. Next to it was a mound of leaf litter with some snow on top of it. Sensei ran over and shoved the leaves aside and sure enough, it was a small wooden crate just like the ones they had found outside of the other caves.

“Cole, Kai, Lloyd, if this is one of you guys tap three times in rapid succession.” He yelled at the cave entrance. The others waited, tense. Than the taping sound came again. Three rapid taps against the rock.

“It’s them!” Garmadon exclaimed, the worry seeming to evaporate from him.

“We’ll get them out!” Jay said and motioned for everyone to step away from the cave entrance. “EVERYONE INSIDE THE CAVE STEP AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. They heard a sort of scuffling noise and after a few seconds Jay nodded to Zane. “Ready!” Zane nodded back.

“Ice!” He yelled and shot a beam from his sword and a mass of rocks on the outside of the cave froze solid. Mirru and Jay nodded in unison.

“Now!” Mirru yelled, swirling one of her chakrams around one finger. “Wind!” She yelled as the let the chakram go flying from her finger as it seemed to cut through the air itself.

“Lightning!” Jay yelled at the same time and shot a bolt electricity from his sword. The combined attacks was enough to blast the rocks. Everyone shielded their faces as the bits of the rock flew through the air. When the dust settled they saw Cole and Kai crouched with their backs to the cave entrance, but no sign of Lloyd.
<p/ >
“Kai!” Nya yelled, running towards here brother as him and Cole stood up. She tackled him in a fierce hug.

“Where’s Lloyd?” Misako demanded. They had found everyone, but her son. Garmadon felt the tight feeling in his stomach return. Cole and Kai looked at each other, than Cole stepped to one side and Kai to the other and revealed a semiconscious Lloyd propped up against the wall. He turned and grinned.

“Hey guys.” He said, he started to try and stand up. Cole and Kai reached down to help him up. He took a step forward and stumbled a little.

“I got beaned in the head... Something.” He muttered, frowning.

“A rock.” Zane said, as him, Mirru and Jay walked towards Lloyd.

“Are you okay Lloyd?” Jay asked. Lloyd nodded.

“A little nauseous.” He admitted. Garmadon rushed forward and hugged his son tightly.

“I’m just glad you’re safe Lloyd.” He murmured. Lloyd grinned and embraced his dad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone sat around the large table. The whole story had been told from beginning to end on the way back and while they were getting Lloyd checked out by a doctor, who said it was only a minor concussion and he would be fine. But keep an eye on him just in case of unusual behavior.

“So, you believe that it was the Serpentine?” Sensei Wu asked, directing the question at Zane who had voiced his opinion.

“99.9 percent.” He replied.

“That matter will be taken care of tomorrow. Now you will all rest.” Sensei said. The adventure had taken it’s toll on everyone and they were all exhausted. “We’ll take a look at the Serpentine problem later.” Everyone agreed with Sensei and stumbled off to respective bedrooms. Mirru walked down the hallway and pushed open the door to the bedroom she slept in. Zane walked up to the bedroom next to hers, the room he shared with the other ninja.

“Have a good nap Mirru.” Zane said, smiling. Mirru grinned back.

“You too Zane.” She replied, Zane pushed open the door to the bedroom and walked in, shutting it behind him. “You too.” Mirru whispered before walking into the bedroom and shutting the door behind her.