As the others assisted in barricading the door, Jay peered out the kitchen window. It looked out the east side of the building, which showed the borders of the desert and the edge of the city. Sure enough, several nekomata were prowling around, looking up and down the walls. He was about to back away from the window when something caught his eye—a dark line from the desert. “Guys… you might wanna look at this.” The kitchen suddenly got crowded. Rachel demanded from her couch, “What is it? What’s going on?” A mass of moving figures had appeared on the horizon of the Sea of Sand. Hundreds—and their numbers were growing. “I didn’t think there were that many cats in the Moon Tribe…!” Nya gasped. Spark Pelt’s gaze darkened. He looked at Jay. “Do you think—?” Jay nodded. “It’s happening,” he rasped. “They’re coming.”
* * *
“They’re coming,” Cole muttered. The dark line of hulking shapes grew thicker as they assembled on the hill several hundred yards away. Cole could just barely make out the shapes of nekomata standing along humanoid figures. There were other shapes, though—almost as big as the nekomata were, but not exactly feline… “Pixal, analysis,” Zane muttered beside him. Cole’s gaze flickered back to his companions. Lloyd and Zane stood to his left along with Master Wu and Misako, each bearing a bo staff. Many policemen had joined them, along with the few random civilian volunteers here and there. To his right Liana stood and to her right more policemen and volunteers gathered, including the Commissioner. Several police vehicles were gathered neatly behind their army. Altogether everyone stood on a grassy hill outside Ninjago City, facing the Desert of Sand and their amassing enemy. “It’s getting cold,” Liana murmured faintly. Her hand was toying nervously with her necklace. Cole took her hand and squeezed it. Above their heads dark clouds gathered more and more thickly, like some sort of dismal oil painting. In the distance the first sound of thunder rumbled—quiet yet deadly. “The Moon Tribe is not alone,” Zane announced, breaking the grim hush. “They appear to have allies with them.”
“More cats?” Lloyd asked. “Wolves.” Zane’s gaze bored into the distance. “They have wolves with them.” “Wolves?” Cole glared at the enemy army. “Since when has Black Blood ever gotten other animals to do her dirty work?” “In times of old the nekomata clan would ally itself with wolf packs,” a familiar voice sounded behind the crowd. “They would use their allies to help hunt for food and invading human populations. The fashion died out when the bakeneko species immersed with the nekomata and they became one tribe.” Eagle Talon stepped into view, followed by the rest of the werecats all in their human bodies. “I didn’t think she’d be so desperate to ally herself with wolf packs, though.” “Good. If she’s desperate, that means she knows she’s in danger,” Lloyd said. Talon’s eyes were dark. “And it’ll make her even more dangerous.” Wu nodded sagely. “Never underestimate your enemy, especially when they feel desperate.” One of the girl werecats, Wolf Paw, piped up with a fierce grin. “That’s all right. We can take all of them.” Mist Rise’s gaze was grim as he looked across the desert. “Don’t forget, these are our friends and family we’re fighting.” The Moon Tribe members shared looks—some sadly, some grimly. “I wish we didn’t have to,” one of the girls, Violet Swift, whispered. “No destroying. Not today. We fight with justice but also with mercy,” Lloyd said to them. “I promise we’ll do our best to not seriously hurt any of your friends.” “If you keep that promise, we’ll lose,” Loud Bird said dryly. “We’ll try, anyway.” Eagle Talon left the group of werecats to stand at Cole’s left. Cole felt a rueful grin play at his face. “How ‘bout this, huh? Just a few weeks ago you were prepared to do anything it took to destroy all of us Sons and Daughters. Now you’re about to fight against your own tribe in defense of us.” “Not just for you,” Talon replied. “We’re also fighting for our own tribe—to keep Black Blood from destroying everything good about our culture.” He looked at Cole and flashed a small smile. “And I’m fighting for my family.”
Cole grabbed his half-brother’s hand. “What do you think will happen after all this is over?” “Depends on who wins. But—” Talon hesitated. “I— I think I’d like to get to know my human family better. I’d like to stay with you and our dad for a while. Would that— would that be all right?” “Only if you don’t mind me tagging along,” Liana piped up brightly. “Can’t say I do.” Talon grinned at her. “Not that I’d be able to stop you, anyway.” Cole looked at the two of them fondly before his gaze roved over the many faces in the crowd. Master Wu and Misako stood side by side. The Commissioner was still giving orders to some of his officers. Zane spoke quietly to himself—or to Pixal—while Lloyd flashed a reassuring smile at Little Leaf. The werecat allies—Lightning Streak, Violet Swift, Mist Rise, Loud Bird, Quick Fin—stood in a line behind the ninja. Faces were missing. Earth Flame had gone to help some policemen and Nya defend Jay and Spark Pelt’s patrol from Raven Frost. Kai, on the other hand, had either passed or was lost in a distant realm. They had to fight to keep anyone else from suffering the same fate ever again. A chorus of howls rose from the enemy line. The wolves’ voices were accompanied by another threatening rumble of thunder. Then a lone figure stepped out from the line until she stood out against the pale sand. Although hundreds of yards of flat sand and grass were in between them, her voice suddenly sounded as if she were right beside Cole and hissing directly into his ear. By the cringes of everyone else in the crowd, he guessed they were receiving the same treatment. Another magic trick. “The Sons and Daughters of the Elements, a ragtag group of humans who think they can defend their city, and a few foolish rebels. You are all pathetic.” A low chuckle followed. Cole wished there was a volume button. “What do you think you are trying to prove? The greatest sorcerers of Ninjago are your enemies and we destroyed your only crutch, Matilda Ravencroft. It is plain to see this conflict will be short. You may still keep your lives if you surrender now, and we will not wipe out your people.”
Anger flared at the mention of Matilda. Cole hoped she could hear him. “I see you got some new pets, sis. Too scared to do your own dirty work? I’m surprised you even came without your magical nine lives. Or did you forget that you need seven moonstones, not six to become invincible?” Silence. Liana’s hand tightened around his. Then Black Blood’s voice chuckled into his ear again. “I do not need nine lives to hunt a few whimpering mice. Now I ask again: do you surrender, or condemn these foolish humans to their deaths?” Before Cole could respond, Liana snarled, “Go stick it in your ear! You’re a liar and a coward and we won’t give anything to you! Just try and take Ninjago City and see how well that goes for you!” Lloyd looked mildly irritated, as if he’d wanted to be the one to respond first. “We won’t surrender, Black Blood.” “So be it.” Her voice left their minds. Like another rumble of thunder, wolf howls and cats’ caterwauls made up a battle cry. The first figures came bounding down the slope to the city. “So it begins,” Master Wu murmured. Lloyd unsheathed his sword. “Ninjaaaaa…!” “Go!” Zane, Lloyd, Little Leaf, Wu, Misako, Cole and Liana spun themselves Spinjitzu vortexes and tore down the hillside. In his cocoon of shimmering brown and orange energy, Cole could hear everyone else’s voices rise to a defiant roar. Hundreds of feet rumbled behind them as the humans launched themselves to their targets. As the landscape flew by, Cole glanced to his right to see Liana’s violet-colored vortex shooting beside him. A look to his left revealed Eagle Talon in his nekomata body, the great big black-striped tabby bounding alongside his brother. Then he looked ahead to see the wave of giant cats and snarling wolves bounding straight toward them. He did not stop. He kept going. The first snarling wolf lunged itself into Cole’s Spinjitzu vortex.
The door would have burst open if it weren’t for the furniture shoved haphazardly against it. It helped that the policemen, Spark Pelt, Jay, Nya, and even the wounded policewoman were all pressing their weight against it. The entire wall shuddered at every shove from the force behind the door. The Moon Tribe warriors had finally gotten upstairs and were now using all their strength to break down the only barrier that kept Jay and his companions alive. “What are you, a bunch of whimpering rabbits?” Raven Frost’s voice sounded hoarse, as if he’d done a little too much screaming. “Break down that door!” “Why don’t you use your magic?” a male voice retorted. “Shut up! I’ll use it when I’m ready!” Jay grinned to himself. Apparently he had sapped enough energy from Raven Frost to take away his abilities—for the moment, at least. Another boom and groan from the building reminded him that it would not last long. “What’re you smiling about?!” Nya snapped. She stood beside him, leaning her weight against an old armchair. “Just because Raven Frost can’t use his powers right now doesn’t mean the others can’t break through! Focus!” “I am, I am!” he retorted. She looked away. “I hope Earth Flame gets here soon.” “What, already losing interest in Cole?” Too late, Jay realized the joke was both stupid and mean. He felt surprised that such a thought would even occur to him. She whirled on him like an enraged tigress. “Are you serious? What is wrong with you? I’m sorry for what I did, but do you have to keep this up?!” “You two, please—” Spark Pelt tried. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it—” Jay started. Nya’s face was flushed red. He couldn’t remember the last time she’d looked so angry. “No, you did mean it. That’s the problem. You’ve been so out of character and it’s driving me crazy. I’m sorry for everything I did that hurt you—but that doesn’t mean you get to treat me like this now!” “Nya—”
-last edited on Jan 20, 2022 20:26:17 GMT by LordTigress
Post by LordTigress on Jan 20, 2022 17:38:09 GMT
A loud feline snarling sound was followed by another boom. The entire wall trembled and this time splinters went flying. Jay whirled around to see the edge of the battered and charred door was broken—and Raven Frost’s face was glaring at him from the largest crack. “Look out!” Jay leapt in front of Nya. He thrust one arm out to shoot a lightning bolt but instead felt a slicing sensation rip and sink into his open hand. Splinters stabbed his face when he stumbled and fell prostrate on the floor. The gushing sound of water rose over his head, followed by a feline screech and angry sputtering. He rose his head enough to see Nya shooting water through the gap, where Raven Frost had disappeared. Jay’s vision swam. “My hand…” He gritted his teeth at the burning pain. The building shuddered again. A faint ringing sound in his ears came with the throbbing. It drowned out the noise of battle. The world seemed to fade away around him—all he could focus on was the ringing and his hand. Then a whisper broke the high-pitched sound. It was soft but was the only thing he could hear. It was Kohuru’s voice. I just came to tell you that only one of those things from your nightmares will happen. Spark Pelt cried out. Nya was yelling something but all their voices were muffled, as if someone had stuffed a pillow around Jay’s head. In one of them, first you were running down a dark hall, then you had a blade run through your hand. Vision swimming, he lowered his head and looked at his hand. A glassy, transparent knife was there. He thought he would be sick. So what? he demanded the memory. Don’t let the sorcerers make you believe your worst fears will come true… If you believe it’s your worst fear that will happen, it will happen because of your own fear and choices, not because the sorcerers said it would happen. Mind racing, he stared at the wound. Once again his memory acted randomly, now pulling up a message—a message from what…?
A dream you have will come true. The fortune cookie, yes… He’d forgotten about opening that cookie in Skylor’s restaurant. It felt like it’d happened three years ago and yet now the message blared like an airhorn into his brain… “Holy baloney,” he realized out loud. “This is it? This is the dream that was supposed to come true? Not Cole and Nya…?” His mind whirled, making him feel sick and dizzy—or perhaps that was because of the clearstone knife sticking out of his hand. “Jay! Get out of there!” He felt someone grabbing and dragging him away from the furniture barricade. His vision cleared. Water on the floor soaked his pants. The police officers had backed away from the barricade, tasers in hand and eyes on the splintered entryway. When he looked up he saw that Spark Pelt in his human body had grabbed him by the armpits and dragged him to the kitchen. Nya stood over him scolding, hair frazzled. “Oh my gosh, your hand!” she shrieked. The way she said it made it sound as if it were his own fault for receiving the wound. “Are you all right?” Spark Pelt demanded. A large bump swelled on his forehead. “Except for my hand, yeah,” Jay rasped. “You idiot!” Nya ranted. “I could’ve taken him! What were you thinking?! Why’d you have to throw yourself at Raven Frost, huh? You’re lucky it wasn’t some horrible curse instead of that knife! Next time you won’t be so—!” He could barely hear her. His mind was still jumping up and down at the one thought, the realization that everything he’d been so scared of wasn’t true, that it would never come true… Euphoria numbed the pain. “Why are you grinning like that? Stop it! Do you know how badly you scared us just now? I thought you got stabbed in the chest! This isn’t funny! Raven Frost’s about to burst in here and you’re just—!” Sitting up, Jay snatched Nya by the shoulder and pulled her down to his eye level. “I’m sorry,” he gasped. “I’m so sorry, Nya. Everything I said was wrong—the Dark Sleep started it but I’m gonna finish it. You’re so wonderful.” She stared at him, dumbfounded. “What in the heck are you—?” “I love you.” With that he kissed her flat on the mouth.
Spark Pelt looked extremely confused and uncomfortable during the exchange. “Ummm…you two good?” Nya replied slowly, drawing away from Jay’s face. Her face was flushed pink with shock and wonder. “Yeah… yeah, we’re good.” Spark Pelt stared at them. “Humans are weird.” “Uhh, hey, guys?” Jeffrey called from the living room area. He and the other police officers were gawking at the ninja. “Not to break up the party, but in case you’ve forgotten, we’ve kind of got a situation here—” Blue fire spat from the already-broken door and filled the room with blazing heat and smoke. Jay yelped and covered his face with the wounded hand while using the other to pull Nya into an embrace. Spark Pelt dove behind the kitchen counter. Jay could hear the others yelling. He hoped they were cries of shock and not of pain. The light died away as suddenly as it came, although several tongues of the flames danced around the room. Smoke hung from the ceiling in a thick cloud. The walls around the shattered doorway were scorched black and broken furniture was strewn this way and that. Jay found a half of an armchair resting at his feet. Big hulking shapes darted inside. Raven Frost strode in after, smirking. “Mice can’t hide in their hole forever. Sooner or later the cat catches them.” The nekomata quickly cornered the policemen in the living room while the others found the ninja and Spark Pelt in the kitchen. Raven Frost pursed his thin lips when he saw the tuxedo cat. “Spark Pelt… you were such a promising young cat. Why’d you have to fall for the humans’ propaganda?” “Because the ninja care more about the world than you do,” Spark Pelt retorted quietly. “So easily deceived. Such a pity.” His yellow eyes scanned the humans. “Your two-legged friends’ pain shall be long and awful. But since you were so helpful in the building of our war vehicles before your betrayal, I will ensure your execution will be quick and—” It happened all in one second. A large feline shape raced from the corridor, into the smoking apartment and leapt onto Raven Frost’s back. Claws flashed through the hazy smoke while the sorcerer staggered and cried out.
A couple nekomata warriors snarled and attacked the intruder. Fur, claws and teeth whirled within the spots of blue fire before the Moon Tribe warriors had the attacker pinned to the floor. Raven Frost limped to his feet. When he turned around Jay caught sight of several large scratches having ripped apart the back of his robes. “Earth Flame!” Spark Pelt cried out. Though the weight of several cats was pressing him painfully down on the floor, the blue-gray tom flashed a wry grin. “Wow, I leave for a few minutes and come back to this—?” “Quiet, you!” one of the toms hissed. Raven Frost had already been in a lot of pain from Jay’s lightning earlier. Now the grimace twisting his face could not be hidden. “You— ugh… ancestors, help me— you take the prisoners to the camp. No— first, we’ll kill those three. But the traitors and the Son of Lightning and Daughter—” Jay leapt to his feet and shot a lightning bolt at the sorcerer. Blinding light filled the room while Raven Frost screeched. His voice faded away and when Jay let the lightning bolt die off, he was gone. A dark shape could be seen fleeing down the stairs. Before any of the abandoned Moon Tribe warriors could so much as blink, Nya yanked two swords out and lunged herself at the two cats holding down Earth Flame. Jeffery and his companions tased three cats. Despite his impaled hand, Jay staggered to his feet and shot thin fingers of lightning at the others. They stiffened and shuddered from the shock and their fur stood up until they looked like giant walking puffballs. He then helped Spark Pelt fight off a cat that had attacked him from behind. Once Nya had sent her opponents retreating, Earth Flame leapt to his paws with a guttural snarl. A female who had narrowly avoided being tased turned on him and slashed at his face. Bleeding, Earth Flame ducked, lunged low and shoved her over. She writhed beneath his paws furiously before he released her and she fled.
Jay shot lightning vigorously from his fingertips, almost as enthusiastically as a madman. Although his hand hurt like crazy, he could barely remember feeling this happy before. Everything he’d feared had been a ruse—a lie that would never come true. Fear had warped his mind, but now he knew that Nya still loved him, that Cole was still Cole, and that now he had nothing to fear. Nothing to fear except fear itself, and he’d already defeated it.
* * *
Eagle Talon had fought wolves before, but never so many all at once. They ran ahead of their feline allies, barking, snarling and attacking their human prey in flashes of gray, black, brown, red, and white fur. He felt glad to see that the others’ Spinjitzu was effective in sending many of the massive wolves flying. Talon, however, did not have that privilege and found himself trying not to back down from the attacks of two wolves who were, at the moment, trying to separate his limbs from the rest of his body. “Traitor cat!” one of his assailants—a white-furred brute—snarled at him. Drool splattered Talons’ ear. “Traitor cat! Traitor cat die!” “Dumb dog. Dumb dog stinks,” Talon retorted, slashing at the wolf’s face. He missed and the wolf snapped at his paw. He scrabbled backwards to avoid both the white wolf’s teeth and another wolf snapping at him from his left. He attempted to move forward, but they kept coming—snapping, growling, drool flying around their snouts. He couldn’t stop the fur bristling around his shoulders and his arching back. They just continued on, eyes gleaming on him like he was going to be their next meal. There wasn’t any space for him to attack. If he stopped they would be upon him, he had to keep moving— A big tabby cat lunged for one of the wolves and swept its legs out from under itself. Eagle Talon saw the opportunity and seized it. While the white wolf was startled, he leapt at it and latched his jaws around its throat. Immediately the white wolf writhed. Despite the thick fur in his mouth and hot breath bearing down on him, Talon not only clung to his opponent, but remained on his paws and shook his head to and fro.
Pained yelps replaced the angry snarls. When it stopped trying to snap at Talon, he released his hold. White fur now stained red above its chest, the wolf whined and hastily hobbled away. He looked back to the second wolf and recognized Mist Rise fighting it. He’d had the upper hand until the wolf bit his shoulder. When the large tom hissed and jumped back, the wolf rolled to its paws and lunged for him. It knocked him off his paws, but instead of landing on his back or side, Mist Rise continued rolling with his opponent until he was on top. Fur vanished into flesh; Mist Rise shifted into his human form and yanked his sword out. The wolf beneath him yelped and writhed. Mist Rise hopped back, allowing the wolf to scramble to its paws and flee. “Thanks,” Talon meowed. “That’s two you owe me.” The faint smile on Mist Rise’s human face vanished. “Behind you.” Eagle Talon whirled around and slashed his claws on the scrawny wolf that had run up behind him. It tried to bite him but he only scratched its muzzle again. This time it gave up and fled. He cast his gaze up the shallow hill. Dozens of wolves were still pouring down upon them. He could see the colorful Spinjitzu vortexes taking the lead, slinging wolves left and right. “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.” “None of that, now.” Mist Rise cast him a wry look. “Let’s have some positive thinking, eh?” Eagle Talon’s whiskers twitched. He risked a look around the battlefield. While the ninja staved off the attacks in the front, the werecat allies were taking care of the wolves slipping past and attempting to get to the line of policemen. Loud Bird and his sister Quick Fin were working together to isolate their opponents from the pack, slashing at them with their claws and darting out of reach of the enormous teeth. Wolf Paw was attempting to bite off the ear of a wolf who’d gotten atop Violet Swift. The nimble black-pelted female succeeded in driving away the wolf and helped her companion to her paws.
Meanwhile Lightning Streak battled two wolves by herself, never allowing one to come too close. When they did, they earned a long scratch on the face or a bite on the nose. She finally scratched a wolf in the eyes. While it yelped and stumbled back she turned her attention to the other and wrapped her forelegs around its neck, wrestling it to the ground. A huge weight slammed Eagle Talon off his paws, knocking the breath out of him. He’d stood staring for too long. A wolf pinned him down and clamped its jaws around his left foreleg. “Gah!” He grunted in pain and used his free paw to scratch down the side of his assailant’s face, including its eye. Hind legs scrabbling up at the wolf’s belly, he finally managed to shove some of its weight off of himself. The wolf growled but would not let go on his leg. Pain stabbed down to his shoulder. A strained caterwaul flew from Talon’s throat. He threw his head up and bit the side of the wolf’s face. The crushing teeth in his foreleg disappeared as the wolf whipped its head back, yelping shrilly. The force sent him tumbling, but he managed to roll to his paws and stand. The wolf came at him. Talon reared up on his hind paws and hit its face again, scoring its muzzle. The wolf stepped back, flustered. It wasn’t used to fighting an enemy who retaliated strategically. Prey such as deer and rabbits always ran—they never fought back. “Might want to hit the road, fuzz-face,” Eagle Talon hissed, ears flattened. “You’re not winning this fight.” The wolf hesitated. Talon relaxed. Coward. Teeth met his rib cage. The wolf had attacked again, this time lunging his head past Talon’s shoulder. A pained shriek broke from Talon as he scrabbled to fight off the weight bearing him down. “Need some help there?” The weight suddenly disappeared. Gasping for breath, Talon stumbled back to his paws. To his astonishment he saw the wolf being flung high into the air, disappearing beyond the thick of the crowd. He turned around to face his rescuer—and looked up.
It was rare he could remember one of those obscure human terms for productions of their technology, but somehow he could remember this word: “mech”. One of these towered over him; a great contraption of metal parts welded together into some sort of living statue. In the middle, between two moving arms of these metal parts, a human face peered out. It looked male, wearing a red rice hat and some sort of covering over one eye. Eagle Talon could only stare stupidly at the outlandish sight. The human in the mech stared at him as well. “Hey, you’re one of those slimy cats!” The mech raised an enormous arm up over Talon. “Stop!” He scrambled out of the way, bristling. He knew that human. He’d met him sometime, when he’d still been disguised as Jay… “Ronin!” “Yeah, that’s my name. Don’t over— wait.” The movement of the mech stopped. “How the heck do you know who I am?” Mouth dry, Talon swallowed. “I’m on your side.”
* * *
A hill that overlooked the battlefield was the best place Liana could be. The sensors in her archery set had a clear shot at every living thing in the valley without overwhelming her with all the noise. Arrows flew from her spot on a narrow hillside while Cole stood below, making sure no wolves or Moon Tribe warriors got past him to get to her. By this point some of the wolves were already retreating, and the ninja and werecat allies were doing a thorough job of making the lingering ones regret ever coming. Whether it was because of Borg’s sensors or her mysterious elemental power, Liana rarely missed her targets, despite her blindness. As soon as one arrow was gone it was replaced at the nock, often sitting for a few moments while she identified a new target. Wolves and cats alike dropped like flies. Cole’s scythe swung like a deadly slice of moonlight, glinting as it slashed and cut at its targets in long, smooth strokes. Several Moon Tribe warriors attempted to bound up the hillside and get past him to take down the blind archer. Cole was having none of it.
“Ohh, no you don’t!” he growled, sweeping one nekomata’s legs out from under itself. The force of the scythe cut at its legs while the force of it sent it tumbling away and down the hill with a screech. “That’s all of them, I think.” He swept his gaze over the hillside with approval. No one else was trying to get up there. Perhaps now he could risk getting closer to the thick of the battle. He could see Zane was beginning to become overwhelmed— Liana’s shriek made his blood run cold. Without thinking he ran up the hill and to the precipice she’d been standing on. “Liana!” He held his scythe up, preparing to strike down however had attacked her, but there was no need. A Moon Tribe warrior in his human body had leapt atop Liana from behind, dragging her down to the ground. She, however, had wrestled around until her legs were wrapped around his torso in a closed-guard position, essentially trapping him. With one hand around his throat to keep him from biting her, she reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow. Gritting her teeth angrily, she sank the arrow tip into her attacker’s thigh. A pained caterwaul broke from the man. Cole chose that moment to rush him and shove him off Liana. “Sorry, buddy, but that’s my date!” With that he shoved the Moon Tribe shape-shifter off the precipice. Fortunately the fall was not far and he landed in grass. “You OK?” Cole demanded, helping her up. “Uh-huh.” Her face was red, forehead trickling with sweat. “I’ve got to pay more attention to my surroundings.” “So do I.” His gaze shifted behind her. “Speaking of which, we’ve got company! Behind you!” Three nekomata came barreling down the slope over them and leapt onto the precipice. Cole immediately found himself overwhelmed by the two cats who attacked him; one was grabbing the handle of his scythe with its teeth while another had reared up onto its hind legs and proceeded to swing at Cole’s face. He jumped out of the way. Using one hand to grapple over the scythe with one opponent, he used the other to summon and shoot a large rock out of his hand. The second cat saw the blow coming and ducked.
Teeth closed around Cole’s right leg. Crying out, he stumbled and fell on his back. The cat biting his leg wrenched it around this way and that like a chew toy. Thankfully the boot protected his flesh from the worst of the bite, but he could not wriggle free. The first cat grabbing the scythe chose that opportunity to wrench it from his hand and chuck it off the hillside. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a flash of purple from Liana’s gi as she wrestled with the third nekomata. One of the cats shifted into its human body; a tall, skinny man with long ragged hair. He grinned a set of yellow and chipped teeth at Cole. A long clearstone appeared in one hand. “Farewell, Son of Earth. Black Blood shall reward me well for being the one to end you once and for all.” Cole tried to push himself up to a standing position. The werecat kicked his chest and sent him back down. He gasped for breath when the naked foot slammed on his throat and pressed down. He saw the sword blade coming down toward his chest. A wave of hot red fire burst out of nowhere. The flames hit the nekomata, catching on their pelts. The man standing on Cole screeched as flames burned the side of his face and blackened his long hair. He fled, along with the two other big cats. Cole could breathe again. He gulped air in and sat up shakily among the tongues of fire dancing in the grass. Hopefully, he wheezed, “Kai…?” “I wish.” Skylor appeared out of the thin wisps of smoke. “You’ll just have to make do with me for now.” A faint smile tugged at her lips. He gasped, “Skylor? What— what’re you doing here?” She came and helped him up. Instead of the outlandish blue and gray uniform he’d last seen her in, she wore her usual gi-styled outfit of red and yellow and her hair was back in its familiar ponytail. She also did not look quite as thin and white as the last time he’d seen her. “After thinking it over—and after getting some noodles,” she responded wryly. “I decided I’d help you guys fight this Moon Tribe. I even got Ronin in on it.”
