With a hissing burst of electricity, the wires broke free from the post, and Jay, still clinging to the power line, fell diagonally toward the side of a nearby building. Citizens on the streets looked up and gasped at the sight of the boy swinging on a sparkling power line like Tarzan. “AAAUUUGGH!” Jay groaned as he smashed into the side of the building, where the line flapped and waved under his weight. He swung around, the movement of the wires banging his body over and over again against the side. When he finally stopped swinging, he moaned wearily by a window, where a lady was playing on her phone from inside. “AAIIEEE!” She shrieked when she saw him. “FRED! THERE’S A PEEPING TOM AT THE WINDOW!” Jay replied indignantly. “I’m not Tom, I’m Jay!” “Oh, all right, dearie.” The lady responded, then shrieked again. “AAIIEE! FRED! THERE’S A PEEPING JAY AT THE WINDOW!” Cole sighed, then leapt off the roof. A spinning waist-high vortex and ball of rushing air enveloped him, thrusting him up into the air and to Jay. He grabbed Jay’s hand and yanked him upwards with him, the two of them rising, then tumbling to the roof of the next building. “Thanks.” Jay gasped. “No prob—OW! Watch it with the sparks, Jay!” Cole sucked his stinging fingers, which had been stung by leftover power from the wire. Jay chuckled and flicked his wrist to rid himself of the extra sparks. “Sorry.” Zane joined them from his own Airjitzu vortex. “There are even more cats.” He gasped as he stumbled to his feet beside the other two. Cole looked at the police station standing across the street to see two more huge cat-creatures joining the other three. They hissed and bared their spiky fangs, their teeth and eyes gleaming in the dim light of the city. They glared at them balefully from across the street, lashing their tails. “Good thing they can’t get over here, huh?” Jay chuckled uneasily. One by one, the cats turned away from the side of the roof and disappeared into the shadows beyond. The boys stared into the darkness of the roof searchingly, but there was no more sign of the cats. That was eery. “They can’t get over here, right?” Jay asked nervously.
Jay answered. “Uh, ‘seeing her’ is an understatement. They chased after all of us like we were tasty mice, and she whacked a bunch of their heads with those nunchucks like nobody’s business—! Which, by the way—” At this he turned to Liana with a grin. “—I thought was very cool, and I, being a master of nunchaku myself, approve.” For the first time, Liana cracked a small smile. “Glad to know I was able to impress the nunchuck expert. I’ve been using them since I was eight years old.” “Really?” Jay looked impressed. “I only started using them when I was—” “Ah-hem.” Wu gave Jay a stern look. “As you were saying. . . ?” Jay gave him a blank look, then blinked. “Ohh, right, right. Yeah, they totally saw her, and they’d probably recognize her if they saw her again. Why?” “ ‘Why?’ Because if they remember her as an ally of their enemy, her life could be in danger. If we let her go back to her family, they could capture her and try to use her to get what they want.” He responded sharply. Liana stared in Wu’s direction in dismay. “So then. . . I can’t go back to my relatives?” “I’m afraid not.” He replied gently. “They seem to have spies everywhere, which may be how they found us so quickly, and I can’t think of a better way to keep you safe than for you to stay with us until this trouble is sorted out.” Liana opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it. She frowned and lowered her unseeing gaze, twisting her mouth in thought. After a moment of silence, her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Yeah. . . OK. That sounds good.” Wu gave her a look of sympathy. “Thank you. I know it’ll be hard, but this may be the best option.” She shrugged, looking as if she wanted to drop the subject.
@boldLiana, with an exagerated kicking motion: "Oh, bummer! Man will I miss them, those relatives whom I love dearly and who definitly don't patranize me much to my infuriation!"
With a hissing burst of electricity, the wires broke free from the post, and Jay, still clinging to the power line, fell diagonally toward the side of a nearby building. Citizens on the streets looked up and gasped at the sight of the boy swinging on a sparkling power line like Tarzan. “AAAUUUGGH!” Jay groaned as he smashed into the side of the building, where the line flapped and waved under his weight. He swung around, the movement of the wires banging his body over and over again against the side. When he finally stopped swinging, he moaned wearily by a window, where a lady was playing on her phone from inside. “AAIIEEE!” She shrieked when she saw him. “FRED! THERE’S A PEEPING TOM AT THE WINDOW!” Jay replied indignantly. “I’m not Tom, I’m Jay!” “Oh, all right, dearie.” The lady responded, then shrieked again. “AAIIEE! FRED! THERE’S A PEEPING JAY AT THE WINDOW!” Cole sighed, then leapt off the roof. A spinning waist-high vortex and ball of rushing air enveloped him, thrusting him up into the air and to Jay. He grabbed Jay’s hand and yanked him upwards with him, the two of them rising, then tumbling to the roof of the next building. “Thanks.” Jay gasped. “No prob—OW! Watch it with the sparks, Jay!” Cole sucked his stinging fingers, which had been stung by leftover power from the wire. Jay chuckled and flicked his wrist to rid himself of the extra sparks. “Sorry.” Zane joined them from his own Airjitzu vortex. “There are even more cats.” He gasped as he stumbled to his feet beside the other two. Cole looked at the police station standing across the street to see two more huge cat-creatures joining the other three. They hissed and bared their spiky fangs, their teeth and eyes gleaming in the dim light of the city. They glared at them balefully from across the street, lashing their tails. “Good thing they can’t get over here, huh?” Jay chuckled uneasily. One by one, the cats turned away from the side of the roof and disappeared into the shadows beyond. The boys stared into the darkness of the roof searchingly, but there was no more sign of the cats. That was eery. “They can’t get over here, right?” Jay asked nervously.
@bold Reminded me of that one meme so:
ASDFGHJKL THIS IS AMAZING- thank you for making this work of art XDD
Jay answered. “Uh, ‘seeing her’ is an understatement. They chased after all of us like we were tasty mice, and she whacked a bunch of their heads with those nunchucks like nobody’s business—! Which, by the way—” At this he turned to Liana with a grin. “—I thought was very cool, and I, being a master of nunchaku myself, approve.” For the first time, Liana cracked a small smile. “Glad to know I was able to impress the nunchuck expert. I’ve been using them since I was eight years old.” “Really?” Jay looked impressed. “I only started using them when I was—” “Ah-hem.” Wu gave Jay a stern look. “As you were saying. . . ?” Jay gave him a blank look, then blinked. “Ohh, right, right. Yeah, they totally saw her, and they’d probably recognize her if they saw her again. Why?” “ ‘Why?’ Because if they remember her as an ally of their enemy, her life could be in danger. If we let her go back to her family, they could capture her and try to use her to get what they want.” He responded sharply. Liana stared in Wu’s direction in dismay. “So then. . . I can’t go back to my relatives?” “I’m afraid not.” He replied gently. “They seem to have spies everywhere, which may be how they found us so quickly, and I can’t think of a better way to keep you safe than for you to stay with us until this trouble is sorted out.” Liana opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it. She frowned and lowered her unseeing gaze, twisting her mouth in thought. After a moment of silence, her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Yeah. . . OK. That sounds good.” Wu gave her a look of sympathy. “Thank you. I know it’ll be hard, but this may be the best option.” She shrugged, looking as if she wanted to drop the subject.
@boldLiana, with an exagerated kicking motion: "Oh, bummer! Man will I miss them, those relatives whom I love dearly and who definitly don't patranize me much to my infuriation!"
lol you're making my day with these comments, thanks bro XDD
Zane’s tone grew very serious. “How can we know that Whiskers is not one of them? Obviously we have seen the creatures disguise themselves as innocent stray cats.” Nya’s stroke stopped as she and Jay stared at the nindroid. The Water ninja’s eyes were wide with realization. “You don’t mean. . . All this time, she might be. . .?!” Slowly, cautiously, Zane, Jay, and Nya turned to look at the skinny brown cat sitting on the desk before them, watching them with unblinking eyes. The cat stared back at the ninja, suddenly quite still. There was a long moment of tense silence. Then Whiskers opened her mouth and said with an edge of sarcasm. “Oh, sure. Blame the cat.”
I've waited leeven chapters for that cat to say something.
“If you are not one of the cat-creatures that have been attacking us, then what are you exactly?” Zane questioned. Matilda replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’m a human, like you lot. I just happen to have learned the magical ability to transform into a cat when I please.” “So you are a witch!” Jay accused. “That’s right, and I can turn you into a mouse, blue-bell!” She retorted. “I can also tell you that those so-called ‘cat-creatures’ are actually a certain breed of yokai.” Everyone stared at the witch; Jay, Cole, and Liana in particular looked startled. “You know about those creatures??” Liana questioned. Matilda shrugged. “I do, but not much. Even during my time in these parts decades ago, the yokai were scarce. My brief encounters with the bakeneko breed didn’t tell me too much, but perhaps enough for you.” She smoothed her ruffled robes thoughtfully and said. “I’ll begin with what I know; yokai are a mysterious species of creatures that live in constantly dwindling groups across Ninjago. In ancient folklore, they were depicted as demonic spirits causing calamity to humans’ lives, dark apparitions from the shadows of the world. In the stories, the characters are bound for an ill fate in the chance they encounter one of these beings, whether they be innocent or otherwise. “In reality, though, these are elusive creatures of the wild with the mysterious power of shapeshifting. You can find them disguised in many animal breeds; foxes, snakes, raccoon dogs, and cats. Two breeds of these yokai are the bakeneko and the nekomata; both very elusive, very mysterious. . . And very, very dangerous. “Throughout history, the bakeneko have been described as once-domesticated cats who, once they’ve reached a certain age, grow two tails and bring grief to the families whom raised them. There are many stories in which the bakeneko smashed their owners, whom were cruel and unjust, in an act of revenge. The nekomata, on the other hand, were huge, feline beasts who lived up the mountains in small packs and attacked travelers, many times eating the humans."
*Looks at RoE Yokai* *Looks at Ninjago Formlings* "Should we sue? we should sue."
No, but seriously headcanon now that the Yokai are Formlings that the First Spinjitzu Master brought over from the never realm, like how he brought the serpantine from Chima. Maybe even the origin of the Element of Form.
With a small grunt, she pointed her strange stick down at the ice attaching her to the floor and summoned a line of burning heat down on it. The ice quickly melted and evaporated into the air, leaving nothing behind on the floor. The woman shook her feet, testing them, then said in wry approval. “Good. Now we can talk like civilized people instead of trying to smash one another.” “Oh, and by the way—” She gave Nya a smirk and arched her eyebrows. “—My name is Matilda Ravencroft. Not Whiskers.” “What is she talking about?” Cole questioned. “You know that little tabby cat that’s been hanging around your teashop for the past few weeks?” Matilda said. “The one your friend here called ‘Whiskers’? That was me. I was the one who woke you up when those yokai were burning down your shop.” Cole gaped at her. “That was you?!” “Don’t you have ears?? Yes, that was me!” She snapped impatiently. “Cole, how do you know this stranger? You’ve never mentioned her before.” Zane spoke up questionably. Cole glanced at Liana, then sighed. “You know when I told you I met Philip and Liana traveling in the mountains? We weren’t alone.” He gestured to Matilda. “Matilda was the third traveler with us. I don’t think we would have made it without her.” “Darn right about that.” Matilda said. “What are you? A witch?” Jay asked, glancing at her hat. Matilda sniffed. “I prefer the term ‘herbalist’.” “She’s a witch.” Cole said. “Keep your opinions to yourself, boy.” Matilda snapped. “What, you’re like Clouse?” Jay asked. Matilda scowled. “Merlin’s beard, of course not! That whiny stuck-up only knows how to manipulate dark beings to do his bidding! I use the more natural, mysterious energies of the world—and a selection of homemade potions.” “Isn’t that the same thing?” Jay asked. “No, of course not!” She huffed impatiently. “Wait—You knew Clouse??” Nya exclaimed. “One story at a time, kiddo. I believe your robot friend wants to ask something.” Matilda gestured to Zane, who gave her a grateful nod.
Lloyd was puzzled, but before he could wonder what she was doing for more than a moment, the surrounding warriors suddenly fell silent when one of the men said. “Wait—Look at his head. See that jewel?” Lloyd, as well as everyone else in the group, turned and looked at what the young man was pointing at. Lloyd saw that they were staring at the bluish jewel adorning Pythor’s head, matching his white robes and the intricate purple patterns across his lithe body. He had seen it before, and he had thought nothing of it until now. Pythor shifted uneasily. “For goodness sake, what now??” He complained. The men and women stared at him intently with moon-like eyes. “It’s a moonstone.” One woman hissed. “Get him.” With terrible caterwauls, the humans transformed into enourmous, two-tailed, lion-like forms and attacked the stunned snake, quickly throwing him onto the ground in a white, frantically writhing heap. Pythor cried out and struggled against his attackers, whipping his long tail wildly and smacking a couple of the beasts on the head. His body suddenly dissolved out of sight, but these creatures could use their sense of smell as well as their sight. With loud, frightful yowls they swiped and clawed at Pythor, and Lloyd, watching the haunting spectacle, unexpectedly felt something like pity for his old nemesis. *snip*
One of the cat-creature’s furious cries sounded from the thick of the dark woods, and Lloyd decided that if it came to being captured by the cat-creatures or drowning in the river, he’d choose the river. “Welp, hope you can swim.” He sighed. The girl looked at him. “What are you—?” Lloyd took a running start, ran into the girl, and jumped off the cliff. She shrieked and wriggled under his grip, then both shouted as they fell through the air down the rocky passage. Lloyd shut his eyes, and he hit the water. His grip on the girl fell loose, and he was left floundering under the surface. The currents tossed him about, he squirmed in the water and grazed his head on the sandy bottom. Lloyd could hear his heart pounding rapidly in his ears, and he felt his lungs begin to burn. Finally, with a mighty thrust of his legs, his head popped above the raging surface, and he choked coughing gasps. Treading water frantically, he struggled to stay above the raging waters. Rocky, towering walls flashed by his vision, and he prayed that he wouldn’t be crushed on a boulder hidden in the frothing waves. He was splashed in the face, and he sputtered. The current was dragging him rapidly down the winding river through the dark canyon, and the only thing he could see were bits of moonlight reflecting off the surface of the churning waves. As he frantically dog-paddled to keep his head above water, he caught sight of a dark figure flailing a few feet away. He called out over the thundering roar. “Hey!” His voice sounded tiny and feeble compared the the scream of the waves, but he hoped the girl could hear him. “Over here!” The figure cried out something unintelligible before a wave hit her. She toppled over and thrashed beneath the surface, fighting hard to get back up. Lloyd swam as hard as he could to where she was, but the current fought against him. Muscles aching, lungs burning, and mouth tasting of sweat and river water, he reached out to the girl. “Take my hand!”
@bold Lloyd has quite a way with the ladies... "I'm aware of the effect I have on women. It's called momentum."-Lloyd, probably
Cole stuck his hands in his pockets and looked away. For a fleeting moment it was as if they were back in the mountains again, but Philip’s absence was a hard reminder that everything had changed. Cole was a ninja now, and no longer a homeless, friendless waif. Liana had a family that was probably worried sick about her, seeing that they had no idea what happened to her. Matilda—well, one couldn’t really tell with her. Despite the many strange references and mutterings he picked up when they traveled together, Cole still didn’t really know much about the witch. Too much had happened to all of them for anything to ever be the same. “You’re stepping on my toes.” Matilda finally grunted. “Oh.” Liana stepped back, looking awkward. “Sorry.” The witch cupped the girl’s chin in one hand and stared into her pupiless eyes. “Oi. You’ll do fine, kiddo.” She then smirked and roughly ruffled Cole’s hair. “At least you have this brick-brain to keep you company.” Cole grinned and shook off her fingers. “Hey, hands off.” “Heh.” Matilda adjusted her pointed hat. “How’re those scratches working for you?” “Huh? Oh,” Cole replied. “They’re fine, now that we cleaned them.” “Let me see.” He hesitated, then slipped his shirt off, exposing his torso to the cool air of the cave. Several faint red splotches stained the bandages wrapped across his pectorals, even though he had put on clean bandages before he went to bed. “They’re better now; Nya put some hydrogen peroxide on them.” “Bah.” Matilda spat with contempt. “All that trash you call ‘medicine’ does is kill all the bacteria you need to heal the wound. Phaug. Drink this.” She pulled out a little glass flask filled with berry-red liquid and held it out to him. “This’ll do the trick.” Cole hesitated, then took the flask, uncorked it, then lifted it to his lips, recalling the faithful potions the witch carried which helped them on several occasions. The bright red liquid was cold, yet it burned down his throat. The taste was tart, yet had a sweet touch to the mixture. It wasn’t a pleasant drink, but it wasn’t too bad, either. Still, his stomach churned when it hit the bottom.
@bold Matilda comming in clutch with those essential oils
“Why did you help me?” Lloyd sat across from Little Leaf in the shelter of the small, grassy hill they had landed on. Dawn crept up steadily behind the horizon, casting the sky in lighter, more vibrant colors by the minute. Both teens shivered and crossed their arms in a feeble attempt to keep themselves warm. The struggle in the rapids had left them soaked and exhausted, and while Lloyd’s shivering body ached for rest, he wanted to stay awake to find out about this young rescuer of his. Little Leaf cocked her head—ironically, much like how a curious kitten would—and replied simply. “Well. . . You saved my life. If it hadn’t been for you, that fox would have eaten me. At first I thought you were scaring it away so that you could smash me yourself.” She admitted with an embarrassed smile. Lloyd stared at her. “Smash you—?! What makes you think I’d do something like that?” Little Leaf gazed at him with bright blue eyes. It was a little unnerving how they never blinked when she was looking at him. “Humans are heartless creatures who smash innocent creatures for the sheer joy of it.”
@bold Knowledge really is a curse sometimes... I need some mental floss...
Lloyd was stunned. “Wha—That’s not true! Why would you ever think that?” The girl’s eyes narrowed at him. “Last winter, Fallen Petals and her kit were smashed by humans when they were looking for food. Two autumns before that, Alder Wing was taken by humans when he was crossing a river, and we never saw him again. Seasons before that—” She hesitated. “Some humans smashed my mother. I was only a kit then.” Lloyd stared at the humanoid creature. “I—” He finally stammered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Little Leaf held his gaze for a moment longer. “Not all humans are like that, though.” He ventured. She blinked. “I guess not. . . You seem to be different, at least.” Lloyd sat there awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. He couldn’t help but stare at Little Leaf, though, because while she had the appearance of a normal human—save for the animal skins shielding her body—she held herself in a odd fashion. Both feet and hands were on the ground while she sat on her rump, and the palms of her hands were flat on the dirt and grass. Her posture was rather straight despite the odd position. It looked as if the girl was imitating a cat sitting on its haunches; if she had a tail, it probably would have been twitching inquisitively. Her dark pupils were big and moon-like in the dark, and the blue irises were a little wider than Lloyd’s green ones. Her skin was tanned and rough under her feet and hands, though at the moment she looked a bit pale in the early shadows. Despite her youth, muscles experienced in strength and stamina showed from her arms, and her body was strong and lithe. The girl cocked her head again, this time to the other side. “What’s your name?” “I’m Lloyd.” “‘Loid’?” She repeated. “Yeah.” He confirmed. “L-L-O-Y-D. Lloyd.” “Two Ls?” Little Leaf didn’t say “L”, but repeated the “Lll” sound the letter made, as if that were a noun. “Wouldn’t that be 'La-loyd?” “No.” Lloyd insisted. “It’s one syllable. Lll-oiid. Lloyd.” “Are you sure?” “YES.” He said, exasperated. “It’s my name; I should know!”
@boldGarmadon, just walking by for no discernable reason: "No no, she's right. L-L-O-Y-D, It's Laloyd, I named you."
"The tests vary, but usually you’re sent up to the northern, most desolate mountains to find a mountain cat to fight and smash before skinning it as a reward. Other times there are mock battles, unless we’re at war with another tribe and you can prove yourself for real. Of course, we haven’t had war in decades.” She added. *snip*
Yeah, that's how my family does it. It's completely normal, Laloyd.
“Is he home? It looks dark.” Nya commented and stepped up to the door. Liana ventured to one of the display windows and silently pressed her ear against it, listening for a sound of life from within. Nya was struck suddenly by the posture Liana held herself in. For some reason, with her head cocked, ears perked up, and fingers creeping lightly up the side of the window, Liana looked very much like a cat. Considering the events that have transpired recently, this note was a bit ironic. Nya realized that she was staring at Liana, and silently scolded herself. Now you’re just seeing things. You’re all wound up because of those bakeneko. She turned away to see that Jay was staring into the alley next to the building, muttering under his breath. “What are you looking at, Jay?” Nya asked. Jay jumped and stared at her sheepishly. “Huh? Oh, uh, there was this bird. . . It was kinda cool-looking.” A pigeon burst out of the dark, narrow corridor with a frightened squawk and flew up above the buildings. Startled, Jay jumped and edged closer to Nya. The latter giggled in amusement. “You are such a spazz, Jay.” She said with a good-natured grin. Before the blushing ninja could retort, Liana asked. “Can we go in?” “I guess so.” Knocking, Nya turned the latch and stepped into the little shop, and Jay and Liana followed suit. The store was cluttered from wall to wall with shelves and boxes filled with the most random items; from little plush monkeys to discarded clothing to iron bludgeons to twisted bird cages, and that wasn’t the half of it. A little bell rang cheerily as the door opened and the three of them stepped in. “Who’s there?” A gruff voice called from a dark corridor behind the checkout counter, which was cluttered with a cash register, rumpled papers, a few old books and scrolls, and several fidget spinners. “Some old customers.” Nya replied with an easy smile. “Nya?” A man wearing a red rice hat and a modernized eye patch walked into the room carrying a cardboard box and stopped when he saw the group. “Whatever it was, I didn’t do it. That spiked bludgeon is totally legal, and you can’t prove otherwise.”
“Is this it?” Liana held up little yellow ball decorated with a blue stripe and a red star. “No.” Jay shoved a rusty candlestick out of the way. “How about this?” Ronin picked up a gold necklace with an andalusite pendant. “No.” “Maybe this?” Nya pulled out an intricately carved music box with an amethyst built into the gold and green design. “No.” *snip*
It ain't much but at least it's relevant to the first one...
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
