Cole’s frantic cry made Nya, Jay, and Zane whip around and gape in shock as he raced into the central cavern, bandages only half-on. Liana followed close behind, a dumbfounded expression on her scarred face. “That’s Matilda!!” Cole shouted. He raced to the stranger’s side and shoved Jay away, making the sparks of electricity disappear. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” Jay stared at him. “Uh, excuse me, I’m just trying to defend me and the team from this cat-creature before it calls more of its buddies!” He exclaimed indignantly. “There’s a difference between a creature with the natural ability to change forms and a person who’s simply learned the trick on how to do it, you feather-brain.” The woman groaned from her icy prison gripping her feet. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and smirked at Cole. “How ya doing, kid?” Now that there were no longer jumping about and shooting at each other, Nya got a better look at the woman. She wore odd clothes; nothing like she had ever seen in Ninjago. The stranger wore long, midnight-blue robes over a forest-green dress reaching down to her feet, equipped with a belt holding several pouches and an empty sword’s sheath. She had long, slightly scraggly brown hair, reaching down below her shoulders. Judging by the wrinkles on her face and around her almond-brown eyes, she was probably around forty years old, perhaps older. She was old enough to be Nya’s mother. What was really striking about her, though, was the odd hat she wore upon her head. It was pointed and had a wide brim, an old brown, tattered thing. It made her look very much like a traditional witch. Cole gaped at the woman as Liana came up beside him, looking equally shocked. “Wha—what are you doing here? I—I haven’t seen you here since. . .” His voice trailed off. “A while ago.” She finished.
The three of them searched and clicked on the keyboard for a while more before Zane sighed through his mechanical throat. “We are getting nowhere.” He looked at the others. “Sensei is right; we ought to get some sleep. We can bed down in our old rooms on the Bounty.” Nya and Jay exchanged a glance, and both noted the dark circles under the other’s eyes and their exhausted gazes. “I guess you’re right.” Nya mumbled reluctantly. Jay stepped over to her and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Come on,” He murmured. “We can—” He suddenly stopped and stiffened, and Nya saw that his eyes were trailing across the desk of the computer and under it. She glanced under, curious, and saw a dark figure stir. “Wha—? Whiskers!” Laughingly she pulled the brown tabby out from under the desk and set her down on top. “You stowaway! You snuck onto the Bounty when we were leaving, didn’t you? Sneaky thing.” Whiskers gave the girl a dark, disdainful look, but allowed herself to be rubbed behind the ears. The cat’s almond-brown eyes narrowed to slits as she savored the attention, and she began to purr softly. Nya smiled while Jay gave the cat an odd look, one that Zane might have noticed had he not been watching the skinny tabby intently. “Nya. . .” Zane said slowly. “Did we not recognize some of the opposing cat-creatures that attacked us as a few normal cats we had seen weeks earlier? For example, the stray at Mister Chen’s that we realized was one of the monsters?” “Yeah. . .?” Nya looked at him quizzically.
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
![[y]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/WYWPH2VRo26pOFDid7QZ.png)
So good!