I cried as another shedding cycle begun. After becoming a snake, I've started rapidly and painfully shedding in my new form. Lloyd had grown concern as the pain kept getting worse. The Fangpyre snakes just watched, helpless without their staff or without personal experience. At least not any experiences they're willing to tell me. But it seems like this doesn't usually happen and it might be due to my Moonblood heritage.
I hurled the rest of the small dinner I had as Lloyd held my talon for a hand and he suddenly lost it.
"You never said this would happen to her!" He yelled at the two headed General.
"You were the one that brought her here," said a head. "It's you're fault that you thought we'd beat the Ninja!"
Lloyd gasped and fell to his knees. "Liz," he said solemnly, turning back towards me.
"Lloyd, I'll be fine," I said, weakly, struggling to keep myself up and awake.
"No, you're sick," he said sternly. "You should rest."
"What? No-"
"Please, Liz?" Lloyd pleaded. I stared at him realizing he wasn't going to let this go, and finally nodded. "Alright, wake me if you need anything."
He nodded, leaving me to just slump on the floor and pass out. Well needed rest took over me, and it felt good to rest. Until... I woke up. Where was I? I wasn't in the Fangpyre tomb... But on the Ninja's new ship?
I was in the sky on the deck as a breeze flew through my hair and clouds passed by. I am so confused.
Just to make it even more confusing, Zane busted through the door and onto the deck, looking at me in utter shock.
"Lizabeth?"
"Zane?"
"How did you get back here?" he questioned.
"I-" I was suddenly cut off by a howl behind us. Near the very front of the ship was the white wolf again, the falcon I've seen frequently was sitting on her back, holding that red symbol of death, a Lycoris Radiata. Seeing her on the ship made her look even larger than what I thought she was. Almost the size of a full sized Moonblood.
"What is that?" Zane asked, not having seen the wolf before.
Before I could respond to the ice ninja, the falcon jumped into the air, the white wolf fading away and the red flower dropping from the falcon's mouth. Then to our absolute shock, once the flower hit the ground, it turned into a large being that didn't look human. His red eyes and skeleton body was jarring and I heard Zane take a step back with a loud gasp.
"Lord Garmadon?" he spoke. I turned swiftly back to the black being.
"That's Lord Garmadon?" I gasped.
"But I thought you were banished to the Underworld?" Zane said. "How could you have returned?"
"Just to get my hands on the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu," Garmadon hissed, then launched straight towards us, me first apparently since I was closest. I reached for my daggers but they weren't there and was tackled by the strong being, earning me a punch in my face before Zane could tackle him off of me. He goes for Zane next and kicks him to the side of the bounty. I growl in anger, making my way into my wolf form to attack Garmadon, but I was stopped. Stopped by a man in a green gi jumping in front of me, causing Garmadon to turn around.
"The Green Ninja?" Zane whispers. "The Legend is true..."
Garmadon growls and goes after the Green Ninja, pulling out two Katanas he somehow didn't need to defeat both me and Zane, and charged, pushing both katanas towards the mysterious man's stomach.
However, the Green Ninja effortlessly dodged Garmadon's attack and backflipped into the air, landing on top the the daggers. Zane and I watched in amazement as Garmadon swung the man around off his Katanas, the green ninja landing on his feet as if physics no longer meant anything to him. He suddenly ducked as Garmadon threw his Katanas at Lloyd's head and went into Spinjitzu towards Garmadon, who was running up the deck towards our masked savior. With a couple more punches and a crazy front flip over Garmadon's head, the ninja pulled out what looked to be Jay's Golden Nunchucks of Lightning, hitting Garmadon in the face, causing him to fall off the edge.
When I looked back towards the Green Ninja, his fist was on fire with the falcon on his arm. The white wolf was behind him with a lily in her mouth, her white eyes staring intently at me before I woke up.
Gasping, I hurled again and itched my scales. That was the Green Ninja. Who could it be? How was I in a dream with Zane? With Wu? I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts when Lloyd entered my sights with that face of fear I've seen too many times. "Liz, are you ok? I heard you screaming!"
I shrugged as he kneeled down next to me and I sighed. "It was just a dream."
"Was it that white wolf again?" he asked. I recently informed the boy on my dreams, needing somebody to talk to about it. I nodded. "I think she's more than just a figment of my imagination. She's got to be a vaskar."
"A vas.. what now?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head.
"A spirit," I clarified, chuckling. "But the dead very rarely come in dreams. They usually use omens from where I come from."
"Huh," Lloyd said with interest, but it was short lived when he looked at my scaley state. "We need to talk to Fangtom," he said sternly.
"Lloyd, there's nothing he can do without his staff," I argued, trying to stand up. I yelled as I collapsed before getting caught my Lloyd, him helping me the rest of the way up. "Then you need to go to the Ninja."
I searched his gaze, finding only determination and my ears fell.
"Lloyd, I can't leave you here," I insisted.
"And I can't leave you like this, it's my fault, so I'm going to fix it."
"Wait, Lloyd-"
"Please, Liz," he begged, a single tear falling down, him trying not to show his fear, but failing.
I sighed. I guess it would be a great time to catch up with the Ninja, and I was starting to get sick of this.
"Fine. I'll go," I sighed. Lloyd's face lit up and he quickly ushed me out towards the hidden entrance he found, taking me up through the spiral and back out into the creepy forest.
"Be safe," he said to me, giving me a parting hug before returning down the hole to the pit of snakes. I sighed as I looked around. Guess I'm on the move again.
_____________________________________
I dragged my feet in the sand, praying the Ninja weren't currently in the air or I may never find them. It's been a while since I left but not quite a day and I was feeling terrible. Lloyd was defiantly right about me needing to go. Regardless if this is just part of the transformation stage or not, I wasn't going to go through it any longer. Suddenly, I shedded tears of joy when I saw that familiar falcon fly down towards me. Barley able to speak or hold myself up anymore, I whispered to the falcon for help and it quickly flew back to wherever the Ninja were and I waiting, lying down in the sand and sighing. Before I knew it, I heard the sound of the ship as it landed near me with cries from the Ninja.
My mind went black to clear to black multiple times and I could only see in flashes. I somehow made it into Kai's arms as we were heading back to the ship with sweet whispers saying it was going to be ok. The next thing I knew was getting my mouth flooded with a bitter taste of venom along with some mint, likely brewed into a tea and I was forced to swallow it.
My vision became clear and I gasped, feeling as if the shedding process I was going through just intensified by 100 and then as quick as it happened, it was gone, and I felt immediately better again. I winced as I tried to sit up too fast, feeling a hand rest on my back and shushing me as I laid back down. Above me was Kai and I smiled.
"Hey, Paws," the ninja chuckled. "Good to see you back."
I narrowed my eyes teasingly at him. "Paws?"
He shrugged with a wide grin. "You hatted the other name so thought I'd give you a new one."
I chuckled. "It's good to see you again too."
"How are you feeling?" Nya's voice spoke.
I turned my head to see Nya sitting in a chair with Wu by her side and I sighed. "Much better," I replied.
"Good," Wu spoke. "If you all don't mind, I'd like to talk to Liz for a moment?"
Kai and Nya nodded, leaving swiftly as Wu walked up to me, helping me sit back up and swinging my legs off the side of the table I was on top of and I sighed, knowing why he wanted to speak with me.
"I don't know for sure if Phantom is involved yet," I informed him.
"How about that wolf?" he asked.
"I just saw her earlier. I was in a dream with Zane and the Green Ninja was there too."
Wu gasped. "Did you see who it was?"
I shook my head. "No, but I think that the wolf is a vas- a spirit."
Wu narrowed his eyes in thought. "It's certainly possible, but ghosts aren't typically ones to talk to the living unless it was super important. Queen Crystal rarely allows it to happen in just simple dreams."
"Right, you usually need to visit a Moon Crystal to talk to the Departed Realm," I recalled.
"Correct," Wu nodded. "But it's not out of the question. Good, thinking, Liz."
My tail swayed with praise and I smiled at the Ninja Master. But something still plagued my mind...
"Wu, isn't the whole reason why a specific dragon was selected to lead the Cursed Realm so that this whole Phantom thing wouldn't be a problem?"
Wu sighed. "Yes, but Princess Phantom is different than anyone else in that terrible place. Her mother could also be losing her ties with what's right after being stuck there for so long, leading the evil while trying to protect the good. There's a lot about Phantom that we probably don't know about, but I'm sure she's still trapped securely in the Cursed Realm far from any of us."
"I think I need to get some sleep," I sighed, noticing the sky beginning to quickly darken in the window of where it appeared to be the bridge and the control spot for the ship.
Wu nodded, leading me towards Nya's room to her offer to let me settle with her for the night. My make shift bed on the floor was more comfy than the other's thought it might be for me and I thanked both Wu and Nya before settling in my temporary bed. But my mind was plagued with thoughts of Lloyd. Was he ok? I totally just left him there all by himself alone with those psycho Fangpyre.
I sighed, stirring slightly in my bed before finally sitting up and looking in the dark room. My night vision quickly adjusted and I saw Nya's bed next to a window, the sky pitch black. I smiled at the shadows around me and got an idea. It was a full moon tonight if I remembered correctly which I did, because I could also feel it's power in my veins. Being a full moon meant my abilities were at it's strongest, also meaning this would be the perfect night to practice my shadow mending.
Deciding that I didn't want to see angry Nya if I woke her up by accident, I fumbled through the maze of the Ninja's new headquarters until I found the deck. A perfect breeze greeted me as I stepped outside, my feet feeling the coolness of the wood underneath me and I couldn't help but smile as I felt the beautiful full moon night. Looking around, I found shadows everywhere. My body longing to form with them, to be one with them. I took my purple hat off and sighed at the great feeling of the wind brush my sensitive ears and I lifted my hoodie up over my black grey t-shirt underneath.
Resting my clothes on the ground, I closed my eyes, feeling the moon, the shadows, and then I merged. My body felt light and free, I was the shadow. I was doing it! Then suddenly, my Sunblood form came back and I sighed. Ok, can't get too excited, got it.
I practiced and practiced and I was stronger than ever, thanks to the moon. Then I stopped, hearing footsteps behind me. I gasped, mending into the shadows but I realized my attempt to hide was futile when I heard a deep chuckle coming from the fire Ninja.
"You can come out, Paws, I saw you," Kai's voice said. Sighing, I detached from the shadows and came face to face with Kai, him standing up on top of the stairs, looking down on the deck where I was standing by the mast. "I like you ears," he commented. Before I could bash, he started walking towards me and interrupting my thoughts. "What are you doing up so late?"
I sighed as he came closer and walked to the side of the deck, my hands on the railing looking out to the flying clouds. "I should ask you the same thing. You're a Sunblood aren't you?"
"And you're half-Sunblood, right?" Kai argued back. I huffed, technically he was right, my father was human, but the way a Moonblood's heritage worked was you are either one or the other. No in-betweens, unlike the dragon hybrids I had heard of. Our blood is very dominate and while yes, it's entirely possible to have a Sunblood child with two mixed parents but usually the Moonblood's DNA was much stronger than a Sunblood's.
"I'm not half anything," I decided to say. "And I don't need as much sleep as you Sunbloods do," I hissed.
"Easy, Paws, I was just teasing," Kai defended, his hands raising up in a more sarcastic manor. "I couldn't sleep," he admitted, my gaze turn fully to his. "Been thinking about all this Green Ninja stuff and couldn't shut my brain off. What's your story?"
I sighed. "Well, it's a full moon so I wanted to practice my shadow abilities..." I hesitated but spilled my guts when Kai gave a look that I couldn't push away. "And I was thinking about Lloyd, about how I left him with the Fangpyre, and how there's more work I need to do."
Kai's gaze softened. "Do you need to go back?"
I nodded. "My work isn't done yet, I can feel it somehow."
Kai hummed in thought and turned back to the clouds passing by. Suddenly I realized his fiery companion, nor the ones of the others, were here on the bounty. "Where's Flame and the others?" I asked.
Kai's face fell a bit. "They had to leave. Master Wu said it's because they need to reach their true potentials as us Ninja do."
Flame never mentioned that to me, then again, we had just met.
"I know I have to go back, but I'll miss you guys," I commented, and I meant it, I never thought I'd miss these guys, especially because I barley knew them. But they had a kindness that I haven't seen in anyone in a long time and I craved for it.
Kai smiled and rested his hand on my shoulder. "We got your back, Paws," he said. "No matter what you need, we'll be there."
I smiled and then an idea sparked in my mind. "I need to take back the General's Staff."
"Excuse me?"
____________________________
My gaze was sharp, my newly wrapped feet taking me back to the hell I have to call home. My tail swayed underneath my hoodie tied around my waist and my hat was gone. If I was going to do this, I needed all the extra power I could get from just my appearance alone. The Snakes thought they could control me, but they were wrong. I have to do this, for Lloyd's sake.
I made it through the wicked forest, walking down the tomb's spiral stair case. Once I knew I was in view of the snakes, I announced my arival by letting the golden general staff in my hand drag on the ground, earning sparks and the shear cry of metal echoing, causing the Fangpyre snakes, now in view, to glance up at me as I made the final steps before resting on the ground. The staff continued to drag, my gaze was full with demand. More specifically, the demand for control, for power. A power they were going to give me. The snakes seemed to take the hint and didn't try to stop me as I walked, snake free, past them as they parted the way for me to walk. Up ahead was General Fangtom and Lloyd, now staring at me. The two heads of the general hissed as I stared right into their eyes as I continued walking, them all seeing my real ears, the real size of me, for the first time. But I wasn't afraid, not anymore.
"Fangtom," I hissed, not using his title in front of the tribe.
The two heads hissed, gazes narrowed at me. "The staff," one hissed. "But how?"
I glanced at Lloyd by the general's side, him looking at me with his hood down with joy and excitement of my return. "You gave up," I simply told him. "You didn't even try to get the staff back. You were willing to risk your entire tribe because you wanted the Ninja dead. You didn't even help fight in the junk yard! Yet, you still lost the staff."
Gasps filled the room as the gossip begun and Fangtom was taken aback, lost for words. His heads shook and he hissed.
"At least I went out of the way to try and get it back just for the sake and sanity of what you caused to me!" I continued.
Lloyd quickly strutted up to my side, leaving the general by himself and he nodded towards me. "She's right, we should follow Liz now!"
"What?" hissed the general. But it was futile to say anything else, the power was mine as soon as I walked down those stairs and the tribe started to realize what I was saying about the general, starting to join my side as well, the General left alone.
"I'm Lizabeth Wolfadeer," I hissed. "Daughter of Foxstorm Wolfadeer, the one you all demise. But in the end, my mother was too scared to take what belonged to her, but I'm not. I'm your Anur now."
Fangtom looked at me in defeat and lowered his heads. "Yes, Anur."
I smiled, I would bring back the glory of the Great Alphas to Ninjago. The snakes were so easy to manipulate, but that also means I have to be ready for when my time runs out. Power is ever flowing here and moves along quickly.
"We march on the Hypnobri at dawn," I order, turning around to the snakes. "They betrayed us, thought they could just send us away and never see us again," I turned to Lloyd and held his hand. "But they will not forget out names! The Fangpyre will rule!"
The snakes cheered and hissed and Lloyd smiled. "That was badass," he said with a fist in the air.
I chuckled at my friend and smiled again. "Hell yeah it was."