"So then," Jay was explaining. "Just when we were going to die, this huge robot-"
"Samurai," Zane interrupted. "It was a Samurai."
"A Sama-what?" Lloyd asked from next to me. "Sounds like a wimpy name."
"I rolled my eyes. "Your name is a wimpy name," I muttered, earning a playful shove from Lloyd as we were finishing out dinner with the team.
"Samurai," Wu clarified. "Highest level of warrior class. They would protect nobility and serve with honor on the battlefield."
"He was a hundred feet high, with weapons coming out every part of him," I added, but quickly got distracted by Kai walking into the room and b-lining it to me. "Hey dude!" he said to me. "I want my hot dogs! What's taking so long!"
"The fact that I don't even know what a hot dog is!" I barked at him, raising up on my knees before sighing and plumping back down on the bench, everyone looking at us in confusion. "When does this Venomari spit wear off again?" I asked.
"We can't let this mysterious Samurai cloud what's really important," Cole said, ignore Kai as we started picking up food and putting it onto his face. "All the Serpentine are out, and if Pythor can unite them, the legend states some Great Devourer is gonna consume the land and—"
"'Great Devourer'?" Nya asked.
Cole shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's a can of worms I don't wanna see open."
"It's all my fault," Lloyd whispered. "If I hadn't opened the first hatch, none of this would've happened."
"What's done is done," Wu said. "And I'm sure the snakes would have found another way to get out to free the Devour. At least we have the Sacred Flute in our possession, so—"
"Yeah, ahem," Jay coughed. "About that..."
"Pythor sort of stole it," added Zane.
"The last Sacred Flute gone?" Wu sighed. "You Ninja are Ninjago's last hope."
My ears flicked in thought. "Could we possibly get my mother to get us another one?" I asked.
Wu contemplated with a sigh. "We could try. If we took the Bounty, we could get there within a day."
"But who will protect Ninjago?" Nya asked.
"You and the Ninja will stay here while I take Liz and Lloyd to Molotoke and talk to her mother. Hopefully she'll be able to get us another flute. There's a cave you can stay at to wait for our return."
"You mean I really get to come?" Lloyd asked excitedly.
"There's no way I wouldn't let you," I told my friend.
Suddenly, that blasting alarm flooded the room and Nya gasped. "Cold vision must have caught something. That means the Serpentine are near."
"Oh, no!" Jay cried. "Ninjago City?"
Quickly, we all ran up to the monitor and looked at the radar. The results made my heart skip a beat.
"How many are there?" Jay asked.
"Looks like all of them," I whispered.
"Pythor must be trying to unite them," Zane observed.
"Go," Wu said. "We mustn't let the five tribes unite. The sacred flute might be our only chance."
I looked at Lloyd who was standing next to me, the spark returning as a soft brush of energy through my veins as I sighed. I was going to see my mother again. And I wasn't exactly looking forwards to Lloyd meeting her.
The Ninja quickly left, Nya not to far behind, and suddenly I was almost asking Wu if I could go with them.
"Quick, we must get to Molotoke as fast as possible," Wu said.
I nodded, and we were off.
I was outside on the bounty's deck, leaning against the rail, the wind rushing through my hair, my ears, against my skin. I shivered but not because of the cold. My moved effortlessly in the new suit Wu found for me. It was Kai's old one and I could still smell his pungent scent in the soft and thick fabric. It felt like a giant hug as I wore the weighted suit, thanks to my size. My tail swayed against my legs as the rolled up sleeves rustled in the wind. Suddenly, I felt the wood below me groan and I turned to see Lloyd, walking towards me with a smile. "Wu says we're almost there," he told me, leaning against the rail.
I responded with a nod, causing Lloyd's grin to falter. "Are you ok?"
I looked back out to the clouds. "Not everyone has a parent to look up to," I simply responded.
I was surprised that Lloyd didn't push, I guess he's aware that he's about to see why.
Soon out in the distance, I saw the large mountain that held the gateway to Molotoke, my old home. I watched as we landed, Wu coming out from behind with his staff and he gave me a nod. Lloyd and Wu followed me off the ship and into the tunnel. No one ever visited Moltoke from Ninjago anymore. You either lived here, or you lived there, no in-betweens. As I walked through towards the other side, my eyes quickly needed to adjust to the raw sunlight breaking through the clearing. Large Evergreen trees outlined the meadow's body, flowers decorating its floors. The soft grass might be one of the only things I missed here. My wrapped feet cried at its soft touch and I inhaled the thick scents of my home. "Welcome to Molotoke," I said.
Lloyd looked around in awe, Wu didn't respond much, almost like he's been here before. The two followed me as I made my way through the meadow and the beauty into to the hell I managed to escape not so long ago. Carefully avoiding the Sunblood populations, we soon made it close to our destination. Pawstocious was not far now and I could already hear the buzzing life of my pack as we approached its boarders.
"Hey! Stop!" called a voice.
I turned to my right as a Moonblood with broad shoulders walked towards us with a small patrol behind him and then I smiled. His scent filled my nose, this was our Beta, Stormaquinn. "Storm?" I called. I watched as Storm stopped, recognizing me and he smiled big. "Liz!"
He quickly ran up to me and gave me a hug, he was practically part of my family. "Gosh, it's good to see you," he said. Pulling back, he looked me over in surprise and turned around to look at the patrol. "Keep on without me, I'll take care of this from here." The patrol nodded, Storm turning back to me. "Did you... you know?"
I shook my head. "I'm still effortlessly powerless," I responded. Storm nodded. "What's with the suit?"
"I gift. I'm part of a team now. Powers or none," I said with a small smile. Storm's eyes brightened. "I'm glad to hear that."
I heard Wu clear his throat and I scoffed. "Sorry. Storm, this is Sensei Wu and Lloyd Garmadon. And this is Beta Stormaquinn."
Storm nodded, reaching out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you both."
Lloyd came up to my side and grabbed my arm as he looked up at Storm. "You're like Liz," he whispered.
I stomped on Lloyd's foot, causing him to yell and Storm chuckled. "Yes I am," he said, twitching his white ears tipped with grey with a smile.
"Now Liz, if I remember right, the last time we spoke, you said you wouldn't return until you got your power. So why have you returned so soon?"
"That sick of me?" I asked with an easy grin.
Storm scoffed and crossed his arm. "Your determined ass marched out of here very determined mind you, yet you're back. Just answer the question."
"We're looking for Foxstorm," Wu answered.
"Foxy?" Storm asked, his ears falling, his voice deepening, the joy gone. "You haven't heard."
I stared directly into his eyes and felt his pain, his sorrow, his guilt. "Heard what?"
"Foxstorm Wolfadeer..." Storm hesitated, his hands shaking.
"Answer me, Stormaquinn! What happened to my mother!"
Storm looked directly into. my eyes, the green in them trying to search the blue in mine and I breathed out softly.
"Foxy was murdered two weeks ago."