Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 69: Return to Birchwood and Liana and Nya's Talk

The Birchwood Forest was still and quiet. Aside from the occasional sparrow twittering in the bare treetops or a lone white rabbit hopping across the path, there was little life in these cold, barren woods of northern Ninjago. Along the lines of dark-striped trees and snowdrifts walked a lone figure: Zane.

He had slipped away from the Destiny's Bounty with some supplies and the Moon Tribe sword hanging from the belt around his waist. What with everyone being occupied with mind-bending, the return of their friends from the hospital, training Liana, etc., it had been easy for him to leave unnoticed by his friends.

He used his elemental dragon to fly most of the way there. Despite the sleeveless gi, he did not don warmer clothing when the wind grew colder and snow became prominent in the land. Ice was his element and home; he felt little need to protect himself against it. When his great ice-blue, shimmering dragon began skimming over the bare canopies of the birches, he allowed the creature to disappear and for himself to fall gracefully to the snowy ground. There he walked, with no need of a map nor GPS. He knew this place.

Eventually the light of day faded away and left the forest dark and silent, with the trees standing in the moonlight like inky, twisted figures arching over the snow. Zane finally admitted to himself he needed to stop and rest for the night. It would take several more hours yet for him to reach his destination, and if he didn't get at least a little rest for the night, his energy would be too low and unreliable in the morning. Pixal sometimes had to get onto him about working too hard. She would probably reprimand him in this case.

That is... if she were still speaking to him.

At this thought, Zane paused in his stride. "Pixal...? Pixal, are you there?"

He waited. No reply.

He suppressed a sigh. "I know you are there. Won't you answer?"

Silence. The dark shadows and still trees surrounding him made him feel lonelier than ever.

He gave up and collected twigs and branches. It wasn't very long, thanks to a blowtorch device that he could summon from his arm, before Zane had a small fire blazing, casting the inly-black silhouettes of the trees into dancing shadows. He crouched by the fire with a single coat to serve as his bedding. The crackling flames warmed his titanium frame, reminding him of how cold he had allowed his body to become.

He hadn't bothered to bring any food with him. He'd decided it wouldn't hurt to go hungry for a day. Still, his metallic stomach rumbled with mild discomfort as he lay himself upon the makeshift bedding.

The fire had burned down to red embers when the sound of a startled bird crying awoke him. Zane started up, blinking in the darkness. He heard the bird—a crow, by the sound of it—raising a panicked caw, its cry fading as it flew away into the night.

Zane prepared to go back to sleep—until he thought of something:

What scared the crow?

He sat up and reached for the Moon Tribe sword that lay nearby. He scanned the black shadows for any sign of movement. For several long, chilling minutes he sat there, staring into the woods and listening for any further sign of hostile life. He wondered if Treehorns still haunted these forests.

Gradually, he became aware of some noise in the distance; so quiet he at first wasn't sure he heard it. It drew closer. Snow crunching beneath weight.

It was a slow pattern, as if something was trudging through the snow banks. Slowly, gently, the sound neared Zane.

Resolved to meet whatever source of the sound this was—friend or foe—Zane gripped the wide-bladed sword and stood up. "Who's there?"