Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 90: Fire, Earth, and Lightning

"Eagle Talon? Are you all right?"

Talon grunted when a paw poked his face. Sleepily, he groaned, "Ge' off meh."

"What happened?"

Blearily, Talon made himself open his eyes. He realized he was lying curled up at Dove Stream's gravestone, his back pressed up against the icy rock. The shapes of the landscape surrounding him were cast in shadow. Yet streaks of pale light were making their way from the peaks, signaling the coming of dawn. Talon shivered in the damp chill, and realized that his muscles felt stiff and sore.

He peered up at the cat standing before him, and recognized it to be Mist Rise.

"What is it?" he asked in a sleepy mumble.

The large tom's ear flicked. "I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you doing out here? Is everything all right?"

Ignoring his stiff muscles, Talon staggered to his paws. "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I was just— just having a midnight walk, and I fell asleep."

"Then why is your ear bleeding?"

My ear...? Talon flicked both ears, and felt one of them throb in protest. He suddenly recalled feeling it bleed, but he'd been too tired to care at the time... "Is it bad?"

"Kind of. You should probably get that looked at by one of the sorcerers." Mist Rise cocked his head, studying Talon. "How did that happen? Did you meet a predator?"

"Just cut it on a rock," Talon muttered. "Wasn't looking where I was going."

"Mm." Talon couldn't tell if the other cat believed him or not. Wordless, Mist Rise's forked tails twitched back and forth or a few seconds before he announced, "I came to look for you because Black Blood summoned you."

"Again?" Talon muttered, more to himself than Mist Rise.

"It's a war meeting. It's important," the other tom pressed.

"All right, all right, I get it," Talon snapped. He shook himself and lashed his tails, trying to make himself feel alert. "I'm coming."

Mist Rise hesitated, glancing over at the gravestone. Then he turned and padded off, waving at Talon with his tails to follow. Talon obeyed, head whirling with questions surrounding last night's dream.

* * *

Much like last time, all the sorcerers were gathered in the conference chamber around the old map. Mist Rise and Eagle Talon were the only cats there who weren't sorcerers. Like before, Black Blood was seated at the head of the map, with the rest of them sitting and standing along the sides. Most were already murmuring among themselves when the younger toms entered, and thus paid them little attention until Black Blood said, "I apologize for getting you up this early, Mist Rise and Eagle Talon. But if we are to act on this, it needs to be today, and we will not have much time to get there."

"Get where?" Eagle Talon responded gruffly. He ignored the dark looks he earned from Raven Frost, Broken Fang, Rip Claw, and Lion Claw. It was considered both rude and dangerous to not treat a tribe sorcerer with the utmost respect and propriety. At this point, however, Talon didn't really care about being respectful.

With one of her tails, Black Blood beckoned for her brother to join her. He obeyed, padding up to her side at the head of the map. As he seated himself, he realized she was giving him a peculiar look.

"What happened to your ear?" she asked.

Embarrassed, he licked his paw and ran it over the wounded ear. He could feel a cut in the sensitive flesh. "Cut it on a rock," he muttered.