Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 94: Fall of the Master of Lightning

Snow lashed into Julia's cheeks. Her entire body throbbed from walking in the dark for so long. The chill of Ninjago's winter had settled into her bones like a parasite, but still she trudged on. She had to. If it weren't for the precious bundle she clutched to her chest beneath the folds of her robes, she would have turned back long ago.

Almost there... I've got to be. I swear, I've been walking for hours!

Bright blond hair in flowing curls whipped around the young woman's face while the wind howled in her ears. Of course this had to be the one winter where blizzards went on for a week straight. During the rest of the year, this place was a desert! She gritted her teeth and forced her legs to shove through the shin-deep snow. At least it wasn't quite as bad as it had been in the north. It had made fighting much, much harder than she liked.

For all the bone-chilling exhaustion she felt, however, Julia couldn't help but grin wryly to herself. They wouldn't find the moonstone—even those horrible werecat sorcerers wouldn't guess where she left the moonstone that her friend Arianna—also known as Lilly—the Master of Earth, had given her a while back. Unbeknownst to them, it lay in the lavish mansion of Cliff Gordon—her husband. Even some of her fellow Elemental Masters hadn't known about the marriage. If they wouldn't know where the moonstone was, then the werecats definitely wouldn't.

Now I've just got to hide the secret that's most precious to me. The small thrill of jubilance quailed at the thought. There was a good chance she would not be able to get her hands on this treasure for a very long time, if she wanted to protect it thoroughly. Still, she was willing to risk it.

Colored lights flickered in the dark. Julia blinked through the rain of snowflakes. She could just barely make out the silhouette of what looked like small mountains—but, if she hadn't gotten lost, she knew those weren't mountains.

The junkyard, she thought with relief. Ha! So I didn't get lost! That'll show Lilly, the know-it-all.

A new sound entered the howl of the wind. The Elemental Master of Lightning stopped. She strained her ears to listen.

There. She heard it again.

Was that the hunting growl of a nekomata?

Though her body already shivered in the snow, her blood felt as if it'd suddenly ran cold. I hope I'm wrong. Please be wrong. Please be wrong. She quickened her pace. Maybe I'm just hearing things. They couldn't have caught up with me that quickly... they should have lost my scent...

The short figure of the girl stumbled her way beneath the sign of flickering lights that read "Ed and Edna's Scrapyard". The lights of a small trailer glowed like a golden flame through the darkness. Julia's heart hammered against her chest. She ran harder, trying to reach the door as fast as she could.

She was gasping by the time she made it. She kept her head down, in case any of the occupants happened to glance out a window. When she pressed her ear against the ice-cold metal exterior of the trailer, she could just barely make out the voices of a man and a woman; both spoke in happy, relaxed tones.

Matilda had better have been right about these people. She made them sound loving and kind. If she's wrong, I'll never forgive her. Julia took a few moments to catch her breath. She sat at the foot of the snow-covered wooden steps that led to the door. Though snowflakes still fell, she was sheltered from the worst of the wind here. She took her hood down, allowing her hair to fall loose around her flushed face. She swallowed and, with trembling hands, lifted up the bundle she had been carrying all these miles.

The tiny figure wrapped thick blankets wriggled uncomfortably. Big electric-blue eyes blinked up at her through the darkness. A shaft of light from the trailer fell upon the tiny tuft of auburn hair upon his head.