Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 97: Ninjago City

The flight to Ninjago City was taking longer than everyone had planned, probably because all the crew members woke up the next morning sleep-deprived. Those who had suffered nightmares the previous night were none the worse for wear, aside from the obvious lack of sleep—although Misako in particular seemed skittish. Jay noticed she also kept finding excuses to be in the same room with Lloyd, whatever he was doing. Master Wu often attempted to distract her with tea or idle conversation. Liana seemed to be doing all right, but then, she had Nya and Little Leaf keeping a close eye on her. He could never tell what was going through the head of that blind girl, anyway.

Work in trimming the sails of the Bounty, cleaning up and getting dressed served as a blessing to Jay. Anything to distract him from the memory of his nightmares. At the moment, however, he found himself standing idly in the cabin while Zane and Lloyd typed away at the monitors, readjusting the ship's coordinates to the city. Little Leaf hovered by Lloyd while Misako and Master Wu shared some tea at the other side of the room on a couple of cushions. Jay wondered if he had dark bags beneath his eyes like Misako did.

Looking around, he realized that he wished Nya were there with him. Some sense of uneasiness had been clinging to him all morning, and he felt that she was the only person who could drive it away. Wondering where she was, he stuck in his hands into the pockets of his gi unmindfully. One hand found a stiff piece of paper.

He pulled it out and recognized the watercolor portrait of the blond woman he'd found in Cliff Gordon's mansion weeks earlier. The only one I ever loved, read the scrawled handwriting on the side.

Don't be like your mama. She let fear get the best of her, and that's how she lost you.

He tried to shake off the memory of Kohuru's taunting voice. Dumb fox. What does she know? He huffed and stuffed the picture back into his pocket. Where's Nya?

He walked briskly out of the cabin and headed downstairs to the quarters. The corridors to the bedrooms were empty, so he entered the den where the video game console was. He caught the sound of someone's voice just as he was grabbing the handle of the sliding door.

He slid it open—then froze. Cole and Nya, standing by the couch, stopped talking and looked at him inquiringly.

Why're they in here together—alone?! His breathing quickened. An image from his nightmares flashed back into his head—what had they been doing in the den by themselves? Panic rose. Is it true? Is this what Kohuru meant? Is she cheating on me—?

"What is it?" Nya spoke up. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you OK?"

Her voice brought him back to earth. He licked his lips and stammered, "Uhh— yeah. Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I? Just, ahh, making the rounds. Yep!"

Cole looked annoyed. "Do you need anything?"

Jay bit back a snappy retort. "Nope. Just— making sure Nya's OK."

"I'm fine." She looked perplexed, but gave him a smile. "Could you give us just a minute? I'll be right up."

Jay felt his mouth go dry. "Sure. No problem." He turned and walked away abruptly. He wished he could make the sick feeling in his stomach go away.

Nya looked on after him a moment before turning back to Cole. "So you told Master Wu?"

Cole nodded. "He gave Liana some tea that'll hopefully calm her and slow down the effects of the nightmares. He said he has no idea why she and Talon could share the same dream and hurt each other, but it's something we might have to be prepared for to happen again."