Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 103: The Great Battle, Part 2

(Artwork by ninjagofanmam)

"Come back! Come back here, you cowards!" Rip Claw roared.

Anger burned Black Blood's fur, but she forced herself not to bristle. She stood by and watched as the stream of wolves fled the battlefield, bounding past the Moon Tribe warriors and heading back east.

"Let them go. We do not want an ally whose heart is not in the fight." She turned her head back to the west. "Besides, they've already done quite a lot of damage. Although I am disappointed in their integrity I cannot say the same for the amount of havoc they can wreak." Her position on the hill gave her an excellent view of the Sea of Sand, the grassy valley in which the great battle was being fought, and the skyline of Ninjago City beyond. In the grass, littered here and there, lay the bodies of policemen and fighting volunteers. Some were ravaged gruesomely. The sight of the gore staining the grass made her smile.

"The Sons and Daughters are putting too much of a fight," Rip Claw pointed out. The large gray cat whisked his forked tails. "Should we start the spells?"

"No." Whiskers twitching, Black Blood looked over her shoulder. "Send in the war vehicles."

* * *

Jump forward, thrust the sword, jump back, dance to the side, attack again... Zane strategized almost effortlessly as he fought, taking down wolves and Moon Tribe warriors left and right. Some of the werecats had attacked him in their human forms but soon realized the Son of Ice outclassed them in skill. They reverted to their feline bodies and attempted to take him down like that, but Spinjitzu and his ice powers proved to be too much for them. They were too big and he was too quick.

That was when some of them began shifting into their bakeneko forms. Rarely did they fight like this, since it made them the size of a normal feral cat, but this time their size came to their advantage. While Zane was busy with the massive nekomata, small bakeneko began appearing from the pulsing crowd.

Tiny claws pierced Zane's gi. He staggered, startled, as small furry bodies suddenly leapt on top of him and dug their claws into his metallic flesh. They did little damage to his titanium body but succeeded in thoroughly annoying him. Claws and teeth scraped and bit at his face in a storm of fur and angry yowling.

"Ugh— get off!" He stumbled and swatted at them. Tails, legs, and fur swirled around his vision. One cat's claws nearly took out his eye. He felt spiny teeth biting into one ear.

Attempting to stay on his feet, he started, "Ninjaaaaa—!"

"Oh, no you don't!" A giant paw slammed into the side of his face. Stunned, Zane tumbled to the grass. He tried to get up, but they pinned him down. He tried to use his ice powers, but they kept biting and scratching into his hands so hard that he could not summon his powers through the stabs of pain. Spinjitzu was out of the question.

The mass of cats only increased, biting and scratching nearly every inch of his body. Their high-pitched yowling grew louder as more joined the fray.

"We got him!"
"Kill him! Kill him now!"

"He's made of metal, beetle-brain! How're we supposed to kill him?"

"Not so tough now, are you, Son of Ice?"

"Let's feed him to the wolves!"

A weight pushing onto his stomach knocked the breath out of Zane. He looked up to see a yellow-eyed calico grinning down at him. "I don't care how much of you is made of metal. We can still tear you apart, piece by piece."

"You tell him, Wind Trotter!"

"How do you like us now, filthy human?"

He tried to get up again. Wind Trotter's face flashed by his face.