Prompt: Something spring related
I looked up "things to do in the spring" and the first result was spending time in nature, so I had this idea... goes really well with forest ambience videos, especially if you listen to the ones that are "mysterious fantasy forest" types with music. I did that a lot while making this.
Very shortly after season 13 ~
Six pairs of feet jumped from tree to tree, branches bending under their weight before snapping back and helping propel them to the next tree. The clinking of their armor resonated against the natural silence of the forest, overwhelming the gentle sound of water cascading in the distance. Still, it was far quieter than they were used to. Jay crouched on his perch in the treetops and admired the peace of it all. Not far from the mountain range where Shintaro resided, the forest was almost entirely untouched by humans, except for a small settlement on the edges or a cabin here and there. This far in, the ninja were likely the only people to have ever been there. It was the perfect place for a little time off.
"Ugh, where are we going, exactly?" Jay complained.
"Wherever the wind wants" Nya shrugged, apparently at ease with the plan.
"We're not going to find adventure just going where the wind takes us if we sail right over said places. How about the forest we're over right now?"
"Zane already scanned it, there's nothing much going on down there."
"Exactly. We can do whatever we want, take in some scenery, play a game or something, anything!"
"What kind of game are you thinking?"
"I don't know, something where I can put the smack down on all of you. So, pretty much any game" Jay grinned mischievously.
A flying spear rooting itself into the tree trunk an inch away from Jay's face pulled him from his reverie. Nya had agreed to the competition, perhaps too eagerly for his own good.
"You're falling behind, Sparky!" she leapt up at him from a lower branch, reaching for the headband wrapped around his arm. He dodged just in time and she hung onto her spear, her weight pulling it from the trunk as she gracefully dropped onto the branch below, disappearing into the forest.
Jay pulled on the headband, tightening it around his arm. Each ninja had grabbed a headband from their things on the Bounty. Wu had hidden himself somewhere deep in the forest; the first team to find him and wrap four headbands around his staff would win. The fire and water siblings ganged up together immediately, Kai pulling Lloyd along with them, to face off against Jay, Zane, and Cole. Jay scanned the tangle of branches around him - he really was falling behind, everyone else was long gone. Without a chance to secure a fourth headband for his team, he took off in search of Wu. The old master wouldn't make it easy to find him, or get his staff...
~
Lloyd slid down from the top of the tree he was clinging to, his plan to look above the canopy leading to nothing. He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, meditating on the peace of the forest, the chirping of the birds that had been background noise to him until now. A tree creaked in the distance, the sound echoing among the massive trunks of the deep forest. Or maybe it was some creature unknown to him. Lloyd couldn't tell. He reached out mentally, searching for a few creatures very well known to him. His elemental energy stirred in response to... fire. He felt the chaotic stirring of flames a few trees to the left of him. A moment later he heard the telltale sound of feet landing heavily on a thick tree branch. Kai was on his team though, finding him didn't do Lloyd any good. He opened his eyes to keep moving, unable to detect any elements he could chase down. The slowly setting sun glinted off something metallic, catching his eye. Lloyd turned to face it and squinted. It was still mostly light out, but in the distance he could just make out the faint glow of two blue eyes... staring right back at him. Their eyes met and titanium ninja disappeared further into the thicket in the blink of an eye.
