Where did it all go Wrong?

Chapter 18

(*Incomprehensible nindroid screeching*
1.3 thousand reads?!?! The First Spinjitzu Master has blessed me indeed. I managed to get this chapter back after remembering I exported it to my laptop for safe keeping.
So while me and my cousins drink pure lemon juice in the rain, enjoy this new chapter!)

Something wasn't right.

Lloyd could feel it as his trainers scuffed in the dirt. He could feel it as the wind whipped furiously around him. He could feel it as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as unseen eyes burning into his back. Lloyd shivered in what little clothing covered him as Winter beat him with its frosty fists, his breaths being released in puffs of mist.

It was an understatement to say that the group was feeling terrible. Dark crescent moons were visible under puffy eyes, pale skin made it stand out more prominently. Whether these effects were from lack of sleep or stress was not certain, though for the ninja, the line between the two was getting a little out of focus.

When making decisions while your half asleep was like, from what Lloyd imagined, drunk driving your life. The nauseating fatigued feeling ate away at the corners of reality, blurring the edges of his vision. Lloyd stumbled through the dirt, barely registering the fact he had once again bumped into one of his teammates, Kai. The latter gave a small grunt in recognition, hoisting the younger ninja onto his feet before Kai continued ahead, leaving Lloyd to his thoughts.

Perhaps Lloyd's underlying sense of dread simply sprouted from paranoia? It was entirely plausible, Ranger had informed them they would soon arrive and tensions had been running high as of late. The closer they came to Auris, the closer they came to Birchwood and possibly Zane.

Lloyd used a oak tree to support himself, his palms digging into the rough tree bark. They had been walking in freezing temperatures for hours, it was like Sensei Wu was still here, ordering them up in the early hours of the morning to do what, at the time, felt like pointless ninja training. Lloyd strained his ears as a faint sound of shifting air brought him back down to Ninjago and out of his thoughts.

A loud whistle made him jump as an arrow sailed through the air, landing straight between his middle and index finger of his hand that was still rested against the tree trunk. He swallowed a lump in his throat as his heart pounded fiercely. His body shaking, his gaze turned to Ranger who looked on edge, he obviously wasn't the one to shoot the arrow, but who? Who would try to impale the green ninja?

As if reading his thoughts, Ranger replied in a firm voice, "It was a warning shot." Lloyd could hear the underlying emotions, he sounded concerned and scared, but it didn't seem to be about the arrow.
Pressing his lips into a thin line, Lloyd yanked the object from the tree, sending wood flying. He yelped as chippings entered his eye, he furiously blinked it away, water leaking from his eyes.

Examining the arrow with slightly fuzzy sight, Lloyd silently gave the mysterious shooters points for effort. The arrow was beautiful, with iridescent blue feathers at one end and a sharp point at the other. The body was also nice, similar to Ranger's arrows, it was obviously hand crafted with a lot of care and was polished to the point it looked like a sun itself if it got anywhere near a ray of light. It was carved with a swirl that reminded Lloyd of a snake, the long tail twisting around as it ascended. Placing the arrow in his palms, he tested the weight. It felt light enough that it would fly from the bow with ease, but heavy enough that it could skewer a living animal with a single shot. Lloyd shivered again, but this time not from the cold.

Ranger raised a hand, "Stop," he commanded to the group, "There's somethi- gah!" He grunted in surprise as a figure jumped from the canopy above, using Ranger's shoulders to propel themselves before flipping onto the ground. More mysterious figures also followed, surrounding the ninja.
The first one that had appeared, obviously the leader, unsheathed two blades from his belt. Though Lloyd couldn't see their face from behind a black hood, he could tell they were smirking.

The figure had a low voice, and Lloyd quickly identified them as male. The man pulled back his hood, revealing a slim face and handsome features, and said, "Come with me if you want to li-" he paused as if thinking something over, "Sorry, that's Terminator..." he waved a hand dismissively, "but the point still stands."

"What point?" Jay piped up, albeit slightly shakily, "you didn't even finish what you were saying...and what's Terminator?"

The man grumbled something indistinguishable and muttered, "Just follow me."

Kai scoffed, "We're not just gonna follow you, we've been on enough adventures to know you don't just follow the stranger into the woods."

The man smiled, playing with the blades, "It's your choice, punk, live or die."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, "It's not like you're actually gonna- oh- you are," he gulped, "and we're walking..."