The Child of Silver

44

There was nothing but white, and he could feel nothing but the biting sting of the cold surrounding him. A man made of pure titanium looked out at the frozen tundra, unsure of what he was doing there, or how he got there in the first place. 

But just then, he heard a voice. A soft gentle voice laughing. He looked forward, seeing someone in the distance.

"Hello?" He asked, but the stranger ran away as if scared by his call, "Wait! Please, can you tell me where I am?" 

He began running, but the ice beneath his feet broke, making him fall into a deep cavern made of pure ice and losing his arm for a moment. He quickly took his arm back and placed into his shoulder. However, he wasn't alone. No, it wasn't the stranger that he saw before, but instead a great beast coming from the darkness of the cage.

A large white and blue dragon appeared, roaring at the man as a large chain was wrapped around its neck, preventing any chance of escape. The man frantically looked around for a way out, when a voice called to him.

"Zane? Are you still there?" Zane looked up and saw a falcon at the top near the hole where he fell from, "If you can hear me, wake up! You need to wake up."

Zane gasped as he opened his eyes, breaking free from his nightmare.

"It was only a dream." He sighed.

"It's amazing you dream." The same voice, PIXAL, said from the cell next to his, "I've always wondered what it's like. You've always been special."

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm PIXAL, a friend." PIXAL answered, "And you're in danger and have to get out of here. Your memory drive is out of sorts and your elemental power..."

"Elemental power?" Zane questioned, pulling at the chains.

"You're a nindroid, Zane, a ninja. And your friends are here to save you and Anirei. But they can't do it all. You have to remember who you are."

"Friends? Anirei?"

"Remember, Zane. You and Anirei saved your friends, and then you rebuilt yourself. There are things about you that you don't understand. That you have yet to discover. But if we're ever going to get out of here, you have to remember."

"PIXAL." Zane gasped, remembering just a little bit about her, "We are compatible?"

"Yes, Zane. Yes, we are."

Zane sighed in relief, but then remembered the face of the little sister he lost. Anirei. Was she the one who was in his dream? The stranger that ran from him?

He didn't know, but what he did know was that he had to leave and get her back. Something in the back of his mind told him that she was in great danger and that she was badly hurt.

~~~~

It was just after dawn when all of the Elemental Masters gathered in the dining hall for breakfast, the chatter of all the masters could be softly heard as they all wondered what today's challenge would be, and who would be eliminated from the tournament.

"Next!" One of the chefs said just as Garmadon and Lloyd moved up the line, "Uh-uh, nothing for you."

"There's a valuable lesson here, son." Garmadon said, "If you turn your back on your first evil sensei you in an effort to go straight, you may not be served creamy biscuits."

"Well, I know what we are being served." Lloyd said as his father left him, "A while bunch of baloney. This isn't a tournament, it's an alibi to steal everyone's powers. But we still don't know why."

"Isn't it obvious?" Kai said, "Chen wants to destroy New Ninjago City. I don't know what it is, but that place has had a string of bad luck."

"I'm not so sure." Cole countered, "From what Sensei G's told us about him, I have a feeling it's something far more sinister. Especially if he has Anirei somewhere on this island. She's powerful, and if he's planning something, it has to be something that includes her."