The Silent Man's Whisper [ninjago]

15 | reunited

The air was thick inside the moving vehicle as everyone was staring at one another silently.

Nya, who was driving the getaway bus, threw a glance back at the bunch and rolled her eyes. "Can you guys cut it out?"

"You could have warned us about the extra company, Nya," her brother sneered. "Why are they even here?"

"They helped me in getting out," Nya answered vaguely.

As Jay tried to focus on watching Nya's side profile from across the row, he felt air being blown onto his neck. He slowly turned around and rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone," he told the wannabe bird.

"How can you say that, Jay?" Fugi-Dove said, feigning hurt. "You're my brother!"

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You're my arch-nemesis as well as my brother."

"How is that even possible?"

Fugi-Dove leaned against Jay's seat and looked him straight into his eyes. "You went missing after birth. Happens to the best of us."

Jay slowly side-eyed him, deciding that questioning him would only cause him to lose more braincells than get an answer from a man in a bird costume.

Just keep ignoring him, Jay. Maybe he'll disturb one of the others.

"Jay?" Fugi-Dove poked his ear. "Hello?"

"Gah!" Scooting away from the man, Jay officially gave up and tried to focus on the others.

"You're staring, Smith."

"I am aware, Violet."

Ultra Violet, who was sitting right across from Kai, scoffed. "What is it with you Smiths disrespecting my name?"

"You're the one who named herself after a color," Kai spat, crossing his arms defensively. He couldn't help but question his sister's intentions when she had thought it'd be a good idea to bring three criminals with them.

Not that he wasn't a criminal himself, but still.

The bus was driving across the Sea of Sand at full speed. It was still dark outside but the sun was slowly but surely peeking up from the horizon, creating a beautiful scenery for the ones appreciative of it. No animals or other people were seen during the several-hour long journey — the ninja were on their own. Finally.

"I actually used cranberry juice to finger-paint," Killow told Zane, a soft expression on his face. The giant was always happy to talk about his newfound hobby, even if he was talking to one of his former enemies. "They refused to give us brushes so I needed to improvise."

He pulled a small canvas out of seemingly nowhere and handed it over to Zane, who took it gratefully and admired it.

It was a painting of a blooming poppy flower in a sea of dead flowers of its own kind.

"Does it have a meaning?"

"It does," Killow answered proudly. "It means that you can be different from the others, even though you don't look like it. It's a metaphor." A large grin formed on his face, almost taking up the lower half of it entirely.

Cole sat up in his seat and threw a glance at the painting. "It's good, dude."

"Thanks," Killow told him. He wasn't ready to admit it (not that he felt like he needed to), but he was secretly loving the compliments he got for his own work.

On the other side of the bus, Lloyd stood up from his seat near the window and made his way to the front. He cast Jay a weird look upon noticing Fugi-Dove desperately trying to gain his attention, to which Jay only sighed and shook his head.