The Wanderer

Cloud Kingdom

We all stood on the Bounty as Lloyd was steering. Arin petted Riyu as the Dragon was still asleep. "Our little guy's still asleep. Totally exhausted."

"Saving a kingdom of magical mud eating monsters will do that" Lloyd explained. Kai tilts his head "So you're telling me this Dragon, like, sparks or something, then Sora can use her Elemental Power?"

Sora turned to us from the lower deck and sighed, removing her welding mask "If I even have a power. It might be all Riyu. You saw how he powered up that mud field."

"We've gone over this" Lloyd replied, "You have a power. Riyu just soups it up." He smiled. I raised an eyebrow "Soups it up? That's a great definition." I rolled my eyes. Nya chuckled "Yeah, sounds weird."

Lloyd shrugged, "Everything's been weird since the Merge happened. As far as I know..." He turned to Arin, "You're the second person in history to ever teach themselves Spinjitzu."

Arin gasped "That's right, Asteria taught herself it!"

I sighed "Yes...Yes, I did." I said. "Wait, wait." Kai said, looking to Arin "You learned Spinjitzu by yourself? No Master Wu morning breath?"

Arin rubbed the back of his head "Well, it's kind of a shaky, basic Spinjitzu. I was just trying to figure out all the moves I've seen you do. I'm kind of a Ninja fan."

"Kind of?" Sora chuckled, "He once asked the barber to give him the Zane. It did not go well." She says and I couldn't help but utter a snicker. Kai rolled his eyes "Of course not. He should've gotten the Kai." The fire ninja said with a wave of his hand.

"Please. You shouldn't even get the Kai" Nya said. I nod, "Yeah, with all that spiky hair you got there, porcupine" I smirked. "Hey!" The fire ninja exclaimed and I laughed.

Nya turned to Lloyd, "You think all this is tied to these Mergequake things?" She asks. Lloyd shrugged "Maybe. Mergequakes are like aftershocks of the original Merge, where two realms try to occupy the same space. Elemental powers shut them down, but they're happening more often."

"That's why I went searching for help." Kai replied, "If we don't stop the Mergequakes, they could destroy everything."

Nya frowned "So we really got our work cut out for us when we get back to Ninjago City."

"Speaking of cities..." Lloyd said and we all looked, Cloud Kingdom coming into view. The three kids run to the railing, gasping at the Kingdom. Kai gasped "The Cloud Kingdom. Whoa."

A frown tug at my lips, remembering the time my friends had to come here. I glanced at Lloyd. Sora turned to us, "Why wasn't this here on our way out?"

"It's a floating Kingdom. It must've floated into our path." I reply. Arin sighed, "It's relaxing here. I could really get used to this." He says. "Don't jinx us, kid..." I say. Right as I said that, there was a rumble. "...Anyone else feel that?" Kai asked.

"You bet, spiky." I mumbled. Lloyd stopped the Bounty and we looked up, the top of a tower tumbling down. Arin gasped "Relaxation is canceled!"

It started to come right for us, Lloyd pulled the lever and steered the Bounty away. My eyes widened when I heard a lady scream, "Help!"