Ninjago - Heart of Stone

Chapter Sixteen: A Dying Rose

Wu stroked his beard thoughtfully as Lexi explained the situation. She'd heard Garmadon's voice, she said, like he was inside her mind, speaking into his brain. He'd been talking of a helmet, and thinking about how it had started the clock in the first place.

Misako stood anxiously beside him, glancing worriedly from one face to another. From the second Lexi had invited her in, Misako seemed to have opened the floodgates to being entirely motherly. She'd already worried more over Lexi in these few minutes than she had for her entire life. Lloyd, too, looked concerned, but his eyes betrayed the truth. He'd known, obviously, and he was surprised but pleased that Lexi had come forward.

The other ninja were gathered at Lexi's back, leering over each other's shoulders and listening with rapt attention as Lexi explained everything. Most of them looked tired, and it was clear they all wanted to sleep more than anything, but after Lexi's display earlier no one was willing to risk offending her, or dismissing what she had to say.

"Wu, this isn't good," Misako said the moment Lexi finished speaking. Her cheeks were pale and she was chewing her lip like it was a piece of beef jerky. "Hearing voices, connected minds... it's darkness."

"It's her power," Wu said grimly. "It's their power." He turned to Lexi, peering at her carefully. She stared back at him evenly, all trace of fear and worry erased from her expression. "Whatever Lexi has heard is true, and it will help us."

"How can we be sure it's true?" Kai asked suspiciously. "Just because she heard a voice—"

"I didn't just hear a voice," Lexi said irritably, turning to glare at him, "I heard my father's thoughts. There's a difference." She narrowed her eyes. "Our minds are connected somehow. We need to use this to our advantage."

"Hold on," Jay said, "if your minds are connected, shouldn't we be worried about that? I mean, Garmadon can read your thoughts, too!"

"There's nothing I can tell him that would matter," Lexi said stiffly.

"Regardless," Wu interrupted, "Lexi is correct. We must use this knowledge to our advantage, and quickly." His gaze swept over the faces of his team, staring at him expectantly. "Rest well, my pupils. At first light, we make for the Stone Army's encampment, and we steal the helmet."

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When dawn broke, the ninja were already out of bed and preparing for their assault. Everyone, it seemed, was eager to be doing something after their previous longs days at sea, and their night of emotion. Lexi in particular seemed anxious to get moving, although this could also have been because it was her idea to steal the helmet in the first place.

"Alright, let's review the plan again," Cole said as everyone huddled together, "Lexi, Lloyd, and me go into the camp to find the helmet. Kai and Nya also go in, but to create a distraction to lure the stone warriors away. Zane, Jay, Julian and Misako will act as guards, standing around the perimeter of the camp to watch out for scouts and the like. Wu will be patrolling the area to make sure everything goes well." He looked up, observing the circle of faces around him. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Jay said, "why does everyone get a cool job but us?" He gestured to himself and Zane, simultaneously nodding to Julian and Misako. "I don't wanna be a lookout."

"That's too bad," Cole said, "because you have the sharpest eyes."

"And the loudest mouth," Kai added under his breath. Jay smacked him.

"Knock it off, you two," Cole said sternly, "this is serious business." He straightened up, glancing over his shoulder into the jungle the surrounded them. In the faint sunlight that filtered through he thick canopy of trees, it looked dark and imposing, like a cavern made of greenery. "Are we all ready?"