A/N: K it's 11 at night and nighttime is when I feel the nicest so here's an update that--for normal people--could've waited till morning

But I'll be normal when--

No. Not even then.

Lizz woke up with an angry hiss--startled by something in her sleep. Jay, who was closest to her, jumped back a little, "Whoa!"

"Oops," Lizz's voice was flat as she fell back down.

Jay sat down beside her, offering a bowl of noodles, "Rough night?"  

Lizz sat back up and gratefully took the take-out from NinjaGo, "Yeah... you could say that, I guess... Did mom bring breakfast?"

"She did," Jay confirmed, nodding back over his shoulder at Misako and Wu, who were talking in hushed whispers.  

"Who's all up?"

"Everyone but Kai," Jay stood up, slurping down the rest of his noodles before offering a hand to Lizz.

Unlike the rest of the times someone offered her a hand, she actually grasped her's firmly in Jay's and allowed him to pull her to her feet, "Thanks, Jay."  

The two of them went over to one of the logs they'd been seated on last night. Each grabbed another bowl of noodles and sat down, side by side, "How long've you been up?"

"Maybe an hour," Jay shrugged, watching Cole come over to them with his own breakfast. He sat on the other side of Lizz, making her slide down to her feet and move to the left side of Jay. Jay gave her a strange look, "Something going on with you two?"  

"No," Lizz denied it, "I just don't like the right side of people, you know that, Jay."

"But-" Jay stopped himself, thinking it best not to say anything. He did know that she disliked the right side of a friend, but also knew she liked to be in the middle if the number of those in a group was greater than two.  

Kai was being licked on the face by a not-so-wild Wallaber and was suddenly startled awake, shrieking before scooting away from it and standing up, "Misako got our message," he acknowledged, joining the group.

"And she brought breakfast," Cole told him through a mouthful.

"Good," Kai sighed, "I'm starving."  

Kai turned around to get it and saw that his breakfast was being eaten by a Wallaber, earning an exasperated groan from Kai.

"As far as I knew, the tomb was only a fable," Misako was holding a rolled-out scroll, looking eagerly at it, "Until I saw what was on the staff."  

Kai turned around to Lizz, Jay and Cole, "Does she know what the symbols mean?"

"Not the last two yet," Cole whispered, "But get this; the first symbol means Airjitzu," for emphasis, he waved around his chopsticks above his head.

"Airjitzu?" Kai went back and peered over Misako's shoulder.  

"A lost martial art created by Sensei Yang," Misako explained, "Who passed years ago... If mastered, it allows one to temporarily take flight."

"You hear that, Kai?!" Jay shouted, "We get to fly!"

"You haven't found it yet," leave it to Sensei Wu to ruin the temporary excitement. He began stroking his beard, looking off into the trees, "The scroll of Airjitzu it well guarded in the Ancient Library of Domu."  

"Forgive me if I speak out of turn," Zane closed his eyes, resting a hand on his head, "But my records reveal it was recently stolen."

Jay gasped, "By who?!"

"Let me guess," Cole's grip on his chopsticks tightened, "By Ronin."

"Who's Ronin?" Lizz and Nya both asked it, but Lizz felt she'd heard the name somewhere before.  

"Let's just say," Kai was scowling, "He's not a friend."

"But this is good news!" Jay called with a grin.

"Uh... how so?" Cole leaned forward to look Jay straight in the face.

"'Cuz if Morro doesn't know this," Jay was waving his chopsticks around so much Lizz thought he was going to poke Cole's eye out, "He'll be heading to the library!"

"And Ronin's most likely holed up in the Village of Stiix, which gives us a headstart!" Cole was grinning too, now.  

"Then it's set," Sensei nodded, putting his hands on his hips, "The Ninja will head to Stiix. We three," he looked at Misako and Nya, "Will head back to the tea shop and begin deciphering the next clues."

"But-" Nya objected, "Lloyd's my friend, too. The Ninja will need my help-"

"I'm sorry, Nya," Sensei interrupted, "You're sitting this one out. There's too much to be done here."  

"Wait, wait, wait," Lizz held up for a moment, "Has anyone seen dad lately? I haven't seen him in, like, two weeks."

A look was passed around throughout the group and finally Kai spoke up, "Not lately, no, I don't think anyone's seen him."  

Lizz huffed and climbed on top of a Wallaber, "Whatever..." she took hold of it's long, curved horns and steered it towards the others.

Kai was right next to her, looking at Nya, "Don't worry, sis. With me in charge, this scroll will be ours in no time."  

"Cuz time flies when you know Airjitzu," Jay gloated, "Get it? Hahaha!"

"Be careful, Ninja," Sensei warned them, "For the path we seek, is never a straight line. Rely on each other to guide your way."

One by one the Ninja fell into a convoy through the woods, "Wait up!" Kai shouted after them, unable to get his Wallaber to move, "I'm supposed to be leading here!"  

* * *

"98,898 bottles of tea on the wall! 98,898 bottles of tea! Take one down, pass it around, 98,897 bottles of-"

"Enough!" Kai turned around and yelled at the rest of them, "I'm really thirsty, so we don't need to keep singing about tea!"

"Oo!" Cole taunted, looking at Jay, Lizz and Zane with a sly smirk, "Someone should've had their breakfast."

"It is kinda his fault for leading us through the desert," Lizz added in a mumble.

Kai groaned and turned to face forward, "We've been following the sun for hours. We should've been arriving at Stiix already."

"But Stiix is on the Eastern Coast," Zane told them, "We should be riding away from the sun."

"Why," Jay screeched, all their Wallabers coming to an abrupt halt, "are you first telling us this now?!"  

"Because," Zane claimed, pointing forward as-matter-of-factly, "Kai wanted to lead."

"Great!" Cole was struggling to keep in his annoyance, "We're officially lost! And we had a leg up but noooooo! Kai wanted to lead!"

"I swear," Kai looked back, pointing at the sun, "My gut says we should be following the sun!"

"Ugh," Jay scoffed, "You're arguing with a Nindroid! He's a walking computer!" Jay waved at Zane, as if his appearance would explain it all, "Why is it when Lloyd's gone we look to Kai?" Jay was whispering at the three of them now, "We should really be following Zane."

"You know," Cole agreed, looking at Zane, too, "He is the most logical choice."  

Zane began gently turning his Wallaber around, Jay and Cole following his lead. Kai, however, stayed put, "I still think it's that way. When I learn Airjitzu first, we'll see who's right," after his tirade, Kai spurred his Wallaber forward towards the others, "Lizz," he slowed when he passed Lizz, who still hadn't moved, "You comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off and moved up past him a little, her Wallaber falling in step with the other three.

They all began snickering when they heard from behind them an angry bull's whine and Kai yelling, "Hey-Hey! No, this way! Aaahh! Fine. We'll follow Zane..."

After a little while their formation had broken apart--Zane was farther in head, and a little ways behind was Cole. A few metres behind him was Jay and a half foot to the left of Jay was Lizz. Kai was still far back. Zane began speeding up even more and Cole chuckled, "He's already found something! Let's go!"

They all sped up, following Zane over to a set of railroad tracks, "Train tracks?" Lizz questioned, "When did these get here?"

"They've been here for as long as I can remember," Jay shrugged.

"They lead straight to Stiix," Zane exclaimed with a happy point down the tracks.

"Heeyyyy," Jay mocked, "You hear that, Kai? They lead. To Stiix. We follow Zane, and look what happens!"  

Kai made a face, raising his hand a bit to object, "But Sensei said the path we seek is never a straight line."

Zane began leading the group down the tracks, staying right on the edge of them as he glanced over his shoulder, "He also said rely on each other to guide."

Jay--second in line--glanced over his shoulder at the back of the line, "Yeah, Kai," then he stuck out his tongue and made a noise before sitting normally.

"98,897 bottles of tea on the wall," Zane, Lizz, Jay and Cole all began singing again, "92, 897 bottles of tea! Take one down, pass it around..."  

* * *

"... No more bottles of tea on the wall!" they all finished, trailing off into a fit of laughter. It had gotten dark long ago, but that hadn't slowed them down any in spirits or speed.

"That was enjoyable!" Zane giggled, "Let's do it again!"

"NO!" the other four chorused, still chuckling to themselves.

"Awe," Jay looked down at his lap, "I wish Lloyd was here for that..."

"Yeah," Lizz mumbled, looking off to the side, watching the mountains in the distance, "So do I..."

"But we'll find the tomb," Kai stated in a hard voice, but he was looking softly at Lizz, "And we'll save him."  

"I wonder why the tomb is so important," Cole's bushy eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and wonder.

"I dunno!" Jay shrugged, flailing an arm around a little, like he was trying to prove a point, "Sensei says it holds 'unspeakable power'."

"It's the tomb of The First Spinjitzu Master," Kai confirmed, like they didn't know that already, "Whatever power it holds, it must be protected."

They came up on a dingy little wooden train platform, "Let's take a break here," Zane suggested softly.

They all stopped their convoy and slid to the ground, grateful to be able to stretch their legs as one by one they stepped onto the platform. Lizz stepped over to the corner and leaned against the water tower, earning a spooky, echoing snicker. She stiffened, "Uh, guys..."

The boys all froze and Cole looked around, "Did you hear that?" his voice shook slightly.

"Yeah, I did," Jay scanned their surroundings, "But we're in the middle of nowhere!"

It sounded again, dark and taunting. It caused Lizz to jump towards the others, taking cover by Zane as they all dispersed around the platform, "I don't know," Kai shook his head, finding nothing in their dimly-lit surroundings as everyone turned to face each other, "But be on guard."  

The snickering got louder and closer, seeming to come from everywhere at once and out of nowhere popped a huge, smoking-green 3-wheeled motorcycle. It landed on the ground, hurtling towards the Ninja. They flipped up their hoods and Jay's voice rang out over the engine, "What is that?!"

"Nothing good!" Lizz replied when Zane threw a shuriken at the driver and it went right through him--not even noticing he'd been run through with a weapon.

"Watch out!" the five of them jumped and/or rolled out of the way as the vehicle popped a wheelie and drove onto their platform, the ghoul on board swinging around what looked like a blade on the end of a chain, laughing hysterically all the while.

"My shurikens!" Zane yelled, "They went right through him!"  

"Because he's a ghost!" Jay shouted at him, waving around a very sharp katana.

Meanwhile the ghost driver did a quick U-turn, the tires squealing in protest as he floored it back towards them, "Morro must've summoned some friends!" Kai warned, "We're sitting ducks out in the open! We need to take shelter!" Again he he drove up onto their slightly-safe haven and again they had to jump out of harm's way. The cycle went a little ways away, and turned around once more, "Ahh guy's he's comin' for another pass!" Jay shouted.  

"I think we know that, Jay!" Lizz snarled at him, rolling off to the side as the ghost demolished the unsteady shack that could've been their only cover.

"There is no shelter!" Cole told Kai angrily.

"Oh wonderful," Lizz straightened herself up, talking really loudly to hear herself over the pounding in her ears and the roaring of the motorcycle, "He's coming back again!"

Just as she yelled this the ghost used the wrecked remains of their hut as a ramp, swinging his creepy green chain like a lasso at them. Cole jumped over it and the other four ducked under it like a limbo game that gambled their life. As soon as he hit the ground again his chain hooked onto the horn of one of their Wallabers.  

The Wallaber turned creepy green, the other four moving away from the oddball, "He turned my Wallaber into a ghost!" Cole screeched angrily, "No one turns my Wallaber into a ghost!" he flailed his sword at the rampaging ghost.

Jay and Lizz hopped down to the ground, shooing away the herd of Wallabers--ghost included, "Get! Get! Shoo! Run away!" Jay even slapped one on the rear end to get it moving after the others.

Then he and Lizz jumped back to the others, standing in a formation of a five-point star--each of them with their backs towards the others, "Where'd he go?!" Kai was tense, looking frantically around, "I can't see him!"

They each moved back two steps so they literally were back-to-back, "Stay. Together," Zane stressed.

"If our weapons do nothing," Jay started, scowling at his sword like it murdered his family, "How are we supposed to fight a ghost?!"  

"Good question..." Lizz's grip tightened on the handle of her sword, swearing in fear when the ghost they sought out jumped out of thin air directly in front of her.

It scared her so much she dropped her blade, "There he is!" Cole shouted as they broke formation, scattering like ants. The ghost was flailing his chain again and though they did their best to dodge it, it smacked Kai right in the face and fell to the ground, wrapping around his ankle. He noticed and swallowed thickly, "That's not good."

His feet got pulled out from under him as as soon as he started being dragged across the ground on his back Lizz shouted out at him and tried to run after him but Zane grabbed her by the crook of her arm, "He can get himself out."

Indeed he did. A little ways down Kai sliced through the chain, tumbling ass-over-tea-kettle and landing curled over on himself, looking back at them, "It's okay, everyone! I'm okay!"

"He's gonna pick us off one by one, isn't he?" Cole scanned over Jay, Lizz and Zane, clutching his sword closer, "There's nothing we can do!"

Kai slowly stood up, looking around for his assailant. He looked at his feet when a green glow began emitting from the dirt and his voice began going shrill, "He's underground! just in the knick of time he scooped up his sword and flung himself out of the way as the cycle burst from the ground in an angry mass of growling green.  

"Stand back!" Cole shoved his way in front of Zane, Jay and Lizz, watching the flying ghost rider drive by, swinging his chain lasso again. Cole held up his sword and the chain hook around it, but Cole held his own and refused to be moved. Quickly, he stomped his way over to the small water tower and hooked the chain around a leg, stepped back to the others.

The ghost got snagged and yanked from his ride, falling into the middle of the train tracks, flat on his back. Still in mid-air, the motorcycle froze and diminished back to it's normal state, falling lifelessly to the wooden platform. The Ninja all gathered around where the ghost lay, watching him. They all screamed and jumped back when the ghost flipped up, cackling.

He stopped cackling when he was taken out by the front of an oncoming train, and the boys broke out into laughter--Lizz didn't because she was pretty sure ghosts couldn't be harmed by solid objects, "Now that's how you stop a ghost!" Cole exclaimed, high fiving Jay.

"No it's not," Lizz was backing away from where their attacker popped out of the side of the moving train. The boys all jumped away after noticing him, too.

"You think a train can stop a ghost?" he rasped, triumphantly holding his chain above his head, "Your world will pay when Morro finds the tomb, and when he does, he will take possession of the-" he cut off when he realized that he was tugging too hard when flailing his weapon around--it was still wrapped around the leg of the water tower.

It wobbled precariously and tipped, dumping water all over the ghost. He, in turn, was still, save for his slight quivering. His arms still raised above his head in a threatening manner however he looked mortified as if he'd just been pantsed on stage at prom.

Then, very suddenly, he imploded on himself. A shower of gooey green goop fell to the ground, landing on the platform and in the tracks. The Ninja all took a few steps forward to look at the tracks, seeing if there were any physical remains.

There wasn't.

"W-W-What just..." the boys all slid their swords back in their back holders as Cole stuttered at them, "What just happened?"

"He went..." Zane began, attempting a reasonable answer, "Kablooey."

"Yeah, but he was just going to tell us what was in the tomb!" Jay facepalmed, "Couldn't he have waited another second?!"

"We may not know what's in the tomb," all eyes turned to Kai as he spoke, "But we do know one thing; how to stop a ghost."

"Water?" Jay and Cole looked more confused than usual.

"Unusual," Zane pondered, looking off at the moon, "I guess it's true. The path we seek is never a straight line."

"Um, speaking of straight lines," Jay commented, "If that train's heading to Stiix wouldn't it be faster if we..."

"Hey!" Lizz, Jay, Cole and Zane all jumped off the platform, running after the train, "Wait!"

Kai quickly ran and got the forgotten sword behind him, picking it up before swiftly running down the tracks after the others.  

A/N: This chapter is around 3080 words long, give or take a couple words

It took hellalong to write

But bra it was worth it