A/N: Almost to the point of publishing as I write it out, so here's to hoping I can actually figure out how to write this out

"What's wrong with Kai?"

Jay answered, "He's dazed. Be fine in a minute or two."

"From almost getting his face torn off with a set of jaws," Lizz clarified, stretching her legs out in front of her. She cringed when she set her foot in a puddle of water, soaking through the cuff of her sweatpants.

"So what are we doing about the crazy in the woods?" Lloyd asked.

"Why do you think I wanted to meet in here?" Lizz narrowed her eyes at him, "To see if we could figure out what the hell that thing was on our own, or if we need to go to Sensei."

She pulled her legs up under her, becoming irritated with the growing puddle of shower water from the group of freshly washed, shirtless boys, "You morons need to learn to dry off before leaving the bathroom."

Save for Zane, Morro and Cole, anyway...

"Well, Dazed and Confused over there," Morro was regarding Kai with a look of slight disdain, "was the only one to get a right proper look at her, and he's not saying anything."

"He told us that she had pointed teeth and bright blue eyes," Jay jumped in to be Kai's voice again.

"And that she was strong," Lizz chimed in.

"Like, me-strong?" Lloyd asked.

Lizz shook her head, but it was Kai who answered, now out of his funk, "Cole-strong. Scary strong."

"So a roid-junkie?" Lloyd threw up his hand, "Or just some nutcase?"

Zane shook his head, "No, nothing like that. Perhaps she is a forgotten Elemental Master."

Lizz already had her new phone in her hand -- the other one had been destroyed when she got attacked by strangleweed back in Stiix way long ago -- and was dialing Lar, "I got this."

He didn't pick up, so she tried Ash. Luckily, he picked up on the first ring, "What?"

"Oh, well, hello to you, too," she sassed, "Are you people missing a Master?"

She could hear Ash's eyebrow wiggling, "Well, me in specifics-"

She put a stop to it before he could even start it, "No, Ash, you jackass. At the Monastery. Are one'a'y'all missing?"

The background noises on the phone started changing, so she assumed he was walking around. While Ash was talking to someone else, covering the earpiece of his phone, Lizz did the same, placing the phone to her shoulder, "He's asking around."

"He doesn't know off the top of his head?" Kai asked, "He's the one that always snoops into other peoples' business, you'd think he'd know."

"He's also in close with Neuro and Griffin," Cole added, "Those two are two of the nosiest people--honestly, Lizz, you pick the most intrusive people to hang out with."

"Yeah, just look at Jay," she sniped, looking over the group for everyone's expressions; most were disapproving, not many liking her being in close with the people she was, "Morro, you look a bit confused."

Morro was loitering in the very back, leaning against the wall and staying in the shadows. He shook his head, waving her off, "No, no, I'm fine. Just... too many names. Can't follow."

"I'll explain more in-depth later, don't worry," she smiled at him. Screeching from the other end of her phone brought her attention back, "Ash? Ash!"

"Yeah?" he was back in an instant.

"What did you do? I heard screaming," she held up a hand to shush the others; they'd twitched at the word screaming. It made Lizz feel pretty proud; despite them not liking the Elemental Masters all that much, they'd jump at any chance to help them out because she cared for them over there, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Lar is just a little baby."

She sighed, "What'd you do?"

"I went to ask him about your Missing Master thing. Just so happened that he was in the shower and apparently people like their privacy?" Lizz could picture him shrugging.

"So you walked in without knocking?" she hummed.

That wasn't so bad.

"Well, without knocking, and without me warning him I was pulling back the shower curtain," Ash admitted.

That was a little bad, "Ash! You can't just yank shower curtains back on people!"

"Why?" Cole and Jay were laughing, "We did that to Kai once."

Lizz pinched the bridge of her nose. I am surrounded. by idiots. "Anyway, did he know anything?"

"No one here knows anything," Ash told her, "No one's missing and no one's heard of anyone living in the jungles of NinjaGo."

"Not even, uh..." Lloyd was snapping his fingers, trying to remember, "Bolobo? Master of Nature and all, that, y'know? Ask him."

So Lizz did, "What about Bolobo?"

Ash made a noise, "Nope. Nothin'."

Lizz pursed her lips, "Well, damn. Thanks, Ash. I'll keep you guys posted if we find anything."

"Thanks, Fruitloop. Talk to y'later."

"Mmhmm. See ya, Sprinkles," she pulled her phone away from her ear and set it on the floor, "Yeah. We need to go to Sensei."

It was almost like a race to see who could find Sensei Wu first. There were elbows dug into ribs -- much to Kai's discomfort -- as they tried to beat each other out the door and down the hallway. To those standing downstairs, it was like a herd of elephants had been turned loose on the upper floor.

Lizz and Lloyd ended up winning, opting to leap over the balcony instead of taking the stairs like the others. Though, Lizz's left leg buckled from her bad ankle and she went sprawling, so Lloyd was the first one to the kitchen, "Sensei!"

As expected, Sensei was in there with a pot of tea, "Yes?"

Lloyd stuttered, waiting for the others. Zane was the next one in, helping Lizz, "Sensei," he began, depositing Lizz on a barstool, "We need to know more about the Jungle Spirit you warned us about."

Sensei sipped his tea, "Ah, yes. Follow me, into the living room."

"Wait, what?" Jay's eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

"More room," Sensei was already across the hall, "And more comfy."

Lizz and Jay ducked in ahead of everyone, shuffling their repairing supplies around, off all the furniture so everyone could sit. Sensei sat himself in the one recliner while the others dispersed themselves over the three couches, leaning forward to listen intently.

Sensei took an impossibly slow, deep breath, "There is danger afoot."

The tension in the group dissolved in a chorus of heavy sighs, "We know," Lloyd told him, "Explain it?"

"Someone is lurking in the Labyrinth. Far too close to the Crystal," his tone was somber, eyes scanning over his team.

"We know," Cole interrupted.

Sensei immediately cut him off, "Silence! The Jungle Spirit is not of whom I speak. Someone has awakened her--"

"You knew it was a her?" Kai screeched.

"And you knew she existed?!" Jay followed suit, their voices almost painful to the others in the room.

"Silence!" Sensei's voice rose above the clamor that had started, immediately blanketing the room back into dead quiet, "I warned you of the Spirit before you had gone to investigate the activity Cryptor reported. She is most likely on edge, scanning more of the jungle for danger. She means us no harm--"

"She almost killed me, Sensei!" Kai whined, "My ribs are bruised!"

"Hush, now," Sensei waved him off and sipped his cup of tea before continuing, "You are obviously fine. I think it may be best to find the Spirit and see if she knows anything."

"Wait, wait," Lizz waved an arm, "So... you want us to find the razor-toothed lady who wants Kai's head on a pike?"

"Yes."

"And you want us to interrogate her?" Jay asked.

"Yes."

"Sensei, that's ridiculous," Lloyd argued, crossing his arms.

"I have spoken," Sensei pushed to his feet, "First thing tomorrow, return to the jungle. She is more active than usual and there is a reason."

A/N: Am I making Sensei needlessly cryptic enough for it to be believable?