Chapter 20. Leadership
{Location: Dead's end in the first realm}(Seliel's POV)
I wince in pain from my tattoos. At least the worst has passed and I got a skimpy shirt and shorts to show them off. I'm currently locked up in some cylinder that lifts up with the trucks arms. I stay off my back and the outsides of my thighs. Biting my tongue until the others are thrown in. I look at Nya, Kit and Skylor thought a thin metal mesh, "You met Stella too?"
Nya growls, her shirt is shorter on top, showing a beautiful swirl of water over her heart, "She did a number on you."
I know as Pixal's thrown in on my side. I managed to look at a mirror earlier, two twin dragons extended their wings on my shoulder blades, curling around so their heads are on my shoulders. The left one is pink while the other is purple. At the base of my neck, their tails curl around each other. On the outside of my left thigh is Ryūjin with the other saying Quivu in symbols that I've never seen before yet understand completely. I'm guessing the names are supposed to correspond with the dragons.
Kit wimpers, missing her sword, "Willow's gonna kill me when she sees this." She shows off the back of her right shoulder, a picture of clouds almost covering a clock.
Skylor looks the most displeased with her new tattoo, a set of orange sticks making a star on her back, "Stella said she used up all her permanent stuff already so..."
"Lucky me," I frown. I never wanted a tattoo or 4 for that matter. I pull myself up with help from Pixal, "Other than our new branding, how is everyone doing?"
"Oh perfect," Skylor's back to her slightly sarcastic self. She frowns while folding her arms, "Just when I get my father's mark off, I get a new picture that I didn't ask for."
Pixal smiles while the truck races out of the camp, "She's back." Pixal got the worse of it. The burned a large black J into her metal skin on her thigh. She smiles as I stare at it, "I never liked this leg anyway. I can replace it when we go home."
Kit perks up, "What does yours look like?"
I turn around slowly, pulling back my hair. Getting oohs and ahhs.
It's getting to late evening as we still drive on.
Skylor sits down, "And the symbols on your legs?"
I point to my left, "Ryūjin," then to the other, "Quivu."
Pixal scans it before her scanner breaks down on her, "I've never seen those symbols before."
"Stella said something about dragon tongue before she marked me." I shrug as the truck stops in the middle of nowhere, "Mabey I can read it because I'm a Dragonborn."
The Iron Baron rattles his medal hand over Nya, Skylor, and Kit, "Rise and shine. Tonight's a lovely night to hunt." He opens their half of the cage, pulling them out.
Skylor shoves him off, holding fire in her hands, "Let us go or I burn your good eye."
Iron Baron chuckles as some guy whose face I can't see pulls out a bone like sword, "Try."
Skylor dose. Only her fire steers towards the sword. "What?"
"Move bait." Sword guy pushes them to 3 tall sticks in the distance. I squint, seeing Kit's sword with him.
The guy with a mohawk opens my and Pixal's side, pulling us out before tying us down to a stick in the ground, "Like that sword? It's made of dragon bone. Attracts all kinds of elemental powers. Iron Baron got it from firstborn's nest. She's the mother of all dragons. Very protective of her children." He smiles evilly in the fire, "Even dragonborens."
I sit down as the Iron Baron and sword guy tie up my friends.
Pixal tugs at the chain, "What are you doing to them?"
A guy who's making a fire perks up, "Nothing. We're just using their power to catch a dragon." Around the girls, blue wires light up. And they laugh and giggle a lot. Each spilling out their power briefly. The guy spitting at the starting fire, "It's a simple elemental reaction."
Iron Baron hobbles back over, "Now we wait."
The crew jest and jeer at each other as this world's moon slowly rises.
I wish I had my belt or my kama or anything right now. Stupid crash, stupid Harumi, stupid everything. Pixal leans over to me, "Do you know what would be useful right about now? Dragon power."
"You don't think I'm trying?" I sneer as I yank hard on the chains. Nothing, "I have no idea what I need to unlock it."
"Didn't Misaké say it was something like a true potential? What hold you back?"
"Right now these chains."
Jetpack guy jumps up, "THERE!" My mistake, jetpack girl jumps up, pointing at the sky.
A white and grey dragon flies over the moon, flying down around Nya, Skylor, and Kit.
Iron Baron jumps onto a rickety helicopter, "Hurry. After it." He and his crew race off, following the dragon.
PIxal gets up, rips the stick out of the ground the break the chain connecting us, "Now."
We race to them.
I look up, finding a small ladder built into one of the legs. I start climbing up it only to get splashed by Nya. I look up, shaking my hair, "NYA!"
"Sorry," she giggles and cracks up before soaking the latter, "I can't help it."
I try climbing up only for my feet to slip off, "I can't climb up, Pixal can-" I look over to see her caught in one of Kit's time loops, "Kit, let her go."
Kit giggles, "I'm trying. But this tickles so bad!"
"Skylor, can you-" I narrowly avoid her spill of poison.
She's red in the face from laughter, "Can bearly control this. Sorry."
I look around, watching as the dragon hunters bring down that dragon. I need to do something. I close my eyes as Nya sprinkles water on my head.
I'll be lucky if they just go home and leave us.
Luck.
Lucky.
I snap my eyes open, pulling on the log. I make my own luck. I yank, breaking apart the strange structure. I let go of the heavyish log as they still giggle and snort, "Everyone ok?"
Kit nods despite looking a little dazed, "That was cool."
Pixal untangles Skylor, "Your eyes and hair flashed color. I think you're getting close to your dragon power."
"Great," I pull a giggly Nya out, "Something to work on. Let's get out of here."
"There," Nya amidst leftover giggles points to a cave in the mountain, "Let's go."
"Where to?" The Iron Baron stands in our path, his catch stares at me while moving its mouth, "Because you will not get away from me."
We're not looking good, Skylor, Nya, and Kit are in giggle fits, Pixal's missing most of her weapons and I'm feeling woozy from that burst of strength. I stand up, about to say something inspiring when a noise practically breaks my eardrums.
Please. A deep voice seems to echo from the tied up dragon. Help me, little sister.
I cover my ears, rocking back and forth, "I can't help you."
Skylor looks at me like I've lost my marbles, "Who are you talking to?"
"You can't hear that?"
Iron Baron curls his fingers under my chin, "Dragon tongue, she can hear it. She's almost perfect bait for firstborn."
The dragon wimpers. Please little sister. They eat the dragons they have no use for.
My fingers grip the Iron Baron's hand, crushing the medal. I yank him into my fist, breaking his nose before everything turns into a bright blur. I flip around, stepping on sword guy's big toe. Ripping Kit's sword out. I spin around to the dragon, cutting off his chains. I hold the bridge of my nose before looking back, all the dragon hunters are on the ground, moaning in pain, "How...did I do that?"
The dragon roars. FREEDOM! He lowers himself, you and your friends get on. I'll fly you away.
"Ok." I slowly brush my fingers over his scales, before straddling on. I look up at my gasping friends, "Come on. He's getting us out."
"You just-" Nya points around while stuttering, "When can you hear dragons? Did you talk to Ultra?"
I shake my head as they straddle on, "No. Maybe it's only with first realm dragons."
The dragon hums, you're clever little sister. Now hold tight.
I buckle down after giving Kit her sword. The dragon takes off, nearly breaking the sound barrier before landing on the other side of the mountains. He lowers himself as we get off. I pet his nose, smiling from the ride, "Thank you so much."
Welcome. Now I must go.
"Wait," I know I look crazy in front of my friends but I need to know more, "Why do you call me little sister? I'm guessing we're not even from the same clan."
He carefully messes with my hair with his talon. We come from the same line. Firstborn, our mother. And in the end, we are both dragons. Just in different forms. He flies off, blasting away.
I smile, "Goodbye. Uncle?" I guess it works.
{Location: Lord Kenneth's command tower}(Sam's POV)
"I can't help you." I can't believe that I was caught. Stupid Ultra hunt show run by UltraViolet. All I wanted was to bring Ethan to the realm with the royal family and Hutchins. But no, I had to get caught. I'm kneeling down as Kenneth stares out to the city, "That's not how magic works. I'm not freaking Harry Potter."
Kenneth sighs, like he's disappointed in me, "Your magic came from the Fays. I know of that element. You are correct in one part, you do need to know somethings. But the other half is creativity." His steel grey eyes pierce my soul, "So imagine what I asked."
"I don't know where he is." I sit crisscross, "I can't teleport your son here. I can't teleport in the same realm and I need to be close."
"And the other thing," he turns to me as Harumi cries out in pain, "Can you make an Alpha mark on my werewolf?"
I shrug, "She has to win it in a fight. She can't hurry up her changing without it."
He sighs, "Mr. E, bring her out."
Mr. E pushes out a beaten up cop lady. My cellmate, AJ.
AJ crash lands on her side, "Let me go you as-"
"When I was first in Ninjago, the best of my hunters was a werewolf. An alpha cast out from their pack. I'd like another. One that can control their transformation." Kenneth waves Mr. E forward, "Mr. E here failed to capture my first child." He raises his purple glowing hand, raising Mr. E into the air. Squeezing his metal parts then slowly ripping them out, "He failed to follow my orders. And none of my hunters fail me. Even the top generals." He closes his hands, ripping apart Mr. E into a pile of parts, "So what do you think I'll do to your friend if you don't do as I command?"
He lifts up AJ.
AJ cries out in pain, "AH!"
"STOP!" I get onto my feet, "I'll do what I can." I swallow hard as he sets her down, "I can't make any guarantees but I have an idea. Where is she?"
He points to behind his throne, "Hurry."
I head over to behind the throne. The princess of Ninjago is curled up in a curled position. Her skin is patchy with wolf fur. She has a white tail, wolf ears and shows off some fangs. She looks at me, begging for help, "Help me. I need to control it."
"You can't right now. You change slowly during the day-"
"And faster by moonlight. I know." She sneers, trying to get up, "I need an alpha mark."
"I don't think I can make one. But I can do something like it." My hand glows yellow as I slowly approach her, "I'm going to need you to sit upright." She does so. Resting on one knee. I place my hand on her chest, whispering words in Valyan. My hand burns a new symbol onto her chest. I pull back, a hollow crescent moon partly full rests there. I feel like throwing up and passing out. That was black magic, the kind that takes a part of my soul. I breathe heavily, "There. Now you can store moonlight. When that is full, you can switch back and forth."
She grins evilly, trying to stand before wobbling.
"But, when it's empty, you're stuck in that form until you can recharge." I hold my head as my bad eye thuds, "Got it?"
She smiles, using part of the throne to walk, "Yes. You look pale."
I fall back, the sky spinning as Kenneth looms overhead, "Happy? I gave her lunar power."
{Location: New Ninjago city's garbage depo}(Morro's POV)
The truck pulls into the building as I hop off, "Thank you for your help. But how did you know where we were?"
Katara hops out, "Or that we were in trouble?"
She smiles at the sight of a Saffire blue and red dragon. Aquila looks beyond cramped in here but she lets Sensei pet her. A little birdie kept us informed.
I recognize other elemental masters, Nero and Tox. No sign of the master of form, nature or gravity thought, "A little birdie?"
Clover nods pointing behind me, "She's been wanting to talk to you ever since we found Aquila protecting her." He heads behind a pillar, showing off my new motorcycle, "And this."
An old woman with grey hair hiding under a hat smiles at me. Miskaté. She stops in front of a pial of soda cans, "Hello young ninja."
I straight up, frowning at the title.
"Would you prefer for me to call you young son of Wu? Perhaps young Kenneth? The grey ninja? Ex-Master of wind? Ex ghostly right hand on the Cursed realm?"
"Morro's fine." I ball my fists at the thought of being called a Kenneth.
"Fine, I'm sure you have plenty of questions about your missing friends. And I have answers." She turns around to walk up to a private room. "Follow and join me for tea."
I follow as the elemental masters group around Katara.
Upstairs is a small tea table that she already sits at, pouring a cup.
I sit closer to the window overlooking the interior, "They're alive?"
"Yes. But I'm afraid my traveler's tea has taken them to the realm of one of their ancestors."
I hum, Kit's mom was from the Cloud Kingdom but her father was from Ninjago. Nya, Skylor, and Pixal are from Ninjago 100% so that means, "The first realm. The realm of Oni and dragon. Seliel's ancestral home."
"Yes." She pushes a cup to me, "But they have passed my ability to see. I don't know how they are right now."
"Can I bring them back?"
She shakes her head, "You can't. In this case, the only way back is to find a way back from the other side. Drink."
"Is this magic?"
"Nonsense," she pulls out her cane, smacking the top of my head, "It's earl grey. Clears the mind."
"I don't need it clear. I need to help my friends."
"Ohh," she smirks before sipping, "Such impatience. Has Sensei Wu taught you nothing?" She points outside the window. Where Sensei is petting Aquila while giving her food. Misaké blows on her tea, "The way you help your friends now is to endure."
"Endure?" I sip my tea. I actually needed this. It is relaxing.
"Like the hare pursued by the fox, you are the hunted and you must endure your father's chase. His power, it rivals Garmadon's. But Kenneth is a hunter. He knows how to track his game. You must live long enough for your friends' aid. Especially if Seliel discovers her dragon power in time. Your responsibilities are now to lead the resistance, endure and to ensure that there is still a Ninjago left for you and your friends to protect."
"Who are you? I have a hard time believing you are wiser then Wu."
She hums with a small grin, "Wisdom comes in many forms but in spades after making mistakes. That's how I got my name, Miskaté. But deep down, you know he'd agree with me." She stands up, looking over the interior, "You must lead them, tomorrow you'll take back the airwaves. You'll become the voice of the resistance."
"I'm not sure if I can lead anything without my powers." I set my cup down, "Will it return?"
"Power comes in many forms. True power is never lost. Only given away when you think you have none. And you have more power then you realize, the power of numbers, the power of elements, the power to change into a wolf and the power to lead. Your job now is to endure and lead."
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