4Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: The four dragons must leave! Will Jinlong be able to stay with the ninja, or will she strike out on her own? Find out today!
Jinlong voice: Chapter Four: Snake Fist Fighter.
Jin had never moved houses before. She'd lived in a hut with her family her entire life, so when the ninja and co moved into the ship- called The Bounty- it was all very new for the dragon-girl. She learned that she'd be sleeping inside(she'd slept in the dragon stables before, although it had been her own choice), sharing a room with Nya.
"I know you like sleeping by the dragons," Kai's sister told her. "But with the Serpentine on the loose doubled with the outdoor dragon pens, I think you should sleep inside for now."
Neither fo the girls had a bed, but Jinlong was used to that. In Kigana, she'd slept on a pallet, so it really wasn't that different for her. Sharing a room with Nya was kind of fun, though, because they'd stay up and talk about literally anything on their minds. Well, not anything- Jin was still, for reasons unknown to her, keeping her dragon-ness a secret.
But apart from that, everyone spent their time cleaning. The ninja complained about it at first, until they found out how to use their powers to make it go faster.
"Lucky..." She'd muttered, still stuck with a mop and bucket of water. Even as a dragon-sitter, she'd been forced to clean, which struck her as massively unfair.
And, on top of all the cleaning she had to do, Jinlong also had to try and get the dragons used to their new home. The 'stables' they'd found really weren't all that great, but they'd have to do, at least for now. But the dragons weren't adapting too well, at least in Jin's opinion.
"Sensei," She called, wandering around The Bounty. "Sensei Wu?"
Eventually, she found him in The Bridge, looking over a scroll, written in some language indecipherable to her.
"Sensei," She said, stepping into the room. "I think there's something wrong with the dragons."
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking up from his scroll.
"Well, none of them are eating," Jin started. "They're all running a fever, and they won't respond to commands."
"Are you sure that they are not just adapting to their new surroundings?"
"Well, no," she said. "I'm just worried, is all."
"I'll look them over," The old man said, rolling up his parchment.
"Thank you," Jin told him, following him out of the room.
oOo
"It is as I suspected," Wu said once he'd inspected the dragons. "The dragons are molting. They're shedding their scales."
Jinlong frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Jay, who'd just walked out with the rest of the ninja and Nya, was quicker.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Every adolescent Dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult," Sensei explained. "We must allow them to migrate east to the Spirit Coves for their transformation."
At the same time Jay asked if they'd ever see them again, Jin asked, "What're the Spirit Coves?"
"It is hard to say, but we must allow them to follow their path," Wu told Jay, before saying to Jinlong, "The Spirit Coves are where the First Spinjitzu Master first came to what he would make into Ninjago."
Jin nodded as if that made sense, then frowned. "If the dragons are leaving...I suppose I'm no longer needed. C-could I go with them?"
"I'm afraid not," Sensei said. "The Spirit Coves are a place humans are not meant to walk."
But I'm not human!
"B-but what about the First Spinjitzu Master?" The girl protested. "He created it, and he was human!"
"No, he was not," The old man said mysteriously.
He wasn't a human? He had come to what was now Ninjago from somewhere...perhaps the Realm of Oni and Dragons, the first realm? It was entirely possible, but he obviously had the power of creation, so...could he have been a Changing Dragon, like herself? Or maybe he was the Half Child, the creator of her species, holding blood of both oni and dragons.
"Jin, would you like to come?" Wu's voice cut through her thoughts.
"Huh? Go where?" The Spirit Coves?
"To visit Jay's parents," Kai said. "We were just talking about it."
"Oh," Jin frowned a bit. "Uh, sure..."
oOo
After a long and painful goodbye to the dragons, the ninja and co. were off, as were the dragons.
"Of all the days to lose our ride," Jay complained. Jinlong just sighed, walking in the back with her arms crossed, next to Cole, who also seemed saddened by the loss of Rocky.
"That flute," Zane said, pointing to the intricately painted flute that Wu had been playing. "You've never told us why it was so special."
"Long ago, there were many flutes," The old man started. "They were created to combat the Serpentine and drive them underground. But, over time, Ninjago has forgotten its ancestor's wisdom, and now this is the only one."
Jay rolled his eyes. "I get the lesson: respect your elders or else suffer the consequences. Boy, you guys are laying it on thick!"
Jin looked to Cole, "What is he talking about?"
"Who, Jay?" The shaggy-haired teenager chuckled a bit. "His parents called him the other day and we made him promise to visit them. He doesn't want to."
"Why not?" Jin furrowed her blonde eyebrows.
Cole shrugged. "I dunno."
The dragon thought about that. She didn't know any of the ninja too well yet, but she knew Jay was loud, talkative, and funny. Maybe his parents thought he was a goof-up? That was kind of relatable...but it didn't seem like a reason to avoid seeing them.
"Wait, something's not right..." Jay said, stopping abruptly. Jin looked up to see they had arrived at a place called "Ed and Edna's Scrap and Junk". He'd been born in a junkyard?
"What's wrong?" Nya asked.
"It's quiet," Jay said, pulling his hood over his face, prompting all the other ninja to do the same. "My family's never quiet."
He ran into the junkyard, everyone else close behind, and towards what looked to be an old refrigerator(Jin was fascinated with them). He kicked it open to reveal his parents, bound with duct tape over their mouths. Well, Jin assumed they were his parents. They were certainly old enough to be.
"Sweetheart," The woman exclaimed when Jay took the tape off her mouth. "You came!"
"What happened? Who did this?" The blue ninja demanded, taking the tape from his father's mouth.
"Oh, you gotta get outta here," The grey-haired man said. "You should've come, its the sssnakes!"
"The bite of the Fangpyre," Wu noted. "Once they sink their teeth into it, they can turn anything into a serpent. It's only a matter of time before the transformation is complete."
Jinlong winced as Jay's parents stepped out of the fridge. Turning into one of the snake people? That sounded awful.
Then, a giant, monstrous structure came moving into view, along with a few red-and-white snake people, accompanied by a horrific, nasally hissing that made Jin cringe.
"Is that wrecking ball looking at me?" She heard Cole ask, clearly joking, although the...wrecking ball, if that was what it was called, did indeed have a ghastly green face.
"Duck!" Jay screamed, and suddenly, someone tackled her to the ground, out of the path of the wrecking ball. Coughing and blinking through a flurry of dirt, Jin realized it was Nya.
"Thanks," She gasped, getting up. "I owe you one."
"Lloyd!" She heard Wu yell. She turned to see that, on top of the 'house' of Jay's parents stood a little boy, around 9 or 10, along with a hideous, 2-headed snake-person.
"Hello, uncle," The boy called out smugly. "Looks like we're not the only family reunion. I'm glad you brought the ninja- I could use some help taking out the trash! Muahahaha!"
The green-eyed girl snickered at the boy's 'evil laughter'- was he being serious, or joking? It was hard to tell.
"If we want to turn your parents back, we need the antivenom from the staff," Nya told Jay, pointing at the 2-headed snake's golden stave.
"Second dose- to the dirt!"
Unsure of who exactly had said that, Jin dove to the ground, but the impact from the wrecking ball still sent her flying a few feet. She quickly stood back up, albeit a bit shakily, to hear Kai say, "Easier said than done sis. We're a bit outnumbered."
"Nobody messes with my family!" Jay cried, running towards a group of snakes, nunchucks swinging, to do one of the coolest things Jin had ever seen. He spun around once, and a bright, electric blue tornado of electricity enveloped him, still heading towards the snakes. When it hit them, it sent them flying.
Jin's mouth dropped open as the 3 other ninja did the same- Kai's was red and made of fire, Zane's white and ice, and Cole's was brown and made of dirt and rocks.
That. Has got to be. One of the coolest things of all time!
But Jin didn't get too much time to gawk- more disturbing hissing snapped her from her thoughts and she realized she was surrounded by snakes.
"Oh," She said, sliding into a fighting stance. "Hello. I assume we can't be friends?"
She was proven correct as a snake charged at her, fist raised high, but she dipped under its arm and kneed it in the ribs, before spinning around and socking another in the face.
"Boy," She remarked, dodging one snake's kick and elbowing another in the gut. "I forgot how much fun this was!"
Of course, it wasn't as fun when she herself got decked in the face, causing her eyes to water even though it hadn't hurt that bad.
"Stupid snake," She hissed, kicking it in the chest before following up with an uppercut and kidney punch. Assuming snake-people had kidneys. She hoped so.
She was so wrapped up in fighting that she barely heard the kid- Lloyd- yell "RETREAT!" She probably wouldn't have even noticed if her enemies didn't start running towards the exit.
"They're getting away with the staff!" She heard Nya shout as she rejoined the ninja and co.
"There is still a way to catch them," Wu said, stepping forward. "Part of reaching your own full potential is understanding your weapon's potential. Once it is in tune with a focused heart, its secrets and powers can be unlocked."
"Ugh! This is not the time to be cryptic!" Jay yelled.
"He's saying our weapons are vehicles themselves," Zane said, calm as ever, looking at his shurikens.
Kai frowned, staring at his katana, "Don't tell me I have to ride this thing like a broomstick..."
Jin snickered and Kai grinned at her, but Sensei just said, "Jay, concentrate on unlocking your golden weapon. Let your heart guide you. Imagine you're taking flight."
The freckled boy stood still, quiet and thoughtful for once, before a bright blue airship manifested around him. His eyes, the same color as his ship, shot open.
"Whoa," He exclaimed. "Did I just do that?!"
Jin was too intrigued by the airship to even notice that the other ninja had also made their own vehicles until they sped forward after the snake-people.
"Does your flute turn into anything?" Jin numbly asked, staring at the ninja's quickly-disappearing vehicles.
"I wish," Wu sighed.
A honking to her left startled her out of her stupor.
"Hop in," Jay's dad, Ed, told them, sitting in what Jin guessed was their car.
So, they all piled in, with Nya driving and Wu, Ed, Edna, and Jin in the back.
"Who're you, ssssweetie?" Edna asked.
"I, uh, I'm Jin," She stuttered as the car raced after the ninja, immediately giving the dragon motion sickness. She'd never been in a car before. "I'm their Dragon-Keeper."
She was so dizzy and nauseous she didn't even realize that they no longer had dragons.
She looked up to see a blue dot falling from the sky, screaming, and realized it was Jay.
"I got 'im," Nya said, expertly timing the speed of the car to the speed of the falling ninja so he landed, surprisingly unharmed, in the front seat next to Nya.
"Ooh, I knew I liked thissss girl," Edna said.
"Attack!" Someone called, and only then did Jin notice that the snake army had turned itself around and was now charging at them.
"Oh gosh, oh golly, oh," Ed muttered before yelling, "Get in, boys!"
The 3 teenage ninja piled into, or rather, onto the car as it sped away.
"We need to get back to headquarters!" Jay told the black-haired girl.
They got there quickly, and swiftly ran onto the old ship.
"Come with me," Nya told Ed and Edna, herding them below deck. Everyone else, Jin included, ran into the Bridge.
"Man the stations, everyone," Jay called as he ran over to 'the button', which he'd been working on for a while now.
"I've been waiting for this," He said, slamming his fist onto it. Nothing happened.
"They're gaining on us," Kai yelled nervously, looking out the window with Jin.
"Ugh, I don't get what's wrong," The blue ninja yelled, clearly frustrated. "I spent forever on this thing. It's supposed to work!"
"Uh, son? Maybe I can help."
Jin turned around and saw Ed, who no longer looked like a snake, standing behind his son.
"Dad," Jay exclaimed. "You're okay!"
"You're darn tootin'," The older man chuckled, before kneeling down next to the button. "Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. That should do it. Try now."
Jay hit the button once more, but this time, Jin felt the ship shift in the sand, before a loud roaring filled her ears and she stumbled back as the ship left the ground.
"Whoa," She and Nya simultaneously shouted.
"A flying ship," Cole laughed. "That is pretty awesome."
Flying?
Sure enough, when Jinlong looked out the window again, the ground was far beneath them. She couldn't hold back a laugh of disbelief.
We're actually flying- I'm flying!
She could, of course, fly when she was a dragon, but not nearly so high or fast. Dalong could, though, and would let her ride on him. But at the thought of her brother, a sudden sadness washed over her, driving the strength from her legs and air from her lungs. Something was wrong with Dalong. But what?
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: Jinlong meets a new friend! But is there something else to him that she cannot see? Find out next time on Way of the Dragon!
