Chapter 10:

Yamiyo Infiltration

Jade waited for Masuka and Glacia to venture back inside the cave. She watched them laugh at the ninja’s misfortune, and her blood couldn’t help but boil a little. It angered her to see such sick people laughing at such a horrifying event! Once they left, she jumped out of her hiding spot, and ran towards the frozen ice. She pulled out the LT and scanned it. The LT was confused, and beeped rapidly. Jade growled and smacked it.

“Come on!” She hissed, “Come on, please still be alive!”

She read the vital signs shown on the LT, and sighed in relief: vital signs were off, but they were still alive. She quickly grabbed a sharp rock off the ground and began chipping away at the ice. It was so thick and hard however, that she didn’t make much success.

“There’s got to be a quicker way to do this!” She whispered to herself, “They’ll be back any minute and I’ll lose my chance!”

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She stood there for a few seconds, pondering the pros and cons of running to get help. Then, she began to notice that there was a crackling sound. She looked back up at the frozen heroes to see that cracks were indeed forming. She saw a red glow emanating from near the middle of the ice. Jade realized what it was: Kai. The sword of fire was pointed to his right side and was slowly melting the ice away in that direction. Jade decided to start chipping that way as well. If she could get Kai out, he could use the fire sword to free the rest of the ninja! She pecked at the ice as much as she could, as fast as she could. In the end however, it still took over twenty grueling minutes.

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Kai breathed out a long sigh as he fell to the ground, exhausted after his sword had finally melted away the ice that surrounded him. Jade ran to him, and bent down to scan him. When she saw everything was normal, she poked him to get up. Kai stirred and rubbed his head.

“What…happened?” He croaked.

Jade helped him up onto his feet. He squinted his eyes at her.

“Jade?” He asked.

“Kai, I want you to listen carefully: I need you to use your sword to free everyone else!” Jade said firmly.

Kai moaned, lying still on the ground.

“Come on! Don’t you want to save Kamara? They could be doing Lord knows what to her!”

He looked up at her and smirked a little.

“Wow,” he commented, observing her slight worried expression, “I didn’t think you emoted anything else besides firm stick-in-the-mud!”

Jade glared. “Don’t make me regret helping you!” She warned.

Kai chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’m going!”

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Kai got to work and shot flames at the ice, melting it much quicker. Soon, everyone was melted out of the ice. They were all woozy for a few minutes before they got their thoughts together.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Cole asked as they all stood in front of the entrance.

“I say lets ram it!” Kai suggested.

Jade raised an eyebrow. “What are you, again?” She asked.

“Um…Ninja?” Jay replied.

Jade raised her hands slightly.

“Then act like one! Sneak your way in!” She exclaimed.

They looked at each other, then face-palmed.

“Right.”

Then, with determination, they ventured forth into the darkness.

“Hold on Kamara,” Kai whispered to himself, “We’re coming!”

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When they entered inside, Kai unsheathed his fire sword and lit it up. In front of them were three different tunnels. They were silent for a moment to try to listen for stirring inside them. Nothing.

“Jade, picking up anything?” Cole asked.

“Nope” Jade replied, putting the LT back into her satchel, “Wherever they are, they must be deep in the mountain. The LT isn’t getting anything.”

“Might I suggest we split up?” Zane recommended, “That way we can cover more ground in effective time.”

“Good idea” Cole agreed, “Jay, Kai, take the middle tunnel. Zane I will take the left. Jade, you alright going by yourself?”

Jade nodded. “Just another day at work” she replied.

“Alright, then let’s go!”

“Oh! One more thing!” Jade added, “If you can’t find Kamara, then look for a control room! It should have a map or some directions on where to find her.”

“What makes you assume there’s a control room?”

“Trust me,” Jade winked, “Everyone does.”

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Once they got deeper in the tunnels, they began to see flaming torches perched on the walls. The air felt slightly thinner than when they were outside. Small loose stones littered the ground. They stepped lightly, as to not kick them and alert the Kurai Kodomo of their presence. The point between each torch was unsettling blackness, and some couldn’t help but hold their breaths in anticipation to the next one. In addition to the darkness, they could also hear sounds of dripping water in the distance, and in some patches, stalagmites loomed over them. Zane and Cole reached the end of the first tunnel and hit a dead in. Their hearts sank, and started backtracking. Jay and Kai also found nothing but a small skylight displaying a orange and yellow firmament. However, as Jade neared the end of her tunnel, she began to hear voices. She began backing up to the wall, and slowly sidestepped as she continued.

.

As she was met with a turn, she peeked forward cautiously to see what was around it. There was a chamber ahead. Jade put her hand on her gun before progressing forward. She squinted her eyes to see what was ahead. She could see a wooden table with paper on top, and two lamps attached to the wall with a board in between.

“Their control room. It’s gotta be. I can see the map of Ninjago on the board” Jade thought to herself.

She reached the end of the hall, and she pinned herself against the wall. She leaned forward slightly to try and get a closer look of the room. But then, she saw a brown and purple haired woman leaning over the table from the right side. She arched back. She needed to tell the rest of the ninja where she was. But they had no means of communication!

“Stupid Jade!” Jade thought irritably.

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Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand reach forward and grab her mouth. Jade took her elbow and rammed it into whoever grabbed her. She heard a quiet grunt. She turned around and pointed her gun. Then, she saw who it was. It was Kai. Kai clutched his stomach and wheezed.

“Wow, you’re fast!” he hissed.

Jade lowered her gun. She ignored her previous action and gestured to the chamber.

“I think I found the control room” Jade announced.

“Yeah, I figured as much. I already told the rest of the team to meet up here” Kai replied.

He then squeezed in front of her and peered inside to see the room for himself. Just then, both Kai and Jade at the same time, saw Kamara on the far side of the room. Her eyes were closed, and seemed to be unconscious.

“Kam!” Kai hissed.

He was about to jump forward, but Jade pulled him back.

“What are you doing!?” she hissed.

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’?? Kamara’s right there! Don’t you care!?” Kai hissed back.

“Yes, I do care! But we can’t just barge in! We need the rest of the team!”

Jade peered back into the room, then saw a masked figure enter the room.

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Jade and Kai hid. The woman sighed, irritable.

“This is taking too long!” she snapped, “If we can’t convert her, we won’t be at full strength to find Nanbā Ichi!”

“She surprises,” the masked man commented, calmly, “I never saw a connection between her and the other ninja. She appeared to be so distant. It won’t be as easy as we thought.”

Just as the two Kurai Kodomo were speaking, Kai and Jade saw three familiar on the other side of the chamber in another tunnel: Zane, Cole, and Jay! Jay waved. Jade gestured to them that they should all knock out the two villains on the count of three. Cole nodded, and began to count down.

“3…2…1!” 

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All of the ninja jumped out at once. Jade slammed her fist right into Safrina’s jaw, sending her sprawling to the ground, while Cole kicked Shifter in the temple, sending him down to the floor, out cold. They sighed in relief that were able to do that quickly and effectively. Kai ran immediately to the prisoner.

“Kamara!” He exclaimed.

He reached for her shackles, but then realized they were made of solid rock.

“What? How is that possible?” He wondered.

Then, he called, “Cole! Help me out with this!”

Cole saw the predicament and raced to help.

“Huh, that’s strange. How was someone able to do this?” he asked out loud.

Then, he grabbed the two sides of rock holding the wind ninja’s hand and pulled. After a grunt or two, the rock was pulled into two pieces. He repeated this process quickly with the other three and Kamara fell limply into Kai’s arms. Jade came up and pulled out the LT from her satchel and scanned Kamara. It was one of the few times the ninja would ever see with a deeply concerned expression. Kamara was now completely free and resting in Kai’s grasp.

“She’s been drugged, but she’s alive” Jade announced, “But once she wakes up she’s not going to be doing much.”

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Kamara navigated her way back into consciousness. She felt warmth, and a heart beating. It was a strangely comforting presence, and a calming sensation she hadn’t experienced since she was young where her parents held her in their arms. She felt her hands and legs free, freshened in the open air. She could hear voices among her; familiar ones. Then, she smelled something that she connected instantly with someone she knew: the smell of burnt wood.

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She stirred.

“Kai?” she mumbled, dazed.

I felt whoever was holding me move.

“Kam! You’re okay!” I heard a voice whisper.

I squinted my eyes open. There he was. His tanned skin, brown unkept hair, and brown eyes. As soon as we established eye-contact, he squeezed me tightly. I felt a mixture of confused feelings. I felt joy, peace, and delight. I chuckled, weakly.

“I missed you too.”

I gently moved my head to see Cole, Zane, Jay, and Jade watching me.

“They did come for me!” I concluded.

“Jade! You’re here too!” I exclaimed.

Jade nodded, and smiled.

“Hey, it’s my job to keep my big sister out of trouble” Jade stated.

I chuckled. Yeah, that sounded right.