Getting some oni stuff. :3
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*The stranded ninja and Nova take a break from running away.*
Jay drinks water from their canteen.
"I'm parched. And you drank my water!" Kai takes the water from Jay
"Your water? That's my bag!" said Jay.
Nova was hiding in the shadows drinking the water from Kai's canteen, without the others knowing that she had stolen it.
"Hey! You said we were sharing it! It's already half gone!" said Kai.
"I'm the only one? Zane has a little!" said Jay.
"Zane doesn't need to drink! Admit it! You're a water hog!" said Kai.
"Where's Nya when—"
Faith pulls out her Dragonbone Blade.
"Whoa, whoa, hey, hey!" said Jay, getting slightly nervous.
"Careful, careful..." said Kai.
Faith cuts cactus in two. "Now we all have water."
"Thanks!" Kai drinks from the cactus.
"Thanks, Faith!" said Jay as he was able to relax again before then turning to Kai "We're sharing that, y'know?"
Faith sighs. "How you have survived this long is beyond me."
"You'll be surprised, they've been through a lot and yet they are still alive." said Nova who had come out of the shadows without anyone noticing.
Faith looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "If this is what it's like every day, then how can you still handle being with them? I would have left straight away."
Nova just shrugged. "After some time you get used to it, and I have a very good friend back in Ninjago." she said.
"You people are strange." said Faith.
"Comes with the territory." said Nova in a joking manner.
*Wu stares at the distance.*
"You know, eventually, Master, you're gonna have to tell her you don't know where the Dragon Armor is." said Cole.
"My father told me to have faith. Then we meet a person named Faith the same day! Not a coincidence." said Wu.
"But that was a dream! What if you're wrong? What if there is no armor? What if you're leading us to...to something worse?" said Cole.
"I choose not to focus on that." said Wu.
"It's hard to admit when you're wrong, but it's harder to do what's right. And you've never taught us to take the easier path. Now, I know you have faith, but you also have a responsibility to tell her the truth." said Cole.
"There's great trouble behind you." said Wu.
"Don't go making this about me." said Cole.
"No, there's great trouble behind you!" shouted Wu as he pointed behind him.
"Uhh, guys?" said Cole.
"Baron's Hunters. We need to go." said Faith as they get on their jets and Faith wears her mask.
"Always knew you were a defector!" Arkade's slot machine lands on three chain guns.
"We won!" shouted Jay only for Arkade to use the gun on his and Zane's jet. "Uh, maybe we lost." Another Hunter uses a chain gun on them. "Definitely lost."
Zane grunts. "I can't break free. Prepare to reverse."
"What? If we reverse at this speed—" Jay suggested as Zane made the two hunters crash. "We did that! Ha-ha! Let's see what you've got."
"Hold on." Faith moves out of Chew Toy's way.
"No, don't!" Chew Toy chains her jet instead.
"Ha! We did that!" Cheered Kai only for Jet Jack to activate her jet pack. "Which isn't much."
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" shouted Nova as she saw the Ice Dragon which went on to chase them.
"Uh, guys?" said Cole.
"Switch." Kai drives the jet. "Lose it in the canyons. Steady." Faith chains the Dragon. All the other hunters are eliminated.
"All right! We're home free!" cheered Cole.
"Spoke too soon." said Wu as Jet Jack climbs on.
"Would you fuckers stop jinxing it already!!!!" screamed Nova
"Hey. Come on. Get out from there. A little help?" said Cole as Wu activates her jet pack.
"Uh-oh." Jet Jack flies away. "No!"
"Ha! Nice work!" said Cole.
"Just taking responsibility." said Wu.
"Where to, son of Spinjitzu Master?" Faith asked.
"An easier path. This way." said Wu.
"We'll follow you." Everyone but Nova fail to notice a tracking device on their jet.
"We are so screwed." Nova mumbled knowing this wasn't the end of this.
Jet Jack managed to land. "Did you catch them?" Iron Baron asked.
"No. But I know where they are going." said Jet Jack.
*At nightfall, they reach Oni territory.*
"Are you sure it's this way?" Faith asked.
Nova looked towards the Oni territory and she wasn't sure why but she was getting the feeling as if she was home.
"Well, we're not going back, 'cause then it'll be our skulls on pikes." said Jay.
"Think before you answer, Master Wu. You have a responsibility to at least do that." said Cole.
"Yes. The Dragon Armor is this way." said Wu.
"I was afraid you'd say that." said Faith.
"Afraid? Heh. You don't look like the type of person who'd be afraid." said Kai.
"This is Oni land. As long as we stay on our side, they will stay on theirs. But we need the Dragon Armor." said Faith.
"Need? Pfft. "Need" is such a strong word. There could be other ways of getting home." said Cole looking over at Nova who hadn't stopped staring at the territory.
"Gaining the Firstbourne's trust so that her Dragons can ferry us home is the only way back to Ninjago." said Zane.
"How dangerous are these...Oni?" Wu asked.
Nova snapped out of her staring and looked over at the others.
"Dangerous enough that when Iron Baron and his bravors crossed this line to get the Dragon Blade, he was the only one to come back. Oni have a dark magic about them, a destructive magic. They are like nightfall, consuming darkness. After the stories Baron told us, we know better than to search these lands. Are you sure the Dragon Armor is this way?" Faith explained.
"I think so?" said Wu.
"Do not let fear guide you. Your first instinct is usually correct. We must go before it gets dark." said Faith.
"After you, Master." said Cole.
"....Why does it feel like I'm coming home, I know Ninjago is my home no matter what but.....I can't ignore this homely feeling." Nova thought as she could almost feel a pull from the Oni territory.
*The stranded ninja and Nova drive in the Oni land.*
"It's a dead end!" said Cole.
"So these Oni. If they're shapeshifters, how do we know when we see one? I mean, how do we even know one isn't already pretending to be one of us?" Jay asked as he looked over at Nova.
"Oh, zip it, Jay." said Kai punching his arm, as they all knew that Nova didn't want them to see her as an enemy.
"Oni!"
Kai uses fire on a figure. "It's a statue."
"A gate." said Zane.
"To an Oni stronghold. But it's open." said Faith.
"Um, should we be walking toward it? I really thought we'd be walking the other way. Zip it. Duly noted." said Jay as they went in.
"One thing you forgot to tell us about Oni: they're slobs too." said Kai.
Nova punched his arm. "Rude." she said before going on to have a better look around.
"Where is everyone?" Cole asked.
"Wherever they are, they haven't lived here for centuries." said Zane
"That liar! All this time, he lied to us. It was just a story, made up." said Faith.
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Kai asked.
"Iron Baron. He made us believe this was Oni land. No one has ever seen one because look around. They're all gone." said Faith.
"But where did they go?" Jay asked before he noticed Nova was gone.
"Argh!"
"He used fear to control you." said Kai.
"He wasn't enslaving dragons. He was enslaving us! How could I have been so stupid? Is any of it true? Is there even the Dragon Armor?" Faith asked in anger.
"I think she's asking you." said Cole looking at Wu.
"I...I don't know." said Wu.
"Don't know? Don't know? Do you know how much I sacrificed to help you? If we can't get out of here and Iron Baron finds me, he-he'll...Argh! Why did you tell me you knew where it was?" asked Faith angrily.
"My father told me in a dream I must have faith. Then we found you. I still believe we will find it, even if you don't." said Wu but Faith takes her anger out of the gate.
"I know that was hard to do, but it's better to admit the truth than carry on a lie." said Cole.
"Even if we never get home, the least we can do is raise you up to be the person you raised us to be." said Jay.
Kai sighs. "It's a shame about the armor. I was starting to believe in it myself."
"We all were." said Zane.
"Umm guys, where is Nova?" Jay asked.
*Everyone looks around but didn't see her anywhere.*
Nova had wandered off away from the group as she explored the now ruined Oni stronghold.
"The show never showed much of this place, so now being here in person feels so weird. But amazing too. Maybe I can even find some stuff that can help with my shifting powers." Nova mumbled.
As Nova walked around she found a few murals showing images of the oni fighting dragons, doing rituals, oni children playing around, oni doing dark magic, and then a mural of the Omega and the First Spinjitzu Master.
"Wow this is fucking cool." said Nova with a big smile behind her mask as she ran a hand on the dusty murals. "These murals are like speaking about the oni's history from their side."
Nova went on to look further around finding a few interesting things. Until she found a mural that showed the oni using their shapeshifting powers to change into humans and other creatures.
"Here it is! Something that might actually help me!" said Nova excited as this was what she had been looking for, and thanks to Mystake since she had kind of forced her to learn the language of the oni.
Nova saw some fainted text on the wall in the language of the oni that spoke about how to control their shapeshifting powers.
Taking a deep breath she tried to relax and feel the powers inside her as she followed the instructions and at first nothing happened, but after a bit she caught a feel in her claws and she tried focusing on that feeling.
The strange feeling Nova felt from her body was growing throughout her body and it was taking a lot of her energy, she opened her eyes when the feeling was gone. She slowly remembered some of the bandages from her left hand and to her surprise. She was back in her human form.
(even her hair is back to normal, beside one hair streak still being purple.)
(image)
"It worked....it worked.....Hahahaha it worked! It worked! It worked!" Nova cheered in pure joy as she was pumping her fists into the air.
After calming down a bit she remembered that she had wandered away from the ninja. "....Shit I forgot about them, I should probably get back before they start getting worried." Nova looked at the mural one more time and gave it a small bow, even though it was wrong she still wanted to show some respect for the help.
Nova went on to use the shadows and quickly got back to the group seeing that the ninja was already in a panic while Faith was still taking her anger out on the gate.
"Where could she have gone?" Cole asked.
"She couldn't have gone far." said Zane.
"Could her oni instincts have taken control of her?" Kai asked.
"Maybe an oni caught her?" Jay asked.
"Maybe she took a look around and forgot time." said Nova coming out of the shadows, scaring the shit of the ninja.
"Nova?!" The ninja shouted, completely caught off guard.
"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to worry you all." said Nova.
"Please don't do that again Nova." said Kai.
"Yeah we were really worried you might have been kidnapped." said Jay.
"....If I ever got caught or just kidnapped it would ruin my reputation." said Nova.
"Wait a moment, since when did your hair change color?" Cole asked as he was the first to notice her hair wasn't in a blend of purple and black anymore.
"....Wait, my hair isn't black or purple anymore?" Nova asked, she hadn't even noticed that and had just thought her hair would be permanent those colors beside her eyebrows.
"Guys look...." said Wu as he noticed something on the gate.
"Ah, it's sad, really. She has a lot of pent-up issues to resolve. That's what can happen when you're born in a cruel world." said Jay.
"Not her. The gate. " Wu goes to close the gate.
"No, no, no!" Faith kept letting her anger out on the gate.
"Do you mind?" Wu closes it, revealing a map to the armor.
"The Dragon Armor..." said Kai.
"It's in the nest of the Firstbourne..." said Cole.
"It's...real..." said Faith, surprised.
"We have faith. Now we have a map. I told you." said Wu.