Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 19: A Little Lie and a Little Leaf

(Artwork by ninjagofanmam)

The humanoid werecat curled his lip rebelliously once the group had tied him tightly to a chair in one of the rooms of the Bounty. He seemed to realize that any attempt to escape would be futile, so he caused little trouble for the ninja. Once everyone was quite sure of his inability to free himself, they proceeded to interrogate Jay's imposter.

"Why have you and your kind have been attacking us?" Zane inquired.

"Why are you collecting moonstones? What are they for?" Cole asked.

"What have you done with our friends?" Nya demanded.

"When will you give the cat a chance to speak?" Matilda grumbled.

Wu brushed by his students, eyes narrowed at Eagle Talon. "You have some serious explaining to do. You and your kind have kidnapped eight people, stolen three moonstones, terrorized innocent citizens, attacked us, and now you're impersonating one of my ninja. Why?"

"I see no reason for me to answer to you." Eagle Talon lifted his head haughtily. "You can do whatever you want with me—kill me, torture me, declaw me—but I won't give in."

Sensei Wu stroked his beard thoughtfully. The others watched—in Liana's case, listened—in silence, wondering what he would say next. Nya glared at the werecat, barely suppressing her rage, and Cole scowled angrily. Both Liana and Zane wore cool expressions while Matilda's face was unreadable. She only watched quietly from a corner of the room, standing apart from the others.

Finally Wu shrugged. "Fine," he said calmly. "Then we can turn you over to the authorities."

Eagle Talon looked unperturbed. "So be it."

"What?!" Nya glared indignantly at Wu. "That's it?! Just put him in jail? No questions, no explanations?"

"I believe this young man has made it clear that he will not be answering any questions for any reason, and I, personally, would rather not resort to threats of torture and such to get what we want. We are warriors—not savages." He gave the werecat a significant glance. Eagle Talon rolled his feline eyes disdainfully at the veiled comment.

"Maybe he just doesn't have the right motivation." Before anyone could stop her, Nya yanked a katana out of its sheath and marched up to the prisoner with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"Nya, no!" Zane exclaimed and started forward. Nya stopped him with a wave of her sword before stepping up to Eagle Talon. Brandishing the weapon, she leaned forward until she was fairly nose-to-nose with the werecat.

The werecat met her glare coolly, as if she was but a mere fly buzzing about meaninglessly.

Nya glared at him for a second, then promptly slapped him in the face. "That's for flirting with me."

The werecat blinked dimly. "I wasn't flirting," he said. "I was simply acting in the way your mate would."

She blushed angrily. "My—?! Jay's not my 'mate'!"

"That wasn't the impression I was left with, but all right, whatever." He shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"

Nya drew a breath to respond, then paused. "You guys want moonstones, don't you?"

Eagle Talon arched an eyebrow. "One could deduct that from the results of our missions, yeah."

"But you don't have all of them you want, do you?" Nya prompted.

"Obviously. Why else would I be placed as a spy and not leave after my tribe-mates recovered the moonstone from the tom Ronin's place?"

"So," she said slowly, "you still need more. For reasons you're unwilling to tell us."