Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 21: Little Leaf's Unnerving Form

Contrary to Eagle Talon's belief, Lloyd was neither holding Little Leaf prisoner nor attempting to hurt her; in fact, the thought never crossed his mind. Whilst the Tribe of the Moon believed one of their members to be either killed or captured by the Green Ninja, that said member was leading Lloyd out of her own free will through the forest toward a human settlement, happily chatting with him.

The odd pair had woken up under a couple of bushes the next morning, eaten a light breakfast, then continued their journey. Finding little else to do as they traversed those endless miles of forest, the werecat and the ninja fell to talking. Little Leaf in particular was a chatterbox, and she was a very inquisitive young cat. She kept asking Lloyd about his life as a "Son of the First"—which Lloyd figured must mean grandson of the First Spinjitzu Master—and he lost all caution about the werecat and found himself telling her about his adventures, his teammates, the villains they've fought, and his family.

Little Leaf in turn told him a bit about her life, although the information she gave would had been disappointing had Lloyd been searching for inside secrets; she talked about her friends, her half-brother, her adventures during patrols up in the mountains or in the forestland. None of these things would have been deemed useful for the cause of defeating the cat creatures. Lloyd didn't mind, though. He was just glad Little Leaf was trying to help him instead of trying to kill him.

It was around the afternoon when Little Leaf stopped and cocked her head. Nostrils flaring, she shut her eyes, lifted her face to the breeze, and stuck out her tongue.

Lloyd gave her a weird look. "Uhh... what are you doing?"

"Tasting the air. Duh." Little Leaf opened her eyes and declared eagerly, "There are some humans down this way! Come on!" With that, she whisked away into the undergrowth, dodging trees with the grace of a deer. Lloyd followed, shoving his way past weeds and thick brush. Perhaps there was a village where someone could point him to Ninjago City.

The two teens dashed through the woods, once in a while startling a flock of birds from their roosts or a couple of rabbits from their hiding places in the underbrush. Lloyd couldn't smell a thing, but Little Leaf declared the scent to be quite strong, so they followed the spoor quickly.

After several minutes, Lloyd and Little Leaf burst out of the line of trees to find themselves in a grassy clearing. Straight ahead of them the ground suddenly fell away and revealed a steep, rocky gorge that wound its way like a snake across the valley. At the other side was another line of trees leading into another endless forest stretching up to the mountains. They didn't seem to be any closer to human civilization.

Lloyd stopped, chest heaving for breath, and he stared at the gorge in disappointment. Little Leaf was unperturbed, however, and she gestured to the rocky ravine. "Look down there. I told you I smelled humans!"

Puzzled, he joined her at the cliff. Looking down, he saw that the valley was scattered with boulders of all sizes and that the bottom was lined with sand. He was surprised to realize that there were indeed humans down there: they appeared to be a dozen tough-looking men and tired horses were setting up camp nearby a little river that ran down the gorge. Bags and packs were being tossed by a blazing fire, the horses were drinking from the little river, and a few of the travelers were cooking something over the flames. The rank smell of smoke, horse manure, and burning, oily meat reached Lloyd's nose, and he made a face.

Closer inspection of these strangers revealed that they carried rifles, hand guns, katanas, butterfly swords, and sai. Lloyd didn't like how the men slouched around, cast suspicious glances at one another, and talked and laughed loudly, cursing and spitting at the sand. They wore old, weather-beaten clothing made for traveling, with long coats, wide leather belts adorned with weapons, riding boots, ratty rice farmer hats, and bandanas around their necks. Many of the strangers bore hideous scars across their faces or arms, and Lloyd could only guess at how many more such marks they bore beneath their dirty clothing.