Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 15: Surprise!

Lloyd looked down at the village and scowled. The last few minutes had been... severely unnerving. When the red ninja charged into the crowd, it was more than a shock, considering that Lloyd had been expecting Wu to show up with a small covert team. Instead, it would seem that Raiden (if that even was his real name) had gone AWOL and tried to get revenge on him. From this point on, he would be labelled as a loose cannon/wild card in Lloyd's mind. He admired that.
When the black ninja had arrived, he had very much excepted to see Wu somewhere nearby, and yet, all they did was run off. Anyway, as far as he was concerned, the two ninja were incompetent and a minor threat. The real cause for concern was the small squadron down in the rushes below, spearheaded by the Tea Enthusiast himself. Keaton and Ann were there too, which complicated things.
His mind wandered back to the incident. He was standing over Kai, who was completely helpless and unarmed, and despite how much he hated him, despite Lloyd's promise of killing him back in the canyon, when Slithraa ordered his immediate execution, he faltered. He choked. He realised all at once that it would mean crossing a line he had never so much as toed before. And now, because he had failed to carry out the deed, not only did Raiden escape, but Slithraa seemed to have lost some confidence in his young ally. He had to fix this soon, or else he'd lose his respect among the Hypnobrai.
"Young Garmadon," said Slithraa, coming up behind him. "It's-s-s time to move."
The soldiers were gathered deep in the forest where they were enjoying the delights of canned tuna and beef jerky; all stolen goods from town. Whatever they had been living off of before now must have been barely enough to get by.
"We've als-s-so run into s-s-some of your old S-s-skulken companions-s-s. They won't be bothering us-s-s anymore," the chief went on.
"Oh?" was all Lloyd said. He was still watching his uncle far beneath him, wondering what Slithraa might have him do if they ever really did catch the old man. Now wasn't the time. They needed to start moving. "Tell your men to light the fuse, then we'll blow this popsicle stand."
"Pops-s-sicle... s-s-stand?" Slithraa asked.
"Yeah it's, an expre—never mind. Let's go," said Lloyd, finally turning around and walking deeper into the wood.
"Humans-s-s..." Slithraa muttered behind him.
The chief raised his staff to the sun and the sharp glint it reflected was the signal for his men on the ground to put in motion the final act of Lloyd's plan. It had taken him a good deal of time to convince Slithraa to come here, of all places, to begin his campaign. The location didn't have any geographical significance, or political leverage, or even any cultural relevance. It was nothing more or less than a rinky-dink town in the middle of nowhere. But from where Lloyd stood in the forest, he could still make out the old wooden box in the nearby hills where he used to live.
Whatever. This place deserved everything coming to it. This bridge was finally, finally being burned. Now on to phase two.
He was drawing near to the Serpentine now, and what he heard was troubling.
"Into formation! Now! We'll be off s-s-soon. Await my order." Slithraa's second in command—Admiral Scales—had gotten into a bad habit of ordering the troops around when nobody was watching. Slithraa seemed only mildly annoyed over the subject, but Lloyd knew there was more to the Admiral's actions than what met the eye. Scales had detested Lloyd from day one, and relished any moment he was humiliated or disregarded, but it was more than even that. There was a very certain demeanour about Admiral Scales—an arrogant, slimy, sneaking sort of demeanour. One that made him weary of the snake's intentions.
Lloyd marched right up to Scales and barked, "What's going on here?" in the toughest voice he could muster. Scales sneered at his young commander and Lloyd could almost hear his slimy inner voice cursing at the sight of the "puny human."
"I was-s-s jus-s-st preparing the troops-s-s," the Hypnobrai squeezed passed his fangs.
"My troops," Lloyd corrected.
"Chief Slithraa's-s-s troops-s-s," Scales countered.
"OUR troops," Lloyd pressed firmly, attempting to end this quarrel with as much authority as he could. The troops were all present and watching the interaction unfold, and who's judgment they were truly loyal to was anyone's guess at this point. Frankly, they seemed rather confused about the current chain of command, but generally they regarded Lloyd as being Slithraa's new right hand man.
Lloyd and Scales were now locked in a staring contest that was only broken up by the chief himself coming between them.
"Comrades-s-s, let's-s-s take a s-s-step back, shall we?" he said in a very hinting tone. Lloyd had learned that when he spoke like this, he usually meant, "shut up or I'm going to have to hurt you." Reluctantly, he moved away from the admiral. "Forward s-s-slither!" Slithraa cried. The snakes gave a customary solute, and then began to follow their leader toward phase two.
Lloyd walked beside Slithraa at the front. Walking was an excellent time to think, and right now, Lloyd was picturing Wu and his students walking down that false path he had created. He wondered if they'd be able to escape on their own.
"Chief Slithraa?" he asked, looking up at the towering snake.
"Yes-s-s?" he replied, not particularly interested in whatever Lloyd would say next.
"If it pleases your highness, I would like to scout ahead." Lloyd had been paying very close attention to the way the Hypnobrai conducted themselves around their chief, and he had learned that if you wanted to ask anything of Slithraa, you had to ask in the most respectful way possible. The phrase he had just used was a favourite of Scales's.
Slithraa bowed his head slightly. "Go ahead," he said easily. "If you die, it's you to blame, if death finds us, my verdict's the same."
Lloyd grimaced at the old Serpentine proverb and gave a quick bow before running off ahead of the group. The Hypnobrai sure had a lot of weird old habits and phrases. In any case, he was glad to be out of their sight for a little while. He hadn't been completely alone since he walked up the mountain all those... days ago? Weeks ago? He had no idea. It wasn't like he had been carrying a calendar around with him all this time.
The forest spread out for a few miles, which was good news for Lloyd. Once he reached a safe enough distance from the Serpentine, he pivoted and started running around where the group would be. He had to get back there, just to make sure.