Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 72: Searching for Kohuru

(Artwork by ninjagofanmam)

"OK, thanks anyway." Jay sighed as he freed yet another villager from his inquiries regarding Zane. The middle-aged woman continued her way down the street of her little village, casting a glance at the ninja. Jay, Lloyd, and Nya had attracted a few stares upon entering the third village of their list, but otherwise nobody seemed very bothered by the newcomers.

By this time it was the afternoon, the sun still high in the sky. Jay was meandering about one of the main streets, stopping everyone who came within ten feet of him. Lloyd was scouring the back of the village, and Nya was checking out the busy streets by the houses. The town was small enough nobody was worried about getting lost.

With a suppressed sigh, Jay caught sight of another man coming up, pulling a wooden cart behind him carrying baskets of vegetables. He cleared his throat and walked up to the farmer, repeating the question he'd been saying over and over again all day long. He spoke quickly, out of habit now.

"Hi, there. Sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for a friend. Kind of a tall guy, blue eyes, has this crewcut hairstyle, he's got no sense of humor, completely made of titanium. Seen him?"

The peasant stopped his cart. "Um— yeah! Yeah, I have, actually."

"OK, thought so." Jay sighed, already turning away. "Well, thanks anyway—" He stopped.

He turned around and looked at the farmer again. "Wait— what did you say?"

"I said 'yeah'; I did see your friend."

"Really?" Delighted, Jay stammered, "Wh—where? Which way? When?"

"Yesterday, when I was tending to my crops." The farmer jerked a thumb behind him. "I looked up and saw this metal-looking guy walking by on the road. I was going to ask if he needed anything—because we sometimes get travelers going up and down this way, the usual adventurous folks, y'know—but, uh, he just kept walking, and didn't look like he needed anything. So I just kept my mouth shut and went back to work."

"Did you see where he was headed?" Jay asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, looked like he was heading north—which is kinda crazy, seeing that it's unbearably cold up there this time of year. I mean, winter's just about to come in and all, now that Day of the Departed is over—"

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jay bolted away. He fairly flew over the cobblestoned streets and jostled past startled villagers. "Lloyd! Nya! I found Zane!"

It didn't take long before Nya and Lloyd heard his cries and came running. When Jay relayed the information he had discovered, Nya gasped, "Birchwood Forest! Of course! Dr. Julien's hidden workshop! Zane must have gone there in search of clues about the Moon Tribe sword."

"Is it far?" Lloyd asked, not having gone there before.

"Not especially, but we should be at the workshop by evening, if not earlier." Breaking into a run, Nya was already headed for the village entrance. "Come on!"

Within minutes the three of them found themselves flying over the quaint, rolling countryside upon their dragons, skimming over the fields of grass and tops of trees. Jay led the way, having traveled on foot to the Birchwood Forest before. At one point he crowed, "This is way faster than walking!"

The sun crawled across the sky. As the three brightly-colored dragons flew further and further northward, the air grew colder and colder. White patches of snow began to appear on the barren, rocky hillsides.

Jay began shivering in his seat and rubbed his hands over his bare arms. Why'd these outfits have to be sleeveless? And of course we get them only when we're fighting evil shapeshifting cats from the mountains! He thought irritably, I hope we find somewhere warmer to fight bad guys next. Like a tropical island.