Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 91: The Stealth Mission

Stealth and secrecy were the most important elements the ninja had to keep in mind the next morning. While Kenzo and his family went about their daily business, so as to not draw any unwanted attention from the Moon Tribe patrol cats, the group of teenagers spent the majority of their day quietly in the house, namely the stuffy attic. Once Shiro had gone to work in the mines and Suki and her children had gone to work in the fields, Lloyd assigned himself to scout out the quarry, after attaining a map from Shiro.

"We need to know just how many warrior cats are out there, what the mines and warehouses look like and where they're located, and how the warrior cats work," Lloyd had announced that morning, once everyone had awaken and eaten. "Before we make a plan of getting in there and attacking, we need to know what exactly we're getting into."

Jay wasn't very pleased with the prospect of having to lie around the house all day being still and quiet. "Why can't we just wing it?" he protested. "Just drop in, kick butt, save the slaves, ta-da! Mission accomplished!"

"The last time we winged it—" Lloyd stuttered, "winged it— wing it— the last time we winged?"

"'Wung' it?" Jay offered.

Cole groaned impatiently. "Gah—'the last time we did that'."

"The last time we did that," Lloyd said, "it was when we were trying to recuse Little Leaf from Dog Bone. We all remember how that ended."

Everyone grimaced. Cole briefly touched his fingers to his face. Little Leaf blushed and stared at the floor.

For the sake of secrecy, Lloyd decreed he would be the only one going to scout out the area. This was immediately met with protests, and it was soon decided that Zane would join him—he was the most insistent about coming with Lloyd to see the quarry. Although everyone was thinking the same thing, nobody said a word about his uncharacteristic persistence in being involved in this mission as much as possible—not in front of him, anyway.

It was still damp and cool outside when Zane and Lloyd slipped out of the cottage. Donning their face-masks and nodding to each other, Lloyd led the way—having Shiro's map—to the quarry. Treading quickly and quietly, they kept to the line of trees that circled one area of the town. It was mostly open plains from then on, but thankfully, very few patrol cats were out, and the farmers laboring in their fields paid the ninja no mind—or, perhaps, Suki had spread the word and everyone was helping the ninja keep a low profile.

Lloyd and Zane made their way out of the village and headed north, over a range of rocky hills. The dark, dismal little town of Oxstone soon disappeared. The sky overhead matched its empty grayness. The dry dust and rocks of the surrounding hills completed the forbidding look. The air was chilly, and Zane caught Lloyd shivering and rubbing his arms whenever they slowed their light run.

The journey from the village to the quarry took about fifteen minutes at a jog, although it took less than that time before Zane started to detect the smell of smoke. Not crisp, wood-fire-smoke—this one was a more dank, oily stink to it. Then he could see on the horizon a thick, dark plume rising steadily into the sky. A few minutes later, he started to hear the sounds: the clang of metal. The grinding of wheels and machinery. The harsh voices of men.

The two ninja crept with every shadow. Boulders sticking up here and there on the hillside provided ample cover as they neared the source of the noise. Stepping lightly—making sure not to send any loose pebbles rolling—they peered over the rise of a steep hill. Zane caught his breath.

A large quarry sprawled out before them. To the northwest of where Lloyd and Zane were hiding, they could see a large tunnel that had been blasted into a naked gray mountainside. Scores of men in ragged, dust-stained overalls trudged to and fro this entrance of what appeared to be the clearstone mines. Many carted wheelbarrows in and out of the gaping hole; it was hard to see the cargo of these wheelbarrows from the southern side, but from what Zane could tell, they were many clumps of gray rock. If there were precious minerals among them, he couldn't see. Some clumps were so large, they had to be carried out in a mule or ox-drawn cart. Others of these large carts delivered massive crates.