to rule the world | a ninjago au

[11] dragon pls no eat

astra

Pros and cons of running from a dragon:

Cons:

Dragon is unnervingly fast

Dragon is large and can fly

Dragon has earth breath

Dragon is really, really mad

Pros:

None

So judging by her mental list, Astra did not, in fact, want to turn around and face the dragon lumbering after them.

"Why isn't it flying?" Kai shrieked, arms over his head to protect his spiky hair.

"Don't ask," Astra yelled back, "Just run, or you're dragon feed."

Kai obeyed, increasing his pace without voicing another stupid question. Astra almost tripped when she spotted the Nightwing already at the rendezvous point, engine thrusters blasting with the back loading ramp out.

"Cole, get on first, we'll hold off this—" Astra ordered, cut off with a curse as the dragon sent the ground beneath them shaking. Instinctively, she rolled forwards and drew her katana. Cole rushed ahead with the Scythe strapped to his back as instructed, the blade glowing bright gold. Charlie turned with Astra, his wing shields forming fists of steel that he slammed into the ground. Jagged spikes of metal drawn from the earth shot up, creating a short lived barrier between them and the dragon.

All it had to do was breath rocks again and cover the pointy metal for safe passage. Astra considered her arsenal: Fire (which would probably do nothing against those thick scales), Metal (which had failed already), Healing (which wouldn't do much), and Energy (who, just like her, didn't know the extent of his powers unless she stabbed Lloyd in the arm).

And that gave Astra an idea.

From one of her boot sheaths, Astra grabbed a dragger and closed her eyes, already regretting what she was about to do. Her right arm swung down and sliced deep into her left arm. The oiled, sharpened blade tore easily through the top layer of the fabric and then into her arm.

Oh, MOTHETRU—, Astra yelled internally. Dropping the dagger, she messily bound her left arm and shouted for Titanium, Junior and Forge to retreat. It felt like her arm had been chopped off - maybe she should have been a little more merciful with her own hand. Astra determinedly kept her eyes away from the dark blood seeping through her suit and staggered to stand.

Stupid stupid stupid.

The earth dragon roared defiantly, rearing and slamming down on the ground with the power of ten thousand rhinos behind it. It kept its stomach away from the ground though, where a strange pouch hung from it. Astra's mind still worked quickly through the blazing pain as she drew her katana once again and slashed at the dragon. This time, however, it was alright with purple flames akin to her father's. The dragon's head suddenly snapped in the other direction, where a hill of small rocks had suddenly emerged.

Cole's work.

Using the distraction wisely, Astra ran up one of the dragon's thick forelegs, avoiding sharpened rocks and the rough scales as best as she could. It was only inevitable that the dragon noticed a human trying to grapple onto one of it's giant, flap-like green scales for purchase. The dragon then attempted to shake her off, leaving Astra to cling on desperately, swearing like a sailor every time her left arm moved (which was a lot).

The dragon calmed, digging black claws into the hard earth like it was dough. Astra slowly made her way up the next, katana in her right hand and her left barely supporting her climb. When she got to the back of its massive head, she was met with more rock clumps stuck to its skin, and with further inspection, she could make out scars that looked like they had been made by the dragon itself. The scars ran as far as the dragon's arms could reach, big, jagged lines that were partially hidden around the earthy scales.