Thundersnow

The Great Serpentine War: Fire Starter

It had been three months since anyone had last seen the master of lightning.

Everyone knew.

Everyone knew how dangerous an elemental master was when put under the control of someone or something.

The thing that was so dangerous about elemental powers was that they were truly only limited by the user's imagination and emotions. And when you were under hypnobrai control, it was like being unrestrained.

All mental blocks and thoughts that might've prevented your abilities were gone. It perfectly honed a master's skills into a deadly weapon.

And now they had Libber.

Libber was one of these weapons.

You could've tasted the tension in the monastery ever since she'd been taken.

It wasn't even that everyone was worried she wouldn't be okay. This was a war, that tension was always there. No, they were more worried about seeing her than never seeing her again. Because next time they would see her, she'd be fighting against them.

But so far there'd been nothing.

The strikes on the bases went well, the map was a help.

Everyone was scared of Ice now.

The elder had not been pleased hearing that they still wanted to continue with the attacks as soon as possible but he understood. War didn't stop for a single soldier. So instead Ice had eagerly gone after any hypnobrai bases they found.

And obliterated them.

All that was left of the bases were massive spires of ice that jutted out of the ground with wreckage still captured inside of them from destroyed structures. There were rumors that there were even bodies still frozen inside.

Other rumors said that Ice had single handedly expanded the glacial barrens. The snowiest zone of Ninjago having grown past its original border.

On his rampage Ice had destroyed five entire bases on his own. No other elemental masters had even bothered to try and follow him on his crusade.

Some of the masters wondered if maybe Ice thought destroying the bases meant the snakes that had Libber wouldn't have anywhere to go.

Clearly that wasn't true.

Libber was still gone.

And there was no sign of her ever returning.

Three months and the fight went on without her. The serpentine recovered faster than they would've liked meaning that they didn't have the advantage they wanted.

Garmadon had jumped ship, spending more and more time off with the newest part of the war, a man named Chen.

And Ice had become somehow more stoic, never speaking to anyone. He came out for missions and disappeared when he wasn't needed. No one knew where he went.

That seemed like it was going to be the new normal. Then one day, a squad came back from a small mission, beat within an inch of their life.

Ceol had come through the gates with Calypso, her arm slung over the master of sound, looking only half awake.

She was sluggishly bleeding out of several large cuts and her clothing was practically shredded.

Makeshift bandages made out of her torn outfit were taken off to reveal her wounds.

Lashes covered her body, precise but also jagged.

Whip wounds.

While someone else ran over to carry Calypso off to the infirmary she kept murmuring over and over again.