Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 17: Fever

The wind howled frozen murder and large, icy waves smashed against the hull of the ninja's ship, exploding into foam and spray and mist. Ann was doing her best to keep them steady, holding her position on the deck even as more saltwater crashed around her and thunder rumbled in the distance. If she didn't, there was no telling what might happen to them all, tumbling across an unforgiving sea in a ship with no sails. Jay used to think he knew what it felt like to be helpless, but nothing could have prepared him for this.
He and all other unessential personnel were tucked away, safe and secure, below deck in the barracks. Nya and Keaton had put up some hammocks so that they wouldn't have to keep laying on the freezing floorboards anymore, and as Jay was laying on his, swinging with the rocking of the ship, he watched the dark sky through the window. It was his job to let the others know if the storm would become too dangerous, forcing them to park somewhere near land. So far, the lighting was keeping its distance, content to play far out in the middle of the sea, where no one would get hurt.
Suddenly, the ship lurched, and Jay instantly knew that another big wave had knocked into them. He gripped the sides of his hammock and waited for things to die down a bit.
"Woah!" Cole yelped as he fell across the floor. He grumbled a bit more before resuming his sit-ups. Jay guessed that exercise was how he dealt with stress, and if he was stressed over a little storm, well... it didn't do anything to help his own stress.
Zane turned over in the hammock next to him. He was doing his best not to do anything, or else his powers might get away from him in a winter storm like this. He turned over again, readjusting his blanket.
The ship creaked and shook, and for more than a few seconds, Jay wondered if maybe it was about to fall apart under the stress. Exactly how much could this old tub take? If he were to venture a guess, he'd say that there would be some maintenance work in his future. Which would mean having to work with Kai some more. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Achoo!"
"You okay?" Jay asked, looking over at Nya's hammock.
"Fine," she sniffed. "It's just a little chilly. I'm more worried about..." She looked up.
"Yeah. Me too," he said, imaging what the others were enduring up there. The boat dipped down suddenly as they rode another wave, then it started to climb again. Cole paused mid push-up and held his stomach for a minute.
Meanwhile, above deck, Ann, Keaton, and Kai for fighting the storm with everything they had. Ann, of course, was mainly focused on keeping the boat upright and moving, while Keaton desperately tried to blow away as much water as possible, though it only helped so much, and Kai was doing everything he could to keep them warm.
"Watch those flames!" Ann hollered over the wind in her ears, freezing them right down to her eardrums.
"You wanna switch places?!" Kai shot back, spitting out more saltwater. It wasn't like there was a literal ocean around them, constantly trying to put out the fire or anything.
"How much further?!" Keaton asked. It had been well over an hour now, and her arms had begun to shake from the strain of fighting the mighty forces of nature.
"I'm not sure!" Ann tried to concentrate on their location, but with the waves all higgledy piggledy, all she was getting was a massive amount of confusion and anxiety. "Maybe we should just call it now!"
"Are you sure?! I was just getting warmed up!" Kai quipped. Truthfully, he was sick of the ocean, and of winter, and would give just about anything to live in a desert right about now.
"Well that makes one of us!" Ann shot back.
All of a sudden, another massive wave cropped up. They didn't notice it until it had reached a truly alarming size, and was primed to hit them on their starboard side.
"ANN!"
"I see it! Hold on!" With enough strain to pop a vein on her forehead, Ann pushed the ship forward. Hard. They were now riding the wave as if they were a surfboard, fighting the current that wanted to flip them over, while also trying to escape the splash zone when that monstrosity eventually came down. The ship was tilting, wanting to roll as the water beneath it was swept up into the growing wave, and the wind was blowing vapour and foam up at them as well; a vortex of bone-chilling terror.
"We're tilting! Tilting!" Kai cried, his feet beginning to slip on the snot-like surface of the deck.
"I KNOW!" Ann screamed, going practically red in the face with the effort it was taking to keep them steady and moving forward.
"I'll try to—AAHHH!!!"
"KEATON!!!" Kai went after her instantly. A bit if a wave had broken against the hull, and they were going so fast, a large piece of it had knocked the little ninja over, sending her flying into the violent wind. He grabbed her hand, and forced his numbing fingers to hold on, even as his shoes slipped and his body slammed into the deck. At least Keaton wasn't lost at sea. Instead, the two of them were simply clinging onto the side railing for dear life.
"WE'RE ALMOST OUT!!!" Ann shouted, seeing the end of the wave. "HOLD ON!!!"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!?!?" Kai screeched, his throat feeling like someone had put it through a wood chipper. He used his body to help steady Keaton, and then got himself into a more stable position, one hand on the railing, the other still gripped tightly around Keaton's wrist.
Then, in the snap of a finger, it was over. They had made it out of the wave, the ship righted itself, and everyone could breathe again. Even the ocean seemed to be breathing steadily.
"Is that... what I think it is?" Keaton asked.
Kai looked up, and to his surprise, he saw pale sunlight peering through the clouds, streaming down onto the waves in golden beams. "Finally..." he sighed, letting his head fall against the railing. It was no electric heater or fireplace, but any form of energy was enough for him right now. Thanks to Wu's training, he zeroed in on the light, now falling on his face as the low clouds moved around. He let the heat well up inside of him, warming up his skin and fingers and toes. After a second or two, he started to notice steam rising from his jacket.
Keaton scooted closer and rested her head on his arm. "Thanks for saving me."
"I've got you," he said, finally letting go of her wrist and wrapping his arm around her.
With not much else to look at, his eyes found their way over to where Ann was standing. Well, 'hunching' might have been a better term. She was bent over, her arms on her knees, breathing heavily. He would have asked if she were alright, but he got his answer as he saw her legs buckle and she crumpled to the floor.
"Ann!" He called, forcing himself to get up and go to her. Keaton was right behind him. "Ann, you okay?" She was still awake, but very weak, and very cold.
"I'm fine..." she croaked, so quietly it was practically a whisper.
"Hold still," said Kai. He reached out both hands and laid them on her face, letting the warmth in them seep into her cheeks.
"Is she alright?" Keaton asked, her voice cracking.
"I told you, I'm fi—ack! Ack!" She rolled over, trying to cover her cough. "—fine," she finished with a grimace. "Just gotta... get the boat to shore..." She slowly propped herself up and it looked like she was trying to lift her arms like she usually did when steering the ship, but they both just wound up palm-side down on the floor. To her credit, the boat did move, albeit a little. It sort of lurched a bit, toward land, but it seemed to Kai that the ocean was doing most of the work, turning them and slowly sending them to safety.
"Come on. Let's get below deck," Kai said, trying to pick her up.
"No—no, I gotta—"
"Get some rest," Kai insisted.
"I'm fine!" She repeated, pushing his shoulder back.
"No, you're not!" Kai snapped, pulling her up by the arms.
"I'll grab her legs," Keaton offered. Between the two of them, they were able to subdue her, and Kai had her draped over his shoulder as they walked downstairs.
"I hate you," she grumbled.
"I think I can live with that," he grumbled back.
There was some amount of water swishing about down here, but as they were already dripping wet, Kai didn't really care that his shoes were soaked through.
When they arrived at the barracks, they were met with a lot of surprised faces. Everyone, naturally, wanted to know exactly what had happened, and Keaton was happy to fill them in as Kai plopped Ann into her hammock.
"Ow," she muttered.
"But you're 'fine,' right?"
She glared at him and shoved him away with her foot. Then she coughed again and pulled her blanket up around her shoulders.
"I thought you were supposed to be up there keeping them warm," Cole prodded, arms crossed.
Kai's eyes narrowed. "You try it sometime, Mole."
Cole was forced to sigh and some of the tension in his body left. "How long until we make landfall?"
"Soon," said Kai. "You'll have to bring us in."
Cole sighed again but nodded. Then—
"ACHOO!!" Keaton let loose another of her signature sneezes and opted to lay down as well. "I think I might have a cold," she sniffed.
"Oh no," said Nya, as all of them realised the many ways this could complicate their next mission. "Kai, do you think you could—?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." He stepped into the center if the room and started radiating heat, as well as creating several fireballs. Once again, he was everyone's personal heater. Yup. He couldn't wait until winter was over.