Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"Earth"

The grasslands had turned to sandy desert hours ago, and the hot sun beat down on the two ninja. It was desert as far as they could see, and no sign of civilization. Jay panted as he trudged through the sand. “Do you have any more water in your bag?”

Lloyd shook his head tiredly. “No. We drank the last of it a while back.”

“Great. So this is how we die then? Baked under the sun…?”

Lloyd frowned at his less than optimistic companion. “We’re not going to-“ he paused. “Do you hear that?”
Jay listened carefully but admitted that he didn’t hear a thing. Lloyd however, seemed to spring back to life at what he supposedly heard. He yelled for Jay to follow him as he took off running. As they ran, the blue ninja came to a screeching halt. An oasis lay in the not-too-distant sand dunes. The green ninja turned to see his partner racing the wrong direction towards nothing. He watched as a now very disappointed Jay flung himself into the sand then sat up cursing that it was just a mirage. “Come on, I really do hear something over there!”
Jay reluctantly got up grumbling and followed him. Not too long after, he began to here it too. It sounded like rumbling or rushing. No. Wait… it was a river. IT WAS A RIVER! River meant water! And boy, did they need it. The two bolted towards the source of the noise until they reached it. A beautiful crystal-clear river flowed in front of them. Jay was mostly interested in dunking his head in the cold water, but Lloyd was studying his map. If there was a river, then that meant a civilization had to be near by. If you live in a desert, then it would be the smartest thing to build your town near a consistent water source. The Desert Tribe couldn’t be too far now. It was probably only a few miles down the river. Follow the water source, find life. It was a simple plan. But a break to cool off in the brisk water didn’t seem so bad; so Lloyd joined his friend. Not long after, a few scraps of wood float by them. They were clearly the reminisce of a woodworking project. Pieces too small and thin to be used. If they were floating by, that meant that the town HAD TO be close! The two jumped out of the river and followed upstream until they came across a massive solid rock wall. Jay looked up at it in awe. “So… I’m guessing that whoever we need to get to is behind that?...”

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. But we’re gonna need to figure out how to get in.” The wall was massively tall and long. It wasn’t a straight shot though. It curled; making it apparent that it was wrapping around something. And it was thick. It was there to protect whatever was inside. Presumably, the Desert Tribe. “Maybe we’re just on the wrong side? It’s possible that there’s an entrance on the other side of the wall. We should check it out before we decide to try to climb this thing. We’d look stupid if we scaled the barrier only to find out that there was a door right around the corner.”
Yeah, that was certainly a good point. They were about to essentially walk right into enemy territory. Even if they had no real reason to be enemies in the first place. Regardless, they had to be careful about what they did. Neither of them knew how the Desert Tribe was in terms of behavior. There was a good chance they wouldn’t be so bad, but it was also a very real possibility that they might be hostile. In terms of being isolated, tribes like the Water Tribe lived on a freaking island, but the Desert Tribe didn’t actually live too far from the Lightning village. Only about a days travel. Speaking of which, the sun was beginning to set, meaning that they needed to get in sooner rather than later. The ninja made their way around the wall, only to realize that there was no apparent way in or out. Either they REALLY liked their privacy, or they were all being held prisoner. Either way, that only left one option; climb the wall. Or was it? Jay was about to give into the idea of climbing up and over, when and idea hit him. “Wait. Lloyd! If we saw something floating down the river, that must mean that a part of it goes through the town. And if the town is inside the barricade…”

“There must be somewhere that the river flows through the wall!” finished Lloyd. “Jay, you’re a genius!” Lloyd bolted around the enclosure until he found a small channel that the river flowed through. “We can dive in and swim to get to the other side!”

Jay looked down at the water nervously. “Oh. Yeah… um. I’m not in the Water Tribe, so I can’t breathe underwater, or whatever the heck it is that they can do. In short, I take it back, scaling the wall is a great idea.”
Lloyd, now getting ready to fully submerge himself, tilted his head at his friend. “You can’t swim? How do you catch fish?”

“Firstly, it’s called a fishing pole. Second, I CAN swim… but I’m not the greatest at holding my breath. Besides, we don’t know how long we have to swim until we surface.”
Huh. Understandable. But this was their only chance to get in as far as he saw. And Lloyd WAS good at holding his breath. He and Garmadon had trained on that in the lake for a few years now. So, Lloyd dove down, swimming ahead to see how long the tunnel ran. He used his powers to light the way through the darkness. After only about 20 seconds, he surfaced into the interior of the wall where the town was. He quickly swam back to retrieve Jay. The master of lightning wasn’t very happy about being dragged underwater, and when they finally resurfaced, he did so with a panicking gasp. He was shaking. Lloyd peered out of the riverbank like an alligator; with only the top half of his head peeking out. He was clearly in some type of stealth mode again. Jay felt stupid, but bent down to do the same. “Why are we hiding?” The blue ninja whispered. “I thought we agreed to be more straight forward with these guys?”

Lloyd snorted. “Yeah, well last time I walked into a village and let someone see me before having a chance to explain myself, I was electrocuted- so…”
Jay’s face turned red with embarrassment knowing full well what he was referring to. People walked in and out of houses and up and down the dusty streets. The houses were made from rock and clay, making them a color similar to the beige sand. Candles were slowly starting to be lit for a nighttime source of light, giving some houses a pretty orange glow in the windows. A young man wandered from out of a building holding several scrolls in his arms. He could barely see in front of him as he stumbled to get somewhere else. However, he tripped over a rock and spilled the load everywhere. He scrambled to pick them all up, then reached for one that rolled not too far from the two teens hiding spot. As the young man picked it up, he noticed the ninja spying from in the river. They noticed his stare, giving him a desperate look back; practically begging him not to panic and alert everyone. But, of course, he screamed and ran off; effectively causing a scene. Lloyd shoved Jay further down the river as quickly as possible, then jumping out to hide behind a building. From the shadows, they watched as armed people, presumably guards, began to patrol around. Jay ducked further into the houses shadow. “Did you see the size of that guy?! He wasn’t only super buff, but he also was carrying a SPEAR! We are SO dead.”

Lloyd looked up at the sky to think, like he tends to do, and noticed a clothes line with blankets being hung above them. That gave him an idea. Soon, the two boys were wearing blankets like cloaks, and making their way through the town to the largest building. It was definitely home to someone important, preferably the Tribe leader, since that’s who they were looking for. As they finally approached the carved stone staircase leading up to the entrance, Jay accidentally bumped into a guard. The massive dude glared down at him in suspicion. Panicking, he quickly improvised. “Oh, my apologies young man.” He said in his best female voice. “I was just hurrying back to my house. It’s getting quite dark.” Surprisingly, he fell for it, walking away, and leaving Jay alone. He quickly caught up with Lloyd, giving him a smirk. “I may not be the best at holding my breath, but acting is my hidden talent.” Lloyd rolled his eyes as they continued on and entered the doorless entrance. There was nobody in the large lobby-like room, which honestly was rather surprising. The two began to advance, but were almost immediately stopped by two guards that appeared out of nowhere. They were forced into a wall, where one guard ripped the blankets off them; revealing their identity. She backed up a couple steps in shock as she examined them. “You two… you’re from different tribes!”

Welp. Their cover was blown now, so might as well embrace the truth. Lloyd stepped forward, smiling politely and giving a little wave. “Greetings people of the Desert Tribe. I am Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, son of Garmadon; leader of the Jade Tribe. And this is Jay, leader of the Lightning Tribe. We’re here for your leader.”
Before they could blink, they were both locked in an empty room with no windows. Their wrists were bound with rope, tied in front of them. It was totally a prison cell of sorts. The only light in the room was from a few torches that hung on the walls. Jay glared at Lloyd. “We’re here for your leader?” He mocked. “Yeah, real smooth. That was the best possible way to word it. Great job genius.”

The green ninja growled. “Ok, I admit, we could have executed that SLIGHTLY better-”

“Yeah, speak for yourself, jungle boy!” Sparks flew from Jay as he rose his voice. “Now thanks to you, we’re probably going to be executed in front of the entire village for their amusement, and my village will lose their leader!”
Lloyd was about to counter the statement when footsteps started to fade into earshot. They were coming towards their room, and didn’t sound happy. When they came to a stop at the door, the sound of keys jingling could be heard, followed by the doorknob clicking open; unlocked. The two leaders’ hearts raced as the door flew open. A young man, only about 18 or 19 stood in the doorway looking down at the prisoners. He looked almost surprised at the two being so young. The man had black hair tied up in a high, messy bun. His outfit consisted of loose black fabric that only had one arm hole, so it only covered half his chest. The ‘shirt’ was long, and came down almost to his ankles, and was tied up around his waist with a rope like a belt. Underneath, he wore a pair of brown, torn shorts. They appeared to have previously reached below his knees, but they now sat slightly above; only a little longer than the shirt. He was rather muscular, and had quite a few scars. The most noticeable being the three claw-like wounds across his pecks. Perhaps he got into a fight with an animal. Or by the size of the claw marks, possibly a young dragon. His sandals were similar in design to Jay’s, but were far sandier and worn out. Jay stared up at the boy in pure terror as he walked closer. “Who are you?” he spoke up.

Lloyd put on the best smile he could at the moment and introduced himself and Jay. The man smirked. “You’re tribe leaders too, huh? Interesting. I’m Cole, leader of the Desert Tribe.”

Lloyd’s eyes lit up. “You’re the leader?! PERFECT! That’s why we came here for! To talk to you!”

Cole raised his eyebrow.

“Alright, listen really carefully… The Fire Tribe is planning to attack all the tribes in only three weeks time. I came here to warn your people and get you to join our quest to unite the tribes. We have to join forces if anybody wants a chance for survival!”

Cole stood there stunned for a moment. Like the gears in his head were still turning, trying make sense of Lloyd’s fast-paced blurb of info drop. Then, unexpectedly, he burst out laughing. Now Lloyd and Jay were the ones not understanding what was going on. Cole wiped away his tears that formed from laughing so much. “The Fire Tribe?! THEY want to attack US? Ha! Yeah, I’d like to see them try! Not sure how you got in, but the Fire Tribe ain’t doing the same. Last time they attacked 16 years ago, my mother used her powers to push them all back then rise up the barrier that surrounds the town. Only the elemental master of earth can raise or lower the hidden entrance. So as long as I’m around, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Right as he finished the sentence, a loud shriek erupted from the town outside. It was followed by others, then a whole mess of commotion. Cole raced away, leaving the door wide open and ready for Lloyd and Jay to escape through. The ninja, still tied up, quickly found their way to the front entrance, only to be met with a terrifying scene. Half the town was caught ablaze and fire soldiers ran through the sandy streets terrorizing the citizens. Lloyd noticed the figure Cole was fighting not too far away. It was one of the warriors that had invaded his ceremony. Lloyd growled at the sight of him, creeping out Jay. The green ninja rushed into the battle with his friend not far behind. However, it soon became obvious that he wasn’t going to as much help as he wanted to be, because his wrists were still bound. Same with Jay. Regardless, he still tried his best by picking up a broom and smashing it against the back of a soldier’s head. The villain turned around, punching Lloyd in the gut. The boy went flying back into a building with the soldier running at him with his sword drawn. Lloyd tried to conjure up an energy beam, but it was too late. The sword swung down towards his head, and he felt the blade pinch his scalp, but then stop. He dared to open one eye a sliver to see someone knocking the attacker out by throwing a pot of water at their head. Lloyd recognized his hero as the young man that spotted them in the river. He helped the ninja up, then pulled him inside the building, closing the door behind them in a panic. A look of alarm stained his face the second he noticed a small trickle of blood running down Lloyd’s face from the sword cut. He frantically grabbed a cloth, beginning to stop the bleeding; even if it was only a tiny bit. Then, he cut the ropes that tied his wrists together. “Look, I am SO sorry about freaking out when I saw you earlier, it’s just that- I’ve never seen anything like you before. I mean- Ahhh… not like that! I just meant that...” His face turned red from embarrassment as he turned away.

Lloyd laughed.
“No, it’s fine! I totally get it. Don’t worry. It’s the camouflage paint, right? I’m Lloyd. You?”

“Oh! Vinny. Vinny Folson.”
Lloyd expressed that he was very grateful for Vinny’s help, but he had to leave to go help the village. The boy tried to stop him, arguing that it would be dangerous, but Lloyd assured him that now that he was free, he could handle himself. And that he could. He ran through the dusty streets, using his powers to help take out the attackers. In the process, he found Jay, freeing him from his rope restraints as well. After the two took out about 6 or 7 warriors, they came across Cole finishing off the rest of them. The way he fought was with brute strength, only using punches and kicks, not even utilizing any weapons. He smashed his fists together, activating his elemental powers. An orange glow crackled from his fingertips all the way up his arm like a powerful lava flow. He jumped up, then came crashing down into the ground, causing huge stalagmites of earth to fling the fire soldiers over the wall. Immediately after all of them were on the opposite side of the barricade, he used his powers to extend it even higher, to ensure they couldn’t get back in. The powerful glow faded as he collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. Lloyd rushed over and asked if he was alright as he helped him to his feet.

Cole chuckled. “See? Fire Tribe attack, my butt! I had it all under control! Didn’t need to worry about us.”

A look of displeasure washed over Lloyd’s face. “The same thing happened to my village. That wasn’t the attack- that was the warning.”
Cole’s smirk faded as he looked around at the village of people who were still shaking and mostly hiding; then up at the wall. He glanced at Jay and Lloyd with a completely different attitude than a few seconds earlier. “Follow me inside.” Lloyd and Jay exchanged arguably worried glances, then did as the leader asked. They climbed the carved stone staircase leading to the entrance of Cole’s house; entering the lobby. His house was more like a palace than anything else. The only other tribe that does that sort of thing is the Fire Tribe. The leader gets a freaking castle surrounded by a moat of lava. Or so Lloyd had been told. The hallways were long with a purple rug running down the way. It, like most things in this town, were dusty and a bit worn. Once they arrived at Cole’s room, the vibe shifted slightly. It had felt more clean and less worn-out. Cole opened a door that was an off shoot from his room. “It’s getting really late, so I figured you’d like a place to stay for the night. It’s not much, only an extra room I store extra random supplies in, but it’s probably better than the prison room you were in before. I don’t know how it was back in your tribes, being in castle or something, but sorry I can’t really give that to you here.”

Jay chuckled. “Eh. I wasn’t treated like royalty or anything; more like governor or something.”

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, same here. My hut was only slightly larger than everyone else’s. I didn’t really get ultra special treatment.”

Jay playfully elbowed him as he headed into the room. “Of course you didn’t. You lived in a pile of sticks.”
Cole turned to Lloyd, who looked embarrassed and frustrated at the same time. “I did NOT!”

Jay made himself comfortable against a barrel and smirked at the green ninja. “Oh yeah? What is your hut made out of then?”

“Bamboo and.. pieces of… trees….” Lloyd’s face turned beat red as he stared at the floor. The ninja walked in and plopped down against a crate on the opposite side of the room for Jay. Cole gave them both a curious look, but shook off the awkward moment. “All right then, I suppose I’ll just leave you two for the night. I’ll be right through this door if you need me, alright?”
The two ninja nodded and Cole closed the door behind him. Lloyd let out a massive sigh as he let himself slide down to the floor. He was exhausted. He’d been walking and fighting all day, and the last time he ate or drank anything felt like forever ago. Jay noticed the massive dark circles under Lloyd’s eyes as he laid down collapsed on the stone floor. The blue ninja was about to comment, but a yawn was forced out instead. He had to admit it, he probably looked just as awful; because he definitely felt like it. So, he wished his partner a good night and drifted off to sleep.