Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"Ice"

The sound of birdsong filled the air as Lloyd, Jay, and Cole followed the map toward the Ice Tribe's location. Cole groaned while they pressed on. "Are you a thousand percent sure that waltzing into the Ice Tribe's Territory is a good idea? I mean, nobody's actually seen them in over a hundred years! How can you be sure they're even around anymore?"

"My father instructed me to unite-..." Lloyd stared, but Jay cut him off with an irritated groan.

"Yes! Unite all the tribes!.. We get it! You've told us this a bazillion times already, we know... Cole was just meaning that scaling a ginormous mountain might not be the brightest idea ever..."

Lloyd fell silent as he slowly walked towards something in the grass. Jay and Cole watched curiously; asking what was up. When they got closer, they too saw it. A large metal rope. It was at least 10 feet long, and 3 inches thick. The blue ninja bent down and touched it. It was cold, but it appeared not to have been there for very long.

"The only people who have metal to waist like this is..." Jay's eyes widened. "Fire Tribe. They were here!"

He turned to Lloyd who was frozen in his full alert mode. He was listening for something. Or... he heard something. Suddenly, Cole spoke up; his voice stained with worry. "Um... guys? I don't think they went too far..."

The two boys looked back to notice that they were completely surrounded by at least 12 Fire Soldiers; each with the golden insignia shimmering in the sunlight. What looked like the leader made their way up front. "You!" he pointed his sword at the group, and especially Lloyd. "The Fire Tribe's Emperor knows of your treacherous intentions and have instructed us to stay in the area to ambush you. Not that me telling you that matters though, because you're about to meet your maker!" The other soldiers got closer with their weapons drawn. "ATTACK!"

Lloyd and the others scrambled up and ran further up the path. They rushed ahead, following the river to the base of the mountain. The lush, green, foliage turned to snow as you get further up. Jay stared at the white covered mountain range, becoming increasingly unsure of going up. But there wasn't much of a choice. The army was scarily close behind the teens. Arrows flew by them, barely missing their bodies as they attempted to dodge and weave. Cole noticed cliffs up ahead that they'd have to run through like a ravine. The snow up there looked unstable, like it could avalanche at any given time. The master of earth glanced behind him at the trailing assassins, then to his partners. "Guys! I've got a plan! We need to lead them through there!" He pointed at the cliffs. Lloyd nodded. He had no idea what his plans were, but he was willing to trust Cole. Trusting someone from another tribe was normally unthinkable, but nobody would ever truly be able to unite if there wasn't at least some mutual trust. They quickly hurried to the ravine, and stopped. Cole turned to face the warriors that were now stationary only feet away from him. They too were exhausted from all the running, but still stared them down like a predator eying prey. Cole whispered for Lloyd and Jay to keep running when he gave the signal.
"But what about you?" Questioned Lloyd quietly.

"I know what I'm doing. Now run when I say... RUN!" He called out the last part so loudly that the snow began to avalanche down. The green and blue ninja did as they were instructed and ran ahead until they reached a safe distance. The leader of the Fire Soldiers called for them to retreat, but Cole had already started raising the land behind them so they couldn't escape. They were trapped. The avalanche fell onto them all with a crushing thud. Jay called out for Cole in terror, but there was no answer. Lloyd hung his head in melancholy. " He saved us..." Jay joined in the moment of silence, but it was interrupted by a voice coming closer.

"What's wrong? Didn't you see my cool trick?" Cole chuckled as he approached the two teens.

Jay stared in shock. "You- you're alive! But, how?!"