Royalty

Chapter 7

3rd POV

Morro wandered onto the deck of the Bounty, analysising his new gi. He felt strange in this outfit but at the same time, found some form of comfort in it.

"Looking good, Morro!" Jay called but, as he was too distracted by Morro's approach, Cole took it as an opportunity to throw a punch to the lightning Ninja's gut; knocking him to the deck.

"Heh..." Morro sighed. "Thanks Jay. Nice use of Jay's lowered guard, Cole."

"Thanks, Man!" Cole grinned as he placed his hands on his hips but was immediately brought crashing to the deck, thanks to Nya's sneek attack of sweeping out his feet.

"And Nice Take of advantage Nya." Morro smiled as the girl wandered over and gave the Wind Master a high-five.

"Obviously." Nya sassed, teasingly.

"The Smouldering Woods is not too far." Zane informed as he, Master Wu and Pixal joined the team.

"The Smouldering Woods?" Skylor piped up from where she sat on the stairs, that led to the top deck; looking up from a scroll she was reading. "What's That?"

"The first line of defence of Kean." Pixal began. "If you get past the thousands of acres of woodlands, you'll reach the Great Gates; The second, most impenetrable defence."

"I wonder why they need so much protection from the outside world..." Lloyd asked no one in particular.

"Well to put it simply;" Wu began. "The Kingdom of Kean is known to have sudden attacks from a Serpentine Tribe known as the Viperion. Their leader, Aspiksar, seems to be persistent in taking the kingdom."

"Why would he keep trying when there's obviously been no success?" Cole questioned.

"Because of one person in particular; The Prince. Apparently there's a prophecy surrounding the boy that can cause the official down fall and, quite possibly, the extinction of the Viperion."

"So if they can get the prince outta the picture, then they have a chance of survival?" Nya piped up.

"To put it simply; Yes."

"Then why don't we just head to Kean and protect the Prince?" Skylor asked as she stood up and wandered over. "Think about it; if we protect the Prince, when this Serpentine Tribe attack to take him, then we can take the snakes down so the prophecy will remain."

"But it has to be the Prince who defeats Aspiksar." Morro reminded. "In order for him to fullfil his prophecy; He has to be the one to take out the Serpentine Tribe."

"We've reached the Smouldering Woods!" Pixal called from the cockpit.

'Wait.' Morro thought with confusion. 'How'd she get back there without us knowing?!'

Shaking his head, he turned to see dark pine trees come into view. The tips of the trees seemed to reach uptowards the Bounty and, some, quite possibly, higher.

"Why do they call it the Smouldering Woods?" Jay queried as he looked over the banister.

"Because of a spell of sorts that was cast to the trees." Zane informed. "The origins of how and why are unknown, but apparently the trees were never set alight."

"Weird." Nya hummed. She then turned her gaze towards where Pixal stood at the bay window of the control cockpit. "How Far Can You Get Us, Pixal?!"

"This is as far as the ship's capable of without colliding with the trees." came Pixal's reply through the intercom speakers.

"You're going to have to make the rest of the journey on foot." Wu instructed as he addressed his students. "Good luck, stay safe and return Kai home."

The Ninja nodded.

"NINJA-GO!" They cried, simultaneously, as they launched over the edge of the Bounty; using the previously lowered anchor to aid in their descents.

Once their feet made contact with the Earth, they remained standing so they could gather their surroundings and figure out where to go. Zane revealed his falcon.

"My dear friend." He began. "Leads us along the path that'll lead to the Great Gates of Kean."

The falcon called out before launching into the air. Zane kept the Falcon in his sights as he led the team through the woods.

~🔥👑~

Once dusk set itself upon the Ninja, they were on their way to find a clearing. Once darkness entrapped the them, to the fact they couldn't see their hands infront of their faces, they had set up a small camp. Skylor had used the stored copy of Kai's Elemental Power to light the fire and keep it alive.

She sat on the ground and pulled her knees to herself as she stared into the fire; the crackling of the flames and burning wood echoed into the night; adding to the strange orchestra of crickets, buzzing bugs, owls and other, presumably, harmless creatures of the night as well as Cole's snores and Jay's mumbled chatter.

"You Alright?" A hushed voice questioned as they sat down next to the redhead.

"The fire reminds me of Kai..." She replied, partially disregarding the initial question.

"I get it..."

Skylor turned to see Morro cast his gaze towards the sky. She followed his gaze and looked up and saw how the moon hid behind the silhouetted peaks of the tall pins; stars like pinholes while fireflies danced in the night.

"Sometimes the dark nights remind me of the departed relm." Morro continued. "But it usually scares me, making me believe all of this is a dream and I'm still there. Other times, the dark reminds me of the night I was mistakenly ressurected. Because of that, I developed insomnia and now I find it hard to sleep and stay asleep."

"So... You're nocturnal?" Skylor giggled.

"In a way, yes."

"If Kai was here, he would be struggling to sleep, too."

"Hey..." Morro turned his head to face the girl. "I understand you miss him and we'll find him and he can return home to the team, Nya and you."

"How are you so certain?"

"You just gotta have a faith."

Skylor turned towards where the others were sleeping. Nya and Jay were cuddled upto each other, Cole was laying on rhe ground under his own blanket while Lloyd was wrapped in a blanket burrito and Zane was sitting in a tree.

"You should get some sleep." Morro continued.

"Id say the same to you but after what you just told me, I understand." Skylor replied. "You and Zane alright to keep watch or do you want to rotate after a while?"

"We'll be fine. Zane's a Nindroid and I'm an insomniac. The rest of you need your sleep and besides, if I do doze off, Zane will be fine and he'll inform us of any dangers."

"True. Goodnight Morro. Good Night Zane...!" Morro nodded while Zane gave a small wave; His electric eyes ominously glowing.

Skylor stood up and wander over to where she joined the circle of sleeping Ninja. She lay on he right side so she could see the rest of the group and closed her eyes, allowing the night to lull her to sleep.