Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"Operation: Jade"

Nya sat on a rock while she and Cole watched Nelson play around with another young boy. Morro sat not too far away, but on a tree branch; looking down. "Hey- have either of you seen Lloyd or Garmadon?" He questioned.

Cole looked up at him curiously. "Oh. No, not in a few hours. After Garmadon dismissed us from training he hung back. I haven't seen him since. But Lloyd was just around here not that long ago. I think."

'Hmm.' Morro jumped down from the tree and started looking around for any signs as to where the leaders might be. The jungle was alive with the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through. There was a fog beginning to set, covering the jungle floor with clouds, which made everything a little bit more eerie than it needed to be. Morro strode caution through the thick foliage, his eyes sharp and searching. He scanned the undergrowth carefully, his ears straining to pick up any sound that sounded out of the ordinary. But all he could hear was the normal jungle noises, and no trace of either of the two he was looking for. The leader sighed and continued on, his brow furrowed in concentration. As he moved through the trees, he saw something that made him stop and pause. Burn marks. The floor completely burnt in an unnatural pattern. It was done by someone who can control the movement of the fire.
An elemental master. The leader of the Fire Tribe. Around the area were several more burn marks and the whole ground was kicked up; like a fight had taken place. Morro knelt down to examine the scene closer, and found something terrible. It was another burn mark, but this one wasn't inflicted by fire. It was like whatever had touched the earth had taken its life force, shriveled it up,  left nothing but death in its wake. A terrible mark that could only be left by darkness... And Morro was all too familiar with this type of mark. It wasn't only the one that stained most of the ruins of his old home, but himself as well. The boy looked down at his side and wiped away some of the paint that covered him. Underneath was a blackened mark that looked like his flesh was rotted and charred. An agonizing reminder of where his murderer had gotten him. True, it was no longer a giant gash in his side, it was healed- But where the dark magic had touched him left a nasty mark. One not even Wojira could fix... If these marks were all over the ground, that could only mean one thing. His murderer was here. And by the way the other person seemed to have fought, it was Lloyd. The Fire Tribe had gotten him.....

After the master of wind passed on the information, the other tribe leaders were taken aback. Yet not entirely convinced.
"Honestly, I highly doubt they killed Lloyd. If the Fire Tribe had successfully killed off a leader of one of the most powerful tribes, they wouldn't keep quiet like this. They'd be waving Lloyd's head around on stick like it's a trophy."

"Jay has a point." Admitted Zane. "They definitely wouldn't be so quiet about a victory of such importance. That would imply they'd only taken him, and not yet finished the job."

Nya then questioned about what might have happened to Garmadon. After a while, they came to the bone chilling conclusion that he too must have been overpowered and taken. Now armed with that knowledge, they all decide on coming up with a rescue plan.

"So the Fire Tribe wants a war, huh? Then I say we give um one!" Shouted Cole as he raised his fist to the sky. "For our fellow leaders!"

Jay quickly interjected with a question. With Lloyd not there, which one of them would be the leader? Everyone confidently declared that they'd be the temporary leader at the exact same time; making for a very awkward moment after. Of course, they couldn't ALL be the leader... right? Well, they didn't really have time to question it. Lloyd and Garmadon were in serious danger. This was a time sensitive situation! With each of them believing they were the in charge, they ran off towards the Firelands to save the Jade Tribe leaders.

Meanwhile, Garmadon was painfully awakened by a jolt of purple lightning. He held in his yelp as he opened his eyes. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was blindfolded and chained up. He felt the cold metal tightly wrapping around most of his body, and his back was clearly tied to the metal bars of a cage. What had even happened?! The last thing you remembered was... Clouse. Just then, his blindfold was yanked off and the sorcerer was standing right in front of him. Garmadon's eyes burned from the sudden burst of light and the volcanic atmosphere. And sure enough, he was right. He was almost completely tied up with metal chains and cuffs. He sat in an uncomfortably unnatural position while Clouse's magic made the chains binding him to the cage tighter. His hands were bound together behind his back and completely sealed inside a metal case. The leader smirked at Clouse once he realized he was completely unable to move. "Wow... And here I was thinking you had gotten to be less of a coward- attacking me yourself and all..... But I suppose not. I mean, Vengestone chains? Are you that scared of my power that you really have to go out of your way to make sure I don't even use it?"

The sorcerer snarled. "Shut your mouth! And wipe that smile of your face- your sass won't get you anywhere this time."

Garmadon rolled his eyes. "So. How's your new puppet?"

"What? Kai? Oh, he's just wonderful. He'll do nicely in my plan."

"Kai? So that’s the poor creature's name. Seeing how you are, I already feel sorry for him." Garmadon sighed.

"Oh you will be sorry." Clouse growled as he knelt down to the leaders eye level. "But not for him." Without warning, they were both teleported onto a balcony that overlooked an arena. People in the seats cheered as Clouse used a spell to create a bubble around the leaders' cage. He explained that it was a bubble of silence. It made it so that Garmadon could hear the outside, but nobody could hear him. He only understood the truth of the situation when one of the arena doors were opened and Lloyd was tossed through. Garmadon felt his heart sink and body go cold as the opponent was shoved through the other side. The poor boy looked like he hadn't eaten in months. They were clearly only giving him enough to survive, but nothing more. Just enough energy to get a good fight out of him... the man felt his heart shatter when the trumpet sounded and the boy attacked his son. The Jade leader screamed and called out for the green ninja, but the spell prevented a sound from coming through. This was evil! A little while into the fight, it became evident that Lloyd was refusing to hurt his opponent. While Garmadon saw that action as noble, Clouse became angered by it; seeing it as boring. The twisted audience wanted violence, so Clouse zapped the two boys and gave them it. The boy Lloyd was up against began to go into an adrenaline run. He fought with the look of pure desperation in his eyes as he started to tear Lloyd apart. Garmadon screamed as loud as he could for his son, but he couldn't hear, and soon the green ninja was on the ground; defeated. Tears streamed down the great leader's face as he watched his unconscious boy get dragged away. He looked down at the other young man who Clouse was levitating with a spell. He too watched Lloyd be dragged away with a look of sorrow, but his expression quickly faded into a tired, blank stare. Soon enough, the boy was also taken into the dungeons. Garmadon sat in disbelief as Clouse walked back over to him and knelt down. "Aw, what's the matter Garmadon? You didn't enjoy the debut of our new fighter?"

Garmadon snarled at him but in a defiant silence.

"Don't worry, this was but only the first act. Tomorrow, we have the real show."