Onyx and Skybound

On a Wish and a Prayer

Onyx's eyes raised as Jay ushered them into what was practically a mansion. "Ahem. Welcome to my humble abode," he said. "Humble?" She murmured as the others gave varied exclamations of awe. She eyed a creepily realistic Fritz Donnegan animatronic. "So how did you come across this place again?" Lloyd asked. Onyx turned to Jay, curious about this herself.

Jay swallowed. "I saved up. Yeah, that's it. Uh, I saved up every little bit and now ta-da, here's my secret hideout. Haha. Of course it can be our secret hideout," he said. Onyx didn't say anything, but she and Lloyd exchanged a glance. Jay was a terrible liar. Then again, that wasn't the important thing right now. They could worry about the house if the Stiixian mafia or something showed up.

"First we lost Wu, then Misako. Now Kai. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see a pattern," Lloyd said, stepping forward and placing the lantern on a table. "Whenever one of us finds ourselves alone, we disappear," Zane said. Onyx frowned. "At least that has a relatively easy fix. For now, anyway," she said. Nya nodded. "Yeah. So we stick together from here on out. We need to take a look at that lantern. Jay, hit the lights," she said.

"Lights. Lights. Where would they be?" He murmured. Onyx watched unamusedly as he pressed random buttons, causing a myriad of effects. "Ah, found them! Ha-ah. Sorry, big house," he said finally, getting shutters to lower over the windows, plunging the ninja into darkness.

Onyx struck a match and lit the lantern, and Zane turned it in his hand so that it shone a map onto the table. "Wow. So this is supposed to point the way to the only thing that can stop Nadakhan?" Nya said. Lloyd frowned, the shadows of the room making his eyes look more exhausted than they really were. "Not stop, slow. Remember, a drop of venom from a Tiger Widow can kill a normal person, but slow a Djinn down before he can disappear on us. If we need to trap him, we'll need this venom so let's figure out a plan," he said.

Onyx ignored Jay and Cole stepping aside, placing both of her hands on the edge of the table and leaning on it, frowning down at the map. "So the Tiger Widow is on that island?" Nya asked, tapping an island with a spider drawn onto it. "An island that doesn't exist, according to my database," Zane said. Onyx shook her head. "This is an area of the sea that has vicious currents and is full of rocks. In Stiix, we call it 'Il Divoratore di Navi.' It makes sense that no one would have charted it" she said, tracing a circle on the map with her finger. Lloyd frowned. "The Ship Devourer," he translated.

Zane tilted his head. "My database has no record of that name either," he said. Onyx scowled at him. "My papi-a navigator!-died after sailing out in that direction. You're going to question me?" She said, her voice taking on a sharp edge. Zane quirked an eyebrow. Neither of them realized that the stress was heightening tensions between them. Fortunately, Lloyd did, and he stepped in before the discussion could devolve into an argument.

"Guys, calm down. Onyx, we'll be careful. Zane, it's fine to not know things. Stiix doesn't even have a way to share information on the-ah!" He gave an exclamation of surprise as another quake shook the ground, and the television flicked on, displaying a reporter. Onyx didn't catch the flicker of irritation in Zane's expression. He was used to being the one people listened to. "Another piece to the puzzle, gone. Ninjago is stumped yet again as another chunk goes missing, this time from none other than Ninjago City," he said.

Onyx and Zane turned to the TV, their tensions forgotten. "Sensei said he was worried Ninjago would fall apart without him. We need to get to that island now," Lloyd said with a frown. "Oh boy. Giant spiders," Onyx deadpanned. Zane turned to one of the windows, opening his arm panel and pulling out a metal square, which unfolded into the Falcon. "Go, see if you can find out what Nadakhan is up to," he ordered.

Onyx watched the mechanical bird soar off into the sky, praying that it would finally find a lead.

(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)