Onyx and Skybound

Operation Land Ho!

Ori ran a hand through her hair, glancing in the mirror with a frown. Her roots had started to show at her scalp. Usually that meant it was time to pick a new colour to dye her hair to, but she actually liked how the black and indigo blended. She yawned and stretched, shrugging. She'd figure it out later.

Ori froze when she hear a soft sound from the living room. Her father wasn't supposed to get home for a few hours still. Ori reached for her origami shurikens, her eyes narrowed and heart beating. She took a deep breath. 'Come on. What would Onyx do?' Ori thought for a moment before raising her shurikens and quietly slinking out of her room, careful to avoid knocking over the stack of letters Onyx had sent her.

"Hello?" She called cautiously. "Ori? Do you live here?" A familiar voice called. Ori relaxed when she recognized the voice as Jay's. She lowered her arm and hurried into the living room, where he was standing and looking around the small apartment. "Jay! You're okay! I heard that you guys were in jail, but I didn't think you were actually criminals! I also heard that-" Jay cut Ori off, raising his hands. "Woah, hang on! Give me a second to talk," he said quickly. Ori snapped her mouth shut, listening.

Jay ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, basically, an evil djinn has every other ninja trapped inside his sword except for me, and I have one more wish, but I can't get close to the djinn-Nadakhan, by the way-and I need help. You're my first choice," he said quickly. Ori blinking, processing what she'd just heard. Then she clicked her tongue. "I get to help save the world again!?" She asked, excited. Jay nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much," he said. Ori nodded. "I'm in!" She said, grabbing a satchel full of origami paper and slinging it over her shoulder.

(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)

And that was how Ori wound up standing in a room surrounded by some familiar faces, like Dareth and the Police Comissioner, and some she didn't know, like the man with a bionic eye lense and a pirate. And then there was the strangely rusty-looking version of Zane. Jay, standing at the head of a briefing room in an empty office, clapped his hands together. "Okay, listen up. Nya's about to wed someone I despise. And I'm not going to mince words: after he does, big surprise, he'll become all-powerful," he said.

Everyone gasped. Ori's eyes widened. He hadn't mentioned that part when he recruited her. Onyx was in more danger than she'd initially realized. Jay continued. "Normally, I'd rely on the help of the ninja. But they're trapped inside a magical sword. Go figure. So I've come to you to help me get close enough to wish Nadakhan isn't a Djinn, so we can stop the ceremony and save Ninjago. I know this is a lot to ask, and it's all right to say no," he said. "A chance to fight Nadakhan again? Count me in," the pirate growled. Darryl nodded. "I'm in too. There's no greater mission than that of love," he said, clasping his hands over his chest. "Not to mention the whole "saving Ninjago" thing," Skylor agreed. "Yeah. I like being alive," Ori supported. "And saving my hide. Plus, I'd feel bad if I left Nixy's soul tied up that long. Let's do this," the man with the bionic eye said.

The strange version of Zane frowned. "But resources are low. It is one thing to use the Destiny's Bounty to mount an assault. But they've already taken that," he said.  The commissioner scowled. "Along with nearly half the land in Ninjago. And every hour, another chunk goes missing," he said, glaring at the television where the news was reporting on another missing city block. Jay smirked. "Which is why we're going to use the next piece of land stolen as our ride up," he said. Ori could recognize posturing when she saw it. Jay was nervous, and understandably so. Ori offered a supportive smile.

The strange man, whom Ori had heard addressed as Ronin, frowned. "Excuse me, can you say that again?" He asked. Ori did have to admit, it sounded crazy. Then again, a lot of plans did. Jay pulled out a map. "Right now the Pirates control the skies. The first sign of us approaching, it'd be like waking up a hornet's nest. But if we locate the next portion of land that will be pulled up into Djinjago, we'll sneak up onto it as fast as we can, and use it to slip through their defenses. I call it: Operation Land Ho," he said proudly. "Aye-aye!" Ori said supportively.

The pirate glared at her as if she'd personally offended him. "But we don't know where or when the next piece of land will be stolen. It could be clear across Ninjago," he said gruffly. Jay nodded. "That's why I said 'as fast as we can,'" he said. Echo Zane suddenly stiffened, his head tilting with a squeaking sound. "We're being watched," he announced. Ori's head swiveled to him. "How do you know?" She asked. Echo shook his head. "I just know. If I can locate the signal..." he trailed off, stepping towards the window, eyes discreetly scanning the city skyline.

Jay started babbling nonsense to confuse whomever might be listening in. "Bagel, diorama. Clown riots. Sandy pockets for me. Hamster pillow. Crying. Love magic." He glanced at Echo. "Shall I go on?" He mumbled. "Please. I have yet to pick up the source. I know they're somewhere out there," Echo said, frowning. Everyone else attempted to act like they didn't know they were being spied on. "I had a dream I was throwing frogs with Onyx," Ori said. Ronin raised an eyebrow. "You what?" He asked.

Before Ori could say more, Echo finally spoke. "Target acquired. Two Sky Pirate spies on the rooftop," he said, nodding to where he was looking. Ori turned to glance and indeed saw two men lying on a skyscraper roof across from them. "Good. Now let's give them something to really look at," Ronin growled, cracking his knuckles and stepping towards the window. As he drew closer to the glass, the two pirates jumped up and boarded flying zeppelins that had been concealed behind a stack of old statelier dishes. "We can't let them warn the others!" Jay exclaimed.

Ronin threw a chair out of the window and leapt from the new hole there, a pair of mechanical wings popping out of his backpack. Jay blinked before jumping, summoning his elemental dragon. "Wait up!" Ori called, trying to follow suit. Before she could, the police commissioner grabbed her collar and pulled her back. "No reckless endangerment of minors on my watch! Come on," he said, pulling Ori after him. "Sir, I can summon my own-" Ori stopped trying when she realized he wasn't paying any attention. The commissioner ushered her into the back seat of his patrol car and buckling her seatbelt before leaping into the driver's seat and flooring it, flipping the sirens on.

Ori looked out the window, trying to see where the pirates had gone. "Left!" She cried, just barely catching the flicker of a stabilizer vanishing around the corner of a building. The commissioner wrenched the wheel to the side, flinging Ori to the side, her seatbelt catching her. Once they were around the side of the building, the commissioner scowled. "I've lost sight of them!" He shouted into his speaker system, the car amplifying it over the city.

It was at that moment the ground began to shake. Ori gasped and flung open the door to the car before the commissioner could do anything and took off running towards the source of the tremors. Well, she did her best to run, anyway. It was more like staggering quickly across shaking ground. When Ori caught sight of a familiar blue lightning dragon flying overhead, she waved her arms, shouting. "Jay!!" She cried, projecting her voice with every tip she'd ever learned from theatre.

It paid off, because Jay swept down and caught her up in his dragon's talons. Ori giggled lightly as the light electrical current coursed through her in a tickly way. A few minutes later, Ori's feet were meeting... not solid ground, but definitely ground, and Jay was dispelling his elemental dragon. "Let's stay on our toes, people. They know we're coming," he said. Ori braced herself against a shaking tree as the ground rocketed upwards, taking them further from Ninjago and closer to saving the world.

Again.

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Finals, SAT, Christmas, life, sick grandma, work, more life.

That's why I've been radio silent, and I'm sorry.

Merry Christmas!