Salt: A Ninjago story

10: Hitchhiker

Zane entered the weapons store as calmly as he would at any other time. Showing fear was not something he entertained. It made no sense, achieved no goal and was a waste of energy. He wasn't entirely sure this was actually where he should be. Utilising his own sensors as well as reading the new surveillance system didn't make him feel any certainty over what he was looking for. All the readings contradicted each other. Quite frankly, it annoyed him.

He flicked through his visual sensors and surveyed the room, scanning every object that hung from the walls and were stacked in racks. The room was still. But the murmuration was humming at what felt like the back of his head. One of his sensors was vibrating, working through something that it couldn't quite scan or process and somewhere in his temporal brain he felt a call. In the rafters, two eyes opened and glowed.

'Hello friend' Zane said, looking up to see his eagle companion sitting in the dark 'Yes, my friend, I am aware we are not alone. Do you happen to know anything about this?'

With a single flap of its great wings, the eagle dropped down to Zane's shoulder 'Do I have any fears? Well I thought you knew me better. I do not fear as others might. Why do you ask?' the companion was non-forthcoming 'cryptic as always' Zane muttered, but smiled at it anyway. He held his hand up to his shoulder and the great bird hopped on, stretching its wings to balance. Zane looked into its piercing red eyes and they locked on each other, whirring and moving in and out of focus 'Hmmm' Zane considered his companion 'always a closed book. I thought you had something to show me'

The birds' eyes unlocked suddenly from his. It released its talons from Zane's arm, unfurling its wings to their fullest extent, drawing the air into them before thrusting its claws at Zane's face. He fell backwards, holding his arms up to shield himself. Zane understood sentiment, but could easily put this aside to defend an attack. He pushed his arm forward against the birds' strong chest, its wings beating against him and its beak jabbing forward, making contact with his face. It's talons scratched furiously at his body and through his clothes to the soft coating that replicated skin. An ear-piercing screech resounded around the room and sparks flew as metal dragged against metal. The effort was intense and the bird did not tire. The hundreds of mechanical joints in its wings pushing in rippled unison were stronger than even Zane's enhanced strength. The history he shared with his father's creation was not enough to stop him reciprocating. Teeth bared, Zane continued to push and was able to manoeuvre the creature enough to bring his other hand up to its jaw 'Sorry my friend' Zane said as his hand crushed the birds jaw.

The eagles' great wings flapped spasmodically and Zane covered his head again, waiting for it to power down. As it's movements slowed, Zane threw it off him and stood. He growled into the air 'next time don't think I wont take down a friend before you use them to attack me' then uncrossed his fingers from behind his back, hoping that whatever this thing was, would not be able to possess a human friend because that would be a fight he would not allow himself to win.

The murmuration was still humming away; silencing his companion had made no difference to that. Zane stepped over the sparking body and tripped. He took a moment to test his systems. His eye had been damaged and within it a sensor that judged range. He calculated the discrepancy and made adjustments to account for it. As he continued he scanned to locate the team. Jay and Nya had each other but Cole and Kai had been alone. He could see that of the four only Kai had not regrouped but he wasn't in the Control Room.

After leaving the others, Kai had heard various noises on his approach to the control room. Clanking, crashing, ripping. He had slowed abruptly when he heard them and silently moved to the door. He could probably have stamped, the noise was such that whoever was tearing up the room, would not have heard him. But his instincts insisted. He pushed the door slightly and looking through the crack, could see things being flung across the room. Panelling, wiring, furniture; it seemed indiscriminate. He manoeuvred his position and pushed the door open a little more, trying to see who was responsible. A small black clad figure was kicking the large screen and then yanked it from the wall and threw it to the ground. As they twisted with the effort, their hooded face looked up and saw Kai through the crack in the open door.