Salt: A Ninjago story

18: Tea and Sympathy

Zane inspected his companion. It had been a wreck, but it was now fixed... sort of. Since he had crushed its skull, it had required a fair amount of repair to both its internal workings and external housing. Having been crafted hastily by Jay, its once sleek head was now clunky where faceted sheets of metal had been riveted and soldered together.

Zane gave the work a last inspection and turned to Jay 'It will have to do'.

Jay gave his head a startled shake 'that's it? No thank you, good job pal?'

'Granted, you are no Dr Julien, so I should not have hoped for more. I apologise'

'That's a very backward apology...' Jay muttered to himself.

'Why talk under your breath when you must know I can hear you?' Zane said as he continued examining the mechanical bird.

'Well, for effect really... you might start catching on that actually you're pretty rude sometimes'

Zane stood straight his attention taken away from the bird 'am I? I don't mean to be' he replied.

Jay sighed 'I know you don't buddy... I'm just incredibly needy' he said with a joking shrug.

'Well, if the problem is yours, then it is good you have been able to accept this' Zane put a hand on Jays shoulder, nodded and gave him a serious look 'Shall we give her a test flight?

Jay rolled his eyes 'sure'. He knew that trying to make Zane understand social niceties was a lost cause.

Zane powered the bird up from the control on his gauntlet. It also housed a screen that allowed the team to see what the bird was viewing at any given time. This wasn't necessary for Zane, who connected with the creation on a different level, but should he be out of action for whatever reason, any member of the team would be able to link with and control the bird from the gauntlet.

The birds' eyes glowed red and its body grew. It's many moving parts and hydraulic joints expanded and flexed as it unfurled its wings.

'Whoa, it looks pretty badass now!' Jay exclaimed 'I think its new look is fearsome'

'Hmm' Zane considered this 'yes, it does look different. Good. I think I like it after all. Thank you Jay... How very unexpected'

Jay slapped his forehead 'so close! One day Zane, you will compliment me and not then cruelly negate it in your next breath!'

'I doubt it' Zane said and the great bird hopped onto his shoulder.

'WHAT?' Jay said, incredulous.

As he headed for the door, Zane whispered under his breath 'because I do it on purpose'.

'What? What was that? Don't you go muttering under your breath, when you know full well I don't have nindroid hearing capabilities... Its just Unfair' He shouted after Zane 'UNFAIR!'

Zane glanced back and Jay saw the smile on his face 'now he's laughing at me... why do I put up with this? I don't have to put up with this you know?' He exclaimed loudly, following Zane outside.

Joining Zane in the temple's garden, Jay asked grumpily 'where shall we send her for the test then?'

'Well, she has the coordinates for the Shadow Settlement; they were restored when we reconfigured her. It will be worth scoping the place out, we need to work out our approach if we plan to get Kai back' Jay acknowledged this as a good idea, all thoughts of Zane picking on him dispersed at the thought of Kai being held prisoner at the settlement.

'So what now?' Jay asked.

'Perhaps you could ask Cole and Nya to meet us in the control room for tea and surveillance? We still have only partial system function, but I can link up with my friend here and we can all view her vision on a larger screen. What kind of tea would you like?'