Legends of Ninjago Book 1: Brotherhood (Ninjago AU, Cole, Jay, Zane, Kai)

Chapter 12: The Daggers of Ice

Zane remained as still as he possibly could as he waited for the dragon to make a second attempt at him, but the more seconds went by, the more he began to think that he really had defeated it. However a proper investigation was going to have to wait.
"Sensei Wu? Cole? Ann?" he called out. They were still right where he had left them, and very much in need of warm shelter. "We must hurry. The sooner we find the weapon, the sooner we can leave this place."
"But n-now we need to f-find Jay and Kai," Ann pointed out as she crawled from her hiding place. "The d-dragon p-p-probably took them-m b-back to its nest. But where would that b-be?"
"It c-could b-be anywhere," Cole noted. The miles and miles of fog suddenly weighed down on them with such force that anyone might loose hope immediately.
"I can find them," said Zane. "If they're touching the ice, I'll find them."
The group headed north in agreement and followed the path which the ancient glacier had made, making markers along the way. The terrain began to slope upwards, and soon they were met by a mountain of white and blue. The only distinguishable feature nearby was a large, dark hole; the entrance into a cave.
"Not another cave," Keaton muttered. As soon as the words had left her lips, Zane noticed Ann lean down to her sister and whisper something in her ear. Neither of the girls looked happy about what she had said.
"W-we k-keep going. See here," she gestured to the cave wall where they could all clearly make out an eye shaped symbol. "This w-way."
On they went, plunged into the freezing darkness, guided by Wu's ball of light. As they walked, Zane realised how quiet Wu had been up to this point and wondered if he was feeling well. It was difficult to make out his face from behind his thick hood, but he didn't sound out of breath or look as if he was having trouble keeping up with them. However from that point on, Zane kept his eye on him.
The cave was very large and labyrinth-like. In fact, it looked less like a cave, and more like a loaf of bread that has risen with many air pockets inside of it.
"Hello, Master Wu," came a gravely voice.
Everyone turned to see a platoon of Skulkins emerging from the ice, led by a captain whose face was half cracked from skull to jaw. Zane looked down and saw that he had Kai and Jay held by the collar in both of his hands. Jay was manic and fought against the bonds which kept his hands held and his mouth at bay, while Kai appeared limp and shivering.
All were silent as the Captain continued, "As you can see, we have some very precious cargo here. Let us pass and these pathetic wimps will be yours again."
This was clearly the same crew they had met in the ice field, and evidentially they were able to reach the Daggers of Ice before them. No doubt the dragon would have slowed them down if it hadn't been preoccupied with Kai and Jay.
Instantly, Zane's eyes searched the soldiers up and down, trying to find where they were smuggling the Daggers. There was a small parcel hanging from the Captain's hip, but there was no guarantee of what was inside of it.
He then remembered the Skulkin's demands and observed the two young boys. Jay appeared too terrified to come up with any other wish than to be rescued, and Kai remained silent. It was imperative that Kai be brought to safety at once as he would undoubtedly succumb to hypothermia within a matter of minutes, but if Lord Garmadon managed to acquire even one weapon, there would be no telling how much havoc he would wreak.
The most logical course of action would be to—would be to—to—
Zane couldn't let himself finish the thought. He knew the weapons were more important, but there was something inside of him that outright refused to even entertain the idea of letting the two of them be sacrificed for the mission. He gritted his teeth and frantically began to think of an alternative solution.
What happened in the next few moments was a blur, even to Zane, but in short: without realising what he had done, Zane summoned a chunk of ice from behind the Captain and it came flying toward the back of Kai's neck. When it hit, something very strange changed in Kai's demeanour, and suddenly he was shouting and breathing fire uncontrollably. The Captain was startled, as were his troops, and in the confusion Zane lunged forward to take out the Captain and retrieve both his friends plus the weapon, meanwhile the other ninja took action in holding back the skeleton legion. Zane grabbed Jay by his shirt and hurled him toward the cave entrance before pinning the Captain with a large icicle and taking the parcel from his side.
"Aaaaaoooorrrrrrrr!!!"
The ice dragon reappeared, flying straight toward Zane and the weapons. The ninja sensed this just in time, then grabbed Kai and began his retreat; the others followed.
Kai had stopped breathing fire, and looked to be much warmer now, however extremely shaken and bewildered.
"Where are we going?!" Ann shouted above the noise of enemy soldiers charging after them, not to mention a shrieking dragon.
"I have the weapons!" Zane yelled. "We need to get back to the ship! Follow the markers!"
As he was speaking, the dragon swooped down and, despite his early warning, grabbed Zane in its large claws and they began to fly high above the ground.
"Zane!" he heard several people cry.
His arms were completely immobilised, and he was barely able to see with all of the wind and snow sheering his eyes. But then something warm and wet hit his face, filling his nostrils with the distinct smell of iron. There must've been a wound in the dragon's skin somewhere ahead of him, most likely damage that he had inflicted earlier.
Zane used all of his strength to hurl his legs upward, creating two large icicles that swung up with them, then suddenly their was a sickening squishy noise and an ear-splitting shriek. They began to lose altitude immediately and Zane felt the dragon's grip loosen on him. He grabbed hold of the beast's feet before he fell completely and began to climb up onto its back, holding on to whatever scales he could. At some point they had changed direction and their crash course took them right towards everyone else down below. Zane raised his arms and quickly created a thin wall of ice between his friends and the Skulkens then leapt from the dragon's back before it collided with the iceberg's surface. He felt the ice slam against his skin as he tumbled and he looked up to find a massive crater in the ice which had sent several large cracks shooting from its centre. However, the body of the dragon, which must have created the crater, was nowhere to be seen.
"Zane, come on!" Keaton shouted as she rushed over to help him up. "Where are the weapons?"
Zane's eyes widened and he felt his belt for the parcel, but there was nothing there. Thankfully they found the daggers not too far away; they had probably fallen during the flight.
The moment Zane's hands grasped the bag there was a sickening sound which echoed all around them. The cracks in the ice were spreading and at an alarming pace, then there was the fact that the Skulkens were breaking through Zane's wall.
"Come on!" Keaton yelled. She grabbed him and for a moment Zane was alarmed at how fast they seemed to be running until he realised that Keaton must have been using her powers to push them forward.
They caught up with the others in a matter of moments, each of them equally terrified of the ice breaking apart at their feet. The ship was in sight when they felt that the iceberg was sinking. What had happened was that section of the ice had severed from the whole and was now slipping into the water, flipping forward as it did so, sending the ninja flying forward and landing them onto their ship while pushing the vessel out to sea as the ice collapsed into the water. No one's landing was graceful, and after a few minutes of complete stillness they felt like they could breathe again.
"What in the name of the First Spinjitzu Master just happened?!" Kai exclaimed from somewhere nearby. Zane was far too shaken to sit up and his eyes were still closed.
"I..... I'm not entirely sure," said Ann, with remarkable calmness, all things considered.
"Did we at least get the weapon?" Cole asked.
"Yes," Zane said, and he lifted his hand which was still clutching the parcel.
There was another minute or two of silence before Kai had enough strength to ask the next question, "And what happened in the cave?"
Zane sat up slowly and opened his eyes. Everybody was lying on the deck in some form or another, visibly bruised and tired, especially Jay who looked as though he might faint. Kai was leaning against the railing opposite to him.
"You mean your.... outburst?" Cole asked.
Kai seemed very uneasy and somewhat embarrassed but nodded his head.
"I thought you knew," said Ann. "Given that you were the one breathing fire."
Kai looked down and didn't say any more, but Zane knew—or he had guessed as much—that he was responsible for triggering that response in Kai. He had summoned that ice, formed it into the shape of a hand, and it landed on a very specific spot in Kai's neck. There was only one flaw in this thought, however, and that was the fact that Zane had no idea what he had done or that there was a pressure point that would activate his powers.
"Whatever may have happened, let us be glad that we are safe and victorious," said Wu calmly. "Let us go below deck and warm ourselves. Perhaps have some hot chocolate."
Everyone agreed silently and they all helped each other up and then down into the warm darkness of the hold.