Beastly Love | Ninjago AU

Chapter 1: Killer Beast

"What do you mean he's dead?!" Tabitha cries, tears filling her eyes, and rushing down her face. "What happened while I was gone?!" She was carrying a tiny black box with a green ribbon tied onto it.

She was quivering, and the others led her to the family room couch. Nya sat on her right, holding her in a motherly way. Lloyd sat on her left rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. The others all grabbed chairs and sat close to Tabitha.

They all knew why she had left. They all knew what was in the box. It was an engagement ring. Tabitha was going to ask Cole to marry her. And instead of going to a jewelry store, she went to the Caves of Despair and mined a carbonado and made a ring.

"Please!" Tabitha pleads through her tears, "tell me what happened to him!"

They looked at each other and sighed. Master Wu decided to tell her.

"Tabitha... it is hard to find the right words. But... uh" the old master begins, but lowers his head in defeat. Kai decides to break the news.

"Cole's been murdered."

"What?" Tabitha gasps, her body shaking even more. "How are you so sure that he's been murdered?"

"We heard screams coming from his room," Zane informs holding Pixal's hand, "and when we arrived—", he couldn't finish his sentence.

"When we entered his room," Jay continues the story. "We saw a huge monster in the center of his room."

"Th-there was blood e-everywhere. And things w-were knocked over." Nya states, stuttering because she was starting to cry also. "There was also blood — *gasp* — all over its' body, especially in its' mouth."

"It turns out, that the monster is a ghost." Lloyd says, still rubbing his sister's back for comfort. "But this ghost has dragon-like features. And turns out that it ate Cole, since there was blood mostly near it's mouth."

"When we confronted the beast of its crime, the monster attacked us and flew away into the forest." Pixal explains. "But before flying away, i noticed that it grabbed a tiny box, that looks just like the one you're holding, but the box was green and the ribbon was black."

They all gasp, including Tabitha. For that box held another engagement ring. But that one was for her. Cole was going to propose to her!

"Oh my god!" Tabitha exclaims, covering her mouth with one hand. "He was going to propose to me?!"

"Yes he was." Master Wu says, an affectionate smile on his face. "And right after you left, he asked Lloyd, Misako, and me for our blessings. We of course said yes, knowing that he would take care of you, just like he did when you were little. He had recently found a heart-shaped Aurora Green diamond, when we were fighting against the king of Shintaro."

"Cole then asked me if I could use my blacksmith skills to put the diamond into a ring band. So I did." Kai says, crossing his arms and looking down.

"But when the monster left, it took the ring with it." Skylor says. "And after that, we informed everyone in Ninjago, about the beast and it killing Cole. We also informed them that if they ever see the beast, they should immediately go to the sheriff to inform them, so they can tell us."

Tabitha had stopped shaking, but was now looking at the box in her hands. "What do you plan on doing to it when you find it?" She asks quietly.

"We're going to capture it and send it to the departed realm, in front of everyone in Ninjago, by dumping water on the beast. Since it is a ghost after all." Jay says punching his hand.

"But when the monster left it looked like a boy, so we should just say 'he' instead of 'it'." Nya says. "There also have been rumors of the beast scaring off and attacking campers."