between these walls | ninjago au

Chapter 9

3rd Person POV

"Wait, Nya's missing?"

Cole nodded at his roommate, "Yeah. She disappeared last night, never returned. You guys are close, right?"

Jay nodded, "W-We're good friends, but we've only ever hung out in the school or in the woods."

Cole gazed out the window, "The woods are huge. Who knows how long it'll take to find her. It's lucky we're not alone. Kai, Zane, Morro, Lloyd, Skylor, Pixal and Seliel are gonna help. So are the other elemental masters."

The lightning ninja nodded, "Y-Yeah. Just out of curiosity, where are Nya's favourite places to be at?"

"Seliel and Morro already checked out the docks. She's not there. She didn't go to Ronin and Dareth either. Her parents haven't heard from her, so our only choice is the forest."

Zane peeked his head through, "Seliel and Morro are back. We're about to search the woods. You guys coming?"

Cole jumped out of his bed, and Jay grabbed his coat, "Yeah. We're coming." 

Following the nindroid, they headed downstairs to where everyone was waiting. "I'll stay back, in case she returns." Wu said, as he and Misako headed back to the front desk.

The rest went out into the woods. Morro glanced around, "All right! If you see her, holler! Let's roll!"

❀❀❀

"NYA!"

"SIS!"

"NAVEAH SMITH!"

"TINY GIRL WITH SHORT TEMPER!"

"NYA!"

Everyone called out her name as they searched around. It was freezing out here. The school was well away into the distance as they kept venturing deeper in.

"NYA!"

"SIS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Jay then stepped on something. Frowning, he reached down and picked it up. It was a pendant with a phoenix. Nya's pendant.

"Come on...come on..." It was getting dark, despite it being midday. Pressing his palms together, he groaned in effort to try and summon some light. Nothing.

Focus all of your energy...centre yourself.

Taking a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes, kept his palms still, and created a small bolt of lightning, as a source of light. He held it out, showing a trail made of rope just beside him. Sighing, he followed said trail, several miles down. This was probably leading to a dead end. But he had to try.

Stopping, the auburn stared up at the trees. He could get a better vantage point. Holding onto the trunk, he reached up, and gripped onto the low branch, hauling himself up. Shakily, he got to his feet. grabbing onto the branch above. He went like this for a bit of time, until he was high enough to see throughout the woods.

Panting, Jay whipped his head around, searching endlessly for the feisty raven. "Nya!"

"Jay? The hell are you doing up there? Get down!" Jay peered through the mess of branches, to see Lloyd frowning up at him.

"Hold on- what are you doing?!" He yelped as Lloyd also started climbing up too, eventually reaching Jay.

"Why?" he asked, "You hate my guts."

Lloyd shook his head, "I don't hate you, I just...don't trust you. Okay?"

"Answer me this, Lloyd. This part of the forest is darker than the other parts. How do you think I got through it alone?"

"With your powers..."

"Exactly." He held his hand out, "Look, I don't wanna fight you. But for the sake of Nya, can we at least get along? Two heads are better than one." Lloyd stared at Jay's hand, before placing his atop. The two shake hands, to seal the truce, "Wait. Do you see that?"

"See what?" Lloyd grabbed Jay's chin and moved his head, so his eyesight was focusing on one of the many trees, "Is that..."

"Only one way to find out." Lloyd grunted, lightly jumping from branch to branch until he reached the leafy ground. The duo broke into a sprint, rushing towards the tree they'd spotted, to see a small figure curled up.

"GUYS! WE FOUND HER!" Lloyd bellowed, as Jay tugged his coat off, wrapping it around Nya's small form, "She's got hypothermia." Lloyd murmured, as he placed her hands between his own, trying to warm her up. Jay suddenly picked her up, "Get her to Kai."

As they ran back, Lloyd pulled out his phone, "Kai? Kai, we found her! She's freezing, we're bringing her to you!"

They stopped as the forest grew dark, "Jay, do it. Now would be a good time to train up your powers." Lloyd ordered, taking Nya. Reluctantly nodding, Jay held out his hands, palms facing up, and let his eyelids close as he imagined holding a bolt of lightning in his hands.

Slowly, a spark appeared, as the auburn's hand glowed. Grinning, he held it out, and they made their way back, following the rope trail.

Kai heard the approaching footsteps and whipped around to see Lloyd and Jay running back, with Nya. He sighed with relief, "Get her inside."

❀❀❀

They burst through the dorm room doors, where Seliel, Pixal and Skylor were waiting, and set Nya down on her bed. Grabbing a blanket, Seliel wrapped it around her, as Kai held her hand, sending heat through her body. Slowly her lips, which were blue from the cold, started changing back to the pale pink, and eventually she stopped shivering. Pixal took her temperature, "Let her rest for a few days, just in case."

"Huh? I'm fine..."

"Nya!" Kai instantly threw his arms around her, "Don't you dare scare me like that again! You had hypothermia!"

Nya looked confused, "What....you can't get hypothermia in the library...." Skylor frowned, "Nya, you weren't in the library."

"I went to the library, and I must have fallen asleep." she mumbled drowsily as she yawned. Pixal scanned her, "She must have been sleepwalking."

Jay tilted his head, "How? Everything locks on curfew."

Lloyd took Nya's hand, which was clenched into a fist. Gently, he pried her fingers apart, revealing a bobby pin in the palm of her hand, "Well, that explains it."

Seliel opened the door, "Nya, sleep. You need it. Everyone let's give her some space." They murmured a quick farewell and went back to their dorms, except Lloyd who went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Blinking slowly, Nya could feel herself slipping back into unconsciousness.