Hey guys! I'm really excited about this chapter because it wasn't there in the old version so that means... it's totally new :D It's a rather long chapter (I was really inspired for once xD) We will now know what happened to the girls. There will be a fight scene, nothing to serious because I'm no expert in fighting description. Anyway, let's get down to business... to deafeat the Hu― Ok I'll stop xD

Enjoy :D

Chapter 15: Step by step

(Jay's POV)

It has been one hour since Nya left the Bounty to go get Melissa, but they hadn't returned yet. Kai and I wanted to go after them, but Cole stopped us telling that they should be back soon. He's right, I don't want to be sexist or anything but they're girls after all, girl's talk can take a long time… maybe that's why they taking so long.

I look at the window with worry. The sun had set down and several stars were already present in the dark sky.

Zane came back inside half an hour ago, we were all shocked by his unusual behavior. He just walked past us and stopped at the doorway, not even turning around. I was about to ask him if he was okay until he spoke. His voice was low, almost like a whisper and it was completely monotone.

"If you need any assistance I shall be in our room…"

And just like that, he left leaving us speechless. I never saw him this empty before, maybe when Dr. Julien passed away or when he learned his origins, but this is much worse. I think the first thing Zane fear the most, besides losing a loved one, is not to be accepted. We know he's still mourning for his father, so this situation doesn't help him much. I don't blame Melissa for this, in fact it's thank to her he was getting better, but not in this case sigh…if only we could do something to help him.

"They should be back by now." Kai says impatiently as he stands up. While we were waiting for their return, the red ninja wouldn't stop complaining and was a little angry… no scratch that, very angry at Melissa since she hurt our brother, despite she kinda helped Zane with his recovery without knowing. I understand him, I don't like to see my brother hurt, especially Zane, but it's not her fault… sort of. Fortunately, the others and I convinced him not to go talk to her. That would be very awful.

Anyway, where was I… ah right.

"Maybe they're in danger!" I gasp as I pace around the room. "Maybe the serpentine kidnaped them or worse, the stone warrior attacked!"

They're probably in cages or worse… my little sweetheart is in danger!

"Whoa whoa Jay, calm down." Cole rolls his grey eyes. "If they were attacked, which they're not, the alarm will set off." He then crosses his arms. "Plus, we never heard about the serpentine nor the stone warrior ever since the Final battle."

"But what if is the bad guys Melissa was trying to escape?" Lloyd voices with hesitation and I froze with wide eyes. No…nonononono!

"Great, now we lost him." Kai says in annoyance as I start to freak out. "Thanks a lot, Lloyd."

"What?" The green ninja asks putting his hands up in defense as our leader just pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "I was just saying."

"Relax Jay, you know Nya can handle herself and Melissa knows about self-defence. Don't forget Zane's falcon is with them too." The black ninja adds with a reassuring smile. Well, that's true, Nya prove herself as the Samurai and Melissa kicked Kai's butt a few weeks ago. Hehe, I still remember his angry expression… He was beyond pissed off. I should have record it.

Just then a sharp cry comes from outside, making us jump in surprise. Lloyd stands up and goes towards the door. The moment it opens a black blur enters and flies around the room. We all stare in shock at the bird as he keeps flapping anxiously in circles with nervous cries.

"Something must've happened." Cole mentions with a frown as he looks at the mechanical bird. I then gasp, remembering the day he acted that way when Zane showed up with his bloody arm. Don't think that, Jay. No, they're fine…they're on their way. I have nothing to wor―

Suddenly, we hear rapid footsteps coming from the alley until Zane appears at the doorway with an alarmed face. His wide icy blue eyes, despite its unusual faint color, were filled with concern as he stares at his companion then at us. We knew that face and it wasn't a good one.

"They're in danger." The tall blond ninja simply whispers before sprinting towards the door as the bird quickly follows him when the white ninja whistled. We look at each other trying to process what happened until we realise with wide eyes what he meant.

Oh no…

(Zane's POV)

I push branches out of my way and keep running as I stare at my flying friend, finding this situation quite familiar. The cool wind flowing through the trees as the forest is slowly starting to fall asleep. I hear my name been called by my brothers, but I ignore it.

I must find them. I must find…her.

I jump over a log and accelerate my pace, my power source pounding wildly. I knew, back in my room, something was off just before I heard my falcon's cry. I wasn't sure why my he acted that way in the beginning. But when I saw his piercing gaze, several horrible scenarios played in my head and without my accord, my body just went sprinting towards the door.

Not only Melissa is the future Kunoichi of Nature but she's also the wielder of a powerful necklace which can bring disastrous consequences if it's in the wrong hands.

And…

Even if she didn't accept me, I promise myself to protect her no matter what. A pair of emerald green eyes filled with hurt and anger flashes in my mind. The stream of tears rolling on her cheeks that I caused… for being too afraid. I mentally shake myself as I regain my focus of my surroundings. Now it is not the time to think about that.

After exactly five point seventy two minutes, my falcon friend flies up before landing gracefully to a leafless branch. I slow my pace as I look around with worry, panting slightly. Where are they, my friend? Several rapids footsteps are heard from behind after a moment. I glance over my shoulder to see my brothers arriving.

"Whew, that was a long run." Kai pants heavily as he leans on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Geez, Zane, you could've wait for us." Cole breaths out as he walks towards me but he was push away by Jay.

"What... kind of... danger are you talking about?" My blue brother asks worriedly, his face red from running.

"Who cares, we need to save my sister!" Kai voices angrily, his brown eyes burning with determination. I mentally roll my eyes at my fiery brother since he forgot to mention Melissa too.

"I do not know, I sensed a great distress in them while I was meditating." I say with a frown, trying to find a possible scenario in my data base. My sixth sense was tingling, that means the danger is still present.

"Don't worry, it's not like a gun was pointing at them." Lloyd reassures patting Jay's shoulder. "Not in this part of the forest, that's for sure."

"Whatever it is, we better do quick." Cole says nodding before looking at me. "Which direction, Frosty?"

I was about to respond when I sharp cry catches my attention. My mechanical friend flaps his wings as he looks to his right.

"This way." I wave at the others as I crouch slightly. We keep crouching until we take cover when we heard faint voices.

I expend my audio input to have a better hearing and gasp when I recognized the voices. I quickly put my hood on and summon my shuriken. I hold back a growl and frown. I should have known but how did they find us?

"What's wrong?" Cole whisper-shouts from my shoulder.

"It's the same men I defeated the day I rescued Melissa." I explain urgently, making them gasp too. "We don't have much time."

"If one of them touches my sister, I swear…" Kai growls but he was shushed by Lloyd.

I stop when I saw a figure and peek over a bush to have a better view. The same man were standing with their back at us and in front of them was Melissa and Nya against a tree. The latter was in a defensive stance as the necklace wielder was holding her jewel, glaring at them.

"I'm telling you one more time, princess." The leader warns. "Get out of our way or things are going to get ugly."

"You better listen to him if I were you." The small brown-haired man suggests pointing at his leader.

However, Nya didn't obey nor moved a muscle. Instead, she looks at them with a frown and annoyed brown eyes. "I'm not going anywhere." She states and I blink twice in surprise. She is as stubborn as her brother. I guess it runs in the family.

"Then, you give me no choice." The leader says as he nudge at the blond. We hear a click and gasp when we saw the gun he was holding. Both girls backed away with wide eyes. The same frightened emerald eyes from before… Full of fear, yet they were still strong.

"You had to say it, Lloyd." Kai hisses as he slaps the back of the green ninja's head, making him yelp but quickly covers his mouth with his hands. The leader looks behind with narrowed eyes before turning away. We all glare at Kai and Lloyd as they just shrug sheepishly.

"What do we do?" Jay whispers worriedly with sapphire blue eyes looking back at the scene. There's not much possibilities…

"We can't just attack them, they have the advantage an―" Cole starts but a voice cut him off.

"Okay, okay y-you win," Melissa says at the man raising her hands in defeat. "I'll come with you if you leave her alone. Don't shoot."

My eyes went wide. No…

"What?! No, don't do it!" Nya exclaims, stopping her with her arm.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." She smiles faintly. "They after me, not you and I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

The jet black haired girl looks anxiously at the gang and relief filled her eyes when she glanced over the leader's shoulder. She then looks at her and nods before releasing her. Good, she knows we are here. The necklace wielder walks hesitantly towards the leader, oblivious of our presence. The blond man passes the gun to the latter before taking her arms and put it behind her back, making her wince.

"Good choice, princess." The leader chuckles as he manipulates the weapon skillfully, making my fiery brother growl and the Samurai huff. "Dave, get the ropes."

The said man takes out the ropes from his jacket and walks toward Nya. To everyone surprise except of us, the sister of fire let the short man tied her to a tree. I look at the others and they nod.

"What are you doing?" Melissa hisses as she struggles in the blonde's strong grip. "You have me. Leave her out of it."

"Don't worry, sweetheart." For some reason, the way he called her made my emotional framework to react violently. "We just want to be sure she won't follow us."

After the man named Dave finished his task, the leader looks at his watch, then at Melissa maliciously. "Mark, you hold her?"

"Affirmative." The blond named Mark responds, making sure he doesn't lose his grip as she keeps struggling.

"Perfect, we should get going, then." He announces lowering the weapon to the floor. We took our position as Kai made a hand signal to his sister. She nods before looking at the men.

"You know, for bad guys you're terrible with knots." Nya taunts with a smirk as the trio turn around. Before they could respond we jump into action and I quickly throw my shuriken, disarming the leader. He yelps in surprise before looking behind him.

"You again!" He shouts angrily when he saw me. Immediately the blonde beside him takes out a pocket knife and put it under Melissa's neck, making her gasp and us stop moving.

"Great, now the whole gang is here." The brown haired man says rolling his eyes, standing in front of the hostage.

"Can't you leave us alone for once?!" The leader snarls at me with narrowed eyes. I glare back at the man as cold as my element.

"No can do." Cole says bluntly, his scythe in hand. "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

I see from my peripheral Jay slowly walking towards Nya. He then reaches at her and cut the ropes with a kunai.

"Why do you want her necklace anyway?" Lloyd asks with a frown, distracting them to let Jay finish his task. The brown haired man took notice of this but the leader stopped him before he makes a move.

"It's not of your business, greeny." The leader says with his hands on his hips, showing no sign of distress despite they're outnumbered. "So, like I said to this lady over there." He points at the now free Nya, making Jay and Kai stands in front of her protectively. "Leave before it gets ugly."

"Only if you let Melissa go." I say sternly as I grips my shuriken tightly. She looks at me at the mention of her name, her eyes filled with fear and relief as she breathes heavily.

"Oh, I can't just let her go." The leader chuckles humorlessly. "He will not be pleased if we come back empty handed. We have a mission and we're not going to fail it."

It's a he? I glance at the others.

"Who are you working for?" Kai glares at the men.

"This information is classified, so I can't tell, sorry spikey." The leader shrugs boringly earning a growl from the red ninja.

"What about the messages?" Cole interrogates them. "Is he the one who sent them?"

"Messages? What are you talking about?" The leader raises an eyebrow, surprise and confusion all over his face as well as the other two. I look at their reaction closely. They don't know about the archer, that means he or she doesn't work for them.

"You know, the pieces of paper attached to an arrow." Jay clarifies.

"We have no idea what you fruit colored people are talking about." The leader waves off, earning a loud gasp from Kai.

"Fruit colored people?!" The red ninja exclaims in indignation before raising his fist. "I'll show you some fruit col―"

"Yeah yeah, enough chit-chat, we're leaving." He says as he gestures his teammates to follow.

"In your dreams!" Melissa suddenly shouts as she pounds the blonde's foot, making him yelp and release her a little. She quickly grabs his armed hand and twists it, causing the pocket knife to fall from his grasp.

We take advantage of the distraction as we lunge forward. Cole and Kai attack the brown-haired man as I run towards the blonde. Lloyd rushes to help me as Jay protects Nya. I take hold of the man's arm and puts it behind his back, making the blonde do a back flip. He tries to stand up but Lloyd quickly kicks him down.

I rush to Melissa's side with worry, looking at her for possible injuries as I put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right? Are you in any pain?"

She pants slightly, feeling the spot where the knife was with her hand. "I-I'm fine."

I release the breath I was holding in relief. I look at the others and notice that Cole and Kai already knock down their target. That means there's only one left. I look back at Melissa and notice she was staring at me, several emotions flashing in her eyes. She then looks over my shoulder and her greens eyes went wide in fear and instantly my sixth sense tingles. I quickly spin around, pushing Melissa behind me and it was my turn to widen my eyes.

"You forgot one." The leader smirks as he holds up another gun and points it at me. It was a black and silver M9. I hear the click sound of the weapon and everyone stops moving. The two other men stand shakily to their feet and join their leader. "I thought ninjas were better than this."

I see from my peripheral Jay taking carefully his nunchuks out as Lloyd clasps his hands together, ready to active their force fields. The others stand still, not daring to move. Fear crept in me as I stare at the gun with wide eyes. It was aiming directly to my chest.

"Please, don't shoot!" Melissa cries as she tries to reach me, but the red ninja grabs her arm. "Kai, let me go!"

"Put the weapon down." Cole growls dangerously, his knuckles turning white as he holds his scythe. The others nearly cringe at hearing that, we know when Cole is like that, his primary priority it's our safety. However, there's no escape to this. My power source was pounding anxiously as I bit my lip behind my mask. The probability of surviving is very slim and the others are too far to do something. Only a miracle can save me.

"Ah, I wish I could. Really." The man says sarcastically, making me look into his brown eyes as he grins evilly. "But he wants him… dead."

"NOOO!" I hear Melissa scream in fright.

The moment he pulls the trigger, I could see my whole robotic life flash in my mind as I pull my shuriken up to my chest even if I knew it was futile. With many shouts of horror, a loud bang fill the air and I shut my eyes, preparing for my upcoming end but it never came. There was no pain and so sound, only my heavy breathing could be heard. Hesitantly, I open my eyes and gasp in shock.

The man was in the ground groaning in pain and in front of him was a majestic deer standing between us. It was completely brown with a white crown of fur around his neck and chest. The two other men stand back in surprise as my brothers and sister stare in shock.

"What the heck!?" Dave exclaims. The antlered animal stomps its powerful paws on the ground, crushing the gun into pieces.

The leader looks up and yelps as he backs off, noticing the mammal that was a few meters from him. The deer stares at them with its dark eyes. It snarls and bows its head showing its mighty antlers, making them to step back as if it was… protecting us?

Lloyd and Jay dispose their force field as we all regroup behind the deer. It didn't mind us as it keeps showing its antlers to them.

"Uhh, I think Bambi is angry at us." The smaller man says nervously putting his hands up in defense.

"Thanks, captain obvious, I didn't know." The leader rolls his eyes as he backs away too.

"What do we do, boss?" The blonde asks looking at the deer in fright. The animal was still staring at them, nodding its antlers angrily.

Before the leader could respond the deer charges towards them. They yelp in surprise and sprint as fast as they can, disappearing through the bushes.

"This isn't over, ninja! You hear me?! We'll come back!" The leader shouts in the distance.

The deer stomps again as its snarls before calming down. It then turns around to face us and we froze. It stares at us before looking over my shoulder, its ears flickering. All of a sudden, the necklace wielder slowly steps forward and walks towards the mammal.

"Melissa, what are you doing?!" Nya asks with concern, but she didn't listen. We hold our breath as she stops just in front of the mighty animal, not even flinching when the deer approach her. I wanted to stop her but my body froze on its own. My sixth sense was telling me to wait.

The cinnamon haired girl carefully raises her hand and to everyone surprise, the deer leans to her touch. How does she do that? Is it her new found power?

"Thank you, you saved me once again." We hear her whispering as she pets the mammal's head. The animal pulls back and bows before facing us. Its black eyes stares at each of us and bows again as in thanks before it jumps over the bush it came from.

We stood there in silence, trying to process the past events until Jay speaks up. "Okay, what the HECK just happened?!"

"Whew, that was fun." Lloyd chuckles humorlessly with a shake of head. I expand my senses to see if those men came back, but I sense nothing. They are gone, for now. I release the breath I was holding and lower my shuriken. That was too close.

"Is everyone all right?" Cole asks worriedly as he looks at us as we take off our masks. "Any injuries?"

"We're fine." Kai reports, dusting off his pants. "Thanks to the force fields, you're okay, sis?"

"Yep, just a little scratch of my hand." Nya reassures with a smile.

Cole then walks towards me as he looks at me from head to foot, his grey eyes full of concern. "Did it hit you, Frosty?"

"It didn't, it appears the bullet's trajectory was affected by the unexpected event." I explain before looking behind me. To my right, there was a whole on the tree trunk. I look inside and find the bullet in it, making me gulp. A few more centimeters to the left and it would be the last thing I see.

"Seriously, guys, what happened?!" Jay asks again as he waves his arms to the direction the deer ran off. "Am I the only who saw that?!"

"Relax, Jay, we all saw it." Kai rolls his eyes before he glares at necklace wielder, making her flinch. "Care to explain?"

"Kai." Nya warns at her brother.

"It's all her fault, if she didn't have left the ship none of this would have happened." The fire ninja argues and I narrow my eyes, an unusual anger filling me. He doesn't have the right to accuse her for something we don't have control of it. The man in red notices my stare and looks at me with the same intensity and it was like fire and ice clashing together. "What? She's the one who―"

"Kai, stop it." Nya says firmly as she walks pass him. A sudden gust of wind makes us look up as the branches start shaking. I squint my eyes at the occurrence but shrug it off. This is probably the northern winds getting closer.

"We can't stay here." Cole says as he puts his scythe on his back. "It's getting dark, let's get back to the Bounty."

"Good i-idea, I-I'm starting to get c-cold." Jay says as he rubs his hands together to warm them up.

I was about to talk to Melissa but I froze when my sixth sense suddenly reacts wildly. I look behind me urgently and expand my senses. Someone or something was watching us from afar. Then the back of my head screamed "danger" when I saw a glimpse of metal from a tree.

"JAY, duck!" I shout all of a sudden, surprising the others. Without any question, the blue ninja drops on the ground as an arrow flew above him before it hit a tree, making him yelp. We quickly take our battle stance around Nya and Melissa, ready for the upcoming threat.

"It's the archer!" Cole points at the direction it came from. A shuffling sound was suddenly heard before it becomes like footsteps. Lloyd picks up a kunai from his belt and throws it through the trees. We heard a thud and a grunt of pain.

"Ohh, you can't escape now!" Kai shouts as he was about to sprint but our surrounding was suddenly engulfed by a thick cloud.

"Smoke bomb!" Lloyd exclaims as he coughs. We quickly use our spinjitzu to clear the way before we look around but we saw nothing. Why couldn't I sense him earlier?

"Argh, we lost him again!" Kai says angrily as he makes his hands into fists. I go over the tree the arrow hit and examine it.

"How did the archer find us?" Melissa questions in shock as she holds the necklace. "Or the others?"

"I have no idea." Cole shakes his head. "They probably followed us without us knowing."

"Jay, are you okay?" Nya asks worriedly as she goes to check him for any injuries.

"I need to lay down." He waves tiredly. "Too much adrenaline in a short time."

"It wasn't supposed to hit you in the first place." I voice as I pull out the pointy weapon. It was a few centimeters above Jay as if he knew he would duck in time.

"In the first place?!" Jay spreads out his arms, pointing at his head. "It almost split my head in half!"

"Calm down, Jay." Nya rubs his back and he sighs before taking deep breaths.

"Does it have a message?" Our leader walks towards me and I nod. Between two black feathers, there was a piece of paper folded in two, just like the first message. I pick up the paper and carefully unfold it. It had the same red writing.

"Step by step your doom will come

Only I will know when it'll come"

"What does it say?" Kai asks as he walks towards me. I give it to him and he reads it out loud, making the others gasp.

"Seriously, this guy is creepy." Jay says with a shiver. "How many he'll send?"

"Wait, you mean this wasn't the first time?" Lloyd raises a blond eyebrow. I realize Lloyd wasn't there when we got the first message.

"Yeah, the archer sent us another message last week saying he knows Melissa." Jay explains with a frown. From my peripheral, I see the necklace wielder tensed at that.

"From who?" The green ninja asks.

"We don't know yet. At least, we know he doesn't work with those three." Kai says angrily. "I swear, when I take hold of him I'll―"

"No time for that. We need to leave this place." Cole orders as he starts walking. "And be sure he doesn't follow us this time."

We nod at our leader as we start walking. I look to my left and see Melissa staring at the dark forest with a distant face. I went to reassure Melissa but the samurai already was at her side. Nya puts a hand on her shoulder and she flinches a bit before looking at her. Melissa smiles faintly as she nods before following her, but it was clear she was worried and fretful from the events. She isn't used of these sort of action.

Without looking up, I stretch my left arm out as my feathered friend instantly lands on it. He looks at me with his piercing yellow eyes and coos worriedly, poking my cheek with his beak. I smile as I scratch his head. "Everything will be fine, my friend."

I glance at Melissa and I catch her gaze before she quickly looks away. I sigh before following my brothers.

"Hopefully…"

Ahhh so much stuff happened in one chapter! I was personally concerned about Zane's safety even if I was the one who put him in that position xD So how was it? Will Zane and Melissa reconciliate?

I want to apologize for the wait, school gets in the way and other stuff keeps me busy. I'm also writing a new one-shot for the "It's Called Bromance" compilation :D Anyway, thank you for your support and see you next time!

Have a great day/night and don't forget to review :D

Danino