==Hi, everyone! I'm back from Hawaii! We had so much fun these past two weeks, but I'm glad to be home. To make things better, I got three chapters written! But because we just got back yesterday, I had to take the time to transcribe them onto the computer. That means I'm all caught up on updates! So enjoy these next three chapters as I post them throughout the week. I worked hard on them in my spare time :) ==

Arkasia - "Pandemonium"

Collateral Damage

Chapter 5:

The Human Race

That day Gorgan spent with his father followed him as he grew older. What all they saw was unable to be retained as a memory because of how young he was, but the bond he shared with Soren never faded since then. Now he was no longer a small youngling who remained in the nest every day with Elapidae. Now he was developing into juvenile who could finally begin the process of becoming a warrior. The process would take years to complete, but all juveniles didn't have to do any physical training yet. It all started with cognitive recollection; they had to learn important stories and lessons that would influence how they responded to events in real life.

What also made the momentous occasion special was that Elapidae could return to warrior duties. Her days of being confined to the nest all day every day with her dependent offspring were over. She was more than delighted to spend more time with her mate while Gorgan was attending his storytelling sessions. It had almost been too long since they last had some alone time. When they found out they were expecting Gorgan, she had to halt her routines once her abdomen reached a certain size. After that, she was busy being a mother.

On that fateful day, Soren and Elapidae observed how their only son eagerly stared across the room at the ominous medicine den. With his permanent fangs beginning to poke out from beneath his lip, he waited for Cleo to emerge from the darkness. The two of them were always together. Now they were going to be learning together! But he didn't understand what was taking her so long. Velsuki must've been pampering her because it was the very first day.

"Gorgan," Soren spoke, making his son turn around to look at him respectively, "are you excccited to hear the ssstoriesss of your ancccessstorsss today?"

He nodded and gazed back toward the medicine den. Just as he did, Cleo's four brothers exited the medicine den and headed out of the nesting area. Each had a gap in age differences, but none of them were warriors yet. Cleo was the baby of her family; the youngest of her older brothers was developing into an adolescent while she was just becoming a juvenile.

Velsuki and Morisol stepped out while holding their daughter's hands. She had yellow scales that were beginning to form swirls on each side of her head and crimson eyes that were already hypnotizing snakes by accident. Their eyes locked, and she called for him to come with her. Gorgan desperately gazed at his reptilian parents with high hopes of getting permission to leave. His mother chuckled and motioned for him to go ahead. He then jumped out and ran as fast as he could to meet up with his best friend.

Cleo broke away from her parents, causing their hands to be yanked. "Be careful!" Velsuki shouted as Gorgan rushed by.

She looked over her shoulder to see him right at her tail. "You can't catch me!" she teased, picking up the pace so that she was out of reach.

"Can too!" he challenged, chasing her through the Tomb's large tunnel and into the gathering place. Warriors had to suddenly avoid them as they persisted to dodge any obstacles. As she drew the path for them through the gathering place and into the splitting corridor, he focused on stretching his scaly hands out to her back. If only he could just lay a finger on her, he could claim victory.

"Ha! I win!" Cleo declared, hopping to a stop at the mouth of the learning place.

"No, you didn't!" Gorgan argued, playfully slapping her chest. "I win. Ha!"

"How?"

"You weren't in the learning place."

She craned her neck to get every angle of where they were standing and groaned in annoyance. "Not fair."

"Hello, Gorgan and Cleo!" a female hypnobrai greeted from a distance.

The two juveniles both glanced over to see the elder responsible for teaching all Serpentine their age. They were unaware of this, but many years ago, they had met her and heard one of her stories. They remembered being with their fathers, but everything else was long forgotten. But regardless of their lack of memory, the elder waved them over to join others who had already arrived.

Cleo gave her friend a timid look. How the heck did she know their names? More importantly, who was she? Morisol had told her about what would happen today, but he didn't disclose anything else.

"Don't be ssshy. We're jussst congregating at the moment," the elder coaxed, being as friendly as possible.

The three juveniles who were already there watched them approach the semicircle to sit down with them. None of them said anything - probably because they were also nervous to be in a new environment that was different from a nest. The fact that they were without their parents was another factor in their current docile behavior.

"Did you come without your parentsss?" she questioned.

It took them a second to respond in agreement.

"How brave of you!" she praised. "It'sss good that you know your way around the Tomb already. You can ssstart becoming leadersss at a young age."

Gorgan let out a coy smile that exposed his stubby fangs a little bit farther. Getting affirmed on the first day was a good accolade to tell his parents about.

A few minutes later, more juveniles showed up with their parents as an entourage. The elder welcomed every single one of them with their names intact. Like the elder, Gorgan and Cleo had met them all before, but they didn't remember any of them. Their names didn't ring a bell for either of them. Once there were eleven in total sitting around her rock in a semicircle, she began to speak to them all. "Welcome to your firssst day of ssstorytelling," she happily hissed. "I am Tijakasss, the ssstorytelling elder. I know your namesss, but how about you introduccce yourssselvesss to your new peersss. Doesss anybody know anyone already?"

"I know Gorgan!" Cleo gladly exclaimed, holding him in a tight embrace.

"Good friendsss, I sssee," she chuckled. "Can you tell usss sssomething about him?"

"Um...He isss the only youngling in hisss family, and we like to play outssside of my mother'sss den while ssshe preparesss herbsss with my father."

"Very interesssting! What about you, Gorgan? Can you tell usss sssomething about Cleo?"

"Ssshe hasss four brothersss and her mother is the tribe's medicine snake," he easily depicted. "We've been friendsss for a long time."

"Aw, well I hope you both continue being friendsss asss you go through your warrior training."

"I alssso know Gorgan," Skales added.

Gorgan glanced over at him. Their mothers were good friends, but they couldn't really get along. He was never interested in playing with Skales because of the way he played. It was always rough and intentionally mean.

"I like to sssit on him," he admitted carelessly and devilishly.

The juveniles around Gorgan laughed at the comment, making him feel insecure.

"That'sss not very niccce," Tijakas lightheartedly told Skales. "We will not be sssitting on anyone when we're here."

Skales stuck his forked tongue out at Gorgan to get a reaction from him.

"Ssskalesss isss mean to me," Gorgan shared, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Don't worry, Gorgan. The ssstoriesss will help guide everyone in a posssitive directttion. When you all begin ssscout training, your persssonalitiesss and habitsss and interessstsss will completely alter so that you will become a great warrior. I promissse you."

He went quiet. It seemed impossible right now, but he hoped it would be a reality someday. Dealing with a bully wasn't on his agenda.

Tijakas got to know each of her new pupils through the personal introductions, and then decided to tell a tale. But this tale was an important history lesson.

"Doesss anyone know why we live in the Tomb?" she asked, getting up from her rock to acknowledge the stone wall that was covered in engraved images. The juveniles looked around in anticipation of someone chipping in their knowledge of the subject, but when nobody did, Tijakas pointed at an image and explained. "Many yearsss ago, an alien creature known as the Firssst Ssspinjitzu Massster, a human, created the Hypnobrai tribe along with four othersss. Our tribe hasss the power of hypnosssisss, the Fangpyre tribe hasss the power of transssforming anything into a ssserpent, the Conssstrictai tribe hasss the power of great ssstrength, the Venomari tribe hasss the power of causssing hallucccinatttionsss, and the Anacondrai tribe hasss the power of camouflaging into any kind of sssurroundingsss. Together, we are the Ssserpentine, and we were created to protect the land of Ninjago from an evil threat known asss the Golden Massster. The Golden Massster wanted the Firssst Ssspinjitzu Massster's powersss, and hisss sssuccccessss would lead to a massss apocalypssse of the world.

"When the Ssserpentine feared the imminent reign of the Golden Massster, they tried to warn the human raccce and get them underground in their Tombsss to protect them, but they rebelled and viewed our kind asss monssstersss. A great war broke out, sssending all of Ninjago into chaosss.

"Eighteen yearsss ago, the Hypnobrai tribe wasss outssside of the Tomb in peaccce. Your parentsss were jussst juvenilesss like you at the time. A human appeared with a weapon that could pierccce the inner earsss of ssserpents to put them in a controlled tranccce. The entire tribe wasss then moved inssside the Tomb, where it wasss then ssshut from the outssside. We were all trapped sssince that tragic day, unable to ssstep foot on the land above ever again.

"The humansss believed that locking usss away would end the war onccce and for all. What they didn't know, however, wasss that we could sssurvive in our Tomb without accccessss to Ninjago. Your generation isss one of the firssst to have never ssseen Ninjago; your entire livesss have been inssside the Tomb." She stopped when Mezmo sheepishly raised his hand. "Yesss, Mezmo?"

"Will we ever get out?"

"There isss alwaysss hope that sssomething will happen unexpectedly and releassse us, but it isss impossssible to open the Tomb from the inssside. But don't fret. The Hypnobrai have survived jussst fine underground. Thossse rancccid humansss will never dessstroy usss. We are Serpentine!"

"But who wasss the human that locked usss in the Tomb?" Cleo asked.

"Ssshe was a female with yellow fur who wore blue garmentsss to cover her body. It wasss the Elemental Massster of Lightning who tried to kill usss."

I'll try to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but go ahead and review! Thank you EchoIsACutie for favoriting this story and thank you ZaneLoverFan88, Melodie in My Heart, The Mayor of Ninjago City, and RandomDragon2.0 for reviewing :)

The Mayor of Ninjago City - Oh, I didn't even realize I posted that chapter on Father's Day weekend XD How conveinant!

RandomDragon2.0 - Aw, thank you :)