The beginning of their quest was awkward to say the least. Kai felt like he should say something, perhaps comment once more about how strange Jay looked, but decided there was no point in questioning the things Jay does anymore.

He guessed Jay said nothing because he was waiting for Kai to spark up a conversation. So, instead of speaking, he was smiling widely at Kai the entire walk while humming.

"Okay, can you please stop humming?" Kai finally asked after three minutes of it. "It's annoying."

"Aw, come on! It's adventure music!" Jay pouted, blowing some stray curls out of his face. "Plus, it's catchy!"

"Well, you're tone deaf then because it's not good."

Jay gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "Hey! I may not have as good an ear as Cole, but at least I try!"

"Actually," Kai started, halting and curiously gazing at Jay. "Speaking of Cole, where is he? And everyone else for that matter?"

"Like I said Kai," Jay said, clearly exasperated, "what is a quest with more than-"

"Yeah, yeah I get that. But Nya has been kidnapped and everyone else mysteriously disappeared or just doesn't care! Also really, who is this Prince guy? Ninjago doesn't have any princes!" Kai argued.

Jay snickered. "Well... let's just say, you'll see them soon. As for the prince, wow Kai, I'm surprised you've never heard of Prince Julien, Prince of the Birchwood Forest!"

"Prince of the Birchwood Forest?" Kai questioned, raising an eyebrow. "That seems a bit much doesn't it? This Prince Julien seems like a power crazy idiot who... Julien--wait a minute! Does that mean that the prince is—"

Kai was interrupted by the sound of a trumpet. Turning to face the sound, Kai's jaw dropped. Standing before the two teammates (or questmates apparently?) was Skales, wearing light armor (much like Kai's but less cool) and a messenger bag draped over his shoulder (much like Jay but less awkward). One of his hands was gripping a rapier (which was pointed at them) and the other a massive scroll.

"Skales," Kai growled, slowly reaching for the handle of his sword while Jay did the same with his knife. "Did you—"

"HEAR YE, HEAR YE!" Skales declared, reading off of the scroll. "You are tressssssspassssssing on the land of His Royal Highnessssss, Prince Julien, Prince of the Birchwood Foresssssssst. As decreed by His Magnificence—!"

"Hold it, hold it!" Kai held up a time-out pose. "You're working for the prince?!"

Skales glared at him. "If I may continue, as decreed by His Magnificence, all tresssspassssers must be dessssstroyed before they interfere with His Royal Coolness's planssss."

Jay gasped once more, placing a hand on his forehead as if he were about to faint. "The horror! To have our quest end this way! Sir Kai, you must do something!"

Kai glared at Jay. "Um, hello? You're a ninja too, help me!"

"Elf," Jay corrected.

"Whatever issss the matter, Sssssir Kai?" Skales taunted, throwing aside his scroll. "Too ssssscared to fight me?"

Kai growled and unsheathed his sword. "Not a chance, snake-breath!" he shouted before he charged.

Skales held up his rapier and blocked Kai's attack. The swords made a dull clink! sound when they made contact.

Kai's eyes widened. "What the—why is my sword plastic?!"

"To make sure no one gets hurt, duh!" Jay said. "Safety first!" He gave Kai a thumbs up.

"You literally use dangerous weapons everyday and now you're saying 'safety first'?!" Kai exclaimed, blocking a blow from Skales' fake rapier.

"Well that's because we're actually fighting then!" Jay argued, watching happily as Kai and Skales' weapons clashed together, applauding each time Kai did something that resembled winning. "This doesn't count!"

"Umm, I beg to differ as I am actually fighting someone right now!" Kai yelled back at him, ducking as the rapier whizzed past his head. "Hey! Watch the burgonet! I just got it!"

Skales rolled his eyes. "The condition of your armor doesn't concern me, Knight—killing you does!"

"What!" Kai yelped, jumping into a roll. "Jay! He just said he's going to kill me!"

Jay just clapped his hands. "You got this Kai!"

"I could use a little help!" he screamed at the elf as he thrust his sword in Skales' direction, only for the snake to dodge it.

"I am but an elf, Sir Kai!" Jay explained simply, sitting down against a tree trunk. "I'm here to hold your things, run and scream, and guide you! Don't worry, you just have to kill him first! Just jab him in the heart and he'll be finished!" He then gasped as the snake knocked Kai to the ground.

"Ssssssilence, elf!" Skales hissed, advancing towards him, his rapier pulled back so he could strike him.

Kai growled when he saw this. "Oh no you don't!" he said threateningly, jumping into a standing position and running towards his friend who was helplessly brandishing his knife (which he now realized was fake). Yelling a battle cry, Kai stabbed his sword underneath Skales's arm.

Skales gasped, dropping his rapier and falling onto his back. "Curses!" he wailed, clawing at the sword 'impaling' him. "I have been... defeated. Goodbye... cruel world..."

Kai watched as Skales made a bunch of dramatic dying sounds before the snake finally fell silent, 'dead'. "....well," he grunted, picking up his sword. "That happened."

Seconds later, the serpent sat up and began to slither away. "I'm ssssstill dead!" he whispered loudly. "Jusssst ignore me! Nothing to sssssee here!"

Jay squealed and gave Kai a huge hug. "Oh Sir Kai!" He exclaimed gleefully. "You saved my life! You truly are the noblest knight in all of Ninjago!"

Kai preened a little at the praise, before abruptly remembering that he was supposed to be the adult. Before he could tell Jay to get off of him, a voice suddenly deadpanned, "Yes, Kai is sooo the noblest knight just for fake-killing Sir Skales."

Turning, Kai gaped at the owner of the voice. Cole glared right back him, crossing his arms and huffing angrily. "Before you say anything," he growled. "The makeup was not my idea."

Said 'makeup' was some purple eyeshadow on Cole's eyes—which went along rather nicely with the purple knee-length tunic and lavender tights that Cole was wearing—and glitter in his raven hair. His lips were also much shinier than normal (was that... lip gloss?!). Cole's white sneaker-clad feet hovered an inch or two above the forest floor, thanks to a pair of pink-and-purple mechanical wings on his back. A wand tipped with a purple star was held loosely in Cole's hand.

Kai couldn't help it; he threw his head back and laughed. "Okay—okay, now I know this is all a game!" he wheezed.

"Great! Can I take off this makeup now?" Cole asked.

"Cole!" Jay hissed. "Stay in character!"

"I hate this," Cole muttered before clearing his throat. "Hello," he deadpanned, face completely blank. "My name is Cole. As you can obviously tell from my wings and wand, I am a sprite."

"Cough Fairy! Cough!" Jay 'coughed'.

Cole glared at him. "Anyways," he continued. "I saw how you... bravely defeated one of the prince's minions and I wish to aid you. The prince has built his castle in the middle of my forest and has infested it with his minions. I want him gone."

Kai tried hard to keep a straight face, he really did, but Cole just looked so funny. "I-I'm so sorry," he said as he desperately tried to contain his laughter. "I just can't take you seriously when you look like that!"

Cole angrily turned to glare at Jay and attempted to stomp his foot on the ground... only to get angrier when he realized he was hovering and couldn't. "See, Jay," he hissed 'quietly'. "I told you this was stupid! I should've just been a—"

"Nrghhhhhh Cole!" Jay interrupted, giving Cole an "I will actually kill you if you don't shut up" look. Then, in a louder and normal voice said, "So, FAIRY Cole, how can we defeat Prince Julien?"

"Sprite!" Cole shouted. "I'm a sprite!" He then managed to compose himself. "Well, lucky for you morons, I just so happen to know where the prince's stupid castle is."

"Great!" Jay chirped. "So you'll guide us there?"

Cole grimaced. "If I have to..."

"Awesome!" Jay exclaimed, turning to Kai. "Look, Sir Kai! We have added another member to our merry company! And he shall guide us to the castle where your sister is being held prisoner!"

"Well," Cole said, his voice extremely deadpanned (which only made everything even funnier to Kai), "we have a long walk ahead of us, so I suggest we keep walking. Sir Skales was just one of the Prince's minions, who knows who he'll send next."

And so, the knight, the elf, and the fairy continued their arduous journey through the woods. "So, Fairy Cole, have you actually been inside the castle before?" Kai asked his winged-friend, deciding to play along with his role of 'knight going on a daring quest and having no idea what is going on'.

"Of course I haven't!" Cole exclaimed, suddenly looking offended. "I would get executed the second I stepped into that building!"

"Why?" Kai inquired.

"Because the Prince is an egomaniacal jerkwad who hates fai—sprites," he shot back, crossing his arms. "That place is a deathtrap for creatures like me."

"What's he going to do, cut off your wings?" Kai chuckled.

The knight felt something smack the back of his head, followed by a muttered 'ow'. "While I wish that would happen, no. Much worse. Prince Julien hates... my kind, especially because we technically run his forest. He'd probably lock me in a cage and make me sing to him until he gets bored with me and executes me."

Kai and Jay glanced at each other and then proceeded to burst into laughter. "I—I would pay to see that!" Jay said in between wheezes.

"Oh you think you'd get off much better, elf?" Cole shot back. "The Prince would probably make you his servant!"

Jay immediately stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head. "Heh... would he now?"

Cole nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, The Prince may hate fairies but he despises elves. He thinks they're annoying and talk too much. You know what he'd do if he caught you? He'd probably make you wear obnoxious purple tights."

Jay scowled at the fairy. "Ha ha ha you are soooooo funny, fairy!" he said sarcastically, sticking his tongue out at Cole.

"I'm not a fairy! I'm a sprite!" Cole retorted.

"Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy!" yelled Jay very loudly, drawing the word out just for the purpose of being extra.

"I've got to agree with my elf on this one," Kai chuckled. "You do look exactly like a fairy."

"Oh would you two please shut-" Cole was cut off by the sound of bushes rustling around them. He slowly turned towards Jay, an unreadable look on his face. "Elf, are we about to run into an unexpected surprise?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Jay twiddled his thumbs and looked in the opposite direction. "Heh, whatever do you mean, fairy Cole? How would I, just a simple elf, know what kind of creatures we're going to run into?"

Kai looked back and forth between Cole and Jay. "What's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"Nothing!" Jay replied instantly. "Nothing at all! Come on, let's keep walking!"

Just as the elf said that, a large black object burst through the bushes to their right, almost landing on top of Kai who immediately backed away. The object rightened itself and numerous red eyes met Kai's amber ones. "First Spinjitzu Master," he muttered in terror.

Cole now abruptly turned towards Jay. "I knew you were going to do this! We all told you not to but noooo! I just knew you would ignore us! Why in the world would you make something and not tell us in advance?!" he seethed. "Now I'm not prepared!"

"I was going for an element of surprise!" Jay hissed quietly, trying to make sure Kai didn't hear him. "Also, stay in character!"

Kai did hear him, though. "You built this spider?!" he shrieked, continually backing in the opposite direction of the mechanical spider.

"Umm, yes?"

"JAY!" he screeched. "This thing will kill us!"

"Oh come on!" Jay protested. "Not all spiders are bad, Kai! Besides, I have the remote control, therefore I control it!" As if to prove his point, Jay opened his bag and began digging through the contents. A sudden look of panic came over his face and he closed it. "Heh... okay so maybe I lost it!"

If looks could kill, Jay would be long deceased because of the look Kai was giving him. "WHY WOULD YOU PUT A GIANT SPIDER IN THE WOODS?!"

"Okay," Cole spoke up, glancing at Kai. "I will admit, this caught me off guard, but, we've fought skeletons, snake people, and have seen dragons, and a giant spider in the woods surprises you?"

"Umm, guys?" Jay said quietly, noticing that the spider was slowly crawling close to them, its fake but very sharp fangs very noticeable now.

"At this point, we really should have just suspected it," continued Cole, throwing his arms in the air. "The world is against us so of course the elf ignores us and of course there's a giant spider in the woods and of course Jay forgot the controls on the ship!"

"Well forgive me Mr. 'There ain't nothing in this world I'm afraid of'! I happen to have a slight fear of spiders!"

"GUYS!" Jay said louder, grabbing Kai's shoulder.

"What, Jay?!" Kai asked, exasperated.

"SHUT UP AND RUN!" the elf yelled, momentarily pointing at the spider that was now unsettlingly close to the three then removing his hand from Kai's shoulder and grabbing his hand, then began running.

Once Kai realized why Jay had begun running, he didn't hesitate to join in. "Hey, wait up!" Cole cried out, attempting to catch up to the two that weren't too far ahead but were already gaining some distance. The fairy steered his 'wings' in their direction and began to 'fly' as quickly as he could... only to promptly run into a tree. "I'm going to kill you, Jay," he threatened, rubbing his forehead. He glanced behind his shoulder to see how close the untamed spider was to him. His eyes widened when he saw that he was basically face to face with it, and without hesitation pressed the 'in case of emergency' button Jay had installed on his wand.

His shoes (which were helping him hover) began glowing and Cole yelped as they immediately sped towards his two running friends. "Jay Walker, I hate you!" he screamed at the elf once the three were together again.

"Hey! I told you to practice with the shoes before today but noooo you said you didn't need to!" the ginger shot back.

"As entertaining as it is to listen to you two fight, may I remind you that there is A GIANT SPIDER CHASING US!" Kai shrieked. "What do we do?!"

"Well," Jay began hesitantly, "as much as it pains me to say this, you're going to have to slay it."

"WHAT?!"

"This is your quest, Sir Kai!" explained Jay. "You must be the one to destroy it!"

"Can't Cole just wave his wand and make it disappear?" protested the knight.

"That's not how it works, idiot! This isn't a real-"

"CAN YOU STAY IN CHARACTER FOR JUST ONE SECOND?!"

"YOU WEREN'T IN CHARACTER A MINUTE AGO!"

"THAT WAS ONE TIME!"

"How do I destroy the spider if I don't have an actual sword?" Kai interrupted the two.

"Ugh, there's a control panel on its back! If you can reach it and pull the wires out, then it should shut down!" explained Jay, slightly out of breath. "And please do it soon! I don't know how much longer I can run—this bag is really heavy!"

Kai groaned. "Ughhh, I don't want to!" he complained. Then, for some random reason, Kai remembered the sound of his sister's scream. Despite it being staged and her not actually being scared and hurt, his heart still ached. He had heard that scream way too many times before and the big brother in him was going right back to that protective mode.

His sister may actually be fine, but the princess needed him to be 'Knight Kai' right now, and the only way he could save her was by defeating every evil in his path, including the very annoying spider chasing them. "Okay, I'll do it," he said firmly, halting his running. Jay and Cole noticed that and did so as well... well, Cole tried to. He ran into another tree before he was finally able to press the 'stop' button on his wand.

"JAY!" he bellowed as the elf laughed and the knight chuckled.

Kai saw that the spider had almost caught up with them and unsheathed his sword. "Get behind me," he ordered his friends confidently. The two did so and he firmly planted his feet on the ground.

"Let's do this," he said to himself, smirking. Yelling out a battle cry, he charged right at the giant spider. The mechanical beast shrieked and scuttled towards him at full speed.

The two charged at each other, neither willing to back down. Finally, at the last possible second, Kai lept into the air, high above the spider. The spider skidded to stop, twisting its head in search of its prey. Kai landed on the spider's back with an 'oof!', causing the spider to shriek and jump around wildly, trying to buck off its unexpected passenger.

Clinging desperately to the spider's back with one hand, Kai used his other hand to pry open the control panel. "This looks important!" he shouted as he shoved his hand inside the panel and pulled out a huge handful of wires.

Sparks crackled up and down the spider's body as it screeched. Kai quickly jumped off the spider as it rolled onto its back, flailing its legs frantically. Finally, with one last shriek, the spider's legs curled up and it went still.

Kai sighed and stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Whew," he panted. "Glad that's over with."

Jay squealed and tackled Kai in a hug. "You've saved us yet again, Sir Kai! You surely are the noblest knight in all of Ninjago!"

Cole made a gagging noise. "Are you going to say that each and every time Kai 'rescues' us?" he asked grouchily, crossing his arms and huffing angrily.

Jay stuck his tongue out at Cole. "At least I'm grateful that he saved us! Show some gratitude, Fairy Cole."

"I'm not a fairy!" Cole exclaimed.

Kai sighed. "Okay, okay, stop arguing you two!" he scolded. "Now, Cole, yes, you are obviously a fairy so shut up and deal with it. Jay... feel free to call him a fairy any time you'd like!" The elf and knight high-fived while Cole slapped the back of Jay's head (he wanted to slap Kai's head but didn't want to hurt his hand again but Jay's head was also slappable).

"Whatever, let's just continue walking," grumbled Cole, hastily adjusting the laces on his shoes. "I want to catch my breath before another monster attacks us."

"You mean a monster like me?" a smooth voice from behind them said. The three spun around and gasped when they saw a person wearing a skin-tight blue-and-white uniform. The person's face was covered by a white cowl, making it impossible to see their face, though the voice was obviously feminine, and a white snowflake was emblazoned proudly on the person's chest.

Kai hadn't put his sword back in the scabbard yet so he quickly pointed it at the mysterious person in front of him. "Who are you?"

"My, you're feisty, aren't you?" the person commented, looking him up and down. "I'm The Prince's top assassin."

"We'll never catch a break, will we?" Cole muttered. The assassin's eyes flickered to him and they chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you... yet," she drawled. "I'm here to warn you to stop your quest and return home now."

"We'll never stop!" Jay piped up from behind Kai.

"I'll never give my forest up," Cole said dully, causing Jay to smack his arm.

"I won't stop until I save the princess!" declared Kai.

The assassin sighed and shook her head. "You have three options: you can either leave and forget this ever happened; surrender now and come peacefully with me; or continue on your little quest, where I will kill you. Last chance, knight."

"Uhh how about none of the above?" Jay piped up nervously.

Kai growled. "Do not underestimate me," he told her fiercely. "I will destroy you."

The assassin laughed and strode towards the knight until they were shoulder to shoulder. "Fine then, see you soon, knight." Then, almost as quickly as she appeared, she vanished.

Kai blinked in confusion, slightly startled. He was almost tempted to ask who the assassin was but decided against that—he needed to stay in character (unlike Cole). Besides, he didn't like spoilers.

"Well, should we continue, Sir Kai?" Jay asked the knight, finally letting go of the other's shoulders.

Kai dramatically stared off into the distance, his plume elegantly blowing in the wind. "Let's go," he declared in his old spy voice.

"I love that voice!" Jay whispered to Cole who did not look impressed in the slightest.

"I can lower my voice too," Cole mocked in a lower voice, rolling his eyes (though a small—small—smile crept up the edges of his lips).

"Lead the way, Sir Kai!" Jay exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.

Kai turned to Cole, grasping both of his hands in his and looked at him seriously. "Don't worry, not only will I save my sister, but I will save your forest too."

Cole curiously gazed at Kai, not quite sure how he should respond to the comment. "... Thank you..." he said awkwardly, one of his bushy eyebrows raising up every so slightly and prying his hands out of Kai's. "My kind appreciates it."

Kai nodded in response, bowing a bit. "Of course, fairy."

Cole scowled but nonetheless began hovering onward. "Let's go, Sir Kai."

----

Hehehe. Fun fact: making Cole the fairy started off as a joke. musicalsaregood and I were trying to come up with what we wanted Cole to be, and one of us suggested him being a fairy as a joke. But then it was so hilarious that we decided 'eh, why not?' and made him a fairy.  XD

Also, it's probably now obvious who we made the prince. XD

Next time, the trio will happen upon a bridge troll and will encounter an evil archer. Guesses on who the troll and the archer are? :D