A/N: This is a double update, so if you didn't read chapter 24 yet I'd recommend doing that first. 

Harumi's POV

Watching the sunrise while floating on a raft in the middle of nowhere was a lot more relaxing than I ever would've thought. The Ninja had all woken up in time to see this, since nobody could really sleep while on an uneven and bumpy wooden raft. I didn't know how they were even able to, especially since everyone except Cole was sitting. Nya and Jay had leaned back-to-back against each other and Morro had sat with his head hung over his lap. Zane had spent most of the night fidgeting with a small piece of wood that was sticking out of the boards. How it had kept him entertained for so long was a mystery to me.

The first few shades of twilight began brightening up the sky, and I could detect a faint silver line at the horizon. The moon had set maybe an hour or two ago, so the only light after that had come from the twinkling stars. Cole rubbed his eyes with a yawn, and from the dark circles around them I could tell he hadn't slept well. We had let him lie down so that he could take care of his injuries, but a good night's rest was rare these days. I watched as the sky gradually took on lighter shades of blue. The stars faded away into the light, though they were still visible in the west.

Slowly but surely, the sun began peeking out of the water. The area around it turned a shade of orange, which slowly blended into yellow, then blue, and as my eyes traveled farther away from the source of light the horizon turned a shade of dark red. The few clouds that floated about looked as if they were dipped in bright yellow-orange paint. I reached into the gently rippling water, now a mix of blues ranging from light to dark and oranges.

A soft breeze tossed my hair back, and I Iooked around at the Ninja, whose faces had all been illuminated by the sun's light. My eyes met Morro's from across the raft, which had a golden glow as a result of the sunrise. His eyelashes looked almost transparent as a result of the sun's rays. He met my gaze, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward as he brushed his black hair out of his face. Somehow this journey hadn't turned it lank and greasy as it had mine. There was also a faint scar on his cheek made more prominent by the sun's rays that I'd never noticed before. I smiled back.

When the sun had fully risen, we took a minute or two to simply sit and appreciate the scenery. Then Nya began pushing the raft forward with her powers, and chatter filled the air once again.

For a while nothing really happened except that Morro lost control again, and this time it lasted for over two minutes. I started to get worried. Not only were his outbursts more and more frequent, they lasted longer too. From the obvious strain visible on his face during the fit, I could tell he tried to fight, but it was too strong.

Frustration was clearly written in Morro's eyes afterwards, and I wanted to go over and squeeze his hand and tell him it was alright, but the outburst only made the others more determined to keep us as far away from each other as possible. I found myself staring at him, hoping Morro would be able to understand the silent message I was conveying, but he avoided my gaze. Sighing, I turned back to picking at the loose threads on my shirt.

"Stop," Zane said suddenly, holding up his hand to Nya.

She immediately stopped spurting water and watched the Master of Ice with interest as he crouched on the edge of the raft and squinted into the distance. I followed his gaze and narrowed my eyes. And then I saw it.

There were glistening silver things in the water in front of us, and at first I couldn't make out what they were until they rose higher above the water. Spears. More were coming, and soon we found ourselves surrounded. In a flash, Morro pulled out his twin katanas, which were wrapped with his other weapons in his rope, and prepared for battle.

"Does anyone need weapons?" he asked.

"I'll take a knife," Cole said.

"No, you shouldn't fight yet," Nya said, pushing back the Earth Ninja's outstretched hand.

"Do I really have a choice?" he countered.

"Yes," Zane replied, "And that is to take care of your injury. Also, maybe we can negotiate, since we are not in any position to fight."

I watched as everyone tucked their weapons away. Having not summoned the sword yet, I simply stood up and held up my hands to signal to whoever was out there that I was unarmed. The others followed my lead, though when Cole tried to stand Nya didn't let him, so he remained in a sitting position. The blades of maybe a hundred spears were all above the water but nobody showed their faces yet. None of us dared to look down to see who was there.

"We don't wanna fight, we just wanna get to the shore," Jay said with a nervous smile, "Can you guys let us go? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

"We don't mean any harm," Nya called out.

I realized how silly this was, since these were almost certainly the water creatures who had captured us before.

Morro seemed to think of this as well, and said, "The Shadow Knight hasn't attacked us in days, meaning his mission was still somewhat successful so you don't have to serve him anymore."

"We would like to thank you for not harming us," Zane added. Jay shot him a look, but the Ice Ninja returned it with a warning glare.

"Yes, thank you very much." I was trying to sound as genuine as I could, despite the suspicion growing ever more present in my chest. Yet even as I was saying those words, the spears inched closer, leaving behind a thin trail in the water.

"We'd love to meet you..." Nya suggested, a slight quaver in her voice.

The water rippled, and in my head I formed images of merpeople, with faces ranging from human to scaly and skeletal. But I never expected to see an oversized fish head emerge.

I kept a straight face as the torsos of the... beings surface. From my right Jay let out a tiny squeak that did not go unnoticed. The leader of the beings shot him with what was probably a hostile look though I couldn't really read their facial expressions. They had the head and body of a giant salmon yet their fins were somehow able to grip the spears by wrapping around them. Something told me they weren't simply oversized fish.

"Hello," I said nervously as I crouched down so that I was at eye level with the leader. Trying not to recoil after looking at their foot-wide face (more like side face, since the leader was looking at me with one eye while the other stared off in the opposite direction), I smiled and continued, "We're just passing and we won't cause any harm to you or your citizens. Would it be alright if we went through these waters?"

The leader opened their mouth, letting out a foul stench. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Nya jab Jay sharply in the side, probably to keep him from crinkling his nose.

I didn't really know what I expected to hear when the leader spoke but was still surprised when their voice turned out to be a booming, deep growl. "You are the Chosen One, is that correct?"

Lloyd's POV

I peered into the cave. It was so dark I couldn't see anything inside. The entryway was so small that I would need to crawl inside. I ran my hand along the inside of the tunnel entrance. It was quite smooth, probably meaning that many had come here in the past and attempted to retrieve the blade.

"Are you sure we should go in?" Ruby asked, "Maybe it would be safer if we had my sister come instead."

"There was nothing in the prophecy about the Crystal Blade," I said, "It was just our lucky guesses. We do have to be careful though."

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts," she mumbled, twisting her bottom lip. "I don't think this is a good idea. What if we... don't make it?"

"We will get it," I said firmly.

"But what if something happens?"

"Come on, Ruby, you're so much tougher than you think. Your rock-climbing skills are amazing, and your stamina is, too. We can do this." By now I had crouched down, ready to enter.

"But what if something does happen and the others arrive at the Shadow Knight's cave and we aren't even there? Then they're gonna get captured and they'll never know what happened to us! One of us has to stay and tell them, just in case."

She did have a point, though I hated to admit it. As much as I wanted us to stick together, the risk was too great.

"Okay then," I said reluctantly, "You should go back and see if you find the others; I'll go in and try to get the Crystal Blade."

"And if you come out and see that I'm not here, then follow the symbols. I'll carve a..." she paused for a bit to think, "Yin yang symbol into the soil, trees, and stuff every now and then so that you'll know where I'm headed."

I nodded. Ruby smiled and ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, good luck." She took a deep breath and squeezed my hand. I watched as the princess let go and turned around to leave.

"Wait, one more thing," I said.

She stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"If you see the others, be very careful. Ask them to test their powers and ask if anyone's been... kissed." The words felt strange escaping my mouth, and though I had promised to tell no one, Ruby had a right to know.

"Why?" She turned to face me, frowning slightly.

"The Shadow Knight can shapeshift but he can't duplicate powers and if he kisses someone, he corrupts them. Someone he's kissed can corrupt you too..." I paused, and continued, "The guys are probably fine, but just check to make sure."

"Really? Who told you this stuff?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you but you gotta know," I said, "And also, good luck."

Not wanting to continuously remind myself about how I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, I got to my knees and prepared to crawl inside.

"Wait but who told you?" she repeated, "And how do you know you can trust them? And why didn't you tell me this before?"

"It was..." I still felt the responsibility to not betray Chrysanthe like that. If Ruby came across the actual Shadow Knight and accidentally revealed who had told me these things, Chrysanthe would have to pay the consequences. "It was some dumb Shadow Rider back in the cave. I heard some whispering."

"Wow," she laughed sardonically, "They must be total idiots. They could be lying though."

"Yeah, I know right," I said, "But even if they are lying, it's safer to assume that it's the truth, you know? I guess I'll uh, go in now."

"Okay," Ruby managed a small smile and waved.

"Bye," I said.

"Bye."

We were still for a moment, with me on all fours as she stood staring. It felt awkward to be the first to move, but I didn't want to be in that awkward position for too long. I crawled in.

The tunnel was big enough for me to not feel squished but still small enough that it limited my mobility. Cole, for example, would have trouble moving around. Luckily I wasn't claustrophobic. My knees soon began to get sore from all the excessive scraping and pressure. They still hadn't forgotten the pain of last night's escape. At least this time I was going horizontally.

There were many twists in the passageway, and soon I couldn't see a single thing. A part of me wanted to throw an energy ball to light the way but I didn't want to ruin an ancient cave that had been here long before I was born. If the explorers before me were careful to preserve its original structure, I didn't have the right to destroy it.

The air was humid but its smell was fresh and clean. Beneath my hands and knees, the stone was cool to the touch. The sounds of my movements were magnified in the tiny space, echoing off the tunnel walls. I continued moving forward slowly, careful to feel for the ground to make sure I wouldn't accidentally fall into some surprise hole.

A faint light appeared somewhere at the end of the tunnel. Still treading carefully, I slowly made my way towards it.

When I reached the end, I found myself peering into a much larger tunnel, one that anyone could easily stand in. It was illuminated by glowing blue crystals that were different from but not unlike the ones back in the Shadow Knight's cave, bright enough that I could see everything clearly.

I narrowed my eyes at the ground, noticing that there were raised stones here and there, about a leap away from each other. The raised stones were probably safe since there were fewer of them, but just to be sure, I reached over and gently touched it, and right after my hand made contact, a wall of flames rose on the spot. Luckily, fire wouldn't hurt me, but I guess that meant the raised stones were dangerous instead of the non-raised ones. It would be so much easier if I could simply throw an energy ball down the tunnel and trigger all the traps but I could end up triggering one that prevented me from moving forward.

When I was younger I'd read lots of books about explorers coming across booby traps and almost dying but never imagined that one day I'd have to face them myself. I always wondered how the traps would reset itself after the person was done going through them. But it was none of my business so I brushed these thoughts away from my head.

I ran my fingers through my hair to get it out of my face and slowly stepped onto the flat ground. Nothing happened. The wall of fire was still there, and I reached in, bracing myself, but just like back in the prison, fire only tickled my fingers and caused no burn. I walked through it and stamped out the bit that had caught on my cloak. The cloak might as well be useless now, but there was always a possibility that I'd need it later. I felt along the ends of the sleeve, noticing how thick it was. Maybe it could act as a shield for me to use.

I kept an eye on the floor of the passageway as I carefully stepped around the raised stones, keeping the bottom of the cloak up. As I moved along, I found the raised stones taking up more and more of the ground until I found myself needing to jump from one flat stone to the next. Several times I almost lost my balance but caught myself at the last second. It didn't help that the raised stones were becoming higher and higher and I had to stand on tiptoes to be sure of where the next flat stone was.

The end of the tunnel was nowhere near in sight. My arms were starting to grow tired from the excessive holding but I feared that the slightest brush would trigger a trap. I didn't dare touch the walls, either. Looking backwards, I found that I had barely gone ten yards.

The cloak was annoying. I recalled how Chrysanthe told Morro and me that nobody associated with the Shadow Knight would be able to get the Crystal Blade. Why would the cave be able to differentiate a Shadow Rider from a normal person? And how did she know? Was it the cloak?

I carefully took it off and wrapped it into what resembled a ball, then threw it in the air and blasted it back down the underpass with a blast of energy. At once the tunnel began to shake and rocks started falling down the ceiling into the hole that appeared when the ground gave way. Unwelcome thoughts like How is this cave going to rebuild itself now? entered my mind. I formed an energy ball around myself to prevent the rocks from hitting me but the streaks of light made it hard to see.

Taking a deep breath and praying that the energy shield would be enough to protect me from whatever was up ahead, I ran forward as fast as I could. Everything was chaos, with each crash ringing in my ear and shaking the tunnel. My eyes could no longer see anything past the bright flashes of the blinding green light.

I felt things strike against and bounce back from my energy ball in all directions as I raced down the passage. Rocks crumbled away at the slightest touch, and I found myself leaping as high and far as I could with each step. I no longer cared whether I was stepping on raised stones or not, since I couldn't see anything and traveling without the energy shield was not an option if I wanted to come out unscathed.

Each time something struck the energy ball I could feel its vibration throughout my body, and sometimes, if the object was big enough I almost lost control of my power. Speaking of my power, I was getting tired from the combined effort of running and trying to keep the shield up as my arms grew sore and my body begged me to stop. I made a mental note to practice my stamina in the future in case something ever happened.

Several times I almost tripped, but running fast enough allowed me to regain my balance quickly. My eyes were temporarily blinded, and my ears rang with not only the crashes but also the sound of energy.

Then before I knew it, my energy ball slammed straight into something solid and the shield dissolved into the darkness as I got thrown backwards. Straight into the pit that had appeared after the floor collapsed. 

A/N: Okay, so first of all, I'd like to apologize for making you guys wait for so long. 

And second, I'd like to apologize for making you guys wait even more. 

Basically my life is a mess, especially since competition season is coming up and I don't want to fail the way I did last year (can I blame it on 2020? I might), so yeah. I don't feel really motivated to write lately, and I hope you guys understand. Now, in no way is this an excuse for being flaky because you guys deserve better. I guess I just wanted to vent a bit as an anonymous person on the internet. 

So I might disappear off of Wattpad for a bit, and I'm not sure when I'll return. Probs in a few months. If you guys wanna chat, my discord handle is bobthenotbuilder#4483 so hmu if you wish :)

Thanks guys for being so supportive and kind and amazing. I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of the year (make it as great as you can) and thanks again for reading. 

And since I don't know where to ask this, thoughts/predictions?