Chapter Text
The traffic in the training course had certainly increased since Lloyd released the Serpentine. Having now been alerted to the dangers Ninjago was now subjected to, the Ninja had begun to take their teachings more seriously, which now meant that they spent more time on the training course than off it. Subsequently, this also meant that there were less opportunities for Anya to train with how crowded it had gotten, but that was okay; she simply began to switch to training at night, and it only made her a bit of an insomniac.
Anya still didn’t slack off during the day, however. Even if the training course was too busy for her to use, there were still other ways to keep up. Practicing stealth was a big one. Entire afternoons of the Ninja training would go by and not a single one of them noticed that Anya had been present in various areas of the courtyard. It was pretty simple, really, just a matter of moving when they did and acting with confidence when it was a close call. It really was amazing what a person could get away with if they just acted like they were supposed to be there. She did almost get caught a few times, usually by Zane, but that simply gave Anya more incentive to keep going and improve herself.
Speaking of Zane, he was currently dominating the training course, literally. This would be his third instance doing this, but what would happen would be that the four ninja would each be working on something separate, and then Zane would snap out of a meditation stance before taking over what each of the others were doing before creating some epic finish. In this case, that finish was using his Spinjitzu to freeze the ground all around them, causing Kai, who had been working on his own Spinjitzu, to slip and fall on his back. Not exactly the most team-building exercise, but it was admittedly impressive. It was no secret that Zane was incredibly intelligent, so it made sense that he was advancing so quickly.
The other three Ninja were not very impressed, however.
“This roof’s not big enough for the four of us,” said Kai.
“Correction,” Cole muttered, “This roof’s not big enough for him.”
Jay rolled his eyes. “It’s like he’s in his own little world.” He looked over at Zane, who was continuing to train as if there wasn’t an incredibly obvious conversation about him happening right now. “I bet he can’t even hear us!” Jay yelled pointedly. Still no response.
Anya resisted the urge to snort from where she was hiding on the roof above the entryway. Whether Zane did notice them or not, his utter lack of response was probably the best he could have given. Kai, Jay, and Cole approached Sensei Wu, who had come out to watch them train.
“Sensei,” Kai started a bit hesitantly, “Zane is…weird.”
Ouch. Wu seemed to be thinking something similar, since he immediately responded in a pointed tone.
“What is weird? Someone who is different, or someone who is different than you?” Cole shook his head before jumping in, however.
“No, Sensei, he’s weird weird. Like this time he went in the bathroom to comb his hair, but I was clearly using it?”
“Or that time he joined Nya and I watching that movie Dusk and just started laughing!” Jay exclaimed.
“Or when I was trying to get a sandwich,” said Kai, “and he was just sitting there in the fridge. In the fridge!”
Okay, maybe some of those things were a bit weird, but why go right to Wu with all of that? Wouldn’t asking Zane about it first be more helpful? Anya knew they weren’t, they’ve been on the training course almost all hours of the day, after all. In any case, Dusk was a funny movie, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t supposed to be.
“We like the guy,” Kai clarified. “He’s really smart, just a little…off, sometimes,” he finished a bit lamely. Wu thought for a moment, then looked at them all with great intent.
“Zane is your brother,” he said, “and brothers are often different.” His expression turned a bit sad as he looked down. “I should know.”
“In any case,” said Anya, choosing that moment to jump down silently and speak up from behind the ninja, taking a bit of pleasure from them jumping out of their skins, “I highly doubt Zane’s the only ‘weird’ one here.”
Jay, still clutching his chest and looking more than a little startled, let out a slightly hysterical laugh. “Forget weird,” he said a bit breathlessly, “try crazy! You sure you’re not trying to kill us still?”
“That’s my line,” Kai grumbled, before being interrupted by the insanely loud gong that served as their doorbell.
“Mail!” the Ninja sans Zane shouted excitedly, and ran to receive whatever was being delivered. It was much the same as usual, well-wishes from family, fan letters, and a package for Cole’s dragon. As they opened their letters, Zane came over to watch.
“Hey Zane,” Jay asked, “how come you never hear anything from your parents?” Zane shrugged.
“I don’t remember my parents,” he said, sounding almost more perplexed by the question than sad. “I’ve been an orphan all my life.”
An uncomfortable silence ensued, although in Anya’s opinion it wasn’t entirely undeserved on Jay’s part.
Kai’s face turned…not pitying, exactly, but rather concerned. “So you’ve never had a home?” Zane shook his head, meeting none of their eyes. Wu approached him.
“The monastery is your home, now,” he said in an attempt at comfort. Zane walked away for a few paces, then turned back, his face now changed to a cheerful facade.
“In that case,” he said with a grin that almost reached his eyes, “I’d better get started on dinner.”
Then he was gone. Anya wasn’t sure if he was actually going to make dinner just then or not, as it was still only midafternoon, but she couldn’t blame him if he wanted to go hide. Of course, this now meant that she was the only one left empty-handed, and the others were bound to put the pieces together. Sure enough, Jay frowned slightly, and started to turn around.
“Anya, you never get mail from family either, why—” he stopped abruptly as he turned around fully and found nothing but empty space. Of course, if he simply studied the roof a bit closer than the average person he would probably see her crouched there, but luckily no one had ever caught her there before, and would therefore never think to look for her there. Good. Conversation officially over.
“Man, I love it when it’s Zane’s night to cook,” said Jay. Everyone sans Zane was sitting around the dining room table enjoying the appetizers already prepared while Zane finished up with the main course. This was pretty standard for him. Everyone took turns cooking dinner, but the standard expectation was just making a fairly decent main course along with some kind of side dish and vegetable. Anya was no chef, but this system suited her, as she could make pretty much anything edible. Sure, she didn’t exactly get everyone waiting on the edge of their seats for her night to cook, but nobody had complained yet, which they had no qualms about doing.
“Hey, I didn’t hear anyone complaining about my duck chowder last night,” said Cole. Kai laughed.
“That’s because it glued our mouths shut. You really think Jay was speechless all throughout dinner?”
“Yeah,” Jay muttered, “please don’t make that again.”
Case in point. Anya bit down a laugh, just in time for the dining room door to open, revealing Zane carrying a giant turkey.
“Dinner is…” he paused as he put the turkey down on the table, revealing himself to be wearing… “served!”
A frilly apron with a pink trim, far too short and costume-y to actually use for cooking.
The dining room sat in complete silence for a moment as everyone took in what they were seeing, before erupting into incredulous laughter, some practically doubled over. Anya buried her face in her hands, already feeling a bit bad and practically dying of second-hand embarrassment at the realization of what exact type of apron Zane was wearing, but the absurdity of the situation made her shoulders shake with silent laughter in spite of herself.
“What’s so funny?” Zane asked, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
“Zane,” Nya said, trying to suppress her giggles. “You’re wearing a…” maid outfit, Anya’s mind supplied as Nya couldn’t seem to finish. “Even I wouldn’t wear that!”
Okay, so it wasn’t an actual, full-on maid outfit. The apron clearly came from one, though, as it was far too…decorative to serve much practical use.
“You laugh because I take steps to ensure I am clean after cooking?” Zane still seemed confused, and yeah, maybe Anya was feeling a bit guilty for laughing now.
“No,” Kai chuckled. “We laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit!”
“Where did you get the apron, anyway?” Anya cut in, properly getting a hold on herself now.
“It was on sale at the consignment shop,” Zane replied, a hint of pride in his voice. “I even managed to get a further discount as I got it separate from the rest of the clothes it originally came with, as I’d get no use out of fabric from such a frilly skirt.”
Well. The confirmation that he did indeed purchase part of a maid outfit did nothing to diffuse the laughter around the table, in fact it just set them all off even harder this time. Zane raised his eyebrows, then shrugged.
“I guess we don’t share the same sense of humor.”
Cole looked around the table, then picked up a plate of shrimp. “Well, what about this?” Flinging the plate across the table, it hit Kai square in the face, a couple stray shrimp sliding down onto his plate and eliciting a few chuckles from the others. Wu stood up, carrying a large bowl of pudding as he crossed over to Cole’s side of the table. Cole didn’t seem to notice, however.
“How can you not find that funny?” he continued to Zane, but a moment later squawked in surprise as Wu dumped the entire bowl over his head.
“Now, you are brothers,” said Wu, and that pretty much set the mood for the rest of dinner. Sure, Anya took bites of food between the food fight that ensued, she didn’t want to waste it, after all, but the others started it, and was she really gonna let them throw an entire pasta dish in her face without humbling them?
It wasn’t until the chaos died down somewhat that it became evident that Zane was no longer there. The guilt Anya had felt earlier for laughing reared its head once more. Without giving word to the others, Anya silently slipped outside, wondering if maybe Zane had gone out to meditate, as he often does. After circling the perimeter of the monastery, however, Zane was nowhere to be found. What Anya did find, though, was a pink apron strap dangling from inside the trash cans by the back door. Weird. Zane had definitely been outside, but was nowhere to be found and there was no evidence that he had gone back inside? Then Anya noticed the footprints.
The trash cans sat in an area of loose soil kicked around the outer walls of the monastery, which bled over onto the path that led to the winding mountain stairs below. And faintly imprinted in the dirt were a set of footprints, leading in a neat line toward the stairs, almost invisible for those who weren’t versed in tracking ninja. Apprehension gripped Anya like a vice. Zane wasn’t trying to leave, was he? They had all been kind of rude earlier, not offering any explanation for their laughter and throwing the food he’d made at each other. Anya thought back to how she had initially tried to leave after the ninja had retrieved the Golden Weapons, and how all of them, including Zane, had insisted she stay. Steeled with resolve, Anya made her way down the steps, hoping that she could catch up to Zane in time.
Luckily, by the time Anya made it to the bottom of the stairs, Zane’s footprints reappeared on the forest path, and with them came Anya’s slight suspicion that maybe Zane wasn’t running away, but rather running to something. His pace seemed far too purposeful to be just aimlessly leaving; rather, it seemed more like Zane had a specific destination in mind. This hypothesis was proven mere minutes later, when Anya spotted lights in the distance, and faint voices emanating from their direction. Before Anya could get much closer to investigate, however, the light source was blocked by an approaching silhouette. Anya rapidly scouted out nearby trees to hide in, when familiar white blond hair came into view, and she relaxed.
“Zane!” she said, her shoulders slumping with relief. “What’s going on over there? Why did you leave?”
Zane leaned in close to whisper. “There isn’t much time to explain. I have discovered a secret base currently being constructed by Lloyd and the Serpentine. As for why I left, I followed a bird which led me to the treehouse in the first place.”
“A bird.” Anya wasn’t really sure how to take this. On one hand, that was a pretty weird statement to make at face value. On the other hand, weirder things have happened, and if that bird really did lead to the discovery of a secret base… “Wait, did you say treehouse?”
“Yes, of course,” said Zane. “I believe Lloyd may have some level of influence over the Hypnobrai general, explaining why they would follow his orders. But I must get back to the monastery; the Ninja must be warned.”
Anya nodded. “You go, then,” she said. “I’ll stay here and stake out the area.”
“Very well. We will likely return in the early morning.” Zane took off at a run, but Anya felt a tug in her gut. Apologize.
“Wait, Zane?”
Zane stopped and turned back to face her again.
“Um…” Anya floundered for a moment, searching for the right words. “We were laughing because the apron was technically part of a lingerie costume, and we didn’t really know how else to react.” Wow, real great explanation, Anya thought sarcastically. That definitely counts as an apology.
Zane cocked his head to the side in thought. “So, it was the inappropriate context in which I wore the apron that you found amusing?”
Anya sighed internally, and hoped her shitty summary was good enough. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Hm. I suppose that makes sense.” Without another word, Zane took off running again. Anya resolved to give a proper apology about the food later, and headed over to the lights.
Sure enough, the forest gave way to a clearing, and right in the middle was a massive treehouse. Honestly, just the title of “treehouse” was an understatement. It was more like a tree fortress, with multiple stories, a working elevator, and several (very visible) booby traps. What looked like almost the entire Hypnobrai population swarmed the area, all tasked with some job contributing to the base’s construction, and up on one of the highest floors stood Lloyd, shouting orders.
As Anya settled in to keep a lookout, she pondered Lloyd’s role in this chain of events. Obviously, he seems to have been at least partially responsible for the release of the Serpentine. But why? Did no one return him to his boarding school? Or did the school put him up to releasing the Serpentine, since their purpose was to create the next generation of villains? Either way, there was no chance this kid knew just what he was getting into here. Even if he did have some form of control over the general, Anya figured it wouldn’t be long before the kid found himself in over his head.
Thanks to Anya’s new nocturnal habits of training at night, keeping the stakeout throughout this night was fairly easy, moving from place to place to get a better scope of the treehouse’s construction. It looked like the majority of the building was being supported by three ropes connected to surrounding trees. As long as no one was spotted, it would be pretty easy to take down the whole thing. As the first rays of dawn made their way through the trees, Anya spotted the ninja coming up on the treehouse. Luckily, it wasn’t an area that would allow the Serpentine to see them, so Anya made her way from her nearby hiding spot to join them.
“Holy cannoli, frosty was right!” Cole said, looking at the monstrosity of the base in front of them.
“We can't let that brat and those snakes get a foothold in Ninjago,” said Kai. “We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational.”
“Whoa, are you sure? It looks like a pretty cool tree house,” said Jay. “There's a ropes course... Ooh, a tree swing!” Anya rolled her eyes as she dropped down from a nearby tree behind them.
“Hey!” Cole lightly smacked the back of Jay’s head. “Remember whose team you’re on! Alright guys,” he said, refocusing on the group. “What do we do?”
“You see the ropes around it?” Anya whispered, causing all of them (except Zane) to startle for the second time in just two days.
“Um…” Kai recovered first, looking at the ropes. “Oh, you’re right, Anya! It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees. Once those ties are severed, the whole is gonna fall like a house of cards!”
“But,” Zane interjected, “why would one build a house of cards? Such construction would be careless.”
Anya heard an exasperated “Oh, brother,” from Kai, but found herself smiling slightly in amusement. Ah well, Zane would grow on the other three eventually.
“Travel in shadows, guys,” Cole said, and they were off.
Anya scaled the blind side of the treehouse in total silence as the Ninja made their way up through other means. Approaching a higher floor, she spotted Lloyd giving orders to a nearby snake.
“You!” he shouted. “Hold that sign up for me!” The snake did what he said, standing on a frankly very obvious trapdoor as he held up a sign reading “NO GIRLS OR NINJA.”
Hate to break it to you, kid, but…
As soon as the sign was visible, Lloyd pulled down a lever next to him, sending the snake falling down into a makeshift cage. Anya just shook her head and continued to climb as Lloyd shouted “Booby trap!” below her. Reaching the top along with the Ninja, Anya pulled her knife out of her boot and threw it at the nearby rope supporting the structure. It came partially undone, leaving Jay to finish the job with his Spinjitzu. Zane threw his Shurikens at the second rope and finished severing it with his own Spinjitzu, which then caused the treehouse to list severely to one side.
“What?” Lloyd’s voice screamed out, furious. “I said no girls or ninja! Attack!”
“Everyone,” said a voice Anya recognized as the second in command of the Hypnobrai, “retreat!”
All the snakes followed his order, practically falling over themselves to escape. As the treehouse gives another great tremble, Anya sees Lloyd being carried away, kicking and screaming, by two Hypnobrai lakeies. Already, it seemed, things weren’t working out so well for him. Before Anya could decide whether she felt good about that or not, the treehouse shook again, and she directed her focus back to the Ninja, who were heading to the last rope.
“Cole!” Kai said. Wait till we’re off the treehouse, then cut the line!”
Anya kept an eye on Kai, who was the only one remaining on the treehouse, but after a few moments, he gestured to Jay, Anya, and Zane in confusion. Jay and Zane jumped down to him, and Anya followed suit.
“Where’s Cole?” Jay asked, and that sure was a good question. Anya had been so busy making sure Kai didn’t fall from the top, that she didn’t even realize that he had disappeared from his post.
“This whole place is coming down!” Kai yelled. Before they could make it to the nearest safe platform, however, they were stopped in their tracks…by Cole himself.
“Stop!” There was a strange cadence to his voice, his eyes unfocused and clouded over. “No one goes anywhere until you deal with me!”
“What’s gotten into him?” Jay demanded. Anya wondered the same thing for a moment, then took notice of the way he swayed slightly, looking slightly intoxicated in a familiar way…
“He’s under their control!” Zane gave voice to Anya’s thoughts.
It wasn’t an easy fight. Despite being outnumbered four to one, Cole easily held his own against them, any part of him that would have held back on an enemy completely suppressed. Jay tried reasoning with him, which earned him a swift kick to the jaw.
“What are we supposed to do?” Kai gestured around helplessly. “If I use my Sword, this place will turn up into flames faster than a tinder box!”
“Isn’t the antivenom in the staff?” Zane asked.
“Yeah, but it’s back at the monastery,” Jay replied.
Anya attempted to circle around behind Cole. “Maybe I could try to knock him out?” She ran forward and lunged, but Cole deflected her attack and flung her across the rooftop, and she narrowly avoided falling over the edge thanks to Kai grabbing her arm.
“Jay!” Zane called out. “Use your lightning. Try to shock him out of his trance!”
“Sorry, Cole, but this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it’s gonna hurt me!” Swinging his Nunchucks, Jay sent a blast of lightning Cole’s way, but rather than snapping him out of it, Cole only became more enraged, sending Jay flying off the rooftop. Anya barely had time to panic before seeing Jay grab onto a hanging rope and swing to safety.
Having now successfully distracted everyone, Cole ran up the last remaining rope onto its supporting platform. He raised his Scythe over the rope.
“No, Cole, don't!”
“Cole, stop!”
“No, no, Cole, no!”
Ignoring their pleas, Cole started to lower the Scythe toward the rope. Right when it was about to make contact, however, the air was suddenly filled with song. It was haunting and ethereal, and more ancient than anything Anya had ever heard. Cole stiffened at the sound, then shook his head before removing the Scythe. The source of the music made itself known in the form of Sensei Wu, who sat atop Kai’s dragon Flame, playing some kind of flute while Nya steered.
“Wha-” Cole seemed a bit confused. “Where am I? What are we doing?!”
“We’re getting out of here because this whole place is coming down!” Nya ordered, and Anya was quick to comply, hopping onto the dragon along with the ninja.
“That flute!” Kai exclaimed.
“It cancels their powers!” said Jay.
“It’s as old as the Serpentine themselves,” said Wu. “But we must hurry! The monastery is unguarded! Quickly!”
Flame was slightly impeded by the added weight of the entire team, but he still flew them back to the monastery at an impressive rate.
Or rather, what was left of it.
For when they had gotten back to the mountaintop the monastery sat upon, they were greeted with the smouldering remains of a building already burnt to the ground. Anya’s stomach dropped, and she had to grip Flame’s saddle to keep herself from falling.
“We’re too late,” Kai ground out through clenched teeth. “Those snakes!” The dragon landed and they all dismounted, trying to assess the damage.
“Rocky!” Cole cried, and he ran to free the other dragons from their stables. Once freed, the dragons all circled the perimeter, seeming just as helpless as their human counterparts in handling this situation.
“Our home,” Kai mumbled in shock somewhere next to Anya. His voice was muffled to her ears as she stumbled around, looking for something, anything she could possibly salvage. She vaguely heard Zane give an order to his dragon, Shard, who then sprayed a cooling frost from his mouth, dousing the flames.
“They stole their staff back,” Wu said, surveying the damage. Anya watched as Kai knelt down and picked up the charred remains of something she couldn’t see, before his hand clenched into a fist, his posture stiffening as he whirled around at Zane.
“If you hadn’t followed that silly bird none of this would have happened!” he shouted. Anya felt a small twinge of protest, as they chose to go after Lloyd’s base anyway, but she still felt too numb to speak.
“Kai,” Wu said in a warning tone.
“No, Sensei, he’s right!” Jay said while also facing Zane. “Thanks to you my high score has been deleted!”
“This is a teaching moment,” said Zane. “We must learn from this.” Okay, now Anya could understand the others’ anger.
“Are you serious right now?” she demanded. Teach what? Don’t follow potential leads? Don’t follow birds that lead you to said leads?
“A teaching moment?” Cole asked incredulously. “What is wrong with you? Don’t you get it? Everything is gone!”
“Enough!” Wu commanded. “We are all at fault. Zane is your brother. Apologize at once!” All the anger got sucked out of Anya’s body along with the others. For better or worse, they had to stick by each other, right? Shame-facedly, they all turned around to face Zane again.
“Sorry, Zane, I-” Kai started, but Zane was no longer there.
“Zane?” Jay asked. Almost as if in answer, Shard roared as he headed down the mountain, Zane atop his back. For a moment, Anya felt tempted to follow him again, but what would be the use? He definitely didn’t want to be around them now after the way they’d treated him. A quick glance at the others confirmed they were on the same page.
“What are we eating again?” Kai asked. They had made their way to the base of another mountain just on the outskirts of the desert, and had set up a temporary camp of sorts underneath a jutting rock. Anya’s shoulders hiked up at the sense of deja vu that she doubted any of the others could feel.
“Mud newt,” said Cole. “Not bad,” he continued in a voice of false optimism, “for something that lives underground.” Even that food choice was too familiar. It’s not like last time, she told herself, you’re not fourteen anymore, that’s over. This is different.
This is worse.
Jay gagged on his food, spitting it out before throwing a rock into a nearby can. “Yeah!” He said in a tone too dejected to cover with any usual excitement. “New high sc-score.”
Wu sighed. “Remember,” he said, “we must be thankful for what we still have.”
“What do we have?” Cole asked. “Our home is gone.” His voice wavered slightly, and he bowed his head slightly to hide his face.
“You know, I don’t miss our home,” said Kai. “What I really miss is Zane.” Wasn’t that the truth?
“Zane?” Nya asked in a strange tone, looking up into the distance. Anya tried to follow her gaze, but it was hard to see through the setting sun.
“Yeah, Zane?” Jay didn’t seem to clock Nya’s tone. “The White Ninja? The smart, strange one?” Now Anya saw it. Or rather saw him.
“No!” Nya cried joyfully. “Zane!” For there he was, making his way around the corner, his familiar polite smile still somehow on his face.
“Zane!” They all shouted out at once, scrambling up to greet him.
“Oh, Zane, we’re so sorry for everything we said!” Jay babbled all at once, seeming almost afraid of losing his chance. “We’re a team, and that means we’re all responsible.”
“You…don’t need to apologize to me,” said Zane in a bit of a confused but still happy tone. Now Anya and the others were confused.
“But what about those awful things we said?” Kai asked. “Isn’t that why you left?”
“Of course not,” said Zane. “I saw the falcon again, and I followed him.” Of course he did. Anya huffed out a disbelieving laugh, mostly to cover up for the odd burning sensation behind her eyes.
“That’s our Zane,” said Cole affectionately. The Ninja and Nya swarmed Zane in a group hug; Anya reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
“We’re happy to have you back,” said Nya.
“We really are,” Anya echoed the sentiment.
“Why?” Zane asked as they released him. “Is it my turn to make dinner?” Laughter broke out among them all.
“Yes, Zane, we would love for you to make dinner,” said Wu.
“But I’ve already made it. Come, I want to show you what I've found. I think you will all be pleased.”
A confused silence fell over the group, but they followed Zane anyway. After several minutes of walking, Zane came to a stop and turned around to face them again.
“I can’t explain it,” he said, “but I feel a strange connection with the Falcon. I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take.” Zane smiled, and, turning forward again, led them around a corner of the mountainside revealing—
“Our new home.” A gigantic ship, lying in the middle of the desert, almost perfectly intact. Adorned with a dragon figurehead and wing-like sails, it was clear to see that the ship would easily house them all, even if it was a bit smaller than the monastery. A delicious smell floated through the air toward them.
“Do I smell pie?” Jay asked in disbelief. Zane immediately started rattling off all the many flavors of pie he had made, and that was enough for everyone to take off at a run toward the ship. Out of the corner of her eye, Anya could see Zane hanging back to talk to Wu, but judging by his relaxed stance, it seemed to be a pleasant conversation.
Despite their initial excitement, Anya, the Ninja, and Nya all decided to wait for Wu and Zane to join them, and they did so only a minute later. Wu quietly made his way to his seat at the table, and Zane picked up the nearest pie, acting as though he was about to slice it…
before lobbing it straight at Kai’s face. Everyone’s jaws dropped for a moment, but Zane merely smiled his usual polite smile before taking a seat and slicing a pie for real.
“I believe,” he said, “that is what is referred to as ‘getting even.’”
Another moment’s shocked silence, then everyone laughed again, starting a new food fight in earnest, but everyone still enjoying the meal as well.
Taking completely no notice of the small boy watching gloomily in the distance.