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Lloyd POV

Chase struggles against the ice.  Willow and Kai still have their gaze burning into my back.  I know what I've done, I did it for Kai, but what will Willow and Chase think?  Will they think we work for the Overlord after all?  "I'm sorry," I say to Chase.  "But you attacked my injured friend, so I restrained you.  I know this is a bit of a... drastic measure.  But you need to hear me out if you want me to unfreeze you."

He looks at me with a mixture of emotions. Confusion, anger, curiosity, etc. But he stays quiet and urges me to go on.  "Okay, we aren't working for the Overlord.  We are trying to defeat him.  I don't know how else I'm suppose to explain that to you."

"You froze me!" He finally says in anger and disbelief.

"H- how did you do that?" Willow asks me from behind.  I sigh.

"It's... hard to explain." I tell them. I walk up to Chase and I kneel beside him. I place my hands on the ice and I try to focus on the fire element. The fire element has been the most difficult element to learn out of all of my elements. I am still struggling to perfect it. I close my eyes and, gradually, the ice begins to melt. Everyone watches me in silence as I slowly melt the ice. I suddenly feel the melting become rapid and I look up to see Kai has made his way over and is helping me with his own element.

Chase breaks free and stumbles away from us.  He places himself next to Willow and they stare at us in disbelief.  If he didn't like us before, he certainly doesn't like us now.  "I know you have questions and probably think we're monsters or something like that, but we don't have time to explain this to you.  We have to get back to my village immediately, and this quarrel you have with us has cost us a great deal of time already." I say as I look at the evening sun. "Thank you for helping us when we were injured, but we must go now."

"Y-you're still injured." Willow points out.  "That's... why I came to find you.  I was going to help you make your way home.  But..."

"But now you'll stay away from us and our village!" Chase says to us as he shields Willow from us.

"Chase-" Willow tries to say.

"No, Willow!  They're dangerous!  Did you not see what they did to me!" He looks me straight in the eyes.  "Get out of here!  And never come back!"  I look at Kai and signal him to go.  He nods and we walk away from the pair.  I can hear Chase and Willow arguing in the distance but I don't care anymore.  If my wing were healed I would fly us right out of here and we'd be home in a matter of a few hours...

After a few hours of continuous walking the sun finally sets and we try and find a nice place to settle down.  I can hear the cracks of thunder in the distance and gray clouds covering overhead.  Great, another storm.  We end up finding an abandoned cave and we gather up sticks to make a fire.  After the fire is made I dig around in the bag we were given and I pull out two packages of food.  I hand one to Kai and we begin to eat.  The rain starts and the thunder cracks become louder and louder.  We finish and we sit around, listening to the rain pour.

Kai removes his boot and he examines his ankle.  His ankle is swollen and it looks like moving it hurts.  "How badly does it hurt?" I ask him.

He looks up at me then back down to his ankle.  "It doesn't hurt that much."

"You're lying." I tell him plainly.

"Yeah," he says.  "I am."  I move next to him and I examine his ankle closer.  I wrap my hands around his ankle and focus on the ice element.  I start to ice his ankle when he cringes.  I look up at him. 

"Too cold?" I ask him.  He nods. I laugh nervously. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It actually feels a lot better. Thanks." He tells me.

"Happy I could help!" I say nervously. I retreat to the opposite end of the fire and find a way to look busy as Kai puts his boot back on. Why did I do that? I didn't even ask his permission! Ah- why am I the way that I am? And I nervously laughed!... UGH! What is wrong with me? Why am I acting this way towards him?

"Greenie-" I'm pulled from my thoughts.  I look up at the amber eyed boy. "What you did back there, with Chase, thanks."

"No problem." I say to him. "But to be honest, I have no idea how I did that. Normally I'd have to concentrate really hard in order to even move water or form ice, but it happened so easily!" I look at my hands. "Does it come easy for you?"

He leans back and thinks. "Yeah, it does. But it never use to. When I first got my powers, they were hard to control. I can't tell you the amount of times I had almost burnt down the monastery. But over time, after using them more and more, they just became part of me, and now it's like a normal everyday thing for me. It's kind of like... growing into a shirt. Over time, you grow, and the shirt will eventually fit you perfectly. Your power will also grow with you. The stronger you become, the stronger it becomes, and the more manageable it becomes."

I let out a light chuckle. "Never thought I'd hear such wise words from such a hotheaded person."

"Hotheaded? You kidding me? I'm an eternal flame, baby!" He says as he lights his fist on fire.

I laugh. "Yeah, okay."

"Oh, and another reason why your powers came easy to you, is because you can do crazy things when under pressure. And you might be overthinking it too much and that's causing it not to flow through you as easily."

"Maybe..." I say.

He stretches. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay.  I suggest you do the same."

"R-right.  Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He lays his back against the stone floor and gets in a comfortable position. One of his arms are propped under his head in place of a pillow while his other rests on his stomach. He closes his eyes and allows himself to let sleep overtake him. I lay with my back to the fire. My arm is also propped under my head while my other one lays limp on the floor. My shoulder is so stiff. How big was that arrowhead? My head stopped aching though. That's a good sign... I close my eyes and hope that I'll have sweet dreams and not that horrible nightmare again.

Kai POV

I open my eyes to see the stone ceiling painted with shadows and rays of light from the cave opening. The fire looks like it went out ages ago. The cold ashes sit still against the slight breeze that flows through the opening. I look past the ashes of the fire to see the bag Lloyd was carrying sitting up against the cave wall, but no Lloyd.  I look around the cave to find nothing else but my sword and walking stick.

A small bit of panic floods through me. Where is he? Was he kidnapped? Did a wild animal drag him out of the cave? Did Chase come back? No, no. He probably went out to scope the area or grab breakfast. Maybe he even went on a walk? I get up and I exit the cave to be greeted by a cool morning with plenty of sunshine from the rising sun. I look around for a head of blonde hair. None.

I suddenly hear grunts and frustrated yells in the distance. I listen more closely and hear that it's Lloyd's voice. I run in the direction of the noises and I come across a small clearing being occupied by one person only. He is in his dragonkin form and he seems to be trying to fly. Lloyd crouches slightly with his wings outstretched and he flaps them hard to give himself a boost off of the ground. It works but on his third flap he looses altitude and crashes to the ground. He lays on the ground with his hands covering his eyes in frustration. I feel like I should go over to him but I stay put.

He removes his hands from his face and he sits up, examining his ripped wing once more. He sighs and his wings slump to the floor and his tail curves around him as he lowers his head, his hair blowing in the wind. He looks defeated. I walk over to him and crouch in front of him. "Hey," I say to him. He looks up in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"H-how long have you been watching me?"

"Enough to know that not being able to fly is really frustrating you."

He sighs and lowers his head once more. "I can't fly. If I were to be able to fly, I could get us home in a matter of hours, but I can't!" He yells. "It's just a stupid rip! It shouldn't be this hard to fly with a rip in my wing!" He stands up and starts to pace, his tail swinging impatiently behind him.

"Lloyd..."

"I'm so sorry, Kai.  I dragged you into this mess." He says with his back turned to me.

"What?  Lloyd, you didn't drag me into anything!"

"Yes I did!" He turns to me.  "If I had just moved to another area when the arrow hit me, we could have avoided this whole mess.  If we had just stayed at that hospital and waited for our wounds to heal, we would be fit to travel.  And Willow followed us because she wanted to help us get home, but then I attacked and froze Chase so she got scared and instantly reconsidered helping us. If I wasn't such a screw-up we'd be home right now and surrounded by our family." He buries his face into his hands.  He stops walking and hugs his body.

I walk up to him and before he can do anything I pull him into a tight and gentle hug.  He doesn't hesitate, and he wraps his arms around me with his face buried into my shoulder.

"None of this is your fault." I tell him softly.  "We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Besides, we had to get home as fast as possible and Chase was preventing that.  You did what you had to in an act to protect me.  We can get home just fine without Willow, we don't need her, what we need is you and your navigation skills.

He sniffs and removes his face from my shoulder.  He looks at me.  "But I've never been in the central part of the island before!  I've only been in the village territory and maybe an hour outside of it in all directions.  Heh, some island protector I am."

"If there's one thing I know you can do, it's navigating your way even through the densest parts of the jungle on foot." He looks at me with uncertainty.  "Just, promise me you'll try?  And if you make a mistake, you won't give up?"

"I don't know..." he says doubtfully.

"Come on!  Ninja never quit!"

"I'm not a ninja, Kai."

"You are a ninja.  You may not have ever realized it, but you've always been a ninja.  From the moment I first met you up until now.  You have the skill, intellect, and all of the quantities a ninja possesses.  But you lack one thing..."

He looks up at me.  "What?"

"Confidence.  You lack confidence in yourself."

"Confidence?  I don't-"

"You do.  And it's something we can work on while we travel."  I stand up and extend my hand to him.  "Are you willing to work your hardest and always strive to be the best you can be?"

He pauses a moment, then takes my hand.  "Yes." He says.  I pull him up, which he is way heavier then he looks in his dragonkin form, and we walk back to the cave to collect our things and cover our tracks.

"Why do we have to cover our tracks again?" I ask him.

"It's just a precaution.  You never know,  someone could be following you and you wouldn't even know it.  Plus, if you're a ninja, which you are, you never want to leave any trace that you were here."

"Makes sense." I say.  "Which way guide?"

"So I'm a guide now?" He teases.

"Well, you are guiding me home." His expression suddenly turns uncertain.

"Right," he says.  "Guiding you home."

"Hey, don't worry about it.  Just do what you do best." 

He nods. "Okay, lets go."

~~~time skip~~~

Lloyd and I have been walking for the entire day, while taking breaks here and there because we aren't fully healed yet. We've been heading South the whole time and Lloyd doesn't look too nervous anymore.  We've come to the edge of the mountain chain surrounded by thick forest and we now look over miles of empty flat land and hills. Lloyd directs me towards the edge of the forest overlooking the fields. The setting sun shines it's last rays of light on us.  "We'll camp here tonight." He tells me.

"I'll get the wood." I offer.  I go into the forest, grab wood, come back out and start making a fire.  Once the fire is made, I settle down against a tree.

"Do you think it's weird?" Lloyd asks me.

"What's weird?"

"I don't know about you, but I think Willow and Chase took us a lot farther than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you told me that when they knocked you out it was noon, and when you woke up it was sunset.  So, it must have taken them about 7 hours to get us to their village, right?"

"Right..."

"If that's the case, then we should have been home by now."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there is no way Willow and Chase were able to get us to their village in 7 hours on foot, when it's taken us 2 days. And we're not even close yet to home yet, or at least I don't think we're close.  There's just no way."

"Well... maybe... you're going the wrong way?" I tell him sheepishly.

"No, I'm going the right way.  I know I am!  Just, think of the weather.  It's colder here than on the coast, and there are snowy mountains with no trees on top!  There are no barren or snowy mountains on the coast.  Something weird is going on, and Chase and Willow were hiding it from us."

"Lloyd, you said it yourself.  You've never been on this side of the island before.  I think you just don't know the terrain and you're getting all worked up over nothing."

"Remember that bad feeling I had after my dream?" He asks me.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I'm getting it again.  Something isn't right.  And... and I think we should go back to the village."

I look at him.  "W-What?  You were dying to get out of there, and now you want to go back?  What is going on with you?"

"I know something's not right.  You said I have to work on my confidence? Well, I'm confident that things aren't what they seem.  That's why I've decided that tomorrow, I'm going to head back to their village."

"What?! But Lloyd, that's a two day walk!  And we have to get home!  You said it yourself!"

"I know what I said, but things are different now.  I'm going back tomorrow, and you're not changing my mind."  I stare at him.  First Spinjitzu Master he's so stubborn!

"What if your hunch is wrong?  You would have wasted 4 days trying to prove something that happened to not be true."

"Even if I'm wrong, it'll have been worth it to soothe my nerves about it. Let's get some sleep.  We'll need it."

"No, Lloyd we aren't done discussing this!"

"We can talk more about this tomorrow.  Goodnight Kai." I try to convince him to keep talking to me but I eventually begrudgingly give in and I allow the conversation to end. I get into a comfortable position and I let sleep take over me. We'll continue this tomorrow.

Jay POV

We've been following the stone warriors for hours.  Zane, Haru, and I managed to sneak into one of the compartments of their vehicles and hide so we don't have to be booking it after them the whole time.  "Zane," I whisper to him.  He looks at me.  "How long has it been?"

"It's been 11 hours." He says in return.

"Ugh!  This is never ending!" I whisper-yell.

"I've never been more bored in my entire life." Haru says.  "Where are these guys even going?  They haven't stopped once since we climbed in here."

"I have no idea.  But wherever their destination is, I hope they're close, because I am not built to be sitting around all day." I say in return."

Suddenly, as if the First Spinjitsu Master himself was listening to us, the vehicle stops and we're left hearing muffled engines all around us stopping and the voices of stone warriors.  Zane puts a finger up to his mouth to signal us to be completely silent.  He cracks the compartment door open the tiniest bit and peers out.  No light is coming from the crack so we're either inside of a building or it's nighttime.

"Okay," Zane whispers after a while.  "Follow me."  He fully opens the door and he slides out.  Haru and I do the same and we swiftly run as best we can over to a hidden structure behind a bunch of trees.  I was right about it being night. The moon shines brightly overhead and there are no lights anywhere, causing the area to be engulfed in complete darkness.  But that's no problem for us considering we've been in complete darkness for 11 hours already.

"You wouldn't happen to have night vision built into you, would you?" Haru asks Zane.

"I do." He says in return.  "And I can see that we are in a place very unlike your village."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, we're on top of a mountain.  And another thing, I think we're in an abandoned village."

"This must be one of the villages the Overlord took over.  That's why the stone warriors came here."

"But the question is, why did they come here?" Zane adds.

"Guys, look!" I say as I point to a group of stone warriors.  They are all walking in formation up a mountain path, deeper into the village.  "We should follow them." I say.  They nod and I lead the way through the shadows.  We follow them all the way up the path.  We see along the way many deep pits with some kind of purple glowing goo that the warriors are harvesting.  We walk a little further up ahead to see a large black and purple castle-like fortress. The outside of it is lit with red and orange flames along the walls of it. The walls of the fortress are lined with armed stone warriors who will be ready to kill us the second they see us. The stone warriors enter through the large doors of the fortress and they close behind them. "What do we do now?" I ask the two ninja.

"We should try and find a way in." Haru says.

"Indeed, we should." Zane says.

"My question is, how do we get inside?" Haru asks.

Zane thinks for a moment and looks at the fortress. "There's an open area to get into the place right up there." He points way up high to a part of the castle I cannot see.

"I can't see what your pointing at. It's too dark." I tell him.

"Well, it's there. It's an arched opening that most likely leads into a hallway of some sorts. I have no idea what will be up there though..."

"Maybe I can scout for you." Offers Haru. "I can see what's going on and what the setup looks like up there. Then, I'll come back and let you guys know."

"Okay, but how are you planning to do that?"

He shape-shifts into an owl. "Owl form!" He whisper-yells. Zane and I look at each other.

"Aye, that'll do." I say.