The sound of the jungle floor beneath Echo's feet was accompanied by the frequent bird song that filled the canopy. Several thoughts swarmed his little metallic head as he walked along. What had just happened? Who was that bird who saved him? He said his name was Exel, but that didn't answer everything else... The nindroid stood still for a moment, looking up at the beautiful greenery surrounding him. They way the sun shone through the leaves of the trees, the way the wind carried the scent of the blooms the Gorillas loved so much... it was all so surreal. It's been weeks since he'd woken up in the Beaver Lodge, woken up in Chima, yet- somehow he still has to keep telling himself it wasn't all a dream. It sure felt like one sometimes. When he'd first opened his eyes, he was greeted by the eager faces of Twig, Branch, and Daisy. The three of them had been the ones to finally get him working. The nindroid didn't know what to say or think in that moment, and to be perfectly honest, sometimes he still doesn't. The Merge had given him everything he'd ever wanted... regardless of how bizarre it felt at times. He closed his eyes and let the gentle breeze blow against his metal face. It felt.. nice. Then suddenly-

"ECHO!!" Twig ran at them at full speed, latching onto his leg. "What happened?! Where did you go!? I woke up and you were gone. I figured you went back to the lodge or something, but you weren't there. The elder said maybe you went back to your home realm, but I knew you wouldn't just leave like that, so I-"

Echo bent down and pet the beaver; reassuring him that everything was alright. Upon further questions, he explained everything that happened involving the Ravens kidnapping him. Twig growled. "Those no good ruffians! Of course they'd try to sell you... they probably sell each other if it was allowed..."

The two stayed in silence for a moment before Echo spoke up.
"Twig? Am I.. real? You know.. alive?"

The little beaver looked on arguably confused. "What are you talking about? Of course you're real! You're a beaver, just like me!" Twig's tail wagged as he jumped onto Echo's shoulder. "Sure, you're bigger, and made of metal, and really funny looking... but you're no less of a beaver than the rest of us!"

Echo smiled gratefully as the words set in. "Thank you Twig. Now, let's get back to the lodge."

The two headed back home in a race like usual, once again slipping back into being playful kids. They ran and jumped around the trees and underbrush, enjoying the sunshine, until a familiar crash grabbed their attention. The two kid's heads snapped up towards the direction of the noise. A tree. A dead looking tree.....
...that stared down at them with its big yellow eyes. 

"A mimic!" Twig jumped off of Echo's shoulder and ran as the giant creature started at them. Echo followed after the moment the monsters fist came crashing down. They ran as fast as they could, but the Mimic was gaining on them due to its massive size. Echo suddenly turned to Twig and scooped him up. With that, he changed directions.

"Echo, what are you doing?! The lodge is the other way!" The little beaver protested.

"Exactly! I am not putting you all in danger! We're leading it away from the rest of the tribe!"

For a fairly small robot, Echo got to some impressive speeds while dodging and weaving around the monsters attacks. He was doing the right thing, he knew it. But the plan was only halfway thought through... He knew they were leading the mimic away from the tribes, but to where- he honestly had no idea. Probably not a good thing.

As they ran, Echo kept glancing back at it to confirm the chase was still going on, so his focus wasn't exactly in front. Suddenly after a step, his heart dropped. There WASN'T a step. Twig scrambled in the robots arms as the two plummeted down a massive cliff. Echo panicked as he tried desperately to grab onto anything zooming past him, but he couldn't. As the ground got closer, he held his beaver friend protectively, bracing for impact, but suddenly-
The wind stopped.
Curiously, he opened his eyes to find himself dangling upside down by his metallic beaver tail. "What in the?" He  whispered. Looking up, he saw something he'd only ever seen from afar. An eagle. She smiled down at him as she lowered the kids to the ground carefully.

"You boys have to be more careful. You could've gotten hurt- or worse!"

Twig opened his eyes and stared at the majestic creature. She was a white eagle with light blue feathers and markings on her head, torso, and legs, as well as beautiful yellow eyes. Like all eagles, she had a pair of wings at her back that were spread out proudly. Her outfit was a combination of blues with gold armor and accessories. She appeared to be older, possibly in her late twenties or early thirties. The bird smiled at them.

"So- you're the outsider living with the beavers everyone's been talking about?"

Echo didn't exactly know how to take that, but he sure wasn't aware that he was any form of well know until now. "I suppose so? My name is Echo, and this is Twig. Also, my apologies, but I was not informed I've been a topic of interest?.."

Twig tilted his head. "Hm. Me neither. But then again, we rarely venture far from the lodge, so we're not exactly caught up on the news."

The eagle smirked. "Ah. I see. Well, anyway, my names Eris. Nice to meet you guys. And Echo- I'd love to talk more about how you work and where you came from at some point. I'm very interested."

Echo's eyes lit up as she flew away. "Really? She thinks my origins are interesting?"

The little beaver wiggled out of his friends robotic arms and bounced ahead to watch the eagle fly into the distance. "Well, to be fair, you're a sentient machine of some strange creature that supposedly fell from the sky. AND you're from a completely different realm altogether, so it's not surprising a scholar like Eris would be interested in learning more about you."

All valid points. Echo had made himself so at home with the Beavers that he had almost forgotten he was from a different tealm. Granted, his experience with Ninjago was rather... dull to say the least. He was trapped in that lighthouse for Lord knows how many years with nothing much to do then clean and get cheated at chess by Gizmo. He would periodically take a nap or something, but that was pretty much it. His purpose was to keep Dr Julian company, to entertain him and to help him, but after Dr Julian had left, he was left without a purpose. But that all changed when the lightning ninja, Jay, found his way to the lighthouse. He'd come there to mourn the loss of his friend, and found the rusty nindroid. After a little repair job he was let free from the lighthouse via the ninja's jet on autopilot. He had wandered around a little while after that- finally being free... but... the Merge had damaged his memory banks along with everything else. He could barely remember any of that. He vaguely remembered being in the lighthouse with Dr Julian and the lonely times after, but that was it. And it felt like the more days that passed, the more he forgot about his past. Frankly, it scared him, but something about only remembering the good times that were finally happening now made him feel SO much better. So he slowly had started not to mind. Something about his past ached though.. he didn't quite know the feeling or what it was called, but he knew it was the opposite of what he felt now with the Beaver Tribe.
Speaking of which they should really headed back to the lodge now.