Lloyd's POV

I slowly opened my eyes to a throbbing pain on the top of my head. My hand reached up to rub it, only for me to find both of my wrists shackled to a random spot on the floor. In addition, there was a ball and chain attached to my ankle. That must be the consequence of my attempted escape.

Surveying my surroundings, I found myself to be standing in what was no longer in a bare prison cell but a circular cage. It was about six feet in diameter, seven feet tall, and each of the rusted iron bars were about 9 inches apart. There was a small window about the height of my waist where I found a tray that had a metal cup filled with water and a bowl of something I couldn't recognize, and I figured I was supposed to eat it like a dog. Insulting.

The whole enclosure resembled an oversized birdcage. I peered through the bars and realized my prison was in the center of what resembled a giant underground cave lobby illuminated by dark blue glowing gems. What an odd location for a prison. Maybe because this way the odds of successfully escaping would be much slimmer.

Dozens of Shadow Riders silently milled about, and there was an uncomfortable quietness in the air. The only sounds came from the rustling of their cloaks. Occasionally I would feel eyes on me, but mostly I was ignored to the point where it seemed as if they were oblivious to my presence. I wondered if this was near the entrance of the cave, since it seemed quite busy.

A disgusting smell reached my nose. I made a face and squinted down at the bowl, appalled. Since I wasn't hungry yet, I decided not to eat it. It wasn't as if the food would go bad since I doubted it was even food at all.

I wondered where Ruby was. They probably wouldn't punish her as hard as they had me, since I was the one who orchestrated the escape and caused the most damage. However, she was also a princess and thus much more valuable than me, so there was no guarantee. Yet no matter how much I wished I could help her, there wasn't much I could do in my current situation.

At the same time, I realized that the Shadow Knight could appear at any given time, disguised as Ruby or any of my friends. Chrysanthe had said he could shapeshift and his eye color would change according to his mood. And the Shadow Knight also wasn't after Jade City. I wondered what he was after, though. Morro said that he knew the place but he wouldn't elaborate. He seemed to be hiding something. I reminded myself that I should ask Morro the next time I saw him.

If I blasted my way out of here, which might work if the chains didn't stop my powers, I still had no idea how I could rescue Ruby. I wished I could try to see if my powers would work against these manacles without causing a commotion, but that would be impossible when there were maybe a hundred Shadow Riders in the room. My energy was loud and anyone would notice a bright green light amongst the dark blue. Fire was a lot less raucous but its red light was still too visibly striking.

My thoughts traveled back to Rumi and Cole. Cole should be fine, since I hadn't gotten any Earth powers. That theory wasn't confirmed, but I decided to let the assumption be a reason for me to believe he was alright.

As for Rumi, the Shadow Riders didn't seem to be acting abnormally, so she should be okay as well. If she was in a terrible state, they wouldn't be as calm, especially if their boss knew one of them had attacked and almost killed her. I wanted to pound whoever hurt Rumi but was glad that she hadn't been captured. Who knew what the Shadow Knight would do if he got wind of both princesses.

I wished that somebody would talk, since the silence was really getting to me. They probably wouldn't, however, since I was on the opposing side. Sighing, I squatted down to examine my shackles. My wrists had scraped against the metal, the skin reddening in color. I scoured my brain to try and figure out what I could do to try to escape. My head still throbbed from the club yet there was nothing I could do about it.

I felt useless. The Crystal Blade was literally a mile away and I couldn't escape this prison. It was oddly convenient that the Shadow Knight would situate his lair so close to the one weapon that could stop him though. Maybe that way he could prevent people from getting to it?

There didn't seem to be a clear way of escaping. I needed to wait and develop a plan, which was to somehow figure where Ruby and the exit were, then break out. But how? The Shadow Riders weren't saying a word. I counted three tunnels branching out from the cavern. Strange. I expected more, since this definitely seemed like the main room.

Frowning, I squinted at the cave walls. Everything seemed underdeveloped. Other than the cage, there was nothing in the grotto. The walls seemed rough and uneven, and I soon realized the cave roof was actually much lower than I would've originally expected, only about 30 feet high as opposed to the 300-ish feet in diameter. I narrowed my eyes. Though I'd never taken any architectural courses in school but even I felt that something was wrong with this ratio.

I sighed. Honestly, who really cared? The Shadow Knight could do whatever he wanted with his cave and it was absolutely none of my business.

Instead, I focused on the three exits. I stood up again, since my legs were getting tired from squatting for so long. The three tunnels were not equally spaced, and I figured the arc lengths formed from the exits could be about 90°, 120°, and 150°, respectively. Why was I thinking of these things?

I gripped the rusty bars and found that each of the tunnels had about the same amount of Shadow Riders using them. Their respective brightnesses were about the same as well, so after maybe fifteen minutes of squinting and attempts at counting, I ended up with nothing but sore eye muscles and maybe even a frown line.

I groaned and stared at the disgusting bowl of food. Even if I sat down, the chains weren't long enough for my hands to be about to reach the water, meaning I'd have to somehow drink it using only my mouth. Leave it up to the Shadow Knight to find a way to humiliate me even in prison.

My mouth began to feel dry. I groaned and sat down then reached for the tray, my fingertips still a few inches short. Knowing that there was no way I could be able to drink the water without using my hands, I closed my jaw around the edge of the cup, trying my best to ignore the bitter, metallic taste on my tongue. I tried to lift it up but it was too heavy and soon my teeth weren't able to hold it steady anymore. I ended up spilling the water all over my pants. Darn.

Several of the Shadow Riders' hoods turned in my direction. Silently cursing the manacles, I stood up and squeezed as much water as I could out of my pants. It was no use and I tried to lean against the bars but the shackles on my wrists prevented me from doing so. Stupid chains. Stupid prison. Stupid Shadow Knight.

I could only hope Ruby was faring better than I was.

Harumi's POV

Nya sped us along as we navigated the gulf. The breeze on my face made me feel alive again. I was impressed by how large the raft was, as it was sturdy and could carry all six of us comfortably sitting with room to spare. My ankle had also healed enough for me to stand on it, which was great. By now I had taken off the bandages around my wrist and we wrapped them around Cole's stab wound. The only remnant of my wound was a faint white scar.

Zane kept his eye on his compass, making sure we were heading southeast. Apparently our "adventures" had resulted in us landing at least several miles to the west. As for just how many, Zane wasn't sure. The island was one he did not recognize, but his guess was our best chance.

When Nya got tired, Morro would use his Wind to push us forward to maintain the same velocity. His outbreaks weren't as bad anymore, since we soon realized that as long as the others were there, they'd be able to calm him down. I guess that his corruption was directed towards me and me alone.

Just to be safe, we had also removed all of his weapons, and though I had expected him to hesitate, Morro agreed at once. We promised that if danger came, we'd give him what he needed immediately. It turned out he had an abundance of weapons: seven knives of various shapes and sizes, four pairs of shurikens, a pair of twin katanas, and a double-bladed sword. He also had a rope. I was genuinely impressed by how he managed to salvage all of them after the underwater incident.

If we got hungry, we would catch fish to eat. Nya would provide as much water as we needed. I found myself enjoying the ride probably more than I should. The water rippled as we breezed past, and sometimes I kneeled down on the raft and reached in with my fingertips. Some of it would splash on my face.

The sky was a beautiful shade of pale azure, and several wisps of white clouds floated about. Sounds of seagulls crooning accompanied our own, and I felt almost content. Yes, we were on our way to rescue Lloyd and Ruby from the Shadow Knight, and yes, we were trying to stop the Shadow Knight from entering Ninjago, but I guess not everything had to be gloomy and serious, although I could feel a twinge of sadness still lingering in the air.

Jay began making up corny one liners to pass the time when he began running out of dad jokes in an effort to keep everyone laughing. Though some of his jokes were actually funny, most of the smiles from the others felt forced. With a jolt, I realized how truthfully, I wasn't really affected by Kai's death, and it had been ignorant of me to assume that the others were over it as well. They clearly weren't, and the only reason it may have seemed like so was because too much was going on. Even back at the mountains the atmosphere had been grave and solemn.

I missed having Lloyd and Ruby around, however, but what if it was purely because they talked to me, and not because I actually cared about their wellbeing? What a heartless monster I was. Had I really closed myself off from everyone after my parents died? Was I isolating myself from others for my own selfish reasons? Could I ever make up for my mistakes? I realized I barely knew the Ninja's Jade City counterparts, only focusing on giving Lloyd what I never gave to his Ninjago counterpart, protecting Ruby, and whatever was going on between Morro and me. How much more selfish could I get? Would I ever change?

"I have a question, Harumi," Morro said, interrupting my endless stream of self-loathing thoughts. I looked up at him quizzically as a sign for him to go on.

"When Lloyd and I found you on the island, you were holding on to a sword. Then when we dragged you to shore, it just... faded. And later I saw you had it while fighting the Shadow Riders," he frowned, forming a crease between his brows. Everyone else was watching me with their eyebrows raised and I felt my cheeks heat up. "Care to explain?"

I realized there wasn't a reason for me to say anything but the truth, so I told them as much as I knew. "Basically I got it from the zombie queen... she gave it to me right before she died."

"Wait why?" Jay interrupted, "Why would she give it to you? That doesn't make sense."

"I'm just as confused as you are," I replied, shrugging, "She said 'take my sword' and died just like that."

"Okayyy," Nya said, "Is there anything else about the sword we should know?"

"I think I can summon it at will..." I said quietly, "Because I don't know how many times I've lost it and whenever I wished for a weapon it would magically appear."

"Could you try it right now?" Zane asked skeptically.

Nodding, I closed my eyes and wished for the sword. Everyone watched, eyes widening with every second, as a golden sword manifested itself from thin air. Eventually it became fully opaque and I carefully picked it up.

"Whoa," Cole whispered, "That's awesome."

"Awww, why can't we get stuff like that?" Jay whined, and Nya shot him a look. "Right," he mumbled sheepishly.

Zane silently contemplated the logistics of the situation, his fingers stroking his chin as he stared at a single spot on the raft. Morro continued to use his wind to boost the raft's speed but he seemed to be deep in thought as well. From my peripheral vision, I noticed how he would glance at me every now and then. Cole and Jay took turns examining the sword as Nya watched with interest.

"Wait," Jay said, looking up while Cole ran his finger against the blade. "Remember how the bug lady gave you a bottle? Do you still have it?"

All eyes turned to me. Morro looked confused but didn't speak. I bit my lip and felt my face grow warm. It had been so long since I'd even thought about it. In fact, I would've forgotten if they hadn't brought it up. "Um... I don't know..."

"Are you telling me you lost it? It could be really important!" Jay exclaimed. My cheeks burned.

"What's it for?" Morro asked.

"We haven't figured it out," Nya explained, "She just said beware of the Shadow Knight and that one drop would be enough for something."

"Could you try summoning it?" Zane suggested, "If it worked for the sword, maybe...?"

"It's worth a try," I said, feeling terrible. I wish for the vial, I thought to myself, begging for it to appear. And miraculously, it did, materializing itself in the palm of my hand. Jay breathed a sigh of relief. It was a small dark blue vial barely bigger than my thumb. The Ninja watched attentively as I unscrewed the top. The liquid inside had no smell and the opening was too small for me to be able to see anything. I passed it around for the others to check it out.

"What even is this?" Nya said, raising it to eye level. She handed it to Zane to see if he had an idea.

"I cannot draw any conclusions now, but there is only enough for one use," he said.

"So basically she gave us a bottle with one drop of liquid in it?" Cole asked incredulously.

"Pretty much," Morro said.

They passed it around so that everyone got a chance to examine the vial and eventually returned it to me. I wished it away along with the sword and both disappeared.

"That's so cool though," Jay remarked, and the others nodded in agreement.

Soon, they went on to talk about other things, mostly about life back home. Nya expressed her worry about her parents and seemed like she was on the verge of crying again. I looked on helplessly as everyone else said comforting words while I could only add in the occasional comment that probably sounded fake and ingenuine.

"It's amazing how you're handling it so well, Rumi," Nya said suddenly and wiped at her eyes, "The Shadow Knight just... killed both your parents like that and you were so strong the whole time. You probably think I'm weak and sentimental." She hiccoughed every few seconds and seemed to have trouble saying anything.

I was taken aback and momentarily speechless. The only reason I didn't experience a mental breakdown was because I had never even met my "parents." And now Nya was calling me strong for not crying. Once again that dreaded sense of guilt washed over me. She was the one who was truly strong. If Kai had been my brother I would've done far worse. A lump began forming in my throat.

"No," I said, "You're not weak, Nya. You're so much stronger than I am, I just..." I couldn't go on. Images of the Great Devourer incident flashed before my eyes and my chest tightened just thinking about it. Would I even be able to see them again? I reached over and squeezed her hand, and while I would normally find this gesture out of my comfort zone, right now it seemed like the most natural thing to do. She met my eyes, hers sparkling with tears. Jay took Nya's other hand and pulled her into a tight embrace, and even then, she continued holding onto mine and gave me a small smile.

"Being emotional is not an indicator of weakness. Anyone in your position would respond this way. I am sure it is relieving to be able to let it all out," Zane added softly.

"He was our friend too," Cole whispered, hanging his head.

Morro lowered his arms and our raft came to a stop. There was a moment of silence where everyone stared down and avoided everyone else's gazes. Never had the air around me felt so thick and heavy.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him," Morro said shakily, running a hand through his thick black hair.

Nya took a deep breath and dabbed at her face. "It's okay, it's not your fault. It was the Shadow Knight's." Then she looked up again, her eyes narrowed, gaze steady. "We will defeat him. He's going to pay for what he did."

A/N: Ahh I suddenly got over writer's block a few days ago and now I'm writing so much. I should probably do more studying and learning but ahh it's so fun. Who knows when I'm going to get writer's block again, so maybe this time I should just seize this opportunity lol

School is really stressful. Not to mention there's a competition happening this week so that's fun. 

Idk what this chapter is so I hope you guys liked it. I just finished writing chapter 39 yesterday and it might just be my favorite chapter that I've written so far. I'm so excited to release it but that might take a while lol

Only six chapters left of part I! Any thoughts?

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys have an amazing week!