I glanced at the others for them to say something, knowing I shouldn't be the one to answer.

"We were um... separated for a bit," Nya said with a forced smile, "Don't worry about it."

She twisted her head to look in a different direction, wincing.

"Do you know how far we are from Jade City?" Jay asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Oh, it's around a few miles away, we can get there by tomorrow," Skylor replied, frowning, her eyes on Nya, "But given your um... state, it might be better to spread the walk across two days."

She looked like she wanted to say more but didn't.

"Do you have food?" Jay asked, his face immediately turning red when the question was out.

"I can go back and get money," Skylor offered after a moment's hesitation, "But since we're not far from the village, it might be more convenient to go to your parents...? They do know about this, right?"

"About that..." Jay said with a nervous chuckle.

"When did you leave then?" she pressed.

"Several days after the attack," Zane answered.

"Please, you guys were gone the next day, I do have some information. You can tell me the truth. It's not like it's anything I can't handle. I happened to come across your parents, Nya, the day after the attack, and they were worried sick because their kids disappeared all of a sudden, so it seems like you already left by then..." She seemed to be talking to herself above all else.

"How did you find us?" Lloyd asked, clearly making an effort to change the topic.

"Um..." Skylor said, her cheeks flushing slightly pink, "I uh..." she began tugging on strands of her messy scarlet hair, which looked a thousand times healthier than any of ours did. "I was gonna go to the village to find Kai and I took this path in case my fiance woke up and―"

"You have a fiance?" Nya interrupted.

"Yeah, he's an idiotic misogynist and it's arranged, but anyway I came in here then I saw the light so I just came this way... I guess," she said with a half shrug.

Though her tone suggested that that was the end of the discussion about this fiance, I found myself way too invested in the fact that Kai's girlfriend was stuck in an arranged―then I remembered that she'd never be able to see him again.

Hopefully her fiance wasn't too bad?

"Okay, so what is going on? When did you leave? Where are the others? And... since when did you guys know each other?" Skylor looked back and forth between me and the others, and I found myself more annoyed with her now than I'd ever been in Ninjago.

If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be dead right now.

"Some prophecy said I have to defeat him," I said flatly, hoping that the answer would be satisfactory enough.

"What does that have to do with..." Skylor gestured to the remainder of the group.

To her credit, it didn't make sense that I, the princess, would enlist the help of a bunch of random teenagers from some village to help her defeat some evil bad guy, so though her question was perfectly valid, that didn't make answering it any less aggravating.

"They have powers, so we met and left right after," I explained further, my tone monotonous.

"So you did leave immediately," the redhead said, her voice calculating, frustrating me so much I wanted to tear out my hair as it took every ounce of muscle in my body to not roll my eyes.

I glanced at the others for signs of willingness to help, but they refused to even look at her. I wished Skylor would get the hint and just... stop talking. It just sucked that I had to be the one to be rude because nobody else wanted to say anything.

"Yes." I replied curtly.

"Okay, sorry I'm bombarding you guys with questions, I just... I'm just very confused at the moment."

"We're just... um, kinda tired," Nya yawned, finally lending me a helping hand, "We can answer your questions tomorrow, okay? I'm getting really sleepy."

Skylor quickly nodded, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Alright then," Jay yawned as well, "It's my turn to keep watch, so..."

"I can too," the Master of Amber offered, though she probably had no idea what was going on, "And I'll be quiet."

"Sure," Lloyd mumbled indifferently, climbing into the shelter, dragging the Crystal Blade with him inside, "Night, everyone."

...

I woke up when only a sliver of the sun had risen above the horizon, and though the trees blocked it from view, I could still see rays of golden-orange light seeping between the branches. Holding my breath, I crawled out of the makeshift shelter as quietly as possible so I wouldn't wake Lloyd, Nya, and Zane up.

Skylor and Jay looked over at me, the former smiling and the latter looking more sleep-deprived than I'd ever seen him before.

"Good morning!" she whispered, and I grunted in response. Apparently Skylor was smart enough to figure out I didn't want anything to do with her, because she didn't attempt to make any further conversation.

"So, you have any plans for what we're gonna do today?" Jay asked after about ten minutes of silence.

"What? Why? And why me?" I questioned, blinking several times to make sure I was hearing him right.

"Well," he said, wringing his hands together nervously, "We're almost at the village, meaning we're not that far from Jade City, so what do we do from here? And I mean, you're the most logical choice for a leader right now..."

"Um," I glanced at Skylor, who had been paying close attention to every word Jay and I said.

She quickly straightened up, flashing me an awkward smile. "I can help," the girl said hurriedly, "I have powers too and I don't wanna be a burden. And I promise I'm not a spy. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It wasn't in my place to feel so frustrated at her sudden appearance, but I justified my feelings with the fact that her being here only increased everyone's stress levels.

"Uh, gimme a sec," I said, sounding dead inside and turned back to Jay, "We should probably figure out what we're gonna do after getting rid of the power source, probably do something to at least weaken the Shadow Knight if not defeat him, not that we have any idea what that's gonna look like. Other than that, I dunno. We could... go back for Morro?"

Saying his name formed a lump in my throat, almost making it hard to breathe.

Out of the corner of my eye, Skylor's face remained expressionless but I could almost see the gears turning in her head, dreading the moment when she'd find out about that. She knew we were hiding stuff, but as for what, we had all formed a silent, unanimous agreement to stall for as long as possible. And besides, Nya probably wasn't ready to hear her brother's name yet. Last night I could hear her sniffles and feel the trembling beside me as I tried to sleep, and I had to give her credit for somehow managing to hold the tears in when Skylor was still around.

"I guess," Jay said, and with a shaking chuckle, he continued, "I probably can't offer any good ideas, so I mean... I'll try and come up with some."

"That... would be appreciated, thanks," I said, rubbing the palms of my hands against each other for warmth.

"You look cold," Skylor pointed out, too observant for my liking.

"Thank you for noticing," I replied coldly, probably sounding a bit too mean, since she almost immediately shrank back and sucked in her lips, strands of her annoyingly bright hair falling over her reddening face.

Jay's eyes darted back and forth between us, definitely secretly judging me for being so rude. I had neither the time nor energy to address it. Or maybe I had the time, but whatever.

But that didn't stop her for long.

"I could sneak into my house and grab some stuff," she offered less than fifteen seconds later.

I sighed, inwardly cursing her for trying so hard.

"No," I said in a much kinder tone, "You don't have to do that. We've managed this far, so, um..."

"Oh, okay, but if there's anything I can do to help..."

"I'll be sure to say something," I said, making my voice more high-pitched than normal while in my mind I was just begging for her to go, "Thanks."

Things would be so much easier if she wasn't Kai's girlfriend...

A shuffling sound came from behind, and turning around, I saw Zane climb out of the shelter, random leaves and branches sticking to his clothes probably by means of static electricity. He realized this quickly and began brushing them off as he walked over to us with a yawn.

"Good morning," Zane greeted us sleepily.

"Hi," Skylor said cheerfully while Jay and I just gave him a nod.

"What is the plan for today?"

"I guess we just head straight for the village," I replied, sticking out my hands to warm them in the fire, "And get food or whatever, then go to the north tower, then figure out the rest from there. Unless you have a better plan, of course, because I don't have the energy to figure stuff out."

Ironic how I used to be a cult leader and prided myself in having near perfect plans.

"I understand," Zane nodded empathetically, "I do not think any of us are in peak physical condition at the moment. And I do not mean to offend you, Skylor, in any way; however this is a dangerous mission and I am not sure if you should be here."

Furrowing her brows, she bit her bottom lip, and several strands of her scarlet hair fell from behind her ear, and despite only having been with us for only one night, her locks were already straggly and frizzy.

"I understand why you don't think I can do much since I probably seem like I've been sheltered all my life. But if the entire world is at stake and there's anything I can do to help, I'm definitely going to do it. Especially since I have powers and it would be a waste if I didn't use them," Skylor looked up at us, her gaze determined, and I silently cursed the Ninja and their friends for being such inherently good people.

Jay and Zane both turned to me for a reply as if I was supposed to know how to answer to her better than they would. Maybe because they thought I'd make an objectively better decision because they assumed I'd had no previous encounters with her? Well, they were wrong, because I definitely had had an encounter with her, though it certainly wasn't a positive one. Still, just because I held a stupid grudge I shouldn't be holding against Skylor's counterpart didn't mean I should be rude. That didn't stop me from wanting to, since it would be a lot easier than telling her the story of how I inadvertently murdered her boyfriend.

I sighed, knowing I'd surely regret this decision later. "Okay, you can help."

"Thank you!" she beamed, making me wonder just how long she'd be smiling for, "Okay, so I'm still kinda confused, as stupid as that sounds."

"I guess I'll give you a quick rundown of what's happened so far," I muttered, reluctantly but at the same time trying to hide my unwillingness, "The blue sword we have is the Crystal Blade from the legends and it's supposed to be able to defeat the Shadow Knight. So far we haven't exactly figured out how, but I guess we'll use it to destroy the portal to Ninjago via the north tower first, and that's this other parallel universe that he wants to go to. I'm also from there, and so is Morro, but it's a long story."

Skylor nodded tentatively but remained silent, and I appreciated the fact that she wasn't interrupting me with a million questions while I talked despite how questionable everything sounded.

"We got captured by Shadow Riders and taken into their headquarters, and later one of them took everyone's powers in exchange for freedom, as in he threatened to kill us if we didn't give them up. Though Nya still has her powers because it's not a main element. But they kept Morro because the Shadow Knight needs his blood to go to Ninjago, I think. And they took my sister too, but I'm not completely sure why..." I trailed off.

"Yeah, um, then we got separated at a village so Kai and Cole aren't here," I continued, the names sounding almost foreign.

"Oh," Skylor pursed her lips.

"Good morning, everyone," Lloyd mumbled, slowly coming out from the tent, and rubbing his eyes, "Do we have a plan for what we're gonna do today?"

"Let's wait until Nya's here too," I suggested, not wanting to explain again, and he nodded, his green eyes still foggy from a lack of sleep.

Skylor looked like she wanted to say something again but didn't.

The Water Ninja came out dragging the sword behind her soon enough, the whole time keeping her head low and avoiding everyone's gaze. I figured she was mostly doing it so that her brother's girlfriend wouldn't notice her puffy red eyes.

"Oookay, now that Nya's here, what are we gonna do today?" Lloyd asked, drumming his fingers on his legs.

"I guess just go to the village and get some food and stuff then go to Jade City, which isn't too far. As for what happens next... I haven't figured that part out yet," I repeated what I had said to Zane.

"No," Nya said quietly, and I almost didn't hear her.

"What?"

"We're not going to the village. I don't wanna face my parents."

She seemed to have barely been able to force the words out, and her hair was still falling all over her face, covering the whole thing.

"Why not?" Skylor asked, reaching over to touch Nya's arm gently, "I'm sure they'll understand. And yeah, they might be mad that you guys are in such a bad state, but I'm sure that in time, they'll get over it. If I were them, I'd be very proud and not angry. You guys have risked so much and I'd just be happy you're home and safe, even if I was worried sick the whole time, and I'm sure they'll be, too."

Nya tilted her head away from the redhead, her arms beginning to tremble again.

"I mean, I guess a possible worry would be that they'll stop you, but I remember Kai telling me a long time ago that having great power comes with great responsibility, and since you guys were born with elemental powers, your parents shouldn't be too surprised that you're risking your lives to save the world, if that makes sense. I hope I didn't sound too... I dunno, preachy, or uh... yeah I don't know," Skylor laughed a little, and I assumed she was trying to lighten the mood, but it only seemed to make Nya feel worse.

"Oh, that quote was from my uncle," Lloyd said.

"Makes sense," she chuckled a little and ran a hand through her crimson red hair, "I was wondering how he suddenly got so wise and philosophical. Don't tell him I said that, I don't think his ego will be able to take it," Skylor grinned, and we could only force ourselves to return it. Nya, on the other hand, didn't react at all.

"He'll never know," the Water Ninja said numbly.

"Soooo Nya, what do you think we should do instead?" Jay asked gently, rubbing his girlfriend's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

"Go straight to Jade City," she replied, her tone weary, "There's no point in detours and our parents can find out after we're done."

We exchanged a look, and everyone seemed to think the same thing: Going to the village to at least let their parents know what was going on was a good idea, but also nobody wanted to argue with Nya or have to tell Kai and Cole's parents about what had happened, and splitting into two groups was out of the question.

"Then Jade City it is," I declared, though there wasn't much authority in my voice since I had no energy to speak with force or vigor.

Skylor raised her eyebrows but didn't question my decision as we began gathering everything up and destroying any sign of having been here.

"We're not having breakfast?" she asked as we prepared to leave.

"Haven't had it in over a month, not sure if that was the best way to go about it but oh well," Jay answered, his arm around Nya.

"Okay," Skylor replied, nodding, "Wait, if you don't mind me asking, when will we meet up with Kai and Cole again? And we're rescuing Morro right after? I really hope he's... not faring too terribly right now..."

I felt my chest clench as his face appeared in my mind again. Then I felt selfish for only feeling anything when his name was mentioned.

"You will see," Zane said, and apparently satisfied, she didn't say another word.

And that really was the best answer we could give her.

A/N: As you may have noticed, we no longer have POV headers :0 Yup, the rest of the story will be told in only Harumi's perspective, so we really are getting tot he end... 

Five more chapters until we're done (well that plus an epilogue)! I originally wanted to have 50 chapters but hey, 49 is at least a perfect square so it's still kind of a nice number lol

Thank you all for still sticking to reading this (and for those who vote and comment I appreciate that so much!) despite my extremely unreliable updating schedule. I am confident that I'll finally be able to finish the book this summer though, and I love the ending so so much and am super excited for you guys to read it! 

Does anyone have predictions for how this will end or comments on the book so far? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Thanks for reading as always!