Dark clouds coated the far horizon in thick, vicious chunks. They rumbled like an angry god, harsh strikes of lightning flashing in spontaneous bursts of light. The flashes tore through the sky like rags, a beautiful thing to see. Under the thick mass was blurry with pelleting rain, but from here he could make out the faint sight of waves crashing against sharp, towering sea cliffs.

Faint spits of rain fluttered against his skin as he peered over the cerise parapet.

The cliffs in front of them came further into view as the storm passed over it quickly, leaving destruction in its wake.

The Bounty comes to a stop just a half-mile offshore, where they hovered in the safe zone. He guesses they're waiting for the storm to pass before they begin their search. A fair decision; He didn't want to brave the harsh winds that the storm surely contained, nor the lightning. Sure, he was practically immune to it, but that didn't mean he liked it. That would be weird.

The towering figure of his master walks in proud strides to stand beside him. His beard shifts in the wind, and he combs a wrinkled hand through it.

"Be on the lookout." The old voice commanded. He peered at the storm as well. "They could be anywhere on the island."

Jay sighs, glancing away from his master and back to the stormy island. He could hardly even see a sliver of the island, but even that small sliver had huge proportions! They could be anywhere on the island, there was just no way they'd find them within even a day!

He lets the worry fall off his tongue like a complaint. "Master Wu, how are we gonna find them on this massive island?" He picks at the skin by his nails: A nervous habit. "I only gave them a flare, even if they use it we might not see even see them."

Wu stares at his student from the corner of his eye. "That is why we must be focussed," He scrutinises. Without leaving time for Jay to voice his other anxieties, Wu turns on his heel and strides to the control room, arms folded wisely at his lower back.

Jay huffs and mumbles, glaring back at the island as if it was its fault.

Another figure walks to stand beside him. It's Cole.

A rough hand pats at his shoulder, firm and comforting. Jay leans his elbows on the parapet, the heels of his hands digging into his eye sockets. The hand follows him down.

Jay groans. "Ughh, I knew I should have given Garmadon a tracker! I mean, a flare? Sure, it's great for ocean rescues, or in large flat areas, but on the Dark Island? It's full of trees! It's practically a jungle! Not to mention how big it is! Oh, we're never gonna find Lloyd!"

Cole laughs airily at his Jay-like outburst, rubbing a firm circle on his shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it," He supplies. "What's done is done, we'll find them eventually, even if it takes us weeks."

Jay groans again at the comment, but ultimatly he knows it's true. Worrying will only make things worse. And as Master Wu had said before, Lloyd is capable. He'll be fine.

He pries his hands away from his face. "Yeah, Lloyd will be fine." It feels like a lie on his tongue.

Cole narrows his eyes at him. "And Garmadon."

"Yeah, him too." Jay smirks.

The earth ninja huffs another laugh at the audacity. It's always nice to hear, a noise he hasn't quiet heard since the morning it happened. Cole has a nice laugh.

Again, Jay sighs. His mind settles at the thought of the pre mentioned Garmadon.

It was weird, talking about Garmadon as a friend and not an enemy. They'd only ever fought against him, and vice versa. The rare times they'd worked with him being when he had reverted back to his original old-and-wrinkly-but-good self. Then he, well, died, got revived but evil again, and all that stuff. Tried to kill his only son, reined terror upon Ninjago City, caused numerous civilian casualties, got his second-hand killed, got arrested, then- uh, un-arrested, and... well, he guesses that was when he stopped being their enemy. Sure, he'd done some bad things in the past, but that was in the past now, right? Right?

Jay emotionally shuts himself up.

"I'll never get used to having him around," He verbalises his thoughts. Cole nods lightly in agreement. "Sometimes it feels like we're still teenagers running around trying to stop Garmadon."

Cole quirks in eyebrow at him, dragging his hand away from his shoulder and opting to nudge him playfully with an elbow. "Wow, reminiscing now, are we?"

Jay chuckles.

Under their feet, The Bounty humms to life. The wind picks up again and they're on the move.

Cole smiles at him, leaning on his elbows against the parapet, similarly to the shorter. "I get what you mean. Sometimes I forget how far we've come," Cole mutters. He glances down at the ocean, melancholy. "It feels like it's been forever since we stopped the Great Devourer, but it also feels like it was yesterday."

The lightning ninja opens his mouth to respond - maybe with something philosophical and wise, maybe with something stupid - when a hard thunk rings in his ears, the end of a bamboo pole whacking him on the top of his head.

Jay jumps around, kicking the back of his ankle on the parapet and pressing his chilly hands against his noggin.

"Ow!" He complains. He rubs circles on his head.

His hands snap to his side when he sees his master, a stern look strewn across his face.

Jeez, guess he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

Cole stands to attention as well when he realises, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Nya smirking at them knowingly.

Wu glares between them. "Focus, you two. Stay on the look out."

They both nod, like trained dogs. "Yes, sensei."

Once more, Wu strides away towards the stern, Cole to the bow, and Jay is left alone. He leans over the parapet again, nudging his head over the edge to get a better look.

The great cliffs seemed a fair bit closer- both in distance and in height - and Jay noticed that they were now hovering far above where the rolling waves met the jagged sea cliffs.

They won't be that close to the shore, the brunette notes. Too dangerous, especially with that storm that just passed.

His eyes drag up, staring past the sea cliffs and towards the other cliffs that sat in-land, untouched by human innovation. The great cliffs seemed to curved elegantly out of the ground, peaking out of forests at first, before jutting up into straight lines. The very tops of the cliffs varied, between flattened out, pointed and sharp, or gouged away by landslides and calamaty.

He drags his eyes further down, to the forests at the foot of the cliffs. The trees stood great, towering above the ground in thick, tangling arcs. Vines dangled from nearly every tree he could see (at least from all the way up on The Bounty) and they curled dangerously into clearnings, like veins. In the midst of the thick forest, he could see what resembled a deep wound in the ground: A ravine. Kind of. Instead of being long, and jagged, teetering and thin at the ends, this one was short, thick in the middle, hardly teetering at the ends before coming to a sudden halt. Vins dangled shallowly into the practical pit, but none reached as far as even a quarter of the way in.

Something orange caught his eye.

The flare! It's the flare!

He snapped his eyes away from the pit, staring intently to the colourful stain on the forest, and his excitement immediately died.

It's just a tree.

He groaned, gripping his hands on the curve of the parapet, securing himself as he leans further over the edge.

The more he looked, the more orange trees dotted the forest. It was endlessly frustrating.

They were over the forest now, and ahead of them Jay could see what was probably the tallest cliff so far. It's top was flat and faintly grassy, based on what he could see from so far away, and as he trailed his eyes down the cliff face he noticed a plethora of ledges and rocky-hooks lining the cliff. If Cole saw this cliff, he was sure he'd try to climb it. Crazy ninja.

At the base of the cliff, Jay could see a similar curve as the others. A grassy knoll that faded nicely from the forest to the mighty wall-

Movement caught his eye.

Reluctantly, yet excitedly, he stares at the cliffs face, scanning to try and spot what it was that he saw.

He saw nothing. It must have been nothing.

But right as he dragged his eyes away, he saw something clamber along the face of the cliff. What it was, he could hardly tell, but it was moving strangely fast. As if it was extremely strong, or maybe in a hurry.

He narrowed his eyes intently.

Is that a monkey? He questioned. Are there monkies on the dark island?

It swivled its body slightly, jumping from a ledge to grab onto another with two arms. Another two swung up to pull the rest of its body up.

Oh gosh, is it a spider? What if it's a massive spider? What if it's the tiger Widows long lost cousin?!

The figure stops, standing on a ledge. As they move closer, ever so slowly, he sees its face shoot up to look at them.

Jay gasps. "Guys..."

Not even a second later, its- no, his arms start fiddling around in front of him, and one dangles in front of him as a steady stream of orange starts bellowing out from a very familiar flare.

"Guys!"

Jay grinned in delight, jumping back from the parapet and waving his arms to his team.

Three pairs of feet storm over to him, leaning over the parapet similarly to him and staring hopefully at where the lightning ninja pointed. The bounty came to a halt as Nya joined them.

"It's Garmadon! We already found them!" He announces.

He honestly couldn't believe it had taken hardly twenty minutes of searching. He had been expecting to scour every inch of the island, looking for a sign or a clue as to where their leader and his father were, but as luck would have it they had come from the exact direction they needed to go! What were the odds?

And he- and Nya, and Cole- had been so worried they wouldn't find them! Screw being worried, he liked this rare shot at luck!

Nya hurries off to get The Bounty to the cliff, while Cole and Jay celebrate with cheers and high fives and fist bumps. Cole congratulates him for spotting him first, and Jay, as proudly as ever, claims he had never even been worried. Cole scoffs, and they laugh.

No one noticed the silence that seemed to eat at Wu.

After a moment, Jay scrambles to follow Nya to the controls. He practically jumps up te ladder, immediately leaning over the higher parapet towards the cliff, directing his yang to safely hover beside the cliff, just underneath Garmadon.

She smiles at him, eyes full of pride and love and lips curling wide, a happy dimple beside them, and Jay nearly swoons under her gaze. He smile back at her, trying to replicate her own loving gaze.

Their moment is rudely interrupted by a shuddering thud as Garmadon lands against the wood of the deck.

The remaining team scramble toward him, including Jay, who is ready to bombard him with overwhelming and possibly touchy questions.

But before Jay can choke out his mass of questions, he notices something.

The Dark Lords robe- which he swears is different from before- is stained in small, dark splotches on his front, a small puddle that had gathered near his collar bone. It was dry, and sure it resembled a normal stain on dark robes, but no. Jay knew the look of blood against black fabric. He knew it all too well.

He tries to not let the concern creep on to his face as his master steps forward to put a firm, welcoming hand on Garmadons shoulder.

"Brother. It is good to see you safe." Wu smiles at him.

The prior smiles back, a smile that somehow screamed 'I want to hug you' and 'I want to punch you' at the same time. "It is good to see you too, brother."

Nya steps forward, a shooting a demanding yet worried glare at their friends father. "Where is Lloyd?"

Garmadon turns his gase to face her, and a complicated expression crosses him. Something of worry, and frustration, and utter care for his son, yet something else crossed his face at the sight of the water ninja. Something Jay didn't like. He kept his guard up.

"My son is inside the tomb, still. I left him to rest while I came to get you."

Nya jumps to ask the question that was on everyones mind: "Is he hurt?"

The man in front of them- Jay only now realised he was in his Oni form- hesitated to answer. His eyebrow twitched, slightly, and gaze snapped away from the water ninja. After barely a second, he shakes his head. An answer, yes, but something about it felt ingenuine, maybe as if he didn't even know himself. Jay narrows his eyes at the man, letting his suspicion leak onto his face. He scans around at his teams faces, and notices that he is alone in his suspicion. They all looked relieved at the prospect of their friend being safe, and Jay should too, but... it just didn't feel right.

He found the idea strange. Usually, Jay was the last person to have such a reaction. Usually Nya, or Lloyd, or Wu, or even Kai (mostly Kai) would jump to the conclusion that something was wrong. It was never Jay. Jay usually leaped into the idea that everything was happy and fine, spouting jokes and nonsense until everyone either agreed with him or confirmed that something was definitely wrong. Now, it seemed that he was the only one who was suspicious of Garmadon- who had blood stains on his front and was definatly lying about something. He just didn't know what.

He wouldn't hurt his own son, right?

Wu swivels to face his students, his hand retracting from his brothers shoulder as he does. His masters wise eyes meet his own.

"Jay, go with Garmadon to collect Lloyd. Nya, lower the ropes. Cole get some food and water for them; I will prepare a gurney just in case."

The ninja all nod, and run off to complete their assigned tasks with no argument. Except for Jay.

While he resisted the urge to argue and stay behind, he also knew that it would get him nowhere. His masters words were final.

So reluctantly and stiffly, he hurries after the ex-Evil Emperror, who had leapt back to the ledge he had been on before and began clamboring back down the cliff face.

Jay leapt onto the same ledge, following nearly the exact path that Garmadon had taken.

He groaned as he scuffed his hand one too many times against the rough stone. Why can't Cole do this?! He loves rock climbing!

Rock slips from under his foot, and he scrambles to fix his grip on the wall.

No more complaining: Got it.

He glances down, noticing that the ground was significantly closer- maybe 20 feet? Less?- and decided that you know what? Screw it.

He promptly jumped down, harldy giving himself time to regret it as he landed lightly on bent legs, before rolling over his shoulder to break his fall. It didn't work so well, and Jay ended up rolling twice before splatting onto his back, spread out like a starfish. He groans.

A scoff escapes the man next to him, and Jay flinches as he remembers that he was with Garmadon.

Why me, he wallows. He lays for a second longer, oddly relaxed on the dead grass, before he jumps to stand. He glances forward, staring at the former Dark Lord with a look that said what now?

Garmadons brow furrows, and he swiftly beckons with a lower arm for Jay to follow him, past the forest line and into the depth of trees. He shudders.

I hope this isn't some elaborate trap set to kill us, Jay worries. It probably wasn't, seeming as Lloyd wouldn't do that to them, but he worried nonetheless.

Garmadon weaved through the forestry like muscle memory, dodging scary-looking plants and avoiding trees with faces like the plague. At one point, Garmadon froze, looking ahead, and Jay peered around him carefully to see what it was he was staring at. It was a bird, white with a dark and bald face. Its eyes were beady, and as it turned its little head towards them Jay noticed a long wattle hanging from between its eyes. The little bird opened its beak slightly, and Garmadon hurried away with a shudder.

Jay followed exactly after him, stepping in the footprints he left behind, not trusting himself to make his own path. Who know what kind of dangers he could stumble upon. Like that bird, or maybe a giant spider, or even a man eating tree, or-

Jay realises that they're walking on harder ground now, and he scans under his feet before coming to a halt.

Concrete.

He looks up, gazing around at his surroundings in an arc. Tall oriental pillars- or at least what was left of them- filled his sight. They surrounded the semi circle of concrete, coated in thick layers of glassy-red paint that had miraculously survived so long without decaying like the pillars themselves.

On the flat side of the semi circle, the grand front of a tomb sat, hardly disturbed aside from the cracked open door, which was intricate and large and heaving, so large and heavy looking he's surprised someone had been able to open it.

Without realising he stepped forward, feeling a crunch under his foot. He looks down, spotting thick, vine-like plants curling across the ground, rich green in colour and spreading across every surface in sight like a virus. It made him feel nauseous with fear.

Wind whistles eerily through the forest behind them, like screaming cries for help. He shuddered.

Garmadon steps out from the forest as well, walking with long, hurried strides toward the great doors in front of them. He hardly stops to wait.

"You wait here, ninja. I will collect my son." He takes off.

"Woah, woah, woah, heck no!" Jay all but yells, stumbling to follow after Garmadon as he tredges closer to the door. "I'm not waiting out here by myself, it's creepy out here!"

The blue ninja halts in his chase as the other stops walking. The dark lord turns to face him, a complicated look on his face- similar to the one he had made back on the bounty. Something like guilt, almost foreboding. It made him almost reconsider his denial. Almost.

Garmadon sighs, an unusual sound. "Fine, suit yourself. Just-" He looks back to the large gate. "-Do not blame me for what you see."

Jays heart sinks to his stomach at the words. He follows after Garmadon with a nervous chuckle, picking at the skin beside his nails. What does that mean? Did he lie about Lloyd being uninjured? Is Lloyd even in here? Is that why he's acting so suspiciously? What if-

What if Lloyd is-

Jay shakes his head, swiping his palms across his face in an attempt to clear is head. This is fine, everything is fine! Lloyd is fine, Garmadon is fine, he's fine. There was probably nothing wrong with the tomb, too! Maybe it was just really creepy and dark. He just needs to worry less! Spout a spontaneous quip and get back to the others with the green ninja in tow.

So he trudges on, following behind the taller man as they crept through the slim gap in the gate.

Immediately, the world seemed to go black.

Not in an oh-no-he's-passing-out way, more of a oh-no-it's-incredibaly-dark-in-here way.

Shade overwhelmed the two as they crossed further into the tombs walls, a long hallway leading them inside. It's floors were coated with long, thin, winding plants, and as his eyes adjusted he noticed that they were the same plant as he had seen outside. Just... a bit darker. And thinner.

The idea fascinated him.

The plant outside- which he would dub Jonathan- was light in colour, how he assumes the plant was naturally supposed to be, and the vines were thick. It had evolved to the high levels of sunlight on the Dark Island, yet also to the harsh conditions. And the plant inside the tomb- dubbed Jonathen (note the pronunciation difference)- that he was currently stepping on, had dark leaves, almost black in colour, spare for the slight tinge of green that shimmered in the faint streaks of sunlight, and the vine were thinner, almost scrangly as they spread wherever they could touch. It had also evolved, but this time to the darker and calmer environment. Jonathan and Jonathen were two perfect examples of evolving to survive.

He would love to take samples of the two different plants, maybe back to PIXAL so they could study the amazing feat of evolution, but his mind was taken elsewhere as he watched the tangles of vines teeter out, climbing off the floors and onto the walls.

He glanced up, following the lines of plant, when the rectangular end of the hallways made itself known.

Beads- light brown and dark brown, descending in patterns of twos- adorned the doorway, draping over Garmadon as he walked through. Somehow, the nice decoration brang the nerves back to his stomach.

He took a deep breath, parting the curtain.

The room he found himself in was dusty, and almost as rundown as the outside. Eight sections of walls made up the room, each adorned with a door- most of which had collapsed- with flowing beaded curtains. The room was overwhelmingly monotone, the only colour being the sparse plants the lined the walls on the half of the room opposite to them. Pillars stood proudly in every corner, lined floor to ceiling with once beautiful designs that had faded with time, and a similarly intricate stone table sat centred in the octagonal room.

Jays mouth would gape in awe at the ancient temple any other time.

But this time, something else grabbed his attention.

Behind that table, sat a head of pale blonde hair.

"Lloyd!" He gasps, a smile stretching across his face.

Jay all but runs to the centre of the room, leaping over cracked concrete and mounds of dirt to get to his friend, but a faint flash of colour under his foot steals his attention before he can reach his friend.

He glances down without a second thought, and a pit settles in his stomach.

A large, splattered brown stain stretched out underneath him, too large to be an accident, too much splatter and too much everything to be normal. Hand prints lay against the concrete. It's the unmistakable stain of blood.

His head whips up, back to his friend. He hasn't moved.

Before Jay can panic, before he can yell at Garmadon, call him a liar, call him a fraud, the other man speaks up in a calm, rumbling voice. "He is not hurt."

Jay nearly yells bull, but he finds himself frozen. His breath- which he hadn't realised had even picked up- had slowed again. He found his panic subsiding, making way for something not much better: Anxiety.

His eyes shakily turn to glance at the retired Dark Lord, and he finds himself staring at the blood stains on his Gi.

Jay swallows his heart. "Then- then are you?"

Garmadon shakes his head.

The confirmation gives him momentary relief. He's glad his friend isn't hurt, and he's glad that his friends father isn't hurt either, but...

If neither of them were-

"...Whose blood is it?" Jay finds himself speaking aloud, glancing down at the too-large blemish below his feet.

Before Garmadon can even begin to utter an answer- which, Jay is sure he wouldn't have anyways- a quiet, croaky voice speaks up from his right.

"...Jay?"

He gasps, a smile stretching across his face again as he launches himself at his conscious friend. He shouts gibberish of worries and hugs him tightly, kneeling awkwardly beside him. He'd scraped his hand against the table while wrapping his arms around his friend, but he can't find it in him to care at all. Lloyd was alive!

Jay laughs (or sobs, he couldn't tell) and he finally feels hesitant arms reciprocate the embrace, lightly leaning against his back.

Jay finally stops blabbering nonsense of worries, finding his words. "We were so worried about you!" He quickly removes himself from the hug, planting firm hands at the others shoulders and pushing himself away. "You're okay, right? You're definitely not hurt?!"

Lloyd strains a smile at him, his hands dangling uselessly between them. "No, no, I'm fine!" Lloyd reassures him, and Jay believes the words, his rattling nerves calming to just a shiver.

Lloyds hand drags up, and before Jay can dodge it it playfully smacks him in the shoulder. "What took you guys so long?"

Jay groans, exasperated, and digs his palms into his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Oh, you have no idea, man. We caught the guys that did the to you, and we left them at the village, then we left on The Bounty but our comms are broken-"

"The comms are broken?" Lloyd interrupts.

Jay nods. "Yeah- we've been trying to fix them but it hasn't been working so we haven't gotten in touch with Kai, Zane or PIXAL yet- anyways, we had to reroute around the storm belt, and man, we were so scared you were dead the entire time- Nya's been to frustrated with herself, its just-" Jay concludes his ramble another exasperated groan. It really had been a lot for just the past few days. It was weird- just two weeks ago, Jay was relaxing with his parents at the junkyard, tinkering with his dad and just talking with his mom. Then he'd gotten the message from Master Wu, and bam, he's on the Dark Island, collecting his friend who had been stabbed by a mysterious-explorer-guy who had stabbed him with a magical spear that could defy multiple laws of nature to transport an entire human thousands of miles away in a matter of minutes. It was really a lot to take in.

Lloyd just huffs an ingenuine laugh at the rant, "Sounds like I missed a lot."

Jay smiles at him, and when Lloyd smiles back, he notices that the smile didn't quite reach he eyes. Instead, they glared. Jay shoves down the nervous feeling they brought back.

He's just tired, he reasons. And hungry. Probably thirsty, too.

Jay presses a hands against the table beside them, hoisting himself up. He offers a hand to the green ninja, but his offer is slapped away by a maybe-too-harsh-backhand. Jay steps back, allowing the boy space to drag himself up from the floor. He doesn't miss the way Lloyd seems to put less weight on one leg.

He also doesn't miss the fact that the gi on that leg was ripped almost completely vertically, secured together randomly by ripped pieces of black and purple fabrick, and not to mention stained with droplets of splattered blood.

Jay freezes, and as he takes in the sight of his friend, the state he was in, he almost had to cover his mouth.

His gi was basically scrap in some places, littered with little to large rips and tears, one large tear stretching from the bottom of his ribs and across his abdomen that exposed his skin, which was strangely uninjured. Blood, brown and crusted with time, stained the edges of the fabric wound in mass, looking as if it had poured out and down his stomach, down his legs. Similar stains coated the brim of his collar in light droplets, teetering down his front. Dirt covered him like rust, his hair almost wet with grease. His wrecked green Gi had been partially covered black outer robes, and Lloyd pulled the edges over his figure before Jay could stare at his messy state any longer, securing the robe in place with a fabric belt.

Jay swivels his head to glance at Garmadon, who, in comparison to his son, looked absolutely fine. Nothing but a touch of dirt and a small stain of blood soiled his figure.

His gaze returned to his friends, and he finds him staring cautiously at the other. He picks his words as carefully as he can.

"...What happened here?" A pause. "What happened to you?" He adds. He gestures his hands at Lloyds stomach, as if pointing out his injured gi, and to the floor at his left, that was dirtied with a strangers (?) blood. Jay swallowed hard, awaiting a response as he stared at his friend expectantly, almost nervously.

Scratch that, very nervously.

The world seemed to go silent after he dared to utter the question. The gentle breeze he'd once heard outside was now as stagnant as the tombs air, and the distant hum of The Bountys engine seemed impossibly far away. The flecks of gravel and dust under his foot crunched loudly as he shuffled, uncomfortable at the cold stare Lloyd was sending him. A gaze that one would have if they had something to say, maybe a secret, or something important, but they'd been told not to.

It was so unlike his friend- the prophesied green ninja- to act like this. Whatever this was. He seemed like a different person, almost. Jay shivered, reminded of when the younger had been possessed. But no, this wasn't that. This was... something.

He connects their gazes, connecting their eye contact, but Lloyd quickly breaks it, staring intently- and somewhat longingly?- at a space behind Jay.

After what felt like hours, he followed Lloyds stare, glancing over his shoulder to take in the sight. His mouth goes dry.

The wall is cracked. Fresh rubble lined the floor below it, adorned with an equally weathered yet unmistakable colour. The blood lined the rubble like jewellery, splattering on the wall in a thin arch that resembled a halo. A small puddle lay on the floor infront of the mess.

There was no denying it.

This was a murder scene.

An outward gasp escaped his mouth, huffing out as he clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to beat down the sick feeling dragging from his stomach to his throat: Nausea. He swallows it deeply.

Someone died here.

If he could see his face at that moment, the sickening moment of realisation, he's sure he would look terrified.

Jay almost hesitates to turn back to his friend, but he does anyways, one hand clutching firmly at his mouth, the other at his bicep, holding it in place as he faced his fears.

Lloyd just stared at him, almost over his brow, another complicated expression adorning his face that reminded him so bitterly of Garmadon. He looked almost conflicted, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes far away, still fixed directly on Jay. He looks lost in thought. Lost in a conversation Jay couldn't hear.

Before Jay can come to a realisation, or jump to possible conclusions, Lloyd speaks, his voice firm like that of a leader. "We should go."

The blonde boy leaves to the door before Jay can even throw accusations, his father standing by and waiting readily for their swift escape. It's so swift, Jay can hardly catch up before the two are at the edge of the temple, where decade-old concrete harshly gave way to forestry.

He jogged after, not wishing to be left behind in a place he swore smelt faintly of copper and rot.

He clambers over two fresh rectangles of dirt.

The father and son were moving too quick for his liking, and much to Jays dismay, too quick for someone innocent. He couldn't assume the worst, but... it was hard not to.

Jay felt his breathing was still heavy, so he slowed himself down, careful to keep the two incriminating figures just within his sight as he slowed his heart.

They traverse the forest in dead silence, uncomfortable yet welcomed. Jay tried his hardest to not think about it, tried to distract his mind on the task of staying to the path carved out by his masters brother- which, he noticed, was the exact path they had taken on the way in. How the man remembered it amazed him.

Soon enough- after dodging too many little white birds- the sun starts to peak through the canopies once more, and the trees teetered out until they were standing on an empty knoll. Two rope ladders dangled on the rolling grass, swaying slightly with the movement of the Bounty far above them. Jay glanced up, grateful for the mere presence of his friends, grateful he was technically no longer alone the the father and son.

He sighed, long, quiet and airy.

He couldn't keep his mind off of it any longer. Something was wrong with the two. Very wrong. And whether they liked it or not, he needed to know what- heck, the whole team did. Whatever it was that had happened to make them act like this- dodgy, quiet, almost cold and calculating- was serious. Master Wu, at least, needed to know.

Garmadon was quick to snatch a ladder, glancing forward and shaking his head slightly at his son with a furrowed brow. He muttered something, but Jay was too far to hear. Lloyd scowled, an unfamiliar expression on the green ninjas face, whispering something angrily back. His father hurried up the ladder as he saw the blue ninja step closer.

They stand under the bounty, away from sight.

Lloyd held onto the rung of the other ladder in front of him, not making any move to climb up. Jay moved hesitantly to the bottom of the ladder that Garmadon had used. Before he could make it, he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He flinched. It was cold as ice, not anything like Lloyds usually warm hands, and as Jay turned to face his brother in arms his stare matched.

"You tell no one about what you saw, okay?"

He felt his breath grow shallow, that tight, sour feeling in his throat building up once more.

"..Lloyd?"

"Okay?" The hand at his shoulder squeezes tighter, quirking his eyebrows as he spoke. He looked down at the blue ninja menacingly, and Jay could hardly recognise his friend under the ominous mask that seemed to paint over his familiarly friendly face.

Jay tries to step back, but Lloyd holds him in place effortlessly.

He thinks back to the tomb as he stares at his friend, to the bloodied floors and the scene that screamed murder. He pieces it together.

"Lloyd, what did you do?" His voice verges on shaking, but he holds it even. He has to be assertive.

Lloyd seems to falter, his grip lessening and face twitching into something more familiar. His eyes lose their glare, and his eyebrows unfurrow just a little. A small change, a change that Jay would cling to. He found his confidence, interrupting Lloyd as he tried to spit denial.

"If you did something, then I have to tell the team, because what I saw back there was-" His breath hitches in his throat as his sentence is cut off by a crushing grip at his shoulder. His found confidence shatters. The hand grows so unatrually cold he's afraid he'll get frostbite, and as he tries to pries the wrist of the other boy away, his shoulder and palm are met with a metallic sting.

He flinches aggressively, crying out in pain as the feeling seems to sink deep into his flesh, tackling his arm and shoulder muscles as they spasmed and tightened, almost like being electrocuted.

Lloyd is using his power on me, he realises. He shuts his eyes tightly, desperately trying to back away from the other , but Lloyd holds him in place still, not allowing him to so much as step out from underneath the bounty. Where the others can see us, he realises once more.

Throbbing pain continues to attack his shoulder and arm like glass, and as Jay opens his eyes- expecting the shining glow of energetic green- he's met with cold purple.

His heart shudders in utter fear.

It melted out from the others hand like gas, thrumming around them in particles like sand. Jays fearful gaze met the others, and his temporary falt seemed to be just that- temporary. Though instead of scarily angry, with a face full of desperate fury, he bore a fairly calm expression. His eyes beemed with a similarly purple glow, but they looked fake, as if they had been painted on to him. Still, his calm face was betrayed by the raw emotion from his eyes: Anger, frustration, fear, and desperation. He looked as if he was ready to stop arguing with someone.

The expression seemed to finally set the situation in stone for Jay.

He's not asking me to keep the secret.

He's telling me.

He makes his decision. "I won't."

"You won't what?" Lloyd quickly squeezes his shoulder, encouraging him to continue.

"I won't tell them anything."

Lloyd just nods. The purple- no, Oni power dissipating as he lightened his grip.

He removed it fully, swiftly avoiding the others quiet gaze as he hurried up the ladder. Jay doesn't miss the way he seems to glare at the gaping cliff face beside them.

He holds his breath and watches as Lloyd clambers carefully yet quickly up the rope ladder, skipping rungs with long reaches. He watches until his neck strains from staring up, until he sees the green ninja teeter out of his vision completely.

Only when he's certain he's gone does he breath, in quick, deep bursts. A shaking hand reaches up to press against his heart, feeling it pelt against his ribs like a hammer. His hands were cold against his chest, yet in comparison to Lloyds they felt hot.

I won't tell them anything... He repeats it in his mind, hand pressed tight against his heat as he forced himself to breath calmly.

"I won't tell them anything" my butt! There was no way he wouldn't!

He huffed incredulously, ripping his hand away to lean false-laxely against his hips. He paces in quick, small lines, mumbling over his situation. "He just threatened me, right? So even if I promise not to tell them what I saw, I never promised not to tell them about that!"

He groans, loud and quick as he places two palms on a low rung of the rope ladder.

Not like I plan on keeping that promise.

As he gripped the rungs, preparing to pull himself up the ladder- quick as possible, his team was starting to yell down at him- he heard the sharp sound of snapping from his right.

The telltale feeling of lightning builds up in his palms like instinct, a second nature, and his neck cracks as he whips to stare at the forest, frozen as he stared around for the source of the noise.

Barely a second passed before an elderly man stepped out from the forestry, mostache grey and untidy, tan clothing soiled by scratches, leaves and dirt. He wobbled out from the tree line, tripped on a veiny vines and paused.

Jay calmed the electricity that buzzed at his finger tips, facing the oddly familiar man in a ready stance.

The man opened his mouth shakily, "You wouldn't happen to be one of the ninja, would you?" His accent is posh, and his voice aged, yet he spoke with an air of confidence despite his ragged and frankly injured state.

Jay nodded without hesitation, deciding almost immediately that this man was no threat. He brought his arms to his side, slowly stepping towards the man, who once again opened his mouth to speak.

"Ah, jolly good..." His body swayed slightly to the left. From a distance, Jay could see the mans eyes roll into the back of his head as he collapsed forward, arms trapped underneath his torso as it lay crumpled on the ground, exhausted.

He blinked at the man who had promptly passed out.

"Uh, guys?" He yells, "We're gonna need a gurney."

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