[ for some special context, please read this note].

[Staynes is pronounced stay-niss, while Stayness is pronounced stay-ness]

[This is kind of important to remember]

Enjoy!

-

Sometimes, Lloyd thinks back to all of his and Harumi's adventures. Or, adventure isn't the word for it. The time he spent with her didn't feel like an adventure, more like a stunt, or an act. It was all for a greater purpose, something bigger than the two of them.

Yes, stunt was a better word.

Sometimes, Lloyd can't help but think of all their little stunts. Like when they first met, they fed the homeless and misfortunate, not before Lloyd accidentally called her a slob. That was funny.

Or, the time they fell out of the sky in the samurai-X mech. Lloyd had shoved her into the cockpit, while he floated down with a blanket.

And the time the rebellion kidnapped her and tied her to a chair in a warehouse? It wasn't that funny, especially not for Harumi, but desperate times had called for desperate measures.

In fact, now that he was really wracking his brain, he'd noticed that the bad significantly outweighed the good. In fact, Harumi had trapped and kidnapped him more times than she'd helped him. A strange comparison.

Lloyd clicks the buckles on his boots. His shoes had three buckles on each, covering a metal zip. It was necessary to keep the boots on during combat, but still incredibly annoying to put on.

Then he promptly sits back down.

If I go out there, I'll have to talk to Master Wu! Lloyd internally panics. He buries his head in his hands, groaning, frustrated.

It'll be so awkward! I disobeyed him, how will we go back to normal?

He shoots up from his bead, wobbling in the vertigo for just a second, before he paces the room in thought. He mostly circles the table.

Lloyd knows he can't avoid confrontation with his Master for long, but he can darn well try.

Knock knock!

A knocking at the door pulls Lloyd from his pacing. He prays that it's not his uncle behind that door.

He nervously steps toward the door, each step feeling heavier and heavier.

A patient voice calls to him on the other side.

He sighs a breath of relief.

"Lloyd?"

It's his father.

He opens the door swiftly, with a small smile on his face. Knowing now that his father was on his side, Lloyd was at ease.

"Yeah?"

"Wu is calling a meeting in the hull, something about a plan?" Garmadon shuffles and clears his throat. "He, uh, sent me to get you."

Lloyds sighs a breath of 'spoke too soon'.

He mimics his father's shuffle. Just as he was thinking he was in the all-clear, he's summoned to a meeting. Lloyd is starting to feel more and more unlucky every day. The cloud kingdom must hate him.

With a huff, he nods at his father. "Okay, let's go."

Garmadon swivels to exit the doorway and quickly makes his way down the hallway. Not wanting to walk alone, Lloyd matches his speed. They pass a few doors before they reach the stairs, quietly stepping up them.

Lloyd tries not to let his nerves get to him, but sometimes nerves can be overwhelming.

One part of Lloyd knows he shouldn't be this nervous. It was a full team meeting, his friends would be there, Wu wouldn't tell him off in front of his friends, would he?

The other part of Lloyd knows he should be. Wu isn't just his master, he's a master to all of them, he'd jump to make an example out of his prized student.

When they reach the door of the hull, a shaky breath escapes him. His father lets him past, and he grabs the door handle with a gloved hand.

Just open the door. You can't avoid this, just get it over and done with.

A sharp breath in, and the door is open.

A bearded lip smiles at him.

"Now that everyone is here, why don't you tell me the plan?" Wu turns to face Kai, who was standing laxly by the screen. Kai nods at their master.

"Okay, so PIXAL told us about a spear that was stolen from a village on the southeast side of ninjago." Zane pulls up an image on the screen. It's the map from that morning, as well as the photo of the statue holding the spear.

Kai continues. "The spear supposedly has the power to banish people to the Dark Island, and we have no idea who stole it."

Wu nods in thought.

Lloyd almost has his second dose of vertigo that day.

Wu was so impatient that he'd started the meeting the second he walked in the door. He hadn't even closed it yet!

Lloyd didn't take that long to get here, did he?

Why would Wu be so impatient?

Garmadon walks into the room after Lloyd, having heard the breakdown. He gently nudges past his son before he takes a long, focused look at the photograph.

Wu stands beside his brother. "You don't think it's the same spear, do you?"

Garmadon just sighs. "It seems to be, Brother."

"You know of the spear?" Zane leans toward the former dark lord. "I can't find anything about it in my database."

Wu sighs, placing a placid hand on his brother's shoulder. "Tell them what you know, Brother."

Garmadon huffs a little bit. Lloyd assumes he finds it ironic. After a second he relents and turns to face the rest of the ninjas. He leans back on the control board- careful not to hit any buttons again -and folds his hands on his lap.

Lloyd has a feeling he has quite a bit to explain.

"A long time ago, when Wu and I were just children, our father had a spear. It was completely powerless, but what made this spear special was how it was made." He takes a pause for dramatic effect, and Lloyd must admit, it was very dramatic. He was on the edge of his metaphorical seat. "He forged the spear from a special kind of gold, only found on the Dark Island. He couldn't manage to forge it in the Temple of Light, so he built a second tomb specially for the forging of the spear; the tomb of concentration."

Jay gasps a little, and Garmadon can't hide the way he smirks, proud of his storytelling skills.

"Once the spear was successfully forged, he used it in many battles. Small battles, might I remind you. He continued using this spear for years and years, all the while the spear was growing more and more powerful."

"One day, long since Aspheera was defeated, he struck a criminal with the spear, and he completely vanished. Out of fear that he created a dangerous weapon, he returned to the Tomb of Concentration to lock the weapon away. There, he discovered the criminal near death inside the tomb, and he realized the power of his weapon: It could banish whoever it struck to its birthplace."

Woahs echoed throughout the hull, as if they didn't already know the power of the spear. Lloyd had questions.

"If the first spinjitsu master locked the spear away in the tomb, then how did that village get ahold of it?"

Garmadon glances at him from the corner of his eye. "I was just getting to that part, son." He says so patiently, unpatronizing.

He leans off of the control panel, a sign that the story was nearly finished. "My father did not end up locking the spear away. He decided that it was too dangerous to risk it being found, so he instructed his close friend, Stayness, to destroy the spear in Torch Fire Mountain."

This time, Wu speaks. "She clearly did not do her job."

Garmadon agrees with him with a shake of his head.

Zane furrows his eyebrows as he takes in the information. "So, this 'Stayness' person got ahold of the spear, and hid it in a town called 'Staynes'?"

Wu answers, "I've never heard of the town before today, so it seems she founded a town to hide the weapon in."

Lloyd sighs.

All this information was going to give him a headache.

Oh, woe is me, woe is me- get over yourself.

Cole shifts his balance from one foot to the other, crossing his arms. "Wait, so the spear is a relic of the First Spinjitsu Master?"

Wu and Garmadon simultaneously answer yes. Lloyd hides his chuckle.

"We've dealt with creepy relics before," He pats a hand on Cole's shoulder, who jumps a little at the contact. "We can deal with this one."

"Yeah, like-" Jay starts listing creepy relics on his fingers. "- the golden weapons, the scroll of forbidden spinjitsu, the Oni masks, the teapot of Tyrahn-"

Kai jumps in. "The tea-what now?"

"Oh!" Nya leans on Jay's shoulder nervously, "Don't forget the realm crystal!"

"Yeah!" Jay leans back on her, nearly causing them to stumble. "That one was pretty dangerous!"

Lloyd scratches his head with a defeated sigh. What were those two up to?

Cole sighs as well, seeming to quickly give up.

"Okay, but what would Ronin do with the... uh, does the spear have a name?"

"The Spear of Concentration." Wu deadpans.

"Oh. So, what would Ronin do with the Spear of Concentration?"

Lloyd goes back to that morning, when they had placed bets on who they thought stole the spear. Lloyd knew Ronin, and he knew that he wouldn't use a spear like that. Sell it, maybe, but not use it. He wasn't evil.

"Nothing." It's Zane again. "Ronin is currently imprisoned in Cryptarium for destruction of private property."

Lloyd snorts. Looks like Kai and Nya owe the rest of the team 20 bucks.

Nya glares at him before moving on. "If Ronin isn't the thief, then it must be Clutch, right?"

"Also no." It's Zane once more. "Last I heard, Clutch is currently part of an excursion to gather venom from a giant spider in southern Ninjago."

Lloyd huffs. Looks like Cole won the bet. Dangit.

Jay, despite himself, jumps in again. "Why would the explorers club need Tiger Widow venom?"

"Tiger what now?"

The entire team looks to Jay, confused. Even Garmadon looks baffled.

Why did Jay know about so many things the others don't?

Zane seems most surprised about this. "How did you know about the Tiger Widow, Jay?"

He hesitates to respond, stuttering a bit before Nya jumps to answer for him.

"Lucky guess!"

"Yeah, Lucky guess!"

"Anyways," Nya smoothly changes the subject. "If it's not Ronin or Clutch, then who could it be?"

Instead of pondering why Jay and Nya had been acting strange, Lloyd considers the question. Who could it be? Who stole the Spear of Concentration?

There were many people on his list of suspects. The team had come across hundreds of people in their time being ninjas, like the serpentine, for example. But they had made peace, so there was no reason for them to steal the Spear and start another war.

Actually, now that he thought of it, there were few of their enemies left un-imprisoned or defeated.

Lloyd could only think of one person who was still out there, who they hadn't yet defeated.

He quickly disbands the thoughts.

Wu helps distract him.

"The possibilities of who stole the spear are practically endless. Only time will tell." Wu turns to walk to the door, carefully avoiding Lloyd. "In the meantime, you ninja should rest. Garmadon and I will prepare the bounty for travel."

"I will also help." PIXAL follows after Wu.

"Thank you, PIXAL."

The three walk out of the hull, leaving the rest of the ninjas to bathe in the realization that their ninja master had just ordered them to sleep.

Lloyd bathes in a second realization: Wu acted completely normal throughout the whole meeting. He barely acknowledged his nephew's existence, much less confront him about his terrible behavior the day before.

And to be frank, it pissed him off.

Lloyd had worried so deeply that things would never be the same between him and Wu, only for Wu to act like a petty teenager and ignore him! His master was supposed to be wise and all-knowing, why was he acting like this?

He's truly going senile.

He feels a bitter scowl travel onto his face.

He quickly wipes it off before his friends see.

Suddenly, said friends are talking, and Lloyd wonders if they'd actually been talking all the while.

"-Don't know about you guys, but I am definitely catching those z's." It's Nya. She's leaning against the door handle, preparing to leave.

"Oh, absolutely. I'm still tired from my trip." That time, it's Cole. He rolls his shoulders a little, exaggerating his exhaustion.

Lloyd joins in.

"Me too."

The team looks at him in subtle surprise. Lloyd glances back in confusion, an eyebrow quirked.

"What?"

"That's like- the first thing you've said all day, Lloyd." Kai leans toward him, an attempt at empathizing. "Are you feeling okay?"

Jay nods. "Yeah, it's not like you to be this quiet."

Lloyd is surprised they noticed his emotional absence. He feels a happy little warmth inside him knowing his friends care.

"I'm fine, guys." Despite that, he still lies. They have no reason to care, there was nothing really wrong, nothing he couldn't deal with alone.

Nya catches his eye. She frowns, and he knows she doesn't believe him.

"You promise you'll tell us if something is wrong?" But she's his best friend. She'll play along.

Lloyd can't help but lie again. "I promise."

She knows it.

The rest of the team seem to believe him.

Cole, ever the team player, moves them along.

"Anybody wanna race to the bunk room?"

Their reactions are simultaneous. Nya trudges the door open, bucking it down the stairs. They all follow, Jay screaming after them.

Lloyd, despite his inner turmoil, is a very competitive person. How could he pass up an opportunity to race?

Up ahead of him, he hears a loud thud, followed by a protesting yell from Kai. Nya cheers right after, having reached the bunk room first.

Kai stumbles in after, immediately followed by Lloyd.

"No fair! You shoved me!" Kai shoves an accusatory finger in his sister's face. Nya smiles proudly.

"All is fair in war, Kai." Lloyd shrugs, a proud third-place smile on his face.

Zane waltzes into the room, dusting off his hands with a satisfied grin. Cole and Jay slide and tumble down the hallway, past the bunk room, and into the wall.

They all decidedly ignore their sliding.

"You're just saying that 'cause you didn't get shoved!"

Cole stumbles in the door, shivering, dragging a defeated Jay behind him.

"I think you're just mad you lost," Jay says, still on the floor.

Kai protests. "Says the guy who came last!"

"I lost on purpose so you guys could beat me."

Cole tugs him up from the ground, sparing a glance at the icy hallway. "Yeah, sure buddy."

Jay shrugs, not even acknowledging that he was now standing. "It's called being a good friend."

Zane also glances at the hallway. "I don't think you lost on purpose."

Lloyd chuckles, crossing his arms. "Just admit it, you're slow."

"I'm not!" The lightning ninja flails his arms around in protest. "I'm just tired!"

"So you didn't lose on purpose, you lost because you're tired?" Nya catches his white lie.

"Arghh, you're twisting my words! I'm going to sleep!" He shoves past his teammates, thudding onto his bed, still in his Gi.

Lloyd sighs. "Great idea." He copies his actions, thudding onto his bed, also still in his Gi.

Even though the beds on the bounty were far from comfortable, right then, it felt like heaven. A soft, blankety, clean heaven.

He closes his eyes quickly, exhaustion taking over him.

He faintly hears the rest of the team do the same thing, spare for Kai.

"I'm gonna go get changed before I sleep, unlike you heathens." Lloyd hears his footsteps grow fainter, not before he hears him yell a curse, followed by a thud.

Zane chuckles.

Lloyd finds it funny, but he can't find the energy to laugh.

He's so tired, he could just...

Fall asleep...

-

-