How to Train Your Dragonblood

A Close Encounter

Cliff grunted as he helped a few soldiers restrain a small group of earth dragons in a large net. The net, like most of Ninjago's other weapons, was made mostly of vengestone. Vengestone was a mysterious substance that could disable Elemental Powers, making it a very effective containment measure and weapon against Dragonbloods. The net also prevented the dragonbloods from transforming into their human form. As they properly secured the beasts, a shrill cry suddenly sounded from the hill and caught Cliff's attention.

He turned to see a nature dragon chasing Jay, and with an annoyed sigh, got up to go help the teen yet again.

"DO NOT let them escape!" He warned before running after the dragon and Jay. Jay quickly ran behind a nearby torch pole and hid, just as a sudden burst of sharp, knife-like leaves reached around the corner. Once it had stopped, the ginger-haired teen looked behind it and on the other side. He was completely unaware of the nature dragon crawling around the other side of the torch to get to Jay. Before it could strike, Cliff punched the beast and jumped back to defend himself.

As Jay rushed to safety, the large dragon tried to breathe out another leafy blast at Cliff, but could only cough up only a few tiny, amber leaves.

It had exhausted its shots. Sensing its impending defeat, the nature dragon quickly flew away into the night. Jay let out a loud sigh of relief, finally feeling safe again, and wanted to tell Cliff about the fire dragon he'd shot down. Before either Cliff or Jay could say anything, however, the torch pole Jay had hidden behind suddenly collapsed. Both men could only watch in silence as the torch tumbled down into the village, leaving a trail of ruins in its wake.

The torch rolled onto the earth dragons Cliff had netted earlier, freeing them.

The rest of the dragonbloods manage to escape, hauling off most of Ninjago's food and livestock. Jay gulped nervously as everyone glared at him and he slowly turned to Cliff.

"Sorry, Dad, but I did hit a Fire Dragonblood." He said but Cliff simply grabbed Jay by the back of his shirt and dragged him towards their house. "It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot and it went down, just off Raven Point, let's get a search party out there, before it-"

"STOP!" Cliff suddenly shouted. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows! Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?!"

"I can't stop myself!" He argued. "I see a dragonblood and I have to just... kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad!"

"You are many things, Jay, but a dragonblood killer is not one of them, now get back to the house." He ordered and turned to Ed and Edna, who both flinched under his stern gaze. "Make sure he gets there, I have his mess to clean up." He glared at his son as the older couple stepped forward and led the teen home while Cliff walked away in the other direction. As they walked back to the house, a few villagers glared at Jay, but he kept his head down.

"Quite the performance." Ronin laughed.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly, that helped!" Plundar added with a smug smirk, rubbing it in Jay's face, as usual.

"Thank you, thank you, I was really trying." He replied sarcastically, refusing to meet anyone's harsh gaze. The gang never missed an opportunity to humiliate the ginger teen and no one tried to stop them, not even Jay's own father. All three of them kept walking until they were at the front door of Jay and Cliff's house, away from the glaring crowd as they went about their way again. By now the morning sun was poking over the horizon, casting a dim, orange glow over Ninjago.