The pup had finally returned home. His owner had left him in a shelter until he came back from his trip with his friends. He bounded over to his owner and yipped at him. The middle aged man smiled at the golden retriever puppy and picked him up. The pup licked his face and wagged his tail. "Did you miss me boy?" He replied with a happy bark. The man set him back down onto the floor and walked off to see his wife. "Misako? I'm home!" But she didn't reply. Garmadon searched through the entire house and saw no sign of his wife. He walked back into the kitchen where his little puppy sat, looking up at him with big green eyes. He wagged his tail until he noticed the concerned look on his owner's face. He stopped wagging and whined. The man looked down at the pup and sat next to him. "Do you know where she went Lloyd?" Lloyd tilted his head, she said that she would be back but she didn't say where, like she normally does. Garmadon sighed and looked around the room, when he noticed a note on the fridge. He walked over to it and took it off the fridge. He read over the note, and growled to himself. He dropped it on the floor and walked off to his room. Lloyd stepped towards the note but realised that he couldn't read. He sighed to himself and tried to follow his owner. But was stopped when he saw him dressed up in his hunting clothes. "Hey boy, you ready to go hunting for the first time?" Lloyd knew that his owner went hunting and enjoyed it, but he, himself had never been hunting and never knew what it actually entailed. He thought it was a good thing and barked a yes at him. "That's a good boy. Let's go." The man picked up his guns and walked around the back and got his horse, he quickly saddled up and called his friends, Chen and Clouse. He waited and they finally showed up on their own horses, in their hunting clothes. They rode off and Lloyd followed after them. They arrived at a forest, not too far away from their cottage. Lloyd looked around, curiously, taking in everything, while also listening to what the hunters were saying. "I can't believe she left, just because of what I do. She's had no problem with it before, so why now?" "I don't know, just forget about it and enjoy yourself. Now lets catch some animals!" They sped off and Lloyd had to sprint to catch up. They finally came to a clearing where they saw a group of rabbits eating leaves. Garmadon whispered to Lloyd, "Are you ready boy? All you have to do is catch one in your mouth and bring it back to us. Now be quiet, and go." Lloyd looked across the field and saw a small group of young bunnies. He hid in the bushes and quietly approached them. He also took in the fact that there was a small bunny with adult rabbits next to them. He chose to approach them instead. He wasn't too far behind them when he accidently stood on a stick and snapped it. The rabbits' ears stood straight and looked towards him. Lloyd quickly ducked under the bush and no one saw him, they went back to what they were doing but further away from the bushes. The small bunny though, stayed near the bush. In fact he approached the exact bush that Lloyd was hiding under. He crawled under it too and came face to face with Lloyd. He screamed in fear and tried to run away, but Lloyd stopped him by pinning him to the floor. The bunny struggled under him and cried for help. "No no no. Please be quiet. Just let me take you back and you'll be ok." The bunny looked up at Lloyd with fear in his sky blue eyes. Lloyd was confused as to why he was so scared. "Why are you so scared?" The fear suddenly became confusion. "Y-You mean your n-not going to k-kill me?" Now it was Lloyd's turn to become confused, "Of course not! Why would I?" "I just...I thought that you were a hunter's dog." "Well, my owner is a hunter, but I don't know how to hunt. Um... What do hunters do?" The bunny looked down at the floor. "They...kill animals, for fun... they normally kill rabbits and foxes, but they can kill big animals or flying animals." There was an awkward silence between them. "Um, can you get off me?" "Oh... sure!" Lloyd quickly jumped off of the bunny, "Sorry about that. I..." "It's ok, would you like to be friends?" "Uh, Ok! I'm Lloyd. " "Jay." The two of them sat together in the bush and spoke for a few minutes until they heard gunshots and screams from the rabbits. They poked their heads out and saw Garmadon, Chen and Clouse firing at the rabbits, and hitting them almost every time. Jay hid back in the bush. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, as he watched his kind being murdered. Lloyd joined him and hugged him. "Don't worry I'll protect you." "How? How can you protect me from your owner? My family are out there... Oh. Oh no. Mom! Dad! I have to save them." Before Lloyd could stop him, Jay ran out into the field and scanned for his parents. He spotted them running deeper into the forest and let out a sigh of relief. "Jay! Watch out!" A shadow blocked him from the sunlight, Jay looked up and saw Garmadon aiming a gun at him. His ears drooped as he realised that there was no escape. Lloyd watched on from the bush. A feeling of dread washed over him. Suddenly a loud roar echoed through the field and a bear came charging in. It tackled Garmadon to the ground. A fox and a falcon came charging in too. They both approached Jay and Lloyd began panicking. He wanted to jump out and protect him but he didn't want to be seen by the hunters. Clouse aimed his rifle at the bear but he just knocked it out of his hands, Chen came up behind him with a spear and attempted to stab the bear but the fox bit his ankle and he dropped it. The three humans barely made it to their horses, but they escaped, leaving behind a field of dead rabbits. The bird wrapped his wings around Jay, in a hug. The bear and fox joined them and Jay snuggled into the three of them. Lloyd came out from his hiding place and the group hug dispersed. The three animals stood in front of him protectively. "Guys, calm down. He's a friend." The three of them watched as Jay approached Lloyd. "Guys, this is Lloyd. And Lloyd, this is Kai," He motioned towards the fox, "Cole," he motioned to the bear, "And Zane." he motioned towards the falcon. Zane gave a small wave with his wing, Kai smiled at him and Cole didn't seem to react. "If he's your friend Jay, then why didn't he help you?" "Uh, well... you see..." "I couldn't be seen by the hunters or else they would take me back." "Take you back?!?" Kai, Zane and Cole looked completely shocked. "You mean to tell us that you're a hunting dog?" The three of them backed away from Lloyd. They tried to make Jay retreat with them but he stood his ground. "No! I've never wanted to hurt anyone and I haven't. That's why I hid because I don't want to go back. I don't want to kill!" Jay gave him a hug to help him calm down. The other three animals felt guilty for making him feel this way. They stood there awkwardly, waiting for Lloyd to calm down. "Sorry... I just..." "Its ok, if you want you can stay with us!" "I'd like that. Thanks." "Not to burst your bubble but I think it's safer to come back to our place. Those hunters might come back and find you two. Let's go to Zane's hideout. You can meet Nya too." Jay was going to look around the field to see how much damage was done but the others blocked his view so he couldn't see the now red field. Cole picked him up and placed him on his back, then walked towards their hideout. Kai, Lloyd and Zane walked together, sharing their stories and making jokes. Everything seemed fine for the five new friends as they were unaware of the threat that watched over them.
