Ninjago: Where Heroes Come From

Chapter Sixteen: Never Trust a Snake

Lloyd had been dropped off on the shore of Ninjago, beside a mountain upon which sat a small tea shop. He wasn't interested in the shop, however, as what sat at the base of the mountain meant far more to him: the Bounty was still there.

Garmadon had left him there, not stopping to say an elongated goodbye, but instead had merely waved vaguely, almost tiredly, and then began rowing away to some unknown destination, looking pointedly away from his son. Lloyd had watched him go, hot tears prickling in the corners of his eyes, wishing suddenly and irrationally that he had begged his father to stay, or that he'd hugged him even tighter when he first saved him in that forest. But as his four-armed father grew smaller and smaller, as he melted into nothing more than a dot on the horizon, he forced himself to numb those feelings, to stuff them back down his throat and stitch closed the wound in his ever-bleeding heart. He was lucky, really. His father had saved him. He was going back to Wu, the ninja, his sister. He should be happy.

And he was happy, up until he stepped up to the gangplank— lowered, perhaps, in his anticipation for his arrival? though perhaps this was too much to hope for— and realized just how afraid he was. Would Wu even want to see him, after he'd been rescued in exchange for humanities last chance for salvation from the Devouror? Wu hadn't, after all, gone to save him himself— he'd been clever and logical, where his brother had lied and betrayed him. Lloyd may not have had a hand in this, but he had certainly been a part of the betrayal.

Before Lloyd could conclude the moral quandary in his mind, there came a joyful cry from above, and down the gangplank a blur of gold and white came flying, smashing into Lloyd with all the force of a cougar pounding down on its unsuspecting prey. He staggered back, managing to throw his arms around his sister as she hugged him, screaming shrilly into his ear.

"You're alive!" She screamed, pulling away from him to get a good look at his face. "Did they hurt you? By the Dragon, if they did... I missed you so much!"

"I'm fine," Lloyd laughed, "I missed you too— but Lexi, it's been a day!"

"That's too long," she said stiffly, "I was lonely."

Before Lloyd could reply to this, from behind Lexi the ninja came running. "Lloyd!" Kai exclaimed, and Lexi wisely stepped out of the way as he barrelled into Lloyd and picked him up around the waist. Lloyd let out an involuntary grunt as Kai lifted him into the air and swung him from side to side.

"Welcome back," Zane said, and Lloyd was thankful for the much less violent method of greeting.

"You're okay, aren't you?" Nya asked anxiously, and Lloyd might have been more touched had the smouldering intensity in her eyes not suggested she was almost hoping she said yes so she had an excuse to pummel the serpentine. He nodded, and the ninja all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Where's my uncle?" Lloyd asked, as Kai set him down. The ninja exchanged awkward glances, and Lloyd got the distinct impression he had missed a lot during his brief absence. "He's... sleeping," Nya said carefully, "there's... a lot you have to catch up on."

Once they had all boarded the ship and were seated around the dinner table as Zane passed our mugs of hot chocolate, the ninja began explaining what had happened when Lloyd had been kidnapped. He listened with wide eyes and a pounding heart as they recalled the tale of having brought Garmadon back from Onuka, sailed to the Volcano of Ash to retrieve the fang blade, and then bringing it to Mystake to have it destroyed, only to have Garmadon betray them by stealing it at the last second. Lloyd noted that Lexi and Kai kept sending each other surreptitious glances whenever Wu's plan was mentioned, and he wondered if they'd fought to save Lloyd rather than find the  blade.

"So my dad... stabbed Wu?" Lloyd asked as Jay closed off the story. "He's okay, though— right?"

"Yes," Jay said kindly, "he's fine. He should wake up soon, and then we'll be on our way— we've decided to head to Dankstone Cove, where the Fangpyre are entombed. With any luck, we'll get there before Pythor does, and maybe we can snag a fang blade or two."