Holy shoot everyone. This chapter clocks in at 9533 words- the longest one yet. Thanks for sticking with this story! I'm working on my senior thesis rn so updates will be scarce until that's done.

Watcher321: Thank you! And I tried to work her in without it being immediately obvious, so that's a good thing!

Kriber the Aster: AAAAAAh!

SunSilver: Thank you so much! And thanks for taking the time to read and review my other works :D Jay's nubs are a leftover side-effect from his power boost, when he was transforming into a dragon due to the fangpyre bite. They're the stumps of his wings that were never fully removed.

SunShine282: Skyward has one rule and it's that Lloyd can only say 'dregons' xD

Kay Hau: Thank you so much! hhh I die every time I see one of your reviews- it motivates me to pick myself up and keep working on this in the best way. I'm glad you like the action sequences! I know some people have trouble writing them so it's nice to know I'm doing alright. I can't answer anything else right now, but you'll get answers soon enough!

Sunny Lighter: Sensei Wu showing up at the Dark Island: so there's something I haven't told you...

whitewolf7410: haha well you know what they say about giving a character healing abilities... xD Thanks for reading! Deju Vu is funny that way, huh.

Previously on Skyward:

Sensei Wu had made his way from the edge of the room to the center. He stood over Lloyd, face shadowed by his ever-present hat.

"We're the dragons, Sensei. It's been us the whole time."

Like a lightning strike, a lightbulb went off in his head. He choked mid-sentence, stuttering to a stop. "That's it! We're going to the Dark Island," Jay blurted. "All of us."

He broke out onto the deck. Jay gasped. The sails were engulfed in flames. Arrows with darkened heads jutted from the canvas, casting wild shadows across the deck.

"Jay! Jay!" Sensei Wu stared up at him, something unreadable in his eyes. "Go, Jay. You need to leave me behind."

Zane turned in slow circles above the village. Snow tumbled down in clumps from the sky, breaking up the dark night with soft bursts of color. For anyone else it might have been difficult to see anything through it, but Zane's special abilities let him see far beyond what he should.

He turned again. Maybe the people in the village below could see him. As irresponsible as it was, Zane couldn't bring himself to care. He was waiting for Jay, consequences be damned at this point. Jamanakai was distanced from the Bounty, but the smoke from the burning ship still clouded the skyline.

Right when he was about to fly back and look for him, Jay appeared on the horizon. His scales blended in perfectly with the night sky- the blue lines, however, arching from his wings gave him away. Zane exhaled, relieved. He sent a burst of ice and snow into the sky. Jay answered with a blast of lightning. Satisfied, Zane angled his wings and flew back to where Nya and Lloyd were holed inside a hastily-dug-out snow cave.

"Jay's here," he announced, spinning and dropping to the ground. He stuck his head inside the hollow; Nya's drawn face looked back at him, Lloyd pulled close to her chest. "He can make a fire when he lands."

Nya nodded. She shifted Lloyd aside so she could crawl out of the space. Together, they drew the boy out. The snow kicked up in signal that Jay had arrived, blue coloring his vision like glitter. He couldn't see the other through the flurry, but after it settled, he took in a sharp breath.

Jay looked like death. There was no polite way of describing it. The lightning ninja's eyes were slipping in and out of focus, his hands balled into fists at his side. Lee appeared much the same. She was handing off Jay's arm, and Zane wasn't sure how the lighting ninja was supporting her weight when he looked seconds away from collapsing himself.

He rushed forward. Taking one arm over his shoulder, he guided both of them to a place where they could sit. "Jay. What happened?" He scanned the group again. "And where's Sensei?"

Jay took in a shuddering breath. "Sensei Wu isn't here," he said, and his voice barely kept from shaking.

Zane paused where he was laying a blanket over his shoulders. Perhaps sensing his hesitation, Jay was quick to blurt: "It's not my fault! The Stone Warriors got a hold of him and he told me to leave him behind."

"No one was blaming you, Jay," Zane said. He settled the blanket and carefully put his arm over top of it. "What happened?"

"The Warriors broke through your wall," Jay told him. "Sensei Wu was climbing on and he fell. I think I jerked or something and he lost his balance." His face shattered. "Oh no, what if it is my fault?"

"This is no one's fault but the Warriors'," Zane said firmly. "And whoever is organizing them."

Jay snorted softly. "That's easy for you to say," he accused. "Because you never mess up, huh, Zane? You're literally programmed to be perfect."

"Jay!" said Nya.

His teammates always tried to steer clear of the insults concerning his nature. That meant that when they used them, they hit twice as hard. Zane forced himself to take a deep breath. "Jay," he said placatingly. "You're upset. I know. But we have to stay reasonable about this."

"I'm upset?" Jay asked incredulously. "What, and you're not? It's Sensei, Zane. Sensei! Don't you care at all?"

A slap of water to the face sent him spluttering. Zane had just seen the attack coming, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid being sprayed. Across from them, Nya stood with her arms over her chest. "Jay," she snapped, "stop looking for a fight. Zane's right- now is not the time. We need to focus on what's important: getting the rest of us out of here."

Her methods seemed harsh to Zane, but Jay looked away after a moment with a small tilt of his head. Nya exhaled. "Alright," she said, slowly uncrossing her arms. "We need to be logical about this. What's our inventory?"

They unloaded the packs from their backs. Zane took note of their supplies: what they had and what they needed. The second list far outnumbered the first, he noted with unease.

"Is this dried stuff even still good to eat?" Jay asked, holding up a packet of jerky strips.

"We'll need more blankets," Nya said worriedly. She took the two they had and refolded them into neat squares. "It's still winter, and it'll be even colder on the ocean."

"Not to mention that we'll be sleeping on icebergs," Jay said, wrinkling up his nose.

"You should make a list of everything," Professor Lee said, speaking up for the first time. The older woman still looked shaken, but she set her face into a resolved expression. "I'll go into the village and get what we need."

"You should go with her, Zane," Nya said. "It'll be too much to carry back for one."

Zane nodded, seeing the value of her reasoning. How much money do we have?" He took the pouch she offered- it was heavy with coins.

"The police commission was good for more than one thing," Nya said with a shrug. "Now go. People will start preparing for bed soon if they aren't already."

Zane tucked the pouch into his shirt. "We'll be back soon," he promised.

Zane and Lee disappeared down the mountain, and Nya whirled on Jay. The blue ninja was still sitting, arms wrapped around himself. He glared sullenly up at her. Nya clenched her hands into fists.

"You need to lay off him," she said. "I know you're upset, but you can't take it out on him."

"You don't understand," Jay said. Something feverish burned in his eyes. "I was the one who left him behind. He could be dead, Nya, and it would all be my fault."

"He told you to go."

"He's told us tons of things before, and did we listen to him then?"

"This was different. He knew what he was getting into."

"Is it really? From where I'm standing, the results look the same."

"Do you want to know what I really think?" Nya asked, exasperated. "I think you think you should feel guilty about leaving him, but you're really not, and now you feel guilty for not feeling that way."

"How dare you," Jay snarled. "Don't pretend you know what I'm feeling."

"Well don't pretend you do either!"

"Would you have left him behind?"

"Yeah, I would have." Her bluntness seemed to shock Jay, who fell silent with his mouth still open. "Do you know why? Because he's an adult and he's capable of making his own decisions like one. We all are, and if one of us says something, the rest have to trust them."

Jay laughed. It came out hollow. "We're not adults, Nya. We're kids. You're sixteen- heck, Lloyd's eleven, for crying out loud. If our lives were normal, I'd be graduating high school right now and you'd be back with Kai at your parents' shop."

"But life isn't normal," Nya said fiercely. To her horror, she felt tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Furious, she blinked them away. "I'm not going to cry for myself, and you can't either."

Jay looked horrified too. "Nya-" he said, reaching out his arm. Nya grasped it and they fell against each other. Jay gasped in her ear. Nya squeezed his hand so tightly she thought it might break.

They stayed like that for a time. Jay's sobs slowed and gradually, he released her hand.

"Sorry," he said, wiping at his eyes. "I know you said not to cry but I guess I was having a cry-sis."

Nya huffed, but it came out as fond rather than annoyed. Her vision was blurry but her cheeks were dry. "There's the Jay I know. Are you feeling okay now?"

"Do I ever?" Jay quipped, but he nodded.

Nya squeezed his hand one last time. She stood, brushing the snow from her clothes, and offered a hand to him. "C'mon. We should be ready to go when they get back."

"Right."

Nya turned to shove their food into a pouch. Behind her, she could hear Jay shifting about. She closed the pouch and laid it to the side.

"Hey, Nya?" he called.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"Where's Lloyd?"

Nya's head snapped up. "Lloyd!"

"You lost him?"

"No, he's in here." Nya led him to the hollowed-out snowbank. They both peeked inside- Lloyd was wrapped in a blanket and lying on the ground. "It's surprisingly warm in there," she said.

They climbed in and arranged themselves around Lloyd. The boy's head lolled onto his chest. His breathing was still even but his eyes were closed tight like he was trying to block out something. Nya stroked her hand across his forehead, smoothing out the lines she found there.

"He's so still," she said quietly. "Was Kai like this too?"

It was too dark to make out any of Jay's facial expressions. "I can't remember," he said. "I think so."

They fell silent. Outside the hollow, snow drifted down.

When Zane and Professor Lee returned to their spot, nearly all their tracks had been covered by the new snow.

Zane froze a platform of ice on the surface of the ground. He placed his bag and Lee's on top of it, to keep them from soaking up the snow.

"Jay?" he called. "Nya? Where are you?"

Two heads stuck themselves out of a nearby snowbank. "We're over here," Jay said. "Keeping Lloyd company."

"Are there any changes?" Zane asked, although he was already certain of the answer. Sure enough, Jay shook his head.

"He's shivering," Nya said. "But that could be because of the cold. We wrapped him in all the blankets we had."

They emerged from the hollow, Lloyd cradled against Nya's shoulder. The snow, nearly up to their knees now, made it hard for them to move.

"What did you get?" Nya asked.

Zane gestured to the bags. "We bought as much dried food as they had, along with some fresh meat. I've taken the liberty of freezing them already so they'll last longer."

"Good thinking," Nya said approvingly. "Give them here; I'll pack them."

"Anything else?" Jay asked.

"Coats and warm clothes," Lee said. "And matches and lanterns."

Jay bit his lip, nodding. "There's one good thing to come out of this," he said. "Last time, when we wanted water, Zane had to make a block of ice and wait for it to melt. Now we have our very own water ninja to take care of us."

"Jay," Nya said, but she was grinning. "Very well, then. I'll do my duty and keep all of us alive."

"We'll change," Zane said. "Once we're done, you should load the bags onto us." He stepped back so no one would be blasted in the face before spinjitzuing. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jay doing the same.

The others busied themselves with packing the bags. While they did, Jay slid up beside him. For a second, he said nothing, just fiddling with his claws in the snow. 'I'm sorry for snapping at you. I shouldn't have said what I did.'

'I forgive you,' Zane said. Jay looked surprised. Zane smiled at him, an upturn at the corner of his mouth. 'What? Did you think I wouldn't? We've been through too much together for something like an argument to break us up.'

Jay relaxed. 'I don't know what we'd do without you, Zane.'

'Die, presumably,' Zane said. He didn't mean it as a joke, but Jay laughed anyway. The sound startled Lee, who jumped back from his side.

SORRY, Zane scratched into the snow. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to suddenly be around people who were unfamiliar with them as dragons. For months now they'd stayed in their little circle, branching out only to build their bank of research. Now everything was coming to a head at what felt like all at once.

'I'm excited to see the others,' Jay confessed, shifting his wings like he was already imagining their flight. 'Do you think they'll be surprised?'

'I don't think there's any possibility they won't be,' Zane said. 'Our circumstances of meeting again are going to be very different than what we planned.'

'Crap. Kai's gonna murder me.'

It was easy- their banter was familiar and normal. First Spinjitzu Master knew they needed some normality in their lives. Zane shifted his own wings, feeling the bags snug against his chest. He changed back. The luggage disappeared with his transformation. "I'd be surprised if he doesn't punch one of us," he said aloud.

"Huh?" Nya asked.

"Jay thinks Kai will try and attack him once we reach the Island," Zane explained.

"I'll take that bet," Nya said, "and add that Kai will definitely go for the gut."

Zane shrugged. "You would know best."

"Ha ha," said Jay, changing back. "I see how it is. Make fun of Jay because he isn't able to defend himself."

"Nothing's stopping you now," Nya pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm not dumb enough to bet against Kai's sister, thank you very much."

"That was the last bag," Professor Lee said, pulling all three away from their conversation. She had her fingers wrapped in gloves and a warm coat was pulled tight around her shoulders. "What do we do now?"

Zane sobered. His eyes flitted over their ragtag group as he considered their options. "We could spend the night here," he said, rubbing at his chin, "or we could set out now. If we flew all through the night, we would reach the coastline of Ninjago by morning. It will be colder though."

"I think we should go," Nya said immediately. "We've been sitting and waiting long enough. It's high time we made the first move."

"I'm with Nya," Jay said. "It will be cold no matter what. Let's just leave now so we get a headstart."

Zane turned to Professor Lee. "What about you?" he asked. "I am fine either way."

Lee's gaze hardened. "Every second we waste is another opportunity for the Overlord to strengthen his power. Let's make this trip as short as it can be."

"Very well," Zane said. "Once we change, hold on tight. It will be a long flight."

It had been four days since the disaster that was the dark matter.

They'd returned to the camp after and talked with the dragons. The next morning, they'd gone back to the site of the matter with a band of scouts and tried again. Cole had buried the matter in an avalanche of rocks and dust. All that served to do was cover it up. He could still feel it pulsing beneath the surface.

Kai had had slightly more luck. Together, with his full strength and the help of two other fire dragons, they'd attacked the matter. The upside was that they'd succeeded in destroying part of it- nearly half of what was in the pit. The downside was that all of Kai's reserves had been used up in the blast. If it had taken all of his power to destroy even that much, what hope did they have of destroying it all?

They needed to regroup and restrategize. And so that's why Cole was currently in his den, packing his belongings into bags.

He picked up one undershirt and folded it tight. It went into the bag on his right. A garland of leaves and bones woven by Dent for him. It could stay here for when he returned. The monotony of the work pleased him, sorting his stuff into their proper category.

He was in the middle of switching out his bags when he felt someone approaching him from behind. Mesa, the ground whispered to him, humming across his connection. Turning around, Cole saw the leader bending beneath the ivy tendrils that covered the cave.

'Earth-Chosen,' she said.

'Mesa,' Cole returned, bowing his head.

She stood quietly across from him, watching him work to fit all his belongings in his pack. 'There's something I need to talk to you about. Are you free?'

'Yeah, I'm free.' Cole crammed a shirt in and sat back, wiping his hands on his pants. 'I was just preparing for when we leave. What did you want to talk about?'

'This, actually.' Mesa gestured with her tail to the bags strewn across the floor. 'I didn't tell you this earlier, not wishing to alarm you, but there is news from Ninjago.'

Cole sat up straighter. Alarm me? A heavy feeling crept over him. 'News?' he asked her. 'What is it?'

'Do you remember how I told you that several days ago, the lightning and ice elements experienced a boon? That same day, the storm around the Island fell. You need to understand that the storm wall has never broken once in the lifespan I've been here. I sent out a scouting party to investigate, and this afternoon they returned with news.'

Cole's mind spun with all the new information. 'Already?' he asked, frowning. 'But it took us two weeks just to get here. How-?'

'You traveled alone,' Mesa reminded him. 'But our scouts travel in teams of pairs. A lightning dragon goes ahead with another from a different clan, and once they're far enough ahead, the others teleport to them. So one pair is always moving while the rest recover.'

'Oh. That's neat.' Cole frowned. 'So what did they have to say?'

'Your central village is overrun. The Stone Warriors hold the perimeters. Some of the scouts snuck into it and found your kind huddled together in their dens. They were unable to report on the presence of other dragons.'

Cole set his head in his hands. Ninjago City- captured by the Warriors? 'You were right, then,' he said humorlessly. 'It seems they did find trouble.'

'My scouts didn't see them, so it's possible they're hiding in their human forms among the rest.'

'They would never stay hiding,' Cole said immediately. 'Well, maybe Jay would, and Zane if he thought it was the best option, but Nya would never let them stay still.'

Mesa was silent for a moment. 'So you think they will come here.'

Cole tried to put himself in their shoes. City destroyed, Warriors attacking- what would he do if it was him? His first reaction would be to regroup with the rest of his team, but there was every chance they were waiting back on Ninjago for him to do the same. Two options, and neither of them better than the other.

He had to make a decision. 'I think they'll come here,' he agreed, exhaling. 'There's no way for them to know that we know about their situation, so chances are that they'll make the trip.' His fingers drummed anxiously against his leg. 'Does your offer to room all of us still stand?'

'Of course,' Mesa said. 'You said it took you a half-moon to reach here? I'll brief the scouts to keep an eye out for your pack.'

'Thank you,' Cole told her earnestly. He watched her step out of the room, and as her shadow disappeared, he slouched back against the wall.

Zane, Jay, Lloyd- I hope you're all safe.

The iceberg was small, barely big enough for all five of them to fit on, let alone two dragons.

"It's all I can do right now," Zane said, looking embarrassed for himself. He'd done his best, too- Jay had watched him try over and over to freeze the water only for the sea to break it up again. Before, this had never been an issue. Something is up, he thought. Things aren't adding up. Why are our powers failing now?

Still, they had a place to rest for the night. Jay and Zane had already determined that Jay would stay as a dragon while Zane changed back- the lightning dragon might provide more heat for them to press into. So Zane let Lee off of his back and unloading his bags before transforming.

Jay settled on the part of the iceberg that jutted higher than the rest. His eyes slipped closed as the others busied themselves with building a fire and making dinner- the adrenaline of the day combined with their reveal and the flying had him exhausted. He stayed awake just long enough to eat something before succumbing to his sleep.

The next couple of days passed much the same. They would wake up while the stars were still out and have a meal. Zane, Jay, and surprisingly, Lee, would chart their course then, calculating how far they'd drifted overnight and which direction they needed to go to make up for it. The plan was to fly for as long as possible, taking as little breaks as necessary, but they were traveling with passengers now. So instead they stopped every few hours, napped and ate, and set off again.

The fourth day dawned and they were out of fresh food. Jay caught a tuna that night and they cooked it over a fire. His eyes met Zane's across the flames. He could tell the other ninja was thinking the same thing. The last time they'd eaten like this, they'd been with the spirit dragons at the Coves. What was awaiting them on the Dark Island?

They washed up and prepared for bed. The iceberg they were on that night was too small for either dragon and so all the sleeping bags and blankets were arrayed on the ground. They crowded around the dying fire, desperate to keep its bit of warmth.

Jay wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but he woke suddenly from it some indeterminable amount of time later. For a second he lay on his side, sleep still clinging to his eyelids. What had woken him? He couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary but try as he might to fall back asleep, something wasn't sitting right in his gut.

Half-awake, Jay stretched out his senses. Zane, Nya, and Lee's life-forces bounced back at him, all reading as normal. But Lloyd's already weak energy was fluttering arrhythmically. Awareness shot through Jay like a bolt of lightning, and eyes flying open, he struggled out of his blanket.

"Guys! Guys!" He was at Lloyd's side in a moment, pulling back the blanket to look at his face. "Wake up!"

There was movement to his right, and then Zane was worriedly hovering over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"Somethings wrong with Lloyd," Jay said. "His energy- I can't explain it." He set his hands on his chest.

All at once, Jay's powers roared to life. Lightning crashed through his veins, white-hot and jittery, and he choked on a cry. Someone was shouting for him. Jay couldn't tell who. He grit his teeth against the feeling of his power being sucked out through his skin.

"Jay!" There were hands on his arms, hauling him up and away from Lloyd. Jay gasped, tearing in gulps of air. Wind stung his cheeks and his face felt both swollen and frozen at the same time.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Are we okay?" Nya's face appeared over his, wearing an incredulous expression. Her eyes were wide with worry. "Jay, you're the one who was screaming!"

Jay blinked hard. "What? But my lightning- I felt my power leaving. Where did it go?"

"Jay. Look."

"What?" With Zane's help, Jay wobbled to his feet. He looked where the ice ninja was. "What's going- what?"

Lloyd's body was glowing. Golden sparkles glittered in the air around him, settling into his skin and hair. As they watched, the boy took a deep breath. Hope sparked in Jay's chest, but besides his breathing evening out, Lloyd remained as still as he was before.

Jay slumped over in Zane's hold. "He must have absorbed your power," Nya was saying somewhere in the background. It sounded like she was underwater. It felt like he was underwater, but they were in neighboring pools or something because she still felt so far away. His eyelids felt like they had weights in them.

"Jay. Jay!"

Someone was poking him. "I'm listening," Jay mumbled. "I'm sitting up."

"Jay."

His eyes slipped open. "I'm sitting!" he snapped. Their faces swam into view above him. Above? "Am I not?" he asked in a smaller voice.

Nya whistled. "Whatever you did took a heck of a lot out of you."

There were hands under his arms that propped him onto his butt. Jay leaned his weight against Zane. Fingers scratched at his head and he sighed, relaxing into them.

"What was that?" Zane asked. His voice was soft, calm. Jay made a noncommittal noise. His brain was tired. Thinking was too much work. Zane, however, was persistent. "You said you made lightning, Jay," he pressed. "Did you actually see it, or did it just feel that way?"

"I know what my power feels like, Zane," Jay grumbled. "I'm not an idiot."

"Why were you making lightning in the first place?" Nya asked. Jay's eyes slitted open. That's a good question, the part of his brain that was still working registered.

"Good question," he slurred. "I made lightning, but I actually didn't make it, you know?"

"No," Nya said flatly.

Jay waved his hand around. "It was like it was being sucked out of me. Like a vacuum."

Nya hummed. "Was it Lloyd, then?" she asked. She wasn't talking to Jay anymore, addressing Zane over his head.

"Lloyd's powers don't work like that," Jay told her anyway.

"We don't know that," Zane said over top of him. "He's never done anything like this before, but what do we actually know about Lloyd's powers?"

That sobered them all. Very little, Jay realized, sorting through his sluggish thoughts. "He never told me what Goldie told him," he admitted. "I just knew it was called Energy."

Zane nodded. Jay could feel the movement against the top of his head. "It's the same for me. The only ones he might have told would be-"

"Kai and Cole," Jay finished for him. "Well shit." He sat up by himself, wincing at the cracking in his neck. "And of course they're the ones not here."

"You're friends with Sensei," Nya said suddenly. Jay shifted and saw she was looking at Lee. "And you worked at the Museum of History. Did you ever study energy dragons?"

The old woman blushed. "I'm afraid not. My research was concerned with the Island, not so much the dragons. Perhaps it has something to do with his green ninja abilities?"

It took a second for her words to register with Jay. Zane, however, was already sitting up and leaning forward. "How do you know that?" he demanded, his normally-even voice sharp.

"Know what?" Lee asked, looking genuinely confused.

"That Lloyd's the green ninja," Zane said. "Lloyd wouldn't have told you- I don't mean to be rude, but the only reason you're here right now is because Sensei Wu seemed to know you. So you should not know that."

"Wu told me," Lee said, a strange combination of emotions playing out across her face. "He thought I ought to know. I'm sorry if I made a faux pas. I didn't know it was a secret."

"It's his to tell," Nya said, eyes hard. "Not Wu's."

"It would have come out eventually," Lee settled on saying. "Does it matter how?"

The light faded from Lloyd. They were left in darkness again, and silence apart from the sound of waves slapping against the ice.

'So. What new torture do you have for me today?'

Kai took guilty pleasure in the way Cinder jumped at the claw on his shoulder. He smirked as the other fire dragon drew back, rubbing at his scales and looking begrudgingly impressed at his effort. 'Fire-Chosen. You're such a menace.'

'All my friends call me that too,' Kai agreed easily. 'At least I'm a hot one.' He preened at the other fire dragon's response. Cinder had been working on his emotional shields for weeks now; it was nice to see his effort paying off. 'Alright, boss. What are we doing today?'

'Well I was originally going to show you something new, but with that stunt you just pulled, I think it might be best if you stuck with the meditation exercises for today.'

'No!' Kai took a step forward before he knew what he was doing. 'I'm sorry! Anything but meditation, please.'

'Are you sure?' Cinder asked. He caved under Kai's desperate look. 'Alright, no meditation today because I can be nice. I'm gonna teach you something new instead. Fire dragons call it Compelling.'

Kai was no tyrannosaurus, but the word sounded distantly familiar. 'What's that?' he asked.

'It's a way of affecting other dragons' emotions. So far you've just been sensing them, but Compelling is about actually using their feelings to affect the way they act.'

'So you control each other?' Kai said, taken aback. 'But that's wrong!'

'It's neither wrong or right,' Cinder said, head-crests fluttering. 'It simply is. All powers can be used for both, ours isn't special.'

'It sounds like brainwashing.'

'Brainwashing?' Cinder repeated, testing out the word on his tongue. 'I don't know what that is, but I can guess. We don't take over anyone's brains,' he said. 'We just give their feelings a direction. A good compeller can influence their target to do exactly what they want without them being any the wiser. Most of the time you're not even making them feel something they don't already.'

'It still feels wrong,' Kai contended.

'If you're that worried about overriding another dragon's opinions,' Cinder mused, 'maybe you shouldn't learn it then. But Compelling is not bad. It's helpful when you're mediating, or protecting someone, or want to learn information from them. I'm sure you've done it before without even realizing.'

Unbidden, Kai's thoughts flashed back to all the times he'd stayed up late with Lloyd, the two of them talking about everything and nothing, Lloyd admitting in the stillness of the night his fears and feelings about the future. Kai blanched. In the moment he'd been honored that the kid trusted him enough to talk about such things with him, but now he was forced to view the conversations in a whole new light. Had he forced Lloyd to confess? What if Lloyd didn't actually like him and Kai was projecting his love onto him?

He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until there was pressure on both of his shoulders. Kai jerked back. Cinder's face swam into view in front of his. 'Fire-Chosen, can you hear me? Can you hear me- okay, great. Nod if you can. Okay. I want you to take deep breaths- copy me. Alright? Go slowly.'

Kai did his best to match his pace with Cinder's. The tight feeling in his chest loosened, and finally, he felt like he could breathe again. Cinder's face was clearer now, the other dragon's mood scales glowing a soft white. 'Are you back with me?' he asked.

Kai nodded. 'Sorry. Don't know what came over me.' He was a liar. He knew exactly what had crossed his mind, and judging by Cinder's hum he didn't believe him either. After a moment, the other fire dragon lowered his wings.

'So that was a good example of how compelling works,' he said.

Kai made an affronted noise. 'You were using it on me?'

'How else do you think you calmed so quickly?' Cinder said, and okay, that was actually a good point. 'You were panicking, but a good part of it was tied up in love, too. I drew on your positive emotions to suppress the negative ones.'

Kai frowned. He hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary- he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. His emotion shields had crumbled long before, so it was no surprise when Cinder picked up on his doubt.

'Try it on me,' he suggested. 'Ask me to go do something- go get us some lunch, for example.'

Kai squinted. 'You sure it's okay?' Something in his head still balked at the idea.

'I'm sure.' Cinder met his eyes. A second later, his shields dropped. Kai instinctively reached out, skimming over the surface of his emotions. Cinder felt calm. Underneath that was a layer of stress and exhaustion all rolled into one, and Kai winced out of sympathy. He didn't feel apprehensive or worried.

Hesitant, Kai latched onto his tiredness. 'Cinder,' he said in an overly-sweet voice, 'would you go get us some food? You must be starving by now.'

Cinder laughed. 'You don't need to say it like a hatchling,' he said, amused. 'But that was good. You're a natural at this.'

Again- good thing or not?

Cinder bumped his wing with his. 'Give me a moment to find some food, because now you've made me hungry,' he said. 'Then we'll continue this lesson.'

Several minutes later found them in the shadow of a big tree, biting into the carcass of some deer creature together.

'It's much harder to convince someone of an emotion they're not already feeling,' Cinder said, bones snapping between his teeth. 'It takes a lot of power and it's not really the effort. Like this: if I said "Fire-Chosen, you should attack Resin," what would you do?'

A rush of anger slammed into Kai, and immediately he turned towards the pale dragon lying in the sun. But a second later he blinked the red from his vision and fought the urge down. 'What the heck?' he asked.

'See?' Cinder said. 'You fought that off with no issues. To be fair, I was only using maybe thirty percent of my power, but any stronger and it would start to hurt me too.'

Kai sat down. 'Okay. I can see why knowing this would be useful.'

Cinder hummed. 'If you ever do this with your ice dragon friend, have him cast a vision for you. It makes your job that much easier when the target can actually see what you're saying.'

An old memory floated to the front of Kai's thoughts- Zane in the junkyard, spinning garbage about planes and cgi effects. 'I think he's done this before,' he realized.

Cinder's mood scales flared teal- surprise. 'Without you?' he clarified. At Kai's nod, his scales flickered towards green. 'I'm impressed. All the ice dragons here can't do it unless they have something to tie it to.'

'It didn't last long,' Kai said petulantly. 'Our secret got out anyway.'

Cinder shifted his head-crests. 'Still. It's impressive.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Kai said, 'I'll show you impressive.' He stood, shaking out his wings. 'Are you ready for round two?'

'Sure,' Cinder said, feeling amused. He stood as well. 'Anything you want.'

Kai narrowed his eyes. He reached for Cinder's emotions but they slipped around his grasp, elusive. All he could tell for sure was his general mood- no nuances at all, just vague expectation.

'Anytime now,' Cinder said.

'It's not my fault,' Kai said. 'I can't get a read on what you're feeling.' He took a step back, glancing away angrily. 'It's almost like-'

His eyes settled on Resin and a lightbulb went off in his head. Ignoring Cinder's question of 'Wait! Where are you going?' he stalked up to the amber dragon and stopped beside her. 'Yah!' he shouted. 'I thought you could only take powers with permission!'

Resin's eyes cracked open into slits. She did not feel happy at being woken from her nap. 'I can't,' she grumbled. 'What in the world are you blabbing about?'

Her emotions weren't lying. Of course, Kai could only sense her surface-level ones, so maybe she was hiding her real ones deeper down. 'You didn't?' he asked. 'Then what's wrong with them? It feels just like it did when you did the thing with me and Cole a couple of weeks ago.'

'So they're being transferred?' Resin finally sat all the way up. Her yawn split her jaw wide open and when she blinked, her eyes sharpened into focus. 'Are you sure about that? The only thing that can force power transfers were energy dragons, but those don't exist anymore. Oh, and golden power, according to the legends.' She snorted. 'You're even less likely to find that than an energy dragon though.'

Funny, thought Kai, because the situation was decidedly not funny. Also, he happened to know/be in contact with both of those powers, so there was every possibility it was one of them. But why would Lloyd be taking his power? How would he even be doing it?

'Energy dragons still exist,' Cinder said. 'Do you not remember the legend? Five fledglings of the Major Clans to stop the ancient evil? Last I checked, Energy was one of the Major Clans.'

'Legend,' Resin said. 'It's just a bunch of stories, Cinder. Do you really believe that he-' she gestured at Kai- 'is gonna save the world? Him?'

Kai bristled. 'Rude,' he said. 'How about you wait until after the battle to judge me, huh?' He flared his head-crests forward: a challenge.

Resin, however, didn't rise to the bait. 'Relax, scalebrain,' she said, her own crests smooth against her head. 'I didn't mean it personally. Maybe you'll have the best chance out of all of us. I don't know. And I really don't care either. So if you'd let me resume my nap now, I'd be most appreciative. Wake me if you have any actual issues.'

'Losing my powers is a real issue!' Kai protested. Frustrated, he spat out a jet of flame. Even that was weaker, reaching its peak only several feet away. An unsettled feeling stole over him. Something was wrong. He just didn't know what.

Day sixteen of flying. The ocean spread out below them, a continuous sheet of blue. Sometimes they dipped low enough that Nya could run her fingers through the water if she wished. Sometimes they soared high above, the clouds parting on either side. Today it was the latter.

Nya tightened her grip around Lloyd's shoulders. Wind rushed past her face, sending her hair in every direction. Not for the first time was she grateful for her short hair. Lee's long braid whipped against the side of her face, and no matter what the woman did with it it always came back around.

"I'm going to shift you now," she said conversationally, a habit she'd fallen into despite the fact that Lloyd was still unconscious. She moved the boy so he was supported by her elbow and blood flowed back into her right side.

"How long have you known him?" Lee asked suddenly.

Nya glanced at her. "Me?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. Which, to be fair, was a stupid question. They were flying over the ocean, the only two -awake- humans in sight. Who else could the woman be addressing?

Lee nodded though. "You seem very familiar with him," she said. "Intimate."

"A good thing, I'm sure," Nya said, humming slightly. Why was Lee talking to her now? The woman never was outright rude, but she did keep to herself more often than not. Nya thought they'd maybe shared twelve words before this.

"Of course," Lee said, sounding surprised that Nya would think anything else. "I was just curious. You don't have to answer."

"It's fine," Nya said, pacified. She stretched out her fingers; the clouds turned to moisture that clung to her fingertips. Drawing back her hand, she funneled the water into a ribbon. "I don't know exactly how long I've known him- it's been a couple months now for sure. Not exactly long, but the kid has a way of working his way into your heart, you know? He's like my kid brother now. Apparently the slot for youngest Smith family sibling is just free real estate."

One glance at the woman showed that she had no idea what to make of the last part. Gosh. Jay would have loved it if he'd heard her. "Kai adopted him," Nya explained for her. "So now he's the youngest."

"Oh." Lee sounded disponent for some reason. She looked like she was about to say something else, but Nya's eye had been caught by something on the horizon.

"Wait," she said, sitting up straighter. "Do you see that?"

Lee frowned. "My eyesight isn't as good as yours. What is it?"

"I think," Nya started, squinting. Maybe she'd been imagining it- no, wait, there it was again! She dropped the water she'd been toying with. "There's land ahead," she said out loud. It had appeared like a smudge, but now Nya was certain of it. "I see it!"

"Land?" Lee asked. Her eyes lit up. "Do you think-"

Jay and Zane let out twin rumbles. That was the sign they were preparing for a break. Nya dropped her hand, lowering herself against Jay's back. They descended in wide circles, settling on the iceberg Zane created from the sea. The ice ninja had barely changed back when he was coming over to them, brow furrowed.

"Professor Lee," he said. "May I get your opinion on something?"

They moved to the far end of the iceberg.

Nya sidled up to Jay. "That land," she said. She knew he had seen it too; as a dragon, his eyesight was better than hers. "Is that-?"

Jay made a frustrated noise. "That's the thing. We have no idea. The last time we were out here, there was this… supernatural storm surrounding the Island, right?"

Nya remembered him telling her that during one of their briefings.

"So it either died down or this isn't the Island and it's just another piece of land near it, and I honestly don't know which of them is better."

"But you didn't see it before."

"No." Jay exhaled. "So I guess that leaves the Island."

"Yeah."

They busied themselves with digging out the food, unwrapping leftovers and refilling flasks with water. Zane and Lee finished up their conversation after a few minutes and came over to join them.

"We think it's the Island," Zane said, confirming what they'd just said. "Professor Lee and I both agree that it's in the right place according to my memory and her research."

"And no ideas on why the storm's gone?" Jay asked.

Zane shook his head. "Maybe it was fluke when we were there, and not how the weather normally is."

His tone conveyed just what he thought of that idea. "We're going to continue on," he said, regardless. "If we push, we could reach there before nightfall."

Nya made eye contact with Jay. Today. They would be back with Cole and Kai today.

It was late afternoon when they arrived at the Island.

Well. Jay held that it was late afternoon because of how dark it was getting, but Zane said that it was technically only mid-day back in Ninjago. Either way, the sun was starting to dip low in the sky, casting the beaches in stretching shadows. If they wanted to set up a camp or go exploring before they lost all their light, they would have to move quickly.

That was the plan; reality, however, saw them flying along the coast for a good half-hour, looking for enemies or Cole and Kai, but there were no signs of either. Jay doubled back to Zane- they were still more-or-less hidden by the cloud layer around them.

'Do we just… land?'

'Unless you have a better idea.'

'No, no, I'm good.'

It was anticlimactic, really. Jay squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for any sort of nasty surprise, but everything was still. Silent, to the point of unnerving. He opened his eyes and met Zane's.

'We made it,' he said. It hadn't fully settled into his head just yet. 'Zane. We made it!'

'We're here,' Zane agreed. 'Wow.'

Jay lowered his wing, allowing Nya to slide off. The ground was malleable beneath his feet. He tested how it felt to dig his claws into it, finding it to be gritty like sand. His gaze fell on the forest- miles and miles of land that had probably never seen a human before. Heck, this was going to take forever to find the others.

'What are we waiting for?' he demanded impatiently. 'Let's go out looking before we lose all our sunlight!'

'Camp first,' Zane said sternly. 'You'll thank me for it later. You should change back so I can unload you.'

Jay rolled his eyes. 'Yes, mom.' He gathered his lightning, preparing to change, when a voice that was definitely not Zane's spoke into his head.

'No, don't do that.'

Jay was man enough to admit he screamed. The lightning escaped from his mouth, crashing into a tree. Splinters of wood flew in every direction. They bounced off of apparently thin air, falling to the forest floor.

What in the world? Before his eyes, the forest was shifting. Jay stumbled back as the trees and brambles muddled together, like someone stirring together paints. Three shapes stepped out of the confusion. They were as big or bigger than him, with ragged manes, thick tails, and sturdy wings.

They were dragons.

Jay eeped. Zane, too, had frozen beside him. His eyes were wide, flicking from the first dragon to the second and then to something beyond them. Jay didn't have time to wonder before the earth dragons- they were the spitting image of Cole, how could they not be- moved their wings so a smaller blue dragon appeared.

'Are you seeing this?' Jay asked Zane, a tad frantically. 'I'm not making this up, right?'

'You're not,' Zane said, eyes still darting around. 'There are real-life dragons in front of us right now.'

Jay backed up so that he was beside Zane, shielding Nya and Lloyd and Lee behind his wings. 'I didn't sense them,' he hissed. 'They're not showing up on my radar!'

'Would everyone please calm down,' one of the earth dragons demanded. 'You,' she said, looking directly at Jay, 'what was your mentor's name?'

'Blue,' Jay said, still too startled to say anything else.

The dragon stared at him for a second. 'Their true-name,' she said.

'Are we allowed to say?' Jay asked Zane.

'Do we have any other choice?' Zane asked back. 'Tell them.'

'It was Lithbri,' Jay said after a moment.

'And mine was Sylharki,' Zane said. 'May I ask who you are?'

All three dragons seemed to relax. 'Apologies, Ice-Chosen,' the leader said. 'We needed to be sure. My name is Pit. These are Clay and Storm. I'm sure you're looking for your pack. They're this way; follow me.'

She slipped back into the cover of the forest, leaving behind an obvious enough trail for them to follow.

Zane took a step forward. Jay seized his wing and spun him around. 'Just like that?' he demanded. 'We're just gonna trust them? What if they're bad, Zane?'

'They didn't attack us,' Zane said. 'And they had the perfect opportunity to do so. I think they really do know Cole and are taking us to see him.'

Jay frowned. 'I don't like it,' he said. His gaze flickered from Zane to the dragons, waiting a ways away, and sighed. 'But do we even have a choice?'

'Not really,' Zane said. He knelt so Nya and Lee could board him and straightened, headfins pinned back to his head. Jay fell into step beside him.

"What's going on?" Nya asked. Neither was able to answer her.

They were led through the trees, deeper and deeper into the forest. Jay did his best not to trip over the roots and brush, wings snagging in the brambles and thorns crowding him in. Finally they came to a wall of vines, all twisted together and blocking out the light beyond. The dragons paused beside it, silent.

'What are they doing?' Jay sent Zane, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 'Do we need to go around?'

The wall shifted. Vines disentangled, writhing away, leaving behind a gap in the wall. The lead earth dragon stepped through. 'This way,' she beckoned. 'Mesa is waiting for you.'

Zane and Jay exchanged glances. Taking a breath, Jay stepped after her.

The forest opened up into a wide clearing. What surprised Jay more was the crowd of dragons gathered near the center, a mass of sizes and colors and shapes. They shifted to the side as Jay and the others approached, quiet murmurs rising.

Ahead of them was a raised platform, spikes of earth that broke through the ground. A lone dragon watched them from above, scales tawny and with long antlers. Jay's gaze lowered to the gathering in front of them. He felt Zane approach at his side, a welcome warmth.

'This is incredible,' the ice dragon breathed. 'So many dragons- alive?' He took another step forward, bowing to let Nya and Lee off of his back.

The crowd shifted in front of them. 'Jay?' An earth dragon broke free from the group, followed closely by a fire dragon. 'You're here!'

'Cole!' Jay shouted. He recognized the other instantly. All at once, the tension drained from him. Cole was here. Cole was here. Everything was going to be okay. Behind him, he heard Nya call out Kai's name. Kai changed and was at her side in a second.

'Jay!' Cole said again. He barreled to a stop in front of him, eyes scanning over the group. 'Wait. Why's Professor Lee here? You guys flew, right?'

'We did-' Zane started. Cole's eyes counted their group again, narrowing.

'So she knows? Who else does?' His eyes widened. 'Wait a minute. Did you tell Sensei Wu?'

'Wait, what?' Kai demanded. He had evidently tuned into their conversation, and now he stood beside Jay looking furious. 'You told Sensei Wu?'

'Well it's not like I had a choice,' Jay snapped. He changed too, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. 'The Stone Warriors were attacking and there was nothing else we could do. Fat load of help you were.'

Kai's cheeks flushed. 'We've been busy here,' he simpered. 'Or did you forget it was you who pushed us to go?'

'Guys!' Cole was suddenly between them, pushing them apart with his strong wings. 'Let's not fight.' He turned to Jay and Zane. 'I'm just glad to see you.'

Kai sighed. 'Fine. I'm glad to see you too.' His eyes fell on their group. 'So wait. If you told Sensei, then why isn't he here?'

'He was taken by the Stone Warriors,' Zane said. 'I'll explain everything in depth later. Right now, we have more pressing matters at hand.' He lowered his head, and Lloyd became visible on his back.

"Lloyd!" Kai almost slipped as he straddled Zane's wing to reach the green ninja. He cursed under his breath, landing on the ground with him in his arms. 'What happened to him? He won't wake up!'

'He took a magical tea to age himself,' Zane said. 'And he hasn't woken since.'

Cole cursed too. 'Why would he do that?' He changed back and ran to the pair.

'He wanted to trigger his powers,' Jay told him.

Cole pressed his hand against Lloyd's forehead. 'He doesn't feel sick,' he said. 'Not like our power boosts.'

Something funny was happening. As Kai and Cole stood there, hands on Lloyd, energy started to build in Jay's chest. At first he tried to ignore it, but as seconds passed it became harder and harder to stay still. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

He meant only to shake his arm, but a wave of lightning shot from his hand. Dragons shouted and leaped out of the way. Jay snapped his hand back, staring wide-eyed at the destruction he'd caused.

"I didn't mean to, I swear!"

"What the heck was that?"

Jay turned, expecting to find the others staring. But Kai wasn't even looking his way. His eyes were fixed on the bonfire beside him, flames reaching well above his head. Looking around, Jay saw that the other two ninja also stood as shocked as he was, surrounded by their element.

"My powers haven't been this strong in weeks," Cole mumbled. "What-?"

The life-force beneath his hand pulsed. Kai and Cole shot back as Lloyd stirred, mumbling. His eyes peeked open, squinting against the light.

'Kai? Cole?'

"Lloyd!"

The green ninja sat up slowly. He was out of shape, so Kai had to help him. "Where are we?" His eyes widened as he took in his surroundings. 'Woah.'

"We're on the Dark Island," Zane said. He changed and went over to his side. Lloyd's eyes wandered over the crowd. When they landed on Zane, his eyes widened.

'Zane! It's real!'

'I see that,' Zane said kindly. "How are you feeling?"

Lloyd blinked. "Okay," he ventured. 'Awake.'

"What on earth were you thinking?" Jay demanded, impatience finally breaking through. "Why would you do that, Lloyd? You know we would take care of you no matter what!"

Lloyd flinched. But a second later he set his shoulders and met Jay's glare. "What if I don't want that?" he said. "What if I wanted to help too?"

'It's not your responsibility, Lloyd,' Kai said. He sounded almost resigned as he said it.

Lloyd laughed. 'Isn't it?'

'Enough of this,' Cole said, stepping in a second time. "Lloyd, did it work?"

'Cole!' Jay hissed.

Lloyd lifted his hand. Green light danced across his skin, bursting into a starburst shape in his palm. The light licked at the air, imitating flames. The crowd's murmuring picked up. Jay had forgotten they were there.

"It worked," Lloyd said. His eyes were shining. "Cole, it worked!"

'Great,' Jay told Cole across their private link. 'Now he's never going to regret it!' He turned on Kai, who was staring at Lloyd with a strange expression on his face. 'And what about you?' he demanded. 'I thought you would be on my side about this!'

'I am,' Kai said. He made a face. 'I want to be. Believe me. Most days I want to wrap the kid up in bubble wrap and put him in one of those fairytale castles until this is all over.'

'So why don't you?' Jay asked. 'Besides the fact that that's probably illegal- not that I don't think that could stop you if you really wanted.'

Kai stared at something past him. 'Because that isn't fair to him,' he said eventually. 'Because he's right. I hate it, but he's right. You haven't felt the matter yet, Jay. You haven't seen the army that Garmadon's making. I hate it so much, but he's going to have to be a grown-up if we hope to have any chance of winning this thing.' Suddenly he looked close to crying, which was the exact opposite of what Jay wanted. 'It's not fair,' he hissed. 'He should just be a kid!'

Jay worried his lip. 'Nya told me something,' he said awkwardly, 'when we were back on Ninjago. She said we weren't allowed to cry for her even though everything about this situation is shitty.'

'Language,' Kai said automatically. 'So what? We're just supposed to pretend that everything's fine?'

'Isn't that what you just said?'

'No! I don't know! I think I'm so relieved to see him alive that I've pushed everything else aside for the moment.' Kai's eyes drifted over to Lloyd again. 'We thought something was so wrong, Jay. My powers just stopped working one day and Resin said only Lloyd could do something like that. We had no idea what was happening.'

'That happened to you too?' Jay asked, surprised.

Kai nodded. Suddenly, he made a choked-off noise. 'Jay. His eyes.'

'Huh?' Jay glanced over too. Lloyd had his hand by his face. The light was reflecting off of his skin, and when he looked their way, Jay's breath caught.

'Lloyd! Your eyes are gold!'

Lloyd's other hand went up to his face. 'Really?'

'Let me see,' Kai demanded, leaving Jay's side to go fuss over the boy. 'They look like liquid metal.'

Lloyd laughed softly. Jay's heart skipped a beat at the sound. It had been too long since he'd heard it. Way too long. Suddenly the anger he'd been holding close to his chest fell away, leaving exhaustion in its place. Kai was right. There would be time later for talking, but right now Lloyd was awake and that was all that should matter.

"We're finally all here," Cole breathed. "It's really good to see you all." He grinned, wide and unabashed. "You can't believe how happy I am right now because of all of you."

"I feel the same way," Zane said, smiling back.

"It's great to see all of you," Cole repeated. "Now. Come with me back to my den. There's a lot of things we need to catch up on."