Captain Lloyd looked down at the map in front of him with a smirk.  

         "That was a very successful raid on Jamanaki City. Good job boys." He said, looking up at the four boys who stood round the table. They all smirked. 

    "So, where to now?" Kai asked, twirling a dagger round in his hand.

   "Oh, you'll like where we're going next." Lloyd glanced back down at the map before taking a pin with a flag and jabbing it down. 

    "Next stop, Ninjago City." Lloyd announced. 

   Jay and Zane high-fived while Cole and Kai grinned. 

  "This should be fun. A more suitable challenge." Cole laughed.  

     "Set course. I want to be in and out before dusk."

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   Princess Nya tried on gown after gown, trying to decide which one looked better. 

      "Can you hurry up and decide? We'll be late meeting up with the others. And we don't want to be late to the picnic party." Lady Skylor said, sighing as she looked up from a random book she picked up to pass the time. 

     "Which do you think? The red one? Or the light blue one?" Nya asked, turning to face Skylor holding up two gowns. 

     "The light blue one," Skylor said after some consideration, "It suits you better. No offense, you look nice in red, but you look better in blue." 

      Nya went to change into the gown and after a few minutes came out, hair and make-up done. 

     "How do I look?" She asked. 

         "You look great, now come on." Skylor got to her feet and pulled Nya out the room and through all the hallways and corridors of the palace. They stepped outside where their coach was waiting for them. 

     When they got to the park, Duchess Pixal, Lady Seliel and Princess Harumi were already there, as well as King Ray and Queen Maya and Sir Cyrus Borg. 

    Laughter filled the air as everyone started enjoying their time at the park.

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       Nine figures landed on a balcony of the Royal Palace in the late afternoon.

     Lloyd, pulling his mask up over his mouth and nose, stood up. 

 "Coast's clear. Spread out and take as much valuable things as you can that will go unnoticed. Kai and Jay, you're with me. Zane, Cole and Faith, you go one way. Shade, Griffin and Morro, you go another." Lloyd ordered.  

    Nodding, the others obeyed his orders.

 Lloyd and the two with him entered the room that the balcony was attached to. The room was pale blue with a few red and gold details here and there. 

  They started selecting certain things and placed them into a sack. 

"Wow, she's pretty." Jay said looking up at a picture. 

   Lloyd turned to look at the picture. "Princess Nya of Ninjago, the only heir and child of King Ray and Queen Maya. This must be her room." He said, before suddenly straightening up. 

   "Hide!" Lloyd hissed, ducking behind the door. 

"I'm just going to grab something. Meet you back in the ballroom." A voice said. 

    The door opened and Nya walked in, closing the door behind her and no sooner than she did that, Lloyd leapt forward, clamping a hand over her mouth and pulling both her hands behind her. 

    "Don't try to struggle and don't even think of trying anything," Lloyd hissed, "Kai, Jay! Get me something to gag and tie her up! And get her something that doesn't have heels." 

    Obeying orders, Kai and Jay ran into the walk-in wardrobe.  

   Nya, instead of trying to break free, just stood in shock. 'Please, this can't be happening! This will end my mother for sure!' She thought.  

   "This was all I could find." Kai said, as he handed Lloyd a handkerchief and helped him tie and gag her up.

   A few minutes later, Jay appeared with a big bag in one hand and a pair of dark-brown boots with laces in the other. 

   "These were the only ones I could find that didn't have heels." Jay said.

   "What's in the bag?" Kai asked, gesturing to it. "Oh! Well if we're taking her hostage, might as well take a few things that she might need. I mean, there's no way she's going to go around in a gown like that. Although, she looks really pretty in it." Jay explained, rambling slightly. Nya blushed, although the boys didn't notice. 

    Lloyd rolled his eyes and sighed, "Well, hurry up and change her shoes. We need to leave. Now!"  

    Soon, they were making their way through the shadows back to the ship, hauling the Crown Princess with them.  

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    "Well, we're the first ones back!" Kai punched the air with his fist. 

    "Put her up against one of the masts and keep an eye on her." Lloyd said, ignoring Kai and  hauling their sacks on board. Jay dealt with the princess while Kai went to fetch some rope to use instead of the belt from a dressing gown.  

    Zane, Cole and Faith soon returned with a few sacks and a girl. 

  "Hey! Looks like we're not the only one who grabbed a girl." Kai grinned, leaning against the railing. 

    "She got in the way so we had to bring her along just in case she spilled out on us." Cole explained, pushing the girl towards Nya and telling her to sit. 

    "Lady Skylor. How wonderful and kind of you to join us." Lloyd said dryly, sarcasm lacing his tone. 

    "She's not the only one joining us." A voice said. 

   Turning, Lloyd took in the sight before him. 

      Morro, Griffin and Shade had three girls with them, as well as a couple of bags. 

   "They walked in on us, and I must say, they put up quite a fight." Morro said, taking a few deep breaths. 

    Lloyd sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

  "Well, put them with the other two, we'll deal with them later." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at the girls before turning to his crew. "Cast off! I want to be as far away as possible from this place before they sound the alarm. Sail into the Shard Sea. No one will follow us there." 

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    So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The art for the banner is not mine, I just found it on the internet. Credits go to the artist who made a brilliant job.

   (Word count: 1111) 

   A HUGE thank you once again to LuckyBugBooks for making me the AMAZING cover!!! You guys should check out her Cover Shop! It's AMAZING!! 

   Thanks you once again for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

  Claire xxx ⚓