Lloyd watched the girls from the Quarter deck with a scowl on his face. 

     He was standing at the railing, hands leaning on it. He observed the lessons and training below, mentally noting the girls' skill. 

    Skylor and Nya had potential, Pixal and Seliel had a quite a lot to learn, but Harumi... she seemed to be the only one who knew what she was doing, knew how to handle a blade.

    'A lot of skill,' Lloyd thought, watching Harumi critically, eyes narrowing, 'Although she's got room to improve.' 

  "Harumi, you have to make sure that you're not in danger of slicing yourself when you swing the blade round!" Morro instructed for the tenth time that afternoon. They had taken a break for lunch but got back soon after. 

   Harumi struggled to get it right, grimacing as the blade came two centimetres close to her back. 

  "No! You have to stay focused. Lose it, and you'll be the one with a your own blade embedded in your back. Concentrate!" Morro yelled, groaning with frustration. 

   "I can't do it! No matter how many times I try, I'll always end up nearly killing myself!" Harumi growled, gripping her katana tightly.

  She was suddenly startled when she felt a strong and firm pair of hands take hold of her arms, moving them in a different position.

    She turned her head slightly, and to her surprise, it was Lloyd. 

  He ignored the surprised gazes he was getting from everyone and continued adjusting her position, moving her left foot slightly back, bending her right knee and angling her body to face a little more to the right. 

     "Try it again." Lloyd commanded abruptly, stepping back to observe. 

  Still taken aback, Harumi just stood in shock. 'Is he actually HELPING me?!' She thought, staring at him. 

   Lloyd sighed, exasperatedly. "Are you going to try it again, or stand in that position staring at me for the rest of the afternoon?" He snapped. 

    Harumi did as told and swung the blade round and nearly got it perfect with three centimetres to spare. 

   She glanced at Lloyd who was leaning against the railing.

    He then walked over to her, took her hand, and guided it through the motion. Halfway through he grabbed her left shoulder and turned her upper body to face towards the left, then at the last minute, a few inches away from her back, he twisted her hand so that the sharp side of the katana was facing away from her. 

   "Again!" Lloyd ordered, once again stepping back. 

  Harumi obeyed and did it exactly as he had done it except faster and this time... she got it perfectly.

    "Thank you?" Harumi said, hesitantly. 

   Lloyd didn't say anything, only turning to Morro.

    "Continue." He instructed, before making his way back up to the Great Cabin. 

   Harumi turned to look at the others. "That was... surprising." She commented. 

   "Yeah, you must have skill or potential for him to come and help you." Griffin explained. 

    In the Great Cabin, Kai was questioning Lloyd on where he'd been.

  "Come on, spill! You've been gone for ages, surely you did something besides getting some fresh air." Kai pressed. 

   Lloyd rolled his eyes and sighed as he sat down at the table, looking down at the scroll in front of him.

   "Why are you my honorary brother, again?" Lloyd asked.

  "Because I choose you to be my honorary little brother, not like the others aren't our brothers, but we're closer!" Kai grinned, sitting on the table with his right ankle resting on his knee. 

     Lloyd shook his head with amusement in his eyes as he grinned back.

  "I was helping the bleached-blonde girl get a movement right." Lloyd explained, his face losing it's amused look, not caring in the least. 

    "You were helping her?! That's the first." Kai raised his eyebrows.

   "No it's not," Lloyd rolled his eyes, "I helped train Faith and Morro, remember?" 

   "Oh yeah, forgot about that." Kai said. 

    "You know, we still have to decide what we're going to do with them eventually. We're not keeping them forever." Lloyd brought up the subject again.

   "I don't know," Kai groaned, "I suppose wait till the search dies down then return them? Why are we talking about this again? They're not doing any harm... besides getting in the way."

   "I know that, but they don't belong here!" Lloyd said harshly, throwing a dagger across the room which hit the target right in the centre. 

    "Nice aim, anyway, back to the subject, we don't have any other choice. Either we keep them and stay free, or go back and get arrested. We just have to... deal with it." Kai patted Lloyd's right shoulder. 

    Lloyd winced. "Careful, it hasn't fully healed yet." He hissed, placing a hand over his shoulder.

  "Sorry, I forgot about that. How is it?" Kai asked. 

  "Better than it was, truthfully. It still hurts now and then, but..." Lloyd shrugged, immediately regretting it as pain shot through his shoulder. 

  "Want an ice pack? I can ask Zane or Jay to get one for you?" Kai looked worried.  

  Lloyd chuckled. "I'm fine, chill. You worry to much about me." 

    Kai laughed. "Yeah, well, I did promise I'd look after you!" 

  A knock on the door interrupted them. 

   "Enter!" Lloyd called out.

   The door opened slowly and Harumi entered the room. 

 "What is it?" Lloyd snapped, his expression turning cold. 

    "I-I... um, well..." Harumi tried to start, fiddling with her the frill on the cuff of her sleeves. 

   "Well? I haven't got all afternoon!" Lloyd spoke harshly, scowling. 

  "Ummm, well, Morro sent me to, um... well, he wants a word with you." Harumi bit her lip. 

  Lloyd gritted his teeth. "Tell him I'll be down in a minute." 

   Harumi quickly left, shutting the door after her. 

  Kai shook his head, amused. "Come on, Big Shot, do you have to do that? You scared her to death!" 

   "Well she's not dead... yet." Lloyd said, getting up and leaving the cabin. 

  Kai sat looking at the door for a moment before he too went out. He walked to the railing and looked down at the Main Deck. 

   Lloyd and Morro were talking to the side, Harumi standing behind Morro, hiding. The other girls were being schooled by Griffin and Paleman. Faith was standing looking critically at them, calling out instructions now and then. 

   Zane joined Kai on the Quarter deck.

 "May I inquire what our captain is doing?" Zane asked

    "I have no idea! Whatever it is, Lloyd's face looks like a thunder cloud." Kai commented, smirking. 

   They watched with wide eyes as a reluctant Lloyd started teaching a very timid Harumi.

  "Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Did Lloyd just agree to coach one of our prisoners?!" Kai gasped. 

   "That seems to  be the case," Zane replied, "I would never have thought that Lloyd would do it." 

   "Yeah, you know, a few minutes ago, Lloyd came back to the Great Cabin and said he had helped the bleached girl on a trick!" Kai said. 

  "Bleached girl?" Zane inquired, raising an eyebrow.

  "Yeah, the one Lloyd's teaching right now. There is no way her hair is naturally that pale, it's paler than Lloyd's!" Kai pointed out.

  "That is true, perhaps there is a logical explanation." Zane said, standing with his hands behind his back. 

    Down below, Harumi failed to concentrate as she could see the scowl on Lloyd's face, making her nervous and tense up.

   "Concentrate, whatever your name is again, relax your shoulders!" Lloyd barked. 

 "I'm trying! How can I possibly relax when you're scowling and snapping at me all the time? And my name's Harumi!" Harumi snapped at him, losing control on her temper. 

   "I know what your name is!" Lloyd snapped back, "Will you relax your shoulder, and don't grip your katana to hard!" 

   Harumi bit her lip, biting back the words that were threatening to escape from her mouth. 

  'Humph, why does he have to be so bad tempered?' She thought, 'He's a temperamental, sour, bad tempered, scowling, bothersome -' 

   She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when a blade came swinging at her.

  She shrieked before she blocked it, again and again as it kept coming at her. 

    Eventually, she tripped and fell, landing with a loud thump. Her katana clattered next to her. 

   Looking up, she saw Lloyd with a katana in his hand looking at her thoughtfully, but his expression was still thunderous. 

   "Hmmm, not bad. You know at least how to block sudden attacks." Lloyd mused, then he stuck his hand out.

   Harumi stared at it, not knowing whether she was was supposed to take it or not.

  "Are you going to take it and stand up, or stare at it and sit there for the rest of the afternoon? Unlike you, I have other matters to attend to." Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

   Flustered, Harumi took his hand. He pulled her up before bending down to pick up the katana. 

 "All you need to learn now is how to attack, you have no problem with blocking, just watch your footing and where you put your weight. But I think that's enough for the day. I may not want you lot here, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to train you to death." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her before tossing both katanas at her and walking off. 

   Harumi stood staring after him. 'Temperamental,' She thought, shaking her head. 

  "I think that's enough with blades for now, grab a pistol while we get the targets set up." Morro announced.  

   All the girls stopped short to turn and stare at him.

   "Pistols?!"

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    "Are you absolutely certain there's no trace of them?" Misako asked, looking at Ray.

   All the royals were sitting round a table discussing the girls' disappearance. The generals of each kingdom stood around the room, waiting for orders.

   "Yes, we came back from the picnic with Cyrus yesterday and Nya went to her room to get something and the others were dropping off their bags in the guest rooms. They have never been seen since." Ray shook his head sadly. 

  "What do they want with our heirs?!" Queen Libber cried out, she was clutching a blue and silver pendant in the shape of a lightning bolt. Queen Maya, who had left her room to join the meeting, recognised it. It was the pendant off a necklace Libber had put round her son's neck soon after he was born. But when he suddenly disappeared, the pendant was found on the floor of the nursery.

    "Are you suggesting that they've been kidnapped? And by the same kidnapper?" Lord Chen asked, raising an eyebrow. 

    "Well, do you have any better ideas?" Libber snapped, "If we can find out who took your daughter and the other girls, maybe we can find my son."

    "Libber, we don't even know if the boys are still alive. They've been gone for years with no sign of them. We called the searches off because we couldn't find them, I've already started to accept that they're dead." Garmadon said softly, looking downcast. 

    "How do you know they're not still alive?!" Maya asked fiercely, "I refuse to believe that my son is dead!"  

    "It's not only your son, or Libby's, Lou's and Julien's. My son was taken too, and there isn't a day that goes by without me thinking about him!" Garmadon growled. 

   "Maybe it is time to accept that the boys are gone," Wu spoke up, setting down the teacup he was holding, "It has been 19 years since young Lord Zane and Lord Cole have disappeared, with the other three following. With no sign of them, I think it's time we let them go." 

    Libber and Maya shook their heads fiercely.

   "No! I refuse! How can you possibly say that?!" Maya cried out. 

  "Maya, we spent years searching for them! We called the searches off four years after Prince Lloyd disappeared! If we haven't found them in all those years, then what's to say that they'll still be alive?" Chen half shouted. 

   Silence fell in the room. The only sound was the heavy breathing coming from those who were arguing. 

  "Did you even tell Nya she had an older brother?" Lord Julien asked softly, turning to look at Ray and Maya.

    They shook their heads.

   "No, we didn't," Ray said, "we kept it from her, not wanting her to be upset or frightened that someone might come for her too." 

   Libber shook her head vigorously. "I won't, I won't, I refuse to believe that my son is dead!" She burst out, burying her head into Cliff's shoulder.

   "We want to believe that they're alive too, but, it's been 19 years altogether. I think they're gone... for good." Garmadon said softly. 

           ⚔⚔⚔⚔⚓⚔⚔⚔⚔ 

    "Again!" 

   Nya tried to shot at the target but failed miserably.

    "Agh! Why do we need to learn how to shoot?" She grumbled, reloading her pistol with practice bullets.

    She aimed for the target and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed past the target and hit a barrel.

   "Relax your arm, tensing won't help you." A voice commanded  from behind her. 

  Startled, she spun round while accidentally pulling the trigger. 

   Jay caught the bullet between his fingers as if he was used to it. 

  "First Spinjitzu Master! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to shoot at you, honest!" Nya gasped, dropping the pistol as her hands flew to her mouth.

   "No matter." Jay walked towards her and picked up the pistol. He took her right hand and placed it on the pistol.

   "Relax, tensing could cause serious harm, not only to yourself, but you might accidentally hit one of your allies. Now, aim the pistol at the target and line up this bit here with where you want to shoot." Jay instructed, adjusting Nya's position as he was speaking.

   "Take a deep breath, then when you're ready, fire." Jay ordered. 

   Nya took a deep breath, closing her eyes before slowly letting it out. She pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the target right in the centre.

    She gasped with delight. 

  "Not bad, you're certainly doing a bit better." Jay commented. 

   "Thank you, for your help. I'm not used to handling weapons." Nya admitted sheepishly. 

  Jay raised an eyebrow. "Your, what? 16, 17? And you've never handled a weapon? The boys and I have been handling weapons since we were five." He scoffed. 

    "Yeah, well, we were brought up differently. And I just turned 16. " Nya retorted. 

   Jay just looked at her, walked towards her before turning round, his back to the target. He took out his pistol from it's holder, aimed it behind him and fired without even look. Smirking, we walked away. 

    Nya just stared open mouthed. And then she realised. 'That was a real bullet!' She gasped at the thought, not wanting to imagine what would happen if she fired without looking.

    "Dinner's ready!" Tox called, ringing the dinner bell. 

   Nya put her pistol away carefully, making sure that the ammunition was locked. 

  "What was that all about?" Skylor asked, as they all headed below deck. 

   "Oh, nothing. He was just helping me aim and shoot." Nya replied.

   "Hope he coached you nicer than how Lloyd coached me. He kept snapping and scowling all the time," Harumi said, " 'Concentrate! Relax your shoulders!' " She imitated. 

   They all laughed. 

  "I heard that." A voice said behind them. 

  The girls froze. It was Lloyd. 

     "Ummm... I-I meant, ummm..." Harumi stammered. 

   Lloyd smirked before pushing past them and entered the dining saloon. 

    They stared after him shocked that he wasn't angry. 

   "As I said, temperamental." Harumi breathed. 

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    Phew!!! There you have it! Chapter 5!!!!!!! My word, this chapter has 2750 words in it!

    Anyway, hope you all enjoyed reading this and I'll see you all in the next chapter!!! 

  And by the way, this is 1# in PIXANE now!!!!!! Thank you guys so much!!!!! Oh! And I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, since this AU is a 10th anniversary special, I took characters from each of the seasons, so I have updated the Characters list at the beginning of this book. You can check it out of you want, but you don't have to, I'm not forcing you to.  

    Thank you!

    Claire xxx ⚓