Lloyd supposed that it had been two weeks since his parents and uncle had left.

He didn't know who his family were searching for, but he figured that they wouldn't stop looking until they found that person.

"I really hope you're doing okay, Zanea," Lloyd quietly muttered to himself. "I don't know what I would do if I found out you were dead after all of this time."

Sadly, Lloyd was beginning to grow quite lonely without his adopted sister by his side.

Then again, why wouldn't he?

He left her all alone when they were young, and Lloyd had never fully forgiven himself for that act.

The least he could do was hope and pray that Zanea was safe and sound somewhere, already making her way back to him.

Then, he would finally be able to protect her again just like when they were kids.

Yes, Lloyd was ready to become a big brother again.

Now if he only knew where Zanea was....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn, Zanea thought in anger, looking at her face in a small mirror inside her cell. That girl really knew how to fight.

A long, deep, red, bleeding scar was painted onto her once beautiful face.

It reached from in between her eyebrows all the way down to the right side of her jaw.

It curved along the right side of her face, and Zanea was doing her best not to scream in pain.

The person she had just killed, Clara, had put up quite a fight.

She was armed with a scythe, and Zanea almost didn't make it out of the Arena alive.

If weren't for Zanea's quick thinking to use throwing knives to kill Clara....

Zanea shuddered.

She didn't want to think about that.

Killing Clara was enough for Zanea to handle.

She didn't need to ask herself the "What If?" questions.

"You will need to do something about your face soon," Miss Grim told Zanea through the cell window. "You only have ten people left."

The woman walked away, leaving Zanea alone.

"Oh, your face looks awful," Anya said in sadness.

"Tell me about it," Zanea huffed. "It hurts like hell."

"I'm sure it will heal," Anya assured her upset friend. "Besides. I think it makes you look cool."

Zanea let out another little huff.

"Gee, thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"I was being serious," Anya answered.

"Nothing about this is cool, Anya," Zanea stated firmly, standing up to walk around her cell. "In the past two weeks, I have been forced against my will to fight to the death and I have killed ten people, some of which I knew very well. And for what?! My freedom?!"

Anya sighed as she listened to her friend rant.

"I'm sure that's not the point-"

"It is, Anya! Our Battle is coming up soon!"

"Zanea, please just listen to-"

"I'm going to kill you!"

"I'm leaving."

Zanea stopped dead in her tracks, seeing how serious Anya was.

"What?" Zanea asked.

"I'm leaving," Anya repeated. "Miss Grim allowed me to leave. I'll be gone in the morning."

Zanea sighed, sitting in the fetal position on the cell floor.

"Can I come with?" she questioned softly.

"You can try," Anya agreed, "but I'm not sure how long it will take her to notice her top warrior is gone."

Zanea huffed.

"I'm no warrior," she spat. "I'm a killer, a monster."

"No, Zanea," Anya said softly. "You're not a monster. You're just...confused."

"Can I just...be alone for a little while?" Zanea asked, turning her back on her friend.

"Of course," Anya whispered, walking away.

Zanea sighed.

One way or another, Zanea knew that she was going to pay for the lives that she had taken in the past two weeks, and she hoped that it didn't involve her own death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning came, and Anya had quietly but quickly helped Zanea escape from her cell.

"The hall is just down here," Anya said quietly. "Don't say a word."

Zanea just nodded, following her friend's words.

The two seventeen year old girls reached the checkpoint, Anya quietly opening up the door.

"Once we're through, we're home free," she grinned softly.

Zanea just nodded again, running with her friend as soon as the door was opened.

"Whoo-hoo!" Anya cheered, feeling the wind blow through her hair. "Isn't this amazing?!"

"Yes!" Zanea beamed. "It is!"

"Hey, how about we-" Anya was cut off as a dagger lodged itself into her body, the knife clearly thrown from behind her.

"ANYA!" Zanea screamed, catching the injured girl in her arms. "NO!"

"I told you what would happen if you failed me," Miss Grim told Zanea, walking up to the two girls.

Zanea assumed that Miss Grim had somehow followed them out of the orphanage, clearly ready to strike when needed.

Zanea looked at her friend's gold eyes, tears falling down her face.

"Do-don't cry," Anya smiled at her albino friend. "I-I'll be okay."

"Y-you're dying, Anya!" Zanea said through her tears. "You're not okay!"

"You Humans call it dying, but us Experts call it healing," Anya replied, "and don't worry about me. I'll always be with you."

"No, Anya, no!" Zanea screamed, looking at her friend. "Don't go!"

"I'll always be with you," Anya repeated sweetly, closing her gold eyes with a smile on her face.

"ANYA!" Zanea shouted in agony, clutching her dead friend close to her as the albino started sobbing.

"I hope this means you will be coming back with me, yes?" Miss Grim asked in a flat tone.

Zanea sniffled and looked at the woman.

"Not on your life, Demon!" she yelled. "You will pay for what you have done to Anya! She was your child! How could you do this to her?!"

"Anya wasn't my child, Zanea," Miss Grim replied, "you were."

"I told you that I'm Lord Garmadon's daughter!" Zanea stated, picking her friend up bridal style. "Now leave me alone!"

Miss Grim just nodded, turning her back on Zanea and the now dead Anya.

"If that is your wish, then it shall be," the woman said, "but just remember that this was your fault. The guilt now rests upon you, my child. Prepare for the worst that is to come."

"Is that a threat?" Zanea snapped. "Because it can't get any worse than it is now!'

"Then you are on your own, child," the old croon told Zanea. "You are hereby banished from this world."

Zanea and Anya were then teleported into a forest, the light of morning shining through the trees.

Zanea sighed, setting her deceased friend on the ground for a minute.

I better find somewhere to bury her, Zanea thought, before someone sees us and suspects something that didn't actually happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Zanea had buried Anya and had a small funeral for the girl, Zanea went on her own way in the sunlit forest.

She didn't have much, just a satchel and a small picture of her family.

Zanea sniffled at the thought of seeing her brother again, hate and love for him at war within her.

He abandoned me when we were young, Zanea thought spitefully. How can I ever forgive him or forget that?!

"You seem lost, little one," a strange man sitting in front of Zanea said.

Zanea stopped walking, wondering who this person was and how were they suddenly right there with her.

She gave the old man a confused look, raising a brow.

"Hmm, I thought my niece would have recognized me by now," the man chuckled, and Zanea instantly ran up to him.

"Uncle Wu," Zanea said softly, hugging the old man.

"Zaneaphyra," Wu replied, his voice soft. "It's been so long."

"It has," Zanea sighed, looking at his dull, emerald green eyes. "You got...old."

Wu laughed.

"Yes, and you've grown," he smiled.

"Why are you out here?" Zanea asked.

"I would ask you the same thing," Wu countered. "I thought you were still in the Underworld."

"I was, but...um...I had a complication, so I'm here now," Zanea explained seriously. "Wherever "here" is."

"That explains the wound on your face, and you are in Ninjago," Wu answered. "You are in the forest."

"I kind of figured that," Zanea replied, taking in her surroundings.

She remembered playing in the forests of Ninjago as a child, so many memories that Zanea didn't want to remember coming to her mind.

"Anyway, you didn't answer my question," Zanea continued. "What are you doing here?"

"I have been trying to find you," Wu stated. "I have some scrolls to show you explaining my reason in detail, but first-"

He cut off, looking at the grave Zanea had made for Anya.

"-who did you bury over there?" he finished, looking at Zanea again.

"Someone I cared very deeply for," is all Zanea replied with, her voice having an edge. "Where are those scrolls?"

Wu just nodded, not wanting to push Zanea if she was still grieving for her friend.

He pulled the scrolls out of his bag, showing them to her.

"You are the first Elemental Master of Weaponry that has ever lived for many generations," Wu explained. "I need you to come with me."

"I'm not," Zanea said harshly. "I'm going back to the Underworld to rule there. Since my father died valiantly in battle, I have to take over for him."

Wu was shocked, but he just nodded again, srtoking his beard in thought.

"That's a hard task for a seventeen year old girl like yourself," he told her. "Are you sure people will even listen to you?"

"Only way to find out is to do it, so if you're done here, I better be going," Zanea answered, turning to walk away.

"I won't ask you again to come with me, Zanea," Wu said, and Zanea could hear a threatening tone in his voice.

"Are you-are you...threatening me?" Zanea inquired, shocked.

"I will if I have to," Wu responded, looking at the albino.

Zanea scoffed, still shocked.

"Yeah," she said with an eye roll, "good luck with that."

Wu tripped her with his bamboo staff, and Zanea yelped as she hit the ground.

"What the-" she started, but cut off once she saw how serious her uncle was.

"There cannot be another Garmadon," was all Wu told her, and Zanea laughed.

"Yes," she smirked, "there can."

Wu sighed, packing up his things.

"You have until sunset," he told her, summoning his gold and white Dragon and flying off.

Zanea scoffed again, standing up to walk into a different direction.

If my sources are correct, a village shouldn't be that far from here, she thought to herself, walking away from the grave and ignoring her uncle's threat.

Suddenly, growling and whimpering sounds coming from behind a bush broke Zanea out of her thoughts.

She walked up to the bush, seeing a wild dog threatening a baby, serpent-like creature.

"Hey!" Zanea called firmly, stepping over the bushes. "Shoo, you big meanie!"

The dog whimpered at her voice, running away from the baby creature.

Zanea looked at the small thing, and realized that it was a shiny, baby, silver and white Dragon.

A Weaponry Class Dragon if Zanea had to guess.

She had read about them in her books.

Zanea thought that it was another way for her uncle to threaten her to come with him, but Zanea pushed that thought aside.

The baby was scared, and so Zanea knew that she should save it before the wild dog came back.

Zanea picked up the shaking baby Dragon, seeing that it was a female.

"Aw, it's okay, little one," Zanea soothed. "You're okay."

The albino looked around, trying to find the mother Dragon.

She couldn't, so she took the Dragon with her on her journey to a village.

Zanea noticed that the Dragon had red eyes like her, and she smiled.

"You're an albino too, aren't you?" Zanea chuckled.

The Dragon squeaked, almost saying "Yes."

Zanea chuckled again, grinning.

"You'll need a name if you're staying with me," she said. "How about...Rifle?"

The Dragon growled, not seeming to like that name.

"Yeah, I didn't like that one either," Zanea laughed. "Hm...Pistol?"

The Dragon huffed, not liking that option either.

"Machete is definitely out of the question, and so is Bullet," Zanea crossed off in her mind. "Ugh, this is hard."

The Dragon put up her tail, metal spines sticking out in a defense mechanism.

Zanea took the hint, smirking.

"Blade it is," she agreed, and the Dragon let out a cute, little roar.

"You're pretty tough for a baby," Zanea commented proudly. "We're going to become a great team, you and I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zanea's sources were right; the path she had taken did lead her to a village.

Well, of a sort.

It was more of a town, and it seemed to be surrounded by a bunch of water.

Zanea looked at the wooden sign, seeing that it said "Stiix" on the front.

"Stiix," Zanea repeated to her Dragon.

Zanea walked in, still holding onto Blade in her arms.

So far, Zanea was liking what she was seeing.

Shops were plentiful, many peddlers walking around and selling things off of their carts and boats as well.

Zanea knew that she needed to get food for Blade, the female Dragon being too skinny for her age.

Once Zanea purchased the food, she started walking to find some new clothing for herself.

The clothes she had on now, neutral grey pants, a neutral grey long-sleeved shirt, and neutral grey Viking-styled boots were dirty, with rips, tears, holes, and blood all over them.

"Looks you got into quite the fight," a voice said from within the shadows.

Zanea stopped, noticing that she had accidentally wandered into an alley.

Blade growled, warning her owner of a dangerous presence.

Zanea got the memo, and started walking out of the alley.

"Hold up," the voice stopped Zanea. "You look like a smart street kid."

"Back off," Zanea snapped at the shadow speaker. "I'm not going to help you steal stuff for your own enjoyment."

"Feisty," the man laughed, showing himself. "I like that."

"Who are you?" Zanea demanded, putting her guard up.

"The name's Ronin," Ronin smirked. "You look smart, as I said, so I could use your help with something."

"And like I said, I'm not going to help you," Zanea told him firmly, walking away from him, her Dragon in her arms.

"You say that, but I know you will," Ronin grinned, seeming to have a plan.

"And if I don't?" Zanea wondered cautiously.

"Well, I could trade that Dragon of yours for something," Ronin threatened, all grinning and playfulness gone.

Zanea growled, about done with the conversation and Ronin.

It was one thing for Ronin to threaten her, but it was another thing for Ronin to threaten Blade.

With newfound strength to protect Blade due to the albino and Dragon's now strong bond, Zanea summoned her favorite iron spear that she had fought many Battles with in the Arena.

She named it "Jotar," which translates to "Killer."

It was an ancient, Ninjago word, and Zanea loved it just as much as she loved her spear and Blade.

So, with a battle cry, Zanea jabbed Jotar into Ronin's chest, Ronin letting out an agonized scream.

Zanea yanked the spear out of his chest, blood pooling and spurting everywhere but on her clothes and Blade.

Ronin coughed up blood, looking at Zanea.

"You-you'll pay for that, bi-" Ronin gasped, but cut off as he died.

The villagers screamed, Zanea's blood red eyes hungry for more.

She set Blade down on the ground by Ronin's corpse, grinning.

"Watch and learn, my lovely," Zanea ordered sweetly, doing her battle cry and killing more villagers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"GUYS, GUYS!" Nya cried, running into the game room.

She sighed in frustration, seeing that the five boys were in a heated argument about their game again.

"GUYS!" Nya yelled, getting their attention.

"WHAT?!" the five boys yelled back at her in perfect unison.

"Seriously?" Nya asked flatly. "Anyway, Zane's titanium falcon just came back from surveillance and picked up some really bad activity in Stiix."

"What did he find?" Zane asked, being the calm Nindroid that he is.

"Come and see for yourself," Nya told them, nodding her head in the direction of the control room.

The five young adults followed her, gasping once they saw the footage.

"What the hell?" Kai wondered, getting elbowed in the stomach by his sister.

"Quit cursing," Nya said in annoyance over Kai's yelp of pain. "You're not that cool."

"Says you," Kai replied with an eye roll.

"A massacre?" Zane inquired. "Why?"

"Do you know who did this?" Lloyd wondered, trying to find a pattern in the villagers' stab wounds.

"No, but I did find a surprising victim," Nya sighed, zooming in on Ronin.

The guys gasped again, not wanting to believe it.

"Ronin got stabbed?!" Jay questioned in shock. "How?! And why?!"

"There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern here," Cole stated, speaking Lloyd's thoughts out loud.

"I don't know why someone would do this, Jay," Nya answered, "but if someone killed Ronin, I'd say that it's pretty bad."

"Zoom in a little more," Kai told his sister. "I think I see something on his right cheek."

Nya zoomed in, and Kai nodded.

"I knew those were letters carved into his skin," he smirked.

"ZG?" Cole wondered with a shudder. "What does that mean?"

"They appear to be the initials of the killer," Zane replied in understanding. "Who they are, however, still remains a mystery."

Something tugged at Lloyd's mind, but he ignored it.

"Only one way to find out," Lloyd told his team.

"What?" Nya gasped. "You're not-"

"I am," Lloyd nodded. "We have to clean this up before my family gets home."

"We already know," Misako's voice told the Ninja, the three adults walking into the control room. "We were alerted by the falcon as well."

Lloyd nodded, putting his hood up.

"Let's go team," he said, the other five following suit.

They ran out of the Bounty, yelling their famous catchphrase as they summoned their Elemental Dragons.

"NINJA-GO!"

As Lloyd took the lead, he silently hoped the killer wasn't who he thought it was.

Please don't let it be you, Zanea, Lloyd prayed. I don't know what I would do if the killer turned out to be you.