"Wait wait wait. Dragon shifter?" Jay asked. Wu moved the ninja to their room, to sit and discuss.

"Yes..." Wu tugged on his beard, like this disturbed him.

"Could you explain a bit more?" Kai asked. "You're leaving us in the dark here."

Wu sighed. "I suppose...but...my knowledge is very limited to them." He cleared his throat. "Long ago, there were a race of people known as 'Dragon Shifters'. Not being fully human, they had the power to turn into dragons. At some point in history, they vanished, and everyone thought the race to be extinct." The ninja waited. "...That's it."

"That's it?!" Jay asked. "That's never it, where's the backstory, the dark twist, the usual fate deciding ending?!"

"I warned you." Wu told them. "My knowledge is limited. They were believed to be legend, and others thought maybe they were just stories."

Lloyd rubbed his head. "That doesn't help us in the slightest..." He felt uneasy. Like...something was wrong.

"So, why were they here?" Cole asked.

"The scroll." Zane said. "They had a scroll with them."

"Oh yeah. Zane, do you know what it was?" Nya asked.

He nodded. "Yes." His eyes glowed and a hologram projection of the scroll appeared on the table. "It was a scroll some researches found not too long ago, and put on display, thankfully, after the events that happened with Lord Garmadon. It had only one line in it, but it was in an ancient tongue that couldn't be translated. They out it on display, and some talk was even said about a reward for whoever could translate it."

"Hm...Maybe they were trying to steal it to make money?" Kai offered the idea.

"It doesn't make sense though, the mask, the...shifter and why they were after it." Nya said. "This all happened and we have no clue as to what is going on."

"Nya is right. We were shoved in the dark with no light." Wu stated.

Jay laughed. "Greeeeat. And, um, what was with the danger of the human race thing?"

"Well, with the coming of the dragon shifters, it was also stated it could fate the end of the human race if they decided to come into power." Wu said.

"So they're bad guys?" Lloyd asked. That didn't feel right to say. Like...it wasn't true.

"So what? We've fought dragons before, and heck, a whole stone golem too! We can probably handle this." Cole stated with confidence.

"Maybe. But be on your guard. A being that could alternate between human and dragon could be dangerous." Wu stood up. "It is late. It's best we turn in for the night. Nya, please dock the bounty in a safe place for the evening, thank you." He left.

"Sleep, with a dragon changing human out there? count me out!" Jay huffed.


LLoyd could hear Jay's snores, amongst everyone else's. He just couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling. All he could think about were those eyes...something about them...they didn't give off the feel of evil. But...he's been fooled before.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Wu was right, he needed sleep. No point in trying to stay awake worrying. If the shifters wanted them dead, they would have acted...right?


Lloyd opened his eyes to find himself in a large dark room, with grey smoke on the floor. It was vast, he couldn't tell if he was seeing walls or not. He looked around, and he was completely alone. "Hello?" His voice didn't even echo. "Is anything there?"

Then he heard it. A soft growl. He slowly turned, and in the dark, he saw two glowing yellow-gold eyes. That was all he saw. They were slanted, with a cat eye pupil in the middle. Lloyd felt scared...but at the same time, it was like looking at an old friend. Slowly, he could make out the outline of a dragon. It growled, then it roared.

"GAH!" Lloyd sat up as the alarm went off. Everyone groaned.

"Lloyd, we don't need a panic alarm too..." Kai mumbled and he fumbled for the alarm.

Nya yawned and stretched. "I slept too heavy..."

"Same..." Cole stated. "I guess my worry kind of transitioned over..."

"I slept great!" Jay stated, earning a few glares from everyone.

Nya got out of bed and looked over at Lloyd. "Huh? Lloyd, are you okay? You look shaken up."

Lloyd swallowed and pushed his head from his eyes. "Y-Yeah, i'm okay. Just...didn't sleep well..." He got up and stretched. Funny, the feeling of fear wasn't there anymore. "What is wrong with me? What happened?"


The ninja were heading to the upper deck.

Kai yawned. "Who's turn is it to make breakfast?"

Nya weakly raised her hand. "Mine. I'm gonna make some eggs and nato." The boys groaned. "Stop it, it's good for you. If you all ate nothing but pancakes and bacon, you'll end up looking like Dareth."

Cole chuckled. "Low blow Nya. But you're right, eating healthy is a good choice for all meals."

Lloyd smirked as they stepped on deck. "Yeah, we can't just-" He froze and the others bumped into him.

"Oof! Lloyd, what's the deal?" Kai asked. Lloyd didn't respond. "Lloyd?" They pushed past him ,and gasped.

Sitting on the deck, asleep, was the figure in the black cloak, the dragon mask still on their face, the scroll in their lap.

Jay clung to Zane. "Its them...quick, strike now!"

Zane help his arm, despite the risk of an electric zap. "Easy Jay, we don't know if they mean any harm."

Jay's loud antic woke them up though. They yawned and looked at them. they quickly got up, scroll in hand.

Lloyd swallowed. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

The figure stood there. Lloyd saw this emotion in their body...nervous. They didn't want to be here, but it was as if they had no choice. They shuffled a bit, then knelt down, rolling the scroll towards them. This caught the ninja off guard. Lloyd went over and picked it up.

"...Why? why come to us?" Lloyd asked.

The figured swallowed, then bowed down low. "Because I need your help..."

The ninja were quiet.

"You're a girl?!" Kai and Jay asked.


Wu poured some tea and handed it to her. She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you." She took a sip, the mask still on.

Lloyd sat across from her. He felt embarrassed, because he didn't notice it before, but once he heard her spoke, he saw the feminine features. The eyes, her figure, he even noticed her ches- He shook his head slightly. "Bad, Lloyd! Be serious!" He cleared his throat. "So...who are you?"

The figure sat still for a second. "...My name is Ashlynn...I'm a dragon shifter. I came to you last night for help."

"Why?" Nya asked.

Ashlynn nodded to the scroll on the table. "The scroll...its a map of some sorts. But...I don't know the land."

"Wait, you don't?" Cole asked. She still shook her head. "Why us though?"

Ashlynn looked at Kai. "I saw his fire. I knew you weren't normal humans. You were also trying to stop the others."

Jay piped up. "Are they bad guys?"

"They're...lost dragon shifters. Members of the flightless group went rouge." Ashlynn said.

"Flightless?" Lloyd asked.

She nodded. "Dragon shifters where their dragon self have no wings. They're group lives away from the rest, but...to go rogue and invade the humans like this..." She sighed. "They can not have this scroll in their possession."

"But it is safe in ours?" Zane asked.

"You humans wouldn't have been able to figure it out." Ashlynn stated. "It's written in an old dragon tongue."

Lloyd leaned forward. "You said that its a map. A map to what?"

Ashlynn took another sip. "A map to the three dragon cloaks."

This caught everyone off guard. "Cloaks?" Kai asked. "Are they like the oni masks?"

Ashlynn nodded. "In a way, yes. However, unlike the masks, these cloaks can only be used by someone with dragon blood. Even if you humans figured out how to read our tongue, you would not be able to use the cloaks unless you had dragon blood."

Wu nodded. "The oni were unfair creatures, allowing anyone power for a price. dragons were more cautious of the balance."

"So that's why you were worried about them stealing it." Lloyd stated. "but..how did you know to find it?"

Lloyd couldn't see it, but he felt her embarrassment. "I...I followed them..I left my home with no plan, but found the group heading towards your home. I could have stopped them there, but...I had an idea."

"Idea?" Zane asked.

Ashlynn nodded. "I want to bring the cloaks with me, to the safety of my home, to the The High Alpha of all dragons."

"High Alpha? Is that like...a king?" Jay asked.

"In some sense, yes." Ashlynn stated. She put her cup down and grabbed the mask, pulling it back of her head, Black hair spilled out to the side, and Lloyd felt his throat close.

She had pale skin, and solid black hair. Her eyes matched her face better without the mask. "I left my home to find the cloaks, to bring them back. I just...didn't account for there to be so much human interaction..." Her cheeks roseied a little from embarrassment.

"...Why do we need to help?" Lloyd asked.

"Like i said, I don't know the land. I asked for your assistance, because if the rogues get a hold of the cloaks, they might use it to overthrow the balance! You now the land, i know the tongue. We can help each other."

LLoyd sat there, still. "...Sorry, but we can't" Ashlynn just stared. "Last time we helped someone, it got everyone in a lot of trouble. We don't know if you're on our side or not."

Ashlynn started, then sighed. "That is fair...I have no way of proving it..." She reached for the scroll-

Lloyd stopped her. "And you're not getting this back"

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"Um, Lloyd? Maybe not tick off the dragon shifting girl?" Jay mentioned.

"Like i said..." Lloyd stated. "We don't know if you're on our side or not. So you can't have this."

Ashlynn glared at him. "Come on Lloyd, this isn't like you." Kai said.

Lloyd looked at him. "Look, last time we helped someone just because they asked and talked about magic artifacts, we got the city destroyed, my father back as evil, and..." He swallowed. "Someone killed. We can't take that risk again...I can't take the risk again. So we're going to return the scroll and-" He reached for the scroll, but it was gone,

And so was Ashlynn.