Everything cascaded down the drain. They had to retreat when the four colorful, self-proclaimed 'ninja' showed up; barely ending up with a handful of vegetables and losing the general's staff in the process. Lloyd was rather shocked when he apologized for what has happened and had simply been given a shrug and an "it isss jussst a ssstaff" from Slithraa.

He had to get it back, these snakes were actually really nice and he owed them big time.

He overheard the second in command - Scales - muttering to one of his close friends about having a plan to get the staff back, but needing a distraction. Cautiously, he approached the two. "Sir, I mean, um, Scales? Maybe I can... Help? With this, distraction thing?"

Scales raised an eyebrow, and a wicked smile crept onto his face. "Asss a matter of fact, I believe you can."

*To the Ninja's Perspective!*

"Tell me again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret tree house?"

"I followed a bird." Zane stated calmly, as if it were a solid argument.

"Why did you follow a bird?"

"Because it danced."

"Oh, okay. Was it a cuckoo bird?" Cole and Kai joined him in laughing at his joke.

"Of course not, everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests." Zane continued onward.

With a quick shrug to each other, the other three ninja raced after him, swiftly coming in sight of the tree-house. It was a series of three small huts suspended in the trees, connected with plain rope bridges. They were placed strategically, and had no decorations of any kind. Snakes were scurrying all over, making sure everything was secure. They spotted that same kid who had attacked Jamanakai that first time tying down one of the bridges.

"That's that same kid! I told you he was involved in releasing the serpentine!"

"And that had gotta be one of the lamest lines of tree-houses I've ever seen. All bland, square, brown. It's just wood on wood!"

He received three glares, and everyone turned back to the trees. "Well, three tree-houses means that three of us can take them down while the fourth stops the kid before he does anything else." Cole gestured. "Their support systems are linked up to the tops of the trees, a bit of damage to the walls and cut a few vines and they'll fall like a house of cards."

"But why would someone build a house of cards? Such construction would be careless."

Kai groaned. "I'll take the kid."

The four split, and the Serpentine noticed them quickly. They prepared to battle, but the snakes simply dropped what they were doing and ran away. The kid moved to run too, but Kai managed to snag the back of his hood.

"Now we get some explanations. Who are you? Why did you release the serpentine?"

The kid looked up, bright green eyes wide as he trembled. His voice squeaked and shook excessively. "I'm- I- I'm Lloyd. Lloyd Garmadon, sir. And the- the snakes are really nice."

"Wait, Garmadon?! As in Lord Garmadon?!"

"Y-yes, sir. He's my dad." Tears crept into the edges of his eyes as he tried to examine Kai's fierce expression.

Kai was so stunned at the news that his - and the other ninjas' - nemesis had a kid, the snake's long tail wrapped around his arms and legs before he had a chance to even realize it was happening. Slithraa easily wrested the child from Kai's grip, holding Lloyd close. "Mind your own busssinessss, ninja." With a flick of his tail, he shoved the ninja away from him and fled the scene.

As Kai got up, he was faced with a red-eyed Cole.

*And now, back to Lloyd's perspective!*

When Skales arrived, holding the staff, Lloyd's spirits lifted. "It worked!"

"Great work, Ssskalesss." Slithraa gave him a smile, holding out a hand for his staff.

Skales glanced back before tucking the staff behind him. "I think I'll hold onto thisss ssstaff."

There were a few gasps among the crowd.

Slithraa glared. "Not funny, Ssskalesss. Give. Me. My. Staff."

"No."

The serpentine stared at each other a second before one in the crowd started softly chanting "Ssslither pit." Soon the rest of the crowd had started up as well.

Lloyd winced, suspecting there was no way this would turn out well.

A/N: I'm guessing you all can guess most of what happens next, but for those of you that can't (or are curious of the more exact details) here's a short summary:

Slithraa gets beat up by Skales, who then becomes the new leader of the tribe via combat. Skales's first act as leader is to kick Lloyd out because he doesn't like him (more on that later). A kind, pink, hypnobrai woman gives Lloyd a map of toumbs as he flees, as well as some words of encouragement.

Please review! (If you have a moment! It would be really nice!)