In the morning, Jay found Nya waiting in front of the elevator to the hangar. She didn't look surprised when he joined her.

"Did you get some sleep?" he asked in order to break the silence on the way down.

She shrugged, and he nodded. There wasn't much to say. They walked over to the workbench where they had placed the bodies of Zane and Pixal the night before. The two nindroids were lying on their backs, and someone had intertwined their fingers so that it looked like they were holding hands. Someone had closed their eyes, too.

They looked … peaceful.

"Let's ... let's get a blanket and cover them, ok?" Nya suggested, shivering slightly. "It must have been cold down here at night."

"You know they can't feel the cold."

"Of course I know. But still ..."

"Yeah."

They silently returned to the elevator and went to fetch a large, woolen blanket from Nya's room. On the way back down to the hangar, Nya sniffled. Jay put his arm around her, and she leaned against him with averted eyes. They didn't talk when they spread the blanket over the two lifeless bodies and tucked it under, just like they would have done if one of their human family members had been sick. For a moment, they looked at the two quiet faces in silence.

"As if they were sleeping," Jay remarked in a hoarse voice.

"They are, sort of," Nya replied. "You said so yourself. They haven't been destroyed. Their minds may have been ... droidnapped ... but they're still around. Somewhere."

"I hope so."

Jay found himself going to the hangar several times that day. He remembered that Nya had said something about a specific pair of pliers she needed upstairs (oh, no; she had already gone to get it the day before). He searched for his watch and thought he might have left it in the car (no, it turned out to be on the kitchen counter). He went looking for Cole (actually, the black ninja was far more likely to spend his time in the training room, but you never knew, he might be at the hangar to check on his bike). After the third time, Jay didn't bother anymore to come up with an excuse for going downstairs.

Every time he came to the workbench, something had changed.

The first time, he noticed that the heads of the nindroids were now resting on a second blanket that had been neatly folded to form a pillow.

By the next time he went there, someone had brought a night lamp and placed it on a little table next to Pixal.

Still later, another table had appeared on Zane's side, carrying two glasses and a jug of water.

They didn't talk about it, but the ninja all did their best to pretend that the situation would soon return to normal. Because the state of their deactivated teammates could only be temporary.

Because at some point their droid friends would surely wake up, wouldn't they?

How this should happen with nobody knowing where their CPUs and power cores were, they couldn't tell. Nya had another long phone call with Cyrus Borg, who had been devastated at the news. He had spent all night studying Pixal's original code and trying to program a device that might be able to pick up signals from the nindroids; but if they didn't actively choose to disclose their position or were prevented by someone or something from doing so, it would be impossible to find them. So far, Borg's attempts had yielded no result whatsoever. Nya, utterly frustrated with the situation, withdrew to her own computer.

Even Lloyd's cat seemed to sense that something was wrong. She stayed out of sight most of the time, presumably hiding in the green ninja's room or chasing mice outside, who knew. Perhaps she was able to provide Lloyd some comfort; except for meals, the green ninja seemed not to have left his room all day (although Jay strongly suspected that he had been at the hangar at least once).

When Jay went downstairs again after dinner, it was already dark. A figure stood next to the workbench, holding a small flame in their hands. Jay stepped forward and cleared his throat, and Kai startled.

"Oh, hi."

They watched the flickering light paint ever changing patterns on the blanket under which the nindroids lay.

"I'm sick of losing people," Kai muttered. "So sick."

Jay only nodded.

"That phone call from Zane," Kai continued. "I should have known it was fake. It was so unlike Zane, just leaving a voice mail saying they'd be away for a few days." He sighed. "I should have taken the call. At least I should have called back. He was under the control of some madman, and we would have gained valuable time if I had not ..."

Jay held up a hand. "Kai. It wasn't your fault."

Kai pulled a face and shrugged. "Anyway, I'm really useless now. At least you and Nya, you understand something of the matter. You can run diagnostics, try to pick up signals, and you'll be able to reconnect the drives to their bodies if we ever find them ... when we find them," he corrected himself hastily.

"But this," he stared at the flame in his hand, "this doesn't help. At all."

Jay sighed. "I know what you mean. And it doesn't help if I tell you that Nya, and I, and Mr. Borg are at a loss right now, too."

He hesitated for a moment.

"But ... Kai? You may not be able to bring Zane and Pixal back. But the team needs you. Ninjago needs you. There's a coup planned, and we have to be prepared. If anything happens at the Shintaro exhibition, they need us there. In fact, I think as soon as the convoy with the Shintaran jewels arrives, we should take turns guarding the exhibits."

Kai turned to him, as if snapping out of a trance, and nodded slowly. "You're right. I'll talk to Lloyd, and we should sit down tonight and make a plan distributing the shifts. We shouldn't let the grief paralyze us."

"Sounds like a plan." Jay wasn't good at giving encouraging speeches, but if this was what Kai had needed to hear, all the better. He pointed at Kai's warm jacket. "You're going out?"

"What?" Kai absently glanced down at himself. "Oh, yes. I told Cole I'd join him outside. He went to clear the little path, the one we never use, from rocks and the remains of the landslide that came down half a year ago. I told him it's not necessary, not in winter anyway, and certainly not at night, but … yeah." He shrugged.

Jay only gave a nod. He understood.

"Anyway," Kai continued, "he's also looking for the dragon. In fact, if we can train him, he may be able to assist us. Maybe Cole could ride him. We could watch the museum from above. We haven't had dragons in a while, it would be nice to work with one again." The thought seemed to cheer him up.

"Mind if I come with you? I'd like to get some fresh air, too."

"Sure."

They left the hangar together, not without giving the two nindroids another look.

Kai didn't say anything aloud, but it was obvious how much he still struggled with accepting the situation. And Jay agreed with him more than he had let show.

He grabbed his own jacket and followed Kai to the gate of the monastery. Once outside, they could see Cole standing next to a large rock about one hundred yards away. As soon as he heard them approaching, he turned round and put a finger on his lips.

"What?" Jay whispered when they had reached the black ninja. "I thought you were good friends with the dragon already?"

Cole only shook his head and pointed at a small grassy patch below. And now, they could see it: With its back turned towards them, there sat a large creature and gazed into the distance. It was almost as large as the dragon, but its silhouette was distinctly feline.

"What's that?" Kai whispered. "A lion? It's huge!"

"No." Cole kept his eyes glued to the creature. "Wait until it turns its head."

They watched the strange animal in silence. In the dim light of the moon that shone through the passing clouds, they could see the dark spots on its sand-colored fur. From time to time, the pointed ears twitched. After a minute or so, the animal moved and looked into another direction.

Kai gasped. "Impossible!"

"Did ... did you see what I just saw?" Jay blinked nervously.

Cole nodded. "It doesn't have the head of a cat ... or anything similar. It has a beak! And I don't know if you noticed, it's hard to see in the dark, but look ... now, when it moves, watch its back ..."

"Wings!" Jay exclaimed, barely managing to keep his voice down.

Kai gave him an angry glance, but too late. The creature had sharp ears. Slowly, it started to turn around.

"Thanks, Jay," Kai muttered. "It's noticed us."

Jay's heart was thumping hard in his chest. He had barely gotten used to the thought that an untamed dragon of unknown origin had chosen to roam the mountain around the monastery, and now this.

"A griffin," Cole uttered, awestruck. "An owl griffin."

The creature stood hardly twenty yards away from them, attentive and alert, wings spread out. It had the body of a giant lynx, but the face of an owl. Most of its body, except for the wings, seemed to be covered with thick fur, blending into feathers from the chest upwards. The griffin watched them with large, green eyes, and its lynx ears were pricked up. Only a few leaps separated the animal from the three ninja, and if those wings were functional – they definitely looked strong enough to hold the weight of the creature – there was no way that they would make it back to the gate if the griffin was going to attack them.

"What do we do now?" Kai asked nervously.

"We walk backwards," Cole decided. "Slowly. Keep watching the griffin, but don't stare into its eyes."

"Oh ... ok." Jay almost stumbled when he began to set one foot behind the other. Cole caught him by the arm.

"What do you know about griffins, Cole?" Kai asked.

"Nothing," the black ninja admitted. "I'm going by gut feeling. But it doesn't look like it wants to attack us. And don't you think it's beautiful? Elegant, somehow."

"I only noticed that it has a very sharp-looking beak and four strong paws that must be equipped with equally sharp claws," Jay muttered. "Can't quite see the beauty yet."

They had already covered half the distance between the rock and the gate when the griffin suddenly folded its wings and took a step forward.

"Uh-oh." Kai's voice sounded worried. "It's following us."

"Keep moving, but don't run. Not yet." Cole wasn't quite so sure of himself anymore. "Perhaps it's just curious."

Jay gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, or it just wants to play. I'd rather not have to find out its preferred game, thank you very much."

All of a sudden, they heard the gate creaking behind them.

"Guys, where are you?" Nya shouted. "Lloyd and I have been looking for you."

Kai groaned. "Sis?" he called out over his shoulder. "Bad moment. You shouldn't leave the courtyard right now, because ..."

The griffin, startled by the sudden noise, flapped its wings, but instead of taking flight, it moved only closer.

"Getting into the courtyard doesn't help us," Cole realized. "It can fly over the wall."

"Oh, wow." Nya had stepped out of the gate and could now clearly see what had kept the others outside. "Is that a griffin?" she asked in a low voice. "Is it friendly?"

"We're not on speaking terms yet," Jay retorted. "But ... oh."

He watched in surprise as the griffin suddenly lay down. Still watchful, like a sphinx, the animal observed the four ninja, but it didn't attempt to prevent them from retreating inside.

The ninja stood motionless, too scared to approach the griffin, but too fascinated to leave it alone and return into the monastery.

"It's beautiful," Nya whispered.

Yet again, someone calling that creature beautiful! Jay gave his girlfriend a quick glance and saw the admiring look on her face. He turned back to the griffin that lay quiet and elegant in front of them. It didn't look quite as intimidating anymore. In fact, Cole and Nya had a point. The silky feathers and soft fur of the creature shimmered in the moonlight; its posture was noble, and the large owls' eyes that watched the ninja looked intelligent and understanding. Where did it come from, and why had it suddenly appeared in the vicinity of the monastery? None of the ninja had ever heard of griffins living in this area.

"I hope it doesn't want to become our pet, too," Jay stated nervously. "We're not exactly equipped to run an animal shelter."

As if on cue, Lloyd poked his head through the gate.

"Ah, there you are."

He curiously stepped outside. The front of his sweater formed an unusual bulge, which was moving up and down. Jay raised his eyebrows; Lloyd's kitten had probably crawled into his sweater and fallen asleep on his stomach, and the green ninja had not had the heart to put her somewhere else when he went outside.

Meanwhile, Lloyd's reaction to the griffin was the same as everyone else's. He stared at it with mouth agape. "Where, in the name of the Master, does this creature come from?"

"We honestly don't know," Cole replied. "I found it sitting behind those large rocks over there. It followed us to the monastery."

Lloyd's cat had managed to climb up and push her head through the neckline of the green ninja's sweater. Her ears tickled his chin, and Lloyd, distracted by the moving fur bundle under his clothes, glanced down and tried to hold the cat more securely. He therefore missed the moment when the griffin suddenly fixed its eyes on him. The short tail of the large animal began to twitch. They could see the muscles in the strong hind legs tense as the griffin crouched, almost shivering with excitement and staring at Lloyd with an unblinking eye.

"Lloyd?" Kai said in a warning tone. "Watch out. Something's wrong."

Too late. With one gigantic leap, the griffin jumped at Lloyd and knocked him over. The green ninja, utterly surprised by the attack, tried to scramble to his feet, but the griffin's paws pinned him to the ground. His cat had more luck; mewing loudly, she struggled free from the sweater, not without leaving a couple of nasty scratches on Lloyd's neck and face, and darted through the gate and into the courtyard. The griffin screeched angrily. The other ninja, briefly paralyzed with shock, came back to their senses and menacingly approached the creature that still sat on Lloyd's chest.

"Oh, no, you oversized kitty," Jay hissed through clenched teeth "'ninja' is not on the menu today."

Kai had already created a massive orb of fire, but hesitated to use it for fear of hurting Lloyd. While the ninja wavered for a second, the decision about how to make the griffin let go of its prey was taken out of their hands. With a loud roar, a huge shadow descended from the sky and lunged itself at the other animal.

"Whoa!" Cole exclaimed as the dragon's wing brushed past him and made him stumble backwards.

The griffin screeched again, spread its wings and soared into the air just before the dragon was able to claw at its back. Lloyd rolled over, barely avoiding the dragon's sharp talons, and sat up panting. With horror and fascination, the ninja watched the two giant animals fight in the air. The dragon attacked his opponent fiercely, but the griffin was quick and more agile than they would have thought, considering its large, rounded wings. It easily managed to keep the dragon at bay with its beak and four strong paws, and its screeches resounded through the night.

The dragon roared, infuriated; the next time he opened his mouth, he shot silvery blasts at the griffin. The griffin ducked the first shot, but the dragon attacked again, driving the griffin further and further away from the monastery. Even when the two animals were out of sight, the ninja could still hear their roaring and screeching, until the sounds eventually died away.

"Phew." Nya turned to the others. "That was a bit more excitement than I was looking for." She gave Lloyd a concerned glance. "You're ok?"

"Yeah." Lloyd pushed himself up. "Yeah. Mikka gave me more scratches than that griffin." He sheepishly rubbed his neck. "It didn't use its beak or claws at all, just knocked me over. But it gave me a fright."

"I bet it did." Jay stepped behind Lloyd and brushed the dust and dry leaves off the green ninja's back.

"Ok, Cole," Kai said, hiding his relief behind a smirk. "It's official, then. You've found yourself a certified fighting dragon. Still sure you wanna try and ride him?"

Cole made a face at him. "Not when he's in that mood. He's really down on felines; that griffin upset him even more than Lloyd's kitten. I reckon we need to work a bit on his impulse control." He thoughtfully gazed in the direction where the animals had disappeared. "I don't understand the whole thing. But I guess we shouldn't complain; Lloyd was probably lucky that the dragon lashed out at the griffin like he did."

The ninja all nodded.

"Shall we go inside?" Nya asked.

"Yeah." Kai glanced at Lloyd. "And if you feel up for it ... Jay and I thought some of us should be present at the museum when the Shintaran jewels arrive tomorrow. Perhaps we should make a plan for the next few days."


Pixal couldn't stifle a cry of pain. This shouldn't have happened. She had been injured, and it hurt. It hurt a lot, if she was being honest. Her pain receptors and sensory circuits seemed to be functioning as always, she thought bitterly. Trying to ignore the searing pain as well as she could, she limped behind a large boulder for shelter. At least she wasn't being followed; the creature that had attacked her seemed to be content with having chased her away. It must have been programmed to do so, programmed to keep her away from her friends, programmed to prevent her from telling them about the need to find and free Zane. And it had been successful, for the moment at least, because the most pressing issue now was the damage done to her body.

Granted, her course of action had not been very wise. But the shock at seeing that cat with Lloyd had made her act rashly. And her reflexes were rather hard to control at the moment …

She had been prepared for many things. She knew that it would be difficult to gain the trust of the ninja, but she was familiar with their personalities and fighting styles and was confident that she could deescalate the situation should they feel the need to attack her.

But Pixal had not been prepared for an enemy who was her equal in size and strength: a robot, nimble and determined, and apparently able to anticipate every movement of hers. She had underestimated the matter, trusting her body to be able to resist any element that might be used against her. But her opponent had not given up, attacked from every direction, and had eventually shot a cascade of small and razor sharp missiles at her. They had pierced her skin and stuck in her body. She had already managed to get rid of most of them by rubbing her back against a rock, but a particularly large piece still stuck between her ribs, cutting into one of her sensory nerve circuits and making her gasp with pain every time she moved.

She had to pull it out, and quickly, but this was easier said than done. While she frantically tugged at the sharp, hard structure, the stinging sensation became so strong that it made her dizzy and nauseous. If the overstimulation of her circuits continued like that, her system might shut down. She cursed internally, because she was used to being able to downregulate her experience of pain, like humans would take a pain killer; but she didn't know how to do so now.

When she finally managed to pull the thing out, she dropped it on the ground, inhaled deeply and let out a sigh of relief. She felt exhausted. A viscous fluid was leaking from her side, and she eyed it suspiciously. If she was lucky, it would soon stop by itself and temporarily seal the wound. At any rate, she was relieved to feel the pain slowly subsiding. Sooner rather than later, she would have to find a way of repairing the injury, although she had no idea how to do so without the helping hands of Nya or Jay – and they were, for the moment, entirely out of reach.

Tomorrow, she told herself. She needed to find a place for the night, and tomorrow, she would try to communicate with the ninja.

Her glance fell on the blade on the ground, the blade she had pulled out of her ribcage. A blade? Or rather an arrow?

No.

This was neither.

It was long, and sharp, and it had been thrown with such force that it had done considerable damage, but it was neither blade nor arrow.

It was an icicle.

She stared at the icicle for at least a minute while the truth dawned on her.

She remembered the pelican, and the small rodents, the cats and the other animals she had seen on the peninsula. Their programming was everything but basic. In fact, they could be equipped with any desired advanced AI – even the mind of a nindroid could be transferred into one of them. Didn't she know this all too well?

Zane's capture, her own shutdown and reboot, the appearance of the dragon ...

The whole chain of events suddenly made sense.

The dragon had come to the monastery because he was worried about the ninja. He attacked everything he believed to be a threat to them. He was designed to protect his friends.

And he had used the element of Ice to fight her.

This could only mean one thing.