It was unclear to Jay what exactly they were looking for. Well, they were looking for Lloyd, that much Jay knew, but how did they expect to find him? Jay was having a really hard time recalling exactly where Lloyd had gone off on his own in the first place. What if Nya didn't remember either? What if neither of them could figure out where Lloyd had gone? What if they never-
"Take a deep breath, Jay," Nya interrupted his thoughts, flying over a little closer to him.
With a start, Jay realized his breathing had gotten quick and shallow with panic. He forced himself to take a few deeper, slower breaths.
Nya smiled tightly at him. "Better."
"Nya?" Jay asked, a new thought striking him, a much better one this time. "Maybe Lloyd got finished with whatever he was doing and got to the cliffs while we've been looking for him. I mean, we've been flying for hours. We should go check."
"It's a possibility," Nya stated, but she kept flying forward.
Jay frowned. "Are we going somewhere specific, then? Are we going back to where Lloyd left us?"
Nya shook her head, banking slightly in the air. "No."
"No?" Jay echoed in confusion, following her. "What do you mean, no? Why not? Wouldn't that be our best bet on finding him if he's stuck somewhere?"
"I'm not planning on finding him if he's stuck," Nya said.
For once, Jay couldn't think of a single thing to say. What did Nya mean? He asked as much. "What?! How could we not try to find him if he's stuck, if he needs our help and to be rescued?"
"Lloyd wouldn't have gotten stuck without something making him get stuck," Nya stated. "He's an expert flier. He wouldn't hit a tree or crash or get too tired and fall out of the sky. He's too capable for that. So if he's stuck, then something happened to him. Or, more likely, someone happened to him. Someone might have found out about him. And if someone found out about him, then they might be looking for us too. We don't want to give them an easy find."
Jay's eyes were blown so wide with uncertainty and surprise, he felt they might pop.
"And if he's not stuck, if he's just busy doing something, he won't want our help. He's Lloyd. He thinks he's the savior of the universe or something, and he doesn't let people help him unless he really needs it," Nya continued. "If he's busy, we'll wait for him. He'll join us when he's done. So for now, whether he's stuck or busy, we don't want to get involved. Of course, we do want to know what's going on, so if he is stuck we can come up with something to do, but we won't help him by flying right in without a plan. We'll scout it out after a little while longer, give Lloyd some more time. But right now, we're just going to fly around."
Jay opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again with a quick pop. He considered what Nya had said, but it didn't make total sense to him. If Lloyd was stuck, why wouldn't they go help him right away, like they were doing for Zane? Or, well, like they planned to do for Zane, before Lloyd got busy with something else. Lloyd was just as important as Zane. And if Lloyd was busy, even if he didn't want their help, why couldn't they at least go keep him company? Maybe he'd even accept their help.
Darting his eyes to the side, Jay took a quick look at Nya, trying not to give away that he was studying her. Nya was cool. She was strong and smart and all things awesome. But she wasn't Lloyd. The same was true for Cole, the other older birdkid. He wasn't Lloyd either. Lloyd was the leader, and while they could function without him in a pinch, they really needed Lloyd for most things. After all, they were holding off on rescuing Zane until Lloyd could help them, weren't they? How would they manage without Lloyd?
Jay felt tears pricking at his eyes. He tried to hold them back, but they started pouring out, and soon Jay was swiping at them with his shirtsleeve, sniffling as quietly as he could. He didn't want Nya to notice. She clearly had enough on her mind. Looking down at the desert below, Jay focused on the cacti, the sand, the road, the road signs. He tried to get his mind off of what was troubling him by looking at one thing after another, letting them come into clear view in his eyes.
And then he saw it. A road sign, pointing to the Sea of Sand, just up ahead and to the left.
The Sea of Sand! Jay remembered that. It had been in the papers Jeb Garmadon had left behind. That had been next to Jay's name, and some other names too, maybe even the names of Jay's parents. He couldn't be sure, but they must have some connection to him, right? And if they were his parents… Maybe they hadn't wanted the School to take Jay. Maybe they had wanted Jay. Maybe they would still want Jay!
"Nya!" Jay called, starting to swoop down. "It's the Sea of Sand! It's right there! I have to go!"
"Not a chance," Nya argued. "We can't get distracted. Lloyd got distracted, and now we're waiting on him. I don't want to wait on you too."
"You'll have to," Jay shot back, courage and fear filling him at the same time as tears came back to his eyes. "I'm going to go down. I'm going to look around. I'm going to find my parents! If Lloyd's not coming back, I want someone else to come forward."
Nya frowned deeply. "What are you even saying? You need to calm down, Jay. Here, let's go down, but not to the Sea of Sand. Let's find somewhere to get some food and rest."
"No!" Jay stated, voice thick with emotion. "I'm going to the Sea of Sand!"