Lloyd's origin story:

His father was banished years ago. Alone in the underworld, his father ordered the Skullkin army to capture his mother to bring her to him. Years went by, during which he was born. Sensing that he had a great destiny ahead of him, she took him and fled the Underworld. He was abandoned at a boarding school when he was five years old. He was kicked out of the school for not meeting expectations when he was seven. He was almost eight when he ran into his new family….

The small blonde haired boy crouched by the river, trying to drink some of the water. Growling in frustration, he straightened back up. He was wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and a black cape with a hood. The only splash of color was the green number of five that was over his heart. Pulling his hood up, he scanned the area around the place to see if he couldn't find something at least somewhat edible to eat. His green eyes that were flecked with gold, spotted some movement somewhere off to his right. Dropping down into a crouch, he crept back into the undergrowth, hoping it was a rabbit or something else that he could catch and eat.

A disappointed sigh escaped him when an older girl stepped out of the bush. Her black hair was chin length, and her hazel glittered with life. She was wearing a red jumpsuit with gold trimming on it and seemed interested in the river. Bending down, she stuck her hand in the fast flowing water, allowing the water to move around and over her hand. The boy twitched his nose, feeling a sneeze coming on. Lifting a hand up, he pressed it against his nose, pinching it shut so as to stifle the urge. It didn't work.

"AAAAHHH-CHOOO!"

The girl spun around, trying to see who had sneezed. "Hello? Is someone there?" The boy froze, hoping against all hope that if he didn't move, she wouldn't notice him. She placed her hands on her hips, tossed back her head…and promptly yelled. "Guys!"

There was a loud crashing sound before three boys followed by a large black and brown dog came crashing through the under bush. The tallest boy, who had spiky auburn hair and hazel eyes that matched hers, spoke first, alarm flooding his voice. "What's wrong sis?"

"Yeah! What he said…what's wrong?" The boy with neatly combed black hair nodded to him, crossing his rather muscular arms in front of his chest.

The small boy hiding in the bushes swallowed hard as he realized that the two bigger boys were obviously in their early teens. The smaller boy, who had neatly combed light brown hair and electric blue eyes, was a bit harder to place than them, though he figured he was about the same age as either the girl or the two other boys.

Electric blue eyes darted his eyes around, before speaking up nervously. "You don't need to copy Kai, Cole. We like you the way you are. Even if you're scared of dragons."

"I'm not scared of dragons Jay!" The boy with the muscles, Cole according to the smaller boy, roared suddenly spooking all of the nearby wildlife except for a single falcon that was watching the argument with mild interest.

The boy with spiky hair rolled his eyes as he planted is hands on his hips. "Knock it off. Zane sent us to find leaves from a maple tree….not to fight!"

The girl rolled her eyes as she petted the large dog. "I heard someone sneeze. Was it one of you?"

"No." The boys chorused in unison.

The small boy nibbled his bottom lip in thought, before slipping timidly out of his hiding spot. "It was me….sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

The girl blinked in surprise at the sight of him, before grinning and holding her hand out to him suddenly. "My name's Nya. The hothead is my brother Kai, and the others are his friends, Cole and Jay. What's your name?"

"Lloyd." Lloyd held his hand out to her to shake. "I'll be eight next week."

Nya nodded, before slipping her hand back into her pocket. "I'm only eleven…and the guys are thirteen."

Jay nodded in agreement, a grin crossing his face. "Five years." Everyone gave him a weird look, forcing him to raise his hands in surrender, and expound on what he meant by that. "We've known each other for five years. Me and Cole joined up with you two five years ago."

Kai rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if he had a beard that he could thoughtfully rub. "That means that Zane's been our guardian for eight years. At least I think eight plus five equals thirteen."

"It does." Jay and Nya spoke in unison, before both blushed as they looked away from each other.

Lloyd scrunched his brow together, confused about what was so embarrassing about saying things in unison, especially since Jay had done that already with the others. "This is the second time you mentioned this Zane person."

Cole glanced at him, a frown on his face. "Where are your parents, kid?"

Lloyd shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. "Dad's been banished and Mom dumped me off at this boarding school….only I didn't like it so I ran away." Lloyd scratched the dog behind the ear, causing it to flop to the ground in bliss.

"He's lying. The school kicked him out and he has no way to contact his mother. And I believe I told you four to collect examples of maple leaves for our science lesson today?" A new, masculine, voice called out from behind Lloyd suddenly.

Squeals of Zane escaped the others as they rushed forward and tackled whoever was standing behind Lloyd in a hug. Stiffening, Lloyd slowly turned around, expecting to see a fully grown adult male standing behind him. To his shock, another teen stood there, wrapping his arms around the others in a warm hug. The newcomer was far taller than the others, with stiff snowy white hair and icy blue eyes that surprisingly danced with life, looking straight at him.

Reaching an arm out to Lloyd, Zane offered to include him in the group hug. "If you like, you can stay with us for a while Lloyd."

"Thank you." Lloyd allowed himself to be pulled into the hug. "Not really a hugger by the way…just so you know." A bark escaped the dog has he ran over and began licking everyone rapidly. Lloyd laughed as he reached up and stroked the dog's fur. "What's your name fella?"

"That's Marcher. He belongs to Kai and Nya." Jay piped up as he wiggled his way free of the group hug.

Zane nodded to the trees surrounding them, a smile on his face. "How about we make it a race. First person to bring back three maple leaves can pick tonight's song."

There was an instant stampede, and loud squealing, as the four older kids tore off to find the needed leaves. Lloyd bit his bottom lip, before running after the others. He had a favorite song that he wouldn't mind hearing again…

A/N: Done! Ok, changed my mind. Lloyd is just one chapter, not two. From now on though… we won't be getting much time skips since it is time for them to go on an adventure of a lifetime. Next up, going back to where Kai and Nya first met Zane… and find a certain map.

Now, how can three teens, one preteen and one child convince our favorite nindroid that they need to go look for the 'treasure' that the map leads to? Stay tune to find out!

Review!

SkyTalon