"Hey Ace, We're on in 5." He called out at the pianist who waved back, mid conversation with a lanky-type fellow who had reddish hair and broad circular glasses. They had talked multiple times before, but it was never in his morals to go out of the way and pry. Probably about keyboard stuff anyway. Tossing the guitar strap over his shoulder and taking a drink of water, passing the bottle, he stepped towards the front curtain, tuning his guitar before hooking it up to the amp. This wasn't anything big scale, just a simple performance that came and went as an opener. Even so, he was glad to be performing anywhere, though afterwards he couldn't help but feel woozy.

"Im sure I'm just dehydrated," He reasoned, smiling and chuckling as he hung his head down, leaning on his guitar from where he sat. He took another drink from the water bottle that was passed over again before composing himself enough to finish packing up the equipment. "Ace, forgot to sleep again huh?" He looked down at him as he laid against the speaker, unmoving. He slapped his face a few times, but to no avail. If anything, he felt cold…. "Ace…?" Everything started spinning around and dimming, placing a hand on his chest, his heart rate was slowing dramatically. Falling to his knees, Dareth took his last glimpse across the room at the fash of dark red that stepped back into the shadows, the water bottle held in their hand that faded into the dark curtain…...

Snow crunched and sprayed into powder under his feet, luckily it was a relatively clear day or he would be beyond lost for sure. The temperature had sent warnings through his systems despite not being able to physically feel it, yet he carried on higher up on the mountainside. Reaching the peak, he was surprised to see bits of dark grey tiles sticking from the rock, it had seemed that there was some sort of village or settlement that chose an interesting location to occupy. Sliding down the slope, he shook himself free of the snow that clung to his shoes and clothes before stamping off on the hard rocky roads.

The village seemed peaceful at most, everyone seemed busy with something or another and no one seemed to have noticed him standing there. Glancing around, his eyes landed on a tattered and roof-sunken hut that had the windows busted and boarded, a perfect place to hide for the time being, at least he thought so. Sneaking through the back ways, he pulled himself through a window and landed gently on the dirty floor. Walking around the broken wood and furniture, it had seemed that one of the chairs had conveniently been left untouched, a perfect place to rest. Holding the case on his lap, he curled his legs up and leaned against the old fabric, arms wrapped firmly around. As he slowly went into standby, his thoughts wandered to Jay and his parents, though mostly Jay. He wondered if everything was okay, in hopes that he will return to the scrapyard soon.

-o-o-

"Going after those kids again hmm~?"

"Shut it, I may be a thief but I have morals," Ronin pulled on his snow boots, folding the scarf and tucking it into his coat, "how do you even know what I'm doing, I never told you anything."
"Duh, there's windows you know, I've seen you talking to two kids before from there, I'm not blind."
"Well I'm inviting them in to stay here for the winter, so don't go scaring them out or I'll get incense going again." Echo playfully swung his legs, hearing only half the argument and chuckling.
"Ohh, incense huh? Can you get the lavender one again?" Ronin scowled and glared before stepping out the door and slamming it behind.

"Damn its getting cold.." Ronin watched the cloud escape his mouth as he walked down the street, hands stuffed in his pockets. He weaved through a few bypassers, heading through the alleyway and across the street on the other side. All the while his eyes darted back and fourth, checking to see if anyone was following as he felt the shape of his revolver through the inner lining of his through another side-street, he pulled down the black ladder leading to the outer staircase. Climbing two flights, Ronin wedged a card through the lock and pushed in the door open into the dim musty building. He met eyes with Kai, who had stood infront of Nya protectively.
"Kai, Who else would be here?" she laughed.
"You never know…." her brother stepped aside and let the thief take a seat on an old chair. It looked like she was doing bookwork, writing down notes on a notebook as she went.
"Where did you find that?" Ronin glanced across the room to see the coats hung evenly over an old lamp, "And where'd you get those?"
"I told him that we didn't need help…" Kai started, causing Nya to shake her head, "Someone let their droid loose in a thrift store and he bought them for us, even though I told him not to."
"You didn't tell him not to,"
"That's because he cut me off, but I told you afterwards." he folded his arms, leaning against the wall. "He didn't have to do that." Ronin looked up at Kai and then to Nya, eyebrows raised.
"Huh… and what did that droid look like?"

"Tall, taller than me, which is surprising, silvery, wore sunglasses." Kai rose his hand up as a visual.
"Kai, you aren't exactly the tallest person around," Nya placed the pencil on the table, chuckling, "But he was tall. I just don't know why someone with so much money would let their robot loose in a thrift store of all places, he didn't look like he came in with anybody, but he was a lot nicer than the other droid we had encountered…" Ronin glanced between the two, blinking in disbelief. Did everybody know something about this droid except him? No, he couldn't jump to conclusions just yet, he was here for a different reason anyway.

"Yeah, that is a little strange, maybe he had too much time to kill," He shrugged, watching Nya write away on the notebook, "Say, it's getting colder and I know the draft in this building gets pretty bad at night, There's room upstairs from the shop- I got the heater running if you two would want..

Nya smiled, looking up at him, "R-"

"Nah, we're fine this year, We can handle ourselves." Kai cut her off, "Thanks, but we'll be fine."
"Kai, can you stop being stubborn for once?" She shot him an annoyed glance, "Of course Ronin, That'd be great." her brother rolled his eyes and folded his arms.
"It's not like he pays the heating anyway…"

Dareth poked his head around the shelf as he heard footsteps from the back door. Echo had a broom in hand and dived to his hiding spot, holding it around the doorframe. With one brisk swipe, he slammed it into the person's face, "AhG!" Ronin yelped and grabbed the handle before Echo could do it again, "Sto-STOp ItS JUSt ME." He barked, to which the droid slowly lowered the bowling ball he had picked up from a nearby shelf. Dareth bellowed, laughing and falling backwards through the shelf and floor. "God! Uhg, sorry about that. Security isn't very reliable." Ronin squinted at Echo as he lead the siblings in and pointed to the ladder on the far wall that was hidden discreetly among various boxes and trinkets. "Up there, no one will find you and all the heat rises there, there's a bed and some tables." Echo waved to the two as they passed, Nya waving back and Kai stopping in his tracks.
"Hah, they make droids that small?" He chirped, amazed as the droid walked over and stuck out his hand.
"My name is Echo, Hello! I am a personally assistant and radio! What is your name?"

"My name is Kai, that's my sister, Nya." He shook his hand, unable to resist the cute polite droid, "How long have you been here?" As he kept conversation, Ronin snapped his finger and pulled Nya aside to the back room.
"Speaking of droids, that one you saw, did it look like uh," He sifted through papers and held up a picture, "this one?"
"Yeah, In fact he looked exactly the same-"
"And when was this? What direction did you see him go?"

-o-o-

"Mwuhahahaha!" What was that…? Zane scrunched his brow, folding his arms more and turning his head. His fingers tightened against the fabric of his shirt- wait a second. "I said, Mwuhahahaha!" He patted his hand around before opening his eyes and noticing the synth wasn't on him anymore, in fact, it seemed to be floating in front of him. "Uh-" A tuft of blonde hair emerged from behind it, the red eyes peering unsure before hiding back behind the case, "Ahem, Mwuhahah! I have your package, and you're not gonna get it back unless you do exactly what I say! For I am," pause for dramatic effect, "Lloyd Garmadon! Son of evil Lord Garmadon! Mwuhahahahaa!" There was a long pause of silence, Zane scratching the back of his head confused. Was this a joke? What the heck is up with this freaking kid? Well, he did have the synthesizer, despite how easily it would be to take it back, he decided to roll with it. Besides, he's just a kid and he looked like he's trying real hard despite being far from anything evil or menacing. "Woah-" lloyd took a few steps back while Zane stood up from the chair at his full height, towering over the boy. He stared, heels clicked and shoulders even, ready for any command.
"Wow.. you're actually listening to me..? Awesome!- uh, I mean, Yes, bow before me, haha!" Zane went to go write something but realized that in his hurried state he had left the whiteboard and marker inside the camper. Facepalming, he looked up and let out a sigh. "Uh-" Lloyd set the synthesizer down, arms feeling tired from holding it up, "So uh, now that I'm your master, I command you to tell me where you came from and what this thing is." The droid nodded and carefully unzipped the case, revealing the yellowed and teal keys against the dark case. "Woahh, a keyboard!" Lloyd carefully glided his fingers across the keys, moving the nobs around and pressing the switches. Zane glanced around at the room, not an outlet to be seen- in fact, the whole village seemed to have a lack of power when he first looked around. Looking a little iffy, he wiped his hands on his shirt, flexing his fingers as he sat down and lifted they synthesizer out of its case on onto his lap. Flicking his wrist, Zane stuck the exposed connector that popped out of his thumb into the socket, flicking the power on and watching it light up.

"Uh-" the blonde pressed a key down and flinched at the volume, the droid quickly turning the volume back down before having it pressed again. "Wow…" the keys were pressed down in chords, much to Zanes surprise, the boy played a simple nursery tune in an unsure manner, "hah, I know it's not much. Miss Wuffle doesn't let me leave Darkleys without practicing." Wait, this kid was in school? Just how old was he? He looked young… in fact, where were his parents? He said Garmadon, that name was familiar…. But what of his mother? Zane shook his head and gave a thumbs up, a small smile of encouragement to compliment it. "So uh, how did you get in here?" The keys were idly plunked at. His red eyes were directed towards the window that now had a chair pushed in front of it. "Can you talk?" he shook his head. "Oh." Lloyd looked down.

It was sort of strange watching him, he seemed so nervous and small, alone and living here of all places. Didn't he have friends? He had never seen a kid act like this before, but then again he wasn't exposed to much beyond crowds and lights and whatever time he had spent with Jay. He couldn't help but think about his own sibling, what a sharp contrast in attitude. Zane sighed, if he could find his brother again, that is. He had no idea where he went or if he was even around. He tried to push back the idea that Fath- Julien had dismantled him, but the idea had already twisted a knot in his gut and boiled oil. The Synthesizer's tone changed as the keys that were played sent out sharp harsh notes. He knew his brother was innocent, why he would do such a thing would be out of character, but would it really be? He snapped back to reality, seeing the fear in Lloyds eyes before loosening his shoulders and sighing. The droid flicked off the device, slipping it back into its case and flicking his wrist before zipping it closed.