Chapter 4 - Stowaways

Lloyd rushed back to his room, aiming to beat his mom.

Thoughts of the ship plagued his mind, combined with the risky plan he and the blue-eyed man had come up with. Well, the plan Lloyd had come up with, while Jay nodded in anxious agreement.

Not that Lloyd could blame him. As a child, Lloyd didn't think he could wind up in too much trouble if things were to fall apart again. But Jay? Lloyd didn't know what sort of mess the man could wind up in.

Despite this, Jay had been willing to help. He'd assured Lloyd he had a way for them to reach the ship in the morning, one that was fast enough to beat his uncle to it. All Lloyd had to do was get out of the mansion.

Seconds after shutting the door to his room behind him and plopping down onto his bed, Lloyd's mother walked inside. Lloyd pretended to be angry, fighting to keep any excitement from shining in his eyes.

"Lloyd. . ." Misako said, sitting on the bed beside him. Her tone was both concerned and angry, and the kid braced himself for what could be a long lecture. "You can't simply run away. Anything could have happened to you out there. I know you truly miss your father but. . . the type of life he leads isn't something you should be caught up in."

Anything is better than here, Lloyd thought. In here, the rules were too strict. In here, the walls felt suffocating. In here, Lloyd felt nothing but longing. "I don't want to be here."

"Why?" Misako pressed, taking Lloyd's hand into her own.

"Because," Lloyd shrugged. " Everyone expects me to grow up and be like him. They even think I'm his son. Well maybe I don't want to be like him. Maybe I want to be bad."

"Do you really now?"

"Maybe," Lloyd said. "Breaking rules is more fun than following them. Dad understands that. He'd understand me."

"Maybe he would," Misako sighed, wishing she could come up with a better response. "But he isn't here, Lloyd. I'm here. And I'm trying to understand too."

"Well you can't," Lloyd hissed. "Only he can."

"Okay," Misako responded, unwilling to argue any further. Garmadon had always been an important image in Lloyd's head. It would be impossible to defeat someone who he so stubbornly believed was perfect. "But you're not going to see him. And you're not going to run off again. From now on there's going to be someone keeping watch outside your room until you can convince me to trust you again."

"What!?" Lloyd bolted up. This couldn't happen. "No, mom, you can't!"

"There should be no problem with it, if you've no plans to go anywhere you're not supposed to go." Misako stated, her voice firm. "I don't want you in any sort of danger, Lloyd."

"But that's just. . ." Lloyd shook his head. "You can't."

"I'm sorry, Lloyd." Misako headed out of the room, wishing she could find the words that would finally show Lloyd how wonderful his life could be here. But the anger in her son's eyes let her know that 'here' was the last place he wanted to be. "I really am."

When she closed the door, Lloyd threw his pillow across the room in frustration. Unless he suddenly gained enough strength to knock out the guard by his door, there was no way out. Frustration filled up inside him, and he began to pace back and forth across his room.

He stopped by the window, pushing it open to take a good look below. If he dropped from here, he'd be in the garden. In the garden with a pair of broken legs, that is.

Climbing down would be near impossible. There weren't enough places for him to put his hands and feet. Lloyd stepped back, taking in the things around him.

There had to be a way out.

"I know you, you know."

Cole froze in his tracks, looking back at the black-haired woman. Her voice was hoarse from all her shouting, and the skin around her eyes was dark with lack of sleep. "You do?"

"Yeah," she replied, closing her eyes for a brief second. "You're Lou's son, aren't you? The one that ran away?"

"Lou's son, that's me," Cole muttered. For a moment he considered leaving her, ignoring the string of conversation that she was attempting to draw around him, but guilt clawed at him, knowing every bit of her suffering was his fault. If he wasn't going to let her go the least he could do was offer a bit of company. "I don't think I really met you while I was on the island. I'm guessing you're the blacksmith's daughter? Sister?"

"Blacksmith's sister." She scowled. "Yeah, I guess that would be it. Although I do much more work than my brother does. And yet I'm still the 'blacksmith's sister'."

The bitterness in her eyes seemed familiar, as Cole had seen it a couple of times in his own. While on the island, he had only been known as his father's son. There had never been a 'Cole'. People relentlessly assumed Cole would be more than eager to follow his father's footsteps into the business of entertainment, but no one actually bothered to ask what he wanted. Not even his father.

"What's your name then?" Cole finally asked.

"Nya," she said. "And yours?"

"Cole."

"So," Nya said, stepping closer to the bars that kept her trapped in place. "Now that we're properly acquainted, care to tell me what the heck is going on? I'm tired of shouting, but I still don't have any answers. I've never done anything to anyone. At least, I don't think I have. Care to enlighten me?"

"I don't know much more than you do." Cole shrugged. " All I know, is Captain wants that map on your arm."

Nya stared at the ink upon her skin, running her fingers along the lines. "I don't even know why this is here. It's always been there."

She shook her head. "Look, I'll let you scribble the map on a parchment or something. You said so yourself. The captain wants the map. Not me. I don't need to be here."

"We're too far from Ninjago for you to go anywhere," Cole said. " And I doubt the captain wants to waste time sailing back. He seems pretty set on getting . . . wherever it is we're going."

"Then give me a boat and let me go back myself."

"Do you even know how to get back? I'm sorry, but you're stuck here. I can't help you."

"Can't or won't?" Nya banged her fist against the metal bars, causing them to rattle. "You don't seem like a bad person. Do you even want to be what you are?"

After a moment of silence, Cole left.

Wu stood in front of the window, his eyes searching the shadows of the sea.

"You need to rest," Misako said, coming to stand behind him. "If you're going after Garmadon tomorrow, you need to rest."

"I know you're right," Wu responded, turning around to face her. "But you know exactly what he's searching for. What if he's already found it?"

"He hasn't," Misako responded. "He couldn't have reached the island in such a short time. Going there and back took you a couple of weeks. Garmadon isn't going to get there overnight."

Wu nodded slowly, making sure to keep his eyes away from Misako's. The trip he'd made years before in search of the Teapot of Tyran had been a short one, but webs of temptation had quickly spun around him and Kai's father, making the trip longer than it should have been. "You're right."

Misako spotted the hesitation in Wu's voice, and she forced him to look at her. "You and Ray did return as soon as you hid the teapot, did you not? Neither of you made a wish?"

"Of course not." Wu shook his head, hoping Misako wouldn't see the shame he felt so clearly scribbled across his face. "Ray's death on the island was a tragedy but. . . it had nothing to do with wishes."

Misako slowly stepped away from Wu, nodding her head. "Okay. I trust you."

"Thank you," Wu smiled. "I'll try to get some rest."

"Good," Misako said, placing a soft kiss upon Wu's forehead. "You have to stay safe out there."

"I will."

Despite forcing his eyes shut, and directing his body to lay still and rest, Wu's mind never quite drifted into sleep. Guilt and worry clawed against his mind in unison, keeping him away from peaceful darkness. Time and time again he willed himself to tell Misako the truth, knowing she deserved every bit of it.

But the truth never reached his lips. Fear of losing the person he loved most kept it locked deep inside his mind.

Lloyd was wide awake before the sunrise.

After pacing around for hours the day before, he'd stumbled upon an idea, but in order for it to work, timing was everything. Lloyd reached under his bed, pulling out a make-shift grappling hook. He'd torn the curtain he wouldn't be using as a cape to shreds, using it to create a rope long enough to get him to the garden.

Then he'd taken the now empty curtain rings and shaped them into a rather awkward looking hook. His finished project wasn't too easy on the eyes, but as long as it was functional, Lloyd could have cared less.

People had used grappling hooks for years, using them to latch onto enemy vessels and climb on board. Lloyd would use the same concept. Except if anything went wrong, the hard ground beneath wouldn't be quite as welcoming as the ocean.

He latched the hook onto one of the legs of his bed, making sure it was as secure as possible. Lloyd then stuffed a stolen uniform and his spyglass into a small sack, which he tied to his waist. After wrapping the un-ripped curtain around himself as a cloak, Lloyd moved to the window, looking down on the garden below.

The few guards still outside were moving into the mansion, with the end of their shift approaching. Lloyd would have a couple of minutes before the next guards showed up. He hoped Jay really did have a way to get to the beach fairly fast. He had no doubt both the guards and his mom would be on high alert, and the faster Lloyd was well hidden in the ship, the better.

Once the garden was empty, Lloyd climbed out the window. He slid down as fast as he could, trying to ignore the burning feeling spreading upon his palms. As soon as his feet his the ground, he tugged on the curtains with as much force as he could muster. After the third tug, the hook finally gave away, plummeting out of the window and into the garden.

Hands shaking with adrenaline, he picked up the evidence of his escape and ran across the garden, reaching his secret exits within seconds. Once outside, he headed into the thick vegetation besides the main path, hoping Jay would be waiting.

"Jay?" Lloyd said, as loud as he dared. Had the man been too afraid of the plan after all? "Jay?"

"Here, kid." Jay stepped forward, waving his hand to get Lloyd's attention. "Ready then?"

Lloyd trotted towards him, nodding his head. "They'll be getting the ship ready soon. We have to get there fast."

"We will. You got the uniform you want me to wear?"

"Yup." Lloyd tossed to clothes towards Jay, who began to change as quickly as he could.

"This is really, really crazy," Jay muttered. "The Admiral's going to murder me if we get caught. Kai will probably jump in to kill me too. I'm pretty sure he hates me. Do you think this would count as kidnapping, you know, if we get caught?"

"It's my plan," Lloyd said. "You're not kidnapping me."

"I hope they believe that." Jay straightened out the uniform. "Okay, how do I look?"

"Like everyone else." Lloyd pushed past Jay, his eyes searching the area around him. "So, how exactly are we going to get there?"

"Ah, well," Jay smiled, his eyes suddenly shining with pride. He pulled something towards him, which had been carefully hidden behind a couple of palm trees. Lloyd tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at.

There were two wheels, one directly in front of the other. They were both tied together with a seemingly complicated system of chains. In between the two wheels was a seat, one that didn't exactly look very comfortable.

"What is it?"

"I call it a cycle," Jay stated proudly. "It's much faster than running, and easier to work with than horses. Or at least it will be, once I work out a couple of problems here and there. The wheels break sometimes. I don't think wood is a suitable material for it. I can't think of anything else though. And see the chains here? They sometimes get stuck. But this thing can go tremendously fast. Since we'll be going downhill, we'll be able to go faster than I usually do. For the most part I use the-"

"We should really get going," Lloyd muttered, cutting off Jay's enthusiastic explanation of his weird invention.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Jay moved to sit on the so called cycle, then looked back at Lloyd with a small frown. "You'll. . . have to hold onto my back. I. . . didn't exactly plan for a second passenger on this thing."

Without hesitation, Lloyd jumped onto Jay's back once the man was seated. Lloyd's heart was beating furiously. They had to go now.

Once they got going down the path, the young child's worries momentarily left him. The cycle was fast. The wind blew against them with force, and Lloyd couldn't help but laugh. The whole experience was exhilarating.

They reached the town in a matter of minutes. The shops were still closed, and the streets were empty. Lloyd looked over Jay's shoulder, spotting the edge of the beach. His uncle's ship was waiting at the dock. "We're almost there!"

"Yeah!" Jay shouted in response, his lips parted into a wide smile. "This thing is really nice, isn't it?"

"It's-" Lloyd's words were cut short as the cycle tipped forward, sending both him and Jay flying forward into the sand. For a dizzying second, the world shifted in and out of focus.

"A work in progress." Jay finished Lloyd's statement, slowly bringing himself to his feet. "Guess the wheels don't do too good on the sand."

"But we made it!" Lloyd smiled. "The ship is just ahead. They're going to start loading it soon, so we just need to get to the warehouse before anyone else. You still remember your part?"

"You hide in an empty cargo box, I carry you in, then we both hide on the hold of the ship and hope we're lucky enough not to get caught during the process." Jay's stomach began to ache at the thought of everything before him. "Why exactly did I agree to this? This plan is. . . we're going to get busted. There's no way this can work. Well. That's what I get for running off with a kid. The Admiral's kid of all kids."

"I told you, I'm not his son." Lloyd began to walk towards the warehouse, his steps determined and confident. "And it's too late to change the plan now."

"My house isn't too far from here. Maybe we could-"

Lloyd stopped, turning around to face Jay. He placed both hands on his hips. "And what about your friend?"

"I. . ." Jay took a slow breath. "You're right. You're right. Let's just do it."

Despite Jay's fears and Lloyd's luck-based planning, things went far better than either of them could have guessed. With the sailors busy preparing the ship, and the soldiers readying themselves for the voyage ahead, no one was paying too much attention to the things around them.

Guided by Lloyd's previous explanation of the ship's layout, Jay found the hold after only a couple of wrong turns. By the time he found it, his arms were shaking uncontrollably under the weight of box and the child within it. It took the last ounces of his strength to keep from simply dropping it upon the wooden floor.

Jay then made a show of checking the boxes around him, waiting until there was no one but him left in the hold.

"And. . . we're good. I think," Jay whispered, pulling off the top of the wooden box. Lloyd climbed out eagerly. His small face was red and sweaty, blonde hair plastered against his forehead.

"That was worse than what I imagined it would be." Lloyd said. "Why did you take so long?"

"Hey, I thought I was pretty fast."

"Not fast enough."

Together, they pushed around a couple of boxes to create a small hiding spot against the hold's walls. Although the setting was a bit suffocating, it was safe. Both Jay and Lloyd slowly allowed themselves to relax.

"You know kid, I think we're crazy." Jay shook his head. " I can't believe we actually did it."

Lloyd smiled. "We did."

"Guess now there's nothing to do but wait."