Striker awoke to the sound of muffled crying. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around the campsite. Trees, boulders, the River of Fire. It was nothing new. Striker stood to his feet and stumbled into the forest, trying not to hit his horns on the branches above. His purple eyes landed on a figure, his knees pressed to his chest and his blonde hair messily falling into his face.

"Lloyd?" He whispered, staring at his newly found teammate. Lloyd's head slowly emerged from his arms and he looked at Striker with bright purple eyes.

Purple?

"Lloyd," Striker said as he sat down on the boulder next to him, his pointed ears drooping at the sight of his new friend. Lloyd didn't move, his body shaking and the tears slowly staining what looked to be a Gi.

He was a ninja. Wow! A real ninja!

Lloyd's tears were falling beside him. Striker's eyes softened, and his hand slowly rubbed circles on his back. The only sounds besides the water running in the river were Lloyd's hyperventilating. Striker wanted to hug Lloyd, to comfort him. He felt a strange connection to him, one that he hadn't felt in years...

"Hey. It's going to be okay. Just breathe, in and out...in and out." He cooed. Lloyd's breathing slowly began to return to normal as his grip loosened. Eventually, he dangled his feet over the water, his hands still clutching his legs and tearing at his already fragile clothing.

Do you want to talk about it?

He found a random guy in a jail cell, sorry no, the Prince's special state-of-the-art jail cell that was designed only for the toughest criminals that dared stand against the throne… had some sort of connection to him. The way his eyes kept flickering from purple to green, something that made him feel ever so bittersweet, was so familiar. The scars on his body hadn't left a red or pinkish tint to his skin; Lloyd's scars were purple, just like Striker's.

"…I'm so stupid," Lloyd whispered, making Striker jump. "I really thought that they would come back, that they cared about me! That they loved me like their brother. I trusted them... I loved them. But now... they're having a feast while I suffer."

"You don't know that," said Lily. "Prince Sol is a dangerous man; he knows almost every spell in existence and doesn't care about anyone unless they can benefit him. He probably cast an illusion spell or something."

It wasn't an illusion spell... It was a Memoir's Stone. Striker's felt a gasp escape his lips. A Memoir's Stone was an enchanted jewel or crystal that could show memories or even events that a person had witnessed, including events that were actually happening in real time.

I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that. Nobody deserves that.

"Thank you," Lloyd whispered, his eyes returning to their normal green hue. He stared at Striker, a smile slowly crawling onto his face. "I… I feel like we've met before. Or that I know you… I don't know why."

"That's strange," said Striker. "I do as well." He inched closer. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah?" Lloyd's head perked up.

"I'm not human; you can probably tell from the horns or my tail, but I'm actually part-"

"Oni," he finished, their eyes catching each other, sparking a fire in his heart. "I'm part Oni too."

————-

Kai held a cup of tea in his hand and blew on it gently every few seconds.

So what did you say about a blonde who has elemental powers?

"I didn't say he had powers," she said. "I said he was blond and said the same thing as you. No big deal." She tossed a pile of something behind her, almost hitting Kai who was sitting with one knee up in a chair.

"Oh trust me, it's huge! Green eyes?"

Yes. It was kind of bright purple, but sometimes it would turn into a shade of green.

Did you see him often?

"Nah. Didn't even catch his name. Just needed some scrap for his prosthetic arm or something like that." The silence echoed across the walls.

"I'm guessing he had his arm in traction?"

"Yes," said Kai, feeling his throat closing. "I'll grab a photo for you." He returned a few minutes later, holding a photo of him, Lloyd, and Nya together, all eating ice cream cones on a hot summer day.

"Yup. That's him alright. His face is…" she frowned, a soft splatter of sadness filling her eyes.

"He's what?" Kai watched helplessly as Sora stood up and ran across the room, scrabbling through her toolbox.

Did he look like that when you last saw him?

"What?" Kai stuttered, scared of what she might hear. Was he an Oni? A dragon? Older?

He just got, like, a few scales and a pair of horns. And a tail, I think.

"Oh." Kai didn't know what to say. On one hand, Lloyd was probably finally accepting his heritage, but on the other hand, Lloyd wasn't comfortable doing that in Ninjago. Maybe Dragon Echo just had a weird connection to him, like the First Realm. He closed his eyes and remembered when they had traveled there with Lloyd, who nearly didn't come back with them. What if Lloyd wanted to stay in Dragon Echo?

"You okay?" Sora asked gently. Kai looked up at her, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He took a deep breath.

Yes. I just... I can't wait to see him. But I'm also nervous that he... isn't the same.

I'm sure he still cares about you and I'm sure he still loves you guys.

"…we left him…why would he ever forgive me?"

He was a very nice person; I'm sure he'll forgive you.

"Hopefully." Kai mumbled. "So, uh, do you run a scrapyard or something?"

"Pfft. No." Sora laughed, flicking the hair out of her face. "I collect parts from across the Realms and sell them to people. For profit."

Kai couldn't help but notice how old and dirty her clothes seemed to be.

It's been hard lately; I've been trying to save up for a Realm Slicer for years now, but since the price of Traveller's Tea has gone up, I haven't had any luck.

"A what?" Kai asked.

A Realm Slicer. It's basically like a katana or a dagger or some sort of weapon that can cut through Realms for stuff to travel across." She stood up and, pretending like she had a sword in her hand, put it to the side of her face and made a swinging motion. "Slice! And then you've got a portal. Pretty powerful stuff, so they're obviously really pricey."

"Obviously," Kai said, smirking. Sora smiled and sat down, picking up the wrench and wrestling with the bolts. "You're pretty young to be traveling across the Realms; don't your parents care?"

"…my parents aren't exactly the best," she muttered, the smile being wiped off her face by just one word.

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"…don't worry about it. It was for the better."

Do you live alone?

I don't live anywhere, not unless you call barely surviving and almost dying 24/7 living. Which you don't.

"…you could live with us? If you have an elemental power, you could train to be a ninja, and we'd pay your rent."

Really? You guys would let me live at your place and train with you?

Kai nodded. Sora smiled before rushing to hug him. "Thank you!" she said.

——————

He looked just like him. Except for the small amount of dragon blood in his genes, but other than that...

"Hey, Double L? You wanna do some cooking or something with me?" Striker asked from the kitchen.

Lloyd forced his arms to let go and his legs to stop pressing against his chest; that was his comfortable position. The Prince made sure that he had no other contact with anyone but himself, and he had felt alone for far too long. But even with the minute amount of warmth coming from his skin, he felt less alone. Less scared.

He walked over to Striker, who had a mixture of different ingredients splayed out in front of him. Some Lloyd recognized, like the thyme and oregano, but there was also more exotic-looking plants, such as a yellow berry or a dark blue mushroom, that he had never seen before.

"Know any of these?" Striker asked. Lloyd pointed to the ones he knew. "Interesting," he said. "Those ones are rarer than the rest. Maybe in Ninjago City they're more common." He backed away from the kitchen, feeling his heart pounding. Striker turned around with a very guilty expression on his face. "Wait, don't go. I'm sorry."

"What are we making, exactly?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe you wanted to choose?" He held out a very old and dusty cookbook. Lloyd gently grabbed it and flicked through the yellowed pages.

"Can you choose? Something sweet please." Lloyd smiled.

Of course! I'm a sweet tooth myself actually. How about these biscuits? They don't look that hard to make, and they taste really good!

"Sounds good." Lloyd said. "Just tell me what to do; I'm pretty terrible at baking."

Well, there goes another chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it. As per usual, feel free to leave your predictions/suggestions in a review, and I'll read them as soon as possible :D

Hopefully I can get out a few new chapters before Christmas, but if I disappear or something like that, don't worry, the Echo Trilogy will continue in 2024. (Hopefully on a new book as well, I'm not going past 30 chapters on these ones).

Peace and love!