Kai felt himself being dragged along the ground, over grass and small rocks. He coughed, choking, and turned over, coughing up water onto the ground. He gasped after a few seconds, able to breathe again. He was soaking wet, he realized. Lifting his head up, he saw that behind him lay a river, about a yard away.

"Is that everyone?" he heard Garmadon ask from beside him, to his right.

"I think so," Wu replied. "Everyone seems fine."

Kai struggled to his feet, coughing a couple more times. He realized that Garmadon had been the one dragging him.

He suddenly remembered his sister, and what had happened. He looked around wildly, calming when he saw her by Wu. Cole and Jay were struggling to their feet, and Misako was already up.

"Then we need to go after Lloyd," Garmadon growled.

"Not yet. We need to get our bearings first. And besides, I think he may be too far now," Wu replied.

Garmadon narrowed his eyes. "And what are you suggesting? We abandon him?"

"Of course not!" Wu said. "We'll have to come up with a plan. We'll send the ninja."

Nya nodded, a look of anger on her face. "We'll get him back. I'm not letting the Emperor take another friend."

Jay nodded as well.

"…Fine," Garmadon reluctantly agreed.

"What if they kill him today? We'll never have a chance to come up with a plan!" Misako exclaimed.

"They won't kill him today," Wu assured her.

"Yeah, they always wait a day or two," Kai told her.

Misako still looked worried.

"Let's head back to the cave," Wu told them. "We'll discuss Lloyd's rescue there."

An hour later they reached the cave—or as close as they could get to it. Almost the entire cliff side had fallen off.

"Uh, how are we getting over there?" Jay asked nervously, peeking around at it from behind Nya.

"I don't think we can…" Wu told them.

"And the last of our food was in there," Kai grumbled.

"I think I could get in," Cole spoke up.

They all turned to look at him.

"How?" Kai asked skeptically.

"I go mountain climbing, remember?" Cole said, like it was a no-duh type of thing.

Kai stared at him.

"But this won't have any safety harness, Cole," Nya told him worriedly. "What if you fall?"
"I won't," Cole assured her, walking past them all.

They all watched him in concern as he gripped the mountainside, testing the side with his foot. Once he'd found a secure footing, he slowly made his way along the side of the cliff, testing each place he put his feet and hands.

"Cole… we can find more food if we have to," Wu told him. "It's not worth the risk."

Cole ignored him, continuing on. He knew as well as they did that food was becoming scarcer, and this little that they had was extremely valuable.

After watching him for about ten worrying minutes, Cole finally made it to the cave. He carefully set a foot in, then the rest of him.

Jay sighed in relief.

Cole looked back at them. "I'm going to grab the food and toss it to you, okay?"

Garmadon and Wu nodded, who were at the front.

"Anything else I should grab?"

"I don't believe so," Wu replied.

"No, get my helmet!" Kai suddenly said.

Cole nodded, giving Kai an odd look, and disappeared inside. He soon appeared again, the remaining food in his hands. "Ready?"
Wu and Garmadon nodded, preparing to catch the food.

Cole tossed the rabbit, then the root thing.

Wu and Garmadon caught it without trouble.

After they had passed it back to Nya, Cole tossed the herbs. Thankfully, he'd wound one of the greens around the rest of the others so that it didn't go flying everywhere. After Garmadon had caught it, Cole grabbed Kai's helmet, tossing it to Wu, and then he started making his way across the mountainside again.

They all watched anxiously.

Eventually, Cole neared the other side. Confidence that he was almost there made him reckless; he forgot to test his footing. His foot slipped, and panic suddenly slammed into him as he felt as if his heart stopped. He tried to grab the stone wall, but his hands had no firm hold.

"Cole!" Jay screamed, thinking his best friend was going to plummet to his death.

Garmadon lunged for him, and Wu wildly made to grab his brother, dropping Kai's helmet.

Cole felt himself suddenly jerk to a stop, his arm screaming in pain. Garmadon had manged to grab his wrist, and Wu was holding onto Garmadon, making sure he didn't fall.

Cole gasped for air at his could-have-been death. He moved his hand carefully, glancing up, and grasped Garmadon's arm. He glanced down, seeing the river below. There was a chance he could have survived… but before when they'd plummeted off the cliff, the edge had been further out, over the river. Cole wasn't sure if he'd have fallen in the river or not. Possibly.

Garmadon tried to pull him back up. After a second he said, "I can't lift you."

Cole looked at the mountainside. "Just bring me to the side. I can climb up."

Garmadon nodded, carefully and slowly moving him over to the cliff's face.

Cole grabbed it, making sure to test his grip this time, and moved his legs over. He tested it before he put his weight down. "Okay… I think I got it."

Garmadon loosened his grip on him, but just a little. Cole's weight seemed to be partially on the mountain now. He released him a bit more, and once he was sure he reallydidhave a good grip, he slowly let go.

Cole grabbed the rocky cliff with his other hand, holding on tightly.

"You got it?" Garmadon asked him.

Cole nodded. He pulled himself up, testing each time, and then grabbed onto the small ledge they were on. Garmadon grabbed him, helping him up.

Wu finally let go of his brother.

"You said you wouldn't fall!" Nya immediately scolded him, hands on her hips.

Cole shrugged, looking away. "Sorry…" To Garmadon he said, "Thanks…"

"You're welcome," Garmadon replied.

"Let's head back down," Wu told them. He stooped down, grabbing Kai's helmet, of which he tossed to said red ninja.

They all turned to head back down.

Jay waited for them all to pass him, waiting for Cole, who was at the back.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked him. The fear hadn't left him yet.

Cole nodded, wincing, and rubbed his arm. "Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Please don't ever do that again," Jay pleaded.

Cole smiled. "Don't worry, I don't plan to!"

"But seriously… don't."

"Alright, I won't. I promise, okay?"

Jay stared at him for a second. He nodded. "…Okay."

"But—" Cole continued—"unless I have to save one of you."

Jay glared at him.

"Hey, I'm not going to just stand around!"

Jay looked away. "Okay, fine… but only if someone's life is in danger. Not if it's food."

Cole nodded in agreement. "Deal."

Lloyd had been thrown into a cell, which is where he now sat, attempting to think of a plan. If he could escape, then he could rescue Zane and get him out of here. Hopefully, whatever they'd done to him could be reversed.

He still felt grief creep up on him every once in a while. He was trying to shove it down, for Zane's sake so he could rescue him—at least, that's what he told himself. The truth was that he missed his parents, uncle, and his friends, and it hurt—unbearably—to think about them. And so he kept shoving it down, refusing to grieve, and telling himself that it was for Zane.

A door suddenly slid open, the one leading into the dungeon. The cells here were definitely different from the ones at Bane Bete Noire. There were no keyholes, and the bars slid open, not opened like a normal door would. No one else was down here with him. He was pretty sure there were other dungeon halls, though.

The Emperor suddenly appeared in his line of sight, accompanied by guards.

Lloyd glared at him. "What do you want?"

The Emperor studied him for a moment. "You seem to have gotten your energy back."

Lloyd scowled at him, anger suddenly coming over him.

"You know that droid, don't you? You thought you had no one left, until you saw it."

"Zane is not an it," Lloyd growled.

"You do know it! Well, then, this makes things more interesting!"

Lloyd immediately knew that he probably shouldn't have said that. Now who knew what he was going to do to Zane, especially since he knew that Zane was the only friend he had left.

"What are you going to do?" Lloyd asked, hating that his voice betrayed his nervousness.

The Emperor didn't answer for a moment. "I'm not sure yet. It's my favorite droid."

Lloyd felt his annoyance spike at him calling Zane an "it" again, and he had to grit his teeth to keep quiet.

"Well, back to business," the Emperor said. "I've decided your fate."

Lloyd waited for him to continue in apprehension.

"You're to be executed, publicly."

Fear came over him. Executed? How was he going to rescue Zane? If he was killed… then Zane would have no one—just like he thought he'd had no one before. He'd be trapped here, forever.

Lloyd couldn't let that happen.

"I was originally going to execute you along with the other half breeds, but then I decided to do it separately. You lived in my city, undetected, and other half breeds need to know that that will NOT be tolerated. It will send fear into them. And in that fear, they will try to flee—and that's when we'll get them."

Lloyd looked at him in horror. He was going to lure them out! Lloyd had no idea if there really were other half breeds in the city, but if there were…

"Now, I've planned your execution for tomorrow morning. And until that time comes, I like to make my prisoners… suffer a little. It will make the half breeds even more afraid to see another one of them so… battered."

Lloyd found himself swallowing, his throat going dry. More torture? Hadn't he had enough? The thought of going through that again made his chest feel tight, chills going through him.

The Emperor pressed some buttons on the other side of his cell. The cell door suddenly slid open. Two guards came in, and Lloyd desperately backed up, fear coursing through him, wide-eyed.

The guards grabbed him, and Lloyd struggled even though he knew it was useless.

The Emperor gave him a thoughtful look. "You've been tortured before, haven't you?"

Lloyd's throat was too tight with panic to respond. He just continued to struggle, his breathing suddenly starting to go too fast, his heart pounding.

The Emperor smiled. "Well, well, well… This will be fun."

He turned, leading the way down the dark hall. The guards followed him, dragging a panicking Lloyd with them.

It was getting late, now. The sun was already set, and it was hard to see anything. The stars twinkled brightly in the sky, millions of them decorating the sky. In the city there were very few, maybe twenty if they were lucky.

Cole sighed from where he sat on a boulder. The others were behind him, around the fire with Wu, Garmadon, and Misako. They'd already discussed how to rescue Lloyd. So far, they hadn't thought of anything. And if they didn't think of anything by tomorrow afternoon, Misako had threatened to just march in and get him.

Cole had never felt more alone.

Well…maybe when his mother had been murdered, but… he'd had his friends to help him. Now… he still had his friends, but it felt as if Lloyd was pulling them apart. He still didn't particularly like Lloyd, although he'd saved him from the fire—Cole was still trying to figure out why he'd done that, but he thought it was probably because he'd remembered Lloyd before they'd found out what he was, when Lloyd had been confused and excited about everything—and skittish, and scared, and helpless—and now that his friends and himself were starting to grow apart… he wasn't sure what to do. He still didn't like Lloyd—he didn't think anything would change that maybe?—but he couldn't just ask his friends to leave him. He'd told himself at the beginning of this, when they'd first found out Lloyd was a half breed, that he wouldn't let this ruin their friendship—but here he was, letting just that happen.

He growled in frustration, putting his head in his hands. What was he going to do?

A piece of paper hit him in the head. Cole huffed in frustration, trying to shove it away from him—paper should not have even gotten out this far from the city—when he finally grabbed it, intending to chuck it away, when he paused. The heading had caught his eye—and the date.

Half breed to be executed at sunrise tomorrow morning.

He looked at the picture, seeing Lloyd's face. He looked happy in this one. It looked like it'd been taken from security footage—from the mall, to be exact.

He thought about just throwing it out, never telling the others. They would never know, and Lloyd would be gone, and he could have his friends back—the life he'd known before Lloyd had shown up, minus what had happened to Zane, of course.

And it would be one less half breed in the world… One less of the murderers that had killed his mother.

But…

His hand clenched around the paper, crinkling it a little. He stared at it, at Lloyd's face—his smile, the happy, excited look in his eyes, the book he'd bought for him in his hands, the one he'd been so excited about…

Cole huffed. Why was he doing this again?

He stood up, the flier still in his hand, and walked over to the others. "You guys are gonna want to see this." He held it up, gasps coming the ninja, Wu, Misako, and Garmadon.