Lloyd's small victory doesn't last long. Less than two days later Ronin appears at their hideout in sticks with the sword of sanctuary, offering it to Morro, trying to make some sort of foolish deal.

Morro walks them into a cage, then leaves Lloyd's body, before slamming the door shut. Lloyd stumbles to the floor, knees giving way, fatigue weighing him down. While his mind had rested (or passed out) a few times, his body hadn't slept in well over a week now, and he was starting to think he might have a concussion from that head blow.

The cage was undoubtedly vengestone, but even if it wasn't he didn't have the energy to summon his powers, let alone his dragon. But still, he was grateful for the small respite. He pulls his knees into his chest, embracing them, trying to offer his aching body some small comfort as he leans his throbbing head on the bars. Hopefully Morro would leave him alone this time. He hadn't done anything else to get in the way.

"What, not going to spit curses at me this time?" Taunts Morro.

Lloyd ignores him, not falling for that bait, not giving him an excuse to hurt him further. His body cries out for rest. He wants nothing more than to succumb to sleep, but he also wants to keep an eye on Morro, gathering intel for when he is eventually rescued. He turns, trying to see what Morro is up to. His cage is hoisted into the air, giving him vertigo as it sways in the wind. He closes his eyes, trying to suppress the nausea, he wasn't even sure when he had last eaten. Morro often seemed to forget that his body needed food, so he couldn't waste any being sick.

"Go to sleep Lloyd." Morro commanded him, reminding him of the alcohol at the bar, and of the nights that followed. "I have some business to attend to."

Lloyd wakes with a start, hearing Ronin's voice. He doesn't remember falling asleep, but must have dozed off, or passed out. He turns, shifting slowly, trying to minimise making the cage swing, as he tries to see what's going on below. He can't see Morro, Ronin is sending a message to the ninja while the other ghosts stand around and watch. He frowns, something wasn't right. The transmission ends and they all erupt into laughter. Morro emerges from Ronin who collapses onto the ground. The nausea is back. Lloyd wasn't particularly fond of Ronin, but he wouldn't wish possession on anyone.

"You're no green ninja," snarls Lloyd, "the green ninja would never need to lie." A tightness coils in his chest as Morro glances up, meeting his gaze. His rage at seeing Ronin possessed had briefly made him forget his plan of staying out of the way and appearing weaker than he was, which was a pretty tough act considering his current state.

"Oh you won't be the green ninja for long, save your strength, cause I'll be needing it."

A small wave of relief washes over Lloyd when Morro simply walks away, it looked like he wasn't going to be punished for speaking out of turn. He lifts a hand to his mouth, suppressing a sob as he remembers not being able to breathe. I'm ok, just a bit longer. The ninja will come for me. They have to…

Cole had been doing his best to follow Wu's advice. He had decided to put his existential crisis on hold, and focus on the mission, what he could do to help get Lloyd back, and help put a stop to Morro.

All in all it had been going reasonably well, he was mostly able to keep up. Controlling the mech had been a challenge, but possessing it had been easier. He was getting used to holding the deepstone weapon, he himself was a ghost, so he didn't want to risk letting it pass through him.

He was starting to feel like he was still a useful part of the team. Like maybe everything would be ok.

That was until the team saw their reflections of the future, and Cole was left staring at a blank slate.

I have no future.

The fear, the dread, that sticky layer of unease that he had been ignoring, pushed way into the back of his mind, comes flooding back to the surface.

The team has a future without me. This can't be fixed…

But Morro wouldn't even let him be miserable in peace, and Cole was dragged back into the present, fighting for his not-life, and the lives of his friends once more.

They really weren't the best at leadership when Lloyd was away. After Kai flung the hot realm crystal at Morro, the ninja had split up, with Jay and Zane taking care of Morro and Cole and Kai left to fish Lloyd out of the river. Kai, the one who can't swim, and Cole, the one who couldn't even get wet…

Lloyd was barely able to stand when Morro released his possession. While he had tried to help, giving Morro a kick while he was distracted by the burning realm crystal, there was no way he was going to be able to swim out of the strong current on his own, even keeping his head above water appeared to be a struggle.

Cole runs frantically alongside the river, wanting to help, but also terrified of the water. He tries to reach out to Lloyd at a corner, but his arms aren't long enough, and the water spray burns.

Kai dives in and somehow manages to help Lloyd keep his head above the water, but he can't swim, and is barely getting them any closer to the edge.

"Cole! You have to catch them!" Jay and Zane are definitely too far away by now to be of any help. Cole dashes in front of Kai and Lloyd to the one spot left where he has any chance of reaching them before they topple over the waterfall. He holds out his arm in preparation, taking a breath through his not-lungs, putting as much focus as possible into making his arm solid and strong.

His training had been with a cup. Lately, he had been managing to carry around the deepstone blade, but two people weighed a lot more than that. Heavy things would slip right through his fingers, but he couldn't let that happen. Not this time. Not with such precious cargo.

Kai's hand makes contact with his own and he spins around, pulling them out of the river. It is agony, the focus needed to keep it solid, feeling like his arm will be pulled right off. As they are barely on the land he feels it slip. Kai drops with a thunk, and then pulls Lloyd the rest of the way out.

Cole clutches at his arm, and catches a glimpse of the realm crystal flowing down the river. "No!" He reaches out, but it doesn't have arms sticking up he can grab onto, so it vanishes over the edge and into the void, at least until Morro uses his wind powers to catch and retrieve it.

Cole falls to his knees, watching Morro leave with his prize.

Pressure flares in his shoulder, and he turns to see Zane.

"We failed again." Says Cole.

Zane shakes his head. "You did it. You caught what mattered most."

"Yeah, I guess I did." Cole looks over to Lloyd, being helped up by Kai, then down to his hand which he clenches into a fist. The pain from earlier, already forgotten. Left once more with the familiar numbness.