The Pirate Ninjas flew their prisoners to their destination. 

Dragon Father and 3-year-old Dragon Little were placed against a wall, bound and gagged, and left to their own devices. 

The both of them quickly found out they were not able to wriggle out of the ropes that bound them. They were, however, able to push the gags out of their mouths using their tongues. 

Dragon Little was crying the entire time.

When she could speak, she said, “They took my Dollies, Dad! They took my Dollies!” 

These were the handful of small dolls that were Dragon Little’s only playthings in her cabin since the time I had met her. 

“I know. We’ll get them back,” Dragon Father said. 

“I want you to kill them!” she said. “I want you to kill them and get my Dollies.” 

Dragon Father shook his head. “We’re not going to kill them, Joy. We don’t kill.” 

“They took my Dollies!” she whispered as loudly as she could while crying. 

“Joy, it feels bad. It feels horrible. I know. And crying is good. Crying helps. But you can’t cry in the middle of an adventure. First you finish the adventure, then you feel bad. Got it?” 

She looked at him. 

“First you finish the adventure,” he repeated more slowly. “Then you feel bad. Otherwise we can’t win. Got it?” 

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, but her crying slowly stopped. 

“We feel bad after the adventure, not during the adventure. Got it?” 

She nodded. Her crying stopped. 

“Are we going to beat them?” 

She nodded. 

“Are we going to beat them?” 

“Yes!” she whispered loudly. 

“I can’t hear you. Are we going to beat them?” 

“We’re going to crush them!” 

He smiled. “That’s right!” 

Now Dragon Little was smiling as well. 

But defeating the Pirate Ninjas would have a price. Tomorrow I will tell you what happened when they arrived at their destination.

—Told by The Red Dragon