"It's all ocean, when are we getting there?" Nya sat on the dragon, no longer grasping on the tail with Jay.
"Yeah- we've been riding through clouds for literal hours!"
"Hm." You only pet the feathers and fur at the back of her head. "We'll get there." The dragon closed her eyes gently. "For now, she needs a name."
"How about Fido?" Ronin laughed and was immediately hushed by a growl, wisps seeping from her fangs. "Please don't let it eat me, kid."
"Depends." You chuckled, her fur flattening, like a cat. "Pttf, Kitty." The dragon stared blankly at you. "I'm joking- How about Wisp?"
"Not very creative."
"What- Nya how could you!"
"Oh- oops."
"What?"
"I used to have a lightning dragon named Wisp! So you can't name this giant, inferior clone that!" The serpent hissed at him, clearly offended, yet, she didn't fight that claim as she did with Ronin.
"This dragon looks nothing like him, Jay," Nya muttered.
"Yeah, this one's prettier." You smoothed over her fur.
"Not true! He was a handsome young man!" Chimes jingled, like a small chuckle. You had the perfect name. "Mine had these cool wings, unlike this wingless knock-off, and it was way nicer–!"
"Chime... Chime, that's it."
"Better than Wisp!" Jay retorted.
"Eh, I can see it." Ringing melted to quiet, her orbs catching the warmness of the sun. And then she paused in her path. "Wait, I see something–a lighthouse." Ronin shifted in his spot behind you, pointing below at a tower, with no light.
"That's not any lighthouse- that's Zane's dad's lighthouse-!" Nya yelped as Chime darted to the rock housing the lighthouse without a warning, nearly flinging everyone off as they held out with outcries.
"Stop!" You yanked on the fur you were holding onto, putting brakes on her frenzy. She floated to the patch of sand at the foot of the stairs carved into the rock. She wastes no time.
Her lengthy body wounded the lighthouse, slithering to the top window as if searching. When she was done with that, she circled the base of the giant rock holding the smaller lighthouse. All she found was the tip of her feathered tail on the other side. Dejectedly, she peered at the sea lapping her claws. "Looking for someone?" She simply closed her orbs as an answer.
"We should be careful then," Ronin murmured, the first up the weather-worn steps to check for signs of life.
'Who would risk it to patch up a dragon?' You all stopped at the door. "Hello?" Ronin knocked on the door when there was no answer. "Are you the one who healed Chime?" No response. "The dragon?"
"No other way in except busting it open."
"But-"
"No one's here Nya- that or they're hiding from us." Ronin leaned on the brick wall. "You wanna wait here all day?"
"I'm gonna bust this door open!" Still silent. "Okay, here it goes." You try busting the aged door with your palm... Not even a splinter, those tiny wisps disappeared. "Huh?"
"Have performance issues?" Ronin snickered.
"Haha, funny." You placed both your palms on the decaying lumber, and there was the slimmest fissure.
"Let me try." Nya busted the door off its hinges with a kick. "Hello?!" Nothing. Dust never drifted to greet the lighthouse's "guests".
"Uh, actually, it's a nice little resort." Jay chuckled, warily examining the cracked, sooty-black stone. "Vacant for years, yet not a sign of dust..."
"Stay here." Ronin crept up the wooden staircase and was gone at the first level.
Nerve-wracking silence trampled on nerves and you relaxed when he came back with a nonchalant shrug twenty minutes later. "No one. We'll be safe and sound here for now. Found a medkit too, though half its supplies are missing- we'll make due." Ronin tugged you up the stairs, Jay and Nya following.
"I'm fine." Ronin pointed to the ripped sleeve of your shoulder, new, vibrant blood speckling over the old. "Oops." He took you to a dining table(the second level was a kitchen), sifting in the supplies as Nya grabbed a few things for Jay. He undid the sash binding his tousled hair. It flowed freely like curtains, shrouding his sight. He tied his hair again with a huff. "Do you even know how to do stitches?"
"I had to do them on myself quite a couple times." He snorted at your skepticism, wandering to the cupboards. He pulled out a container of salt, opening it to check.
"This is no time to be cooking a meal!" Jay scolded, none the wiser, amusing you the slightest, but you were brought by a light sound. Nya giggled at him, going to explain it to him.
"Do you not know what a saline solution is?"
"Whatever it is, I was ready to take it apart for scraps." Ronin offhandedly remarked at Tai-D(the tiny bot drifted fast away from him) and went back to the sink after outting the pot on the stove. "Soap doesn't expire, does it? Ah whatever, no point in being picky." He lathered his hands and fingers with it, washing two bowls too.
"Let me wash my hands real quick, Jay." Nya left Jay by the window sill, a content grin on his face.
'Someone's happy about the attention.' You undo the sash and buttons on your gi, sliding off enough where it wouldn't get in the way of the stitching. You unwrapped the tattered fabric the pirates gathered for the wound between your neck and shoulder. There were a few ripped stitches(no thanks to Calico)- what with how the stitches were sloppily stringed together.
"You look like shit."
"Thanks, Ronin, really appreciate the compliment." You rolled your eyes, unwrapping the rest of the fabric.
"Damn. It's a miracle it isn't infected. Skylor would give me an earful if she saw this." Soaking the towel in the hot bowl of water and salt, you breathed in. He dabbed it to the gash flaring between your neck and shoulder, the blooded water trailing down. Cleaning and pressing the wound, you crumpled the old, bloodied fabric in your hands. "Stay," he firmly told you, gingerly holding you by the other side of your neck. A different, more bashful burning radiated from where his hand cradled you. You were so grateful he was too busy cleaning your wound. But it was that little distraction you needed, feeling like you'd melt away and it would be fine... "They did a shit job of patching this up, now that I can see it." His hand slipped down your neck, brushing past as you swallowed your relief. Ronin cut the stitches, threading a piece out.
"Ow."
"Don't be a baby." Contrary to his words, he's gentler. "I'll patch you up." He checks the boiling water to take the needles and threads he placed in there. Nya took one and almost used it on Jay without a warning after it cooled off. He ended up shouting as Nya frantically apologized. "Seems you're the better patient." He didn't give you time for a reply, your breath hitching when he got the needle out. No matter how many times you got stitched up, you weren't a fan of the process. "Hold still, okay?"
"No, of course not." He poked you with the needle as a clipped response. You paid attention to something else that wasn't the dragging of the needle weaving into your skin with the thread. You stared at his eye, how he had its undivided attention on sewing the wound. It was funny in a way.
"Why are you smiling?" He finally noticed as he knotted the string, done with it.
"Nothing." Mocking your "nothing", he wrapped some gauze up and over your shoulder. His fingertips lingered as he moved away. You slide the collar of your gi back up, buttoning the gi and tying the sash.
"I get it's impossible, but next time, don't get beat up so bad." He took a cotton ball and dipped it in the solution. "Go wash your face a bit, I'll fix the rest of you."
"Fine." You grumbled, not at all used to how... Nice, he was being. You almost crashed into Jay. You looked up, seeing he had his own stitches on the side of his forehead, disappearing into his hair. "Did I cause that?"
"This? Heh. No, it was one of those pirates- he pulled a knife on me during the Scrap N' Tap." He furrowed his eyebrows, wrinkling the stitches, and grimaced.
"Hurts?"
"Nope-ouch!" You had poked under the wound. "Okay! I was lying." You turned back to the sink, it still had a bit of blood in the drain. "Oops." Jay twisted the tap, washing away the red liquid. "There." He didn't move from his spot; he wanted to say something.
"Um?"
"Ronin, do you have any more bandages?" Nya asked, teetering on yelling it, an underlying impatience gathering.
"Oh, I forgot- I'll get them Nya!" Jay went to retrieve them as he remembered what he had to do, going to Ronin. You turned the faucet on again, and the water you cleaned your face with clear. Except for a bit of red that streamed freely.
"How did you two get close?" You winced at her tone piercing your eardrums.
"Close, huh?" You laughed. Can you call it that? "Does it matter?" You shut off the water, staring at the cloth Nya gave you.
"I care because of everything that's happened." Anger wavered and locked on you. Nya waited for you; a morbid curiosity to understand, for whatever reason, and it would either make the hatred grow higher or– well, like that would ever happen. You snatched the towel she still offered, inspecting it first. "It's clean."
"I never know with you guys." You dry your skin, crimson on the towel. Your eyes go from the blood to her frown, both attempting to figure out the other, and that was but only a moment. She rushed after Jay who had gone downstairs with a troubled expression. 'What happened?'
"You done washing up?" Ronin fished out a few bandages and cotton balls doused with the solvent.
"What got him like that?"
"Nothing, just that he and his girl should watch themselves."
"Huh?"
"We don't need any drama here. Or over there with Nya... I wanted to make sure that wasn't the same with Jay–"
"Why do you care?" It was harsher than intended. You were waiting for him to say he didn't care. He's miffed, an irritated sigh dragging from his mouth like smoke, hitting you with confusion.
"Sit down." You don't and he placed a wet cotton ball on the bridge of your nose. It stung.
"They put you up to this?" He stuck a bandage over the bridge.
"You could say that. They really wanted to go. I couldn't let them–Griffin would blow our cover. Though that didn't matter in the end. Skylor... well, I didn't want her risking anything coming here, and the Ninja wanted someone left if something went wrong." He wiped another stinging scab on your temple. "They were worried. I..." He cleared his gravelly throat. "I couldn't just leave the situation like that. 'Specially to those Ninja. They're not exactly suited to the stealth department."
'Maybe...' You managed to crack a grin. "You're not too bad Ronin." He stopped mindlessly dabbing at another wound.
"No, be honest here." Ronin wasn't the least convinced.
"That's all the honesty you get."
"Well, if we're doing that... For once, it feels like I'm doing right by you."
He was so earnest, contrary to the life he led. You were both quiet for a bit, waiting for the other to say something.
"We doing a staring contest now?" He tore the seriousness with a joke. You gave the usual response; rolling your eyes at him. He shook his head, a sliver of a grin on his face.
"I'm going to take a nap, I'm fucking tired." You tried to get comfy on the chair.
"Night then." You fell asleep as soon as your head was buried in your arms.
...
You scrounged up a portion of fish with red kelp and peeked your head out the window. Chime was curled up at the base of the tower. "Hungry?" One eye lazily opened, and closed, unimpressed with your offering. You pouted and placed the plate by the window. She never did eat the red kelp or fish you would offer. 'Spoiled dragon.'
"...catch Nadakhan off guard. We shoot him with the poison, then when he can't use his magic, I say my last wish to save Ninjago." Jay gave a clipped laugh. "A wish Lloyd told me is said from my heart, a heart that has no clue what it could be, but if said incorrectly, could likely make everything ten times worse!"
"No pressure." You muttered.
"You'll think of it. You always do. Let's get settled in. We could use the peace and quiet to think." Nya coaxed, as best she could.
"Yeah, think and hope Nadakhan doesn't come knocking on the door any minute." Ronin eats the last of his kelp with loathing for the salty taste. It was on the borderline of being too salty.
"Got better plans?" Nya probed.
"Not really."
"You two have your wishes left, they must be able to help Jay."
Ronin glanced at you, sucking a breath, "How many wishes did you use?"
"Just the two."
"That sucks. Don't use your last wish for anything stupid."
'Nothing I wanna use it on anyway...' Your wish wouldn't fix anything. It would make it worse. As it would have for him... "You worry too much."
"Not enough apparently," Ronin grunted, taking out the flattened carton of cigarettes. He took the last one out with a tired whisper, "I'll be out." His steps gradually sank into the silence. An awkward one.
"You're not going after him?" Nya eats the last of her fish. She wanted you to leave if it wasn't enough from that question.
"He looks like he needs the space." You tried to clear the awkward air with a question: "Anyway, what's Jay gonna wish for?"
"I've run out of ideas." Jay sighed, the pressure resting square on his shoulders.
"Okay, here's a crazy one: what if you wish to resurrect the Devourer? Then we sic it on Nadakhan?"
"Didn't this Serpentine Pythor try to control that thing, it got out of hand, and you idiots couldn't even handle it, having Garmadon of all people take it down?"
"Geez, can't you tell it was a joke?" The tips of her ears were flaming red, as embarrassing red as a tomato. "What about your ideas huh?"
"I'm still thinking..." Her scolding got you to trail off.
"Either way, that wish wouldn't work. Can't wish to do harm, can't wish for more wishes. And you can't wish for...love." Jay bitterly laughed, raking his fingers through his hair. "Which is how I got us into this mess. All due to just one little glimpse into the future showing us together." He kept rambling and you got up to leave them, Nya's eyes still spearing you. "Our friends, gone. Our world, torn apart. Look at us. This is all my fault." You stopped by the stairs, not just at what he said, but because the robot, Tai-D skirted past your shins to a shadow. Nya spotted it too, the shadow by the stairs running off.
'No way in the underworld am I following that alone.' You kept far from the dark stairway. "Hey."
"Jay..."
"I guess we really do end up together, just not how I'd envisioned it."
"Stop."
"I know, I know. You don't want to hear it, Nya."
"No, I mean stop talking. Did you see that? I don't think we're alone. We're not the only ones here."
"You mean I've been exposing my innermost feelings in front of a complete stranger? Ugh! I feel so violated."
'You and me both.' You waited for them at the stairs.
"They won't be a stranger after we get to know them. Hurry." Nya dragged him forward, and you followed. Creeks of the wood eerily moaned in the dreary lighthouse. You made it to the bottom, the door locked.
"The door's closed, and Ronin's outside. No one could've escaped. We've been locked up so long, I think you're starting to see things."
"Jay, we've been here for a couple of days, we're not "seeing" things," you huffed.
"Yeah, like how I'm "seeing" there's a hidden basement in the lighthouse?" She walked to the exposed lever that was once hidden and pulled it, the stone bricks lifting to reveal a tunnel leading deeper underground.
"Could be a trap." You weren't the least bit fond of going down first.
"You do the honors." Nya waved you forward.
"Figured." You shuffled forward, growing closer to the end of the tunnel. Weary of the murkiness, your wisps dimmed and flickered. A moth-eaten curtain blocked the end, light escaping through the holes. You lifted it, Nya peeking behind you. It was a laboratory of sorts. Metal gadgets and scrap lined the shelves in either old cardboard boxes or wooden crates. You kicked a spring, the sound rolling on the uneven cobblestone to a shelf. It had books ranging mostly on the mechanical and technical side of things. Though a few books were of other things, appearing more used and read-through.
"Looks like a bunch of stuff from Zane's father's old lab," Nya said, inspecting the metal gadgets.
"Psst." Jay pointed to something that moved, hiding behind you both.
"I thought you were supposed to protect me." Nya teased.
"I thought you were over that!" You went to the shivering crate. It stopped at your footsteps closing in.
"Whoever you are, come out," Nya ordered. The top of the crate glided off. You're stuck in place. He was nearly identical to Zane. The rusted android eased himself out of the box, his yellow orbs curiously gazing at everyone.
"I am Echo Zane. Built to protect those who cannot protect themselves," he said, almost proud of its meaning. The android walked forth, metal rasping, his tarnished metal the color of creamy bronze with greenish-teal patina. His coppery hair was slightly messy, not at all kept up immaculately like Zane's. His face didn't own fake skin, only polished copper. His chest had an exposed panel under his shabby clothes, a clock seemingly powering him.
"Echo Zane?" You repeated, testing yourself out of your daze.
"Zane? Oh! When Zane's father was trapped here, he must've built a replacement Zane."
"Great, another knight in rusted armor."
"Rusted, maybe. But can he still protect?" Echo Zane punched the air and kicked, his demonstration failing as he was off-balance, his back falling on the ground. He struggled to get up, his legs locked.
"Built to protect what? Itself?" You helped him up(no one else made a move to, too busy comprehending the situation).
"Who knows? But if the four of us can't figure out my wish, maybe a new perspective might help." Jay might have a point. You leaned him on the crate, and he bowed his head to you.
"Thank you." His voice echoed Zane's too, however a little higher, lighter.
"You're the one that healed the dragon, right?"
"Yes, I am." His orbs glowed with a lithe grin on his metal face.
"I should be thanking you then. We would've been dead."
"It is no problem at all." He tested his legs, the locking up gone.
"Chime missed you, I could tell." He took a moment to process what you said, something you were so familiar with...
"Someone... misses me?" Your eyes softened at the disbelief in those words, leading him out the tunnel.
"Yep. Come on and see her!" He struggled to keep up with your sudden shift in tone and pace. You unlocked the door to Ronin still smoking his cigarette, a puff mingling with the sea air.
"Hey, kid..." His eye glanced behind you quickly. "Uh. What's with the Zane look alike?"
"Echo Zane, Ronin. Ronin, Echo Zane. Now, where is she?" You tugged him along, spotting the scales wrapped at the base of the stairs, slowly slithering. A gentle breeze stirred, and then a gust flew upward with a shadow. Glassy sky eyes trained on you and her healer. Chimes rang happily, and she nuzzled her nose into his chest. Petting her scales meekly, his metal eyelids lowered, relaxing. The android had a bright smile, and he wrapped his arms fully around the creature, no longer having that fragile hold. Like he could give all his troubles to her... You went inside with Ronin, the stump of a cigarette still on his lips.
"You seem happy."
"Yeah..." You hummed. "How about you?"
"I'm fucking great. I got an idea for a wish." Smug about it, he threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it.
"Oh?"
"Maybe we are overthinking this..." Ronin sat his ass on the foot of the stairs. "What if we wish Nadakhan away until the end of time?"
"That- That could work."
"Aren't you glad to have me around?" He had a smirk that made you scoff. "Jay isn't our only hope here, as much as ol' grandpa Lloyd was insisting it was." He grimly peered at the ashes that he stomped out the flames of. "What he said still bugs me. He said he could see the near future, and I don't know what that implies."
"He's a cryptic old man now, what else do you expect?"
"Good point." He rubbed his eyebags. "Haven't gotten enough sleep over this whole situation."
"Stressed out?" You plopped on the stairs beside him.
"I'm used to stress, can't be cracking under the pressure, I just," he sighed. "I think I just need a smoke right now."
"But you're out."
"Yep." He bit his lip before a sigh. "Should have bought a new box if I knew things were going to be like this."
"Might be a good chance to quit?"
"Hmph. That's the worst thing to tell someone like me right now." He muttered, "I'll make due anyway."
"In the meantime, take a nap. You need it." You patted his shoulder and headed to the tunnel where Jay and Nya were making a loud ruckus.
"What are those two lovebirds doing?" He yawned and headed up the stairs. "I'll take that offer, wake me up for my shift though."
"Nah, I'll watch out tonight."
"Damn, since when were you this nice to me?"
"Don't get used to it."
"That's a shame." His frame slipped up to the room above. You trailed back to the tunnel, the ruckus from earlier coming to muted chatter.
"Maybe we could make something with the stuff here?"
"Yeah, we could scrap traps together." You dragged the ragged curtain up, seeing Jay crouch over a box. "I already got an idea from seeing this scrap."
"You and me both." Nya dumped a cog into the box.
'Maybe I'll come back later.'
"Are you going to stop creeping around over there?"
"Oh really?" You dropped the curtain and walked through with a pointed glare. "I wasn't creeping–especially on you of all people."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She incredulously placed her hands on her hip.
"That you're boring as fuck." You went to the red kelp waving at you through the underwater window, it now spastically rolling, almost fuming. "Anyway, Ronin's thought of a wish we can use."
"Like what?" Jay's face said it all. A mix of ease yet cynical uncertainty.
"We wish Nadakhan away until the end of time."
"That could work." Nya worked the wish out in her brain.
"But... it doesn't fall in line with what Lloyd said..."
"Maybe it doesn't have to. Lloyd isn't in charge of some destiny." Nya surged with newfound hope. "Maybe this is something we have control over."
Destiny was not so forgiving.
A chilling cold, a familiar presence you've all been cursed to confront. You turned around, and your gasp signals everyone's eyes to the mirror. The glass reflects the djinn. He had a smirk, unearthing all he needed to know. You shattered the mirror, stomping on the glass.
"Was that Nadakhan?" Jay's pupils scoured individual fragments as if Nadakhan was hiding in the rest of the shards. "We have to get out of here."
"Don't even think about it." You both stare at Nya as if she grew a second head.
"But we know they're coming. I can't protect you by myself."
You coughed into your hand at Jay's wording. "And me, and Ronin, and Chime."
"Don't forget, we have Echo Zane," Nya added, trying to ease Jay's panic. "You said you saw us together in the future, right? Then doesn't that mean you do protect me? That we do get through this? You know as well as I do, we can't keep running. No matter where we go, Nadakhan won't stop coming. But that doesn't mean we can't stop him here, together." Her resolve shined in the doubt, dismissing it.
"You're right. We have the poison, Ronin's wish- I may not know what to wish for now, but the future is inevitable." He reassured himself.
"That's the spirit." Her lips curled into a grin. "Now, if we're gonna have company, what say you help me spruce this place up?"
'...That sort of resolved itself.' You inched to the laboratory's curtain. 'I'll tell Ronin about Nadakhan when he wakes up.' He would be none too happy about the djinn pirate. The red kelp solemnly waved goodbye at you.
...
You rummaged the shelves, the books treated with care, that much you glimmered of their benign use. You picked up the box nearly barren except for a few cogs. Sifting them, you acquired the one you needed for this broken gadget- no, you didn't, it was short of being the right fit. "Shoot."
"I believe this one would fit." Tarnished, yet smooth copper fingers plucked a metal cog.
"Is it?" You took it from him, and he was right, it was the perfect fit. You screwed in the last part, finished with the trinket. "What else needs fixing here?"
"Could you set up that pulley system? Gonna fish dinner with Nya."
"You mean slack off while Nya does all the actual fishing."
"Argh no, I caught a few of them..." Jay's out of the tunnel. "Just fix the dang thing."
"Unlike you, I actually do things... simp."
"Har, har, you got me." He's out the front door. You slipped off the stool, trudging to the rope.
"Mind helping me, Echo Zane?"
"I am here to assist." He followed you out of the tunnel, picking up the end of the rope you didn't bother picking up.
"M'kay, can you hold that end over there then?" He did, and he patiently waited for you to be done hammering in a hook for the rope. "That's one done, now we got to do about..." You counted the hooks in your hand. "Twelve more, did you bring yourself-" You saw he didn't have a hammer, and he went to fetch one while you pounded a few hooks. He returned, and you gave him half of the hooks. "Echo Zane- Okay that's a mouthful tinhead."
"I do not appreciate tin head."
"Sorry, how about Echo for short? Zane's name..." Brought a memory of burning guilt.
"Echo..." His chin was in his hand, testing the nickname. "Hm. I don't mind it–in fact, it sort of feels... like I own it, in a way."
"Echo it is then."
And so the two of you hammered in the rest, testing the strength of the hooks in the weathered brick. It was durable enough, the hooks lodged in their spots and able to hold the dense, coarse rope. Your work was done, and you headed upstairs with Echo Zane to make dinner. Which was a basket filled with fresh fish and kelp delivered by Jay before he ran off.
The typical scent of red kelp and some tuna Nya managed to catch wafted in the kitchen. Echo took care of the gutting, quite experienced with how his blade sliced and neatly cut the fish with such precision. He was good with a blade in the kitchen, just not on the battlefield. You simmered and fried the red kelp on a lower heat, the flames hidden by the giant pan. Out of sight out, out of mind... "You know a lot about cooking, Echo?"
"I only know how to prepare red kelp and fish, so I don't have as much knowledge for other things. Except for what I learned through the books I read."
"Are you interested in learning?" You stirred the red kelp, the color turning richer.
"I am always up to learn new things."
"I know a girl that runs a noodle house, I think she wouldn't mind a few helping hands?"
"Noodle House?"
"Ah right. Okay, so there's this food called noodles, it's like this stringy thing made out of wheat dough made from the grains of this plant, and they put all kinds of seasonings in the broth with other things. She doesn't just make noodles though, she makes loads of other things."
"Interesting."
"She's honestly great. Nice too."
"If you say she is nice she must be." He proceeded to lay the fillet tuna on a pan, lost in thought. "You seem fond of her."
"She's the nicest on this planet." You smiled at him, and he said your name with question. "Hm?"
"Ah, never mind." His orbs drifted to the window with an unsureness, daring no more.
"Okay...?"
"Hey, is dinner ready yet?" Jay groaned, heaving his body up the stairs.
"Nope." He slouched even deeper, his arms dragging his shoulders, and laid his top half on the empty table. "Set up the table." You gave an exasperated sigh.
"Fine." He drawled out, gathering utensils and plates from the cupboard. You went back to tending and stirring, lest you burn the meal. You lowered the fire, the heat getting to you... Or were you just thinking it was worse than it is? Heavy, tired footsteps pad over to you.
"The usual they've been cooking?" Ronin glanced over your shoulder.
"Don't like it, don't eat it."
"Don't hate it, but don't exactly like it either."
"There's no seasoning. I'm trying my best." You trailed off, the steam for a moment resembling smoke. He ruffled your hair, taking you out of your daze.
"I know, I'm just playing with you kid." Ronin stole the spatula from you. "I'll take care of the cooking. I'm heightening the flame by the way."
"Go ahead." You stepped away from the stove, further until the flames were smaller than they appeared. 'This is starting to get old...' You rested at the table, your hands folded in your lap, restless and stringing your attention to an almost healed scar... A regretful reminder you traced over, jolted when the blue ninja leaned by, placing the plate beside them. It was obvious he saw it. You quickly hide it, wishing it would fade away. But it comes reeling back with his question.
"How did you get that one?" Your continued quiet gives him the wrong invitation to press. "There's a lot of scars on you actually... though that one doesn't look like it's healed all the way."
"Why are you asking?" Why is he suddenly so interested? Sparked with such a need to understand the workings of you? "Just stop."
"...Sorry." He flitted his eyes to the side, tense and lowered.
"What are you saying sorry for?" Nya had made it up the stairs. "What did you say to him?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Nya–"
"What does it matter what I said to him? It has nothing to do with you, Nya." You further probed the waves that surged, waiting to crash their energy into something deserving... She stalked to you, staring down at you in your seat. She dragged you up by your collar. You let her.
"Nya! Stop that!"
"What is happening?" Echo's interjection was immediately yelled over.
"What the hell did I say!? Let 'em down–!"
"Ronin. It's okay. I got this."
"Oh, you're confident." Nya grumbled, shoving you forward. She finally let go of your collar, and you stumbled slightly before you catch yourself. She walked past your ready form, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you." But even that didn't sound reassuring or likely. "Get down here, I'm not waiting!" You were half tempted to just sit there and watch how long it would take for her to boil over. But you hopped the railing, landing in front of her. She stared down at you. "I don't know what you're thinking... but just because you helped us escape, doesn't mean-"
"I know." She looked a bit perturbed at that.
"Then why are acting like this? Trying to be friendly and close? What are you planning?"
You scoffed, "You've watched me all this time, and yet, you've remained absolutely clueless on me." You watched the careful furrow of her brows, her jaw tense as you stood to her height. "So let me clue you in... if I wanted you all gone, I'd done it as soon as I walked on your damn boat in the sky." You walked off, just done with her, hearing her struggle to say what she really wanted to say... And when she did...
"But what about Kai?! Why him?!" She had the tears the day she found out you killed him. She had them stay unshed when Nadakhan took him. She wanted to blame someone. And you were the closest to that. Almost, she lashed out a fist at you, before pulling it back, pulling herself tight against the wall. She sniffled a beginning sob, her eyes burning up at you. Strong to spite you. She wanted you to leave...
You do, the guilt bearing on your hung neck. Wrung tight and strangling it.
...
A good chunk of time passed, and your nerves soothed. You fumbled to the laboratory's table, to the gadget you were trying to fix. Trying because you couldn't help but sit there and do nothing. You wanted to continue doing nothing. Nya walked in. Your eyes cast back to the useless thing. You sighed, fiddling with the wiring. "Why are you here?"
"To talk. What else?"
"Oh." Your eyes cast back to the useless thing. "Not much to talk about."
"You really don't have a say in that..." She trailed off as you twisted the wires, in a specific way taught to you by her; the two copper strands overlapping each other. "Hey... that's the technique I showed you with the bounty's wiring."
"It works pretty well," you mumbled.
"Can't believe you still remember that." The forlorn past creeps in. She never did take you to tour the Samurai X cave. Just a video phone call of the place. She looked at the wiring with a twinge for a distant could have been. It's cursed to be that way.
"Nya, I'm going to be honest. I don't feel like talking to you. I don't feel like arguing."
"So we're just gonna act like nothing happened. Act like we're all friends here. As if everything is so perfect." She slid the gadget you've quit trying to fix. "I need to know why you're here. And don't say you're not planning anything. Why are you doing all this to protect me?"
"Don't you just get everything wrong?" You half-heartedly picked at another wire. "It's not just to protect you. It's to get everything back to normal. And I don't care what I have to do. If we have to put aside our grudges for this fight. If we have to act nice. If I have to protect some girl–"
"I don't need you protecting me." Spite gripped her to the teeth, venomous at your audacity. "I can protect myself."
"I know." Her mouth was agape, and you went on with a bitter laugh. How couldn't you, when you were there in Stixx? At the mercy of those waves. They were strong then and now. Overwhelmed with grief and rage. You wonder where you'd stand if Kai was truly dead and gone. If it was just her now... "You're really strong, Nya."
"...you don't need to tell me that." She walked out. You lean back in your chair, the window cool on your back, the red kelp gently swaying as you're back to ignoring the broken thing...
...
The sole window pane viewing the dark sea turned darker, your fingers outlining the circular glass. It's your turn to take watch and your steps paced slowly from rock to the old, rotting wood of the stairs. Ronin didn't pay attention to you, taking in the ocean's breeze. His sleepy voice strung you along, "Ya stealing the night shift already, kid?" The ocean was calm, stretching as if it were a sheet of black sea glass. "You keep taking night's watch."
"I don't mind."
"...What's bugging you? And don't say nothing." He leaned back in his chair; he wasn't going to move until you said what's on your mind. Your frown made it obvious, and so he pressed again. You gave in with a sigh, perching yourself on the windowsill he peered out of.
"Ronin, do you think we'll get Nadakhan here?" Fall winds chilled your back. Involuntarily, you shivered, revealing how apprehensive you were. He scooted his chair to you, meeting your strained gaze.
"We'll get him, one way or another. We got a good chunk of his crew too during that fight, so he's taken a fair bit of loss already."
"And that'll just make him more desperate."
"...Guess you could say that." He rubbed the back of his head. "We're just speculating, no point in getting worked up about it."
"I suppose." Your fingers curled the stone window sill. Ronin closed his eyes with a faint breath.
"Look kid, if something happens now, tomorrow, or the next, tough shit." He grimly laughed. "Doesn't matter, either we get the djinn, or the ninja - what's left of them - pull a fat one out of their asses like they always do." He had a flicker of amusement in his "wise" words.
"Hm." A soft chuckle leaves your lips. "You always make it sound simple."
"You get a lot done that way, hah." His hand hesitated in his, a sliver of a frown. Ronin stood up, letting his hands fall at his side. "Night, for real this time."
"...Goodnight, Ronin." He stalled by the stairs, casting one last look before he headed down. You leaned on the stone wall, stretching your bones. Outside, through the window, Echo and Chime, more so Echo, are enjoying the night sky. Chime was waiting for your conversation to finish, her gleaming eyes flitting to you. She slithered up the tower, bending her head as an invitation. You hopped onto her, the dragon lowering back to the patch of sand Echo laid on.
"Hello," he whispered, in a star-struck trance. You looked up too.
Stars twinkled, specks upon specks of them on the midnight canvas. Stardust painted a vast sea of its own, a sea of stars above the waves. It was breathtaking... and it filled you with a sense of loneliness. You're familiar with these stars, and that one apart from the rest. You've seen them so much when you were brought to this world. You used to watch them alone so many times. How there was always one star that blinked far away from the others. Like this one in the sky, distant from the twinkling group. You blurted out something you were wondering for the longest; "Aren't you tired of being all alone here?"
"I am not alone." He looked down toward the sole, significant creation left to him. Tai-D beeped up at him. "...But it does get lonely here."
"You could come with us." You couldn't tell what drove you to say that. Was it his loneliness and how it gazed in your mirror? Yes, that's part of the reason. But this regret cut deep every time you held it to take a closer look. A chanced understanding you wished you had given them before the storm whisked them away...
"What's out there for me?" He scanned the endless sea, stretching far beyond, at least, that's what it must have appeared to him.
"Books or me wouldn't do it justice... there's land bigger than this piece of rock. Buildings taller than this lighthouse and a mountain that's bigger than any of that. This patch of sand" –you grabbed a handful, and a breeze swept it from you– "is nothing compared to the damn Sea of Sand. There's so much for you to see. You could see it all from this dragon, up above." His eyes, shining a brighter, golden hue, wandered to you in all their wonder.
"Someday... Would you be my guide- at least until I feel comfortable?" He was hesitant to take the first step. "Though I wouldn't want to impose that on you-" And you weren't about to be the reason he didn't do it.
"Sure, if that's what it takes to convince you." Chime's bells vibrated with enthusiasm as she nodded her head.
"I think... I would like that then." He takes in the stars with you, the corners of his lips uplifted. A comforting quiet settled in like stardust; the star looked less lonely in this vast sea.