Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 25 — The Clutches of Danger

Jay leaned over the side of the ship and watched as the Serpentine inched closer and closer.

“Now would be a really good time to have a water master around!” He griped, and he pulled hard on one of the ropes before tying it roughly down.

“Ooh, irony,” Cole quipped.

“Oh, would you knock it off?” It had been a long time since either of them had fought—truly fought—or since one of Jay’s pranks. If everyone would stop making jokes at their expense, that would be great.

“But we’ve gotta be able to do something,” Nya piped up, looking around the group anxiously. “We can’t just roll over and let them take the ship!”

“Nya’s right,” Jay blurted. Kai was suddenly looming over him, like a hawk waiting for the right time to draw its talons. “Ahem! If we can’t outpace them, then we need to fight back.”

“Except we don’t have any long range weapons,” Cole pointed out. “I’m completely useless out here. Zane—“

“I don’t want to risk using my powers out on the water like this. I could inadvertently freeze us all,” Zane finished.

“Kai, how far can your fire reach?” Jay asked, ignoring the tension lines in his face.

“Well, let’s see,” said the fire ninja, and he walked to the far-most end of the stern. With a deep breath, he shot both arms outward, and a sword of a flame came roaring across the wind. Though it did reach quite far, it wasn’t far enough, and by the time the Serpentine would be in range, they might as well just break out the katanas. He did not, however, account for how powerful the blast would be, and the sheer explosion of his flames sent Kai reeling backward.

“I meant to do that,” he mumbled after the fact.

That only left Jay, and his lightning was still so pathetic right now, he couldn’t take down a blender, much less a ship. He turned to his Sensei. “Can’t you make a canon or something?”

“You want me to make five-hundred pounds of dead weight that none of you know how to use properly?” Wu asked, raising an eyebrow.

“But there’s got to be something!” Jay went on, very conscious of Nya standing not too far away. The Serpentine were getting even closer.

“Jay, the day is not lost yet. We still have our weapons and our will to survive,” said Wu confidently.

His eyes fell to the grimy deck. Sure, that was true, but then he caught the look on Nya’s face. She’d never been a fan of fighting, ever since Greta Junction. If only he could think of some way which would allow them to bypass this particularly sticky situation.

Then, and idea formed. An idea so crazy, so downright insane, that it just might work.

“I’ve got something better,” he said, turning to the others, smiling.

*

Somewhere on the North-East Coast of Ninjago, a naval base was preparing to send out a small fleet of ships.

“Sir, this report just came in,” said an officer as he approached the general stationed there.”

“Well, what is it?” The general asked.

“This, sir,” said the officer, and he held up his laptop, revealing the grainy footage of a figure stealing a small sail boat. “Our prime suspect is the veteran Master Wu.”

“When was this?” Asked the general.

“Two nights ago, sir.”

“Do we know his trajectory?”

“Still working on it, sir.”

“Sir!” Came a second officer as the general walked into a bustling room of monitors and activity. “There’s been another sighting of the unregistered junk!”

“Witness reports say that the stolen yacht is in pursuit of it!”

“Where!?” The general demanded.

“Roughly forty-five miles South-East of our location, sir.”

“Tell captain Kobayashi to get our fleet in the water, now! I’ll have no pirates off the coast of this country,” said the general darkly.

“Yes, sir!”

He watched the men around him frantically making calls, scanning radars, and all the other menial tasks that he didn’t have the time or patience to know about. His job as the leader was simply to pick a direction to go in. It was the crew’s job to know how to get them there.

“Sir, it’s an Agent Duan from the IBI for you,” said another officer, handing him a phone.

“Oh, what now?” The general frowned, taking the phone. “General Sato speaking.”

*

“Kai, Zane, follow me!” Jay swiped a spare coil of rope from the night before and they all went back to the stern. Tying one end of the rope around the nearest solid object, he asked, “Zane, do you think you could just use a little of your powers?”

“How much is a little?” He asked, eyeing him.

“Enough to glue Kai to the back of the ship.”

“Excuse me, what?” Kai blinked.

Zane looked uncomfortable. “I can try.”

“Good. Kai, take this and tie it around your waste,” said Jay, handing Kai the other end of the rope.

“Woah, woah, woah,” said Cole, coming in between them. “You are not doing that.”

“Finally, some common sense.” Kai folded his arms.

“It has to be tied properly first,” Cole finished. Kai glared at him as he took the rope and started looping it around both his legs and then his waist, finishing it with an unbreakable knot.

After thoroughly convincing Kai to go over the edge of the ship, the three boys worked together to slowly lower him down. Once Jay said he was at the perfect height, Kai yelled back up at them, “I see where you’re going with this, and you’re insane!”

“Insane or dead. Take it or leave it,” Jay called back.

Now it was Zane’s turn to propel down. Without a harness, simply clutching onto the rope with his hands, he slid down low enough to not freeze Kai’s head.

“This may sting,” he said.

“Just get it over with,” Kai glared.

Zane steadied himself and only reached out a finger.

SHWOOM!!!

A large sheet of ice had pinned Kai to the wood of the ship. He gritted his teeth from the sheer cold of it, but looked okay all things considered.

“He’s in position!” Zane called back, climbing up the rope.

The Serpentine were so close they could hear their horrendous cackling laughter.

“Hold on to your butts!” Kai yelled, just as Zane crested the railing.

Jay braced himself… but the ship didn’t seem to lurch or jolt at all. Kai shot out his fire with as much intensity as he could muster, but the ship was simply too big to expect him to move it all at once. But then, Jay looked out at the water. Little by little, it seemed to be gaining speed.

“It’s working, Kai!” He shouted down to him. He didn’t have time to answer, though, as all of his energy was being put into his fire.

Sure enough, the longer he kept pushing them, the further away the Serpentine became, their laughter fading away.

“A rocket propelled ship! You’re a genius!” Nya cheered, standing… awful near to him.

He coughed a few times. “Ah, well, it’s nothing, really, it’s just Kai slapped to the back of an old wooden tub.”

“Okay, great. Where are we sailing to?” Cole asked after a moment or two.

Jay’s face froze. Oh shoot. He was right, they needed a heading. Kai wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.

“There are several small islands to our northeast,” said Wu. “Perhaps we can hide among them.”

“Yes—let’s do that,” Jay announced, and their Sensei took the wheel.

Unfortunately, Serpentine do not give up easily. Though they had gained an advantage over speed, their enemies still had enough persistence to fill up an entire stadium.

The islands—a collection of enormous, misshapen rocks as it turned out—took an uncomfortable amount of time to reach, where no one had much else to do but anxiously watch their pursuers in the distance. Along the way, Kai’s fire went out, and he was left panting, still stuck to the stern.

“You good?” Jay asked.

“Next time, you can be the jet engine,” he replied wearily.

In the amount of time it took for him to rest, the Serpentine had regained a lot of ground, and when Kai ignited his fire again, everyone could sense that it wasn’t quite as strong as it was before. But so long as they were keeping the Serpentine off their ship, it was worth it.

Then, as if they had just appeared out of nowhere, the islands were right in front of them.

“All we really need to do is lose them in the rocks, right?” Jay asked as Wu took them in.

“If we can,” said his teacher. “Hold on to something.”

The ship began to groan as they went into their first tight turn, narrowly missing one of the rocks. For half a moment, Jay thought about going over to Nya and offering her a bit of support as the ship swayed to and fro, but he knew he’d already been pushing things all day. If Kai saw him doing that, it might just end their friendship, which already seemed to be hanging by a thread, considering last night. No, he just needed to keep going with the mission for now, and hopefully prove to Kai that he was strong enough to handle the situation.

Jay looked back the way they had come, searching for the enemy ship, and catching a glimpse of them just before they disappeared behind one of the islands. His hands felt restless. Was there anything he could be doing right now? Any way he could help?

Everything grew dreadfully quiet the deeper they went into the islands. They wove in and out, guided by Wu’s expert hand, and before long, it was impossible to tell where the Serpentine were. The water lapped against the ship, seagulls cawed overhead, and the wind whistled through the rocks. Still no sign of them.

Then—

CRACK!

“AHH!!!”

SPLASH!!!

All eyes turned to the stern where the rope attached to Kai had gone taught.

“Kai!” Everyone cried at once. They spotted him at once, keeping his head above the choppy, salty water and clinging to the rope.

“Quick, before he hits the rocks!” Said Cole as he grabbed the other end of the rope and started pulling. Jay jumped in as well, periodically looking over the edge and inspecting the ice which had apparently melted to the point it had buckled under Kai’s weight.

The ship suddenly turned, causing everyone to readjust their hold as Kai continued to tread water. Had they been going in a straight line, it may have been faster to hoist him up, which would have been much more preferable considering the fact that around the next turn, the Serpentine ship was waiting for them.

“Serpentine!!” Jay cried as they started to uncomfortably close.

Wu turned hard to get away from them and the boys nearly let go of the rope.

“Pull me up!” Kai spluttered.

Cole wasted no time using his excess strength to pull so hard, Kai shot up and crashed into the railing.

“Gee, thanks,” he groaned, clutching his stomach.

“Ninja!” A voice from the Serpentine ship called. “Surrender the Fang Blade now and we may consider sparing your pathetic lives!”

“Real tempting, Barney, but I think we’ll have to pass,” Jay quipped, racing over to the mast and adjusting the sail so that it caught the wind better. The fabric billowed and pushed the ship forward, but only until the wind changed direction. In this maze of stone islands, sometimes there was no wind at all. Jay bit his lip, wishing Keaton were here. She’d have it fixed in two seconds.

“Then have it your way,” the Serpentine finished. When Jay looked back, he saw that same purple snake on the bow, and he dreaded the next words he would say. “Take the ship!”

Grappling hooks and other pointy objects suddenly came flying at them, looking for soft wood to sink their metal fangs into. The boys were able to rip them out and cast them into the sea one by one, but more kept coming, and with every line attached, their ship lost speed.

Suddenly, one harpoon came whizzing by them, sending splinters flying everywhere, and there was a shriek.

“Nya!” Kai yelled, running over. Jay watched him take her by the wrist and then they disappeared below deck.

The Serpentine were getting so close now that it was only a matter of seconds before they boarded.

“What do we do?” Jay asked, turning to his teacher.

Wu gave him a stoic look. “We fight.” He tossed something into the air, and when it landed neatly in Jay’s hands, he recognised it: his kusarigama. Jay swallowed hard. He would have greatly preferred to use his nunchucks at a time like this.

Kai ran back upstairs right as the first Serpentine soldier leaped across a line and lunged at Cole, who promptly sent him overboard with a punch to the face. He grabbed his katana from Wu and took out the next snake that grabbed onto their railing.

In a blink, there was a Constrictai right in front of Jay, and with what little training he had, he swung the weight at the end of the chain on the kusarigama and sent it crashing into the creature’s jaw. It screamed out and tried to grab him with its tail, to which Jay responded by snatching the scaly thing and chucking it with all his might across the deck. Sometimes he forgot how much stronger he was these days, especially after being healed from the Fangpyre venom.

He didn’t have a second to think, however, as a flood of Serpentine clawed their way toward them.

Wu was leading the charge, naturally, and doing an incredible job despite his age. Kai was using his fire liberally, which made all of them just as uneasy as it made the Serpentine. Their ship was made of wood, after all. If he wasn’t careful, they could have a whole other problem to worry about. Zane on the other hand was being extremely careful and barely used his powers at all while he lunged at the oncoming enemies with his daggers.

As Cole wrestled with a Fangpyre, Jay scanned the crowd for any sign of purple scales. At first, he didn’t see anything, which made him anxious. He double checked after knocking out a Hypnobrai and there was still no sign of him. Instantly he thought back to the museum and panicked.

“Where are you going?!” Kai called, watching him run toward the stairs.

Jay didn’t have time to respond, though. That slimy snake could be anywhere and he wasn’t about to let his invisibility trick fool them this time. Jay had his arms stuck out, feeling around for him as he ran through the short hallways. Nothing so far, which meant that he could already be in the barracks where the Fang Blade was being kept.

He opened the door with a loud BANG and Garmadon looked over at him with a scowl.

“If you’ve come to ask for help—” He started sourly, but Jay cut him off.

“Has anyone come in here? There’s a Serpentine—he can turn invisible!”

Garmadon’s eyes hardened. “No, not that I’ve seen.”

Jay paused. “Was that a joke?”

Someone came barrelling down the hall and nearly ran into Jay. “What are you doing?” Kai asked frantically.

“The Fang Blade is safe,” said Garmadon, scooping the thing up in his black hands so that they could see. “Are the rest of your friends?”

Jay could have bet money that both he and Kai instantly thought of the same person. Kai took off first, leading them toward the captain’s quarters where he had told Nya to stay put until the fighting was over.

There was a Hypnobrai slithering down the stairwell. Kai sent a flying knee into the side of his head and knocked him out cold, then kept running toward the last place he had seen his sister.

*

Nya was pacing in the captain’s quarters while Ann and Keaton listened to the distant sound of fighting from their hammocks.

“I’ll just go out for a few minutes,” said Ann, getting to her feet.

“No,” Nya urged. “You’re still sick, you’ll exhaust yourself.” Ann made an exasperated face and sat back down, grimacing once or twice from a dizzy spell. “Besides… they’ll be fine.” She looked at the door and imagined what horrors might be going on out there. A lot of Serpentine bodies, probably. She shivered.

“But there’s—gotta be something we can do,” Keaton said through a sniff and a stuffy nose. “I mean, this is serious.”

Ann and Nya glanced at each other.

Suddenly, Ann thought she saw something. Behind Nya, it had almost looked as though something had moved. Had she imagined it? Was she just that sick? No, she was getting a bad feeling in her gut, and she’d learned never to ignore those feelings. Discreetly, she reached for two shurikens sitting nearby.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt just to check,” she said casually, getting up again.

“Ann,” Nya sighed.

Her eyes were still watching the room, looking for that sign of movement. Almost like a shimmer, similar to how heat waves make things appear all squiggly. “We have no idea what could be going on out there,” she went on. Then, her nerves turned steely as she caught a glint of purple. “…or in here.”

She threw the shurikens as hard as she could, aiming for where she assume the head might be, but mid-swing, she heard footsteps outside the door.

SLAM!!!

The door shot open and hit her so hard it knocked the shurikens and Ann to the floor.

“OW!!!” She cried, clutching her head.

“Nya!” Kai blurted, running to her. “Are you okay?”

“Kai!” Ann yelled, Keaton helping her up. “You colossal idiot!” She scanned the room, but any trace of the invisible whatever-it-was had disappeared.

“You good?” Jay asked, peaking around the door and eyeing the bruise forming on her forehead.

“Do I look good to you?!” She raged, fists balled.

“Has anyone come in here? Anyone?” Kai asked, moving around the room as though he was looking for something. “There’s a Serpentine who can turn invisible.”

“Well, he might have just been here, until you hit me in the head with a door!!”

“There’s no sign of him,” Kai muttered to himself, coming back over.

“AAAAH!!” Nya screaming as a Fangpyre suddenly tried to jump them from the hallway.

Ann sent his head to the floor with one blast of water. “That’s it!” She cried, stomping out of the room. The others followed her up the stairs and out onto the deck where Cole, Zane, and Wu were losing badly against the horde of Serpentine swarming the ship.

Against her better judgment, and to the detriment of a horrendous headache she had coming on, she lifted her hands and said, “GET OFF OF THIS SHIP!!!”

A wave suddenly rose up, twice as high as their main mast, and crashed back down, selectively washing away the Serpentine. Some held on tooth and nail to the side railing, but most of them were sent overboard in a tremendous SPLASH!!! Meanwhile, her teammates, she swept up into the safety of the rigging.

Then, taking a shaky breath, she pushed hard against the ocean and propelled the ship out of the rocky islands, and away from harm.

“Ha!” Ann laughed through heavy gasps. “Take—that! You scaly—” Suddenly, her legs didn’t feel so strong and her stomach didn’t feel so steady. Her knees hit the wood—hard—and when she caught herself with her hand, several splinters got lodged in her skin.

Keaton came over at once, holding onto her shoulder and trying to help her up. Nya joined her.

“Get those last few!” Wu was saying as he landed on the deck, and then he was right in front of Ann. “Ann Jing. Ann Jing, look at me,” he said lifting her face. “Can you see straight? How many fingers am I holding up?”

She gritted her teeth and tried to focus, even though it made the ache in her head spread into her eyes. “Two—” she grunted, clutching her stomach.

At once, Wu created something. A small glass vile full of a milky, gold substance. He gave it to her and told her to drink every last drop before he took off the to help Cole and Zane get rid of the few remaining Serpentine, still clinging to the wood of the ship.

“That was really stupid, you know,” Kai grumbled next to the girls.

“Maybe she’s just been hanging out with you too much,” said Nya, eyeing him. Jay gave a small chuckle behind them and then Kai urged them both to go and help the others peel scaly hands from the hull.

“Ann?” Keaton asked, watching her with big eyes. She was swaying slightly, trying to force her breaths in and out slowly.

“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly. “Already starting to feel better.” More aptly, she wasn’t feeling any worse, but she kept that to herself.

“Kai was a little right, though,” said Nya, easing up on Ann’s shoulder. “That was kinda on the stupid side.”

Ann sniffed. “The way I see it… we didn’t really have a choice. The ocean… is literally my element.”

“Yeah, but we could’ve found a way to—“

“We would have taken heavier losses. Someone could have gotten hurt. We might have even lost the Fang Blades. Or worse.” Her eyes suddenly went a little wider. “Speaking of which… where are the Golden Weapons?”

“I…” Nya’s blood started running just a little colder. She remembered the boys having them when they got back from the mainland, but then… “Guys!” She called, getting up and running to meet them. “Are the Golden Weapons safe?”

Wu looked alarmed beyond belief. “Did you put them away?” He asked the boys sternly.

Kai started stuttering. “They-they were—I had my sword—I put it right—“

“I think I left my nunchucks on the deck,” Jay breathed, going pale.

“And I, my daggers,” said Zane slowly.

“We have to turn the ship around!” Wu announced. “We need to find them and—“

“Brother!” All eyes turned to the stairwell. “For pity’s sake, they’re right here.” Garmadon had emerged holding the four bundles in his black hands.

“Garmadon,” said Wu in a warning tone.

“And here I thought you trusted me,” said the former, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re my brother. I know better than to trust you,” Wu countered, coming over and taking the bundles. “But I do care about you.”

“You’re own folly, little brother.”

Wu huffed and quick sigh. “Nya, please escort Keaton and Ann Jing below deck, and make sure they stay there this time. Kai, Zane, please take these and put them somewhere safe.” He offloaded his armful of weapons to them and they followed the girls down the stairs. “Cole, Jay, man the rigging. We need to—“

A new, startling noise sounded over the water. Something one typically does not hear in nature; the sound of a voice being broadcast over a megaphone.

“This is the Imperial Bureau of Investigation! You are operating a stolen vehicle! Shut down your engine and prepare to be boarded!”

They looked around, but saw no one—no other ships in the water. It was then that they realised that the voice had come from the direction of the Serpentine ship, still stuck back in the maze of islands.

“Keep quiet and man the rigging!” Wu whisper-hissed to the two remaining boys. He himself went to the steering wheel, hoping to get them as far away from here as possible.

There was a long silence that followed where Garmadon began wandering toward the stern of the ship, his arms folded behind his back, watching the rocks. Wu glanced at him a time or two, wondering what he might be looking for, when the water suddenly shook. What had disturbed it? A small shockwave. It’s point of origin: the rocks.

The very next thing they saw was the shape of a ship coming into view, quite far away at this point. Standing on the rim of the bow, there was a figure who did not possess a tail, but rather, human legs. His bright blonde hair was unkept and flapped angrily in the salty breeze, his eyes locked onto the black silhouette of Garmadon.

“…Lloyd…” he whispered. “Turn the ship around.”

“What?” Wu turned around, brow furrowed.

“I said TURN THE SHIP AROUND!!!” Garmadon yelled at his face. “DO IT NOW!!!”

Wu looked and saw exactly what was causing such a strained reaction, but he also saw a small fleet of government ships coming to avenge their fallen comrade. The Serpentine seemed to be abandoning them, wisely choosing to flee and hide, and he had half a mind to do the same.

“Garmadon…”

“Don’t you ‘Garmadon’ me, MY SON IS RIGHT THERE!!!”

“This is the Imperial Bureau of Investigation!”

Wu locked his jaw and looking his brother dead in the eye. “I’m sorry, but I made a promise. Right now, my first priority is to protect my students.”

Garmadon’s expression suddenly faltered. He looked down where he could’ve sworn he felt something touching the skin on one of his arms and saw a small needle injecting something into him. The hand holding the needle belonged to Wu.

“I’m sorry,” he said again as Garmadon began to lose consciousness.

*

Nya and the girls had heard the voices over the megaphones from the captain’s quarters, but since nothing had come of it, they weren’t inclined to be worried. Keaton had taken notice of a strong wind behind them, pushing their ship further out to sea and out of harm’s way. The IBI should be long gone by now, and the Serpentine too, for that matter.

Ann and Keaton were back to laying in their hammocks, sniffing, coughing, and periodically gabbing tissues. Nya watched them from a corner of the room, thinking to herself mostly.

“Hey, Keaton?” She asked after it looked like Ann had fallen asleep. The little ninja rolled over curiously.

“Yeah?”

“So… I guess I’m just curious, but…” After a brief pause she continued, “…I don’t entirely get Ann. I mean… why does she do it? Why does she keep putting herself in these… dangerous situations?”

Keaton moved her mouth around in thought. “Well… who else is gonna do it?”

“But that’s the thing,” Nya went on, “Why does anyone need to do it?”

Keaton looked at her as though her skin had turned blue. “Of course someone needs to do it!” She sat up a little bit. “I mean, shoot, we all might have been toast today is she hadn’t stepped in.”

“But she hurt herself in the process.”

Keaton pressed her lips together tightly, but when she made to open them again, someone else spoke.

“Why do you worry about your brother?”

They both looked over at Ann hammock where she was looking up at the ceiling, her eyes half open. “Why?” She pressed.

Nya folded her arms. “He’s my brother. If anything happened to him…”

“And if anything happened to you, I would feel the same way.” Ann looked at her from out of the corner of her eye and Nya stared back blankly.

“But… that’s different,” she countered.

“Is it?”

Nya swallowed. “Kai and I are brother and sister. You and I… you and the boys…”

Ann took a measured breath. “Just because we’re not related, doesn’t mean I won’t lay down my life protecting you all.”

Nya stiffened. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Ann watched her as she shook her head and seemed to be inwardly mumbling something. “What?”

“It’s just… I don’t believe you,” she finally said. “No one thinks like that. No one’s that selfless—risking everything, expecting nothing in return.”

Ann watched the ceiling and felt her chest grow ever so slightly tighter. Then she tilted her head and looked at Nya straight on. “You’re a person. You’re brother is a person. People with lives and families and homes. People just like me. Why shouldn’t I care? Why shouldn’t I want to keep my team safe? Why in the wide world would I ever want to be the person to go to your parents and tell them you were dead, and it was all my fault because I didn’t do anything to save you? There’s nothing abnormal about having a little empathy for others. And in our line of work… if you aren’t willing to risk your own life to save someone else’s… if you aren’t willing to push yourself… you’ll wind up talking to a lot of people’s parents.”

Nya lowered her head and stared at the floor. “But doesn’t that mean you end up… sacrificing a lot?”

“…Yes it does. Putting others first always means you end up putting yourself second. But…” Ann’s voice sounded strained for a moment, but she forced her throat to relax. “…the last time I put myself before someone I loved… I ended up making the biggest mistake of my life… one that I’ll never be able to live down.” She noticed Keaton’s face had grown somewhat forlorn. “Seeing my family… my team… safe… is more than enough reward for what I do. It’s the only thing that gets me up in the morning, to tell you the truth.”

Nya blinked, trying to swallow all of that.

All of the horrors she’d bore witness to since joining this group, all the terrifying situations and monsters they’d gone up against—things that had scared the living daylights out of her—Ann was willing to brave simply to keep someone like her safe. Sure, she could get a bit bitter about her job from time to time, but… perhaps that had something to do with how poorly Nya had been treating her job recently.

“I, uh…” she started, feeling a little shaky on the inside. “I’m sorry I’ve been acting so… rude lately.”

“…No. I’m sorry,” said Ann, looking back at the ceiling. “I should’ve responded with more maturity.”

“…You were no more immature than I was being.” They both gave a small laugh through the nose.

Nya used to think that she was pretty mature for her age, having been through everything she’d been through, helping Kai and cooking for him while he worked in the forge… and sure, she had grown up some because of what happened to her family… but now… looking back on the last few weeks… it almost felt as if a part of her hadn’t grown up at all.

“Thank you… for what you did back there.”

“…You’re welcome.”

Keaton gave a little smile as she settled back into her hammock, watching the two of them finally make amends. Nya smiled too. There was still some things about Ann that rubbed her the wrong way, but… it was hard to look at her the same way as before. Like such a one-dimensional antagonist.

“By the way…” she said, suddenly having a thought. “If you don’t mind my asking… what happened? That made you want to put others first?”

Ann took in a sharp breath.

Keaton’s eyes darted to her sister.

“…We had a brother.” She closed her eyes as she tried not to let the memories come flooding back. “I failed to keep him safe. He died.”

“…I’m sorry.” Nya meant it. She wouldn’t know what to do with herself if she’d lost Kai.

“…Thank you.”

On and on the ship sailed, grey clouds swirling overhead. They were out of the clutches of danger for the moment, but they hardly felt relaxed. Little by little, the weight of the situation began to build, reinforcing every tiny nagging fear they’d each had about this whole adventure from the very beginning. And it was only about to get worse.