Work Text:
“Again? The answer is no. I came here for one reason. And that reason wasn’t you. You should know that by now. This was just stalling. You should have known I wasn’t here for you, little bird.”
Kaja’s voice glides across the deck like a blade dipped in honey. The lantern above them sways with the gentle roll of the water, casting fractured gold across the planks Alden carved by hand. Ayres stands pressed against the railing, its breath trembling, fingers digging into the wood as if it could anchor itself there.
Kaja steps closer, the boat rocking under kel’s weight. Kel lifts a hand and cups Ayres’s cheek—almost tenderly—before kel’s fingers tighten, nails digging into the soft skin beneath its jaw.
Ayres gasps, its knees buckling.
Alden’s voice erupts from the stern. “Stay away from Ayres!”
Kaja doesn’t even turn. Kel twists Ayres’s jaw sharply, forcing its head up. Ayres cries out, the sound thin and helpless.
That breaks Alden.
He charges across the deck, boots slamming against the planks. The boat tilts with the sudden shift, but Alden knows how to move with it—he built this vessel, every board and bolt.
He slams into Kaja with his full weight.
Kaja stumbles, grip loosening just long enough for Ayres to collapse against the railing, clutching its face. The lantern swings wildly overhead.
Kaja recovers quickly, spinning toward Alden with a snarl. “You shouldn’t have—”
Alden grabs the heavy wooden tiller and swings it like a club. It connects with Kaja’s ribs in a brutal arc.
Kaja’s breath explodes out of kel in a sharp, shocked exhale.
Ayres flinches at the sound, curling in on itself.
Kaja straightens slowly, eyes burning. “You hit me.”
“You hurt them,” Alden growls. “You don’t get to walk away from that.”
Kaja lunges.
Kel’s hand snags Alden’s shirt, yanking him forward, but Alden twists and drives his elbow into Kaja’s jaw. The impact snaps kel’s head to the side. Kaja staggers, gripping the railing to stay upright as the boat rocks beneath them.
Ayres watches with wide, terrified eyes, torn between wanting to run and being unable to move.
Kaja wipes blood from kel’s lip and laughs—a low, breathless sound. “You’re getting bold.”
Alden doesn’t answer. He grabs the rope coil at his feet and swings it, the weighted knot cracking against Kaja’s forearm. Kaja hisses, dropping to one knee, clutching kel’s arm.
Ayres gasps, covering its mouth.
Kaja tries to rise, but Alden steps forward and kicks kel square in the chest. The blow sends Kaja sliding across the deck, slamming into the mast. The lantern rattles violently above them.
The boat rocks hard with the impact, water slapping against the hull.
Kaja coughs, breath ragged, but kel’s eyes burn with something feral. “You think this changes anything?”
Alden storms toward kel, grabbing Kaja by the collar and hauling kel upright. “You laid a hand on them,” he says, voice low and deadly. “That’s all that matters.”
Kaja spits blood onto the deck. “You don’t even know what it did.”
Alden slams Kaja against the mast again. The wood shudders. Ayres cries out softly, flinching at the violence.
Kaja tries to twist free, but Alden grabs kel’s wrist and forces kel’s arm behind kel’s back. Kaja grunts in pain, dropping to one knee again.
Ayres takes a shaky step forward. “Alden—stop—please—”
Alden glances back at it, and in that split second, Kaja surges upward, trying to break free.
But Alden is ready.
He drives his knee into Kaja’s stomach. Kaja folds forward with a choked sound, one hand bracing against the deck.
Alden grabs kel by the hair and slams kel’s head against the mast—not enough to cause serious harm, but enough to stun kel. Kaja collapses to the deck, breath heaving.
Ayres stares, trembling, its injured jaw cradled in its hands.
Alden stands over Kaja, chest rising and falling with fury. “You don’t touch them,” he says again, quieter this time, but far more dangerous.
Kaja lifts kel’s head, glaring up at him through strands of hair. “You’re going to regret this.”
Alden steps closer, planting his boot on Kaja’s wrist, pinning kel to the deck. “Not tonight.”
Kaja’s eyes flick to Ayres—shaking, hurt, terrified—and something in kel’s expression shifts. Not remorse. Not fear. Calculation.
Kel exhales slowly. “Fine.”
Alden narrows his eyes. “What?”
Kaja twists kel’s wrist just enough to slip free of Alden’s boot, then rises to kel’s feet with a fluid, predatory grace. Kel wipes blood from kel’s mouth with the back of kel’s hand.
“I got what I came for,” ke says softly. “And I’m done wasting time here.”
Ayres stiffens. “Kaja—”
Kaja doesn’t look at it. “You’ll see me again, little bird. But not tonight.”
Kel steps backward toward the edge of the boat. The lantern light catches kel’s silhouette, turning kel into a dark shape against the shimmering water.
Alden tenses. “Don’t you dare—”
Kaja smirks. “Relax. I’m leaving.”
Kel steps onto the railing, balancing effortlessly despite the rocking of the boat. For a moment, kel stands there—bloodied, bruised, but still somehow in control.
Then Kaja drops into the water with barely a splash.
Ayres gasps, rushing to the railing, but the dark surface is already still. Kaja is gone—vanished into the night, swallowed by the waves.
Alden stands frozen, chest heaving, fists still clenched.
Ayres turns toward him, trembling. “Alden…?”
He finally looks at it—really looks—and his expression softens, fury melting into fear and relief.
The boat rocks gently beneath them, lantern swaying, the night suddenly too quiet.
Kaja is gone.
For now.