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Wind whips violently at Nyas heals, brushing up clouds of dust and debris making it almost impossible to see more than ten feet in front of her. Her trident swings in a wide arc as she wields the weapon, using the force from the swing to knock out another dragonion. “FIRST MASTER I CANNOT SEE!” Nya yells into her intercom. Nothing but a loud static is given back. She can lightly hear the hitting of metal against metal behind her, and she runs toward the sound. This could be one of her teammates.
Running, she spots several dragonions attacking what looks like to be a… mercenary? Where did they come from? Nya sends a water blast their way and takes out all fives dragonions before the mercenary has time to figure out what was happening. “Better stay on your feet if you want to survive!” Nya shouts at the dark figure, her words are responded to with a dip of the mercenary’s hat.
Time seams to fly by as quickly as watching paint dry, and before long the two are completely surrounded by dragonions. They stand back to back, both ready to fight. Nya attacks first, letting out a column of water to slow down the dragonions, before going in for a slice with her trident. The mercenary goes next, swinging his sword in a large arc and straining against his attackers blade.
Nya holds the dragonions off somewhat well, but the mercenary struggles to keep up. Nya ends up taking on 6 to 1, white the mercenary takes on 3 to 1.
“ENOUGH!” The mercenary roars, dropping his weapons and assuming a fighting stance. “Whaaaat..?” Nya huffs under her breath as she watches elemental lightning begin to form at the mercenary’s fingertips. “I guess it’s time to, lighten up the mood” the mercenary exclaims before letting out a tidal wave of energy from all sides. Nya dodges this wave easily, but the dragonions are left stranded unable to move on the ground. “And bad puns?!” Nya exclaims. No other lighting master could this be. This was Jay, her Jay! The one she had last seen at the tournament of the sources before he was shipped off by Ras.
Nya shook her head, she needed to focus. There was still several dragonions left and much more fighting to do.
More fighting ensued, more clashing of swords and more elemental energy released before the two had all of the dragonions knocked out on the canyon floor. “Not bad for an Ex Ninja” Nya laughed. Jay did not return the gesture, instead Nya was met with a, “you don’t even know who I am!” Nya gave him a smug smile, “Really? Elemental lighting?” Jay sighed and huffed out a breath. “Fine you caught me, whatever. But don’t you have world saving business to get back to? I’m only here for Raz” Nya rolled her eyes. Of course he was.
“Yea, he’s half a mile up your ass” Nya exclaimed sarcastically before running off to find someone from her team. She didn’t have the guts to talk to Jay right now. Especially since this wasn’t her Jay at all.
‘(*———————-*)’
‘=‘ The battle comes to an end, Arin defeats thunderfang and the ninja are loading into the bounty to fly back to the monastery ‘=‘
Nya stands at the railing, staring down at the ruined canyon below. Dips and trenches in the rock carved out by water flowing for millions of years. Geology was cool, but Nya had other things to worry about.
How could she leave her Yang like that? With such a rude comment as her ‘punch line’ to end the shifty conversation they were having. Any conversation with her Yang was better than none. Even if it was him telling her he’d hate her forever. At least she knew he was alive. But now that he was a completely different person, she wasn’t sure if it made a difference that he was. Nya tapped her fingertips on the railing, clearly stressing over the situation when somebody shouted from behind her.
“WATCH OUT!” Nya whipped around as quickly as she could, but before she could process what was happening she was shoved through the railing into a free fall off the bounty. Jay. Jay as shoved her off the bounty with his wing suit and now both of them were in a free fall. This man had clearly lost his mind, for good this time.
“WHAT IN THE FIRST MASTER IS WRONG WITH YOU! NOW WERE BOTH GOING TO DIE” Nya shouted in Jay’s face, grabbing onto the collar of his stupid mercenary suit. “WE HAVE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS LADY” Jay shouted back, the wind around them muffling his yelling. By now Nya was enraged, but she didn’t have time to think about anything else but the rapidly approaching ground. Jay had shoved her off the bounty in a relatively wooded area, so this landing was gonna hurt.
Nya pulled Jay closer to her, and positioned herself between him and the ground. She cared about this stupid man too much to let him die like this. In a matter of moments, they were in the tree line.
Falling
Falling
SMACK, into the first tree
SMACK, into another
…
BAM, into the forest floor with a force so potent it shook the trees around them.
Nyas back took the brunt of the hits, having jay land on top of her each time just made it worse. Jay rolled off of her the moment they hit the ground, huffing and puffing and complaining that his ankle hurt. Nya lay frozen, unable to speak or move from the pain.
It radiated from her bones into each nerve in her body. It spread like wildfire from her spine to her muscles to her skin. She felt the shift of broken bone in her back with each breath she took, her lungs moving the shattered bone ever so slightly with every intake. This sent more waves of pain and nausea and dark spots clouding her vision. She let out a croak of a sound, before being pulled under the waves of pain and into a state of unconscious only those at deaths doorstep could unveil.
‘(*———————-*)’
Jay rolled off of the woman once he had caught his breath. Laying on the forest floor, arms and legs splayed out and ankle shaking in pain he attempted to understand what just happened. She had pulled him in and taken the brunt of the fall for…him? She saved him. Why the hell would she do that? Jay turned his head to the woman. Water girl, he decided to call her.
Oh First master, forgive him.
Her head was lolled to the side so he couldn’t see her face, but her body said it all. Blood pooled around her head and small parts of her back. Her suit was torn and tattered and her leg was twisted in all sorts of ways. First master…there was so much blood.
Jay kneeled at her side, unsure of what to do. He had never been saved like this, and he had never seen anyone as injured as this. He was sure her back was broken with how much blood was pouring out of it. A wave of nausea and fear washed over his body. He had not meant to kill her, just get a little revenge after she took his win in the tournament.
Jay sat back on his heels, and remembered she didn’t matter anything to him. Her death would not change anything in his life, or anyones for that matter. He would leave her. He was sure her friends would find her anyway.
Jay stood, and began to walk away. Just as her dying body was just about to be out of sight, he turned his head and looked back. Under the brim of his hat, he could see her barely-breathing body, and for the first time, her face. She didn’t look like the incredible warrior she always said she was. Not in this moment. Her face looked…scared. He had never seen that woman scared before. Not in the tournament when he used shatterspin, not when she was fighting a literal source dragon, not when she was plummeting 300 feel down from her own flying pirate ship.
Jay huffed out a breath, and made a decision.
Before he could tell himself to turn around and leave her again he sprinted back to her side and started working. He unclipped the emergency medical kit from his waist and started to wrap her injuries in gauze. He needed to stop the bleeding before she bled out completely. But this would mean, removing her suit. Jay looked up to the barely-visible sky and prayed to the first master to forgive him, and removed the top of her suit. Luckily she had a light tank-top on underneath that was stopping some of the bleeding, but not all. He wrapped her abdomen in gauze and packed extra on her spine, making sure it was tight with lots of pressure. Then he moved to her leg. He found a relatively strong-looking stick to use as a splint and tied it to her leg to secure it.
Lastly he wrapped a thin strip of gauze around the crown of her head to stop a deep gash at the back of her head from bleeding. Jay hoped the cut wasn’t worse than it looked. Jay had minor knowledge of medical practices, and had no idea how to sew a injury together.
Once he finished he sat back on his heels and scanned over her body. Water girls suit was loosely hanging at her hips, with a white tank-top and a whole lot of gauze covering her abdomen. Even on the verge of death, a woman like this could never look her worst. Her curves and muscles were pristine and amazing, and her raven-black locks curled around her head.
Jay shook his head, what the hell? This was a half-dead girl he’s looking at. That’s straight creepy!!! Jay mentally punched himself in the gut. He also swore to always hate her, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Jay looked up at the sky once more, he hadn’t realized but the sun had began to set, and darkness awaited at the horizon. “Shit” he whispered to himself. He looked down at the vulnerable body beneath him. He made yet another risky move, and picked her up beneath the shoulders and knees.
He carried her until he found a small cave-like structure to use as a tent, and set her down on a small patch of moss. As he released her shoulders, she let out a horrible gurgling sound that sent a shiver up jays spine. He wasn’t sure if she would live.
‘(*———————-*)’
Nya opened her eyes to be met with a stone roof, covered in dirt and spiders. Moments later, she was hit with a sensation equivalent to being ran over repeatedly by a train. Everything hurt. Aching and sore and burning all at once. From the back of her head down her neck and spine into her left leg put pooled in her foot. What the hell happened, and where was she?
Turning her head ever-so-slightly to the right she surveyed her surroundings. She was in a cave of-sorts, little gadgets were piled a few feet from her and a campfire sat close to the caves edge. Wood for said fire sat by her head, and a medical box lay open on the cave floor.
What the hell? Nothing made sense at all. How the hell did she get here, and why the hell was she so injured.
Nya had no answer to her own questions, so she did the only thing she was sure she could do. Stay there. She couldn’t move her body without excruciating pain or the risk of injuring herself more, so she watched the forest from afar.
…
Not an hour passed before a being emerged from the forest, carrying a rabbit with a splotch of burnt fur on its side. He was wearing a dark blue tank top with a coat of sorts tied around his waist, and dark blue baggy pants.
The figure startled when they say Nya, standing frozen for a moment simply staring at the girl before rushing over to her side and plopping down on the hard stone floor. The figure lowered its hands and grabbed Nyas face gently, turning her head to face him. This send a wave of pain and nausea through Nya, and she let out an agonizing yelp. The figure tensed, before speaking quietly to Nya.
“Hey Water Girl, it’s Jay. Well, Rogue, actually. I uh…I saved you after I shoved you off your ship. You remember?”
Jay. That’s right. Jay. She remembers now. He shoved her off the bounty and sent them both plummeting down towards their impending doom. And she took the fall. That’s right.
Wait. Jay hated her… why was he helping her now? In a hushed and strained voice, she asked, “why did you save me”.
Jays face attempted to stay calm, but Nya knew him better than that. He has no idea why he saved her. She could read him like an open book.
“I uh… you saved my life, so I guess I just had to return the favor”
Nya tired to nod, but jay held her face firmly to keep her from hurting herself further.
“How long have I been out?” She asked quickly before she succumbed to her pain and passed out.
The last thing she heard was a rushed, “1 week”.
‘(*———————-*)’
Jay had gone out to hunt for more food for the two of them hours ago, and had lost his way back home…hours ago. How the hell did this happen??? He had an injured woman in a cave that needed 24/7 care!!! How could he be this careless.
Jay walked and walked and walked for what felt like another six hours before he finally found the trail he had been walking for almost a month now. He walked the same trail every day to hunt to avoid events like these. He never was good with directions. As he entered the clearing to the cave he noticed something was majorly different than how he had left it. The fire was burning…?
Jay looked into the cave behind it, was Water girl okay? He rushed to the mouth of the cave and to his immediate surprise, Water girl was sitting up against the cave wall staring into the fire.
“Uh…hey Water girl” he exclaimed.
“I have a name” she exclaimed in a hushed-strained voice, the same one she had used when she had woken up the first time.
“I assumed, never cared to find out what it was” he exclaimed. He needed to keep up the facade that he hated her. Why you may ask? He himself has no idea.
“It’s Nya. Nya smith” Jay nodded, and opened his mouth to introduce himself properly. She put up a finger to stop him, “I know exactly who and what you are, Jay Walker.”
Jay was left surprised, where the hell did she get that information. “How do you know that?” He asked angrily, head she gone and dug into his personal files at the administration???
“I’ll leave that question up to you to find out. Now for the real question, why am I alive?” She exclaimed, finally looking up at Jay. First master she looked tired. Real tired.
Jay stayed silent for a minute. He knew the real reason, the real reason was because he was upset at himself for jumping into such an impulsive decision and almost getting both of them killed, and for letting his anger persuade his judgment. But instead he exclaimed, “A life for a life, you saved mine so I saved yours”
Nya looked back into the fire, her ocean blue eye reflecting the red glow of the flames. She sighed, “Fair enough”. Jay knew she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t continue to pry. Nya lifted her hand, and patted the spot next to her, gesturing for Jay to sit down. Jay followed suit, and sat as close to her as he deemed necessary. Three feet away should work just fine.
Nya closed her eyes and sucked in a breath harshly, Jay knew it was probably the pain. After a moment Nya turned her head toward Jay, “Thank you” she exclaimed almost at a whisper. Jay just nodded, and admired the gorgeous woman in front of her.
Jay knew he had always sworn to hate her. But looking at her now, it felt like he had met her before, and that they were meant to be together in the end.
That’s when jay remembered Nyas comment about his name from earlier, and connected the dots to when she claimed to have known him in the past at the tournament. Had they actually known each other before the merge? Was she the first person in his life to be telling the truth?
Then he remembered Raz. And the administration. They had claimed to know his name. And everything about him. Jay felt a wave of nausea crawl across him. How had he let his selfishness consume him and allow him to fall for this no-good lying woman. What the hell was wrong with him. Jay stood up quickly, and returned to the forest without a second though.
‘(*———————-*)’
Nya sat in silence, the only sounds surround her the birds and her own ragged breathing. First master, she was in so much pain. And being around Jay was making it so much worse. She noticed when he remembered who she truly was, and what his ideas were about her. That immediate shift in mood and how quickly he walked away told the entire story in Nyas eyes. Of all the people she had to be stuck with in a life-or-death situation, it had to be her amnesiac ex boyfriend/Yang. She was already in so much physical pain, and he just added mental pain to top it off.
Nya sighed, and stood as slowly as her body would let her. Pain, Pain, and more Pain hammered into her every bone and muscle and nerve so cripplingly hard she lost sight for a good minute or two. Breathing intensely she walked a few steps over to the pile of gadgets sitting hear the edge of the cave. She had limited supply’s, but she was sure she could make some kind of communication with her broken comm. It had gotten fairly damaged during the fall, but with a few hours of work and lots of tinkering Nya could fix it.
If only she could get her hands to stop shaking and her mind to stop racing.
Before long a storm from the west rolled in, the rain started lightly, eventually growing into a downpour with time. Jay returned around this time, sopping wet with bloodily knuckles and red eyes. Nya simply sighed when he sat across from her, not even sparing her a glance. Since the fire had been outside the cave, their heat source for the night had been smothered into a pile of cold ashes.
Still, Nya worked on her device. She worked slow, her arms could barely move faster than a snails pace, so she worked at a snails pace. One tiny wire at a time, she got closer and closer to fixing her device.
When Nyas arms finally gave out from the strain, she layed her head back and stared up at the stone roof. This was when Jay finally decided to speak,
“You doing any better?”
“As if you care”
“Your right, I don’t”
“Than don’t ask”
“What’s your problem lady? Why are you being such a dick all of the sudden?!?”
“Because it’s hard, Jay! I’m in excruciating pain with every breath I take and every move I make, and to make it even worse my ex-Yang who also happens to be an amnesiac is sitting directly in front of me. It’s just…hard.” Nya let out a long sigh.
“I can’t take being reduced to… this any longer.” She gestured to her aching body, once a finely-toned muscular body now a raw and sickly woman.
Jay sighed. “Don’t even pretend you know me. Because you don’t. I’ve been lied to before and I won’t be lied to again. I fell for your tricks, then you reminded me exactly who you are. And this…” Jay looked Nya up and down “…isn’t MY fault. It’s yours. You could have let me take the fall, you know”
Nya looked deep, deep into Jays eyes. He was unreadable now. He had built his walls so high up while he was gone not even he can see over them. Jay didn’t look away.
Nya sighed once more, changing the subject she exclaimed, “can I bandage your hands? They look awful”
Jay looked down at his knuckles, they had grown bruised and bloodied after his fit in the woods. He never knew himself to be a violent man, but today was different. Today he wanted to punch something. So he did.
“I’ll do it myself”
“Okay…”
‘(*———————-*)’
“-“ Yet another month goes by, filled with nothing but arguments and hunting. Nya tries to focus on her recovery, and they both try to ignore the other ‘=‘
Nya stands, walking out of the cave and out toward the fire. Dropping a few logs in, the continues on the mission. Propping up two sticks she balances a skewered rabbit on the notches previously cut into the wood. She rotated the meat every so often until it is ready to be eaten. Nya sits on the edge of the cave, admiring the sunset and awaiting Jay’s return.
Jays return comes shortly after, he brings two buckets of water from the river not far from camp. Sitting next to Nya, he takes the chunk of meat nya hands him and begins to scarf it down. Nya rolls her eyes, and continues eating her own. A bandanna is secured in place of her gauze bandaging, keeping her healed injury out of view. Her white tank top covers her healed wounds on her back well. Her leg is perfectly back in health.
“Still can’t get the transmission to go through, I have no idea why” Nya exclaims, looking over at her flank towards Jay. He simply nods, and reaches back behind him to grab the small device. Turning it over In his hands, he sighs, “this probably would only work from a higher altitude due to the cable it has. We could move it easily, but… would you be willing to make the hike?” Nya nodded immediately. “I’ll do almost anything to get us home” she exclaimed. Jay nodded, and begun to pack up their small amount of belongings.
Luckily for Nya, she had been training whenever she could to get back in action, so her body was well ready for the journey ahead. But that didn’t make it any easier on her mind. Eight weeks with Jay and all she had done with him was argue and agree to disagree. What the hell? This was her Yang, the one she swore to protect and bring back whenever he had left!
Nya stepped in like with Jay, walking along side him.
“So, why do you really hate me” Nya exclaimed bluntly. Jay looked amused with the question, but answered honestly,
“because your lying to me about my past”
“But I’m not lying, Jay. You were a ninja, and an awesome one at that!”
“No I wasn’t! Raz and the administration tried to tell me who I was and I won’t let another person do that to me again”
“Do you really think someone lying to you would risk their life, be on deaths doorstep, just to prove their point?”
Jay paused. He had never thought about that before.
“In your case, maybe…?”
Nya sighed and looked away from him. Tears welled in her eyes. This really was the end of their journey together. He no longer cared about her at all. To him, she was some one of con-show. Nya had always thought about the end of their life together. But never imagined it would end like this.
“If that’s what you believe, I cannot change your mind”
‘(*———————-*)’
Ding
The sound of the transition going through to the bounty. An emergency distress call. S.O.S.
The ninja would be here in less than an hour.
“Nya…” Nya turned to face jay as he said her name, “…I’m sorry”
“Sorry for what”
“Not believing you”
“Jay… it’s not your fault. You’ve been manipulated and lied to for five years.”
“So your not angry?”
“Of course not. I said it once and I meant it. I will love you forever”
Jay smiled. A real smile, for the first time what seamed like an eternity.
“Thank you, Nya.”
Nya smiled, “Your welcome, Sparky.”
Jay nodded, “I take it back, I won’t always hate you.”
A tear slide down Nyas cheek as Jay turned away from her, and vanished into the darkness of the night.
After he was gone, she whispered “I love you” into the void.
‘(*———————-*)’
Nya knew she’d never see Jay again. Not really. But she saw him everywhere. Especially the moon. It controls the tides, you know. They will never meet, but they have an effect on each other that lasts forever.
Nya knew her mother was right, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.