Chapter Text
Two weeks had officially passed when he was sure he was reaching his final days. Holding out for so long was becoming more difficult when he’d heard nothing from anybody. There wasn’t a sign of anyone coming to save him, or coming to stop Nadakhan, at all. Giving up was the last thing Jay wanted to do at all, but what choice did he have?
There was nothing he could do now. He couldn’t hold on anymore. One more game of Scrap ‘n’ Tap and it was bound to be over.
By now, however, Nadakhan became more focused on creating his land, pulling his time and effort from hurting the blue ninja into making sure his crew knew what they were doing. Jay took the opportunity to rest, not that he could really rest at all, and spent a lot of his time hiding in places Nadakhan wasn’t likely to find him. One of his favourite spots was in the corner of the captain’s cabin.
He led in the corner, his head throbbing, his arms heavy and weak, unable to push himself up. His whole body was in complete agony, his hands in a constant state of shaking, unable to even think properly. His heart rate was slow, he could feel the lack of blood pumping around his body. How was he still alive?
He didn’t even want to think about how much of a mess he looked right now.
All he could do was sit in his little safe space, hoping and praying desperately that the world would send something to save him. Anything. Please .
Just as he felt his eyes growing heavy, his body aiming for a no less than stressful nap, he heard the faint sound of footsteps enter the room. For a moment, Jay didn’t think anything of it, not just because he was so exhausted, but also because he hadn’t even heard the door open. He wasn’t paying that much attention though. Maybe he was just imagining all of this?
It wasn’t until he lifted his head that he saw a girl, dressed head to toe in pirate attire, standing across the room at the table, with a flask of what looked like venom. Tiger Widow Venom.
For a moment, Jay considered not saying anything, for if he weren’t to make himself known then the girl would just walk right out. She’d leave and never find him. That’s what he wanted, right? But the pure surprise of someone he cared about actually being in the room with him was enough for him to at least say something.
“Nya?”
His voice was quiet and shaky, he could barely recognise it himself, but it was loud enough to catch the girl’s attention.
Nya, also in a state of shock, looked to her right, her eyes landing on the confused and in pain blue ninja.
Jay managed to push himself forward, struggling to lift himself up. The chain around his ankle clattered, his vision becoming blurry for a moment as he realised it could easily be a trick - Nadakhan can shapeshift after all.
Why would Nya actually be here? Not to rescue him, surely.
“Is that you?”
“Jay?!” Nya exclaimed, trying to keep quiet so as to not draw attention. She placed the venom down on the table and rushed over to where the blue ninja was laying.
As she drew closer to him, everything became even more of a blur, but for a second Jay thought he could see concern on Nya’s face. Actual concern.
“You’re okay! You’re alive!” she sounded just as relieved as Jay felt.
Once the water ninja knelt down in front of him, Jay gathered every last festering bit of energy he had to push himself up onto his hands in an attempt to get a proper look at her. Except, he still couldn’t quite focus.
Is Nya really concerned?
And in an instant, her soft warm hands were cupping his cheeks, her thumb gently brushing his bruised skin. It hurt briefly but the more he focused on her and her sparkling eyes, that actually held care, the more her touch felt soothing. It was like he was in a dream.
Their eyes met, Jay’s mind racing at a million miles a minute, his head spinning as if he were in a tornado. He took a moment to look over all Nya’s features - her neat eyebrows, her flawless skin that was thankfully unharmed, her pale green eyes… She was really there.
She’s only going to rescue me because she saw me. She wouldn’t have looked for me. Maybe I should’ve just stayed quiet.
“Why…” his voice was croaky, “why are you dressed like a pirate?”
Nya’s warm smile was something he never knew he needed until it appeared. There was just something so comforting about Nya in general, even when he was sure she hated him, something so inviting..
“To rescue you,” she told him softly, “did you really think we were just here with the venom?”
In his defence, he didn’t know they still had the venom. Also in his defence, he was sure they all hated him and it’s not like he’d heard anything from them in weeks - even Nadakhan hadn’t. Was it wrong for his hope to dissipate?
All that mattered now was that she was here in front of him, smiling wide and so happy to see him. Even if it made no sense to him, he was grateful. So , so grateful.
Maybe back on that island he’d hoped his life would be taken but after all these weeks under Nadakhan’s capture, after all this torture and all these games, all he wanted to do was make it out alive so he could see his friends again. So he could protect them. So he could apologise.. Apologise properly . He’d had plenty of time to think about his behaviour and actions over the last few weeks.
And most of his time he’d spent worrying about them and their safety.
But Nya… she was okay. She seemed unharmed.. She seemed in good spirits.. That’s all he ever asked for.
Though, her happy expression faded to one of worry, of fear, as she glanced over Jay entirely, her gaze lingering on each and every cut and bruise.
“What did he do to you?” her voice was quiet and soft, but clearly held fright.
The silence that followed was nervous, tense, but Nya shrugged it off. Instead, she chose to reach into her pocket and bring out a key. Jay never felt so relieved in his life. The chain around his ankle was tight and only seemed to get tighter by the day. His ankle was sore and swollen.. It’d be so freeing to have it finally off..
Nya reached towards Jay’s legs, unlocking the chain. Gosh, Jay had never felt so much freedom until that awful thing was pried from his leg. He almost felt light. Too light. It was like all of his hopes were slowly coming back.
I have to apologise. I have to. I can’t leave this ship without telling her the truth. I can’t let her save me when I’ve hurt her.
The water ninja pushed the ball and chain away, struggling as she did so, before grabbing Jay’s arm gently and pulling him up onto his feet. Jay’s head swirled, his eyesight slowly coming back, as he felt his feet almost crumble under his weight. He felt so light and achy. I deserve this pain.
Nya kept an arm around him, letting Jay put all his weight into her.
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” he let out a sharp breath, though it seemed relieved.
Nya glanced at him with a comforting smile, something Jay definitely didn’t expect to see.
“I’m sorry for everything,” his expression dropped, guilt laced in his expression, “I really, truly, am. I was an ignorant asshole, who should’ve respected you. I never should’ve made the wishes, I should’ve been honest with the team and-”
“Jay, it’s-”
“No, let me finish,” he said through shallow breaths, causing them both to stop in the middle of the room, “I promise I’ll be honest from now on. I promise I’ll respect you and your boundaries and… literally everything. I
promise
. I’m so sorry.”
She turned to look at him, a soft smile upon her lips which he didn’t fail to stare at. And then she gave him a small nod before gently stroking his back, which he winced at.
“We’ve all made some pretty stupid mistakes recently,” Nya told him, “I think the best thing we can do is move on. I appreciate the apology, and I trust that things will be better from now on. From everyone. You have no idea how much I regret what I said to you on the island.”
“It was deser-”
“Don’t you dare,” she cut him off, “Look, let’s just focus on getting out of here and
then
we can argue about who’s at fault, okay?”
The heartfelt smile upon the water ninja’s lips and the sincere look of forgiveness in her eyes really gave him all the reassurance he needed.
She was saving him because she genuinely cared. She was genuinely happy to see him.
Knowing he at least still had his friend was enough for him to keep going, to not give up, no matter what was ahead. Whether that meant complete freedom or even more Scrap ‘n’ Tap games.
From now on, Jay was going to be honest. It didn’t matter what it was, he’d never hurt anyone with his lies ever again. He wasn’t going to disregard anyone’s feelings ever again. It wasn’t worth all the pain and suffering. It wasn’t worth destroying friendships and trust.
As nice as this moment was though, the two had no idea what torture was left to come.