A/N
Congrats to chocoqueen29 for guessing what kind of monster Jay is right (and right before the chapter that I reveal it, too)!
I recommend you keep reading instead of finding her comment, I think it'll come as a real surprise! ;)
Only one chapter left (along with an epilogue I've already written)!
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
He could neither see nor speak when he regained his senses at last.
He could tell he was sitting down, probably on wood considering how much his butt was hurting.
He couldn't move around, and the ropes tied around his limbs really didn't help his bloodstream.
Unfortunately, he had completely lost track of time, but just by hearing sounds of seagulls echo in the background, he could tell the sun had risen.
But, then again, he wasn't outside...
Then where the heck was he?
He heard a door slam open.
"Take out the blindfold," a raspy voice with a thick accent commanded.
In an instant, his vision cleared, only for his gaze to be met with a metallic monkey holding onto his face.
He yelped and fell back, much to the creature's amusement.
"Usually our visitors are braver than that." He looked to his right, seeing a burly monster dragging him back up. Her voice was deep, but it was nothing compared to the menacing tone of the previous one.
"We'll see how long he lasts," another voice said, that time belonging to a pirate with a large moustache and an even larger gun.
Jay gulped.
The menacing voice spoke again, that time appearing behind his ear.
"Haven't they taught you humans not to wander in Stiix?"
He gasped, looking up to see an old, evil face of a man staring down at him.
All four of his arms came to cup his face, his hook cutting off the cloth around his mouth.
He wandered back around to face him, and it was only then he realised that the man had no legs, an orange smoke covering the bottom part of his floating body.
He was surprisingly delighted. "You're a genie?" he exclaimed, but the man wasn't as amused.
"Djinn," he corrected him. "However, I can still grant wishes for you if you'd like."
He somehow managed to keep a cool head. "Do I get infinite wishes?"
"Just three," he said, side-eyeing his smirking crew. "I may be a pirate, but a Djinn always keeps true to his word."
He looked out the window, realising he was by a dock, inside a torn building, one which reached the skies with its height.
Unfortunately, that also caused him to realise the time of day.
It wasn't the morning; it was the afternoon.
No, no, no!
"Look, I'm sorry for coming here, but you've got to let me go!"
"I could do that... with a wish."
His eyes widened.
As the Djinn leaned down to face him, the golden necklace around his neck dangled over Jay's freckled nose.
And as the locket inside it opened on its own, the picture inside left him shocked.
"Nya?" he said to himself.
The Djinn moved back, holding the locket close to his chest. "If only that were Nya," he told him, growling. "How do you know her?"
"I... we're..." He paused. "It doesn't matter now, just let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone about this!"
He brought his hook to lift his chin, smiling wickedly. "Would you say you wish to be let go?"
He grinned as if he had found his saviour. "Yes! Yes, of course I do! I wish—"
However, his saviour arrived in another form.
"Nadakhan," a familiar voice hissed.
The Djinn, Nadakhan, turned around, his arms wrapped around his back as he faced the girl.
"Nya, pleasure to see ye again," he said, his voice innocent and cunning. "Looking for something?"
Hadn't his vision been covered by the Djinn's figure, he was sure he would've seen Nya fuming on the other side.
"You know what I'm looking for."
"Nya!" he shouted, but the monkey responded by putting duct tape on his mouth.
"Really, Nya? Ye chose a human over me?" the Djinn said, his older age suddenly becoming more relevant to his words.
"And you chose me based on the fact I look like your dead wife?" she deadpanned, crossing her arms. "Let Jay go."
Just as the other pirates stepped forward, Nya pushed past them, taking Jay in her arms.
He was... surprised, to say the least.
She looked at the window and smiled sheepishly. "Promise not to be mad at me for this," she said.
He raised an eyebrow in confusion, however, it didn't take long for her words to take meaning as the window opened, sending him down along with it.
Between his screams and muffled yells, he had almost forgotten he was falling.
When suddenly, he stopped.
When he looked up, he was met with a young man's face.
Tilting his chin just a bit more, his wolf ears became all the more apparent.
Realising he was in his surprisingly muscular arms, he awkwardly hugged his neck, trying his best not to freak out.
"Thanks," he said awkwardly.
"So, you must be Jay, huh?" the man said. He raised his one arm to shake his, and it was only then when he realised he was holding him up with only one arm. "I'm Cole."
He shook his hand and smiled. "Jay."
"My name is Zane," he heard another voice behind him. "And you are?"
He turned, only for his face to collide with a tall, lanky man's; only part of his face was metallic, causing a thud to play out when they crushed.
He rubbed his forehead in pain. "Jay. Jay Walker."
"Did Nya throw you out a window?" Zane asked.
He nodded.
He sighed. "It's the third time she has done it to someone this month."
"Oh, chillax Zane," Cole said, swishing his tail. "It's a wrestling bar, of course she's gonna throw people around."
"I suppose that makes sense. She's a lot more gentle than Kai is."
"I've told him that using his fangs isn't fair game, but he keeps doing it over and over."
Jay coughed loudly.
"Excuse me, Nya is still up there!" he pointed up above to the second floor of the ruined building, but their only response was to smirk and smile respectively.
"I think you mean down here," Cole said, putting him down as he gestured behind him.
Sure enough, when he turned around, he was met with the beautiful girl walking towards him. Her gaze seemed to be occupied, though, as she chatted with another vampire that was walking along her path.
"Told you I had to give him the big-brother-talk," the male vampire said, making Nya roll her eyes.
"You know very well that I took care of him all by myself."
"Eh, I'm sure a bite to the neck was the final touch," he said, wiping his mouth, making Jay gulp.
When they spotted them, Nya was the first to run up to him and wrap him around her arms.
"Nice catch," she told the Cole, who only responded with a thumbs-up and a wag of his tail.
"So... who was that guy, anyway?" Jay asked, trying to play it cool.
"The scum of Ninjago," Kai quickly said, only for Zane to discipline his language.
"Nadakhan is a very bad man," the Nindroid went on to say. "He makes your life so miserable with his wishes, you'll want it to end before it even begins."
He blinked. "That's... comforting."
Nya put her hand on his shoulder, her smile sending shivers down his spine. Her scales could now be fully seen with her dress not covering both her arms and lower part of her dress, which only added to his surprise.
She gave him a small smile. "Let's get you somewhere safe."
He wanted to protest, he really did...
But he couldn't.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"So, Lloyd was kidnapped?" Misako gasped, her hand moving to cover her mouth in astonishment.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Wu asked, but so did Kai, almost simultaneously.
"There was no time!" Nya defended herself. "I followed the kidnappers to the city when I found Jay and Skylor, then Sky told me they'd be meeting outside of Stiix tonight so me and Jay had to come all the way back here but we also had this sort of fight and—wow, I'm talking like him."
"Well, we can handle it from there," Cole announced and Kai nodded along.
"Hello? They're on a boat! A water monster may come in handy, you know?" she said, but was completely ignored by the two.
"I think they are both right, Nya," said Pixal, Zane nodding behind her. "I recommend you check on your friend's well-being for now."
"You mean boyfriend's?" Cole joked, but Kai and Nya flashing him their fangs was enough to get their message across.
"I guess I'll take him back tomorrow morning... It's pretty late."
As much as Nya enjoyed the night, she couldn't help but fear it when it came to dealing with humans. Not that that one in particular was dangerous by any means, but she still had her worries.
When she opened her bedroom door, she gasped.
An empty, trashed room lied on the other side. To say she was shocked would've been an understatement.
The open window was all the evidence she needed as she followed the trails.
The footsteps came in pairs, when suddenly another pair of prints appeared on the ground, all leading to the forest.
She ran and ran until she eventually heard a sound in the bushes.
She turned around, immediately spotting his figure.
"Jay?" she called out.
"Don't come any closer!" he said, his body curling into a ball as he hid his face in his knees. His speech was slurred, almost... hissy?
She took a few steps closer.
When she reached him, he froze.
"What's gotten into you?"
She felt something brush against her leg.
Looking down, a long tail came to wrap around his body.
She gasped.
"Just... Go away... Please..."
"No, I'm not going away. Just stand up, please."
He shook his head, but she yanked his arms away, almost forcing him to show her himself.
Green scales covering his entire body, darker ones replacing his freckles; a long tail that swished around along with sharp claws that took away the softness of his hands; finally, a slit mouth, one revealing two fangs (still longer than hers, unsurprisingly) and a forked tongue.
She let go of his claws slowly, tilting her head to get a better look at him.
"I'm sssorry," he hissed, "I should go..."
The moment he tried to pull away, her grip on him tightened, looking at him intensely.
"So this is why you took days off?" she said, trying to break the ice. "Does your boss know about this?"
He shook his head. "I have this friend... Ssscott... he covers my shifts, no explanation given... But only because I agreed to do various tasksss for him outside of work."
She frowned, not knowing what to say.
"Gosssh, I'm sso sorry, Nya... I know I was a jerk but I couldn't let you find that I looked like... thisss five days a month."
"Five days a month?"
"Yeah... Two days before the full moon, the full moon itself, and the two days after that... I can't possssibly go anywhere looking like this..."
"Well, you do have Stiix..." she smiled, taking ahold of his claws and sitting on the ground beside him.
Unfortunately, he didn't seem as thrilled. "Are you kidding? Not even a town full of monsters would accept whatever the heck I am!" he said, sighing. "You're a beautiful mermaid... vampire... thing... with a hot vampire brother, a cool-looking Nindroid and a cuddly werewolf as your friends, and an enemy that can grant wishes. What do I have?"
She refused to blush at his probably unintentional remark towards her, instead focusing on his gaze, which was constantly kept on the ground.
"A big heart," she said, smiling. "Even if you can be irritating at times."
If it weren't for his green scales, his face would have definitely turned all shades of red.
"Look, if I don't do something right now, Lloyd will be sold off to whatever these guys are doing and Kai will most likely never let me out of the house again. You're my last hope, in a way."
"You know I can't do thisss, Nya," he sighed. "What if they figure out it's me? I'm literally Sssaunder's neighbor, you know what they can do to me!"
"They won't, I promise," she said, her hand resting on his shoulder. "And hey, I'd say you look pretty different. In a good way, that is."
"There's no good way about this," he gestured at himself with his palm.
"Each to their own," she shrugged. "I think your tail's pretty cute though."
He only cleared his throat, a bit too stunned to say a word.
She held out her pinky, grinning. "So, what do ya say?"
As much as he tried to resist it... He knew he couldn't tell her no.
So, he held out his pinky and intertwined it with hers.
There was no going back now, but for once, he felt hopeful.