It took me a long time to fall asleep that night. The conversation with my father kept replaying over and over again, and the Demons didn't help at all. When I woke up the next morning, something was different, but at the same time, it was familiar. It didn't take me long to realize we were airborne.
"I see you've been hard at work," I say after I finally roll out of bed and get dressed.
Nadakhan turns around and smiles. "Ah, yes. Well, we figured we should, as your folk would put it, 'get with the times.'"
I just smile and nod, glancing around deck. Flintlocke is steering the ship, Clancee is mopping the floor whilst trying not to vomit, and Doubloon is up in the crows nest, keeping watch for who knows what. Monkey Wrench is probably somewhere making sure the ship keeps flying, and I have no idea where Dogshank might be.
"As for you," Nadakhan says, regaining my attention. "If you are gonna be a pirate, you must look the part."
"What? Are my white robes to bright for you?"
"While I much preferred the black and purple suit you were wearing yesterday, no, that is not the problem," he replies with a wistful smile. "If you really want a white outfit, I'll give you a white outfit. I'd just rather you dress similar to my crew as proof of your true allegiance."
I tilt my head to the side, cracking my neck. "Sounds fair. But I'm not about to go to the store and buy a pirate costume."
Nadakhan rolls his eyes. "I'm sure Dogshank will have something you can borrow."
As if on cue, the beast of a woman appears behind me. "C'mon. I'll get ya somethin' you can wear," she says, grabbing my shoulder harshly and pulling me below deck.
"I don't know why cap'n let yeh join the crew, seeing as yer a Ninja," she continues once we're out of earshot. "Whatever ya did to impress him, yeh haven't done it to impress me, so don't expect special treatment from us unless it's under cap'n's orders."
"I never expected special treatment. I hope to rise up the ranks fair and square," I reply, smirking to myself. If I really wanted to, I could become captain of this ship and no-one could do anything about it.
"Good," Dogshank says with a sniff. We stop infront of a door that has the word "Dilara" printed on the front, and she opens it. "There should be somethin' in here that'll fit you."
She crosses the room and opens the wardrobe that's next to the bed. She shuffles through a few items before pulling out a white dress that looks like it was made in the 1800's, and throws it on the bed. A red corset quickly follows, as well as a pair of black boots.
"Cap'n shouldn't be too mad about you wearing these, seeing as they were mine before hers."
I pick up the white dress and hold it out in front of me. "Thanks, Dogshank."
She just snorts and leaves me alone to get changed.
The dress is loose fitting and hangs off my shoulders, going all the way down to my knees. When I put on the corset, it pushes up my boobs so that they actually look existent. Kai would probably love it. The shoes were a little too small, so I left them behind and put my own combat boots back on. After I was dressed, I looked in the mirror. I actually kind of look like a pirate. All that's missing is some excessive jewelry. Too bad the only jewelry I own is that necklace Kai gave me for my birthday a year ago, and those earrings I can't even put into my ears.
"You look lovely," says Dogshank, startling me. I didn't know she'd come back into the room.
"I can't tell if that was sarcasm or not," I say, turning around and crossing my arms.
"It was not."
"Well, then, thank you."
"A real woman can appreciate another woman's beauty."
I furrow my eyebrows. "I, uh, yeah, sure."
"Are you not gonna compliment me back?"
"Oh. I didn't realize--um. You look pretty tough."
I think she smiled beneath her mask? "I am pretty tough."
I just give her a close-lipped smile.
"C'mon. The captain should be back soon." She turns and leaves. My smile drops.
Nadakhan left?
~
"Get this ship moving," Nadakhan is shouting when Dogshank and I step out onto the poop deck.
"I take it you didn't catch any then?" she asks.
"No, I did not," Nadakhan replies, turning around to look at us. When his eyes fall on me, his frown changes to a smile. "Now you look like a pirate."
I cross my arms to hide my chest. "Where are we going?"
A conniving chuckle leaves the Jinn's mouth. "I think we're gonna go visit some friends of yours."
"In the prison?"
"The ninja escaped the prison a few days ago," Flintlocke interrupts.
"What? How?"
"W-w-who knows h-h-h-how. They're n-ninja, f-fo-for pete's sake!" Clancee exclaims.
The ship gives a sudden jolt and we're moving again. I barely noticed that it had stopped.
"Set sail for Ninjago city," Nadakhan commands, and Flintlocke hurries to take the wheel. "It's time we do what pirates do."
~
I never thought I'd ever be intentionally causing destruction in Ninjago ever again, but here I am, tossing explosive barrels into buildings with the rest of Nadakhan's followers. Let me just say, the Demons are extremely pleased with me right now, whispering motivations in my ear.
Keep going, Princess.
Doesn't it feel good to be bad?
Destruction is who you are.
Join us.
God, shut up already. I'm not doing this for you.
Nadakhan's top five dive off the edge to go cause a ruckus amongst the public. I volunteered to go with them, but apparently I'm not trustworthy enough yet. Smart decision on their part, but still kinda annoying. I was hoping to make contact with Lloyd.
"No! Kai!"
Jay's mournful wail catches me by surprise, and I almost forget to throw the barrel I'm holding. A sharp scolding from one of the pirates brings me to my senses and I throw it into one of our wanted billboards.
Why would Jay be screaming Kai's name? Is Kai in trouble? No, he can't be in trouble. Nadakhan wouldn't hurt him. He wouldn't dare. I hold too much power over him. Maybe a stray bomb almost hit him. Yeah. That has to be why Jay screamed.
"Bad monkey." Cole? "Now. Where's the lantern?"
I have to sneak away. I need to speak to him.
"It's gotta be here somewhere," says a girl. But it's not Nya. Who's voice could that be?
"Tasha?"
Jay again.
The two pirates flanking me look at me expectantly. They're mistake. Jay takes that opportunity to knock both of them out.
"What're you doing here? And why are you wearing a pirate's outfit?"
I grab Jay by the shoulder and pull him under the cover of some non-explosive barrels.
"I've infiltrated Nadakhan's crew. That's all you need to know for now. Tell Lloyd and Kai I'm safe and that I'm sorry for what I did."
"B-but how--"
There's a gunshot, followed by a girl's scream and the repeated tapping sound of a bullet bouncing off of metal. Then glass shatters.
"You broke the Realm crystal!" Cole yells.
"You made me miss!" Flintlocke shouts back.
"You need to get out of here, Jay." I shove his shoulder, pushing him towards the edge of the ship. At the same time, Cole and this mysterious girl, who I now realize is my evil twin dressed in a pink ninja suit, come into view.
"Tasha?"
I grab Cole and Evil Me's arms, yanking them to the edge by Jay. "I promise this'll all make sense later." Then I shove the three of them overboard.
~
Shortly after the ninja leave, the rest of the crew returns, and we sail away from the city, taking shelter behind a large rock in the desert. Not long after that, Nadakhan finally returns, and he looks extremely pleased with himself.
"Did you--"
Nadakhan cuts Flintlocke off by holding up his sword. "Yes. We got what we came for. Lets go."
When I take a closer look at the hilt of the blade, I see what he was talking about. Trapped inside of the little white crystal is my beloved Kai.
How dare he?!
"Nadakhan!"
The Jinn turns my way, a smirk resting upon his face. "Yes?"
"I thought I told you not to hurt him!?"
"Ah, yes, you did. And I didn't. This isn't a particularly painful process, you see."
"Let him out now. Or else."
A few of the onlooking pirates gasp. Nadakhan's mustache twitches. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Why not?" The words are punchy and kinda sound childish. I'm almost embarrassed to have said them.
"You see, he wished himself in there, so I have no ability to take him out."
I shift my weight from one foot to the other and tilt my chin up. "I guess you leave me no choice then--"
"That won't work this time. This sword did not originally belong to me, so my disappearance wont change anything that I've done with it."
"But they wished--"
"They wished it all away. I granted it. The sword just happened to take their souls when that happened. Nothing can change that."
My breath escapes through my nose. I turn on my heel and stomp away to my room. Once my head hits my pillow, the tears start to flow.
~
I reemerge a few hours later. I was hungry. That's the only reason. I was drawn to the deck by the boisterous sounds of a party, and when I arrived, the crew was gathered in a circle, cheering for whomever was fighting. Nadakhan appears out of nowhere as I approach.
"Finally, our guest of honor has arrived," he says, tossing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me towards the crowd.
"I was hungry," I reply. At the same time, the fight ends, and Doubloon is crowned champion.
Nadakhan ignores me. "Ah, just in time. Who would like to challenge the famous Sensei Tasha Garmadon?"
Tons of hands shoot up and some start shouting "me."
"I said I only came up for food," I snap, slithering out of Nadakhan's grasp. "I'm not fighting anybody."
"Oh, c'mon!" Nadakhan groans in that conniving voice of his. "It'd be a great way for you to blow off some steam."
He's right about that. And Lord knows I need it. Desperately.
The Demons hum they're approval.
I'm not doing it for them.
"Fine. One fight."
"That's the spirit. Hmm. Doubloon. Seeing as you were the winner of the last round, you will receive the honor of fighting our Sensei."
Doubloon's face switches from angry to happy. My eyes narrow. I enter the circle.
"You all know the rules," says Flintlocke, stepping into the center to referee the battle. "There are none. Loser has to stay and fight more."
I press my fist to my palm and crack my knuckles. Doubloon's face switches back to angry.
"May the best pirate win. Ready? Fight!"
Doubloon charges towards me, throwing punch after punch. I counter them effortlessly. When he does a sweeping kick, I jump and kick him in the face. He stumbles backward, holding his nose. He may have been a former ninja, but after years of being the only skilled martial artist on this ship, he hasn't had to exorcise his defensive skills often, so he's rusty.
I summon a ball of energy to my hands and throw it at him. He reacts quickly, forgetting about his nose and leaping out of the way. I continue to pummel him with energy blasts, and after a while, he grows annoyed and charges again. Perfect.
I let the energy fade from my hands before summoning an energy barrier around me. Doubloon crashes into it and gets knocked backwards. He lays on the floor for a few seconds, stunned. Then he stands back up. I drop the energy barrier and wave him forward.
Doubloon charges again. I do a spin and kick, but he was expecting it and ducks out of the way before throwing an uppercut that hits me in the jaw. I stumble back, holding the place he hit me.
I chuckle. "I'm impressed. But playtime's over."
A murmur of confusion runs through the crowd. Doubloon charges forward. I lift up my hand, palm splayed outward. Doubloon stops, frozen in place, a swirling mass of his energy floating above him.
"Oh, would you look at that. All your energy has disappeared," I say with a small cackle. Terror sparkles in everybody's eyes. "I think I'll win now."
I walk over to the statue Doubloon. It's so silent you could hear a pin drop. I draw my fist back and punch him just hard enough to knock him out. I let go of his energy, returning it to him, and he crumples to the ground.
"I-I guess Tasha wins?" Flintlocke stammers, unsure.
Nadakhan floats up beside him, smirking, despite my horrific display of power. "Yes, indeed. Our Pirate Princess has won."
~
Gooooood morning everyone! It is currently 7:20 where I am, and it's probably the only free time I'm gonna have all day. Twelve hour shift (six at each place of work) is really no joke, so here's the update I promised a little earlier in the day than usual. I hope you enjoyed, and until next time, Wacky AWAY!
Word Count: 2292