Wisps: Recollection (Ninjago X Reader)

23. Someone Misses You

'Someone out there must miss you.'

You so hopelessly clunge to that fantasy.

The lie Pixal told you oh so long ago.

Just witness the mess you're in now.

Sweeping winds – something that shouldn't be here – bellowed in your cell, raking your shivering skin. Curled up on your side, the little heat from your body is siphoned off by the icy stone, cold seeping into bones. The pungent smell of ammonia sat in a corner of the cell. A faint taste of iron encrusted your tongue, worsened by your coarse, parched mouth. Your throat was stripped and worn out, rasping breaths rattled out of it.

You're dying alone, and there's no one to blame but you. Dry eyes won't let you cry. Bars swayed, never opening again. Black dots sunk into your vision and flapped like flies. Maybe this will be the last time you close your tired eyes.

You can only hope.

Dehydration is a cruel death.

You're humming to yourself the same piece.

It's fractured and jagged.

'Pathetic and sad.'

"Glad to see you still remember something." You weakly searched for the voice.

"What?" A green glow traveled the tunnel, the winds dying down.

"I guess I should have expected that..." He peered at you through the bars. The ghost wasn't as translucent as others, its grudge raw and churning inside him. You squished yourself further into the far corner of the cell when he unlocked the cage.

"Get the fuck away from me." Steam drifted from his eyes full of some sorrow you couldn't put a finger on.

Your name is whispered soothingly, softly, "I'm not going to hurt you." He dangled the keys, and you don't lower your guard. His frown deepened. "Take them." You kept your hand clenched and stilled when he dropped them in your lap. You snatched them, shoving the keys into the shackles and twisting them off. His fingers reached out for you. It stopped right in front of your trembling hand. "Come on." He coaxed you like a scared animal. Scared of what he had planned for you. Scared of whether or not you can trust him. Scared that it was all a lie.

You slapped his hand away and asked him, "Who are you?"

"Morro-"

"Morro..." The name seemed familiar. Or were you wishing it was? You can't remember who that name linked to. Perhaps it's best not to. "Where are you taking me?"

"Out of this hellhole, where else?" Morro scoffed. "What did they do to you?" You laughed at that and crumpled to the dirt in exhaustion. You didn't even get out of your prison. "Are you hurt?!" He floated next to you, face pulled into a worried gaze.

"Why are you so worried?" Trying to find some hidden motive in him leads to more doubt.

"You don't remember–"

"I don't want to remember." You spat. "I'm in this shit because of it."

"What happened to you?" Morro muttered, taking your face in his hand. His thumb brushed the scar on your cheek, lightly outlining it. You tilted away from his caring touch. It's too good to be true.

"Don't touch me." His hand drifted in the harsh air.

"I'll get you water." A gale picked up and he darted through the ceiling. He hasn't returned for a while. You wouldn't be surprised if he left... Air stirred around you. "Drink up." A water bottle is propped on your leg– instantly you're guzzling water; the desert that was your throat drowned in it. You choked on the water, and Morro patted your back. You smacked his hand off.

"I said don't fucking touch me."

"...Sure, then have fun walking the way out. It's a long one. Especially in your condition."

"I can get there on my..." Exhaustion rushed to your head when you stood up. You end up falling, letting him catch you. He snorted and eased you up... helped you up. That's the last thing anyone would want to do. Yet, Morro did, gingerly grasping your side. "Why are you helping me? I don't even know you..."

"I know you don't." Upset features sunk into sadder ones at your glare... For some reason. Some inexplicable reason... you didn't like seeing it. He eased you to your wobbly legs and acted as your crutch, leading you out of the cell. "I wish I could have come sooner–"

But why didn't he? Two years lost in this hellhole of a world. Two years of wondering why.

"Then why didn't you–!?" Frigid arms wrapped around you with a warmth you had forgotten.

"I missed you."

He knew what to say, what to do.

"You're lying." Your voice cracked. "No one does. No one did." Your sight blurred, and his hold turned softer. Like he was holding breaking glass. Dry eyes stung, wanting to cry. "No one."

Morro drew you closer.

"I do." A tear flowed to the corner of your mouth. "Shh, I got you," Morro whispered into your ear, brushing his fingers through your hair with the tenderness of a breeze. "I got you."

The dam broke and you're sobbing on him. Smoke rose on his chest, your tears causing him to recoil. He didn't care. Morro embraced you harder like you would disappear if he let go. That tightness in your chest loosened. He lets you break, enveloping you in what you can only describe as idyllic. He's so cold, clashing with the gentleness he gives. Breaths come out in frail gasps and he rubbed soothing circles on your back, lulling your eyes closed. He rocked you back and forth, your nose burrowed into the air that's the crook of his neck, listening to his lingering voice...

"I missed you... so much..."