Ivory's Homecoming ► Ninjago

04 ≛ Water's Debut

When the sky darkened, Wu and Misako closed up shop—with Ronin's help, so he didn't look suspicious—for the night. Until then, Natasha made the necessary preparations in the airship.

Nya, now in her Samurai X suit, impatiently waited. She was finally getting out of here.

Natasha strapped a blade to her thigh. It was small, so when she patted down her skirt it was hidden. She also placed a long, thin sword inside a big locker; the red and gray sheath appeared a bit scratched up.

In truth, the former was impressed. "You like carrying around weapons?"

"Siempre," was her response, without so much as a glance. Though forgetting that this girl wasn't Ronin or even the nindroid, she refrained from saying anything else; how could they even communicate?

Nya felt a little awkward again. At least the ship's interior was nice.

Thankfully, Ronin headed over not too long after. "We ready to go?"

"Entren," Natasha called to the two of them.

Before they did, the thief held his hand out to the girl in front of him. Knowing what he wanted—and always being a woman of her word—the bag of coin was given to him in seconds.

He grinned, now moving his arm as if he was leading her in. "Welcome aboard."

Nya walked in, finding only two seats. The blonde was sitting on her knees next to the locker.

She cocked her head a little. "You don't wanna sit here?" To make sure her point got across, she pat the chair as Ronin passed by. He pressed a button, the ship rising in the air.

Natasha shook her head at her. If he had somebody else on board, she normally let them sit.

The thief opened the locker, stuffing the money bag inside. "Pretend you didn't see that," he said to Nya, referring to the copious amount of bank inside.

Ronin sat himself in the driver's seat. "Should be at the Samurai X cave shortly." He made sure his cousin had entered everything correctly—she had—and leaned back, as he had turned on autopilot. "Make yourself comfortable."

Nya looked back, finding the blonde staring down at her fingers while fiddling. "Tell me something about her. You don't make her do all your lousy work, do you?"

"What? Nah, 'course not." Ronin put his hands behind his head. "It's just what she prefers. You know, I dunno why she was so insistent on helping your friends the other day. Could've just given it to Morro and gotten rid of him for good. Maybe."

"Maybe because she's not an ass."

"Yeah, but she doesn't like you guys very much." He lazily pointed a finger at her. "A personal issue from when she was like, twelve."

She pressed her lips together. "I wonder what we could've done... that long ago." For now, she didn't question it any further; he didn't seem like he would say anything else about it, anyway. "What about you? For someone so desperate for money, you sure have a lot of it."

Now he looked at her with slightly squinted eyes; she was getting into his business. "Let's just say I owe someone a large debt."

It was silent for a bit. She couldn't help but wonder why the two were so secretive.

"I know she does... but unless you like awkward pauses, do tell."

Ronin sighed, sitting up straight. "I made a few bets in my life, and if I don't pay off the Soul Archer, my soul's going to the Cursed Realm. I hate bringing this up, she always scolds me for it."