Darkness from Within #7: A Promise Broken (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 24

The air was cold and stale. The sky was dark and cloudy. The wind was low and gentle. Everything seemed quiet, everything seemed empty. Like it no longer mattered. What did matter, after what had happened the night before?

Ariana stood with folded arms outside the Bend, staring ahead as Hugh packed up his horse. Barely anything had been spoken between the two of them after she found him trying to kill Lloyd, but she had made one thing clear.

It was time for Hugh to leave.

Drawing away from Winston, the traveler turned and stopped in front of Ariana. "Are you sure you want this, Dustbunny?" he breathed. "You can come with us, you know. Like old times."

Ariana shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. "I can't, Hugh," she stated, voice shaking.

Hugh's eyes rounded. "What's the big deal?" he questioned. "You know how it is. I did what I had to do. You used to agree with that."

"I didn't understand what it meant," Ariana shot back, finally forcing herself to glare at him. "I can't do it, Hugh. The things you care about—money, power—they're not important to me. I have people I love, people that I can't betray just for a few useless pieces of gold." She scoffed softly. "Hugh, you're going down a path that I can't follow."

"I'll make it up to you," Hugh urged. "We'll start again."

Ariana stared deeply into his eyes. "No," she said. "We're done, Hugh. It's time for you to go."

Hugh's eyes rounded. "Dustbunny, please..."

"Don't call me that," Ariana interrupted firmly.

Hugh took a deep breath. "Ariana," he corrected himself. "You're really gonna leave me? After all I've done for you? I did it all because I cared, you know. And this is how you thank me? Kicking me out?"

Ariana felt her heart crush and she began to tremble, but she was determined to stay strong. "I loved you like a brother, Hugh," she continued, throat tightening. "But we've both grown. We went our own ways and have our own lives. Forcing us back together... it just isn't working. Things have changed. We've changed. And being apart is what's best for us now."

Hugh's eyes faded from anger to desperation. "But you don't mean that, do you?" he breathed. "Because I know there's a way we can still—"

"Goodbye, Hugh," Ariana choked out, turning her head away.

Hugh went silent. He gazed at her for a moment longer before sighing and heading back toward his horse. Swinging himself onto its back, he straightened and stared back at Ariana, face hardening once more. Ariana refused to look at him and instead glanced at Ronin, who was standing with Scrap beside the horse.

He gazed back at her, grief in his eyes. Ariana was scared he would scold her, too, but he only blinked warmly. "Take care, Ariana," he murmured.

Ariana felt her eyes swell with tears as he turned and led the way down the mountain. Hugh stood still for a moment longer, and when Ariana finally met his gaze, his eyes blazed with a cold disappointment. The look sent a stab to her heart and a tear ran down her cheek, but she said nothing more.

With a grunt, Hugh tugged the horse into the right direction. "Come on," he told it, clicking his tongue. He glared over his shoulder at Ariana. "We're clearly not appreciated here."

Ariana stared after him as he pelted down the mountain and disappeared. Her legs felt like jelly and her heart felt like it was drowning in a bottomless pit. She hadn't felt this much emotion in a long time; she was usually stronger than this. But saying goodbye to someone she had loved and admired for years, hearing and seeing how disappointed he was in her, sent the tears she didn't know she still had flowing down her cheeks.