The Captain's Bride | Ninjago Jaya AU [Complete]

Proposal

A/N

Nadakhan in this story be like "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss"

Also Ronin is a creep y'all, I can't not write him that way.

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Their arrival at Stiix ended up being delayed by a few hours. In those few hours, she wouldn't look at him once; not at breakfast, not at lunch, not when they bumped into each other throughout the day.

The rest of the pirates weren't any better. Why would a rookie like him be the Captain's favourite? they all thought. Ironically, he was wondering the same.

But while he kept to himself, the other pirates didn't resist pushing him around in the hallway or asking him pointless requests to waste his time. Even Flintlocke would give him a dirty look from time to time, one that was scarier than his weapons.

The Captain... He would always see those things happen, and yet he never once lifted a finger to put a stop to it. Part of him wondered whether he knew the consequences of his 'promotion', because the cunning smirk on his face every time he would get pushed around was anything but reassuring.

When they finally arrived at Stiix, he knew.

He had always heard of Stiix's harbours, how its seas were polluted with garbage and rotten fish. But he didn't expect it to reek that much up close.

Normally, he would have the option to stay inside and continue his work, but no, as the Captain's, right-hand man, he had to be there.

Luckily, most of the other pirates would be staying behind. Where they were heading, it was just him, Flintlocke, the Captain, and of course, Delara.

While they were disembarking off the ship, he offered her his hand, for the wooden bridge was both slippery and narrow.

She didn't take it, hurrying off to walk by the Captain's side. His heart sank, and yet he didn't get to process it, for Flintlocke pushed him forward, urging him to continue.

Most people looked like criminals; well, they were, since Stiix itself was infamous for being home to such a crowd, but he didn't expect there to be that many.

Most of them were fishermen, others were mechanics like him, while another batch worked behind kiosks that sold things that looked oddly suspicious, even from a distance.

On another side, however, somewhere deeper within the town, he could just barely spot a few people dancing (if what they were doing could have been called dancing, that is). The faint music only confirmed it; it was surprisingly lively for such a place.

Finally, they arrived at a shop. The building was old, wooden... It was a wonder how it hadn't collapsed in on itself.

When Nadakhan opened the door, a loud bell rang above it. At the same time, the old lightbulb turned on.

The place was filled with junk; or what looked like junk, at least. Maps, weapons, scrap metal... He wanted to crack a joke about it, but then he remembered that he wasn't in the place to talk, judging by his own experiences...

That was another thing that discouraged him. Since he didn't have his fancy castle job anymore, he was left with nothing but the scraps he had grown up with. She didn't deserve to be with someone such as himself when the Captain could offer her so much more.

A man stepped from the back room, the hanging beads on the doorway jingling against each other as he passed. Of course, he too looked intimidating.

One of his eyes was covered, a red straw hat almost entirely hid his brown locks... His clothes looked like armour, almost mechanical in nature. And when he pulled down the cloth around his mouth, he revealed the stubble that covered his lower face.