Onyx and Skybound

My Dinner With Nadakhan

Onyx crouched on the beach, a piece of metal shipwreck in her hand, eyes scanning the horizon for any possible ships she could try to signal, to no avail. After about ten minutes of watching that did nothing but give her an elevated body temperature, she noticed a green speck in the sky that was growing steadily larger. Lloyd had flown out to scout, and it seemed he was finally returning.

A few minutes later he'd landed on the beach and dispelled his dragon. "You okay? Did you see any land?" Cole asked, approaching. Lloyd sighed and shook his head. "Just water. I tried to reach the mainland, but it's too far. We won't be able to get off this island on our own," he said. Onyx sighed and kicked the sand. "Well, you tried, at least," she grumbled. Cole suddenly snickered, prompting an eyebrow raise from her and a glare from Nya. "What's so funny about our predicament?" She asked.

Cole laughed again. "Oh, I was just thinking about what Jay might say to that. "You're telling me we went through all that trouble to get the venom to stop Nadakhan, and now we have no way to get off this island!?" Heh, gone one day, and I already miss him spazzing out," he said with his best Jay imitation. Nya sighed. "Me too. After he lied to us, I was so hard on him. And now he's captured and all alone. Some friends we are," she said. Onyx frowned. They had been a bit harsh on him. Lloyd offered Nya an encouraging glance. "Hey, Jay's strong. We'll get him back. It's like what Wu once told me: if you want something bad enough, you find a way to make it happen," he said.

"He's right. If we can't fly off this island, we'll build our way. I've seen enough movies to know it's possible," Cole agreed. Onyx sighed. "Something our enemies seem to have mastered already," she said. Lloyd chose to ignore that. "And if we've built a rocket off an asteroid, what's one raft across a-" Nya interrupted. "Across an endless sea filled with unknown creatures that wanna eat us? Uh, that was my Jay impression. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get building," she added off of the others' glances. "I mean, she's not wrong," Onyx said.

(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)

Onyx pulled a tiny splinter out of her fingertip and went back to using palm fronds to tie logs together. They'd been building a raft for the past several hours now, and her fingers ached. "One more round of palm ties, and I'd say she's secure enough for sea," Lloyd said, looking over the raft.

"Why is it all sea vessels are shes?" Nya asked suddenly, tilting her head. "I don't know. Because it takes a lot of paint to make them look good?" Cole suggested. Nya scowled darkly at him. Onyx frowned when Lloyd laughed, trying not to show how much that bothered her. Did he actually think that? She touched her lips lightly. "It's really because they protect their crew like a mother. In Stiix, at least," she mumbled. Lloyd quickly turned his laughing to coughing when he noticed the look in her eyes. Cole stopped quickly when Nya punched her palm.

"I kid, I kid. Lighten up, water lily," he said quickly. Nya rolled her eyes. "I get it. My personal mission to rid the world of its prejudices is wearing thin," she said. Lloyd cleared his throat and reached back to grab another tie, only to find that his were gone. "Hey, uh, did anyone take my ties?" He asked, looking around. "No." "I didn't touch them," Nya and Cole said respectively. "Are you sitting on them?" Onyx asked. Lloyd stood and shook his head. "No," he answered.

Onyx shrugged and reached for hers. "I have some more that you can-hm?" Onyx frowned when she realized that hers weren't there either. "Well that's odd. Mine are gone too," she said. "Huh. I could've sworn they were right here. All this sun must be baking my brain. I'm going back into the jungle to collect some more," Lloyd said, shaking his head. "Want some help?" Onyx asked. Lloyd grinned. "I'm not going to turn you down," he said. Onyx got to her feet and followed him into the jungle.

As the two searched for fronds, Onyx glanced at Lloyd. "Do you think I need paint to look good?" She asked. She felt stupid for even needing to ask, but she couldn't quite get the worry out of her head. Were new relationships always this nerve-wracking? Lloyd blinked before realizing what she was talking about. "No, of course not! I think you're beautiful how you are. I prefer less makeup anyway. Like-you look the best when you're just finishing training. It's... you look natural,"  he said quickly. Onyx's cheeks pinked. She hadn't expected the comment, but it felt good.