CHAPTER 80:

Eight coins

"So I put the stick inside the hole, and then whaaa!" The little girl sitting in front of Jay said, throwing her arms up into the air. "A bug came out!"

Jay let out an exaggerated gasp, eyes opening wide with fake surprise.

"It was so ugly!" The girl said. "And so big! Just like… like my head!" She exclaimed.

Jay heard Mr. Ethel giggling on the sly while the man controlled the cart. The driver was amused at his daughter's storytelling and, to be fair, so was Jay. Little Marcia was adorable, especially when she got all excited.

"What happened next?" Jay encouraged the kid to go on with the story, for while she was entertaining Jay, she wasn't bothering her father in his task.

"It 'flied' to me! So I screamed very loud! Like this." She proceeded with a demonstration of her lungs' capacities that startled everyone.

"Marcy!" Her brother whined next to her and the little kid pouted at being interrupted.

Jay laughed at their little exchange before asking the girl to tell him the rest, the smile going back to her lips immediately.

"I was scared! But my brother came and saved me from the ugly monster." She hopped onto her brother's lap to trap him in a hug.

"It was just a beetle." He rolled his eyes and tried to push her away when Marcia tightened her little arms around his chest. The little girl though kept jumping on him, shouting praises at what an amazing and brave big brother she had.

Jay chuckled as eventually little Marcy went back to telling him more and more stories about her dad, brother, the places they had been to…

Having lost his wife a little after Marcia's birth, Mr. Ethel had had no other choice but to take his kids with him while he traveled the world in search of businesses to keep his little family fed and healthy. It was risky, but as Mr. Ethel had explained to Jay in the week they had been traveling together, he'd rather grow eyes on his back and be on alert every minute of the day watching his kids than leave them with an acquaintance at some village he'd only be able to visit once in a while due to his job. Plus, he'd shown the two siblings how to take care of each other. And given the strength of Marcia's lungs, there would be no way the girl got in trouble without someone around noticing her ear-splitting screams.

Jay listened to the kid's rambling, the clatter and wobbling of the cart didn't stop her from gesturing and moving around the little space they had as she told story after story, sometimes with the help of his father and brother when she got stuck on a difficult word.

"We're here." Mr. Ethel's voice interrupting the latest anecdote. The girl didn't mind it that time, however. She and her brother quickly looked over the edge of the cart and towards the city that opened before them. Their smiles wide and bright like the sun that shone above their heads —but they couldn't compare to Jay's own beam at all.

His journey was reaching its end. He still needed to find one last person, two at most, that could accompany him to the capital.

Piece of cake, Jay told himself.

As he did with Mr. Tori, Jay helped Mr. Ethel for a while longer to set their booth on the market. Saying goodbye to the kids wasn't as easy as he thought. Little Marcy had gotten attached to the boy very fast, for she was the one Jay had entertained the most during the trip with silly games and crafting.

Her brother distracted her when she started to sob and pulled her away from the two adults to take a walk around the place in search of deals.

"You better get going before she comes back and remembers why she's sad," Mr. Ethel told Jay with a pitiful smile.

Jay nodded. He wished he could stay longer with these people, but someone was already waiting for him —even if they didn't know Jay was coming.

Before bidding farewell to his older companion, the boy took out a small bag and grabbed three gold coins from the inside, offering them to the man.

"I know you said I didn't have to pay you anything, but please, accept this. I really want to thank you for helping me these past days."

Mr. Ethel stared dumbfounded in return. He brought a hand up to his forehead, ruffling his hair with a low groan.

"You really are something else, kid," he said then took one of the coins and closed Jay's fist around the rest. "This is more than enough."

"Are you sure?"

"You've saved us from Marcy's constant whining for days. Yes, I am sure," He stressed with a laugh.

Jay had to titter at his comment. All his life living with two chatterboxes had immunized him against such situations.

After sharing a friendly embrace with Mr. Ethel, Jay walked away and into what would be the last stretch of this adventure that had started a week and a half ago.

••••••••••••

Jay sighed in defeat.

Finding a possible partner that could take him to Ninjago city was proving to be a lot more difficult than he thought. Some people didn't have enough space for him in their vehicle, others were headed in the opposite direction, the few ones that had been willing to bring him along said they weren't parting until several days yet. It wasn't like Jay had to get there by a specific date, but now that he was so close to 'home' he was getting more and more impatient. He just wanted to climb the palace steps again and see his friends, give away hundreds of hugs, and… maybe a few kisses as well.

The young man considered getting himself a mount, maybe if someone showed him the way he'd be able to get to the capital alone, but Jay knew nothing about riding animals. With his luck, the horse would probably kick him down to the ground and run away, leaving him almost resourceless.

Another sigh left his mouth, more irritated this time. He should have asked Cole or someone to teach him how to tame horses.

Jay tried to stay positive, he'd walk around for a while longer and try again. There were still a lot of merchants he could ask, and if no one was willing to help him now… he would have to resort to being patient and leave in a few days.

"Hey, kid." A voice said next to him.

Jay turned around to discover a man around his height, hair and eyes dark as a night without stars. His bronze skin had been obviously maltreated by the sun and a couple of tiny scars made him look old, but Jay suspected their ages weren't that far apart. The boy greeted him kindly.

"I couldn't help but notice… you are looking for transport, right?" The guy asked.

"Yes!" Jay almost yelped. "I'm trying to get to the capital. Could you perhaps help me?"

"Mmmh… Maybe," the other responded. "My friends and I didn't mean to go there, but I guess the capital is a great place to score nice deals. We could take you with us."

"That would be great!" Jay grinned with enthusiasm.

"How much do you have?"

"Uh?" He blinked confused.

The man rubbed two fingers on his thumb in front of Jay's face with a smirk.

"Money, pal." He elaborated. "You don't expect us to do charity work, right? Like I told you, the capital wasn't in our initial plans. It's a risk for us after all."

Jay stared, somewhat surprised. While some of the people he'd asked earlier had brought up the subject of retribution, none of them had been so bold when asking if Jay was willing to compensate them in some form.

But then again it was the first time someone was approaching Jay and not the other way around...

"I… Uuh… How soon can we leave?" Jay sounded out.

"How soon do you need to?" The other inquired, hinting that time wasn't really a problem for him and his crew.

"Today." Jay dared to demand.

"Today? Wow, that sounds very sudden… and expensive."

Jay frowned but reminded himself to stay calm. He was on merchant lands, this type of behavior was to be expected, people needed to make a living one way or another.

Grabbing on the bag behind himself on the sly, Jay meditated for a short time.

"Three gold coins." He put his offer out in the open.

"Eight." The other countered so fast it took Jay aback at first. That was almost thrice his offer!

"Four."

"Eight." The other shook his head, somewhat telling Jay he wasn't going to back down.

The boy considered the situation. If he accepted said deal it would leave him with very little spare money. But on the other hand... if things at the palace went well, Jay wouldn't need it anyway —and Ed and Edna had been positive about his return at the royal residence.

Jay eyed the man up and down, weighing all his options. In the end, his yearning for Kai and the royal family won.

"Fine, eight." Jay spat. "But we leave now," he added. If the man wanted to play tenacious, so could Jay.

The other rubbed his chin in thought. "Fair enough, I guess."

He stretched his hand out and Jay shook it to seal the deal.

"Come with me. I'll introduce you to my buddies."

Jay smirked, proud of his seemingly decent enough trader skills. Not for nothing had he been working his ass off during years at Shaiya, even though his dad was more experienced in the field.

Following close to the man, Jay walked with enthusiasm through the crowd.

Soon, very soon, he told himself.

Soon Jay would be completely sincere with Kai.

••••••••••••

Jay hadn't been expecting anything in particular when Vinay, the man that had agreed to help him, presented the young boy to his crew. But… neither had Jay expected what he discovered either.

For a starter, the 'crew' were just two other men. One with a big scar that went all across his nose, cheeks dusted with dirt and a thin stubble, and eyes that of an intense honey color, although Jay didn't feel any sweetness emanating from them.

The other wore a dark cloak that covered most of his face, the edges of the hood threadbare, making it hard to see his eyes amidst the hard shadows that fell onto him with the almost midday sun, his beard also didn't help to clear up his features.

Both of them looked older than Jay, and most certainly more mature than Vinay too. Jay was glad though that neither of them had addressed him earlier, for he would have walked away due to their hostile looks.

Vinay introduced everyone; 'yellow eyes' was called Clem, and 'cloak guy' went by Odeil. Jay couldn't tell if those were nicknames or not, but at that point, it didn't matter much to him.

Vinay told them about the deal, Clem grunted and manifested his aversion at the idea of leaving right away when they had barely had time to rest. However, the man changed his mind immediately after Vinay brought up 'the generous amount of money Jay was more than welcome to give them in exchange'.

The boy didn't like the way the other phrased that, but Vinay probably knew what worked best when convincing his friends, so Jay let him do most of the talking.

"Let me see." Yellow eyes gestured at Jay to prove to them if he really got the money.

Carefully Jay pulled out the small bag and took four coins from it, handing them to the man. Clem cocked an eyebrow back, asking about the other half of the pay.

"You'll get the rest when we get to Ninjago City," Jay said in response to the guy's silent demand. He had picked a thing or two from his dad.

Clem eyed Vinay for a beat and pursed his lips. Jay was starting to grow anxious, he wasn't sure he had much more arguments to keep the rest of the money to himself for now, but then Clem opened his mouth.

"Works for me," he said, saving the coins in a small pocket of his ragged vest.

Jay held back a relieved sigh.

The men asked the third partner what was his stance in the matter, but Odeil just shrugged without paying them much attention.

The deal was officially sealed.

Vinay clapped his hands with a big smile. "Time to get moving!" He declared.