Truthfully, Jason didn't want to bring Riley and Liza along for the ride back to the palace, but Liza was stubborn and wouldn't give up and they didn't have time to fight with her. So, against Ajay's and Jason's wishes, they gave the truck with the turret on the back to Hurk and some foot soldiers to scout ahead while Ajay, Jason, Liza, and Riley all piled into a jeep. Jason soon realized letting Ajay drive was not a good idea.
Jason gasped loudly and brought his hands out to stop his head from smashing into the dashboard of the jeep. "Ajay! Slow down!" Jason roared as Ajay drove recklessly. At least he wasn't in the backseat, he felt sorry for Riley and Liza. Those two were constantly bouncing their heads together with every bump they hit in the road. He could hear them groaning in pain every so often.
"Bhadra has been kidnapped, Jason! We need to go back and find a way to save her!" Ajay suddenly turned the jeep so sharply that Jason couldn't stop his head from ricocheting against the window. Jason let out his own groan of pain this time around as he rubbed his head and checked for blood.
"You two alive back there?" Jason asked Liza and Riley and turned in his seat to look at the two of them. Both of them were rubbing their heads just as he was. "Christ-tree!" Jason had turned to the front just in time to see Ajay almost drive into a tree, thankfully Ajay managed to swerve just in time. Which (again) caused Jason to smash against the window.
"Ajay! Slow the fuck down!" Jason finally screamed at Ajay before actually nailing Ajay in the chest with the side of his fist. Ajay stomped on the breaks of the jeep, thank god Jason had his seatbelt on. Jason could only feel his heart race a million miles per hour as he put his hand on his chest uneasily. "I'm sorry... dude..." Jason apologized after a few calming deep breaths. "I just had to get you to stop! I know Bhadra means a lot to you, but you're no good to her if you kill yourself trying to get to her!" resting his head against the headrest in his chair, Jason sucked in another deep breath and then looked back at Liza and Riley to make sure they were still alive. They were, both were pale and shaky, but alive. Jason then finally looked at Ajay. Ajay was staring down at the steering wheel of the jeep, he seemed lost in thought as he just looked down. 'Ajay...' Jason thought rather sadly once he noticed the mournful face Ajay actually had.
"Jason... if we don't get to Bhadra fast... I fear what Sabal plans to do with her..." Ajay finally spoke his voice was low and Jason could sense the uneasiness that lingered around all four of hem.
"I'm sorry... if I can speak... why is this... Bhadra? why is she so important right now?" Riley groaned in pain before moving forward so he was in between Ajay and Jason.
"Sabal wants to marry her..." Ajay uneasily answered. Jason felt the car start to move again and watched Ajay start to drive again. This time Ajay actually minded himself and drove at a much slower pace.
"O-kay?" Liza was the one to respond from her seat clearly confused. "You took the love of his life and you didn't expect him to get her back?"
Jason turned in his seat to face Liza, he looked her dead in the eyes when he spoke his next sentence. "She's fourteen. He's thirty. He thinks she's a goddess reborn and wishes to marry her for it. We took her to protect her from that." Jason knew his message came across hard as Liza's face suddenly paled greatly. Honestly, Jason just wanted to tell her more, in hopes that it would scare her into leaving, but he couldn't as something caught his eye in the rearview. "Oh, shit..." Jason felt heart race when he more than one golden path truck closing in on them. He didn't have time to count them all. Boy, he was grateful that this jeep came with a sunroof. "Ajay! Step on it!" Jason grabbed his AK and opened the sunroof. Jason felt the wind blow and push his hair back as he lined his AK up.
'One... two... three... shit...' Jason felt extremely uneasy once he realized he was looking down five Golden Path trucks, all making fast speeds towards their tiny jeep. 'Now would be a great time to have a damn turret!' He gritted his teeth in slight anger. Still, Jason sucked down his anger and started to fire. He aimed for their windshields in hope of killing them quickly, he started with the truck that was closest to them, however when the windshield shattered showing who was driving Jason felt insanely uneasy. These people where all in heavy suits meaning in order for him to take down one he'd need about four magazines alone. So, Jason turned his AK to another truck and fired at the windshield to that one. Yep, heavy suits. 'Five trucks, probably all wearing heavy suits... wait...'
Jason quickly sat back down. "Okay... we have five trucks behind us, at least ten people in total all wearing heavy suits." Jason saw Ajay tense at that.
"Heavy suits?" Liza questioned.
"Armor. It takes strong guns to penetrate armor like that. Something an AK can't do." Ajay filled her in.
Jason looked back at the trucks and gritted his teeth once again. "Shit! They're going to box us in!" He growled and grabbed his AK.
"Jason!-" Ajay called to him.
"I can't shoot them! But I can shoot their fucking tires!" Jason yelled back and fired his gun at the truck's tires in hopes to slow them down or make them swerve off the road. That was when Ajay did something daring as well. He went off the road. At first, Jason wanted nothing more than to call Ajay stupid, but then it hit him. Less road more trees, but that also caused another big problem as the jeep bounced wildly about. Too much for him to get a clear shot at their tires now.
"Jason!" Hearing Ajay call to him frantically Jason moved to sit back down. He looked out the windshield to see what Ajay was seeing. More Golden path coming towards them from the front.
"Shit! Swerve!" Jason was seconds away from ripping the wheel out of Ajay's hands, but thankfully Ajay swerved towards the left. "It's a fucking ambush!" Jason turned towards the back. "Get down! Both of you! Hands over your heads!" He ordered towards Liza and Riley. The did as they were asked without question or fight.
"Shit...shit!" Ajay grumbled as he tried to stay focused on the road while going at speeds that made Jason flashback to car chases on Rook Island. "They aren't firing! Why aren't they firing!?" Ajay seemed to think out loud at this point.
Jason fumbled with his radio in an last ditch effort to get help with this, there was no way he could take on all those people while watching after Liza and Riley at the same time. "How far is the nearest fortress, Ajay!?" Jason demanded.
"The nearest fortress... It has to be Noore's! But Noore is dead and the fortress is weak because of it!" Ajay frantically explained. Jason could hear Liza whimpering in fear from the back seat and he knew Riley probably had several uncomfortable flashbacks to Rook Island. The car rocked with every bump from the forest floor they hit and Jason knew it was only a matter of time before something else was thrown their way.
"Some protection is better than no protection!" Jason yelled back to Ajay. Jason brought his radio to his mouth and quickly spoke. "This is Jason Brody with Prince Ajay Ghale! We are under an ambush and need protection fast! We are on our way to-" Before Jason could finish his call for help something flashed in front of the Jeep. It had to have been a flash grenade as Jason could only see white. He honestly figured Ajay would stop the car, or something to that degree, but no, Ajay kept on going.
Jason didn't exactly know what happened next. First, he heard guns firing, then he just felt weightless, like he was falling. He heard Liza and Riley absolutely shriek in sheer terror and then he got his vision back just in time only to see them nosediving towards a river. "Fuck!-"
Ajay thought for sure he was dead. The last thing he remembered was falling into a river so surely he died, right? Well, the unmistakable sound of the car horn being pressed down on told him otherwise. The horn wasn't the only thing he could hear, he could hear the sound of two panicking voices just behind him. "Jason! Get up, Please!" Liza's voice screeched. Ajay gave a groan and slowly pried himself off of the steering wheel, stopping the horn. He knew something wasn't completely right with him. The whole world just seemed to twist and turn in a nauseating way. That's when it hit him that he couldn't hold his neck up.
"... Fuck!..." Ajay gave out a loud cry of pain as he forced his head to look at the passenger seat. Jason was knocked out, at least that's what it looked like.
"Ajay! Ajay!" Riley's face was suddenly right in front of Ajay's. He looked completely fear-stricken. Ajay wanted to respond but he couldn't focus his mind long enough to form words. Something else caught his attention, the sound of Liza screaming like a mad woman behind him followed by the sound of a window or something getting hit frantically. "Ajay! The car's sinking! Please!" Riley started to shake Ajay in his wild panic.
"Oh, god! We're going to die! We're going to die!" Liza was screaming in the back, her voice was shaking with each word that left her mouth. Ajay's eyes went to Jason. Jason was still knocked unconscious, limp and unmoving from his seat. Still, Ajay used all of his strength to reach his hand over towards Jason. Was it to wake his bodyguard? Or to make sure that Jason was alive? Ajay's hand lightly patted Jason's face as he tried to just get Jason to wake up, but Jason was out like a light.
"Ja... Jason..." Ajay choked out.
"He's not waking up!-Liza! Let go of me!"
"Leave them, Riley! We have to get out of here!"
Ajay couldn't see what was happening all he knew was that the car seemed to rock a little while Riley and Liza were fighting and then... they were gone. All Ajay knew was that they had found a way out and had just left him and Jason to rot? Get captured? Drown? He didn't know. Ajay gritted his teeth as he reached over to touch Jason's face again in some hope to wake him up.
That was when it felt like someone had dumped a bucket of water on Ajay's head. The sunroof was still open from earlier, that's how Liza and Riley left and that's how Ajay and Jason are going to drown. "Jason!" Ajay gasped as he continued to, now, pitifully slap Jason's face. Ajay could hardly see Jason at this point, not through the waterfall falling on top of his head. 'I... Jason... I need you...' Ajay thought. He could feel the water at his knees and he thought for sure he was going to die right there next to Jason. That was until something green floated into his vision. A lone green syringe floated nonchalantly towards Ajay. He didn't have time to question it and, truthfully, he didn't want to question it. Ajay's hand fell from Jason's face as he grabbed the syringe.
Ajay wanted nothing more than to use the syringe on Jason, however, he knew one thing: Jason was unconscious and waking up in a situation such as this would just cause Jason to panic. So, Ajay stabbed himself in the arm with the syringe. Almost instantly he felt relief and was able to move his neck and muscles as intended. Ajay quickly sat up and unbuckled his seatbelt. In a flash, he unbuckled Jason's seatbelt and grabbed him. Ajay could now see that the car was almost completely submerged in the water and that it was filling from the open sunroof. The water was now to the dashboard and Ajay had no idea what to do next. Frantically he was looking up at the sunroof, then down at the windows and doors in hope that something would come to him.
Well, something did, but it wasn't what he wanted. He had no clue that the windshield had cracked during the fall, but boy did he find out about it when it burst. Ajay had no idea what came over him, but he threw his body in front of Jason's in an attempt to shield him from the impact. Then, Ajay felt himself spin and spin until he couldn't tell which way was up or down anymore. Ajay felt his back hit something and he stayed in place under the water this allowed his head to clear up just enough for him to realize that he was still in the car, he was on the roof to be more exact. Jason's limp body floated down below Ajay, kicking the roof Ajay swam to Jason and wrapped his arms tightly around his torso. With one mighty tug Ajay swamp through the sunroof with ease. Ajay wanted nothing more at that moment than to save Jason, he didn't think of anything else, all he wanted was to get to the surface to make sure that Jason was okay and breathing.
Ajay broke through the surface, coughing and sputtering he whipped his head to the side in an attempt to get the water out of his eyes before swimming towards the shore with Jason next to his chest. 'Lo and behold...' Ajay snorted angerly as he could see Riley and Liza on the shore the two were clearly having such a heated fight that they didn't even notice Ajay, not until he was close enough to place Jason's body down on the bank. "Oh, my god! You..." Liza gasped loudly. Ajay paid her no mind as he placed his head to hear Jason's chest in hopes of hearing a heartbeat. Thankfully, there was one. "I-" She couldn't even get her first word out before Ajay turned to her in unbiased rage.
Ajay practically snarled at her "I didn't exactly see you want to help when you left us in that car! You left both of us to die!" He roared not just at her but at Riley as well. "... It doesn't matter, he's breathing..." Ajay shakily stood up and gently grabbed Jason by the arm and wrapped the limp Jason around his shoulders. That was when Riley pushed passed Liza and grabbed Jason's other side. Liza's head hung sadly as she grabbed her arm, it was clear to Ajay that she was regretting her choice to just abandon them like that, especially now.
"... Where are we anyway?" Riley asked Ajay. Ajay tsked his tongue as he allowed himself to look at the area. He was hoping to see something familiar to him, and after a few heartbeats, he did see something off in the distance on a cliff. Ajay's shoulders gave a bit of a slump once he realized just what was there. It honestly felt like more than a coincidence to Ajay as he could only shake his head before pointing at it making Liza and Riley turn as well.
"That's my father's old home... we should be able to rest up there for a while..."
"Is that on a cliff?" Liza questioned Ajay watched as she put her hand over her eyes in an attempt to see the house better.
"Yep... and the way up is to use a grappling hook." Ajay huffed in slight annoyance. Thankfully he thought to bring the grappling hook but bringing Jason's unconscious body up with him...
"I'm sorry, but how exactly do you plan on bringing Jason up there?" Riley was the one to ask the obvious question.
"I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out on the way there, Okay?" Ajay responded with a shrug before walking forward with prompted Riley to do the same. Liza stayed in the back behind them. 'How exactly am I going to bring Jason up?...' Ajay thought to himself before looking up at his father's old house. 'Why did it have to be there?'
"Okay... I'm going to go up first. Riley, look after Jason. Liza, don't abandon them. Here- Ajay reached into his belt and pulled his pistol out and handed it to Riley. "If any Golden path members show up shoot them, aim for the head. If they are in trucks then aim for the gas tanks." He told Riley with full seriousness. "I'm assuming you know how to shoot, right?"
"Of course, I shot a couple of pirates back at Rook island."
Ajay shot a look at Jason. Jason was now slumped down against the cliff wall, head down, hands in his lap, and whole body just limp. Ajay had checked a few times, yes, Jason was breathing, but he wasn't waking and it was concerning Ajay heavily. Ajay sucked in a deep breath before swinging the grappling hook in his hands. "I'll be fast." The plan was really simple, honestly. He was going to grapple up and find something, anything that could be used as a makeshift stretcher for Jason. He also needed it to be something he could tie the rope around and be able to pull back up. Okay, it wasn't that simple. Ajay also knew he had another problem to deal with as well, but he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it. Ajay gave Riley and Liza a concerned look before throwing the hook.
For Ajay, the grappling hook was a fun experience. He liked the thrill of dangling in the air as well as the freedom that followed suit. Ajay expertly jumped from hook to hook swinging and not missing a single beat. Then, when all was said and done he was on top of the cliff. He turned to look down, no golden path, Riley, and Liza were just lounging around uneasily at the bottom. Ajay turned his head to the door and readied his AK. He had a damn score to settle.
Ajay stormed to the door and kicked it open. "I'm alive! Dickbags!" He roared. He was met with screams of terror as Yogi and Reggie both went to hide. One of them, Ajay couldn't tell who, even jumped into a box for protection. Apologies were uttered pitifully.
"Your Highness! Please! Mercy!" One of them bowed before Ajay. "It was Noore! She told us if we were ever to cross paths to... well..." Ajay's hand was suddenly grabbed as the man made an attempt to kiss it. Ajay responded by snatching his hand back and sneering at him. It was Yogi, that meant that Reggie was the one hiding in the box.
"Don't kiss my hand..." Ajay rolled his eyes.
"Please! Don't shoot us!-"
"-Or tell Pagan!" Reggie cried from inside his box. Ajay could just see the two of them shutter in fear at the mention of Pagan, and that was when the lightbulb went off above Ajay's head, and he slowly lowered his AK.
"Of course, my dad would have your heads for not just drugging me-" Ajay paused as he looked around the squatted remains of his parent's old homes for anything that could be used to help. "-But for also giving me to the arena. I mean, you didn't even give it a second thought about it-" Ajay kicked Reggie's box. "-get out of there." He ordered. Shakily Reggie lifted the lid to the box and even got out to stand next to Yogi. Ajay ground his teeth as he kicked some litter out of his way.
"Please! We'll do anything! Just don't hand us over to Pagan! He'll have us beheaded!"
"Worse." Ajay tsked out of reflex before his eyes finally landed on it. The big empty thangka frame. Ajay practically pushed Yogi and Reggie out of the way as he felt it. It was long enough and he bet it was sturdy enough to hold Jason.
"-Ah! I bet you're wondering about that Thangka-" Yogi started but Ajay quickly cut him off by taking the framing off of the wall, yep, it was heavy as hell, he could hardly hold it up.
"No, not exactly..." Ajay breathed out heavily before placing it down on the floor. Ajay rang his fingers down the frame. 'I could make holes in the frame and pull the rope through. The problem is I'm going to need help. This frame isn't light and neither is Jason-' Ajay only saw a hand flash to his right and before he knew it he had actually grabbed Reggie's hand stopping the man from sticking him with... something. Ajay's teeth gnashed together in anger once he realized that Reggie was attempting to drug him, again. In one good move, he managed to twist Reggie's arm behind his back and shove him to the ground, planting his knee firmly on Reggie's back as he did so. "Are you fucking kidding me!? Now listen here you two dipshits! You're going to help me! I have an injured man that needs healing and I need to bring him up!"
"Not gonna lie, you could have started with that..." Reggie grunted. Ajay got off of Reggie before stomping on the syringe that they attempted to drug him with. Ajay snorted at Yogi's slight groan.
"It took us weeks to come up with that! and you just ruined-" Ajay raised his gun quieting Yogi. "-I mean... we could always make another batch, no problem you're highness!... what did you need help with?"
"I'm glad you asked..." Ajay crossed his arms as he looked at the frame one last time. "Just hang on, Jason, I'm coming."
It wasn't a perfect stretcher but in the end, it got the job done and that's all Ajay cared about. Liza and Riley had to go up first as the stretcher would be too heavy for Reggie and Yogi alone. Riley, though not perfect, managed to get up on his own. Ajay had to personally carry Liza up. "You know, you should really take up rock climbing some time..." Ajay grunted as he allowed Liza to climb off of his shoulder and sit on the edge of the cliff.
"I'm just amazed on how strong you are! I mean, I just sort of assumed as a prince-"
"-What? as a prince, I can't do my own heavy lifting?" Ajay joked with her, was he still mad at her? Yeah, but he really didn't let it stop him from helping her, maybe it's because she had a connection to Jason. "My dad, though overprotective, still wanted me to learn how to protect myself and fight back."
"So... this was his old home?" Liza questioned as she turned to look at the home. Ajay's smile fell before he rubbed his nose uneasily. 'She doesn't need to know. Neither of them do.'
"We don't have all day to chat, Liza." He told her stiffly as he stood up on the cliff. "Let's help get Jason up first."
Riley and Reggie had the first rope, while Liza, Ajay, and Yogi had the other rope. Together all five of them hoisted Jason up the large cliffside. It felt like it was taking forever with each passing moment. Ajay watched as Yogi and Liza's arms were starting to shake with the strain. "Just a little farther!" He tried to encourage them. He then turned his head towards Riley and Reggie and saw that Riley wasn't just straining but it seemed like he was starting to slide towards the edge of the cliff. Ajay could feel the weight start to strain on him as well as his own sneakers started to skid as well, he tried to keep his feet planted firmly, but it wasn't working.
They pulled and pulled, Ajay swore his arms were going to pop out of their sockets the higher they brought Jason. "Jason really needs to lose some weight!" Riley commented with a heavy grunt. Truthfully, they were all thinking it. Ajay felt his knees shake and his body start to lower towards the ground and it was at that moment did he see Jason's fluffy brown hair poke up at the edge of the cliff.
"Okay! Hold!" Ajay practically screamed.
"Hold?! Mate! My damn arms are about to come out their sockets!" Reggie screamed to Ajay.
"I'm going to grab him!" Ajay responded back. He let go of the rope and by the sounds of Liza's and Yogi's yells they didn't appreciate it. Ajay didn't give them a single thought through. He instead rushed to Jason's body. the makeshift stretcher was a little lopsided, but thankfully Jason was unharmed and still in one piece. Ajay reached down and managed to grab Jason by his arms first. With a heavy and loud grunt, Ajay made an attempt to hoist Jason up there was just one small problem. Jason was still too far down for Ajay to pull him up. "Dammit! Try and pull him up a little higher!" He commanded the others. Ajay was bent down looking down at the bottom of the cliff as he still had Jason's arms in his hands and thank god he did. Jason only moved up a centimeter, then there was a loud scream and the stretcher was suddenly falling down. Ajay made a mad lunge to tighten his grip on Jason's arms. Ajay almost went falling himself and he saw his whole life flash before his eyes, but thankfully he felt several pairs of hands grab the back of his jacket and together he and Jason were pulled to safety.
Jason's head was on Ajay's chest, and his whole body just completely entangled with Ajay's, while Ajay sat back on his hands in a slightly terrified daze. Reggie and Yogi both peered over the cliff while Liza and Riley were both taking some serious breathers behind Ajay.
"Oh, mate, hopefully, you didn't want to go find that thangka of yours now," Reggie spoke first. "That frame is no more..."
Ajay's right hand went to Jason's hair, why? Even he didn't know. "I couldn't care less about some thangka right now, the only thing I care about is getting Jason healed, and fast."