Chapter 17-Broken Oath

Soto's home wasn't any better than his ship had been.

Their trip through town had lacked any and all opportunities for escape, as the group of friends had found it difficult enough to walk forward with their feet chained to one another, which meant that running was definitely out of the question.

But this time, instead of feeling angered, discouraged, or frightened, they each paid as much attention to their surroundings as they could. By taking everything in, and combining it with Cole's information about the island, they would surely be able to come up with a strategy to escape.

They had each other, after all. Different personalities, different perspectives, all added together to make them far stronger than they would have been on their own.

"Soto's guards are way worse that my uncle's were." Lloyd was the first to speak up, looking around him at his new band of friends. "They're not very focused, and there really didn't seem to be a pattern to them. We should be able to sneak out, easy. Just have to wait for the right opportunity."

"The lock on this thing isn't really good either," Jay rattled the door, then bent down to peek into the keyhole. "It should be no problem to force it open, if I can find something to use. . . Then like Lloyd said, we'll just wait for the right time."

Cole gave a small nod. "Soto headed off with Wu somewhere else, but someone must have seen them. I know people here, and they aren't exactly tight lipped with information if we can give them something they want. Once we're out, we'll find out where he is and get him back."

"Let's not forget to get the poison and the teapot back." Nya pointed out. "Soto will most likely have them on him. . . So we'll have to fight for it. If we can get him alone, we should be able to take him down. I don't doubt that his skills with the sword are good, but it didn't look very well taken care of. If we could find a good weapon. . ."

"We did pass by a blacksmith shop. Although the quality of the weapons there might still be questionable. But it might be worth looking into. Or we could search for our own weapons, although it could be difficult, with Soto's crew roaming throughout." Zane said. " But having a weapon would also allow us to steal one of the ships. With the chaos throughout the island, it would be easy to do. No one really seems to have each other's back here."

"This. . . really sounds like it could work." Kai stated, looking around at everyone. "Feels weird to say it, but I think we . . . kind of make a pretty good team."

"Of course we do!" Jay smiled. "I mean, what's better than fighting deadly spiders and dealing with psychotic pirates to bond with somebody? We're friends for life now."

"Ha, I don't know about that." Kai replied, refraining his eyes from rolling. "But I think we might actually be able to. . . to take Ninjago back. From that Djinn."

"Yeah!" Lloyd smiled, pumping a fist in the air.

"Of course we can do it." Nya said. "We have to. We're the only ones who have a shot at this."

That voice. That face. Nadakhan's heart couldn't help but jolt.

After receiving the power of Wu's soul, he'd gone off to search for the others, knowing that they wouldn't be too far. Unfortunately, they were all grouped together. It would be impossible to break them down when they weren't alone.

He would come back later, when they attempted their escape. Before he could be spotted, Nadakhan began to focus his mind to take him back home.

But then, the girl had spoken.

And he'd looked closer.

It was impossible. It had to be. And yet, here she was, the love of his life, years after she had supposedly passed away.

Reincarnation, surely. After hundreds of years, Dilara's soul had returned. And although it could have returned any time, it had happened now, now when Nadakhan was free once more. It was a sign. They were indeed meant to be together.

He had to get to her. If he could be with her alone. . . He could surely reawaken the memories of her past life. And then. . . then everything would be even better than what Nadakhan had allowed himself to imagine.

The shackles were almost loose now. In return, Jay's fingers were almost rubbed raw. But he kept twisting at the rusted screw, knowing that they had to find a way out one way or another.

"What are you doing?"

Jay jolted, his fingers moving away from the shackles. He looked up to find Cole's curious eyes going from Jay's face to Jay's hand. Jay shrugged. "Just. . . The screw on my shackle was already kind of loose, right? So I started messing with it. And I've almost got it. Then I can probably use the screw to get the door open, and hopefully to get everyone else out of the chains too."

"Your fingers aren't looking so good."

"No, they're fine." Jay scooted away as much as he could, which wasn't exactly much, and continued to mess with the screw. "I mean, we have to get out one way or another, don't we? I figured while we wait for-"

"Ha!"

Everyone turned to look at Lloyd, who stood, freed from the shackle that had been around his ankle. There was a confident and triumphant smile across his face. Jay slumped back and folded his arms. "Ah. Well. He got it then."

"How did you get out!?" Kai asked.

"Easy!" Lloyd shrugged. "These things weren't exactly made for kids. I just had to find the right way to wiggle out of it. And bamm! Free!"

Kai tugged the kid down gently. "Yeah, maybe don't shout that."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Lloyd sat back down. "Well. . . Now what can I do?"

"Find a way to get us out?" Nya suggested.

"Well I'm still in here with you guys. I mean I guess I could try to squeeze out of the cell and find the keys?"

"No, shouldn't be out there alone." Kai shook his head.

"I've done plenty of things alone." Lloyd shrugged.

"Well Jay was almost out himself," Cole piped in. "He's been trying to unscrew the shackles, and he's pretty close. Once he manages it he could force the locks open. Then we could all go out together."

Jay felt himself blush as the attention was suddenly turned to him, but he managed to give a small nod. "Y-yeah. I can get us out."

"And once we're out? If we all go around together we're so going to get busted. Lots of people make lots of noise." Lloyd pointed out.

"Then we'll split up." Cole said. "Me and Jay can go try and find Soto, to get the poison and the teapot. I probably have more of a shot than taking Soto down than anyone else. Kai, Nya, you two can go and rescue Wu. Search the house first. If he isn't here, we'll meet up and ask around. Then Zane and Lloyd can go and try to secure a ship for us to sail away in. We can all meet up at the docks."

"That. . . would work." Kai said. His pride burned slightly at Cole's words about him being the better choice for fighting Soto, but he had to admit that the man was right. "Well, now just waiting on you Jay."

"Almost got it." Jay replied, pushing harder than before. Finally, with the others eyes burning against him, the screw popped off, and Jay removed the pesky shackles. He looked up with a triumphant smile, holding up the small metal object. "There!"

"Nice job." Cole said, and Jay gave a small nod.

"Now. . . let's see."

After a couple of minutes of anxiously picking at the aged locks while listening intently for footsteps, Jay manage to free everyone from the clunky chains. Soto's house was still silent, although there seemed to be plenty of noise coming from the small town.

"Should we just go for it now?" Kai said, shaking off the chain from his ankle. "We've done more than enough sitting around."

"We have absolutely no idea which direction to head to!" Jay protested, looking from his group of friends to the halls outside the cell. "There's. . . there's the plan, yes but. . . I don't know."

Cole placed a comforting hand upon Jay's shoulder. "I don't think we'll find anything out if we just stay here. The best thing to do is to head forward. Besides, we all have each other now, right?"

"Well we had each other before and we still-" Jay stopped, taking a slow breath to regain power over his rushing thoughts. "Okay. Okay. You're right. If we sit still, that'll just. . . Soto might come back. And then when it's obvious we're free, who knows what he might do. Yeah. We should get going."

"Then we will meet by the docks, yes?" Zane said, standing up.

Nya nodded. "Hopefully we'll be out of here and heading back to Ninjago before the night ends."

"We will," Kai said. "Like you said sis, we have to."

While Kai and Nya headed deeper within Soto's house in order to find more clues on Wu's whereabouts, the others headed outside, first, carefully moving forward so as to avoid attention. But after more than a couple of halls with nothing other than silence, they began to move forward with more confidence, even going so far as to take back the weapons that had been taken from them.

"It's empty," Lloyd finally dared to speak aloud. "There's no one here!"

"Maybe they're all out enjoying themselves in the town?" Jay shrugged. "I don't know. What do pirates do on their free time?"

"Whatever they feel like doing." Cole responded. "But there should have at least been. . . someone around. It doesn't seem like Soto to leave everything unguarded. He's a fairly clever pirate."

"Well, this could possibly be a trap." Zane suggested. "We could be being lured out and. . ."

"And what?" Cole said. "He already had us. There was no need for a trap. No this. . . this has to be something else."

"Regardless of what's happening, right now, this is working in our favor." Jay shrugged, slowly pushing the door to Soto's home open. When he realized there was no one guarding the door, he swung it with more vigor. "So let's just get out of here and get on with it."

"Jay's right," Lloyd protested. "Whatever is happening is making things easier! So let's go!"

With a concerned look towards the town, Zane finally gave a small nod. "Well. . . We will meet at the docks."

"Yes, we will." Cole said, with much more confidence than he felt.

As Zane and Lloyd headed towards the beach, Cole and Jay sheepishly approached the town. Jay stuck to walking closely behind Cole, feeling far more calm than he would have been, had he been stuck with this little mission alone. Cole seemed confident in their plan, and the sturdiness of his attitude gave Jay something to hold on to, which was a nice change compared to his usual fumbling about.

When they reached the town, they realized that finding Soto was going to be far more difficult than they could have guessed. Despite darkness now hanging above them, the people of the island were as tightly packed in the streets as they had been before. It was hard to focus on anything, there were only blurs of movement and rattled waves of voices and sounds.

Jay reached forward, clutching a piece of Cole's coat, afraid to lose him in the thick crowd. "Is this island always like this!?"

"Not. . . Not to this extent." Cole shook his head, trying his best to look around. "Something is definitely going on."

"Look! Isn't that one of Soto's guys? Shouldn't we hide?" Jay shrank back, but Cole stepped forward, dragging Jay along despite his reluctance. "Cole! What are you doing!?"

"Hey! You!" Cole shouted, putting as much confidence as he could into his voice. The pirate looked over at Cole, giving him a small, unconcerned frown. "What's going on?"

"Knew it was about time you all got out," The pirate cackled, shaking his head in glee. "That man, Soto, he acts like he's all that, but aye, a captain without a crew ain't worth a thing."

"Mutiny?" Jay piped in with a soft voice.

"The man's been crazy from the start! And now that the whole island knows it, he's gone into hiding. But we'll find him alright." The pirate laughed again, and Jay wondered if perhaps the man had had one too many drinks. "He brought a demon into the island with him. I saw him meself. Saw that demon poof from thin air. Soto has gone too far, he has. We'll get rid of him for good this time."

"This time?" Cole asked, but the pirate was already marching off into the crowd.

"Well. . . We should try to find Soto before anyone else does." Jay said.

"I don't think these people are going to be finding anything. They're more interested in wrecking everything." Cole shook his head, turning away from the town, and towards the jungle. "Soto is smart though. We probably won't find him in the town. I'll bet he went off to hide in the jungle."

"Oh great." Jay shivered. "The jungle. At night. Again. Well, at least it's not the same jungle. No giant spiders here. At least I hope not. And the town is packed. You know, yeah, this isn't bad. I'd very much rather be in the jungle than stuck with all these people."

They moved towards the town's end, heading into the jungle. At first, Cole began to worry that they wouldn't be able to find Soto. The island was huge. There were plenty of spaces for Soto to remain hidden forever, if he so wished.

But their search didn't last enough for Cole's worries to grow. Within a couple of minutes of traveling through the thick foliage, Soto found them.

"I knew you would come looking for me," He stepped out from behind them, and Jay jolted, swiveling around in a rapid and awkward manner. "I still have something you want, after all. And you know. . . I might as well give it up, no? I've got. . . Well. . . Nothing. Not anymore. But you! Yes, you, you two, you could get revenge for me. You could take the teapot and the poison."

"Yes," Cole said, but he held a tight grip around the hilt of his sword. Soto's eyes looked crazed, dozens of emotions flying through them at once. Cole couldn't trust him. "So. . . Hand it over then."

"Of course," Soto reached into one of the pockets of his red coat, tossing the teapot forward. Jay fumbled, but caught it before it touched the ground. "And then. . . there's the poison."

"Powerful stuff." Soto continued, pulling the leather canteen out as well. "You know, put the poison into the Djinn, he freezes up. Put the poison into a regular person. . .They'll be dead within seconds."

"Those are. . . indeed, true facts." Cole reached forward. "Now, hand it over. Please."

"You know, I bet it was you that brought the Djinn, here, to the island. It was because of you that all of this is happening." Soto tossed the poison forward, and Cole caught it with his free hand. "So. . . I can't let you walk away. Not without taking one of you down!"

Soto unsheathed his sword, a smirk twisting his lips upward. "Want to hear about my brilliant idea? The tip of the sword, dipped into the poison. One small cut is all it'll take."

Cole pushed the canteen into Jay's hands, while also pushing him out of the way. He unsheathed his own sword. "Soto what's the point of this?"

"There is not a point!" Soto laughed, swinging his sword forward, without care, without a strategy. "Do you not understand? I have lost everything. Once again, just like 200 years ago! There is not a point to anything. So why not kill one of you?"

Cole fumbled to block the attacks, fearful of Soto's sword. Despite the skills he had acquired during battle, the man's attacks were crazed and random, nearly impossible to keep up with. Sweat began to lightly damp Cole's forehead, as he began to move back, pushed by Soto's persistence.

Jay stumbled out of the way, too stunned to do much more than watch. He wished for a weapon of his own. But empty handed, he could do nothing.

Soto continued to push, causing Cole to fall back, sword clattering out of his shaking hand. Soto smiled with triumph. "You are good at fighting, no doubt. But not good enough. How could you be? I have years, and years of experience that you will never obtain!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cole crawled back, his eyes searching for his sword. "But look, you really don't have to do this."

"No, I do not." Soto raised his sword. Jay looked around frantically for Cole's fallen weapon, dropping the teapot and poison the seconds he laid eyes upon it. They landed upon the grass, safely hidden in the thick darkness. "But I do not have to spare you, either."

Soto swung his sword, at the exact moment Jay threw himself forward, aiming to block the attack. But Jay's footing was too awkward, and his movements, far too clumsy to stop Soto's strong strike.

Cole's sword slipped out of Jay's grip, and Soto's poisoned weapon cut a small wound across Jay's right hand. With a small bow and a laugh, Soto threw his sword down, and retreated towards the town, where the mutinous mob still awaited.

Cole stood as Jay fell back, stumbling into the former pirate's arms. "Jay?"

"Well that. . . didn't. . . go as. . . well as I planned." Jay tried to laugh, but he found that every bit of strength he'd had was now gone. The small wound pulsed stubbornly, sending waves of sharp pain throughout his body.

"No. . . No it didn't. . . " Cole searched for words, for anything, but there was nothing to do.

Nothing.

"Hmm. . . this is quite the unfortunate situation."

That voice. Of course. There was something. Something Cole had promised himself he wouldn't do.

"You know, with a wish, you could fix up your little friend."

Nadakhan moved into Cole's view, and Cole instinctively pulled Jay closer. "Look just. . . get out of here."

"Your friend looks like he doesn't have long," Nadakhan looked down at Jay's shivering figure with a smile. "Poison, I assume. Powerful, whatever it was."

Cole tried to keep calm, to think with a clear head. But it was difficult. What could he wish for? If he wished for the wound to heal, why, the Djinn could simply close the cut itself, leaving all the poison inside. Any wish he made, it would be turned around to create more harm.

Cole knew this. And yet. If he didn't do something. . .

"You might want to hurry," The Djinn shrugged.

Jay muttered something, but it was far too weak to reach Cole's ears.

Cole shook his head. One wish. No more than that. If things didn't work out, wishing again would only make them worse. Whatever happened, he would accept the consequences. He only hoped that at least Jay would end up unharmed.

"I wish. . . I wish Soto had not hurt Jay."