Ch. 17 Walk Away

"Ow." Ryan held his head as he sat up in his bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up. The assassin spotted a canteen on the table on the far side of the room. He studied the object and opened it. He took a sip and was relieved to taste water. "That's much better." He looked out the window and was met with a blinding amount of sunlight, shielding his eyes with his hands. Wait a minute. He noticed a mirror on the far side of the room he was in and realized he could see. It was just a dream! The assassin yelled in excitement and ran out the door. He couldn't wait to find Autumn. When he exited the room, he was met by Peyton, Wing Chun, and Bonnie. "Guys, where's Autumn?" Ryan was bouncing in anticipation.

"Ryan," the fox addressed him, "You need to rest. You're not strong enough to be out and about yet."

"I'm not going to rest. Where's my wife?" Peyton looked at the others.

"Everyone, take a few minutes to yourselves." The two pirates walked away, leaving Peyton and Ryan alone. The privateer placed a worried hand on Ryan's shoulder. "What do you remember?" Ryan calmed down.

"I remember a nightmare," Ryan explained, "I was blind. You all left my wife behind to die. You said she was poisoned and wasn't going to make it. You got her powers." Ryan laughed to himself. "Some crazy dream, right?" Peyton lowered her head in disappointment. "What?"

"Ryan, what color are your eyes right now?" Ryan was confused.

"They're hazel. Like they've always been." What kind of question was that? Peyton walked into Ryan's hut and came back out with a handheld mirror.

"Take a look." She handed him the mirror. The assassin looked and noticed his eye color.

"They're green." Then that means… Ryan dropped the mirror and buried his face in his hands. "It was real!" He fell to ground, wrought with grief. "My wife is dead."

"She died saving us all."

"She didn't have to die!" Ryan's eyes were, once again, filled with rage. "Where's Adam?"

"Ratbeard, check over all of our weapons. See which ones need repairs and which ones can go a little while without them. Then do a count on our ammo; after a fight like that, I don't think we have much left." Adam held a pad of paper in his hands. And now I have to plan a counterattack.

"Aye, aye, captain." The rat saluted his leader and hobbled away. The musketeer turned to his one armed friend.

"Brave, go check on Pedro. Replace his bandages and bring him something to eat." The sniper did a one arm salute and left. A few minutes passed. The pirate leader set the papers down and sat in a chair in his hut. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Adam grabbed the bottle and cup from the table nearby and poured a glass of yum, taking a sip. "How am I going to keep us going?" Sagittarius appeared over his shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way."

"Ryan wait," a voice called from outside. A thundering crash snapped Adam to attention and he jumped out of the way as the door to his hut went flying in his direction.

"What the…" He glanced at the doorway and saw Ryan, his dark purple aura surrounding him. Two copies of him had already formed. "Ryan? You're up?" Adam was happy to see his friend up and about, but was still on guard. He looked down at Ryan's wrists and saw that his blades were active. "Oh, no."

"Just die!" Ryan lunged at the musketeer as Adam drew his pistols, shooting to defend himself.

"Hey," Brave said, "You look no worse for wear." Pedro sat up at the sound of his voice. The surgery was a success, but it would be a few weeks before Blaze could finish the eyes.

"I'm alive. That's something. And Ryan will be able to see when he wakes up." The buccaneer heard more footsteps come from the entrance to the hut.

"Good, you're up," Riley noted, "Here, my dad found me on his way here. Thought you might be hungry." Pedro felt her set a plate on his lap. He moved his hands toward the piece of glass and felt a rounded object. "It's an apple, if that's what you're wondering."

"I may be blind, but I can still feel pretty well," Pedro chuckled.

"That's not what you were saying a few hours ago." Riley was having fun messing with the blind man. Pedro groaned before taking a bit out of the apple.

Delicious. Pedro moved his free hand to his eyes. Damp. Great. "I guess you're here to change my bandages." Before he could get a response, Brave had already started to unravel the piece of fabric. "Oh, sure. Ignore the blind man asking an honest question."

"Sorry," Brave apologized, "But we need to get it cleaned up now." Brave removed the last of the bandages and stared at Pedro's empty sockets. Riley couldn't help it; she turned away and threw up. "My God."

"I'm guessing it's going to take some getting used to."

"Let's just say," Riley started, "I hope Adam's brother works faster than he says it'll take to make you your new eyes."

"Ryan wait," a voice called from outside. Pedro turned to the voice.

"I thought they said he wouldn't be up for a few hours?" Brave stood up, the fresh bandages still in his hands.

"So did I," the sniper stated as moved to the window. He watched as Ryan blasted down the door to Adam's hut. "Riley, we need to move."

"What's going on," the young musketeer asked.

"Ryan's out of control." The sniper pulled a knife off of his belt. "We need to stop him." Brave turned and saw Pedro get out of the bed, shaking warily as he tried to regain his balance. "Pedro, lay back down. You need to rest and you don't have your bandages on."

"You need me to stop him."

He's right. Brave turned to Riley. "Go on ahead; I've got Pedro." Riley left as the amputee rushed to put on Pedro's clean bandages.

"Ryan, stop." Adam leaned to the right to avoid Ryan's thrust with his gauntlets. Adam did a combat roll behind Ryan and opened fire. "I'm not the enemy." Ryan stabbed into the ground next to Adam. His depth perception is off. He hasn't gotten used to his eyes yet. "I'm your friend!" Ryan growled in anger.

"You're not my friend!" Ryan slashed at Adam, hitting nothing, but air. "A real friend wouldn't get my family killed!" Ryan stabbed and hit Adam in his lower right leg. The musketeer let out a cry of pain. His legs must be weak. "A real friend wouldn't force me to keep living when all I want to do is be with my family. A real friend also wouldn't take someone's sight against their will."

"I didn't take it against their will, and don't act like I don't know how this feels." Adam tossed away his pistols and drew his sword. Ryan picked up the table and tossed it at his friend.

"You don't know how it feels!" Adam slashed at the table, cutting it in half. "You're parents are dead! Your brother and uncle are monsters! You HAVE no family!" At that moment, Riley entered the building.

"Ryan, stop!" The young girl grabbed onto his sleeve to hold him back.

"Get off of me, you little brat!" Ryan shook her off, slamming her into the wall. She fell to the floor, a nasty gash lining the back of her head. "Stay out of my way." Adam saw what happened to Riley and, tossing his sword to the side, tackled Ryan to the ground.

"Are you insane?!" Adam slammed his right fist into Ryan's face. "She's just a kid!" Adam continued bludgeoning the assassin. Ryan blocked the next punch and pushed his leader off of him, switching positions with Adam.

"A kid that needs to learn her place." Ryan did to Adam what the latter had done to him, tenfold. After about a minute of beating the musketeer senselessly, something slammed into him, forcing him to end his assault. Adam took the moment to touch his face, feeling blood and gashes lining his face. He looked up and saw Riley standing over Ryan.

"My place?!" Adam noticed that there was still blood dripping from her head, staining her long brown hair. "Is right here: between you and Adam." Ryan got up from the ground, brushing the dirt from his shoulders.

"You are going to regret crossing me." Ryan activated his gauntlets. Riley picked up Adam's sword and held it in a defensive stance.

"Riley!" Brave stood in the doorway, Pedro leaning on his shoulder. The young musketeer did not lower the blade. He looked at Ryan and saw his gauntlets were activated. "You attacked my child?!" Ryan was still hopped up on the adrenaline from the fight. The swashbuckler turned to Brave and noticed Pedro.

"You?" Ryan noticed bandages around Pedro's eyes. "He gave me your eyes?"

"No," the buccaneer responded, "I gave you my eyes." Adam struggled to stand on his feet, dizzy from the beating he'd just taken.

"Autumn and Will," Ryan glared at Adam, rage in his eyes at their names, "They were my family, too." Adam took a step forward, but fell to his side, with Riley dropping his sword and catching him before he could hit the ground. He lifted his head to look Ryan in the eyes. "Flint has caused too much death and destruction in one day. He needs to die; for them. I can't do that without you." Ryan looked down at his wrists.

I've become a monster. He clenched his fists. "Your way is going to get more people killed." Ryan released his fists. "I'm done fighting your battles. I'm going home, wherever that may be." The swashbuckler deactivated his gauntlets and pushed Pedro and Brave out of his way. Peyton followed him as he stormed off.

"Ryan, where are you going?"

"Away. This group is broken. You should leave too, before it's too late." Ryan picked up his pace, almost leaving Peyton behind.

"I can't leave; Skull Island is my home." Peyton stopped moving. "And yours too." Ryan stopped in his tracks at the words.

"Home," Ryan chuckled. "Autumn was my home, and now she's dead. Regaining a useless piece of land is nothing compared to the chance to have one more minute with her." Ryan turned to face Peyton. "Like I said, I'm leaving, and you should too." Ryan regained his former pace and left without another word.

"How could he just walk away like that?" Adam winced as Sirena wrapped a layer of bandages around his injured leg. The privateer tied the knot at the end and stood up from her kneeling position.

"He's hurting right now." Sirena touched an ice pack to Adam's face. "He just needs time to get his head straight. He'll come around." Adam took the ice pack from her grasp and held it in place himself. He stood up and began to exit the hut.

"I'm holding a meeting with my crew in ten minutes. You and Morgan are welcome to join. There's a lot to talk about besides Ryan." The musketeer limped away, the pain in his legs growing stronger.