Everything was muffled.
The only sound Jim could hear as his vision faded in and out was his own heavy breathing seeming to echo in his ears. His sight seemed to only come back for a few seconds at a time as his consciousness started to fade.
One moment, he's running through the caves, a flurry of emotions clouding his mind. Anger, heartbreak…guilt. Vision fades.
Now he's slumped against a wall, the pain making any movement unbearable. Someone's in front of him. Stella? Why is she here? She needs to run! Something happens behind her that diverts her attention. Something that made her afraid. Vision fades.
There's roaring. Loud enough that even his ringing ears can hear it clearly. A large, winged beast is standing defensively in front of him, snarling at whatever was in front of it. It tries to hit it with its tail, but misses and a figure slashes at its side with…fire? A sword…? Jim can't tell. His vision is fading already.
He's being carried now. By the beast? He can't tell. There's water everywhere and he's zooming through it. Whoever; whatever is carrying him, they're trying to get him out in a hurry. Vision fades.
This time he stays in darkness, but he can still feel. His arm is burning, but he can't even scream in pain. He's too weak to even make a noise. He's starting to accept his fate. Maybe this is what he deserves for betraying so many people. Even if he had the chance to tell them he was sorry, who would believe him…?
Wait.
It's cold now.
Why is it cold? Nowhere in the sea is this cold…
His arm, the burning is gone but now it feels numb, as if it was frostbitten.
A blue light floods his vision.
Jim sat up with a start, breathing heavily as cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He glanced around frantically, not recognising his surroundings at first until he saw Stella asleep at her desk. That's when it hit him. "I-is this…Stella's ship…?" He muttered, "But…why-?"
Jim was cut off by a bark from the foot of the bed. Nevado sat at the end of the bed, tail wagging happily as he stared curiously at Jim. "Hey…Nevado, right?" Jim gave a small smile as he hesitantly reached out a hand to Nevado. Wait. His hand…It's…fine? How…? Jim didn't have too long to dwell on it as Nevado nuzzled up against Jim's hand, panting happily. Jim chuckled as he gave the inu pets, much to the latter's enjoyment. "Y'know, I kept naggin' Grace for a pet for the Forsaken Alliance." Jim gave a quiet laugh as Nevado went onto his back for tummy rubs, to which Jim happily obliged, "She said no. Said the Devil's Roar was too dangerous for a pet. She wasn't wrong but still…would've liked it." Nevado rolled back onto his stomach before placing his front paws on Jim's shoulders and licking his face. "O-oi!" Jim laughed, "K-knock it off! That tickles! Why does your breath smell like mint? Is that a glacial curse thing? H-hey, enough with the slobber!"
The commotion caused Stella to groggily wake up, her back a little sore from sleeping hunched over the desk. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she noticed Jim awake and being assaulted by Nevado slobber. Stella couldn't help but laugh at the sight, alerting the two to her now awake state. Nevado let out a happy bark as he leapt off of Jim and the bed before trotting over to Stella, who gave him ear scritches. "Hey." Stella greeted as Nevado finally settled at her feet below the desk. "Hi…" Jim awkwardly replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"How's the arm?"
"Not burning and slowly cursing me, so that's good."
"Good."
The two sat in awkward silence before Jim broke the silence.
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you save me? You trusted me and I betrayed that trust. I tricked you and your crew – well not intentionally, but still. I freed Flameheart and his Ashen Lords, for crying out loud. So why save me?"
"…because you didn't deserve the fate Flameheart had in store for you. I won't sugar-coat it: what you did was stupid to say the least. But I read the journal pages you left behind. Wanda led you to believe you were doing the right thing."
"Heh…don't think that excuse'll stop the likes of Grace keelhauling me for a lap around the Sea of Thieves." Jim chuckled dryly, "Sure, I bet the whole Sea of Thieves will be lining up to at least take a swing at me, includin' Flameheart himself." Jim sighed as he stared down at his feet, hanging off the side of the bed, "Look, the longer I'm here with you, the more of a target your crew's gonna have on their back. Just give me a good sock in the jaw and dump me on the nearest island so you don't have to worry about me anymore."
Stella was silent for a moment before standing up from her desk and walking over to where Jim was sitting on the edge of her bed, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself for the impact of Stella's fist.
But it never came.
Instead, he opened his eyes to see Stella hugging him tightly. "This…this isn't a punch, Stella." Jim muttered.
"I know." Stella replied simply.
"Then why…?"
"You're my friend. I don't punch my friends. Besides, you looked like you needed a hug. And…for the record…I think you're pretty great…"
Stella felt Jim beginning to shake as he slowly returned the hug. "Why…?" Jim's voice was trembling, "Why are you being…so nice to me…? I don't…I don't understand…" Jim buried his head in Stella's shoulder, light sobs escaping as he repeated 'I don't understand'. Stella just sat there hugging him, trying not to cry herself.
Jim finally pulled away, wiping his eyes with his arm, "Sorry…"
"No need to apologise." Stella smiled as she grabbed a box of tissues from a shelf above her bed, "Started keeping these on hand after Zhen used your jacket as a hanky that one time."
"The time that skeleton bit my arse?" Jim chuckled at the memory. "Guess that's what I get for laughing at Fetcher when it happened to him, eh?"
"It's his spirit haunting you!" Stella joked.
"So, he's literally haunting my arse?"
This caused Stella to burst out laughing, Jim quickly following suit.
"I guess he wanted you to be the butt of that joke!"
"I never knew he was so humerus!"
"Maybe he thought you were a bit of a bonehead!"
"We should stop before our puns run bone-dry!"
"Well, that bites."
The two laughed at the ridiculous puns being thrown back and forth. Jim sighed, finally calming down from the laughing fit, "Okay, okay, you win. Better stop before I end up in stitches."
"You mean Stitchers?" Stella smirked. Jim snorted as he tried to hold in a laugh, "No! Stop that!"
Stella just stuck out her tongue as the two calmed down. "Well, I hate to ruin this, but now what?" Jim asked, "My point from earlier still stands: pirates won't be too happy if they hear that Stitcher Jim is on your ship, y'know?"
"If they have an issue with it, they'll have to deal with a bonified dragon." Stella grinned, "Nobody's gonna hurt you. Not if I can help it."
"And your crew? Are they okay with this?"
"They trust me. And I'm sure they'll come to trust you again too."
"Part of me really hopes so…you're really too nice, you know that Stell?"
"Better than being not nice at all, right?"
"True. Well…" Jim hopped off the bed, standing up, "The least I can do is help out, right? Anything you need done, you just leave to ol' Jim!"
"Ol' Jim? You look the same age as me, if not a bit older."
"Ah, yeah. I actually have no idea how old I am by now, t'be honest." Jim scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "When the Alliance and I first entered the Devil's Roar through the Shroud…well we don't really know what happened. Old Coop theorised that the Shroud had some sort of affect or curse on us and – to make a long story short – we kinda became immortal."
"…I'm sorry, what?!" Stella exclaimed.
"I mean, I still need to eat and stuff. And I can still be killed, evidently. But everything else just kinda…stopped? I guess? Not sure. As far as I know, I've been 30 for a few decades now. But hey, no complaints here! I get to be this handsome forever!" Jim struck a dramatic pose, causing Stella to laugh. "Alright, handsome boy." Stella giggled, playfully punching his shoulder, "Let's go get to work."
The Icebreaker had been anchored at Ancient Spire Outpost for a couple of days now as Stella recovered from the excessive amount of magic she used back on the Devil's Thirst. It took a little bit longer than intended since a group of pirates looking to have a 'friendly chat' with Jim were quickly scared off by a blue dragon that was curled around the main mast. Early that morning, Jim and Stella were talking on the shores of the outpost as they took turns tossing a ball for Nevado. "So, how're ya holding up?" Jim asked as he tossed Nevado's ball down the beach, the pup chasing after it. "My crystal seems to be back to its usual glow." Stella replied, tapping the glowing blue gem on her chest, "I'm just glad Ais wasn't around to see it the way it was. I'd be getting an earful!"
"Honestly, same. I don't even want to think about the earful she'd give me for my antics. Pretty sure she'd let Graymarrow bind my soul to a rock and toss it into the Devil's Shroud."
"It does sound like a Graymarrow thing to do!" Stella chuckled, "What about you, though? How are you doing?"
"I told you, the arm's fine."
"I don't mean the arm."
Jim turned to see Stella had a serious but concerned expression on her face, "I…saw her too. On the cliffs. Are…you okay?"
Jim stayed quiet for a moment, a sombre expression on his face. "Yeah…no…agh, I don't know." Jim sighed, "I loved her, I really did. Even after I found out she was a skeleton lord, it didn't matter. My heart belonged to her…but…looking back on it, I don't think she ever felt the same. She was just…using me. So, when she was watching the ritual…either she thought my role was done and skedaddled…or maybe she also realised Flameheart was a bad idea and saved her own skin- er, bones. Either way, she clearly didn't care enough to save me…"
Jim was interrupted by Nevado dropping the ball at his feet with a worried expression. "Heh…thanks, pupper." Jim smiled, giving Nevado a head pat as he handed the ball to Stella who threw it for Nevado.
"I think I'll be okay, though." Jim continued, "Besides, this was a bit of a wakeup call, I think. A harsh one, but a wakeup call, nonetheless. I need to stop hiding behind more powerful people in hopes of them solving my problems and start dealing with them myself. I'm scared out of my mind at the sheer thought of it, but I know it's something I have to do eventually. Doing it alone though…that's not going to be easy…neither is finding a crew though. There's not a single crew out there who hasn't heard of what I've done at this rate."
"True…" Stella replied sadly, when suddenly a look of realisation crossed her face, quickly replaced with a mischievous smirk as she took on a dramatic tone, "Alas! If only there was a crew of four who could use a fifth member! Maybe a crew with a hyper pyromaniac, a timid navigator, an ex-Reaper quartermaster, and a charismatic, charming, magical captain? Oh, but where could such a crew-?"
"Okay, I get it!" Jim laughed, giving Stella a playful punch, "You…really want me to join?"
Stella nodded happily, "Yup! You say you mainly hide behind others, but I've seen you wield a sword and you're no slouch with it. Plus, we could do with someone as crafty as you on the crew."
"But how do you know I won't lie and take off with your stuff? How do you know I won't betray you?"
"You don't seem to be lying. And my lie detection skills have a 99-to-1 rate of picking up when someone is pulling the wool over my eyes. My nana says it's a family trait which is why I never dared to lie to her or mom. Mostly in fear of the dreaded la chancla!"
"What's la chancla?"
"The go-to weapon of any mother or grandmother from Cuba…" Stella shuddered.
"Well, I won't pry since that is some clear trauma, right there!" Jim chuckled, "But…if you're sure…"
Stella nodded, "Positive." Jim smiled, "Then I'm in."
"Welcome aboard Jim!" Stella grinned, holding out her hand to Jim who gave it a hardy shake before Stella pulled him in for a hug. Nevado, who had returned with the ball, nuzzled against their legs.
The two broke the hug upon hearing running footsteps heading towards them. It was Ali who seemed panicked and out of breath.
"We've got trouble!"
To Be Continued…