Onyx and the Rise of the Snakes

Snakebit

A loud crashing noise suddenly jerked Onyx from her sleep. She leapt up, slammed her head on the ceiling, and nearly fell off of her bunk. Nya stuck her head out of her bunk below. "Are you okay?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Onyx massaged the top of her head. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said, climbing down the ladder. Due to the small size of the ship, her and Nya were sharing a room.

Onyx dashed down the hallway into the boys' bunkroom, where she found Wu banging a set of cymbals together. "In order to respect ourselves, we first must respect our new home and where we are from. And this place is a long way from becoming a ninja headquarters. I expect it to be spotless when I return. And put your backs into it," he said, giving the cymbals another clash before leaving the room. Onyx and the boys looked at each other for a moment. Cole yawned and waved a hand at Onyx. "Let us get dressed," he said. Onyx nodded and left to get dressed herself.

Onyx and the others scrubbed and scoured the ship, cleaning everywhere. Cabinets, portholes, even between floorboards. Finally, the ship was satisfactorily clean. "Okay! I think we're done," Onyx said. The five pulled the cloths they'd tied over their mouths off. "That was a lot of dust," Jay said with a cough. "Yeah. If I get any more in my hair, I'll look like a grandfather," Cole said. "I'll go shake these out," Onyx said, taking the clothes and running up on deck.

As she shook the dust from the cloths, she noticed a cloud of dust out on the horizon that was steadily growing larger. She narrowed her eyes and raised her hands to her katana hilts, shoving the cloths into her pockets and ducking below the railing. As the cloud of dust grew closer, she realized that it was a vehicle made of a patchwork of metal scraps. She relaxed slightly when Wu and Nya hopped out, but tensed again when an older couple followed, jabbering on about brakes, bumpers, and trailers. These two were talkers, and loud ones at that.

The ninja came onto the deck. Jay looked apprehensive and embarrassed. "Mom, Dad! It's great to see you!" He said. Onyx gave a small nod to herself. That explained why they talked so much, and why Jay's voice was filled with fake enthusiasm. "Oh, look! It's my baby boy. We haven't heard from you in forever!" His mother said. "Ma, I called you two days ago," Jay said, slightly annoyed. His father laughed. "Well it's not soon enough, Son. When are you coming to the junkyard? You keep saying that you're coming and you don't," he said.

Blood flushed Jay's cheeks. "Dad... do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?" He muttered. "Oh, he hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard," his mother explained. Her eyes fell on Nya. "Oh, who are you?" A grin spread across her face. "You're so cute! Just my son's type!" She added.

Onyx snorted, then realized that it was a mistake. Jay's parents looked up, somehow hearing her. "Who's up there?" His father asked. Onyx froze. She wasn't entirely sure what her idea of a good visit was, but she was pretty sure that it didn't involve having to be examined by an overly friendly couple. Onyx could see there was no way around it, so she leapt cautiously over the railing.

"Aw, aren't you adorable!" Mrs. Walker exclaimed, pinching Onyx's cheek. She flinched and gave a nervous grin. "Hi. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Walker," she said. "Oh, please, just call me Edna! This is my husband, Ed. Who are you?" Mrs. Walker asked. "Onyx," she answered. "How old are you? You look a lot younger than your friends," Ed asked. "Probably ten," Onyx said, rubbing her ear and edging back slightly as the two got closer. It seemed to be a habit they had. "Do I know your parents?" Edna asked. Onyx froze up. "No," she said quietly. Nya jumped in, saving her from further questioning. "If you want, Jay can give you a tour of the ship. He worked very hard on it," she said quickly.

Ed And Edna were easily distracted. "Ooh, we'd love a tour!" They said together. Like clockwork. Jay leaned his head against the mast with a sigh, like he had headache. Then he nodded. "Come on," he said, leading them belowdeck. Onyx also sighed, but out of relief instead of exasperation. "Thanks," she murmured to Nya. Nya nodded. "No problem. I needed a break too," she said.

Onyx and Nya stayed above deck as the other ninja and Wu slowly filed belowdeck. "They're a... mouthful," Onyx said finally. Nya nodded. "Definitely," she agreed. "They talked a lot," Onyx added. "They're just curious. They don't mean anything by it," Nya assured her. Onyx gave half a shrug. "Yeah, I guess," she agreed. The two stared out at the horizon, chatting together for a while.

After a while, Cole's voice sounded from the stairs as footsteps drew nearer. "It was a pleasure hearing about Jay's first potty time, Edna," he said. Onyx stood up quickly from where she had been leaning on the railing watching the sun sink below the horizon and prepared herself. "Onyx, relax," Nya said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Oh, if you though that was good, wait until you hear about the time I caught him kissing his pillow," Edna said.

"Snakes, Ma. Snakes!" Jay reminded her frantically. Nya laughed, and Onyx gave a tiny snicker. The group came up on deck, chattering like a group of canaries. "Okay, we're going. You promise to come and visit us?" Edna asked. "Yes, I promise, but only if you leave. I don't want you getting hurt," Jay said quickly.
"Nothing can hurt them, they'd talk it to death before it got within thirty feet." Onyx whispered. Nya bit her tongue to stop her smile.

"Are your headlights working?" Jay asked as his parents climbed into their jalopy. Ed leaned over to flip a switch. Blinding white light assaulted the ninja. Onyx whipped her face away with a yelp, eyes burning. "Do you like 'em? I used a little extra juice! Yep, bye son," Ed called, addressing three points at once before starting the engine with a whining screech and driving away, leaving a trail of smoke behind them, but not before Edna called, "come soon, and bring Nya with you! I can see why you like her!"

"Mom!" Jay yelled, blush disguised by the night. Wu turned back to the ship. "Now that they're gone, perhaps Jay can teach us the art of kissing pillows." He snorted as he walked away. The boys started laughing as they followed. Onyx and Nya hid their snickers behind coughs. Now that they were gone, the ship was peacefully quiet again. "Well, it's late. We ought to get to bed," Nya said. Onyx nodded. "Yeah. They tired me out," she said, trotting back up onto the deck with Nya.

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I'm back! Geez, that was a long week. And for some reason I'm just sad all of the time now. Sad when I wake up, sad when I go to bed, just sad. I don't know what to do about it.