—Before abruptly sitting up and gazing straight into Eagle Talon’s eyes. In that moment, he felt sure she could see him. Her cloudy eyes blazed. “You’re a monster.” Then she collapsed onto Cole, burying her head in his chest. Talon couldn’t watch anymore. He turned and ran—toward the edge of the precipice? Yes, he would jump, if only to get away from Liana’s cries and Cole’s lifeless eyes. Talon ran with all his might, turning his back on the scene. He saw the edge, neared it, ignored the black mouth yawning before him, and leapt into the air. The wind suddenly howled louder than ever, until it was fairly screaming into his ears, like a long, chilling wail of agony. He flew through the air, then plummeted. He was spinning and spiraling through darkness. He opened his mouth to scream— “Shut up!” A paw cuffed him around the head. Eagle Talon jolted up in his nest. He blinked anxiously in the darkness of the cavern, sniffing the air. He recognized the scents of his tribe-mates around him, and realized he was now safe in the real world. “Beetle-brain!” An irritated voice reminded him that someone had woken him up. He turned and saw the pale outline of Tiny Sparrow standing over him. The small female hissed irritably, “What’s the matter with you?! No cat can hardly get any sleep with you thrashing around like that in your nest, much less when you’re yowling like you’ve got a pack of foxes on your tails!” “S— sorry,” Talon muttered. He lowered his head and looked away. “It was just a bad dream. I’ll be quiet now.” “Humph,” Tiny Sparrow snorted, but didn't press the matter. She returned to her nest and settled down, though not without a few dark mutters. Talon could sense other cats in the cave sharing a few low murmurs and whining in their beds, but for the most part, everyone was ready to get back to sleep. Within moments, the only sounds in the dark cave were the rhythmic breathing of a few dozen cats, along with a snore here and there.
“Master of Fire, huh?” Bird granted a small smile—he didn’t seem to understand what Kai meant, but it seemed to give him an idea. Abruptly, he clutched Kai’s wrist, raised his arm up with his hook hand, and announced loudly, “All welcome our newest warrior: Kai, the Fire Mage! May he bring us pride and victory! By’lännie!” “By’lännie, Kai, the Fire Mage!” Kaeden, Jukeni, and all the rest of the rebel warriors echoed enthusiastically. Happy whoops and cheers followed, and the courtyard rang with the voices of its delighted occupants. Through the loud voices and celebrations that followed, a dazed and exhausted Kai repeated the new title wonderingly to himself. “Fire Mage.”
“Master of Fire, huh?” Bird granted a small smile—he didn’t seem to understand what Kai meant, but it seemed to give him an idea. Abruptly, he clutched Kai’s wrist, raised his arm up with his hook hand, and announced loudly, “All welcome our newest warrior: Kai, the Fire Mage! May he bring us pride and victory! By’lännie!” “By’lännie, Kai, the Fire Mage!” Kaeden, Jukeni, and all the rest of the rebel warriors echoed enthusiastically. Happy whoops and cheers followed, and the courtyard rang with the voices of its delighted occupants. Through the loud voices and celebrations that followed, a dazed and exhausted Kai repeated the new title wonderingly to himself. “Fire Mage.”
Yet while his tribe-mates returned to the realm of sleep easily enough, Eagle Talon stayed awake for a long time, alone with his heart that did not slow down for a while. Even if he thought he would be able to soothe himself to sleep, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to return to that uncertain realm of his mind just yet. The faint echo of Kohuru’s voice returned to his head, chanting distantly: Blind, blind, one of a kind is the death of the blind!
* * *
One of the things Cole could rarely stand was pity. Rarely did standing around feeling sorry for someone help things—usually, getting up and fixing the problem without whining about it did the trick. Of course, he was aware pity was a sign of caring and compassion between friends, and one shouldn’t treat it like it’s an insult. Still… often, he found it easier to pity others than to have someone else pity him. Cole felt a lot of pity directed at him throughout the day. From Master Wu, from his father, from the majority of his teammates, from Little Leaf, from Misako, and from Liana—though, funnily enough, Jay was the only one who didn’t seem timid around Cole or tried to speak carefully when addressing him. Perhaps he knew Cole’s nature well enough to know that acting as if they were simply on another mission would help keep his friend more at ease—it was that, or, Jay was more oblivious to the world around him than Cole had originally believed. Whatever the case, the amount of pity Cole could feel directed at him was enough that he decided to lock himself in the ninjas’ quarters until they arrived at their destination. He found that he indeed received the solitude he was desiring, but with it came a price: the company of his own thoughts, and few of them were cheerful.
To distract himself, he started to tidy up around the room; he made his bed, kicked his and the other guys’ dirty laundry aside into a neat pile in a corner, and, as the finale, began sorting through the collection of clothes and small items of possession he kept in the chest of drawers that sat beside his bed. He went through several pairs of dark underwear, some undershirts, socks, and a pair of leggings with a hole in one knee before finding the heavier things down at the bottom: a couple of sai, some kunai throwing knives, a couple of pebbles for some reason, an old pamphlet for one of his dad’s shows— His fingers brushed against something cold and hard. He pulled out a small, peculiar-looking collection of thin metal rings joined together in a jumbled-up, confusing mesh. Recognition made him stiffen. He jumped when a knocking sound came from the door, along with the voice of Liana. “Cole? You there?” “I, uh— yeah, yeah,” he stammered, feeling a little bewildered being jolted out of his thoughts. He hurried to the door and opened it, revealing Liana. “Is it—?” She spoke hesitantly. “Is it OK if I come in? I don’t want to disturb you…” In his abrupt disconcertion, he forgot that he’d hidden himself away in order not to interact with anyone, which is why he replied instinctively, “Oh, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine—come on in.” Liana entered and found her way to Cole’s bed. Sitting upon it, she asked, “What’cha doin’?” “Nothing.” Cole shoved the object he held into a pocket of his pants. Liana’s eyebrows arched when she heard the faint jingle of the iron rings. “What’s that?” Cole hesitated, then pulled the rings back out, even though she couldn’t see them. “It’s— it’s a ring. Well, a bunch of tiny rings, I guess,” he stammered. “But they’re shaped into this weird, wiggly pattern, and you have to put them together like a puzzle to be able to get the full ring. It also makes a picture when everything’s put in the right place.” Liana’s lips quirked with mild curiosity. “What’s the picture of?”
“A dragon.” Cole’s gaze fell upon the mess of iron hoops again. “Matilda was the one who gave this me—when we all first met, years ago.” “Oh,” she responded softly. Both of them fell silent. At length she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?” “About what?” “Matilda… Talon… Black Blood…” He felt himself stiffen. “I’d rather not, if that’s OK,” he responded evenly. “OK.” She ducked her head and blushed. “Sorry. I—” Cole felt bad for being prickly. He struggled to explain himself. “I’m not trying to be rude, it’s just—” He looked down at the ring again and said in a more bewildered tone, “It’s just that this was broken.” “What do you mean?” “Before Raven Frost and Broken Fang kidnapped Kai and Skylor,” Cole recalled slowly, carefully, mentally rummaging through his memories to make sure he wasn’t going crazy. “We were packing up stuff in the tea shop, ‘cause we were about to move into the Temple of Airjitzu. Kai found this in one of the storage boxes. Then, a few minutes later, a heavy box fell on the ring and smashed it to pieces.” Cole shook his head wonderingly. “I’m not crazy, right? I remember it. All the little rings were twisted and broken… I just put it away, but now— now it’s fixed. No twisted hoops, no pieces missing, nothing! Like magic.” The word “magic” made Liana’s milky eyes light up. “You know… I’ve caught Matilda snooping around in these rooms once or twice.” That made Cole remember something else: “She was with us when the ring broke. She was disguised as a cat, and we didn’t know who she was at the time, but she was there…” “I’d bet anything that she was the one who fixed it.” Liana’s lips curved into a small, teasing smile. “She probably did it while the rest of us were out fighting recently. Surely she’s done more here on the Bounty aside from drinking tea with Master Wu?”
“Maybe you’re right.” Cole realized the idea was a probable one. He felt a little touched that the irascible witch cared enough about the old gift she’d given him once upon a time to take it upon herself to fix it and leave it for him to find. The small, heartwarming feeling, however, was soon drowned out by a fresh wave of sorrow. If Matilda was destroyed by the Moon Tribe, Cole would never get to thank her for the gift—never even get to tell her goodbye. Holding the ring in the palm of his hand reminded him of this disheartening fact. As if on cue, Liana murmured softly, “She loves you like a son, you know.” He heard himself ask, “How can you tell?” “I just can.” He stared down at the mess of iron rings. He felt a strange sort of numbness that wasn’t entirely comfortable. Abruptly, he grabbed Liana’s hand—gently—and placed the ring into her palm. “I want you to have it.” “What? Why?” “I just do,” he replied shortly. “It hurts too much to remember. Besides, I think you’d like playing around with it better than I do. You’ve got a knack for detecting patterns and stuff with your fingers.” “We’re going to get her back, Cole.” “Just take it. Please.” He looked into her unseeing gray eyes. “Think of it as a— as a birthday present from me.” She grinned in a combination of bewilderment and amusement. “You don’t even know when my birthday is.” “Too bad, happy birthday.” He said it with a smile, but he closed her fingers over the ring firmly. She shrugged and slipped it into a pocket of her purple gi. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” They sat together in an uneasy silence. Cole realized they hadn’t had much time together alone recently—at least, not since that night in the meadow, when they’d— The memory made both his cheeks warm up and his heart give a single little jump. He’d hadn’t had much time to reflect upon that experience, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was hard enough trying to discern his own feelings concerning Liana without all the drama with his half-feline siblings and the war between them and the ninja.
“I, uhh…” Liana broke the silence, nervously twirling one of her locks of hair around her finger. “Anyway, I came to— to talk to you.” “About Talon and Black Blood?” He quickly felt defensive again. “No. You’ve made it pretty clear to everyone that you don’t want to talk about that at all,” she responded with a wry note. Before he could bluster a reply, she continued, “I wanted to talk about my element—or really, your thoughts on it.” “My thoughts?” he echoed. “What about Master Wu? He knows a lot more about training Elemental Masters than I do.” “Yes, but not about mind-bending,” she said. “And that’s something I’ve been playing around with lately. You see…” She bit her lip, clearly remembering something. “Yesterday, while you were fighting Eagle Talon and Black Blood, something— something happened.” Liana explained to Cole her part to play in his battle against Black Blood and Eagle Talon: how she had summoned the mind-bending abilities Matilda had taught them all and had not only felt Cole and discovered where he was, but mentally fought off Black Blood from getting into his head and having the advantage. Cole felt his amazement increase as she told the tale, and by the time she finished, he was shaking his head in wonder. “That’s incredible, Liana.” She blushed and smiled. “Thanks.” “I’m serious!” he insisted. He remembered how difficult those mind-bending sessions were for everyone. The fact that Liana not only tracked him by herself, but fought off one of the most powerful Seven Sorcerers all on her own, was truly incredible. “None of us have got half of what it takes to mind-bend like you do. Even Matilda seems to have trouble with it sometimes. But you— you’re a natural at it!” Liana’s expression shifted and became more serious. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” She hesitated. “Go ahead,” he pressed encouragingly. Liana took a moment to inhale slowly, then said, “We still haven’t figured out what my element is yet.” “Yeah…”
Yet while his tribe-mates returned to the realm of sleep easily enough, Eagle Talon stayed awake for a long time, alone with his heart that did not slow down for a while. Even if he thought he would be able to soothe himself to sleep, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to return to that uncertain realm of his mind just yet. The faint echo of Kohuru’s voice returned to his head, chanting distantly: Blind, blind, one of a kind is the death of the blind!
* * *
One of the things Cole could rarely stand was pity. Rarely did standing around feeling sorry for someone help things—usually, getting up and fixing the problem without whining about it did the trick. Of course, he was aware pity was a sign of caring and compassion between friends, and one shouldn’t treat it like it’s an insult. Still… often, he found it easier to pity others than to have someone else pity him. Cole felt a lot of pity directed at him throughout the day. From Master Wu, from his father, from the majority of his teammates, from Little Leaf, from Misako, and from Liana—though, funnily enough, Jay was the only one who didn’t seem timid around Cole or tried to speak carefully when addressing him. Perhaps he knew Cole’s nature well enough to know that acting as if they were simply on another mission would help keep his friend more at ease—it was that, or, Jay was more oblivious to the world around him than Cole had originally believed. Whatever the case, the amount of pity Cole could feel directed at him was enough that he decided to lock himself in the ninjas’ quarters until they arrived at their destination. He found that he indeed received the solitude he was desiring, but with it came a price: the company of his own thoughts, and few of them were cheerful.
These last couple of story parts have been so...haunting. Talon's dreams are growing increasingly concerning---just how long will he be able to keep it together like this? I'm worried. o_o
I really like this. It's a quiet, peaceful moment but it's also so...sad. Very relatable, in a way.
To distract himself, he started to tidy up around the room; he made his bed, kicked his and the other guys’ dirty laundry aside into a neat pile in a corner, and, as the finale, began sorting through the collection of clothes and small items of possession he kept in the chest of drawers that sat beside his bed. He went through several pairs of dark underwear, some undershirts, socks, and a pair of leggings with a hole in one knee before finding the heavier things down at the bottom: a couple of sai, some kunai throwing knives, a couple of pebbles for some reason, an old pamphlet for one of his dad’s shows— His fingers brushed against something cold and hard. He pulled out a small, peculiar-looking collection of thin metal rings joined together in a jumbled-up, confusing mesh. Recognition made him stiffen. He jumped when a knocking sound came from the door, along with the voice of Liana. “Cole? You there?” “I, uh— yeah, yeah,” he stammered, feeling a little bewildered being jolted out of his thoughts. He hurried to the door and opened it, revealing Liana. “Is it—?” She spoke hesitantly. “Is it OK if I come in? I don’t want to disturb you…” In his abrupt disconcertion, he forgot that he’d hidden himself away in order not to interact with anyone, which is why he replied instinctively, “Oh, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine—come on in.” Liana entered and found her way to Cole’s bed. Sitting upon it, she asked, “What’cha doin’?” “Nothing.” Cole shoved the object he held into a pocket of his pants. Liana’s eyebrows arched when she heard the faint jingle of the iron rings. “What’s that?” Cole hesitated, then pulled the rings back out, even though she couldn’t see them. “It’s— it’s a ring. Well, a bunch of tiny rings, I guess,” he stammered. “But they’re shaped into this weird, wiggly pattern, and you have to put them together like a puzzle to be able to get the full ring. It also makes a picture when everything’s put in the right place.” Liana’s lips quirked with mild curiosity. “What’s the picture of?”
No way, is it really...? *quickly jumps to Runaway* Just reading about these rings makes me feel nostalgic. ]
“Maybe you’re right.” Cole realized the idea was a probable one. He felt a little touched that the irascible witch cared enough about the old gift she’d given him once upon a time to take it upon herself to fix it and leave it for him to find. The small, heartwarming feeling, however, was soon drowned out by a fresh wave of sorrow. If Matilda was destroyed by the Moon Tribe, Cole would never get to thank her for the gift—never even get to tell her goodbye. Holding the ring in the palm of his hand reminded him of this disheartening fact. As if on cue, Liana murmured softly, “She loves you like a son, you know.” He heard himself ask, “How can you tell?” “I just can.” He stared down at the mess of iron rings. He felt a strange sort of numbness that wasn’t entirely comfortable. Abruptly, he grabbed Liana’s hand—gently—and placed the ring into her palm. “I want you to have it.” “What? Why?” “I just do,” he replied shortly. “It hurts too much to remember. Besides, I think you’d like playing around with it better than I do. You’ve got a knack for detecting patterns and stuff with your fingers.” “We’re going to get her back, Cole.” “Just take it. Please.” He looked into her unseeing gray eyes. “Think of it as a— as a birthday present from me.” She grinned in a combination of bewilderment and amusement. “You don’t even know when my birthday is.” “Too bad, happy birthday.” He said it with a smile, but he closed her fingers over the ring firmly. She shrugged and slipped it into a pocket of her purple gi. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” They sat together in an uneasy silence. Cole realized they hadn’t had much time together alone recently—at least, not since that night in the meadow, when they’d— The memory made both his cheeks warm up and his heart give a single little jump. He’d hadn’t had much time to reflect upon that experience, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was hard enough trying to discern his own feelings concerning Liana without all the drama with his half-feline siblings and the war between them and the ninja.
Awwwww they are so cute!!!
It's amazing how Matilda's little gift always finds a way to help Cole cheer up! I wonder if she did anything else around the Bounty... (or maybe she just drank really good tea with Wu? I know I would. xD)
Yet while his tribe-mates returned to the realm of sleep easily enough, Eagle Talon stayed awake for a long time, alone with his heart that did not slow down for a while. Even if he thought he would be able to soothe himself to sleep, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to return to that uncertain realm of his mind just yet. The faint echo of Kohuru’s voice returned to his head, chanting distantly: Blind, blind, one of a kind is the death of the blind!
* * *
One of the things Cole could rarely stand was pity. Rarely did standing around feeling sorry for someone help things—usually, getting up and fixing the problem without whining about it did the trick. Of course, he was aware pity was a sign of caring and compassion between friends, and one shouldn’t treat it like it’s an insult. Still… often, he found it easier to pity others than to have someone else pity him. Cole felt a lot of pity directed at him throughout the day. From Master Wu, from his father, from the majority of his teammates, from Little Leaf, from Misako, and from Liana—though, funnily enough, Jay was the only one who didn’t seem timid around Cole or tried to speak carefully when addressing him. Perhaps he knew Cole’s nature well enough to know that acting as if they were simply on another mission would help keep his friend more at ease—it was that, or, Jay was more oblivious to the world around him than Cole had originally believed. Whatever the case, the amount of pity Cole could feel directed at him was enough that he decided to lock himself in the ninjas’ quarters until they arrived at their destination. He found that he indeed received the solitude he was desiring, but with it came a price: the company of his own thoughts, and few of them were cheerful.
These last couple of story parts have been so...haunting. Talon's dreams are growing increasingly concerning---just how long will he be able to keep it together like this? I'm worried. o_o
I really like this. It's a quiet, peaceful moment but it's also so...sad. Very relatable, in a way.
To distract himself, he started to tidy up around the room; he made his bed, kicked his and the other guys’ dirty laundry aside into a neat pile in a corner, and, as the finale, began sorting through the collection of clothes and small items of possession he kept in the chest of drawers that sat beside his bed. He went through several pairs of dark underwear, some undershirts, socks, and a pair of leggings with a hole in one knee before finding the heavier things down at the bottom: a couple of sai, some kunai throwing knives, a couple of pebbles for some reason, an old pamphlet for one of his dad’s shows— His fingers brushed against something cold and hard. He pulled out a small, peculiar-looking collection of thin metal rings joined together in a jumbled-up, confusing mesh. Recognition made him stiffen. He jumped when a knocking sound came from the door, along with the voice of Liana. “Cole? You there?” “I, uh— yeah, yeah,” he stammered, feeling a little bewildered being jolted out of his thoughts. He hurried to the door and opened it, revealing Liana. “Is it—?” She spoke hesitantly. “Is it OK if I come in? I don’t want to disturb you…” In his abrupt disconcertion, he forgot that he’d hidden himself away in order not to interact with anyone, which is why he replied instinctively, “Oh, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine—come on in.” Liana entered and found her way to Cole’s bed. Sitting upon it, she asked, “What’cha doin’?” “Nothing.” Cole shoved the object he held into a pocket of his pants. Liana’s eyebrows arched when she heard the faint jingle of the iron rings. “What’s that?” Cole hesitated, then pulled the rings back out, even though she couldn’t see them. “It’s— it’s a ring. Well, a bunch of tiny rings, I guess,” he stammered. “But they’re shaped into this weird, wiggly pattern, and you have to put them together like a puzzle to be able to get the full ring. It also makes a picture when everything’s put in the right place.” Liana’s lips quirked with mild curiosity. “What’s the picture of?”
No way, is it really...? *quickly jumps to Runaway* Just reading about these rings makes me feel nostalgic.
These last couple of story parts have been so...haunting. Talon's dreams are growing increasingly concerning---just how long will he be able to keep it together like this? I'm worried. o_o
I really like this. It's a quiet, peaceful moment but it's also so...sad. Very relatable, in a way.
No way, is it really...? *quickly jumps to Runaway* Just reading about these rings makes me feel nostalgic.
Eheheh... as you should be.
ėėėėėėeė- *gets teary-eyed* you remember
wait why does my heart hurt
These rings are quite memorable. Just like their original owner. I hope Matilda is okay ._.
mine hurts too...just seeing how happy they were in runaway gave me emotional whiplash... ;~;
“It’s not earth-related or water-related; that much we know so far. Wu was saying to me earlier today that we’ll work with fire and air soon, because it’s important we learn what my element is.” Liana bit her lip, a habit she seemed to have when thinking of what to say about a serious topic. “He pointed out my knack for the mind-bending stuff, but didn’t say much else. So now I…” Her voice trailed off. He felt tempted to press her for more, but he could tell that she was thinking methodically. Patiently, he waited. “Cole… do you know if— if something like mind is an element? That sounds stupid now that I’m saying it out loud,” she interrupted herself hastily. “But, you know, I remember hearing about the Elemental Masters’ alliance, that there are a lot—” “It’s not a dumb question,” Cole interrupted. “There is a Master of Mind. We met him on Chen’s island, before the Anacondrai attack.” Liana perked up. “So— so there’s a chance my element is mind, then!” “Yeah…” Cole thought out loud eagerly. “Neuro can see other people’s thoughts, and predict what they’re going to do. I’ve seen him send his opponents splitting headaches and migraines in combat, too. He can be a pretty deadly opponent.” “Can he bust chains apart and make things explode with his mind, too?” she asked. His rising excitement stalled. “I— I’m not sure. Come to think of it,” he said reluctantly. “Those things don’t really seem like stuff a Mind Ninja would be able to do. Plus,” he added, “healing wounds isn’t exactly a mind-related power, either. I mean, I could be wrong. Just because I haven’t seen Neuro do it doesn’t mean he can’t.” Liana nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll have to ask Master Wu about it.” She got up and headed for the door, her hand trailing along the wall as a guide. “You’re leaving already?” She paused and turned her face halfway in his direction. She wore a perplexed smile. “Did you want me to stay?” Heat rose to his face. “Uh, no— I mean, yes, but— I’m OK with you leaving— not that I want you to leave, I like— umm… ugh.” Embarrassed, he waved her off. “Do what you like.”
He looked away when she’d smirked teasingly, so he didn’t see how her face shifted to an expression of affection. “Zane says dinner’s almost ready, so you’re going to have to leave your room soon, anyway.” “Fine. See you in a few minutes.” “See you.” She hesitated, then turned and exited the ninjas’ quarters. With a small sigh, Cole slumped and lay on his back on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and took advantage of the last few minutes he had of his freedom by allowing himself to be immersed in his own private thoughts.
* * *
It was a cool, misty morning that greeted the crew of the Destiny’s Bounty as they finally arrived at their destination. They were still airborne, but close enough to the ground that they could see the individual evergreen trees that dotted the snow-spotted landscape, along with the single river that wound its way like an agile silver snake up and down the low hills. Zane stood at the bow, feeling the icy wind brush past his metallic cheeks. Pixal interrupted his meditation saying, “We are nearing a small town known as Oxstone. The villagers here specialize in herding and breeding bovine livestock, as do most of the small towns in this area. The cove marked on the map is several miles north of this village. Other than that, not much is known about this territory. Because we are not sure what to expect, take caution.” “Thank you, Pixal.” Zane granted a brief smile in recognition of her help. She responded with a small nod. Zane focused his gaze away from his visual scanner and to the sky beyond. He could taste salt in the chilly air, and he wondered how close they were to the ocean. The others were beginning to gather on deck now, albeit closer to the shelter of the bridge where Nya was steering and Wu and Misako were observing the maps. Lloyd, Jay and Cole had wrapped their bare arms around themselves, shivering in the cold air, whereas Little Leaf had taken to her bakeneko form, and looked at the shaking humans smugly in her fur coat. Mr. Brookstone stood by idly with them, looking uncertain as to what to do with himself.