After Cole had scarfed down the cake and tea, Matilda began picking up the mats and blankets they had slept on and packing them into a small carpet bag. "So, what exactly did you think you were doing, climbing a mountain in the middle of the storm?" She asked. "If there was a 'Stupid Stunt' contest, I believe you would have won the grand prize."
"Har, har." He muttered. "I was traveling. I thought I could find shelter before the storm hit."
"Traveling, hm? Where to?"
He hesitated. "To..." He tried to remember lessons from Geography class. "...Jumanakai Village. Yeah."
"Hm." She grabbed some bottles filled with colored liquids and stuffed them in the bag. "Why are you heading for Jumanakai?"
He frantically searched for believable lies. "Uhh...to visit my uncle. He's a martial arts teacher."
"Why are you crossing the Yokai Mountains to get there? Surely you could just take a bus to Warbler Town and follow the river from there."
"Uh, I thought this would be quicker."
"Hsst..." She turned and glared at him. "Don't you lie to me, boy. Tell me the truth. Why are you traveling by yourself?"
He sighed. "OK, OK..." He took a deep breath. "...I'm running away. From school."
"Hmph. Thought so." She folded a blanket. "Why are you running away?"
"I just..." He crossed his arms, trying to think. How could he explain how he felt? There were so many mixed emotions. "...I just...couldn't." He paused. "My dad wants to send me to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts...he wants me to follow his footsteps and become a dancer."
Matilda didn't reply.
"He's trained me all my life to dance. It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, it's just that I don't think it's right...for me." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't take it too well when I told him I didn't want to dance. He said I was going to school whether I liked it or not. So..." He shrugged. "I ran away."
There was a moment of silence. Then Matilda murmured.
"So what do you want to do, Cole?"
"Write a best-selling novel, star in a tv series based off my adventures, and climb Kilimanjaro."
After Cole had scarfed down the cake and tea, Matilda began picking up the mats and blankets they had slept on and packing them into a small carpet bag. "So, what exactly did you think you were doing, climbing a mountain in the middle of the storm?" She asked. "If there was a 'Stupid Stunt' contest, I believe you would have won the grand prize."
"Har, har." He muttered. "I was traveling. I thought I could find shelter before the storm hit."
"Traveling, hm? Where to?"
He hesitated. "To..." He tried to remember lessons from Geography class. "...Jumanakai Village. Yeah."
"Hm." She grabbed some bottles filled with colored liquids and stuffed them in the bag. "Why are you heading for Jumanakai?"
He frantically searched for believable lies. "Uhh...to visit my uncle. He's a martial arts teacher."
"Why are you crossing the Yokai Mountains to get there? Surely you could just take a bus to Warbler Town and follow the river from there."
"Uh, I thought this would be quicker."
"Hsst..." She turned and glared at him. "Don't you lie to me, boy. Tell me the truth. Why are you traveling by yourself?"
He sighed. "OK, OK..." He took a deep breath. "...I'm running away. From school."
"Hmph. Thought so." She folded a blanket. "Why are you running away?"
"I just..." He crossed his arms, trying to think. How could he explain how he felt? There were so many mixed emotions. "...I just...couldn't." He paused. "My dad wants to send me to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts...he wants me to follow his footsteps and become a dancer."
Matilda didn't reply.
"He's trained me all my life to dance. It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, it's just that I don't think it's right...for me." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't take it too well when I told him I didn't want to dance. He said I was going to school whether I liked it or not. So..." He shrugged. "I ran away."
There was a moment of silence. Then Matilda murmured.
"So what do you want to do, Cole?"
"Write a best-selling novel, star in a tv series based off my adventures, and climb Kilimanjaro."
Okay but let's be real, Cole would totally climb Kilimanjaro.
Cole looked at Matilda, but her face was hidden by the wide brim of her brown hat. He was surprised by the question.
"I--I don't know." He mumbled.
"What are your strengths?" She laid a folded blanket in the carpet bag.
"Well..." He thought about it. "...I'm strong. Physically, I mean. I can lift up things three times my weight sometimes. And.." He pondered about himself. "...I'm athletic. I like to be outside; running, jumping, climbing, anything with a challenge."
"Hm." She secured a tea pot into the bag. "What would you like to do for a living?"
"Well...I don't know...something active. Something challenging, something risky. Doing some good for the world...Helping Ninjago." He stared at the ground. "I've thought about being a police man and a fire-fighter before, but those things don't seem to be...enough." He sighed in frustration. "Ah, I don't know! I want to do something, I'm not a dancer, I'm a fighter! I need to be a part of something, but I don't know.....I just don't fit in anywhere. Nobody understands me, my dad thinks I'm just lazy, and I..."
He sighed and stood up. "Forget it. Just forget it."
"I'm not about to forget a little speech like that." Matilda retorted. She inclined her head to him. "Sounds to me you feel like an outcast."
"Mm." He grunted.
She gazed at the bag. "That's everything." She snapped the bag shut and slung it around her shoulder with its leather strap. She adjusted her hat, then looked at him. "So where are you headed?"
"I don't know. I've really just been wandering."
"Hmph." She was silent for a few moments. "How about you travel with me?"
"Me?"
"Does it look like I'm talking to anyone else?" She snapped. "You have a bad arm, a torn-up head, and no idea what you're doing. It'd be a shame for me to go through all that trouble rescuing you, and then as soon as you left you fell off another cliff."
"I won't fall off--"
"That's probably what you said to yourself the other night." She snorted. "So. Are you coming?"
Cole raced into the candy store to find a screaming cashier staring in horror at the little girl, who sat in the midst of half a dozen boxes of sweets and chocolates, melted chocolate and sticky sugar spread all over her little hands and chubby face. Her mouth was full of little chocolate bars while one of her messy hands was shoved down a container of milk chocolate. She stared back up at the sweating, bald man with a surprised expression, as if she didn't think anybody would find her in the middle of the aisle.
'How did she eat so many sweets so quickly?!' Cole was shocked by the amount of destruction the little girl had wreaked in such a short amount of time.
"Wha'? Wha's da prob'em?" She asked with a mouthful of chocolate.
"The 'problem'?! The 'problem'?!" The man gesticulated his hands wildly. "You ate half a dozen boxes of sweets in the middle of the store without paying!!"
"No, I didn't, I ate....Uh..." The kid glanced around uneasily. "I, uh...I didn't do that! Well, maybe I did...but I blacked out!"
"More like browned out...in chocolate." The cashier growled.
"It wasn't me!" She protested. "It was--" You pointed to Cole. "--It was him! He helped me!"
"WHAT?!" Cole shrieked.
"Yeah, you think a little kid like me can eat all these chocolates by myself? He totally helped me!"
"Are seriously accusing me of--?!"
"He encouraged me to eat that candy!"
"I did not encourage you to eat all that candy!"
The two were shouting wildly at each other, waving their arms, the screech of their voices echoing throughout the mall and attracting curious stares.
"He is a responsible adult!"
"No, NO--!"
"This situation should not be blamed on me, it should be blamed on him!"
"I told you to behave!"
"He made me, he made me do it! I'm just an innocent bystander, he's my adult supervisor!"
"I told you to behave!"
"You told me to behave, you didn't tell me to behave well!"
Wow, I love this little child's arguments. I could take tips from her.
"You knew exactly what I meant!" Cole shouted in exasperation.
The kid grinned. "No I didn't."
"Yes, you did--!"
She then chanted in a mocking tone. "You didn't specify, you were too vague, I turned it against you! Now let's eat more chocolate!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"You can't stop me, you're just my escort!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh, yeah?" Cole had a sudden idea. "Just wait 'till I tell...SANTA!!"
The little girl gasped in pure horror, her small jaw slackening, which showed the disgusting mess of melted chocolate and bits of sticky candy in her mouth. Her eyes grew wide. "You wouldn't."
He bit back a grin. "Try me."
She was frozen in shock. "Don't tell Santa."
"Maybe he already knows!"
"How could he? It's like, summer!"
"He watches you all year."
She thought about it for a few seconds. "Maybe he does."
The vexed cashier cleared his sweaty throat. "Ahem. Are you going to pay for all that?"
The blond girl gazed at the sticky damage she had wreaked. "Can all this just be for free?"
"No."
"Why not? It's not that much candy, is it?"
The man sighed in exasperation. "Kid, I have to make a living."
"No, you don't."
He stared at her. "Uh, yeah, I--"
"I AM your living." She then stood up and shouted. "You should all live to PLEASE ME!!"
"Behave well." Cole growled.
She scowled at him. She was opening her mouth to say something when a feminine voice suddenly shrieked. "SUSIE! SUSAN MOIRA ANGELA REED! JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!"
Cole whipped around to see a frazzled-looking woman with blond hair matching her daughter's, marching up to the store. Wary of being accused of kidnapping or something, he stepped aside and let her barge past him, shouting. "I've been looking everywhere for you! What do you think you're doing?!"
Telling Santa's a great way to get kids to behave!
"I AM your living. You should all live to PLEASE ME!!"
"Uhh...shop'in?" Susie mumbled, looking very guilty.
"AUGH! What have you done with your best sweater?! It's covered in chocolate!" The mother surveyed that brown, sparkling sugary mess smeared all over the tiles, the empty boxes, and her daughter. "What am I going to do with you?!"
"Sell her to the zoo. The monkeys would love her." Cole muttered under his breath, too softly to be heard.
The woman sighed and picked up Susie. "That's the last time I'm bringing you to the mall, young lady! It's not even noon and already you're making a huge mess! Come on! We're going home!"
"I don' wanna go home! I wanna stay here and eat candy! Wah!" Cole watched with amusement as Mrs. Reed hauled little Susie away, kicking and squirming. Random passersby stopped at stared curiously before grinning or scowling and continuing their shopping.
He shook his head and laughed quietly to himself. "Never again shall I play babysitter for any blond-haired kids." He vowed to himself.
"Hey," He turned around to see the cashier gesturing crossly at the mess. "Who going to pay for all this?!" He demanded.
Cole sighed and reached for his wallet. "How much?"
* * *
That poor mother . . . but really she should have paid.
Cole spent the rest of that day wandering through Yokaiville, enjoying the sunshine while it lasted and wondering about what he should do. It was true what his dad had said; he had no idea what he wanted to do...and yet he felt there was something out there, a purpose for him. He felt like he needed to roam the vast wilderness, explore the world, climb mountains, swim rivers, experience the thrill of danger. He needed to test his abilities, test his strength, test his limits. There was so much he could do, the world was at his hands!
You're just like your mother. Lou's voice echoed in his head again, hard and bitter. He wondered...if she was still around, would his mom had approved? If she hadn't--
He shook his head. Don't think about that. He told himself. Nothing could be gained by remembering old wounds.
You may not have known when you were writing this, but this ties in so well to Cole's recent flashback. . . .
Especially a certain redhead only a little younger than him with a mouth as fast as lightning... (Do any of the other Ninja make an appearance, by the way? LordTigress )
From that description I recognize Jay, but he's not a redhead! (Is he? )
Evening eventually fell on Yokaiville, and Cole realized in order to eat, he would have to buy something cheap, for the damage done at the mall had snatched up much of his money, and he couldn't afford anything pricey.
He found a bar in the dirty dregs of town, where shady characters usually hung out in the shadows. Men in ratty jackets gave him dark stares as he walked by, and he tried to shake off the hostile heat of their glares on his shoulders. The bar he entered was a stinking, run-down joint, with only a few customers eating in dusty booths and drinking at the soda-stained bar, while a group of men played pool at the other end of the room. Faint country music played from an old stereo on a counter behind the surly barman, and people muttered in small groups, sharing stories or stale jokes.
Cole ordered a drink and a small meal, then seated himself in a booth off in the corner, trying not to draw attention to himself. After tasting the food, he wondered if he would have been better off eating a bag of trail mix for dinner.
A hand as strong as iron suddenly gripped his shoulder. "You lost, little girl?" He whipped around to see a huge, muscle-bound, dark bearded man leering down at him. He wore shaggy jeans, a leather jacket, a red baseball cap on his shaggy hair, and an unpleasant smirk on his face.
Annoyed at being caught by surprise, Cole shrugged off the hairy hand and snapped. "Go play in traffic, Tarzan."
The man swiftly grabbed Cole's shoulders and smashed him against the wall, sending a jolt of pain down his back. "Who do you think you're playing with, boy?" Cole grimaced at the smell of his breath.
"Buzz off, nobody needs to get hurt over this." He growled, trying to shake off a tremor of fear.
The dude's buddies at the pool table were watching eagerly by this time, grinning and jeering. One shouted. "Show that pup who's boss, Rick!"
Rick sneered, revealing yellow teeth. "I'll teach you!" With that, he swung at Cole.
Hah. Don't get in a fight with the master of EARTH!
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
![[h]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/nPCskakrdhDERqIVGKuw.png)
(Do any of the other Ninja make an appearance, by the way? 
)