-Preface-
Welp, here we are again. Once upon a time I finished Heart of the Oni and the Collection and got a little bored. My cousin wanted me to do some cute one-offs of Cole and Keyda since there was a lot of potential there. And I was like sure….but of course it turned out to be super fun exploring their new reality in the first realm. Then a plot got involved and…well…here we are a few months and a few hundred pages later. Oops.
My cousin has been enjoying this sequel (because that's what it's become…) and has been trying to get me to post it for a while. I was a little self-conscious because while the Heart of the Oni followed many different viewpoints and all of the ninja, the sequel follows the lives of Cole and Keyda primarily and some other characters that get introduced along the way, as well as the development of the Oni nation as a whole. The other ninja are in the story, but only occasionally. I have no idea if that makes a difference to you or not…but consider yourself warned?
All that being said, it's been super fun to explore the different challenges, victories, and drama that would occur as Cole adjusts to his new home and Keyda adjusts to her new role as leader. It's been exciting to write and I hope that it will be exciting to read if you still end up wanting to after this rambling preface haha. I look forward to hearing what you think; happy reading!
-NP
1
Even after a few weeks, Cole still woke up wondering where he was. The room was small and in a strange, out-of-the-way spot in the fortress. He honestly couldn't help but wonder if Keyda had had some closet cleaned out. He didn't mind; he understood the need for discretion. The Oni were mad enough that he had come back, so if he was given accommodations that put him above others on the whole "Oni caste system" he knew there'd be trouble.
Cole sat up blearily in the weak light that was making its way into his room. He liked getting up before most of the Oni were up and about; it meant that he could explore on his own. After getting out of bed and stretching he changed quickly into a clean gi. He made it to his door and looked back in the room. Near his bed was a walking cane, and draped on a nearby shelf was the ceremonial scarf he had worn to his father's performance. After considering for a few moments he decided against both. The cane made him look weak, which he had learned was not ideal in this environment. And though most of the Oni knew of Keyda and his relationship, the scarf was a little too slap-in-the-face and would undoubtedly cause some problems.
He padded down the hallways with bare feet. During the first few days a slave had been assigned to show him around, but that had made him uncomfortable and he had finally just memorized all the important places. His daily explorations added to his mind-map and by now he felt he had a pretty good idea where everything was. Keyda was busy most days—it seemed that being in charge of running a nation kept one pretty busy, though she generally tried to see him a few hours every day.
He found himself in a new corridor and he took in the strange artifacts on the walls. There was a whole panel with intricately carved horns sticking out of it…but they looked a little different than the dragon horns he'd seen. He ran a finger along one, intrigued. It was kind of like Ivory. He wondered what kind of dragon they had come from.
He reached the end of the hall and noticed a strange door. He tried the handle and was pleased to find that it was unlocked. It opened to reveal a long steep staircase leading into blackness. He frowned and fished a torch out of the nearby wall-holder, lighting it before heading down.
When he got to the corridor at the bottom he couldn't help but gape in amazement.
"Woah…" he said, his voice echoing. The walls and ceiling were painted with beautiful and detailed artwork as far as he could see. He walked slowly, trying to take it all in.
"It must be their history…" he mused aloud, taking a closer look at a few battle scenes between Dragon and Oni. He recognized the Elder in several of the scenes…that guy really was old. He still didn't know much about him, other than he tried to kill them all and that he hated the Oni.
He had been down there awhile when he eventually reached the end of the hall. He had to raise his torch in order to take in the huge mural.
"Oh my gosh…" he whispered in awe. A small child stood in the center of the mural, smiling softly. His hair was pale and he had grey eyes…
Cole reached out a hand to touch the centuries-old painting.
"The first-spinjitzu-master…" he murmured. His gaze traveled up to the dragon winding above the child. It was pale-gold, with a stoic expression. Another figure decorated the space below the child; in fact, together with the dragon, the two paintings neatly circled the small figure in the middle. The woman on the bottom was clearly an Oni…though Cole was surprised that she had horns. She was smiling and seemed to have a kind face. There was a small red flower in her black braid and Cole wondered if the realm had been more lush back then.
He stared at the painting awhile longer before finally realizing that he had probably been down there a long time. It was cold in these deep tunnels beneath the fortress, and as he walked back up the stairs he shivered as the hot air surrounded him and began to warm his chilled skin. He doused the torch and put it back into its hanger before heading back down the hall. His stomach grumbled and he realized he had skipped breakfast.
He was heading towards the kitchen when he turned a corner quickly and nearly ran straight into a large Oni.
"Oh…" Cole said, taking a step back as the Oni glared down at him. He smiled sheepishly.
"Uh…sorry…" he said, looking for a way around.
The Oni didn't say anything. Based on his clothing, Cole knew he was of the lower castes. In fact, he was probably a slave. The whole "slavery" thing still made the ninja uncomfortable, but every time he had brought it up with Keyda she had sighed and said something along the lines of "one battle at a time."
The Oni still hadn't moved out of his way.
"I…didn't see you there, um…" Cole hesitated, because if anything the Oni was positioning himself more in the way. "…what was your name again?"
The Oni narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't know what Cole's deal was. Heck, Cole didn't even know what his deal was…he just wanted to get to the kitchen so he could get something to eat!
"Thom." The Oni finally answered.
"Thom. Well, nice to meet ya. Um, I don't suppose I could get past you…just trying to get to the…"
"You aint welcome here, outsider." Thom interrupted. Cole sighed inwardly; he had heard the same from all kinds of Oni over the past week. They hated him…but given who's guest he was, they couldn't really do anything about it. This guy, however, had a slightly more threatening look to him.
"Well…I am sorry to hear that…" Cole said, beginning to inch his way around the large form. Thom raised a fist and Cole looked him in the face, daring him to try something.
"Cole."
Heavy Metal had somehow appeared at the end of the hall, and Thom's arm immediately dropped. Cole looked over and gave the older Oni a grin.
"Keyda has been looking for you." Heavy Metal explained.
"Alright, just let me grab something to eat..."
He was talking to Heavy Metal, but he gave Thom one last look. The Oni glared and muttered "You aint better than us, ya filthy…"
Cole had left hearing range by then and didn't quite hear the rest. But the threat in the tone was clear, and he made a note to add Thom to his growing list of people to avoid.
Keyda looked up as Cole came in and her demeanor relaxed slightly.
"Where have you been?"
He gave her that familiar side smile.
"Oh, you know, been exploring…" He bit into the fruit he was carrying and she shook her head.
"Are you ever not eating?"
"Hey," he said defensively. "I skipped breakfast!"
"That doesn't really sound like you…are you feeling ok?" She was looking back down at the map again, and he came to stand behind her so he could take a look as well.
"I got distracted…that picture tunnel you have is pretty amazing…"
She looked up. "Picture tunnel?"
Keyda ran a hand along the picture of Echo, amazed.
"I didn't realize she lived so long ago," she finally murmured. The fact that this was the first painting in the tunnel meant that it was probably what was happening when the fortress had been built…and though it had gone through various remodeling over the years, the catacombs beneath the fortress were centuries old. She had no idea that this long tunnel of history existed.
"Wait, who is she?" Cole asked, surprised that Keyda seemed to recognize her.
"Her name was Echo," she replied. She remembered back to the things the Elder had said, and to the vision she and Wu had shared at the formation of the union. "She…was like me."
Cole had slipped his hand into hers. "I probably would have liked her, then." He blinked, suddenly remembering why the name Echo sounded familiar. "Wait…so these are the two you and Wu saw in that vision…"
She nodded and he whistled low.
"That prophecy was really old then. It's crazy to think that after all those centuries we were part of the group that broke it."
Keyda stood with him for ten minutes more, taking in the intricate painting and enjoying the rare privacy she had to just be with him, holding hands. She finally pulled away, sighing.
"They'll be wondering what happened to me…I'm supposed to be on my way to another village already…."
Cole sighed as well as he followed her to the entrance.
"You really ought to let me give you a ride…the Guardian wouldn't mind…"
"But the Oni would." Keyda said. "I…I just don't think they are quite ready for a leader who comes to visit on the back of dragon yet. The peace has lasted this long, praise the ancients, but I don't think either nation will be ready for full integration anytime soon."
They reached the stairs and Cole grabbed her arm before she could hurry away.
"Well…at least let me come with you this time?"
She was about to say no, but she realized that sooner or later people were going to have to get used to having him around. It was either start taking him along or send him home.
"Alright Idiot…you can come." She rolled her eyes as his face lit up, but she also couldn't help but smile.
2
"This is a very long way to walk…" Cole pointed out. He was on one side of Keyda, with Heavy Metal keeping pace on the other. Behind them there were a bunch of Dragon Masters, fully armed. He glanced behind him and frowned.
"And…is the entourage really necessary?"
Keyda didn't look up from the map and list she was carrying.
"You are the one who wanted to come….so stop complaining. Considering how upset people are when we release their dragons, the enforcement unit is always necessary."
Cole fell silent, taking this news in.
Heavy Metal was the one who broke the silence a few minutes later.
"When we get there, it may be best if you stay out of the way," he said, eyeing Cole. Ever since he had moved to this realm, Cole couldn't shake the feeling that the guy didn't like him. Or, at very least, was uncomfortable around him. The ninja frowned but he tried to be accommodating.
"Oh. Ok, sure."
Within another hour or so they had finally reached their location. The leader of the village came forward to meet them as they approached, his expression grim. Cole glanced over at Keyda and noticed that she had visibly stiffened.
"Ah…I see our leader has deemed us worthy for a visit…" the leader said bitterly. Cole blinked in surprise; he knew that no one would have dared to talk to the Baron like that. Keyda looked almost bored.
"You were made aware that this visit would be happening. We have to make sure your village is in accordance with the union…"
"I don't care what…"
The Leader's threat trailed off as Keyda's fists lit up.
"Out of the way," she ordered, and Cole frowned at her tone. The Leader looked at her with disgust, but he finally moved so that Keyda and those with her could pass by. His eyes narrowed as Cole passed close to him, and even spit on the ground by him. Cole tried not to react, avoiding the spittle as he walked past.
After reaching the center of town, Keyda gave a nod to her enforcing team and they split up, barging into houses throughout the village.
"Where are they going?" Cole asked as children ran from the homes in fear, headed to a clearing on one side of the village.
"They're looking for anything that could indicate that the villagers are keeping dragons…large chains, whips, and the like." Keyda explained, consulting a list. She looked up at Heavy Metal, who nodded at her. Cole frowned, not quite able to keep up with their silent dialogue.
"I've got to go deal with the known insurgents," she explained as she turned to leave. Heavy Metal gave Cole a look.
"You should probably stay here," he finally said, and Cole sighed.
"Yeah, yeah..." Cole muttered. Keyda gave him an apologetic look and he went to find a rock to sit on. He understood that it could get awkward if he was going around helping to enforce Oni law, but he was feeling useless. He couldn't help but feel a little off; what did he expect to be doing in this realm? He didn't regret coming here…but it seemed that he did more sitting around than anything…
He suddenly had that weird somebody-watching-him feeling, and he looked around. The kids were still standing in the clearing, nudging each other and pointing. When they caught him looking they froze.
Well…might as well start somewhere…
He stood and started walking over to them, and he noticed the fear in their expressions. It made him a little sick; was fear their first reaction to any situation? What kind of lives had they led?
"What?" he finally asked as he got close. They seemed ready to dart away, but also like they weren't sure how he would react if they tried to run. Someone nudged the kid in the front and he swallowed.
"What kind a person are ya?" he finally asked, trying to sound confident.
Cole shrugged. "Just…a normal one?"
"But your skin's all yellowy!" One kid yelled from the back. Cole glanced over at him and the kid darted behind another.
Cole looked down at his arms in mock-shock.
"Oh my gosh! You're right!" He scanned his hands, shaking his head. "What on earth do you think happened?"
He felt gratified to hear a few giggles in the crowd, though the ring-leader still was looking at him defiantly. He winked at the kid, and the child-leader frowned, confused.
"What's your name?" One of the kids asked. They seemed to be warming up a little; at very least their looks of fear had disappeared.
"My name's Cole," he said with a smile. "What about you guys?"
He listened to them ramble off their names—some were rather complicated—and he realized he had no hope to actually remember them all. But even so, they seemed happy to be asked.
"You're a weird Oni!" one of them commented, and one of the others slugged him.
"That's cuz he's not an Oni, stupid!"
"But what is he then?!" he asked, punching back.
Cole put his hands up.
"Hey, calm down…"
"So what are you?!" the leader asked again, arms crossed.
Cole thought for a moment and smiled.
"I'm an Elemental Master," he said, straightening up.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"
"It means…" Cole turned, facing an empty spot in the clearing to demonstrate. "That I can do this…"
The children jumped back as his arms flashed and a ridge of dirt shot out from him. At first they were afraid, but as he lowered his arms and the dust settled, they couldn't help but get closer to inspect it.
"Woah…how'd you do that?!"
"Could you do it again?!"
"We coulda won the war, if ya had been here sooner…"
Cole's smile faded; it was clear that even the Oni children didn't consider the union a victory. He couldn't help but wonder if the Oni would ever accept the union as a good thing…
"What else can ya do, Cole?" one kid asked, and he made a show of thinking about it.
"Welllll….I'm also pretty good at…chasing kids who ask too many question!" he said, suddenly running towards them. The kids screamed and scattered, but as he chased them through the village they made sure not to leave him too far behind as they scurried, giggling, through the tent-like homes.
This villager was one of the first who actually released his dragons without a lot of added persuasion from Keyda and her powers. He still glowered at her as the beasts took to the sky.
"I appreciate your prompt…"
Keyda's bored response was interrupted by high pitched screaming. She and the others whirled around in time to see Cole bolting past, a dozen screaming children chasing close behind. He met Keyda's incredulous look with a sheepish one as he passed.
"What in the…" the villager behind her said, and Heavy Metal put a hand to his face.
One of the children launched themselves into the back of Cole's knees and he went down hard. Within seconds the kids were on top of him, yelling in victory. He tried to sit up and push them off, but they had him pinned.
"HEY!" Keyda yelled, and the kids and Cole all froze to look at her, not sure who exactly she was mad at. As she came over they all scattered; within seconds they had all disappeared.
Keyda looked down at Cole, arms folded as she shook her head. He cleared his throat as he sat up.
"Ummm…am I in trouble?"
They were an hour into their walk home when Keyda finally spoke.
"You can't just…"
Cole looked over at her. Both she and Heavy Metal seemed pretty upset, and he still wasn't exactly sure what he had done wrong.
She stopped and started over.
"There is a certain expectation for these trips, Cole…what kind of message do you think running around with kids in the dirt gives?"
He scoffed. "You're mad because I was playing with the kids? What kind of message do you think searching everyone's houses gives, threatening everyone with…"
"Don't even start!" she snapped. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep control of this nation?! The second they feel like you've gone soft…"
"They're just kids! They're supposed to be playing in the dirt, celebrating birthday parties, chasing each…"
"If you're going to come with me to these, then you…" she trailed off, finally turning to him. "What the heck is a birthday party?"
Cole looked over, incredulous. "You don't celebrate birthdays here!?" he asked. "Do you guys even know the day that you were born?"
"Why on earth would we need to know that?!"
He shook his head. "See, this is the problem here…you have too many threats and not enough celebrations…"
She stopped, looking over at him. "Threats? Has someone been threatening you?!"
He rolled his eyes. "No, not me… I just think that there are better ways of gaining respect than…"
"They don't listen to anything else! This isn't like Ninjago …they only listen to who they fear…"
"I thought that was something you wanted to change!"
"We're Oni! There's only so much we can change!" she yelled back. Heavy Metal put a hand on her arm and she sighed.
"The point is, if you are ever going to be part of the enforcing team, you can't act like you did today."
Cole looked at her, his expression darkening.
"I didn't ask to come along because I want to be an enforcer! I came along to be with you."
The rest of Keyda's steam seemed to leave and she sighed, deflating.
"I…I know. It's just...they're looking for any reason to fight back these days."
"Then maybe it's time to stop making everything such a fight."
3
Keyda walked into the kitchen, trying to find Cole. Knowing how much he generally ate, she figured it was as good a place as any.
The kitchen slaves looked up as she walked in, and she felt self-conscious. She had served with many of them, scrubbing pots, just a few months before. She cleared her throat.
"I'm just looking for…"
The kitchen matron gestured with her head.
" 'E's over there."
Keyda nodded her thanks and went around the corner. Sure enough, in a little corner of his own, Cole was covered with white powder as he was measuring something into a large pot. She couldn't help but smile a little, shaking her head.
"What are you doing?"
He looked up.
"Oh, hey…you're ruining the surprise!"
She folded her arms and leaned up against the wall, amused.
"What surprise?"
Cole had turned back to his concoction, stirring with a metal spoon.
"IIIIII am making a cake." he explained.
"What on earth is a cake?"
"You will see. When I'm done." The mixture was getting harder to stir, and his arm flashed as he had to engage his earth punch to keep it going.
"Well…then, I guess I'll just come back later." She finally said, after watching him struggle to scrape it into a pan.
"I'm telling you, it's going to be glorious." Cole said as she walked out of the kitchen.
She came back an hour or so later in time to see Cole studying some black block sitting on the counter.
"So." she asked, eyebrow raised. "How's it going?"
"Well…it's done…but…" Cole said, running a hand through his hair. She came over and knocked on it with her fist.
"Wow!" She commented, mock-impressed. "You made a rock. And here I thought you could do that without cooking…"
He huffed. "I think it's because I didn't actually have any of the right ingredients…I mean, you have this powdery stuff for making those loaves, so I figured that was flour, and those large eggs from some kind of bird, but I poured some of that sweet syrupy stuff cuz I couldn't find any sugar and I don't think I had any kind of raising agent…also, I might have left it in a little too long…"
She put an arm around him while they studied the black brick.
"Why were you trying to make a cake?" She finally asked. He looked a little sheepish.
"Well, I…wanted to throw you a birthday party."
She shook her head, confused.
"A what?"
"Back home, every year on the day you're born we have a big party and there's music and cake and presents, and you play games…"
Keyda snorted. "That doesn't really sound like something that would ever catch on here."
"Yeah," Cole's voice had gotten quieter. "Yeah, I guess not. It's just…you had said you didn't know when your birthday even was… and lately you've been stressed so I just figured…" He trailed off, still staring at the blackened lump. He finally chuckled. "Man, if my friends could see this thing, I'd never hear the end of it."
Keyda's smile faded.
"Do you…do you miss them?"
He shrugged.
"I mean, yeah…but it's been fine being here and everything. It's just…I feel like I need to be doing more. Are you sure there isn't anything I could be helping out with?"
She thought about it for a moment, before knocking the lump again.
"Well, I'm definitely not hiring you to cook anytime soon…but we could use a few more bricks to repair all the damage your dragon wreaked downstairs…."
"Ha ha, very funny…" he said, but he had slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
She reached up and used her thumb to wipe some powder off his face, and he started leaning in.
"Keyda."
They both froze at Heavy Metal's voice behind them. Keyda closed her eyes for a few moments, collecting herself before turning. Cole's arm dropped as she turned and saw Heavy Metal's expression and sighed.
"I gotta go." she said regretfully. Cole nodded, disappointed but understanding.
"I guess I should clean up anyways…know anyone who needs a brick-cake?"
She just rolled her eyes as she followed her captain of the guard to another annoying responsibility.
Cole woke with a start to banging on his door, bolting upright. He staggered out of bed and to his door in the pitch-darkness, trying to figure out who on earth would be trying to get ahold of him at this hour.
A small slave looked up at him, worried face illuminated in the light from the torch he was carrying.
"Hey…" Cole put a hand to his head, still trying to wake up. He recognized this slave, but he couldn't quite remember his name. "It's…Harley, right?"
"Hershel." The Oni said quietly.
"Hershel. Right…sorry…" Cole said sleepily.
"I'm sorry to wake you," the slave said, eyes darting around him, as if waiting for someone to come and catch him talking to the outsider. "But it's gotten so bad…we didn't know what else to do."
Cole frowned, a little more awake now.
"What's gotten so bad?"
"It happens at least once a week…but it's never been this bad…" Hershel explained, darting through the halls. Cole struggled to keep up with the small Oni and struggled to hear him as he talked in hushed tones.
"Is she alright? I mean, what exactly…"
He trailed off as they reached the large door leading into Keyda's chambers. Purple aura was billowing out from under the door and Cole frowned.
"What…"
"I think it's mainly reaction to the nightmares….but the worse they get the more she destroys. We just don't know what else to do." Hershel said, knocking twice on the door. It opened to reveal another Oni slave. Cole realized that these must be Keyda's personal slaves…no wonder he recognized them.
"Hurry" the other Oni child said, her eyes betraying fear. Cole pushed his way into the room to see the aura swirling around. Every once and a while he could hear Keyda cry out, as if in the middle of a horrible dream, but with all the purple smoke it was hard to see. A blast came flying out of the cloud, narrowly missing Cole as it slammed into the wall behind him. The Oni girl behind him shrieked and leapt back.
He continued to push his way until he could finally make her out. She was tossing and turning, her hair whipping around as her eyes stayed tightly closed. He swallowed, not really sure what to do. He finally reached over and gently shook her shoulders.
"Keyds…Keyds…wake up…"
She grabbed one of his arms and he gasped in pain as her glowing hand seared him.
"KEYDA!"
Her eyes finally flew open, and the spinning aura finally died away. Her eyes weren't very focused, and then next moment they were closed again as she fell back asleep, her grip on his arm relaxing as well.
He smoothed the hair out of her face, hoping that she would be ok for the rest of the night.
"You did it."
Hershel's voice betrayed relief and Cole looked down at his arm. There was a hand-shaped burn on it and he shook his head before turning back to the two young slaves.
"Don't tell her about this, ok? If she remembers in the morning, then fine; but if not…"
His tone was stern enough that Hershel blinked in surprise.
"Oh…of course."
"Thanks."
Cole went to leave, looking back at the burn as he tried to think where he could dig up a long-sleeved shirt.
Cole's Elemental Guardian had posed a bit of a problem. Ever since he had come back to the realm it had been visiting to be close to him, but having a Guardian that close to "Oni Territory" was causing a lot of anxiety amongst the beings of destruction. Cole finally had to work out a schedule; twice a week he walked five miles or so out from the fortress to an area where the large brown dragon was waiting.
Today, however, he seemed to have beaten the guardian to their meeting spot. He leaned up against a rock to wait. It was hot out, which just made his longer sleeves that much more unbearable. He tugged the sleeves up, pretty confident that Keyda wasn't going to be anywhere close by to catch him. He studied the burn on his right arm, frowning. It was still throbbing from the night before, and the obvious hand shape would definitely raise some questions.
Last night's experience had left him feeling concerned. The fact the Keyda was having nightmares wasn't necessarily shocking—Cole still had plenty of them himself. But it seemed like her nightmares were producing volatile storms, and the fact that they had been happening for weeks and he didn't even know about it bothered him.
You've hurt yourself again?
He glanced up as his elemental landed. Cole resisted the urge to tug his sleeves back down.
"I'm the Master of Earth…isn't getting hurt part of the job description?"
He pulled himself up on the large dragon and the Guardian took to the sky. Most of the days they just went for a flight, exploring the realm while Cole ranted or talked.
Something's bothering you.
"Yeah…can we go see Wu today?"
Something to do with that burn on your arm?
Cole looked back down at it.
"Keyda's been having nightmares…she's creating destructive storms in her sleep. How the heck do I combat that?"
Oni are volatile creatures. Their power is tied to strong emotion, so it makes sense that nightmares would be having that kind of reaction.
"Well, I'm glad it makes sense." Coles said, rolling his eyes. "But the real question is how are we going to get it to stop happening?"
They soared over a large torn up area. Cole noticed the fallen formations and blinked. Was this where he had released his elemental overdrive? He was amazed at how much damage there was, but he shuddered remembering how he had felt waking up from that.
She needs to talk about it. The Guardian finally suggested as they left the gorge behind. She needs to talk about what happened.
"Oh yeah, talking about feelings…" Cole said sarcastically. "With all the stress from running the nation mixed with the fact that we hardly see each other as it is, I'm sure she would love to talk all about her inner thoughts and fears."
It's only going to get worse.
Cole sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."
Cole decided that if he didn't have an Elemental Guardian that was literally linked with the Dragon Leader, it would be practically impossible to ever find Wu. Now that the Dragons were free to take to the skies without fear of capture they moved all over the place and Wu could be in any corner of the realm on any given day.
Cole waved down to his sensei, who waved back. It was good to see him back to his old self, but it also made Cole feel a little sad. Wu deserved rest and relaxation and retirement more than anyone, but here he was running a nation. It didn't seem fair.
Cole landed and Wu beckoned him over to where he was with a downed dragon in the shade of a large formation.
"What happened?" Cole asked. He felt a twist of concern; had some Oni done this?
"Fever," Wu explained. "There are a few different dragons with it."
Cole came over and put a comforting hand on the Dragon's long snout.
"I didn't know Dragons could get sick." he admitted. "How do you fix it?"
"Same way you fix it for people; plenty of rest and water, staying out of the sun." The Dragon Master stroked his beard. "I've been keeping an eye on them… so far none have taken a turn for the worse. I'm hopeful they'll be better within the week."
Cole nodded and Wu glanced over at him.
"What happened?" he asked, gesturing to the arm stroking the dragon.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually." Cole said. Wu took his arm, analyzing the wound, but Cole shook his head.
"My arm's fine…I more wanted to talk about what happened to give me the burn."
He gave Wu a recount of what had gone down the previous night, and his sensei stroked his beard, pondering.
"Nightmares are tricky things…sometimes it just takes time for them to fade." Wu got a distant look in his eye, as if he had had more than his fair share of bad dreams over the years. "In this case, I think Keyda would benefit from being able to reach a better form of closure about everything that happened over the past few weeks…"
The Earth Guardian swatted Cole with his tail in an "I-told-you-so" sort of way. Cole glared at it, rubbing his head ruefully.
"I don't think she's going to want to talk to me about it…" Cole pointed out, and Wu nodded.
"Perhaps not…but if she were going to tell anyone it would be you." He caught his student's expression and shook his head. "She trusts you more than anyone, Cole. She's not about to have a heart-to-heart with Heavy Metal, or with me…"
"I guess I can try." Cole hesitantly agreed. "I mean, we have to do something. I can't just let her keep getting worse."
"She's had a lot happen over the last few months." Wu reminded. "From what I understand, she spent a lot of her life under the Baron's manipulative thumb, and even though he's dead it would make sense that his memory still haunts her. Not to mention the traumatic experiences surrounded the defeat of both the Baron and the rescue of my brother."
Cole was silent, thinking about what Wu meant. The Dragon Master continued.
"She has a habit of trying to shut off her feelings rather than work through them. She's made progress…but she probably has a way to go yet before she can truly learn how to be at peace."
"Peace." Cole said, chuckling without humor. "Sometimes it feels like the whole concept of 'peace' is impossible…"
"Yes, we exist in tense times." Wu agreed. "But that's not to say we are just early on our journey to more rooted unity."
Cole nodded, rubbing his head as he thought of something else.
"Hey, Wu? You wouldn't happen to need any extra help with the Dragons or anything, would you? Because I'm beginning to feel pretty useless at the fortress…"
Wu smiled. "I always appreciate your visits, Cole…and you're always more than welcome to come to help. But if I may say as much, your mere presence at the fortress is helping the situation quite a bit."
Cole thought of his run-in with the slave Thom the other day…as well as similar run-ins over the past few weeks. He sighed. "Well…glad that I'm helping so much by just existing."
Wu chuckled and patted his arm.
"She's different now that you're here…happier. You're helping more than you know." He turned as he heard a dragon call in the distance and the Ultra Dragon came soaring over a nearby mountain range. He turned back to Cole.
"As long as you're here, you wouldn't mind helping me with a few more chores, would you?"
Keyda looked up at the stars in amazement. After another long day, Cole insisted that they claim some alone time. They went out into the wilderness, the Elemental Guardian having given them a lift before taking off again. Now they were laying side-by-side, looking up at the millions of glowing dots.
"I never really gave them much thought, you know." She finally said. "They were just…out there. Just like the sun or moon or rocks or scraggly plants. Just part of the world….but they really are beautiful, aren't they?"
Cole smiled as they held hands.
"My mom loved the stars." He said quietly. "My parents would dance outside in the starlight, sometimes. Mom said it made her feel free…"
Keyda turned to look at him. He looked sad and she frowned.
"I don't think I met your Mom." she realized. Cole turned and gave her a sad smile.
"She died," he explained. Keyda blinked.
"Did someone kill her?"
The question took Cole by surprise, and he couldn't help but laugh a little in shock.
"What? No…she got sick. She got…really sick." That pained expression was back and Keyda tried to think of what to say. Her own parents had died long ago…and their deaths had affected her. But not in that deep way that his mother's death had seemed to affect Cole.
"I would have liked to meet her," she said finally, and he squeezed her hand.
"She would have liked you, I think." he replied. They fell silent as they watched the night sky. There was a light breeze that made its way across the sun-warmed rock and Keyda moved closer, hugging his arm. As she gave it a squeeze she felt him flinch, as if she had struck a sore spot. She looked over at him quizzically.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
He shrugged.
"I was helping Wu with Dragons today…lifting 3-ton Dragon Babies and whatnot. I guess I'm a little sore."
She shook her head, releasing his arm to lean her head on his shoulder instead. After a few moments he cleared his throat.
"Hey…Keyds?"
"Yeah?"
He was silent again, as if trying to think of what to say.
"Is there anything…you'd like to talk about?"
She frowned, not sure what he was trying to get at.
"Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Well…I mean…"
Why was he being so weird all of a sudden? Cole's grip on her hand tightened slightly.
"Are you ok?" He finally asked. She pulled away a bit so she could give him a confused look.
"Am I ok? What are you talking about?"
Cole looked like he wasn't even sure what he was talking about. It felt like he was skirting around some topic and she wished he would just come out with it.
"It's just…you've got a lot on your plate," he finally said. "And after all the stuff that went down, I just wanted to know if…"
"I'm doing fine." Her tone had taken on an edge. "Are you ok?"
He hesitated, and she felt a jolt of fear. Did he hate it here? Was he trying to tell her that he wanted to leave?
She sat up all the way, looking down at him.
"Cole, what is it?!"
He sat up as well, putting his hands up to put her at ease.
"Nothing bad! It's just… those events certainly left a mark. I still can't walk as well as I used to…and then there's the nightmares…"
She relaxed a little as she realized he wasn't trying to tell her that he was leaving. She pushed the thoughts of her own nightmares away; she wasn't about to bring those up.
"You never mentioned that you were having nightmares before," she pointed out. "Are they getting worse or something?" She had another fear hit home. "You aren't dreaming of the limbo realm still, right?!"
Cole laid back down, looking a little defeated.
"No…I haven't been back there since I came back out of it that last time. I'm fine, Keyds…really. Just with everything that went down over the past weeks I wondered if you wanted to talk about any of it."
She waited a minute or so before laying down as well, arms crossed as she stared up at the stars.
"Like what?"
"Like...like everything that happened with the Baron, or what happened to me while we were trying to save…"
"No." Her tone had a ring of finality to it, and he looked over to see her eyes squeezed shut. "I don't want to talk about any of that."
He was silent for a few minutes and she felt his hand reach over to take hers once again.
"Ok." He said simply, and she relaxed again, relieved he didn't press further. "Let's just look up at the stars then…and be together."
"Sounds like a plan," she murmured back, her head moving back onto his shoulder. He leaned his head on hers and they stayed that way nearly all night. She eventually fell asleep, her busy, stressful day catching up with her. Worry continued to gnaw at Cole, keeping him awake, and when heard her snoring softly he couldn't help but smile. He kissed her forehead before getting up and walking to the edge of the formation, signaling to his guardian. They needed to get back; Heavy Metal would have a fit if she wasn't in her room in the morning. As the large Dragon landed on the formation, Cole gently picked Keyda up, trying not to wake her before climbing on the Earth Guardian and heading back to the Fortress.