!~!~!~!~!~! (Chapter 2) !~!~!~!~!~!

It had been several days since the incident. Everything seemed to go back to normal. Cole was now able to get up and walk around without it hurting, well mostly. Jay had finally got over himself and apologized to Cole and accepted Zane as a great leader. Zane, himself, had led them to several victorious missions and battles. While Kai had started training to have better focus on his surroundings. This training was good for him, he decided. This was because now when Cole could return as their leader, Kai wouldn't be so open for attack. Although he had seriously doubted that it would happen twice, he was prepared just in case.

Cole was happy to have his freedom's once again. Now he would not need someone to walk around with him everywhere he went. He even was able to return training with the others. The others were extremely careful with him. While he was able to return training, Sensei Wu had decided it would be best if he had not began missions just yet. He obeyed and was left behind while Kai, Jay and Zane went on there most current mission. Even Nya was allowed to go with them. Sensei joined her on her suit, leaving Cole alone with Lloyd. Which wasn't very good since he would stop poking Cole.

"Hey Cole! Hey Cole! How do you feel? Good? Bad? Does it hurt when I poke you? Does it? Does it?" Lloyd poked and poked at him till he felt tempted to punch the little boy in the face. Even though he was mad he controlled himself and pushed Lloyd away lightly. Lloyd seemed to leave him alone after several long minutes of Cole ignoring him. Cole had went to bed, not feeling very good, telling Lloyd to behave as he ventured to his new single room that Sensei had given him to he was fully healed. He was appreciative of the room and was happy to have it. Cole soon found himself falling asleep.

~~~(Small Time skip)~~~

When Cole awoke again he was being shaked lightly by someone. He looked up to see Kai smiling lightly down on him, in front of Cole was a tray of some of Zane's delicious home cooking ready for the injured ninja to enjoy. Kai sat with him and gave him company while he was eating. Kai had offered to feed him but was snapped at by Cole. The Earth ninja stating he was not helpless and he could feed himself. After he was finished the tray was set aside. Cole eased back into the bed till he was flat on his back. It was silent for a while.

Soon though Kai began telling jokes and stories, trying to make the Earth ninja to smile, yet he was still weeping on the inside. Even Cole's sweet smile and heartwarming laugh didn't help him. He was still guilty on what Cole had done for him.

"Hey Cole, does your scar still hurt? It looks like it still hurts…" Kai's voice faded to nothing. Cole only stared for a small second then tried to sit up, he grunted in pain, and Kai reached his arms around the other ninja to help him sit up.

"Kai, you should keep your mind off of it. Besides it won't change the fact that I will die for you guys, especially for your since your kind of new to the team." Kai looked at him with a slight blush after realizing Cole's words were true and it only made him feel worse. Kai sometimes wished it was him to get stabbed, or that he was trained enough to avoid the knife, so that Cole would not be in such a state of pain.

After that the two of them were once again quiet. Kai tried to make conversation but each one was just another dead end. Even when their conversation had lasted more than two or three statements between the two, Kai seemed as though he could not focus long enough to think about the current topic. His brain was wrapped around what Cole had said not to long after he had been stabbed.

"You may hurt me - You may even kill me. But, you. Will not. Hurt. My. Friends."

Kai shivered at memory of Cole's voice straining to stay clear. He thought of poor, defenseless Cole taking a serious blow for him. Kai could not stop thinking about the attack. How Cole's blood splattered and stained his already red ninja only to make it an even darker red then it actually was. How Zane and Jay helped him practically drag Cole out of the caves. Jay's suit turned a purple while Zane's turned pink. Neither of the three really cared about their suits or that Pythor had escaped them. Even now Kai does not care about that. All he cares about is Cole. He can't stand himself.

Cole noticed Kai's distress but found himself to sleepy to do anything about. Cole grasped Kai by his forearm and slide back to lie down. He heard Kai mumbled something before he fell asleep once again.

~~~(Time Skip: The Next morning)~~~

Cole woke up pretty early considering what time he fell asleep. He pulled himself out of bed despite the pain he was feeling in the early morning. He made his way through the halls carefully and soon was out on the deck. His friends were training, well except for Jay, who was sitting back with a bandage around his left foot. Cole stared at him for a moment before sitting down next to Jay.

"Uh… What happened to your foot?" He asked Jay, who in turn, jumped in surprise. He slightly glared at Cole but it faded soon.

"Oh, I tripped and sprang my ankle on the last mission." He told Cole and rubbed his ankle lightly, he was frowning lightly and looked pretty pathetic. Cole wondered how pathetic he had looked on the table that day. He hates looking down on himself but he just felt so pitiful. Even at the time where he had no control over the situation he still felt horrible. He felt so weak and he didn't want that…

~~~(Time Skip: That Night)~~~

Cole sat awake that night. The day had went by fast and was mostly uneventful. Jay spent his day recovering for tomorrows mission, which again Cole would be excluded from. Zane and Kai had trained most the day, but spare time they weren't, they were spending time with Cole. Nya had worked on her suit most the day so Cole did not see her that much. Sensei Wu planned out the lessons for when Cole was to fully recover. Lloyd had helped his uncle so he didn't see them much either. It seemed to Cole he was alone most the day because he was weak. He had just figured no one wanted to hang out with someone who was weak.

Then an idea popped in Cole's head. If he was weak, he would just have to get stronger. He had realized that his physical strength was rather high and not really why he considered himself weak. So, he got to thinking, maybe it was his elemental strength. Sure he had used his elemental powers so that he could lodge the Fang Blade deep within his chest so that Pythor could not remove it. But maybe if he had tried hard enough, the blade wouldn't have pierced his skin in the first place. He has seen the amazing things Kai, Jay and Zane have done because of their elemental powers. Cole can honestly say his elemental powers are pathetic compared to theirs.

Cole rolled out of bed and landed safely and painlessly on the ground below. He walked calmly and carefully out onto the deck of the headquarters. His golden Scythe in hand, he walked to the edge of the headquarters. He grabbed onto the chain of the anchor. Normally he would have used his golden weapon as a vehicle but he did not want to risk anyone waking up and seeing him missing. So he settled with climbing down the chain slowly. Nya had set out the anchor and decided they should only travel during the day, she claimed it was too dangerous to fly at night. Soon he was on the ground and walking toward a nearby cave, which he decided would be perfect to train in.

When he was dead set in the middle of the cave, he sat down in a meditative position with his Scythe set out in front of him and began focusing on the hard ground below him. He sat there for hours, focusing, until he felt the ground below him shift. His eyes snapped open and the shifting stopped. He looked around to see what had caused it but it was too dark. So instead he focused again on the ground and the shifting began again. After countless times of trying to figure out what was causing the shifting, he gave up and just let it happen. Before Cole knew it, the sun was rising and he knew Zane would be up soon. He picked up his Scythe and made his way toward the entrance of the cave. He turned back to inspect the ground and was shocked at his findings.

He saw, which was not there recently, craved into the ground was perfect swirls almost in the shape of water rippling. The beginning of the ripples started where he had previously set. The lines where small and faint, but they were there. He did a double-take to make sure they were not just apart of his imagination. He was scared to find them still there, yet somehow relived that the lines were still there. After a minute of being in a daze, Cole decided that it would be best if he went back now.

Luckily, he had arrived back at the headquarters before anyone woke up. He could honestly say he was exhausted now. It took no time for him to fall asleep once his head hit the pillow. From there he was stuck in a dreamless sleep.

~~~(Small Time Skip: Later that Morning)~~~

When Cole woke again he was not surprised to see only Lloyd and himself were home. He made his way through the headquarters. Lloyd was in his own room, mumbling something about how unfair it was he had to be left behind everyday. Cole rolled his eyes and continued to walk till he was in their dinning room. On the table was a note.

-Cole, there's some left over breakfast for you in the fridge-

It was written in Nya's soft and perfectly curved handwriting. He wanted to eat, he knew his body needed the nutrients but he instead decided to go investigate the markings on the bottom of the cave that had appeared sometime last night when he was in there. Once he was at the entrance of the cave he could see every carve in the ground perfectly. He walked up to the cracks and bent down, ignoring the pain that spot through his body as his injury was flexed uncomfortably.

He trailed them with his index finger carefully, from the beginning of the carves to the end. The carved ground was mostly smooth though toward the end of the ripples in the ground, an unnaturally sharp rock sliced the tip of his index finger open lightly, just enough to draw blood at least. He hissed and drew his hand back, leaving a small drip of blood to land on the end of the ripple. He held the cut to stop the little bleeding that was occurring. When the bleeding had stopped he looked back at the ground, he was shocked to find that the carved ripples now glowed a solid red, radiating the entire cave to a pure, blood red, color. His eyes widen and only one thought passed his mind…

What the heck just happened?

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