Sorry this week's update is a bit late; I've been having some trouble with my laptop and, unless I want to mess up the formatting, I cannot transfer the chapters from my wattpad account with the tablet...
Review Replies:
RandomDragon2.0 – It definitely was :). Thanks!
Steampunk Wilson – Of course they did ;). After this chapter, the POV will change between all the main characters so there will be more on Cole's backstory and relationships later.
Bookkeeper2004 – Thank you so much!
Thunderstorm
Jay slowly opened his eyes, wondering what in Ninjago had interrupted his sleep.
The bedroom still was pitch black and the light regular snoring coming from the bed on the other side of the room told him that Cole was fast asleep.
The rain must have gotten stronger during the night, for the light pattering sound had increased to a loud drumming against the window directly over his bed. Yet, this alone should not have caused him to wake up.
Yawning, Jay reached for the CAN on his nightstand to check the time, It was only 3:30am, definitely way too early to get up.
However, the boy was feeling uneasy, just as if something unusual was going on outside. He activated the flashlight function on his device before he rather reluctantly left his nice, warm bed. Careful not to wake his roommate, Jay opened the door and went into the main room of the boys' cabin. But all was quiet here, and no sound could be heard from Kai and Zane's room either.
Oh, well. It is probably nothing. Better get back to sleep.
Now that he was up anyway, Jay quickly went to the bathroom before he crawled back into his bed.
But just as he was about to close his eyes, a bright flash of lightning suddenly lit up the sky, it was almost immediately followed by the violent roar of thunder which made Jay shoot up in his bed again. Not that he was afraid of thunderstorms, no, Jay finally knew what – or rather who – was causing his uneasiness.
With a sigh, Jay slipped into his sneakers. He didn't want to risk waking up Cole, so he only put on a coat over his blue striped pyjamas and took a pair of thick insulated leather gloves.
He silently exited the cabin and turned to the dragons' accommodation. As soon as he entered the cave-like structure, he could immediately sense the amount of energy in the air.
Tiptoeing past the sleeping Earth and Fire Dragons, Jay could see Wisp nervously shifting back and forth in her spacious box. Her sky blue eyes glistened brightly in the dark and she winced quietly, obviously struggling to suppress her desire to roar loudly.
"It's fine, girl, I'm here now." Jay gently patted her head with his gloved hand. "Let's go outside so you can fly, okay?"
Wisp snorted approvingly, causing Rocky to slightly stir in his sleep.
Jay chuckled. His dragon snores even worse than Cole himself. He thought.
"Shhh, we don't want to wake your friends, do we?" He reminded her.
Jay led the anxious dragon out of the stables and towards one of the large meadows close to the cabin, just near the edge of the forest.
When they arrived at the field, Jay realised that they must have been not the only ones affected by this kind of weather. Another dragon was already zooming through the night sky, and a small dark figure was huddled on a bench at the side. Wisp wasted no time to join the other dragon up in the air and Jay could hear them greet each other excitedly.
Taking off his insulated gloves, the boy started to slowly walk towards the bench. If Wisp is friends with their dragon, it is hopefully not one of the snobby riders. He thought. I'd rather not spend the rest of the night either standing or sitting on the wet grass...
As he came closer, the person looked up and, recognising her own teammate, smiled at him.
"What are you doing here at this unusual time?" Nya asked.
Her black hair as well as her grey bathrobe were already completely drenched from the rain, and her light blue slippers had turned a darker shade of blue from the water on the ground.
Jay pointed up at the dragons who were excitedly chasing each other.
"Same as you I'd say." He replied. "May I join you?"
"Sure." Nya scooted to the side, so that Jay could sit down to her left. "Wisp has woken you up as well?"
"She has." Jay nodded. "She absorbs the electric energy from the lightning during a thunderstorm. If she doesn't get to use it, she will feel horrible – and under extreme conditions, lightning dragons can even get very ill because of that." He explained. "What about Wave?"
"Oh, it's not as severe. She just loves the rain, and there isn't too much of it where we live. Ignacia is a rather dry, hot place, you know."
"Sounds very much like my home." Jay remarked.
"Yes, the climate is quite similar to that in a desert." Nya agreed. "Our village lies in a valley almost completely surrounded by high mountains, and hardly any clouds make it there. So as soon as she sensed the rain, Wave went completely crazy being stuck in her box. She made such a ruckus that she kept poor Phantom awake. And I was worried she might even wake Seliel." She giggled. "Believe me, my housemate is a bit scary when she is tired. So I decided to rather bring Wave here to let her fly in the rain."
"How long have you been sitting here?"
"I've lost track of the time, but-" Nya gestured at her clothes. "As you can see it's been a while. At first, it was only raining lightly, so I was sitting on the bench under the large oak tree over there. But as soon as the lightning started, I had to get away from there."
"Do you want to go back now?" Jay looked up at Wisp. "You don't have to worry about getting struck, we have a living lightning rod flying above us. And don't worry, she knows she has to keep her distance from other living beings."
"That's good to know. But I think I'll just stay here now. It doesn't really make any difference to me anymore, I am soaked anyway and I don't feel like moving unless it's to get back to my bed. But if you want to go..."
"No, no, it's fine. Saves me time queueing for shower tomorrow morning." Jay quickly reassured her. To be honest, he'd rather get drenched than miss out on this opportunity to spend time alone with Nya.
"Alright, but no complaints if you get a cold." Nya smiled. "Had I known that the weather was to get worse, I would have put on something more appropriate. And as you can tell from my attire, I didn't expect to have company here. But... at least you are not wearing anything fancy either."
Blushing slightly, Jay looked down on himself. "Uhm, no. But... I-I've heard some rumours that... that... soaked bathrobes and striped pyjama are totally going to be the in fashion next season."
Nya laughed at his remark. "You are so funny! Now I am trying to imagine Ninjago's celebrities having a fancy pyjama party! I bet Cliff Gordon would have a star-patterned bathrobe."
"And we are the trendsetters!" Jay joined in.
"Yes, we should definitely get invited to all those events." She agreed. "I bet they'd have a super fluffy red carpet."
Jay suddenly realised this was his chance to find out more about Nya's latest 'acquaintances'. "Uhm, so... talking about parties, how did you like the Opening Ceremony?" He enquired.
"The ceremony itself was lovely. Unfortunately, I missed half of the show, because the guy sitting next to me was sooo annoying."
"Really?" Jay tried to sound not too pleased upon her revelation.
She nodded. "Yes, his name is Cryptor. He's the captain of the Nindroids team."
"Oh yes, I think I may have seen you talking to him..."
"It was more like him talking to me all the time... He kind of pretended that we were on a date. And worst of all he kept called me cute. I hate it when people call me cute!" Nya looked at Jay, anger sparkling in her chocolate brown eyes. "Do you think I'm cute?"
This question caught him completely off guard.
"N-no, of course not! You are not cute!" He exclaimed. "But... of course, that does not mean that you are not pretty. I-I think that you are actually very pretty. Just not cute. And... and you're smart. And strong. And pretty. And a great dragon rider. And the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. But not cute!"
When he took a deep breath after his rant, Jay saw Nya staring at him, slack-jawed and with her eyes wide open. "Wow." She whispered.
Realising what he had just said, Jay felt his face heat up and he lowered his gaze in embarrassment. But to his surprise, a soft, although cold hand gently touched the left side of his face, making him look up again. "No one has ever said anything nearly as nice about me? Did-did you really mean that?" Jay flinched as she brushed her ice-cold thumb over his burning cheek. Strangely enough, it still felt nice.
Jay turned his head to look at. "Yes. Everything." He replied.
"Thank you." She gave him a small peck on his right cheek. "I-I think you are great too."
As she removed her hand from his face, Jay noticed that it was shaking. In fact, her whole body was shivering badly.
"Are-are you cold?" He asked, not too unhappy to switch the topic.
She nodded. "J-just a bit."
"Here, take this." Jay took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. He kept his arm wrapped around her to warm her up.
"Better?" He could feel her scooting closer towards him, snuggling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Much better." She yawned.
They remained in this position, silently watching their dragons together, when suddenly Jay noticed a slight increase in the weight on his shoulder. He carefully turned his head, to see that the girls had fallen asleep, with a peaceful expression on her lovely face.
Jay gently rested his head on top of hers and, a little smile on his lips, closed his eyes.
He jolted up when something wet touched his knees. Trying to remember where he was, Jay turned his head and found himself gazing into a pair of dark brown eyes.
"H-hi." He said, still slightly confused.
"Hi." Nya replied, smiling awkwardly. "I-I guess we fell asleep."
Jay was finally able to recall the earlier events. "Ah, yes. How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I think. Still a bit cold and tired, but not as much as before. And at least the rain has finally stopped."
Jay raised his head, trying to spot the dragons in the dawning sky. "Have you seen Wave or Wisp?" He asked worriedly.
Nya laughed. "You are just looking in the wrong direction. They are right here, in front of us."
When he looked straight ahead, Jay saw the two dragons standing straight ahead of him.
Although they were not glowing as brightly as before, Wisp's wings were still crackling with energy and she kept a safe distance from both the humans and her dragon friend. But Wave was standing directly in front of the bench and she was the one gently nudging the two riders' knees with her head .
"I think she wants to go back now." Nya told him. "And I actually wouldn't mind a towel and my dry, warm bed either."
As Nya was standing up, the strong girl suddenly looked unusually small and fragile in her wet bathrobe and slippers. Although he was exhausted himself, Jay offered to escort her which she gratefully accepted.
Jay put his gloves back on before approaching his own dragon. He gently patted her head with his gloved hand while keeping his body in a safe distance from the electrified dragon.
"I'll take Nya and Wave home. Can you fly two more rounds to discharge a bit more and then meet me at your stable?" Wisp nodded and took off again to the sky, leaving a bright trail of lightning along her path.
As it was more difficult to ride a dragon without a saddle – and especially in their rather unsuitable attire – Jay first helped Nya climb onto Wave. She then held out her hand to him to pull him up as well.
"If you are kind enough to take us home, I can at least let you ride with me. Don't worry, Kai and me have done this before. Wave is a lot stronger than she looks."
During the short ride, Jay was sitting behind Nya, his hands on her slim waist.
"Do you still plan to go swimming tomorrow?" He asked.
The raven haired girl shook her head. "I think I've had my share of water for the day. And Wave and I should better take it easy tomorrow, we'll both be tired. And the same probably applies to you and Wisp. But we could maybe go to the lake on Sunday instead. Only if you want to, of course."
"I'd love that. And so far I have no plans for Sunday afternoon." Jay answered.
"Great. It's a date then." Nya said. Jay was glad it was dark and he was sitting behind her, so she couldn't see his face turn dark red again.
When they arrived at the girls' cabin, Jay jumped off the dragon whereas Nya preferred to slide down Wave's left flank. To make sure she wouldn't slip on the muddy soil in her slippers, Jay caught her just as she hit the ground.
Not wanting to let go right away, he kept holding the girl in his arms. But to Jay's surprise, Nya did not try to break away but she rather pressed her body even closer against his and buried her face in his chest.
As Jay rested his chin on her head, he could smell a faint hint of coconut still coming from her soaked hair.
This is nice.
"Mmh, it is." Nya mumbled into his chest.
He pulled away and gave her an embarrassed look. "Di-did I say that out loud?" He asked shyly.
The girl looked up and smiled. "You did. But you don't have to be embarrassed about it."
While Jay was still trying to think of something even remotely smart to say in reply, he suddenly felt a pair of soft lips pressed against his own. It only lasted for about two seconds before Nya pulled away, blushing heavily.
"You know... that felt very nice, too."
Now completely unable to give any kind of response, Jay just stared at her, slack-jawed.
"Well, I think we all better get some sleep now. Wisp is probably already waiting for you." Nya finally said.
Although Jay knew she was right, he was reluctant to leave her yet.
"Do you need some more help with Wave?" He offered.
"That's very kind, but I should be fine. You've helped us more than enough already. And one good thing about having a Water Dragon is that I don't have to dry her. She just absorbs it and won't need to drink for a while. I just have to take her to her box and give her a little snack."
"Alright. I guess... I'll go home then. Good night" He placed a quick peck on her cheek, before he reluctantly pulled away from her.
"Wait." But before he could turn around and walk away, Nya took his hand into hers. "Just so you know... out of the two 'dates' I've had tonight, this was by far the better one. I really enjoyed it and..." She flashed him a little smiled. "I would very much like to do it again."
The boy was wondering whether she was referring to their 'pyjama party' or to the kiss, so he just nodded his head in agreement.
"Mmh, yes. That would be really great." He replied.
With his heart still pounding fiercely in his chest, Jay walked home to the boys' cabin, where Wisp was already impatiently waiting for her rider. Absentmindedly, he dried his dragon and fed her a few of Rocky's dragon treats.
He dried his hair with a towel and changed into some fresh pyjamas, before he went back to bed. After some struggle to get back to sleep, fatigue finally took over and Jay fell asleep wearing a huge smile on his face.