CHAPTER 37

COLE AND CAROL

CAROL`S POV:

Why do things always have to happen to me? Especially when it comes to dealing with family. Wallace and I seem to be the only smart one's in the family while Gregory and William fight about pretty much everything. I did my best to think of happy thoughts as Cole and I walked through the woods. My plan was to find herbs and the wonderful food of nature around me. In case something ever happened to anyone, we would have herbs for medical reasons. It's been a while since I was out in the beauties of the world and it was good to get some fresh air. I had a feeling that Cole was thinking the same thing, but he didn't say much. In fact, he hasn't spoken to me about anything at all. Once I found an herb tree, I started climbing up it until I was in front of its beautiful leaves.

Cole must've been wondering what I was doing because he called up to me. "Carol, what are you doing?"

I looked down to him. "I found some herbs."

"Herbs? I don't think we should be cooking a large meal in the middle of all this."

"It's not for cooking use. It's for medical reasons."

"Medical reasons? What are you talking about? How do you know what kind of herbs to get?"

"I read a book about it."

"That's everyone's excuse for everything."

"Aren't you gonna help me gather some of these?"

Cole shrugged. "I suppose." Cole came up the tree and stood next to me. "What kind of herbs are these, anyway?"

"Filla leaves."

"Filla leaves?"

"Yeah. These are used to help with certain types of strong injuries. For example, if you damaged your eye or something, this could help to relieve the pain and reduce the swelling. It'll help with those certain problems. Unfortunately, there's not an herb to cure the damaged area. It seems it will be destroyed for life."

"I'm pretty sure somebody taught you about these."

"Yep. My aunt did."

"Huh? I was thinking that your mother taught you."

"No. Everything that contains medical reasons was taught to me by my aunt. She's one of those old fashioned doctors. My mother would've learned them, but she grew up in a life of poverty. She and my dad fell in love, even though he was rich and she was poor. She was the girl my dad chose to be with."

"That's an act of true love right there."

"Don't you just enjoy seeing an act of true love right in front of you?"

"I suppose."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Cole sighed, sitting on the branch of the tree. "I've never fell in love before. Believe me, I've tried my best to be a ladies man, but girls just don't seem attracted to me the way they are with Kai. Zane and Jay have found their perfect match. Lloyd's not ready for love. Me, I'm alone. I don't have anyone to love."

"I'm sure you'll find the perfect girl out there one day."

"Well, at this point, I hope you're right, but if I don't, what do I do?"

"Just do what all the other lonely girls do. Sit on the couch, watch romantic movies and eat a pint of ice cream."

"That doesn't really work out for boys."

"Well, it works for me. I'm lonely all the time. I've never had a boyfriend. I know what you're thinking. I'm known as the La Bonita Senorita, but that doesn't mean I've found the right guy to spend the rest of my life with yet."

"So basically all the handsome guys call you that because of your extraordinary beauty?"

"Yeah. Some even try to propose to me. Do you know how hard it is to try and get away from all those guys that just seem to chase after you all the time. It's horrible! It makes me feel as though some guy is gonna find me and make me his bride now that all this has happened."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that. You've got a lot of people that are willing to help you. Your bothers, new friends and, well,... I guess you would consider me as something."

"Well, you are considered as something."

"It makes me feel as though you should really be treated like everyone else."

"Don't worry, I am. Not a lot of people seem to think that I'm like everyone else, though."

"I do."

I looked down at him. "That's the first time anyone has ever said that to me. I never knew that it would be from a guy that I barely know."

"You know, maybe we should take this time and get to know each other a little bit. Take the time to see who we are. That's what I think friendship is known to be."

"Okay. Let's take a break. We've got plenty of time." I sat down next to him.

"Alright. So my full name is Cole Roberts Brookstone, but I merely go by Cole. I have this aunt that usually gets my name mixed up. She calls me Robert instead of Cole."

"Which one do you prefer?"

"I'd prefer Cole. I don't know who came up with my middle name."

"I kind of like it. Roberts seems like a pretty good name to be smack in the middle."

"Oh, so you like it."

I smiled. "I do."

"So tell me about your name."

"Okay. My full name is Caroline Maria Dominez. Most people call me Carol. Why should anybody give somebody the name Caroline? I'll never know. To this day, my father still calls me Caroline. He said that people should be proud of the name that was given to them. I'm pretty sure my mother was the one that named me."

"Huh? I'm not sure if it was either my father or my deceased mother that named me."

"You don't have a mom anymore?"

"Nope. My dad always told me that she died a few months after I was born. He did say that I was the light of her life when she was alive. There are pictures of us together."

"How did she die?"

"I don't really know. My dad said she died of some fatal illness, but I'm not sure that's what happened."

"It could've been. You never know."

"You're right. I may never know. Let's change the subject, though. I'm kind of tired talking about dead people."

"You and me both. We're already surrounded by them."

"I don't really think those things are dead. Just think about it. There blue some of them have blood streaks. They're also speaking. Do you really think that the undead would have the ability to talk?"

"The skeletons do."

"That different, though. The skeletons are just bones. These are real people we're dealing with. The only thing that can take them down are darts."

"One of those thing actually almost ended up in our hone once. The butler was taken down by it. He was one of the few people that actually lived in our home."

"Where was everyone else?"

"They went out, but they were never seen again."

"Sorry to hear that. You know, you've grown up in a nice home with a wealthy father. I grew up in a regular sized home with a middle class father who's a royal blacksmith."

"A royal blacksmith? I've heard of those kind of people. Their really talented. Your dad's name wouldn't happen to be Lou Brookstone, would it?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"I've seen him before. Plenty of times. My dad enjoyed going to all his concerts. He even took me with him. I've talked to him maybe a time or two. He always told me that he had a son my age, but he just never came along. Now I know that you're his son. Why haven't you ever come along?"

"I wasn't born to be a singer or dancer. I was born to be a ninja. Plus, my real dream was to become a historian archeologist. Singing and dancing was not my thing."

"People were born to do certain things. You were born to learn how to be a hero. One of the greatest in Ninjago."

"What about you?"

"Me? I was born to learn how to paint. My life is surrounded by art. It's something I've always wanted to do."

"What else do you like to do?"

"Well, I like to read. I especially like to read legends."

"What kind of legends?"

We spent about an hour or two talking before we went back to work finding what we needed to find. I got to know Cole a lot more than I thought I would.

COLE AND CAROL ARE STARTING TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER. THIS MAY BE THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP. FOR THE OTHER FOUR CHAPTERS, IT WILL BE ABOUT THE OTHERS AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN TOWN WHILE GATHERING FOR SUPPLIES. BY THE THIRD ONE, YOU'LL FIGURE OUT WHO'S LAST.

WELL, THERE'S NOTHING MORE TO SAY.

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