I have been holding onto that little personal brain cannon for weeks now. Lol. Ronin had a thing for the water ninja in the past. Maybe that's because he feels the call of the water itself. Also found it super funny for Ronin to up and ditch them for a little. Anyways hope you guys like it.
"So just how do you plan on us getting back. We can't safely call the others to come get us. And I suspect that we can not break into the airship Rex without Ronin here" Bree said.
Cole looked at her and scowled. "No we can't. Not without endangering them, not unless you have Harumi come, shes not cursed" he answered.
"She is watching Alana for me remember" Bree snipped.
"I don't get why on Ninjago you would let her watch your child" Cole said in disgust.
Bree huffed and headed back up the beach up the rocky path. With no mermaids here now the possibility that they could run into some random kappa increased. Cole watched in amusement as she struggled more than she looked like she wanted to admit getting back up the cliff rocks. Heading down was so much easier than heading up. Once up top Bree poked at the spot where the airship Rex stood cloaked. It gave off an ugly electric zap in response. So they really weren't getting back this way.
"So..." Bree started off hesitantly. "Why do you think I won't like your way of getting back".
Cole looked at her blankly. The wind was picking up and it was colder up on top of the cliff than down below near the protection of the little inlet. Cole's hair whipping around his face. Bree's only fairing slightly better. But long tendrils of curls were escaping and flying over her shoulders and back
"Hows your flying?" Cole asked.
"What flying? I can only pop in and out like a djin for a few feet. That's not flying. And I certainly couldn't do that for miles over open water. I am also absolutely not trying to shapeshift, I hate it and it feels weird" Bree answered brusquely. Cole raised an eyebrow at the shapeshifting comment but didn't push it further.
"Don't be stupid. With your dragon" Cole said annoyed. By the time they got back to the temple it was going to be getting dark out if they didn't hurry.
"Don't call me stupid, I am not the one that is a literal box of rocks for brains. Dragons don't exist, they are fairy tails or massively exaggerated fish tales" Bree responded sulkily. She looked up and down the shore line alone the cliff. Also realizing they had to get back sooner than later or it would be dark soon.
"For someone who is part dragon it sounds pretty stupid to think they don't exist" Cole replied with a laugh.
Bree looked at him like he had two heads. Great he thought. Either she is just messing with me or she has no actual idea what I am talking about. Cole was about to explain when he realized Bree had started walking up the path. Oh good hell. She plans on walking back.
"Stop, Bree! stop I've got to show you something" Cole called after her. Bree did not in fact stop so Cole caught her by the arm and gently spun her to face him. His arms lighting up a glowing orange at the contact. He was tall compared to his brothers and sister ninja. But Bree came a full foot shorter than him he noticed. She craned her neck to look up at him in annoyance.
"What now? We have a ridiculously long walk home and then we have to find a air ship to get back up to the temple. What can you possibly have to show me this instant that will help us? I despise being away from Alanna and Harmui for so long" she answered with a hint of a snarl in her voice.
She was almost as short tempered as Kai Cole thought, but the over protectiveness reminded him of another. Shaking his head he banished that thought quickly. Extending the hand not currently holding on to Bree's Cole summoned his elemental dragon. It was probably a decent idea to keep hold of her because Bree screamed, jerked and tried to haul backwards away from the large earth elemental dragon. The dragon snorted in surprise at the loud screams and roared back at her.
"What in seven gates of hell is that thing!?" Bree screeched. Still pulling back hard. Coles grip tightened on her and she started to yank and scramble before changing her mind and pulling up an large ball of magenta purple magic and hurling it at the elemental dragon. It passed harmlessly over the large dragon who merely snorted at the contact like it tickled.
"Its a elemental dragon. All of us have one. Even you" Cole started to tell Bree and then stopped when he had to grab her with both arms to keep her from pulling back. With one arm he snaked it around her waist and held the screeching master of magic tight and vanished the dragon with a wave of the other hand. "Have you really never seen a dragon before?" Cole asked in wonder. As much as it amused him to annoy her Cole did not particularly like the idea of scaring her. Not when he was pretty sure she was already afraid of him. Or more accurately afraid of the fact that her magic wouldn't work offensively on him.
Bree looked less afraid and more angry now. She looked up at him with her blue gray eyes. And Cole could swear for a second he thought the color was going to shift. The wind made icy blasts now coming up the cliff he spun her again so his back blocked most of the freezing cold.
"I don't care what you called that thing, I am not flying back with it, on it, however you use that thing. No freaking way" Bree said somewhat more steadily.
"How on earth are you afraid of a little dragon, you have realm hopped all over, how have you never seen one?" Cole asked her.
"Its big enough to kill and eat us both, I don't need to have ever seen one before to know better than to stay far far away. Of course Im afraid of it. But that sounds real funny coming from the guy who was afraid of one tiny young mermaid" Bree answered him. She tried to pull back in annoyance once again. Coles arms only glowed a brighter orange in response.
"Well I don't see any other way of getting home do you?" Cole asked her.
Bree did not answer. Her head was turned and she was scanning the cliffs and surrounding areas. She had caught some movement with her eyes and motioned to Cole that they were not alone. Cole didn't let go of her entirely. But did reach up and grab the hammer sheathed to his back. Neither could see or hear what was beyond them in either the grasses or down the cliff. The sound of the waves crashing and the wind now howling up at them hid the sounds. Bree called up a strong blue purple shield and held it around both of them. The glow of the shield and the glow from Coles arms lit the surrounding area just enough for Bree and Cole to focus on the danger they sensed. Kappa were crawling up the edges of the cliff. And all along the paths along the ridge. With their element of surprise gone they stopped the pretense of stalking the elemental masters and ran screeching and snarling at them.
Bree sent off several balls of magenta purple magic at the closest ones, knocking them back off the rocky cliff and causing them to hit the wet wave washed rocks below. Most merely bouncing of their hard shells. But one or two hitting their head and it shattered with a disgusting smashing noise that carried all the way up to Cole and Bree.
"We have to go, Now!" Cole roared at Bree. He holstered the hammer again. Thinking that his next move was really going to piss Bree off.
"Get that back out you box of rocks! We are going to have to fight our way down one of these paths!" Bree yelled. Hurling off several more balls of magic at the rapidly approving kappa.
Cole backed up a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff. He noticed that the kappa had a wet, almost rotten smell to them. Their skin looked more damaged, more decaying then the last time he had seen one. He had never been this close and certainly didn't want to get any better acquainted with them. He drew his arm tightly around Bree again. This time drawing her off her feet with her back against his chest before he pitched them both off the cliff and towards the crashing waves below. She screeched again and let off a blast of almost pink purple magic that obliterated a massive chuck of the cliff face and several of the closest kappa. Instead of the magic merely bouncing off the hard shells this time the shock wave of magic hit with such force that the head exploded with a stinking splash of green ooze. Cole didn't let them go more than a few feet of free fall before calling up his elemental dragon again. Landing on the dragon and Cole turning it with such force that it made their stomachs lurch.
"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Bree yelled rapidly to Cole. Pulling her legs up and off the dragon so she wasn't touching the large beast. She tried desperately to get Cole to let go of her and off the dragon.
"Either I drop you in the water or I drop you back on the cliff with the kappa, what would you prefer?" Cole yelled to her.
With a squeal Bree threw her arms around Cole's neck and buried her face in his chest like a child. Cole could not understand Bree's muffled reply. He thought it might have been please don't drop me. But he wasn't sure. Glancing back he could see the kappa still scrambling along the cliff. Some leaping down into the water and swimming. He shifted Bree into his lap and moved the dragon on faster. Those things were going to try and swim after them. If he let go of the dragon for any reason between the monsters in the water or the drop to land that would be the end of them.
"It won't take us long to get back to the temple. Im going to kill Ronin the next time i see him" Cole said to Bree. She didn't answer him or move.
Cole shifted a bit and that only caused Bree to dig her nails into his back and hold on tighter. She did not like flying at all he mused. "Im not going to drop you" Cole said more quietly to her.
She once again said nothing. Cole could feel her heart pounding in her chest they were so close. Her hair that had come loose was whipping up and curls were catching him in the face. He tucked it behind her ear and tried to look down at her face. She looked like Jay did when he was about to have an anxiety attack. Except her eyes were pinched tightly shut. Cole wondered if she had always hated flying, the air ships didn't seem to bother her. So it much be the dragon itself. With a chuckle he remember how afraid of dragons he was. And Rocky was smaller then the elemental dragon he rode now. For all Bree seemed to know about magic and realms she must have never been to the first realm either. That might have been purposeful on her mothers part. If the only thing Bree's mother Rowena came back to Ninjago for was to see his own mother Beverly then maybe Rowena never even told Bree what a dragon or oni were. That'll be a great conversation he thought. The wind was icy now and it was getting dark much faster than Cole thought it should have been. At the rate they were flying they should be back to the air temple before dusk. Looking down below the city lights hadn't started to come on yet. He was right it was getting darker much faster than usual.
"Bree" Cole said gently. "Look at the sky".
Bree shook her head no in reply and didn't open her eyes. but kept her face buried.
"Come on, somethings weird about it" Cole spoke softly again. Giving her a gentle shake. Maybe if he was a little less rough and gruff with her, she wouldn't freak out so badly.
Bree cautiously looked out then. Then her curiosity piqued she eyed the skyline. The lights of the city now below just starting to blink on. "That's not natural, its not the time of year for the days to get shorter. It looks..." she eyed the sky above them. "Off...magically. And I am not doing it" Bree said.
Another blast of icy wind hit them. That didn't feel right either. It was just turning fall here and the weather should still have felt like summer in the day and slightly cool at night. Not so cold it burned like in deep winter. Bree shivered in his arms and turned her face back in. Without her yelling at him her soft warmth was extremely pleasant in his lap. Bree was taller than Harumi and Nya, well not not by too much on Nya. But much stronger looking and curvier than either. Almost plump in comparison to Harumi who was so thin and tiny she was childish and fairy like. Cole could defiantly see why his jackass of a cousin would have wanted Bree to himself. Aside from her magic and all her abilities Bree was a very beautiful women and Coles cheeks reddened at the thought of how long it had been since he had some one in his arms. Now highly aware of the women in his lap, curled so close Cole could feel her heart beat and with her arms wrapped tightly around him his face reddened more. He could see the temple in the distance and urged the dragon on faster. Closing the distance more quickly. They would be back at the temple shortly and Cole could let go of Bree before she noticed anything and Cole embarrassed himself any further.