Chapter 11: Homeward Bound

Kai groaned as he slowly regained his consciousness and the first thing he registered was the fact that he was naked as the day he was born, freezing cold and his left ankle was burning in pain. He groggily opened his dull amber eyes and saw that he was lying on the floor of the empty villa and almost immediately everything from last night came flooding back to him. Slowly sitting up, the spiky-haired brunette groaned as his tired muscles ached.

It was then that he noticed something wrapped loosely around his waist.

He looked down and saw Cole lying next to him with an arm lazily wrapped around his boyfriend's waist. He hadn't left Kai's side the entire night, scared the smaller teen wouldn't wake up. He kept a protective eye on his sleeping boyfriend until the sun rose that morning and Cole couldn't fight his body's need for sleep. Kai moving must have disturbed his own sleep and Kai could see his bushy brows furrowing as the muscular teen tried to either wake up or stay asleep.

Kai slowly tried to move and not to wake Cole up but he cried out loudly in pain when he shifted his left ankle.

He looked and his amber eyes widened when he saw the horrible state his left ankle was in The pale skin of his entire lower leg was smudged with his dried blood and was badly bruised. He couldn't see how bad the injury was because a large piece of once grey fabric, now almost completely stained dark red, was tied tightly around the wound. He knew it was as bad as it felt. He felt the body next to him shift and saw Cole had finally woken up.

As soon as he saw his boyfriend awake, the raven-haired teen shot up and pulled Kai into a tight hug.

"KAI! OH THANK FUCKING GOD, I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T EVER GONNA WAKE UP! ARE YOU OK?!" He screamed in joy as he pulled away, only for his happy expression to fall when he saw the tears streaming down Kai's cheeks. Everything seemed to finally hit the brunette all at once. His hunger, his cold skin, his fear, and his pain. He honestly thought he was going to die in that fox trap. He thought he'd never see his family or friends again.

It that moment all he wanted for his parents to wrap him in a hug and tell him everything was going to be alright.

"I wanna go home." Kai sobbed loudly and he could only hope Cole wouldn't hate him for this. Cole simply nodded and pulled his trembling boyfriend into a loving embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Kai stopped crying. After they pulled apart, Cole helped Kai get dressed, having to stop himself from throwing up as he tore off another piece of the curtains to re-wrap the wound. As soon as they were both dressed Cole carried Kai bridal style through the forest back to where they had left the car.

Thankfully no one had found Cole's car and all their belongings were still in the trunk.

Cole carefully laid Kai across the back seat of the car while he got behind the wheel. They started driving through the forest and back towards the road. As they drove through the forest, Cole winced at the quiet gasps of pain Kai released as they occasionally ran over a bump. When they finally reached the road they had come from Cole thought they were home free. That is until the large car slowly crept to a stop right in the middle of the empty country road.

Cole growled in frustration when he realized they had finally run out of gas.

They didn't have enough money to get some more and even if they did they were too far away from the nearest gas station. Cole reached into the glove box and pulled out his cell phone and cheered internally when he saw that he still had service and battery life. Not a lot though so he had to make this call count. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kai was starting to fall asleep again. He considered calling an ambulance and taking him to the hospital but quickly pushed that idea away.

A hospital would probably do a blood test to make sure he didn't catch anything in the woods.

Cole just needed to get them back to Ninjago where Dr. Julien could help Kai. There was only one other person he could think of calling...

Jay sighed as he scrolled through his phone, seeing if there were any apps that could cure his boredom. He was home alone as his parents were out on some sort of date, or so they said but Jay didn't want to think about that. The trailer was silent aside from the dull voice from the radio, talking about how there was still no sign of Kai or Cole yet. Jay sighed as he thought about his two missing friends. Nya had been stressing out about her brother and he was worried too.

Cole was his best friend and he could only hope the raven-haired boy didn't get him or Kai into trouble.

It was clear to everyone that Kai's parents hadn't been getting much sleep since their son's disappearance. But Jay hadn't a clue what Lou Brookstone was thinking about all of this. To be fair Lou had been away with his dance group all the way to another continent. He had just come back last night and had interrogated the Smiths about his son's disappearance. He was aware that Cole and Kai have run away and he is trying to get home but he doesn't know the reason why yet.

Ray and Maya hadn't told him his son was gay and in a romantic relationship with Kai Smith, believing that was something he should hear from Cole.

Jay was surprised that Lou was unaware of his son's sexuality. It seemed that Lou wasn't as worried about them because like Ray and Maya were. According to the human father because they were both werewolves they would be fine. He knew a little bit about wild werewolves so he thought that they would be able to survive out in the wild alone until they come to their senses. It truly baffled Jay and the others to hear what Lou had said about his own son.

He knew Lou liked to bury his head in the sand and ignore it when it came to his son's werewolf side and other werewolf related things.

Jay, however, had hoped he wasn't as dense to think two city kids could suddenly survive out in the wild without any form of preparation for the sudden change. Jay was suddenly dragged out of his worried thoughts, however, when there was a furious banging on the metal door of the junkyard trailer. He quickly opened the door and was shocked to see Nya standing there.

"Jayyouhavetohelpme! ColejustcalledandKai'sinjured!" She screamed so fast that Jay couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Nya, calm down, and tell me what's wrong." He said calmly.

"Cole just called and said they're stranded on Thundercloud Road in Lower East Fleap and Kai's seriously hurt." She cried, still clutching her cell phone so much Jay thought she was going to crush it.

"Don't they have Cole's car?"

"Yeah, but he said they've run out of gas and they haven't got money to buy some more."

"How injured is Kai?"

"Cole didn't say but it sound's serious!" She whimpered at the thought of her brother in pain. Jay quickly pulled her into an embrace. They stayed like that for a few moments before he pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"What do you want me to do?"...

Cole sighed as he stood next to the car, waiting for rescue to come. Kai was fast asleep across the back seats of the car and was noticeably paler than he was this morning. That scared Cole greatly. As soon as he had called Nya, after she was done screaming at him, she said she was going to get Jay and call Dr. Julien to tell him about Kai when she saw how serious the injury was. After the battery on his phone died, Cole had been anxiously waiting.

He had been trying to think of what he was going to say to his and Kai's families when they got back to Ninjago City.

Nya had assured him that his father didn't know about his relationship with Kai or why he had run away. Cole was trying to think of what to say to his father. He loved Kai with all his heart but he also loved his dad as well. Lou was the man who raised him and had to be strong for himself and Cole when his mother Lily died. Sure, now that Cole was old enough to take care of himself he spent more time with his dance group but the teen knew Lou loved him.

He could only hope that Lou would accept him and Kai's love.

He was also worried about what Kai's family would say. Ray and Maya were very overprotective of their two children, especially their mother Maya. Cole shuddered at the thought of what they both would do to him when they saw Kai's leg. That is unless Nya didn't kill him first for what happened to Kai. Just as Cole was starting to panic about what he was going to say he heard the sound of two vehicles approaching them. He looked up the road and saw Jay and Nya driving towards him.

They were in two of Jay's parents' vehicles.

Jay was driving a tow truck and Nya was driving an old, beat-up jalopy. As soon as they got out of the two vehicles Cole braced for Nya's harsh words. Instead, she ran past Cole and straight to the car where she screamed when she saw the state of Kai's ankle. Jay went to see what had caused his girlfriend to scream like that and threw up on the road when he got a glimpse of Kai's injuries.

"What the fuck happened." Jay gagged as he wiped his mouth.

"T-There was a-a fox trap in the f-forest." Cole stuttered as he recalled the disturbing memory.

"Cole, carry Kai to the jalopy, he can ride with me and you're going with Jay in the tow-truck." She ordered and Cole knew better than to argue with her. After Cole's car was secured to the tow truck and Kai was safe in the jalopy with Nya the four teens made their way back home to Ninjago City...

Cole sighed as he ran a hand through his jet black hair. After they had found Cole and Kai, Nya and Jay had taken them straight to Zane's house where his father could treat Kai's injured leg. The old doctor was currently upstairs with Kai while the others waited. Cole wanted to remain by his boyfriend's side but the doctor had insisted he get a shower and some rest. Cole reluctantly agreed and was currently waiting for news with Jay, Nya, and Zane.

The whole time Nya had been giving him death glares from across the table and Cole was dreading what her parents would say.

Ray and Maya had already been called while Dr. Julien was seeing to Kai and they were on their way. While Cole, Jay, and Nya sat waiting in Zane's kitchen the white-haired boy made some soup for Kai when he woke up. He hadn't said anything about why Cole and Ki had run away, saying he was just concerned for Kai's wellbeing. Back upstairs, Dr. Julien frowned at the X-ray he had just taken, clicking his tongue as he looked at the badly broken bone in Kai's leg.

The teen was sleeping peacefully in a nest of blankets he made under the bed he was given.

It had baffled the old man for a moment, wondering why the brunette would want to sleep under the bed and not in it. Then the old man reminded himself that with his injured state Kai was most likely still operating on his feral instincts. The boy obviously hadn't felt safe sleeping in such an exposed place as a bed so had made a nest under it, safely away from prying eyes.

"Father, I have the soup you requested." A voice said from the doorway and Dr. Julien turned to see Zane holding out a small bowl of chicken soup. His son sent a worried glance to the sleeping brunette curled up in his nest before looking back at his father.

"Thank you, Zane." He smiled and gently took the bowl, setting it down on the bedside table. Zane nodded and left before his father started crouching down on his hands and knees, grunting slightly at the effort, reaching under the bed and extracting the injured teen from under it. Kai awoke at the touch, tensing and giving a soft warning growl as he was dragged from his nest and set on the bed. His yellow eyes locked with the doctor, before returning to their normal color as he relaxed.

"Doc...?" He groaned, still half asleep.

"I'm very sorry for the rude awakening Kai but lunch is ready." He said kindly. Kai nodded slowly, nose suddenly at attention as he caught the delicious smell of chicken soup. He was quick to snatch the warm bowl away from Dr. Julien when the man held it out for him, ignoring the spoon in favor of guzzling the tasty hot liquid as fast as he could.

"Thanks, Zane's cooking's the best," Kai muttered still feeling awkward about the whole situation.

"Kai, you're parents have been called and are on their way."

"Did they say anything about me and Cole?"

"I'm not sure, your sister called them and they will be here soon." He said and Kai nodded. After he finished his soup, Kai sighed, looking down at his left leg that sat in a cast. The old man followed his gaze, back straightening as he took on a serious air that had the teen looking up at him warily.

"You will have to rest your leg and not put weight on it for at least six weeks but after that, you'll be able to walk without trouble." He explained. "The cast will cushion your steps and support the bone so it will grow back straight." He added. Kai gently turned his leg back and forth so he could view the white cast from all sides. He held back a laugh when he saw that Cole, Jay, Nya, and Zane had signed their names on it while he'd been asleep.

"I'll keep off it," Kai smirked up at the doctor who merely sighed, standing quickly and taking away the empty bowl. Once Dr. Julien was out of the room Kai quickly laid back in the comfy bed, curling up in his warm blankets...