Cole's origin story:

He was only three when his mother passed away. He was seven when he fell on his face doing a complicated dance move. He was still seven when he decided that dance wasn't for him…and his father sent him to a dance academy. He stayed there three days before he ran away. It was when he was eight that he found a real friend in someone…

A small, skinny, eight year old boy scrambled for a foothold as he tried to keep up with the rest of the mountain climbers, all of whom were adults and professionals. Sweat beaded down his face, forcing him to let go with one hand to wipe it out of his dark chocolate brown eyes. Floppy, stringy pitch black hair waved around in the gentle breeze, in a bad need for a wash. His holey, too tight clothes were covered in dust and grim, and smelled terrible, as if he never once washed them in the past year. Scrambling onto the small edge that overlooked the steep drop back down to the bottom of the mountain, he dropped down exhausted and weak onto it.

Panting he ignored his grumbling stomach, having gotten used to going hungry. Curling into himself, he steadied his breathing. His bony fingers shook as he ran them through his matted hair, attempting to detangle the greasy mess. Gulping in some much needed air, he placed his bony chin on top of his bony knees. After a few minutes just catching his breath, he heard a faint cracking sound. Confused, he slowly sat up, looking around to see if he couldn't find the source of the sound…when the small cliff suddenly gave way.

A screech escaped him as he flung his arms around frantically, trying to get a hold of anything that could slow his fall down. He eventually seized a hold of a good sized handhold that he had used earlier. He bit his bottom lip out of worry upon seeing that his fingers were slipping… he closed his eyes, his heart pounding loudly in his small chest. He dug his long, unkempt nails into the handhold, in a poor attempt to stop himself from falling.

Next thing he knew, he was waking up, his entire body aching from the fall, inside of a tent. He was lying on top of an off-white sleeping bag, a large black and brown dog staring at him from the tent entrance, which was open. Stifling a groan, he pushed himself upright stiffly, noticing that someone had wrapped his arm tightly in gauze bandages. The dog noticed that he moved and barked as it sat up, tail wagging.

A minute later, the tent flap moved as another eight year old boy, one with spiky auburn hair and hazel eyes that sparkled with life. "Oh good, you're awake. Zane said that if you didn't wake soon he'll have to take you to the nearest hospitable."

The boy frowned, wondering who this 'Zane' fellow was. "I don't know anyone named Zane."

The other boy shook his head, a smirk crossing his face. "Course not. You were asleep when he found ya all beat up. You're lucky that he knows how to tend to injuries better than cookin'."

The first boy scowled at the newcomer, thinking that wasn't very helpful. The large dog thrust its nose in the boy's face, still yapping loudly. Lifting a hand up, he pushed the dog down. "No Marcher, stop your yappin'." Turning his attention back to his forced companion, he held his hand out to him. "My name's Kai. This here is Marcher."

With a jolt, the small underfed boy realized that he was expecting him to give him his name. Glaring at him as hard as he could, he mumbled under his breath. "Nicole."

Kai blinked; clearly surprised about the feminine name that his companion went by. "Do you go by Nick for short or something?"

"Dad calls him Cole when he's in a good mood." Cole pulled his bony knees to his thin chest, wincing as pain stabbed through his side.

"Zane says you got lucky. Didn't break anything, just bruised a whole lot." Kai offered a sympathetic smile to his new potential friend.

Cole scowled at him, just as a tiny girl with short cut black hair and hazel eyes stuck her head in. "Come on you two. Zane says dinner's on."

Kai rolled his eyes, before nodding to the five year old. "That's my little sister, Nya. She's ok for a girl."

"I'm tellin' Zane you said that!" Nya whirled around, fleeing back outside quickly.

Cole snorted, amused about the obvious sibling rivalry between the two. "I still don't know who Zane is."

"He's our older brother…kinda. Come on, Zane made this really good soup for dinner." Kai gestured for Cole to follow him, before leaving him alone again, even Marcher left the tent.

Cole gritted his teeth together as he slowly and carefully inched his way to the tent flap. Pain surged through every point of his body it felt like, making him want to curl up and cry. Tears threatened to escape as he stopped at the tent flap, panting from the extrusion he had used to drag himself the short distance from the sleeping bag and the door. Before he could get the energy to continue onward, the flap swung open again, this time revealing a tall teen with stiff snowy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and pale skin stood in the door.

Cole belatedly realized this must be the mysterious Zane that the siblings spoke of. The newcomer bent down and offered Cole his arm. "Hello, I am glad to see you are awake. My name is Zane."

"Cole." The incident with Kai made him realize that maybe he shouldn't tell people his full first name.

Zane helped Cole up and out of the tent. Settling down on the picnic table that was set up, Cole bit back a wince of pain. Zane quickly placed bowls of hot, steaming soup in front of them. Cole blinked upon noticing that his bowl was larger and fuller than the others.

"You gave me too much." Cole quietly stated as he stirred the food with his spoon.

Zane shook his head fiercely, sitting down to a small bowl with hardly any food in it. "Nonsense. You are malnourished and underweight for your age and height. When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

Cole scooped up a small bite, his face turning bright red with embarrassment. "Sometime last year…"

"What?! Who are your parents, that is illegal…" Zane was now fuming, clearly angered that a child had gone without food for so long.

Cole, not really wanting his father to get in trouble, quickly waved his hands frantically through the air. "No no! It wasn't my parents! I ran away and don't have any means to get food!" Cole immediately felt horrible, his stomach twisting itself in a knot. Now he's done it, Zane and the siblings were gonna turn him over to the authorities.

"I see." Zane's voice was soft as he thoughtfully took a bit of soup. "We're going to have to buy you new clothes. Those ones are far too small, and filthy, for you to keep. We need to cut your hair too, it's getting long enough that from a distance you can pass for a girl." Cole spluttered at that, shocked that Zane would say so out loud. "You also need a sleeping bag, and water bottle. We do not go without hydrating, and that includes you. Thankfully, there is a village nearby that certainly can help with all of those needs. Though I recommend that you take a bath sooner than that. I am sure that Kai still has some clothes that are too small on him that you can wear. You appear to be about that size anyways." Standing up suddenly, Zane picked up his bowl. "Finish your soup. We need to get more weight on you."

Cole blinked in surprise as Zane walked off to a makeshift sink, where he then started washing his dishes. "What just happened?"

Kai shrugged as he took a large bit of soup. "That's Zane for ya. He takes those without a home in without question…guess he thinks that includes you."

"Kai! No talking with your mouth full!" Zane suddenly hollered as he turned to face them.

Kai ducked his head in embarrassment, hurriedly shoving more food into his mouth. Cole shook his head at him, before slowly eating a few small bites. Unable to continue eating, he pushed his mostly full bowl away…

A/N: Done! See? Told you that I would get Cole's origin story up! I know I'm making him OOC, for now. Please note that he is not used to sitting down and eating an actual meal, and he's a lot weaker right now because of that. Next up: Jay!

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SkyTalon