Wu/Cole

And we are back to the G rated content. Cole is a little ragamuffin in this. I think it's kind of cute. This is how Wu might have begun collecting the elemental ninja.

Sometimes there is a bittersweet humor in how life turns out. The old man's lips tried to twitch into a smile but the expression fell short. Wu found so much in his life very serendipitous. It seemed that fate just knew where the man needed to be. He had not planned to visit Garmadon just in time to take Misako back to the monastery so the man could buy just a few more years without the poison taking him forever. He had not planned to be at his brother's house to help take care of his nephew those first few months. And he certainly had not expected to find anything worthwhile in a small village a couple dozen miles outside of Ninjago City.

The snow had been deep that winter. The whole landscape was eerily white with only the occasional flap of wings and chitter of distant birds to keep the elderly man company. Wu felt solitary in the frozen woods. He could feel the ache in his rusty limbs as surely as the limbs of the surrounding trees were weighted down by the heavy snow they had been collecting for weeks.

To say he was glad to see the village walls was an understatement. Wu knew this road had to lead somewhere after seeing so many farms and fields leading up to the quiet village. The view was quaint but it was precisely what the old traveler was looking for.

Just inside the short stone wall, Wu could see a group of village youths giggling and taunting another who was trying to chop frozen wood. The traveling man shook his head and puffed out his mustaches tiredly. As he ambled on, his deep eyes drifted toward the inn determinedly. The boy would learn in his own time without Wu's guidance. Surely his friends would help him before it became too late.

Wu paused on the porch of the town inn, savoring the moderate warmth that leaked from the cracking door frame. The weary old man shrugged off his thick traveling cloak from his slightly stooped shoulders and cast aside his burden to clasp the frozen brass handle. He bustled into the warm sitting room and dragged his baggage in behind him.

It was a comfortable homey place that smelled like baked pork and fresh bread. Everything was done up in deep rich burgundy and dark stained wood. A matronly woman with sparse dark hair smiled at him from a high backed stuffed chair pulled up near the crackling fireplace. She dog-eared her page and set her book aside as Wu approached her with a sigh of relief at the comforting heat.

"Evenin' sir. We have a new loaf due in the minute if you'd like ta fill up 'fore tuckin' in. Dinner is just a nin more if you rent a room for the night. Afraid we don't do drop ins so if your only in for an hour or two, food'll be five nin." She said with the sharp cadence and tone of a serial mother.

Wu smiled graciously. "Oh I wouldn't dream of going back out in that." He rubbed his arms for emphasis earning him another matronly gaze.

"Glad to hear it." She enthused warmly. "Rooms are fifty nin a night, fifteen more for another bed."

"That won't be necessary. One bed is more than enough for these old bones." Wu joked as he paid the woman his room and board up front.

She introduced herself as Mrs. Faralin before ushering him to a table and beginning to stuff him with homemade bread, vegetable broth, and pork cutlets in no time. Wu relaxed back in his chair as a young errand boy offered him another loaf of bread. It was good food but there was no way Wu could stomach another bite. When he waved off the lad's offer, the boy bounced to the owner squealing about how some city boy could not even get a decent split in a log.

"That's enough Harold." Mrs. Fara scolded. "Go get that poor boy in 'ere 'fore he catches his death."

A teenage boy chuckled at that from the doorway to the kitchen. "He says he's not gonna stop till he's done Ma." The lanky teen shook the snow off his winter coat much to his mother's dismay.

"Derek, you go get that boy NOW!" The innkeeper commanded tersely.

The teen groaned and trudged out obediently, only to return empty handed a few minutes later. "He says he's almost done Ma-"

"Bring that boy in now or you'll be the one doin all 'is chores." Mrs. Faralin threatened.

Wu stood hurriedly. "If I may?" The monk interjected. "Can your boys' bring my bags up to my room first? I can even fetch your other boy if you need him now." The traveler suggested, trying to smooth the woman's rocky mood.

The matron smiled tersely. "Don't worry yourself sir. They can handle it."

Wu grinned in passing. "It's no bother. I wanted to get some fresh air anyhow." He explained while hedging around Fara to the door. He escaped before the thin haired woman could get another word in edgewise.

Outside, the elderly traveler was instantly ambushed by the chilly air. Wu staggered out into the snow, quickly spotting the boy chopping wood by the fence even in the growing darkness. He approached silently, even in the crunchy snow, but the boy froze in anticipation anyway.

"I said I'll come in when I'm finished Donkey Boy." The axe wielder muttered bitterly as he continued his work, surely unable to see what he was doing in the failing light.

Wu listened to the boy pant and grunt with each of his strikes. "I don't have all night young man." The grey maned man announced.

The youth spun around wildly, with the axe poorly poised to attack. "What are you doing here?" He questioned defensively.

"Your mom wants you in boy."

"My mother?" The boy repeated. "Can't be- I don't have a mother."

Wu stepped closer, not concerned about how the boy seemed even more like a cornered animal when he moved. "You're from Ninjago proper, aren't you?"

"N-no." Dark eyes darted in the young man's face as he stuttered.

Wu sighed. This boy was too young to be on his own and he smelled as though he had not had a decent bath in a week. "Regardless, you won't be getting anything done if you chop your hand off because you can't see what you're doing." He scrutinized the pouting teen and snorted. "Tell you what, I'll chop and you carry the wood to the stack."

The dark boy huffed, "I don't need your help old man. Go chop your own wood."

"So be it, I'll just watch you lose a finger or two." Wu conceded.

The teenager growled and hefted the axe high above his head with all of the form of a toddler playing with daddy's tools. The axe came down swiftly with a thunk but no sound of a frozen log splitting.

"You missed," Wu pointed out quietly.

"I- kn-know," The boy called back, clearly affected by the cold now. He readied for another strike and brought it down more softly and this time he actually hit the log. Wu could not see it but he knew the axe was barely buried into the wood.

"Stop, stop." Wu forestalled the boy's next chop. "You'll never finish at this rate. Give me the axe."

"Fine! You think you can do better? Be my guest." The teen thrust the axe towards Wu gruffly.

The old traveler smiled as he took a hold of the offered tool. Wu wrenched the frozen wood from the blade and dropped it back onto the chopping block. In two swift movements, the experienced ninja quartered the log. He tossed the cuts to the lad without glancing back. "Here, bring these in." He ordered.

Wu waited until the snow crunching underfoot faded before grinning. The boy would be inside for the night in no time. "Ninja-go!" He called out, using spinjutsu to line up the logs more quickly before chopping them to a more manageable size. Wu finished with not even a drop of sweat on his brow. He gave a start when he noticed the boy standing close by, watching with dark focused eyes. "Well? Get to stacking." He said on his way back indoors.

As soon as Wu reinterred the warm sanctuary, he was bombarded by five kids who had apparently been spying trough the window. "Wow!" "That was incredible." "How'd you do that?" "Are you magic mister?" "Teach me to make a tornado!" The crowd of dark heads at varying heights resembled Faralin so much, Wu idly wondered if the woman even had a man's help making the swarm.

As if on cue, the house mistress silenced her pack of yipping pups. "Enough! Don't you bother the nice man now. Go wash up fer dinner- all of you." The gathering dispersed and the woman's brown eyes studied her guest closely. "So you're a spinjutsu master?" She inquired, knowing the answer as well as Wu himself.

"I hope it's not a bother Faralin." Wu said, stretching out his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"No one here cares about any of that. They're old legends, that's it. Stories." The dark featured woman stated skeptically. "What's that boy to ya anyways?" She finally asked after a long pause.

Wu shook his head. "The boy out there? Nothing, never met him. How'd he end up here?"

The woman turned her attention to watching the teenager through the window. He seemed determined as he moved the frozen logs under the stoop with probably no idea they would be nearly impossible to light after sitting in the snow so long. "His name's Cole. He just showed up, walkin' in on the road a couple a hours before you did. Didn't have a cent on him but needed a place to stay so he offered to do chores fer me. Must be from the city. He doesn't know a thing about getting his hands dirty. But he's a hard worker alright."

"So I noticed." Wu agreed. "Where's he headed?"

"Came in same way as you. Just runnin' away from the city I suppose."

"All there is is Mount Creation out that way." Wu pointed out.

Fara glanced at him inquisitively. "And what business do you have there he can't, old timer?"

Wu puffed out his mustaches. "I live in the monastery at the peak. This is just the journey home for me."

"Maybe he's makin' his way home too." The matron observed sagely.

Cole stepped into the warmth and shut the door tight before pulling off his snow covered coat and boots. "You said I can put these by the fire Mrs. Faralin?" He asked politely, pointedly ignoring Wu standing there.

"Yes Sweetie." The woman said warmly, suddenly sounding consoling rather than protective. "We have plenty of food waitin' in the kitchen for ya whenever you're ready."

Cole nodded, "I can bring it up to my room right?" The teen inquired with eyes that would wander towards the aforementioned food.

Fara frowned. "You can eat down here with the family if you want Sweetie." She offered, sounding concerned.

Cole's face scrunched up in distaste and Wu could not blame the lad. It did not seem the other kids were the friendliest bunch to the city boy. "Nah, I'm kind of tired. I'd rather just bring something up with me if that's okay with you."

The inkeeper's lips tightened momentarily while young piercing black eyes tried to see the food beyond the wall to the kitchen. Mrs. Faralin sighed. "Of course you can Cole." The boy made a move to the kitchen. "And on your way up, can you show this gentleman to his room too? It's right across from yours Sweetie."

Cole nodded and left to collect his supper. Once he was gone the matron turned to her other guest. "What'd he say to you out there?"

Wu looked out the window at the snow falling around the chopping block."Not much."

"About the same as you then."

"Wu." The traveler said.

"What?" She asked, puzzled.

"My name is Wu and I'm a spinjutsu master from Mount Creation. That is much more than a boy named Cole who has no mother."

Faralin snorted. "Has no mother? He told my girl he ran away and wasn't ever going back to his family." The door to the kitchen opened and the adults could hear children's boisterous laughter spilling out around an almost stoic Cole. "Goodnight Sweetie. Sleep tight and I'll see you in the mornin'"

Cole nodded to her and made his way upstairs silently. Wu followed the boy, noting how quiet his footfalls were and the peculiar shape of his leg muscles. The black eyed lad was the first child who had not been enchanted when seeing spinjutsu. Wu had to wonder where the teenager had been trained.

The boy abruptly stopped and deftly opened a door with his hands full with an overloaded plate of food and a mug. "That one there is yours." He pointed out with a jerk of his head.

Wu smiled. "Thank you lad." And the boy's door closed before another word could be uttered. "City folk." The ninja huffed. They were always an abrupt type.

Wu woke later than was usual for him with the sun halfway to its peak. He stretched as he made his way downstairs and spotted Mrs. Faralin curled up before the fire with her book again. "Good mornin' Wu." She greeted without so much as glancing up. The traveler looked around puzzled before she explained. "We only had two guests last night and the boy's already out and about."

"I see."

"There's fruit on the table and a loaf or two. Help yourself. The mornin' meal'll be in a couple of hours when the kids wake up." She droned on tiredly. It was evident she was not a morning person.

"Thank you Faralin." The older man replied, grabbing an orange and his coat and boots on his way out.

Wu drew up short when he caught sight of Cole without a coat, hacking away frustratedly at a log that was little more than splinters. A dark haired man shrugged at Wu and turned back to watch the boy some more. "I tried to show him how to do it but he doesn't listen. He tries for a minute or two then goes back to...that." The stout man made a broad gesture to what Cole was doing at the moment.

Wu peeled his orange as he approached the boy who was sweating even with his coat off. "Cole!" The older man called out over the loud thunks. "You want some?" He offered an orange slice to the teen. Now, in the sunlight, Wu could see the dark featured boy could not be any older than fourteen. He had a slight build and tanned skin, even in the heart of winter.

The black eyes were just as piercing during the day and it sent a peculiar rush through Wu like when he met a particularly powerful opponent on the battlefield. "Oh, it's you." Cole sneered grumpily. He sighed and dropped the axe off to the side before leaning tiredly against the chopping block.

"You should not allow part of a dead tree to distress you so." Wu pointed out getting a rather disbelieving look from the kid. "It's just wood. You have years to learn how to cut it. It isn't going anywhere. Have a piece of orange before it's gone."

Cole sighed and pulled off a soiled glove to pluck a slice from Wu's hands. "Thanks." The fruit disappeared into a petulant mouth and the serious boy chewed it contemplatively as though trying to decipher what it was. "For last night too." He finally said after swallowing.

Wu sat next to him, noticing the other man was now gone. "It is good you practice when you can see but doing an unfamiliar task under the cover of darkness can be dangerous." The old man pointed out.

"You get that from a fortune cookie?" The boy asked, arching a thick brow and snatching another slice from the orange.

"Wisdom can come in many forms, young man." Wu stated sagely while trying to hide a small smile That kept tugging at his lips.

"And what wisdom do you plan on doting upon me, old man?" Cole grumbled.

"An axe with a dull blade is useless against the mighty tree."

Cole laughed and shook his head. "What does that have to do with anything?" He shouted to the sky.

Wu turned towards the troubled teenager and felt the weight of destiny settle around them. "Without proper preparation, no one can achieve their purpose."

Cole sprang up, looking annoyed. "That's it, no more fortune cookie riddles for you! Just talk sense from now on."

"That is the sense of how the world works, boy." Wu said flatly.

Cole held his gaze for a long moment before finally looking down at the thick layer of snow. "So what?" Was his mumbled reply.

"You must either return home or climb to the monastery at the peak of Mount Creation with me. Those are the only two paths out of this village." Wu spoke, knowing the boy would not fully understand.

Cole shrugged. "I could always just run off into the woods."

"If you continue to run- you may find yourself lost when you finally look up."

The focused dark eyes snapped back to Wu's again. "You think I know where I am right now?" The lad scoffed.

Wu shook his head with a sad smile. "I fear that may be why our paths have crossed."

"Why should I go anywhere with you?"

The snow drifted down peacefully around the two but Cole ignored the cold like an unmovable mountain. His will was strong like earth, keeping him hacking away late into the night. Even stone could be shaped with the right tools. "I will teach you to sharpen the axe and chop the wood so you may be prepared when you find your path."