Cole is woken by the sound of rain, the gentle rattle as it collides with the roof tiles. A comforting white noise, and a perfect excuse to lay in bed a little longer. It was late, he knew it was well past an acceptable time to rise. His sleep schedule had been slowly drifting, and he lacked the motivation to do anything about it. He stayed up late because he wasn't yet tired, playing games, or watching movies (with headphones or subtitles if the others were sleeping). Then he slept in late because there was nothing to do. Kai wasn't around to encourage sunrise exercises. Wu and Lloyd weren't around to tell him off for being lazy. Jay and Zane didn't seem to mind, so what was the harm? He rolled over in bed, pulling the covers up around his head. Maybe I'll get up earlier tomorrow. He thought feebly, knowing that he wouldn't. Knowing it would turn out exactly the same.
The only thing that would make this more cosy was if there was a cat sleeping on his feet, but pets weren't a good idea when you often needed to leave suddenly on missions for extended periods of time.
He was vaguely aware of his phone buzzing on the nightstand. Probably a spam txt.. He thought before dozing off, enjoying the sound of the gentle rain.
A while later he wakes with a start, body jerking like when you trip over in a dream. He rubs his head trying to remember what he was dreaming about, but it was already forgotten. He sighs, rolling over onto his back, noticing that it is still raining. No walk for Jay today, he thinks before wondering why the monastery was so quiet. He grabs his phone to check how long the rain will last when he sees a notification. Immediate dread washes over him as he reads the words on his screen
Bluejay: Help! Rain caught me unaware, not dressed appropriately.
Bluejay started sharing his location.
Bluejay stopped sharing his location.
The timestamp was 37 minutes ago. His fingers tremble as he taps the location history seeing a single blip in a location that doesn't make any sense. It isn't on any of the walking paths, and is far, at least for Jay.
"This better be a joke Jay!" Says Cole as he jumps out of bed and sprints to Jay's room, slamming open the door. His panic rises, as he sees it's empty. He calls Jay on his phone as he moves onto the game room, but it goes straight to voicemail. The game room is also empty, so he moves onto the kitchen. "Jay!" He calls out, and then realises what else is missing. "Zane!" but he doesn't get a response and the kitchen is also bare.
His heart is pounding as he enters the lift. He calls Jay again on his phone while waiting for the doors to open, but the result is the same. His anxiety drops a small fraction as the lift doors open and he sees Zane sitting near one of the control screens.
"Zane!" He calls out again as he runs over to the white ninja. Zane doesn't respond, eyes closed. Cole shakes his shoulder, "Zane, wake up!" He then notices the cable coming out of Zane's head and traces it back to the control panel.
Press this button to wake, only do so if urgent.
Cole quickly presses the button. Zane's body jerks, and his eyes open, revealing the eerie blue glow. "What is the emergency?" he states.
Cole stumbles over his words, "Jay is.. The message.. It's raining.. Why aren't you tracking him?" He holds up his phone for Zane to see.
Zane blinks, before taking out his own phone and reading the same message. "Jay did not inform me he was going on a walk today." Says Zane with a frown.
"We need to do something!" Pleads Cole, panic seeping into his voice.
"Agreed." Zane removes the lead from his head.
"This location doesn't make any sense.." Cole's voice is still husky from sleep.
"Actually it makes perfect sense." Says Zane, as he puts a map of the area up on the big screen. "Every walk Jay has taken always follows the same path. The shared location is where reception starts to drop off, so I don't know where he goes from there." He highlights the path on the screen.
"Is that why he isn't picking up?" Says Cole.
"You called him?"
"Twice. Straight to voicemail."
"Hmm. Possibly," states Zane, "either that or his battery has gone flat. By my calculations there are three options. 1. He is making his way back in the rain, in this case he will be somewhere along the path, and should be almost back by now. 2. He has taken shelter somewhere, likely somewhere near the path, or beyond where reception is lost." Zane highlights areas either side of the path, and a circle at the end.
"And the third option?" asks Cole.
"He is injured and unable to move. In this case he will either be near where the signal was sent, or somewhere along the path."
Cole feels the blood draining from his face, he forms fists with his hands, knuckles going white. "If he's hurt we need to find him."
"Agreed, so you should leave immediately, search along the path. Don't worry about searching the surrounds, if he has taken shelter then the urgency in finding him will be less, you can check these areas on your way back if he is nowhere along the path."
Cole nods. "And you?"
"I will prepare the ice chopper. It hasn't been used in a while, so it will take a bit of time for me to get through the pre-start checks, but if he is injured, we may need it to extract him."
This is why Zane was the leader, he knew what to do. He had formulated a plan in the time it took Cole to panic and stumble out of bed. Cole nods before sprinting back to the elevator.
"Make sure you dress appropriately!" Yells Zane.
Cole laments the lift speed as he waits for the doors to open. He squeezes through them as soon as possible, sprinting to his room, he was still in PJs for goodness sake. He throws on the first gi he finds, and shoes with enough grip for slippery paths. A hood with communicator, and a rain poncho, to keep him dry, but still allow some airflow underneath. He ties a waterproof winter coat around his waist for Jay, checks he has an inhaler in his pocket, and loops a small first aid kit onto his belt.
As he slides open the door to the monastery, he takes one last glance at the chat. It has now been 46 minutes since Jay sent the message. A knot churns in his stomach as he takes off into the rain. Why didn't I wake up sooner? What if I'm too late?
The rain is constant, but thankfully the wind is minor, there is no thunder or lightning, just the constant splatter of water colliding with the ground. The poncho keeps him mostly dry, but the rain clings to his face, with some trickling down his neck. His shoes quickly become soaked, water and mud splattering his lower legs as he runs along the path. Zane was right that he didn't have time to check the surrounds, but he did call out periodically, in case Jay was nearby. That way Jay could hear him and call back. "Jay! Jay! Are you out here?!" He doesn't get a response.
Zane was also right that if Jay was making his own way back, he should have been back at the monastery by now. Even with his asthma, this was plenty of time. Shit, what if he was having an asthma attack? The further Cole got along the path, the more worried he became.
"Progress report?" Zane's voice echoes in his earpiece.
Cole lifts his hand to the earpiece. "Nothing yet, I'm getting worried."
"Remember, he could have found shelter."
"Shelter? I haven't passed anything that could provide protection from this downpour!" Grumbles Cole, panic seeping into his voice.
"Understood." Says Zane. "The chopper is almost ready. I will contact you again when I am ready to launch."
Cole growls in frustration, and continues running, at an increased pace. I have to find him, I have to get there in time! A minute later he turns a corner, foot tripping on a tree root. Instinctively as he falls, he activates his lava arm and slams it into the ground, sending out a shockwave through the earth, and causing the dozen or so trees nearest him to immediately drop all the water that had collected on their leaves. The sound of rain intensifies momentarily as the water splatters on the ground.
Cole pants in surprise, it was a trick he had developed in training, a way to turn a disadvantage into an advantage, the shockwave distracting his enemies long enough that he could get back onto his feet. His body trembles with adrenaline; right now it definitely feels like he is in the middle of a battle, fighting for his life, or the lives of his friends. He slams his unenergised fists into the ground once more, growling in frustration. "I don't have time for this!" He pushes himself up, and keeps going, at a slightly reduced pace. He would be no help to Jay if he injured himself before he even found Jay.
Cole knew he was getting close to the turn off, and had been keeping an eye out for any paths on his left, but hadn't seen any yet. His eyes briefly scan over a small stack of rocks as he continues running. About 6 steps later he pauses, backtracking to inspect the rocks more closely. Did Jay stack these? He pulls out his phone, checking his location, he is exactly at the turn off. He frowns, examining the brush, there is barely a path at all. Why would Zane let him go this way? He groans, remembering the answer.
'I trust Zane not to follow me unless my life is in immediate danger.'
Cole wanted to strangle both of them, at least after he had found Jay all safe and sound.
He travels much more slowly along the new path, it is narrow, uneven, unknown. He sometimes needs to push past bushes, and isn't even sure he is going the right way. He frequently pulls out his phone to check. He was getting closer to the signal. The surrounding hill had become very steep, introducing a new fear into Cole's panicked thoughts. What if he fell.. He stares out over the edge of the slope, with the rain and the mist he can't even see the bottom.
"Progress report?"
Cole reaches for his earpiece. "I'm almost at the signal, still no sign of him, but this path is practically cut into a cliff! It's so steep, I can't make out the bottom.. Zane, what if.. What if he.." His voice starts to crack.
"There is no changing what happened." States Zane calmly. "We only need to find him, and take things from there. I am on my way in the chopper now, I should be at your location in just over 5 minutes. I will be able to search the cliff face from the air, and could even transport you to the bottom if we need to search there."
Cole wipes moisture from his eyes, probably rain.. "Right. I just need to find him."
Cole continues on, turning a bend he sees a streak of freshly disturbed earth, and a section of path that is missing. "Oh no.." He looks out over the edge, the landslide continues down the slope, there are a few small trees clinging to the cliff, he can barely make out a blue blob sitting on the furthest one. "Jay!" He yells, but there is no movement, or reaction.
He reaches to his earpiece. "Zane! I found him! He's halfway down the cliff, he's not moving.. I'm going to use my powers to climb down."
"Understood." says Zane. "Take extreme caution, I am not equipped to rescue anyone without assistance."
Right, so if I fall, we're both dead. Cole forces himself to take a moment, assess the situation. He stands back, as far as he can from the edge of the slope, activates his earth powers, and pounds his hands into the ground. With intense focus he feels what is hidden underground, selecting two large rocks, pulling them to the surface until they are sticking out of the cliff, providing some sort of stepping stones for him to get closer to Jay. The soil around him trembles, and some more of the path slides down the slope. Cole watches nervously, waiting for the hill to stabilise before he jumps down onto the newly uncovered rocks, testing them for stability. "Solid as a rock." He says with satisfaction before looking down the cliff, he still had a long way to go..
Now confident in his approach, he picks some rocks further down for his next 'steps'. They were strong enough that a large jump wouldn't dislodge them, even with the wet soil. On his third batch of earthmoving, he carefully places a rock right next to Jay's location. Please be alive, please be alive..
"Jay!" yells Cole, as he lands beside his friend, Jay looks up at him blankly. He's awake, which means he's alive! A small wave of relief washes over Cole, as he tries to think what to do next.