I wanted to throw my hat into the ring here and make my own story for how Cole survived after being stranded in the Land of Lost Things.
This first chapter is probably the most boring so far, just because I'm not very good at writing action and because I have trouble writing characters suffering alone.
None of the Dragons Rising characters show up until chapter 2.
Tags: Canon Compliant (as much as I can), Canon Divergence (probably), Angst, Serious Injuries, Being Lost, Medical Inaccuracies (most likely), Terribly Written Action
Cole woke up.
His vision was blurred, and for a moment, nothing seemed wrong… until his head felt like it was going to explode in a matter of seconds. He groaned as he moved a hand up to cradle it, before he winced.
Did he break a couple of ribs, maybe part of his spine? When did that happen? Whatever the case, it hurt like hell, pain zipping up and down his entire body. He suddenly felt feverish, nausea making his head spin. He tore off his mask, gasping for air.
Where was he? The air was… eerily quiet. Was this sand or dirt he was laying on? With great effort, he turned his head, mostly using his eyes to take in his surroundings. He was surrounded by piles and piles of various things, some things in better shape than others. Beside him was a lump of wood, what had most likely been a desk before he had inevitably been tossed straight into it… he could already feel the splinters in his skin.
There was no sense in staying here, no matter how much pain he was in. He had no idea where he was, or what dangers would greet him. He wondered how the others were faring…
Where were the others?
He steeled himself for a long moment, knowing this would be a challenge. One that he hoped wouldn't last long. Finally, he forced himself away from the ground, feeling his entire body shift and try to implode on itself.
He whimpered, using the dilapidated desk as support. It felt like lightning coursed through his muscles, which he was overly familiar with, but it was at least ten times worse. His legs shook, and he was pretty sure that one of them had a pulled muscle.
Weakly, Cole made his way up one of the mountains of… stuff. Where did it all come from? Old clothes, throw pillows, boxes and bins… Whatever. He just needed to focus. He crawled up until he was high enough to survey the land, in which he found the wind.
He squinted against the force of it, looking around. Where was everyone? No way he had been the first to wake, with this pain? He groaned at the thought of having to be the one to wake them all, especially if Jay ended up being in any kind of pain, or if Kai's hair had gotten messed up.
He looked up to the sky to try and decipher what time it might be, before realizing just how foggy it was. The sun wasn't visible in any way except its light, the sky hazy and bright. He guessed he'd have to wait for it to start getting dark before he could estimate how long he'd been awake.
Before he knew what was going on, the sky split open and objects came raining down. He didn't have time to try and avoid any of it, feeling something crash right into his head and force him right back to the ground, hitting the dirt with blinding pain and a shout.
He didn't know how long he just… laid there in excruciating pain, but it couldn't have been for very long. Every breath came as a hiss through his teeth. If he hadn't had a concussion before, he surely did now. He pushed what appeared to be a couch cushion off of his face before slowly sitting up.
All he wanted to do was cry, his head and back absolutely killing him.
Looking around once more, he took in the new things that had joined him at the bottom. Most of it was junk, old prescription bottles and teeth straighteners littering the ground. But one thing stood out.
A girdle.
Oh, please, provide enough support for his aching back.
Cole quickly grabbed it. As fast as he could, he took the top of his gi off and wrapped the girdle around his waist. He carefully fastened it before trying to stand up again. Good, good… it seemed to help. Now if only he had a leg brace… He put his gi back on, rolling his sleeves up to try and ease the uncomfortable warmth that spread throughout him.
He limped back to the piles of random stuff, doing his best to ignore every sting that came from his injured leg. If only Zane was here… he's sure that he would be able to figure something out to help. Well… Cole would be able to as well, but Zane was so much quicker when it came to these situations, where he had time to figure things out more logically.
Suddenly, a thud was felt through the earth. He stiffened up.
Cautiously, he climbed another pile and peered over it, squinting to see through the drifting fog and to protect his eyes from the wind and dust. He couldn't quite make it out, but the large, scrawny figure in the distance couldn't possibly be anything more than trouble… unless it was his way to find the others.
His eyes widened, and he looked back down to where he had been… No one else was here. There was no point in looking for them. They were where that thing was.
Without another thought, he started to make his way over, jumping from one pile to another. It was far more exhausting to do it with just one leg while being in so much nauseating pain, but he needed to keep up and focus.
With every jump closer, the creature became clearer and clearer… and it looked more and more like he should avoid it. A few jumps closer and he stopped before he got too close, needing to take in the situation.
It looked spindly, made of the very things that buried the ground. It was like it was gathering more of the junk, using it all to build itself up. He pulled his mask up, unsure of how sentient it was. He crawled a little closer, holding his breath… before movement caught the corner of his eye.
He quickly looked over, despite his headache, and caught another sliver of movement as whatever had been there hid away. Someone was here, and in this desolate waste land, it had to be one of his friends, and considering they were hiding… they must be in worse condition than he was.
Quickly, he ducked down to come up with a plan. Then he was shooting back up, making himself known to the thing.
"Hey, ugly!" he called out, standing tall on the pile. The creature jolted and looked over at him, before barely even thinking about anything, a… claw swinging out to hit the pile beneath. He hardly had any time to dodge it, going to a pile closer. His hands found a metal bar, using his super strength to aid him as he swung it at the thing.
He got one good hit out of it, the creature ringing with it, before the sky started raining things again. Not ready in any capacity, a heavy box dropped right onto him, making him fall right back to the ground with a cry.
He heard something crack, a blinding white pain meeting his vision once more before he lost consciousness.
Things are subject to change. Don't be surprised if something in a chapter was altered or removed entirely.