Cole laughed lightly as Kai buried his face in his boyfriend's shoulder as another wave of turbulence hit them, too scared to look out the window at the ground below. They were currently on a plane on yet another school trip. He couldn't remember what exactly they were doing, something about a nature reserver, he was just happy to get out of the apartment because Lou was acting odder than normal lately. He spent all his time on his phone, speaking in whispers, and avoiding Cole most of the time.
Cole didn't mind that, but it was still strange.
When his mom died Lou did similar things like always being on the phone, investing in his work, and generally ignoring his son. But that was mostly due to grief, this felt more deliberate, like Lou was going out of his way to avoid him.
"Are we there yet?" Kai whined and Cole laughed again, pulling him closer in comfort.
"Not yet, firefly, just a little bit longer, ok?" He reassured, kissing his forehead for good measure. Kai whined again but said nothing and curled closer into his bother's side. Cole smiled as he soaked up Kai's warmth and turned to see what his other friends were doing.
Harumi and Morro were looking out the window at the scenery below them. Jay sat next to Maggie and Cole swore he could see his eye twist as Maggie yapped on and on about some nonsense. Lloyd wasn't doing any better. He was unfortunate enough to be sat next to Chad of all people. Lady luck was on his side, however, because Chad was fast asleep, snoring so loud Cole swore it was rattling the whole plane, though maybe Kai's paranoia was rubbing off on him. Nya and Skylor were sat together but they were doing their own thing. Nya was fiddling with her phone, trying to get some signal out here in the middle of nowhere, while Skylor was staring out the window, her eyes wide as she took in everything. Cole wondered if this place reminded her of home.
He looked at Zane and sighed. He and Pixal sat at opposite ends of the plane with Zane focused on a book in his lap and Pixal staring ahead, waiting for the plane to land.
It had been a little over a month since his and Pixal's 'breakup' and it was still awkward. While they were all angry at her for what she had done it was strange not to have her in their group anymore. No one had kicked her out, it was more like an unspoken thing and Pixal had forced herself into exile. She avoided them like the plague, removed herself from all their group chats, never responded to calls or texts, and sat away from them at lunch and during class.
None of them knew how to react to this. On one hand seeing Pixal so sad and alone distressed them, especially Zane, but they didn't know what they would say if Pixal tried to speak with them now.
Turning away from his friends, Cole looked at the front of the plane where Koko and Garmadon sat. He could see they were talking about something and perked his ears to listen.
"Thank you again for volunteering to help me with this Mr. Chen."
"It's not a problem Ms. Koko." Garmadon smiled through gritted teeth as the plane shook again. He had not been on a plane in well over a decade. "The children need to breathe in something other than city air and learn about the real, natural world; and I know Skylor will appreciate it out here."
"A nature lover, is she?"
"You could say that." He replied and almost cursed when the plane had another wave of turbulence. Cole stopped listening after that and turned to look out the window, wondering how much longer it would take to get there.
For those wondering where the class was going Koko had managed to get them an exclusive field trip to a nature reserve deep in the rocky mountains for the whole weekend. It would be the last field trip of their high school days and she wanted it to be special. Her old high school best friend was running the place so she got an excellent deal and hoped the teens would have a great weekend.
Cole only hoped it wouldn't be boring and that the time apart would help Lou get out of his little funk...
Zane tried desperately to avoid Pixal. He refused to look, think, or talk to or about her. He knew that hurt her, but it hurt him all the more. He regretted saying things he had said that night but knew it needed to happen. They couldn't continue going on like that. It was going to drive them insane and it was wasn't healthy; both for them or anyone else around them.
The awkwardness in the plane was stifling.
Occasionally, Zane would glance at Pixal before glancing away just as quickly. What he didn't know was, she was doing the same thing. Finally, they turned toward each other simultaneously, their eyes met, and they froze. After a couple of seconds of open staring, Zane couldn't take it any longer and looked away first instead of breaking the silence. He was so thankful when Skylor became curious about their trip and started pestering him with plenty of questions to distract him.
"So this nature reserve is something humans do to try and contain nature?" She asked, eyeing the forest surrounding them.
"I wouldn't put it like that but I suppose so."
"Then what's the difference between this and a zoo?"
"In a zoo, there are cages and other sorts of barricades to contain the animals and most importantly, it's not natural. A forest reserve on the other hand is a natural habitat for the species dwelling there. There are no boundaries or limits for those animals living in a reserve forest." He explained, but Skylor frowned in confusion.
"But there are barricades, I saw them as we were flying in."
"Those are to keep poachers out." He replied and as soon as he said that both of them unconsciously placed a hand on their human-inflicted wounds. No one said anything else as they continued walking until they were faced with an older woman holding a sign with their school's name, which was a bit redundant, as no other planes or groups were arriving at this airport. She had a big smile on her face and as soon as she and Koko saw each other they ran up and hugged one another.
The woman had fair skin, big green eyes, and short, brown, unkempt hair. Her outfit included a black V-neck shirt with short sleeves, tan khaki shorts, a black utility belt, and umber boots.
"Alright class, listen up!" Koko called to attention after they were finished hugging. "This is Louise Delamere, she's an old school friend of mine and she will be our host so show her respect." She warned, making eye contact with the more mischievous students and holding it for a second. The woman, Louise, chuckled at her old friend's serious face and turned to the class.
"It's nice to have you all here for the weekend." She smiled sweetly. "Now, if you all follow me I'll take you to the visitor's center and your rooms, but before we set off does anyone have any questions?"
"What's the wifi password?" Maggie asked as she desperately tapped at her phone, unable to even send a text message out here in the wilderness. Lousie laughed at this, thinking Maggie was joking.
"I'm sorry hun, but there's no wifi or signal out here." She replied and led everyone to the minibus waiting to take them to the visitor center. Maggie stood still as a statue for a second before she turned and looked Garmadon dead in the eyes.
"I wanna go home." She stated, but he rolled his eyes and dragged her towards the waiting minibus...
"This place is pretty cool." Jay beamed as they were led into the visitors' center. It had been a fairly quiet drive down to the nature reserve. Most of the students were too busy looking out the windows in hopes of seeing any wild animals by the side of the road to talk amongst themselves. They had all been disappointed but Louise assured them they would see plenty of animals over the weekend.
"I suppose." Skylor hummed as she observed the different nature murals painted on the walls and the lobby roof.
"You should be happy Skylor, you probably feel right at home surrounded by wild animals." Chad sneered and he gang cackled as he had just told the world's funniest joke ever, but Skylor didn't respond. It was almost like she hadn't heard him at all as she looked at the paintings a bit longer before rejoining the class. Chad was not too happy being ignored. "What's with her?"
"What's with your face?!" Nya snapped as she not too gently shoved past the boys and caught up to Skylor. She placed her hand on her shoulder and whispered. "Hey, what's with you?"
"I'm just not feeling well, it's probably that thing, what'd you call it? Jet sleep?"
"Jet lag, and are you sure? You're looking kinda pale." Nya frowned and started feeling her forehead for a fever only for Skylor to smack her hand away.
"Nya, please, I'll be fine as long as you guys aren't smothering me." She growled and moved to stand a few feet away from her. Nya was about to say something but Koko suddenly started clapping her hands loudly and everyone shut up and gathered around.
"Can I have your attention, please? We're going to be assigning rooms now." She announced and gave out the room arrangements. Cole, Jay, and Kai were roomed together as were Harumi, Nya, and Skylor. Lloyd, Morro, and Zane saw they were rooming together. Pixal sighed when she saw that she would have to share a room with Seven and Maggie.
"You two better not get up to anything while I'm trying to sleep." Jay glared at them when he saw who he would have to share a room with. Kai and Cole didn't say anything, but they did give him a little smirk that made Jay roll his eyes and everyone made their way to their rooms. Skylor wasn't too impressed when she saw where she'd be sleeping. The dorm held three beds each accompanied by a bedside table. There was a desk in the right corner of the room with a closet and bathroom off to the left. The walls were white with a forest mural painted on like in the lobby, only this one was a lot more kid-friendly than the other.
Stepping into the cell-like space, Skylor threw her bag on the middle bed and stared out the window. She could see the green of the forest and a few splashes of color from the wildflowers dotted around. She could almost smell the flowers through the grass and a part of her wanted to open that window and just run aw-
"SKYLOR!" Some suddenly shouted and Skylor jumped from the shock. She whipped around and saw Nya standing in the doorway, looking concerned. "What's going on with you? I've been calling your name for ages."
"N-Nothing!" She cried, wincing when she felt her voice cracking. "J- Just leave me alone." She stammered and tried to leave but Nya blocked her path and forced her back into the room. "What do you want?!"
"Skylor, enough." She glared but tried to remain cool, calm, and collected. "You need to calm down before you do something you regret; talk to me, please."
"I can't tell you."
"Can't or won't?"
"I can't tell you because I don't know what's wrong with me!" She suddenly shrieked like a banshee. It was so loud that Nya almost had to cover her ears. "I should feel right in my element out here because Chad's right! This is the wild and I'm a wild alpha by birth but when I look out at that beautiful forest all I feel is nothing!" She cried and gestured back to the window. "I want to go outside! I want to do things! But whenever I want to do something and I move to do it all the energy just drains from my body!"
There was a tense moment of silence - aside from Skylor's heaving breaths - before Nya allowed everything to sink in and cleared her throat.
"Skylor, I think you need to talk to someone."
"Who the hell would I talk to?!" She yelled because she couldn't exactly call up a therapist and say she was a wild werewolf alpha who was abandoned by her mother as a child, betrayed by her father, and abandoned by her pack. Before Nya could respond Skylor pushed past her and stormed off, almost knocking Garmadon over. He had been coming to check on the students and had heard the yelling.
"What was that about?" He asked and Nya explained what had happened and what Skylor said. He hummed in thought and understanding. "She's an alpha with no pack and no purpose, it's tearing her up inside; the best thing we can do is give her space, she'll come to us when she's ready."
Nya didn't look convinced but didn't know what to say and didn't push the subject...
After she had left the room Skylor had to lock herself in the restroom to calm herself down before she wolfed out. If she could she would have stayed in there the whole weekend but someone must have it out for her. It was almost an hour after they were shown their rooms before Louise's voice came over the loudspeaker, calling all the students to gather in the lobby so they could begin their tour.
Reluctantly she left her safe space and headed to the lobby where the rest of the class was already waiting.
Cole was hoping they'd be able to stop at the snack bar and grab some cake. Harumi and Maggie were making small talk while the latter was still trying to get a signal on her phone. Kai, Jay, and Lloyd were poking around inside the gift shop, seeing if there was anything they wanted. Nya was looking at a chart showing all the marine life in the reserve while Morro was looking forward to seeing the aviary. Chad and his gang were being rowdy and laughing at the picture of animals they thought looked weird. Zane and Pixal were deliberately standing at opposite sides of the room to avoid each other. Seven was standing off to the side, choosing not to interact with the others.
Not knowing what to do, Skylor stood just on the edge of the group rather than mingle until the adults joined them and Louise clapped her hands to get their attention. Once she had it she began going over the reserve's history.
"This nature reserve was founded thirty years ago to be a protected area where wildlife, flora, and fauna are left undisturbed. This reserve also provides special opportunities for study and research." She explained with more enthusiasm than Skylor believed was normal. "Since this reserve was founded we have received plenty of donations and were able to set up other reserves in other habitats like in the grasslands, the tundra, the desert, and the rainforest; these protected areas provide a safe refuge for endangered plants and animals, helping to prevent their extinction and promote species recovery."
"Why?" Maggie asked without looking up from her phone. "You guys are all about nature right? So if these things are dying out why won't you let nature take its course?"
Pixal glared. "How is nature going to 'take its course' when people like you cut down forests, build cities, or make roads, they destroy habitats–the places where plants, animals, and other organisms live?"
Louise loudly cleared her throat to get her attention before a shouting match could start. "Thank you girls, and that brings us to our next point; reserves help to maintain and restore the natural balance of ecosystems, safeguarding the diversity of life on our planet. They also offer scientists and researchers a controlled environment to study and learn about different species, ecosystems, and ecological processes."
As Louise continued to explain how the reserves allowed visitors to explore and appreciate the beauty of nature while ensuring that it is done in an environmentally friendly and responsible manner, Skylor couldn't help but be impressed. Despite her reservations, she could see how reserves could offer valuable educational opportunities for students and nature enthusiasts to learn about ecology, conservation, and the importance of protecting their natural heritage.
It might even play a vital role in mitigating the impacts of climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and preserving carbon-rich ecosystems like forests and wetlands, though she wasn't going to get her hopes up.
She did hope that these people were doing their best to prevent acts such as illegal logging, poaching, habitat degradation, and climate change that continued to pose significant challenges to the natural world.
"What kinda animals do you have here?" Cole asked after Louise finished her lecture.
"We house many different species of animals such as lynxes, raccoons, beavers, bison, butterflies, pikas, mountain goats, moose, rabbits, badgers, bears, many types of birds, deer, ferrets, foxes, hedgehogs, porcupines, skunks, squirrels, weasels, and a pack of wolves."
"Isn't it dangerous to have people and predators like bears and wolves in the same area?" Seven asked with a frown.
"Don't worry, the bears stay closer to the mountains and even if they didn't the chances of being injured by a bear are approximately 1 in 2.1 million; you're more likely to be killed by a bee than a bear, and way more likely to be killed by another human than by either bear or bee," Louise reassured and pulled a can out of her bag. "Just in case we all carry bear spray, travel in groups, make noise when hiking, never leave food out and unattended, and you need to be aware of your surroundings."
"Where do the wolves live?" Garmadon asked.
"The wolf den is near the waterfall not far from here."
"Again - isn't dangerous to have those kinds of animals so close to people?" Seven asked. "From what I've heard they're not the friendliest and it's probably better if they weren't around each other."
This time it was Louise's turn to frown, but she kept her composure. "A lot of places need wolves, but a lot of people don't want wolves; especially farmers, ranchers, and people that aren't used to living around predators."
Chad scoffed at this. "You don't see them getting relocated to Chicago or San Francisco or New York 'cause they're predators and they pose a physical and economic risk to people living in the rural areas, and governments are really bad at protecting or compensating the people affected by them."
"Those are big words for you Chad," Kai smirked and this pissed him off.
"Fuck you, Kai!"
"Chad, that's a warning!" Koko reprimanded. Chad wanted to argue, but sharp looks from Koko and Garmadon shut him up and he forced himself to ignore his classmates' snickering.
"People don't hate wolves they just come with baggage and for what it's worth, wolves are less hated in Idaho where they can be legally killed than they are in Washington where they can't," Pixal spoke up, but kept her gaze on the front rather than looking at anyone else.
"They're indiscriminate killers." Maggie sneered after she finally gave up on her phone. "I was at my family's vacation home in Minnesota when I was a kid and I saw a wolf kill off three moose and then two miles away my Dad saw another kill of two more moose. That's like a dozen moose in three miles!" She exclaimed, scrunching up her nose at the memory. "I'd bet that those were about 1/2 of the moose population in that county."
"Why did you just presume it was a wolf and not a cougar or, most likely, a bear? You're biased hatred is showing." Zane said, trying to hide his frustration. "If you have no evidence of what animal predator killed what animal prey don't rest on your hatred towards a certain species of predator and call it guilty until proven innocent, if you even bother to let it have a fair investigation trial."
"Zane is right; the wolf doesn't identify humans as prey since its diet consists mainly of deer, chamois, or wild boar and it is generally wary of humans, which it sees as a potential threat," Louise explained to the class. "In Italy and France, where the wolf is now present and widespread in hilly and mountain areas where tourists go, sightings are still infrequent and no accidents with people have been documented. The wolf normally goes away trying to avoid the encounter with humans."
"But that doesn't mean it can't happen." Seven pointed out.
"Like all wild animals, the wolf could show unpredictable attitudes, even aggressive, if it perceives a threat." Garmadon tried to explain. "Since it is a wild animal, behaving respectfully is a must: in case you come across animals that are feeding or across a litter or a wolf that is scared, injured, or in trouble and unable to escape, it is best to keep your distance and move away."
"That said, attacks on people are rare occurrences as wolves have a shy and elusive character. They have excellent senses, especially smell and sight. They can sense the presence of people from a great distance and tend to move away before they approach." Skylor added. "Even when they live in man-made areas, they prefer to move at night when people are less likely to be around."
Louise nodded at their points. "Today there are accidents between wolves and people especially in areas of the world where rabies is still present and the risk of being attacked by a wolf is considered very low, given the case history of documented attacks in relation to the number of wolves in the various populations."
"Tell that to Kenton Joel Carnegie or Patricia Wyman or the victims of the wolves of Turku." Seven muttered, but Louise either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her as she gave everyone a big smile and began the tour...
The tour was mostly uneventful as they were shown the VIP dining room, the showcase theatre, the café, the kitchens, the gift shop, the control room, the veterinarian building, and the garage. Despite the impressive scenery, Skylor couldn't help but be bored. Nothing about this trip excited her and all she wanted was to go back to Ninjago City, but they were all stuck here for the weekend so she had to make the most of this situation. Unfortunately, the only entertaining thing to happen on this trip was when Cole tried to sneak some cake from the café only to be caught by Koko and shooed away before Louise noticed.
After the tour, Louise presented them with a timetable of all the activities they would be doing over the weekend and Skylor had to stop herself from scoffing. Seriously, how old did this woman think they were?
She had arranged things like a workshop to make a bumblebee nest, a beetle bank, and a nectar bar for pollinators. She also wanted them to plant a bog garden and show them how to grow veg for wildlife. They were also expected to fill out an activity sheet showing which plants attract insects and how to have an eco-Christmas. What confused Skylor the most was when Louise told them that they were going to print it off, color it in, and create their own badger mask and make a beautiful butterfly print with paints.
What did those things have to do with protecting wildlife and the natural world?
In her opinion, humans and tame werewolves should learn not to rely on their precious technology and gas guzzlers and learn to trust their instincts more.
Nobody would listen to her however - not that that was new - so she kept quiet and was out in the forest with her class working through an identification sheet for ten slugs, ten butterflies, and ten snails. She thought that this was a pointless exercise and only put half her effort into it. As her classmates were practically crawling on the floor looking for these critters but she was aimlessly wandering through the bushes.
As she walked around, Skylor froze with a familiar scent burned in her nose.
Without thinking she started to track the scent until she found herself in front of some berry bushes that lined a stream. The scent was faded among the sweet-smelling berries, but she was still about the follow it. She started looking through the bushes but stopped when fabric brushed against her hand. She pulled out a dirty brown fleece.
It was covered in more mud, leaves, and berries but she would recognize it anywhere.
"Kataru?"...
NEXT CHAPTER: In search of Kataru, the pack travels to a nearby werewolf den believed to be a place of safety and seems a little too good to be true...