Darkness from Within #7: A Promise Broken (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

The calls attracted the others' attention and they looked just in time to see the last of the red ninja disappear into the trees.

"Oh, come on!" Jay complained. "He's off again!"

Nya shook her head. "Guess that puts off the mission again," she sighed.

"According to my calculations," Zane reported, "any more set-backs and we won't make it in time."

Jay glanced at him. "Maybe we should leave without him," he suggested.

"As if only the two of you could take on the Overlord," Nya huffed.

As the three bickered, Wu went up to stand beside his brother. "What is it this time?" he wondered, sounding exasperated.

"Nothing really," Garmadon murmured, heaving a sigh. "Kai's just making another attempt to be the hero."

Wu rubbed his beard. "When will it stop?"

"When either two things happen," Garmadon replied. "He proves himself or gets himself killed."

Wu shook his head. "Well, he almost went with the latter last time," he pointed out. "So let's hope he decides to go with the other this time."

* * *

Branches whipped against Kai's face as he raced onward, heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't get the image of Cole lying unmoving in the snow out of his head, the feeling of the black ninja's life slipping away out of his stomach. He followed the nag inside of him, ignoring the aching in his ribs. The trees began to clear and the grass underneath his feet faded into snow as he made his way across the plains. Cole was close. He could sense it.

"Cole!" he called, reaching the pines near the base of the mountains. Glancing around, he spotted a narrow stream a distance away from him and felt a jolt of recognition. Cole was beside it in my vision, he thought, racing over to it. Hopping across a path of stepping stones to the other side of the water, he weaved around a patch of boulders and came to an abrupt halt.

He had found the black ninja.

On his side, stretched over the ground, unmoving except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Kai picked his way around the figure until he could see Cole's face and found the black ninja awake. His clouded eyes had been on the snow, but when Kai's feet appeared in his vision, his gaze trailed upward until he was staring at the red ninja. Kai felt a jolt of shock as he saw how lost his friend looked and his mouth dried for words.

It was Cole who spoke first.

"Come here to finish me off?" the black ninja grumbled, voice lacking any sort of emotion.

Snapping back to his senses, Kai crouched beside him. "Cole," he breathed, "what are you doing out here? Lying on the ground like this?"

Cole blinked slowly, gesturing toward his bandaged stomach. "Got nothing better to do," he sighed.

Kai's eyes widened as he glimpsed the black ninja's wound. "What happened?" he demanded.

Cole's gaze hardened. "What do you think happened?" he grunted. "The same thing that's happened to me over and over." He let out a faint scoff, eyes turning to the sky. "And to think I actually believed I'd finally escaped him. But I guess he can find me anywhere."

"He?" Kai echoed, gazing back at him. He was hardly able to believe it, but he knew there could only be one person Cole was talking about. "It wasn't... I-it wasn't Lloyd, was it?"

Cole only stared back at him, his face so emotionless it almost scared Kai. Breathing heavily, the red ninja shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Where's Raymond?" he asked. "He's supposed to be taking care of you."