cole

"Higher! Higher! Even higher!"

"I'm as high as I can go," Cole bellowed down, wobbling like an unstable jelly. "I'm coming down."

"Thirty more seconds," replied Thorn. "You can do it!"

Cole gritted his teeth and willed his left leg to straighten. His head was bumping at the ceiling of the elemental training hall, and the mound of earth he'd summoned beneath him was beginning to lose shape as he became more fatigued.

"Time!"

"Thanks the Gods," Cole sighed, pushing the earth down into the ground. It left a pot-hole sized gap in the ground, but he nudged a bit more rock over it and the hole was covered. "Can I go now?"

"You were very distracted today," Thorn critiqued, ignoring his request. "Anything on your mind."

My dad. Wu. Fangblades. The Golden Weapons. If Jay and Skylor are okay. The mole.

"The Quiet One."

"Ah. You heard about that, then." they said with a crooked smile. "Don't worry about it. We'll weasel them out soon enough."

"Have you been on the frontlines at all? Our casualties are at an all time high and more are coming back injured. Kade hasn't slept in a week."

Thorn snapped their tablet close and pinned Cole down with a glare. "I know enough to see what's happening. The Quiet One is a serious matter, but some things cannot be done about it."

"Battles are going wrong everyday! Yesterday, Reggie and Seliel—I mean, Nomus and Phantom nearly died. I nearly died! Reg had to remain in his total smoke form for the entire thing. The Quiet One is getting out of hand, Thorn." Cole pushed down on his rising anger and exhaled slowly. The rocks that had cropped up with his fury disappeared and Thorn nodded approvingly.

"I understand. We're all confused and irritated, but right now, we need to focus on the Weapons and the Fangblades. Troya wants to call an entire Task Force meeting in twenty minutes at your common room. Good job training today, those earth piles are getting bigger."

"Thanks," Cole mumbled, but he wasn't really listening. His heart hadn't been into training as much in the past few weeks since they'd been home. Home was a strange word for it even though he was pretty sure Wu had razed his childhood one to the ground looking for him. Cole's fingers were aching from keeping them crossed all the time - every night, the Lord had to read out the list of the injured. And the dead.

Lloyd and Astra's father personally gave his condolences to the agents who had given their lives to the cause, though Cole found it a bit strange to hear the ever stone-faced don't care, not even for my family, man whispering his condolences. Although the deaths weren't many, it was the increase that worried Cole.

People came home every day with new injuries, old ones opened up and began bleeding again. It would be hard to find one person here who hadn't gotten a new scar, because even if you were on laundry duty or kitchen rotation, everyone knew how to fight. Everyone knew their place and how important this all was, so they sucked it up, wound new bandages, sewed up stitches and cleaned their weapons.

Cole had barely seen Astra, Charlie and Troya in the last week or two, at least. Before that Obi had forced them all to either train indoors or heal their mission induced wounds. Cole's knee was nearly back to normal now with some time off and physio training, as well as Kade's ever-trustworthy healing abilities. The blonde's healing was mainly for elemental injuries, but he was working with Obi and Joker to expand his repertoire. Astra had even left a tub of this strange smelling poultice for him.

"Helped me when I broke my knee," she'd shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't think I'm being nice. I want an earth emetal backing me up in battle."

So, Cole headed to the meeting after a shover and a snack that lasted longer than the shower. He met up with Zane and Seliel on the way, the latter bandaged to the point where she made a squeaky, weird sound every time she moved.

"When I get my hands on the Quiet One, I am going to squeeze the life outta them," Seliel emphasized with a nasty scowl. "I hate moles. I hate losing even more."

"Trust me, I feel the same way." Cole agreed, thinking back to how only a day ago he'd been accompanying a squadron of fighters out to clear a route and take control of a small building. Lloyd had been on the same mission as him in a beanie and a pair of really weird pants. All had been going well until their secret shortcut had been compromised and Blast Sap had been set off. Cole's rock wall had taken the brunt of the explosion, but the building they'd wanted to use as a vantage point was debris now.

The problem was that these missions were known to everyone - the Sons of Garmadon were all about hard earned trust, so why should they hide what they were doing? As long as your fingerprint and facial ID were in the systems, you could access pretty much anything. The only people who knew about the Quiet One actually being from the Sons were the Task Force, the War Council, and Garmadon's inner circle. And that random squad, who had been sworn to silence.

Announcing that there was a mole to everyone could send the Sons into uproar. They were already having to deal with the Skulkins, Ghosts, and Serpentine gangs. Those three had given the SOG trouble even before this whole mess. Cole sat on the couch next to Zane and Nya, discussing their new training techniques. Cassie stepped up to the front of the common room and cleared her throat with a clap of her hands.

"Right, this is a very informal meeting just for the elementals. Not all of you are concerned but I guess you all should know. We have news," she glanced quickly at her girlfriend, who nodded reassuringly.

"About your parents." Cole's stomach seemed to drop at her blank expression. There was no way anything had happened to his father, right? He thought of the mustached dancer who had been dead, haunting his dreams for quite a while now and shuddered. "We received a tip that your parents have all grouped together somehow near one of our coastal outposts. They're all safe," she added. "But the tip was sent in by the Ronin."

Her words really only impacted Maya and Charlie, who sucked in sharp breaths and cursed.

"Are you sure we can trust him? It's Ronin. The Ronin," Charlie emphasised. "There's a reason his name was changed."

"Ronin. A term for a disgraced samurai." Pixal interjected helpfully. Cole frowned at that - this Ronin guy didn't sound trustworthy at all, but then again, he knew where his dad was.

"He says he'll meet us if we let him back into the Sons. It looks like he needs better resources and working as a mercenary hasn't put him in the lap of luxury. He's lived out in the desert without much tech. Our tabs on him never indicated he'd come to us for help, though." Cassie added with a wince.

"It's because he has an advantage over us now. He knows we want them, and he's got them. Ronin will work it to his every advantage. If he and Wu ever teamed up...we'd be dead in a week." Charlie summarised solemnly. "He's a conniving, cunning bastard, but he was also one of our best agents before Troya and Reaper came 'round. I grew up watching his best work."

"He assassinated the Mayor of Clearwater with no hesitation." Valley said. "To be honest, he was corrupt as hell and the Royals refused to get rid of him since he raked in cash by the second."

"You're putting that over the time he snuck into the Library of Domu and brought my grandfather's plans back? Grandpapa Karlof loved those things, and the reason I got to replicate them was because of Ronin. As much as he's a piece of crap, I sorta owe him." Charlie countered defensively.

"Uh, so do we trust the Ronin or not? I really want my parents back, but he sounds dangerous." Jay chuckled, messing up his auburn hair.

"I want my dad back and safe despite everything he's done. Someone has to make the call, though," Cole said to everyone. "So, what's the verdict?"

Everyone glanced at Lloyd and Astra who were throwing and juggling muffins with Kai.

"What? Um, I dunno. What if we just let him into part of our systems? Not all of it, but enough to make him think he's got full access."

"At least until we can confirm if we trust him or not. I don't know Ronin personally but he's notorious around here." Astra jumped onto Lloyd's proposal with a short nod. "We'll go to the outpost and check if he actually has them, interrogate him, and execute Junior's plan. Easy peasy."

"We can leave now on the Daystalker. It's been prepped and ready for a deployment swap with our coastal agents but we can squeeze you in someplace," Cassie offered, "I'm overseeing the mission to make sure the Quiet One doesn't interfere with it."

"Let's go, then. Ten minutes to get your gear and weapons, then meet us in the car park. We'll drive over to the hangars, I assume?" Astra's question was answered by Cassie's short nod, and everyone left in a hurry. Cole pushed through the door with only one thought on his mind and that was finding his dad.

The Ronin didn't sound like an elemental, luckily. Cole's powers were aching for another outlet - a real fight, not a practice session. He wasn't bloodthirsty or hellbent on fighting like Astra or Garmadon, but he needed to take the build-up out on something. The threat of Ronin and with his father as the man's insurance was basically poking a sleeping dragon in the stomach - but the dragon was a dangerous earth elemental.

He'd never really thought of himself as particularly dangerous, yet now, packing away food, his tablet, phone, and weapons, was there really another word? No six-foot tall person carried around a massive metal war scythe and wasn't seen as a hazard to society. That's what most of Ninjago sees me as, anyways, Cole thought bitterly. All thanks to Wu.

Cole made his way to the car park and jumped into a van with everyone else, a chaotic mess of bumping knees and yells when weapons swung the wrong way or his scythe cut a centimeter of Kai's hair off. The van sped towards the jet hangars as he fell silent, sharpening the blade of his scythe thoughtfully. Would his father think of him as dangerous? What if he refused safety from the Sons of Garmadon? What if he didn't like who Cole had become? Nevertheless, Lou was his father. He should be accepting. He would be fine.

He didn't like you for exactly who you were before, either, his mind argued. It felt strange that their strongest, and possibly only, bond was Lily. For you, mum, Cole promised, tossing the lily-carved rock up in the air. Somehow, the pebble has survived everything he'd gone through, resting comfortably in his pocket, something that reminded him of his mother and hope.

"Board quickly so we can take off. Stick to the upper floor and don't go downstairs. I don't want lower level agents finding out you're on board with us." Cassie said shortly, then left, closing the door behind her.

Not everyone had come to the coast outpost, though the room was still crowded. Cole, Jay, Nya, Kai, Zane, Lloyd, Pixal, Skylor, and Astra were on board. Reg and Seliel had stayed behind saying there was no point in them coming, while Rema and Kade were working on a physiotherapy session for her arm and a visit to Ruth Barron. Charlie was working on a project for the Lord and wanted to make sure it was perfect.

"An hour and a half at top speed on the Daystalker. It's meant primarily as a troop transport plane but speed is built into every plane." Astra informed them, lazily kicking her feet up onto the seat next to her. "Might as well nap for all you grandpas."

Kai snorted at that and threw a cushion at her head. She sent it spinning back within seconds, and Cole shook his head as the two hotheads began arguing. No one was sleeping on this flight, but he'd gotten used to slipping into a half doze over the weeks. The SOG, admittedly, were stretched thin.

They were recruiting new members more, however the amount of training it took to produce their army of high quality fighters was time consuming and difficult, but the end product was worth it. Cole was considering trying to push Impala's agenda to actually ally with the resistance. Just as Astra threw her katana across the room (Zane stepped in thankfully), Cole forced himself to close his eyes and slip under.

His dreams, as usual, sucked.

"How are you, son?"

The hospital room was eerily quiet and white-walled. Cole was dimly aware that he hated hospitals in general, especially this ward. The single red line running along it symbolised something much worse for him than most people.

"Fine, papa." his throat hurt, a lot. When was the last time he'd drunk water?

"Your mother will be fine, Cole. It's just a quick check up."

Quick check ups didn't take five hours. Quick check ups didn't mean doctor after doctor ran into his mother's room. Quick check ups didn't let Cole stare at this stupid, stupid red line any longer.

"I know."

"Orange juice?" his father held out a slightly squashed carton to him with a kind smile. Cole's small hands took it with a frown as he struggled to read aloud the black letters written.

"L—lo—love, yi? Love you, Cole. Cole!" he finished triumphantly. Maybe it was the combination of shaky handwriting and his age that he found it hard to read the message, but he knew who it was from. The lily was always the same, drawn in the bottom right corner in orange glitter pen. The message was never exactly the same, yet this one was short.

"Spot on, son. Now how about we have a stroll around outside while your mother finishes?"

"What if she finishes before we get back?" his bottom lip trembled just at the thought of leaving. What if something happened? He'd seen it before, the doctors yelling something about a code blue, barrelling into a red-line room.

"She won't," Lou promised, with utmost sincerity. "She won't leave without us. I promise."

Cole believed him.

She left the world two weeks later.

"Cole. Cole, wake up Coooooole."

"I'm up, Lloyd. We're here?" Cole rubbed at his eyes when Lloyd bounced up and down, adjusting his black beanie carefully.

"Yep! The agents are getting off now and Cassie said we should leave in a couple of minutes and head to a location Notia pinged to our watches." Lloyd informed him, and sure enough, when Cole checked the high-tech device, there was a red pin stuck in a sandy patch of the GPS map.

The journey parts, needless to say, of important missions like these, are incredibly boring. The nine of them slugged over to the destination, artfully picked by the Ronin for cover and several kilometers away from the perimeters of the Endless Sea Delta Outpost.

"Guys. Look ahead." Kai pointed at the horizon, over to one of many sand dunes that filled their vision apart from the occasional tree and stretch of ocean blue. He wondered if Kai and Nya really wanted to come on this mission; if it just reminded them that Maya Smith was in Wu's hands.

They spent a lot of time with their father and Ryu, making up for lost time. Cole squinted at where his friend pointed, and his stomach did an awkward flip-flop. He could make out a tent, and a moving blob. It wore a rice-straw hat like Wu used to, but it seemed to be red.

"How would we like to approach this situation? Perhaps we should appear as a united front, or send ambassadors ahead to check if they truly are our parents?" Zane suggested anxiously, casting a longing look over the dune. He had two people there to worry and fuss about. Cole just had the one dad who didn't like him.

"You can go ahead if you want, but I'm coming along. Need to make sure Ronin stays in line." Astra stated firmly, touching her slung bow with a two fingered salute to the sky. It had become a weird thing around the Sons of Garmadon whenever you wanted to make something known or cement something - it was one of those strange actions that meant everything but nothing at the same time.

"Skylor, Cole, Zane, Pixal, Astra and I should go. That way if Ronin tries to spring anything on us, we have back up. Stick close, make sure he sees we have the upper hand in numbers."

"Cole, check on Ma and Pa for me, will ya?" Cole nodded at Jay's request, staring after his friend's odd behaviour. Jay immediately sat down on a smaller dune of sand and bowed his head, tugging at his clothes and weapons. His breathing sounded weird to Cole, all haggard and short, but Astra pushed Cole ahead and said she'd be along in a minute. Watching Astra sit down next to the curly-haird boy was a strange sight at least, but Jay's body stopped shaking and Astra eventually followed them. I need to check on him, Cole was too distracted by the mental note to discover that he was only metres away from their target.

The Ronin wasn't exactly what Cole had expected. Then again, he'd had no real expectations for the infamous ex-assassin, turned mercenary. Ronin's red rice-straw hat was tipped down to cover most of his face, only leaving a slice of his grizzly beard stubble and a sadistic smirk. Cole's heart cartwheeled frantically when he saw his father, hair impeccable as always, still in one piece.

"So they've replaced me, 'ave they?" Ronin scoffed, flicking up the brim of his hat. Astra scoffed right back, sheathing her katana. She didn't think he was dangerous, then.

"I'm not a replacement, Ronin. No point wasting valuable skill to fill in some disgraced agent's spot."

Oh Gods, Astra, what are you doing.

"Don't try and rile me up, young 'un," Ronin's hat finally sat normally on his head. The eyepatch over his right eye covered up most of the thick scars that sliced across it. Most. His copper-brown hair was chopped messily and hung just above his shoulders. "I have years of experience on you."

"My name is Reaper and you can address me by that until you're back in." Astra's tone was just as calm, with that deadly bite that set Cole on the edge. "And experience doesn't make everything. Try getting stuck headfirst in a war and call me back later."

"We're all part o'this war whether you like it, or not, Reaper. I play my part, you play yours. Do you want them back or not?" Ronin stepped forwards threateningly, jerking his chin towards the parents. Cole stepped in as well and saw their hands and feet were all bound tightly with thick rope, spaced two meters apart. Even Evan, who was like, fourteen, and a girl who looked about the same age.

"Do you want back in more than we want them, though?" Astra arched a brow and Ronin ground his teeth. "Cut their ropes off."

"No, Rocky here can do that. I want to see how good my replacement is."

"I'm not a replacement. You got it, Arete?" Astra was already ditching her bow and reaching for her katana again. Cole nodded, torn between mediating the obviously tense situation and their parents. Why isn't Kade here? He could probably talk some sense into her. Or try to.

Cole walked across to the group and crouched down to meet Edna Walker's kind eyes.

"How's Jay? Oh gosh, I never thought he'd get mixed up in this! It's been absolutely bonkers out here! That Ronin fellow is dangerous, you better tell your friend to watch out for theirselves."

"Rea will be fine, don't worry Edna," Cole slid his scythe under her foot bindings and sliced through the rope like butter. "She's one of our best, and we need to check out Ronin anyways."

"How will fighting him do that?" Edna said skeptically. "Oh, my!"

Cole didn't flinch anymore at the sound of reinforced steel clashing, but Edna's startled expression made him turn. Ronin was using a throwing axe and a sword against Astra's double katana attack. Their fluid movement almost made their fight seem choreographed - both had sure footing and were extremely confident, twisting and slicing without a moment's hesitation.

"He's good," was all Cole managed to say. He cut through her arm ropes and did the same for Ed's bindings. Jay's old man clapped Cole on the back and rose on slightly shaky feet with a word of thanks.

"Thank you, Cole. Best hurry before that gets too intense," Ed advised, leaning down to help Edna up. "And tell Jay I'm proud of him, for fighting for what's right."

"You'll get to tell him yourself, don't worry." Cole promised the old man with a sincere smile, and then cut Dr Julien, Evan, Kade's mother and little sister's ropes.

Then finally, his father.

Who didn't meet his eyes when he sliced through the ropes. Who turned his face away from his own son deliberately. Who dusted off his jacket and stared at the fight without a single word to him. I thought he'd be fine, Cole blinked back tears furiously and walked back over to Ed and Edna.

"Oh dearie, don't you worry about him. He's been different for a while. Lou was the first one they went after, so he's been on the run the longest." Edna patted his arm with a kind smile.

The clashing stopped.

"Draw," Ronin panted, sticking out his hand. "This ain't getting anywhere obviously."

"Sure, a draw," Astra agreed, shaking his brown-gloved hand. "But we both know who'd win in the end."

—

A/N: believe it or not i had a very whack alternative to cole's dream but i decided to go with a memory instead. Iva can attest that it involves a lot of the word pirouette and cole in despair because of dancing and not his mother's death. Anyways! Ronin! I knew i had to introduce him somehow and i've had his arrival planned for a bit. If you see him referred to as 'the ronin' or just 'ronin', the first isn't a mistake. If you couldn't tell from the chapter, he's notorious around sog land and that's where the the came in. and holy shit this 3.5k words anYways. Next chapter, we see what happened to the people on the run :)

This chapter's song is 'transparent soul' by willow (cant be bothered to type all the spaces but its a banger trust me)

This chapter's Q is: what do you think of show-ronin?

My A: crafty fellow. His appearance in the island season was kinda weird but i think ninjago just needed a villain and they couldn't bring back lord garmadon for the, how times has it been?

-dommie out