Chapter Text
When the sun crossed the zenith and they drifted back into the courtyard, they found him seated on a stool, sharpening the scythe. The long handle stretched out behind him, supported by his left thigh; his right knee dropped almost to the ground to make room for his arm to work. The point of the great blade rested between two cobbles, and his left hand braced the weapon in place as he ran the whetstone down the edge in short, curved strokes.
The rhythmic scrape of stone against metal echoed around the yard. Occasionally he would pause to dip the stone in the small bucket of water that sat close by his side, then begin again. No one spoke as he touched a thumb to the edge; they watched as he gently, almost lovingly, brushed the burr off the reverse. He ran a critical eye over his work, a small smile of satisfaction growing on his lips at the sight of a job well done.
Using both hands, Cole laid the scythe carefully on the ground, the wickedly sharp blade arcing in front of him so that neither he nor anyone else would forget where it was. At last he looked around him at the gathered group.
“Mr Frohicky,” he said, acknowledging him with a nod.
Mr Frohicky cleared his throat noisily, sitting up straighter with a sense of self-importance.
“Thanks to Jenny and Barry, I was able to make a full inventory of our culinary supplies,” the frog man said. “I'm pleased to report that we have an ample store of staples. But we will need to make a run to the Crossroads for additional fresh produce. And somehow we're completely out of yogurt.” He sounded most affronted at this, for reasons Cole couldn't quite fathom. But the ninja merely nodded solemnly, as if this was entirely reasonable.
“Thank you, Mr Frohicky,” he said. “Unless there are any unexpected developments, I don't see a problem with you taking a trip out. Perhaps you can take Jenny and Barry with you, and show them around a little? I'm sure they must be eager to see how things have changed since they were last there.”
“It would be my pleasure, Master Cole,” Mr Frohicky replied, half standing and making a little bow. Cole suppressed a little smile as he returned the bow. Whatever it took to keep Mr Frohicky gainfully occupied, without time to ruminate on the experience he'd suffered through.
“Fritz, Spitz, Bonzle,” Cole went on, turning to the trio. “How are we holding up?”
“We ssswept out the dragon ssstablesss,” replied Spitz. “It'sss a bit ssspooky down there,” he added, with a shiver.
“I don't think there's anything we can do about that,” Cole sighed apologetically. “The portal gates activated by themselves originally, so I don't actually know anything about how they work. You'd think they'd just switch off now that they don't work, but apparently not. So I guess we're stuck with the red light until something else happens.”
“We lit as many lamps down there as we could,” said Bonzle. “For the dragons. And we watered the houseplants. And straightened a few pictures in the hallways.” She shrugged. “The place is in pretty good shape.”
“I should hope so too,” Mr Frohicky muttered, sniffing haughtily.
“And we investigated the broken roof,” added Fritz. “I flew up and took a good look.” Barry and Jenny startled slightly at this, and Cole couldn't help a flicker of amusement crossing his face; their first Formling, he supposed.
“How bad is the damage? Do you think we'll be able to repair it ourselves?” he asked. Fritz tilted his head to one side, as he might have done in bird form, considering.
“We lost a lot of tiles, but the lining held,” he said. “I don't think it'll leak for now, but it would be better to cover it if we can. Problem is, we couldn't salvage enough tiles to redo the whole patch, and we don't know where we might get any more.”
“Kreel's,” Mr Frohicky interjected abruptly. “If they're to be got anywhere locally, it would be Kreel's junkyard. But I warn you, we will need credits, or something to trade, if we are to obtain them that way. Kreel drives a hard bargain.”
“Take one of those loose tiles with you when you go to run your errands,” Cole suggested to him. “Find out if she has anything that will match, for size if nothing else. I'm sure Lloyd would rather it was repaired and watertight; he can fix the aesthetics later if he wants. If she has them, we'll figure out some way to pay for them.” He furrowed his brow, wondering how many tiles he could get for an authentic ninja sword. “And if she says she doesn't—” He turned back to Fritz and Spitz. “—take these guys next time, and persuade her to let them loose in her yard. We don't call them the Finders for nothing.” The pair beamed back at him, preening a little at his confidence in their abilities.
Cole tried to reset his expression to look positive, even though he had mixed tidings to deliver next.
“So,” he began again. “The bad news from the lower levels is that we don't have any fast vehicles. Nothing good for fighting, or fleeing. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, and I'm certainly not intending for us to abandon the monastery.” He looked around the gathered group. “Having said that, we don't know what might be about to happen. Something caused the portal gate to stop working; we don't know whether it was an enemy or an accident. And we don't know what Ras is planning to do with the scroll he took.”
“We don't know that it was a scroll,” Fritz piped up. Cole stared at him blankly for a second; he'd forgotten that detail. And the kid was right; it needn't necessarily have been—
“What else could it have possibly been?” Mr Frohicky interrupted irritably. The mention of Ras had set him twitching again. “I have cleaned that library every day since I took up my position as Assistant Keeper of the Monastery, and I have never seen any other… mmm… mystical artefacts such as – as he might have been seeking. I'm sure I would know if Master Lloyd had had such a thing.”
Cole looked between the offended frog man and the eager young formling. He was tempted to push back on the boy's behalf, because they really didn't know, did they; but in the end practicality and the need to keep Mr Frohicky on side won over.
“Yes, I'm sure you must be right,” he said, nodding to Mr Frohicky and smiling apologetically at Fritz. “It must have been a scroll. I don't suppose there would be anything else of interest in there. I mean, it's not as if Lloyd would be stashing another Source dragon icon in his desk drawer.” The others chuckled dutifully. Cole attempted to get back on track.
“What I meant to say, was that we should be ready to defend the monastery, and each other, if we have to.” The laughter cut off abruptly. “There aren't that many of us, so we have enough basic weapons to go round. I'm willing to drill anyone who wants to in staff practice. If you have any secret combat training, now would be the time to say,” he added wryly.
“Does that include me?” asked Geo, with a half-hearted grin that faded as Cole replied:
“No, it doesn't. I have other plans for you.”
“Like what?” Geo said, warily.
“First, you have to rest and get better,” said Cole, laying a hand on Geo's arm and smiling encouragingly. “Then, when you're well enough, I'm going to teach you spinjitzu.”
A murmur ran around the group, and Geo's face was as surprised as Cole could ever remember seeing.
“Can you do that? I thought you said your elemental powers had disappeared?” asked Barry.
“That's a common misconception,” Cole replied. “It's not actually necessary to have an elemental power in order to learn spinjitzu. Master Wu taught Lloyd's mother, years before he was born, and she was just an ordinary person.” Cole cringed inwardly at the thought of what Misako would do to him if she ever caught him describing her that way. He missed the older woman dearly, she'd been a kind of surrogate mother figure to all the ninja while she'd lived with them; but right at this moment he was relieved she wasn't there to hear.
“So in theory, I could teach any of you—” Cole glanced around the group again. Who looks interested? “—but unfortunately I can't teach all of you. Only one person at a time.” Who looks disappointed? Spitz's eyes had lit up as if Cole had offered to teach him to fly like his brother. Cole already had his eye on the young serpentine; he'd always shown an interest in the stories Cole had told the kids about his ninja adventures, and his naturally brave disposition made him a strong candidate for future training. Jenny's excitement was more of a surprise; but Cole remembered that Arin had been a ninja fan since he was a little kid and had been trying to teach himself spinjitzu before the merge, so it probably wasn't the first time she'd thought about it. What the heck, sure, he thought, adding her to his mental list. Geo first, though.
“Cole, I don't know what to say,” said Geo. “You'll train me to be a ninja?”
“No,” Cole replied. “You already are one.” He gazed at the injured munce, whose eyes had begun to glisten with emotion. “All I can do is give you the tools you need to be the best one you can be. I owe you that much.” He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.
“I wasn't there to protect our family, when it mattered. And – I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that. But you were here, and you made your choice, and you protected them – us – when I couldn't. I know that if I teach you, you'll always choose to use those skills for the right reasons. That you'll stand up to those who are cruel and unjust, just like my mother taught me.”
Cole leaned in and kissed Geo, unconcerned about their rapt audience.
“I promise I'll make you proud,” Geo said in a husky voice as they separated.
“I know you will,” Cole replied. He patted Geo's arm playfully. “Get well first, though.”
“Yes, sensei,” said Geo promptly, causing another chuckle to ripple round the group and breaking the mood. Cole turned back to the others.
“So, we've all got our jobs,” he said brightly. “And don't forget to take some down time as well. All work and no play, you know?” There was a distinct cry of yesss from the Finders; he would have to remember to pry them away from the game console later. “Together we'll be ready for anything, even if it's just Lloyd coming back to find his monastery fixed up and even better than before.” A couple of yeahs from the group. “Thanks, everyone.”
He bent to pick up the scythe again, signalling that the meeting was over. He was vaguely aware of the others milling around as he set one hand high on the staff and grasped the heel with the other, steadying the blade and himself too. He was out of practice at leading, but everyone seemed content enough; and with the group taken care of for now, his thoughts strayed from mundane practical details to the more esoteric unknowns of their situation…
…Rontu said the Sources had withdrawn. Withdrawn from where? To where? What does that even mean – other than our elemental powers going missing?
…what about those bones Kai, Frak and I uncovered? That was a huge dragon, bigger than Firstbourne, I think. Was it a Source dragon? Can Source dragons actually die? If it was and they can, what does that mean?
…then there's the broken portal gates, and Ras, and the stolen scroll – or whatever – are they all somehow connected? If so, how? And why? And what about the ‘master’ that Lloyd said Ras called out to, back at the Shadow Dojo, just before he and all his cronies and the dojo itself all disappeared? Who, or what, could have done that?
His spiralling thoughts were interrupted by a gentle huff, politely attracting his attention.
“In an emergency,” Rontu said softly, as if reminding him, “you may ask the dragons to carry you.” Cole nodded.
“I hoped as much, Master, but I didn’t want to assume. And I didn't want to alarm everyone by making them think it might be necessary. I'm sure we'll be fine until the others get back.” The deep crease between his brows suggested he was still convincing himself of this.
Rontu nodded thoughtfully.
“Nevertheless, you are correct to plan for all eventualities,” she added. “They will look to you for strength when it is needed, and you must believe that it is still yours to call on, even without your powers.”
“Thanks, Master. I'm grateful for your words. Please, let me know if there is anything else I can do to make you more comfortable.” He thought for a moment. “Perhaps I can bring you something to eat, if you feel ready?”
“Thank you,” Rontu replied, “but Mr Frohicky has already offered to bring me some of his famous soup.” The dragon's yellow eyes twinkled and she rumbled somewhere deep inside. “So I think I have quite enough to look forward to, for now.”
“Understood,” Cole said, inclining his head in acknowledgement even as he grinned at the master dragon's wry acceptance of her impending fate.
As he turned away, Cole noticed Jenny and Barry still seated, talking in low, urgent whispers. He moved towards them.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“We're worried about our Arin,” Barry admitted.
“We just found him,” Jenny added, “and we had such a short time together before he had to go. I know it's the way of the ninja, to be off saving the world all the time—” She shrugged anxiously, and Cole smiled in an attempt to reassure. “—but I couldn't bear the thought of losing him again so soon.” Barry wrapped an arm around her.
“I understand,” Cole nodded, “and it’s only natural to worry. But it may not be as dire as you think. From what I’ve seen of him, Arin’s a very resourceful young man. And if what we heard this morning is right, then wherever he is now, he's with Lloyd. Between the two of them, they're capable of dealing with anything the merged lands have to throw at them.” I mean, unless it's, like, the Overlord, or something. And that seems pretty unlikely. “I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they find a way to get back here.”
“I'm sure you're right,” said Jenny, sniffing and blinking back a tear that had been threatening, before returning Cole's smile. “He’s with the legendary green ninja. What could possibly go wrong?”
~~~
AERIAL VIEW – A FOREST – DAY.
Soaring over the forest canopy. There are treetops and nothing but treetops, unbroken in every direction as far as the eye can see.
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE FOREST – LLOYD AND ARIN
walk side by side along a dirt path. The trees around them are very, very tall, and close enough together to block out their view of the sky.
A light breeze rustles the branches. A few leaves swirl past; Lloyd and Arin idly track their movement as they walk.
A low rumble vibrates through the ground, causing them to pause.
LLOYD: I'm sure it's nothing to worry ab—
Another rumble sounds/vibrates. They look at each other in alarm.
SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE FOREST –
A scaled, taloned foot steps slowly into view. The rumble sounds/vibrates again, signalling that the foot, and therefore its owner, must be extremely heavy. The shadow of a head with a short, hooked muzzle and tall, branched antlers rises over the foot. Two distinct sniffs are heard, in the manner of a large animal scenting the approach of an intruder – or perhaps prey…
FADE TO CREDITS
~~~