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It was a cool day as the ninja wandered around doing odd jobs here and there to help rebuild Stiix after the Preeminent attack. Sensei Wu had had been using the fact that they were surrounded by water to his advantage as he continued to train Nya in mastering her powers. Lloyd had offered to help around for a short while before he would be off to train in becoming a Sensei. "Soon there'll be another Sensei G around here." Cole remarked once they heard about Lloyd.
The village was a mess and that was an understatement, countless families houses had gone down with the Preeminent, businesses were destroyed and new supports would have to built to prevent the village from sinking. It was a slow process but with everybody helping out it would get done. The ninja also helped quite a bit by using their elemental abilities to rebuild. Zane would freeze things together to create temporary support, Kai would help workers weld metal in hard to reach places, Jay mainly worked on getting the places power back online and Cole did a lot of the heavy lifting. Things were going well for them, the people certainly didn't mind the extra help.
Jay was taking a break from working on the power line, he was sitting on the roof of a small store with his legs dangling off the edge. The ginger was happily munching on a sandwich when something- or rather someone- caught his eye. It was Cole, the brother on black was currently struggling to move a rather large box filled with wood away from the dock. Jay let a tiny giggle escape his lips when he saw how Cole would sometimes phase through the box and fall. The master of Earth was still getting used to the new form but everyday he seemed to be getting better at controlling the slip ups. After watching Cole struggle for a few more minutes, Jay finished his lunch and hopped of the roof on route to help his brother in arms.
"Need some help there?" Jay said in cheerful voice as he approached the ghost. And annoyed huff was his reply and Cole turned towards the blue ninja. "Yeah, I would." Cole admitted when he realised he wasn't going to be moving this box anytime soon on his own. "How are we gonna move it." Jay tapped a finger on his chin as he thought about multiple solutions for the problem. "We can't use the crane, they need it to rebuild the dock." Cole said, crossing out one of their options. "Couldn't we ask for some more help?" Jay suggested. "They're all busy with other repairs." Cole answered sadly. "Try lifting it again." Jay then said. "What do you think I've been doing for the past hour?" Cole answered again with annoyance. "But I'll use my lightning to help this time." After thinking for a few moments Cole answered his brother once again. "Its worth a try."
Cole positioned himself in a crouching stance and he concentrated on making his hands solide. Jay prepared himself to shoot out his element on the other side of the box. "Okay, ready... lift." Cole let out a short grunt as he used all his strength the lift the box, at that exact moment Jay shot out bright sparks of lightning from his palms. The box was actually lifting off the ground, "Ha! It's working!" Jay exclaimed, ecstatic that his plan was working. They were making good progress as Cole and Jay took small steps, each putting them a little further away from the water. Then a small, but sharp and audible crack was heard. Both brothers eyes when wide as Cole's right foot stood over a deepening crack in the wood. "Put it down, put it d-" Jay hastily tried to tell the ghost but the wood wasn't strong enough to hold out that long.
Half of the boys body had fallen through the hole which use to be a plank. Cole was frantically trying to hold on to something as he slipped closer to the water. He would have been okay if he could only keep his mind still long enough to solidify his hands to hold onto something but when your on the brink of death there's not much else you can actually think about. The black ninja began hyperventilating as Strangle Weed started swiping at his transparent legs. Jay rushed over to his brothers aid and crouched in front of him. "You need to grab my hand Cole. I can't hold on to you." Coles breathing was uneven and unfocused. "I-I-I can't, I c-can't think s-straight!" Cole said as he looked into Jays bule orbs that looked back equally terrified. "Come on Cole, FOCUS!" Jay said frantically. Said brother squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath before his hands began to slowly solidify. Jay didn't hesitate to grab them and start pulling up his ghost friend.
Cole was almost fully back to safety when Stangle Weed grabbed hold of his left leg and painfully yanked down. Both boys gasped as Cole again plummeted to the water again but Jay didn't once let go as he struggled to keep his brother above the water. After the weed gave a stronger tug, loud sizzling could be heard from below them. Cole let out a half-hearted scream when the burning pain hit him.
Zane then rounded the corner with checking on what all the ruckus was about in mind. His nindroid mind then quickly assessed the situation and ran to his brothers aid. While grabbing hold of Cole's arm he spotted the strangle weed wrapped stubbornly around the ghosts leg. "Hold on brother." He reassured Cole as he took out one of his shrunkens. In a swift and fluid motion the sharp blade sliced through the weed and it let go and shrunk back into the water. Jay had pulled Cole back onto the deck and both we panting heavily. The only sound that filled the silence was their heavy breathing and the soft sizzling of Cole's still injured foot. "Are you two okay?" Zane asked, breaking the pleasant silence. "Yeah, thanks Zane." Cole answered for both of them. Cole's foot returned back to normal within a few seconds and soon both he and Jay were up again. "Wow, if you didn't come when you did Zane-" Jay started but was then cut off by Cole. "I never wanna think about that again." He said as he shook his head. Zane nodded and then walked off. The black clad ninja turned his head to face Jay. "Thanks Jay, for helping me." He said sheepishly with the slightest of smiles on his lips. "No problem dude. That's what brothers are for right." Jay replied feeling slightly awkward for unknown reasons and childishly smiled back at Cole. The elemental master let out a small laugh before speaking again. "Hey I'm really hungry, wanna get some thing to eat?" Even though Jay had just ate a sandwich, he couldn't turn down the offer of spending more time with his brother. "Yeah." Jay answered simply.
Cole almost died today, it made the master in blue think about how easily his brothers life could have been lost. And all to some stupid weed and water. But he didn't lose his life, he wasn't blown up by the dirty liquid. He was still here, walking side-by-side with him and everything was fine.
For now...