Master of the Mountain (Cole x oc)

Dungeon Crawl

We traipsed through every tunnel in Rock-Bottom, scouring every square inch for a way out, but there was nothing. The Upply were growing restless with walking what seemed like the same caves again and again. Though I was in the front of the group with Cole, I could hear them complaining all the way in the back.

"What are we doing?" Plundar complained, "We've explored these caves a million times already. If there was a way out of Rock-Bottom, we would have found it already."

"Hush Plundar," Fungus chided, "It doesn't hurt to have someone take a fresh look."

"It's hurting my feet! We've been at this for hours."

"I'm sorry, are we having a teatime chat or are we trying to escape?" Vania cut in. She ran up to Cole, elbowing me out of the way, "Another dead end?"

Cole sighed, shaking his head, "Another dead end."

"Good sir ninja," Fungus offered, "If it makes you feel any better, the four of us have been failing to escape this place for years."

"Well, thank you, but that doesn't really help," Cole answered, pushing his way back through the group.

"What are we doing following this guy? This is a waste of time. We're already a bunch of failed adventurers. We don't need a leader to help us fail more," Plundar whined.

"Ugh, Cole isn't helping us fail! He's helping us escape! For your information, Cole is a fantastic leader," Vania argued.

That was it. I whirled around, "And what makes you say that? He hasn't lead you anywhere."

"He's the leader of the ninja, duh," she remarked.

"Um, no, Lloyd is you twerp. No offense Cole," I nodded in his direction, but he wasn't listening. "If you were such a fan of the ninja, you'd know that."

"I don't care what either of you say. Where's he leading us? In circles? Because guess where we are. That's right, back in Rock-Bottom," Plundar spat.

Indeed, we were back in Rock-Bottom. I watched as Cole dropped to his knees at the edge of the lake, dejected. Picking up a rock, he hurled it across the water. I cautiously walked over and placed my hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at me, surprised, but made no move to remove it.

"I know how you feel," I whispered softly. I suddenly felt an irresistible and unexplainable desire to kneel beside Cole, to throw my arms around his neck, to feel his warmth as he held me. Tears prick at the back of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

Wu walked up beside Cole, resting his hand on Cole's other shoulder. "Come with me," he urged. Cole rose and solemnly followed him a few yards away. Left alone with my thoughts, I let myself drop to the ground, trying to process my emotions. Something that never came easy to me. Before I could start, I heard Vania walk up beside me.

"You know you've got some nerve," She began.

"I could say the same for you."

"I don't know where you get off, showing up here when you weren't invited, telling me things I know."

I stood up and stared her in the eyes, "And where do you get off not minding your own business? I know you were spying on the ninja the first night we were here. And guess what? Because of that, I was assaulted by your father, and we're now stuck in this stupid mountain. And for the record, I belong here just as much as you. I'm a part of the ninja team, whether you like it or not."

"Ugh!" she huffed and walked off. I began to sit back down, but sensed tremors in the earth. Turning, I noticed Cole standing, eyes closed, arms and scar glowing brighter than I had ever seen. I watched as he began to float, pebbles and rocks lying on the ground glowing and floating up as well. He opened his eyes and they burned orange. Bigger boulders began to illuminate and hover above the ground.