Lava | Ninjago

🜂 | stonebreaker

[this one is an excerpt from my newest AU - "sun, moon, eclipse" that's inspired by the song soldier, poet, king and its main focus is the dumbass trio. when i tell you I'm so obsessed with this au, i dedicated a notebook and my entire weekend to it and that's JUST the beginning. i would love to write it someday BUT it grew so big it will need two books - because zane, lloyd, and nya are still super important to the story but there's not enough space for them in the same room as the dumbass trio :( i could rant about it for hours sorry I'm obsessed lol anyway enjoy]

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When his eyes blinked open, all he saw were silhouettes of arms. No – not arms. They were tree branches. With an occasional star that managed to glow through the leaves.

Needless to say, Kai was pretty fucking confused because the last thing he recalled was riding a horse through a forest – filled with sunlight.

And then he felt it – the weight on his torso, the warmth. He shuffled a little to realise he was sleeping in Cole's arms. but before he could get any more oriented, the warmth and weight left him to shiver in the cold night air.

"Can you sit up?" spoke Cole after a while of silence filled with the soft rustle of the nature around them. Kai mumbled something, something not even he could understand and attempted to pull himself up. Which seemed to be way harder than he expected. But with Cole's assistance, he ended up leaning against a tree that was apparently super close to where he was resting.

"Are you thirsty?" But even without an answer – which Kai probably wouldn't be able to muster up anyway – he handed him his container with water and Kai accepted it. The cold spread through his body, which he usually didn't like, but now it helped him wake up properly and he was able to focus on his surroundings a little bit more. So the cold gets a pass for once.

Kai rubbed his eyes as Cole took the container back from him and then looked up at the knight. "I'm guessing I passed out?" he said – or asked? Kai couldn't really comprehend the tone in which he spoke.

"Yes. Fell off your horse."

"Oh."

"Now eat." Cole was handing him some food and despite the emptiness in his stomach, Kai felt the same way as every other time before. He couldn't. But he took the food anyway, no matter how much his insides clenched. And Kai blankly stared at the bread in his hand.

"I'm serious, Kai, you can't starve yourself," Cole said. "Eat. Please."

It's not like he didn't manage to force himself into a few bites before. Even now he did it too but as the on any other occasion appetising food rolled over in his mouth, he couldn't see himself doing more than that.

Cole sat back down next to him and took his free hand in his. Kai stayed still, staring at them instead of the food.

"What's this about? Don't tell me you have that big of a problem with food that isn't prepared by the best chefs at your castle. I know you can act pretty entitled but I also know you wouldn't do something like this."

"I'm scared, Cole," Kai finally whispered. He felt Cole lean in but the knight didn't ask any more questions. "Terrified, really. I just... I can't stop looking over my shoulder because I feel like any second somebody will come unexpectedly and end it. I didn't see the twins coming, so of course I won't see anyone who wants to hurt me coming! I just– I can't sleep, I can't eat, all I feel is the dread, the fear consuming me from the inside. I can't focus on anything else, I flinch at any sound because I think somebody is after me. I mean– for all we know somebody really is. And I'm just a sitting fucking duck that might not even be able to save his people."

Kai felt Cole readjust his hand. He saw as he intertwined their fingers together. And for a moment he felt like they were all right again, they weren't at each other's throats like most of the time. He was there for him. Or at least it felt like it. Sometimes, all you have are feelings. And they either drown you or make you drown yourself.

"I don't want to die, Cole. I'm too young for that, I can't die, I don't want to."

"You're not gonna die," Cole replied with his signature rock-solid conviction. "I won't let anybody hurt you. Ever. I hope you know that."

Kai rolled his eyes. He contemplated leaning away from his guard but he didn't want to be any more cold than he already was. "Yeah, because without me you wouldn't get anyone else to help get the kingdom back."

"We both know it's not just that."

Kai looked up at him. There wasn't much light but since they were so close, Kai could still see his face well enough. He felt warmth spread through his body despite the chilly air and he leaned forward, his eyes almost closing in the process. He waited for Cole, he waited for his lips to brush against his – and they were so close, so goddamn close he could almost feel them.

And Kai was ready to close his eyes completely and shut off his mind but Cole put a hand over his mouth and Kai could only slouch in defeat. It wasn't the first time this happened and if he wasn't so hungry and exhausted, Kai would probably get pretty pissed he kept doing that every time he got so close.

All he could do instead was just lean his forehead against Cole's and mutter, "You keep giving me mixed messages."

Only for Cole to respond, "Not everything is a message."

Kai scoffed at that. It certainly did not apply in their situation but he wasn't going to refute him that. He didn't have enough strength for that.

"Now eat, or the next time you pass out, I'll actually leave you to the wolves. If there are any."

Kai didn't need to know how Cole freaked out when he saw his unmoving body on the ground. He didn't need to know how Cole refused to leave his side to make sure nothing happened to him. Kai didn't need to know how Cole's world stopped for the short moment when he thought he lost him.