The Reunion

2 - The Return/Back to Ninjago

Traveling with Morro again came as a comfortable familiarity after a long period of unknowns and stress. A small smile crossed Ronin's face as he glanced over at Morro's sleeping form. It felt like a dream come true for Ronin to have Morro by his side again. The two had chatted idly for a bit as they had waited out the storm, but the younger of the two had started to feel fatigued after a little while. Ronin had set to take off as the storm had eased up enough to not make the trip dangerous. Ronin gave a little explanation of the travel plan before encouraging Morro to get some rest. Morro had drifted off to sleep pretty quickly after he settled into a comfortable position in R.E.X's passenger seat.

To Ronin, Morro always looked so much more delicate in his sleep as though all of the younger man's troubles melted away while he slept. Something pure and calm for him after so much hardship and struggle. As though nothing bad could happen to him in his sleep. Ronin let out a little chuckle as he thought about it, a flood of fond memories hitting him as he stared out at the night sky.

Despite them not having seen eachother in almost a decade, Ronin could tell that something was up with Morro. Even just looking at Morro, Ronin could tell that the younger had lost a lot of weight since he had seen him last; Morro's face looked thin and his skin was a sickly pale colour. Ronin had seen the way Morro's outfit hung from him loosely even while he had been drenched from the rain. Ronin's smile faltered and he was hit hard by a wave of worry.

Looking more closely at Morro, Ronin saw that he was covered in scrapes and bruises, the visible parts of his body littered with scars that hadn't been there before. Listening carefully Ronin could hear that Morro's breathing was labored, probably an injury to his ribs. Ronin couldn't gauge the extent of the injury, yet but that would have to be dealt with when they get back to the city. It was hard for Ronin not to be worried about the younger man given how thin Morro looked and how quickly he had crashed out once he got comfortable.

Considering Morro's susceptibility to the changes in temperature and the wind there was no doubt in Ronin's mind that Morro was going to end up getting sick. With this new information Ronin concluded that Morro must have been running on pure adrenaline and a strong will to keep going. Most likely going on that adrenaline throughout however long he had been working with the ghosts for. Ronin's concern deepend as he thought about everything he had just taken note of. Given his current situation Ronin knew he was going to need some help in getting Morro back to normal health.

Quickly Ronin typed out the coordinates for a location in Ninjago city and let R.E.X's auto pilot take over on steering. Fumbling slightly Ronin pulled out his Borg phone and pulled up his messaging app, opening his message history with the only contact in his phone other than the Ninja.

Typing quickly Ronin sent a message to Dareth:

Ronin: Dareth, are you busy with anything at the moment?

Ronin waited with bated breath as Dareth typed out his message reply. He really hoped that his friend wasn't too busy with everything to be able to help him out at the current time.

Dareth: Aside from getting moved into my new place and getting my new TV studio in working order, not much. Why, what's up Ronin?

Ronin: Are you able to possibly put a brief hold on the TV studio work? I ran into an old friend of mine and he's in pretty rough shape. I would help him by myself, but I'm not quite sure that I'll be able to do it on my own. Not while I'm living out of R.E.X, since my shop was destroyed.

Dareth: How bad of a shape are we talking, Ronin?

Ronin: most likely getting sick, starving, covered in scrapes and nasty looking bruises and very likely that he's seriously injured.