The Call to Rise

Getting Together Part 4: Candy and Sparring and Snakes, Oh My!

The night passed by peacefully, and by the time the first of the teenaged boys woke up from their slumber, the rain had passed and the sun was just beginning to rise.

The first one up was, surprisingly, not Kai, despite his wish to get up at dawn. Instead, Cole found himself blinking his eyes open just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.

Cole let out a big yawn and sat up, stretching his arms and back. Despite lying down on a hard surface, he had a surprisingly good night's sleep. It wasn't as good as his bed at home, mind you, but it wasn't terrible.

"You're up early," he heard someone say. Looking up, he noticed that Zane was in virtually the same place he had seen him the night before. "Did you go to sleep at all?" Cole couldn't help but ask.

Zane shook his head. "Couldn't sleep," he replied.

For a person who had been up all night, the icy teen didn't even look that tired. Cole knew that if he had been up all night, he would've had to have a cup of coffee or a Mountain Dew to even be functional. And even then he might crash after a few hours.

"Welp," Cole said, standing up slowly. "Might as well wake the others so we can find someplace to eat."

Waking up Kai wasn't very difficult. He was rather grumpy, mind you, but at least he didn't shoot out fireballs. Jay, however, proved to be an entirely different matter. He refused to get up, even going so far as to give Cole a little shock when he went to shake Jay's shoulder. It didn't hurt much, it was only a little static shock, but it still made Cole a little frustrated.

"C'mon, Jay. Get up!" he said for what felt like the hundredth time. It had no effect.

"C'mon, Walker! Up and attem!" Kai shouted, nudging Jay with his foot. Jay just grumbled and turned over.

"Ugh, this isn't working!" Cole complained. "Any other ideas?"

"I could set his eyebrows on fire," Kai suggested.

"Tempting, but no."

"I could set his hair on fire." At Cole's withering look, Kai protested, "What?! It's not gonna hurt him, it'll just make his hair shorter."

Cole let out an aggravated sigh. "Does anybody have any idea on how to wake up Jay without setting any part of his person on fire?"

Kai crossed his arms and scowled(but to everyone else, it looked more like a pout). "Besides dumping a bucket of cold water on him, I've got nothing."

Cole frowned, then perked up. "Kai you're a genius!"

"I am?" he replied, confused at first. Then he puffed up his chest, and said, "Well, I mean, I knew that. Took you long enough to figure it out. By the way, why am I a genius?"

Cole ignored him, instead turning towards Zane. "Hey, mind if I borrow some ice or snow?" he asked.

Zane blinked, looking confused. "Uh, sure. Why?"

Cole shrugged. "You'll see."

Glancing at the dancer warily, the icy teen nonetheless cupped his hand and produced a small cube of ice in his palm. Cole took the ice cube with a quick, "thanks!" then crept closer to the slumbering teen. "Jay, I'm giving you one more chance. Get up, or I'll be forced to do things the hard way."

Jay didn't say a word.

"Alright, you asked for it," Cole replied. He then pulled back the collar of Jay's t-shirt and dumped the ice cube into the small opening.

The result was instantaneous.

"Gah!" Jay shot up and started to do a weird little wiggle dance as the ice cube slid down his spine. "Cold, cold, cold!" he chanted, jumping and wiggling and generally making a fool of himself.