Ninjago: Ripped World

13: The Mirage

Cole and Nya had their best sleep for days. Their stomachs' full, they nestled in the long grasses at the foot of the apple tree and slept sound and long.

Cole awoke first and pulled himself up to lean against the trunk of the gnarly tree. He felt bleary and heady. The fresh perfumes of the verdant paradise were a very welcome change from the dry dust of the drought and filled his senses. It wouldn't be long before they would both feel a lot better.

He looked down at Nya still sleeping peacefully. He took the opportunity to watch her. Not something he ever had the pleasure to do normally. Being here, just the two of them in a skewed form of paradise, she had become more important to him than he ever would have allowed back home. He moved to stroke her hair then stopped. 'What on earth am I doing?' He chided himself. Closing his eyes he leant his head back onto the tree trunk, the warm dappled light filtering through the leaves.

He felt a touch on his hand. Cole looked down to see that Nya had placed her fingers over his. Her eyes were open and she was looking up at him 'morning' she mouthed and settled back into her doze.

Cole smiled at her, then closed his eyes again thinking 'Oh no. No, no, no. This is not good. Don't go down that road Cole, it won't be a happy journey. She doesn't want you like that. She loves Jay. The end, stop it now'. But all he could feel were her fingers lightly intertwined with his and all he wanted to do was lie down next to her. The rest he was trying desperately to block out, but his body was not letting him.

He leant down to Nya. 'I'm going for a run' he whispered to her and gently slid his fingers away.

'm'kay', Nya mumbled sleepily.

As he stood up he could see down into the Great Chasm. Lush green vegetation had begun to grow from the bottom of the gorge thinning out midway to the top. A small river was just visible glinting in the light. The Caretaker had been busy.

It was the Gatekeeper he was more interested in. Each of the beings obviously had a specific role in this world. The Caretaker in charge of the growth and wellbeing of the realm and The Gatekeeper, with its swirling glass mask had to be the key to getting out of here. As reluctant as they seemed to answer questions, they would have to make them, or force them, if that was possible. They were after all, powerful beings, what could they hope to do to compel them to send them back? He really didn't know what they were dealing with.

As fantastical as this all was, he felt adrift without any sense of where their future was headed. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. His feelings towards Nya were becoming uncontrollable. Visualisation was not going to help in this instance, he found it far too easy to visualise all the wrong things. He needed to regain the status quo with their team and familiar surroundings before he lost his heart completely.

He slowed up, how long had he been running? The chasm was dry top to bottom, so the Caretakers influence had not stretched this far yet. He took a breather, turned around and started to run back. As he came closer to the forested area of the chasm, he slowed up. It looked different. The lush green had dwindled to a sick brown and the vegetation seemed to be withering back to the earth. What was this? He looked towards the Oasis and ran as fast as he could.

As he gained ground and the oasis came into view, he saw Nya running towards him. He felt panic, what was wrong? He could not reach her fast enough. Impulsively he brought his knuckles together; raising them above his head he swung them swiftly down past his sides. With a shout of rage the motion propelled him up in a great leap, covering a huge expanse to bring him closer. An earth punch slowed his descent to land and as he connected with the ground the impact created an explosion of dust.

Nya, had to pull up sharply from her flight as this powerful new Cole almost blew her off her feet. As the dust settled, it revealed quake cracks that radiated out from Cole, who was knelt in their centre. Nya saw him stand and continued her flight to him. Cole ran to her and without slowing they collided. Cole grabbed her, checking that she was OK. Nya looked up at Cole 'The oasis, it's rotting, disintegrating' her face showing confusion and panic.

Looking back to the Oasis, they could see the trees and plants withering and slumping to the ground 'What the hell is going on? Was all this for nothing?' Cole said as the oasis returned to the earth.

'That was almost our home!' said Nya, her panic increasing. 'I thought, if nothing else we had some form of safety now'. She stood looking out at the re-established emptiness and felt her heart beating faster, her breath quickening and the weight of desperation wash over her. It was all too much, the ultimate end game was playing out inside her head and it was winning. Were they destined to live and die here? Her knees buckled.

Cole didn't see Nya's collapse coming and tried to leap forward to catch her. His fingers just skimmed her arm and he followed her down into the dust and wound himself around her.

They lay like this for some time. Nya was withdrawn, playing the nightmare scenario in her mind. Cole held her head to his chest, whispering words to help her 'it's ok, it's ok' their legs naturally entwined 'I won't let anything happen to you' and he held her body firm against his 'we'll get out of here...' he let her have her moment, but he wasn't letting go '...I promise'. He wouldn't let go, not ever. He would find a way back.

Slowly, Nya began to function again. She moved into him and put her arms around his waist. She raised her face to look at him. 'Cole?' she said softly.

'Hmm?' he replied.

'Would you kiss me?'

The air escaped him. Now it was his heart that beat faster, his breath that quickened and he kissed her.