Ninjago - One-shots and short Stories

Scars // platonic Jay x Cole

This one-shots features two my two favourite Ninja, it is set after Day of the Departed.

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Scars

It was a beautiful and mild morning on the Ninjagian [is this the correct form?!] eastern seaboard, even though it was the beginning of the winter season.

In a slightly secluded bay, a lonely figure was sitting on a rock just off the beach, watching the sun rise over the ocean. From his head to his ankles, he was all dressed in black, even his face and hands were covered. The only parts of his body that were showing were his bare feet that were dangling in the water.

Every morning, since the Destiny's Bounty and her crew had arrived at their current location by the coast a week ago, Cole had snuck out from their shared quarters long before dawn. Still not confident enough to use his elemental dragon, he would use his – newly acquired – Radar Jet to fly to this place, where he would take a stroll along the beach and watch the sunrise, all just on his own with only the sound of the waves and the cries of the seagulls around him. As Sensei Wu had given them a break from their traditional Sunrise Exercise, he would be back at the Destiny's Bounty just before the rest of the team would wake up.

He would have never expected this to happen, but the former ghost was actually still struggling with being human again.

Sure, all in all it was great. Cole didn't have to worry about glitching or fading anymore. There was no need to be afraid of water and he could enjoy a refreshing (and, according to his teammates' complaints, way too long) shower after training. But, most of all, it had always taken his ghostly form a lot of effort to simply feel.

So, even just for moments like this, the sensation of the cold sand between his toes or the movement of the ocean around his feet, it was definitely worth it. He removed his mask, to feel the fresh breeze tickle the skin on his face, and inhaled the fresh, clean air.

He still didn't understand how he had never  before realised how much energy it actually took to make his muscular chest rise and fall with every deep breath.

Yes, Cole was too embarrassed to admit it openly, but... being a ghost had its perks.

The exceptionally strong Master of Earth had just been so tired for the past few weeks, not only because he still had to readjust to carrying the weight of a rather heavy body (it was a lot worse than after returning from the ninja's trip to space), but also because he had to wasn't used to regular sleeping patterns anymore.

He had also acquired quite a few bruises from running against the walls instead of just passing through them.

And, worst of all, everything and everyone suddenly was way too overwhelming for his sharpened senses.

Cole occasionally still struggled to tolerate his – admittedly rather noisy – teammates, and from time to time he wished he could just disappear. But he couldn't. No, not anymore.

And he still hadn't managed to visit the buzzing capital of Ninjago. Cole couldn't even bear the thought of being surrounded by the noisiness of the city – and especially the thought of people staring at him.

When the ninja had risen to their short-lived fame, Cole had been a ghost – and Dareth had made sure that everyone in Ninjago would know about his 'heroic sacrifice'. The glow-in-the-dark Cole action figures had been their most popular piece of merchandise, very much to Kai's dismay. [Now that the Master of Earth was human again, the model had been discontinued, resulting in a steep increase in the toy's collectors' value.]