The Call to Rise

Dancing to the Beat of My Own Drum Part 6: Something Just Like This

....I'm BEYOND sorry for how long it took to update this. Blame school and writer's block.

Anyways, enjoy the last part in this arc!

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That night, the ninja all worked hard refining and practicing their routine for the finals. In fact, they worked so hard and were so focused on their task that Sensei had to come in and stop them, telling them in a slightly scolding tone that if they didn't want to fall asleep during the competition that they needed to go to bed now.

No one argued with Sensei when he took that tone, not even Kai. It was just as, if not more effective than Cole's Awesome Leader Stare.

Speaking of the black ninja, his teammates kept a careful eye on their leader, trying to make sure that he was handling what had happened that afternoon alright. All things considering, Cole seemed to be coping pretty well. To be sure, he was much more serious during their practice and didn't smile nearly as often as he normally did, but he at least didn't lock himself in his room and blast out sad music as loud as he could.

Still, his teammates made the executive decision(or, rather, Jay came up with the idea and begged and pleaded with Zane and Kai until they both agreed to it) that they should all camp out on the floor in Cole's room and have a sort-of sleepover.

Cole, with some slight reluctance, agreed. Though he forbade them from starting a pillow fight.

Needless to say, there was a pillow fight of epic proportions(that Kai totally didn't start, you must be colorblind Cole, obviously Zane was the one who threw that pillow at Jay's face to get him to shut up, ow, ow, Cole quit it! How are you not breaking that pillow?! No! Not the hair!), with Cole eventually being declared the winner(after Sensei Wu scolded them again for not going to bed and for making a racket).

The pillow fight, along with being very effective in cheering Cole up, also ensured that the four teens fell asleep very quickly and had a very restful sleep.

When they woke up, however, all of the nervousness from last night came rushing back, and they all found it very hard to stomach even the slightest bit of breakfast.

Cole by far was the worst one off, only managing to eat three bites of cereal and a small handful of grapes. He kept fiddling with his fingers and pulling at the strings of his hoodie. At one point, he put in his earbuds, presumably to listen to some calming music, only to scowl and abruptly take them out five minutes later.

The walk to the theatre was tense. The four teens tried to make idle chit-chat, but any conversation would eventually fade and the tense silence would return. Jay kept fidgeting with his fingers, tiny bolts of static electricity jumping and down his hands. Kai had his hands firmly shoved into his hoodie pocket and a scowl firmly etched onto his face. Zane kept biting his lower lip and absentmindedly drawing little patterns of frost on his pants with his finger, the frost thankfully melting before anyone else could notice. Cole had his hood firmly pulled down over his head and was hunching his shoulders. Now and then, the other teens could pick up on the black ninja humming or softly singing some song or another and occasionally whispering encouraging things to himself.

When they reached the theatre, though, the black ninja abruptly stopped.

"Whoa, hey," Kai called out once he realized that they were short one. "You okay, Brookstone?"

Cole stared at the doors of the theatre, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hood, but his frown completely visible. "...I kinda wish my dad was here," he admitted, letting out a bitter chuckle. "And I know that's stupid but...whenever I picture myself winning the Jewel Cup...I just picture my dad there on stage with me, saying how proud of me he is." He sighed and wiped at his eyes. "I hope my uncles can get him to change his mind about me..."