Work Text:
Geo had brought him to look at a stone. Not just any stone, the munce had assured him earnestly. A shaped, carved stone. Because he was the rock expert, right? That's not how the element works, Cole had wanted to say, because worked stone wasn't the same as natural rock; but he knew Geo meant well, so he held his tongue and studied it anyway. It was smooth and symmetrical, more rounded at the top than the bottom – at least, assuming it was the right way up. It was etched with markings, like letters, though not quite like the ninjargon characters Cole had grown up with. If he squinted he could maybe make them into something kind of recognizable, but that didn't really mean anything. Out of context, it could still be anything from a waymarker to a grave marker.
He suppressed a sigh, because Geo was waiting expectantly nearby, and instead looked around for more of the stuff that had arrived in the same eruption, hoping for clues. The nearest objects were in shadow and it was difficult to make out any details. It was only when Cole lifted his eyes to look further afield that he realized everything was in shadow. Unnatural-looking clouds covered the sun, blown in, he supposed, by the fiercely gusting wind that had risen while he was concentrating on Geo's find.
“Cole, I think the mergequakes are back,” the munce said uneasily.
Cole frowned at where the horizon had been, searching his memory to compare what he saw with the moments just before the world – his world – had changed completely.
“No, this is something different,” he replied. His face was grim. “We better gather up the Finders.”
No sooner had he said this, the sound of running feet could be heard, followed by the sight of Spitz skidding around the nearest heap and almost crashing into Geo.
“He's flying, he's flying!”
“Who's flying?” asked Cole, before mentally kicking himself for an idiot.
“Fritz,” Spitz replied, too out of breath for either a sarcastic eye roll or extra sibilants. “We went up – huh, huh – to the huh – hills – huh, hand, he said he was really going to do it this time – huhh – and he spread his wingsss, and then the wind blew, and he went right up in the air!”
“Okay,” said Geo, casting a worried glance at Cole. “So where is he now?”
“He couldn’t control it!” wailed Spitz. “He went up, and up, and then sssidewaysss, and now he's lossst!” The serpentine looked as if he might cry.
“Always something with these kids,” said Cole, not unkindly. “I'll go look for him, before he gets too far.”
“I'll go too,” said Geo. “We'll be able to cover more ground. Spitz can stay here with Bonzle, where it's safe.” Bonzle had appeared at the door of the Rookery, looking to see what all the fuss was about.
“I want to stay with you!” Spitz insisted, grabbing hold of Cole's hand in his two. “I'll be safe with you!”
Cole looked into his pleading eyes, then around at the gathering storm. The winds were already whipping the lighterweight things into flurries; this was no time for long debates.
“All right,” he said. “But you hold both our hands, okay? And we stay together.”
“Mmm!” Spitz nodded and whimpered his agreement, reaching a hand out to take the one Geo offered.
“Bonzle?” the munce asked.
“Oh, this is safe enough for me,” she answered. “And someone should be here in case he makes it home on his own.”
They didn't wait any longer, but hurried away: Cole and Geo, with Spitz between them, skipping to keep up. They headed first for the hills, the gently rising terrain that formed the informal border to that end of their land. Since the Hoarder had been neutralized, Fritz and Spitz had come out here more often, pushing their boundaries and spreading their wings – literally, in Fritz's case. Always the more timid of the pair, Fritz was forever being urged on by Spitz, usually with no worse outcome than a tumble down a junk heap, or having to abandon an overly ambitious attempt to add some supersized piece of salvage to their collection. Recently though, Fritz had been insisting he was going to learn to fly properly, rather than simply flapping along close to the ground as he'd been content to do until now. Cole and Geo suspected he was being goaded by Spitz, who'd always envied the formling's wings, but they assumed nothing too disastrous could come of it. Of course, they hadn't anticipated this unnatural wind storm…
“There he is!” said Geo, pointing with his free hand. The valley broadened and the heaps were lower here, giving them a better view in all directions, and now Cole could see a black shape bobbing like a lost kite against the background of the angry clouds. If he focused hard, he thought that maybe Fritz was trying to angle back in their direction, but if so, he was failing to tack effectively against the swirling gusts.
“If I can just get close enough…” Cole said, trying to run forward to line up under the bird; but he had to keep steering around junkpiles, and he was still trailing Spitz and Geo, and he could never quite catch up. Then there was a great gust that almost blew them over, and when they looked again, they'd lost sight of Fritz.
A distant caw! drifted on the air. Spitz let go of the grownups and clambered frantically to the top of the nearest heap.
“There! There!” He bounced and pointed, dislodging a few items from the summit and almost losing his footing. Cole and Geo strained to see.
“Back towards Sector Four,” said Geo, whose mental map of the land, Cole knew, was much better than his. “This way's fastest.”
The munce held out his hand to Spitz, who grabbed it as he leapt down. Cole caught his other hand as they turned to run in the new direction Geo had indicated.
I have to catch him, thought Cole. I promised he'd always be safe with me, and I meant it.
He glanced around him. Sector Four… yes, of course, this was the place where Fritz had first fled to him, where he'd first made that promise. He'd only been in the land a short time, it was one of the first walks he'd taken away from the Rookery after his injuries had healed. They'd been on their way to investigate a new geyser eruption; Spitz had leapt out at Fritz wearing a costume head he’d just found, snarling ferociously, hoping for a jumpscare and not expecting the formling to flee in terror…
Fritz flew straight to Cole, fluttering wings becoming trembling arms that he threw around the ninja.
“No no no no! It's back, it's back!”
Cole, baffled, folded his arms gently around the boy, glancing at Geo for reassurance.
“Fritz's village was attacked by a monster,” Geo explained. “That's how he ended up here.”
Cole had still been puzzled, at first; the ‘monster’ looked a lot like his friend Krag, even down to the broken horn. It was only later he'd remembered that the villagers had all been terrified of the yeti at first, until Cole had explained to them that he was just lonely; and he'd wondered if there had been a similar misunderstanding at Fritz's village. But at the time, there'd been a scared little boy to comfort…
“Fritz, it’s okay,” Cole said soothingly. “You're safe.”
The boy looked up, rubbing his tearful eyes. “I am?”
“Sure,” Cole replied. “You'll always be safe with me. All of you.”
His instinct was to protect, and that was what he'd done. Even if the enemy was a cheap Day of the Departed mask. Cole knew now that it had been his first step towards becoming a part of the family, though he couldn’t have been aware of it back then, and it would be a long time before he felt fully accepted into the oddly assorted, yet close-knit, little group. More recently he'd thought his role as protector might be less in demand, now that the Hoarder was gone and Bonzle had returned safely. He'd even wondered if he still had a place here at all, until Geo had made it clear that he really was wanted…
Cole stole a glance at Geo, and realized that while he'd been daydreaming, the munce had brought them back around towards the Rookery. It looked as if Fritz had almost made it back himself, but now he was fighting the wind again. It seemed to Cole that his wings weren't beating quite as strongly as before. He'll be getting tired, he thought, with concern. And then he really will be lost; blown away like a leaf in a gale.
“Can't you fly up there with your airjitssszu and catch him?” asked Spitz, tugging on his hand in an anxious effort to get his attention.
“Oh… no; it, uhh – doesn't work any more,” Cole replied, smiling apologetically at the serpentine to cover the white lie. He'd half forgotten that the corrupted power had been a part of the bedtime stories he'd told the Finders. Seeing the boy look disappointed, he added, “But I'll still get him. I can do other things now, that I couldn't do back then.”
He stared up at the bird, assessing the wind speed as best he could under the circumstances and calculating quickly. He didn't fly much himself, not if he could help it, but he'd had to aim plenty of projectiles in his time and he figured it couldn't be so different. Assuming the wind holds, and he keeps more or less the same effort… I'll need to be… over here…
He half-dragged the others across and back a little, eyes still fixed on his target, until they were almost against one of the heaps. He let go of Spitz's hand; Geo automatically pulled the boy a little closer.
“You might want to stand back,” Cole warned. He held Geo's gaze. I really hope this works, he thought fervently, as if Geo could hear him. And he saw the same sentiment reflected in Geo's eyes, mixed with trust, the belief that Cole could make it work; and the other feeling, the one he hadn't fully gotten used to yet, the one that gave him strength the way he'd once thought Geo's own element powered him.
It all passed through his mind in a moment; then Cole looked up again, checking Fritz's position once more, and stamped hard, activating his earth power and sending a column of rock rumbling up into the air. Fritz came closer – closer – he was almost in reach…
Cole grabbed for the bird, just as an extra strong gust caught him under his wings. Fritz tilted up and back and away, and Cole knew he was the boy's last chance. No time to lift the rock again; Cole lunged to his full length, arm outstretched. His fingertips grazed against feathers, and suddenly there was a hand against his, and a body falling, and he gathered Fritz in towards him, sheltering him from the wind as best he could as he stamped to send the pillar back down to the ground.
The four of them hugged in relief – Cole thought he might have heard a whispered sssorry pass between the two kids – and then they hurried together towards the safety of the Rookery. Fritz would not let go of Cole's hand, and Spitz was determined to stay with his brother, so Cole found Geo on the other side of him. Geo slipped his hand around Cole's and squeezed it, and the look that Geo gave him was one of gratitude, and trust, and, yes, the other feeling too.
So back they went, to where they could close the door and wait out the storm together. Back to where Bonzle had the kettle heating, to the comfy chairs that were somehow all the more snug because the cushions were mismatched and mended. Back to the family he'd found, and made his own.
~~~