The Wolf and the Liger

Chapter One

The Rangers only knew that destroying the mask would end the curse. What they never expected was that Merrick would be blasted to another state. While they looked around the battle site, and Princess Shayla through the sacred pool, he was lying unconsious in a woods far from Turtle Cove.

A young girl, about 15 found him. She was surprised to find someone in those woods. Very few people even went near the edge of them. She was the only one brave-or dumb enough it was whispered-enough to even go into the woods. She tried to tell them that the only thing dangerous in there was the imagination. They never believed her. Some almost did becuase she was able to make herbal remedies for almost any illness or ailment. The animals trusted her too. They would show her where their dens and nests were should she-or they-need help.

So she was naturally curious to find out who this stranger was, why he was there, where he came from, and why he was dressed so strange. With the help of the black Lab, Coal, she managed to get him to where she lived. She checked him over to see if he had any injuries, but he had none. Wetting a cloth with some watered mint and raspberry she waited for him to waken. When he did she was busy tending the injured leg of a wolf that had been caught in a trap. When she was done and turned around she saw him looking around, taking in all the dried herbs tied to the ceiling, and baskets of more drying out.

"You're awake," she said, catching his attention. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. Where am I?"

Tilting her head curiously, she asked, "If you do not know where you are, then how did you come to be in the forest where I found you?"

"I was fighting. They had been told how to destroy a curse I have lived with for a long time. I must have been knocked out by the force of the blast. That's the last thing I remember."

"Well, you're in Adrian, Mi. Where were you when the fight happened?"

"Turtle Cove...California I think."

"The blast must have had some other effect becase you're on the other side of the continent. My name's Lya."

"Merrick. Do you live here by yourself?"

"Some times the others come to check on me. Not often though, because they're afraid of the forest. Why are you dressed that way?"
"This is how I was dressed before becoming the monster I was. Until the Rangers destroyed him."

"You were that wolf-man that was trying to destroy Turtle Cove?"

He looked surprised and a little nervous. "From a point of view."

Her face softened as she sat next to him. "My grandmother was the same way. Only she tried to destroy Angel Grove, not Turtle Cove. In the end, she found out that my mom was alive, and that she had three grandkids, not including me. She thought all of us had died when an evil man named Imperious cursed my father. He was known as the guardian of valor, honor, and justice. It didn't help any that our godfather, Daggeron, was thought to have been destroyed as well. In reality he was only cursed...as a frog. He's the Frog Prince now," she added giggling a little at the end.

He looked at her in a new light. "How long ago was this?"

"Two thousand years."

His eyes widened. "You're two thousand years old?"

"From a point of view," she said, taking his line. "Sorcerers age slowly, and when they reach adulthood they stop. So physically I'm 15, but philisophically I'm 2,015. How old are you?"

"Over three thousand years old."
"Now I remember! You were one of the guardians of Animaria. You were to specifically protect Princess Shayla. Your main Wild Zord is the wolf. Along with the hammeread and alligator. Mom used to always tell me that story. Me and my..." she trailed off, looking away.

Not wanting to disturb her, Merrick, waited until she shook herself awake. "Anyway. Do you need a place to stay until you can find a way to Turtle Cove?"

"If you know a place."

"Would here do? The people here are nice, but they don't really welcome strangers into their homes."

"Would you be bothered?"

"Are you kidding? I have at least 10 different wolf packs that leave their pups here when they go hunting. I can use some help."