Power Rangers belong to Disney
Power Rangers
Lost Souls
Episode 1
First Test
Part 1
Farek stood silently in line before the village leader Paea, outside the Village Orphanage. The line was composed of himself and five other eighteen-year-olds. Paea looked at them sternly. "In less than one year, you will all reach nineteen years of age. The law requires that upon your nineteenth birthday, you must undergo the brutal Coming of Age Ritual. If you survive, and not many do, you will be considered a Nika. You and the Village Leaders will then choose your line of work, Hunt, Farm, Blacksmith, Cloth, Carpentry, Childcare, or Leadership. From there you will journey to the Academy of the appropriate line of work, where you will spend three years training. Once your training is over, you will be apprenticed for three more years. When that comes to a close, you will be considered a full adult, with all the rights and privileges of such.
"Your training starts now, with how to be an adult. You will be tested and trained along the way. Your first task is to pick a young orphan from the orphanage, and raise him or her as your own. This task will continue until the day that they become Nikas. They will be considered your firstborn. You may choose no child above the age of 12, and they must be of your gender. Now go choose."
The line disbursed. Farek and walked into the play area with a sand box, a small pond, and some haystacks and studied the children. Most of the children were happy and well behaved. They played well together, although they often got into bitter spats over little things, as children sometimes do. A young boy sat off to the side, in time out. For some reason, Farek felt himself drawn to him.
Farek looked around and saw one of the childcare aides. He motioned for her to come to him, as he had some questions. She came over quickly. "Can I help you, young man?" "Yes, ma'am. I was wondering about that young boy over there, in time out." "Oh, him. Well, that's Praxis, just Praxis, no family name. Sad story his is. He remembers his parents, yet no one knows who they are, not even him. Evidently, he doesn't even know his own name, let alone his parents, but then he has never spoken. He plays well, except when he is angry, then he is really angry, or when he shows wisdom, in which he has wisdom beyond his years. We had to give him his name. He does not speak." Farek nodded. "Thank you, Ma'am." She nodded and walked away.
Farek walked up to the time out area and sat down next to Praxis, who looked about twelve years old. "Hello, Praxis, I am Farek." Praxis looked up with surprise and strangely, Farek felt a little surprised himself, for no apparent reason. Perhaps I could help him heal, Farek reflected. Praxis looked at him and nodded. "I didn't say anything…" Farek trailed off, as he realized from Praxis' look, that Praxis didn't understand a word he said. Then Praxis accepted him by placing his hand upon his heart, startling him. Farek feeling drawn to helping him, he too accepted. They got up and walked over to the line which was already formed by the other Nikas to be, and their chosen ones, waiting for them.
Paea stood before them again. "Now, now that you have chosen your youngsters, you cannot un-choose them. Tonight we will have a campout in the forest, in the usual spot for get togethers. I expect everyone to be there on time, at sunset. Bring nothing but yourselves and your children."
Later, in the Temple of Legends, the Head Priest was reading old scrolls, his son, Beck, by his side. "Let's see, it says;
"Important is number four.
"In school today, we learned that salamanders will live on land, return to the sea in which they lay exactly fourteen eggs in seven years, and return one day to the four hills, every two years.
"We also learned five of the very young eggs hatch into warriors that fight as will the stinger of be fore.
"Their parents led up and down to all that is the land that has Forgotten to make it Capitol priority to care of the people of Sirius.
"Is it them, they or that?
"I will hope that to become all that the sun water and Rainbow is, that more Team comes together and on every night that the baseball is very night upon which that of the sky a dark but gloomy triple is struck.
"Is it lunar or solar, or just eclipse?
"What will all they or all them will?
"If it to be, it first is tested, if not it for us, for all the hopeless but hopeful redemption.
"The care is of, that for one, all."
"Hmm, I just can't make heads or tails of it." "Father, it just sounds like gloppity gook to me." "What? I should box your ears, son. Well, I never… My son disrespect those who cast our ancestors here and promise one day to return and test us? Mark my words young man, one day soon; you'll regret your careless words. Remember just as you cannot a person by how they look, you cannot judge a scroll by its condition or its words." He yawned. "It is late, son, it is time for bed. Early to bed, early to rise." The head priest got up and left the room.
Beck began to pick up and put away the scrolls neatly, as was his duties as son of the high priest, but he stopped when he got to the last and 'most important' scroll that his father had looked at, the globbily gook one. He sat in his father's place and studied the text. "Well, father always said look at the first sentence first and isolate it; there may be clues in it." He took out a blank scroll and a quill, and then copied the first line unto the blank scroll.
"Hmm, 'Important is number four.' Number four of what, the Rainbow Team? But there is no way to count that. No, no, it has to be something I can I count, but it can't be anything in the temple, because, none of it was here when they wrote this. That would leave the scroll, but there is only one. Unless… unless it means the words. Every fourth word is important!"
Quickly he copied every fourth word on to the other scroll. When he was done, it said this, "We will return in exactly seven one four years. Five young warriors will be led to the Forgotten Capitol of Sirius. They will become the Rainbow Team on the night of a triple lunar eclipse. The will be tested for the redemption of all."
There was still one problem, "seven one four years". What did that mean? It was obviously more code, unless… 7..1..4 years, no, 714 years! Wait a minute, seven hundred and fourteen years? The seven hundred and fourteenth anniversary of the Castaway was today, when we mourned, and… and the triple Lunar Eclipse, that's tonight! They're coming into being tonight! Got to tell father! No, wait, he'll insist upon sending an escort, the Rainbow Team Identities must be secret. I'll go, as the Temple representative, and tell no one."
He suddenly regretted his comment of earlier, and for the first time in the fifteen years of his life, he truly believed in the legend. Stuffing the papers in the drawer and hurried to the closet, where he pulled his blue traveling robes that signified him the Son of the Head Priest and as the Temple Representative then ran out the door. Behind him, the other door that led to the Dormitories opened, and the High Priest walked in, with a mixed look of surprise, pride, and understanding.
Paea, the village leader had originally married Lalar, who had died giving birth to their daughter Roziam. That had been 17 years ago. When Roziam was five, a high spirited little one, he married again to Manara, believing that his daughter needed two parents. Over the years, Roziam had grown into a quiet young woman. She would help anyone and everyone who needed it, even though it was not expected. He also noticed that she would easily be offended, with the slightest word; she would leave as quickly and quietly as she could, and later her youngest half-sister Banata would come to him and tell him that Roziam had been crying. He would go to her and hold her, yet never would she speak of what was wrong. Her feelings were terribly fragile, and he often wondered if she would ever pass her Coming of Age Ritual that would take place in less than two years. So when she ran away, he was very surprised, and at the same time not at all surprised.
Xiann was tracking a deer, as she had many times before. From the hoof-prints, the breaking of the branches and the fur left behind, she knew that it was a buck that was of good weight, a nice light color – thus good age – and approximately 10 hands high, which meant, that he would pay well, if she caught him. He was heading to a part of the forest that she had never been to before, a part that was forbidden for anybody but priests to go into for it sheltered the Fallen City of Those Before, a sacred place.
Now she had to make a choice, she could continue and be able to make a very good kill, but risk getting caught and perhaps put to death for her crime, or turn back now, which probably would be a good idea, because the sun was getting low in the sky, and if she went on, she would be forced to spend the night in the forbidden part of the forest; for to track, or find one's way in the dark, was an art reserved only for Master Hunters, and Adept Hunters. Though she was a very good hunter, for she came from a Hunt Family, as she was not even a Nika, she was not even considered a Trainee Hunter, the lowest of the scale.
Suddenly, running footsteps interrupted her thoughts. From the sound, it was a human female, running in fear, not a hunter, upset, and wearing non-hunting clothing. Xiann hid herself in the undergrowth. The girl ran into the little clearing, tripped and fell to her knees, sobbing. "Why does she have to be so mean?" Xiann was drawn to the girl, knowing she needed help, and stepped out of the underbrush. The girl did not see her at first. Xiann recognized her as Roziam the daughter of the Village Leader of Eastian the Village east of the Central forest, which surrounded the Fallen City. Someone had hurt her.
Roziam looked up and saw her standing there. "W-w-who are you?" "Xiann, of the Hunt T Family, and you are Roziam of the Village Leader of Eastian Village's family." "Oh, yes, hunters know every one," Roziam said timidly. "Are you all right? You look like someone hurt you." Roziam was tempted to tell the same lie that she told everyone, but she decided to tell the truth for once.
She exhaled sharply, and said quietly, "It's my stepmother. It feels like she is always picking on me. There's always something wrong with my work, I do nothing right. She calls me names, and is always treating me like I'm trash, while her daughters are royalty. She has even slapped me a few times; she slapped me today." "What? That's abuse, physical, emotional and mental!" Xiann was horrified. "Roziam, you have to report that!" "What do you mean? It is all I have ever known; my half-siblings do it too." "What.." Xiann was interrupted by the ground opening up and what looked like metal ghosts (if that was possible) jumped out. Roziam screamed.
Meanwhile, on the trail leading from the Southern Village, Southian, where the trail met the trail from Eastian, Beck, stopped, and wondered if he should go on. Somehow he knew should, but before he could take another step, Farek and Praxis came down the path leading from Eastian. Farek was saying, "This is really strange, we should have come to the path that leads to the campout site already." Then Farek saw Beck. "S-sorry, sir, we got lost." "Oh? Perhaps I can help, but don't worry, I am not here to trap you or anything, I'm a priest in training, my name is Beck, and I am the head priest's son. But how did you get lost, the paths, I believe are clear all over?"
"Well, Beck, it just wasn't there." "It wasn't?" Beck thought about it for second. They had been led here in a sense; just he had been in a sense. The prophecy! They would be led there! "You better come with me. Don't look at me like that, I'm not arresting you…" A scream from the Forbidden part of the forest interrupted him.
To be Continued….