Silver Lining
Always had a soft spot for Zhane and Karone
He saw her lying there; she looked so helpless. Zhane forced himself to remember this was the villainous Astronema. She led the forces of evil under Dark Spectre and nobody in his right mind gave her anything but distance. Still, being unconscious, she looked so little and innocent. Once again the Silver Ranger wondered what had been done to her for her to turn out like this.
He tended her wounds expertly. He had been a first class field medic before his injuries forced him into cryo-sleep but he still remembered everything. He bound up the bleeding and put a compress on her forehead to cool her down while she rested and healed.
She awoke with a start and saw him there: a Ranger! The very thought made her blood boil although she didn't know why. She mostly fought because that was how her guardian Ecliptor had raised her. She had no recollection of where she was from or what happened to her family. She never seemed to be at peace especially with the odd dreams she had been having lately. Something about a floating ball of metal? She still didn't understand it.
Now on top of that here was a Ranger apparently trying to help her. What a mess. Except, he was kind of cute, she thought. Light hair and a white outfit. Of course almost everybody had heard of the Silver Ranger one of the most powerful and daring of all Rangers. That was when he turned and saw her eyes.
"Good. You're awake. I was afraid you might have a concussion from the accident. You were unconscious for a while." She just stared, then asked the obvious question. "How long have I been here?" "I've been tending to you for two days. I bet your forces will be looking for you. I would have left to avoid the trouble but I wanted to be certain you were cared for." Two days? Had he really been here that long? In spite of the danger to him he had cared for her. Astronema didn't know what to think about that. "Thank you for being here Ranger."
At that point all hell broke loose. Zhane found himself attacked and had to defend himself. Looking around he realized it was a wild predator native to that world. There were maybe a dozen and they all looked very hungry. "Can you stand on that ankle?" "I can try." Helping her up he noticed her wince slightly but also saw that she tried to be brave.
"Lean on me," he said. Carefully, trying to avoid letting her be hurt, he put his arm around her and felt her arm go over his shoulders. Moving as quickly as possible they scrambled away from the clearing toward some shelter; maybe a cave or cliff, Zhane hoped.
Realizing they weren't doing well he muttered very quietly, "Screw this." After that outburst he bent down and fully drew Astronema into into his arms and ran for all he was worth. Cradling her, he drew on all his physical abilities as a Ranger including speed, strength, and endurance. After several minutes of the chase he saw a cliff and was able to scale it.
Astronema was still shocked at how he was treating her and was even more impressed that he was risking his life. After getting to the top she found herself being set down gently. "We can rest here and stay warm for the night. In the morning I'm sure you can summon your troops to pick you up." After all that he was letting her go?
Something in her decided that it wouldn't end like this: the Silver Ranger had been forthright, caring, attentive and protective of her when she couldn't look after herself and now he was releasing her when his duty was to bring her in. She knew she was his enemy and he was hers but it didn't seem right to go there just now. On impulse she grabbed him by the wrist and sat him down. She looked him over and then saw his eyes, how open they were. Remembering his earlier remark she said, "Screw this." Then she kissed him. Thinking to herself she decided,-I can be evil tomorrow-
Always felt sorry for those 2 sweet kids so I decide they should go for it.
Coming next…center stage for the Magna Defender