Chapter Two: Children of Ohkami

"Have you noticed how well…protective Hunter and Cam are of each other suddenly?" Shane quietly asked Tori, Dustin and Blake as they watched the two afore mentioned rangers hold a near-silent conversation. Blake shrugged.

"Yeah," he muttered and then paused. "But they also seem to get rather upset if one imposes on their…their territory, with lack of better words." Dustin bit back a laugh.

"Dude! I've seen Cam agitated to the point of growling! That was something, and it was only because Hunter was too close to his computer!" Blake shook his head slowly.

"And Hunter gets upset if Cam comes too close to me, for crying out loud…" There was another pause in which they noticed both Hunter and Cam glance in opposite directions, frowns marring their faces.

"Well, there's something going on between those two, and I don't think they're going to let us in on the secret anytime soon…" His sentence died off as the other two rangers came to join them.

The group of six was at the beach, in a small alcove that was almost always free of people, and often used for training. They hadn't come to train, however, but to relax. Unfortunately, Cam and Hunter hardly found relaxing something that they weren't doing.

The poachers—as they had become to call them—hadn't quit in their hunt of the two teens. For the past two weeks, both the samurai and the thunder ranger had found themselves fighting, not only Lothor's monsters, but the poachers as well. And not only that, but they couldn't tell the others of their predicament…because they couldn't see their enemies.

And the wolves…

It was all about the wolves. "The wolves will die." That was their only clue towards their enemies' motives. But it didn't make any sense and it was frustrating Hunter and Cam almost to the point where they wanted to tear out their hair. Not that they would though…

Even now, they were watching… Two small groups, watching from either side of the beach. It was unnerving…but they weren't attacking.

The others had all started up another conversation, including the two usually sarcastic/silent boys. Cam paused and looked over his shoulder in the middle of answering a question and then looked back at the others.

"Did you see something?" he asked Shane, who shook his head. Cam sighed. "Well I did…I'm going to go and check it out…"

"Come on, Cam, we're here to relax, not worry about what Lothor's up to," Tori complained from her seated position on the sand. Cam turned around to face her, walking backwards a little.

"Lothor hasn't attacked for nearly a week…tell me that isn't something to worry about," he retorted. There were pauses and then shrugs and Cam left the group.

"I'm confused…" Dustin said after a moment. Hunter raised one eyebrow.

"And that's new?" he asked. The yellow ranger turned to give him a half-glare.

"It's just that…Cam didn't seem like he was too worried about Lothor… It's more like there's something else bothering him," he said. Tori raised her eyebrows, looking at the biker in surprise.

"And the airhead figured this out on his own? Wow…" Dustin decided to ignore this comment, noticing that Hunter was frowning and looking in the direction Cam had gone. "I think your right," Tori said after a moment. "And I think Hunter here can tell us what the heck is going on."

"Ah," Hunter said, returning his attention to the group and raising one finger. "It seems you are wrong there…" He paused. "I have no idea…"

"You realize I can tell when you are lying?" Blake asked, giving his older brother a bland look. Hunter gave a guilty grin.

"Yup…but hey, a promise is a promise, and I can't tell any of you a thing." There was no comment before Blake decided to speak.

"But, bro, you are going to tell us eventually, right?" he asked. Hunter's frown returned and he glanced over into the woods again.

"Yeah…as soon as we figure this out for ourselves…" he muttered. Blake frowned, along with the others. "Are you sure you can't see anything?" he quietly asked Shane, who was standing next to him. Shane shook his head, giving him a funny look.

"There's nothing there," he replied. But there was. A poacher had just materialized out of the trees, smiling cockily. Hunter shook his head with a sigh.

"I'm going to go and see if Cam needs any help," he murmured before running off. The others all watched him disappear into the trees with shocked expressions.

"Well…" Tori said quietly. "At least we know that something is going on…"

"Yeah, but what?" Blake asked. Nobody answered…but he really hadn't been expecting an answer anyway.

Hunter passed through the woods quickly, not streaking, but just running. He passed a few poachers, taking the time to take them out, and then continued his search for his comrade. He found him pinned beneath a rather large poacher, who had his hands around the samurai's neck. Simply put, Cam was being strangled, and it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to take much more.

Hunter slammed into the poacher, knocking him aside, and Cam, now free, rolled onto his side gasping for air. The poacher grinned at Hunter who had taken a rather protective stance in front of the green ranger.

"Until next time wolf," the ghost-like person said and then he vanished. Hunter immediantly turned around and knelt next to Cam who was still struggling to breath. Helping him into a seated position he stroked the samurai's throat.

"Shh…relax and take deep breaths. Come on Cam, breath," he instructed, looking Cam over again. The samurai shouldn't have fallen so easily, and then he saw what had made him fall. There was a long, deep cut running the length of his calf. He grimaced. "That doesn't look good," he muttered, noticing that Cam's breathing had steadied.

"Why are we the only ones that see them?" Cam whispered. Hunter shrugged, placing a finger under Cam's chin and turning his head to one side to see the ugly, dark ring of bruises that was forming around his throat.

"Apparently we're the wolves their talking about…If I got the meaning right," he muttered in return. Cam closed his eyes, leaning back against the tree behind him.

"It doesn't make any sense," he muttered with a wince. Hunter sighed and looked back at Cam's injured leg, noticing just how much blood the ranger must have lost.

"I don't think it's supposed to make sense," a feminine voice behind him said gently. Hunter spun around and Cam suddenly perked up in full attention, but they were both surprised to see a lady with long blonde hair and a full white dress standing in front of them. And she seemed to be glowing…

"Who…?" Hunter's question died on his lips as the lady smiled. For some reason he felt completely safe around her, and the look of pain had left Cam's face.

"I am Ohkami," she answered. "The goddess of wolves." She looked around her at the woods. "And you two are my children."

"What?" However, as safe as they felt, they were still rather confused. The lady—Ohkami—laughed, the sound like soft spring rain.

"Reincarnation is a fickle thing, my son," she replied lovingly. "One often forgets who he had been before. And it is the first time you have ever been reborn as humans. Why I do not know, but…" she paused, looking behind her. "Please, my time here grows short. Just know that the Ashnazi will do anything to kill you. Please be safe my sons. I cannot help you…" The light around her flickered and then she disappeared entirely.

Cam gave a groan and nearly fell against Hunter, who caught his arm while still looking at the spot Ohkami had previously stood. "Do you suddenly feel as though you could change into a wolf?" Hunter asked in a hushed whisper. Cam gave a tense nod and then promptly passed out.

Hunter looked down at him, surprised, and then looked up again to meet the gaze of a monster…one of Lothor's minions. He involuntarily winced. Standing up him pulled out his morpher.

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form! Ha!"

"Did you feel that?" Dustin asked the others. They all nodded, looking towards the trees.

"It's been nearly fifteen minutes since Hunter ran off," Blake commented. There was another wave of energy…and it felt unmistakably like on of Lothor's friends.

"And that's our cue to go," Tori said. They all morphed and streaked through the trees. What they found caused them to stop in shock.

The Crimson Thunder Ranger stood over Cam, who was sprawled unconscious on the ground. And Hunter was faring quite well for not having moved at all. Cam, though, was rather pale, and his breathing was a little harsh. Not to mention the dark purplish-blue bruises on his throat and neck.

"What the heck happened to ya'll?" Shane asked, running over to help. Hunter didn't answer, only waved his staff in the direction of the monster, one calling itself Yoko…and it looked like a beet. Shane gave it an odd look, and then gave Hunter the same look, although it couldn't be seen behind the helmet.

"That did that to Cam?" There was a pause and then Hunter shook his head. "And you can't tell me what did, can you?" Shane asked again, quieter this time as the other three took on the monster. There was another pause and Hunter nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. Shane didn't say anything, only turned to kick a few kelzaks that had suddenly appeared out of the way.

It didn't take long for Yoko to be destroyed, and this time there was no scroll, and no giant monster, much to the relief of everyone.

End Chapter Two

Okay…I'm stopping there. And then…well…I'll have to update, won't I? Anywho…reviews are gladly excepted… And, until next time I suppose. Don't worry, I don't have any plans to kill anybody off.

Hikaru Kosuzaku