Disclaimer: Don't own it!
A/N: Well, I'm at my grandma's place with nothing to do and so here is the next chapter!
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"You can't do this!" a young woman cried, clutching at her old father, both of them looking dirty and worn.
"You should have paid your taxes on time then," the Ryanban's son grinned evilly.
"You're charging twenty times what the old Ryanban charged!" she screeched, "We can't pay that!"
"Then get a better taste of my whip!" he screamed, lifting it up and bringing it down. Before it could make contact, however, Sky had managed to arrive on the scene and he managed to twist the whip around his body with skill, stopping the whip from hurting the people and himself.
"Stop it," he said in quiet, deadly voice.
"You again!" the son growled.
"Leave them alone!" Z yelled as she and Bridge finally caught up.
"You again..." he muttered, but this time grinned and pulled out a fan as Sky jumped back to where Bridge and Z were standing.
Z's eyes widened in recognition, but before she could say anything, the son waved the fan and a helmeted spirit in the form of a warrior with a katana erupted forward, aiming for Sky.
Sky was taken by surprise, but that didn't stop him from leaping forward and kicking the warrior away before he maneuvered himself to a roomier area.
The next warrior slashed at him with his sword, but Sky ducked before leaping leaping onto it and kicking the warrior away, using his momentum to punch another one away.
"That's my mother's fan!" Z said, Bridge looked over at her in concern.
"My mother was a Shinban too, but she used her magic to help the people," Z continued, watching as Sky barely avoided another blow, "the Ryanban and his son were nothing when they first came here, they were as poor as everyone else. Their magic was not great either. But a year ago, they got really strong all of a sudden."
The warriors made another attack from either side, but Sky leaped up, avoiding both attacks with only a scratch on his cheek. He kicked the one on his right and then flipped the other one.
"They chased out the old Ryanban and established themselves in his place. The people began to suffer under their rule. My mother fought against them, trying to stop them..." Z's eyes began tearing up and Bridge immediately took a step close to her.
"AND THE RYANBAN MURDERED HER!" she screamed.
Sky was shocked at her outburst and then felt complete rage. He kicked the sword out of the hands of one warrior and used that to stab the other one. Once that evaporated, he quickly turned around, cutting the head off the previous owner of the sword. Both sword and warrior quickly evaporated and the Ex-Ranger turned to see the Ryanban's son looking shocked, but he quickly recovered.
"You haven't won yet!" he grinned as the sky began to cloud up. Sky looked up just in time to see a tornado touch the ground he was standing on and suck him into it.
"Sky-kun!" Bridge screamed in concern and fear.
The Blue Ranger winced as he felt himself being tossed around inside the tornado and then felt a brain-numbing impact as he was hurled to the ground. He felt someone take his head and place it in his/her lap and he opened his eyes to see Bridge's concerned face hovering over his.
"You're bleeding," Bridge said in a worried tone, noting the blood streaming down Sky's face.
"Behold my father's power!" the son grinned as he looked up at the retreating power.
"You are so pathetic! You have to call your daddy to fight your battles?" Z said in disgust.
The son sneered at her and then held up the fan. Z's disgust melted away into concern for the fan, "Be careful with that! It belonged to my mother!"
The son simply smirked... and then hurled the fan into the retreating tornado, the force of the wind shredding it to pieces.
Z looked on in shock and horror as the pieces of the fan fluttered to the ground, the tiny bell letting out a small ringing noise as it hit the ground.
"That was the only one...my mother had," she whispered softly.
"Don't ever insult my father," the son said simply before turning to the father and daughter, "for your resistance, your tax has been doubled. If you don't pay, you both will receive one hundred lashings."
Z slowly walked forward, "One of these days, the Amenosa will arrive and you'll be finished."
"The government guards? They'll never come!" the son laughed before leaving the area and the destruction.
Sky got to his feet unsteadily and watched as Z collapsed to her knees on the ground, picking up the bell in both her hands as a lone tear streamed down her face.
"Mother..." she muttered in a heart-broken voice. She started as she felt warm arms around her and opened her eyes to see Bridge hugging her tightly, his blue eyes filled with her sorrow.
"I'm sorry," he muttered as Z cried her heart out on him.
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"Are you okay?" Bridge asked softly as he gently wiped away the blood on Sky's face.
"Yes," Sky smiled at Bridge to ease his fears and got a tiny one back.
"So, these guys suddenly got strong a year ago, right?" Fai asked Z, who nodded. "This sounds like one of Bridge-chan's feathers to me..."
"That doesn't make sense," Kurogane interrupted, "it was only a short time ago that the kid's feathers disappeared."
"Time moves differently in different dimensions," Fai said smoothly, "it's possible that the same applies here."
"If it is a feather," Sky looked at Bridge as he began to stand up, "I'll get it back."
"Sky-kun," Bridge grabbed onto his sleeve, "you can't go now! You're injured!"
"I'll be fine," Sky grinned, "I'm just going to the castle to see what we're up against. I won't go in or anything, I just want to see it."
"I wouldn't advise that," Z interrupted, "when we've tried to revolt, the villagers disappeared as soon as they came near the door."
"I'll stay away, but I must get a look at the castle. If we are to get the feather back, we'll have to enter the castle," Sky turned and left before anyone could say anything else, but not before glancing at the portrait of Z's mother.
The woman had long, flowing dark hair like her daughter, but there was a softness in her eyes that was definitely not in Z's. Her pale skin seemed to gleam even in the painting and her smile was as bright as the sun. Sky clenched his fist at the thought that someone could harm a woman like that and strengthened his resolve to get back the feather that had been the cause of Z's misery.
Kurogane smirked as he watched the Ranger walk off and Fai noticed, "Something you would have done?"
The ninja snorted, "Exactly what I would have done for my princess or anyone I care about."
Sky wandered closer to the huge castle doors, examining it as closely as he couold while still keeping distance. The door had no guards, which was very odd, but he was sure it had been protected by magic.
"Find anything?" a voice asked from behind him and he wheeled around to see Bridge standing behind him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise and then narrowed his eyes, "you should go back, it's not safe here!"
"This is my feather, I need to know if anything happens to you because of it," Bridge said stubbornly.
"Bridge-san..." Sky groaned, the honorific slipping out automatically.
"Kun," Bridge corrected, "No formalities, please."
Sky blinked and smiled thinly, "Bridge-kun, this is not safe for you. Please go-" Sky was interrupted by bright light coming out of the ground beneath him and Bridge.
"What's happening?!" Sky yelled and saw that Bridge was as shocked as he was. He quickly grabbed onto the other's wrist as the ground fell away from beneath them and they fell through to a floor storeys beneath them.
Sky blinked as they landed on the ground gently even though they had fallen through a height of nearly fourty storeys. He looked around to see that they were surrounded in a light blue bubble that slowed down their fall.
The place they were in was pitch dark except for a few torches and seemed to be nothing but complete darkness. He could see a couple of pillars, but that was it. The place was completely bare otherwise.
"Where are we?" Sky muttered and then looked over at Bridge, who had gone silent, "Bridge-kun?"
Bridge looked over at Sky and the Ranger's eyes widened in shock as he noticed that Bridge's blue eyes were glowing the same color as the bubble around them. His eyes turned a dark ebony color as the bubble disappeared and Sky began to tense up before recognized the look in those eyes. It was the same look he had seen in the portrait in Z's home, even the same smile.
Sky squinted at what was surely not Bridge and spoke slowly, "Are you... Z's mother?"
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Okay, this chapter might seem a lot shorter and much more rushed, but I have to start studying for my exams soon, so I needed to get this done with quickly. Sorry! Please review though!