Chapter 11: Curse of the Wolf
"Tori, where exactly are you taking us?" Blake asked as Tori's blue VW bus headed up the road and came to a stop at a traffic light. "You and Cam have been strangely quiet all morning and are acting all cryptic."
"Blake, I told you that it's a surprise." Tori replied with a good natured smile. "Don't worry. I think that you and the others are going to like it."
"It smells like Yankee Candle back here." Hunter said from his position in the back seat next to Dustin. He was feeling a little put off from all the odd behaviors from his beloveds so he sounded a bit cross tot eh others as he spoke. "What did you do, Tori, buy the whole place out?"
"Those are gifts, Hunter." Tori said. "By the way, in case anyone's wondering, Shi, Heather, Retasu, Yousuke, Nanami, Kouta, Ishuu and Ikkou will be meeting us at our destination as will the other Mihara girls." She turned around to give Cameron a secret smile, which Cameron returned.
Blake, Hunter, Dustin and Shane all exchanged puzzled looks. Hunter then looked out eh window wondering what was going on. He knew it could be nothing bad for alls he could feel from the other halves of his soul was contentment.
"Hey, there's like nothing going on between you and Cam is there, Tori?" Blake asked, immediately feeling the need to defend what was his. "I'd hate to have to break Zakuro's heart by bringing up the possibility that her fiancé may be cheating on her."
The light changed and the van got moving again. "No, Blake, of course not." Tori said. "I love you… and no one else."
"God help us." Shane muttered. "They're being all mushy again."
"Just because your relationship with Yuriko didn't work out…" Tori began. Her eyes darting to each of her windows and mirrors to keep an eye on the cars and other drivers around her she could not help but feel bad for her friend. Shane she noted was looking oddly pale.
"Aw, save it, Tor." Shane said. There was a pain in his voice that only Tori picked up on. A pain she did not like the sound of.
"Shane, man, come on…get over it." Dustin said. "Maybe Yuriko wasn't feeling very comfortable dating you and decided to date someone from her own nationality."
"Dustin's right, Shane." Cameron said, looking up from his novel. "In Japan, dating someone of another ethnicity is more often frowned upon than deemed acceptable."
Shane gave Dustin an evil look and Dustin shut up for he knew he was a different nationality then Sakura and Marah. Why did she suddenly pop in his head? Though he had been dreaming of both Sakura and Marah lately it was frightening him to no end to be drawn to two like he seemed to be drawn too.
"Of course, Sakura is not a very big rule person." Cameron added. "Nor does she care what others think of her. This is probably why she's dating Dustin."
"Hey!" Dustin cried out looking at Cameron annoyed now for he did not enjoy being tormented about his flightiness. It bothered him when people brought up that he was not a bright bulb in the bunch it honestly hurt him to be treated like an idiot. Dustin knew he was not stupid he just trusted absolutely and completely.
"Cam, be nice." Tori said. "Sakura likes Dustin, regardless of race. She thinks he's sweet." Her comment made the other boys smirk and Dustin blush.
Tori steered the van onto a street marked "Bay Harbor Road" and kept driving until she reached the 140s. Then, she stopped in front of a lovely two story ranch home with the number 145 on it. It was a creamy color with bay windows in the front and a light blue door. The moment the van stopped, the curtains in one of the windows rustled and the door was flung open and Sakura, dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans with sneakers and her hair in a ponytail, came out and bounded to the van as it parked.
"Tori! Guys! You made it!" Sakura called as she opened the door for Tori to get out. "Welcome to our housewarming party!"
"A housewarming party?" Blake asked. "Tori, you and Cam were bringing us to a housewarming party?"
"Yes." Tori said as she unloaded the bags from Yankee Candle out of the back. "Hunter, would you grab those grocery bags and take them inside, please?"
"When did they get a house?" Shane asked as he surveyed the place. He felt very out of place. The red wearing young man did not want to be where he was at he was not happy about being dragged along.
"About a week ago." Cameron replied as the group walked inside, noticing that a couple of cars, presumably belonging to Shi and Retasu, were already in the garage. "Believe it or not, it's owned by Zakuro's former gymnastics coach. He gave it to Zakuro as a gift and he's making all the payments. It's really nice; six bedrooms, five bathrooms."
"You'd expect this place to be a mansion, with that many rooms." Shane said as he stepped into the sunlight filled hallway. He was trying not to lean on the pristine white walls he was starting to feel dizzy.
"It's actually rather well laid out, three bathrooms upstairs and two down here, on the first floor." Cameron said using what he knew was his teacher's voice. "The bedrooms are all upstairs. There's one for Sakura, Setsuna; whenever she decides to come home and stop being evil, Yuriko and Zakuro. In fact there was enough space left over so Yuriko and Sakura could use the two separate bedrooms as their studios."
"Zakuro, the others are here!" Sakura called as they walked into a large living room with a definite Asian flair. There was some furniture, including an easy chair, sofas, and a coffee table. Japanese wall scrolls and pieces of Sakura's artwork and some weaponry decorated the walls. There was a home entertainment system with an extensive DVD collection, speakers, a DVD/CD player, and a big screen TV, with Tivo. The dining room lead into a spacious, sunny kitchen and it adjoined with a hallway that lead to the den, a study, two bathrooms, the atrium, the basement and the backyard. There was a carpeted staircase that leads to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. The rooms that the group saw were not decorated all in one color, but in an array of colors that made it seem warm and inviting. One could tell that it was definitely Sakura's touch that made it all work.
"Where are the others?" Shane asked not that he wanted to see Yousuke, anyway. The other red wearing young man made Shane furious as much as it made him ill and feel dizzier.
"Yuriko's giving them the grand tour of the bedrooms." Sakura said, remaining cheerful. She could tell there was something deathly wrong with Shane. She had warned Zakuro that Shane was going to die if Yuriko did not truly break the soul bond. It was as Sakura feared Shane was dying right in front of her she unlike the others noted he was looking thinner.
Arashi was standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables when she felt the familiar rush of presence that bespoke of Hunter's return. She smiled lightly as she prepared the vegetables.
She started singing softly, her English singing a little off key but still not to unbearable.
Zakuro came in and looked at her newly found sister and sighed. Shi had a thing about acting slightly odd. She wondered if it had anything to do with having Hunter torn from her so that one time. "Shi?"
Arashi looked up at her elder sister and much to Zakuro's surprise did not look surprised to see her there. "Hunter is back." She smiled Zakuro was glad that the storm caller was happy. "Ikkou is keeping Yousuke in line as well. Zakuro I think this might not turn out too well."
"What do you mean?" Zakuro frowned not liking the odd calm that Arashi was exhibiting at the moment.
"Shane is suffering from a soul bond to my beloved younger sibling." Shi's sarcasm toward Yuriko was quite apparent. The two did not get a long much at all which did not surprise the elder of the sisters at all. "Plus there is a matter of you and the other one who is unwittingly being drawn to you." Arashi looked at her sibling. "We need to find Oogami's life mate before it causes trouble with you and Cam-Cam."
Zakuro looked mildly annoyed. "Only I get to call him Cam-Cam." Then, she sighed and nodded for she knew her newest found sibling was correct. "I also have something I need to confess to Cam."
"The Family curse?" Arashi asked softly Zakuro looked at her surprised. "Craving for fresh blood, the need to hunt, the ability to smell your prey with ease as well as a need to eat almost every red meat thing blood red if at all possible." Arashi asked looking at her. "Just ask if you need help, been dealing with it all my life."
"While hearing that makes me feel better, I don't know if you can truly help." Zakuro said. "It centers itself around my cycle and it makes me…unpredictable at times."
"I think I have something that can help you." Shi murmured. "Come by my house later. I'll give it to you then."
With those words Arashi became silent as Cameron brought Hunter into the kitchen. Arashi smiled warmly at her friend then to her soul bond. "So what's in the bags Koi?"
"Not sure." Hunter answered coming over to her as he unpacked the goods that Tori had brought. There was a wheel of Brie cheese, spinach, dried tomatoes, a vegetable palate and veggie dip. Hunter found the round pan at his elbow and smiled in thanks at Arashi he opened the Brie and put it in the pan, quickly chopped up the tomatoes and spread them on top and then placed it in the oven and set the timer for ten minuets.
"Hunter I did not know you can cook." Zakuro said surprised. She had also never seen Arashi and Hunter act like extended pieces of the other. They seemed to anticipate what the other needed and that made Zakuro happy at least one thing in this family was going right.
"Who do you think cooked for Blake and me?" Hunter asked as he sat across from Arashi soon to be joined by Ikkou.
"Sakura, that trunk you where waiting for has arrived." Zakuro said when Sakura came into the room. "I put it up in your room."
"Oh, good." Sakura said with much seriousness Arashi and Zakuro both smelled fear on her. Arashi raised an eyebrow and continued her prep work as Hunter and Ikkou who was now eyeing Sakura with a hard eye. "Don't let anyone near it. It's very important that it stays locked."
"Why?" Shi asked, looking up. "What's in it?"
Ikkou was eyeing Sakura for he had a feeling he knew what it was and if it was what is was he might be forced to destroy one of his soul mate's sisters.
"Private stuff." Sakura said. "Nothing for you to worry about."
Zakuro leaned in closer to her triplet and whispered. "Why did you bring that jacket with you? You know damn well what will happen if your little secret gets out." She eyed Ikkou. "And you had to bring it up with him just standing over there? Sakura are you insane?"
"I brought it here because to me it is far more than just a damn jacket." Sakura hissed. "And you know that. You mentioned it first anyway. " Being around Isshu Kasumi had brought back a lot of memories to Sakura…and not all of them where good ones. She eyed Ikkou and noted the coldness in his eyes and she felt a stab of fear for she knew he was dangerous she was alive only because she had made a promise to the darker of the brothers. She blinked trying not to show her fear.
"What are you two whispering about?" Hunter asked he looked at Ikkou feeling something stirring within his other half. Ikkou was deadly angry. Hunter looked at Arashi and she eyed her sister smelling fear on Sakura. She also caught Zakuro's pointed glare at Ikkou, which clearly said, if not screamed, "Stay away from my sister."
"Nothing that would concern you." Sakura said suddenly changing the subject away from her. "Where's our Yuri-chan? Her lucky bike and her motocross stuff finally got here."
"In her bedroom, pondering whether or not to declare Yousuke as a steady boyfriend." Zakuro replied. "She likes him, but she also likes Shane…in the exact same manner. Apparently, something like this has never happened to her before in her entire dating history. And you know she keeps a record in her PDA."
"It was bound to happen." Sakura said. "Well, she loves them both. What is she going to do?"
"How about do what I'm doing?" Shi suggested she looked at Ikkou and Hunter. "Have two boyfriends then again they are my soul bonds so it not really normal."
"Interesting thought." Sakura said, picking up a piece of celery from the platter and nibbling on it. "I don't think she's considered that yet."
"And she won't…until they try to kill each other out of jealousy." Zakuro added as Retasu came in the room, looking as though she was about to die from laughter. "Hey, little sis, what's up?"
"Zakuro…before you get in your bed, change the sheets." Retasu said in between giggles. "Nanami and Ishuu just christened your bedroom."
Zakuro groaned. "Okay, I so didn't need to know that…and I just bought those sheets!"
Ikkou laughed.
Suddenly, in Zakuro's mind, the scent of earth and musk filled her mind, which announced Dustin's arrival into the room.
Sakura felt the warmth that announced Dustin's arrival and smiled. "Dusty!" she said, cheerfully. "My muse…my inspiration."
Dustin came into the room and the sunlight caught his mocha colored hair, making it shine. He was smiling. "Nice place." He said, coming to Sakura and wrapping his arm around her waist. "I must congratulate your interior decorator."
"That would be me." Sakura said with a big grin. "I did all of the work." Dustin kissed her cheek. "Thank you."
"Sakura, you did a fantastic job." Shi said smiling lightly for she was only warming up to a few of her sisters not that she quite trusted them all yet. "Come and redecorate my home sometime."
Suddenly, Tori came into the room. "By the way guys, before I forget, my cousin, Kira is coming to visit the day after tomorrow…and she is bringing her boyfriend, Trent Mercer, with her."
"Your cousin is coming?" Hunter asked her eyeing her knowing that was not an easy feat when you had to play smoke and mirrors with your family. "And how are you going to get rid of her while you have ninja class?"
Tori smiled. "Sakura…I think you may get along with her…would you mind looking after her while I have class?"
"And what about my class?" Sakura asked her she eyed her sibling for Arashi had taken up training her sisters and Sakura was one of the few that enjoyed Arashi's classes. The storm caller was a hard sensei and Ikkou always helped her out it surprised her how much of a team the three made she could never manage the one with out the other two.
"Can you skip?" Tori asked knowing that Arashi was teaching them. When Arashi nodded she did not really mind if Sakura skipped she just make sure her sibling go a one on one lesson later.
Sakura smirked noting Arashi's nod in her direction she was glad that Arashi could let her skip a class to baby-sit Tori's kinswoman. "Yes….I have been taking ninja classes since I was a little kid…I need a break…and I am always up to making a new friend. What's Kira like?"
"She's a musician." Tori replied. "She loves good, old fashioned rock and roll. You'll like her."
"She sounds pretty cool." Sakura said.
Meanwhile Shane made his way outside. He needed a breath of fresh air. It was then he spotted Yousuke and he felt something odd on top of his rage at the young man. Shane sprang a surprise attack on Yousuke the two began to battle. They ninja bounced away from the others. No one noticed that they had taken off.
Shane and Yousuke battled long and hard in the woods near the ruins of the Wind Ninja Academy. They exchanged blows and quite quickly. Soon they had trapped each other in a very odd hold.
Yousuke and Shane looked each other in the eye they both knew that there was one of two ways out of the hold they were currently in. Both were in quite a bit of pain from their earlier battle.
Neither were quite sure about what happened but they found themselves in a lip lock melting into the other. Shane's soul let go of Yuriko's and attached itself to Yousuke as Yousuke's did the same.
Back at the ranch house, Yuriko flew out of her room she had felt something happen as a part of her broke away. She came running into the kitchen and looked wildly at her sisters. "What just happened?" She demanded.
Arashi looked at her and suddenly laughed the others were not sure if they were as amused as the storm caller. Then again both Hunter and Ikkou looked amused as their soul mate. "I think you just been dumped by your own soul's mate." She leaned against Hunter; who wrapped his arms around her and silently laughed. Ikkou when to Arashi's other side and rubbed her back trying to calm the silently laughing Storm caller.
Yuriko blinked and frowned then screamed at her laughing sibling. "No way, it could not have happened!"
Sakura looked at Zakuro both of them had a feeling that Yuriko had just been given a lesson in karma in a very hard way.
Tori blinked as it slowly hit her. She looked at Dustin and Blake as well as Ishuu and Nanami who had just joined them. "Whoa, no way I thought they hated each other."
"What's going on?" Nanami asked quietly.
"Let me guess." Ishuu looked at the others. "Shane and Yousuke are having a meeting of minds?"
Dustin blinked. "Dude your guys dumped you for each other."
Yuriko screamed and ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door.
The others looked at each other and Arashi handed Zakuro tea. "Here it is my special stock. It's unsweetened." She warned her elder sister.
Zakuro drank it and almost sip it out. The tea was bitter she looked at her little sister and realized she was feeling a bit better. "What is this stuff?"
"Moon tea." Arashi said simply which made Zakuro smile for she knew what Shi has meant.
The others except Hunter and Ikkou who knew of what their soul bond could do looked confused. Sakura blinked realizing what Arashi had meant while the Retasu looked just as confused as the others.
"Moon tea?" She murmured looking at Sakura. Merrick joined them and squeezed Retasu's shoulder in reassurance. She smiled up at him which then again reminded Zakuro who else was in a healthy relationship.
"My fellow rangers got called back home. I am staying." He announced. "The Gao Rangers are staying. It's a bit harder for them to return home."
Oogami came into the room he stood there with Merrick and Retasu. She looked back at him and smiled tugging on his hand and squeezing both his and Merrick's hands much to the surprise.
Oogami smiled at Retasu he was not sure why but she and Merrick filled a void he had not realized he was missing. "Yes Tasu I am happy." He murmured to her the others heard his words and Zakuro felt nothing but relief in her soul as Cameron came over and wrapped her up in his arms.
She smiled to herself. Being with Cam had made her feel warm and safe and more alive than ever. She loved that feeling. She wanted to feel it all the time.
"Good." Zakuro sighed then she spoke a little louder so they all could hear her. Leaving Cameron to wonder why she murmured well and drank a tea that made her wince in its bitterness. "So when this coming together happening?"
"Not sure." Merrick shrugged lightly. Oogami shrugged as well for he did not know but Retasu smiled at her sister.
"He is my friend but I do love him. We promised to help him find his soul mate so nothing bad happens here." She bounced and smiled at the others. Zakuro, Sakura and Arashi knew exactly what she meant so did Tori who shook her head.
Arashi looked at Oogami and smiled a secret smile at the other wolf. Ikkou and Hunter nodded to him too. "We'll talk later and see what we can do to help you with this hunt Oogami."
He nodded feeling suddenly light hearted.
Suddenly there was the sound of heels clicking on the stairs as Yuriko came down and headed to the garage. "I'm going out." She called.
"Don't do anything stupid or illegal." Zakuro called.
"I'm just going to the grocery store to pick up a few things." Yuriko said. "I'll be back…eventually."
Zakuro groaned. "Don't worry about her, guys. She'll be fine." Then, she looked around. "Where is Sakura? Did anyone see her leave?"
Sakura had already gone upstairs to her bedroom and locked the door. Once inside she took a few deep breaths and headed for her black and gold jewelry box, which played the Maeda Ai song "I Wish". She slowly opened it and rummaged around a bit, pulling out a silver key.
She looked around her bedroom. Sakura had decorated it in a fashion that gave the impression of stepping into some kind of celestial palace, simply because doing the entire bedroom in black was asking for depression. So, she had decided to make things interesting and painted the ceiling a deep midnight blue and gotten a bunch of little glow in the dark stars and planets and stuck them on the ceilings. Then, she used special glow in the dark paint to create the illusion of the phases of the moon. For the walls, she gave a bright sunny atmosphere, using sky blue and cloud white paint and painted a sun. Unlike her sisters, she didn't use any posters, so she was happy with it the way it was. The only poster she actually had was the Japanese poster for the movie "Jurassic Park", which was on the front of her door along with the words, "/Sakura's Room. Please knock before entering./", which she had painted herself in beautiful Japanese calligraphy.
With a sigh, she sank to the carpet in front of a large black and gold trunk, which sat in front of her canopy bed (which had black sheets) and unlocked the large silver padlock which held the trunk closed. Carefully she lifted the lid and the first thing she saw was a beautiful black leather jacket with blue sides and a stag beetle on the back (If anyone reading this part has ever seen "Nippu Sentai Hurricanger" or seen pictures of Isshuu Kasumi's jacket, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyone who hasn't, email me or Ragemoon and we'll send you a few. Also, email us if you want Hurricanger or Gaoranger information). It was her old Ikazuchi jacket from when she had been a student and had met Isshuu. She held it close to her and smelled, taking the rich scent in along with a whole host of memories. A tear fell along her cheek as she closed the lid and took the jacket, a leather skirt, two pairs of boots and a gleaming katana and went to her large curio cabinet, with was black with a beautiful bold gold and red phoenix on it. Carefully, she placed the items in the cabinet and closed it, locking it securely. She slid down to the floor of her room and began to cry, her head in her arms.
Meanwhile, up in deep space, Setsuna Mihara was making a hasty departure from Lothor's base to avoid being caught as a spy dispatched by Sakura.
In order to fully convince everyone that Setsuna was evil, Sakura had been forced to lie, which she disliked, but she knew that without a lie or two Setsuna's cover might have been blown. In reality, Setsuna was good, having studied the way of the Thunder ninja at the Amazon Ninja Academy.
Several months before, Zakuro, Retasu, Sakura, Yuriko, Heather, Setsuna and their friend, Forest ninja Sae Yagatachi, had returned from their individual missions to find the school empty, the students massacred and Sonomi Mihara gone. At first glance it looked as though some kind of outsider had done this, but Sakura knew better. She had had a bad feeling and something about the whole thing had just not seemed kosher, at least to her. Unfortunately, to the others, except for Setsuna, the whole thing was absolutely wonderful. Sonomi must have been taken off and killed and so, when Sakura expressed her concerns, they did something unusual: they didn't believe her.
But Setsuna did, especially after she discovered Sonomi's diary, which was opened to the latest entry, which was dated two days before the girls had returned.
Apparently, Sonomi had been taken by someone named Kiya Wantanabe, who after a very long time, had returned to claim her as his queen and promised to give her everything her heart desired, including her daughters in graves and the power of the storms. Kiya was a familiar name to the girls, having heard it countless times when they were younger, but they knew nothing about him. Sakura thought that it was the perfect time for her and Setsuna to learn, so the pair hatched an ingenious plan: dispatch Setsuna as a spy and have her bring back information for her to use.
Through Setsuna, Sakura had gained valuable knowledge, including that Lothor had once gone by the name of Kiya Wantanabe and that he was Sensei Kanoi Wantanabe's twin brother…which made him Cam's uncle. It then dawned on her that Sonomi had revealed the Amazon academy's secret location to Lothor and the pair had murdered almost all the students, leaving a few alive to assassinate the survivors. Shi had killed those few. Sakura had also learned that the couple, along with the Jakanja (the baddies of Hurricanger) and a group of evil beings from another realm called the Evorian (the baddies of Abaranger, email me for details) were planning a full scale assault on the Earth in about two weeks. Sakura knew that within those two weeks, she had to locate Amazon Phoenix, her zord, the last member of the Amazon Rangers (the group that she and almost all of her sisters except for Shi belonged to), and that Setsuna had to get out.
No one needed to tell Setsuna twice. She was already on her way.
Another thing that Sakura had lied about was the actual origin of Setsuna's facial scar.
Setsuna had acquired that scar because of Sonomi's viciousness. When Setsuna was ten years old, her face had been slashed by Sonomi's katana and if it hadn't been for Sakura, Setsuna wouldn't be alive. Hence, her unwavering loyalty towards Sakura and her willingness to do anything that Sakura asked of her. If anyone else had asked Setsuna to spy on Sonomi, Setsuna would probably have refused to do it. But Sakura was different.
Without giving the base a second glance, Setsuna made a hasty exit, teleporting from the place and landing right in her new bedroom, which was designed with her in mind, in dark red and black, with Sailor Pluto and Mulan memorabilia all over. Sighing with relief, she flopped down on the bed and fell asleep.
