Starts out Hunter, and goes into the Other Rangers.
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(Hunter's POV continued)
Hearing a quiet and muffled groan, I looked around the dark cavern to find a standing form next to a darkened pond, the crystals having stopped glowing completely, and next to me was another form on the ground.
And talk we did. I thought as I crawled over to Blake noticing as everything seemed to lighten and I could see clearly. They told me about weakness times of being Dragon Clan, as well as other disadvantages. They also explained more about the dark presence, Lothor, of course.
Taking Blake's arm, I helped him as he slowly sat up. "Bro, you ok?" I asked softly, feeling the pain still knawing at my heart. I felt better, seeing my parents and at least being able to say a proper goodbye, but it still hurt.
He nodded and I watched as he frowned. "Is it me, or are the crystals not glowing anymore?"
I looked around carefully, noting it was true. It should have been pitch black in the cave, but I could still see clearly. In fact, as I looked around, I noticed Kendra staring right at us, showing she could see us as clearly as I could see her. And in her eyes was a spark of sadness and knowledge.
I think part of her knew about our dreams, or visions, or whatever.
"So…are we bonded? Was that it?" he continued as I felt him move. Turning, I watched as he slowly looked up in confusion, scanning the cave slowly. "I don't really….feel any different."
"Oh, you will. It just takes a few moments for it to kick in as the power adjusts to your body and bonds fully with it." Kendra informed us grimly.
Nice to know. I thought sarcastically as I sighed. "Ok so we're bonded…bonding….whatever. So what's next?"
She nodded a moment before turning and walking across the cavern, then through a wall.
Yeah, that's right. I said through a wall.
"What in the world??" I cried in shock. Frowning, I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. "Let me guess, a hologram? Everything about this place is like medieval, and they have holograms?!" I muttered to myself, mostly.
Suddenly, her head popped back through and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "It's a magic spell to conceal a hidden path." She deadpanned. "About as 'medieval' as the rest of this place." Then she rolled her eyes a little. "Are you guys coming, or what?"
I could only nod dumbly, transfixed by the image of her head seemingly floating in mid air. She almost reminded me of those animal mounts some people had on their walls, only a human version. I knew the rest of her was on the other side of the wall, but as she disappeared back through, I shuddered and turned to Blake. "Man that was creepy!" I grumbled as I turned and walked towards the wall. Sticking a hand out, I raised an eyebrow myself as it went right through. Way creepy, but then again, so is everything about this place.
With a final shrug, I thought to myself that we'd come this far, and took a deep breath before stepping through.
(With the others, Normal POV)
"What in the world was that?!" Shane questioned loudly, still staring into the darkened, but clearing sky.
Shaking her head in confusion, Tori remained silent as she looked to the others, then switched her gaze back to the sky, as well. I don't know, but I didn't like the looks of it. She thought grimly as her gaze unconsciously turned towards where they were now sure the cave laid.
Flashback
"Uh, dudes?" Dustin's uncertain voice caught everyone's attention immediately, and they all spun to see what was up. When they saw him, they saw his gaze was locked solely on the sky.
Or…something in the sky.
Rushing to the mouth of the small cave they'd found, the foursome all looked up and their eyes widened at the sight in front of them.
The sky had been dark with the storm, almost pitch black, like everything else. But now it was filled with lights. Not the lights from millions of stars, like on a clear, normal night, but hundreds of crimson and navy lights shooting through the sky, all in one direction.
The cave.
"Whoa, it looks like a freaky version of a meteor shower, or something." Shane mumbled, an almost awed look on his face.
Biting her lip, Tori stared at the sky, silently admitting he was right. If the whole thing wasn't so freaky, and worrying, she would have thought it was beautiful. "But, what is it?"
"The lights are crimson and navy. They're probably tied into Hunter and Blake." Cam mused out loud.
"Oh and that's so reassuring." She grumbled under her breath, immediately worrying even more about the boys.
The strange light show didn't last long. Almost as quickly as it had come, in fact, it was done. The lights faded and the Rangers waited a few moments, almost as if waiting for them to start back up again, but they didn't.
End Flashback
"Ok, so the storm's finally over." Tori piped up as she stepped out of the cave. Slipping in the mud, she sighed and turned to the others. "So, like promised, we can get back to looking for Blake and Hunter."
Nodding a little, Cam stepped out after her, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tori's right, we'd better get back to looking for them."
There was no sign of hesitation. Shane and Dustin immediately stepped out of the cave and nodded, looks of determination etched firmly into their faces as they exchanged looks with the others before rushing off.
Tori wasn't sure how she felt, not using their ninja streaking abilities when no one was around, and being so worried about Blake, but at the same time, her mind flashed briefly back to when she'd used her powers before, when she'd accidentally made plans with both Shane and Blake.
That hadn't turned out well at all, and she ended up running out on a friend just before they needed her, and not being there for the guy she cared about as he was…well…sucked into an almost empty container of popcorn.
She couldn't help but smile when she remembered him grumbling about the 'artificial flavoring'. The way the clothes were practically glued to him, and his hair being plastered to his forehead, and that adorable little pout had her blushing easily.
Jumping over a log, she focused on her trail, not wanting to accidentally run into anything, or be caught by surprise by one of the lizard folk from around here again, and not too long after, she smiled in relief when the sound of water and the shoreline came into view.
Hopefully this time we went the right direction. She thought, rolling her eyes to herself as they stopped at the edge of the water. Looking around, she allowed herself to relax a little when she noticed a dirt path leading to a cave. "Guys!"
They all turned to see the dirt path and exchanged a look again before nodding and running for it. The water was still pretty choppy, and the path easily slippery and muddy, but that was far from their minds as they raced towards it. All they cared about, was that they were close.
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Hope you liked it, and I've noticed a lack of battles. I'm sure others have noticed too, so don't worry, there is at least ONE battle coming up very soon. And I want to thank PinkAzn for her ideas on some of the monsters I could use. I realize her reviews talking about them were all the way back in chapters 12-14, but this was the point I was at when I got an idea due to her reviews. Thank you PinkAzn.
And I've figured out Hunter and Blake's test/task/mission they are going to have to do, which you will find out…..next week. LOL. Aren't I evil? LOL.
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"Hey, at least they're cool names."
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Please R+R
Thank you.
Tenshi