Episode 27: Part 2
Naomi Sato gasped amid a storm of bubbles as she was dragged into the cold water. The pale deathly hands of what looked to be Hine Nui continued to grip Naomi's throat, squeezing the breath out of her while pulling the Ranger deeper. Like the temple Desmond was trapped in, the mysterious freshwater spring was much deeper than it outwardly appeared too.
Despite having been caught off guard, Naomi thrashed in the water and tried to kick back up to free herself. She was a strong swimmer and hoped it would be of benefit here, but her lungs were already beginning to burn from the lack of air. When she had been pulled in, any extra oxygen had been expelled when she tried to shout for help.
The icy hands of the witch held firm and squeezed again, choking Naomi while the visage of Hine Nui smiled in delight. It was as if she was taking some sick pleasure from the murderous act. The Yellow Ranger sputtered in desperation and reached up for the surface of the water when she felt Hannah's hand tightly grip her wrist.
The younger Orange Ranger, who was also a strong swimmer in her own right, tugged back with stubborn determination to free her ally. Despite her tenacity, Hannah quickly realized that she wasn't strong enough and needed more force on her side. She quickly looked around the water, searching for a rocky handhold she could brace herself with, but none availed themselves. As she began to get pulled down with Naomi, Hannah looked upward and saw the edge of the spring. That was when sudden but desperate inspiration struck her.
With one swift motion, she called her hook weapon and whipped it upward so that the head of the tool burst from the water and latched on to an outcropping of the spring like a grappling hook. Seeing that the end was secure, Hannah clamped down tightly on Naomi's wrist and retracted her hook whip to pull them both from the depths. The sudden forceful pull from the hook surprised the evil spirit below and its grasp on Naomi slipped.
The Orange Ranger gave a victorious shout underwater as the hook-whip continued to retract and the two girls burst free from the water. Hannah grunted and panted as she dragged her older friend to the edge of the spring and rolled her away from the edge of the water.
Naomi gasped for air and coughed violently while spitting up water from her throat. When she had recovered, she turned to see the exhausted Orange Ranger beside her, offering a steadying hand. Naomi gripped it and pulled the girl into a grateful hug, "Hannah... you saved my life. Thank you."
After she let go, Naomi sighed, "I owe you big time for this."
"Don't sweat it," Hannah replied trying to play it off as nothing, but she was clearly just as shaken too. "Um... I've got to ask, but what just happened now with the pool of water?"
The two girls took a minute to catch their breath and exchange stories about what they had just seen. As they finished, Naomi rose and backed away further from the spring, "I don't know what's going on here, but this place is not safe. We'd better get back to camp to warn Cam and the others."
"Sounds good," Hannah answered while gripping her weapon and giving a spooked look, "Uh... I'm right behind you."
A small cloud of splinters erupted as Cam split off another section of wood from the fallen trunk of a tree. The Blue Ranger stayed near the campsite, to stand guard while gathering wood for a fire. After he hacked off another piece of the log with his Ranger sword, he stopped to catch his breath before gathering the firewood. As he piled it up, he caught sight of a small wooden tiki sticking out of the ground with a familiar carving on it.
He set down the firewood and ambled over, bending down to examine the statue more carefully. As he ran his fingers along the intricately carved face, he jumped as a voice startled him from behind, "A strange place for that tiki, don't you think, son?"
Cam whirled around and pointed his saber only to find it was just the elderly groundskeeper Nalo. He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon, "Oh! Nalo… it's just you."
"You were interested in that tiki?" Nalo asked curiously as he calmly ambled over and began to dust it off with his palm leaves.
Cam nodded, "Yeah… I recognize that one. That is Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the Sea."
Nalo smiled in playful amusement, "Impressive. I didn't think a haole like you would even know, much less care."
Cam smiled slightly, "It's ironic, I actually didn't start bothering to learn until some old Hawaiian man in a park started beating me over the head with a broom. Funny how it all comes full circle, huh?"
Nalo smiled and continued to go about his work, "Well, I find it hard to believe some old decrepit man was beating you with a stick. That's an impressive looking weapon in your hand. You're some sort of warrior?"
"I… guess you could say that," Cam admitted carefully. "The Navy seems to think so anyway."
"Ah, so you're a sailing man," Nalo sighed, "Then I'm sure you know that Kanaloa is a good deity to have on your side.
Cam snorted and began gathering his firewood again, "If you say so. I must have done something to piss him off if he stranded my friends and I here."
The elderly man chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure he couldn't have been that upset. You could just as easily say that he saved you from the storm and let you wash up on the beach still alive."
Cam eyed him curiously, "You said you were a sailor too. You trust in Kanaloa then?"
Nalo smiled and showed off the octopus tattoos on his hands, "If I didn't, I wouldn't have his animal symbol marked upon me, right?"
"Point taken Gramps," Cam laughed, "I just wish I had eight arms too right now so that I could carry all this wood."
Nalo smiled and adjusted the tiki, "If you truly seek Kanaloa's favor, it's much better to demonstrate wisdom and the ability to see through the false things in life. Be like the deep waters which reflects a still mind and shows you the truth."
"Thanks… I'll keep that in mind," Cam said before he heard the sound of footfalls crunching through the nearby undergrowth. To his shock, both Hannah and Naomi burst into the clearing wearing fearful expressions. As they neared, he could see that both of them were completely soaked with water.
"Cam! You're ok… we've got trouble," Hannah gasped, "There's something evil… illusions in the woods. I think Maui tried to warn me, but then Naomi got dragged into a pond and almost drowned…"
"Oh my God, are you ok?" Cam asked putting his arms over Naomi in a protective hug to calm her down.
"Yeah," she replied softly, "Hannah saved me… but something is out there… maybe it's the aumakua spirits?"
The Blue Ranger frowned and pondered over the situation as he continued to comfort his girlfriend. It was at that moment he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he abruptly let go of Naomi and then turned to Hannah, "We have to move now! If those spirits are out there, Dave and Alex might be in danger too!"
The Yellow and Orange Rangers blinked in sudden realization before nodding and taking off after him across the meadows. From where he stood, Nalo watched with calm indifference as the three Ocean Rangers darted off to help their friends. He gave the wooden tiki a loving pat on the head and smiled, "Well, I think things have just started to become interesting, don't you think?"
Alex nimbly tumbled out the way as David's club smashed the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust. As she recovered her stance, she sprung back in a counter-attack and tried to lash out with her coral knuckle weapons. "You're going to have move faster than that Mujina."
David growled and reversed the grip on his weapon to block Alex's strike and shove her backwards, keeping some distance between them. "Not bad Kuta, I'd almost think you've been taking your vitamins."
Alex grunted and brushed aside a strand of loose hair, perceiving an insult from Mujina. She crouched low and burst forward using her agility to make a cartwheel attack before springing up to do a spinning takedown on her opponent. David backpedalled a moment, believing that Kuta was attempting a flying clothesline attack before he planted his feet and braced himself for a counter. Alex wrapped an arm around David's neck and spun him to the ground but she gasped in surprise as David went along with the takedown and used the momentum to slip free of her grasp. David gave a triumphant laugh as he rolled free and gripped his foe's wrists, pinning her to the ground.
Alex grunted in desperation and used a lua grappling move to swing her legs around her opponent's waist, trying to use the strength of her lower body to squeeze and cause pain. As David continued pinning his comrade to the ground while resisting the submission hold, he glanced up to the treeline and caught sight of both Lono and Laka watching them. In a moment of clarity, he looked down and saw Alex struggling on the ground under him, but when he blinked, it was General Kuta again.
Something was wrong. What was Lono, the god of Peace doing here? His thoughts snapped back to the battle as he felt his enemy squeeze again causing some minor pain in his ribs. The Green Ranger gritted his teeth and prepared to drive his foe into the dirt again when he was suddenly blindsided by another body and knocked sideways. David rolled along the ground struggling against his assailant but stopped when he saw who had tackled him.
"Cam? What the hell are you doing?" David cried out in agitation.
The Blue Ranger quickly put his friend in a gentle hammerlock and struggled to keep him restrained on the ground, "Easy Dave! Chill out! You're fighting the wrong person!"
David thrashed back against Cam for a moment before looking to where General Kuta was, only to see Alex instead.
By now, Naomi had dove in and held Alex back by the waist, restraining the Pink Ranger until she shook off the illusion as well.
"Let go!" Alex shouted angrily, "I have to get Mujina! I... what?"
When the dust cleared, Alex and David sat on the ground staring at each other with dumbfounded expressions while Cam and Naomi let go of them.
"What is going on?" Hannah fearfully asked as she picked up the fallen club and knuckles on the ground nearby. "Why are you two fighting? And with your weapons?"
Alex took several deep breaths trying to calm down from the shock of what had just happened, "Mujina… she was here… I thought David was… and then I fought…"
David nodded in shame, "I thought you were General Kuta… he said he took you so I… I'm sorry Alex… I could have hurt you badly just now."
Both friends reached out and squeezed each other's hands as a show of regret and reconciliation before Hannah scanned the empty clearing. "We should get out of here. Get back to the campsite before any more freaky things happen."
"Agreed," Cam nodded with a stony expression as he helped Alex to her feet. "Grab the food bundle and let's go. From here on out, we stick together until we can figure out our next move."
With no objections from the others, the Rangers quickly picked up their belongings and hurried back to camp. As they moved together through the woods in close formation, Nalo's words began to make a lot more sense in the Blue Ranger's mind.
The flickering light of Desmond's flaming spearhead illuminated the narrow hallway leading deeper into the temple of Kane as the Red Ranger made his way with the goddess Pele. Shadowy forms on the stone walls danced amid the flickering light causing a feeling of mild paranoia to grip Desmond. After fighting a handful of fearsome shadow warriors in the prior trial chamber, he kept expecting that more umbral warriors would suddenly materialize out of the walls to try and kill him.
Aside from the sound of his shuffling feet along the dusty floors, the silence of the dark temple was overwhelming, as if it were some malevolent crypt that sought to swallow all light and noise. Despite the foreboding atmosphere, Desmond pushed ahead until he came to another wide circular room. At the other end of the room was a great stone statue blocking the door forward. It had a large tiki head making Desmond think of Kanohi for a moment, but it was hard to discern the face.
Once the Ranger entered the circular arena floor, the periphery of the ring lit up with fire. Across the way, the statue changed form to become a fearsome looking warrior in metallic armor which still bore a tribal Hawaiian motif. The eyes of the warriors tiki head lit up with a fearsome scowl and Desmond immediately recognized it to be Ku, the Hawaiian god of War.
"Great is the warrior chief who knows where true victory lies," Pele said as she stepped aside once more, "To win a victory solely for one's self is no victory at all. Should you seek to win, remember the value of others and advance with Dignity."
"Great... another riddle," Desmond muttered as the animated vessel of Ku began to advance on him. The tiki warrior's eyes glowed with raging fire and it dragged a multi-spiked spear along the ground to intimidate him. At that moment, Desmond decided that he had to go all out and whatever it took to win this next fight. He raised his red coral Ocean Bracer and called upon its power.
To his surprise and relief, he felt the familiar surge of energy swirl around him and transform him into the Red Ocean Ranger. If the god of War was going to test him, now Desmond was ready. He leveled his weapon and swallowed his fear, "All right Ku... let's see how tough you really are!"
The large tiki warrior rushed forward with surprising speed and swung his serrated spear more like a club. Although Desmond took a defensive stance and blocked the strike, the blow was so forceful that it still threw him backwards several feet and knocked him off balance. That was an ominous sign. Even with his enhanced strength and speed, Desmond had to be careful. If he got careless and took one too many bad hits, he'd be even more vulnerable unmorphed.
He took a breath and steadied himself again while Ku turned to continue the fight.
"There's got to be a way to beat you," Desmond muttered grimly, "Pele must have given me a hint just now... I just have to figure out what that is."
No sooner had he said that, Desmond dove for cover as the tiki warrior reared back and unleashed a searing cloud of fire from his mouth while the flames lining the temple arena only grew higher.
Aright everyone, we're going to call a brief time-out here... mostly so that the Author can catch his breath. The second half of the Chieftain Arc will resume shortly after the coming holiday. To all my fellow Americans out there, have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend! :)
