"There should be a clearing coming up," Mike announced as he led the team of Rangers through the forest. It was his element and he knew he wasn't going to get lost. The forest was so big and vast that one wrong turn could cause you to end up as prisoner of the trees. He turned back to the group, "If Dekker wants to train he might do so there."
"Or we'll hopefully find a clue if he's not there," Jayden nodded. He was holding Mia closely as they walked. She was visibly upset and worried for her boyfriend. Kevin was a powerful Samurai, they all knew that, but Dekker had proven himself to be a huge threat. One person alone would not be enough to hold him off if Dekker chose to go rogue. Right now she was hoping that Dekker would be kind and only wanted to learn from Kevin, though as it stood, her enemies weren't exactly known for their kindness.
Mike held a few branches out of their path as he led them into the clearing. To their dismay it was empty. No sign of human or Nighlok life anywhere.
"This is frustrating," Mia groaned. She found a rock and took a seat, "We could be out here for hours! What if we never find him?"
"We'll find him, Mia, don't worry," Mike tried to assure her.
Emily looked at her sister, feeling a little guilty. It had been her idea to go inside her cave – or her fort as her friends called it. If she hadn't of gone down she wouldn't have been taken by Dekker and he wouldn't have left with Kevin.
"If it helps," she said, "Dekker didn't sound like he wanted to hurt Kevin. He didn't sound like he wanted to hurt any of us. He had about ten minutes where he could have easily killed me if he wanted to."
"So he's an unpredictable psycho," Mia grumbled, "thanks, Emily. Now my boyfriend's lost with some insane whack job who loves to toy with his victims before he rips them apart!"
"Not my point…" Emily whispered as she shrank away from Mia. Mike wrapped his arms around her.
"It's not your fault," he said gently into her ear. He looked at Mia, "We're all worried, but Kevin can take care of himself. I mean, aside from Jayden, there's no one else who would have a better chance of escaping Dekker than Kevin."
Mia took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm sorry… I just… I wish I knew what happened."
Jayden nodded his head before he too took a seat. He looked at Emily.
"How about you tell us what happened again?" he said, "This time, don't leave anything out. I want to know everything. If Dekker looked at the ground for even a moment, I want you to tell me."
Emily nodded, "Well he grabbed me and at first I wasn't even sure if it was him…"
-Samurai-
Dekker led Kevin right back into the cave where they had first left Emily. As Kevin was lowered in, he couldn't help but wonder why they had travelled half a day just to come right back to where they had started. Still, he couldn't complain. At least he knew he was close to home, and given the fact that Emily was gone, he could only assume she had made it back to the others by now.
Dekker looked at him, "We're here because your friends won't ever think to look here," he answered Kevin's question before it was even asked.
"You're confident I'm not going to run?"
"Where will you run to?" Dekker asked him. "If you run to your friends, I follow you and you put them in danger. If you run away, thinking I will follow you, you leave your friends wide open. I could easily take them out, one by one, starting with the Pink…"
"I get it," Kevin interrupted with a growl.
Dekker gestured to the bed he had made from the earth chair. Kevin took a seat on the bed and looked at Dekker.
"I guess you want to start training A.S.A.P?"
"We will begin training later," Dekker shook his head. He took a seat on the ground, "Right now I have some questions."
"Fine, whatever," Kevin rolled his eyes. Dekker looked at him.
"Why do you protect your friends?" he asked. "Why do they protect you? What do they mean to you?"
"You answered your own question," Kevin said, "I protect them because they are my friends. They're important to me."
"But nothing is important to a dead man," Dekker pointed out and Kevin had to agree he had a point. "If I were to kill you now you would no longer feel the things you feel for your friends. Love, friendship… it would all be worth nothing. Wouldn't your own life be the most important thing to you mortals?"
Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, we've all got to die at some point. Why not make sure the one we cared for are safe?"
"You're dead. You don't care. If you were to die, and the next day a disaster struck, say a fire tore through your home. Would you care?"
"I'm dead," Kevin replied, "I don't need my home or my stuff anymore."
"So then why give yourself up to me instead of letting me take the yellow Ranger?" Dekker asked, "You don't know what I have planned for you once I'm done. If I chose to kill you, you wouldn't need love or friendship anymore. You're much better off letting her die. You could keep your other friends as well as the Pink Ranger and your life."
"You might never understand me or the other Rangers, Dekker," Kevin growled. "Stop trying."
"I only ask because it will help me when the time comes to duel the red Ranger. I want him at full strength and I want him to fight with all the power he has. I've noticed you Rangers only do so when one of you is in danger. I wanted to know why."
"I guess immortality is the leading cause of stupidity. You're probably the only living creature who doesn't understand love and friendship."
Dekker drew his sword and before Kevin could react he was standing in front of him with the edge of the blade touching Kevin's neck.
"When I ask a question I expect an answer," he growled, "I will make this simple for you, Fish-boy. We'll start with red. Why do you defend him?"
"He is my friend," Kevin answered, "He's my leader. I care for him and he's the only one with enough power to defeat Master Xandred. Without him, we're all dead, anyways."
Dekker nodded his head. That seemed like a valid answer. It made sense to want to preserve the life of another if death was the only other option. If Kevin had to put his life at risk to save Red's, there was a chance he could escape. But if he chose not to and Red died, Blue would die as well.
"And Green?" Dekker asked. "Why do anything for him? What does he mean to you?"
"He's like red. He's my friend," Kevin said, "I don't want to see him getting hurt. It's what friends do for each other. We have each other's backs. We protect each other. It's human nature."
"To an extent," Dekker nodded, "I doubt you would put your life in danger to save him if you knew it was impossible both of you made it out alive."
"He's a smart kid," Kevin said, "I don't think I'll need to run into a burning building anytime soon to save his ass. Although, given my element, I should be able to save both him and myself if that were to happen."
"So, if you're friend was already a lost cause, you would turn your back to him?" Dekker stroked his chin, "And yet, when it came to the yellow Ranger, you put yourself in danger for her knowing you might not make it out."
"She's like a little sister to me," Kevin explained. "I have to protect her. I have to look out for her; more so than the boys, that is. She's young, she's small, she's…"
"She's a child," Dekker nodded. "No one wants to see any harm come to a child."
"Exactly," Kevin nodded, "If I can save her, I will. Especially from creeps like you."
"What about the pink Ranger?" Dekker asked. He leaned in closer to Kevin, "What would you do for her?"
"She means more to me than life itself," Kevin looked Dekker straight in the eye as he said this, "I would rather die than let her suffer any kind of pain."
"Even though your death would bring her great pain?"
"Her friends will help her. She'll learn to live again without me. She'll find happiness again. She'll have choices, freedom. If you told me you would leave her alone and I knew you would stick to your word, I would gladly die right here, right now for her."
"You show no signs of fear when your little girlfriend is involved," Dekker noticed rather quickly how Kevin seemed much more courageous and fearless when the pink Ranger was added into the equation.
"I love her, Dekker. I would gladly die for her."
"Would she die for you?"
"We'll never find out," Kevin said. He stood up to Dekker, "Jayden may be the strongest Ranger, but if you do anything to hurt my friends, especially Mia, I'm going to make sure you live the rest of your immortal life suffering the worst kind of pain there is."
-Samurai-
Emily shook her head as she finished the story, trying to put the pieces together of the last few moments before she blacked out. Her memory was a little fuzzy, but her friends needed as much information as possible.
Mia couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was proud of her boyfriend for being so brave and protecting Emily, but she also thought this was one of the stupidest things he ever done. Leaving with Dekker was dangerous. The half-man-half-Nighlok couldn't be trusted. Kevin wasn't safe, not at all, and even if he had tried to tell Emily he would come back, there was no guarantee that Dekker would keep him alive once he was done with him. Mia knew it was very possible that she never saw him again.
"He called you worthless?" Mike asked as the story sank in. He was concerned about Kevin but his priority was Emily.
"I know he didn't mean it," Emily looked at Mike, "He was just saying that… he apologized and…"
"Still," Mike growled. Jayden placed his hand on Mike's shoulder.
"We know Emily's not worthless, pathetic or weak," he said, "Kevin may have saved her life by saying those things."
"He shouldn't be saying those at all!" Mike shook his head until a look from Emily reminded him that now wasn't exactly the time to focus on what Kevin has said. If Mike wanted to get mad, he was better off waiting until there was someone to be mad at. The green Ranger sighed and looked at Mia, "I'm sorry. I'm sure Kevin's got this figured out, though."
"I don't care if he does or not," Mia said, "I want him back."
"Should we continue to search?" Jayden suggested and the other nodded.
-Samurai-
"Maybe I should have gone with the yellow Ranger after all," Dekker growled as he lowered his hands back to his sides and turned to the blue Ranger, "You're a failure as a teacher, you do realise that?"
"Before you point the finger at me, need I remind you that you don't exactly belong to any elemental family? For all we know you could be Forest, Earth, Wind or Fire. I can only teach you what I know."
"Need I remind you that I'm in control here," Dekker growled. He held up his hand again, "Give me another symbol."
"Close your eyes," Kevin instructed as he took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night if Dekker insisted on doing the impossible. There were some things even the most powerful of beings couldn't do. Learning symbol power seemed to be one of them. "Take a deep breath. Focus on the power that comes from deep within. The power that's been with you since long before you ever picked up a sword or weapon."
"Get to the symbol already," Dekker growled impatiently. Kevin rolled his eyes and he was thankful that Dekker's were shut.
"Fine," he answered, "let's do something I did when I was a kid. A water pail. Trace the symbol for pail and feel the energy as it travels through you. Embrace it and let it take over you."
Dekker tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't feel anything. Frustration took over and in one swift move he pulled out Urumasa and swung it at Kevin. The blade stopped just short of Kevin's cheek.
"You are not the Ranger I need," he growled. "However, you have not failed me completely. Thanks to you, I now have a better idea of what my duel against the red Ranger will look like… and how I'm this much closer to turning him into my biggest challenge."
"What do you mean?" Kevin eyed the blade as he spoke to Dekker. His heart beat quickly. One move and his head could be cut clean off.
"You will do almost anything to protect your friends. I assume the red Ranger feels the same way."
"I…" Kevin looked at Dekker, "I'm not going to say anymore. Kill me, and you'll never find out."
"But I will," Kevin saw the blade moving and winced, thinking Dekker was about to kill him. He never felt the slice, or the blow, but he continued to feel his heart beating. He opened his eyes and Dekker was gone.
Thinking this was just a trick, Kevin looked around the cave. It was hard to see because it was an underground cave, but as far as he could tell Dekker was nowhere in sight. Kevin wasn't going to stick around any longer to find out if this was a trick or not. He needed to find his friends. It didn't sound like Dekker was done with any of them just yet.
