Roses and Thorns

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

RedFox: If they don't realise that by now, they're never going to

Me: Oh, hush!

CamFan4Ever: Thankees for reviewing! -Huggles- And I'm really glad that you don't think any of my original characters are Mary Sues! -Big grin-

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The silver silk ranger stood on the hill, her arms folded across her chest. If her face could have been seen, it would be showing boredom and a little annoyance. But the tone of her voice managed to convey those feelings quite well as she asked, "Hey, how long do we have to wait for? You said that they would come really soon!"

The brown silk ranger came over to stand next to her. "Try and be patient," he told her.

"Patience has never been one of my strong suits," she grumbled, flexing the length of silk she was holding. "Why can't we just take out the main Power Rangers and be done with it?" she demanded.

"Because these ones are weaker," the brown ranger explained. "It will be good practice for us before we beat the others. Besides, there are more of the main Power Rangers. We would be outnumbered."

The silver ranger flicked one end of the silk at the brown ranger. "You're not scared, are you?" she asked, a note of humour creeping into her voice.

The brown ranger slapped the silk away from his face. "Save it for when they get here," he ordered. "No messing around."

"You're no fun," the silver ranger grumbled. "How are we supposed to keep in shape if you keep on refusing to train with me?"

"You're too easy to beat," the brown ranger replied.

"In your dreams!" the silver ranger snapped. "I beat you more times than you beat me, and you know it!"

"As soon as this is over, I'll show you just how wrong you are," the brown ranger told her.

"Take your best shot," the silver ranger taunted. "I bet you anything that I'll end up beating you yet again!"

"Hm, anything?" The brown ranger tilted his head to one side. "Ok, how about those trousers you've always wanted against that jacket I really liked the look of?"

"Deal." The silver ranger moved the silk she was holding so that it was gripped firmly in her left hand, and then extended her right.

The brown ranger shook her hand firmly. "Deal," he agreed.

The two stood in silence for a long moment before the silver ranger asked, "Are you sure that you sent that signal on the right frequency?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," the brown ranger replied. "As long as they are from the Light Ninja Academy, of course," he added.

The silver ranger shifted her weight slightly. "But Lothor said that he had all of the ninjas from that academy," she complained. "Besides, I wasn't aware of the fact that the Light Ninja Academy even had Power Ranger morphers."

"What if the ones who are the Power Rangers had left the academy before Lothor attacked it?" the brown ranger wanted to know.

The silver ranger slowly shook her head. "But that makes no sense," she protested. "There would have been no reason to give them the Power Ranger morphers if Lothor hadn't started attacking the place."

"Yes, but he didn't attack the Light Ninja Academy first," the brown ranger reminded the silver ranger.

"But what has..." The silver ranger's voice trailed off as she realised. "Oh. Someone from one of the other academies could have warned them."

"That's right, actually," an unfamiliar female voice said.

The two silk rangers glanced in the direction of the voice.

Two Power Ranger stood there - a violet and an orange one - so close to each other that they were almost touching.

"Well, you two certainly took your time," the brown silk ranger commented. It was hard to tell what he was thinking from the tone of his voice.

"Well, it took us a little while to work out just where that signal was coming from," the violet ranger replied. "Unfortunately, neither of us are very good when it comes to technological things."

"Yeah," the orange ranger agreed. "If you wanted to fight us, you should have made it easier for us to find you."

"Weren't there three of you originally?" the brown ranger asked, his tone suspiciously sweet.

The orange ranger and the violet ranger exchanged glances. At least, that's what it looked like they were doing.

"Nope, there are only two of us," the orange ranger said.

"Oh, good," the silver ranger responded. "After all, two against two is a much fairer match than three against two, wouldn't you say?"

"Scared that we'll be able to beat you?" the violet ranger goaded.

"Oh, no," the brown ranger replied, his tone soft. "Even with three against two, we would still win. Our academy has always been better than the measly Light Ninja Academy. For one thing, you don't have nearly as many ninjas going there as the other academies have."

"Do we have to fight?" the orange ranger asked. "We should all be on the same side... Shouldn't we?"

"Oh, just like a little Light Ninja," the silver ranger snarled. "Always wanting to look for a peaceful ending to any and all confrontations."

"But violence isn't always necessary..." the orange ranger began.

The two silk rangers fell about laughing.

"Leave it," the violet ranger told the orange ranger. "They don't understand anything. They're ignorant."

That sobered the two up immediately. Both straightened up, and the silver ranger snapped her length of silk.

"Would you like to see just how ignorant we actually are?" the brown ranger asked, his tone deadly.

The orange ranger moved back a couple of paces, but the violet ranger remained where she was.

"Oh, are you scared?" the silver ranger asked with mock sweetness. "Don't worry, Sweetie. I won't be too hard on you. I just want to stop you from being able to morph." She laughed.

"Yes, don't run," the brown ranger put in. "Then again, if you do run, you'll just be proving that the Light Ninjas really are cowards."

The violet ranger turned her head to look at the orange ranger. "Are you really going to let them talk like that about our academy?" she wanted to know.

The orange ranger hesitated, and then slowly moved back to the violet ranger's side.

The brown ranger moved his hands through the air, his own length of silk appearing in them. Then, the two silk rangers ran at the light rangers, who ran to meet them.

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Blake stood watching Tori surf. He was actually admiring her, though he wouldn't admit that to anyone, not even Hunter.

I guess I really should ask her out sooner rather than later, Blake thought to himself. But what if she says no? Blake knew that that wasn't very likely... But he couldn't quite get rid of the nagging fear of rejection.

She looks lovely out there, surfing, Blake noted. She looks so beautiful, so full of life... Could she really care about me as much as I care about her? Could she even love me?

Tori stopped surfing, and moved back into shallow waters. She picked up her surfboard, and walked towards Blake.

"Hi," Blake smiled. "You look great out there, Tori."

Tori smiled. "You really think so?" she asked, pleased.

Blake nodded. "Yeah, definitely," he answered. And I'm not just talking about her surfing, either.

"So... I was talking to Hunter earlier," Tori commented. "He said that you had something that you wanted to ask me?"

Blake blinked, and made a mental note to himself to kill his brother later. There was no way he could get out of this one.

Of course, that was probably what Hunter had in mind when he told her that, Blake realised. He looked down, suddenly finding it hard to meet Tori's gaze.

"Blake, are you all right?" Tori asked, clearly concerned.

Blake stopped walking, and turned to look deep into Tori's eyes. It was now or never, he knew.

It had to be now.

Blake took a deep breath. "Tori, will you go out on a date with me?" he asked.

Tori looked at Blake, and then broke into a smile. "Of course I will," she answered, hugging him. "When do you want to go, and what do you want to do?"

Blake met her gaze. "Anything's fine, as long as it's with you," he replied.

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The two light rangers weren't doing very well again the silk rangers.

Because the silk was material, it was easier to move and get in the guards. And it burned.

The violet ranger initially started off fighting against the brown ranger, and the silver ranger against the orange ranger, but neither were having much luck. The silk rangers were easily getting through their guards.

"SWITCH!" the orange ranger yelled at the violet ranger.

Quick as a flash, the violet ranger executed a backwards flip. She passed the orange ranger in midair, and they switched opponents.

"Oh, this'll be easy," the silver ranger purred.

"No, it won't," the violet ranger replied grimly, attacking the other with her staff.

The silver ranger took a few blows before she snapped her length of silk and wrapped it around the violet ranger's neck. She then threw the end into one of the trees, where it wrapped around one of the branches, raising the violet ranger into the air and causing her to start choking.

The orange ranger froze in horror as she saw her friend being slowly strangled before her eyes. "DEMORPH!" she yelled.

The violet ranger was seeing black spots before her eyes. She couldn't concentrate. How could she demorph? Her legs kicked helplessly at the air, her fingers scrabbling uselessly at the silk wrapped around her throat.

The silver ranger walked over to help the brown ranger against the orange ranger, leaving her length of silk slowly strangling the violet ranger.

Suddenly, the orange ranger raced backwards. Her fingers reached for her morpher, and she pressed a few buttons, then yelled into it, "HELP!"

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