Roses and Thorns

Chapter Ten

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

RedFox: -Looks at author- I don't think she's feeling very happy at the moment...

DarkAngel: Yeah... Again -Frowns-

Replies to reviews:

Jorgitosbabe: That's probably me posting too fast... Lol. The chapters are probably going to start being put up less frequently as and when I lose interest in the fic

CamFan4Ever: Yeah, that was sort of the effect I was going for with Hunter and Lila and Cally and Dustin... And as for deleting the story... Well, sometimes I get to the stage where I just want to bang my head against the desk because it's so boring, and, on other occasions, I get loads of ideas. Only trouble is, I'm a bit worried about using some of the new ideas. People might start yelling 'Mary Sue'. If they're not already...

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it

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Dustin nodded quickly to Hunter. "Yeah, sure, Hunter," he replied.

Hunter? Cally thought. I must remember to tell Faye that. The violet light ranger studied the crimson thunder ranger carefully out of the corner of her eye. He didn't seem to know her... Then again, he wouldn't necessarily have been told her name.

I really wish that I knew whether he was unconscious when David showed up, Cally thought to herself. She glanced up, and met Lila's intent gaze.

Hunter glanced curiously at Cally, then at Dustin.

"Oh, this is Cally," Dustin said quickly. "Cally, this is Hunter."

Cally stiffened slightly as Hunter's eyes flared with recognition. But she relaxed when the crimson thunder ranger said, "I thought it might be. Come on, Dustin. I need to talk to Blake as well as you."

Hunter must know about the fact that I cheated on Dustin, Cally realised as the two walked away. Honestly, a girl makes one mistake... Oh, all right. It was a huge mistake.

Once Hunter and Dustin were gone, Lila asked in a suspiciously sweet voice, "Where did you get those bruises around your neck from?"

Cally looked carefully at Lila. "I had an... accident with a scarf," she said finally.

Lila flashed a smile, though it wasn't a nice one. "Maybe you should just stop using scarves?" she suggested. "Sounds like they may be too much for you to handle."

She's warning me off, Cally realised. She stared hard at Lila. The silver silk ranger, her instincts told her.

Cally smiled softly, dangerously. "I'm not a quitter," she told Lila.

"Then I won't be responsible for what happens," Lila replied. "You're not the best fighter around, Cally. You almost died the other day. It was only by luck that you managed to survive."

Luck, and a very loyal friend. Cally took a step closer to Lila. "Stay out of my way," she said in a deadly tone.

"Gonna threaten me?" Lila smiled. "I saw you with Dustin, Cally. Looks like there's a lot of history between you two."

You don't know the half of it, Cally thought to herself.

"Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat," Lila said. "But I have a shopping trip to get to. Bye." She blew Cally a mock kiss, and then left the shop.

Cally stared after her. Is she threatening me? the violet light ranger wondered. She'd better not try anything... I'm not worried if I end up dead... But if she hurts my friends...

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Hunter and Dustin walked into the storeroom of Storm Chargers.

"Hey, Kel, we'll take over," Dustin told their boss.

"Sure, ok," Kelly replied, straightening from where she had been going through one of the boxes. "I should probably be getting back into the shop anyway." With those words, Kelly left the storeroom.

"So, how did your date go?" Blake asked his brother with a grin.

"Well, first of all, it wasn't a date," Hunter answered. "Lila's perfectly happy with us going out as just friends."

The amused look on Blake's face said that he didn't really believe that, but he didn't argue the point. "Well, anyway, how'd it go?" he wanted to know.

Hunter shrugged a little. "It went all right," he replied. "We just went out to get some coffee... Well, Lila didn't have coffee. She doesn't like it. She had a coke instead."

Blake laughed a little.

"So... Have you remembered anything more about that conversation between the light rangers?" Dustin asked in a low voice after glancing around to make sure that Kelly hadn't suddenly decided to come back into the storeroom.

Hunter slowly shook his head. "Unfortunately, no," he admitted in a low voice. "And I'm really worried about that. I'm sure that the conversation was important."

"Hey, don't worry about it, bro," Blake said, clapping a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "It's hardly your fault if you can't remember what happened. You were hurt, after all."

"Do you remember anything about how the light rangers acted?" Dustin wanted to know. "I mean, like, what their personalities might be like or whatever?"

"Well, the orange ranger seemed to be the calmer one of the two," Hunter explained slowly. "The violet ranger was quite impatient to get on with the fight, if I remember correctly, which seemed a little odd to me. But the orange ranger was able to keep her reasonably calm."

There's something else, though, Blake thought as he watched his brother. The two thunder rangers knew each other well enough to know when the other was hiding something.

"What are you not telling us, bro?" Blake asked Hunter.

Hunter hesitated for a long moment. "They know my identity," he said at last. "I think I already mentioned that I had to morph when that tentacle hit me across the chest... But it wasn't just my identity that those two light rangers found out."

Blake frowned a little. "Who else's identity did they find out?" he wanted to know.

"Cam's."

"Well, dude, Shane did tell them where NinjaOps is," Dustin pointed out. "And, like, Cam doesn't stay morphed at NinjaOps."

"Dustin has a point," Blake told his brother.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hunter replied slowly. He then looked at Dustin. "So, what was all that about with Cally?"

Blake blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh, that. Well, I don't really know what happened," Dustin admitted, feeling a little embarrassed. I can't believe I almost kissed Cally. I never would have thought that I still have feelings for her despite what she put me through. How many more times am I going to be made a fool of because of her?

"Hey, bro, are you all right?" Blake asked Dustin with concern.

Dustin nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He didn't feel fine, though. Even after all this time, just thinking about what Cally had done to him created a stir of different emotions within him. On the one hand, he was furious with Cally for what she had done to him. But on the other hand...

I still love her, Dustin knew. As crazy as it sounds, I do. I don't think that I'll ever really get over what she did to me. Why did she have to come back? It's just hurting me again, and if she were truly sorry for what she did, she'd stay away.

"Did I bring up some bad memories?" Hunter asked softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Even to his own ears, Dustin's voice sounded hollow and distant. "I don't know why I was going to kiss her. She came inside because it was raining, and I noticed that her white top was soaked and had become see-through. I put my coat around her shoulders, and then my hand brushed her throat. And..." He shrugged, not really able to put into words what he had felt then.

"You still love her," Blake guessed.

Dustin had to grin at that. "Oh, you can so tell that you're in love," he gently teased Blake.

Blake and Dustin laughed, but Hunter remained silent, his expression thoughtful.

"Something wrong, bro?" Blake wanted to know.

"Not really," Hunter said. "I was just thinking..." His eyes found Dustin's. "Look, I know that what Cally did to you was harsh... But it looks like you both still have feelings for each other..."

Yeah, like that witch could ever have feelings for me, Dustin thought rebelliously.

"I mean, you can tell me to mind my own business, if you want," Hunter continued slowly. "But... maybe you should try becoming friends with her again, at least?"

Dustin shook his head. "I... can't..." he said. "I'm still mad at her for cheating on me. Even if we did become friends again, and only friends, that would still hang over our heads like a dark cloud."

Blake frowned a little. "But what if Cally thinks that there's now something between you two?" he wanted to know.

Dustin slowly shook his head. "She won't," he said. "She knows how I feel about her. At least, she should know how mad I am at her still."

Blake nodded slowly. "Well, we're here for you, bro," he told Dustin while his brother nodded in agreement. "If you need to talk to us at all, about anything, we'll be there for you."

"Thanks," Dustin smiled. "That means a lot to me."

"Hey, we're your friends," Hunter told Dustin. "We don't really know what you're going through because neither of us has actually had a girlfriend cheat on us before... But we can still be there for you if you need a friend." Hunter saw the way Dustin's eyes lit up at his words, and winced a little inside. Dustin didn't deserve something like this to have happened to him. It wasn't fair to the gentle yellow wind ranger.

Dustin wouldn't hurt anyone Hunter thought to himself. I hope that Cally regrets what she did to him. Odd... There had been something vaguely familiar about that young woman. He must have seen her around town at some point and forgotten.

"Come on," Blake said, breaking the silence. "We'd better get moving with unpacking these boxes."

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"Can I help you?"

Cally glanced up, and found herself face-to-face with the auburn-haired woman she had seen the last time she had been in Storm Chargers when she had come in with Faye. She was probably only a little older than Cally.

"Um, no," Cally replied, feeling a little awkward. She wasn't that good at talking to strangers. She never knew what to say to them. "I came in here because it was raining outside." And her top had gone see-through... But Cally wasn't going to mention that out loud. She hadn't even noticed until Dustin had pointed it out to her, after all. It had been completely embarrassing.

"So you're not looking for anything to do with bikes?" the woman asked.

Cally slowly shook her head. "Actually, to be honest, I'm not really keen on bikes," she confessed, really hoping that the woman wasn't going to be offended by her words. "Most of the time, I don't know what people see in riding bikes." People like Dustin. Cally felt a small stab of pain go through her at this thought.

The woman laughed a little. "That's usually the way it goes with things you're not interested in," she said. She then held out a hand. "My name's Kelly."

Cally hesitated for just a moment, then shook the woman's hand. Her grip was firm, and the violet light ranger could feel the strength in it. "I'm Cally."

"So... I noticed you and your friend talking with Dustin the other day," Kelly commented. It wasn't exactly a question... But it was clear that she was expecting some sort of response, at least.

Cally tilted her head to one side. "Has he told you about me?" she wanted to know.

Kelly slowly shook her head. "No, I don't believe so," she answered.

"Um, ok... Well." Cally looked at the ground, trying to gather her thoughts together. "Dustin and I were... dating some years ago," she said finally. "It was going pretty well. Except then I started getting bored." Don't make me say it. Please don't make me say it.

"You cheated on him." It wasn't a question.

Cally winced a little. "Um, yeah," she replied softly, waiting for this woman, who was clearly a friend of Dustin's, to get mad at her.

"Do you regret it?" Kelly questioned.

Cally stared at Kelly. "Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I regret it..." Cally said slowly, hesitatingly.

"I thought you might," Kelly told her. "But, Cally, as well as being my employee, Dustin is also my friend... If you want to try getting back together with him, that's fine. But don't hurt him again. Understand?" Kelly held Cally's gaze with her own, waiting for the younger woman to reply.

Cally nodded, this time not looking away. "I understand." Not that Dustin would ever want to get back together with me, she added silently.

"Good." Kelly turned and went back to the counter, leaving Cally alone with her thoughts.

After a few moments, Cally became aware of someone entering the shop behind her. But she didn't turn around until an amused voice said, "Well, well. Returned to the scene of the crime, have you?"

Cally blanched, and took a step back. "What are you doing here?" she demanded of her older brother, thinking, Shoot. There's no way I'll be able to morph here if David decides to attack me. I can't reveal my true identity. At least, not yet.

David raised his eyebrows. "Dustin's my friend," he reminded Cally. "Surely I'm allowed to see my friend? Unless, of course, you're trying to ruin his life even more."

Brother and sister looked quite alike. Both had the same dark hair, though Cally's was quite a bit longer, and both had the same brown eyes and naturally tanned skin. David was taller and more muscular than Cally, though.

"I am not trying to ruin his life even more!" Cally hissed, fully aware of Kelly standing just a few metres away. She felt suddenly self-conscious, and really wished that there were other customers in the shop.

"Then why are you here?" David demanded.

"I went for a run, and it started raining, so I sheltered in here because it was the first shop I came to," Cally told her brother. "Not that it's any of your business."

"You went for a run?"

"Not that uncommon an occurrence," Cally mumbled. "I do go for runs, you know. And it seemed like such a nice day."

"Don't you ever listen to weather reports?"

"You know I don't usually." For just a moment; it was like everything was back to normal again. The gentle teasing and everything. But Cally knew better. She had seen David the other day. Had heard him threaten to make her pay for what Dustin had suffered because of her.

And I can't say that I wouldn't try and defend myself against him should he suddenly decide to attack me. I already feel bad enough as it is.

"So... Where is Dustin?" David asked. "Did you chase him away?" And, just like that, as though a switch had been thrown, things were back.

"No, I didn't," Cally replied. "He's in the storeroom, I should imagine." A sudden thought occurred to her, and she asked, "Have you seen Faye at all?"

"Not since yesterday," David answered. He stared hard at Cally. "Why? Are you afraid that I'm planning to harm her?"

Cally couldn't answer, because, just as David's eyes locked onto hers, she felt something. It was like the violet light ranger could see a darkness inside her brother's soul. A darkness which shouldn't be there. It was in his eyes. With a start, Cally recalled the words Faye had said to her just after she had left the hospital after trying to kill herself:

You know, Cal, the depression inside you is a disease. It's like a darkness that doesn't belong there. But it does actually mean something else, too. I guess the darkness inside of you probably allows you to see the darkness inside others.

Cally had laughed then... But she wasn't laughing now. Because she was certain that she had just sensed darkness inside of her brother which didn't belong there. And then David spoke again, and the spell was broken.

"You know, I meant what I said yesterday," David told his sister. "You'll pay for what you did to Dustin. Not yet, though. There's no sport in kicking someone when they're down."

He's not acting like himself, Cally tried to tell herself. This isn't him. Even so, staying near David when he was like this gave Cally the chills. Removing the coat Dustin had slipped around her shoulders, she walked over to Kelly. "Hi, could you please give this to Dustin for me?" she asked.

Kelly took the coat with a raised eyebrow. "What was that all about?" she asked, clearly referring to the discussion between Cally and David.

Cally tried to smile. "Sibling quarrel," she answered. "Nothing to worry about." And then, she left the shop, half afraid that David would follow her and feeling a curious mix of relief and disappointment when he didn't.

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Cam scanned the Ninja Scrolls, biting his lip a little.

"Is there something wrong, son?" Cam's father asked the green samurai ranger.

"Not really," Cam admitted, still reading. "I'm just trying to find out more about the Light Ninja Academy. I figured that, considering the fact that it looks like we're probably going to be working with them, we should know more about them. And it wouldn't hurt to find out more about the Silk Ninja Academy either."

"The Light Ninja Academy doesn't have as many students in it as the other academies," Sensei explained. "The ninjas in the academy are very carefully selected because of their personalities. They are trained to see other ways than fighting, but some of them prefer to fight anyway."

"I should have originally thought to ask you," Cam muttered. "Is there any way that either of those two could have been corrupted by Lothor?"

Sensei hesitated for a long moment. "I would say that it would be very unlikely from the actions of the two you have seen," he said at last. "But it is not altogether impossible. After all, darkness is the opposite element to light."

Cam nodded slowly. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the Light Ninja Academy?" he wanted to know.

"There is one thing," Sensei answered after thinking for a moment. "But it is quite a rare ability, even among the Light Ninja Academy."

"What is it?" Cam asked.

"It is the ability to act as a sort of catalyst," Sensei explained. "Some have the ability to draw on the energy of other ninjas, even those not from the Light Ninja Academy, and use it to destroy an enemy. The disadvantage to this would be the serious weakening of everyone giving the energy, including the catalyst themselves. In some cases, it could even cause someone to fall into a coma."

"It would still be a useful ability to have," Cam commented. "What about the Silk Ninja Academy? Do you know anything about that academy?"

"Not a lot," Sensei admitted. "Then again, I was busy with the workings of the Wind Ninja Academy. But, although silk is not an element, I do know that the ninjas of that particular academy are trained to use it as a weapon. In some ways, it is just as deadly as the weapons of other academies. It is material, so it is fluid and easy to move around and get through someone's guard. However, in itself, silk does not inflict much damage on an opponent, and it is easy to destroy."

"Hm..." Cam said thoughtfully.

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Cally let herself into the house, still shaking a little from her conversation with David.

"Hey," Faye said brightly, coming out of the living room and into the hallway. "How did your run go? Did you get caught in the rain...?" Faye's voice trailed off as she took in the expression on Cally's face, and her eyes filled with concern. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Not really," Cally admitted in a low voice. "I had to shelter in Storm Chargers because of the rain." And Cally explained to her friend everything that had happened, including the darkness she had sensed inside David.

To her credit, Faye didn't say 'I told you so' to Cally. She just gently hugged her friend. "Hey, it's all right."

"It's not all right," Cally replied. "We never should have come back here, Faye. This place holds too many hard memories."

Faye looked steadily at her friend. "Do you really want to leave?" she asked. "Leave David to the darkness inside of him?"

I ran away once before, Cally remembered. I was a coward after I cheated on Dustin. I didn't even try to make things right. Didn't try to make up with Dustin or apologise to him. I took the coward's way out. Can I really do that again? Can I really abandon someone else I care about because I'm afraid?

"It's your decision," Faye told Cally. "If you want to leave, we'll leave. With David gone, you're the decision maker."

Cally opened her mouth to say what her decision was.

Their communicators went off.

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