Is Love For Real?
Chapter Ten - Tests
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm
Replies to reviews:
CamFan4Ever: Dusty? Hm... -Gets a mischievous look in her eyes-
RedFox: Uh-oh
DarkCat: -Nods in agreement-
DarkAngel: -Mumbles- Wait for her to find a way of incorporating that nickname into this fic
RedFox: -Says sweetly- Incorporating? Wow. That's a big word for you
garnetred: Actually, I originally didn't plan on Shane/Cam... But I was typing out Chapter Nine, and I typed that bit up before I thought about it. So there will be Shane/Cam... But it isn't the main pairing. Although I might...
DarkAngel: -Puts his hand over the author's mouth- --
RedFox: You're not supposed to give away stuff like that!
DarkCat: -Nods her agreement, and shows a mental image of everyone really mad because they know what's going to happen, and there'll be no more reviews!-
Me: -Pulls DarkAngel's hand away from her mouth- Ok! I get it
BlueAngel07: I'm glad you liked it!
Author's Note: I apologise if I may be repeating myself in any of these chapters... It's not intentional. But with Blake especially, I think that he's going to need a lot of reassuring, and he'll probably still stay mad at Dustin despite what the others say to him
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"Cam, how are you doing with that barrier?" Shane yelled into his morpher.
There was a moment's hesitation, and then Cam's voice replied, sounding a little annoyed, "I'd be getting it done a lot faster if you didn't keep on interrupting me, Shane."
"Hey, are you ok?" Tori asked Blake softly.
The navy thunder ranger slowly shook his head. "No, I'm not," he admitted in a low voice. "Tori, I'm sorry... But I don't think I can forgive Dustin for what he did to Hunter. It was uncalled for."
"I know," Tori replied. "But, Blake, Dustin isn't usually like that... He's not homophobic or anything, I'm sure of it. It's just... I guess he felt weird having one of his best friends telling him that he liked him in the more-than-friends way. Not to mention the fact that that friend is male as well."
"Tori, do you think that Hunter will be all right?" Blake asked softly.
"I'm sure he will be," Tori answered with a confidence that she didn't really feel. "Dustin really cares about your brother, Blake. I think that he may actually be in love with him. No, I'm sure of it." There's no other explanation for it, Tori knew. Why else would Dustin have gotten Cam to tell him what he had found out about bringing Hunter back, and then streaked off here before Cam had even finished telling him what had to be done?
"He sure doesn't show it," Blake mumbled.
"Blake, you know Dustin," Tori told her boyfriend. "You know what he's like. Can you honestly say that Dustin is even capable of being naturally cruel?"
Blake hesitated for a long moment, and then looked down. "No, I guess I can't," he muttered. "But, Tori, it's not fair that you keep on defending him. The fact remains that Dustin did beat up my brother, and caused this whole situation, whether he meant to or not."
"I understand how you feel, Blake..." Tori began.
"No, you don't!" Blake interrupted the blue wind ranger, his eyes blazing with anger. "Hunter's my only brother! He's the only family I have left! It's all right for you and Shane and Dustin... You all have your family still around! If I lose Hunter, I'll have lost everyone who's ever cared about me!"
Tori looked steadily at Blake. "No, you won't have lost everyone who's ever cared about you," she said, her tone soft. "I care about you, Blake. I love you."
Blake stared at Tori for a long moment, and then his eyes filled with tears and he hugged the blue wind ranger tightly to him. "I love you too," he murmured.
"Cam, do you know anything about these tests that have to be completed?" Shane wanted to know. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine that Blake and Tori weren't around. That he was speaking to Cam alone.
"Shane, weren't you listening to what I said earlier?" Cam sighed.
Shane grinned to himself. He could just see, in his mind's eye, Cam shaking his head. "Not really," he admitted, serious again. "I was a little worried that Blake would storm up here and try to rip Dustin apart with his bare hands at that particular moment."
Cam gave a soft laugh, which made Shane smile too. "He certainly looked mad enough to do that," Cam commented.
Shane glanced over to Tori and Blake, and saw, to his relief, that the two rangers weren't paying any attention to him. They seemed to only have eyes for each other. Even so, he whispered, "Hey, Cam, once this is over..." His voice trailed off.
Cam waited for a few moments, then prompted, "Yes?"
Shane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "How do you feel about going public?" he asked, his lips barely moving.
Cam was silent for a long moment. Then, "You mean let the others know that we're in a... relationship?"
Are we in a relationship? Shane wondered. In a relationship, you usually flirt or whatever around other people, even kiss... Not that I can actually imagine Cam and I flirting, to be honest... But still... "Yes," Shane said anyway.
"Shane, I don't know," Cam replied slowly. "I'm not sure what my father would say to us being together, after all."
"Oh, I'm sure he'd be cool with it," Shane responded. "After all, he's your dad, isn't he? He'd want you to be happy."
"I guess... But, Shane, could we please talk about this later?" Cam sounded almost afraid.
Shane frowned a little to himself. If going public bothers Cam that much, I just won't bring it up again, he decided. After all, people in love had to be willing to make sacrifices for the person they loved. And, anyway, there was the other thing that Shane had asked. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Shane told Cam.
"Thanks." Cam sounded relieved.
"So, anyway, about these tests...?"
"The Ninja Scrolls aren't totally clear on the tests aspects," Cam explained. "I guess that the tests would be easy to complete if you knew about them in advance... But what the Scrolls do say is that the tests have to be completed the person who entered the Cavern of Lost Souls... And that, if they fail even one test, then the person they're trying to bring back will pass into the world of the dead."
Shane winced. Ouch. That's kind of harsh, he thought to himself. I guess that means that there are no second chances.
"Hey, Cam," Shane said suddenly.
"What is it, Shane?" "If what happened to Hunter ever happens to you... I'd fight tooth and nail to get you back."
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Alessa led Dustin into a place which looked very similar to a courtroom. There were some rather odd-looking creatures which looked very similar to wolves, apart from the fact that they stood on their hind legs and some sat on stool-like objects.
Alessa stopped in the doorway, an action which forced Dustin to stop as well unless he wanted to trip over the cat.
"Um... Who are those?" Dustin asked Alessa in a low voice.
Alessa's tail swished from side to side. "They're the guardians of the other worlds," she replied. "Don't trust them."
"Are you only saying that because they're like, wolves, and you're a cat?" Dustin wanted to know.
Alessa turned her head, and glared at the yellow wind ranger. But, before she could say anything, one of the wolves spoke in a hissing voice:
"Come mortal."
Dustin found himself pulled into the courtroom by an unseen force. He didn't try to fight it. He definitely wasn't going to do anything which would risk him losing Hunter.
"You have a requesssst, mortal," one of the other wolves said. "Sssspeak it."
"Well, you know that I'm not dead, right?" Dustin asked.
"Of course they do!" Alessa told Dustin.
"Yesss, we know thissss," a wolf said.
"I came here because a... friend of mine is trapped between the living and the dead," Dustin explained with far more confidence than he felt. "I want to bring my friend back to the land of the living!"
The wolves conferred with each other with hissing voices. Dustin winced. They sounded horribly like snakes, and he really didn't like snakes.
At last, one of the wolves said, "You may try to get your friend back... But you musssst complete sssssome tessssstssss in order to do ssssso."
"He knows that," Alessa told the wolves.
"Aah, the guardian of the ssssspirit world," one of the wolves said. "You wissssh to aid thisssss mortal, guardian?"
"Yes," Alessa replied firmly.
Dustin shot the cat a slightly startled look, but didn't say anything. He wasn't going to lose any help that he could get.
"The tesssstsss are all different," a white wolf with a female voice explained to Dustin. "They are each bassssed on a different element. Ssssshould you fail even one tessssst, you will losssse your friend forever."
"I won't fail," Dustin vowed, though he really wasn't totally sure of that.
The wolf who had spoken to Alessa looked at the cat again. "Take him to the place of the firsssst tesssst," it hissed.
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