Is Love For Real?

Chapter Eleven - Earth

Disclaimer: Don't own it, not making any money from it. Please don't sue, k?

Replies to reviews:

YellowCrimsonforever and garnetred: Well, Dustin might pass all of the tests... Then again, he might not -Evil grin-

RedFox: -Looks at DarkAngel and DarkCat- Why'd we have to pick her to be muses to?

DarkAngel: Maybe because she uses animals and angels a lot in her stories? She understands us... Or tries to, at least

DarkCat: -Shows an image of a small white cat with green eyes-

RedFox: Hm... Good point. There's always Realms, too

DarkAngel: -Shudders- Please don't remind me... The angels in that are evil

RedFox: No, that's only Apollo... And, technically, he's not totally evil

DarkAngel: But there are vampires!

mysterious-muse and BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it! -Smiles

CamFan4Ever: I know it is. -Grins-. Thank you for the cookies! But you might want to be careful. If you carry on feeding my muses, they'll probably come and visit you. Not necessarily a good idea considering how many ideas I have floating around in my head at the moment. Be warned. They unlock hundreds of ideas

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Cam studied the computer screen with a slight frown, and then looked at the guinea pig who was his father. "Dad, what do you think about this barrier?" he wanted to know.

"I am not entirely sure," Sensei answered.

"I mean, the Ninja Scroll that I found wasn't particularly helpful with what else was supposed to happen," Cam commented. "It would take too much time to try and cross-reference each of the scrolls to try and find more information."

"The best thing to do would be to advise the Rangers to wait for the time being," Sensei told Cam.

"I guess you're right," Cam replied, stretching his hands out in front of him. "I just don't want us to end up losing someone else."

"Dustin is stronger than the others give him credit for," Sensei said. "He will fight with all of his strength and with everything he has in him to save Hunter's life."

"I really hope you're right," Cam muttered. I don't want to even think about how I'd feel if something like that happened to Shane.

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." As a guinea pig, Cam's father couldn't actually smile... But Cam knew that that was what he would have been doing had he been back in his human form.

Cam shook his head, and spoke into the communicator. "Hey Shane."

Shane responded immediately. "Hey, Cam. What's up?"

"I haven't been able to find a way of bringing the barrier that's blocking the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls down," Cam answered. "You're probably going to just have to wait."

"Wait?" Cam could just see the scowl on Shane's face.

"Yeah, wait," Cam replied. "You're going to have to learn patience, Shane, as difficult as that is for you."

"Hey, Cam, I understand where you're coming from," Shane said seriously, no trace of fun in his voice. "But, dude, Blake and Tori aren't going to like it... Blake's ready to tear Dustin apart again as it is."

"I know," Cam sighed. "I'll keep searching, Shane. But, to be honest, it doesn't really look good."

"I understand," Shane responded. "But, Cam, you take care of yourself, ok?"

Cam knew what it was that Shane wasn't saying: I don't know what I'd do if I lost you.

"I'll be careful," Cam said before turning back to the computer.

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Alessa brought Dustin to a mountain.

As mountains went, it wasn't particularly big. But it was big enough. Dustin looked up at it, and gulped. Then, he looked at the white cat who was sitting there washing herself as though everything was fine.

"Why have you brought me here?" Dustin wanted to know.

Alessa glanced up, and flicked her tail a little. "This is the place of the first test," she answered.

Dustin rolled his eyes. "I know that," he muttered. "I mean, why is the first test here, of all places?"

Alessa gave him a slightly startled look. "Because this is the element that is closest to your heart," she explained, clearly surprised that the yellow wind ranger hadn't known that. "It would be the easiest test for you to complete if you had the ability inside you to do so."

Dustin bristled slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

Alessa looked even more surprised. "It just means that if you're going to complete any test successfully, it would be the test of the element closest to your heart."

"I would have preferred to do the earth element test last," Dustin muttered.

"That would not be possible," Alessa told him. "The tests must be done in a certain order."

Dustin looked steadily at the cat. "Why are you helping me?" he wanted to know. "And don't give me all of that about you just deciding on the spur of the moment and that you could change your mind at any moment. I know that that isn't the truth." At least, he thought that it wasn't the truth.

Alessa was silent for a long moment. "You do not need to know that," she said at last. "Suffice to say that I have my reasons. But those reasons are my business, and not yours. In any case, you must get on with this test."

"What should I do?" Dustin asked.

"Why are you asking me

"Because you're probably the only person who really knows for sure," Dustin mumbled. "And I'm sure that ignorance isn't a requirement of these tests."

At just that moment, there was an ominous rumbling sound. Dustin looked around wildly before he realised just where the sound was actually coming from... And then, he looked up.

Huge boulders were falling down the side of the mountain.

"Oh, no!" Dustin cried. And, at just that moment, he heard a cry.

"Dustin, help!"

Dustin looked, and saw Blake standing some metres away from the foot of the mountain. The navy thunder ranger seemed to be almost paralysed with shock... And there was a huge boulder about to land on him.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"

Dustin didn't even stop to wonder exactly why morphing worked in the spirit world. He leaped over to Blake, and knocked the navy thunder ranger down, pinning him with his own body.

Dustin felt a sudden, crushing pain in his back.

And everything went black.

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