A/N: Hey, it's Tyrant once again. Listen, I'm sorry that I couldn't update any faster. It seems like I'm the only one that is slow on this site. Anyways, I'm here now, and that's what counts. I am right, aren't I? Well, I want to get on to the chapter straight away, but I need to settle an issue first. The debate is over whether to include a Hunter/Cam thing in this story. Well, I'm kind of confused. First off, the majority of you want to see it and I don't want to disappoint you, and I truly think that a romance would be great. However, I agree that I don't think that Cam can handle such a romantic relationship with anyone in this state. He can't even handle himself right now. I've decided to make a sequel to this on Hunter's feelings so that the people who don't want this will still be satisfied with this story. It will be in the sequel, IF Cam is well enough. With everything he's about to face, he might never be well again. Sorry, just to keep you on the edge of your seats. Also, I'll put a little a little of Hunter's thoughts into the story. IT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS EITHER A ROMANTIC FEELING OR A CLOSE FRIEND/FAMILY FEELING. GOT IT! It can go either way.
Ordeals of Life
Chapter Seventeen: Needing Comfort
"GOD, I HATE THIS BLAKE!"
He and his brother, Hunter, entered the portal that led to the secret area of the Wind Ninja Academy. After eavesdropping on the conversation between Shane and Cam, they couldn't help but go to Ninja Ops to check on their friend and 'family member'. Nervousness began to overwhelm their beings. They hated not knowing what the hell was going on. Though it appeared as if people were starting to know the status of the problem and were trying to help their dear samurai, they hated the fact that they weren't one of them.
"Hunter, you've been repeating that phrase ever since we started over here. Now, can you please just calm down?" He knew this was better said than done, since he was feeling as angered, nervous, and utterly confused as his older sibling was.
"That's easier said than done," he replied to Blake, not knowing how very similar his brother thought. "Damn it, I just hate being left out this. I want to know what's going on with Cam!" His walking pace was going near to jogging as he realized how closer they were coming towards the steps.
"Join the club, bro," Blake said, now starting to get pissed off at his brother's current rambling. "I care about him, too. It's not just you. You think I'm happy not knowing what's going on, and therefore, not being able to help as much as I want to? I don't know why he needs help in the first place. All I know is that I won't be able to assist Cam if I'm so angry and shocked about this."
Hunter stopped right before the steps of the main entrance, thus stopping his younger brother, too. They stood outside for what seemed like a century, not knowing what they could or should do. It seemed like the fact that there was something wrong finally sunk in to their skin. And knowing that people didn't want them to know made them so pissed off. What made them so special for them to know? How come Cam wanted whatever this was a secret? What could they do?
"Blake, I'm sorry if I annoyed you in any way. I didn't mean too."
"Being your sibling, I think I've gotten used to it by now," he joked, hoping to lighten the atmosphere in some way. However, that so familiar sulking look did not alter in the slightest. 'Man, I've never seen him act this concerned about another living person, besides me. I had no idea how close he is to him.'
"I just can't stop rambling on. I need to. If I don't, I think I'll do something crazy. I just can't stand it! Watching him slowly going away, both physically and probably mentally, is the most painful thing I've ever gone through. Don't you see, he's my family. I need him."
Blake, shocked at how emotional his usually brooding brother was being, grabbed him in to a bone-crushing hug. "I hate this, too. Out of all the people on the team, Cam felt like the person you could trust with anything. He just has that aura about him. I don't know why, but it would hurt the most if Cam was harmed in any way. It's something I can't explain."
At this, Hunter couldn't help but smile. Still in the hug, he started on. "Thank god, I though I was the only one." Blake lifted his head and stared curiously at him. "I feel exact the same way. For some reason, I would wish for Cam to be alright. It's weird. However, the best thing about this feeling is that it doesn't need an explanation, not when you have friends."
Both smiling, they finally let go of each other, took a deep breath, and started down the steps. For one reason or another, it looked like the passage started to become longer and harder to go down. It was probably the fact that their deeply hurting friend was down there. On one brief second, they're thinking of turning around. They didn't want to feel like they were barging in on business that wasn't their own. However, that soon fell away.
When the crimsons reached the bottom, they saw Sensei Watanabe mindlessly walking in circles. It seemed that he was in deep thought. Normally, a person would find this hilarious looking for a guinea pig, but to the rangers, it was normal as waking up during the day. The only thing out of place was the face. The muscles that any animal usually holds up were dropped down. It was as if Sensei was so depressed, he lost the will to do anything.
"Sensei, have you seen Cam?" Hunter asked, concerned for the little animal. He continued to walk, not even acknowledging the presence of the other two people in the room.
"Sensei, where's Cam?" Blake asked for Hunter. Even then, their father figure continued to be lost in thought.
"Mr. Watanabe?" Hunter continued on. "Are you alright?" This seemed to do the trick as he jumped in the air out of shock. "Oh-hello Blake-Hunter-what're you doing here?"
"Well, we both asked you where Cam is, do you know?" At the mention of Cam, their master seemed to all of a sudden change. His head fell down as his gaze went to the floor, and his usual lively self disappeared, his poster slouching being evidence.
"Yeah, I know. He arrived a few minutes ago. He's in his bedroom."
Though being concerned for what was wrong with Sensei, Hunter immediately went in the direction towards the bedroom, concerned for Cam. "Sensei, are you okay?"
Again, he seemed to have forgotten Blake being there as he started to think again. "Sensei?" For the second time, he was startled out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry. I was just thinking. What were you asking?" For any other person, just thinking was normal. However, this was Sensei. It wasn't what he usually did.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course, Blake. Why do you ask?"
Not knowing how to go about it, and not knowing what would cause Sensei to act this way, all he could say was, "Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how you were feeling." Mr. Watanabe looked skeptical at his response, but with how he was feeling, he decided not to press the issue further. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Why do you need to see Cam?"
That seemed to put Blake off guard. He never thought about his father not knowing what was going on. Should he talk to him about what he overheard between Shane and his son, or should he just not tell him until he knew more? 'Why worry him now. I don't even know what to worry about. I hate to be in his shoes when he finds out. Then again, I'd hate to be in my shoes when I find out."
"Blake?" God, now he was starting to drift off. "Oh, sorry. We just wanted to hang out with him for today. He needs to get out more often."
"God, you don't know how true that is. Hope you three have a good time." Still worrying over how he was doing, Blake soon followed his brother towards the bedroom. He was so quick to get to his destination, he didn't even hear Sensei muttering behind him, "I hope you guys can help him, because I'm not so sure I can."
Finding the door open, Blake decided to walk in, knowing that his brother was in there. As he entered, he saw Hunter sit on the edge of bed looking at Cam.
It appeared that he fell off into a fitful sleep. The bed pillows were all lying on the floor surrounding him, appearing to have been violently tossed. The bedcovers and sheets were all wrinkled and wrapped around the samurai, as if he was rolling around from a nightmare.
As Blake moved closer to the bed, he noticed something that brought his heart down. As he looked at Cam's face, which looked small because of the size of the bed and covers over the rest of his body, he could see the wet eyes and tear trails running down his face. This was a scene that could make the happiest person in the world depressed.
"Hunter, look," Blake said in a whisper, not wanting to wake Cam up, who looked so peaceful now. Hunter came up behind him, and soon saw the sad spectacle. "See, Blake. This is want I'm talking about. I hate seeing him like this. You know, this is the first I've seen him cry. And now that I have, it just doesn't seem real. I mean, he's not one to be sad."
"I know what you mean. That is exactly how I felt when I first saw Cam cry at the picnic." At this, the crimson ranger seemed taken aback. "We were all there. Remember, we went into the forest. It was the day when you attacked Dustin for starting the whole water fight."
"I know that! I just didn't know that Cam cried then. Did you know why?" "If I knew, I wouldn't be wondering what the problem was, would I?"
"God, I can't believe it. Why didn't he say what was bothering him. Doesn't he trust us? What did we do for him not to count on us?"
Blake briefly thought of everything that his older brother said. What did they do to make Cam not trust them now? "Actually, he was going to tell me what was going with him. However, Dustin interrupted when you guys were chasing after him. After that, he acted as if the incident never happened."
"Oh god, I don't believe it. I helped shut Cam up. It's probably my fault he's like this. I'm so sorry, Blake."
"Hey, stop beating yourself up. It can't be changed now, and you didn't know what was going on." After a few minutes of silence, the decided to get Cam more comfortable. Blake started to untangle the sheers around the ranger. Once that was done, Hunter gently lifted him up a few inches and placed him down so that he was lying on his back.
They looked down at him and saw what Cam was wearing. 'Why is he wearing a sweater during this time?' they both thought in unison. Making sure he didn't get to hot, Blake started to unzip his sweater while Hunter took off his shoes. As he did this, he continued to silently think. 'What's going on with you, Cam? You have to tell us, soon. If you don't, there's no way we can truly help you. And I want to help you so much.'
When Blake finished unzipping his sweater, he slowly lifted him up by his shoulders so it could slide off. He set it aside at the same time Hunter pulled the covers over him. "Come on, Blake. Let him sleep. He really needs the rest. Besides, I need to think of a way to talk to Shane."
As he left, Blake stood behind and stared at their fellow teammate for a few seconds. He gently touched his forehead and laid it there for a while softly saying, "I hope you tell us soon. I don't want to see you like this." After wiping away the wet trails on the sides of his face, he left and went after his brother.
He didn't even know that if Hunter didn't pull those covers over him, he would have seen Cam's wrists.
And Cam didn't know that if he waited just a little longer to fall asleep, he could have heard how much people cared for him.
"Dustin, wait up!" Kelly called out after him. Carefully wiping the tears she had shed, she finally caught up. "Dustin, do you think that you can bring Cam over tomorrow instead of next Friday? I think we ought to put our counseling into effect."
This shocked Dustin. He knew he wanted to talk to him, but to make him come over on the very next day didn't seem like a good idea. "Kelly, are you sure about this. I mean, his secret just got spilled today. He's probably sulking right now. I don't think he's fit."
"I've been thinking that too. However, the sooner we start on helping him, the better off he'll be. Please, Dustin. I need to do this. I know what it's like going through what he's going through. You feel all empty inside, isolated, cold, sad, angry, and confused all at once. It's the worst feeling in the world. I can't go through the day knowing what he's feeling. I don't want to seem him make the same mistakes. Please." Kelly looked ready to cry, again.
Dustin looked over Kelly and immediately gave in. After all, he didn't want to seem Cam like this anymore. He nearly cried when he heard the news. He figured, the sooner he becomes better, the sooner everything would go back to normal. "Alright, but I know he's not going to like this. I want to come with him, and I think Shane does too. He needs comfort now, and I want to help give him some. Would it be okay if I stayed then?"
"Of course. You can come to every session, if you want. I think Cam needs to be surrounded by people who love him. He needs to realize that people do care." As Kelly started walking back, she calmly said, "If he doesn't find out soon, we might never get him back." Leaving that as a warning, she walked and entered Storm Chargers.
Now fully determined, Dustin strode off, preparing a way to get Cam to come tomorrow. To help keep his determination up, he repeated in his head, "The sooner he's better, the sooner we'll be back to normal."
But he couldn't help himself from thinking, "How long will it be when things get back to normal?"
But probably more importantly, "Will things get better at all?"
A/N: You know the drill, read and review. Hope you liked the chapter.
Jeremy
