Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' is copyright of Buena Vista Entertainment and others of that ilk. No infringement is intended.
RESTLESS WARRIORS
Chapter Two: Shadows
The firelight flickered over the rocks on the bluff. Maya nodded at the transparent woman who stood on the opposite side of the fire from her. This was Trini Kwan and it was her first night on Earth. Finding a bus to Blue Bay Harbor and finding the bluff had been no problem. Now, Trini was telling her of the others she needed to find.
Trini waved a ghostly hand over the fire. An image appeared. It was of a young woman with her brown hair in a high ponytail. She was rollerblading. It was Kelsey Winslow, the Yellow Lightspeed Rescue Ranger. Her blue eyes sparkled from the movement.
"This one you know," Trini said.
"I have her phone number," Maya replied softly.
Trini just smiled. She waved her hand over the fire again and the image changed. This time it featured a young woman—perhaps nineteen or twenty—playing her guitar at a small restaurant. Her hair was dark blonde and loose. Her hazel eyes were sad and haunted.
"This is Kira Ford," Trini continued. "Once you get to the Wind Ninja Academy, Dustin will know how to contact her. She was the Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger."
The day was perfect for rollerblading through the park. So Kelsey Winslow had decided to do just that. She worked at a rock gym and the employees had four-day rotation schedules. She worked four days and was off four days. It worked out well for her and gave her leisurely afternoons to rollerblade or do something else of that ilk for herself. The sun was warm, there was cool breeze and the birds were singing—perfect weather.
The park in downtown Mariner Bay was buzzing with life. Children and their mothers played noisy games while little old ladies gossiped on park benches. She sat down on a bench and adjusted her rollerblades. This was close to where the temple had been—the temple where Queen Banshera, Vypra and their goons had set up their headquarters. So much had happened here. Ryan had emerged from that place as an enemy. Carter had gone in there to single-handedly deal with the demons once and for all. It wasn't exactly the happiest place in the world, but the demons were gone. There was nothing to fear.
She stood up and took a deep breath of fresh air. Smiling, she took off down one of the jogging paths. This was what she needed after manning a lock-in last night. The lock-in participants had consisted of thirty kids from a church youth group—ages ten to thirteen. The result had been frightened children and mouthy, belligerent pre-teens. The chaperons had been frazzled, so she found herself reprimanding the kids. They hadn't left the rock gym until close to three a.m. She was just lucky she didn't have to work today.
Her cell phone rang.
She pulled to a stop on the side of the path. "Hello?"
"Kelsey?"
"Yes." She paused, not recognizing the female voice on the other end of the line. "Who is this?"
"It's Maya."
Maya. The Yellow Galaxy Ranger. She had helped them when Trakeena decided to come to Earth and take on a new form. While she didn't know her well, she had liked Maya while they had all been on Earth together. They both liked nature, although they appreciated it in different ways, and they had both been the optimists for their teams. They had more in common than their dissimilar backgrounds would allow for.
"Hey, Maya!" she said enthusiastically. "I thought you were on Mirinoi."
"I was. I just got off the shuttle yesterday."
In other words, she had taken a shuttle from Mirinoi to Earth. "What's up?" she asked. "Do you need a place to stay? Why are you on Earth?" The questions came rapidly and the words spilled off her tongue. It had been a long time since she had seen Maya and meeting with other rangers was always an awe-inspiring experience.
Maya laughed on the other end. "Slow down," she said gently. "I don't need a place to stay—it's taken care of."
"Are you sure?" Kelsey asked. She had seen Maya's idea of a place to stay—and that didn't preclude sleeping under a tree in a park.
"Yes, I'm sure. You sound just like Kendrix!"
Kelsey smiled. "So what's up? What's going on?"
"I need your help," Maya said slowly. "Can you be at the Wind Ninja Academy in Blue Bay Harbor by noon tomorrow?"
"Sure. Where in Blue Bay Harbor is it?"
Maya named a road and then started giving her directions through a forest.
"Wait a minute—this place has a secret entrance in the woods?"
There was a pause on the other end. "Yes."
Kelsey frowned. "Then how am I supposed to find it?"
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Maya replied. "If you get close, one of the ninjas will probably find you. Just tell them you're looking for me."
"Okay. I'll try to get there."
"Great!" Maya cried. "I'll see you tomorrow! I'll explain everything then!" Her tone of voice was a mixture of relief and excitement. Had she really thought that Kelsey would not come? If there was something to learn, it was that Power Rangers came through for one another, no matter how trivial the matter.
"All right. Bye, Maya!"
"Bye!"
The phone went dead. Kelsey stared at the phone for a minute before putting it back into its holster on her belt. Maya had seemed perfectly normal, but she tended to be overly calm in situations where others would be panicking. It made her wonder what was so important that she had to get to Blue Bay Harbor to hear.
But then again, she had had this nagging feeling for a while that something wasn't right. It was elusive. If it had been anyone other than herself, she would have brushed it off as paranoia. Something was happening and it wasn't good. She had even gone to the point of calling both Captain Mitchell and Carter and asking them if everything was normal from the surveillance point of view. Neither of them had any answers.
Perhaps it would be perspicacious of her to check out the temple ruins.
With a new and determined purpose, she headed away from the joggers' path to the back roads that led to the temple. It would be difficult on rollerblades—but not impossible. She would probably wish she had taken the rollerblades off, but it was a moot point now.
The temple ruins were just as they had been when Queen Banshera had been defeated for the first time. Large chunks of sandstone and limestone were scattered around. If one looked closely enough, they could see the remains of an altar and a throne room. Frowning, she moved into the large throne room—the place that Carter had gone in their last mission as active rangers. Part of the throne was still intact, but the ornate decorations that had once surrounded it were gone. She got the feeling they should have bulldozed this area and dug underground just to make sure that all the rooms of the temple were gone.
She laid a hand on the cool, slick stone of the altar.
Something crackled behind her.
Heart pounding, she swung around. There was nothing in the trees nor was there any movement in that direction. She moved across the temple to a cluster of trees that were just beyond the place. She caught some movement in the corner of her eye. Swinging to the right, the result was the same as before—nothing. The breeze blew through the trees and the leaves rustled on the ground. It was a normal fall day.
That didn't ease the bad feeling she had.
Hurrying back to the trail, she hoped that Maya had some answers.
"You ready, Kira?"
Kira Ford nodded and watched Hayley retreat back to the bar. It was nice knowing that she had a job for life singing at the Cyberspace Café, but it didn't exactly scream 'career advancement.' If only she had taken that scholarship to NYU, none of this would have happened. It was entirely his fault. He was the one who wanted her to stay in Reefside. He had been the one who insisted that someone would discover her in this town and in this little cyber café. Where was he now? Nowhere to be seen and he was certainly not in her life.
The doors to the café burst open and a familiar figure skidded in. A smile floated over his lips. Conner McKnight gave her a huge grin and a 'thumbs up' before pulling up a seat at one of the tables. She remembered when he had broken up with her. All the dreams she had put aside for him and all that she had sacrificed for him came tumbling back to her in their terrible dance. Conner and Ethan had been the first pair she thought to call. Granted, they would never have been close if it had not been for their time as rangers together, but the fact remained that they were close. She called them.
And they had both come from their colleges to see her. They both went to UCLA, but different branches. Ethan was at Berkley and Conner was at the main LA campus. Their reactions had been what cheered her up the most. Conner had offered to beat him to a bloody pulp, while Ethan had offered to hack into his credit card accounts so they could charge exorbitant amounts on it. It was good to know that she had two friends she could count on.
Trent Fernandez was no longer one of them. In fact, he wasn't even in California right now as far as she could tell.
She looked down to her guitar, played a few chords and then started into her first song of the evening. She loved music. It flowed through her like the breath of life. It calmed her down, helped her focus. She could have had a great music career. She could have been something other than two-bit girl who played at the local cyberspace café.
The set was one she played often, so her mind began to wander as she played the familiar notes and sang the lyrics.
She almost wished they were still Power Rangers—that their power source still worked so they could help the newest team of rangers. Her hazel eyes went to Conner. He was grinning and bobbing his head slightly to the music. He was also wearing a red plaid shirt. Some habits die hard. He had been the Dino Thunder Red Ranger. She had been the yellow ranger. The color gem that chose them had ironically enough chosen their favorite color. At least that was true for herself, Conner and Ethan.
Soon enough the set was over and she was free to join Conner at his table before her next set started.
"You sounded good," Conner said as she sat down.
She shook her head. "I need some new material. I've been playing this set for too long."
"Well, write some," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. If there was one thing about Conner, everything with him was black and white. What you see is what you get described Conner perfectly. Well, it almost described him perfectly.
"I try, but nothing's coming."
He scoffed. "Writer's block? Come on! Just sing the song over the phone and I'll help with the lyrics."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Just prop the phone on the table and then sit in one of the chairs and start playing. I'll be able to hear it with no problem!"
Hayley came over to their table with some drinks. She placed them in front of them. "Here you go, guys," she said with a smile. "How's UCLA?" she added in the direction of Conner.
Kira knew that she shouldn't be angry at Hayley for asking about how Conner's college was going, but it reminded her strongly of the fact that she was here, going to Reefside Community College when she could have gone to NYU. Conner had gotten a full ride to UCLA on a soccer scholarship. Although, ironically, she was the only one who knew he changed his major from business to psychology in his first semester. His parents wanted him to play soccer—he wanted to be a social worker. Go figure.
"I'm interning at a CPS office this summer," he replied.
"CPS office?" Hayley sounded confused.
"Uh," he trailed off.
"It's for his community service hours," Kira rapidly made up. "He's going to teach some of the less privileged kids how to play soccer."
Hayley gave Conner a searching look before heading back to the bar and starting up a conversation with her cousin, who she had hired after Trent quit. Conner let out a long breath and grinned at Kira.
"Thanks," he said.
Kira rolled her eyes. "I'm going to start charging you for every time I have to bail you out." She paused. "You should just tell everyone what you want to do."
"It's not that easy," he replied.
"Yes it is!"
Conner shook his head and started playing the straw in his smoothie. That meant that the conversation was over—he started fidgeting when he didn't want to talk about something anymore and no amount of cajoling would get him to talk about that subject again. In a way, it surprised her that she knew him that well.
Soon, she had played her second set and Hayley was closing up the café for the evening. It was kind of touching the way Conner waited for her and walked with her out into the parking lot. He was an airhead and a flake, but he was chivalrous to a fault.
The streetlamps cast a dusty yellow glow over the street. The entrance to the café was in an alley. There was a parking garage close to it. The night air was cool and peaceful. Fall was slowly coming as it always did in California.
"So," Conner said. "You going to try for NYU again?"
"I don't know," she replied. "It was over a year ago that they offered me that scholarship. It might not be available anymore."
"Oh come on!" Conner retorted. "You are, like, the best musician ever!"
Kira smiled, touched at his fervor. She playfully punched his upper arm. "You're biased!" she accused him.
"So?" He flashed her one of his signature grins.
She rolled her eyes and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. A year ago, Conner would have started talking just to fill the silence. Now, he let the silence reign and became embroiled in his thoughts. It made her wonder what he thought about—what someone who had been the 'king of all jocks' in high school thought about. She also wondered what had made him decided suddenly that he wanted to be a social worker.
A rustle of movement by a group of trash cans caught her eye. She stopped and stared into the semi-darkness. All was still.
"What's wrong?" Conner asked, following her gaze curiously.
"I thought I saw-"
The movement came again. She started and heard footsteps retreating back down the alley towards the café. Without thinking, she took off after them, the cool night air whipping around her hair and face. She collided with something solid and realized a second too late that it was Hayley, locking up the café.
"Hayley!" she gasped. "Did you see them?"
"See what?" Hayley asked, getting to her feet.
"That thing! Something came down here!" Conner caught up to her. She turned to him frantically. "You saw that, right?" she asked him.
"Saw what, Kira?" he replied.
"That thing!" she tried to explain. "Something came down here. I think it wearing a black robe!"
Conner and Hayley shook their heads. "No," Conner said slowly. "I didn't see anything." He paused. "I think you need to get some rest."
Kira didn't reply. They hadn't seen it. She could have sworn that something came down that alley and was heading for the café. Why hadn't they seen it? She let Conner lead her to the parking garage to her car. Something was going on and she had no idea what it was or what to do about it. This was bad.
Lucivar, the Prince of the Demons, leaned back in his chair at the head of the large conference table. This was where the Dark Council met. Of course, they hadn't met in several millenniums, but who was counting? There had been dissention among the demons and what had once been a united force, splintered into factions. It hadn't helped that his sister, Vypra, had decided to follow that ridiculous Queen Banshera. If there was ever a person who took on a title to gain power, Banshera was it. She was floating around the spirit realm somewhere, probably nothing more than a wisp of a ghost. She had been a fool.
Vypra had been a fool for following her. Now she had gone missing with that insufferable Jareth who called himself a king. He knew what they were up to. He had seen that particular scroll of destiny and had tried for centuries to ensure that Vypra wouldn't try, that she wouldn't be the one to carry it out. All his efforts had failed.
He tapped his long, taped black nails against the sleek polished stone of the table. The creature hovering just in the doorway was one of the more unique around the spirit realm. He was a member of the Fairy Court and was tall and spindly. His face was shaped like an owl and he had definite avian heritage. He was a messenger in the Fairy Court. His brother was their Master of the Guard. His name was Arval Parrot and he looked terrified.
It was good to know someone was still terrified of him.
"State your business, Parrot," he snapped.
The bird-man began to visibly shake. "I come with greetings from King Boric and from Zordon."
Zordon and Boric—that was interesting. The Fairy Court had not ventured out of their territory for centuries. Zordon was the leader of the Council of Light—a small group of people who had passed into the spirit realm that either lead, helped or were part of a team of Power Rangers. There were five of them and their power was immense. Well, any team that had Zordon on it had immense power. However, none of that concerned him. He wanted to know what the Fairy Court and the Council of Light wanted with him and his small band of followers.
"They would like to meet with you to discuss a possible alliance."
"An alliance?" He kept his voice bored and neutral. "Why, pray tell?"
"What we feared is coming. They feel that it would be prudent to have the spirit realm united against them."
Them being the renegades. He nodded. "That does seem prudent. When do they propose to have this meeting?"
"Tomorrow, at the Saturn hour."
That meant tomorrow at midnight. "Tell your masters that I will attend."
Parrot bowed and hurried from the room.
Well, the fairies always had been afraid of him. Centuries ago the demons had kidnapped the fairies and enslaved them. The Council of Light, when it had still been led by Zinka, had put a stop to that. He hoped that Vypra and Jareth had not started kidnapped fairies again. Fairies were strategic geniuses when it came to battle. If they had kidnapped fairies, even one fairy, he would hunt them down himself and make sure of their ultimate entrapment in the grave. They could live for all eternity in the dirt.
Falcon and Christian, his stewards, should have a full report on what was happening by tomorrow morning. He hoped that his demons could read the signs—they had read the scroll of destiny. He had seen to that.
He rested his head in his hands. The five had stop this madness. The war and chaos could mean the end of both the realms. He didn't want them to be blinked out of existence because of his foolish sister. She had no idea what she was doing. All she cared about was the power that would be fleeting. She was a fool.
"May the darkness guide them," he whispered.To Be Continued...
Author's Note: I almost forgot to give some major credit to where some of the bad guys came from-- Jareth has been borrowed from Labyrinth and Lucivar (the name only) has been borrowed from the Black Jewels Trilogy. Anyone else you do not recognize is either from me or is based on a Brian Froud drawing. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed-- I have decided that the yellow rangers never get enough credit, so this fic showcases some of the more recent ones (and an old school one.) The others might come in-- we shall see. But once more, thanks and keep the cool comments coming! --EK
