Disclaimer: Belongs to someone other than me.
RESTLESS WARRIORS
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Fifteen: Heart Song
Kelsey and Dustin got back from town in a more timely fashion that she would have expected them to. Taylor hated to admit it, but Kelsey was probably had her head screwed on straightest, compared to the rest of them. Why did she always resort to being a bitch? Not because she had been in the Air Force or because it was a defense mechanism… well, it was a defense mechanism that had started with her dysfunctional family. Her parents had stayed in their bitter marriage for far too long. When she was seven, she had wished that her parents would resolve their differences. The solution, to her small mind, had not been their eventual divorce.
Well, her defense mechanism, not letting people get close to her because they would ultimately hurt her, had extended from her family to everyone. She watched as Kelsey talked to Kira and Maya about something and Dustin sat down at the picnic table with a worn book that looked like it had spent a lot of time in his car, if the discoloration on the cover was anything to go by. Maya purposely walked by and nudged her. She glared back. For someone who was supposed to be so in tune with nature, she wasn't terribly inconspicuous.
Sighing, she stood up and walked over to Dustin at the picnic table.
"What are you reading?" she asked, fishing for a way to break the ice.
He glanced up, his brown eyes wary. "The Hobbit," he answered finally.
"Lord of the Rings fan?"
"The movies, not the books. The Hobbit is better than those books."
She was inclined to agree with him. She hadn't been able to get into any other Tolkien books besides the Hobbit. She remembered being in fifth grade and reading the Hobbit aloud with her younger sister.
"Look," she started, feeling awkward. Hell, she didn't apologize. "Some of the stuff earlier… I didn't mean that you guys weren't committed."
"Could have fooled me," he muttered.
"I'm sorry for being such a complete bitch," she said flatly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and beat Dustin severely about the head and shoulders.
"Are you?"
She frowned at the question. It was clear what he was asking. She thought back briefly to her ranger days. She had treated the other Wild Force Rangers the same way in the beginning, but then she had begun to thaw out, accept them as people. The same thing should apply here… "I don't know," she replied. "You guys are irritating."
"No we're not," Dustin said.
"Let me finish," she snapped. "I didn't want to work with the other Wild Force Rangers either, but I knew I had to. I guess this is the same thing. I can't be in denial anymore. We have to work together or nothing will get done." She paused. "I don't want to be blinked out of existence by two psycho demons."
"I accept."
"What?"
"I accept your apology." He turned his full attention back to reading the book, although his shoulders were shaking from silent laughter.
"Something funny?"
"No." Dustin looked up at her. "Kelsey and me are going back into town later today. We were going to see if the rest of you guys wanted to come."
"Sure." She looked at her watch. They still had a couple hours until sunset when she had to go drop-kick some Mr. Potato Heads through the goal posts of life. Kelsey, Kira and Maya wandered over to the picnic table. She looked around. It was time that all of them shared information. She said as much. Kelsey nodded.
"Yeah. Me and Kira overheard Jareth talking about how he was going to use you to kidnap Dustin as the human sacrifice."
"Whoa," Dustin said. "No one said that those demons wanted me as the sacrifice." He paled visibly and began to look ill. Kira turned to him.
"Breath," the Dino Ranger ordered.
"Do you need a paper bag or a trash can or something?" Kelsey asked him.
Dustin shook his head, but still didn't look well.
"It's not going to work," Taylor assured him. "He sent his stupidest demons because the bargain was obviously a lie."
"When did they approach you?"
"This morning when I was running." She paused, taking in the four expectant faces. "They said that if I handed Dustin over to them at sunset tonight, Jareth would call off the ceremony."
"Did they say anything else?" Kelsey asked.
"Yeah. I asked them what they would do with Dustin."
"And?"
"They said Jareth would kill him."
"Shit," Kira commented. That put everything succinctly.
"We're contacting Trini tonight," Maya said, leaving no room for argument. "We need to know what the fairies want done about Owling and we need to tell them what we've found." She paused. "We need advice."
"I hear that," Kira muttered.
"So what are we doing today?" Dustin asked. He still looked pale and was looking nervously around, like he didn't want to be here. Taylor didn't blame him. If someone had been after her, looking to kill her, she'd be on edge too.
"No sense in hanging around here," Kelsey said. "We can go hang out at the shopping center downtown. There're all kinds of stuff plus a Dairy Queen and a pizza place. We can entertain ourselves until dark."
Everyone agreed. There was a short debate about which car to take. They ended up deciding on Taylor's rental car since it was the most reliable out of the car choices. She loaded four other un-bathed people with layers of residual dirt and drove towards the shopping center on Kelsey's directions. Kelsey had been right. This place had everything. They piled out of the car and agreed to meet for lunch at the pizza place in an hour.
"Dude, I'm so at the comic store," Dustin muttered.
"I'll go with you," Taylor said.
He stared at her in shock as the others took off towards a book store. "You like comic books?" he asked, incredulous.
She shrugged. "It's been a while. I used to read them to piss off my mother."
He didn't ask anymore questions until they were in the store. Taylor gravitated towards the Batman comics she had read as a high school student and new cadet in the Air Force. Dustin wandered towards her and peeked over her shoulder.
"Batman, dude? You've got to be kidding me!"
She glared at him in her peripheral vision. "And what do you recommend?"
"X-Men all the way!"
"Get real," she muttered, flipping through the Batman comic.
After a while, they had decided on which comics they wanted, paid for them and got to the pizza place early. They got a booth while waiting for the others. There was some debate about comic sharing and they both ended up sitting on the same side of the booth so that they could read the same comic at the same time.
"You guys are so cute!"
Taylor looked up and glared at Kira. They had been in the middle of the continuing adventures of Batman as he fought the Joker.
"It's a comic book thing, man!" Dustin said.
"You wouldn't understand," Taylor added.
"I don't think I want to," Kelsey said with a laugh.
They ordered their pizza and fell to a friendly banter over lunch. Taylor smiled to herself. Things really had worked out after all.
The fire crackled merrily. The night air was cool, but didn't have the usual breeze. Everything around them was still or as still as things around a camping site could be. Trailers were creaking and people were getting ready to turn in for the night. Most people did not prefer to stay up late when camping—people went to bed early and got up early, living by the daylight. That would have worked for Kira had they not kept calling on Trini at night or getting into arguments or making s'mores or doing various and sundry other things that kept them up half the night. Then no one could sleep and then everyone was cranky the next morning… no wonder they had all been ready to strangle someone or something.
Kira smiled to herself as she watched Maya move around the fire. They were in their customary half-circle for calling on Trini. Their trip that afternoon had been amusing. No one had expected Taylor and Dustin to bond at all, let alone that fast after Taylor ripped into Dustin about pointless things. Comic books… well, she supposed that stranger things had brought people together. It was common ground that they could relate to each other on. Now, if they could each forge a bond like that with the other group members, this mission would be even easier and most of the problems would be eliminated.
She watched as Maya threw the normal dust on the fire. It flared and settled down. Kira had yet to find out what was in that bag.
"I call on the spirit of the Yellow Ranger that has gone beyond. I call on her for guidance in this moment of confusion." She took a small pocket knife from her belt and made a cut in her finger. A drop of blood fell onto the flames with a faint 'hiss.'
Tiny blue lights rose from the fire and formed into a shape on the opposite side of the fire from where they were. "A wish made with blood is an offering to those who have gone beyond," Trini said as she materialized. "Is everything all right?" she asked them in general, a concerned look floating over her features.
"We have an idea of what we need to do," Taylor spoke up. "But no idea how to go about it without risking our lives or the lives of others."
Trini looked sad. "We all find ourselves causalities of wars we did not choose to fight sometime in our lives."
Kira frowned. She had a feeling that Trini was not exactly being literal with that statement. Things had happened to all of them because of circumstances outside their control, most notably their time as rangers. They learned to cope with it and move on or they didn't. Whichever the case, scars were left. Her thought to her own life and shivered… some thing had been within her control and others hadn't… it was the way of life.
"Even great warriors need respite," Trini continued. "Right now, all of you are restless warriors, waiting for a coming storm. You know that the storm is coming, but can do nothing to speed its progress or slow it down." She paused with a loving look for each of them. "You need a break. You need to refocus on what is important to you. Then come back to this task with a renewed vision."
Five faces looked stumped as they stared at Trini. She was telling them to take a break, to have some fun… or what?
"Dude, I'm kind of lost," Dustin said.
"Look within yourselves for your heart song. What is your heart telling you?"
Kira closed her eyes. Well, she had wanted to talk to Conner and Ethan since this mission had started, just for someone who knew her well. They could tell when she was having an off day or when she was in an exceptionally good mood. She did want to go talk to them or at least one of them. Ethan was pretty far from here, but Conner was within a decent driving distant and he lived in an apartment off campus—by himself. There wouldn't be any obnoxious roommates or apartment-mates to deal with like there might be with Ethan.
She opened her eyes. Trini was smiling.
"All of you have people who care about you deeply. Each of you is questioning your magic. Go to them and let them reassure you."
Again, Kira was sure Trini wasn't being literal. Magic, to her, was one's personality and the things that others loved in a body. It was so easy to slip into a pit of depression and let oneself think the worst. But when one was surrounded by people who cared deeply, it was almost impossible to feel that way.
"We found out where Owling is," Kelsey told Trini.
"The demons have him," Maya added.
The spirit nodded. "Then it is as we feared."
"Is there something we should do?" Kira asked.
Trini sighed. "There is little that can be done. Either a spell is over Owling or he is acting of his own free will. If it is the former, Lucivar will deal with it. If it is the latter, the Fairy Court will deal with it." She paused. "We do not know, however. Refrain from harming him."
"If he refrains from harming us," Taylor muttered.
"Jareth did send him and a bunch of demons after me and Kira," Kelsey commented.
"Leave the matter of Owling to the spirit world," Trini repeated.
The group nodded. Trini smiled and waved a goodbye, disappearing into a spiral of blue sparkles. Kira looked to the others. What to do now?
Lucivar slammed his fist into the cold, stone table, rage roaring through his being. He glanced to the girl standing before him with glazed gold eyes. Owling… under a spell? No… he had fought for so long against the fairy enslavement. Someone with the standing of Owling in the Fairy Court would not betray the fairies for a foolhardy plan. He would go to his brother and Arval would have gotten a copy of the scroll and he would have resisted, alerted someone in Fairyland who would have come directly to him. No… Trini was wrong. There was no room for 'either or' here. Owling was under a spell and Vypra and Jareth would pay for it.
"Prince Lucivar," Trini was pleading. "We don't know that he's under a spell."
He looked up once more. Her brown eyes were pleading with him not to do something rash. "We do know," he said in a deadly quiet voice. "No fairy would betray the fairies for something ridiculous like that. A fairy would research, especially one like Byrrd."
"You can't do anything without the rest of us," she reminded him.
"This has nothing to do with their plot. This is under my jurisdiction as Prince of the Demons. Both of them will pay."
"That will be hard since they are in the mortal realm," a voice said. Lucivar cut his eyes to the door of the chamber and watched the Magna Defender strode in.
"It might be a challenge for you two to get into the mortal realm, but a demon has no problems with that," he hissed.
"It would interfere with the alliance and with the five," the Magna Defender said.
Damn. Lucivar had ruled in the spirit realm by a strict code of honor and conduct. Demons were a law unto themselves. They had a distinct version of what was right and what was wrong—it did not coincide with anyone else's, but it was theirs. Torment humans, cause wars and plagues, vaporize irksome spirits… but never enslave anyone. Demons served. Demons, who wanted to remain intact, followed the code. And demons honored alliances. If he went to the mortal realm and dealt with Vypra and Jareth… he couldn't. The alliance forbade it.
Someone had once said that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings could cause a typhoon around the world. If he took care of Vypra and Jareth, there was no telling what would happen. The task had been assigned to the five. It had to be obeyed.
He felt his rage rise to the killing edge. Going on a good old-fashioned slaughter in the mortal world would have let out some of that rage and energy, but he was too careful. He always satisfied his own bloodlust through a carefully planned war or massacre. Nothing was planned. Gone were the days when the demons could massacre and the mortals would claim it was the will of God or God, himself.
"It would," he agreed through clenched teeth.
"You won't do anything?" Trini asked.
"I won't do anything."
Trini and the Magna Defender left the chamber. Lucivar brought his fist down on the table and it cracked in two. Falcon flinched from where he stood by the door. He snarled and left the chamber. He was glad someone was still afraid of him and the power he wielded.
Maya smiled as people scrambled around the camp site. Flashlight beams shone erratically from tents, creating a lightshow that professionals could not have rivaled. Kira, Kelsey and Taylor were in the girls' tent, talking and arguing playfully. Dustin crawled out of his tent, carrying a backpack that looked like it was mostly empty.
"Not taking much," she asked as he sat down at the picnic table with her.
He shrugged. "It's only overnight. Taylor did say she wanted us all to get back sometime tomorrow."
"Not going to mooch laundry off of someone?"
Dustin shook his head. "That's kind of rude." He paused. "The only person I do that to is my gramma, but that's because she said I could."
Maya smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah." He smiled to himself. "I start the laundry, but then she finishes it and folds it and irons it and feeds me while she's at it."
It was good to know that Dustin still had a family member he was close to. "Where are you going tonight?" she asked him. Maya was staying at the camp site, just because anyone she would want to talk to was on Mirinoi. And no one had the time or money to put her on a shuttle there. It was practical that she remain here and guard the camp site.
"Tori's," he replied. "She said she'd let me crash with her if I needed to." He shrugged. "And I want to talk to her about something."
Maya nodded. If she remembered correctly, Tori had been the Blue Wind Ranger and was the Water sensei at the academy. From what she had gleaned, Dustin, Shane and Tori were really close. It made sense that he was going to see a friend.
"Sounds like me," Kira said as she came out of the girls' tent with a backpack. Unlike Dustin's backpack, hers actually looked like it had something in it. Typical. Girls did tend to pack more than guys—some things transcended cultures and planets. She sat down at the table with them. "I'm going to LA to see Conner."
"Why Conner?" Dustin asked.
"He's closer than Ethan," Kira replied.
"Did everyone call and warn these people?" Kelsey called as she came out of the tent.
"Yes!" Dustin and Kira said in unison.
The Lightspeed Ranger stood next to the table, a small bag over her shoulder. "I called Ryan," Kelsey said. "He's going to let me stay with him the night."
"Ryan a little something special?" Kira asked, a grin on her face.
"No," Kelsey replied. "He's a friend." She paused. "And he was the first one I got a hold of. I guess the others like to go party on Friday night."
"Where are you off to, Taylor?" Kira asked Taylor as she finally came out of the tent.
"Silver Hills," she replied.
"What's in Silver Hills?" Dustin questioned.
"Eric."
Maya suppressed a laugh as that brought on a momentary silence, before people started laughing and making catcall noises. "You do like him!" Kira crowed.
Taylor glared at her and glanced at her watch. "We need to get going before we end up arriving in the middle of the night."
Soon enough, it had been verified that all the cars were going to start and run long enough to get the driver to their destination. Maya settled back into a lawn chair and studied the stars as blessed silence settled over the camp site. Things were written in the stars and while the stars here were different, they told their own unique story.
She just hoped that all of them would come back rejuvenated.
Meanwhile, she was going to enjoy the quiet.To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Normal thanks goes out to all reviewers- I apologize for not getting back to you. Things have been nuts around here and the work load this weekend is not pretty. But thanks for sticking with me-EK
