1Cam groaned as he woke up, blinking several times to clear his eyes. The blurriness eased but his quarters were just as dark and dismal as they had been every morning since coming to the Thunders' Castle. Standing the black haired teen ignored a wave of dizziness to test the door and see if his Uncle had unlocked it yet. Unfortunately, the door was still locked and Cam did not feel up to picking the lock quite yet. In fact, he felt strangely tired.
He's feeding off of you. The amulet stated weakly from inside his head.
"Huh?" Cam responded fuzzily. Feeding off of him? Wha?
Your Uncle. He is using his dark ninja powers to feed off your energy. In fact, if not for me, you would probably still be unconscious. Cam nodded. That made sense. Still, why did the amulet sound weak too? I'm allowing him to feed off some of my energy instead of yours. He will notice the difference soon though, and realize that you are the Samurai Ranger.
"Alright then." Cam muttered and went hunting for his lock picks. He needed to get out of the room.
--
Hunter fumed as he paced the walls of the palace. On one hand, he wanted to charge into Lothor's quarters and demand that he hand Cam over, on the other, he knew that would be a very stupid thing to do. Beating one's servants was not against the law; as long as you did not kill the servant, you could do whatever you wanted with them. So in order to get the 'Lost Lord Cameron' out of Lothor's hands he would need to expose Cam as royalty being held against his will. Hunter's problem was that he was sure that Cam couldn't be held against his will and as such that he was willingly subjecting himself to Lothor's tyranny. From what he had sensed from Cam in those few brief meetings, if the young man had truly wanted to escape, he could have found a way. "Damn." He muttered.
Of course, he had only met Cam a total of three times, six if Cam really was the Samurai Ranger. Which lead Hunter to another question. If Cam was the Samurai Ranger, why had he allowed his Uncle to beat him? The choices were that either Cam was up to something and needed to stay close to his uncle to complete it, he was so used to the beatings that he made no effort to resist, or his uncle was stronger then him. Was it possible for Duke Lothor to be stronger than a Ranger? It should not be possible, but he was the twin brother to Kanoi, the former sensei of the Wind Ninja Academy. Besides, Hunter himself was not without his own losses to other people; General Madtropolis being one example; Madtropolis who Cam had beaten.
Hunter shook his head; he knew that he would never figure this out unless he talked to Cam. Which brought him back to the original problem.
He could wait it out. Cam would show up eventually.
--
Lothor cursed heavily as he paced his study. He had returned to their rooms two days ago to discover his nephew's door open and the brat gone. The dark ninja had continued to feed off the boy and he knew that his nephew should still have been laid up. Shortly after he discovered his nephew's disappearance, he noticed an odd flavor to the energy he was absorbing from the youngster. The distinctive tang that signified a Ranger. He then had sent out all of his generals out to searching for Cam and none of them had been able to find his brother's brat.
However, none of them had the attributes that the General his nieces had found possessed.
"General Sucker. Can you find him?" He demanded, as he turned to the pale skinned general. The odd man blinked large bug like eyes up and him and smiled, revealing two pointed canines.
"Of course my lord. What would you have me do with him when I find the young lord?" Sucker asked, and Lothor contemplated his options. Sucker was a powerful vampire, but he could probably use a good meal.
And if his nephew were a vampire, he would certainly be more amenable to Lothor's plans if only because Sucker would have full control of his vampiric spawn.
"Bite him." Lothor ordered and watched the evil smirk curl Sucker's lips cruelly. The vampire then bowed and excused himself. Lothor balanced his chin on his palm as he thought. The Samurai had not shown up since his nephew disappeared, which effectively told him which Ranger his nephew was. Unfortunately, Prince Hunter had been shooting his suspicious looks whenever he was around the other man, meaning he must suspect something. "I'll have to step up my plans then. Nephew, you have caused too much trouble."
--
Cam meanwhile had collapsed against the wall of his room halfway across town from Lothor. He had rented a room in an inn that, while not terribly expensive, was clean and not part of some of the shadier districts of town. He had been able to move around the room occasionally but his Uncle's feeding off his energy was exerting a major drain on him.
He's still feeding off you, but don't think that means he isn't looking for you. Lothor hardly expects you to just die from him draining your energy. He no doubt wishes to use you for his plans. The amulet sounded weaker then it had before; Cam's Uncle had been a continuous drain on them both.
"Then I need to figure out what his plans are and stop them before they get too far." Cam muttered and the amulet answered with a small noise of agreement. "That means I need to get up first." Cam bashed his head against the wall slightly in hopes that it would help him wake up. Then he struggled to his feet using the wall as a handhold. He was surprised however, when the door swung open before he reached for it.
Oh, damn. Run.
Cam turned to run, but the only exit besides the door was a window and right now, the strange man was standing in his door. Cam attempted to make it to the window, but hands on his shoulders pulled him back and then suddenly there was the feeling of a bite on the side of his neck. Eyes widened as he realized just what he Uncle had set up for him, they soon closed as he dropped into darkness.
---
Cam woke up to find himself in the same room but curled up on the floor instead of the wall. He no longer felt dizzy either, instead feeling oddly rejuvenated. A vampire bit you, so your Uncle stopped sucking energy. The rejuvenation part? The start of you being turned into a blood-sucking minion. Cam nodded his head and stood. While he had never encountered a vampire before now, he had heard stories of them.
'What I have to do is kill him right?' Cam asked the amulet mentally.
Pierce his heart to kill him and you'll be home free.
'Alright then, the green samurai will show up again tonight, but first, I need a bath.' Sitting against the same wall for two consecutive days was not good for hygiene.
--
Hunter had been surprised when the samurai ranger had shown up at the ball that night. However the ranger ignored him, much the way he had done a few days ago and instead seemed to be searching the room for someone. Face steadily darkening, Hunter made a note to corner the other ranger at some point that evening. Right now, though he had to deal with the annoying Kapri, Lothor's daughter. Marah was off flirting with Dustin right now and he feared for the gene pool if those two ever had children.
"Are you listening to me?" The pink haired bimbo asked as she stamped her foot in displeasure.
"Not really." Hunter replied. Why should he listen to her brainless conversation when there were so many more interesting things to do. He hardly noticed her stomping away in anger. However, Dustin noticed when Marah was grabbed and dragged away by her sister, and the resulting 'kicked puppy' face made Hunter feel a little guilty.
A very little.
--
Dustin looked around for something to do after Lothor's mean daughter had dragged away the nice one. What were their names again? He couldn't remember. Trying to find a diversion, he spotted the samurai ranger hiding in one of the corners of the room and leaning his head against the wall for support. Worried, Dustin walked over to him. "Dude, you okay? You're, like, sweating real bad."
Cam was not okay and he knew it. The vampire bite was affecting him more the closer he got to Sucker, and was nearly debilitating right now, obviously meaning that he was very close to General Sucker. "I'm fine Dustin." He rasped out and missed the brunet's shocked reaction.
"Uh... Cam? That you?" The samurai ranger sighed and nodded slightly. So he'd blown his secret to Dustin, but he was too tired to care right now. "Dude, if you were a ranger you could have told us, or you know just me, I mean, like, I totally understand the whole 'secrecy thing' but..." Cam turned around and looked at Dustin through the eyeholes of the mask. "Dude, do you have fangs? And what's with that hickey?"
"It's a vampire bite Dustin, which is why I have fangs too." Dustin's already wide eyes went wider and Cam sighed. "Look, you want to help or should I just resign myself to my fate as a parasite?"
"Oh, uh, no dude I'll help, really!"
--
Across the ballroom, Hunter glared at the departing back of samurai and yellow ranger before his attention was diverted, this time by the sweetest smell he could ever imagine. He turned and found himself staring into Kapri's beautiful eyes, how could he have not noticed how beautiful they were?
--
Cam, I suggest you transform to your Ranger mode. The amulet said to him as the bite's effects got worse and worse.
'How do I do that?' Cam asked, but suddenly he just knew, and pushing himself away from Dustin slightly, he stood up straight. "Dustin, I'm going to transform into my ranger mode, you're free to join me anytime." And with that, Cam grabbed the amulet in one hand and thrust it out. "Samurai Storm Ranger Form, Ha!" It was the weirdest sensation becoming a ranger. Green armor plates formed over his clothes and he had a visor that suddenly encircled his head. On Cam's side, there was now a scabbard with a saber hilt poking out and he felt the biggest energy rush in his life. Beside him, Dustin was performing the same thing, but his ranger form was yellow and instead of a saber, he held a regular sword in one hand.
"Dude, that is a totally sick outfit!" Dustin exclaimed as he turned to him with a large smile. "C'mon, which way was that vampire dude?"
"I'm right here Rangers!" Sucker called out as he exited his hiding place and both rangers settled into a fighting stance. "Feeling sick? You're looking a little green!"
"Only of you." Cam retorted and the battle began in full.
--
"Dude that was like, and then and it was... totally awesome Cam!" Cam smiled at Dustin and watched the yellow ranger hurry to correct himself. "I mean, Samurai Ranger." The green ranger could not quite put his finger on it, but something had changed the way Dustin acted around him. Less like a crush and more like a friend.
"Count Dustin!" A voice that Cam found very familiar was echoing down the hallway to be followed by the clattering sound of high heels. Resigning himself to having to deal with Marah, and hoping she would not alert Lothor to his presence, Cam watched in surprise as she jumped into Dustin's arms. "You have to help Prince Hunter!" Since Dustin had been struck mute by the cute girl in his arms, Cam took the initiative.
"What happened to Prince Hunter?" And Marah looked over at him and smiled.
"Cousin! You're back! And okay! I was so worried when I heard Lothor sent General Sucker after you. But, oh, Father and Kapri, they did something to Prince Hunter!" Cam arched an eyebrow and Marah stumbled into an explanation, still clinging to Dustin's arms.
"He's a big, fat, jerk! He doesn't even pay attention to me when I talk to him. Aaahh! How could I ever have wanted to marry him!" Kapri shrieked as she paced the empty room she had dragged Marah off to. "You can have him."
"But I don't want Prince Hunter! Count Dustin's cuter, and he's nice!" Marah complained and was interrupted by their Father as he came into the room.
"Don't worry Marah, you can have your Count. Kapri, I have the perfect solution to your problem. Use this," he held up a small pink perfume bottle, "And he'll only look at you and fall in love.."
"He said something about, fera, feara, uh..."
"Pheromones?" Cam asked dryly, and Marah nodded her head several times.
"That was it! Something about how the pheromones would make Prince Hunter fall in love with her, and he's been staring at Marah and listening to her ever since you two left the ball! I know that Prince Hunter was interested in you, Cousin, and I thought it fair only to warn you." Cam nodded and gave Dustin a look before he hurried back to the ball.
Dustin smiled down at the girl in his arms, completely oblivious to the outside world. "Thanks." And Marah smiled up at him.
"Anytime cutie."