Chapter Three: Splashing
Tori had covered her bruised eye and was about to ask what the boys had been talking about, when Hunter and Blake came in.
"Hey." They both said to everyone one. There was another round of 'Heys' and then Sensei came out.
"I would like you to all to walk out to the clearing in front of the water fall and begin hand-to-hand combat." Sensei said before flipping onto Cam's shoulder. Everyone groaned a bit and reluctantly went out. "Now, Hunter, you will go against Tori first." Sensei said. They both nodded and walked into the center of the circle the Ninja's had formed. They both bowed before getting into fighting stance. Hunter threw a punch at Tori first. Tori blocked it. He sent another punch at her. She blocked it once more. Without warning, Tori ducked down and sent her foot out, sweeping it across the ground and knocking Hunter off his own feet. He fell to the ground and did a backward roll, getting away from Tori. Tori sent her foot at Hunter's face while he was still on the ground. Hunter caught and twisted it with enough force that Tori went twirling into the air. Tori landed on the dried leaves with an 'Oomph' before kicked herself into standing. Tori and Hunter both stood in fighting stance again. Tori threw a jab at Hunter's face, and he blocked it. She threw another jab at his stomach. He blocked it again. Tori kept throwing jabs at Hunter, and he kept trying to block them as fast as he could. He started to furrow his eyebrows at the look on Tori's face. It was as if she was imaging him as somebody else. Suddenly, Tori kicked Hunter in the stomach. He had been concentrating on blocking her jabs, so he hadn't even noticed her foot start to go into the air. Hunter landed a few feet away from Tori. He could tell she had accidentally tapped into some of her ranger strength by how far away he landed. Everyone looked at Tori now. Cam, Shane, and Dustin looked at each other and then back to Tori. She was breathing heavily and shaking slightly, she was also balling her fists very tightly. She un-balled her fists and ran both of her hands through her hair, holding her arms there for a second before regaining control of her self and reaching out to help Hunter up.
"Sorry." She muttered. Hunter was breathing heavily also. But he was breathing heavily because of what had just happened.
"S'okay." Hunter said as he took Tori's hand and stood up. Sensei chose not to say anything.
"Okay, Shane, you will now fight against Blake." He said. After Shane and Blake had fought, Sensei had Dustin fight against Cam. Once Cam had whipped Dustin's butt, Sensei just had the rangers run for about an hour.
"Okay, rangers. That is enough for today." Sensei said, before walking into his little hut. The rangers all nodded.
"We have to head over to Storm Chargers, we got a shift." Hunter said as he and Shane started to head out to their car.
"Hey, dudes, can I catch a ride. I have to make up for missing my shift yesterday." Dustin said, running after Shane and Hunter. Then, the only people that were left in Ninja Ops were Tori, Blake, and Cam.
"Tori, do you need a ride home?" Blake asked hopefully. Cam rolled his eyes and walked over to his computer. Tori shook her head. Blake nodded. "Um, okay." He said in a downcast tone. Tori bit her lip. She didn't want to tell anyone else, but Blake just looked so sad.
"No, you see, I'm staying at Ninja Ops for a bit." Tori said. Blake furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why?" He asked. Tori bit her lip again.
"M-My parents went out of town." She lied quickly. She had been getting better at it. "And they don't thinks it's safe for me to stay home alone." Tori added to make the story more plausible. Blake nodded.
"Okay." He said before walking out of Ninja Ops. Tori sat down at the table in the middle of Ninja Ops. Cam turned around in his chair and looked at her.
"You don't have to stay around here, you know." He said. Tori looked up with a small smile.
"Don't take this the wrong way but, I kinda do. My car, my board, all my stuff, is at my house." She said. Cam rolled his eyes.
"You could have gone with Blake." He suggested. Tori raised an eyebrow.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" She asked in mock anger. Tori then smile again. "You know, Cam, you need to get out more." She said suddenly. Cam sighed.
"If this is a ploy to get me to drive you somewhere, or let you take my keys again..." He started. Tori shook her head.
"No, I really do think you should get out more." She said sincerely. Cam stood up from his chair and went and sat by Tori.
"Where do you propose we go." He asked. Tori's smile widened before she grabbed Cam's keys off the table where she had left them that morning.
"Come On, lets go." She said as she stood up. Cam didn't move from his spot at the table.
"Go where?" He asked. Tori shook her head and then grabbed Cam's hand, dragging him out of his seat. She then dragged him out of Ninja Ops. Once they were past the water fall, Tori dropped Cam's hand.
"Come On." She said as she headed toward Cam's car. He followed her. Once they got the the car, Tori pointed to the passenger side. "Get in." She said as she climbed into the front seat.
"Where are we going?" He asked again as he also climbed into the car and shut his door.
"You'll see." Tori said before starting the car.
"The beach?" Cam asked as Tori stopped the car. Tori nodded.
"Yeah, you know it. Sand, water, shells." She said sarcastically as they both got out of the car.
"Very funny." Cam said. The two walked toward the shore. "You said you didn't have you surf board." Cam commented. Tori nodded.
"Yup, but this isn't a surf-board-beach-trip. It's a 'Check out the water, HA I splashed you' beach trip." Tori said as she kicked water at Cam. Cam couldn't help but smile as the water hit him. He kicked some water back at Tori as they walked farther into the water. Tori bent over and splashed more water at Cam. Within second, there was sea water flying in all directions. Cam threw it at Tori, who then threw more at Cam. This went on until for about 10 minutes. The two were waist deep in water and fully soaked when Tori disappeared under the waves. Cam looked around. He hadn't seen her go under. He had been to busy wiping water out of his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his leg. Then another. Then, Tori jumped up and dunked him under. Cam let out a laugh as they both surfaced again.
"It's getting dark, we should head back." Cam commented, trying to keep from laughing. Tori looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was setting.
"Huh, so it is." She said before heading inland. Cam followed. Once they were out of the water they ran back to the car. The cause being, it was getting cold. Cam drove back to Ninja Ops. When they ran inside, they saw Sensei sitting just outside his little hut.
"Sorry, dad. I forgot to tell you we were leaving." Cam said. If hamsters could smile, Sensei would have.
"I see you went swimming." He said. Tori nodded.
"Yeah, um, we went down to the beach." She said.
"Interesting swim clothes." Sensei commented before walking back into his hut. Cam and Tori both looked down and realized they had gone swimming in there jeans and T-shirts. They now had an extra 10 pounds each from all the water they were carrying in there clothes. They both laughed.
"We should probable go change." Cam commented. Tori nodded and the two went off to there separate rooms. Once they were changed, they came back out into the main room. Cam and Tori both walked into the kitchen. "Do you want Hot Chocolate or Coffee?" Cam asked, taking both out of a cabinet. Tori pointed to the Hot Chocolate box.
"That one." She said. Cam nodded and started making two cups worth. Tori sat at the kitchen table hugging herself, trying to keep warm. Cam turned around to face Tori.
"Are you cold?" He asked. Tori shook her head.
"When my hair dries, there's a big chance I won't be cold anymore. But while it's wet, you will have a shivering ranger on your hands." She said with a small smile. Cam brought the two cups of Hot Chocolate over to the table and sat down himself.
"Got it." Cam said, handing Tori her Hot Chocolate.