Disclaimer : I don't own Angie. The name came out of nowhere, but...yeah...
Ok, first of all, I just wanted to do some ribbing in this chapter, so if Dustin or Shane's comments seem OOC, I apologize. I'm trying to keep them as in character as I can, but at the same time... Well, I dunno. LOL.
And I'm also planning to introduce an OC in this chapter. It just came out of nowhere, and I have an idea of how to introduce her to the Rangers, the rest I'm going to make up as I go along. (Mutteres quietly) A lot like the rest of this story... I really need to have a set plan... LOL
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(Ops, Normal POV)
Moodswings. Don't you just love them? One moment, Taelin's happy, the next, she's giving glares that rivaled Hunter's and Cam's. It made a person wonder where she got those looks from, but then remembering who raised her...
So Hunter decided he liked not having a little girl with wings glaring at him, and remained silent as they walked through the forest to Ops.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, some people didn't get the hint.
"Hey Hunter!" Shane called from his sparring spot with Dustin, a few feet away. "I heard you had a pretty...sticky situation." Grinning a little, he shook his head and laughed quietly.
Hunter... Didn't see the humor, and glared at him with eyes that tinted crimson in his anger. Stalking silently over to the Red Ranger, he got right up in his face and narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to see you do any better." he hissed warningly.
Shane looked surprised at the resonse for a moment before his own eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to Hunter, his competitive side getting the better of him.
Dustin stepped in between them quickly, and pushed them apart, looking at Shane. "Dude, at least he handled it, right? I mean, didn't Blake run off?"
Ok, Hunter knew Dustin meant well, but that sentence came out all wrong, and he felt his anger rising even more. Snarling a little, he got into the Earth Ranger's face and glared even harder at him.
As annoyed as Hunter was at Blake, he was still his little brother.
"You have something to say?" Hunter growled.
"Stop it!"
The trio spun to look at the source of the angry yell, in surprise, and saw Taelin floating in place, her hands glowing with energy and a massive glare on her normally sweet face.
"Just stop it! All of you!" she yelled as she loated to the ground and the energy faded. Her wings hung low on her back and tears began to flow down her face as she crouched down on the ground and began to cry.
Sending the two Winds a look that stated 'See what you did?', Hunter quickly walked over and picked her up, holding her tightly despite her protests as he carried her to the underground headquarters.
Left behind, both Shane and Dustin looked to the ground. Shane understood what he did and felt bad for not only getting riled up at Hunter, but for embarrassing Taelin. Dustin understood that what he said came out all wrong. What got him was that normally, Hunter knew what he meant despite what he said, and didn't get riled up so easily.
Then he remembered the whole dragon thing and understood completely.
Down in Ops, Taelin was glaring angrily at Hunter from the corner of the room, and the said Thunder Ranger sighed in irritation as he turned to Cam. "If anything happens to her..." he warned before closing his eyes tightly and shaking his head. He knew nothing would happen to her, and knew he had to trust his friends more. It was the dragon sense of protection that got him going, and he knew he was hurting others.
"Don't worry Hunter." Cam stated sympathetically. For once, he understood the blonde ninja's actions and decided not to snap at him.
Blinking in surprise at the lack of a sarcastic comeback, Hunter nodded slowly. "Sorry." he stated quietly before walking down the hall to the meditation room Sensei and his brother were in. Hopefully, he'd have a better handle on these new enhanced senses, soon, before he ended up chasing everyone away.
(Tori's POV)
Sitting in the warm sand, at the beach, I sighed, knowing Hunter and Blake were meditating with Sensei right now. He gave us the day off training because of it, and the first thing I did was make sure I had my board and bathing suit, before heading out here.
But now that I was here, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
Ever since the transformation at the track, I've found myself thinking a lot. I mean, on one hand, it hurt to have Blake and Hunter placing Taelin so high on their list of priorities. No, that's not right... That I understood.
With a frown I rubbed my hand through my hair and looked out over the swells. "What am I doing?" I asked softly in confusion. I shouldn't be worrying about this... I should be out there, surfing off my stress and trusting them to do what's right. But still... I couldn't help the pain I felt.
I mean, it was like a slap in the face, that Blake and Hunter didn't seem to trust as anymore. Well, they did, but not the way they used to. I know they didn't mean it, and I know it had a lot to do with the dragon parts of them, and I understood, but... That didn't mean it hurt any less.
The sound of splashing drew my attention and shaking my head out of my thoughts, I looked out over the water, finding a form swimming among the swells.
Then I narrowed my eyes, straining to see clearer and jumped to my feet. "They're not swimming!" I cried in horror as I took off out into the water.
The splashing figure was waving their arms frantically, but at the same time, kept going under. It was clear they couldn't swim.
"Hang on!" I cried as I paddled as fast as I could to their side. Upon getting closer, I paused for a brief moment, noticing that it was a young woman about my age, but what got me was that it was no ordinary woman. Shaking my head, I swam closer, already questioning what else was going to happen today. "It's ok!" I called as I wrapped a hand losely around her throat, sliding it under one of her arms and forcing her to float on her back. "I've got you!"
"No! Let me go!" she cried as she struggled more.
She succeeded in dragging us both under for a moment and I kicked hard, managing to bring us both back to the surface. "Stop that, or you're gonna make us both drown!" I shouted. "I'm trying to help you!"
The young woman paused in her struggles and seemed wary about me, but reluctantly relaxed and I carefully dragged her back in to shore with me. She had long, light brown hair and almost navy blue eyes, and a pale, scared face.
Once we were in shallower water, she jumped away from me and backed off several feet, crouching low to the ground and glaring at me with glowing white eyes, large, white dragon wings spread wide behind her in a clear sign to stay away. "Who are you?!" she demanded shakily as she staggered back a step. "What do you want?!"
I could only stare in shock at her as I slowly processed that she seemed to be a Dragon Clan member like Hunter and Blake. Shaking my head a little, I raised my hands in a sign of peace and gave a weak smile. "It's ok. My name's Tori Hanson."
"What do you want?" she repeated in a slightly calmer voice, her stance letting up s the glow faded from her eyes. Closing her eyes a moment she seemed to sniff the air before turning back to me. "You don't smell like a Dragon Clan member."
My face began to heat up as it hit me that she was just smelling me, and I opened my mouth to say something when voices cut me off.
"Tori!"
Spinning in place, I saw the others running up to me, lacking Taelin and Cam. Hunter and Blake were easily in the lead and Hunter wore a look of anger and confusion as his eyes settled on the girl across from me. Blake held the same look, but if I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn I saw a hint of protectiveness there as well. I know I saw relief when his eyes scanned me, obviously to make sure I wasn't hurt.
"Who are you?!" Hunter demanded of the girl, standing beside me in a crouch, like she had done earlier.
Blake moved to my other side, but also stood a little in front of me, as if acting like a shield. He remained quiet, but the questioning look on his face was clear enough.
Hesitating a moment, the girl's eyes narrowed in clear confusion before she slowly stood up, her wings folding neatly against her back.
It suddenly hit me just how public we were and I looked around quickly, noticing that no one else was on the beach. ...Huh? I thought in confusion. I mean, it was a clear day out, and the swells were perfect for surfers, so... Where was everyone?
Glancing quickly to the strange girl, I wondered if she had anything to do with it, or was it just an eerie coincidence?
"You're...like me." she stated as she tilted her head a little. Her long brown hair was matted and knotted from her battle with the waves, and she akwardly brushed it out of her face as she stared at the Thunders. "I'm Angie."
Hunter and Blake exchanged wary looks before turning back to her and letting up their stances. Still, they remained silent and I had the feeling, they didn't know whether or not to trust her.
Well, I couldn't blame them. After all, we did just meet her.
"You're a Dragon Clan, too?" Shane asked with a frown, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
She looked at him with a confused frown before sniffing the air again. I wasn't sure why she was sniffing like that, probably to see if he was Dragon Clan, but whatever it was, she nodded after a moment, seemingly satisfied by something.
"You..." She pointed to me, Dustin and Shane in turn. "You're not Dragon Clan, but you're all close to them." she stated almost knowingly as she pointed to Hunter and Blake. Then her eyes locked on me and switched back and forth between me and Blake. "Especially you two. You two are really close."
My eyes widened and I glanced at Blake to see him looking down shyly with a clear blush. Feeling my own face heat up, I looked down as well, and bit my lip, not saying a word.
"Enough with the small talk." Hunter growled with a glare. "What're you doing here?"
She raised an eyebrow a moment, her wings mantling a little before she seemed to remember she had them. Closing her eyes, she willed them away before opening her eyes again and folding her arms over her chest. "Uh, I live here." she stated dryly. "Have for years now."
That brought up a ton of questions immediately, especially since I could swear she was hiding something. "Then why were you out in the water, when you obviously couldn't swim?" I asked absently, not really meaning to sound rude.
Her eyebrow shot up even farther and she blushed a little. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed to realize it wasn't a good idea, so she closed it again and sighed heavily, looking to the ground. "Ok, you got me." Her dry tone was replaced with a quieter one. "I came to Blue Bay because I sensed the presence of two Dragon Clan members. Until now I always thought I was the only one."
Hunter frowned with narrowed eyes, still seemingly not ready to believe her, but Blake let up his stance a little. "So, you came to see if there were more people like you?" he asked uncertainly.
She nodded with a weak smile. "I was flying through the air, trying to avoid everyone, and still get a good look at the ground. I must've been flying for a while, because next thing I knew, my wing was cramping up and I was falling towards the ocean."
"And what're you gonna do, now that you know we're here?" Hunter asked with a frown as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.
Now she frowned and seemed unsure. "I...didn't think of that." she admitted quietly. "My home is hours away and I don't have the energy to make it back tonight."
There was something in her voice that stated she really didn't want to go back. I guess I understood. She finally found more people like her, so she wanted to be near them.
Looking to the others, I watched them all exchange glances and I felt my eyes widen to see Cam walking up behind us with Taelin. I think Hunter must've sensed them as well because he let out a low growl and spun in place, leveling a pretty nasty glare at Cam.
"What're you doing?! We don't know if we can trust her! She could be lying! She could be working for Lothor!" he yelled angrily, looking guilty as Taelin took a step back and her eyes watered.
"Hey!"
Everyone spun to find Angie glaring darkly at Hunter. "You don't know me! Don't you dare state I'm a liar or working for some loser named Lofor!" she stated with her hands on her hips.
Lofor? I thought, biting back a giggle. I glanced at the others, silently, and watched as many of their faces formed broad grins.
"And how do we know you're not?!" Hunter demanded angrily, stalkig up and getting in to her face.
"Hey, you're Dragon Clan!" Taelin yelled excitedly as they reached us. "Cool! Another Dragon!"
"Not cool!" Hunter growled lowly, glaring at the newcomer in a way that clearly stated she wasn't welcome.
"Bro, I think you should relax." Blake stated quietly, firmly. "And put your wings away." Apparently, he'd already done so.
Staring at Blake silently a moment, Hunter sighed deeply and nodded slowly, reluctantly, folding his wings on his back before using his powers to hide them. "I just don't trust her." he stated quietly.
"God!" Angie groaned loudly. "What did I ever do to you?! You are such a jerk!" she yelled, stomping her foot angrily and turning her back on us in a huff.
I raised an eyebrow at her actions, but to be honest, kind of agreed. Ok, so maybe we might not all trust her, but we weren't about to state it openly, right in front of her.
Blinking a moment at her, Hunter turned and walked over to Taelin, kneeling down in front of her. After talking to her quietly, he sighed and turned to Cam, to see what he'd say.
"Well, I have to agree with Hunter that we don't know much about you." the Green Ranger stated slowly. "But my name is Cameron Watanabi. I actually have a few questions for you, if you'd care to take the time to answer them."
Shaking her head, Angie turned back around and eyed us all warily before sighing heavily and shrugging. "As long as it's not tall, dark and broody over there that asks them." she stated grumpily. Looking at Taelin a moment, she blinked before her eyes widened. "A Windian?!"
Looking to Cam, I noticed his eyes lighting up and knew the interrogation was just about to grow longer. Rolling my eyes, I eyed my board longingly, wondering if I'd be able to get away from the others for a brief surf.
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Ok, I got stuck on introducing the OC. I wanted to work on having Hunter end up with SOMEONE, and not Taelin, since I do agree that it would be very akward. I mean, he had to help her with her first period, and raised her from a baby, and it just seems like never-ending embarrassment for both of them.
Now that she's somewhat introduced, I have to think on what's going to happen next. Hmmm... I have ideas, I just need to pick through them.
Also, like I said before, no more leaving chapters sitting on my computer, because I don't want to risk losing them, so...
Hope you liked it.
I may not have quotes for the next chaper, a lot of the time, since I am posting them as soon as I finish them. We'll see on where I am when I am ready to post. Unfortunately, I don't have a quote for the next chapter, but it will deal at least partially, with the 'interrogation', from Angie's POV.
pinklen98 - Hunter is so gorgeous and broody, but I began the fic with the intention of having him end upwith someone. I mean, I just thought it was so unfair that he didn't have someone as close, like Blake had with Tori... So I want him to have someone.
Now, the journey is going to be fun. LOL.
R+R please
Thank you.
Tenshi