Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, places, and events not found in Ninja Storm.
Chapter 3: Meetings
The day after the Rangers and Chris met, he went out for a run, when Sam noticed him.
"Chris! Chris!"
The White Ranger frowned as he heard his name being called, until he saw the Forest Ninja jogging up to him.
"What are you doing here," Chris asked.
"I'm going out on my daily run, and I take this route. What are you doing?"
"Same, apparently. I found a path near my apartment yesterday, and run that for my aerobics activity."
"Mind if I join you? We're both doing the same thing."
"Not at all. I could use the pleasant company," Chris said as Sam smiled. "Let's go."
The White and Green Rangers started back on their run as Chris showed the path he found to Sam.
"I know this path. I've gone down it before. There's a hidden treasure here, if you don't mind taking a detour. It's only 5 miles from here."
"Lead the way."
"Come," Sam said as she went up a small hill and into the forest, with Chris following. Upon entering a clearing, Sam led Chris down a narrow path until they reached a cliff overlooking the city.
"Whoa," Chris said as he gazed at the scenery. This was an excellent vantage point, and it was quiet, with the exception of the chirping of birds and the activity of the rabbits and deer in the woods.
"I never tire of this view," Sam said as she gazed upon the seemingly never-ending forest and the mountain in the distance.
"This would be a great place to meditate," Chris said with a far off look on his face.
Sam looked at the White Ranger curiously. "Hunter hates meditation. He'd much rather be active."
"It has its advantages. While I also like to be active, meditation helps me maintain control. I just had too much anger and energy to burn off yesterday, so I decided to practice instead."
Sam nodded. "I see. There's someone I want to introduce you to. She's the owner of the local hangout, Storm Chargers. But first, we should finish our run, shower, and change into some regular clothes."
Chris nodded, and the two ran back to Chris' apartment.
"You live here? Where's your apartment," Sam asked as she saw Chris stop at the Youth Center.
"I'm in the apartment above the Center. In exchange for letting me live there free of charge, Rocky and Aisha want me to work for them, a fair tradeoff. You can take a shower here if you want, but I don't have any Green clothes, and even if I did, they wouldn't fit you," Chris said as he looked at Sam's petite frame.
"No need. I have a change of clothes in my car, where I always have a change ready in case of an emergency. I also have some shampoo, if you don't mind me using your shower."
"Go ahead. I'll let you in. Just grab your stuff."
Chris showed Sam where the shower was as he grabbed some bottles of water and some fruit, setting a water bottle and an orange and grapes aside for Sam, who emerged about 10 minutes later. She was pleasantly surprised to see the fruit and water, and dug in after being told it was for her.
"Wow, you don't eat junk food, do you?"
"I stay away from it as much as possible. I indulge every once in a while, but otherwise eat healthy."
"Good frame of mind," the Forest Ninja said. "I'm the same. I like a lot of the junk foods, but only have it like once in a blue moon. And I promptly work it off afterwards."
"Yeah, same here. I'm trying to maintain my build, not get fat."
The White and Green Rangers finished their fruit and washed their hands.
"Come on," Sam said. "I'll drive us."
Chris got in the passenger seat, and Sam drove to Storm Chargers, parking her car in the parking lot and brought him inside. Kelly came to the front after hearing the door open, and her jaw dropped.
"It can't be," Kelly said as she approached Chris, a look of awe on her face. "I don't believe it."
"Believe what, Kelly," Tori asked as she walked up to her boss.
"It's not everyday you see an up and coming star in the Winter sports community making an appearance."
Tori frowned. "Wait, what?"
Kelly gestured to Chris. "He's particularly noted for his skills in snowboarding and Snocross."
"What's Snocross," Dustin asked as he and Blake came up.
"I'm surprised you don't know of it. Think of it as the winter version of motocross. We race snowmobiles. Which reminds me: I need to see about trails. My foster father sent down my snowmobile, but I need to find a trail.
"The most well-known trail is located not far from my store, near the base of the mountain. It has the perfect terrain for it. Although I must warn you that your presence might cause a bit of a scene for the more avid members of the community."
"How so," Dustin asked.
"As she already mentioned, I'm starting to get recognized. I'm shooting for the 2008 Olympics, but in the meantime want to get into the X Games again."
"Wait, again? You were in them before?"
"Yeah, last year. There have been many participants who took part in multiple consecutive X Games holdings. It's nothing new."
"So what sports do you do," Tori asked Chris.
"I've tried a lot of winter sports, but am serious about Snocross and snowboarding. Bobsledding is pretty cool, but that's only a hobby, as is skiing, albeit a more serious hobby. I do like getting into the occasional skiing competition, after all."
"What about Watercross? You do that," Kelly asked.
Chris nodded. "Of course. It's great to help keep my skills sharp when I'm not on the trails."
"What areas of snowboarding do you do?"
"Freestyle, and to be more specific, superpipe and slopestyle, generally."
"You do freestyle," Dustin asked, his interest piqued.
Chris nodded. "It's not freestyle moto that you're a part of, but yeah. That reminds me," he turned to look at Kelly. "Is there a superpipe anywhere in the city?"
"That's not being used by skateboarders? Yeah, there is. I have to head out for an errand, anyway. If you want, I can show you now."
"If it's not a problem, sure."
Kelly nodded and showed Chris the superpipe. She was right-it wasn't far at all. He went over and took a look at it, impressed with it.
"Excellent. Although there doesn't seem to anybody here practicing," he said with a frown.
"There are people who practice freestyle snowboarding, but the vast majority of Blue Bay residents who use halfpipes are skateboarders, rather than snowboarders."
"OK. At least I know there'll be less chance of someone ripping off the stunts I've been coming up with and try to claim them as their own."
"I just wish I knew about you before the DeSantos' did. I could've used someone whose specialty is winter sports."
Chris gave a lopsided grin. "Can't have the entire team," he said in a low voice so only she could hear.
Kelly's heart leapt into her throat. "You're…one of them?"
His eyes flickered to the morpher that was hidden under his sleeve, and her eyes followed his gaze. "I see. Now I really wish I had known about you first. I would've loved to have the entire set. But I can't deprive the Youth Center of its people.
Anyway, the Youth Center won't open until next week. So you have several days to practice on the superpipe, or Snocross. Which reminds me, the trail is right there," she said pointing to the base of the mountain a quarter of a mile back, close to her store.
"Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of places where you can practice slopestyle. There's a place on the outskirts of the city, but that's pretty much it."
"That's quite all right. You've already done a great deal, and I appreciate it. I just have to ask now: I have to replace some of my equipment. Do you sell it?"
"I do now. I didn't before, but due to booming business, I was able to expand my store and put in a Winter sports section. Anything you need can be found there, and if it's not there, I can easily order it. You can buy the stuff today, if you want."
"Sounds good. I need to get a new snowboard, anyway. "
"Then let's head back. But like I said, now that you're starting to get real attention, your presence may cause a bit of a scene for fans of Winter sports. And we do have an avid Winter sports following here in Blue Bay," Kelly warned.
Chris merely shrugged and he and Kelly headed back to the store. He was quickly able to find what he needed, even the perfect snowboard. As warned, a few people swarmed Chris, mostly women looking to get his autograph, and a few guys asking for recommendations on equipment and techniques. After giving his advice and purchasing his equipment, the White Ranger headed back to his apartment. After getting an alert from Sensei Watanabe, he hopped into his car and headed to the forest, changing into his uniform upon entrance to Ninja Ops.
Ninja Ops
The team was gathered in Ops, with everyone either training or sparring. Chris sat in a corner meditating. Soon enough Blake was sent spiraling back by a well-placed kick by Tori. Blake tried to stop his wayward course, only to be stopped by Chris' arm, which had shot out to halt Blake's tumble. The Thunder Ninja turned around and saw he was sent towards the Ice Ninja.
"Sorry," Blake said.
"You're good," Chris said.
"What are you doing meditating there," Tori asked as she came up to him.
"People were sparring. Meditating in a corner cuts down the chances of someone getting knocked into me."
Tori smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."
Shane shook his head. "Why are you even meditating when you should be practicing?"
"The better question is, why are you dictating my actions? Where do you get off?"
"I'm the leader of the team…"
"Who knows nothing of my sect," Chris said, cutting Shane off. The Red Ranger got upset with this, and Chris noticed.
"Are you really so quick to anger? Where's the discipline a Red is supposed to embody?"
"Chris said he meditates to help maintain control," Sam said as she finished sparring with Dustin. Chris nodded.
"Our power cokes with the price of requiring additional exercises. We can't afford to get sloppy. We do, people die. It's that simple."
Shane scoffed. "What makes you so powerful? You're just a popsicle."
"That 'popsicle' can achieve the theorized temperature of absolute zero. Nothing else in nature or manmade can do that," Cam said. "My father leaves for one afternoon, and you try to provoke your teammate, Shane? Feel lucky he hasn't struck you yet."
"But if you keep it up, he likely will," Sam finished. "And nobody will try to stop him."
Chris just shook his head and stood up, making the shorter Shane look up. "I'll say the same I told Sam there: I won't put up with your crap. You want to work together? Fine. But it won't matter to me if you don't. I'm not here to pander to your fragile ego."
Shane tried to strike, but Chris effortlessly caught the Red Ranger's leg, and the team quickly noticed a dip in the room's temperature. Shane hopped out of the White Ranger's grip, rubbing his very cold leg. The others looked at Chris, who slowly raised an Ice coated fist. "Care to try that again," he growled.
"Let's not," Sam said as she got in between the two Rangers. She looked up at Chris. "C'mon. It's a beautiful day. Let's get some training in outside." Chris nodded and the White and Green Rangers walked out of Ops.
"That's a very good idea," Cam exclaimed. "All of you get out of here. The fresh air can do you some good. And Shane," he continued as Shane turned back to Cam. "Next time you provoke an attack, I'll let him follow through."
Shane shook his head and left Ops to train with the others. Cam sighed deeply after the last Ranger left.
"This isn't going to be fun," he thought. "How can he trust us when Shane is being so difficult?"
Resolving to find out more about the Ice Ninja, Cam pulled out a few scrolls and set them on the table. He couldn't believe the paucity of content on Chris' order compared to the others. He just hoped the Ice Ninja didn't end up killing Shane before Lothor was even defeated.
