December 26, 2009
Chapter 4:Temptation at the Temple
The village was small and feudal, but the pilot refused to travel any farther. RJ approached a local China man and inquired the whereabouts of the temple's location. "The man said that way, through the dense forest, upon the river follow it up to the apes' nest grounds, continue west, moving up to the raging waterway, cross that, then continue to follow the trees' web until the day's half eye blinds you, it will show you the way," the wolf ranger relayed to his teammates, upon his return.
"Oh, good, I would hate for this to be a walk in the park?" Casey muttered, adjusting his knapsack.
"Let's go, it will take us all day if we plan to make it. Plus, I don't think I can remember those directions for much longer," RJ laughed. Lily, Dom, Casey, and Theo looked on wearily, facing the thick forest that bordered the village.
RJ waved good-bye to the farmer, following his students into the jungle. The farmer waited until the rangers vanished from his sight to scurry inside his home. The dirty, ragged, Chinese man picked up the receiver to his phone and dialed a number from memory. "Hello, uh, Mr. Hartford, they have come for, uh, the temple. Yes, I will wait for them," the man agreed eagerly, nodding emphatically, even though, Andrew could not see him.
Theo smacked his arm for the seventh time that hour; the mosquitoes were eating him alive. Although, in retrospect, blood-sucking bugs should have been the least of their worries, as the sun set, animals of all sizes began to stir and wake, ready to prowl for their food. With the growing darkness and their pace slowing because of exhaustion, RJ quickly grabbed a piece of paper and pen from his bag and wrote the rest of the directions down. He turned to his team, who were dead tired and signaled that they rest for the night.
The quiet hum of the S.H.A.R.C. was soothing. "Get ready, we land soon," Will informed, toggling some switches. Ronny stared out the window listlessly. The thrill of journeying to another part of the world, on the cusp of an adventure, was nonexistent in the blue ranger. It was unacceptable to hold so much excitement. Not when they were missing two important people.
The Next Morning
The sky was violet, leisurely changing to a pastel purple. RJ aggressively shook Dom awake, as the others wiped the sleep from their eyes. "Quickly, before dawn approaches," the Pai Zhuq Master persisted. Dom sluggishly collected his things, packing them sloppily into his bag.
"Why the rush, RJ?" the rhino ranger yawned.
"The 'day's half eye', I think it's the sunrise," RJ supplied, re-reading the notes he jotted down on the paper. "We'll need the sun to lead the way and dawn will be approaching soon."
The forest chirped and growled with wild life. Rustling from the rangers' footsteps, as well as other predators, mixed with the static of bugs. They continued to hike through the dense, dark jungle, evading the man-sized spider webs. Eventually they reached an open area that was clear of any foliage. Feeling they had lost their opportunity, the sun surfacing, the wolf ranger breathed a sigh of relief as he was forced to shield his eyes. The glare coming from his left brought him an immense amount of joy. "This way," he called, the others following.
Theo and Lily helped Casey up, having finished scaling a cliff. The sight was beautiful; a blanket of green, canopies layered on top of each other, when looked from above resembled a sea of green. The jungle so full of life brought a sense of completeness and amazement to the rangers. Sticky and caked with dirt, the Jungle Fury rangers turned to face the temple.
Lily noted the accurate portrayal Mr. Hartford gave. The civilization was in ruins, walls left in piles of rubble, overgrown vegetation. Still, the cheetah was in awe of the workmanship of the manmade canals and homes. The temple sat in the center of the city, raised above everything else. Theo's shoulders slumped, gazing upon the several flights of steps he would have to climb.
The arduous journey left the five rangers tired, but not defeated. Now at the entry way, blocked by parts of the wall that was responsible for the cave-in, Lily felt her skin crawl. "Are we really going to do this?"
Casey turned to the dancer. "What do you mean?"
"This was – you know – their final resting place," she explained, gesturing to the clogged entrance. The men examined the doorway before turning back to the cheetah.
"I understand, Lily," RJ spoke, waltzing over to the young ranger, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "However, we need to see if there is more information in there about the Devil's Eye."
"You don't think their bodies are in there?" Dom asked, his voice faltering.
"Uh, yes, in fact, looking at how the entry way is untouched, I guess the coffins used at the funeral were empty," RJ proposed.
"Ugh," Theo couldn't formulate words, the feeling of wanting to vomit too strong. "They were crushed to death," the jaguar finally said. Casey shuttered at the thought, the necessity to excavate the temple to find out more about the gem was beginning to be less of an absolute. Even RJ, who had remained silent other than to answer questions, started to have second thoughts about defiling the place.
"Well, well, I see you have come to seek more information as well," Camille spoke up, Rinsaur in tow.
"We won't let you pass; you won't disrupt their resting place!" Lily declared, spreading her arms out wide, emphasizing her point. Suddenly, their mission was no longer to learn more about the Devil's Eye, but to protect the resting spot of two deceased rangers.
"I could care less about the dead – they're dead! What Dai Shi wants is what he'll get," Camille sneered. Dai Shi's general transformed into her more powerful form, preparing to fight for entrance. The five rangers morphed and charged. As insurance, Camille called for rinshi, stalling a direct and fair fight with the rangers.
As the rangers combated the rinshi and Rinsaur, Camille contemplated the best way to cut through the boulders and gain entrance to the temple. The chameleon was interrupted by two shots. Angry, she turned to see who dared to shoot at her. With an arrogant smile and cocky stance, Will Aston waved his drive blaster.
"I think she told you to leave," Ronny said cool and calmly, arms folded across her chest. The Overdrive rangers didn't leave Camille room to talk her way out of a confrontation as the four rangers split up. Ronny and Will began attacking Camille while Dax and Tyzonn helped decimate the rinshi. Soon, all that was left was Rinsaur and Camille, surrounded by both ranger teams.
Noticing she was pressed against the very wall that was created during the cave-in, Camille smiled devilishly at her brilliant idea. "Rinsaur, plow through the rock."
The upper level rinshi collected energy, radiating a mixture of grey and white. "This doesn't look good," Dom observed, drawing his rhino blade.
As the Jungle Fury team watched, stunned by the immense energy gathered, the Overdrive rangers called for their drill blaster, trying as quickly as possible to charge the weapon. Rinsaur turned his back to the rangers, kicking up dirt in preparation to charge like a raging bull. The rinshi tumbled forward making a dent, but not enough to clear all the debris. Camille looked at the smoking drill blaster. To everyone's surprise, Rinsaur was still alive.
"Quickly, clear the rest of the rock away," Camille ordered.
"I'm sorry, but I've lost all my power up," the rinshi beast apologized. By now, the shock wearing off, Casey, Lily, and Theo were in position to fire the claw cannon.
"This isn't over," Camille snarled, throwing a smoke pellet enabling her and Rinsaur's escape.
"It never is," Theo retorted. Powering down, both teams faced each other.
"Thank you," RJ immediately spoke.
"No problem," Will said, brushing the words of gratitude off like it was nothing more than holding a door open.
"Thank you for . . ." Ronny bit her lip, holding back tears, "for leaving them to rest in peace."
"We'd like to help," the Dax added.
"It would – it would bring closure," the mercury ranger stuttered, sighing as he thought about the two friends he lost.
"I don't know what help you would be, we're at a dead end," Dom said flatly.
"Will," Mr. Hartford said in the black ranger's headset, "bring the Jungle Fury rangers back to the Command Center."
"Got it," confirmed the artifact hunter.
Command Center
Bewildered by the Overdrive rangers' headquarters, the underground base, the sci-fi look, it was hard at first for the Jungle Fury rangers to concentrate on the task ahead of them. "This is incredible," Casey breathed.
"Thank you," Andrew smiled. "I've been doing some research, and I think I've made some progress. While yes, the drawings do not seem to show a location of the next jewel," Mr. Hartford clarified, looking at his team, "they do seem to tell about a battle that happened over thousands of years ago."
"What happened?" the actor inquired.
"That is what I'm unsure about. The drawings show five warriors leading an army to battle a group of other warriors. It looks as if the five warriors, here," Andrew paused to point to the respective characters, "are being . . . aided by five animal beasts, I think," the archeologist trailed off, his eyes straining to understand the pictures.
At the mention of animals, RJ stepped forward and examined the pictures. With Andrew's and RJ's backs turned to them, the others were left in a cloud of mystery and anxiousness to know what was happening. It couldn't be, RJ thought, scratching the stubble growing on his face.
"What is it, RJ?" Casey asked curiously.
"These are animal spirits," the wolf ranger paused, unable to wrap his mind around the discovery. "I think these are the first students of Pai Zhuq."
~ End Chapter 4