Volcano Storm ch 17

Blake watched the reunion taking place. Alexis was near-sobbing as she hugged her brother tightly. Josh was smiling as he held her tightly. They stayed that way for a while, before Alexis pulled herself back and looked at her brother. Soft words that Blake couldn't make out passed between the two, until Tori made her way to her cousins. Josh quickly pulled her in for a hug, with Alexis joining them in the family reunion. Blake caught Alexis smiling with a grin he hadn't seen in a long time. In fact the first time he'd seen it, the grin that let you know she was truly and completely happy, it was to his brother. Speaking of which.

Hunter was looking over the Hanson family. He was keeping his eyes stoic and face stony, but Blake knew his brother well enough to know he was hiding his emotions. Blake knew something had happened last night between Hunter and Alexis, he could feel. But Lord knows Hunter wouldn't easily tell him.

Tori was shocked. She had thought her older cousin was dead. Sure, she felt hopeful when they knew about the chance Josh had survived on Helicoid. But she didn't really, truly believe it until she saw him emerge from that hut. She was so stunned she could only watch as Alexis took off into her brothers arms. When she finally snapped back to reality, she went to her cousin quickly as she could. Josh smiled and graciously opened his arms to hug her just as tightly. She hugged him back with all her strength, before they opened the hug to Alexis.

As for Alexis, so many emotions were running through her, but all of them faded into a background buzz when she hugged Josh. He was back, her brother, her best friend. He was alive, he was here, he was hugging her, she was seeing him She knew she had begun to cry. Funny, she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She finally pulled away from him and spoke quietly, still radiating happiness.

"Ohmuhgod, you're here." she said.

"I'm here Alexis." he confrimed.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, baby sis."

"I'm not a baby." she said on default.

He smiled and looked up to see Tori. "Heya cuz."

"You are a horrible person." Tori said when they hugged. "Making us all as worried as we were."

"Worried, about me? I'm honored." Josh replied.

Alexis laughed as she joined her family. Together again. She had never thought it would happen.

Josh pulled away and smiled warmly at Shane, until he saw Hunter and Dustin. His smile immediately turned into a scowl.

"Thunders." he said with disdain.

"Hey, it's okay, they're with us." Tori tried to explain.

"Oh yeah, he knows." Dustin said. The company looked at him. "We didn't want him to freak or anything when he found out they were with us."

"For the record, that doesn't mean I like them being here." Josh added.

"For the record, we don't particularly enjoy being here." Blake retorted.

"Both of you that's enough." Tori said before any argument could escalate. Josh looked at her before rolling his eyes and nodding. He threw one last glare at the Bradleys.

"Why don't you all come in? We have a lot to talk about."

Josh's hut was larger than any other hut in the makeshift village. The front part was an open room, with animal pelts serving as rugs spread all over the floor. The only real furniture was a low table in the middle with a few cushions surrounding it. A small fire pit was off to the side, but due to the heat of the day, unlit. Hatches in the wall made it so sunlight poured inside. A wall closed off the back area, with a curtain leading into it. Josh led them in then turned to say something quietly to one of the other village members.

The eight ninja sat around the table, with Josh at the head, Alexis right next to him. Tori was on his right, and Danny was next to Alexis. Shane sat next to Tori, and on the other side of the table was the Bradley brothers, as far from Josh as possible. Dustin was next to Danny.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Josh began.

"You've got that right." Shane commented.

"By now, I'm guessing you've figured out what happened to me personally." Josh continued.

"Lothor sent you here." Tori said, "to get rid of you. And he made everyone think you were dead."

"Why does it sound so simple when she says it?" Alexis grumbled jokingly. Josh smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.

"But I guess this place seems weird to all of you." he finished.

"Weird? Try freakish. What exactly is this village? Why are there kids here? What's with the dragon who attacked us? And why can't we morph?" Hunter asked, sounding just a bit accusing.

Josh looked at Hunter with contempt. "Most people call it jigoku no mura. As for it's inhabitants, well, most people get here and realize there's no way out, so they move on with life. People here made homes, families, though I feel terrible for every kid born here. That dragon is one of many...creatures, that inhabit the island. For the most part they leave the village alone, but anyone who wonders to far has to be careful to avoid them. Nasty things." Josh explained. He it sink in for a moment.

"Kids.." Blake muttered to himself.

"But you never explained what was wrong with out morphers." Hunter said after a moment. More glaring from both the eldest Thunder and Fire ninja.

"Nothing is wrong with your morphers. But when you get near the center of the island, the connection to the morphing grid is cut off."

"So we can't morph, great."

"But there's an upside too." Danny added.

"Yeah, even though you lose your morphing powers, your ninja powers are like, way more intense." Dustin said.

"So that explains Tori's awesome moves against that dragon." Blake said. Tori blushed, and Alexis's smile faltered. Feeling her tense, Josh looked at her.

"You okay?" he whispered into her ear. She shrugged in the way that said, 'I'll-tell-you-later.'

"Hey Josh, are you in charge around here or something?" Shane questioned.

"Yeah, what made you the head-honcho?" Tori asked.

"You see, when I got here, no one worked together well. The village didn't really exist, just a bunch of huts spread out, far from each other. Monster attacks were way for frequent. And it was basically every family for themselves, unless you got here and allied with one of them. I just kinda helped the people work things out, and learn to work together. In return, I'm kinda just in charge of keeping the people. Any big decisions are made by a group, but with such a plain life style, there's really never anything to decide." Josh explained.

A call rang out before anyone said something. It was loud, and accompanied by banging drums.

"That means the food for the evening has been prepared. Come on, I bet your all hungry. Afterward, you should get some rest. You've had a long day." Josh said.

Dinner turned out to be a large event. A bunch of woman worked together to prepare a meal from whatever the hunters had. Everyone showed up and got something. Turns out, as long as you help in some way, you get to eat. The job of most the children was to clean after the meal was over. Josh was a hunter most of the time.

Later, they all returned to his home to get some sleep. Blankets and makeshift mattresses were brought for the boys. The back part of Josh's house was a bedroom, with a large mattress and small bench that resembled a couch. He insisted Tori and Alexis have the bed, and he would sleep on the couch. Since it was family, there was no issues.

When they all said goodnight, the three Hansons disappeared behind the curain. They were careful to keep voices low.

"Ok, who wants to tell me why a Thunder Ninja is hittting on my cousin?" Josh questioned. The girls both smiled.

"Her problem, not mine." Alexis pointed.

"Hey, I am not the one with something against them, you two are. Besides..." she even looked guilty.

"She really likes Blake." Alexis explained. Josh muttered something.

"Look, I'm just asking you to not kill them." Tori said. "And if you could be bothered, try and work together."

Josh looked at Alexis. "And are you okay?"

"Josh.."

"I'm serious Alexis. I don't want anything happening because these guys are around. You know what happened last time."

"Yes, I know, I was an idiot and I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Alexis said exasperated. Tori looked between her two cousins.

"Would anyone mind explaining that story to me. I mean, I know I agreed to not talk about it, but now that I know it was at the Thunder and you fell for Hunter, not to mention if you two keep bringing it up, I'd really like to know."

"Fine, in a second." Josh said, "Lex, what was up with you earlier? You got all weird when that dragon came up."

'I noticed that too."

Alexis sighed. "It's just that, when we were fighting it, I got this weird feel from it. I don't know how, but I could just tell. I think it was in pain."

"Pain?"

"I know it's crazy, but I'm serious. I think something might be up with it." Alexis defended herself.

"Hmm." from Josh. "Whatever is up with that green thing, we'll have to deal with it later. So, Tori, you wanted the story."

Alexis mostly stayed quiet as Josh explained what went down, adding in every now and then, even though it was her story. After they did that, the three went to bed. At least Alexis tried.

A/N- Sup everyone! New chapter, really just fill in the blank thing going on with it though. More of Lothor and the girls in the next chappy, I promise. And in case anyone was wondering about my bet, my dear sis basically called it off, so I guess I won.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

On the seventh, it will be the two-year anniversary of this story. In honor of that, I'm posting the official prequel. If anyone has an idea for a title, that'd be cool. But just check my profile sometime on the seventh, and it should be up unless tragedy striked. Its about Alexis during her time at the Thunder Academy. So, I've rambled on long enough, hopefully, I'll post more of this one soon.

Special Thanks to

Jessfairy88

The Silver Magician of Chaos

selena( I honestly don't think I've ever had one person review so many times so, here's a cookie (::) )

HunterBradley(thanks)

Sayonara Yasashii Akumu

LamoyaSmith vs blakeNtori( have I commented on how I love your name yet? I think I have)

AngelRose 15( aww thanks. I hope you find more PR fanfics that you enjoy)