Chapter 22
A slight buzz began from where Josh held his forearm and spread throughout his body. Hunter closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to intensify. He recalled when Alexis had tricked the portal into believing he and Blake were fire ninja, and slightly regretted blowing up at her. Slightly. It was still Hunter after all, and he was still far to stubborn.
The feeling however, decreased before turning into pain. Hunter waited a minute for it to begin again, but all remained still. 'Great,' he thought, 'the only guy here who'd know anything about this, and he can't do it.' He opened his eyes and mouth, ready to repeat his thoughts to the fire ninja.
"Whoa." he said instead. They were no longer in the tiny hut, they were standing on a beach, with clear blue skies above them and the ocean stretching out before them. "Where are we?"
"Hawaii." Josh answered calmly, though he was still taking in the sights. "Home. I've missed this place." he dropped his hold on Hunter arm, bending down and scooping a handful of sand, before straightening and letting it run through his fingers. The smile on his face reminded Hunter of some cheesy movie where the hero is back to something they love for the first time in a long time.
"So, this is the Volcano." Hunter said, gazing around.
"Pretty much. See that pit of rocks over there," he pointed to the left, "that's where we have bonfires. Back there," he turned a pointed to a cluster of boulders, "the first rocks is where a bunch of the kids used to sit and suntan, or knock the sand out of there shoes. The rocks further back is the entrance to the VA. And going up from that, would be an active volcano."
"Your school is in an active volcano?" Hunter asked incredulously.
"Is your school actually in a waterfall? Course not, it's behind the volcano, that's just the portal."
Hunter chose to ignore the sarcasm. "So, why are we here."
"My guess, Alexis' dreams, when they are not a nightmare, shape into a fantasy/faux reality of hers. This was her favorite place to be, so it makes sense."
"So, because she's having a good dream, we're in her personal fantasy."
"Basically. And if this is her fantasy, Alexis should be right..out..there!" Josh pointed to the distant waves. When Hunter squinted, sure enough, he saw a scarlet board flash between the waves. "I personally never like surfing much, but, to each his own." Josh said with a shrug.
"Well come on, lets go get her." Hunter said, beginning to move towards the water. Josh caught up quickly.
"Hold it, Thunder."
"You are not gonna try this again."
"Just listen. Look, can't you feel the sand under your feet."
"Duh, why?"
"We are in Alexis' subconscious. So, she's fine, the mind won't hurt itself. However, since we're technically just trespassers, everything that happens here is real to us."
"You're point?"
"Say Alexis' mind shifts. That ocean becomes a tsunami, and she'll be fine of course, but us, very possibly not."
Hunter just looked at Josh for a second. He had no right to say anything, as he both had the power to control thunder and was a Power Ranger, but he couldn't help thinking, 'How the hell is this even possible.'
"Our best bet, is too wait until she comes in."
"When will that be?"
"I have no clue, she loves the waves." Josh looked back out at his sister, before his eyes narrowed on something lower. "Come on, I think I see her stuff."
So the boys walked up the beach until they came to where the belongings lied. A scarlet towel was laid across the sand, with another sitting folded up next to it. An over sized beach bag was on its side in the sand, with a few of its contents spilling out. The boys sat in silence. Hunter almost chuckled to himself. Any other circumstance and the interaction of a Thunder and Fire student would result in an instant fight to the death. Yet here he was sitting on a beach with his supposedly worst enemy. He looked over to Josh, but instead the contents of the bag caught his eyes.
"What the.." he asked when he picked up the shirt.
"What is it?"
"This is my shirt." he said, not sure whether or not to be creeped out.
"Like I said, ideal reality. She wants to be home, she wants to be in peace, and she obviously wants to be with you. That's probably the sign for in this world, she's dating you." Josh replied, his demeanor very nonchalant.
"Let me guess, another reason you want her out of here?"
Josh's silence was answer enough. For the second time that day, Hunter rolled his eyes at his cold behavior.
"OK dude, not to get all philosophical on you, but I remember Sensei Omino teaching us about the difference between hate and hatred. Hate can be taught, hate is how our schools mostly feel towards the other but, hatred, it's not taught it's born. And you are definitely a hatred guys. So really, why?"
Josh seemed to take ten minuted inhaling and exhaling one breath. "Alexis, never, told you the full story, did she?"
"I know it has something to do with your parents death."
"Yeah. Twelve years ago, my mom and dad took us to the park. It was this, sorta tradition, every Saturday we went out for lunch and then to the playground. It was this murky day, and we were the only ones dumb enough to be out in the cold. My mom was throwing a baseball with me, and Dad was pushing 'Lexi on the swings." As Josh described it Hunter could paint a picture in his head. A happy family, peaceful, content, unsuspecting. "Then, all of a sudden, these men appear out of nowhere. Just these two guys, all dressed in black, but when my parents saw the Thunder symbol," Josh briefly nodded to the symbol on Hunter's chest, "they freaked. Mom pushed me down and started sparring against one of them, while the other went for my dad, who pulled these two knives out of thin air, I hadn't even known he carried weapons." Josh interrupted his own story. Hunter cocked his head, genuinely interested even though he knew how the story would end.
"It all blurred together. They fought, and fought, and then my mom screamed and I saw her fall, and my dad yelled something, and a knife appeared in her killers back, and as he fell my dad ran to my mom, but the other ninja was too quick, and..." Hunter pretended to not notice the water gathering at the corners of the mans eyes. "And they died. They were killed, brutally, by Thunder ninja, even though they hadn't done anything. The Thunders just killed them because they thought since they were were Fire ninja it was the right thing to do. No regard for the fact that they had lives and children. So, that." He turned back to Hunter. "That's where my hatred was born."
Hunter nodded in understanding. "And, Alexis?"
"Was too young, is too innocent. Alexis doesn't really hate anyone. Just me on occasion, when I'm being an ass. She doesn't like the Thunder Academy, but, she doesn't place blame on the students." Josh explained, eyes back on the water.
"My birth parents didn't want me." Hunter revealed. "I went to a dozen foster homes before I was adopted. I loved my parents more than anything in the world. My dad got me into dirt-bike racing, my mom always helped with my work, they were great. And then they were killed."
Josh's head shot back to the other orphan. "Alexis mentioned something about that. The night we left your academy."
"A night I remember completely." Hunter said sarcastically. "Anyway, I didn't know who murdered my parents, and that killed me more than anything. When I was told it was Sensei Watanabe, I immediately believed it because I wanted someone to blame so badly. That turned out to be a lie, but now I know who really killed them."
"And do you hate them?"
Hunter thought over the question. "I guess I do." Another few moments went by before Hunter started shaking his head in the negative. "Look man, this whole opening up thing, really not my style."
Josh actually laughed. Hunter realized this one only the second time he had even seen the guy grinned, the first of course being in reunion with his family. "No worries. Don't think about it as opening up, think of what just happened as my routine interrogation of any guy interested in my sister." Josh let out the last of his chuckles as he finished, "But your not a bad guy Hunter. When we take away the whole ninja thing."
Hunter chose not to retort. Another question had floated across his mind. "Why'd you let me come?"
"Huh?"
"You didn't have to. You could of done this by yourself but you brought me instead. Why?"
Josh sighed. He didn't look annoyed at Hunter like he did before. He just seemed..tired. "I could tell from watching Alexis' face she was in a fantasy. And she subconsciously knows as long as she's here, she'll continue being in a world where she ha no problems. Let's face it, anyone would want that. She needs to be talked into wanting reality back. But she wouldn't listen to me."
"How come?"
"She and I had a little dispute. I forbade her from seeing you, and she didn't want to comply. She'll listen to you though."
"Wait, you did what?"
"Ah, there she is." Hunter looked up to see Alexis. She looked like something coming out of a sports magazine. Her wild red hair waved in the wind behind her, the scarlet surfboard held under one tanned arm, and she smiled was wide as the sea itself. Hunter registered Josh getting up and walking back up the beach, to not piss off his possibly mentally-unstable little sister. When Alexis saw Hunter, confusion flashed across her face, but soon turned into another, smaller, smile.
"Hunter." she said when she reached him. "What's up?" With such an easygoing question, Hunter wondered whether she realized they were in a dream or not.
"Oh, nothing much." Hunter said to test her reaction. If she caught he that he wasn't serious, she knew none of this was real. But she just nodded ever so slightly. She placed her board next to her things and reached down to grab her towel and dry off.
Hunter studied her, considering how to best approach the situation. He was in Alexis' personnel dreams, and she had no clue that everything around her wasn't reality. "Take a walk with me?" he suggested.
"Sure." She picked up the shirt from the ground and threw it on. They began walking down the beach , side by side. There was a peaceful silence between them.
Hunter didn't know how long he walked before deciding on the indirect approach. "Can I ask you some thing 'Lexis?"
"You just did." she smiled at him cheekily, which was then returned.
"Very funny. But I'm serious."
"Hunter, you know you can ask me anything."
Hunter took a deep breathe. "Okay then. Why didn't you tell me about your condition?"
Alexis stopped suddenly. Her eyes pulled back from sweet happiness to uncomfortable realization. "Condition?" she asked meekly.
"The Idiopathic Hypersomnia."
"I guess it just never came up." Alexis had looked at the ground. Hunter waited as she took a breath, then another. "Which means there is only one way you could know about it." Alexis began to shake her head slowly, up, and down, up, and down. "Except, I don't have a sleeping disease. Not here. Which means I'm in a dream." She looked back at Hunter, and it pained him to see the tears pooling in her eyes. "None of this is real." he realized she was begging him to contradict her.
" Alexis." he began.
"This is all in my head." Alexis began to shake as the tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
'She's so different here. Vulnerable, fragile, it's not like her at all.' Hunter thought to himself. "Hey hey, come here." he told her and pulled her into his arms. She continued to shake as she sank into his embrace, clutching his shirt. They stayed that way for a few more minutes before Alexis' body began to still and she calmed herself. Finally pulling away, she looked Hunter in the eye.
"How'd you get here?"
"Josh brought me. He was worried sick about you."
"It's normal. He tends to freak whenever I get stuck."
"It's because he loves you."" Hunter said.
Alexis scoffed. But then she took another deep breathe and looked back the way they had come. "I know he loves me. But sometimes it's like he hates me being happy."
"You mean like, not letting you date me." Alexis cocked her head in question. "He filled me in." Hunter explained.
"I just wish he wouldn't try and control me. I'm almost 18, I can make my own choices, and I do not need older brother watching every step to make sure none of those choices are mistakes."
"He just wants to protect you." Hunter reasoned.
"If you wanted to protect me, would you do it by not letting me have my own life?" Alexis shot back.
A pause. "Good point."
Alexis sighed again. She turned around and looked over the ocean her mind had created, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want to leave. I don't have to deal with any of that here."
"But if you stay, you'll die in the real world."
"But if I leave, I'll go have to go back to being perfect-little-Alexis, the poor girl who lost her parents so she trained herself to be a Fire Ninja prodigy. Who was always the teachers pet, who would help any other student with anything, who would someday do something to make everyone so-freaking-proud." Alexis angrily said.
It was Hunters turn to sigh, in frustration. "There you go again. Acting like its everyone else fault, like you can't do a single thing to change your own life, your stuck as you are forever."
"Hunter just..."
"No, Alexis, listen." He stepped around so she was looking at him again. "Stop complaining. You don't like your life, change it. You don't want to hate for no reason, stop. You don't want to be controlled by Josh, don't be."
Alexis was quiet for a few more moments. "Your right." she finally said.
"Did Alexis Hanson just admit someone else was right?"
"Oh shut up." she said, but some of the playfulness had returned. "I can't be controlled forever. I need to make my own decisions."
"Can't do that from in here."
"Your right." she walked a few steps away from him. "I want to leave." she said loudly. Just like that, the world around them began to change. The sky darkened, the water became still, the foliage's color began to fade. With the changes, Josh appeared behind them.
"Time to go, if we don't get outta here before Alexis wakes up, everyone's mind could be fried." He instructed. Hunter turned to say something more to Alexis, but Josh caught him by the shoulder. "She'll be fine, wait until you see her in the real world." and just like that, Hunter felt him and Josh slipping away, out of the faux world.
He awoke again in the tiny hut. It was now vacant of its other occupants, leaving the three alone. He had been positioned so that he was propped against the bed, head in his arm on the mattress. His other hand held Alexis'. He moved so he sat next to her.
"She's fine." Josh's voice came from behind him. He was leaning next to the fireplace, closer than Hunter would have thought comfortable. "It's normal now. Go ahead, wake her up."
So Hunter leaned over and gently shook Alexis. The time in between that and her eyes fluttering open was painfully extended. But soon they did and Alexis' green eyes stared up at him.
When Alexis had pulled herself together and stood, the three were left with a somewhat awkward silence. Alexis finally walked over to her brother, who quickly pulled her into a hug, which was returned. When he released her, he said, "I'm really glad your okay Alexis."
"You should know better than to worry. I have a habit of somehow escaping bad situations."
"All the same, it's my job to worry. But when we get home.."
"Josh, don't finish that sentence." Alexis interrupted. He looked at her like she had told him not to breathe. She took a deep breath, and stepped a few steps back from him.
"Alexis?" he questioned.
"I'm done, Josh. I'm not gonna just take orders from you anymore. I can't have someone telling me what to do. I'm nearly 18, I need to start controlling my own life."
Josh, for his part, looked like he had been slapped. When he finally said something, it was, "I never meant to control you. I just wanted to protect."
Alexis shook her head. "I'm not the same baby girl I once was. I don't need your protection. And I don't want it."
"'Lexis, are you sure?"
Alexis looked at him, and Hunter feared she was going to back down on the whole thing. But she turned around, so her gaze focused on him instead. She walked the few steps to him and before anyone processed what was occurring, she had her lips pressed hard against Hunters. He of course complied, immediately kissing her back. This kiss was different from their first fiery, passion-filled one they had shared just last night. It was gentle, loving. And it ended as quickly as it began.
She looked to her brother. "I'm positive."
A/N- and so concludes chapter 22. What'd you think. I rather liked her dream sequence, those are always fun to right. Anyway, this wasn't going to be up for another week, but a message from emberlyho prompted me to get it up sooner. Anyway, I'm really excited that Volcano Storm is starting to wrap up, so review, and I'll get the last chunk of chapters to y'all quicker.
Special thanks to
kitten9322
lillyrosenight
Blueflowers
HunterBradley
. .For
AngelRose15
Lamoyasmith vs BlakeNTori
ninjaxman
and of course, emberlyho
AND PLEASE EVERYONE REMEMBER TO GO VOTE ON MY HOME PAGE ON WHETHER OR NOT ALEXIS AND HUNTER SHOULD END THE RIVALRY BETWEEN THE SCHOOLS
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