Episode 26: Part 1
Isabel Herrera gave a warm smile as she watched the small group of elementary school children hurry to take their seats in the classroom as the school bell rang. Today was going to be her first day of working as a teacher's assistant. As a requirement for her Education major, she was to begin getting classroom experience and eventually doing more student teaching next year when she was a Junior.
The classroom was adorned with upcoming Halloween decorations and at the front blackboard, the older teacher Mrs. Pierce quieted the children before gesturing over toward Izzy, "Class, today we have a special visitor. She's studying to become a teacher and will be helping out in the classroom for the next few months. I'd like you all to be on your best behavior and please welcome Miss Herrera."
The Pink Ranger gave a smile and wave to the children as they all chorused, "Good morning Miss Herrera."
As Izzy looked over the room, she heard the kids muttering amongst each other, some of the girls commenting on how pretty she looked, while other boys wondered if she would be mean. For a moment, her eyes fell on a smaller looking girl with blonde pigtails who seemed to have a glum face and look a little distracted.
Izzy's curiosity was interrupted as Mrs. Pierce cleared her throat and looked over the room, "Ok class, now pull out your pencils and erasers. We're going to be going over some more subtraction problems today. Isabel, could you help pass out the worksheets?"
Later that day during the lunch hour, Izzy made her way out to the playground where the students filtered out to after eating. As she passed by a few older kids playing a game of tag in the chilly October air, she spotted a group of children circling the same small blonde girl with pigtails from her class.
When she approached, she heard a chorus of their laughing and taunting voices, "Geez Laurel, you're such a baby. I can't believe you're too scared to come with. Chicken! Chicken!"
As they taunted her, Laurel held up her two purple mittens over her ears to try and ignore them.
"Hey! Basta ya! (Stop it) Break it up already," Izzy called out sharply as she walked over with a frown. The other children took one look at the student teacher and immediately stopped before dispersing in a hurry.
The Pink Ranger softened her expression and knelt down to speak to the little girl whose lip was now quivering. "Hey Laurel, is everything ok?" she asked gently, "Those kids weren't bullying you, were they?"
"No Miss Herrera."
Izzy fixed her with a pointed look making Laurel relent a little, "Ok, maybe a little... but they're kinda right about me being a big scaredy cat."
"Why?"
The little girl took a deep breath and sighed, "Some of the older kids said that they saw a fairy by the park near the school. They say that if you follow it into the woods there, it becomes a beautiful fairy princess and could grant you a wish. But the woods are scary."
The Pink Ranger sighed and shook her head, "Well, I wouldn't believe that. It sounds like they're just making up a big story to tease other kids with."
"But still I don't want the other kids to think I'm a scared little baby," the girl protested, "And they're only going to make more fun when they see my Halloween costume later this month."
Izzy decided to try and change the subject to take the girl's mind off the crazy story, "Oh really? What are you going to be for Halloween?"
Laurel stopped a moment and smiled, "I'm going to be the Pink Power Ranger! The one who flies around this city and saves people!"
Izzy suddenly gave a bright smile and pointed at her pink blouse under her coat, "Oh? Well pink is my favorite color and I happen to be a big fan of her too."
The little girl nodded, "Really? I wish I could be just like the Pink Ranger sometimes. She's so brave, and strong, and pretty."
Izzy couldn't help but blush a little, "Oh, don't worry. I'm positive you'll grow up to be just like her. Plus, I think she already knows how much you admire her too."
"Really? How?"
Izzy leaned closer to Laurel with a smile and said quietly, "I think you met one of my friends last winter around Christmas time. His name was Joe and he had a red scarf. He found your gloves in the city and you told him how much you love Power Rangers, remember?"
Laurel frowned a moment before remembering, "Oh yeah! When my Mommy was in the hospital. Is he your boyfriend or something Miss Herrera?"
The Pink Ranger chuckled in slight embarrassment before correcting her, "No. He's just a very good of friend from my school, but he told me later that he actually got a chance to meet the Pink Ranger and he passed along your message."
"Cool!" Laurel smiled, "Now I just wish I could invite her to my class Halloween party next week."
At that, the recess bell rang and Izzy rose, leading Laurel back inside the school, "I'm sure she'd love to come if she could, but right now, it's time for you to go back to class."
Later that week, Izzy took a seat at the Mugshot café back on campus to join her fellow Rangers over a cup of coffee. Danny and Kara were still ordering at the counter and the others chatted idly while they waited.
"So Iz, how is student teaching going?" Claire asked curiously as she pulled some lint off her white hooded sweater.
"So far so good," the Pink Ranger smiled, "Oh, and Joe... it turns out that little girl you helped in the city last winter is in my class. Remember Laurel? The Pink Ranger fangirl?"
"How about that?" Joe chuckled as Kara and Danny took seats beside him. "Fate is pretty strange sometimes, huh?"
"Do you know what else is strange?" Kara chimed in brandishing a newspaper she had been reading. "It would seem a few students from that same school were hurt just the other day."
The other Rangers turned and looked at her curiously as she began to paraphrase the article she had been reading, "According to this paper, five children, all students at Meadowlark Elementary School went wandering through the nearby woods. No one was seriously harmed but three of them fell down a steep incline and broke a few bones."
"What the heck were those young kids doing?" Danny asked with a frown, "Don't they know its dangerous?"
Kara turned back to the paper, "It says here they were playing some kind of game or looking for something..."
"A fairy," Izzy interjected making everyone turn to glance at her in surprise.
The Pink Ranger stopped and continued, "Laurel actually told me that some of the children were telling stories about some kind of beautiful fairy princess in the woods... that if you found her, she'd grant you a wish."
"I know little kids make up stories all the time," Joe said with a serious expression, "But I don't like the sound of that... especially when we've had so many Cambion demons running around since last year."
"Yeah, but it does sound a little creepy too," Claire added with a shiver, "I mean, last year we had a devil dog running loose and maybe now some supernatural lady in the woods... right around Halloween time?"
The Pink Ranger surprised everyone by setting down her mug firmly, "Then there's only one way to be sure. We'll have to go check it out for ourselves."
"It could be nothing," Kara said raising an eyebrow, "Perhaps just children causing trouble and making up stories."
Izzy shook her head, "Maybe, but it doesn't matter. If I'm going to be a teacher, then its still my job to help protect them. Are you guys with me?"
Danny nodded and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder, "Count me in Iz. I'll help you."
The Red Ranger took a sip of his coffee and set his cup down, "I will too. As for the rest of you, stay on alert just in case. Hopefully Kara is right about all this and it will be nothing serious."
The next day, Izzy stood in the park near Meadowlark Elementary. As she waited for Joe and Danny to arrive, she glanced up at the fading orange light of the sky. The days had already begun growing shorter and she wondered for a moment if taking a walk through the dark woods was a good idea. It was then that she saw Laurel across the street giving her a smile and a wave goodbye to help her brush aside her worry.
She was a Power Ranger. She'd be with some of her friends and they had to make sure no more children would get hurt. A few minutes later, the Red and Blue Rangers arrived and joined her.
"Hey Iz, ready to go?" Danny asked as he huddled into his navy blue jacket and followed along into the tree line.
Joe glanced up at the skies and pulled out his Keyrune, igniting it with a soft red light as they entered the forest, "We're not going to have a whole lot of sunlight left. Let's keep on the lookout and watch our footing."
Time passed and the three friends made their way deeper into the woods. As the shadows grew longer, Danny and Izzy stayed close to the light of the Red Keyrune while leaves crunched underfoot and a hollow wind whistled through several barren trees.
"You know... Claire was kinda right," Danny muttered, "With Halloween coming up, this does feel a little creepy now."
Izzy cast an uneasy look toward her fellow Rangers, "If it's not a demon, you guys don't actually think there's some kind of ghost that looks like a fairy, do you? That these woods are haunted?"
"Will you two knock it off?" Joe said with a mild frown as he walked, trying not to show the uneasiness his friends were starting to make him feel, "So far we haven't seen anything weird. You're both just letting your imaginations get the best of you."
Just then Danny grabbed Joe's arm and spun him sideways, "If that's the case, then how do you explain that?"
The three Rangers stopped and froze as they spotted a flickering orb of light bobbing along and dancing through the dark woods up ahead. Before either of the boys could speak again, Izzy hurried forward and drew her Keyrune, "Come on! Let's get to the bottom of this!"
"Iz! Wait up! Don't rush in without us!" Joe called in frustration as she took off.
Danny clapped his shoulder and urged him on as the two boys gave chase after her and the flickering light.
Up ahead, the will-o-the-wisp continued to flicker and bob, leading the Pink Ranger on and she gave thanks to her natural grace and agility to dodge around all the roots and branches underfoot. As she caught up to the light, she halted as the light stopped and shone brighter with a gentle white glow. Staring in wonder, Izzy watched as a figure began to materialize from the light.
A beautiful woman with long golden hair and gentle features beckoned to her as the long white flowing dress she wore wavered in the air. The Pink Ranger stood mesmerized by the enchanting being as Joe and Danny caught up. When they did, they each saw a different figure take shape from the light. To the Red Ranger, a devilish Cambion creature began to materialize while Danny blinked and saw a ghostly skeletal creature wearing ragged robes instead.
Before they could call out, the boys ran face-first into a magical barrier and fell over backwards in surprise. While they both lay stunned, Izzy found herself slowly stepping toward the unearthly lady as the being extended its arm.
"Who… are you?" the Pink Ranger asked.
The Lady in White regarded her with a neutral expression before a small smile curled on her lips.
"Izzy! Look out!" Danny shouted, breaking the Pink Ranger out of her trance as she saw an old rotted out tree from nearby creak and fall towards her.
Izzy gasped and threw herself sideways, tumbling clear of the tree trunk as it crashed loudly into the ground. By now, the light had faded and the "fairy princess" was nowhere to be seen.
Danny was the first one to her side and hurried to help her up, "Izzy! Are you ok? You scared us!"
He gave a look of genuine concern as she shook her head from her daze and nodded, "Yeah… I'm alright. I don't really know what happened back there. One minute, I was trying to talk to that fairy, the next minute a tree comes falling down on my head."
"Fairy? That thing was a monster" Joe called over doing a sweep of the area with his lit Keyrune.
"No it wasn't, it looked more like a ghost," Danny corrected him, " But whatever that was, we'd better not stick around."
"But Danny, what are we going to do if that thing was dangerous?" Izzy protested.
"We'll come back and get to the bottom of this," the Red Ranger reassured her gently, "But before we do that, we need to regroup with the others and figure out what we're up against first. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to feel a little spooked right now."
The Pink Ranger gave a tentative nod and began to follow her two friends out of the forest, but not before taking one last glance at the fallen tree and giving a quiet shudder.
A/N:
This is just one more filler/character episode before things start coming together and escalating into another major story arc. You may also recognize the little girl Laurel is a returning character from Chapter 14.
For anyone who also reads PR Oceania, here's a quick heads up. Another chapter is on the way, so don't worry. I'll be updating it after Part 2 of this story, hopefully later this week. See you then!