Chapter 10: Old Friend, New Friend & More Rocks.
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
Kim and Kat are now sated, rested and ready to take on the world.
“Let’s go?” Kat suggests. Kim looks at her and doubles over in laughter.
“What?” Kat looks herself over and finally realizes she was about to climb a huge mountain barefoot. “Oops…” They settle side by side and carefully tug on their boots in companionable silence. For a few moments reality doesn’t exist. Kat isn’t dying. Kim isn’t risking her life. There is no White Ranger who could break both their hearts. Just two girls and sunshine and some really wacky colored boots. They finish at the same time and the moment is gone too.
“Ready?” Kat sighs, reluctant to face the rocks and the heat again. Kim nods and picks up the rope that they removed somewhere in the middle of falling asleep. With practiced fingers, she decisively reties it around her waist and tosses the loose end to Kat. Kat’s fingers fumble with rough texture and she yanks hard to form the knot. They edge reluctantly to the rock face. Kim finds a toehold and creeps down to rely solely on the tiny grooves in the mountain. Kat grimaces at the perversely shining sun, which should have set hours ago, and follows Kim. They don’t have much to go, compared to how far they’ve gotten. Yet, what’s left is still too much.
Kim finds herself having to stretch higher and higher, with all of the comfortable handgrips having suddenly migrated high above her head. She whimpers under her breath.
Kat’s height allows her to take advantage of that, but she becomes concerned at how much Kim is struggling. Kim arches her body, every muscle easily definable. She groans quietly, her elbows becoming patches of bloody tissue.
“You ok?” Kat whispers, not wanting to jolt Kim.
Kim stops, pressing her body to the stone. She rests her forehead on a bit of smooth surface and sighs. “I’m fine.” Fine she is not. Yet the need to protect one of her own drives her as surely as her love for everyone who is waiting anxiously for their return. She decides she rested enough and resumes her slow, painful movement towards the Path.
Kat follows a bit more easily, but her creaking joints warn her that that ease will fade very, very quickly.
~*~
7:57 AM California Time // 4:57 PM Geneva
Swiss Air, Flight Number 301
A redhead walks confidently down the aisle. She is hoping to switch with whoever has the window seat in her row. She approaches her seat and sees that the window seat has been taken. She can’t see much of the person, except for his or her right hand, which is tracing a smiling face on a photograph. A bright watch flashes and catches her eye and then the single tear that drops on the photo. She smiles sadly and decides that the aisle seat will be good enough for her today.
~*~
8:03 AM
Cranston Residence
There isn’t an alert soul in the house, everyone lost in their own misty fears. The phone shrills abruptly. The sound moves through the house, jarring the Rangers semi-awake. Adam turns and crashes his leg into Rocky’s side. The air gets forced violently out of Rocky’s lungs and he groans. The piercing sound doesn’t stop. Rocky forces himself up and drags himself to the phone, holding his side painfully.
“Cranston house. Speak to me,” he intones abruptly.
A hesitant female voice replies, “Is this Billy?”
“Billy’s asleep,” he sighs. “This is Rocky.”
The girl seems to choke on a sob. “Oh thank God I reached you.”
Rocky raises his eyebrows in puzzlement and questions, “Huh? Do I know you?”
“Oh goodness, I’m terribly sorry. I’m Bianca Rader, Kim’s roommate.” Rocky freezes, his mind swirling with the possibilities for a proper excuse.
“Kim left and said she’d be in touch,” Bianca says tearfully, “She didn’t say what she was going to do but she did mention it would be really dangerous and she promised to call every day but she didn’t.” Rocky can’t think of a single thing to say but, luckily, she continues. “She gave me all of your numbers and I already called everyone else. If there was no one here either I think I’d probably have a nervous breakdown.”
Finally deciding that totally lying to her would not be the best route, Rocky dares to speak, “I’m sure she meant to call you, but she had to leave very suddenly. As far as we know, she’s alright.”
Bianca sighs, “Wherever she is… it’s connected to that dangerous thing…?”
“Yeah, it is.” Rocky’s heart contracts at the thought of it.
“I miss her,” she confides.
“Me too.” He spills his feelings in a way he’s been afraid to with his fellow Rangers, “She’s special and ever since she left, it hasn’t been the same. I just wish she was part of my life again like she used to be.” Bianca pushes down her fears, Rocky’s pain igniting something in her.
“She misses all of you, you know. I’ve walked in on her crying over your pictures so many times. She tries to keep in touch… but you’re all so busy…”
A sort of warmth settles on him and he answers, “Yeah we are… but we should have tried harder.”
“Don’t worry,” Bianca responds to his need for reassurance, “She’ll be back and this time you’ll do it right.”
Rocky sighs, “Thanks Anca.”
She giggles, for the first time since she watched Kim’s plane take off from the runway. “Anca? That’s a new one. People usually call me Bia.”
“Well I like to be different,” Rocky teases.
“That you are,” she retorts in kind, “I should go, but thank you for the update and for the new name.”
“No problem.” Rocky smiles a little. “I have Kim’s Florida number, so I’ll call you as soon as we hear anything.”
“Cool.” Bia smiles. “Hope to hear from you soon, Rocky.”
“You will Anca.” Rocky is smiling too as he places the phone back. He pads back to his settled in spot, curls into it and is soon asleep.
~*~
8:03 AM
Moon Palace
Zedd surveys Angel Grove, his grotesque form oddly still. An odd smirk mars his scarred facial features, hiding behind his metal mask.
~*~
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
Kat has already lost whatever extra reserves she gained in the nap.
Kim is forging on at a steady, though slow, speed. Her arms are blemished with crusted blood and dirt, with every grasp toward a handhold. Her knees are much in the same shape, continuously brushing against rock.
The end is near, but not near enough. The eternal sun beats them, hotter and hotter. By the time they come home, they will look as if they spent a good month sunbathing on a beach somewhere, with a tropical drink in hand. If only that was the truth.
The sharp angle ends in a few feet and Kim sighs in relief at the sight.
Kat can’t feel her skin. It is bruised, cracked, peeling. The pain is dull, thudding beneath the surface.
Kim stretches up again, but there seems to be no niche for her to grab onto. She gasps in sheer terror and then laughs hysterically as she notices a crease nearby that’s perfect for her height.
Kat doesn’t react to either sound, her mind dull and swirling. She moves automatically, not really paying attention to what she’s grasping onto.
Kim looks back at Kat and her glazed eyes warn Kim of the upcoming danger.
“Kat!” she shouts, “the next handhold is much lower. Watch out!”
Kat jerks a little, reopening the gash on her stomach. The blood seeps out and the sharp pain forces her awake. She looks around sharply and catches sight of the crease in question.
With the impeding doom averted, Kim relaxes and looks forward to the spot where the Path becomes solid again. With a shock, she realizes that there isn’t much left to go. The grin that breaks out is painful, pushing sore abused skin, but it is worth it. It is so very worth it. She keeps quiet though, deciding she’d rather Kat concentrate on what she’s doing so that she doesn’t rush and make a mistake. A single mistake is fatal here. Kim slows down a little, her battered toes groping along.
To Kat, nothing exists but the rock. As far as she’s concerned it is above, below and to all sides. Little by little by little by little. The litany whispers along her mind. Suddenly she feels a light tug on the vine and finds herself an inch from the solid, the wonderfully solid Path.
Kim has already crawled onto it, sacrificing the last bits of skin on her elbows and knees. Kat sees an outstretched hand and clutches it, allowing Kim to pull her to safety. They collapse together into one knot of raw muscle. A few minutes pass before either speaks a word.
“Well I guess that bath was wasted.” Kim chuckles tiredly, surveying their disgustingly filthy condition. Kat laughs, which quickly turns into a coughing fit. Kim looks at her worriedly. Kat shakes her head and smiles.
“Just tired.” Kim nods, acknowledging the reply, and gazes at the Path. It’s densely surrounded by a jungle, which seems to go on forever in both directions. Kat pushes herself up and tugs on Kim’s hand, compelling her to follow. Holding hands, the young women enter the next phase of their journey.
“So how much blood do you think we’ve lost to that monster of a rock?”
“Buckets. Enough for a transfusion for a really big sumo wrestler person.”
“Hmm.” Their quiet laughter wafts out and something seems to stir within the jungle at the sound.