Chapter 13: Weird Encounters & Different Kinds
of Luck.
11:05 AM
Cranston Residence
“Aisha… Sha! Hurry your ass up!” Rocky roars, sticking his head down into the basement.
“I’ll be done in a minute,” her voice drifts to him, slightly echoing.
“I know your minutes. Adam and I are ready. Tommy and Billy are almost done with their showers, so let’s get going,” he shoots back.
“Oh please, Tommy may be done with his shower, but he’s going to take another twenty minutes with his hair, so I have plenty of time,” she shouts.
“Well hurry up anyway,” Rocky concedes his defeat. He closes the door to the basement and walks back to the living room, methodically buttoning his shirt.
Adam is reclining in the armchair, his hair slightly damp and falling over his forehead. “Told you she’s not done yet.”
“Where are the others?” Rocky frowns, looking around the room.
“I’m done.” Billy ambles in, rubbing his water-darkened hair with a white cotton towel.
“We’re going to be late,” Adam states casually, glancing at the clock.
“Well what can we do?” Rocky shrugs.
“What’d I miss?” A fresh-faced Aisha enters, her braids pulled into a low knot.
“Give me a minute,” Tommy yells, cracking open the bathroom door. Aisha grins and gives Rocky a pointed look. He smiles sheepishly.
~*~
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
The bottom of the waterfall is a churning vortex. Different currents sweep out into the river. A slower one carries a limp figure. It flashes brightly before nudging against the shore. It rolls onto the grass with the soft force of the tide and a sunny veil spills onto the grass. Kat lies there, her right arm thrown over her stomach, her legs tangled together. Her skin is translucent, her pale blue veins poking out. Her outfit is dripping and tattered. Her body convulses, and she jerks up, coughing. She wipes her face with the back of her hand and looks around. There is a dense jungle to each side of the river. The waterfall is about ten feet away to her left and the river continues to flow as far to the right as she can see.
“Kim?” Kat says weakly, “Where are you?” Her only answer is the roar of the cascading water. She scrambles to her feet, checking herself for damage. “Kim?” She scrunches her face, sharply eyeing the shores. There is no sign of Kim between her and the waterfall. Since it is doubtful that she entered the jungle the only other option is to search downstream. Kat braces herself and begins to walk, very slowly, down the shore. She picks her way over the sand and the grass and the occasional pebble. Her body aches all over, her muscles stiff and frozen. Soon the worry about her partner overwhelms all of the physical sensations. The water is incredibly chilly and, if not found soon, Kim could get hypothermia. Then an inevitable thought crashes into her mind… Kim might have hit her head on the way down and gotten a concussion, or even died. Kat shivers, more from dread than the cold. The river makes several sharp turns and Kat follows gingerly.
~*~
11:13 AM
Command Center
“ALPHA, SCAN THE MOON PALACE PLEASE,” Zordon requests, “SEE IF LORD ZEDD IS PLANNING AN ATTACK TODAY. THAT WOULD BE RATHER UNFORTUNATE.”
Alpha checks the monitor and reports, “There are only normal levels of activity.”
“GOOD. I DO NOT WANT THE RANGERS FIGHTING TODAY,” Zordon sighs.
~*~
11:13 AM
Cranston Residence
“Tommy, haul your ass out of that bathroom or I swear I will put purple dye in your shampoo,” Aisha hollers.
“You wouldn’t do that to me. You’re too nice,” Tommy answers sweetly. “I’ll be out in a sec.” Aisha pushes the door in and it squeaks open, revealing a dressed Tommy tucking his hair into a perfect ponytail.
“Any more gel and you’re gonna lose all of it,” she threatens.
“Nah, I use organic,” he replies and slathers a dollop onto the ends of his hair.
She grabs the bottle and walks out with it. “You’re done.” Tommy pouts and gives his hair one last look, then follows her. “His Royal Highness is ready to go,” Aisha announces, entering the living room. Adam snickers, seeing the look on the White Ranger’s face.
Rocky moves behind Tommy and propels him towards the front door. “We’re so outta here.”
~*~
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
Kat stumbles over a tree root and falls against the tree. “Oof, that was not good. Then again, here I am talking to myself… Isn’t that the first sign of insanity?” She shakes her head, her hair tangled and damp, and straightens up to continue her search. Something in the jungle catches her eye, glinting golden. She yelps and races off, in a state of utter panic. The trees whiz by her line of vision and her lungs begin to constrict, not strong enough to take so much pressure. She pushes her legs harder, step by step, unmindful of the pain in her soles. Kat’s eyes glaze over and she trips, tumbling onto the packed sand.
“Thanks Kat, much appreciate that,” Kim’s voice reaches Kat’s drowsy mind. She opens her eyes and there Kim is, sitting in the lotus position, rubbing her left knee.
She lunges at her, grabbing her into a bear hug. “You’re alive!”
“Well I was before, but I’m not so sure now…” Kim smiles and returns the affection.
Kat pulls back and peers at her suspiciously. “Are you ok?”
“Peachy,” Kim replies, frowning. Kat looks at her carefully. Her clothing is soaked and cold, yet she seems to be sweating. Kim coughs harshly, the force of it bending her down onto her crossed legs.
Kat draws her fingers over Kim’s forehead and gasps, “You’re burning up.”
“Yeah… I got thrown onto this beach only a few minutes ago and all that exposure to the cold water didn’t exactly make me feel all that good.” Kim rubs her throat.
“So why are you in the lotus position?” Kat inquires.
“Trying to scare up some energy.” Kim shrugs.
“Can you stand up?” Kat carefully gets back on her feet.
“Probably, but I would suggest getting some food…” Kim looks up hopefully.
Kat nods, “Try and start a fire,” and walks toward the trees to pick up some fallen branches and toss them to Kim. Kim arranges them in front of her and closes her eyes, trying to focus at least a little bit of the Power.
Kat enters the jungle cautiously and tears a large leaf off a bush. She walks warily through the tangle of trees and vines, picking small wild apples and raspberries. Soon the leaf is full and she ties it into a pouch and connects it to her waist. She tears off another leaf and proceeds to walk further in when she stumbles onto a clearing and freezes. There is a snake, about twenty feet long with green camouflage skin. It stares straight at Kat and she catches her breath, thinking it will be her last.
“Nice snakey, you don’t want to hurt me… no…” she whispers, her body stiff. It keeps her gaze a second more, then looks away and lunges…
~*~
11:47 AM
Angel Grove Park
It’s a sunny afternoon and the volunteers are already hard at work, picking up the garbage and pulling the weeds.
“Hey guys, you’re late,” Ernie greets his charges.
“We couldn’t help it.” Adam shrugs. “Mr. Prima donna over there took forever with his hair.” Tommy blushes.
“Well no time to waste.” Ernie smiles at the gang. “The rakes are on the table and so are the garbage bags.”
Billy welcomes the mindless repetitive work, attacking the weeds with a vengeance. Rocky picks up a bag and occupies his eyes with searching out bottles and cans. Tommy grabs a rake and attempts to gather the fallen leaves, but his head isn’t in the job, it is on a certain Quest. Aisha kneels near Billy and wraps her gloved fingers around a large weed, tugging on it viciously. Adam slings the bag over his shoulder and heads straight to a large pile of trash.
~*~
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
A small boar is caught in the python’s death grip. A few moments and it falls, motionless. The snake stares into Kat’s eyes again. She clutches the leaf, ripping it with her nails. The python turns and disappears in the shrubbery, leaving the dead boar lying on the grass. She loosens her muscles and walks towards the animal. She kneels next to it and checks to see if it’s dead. It is. She scoops it up and wraps it in the leaf. Heading back to Kim, she is almost bouncing.
“Hey look what I got!” Kat shouts upon seeing Kim’s back.
“It better be good,” Kim throws back. “I used a lot of energy on this damn fire.” The fire burns brightly, the dry wood supplemented by a few pieces of wet driftwood. Kat displays her findings proudly. Kim smiles.
“So you know you’re getting to gut that.”
“Fine.” Kat pouts and flops onto the sand. As she tears through to pull out the innards, she regales Kim with a long drawn description of how she managed to get a dead boar.
“Well it’s about time we had some luck head our way,” Kim replies, pulling out the wild apples. “We’re gonna have to roast these. They’re not really all that good raw.” Kat shrugs and dips the boar into the river to wash it. Kim looks at the fire speculatively and pulls out some spare branches, beginning to build something. By the time the boar is washed, a structure sits around the fire, clearly intended to replace a grill.
“Nice,” Kat drawls out as Kim places a branch full of apples onto the structure. Kat gets a branch and sticks the boar on it, placing it next to the apples.
~*~
Time Unknown
Dulcea’s Plateau
Phaedos
Dulcea is still watching the young women as they prepare their food. ‘They survived…’ She draws her fingers over the surface of the pond again, whispers something, and the image shifts, this time depicting the unwholesome glow of the Beast. ‘It is close… They are not ready yet. Power, grant them time. They need to rest…’