Chapter
18: Shades of Pink
Time Unknown
Dulcea’s Plateau
Phaedos
Dulcea gapes as she discerns a human body forming beneath the cover of the fog. She scampers forward on all fours, her throat feeling tight and scratchy. The fog slowly starts to dissipate, showing enough to prove that the person is definitely female. Dulcea squints at the form, vainly trying to catch a glimpse of any defining feature. As the pink vapor swirls around the body, she catches glimpse of a strangely familiar, jagged scar on light caramel toned skin of the left hip and then a bit of hair comes into view. A bit of aquamarine hair.
The miasma surrounding the woman suddenly swells and Dulcea draws back nervously. The mist explodes out and she finds herself rubbing it out of her eyes, blinking furiously to regain her vision. When she finally does, she sees the female arranged loosely on the ground, covered only by her thick mane of teal hair. Dulcea mutters something in Pheodosian incoherently and lunges towards her. She buries her hands in the woman’s hair and leans down to touch her lips to the sweat-covered forehead.
“Lir’ta, liremita miri carro.”
~*~
Time Unknown
The Path
Phaedos
“Kim?” Kat whispers weakly.
“Hmm?” comes the equally weak reply.
“Get the hell off me.” Kim obeys, rolling off her groaning friend. They lie there unmoving, Kat face-up and Kim on her stomach, with her head pillowed on her crossed arms.
“We should get up…” Kim suggests, her voice muffled slightly.
“Probably,” Kat replies, not making a single move to follow through. “Are we dead?”
Kim wiggles her left index finger gingerly. “Nope. Too much pain for death.”
“Oh.”
“We really should get up,” Kim muses quietly.
“You go first,” Kat instructs.
“Why me?” Kim asks, whimpering.
“You were the first Pink Ranger, so you should be first to get up,” Kat explains, smiling smugly, or at least as smugly as the pain that is throbbing in every part of her body allows.
“I don’t like you anymore,” her partner retorts. “And next time, you get to be bait.”
“There’s a next time?” Just the thought of that has chills running all over Kat’s skin. “If there’s a next time, I quit. Watch me go. Bye-bye. No more Kat. Na-ah.”
“No way. I quit first,” Kim says petulantly.
Kat sighs. “No way.”
“Yes way. I quit Rangering first, so I get to quit first now.” Kim smirks, having successfully used Kat’s logic back on her.
“I don’t like you,” Kat whines.
“Tough,” Kim says, grunting as she carefully rolls over so that she’s lying on her back.
“We’re really going to have to get up sometime, aren’t we?” Kat asks ruefully.
“I think so,” Kim sighs. “Unless Dulcea shows mercy and comes to get us. Which is as likely as Adam breaking into a hula dance or Zordon suddenly getting a body and painting the town red.”
“Right. Bad mental images. Thanks Kim.” Kat scrunches her face in disgust.
“Anytime, dear, anytime,” Kim says idly. She sighs, studying the scenery above her. “We have to get up.”
Kat snorts. “Don’t want to.”
“Okay then, we’ll just lie here until we grow roots. Or, more likely, die from dehydration.”
“Blah. Arguing with you sucks.”
“That’s why no one does it,” Kim retorts.
“Together then?” Kat hedges.
“Fine, you big baby.” She adds, “Big, pink baby.” Kat starts to laugh in response but that soon turns into whimpers as she tries to rise onto all fours. Kim’s own efforts are no less painful, though more silent. Tears trickle out of the corners of her tightly squeezed eyes.
Kat finally reaches her goal and pauses. “Are you still feverish?”
“I think so,” Kim replies, absently noting the uncomfortable heat that has enveloped her body. “And it may have been better to ignore it,” she reproaches.
“I’m concerned. So sue me,” Kat throws out, trying to force her ankles to bear more of her weight.
“I’m seriously considering it,” Kim quips, struggling with the growing pain in her bleeding side.
Kat doesn’t reply, as she straightens her arms, bringing herself just so much closer to being upright.
“I’m about to go non-PG here,” Kim warns as she stills, breathing in and out very steadily. She uses every bit of strength and will to straighten instantly. “FUCK!”
Kat turns her head a notch, looking at her dubiously and still silently.
“Better to rip the band-aid off in one jerk, right?” Kim gasps.
That is all the warning Kat gets before Kim grabs her and pulls her upright in one smooth motion. They both howl in pain.
“I would tell you what I think of you,” Kat forces out through clenched teeth, “but if Dulcea is watching it would get me a serious talking-to.”
“Sorry,” Kim winces, “but it had to be done.”
“So you say,” she pauses, “Might as well head out I guess.” Kim offers her an arm, and after a moment of indecision, Kat accepts it and they start to move very slowly through the heavily forested area.
~*~
Tuesday
August 1, 1995
1:03 AM
Cranston Residence
Tommy absently hears his friends conversing and wonders how they can be doing so when it is becoming clear that Kimberly and Katherine are probably never coming back. ‘Our Quest took maybe six hours. Probably less. There is no reason for them to be gone so long… no reason. Oh god, no reason at all.’ He whimpers almost inaudibly. ‘Adam would understand… but… dammit! Damn! I can’t take it anymore! I can’t! Shut up!’ He begins to bang his head against the wall.
Billy sighs as he stands up. “I would like a wall without holes, you know.” Tommy doesn’t react, continuing his rhythmic pounding.
“Billy’s right,” Rocky states, “I’m not so much worried about Tommy’s head as I am about it breaking into that poor wall.” Zack laughs, almost mirthlessly. Billy kneels next to Tommy and turns a quick, angry glance at the others. They quiet.
“Tommy?” Billy calls softly.
“They’re not coming back, are they?” he yells out desperately. “ARE THEY?” This time, it is a shout of accusation. Aisha sniffles suddenly and is across the room in another moment. She lays her hands on Tommy’s shaking shoulders and leans in to rest her forehead against his.
“You better keep believing they are coming back,” she orders in a low, murderous tone. “Listen to me, Tom,” she uses this particular form of his name to gather all of his attention, “we all have to keep believing. If we don’t, then we are betraying them. If we don’t, then when they do come back all we’ll be is a bunch of raging lunatics.” He opens his eyes to look straight into hers. Billy, Zack and Rocky watch, unmoving, as the two match glares. Finally, Tommy jerks away and shoves her to the side, lunging upright. Rocky shoots up to his feet, his fists automatically in battle position. Aisha stands up slowly and holds out a hand to stop Rocky from deciding to beat Tommy into a small bloodstain on the floor. He nods and sits down in a very tight, controlled movement. She stalks after Tommy, who has crossed his arms over the wall and is leaning his head against them tiredly. Aisha grips his upper arm with her right hand and spins him around very forcefully. His long hair flies back as he turns and glares at the Yellow Ranger, with his mouth drawn tight. She shoves him against the wall. He gapes at her.
“Uh-oh,” Billy whispers. “Now he’s done it.” Rocky nods mutely.
“If you are going to insist in acting like a little bitch and pretending that you’re the only one with any right to hurt, I swear I will make you regret it,” she spits out, her eyes narrowed into little slits. He swallows painfully. “I know that you’ve got your guilt muscle working and that it goes straight against the grain to sit here and do nothing, but you know what?” she pauses, “Tough! So sit down, shut up, and wait.” She thrusts him towards an armchair, glaring. He nods shakily and sits down. Aisha runs her gaze over the rest of the boys. They keep quiet. She nods in satisfaction and plops down on the couch.
~*~
Time Unknown
Dulcea’s Plateau
Phaedos
Dulcea is sitting cross-legged, cradling the woman’s head in her lap. Her fingers are drifting over the dusky skin ever so gently. She brushes back a wisp of the tangled, teal hair and starts to croon a wistful melody, as if a mother singing a baby to sleep. She straightens the edge of the large, green blanket that she had found earlier in her dwelling and used to cover the comatose woman. She sighs under her breath, waiting anxiously for some sign of life other then the barely present breathing pattern and subtly discernable pulse.
“Dulcea!” comes a shout from the side of the clearing and that is the last that Kat can utter before she slips from Kimberly’s grasp and crumples onto the soft grass. Kim sinks to her knees, breathing raggedly, her face a dangerous red and her eyes glazed with the intensified fever. Dulcea gasps and carefully moves her burden onto the grass. She lunges to her feet and dashes to the two young women. Kim winces and leans over to take her companion’s wrist in her trembling hands, testing the rate of her pulse. Dulcea spares one concerned glance to the brunette before kneeling in front of the limp body of the blonde. She raises her fingers to touch Kat’s temples and exhales intently.
Kim looks at the Master Warrior with impatience and a touch of anger, still holding Kat’s wrist, but now to simply reassure herself that her friend is still there. “Well?”
Dulcea closes her eyes for a moment, watching the complex weave of Kat’s aura twist on the backs of her lids. “She’s run off her energy reserves. You’re going to have to share yours. She just needs a bit to last her until I finish the separation of the Power.”
“And you can’t share your energy because…?” Kim asks.
“I wish I could,” Dulcea sighs, “but my energies are tied into the Plateau’s and it will not allow me to infuse anyone who isn’t tied to it.” Kim clenches her jaw, a small muscle near her left ear twitching painfully, and nods. Dulcea reaches her right hand to touch Kim’s temple, her left hand still at Kat’s, and she feels herself become a conduit of Power. It trickles from Kim into her and she closes her eyes, allowing it to become the only source of sensation. It twirls in brilliant shades of pink and roars, cries, tinkles in her ears. She feels like she’s awash in a bright fountain of it. Suddenly, Kat’s side of the connection bounces and she feels the Power ricochet through her to Kim, ripping, tearing through her. And then back. And again. And again. And again. She hears a scream in the distance and idly realizes that it is her own. And then it’s all gone and she feels herself fly back and slam into the ground a few feet away from the two unconscious young women.
~*~
Time Unknown
Temple of Power
Marr-Khri
The small study is bright with the light streaming through the large windows. The lacy, blue drapes are drawn away so as not to hamper its entrance. The room is sparsely furnished, except for the abundance of shelves full of books and scrolls all over the walls. One corner boasts a huge, decorative bowl full of water. The only other bits of furniture are a table and a chair, which are now occupied by a male figure in a loose, dark-blue, gi-looking outfit. He is widely built and the well-defined muscles can be discerned even through the heavy material of his clothing. He sighs and leans forward, clinking a pink, metallic rectangle against the surface of the table. It’s a peculiar object that looks like a card, flat, with rounded corners. It obviously belongs with the other ones that he is holding, despite the difference in color. He lays them in a fanned pattern next to the pink one; white, blue, black, yellow, red, and a transparent. He reaches into his gi and pulls out two more stacks of cards. One is a set of three; bronze, silver, gold, all with a transparent edge on top. He lays them out quickly. The second set is made of cards that are a soft, even dull gray, edged transparent on top and different colors on the bottom. He lays them out as well; white, green, blue, pink. His fingers linger on the pink one and his eyes close, his breath being drawn in with a shuddering pull.
~*~
Time Unknown
Dulcea’s Plateau
Phaedos
It takes Dulcea a few minutes to regain her bearings, but once she does, she is back on her feet with all the speed she can muster and rushing to the two limp forms a small distance away. She tumbles forward in her hurry and reaches to both of them. Her eyes flutter closed, then snap open. ‘What have I done? Kimberly did not possess enough energy to share it. Now they are both too low to be able to withstand the separation. Oh Power… Zordon, I’m sorry…’
“D?” a strong voice calls out. Dulcea swerves her head and sees her charge throw off the blanket and stand up to stride determinately towards her. She seems unheeding of the wind rushing around her bare skin and flapping her curtain of teal hair.
“Alie? Oh Alie…” Dulcea sobs out.
Alie reaches her old friend in a moment and kneels next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. “It will be alright. Let me take a look.” She turns her gaze on Kat and reaches her free hand to touch her forehead. “Yes, she’s very low…” Then her eyes rest on Kim’s face and she gasps, swallowing harshly. She blinks, shakes her head, her hair flicking in Dulcea’s face, and moves her hand over to Kim’s forehead. “So is she… But I can fix that.” She smiles gently at Dulcea and removes her arm. “Now move over, will ya?” Dulcea obeys. Alie scoots forward and mimics Dulcea, connecting the young women with her touch at their temples.
Dulcea smiles softly, watching the pink glow envelop the Pink Draconas Ranger. She lost her friend that way once. This time, she will see two friends saved. The glow spreads over Alie’s arms and shoots into the two girls. A moment, two maybe, and Alie removes her hands, letting the glow fade. She turns her head and grins. Dulcea grins back, never able to resist Alie’s cheer.
“I think it’s time I got dressed, don’t you?” Alie asks, standing up and stretching her arms above her head.
“Yes, that may be a wise idea,” Dulcea responds, still unable to believe that Alie is back in human form.
“Cute kids,” Alie comments as another pink glow suffuses over her. It covers her with an impenetrable blanket. “They freed me, ya know. It was beginning to really irk me. Being stuck in thought form, I mean. Granted, I had a lot of mobility, but nothin’s the same as having a body.” The fog fades and she looks down at herself. She managed to create a soft-gray, long-sleeved bodysuit that is somewhat loose around the legs and that catches right below her knees, a lace-up, fuchsia tube-top and a pair of fuchsia, flat-heeled sandals that lace up to right below her knees. There is of course the matching gray headband, a set of fuchsia-and-gray bracers and the requisite, hooded, fuchsia cloak. Alie tosses one of her chakram in the air and catches it easily. She laughs and attaches the chakrams at her hips. “What do you think?”
“Show-off,” Dulcea replies fondly. “So do you know when you are?”
“Ah-hah,” she says, “I was aware of what was happening. Kept an eye on you since you’ve been staying here. My vision was limited to auras, but I could pick up thoughts to some degree.” Dulcea nods. A tiny whimper sounds, startling both women and they spin around to see Kim sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Dulcea moves closer to the brunette, and looks her over critically.
“Did you drop a Tyrannosaurus Rex on me?” Kim asks, jokingly.
“Nah, I think that was on me,” Kat’s weakened voice objects.
“We best move quickly now that you’re awake and perform the separation.” Dulcea stands up and offers Kat a hand. She smiles gratefully and grips it, joints creaking as she stands up. Alie has Kim’s hands in a firm clasp and pulls her up with an easy tug. “Stand side by side,” Dulcea orders. They exchange one nervous glance and obey.
Kim swallows hard. ‘I don’t know what to wish for… I do want the Power but I don’t want to take it away from Kat. Plus I have to go back to Daytona anyway…’ She shifts her weight from foot to foot nervously. ‘Let her have it. She deserves it more anyway.’
Kat catches her partner’s edginess and quirks her mouth in a lopsided smile. ‘I just want this to be over.’
Dulcea stands before them and stretches her hands forward. “Ven!” Little, green sparks leap off her fingers and jump on the two young women, whose bodies respond in showers of pink sparks. She smiles as the sparks dance around them like fireflies. More and more sparks appear from within them, swarming around their bodies. So many more that she can barely see through them to the two girls. There is a multitude of shades, pastel, raspberry, fuchsia, neon… pink, pink, pink… Alie chuckles. Slowly, the sparks begin dissipate. A bit of Kat’s hair swishes through. Kim’s hand. Kat’s knee. Kim’s stomach. Bit by bit and the sparks are gone completely. The young women now turn their wide-open eyes on Dulcea.
“Well D. Tell ‘em,” Alie encourages, already knowing the answer as a holder of the pink Power herself.
Dulcea sighs heavily, lowering one arm, and looks into the sky. Her owl swoops overhead and looks imperiously over her beak, then turns it, as if she’s pointing at something. And she is. A graceful, white bird makes a wide circle over the Plateau and flexes its powerful wings to dive down lower and lower, until it settles itself on Dulcea’s outstretched arm and starts to preen one wing with its beak. The wings are tinted with the most delicate shade of light pink just at the edges. Dulcea lifts a hand to pet the free wing.
“It’s so pretty,” Kat whispers in wonderment. In response, the crane tilts its head to look at the young blonde curiously, then goes back to preening.
“It’s the time of reckoning, little one,” Dulcea croons to the bird and jerks her arm up, releasing it. It turns a circle, wings flapping easily, and settles down.