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Dillon declared that they should stay in the clearing for a few hours, just long enough to stretch their legs and explore. A few hours stretched into most of the day when he accidentally fell asleep under one of the trees and neither Summer or Tenaya had the heart to wake him. Instead, they settled down by the lake; Tenaya was idly dragging her fingers through the water while Summer fiddled with some wire, trying to make a sturdy fishhook.
"So when's the wedding?" asked Tenaya casually, staring intently down at the patterns she was creating in the water.
"What?" Summer said blankly.
"You and Dillon-"
Summer laughed, putting down the hook. "It's not like that. We're just friends."
Tenaya looked up at her skeptically. "Does he know that?"
"Yes," said Summer, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Seriously, those two were so related. "We even talked about it when I offered to come along. Yeah, there was a bit of an attraction at first, but we work better as friends. He's not ready for anything and I'm not into the whole broken man thing."
"Oh," Tenaya said. She looked back down at the water. "So you came along as a friend to rebuild the world? Instead of staying with your family?"
Summer smiled wryly. "Clearly you don't remember my parents." She picked up the hook again, twisting one of the wires slowly around two of the others. "I need more time to be me before I tackle them again."
Tenaya nodded. "Okay." She squinted up at the sunset. "Should we be driving at night?"
Testing her hook with a finger, Summer frowned when it immediately straightened out under the light pressure. "Probably not," she said absently, mentally going over the other spare wires in the back of the Fury. "I'm going to see if we have pliers in the toolbox." She clambered to her feet. "Want me to get the sleeping bags too?"
Tenaya nodded. "I'll go tell Dillon we're spending the night."
One night turned into several. It was just so nice to be out from the threat of constant attacks that all three of them had trouble getting going again. Finally, on the evening of their third day, Tenaya pulled out the old Earth map and started scanning over it.
"Did Doctor K tell you where the other cities were?" asked Dillon. He dropped an armful of firewood beside the little campfire Summer started.
She shook her head, slipping fish onto the cooking sticks. "There are none. Corinth was it." Both Dillon and Tenaya gave her incredulous looks. "What?"
"All of Earth was not in that city," said Tenaya. "Even taking into account Venjix's prisoners and murders."
"So where's everyone else?" Dillon said.
Summer shrugged helplessly. "I didn't even know there was an invasion until Andrews had us flee the mansion."
Tenaya stared back down at the map, fingers lightly tracing over faded city names. "There has to be some information somewhere," she said.
"We could start at Omega City," said Dillon. "It was a real city, right? Not just a trap by Venjix?" He looked at Tenaya.
She shook her head. "It was a real place."
"Okay," said Summer, turning the fish over the fire. "Tomorrow morning, Omega City."
***
Dillon put the Fury into park in the middle of Kenmore Square and climbed out. Summer stepped out of her side and turned to offer her hand to Tenaya. She got Tenaya's hand and a soft, little smile for the offer. When they were all three standing around, Summer sighed and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "So where should we start?"
"Newspapers?" suggested Dillon, squinting as he looked around the square.
Tenaya walked up to a large community board, scanning over the papers still tacked there. "Huh," she said, pulling one of the papers free to show Summer. "The dates on this thing are from the middle of Venjix's initial assaults. Someone really must have liked music."
Summer leaned over Tenaya's shoulder, scanning the paper. "Fly Me to the Moon," she read. "A musical showcase that will take you places. August 25, 2049." She took hold of the edge of the paper to pull it closer, just to check. She looked at Dillon in confusion. "No end date either."
Dillon raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Weird."
Spotting a newspaper box on the far side of the square, Summer gave Tenaya's elbow a nudge. "Over here," she said. Dillon and Tenaya followed, Tenaya tucking the flyer into her pocket. Summer tugged at the door of the box when she reached it, but it wouldn't give. She huffed a bit in annoyance and stepped back so Dillon could get his hands on it. He gave it a firm tug and it opened with a protesting squeal of metal.
Tenaya pulled a paper out, glancing at the date first. "January 7, 2050," she said softly, unfolding it.
The three of them went over every bit of information in the paper, which wasn't much. Several articles about missing people, a few on the attacks by Venjix, including one talking about the machines learning to read hard copy data. There was nothing on evacuations or escape plans. Dillon sighed in annoyance and tossed the paper onto the diner table they'd settled on.
"Well, that was a bust," he said, crossing his arms.
"It's still so normal," said Tenaya, idly flipping a page on her section of the paper.
"There's even ads- wait." Summer sat up, pulling her section closer. "Look at this." She pointed at one of the ads, reading it aloud as the other two leaned closer. "Listen to the wind, it speaks of freedom. Follow the water, it leads the way. Trust the earth, it protects you."
"That's weirder than the music flyer," said Tenaya, leaning against Summer's shoulder.
"Some kind of underground?" Dillon asked, leaning closer.
"Look at that one," said Tenaya, pointing to a larger ad. "It's like the flyer." She yanked it out of her pocket, flattening it against the table so they could compare. "But there's a set of coordinates this time."
"And an end date," Summer added, touching her fingers to the words, 'January 8, 2050'.
Dillon inhaled sharply in surprise and tapped a smaller ad. It was a simple set of numbers. "Those are the radio frequencies for the Corinth City coordinates."
They shared a look for a long moment as the excitement set in. "I'll get the map from the car," said Dillon, springing up.
"There might be nothing there," said Tenaya hesitantly.
Summer nodded. "I know. He knows too. But it's a start, and we might find more clues."
When Dillon came back with the map, they started plotting the music festival's coordinates. "That's only a couple of days from here," said Dillon. "But we're going to have to check the stores for provisions before we get going."
Summer squinted at the map. "Maybe not," she said, pointing at a familiar looking point halfway through their plotted route. "My mansion's there. With a panic room that Andrews always kept fully stocked."
"Maybe both?" suggested Tenaya. "Just in case."
Summer nodded. It was a good idea.
***
They'd gone through two stores, just to be safe, and were driving out of town with the windows rolled down to take in fresh air. Summer was watching the scenery scroll by, slouched against the car's door, Dillon was driving and sucking on a lollipop, Tenaya was dozing in the back. They were passing a large park when suddenly, Tenaya sat up with a gasp.
"Stop the car!" she said, leaning forward with her eyes wide and shocked.
The Fury's tires squealed as Dillon slammed on the breaks. "What's wrong?" asked Summer, scrambling out of the car when it looked like Tenaya was going to go over her to get out.
Stumbling out of the car, Tenaya looked around in confusion. "I've been here," she said, stalking off along a path; Summer and Dillon shared a look of surprise before jogging along to catch up.
"Tenaya," said Summer. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say though.
Tenaya took a sharp right turn, pushing through some overgrown bushes and coming to a stop in a plain clearing. There was the back of a house at the far edge, with a long deck, overgrown and dying flowers and a rusting bench. The house itself looked like it was starting to fall apart itself.
Summer glanced at Dillon. He was squinting at the house, though she wasn't sure if he was remembering something or simply trying to force a memory.
Tenaya started to spin in place, stopping halfway to stalk towards the house. Summer ran after her, getting close enough to hear her frustrated mumble, "Why can't I remember?"
Grabbing Tenaya's hand, Summer managed to slow her to a stop. "Calm down," she said soothingly. "Just stop, close your eyes and take a deep breath." When Tenaya did that, Summer smiled softly. "Now open your eyes and look around slowly."
Tenaya opened her eyes, meeting Summer's gaze and smiling back slightly before looking around the clearing again. She looked around without a spark of recognition in her eyes, but she paused when she looked at the deck. Narrowing her eyes, she started forward. Tenaya didn't let go of Summer's hand though, pulling her along.
At the deck, she bent down and picked up a small, green, round crystal. When she held it up so Summer could see, Summer could make out a tiny peacock inside of it. Using Tenaya's wrist to bring it closer, she said, "that reminds me of a crystal I had before we evacuated."
"They were a big thing when we were kids then?" asked Dillon, making Summer jump slightly. She'd forgotten about him.
Summer looked back at Tenaya's crystal and shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I've always had it and even Andrews couldn't remember where it came from."
"Weird," said Tenaya, looking at the little crystal. "It feels familiar to me, but I don't remember anything about it."
"Maybe we should explore the house?" Dillon said. Summer noticed how he immediately tensed at the suggestion, even though he'd been the one to make it. Tenaya's grip on her hand tightened, just a shade under too painful.
Summer spared half a second to wish she could destroy Venjix again before deliberately taking a deep breath and a very obvious glance up at the sun. "I don't know," said Summer. "We really should get going now if we're going to get to the mansion in good time." She pretended not to notice how both siblings immediately relaxed at the out she gave them.
"Yeah," said Tenaya, nodding and tucking the crystal into her pocket. "We really should get going."
Dillon nodded and lead the way back to the car.
***
They made it to the Landsdown mansion just before sunset. The front looked the same, just a bit overgrown. And in the growing gloom, Summer thought that if she squinted, she might not have noticed a real difference. She was surprised by how calm she felt as they made their way into the mansion. Everything was dustier, and someone had thrown rocks through the front den's windows, but not much else had changed.
Summer led the way towards the panic room, poking idly at the odd vase of dead flowers. She could almost feel Tenaya and Dillon walking on eggshells behind her. Part of her wanted to spin around and reassure them that she was fine, but then they were almost to the panic room, so instead she walked up to the keypad and keyed in the code. The door locks clicked and Summer pulled open the door, gesturing Tenaya and Dillon inside.
She followed in after them, taking it all in as the lights flickered on. Four cots, fully stocked shelves of food and various other supplies, and a small walled off for the bathroom. Summer closed the door behind them. "Here we are, a nice place to stay the night."
"It's cosy," said Dillon, glancing around. He glanced up when something dinged and emitted a small hissing down. "What?"
The scent of strawberries wafted through the air and Summer felt her eyes tearing up against her will. "Oh, Andrews," she whispered. Because of course he wouldn't want his Miss Summer to deal with stale air when she could have her favourite scent instead. Her lip started to wobble and Summer clapped her hands to her mouth to keep in the sob trying to escape.
She sank down onto one of the cots as Tenaya and Dillon shared a look of horror. Then Tenaya sat down beside her, hesitated for a second and hugged her awkwardly while Dillon crouched down in front of them and, just as awkwardly as his sister, patted Summer's knee. Summer tried to laugh at their awkwardness, but it got tangled in her throat, coming out as a sob instead. And like it had opened the floodgates, she kept crying for a long while after that.
***
Apparently, Summer had cried herself to sleep, because she woke up squished on a cot with Tenaya wrapped around her like a blanket. Her eyes felt grainy and a bit swollen, but she could make out Dillon sleeping on the cot across from them. She sat up gingerly, slipping out of Tenaya's loose hold. Summer smiled down at her, tucking a strand of hair behind Tenaya's ear before getting up off the cot and making her way to the storage shelves. She grabbed a couple of protein bars, a bottle of water and some aspirin before making her way out of the panic room.
Tenaya found her while she was sifting through the jewelry on her dresser. Leaning back out into the hall, Tenaya shouted, "Found her!" before cautiously walking up to Summer. "How are you doing?" she asked.
Summer kept her eyes on her jewelry. "Better, thanks. Oh!" She glanced up to meet Tenaya's eyes and tried to give her the brightest smile she could manage. "I found my crystal." She held out the little round crystal so Tenaya could see it. It was black, but still transparent, enough to see the little bear inside of it.
"Is a… panda?" Tenaya said, wrinkling her nose in confusion.
Sighing, Summer said, "It's a Crescent Bear." People always thought panda. She turned back to the jewelry as Dillon came into the room.
"Are we ready to go?" he asked. "The sun's almost up."
"Just a second," said Summer, finally spotting what she was looking for. She held up two chains, one gold and one silver, triumphantly. "Andrews got these made for me." Summer was proud of herself, she barely stumbled over Andrews' name. "Watch," she said, slipping the gold chain over her neck. She held onto the empty pendant that was swinging from the chain and slipped her bear crystal into it. Then she handed the silver one to Tenaya. "So you don't lose your crystal."
"Thanks," said Tenaya, slipping it on and slotting her crystal into the pendant as they made their way downstairs.
"How come you never brought that with you?" asked Dillon over his shoulder.
Summer shrugged. "We didn't have a whole lot of time. I only brought stuff that I thought I could trade or sell. I probably could have found a market for it, but it just felt… wrong."
Tenaya nodded, looking down at the little peacock in her hands.
They stopped at the panic room to stock up on extra supplies and headed outside.
"So," said Dillon, once they'd gathered their stuff and settled back into the Fury. "Next stop, weird music festival."
***
Summer looked up at the giant warehouse in front of them, with the word NASADA painted on it, then at the empty air field around them, then back to the map. "This can't be the right place."
Dillon glared down at the map like it was the map's fault. "Well, I don't see anything else around here."
"Maybe we can check inside?" said Tenaya, taking several steps toward the warehouse before stopping and looking back at them. "We did come all this way."
Dillon sighed and glared down at the map one more time. "Fine."
They rolled back the warehouse doors and Summer barely caught a flying piece of paper before it smacked her in the face. She scanned it, blinking in surprise. "It's one of the flyers," she said, holding it up so the other two could see.
"So we found-" Tenaya's words cut off as she stepped into the warehouse. "A whole lot of nothing," she finished, sounding exasperated as she flung her arms up to encompass the entire warehouse.
Summer and Dillon followed her into the dusty warehouse. "Well, we did find a pile of garbage," Dillon said drily, gesturing to a pile of rags in the corner closest to the door.
"Comfortable garbage though," said the pile of garbage. The three of them dropped into ready stances immediately. Summer's eyes widened in shock as the pile of garbage stood up to reveal an old man. He casually dusted himself and bowed lightly at them. "It's all the cotton," said the old man. "It breathes."
"What?" Dillon stated, staring at the old man in disbelief.
The old man pulled out a pair of glasses, taking the time to wipe them off on his sleeve while he yawned. "Cotton? It's a cloth we used to produce a lot of. It's only been three years, you can't have forgotten about it already."
"Who are you?" asked Tenaya.
"A weary traveller who got his nap interrupted. You can call me Sensei Green," said the old man. He picked up a pack and short walking stick. "Who are you?"
"I'm Summer, and this is Tenaya and-"
"Don't tell him that," snapped Dillon, stepping in front of her and Tenaya. He was still glaring at Sensei Green. "We don't know where he came from."
"A waterfall," said Sensei Green, one side of his mouth quirking up into a smile. He settled his pack onto his back while studying Dillon. "So I don't get the honour of your name?"
"You didn't give us yours," Dillon said, raising his fists slightly.
"A name describes who you are, Sensei Green is as true of me as any other name," returned Sensei Green, resting his walking stick casually on the ground. Summer thought it looked weird, thick and kind of short.
"And if I don't have one of those?" Dillon said, in the same tone he used when going head to head with Doctor K. Summer fought the urge to roll her eyes and looked to Tenaya, who gave her a sympathetic look.
"Every man has a name," said Sensei Green, sounding like he was quoting something, "even if he doesn't know it, someone will have named him."
Dillon dropped his fighting stance to cross his arms instead. "Where'd you get that from? Fortune cookies?"
"Gerbil pellets." Sensei Green chuckled to himself like it was the best joke ever. He eyed Dillon for a minute. "You strike me as a Bradley," he said decidedly. He nodded to himself and started ambling out of the warehouse. "And if you're looking for the spaceships, you're about two and a half years too late."
"Wait, what?" said Tenaya, scrambling after him. Summer and Dillon right behind her.
"What spaceships?" asked Summer, coming up beside him.
"Fly Me to the Moon?" said Sensei Green, nodding at the flyer Tenaya still had clutched in her hands. "It was a handy was to organize mass evacuations until Venjix figured out how to read hardcopy."
"Mass evacuations where?" Summer said.
Sensei Green eyed her for a second, like he wasn't sure if she was joking or not. He pointed upwards.
"How can people survive on the moon?" asked Tenaya, glancing upwards. The sun was half set by now and Summer could just make out a faint sliver of the moon up in the sky.
"Technically, they survive on Mirinoi, which is linked to the moon via portal," said Sensei Green. "But the space colonies work too."
"If you were there for that, why are you still here?" asked Dillon suspiciously.
Sensei Green snorted. "My relatives are real space cases. Would have been too much like staying home." He glanced around the airfield. "Oh, you have a car. That's very handy." He started making his way towards the Fury.
"Hey, hang on," snapped Dillon, grabbing Sensei Green's arm. "If the spaceships are gone, what are you doing out here all alone?"
"Hiding from an Org," said Sensei Green matter-of-factly.
"What's an Org?" said Tenaya.
Something large and misshapen streaked through the air over their heads, letting out an inhuman shriek. It smashed in a pile of barrels by the warehouse, causing an explosion. "That's an Org," said Sensei Green calmly. "We should probably start running for your car now if you want to live."
Tenaya and Sensei Green took off at a dead run. Summer got about three steps before she realized Dillon hadn't moved. She spun and grabbed his arm. "Come on!"
"We're not giving him a ride!"
"We're not leaving him alone with that thing," she stated, nodded to where the Org was stumbling to it's feet, a low growl emanating from it.
"But-"
"Lesser evil," Summer snapped. "Move!"
Dillon moved. They threw themselves into the car just as the Org let out a howl and smashed into the side of the warehouse. Dillon threw the Fury into drive as the warehouse exploded behind them.
"Well, that was fun," said Sensei Green, who was still panting slightly. "So, spaceships are out. Did you kids have your hearts set on any other methods of escaping Venjix?"
"Actually," said Tenaya, "Venjix is destroyed."
"Really?" Sensei Green glanced around at the three of them. "Power Rangers?" They nodded. "Oh good," he said easily. "For a while there, I was thinking we were going to have to deal with Orgs and evil robots at the same time. That was promising to be inconvenient."
Dillon gave Summer a baffled look, like he truly could not understand how this guy existed. She gave him a sympathetic smile in return. She turned in her seat to face Sensei Green. "We're actually looking for other human survivors," she explained. "We want to start rebuilding the Earth."
Sensei Green nodded. "I know a few places," he said. "You did save me from an Org fight, after all."
Dillon shook his head slowly in baffled amazement. Summer suppressed a smile. At least it was better than vague coordinates from a newspaper.
***
Even with the random thunderstorm that sprang up around the old airfield, Dillon kept them driving through most of the night before finally stopping by a small, wooded park. Dillon got out first, immediately staring suspiciously back in the direction of the airfield.
"I think we lost it," said Summer cautiously as she helped Tenaya out of the back. Sensei Green followed after her and gave a mighty stretch, grunting when his joints cracked.
"So it just happened to get hit by lightening and solve everything?" asked Dillon.
"Well, it was a pretty big storm," said Sensei Green, stretching his arms out. "And it was wearing a lot of metal."
Summer took in the small clearing by the forest. The moon was out, giving them a small amount of light to see by. She headed to the Fury's trunk and started pulling out their sleeping gear, passing it over to Tenaya as she gathered it.
Dillon shook his head, taking his sleeping bag when Tenaya handed it to him. "It seems too easy."
"Probably," said Sensei Green agreeably. "Not much we can do at this point. It'll either attack or it won't."
"You're very calm about this," said Tenaya, settling her sleeping bag beside Summer's.
Sensei Green sighed heavily. "Well, four years of Venjix attacks tends to modify one's outlook on life." Then he lay down, pulling his clothes around him until he looked like the pile of garbage from the warehouse again.
"That can't be comfortable," Tenaya whispered to Summer. Summer smiled and lay down, Tenaya laying down too. She could see Dillon settling his own bag down closer to the Fury. Closing her eyes, Summer let herself relax, drifting to sleep.
Summer woke with a yelp when something smacked her in the face. She grabbed it and realized it was an arm. She blearily followed the arm along until she saw Tenaya's sheepish face. "Sorry," said Tenaya.
"It's okay," she said, sitting up. She glanced around the clearing again, taking it in now that the sun was up. Dillon was stalking around the perimeter, glaring suspiciously at the copse of trees. Sensei Green was sitting cross-legged on the ground, comparing their map to a shabbier one that Summer guessed was his own.
Squeezing Tenaya's arm gently before giving it back, Summer got up and headed for the Fury's trunk. She figured she might as well grab breakfast. She pulled out several power bars, tossing one at Dillon as he stalked by, and took them over to where Tenaya was just settling down beside Sensei Green.
"We're pretty close to a way station," said Sensei Green as Summer handed a power bar to Tenaya. "A week in the car." He nodded decisively. He took the power bar Summer handed him with a nod of thanks. He chewed it slowly, eyes still on the maps. Summer was about to ask a question, but she stopped when she saw him absently pick up a small rock. Then he suddenly flicked his rock as Dillon stalked by, hitting Dillon right in the ass.
Dillon jumped with a started yelp, spinning and dropping into a defensive stance. Sensei Green eyeballed him. "Your arms are too high," he said before taking another bite of his power bar.
Tenaya snickered helplessly, listing into Summer's side like she was trying to hide her reaction.
"Are you crazy?" snapped Dillon, glaring furiously at Sensei Green.
"Says the guy checking under every pebble for an Org," said Sensei Green. "Too much caution is as bad as too little. You spend too much time watching the little things and you miss the big ones."
Dillon looked torn, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to pout or pick a fight. "We didn't get very much sleep last night," said Summer, feeling bad for him. "Maybe I could drive us today."
Deflating a bit, Dillon dropped his defensive stance. "Do we have any idea where we're going?"
Sensei Green pointed to a place on their map. "Briarwood," he said. "It's ground zero for the second wave of refugees?"
"The second wave?" asked Tenaya. She was still leaning on Summer, but she tilted her head closer to the map. "What was the first? The space ships?"
Sensei Green nodded. He started to fold up the maps. "We had to change tactics when Venjix figured out how to read."
"Change them to what?" asked Summer as they started gathering everything up.
"Magic," he replied.
Summer shared a confused look with Tenaya. "What?"
Sensei Green smirked. "Magic." He turned and climbed into the Fury.
Dillon handed Summer the keys, glaring after Sensei Green. "If he didn't want to tell us, he could have just said that," he grumbled.
***
They were halfway through the week long journey when they stopped in an abandoned town to refuel and resupply. It had been a pretty uneventful journey so far, with Summer and Dillon switching off on driving. Sensei Green had apparently decided that Dillon's fighting forms needed a lot of work and kept surprising Dillon by throwing things at him and then critiquing his stances. He hadn't tried it with either Summer or Tenaya yet and Summer wasn't sure how she felt about that. He wasn't acting like he thought they couldn't handle it.
Summer and Tenaya left Dillon and Sensei Green to refuel the Fury while they did the supply run. Once they were alone, Summer brought it up with Tenaya.
"Well, we are better fighters," said Tenaya with a shrug. She forced open the sliding doors of the grocery store. "Dillon relies too much on his endurance, strength and bad mood."
Summer snorted and lead the way to the non-perishables, doing her best to ignore the rotten food smell. She absently fiddled with her bear crystal. "That's true," she allowed. "But why not get us to help train Dillon then?"
"He might be trying not to rub it in?" Tenaya dragged a rolling cart behind her, tossing things in as they travelled the aisles. "My brother is kinda touchy."
"You're handling it pretty well," said Summer, smiling at her.
Tenaya shrugged a shoulder, glancing down a bit shyly. "You're helping," she said softly.
Something warm bloomed in Summer's stomach and on impulse she took Tenaya's free hand and threaded their fingers together. "Come on, we should see if they have any power bars."
***
Briarwood looked nothing like Summer was expecting. There were no buildings or cars for a start, just paved roads and sidewalks, city landscaping gone wild and lots of square holes. The pavement also had strange dents in it, like people had gone around, smashing pegs into it at regular intervals. Summer pulled the Fury to a bumpy start near the edge of the surrounding forest and they all climbed out of the car.
Dillon and Tenaya joined Summer in staring around in bafflement while Sensei Green cheerfully stretched out his back.
Dillon gestured at Briarwood, starting at Sensei Green. "What the hell happened here?"
"I told you," said Sensei Green. "This is ground zero for the second wave of refugees." He shouldered his pack and popped the trunk on the Fury. "Now come on, pack enough food for today and tomorrow and let's get going."
Dillon sighed heavily and stalked towards the car. "We really should have left him behind," he muttered as Tenaya and Summer followed.
Sensei Green led them on a hike for an hour before settling in what seemed to be a random clearing. "There's a creek just past those bushes," he said, gesturing to the left. "So we'll have plenty of water. Bradley and I are going to get firewood." He cheerfully clapped Dillon on the shoulder and took off to the right.
"Will you stop calling me that?" said Dillon in exasperation as he followed.
Summer shared an amused grin with Tenaya and set her pack down with a happy sigh. She started digging through for the empty water bottles. "Shall we tackle the stream?"
Tenaya nodded, taking half of the bottles. Together, they head over to the creek and start refilling in companionable silence. When they finish, Summer settles down more comfortably on the bank, just taking in the view. "It's so peaceful out here," she said as Tenaya sat down beside her.
"Yeah," said Tenaya softly. "What do you think's gonna happen when we meet the refugees? What do we tell them?"
Summer can hear the unspoken 'about me, about Dr. K' in Tenaya's words. She takes a deep breath, thinking over her answer carefully. "I think for the most part, we tell them that the Power Rangers defeated Venjix for good. It's over and they're safe."
"Except for those Org things," said Tenaya. She fiddled absently with her peacock crystal; she hadn't taken it off since Summer gave her the necklace. "Do you think Dr. K would reactivate the Ranger Series to help handle them?"
Summer bit back an instinctive 'no' that wanted to come out. It surprised her, she didn't know why she didn't want to pick up her RPM morpher to help fight the Orgs. "I…" she hesitated, trying to put the feeling into words. She started fiddling with her bear crystal. She bumped one of the water bottles and it rolled into the stream with a splash. "Hey!" She and Tenaya both bent forward to grab it.
Tenaya pulled it out of the water just as Summer thought she'd got a grip on it. Apparently, Summer had saved a pebble. A small, squishy… She opened her hand and yelped when a little frog leapt out to freedom.
"Oh good," said Sensei Green from behind them. "The frogs are out."
"You're not making them for supper, are you?" asked Tenaya suspiciously.
He shook his head. "It's just nice to see nature recovering," he said easily. "Bradley and I do have supper going though, if you'd like to join us." He smiled and headed back to camp.
Summer stood up, wiping her hands on her pants before picking up water bottles. "Supper sounds good," she said as she helped Tenaya up.
"Yeah," said Tenaya, squeezing Summer's hand gently before picking up her own water bottles and following Summer back to camp.
It was a quiet supper and an early bed time. Dillon woke them up the next morning with a shout. He scrambled madly out of his sleeping bag, flipping it upside down and shaking it out. Several frogs dropped out, ribbiting and hopping around.
"Oh good, you're up, Bradley," said Sensei Green calmly. "Come on, we can work on your balance while you help me get more berries."
Dillon eyed him suspiciously for a second while Sensei Green stood up and ambled out of the camp. He looked at Summer.
She shrugged. "At least it's not a cannon in the fridge?" she offered.
"Fine." Dillon sighed and trudged after Sensei Green.
***
They'd just finished lunch when Tenaya asked, "So how do we get to the refugees from here?"
"We don't," said Sensei Green as he cleaned his glasses.
"What? Why?" said Dillon. He sounded as frustrated as Summer felt.
"We came all this way," Summer added.
Sensei Green nodded. "To a way station. We can relay messages to others here. We can't just lead anyone to the safe areas. Besides," he added when Dillon started to protest, "we've had an Org following us for the last two days." He glanced up in the trees. "Right?"
"Pretty close," said a female voice as Summer, Tenaya and Dillon drop into fighting stances. A woman dropped down from the trees, landing lightly on her feet. She was dressed in all black, except for a pale blue stripe down one side. When she pulled off the black cap and face mask she was wearing, a cloud of long, white hair tumbled out. "Hi, Cam," she said to Sensei Green, smiling warmly.
"Tori," said Sensei Green, nodding pleasantly. He patted Dillon on the shoulder. "She's on our side," he said to the three of them.
Summer let herself relax. "Hello," she said, "I'm Summer and this is Tenaya and-"
"And I call this one Bradley," said Sensei Green brightly, clapping Dillon the back.
Tori raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "Do you now." He winked at her. Tori shook her head. "The Org's still a few hours away. We should move to a more defensible position."
"There's a cave system to the north," said Sensei Green. "Come on, Bradley, we'll close up the camp, while the others scout ahead."
Dillon nodded, for once not complaining about the name, while he helped Tenaya and Summer load up the packs. Tori took Dillon's pack and gestured for Summer and Tenaya to follow her.
They'd been walking for a few minutes before Tori said, "I see Cam's really taken your friend under his wing."
"Does that mean you're going to suddenly start trying to train me and Summer?" asked Tenaya, as she fiddled with her necklace.
Tori shook her head, smiling. "Nah. You guys are destined for something else."
"How do you know that?" asked Summer.
Looking both of them over, Tori's smile grew. "I can see it."
Summer glanced curiously at Tenaya, who rolled her eyes and shrugged.
It took them about half an hour to get to the cave systems. They stopped at the edge of the forest, dropping packs and turning to wait for the guys. There was a loud crash from their left and out stumble a monster that looked like a giant tiki head.
"The Org was faster than you thought," said Summer, dropping into a fighting stance, back to back with Tenaya's.
"No," said Tori, dropping into a stance of her own. "This would be a different Org."
The Org laughed. "Hello humans, prepare to be destroyed," it said cheerfully, levelling a club at them.
Dillon tackled it with a war cry. It snarled and flung him off easily. Sensei Green stopped beside Tori, panting and clutching his walking stick. "Kids," he said to her with a shrug.
The Org snarled and smashed his club into the ground. There was a ripple and seven weird purple men popped up from the dirt. They all had clubs of their own.
"Oh good," said Tenaya dryly.
"Duke Org Takach!" cried a new voice. Another Org stumbled into the clearing, scraping and bowing as it came up to Takach's side. "I am ready to do your bidding!" It looked like it was made of drill bits.
"That," said Tori quietly, "would be the Org that's faster than I thought."
"Good," said Takach. "Destroy them!"
The weird purple men and the second Org charged. Sensei Green blocked a swing from the Org with his stick, then used his free hand to grip the top of the stick and pulled, revealing a sword. "I knew that stick looked weird," said Summer as she ducked a swipe from one of the purple men and kicked it in the face.
She saw Tori kick down two of the purple men and then whirl her arms in the air. Summer's jaw dropped as a water seemed to be drawn out of the air, looping around Tori before blasting out of her hands and smashing into Takach. "Whoa," she said, round-housing another purple man in the head. It staggered back and then another purple man smashed into it. Summer looked over to see Dillon panting and glaring at the two purple men on the ground.
"Enough!" snarled Takach, struggling to his feet. He pointed his club at the drill Org and a bolt of energy shot out of the tip of the club. The drill Org roared and started to grow.
Sensei Green slashed through the last two purple men and jumped in front of them. He shoved Dillon behind him just as the drill Org tried to stab Dillon with it's drill hand. A green shield blocked it, though the force of the impact still drove Sensei Green back a couple of steps.
"Scatter," snapped Tori as Takach called up a new set of purple men.
Summer dove left as the drill Org stomped at them. The wave from the impact lifted her into the air and she landed heavily in front of one of the caves. Gasping for air, she looked up in time to see it about to stab her with its drill hand. She scrambled into the cave just as the drill hit the ground, rattling the ground. Rocks started falling around her and she shrieked, curling into a ball to protect herself.
It was over in a matter of seconds. When Summer peered up from her arms warily, the cave's opening was mostly covered in large chunks of rock. "Oh, no," she said, scrambling to her feet. There were a few cracks, enough to light the cave dimly, but the rocks were stuck fast. Summer slammed her hands against them. "No!" Tenaya and Dillon were still out there, damn it.
She tried to force one of the rocks with her shoulder. When it didn't budge, she left herself slump against it. Summer wrapped her hand around her bear crystal and forced herself to take several deep breaths. "There has to be another way out of here," she said. Her crystal was warm and comforting in her hand. She stared at one of the walls of the cave, it was jutting out weirdly. Almost box-like.
Summer felt almost drawn to it. She stepped closer, laying a hand on it. It felt warm, like her crystal. Tenaya screamed and Summer spun, clutching the wall. She glared helplessly at the rocks in front of her and just roared at it in anger. Her roar seemed to explode out of her and keep growing. The cave started trembling with it, walls were cracking and shuddering and the roar just kept getting louder and louder, until it echoed through Summer. Then the wall she was clutching moved and Summer was utterly aware of the bear. Her bear. Her bear roaring for her, and shaking off the cave system that had grown around it.
A cloud of dust and dirt whirled up and Summer tried to cover her eyes, but her hands smacked into a helmet. Startled, Summer opened her eyes and started in surprise at her gloved hands, looking down to see she was wearing a Black Ranger suit. Then she looked up. There were still several purple men around, who looked just as surprised to see her and her Bear as Takach, who had frozen with his club locked with Sensei Green's sword. Dillon was outright gaping at her. Tori, and Sensei Green for that matter, didn't look nearly as surprised. And Tenaya was laying on the ground - Summer growled, her Bear growling too. The drill Org had been about to smash into Tenaya with its drill before it had frozen in surprise.
Summer and her Bear roared and charged. Her Bear leapt, smashing into the drill Org and knocking it back, digging a deep furrow into the forest floor. Summer leapt and landed feet first on one of the purple men, smashing it into the ground. She slapped the ground, going on instinct. "Strength of the Bear, Black Wild Force Ranger!" Claws flicked out of her gloves and she grinned, charging for Takach.
Takach stumbled backwards, bring up its club only for Summer to slap it away. She slashed its face with her claws, making it howl and kick her hard in the stomach. Summer hit the ground hard and before she could get up, Takach was there, laughing and pointing its club in her face. "Short career, Rang-"
Tenaya screamed in rage, her screaming taking on a life of its own, just like Summer's had. Her crystal was glowing a brilliant blue. The light engulfed her as a giant peacock came soaring from the sky, it opened its mouth and shot an energy blast at Takach, sending it flying backwards to land with an explosion. Summer immediately looked back at Tenaya, who was dressed in a blue suit similar to hers. Summer got up and took a careful step towards her. The Peacock let out another shriek and started blasting the drill Org. Between her Bear and Tenaya's Peacock, the Org lasted another few seconds before exploding.
"No!" snarled Takach as it staggered to its feet. Summer and Tenaya both dropped into ready stances. "This isn't over, Rangers!" it snarled before vanishing in a flash of light, leaving the clearing empty of adversaries.
"I told you I could see it," said Tori as she ambled up to them with a light smirk.
"Now what?" said Dillon, glancing around like he was expecting a little round crystal to jump on him and power him up too.
"Now we introduce these two to Princess Shayla," said Sensei Green. "And you are going to let me train you. Your form needs a lot of work, Bradley."
Dillon sighed long-sufferingly. "My name's not Bradley," he said, sounding like a man who knew he was fighting a losing battle.
***
Summer sat on down on the cliff overlooking the Animarium and shook her head softly, still trying to process everything Princess Shayla had told them. Orgs and animal crystals and a giant floating island and now that there were two of them, their animals would start to call to the others, and how they'd find the rest of their team as a result. At least they'd be able to visit Dillon and Sensei Green easily as those two wandered the Earth. She glanced up as she heard someone approaching, smiling when she saw it was Tenaya. She wriggled over a bit so Tenaya would have room to sit down.
Tenaya dropped down beside her, pulling out her Growl Phone as she did. She started flipping it open and closed idly. "I still can't believe Tori and Sensei Green are Power Rangers."
Summer laughed. "It's promising. They survived, so can we."
Tenaya nodded absently. She took a deep breath, then hesitated before seeming to pull herself together. "Listen, I know we're going to be on the same team and all but-" Summer interrupted her with a kiss. Tenaya let out a small sound of surprise before sighing and kissing back, gripping the edge of Summer's jacket to pull her closer.
Summer got lost in the kiss. They eventually lay down, still kissing, but little nips of kisses with lots of staring into each others eyes. "Sorry," said Summer, smiling at Tenaya before kissing her nose. "I've been wanting to do that for weeks now."
Smiling back, Tenaya said, "It's all right. That's what I was working up to anyways."
"Good," said Summer and she leaned in for another kiss.
End.