Legacy
by Gamine

Part Six—Parting of the Waters

While Aji took Tommy to the armory to get outfitted, Deorth helped the other three equip a runabout, filling it with supplies, water, and ammunition.

"Deorth," said Taia tentatively. He looked at her. "Who hurt Aji? She would not tell me."

He shook his head. "Bubo, Beni and Hezia." At Jason's thunderous frown, he went on. "Understand, when your father was taken and Frid Resgro's treachery exposed, there was chaos here for a time. Frid had disappeared; Aji was missing as well and many believed she had gone with him." Deorth shrugged. "I know Aji better than most. I knew she had gone after him, but it was difficult to convince more than a few. And then she came back, and they attacked her before they realized she had rescued Paladin. And Aji... would not fight back. She still had her armor on, fortunately, or they would have done real damage. It was clear what they intended."

There was an audible growl from Jason, quickly bitten off. "These three... where can I find them?"

"Yes," chimed in a stone-faced Billy. "I think we'd all like to talk to them."

"I'll take you to them now if you like." Deorth led them from the docking bay. "You should know I already confronted each of them last night and demonstrated clearly that what they did was unwise."

The surroundings were becoming familiar. "Deorth," said Billy slowly. "This is the way to the med bay."

A smug smile crept over the blond soldier's face. "Yes, it is."

~*~

The runabout hummed to a stop behind a ridge of mustard-yellow rock. "The coordinates where I found Paladin are southwest of here. We will leave the runabout hidden here; it is easy to detect, and while unlikely, it is not impossible that the base is still inhabited." Aji shouldered her weapon and jammed her helmet on her head, leading the way. The others each grabbed a weapon and a pack of supplies and followed.

"How far?" Tommy asked, wiping his visor free of dirt.

"About an hour's walk," Aji said shortly.

Tommy caught up with her, matching her gait. "You don't have to be like this, Aji. Nobody here blames you for... "

"Untrue. I am here."

He thought about that. "You mean you blame yourself. Honestly, you Xeryans speak so cryptically I sometimes have a hard time following you."

She glanced at him, her expression unreadable behind her visor. "I shall endeavor to accommodate your needs by copying your speech patterns." There was a brief pause. "I'll try to talk the way you do."

He grinned inside his helmet. "Thanks."

~*~

In a hidden place, not far distant, It watched the party as they trudged across the hard desert floor. "These I choose," It whispered hoarsely, in a voice last used millennia ago. "Bring them." Its robed companion, still for so long, opened mismatched eyes, nodded once, and began to chant in a language long dead.

~*~

The desert landscape was stark, forbidding, an eerie beauty in its bleakness. The dirt and rocks were all of a similar color, the horizon broken by a craggy mountain range. The ground was baked hard, not sandy, and deeply scarred by gouges and cracks big enough to walk in. Dust filled the air, creeping into helmets, clogging their noses, covering them until their skin and hair and clothing matched the landscape.

They were about halfway to their goal when a few fat raindrops splatted onto the ground in front of them, sending up little puffs of dust. They looked up to see a black cloud forming overhead, the vapors moving fast and gathering in volume.

"Uh oh," said Tommy.

"Shelter," Taia's voice was urgent. "There." Some distance ahead loomed a rocky outcropping above the rest of the ground. She began to jog toward it, the rest of the party following close behind.

CR-RACK! Lightning arced across the lowering sky, followed immediately by thunder loud enough to shake the ground. A distant roar moved closer, faster than they could outrun it, though they were running flat out now. They looked behind them to see a gray wall of rain and wind closing on them. "Hurry!" urged Jason.

A second roar, deeper than the first, rumbled nearer. The gouge nearest them shook and groaned as a torrent of white water thundered by, sweeping dirt and debris before it, tearing at the walls of the channel it was forming.

"Flash flood," yelled Billy above the howl of the wind. "We need to get to higher ground!"

Water was rushing past the base of the outcropping; they helped each other up, slipping and sliding in the teeming rain. They sat, huddled, on the top of the rocky bank, watching the wild water roar past, heaving and hurling in abandon.

Billy looked up at the sky, squinting into the rain, the swirling drops somehow hypnotic. His blue eyes suddenly grew wide with horror and he looked over to two of his companions where they sat near the edge of the outcropping. "Oh... God... NO! Tommy... Aji... get away from there..."

But his warning came too late as the area where Tommy sat disintegrated beneath him. Aji dove forward, grasping his wrist, and then that part of the bank eroded suddenly, dropping them both into the wild maelstrom of the flood.

"NOOOOOO!" screamed Jason, his deep voice breaking. As one they summoned their powers; silver, bronze and gold leapt into the storm, buffeted by the harsh wind and streaming rain, racing through the air to chase the rapids.

<Do you see them? >

<There... a hand... no... it's gone...>

<This can't be happening... oh, God, let them be all right...>

<Where are they? I can't... >

<What's that? Is that... >

<I saw it, in my mind... I knew it was going to... but there was no time...>

The wind died, the rain slowed, and still the trio searched, following the whitewater as it carved its way through the desert floor, now turned to thick mud. Then, with a low, slow moan, the water formed a vortex and disappeared into the ground, the roof of the cave it made collapsing in the vacuum left behind it. They stared, disbelieving, at the crater of mud and rubble; Taia attacked it, digging furiously, heaving rocks away, trying to keep the mud from sliding in to take their place. Jason and Billy joined her, their breath coming quickly, the muscles in their arms and backs bunching from the strain as they dug frantically into the mire. At last Billy fell back, silently acknowledging the futility of the task, wiping angry tears on his arm. Taia simply went to the ground where she was, wracked with frustration and grief. And Jason collapsed to his knees, hands fisted and face to the sky as he roared out his anguish.

~*~

Silence. Nothing but a heartbeat, steady and slow; and then consciousness followed, black to gray to white, and other senses began to register. Water pushed gently at his lower body; earth, fertile and rich, cushioned his cheek. Tommy coughed, spewing dirty yellow-brown water. He choked, he vomited; at last he groaned and pulled himself further up on the riverbank, looking around slowly.

A flash of russet caught his attention; he dragged himself to the unconscious girl's side, feeling for a pulse.

Thank God, it was there. Faint, but unmistakable. "Come on, Aji," he muttered, gently slapping her cheek. "Come on. Wake up." Her eyelids fluttered.

"I'm... ugh!" she rolled over and retched, ridding herself of the flood waters, then returned to her back with a groan. "Are you all right? What about the others?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "I'm not even sure where we are. It sure as shit isn't a desert."

Aji sat up painfully, looking around her. Huge trees arched above them, heavily hung with vines, their tops too high to see. A faint steam rose from the ground; the air was hot, humid, smelling of earth and growing things. A thick carpet of moss covered the ground, small pools of water gathered in the natural wells of dark gray rocks. Shrubbery grew in between the trees, their leaves huge and dotted with moisture. Behind Aji and Tommy was a river, clean and clear, springing from the ground. Rock walls rose beyond the river's mouth and continued until obscured by the verdant jungle. She squinted overhead; the light was faint, diffuse, streaked with unmoving gray. Her eyes widened as she looked at her companion.

"I know," he said. "We're not in Kansas anymore."

She thought about that for a while. "Evidently not." A quick inventory revealed that they had lost their helmets and weapons, though each still had a utility knife strapped to one leg. Tommy's pack was also gone. The black uniforms they wore were in rags, choked with silt and yellow mud. They both had been banged about, discovering several new bruises and scrapes, but Tommy had a real problem: a several inch long gash on one calf. "Can you move your foot?" Aji asked, probing it with gentle fingers. He grimaced, but moved it. "Not broken, then. Here." She cut the black fabric of his pants leg free and rinsed the piece thoroughly in the river, tying it securely around the wound.

"Thanks," he smiled at her. "We should look for the others." They got to their feet and walked along the riverbank, Tommy leaning heavily on Aji, limping.

"You should get off that leg," Aji said, but he shook his head.

"Not until we're sure about Jase and the others."

They staggered a while longer. "I think we're alone," Aji said quietly. "With their powers they would have been more easily able to escape the flood anyway."

Tommy sighed, sitting heavily on a stone, stretching his injured leg in front of him. "You're probably right. Hey... what's that?" A dark shape bobbed in the water, caught on a branch that hung over the river.

Aji smiled, for the first time in their acquaintance. "That's your pack. Wait here," and she waded into the water, bringing back the pack with a grin. "This should make things a whole lot easier."

"Easier is good." He winced as she found a small bottle of antiseptic and treated his leg.

"Give it a moment; that's also an analgesic. When you feel up to it we'll try to find a place to camp."

She was right. After a couple of minutes the throbbing faded to a dull ache, and Tommy stood. "Let's go, before this stuff wears off."

They wandered inland, Aji scouting ahead and returning to Tommy with directions. He found a large branch to use as a makeshift crutch and was able to make slow but steady progress, though it wore him out after a few hours.

"I'm not sure how much farther I can go," he panted, leaning on a tree.

She nodded. "It's fine; we know as little about one place as another. Let me look around a bit. You rest here." He nodded and she set off; a short time later she was back, her green eyes wide. "I have something to show you." Aji slipped under Tommy's arm and helped him forward. As they cleared a particularly dense shrubbery, the duo stopped dead.

"Holy crap, would you look at that?" said Tommy, mouth agape in awe.

Before them rose a huge structure that could only be called a temple. Massive stone pillars climbed upward to disappear into the mists above; they were as thickly hung with vines as the trees surrounding them, and deeply incised with unfamiliar glyphs. The floor was smooth and round, inlaid with color to form a symmetrical design. Beyond this area was an archway, also deeply incised with delicate, interlocking designs, and beyond that, darkness. In the center of the round floor was a small depression, and inlaid into it a pair of stones, one dark, one light, both opalescent and beautiful. They were carved to interlock with one another in perfect balance, something like the Chinese symbol of Yin and Yang, Tommy thought, and said as much.

"Balance... yes, I see," said Aji thoughtfully.

"Is any of this familiar to you?" Tommy limped slowly to one of the pillars, touching the glyphs gingerly. "This writing, do you know it?"

Aji examined the symbols. "No. I've never seen anything like this before. I've never even heard of anything like this... except..." She paused, her brow furrowing. "It has been said that in the old days, the early days of So'Vran's domination, there were places where the spirits of Paladin and Sentinel and Guardian could speak to their chosen. So'Vran is said to have destroyed them all, but perhaps this is one he missed?"

Tommy nodded. "It's as likely as anything else." He walked haltingly around part of the perimeter of the floor. "And it's dry. Do you want to camp here?"

"Why not?" Aji nodded. "It's not as though there's anyone still here."

~*~

As the floodwaters abated around them the three grief-stricken companions made their way back to the runabout in silence. After an event of such violence any clues left at the enemy base were surely obliterated; and they were painfully aware that not only did this mean that Frid's trail was cold, but that they'd lost their friends for nothing.

"Has he said anything to you since...?" Taia whispered to Billy.

"Not a word," he replied soberly, adjusting their flight plan. They could hear the slight sounds of an elaborate kata behind them as Jason moved swiftly and surely: the slip of bare feet on metal, the occasional expulsion of breath, the rustle of clothing. He'd begun it immediately after takeoff and continued without a pause for the last hour.

<Jason? > Taia tried tentatively.

<Not now. > Behind them, Jason paused, then continued in his precise movements.

She looked at Billy, who raised his eyebrows; in answer she shook her head. Billy sighed. "Jason," he said aloud. There was no response. "Jase!"

"No," came the deep voice, clipped and angry.

"Keep us on course," Billy said briefly to Taia, who nodded as he got to his feet. "Jason, that's enough."

Jason ignored him, arms slicing through the air. Billy caught one fist as it swung by.

"Let go." A muscle twitching in Jason's jaw was the only indication of his inward turmoil.

"No." For emphasis, Billy caught the other arm as well, holding his friend immobile.

"Thin ice, Bill," Jason growled.

Billy shrugged. "Whatever it takes, Jase." His friend looked at him, dark eyes flinty and furious. Billy met his gaze with an ice-blue stare. "We're all grieving, Jason. Tommy was my friend too. But we've still got a job to do."

Jason jerked free. "I see. You know how I feel, do you?" He folded his arms across his chest. "Let me ask you something. What if it had been Tai instead of Aji?"

Billy paused, the very idea chilling him. "I can't even imagine," he said honestly. "It would be like tearing out a piece of me. But Aji wasn't your lifebound."

"No." Jason turned away. "But she should have been."

~*~

"Here, put your leg up on this." Aji shimmied the pack around so Tommy could prop up his injured limb. She eyed him critically. "You look exhausted."

"No, I'm good." He gave a jaw-cracking yawn, and Aji chuckled a little. Tommy grinned at her. "Okay. Maybe a little tired. How are you holding up?"

She stretched. "I'm all right. Once I get this fire started you should try to get some rest; it's the best thing for that leg." Suiting actions to words, in a short time they had a small but merry blaze going at the very edge of the temple floor, carefully banked with rocks. Aji sat against a pillar and beckoned to Tommy. "Come on, you can lean on me. It'll be more comfortable than a stone floor, anyway." He nodded and made his way over to her, curling up with his head pillowed on her leg, his hazel eyes fluttering closed.

"Wake me when it's my turn... to keep...watch..." and just like that he was out. Aji leaned her head back against the pillar, her thoughts as bleak and dark as the starless sky overhead.

~*~

He wasn't sure what woke him, until another tear splatted on his face. Tommy shifted a little, sitting up gingerly.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Aji said quietly, wiping her face with the heel of her hand.

"It's okay, I sleep too much anyway." He thumbed away a tear that had strayed over by her ear. "What's going on?"

She shrugged. "Just contemplating the ruin my life's become."

Tommy sighed. "Aji, it's not your fault. You can't be responsible for what other people do."

"Can't I?" She shrugged. "I can't help it, Tommy. I keep going over it in my head, thinking that there had to have been something I could have done, some way I could have warned Taia and Iannos. Something I could have said to convince my father that what he was doing was wrong."

"I know. You think if you had done things differently, everything would have turned out fine. But you know, sometimes shit just happens, and there's nothing anyone can do but ride it out."

She sniffed. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

Tommy smiled. "I am. When I first met Jason and the gang I was under the control of an evil being, who used me as a tool to hurt them, even to try to kill them. After her hold over me was broken I spent a lot of time beating myself up about it, thinking there had to have been some way I could have gotten myself free, some way I could have stopped myself from hurting everyone. But it wasn't true, Aji. And it isn't true for you."

She shook her head. "I should have been able to stop him, Tommy."

"Aji, look at me." Uncertain green eyes met confident hazel. "You did stop him. He tried to kill Iannos, but he didn't. You stopped him."

"I... " she stopped, confused.

"Listen, Aji. If your father had destroyed So'Vran, would you take the credit?"

She was indignant. "Of course not."

"Then how can you take the blame for this?"

"I... you... " There was a long pause, during which he could see her turning it over in her head, trying to find a flaw, and realizing for the first time that she really held no responsibility. And then, like removing an infected splinter, came a painful release.

"But how could he? Why did he do it?" With that she began to cry: real, hard, shuddering sobs, and Tommy merely held her, knowing the healing had begun. She muttered something into his chest between hiccuping sobs.

"What?"

She wiped her nose. "I never told anyone... He saw me, Tommy."

"Who did? Your father? When?"

Aji nodded. "When I went to find Iannos. I couldn't have fought my way out of there, so I planned carefully, moved quietly. I was so careful. They didn't even realize that he was gone. I had him on an antigrav, was making my way back to my hoverskid. I could have sworn the coast was clear, and I pulled Iannos forward, and there was Father in front of me. He was looking right at me. Up until that moment I kept hoping there was some mistake, that it would turn out not to be true. But there was the proof, right in front of me. I didn't even have time to pull my weapon; I ran, instead, as fast as I could. I was expecting any second to be attacked from behind. But it never happened." She sniffled. "I still don't know why he didn't call the guards."

"Sure you do." Tommy looked at her sympathetically. "You're his daughter, Aji. He loves you. No matter what he's done, he loves you. And you know what?" He slipped an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay for you to still love him, too. It doesn't mean you're on his side."

Aji leaned against him comfortably. "Tommy?"

"Mmm?"

"It'll take me a while to process it all, but... thanks."

He smiled. "You sleep now; I'll keep watch for a while."

~*~

Billy sat motionless, his thumb resting on the commlink.

Taia looked over at him, understanding in her dark eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." He rubbed a hand over his face. "I just really don't want to make this call."

"I know. Shall I do it?"

"No, it's okay. I have to deal with it sometime. Base," he spoke into the link, "this is Sentinel."

"I'm here, Billy," came his father's voice. "What's happened?"

"Dad..." Billy took a deep breath. "We've had some casualties."

"Oh, God, no."

"Tommy and Aji are dead. Will you notify Zordon so he can let Tommy's family know?"

"Tom... Tommy's... ohh, my God no..." there was a crackling sound, then Iannos' deep voice.

"Aji's gone as well?" His voice broke. "My poor child... this is all too much. Such oppressive sadness, and now... How are Taia and Jason?"

"We're holding it together. We've still got a job to do, and now more reason than ever to succeed." Billy sighed. "Barring any further inspiration we're heading for the desert citadel; hopefully we'll overtake Frid Resgro on the way."

"Our hearts go with you all, Sentinel," said Iannos quietly.

Peter spoke. "I love you, son, and Taia and Jason. Please tell them that for me."

"I will, Dad. I'll be in touch." Billy flipped the commlink off, put his head down on his arms, and let his grief run free.

~*~

"So tell me about this Bloodsong thing," Tommy said when Aji woke.

She furrowed her brow. "But you've seen Taia and your friend Billy."

"Oh, I know what it is. But what's it feel like?"

"Oh." She grimaced. "Like it sounds: your blood thunders, your heart races. You don't know this person, yet you do. Everything in you bends toward them, like saplings in a storm."

"Wow." He thought about it. "Does everyone on Xerya lifebond? What happens if you never meet your mate?"

Aji shook her head. "No. Though it can happen for anyone, it's actually fairly rare. Most people just find someone compatible and settle down. Deorth had asked me, before I met Jason. I hadn't said I would; though I was going to. But now it wouldn't be fair, even if I refused the Song. Deorth deserves better than a rebound."

Tommy frowned. "What happens if you meet your mate after you've already begun a life with someone? Do you just cast everything aside to be with that person, or do you refuse the bond?"

"It depends on the person. Most people refuse the bond, honoring the commitment they've already made. But often, in that case, the two who could have been lifebound become close friends and find satisfaction that way." Aji grinned. "You men all think alike. It doesn't always have to be about sex, you know."

Tommy chuckled, blushing faintly. "That's not the way Bill and Tai tell it." At that Aji threw back her head and laughed.

~*~

Taia sat next to her brother, tucking her legs under her. "What is it, Jason?"

He looked at her, his eyes serious. "I need to ask you something, Tai."

"Ask."

"What do I do with all these... feelings?" He scowled darkly. "She's in my blood, Tai, even now. What do I do about it?"

Taia took a moment, framing her words carefully. "You have some choices, Jason. You can refuse the Song, if you wish. The depth of emotion you feel will abate. But you will never hear the Bloodsong again." She met his gaze evenly. "Or you can accept it, sing the Bloodsong, and do so in her memory. Your pain will be great for a time, but you will never forget." Taia watched her brother process this. "Do you know which you want to do?"

Jason stood. "Yes." He took a deep breath, raised his chin a notch, and chose. "I Sing."

~*~

"There isn't anything you can compare it to on your world?"

"No... though it sort of sounds the way I felt when I first met Kim." Tommy smiled at the memory.

"Kim is your lover?"

He shook his head. "Not any more. I used to think we'd be together forever, but I guess you always think that about your first love."

Aji laid a hand on his arm. "What happened?"

"She had an opportunity to pursue something that was important to her, and it meant she had to move quite a distance away." Tommy sighed. "I don't really know whether it was the distance or what, but we grew apart. I was busy at home with the Rangers; God, it seems we were always fighting something. And she met someone else, someone who was able to be there for her when I couldn't." He frowned, tracing the colorful pattern in the floor with a stick. "You know what really bugged me about it? I could handle that she'd fallen for another guy, that she'd found someone better for her than I was. But it always got to me that she didn't tell me face to face."

Aji looked at him questioningly. "Well, what did she say when you spoke to her after she told you she'd found someone else?"

He blushed. "I never did. I just... well, I thought if someone else could make her happier than I could, so be it. So I let her go."

"And you've been alone ever since?" Aji asked, her wry expression showing what she thought of this self-sacrificing maneuver.

"No. I dated Kat for a while, she's the one who took Kim's place on the team."

"And in your heart?"

He looked at her, wide eyed. "No, nobody could do that. But I care about Kat, a lot. I did my best, I just guess it wasn't enough." He shrugged. "She dumped me too, said I neglected her. I guess I did. Rocky treats her incredibly well, better than I ever could."

There was a long silence, and then Aji giggled.

Tommy looked down at her, hurt. "I must have missed the joke."

"I'm sorry, it's just that... you sound like me."

"I what?"

"I'm not good enough, other people are better, it's all my fault... sound familiar?"

He stared at her. "This is completely different."

She shrugged. "No, it's not. I was punishing myself for what someone else did. You're doing the same."

"How do you come up with that?"

Aji pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "It's easy to say you've forgiven yourself, Tommy. But it sounds to me as though what you were doing is pushing them away, because you weren't worthy. You weren't good enough."

He started to speak, then stopped.

Aji went on. "You can push someone away very effectively by falling short of their expectations. In short, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't think you're good enough, so you prove it."

There was another long silence. "Oh, my God," Tommy exhaled slowly. "There were times I didn't call Kim because I knew she wouldn't expect me to, even though I knew she would want me to. I lived... down... to her expectations, and they got lower and lower until... oh, crap."

"Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah."

Just then something moved in the darkness beyond the arch; Aji leapt to her feet, knife in hand, her body between whatever it was and her injured friend. Another shuffling noise, and then a figure appeared.

He was small, slight, his bald head shiny, his robes white and black. Obviously of great age, he still moved gracefully toward them, seeming to flow effortlessly over the stone floor of the temple. As he came closer they could see that one eye was an inky black, the pupil obscured by the dark iris. The other was so pale a gray as to be almost indistinguishable from the white of his eye. In that one the pupil stood out most startlingly.

Aji fingered the hilt of her blade, unwilling to make any move that might be threatening. They were, after all, the interlopers here. She cast a nervous glance at Tommy, who spoke up diplomatically. "We apologize for intruding," he began. "We had no idea..."

"No offense has been taken." The mysterious man's voice was rusty, as though he didn't use it much. "You are most welcome here. You have been Chosen."

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13