Holding True
by Melissa Morris

The frantic amphibians fell back as they battled the blaze, its heat was drying delicate skin as they tried to contain it. Members of the squads sent low-pressure showers of water over their companions to combat the heat. The inferno suddenly flared high as the first gusts of a great wind hit it. The firefighters retreated knowing that the fire was out of their hands now as it threw tendrils of fire high into the sky. They huddled close to the dampened ground as the wind grew in intensity and watched in awe as the fire was turned back onto itself. Then it began to die down as if the air was being deprived from it. Muttered words of astonishment escaped them as they saw it over the fire, a great black and gold bird whose wings flapped fiercely as it beat the fire into submission. Then it gave a loud cry and flew away towards the center of the city.

Kalieth had backed off when the first blast of pink nearly took his head off, only a 'lucky' blow by the Master Warrior had saved him. Now, the Blue Wolf and the Pink Crane had joined the fight. They had erred and lost the element of surprise. It was an error they could ill afford to make in his opinion.

They were good of that he had no doubt, but alone only the Master Warrior stood a chance of defeating him and he made sure to keep his exchanges with her to a minimum. The Red one's strength and agility made him a threat, but his lack of discipline kept him from using those abilities to their utmost potential. The Blue one was not a warrior, of that Kaleith had no doubt, but he had the most annoying habit of interfering at exactly the wrong moment—many a finishing blow had been deflected by his trickery. The Orange one was a skilled warrior and his attacks had a rigid precision that Kalieth found predictable, but his allies had kept from Kalieth from capitalizing. The Purple Apprentice was an excellent leader and a strong warrior, but he not yet a match for Kalieth. 'Of course, with his force he does not have to be able to best me in single combat. All he must do is capitalize on any errors he forces me to make.'

The Wolf and Crane were an enigma, they had obviously been in a hard fight—their clothes were bloodstained and their faces grim. A team of two, perhaps? He absently parried the Crane's next bolt as he studied her companion. 'If looks could kill . . . this one hates me, the others fight me because of their 'duty' to the ninjetti witch.'

Kalieth whipped around and swept the legs from under the Orange ninjetti who had tried to sneak up on him. He stomped hard upon the fallen foe as he leapt and slashed at the Red one, who gave a small sound of pain when Kalieth's blade nicked him. He spun back and caught the high-low combination from the Master and the Apprentice. He whirled gracefully away and right into the waiting attacks of the Wolf and Crane. His sword and dagger where occupied by the Wolf's relentless attack so he quickly dropped and rolled towards the Crane's legs causing her shot to go wild as she dodged him. He came back up and found himself pressed back once more by the Wolf.

Numbers were in the spirit animals favor, but their opponent was far stronger than he should be. This battle was going on far longer than it should have and they had no answers. Owl had suddenly pulled out after they had finished talking. Now Crane flew high and vented her frustrations. 'His children are extinct! How can he have so much strength?'

'It is plausible that he possesses reserves that we know not of . . . ' Suggested Hawk helpfully.

'How exactly does one miss a small snake whose breath is deadly and its venom even more so?'

'Perhaps those who knew did not live long enough to pass on the information.'

Crane swooped down of her foe with renewed vigor after that reminder.

The serpent threw back its head and gave a hissing laugh, he had been listening to conversation between the annoying avians. He was happy, very happy. Owl had fled the battle after Crane's revelation, so it was true that she was the wisest—she knew that he was unstoppable. Perhaps the news of Frog's demise would shake the ground dwellers as well, at least it might get the damn dog off of him. He spoke in a mocking sibilant tone. 'ssso you are misssing one of your numberss, yess?'

The Lioness spoke for them. 'What have you done with Frog?'

He hissed in pain as the Wolf dug in deeper and began to shake him even harder. Perhaps this was not the best of ideas . . . 'he iss no more and hisses charge iss felled by mine puppet.' He smiled as all except the Wolf froze in shock, they mumbled denials, but no one truly voiced challenge to his words. It was good, but he really wished that the dog would let go, it hurt fiercely and it was proving more than just a distraction. He smiled at the assembled animals. 'yesss. why do you thinkss that Wolf fightsss sso fierssse? he knowsss.'

He stopped speaking as the Wolf growled and bit deeper, he had the vague impression that it had finally hit bone. He was sure that he had miscalculated when the suddenly the 'demoralized' spirit animals charged forward with renewed purpose and he found himself truly fighting hard for his victory.

Kalieth would have been surprised to find out that his flagship no longer orbited the planet. Little did he know that it and half his fleet had fled when General Bedek received word of a Council fleet coming his way. Kalieth wouldn't be surprised that Bedek betrayed him, just that he had the nerve to steal what belonged to Kalieth. If he had known, he wouldn't have been as confident about his odds—for Bedek would have only done this if he believed that Kalieth was no longer a threat. Bedek had bundled off all of the elites to the least useful vessels and told them to guard their master—they would be destroyed with Kalieth. His new fleet would be long gone before the Council arrived and no one would be the wiser. He would return to the part of Kalieth's empire that he had marshaled and hold there until he was sure the Council would not take action against him.

The other ninjetti watched in amazement as Kim and Billy forced Kalieth into a full retreat. It was eerie, both Kim and Billy ignored Kalieth's taunts and fought him with a single minded determination that was more representative of Tommy than either of the more easy going ninjetti. Jason was carefully giving orders to the others when Dulcea's head shot up and she stared into the air. He paused as she suddenly gasped and stepped back when he caught the expression on her face as she suddenly charged into the fray. Jason shrugged, "New plan."

A moment later he and the ninjetti still under his command rejoined the battle, supporting the main players of this new situation. This battle was surprisingly short. Dulcea had, in Jason's opinion, swooped down like an avenging angel as her staff seemed to blur in the air. Even Billy and Kim backed off as Dulcea beat into Kalieth.

He parried and blocked and dodged, but still the Master Warrior came on. 'She is more fierce now than the Wolf. What has changed?' He was thankful that the others had pulled back to make this a 'fair' fight, not that he would trust the ninjetti, but it was fortunate that they allowed him to focus his skills on the Master. No words were spoke as the two expert warrior each sought to find a weakness to bring the other down.

'Here.' He was finally here. He had waited so long to be free, it was a hard fight, but he would soon be able to lick his wounds in the world of light. He watched as Celax strode proudly through the dark gateway and into the night. He watched enviously as it breathed in the new air. He heard the joy in it's voice as howled into the night.

He was very surprised by what happened next, not as surprised as Celax. The silence was broken by the beating of giant wings and the cry of the great bird as it swooped down. Its golden talons shredded flesh as it caught the Celax. The Celax was dead before it left the ground.

He looked back at the line of behind him. 'Um, why don't you go next?'

Total silence greeted him, then one voice spoke. 'Nah, you go, we'll wait here.'

All further conversation was rendered moot as strong talons shattered the withered staff into kindling and the doorway snapped shut once more. The giant bird flew up into the night and towards the battle.

They were more evenly matched than Kalieth had first realized. 'Master Warrior is not an idle affectation in her case.' Dulcea bore a few nicks from Kalieth's blade, but he had also 'blocked' a few powerful blows with vulnerable spots as well. The group had hindered her as much as it had him, now they were going to decided the fate of the ninjetti once and for all.

"I must be doing something right
Just keep it moving I'm dancing in the light
I must be something right right right
Out of the darkness and I'm dancing in the light."

At least that's what Kalieth thought, on the plane of spirit it was a different matter. The evil serpent had lost some of its massive size and now was not much bigger than the Ape. Its venom kept backing one then another of them off, every attack he succeeded with struck hard and took it's toll on the good spirit animals. Only the birds had been agile enough to avoid a dose of the noxious fumes, well them and Whale—no one had any idea how he managed it. Just one of those things, they supposed. A thunderous screech brought the battle to a stop as everyone looked to the sound. A voice that roared like the storm spoke out. 'BASILISK! Leave this place and trouble me no more.'

In shock Wolf's hold had loosened and Basilisk finally shook him free. The wounds began to heal as soon as the bite was removed. 'ssstill alive? I thought your children desstroyed in the great battle.'

The giant bird circled high as it spoke down. It laughed with a thunderous rumble. 'Oh, I made preparations for such eventualities, little snake.'

'I AM NOT SSSNAKE! I AM THE KING OF SSSSERPENTS, KING OF THE NIGHT!'

The great bird laughed again. 'Sure you are.'

'Mosssk me not!'

'What?'

Basilisk gave a great hiss and struck up towards the giant avian, but it seemed to gently roll to the side as it dodged the strike. With a flash of gold, talons gripped the Basilisk tight and it flew high into the sky with its prize.

The remaining spirit animals just stared after the departing duo. Hawk landed on a low bench near the others. 'Out of all the ways I expected this confrontation to end, that was most decidedly not one of them.'

The others nodded silently in agreement.

"But the castle's crumbled and you're left with just a name
Where's your crown, King Nothing?
Where's your crown?
Oh, You're just nothing
Where's your crown King Nothing?
Oh, you're just nothing
Absolutely nothing."

The battle ended suddenly, Kalieth collapsed to one knee as a staff blow finally finished the work that Adam had started. He fought hard, but even he knew it was over. He growled at the Master Warrior and dropped his weapons. "Kill me now, ninjetti."

He watched calmly as the staff descended. A burst of pain was quickly followed by blackness as he slumped to the ground. Dulcea stared calmly down at him, "Not in this lifetime." She restrained the unworthy urge to kick him while he was unconscious and turned back to the others. "We should restrain him so that he may stand trial for him crimes," with that said she turned and walked off in the direction Kim and Billy had come.

Jason made a move to follow her but he stopped when he heard a quiet sobbing coming from behind him. Cestro and Rocky made short work of restraining the fallen dictator and came back to the group. No one commented as Billy held Kim close while she cried. Billy finally looked up from Kim and the others were shocked to see tears running down Billy's face. He spoke quietly to the group, "Adam is . . ."

The bird choked on Basilisk's foul breath and it wobbled in flight as Basilisk bit him. But he could fight off the cold for long enough—he unlike the others knew the secret of Basilisk's strength and he could thwart it. Basilisk thrashed in earnest as a line of light appeared on the horizon. 'you cannot dessstroy meesss thisss way!'

'I know, but I can send you from here. That is enough for now.'

'I have killed one of your number, I will kill them all, one at a time if I musst. I have the time.'

'Are you so sure?'

Basilisk hissed at the bird's vague answer and he began to shrink as the light came closer. 'I will be back, Phoenix! You and your cursssed morning will not hold me back forever!'

When the light of dawn hit them full on the Basilisk vanished and the Phoenix burst into flame. The moment ended and he returned to his normal state a moment later. All of the injuries that he had sustained battling Basilisk had healed. He shook his head slightly and replied to Basilisk's last words. 'You always say that.' He gave a triumphant cry and vanished into the rising sun.

"No. NO!" Rocky couldn't believe what they were telling him. 'Adam can't be dead! Not Adam, he just came back.' He couldn't believe that Billy and Kim would both be wrong, but it was worse to think that his best friend was dead. Some part of him screamed that if he denied it enough it wouldn't be true—it was childish, but he just didn't care right now.

Jason and Trey were both silent, there was nothing they could say.

Cestro had moved away from the group, he was the only one who didn't really know Adam. He was saddened at the loss of a new companion, but he had not lost a life-mate like the others. He felt it better that he let them to their emotional displays as he meditated on how Adam had enriched his life. 'You shall swim in the Coral Caves this day, of that I am certain.'

Kim sobbed harder as she was not just dealing with her own pain, but that of her companions. She pushed them away and latched on to Cestro's calm and happy thoughts. It gave her the strength to get herself under some semblance of control. "We-we need to get him locked up before he wakes up."

Rocky growled and roughly grabbed Kalieth's limp form, "I'll take him to where the axe-guy is."

The others watched him stalk off dragging Kalieth behind him. Kim spoke up hesitantly, "That went better than I expected."

No one commented. Kim sighed, "I should go check on Dulcea."

Jason spoke up for the others, "We should go the ship and check if Cestro and Trey's friends have arrived."

The unspoken comment was that he'd also check on Rocky. He nodded to the others and started towards the ship with Cestro and Trey in tow. Billy followed silently after Kim as she left the square. She followed her instincts and quickly found Dulcea's presence. As they got closer, Kim could feel the intense concentration from the ninjetti master. 'I wonder what she's doing?'

The spirit animals followed their charges, but now heads that were once held high, bowed in grief. The Frog spirit was lost and his Prince had followed him into the great beyond. It would have happened anyway, without the Frog, his chosen would have slowly sickened and died as his life force was drained away with his powers. So in a way, it was better this way . . . but it didn't feel like it.

They finally found her helping some of the frog-people with rescue efforts. Medics tended the many wounded and anyone who was able helped them, the searchers, or the firefighters. She had found them on the way to where . . . he was and she could not turn away. It kept her occupied with the busy activity. Dulcea listened carefully as the Fire Leader, Wrrock'kree'wrih, thanked her for her help. "The fires will by morn be gone. We must watch still, but that was the last of the major fires. A few small still burn, but contain them we shall and they will burn out. Now is not the time leap far, but hop to safe fronds."

Dulcea nodded, "Do you require anymore assistance?"

"Nay, you have done more than enough. In the morn shall we talk again. You have a hard battle fought and many wounds taken, I will take you and yours to a resting and healing place." The squat amphibian looked past her, "More of yours come, let us hop to your group and invitation you will accept."

Dulcea wanted to refuse, but it would be selfish—the others required assistance. She looked back and saw Kim and Billy and nodded. Taking the Fire Leader would postpone her conversation with the Crane and Wolf, she had no desire to talk now. 'Perhaps in the morn.' "Billy, have the others returned to the ship?"

"Either there or wherever the 'axe-guy' is being held. We still do not have any information about the fleet orbiting the planet."

He looked at Kim helplessly as Dulcea turned and began to slowly walk towards where the spaceship was hidden. The small Fire Leader hopped alongside her and shooed off any who wanted to 'buzz about' the returning ninjetti. He was the only one who spoke as they walked through the devastation and on their way their another of his kind joined them. The new arrival was explained as "Wraa'wrick'croo, a good medic to see to your wounds."

Once they returned to the ship, it was quickly discovered that it was a good thing. Only Kim of all the ninjetti was basically uninjured—she admitted that she had hurt herself worse in sparring than she had through this. Cestro's sturdier Aquitian frame had fared the battles much better and except for a few remarkably dark bruises he declared himself, "Functioning well within acceptable levels."

Billy was bruised and sore, after checking the ships database the medic declared that he had a mild concussion and would be fine. Billy had already come to that conclusion an hour ago, but he was grateful for the second opinion. Trey had some torn muscles and a motley collection of bruises and nicks. Cestro vanished back into the ship and when he returned Billy excused himself, "You are not putting that gunk on me," he told Cestro firmly. His face scrunched up at the odor—and that was with the container still sealed. "I'll be outside."

Everyone except the two Frog-people found the Wolf ninjetti's expression hilarious and a few chuckles escaped even Rocky and Dulcea. Wraa'wrick smiled at the smell of the salve, "This is very good, but we will hop to your night shelter and allow you to rinse before I apply."

He carefully checked Rocky's vital signs when he noted the bloodied bandage that was around his arm. "At night shelter I will clean and put a proper bandage on it and then you may rinse."

Jason like all the others had an assortment of cuts and bruises, as well as a selection of cracked and bruised ribs. He had stayed pretty much motionless since the adrenaline rush of Kalieth's battle had worn out. Too say he was surprised when his ribs began to protest was a bit of an understatement. Wraa'wrick gave an irritated croak, "You should have spoke, not hidden in the reeds, first you should have been." He studied Jason awhile longer, "I have no way to move you. You are too big for a floater."

Cestro spoke up, "We have a anti-gravity stretcher on the vessel. I shall fetch it."

Wraa'wrick carefully scanned over Jason's ribs and pulled a device from his bag. "This will be safe for you. It will hold the bones in the place they are now, so that when we place you on the floater you will not be injured more. I most want to have you in healing place before I immobilize them, good?"

Jason gave a slight nod and focused on breathing shallowly as the pain lessened. When Cestro came back with the stretcher, he and Dulcea carefully loaded Jason on and they left the ship. They were greeted by tired laughter as a verbal fight for the shower continued. Billy was sitting smugly in a now clean and whole ninjetti uniform. His face wrinkled once more as he caught the first whiff of healing salve, "I think I'll sleep on the ship."

He vanished out the door before anyone could comment, but he could hear their laughter behind him. It was a good reward for his over-acting. 'Tonight we don't need to think about it. Tomorrow will come soon enough.'

He heard a low whine. 'Not always is a moon needed to mourn.'

Billy nodded to his companion and walked past the ship into the mountains surrounding the city. In the light of the next day many of the Frog-people would comment at the strange wind that echoed through the hills. They wondered what could cause the sky to sing of sorrow and loss.

"A thousand years, a thousand more,
A thousand times a million doors to eternity
I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times
An endless turning stairway climbs
To a tower of souls
If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,
The towers rise to numberless floors in space
I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,
A million names but only one truth to face."

He was slowly waking up, he had heard a morning bird and felt the warmth of the sun. The bird's gentle song had faded and he could vaguely hear voices talking, he'd heard them talking before, but he had managed earlier to fade back into dreamless sleep. He liked it better there, he didn't have to think about what he had lost. One of his best friends was gone, they'd just gotten back together, and he'd never see him again. It sucked. Now, they began to pull him towards wakefulness. The first voice was rougher than the second, almost 'burbly,' he liked that voice and strained to listen to its words. " . . . we have much in common, but much not."

"True." Rumbled the second voice—he liked that voice too.

"Well, I have no problem with change, we all change."

"You speak truly, but how should this be handled?"

"You mean am I going to let him go?" There was a pause and the same voice continued. "No, I'm not."

The rumbling voice seemed to grow discordant. "I understand."

Then he heard the first voice give a croaking laugh. "No you don't, but you will. I'll pitch it to him and we'll see what he thinks of it."

"You can be so frustrating at times."

"But I'm so good at it."

Morning came with a sore back, throat, and great many aches and pains. He absently removed a canteen from his belt and took a long drink. Then he began to carefully assess his surroundings, he'd ended up following the Wolf into a warm cave and falling asleep after their joint 'howling' session. He still felt Adam's loss acutely, but at least now he was functional. He had mourned over their shared past, their rejoining, and this final parting. Ten years had not made much of difference he'd found, Adam was still his little brother in his heart and the isolation had done nothing to fill the hole. When Adam had came back into his life he had fit right back into Billy's soul. Now he was gone far too soon.

He sniffed the air as he felt the warmth of dawn burning the air and heating the stone around him. He'd have to head back to city, but for now he was content to just watch silently as nature slowly began to awaken around him.

The others slept much later into the day, their systems didn't adjust as quickly to interstellar travel and they were deservedly tired yesterday's horrors. On this day, dawn was not a new start, but the end of something old. The daylight shined brightly reminding them of their loss. Last night it wasn't real, just a bad dream that followed them into sleep, but now there was no denying that the Frog ninjetti was not going to join them.

All except Jason and Rocky had left to help any way they could. Jason and Rocky would both sleep much later into the day. During the night the planet had been contacted by a fleet sent by the one-time planet members of the Council of Light. They had found a ghost fleet orbiting the world, investigative teams reported 'bodies' of armor and decayed bone bound in an unidentified substance. Then they had pledged their help in helping the Cro'ack'wraan recover from tragedy and they were already setting the wheels into motion to try Kalieth and his general for their crimes, in the meantime they now resided in the brig of a Trifonian vessel.

The death-toll of Kalieth's rampage on this planet was but a few thousand and they knew how fortunate they were. Two planets in neighboring systems were no more and there were survivors here who needed comfort far more than they. A somber air had settled over the planet when they heard the news of the Frog Ninjetti's sacrifice. Another cost was only now being discovered—one area of the city had been rendered barren of life. No one survived who had been in that part of city and no one knew why.

'So this is it, we beat the bad guys, now we're heroes, and soon we'll head home.' Thought Kim dismally as she walked through the city, she sound herself back at the spot where she watched the building cover Adam's remains. She saw one small Frog-person dozing on a bench near her, he started as he finally noticed her. "Ah, Ninjetti, honored am I to be in your presence."

'He means it.' Kim blushed under the waves of adoration she felt from him. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Kim."

"I am Krrooon'aan."

"What are you doing out here?" she asked absently as she sat on the low bench beside him.

"I am watching here to make sure the fire does not flare again. I think it is gone, but it was very resilient."

Kim tried to figure out what he was saying and suddenly she saw. Her perspective was much lower and everything looked odd, but she could make out the ruins well enough. The charred debris was soaked with water and Fire Walkers carefully searched for remains of the blaze or people. In the middle of it all a fire burned bright, they tried to put it out again and again, but it would not subside. Then with the first rays of dawn that one small area blazed high, nearly singeing one slow Fire Walker. It burned bright and fierce, then smoke obscured the fire and when it cleared the fire was gone. She could feel his puzzlement and suddenly she was back looking at him. "Where was it?"

He perked up, "Right over there, just a few short hops from that beam."

Somehow she knew what 'just a few short hops' meant, and if her memory served her, it was almost exactly where Adam had been. A flare of hope washed through her and she listened, but couldn't hear anything. 'Fooling yourself. But it was strange . . . '

He came mostly awake and yawned hugely as his eyes blinked in the bright light of morning. His arm and shoulder ached in an absent matter, but they seemed to be in much better condition than they were last night. 'Last night . . . ' There was something about that, something important, and he had a feeling that he might as well as enjoy that blissful ignorance until it faded. He found a pair of shorts lying near him and quickly put them on, he didn't care what color they were at this point. 'Better than naked. Where are my clothes? I usually don't misplace those . . . ' His stomach growled and shook him from his thoughts. 'Breakfast first. I wonder where everyone is.'

"Ah, you're awake," rumbled the deep voice from his dreams.

He studied them for a minute, they were very different. If he had been working with a full instruction manual this morning he would have noticed a few more things, but as it was one was huge and the other was tiny in comparison. The big one was dark, flecked with light streaks, and the little one was light in comparison. The smaller one looked thin and ill, with a large scar down his back standing out in stark contrast to his green skin. The smaller spoke in his croaking voice. "Good morning. Hungry?" He nodded enthusiastically and both of his companions laughed. "Well then, follow me and I'll explain what's going on."

"Sounds good to me."

Dulcea had avoided the others all day, she preferred her solitude this day. Her workout had been a disaster, she could not lose herself in it today. She had known the young Frog Ninjetti for a but a blink of an eye, what were a few pitiful days when you had already lived over fifty millennia? He had died battling that which slew the Frog spirit. 'A spirit lost as well.' Part of her missed the Frog, not only because he was no more, but because he would have been a strong tie to her friend. It had been so long since she had mourned another, not since the destruction of the Council hall had she lost another friend to anything but time. Yet, for such a minuscule amount of time he and the others had become a large part of her life. Perhaps it was transference, until them the Temple had been the sole focus of her life. Now there was no Temple and they had filled up the hole in her life—especially Adam. They had just gotten along so well, he had seemed to understand her need for routine and just worked himself into it. He understood her duty and with that knowledge gave her freedom.

Right now part of her wished she didn't have it. When Owl had come with the news that both the Frog and his Prince had fallen to Kalieth it hadn't fully sank in. It firmed her conviction to defeat Kalieth, but once he was vanquished she floundered. Her newest and best companion was no more and she didn't know how to deal with it. So she had wandered in the ruins and helped those that she could to take her mind off of it. Fortunately the mist of water in the air had hidden her weakness from the others. Now Owl was off to wherever spirt animals went to mourn another and there were no fires to hide behind.

Cestro was enjoying a tour of the city's remarkably large lake. It was something that he hadn't expected, but it should have been obvious that perhaps the Cro'ack'wraan might still be amphibious. In fact many of lanes went straight into the water and exited on the other side. They had an excellent hospital and beautiful park. He felt a wistfulness as he wished that Adam was here to enjoy it, but since he was not then Cestro would enjoy it for his friend.

He had eaten a nice meal of fruit, he wasn't brave enough to try the rest of the 'Frog Food.' Conversation had been light and it had helped. He still hurt, but he wasn't going to let it drag him down like it did last night. Oh, he'd cried a lot in private and he was really thankful that Billy had slept somewhere else. That had helped too, now he told stories of his days as a ranger and a ninjetti even though they hurt. It was like Aisha said, you had to remember the good times and that he'd always be with you. He didn't like the fact that he was going to have to tell Aisha. He grabbed the next question like a lifeline and embarked on another story about when he and Adam were rangers—they really liked stories about Adam. 'Go figure.'

He was the last of ranger in the 'hospital,' they'd all been gone when he'd woke up. The first thing he remembered was his ribs when they forcibly reminded him of their damaged state when he tried to get up. The pain in his ribs didn't compare to the pain in his heart though. For the first time he had lost a ranger. Well, not quite, but it was the same. Maybe Adam had been on his own and maybe he'd made his choice, but it didn't make it better. He had failed, in fact focusing on his shortcomings made the grief easier to bear. He knew that as soon as Kim came back, she'd tell him how stupid he was being, but for now he'd just lie here and brood.

The Cro'ack'wraan had heard that there were Ninjetti among them and many of those working in clean up and rescue efforts had seen them among the many aliens that had come to help. They seemed to pop up when needed and help with whatever needed to be done. It was very good in their opinion. They were an easy-going people with a philosophy that hinged on the concept of change, even if it wasn't always understood. A childhood in the waters and lifetime on the lands as well had shaped them. They viewed death as but another change on that took them to where they knew not, but it was just a change. Loss was mourned as a loss of time with them, not a final parting, for they would feel this change as well. They felt sorry that the Ninjetti did not seem to understand this as they mourned for the past as well as the future. That was not good in their opinion.

The Ninjetti still weren't a common sight though and the one that now walked among them seemed odd. He did not cry or mourn, he smiled and laughed as he joked with the groups he worked with. He was stronger than they and they had watched in awe as he had easily scaled the side of a building and carried those trapped within down. He helped for a while and finally excused himself, he said that he should get back to the others now, he'd been away long enough.

They had regrouped back at the 'hospital' and they talking. Rocky had eagerly talked about his day and everyone had laughed, well except for Jason he just kinda grimaced as his ribs protested. "Yeah, did you notice they don't really use silverware? They don't even chew, just pop it in and swallow it whole. I asked Wrawick about it and said that they could eat anything they could get into their mouth."

Jason snickered and joked, "Guess you felt you'd come home."

Rocky stuck his tongue out at Jason and once again laughter filled the room. Then Billy had told them that he had just enjoyed the outdoors. Jason had perked up at that, "I didn't know there were any wolves out here?"

Billy blushed, he should have known that it would carry. Then Dulcea commented, "You are correct Kimberly, Billy does 'blush' more than . . . " She trailed off and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

They had tried to avoid talking about it, but now it was back. The reminder that someone was missing. Jason spoke up and blamed himself for not stopping Adam, he should have noticed that something was wrong.

"You're being an idiot, it's not your fault, it was never your fault! If it was anyone's fault it was his for not telling us!" Kim nearly shouted at Jason's pigheadedness.

A quiet voice interrupted Kim's tirade, "Would you have let me go if I had?"

Dead silence greeted that comment, everyone on both planes turned and stared at the source of the voice, Adam was leaning casually against the doorframe and watching them silently. He waited for a response and spoke again, "Would you have let me go if you knew that I was going to die?"

The question was dead serious and everyone knew it, but no words were spoken as no one could really figure out how to deal with this turn of events. Adam was dead, both Billy and Kim had verified it and they couldn't have been wrong. If this was some freaky ninjetti spirit thing no one wanted to break the spell. Billy had the best excuse for not speaking, he'd zoned as soon as he looked at Adam. He'd grabbed the heartbeat and then the scent and just fell into them as he tried to convince himself that yes, Adam was alive.

Kim knew without a doubt that it was Adam and she finally managed to speak, "No, we wouldn't."

He nodded, "Then it was good that I didn't tell you."

"I am confused, Billy and Kimberly both reported that you had died and you even speak like you had. How is this possible?" asked the ever rational Cestro.

Adam grinned lopsidedly at them, "With the great power anything is possible." He laughed, "Seriously it was a big surprise for me too, but here I am . . . "

It was as if a switch was thrown, suddenly Rocky came forward and caught Adam up in a fierce hug. Adam feebly tried to break free, but in the end he'd gasped for Rocky to let him go. Rocky had promptly dropped him like a hot potato apologizing the whole time. Adam just laughed as he got back to his feet, this was all a little too surreal. The Ape reached out and ruffled his hair. 'At least we've got you back.'

A moment later he was caught up again by Billy, who thankfully didn't have Rocky's 'enthusiasm.' He heard the Wolf speak. 'I am glad that you have returned to the pack.' 'You don't know what's going on anymore than they do.'

Wolf chuckled. 'Do I need too?'

Then Kim finally muscled her way through the two guys and gave him a much more brief embrace. When they were finally done Adam stood there as he blushed. Billy and Kim paled silently as four lines of white stood out on flushed his face—the marks made by Kalieth's claws. Kim touched Billy as he studied Adam's face, but there was no obvious physical reason for paleness. 'Hell, there isn't even a scar.' Adam started slightly as Crane fluttered gracefully down beside him. 'What of Frog?'

'He's taking a vacation. He'll be back when he's better.'

He smiled as he heard the spirit animals begin to cheer and celebrate. The moment was broken when Kim suddenly turned on him, "What the Hell were you thinking!? We thought you were dead! There were enough people around you could have gotten a message to us or something!"

Adam looked uncomfortable for a minute, "I was dead." Kim's remonstrations died in her throat as he continued, "I'm just not now and it wasn't possible to send a message from where I was." He began to pace for a minute and looked around the room. Billy, Jason, and Kim still had slightly dazed looks on their faces, he supposed that it must seem a little much. Rocky was 'definitely not crying' as he swiped at his eyes. Trey looked relieved and confused. Cestro just looked, well, like Cestro and Dulcea . . . she was watching him intently and he couldn't read her expression. "I understand what you're feeling," he said sadly and everyone could hear the truth of that statement in his voice. "And I really don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Now I see your face before me
I would launch a thousand ships
to bring your heart back to my island
as the sand beneath me slips
as I burn up in your presence
and I know now how it feels
to be weakened like Achilles
with you always at my heels

"I know it's been awhile since I've come to talk, but I guess I just wasn't ready. Now some things have happened and it sorta made me look at what I've been doing in my life." Adam shuffled nervously, "I don't know where to begin, well, I do but I don't really want to begin there, so I'll just sum it up. I'm a ninjetti again, I know I told you all about those days and all, but this is different. Better and more real. That's what the problem is I guess, I . . . I died last week. It wasn't like real sudden or anything and I had a couple minutes to think about stuff cause I knew it was going to happen."

He paused and continued while he nervously played with the bundle in his hands, "How did I know, well that's where it gets weird. I know this'll sound sort of hard to believe, but I had a vision. It wasn't like 'go here, do this,' and 'this'll happen,' but it was pretty clear to me that I was going to die and so was, well, the Frog spirit. Yeah, I know that sounds freaky, but that's my life now—I see spirits and I have visions."

He shrugged and began to pace, "Hey, Billy, Kim, Rocky, Jason, Trey, Cestro, and Dulcea believe me. Yeah, I told you about her, the same one that gave us the ninjetti powers. I managed to get her away from the temple—just more of that weird stuff. They're all ninjetti now, we're the whole of the ninjetti, but I've got a feeling that there's going to be more. Cause, okay, I need to backtrack, it's a big part of the whole y'know dying thing."

He stopped pacing as suddenly as he started and continues carefully. "I haven't talked to the others about it, it's just too hard. I mean, heck, I don't even know what to think about it and it happened to me. I was going to save Frog, but because he was dying my powers were fading. When I met up with the bad guy, Kalieth, I was pretty much a normal guy. Well, I ran like hell from Kalieth and I found Frog, but he was being chased by a snake. I'd find out later that it was the Basilisk spirit, which wasn't supposed to be around anymore. Well, I'd been getting some very secret help from another spirit and I kinda called for him to help. He said that he could, but it would leave me powerless—big diff. So I agreed. But the black snake came back and I thought that Frog was dead. I couldn't feel him anymore, it was like losing . . . well, you know what it's like . . . . I fought Kalieth and I died."

He stared up into the morning sky ignoring the tears running down his face. "That was supposed to be it, right? But I woke up . . . someplace else and Frog was there with the other spirit. I wasn't all there when I woke up, but after lunch I felt a lot more . . . normal."

He broke off and laughed for a moment. "And I found out that the spirit who helped me was . . .," he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "Phoenix." He shrugged. "Can I pick 'em or what? Somehow He used my connection to Frog to save Frog, but he kinda didn't leave me totally in the lurch. He told me he was pretty surprised when I first tugged on his powers and he went back to check on me. He took me back to . . . that place right at dawn. I slept awhile and then voila! I was awake and alive. I haven't told the others, but right now I'm not the Frog ninjetti, I'm his ninjetti. Even when Frog gets better he will hang around, they've got this funky mystic time-share thing going. Yeah, and to make it stranger I was informed that I'm now the, get this, Master of the Ninjetti. A long way from Zeo Ranger 4, huh?"

"...for the sake of momentum, I'm condemning the future to death so it can match the past." —Momentum by Aimee Mann.

Adam fell silent. His eyes roamed absently over the area. Finally he opened his mouth to speak a couple times before he could actually get the words out. "What does this mean? Why am I telling you this? Because I figured out that by, well, avoiding the fact that you left, I was binding myself to you even stronger. I thought by not dealing with it, by avoiding everyone who could remind me, I was moving on, but I wasn't I was trapping myself in the past. I think I want to move on now."

He wiped his eyes absently as he continued. "I'd been hiding it from myself and I didn't notice until it was too late. Now, I've got this chance and I know that I want to give it a try. I mean, I sorta had a date with Dulcea, when I asked her I was thought I was just trying to take her mind off of the destruction of the temple, but now I wonder. We're just friends right now, but maybe we can be more . . . I just want to find out."

His feet looked mightily interesting at the moment, but he forged on. "It's not that I don't love you anymore, I do so very much, but I think that you'd probably want me to live my life, not just live." He knelt down in the wet grass and pressed his head against the cool stone. He stayed there for a few minutes and finally he rose.

"I think I need to go talk to the others, I'm not going to tell them all of this, but I've been avoiding them. I just needed to get this off my chest and I couldn't do that to them. They'd thought I was dead and were mourning me. I just walked right back into their lives and there seems to be some problems. Billy has almost become MY shadow, it's like he needs a constant physical reminder that I'm back. Jason's still a bit uncomfortable around me, I guess he still sorta blames himself for . . . what happened. But he's getting over it, thankfully someone is. That's not really fair, Kim's fine with it. For some reason she just accepts it." He shrugs, "I wish everyone else would, well, Cestro's cool with it, but I don't think that counts. He's pretty cool with everything. I've caught Trey staring at me every now and then, though I think it's more the 'he came back from the dead' than any real issues. I can deal with that. Rocky, well, he's been I don't know drive by hugging, I guess he's just kinda overwhelmed." He grinned, "And he's 'absolutely, definitively, not crying at all, it's just allergies.' We both know that Rocky has no allergies."

He laughed for a minute then wiped his eyes, "Dulcea's just giving me lots of space, maybe tonight I'll go talk to her." He trailed off and looked around, "I think I should leave now, they get kinda jumpy when I disappear." He gently laid his bundle of flowers on the ground by the tombstone. "I love you, Tanya, and I miss you."

He turned without a word and walked steadily away. In the distance a nightingale began to sing happily, which if Adam had known he probably would have commented on. Nightingales weren't indigenous to this area.

"What makes me think I could start clean slated
the hardest to learn was the least complicated
so what makes me think I could start clean slated
the hardest to learn was the least complicated

'How do I do this?' Adam sighed quietly as he watched Dulcea workout, but he didn't join her. He'd found over the last week that his shoulder hurt at night, Phoenix had said that it was 'the price of surviving the Basilisk's bite.' All it meant to him was that he could tell when it was dusk just by the cold in his shoulder and he had a nasty scar across his back. 'Shirtless is now perpetually out.' Everything else had healed completely with his . . . return. Oh, the cold faded to an easily ignorable level, but sparring was out of the question. Now he was just trying to figure out how to start this conversation. He'd done a lot of thinking after he'd went to talk to Tanya and he was pretty clear on how he was feeling. 'I've been trying to have this damn conversation since dinner. I'm the Master of Ninjetti, heck I'm the Phoenix Ninjetti. I should get off my ass and start talking.' "Hi, Dulcea, nice night."

She stopped moving and turned her attention to Adam, he'd been following her around since dinner and she knew that he would start talking when he was ready. 'Though it has taken him long enough. My bashful Prince.' "Yes, it is."

'Nice night? Sheesh, how lame could I get?' "Um, how are you?"

Dulcea's eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at him. "I am well."

'Not making this easy on me are you?' Adam nearly groaned aloud when he heard Owl begin laughing. 'Cut that out!' "Well, uh, thanks for giving me some space while I dealt with all of this."

She was having to make a definite effort to keep her composure. 'He is so . . . ' "You are welcome."

'Quit laughing and help me here!' Owl just laughed harder and Adam managed to keep his cool, but that was so annoying. "I had been thinking about everything and figuring out stuff." He sighed once more and changed tracks. 'Easy stuff first.' "Well, I was told that I . . . amtheMasteroftheNinjetti!"

Dulcea looked to Owl, 'Did he just say what I think he said?'

Owl nodded. 'Yes, he did.'

So he knew now, but it was remarkably fast in her opinion. But her opinion wasn't that important, it was what the spirits thought that counted. Then again he had been through an ordeal that would rival many of the old tales. Also, there were no rangers before—perhaps that time was their apprenticeship, though a far harsher one than that of a ninjetti. She smiled, "Congratulations."

"You don't seem really surprised about this."

She sat down on the ground and looked up at him, "I was told that you would be the new Master of the Ninjetti the night you returned to Phaedos."

He dropped down beside her, "Oh. Did they tell you anything else?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Actually, I just want to know if I'm right."

That was not the answer she expected, "What do you think?"

"Well, Billy's going to be a Master Warrior someday, but I think he's technically already a Master of, I don't know, Technology, Science, Invention, something like that." Since Dulcea didn't speak up he went on, "I don't know about Kim, Crane's real secretive, but if Billy is accepted as a Master then Kim will be too. I don't think Crane could stand it otherwise." Even Owl joined in on their laughter. "I'm not sure about Rocky, it's just out of reach." He shrugged, "Though, Jason's going to be pretty surprised the next time he morphs. Well, how did I do?"

"Maker, that is the phrase for what Billy is a Master of. I too only know that Kim and Rocky will be Masters, but not of what. Owl doesn't think that Ape knows either, she believes that he is a little too laid back to worry about such things."

"I have to agree with her on that one."

"As for Jason, he is our General and Mountain Lion believes that he is ready to be a full ninjetti. He more than proved his worth. Hawk is a bit of a perfectionist, but I do not think Trey shall have a long wait. Whale has never been a spirit to rush into anything, but he has already given Cestro the first of his gifts."

"Yeah, I've noticed that he hasn't needed to rehydrate that often since he became a ninjetti."

"What of you, Adam?"

He looked uncomfortable for minute. "Me? I'm . . . okay, Frog's not able to do the ninjetti thing for me while he heals." Adam's voice choked a little on the last part—Frog still looked horrible the last time he'd seen him. "I kinda, accidentally picked up a spare."

Now this was unheard of. "A spare? That is not possible."

"Oh, it gets better. I'm amazed Owl hasn't told you yet."

'He said the choice to tell or not to tell was up to you.'

"Well, for the time being I'm the . . . uh, Phoenix ninjetti."

Dulcea just shook her head and Adam began to worry that maybe it was a little much information for one day. Then he heard her begin to laugh out loud. "I said that with the great power anything was possible, but this was still totally unexpected. I have had nothing but surprises since you returned and I think I enjoy it."

'Ooookaaay.' "And I kinda wanted to, oh, well, when I," he paused for a minute as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts, "when I was fighting Kalieth and I knew that . . . I was going to lose, it put a lot of things into perspective. Two things really stood out. Frog, but I'd thought I'd failed him and he was destroyed." His voice broke and he trailed off for a moment—that had been the absolute worst feeling he had ever felt. He gave a weak smile when Dulcea put her hand upon his shoulder and continued in a whisper that Dulcea had to strain to hear, "The second was you."

For the second time that night she had to ask Owl if she had heard correctly. She was not one to make assumptions so she decided to make sure—plus watching Adam fumble and blush was quite enjoyable. 'I'm amazed that he had ever dated, much less married.' "How so?"

As she predicted Adam began to blush and stammer, she smiled at him as he tried to put into words what he was feeling. He was babbling incoherently about her and dating and 'how he really likes her.' He was utterly Adam in her eyes, a great warrior with a Frog's gentle heart. She took mercy on him and gave into whim. She put a silencing finger on his lips and he broke off confused. She smiled soothingly at him, then she leaned forward and brushed a light kiss across his cheek. She pulled back and smiled into his wide eyes and the goofy grin she remembered appeared on his face. "I would be honored to date you, Adam Park, the Dark Prince of the Ninjetti."

"Do you feel a vague urge to throttle him?" asked Billy mock seriously as he watched Adam almost bounce around the room.

"Define 'vague,'" replied Jason. He knew he was teasing Billy a little bit, but he hadn't been woken up at the crack of dawn by Adam every day since they'd returned. This morning though was the first morning that Adam had managed to wake everyone up. This morning Adam had actually sang in the shower and managed to wake everyone up. While he'd managed to get back to sleep, Billy hadn't been so lucky. 'His fault for staying up so late anyway.'

Billy stuck his tongue out at Jason, he wasn't really mad, just annoyed. 'I like Sting and all that, but I don't need to be serenaded by 'I Was Brought to my Senses' and 'All for Love' at six in the morning. I wonder what he's so happy about anyway. I mean not that it isn't great to see him not brooding for the first time since we came back, but the early morning thing is getting old. At least Dulcea is quiet when she wakes up. It could be worse . . . he could be singing badly.' Billy chuckled, "You're right, it's my own fault, but I wanted to test a theory."

"What?"

"Do you know that Adam wakes up perky now at the literal crack of dawn every morning since we've came back?"

"So?"

"This is the guy who wasn't coherent until at least nine. Suddenly he's Mr. Morning Person and it is so disgusting."

They both watched as Adam suddenly blew through the door and up the stairs, a couple minutes later he came back with a guitar case and ran back out the door. Jason shrugged, "He's going to bed a lot earlier, it makes sense that he get's up earlier. Why does it matter? I know, because you are acting like a mother hen. I mean, sheesh, I know he's your friend, but Adam must have the patience of a saint to put up with you right now." He almost grinned as he watched Billy's mouth move silently for a moment, but that would break the mood. "You've become his shadow, you are obviously doing all that sentinel stuff to make sure he's okay. If he's thirsty suddenly you pop up with a glass of water, hungry? You offer to grab him something from the kitchen."

Billy grinned sheepishly, "I'm going a bit overboard aren't I?"

"Yeah, Adam's FINE, Billy. He may not have been before, but now he's fine. He isn't going to suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke."

"Are you sure of that?"

Jason laughed, "Mostly."

Trey, Cestro, and Rocky were having a 'heated' discussion about Mexican food. Cestro had never tried spicy food and was now on his third glass of water after trying the 'mild' sauce. Aquitian food was much more bland than that of earth, but he found earth food enjoyable—but a bit too 'warm' for his tastes. Food on Aquitar was most often served cold or room temperature. Humans seemed to prefer most of theirs hot.

Trey, on the other hand, had heavily sampled the mild and hot sauces and declared them almost bland. It seemed that Trifonian's preferred their foods heavily seasoned. "This Tabasco is quite flavorful and a nice contrast to sweeter main serving, but it could be better with a spicier sauce."

Cestro wondered if they had a less sensitive sense of taste than Aquitians. He had enjoyed the 'ice cream,' it was exceptionally sweet and served frozen, but it was a little cloying after ingesting a quarter of the serving. He had stopped and watched the by play between Rocky and Trey. He could understand Trey's comments, but the red sauce was far too spicy for his palette.

"I've tried some the spicier stuff, but it just goes to burn and doesn't have that kinda tomatoish-red peppery-ness," replied Rocky as he spooned another Tabasco covered bite of vanilla ice cream into his mouth. "At dinner tonight, I'll show you some of the good stuff," he grinned and pulled a bottle from the back of Adam's cabinets. "I snuck this in. Adam would have a fit, but this stuff is the best." He tossed the small bottle of his favorite sauce, Nuclear Meltdown, to Trey.

Trey studied it and put a small dab on his finger and tasted—it was exceptionally hot. He quickly grabbed Cestro's discarded water glass and finished it off. His eyes were tearing up, but he was smiling, "This is most excellent, I cannot wait till dinner."

"Then how about lunch?"

'I think I should eat on the ship tonight.' Thought Cestro as he contemplated the ramifications of this conversation.

Kim was happy as she sat on the porch, it was a nice day and everything was going back to normal. Rocky was his goofy self, no more bouts of 'allergies.' Jason had finally processed the whole thing and was cool with himself again. 'And Jason has finally talked Billy down. Thank god for small favors. I know how annoying it is to be hounded by Mr. Protect-the-Pack-Instincts.' Trey and Cestro had just taken it at face value and put it out of mind as no longer important. 'I guess everyone has a different perspective.'

She smiled as she caught a hint of music on the air. Adam was disgustingly happy and Kim suspected that she was the only person that knew why. When he had come in last night he was almost 'shouting,' "I'm dating Dulcea!" 'No one else noticed it though, so it must be my funky powers.' But she could have sworn she heard Crane laughing in the background.

" . . . how lon-n-n-ng," sang Adam as he finished singing 'Galileo.' Today had started out pretty normal—except for the fact that he was now officially dating Dulcea. They had worked out together and had breakfast. Then they'd started talking, but the conversation was a bit awkward as they started to talk more about themselves. It had come out that he could play the guitar and Dulcea had wanted to hear him play, so now he was subjecting her to his repertoire of music, which mostly included old Indigo Girls tunes.

It had become a pretty interesting conversation all in all, he'd play a song or two then they'd start talking about it. He got to hear about her wilder pranks when she was younger and a few that happened during her apprentice days. Seems that young ninjetti needed to let off steam every now and then, just like everyone else. Then there were the few people who had come to the temple not to test for the great power, Zordon he knew about, but there were a few others that he'd never heard of.

The good thing was that since she had lived in such relative isolation for so long, there wasn't a whole lot of different events for her to talk about. So he'd told her about his life as much as he could remember from his childhood before the rangers and about his time after the rangers, including a little bit about Tanya. He idly began to pick out the light tune of 'Gone Again' as he talked.

There was a certain relaxed atmosphere that seemed to pervade tonight's gathering in the lodge. Maybe it was relief that it was over. Or maybe it could have been the very happy, very alive Frog ninjetti that bounced through the house. Or the on going debate about spicy food that had started with Rocky and Trey, but had now engulfed the entire room.

"I was just saying that if you ever spice something like that again, I'm going to kill you," said Billy calmly as Rocky squirmed under his gaze.

"You can just get in line," retorted Kim as Rocky made sure the table was between him and the Crane Ninjetti.

"I didn't know," protested Rocky vehemently. 'I mean they haven't told us anything, how was I to know that his sense of taste was super sensitive? Kim's the psychic.' "If I had I wouldn't have done it on your food. And I told you it was hot."

"He did warn you, Billy," supplied Cestro helpfully.

Jason chuckled, "I'm amazed you couldn't smell it." He grinned as Billy mumbled, "What was that?"

"I didn't check," repeated Billy, this time a bit louder.

"Then I believe it is your own fault, Billy," declared Trey as he grinned at Rocky.

Laughter erupted from around the table as Kim whacked Billy on the back of the head. When it finally calmed down Adam spoke up, "Well, I've got a few things to say about this and that." Dead silence descended over the table. Adam chuckled, "Well, first off, the world is not going to end anytime soon." He waited for the others to relax a bit and finally gave up, "Relax people, this is the good part. Now, where was I, okay, Jason you've got to morph right now."

Jason gave him a confused look, but complied and when the flash of purple cleared he wasn't in the purple ninjetti outfit he expected. He looked down and studied his new outfit: it was a deep purple, really dark yet a vivid hue, and it reminded him in a way of his ranger outfit, but over that he now had a full suit of golden armor. He ran his gloved hand over the only carving on his outfit—a mountain side with a mountain lion hunting. Besides that his outfit was pretty plain compared to Adam's or Rocky's. He moved experimentally and was pleased to note that it didn't interfere with his movements, he could feel the weight of it, but it wasn't unbearable. He was finally broken from his ruminations by a rumbling purr that seemed to fill the air around him. 'You have done well, my cub.'

Jason knew he had a goofy grin on his face as the others congratulated him. If he had been more alert he might have noticed the looks that passed between Dulcea and Adam as Rocky slapped him on the back.

As the well wishing and congratulations died down Adam began to speak once more, "Jason, well, now you're a full ninjetti and you are in charge." Jason began to protest, "Not of everything, but I can't think of anyone I'd like to have in charge when I go into a fight. Cool?" Jason nodded solemnly and Adam grinned and went on, "I'd like to say that this was nice and it was fun to be a ninjetti again, but I think we're going to be stuck here for awhile." No one, except for Dulcea had any idea what he was talking about. 'Oh, well.' "We're not going to stop being ninjetti, the threat isn't over, but we're ready and I think we should do alright."

"What exactly was the threat?" asked Billy as he leaned back in his chair.

'How much should I say?' asked Adam to the animals around them.

'However much you feel necessary.' Replied Phoenix effectively stopping any comments from the others. He sighed. 'You are allowed to have opinions, even one's that contradict mine own.'

A croaking snicker broke the silence among the spirit animals. 'Oh, I'll speak up, but right now I agree with you.' Croaked Frog from his position on the back of the couch.

Adam giggled, "You tell him." He winced. 'I just said that out loud, got to remember to think it out, not say. Think don't say. Think don't say.' "Uh, sorry, I was listening to the convention. Kalieth wasn't the main threat, he was just the chosen agent of it. Remember when I told you about the forming of the ninjetti and the great evil the spirits fought? Well, for those of you who missed the big battle, the big baddy we have to worry about is Basilisk."

Billy as usual spoke up first, "Basilisk, as in the mythological creature?"

'And I thought they were all gone? Right.' Adam shrugged as he mentally filled in the rest of Billy's question, "Yeah, it seems he was just laying low. What was going on behind the battle was Basilisk's plan to free the mythological spirits who sided with him. They didn't all get free, but now they're out there, so in the end something's going to happen. Our spirits were fighting Basilisk when I sorta called for some help." He looked at the floor, "I got it and they pushed back Basilisk." He began to speak much faster because he didn't really want to play twenty questions with Billy right now. "So, right now he's out there with his little group and they're going to build up for battle. When? I have no idea, but we have a few advantages." He grinned at everybody including the spirit animals, "I don't think he's really figured out that the rules have changed."

The following silence was broken by Crane laughing. 'You figured it out.'

Adam gave an exasperated sigh. 'You could have told me.'

'Secrets mean nothing if not earned.'

Adam shrugged, "Well for those of you who don't understand what's going on, don't feel bad, I don't know half the time either. Simply put, when the spirits agreed to create the ninjetti they changed something fundamental in the way spirits interact with the 'real' world. Since the mythological spirits haven't dealt with it they don't know it . . . "

'Could you get to the point? Remember patience isn't my thing.' Croaked Frog.

"Okay, for good or bad, the 'evil' spirits are bound to the same rules as you guys. They HAVE to have champions to work, Basilisk probably chose Kalieth because he was convenient, but he inadvertently made Kalieth a sort of ninjetti. I mean how else could he have held out against you?"

Both Dulcea and Owl asked the same question, "How did you come to this assumption?"

"Um, I haven't told you guys everything, I needed to put it into perspective, y'know? When I . . . lost, my connection with Frog was . . . gone," he trailed off for a moment, it was easier to deal with dying than with that terrible time before. He gathered himself as Frog gave a sympathetic croak and continued, "I wasn't a ninjetti anymore. I was just me." He ignored their questions and continued on, he didn't really want to dwell on this a lot, but it needed to be done. "But it seems that the spirit I called to help, well, he accidentally left something behind when he helped Frog." Adam gave an embarrassed grin and shrugged, "It seemed that, well, that I kinda fit the qualifications for what he was looking for in a ninjetti. If I had known a lot sooner, I bet the battle with Kalieth would have went a lot different, but . . . " He trailed off once more, he hadn't noticed because he had been still reeling from the loss of Frog.

'Actions speak louder than words and all that.' He morphed into his ninjetti outfit and it was different. The silvery designs were still gone, because Frog was still too weak to resume as Adam's spirit animal, but a new design had appeared. Starting at his lower back a flame of gold and copper thread stretched up to his shoulder and looped around his right arm. It ended in a flying eagle design on the back of his gauntlet. "Right now, I'm the Phoenix Ninjetti."

"Phoenix, but I thought the mythological creatures were destroyed?" Asked Billy as he tried to work his way through Adam's convoluted story. 'He called for help, so he had to know that something was there, how did he first meet Phoenix? Why was Phoenix still around? How does this relate to 'the rules?' Hmmm . . . the rules.'

"No, I think I said that they left, I think that they knew that something like this would happen. Cause, I've seen some things that didn't seem to fit if they all left totally. Please, don't ask."

"What about the Frog?" asked Rocky, he wasn't totally following this, but he thought that Frog was pretty big thing to leave out.

"He's recovering and when he's better," Adam gave a huge grin, "I will be everyone's favorite Frog ninjetti again."

Rocky and Jason both snickered at that comment and Adam stuck his tongue out causing the group to break into laughter, well everyone but Cestro. "What will happen to the Phoenix spirit?" questioned Cestro, this was an enlightening, if confusing conversation.

"He and Frog have worked out some kind of funky deal, I don't really know the particulars."

"Spirit's have to have a ninjetti to directly affect this plane?" said Billy, it was a statement that held a question to Adam.

"Yup, got it in one, it's not totally right, but it works. Phoenix was using me earlier to put all the pieces in place, but when I suddenly became . . . free, he was stuck with me."

There seemed to a certain finality to that statement which made it seem impossible to question or ask for clarification. Most of the group went back to absently picking at the remains of their meals until Rocky finally broke the silence with a huge belch. "Oops, sorry."

Ironically it was the perfect pressure release for the group as they laughed at the very red ninjetti. Kim giggled, "Sheesh, Rocky, don't you know you're supposed to chew your food not inhale?"

Rocky grinned. "Hey! In some parts of the world, belching is a compliment to the chef. It would be an insult not to at the dining table. I was just complimenting the chef and the meal."

Cestro, perplexed, stated, "But you made dinner."

Rocky leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head and smiled smugly. "Exactly!"

'Now that you've saved the universe from annihilation by the forces of evil, what do you want to do now?' Thought Rocky to himself as he finished cleaning up after class. It was an idle thought and he suspected that 'go to Disneyland' wasn't the best answer, but he liked it. 'Now how to do it? Man, imagine Cestro at Disneyland. Maybe I can convince Billy to do it, he says he's got more money than any single person needs for one lifetime. I mean he's paying Kim's way for everything now. And Adam's. Only reason we're still at the Dojo is because we want to be.' Rocky grinned to himself. 'The Red Dragon Dojo now has four instructors of martial arts, five if Trey decides to play, and a gymnastics instructor. I'd say we've been darn lucky.'

The 'guest instructors' had gone over well, Adam was still great with kids, especially the small ones, the shy ones, or the just plain awkward ones. 'Dulcea wasn't bad either.' It had been a sorta breath holding experience as she began to work with a couple students, no one knew how she'd relate to the kids. 'She was pretty mellow about the whole thing and I think some of our older students 'really' want her to come back.' Rocky chuckled to himself as he finished sweeping the floors. As he put the broom away he grabbed a stack of fliers for the dojo, some had already been given out tonight. He smiled back at the smiling picture of Kim wearing her medals from the Olympics, he'd already gotten a couple of sign ups just from parents picking up a son or daughter and finding out that a world class gymnast was going to start teaching there. 'The new insurance paperwork and rates were a pain, but Billy's humongous 'donation' will keep everything cool until classes take care of it.'

He sat down in his office and leaned back in his chair. 'Everything's cool. Adam and Dulcea are DATING, that's still freaky. Of course, she's pretty much in charge, not like Adam's ever going to make the first anything. Man, everything's freaky too. Adam. He's still the same old guy and we're still the same old us, but I never knew how other people thought about the ninjetti. And those frog-guys looked at Adam like he really was a prince. I mean when they figured out who he was it was like 'Adam Appreciation Day.' If we'd stayed long enough he probably woulda been 'King o' the Frog-People' or something.' Rocky giggled. 'King of the Frog-people, I've gotta use that.' He absently picked up an old picture that he kept framed on his desk—it was the group when they were ninjetti. There also used to be one of when they were Turbo, but with Adam running around it wasn't a good idea to leave pictures of Tanya lying around. 'They were such a good couple, not even a bit of the angst that seemed to be SOP for Tommy and Kim or Kat. I wonder why no one's tried to get Tommy?' He decided to let sleeping dogs lie and go back to the more interesting topic—Adam. 'I can't believe he's dating Dulcea! They make a good couple, somehow, but DULCEA?!' He idly looked at the other rangers in the picture. 'I still don't know exactly what's going on with Kim and Billy, they're like best friends squared. I mean they were close before, but now it's like they're two parts of the same thing. Not that anyone would believe that I noticed it, but 'intelligent and mighty' and all of that. Jason's happy, he's much better at being in charge than I was. Even Cestro's starting to get the 'big brother vibe' around Jase, but he doesn't know what it is. 'He is a most competent and observant leader. He seems most aware of team dynamics and attitudes.' Yeah, he's looking out for you too, Cestro.'

'What about the 'mystical ninjetti crap?'' Rumbled a familiar voice.

Rocky nearly fell out of his chair as he looked around the room for the speaker. 'Ape!?' "Are you talking to me?"

'Duh.' Then Ape laughed. 'I thought I'd talk with you and see how you're doing.'

Rocky thought about that for a moment. "Okay, I guess. Why are you talking to me?"

'Because I want to.' Ape chuckled. 'Why should Frog have all the fun? Seriously, I'm not one to keep my mouth shut and it gets boring just watching and playing the strong silent type—that's Wolf's thing.'

'Okay, sure.' "Do I get to see you and all of that?"

'Why should Adam have all the fun, eh?' Rocky nearly fell out of his chair when a massive gorilla appears perched on the chair across from him. Ape smiled at him showing very large teeth with pronounced canines. 'Better?'

He sized up the spirit animal and began to laugh at the picture he presented, "This is probably a stupid question, but why doesn't the chair break?"

'Because it's a very well built chair? Nah, I'm not fully here, could be, but I don't want to squish your chair. Do you have any idea how cramped this place is to someone with my healthy build?'

"Healthy, I thought you were a little overweight?" quipped Rocky.

'What can I say, I'm a growing spirit.' Pouted the great Ape as he tossed back a variation of Rocky's favorite line.

They both laughed for a little while and traded jokes, all in all it was a good ending to a good day.

In the place that was nowhere and everywhere, a hidden watcher listened as a group of animals stood engrossed in deep discussion. He knew they'd end up here and he really hated to be left out, so . . .

'Our adversary is now know to us.' Sang Whale sagely as looked to the group around him. 'This knowing is terrible, but it brings understanding.'

'It would have been nice if it was a tad sooner, don't you think?' Asked Hawk pointedly as his clear gaze settled on Wolf and Crane.

Wolf growled slightly and Crane seemed to stand taller as she spoke. 'I know some secrets, not all.'

'And it was not the time to tell you, young one.' Rumbled Phoenix as stared down his sibling. 'I had not wished my involvement known.' He finished icily.

An irritated croak broke the staring contest between Hawk and Phoenix. 'Now that we've established that, let's quit bitching and get something done.' Croaked Frog as he began to wish that he'd followed Ape's example—he'd known this was going to suck.

'Yes, we must plan our defense.' Purred the Mountain Lioness as she began to preen herself.

'But first we must know of our foe.' Added Owl.

'And our forces.' The Lioness nodded and waited for the others to comment.

'The pack is complete—for now.' Said Wolf quietly. 'I have been watching and helping though they do not know it, if an old ranger is required, then they will be found.'

Phoenix flexed his talons digging into the spirit stuff below. 'Good, we must be prepared for whatever is thrown at us.'

Owl gave the great bird a searching look. 'Do you not know?' Phoenix shook his head and she asked another question. 'Then how do They know?'

He shuffled his wings slightly in his equivalent to a shrug and the others paused as they considered the ramifications. 'But you have been helping Adam?' Asked Wolf carefully as he tried to fit the pieces together.

'Part of it was me, but part of it is him. That is the way of these things.' He shifted the focus of the conversation. 'For is your charge not the Maker of things? Part of him is the Guardian as he was before and now he is your Warrior as well.'

Wolf nodded and decided not to comment on Phoenix' blatant attempt to deflect him. 'Yet such things are unheard of.'

'I think we should stop worrying and go with it.' Croaked Frog as he watched the undercurrents between the two. He'd always hated these type of verbal games, say this, but it also means that and blah, blah, blah. 'I don't think anyone is ready for the whole shebang to end, so we're getting extra help. Let's live with it and deal with the problems at hand.' He gave Phoenix a searching stare. 'You're sure you never did the seeing thing?' Frog sighed. 'Oh, well. Anyone know who got out?'

Whale sang softly. 'Even the old stories remember them in evil, should this not have been a clue? Too blind were we to see the truth, but now they walk once more. Some of them did not this plane leave.' Whale hummed absently for a few minutes as he sang the names of those that he knew had escaped. 'But remember I am the keeper of records, not of secrets and some are undoubtedly hidden from my hearing.'

'But as Adam had said before, they are bound by our rules.' Reminded Frog as hopped towards the edge of the gathering. 'And our team has been playing by them a lot longer.'

Crane studied them for a moment. 'But haven't you noticed they've already been broken?' The others turned and stared at the unbelievable sight of Crane volunteering information. 'It was to be one spirit for one champion.' She cocked her head to the side as she looked first to Frog then to Phoenix. 'Yet, now there is one with two spirits. I do not think we know the rules anymore than they do.' She gave them a slightly condescending look. 'Did you not think it odd that a Black was chosen to lead them?'

Wolf chuckled as he remembered earlier conversations with Crane, she would drop one hint and if you missed it, well you must not have needed to know. 'And I thought you were just fed up with Frog.'

Crane nudged the small Frog with the side of her beak. 'Oh, I was, but information must be given or it shall be lost.'

Frog rolled his eyes. 'Then why don't you just tell us?'

'Then it wouldn't be a secret.'

Hawk spoke up hesitantly. 'Um, perhaps if it is not forward of me, what do you mean?'

Crane nodded to Wolf and he rolled his eyes, he was vaguely annoyed that she was going to make him play 'good student.' Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to make that tact comment earlier, she always had such a long memory. He sighed and began to speak. 'Blacks are not known for their leadership abilities, usually they are the outsiders of the group.'

Whale's song once more filled the air. 'Changer of ways, breaker of rules, unchainable spark.'

The others paused once more, but Whale did not continue. 'Where is that from?' Asked Crane curiously.

'I know not, only that it associated with the Black.' Replied Whale unhappily, he hated to give incomplete information, but sometime it needed to be done.

'Nice party.' The others looked around as Coyote 'smiled' at them. 'Did you think I'd miss this?' He shrugged as he nosed around the group.

Hawk screeched in irritation and flew up to higher perch as the rangy spirit animal nearly knocked him from his low seat. 'Why are you here?'

Coyote rolled his eyes and laughed. 'Because I want to be.'

Wolf groaned slightly at his cousin, ask a stupid question and you'll get a smart-assed answer thought Wolf exasperatedly. The only way to get anything constructive out of Coyote was to try and be as straight-forward as possible and hope he wasn't here to yank your chain. I'm beginning to sound like Frog, thought Wolf absently. "What is your business here?'

'I came to tell you is that Basilisk's Minion has escaped.' Coyote's straight answer was a bit of a surprise and a bad sign—it meant that he was worried. He sighed. 'I like the kid and thought I'd tell you.'

The spirit animals winced as Frog began to curse quite fluently and creatively at this new bit of information. They waited for a few moments for Frog to finish venting, but finally Owl gave up and spoke over Frog's tirade. 'Where is he?'

Coyote looked embarrassed. 'No one knows, I think he's gone to meet up with one of the escaped spirits, but I don't know which one.' He shrugged. 'Well, I must take my leave, it has been nice talking to you.'

With that comment Coyote vanished from the gathering and the conversation began anew among the spirit animals as they tried to decide what to do now.

"Everything you know is wrong,
black is white, up is down,
and short is long.
And everything you thought was just so important doesn't matter.
Everything you know is wrong."

Coyote sat back and stared at moon above as he thought over what had been said. Telling them straight out had decidedly thrown them for a loop and it had given him ample time to take his leave of them, before Wolf could back him into a corner. He sighed as he watched the stars twinkle in the deep blue sky. He didn't know the others that well, but as usual they all knew him, so it was better not to hang around. He thought that there was more going on, but that wasn't the same as knowing. 'The great ones' battle is open once more and our elders are returning, I wonder what will happen now? I suppose only time will tell.'

End