Chapter Six

Aricudo had killed him. The human. He hadn't meant to, of course, but the fight had gotten out of hand, and now the prince of wolves had killed the prince of humans. And the ruler wasn't happy. No, Kaido had promised to avenge his son's death with the head of Aricudo.

He couldn't allow that. He couldn't allow his brother to die because of a mistake he had made. And so he, Prince Alchmed, fought alongside Prince Aricudo. And as they fought, they watched their families killed. On both sides of the battle.

The black wolf whimpered where he lay in-between Hunter and Blake on the bed, caught in the throes of memories from years long past. Hunter tightened his grip on the wolf's fur, his face tight with the memories that plagued his dreams as well.

Aricudo fell. Kaido had killed him. And in his fury, Alchmed took down the King of Humans, driving him to the ground and killing him. But in the process, he was severely injured…and it didn't take long for him to die as well.

And because they had failed in protecting themselves…in surviving…they were born again. Only to fight again. Fight the Ashnazi, the followers of Kaido. And they had yet to prevail.

Cam jerked awake as his brother was killed once again. Beside him, Hunter also awoke with a moan. The black wolf looked at him, breathing heavily, but before either of them said anything, the door opened and Dustin stepped in.

"Dude," he muttered, looking at the two of them and seeing the anxious fear shining in their eyes. "Yo, Cam," he said after a moment. "The others are gone, but they'll be back soon. You might want to change back now."

Cam stared at him for a moment, and then jumped off the bed, careful not to jostle Blake, who had yet to regain consciousness. He limped into the front room and quickly changed back into a human, sitting on the ground and holding his injured arm.

Dustin came in and sat in front of him."Dude, ya'll look like you've seen a ghost…both of you," the Yellow Ranger said softly as he saw Hunter lean on the doorframe, rubbing at his face. Cam didn't answer him, but turned, frowning at Hunter who was glaring back at him.

"Why shouldn't I care?" the Green Ranger asked back, although vocally. Dustin sighed, and moved so that he was seated on the stair steps, watching as Cam got to his feet, his injured arm hanging limply at his side.

"Do you think I don't?" Hunter practically yelled. "Do you think I don't care that you're always getting hurt because of me?"

"And how do you think I feel about that!" Cam yelled, throwing up his arm in exasperation. "I do it because I care!"

"Why do you have to take everything so personally!" Hunter practically shouted. Dustin sighed, noticing Shane and Tori walking down the stairs. They stopped, staring at the display before them, their gazes moving down to the Yellow Ranger, who was watching in silence.

"What's going on?" Shane asked. Dustin shrugged slightly, moving over a little to allow Tori to sit beside him.

"Because I am sick and tired of some crazy guy trying to kill us!" Cam answered. Hunter grabbed the samurai by the forearms, slamming him into a wall and pinning him there, causing Cam to give a pained yelp as the injury on his arm broke open again.

"I never asked you to fight beside me," the Thunder Ranger growled soft enough for only Cam to hear. "Blake's hurt because I wasn't able to protect him. Everyone that died, died because of me. For that I deserve to die." Cam just stared at him, getting a major sense of deja vu.

"They died because of me and for that I should die!" Aricudo growled at his brother, who was pinned beneath his paws. And then he was gone…not to be seen in that lifetime again…

Cam jerked out Hunter's hold suddenly, spinning around and pinning Hunter to the wall with one arm across his chest, his other hand pinning Hunter's to the side. The thunder ranger gave a hiss of pain as his injured back and ribs were strained, but didn't comment as Cam leaned in closer.

"I will not allow you to die again," he whispered, his hand slipping on Hunter's wrist slightly, due to the blood running down his arm. "This time will be different. This time Kaido will die before we do. This time we will win." Cam's glare softened into a worried look as he gazed at Hunter with his dark eyes. "I will not lose my brother again, Aricudo," he murmured. Hunter just stared at him, shocked by the use of his former name. And then he pulled out of Cam's hold, heading towards Blake's bedroom in silence. Cam leaned against the wall, his hand moving to grasp his bloodied arm with a grimace.

"Dustin. Go make sure Hunter doesn't do anything stupid," he muttered, not bothering to look at the other three rangers in the room as he slid down the wall and sat on the ground. Leaning his back against the wall, he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head in them with a sigh, completely ignoring Dustin as he left the room and the two other rangers as they entered.

The samurai didn't move as Shane wordlessly dropped to his knees in front of him, cleaning and binding his arm with the conveniently located first aid kit. Cam could feel the tension in the room, the unasked questions coming from both Tori and Shane. But he couldn't tell them. Not yet. Not without his brother's, his Alpha's, permission…

Cam? Hunter's voice echoed through the samurai's mind. Cam, I'm sorry…I…I'm so sorry. I don't know what to do…

Don't leave me, Cam replied, lifting his head from his knees and forcing himself to his feet. Don't leave me to fight Kaido alone again. You should know by now that that never works…

So…what should we do? Hunter asked. Cam ignored the looks Tori and Shane were giving him as he made his way to the computer; he didn't even acknowledge the other two Rangers.

We fight, of course, Cam answered. But we fight together. Hunter didn't reply for a moment, but when he did it was a promise to fight beside his brother, not to leave him alone again.

Dustin walked back into the room, but he didn't look at the others as he went up the stairs and left Ops. Cam proceeded in his updates on the Zords and after a moment, both Tori and Shane left to go into one of the practice rooms, having given up on questioning their friend.

Hunter sat on the bed, staring at the blankets, lost in thought. But a soft moan forced him from his reverie, his gaze moving to his brother. Gently, Hunter brought one hand to his brother's cheek, caressing it softly.

"Blake, can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes, bro," he murmured. Blake forced his eyes open and his gaze met his brother's. "Hello, baby brother," Hunter whispered.

Blake sat up and threw his arms around his brother's neck, startling Hunter. The navy ranger buried his face in the crook of Hunter's neck and bit back a sob. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated. Hunter gently wrapped his arms around Blake and rocked him.

"Shh…it's okay," he consoled. "Everything's fine now." There was a slight pause. "Ed's dead. Everything's fine now."

But Blake wasn't calming down, and upon a short reflection, Hunter figured out why. Ignoring his own pain, he gently lifted his brother and streaked out of Ops. "Better?" he asked as soon as they settled just outside the portal.

Blake relaxed slightly, hissing in pain, although refusing to remove his face from Hunter's neck. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Blake," Hunter replied softly. "It's you I'm worried about, bro."

Why'd you go outside? Cam's voice echoed through his head, sounding both worried and confused.

Hunter shook his head slightly, being careful not to upset his brother. Blake's claustrophobic. And he was having a panic attack.

Oh. Okay. Just remember that the two of you are injured, so don't try to take on anything that may come up. Please?

…Fine.

"The wolf," Blake muttered tiredly, drawing Hunter's attention to him. "It was shot…"

You never told me that you were shot, Hunter said silently, his mental voice sounding annoyed.

Just a graze. You and Blake were worse off. Still are, Cam replied.

"It's fine," Hunter reassured his little brother, leaning up against a tree. "It came by earlier."

Blake gave a hum, relaxing into sleep and Hunter sighed, letting his head fall back to rest against the tree. He was tired. Tired of fighting, and of worrying over his little brother and his…whatever Cam was. Pack. That was it.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Hunter looked up at the sound of footsteps coming from two different directions. He picked up the scent of dust, sweat, salt-water and the scent of wood smoke and identified them as Dustin, Tori and Shane respectively, although why Shane smelled of wood smoke he'd never know.

"You two okay?" Shane asked, nodding at Dustin as the Yellow Ranger stepped out of the trees.

Hunter glanced at them, giving his trademark half-grin, although it was more tired than usual. "Yeah. We'll be fine. We always are."

"You two aren't alone anymore, you know," Tori pointed out with a smile of her own.

Hunter blinked and then grinned sheepishly. "Right. I know."

"Just hard to remember sometimes?" Shane asked with his own smile.

Hunter shrugged lightly, glancing at his brother as Blake shifted. "Been on our own since our parents died. So, yeah, it's a little hard to remember."

"I thought Sensei Omino took you and Blake in," Cam said as he joined the other Rangers at the Reflection Pool.

Hunter was silent for a long moment, blue eyes staring off at nothing. "Sensei Omino taught us, and if we did well that day, he would feed us."

"Living on the streets builds character," Blake murmured through a yawn, glancing at the others before burrowing back into his brother. He, apparently, didn't really care about his image at that moment, as Tori was practically 'awing' at the cuteness.

"Especially for nine-year-olds," Hunter grumbled, frowning darkly.

"That's just wrong, dude," Dustin muttered. The other Rangers all nodded, frowning as well.

Hunter shrugged again, and Blake just yawned. "All in the past, bro. Nothing much we can do about it now."

End Chapter Six