Fandom Power Rangers Sentinels

[Lady Insanity]

Adjusting her dress, April checked up on everybody before they interacted with the strange guy across from them. She smirked at Benji as he delivered such an accidental joke. The unplanned ones were funnier! When the man known as Chance introduced himself April immediately backed away. Essencia was something only certain people could see right? He may be bad or good. Judging by how he liked the earlier chaos, he might as well be a bad guy. The way he laughed at the people being messed with reminded her of someone who sat up in the bleachers at a skating ring and watched an ice skater make a wrong turn in their performance and ruin the shape they were carving in the artificial ice and shout judge-like things at them. The nerve!!!
"Um...hello. I'm April. Wind Sentinel, Aiyna is my guide. Sorry if this is rude but are you the one who caused all of this in town? You don't look like the sort who could have done this...but you kind of do at the same time." Timidly she crossed her arms and stood to the side, her dress ends flowing in the moderate breeze.

 

[Steel Accord]

Dylan certainly would agree on the creepiness factor, especially when he said he was foreign to the world. Another realm-hopper like them? For most of their adventures, Dylan had some grasp on what exactly they were fighting. This gave Dylan a confidence that might not always be due but was certainly welcome. A certain, "I got your number X!" certainty. When Chance said he possessed the same power as they do, and even knew who they were, it was very off-putting. There was no frame of reference for something like him in world mythology. Oh psychopomps? Walkers between two worlds? Yeah, plenty of those. Multiple worlds though? Ancient cultures couldn't even fathom the concept of a multiverse, the closest was Norse mythology's Yggdrasil or the Classical and Medieval Celestial Spheres.

So to have Chance say he's some kind of free entity bound to no world? Well, for Dylan, it was only a short step away from talking to Nyarlathotep.

"Dylan, blue sentinel ranger. Ally of Deluvian." He introduced himself cautiously.

 

[marorda]

Erin chuckled for a moment and lightly shook her head as Benji made that incidental pun. But she kept her gaze focused on this Chance-fellow. Needless to say, she didn't trust him a single bit. She carefully observed Chance in his gray attire and the sword in a sheath at his side. Gray... if he were wearing black or white it would be so much easier to pinpoint whether he was good or evil... Not to be racist at all, but Fate seemed to prefer the lighter colors, and as far as Erin was concerned, she was one of the good guys. This man on the other hand... his clothes were darker than Fate's, but not so dark it would immediately mark him down as evil as by storybook standards. Neutral, ambiguous. Weren't Fate and Chance both rather ambiguous terms? Neither good nor evil, just forces making sure things went the way they should. As everyone else had introduced themselves, she stepped forward slightly, crossing her arms and looking up at the tall figure.
"And I am Erin, Sentinel of Fire. Igneos is my partner." She stood as tall as she could, but barely reached the man's shoulder. Heck, here she was thinking Clay was tall! She felt Igneos stir in the debts of her soul as she called his name. It was just a small flicker, like a candle in a breeze, but it felt reassuring to feel his presence. "And I've got to admit I wonder the same as my friend here," she gestured towards April. "Are you the one who caused this chaos?"

Chance laughed and shook his head. "This little mess? Oh, as much as I might wish I was involved... not me this time. The culprit is a tiny fellow, one foot tall, tends to hide by being invisible. It's hiding in the alley over there now," Chance casually gestured to a street off to the side. He proceeded to laugh again, as if he could see something the Sentinels didn't. Erin glanced to the street where Chance pointed at. She saw nothing, but felt something rushing past them, causing Erin and Aprils' dresses to flutter. "Little bugger," the man stated again, shaking his head once more. Whatever he was he was seeing - the culprit of the chaos- amused him quite a lot.
"And to answer young Benjamin's question... Dearest Fate is my beloved sister."
Now Erin just scoffed. "Hah, what's next? A figure named Accident? Luck?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Chance replied in all seriousness. "But I haven't exactly been in touch with what the old gods have spewed out from their realm."
Now that wasn't an answer Erin expected to hear. She expected a scoff back, not the confirmation that actually, possibly, there WERE entities out there with those names. "But you said you are the Sentinel of Fire, dear girl?"
She didn't like the way how he stretched those words. Erin's cheeks started to turn as red as her hair. "Yes, so what?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all, dearie," Chance chuckled before turning his back on the Sentinels and walking off. The moment he reached the edge of the square, the man turned into a large raven and flew over the city's wall. The same way how Fate would turn into a large white owl.
"Whoa there..." Once again Erin stumbled backwards a bit. So Chance was related to Fate. And he could turn into a bird as well. Freaky.

"By the way," Chance called, turning back to a human on top of the wall. "The five of you might want to check the forest. That burst of magic a while back woke up something shady."
"Can't be as shady as that guy," Erin commented to her friends. Still... hearing something woke up in the woods, and seeing how that knight before was in such a rush to get to the castle... Sounded like the Legion at work there. "Still... shady stuff in the woods because dark magic woke it up? Sounds like our line of work. I say we go check it out." She paused for a moment, wondering if she should tell her friends what she had seen the night before. "When I looked out of the window last night, I thought I heard funny sounds, and I saw fog. Now that might be nothing, but we are in a mythical world influenced by evil, so the woods might as well be haunted now."
---
Well, there they went again then. Back into the woods, looking for whatever shady thing was lurking. Erin glanced around. The air felt different, the trees looked different. Yet these really were the exact same woods they had been in before. Heck, the trail left behind by the blinded Questing Beast was still there, so they had to be in the same spot. But then why did everything seem so different? It wasn't night, but it was so dark... and chilly... and foggy. Just like what Erin had seen before.
"Okay, two things..." Erin said softly, wrapping her arms around herself against the chill. "First of all, next time I have another of these brilliant ideas, please stop me. Second: no more joking about haunted forests." Which of her friends was the first to call her stupid for dragging them along into the freaky woods? No blame if all of them would call her out in their own way.

 

[PenBlade1326]

Chance's height put Clay to shame. So much for the lumbering mountain of a cowboy. The dark-dressed man gave off an odd vibe. Like he was a good guy but at the same time a nuisance. Like he had good intentions on occasion and was on the side against evil but generally acted on his own side of...weird. That little five-letter word is used far too often as of late. As is the feeling that nothing was as it truly seemed around them. And even the things that weren't as they seemed weren't what they seemed to be in place of what they seemed to the naked eye. Try saying that sentence vocally five times in a row as fast as possible. No glib tongue can stand before that challenge!

Both the cowboy and the artist looked in the direction Chance gestured. "Um...is whatever did this imaginary?" Clay asked.
Benji snapped his fingers when the revelation dawned. "A ha! So you are Fate's brother," he said. Pride wasn't the best thing to feel for him because he somehow hated self-pride...but damn if it didn't feel it now! Why had Fate never told them she had a brother? Especially a brother that's part of this weird plethora of entities by names meaning specific nouns. And yet again someone found it weird that Erin was the Sentinel of Fire. Chance was a surprised as his apparent sister. Speaking of said sister...
"Holy cow!" Benji exclaimed when Chance then turned into a raven to fly up a wall. Fate's an owl, he's a raven...what is next, someone named Accident turning into a pigeon? He looked up at Chance on the wall, Clay tipping his hat up to gaze at him. Talk of...a forest. Again, a forest. Why?
"Why can't a nice bakery ever be haunted by dark magic..." Benji wondered aloud to his friends when they were told of something stirring. "Or a rodeo. A haunted rodeo means we've got bulls to run things over with," Clay put in. Benji actually agreed! "Yeah, we best be checkin' it out," Clay agreed with Erin. Then Benji didn't agree so much. Sigh...
---
Listening to a weird guy who laughed at chaos and turned out being related to Fate is enough to make them all go into the forest with a spooky feel? Good to know. The nature of the forest as they entered it time after speaking to Chance felt off. Only a few days ago they were here but it now looked and felt like a different place. Something was wrong. Like the fog...the chill... "Guys I can sense something...the trees...they're hurting. Rotting, almost...like I can feel the nature around us," Benji said. Call him crazy but could he sort of speak for nature? Being the Sentinel of Nature sounds like a fair bet but he wouldn't say it outright unless anyone else believed it. He rubbed his arms and looked at the trees feeling sad.
"Oh we'll stop ya alright," he said to Erin on her first point.
"Haunted woods aren't funny anymore, and yeah Benji...something ain't right here," Clay said. Something really felt off. What was this disturbance in the force?!?

 

[Lady Insanity]

"You wish you were involved? That's a little rude, do you not think? People are scared," April said to Chance as he proudly said he was not the one responsible here but wished it were so. For as tall as this mysterious man is he sure is immature. If the real culprit was there, even after being pointed out April could not see him or her. Or them, if gender is as complex here as it is in their world. Whatever made people more comfortable in their own skin was fine by her. Not as fine by her is the revelation that Chance is indeed the sibling of Fate. Makes sense, chance and fate as idea being related anyway. "Fate never said she had a brother," April said under her breather. But she herself had two brothers, and maybe it wasn't so bad Fate neglected to tell them. Now April loved her brothers dearly but sometimes they were a real pain in her ass. And her parents' asses.
"What is with people being amused by the fact you're a girl?" April asked Erin when Chance noted her sex. Why is it a big deal? Son of the Archon clearly didn't mean squat! She stared in awe before raising another question about what was happening when he suddenly took raven form and flew up the wall. Now she knows two people who can go bird mode...
Darkness in the forest and evil stuff happening didn't feel like a 'by the way' phrase. He should have started with that in the first place. To make another comparison to the diner, he was like a customer who talks about something entirely different from what they really would like to order! She can't swing her fists at customers but she could at this bird man. Insert a bird sound here. Chance was shady...and she agreed they needed to go to the woods and check it out.
---
Picking up the end of her dress to walk in the woods accompanied by a draft of unease. They're in the forest alright. They were all here a while before with that monster, where the Gold Ranger showed up. This didn't sit with her correctly. "I'm all for not joking about haunted woods...but why do we keep going into spooky forests..."

 

[Steel Accord]

Oh great "old gods" now? As much as Dylan hate/loved H.P. the anti-Semitic bastard, he didn't even consider that the writer's works contained the same truth as thousands of years worth of legend, history, and divine revelation as he and his friends now encounter every day. The possibility that Lovecraft may have inadvertently stumbled upon at least a distorted version of something underlying or beyond the individual pantheons of different worlds was existentially worrying to Dylan. He'd have to check the archives back at the Coven for any mention of these precursors.

"Okay . . . that was cool." Even when the figure before him might be an anti-Christ equivalent, Dylan was never one to lack awe when it was appropriate, and shape-shifting into a bird that was a symbolic foil to one's sister's shape-shifter bird form is one such occasion. It could be noted that, where Dylan was previously concerned with the well being of the people, now such worry completely faded from his mind at the display of such wondrous works as Chance's little method of displacement. In any case, the Rangers had their task and Dylan would follow his leader wherever she lead. She was the Red Ranger after all. Dylan having completely missed the gender topic because he was still wrapping his head around Chance's possible nature. In his defense, if Chance was what Dylan thought he was, gender really wouldn't be an object in his mind at all . . . and not because he was progressive or PC but because he would predate biological life!

---------

"Understood boss, Ranger-grade cuffs will be at the ready." Dylan said to Erin's command of stopping her next time she had a "crazy plan." As to the second command, "does recounting the presence of them in stories or stating the fact that we are standing in very likely haunted woods count as 'joking about them?" It was hard to tell if that itself was a joke. Hell, Dylan didn't know if he was joking. Maybe trying to relieve the tension a bit. If that was the case, maybe he should leave that job to Benji. He was far better at it.

 

[marorda]

Erin laughed slightly at her friends comments. With the exception of Benji telling them the trees were hurting, that was definitely no laughing matter. And seeing how he was the Sentinel bound to Nature, it would be safe to assume something was actually very wrong here. Other than the chill, the fog, and all the signs screaming "haunted". A chill ran down her spine.
"Recalling the existence, no, not a joke. Pointing out how we keep going into haunted woods... maybe, Just... just no poking fun at it anymore. I feel like the next time we do such a thing, the trees themselves will come and grab us." Was that a joke itself? It sure sounded like one. And as if nature itself wanted to prove a point, Erin nearly tripped over a partially uprooted tree. Why did they think this was a good idea again? Because a man called Chance that changed into a Raven, an omen of death in many cultures, told them to go? Yeah, this ranked pretty high on the list of horrible ideas and "stuff that gets people killed in scary movies".

"Why can't the Legion just show up in a happier place... like a meadow or the beach or just any place that doesn't immediately give off B-movie vibes..." Erin grumbled. She swore... if anytime soon a creature of the Legion would show up at an abandoned mansion of hospital, she as outta there. The fog was getting only thicker, and the trees where looked even worse than a little way back. Blackened. Rotting, as Benji pointed out earlier. Everything just seemed so... dead here. No sounds of birds or bugs. Just the creaking of the trees... in a breeze none of them could feel. Weeeeird. And spooky. Did they really even want to know what "woke up" in here after the dark burst?
---
"What do you mean they're out there?" Gawain exclaimed, his gaze shooting from Merlin to the Scrying Window. He spotted no Sentinels there, just the darkness of the woods.
"I lost track of them. Something is keeping me from keeping a proper eye on them whenever they head into the woods. I can find them, but it will take me a while," Merlin almost looked sorrowful as he glanced at the Scrying Glass as well. Just before Gawain got there, he still saw them, and now... not a trace. He could only hope this new generation hadn't run into any trouble yet.
"Then I have to go out and help my friends," Gawain took a deep and determined breath. "I had to leave so quickly the last time... I didn't even get a proper chance to say hello."
"Gawain, before you leave, there's something you should know. These Sentinels are...."
"... in need of help," Gawain interrupted. "I can't leave them behind in the woods with the Ryxens out and about."
Without listening to anything else Merlin might say, Gawain rushed out.
"Wait!" Merlin called after him. He sighed deeply. Gawain had no idea... These Sentinels weren't his friends. A whole new generation... Centuries had passed in their world. And he had no idea how well Gawain would handle that revelation.
---
They weren't lost. They just temporarily couldn't find the right way. Erin was starting to get the feeling they were walking in circles, but with the temperature continuing to drop, the fog still growing thicker, and the trees looking ever scarier, it seemed like they were sill on the right track. Or the horribly wrong track. She froze in her footsteps, and not because it was getting seriously cold.
"Guys, did you hear that?" she asked, carefully listening. A breeze had picked up, and said breeze was carrying sounds their way. Chants and grunts, groans and gurgles. Footsteps marching on the soil. "Sounds like it's coming this way..."

Silhouettes started to appear in the fog all around them. At first they seemed humanoid, but upon closer inspection, they definitely more resembled the Spawners... only bigger, bruter, and scarier. Instinctively, Erin raised her fists. These things were surrounding them!
"I don't like the looks of this..." she said quietly.
"Charge!" one of the beings seemed to.... gurgle? Wait, these things could talk, sorta? Sure enough, less than two seconds later, the five of them were being swarmed by hordes of these stinking beings.
"Let's not wait to see how hard these things can hit, shall we?" Erin gripped the Charm around her neck, leading the morph.
"Essencia Awaken!" she called. Igneos awoke in her soul and spread his fire through her body. Well, that was a nice warming up after the cold in here! "Scorching Fire Element! Red Sentinel Ranger!" She posed, only barely dodging an incoming blow form the monsters who didn't seem too keen on giving them a chance to finish their role call. "Power Rangers Sentinels!" she managed to call, right before taking a blow to the chest and being knocked backwards. Oof. These guys were tough!

 

[PenBlade1326]

Wavering around through thick fog and dead forest did not at all fill out travel brochures of Avalon. Mental brochures, but still, an image in ones mind says this place is beautiful. Not foggy, dead, and maybe just a little chilly. Wouldn't have killed someone to bring a blanket...or a big bowl of soup? Benji didn't like the feeling of these woods. He sort of got the idea they were going in circles, seeing the same dead plants over and over again. He was no expert on magic but maybe there's a loop here? Whatever killed the plants made a loop they're stuck in? Clay just plain did not like it here.
As they progressed to spookier places and the leader paused, Clay managed to bump right into her from behind, Benji stopping to the side. They listened. Wind blew, leaves crunched, the ground was being tread on. A feeling as if something was coming straight for them all. Nothing friendly.

Emerging from the fog were these...monsters. Like Spawners, only uglier. "Wow, looks like Spawners got themselves a makeover...or under," Clay said, looking sharply around and taking after Erin with his strong fists up.
"I do not think these are Spawners... Think they got cousins here or something?" Benji replied quickly and kept his stance more cautious than anything. "Mother of Nature did that one just say something?" He blurted before the five of them had been rushed. Not wanting to get pummeled either he tightly gripped the charm around his neck. Clay popped his neck. "Essencia Awaken!" They called. Grondo and Sylvan got the hint and burst inside of their souls. Life took root in Benji amidst the dead forest, stone collected in Clay's being. "Solid Earth! Brown Sentinel Ranger!" Clay posed and narrowly missed a swing at his head. "Sprouting Nature! Green Sentinel Ranger!" Benji yelled out and posed as well. "Power Rangers Sentinels!" Just in time the Sentinels had got their words out before these strange monsters finally bombarded them with attacks and their power. Man did they get them good. The mystery things grabbed both Clay and Ben from the side and tossed them against each other.

 

[Lady Insanity]

April felt cold. Not cold as in she needed some strapping young man to hold onto her but cold as in her very soul felt iced. Like winters first frost was a part of her being. These woods were scary alright; but April wanted to leave for another reason. Not just creepy woods...but evil woods. Maybe just something bad is here by chance, and if it literal Chance had a part of this place she would whack him with a skillet. Going around in circles didn't help anything, either. Having to hold up the ends of her dress to go through brush in the woods made the chill worse on her legs. Maybe she understood more of why some ladies prefer pants. "I hear it..." April noted when her roommate asked if they had all heard it as well. Something on the horizon. Figures emerging, feral like Spawners but far uglier. "I really wish every day wasn't like this," April said and semi quoted herself form the beginning of their adventure, wishing every day would in fact not be like this. She gripped her charm with the others and begged Ainya for guidance. "Essencia Awaken," she said and felt the gentle breeze flow over her.

"Soaring Wind! White Sentinel Ranger!" She posed. "Power Rang--eek!" April called with her friends, but she was grabbed from behind mid chant. Rude! April yelped and kicked around, eventually getting free and pushing back on the creatures appearing. They grabbed at her again as if they were on a mission to take her. Why do they always go for her?

 

[Steel Accord]

"Probably because even if they did, the meadow would start spouting blood. And the beach would turn from sand to broken glass. They corrupt everything they touch. Things once beautiful become twisted parodies of themselves. It's how they work." Dylan responded to Erin's sarcastic with po-faced seriousness. Hey, she said no jokes. Plus Dylan's own failed attempts at understanding sarcasm. Not that he was disagreeing with her as marching right into the face of danger knowingly wasn't something that he relished. As much as he loved being a Power Ranger, he hated the anticipation before the enemy showed their faces. Alfred Hitchcock could tell you that the moment before opening the door and seeing the monster is more terrifying than opening the door and seeing the monster. To the point where Dylan was almost hoping they showed up.

Wish granted . . . and Dylan was starting to regret that desire as he went back to back with his friends and they all morphed. "Essencia awaken!" Mid-call they attacked. Surging water. Blue Sentinel Rang-, nice try!" He said as he kicked one that made a charge for him. Unfortunately, two of them then replaced the first. One struck high, the other low. It happened so fast Dylan wasn't sure which of the creatures actually hit him. Either way, he was caught in a hold and throw on to his back on the ground. He tried kicking and getting up, but he was laid prone.

 

[marorda]

"What the hell is wrong with these things?" Erin called, rolling her shoulders and charging right back in. As Clay and Benji pointed out these things were ugly shits and didn't seem to be Spawners at all. More like uglier, buffed up versions. NOT what they're waiting for here. Everyone around her was either going flat on the ground or being grabbed, and that just looked pretty bad. But now that she had an idea how hard they could hit, at least she was a little bit better prepared. Erin stood her ground and raised her fists, punching one of the creatures in the face with all her might. It staggered back, but seemed more annoyed rather than hurt. And ouch! Even their heads were harder than those of the Spawners.
"Well... at least their masks didn't come off..." she commented. "Don't think I wanna see that." Seriously, if those Spawners already had ugly faces, imagine how horrible their ugly distant cousins must look like! Or rather, don't imagine that.

One of the things swept its weird spear-like weapon at her chest and struck her. Not just with the weapon itself, but also with a surge of dark energy. Erin yelped as she was sent flying back into one of the dying, rotting trees. It creaked heavily on her impact, and for a moment Erin feared the tree would collapse right on top of her. Fortunately, it only rained down a rain of dying leaves.
"GROSS! THEY'RE SLIMY AND STICKY!" Erin shouted loudly. Hey, she may not be a girly girl, but nobody would want slimy leaves raining on them. She pushed herself up, suppressing another yelp as her arm stung heavily. She couldn't put her full weight on her hand without her arm trembling in pain. Regardless of the hurt, she got back to her feet and took a deep breath. These things were already proving to be quite the pain in the ass.

Igneos, she called mentally, almost immediately feeling the burning sensation of her Spirit in her soul.
You called? he asked in the back of her mind, his voice sounding like the crackling of flames.
Two things. One: Any idea what those things are? Two: help me burn them to the ground, please. Erin grimaced under her visor. They weren't Spawners, that was clear as can be. But they didn't seem Field Commanders either. Those things were... well... smarter. Talked more, anyway. And they tended to come alone or aided by Spawners. Not in an identical horde.
Ah, yes. These creatures are the Ryxens. Composed of fallen warriors and possessed by their angry spirits bound to the Legion. Only the, ehm... finest of warriors, chosen by Avlazor himself. With the help of Nenet, of course. The stupid old lizard can't pull a feat like this on his own.
Erin let out a scoff. Lovely! Frankenstein-style super warriors AND angry spirits combined! As for the burning them.... Ingeos appeared to look at all the trees around them. Despite them dying, it would still be a bit of a fire hazard. Of course I can!
Well, that was not exactly the answer Erin was expecting, but if it worked in defeating these things... why not?

Unfortunately, it did not help. Before Erin could even finish charging one fireball, the Ryxens as a group caused one huge slash of dark energy striking all the rangers across the chest. Erin's suit sparked up heavily and she made, again, a pretty hard impact... with the ground this time. She clutched her chest and rolled over in pain, not demorphing, but feeling quite close to. She eyed the others... please let them be doing at least a little bit better than her! They couldn't go down here like this! Erin didn't want to become part of a Ryxen! Oh yeah... and there was still the whole thing with all of the worlds being doomed, too.
----
Gawain rushed out of the castle, straight to the stables. His friends were out there in the woods right now. They needed his help! Gawain remembered the Sentinels, albeit faintly. Their names.... what were his friends' names again? He couldn't just show up again and not remember it! After all, how long had it been? A few weeks? Months, maybe? Gawain didn't remember all that much, if he were being honest. Just fighting by their side against horrible creatures, the Ryxens being among them. And... well... they hadn't fared too well. They nearly lost Rosemary there. Rosemary! Ah, yes. He remembered her face. And that she smelled like spring. Gentle as a breeze, but when angered she had the strength of a hurricane. And there was... Dederic and Guimond and Leonard and Arnaut. Yes! He remembered them.

Dederic, Sentinel of Earth and his brother Arnaut, Sentinel of Water. Opposites in nearly every way possible, yet inseparable. Guimond, Sentinel of Nature. The Dreamer who could disappear into the woods for days on end.
Leonard, Sentinel of Fire with the heart of a lion. Relentless on the battlefield, fighting with true passion, but with a gentle heart. Always making sure Rosemary would stay out of harms way. And then Rosemary, Sweet Rosemary. Terrified of the horrible creatures, yet bravely standing side by side with the others to fight. He couldn't let them fight this threat alone. Gawain spurred his horse and set course for the woods. "Soon, my friends. Soon we'll be reuinited."

 

[PenBlade1326]

Clinging together like static the two guys separated and go to their feet. These monsters were strong and hit harder than rocks! Like angry bulls! Or overworked artists whose work got ruined near completion. Ugly bastards, too. "Why is it we never get something nice and easy to fight?" Benji asked everybody as he called out from the grasp of one of these things, shaking it off just barely and mustering enough energy to elbow it in the gut. But the creature only seemed to be tickled. The monsters were intent on beating everybody down or just capturing them. No way that would happen today. Swarming all around them these monsters moved like clockwork. "Just what are these things..." he muttered to himself. Unlike Igneos to Erin, Sylvan remained silent. Granted he had not been called on at all. Benji watched Erin be flung into a stick tree. Nasty! He moved to help her but one of the things snagged onto his cape and yanked him back, striking at his back with its spear weapon and causing him to tumble into a pile of dead leaves. "Man I hate these things already!" he called through the hissing pain.

He looked at Dylan who also seemed to be in a pickle. "Hold on Dyl--yikes!" he called yet again and watched multiple spears poke at him on the ground. Benji rolled around frantically with desperation and tried using the leaves on the ground to his advantage. But something told him these things may like getting dead foliage in their faces. Might be an aesthetic improvement, actually.

Clay angrily revved up his arms and wammed a couple of the monsters back. They did not fall but he at least got them away from him for the time being. Hey, lugnut, clobber these things already! Grondo channeled in his mind.
Hey I'm trying over here ya big sack of rocks! Why you gotta pick a fight in my head now? Clay asked his spirit as he dashed away from the reach of the spears on these ugly pricks. Sometimes he wanted to stomp his own spirit into the ground. Wait...stomp? That's it! Yeeeeehaw sometimes getting a sentence out there really inspires the cowboy. These things are tough as nails and are sure giving everybody a run for their money but one thing they can't be resistant to is gravity. Clay focused his Essencia into his legs and stomped both legs back and forth, causing a rumble of Earth beneath him and cracks in the stone in the ground. The Ryxens, although he did not know that is their name yet, fumbled but were not so quick to fall. Instead they used it as an advantage and dog-piled Benji. Ouch! "Sorry now!" Clay called, thick accent in place. That was no help.

April was being dragged off as a damsel again. And Erin wasn't lookin' so hot, ironically. "Girls I'm a'comin'!" Clay shouted at them in a promise to help. He summoned his Sentinel Staff to try and get an edge of his own on these bad guys. He swooped it around and around, really only getting more room for him to move. He laughed thinking he was winning but in reality the Ryxens just bashed him from the sides with their spears and sparked him up. Again he needs to say ow. Clay felt weakened and fumbled around, one of them just kicking him back into a tree near Erin as she clutched her chest. So much for helping the girls...sorry, ladies.

 

[Lady Insanity]

Inappropriate grabbing and just plain rude manners aside, April thought these things were pretty run-of-the-mill for a grunt-type of bad guy. At least Spawners didn't make a continuous effort to carry her around like a rag doll. They dragged her! These new guys just hoisted her up with some nerve. Just wait until she gets down! Ones head had a view of her lower body that she did no appreciate. While her roommate was busy saying she was happy to not see their faces... "I'd rather see their faces than have them see anything!" She blurted and crunched her knees atop the things head, finally getting loose and falling onto the dead-leaf-ridden ground. Sticky things, indeed, although that may be tree sap that's dead...gross, expired maple syrup basically. Cue a barf.

Child I wish I had something other than what you already know to tell you, Ainya spoke in her mind.
Please, Ainya, anything at all would be helpful, April replied in her head.
Aiyna sighed softly. And like a mother she put it simple for her. These are dangerous creatures. Be wary. Alright, Ainya did say she already knew that. April sighed and nodded, appreciated her at least replying to her question instead of leaving it at the statement. Whistling through the dead trees above them was a gentle breeze, the only gentle thing in this forest maybe, and the breeze caught her attention.

"I'm going to blow these losers away," she said to herself and took her wand, focused her Essencia intensely and spun on her heels, forming a small yet strong tornado in the middle of the forest, leaves going everywhere, wind cracking at her will. But no matter how hard she spun, the tornado did not falter these creatures, isntead lending them a hand in striking April from all angles with their spears. She screamed in minor agony and fell on the ground again, breathing heavily and looking up at her enemies. Can't get worse than this.

 

[Steel Accord]

Well this was indeed a pickle. Dylan was now prone and the creatures were gearing up to stab and stomp him. With his essencia, Dylan was able to call upon some more advanced ground fighting techniques. That is to say, fighting when prone on one's back. Dylan raised his fists and legs. The first two strikes being blocked or kicked away. It didn't last though.

The particular thing about Dylan's unique essencia trick of calling upon advanced martial arts skills is that it wasn't unlimited. He couldn't hold his pendant, blink twice and suddenly become a master in any art known to man (and some not known to man.) What Dylan did was essentially a magic upgrade. Much like how Essencia made all of the Rangers faster and stronger than normal humans, Dylan was able to parlay some that into becoming a better martial artist. Much like how Clay was already stronger than his friends before they got their powers and his powers made him stronger than all of them put together now, Dylan was already a trained fighter and his powers enhanced those techniques he'd already been honing. Except . . . Dylan had not trained at all in ground fighting. And he was paying for that negligence now.

Almost immediately he felt his powers drain from him, like a car with no gas in it being pushed to high speed. The monsters took advantage of this and started pummeling him, their strikes stinging him with poison of some fel enchantment. That's when Dylan heard a familiar voice and the leaves around him swept up into a frenzy as a green blur harried his attackers. Even if the attack did nothing it at least gave Dylan the chance to get back to his feet.
"Thanks Buddy!" Dylan said to Benji, holding his shoulder, one of the places he got struck hard. Dylan assumed his fighting stance once again and tried to reengage. Even back to his proper fighting form though, he was ineffective. These creatures were smarter than Spawners, actually covering for each other and attack in coordination. Dylan couldn't block one off to properly focus on it and if he managed to get an opening, the creature's cohorts would actually block for him!

The blast that knocked all of the Rangers to the ground hurt like Hell but at least it wasn't as humiliating as getting out Kung Fued by these failures of nature. Although Dylan recognized that they were in serious trouble. These things were tough, smart, and they were in their element. Something about this forest, it's haunted nature made the Evil within it highly potent. Dylan looked to his friends. He looked to Erin, hope and pleading in the eyes behind his visor. He trusted in her. Surely she would be able to save them!

 

[marorda]

Erin felt all eyes fall on her. She was their leader, was she not? She had to get up and do something to save the day! But she was getting more and more exhausted with each blow, and seeing her friends fare not much better than her wasn't exactly encouraging. She weakly attempted to struggle back to her feet, despite it being difficult to find her footing on the slippery leaves and the pain making it hard to stand.
"Come on, guys," she encouraged her friends. "Please try to get up! We have to work together if we want to defeat them." They'd done it before, hadn't they? Combining their elements in one finishing attack? But to do that to each and every one of these Ryxens separately... that sounded exhausting! Yet that idea was a lot more pleasant than dying here and joining their ranks as a smelly zombie. She defensively raised her fists again, eyeing the monsters under her visor. To be honest, these things scared her. They were stronger than the field commanders they had faced so far... and there were so many of them, too! But she couldn't let her friends know she was scared. They counted on her, as their leader, to save them! She couldn't be scared or weak. She couldn't fail the people who counted on her to be the one to guide them.

The Ryxens closed in on them all again, moving in their freakishly undead way, poking their spears in the air and in the general direction of the Rangers. Sparks of dark magic emitted from the points of the spears. These monstrous creatures were ready to end things here and now. And things didn't look too bright for the Rangers. Granted, they were still morphed, but they were vastly outnumbered and overpowered.
---
Gawain kept spurring his horse until it was galloping so fast the knight felt sorry for the poor steed. But he was in a rush. He remembered how well the last battle against the Ryxens fared. They had only barely made it alive. And now they were back and his friends were in trouble. After not seeing them for however long it was, Gawain would hate to be late and see his friends die. Imagine finally being able to reunite with your friends only to figure out they're dead the moment you get to them!

The knight leaped off his horse and placed his hand over the Charm embedded in his bracer. "Essencia Awaken!" he called. "Shining Light! Gold Sentinel Ranger!" Now clad in his golden suit, Gawain rushed into the woods. However light the breeze may be, sounds of the battle were carried his direction. "Thank you, Ainya," he whispered under his breath as he rushed off. He took a deep breath and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He imagined the faces of his friends. "Leonard, Dederic, Arnaut, Guimond, Rosemary..." he repeated their names to himself. "Hold on, please. I"m almost there." And indeed, he saw them. Flashes of the brightly colored capes contrasted with the darkness and ugliness of the Ryxens across of them. Speaking of darkness... it was rather dark around here. Gawain shuddered. He didn't like the darkness. Time to change something about that. He summoned his shield and sword and channeled his Essencia into the blade.

"Stand back!" he called to the other Sentinels, giving them a chance to jump aside as he send a slash of light at the Ryxens, sparking them up and sending them back. Gawain charged past them, running up to the Ryxens and engaging them in battle, bashing his shield into one and slashing his sword into another.

"Whoa..." Erin could only stammer as she watched the Golden Sentinel show up and fend off the Ryxens to give them a bit of room to breathe and recover. Glad to see that guy again! And he was sure saving their butts here! Erin eyed her friends. This guy was so much into this battle he didn't even appear to notice them. Maybe he was just pissed at the Ryxens? Well, whatever it was, they couldn't let this guy do everything in his own, could they now? "Let's help him out," Erin said to them. Now that they had a bit of room to breathe it seemed like a great time to summon their own weapons and jump back into the battle, right?

And so she summoned her own sword, cloaking it in flames and jumping into the fight. Having an extra man around who knew how to fight, and seemingly already had some experience with these things... that helped! It really did. Suddenly the fight was going a lot better for them. Ryxens went down by the bushes now that they knew the things could actually be taken down. That, and the Ryxens really didn't like the bright shiny guy hitting them with bright light.

 

[PenBlade1326]

"Working together only means we die faster, I think," Benji said, forever pessimistic. In his tone he clearly wasn't benign an ass to Erin and mean they were too overpowered to do anything about it. His efforts to help Dylan were sincere but ended with him getting dog-piled on thanks to the cowboy! Really in what realm would working together more solve here? He continuously rolled frantically through the leaves and avoided getting shish-cabobbed in the middle of the forest while his friends watched. More leaves boomed on his command but they only delayed a fraction of a second's worth of more spears coming at him and everyone despite his trying hard. Clay fared not much better, physically strong as an ox in general but now so tired he was forgetting how to spell 'ox.' When a man can not spell a two-letter word made up of a vowel and a consonant it is just plain bad.

But when things got dark they saw a light. Literally, a...shining light. Here arrives the Gold Ranger once again! They watched as he suddenly flashed in and gave them all room to breathe for a second. Something about being ambushed made them tired. Nothing to do with the fact that of the two of them, Benji was an orphan artist and Clay just a simple cowboy. Nothing about them trained for this in general, so that clearly played no part in them being exhausted already.

"He's back!" Benji said eagerly and sat up finally without spears poking at his head, slipping his cape up off of his head. Clay whistled. "That there is the shiniest feller I ever did see," he said and tipped his lack of a hat on his helmet. What about this guys motives made him charge in so hard was a question to be answered. Some people are just genuinely good and want to help. Others had vendettas. And then there were those who lived for their cause and their cause alone. In every tale there is something like this. Which matched Gold here? The guys stood up and dusted themselves off in amazement at the guy bashing around the Ryxens. Clay nodded at Erin in agreement, not wanting the fun to be hogged up by him alone. And why not return the helping hand here? He summoned his mace and cracked it down on the ground, rumbling Earth below him and shaking things up for the monsters as they started getting scurried around on the new Sentinels appearance. They were backing down! Now it's getting interesting! Clay let out a southern call of joy and whammed his mace around the Ryxens to smash them into next week.
Lots and lots of fighting going on here. Suddenly easier with Golden boy. Benji brought out the glaive and spun in like a fidget spinner in his hand, then hurling it like a bowling ball into the Ryxens, vines grabbing it from the ground and tripping the monsters down in its path.

 

[Lady Insanity]

April struggled under appreciation for Erin's efforts and her own exhaustion. Woods never meant an easy day ahead for this crew. She fought hard to get her second wind and build up stamina but she was so tired after fighting these monsters for so long. If she could fly she would happily just airlift everybody out of here and back somewhere safe. She wanted to say something and possibly even regale an odd but slightly relevant story but she then saw flickers of something approaching. Something shiny. Shiny things just really interest girls across the multiverse. (quote of the decade)
Gold shiny thing came closer and made himself known. The Gold Power Ranger returned and fought off the Ryxen monsters with ease, so determined to fight them back and kick some butt. Literally acting a their knight in shining armor. Or Sentinel in shining armor, if one must be more accurate. Ha! Shining armor....Sentinel, is that where his roll call came from?

"He's fabulous!" April said and stood up with her friends. Already the others were charging off to help Gold. "I guess I'll go, too," she said to herself and felt the second wind--no pun intended on her count. April summoned her crossbow and fired it after much practice between their arrival to Camelot and now. She fired a white/light pink energy bolt into the Ryxens, boldly sweeping herself up in a graceful gust of wind and firing shots all around the area.

 

[Steel Accord]

Dylan tried to get to his knee but pain flared up again in his body. He didn't want to go out like this. As he had said before, death held no terror for him. He'd throw himself on a grenade for the others. (Or at least he told himself he would. Who knows how they'd react in a split second life or death decision like that?) This though? This was pointless. Dylan was all for a noble sacrifice, but this wasn't a sacrifice nor was it particularly noble. They got ambushed in a haunted forest. That's how victims of horror movies go out! Dylan's disdain for the conventions of horror victims being poor saps who can't defend themselves flared up along with the pain from his beating. Now they were in that very position! Dylan's prayers though did not go unanswered as a quite angelic figure leaped into battle, shining like the Star of Bethlehem.

Lady Insanity April described the figure as "fabulous." And you know? Dylan kind of found it hard to disagree. Much as he like to avoid contemporary parlance or slang when referring to or talking about the mystical and legendary figures they co-habitated with, the Gold Ranger did have that kind of preternatural male beauty that would qualify him as bishonen to a crowd that Dylan was not secretly a part of! . . . Anyway, with the way cleared by their ally, Dylan followed suit and summoned his trident. Or at least tried to.

"Deluvian? Trident!"

Learn to stand on your own, son.

"I'm in the middle of a pitched battle. They have spears. I need a weapon with more reach than just my limbs." Whilst Dylan was negotiating with his patron, the Ryxen charged him and Dylan had to Tai Chi block the spear strikes, open palm, whip-like, pushes as two tried to run him through. Dylan caught the two spears under his arms and levered them upward, dislocating the Ryxen's arms. Whether they felt pain or not, they weren't using those arms anymore. Dylan finished them with a mid-air split kick to both their heads.

Good form, my boy. You've earned this. Dylan's hands felt the cool rush of a stream solidify into a long shaft with a familiar set of teeth on one end. Grinning, Dylan did a quick behind the back twirl and finished by slamming the weapon's end into the dirt. Geysers gushed up all around him, throwing Ryxen into the air. (Possibly for April, or the Gold Sentinel to deal with air juggling style.) Dylan rushed forward and with a wide swing knocked the closest Ryxen about to his the ground into a tree.

 

[marorda]

Erin glanced around, feeling glad her friends were all doing better now that the mysterious Gold Sentinel had shown up here to save their asses from getting buried here. She swept her blade into the Ryxens, leaving a trail of fire in her wake. Now it was the Ryxens to spark and be send flying into the trees around them. Hah! Take that, ugly bastards. The more she got into the fight the more, well... fired up she got, unleashing a fiery hell on the undead creatures around them. She blocked an incoming blow from the Ryxen's spear with her sword, locking blades. Erin glared at the creature from under her visor, kicking it in the lower region before striking again. These Ryxens were dangerous and a pain. Best they deal with it as quickly as possible. And then have a chat with their knight in shining armor. Both to ask him who the heck he was, and how come he's so good at battling these things. And then head back to Camelot for a nice meal, a long nap, and a good chat with Merlin about why he didn't tell them about this legion of undead super warriors sleeping in the woods. Because she wouldn't take the "I didn't know" for an answer. This Sentinel, seemingly quite at home in this world, knew about them, it seemed. Chance knew about them. So how would the man who lived in this world and had been a Watcher since who-knew-how-long would not know? Deep sigh... so many questions. And a big lack of answers. Seriously, they had only been in Avalon for a couple of days, and they'd been presented with so many mysteries.

Was it a normal thing for Vorkalth to rip open the sky and start talking? Did more mythical creatures turn into fearsome monsters? What exactly was a Watcher? Who was the Gold Sentinel Ranger? Were there Ryxens slumbering in other places too, now? Was Ebongrove doing fine or was the place being raided by the Legion now that the city's newfound protectors had been sent to another realm of existence? How much longer would they be here before they would return home? Was Erin the only one wondering all of these things or were the others concerned too? What else awaited them here? Was she going to receive more backlash for being a woman? Were the questions ever going to stop? Erin sighed and shook her head. She needed to focus her energy someplace else. Vent her frustrations on something. Like... Oh, the Ryxens, for example! She swung her sword again with a fierce battlecry, cutting down what seemed to be the last bunch of Ryxens around her.

Gawain bashed a Ryxen with his shield, swinging his blade into another. The Ryxens hissed upon being hit with the light. He briefly eyed his companions, not quite watching them, just quickly spotting their colors. All seemed to be doing fine, not unlike anything he expected. Of course they were all doing fine. Glad to see him, sure, but no less capable of fighting. He smiled to himself. It felt good to fight side by side with them all again. How had they fared in the months that passed? Gawain hoped Vorkalth hadn't been causing too much trouble in France. King Louis IV couldn't keep blaming the other noble houses for the misfortune and wars. Well, likely he would. It was easier than to admit an ancient magical evil was causing all the grief, was it not? He lightly shook his head before smiling to himself under the visor. At least his friends understood. It felt good to have people to talk to, people who understood you, when there was nobody else he could talk to. Not his family, not anyone in court... Not even here in Avalon could he properly talk to. Yes, there were enough knights here.... But none of them had magical abilities. Okay, Merlin and Arthur did.... And Morgana. Guinnevere... he wasn't always too sure about her, but that woman has something to her, for sure. Still... out of the four he named, three of them had no experience as knights. Two were women, so they for sure had no experience in the battlefield.

He watched who he presumed to be Arnaut expertly dealing with the Ryxens around them, sending them up in the air with the use of geysers. Glad to see Deluvian was around and proud as he... she... had always been. Never call Deluvian "it" unless you want to feel the fury of a maelstrom. He turned around, sending another slash of light their way. The foul creatures sparked, but weren't defeated just yet. No, he'd leave that to Rosemary (April). She still had a score to settle with these things for nearly killing her the last time. Right?
---
With the last of the Ryxens going down, the air quite literally seemed to clear up a bit. Yes, the forest still looked dead, but it seemed a little less dark. The air less heavy. Much to Gawain's relief. He didn't like the darkness. Not. At. All. Never knew what was out there. That... and there was this little thing where his power was weaker after sundown. Granted, it wasn't sundown, but it was gloomy here and he did not like that. Gawain breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to face his friends, picking themselves back together and regrouping. And something about them seemed... off. He hadn't really noticed before, but they looked different, even in suit. Leonard was definitely smaller and more frail than earlier. Rosemary was taller... Guimond was even skinnier! He didn't even think it possible, but here they were. What in the world happened? Gawain demorphed, looking at them in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but not a sound escaped from him.

Erin caught her breath after the battle, relieved the Ryxens were dealt with. "Fucking hell, those things were a nightmare," she said. Cursing probably wasn't the best first impression, but give her a break! At least she didn't make a pun and call the Ryxens a Knightmare. They just got their asses whooped, and then Golden Boy shows up and saved the day. "If there's more of those guys out there..." Then what? She couldn't exactly sign out of this thing. Chosen by the literal incarnation of Fate and all... She rubbed a sore spot from when she was thrown into the dead sticky leaves... And she plucked some sticky leaves off her suit. Gross. Her eyes widened as she watched the new Sentinel demorph. "Hey, you are...!" she called out, surprised. She demorphed too. And clearly.... she wasn't the one who was most surprised. The knight they had briefly run into before on a couple of occasions in the halls.... He just blankly stared back at them.
"You..." he started, not sure how to continue. And watching the others demorph didn't make things any better. "What's the meaning of this?" he called. Erin slowly backed away. This guy seemed... angry, almost. And after seeing him cut through Ryxens like butter... well... As per usual, she bumped right into Clay. Why. Why was it that every time she stepped back to get away from weird stuff that she walked into that guy? Grumble grumble. "Where are my friends?" the knight demanded. Erin glanced from him to his friends and back.
"What in the world... worlds... are you talking about?" she asked.
"I'm talking about Leonard, Dederic, Arnaud, Guimond... Rosemary... Where are they?"

Erin eyed the others again. None of these names rang a bel with her. Maybe one of them knew? Read something about them somewhere? She was a big fan of history and legends.... but those names were unfamiliar to her. Shame on her for not having read much of the records on earlier Sentinels yet...

 

[PenBlade1326]

Worlds from where they originate and still a forest is full of frightening things that want to kick the ever-living crap out of them. Forests apparently lack all of the bunnies and deer one would expect to find. Demons from the underworld and brutality in their place. Avlazor would just love it here. Hmm. Haven't heard anything from Avlazor or Nenet in a while...maybe Vorkalth finally decided to never use his generals again? The monsters in the woods would do the trick for all evil purposes. In true cowboy rampage style, Clay swung the last bit of might out of him as the Ryxens went down at the taste of his mace. A boulder on a stick is what it felt like. Actually that's probably what the very first Earth Sentinel used in its place. Makeshift weaponry, anybody? Silly, really now that it's been said...cavemen entrusted with these powers and off to battle evil. Scratching butts is really useful.
Benji felt some pressure taken off of him as his fight ended alongside the Gold Sentinel and the others, the forest still eerie and dead but at least a little bit brighter. A child getting adopted back home bust see a similar light of hope. He knew the adoption process well, but after his first time in an adopted home he would never put himself through that mess again. Being a grown-up at least meant he could just stay there and insure remaining kids were taken care of.

Having at least banished the beasts back into the shadows the guys regrouped with everybody. Chance better have a good debrief when this is over, otherwise some more stuff goes unanswered. Brown and green costumes still lingered on their bodies, capturing muscular and scrawny forms as they looked at the mysterious Gold one demorph. Hey, they've seen him before! They know him kind of? Right? But he looked so...off put. Probably in reaction to Erin's language. Joke!!! "Wow, Erin, way to make first impression," Benji joked with her, having seen her demorph and say what she said, then his face. Benji demorphed as well, revealing the scrawny guy under the suit with his light hair.
Clay demorphed as well. He tipped his hat at the guy after showing his face to him and smiling that southern smile. "Howdy, nice to meet y--" Clay said to greet him but just shut himself up and curled his lips as the man demanded to know what was going on. Now he's all mad! He felt Erin bump into him but paid her no mind. The guy confused him.

None of the five names he listed were familiar. Maybe something about them popped up in brief studies of other Sentinels, but Clay not at all able to spot who he spoke of in his mind. "Uh...sorry, we don't know who you're talking about. Our names are Erin, Dylan, Clay, Benji, and April," Clay said calmly, pointing everyone out as he said their names. Benji cautiously stepped back and waved as Clay said his name to the confused man before them, being more careful since he's small and more of a brain person than his friends here. Clay's a big, strongman sort of guy...but being so southern, he's a natural people-person!

"Wait...I think I know who he is talking about. He's a Sentinel, he mentioned five people... are you talking about past Sentinels?" Benji put out there. That was a longshot, but he had to guess something. They are Sentinels of now...he said five names, so maybe he was referring to five other people who dawned these suits before? Maybe last time Sentinels were here, that was them? Benji tried plugging in any possible answer to this problem.

 

[Lady Insanity]

Soaring through the wind and using her powers of...soaring wind, April elegantly fired her crossbow into the Ryxens and blasted them into what oblivion may lie in wait for them. Wing had been easier to manipulate, enabling her not to fly, but to slightly glide through the air enough to get the edge. The foul creatures sprung up from geysers. Funny how the elements can work together through the team and make it all a little easier. Sure beat getting tossed around like rag dolls in the forest! She gripped the back of her cape gently and twirled through the air, barraging arrows into the lifted Ryxens and landing on her feet on the dead leaves. Twinkles of light were left in their wake. So pretty!

When things calmed down a little and the villains were gone she looked around before carefully walking to her friends. Careful because anything could happen, so was just extremely careful in woods now. The feminine and delicate girl under the suit may have given a false impression to this Gold Ranger, depending on certain things to come. While that does fit April, she isn't as delicate as she appears. Her wardrobe back in her dorm room may prove otherwise...and the wardrobe here, too. She just listened to Erin go on as the battle ended and then demorphed, just like Gold did. Whoa, he's actually sort of handsome. And she has seen him before, but never directly spoken to him. Not that she didn't want to say hello, just he always seemed so busy she did not want to bother him or get in his way. She demorphed with her friends and paused in her tracks when he started questioning them. He looked a little...blinded almost. Shocked, as if he'd seen ghosts standing right in front of him. And April swore he looked her up and down...but mostly up, as if her height was a shock?

She waved politely when Clay said her name. "Um...what is your name?" she asked shyly, not wanting to upset him. She tried to remain as kind and gentle as possible. This guy seemed so on edge around them! He was getting angry, and after seeing him fight, one could guess he was not a man to anger, lest you get your head smushed up into baby food consistency. April kept her hands up as if to say she and the others meant him no harm, but then she lowered them.
"Benji may be on to something..." she thought and expressed softly to the others. Maybe this guy just mistook them for someone else? Poor man...

 

[Steel Accord]

Dylan ripped his trident from the ground and threw it like a spear, nailing one of the Ryxen to a tree. He did an amazing 450 spin with three kicks on another Ryxen. (Gotta love that Essencia.) And generally went Chow Yun Fat on the necrotic beings. Dylan was actually hoping that the Gold Ranger would notice him and be impressed. What better way to make a good first impression than by displaying your ability to kick ass?

After the fight, Dylan did cringe a little at Erin's poor candor to their ally. On the one hand he couldn't really blame her because that was just kind of who she was. Abrasive whether she's happy or angry. On the other, this guy just saved their life, is native to world where politeness was practically a law, and generally didn't deserve to be cursed at. Then again . . . Erin was right. That WAS a hard fight and he totally couldn't blame her for complaining about nearly being stabbed to death by as of yet unknown creatures in the forests of Avalon. Honestly she was just voicing what Dylan, and probably the others, were thinking. Just a verbal, sentence form of, "ouch! That really hurt!"

Dylan demophed along with his companions and he could see the poor man's heart take a dip when he saw the faces under the helmets. Those names though.

"Wait a minute. Leonard, Dederic, Arnaud, Guimond, Rosemary? I know those names. Benji, you're right. Those are the names of past Sentinel Rangers, only a few hundred years our predecessors. Which is a short time compared to most trust me. Of course they're . . . long . . . gone." Dylan's voice gained less enthusiasm and more sorrow as he spoke. Realizing mid speech that what were heroic precursor Power Rangers to him were this man's dear friends. Who he clearly didn't know had long since passed. "I'm so sorry." Dylan tried to express his most sincere condolences with his tone.

 

[marorda]

Erin nodded. It was easy to presume the people he mentioned were Sentinels that came before them. After all, they weren't the first... There had been countless of generations before them, probably. Perhaps it was worth digging through the archives and figure out just how many predecessors they had. She gave a polite nod to the Gold Sentinel as Clay introduced them all. She smiled softly at Dylan's enthusiasm. Leave it to him to know who those people the Gold Sentinel mentioned. As his enthusiasm decreased, her own expression turned slightly grim as well. So those five were older Sentinels! Only a few hundred years their predecessors... which meant they were long gone indeed. Yikes. Older heroes to them, but clearly this man's friends. Sure, Novus, Fate, and Merlin had told them the passing of time goes a bit differently in both worlds... but the idea that hundreds of years passed in their own realm while here apparently not that much time had passed... Or maybe it had. Merlin told them about the loop, after all. Anyhow... This man was expecting to see his old friends, not see different people entirely and hear hundreds of years had passed since...
"I am so sorry..." she said softly to their savior. Just as Dylan did. Speaking of getting some bad news.

"A few hundred..." Gawain stammered, looking at the five Sentinels with a mix of grief and disbelief. "That can't be... I saw them just a few weeks ago!" he was... well, a but distraught to say the least. It was a few weeks, wasn't it? So how were these five completely different people and were they saying it had been a few hundred years? How was Leonard replaced by a foul-mouthed woman? He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment. So many thoughts crossed his mind, and he couldn't make sense of it at all. He remembered traveling here with the others, and Merlin telling them how time passed differently, how it can sometimes make a gigantic hop forward. Was that what happened, then? It would explain things, for sure, but.... That had to mean his friends, all the people he had ever known... they were dead! What had happened to France and King Louis? If hundreds of years had passed and people were still fighting Vorkalth...
"I..." Gawain pulled himself together again, or at least he was trying his damn best to. "My name is Gawain," he said, giving a polite nod to this new generation of Sentinels. "My apologies... I, I have to go."

Without waiting for another response, Gawain turned around and left for where he had left his horse. Merlin had an awful lot to explain to him. Erin watched him go off with a faint but slightly sad smile on her face. She understood he was upset and likely had things to think about, but she would have liked to talk to him some more. Perhaps later they would have more time to have a proper chat with him. She turned to her friends.
"Perhaps we should get going too. I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough of these woods for today," she said, nodding in the direction of Camelot.

 

[PenBlade1326]

"Of all the times for me to be right..." Benji whispered as Dylan and this Gawain fellow indeed confirmed his theory. Past Sentinels, his friends, all of them long dead and he had not a clue. But how? And however this man confused a few weeks with hundreds of years...or how he's even alive is beyond him. Ben normally preferred being correct though he did not like being right about something so sad. He expressed condolences to Gawain through facial expression. Time certainly did pass differently here... One day he would love to learn more about that so he would not be so confused. For as long as he's been involved in these matters he still gets confused at times. "I wish I knew what to say," he said to Gawain, bowing his head, wishing he knew exactly how to help the guy cope with the rush of news about his friends. Damn...why did he have to be right?

Clay's southern hospitality sunk in and he extended his hand to Gawain for support, as if to give him a side hug like people do awkwardly with relatives in hard times after not seeing one another for so long but tragic matters brought them together. How's that for a long sentence? "Y'all know we'd best be careful... don't want to set the poor feller off or nothing," Clay said to his friends in his hushed but thick accent. Would Gawain even understand a southern accent? Erin hardly did and she had known Cay for some time now and had to have heard accents on television or something, before. "I reckon due to time and all you just didn't know they were gone...sorry 'bout your losses, there. If we can do anything, give us a holler..." Clay said to Gawain as he decided to ride off back to Camelot or wherever. The big guy just waved goodbye to the knight and let out a huge breath. Boy, this is quite a pickle they're in now. Every time they came yander to the woods something strange happened to them. At least they aren't the only ones who suffer from weird shit out here.

"Out of the woods sounds mighty fine to me," Clay agreed with Erin. Back to Camelot and to Merlin, they go. No more woods, today, no more dead forest area. He couldn't get Gawain off of his mind now and wanted to help him. He was so confused...Gawain, not Clay. Maybe Merlin has answers...maybe they can somehow contact Fate?
"I second that. Let's go back to Merlin and...hey, should we look for Chance, too? I feel like he may be of use if he knows anything about screwing with peoples heads...its a loose connection I know, but he could be helpful?" Benji asked the others, voting to leave the forest and find their allies here, as well as Fate's estranged brother.

 

[Lady Insanity]

Such gentle eyes with heavy burdens. April looked onto the Gold Sentinel with compassion and empathy. What confusion he must be going through at the moment. To find out people you knew and saw what felt like weeks ago were gone? She could only imagine.

"Sentinels from the past...I can't believe it," she muttered to herself. Verification to what was thought. This man, Gawain, was speaking about Rangers from before who were now long gone. Bombshell for Gawain! April wanted to reach out and comfort the strange man but she felt like that may result in a sword to her gut. You had to be careful when dealing with people thrown into grief. "My condolences, Gawain..." she spoke softly and gently. Unknowingly, sort of like her predecessor from Gawain's time...Rosemary, was it? She did not know it, but Rosemary was perhaps one of the more delicate and gentle souls to ever dawn Sentinel power. Did the similarities of the two women baffle him at all? Poor man... poor, poor man... His friends were gone and they were left in their place. Strangers. In the ever-going conflict between good and evil.
She understandingly let Gawain go. Merlin...would he be going to Merlin? Or to the king? Surely he'd go to Arthur...somebody in Camelot had to know how to help him? If he thinks a century or so was just a few weeks...he had to be under a spell of some kind. Something was not right here. They had to help! Time be damned, that isn't normal! April glanced around and was more than eager to leave the forest. "Yeah...maybe we find Chance, too. Get him and Merlin to put their magical heads together and figure out how to help Gawain and what exactly is going on here. Let's go."