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Ranger	By : jvperric Category: Pokemon > General Views: 2694 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
- 1-Chapter One
- 2-Chapter Two
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- 2
*****Chapter Two*****
The poster that had hung in her room before being neatly folded and tucked away in her desk drawer did no justice to the real thing, Kayla realized as she opened the door. Her eyes were a bright, cold blue, icy and deep, and they locked on to Kayla, who felt her heart flutter and her legs turn to jelly. A few lines showed through the makeup on her pale, porcelain skin, which stood in striking contrast to the long flow of raven-black hair billowing in the wind behind her, worked into a tight ponytail at the nape of her neck. One corner of her mouth was turned up in an almost wolfish smirk. Her beret, with its single gold bar on the flash, sat perfectly on the crown of her head.
Her jacket was well-worn, but still snug, hugging over her chest and waist. The zipper was down a quarter of the way with the lapels turned down, leaving the top of her black turtleneck exposed. Some of the hooks at her waist had gear on them, dangling gently as she put her hand on her hip. Two black straps ran from her left shoulder to her right hip, holding her crossbow and quiver on her back. On her left forearm was the sleeve of a falconer’s glove of oiled leather with streaks of white among the brown where talons had found purchase. Wiry legs showed definition under her black leggings that disappeared into tough, all-weather boots. Kayla tried to speak a greeting, but she found no voice.
“Hi,” Erin said, holding her arm out for her talonflame. Avis perched on her sleeve and stretched out his wings. “Are you Kayla?”
“Umm, uh…yeah,” she said, groping for the words.
She smiled and extended her free hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Erin. Can I come in?”
Kayla took her hand, but forgot to shake it. “Yeah, please, come in. I just have to grab by jacket and bag. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No thanks. We’ve got a flight to catch, so we’re on a bit of a timetable.”
Kayla ran through the living room, slapping the cushion Azar was sleeping on before barreling up the stairs. She nearly fell over herself getting into her room, stumbling through the doorway and catching herself on her dresser. Her knees knocked and she felt a heat flare up between her legs. She murmured to herself as she slipped on her jacket and beret.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…”
She shouldered her bag, turned out the light, and went out the door. Outside her parents’ door, she paused. Her hand was on the door, ready to knock, when the twin sounds of her father’s snoring and the shower kicking on made her take her hand away. Kayla slipped silently down the stairs.
Erin was in the kitchen, petting a sprawled-out Azar. Avis stood on the counter, his head on a swivel.
“There you go, now you look like a Ranger,” Erin said, standing up. “What’s his name?”
“Azar, it means ‘fire’ in Persian. I just wanted to say that I’m really excited—”
“Cool. I was afraid I’d have to deal with another partner with a gardevoir and they’re just not suited for this kind of work. Got everything? Said your farewells, kissed your lovers goodbye?”
“Uh, yeah, all set.”
“All right, let’s go. You don’t get airsick, do you?”
“I’ve never flown.”
Erin sighed. “Well, it’s a short flight. Avis, come on.”
“Let’s go, Azar.”
Kayla followed Erin out to the driveway, where a red and white Jeep with the Ranger flash on both sides sat behind her mother’s sedan. She could tell it was meant for warmer weather, but a hardtop had been bolted to the frame. The lights flashed and Erin went around to the other side.
“Just throw your stuff in the back seat, she said, putting Avis in a cage on the rear driver’s side seat. Her crossbow and quiver went in the space beside it.
“Is he going to be okay in there?” Kayla asked, helping Azar up and giving him her bag to hold.
“He doesn’t like when I drive, he’ll lose his breakfast before we get to the highway and they’ll give me grief if I bring the truck back covered in hot bird shit. Will he be okay?”
Kayla paused, stunned that she was so blunt, until she realized that she was expecting a response. “Azar’s fine.”
“Okay, hop in, kid.”
She shook her head clear and climbed into the passenger seat. The engine roared to life, and the radio drowned it out a moment later. Kayla thought she saw the door to her house open as Erin peeled out into the street.
“Whoa!” she yelled, hand shooting out to the grab handle. Azar scrambled to get back on his seat. Avis let out an angry squawk.
“Relax, we’ve got a roll cage,” Erin said, turning the radio down. “What’s the fastest way back to JFK? The GPS was sending me all over the place and I don’t trust it.”
Her mind was still racing as fast as the truck while she thought. When Erin took the turn to get back to the main road her knuckles began to ache from clutching the grab handle.
“T-take the first highway up here until it splits and go right,” she said, trying to calm herself with deep breaths. “The next one splits at the end, it’ll be down the left parkway.”
Erin nodded and cranked the radio again. Kayla tried to ignore the town racing by outside the truck and focused on a stationary point on the floor between her feet.
“Have you been to this grid before?” Kayla asked, shouting over the music.
Erin spun the dial on the steering wheel and silenced the music. “What?”
“Have you been to this grid before? I’ve never been upstate.”
“I walked it a few times when they switched me over to training detail. It’s quiet, nothing really dangerous. Good for training, not much else. There was only one squad for the whole grid, we’ll probably run into them.”
“Why’d they switch you to training?”
Erin bit her tongue and tapped the steering wheel a few times. “We’re not talking about that. I didn’t ask for it, and I wasn’t given a choice.”
Kayla’s heart sank a bit. “Oh.”
“I’m not a very good teacher, so you’re going to have to be a really good student.”
“Okay. I wanted to say before that I’m really excited to work—”
Erin turned the radio back up, albeit to a more tolerable level, but Kayla knew the conversation was over. She kept a tight hold on the grab handle and turned her attention to the window, where she could see they were pulling onto the highway. Erin cut across to the left lane, making another car behind them slam on their brakes.
Two white-knuckled hours later, the airport sprawled out on their right. Planes crisscrossed through the sky above them and the roar of the engines was almost audible above the radio. The truck lurched over to the turnoff, and Erin finally took her foot off the gas as they entered the complex.
“Terminal B, Terminal B…” she said, looking at the signs that lined the road.
“Is that us?” Kayla asked, pointing to a smaller sign with the Rangers flash that marked a small side road.
“Yep!”
Erin cut a hard right, pushing Kayla’s head into Erin’s arm. She nudged her away and Kayla complied after a moment, righting herself and taking hold of the grab handle again.
“Geez, it’s like you’ve never ridden in a car before.”
“I usually don’t ride in cars that the police aren’t supposed to stop, either.”
She shrugged and pulled up to the gate. The guard came out of his booth and Erin flashed her identification. He nodded and raised the gate to the tarmac, where a small office attached to a garage with two identical Ranger trucks and a hangar was set off to one side. She pulled in beside the other trucks and parked.
“Take all the stuff and load it on the plane in the hangar,” Erin said, stepping out of her seat. “My bag’s under the seat. I’ll return the keys. And let Avis out, he’ll want to stretch his wings before we go.”
Kayla nodded and went around to the back seats, where Azar was sitting with his head between his knees. She gave him a soft pat on the head and watched Erin disappear into the office through the rear windshield.
“Well, that was exciting, right?” she asked, picking up her backpack. “Kind of, anyway. Come on, get a little stretch in before we board.”
Azar rolled out onto the ground, stumbling and reaching out to steady himself. Kayla reached over to get the crossbow and quiver when Avis hissed at her, rattling his cage and staring intently at her.
“Erin asked me to get her stuff,” she said, not quite sure if he would understand her. He stopped hissing, though, and she took the opportunity to close the door, shoulder the weapon, and go around to the other side. Erin’s backpack was much more compact than hers; probably to allow her to carry the crossbow, she figured. The name GUILLORY was stitched in white on one of the shoulder straps. Kayla ran her fingers over it and smiled.
This is actually happening. After all this time I get to do my training and I get to do it with her. She was probably just worried about getting here on time, that’s what all that was.
She took the bag by the handle and used her free hand to work on the lock on Avis’ cage. He looked at her, clicking his beak quietly. Azar’s hackles began to raise.
“Okay Avis, why don’t you get some air before we—”
The door to the cage opened and Avis screeched, shooting off his perch like a rocket past Kayla’s face, tearing a neat line with his talon along her right jaw. Kayla gasped and fell backwards into a sitting position, grabbing at her face. Azar ran after Avis, shooting streams of fire towards him, but the raptor was too fast, soaring out of the garage and onto the tarmac. He gave up and ran back to Kayla, who had tears streaming down her face. Blood trickled through the gaps between her fingers while Azar tried to nudge her back to her feet. When she would not move, he looked desperately around the garage, taking a few steps in one direction before going another way and squawking like mad.
“What’s all the racket?” Erin asked, stepping out of the office. She looked over into the garage before rushing over when she saw Kayla on the floor. “What is it?”
Azar pointed to the empty cage and then to the sky, where Avis was circling the hangar. Erin gritted her teeth and looked back at Kayla. “Take your hand away, let me see.”
Her fingers fell away, letting more blood snake down and stain the shoulder pad on her jacket. “Yeah, he got you good. All right, here, get up, I’ll fix it.”
Erin slid Kayla’s arm across her shoulders and hoisted her to her feet. She led her into the office, where another Ranger was sitting at a desk, reading a paper.
“Jesus, Guillory, do any of your partners survive?” he asked.
“Fuck you.”
She brought Kayla into a smaller room off to the side and sat her in a chair. Kayla went to wipe the tears from her face when Erin grabbed her arm.
“Don’t touch it, it’ll get infected. Just focus on something else. I’ll get a kit.”
Erin ducked out of the room and Azar came in, jumping into Kayla’s lap. She pet him and whimpered. Her face felt as if it was falling apart, and the urge to try and hold it together was almost overwhelming. Kayla clenched her jaw together and focused on petting Azar.
The door clicked open and Erin came back in with a first aid kit. She set it on the counter, opened it and pulled a chair up in front of Kayla’s. “Turn it towards me. And this’ll sting, so don’t move.”
Kayla did as she was told while Erin prepped an antiseptic spray. “Hold still.”
She put her hand against Kayla’s cheek to keep the spray from getting in her eyes. Kayla let out a deep breath; Erin’s hand was pleasantly cool against her burning skin. The spray stung at her wound and made her inhale sharply.
“You’ll live,” Erin said, setting the spray down and taking her hand away. Kayla followed it for an instant before pulling back. “This is too big for a styptic pencil, but talonflame cuts actually heal pretty fast. Their body heat starts cauterizing the wound, so once all the local blood is out it’ll start repairing. It’s a clean line, so no jagged scar.”
Erin fixed a bandage over the cut. “You got off pretty easy. Much lower and he would’ve caught your neck. Fucking bird. Anyway, that should be fine in a few days.”
Kayla nodded. “I don’t know what your tolerance for pain is, kid, but it’s going to have to get higher. Scars are a part of this job.”
She pulled up her right sleeve. Tiny raised lines marked her forearm, running every which way. Kayla frowned and reached out to touch them. Erin pulled her arm away and rolled her sleeve back down.
“How did you…”
“I stopped remembering all the scars a long time ago. It’s the only way to stay sane. Look, if you want to roll down to the next training period, I won’t stop you. But you’ll get a lot more cuts and bruises if you stick around.”
Kayla matched her gaze. It was the first time since they met that their eyes had locked. “I’m here to train.”
Erin nodded and went to tap her bandage, but rested her fingers there instead. “Go load the stuff on the plane, then. I’ll deal with Avis. Welcome to the Rangers.”
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Ranger