The Dark Side of the Moon

Deal with a Nighlok

Jabbing forward, Rune twisted her upper body and pulled arms back, over her left shoulder, so that they were bent at the elbow. She then turned, pivoting on the spot, and swinging her sword in a full circle, crashing it against Jayden's as he practiced behind her.

"Sorry! Sorry," Rune apologised. "Didn't realise how close I was to you."

"If you had wanted to practice all you had to do was ask," Jayden teased. "Didn't have to try and take my head off."

"If I had wanted to take your head off, I would haven't stopped after the first blow," Rune teased back.

Jayden chuckled and pushed her back. He held his sword up in front of him, and Rune saw the glint in his eyes and quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Come on," said Jayden. "Don't be scared."

"Jayden, we've been over this," said Rune, shaking her head. "I trained with Ninjas and Mystics."

Jayden shrugged. "The Samurai and Ninja sword techniques aren't that different," he said. "The only things that differ between us are our hand-to-hand skills. Ninjas are sneakier, which is why you attack from behind rather than the front."

"Overachiever," Rune muttered, shaking her head.

"Maybe," said Jayden. "But there's nothing wrong with knowing your enemy."

Rune laughed. "Are you quoting Sun Tzu to me?" she asked. "You know he was Chinese, right? Samurai are more Japanese."

"Now who's the overachiever?"

Rune couldn't help a small smile.

"Hey, what's up with Kevin?" Mike asked, interrupting the pair. "Why is he so worried about everyone?"

Ji, who had been monitoring from the porch, shook his head. "I don't know," he answered. "He's been like that since yesterday."

Mike met Rune's gaze. She shrugged and looked back at Kevin, watching as he tried to pander Mia about needing a training partner. Mia narrowly missed Kevin's head as she demonstrated that she was happy as she was.

~X~

Spotting the monster, Rune pushed off from the ground, raised her sword above her head and slashed down, narrowly missing the Nighlok as he side-stepped at the last second. She spun around, and raised her sword again just as Kevin, Jayden, and Mike attacked from behind and to the sides.

"Nighlok, what kind of mischief are you up to with this kid?" Jayden asked.

"Nothing," the Nighlok said. "We're friends, right?" he turned to the little boy, taking a hesitant step backwards as he saw Mia and Emily kneeling beside him.

Rune glanced over her shoulder. She could feel the fear radiating from the kid from where she stood. "Are all your friends afraid of you?" she asked.

The Nighlok growled.

"You're a liar!" Mike accused.

"You need to back off!" Kevin warned.

Helping the kid stand, Mia and Emily urged him to run as fast as he could, which he did, leaving the Rangers to surround the Nighlok.

"Stay out of my business," the Nighlok said, angrily.

Rushing the Nighlok, the team forced him away from the street and towards the trees. He blocked attack after attack, and swung his fist around, hitting Mike and Kevin, and then planting his foot into Jayden's chest and knocking him down.

"Fighting you Rangers is a walk in the park for me," said the Nighlok, swinging his fist around and hitting Rune in the chest. "As you can see, I play well with others," he added, before flipping Emily and Mia over,