The Orange & Yellow Rangers of Amber Beach

Introducing the Orange Ranger

I was inside with Mama and my sisters when it happened. Mama was teaching Camila how to sew, as I was currently washing the laundry with Augustina. The two of us would giggle every time Mama scolded Camila for accidentally pricking herself.

"Ey ey. ¡Ningún hombre te mirará dos veces si tus bonitas manos se arruinan antes de que seas mayor de edad!" 

"Pero mamá, no quiero que los hombres me miren." Augustina and I laughed harder at Camila's comeback. Eventually her groaning got her out of learning, for now. Mama just gave up on teaching her after that comment. Of course, she knew where Camila's stubbornness came from, so she was partially upset with herself.

After Mama left the house to check on our brothers, Camila began shuffling to our pantry. Probably hoping to snag a snack in before suppertime. Augustina caught her movements though.

"Papá dice que nada de comida hasta la hora de la cena. Sabes las reglas." Augustina slightly scolded Camila, as I still continued scrubbing our clothes clean. That was when it started. Everything in our home began to shake terribly. 

"¿Que es eso?" I asked loudly, holding onto the barrel of water tightly. Augustina held onto Camila to protect her. That was when Papa entered our home with our brothers right behind him. He grabbed the few guns we had to protect ourselves from the tribes and gave one to each of my brothers, except for Tomas.

"Agustina, estás a cargo de Tomás y Camila. Martín, Valentina. Sácalos de aquí. Te encontraremos cuando esto termine. ¡Ahora ve!" I ran to find Valentina in her shared room with Camila. I picked her up, as her doll dropped from her arms. She cried out instantly, reaching for it. I grabbed hold of her doll and ran out the door with Augustina, Camila and Tomas behind me.

I watched in horror as other homes were already being destroyed by fire. There were already a few bodies littering the streets. I almost couldn't bear it, but I had to save Valentina. Before I could go any further, my twin stopped me in my tracks.

"Cuando esto termine, iré a buscarte. Prometo." Mateo gave a kiss to Valentina's forehead before doing the same to me. I hugged him tight with one arm, before he went off with one of Papa's guns in hand. I had begun to cry, when Augustina grabbed me and pulled me forward.

With that, we were running. My tears blinded me partially, but I could still make out Augustina running ahead of me with my other siblings. We eventually made it far enough away from our village that it was beginning to be very rocky. I wiped my tears away, looking back every so often. Nobody had followed us. I slowed to a stop wondering if Mama got out alright.

It was then that my world got a whole lot worse. The screams I heard made me hide behind a tall rock. I peaked out to see Augustina, Tomas and Camila being grabbed by more tribe members. I covered Valentina's mouth with my hand and just kept watching to see what would happen. I couldn't move. I felt absolutely frozen in fear. The tribe members tied up Tomas' hands, as Augustina begged on her knees with Camila beside her.

"¡Por favor! ¡Es sólo un niño! ¡Llévame a mí en su lugar! ¡Por favor!" I closed my eyes in horror as they began to beat my sisters to death. I placed my other hand over my own mouth and continued to hide. I cried silent tears as I heard their screams of pain. Eventually their screams faded, but I waited. I didn't want to be found. Not with Valentina's life at stake.

That was when I smelled something that was just god-awful. It sickened me so much that I just had to see what that smell was. I left my hiding spot to find no tribe members anywhere, but what I saw made me drop to my knees. I cradled Valentina tightly to my chest, so she wouldn't see the fire. The smell was burning flesh. My heart gave out anguish as I cried for the lost lives of my siblings. Either Tomas was a part of that fire, or he had been kidnapped. That notion made me feel worse about hiding and not doing anything to help.

My eyes soon detected movement again and I crawled back behind the rock. Someone in a cloak was searching for something, more likely us. As I watched the person groan in frustration, I didn't realize someone had snuck up behind me. Once I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned around and slapped whoever it was in the face.

"¡Guau, guau! ¡Más despacio, Martina! ¡Soy yo, Mateo!" I wiped my tears away again and realized it was in fact, Mateo.

"¡Gracias a Dios que estás a salvo!" I hugged him tightly, not thinking I was going to see him survive this. "¿Dónde está papá? ¿Nicolás? ¿Santiago?" Mateo's face should have told me everything I needed to know, but sadly it didn't.

"Se los llevaron todos. Martina, gracias a Dios que corriste. El pueblo se ha ido." I lost it again. We stayed there, in a tight embrace. It wasn't until we heard Valentina squirm and squeal in fear that we parted and saw the strangest creature staring down at us. So much for our hiding spot.

"So there are puny humans living here. I thought this place was desolate of anything living." None of us could understand the creature's tongue, but we cowered even more when it pulled out a blade that looked to be made of lightning. We all ran deeper into the rocky terrain, hoping to find a more helpful hiding spot. Lightning hit the ground all around us as we ran. 

We soon found a small cave a ways upward and began to climb. The creature kept following us. I figured this creature had to be of tribal black magic. It's skin looked impenetrable, making it even more difficult to dispose of. So it could kill us, but we couldn't kill it. As soon as we entered the cave, we hid again. The creature followed us into the cave. I closed my eyes and braced myself. What I didn't expect was for the creature to yank Valentina out of my arms. I stood up face to face with the creature who had also grabbed hold of Mateo.

"¡Mateo! ¡Valentina, no! ¡Por favor, no les haga daño!" The creature laughed and threw them both aside as it stalked closer to me. I began to walk backwards until I hit the back of the cave. I felt around for any loose rock or anything that could get me away from the creature. When my hand grabbed hold of something loose, I yanked it out and aimed it at the creature.

"The Orange Energem! Master Sledge will finally give me what I deserve once I give it to him!" I took a closer look at the item in my hand. It was a glimmering stone of sorts. When I looked back at the creature, his blade was about ready to hit me. I rolled out of the way, stone in hand, and gathered with Mateo and Valentina once more.

"Mateo, necesito que lleves a Valentina y te vayas. Distraeré esta cosa." I kissed Valentina on the forehead and placed her in Mateo's arms.

"¡No! ¡No me voy contigo!" I gave Mateo a loving smile and gently pushed him outside the cave. The creature suddenly made lightning again and it hit the ground by me. The ground began to tousle me back and forth until suddenly I was falling fast. The sky was only getting further away from me, and so were Mateo and Valentina. I noticed the creature running away from the splitting rock.

Something suddenly pulsed through me and I had a preliminary vision of a dinosaur in my head. Just before I hit the ground below, I felt myself change.