On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

2.2 - Drift / Tribu Verde

"Commander Velos..." Tiarem, the cloudy pillowy nighlok drifted behind him.

Startled, Velos turned the moment he heard her voice.

"Tiarem," Velos collected himself immediately, masking the jolt he felt. As usual, Tiarem didn't notice he was caught off guard.

Tiarem's presence was quiet and soothing, so much so that she always unintentionally startled others with her presence.

She seemed to blend into the atmosphere, like a cool mist.

Velos wasn't a fan of Tiarem's soft nature. He didn't appreciate her surprises or the gentleness in everything she did.

He wondered if she could kill...

No. He knew she couldn't.

He never encountered a nighlok so willing to put others before herself without having something to gain. It was unsightly.

He had spent months trying to find the misery in her soul.

Still, Velos was satisfied with her strength. He trained her well.

"Zakyr hasn't come back." Tiarem whispered in a worry.

"She'll return." Velos assured Tiarem, something he found doing often though it was annoying.

"I can't fight without her.... She's always angry." A frown met Tiarem's face, hoping Velos would tell her how to help Zakyr.

Zakyr was in fact always angry, wanting to cut something up.

She itched to enter the human world and was furious every time Velos met her with the old "patience" lecture.

"Tiarem..." Velos flicked the arrow he had sharpened to the ground. As it pierced the dirt, he turned fully to face her. "I'm going to let you in on a truth among nighlok."

Tiarem nodded, readying to listen.

"Like blood courses through a human vessel, the resonance of lament is weaved into the fabric of the nighlok being." Velos pulled Serrator's sword out from its sheath, letting the dull blade glisten under the crimson sky.

"Born from the natural reaction to injustice in the human world, we only reflect the pain they create back onto themselves." Velos tilted his head to examine the blade, dissatisfied with how it aged. "The inevitable flood symbolizes the overwhelm of human sorrow consuming itself..."

"Utter destruction birthing a new era, founded in the remains of the soggy ruins." With a swipe, quick as a blink, Velos pointed the sword at Tiarem's head. "This is the natural order."

Tiarem's gaze moved beyond Serrator's sword and settled on Velos's eyes.

She knew Velos would never hurt her.

Velos sheathed Serrator's blade with a soft click sound, making an intention to sharpen it later.

Still, it did a decent job cutting across Tiarem's pillowy, starry night swirled body.

"C-Commander..??" Tiarem collapsed to the floor, shocked by the betrayal and trying to hold herself together. She couldn't tell when she was attacked, only that it was lethal. "Wh-why?"

It was not only the rangers that had months to train. Velos was quicker and more accurate than ever.

"Understand what we are." Velos stood above Tiarem as she struggled helplessly. "As long as you exist, you will spread pain. Pain like this."