The Radiant Rangers

Chapter 19

"Dude..." said Juliet. "That was crazy man!"

Danielle reopened her eyes, she was standing beside Juliet and they were back in the forest. The sun was shining down onto them. Danielle was terrified of what had just happened. A man from a whole different universe was warning them that their universe was going to be destroyed... unless her and the other hosts could save it. The thought of being an actual hero wasn't something that Danielle wanted to think about or accept. The thought of cool costumes was something that appealed to her but actually saving the world and putting in the effort gave her second thoughts.

Juliet wanted more than anything to be a hero. She was prepared to put all of her sweat, blood and tears into this. Even though dying was one of her greatest fears, she wouldn't mind dying in glory for the sake of the universe.

Danielle looked at the ground. "Juliet..." she said. "I'm scared..."

Juliet looked over at her. She could tell that Danielle didn't actually want to be one of the hosts, either that or she didn't want to be a hero in general. Juliet put her hand on Danielle's shoulder. Danielle was much taller than Juliet and Juliet looked up at her.

"It's going to be okay Dani." said Juliet. "I'll protect you. I promise."

Danielle smiled. Her nose perked up, the smell was even stronger now. Other than having animal shape shifting abilities, Danielle also had very good senses. The smell of rich men's cologne was coming from a distant cave. Juliet looked in the direction that Danielle was sniffing in and eyed the cave.

Juliet and Danielle exchanged glances, and Juliet gave a small nod of acknowledgment. Danielle's eyes grew into large vivid yellow balls and she transformed back into a wolf. The wolf was beautiful. Her fur was various shapes of grey, short over the body and longer at the neck. The fur was smooth and shiny. For being such an insecure person Danielle's wolf stance was rather confident and her body was muscular and strong.

Juliet followed Danielle as she sniffed down the path. Danielle had been in this forest so many times now, that she knew it completely by heart. Danielle had run away from home countless times, just to shape shift and enjoy being an animal without hesitation.

When they approached the cave, Danielle turned around to make sure that Juliet was still behind her. Juliet saw Danielle look back and she smiled. She looked at the cave. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of a mountain cliff. The stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way, that it would be difficult for passers by to spot.

The scent was clearly a man now. Danielle trotted into the cave with Juliet following close behind her. The cave wormed its way half a mile or two into the mountain. It's general shape was ovoid and the walls below the ridge were smoothly curved to the floor. The walls above were arched another hundred feet up to giant stalactites. The cave was almost in complete darkness.

When they explored further into the cave, Juliet's eyes caught glance of something shiny surrounding them in small puddles. They had come across small frigid pools of stagnant water, and Juliet was thirsty.

Juliet bent down on her knees and scooped her hands down into the stagnant water. Water was water to her, she didn't care where it was or how long it had been sitting there. She had drank lake water before, so this was nothing new to her.

Before she could take a sip of the mucky water Danielle growled loudly and flung herself towards Juliet, bitting her arm. Whenever Danielle bit Juliet, she didn't mean to do it in a harsh way. Danielle's teeth gently caressed around Juliet's arm, letting them sink into her skin without a warning. Juliet's skin felt soft, and warm underneath of Danielle's fangs. She didn't realize that the warmth was blood until she could smell it.