On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

28 - River / X 🔞

    Mia opened her eyes slightly, scoping her surroundings without trying to show that she was awake.

    She wasn't on Master Xandred's ship. She was back in the real world, laying on the grassy edge of a river.

    Mia also noticed that she was in different clothing again. Dayu had stolen a new white dress for her that went up to her knees. It seemed like Dayu loved white dresses.

Being back in the real world brought Mia a sense of comfort. Under the bright sky and warming sun, everything felt full of life.

    "You're awake." Dayu's voice jump scared Mia. "Your wounds are all patched, courtesy of moi."

    Dayu didn't expect Mia to live with her injuries. She had one fatal slash among other wounds.

Mia felt very weak and sick. She could barely move.

    There were bumps and bruises that circled from her back to her abdomen from being beaten. And since she was tossed around there were red scratches on her knees, palms and elbows.

    Dayu had choked her many times, but not hard enough to crush her neck.

"Eat and drink." Dayu presented her with three plums that weren't rotten and implied that she drank from the river.

Mia was desperate for food. She couldn't hide her eagerness to eat and scarfed down the plums.

She dipped her fingertips into the cold river and felt the clear water filter through her fingers. Mia cupped the water in her hands, splashing her face a few times before drinking until her thirst subsided.

"Alright." Dayu interrupted Mia's peace.

    "You're lucky Xandred gave me strict orders to bring you back." Dayu grabbed Mia and slipped through a crack into the other world.

    Mia took a final glance at the sparkling scenery as the portal closed up. Once again, Mia was surrounded by darkness.

~~~

You didn't have to be a genius to detect the heavy atmosphere in the Shiba House. When Terry asked Kevin about it, he couldn't get a straight answer.

    To cheer the rangers up, Terry whipped out his guitar and began strumming away in the living room. He played song after song without anyone entering the living room or telling him to stop.

    Everyone stayed in their rooms, listening and reminiscing. The sounds were soothing. Maybe even healing.

   Soon enough, Terry's fingers began weary and started to blister. He packed away his guitar and decided to step outside of the Shiba House.

    After the mini-concert, the rangers decided to keep searching for Mia, since it was all that they could do.

~~~

    "We found chains in the real world." Dayu said as she shackled Mia's arms and legs. "This should make you feel like a prisoner."

    What was stronger than Dayu's logical desire to kill the pink ranger was her thirst to ruin her. She didn't want to see a pretty face when she was done.

    It was to bad that Octoroo was now watching over Dayu's shoulder to make sure that she was on task in interrogating Mia. Octoroo feared Master Xandred greatly and knew the consequences of his orders not being carried out.

    Octoroo was already suspicious of Dayu's intentions as she spent most of her time torturing the pink ranger rather than asking her questions.

    Whatever they did, Mia would never speak. She was mentally exhausted. Her stare was dead. She laid like a chained corpse on the creaking wooden floor.

    "Oo ah oo! Dayu! Master Xandred is going to be very angry when he hears that she hasn't told us a single word!"

    Dayu forgot to consider Master Xandred's anger and that she would be in big trouble for failing. And so, Dayu decided to manipulate Octoroo and push some of the blame onto him.

    "Did you really expect her to?" Dayu scoffed. "You know what. It's your turn. If you want information out of her, let's see you try." Dayu shared the responsibility with Octoroo.

    Dayu sat in her corner and strummed her harmonium.

    "Oo pink ranger." Octoroo began in a serious tone. "Tell us where the monk's temple is. Give us the information and we won't have to hurt you."

   You already did.

    "Alright." Octoroo approached Mia with his staff and forcefully pushed her so that her back was facing him. With his wrinkly, gray hands, he unbutton the back of her dress just to reveal the skin of her back.

    After that, Octoroo stepped back. He rose his staff and swiftly whacked Mia's bare back with his staff, causing Mia to cry out and squirm from the pain. The inflicted area stung badly and felt just like a whip.

    Mia didn't expect the hit to hurt as much since she assumed that his staff was wooden. However, the circular end of his staff was made of metal.

    "Tell us. You can stop this pain."

    Silence. Mia blocked out all words at this point and focused on enduring the pain.

    Octoroo whipped Mia's back again only to hear her scream louder than before. Both of the lashes created an X on her back.

Even after the hit, the unbearable stinging didn't dissipated.

    Octoroo became more and more frightful of Xandred as Mia stayed silent. He did not expect such resilience from a human. He expected the pink ranger to crack quickly and easily. In fact, he made Master Xandred believe she would.

    Mia gripped onto a wooden ledge of the ship and clenched her teeth together. The chains on her limbs clanked as she shifted. While bracing herself for even more agony, she trembled with fear.

"Pink ranger, just tell us! You're bringing this on yourself!" Octoroo was becoming visibly more peeved.

Again, silence.

"Wait," Dayu tied a piece of fabric tightly around Mia's mouth. "Before she wakes up Master Xandred."

Octoroo then whipped Mia's back three times, back to back. It was the only time Dayu ever witnessed him move so quickly.

Mia shrieked loudly through the fabric as bloody tally marks streaked her back. She squirmed again from the torturous burning sensation it left on her back.

    Mia couldn't see straight anymore. The intense sting she felt on her back was too overwhelming. She could barely grip onto the ledge anymore.

    "Oo ah oo! Are you an idiot?! Why must you be so stubborn?!" Octoroo rose his staff as high as his short body could and brought it down on Mia's back.

    This hit knocked Mia unconscious. Her hands released the ledge as she fell onto her left side.

    Mia's hair shielded her face. Her back was bloody.

    Dayu scoffed once again. "I'm taking her back to the real world. It'd be better to not have her uselessly sleeping when Master Xandred is awake."