iii ✩ a different shade of pink.

[zeo]

WHO: katherine hillard & joruk
WHAT: memory stars event
WHERE: old bay remnants
WHEN: april 11th, afternoon

Curiosity has finally gotten the better of her. Against better judgement, Katherine's making an appearance at the water's edge, cautiously peering out across it in hopes of seeing one of these stars she's heard so much about. If anyone had said anything to her about the nature of those stars, about how touching them would spark a memory she may not be too keen on remembering, she wouldn't have come.

But she's hear now, and as one of the stars rises from the water, she reaches out to grab it. It's warm, and it's alight in her palm for the briefest of seconds before it's dissolving to what looks like stardust, seeping through her fingertips and fading away on the wind. What she ends up reliving isn't anything bad, but it's not something she wants anyone to see, either.

She was glad Kimberly had talked to her before Alpha teleported her to the Command Center so she wouldn't feel so put on the spot, but her answer would've been the same either way: Yes. After everything she'd done while under Rita's control, the least she could do was take up the mantle of the Pink Ranger in Kimberly's place and fight the forces of evil alongside the other Rangers.

When she snaps out of it, vision clearing and giving way to the watery remains of the Bay, she's surprised to see that she isn't alone.

"Joruk."

Comments

[filchedfruit]

Joruk is in the middle of reliving a memory of his own, when Katherine snaps out of hers. He should know better after seeing the warnings on the network, and Katherine in a trance. The guy bragging about a "high score" makes him refuse to back down from the challenge. The stars may be quick but he can anticipate their movements. It's as difficult as shooting a bird from the sky, but his reflexes aren't completely dulled.

Suddenly he's back in his homeland during his clan's meeting with the Badan. It's close to winter, so they're behind solid walls instead of yurts. There's a sense of dread after seeing that stockpile of Russian weapons. They plan to level the village his cousin Amir lives in. Why are his uncles such fools? There has to be a better way to get grazing land than joining Russian allies.

He can't exactly voice his views. Disobeying elders is considered unthinkable, especially when they consider him expendable.

He and Baimat notice Azel with the horses, also not wanting to watch their elders get duped into becoming Russia's pawns. The horses seem fine, but he's sure they can sense unease. Joruk absentmindedly pets his horse while Azel asks for his and Baimat's opinions.

"He'll help us but isn't interested in dividing the spoils?" Joruk exclaims,"Do deals that good exist? Even I can see that and I'm an idiot!"

Baimat expresses how difficult it is to see family drawn in by short term bait. He sees a side of Azel that's frankly scary, but he sums up their situation better than Joruk ever could.

"The only explanation is that Russia fronted them the weapons in hopes that we wipe each other out," Azel says.

Joruk curses in his native language once he snaps out of flashback. He's still a bit shaken but he tries to act casual.

"Uh, hey Katherine," Joruk replies.

[zeo]

She shouldn't have looked over. She should've kept her eyes forward and her attention elsewhere. Even if she's pretty sure he saw her own memory, it feels like she's intruding to be viewing his in turn. Memories were supposed to be private things, only shared at the consent of the person who remembered them. Forcing people to relieve things they may or may not want to, and putting them on display for others.

Katherine didn't know Genessia could be so cruel.

"I'm sorry," she says, feeling the need to apologize. "I didn't mean to... But I guess you didn't mean to, either."

[filchedfruit]

Joruk stares down at the star filled water.Katherine's memory is a bit confusing, but he has some idea from her feelings. She's some kind of hero, while he's closer to being a villain. The floating head seems weird to him.


"Yeah," Joruk responds."Sorry, didn't know this thing went both ways. That guy on the network must've been bullshitting about his high score."

The other possibility is that Mikoshiba is some kind of creep voyeur.

"Uh...so this Power Ranger thing is something you want kept secret?"

It should be obvious, but Joruk can be rather dense. In Genessia, having powers doesn't stand out.

[zeo]

The communicator on her wrist feels heavy, and she's at a loss for how to handle this without Zordon's guidance. She can't even ask Tommy and Billy about how they dealt with Aisha, Adam, and Rocky finding out they were Power Rangers before they became Rangers themselves, because they aren't here. People found out, but they weren't meant to. Your identity was supposed to remain a guarded secret. You, and those around you, were much safer that way.

"Please," she says, and it's almost a plea. "It's-- I'm not supposed to tell anyone. I know it may not seem like that big of a deal given the nature of this place and some of the people that are here, but where I'm from, keeping your identity secret is vital to the battle we're waging against forces looking to harm our world. Knowing is dangerous, and it's safer if people don't."

And it also allows them to live some semblance of a normal life while saving the world, given them room to return to those lives should they ever feel the need to hang up their helmets like the original Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers, and Kimberly before her.

"The forces we fight aren't present here, but there's always the possibility that they could." Anyone could show up here without warning, after all. "So if we could, I would really like to keep this between us. I promise I won't say a thing about anything I saw, either."

[filchedfruit]

"Okay," Joruk replied."I'm not gonna go blabbing about it. Don't understand enough to really say anything."

Now that Katherine is giving an explanation, Joruk is starting to see the advantage of keeping powers hidden, or preventing enemies using her loved ones against her.

"Does anyone among your enemies have mind reading powers?" Joruk asks. "Are they likely to torture the info out of me? I don't think I could hold out against that."

[zeo]

Katherine breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head. "No. Fortunately, the Machine Empire doesn't have that ability, and they're more likely to attack the masses than torture on individual."

Torture wasn't their style. They knew who the Rangers were in their civilian forms, but they seemed to leave those who didn't also know about them alone. As if they weren't worth the trouble if there wasn't anything they could do for them, no added information on the goings on of Power Rangers they could provide them with. It needed to stay that way.

"I have to say, having someone know is actually kind of freeing, in a sense. I always had the other Power Rangers to share this secret with, but here, I'm the only one."

She'd morphed on more than on occasion, but as far as anyone knew, Katherine Hillard and the Pink Ranger who two entirely different people.

"What you went through," she offered in regards to what she saw of his memories, "it must've been difficult." Katherine fought monsters on a near daily basis back home, but she couldn't imagine dealing with the sort of situation Joruk seemed to have been in.