What It would be like to date every Samurai Ranger except each one has a Taylor Swift song Part 7/7
Sooooooo... like 4-6 months late (I genuinely don't know when the last time I posted one of these was) I HAVE JAYDEN'S SEGMENT!!
- After all the excitement of defeating Master Xandred and the Nighlock, as well as returning the Sanzu water to its rightful realm, Jayden wants nothing more than to relax. Waking up in the morning with nothing on the agenda except whatever he wants to do
- Because of this, he wants to settle down. Of course, with Jayden there's always some lingering paranoia that somehow Xandred wasn't defeated, or somehow the Nighlock will return. But once those worries subside, settling down is front and center in his mind
- The love of his life, maybe some kids, living in his ancestors' home with none of the pressure he'd once felt to be something extraordinary, even superhuman.
- Raising kids without the traumatic childhood that he experienced is definitely #1 on his list (or should I say Wi$h Li$t [I'm so sorry])
- He’s not the best when it comes to courting early on in the relationship (especially before you get into said relationship) but he takes as much advice from Ji and the team as he can (Mike, somehow, is the least helpful despite being the only one in a relationship)
- Once that initial awkwardness is over with, Jayden is truly the perfect boyfriend. He brings flowers on every date, pays for everything (as he should, he’s rich) and is respectful to all your loved ones.
- He never puts pressure on you to move in with him, but he does talk about how he wants to stay in the Shiba House, the only home he’d ever known
- The day he decided he to propose, he stayed up late calling Lauren to ask for advice. She helped him pick out a ring, plan the day, and even promised she’d be there in secret to take photos (which turned out AMAZING)
- He loves you so much. More than what feels like should he humanly possible ❤️
Just got an idea for a non!Samurai reader who goes out to a party (the team is all 21+ in this btw) and gets super drunk, but doesn't have a ride because their friend ditched them for some guy and so reader calls Jayden because they don't know who else to call, and Jayden takes them back to the Shiba house, gets them water and gets them comfortable enough to sleep, and maybe there's a drunk confession snuck in there?
If this is stuck in my head all the time, I’m putting it on you all of your heads too
@samuraidraconequus and I were talking a lot about Jaytonio, and the headcanons are so ripe and delicious and they must be shared
Right off the bat, Jayden’s in that awkward middle ground of touch starved and “How does one give another physical affection?” There’s stuff he’s good with, like hugging, but beyond that, he’s a deer in headlights. Antonio, on the other hand, is a little clingy and likes being close to Jayden, like having his head on his shoulder or holding his hand. He helped Jayden warm up to the idea of sharing a bed or having his back rubbed or things that are more intimate like resting his head on Antonio’s lap and vice versa.
Following the show’s ending(-_-), Antonio and Jayden would stay in touch and call and text and write each other until meeting up for a whole day to spend time together. It was nice, and it led to them admitting they missed each other and wanted to be together more. It started small with them meeting once a month, and then it moved to once a week, and then they were spending as much time together as they could until they decided they wanted to be together for the rest of their lives
Outside of the ending, like if it was written differently, Jayden and Antonio would talk a lot about what would happen after they defeat Xandred and seal the nighlok for good. Antonio started it with a “what if” and it was like telling Jayden something he never thought could be true. The biggest questions he had were where they would go after leaving and what they would do, and Antonio said they could go anywhere and do anything. It was something Jayden loosely entertained before he ultimately packed whatever he could in his bags, which wasn’t much, and he left with Antonio. It was surreal, especially because Ji allowed him to leave without making too much of a fuss, and Jayden kept looking back because he was expecting Ji to command him to come back. He never did and, after Lauren swore to keep things under control at the Shiba house and make sure the horses were taken care of(because Jayden would be someone that takes care of animals and wants them to be safe too), Jayden left the house with Antonio, the two racing as the realization set in
Antonio will find Jayden doing things like learning how to cook a meal or making sure their house or apartment(probably a house) is clean, and also having a routine he follows because how the life he lived for so long. It took them both a little while to really get that everything was okay and they could live a normal life. Jayden had a tougher time adjusting, but he kinda got there
Antonio absolutely kept his family in the know about where he’s going and if he found Jayden and what happened after that. He told them he and Jayden are together. He showed them pictures of Jayden, like Jayden spotting Antonio while practicing writing symbols, caring for the horses or a stray they found, Jayden laughing uncontrollably, a selfie Antonio and Jayden took together, and his parents asked when they’d meet him and see him again, since the two are childhood friends. Turns out he also shared the pictures in the family group chat and the parents asked this IN THE FAMILY GROUP CHAT. Antonio and Jayden arrived at Antonio’s parents’ house, and Antonio heard chatter in the backyard and got a text from his mother took just come in through the door on the fence and his stomach dropped. His family is nice (enough), but there’s a lot of them and they can be intense because they will separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, when it comes to whoever is introduced to the family and they’re gonna have their eyes on Jayden. Jayden took this and helped Antonio settle down a bit and explain what he should do and what to expect, with the worst case scenario being that they leave and not tell his family they’re dating; they’re just best friends catching up on lost time, and they share a bed, and kiss. Regardless, Jayden was still supportive of Antonio and told him everything would be okay, the two hugging before they went in
Turns out, they actually had not that much to worry about because the family, namely Antonio’s grandmother, aunt, uncle, and younger cousin, saw them talking and Jayden having Antonio’s back, which was already a good sign, and it got better when Antonio and Jayden came in and Jayden greeted the family and introduced himself in fluent Spanish; he learned Spanish because Antonio says so many phrases in Spanish and he thought it wouldn’t hurt to learn how to speak another language. He gradually did meet everyone and reintroduce himself to Antonio’s parents, and he caught the attention of the younger cousins who NEEDED to know all about him and to know if he was really friends with Antonio and if he could play hide and seek with them. Older cousins tried flirting with him to see if he’d get distracted from Antonio and were glad to see Jayden was a loyal partner to him and discovered he’d be a good training/hiking/running buddy, aunts and uncles saw he was good with the family dog and said dog trusted him enough to find him by a quiet spot and chill with him for a second, he made sure a younger cousin needing space away from the noise of the party was safe and not too far away until she was ready to go back, he helped with making dinner and cleaning after, all things that just won the family over.
Most awkward thing to have happened (and this is something that @justonefanficwriter came up with for a post that works so well for Jayden) was he asked a cousin who dyed her hair pink if she was born with said pink hair. Antonio was too late to stop Jayden, everyone thought it was funny, and Jayden was confused, though the cousin did explain that her hair is dyed and she dyes her hair on a regular basis because she likes having a change that she can control and it’s not a permanent one either; hair grows out and you can pick the color
Long story short: The family loves Jayden and they wanna see Antonio marry him. A few family members are confused with Antonio and Jayden being two men in a relationship, but they’re supportive and wanna see the two be happy together
Jayden found out Antonio can play the guitar when it was a rainy day and he heard music outside. Sure enough, Antonio was strumming on a guitar outside on the patio. He’d learned to play after his family moved, and it was something he’d been meaning to pick back up now that he wasn’t a Samurai Rangers. He’s rusty, but he’s hang back into it. Jayden thinks he sounds great and sits beside him as Antonio plays more
Just a short one-shot based on the prompts "Don't freak out" and "Why didn't you tell me?"
Can be read as platonic OR romantic. Just be aware there might be some slight romantic undertones, but I tried to avoid them
Summary: Following a Nighlock attack, the reader finds out they've been badly hurt, and tries to hide it from the other Rangers. Jayden ends up finding out anyway, and he isn't happy about it.
Tags: Second person POV, GenderNeutral!reader (no pronouns used), hurt/comfort, fluff, descriptions of violence, Jayden gets like borderline angry but he never takes it out on anyone, reader is stubborn and blames themself for getting hurt
Words: 1,545
This fic is a bit more graphic than the show in terms of violence. Reader gets bloody and needs stitches, but I don't go into detail.
Your side hurt like hell. You’d been struck in the battle with the Nighlock. The freak had hit you right beneath your ribs after you’d swung and missed, not blocking the attack like you’d planned. You’d fallen, and though the others were quick to come to your aid and defeat the Nighlock, the wound kept aching. You’d ignored it in the Megazord, and then you’d ignored it all the way back to the Shiba house. Jayden had seen you holding your jacket close to your body and checked on you, but a slight smile and some excuse about just having a bruise from the strike was enough for him to give up on it.
As soon as he’d walked ahead, you sneaked a peek to find you’d bled through your shirt.
Shit. You’d need to get that cleaned and bandaged before you bled out. You were already feeling dizzy, you didn’t need to pass out in front of everyone and embarrass yourself a second time. You convinced yourself getting hit was good for you, to teach you to block better next time, lest you get hit again. Making mistakes was good for learning, after all.
The team was all sitting in the living room, or at least the closest thing to a living room that the Shiba house had. They tried to wave you over when they saw you walk past.
“Hey! Come join us!” Mike suggested. “We were just talking about how we defeated that Nighlock.”
You smiled tightly, not wanting to give away that anything was wrong. “Thanks guys, but I think I’m just going to go to my room for a little bit.”
They didn’t say anything and resumed their conversation, but you felt like someone was still watching you. Shaking it off as paranoia or just a side effect of the blood loss, you kept going. You walked right past your room and straight to the infirmary, where there were rolls of gauze and anti-bacterial medicines to prevent infection.
You’d be fine. They’d never even know what had happened.
You took your jacket off, checking the inside for any blood that might’ve leaked through. Sure enough, there was a spot about the size of your fist. Sighing, you bundled it up so the blood wouldn’t get on the floor before setting it down. You checked the wound briefly, trying to judge the severity with just your eyes, but your torn shirt was in the way.
You heard the creak of the door, and your blood ran cold. You looked to see who it was, only to see Jayden. His eyes met yours, concern or confusion on his face.
“Hey, I saw you walk past your room. Why are you in here?”
You purposefully kept your injured side away from him, silently hoping he wouldn’t notice you acting strange and hiding something. “Oh, nothing. Just needed, uh… a bandaid. Got a bad paper cut.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time, and you were just starting to believe him before he grabbed your arm and turned you around to face him. The movement was gentle, but it still sent a burning pain in your side. You winced, and his eyes immediately fell to the one place you were hoping he wouldn’t see.
He said your name, slowly, low, like he was holding back how he felt for your sake. You closed your eyes so you wouldn’t have to see him. As if that would fix the fact that he’d already seen.
“Don’t be freaked out,” you whispered. “It’s not as bad as it looks. I just… I need—”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He said quietly, letting you go. You opened your eyes to see him. He was already looking at you like a hurt puppy. Your heart broke.
“I made a mistake. I— I didn’t want you to think I was weak.”
He shook his head. “We all make mistakes. That doesn’t mean you hide injuries from the rest of the team.” He pointed to the nearest infirmary bed. “Sit. I’m going to help you.”
“No, no. I can do it myself,” you protested, but he just pointed toward the bed again with a stubborn expression. Giving up, and deciding sitting down would feel nicer than walking on jelly like you were, you listened.
As soon as your legs were no longer supporting you, you felt your eyes droop. The exhaustion was getting to you. A nap sounded so nice…
“Hey,” Jayden said, squeezing your hand, shocking you out of your trance. “Stay awake.”
You nodded slowly, still tired, watching as he set down the supplies next to you. Gauze, a stitch kit, and a bowl of water with a rag.
He handed you a bottle of painkillers. You read the instructions and popped two in your mouth and swallowed them down with the cup of water he handed to you. You handed the cup back with a small “Thank you.” He smiled a little, and set the cup on the bedside table.
“Can you lift your shirt?”
You did, your hands feeling like rubber when you moved them, but you got it lifted just enough to expose the open wound. It looked worse than you’d thought it would, but, to your suprise, Jayden didn’t even flinch at the sight.
“It hurts,” you whispered, having given up on trying to hide it.
He bit the inside of his cheek as he grabbed the wet rag. “I know. It’ll be better soon. Lay back, so I can see how bad it really is.”
You listened, forcing yourself to stay awake even though you wanted nothing more than to sleep and be rid of the pain for a while. Gently, Jayden began wiping off the blood around the edge of the wound, trying to gauge how bad it was, and whether you’d need stitches or not.
“Looks like it’s a clean cut, at least,” Jayden spoke as he cleaned out the cut with water. “A lot of the time, Nighlock attacks are more ragged, harder to heal.”
You nodded. You’d never seen those kinds of wounds up close, but you’d heard the stories before. Evil creatures, they were. You wanted nothing more than to see them gone.
You watched as the once clear water turned more and more red with each rinse in the bowl, and suddenly felt glad you had someone else helping you. Just because you could’ve done it yourself didn’t mean you would’ve enjoyed it.
Jayden spoke quietly, still focused on the task at hand. “You can rest now, if you want. I’ll try to be gentle with your stitches, but no matter what they’re going to be uncomfortable.”
Even though you knew you should, if only to avoid some of the pain, you just stared at the ceiling. Even though you were exhausted, you felt like you wouldn’t be able to actually sleep until he was done. Maybe it was nerves.
You hardly felt the stitches at first, only the slight pulling of skin when they were tied together. It was far from pleasant, but the pain was no worse than when you’d been sliced open by the Nighlock.
When Jayden was about half done, you finally spoke up. “Thank you. You didn’t have to help me, but I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Part of being a samurai is asking for help when you need it. Ji taught me that. It was a hard lesson for me to learn.”
You hummed. It was hard for you too. But having Jayden help you with it made it easier. Knowing someone else struggled with asking for help once made you feel less lonely. Somewhere deep within you, you knew that your fellow Rangers, your team and your friends, would help you anytime, anywhere.
“Are you going to tell the team? About… this, I mean.”
Jayden was quiet for a minute. You felt the prick of the stitches going through your skin. “Not unless you ask me to,” he finally answered, “But you know they’ll be curious about what’s going on with you, right?”
Yeah, you did know. They were all caring, even when they didn’t always want to show it, like Mike. You felt silly for not wanting to tell them now.
Jayden stood up, having completed the final stitch in your side. “I’m going to go tell Ji, so you can sit out of practice for a while. At least until your wound closes up.”
You nodded, not looking at him at first. Only when he turned away from you to put the supplies away and clean the bowl now filled with bloody water. You watched as he left in silence, feeling peaceful now. The meds must’ve started working. You’d have to tell the team what happened eventually, but at least that was up to you. Jayden said he wouldn’t tell them, which allowed you to wait until you were ready.
Realistically, it was better to do it sooner rather than later, but you could take a nap first. A nap would be good for you. You could tell them when you woke up. You closed your eyes in the darkened room, the lights having been turned off when Jayden left, and let yourself fall into a steady sleep.
Tags/Warnings: Violence, use of language, eventual talk of self harm/suicide (warning in the chapter(s) where it’s mentioned), no use of Y/N, enemies to lovers, dual person POV (alternates between second and third), mostly reader’s POV though, NOT BETA READ
Word Count: 2,014 words
Reader’s POV
Going to see him had been a mistake. When he’d first reacted to you, he’d seemed ready to fight. You were never going to fight back, of course— you had to expose him to his team. They had to know about his lies before he died— but it was still exciting.
That was, until he’d gotten scared at the prospect of hurting you as soon as you’d placed yourself in harm's way. You were never planning on killing yourself, but you saw in his eyes, and in the way his jaw clenched, that he thought you would. You saw his hands shaking, and not from the pain, or even the effort of holding a sword so delicately against bare skin so as not to slice it.
The thing was, you weren’t stupid. You could smell the blood from his torn stitches. That was the wakeup call you’d needed— learning he wasn’t being himself, and his mind was hazy from recovery, and that’s why he’d seemed so caring. That was the reason he didn’t want to kill you, didn’t even try.
Next time he saw you, he’d come to destroy you just like every other Nighlock he and his team faced. You were prepared to battle all 5 of them, if you needed to, but you planned on letting another Nighlock do most of that work for you. Xandred’s idiots were so eager to please him, they tried to destroy the Rangers to earn his favor, regardless of how weak they were.
Your only job was to stand by and watch it all unfold. How exciting.
You could be patient. You’d gone decades without a mission, and now that you’d found one, you felt alive. Living wasn’t the same as merely existing, as life could be ended at any moment, whereas existence went beyond a person’s lifespan. Humans lived for existence.
You hadn’t lived since that night. Your existence was as a storybook character, a villain, never the rageful child doing what she had to. You knew the truth, but none of them did. None of them could even claim such a thing.
You hadn’t felt pure rage in such a long time, but you did when the Red Ranger claimed he knew you. He didn’t. He knew your character, in that forsaken book. You wanted nothing more than to storm into that house of his and burn it right in front of him— in front of all of them. You couldn’t, of course. It was surrounded by power symbols, and you’d lost your Ranger powers the night you’d given up half of your humanity.
No Nighlock could enter, and you thought that included you.
You watched the moon’s light fade as the sun began to rise. The orange and pink was beautiful. Earth could be so wonderful sometimes, in those moments of color. Even the night sky, dark and seemingly empty, was more alive than people noticed. To anyone who paid attention, the nighttime was when the world came alive. While the humans slept, the animals rose, prowled, and existed without any interference. The moon watched over them all, as did the stars, twinkling above, cheeky.
You wished you knew why, out of everything from your human days, you kept your love for the nighttime. The darkness, the home of the moon and stars, felt as familiar as if… as if they were your family.
Your fists clenched at the word. You hated that word. You had no family, not anymore. You didn’t ever want one again. Families were just elaborate prisons, judgmental and harmful. They forced a person to be perfect, or to be someone they weren’t, just to fit in. They picked their favorites and neglected all others who shared their kin.
Blood held families together, and that’s why you’d spilled as much of it as possible.
The only true way to describe what you’d done was a slaughter. With your humanity gone, you’d only felt rage, pain, and a sharp need for revenge. You killed them all with your spin sword— only, it wasn’t a spin sword, after you’d changed, but something much, much stronger— and made sure they felt every bit of your pain as you tore into them.
That night was the last you’d cried. When they’d stolen your honor, your rightful position, and bestowed it upon your brother. When the time came, when their chosen Ranger faced his first ever Nighlock, he froze. He didn’t recognize you, not when you screamed his name like a curse as you brought your sword down, not when you sliced his face open so you never had to look at him again. His eyes still haunted you, but not because you regretted killing him. They haunted you because they reminded you of everything you’d been promised your entire life, only to never receive it when your time came.
Perhaps that was the real reason you’d teamed up with the Nighlock. Not for the inhuman strength and stamina, not so you’d never feel remorse for what you did, but because when they made promises, they kept them. And so did you.
You’d sworn to eradicate the line of any potential sixth Rangers, so there would never again be a full team of six. With the Rangers down a member, the Nighlock would be able to destroy the Rangers much easier. They hoped it would make Xandred’s conquest easier. You didn’t care either way. You would be eternal either way, be it in the flooded Earth or the unflooded.
You hadn’t seen that fucker who had changed you since that night, but you remembered what he told you. You’d be unstoppable: stronger than any living being, stronger still than any Ranger who might try to oppose you, and by retaining your half-human side, you could blend in with the people of Earth or with the Nighlock. Little did he know you didn’t belong with either.
Ever since your transformation, rage was your cardinal emotion. The humans would call it anger issues, the way you could switch up so incredibly fast, but it wasn’t that. Nighlock emotions were different, they were heightened. Any “negative” feelings were increased tenfold. Problem is, within your Ranger training, you’d known there was no such thing. Your rage was your own, not amplified, not changed. And still it was powerful enough to bring the world to its knees, should you wish.
That didn’t mean it didn’t rule your life. Every Nighlock had their cardinal feeling: rage, hunger, fear, greed, pride… There were endless options, even some surprising ones like joy.
If you had a secondary cardinal feeling, you figured yours would be longing. You longed to feel the moon like you did back then. She’d never left your life— she was eternal in a way even Nighlock were not. She existed before even humanity, and she’d exist long after them too. She was like the other elements in that way. Fire, water, wind, earth, and forest. The things that ruled over Earth. The Ranger’s elements, minus yours. The moon ruled over the Earth too, people just didn’t always notice. They were related, once upon a time, but ever since you’d cut her off from the other five, she’d been alone.
Perhaps it was the destiny of the sixth Ranger to forever be underestimated, maybe even it was meant to be forgotten. The rabbit zord was never found. You’d searched for your morpher and your zord after you’d killed them all, but they were gone. You’d looked for days, until their bodies were rotting, and you felt so full of rage you couldn’t stand being around them any longer. You covered their bodies in gasoline and let it all burn.
Everyone called it a tragedy. You knew it was necessary.
Even years later, you drew pictures of your zord in the dirt with your sword. You missed your little rabbit, how she’d hop on you when you were exhausting yourself from too much training and forced you to take breaks. You still practiced power symbols you couldn’t use, telling yourself it was just to work against your boredom. You sketched what your helmet was supposed to look like, your morphing symbol, everything. You remembered every single part of your samurai training, a curse.
You were unable to forget that part of your life, and yet you knew it was truly gone. Stupidly, stubbornly, you still looked for your zord sometimes. The wild rabbits of the forest reminded you too much of her to forget, and every once in a while, you swore you could hear her little squeaks, but they were as quick to disappear as they were to appear, and you chalked them up to hallucinations or wishful thinking.
Existence as a Nighlock was lonely, and even still, as you watched the colors of the sunset fade as morning awoke, you convinced yourself it was better than living as a human. Humanity meant loss, failure, and disappointment.
You leapt off the branch you’d been sitting on, hitting the ground with unnatural grace. You prepared yourself for something you knew you wouldn’t enjoy: a trip to the Netherworld. You figured Xandred should know you were going to kill the Red Ranger. He’d be happy, you knew, but telling him would avoid the ugliness of his temper if you did it without his knowledge. He was so picky about things, but you weren’t stupid enough to seek to anger him.
You hated going to his world. The Sanzu river water didn’t feel good on your skin like it did for the others, it just felt like despair. And the other Nighlock— god, those beasts. Annoying, smelly, and stupid were just a few ways to describe them. None of the other ones were as pleasant.
You sighed as you slipped into a crack in the forest floor.
The Moogers stared at you, “whispering” at the stranger in their midst. You ignored them, teleporting straight to Xandred’s boat.
Octaroo startled when he saw you, almost dropping the book he was reading. “Ooh ah ooh!” He exclaimed. You ignored him, too, looking around the boat for the leader of the Netherworld, but finding him nowhere. His Mooger assistants, the ones who fed him his medicine, were gone as well. Only Octaroo and Dayu, who was playing her harmonium as always, were present.
“Where’s Master Xandred?” You asked.
“Ooh ah ooh,” Octaroo hissed at you. “Nice to see you, too.”
You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm. “You know it’s never nice to see you, Octaroo.”
Dayu laughed sharply, just once. You smirked at getting a reaction out of her. Octaroo grumbled at being made fun of so cruelly.
“The Master is busy. Why do you need him?”
“Just need to pass along a message. Can I trust you to do that, or do I need to get one of the Moogers to do it?”
You’d forgotten how fun it was to tease Octaroo. You’d never ask a Mooger to pass along a message to Master Xandred, those things were stupider than rocks. Besides, you knew you could trust Dayu to do it, even if Octaroo didn’t.
“Fine. What did you want to say?”
“Tell him I’m going after the Red Ranger.”
Dayu stopped playing her instrument suddenly, ending on a sour chord, and Octaroo startled at your words.
“Ooh ah ooh! You haven’t gone after the Rangers since you turned! Any particular reason you’re after this specific Ranger?”
You shrugged. “Got on my nerves, got bored. Whatever. Does it matter? With him gone, you’ll be able to flood Earth. Isn’t that what you want?”
Octaroo seemed unsure with your answer, but he agreed nonetheless. You left, not wanting to spend a second longer in that hellhole. You heard Dayu and Octaroo talking about you as you left, but you didn’t bother listening. Nothing those two— mostly Octaroo, actually— said was ever important to you.
You realized after you’d left that you should’ve asked when the next Nighlock was coming to stir up trouble, but you didn’t care enough to go back, so you decided you’d just wait.
Super short oneshot about Lauren teaching reader how to do winged eyeliner
Lauren Shiba x Reader
Ever since she’d joined the team, you’d found yourself intrigued with your new Red Ranger’s eyeliner. She had a unique style as it was, wearing mostly layered black and red shades. She’d explained the style was referred to as “alternative” but that didn’t mean a lot to you.
Every single day, she’d have sharp, black, winged eyeliner. You were half convinced she slept in it, for it to stay so consistent, until you saw her looking in the kitchen for a midnight snack. It was jarring to see her in cute pajamas and no makeup, but it helped you see that she was still just human underneath the mask she wore.
She blushed when you caught her snacking, and made you promise not to tell the rest of the team, or else they’ll think bad about their new leader. You giggled at how much she cared about their opinions, and promised, even though you weren’t planning on telling anyone anyway.
You never would’ve even considered asking her if it hadn’t been for that interaction. She wasn’t scary, per se, but it was refreshing to see her as someone “normal” under the surface. It made her significantly more approachable. Hence your plan.
The next day, you gathered all your courage and decided to be bold. You knocked on her door, coming in when she answered, and spat out the words before your bravery rushed away from you.
“Teach me how you do your eyeliner.”
She blinked once, clearly surprised. You snuck in a “please” so you didn’t come off as rude. She smiled after about three terrifying seconds of worrying you’d offended her somehow, and the relief that washed over you felt like cold water over a burn.
She waved you into her bathroom like it was nothing. You stood there slightly awkwardly as she showed you her products— who knew there were so many types of eyeliner?— and their differences. She offered one to you, even, saying she hadn’t used it and could always buy another one if she wanted.
She walked you through it like a pro. You, on the other hand, were far from it. Where her lines were crisp and clean, yours were jagged. It was like the Mona Lisa next to a toddler’s coloring page.
Lauren laughed when you said that to her.
Nevertheless, Lauren was an excellent teacher. Her winged eyeliner was flawless as ever, but she’d instructed you well enough that you had… something! She giggled, but reassured you it had taken her a long time to get her makeup as perfect as it was.
“Practice is all you need,” she reassured.
You rocked your new look like a mirror of Lauren, and never once did she make you feel lesser for it. In fact, having a role model of sorts felt uplifting. You felt free in a way you’d never felt before. You finally understood why Lauren dressed the way she did.
Tags/Warnings: Violence, use of language, eventual talk of self harm/suicide (warning in the chapter(s) where it’s mentioned), no use of Y/N, enemies to lovers, dual person POV (alternates between second and third), mostly reader’s POV though, NOT BETA READ
Word count: 1,870 words
Jayden’s POV
He woke up in the infirmary, surrounded by the rest of his team. At first, all he remembered was the pain. The ache in his ribs, his bruised knees, the pounding headache as he fought to stay standing even when he was weakened. But, slowly, the memory of her started to come back.
He stared up at the ceiling, body aching and mind reeling. She’d come to save him. What kind of Nighlock would do that? Maybe she was more human than the folktales had depicted. And her blade— it was like a mutated Samurai sword, one that couldn’t use disks. He’d known it was her all along, but that was the proof he needed.
Late that night, long after the rest of the team had fallen asleep and Ji had retired to his own bedroom, Jayden forced himself out of bed. It hurt to move, but he pushed past it. His only concern was being quiet, and getting that book. He had to read it again. It didn’t matter how well he knew the story. He was convinced he’d find something. Something he’d never noticed before, or a detail that could help him find her again.
After he’d grabbed the book off the shelf, he nearly collapsed on the chair in the living room. He flipped right to the first page, knowing exactly where it was despite being in the middle of the book of different tales over the years. He read it like it could save him, over and over again until his brain started to feel foggy. Frustrated, he threw the book onto the table.
Standing took effort, especially since he was getting tired, but he fought that just like he fought everything else in his life. He went out the front doors silently, closing them behind him so they wouldn’t slam like they usually did, and then did the same with the front gates.
He knew he was taking a massive risk by leaving the protection of the Shiba House. The ancient protective symbols surrounding it were able to keep any Nighlock at bay, but unfortunately that was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t look back at his home as he ventured into the forest, only the light of the half moon guiding him.
“Hey!” He shouted up at the sky. Out here, away from the city, the stars shone brightly, and the only things blocking them from view were the trees above him. “Wherever you are, show yourself! I know you’re out here somewhere.”
It was silent, not even a gust of wind to shake the leaves in the trees. It was so quiet, in fact, he could hear his own breathing, but it wasn’t loud, just heavy. He was close to yelling for her again, not giving up yet, before—
“You’re quite foolish, you know,” a voice came from behind him.
He turned to face her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a laugh sounded from the other side of the forest. He froze, not falling for her trick a second time. This time, when he spun around, his spin sword was outstretched.
The Nighlock Ranger stood before him like a dark goddess, unbothered by the sword pointed at her throat. The hood of her familiar cloak was down, but her face was still obscured, this time by a black veil. Even still, he felt her smile.
“Now, now,” she taunted. “Is this any way to greet a friend?”
His eyes darkened. “We aren’t friends.”
She stepped forward with her throat exposed, the blade resting dangerously against her trachea. He glanced at the point of his sword, so close to killing her, and tried to hide the panic growing inside him. He began to shake at the idea— he didn’t want to kill an innocent, much less a Ranger.
She tilted her head, and Jayden almost flinched at how the blade nearly cut her. “Scared?” she whispered, something sickly twisted in her voice. She was enjoying watching his turmoil.
“Stop,” he said through gritted teeth. “Step back. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She laughed again, then pushed the sword aside with the back of her hand, unharmed. “You really are foolish. Don’t you know I’m Nighlock, same as the creatures you Rangers swore to destroy?”
He lowered his sword. “You’re not just Nighlock. You were a descendant of one of the original six families. I know you.”
She went quiet at that. Then, a low, angry, snarl. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Are you sure about that?” Jayden responded. “I’ve read your story.”
She turned away from him. “That story isn’t real. It’s all fabricated lies to hide what really happened.”
He stepped closer, wincing at the pain in his side from the movement. He must’ve torn one of his stitches when he’d turned his sword on her. “Then correct me. Tell me what’s wrong about what I’m saying. You made a deal with the Nighlock. They tricked you, and forced you to kill your entire family, ending your bloodline and getting rid of the sixth Ranger.”
She disappeared and then reappeared right in front of him before he could even blink. He stood firm, not flinching even when she laid a cold hand on his chest, nails—or, claws, more like— dug into his shirt, tearing it where she touched it. “They never tricked me. They offered me something humanity never could, and in return I thanked them by eradicating all traces of the sixth Ranger family. Now, they’re all just a folktale, and I’m a monster in a story designed to teach young children that all Nighlocks are evil and must be destroyed.”
She stared up at him, watching his expression. He didn’t believe her. He didn’t believe that she’d willingly murder her entire bloodline just for something the Nighlock gave her and not regret it. Not even the worst of humans were that evil, and he knew she wasn’t nearly as bad as she claimed to be. “What could the Nighlock offer you that being a Ranger couldn’t?”
She stepped back. Jayden was prepared for her to run, his grip tightening on his spin sword, but she never bolted. Instead, she raised her veil with one hand.
He gaped at what he saw underneath. He’d seen all sorts of Nighlock, in varying types of ugly. None were ever pleasant to lay eyes upon, as they were designed to scare humans and raise the river in their Netherworld. But… she…
“Why aren’t you angry, or… or scared?” She whispered, hands trembling as she tenderly touched one half of her face with a gloved hand. “Why do you still look at me like that? With pity. I told you I killed everyone close to me, willingly, and yet you haven’t turned against me.” She tore her hand away from her, yelling at him in frustration. “You’re a Ranger. You are supposed to hate me, hate my kind, and yet you look at me like we’re equals. Why?!”
Jayden was quiet when he answered. He sounded softer than he intended. “Because I don’t believe you’re bad. I don’t believe you’re truly Nighlock.”
Her gaze hardened. “You’re supposed to be resting. You could’ve died— you would’ve died, if it weren’t for me.” She scoffed. “Of course, how stupid of me. You aren’t thinking straight. Stupid humans and your recoveries.” She turned away, starting to blend into the shadows
“No, wait!”
She leaped into the trees, hardly sparing him a glance. “Next time I see you, Red Ranger, I won’t be soft. I expect you to be at your best, ready and eager for a fight.”
He ran after her, but she disappeared within the shadows of the forest. Even the moon hid behind a thick cloud, drenching everything in darkness. In the shadows, the void, he felt… solitary.
For the first time since… he couldn’t even remember, Jayden felt truly alone. He’d gotten used to the full feeling in his heart from being around her, that when she was gone, it hurt. Even though he’d felt it before, it returned so much worse. He felt like a starving animal having food waved around in front of it, being teased as the hunger in its belly swelled at the promise of food right before it was ripped away.
He had hoped to learn more about her, even convince her to rejoin the Rangers, but when the moment came, he froze. He’d made the mistake of assuming her story, straying from what the book said, all because he’d believed she was better than how she was depicted. Her story matched the one in the book, in that she wasn’t tricked by the Nighlock, but willingly joined them in return for powers that could help her slaughter her bloodline in revenge.
Revenge, Jayden thought. That part of the story had slipped his mind. The story placed so much emphasis on her turning from the good side to the bad, but never why. She had a reason, Jayden knew that. Nobody, no matter how evil, joined the Nighlock without a reason, especially not in an exchange like hers.
She wanted a fight next time they met, but Jayden had a better idea. He was going to learn her motives, so he could find a way to undo them. He had no idea if it was even possible to turn someone back into a human after becoming Nighlock, but he was going to dedicate every single minute of free time searching for a way until he saw her again.
He was going to get his sixth Ranger back, he didn’t care what Ji would say, or the rest of the team for that matter. They wouldn’t understand how he felt when she wasn’t around. They’d think he was living in a fantasy, obsessed with his favorite childhood tale, but it was so much more than that. His feelings— how he felt complete with her— wasn’t something from his imagination, he knew that.
He wanted to know if every Red Ranger before him had felt the same way, but the records of his ancestors were extremely limited after the first few generations. By the time of the eradication of the sixth Ranger family, there was almost no writing by the Shiba family. He’d read through them before, he knew none described how he was feeling, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Jayden himself had been skeptical too, and until he met her he’d been so used to the feeling he didn’t know it was anything abnormal.
That’s how he knew he had to get her back.
He looked down at his shirt. She’d torn through the fabric, yes, but also the first layer of his skin where her claws had touched him. He’d never felt it, and it could hardly be considered a wound, without blood or pain, but it was proof that she was real. That he wasn’t crazy, or dreaming, or feverish. She was real, and she’d all but confirmed that she was a descendant of the original sixth Ranger, making her the next in line.
He was going to find a way to erase her Nighlock side, and she’d join him. She had to.
Just a little moodboard I was cooking up while I was sick god knows how long ago. Finally decided to post it
I imagine Jayden's mental state is super messed up. Throughout the entirety of the show, we see how keep Lauren a secret weighs on him. I drew some inspo from the episode where the Nighlock was spying on him, hence the eyes. The eyes could also double as him feeling the watchful eyes of his team on top of everything else he's got going on (it's a lot, clearly)
A lot of these photos are pulled from how I see imposter syndrome, which I wholeheartedly believe Jayden struggles with. How could he not? And there's a lot of hand imagery, most notably the one in the bottom right corner. He's so determined to save everyone that he forgets about himself in the process. Some would call it reckless, others call it brave
Tags/Warnings: Violence, use of language, eventual talk of self harm/suicide (warning in the chapter(s) where it’s mentioned), no use of Y/N, enemies to lovers, dual person POV (alternates between second and third), mostly reader’s POV though, NOT BETA READ
Word Count: 1,549 words
Reader’s POV
You knew who he was from the moment you saw him. The Red Ranger, their leader, was a liar, a fraud, and a mistake. He fought well, and he’d clearly been trained well. Perhaps he had the natural skills of a Ranger, maybe he was stronger than his sister before him.
That didn’t matter. None of that mattered. He wasn’t supposed to be the one leading the team. He was meant to be the backup, if anything. Should the actual Red Ranger fail, he’d be her replacement. But you knew she was very much alive and well, and he had unrightfully taken her place.
You hadn’t gone into the battle to save him. You knew that’s what he thought, but he was wrong. You wanted him dead, perhaps more than even Master Xandred. That’s something your “boss” didn’t understand. He was a tyrant, wanting to rule over everything he could touch, but you… you were vengeful. You didn’t want to kill all the Rangers— most of them had done nothing wrong. You were supposed to be one of them, once upon a time. You knew the pressure of carrying the sword, and the weight on their shoulders to succeed because it was once your own.
However… the Nighlock in you, the side you’d grown accustomed to but not comfortable with, ached for bloodshed. That voice in your ear, reminding you about who had wronged you, how you must get revenge on those who took what wasn’t theirs, had been constant for so long. You’d finally found him one day, battling against the Nighlock with the other Rangers like he was meant to be with them, but you knew the truth.
You’d expose him, you decided, before killing him. The other Rangers— the ones who were so foolish as to sacrifice themselves for a fraud should know the truth before he passed. You had no trust that anyone else would tell them, so that responsibility fell to you.
Hence why you couldn’t kill him now. The entire team of Rangers was down, not to awake for at least a while. If they woke up to him dead, they’d only feel despair. Sure, their tears would help flood the Sanzu River, but that wasn’t your responsibilty. You felt no ties to Master Xandred in that way. He let you wander as you pleased, be it in the Netherworld or on Earth, so long as you didn’t interfere with his plans.
Your deal with him all those years ago had been simple. You’d been smart not to sell your soul, just part of your body. Your Nighlock side was a blessing and a curse, but you welcomed it in times like these. It truly did help you kill.
You looked at the Red Ranger on the ground. He wasn’t weak. As much as you hated that, you respected him for it. He wasn’t the real Red Ranger, but he played the role well. You thought back to your own family, how they’d never seemed interested in your practices, and how much time you’d put into trying to become the best Ranger you could. You didn’t remember everything about those days. In fact, you tried to forget most of it. The rest faded as the years went past. Another upside of being half-Nighlock, you supposed. You’d remained 19 since the night you’d asked the Nighlock to change you. You’d never age again, you’d only die if and when you were defeated.
You’d thought about it before. Turning your own sword against yourself. You never did, but you couldn’t explain why. You told yourself it was for situaitons like these, where someone took the place they should’ve never been given, so you could correct it, but that wasn’t the full truth. All you’d wanted back then was to get revenge on your family, and so you did. You hadn’t thought through what would come after. Life was boring when you had no one to share it with, but you hated everyone after what they’d done to you. Humanity could be as evil as the Nighlock. You wished the Rangers could see that.
After a long time of standing before them, you felt one of them, the blue one, begin to wake. You teleported away, not wanting to be seen by the other Rangers quite yet. If Red was smart, he’d keep your existence a secret.
None of the other Rangers knew you existed— you knew your story had been turned into a tragic folktale about a girl who got too ambitious, turned into a Nighlock, and murdered her entire family. That was all you wanted to be to them, for now. If that Red Ranger told them that he saw you, they’d think he was going crazy.
Your sword upon your back ached to slice through him, the Red Ranger, but you were patient. Your Nighlock side could wait just a bit longer, and then you’d make sure the Rangers knew the truth about their oh-so-glorious leader.
Nighlocks didn’t dream like humans did. Sometimes you missed it— being able to sleep. Other times, you felt grateful you didn’t need to rest or recharge. You didn’t get tired, you didn’t get hungry. You’d gotten a good deal when you’d been turned. You could still eat, but you never had to. Over the years you did sometimes, just to feel human again. It was never as good as you thought it would be, with no drive forcing you to consume.
You’d become well acquainted with the moon over the years. You appreciated how she could change her appearance without ever changing her form. You appreciated how she listened and never judged when you whispered to her in the forests at night. She was there for you almost every night, the only constant in your life.
Loneliness was the hardest part about your identity. You didn’t fit in with the humans— they were too selfish, judgmental, and mean. You looked like one of them, but it was like they could all feel the darker side of you when you approached. The Nighlock were no better. They hated you as much as you hated them. All they saw when they looked at you was a Ranger, something they were told to destroy by their master.
You’d proven yourself a dangerous enemy to the Nighlock, and they’d stopped trying to attack you ages ago, but they’d never accept you. You’d grown to learn that wasn’t a bad thing. You were better than them, just as you were better than the humans. You’d taken the best traits of each side and equipped them onto yourself, and in an odd way, you’d learned to love the new you.
You didn’t miss being a Ranger, not after those first few months. They were a learning curve, but you’d always loved learning. You didn’t miss your family. That started before they’d ever died. They were dead to you the minute they shoved you off to the side, neglecting all of your accomplishments just because you were a daughter. They’d wanted their firstborn to be a son, and you weren’t that.
You’d always known they’d favored your brother. A year and a half younger— they hadn’t wasted time in trying for another child, one that wasn’t, well, you— and everything you weren’t. Where you were compassionate, he was cruel. Where you were diligent, he was lazy. You were the perfect warrior, he was never able to fight.
But he was a “man”, and thus they loved him as your superior.
When the call came, they’d ripped your zord from your hands, ignoring your screams and your cries to give it back. Your mother had slapped you. You still remembered the sting. They called you spoiled, ungrateful, a thief. The powers that you’d perfected, the training you’d been doing, was all for nothing. They didn’t believe a girl could ever be a Ranger.
You never found your zord again, but you missed her dearly.
Sometimes, you cried. You cried for your only friend, now gone, perhaps forever. You cried for being unloved, uncared for. You cried for being cursed to be born a daughter, rather than a son. The moon watched over you then, too. You were never judged by her, only watched over. She’d seen you at your best and she’d seen you at your worst, and still she stayed. That was more than you could ever ask for.
You told her about what you’d seen, and how the Red Ranger was going to die at your hands, so that the true Red Ranger could rise. You told her how you’d seen blurs of her, the Red Ranger who got replaced. You didn’t know her name, nor her face, but you knew her. You understood exactly how it felt to be pushed aside and neglected. She’d had her rightful role stolen from her, and it had been given to the secondborn— the son.
You’d save her from the pain. You’d expose him as a fraud to the team, have them turn against him for stealing his sister’s destiny, and show them his true self. His sister would resume the role of the Red Ranger as she was always intended to, and order would be restored.
What It would be like to date every Samurai Ranger except each one has a Taylor Swift song Part 6/7
It was SO HARD to pick a song for Mia. I settled on this and I’m hoping that Folklore being a relatively angsty album doesn’t bleed into this post…
- You were friends from before she became the Pink Ranger. You worked in the daycare together.
- She told you when she started volunteering there that she’d have to leave suddenly one day, and without warning. You loved having her around so much that you decided it wouldn’t be a big deal when she had to leave
- After she vanished, just like she’d told you, she never seemed to look back. You weren’t surprised, but you were still sad that the beautiful, kind girl you’d grown close with just vanished without a trace.
- Her phone had been deactivated, and she hadn’t left any way of contacting anyone from her family, not even for emergencies. You didn’t even know her last name.
- Three years went by, and you were still at the same daycare. Life had gotten hectic, with terrifying monsters appearing in the city occasionally. You had to develop new drills to keep the children safe when the monsters were causing a ruckus
- Never once had the children come into harm. You made sure of it. So had the mysterious Power Rangers who defeated them. They kept the monsters away from your part of the island, and for that you were grateful
- After Earth had flooded with the red, fiery liquid, you thought it was the end of the world. You stayed locked in the daycare with the children. The parents trusted you to keep the kids safe, and you did. They didn’t understand what was happening, but you did. The hardest part was hiding your own panic so they remained calm
- When the “water” (if it could even be called that) vanished, life slowly returned to normal. You still thought about Mia, the mystery girl. You hoped she was safe, wherever she was. You desperately hoped she wasn’t one of the unfortunate victims who couldn’t escape the liquid
- She showed up on a Wednesday. You heard a car door close, and assumed it was one of the kids’ parents coming to pick them up early. You helped a little boy retie his shoe, not looking up
- You only looked to see who it was when you heard the children get quiet. Quiet children weren’t a good thing, usually. They got quiet when they were curious, sure, but also when they were getting into trouble
- “Hello, how can I—” You froze when you saw her. She looked different. Her hair was shorter, and her eyes looked more mature. Whatever she’d gone through had definitely changed her, but you knew it was still her. Same straight, black hair, same kind eyes
— “Mia,” you breathed. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back.”
- She seemed relieved you recognized her. She looked happy in a way you hadn’t seen from her before. “I wanted to see you again, to apologize. I know I left suddenly, but I swear it was for a good reason.”
- You smiled, soft. She was still the same girl she was when she’d left— kind and compassionate. You didn’t realize how much you missed her until you saw her again. You felt your heartstrings being pulled at the sight of her and the sound of her voice
- “I’m just glad you came back.” The confession was soft and fragile.
- “I always felt a pull to come back to this place, even while I was gone. I wanted to go to culinary school, but…” she looked sheepish. “I had to come here first.”
- You smiled. “An invisible string brought you back to me, huh?”
- He’s super curious about the process. Since he’s sheltered thanks to Ji, he didn’t even know there was such a thing as changing one’s hair color, much less making it colorful
- The first time he saw your colored hair, he thought it was natural and some people just had colored hair, as normal as blonde or brunette hair
- He only asked about it when it started to grow out and your roots started to show. That’s how he first learned it wasn’t natural
- He asked how you changed it, and was confused but elated when you offered to let him help you redye it
- Now you both stood in his room’s bathroom. He had gloves on both hands, and stood further than what was probably necessary as if the dye was dangerous
- You explained everything to him calmly, and he nodded with wide eyes
- You took a strip of hair and applied a gloop of dye to it like you’d done dozens of times before, getting every part of your hair
- After watching you do it to yourself without any hesitation or problems, Jayden began to calm down a little bit more
- You walked him through the process. He was nervous, still, but a great listener. He did great, and when you told him such his confidence skyrocketed
- He helped you finish your hair, and while you waited for the dye to set, he checked everywhere in his bathroom for any remnants of dye so they wouldn’t stain
- You sat in his room with him for the time it took for the dye to do its job. He let you sit on his bed with only mild concerns about staining his bedsheets on accident, somehow
- He didn’t rush you when you washed all the dye off, but he was anxious to see the results
- He was almost as surprised as the first time he saw you with colors in your hair
- He took note of how the dye stained your ears and your fingers, but didn’t worry about it once you told him it would go away within a few days
