Title: Memories like Water
Genre: Romance
Summary: [PRS] - In the simplest of terms, the lives of Dalia and Deker before and during the events of the series.
Author: Sakura123 (weber_dubois22)
Rating: T
Relationship: Deker/Dalia (Dayu)
Characters: Deker, Dalia, Xandred, Octoroo, Serrator
Chapters: 100
Written: 10/30/2011
Disclaimer (circa 2011): Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/Power Rangers Samurai is property of Toei LTD and Saban Brands. I own nothing except the story that you see before you. Honestly, if I owned "Power Rangers", Samurai wouldn't be a soulless translation of a fantastic Sentai season. That and there would be DVD sets galore.
Author's Note: The Dayu (Dalia)/Deker storyline is silver lining in the void that is Samurai, so much so that I'm watching just to see how it turns out because it's the only spark of originality in the season as a result of cultural differences on what is allowed in children's television. The problem? The characters are implied to be "centuries" old, immortalized by their Nighlok curses. Samurai disregards the periodical timeline set in Shinkenger (both Dayuu and Juzo, Deker and Dalia's counterparts, are from the Edo Period of Japan, maybe the Edo/Tokugawa era) by having the two appear in Dayu's dream world in 20th century clothing living in a house that looks equally as modern. This contradicts how their depicted (Japanese) in the painting via "Tengen Gate" (which apparently is in walking distance and in New Zealand now). The ethnicity problem (a White Samurai and his wife born and raised in ancient Japan, really?) makes me think Samurai's timeline needs to be set during the late Edo Period, circa 1700s, bordering on the Meijii Restoration and the Empire of Japan during the 1800s. At least then there'd be an excuse for European presence, just not the Samurai part. In most cases, it's something I could brush off, but for a season that is completely dependent on the storyline from Shinkenger (which is predominantly rooted in Japanese culture) it's a glaring problem I find myself unable to work around because it literally incites questions and requires that I make something up.
Trying to find a decent Deker or Dayu fic in which their names spelled correctly and doesn't read like it's been written by a fourteen year old who rushes through everything without consideration of their personalities/character (what little that is provided to them), is neigh impossible. I found at least ONE and suffered through the rest of the terribleness, often saddled bad ideas and worse writing. So I wrote a bunch of drabbles to satisfy the backstory nut in me and put something out there that was above mediocre/average. Most of this is comprised of my headcanon as I couldn't stand the historical inaccuracies in Samurai surrounding the two. Did some research on feudal Japan and America during the 1600s-1800s (if one is going off the assumption that Shinkenger's events start canonically in 2009, then Doukoku would've been banished about 1809 or not), but knowing my luck there are probably inaccuracies regardless.
The primary intention of this fanfiction is for the "fanfic100" challenge at livejournal probably one of the most well-known fanfiction livejournal for its proposition alone. The objective is to use the four seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall) and separate the 100 prompts into 30/20 among them to create a series of stories of any length across 100 chapters. A prompt will be afforded to both Dalia/Dayu and Deker for a change up in different perspectives on certain events within this season. That aside, enjoy the story. Let me know what you think of it through constructive criticisms, it would be much appreciated.
Title: Bunraku Dance
Prompt: "Beginnings"
Season: Winter
Timeline: Pre-Series
In the isolation of wandering ship she would sit in the corner, one hand tracing the ribcage of the misshapen acoustic guitar turned shamisen, the other stroking the strings with the Bachi. Xandred was still sleeping, oblivious to the stirring of the Sanzu for the time being. There'd been a recent surge of energy building within the confines of Xandred's holding, the kind that she remembered feeling just before he began to lay waste to the human world.
What a feeling that had been, how her skin had tingled when his rage was let loose upon the unsuspecting humans.
She left the ship the night of his siege on the Shiba House, but she did not partake in the slaughter. Instead she wandered the cold wastelands of Japan, searching for him, he who would walk the earth for eternity. How long it took was irrelevant; it could've been hours, days or weeks, so long as she found him.
And find him she did, but he did not see her.
Naught but a silhouette, surrounded by the forest, he stumbled aimlessly in the dark like a drunk, sword dragging through the dirt. Even from a distance she could feel his turmoil and confusion, the blank slate that was his mind carried nothing but the fire from that night, the beginnings of a waking nightmare.
The life given in exchange did not equal the life she risked so heedlessly.
The Bachi dragged slowly until it left the last string, the music ceased and the energy followed with it.
The ship lurched violently in succession of the roar of rage that followed.
The imperfect seal was broken.