Shadows of the Past
Part 1:Raven

A.C. 185

The small girl, about five years old walked towards the market, it was about 7:30 pm, yet she did not know or care about the time. She was wearing what looked like it used to be a dress, but was now just discolored rags. She quietly snuck past the gates to the market and hid beneath a stand. As soon as the guards shut the gates the girl crawled from under the stand and made her way around looking for any morsels of food she could find. Finding a piece of bread someone had dropped she quickly snatched it up and ran towards an alley. When she finished the bread she fell asleep.

The next morning....
"Get out of here you little street rat!!" screamed the angry security guard when he discovered the little girl lying beneath the stand. The little girl, who had partially choppy black hair, and bright blue eyes, zipped past the guard and ran into the street. This particular girl was a war orphan. Her parents had been killed by fighting troops. She had only been three, but was already a tough, intelligent girl. "Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!" she screamed as she ran into a crowd of people. She finally lost the guard in the crowd and slowed to a walk. That was the girls life, run, hide, eat, sleep, and run again....

A few years later...(5 to be exact)...

The girl, now about ten years old walked around the market and occasionally snatched an item here or there. She was about to snatch a pair of socks when a soldier grabbed her wrist. (Note: It was a common thing during war that soldiers, when not fighting would rape small girls, and young teenage boys.) The man dragged the girl, by the wrist, towards an alley, a dark alley, and pinned her down. All the girl could hear was the sound of a zipper being unzipped, so she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what was about to happen. All of the sudden, the weight of the man was lifted off of her and she got up and saw a boy, who had dark, emerald green eyes, and odd hair. He helped the girl up and began to walk away but the girl grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her. "Wait." She said as the boy looked into her eyes. "I have to go." He said as he began to walk away. The girl just let his hand go, sat down, and began to cry. The boy, having never heard a sound so horrible, yet so mournful, turned around. He walked over to the hysterical girl, and rubbed her back until the crying turned to sobs, then he gathered her up into his arms and began to rock back and forth until the girl finally fell asleep.

An hour later....

The girl awoke on a cot, in a tent and with blankets all around. The boy who had helped her before, had carried her to the camp he was in, and had set her down in the tent. The girl got up to leave, but the boy walked in and set down a tray of food. The girl looked confused. " It's for you, don't worry, I won't hurt you." He said in a gentle tone. "thanks." Said the girl. "what's your name?" she asked.


"I have no name." He replied "But... if you must call me something, call me Nanashi, that's what all the others call me." He finished "Oh...there are others?" "Yes. I'm a mercenary, I fight the alliance scum." "Hmmm..." "So, what's your name?" asked the boy "I call myself Raven. I don't remember what my mother called me, she died with my father when I was little." "You definitely look like a raven, the name suits you well." "Yes, I remember somebody calling me that when I was little." "Oh, are you hungry?" "Yeah." "Here." Said Nanashi as he slid the tray towards Raven. "Thank you." "No problem, but tomorrow my camp is moving." "Let me stay with you..." "I don't want you to get hurt, or in trouble." "I won't." "I'll have to ask my leader." "Okay." "Yeah, but I don't know if he'll let you stay or not." "Why wouldn't he?" "You're a girl, and you would have to learn to use a mobile suit, guns, and to fight in hand-to-hand combat." "I can learn." "But would you be willing to kill?" "Yes, I think so." "But you can't hesitate." "I know..." she trailed "I wouldn't." "how do you know that?" "I don't know." "Well I'll ask if you can go through training." "okay." After asking the Leader of the Mercenaries and being approved Nanashi began training Raven to fight. The pair soon became some of the best mobile suit pilots, and an unbeatable team.

Three years later...

"Hey, Shi-Chan ." "Yeah?" "We WON!" "Yeah, the longest, hardest battle, finally over." "We should celebrate." "How?" "I don't know...the others'll probably be breaking out the good stuff." "yeah." The pair hopped from their M.S. cockpits and to the ground. The whole camp was jumping for joy, there was a huge celebration, there was wine, and food, and just fun, no worries. After midnight, most of the camp was out, with the exception of Raven and Nanashi. The pair was lying down on a cot. Nanashi had his arms around Raven, and Raven had her eyes closed. Nanashi kissed Raven on the nose, unwrapped his arms from her waist and got up. "Where're ya going...?" asked Raven lazily as she began to drift off to sleep. "To the bathroom." "Ok..." said Raven as she closed her eyes. Nanashi walked outside the tent and began to make his way towards the bathroom when a large explosion occurred, and mobile suits came running into the camp. Nanashi tried to get to the tent where Raven lay sleeping but had to hide when the soldiers got out of their M.S.'s and began to search the ruins. They found Raven, and seeing her injuries thought she was dead and tossed her body away. After searching the camp and finding nobody alive the Alliance soldiers packed up and left. Nanashi waited a few minutes then made his way towards Raven. He was injured also, and couldn't tell whether or not she was alive. When Raven didn't get up after about a half hour Nanashi, having lost hope, got up and began to look for a first aid kit for himself. When he was all patched up he limped away from the camp.

A few hours later...

When Raven finally did wake up, Nanashi was gone and she was in what looked like a laboratory. She tried to get up, but found she was restrained. An old man walked into the room and grinned, a horrid, toothy grin. "Let me go!" shouted Raven as the man, who seemed to have a mechanical hand, walked up to her. "Well, finally you're awake."
"Are you fucking deaf?!? Let me go!!" she shouted angrily as she struggled against the restraints. "No I can hear you just fine my dear. I would just like to strike a deal with you." He replied. There was a knock on the door. "Come in." said the man. Raven, still tired from the whole ordeal sighed and stopped her struggle. Another old man with a horribly long nose, and a mushroom cut walked in, with a boy trailing behind him. The boy had bright purple eyes, a long chestnut braid, and a priests garb on (I'll give ya four guesses as to who that is the first 3 don't count). "Well, she should do, where'd you find this one again J?" asked the mushroom man. " I found her in a rebel camp, she had dog tags so I assume she was one of them, and that she can pilot a M.S." "Who are you people?" asked Raven "We're part of a rebel group hoping to stop the Alliance." "I don't believe you." "Duo here is one of our pilots, and we are sending him to earth to fight." "..." "Still doubtful?" "Heero, come here for a second." Said the man known as J. Another boy, about the same age as Duo, and herself walked in. This boy had dark blue eyes, short brown hair, a green tank top, and black spandex shorts. "This is Heero, another of our pilots who is going to Earth." Said the man "Well, how do I know you two aren't some sick pedophiles?" retorted Raven as she tried to struggle again. "You don't, but you might as well trust us." "Well, maybe I'd trust you if you'd let me up." "Fine." Said J as he motioned for the two boys to release the restraints. As Raven got up she snatched her dog-tags from J and placed them around her neck once again. "How old are you child?" asked the mushroom man. "I'm thirteen, I think, not quite sure..." said Raven "What's your name?" "Raven" "Suits you well" "Everyone says that" "Do they" "Yup." "Interesting..." "I'm sure...What's your name?" "You can call me G" "G?" "Yeah, G" "He's J?" said Raven motioning towards the other man "Yes." "Duo?" she said pointing towards the braided boy "Yup!" Said Duo cheerily "Uh huh, Heero?" said Raven pointing towards the other boy. "Yes." Said Heero "Hmmm...Not too friendly?" "No, he's been trained not to show his emotions." said J "Oh." J smiled "Would you like some food?" "Yeah, I never turn down a free meal." Said Raven as she hopped down from the table. The two men walked towards the door, the boys and Raven following behind. As Raven ate her third plate of chicken teriyaki, rice, and vegetables the two scientists, and the two boys stared at her in disbelief. "Mmmmm...that was good." Said Raven as she patted her belly. "Wow, you eat more than Duo.." said G chuckling. " Well I am a growing girl." Said Raven "Yes. That you are." The scientists let the three kids talk amongst each other while they had discussions of their own. "How long have you known G?" Raven asked Duo. "About a year, I think." Said Duo "How bout you Heero." "Since I was five." Said Heero "Really? That's a long time." "So, what about you? How long were you a mercenary/rebel?" asked Duo "Well three years, but my camp was destroyed and I don't know what happened to my partner..." said Raven as she looked at the floor. " We had just won a battle, and it was really late, Shi-Chan, as I call him, had gotten up to go to the bathroom, when there was an explosion. I'm not sure what happened after that..." Finished Raven. "That's sad..."said Duo.

Meanwhile...

"I think we should make sure the boys don't remember her, just in case things don't work out." Said J "Yes, I agree." Said G nodding. " She won't need as much training as Heero and Duo, all she needs is to learn to use a computer for information, and communicating, and maybe some infiltration training. But since she was a mercenary, she knows how to operate many different weapons, and mobile suits." After a little more planning the scientist known as G departed with Duo leaving Heero, Raven, and J.

TBC... I'm not sure what im doing with this, but I hope to finish soon! Please send feedback I enjoy it!