Incarnate
Chapter One - Rebirth
"Have you seen the newcomer?" Whispers dulled in the bustling movement of the people, heading in throngs against the stalls. Voices echoed in shouts and laughter barked out at haphazard intervals.
But a few of them had set a course in the lines of gossip. A small town with the same people who had lived there since they moved to that part of the world, new faces were talked about the moment they were discovered. And this one was no exception.
The skies were a pale blue with red tinged clouds fluttering by, stretched and thinned to meld into the heavens, creating a painted look. The blue skins of the people were made of smooth scales, melting into each other flawlessly to be as smooth as a sandpapered surface. With each one with different colored eyes and hair, the common of the slit eyes and antenna-like ears easily distinguished the people of Rastaban from the other worlds outside their tiny system.
And one of them, at that moment, was resting in the clinic, clothed in donated garments. She tossed back and forth, her dark pink hair frazzled and frizzy from the constant movement of her body. She sat up finally with a groan, her pink irises blinking before the violet slits opened to allow her better sight.
"Finally," a young nurse bounced in, her antennas whipping around her shoulders excitedly. With bronze blonde hair pulled back into a tight braid that trailed down her back, her green eyes shone with the reflected lights of the ceiling. "How are we feeling?"
The girl rubbed her eyes. "I.. I.. wha...where...?"
"You were brought in this morning, about five miles from the town. In amidst a pasture, no doubt!"
"I jumped.."
"Jumped?" The nurse tilted her head. "You had severe exhaustion but other than that, nothing else was wrong."
The girl turned her head away. "Why are you staring?"
The nurse blinked. "Oh, but I'm not."
The girl shrugged and ripped the blankets from her as she stood up. Her legs were watery for a moment before she took a deep breath. "My skin..."
"You've been re-hydrated," the nurse said cheerfully. "It's not often we get your blood type here. You're awfully close inland."
She blinked slowly, peering up at the nurse. "So where am I?"
"Celestial."
"That's close to the central city," she mumbled. Her fingers were rubbing at her throat numbly before she moved downward to a breast pocket. She felt something hard and small. She reached in cautiously and pulled out a orchid teardrop crystal.
There was a sudden noise as her head whipped up. The nurse's eyes focused solely on the gem, widening until all there was irises and her blue skin blanched drastically.
"The Tear of Rastaban," the nurse turned and fled.
The girl's fingers tightened slowly, eyes dropping to the hand as the gem warmed in her clutched fingers. "The Tear of Rastaban.." she breathed. A moment of vision, of a garden snake made of gold slithering at her feet, a world of hot white and something being done. She blinked, the memory fazing over.
She went to the window and looked out. Being on the first floor would help greatly, she noted as she opened the window and neatly jumped out. She took the back alley, moving in silence as her mind went over the past few days.
She wasn't watching where she was going, colliding with a tall male with night black hair coiled loosely around his head and nape. Gray eyes looked out as he steadied her. "Where you going, lady?"
She attempted to move around him.
"Hey, wait," He moved to intercept her. "I said, where are you going? This is the back streets, no place for a lady."
"I'm not a lady," she hissed, anger boiling. "Leave me alone!"
His hand covered his mouth as he coughed. Something clicked and she flinched, pulling away rapidly, tripping backwards as a sob broke out.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't mean it!"
He looked up, eyes dark. "Come with me," he stated gently. "If you want to save your life, come with me."
"I can't... I can't.."
"What? Do you intend on just running? Where do you plan on going?"
"I jumped.." she whispered thickly.
"Come with me."
She lowered her head. "All right."
He led her easily through the back streets. She noted the peach leather jacket, the sleeves ripped off. Underneath was just his skin. His golden rod shorts loosened slightly midway down his thighs, also torn. His goldenrod sandals clacked on the cement ground.
She noted that she was studying the more attractiveness of the man's physical appearance. She moved her head to look upward at the sky and went body first into his stopped body.
"Are you even watching where you're going?" He turned away without bothering for a answer. He opened a door and led her down a hall. "I've been staying here for the while I've been here. You can stay here while I get us items necessary."
"Items? Necessary?" He turned and she blinked at him confusedly.
"Yes, necessity is often a requirement," he stated, raising an eyebrow.
"All right.." she trailed off. Her fingers moved upward and after a few buttons unbuttoned, he was pushing her toward the front door.
"Never mind, you're coming with me."
"But don't I..?"
"I'm not looking for a one-night stand," he stated flatly.
"Then what are you trying to do?" She asked wildly.
He stared her down. "You don't know? How long have you been missing?"
"I don't under..."
He raised a finger. "Here."
He rummaged in a garbage tin, pulling out a crumbled paper. He offered it to her once he smoothed it open.
It was a picture of her, wanted for the double murders of a politician and club owner. She blanched and pulled back, pressing herself into the wall. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to! I don't know how it happened!"
He studied her. "They were both killed by Strynchnine poisoning, a chemical produced by the skin of only one person who could ever do it."
"I don't understand.." She mumbled, falling down to rest on her buttocks. Her shirt flung open, revealing the sloping curves of her breasts that momentarily deterred the male.
"My name is Nox Iousu," He knelt down, facing her. "I am the leader of the Incarnate fellowship."
"Incarnate..."
"The only person able to produce that type of poison is the only person most sought of in all of our legends. You are Sailor Rastaban."
"What?" Her head whipped up, hitting the wall with an audible thud. "Ow!"
"These people don't want you for the murders, they want you because now they know you're Sailor Rastaban!"
"How.. how do you know?"
"Not many people know about the type of poisoning, let alone the ways of poisoning," Nox shrugged. "It's only told to those of the most devoted."
"Of me?"
"Of you."
"So I'm doing a private session?" She asked, confused.
He stared at her. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, I'm just thinking that a good deed has been done if those two men were anything I'm thinking of."
"Why did you bring me here?"
Nox rubbed his face, already tired. "You are obviously ignorant of all of this, so I'll have to teach you."
"Can't stay here," she was back to mumbling. "The nurse.. saw this."
She offered the item and watched blue skin turn to ice blue. "Oh, dear Poisyn." Was all that he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sienna brown woman stood stock still, taking in all that she could. Vibrant white hair fell down thickly, pulled to fall over her right shoulder by a few inches. With bangs swept toward the right, they parted enough to let the glistening white-ridged horn protrude by several inches. Her hair was carefully tucked behind long tipped ears that drooped for at least three inches, almost elf-like. Her canary yellow eyes, with a twist of goldenrod edged in them, shone for a moment.
She wasn't one of the people of Rastaban. In fact, her kind very little visited the world. Compared to her own, this was a rather miniscule planet and that's probably why she liked it so much. Not so much noise.
Though with the cooling night coming, she moved from the shadows. Her skin was molted with green splotches down the outsides of her arms and legs. She dressed in a loose tunic, embroidered with silver thread and silver shorts cut raggedly at the edges. Her feet went uncovered as she scratched her neck.
Her horns were what distinguished her as a Eltanin. One upon her forehead, one from each side of her upper arms, and one from each side of her ankles, the four last mentioned could be seriously used to hurt people.
But at the moment, that's not what she was looking for. She wasn't entirely sure what she was, in the first place. She was getting tired, all of this wandering and trying to survive during night. Despite the cooling moonlight, the heat never truly left and she was often uncomfortable. That was what the problem with her skin, she absorbed heat readily and kept it in.
She wished, for once, to be able to go home. At least there, a season could be distinguished as winter.
"Hey!" A patroller tromped down to the woman. "What are you doing?" He stated. He had a shaved head, gleaming silvery blue in the bright moon gaze. His pale green eyes stared down, trying to look frightening.
"I'm lost," she offered. "Is there a inn I can be guided to?"
He pointed to a two-story building. There wasn't any sign that hung from the post thrusting out.
"The sign's being redone," he stated dryly. "Now get going. Rumor has it that the Tear of Rastaban has been wandering around here."
She nodded vigorously, having no clue whatsoever of what the patroller was talking about. She was about to fake entering the building when another body smacked into her.
The girl that Nox was keeping with him inched around the other. "I'm so sorry.." She whispered. "I.. I'm sorry. I must.."
"Hey, where are you going?" The girl called out.
The other didn't look back as she took off in a run. The darker skinned woman took off after her. She heard a noise behind and found Nox following.
Once in a clearing, she turned and lunged at Nox. "You monster!"
The girl hadn't gone far enough to be unaware of the fight.
"I haven't done anything!" Nox yelped as the woman used teeth in his thigh. "Stop it!"
"You're a monster! Keeping her! I won't let you hurt her!"
"I haven't DONE anything!" He twisted away, the two glaring at each other.
"He's right, he.. he didn't do anything," the girl said, shamefacedly.
In the light, the woman realized that the other looked familiar. And then, it became clear as to why she was here, at this tiny dot in the tiny star system.
"Sailor Rastaban?" She asked, very gently.
"I don't know who that is," the girl's eyes welled up with tears. "My name is Sarpynta, not.."
"How the Hell do you know about Rastaban?" Nox demanded.
"How do you know?" She quipped.
"Hello?" Sarpynta asked in a tiny voice.
"What's going on..." The patroller took one look at Sarpynta. "HALT!"
The three all turned simultaneously and fled. The shrill scream of the whistle cut through the silence as the patroller hollered louder and louder.
"Great! This is all your fault!" Nox hissed to the dark girl.
"Like I planned this! I was following my intuition!"
"Next time, jump in a river!"
Sarpynta tripped down a sloped hill, the other two following. "Leave me alone!" She cried out. She felt one of them grasp her arm. "NO! Don't! I'll hurt you!" She shrieked and felt a hand cover her mouth as the three bodies were crammed into a tight fit in between rocks.
She could feel only warm breath against her ear, fingers pressed against her lips. The other girl was watching the slit, waiting patiently. She looked ready to pounce and strike.
But after a few long moments, Nox's hands fell down as Sarpynta pulled at it, struggling to see it.
"You haven't accumulated enough poison to do damage," he told her frankly.
"How can you not know about Sailor Rastaban?" The other flipped her hair, agitated. "It's in all the history books!"
"In your world, it is. It's forbidden to talk about that on our world," Nox said pointedly.
"Name's Alsia Coeara," She offered a hand to Sarpynta.
The two weren't entirely surprised when the girl broke down.
"I jumped down!" She sobbed. "I died! I know I did! Why am I here? I don't deserve to be here!" She fell forward, fingers wrung over her skin. "I didn't want to hurt.. I didn't want to kill. I didn't mean it! I don't understand this at all!"
"Don't worry so much," Alsia said smoothly. "I'm here to help!"
"I don't even know you!"
Alsia rolled her eyes. "Let's not be overdramatic. You're getting worked up over nothing."
"People want me dead!"
"Well, okay, it's okay to be a little freaked out.." She noted the way Nox was staring at her. "What? Something on my face?"
He crossed his arms. "You a part of the Incarnate Fellowship?"
"Isn't that a church?"
"It's a revolution," he said flatly.
"Sure, you pressure her."
"I'm not going..." He threw his hands up. "I need to get my things. Can I trust you to stay here?" He asked Sarpynta. She stared back at him blankly. "Please, stay here."
Once gone, Alsia plopped down to the ground. "I haven't seen your kind before," Sarpynta said carefully.
"We rarely venture here. It's almost too hot." To better illustrate the point, she fanned her face. "How'd you two meet?"
"I though he wanted a private session. I cannot say no."
"I'll teach you."
"But he didn't. He wants to help me."
"So do I."
"Why?"
It took a moment before Alsia's head swerved slowly. "I was following instinct, something in me that told me to do this, to come here at this very place. I've been looking for about five years now." She was thoughtful. "You aren't going to stand alone. You need me to help you. I've had plenty of experience with this."
"With what?"
She stood up, looking proud. "I'm a sailor senshi too, just like you."
"What's a sailor senshi?"
Alsia rubbed her chin. "I'm going to wait for your boy toy to come back. It'd be better if there were two of us to explain the whole thing. Boy, it's going to take a while too."