A/N: Heiya! Okay, I decided to use their Japanese names because I'm bored, school's out, and I can. But I won't leave you to puzzle things out on your own, especially with the Sailor Scouts. Okay, here we go: Serena is Usagi. Mina is Minako and Leta is Makato. Rei and Ami are still the same. As for the guys, Rowen is Touma, Sage is Seiji, Cye is Shin and Kento is Shuun. Ryo's still Ryo. This story was originally started by Shadow_Crystal, but she dropped it and I still had this on my 'puter from when she was over here and I was teaching her how to put stuff on floppy disk. There's not a whole lot else to this, other then when I restarted work on it, I had SC's permission so NO FLAMES about plagiarism. Yes, the idea of a SM/RW cross is being over used, but we all must do what we must on several consecutive sugar highs. Oh, I don't own any of the Scouts, the guys, other people we have seen on TV, but the others are mine (plus SC's) and, though I doubt it will ever happen, please ask before you use them. THANKS!
Armors of Earth and Air
Chapter 1
"Have a great summer break!" The entire class headed for the door, completely ignoring Ms. Saratoga's wishes of a good time. Marini Castarea waited patiently for the end of the of the rush before going into the crowded hallways. Outside, over the din of yells of goodbye, she heard her name.
"MARINI!" shouted Sarana Berea. She waved and Marini waved back. "What's up?"
"Not much," answered Marini. "What's this Relan was saying about Seiji's cousin?" Sarana grinned slyly.
"You're so out of it, huh? First of all, Seiji and Aranei are officially going out-"
"What?!"
"You bet. It's been all of a few days since this started and Relan found out, but didn't say anything. Secondly, Seiji's cousin and her friends are going with us to the mall today."
"How old is Seiji's cousin?" asked Marini hesitantly. Relan Karamn grinned as she walked up to them with Aranei Emara and Larao Samaana.
"You're just worried Ryo will like this new girl," she said calmly. "Well, don't worry. Seiji said they're fourteen too. Why I've never met her before is beyond me, seeing as I've known him since the beginning of forever, but I can't exactly say anything. Aranei would kill me."
"Of course I would," said Aranei. "Here they come!" Two cars pulled up and five guys got out to meet them.
"Hi," said Marini.
"Hey," said Seiji. "You look so disappointed, Marini. What's up?" Relan smiled
"She's worried about Ryo liking your cousin slash one of her friends," she said. Marini's grin fell as she glared at Relan.
"Shut up," she hissed. "Don't push me, Relan."
"Push you to what?" asked Relan coyly. "You're already insane."
"I know that," said Marini, putting her hands on her hips. Sarana rolled her eyes.
"Can we go? This is getting messed up again."
"How are we doing this?" asked Ryo, somewhat confused by the girls' conversation. "How are we going to split up in the cars?"
"I can take four more," said Touma.
"So can I," said Seiji.
"Why don't me, Marini, Aranei, and Ryo go with Touma-"
"No way, " broke in Aranei. "I'll go with Seiji. Marini, you, Ryo, Sarana, Relan with Touma and the rest of us with Seiji." Seiji looked surprised by her sudden assertiveness. Usually Aranei was quiet and reserved. Now she had a gleam in her eye that no one was about to challenge. "Now let's go. Sooner or later, Shuun and Larao are going to start complaining about be hungry."
"Hey!" said the two at the same time. They looked at each other, shocked, then Larao giggled.
"They have a point, though," she said. "We need to hurry. If Seiji's cousin is nothing like him, she'll be waiting impatiently for our arrival."
"Uh..." said Seiji. "I'll take that as a compliment, Larao."
"It's your choice," she shrugged. "I don't know what I meant."
Chapter 2
Usagi took a long drink of her pop, then sat it down and started on her food.
"Usagi, you're gonna choke one of these days," said Rei. Usagi laughed, her mouth half full of burger.
"Yeah right, Rei," she said.
"Usagi," said Minako. "Why are we here again?"
"My cousin and some of his friends are meeting us," explained Usagi. "We're going to a movie, I guess. My mom wanted me to spend more time out of the house and I haven't done anything with him in a awhile so..."
"What did she say about studying?" asked Makato. "Didn't you bomb your last test?" Usagi blushed and looked down at her food.
"Yeah, but school's almost out, so I haven't told her yet... Look! Here they are!" A group of kids were walking towards them.
"I think this is nuts," said Relan. "If there's a new threat, the Ronins can handle it, can't they?"
"Yeah, but don't say anything to Usagi," said Seiji, seeing his cousin and her friends. "But I'm still not gonna let you fight."
"Fine. Leave us out." Relan crossed her arms over her chest as they walked up to the others. Seiji and Usagi exchanged a quick hug.
"Seiji, meet Ami, Rei, Minako, and Makato," she said. He nodded.
"These are my friends: Ryo, Shin, Shuun, and Touma. Plus Relan, Marini, Aranei, Larao, and Sarana," he said. They all greeted one another, then decided what to do.
"I want to go to the Gap(A/N: To hell with the time line! The Gap exists!)," said Marini. "And Sarana's coming."
"Only if Touma does."
"Do I have a choice?" asked Touma.
"No," she replied.
"Thought not." The three got up to leave. Suddenly, something hit Touma, sending him backwards. Sarana cried out, then was hit too.
"What the-" started Seiji. Huge men clad in jet-black armor started to fill the mall. "Guys..."
"Usagi!" yelled Rei. "We need to help these people."
"Yup."
"Ronins!" said Ryo. "Armor up! Armor of Wildfire!"
"Moon Power!"
"Armor of Halo!"
"Mars Power!"
"Armor of Torrent!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Armor of Hardrock!"
"Venus Power!"
"Armor of Strata!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Scout power! Make-UP!" finished the scouts together. Sarana watched in wonder as the transformations happened. Not the guys- she had seen those before. They never stopped training- but Seiji's cousin and her friends. They were the Sailor Scouts? Hard to believe, but she was seeing it with her own eyes.
Seiji gripped his nodaochi and turned to his cousin.
"You're a super hero?!" they asked in unison. Aranei would've laughed, had it been a different time. Now one of the black soldiers was pinning her to the ground, forcing all of the air out of her. They had been grabbed during the others' changing forms. It took two to hold a struggling Relan, and another two to hold Sarana, who had lost her stunned look and cursing loudly enough for whole town to hear.
"I said let me go!" she yelled. Touma nocked at arrow at the same time Minako powered up for her attack.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" she yelled as he loosed the shaft. Power wrapped around the bolt. Sarana struggled to get out of the way, but the soldiers instead held her firmly in its direct path.
"SARANA!" screamed Marini, tearing loose of the single soldier that held her. "NO!" She dove at her friend, knocking her free from the soldiers. The arrow still pierced Sarana's ribs, barely missing her heart, but the power from Sailor Venus exploded in her body.
Marini groaned. She felt the weight of her friend on top of her. "Sarana?" she asked, pushing the unconscious girl off her. "Sar? Can you hear me?" She saw the golden arrow and somehow, knew that it wasn't Touma's fault. Or Sailor Venus. But she had to stop the power threatening to destroy her friend.
Aranei's head whipped around as the battle started. Sarana was hurt! No! This couldn't be happening! They were fighters. She wasn't going to let this happen to her other friends.
Relan's hand finally latched onto the wrist of one of the soldiers and she flipped him over her shoulder. The other twisted the arm it held, but she retaliated and he went down hard.
Larao felt a strong force slam into the back of her head. Stars danced in her vision, but she stayed awake. Sarana was hurt! She had to get to her before something else did.
Sarana could only watch the battle through half dead eyes. The pain was numbing. It wasn't Touma's fault. He would never... or Minako... it was the soldiers, the Dynasty. The same ones that wanted to destroy her world. Marini's hand's grasped the shaft of the golden arrow already half dulled by Sarana's blood. The fallen girl felt a sting of pain as the arrow tore free from her body, but a darkness was settling over her mind. If she would just die now... then she wouldn't get to fight. She wouldn't get to do anything. She was only fourteen!
Ryo knew Sarana was down. He tried to slice through a soldier in an attempt to reach her, but his swords cut through air. Usagi pulled out her scepter.
"Moon Princess Illusion!" she yelled. Like Ryo, she only hit air. "Why is this happening?!"
"Because my soldiers cannot be hurt by physical attacks," said a cold and heartless voice. Something grabbed Marini's wrist and yanked her to her feet. Sarana was left to die. "She is of no use to me anymore. You, on the other hand, still carry power."
"Marini!" shouted Ryo. "You let her go!"
"Why, Wildfire, so you can have her power to yourself? I don't think so. She's mine." Marini tore from his grasp, but a chain shot from the ground and wrapped around her neck.
"Marini..." Sarana slowly pushed herself off the ground. "No, you bastard, let her go. I have the power you want."
"You are dead. The power will go to her."
"The power is mine. It'll go to me." She gripped the back of a chair. "Let her go. She's not the one you want."
"Sarana!" said Marini. "No!"
"Marini, be quiet," she snapped. "Take me. I dare you."
"You're a brave, young fool. I admire that. You will make a wonderful addition to my collection." He snapped his fingers. The chains vanished from Marini's neck and she fell forward, into Ryo. He caught her and felt a strange warmth come from her and give him a different kind of strength. He couldn't let Sarana be taken.
"I. Dare. You," repeated Sarana, a shimmer of power forming in her eyes. "Come on. Or are you a coward?"
"I will make sure you receive a child's death," spat the un-named villain. "That is all you are. A child."
"Even a child has power," muttered Usagi, thinking of Chibi-Usa(Rini). The Silver Crystal glowed and so did Ryo's armor.
"Even a child has power," agreed Sarana softly. I need strength. I can't fight him as I am, she thought, her eyes closing. The wound in her chest was on fire now. The bleeding had stopped, but she didn't have much left to bleed with as it was. Suddenly, a name flashed through her mind. "Savage Eclipse, you will pay."
"Savage Eclipse..." said the beast slowly. "Yes, I like that. It is easier to remember then my actual name. You, Sarana Berea, are a child of a pure heart. That is what will make you a glorious-"
"You say 'addition to your collection' and you'll really see me pissed," she said coolly. My friends, we must fight him. He is a worse evil then the Dynasty or the Negaverse. There is strength in all of us, but only if we fight as one. All of the warriors standing there heard her words. It resonated through the armors and left warmth in the Sailors. Aranei closed her eyes and wished with all she could that the battle would just end.
Savage Eclipse had been through many forms of warriors for the cause of good, but this girl... she was child, and yet she was uniting the mystical soldiers. A strange force surrounded her, and the four other unarmed girls that stood amongst them. If they were truly the warriors of the Inferno Crystal, then they would have to die.
A sudden chill gripped Marini. Despite the heat from the Wildfire armor, cold was seeping into her blood. Darkness descended over her mind and she collapsed. One by one, the other four did too. Sarana fought the shadow of death with all her might.
"You bastard..." she whispered, falling to her knees. "What have you done to my friends? You cannot win. I will fight against you. Our battle has only just begun..."
"Brave words, my little warrior," he said smoothly. Her almost lifeless body lifted from the ground and hovered in front of him. "You are too pretty to be displayed in my normal collection. I will keep you and your friends in my private collection."
"ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" Savage Eclipse lost his concentration and Sarana crumbled to the ground. Glaring, he turned on the soldiers. Their trances had been broken, seeing the five young lives end so abruptly and so pointlessly. Touma's eyes flicked from the angry bad guy to Sarana's body on the ground. He thought of her smile, her clear blue eyes, the way she could make him laugh before he realized he was. Now that was never going to happen again. Seiji saw Aranei, lying against an over turned plant, her blond hair falling across her face. He cared for her and he knew death was supposed to be a peaceful ending, but she looked everything except peaceful. Pain, sorrow, anger, all covered her face. Her fingers were clenched into a tight fist, blood still running in a thin trail from her palms. Shuun looked at Larao, still trying to protect Relan, who had been unconscious since getting slammed during Sarana's conversation with Savage Eclipse. Now both are dead, he thought. I'll never hear Larao's laugh again. Or her patronizing me for being thickheaded. Shin didn't want to look at the death on Relan's face. Her quick tongue had always made her one of those people who you don't think you'll ever lose: he had lost her now.
Ryo shifted Marini's weight and lifted her limp body. He laid her carefully near where Larao and Relan were and felt hot tears burn in the back of his eyes.
"I'll never live up to expectations my mother has for me." he heard her saying the first time he had talked to her alone. "But that doesn't mean I won't work for my own dreams. In a perfect world, there's always a reason to follow your heart and mine says that we'll be friends, Ryo of the Wildfire." He saw her smile the way she always did when she was around him and he felt again the warmth from earlier. "Believe in what you do and nothing evil will ever defeat you or the other guys."
"Marini," he whispered, brushing a strand of brown hair from her face. She was already gaining the coldness of death. "I won't fail you or the others." He stood up and unsheathed his katanas. Savage Eclipse stood, waiting. He couldn't collect his reward until these ones were dead.
Chapter 3
I promised.
I lived.
I fought.
I chased.
I died. Sarana struggled to keep a hold of her friends' spirits. They couldn't leave now! She wouldn't let them! They had to fight! Savage Eclipse had killed them for a reason and if it could save the guys and the Sailors, it would.
Please, don't leave! she begged. I need my friends to help me!
Faith. She felt a mix of powers flood her spirit. An eternal fire joined with a cold, crystalline strength. Sounds- she heard the Ronins and the Scouts powering up their attacks- and feelings- evil emanating from Savage Eclipse, pain, anger from everyone else- crowded her mind, leaving little room for what she needed. She had to focus on nothingness, find where all of strength was coming from. Ryo... his armor was giving her power, but something else. Usagi's crystal maybe?
"I will destroy you all! Black Hole Destruction!" Black energy started sucking up everything.
"Silver Crystal Power!" yelled Usagi. Her Sailor uniform quickly changed to her royal dress and the sigil of the moon emblazoned itself on her forehead. Ryo called all of his power together for one assault to end all assaults.
"Flare... up... NOW!" The black hole sucked up both of their attacks. Sarana's eyes opened to a losing battle. A calm over took her and she pushed herself off the ground. Savage Eclipse saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eyes. The other four rose, life flooding back into their eyes and their bodies.
"Savage Eclipse!" shouted Sarana. Everyone froze, save the other four who were moving to stand around her. "You may have taken our lives, but our souls belong to this world."
"ThunderDragon!" called Aranei.
"AquaBoulder!" yelled Larao.
"HeartRain!" shouted Marini.
"StarShock!" hollered Relan. Sarana shot a devil-may-care grin at Savage Eclipse and drew as much power together as she could.
"Raging... Crystal!"
* * * * * *- * * * * *
Thus, it began. Another battle to save the world from evil.
"Where did you get the name Savage Eclipse?" asked Usagi that afternoon. Sarana shrugged.
"There's a fairy tale my grandmother used to tell me about the twelve Savages, a family of ten doomed siblings, plus their two parents. Savage Eclipse is- was the youngest. Savage Moon and Savage Fire are the parents and it just goes on from there."
"So we have to defeat them," said Ryo. She nodded. "We've got fifteen now. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Ryo, we're still not sure what five of us are," said Marini. "And until we figure out how the combinations affect you and the scouts, we have to be careful. Oh, here it is!" Aranei exchanged a glance with Seiji. Marini couldn't keep her mind on one task if her life depended on it. He smiled at her gently and she grinned back.
"Sarana," said Touma. "Don't you think you need to rest? You're still injured."
"He's right," said Minako. "You took a pretty hard hit and..."
"It wasn't your fault," Sarana assured them. "It's one of those wrong place, wrong time things and I feel fine, thanks. What did you find, Mari?"
"The twelve Savages were one of the most prominent families in ancient times. They consist of ten siblings- Hisi, Nichu, Kaae, Sevea, Ikala, Baukau, Visui, Oranla, Ceru, and Domina- and two parents- Jeeia and Kilaur. They were never good nor evil, but their greed over took them. Kilaur had an evil spell cast upon them so that they would have money and power forever. They took new names: Eclipse, Seduction, Silhouette, Death, Massacre, Slayer, Murder, Doom, Blood, and Killer. The parents became Savage Moon and Savage Fire, like Sarana said." Suddenly, Aranei started laughing. "What?"
"She's lost it," said Larao. "What's funny about this is beyond me."
"No no no," said Aranei taking a deep breath. "Baukau, it means 'you idiot' in Japanese. The poor guy. Every time someone says his name, it's an insult."
"Yeah, that would suck," agreed Makato. "So what do we now? We have to stop them, before they get too powerful."
"As long as I get to fight, I'm happy," said Relan, shooting a glance at her childhood friend. Seiji rolled his eyes.
"Like I can stop you from fighting," he said.
"I know you, Koran no Seiji. You can't, but you'll sure as hell try." Usagi laughed.
"Yeah, that's Seiji." He threw his hands up in the air and walked off. Everyone started laughing with Usagi, even the other scouts. Sarana almost fell over. Exhaustion was quickly creeping up on her, but she had to stay awake. Touma saw her yawn behind her hand and shook his head. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the couch next to him. She smiled warmly and laid her head on his shoulder. Despite all of her efforts, the feeling of security and safeness that came from him brought about sleep. Seeing her asleep, Marini yawned in spite of herself.
"Man," she said, swallowing another. "How do you people do this? I'm wasted." Usagi yawned too.
"Even we need sleep," she said. Rei shook her head.
"Just you... Usagi." Her sentence was broken by a yawn. Each of them wandered off, half concealing yawns, to get some rest. Touma looked at Sarana, who was still fighting sleep. He smiled and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Touma," she murmured, settling against his chest. "I'll give you one thing... You sure know how to use that bow of yours..."
"Sorry," he muttered, closing his eyes. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt..."
"I know... just promise me you'll aim better next time..."
"I did aim... you should've moved..."
"Make it my fault... why don't you..."
"Okay..."
Peace settled over the warriors. They had a new battle, a new reason to fight, but the worry and troubles of the coming war didn't twist their dreams now: Their fates rested in the hands of those around them. The faith of the ten experienced warriors towards the five unknowing children would be tested time and time again, with each new struggle the Savage family threatened. To destroy the world was their mission, but the future was as unclear as it always has been to the slumbering fighters.
I've promised, thought Aranei.
To live, thought Marini.
To fight, thought Relan.
To chase hope, thought Larao.
I've died, thought Sarana, feeling the warmth and strength of Touma's arm around her. And living definitely has more perks.
The End
A/N: Oh, little added thought: I don't know how to spell 'You idiot' in Japanese. So that's halfway phonetic. I think I did the disclaimer... yeah, that too. Anyway, thanks for reading this and my other stuff too. I owe, yet again, SC for handing the rights to this story over. May she, for once, FINISH A SERIES! That's all I'm saying. I also again thank ShadowRand, you, my fans, who read this obvious trash(kidding. I'm feeling weird. Watching Ronins on tape[Hi Rowen!!]) Also, it was short, makes no sense, and I love it to no end. All you yahoos reading this REVIEW!!! For crying out loud. And, as a thought, th next one is gonna be finished by Shadow_Crystal, if she ever gets around to it.