Chapter 1

Tenryuu frowned. She hated being sent out on something as boring as a simple night patrol. She loved the night and fighting in the dark, but the night patrols were so bloody boring. Tenryuu could count on one hand the number of times she had actually done something meaningful while on these missions.

She turned to her sister Tatsuta, who was fighting a yawn herself. As she looked around the others under her command for that night—Sendai, Hibiki, Fubuki, Hatsuzuki, and Mutsuki—she knew that, at the very least, they would be guaranteed some rest once they returned. Tenryuu paused, then laughed to herself. Who was she kidding? Even though Mutsu was now in charge and things had settled down since last year's craziness, there was still almost never a chance for true relaxation, especially for her.

The night had been quite uneventful, but the weather earlier tonight had been a bit hairy. A small squall had blown through, and a heavy fog had kept the moon well hidden. The temperature, which was usually in the mid to upper seventies, had dropped to the upper sixties. While the freak weather had blown through in less than an hour, it had made the entire fleet nervous. The fog and slightly choppy seas had persisted, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After several more uneventful hours, Tenryuu was seriously beginning to question why she and her fleet had been assigned night patrols in the first place. There was virtually never any action and the only thing that kept her awake was the fact that it was nighttime. Tenryuu was always more awake at night, but this was getting ridiculous. As the sun began to faintly light up the horizon, Tenryuu yawned once again, shook her head with a frown, then turned to her fleet.

"Alright, I'm gonna make one last sweep around here, then we can head in for the day." Weak cheers followed her announcement, and Tenryuu forced a smile before breaking off. As she made her last turn to rejoin formation, a faint crackle came through her headpiece. Frowning, Tenryuu pressed it against her ear, listening closer.

A badly distorted voice that could have belonged to just about anyone came through, and Tenryuu knew this required the attention of the entire fleet. As she continued to listen, she realised that whoever was making the call was broadcasting automatically, so she would be able to pick the message up again once she'd had explained everything.

Hurrying over to the others, she explained what she was hearing. "I'm picking up a faint distress signal. I want all of you to fan out in a circle and see if you can pinpoint the heading. Make it quick; that voice didn't sound very good!" Everyone nodded and fanned out. After a few minutes of worried searching, Sendai gave a shout, and waved Tenryuu over. In response to Tenryuu's questioning look, Sendai nodded once, before pulling her headset off and looking Tenryuu in the eyes.

"I've got it. Bearing 095 relative. Distance unknown." Sighing, she looked out over her right shoulder towards the east. "I think we should at least head in that direction. It should get stronger as we get closer ." Sendai looked up hopefully. Tenryuu nodded.

Turning to those with her, she told Sendai to inform Mutsu of what was going on, while ordering the rest of the fleet back into formation. As the fleet sped east, Tenryuu kept close to Sendai, constantly checking the position and distance they had left. "Sendai, inform Mutsu of what's going on. Tatsuta, be ready to deal with possible wounded."

Tenryuu kept her eyes focused on the horizon, on the heading which Sendai had said she was tracking the distress call. The choppy seas and bad clouds only made seeing anything that resembled a shipgirl that much harder, and Tenryuu was relying on her destroyer screen just as much as she relied on Sendai's tracking the message. After nearly an hour or running at flank speed, the destroyers were getting tired.

"We're getting close," Sendai called. "I think there's something unusual out in front. About five miles out." She pointed with one of her torpedoes. Tenryuu followed the direction that Sendai indicated and spotted what looked like the crumpled form of two or three people huddled in a group on the water's surface.

"Still getting the same message?" Tenryuu asked. Sendai nodded. "Well than then, I'd assume this is who we're looking for."

As the fleet drew close, Tenryuu could make out the form of at least three, maybe four small girls huddled in a clump, watching the fleet approach. As they drew closer, Tenryuu could make out the girls waiting for them. She recognised none. From what she could tell, one of the girls had pink hair, but the others were a mystery. One did appear to be holding something, but Tenryuu couldn't make out what it was. The rest of the destroyers gathered around, but then everyone had to wait as the sun crested the horizon.

The small pink-haired girl didn't flinch when the sun hit her square in the eyes, and her friend who was holding her pursed her lips sadly. She tucked d a lock of her short brown hair behind her ear, and shifted her friend on her arm. Only then did Tenryuu notice a flash of movement to her left. She noticed another girl, this one slightly older, with long pale white hair done up in a long braid. She'd had managed to keep out of line of sight until just now. Shakily, she made her way towards Tenryuu and Tatsuta, who wordlessly herded the destroyers behind them. The newcomer was bigger and carried more powerful weapons then either of the two Japanese cruisers. The mystery girl tossed her braid over her shoulder and pointed her saber at Tenryuu and her sister. Despite her obvious wounds, she never wavered or blinked. Only when the sun caught her eyes was she forced to briefly turn aside, but immediately turned her attention back to the two cruisers.

Giving her sabre a small flick, she gestured towards Tenryuu and Tatsuta. "Identify yourselves."

Tenryuu shivered hearing her speak. She had expected a deeper voice, rather than a soft-spoken, quiet whisper. She did, however, catch the underlying tone of threat and slight anger, with a hint of fear. "R-right. Light Cruiser Tenryuu. Out of Yokosuka."

Tatsuta nodded. "Light Cruiser Tatsuta, also from Yokosuka Naval District."

The unknown cruiser's eyes widened, and she lowered her sword, arm trembling. "I-l see. That's news to me. I had my suspicions but…" Her voice trailed off. The two looked at her, confused. "I'll explain later."

"That's fine. Let's get you five some first aid now, then worry about that later,"

"Thank you, Tenryuu." The blonde said softly. She paused. "Sorry I'm being rude." She wiped her hand on her tattered uniform shirt and extended it to to Tenryuu. "Heavy Cruiser Northampton, out of Pearl Harbor."

A/N: For those of you wondering, yes the US SG's are from Pacific. For those who don't know what Pacific is, google "Kancolle Pacific" and check the TV tropes pages