Through Their Eyes
Chapter 3: My Kind of Sparring
By: trusuprise
Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon.
There was no night or day on the near side Moon. Even though the sky was black and the stars shone through the fragmented, crystalline ceiling of the geo dome, the combined light of the Earth and oftentimes the Sun beyond, kept the Moon in a state of muted day.
Yet even with the absence of darker skies, Rei's internal clock reminded her that it was too early to be training, and far too early to have to deal with her Venusian commander.
Rei frowned at Minako when as she stepped onto the training grounds; a flat and dusty field behind the Palace, bordered on all sides by a tall wall that separated it from the sprawling cities on the other side of the boundary.
"You want me to fight you?" Rei asked.
"Yes. How else would I asses your ability to perform in battle?" Minako flipped her caramel highlighted hair over a shoulder. She took a step forward, her dainty boot crushing the dry grass beneath her feet. "Surely, even Priestesses and acolytes of Mars receive some kind of martial training?"
"Of course they do," Rei answered in a huff. "But… I don't want to hurt you. You seem kind of… fragile."
"Fragile?" Minako's eyes narrowed. "Well, we'll just have to see about that."
Rei barely had the time to arch an eyebrow before Minako charged at her.
Jovians weren't necessarily known to be the most punctual race in the solar system, and with the palace walls receding at her back, Makoto had taken a little longer in arriving at the training field. Her pace, however, increased as she caught sight of their leader and the Martian sparring, and she unconsciously cracked her knuckles. It had been a long while since she'd experienced a good brawl.
Minako's charge brought her within striking distance and she landed a punch to Rei's stomach. But when she rounded for another, Rei caught her fist, deflected Minako's sense of balance, and with strong hands on Minako's upper arms, she hooked a foot behind her attacker's knee and dropped Minako to the ground.
Makoto let out a long, low whistle in appreciation of Rei's finely executed grapple, and the Mercurian watching on the sidelines spun on her heels.
"Makoto-san!" Ami choked, once again surprised at the tall women's ability to move in near complete silence.
When the dust cleared, Rei grinned at Minako. The Martian was knelt on one knee, Minako still pinned to ground by Rei's hands where they tightly pinched Minako's arms.
"You're not so fragile." Rei said gruffly, looking down at her commander.
"And I underestimated your abilities."
Rei released her hold on Minako and stood, offering the other woman a hand up. Minako granted her opponent a half smile in return, took the proffered hand, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She brushed dirt and grass off her back before they once again affected defensive stances and began to circle one another, each with a newfound level of respect.
"Are you ready to begin?" Ami asked Makoto.
"Ready?" The Jovian pointed a finger to the two sparring women, then to herself, and next, she surrendered a confused expression to Ami.
"I'll be your opponent." Ami said. "And don't underestimate me. You see where it got Minako-san."
When Ami grinned her shy little smile, Makoto found herself grinning from ear to ear in response to that irresistible gesture.
"Well, you've some skill at hand to hand combat." Minako grunted as her right hook was deflected by the Martian's forearm. She skittered forward on one leg and brought her knee up to meet Rei's gut. Only, Rei turned a hip at the last second, dodged behind Minako, and pulled her to the ground by the shoulders.
Once her breath had returned to her lungs, the leader of the senshi looked up to the amused Martian, standing above her with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
"Admit that I best you in it, then." Rei demanded coolly.
Minako's half smile widened. "I don't know. I think you just like getting me on my back."
Rei snorted derisively and dragged Minako to her feet.
Makoto had strength, but Ami had speed. As a result, the two women were rather unevenly matched.
"Hold still!" Makoto chuckled as she swung a fist at Ami, only to miss completely as the smaller woman dodged and skirted around the Jovian's backside. Ami landed a punch to Makoto's kidney area, but Makoto barely even winced from the contact.
Ami sighed. "I can't hold still any more than you can be hurt by my blows. Our strengths are incompatible."
"That's where you're wrong, Ami-chan."
"Eh?" Ami faltered in her methodical and measured pacing.
"Our strengths compliment each other. In fact, I think if we were to train together regularly, we'd both greatly improve our skills."
"I think you're right, Makoto-san." Ami's tentative frown became an honest smile and she charged towards the pony-tailed woman with a newfound intensity.
Rei had quickly found that her opponent was very flexible, and the roundhouse kick that Minako aimed at her head hit its mark, the hard heel of the Venusian boot slamming into Rei's temple. In the muddled confusion of her head trauma, Rei skittered backwards and held her hands up to protect herself, all the while asking herself if she'd merely been distracted by Minako's long legs.
Minako took the opportunity to gloat, but did not press her advantage, allowing Rei to recover. "So you're not invincible." She taunted.
"I had to allow you at least one point." Rei shook her head and regained a proper defensive stance in response to Minako's offensive one.
"Oh? And you also seem to be very thick-headed." Minako dropped her amused expression and put her all into her next charge.
Once again, she found that running into Rei was like hitting a brick wall, and although the other woman was of only a slightly larger build, she was wrestled to the ground for a third time, this time with Rei straddling her thighs and pinning her arms to her sides.
"Tell me I best you in hand to hand combat." Rei demanded, smirking down at her.
"I admit defeat to no one." Minako growled, unable to get her mind off of the other woman's muscular thighs wrapped tightly around her waist.
Rei released Minako's arms. Splaying her fingers on either side of Minako's head, she leaned closer. "You're blushing," she said amusedly. "And here you accused me of wanting to get you on the ground?"
Minako frowned sourly. Never had she had the tables turned on her in such a manner.
Never.
"Clearly, a religious sect would have a focus in self defense over offensive techniques. But how do you fare with weapons and your powers? You can't fight against those monsters that we found in your civilian form." Minako nearly snarled. "We'll see how smug you are when we spar as senshi, Mars."
"Ho!" Makoto exclaimed, both excited to finally block one of Ami's quick jabs and equally interested in the scene she caught out of the corner of her eye on the other end of the training field. "Now that's my kind of sparring!"
Ami frowned and increased her speed, landing a punch to the Jovian's side. "Eyes on your opponent!" She barked, and she noted that her next, well-aimed punch finally caused Makoto to wince.
The woman between her legs began to glow with an unnatural golden light and Rei leapt off of Minako, scrambling to stand on shaking legs. When Minako pulled herself off the ground, she was no longer the dark haired Venusian, but a golden warrior resplendent in a ridiculously skimpy outfit. She was Venus.
"What are you waiting for?" Venus shouted. "Transform!"
Despite the immediacy of the challenge, Rei couldn't pull her attention away from those long, indecisively curly golden locks that cascaded down Venus' back. Minako's transformation hadn't seemed to alter her appearance very much, with the exception of her outfit and her hair, but while Rei had to admit that Minako was beautiful naturally, as the warrior Venus, she had a certain added allure to her…
"Rei!"
The Martian snapped herself back to reality at her leader's scolding voice. "How?" Rei barked with fists balled at her sides. "How do I transform?"
"What do you mean you don't know how to transform?" Venus put her hands on her hips, her fingers splayed over top of a golden chain that circled her waist. "The bracelet you were given when you arrived provides you access to your powers." She explained.
Rei glanced down to the silver charms on her wrist. She frowned at the piece of jewelry that had been delivered by means of a palace guard. It had come finely wrapped, with a letter of apology from the Queen stating that she wished she could have given her daughter's guardian the trinket in person. The Martian stared at the bracelet to no avail.
Venus sighed. "Look, just concentrate, okay?"
"On what?"
"On your powers, of course. Your element is supposed to be fire, isn't it?"
Rei squinted her eyes shut. Some time passed. Her brow furrowed. Her fists clenched and unclenched. She nearly began to growl.
Venus canted her head and put her finger to her chin. "Maybe you need the opposite."
Rei opened her eyes. "Eh?"
"Stop thinking so hard, Rei."
"How am I supposed to do that?!"
"Start by being less uptight!"
"Excuse me?"
Realizing that her words were having the opposite effect, the golden warrior took several brisk strides to close the distance between herself and Rei. "I guess I have no choice but to clear your mind for you."
Rei's eyes widened at the rapidly approaching Venusian, her expression caught somewhere between fear and bewilderment. "Minako, what are you-"
But she barely had time to question. Venus ducked inside Rei's defenses, splayed her fingers across Rei's cheeks, and pulled her lips to her own. Rei found herself surrendering to Venus' kiss, loosing touch of all reality.
And that's when she felt it; a piece of her that had been there all along, a fire flowing through her veins - so hot and scalding that at first, she thought the flames that rushed through her blood with an urgent need for release would consume her.
It was pure, unadulterated power that burned through her body, and it was just as addictive as her commander's lips.
Venus released the Martian slower than she'd intended, only to find that Rei no longer stood in front of her, but Mars herself. And she was wholly unsurprised to find that she was just as interested in this crimson warrior as much as she was her civilian counterpart.
And when Mars slowly opened her eyes, so obviously dizzied and hung over from the surge of power, and maybe even from the kiss itself, Venus couldn't help but see the confusion that lingered in those dark eyes as absolutely adorable.
"I'm sorry your first kiss wasn't so gentle." Venus said teasingly.
"My first…" Mars snorted. "You seriously think you were my first kiss? Don't' flatter yourself, Venus. I'm sure I could teach you a thing or two."
"Is that so?" Venus grinned widely. "I won't forget you said that."
Mars frowned and took a moment to look at herself slowly, examining her strange new set of armor, seemingly identical to Venus' but for being red in color. Her hair had lengthened. She felt a metal band; cool and smooth across her forehead. Trembling hands reached up to her neck, and suddenly, she spat. With a vicious tug, she ripped the choker off her neck and held it in a shaky palm.
"What is this, a collar!?" She violently threw the piece of red fabric to the ground and met her leader's eyes in defiance. "I may be bound to the Princess' service, but I do not belong to her."
Venus stood unmoved, her arms crossed over her chest. "You can rip that 'collar' off now, but each time you tap into Mars' powers, it'll reappear."
"Then I'll tear it off each time."
"Forever?"
Mars scowled. "I'm here to fight for my people. The collar implies there is one person I'm bound to. And I'll continue to rip it off unless I deem someone worthy of my dedication and obedience."
Venus could only smolder under Mars' burning gaze. "Then, all things considered, I'm surprised you didn't kick off your heels and fight barefoot, too."
Mars took stock of the ridiculous red pumps on her feet. "Well, it's certainly not my style," she caught Venus' admiring gaze lingering on her legs and she grinned ferally. "But I think I'll make it work. I rather like what they do for me, after all."
The golden warrior raised a dark eyebrow and Mars smirked. The crimson warrior offered no warning as she lunged forward and engaged Venus in combat once again.
Ami and Makoto had long since abandoned the notion of sparring, and had surrendered instead to the show offered by Venus and Mars.
Makoto slapped Ami on the back as gently as a Jovian could. "So, did you awaken your powers that way, too?"
Ami stuttered slightly and began to blush. "No! I've been training alongside Venus for the past nine months." She paused then, and looked towards Makoto uncertainly, noting that she already wore her transformation bracelet. "Have you…"
Makoto chuckled. "Yeah. I've been practicing. Although I wasn't ready to leave my planet when the senshi were first called to service, my bracelet was sent to me so that I could learn my senshi skills until I was ready to leave Jupiter." She laughed merrily. "Though now I wish I hadn't. I wouldn't have minded having my powers awakened like that."
The pink blush that dusted Ami's cheeks turned a darker shade of crimson. "That was… quite unusual. Rei couldn't be found on Mars - Minako had to collect her personally. Perhaps it was just because Rei had never had the ability to access her senshi powers until now."
"Or perhaps she just likes Minako-san."
"Maa." Ami said thoughtfully, and then, taking stock of sparring match, she said amusedly, "I think you're just about up."
Mars had only just learned to form a ball of fire between her palms. Venus was testament to Mars' quick learning – the ends of her long, golden hair were singed already, and the golden warrior would have no more of it.
Unraveling the jeweled chain from around her waist, Venus attacked. The disc of dancing flames between Mars' gloved hands winked out of existence as her hands were torn away from each other and her arms were pulled tight against her sides. Venus centered her weight on her thighs and gave a firm tug on the end of her chain. Mars hit the ground, falling face first onto the hard packed dirt.
Mars groaned as she felt Venus' weight on top of her, her commander's knee relentlessly digging into the small of her back.
"You may do well with hand to hand combat, but I best you in weapons and powers. Looks like you have some work to do, Mars."
There was a long silence. The Martian went limp, submitting under the Venusian's dominance. She found herself wondering how long Venus would hold her down when she heard Ami's not so subtle prompt.
"Venus, Jupiter is up next."
"A… ah." Venus' voice was distant and awkward.
And just like that, the chain that held Mars' arms to her sides winked out of existence and the pressure of the other woman that was somehow simultaneously both painful and comforting was gone.
Mars picked herself up off the ground, distractedly patting the dust off her front as she eyed Ami relaying the findings of her sparring match with Makoto to Venus.
At length, Venus nodded. Ami took her leave as Makoto approached. The Jovian listened to words the Martian couldn't hear, and with a green-tinged glow, Makoto became Jupiter. Mars felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end from the errant electricity in the air before Jupiter and Venus engaged in each other in battle.
And not once did the leader of the senshi offer so much as a backwards glance at Mars.
"Jupiter is strong, but her tactics are undeveloped. This fight should end soon."
"Eh?" Mars looked up then. She had barely even noticed that Ami was standing beside her.
Venus and Jupiter traded several precursory blows - punches and kicks that were easily avoided in the case of the former or blocked in the case of the latter. Jupiter knew that Venus' focus was on senshi strength and weaponry, and so she called forth her powers.
A sparkling disc of lightening zipped past Venus, who ducked with more than enough time to avoid it. The Venusian's laugh was melodious. "An excellent power!" She complimented her opponent, and then lashed out with her chain. "We just need to work on your speed!"
Jupiter chuckled along with the other woman, but having watched Venus' match with Mars, she'd been prepared for that attack and summoned her weapon; a long halberd, the tip of which caught the chain of light effortlessly.
Venus whistled in appreciation and then smiled. "Well played, Jupiter, but don't presume to think that's the only trick I have up my sleeve."
Venus released her hold on her chain. Without her influence the weapon dematerialized and she was inside the Jovian's defenses faster than the taller woman could blink. In turn, she had summoned her chain of light once more; only this time it was held around Jupiter's throat.
Venus smiled widely. "Submit."
Jupiter released her halberd, useless once Venus had gotten within striking distance. "I yield!" She said merrily with no small amount of awe and respect in response to her commander's superior skill.
Mars frowned as she watched, one gloved hand forming a tight fist. 'How can they laugh so easily when all Minako and I do is argue? And why are they getting so close to each other?'
"Rei-san, are you alright?"
Rei pulled her fingers away from her lips, unaware that they had even lingered there where Venus had kissed her earlier. That hand joined its twin in a fist. "I'm fine." She barked, still glaring daggers at Jupiter.
But then, Venus stopped laughing and her wide smile fell into a white-lipped frown. The golden warrior raised her wrist to her mouth and spoke into her communicator. She nodded several times, her expression falling with every nod. Jupiter, close enough to hear the conversation, seemed to pale. Venus lowered her wrist back to her side slowly.
Finally, Venus rushed over to Mars and Mercury, and the crimson warrior was acutely aware that Venus seemed to hold her gaze the longest.
"The monsters." Venus trapped her lower lip between her teeth. "They're attacking."
Senshi strength fostered increased reflexes and speed and the protective walls of the Moon Palace - white granite with dark caramel flecks - was nothing but a milky blur as the four warriors skirted the narrow passage between the palace wall and the Tent Cities that lay beyond it.
Mercury had to struggle to keep pace with her leader, but knew it was necessary for her to do so, for Venus had a very valid concern.
"I don't know if Mars and Jupiter are ready to fight yet. Even though the monsters are easily defeated, they're dangerous when there are many of them."
Mars' wasn't far behind Venus' sprinting form and she let her displeasure be known. "I don't need this ridiculous outfit to fight any kind of monster."
Jupiter released a bitter laugh. "That's one thing the Martian and I can agree on!"
"Just lead the way," Mars barked to her commander. "We'll take care of ourselves."
Venus seemed to size up her two new warriors. Finally, she nodded and then continued to sprint even faster.
They were a blur of gold, crimson, hunter, and cobalt. The four women leapt over rooftops and dashed down back alleys, all nearly too fast for the refugees that milled along the crowded streets to track their movements, and definitely too fast for the two newest senshi to really see or understand their strange, new surroundings.
In the middle of a crowded marketplace, Venus pulled to a skidding halt and her senshi followed suit. Wide eyes examined at least a dozen of the ghoulish creatures, ghosting over the dusty ground in long, black robes as though their feet were incorporeal. Chalky, white faces seemed frozen in soundless screams as they pursued the retreating forms of the refugees. Monsters and people alike scrambled into tight alleys and jumped over merchant stalls.
They were already too late to save some. Several bodies lay bruised and broken at the market's center, though whether those casualties resulted from the rapidly retreating refugees in their haste to escape the impromptu battlefield, or as a result of the monsters themselves was not immediately apparent.
But then, two of the monsters managed to catch a child that had fallen. Grabbing the blonde youth between them, the child screamed as though the very life was being sucked from his body. And it struck the senshi that perhaps… it was.
Mercury and Venus ran to save the child, but a disc of fire beat them to it and the two creatures were instantly incinerated by the flames of Mars. The child hit the ground, worse for wear and breathing heavily, but very much alive.
Venus turned back to Mars and nodded sharply in appreciation before turning to the next closest threat.
But that was the end of the Martian's usefulness. The sudden wave of instinct drained from her as she was overcome by a sudden darkness, and her unseeing eyes watched detachedly as her comrades hurried to engage the ghostly monsters.
It wasn't long before several of their robed forms lay smoking, electrocuted by Jupiter's lightening. Two more lay waterlogged and piecemeal, drowned and torn by Mercury's icy waters. Four more had been either strangled or sliced to pieces by Venus' wrath of light and metal.
And still, Mars stood numbly.
Venus caught her breath. Her watchful gaze darted across the upturned marketplace. "There should be one more-" her eyes narrowed, "Rei!"
Although Mars couldn't hear her commander, she was all too aware of the looming form of one of those menacing monsters as it stood before her. She felt its clawed hand dig into her shoulder, and then, there was brightness. The golden glow of a chain that had earlier held her in playful submission now wrapped itself around her attacker's middle before tensing… and then tearing the monster into two distinct, bloody, pieces.
And the spell that Mars had fallen under had been broken, and with it, her transformation. Before she knew it, Venus stood before her, fuming and irate.
"I thought you said you could take care of yourself!"
Rei flinched as Venus' hands tightened around her wounded shoulder, but she couldn't help but detect the concern in her leader's eyes that belied the anger in her voice. Rei was acutely aware of Mercury's curious gaze, and even more so, Jupiter's disdainful glare.
Venus' hands, as though reassured that the wound was not life-threatening, eased into a gentle touch, but Rei slapped that hesitant gesture aside viciously.
And then, confused and torn in entirely too many directions, Rei turned and ran from her comrades.
Author's note:
I hope the bouncing back and forth between duels in the first scene wasn't too confusing. It was a balancing act to write both sparring sessions into one scene.
Thanks for your continued reviews!
OOO
Preview, Chapter 4: Hypocrite
"Ne, Rei?" Minako asked quietly.
Rei tipped her head down slightly to catch Minako's gaze. "Hn?"
"This doesn't mean anything, you know."
Rei arched an eyebrow. "What doesn't?"
Minako's smirk became a mischievous grin. Surely the moody Martian hadn't set her up on purpose? Just as she had at the sparring grounds, her fingers found Rei's cheeks, and she pulled the other woman into a kiss.
"That." Minako said hoarsely. "It doesn't mean anything."
Rei snorted. "Sure it doesn't."