The rain had been falling steadily since afternoon and well into the night over Tokyo, forcing people to stay indoors for the majority of the day. Rei Hino sat before the sacred fires dressed in her miko robes, trying to interpret a vision she had earlier. This sixth sense was both a blessing and curse; it allowed her to sense danger, and as Sailor Mars, be able to sense when Earth was in danger. However most of the time, she could get only a vague understanding of what these revelations were.
Tonight was different though, her instincts were telling someone was in danger, not the entire planet. Sitting at the fire she closed her eyes and concentrated, the vision gradually coming to her once again. The miko saw three shadowed figures in an inky blackness, kneeling before a crowd. Dark figures could be seen behind the four kneeling, holding swords. Suddenly a sword fell upon two of them, the red blood splashing to the ground. Not far from the crowd, another figure disappeared in a beam of yellow light that turned into sparkles.
Rei gasped as the vision came to an abrupt end. It was unnerving, but she saw two of the three figures felled by swords were in sailor fukus and wondered if other senshi were in danger. It had been six months since their defeat of Galaxia; Luna had said that there should a permanent peace was to take place and there would not become a new threat to the galaxy. The fire senshi was torn between telling the other senshi and keeping silent until she knew more. If Sailor senshi were in danger, then they could ignore their plight. Still, the mysterious figure that had disappeared was surely one of them and might be coming to Earth to seek help. All she could do was wait and pray that whatever were befalling these sailor senshi would not become a new threat to the galaxy.
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Sailor Star Healer felt the cold air of space turn into the warm and heavy atmosphere of Earth, and sighed in silent relief. Her energy was nearly depleted by this inter-galactic trek and her injuries; she would need to find a safe place to land before it was completely gone. As she traversed over the land in shooting star form, something cold and wet began to soak her in the darkness, pelting the wound on her back, causing it to sear with pain.
Oh yes, she thought, that's rain. It had been a long while since she had felt precipitation that it seemed almost foreign to her. Healer searched for a shrine among a small town and came to the startling conclusion that she was far from Tokyo. Without warning, her vision blurred and she felt as though she would faint, the last of her strength was fading now. Her senses were dulling causing her to go in and out of consciousness. In a split second decision, the small Starlight decided to land before she crashed to the ground. Healer saw a clear place in a garden, and decided that it would be easiest to set down there. Her landing did not go as smoothly as she had intended; as the silver-haired Starlight descended her awareness left her once again, sending her hurdling into the surrounding trees and bushes. When she came to again, Healer felt blinding pain throughout her entire body. In the darkness, she could not tell the extent of the damage, but she knew that she needed to move. She shivered as the rain dripping her face. Getting to her knees, and then shakily to her legs she stumbled out of the bushes, only to sink to her knees very hard only a few feet away sweating without knowing why. Healer collapsed and her henshin faded, leaving her in in the last thing she wore the last time she was a civilian, the suit she wore in the guise of Yaten Kou from the Threelights. The rain soon drenched through it as the figure lay unconscious, her arm laying over a unlit stone lantern.
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Motou Shina, an old miko priestess at Satekomo shrine, had finished the evening meal and had began to prepare for bed when she heard a loud crash just outside the shrine. She knew that there were few animals around and that the crash sounded to resonating for even that. After searching for a moment for a flashlight and umbrella, she stepped under the sweeping roof and looked out. With the dim light, she could see the outline of something sprawled across one of the lanterns, a human figure. A moment of shock was soon followed by a flurry of action as she called another priestess to help her as she ran out to the fallen person. The elderly miko knelt to look at the face and was surprised at how feminine it looked. She glanced at the masculine clothes with some bemusement, wondering if they were a disguise of some sort. With the help of the other priestess, they carefully lifted the unconscious figure and brought her inside.
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Healer was only slightly aware that someone had picked her up. In the dark recesses of unconsciousness, she felt a searing heat that coursed through her entire body. Her senses resurfaced for a moment or two, long enough to feel herself being laid onto something soft, something she had not felt for over three weeks, a bed. Something wet and cool was laid against her forehead. She saw though blurred images an old woman dressed in miko robes kneeling near her. The silver-haired Starlight tried to speak but her throat clinched and she could only manage a garbled sound.
Healer felt her chest clench and her lime colored eyes began to fill with tears. She had failed to reach Hino Rei's shrine and now could be days away from reaching her. Everyday that she wasted could be the last for her comrades and she would not get the help they needed in time. More tears streamed down her face as she thought of Fighter and Maker's suffering they had taken on her behalf; she could only imagine the punishment that was invoked for their distraction of the crowd. Healer cried until she had no more tears to shed, and fatigue overwhelmed her. Her eyes fluttered shut as she said a silent prayer for the friends she had back on her planet.
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The old priestess watched as the tears finally stopped as the young woman slipped into an exhausted sleep. She wondered what on earth could have made her cry in such a manner. As the injured girl rolled onto her side, she noted that on top of the waterlogged clothes, a red stain had begun to seep through the back of the powder blue jacket. She wasted no time; calling for her assistant to fetch a yukata and the first aid kit, she carefully pulled off the jacket to reveal a feminine figure outline in the dark blue shirt and crimson tie. Priestess Motou also noted that the shirt did not fit as well as should have, the cloth seemed too ill fitting at the stomach and arms. As soon as the younger priestess returned with the supplies, she carefully and gently bandaged the young woman's back before the miko in training fetched clean towels. Together, the two dried the drenched skin, removed the rest of her soaked garments and placed the patient in the yukata.
It was only after examination that they realized that the child had obviously been starved for quite a while, even abused from the look of her slashed back and few bruises that were beginning to fade. They were both shocked by the thin layer of skin that covered the young lady's ribs. Scratches and cuts were thankfully the only harm that was done from their patient's fall. Deciding that it would be necessary to question the girl later about that, she focused on the fever that was wracking the young girl's body. She and her apprentice took a few hand towels, wetting them and placing one on the forehead, neck and arms in an attempt to absorb the heat while they slid water between the unconscious girl's chapped lips. This went on well into the early hours of morning, until the high temperature finally dissipated. Sighing with relief, the older priestess removed the rags before tucking a blanket around the young lady's shoulder. The injured woman's breaths were deep and steady in deep slumber. Her assistant lowered the lantern light so only a small glow flowed from it, and quietly bid her guest good night.
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Author Notes: Hi everyone, hope you all had a good Passover and Easter.
Thank you so much to Cademy Sadence and Joycy for their reviews. And thank you for everyone who has put this story in their favs or watches. I really appreciate it.
Please don't forget to read and review this chapter. Thanks!
Motou-surname meaning "base" or "origin"
Shina- first name meaning "truth"
