A View From The Other Side
Chapter 9: "The War Nobody Wanted"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
The unicorns looked up from where they were grazing. Princess Usagi approached, flanked on one side by Sailor Saturn and on the other side by Pegasus. The presence of another male foreign to the herd made some of the members nervous. Several of the fillies looked around for Nerites. The rest parted and allowed the three winged horses through. They didn't have long to wait. From their left Nerites approached, his gaze focused entirely on Usa. Some of the unicorns watched warily as Nerites came up to them, while most of the rest returned to grazing or moved off to their own pursuits.
"Princess," Nerites said, his voice lofty and at the same time deferential. Saturn and Pegasus were ignored. "How may I assist you?"
"Actually," Usa replied with diplomatic patience, "I wanted to speak with Cassandra. I need to run a few ideas by her." Quickly she added, "You're welcome to attend as well."
"My thanks, Princess, for being in your presence makes the day that much brighter," Nerites replied. As he turned to lead them to Cassandra, Usa glanced at Saturn and rolled her eyes. Saturn giggled. Pegasus, though, was not amused.
"Princess Usagi," Cassandra said, bowing her head to the pink and white horse. "What do you seek to know?"
"Do you know of any other worlds like this one?" Usa asked her. "Worlds without living populations, but worlds that could sustain the Skoteinos?"
"What you seek is difficult, Princess," Cassandra responded. "What world could sustain the Skoteinos without having living organisms for them to feed upon? It would be like asking for a world without plants to sustain the unicorn, or a world without small game to sustain the wolves."
"Unless you do not consider the plants to be living populations," Nerites added. "While I feed on such things, I do not consider them things without life. Are not the things you consume things that were once alive?"
Usa's eyes sought the ground.
"I know what you attempt, Princess," Nerites continued. "You seek to give the Skoteinos a world in which they may thrive without it being at the expense of the equines or the wolves. Your nobility shines through once more. But I fear you cannot arrive at a solution where no one is harmed. You must make a choice: Either allow the status quo to continue, banish one of the competing races, or destroy one."
Drawing a long breath, Usa contemplated the alternatives. Finally she looked at Nerites and Cassandra soberly.
"All right," she said. "Are there any worlds without SENTIENT life that could sustain the Skoteinos?"
"I know of none, Princess," responded Cassandra. "But I confess I have not seen every world out there. If I could join with another that has some sight, perhaps I could find such a world as you seek." Cassandra glanced at Saturn. "This one, perhaps?"
"I-I'll do whatever I can," Saturn stammered. "I do have some psychic ability, but I'm not trained."
"It matters not," Cassandra told her. "I know how to look. You can give me the ability to look farther."
Cassandra led Saturn to an ancient tree near the hill. Usa followed, curious. Nerites attempted to move in next to her, but he was cut off by Pegasus. The steed silently warned Nerites away while extending a wing protectively over Usa. Nerites chuckled and moved to a vantage point opposite the others.
"I will touch my horn to your forehead," Cassandra explained. "Do not be frightened. I draw nothing from you. I merely extend my vision through your eyes and allow us both to see that which cannot be seen now."
"All right," Saturn nodded.
Cassandra touched her horn to Saturn's forehead, just between her ears. Saturn's eyes closed. Usa thought she saw Saturn's violet aura swirl around the two equines. Cassandra stared out into the distance, but she was seeing something other than the groves of trees and the sweeping grasslands of this world.
"Speak you, Oh Cassandra," Nerites requested in a calm but commanding voice. "What see you?"
"Worlds upon worlds," Cassandra heaved with a sigh of fatigue. "Worlds barren and devoid of life. Worlds teaming with life. Many worlds and many different creatures upon those worlds. Their capacity for sentience varies greatly, but all possess the ability to perceive."
"Maiden," Pegasus murmured, nudging the horse with his nose.
Usa looked at him and he pointed to the sky. Sailor Pallas was flying their way in a great hurry. As the horse landed, Usa moved to meet her, with Pegasus by her side.
"Pallas, what is it?" Usa asked.
"The bad clouds are coming!" Pallas exclaimed. "Some of them joined together and made one big cloud! Vesta and Juno and Ceres are fighting it now! Pallas tried to fight it, but she wasn't strong enough to hold it!"
"Show me! Take me there!" Usa commanded. She turned to Saturn and Cassandra. "Keep looking! I'll be back!" Nerites looked on anxiously, but she didn't respond.
"Maiden," Pegasus said, holding her back. "Perhaps you should transform first." Usa nodded.
"How did you four run into the Skoteinos?" Sailor Moon questioned Sailor Pallas as the pair flew through the late afternoon sky.
"Vesta went looking for the bad clouds to see what they were doing," Pallas explained. "And she talked to the wolfies and they warned Vesta the bad clouds were coming. And we all saw the bad clouds trying to join up and become one big cloud and we tried to stop them." Pallas looked away. "But we couldn't. And Vesta turned into a dino bird and Juno made it rain really hard and Pallas tried to squash it with her head, but nothing worked!"
"And you're sure they're attacking?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Vesta and Juno said they were," Pallas related. "They think maybe the bad cloud found about the little cloud getting killed by Miss Saturn-Ma'am and the winged horsies."
"What do you think, Helios?" Sailor Moon thought to the being that shared a form with her.
"The cloud creatures could have the ability to communicate with each other," Helios thought back to her. "If that is the case, they could also have the ability to sense the distress of another. If so, their behavior is logical. They would link up to form a larger entity for greater self-defense, and would seek out those who killed the other Skoteinos."
"Are they capable of revenge?"
"It is not known. It may be a simple defense mechanism: eradicate something demonstrated to be deadly to the species."
"Just what we did to that mist creature," Sailor Moon thought. Turning to Pallas, she asked, "Can you sense if the others are all right?"
"Pallas will ask," Pallas answered, then concentrated. Immediately her face lit up. "They're very well, thank you! Vesta and Juno and Ceres are coming to meet us!"
Moments later, Sailor Moon and Sailor Pallas met up with the other Asteroid Senshi. The five flying equines landed.
"What's the status on the mist creature?" Sailor Moon asked.
"It's dead," Juno reported, a cautious eye shot toward Ceres.
"What happened?"
"Well . . ."
"I poisoned it," Ceres admitted. "I know you didn't want to kill these things - - but I didn't see any other way to stop it."
Sailor Moon digested this. "OK," she nodded.
Ceres was surprised by the response.
"Ceres, I trust your judgment. You were there. I wasn't," Sailor Moon told her. "I trust all of your judgements." She smirked. "Well, maybe not Vesta if she's in a nightclub - - but if we're in battle, I trust you four to make the right call."
She noticed her senshi swell with pride.
"The problem is if this action was retaliation for the last death, like you three think it was, it's going to draw an even bigger attack," Sailor Moon assessed. "We have to be ready for that."
"That's OK," Vesta replied. "Between Saturn and Ceres, we know we can take them down."
"There's going to be a lot of potential loss from another fight, though," Juno countered.
"So we take the fight to them," Vesta argued. "Instead of waiting for them to attack, we take them out before they can attack."
"No, Vesta," Sailor Moon said. "I still want to resolve this peacefully, if that's still possible. Knowing we can kill them is something we keep as a last resort, not a first response."
Vesta didn't argue because she knew it was futile. Sailor Moon lifted off and headed back to the unicorn herd, her senshi falling in behind her. When they landed, Nerites came out to greet them.
"You have eradicated another of the Skoteinos," he observed. "I know this distresses you, Princess, but from my perspective this is a good thing. And I know the winged horses and the wolves, and even the rodents they feed upon, share my sentiments."
"Have Cassandra and Saturn found anything?" Sailor Moon asked, brushing the subject aside.
"Not yet, Princess," Nerites replied. "Naturally they will continue looking until you tell them to stop. But you may wish to consider the possibility that they will not find a world suitable for what you plan."
"I've already considered that," Sailor Moon answered. She turned to the Asteroids. "We're going to need to set up perimeter patrols to watch for another Skoteinos attack. Four hour shifts, everybody takes turns. I'll take the first watch. Pallas, you need to be ready to receive and relay any telepathic message from whoever is on patrol if they spot something." She turned back to Nerites. "Tell your people to be on guard. There's probably going to be another attempt by the Skoteinos. We've killed two of them now. I don't think they're going to sit for that."
"In the wild, one is always on guard," Nerites replied. "But I shall do as you ask. Still, I wish you would not risk yourself, Princess." And he approached again, cutting the distance between them to an intimate length.
"It's OK, Nerites. It's what I do. And besides," and she turned to push off into the air, "Helios is with me."
Sailor Moon gained the sky and flew off toward the west to begin her patrol.
"That was an undiplomatic barb, Maiden," she felt Helios think. "You surprise me."
"Some people you have to rap on the nose with a stick," Sailor Moon thought back. "And it's true: I never have to be afraid when you're with me."
"It warms me to know those are your true sentiments, Maiden," Helios thought to her.
The patrol settled into a routine. Sailor Moon, at the suggestion of Helios, would often glide on the wind currents in order to save her strength and increase her stamina. Even so, she would need to set down and rest periodically. There was nothing unusual to see. As night began to fall over Helicon, there was little for Sailor Moon to see other than herds of flying horses begin to bed down and packs of wolves come out to hunt.
"Helios," Sailor Moon asked out of the blue, "why did your father leave this place?"
"I do not know, Maiden," Helios thought back to her. "But by the way Mother always described him, I think he was caught by a need for adventure."
"Adventure?"
"From what I have observed, there is little to life on Helicon other than eating, mating and avoiding becoming prey," Helios explained. "The unicorn my mother described to me wanted more. As such, he journeyed to Elysian to find something different."
"Well pardon me for saying so," Sailor Moon observed, "but if someone is looking for adventure, the last place that someone is going to find it is in Elysian. Unless he was there when Queen Neherenia invaded."
"He was not," Helios answered. "And you are quite correct, Maiden. Life on Elysian was little different than life here. In fact the only difference was my mother. And it was difference enough to convince him to stay - - a little while."
"Do you remember him at all?"
"Bits and pieces," Helios confessed. "Mother's stories have created more of an impression of him than any contact I had. Not even the love he had for my mother could curb the need he had to experience things. It was that need that led him to leave, though he vowed that he would return. And it was that need that eventually led to his demise. But I understand the lure he felt. I, too, have now experienced things that would make my permanently returning to Elysian a condemnation rather than a homecoming. I now much prefer living on Earth. And I much prefer living with you."
"Awwww," Sailor Moon sighed. "Mental smoochies."
Night had fallen now. Sailor Moon had another hour in her patrol. It was again hard to see, so she once more commanded her Luna-P locket to convert into a spotlight. Scanning the ground with her light revealed the occasional rodent scurrying out of cover. There was no sign of the Skoteinos.
"Where do you suppose they are, Helios?" Sailor Moon asked, the wind whipping through her pink mane.
"Perhaps they have retreated rather than risk more of their kind dying," suggested Helios.
"I wish that were it," Sailor Moon replied, "but I can't depend on it."
"Maiden," Helios began cautiously, "what will you do if there is no peaceful way to solve this conflict?"
"There's got to be a way," she thought back stubbornly. "I can't accept that - - that one of these populations has to die."
At that moment, her beam ran across a wolf trapped against the side of a ridge at the edge of the forest. It's back was against the rock and it faced a deadly Skoteinos cloud on all sides. The wolf snarled a warning, its teeth bared. But Sailor Moon could tell that it was a desperate bluff by a desperate creature faced with imminent demise. And the Skoteinos weren't intimidated either. The cloud kept inching closer to the trapped wolf.
Swooping over the cloud, Sailor Moon's horn began to glow with pink energy.
"Moon Princess Halation!" she shouted and covered the swirling mass of black mist with pink energy.
The moment the pink energy blanketed the cloud, it receded. The swirling slowed down. The advance stopped. The cloud just hung in place, unmoving, stuporous. Taking advantage of the reprieve, Sailor Moon swooped down next to the wolf. For its part, the wolf growled at her, all the while trying to somehow push itself through the rock at its back.
"Jump on my back!" Sailor Moon ordered. "I'll fly you to safety!"
"Why?" asked the wolf suspiciously.
"Why?" Sailor Moon goggled. "Because you need help!"
"And how do you benefit?" demanded the wolf.
"I-I benefit by seeing you alive! Look, there isn't time for this! I don't know how long that Skoteinos is going to be under! Get on my back or you're going to die!"
Faced with the prospect of giving itself over to a potential enemy or a real one, the wolf chose Sailor Moon and leaped up onto her back. With the wolf balanced precariously atop her, Sailor Moon pushed up into the sky. She soared about seventy-five yards from the cloud creature and set down. Immediately the wolf leaped from her back and turned to intercept any attack she might make. When she made no attack, the wolf relaxed.
"Are you going to kill it now?" the wolf asked.
"No," Sailor Moon replied. "I'm trying to find a way to settle this without killing anyone."
The wolf snorted contemptuously, then darted into the woods. Sailor Moon stood there, dumbfounded.
"Everybody's a critic," she huffed.
"I'm sorry we couldn't find anything," Sailor Saturn said. She and Cassandra were walking up the hill toward where the Asteroid Senshi were camped.
"We will try again tomorrow," Cassandra assured her. "I am discouraged, but not defeated. But now we must rest. It is dark and the time for unnecessary movement is past."
The winged horse and the unicorn continued to mount the hill. Suddenly, though, Cassandra stopped. As Saturn looked to her, she turned and looked out over the pasture surrounding the hill.
"What is it?" Saturn asked.
"I feel their presence," Cassandra said intently. The unicorn looked out over the pasture. "Yet I see nothing."
Saturn concentrated, trying to find a dark shape or some sort of movement in the black of the night. There was a low-lying fog on the grass, but nothing unusual. Still, a couple of the unicorns still awake pawed nervously at the ground with their hooves.
"I don't see anything," Saturn said. "Just the fog."
Cassandra turned to her.
"What is fog?" the unicorn asked her. Saturn was about to reply, but the unicorn read the explanation telepathically. At once, she seized up with alarm.
"The Skoteinos . . .!" Cassandra exclaimed.
And a cloud of black mist rose up from the grass, surrounding the herd as the fog coalesced into the inky Skoteinos. Whinnies of alarm rose up as the cloud enveloped the herd.
Continued in Chapter 10
