Chapter 1. Armor of the Rainsong
The New York Aquarium, home to many aquatic life including fish, crustaceans, whales, penguins, and dolphins the most popular attraction at the park. However, the performance the animals gave this morning was not one practiced in any of the rehearsed routines.
Kitt stared up at the ceiling of the medical unit that Rebecca and Majana had brought her to. The white walls surrounding her made her feel a bit uneasy, but what was even more disturbing was the little ebony orb she held tenaciously in her fist. She looked at it, reflectively, wondering what the detailed oriental character meant. For that matter, she wondered how she came to posses it in the first place. "Kitt-chan, is okay?" she heard a voice ask. She smiled, faintly, then sat up on the cot she had been reclining on. She looked to the open doorway, her eyes meeting the focused gaze of her friend. "Tatami-kun. Hai! I'm okay." she replied, cheerfully. "Is sure?" She smiled, warmly and answered, "Yes. I'm fine, really." The raven-haired boy smiled, softly and bowed, deeply. "If Kitt-chan need help, Tatami here." "Thank you." she said. "You're such a good friend." He smiled, bowed once more, then turned to take his leave. "OH! Wait a minute! Tatami-kun, maybe you can help me with something." Tatami stopped where he was and turned to face her. Kitt opened her hand, displaying the dark orb to him. He walked over to the bedside to examine the shimmering gem, closer. "Is beautiful ball. Where you find?" he asked. "I don't know." she admitted. "When the others pulled me from the water, I just sort of had it in my hand." "So.you no know where come from?" "No, I don't. The water, I would think. But, Tatami-kun, look there." she said, pointing to the foreign writing. "I don't know, but, can you read that?" "Hai! Is Japanese." "Oh! Well, what does it say?" "It say, 'chokkan'." "Chokkan? What does that mean?" Tatami, not fully proficient in English speech, groped for a way to convey the definition of the word. "It mean," he began. "To see, not with own eye, but with eye of heart." He sighed. "Tatami no know how to say it other way." "It's alright. I think I understand what you mean. Thank you." "Hai!" he said, simply, as he returned the jewel back to its bearer. He looked at them for a moment, thoughtfully, then said, "Kitt-chan, you take good care of, okay?" "Huh? O-.okay. But, why?" "Is old Japanese legend. Tell story of great water fish who give important gift to one what deserve it. Is special. Is like ball Kitt-chan have. You keep. Take good care of, yes?" "Oh.okay, Tatami. I will." she answered, taking another look at the crystalline gem while wondering if there was any truth in Tatami's words.
---
"'Great water fish'." Kitt mused in silent thought as she trekked along the course sands of the beach once more. "Odd. He says it as though there could be fish that live outside the seas." The aquarium's doctor thought it best for her to retire early, that evening and get some rest. Of course she knew that that was unlikely to happen, not with the morning she already had. She withdrew the small orb from her pocket, studying it as she walked. "I wish he knew English enough to tell me the whole legend. It may have even shed some light on where you came from." The sun was beaming its golden light on all that fell under its rule with a fury. The sunbathers found themselves retreating to the shade of beach umbrellas and boardwalk planks while others relieved themselves in the cool depths of the Atlantic. Yet, despite the heat, Kitt couldn't have been cooler. It was strange to her. Normally, she would have burned along with the rest, but not so, today. "I wonder if Tatami's legend." she began, but was interrupted by the sound of an explosion followed by a mass of fleeting people rushing toward her. Despite the obvious fear and panic in the eyes of the oncoming rush, Kitt did not take flight with them. Instead, she moved against them, forward, toward the peril. The mass of retreating bodies began to ebb the further she went. In truth, she herself didn't know why she was so intent on confronting the threat instead of heeding it. It was as though she were moving under a will not her own. When she finally reached the source of everyone's distress, she gasped in immeasurable awe. "By the sun." she breathed. Before her, engaged in mortal combat were several humanoid creatures decked in phenomenal battle armor, the likes she had never seen. For the most part, the appearance of the armored warriors were uniform, all wearing murky green and grey colors. Yet, there was one among them who vastly stood out. Dressed in shinning sky blue and immaculate silver armor, he seemed to be the light in the darkness.and hopelessly outnumbered. Regardless of his obvious disadvantage, he fought against the multitude of darker warriors, valiantly. Kitt looked on as the battle raged. Oddly, she didn't feel compelled to run. She was a captive audience. Her attention was so focused on the commotion, that she hadn't noticed the dark jewel in her hand begin to glow. The Japanese character within its center flared, once, then twice, then exploded in an awesome array of deep azure light. She yelped in shock, as she was engulfed in its brightness. When the luminescence finally ebbed, Kitt slowly opened her eyes. She had shielded them from the light with her forearms and once her eyes opened to receive vision, the sight she saw was shocking to say the least. Her small body, covered in rich, black, metallic armor, similar to that of the blue warrior's, catching the light of the sun's rays magnificently. Her helmet looked like his as well, save the color. Black exterior, silvery blue visor drawn over her visage. Also like her cerulean counterpart, her weapon was a tri-pronged Japanese trident, or, yari. It was somewhat smaller than his and instead of a gold and ebony yin & yang symbol on its face, it was a silvery blue crescent moon with a water droplet dangling off its tip. Shocked beyond all belief, she could only looked at her attire and wonder just what was going on. "Stars above.what is this?" she breathed. "Rainsong." a voice whispered. ".Rainsong." "That.voice." Kitt whispered. ".who?"
---
"Bloody Hell! I can't keep this up!" Cye thought, as he continued to battle, quite literally, for his life. "Geez! I need--." he began, but was interrupted by the luminous explosion nearby. "What in the world." he whispered, venturing a glance over in the direction. The dark soldiers he had been battling against had paused in their fight, also curious to know what was going on. When the sable armored warrior was revealed to be the one shrouded in the light, all the present were caught by surprise, especially Cye. "Not again." he breathed. "Huh?" he mused, as he turned to see the dark warriors take their leave, vanishing from sight. "Puh!" he snorted. "I guess they know when they're not needed. He gave me a hard time when we last met. I barely beat him. And I nearly destroyed the sea when I did.not to mention myself." He lifted his weapon, readying himself for battle. "I'll not make the same mistakes twice."
---
Kitt had to pull her eyes away from her awesome armor, forcing herself to return her gaze to the others. Just as she did, the dark warriors suddenly vanished, leaving the cerulean one behind. "Why'd they run?" she mused. "Are they afraid.?" Just then, she saw the blue armored fighter ready himself for a fight. Kitt gasped. "Oh no.! What is he thinking? Did they run.because of him?" Cye wondered why the black warrior before him made no move to fight. He assumed it was waiting for him to make the first move. ".if that's what you want, mate!" he said, as withdrew the small dagger, or tanto, from his back and threw it at his opponent. Kitt gasped as she saw the tanto slice evenly through the air, flying towards her. She shut her eyes, tightly and impulsively swung at the knife with the weapon in her grasp. She narrowly nicked the blade, deflecting its path from piercing her body. She heard the clang of metal against metal and dared to open her eyes, once more. "No!" she yelped, as she leapt out of the way of an aril assault from her attacker. His weapon landed firmly where she had previously been, barely missing her evading form. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "I thought I proved to you before who the real Torrent was, but I guess I was wrong!" he shouted, back. "Torrent?! What on Earth are you talking about?!" "Ha! I'm not falling for your tricks! I see they redesigned you, but no matter. I beat you once and I'll do it, again!" "Beat me once? I've never even seen you before!" "Right, and you never will, again!" he said, leaping back into action. He lunged at her, weapon drawn and engaged her in close combat. Fortunately for Kitt, she had been raised in an African village in Nairobi and so trained in the art of various fighting practices, including spear fighting. Though not as skilled as her contender, she managed to hold her own. Cye was confused. When he had fought evil Torrent before, he was doing everything he could just to remain standing. Yet, battling against this revised Torrent, he was barely doing anything at all. He wondered how his twin would fair against his Super Wave Smasher. He entertained the notion as he jumped back from his adversary, taking the stance for his attack. "You know, you're not very good." he said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were a girl. .you certainly fight like one, anyway." Kitt was furious. "YOU IDIOT! OF COURSE I'M A GIRL!!" she shouted, not at all bothering to control her anger. ".what?" he mused, as he watched her take the offensive. She ran at him, head on, intent on showing him just what a girl was capable of doing. Yet, in her fury, she hadn't noticed him bracing for the oncoming attack. When she thrust her weapon at him, he countered by grabbing it with his own and flipping her over. She landed in the sand, square on her back, a delicate pain inching up her spine. She made a motion to get up, but before she could move further, she found herself pinned to the ground by her armored foe. He sat atop her mid torso, pressing her arms at her sides with the strength of his legs. He leaned over her, just a bit, taking a close look at the armor covering her. Then, like a child opening a package, he carefully removed the helmet from her head. "Woah!" he gasped, taking in the appearance of her. Deep midnight eyes set in fine cocoa-colored skin, with rich nut-brown locks cascading down the intricate contours of her visage. Her full, pouty lips, charming button nose and furrowed brows conveyed the silent frustration she kept, though belayed not the unmistakable characteristics of a woman. Cye quickly got to his feet, keeping a fair distance from the angry female for good measure. She scrambled to her feet, annoyed and embarrassed, but tried, none the less, to maintain her pride. Cye couldn't help but smile.just a bit. "I don't know what the Dynasty is trying to pull," he started, as he banished his battle armor, leaving him in only his sub-armor. "But this fight will have to wait until you can find an opponent." "Oh. So you give up, then?" she asked. "No." he replied, turning his back on her. "I just don't fight girls, that's all." If Kitt was mad before, she was absolutely livid, now. "WHY YOU ARROGANT, SEXIST, CHAUVINISTIC." she yelled, too enraged to think of any other terms to berate him. Instead of probing her vocabulary further, she hurled her weapon at his inattentive backside. However, Cye was better than that. Without so much as turning around, he grasped the weapon before it met him, plucking it out of the sky. "Bad form to strike at someone without warning, and in the back, no less! 'Tis a deplorable thing you do, Love." he said, nonchalantly. "Don't YOU call me that!" she roared. He tossed her a somewhat cocky grin, then stabbed the sand with her more petite yari. "There. It's yours. I would hand it to you, but then.I might lose a limb if I ventured that close to you." Kitt fumed, silently. "It was nice meeting you and all, but I really must go. Until next time." he concluded, as he began his walk across the sand, away from sight. "What a jerk." Kitt spat, as she retrieved her helmet. She walked over to her weapon, pulling it from the sand, then looked up at his departing form. "If I ever do come across him again.it'll be too soon."
Kitt Mouri-chan.
The New York Aquarium, home to many aquatic life including fish, crustaceans, whales, penguins, and dolphins the most popular attraction at the park. However, the performance the animals gave this morning was not one practiced in any of the rehearsed routines.
Kitt stared up at the ceiling of the medical unit that Rebecca and Majana had brought her to. The white walls surrounding her made her feel a bit uneasy, but what was even more disturbing was the little ebony orb she held tenaciously in her fist. She looked at it, reflectively, wondering what the detailed oriental character meant. For that matter, she wondered how she came to posses it in the first place. "Kitt-chan, is okay?" she heard a voice ask. She smiled, faintly, then sat up on the cot she had been reclining on. She looked to the open doorway, her eyes meeting the focused gaze of her friend. "Tatami-kun. Hai! I'm okay." she replied, cheerfully. "Is sure?" She smiled, warmly and answered, "Yes. I'm fine, really." The raven-haired boy smiled, softly and bowed, deeply. "If Kitt-chan need help, Tatami here." "Thank you." she said. "You're such a good friend." He smiled, bowed once more, then turned to take his leave. "OH! Wait a minute! Tatami-kun, maybe you can help me with something." Tatami stopped where he was and turned to face her. Kitt opened her hand, displaying the dark orb to him. He walked over to the bedside to examine the shimmering gem, closer. "Is beautiful ball. Where you find?" he asked. "I don't know." she admitted. "When the others pulled me from the water, I just sort of had it in my hand." "So.you no know where come from?" "No, I don't. The water, I would think. But, Tatami-kun, look there." she said, pointing to the foreign writing. "I don't know, but, can you read that?" "Hai! Is Japanese." "Oh! Well, what does it say?" "It say, 'chokkan'." "Chokkan? What does that mean?" Tatami, not fully proficient in English speech, groped for a way to convey the definition of the word. "It mean," he began. "To see, not with own eye, but with eye of heart." He sighed. "Tatami no know how to say it other way." "It's alright. I think I understand what you mean. Thank you." "Hai!" he said, simply, as he returned the jewel back to its bearer. He looked at them for a moment, thoughtfully, then said, "Kitt-chan, you take good care of, okay?" "Huh? O-.okay. But, why?" "Is old Japanese legend. Tell story of great water fish who give important gift to one what deserve it. Is special. Is like ball Kitt-chan have. You keep. Take good care of, yes?" "Oh.okay, Tatami. I will." she answered, taking another look at the crystalline gem while wondering if there was any truth in Tatami's words.
---
"'Great water fish'." Kitt mused in silent thought as she trekked along the course sands of the beach once more. "Odd. He says it as though there could be fish that live outside the seas." The aquarium's doctor thought it best for her to retire early, that evening and get some rest. Of course she knew that that was unlikely to happen, not with the morning she already had. She withdrew the small orb from her pocket, studying it as she walked. "I wish he knew English enough to tell me the whole legend. It may have even shed some light on where you came from." The sun was beaming its golden light on all that fell under its rule with a fury. The sunbathers found themselves retreating to the shade of beach umbrellas and boardwalk planks while others relieved themselves in the cool depths of the Atlantic. Yet, despite the heat, Kitt couldn't have been cooler. It was strange to her. Normally, she would have burned along with the rest, but not so, today. "I wonder if Tatami's legend." she began, but was interrupted by the sound of an explosion followed by a mass of fleeting people rushing toward her. Despite the obvious fear and panic in the eyes of the oncoming rush, Kitt did not take flight with them. Instead, she moved against them, forward, toward the peril. The mass of retreating bodies began to ebb the further she went. In truth, she herself didn't know why she was so intent on confronting the threat instead of heeding it. It was as though she were moving under a will not her own. When she finally reached the source of everyone's distress, she gasped in immeasurable awe. "By the sun." she breathed. Before her, engaged in mortal combat were several humanoid creatures decked in phenomenal battle armor, the likes she had never seen. For the most part, the appearance of the armored warriors were uniform, all wearing murky green and grey colors. Yet, there was one among them who vastly stood out. Dressed in shinning sky blue and immaculate silver armor, he seemed to be the light in the darkness.and hopelessly outnumbered. Regardless of his obvious disadvantage, he fought against the multitude of darker warriors, valiantly. Kitt looked on as the battle raged. Oddly, she didn't feel compelled to run. She was a captive audience. Her attention was so focused on the commotion, that she hadn't noticed the dark jewel in her hand begin to glow. The Japanese character within its center flared, once, then twice, then exploded in an awesome array of deep azure light. She yelped in shock, as she was engulfed in its brightness. When the luminescence finally ebbed, Kitt slowly opened her eyes. She had shielded them from the light with her forearms and once her eyes opened to receive vision, the sight she saw was shocking to say the least. Her small body, covered in rich, black, metallic armor, similar to that of the blue warrior's, catching the light of the sun's rays magnificently. Her helmet looked like his as well, save the color. Black exterior, silvery blue visor drawn over her visage. Also like her cerulean counterpart, her weapon was a tri-pronged Japanese trident, or, yari. It was somewhat smaller than his and instead of a gold and ebony yin & yang symbol on its face, it was a silvery blue crescent moon with a water droplet dangling off its tip. Shocked beyond all belief, she could only looked at her attire and wonder just what was going on. "Stars above.what is this?" she breathed. "Rainsong." a voice whispered. ".Rainsong." "That.voice." Kitt whispered. ".who?"
---
"Bloody Hell! I can't keep this up!" Cye thought, as he continued to battle, quite literally, for his life. "Geez! I need--." he began, but was interrupted by the luminous explosion nearby. "What in the world." he whispered, venturing a glance over in the direction. The dark soldiers he had been battling against had paused in their fight, also curious to know what was going on. When the sable armored warrior was revealed to be the one shrouded in the light, all the present were caught by surprise, especially Cye. "Not again." he breathed. "Huh?" he mused, as he turned to see the dark warriors take their leave, vanishing from sight. "Puh!" he snorted. "I guess they know when they're not needed. He gave me a hard time when we last met. I barely beat him. And I nearly destroyed the sea when I did.not to mention myself." He lifted his weapon, readying himself for battle. "I'll not make the same mistakes twice."
---
Kitt had to pull her eyes away from her awesome armor, forcing herself to return her gaze to the others. Just as she did, the dark warriors suddenly vanished, leaving the cerulean one behind. "Why'd they run?" she mused. "Are they afraid.?" Just then, she saw the blue armored fighter ready himself for a fight. Kitt gasped. "Oh no.! What is he thinking? Did they run.because of him?" Cye wondered why the black warrior before him made no move to fight. He assumed it was waiting for him to make the first move. ".if that's what you want, mate!" he said, as withdrew the small dagger, or tanto, from his back and threw it at his opponent. Kitt gasped as she saw the tanto slice evenly through the air, flying towards her. She shut her eyes, tightly and impulsively swung at the knife with the weapon in her grasp. She narrowly nicked the blade, deflecting its path from piercing her body. She heard the clang of metal against metal and dared to open her eyes, once more. "No!" she yelped, as she leapt out of the way of an aril assault from her attacker. His weapon landed firmly where she had previously been, barely missing her evading form. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "I thought I proved to you before who the real Torrent was, but I guess I was wrong!" he shouted, back. "Torrent?! What on Earth are you talking about?!" "Ha! I'm not falling for your tricks! I see they redesigned you, but no matter. I beat you once and I'll do it, again!" "Beat me once? I've never even seen you before!" "Right, and you never will, again!" he said, leaping back into action. He lunged at her, weapon drawn and engaged her in close combat. Fortunately for Kitt, she had been raised in an African village in Nairobi and so trained in the art of various fighting practices, including spear fighting. Though not as skilled as her contender, she managed to hold her own. Cye was confused. When he had fought evil Torrent before, he was doing everything he could just to remain standing. Yet, battling against this revised Torrent, he was barely doing anything at all. He wondered how his twin would fair against his Super Wave Smasher. He entertained the notion as he jumped back from his adversary, taking the stance for his attack. "You know, you're not very good." he said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were a girl. .you certainly fight like one, anyway." Kitt was furious. "YOU IDIOT! OF COURSE I'M A GIRL!!" she shouted, not at all bothering to control her anger. ".what?" he mused, as he watched her take the offensive. She ran at him, head on, intent on showing him just what a girl was capable of doing. Yet, in her fury, she hadn't noticed him bracing for the oncoming attack. When she thrust her weapon at him, he countered by grabbing it with his own and flipping her over. She landed in the sand, square on her back, a delicate pain inching up her spine. She made a motion to get up, but before she could move further, she found herself pinned to the ground by her armored foe. He sat atop her mid torso, pressing her arms at her sides with the strength of his legs. He leaned over her, just a bit, taking a close look at the armor covering her. Then, like a child opening a package, he carefully removed the helmet from her head. "Woah!" he gasped, taking in the appearance of her. Deep midnight eyes set in fine cocoa-colored skin, with rich nut-brown locks cascading down the intricate contours of her visage. Her full, pouty lips, charming button nose and furrowed brows conveyed the silent frustration she kept, though belayed not the unmistakable characteristics of a woman. Cye quickly got to his feet, keeping a fair distance from the angry female for good measure. She scrambled to her feet, annoyed and embarrassed, but tried, none the less, to maintain her pride. Cye couldn't help but smile.just a bit. "I don't know what the Dynasty is trying to pull," he started, as he banished his battle armor, leaving him in only his sub-armor. "But this fight will have to wait until you can find an opponent." "Oh. So you give up, then?" she asked. "No." he replied, turning his back on her. "I just don't fight girls, that's all." If Kitt was mad before, she was absolutely livid, now. "WHY YOU ARROGANT, SEXIST, CHAUVINISTIC." she yelled, too enraged to think of any other terms to berate him. Instead of probing her vocabulary further, she hurled her weapon at his inattentive backside. However, Cye was better than that. Without so much as turning around, he grasped the weapon before it met him, plucking it out of the sky. "Bad form to strike at someone without warning, and in the back, no less! 'Tis a deplorable thing you do, Love." he said, nonchalantly. "Don't YOU call me that!" she roared. He tossed her a somewhat cocky grin, then stabbed the sand with her more petite yari. "There. It's yours. I would hand it to you, but then.I might lose a limb if I ventured that close to you." Kitt fumed, silently. "It was nice meeting you and all, but I really must go. Until next time." he concluded, as he began his walk across the sand, away from sight. "What a jerk." Kitt spat, as she retrieved her helmet. She walked over to her weapon, pulling it from the sand, then looked up at his departing form. "If I ever do come across him again.it'll be too soon."
Kitt Mouri-chan.