Future Meets Past: Part 1
By: Ketsuki
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She fell hard onto the ground.
It was a miracle that her small fragile body didn't break into a thousand
pieces. She had the wind knocked out of her, but she was slowly regaining
her breath.
Once she realized that she could stand,
she pushed herself up slowly, shaking her head to rid of the leaves that
had gotten tangled in her black hair.
She stood up slowly, brushing dirt
and leaves off her silky purple nightgown. Thank goodness she wore
her purple hard-soled shoes, or else she would be jumping around in pain
at the moment, seeing the sharp leaves and thorned vines hanging from the
trees and on the ground.
Giggling at the thought of such absurdity,
she tilted her head up to look around her. But what she saw wasn't
trees and leaves with sunlight filtering through, she saw a pair of cold
merciless golden eyes, staring right at her.
With a gasp of surprise, she wheeled
around and came face to face to a creature so majestic he took her breath
away. This creature had fox ears, and a long bushy tail. His
hair seemed white, or even a bright silver, when she knew it was gray.
It was still silky and smooth. His complexion was pale, not as pale
as herself, but pale enough. His features seemed to be drawn with
expertise and sharp lined design. He was dressed in plain white robes,
but that did not change his appearance in any way. His eyes was what
amazed her the most. How golden yet hazel brown, it seemed!
And with such coldness, like no emotion passed through him.
She couldn't help but take a step
back in fear. Even though he looked beautiful, calm, and serene,
she could still see the aspects of a cunning, deadly, and merciless killer
in his gaze. If he chose to attack, she knew she could never defend
herself. She was only ten, after all, and not even half way through
her training.
So she did the only intelligent thing
she knew to do. She crept a few steps back and silently observed
the mysterious attacker. If he attacked, she would turn and run.
Yes, it was a cowardly thing to do, but there was no point in engaging
in a battle she could not win.
She was, as you could see, far more
mature then her age seemed.
They stared at each other, stared
at each for so long it seemed like hours. She was quickly losing
her patience. Of course, no matter how mature she was, she was still
a child, no more then ten years old, in a mysterious land she knew could
not be her home.
She was scared; fear gripped her tightly
in its claws. But she was running out of patience. She considered
turning around and just making a run for it, but then this creature could
catch up to her in less then a second. She, herself, was not very
agile nor fast, and due to her observations, the creature seemed to be
able to move very fast and very quietly.
She was normally the most observant
person in the entire kingdom, no one could sneak up on her. But this
creature had done it - admidst so many trees and branches that could snap
under any weight. But then again, come to think of it, she was almost
half unconscious so she considered that it didn't really count.
Or, this person could be a friend.
Maybe he wasn't as menacing as he seemed to be. After all, you couldn't
really judge someone by their appearance, right? Then again, maybe
not.
But they couldn't stare at each other
all day long. And judging from his gaze, he seemed to think he was
very much superier then others. No, he definitely wasn't egotistic,
just had enough confidence to take major risks.
Well, one of them had to speak up
first. It was true, her last thought. They couldn't stare at
each other for so long, sizing each other up. Besides, she was feeling
very intimidated. Maybe it was just his look or his posture, but
she was sure it had to do with his height. He completely towered
over her, she had to crane her neck up just to stare back at him challengingly.
'Alright...This is it...I'm speaking
up...' She opened her mouth to speak when he raised an eyebrow and knelt
down to her level, till he was face to face. She widened her large
violet eyes and took a step back.
"What is a little girl like you doing
here?" the creature asked rudely, glaring hard at her.
Normally, one her age would've immediately
began shouting for being referred to as a 'little girl', but she had to
admit, she did look a bit young from her proper age.
"I'm ten years old", she stated defiantly,
glaring eye to eye to the creature.
"That's what I mean. Little
girl", he said, smirking at her directly.
She didn't really care, and as mature
as she was, she could not comprehend that he was insulting her. "My
name isn't little girl. My name is Saturn. May I ask, what
is your name?" she looked at him directly, innocence written all over face.
He glared at her, his eyes narrowed.
But Saturn could see a small part of him that was incredulous with her.
'Incredulous about what?' she thought, her naive mind wondering.
"You don't know who I am? Haven't
your mother ever warned you about the infamous Youko Kurama, the best thief
in Makai?" he demanded, his glare threatening to knock Saturn down.
However, he said his name not with a proud voice of his reputation.
Saturn could see that he was just plainly stating the facts. He was
merely curious on why she had never heard of him before. But the
way he said it angered Saturn.
Sataru shook her head. She narrowed
her own bright violet eyes and glared right back. "My mother is not
here. This isn't my home. This land, I am not familiar with
it. Therefore, I am lost. Now tell me, if I do not belong in
this so called 'Makai', then how could I have heard of Youko Kurama?" she
demanded angrily.
The creature widened his eyes ever
so slightly, before smirking in a way like he knew he had won. "I
am Youko Kurama, most famous thief in the demon world. We call this
world, Makai. Surely you must know such simple aspects of this universe.
You must know of the two other worlds, Ningenkai and Reikai. You
cannot be as ignorant as that".
Saturn's glare intensified as she
clenched her fist in rage. She felt her nails dig into her palms
hard as she sought to calm herself and think of an appropriate answer.
"I have already told you, I do not belong in such a place. Don't
you dare accuse me of being ignorant. With your egotistical behaviour,
I don't doubt you are the ignorant one!" With that said, Saturn dared
not to look away. She awaited the creature's answer.
The creature continued to smirk at
her. "You talk like you're royalty, little Saturn. You act
far more mature, beyond your age. Tell me, are you of royalty?" he
bemused, staring at Saturn with a little spark of amusement in his eyes.
By now, Saturn knew that she truely
disliked this creature. Yes, he was beautiful, and maginificent,
and serene, but he took in everything she said as a joke. But she
held her head high and answered, "Yes, I am. I'm the Princess of
my planet, Saturn. The rightful heir to the throne, as you probably
won't know".
The creature stared at her, before
chuckling quietly under his breath and standing up. Looking down
carelessly, there was no longer a smirk nor a glare on his face.
He was just being as passive as he was when Saturn had first saw him, which
in reality, made Saturn a little nervous.
"You must have a death wish, Little
Saturn, speaking in such a way. If you dare to speak in such a manner
again, you will be killed in less then a second. Come", he said simply
and began to walk away.
Saturn could barely comprehend what
he had just said before she noticed that he was leaving her. "Wa-wait!
What do you mean?" she asked, a little too nervous for her liking.
He turned back, eyeing the girl.
"You do need shelter for the night, do you not? Or would you rather
sleep outside?"
"So...you're offering me a place to
stay?" Saturn asked, widening her eyes. Just a minute ago, she had
thought he was going to kill her! Now she felt like laughing.
How silly of her to judge someone by their appearance and attitude to strangers.
She guessed that he must've been a bit suspicious of her.
Youko Kurama merely glared at her
before continuing on his way. Saturn hurried to catch up, but made
sure there were at least a three feet distance between them. Just
for safety reasons, you'd understand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Time of Crystal Tokyo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minako wrinkled her nose in distaste.
She turned to the story teller. "Hotaru-chan, this Youko Kurama sounds
like a jerk", she said, running a hand through her sunny blond hair.
Hotaru smiled, nodding in acknowledgement.
"He appeared to be a 'jerk' to me as well, when I first met him.
And he remained that way until a few weeks later. But, I'm really
getting ahead of myself".
"But your descriptions were really
detailed, Hotaru-chan. His golden but hazel eyes...silky silver white
hair...his cold expression...It sounded like you were in love", Usagi teased,
grinning brightly and winked to show that she was joking.
Hotaru looked away thoughtfully, her
index finger on her lips. "Usagi-chan...If you saw him, you would've
thought he was a mortal angel...He was beautiful...Not handsome
or pretty, but almost angelic...I wasn't in love...I was just admiring
him...I wouldn't know what love was until a few weeks later", Hotaru smiled,
as if seeing a vision right then.
"Does everything happen a few weeks
later?" Makoto asked innocently, her eyes shining with curiosity.
"You can say that. But I still
have to clear things up. Youko Kurama has a companion. You
can say they were best friends, thou they didn't show it all the time.
I met him when we arrived in Youko Kurama's lair...After he demanded some
payment of me...I understand your confused looks...I was pretty confused
myself...But I sooner or later learned that in Makai, it's a kill or be
killed, steal or be stolen, kind of world. Completely different to
any of our planets' civilization, isn't it?...Yes, where was I? Oh,
the payment..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the time of modern Tokyo, Japan
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Kurama paused in his story for a second,
as he contemplated what to tell next. He tried to explain to his
friends of his surprise at seeing a little girl in the middle of a forest
- his forest. It had shocked him till no end, even with his cold
and emotionless demeanor.
"Her name was Saturn? Isn't
that one of our planets?" Yuusuke commented, sitting back with an eyebrow
raised.
"She said she was the princess of
the planet Saturn, and that all princesses or females with royal blood
were named after their planets. I didn't really believe her.
Of course, back then, I didn't know one of Ningenkai's planets were named
Saturn. Maybe if I had known, I would've believed, but during the
time she stayed with Kuronue and I, I did not believe one word of her explanation",
Kurama said.
"When did Saturn meet Kuronue?" Kuwabara
asked curiously.
"I was just about to tell you that,
actually", Kurama said, a sheepish smile on his face.
"Well then, get on with the story.
Tell us what happened next! What was Saturn's reaction to Makai?"
Botan chirped excitedly, her violet eyes blinking repeatedly.
Kurama nodded and continued on with
his story of his past. "Anyway, we walked through many forked paths.
It was unecessary to go through so many roads, but I made sure little Saturn
did not remember how to get to my lair. I just felt like I had to
shelter this little girl. I thought that this little girl was very
amusing and naive, and that she could possess no harm to Kuronue and I.
Besides, being a princess, she had to have some kind of jewelry with her.
So then, we arrived at the mouth of my lair in around a half an hour hike..."
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End of Part 1
