Disclaimer: I dun own anything escaflowne-related. I do own anything relating to the Daijin, Naza, etc etc etc. Shinyo, Shoe, Glass, Rai, Card, and so on, are my original creations, so dun steal them. Kay? Just so that we're in the same book!
A/N: So um...this follows up from something else I wrote/am in the process of writing. SOooooooOoooooooooOO....that means that some stuff here you might not get. Erm...leave a review and say whatever you don't get (if you don't get something) and I'll explain in the next author's not. Kay? Good!
Dedication: For Instructor Kim [that's his last name. It's Korean, so shut up], who is my Shinyo. I love you and I hate your girlfriend. Please start training me again!!!!!! AHHHH!!!! ::runs sobbing::
*****************
Rai stalked through the hallways of the Daijin warship. She was in a nasty mood. She couldn't take her anger out on anyone, because there hadn't been any fighting recently. There hadn't been any true bloodshed since Princess high and fscking mighty Shoe had gone and seduced Shinyo, the great Naza warlord.
Daijin was Naza's only true enemy. Now there was no one to fight. No one to kill. No one to hate. Every inch of the warrior wanted to break the face of that whore who had taken away everything from her. Of course, if Rai did that, it would mean death for her. Not that death made much of a difference to her any more, though.
A Daijin rookie warrior happened to be in the same hallway Rai was coming through. Before the teenager could move, Rai slammed her into the wall with a lethal sidekick. The rookie clutched her sides as she slid to the ground.
"Don't get under my feet," Rai growled, not stopping.
A woman appeared in front of Rai. Rai barley had time to stop, and almost crashed into the messenger.
"Damnit, Daijin, I told you never to flash into my path." Rai's eyes dripped with disdain as she spoke to the woman.
"Elders meet now. You be interested much. You come, we go now." Echo, the messenger, told her in her broken speech. Figures Princess "Breakable", Shoe's older sister and the woman who ran the Daijin empire, would have a messenger who couldn't speak the country's official language. Glass had a soft spot for the foreigners.
"Feh. I know what they'll have to say." Rai turned away from Echo.
"Zaibach comes." Echo's voice was dangerous. "War comes. You need for fight lead if Shoe-sama not fight."
Rai froze at the name "Zaibach", but shook off whatever memory it brought to her.
"Zaibach's attacking Daijin?" Rai turned back to the woman. "So why is it my fight? I've got nothing against them."
"Elders give detail. You come, now?" Rai glared, but put her hand on the messenger's shoulder. Echo closed her eyes, and concentrated. In less than a moment, they had flashed to the meeting hall. Rai strode forward, without bothering to bow.
"Why does Zaibach propose a threat?" Rai's eyes blazed with anger. She was deffinetly not in the best mode possible.
"Rai." Card, the most respected Daijin elder, acknowledged the teenage assassin. "I ask you again, don't beat up the rookies."
"They're not good for anything else," Rai told her, offhandedly.
"You were a rookie once," Card reminded her.
"I was never a rookie."
"Of course you were a--"
"Assassins are never a rookie," Rai broke in. "Maybe your weak warriors are, but assassins are trained from the day they are born. There is never a time where they are not the best."
Card groaned and dropped the subject. What was the use.
"Shoe won't be leading the Warriors this battle," Card closed her eyes as she spoke. "And Shinyo won't be leading his Assassins."
"Too busy getting laid by his whore, I suppose," Rai scoffed. One of the rougher looking bodyguards at Card's side took a threatening step forward, but Card stopped her with a gesture of her hand.
"You will not speak of royalty like that, Assassin of Naza," Card's voice boomed through the room. "Princess Shoe is the reason the Daijin empire still stands. AND the reason that your Naza empire has not fallen yet." Her voice softened a bit here. It was not out of kindness, though. "I know you feel that he abandoned you, but that isn't an excuse."
Rai winced. She didn't know how the elder knew, but Card was right on the mark.
"I know you were Shinyo's favorite student. After he fell in love with Princess Shoe, you felt deceived. How could your hero, the strongest leader in the Naza, love the enemy?" Card was seriously starting to irritate Rai. "And when he came out with the announcement that he was engaged...with the enemy...you watched the sky fall down. How could he be engaged, when it was you who truly loved hi--"
"STOP!" Rai screamed at Card, hands over her ears. The elder was taunting her. Shinyo had been Rai's idol, a god in the girl's eyes. She had fallen in love with him. It was true. Rai's voice was rough and dangerous, and her face lowered. "Tell me what you want so that I may leave, Elder of Daijin."
Card knew immediately that she had gone too far. The wound hadn't healed yet, and she had poured salt into it. "Shinyo has requested that you would lead both the Assassins and the Warriors."
Rai looked like she was in pain when she finally answered with a question. "Why?"
"Because he--" Card began. She was cut off as someone cleared his throat.
"I think I can explain better," a deep voice traveled through the air, and caught Rai's heart. Feeling that the butterflies in her stomach would fly out and expose the way she felt, the way she would always feel, Rai lifted her head to look at the speaker.
"Instructor Shinyo sir...." she bowed quickly to him.
Shinyo strode towards the short teenager. Rai pushed her hair behind her ears self consciously. Shinyo put a hand on her shoulder, and lead her to the corner of the room. He ran a hand through his own black hair, before starting what he had to say.
"You're good," he told her outright. Rai's face fell. This wasn't the Instructor she knew so well. Shoe had ruined him. Seeing her reaction, Shinyo continued, "You have the strength, the skills, and the knowledge you need. You practically own the assassins. You've lead them before. They know you. They trust you. I have faith that you could lead both the warriors and the assassins."
"The Daijin trash, easily." Rai pouted. "They're just mindless machines anyways."
At once, Shinyo was himself again. Glaring, his eyes blazing, he told her, "Fifty. Now."
Rai's grin was so huge she thought it would explode off of her face. She dropped to her stomach on the floor, and seemed to fly through fifty pushups. She loved the physical pain. She loved to be disciplined by him, sick as that may sound.
Card watched on in confusion. The Naza are strange people, she told herself. She didn't try to even explain it.
"You can stand up," Shinyo told the girl. He would have liked to finish training her, but now with Shoe...and with the baby coming
"Thank you, sir," Rai's grin was slowly disappearing again.
"The truth is, no one else is qualified," Shinyo continued. "Shoe can't lead her warriors, and I don't think the Assassins would trust me any more. But they trust you. They'd listen to you."
"Toshi won't," Rai's grin was back. Toshi was the most insubordinate of all the Assassins, but if anyone was qualified as a warrior, it was him. Catching herself before it was too late, she added quickly, "Sir."
Shinyo smiled at the thought, also. But there was something tugging at his smile that left Rai to believe he wasn't telling her something.
"Sir..." Rai's face clouded again. She looked as if she was slowly, but surly, putting something together in her head. "Sir...why can't Shoe lead her warriors....."
"Rai..." Shinyo was dreading this moment. He had wished he would not be the one to tell her. Her wrath would all be taken out on him now. He set his jaw, and told her the truth. "Shoe is pregnant."
Rai blinked once. She blinked again. Shinyo had a feeling that his words didn't sink in. Rai blinked several more times, before her eyes overflowed with tears she tried to conceal. She turned on her heal, and ran from the meeting hall. Shinyo ran after her, and grabbed her wrist, and spun her around.
"Rai! You have to understand!" Suddenly Shinyo was pleading with her. He was almost begging to accept this. He wanted her to be glad for him. Of course, he knew this wouldn't happen. He knew about her feelings towards him, as he always had. But still.....
"Let me go!" Rai sobbed, twisting her wrist free. She sprinted for the door, losing her balance as she ran. She threw out her arms to catch her balance, and practically flew through the door. She screamed over her shoulder, "You look at me but you still don't see!! You'll never understand! She'll never know you like I know you!!"
Shinyo sighed. It was no use now. Rai never used to act like this, and he knew it was his fault. He turned to Card and told her, "She will lead them."
Card nodded. Whatever he said.
**********
When Shinyo found Rai at last, after two hours of searching, she was curled up in a window sill on the opposite side of the warship. Beating up several Daijin rookies had helped her calm her rage a bit, and now all that was left was a hollow depressed feeling.
"Will you..." Shinyo began his question again.
"Yea," Rai gave him the answer without looking at him. She had changed from her Assassin uniform into a small, pale-blue t-shirt, and the baggiest blue jeans in all of Gaea. To hold up the jeans, Rai was wearing a belt bigger than hell. Her lack of formality made Shinyo more tense than even when she was crying.
"Thanks..." he began, but Rai stood up and walked away. Shinyo sighed and leaned against a wall. A voice from behind him startled him out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry..." Shoe walked forwards, head bent lightly, and put her hand on Shinyo's arm.
"For what?" Shinyo asked, pulling his young wife close to him.
"You've lost her...and it's my fault," Shoe shook her head.
"I'd lost her from the beginning. It's not your fault. She was looking for someone who would understand her, and she though I was the person. It was only a matter of time before she would have found out on her own." Shinyo sighed. "But Shoe...she has the most potential of anyone I've ever trained. I could have trained her be the best."
Shoe didn't know what to say, so she just hugged Shinyo. She wished everything would be all better.
***********
Rai did not change back into her uniform when she went to the training rooms after her 'talk' with Shinyo. She didn't care any more if she would be scolded for neglecting her training requirements. Shinyo would have made her do two hundred pushups. Now it didn't matter.
Rai began her reign as captain of the primary warriors and assassins by making an example of a warrior girl who had annoyed her. The warrior ended up crumpled against a wall.
"This happens to anyone who questions my authority, or crosses me in any way," Rai growled at the warriors and assassins. "Daijin, hit the showers, you've been training most of the day. Naza, you are to stay."
After the women of Daijin had left, and all who remained was the group of four assassins from Naza, Rai relaxed.
"So, gentlemen, how do you like training with so many women?" She smirked at her boys.
A laugh broke out through the four assassins, and their captain. Rai looked around, then, and frowned. "Toshi. Where is he."
"Toshihiro...?" One of the young men, a man with sandy colored hair deep blue eyes named Kazuki, dared to speak after a short pause. "He was scouting....."
"Scouting, Kazu?" A fist of fear and anticipation clutched Rai's heart.
"The enemy, Zaibach...." another of the men began.
"Sir, is your name Kazuki?" Rai glared at Makoto.
"Sorry, Samu-chan..." Makoto looked down.
"That's another thing," Rai looked around at her boys. "No more Samu-chan. There is to be no reference to my name other than "Rai" around those Daijin. You all have to call me 'Rai' from now on."
"Samu-cha...ahm...Rai, what's wrong with your full name?" Ringo, a black haired assassin, asked his captain quietly.
"'Samurai' is a giveaway to where I'm from. How many girls named 'Samurai' do you know?" When the men did not reply, Rai shook her head. "If you have to call me 'Samu-chan', do it only when the others are not around."
"Yes ma'am," the assassins chimed.
"Kazu now," Rai turned back to the blond. "Toshi was scouting...."
"He was captured," Kazu looked down. Rai's fears were almost as good as confirmed. "Zaibach dragon slayers."
"Damnit," Rai cursed, and put her fist through the wall. "A search party. Ringo, Mako, Kazu, can you get him out on your own?"
There was a silence that followed her question that left her to believe there was something they weren't telling her. Rai looked from one familiar face to the next. Slowly, the smallest of the Assassins spoke up.
"Toshihiro...didn't..." Kouhei mumbled slowly. "He's not coming back....he didn't make it....he's dea--"
"Kou-chan...." Rai's voice was quiet. Her face was in shadow. Her assassins didn't want to see what would come of this. "He...Toshi...where....he's.....don't...."
The woman wasn't even able to form sentences now. She trembled so violently that she had to hug her sides to keep her ribs from falling out. The assassins took a slight step away from her. Rai could be brutal if she was upset. Toshi was the only one who could ever calm her down when she hit a mood like this. Toshi, or Shinyo. Now neither could.
Scowling at himself, and the others, Makoto took a step forward. His commander was suffering. Toshi was her favorite, everyone knew. Rai wasn't going to be upset if he could help it. Hesitating for only a moment, he pulled the girl into a bear hug. He was surprised at how much she was shaking. Taking a hint, the three other assassins attached themselves to the teenager. She clung to all of them, and sobbed. Her tortured cries of "Toshihiro" could be heard in every corner of the warship.
/Those bastards will pay.../ Rai vowed before she let herself collapse into a dreamless sleep against the warm bodies of the only people she could ever trust.
***********
End prologue. Yea yea, I know what you're thinking. "AGH! What the BLOODY FLUFF WAS THAT?!" But....it gets better. I promiseeeeeee!!! ^__^v So stay tuned.
~Kira
A/N: So um...this follows up from something else I wrote/am in the process of writing. SOooooooOoooooooooOO....that means that some stuff here you might not get. Erm...leave a review and say whatever you don't get (if you don't get something) and I'll explain in the next author's not. Kay? Good!
Dedication: For Instructor Kim [that's his last name. It's Korean, so shut up], who is my Shinyo. I love you and I hate your girlfriend. Please start training me again!!!!!! AHHHH!!!! ::runs sobbing::
*****************
Rai stalked through the hallways of the Daijin warship. She was in a nasty mood. She couldn't take her anger out on anyone, because there hadn't been any fighting recently. There hadn't been any true bloodshed since Princess high and fscking mighty Shoe had gone and seduced Shinyo, the great Naza warlord.
Daijin was Naza's only true enemy. Now there was no one to fight. No one to kill. No one to hate. Every inch of the warrior wanted to break the face of that whore who had taken away everything from her. Of course, if Rai did that, it would mean death for her. Not that death made much of a difference to her any more, though.
A Daijin rookie warrior happened to be in the same hallway Rai was coming through. Before the teenager could move, Rai slammed her into the wall with a lethal sidekick. The rookie clutched her sides as she slid to the ground.
"Don't get under my feet," Rai growled, not stopping.
A woman appeared in front of Rai. Rai barley had time to stop, and almost crashed into the messenger.
"Damnit, Daijin, I told you never to flash into my path." Rai's eyes dripped with disdain as she spoke to the woman.
"Elders meet now. You be interested much. You come, we go now." Echo, the messenger, told her in her broken speech. Figures Princess "Breakable", Shoe's older sister and the woman who ran the Daijin empire, would have a messenger who couldn't speak the country's official language. Glass had a soft spot for the foreigners.
"Feh. I know what they'll have to say." Rai turned away from Echo.
"Zaibach comes." Echo's voice was dangerous. "War comes. You need for fight lead if Shoe-sama not fight."
Rai froze at the name "Zaibach", but shook off whatever memory it brought to her.
"Zaibach's attacking Daijin?" Rai turned back to the woman. "So why is it my fight? I've got nothing against them."
"Elders give detail. You come, now?" Rai glared, but put her hand on the messenger's shoulder. Echo closed her eyes, and concentrated. In less than a moment, they had flashed to the meeting hall. Rai strode forward, without bothering to bow.
"Why does Zaibach propose a threat?" Rai's eyes blazed with anger. She was deffinetly not in the best mode possible.
"Rai." Card, the most respected Daijin elder, acknowledged the teenage assassin. "I ask you again, don't beat up the rookies."
"They're not good for anything else," Rai told her, offhandedly.
"You were a rookie once," Card reminded her.
"I was never a rookie."
"Of course you were a--"
"Assassins are never a rookie," Rai broke in. "Maybe your weak warriors are, but assassins are trained from the day they are born. There is never a time where they are not the best."
Card groaned and dropped the subject. What was the use.
"Shoe won't be leading the Warriors this battle," Card closed her eyes as she spoke. "And Shinyo won't be leading his Assassins."
"Too busy getting laid by his whore, I suppose," Rai scoffed. One of the rougher looking bodyguards at Card's side took a threatening step forward, but Card stopped her with a gesture of her hand.
"You will not speak of royalty like that, Assassin of Naza," Card's voice boomed through the room. "Princess Shoe is the reason the Daijin empire still stands. AND the reason that your Naza empire has not fallen yet." Her voice softened a bit here. It was not out of kindness, though. "I know you feel that he abandoned you, but that isn't an excuse."
Rai winced. She didn't know how the elder knew, but Card was right on the mark.
"I know you were Shinyo's favorite student. After he fell in love with Princess Shoe, you felt deceived. How could your hero, the strongest leader in the Naza, love the enemy?" Card was seriously starting to irritate Rai. "And when he came out with the announcement that he was engaged...with the enemy...you watched the sky fall down. How could he be engaged, when it was you who truly loved hi--"
"STOP!" Rai screamed at Card, hands over her ears. The elder was taunting her. Shinyo had been Rai's idol, a god in the girl's eyes. She had fallen in love with him. It was true. Rai's voice was rough and dangerous, and her face lowered. "Tell me what you want so that I may leave, Elder of Daijin."
Card knew immediately that she had gone too far. The wound hadn't healed yet, and she had poured salt into it. "Shinyo has requested that you would lead both the Assassins and the Warriors."
Rai looked like she was in pain when she finally answered with a question. "Why?"
"Because he--" Card began. She was cut off as someone cleared his throat.
"I think I can explain better," a deep voice traveled through the air, and caught Rai's heart. Feeling that the butterflies in her stomach would fly out and expose the way she felt, the way she would always feel, Rai lifted her head to look at the speaker.
"Instructor Shinyo sir...." she bowed quickly to him.
Shinyo strode towards the short teenager. Rai pushed her hair behind her ears self consciously. Shinyo put a hand on her shoulder, and lead her to the corner of the room. He ran a hand through his own black hair, before starting what he had to say.
"You're good," he told her outright. Rai's face fell. This wasn't the Instructor she knew so well. Shoe had ruined him. Seeing her reaction, Shinyo continued, "You have the strength, the skills, and the knowledge you need. You practically own the assassins. You've lead them before. They know you. They trust you. I have faith that you could lead both the warriors and the assassins."
"The Daijin trash, easily." Rai pouted. "They're just mindless machines anyways."
At once, Shinyo was himself again. Glaring, his eyes blazing, he told her, "Fifty. Now."
Rai's grin was so huge she thought it would explode off of her face. She dropped to her stomach on the floor, and seemed to fly through fifty pushups. She loved the physical pain. She loved to be disciplined by him, sick as that may sound.
Card watched on in confusion. The Naza are strange people, she told herself. She didn't try to even explain it.
"You can stand up," Shinyo told the girl. He would have liked to finish training her, but now with Shoe...and with the baby coming
"Thank you, sir," Rai's grin was slowly disappearing again.
"The truth is, no one else is qualified," Shinyo continued. "Shoe can't lead her warriors, and I don't think the Assassins would trust me any more. But they trust you. They'd listen to you."
"Toshi won't," Rai's grin was back. Toshi was the most insubordinate of all the Assassins, but if anyone was qualified as a warrior, it was him. Catching herself before it was too late, she added quickly, "Sir."
Shinyo smiled at the thought, also. But there was something tugging at his smile that left Rai to believe he wasn't telling her something.
"Sir..." Rai's face clouded again. She looked as if she was slowly, but surly, putting something together in her head. "Sir...why can't Shoe lead her warriors....."
"Rai..." Shinyo was dreading this moment. He had wished he would not be the one to tell her. Her wrath would all be taken out on him now. He set his jaw, and told her the truth. "Shoe is pregnant."
Rai blinked once. She blinked again. Shinyo had a feeling that his words didn't sink in. Rai blinked several more times, before her eyes overflowed with tears she tried to conceal. She turned on her heal, and ran from the meeting hall. Shinyo ran after her, and grabbed her wrist, and spun her around.
"Rai! You have to understand!" Suddenly Shinyo was pleading with her. He was almost begging to accept this. He wanted her to be glad for him. Of course, he knew this wouldn't happen. He knew about her feelings towards him, as he always had. But still.....
"Let me go!" Rai sobbed, twisting her wrist free. She sprinted for the door, losing her balance as she ran. She threw out her arms to catch her balance, and practically flew through the door. She screamed over her shoulder, "You look at me but you still don't see!! You'll never understand! She'll never know you like I know you!!"
Shinyo sighed. It was no use now. Rai never used to act like this, and he knew it was his fault. He turned to Card and told her, "She will lead them."
Card nodded. Whatever he said.
**********
When Shinyo found Rai at last, after two hours of searching, she was curled up in a window sill on the opposite side of the warship. Beating up several Daijin rookies had helped her calm her rage a bit, and now all that was left was a hollow depressed feeling.
"Will you..." Shinyo began his question again.
"Yea," Rai gave him the answer without looking at him. She had changed from her Assassin uniform into a small, pale-blue t-shirt, and the baggiest blue jeans in all of Gaea. To hold up the jeans, Rai was wearing a belt bigger than hell. Her lack of formality made Shinyo more tense than even when she was crying.
"Thanks..." he began, but Rai stood up and walked away. Shinyo sighed and leaned against a wall. A voice from behind him startled him out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry..." Shoe walked forwards, head bent lightly, and put her hand on Shinyo's arm.
"For what?" Shinyo asked, pulling his young wife close to him.
"You've lost her...and it's my fault," Shoe shook her head.
"I'd lost her from the beginning. It's not your fault. She was looking for someone who would understand her, and she though I was the person. It was only a matter of time before she would have found out on her own." Shinyo sighed. "But Shoe...she has the most potential of anyone I've ever trained. I could have trained her be the best."
Shoe didn't know what to say, so she just hugged Shinyo. She wished everything would be all better.
***********
Rai did not change back into her uniform when she went to the training rooms after her 'talk' with Shinyo. She didn't care any more if she would be scolded for neglecting her training requirements. Shinyo would have made her do two hundred pushups. Now it didn't matter.
Rai began her reign as captain of the primary warriors and assassins by making an example of a warrior girl who had annoyed her. The warrior ended up crumpled against a wall.
"This happens to anyone who questions my authority, or crosses me in any way," Rai growled at the warriors and assassins. "Daijin, hit the showers, you've been training most of the day. Naza, you are to stay."
After the women of Daijin had left, and all who remained was the group of four assassins from Naza, Rai relaxed.
"So, gentlemen, how do you like training with so many women?" She smirked at her boys.
A laugh broke out through the four assassins, and their captain. Rai looked around, then, and frowned. "Toshi. Where is he."
"Toshihiro...?" One of the young men, a man with sandy colored hair deep blue eyes named Kazuki, dared to speak after a short pause. "He was scouting....."
"Scouting, Kazu?" A fist of fear and anticipation clutched Rai's heart.
"The enemy, Zaibach...." another of the men began.
"Sir, is your name Kazuki?" Rai glared at Makoto.
"Sorry, Samu-chan..." Makoto looked down.
"That's another thing," Rai looked around at her boys. "No more Samu-chan. There is to be no reference to my name other than "Rai" around those Daijin. You all have to call me 'Rai' from now on."
"Samu-cha...ahm...Rai, what's wrong with your full name?" Ringo, a black haired assassin, asked his captain quietly.
"'Samurai' is a giveaway to where I'm from. How many girls named 'Samurai' do you know?" When the men did not reply, Rai shook her head. "If you have to call me 'Samu-chan', do it only when the others are not around."
"Yes ma'am," the assassins chimed.
"Kazu now," Rai turned back to the blond. "Toshi was scouting...."
"He was captured," Kazu looked down. Rai's fears were almost as good as confirmed. "Zaibach dragon slayers."
"Damnit," Rai cursed, and put her fist through the wall. "A search party. Ringo, Mako, Kazu, can you get him out on your own?"
There was a silence that followed her question that left her to believe there was something they weren't telling her. Rai looked from one familiar face to the next. Slowly, the smallest of the Assassins spoke up.
"Toshihiro...didn't..." Kouhei mumbled slowly. "He's not coming back....he didn't make it....he's dea--"
"Kou-chan...." Rai's voice was quiet. Her face was in shadow. Her assassins didn't want to see what would come of this. "He...Toshi...where....he's.....don't...."
The woman wasn't even able to form sentences now. She trembled so violently that she had to hug her sides to keep her ribs from falling out. The assassins took a slight step away from her. Rai could be brutal if she was upset. Toshi was the only one who could ever calm her down when she hit a mood like this. Toshi, or Shinyo. Now neither could.
Scowling at himself, and the others, Makoto took a step forward. His commander was suffering. Toshi was her favorite, everyone knew. Rai wasn't going to be upset if he could help it. Hesitating for only a moment, he pulled the girl into a bear hug. He was surprised at how much she was shaking. Taking a hint, the three other assassins attached themselves to the teenager. She clung to all of them, and sobbed. Her tortured cries of "Toshihiro" could be heard in every corner of the warship.
/Those bastards will pay.../ Rai vowed before she let herself collapse into a dreamless sleep against the warm bodies of the only people she could ever trust.
***********
End prologue. Yea yea, I know what you're thinking. "AGH! What the BLOODY FLUFF WAS THAT?!" But....it gets better. I promiseeeeeee!!! ^__^v So stay tuned.
~Kira
