Standard Disclaimers Apply.
This is the story of the bravest girl to grace her world,
and the trials of her life.
Based very loosely upon the story of Mulan, a true heroine
in her own right.
Heroine
A Serena and Darien Alternate Reality Fic
by Moni-chan
monichan@telus.net
Chapter 2
Most of the other men had witnessed the encounter between Serena and
Darien. By the time Serena had found her cabin, she was the talk of
the entire camp, which had deduced that she was the person who had
punched their Captain. Most people thought she was crazy for being to
brash; others were impressed. She was famous.
When she walked into the cabin, all heads turned up and looked at her
for a moment, then turned away and voices milled about quietly for a
while.
Serena sighed, wondering if she'd just been categorized as an outcast,
and went about organizing her things. Her backpack was old and dirty
compared to the others', but she didn't really care. First, she took
out her night - clothes. She'd picked everything out carefully to make
sure of not being discovered. She'd sneakily taken the nightclothes
from her father's closet.
"Yo Ren Tsukino!" A loud voice jolted Serena out of her tasks. She
looked up slowly, to find a silver-haired guy standing in front of her,
sneering slightly.
"Yes?"
"You're the son of Ken Tsukino, aren't you? The GREAT Ken Tsukino?"
The man's voice was dripping with sarcasm. One small clan of men in the
room was hooting at them. The others were silent. Watching.
"Yes?" Serena knew about being cautious. She could see the menace in
this man, see the movements of his muscles in preparation for any
tricks he might pull."
"And you're the one who gave our Captain a black eye?"
"Yes," she sighed with exasperation. "But it was only because I
thought ..."
He wouldn't let her finish.
"Then I challenge you."
There, the words were spoken. The entire cabin was deadly quiet.
Serena looked at him, still sneering at her, looked around them, at the
watchful eyes. She said, quietly,
"I don't want to fight."
The man looked at her in surprise for a moment.
"Then you are a coward. The son of Ken Tsukino is a COWARD!" His
voice was cruel. "Imagine when I tell this to my hometown. Soon the
entire country will know that Ken Tsukino, the great hero, has a coward
for a son! No wonder why he never told anyone of his son! No one
wants a coward for a son!"
His clan of followers cheered him on, screaming at the top of lungs:
"COWARD, COWARD, COWARD"
Serena was in turmoil. At one end, she wanted to fight him just for
being such a bully. But she knew that fighting was the worst way to
get settled in camp.
"COWARD, COWARD, COWARD!"
If what he threatened was real, then her father would be disgraced,
before she even had a chance to prove herself! She couldn't let that
happen. One of the main reasons why her father wanted to risk his life
in war was to retain their family honor, and now ...
She stood up unsteadily, hands in tight fists.
"I accept your challenge."
"Fantastic." The man smirked evilly.
Before anyone could blink, the man had shot out a hand, ready to flip
Serena over on her back, in a gesture that was fundamentally cheating.
The room gasped, but relaxed when Serena's hand rose in a blur and
blocked it. The man was surprised, and tried to wrestle his hand out,
to no avail.
Serena on her part, was surprised at the strength of this trainee. He
was stronger than she, and she could feel it, and he would be out of
her grasp very soon. So she did the first thing she could think of:
She talked.
"WAIT!" Her voice rang clear and startled everyone in the cabin. It
succeeded its purpose, and even the silver-haired man looked up at the
moment.
She smiled sweetly. "You know my name, but I don't believe I know
yours."
"Huh?" Pure dumbfoundment.
"I said that I don't know my opponent's .. NAME!" She struggled to
finish her sentence in surprise when he finally escaped her grasp.
The fighting began.
The cabin watched in amazement at the two highly skilled fighters.
Arms and legs flew in blurs, at speeds too high to be able to see
clearly.
Serena was having a hard time. She knew she was good, and she also
knew that she hadn't finished her training when she came here. This
silver-haired guy was easily her equal. If she hadn't known a few
select techniques her father had taught her before, she would have been
defeated much earlier. She was concentrating so hard on her fighting
that she never heard someone outside of the cabin look in with wide
eyes, then run off to yell "FIGHT!" to tell all the people in the other
cabins.
A good half-hour had passed, and Serena and the other man were both
clearly tired. Cuts and bruises were everywhere on their bodies. Yet
neither would give up.
-----------------
Darien was walking outside, enjoying the winter night air, when he saw
a huge crowd of people gathered around one cabin. They were hooting
and yelling incomprehensible things. Quickly he walked over, afraid
to find gambling. But nothing prepared him for what he was about to
see.
Two people where fighting. And these two were both skilled fighters.
His highly trained eyes saw the strength of one, and the agility of
the other. They both had great potential, yet both were still very
unrefined in their technique.
"Damn," he sighed, "I can't believe we already have fights starting.
Those usually don't start until a month or two into training. This
year is going to be complicated, for sure."
With a high leap, he quickly jumped into the fray. The two fighters
were surprised by the sudden change, and were quickly lying helpless at
his feet.
Darien glared at them. Ren Tsukino was involved. It figured. That boy
probably was doing his best to get into trouble or something.
"First he punches me," Darien mumbled to himself, "Now he's fighting on
the first day. What a trouble maker."
And he would never have suspected Diamond to be involved! Diamond was
the youngest son of a high nobleman, sent to train his ability for the
war. His father was one of the most honored men in the country, and
everyone knew that his son was noble in personality as well as in
looks.
"It couldn't have been Diamond who started this mess." Darien thought.
"I can not believe what has happened tonight," Darien's voice was stern
in reprimand. "It is thoroughly dishonorable to be fighting your own
men. We are here to fight our enemy. If you spend all your energy
fighting amongst yourselves and killing yourselves, who will protect
our village? Who will save all our country?"
"But he ..." Serena couldn't stop herself. It wasn't her fault! That
silver-haired man had been threatening to disgrace her father.
Before she could continue, Diamond quickly cut in. "I am sorry,
Captain. It will never happen again."
"But he ..."
"No more!" Darien all but roared. "Ren, you need to learn and accept
what others tell you. Listen to what I say and learn from it. If I
ever catch you in any more trouble, you are really going to get it.
Good night. I expect you to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow
morning."
After Darien left, the other people left as well, quietly. Those still
in this cabin pitied Serena, for they knew she only fought Diamond
because she was forced to. But they were scared to talk to her; after
all, Diamond's clan was very menacing.
Serena lay on her cot, furious. She wanted to kick Darien on the back
of his head. In fact, she was a lot angrier at Darien than at Diamond.
Diamond had challenged her, bullied her into fighting.
Yet Darien had told her to understand the situation before acting
rashly. He had just stopped their fight without trying to understand
what had caused it in the first place!
"What a first-class jerk," she said to herself. "Telling me to do
whatever. Well, he is my leader, so I guess I'll have to listen to him
anyway. I really should go to him and explain what happened, but like
he'd believe me!"
She laughed rather bitterly. "I bet he thinks that I'm a troublemaker
who is obsessed with fighting. There's no way I'll get any respect
this way."
She lay in thought for a while.
"But I'll show them when training starts. I'll learn harder and work
harder than any of them, and I'll be the best. I'll go to war and
become a hero, just like my father, and then Darien will have to
respect me."
And with that last determined thought. Serena drifted off into a
restless sleep.
-----------------
When Serena was determined, she was determined. Elements of her
father's stubbornness were evident in her personality sometimes. And
this was one of those times.
She was up before the first call of the rooster. That was nothing new
for her, since she'd always a light sleeper [note: what a contrast from
our beloved anime Serena!], and her mother had always required her to
wake up before the rest of the family to do chores.
After quickly dressing and washing up, Serena left to find a solitary
place to practice her fighting techniques.
The winter air felt great to Serena, and she pranced about happily for
a while, swinging arms and whirling around. Her town never had much
snow, so she found a stick and drew pictures in the snow.
She was engrossed in her drawing; she never noticed Darien staring at
her from the window of his cabin.
Darien was indeed staring at her. He'd never known a guy who could be
so un-boyish. Well, Ren was violent, to be sure, but at times like
this, Darien could swear that Ren looked like a child, innocent and
happy, playing in the snow.
He shook his head. Ren wasn't so innocent, in daily life. Perhaps, he
was just a misunderstood child, spoiled by a famous father figure.
Darien couldn't help smiling when he saw Ren throw out his hands and
twirl. Actually, he puzzled, the movements of the boy in the snow were
smooth and graceful, almost that of a girl's.
Ren, a girl?
Darien laughed at himself. With that sharp voice of his? With that
violent nature? He hoped there would never be a girl like that! He'd
pity any man that would marry a girl like that!
Darien closed his drapes, almost unwillingly tearing his eyes away from
a joyful Ren. It was a long time since he'd been as happy or as
carefree as Ren.
His mother had been sick for over ten years, every day hovering between
consciousness and unconsciousness. It had been tough, since Darien had
only been a boy of twelve years when he first heard his mother had
collapsed. She had many people to take care of her, but his mind was
uneasy.
Darien yawned. It was still so early.
"That Ren must be absolutely crazy," he muttered to himself, before
going back to sleep.
Serena had finished her romp in the snow and was now as energetic as
ever to get her self-training started. She walked around, but
everywhere was quiet. There were no birds in the trees, no hum of the
wind, no hustle and bustle of people waking up.
She wandered about, to the edge of the camp, desperate to find some
signs of life. There were guards at the main entrances, so she
couldn't leave camp. After fifteen minutes, she came to a little
forest. It was huge, this forest, and in the early morning light it
was extremely foreboding.
With caution in her step, Serena slowly entered the forest.
-----------------
"Line!"
"March! One! Two! One! Two! Halt!"
Men turned in surprised when they heard the last order.
Ren Tsukino was running was running breakneck speed back to camp.
"I'm sorry sir!" she panted towards Darien, but "I got lost ... "
Darien groaned. More trouble. "Ren, how on earth CAN you get lost in
this camp? There are directions to the training ground everywhere!"
"Well ... " Serena hesitated. It was not allowed for soldiers to leave
campgrounds on non-rest days. She knew that she'd be in more trouble
if she told Darien the truth.
"I'm sorry, sir. I guess I didn't notice them."
Diamond laughed outright.
Darien looked at her in surprise. Could the son of Ken Tsukino really
be so dimwitted? There really were signs all over the camp, and he'd
told them the directions only about ten times yesterday during the
orientation.
A little suspicion creeped into Darien's mind but he squashed it
immediately. No one dared to break camp rules on the first day. There
was no way Ren Tsukino could have left camp without being noticed.
"Fine." he sighed. "Get in line."
"I want you all to run ten circles around this camp."
-----------------
It had been a week of intense training for the entire camp. Even
Serena and Diamond, the two most skilled soldiers in their group, were
extremely tired.
Things had been intense between the two ever since that first fight.
Neither talked to the other, but the quick glances and the unspoken
challenges were evident to all in the camp.
Serena had calmed down somewhat, about Darien. "These few days, he's
just been a harsh trainer, and he hasn't done anything to me." she said
to herself. "Perhaps he's forgiven me. Then I can go return his
wallet to him. If he ever finds this wallet on me, he'll probably
think that I convinced those bratty kids to steal it from him and then
give it to me."
The primitive lamps in the cabin were blown out. Serena stretched on
her back. "I don't know about Diamond. He's such an strange person,
and I know he's trying his hardest so he can be better than me."
A pause.
"I don't think I trust him. He seems to be planning something. His
eyes are always watching me. I hope he doesn't figure out that I'm a
girl."
A sigh.
"I guess, if he does, then I'll be in big trouble."
And her heavy eyelids finally overpowered her, and she slept.
-----------------
"It's been a month, already, and you most of you guys are pretty
pathetic!" Darien's voice seemed harsh and cruel. "You have to learn
to work even harder if you're going to be any good against the enemy."
Darien paced up and down, frustrated with his group. They weren't bad,
he knew, but he knew that they had much more potential. And the enemy
was strong. He'd fought them just a few months ago when they launched
their first attack. A few of their men could easily wipe out his
current army camp. He was seriously worried about the well being of
their country.
"Our enemies are biologically much larger and stronger than we are. If
we want to out fight them, we need a strategy! We need to be quick
with our minds and quick with our bodies."
"Physically," he continued, "you rate of progress is alright. But what
you lack is fast reflexes."
Darien stopped in front of Diamond and sent a punch flying. The latter
was surprised; however, he managed to catch it in time.
"THAT," continued Darien, "is what you need to train. THAT is good
reflex timing. Today you will be pairing up and training your
reflexes."
Serena could barely stand in her spot. Her reflexes were one of her
strong points. It would be a great day to show off her ability and
prove that the son of Ken Tsukino was better than the other's had
thought.
"One last thing. It has been required for several people to be
assigned to kitchen duty."
Groans could be heard throughout the line.
"Kitchen duty is for the delinquent, those that are not on time for
duty," Darien looked pointedly at Serena, "or always talking during
training," he glanced at four other men who were mumbling within
themselves and they immediately shut up, "or those who don't put any
extra effort into their fighting."
Oh no no no, Serena's apprehension grew, he wouldn't ....
"Unless you can prove themselves more diligent students, Malachite,
Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicyte, and Ren, I will have to assign you to
kitchen duty. Please step aside and head over towards the kitchen."
Serena was furious, again. How could he be so cruel! She glared at
Darien, and saw that he was going to be stubborn about his decision.
He wasn't going to even give her a chance.
The men in the lineup looked on nervously, as they knew Ren Tsukino's
sometimes, rather explosive, temper.
Darien looked back at Ren, warily, body ready for any physical attack
Ren might jump at him. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when
Ren turned around angrily and stalked away.
It wasn't that he didn't like the boy, Darien had reasoned with himself
that morning, but Ren Tsukino needed to be taught a lesson. Darien saw
Ren arise early every morning and then disappear. He knew Ren would
leave camp and return late to training practice, tired and out of
breath.
What was Ren doing? For some reason, Darien had an intense curiosity
to find out, yet there was no way he could follow Ren in such bare camp
grounds without being found out easily. Then Ren would just get in
trouble and Darien still would be clueless about where he went.
Serena didn't even dare glance at Diamond. He must have been smirking
again. Imagine her father hearing that his son in the military was a
delinquent. He would be disappointed in her, she knew he would. And
she was trying so hard to do her best.
Here she was in military camp, and she was going to be washing dishes
and cooking, just like a girl. It was the ultimate irony.
Who were the other four who were stuck with kitchen duty with her?
They were the four brothers, somehow through some highly unlikely odds,
ended up in the same military camp. They were some of the laziest
people she'd ever seen, never listening to Darien when he was teaching,
always mumbling some gossip or other.
"Hi." she stuck out her hand, hoping they wouldn't ignore her, "I'm
Ren, but you probably know that by now."
The four men looked at each other, before shaking her hand. "You can
call us Mal, Jed, Neph, and Zoi. Our names are pretty long."
"Umm..." They paused. "Do you know how to cook? Because we don't."
Ren smiled. "I'll cook. But you'll do all the dishes, ok?"
The four smiled. "Deal."
-----------------
Another month passed by. Though Serena was left out of training; when
she wasn't cooking, she always went to watch the others. She learned a
lot, just watching, and absorbing. It was hard, but she learned to
respect Darien's teaching methods. She couldn't say that she admired
him as a person, but he did teach well.
Serena's cooking was a hit. She was popular with the members of her
cabin, solely for the reason that she cooked well. She was humorous
and energetic, that only made her more friendly in their eyes.
Diamond, well, Diamond seemed to have accepted her as well. They still
didn't speak much, but they didn't glare at each other much either.
Only a week had passed after she'd been assigned kitchen duty, before
Mal had come up to her and point blank asked her to teach him to fight
on her own. She had been flattered, but had seen the firm
determination in his eyes. When she asked him why he wanted to learn
so suddenly, he had responded that he wanted to show the other men in
camp that he wasn't useless at all.
True to her word, she trained him. Jed, Neph, and Zoi were quick to
follow, and she helped them all, everyday, when she wasn't watching the
normal soldiers. Serena learned a lot from teaching others. All of
her old techniques, they fully made sense now, and she with that
understanding, she improvised newer and more efficient moves. On their
day off, they would walk to the local library and borrow books teaching
all the different types of fighting. Or if they had enough time, they
would walk to the theatre and watch martial art shows.
They became a close knit group, Serena was regarded as their leader.
When they were ready, they would go show Darien exactly what he had
thought was 'delinquent.'
-----------------
"Ack! Jed! Don't eat that yet! It's super .... " Serena tried to
warn him.
"YOW!" That was Jadeite.
Too late. Jed had already chugged down a big gulp of the burning hot
soup. Serena had to laugh at the picture he made, spinning madly on
the kitchen floor.
"What's going on here?" Zoicyte walked in. "Mmmmm, something smells
great. Ren, you cook better than my mother!"
Ren glared at him.
"I don't mean you're umm.... feminine or anything, just that ..... you
know .... you cook extraordinary for a guy. "
"Uh huh. There are exceptions to rules, you know. Just because I'm a
guy doesn't mean I wasn't taught how to cook when I was young." Serena
giggled to herself. It was partly true. Her mother had almost given
up teaching her how to cook when she was 12, because she was too
tomboyish, and too untalented. But her mother had persisted, and
Serena was grateful for that.
It HAD helped her relationships with other members of her group.
"Ren! Jed! Zoi!" That was Mal shouting from the outside. "You have
GOT to come and see this."
They all rushed outside, and gaped at the spectacle of Darien
practicing his sword technique to show the other men an example of how
it should be done.
Serena was amazed. He was so beautiful, smooth moves and turns. She
wasn't even anywhere close to as skillful as he was. How on earth had
she even managed to punch him that first day?
He must have been really surprised, she mused, to have been caught off
guard. He seemed as good as her father when younger.
She was deep in thought, and never noticed a dark figure creep into the
kitchen and creep out one minute later.
That night, no one got any sleep. The men lay on their beds, sick,
clutching their stomachs, apparently poisoned.
Serena, Malachite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicyte stood in front of
Darien as he scrutinized them.
"There is no way for EVERY person in our group to be poisoned unless it
was contaminated water or contaminated food. Either way, it would have
stemmed from the Kitchen. As the kitchen crew, what have you to say
for yourselves."
The five people looked at each other, dismayed. They didn't know how
it could have happened.
Serena was puzzled. It did make sense that the problem originated from
the kitchen. But how? At least one of them was in the kitchen at all
times during the day. She would show some boys some moves in the early
morning and would prepare breakfast while they practiced. Then one of
them would prepare lunch while she went to watch Darien train her
group. Only ....
It couldn't be. They'd only been out of the room once, to watch
Darien, and only for a few minutes. Could it be that somebody sneaked
into the room during that time and poisoned their food?
Darien's voice jolted her from her thoughts. "What if this was war
right now? If all of our men were be poisoned and the enemy was
approaching. I thought that giving you kitchen duty was a simple task.
It's only been a month, and already you have messed up." He sighed
and added quietly. "I appreciate your cooking, and as much as I don't
want to, I have to deal out punishment."
"For your crime of ignorance or for just not paying attention to the
cooking, I will have to punish you each with twenty whiplashes."
Serena gasped. It was her fault, really. She was the one that cooked
the meal. The others were responsible for setting tables and washing
dishes. It would only be fair if she took the full blame.
But she knew that it would be hard for anybody to survive, even, with
one hundred whiplashes.
Still.
"Sir." Darien glanced at her in surprise. He wasn't expecting such
calmness from Ren. "It was entirely my fault, as I was the one cooking
today. Please, spare my friends and punish only me."
The four brothers looked at her in surprise. Their eyes pleaded with
her not to do it, but she was determined to keep them out of trouble.
Darien looked at her in surprise as well. So Ren Tsukino did have a
sense of honor. A picture of Ren laughing joyfully in the snow plagued
him suddenly, and he suddenly didn't want to punish the boy anymore.
But his word was his word.
"Alright, Ren. I accept your offer." He said. "One hundred whiplashes
it is."
The brothers gasped. They didn't want Ren to die.
But they noticed Darien walking up to the person about to deliver the
torture and whisper. "Keep them light."
Serena didn't. She was lying, still fully clothed, face down on the
table. She waited for the lashes with a kind of acceptance of her
fate. It was her fault, so she deserved these.
And as the lashes descended, she thought, who was it that must have
sneaked into the kitchen?
Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate
it since I've always considered myself rather
English incompetent ^.^ I luv reviews! ^.^
The next part will have to take a few while,
because my exams are coming up. But thanks for
putting up with me so far!
Whoo! What's Diamond doing here?
I, personally, just want to skip everything and
write the romantic parts, but hey, this stuff is
necessary ... sigh
Moni-chan
monichan@telus.net
This is the story of the bravest girl to grace her world,
and the trials of her life.
Based very loosely upon the story of Mulan, a true heroine
in her own right.
Heroine
A Serena and Darien Alternate Reality Fic
by Moni-chan
monichan@telus.net
Chapter 2
Most of the other men had witnessed the encounter between Serena and
Darien. By the time Serena had found her cabin, she was the talk of
the entire camp, which had deduced that she was the person who had
punched their Captain. Most people thought she was crazy for being to
brash; others were impressed. She was famous.
When she walked into the cabin, all heads turned up and looked at her
for a moment, then turned away and voices milled about quietly for a
while.
Serena sighed, wondering if she'd just been categorized as an outcast,
and went about organizing her things. Her backpack was old and dirty
compared to the others', but she didn't really care. First, she took
out her night - clothes. She'd picked everything out carefully to make
sure of not being discovered. She'd sneakily taken the nightclothes
from her father's closet.
"Yo Ren Tsukino!" A loud voice jolted Serena out of her tasks. She
looked up slowly, to find a silver-haired guy standing in front of her,
sneering slightly.
"Yes?"
"You're the son of Ken Tsukino, aren't you? The GREAT Ken Tsukino?"
The man's voice was dripping with sarcasm. One small clan of men in the
room was hooting at them. The others were silent. Watching.
"Yes?" Serena knew about being cautious. She could see the menace in
this man, see the movements of his muscles in preparation for any
tricks he might pull."
"And you're the one who gave our Captain a black eye?"
"Yes," she sighed with exasperation. "But it was only because I
thought ..."
He wouldn't let her finish.
"Then I challenge you."
There, the words were spoken. The entire cabin was deadly quiet.
Serena looked at him, still sneering at her, looked around them, at the
watchful eyes. She said, quietly,
"I don't want to fight."
The man looked at her in surprise for a moment.
"Then you are a coward. The son of Ken Tsukino is a COWARD!" His
voice was cruel. "Imagine when I tell this to my hometown. Soon the
entire country will know that Ken Tsukino, the great hero, has a coward
for a son! No wonder why he never told anyone of his son! No one
wants a coward for a son!"
His clan of followers cheered him on, screaming at the top of lungs:
"COWARD, COWARD, COWARD"
Serena was in turmoil. At one end, she wanted to fight him just for
being such a bully. But she knew that fighting was the worst way to
get settled in camp.
"COWARD, COWARD, COWARD!"
If what he threatened was real, then her father would be disgraced,
before she even had a chance to prove herself! She couldn't let that
happen. One of the main reasons why her father wanted to risk his life
in war was to retain their family honor, and now ...
She stood up unsteadily, hands in tight fists.
"I accept your challenge."
"Fantastic." The man smirked evilly.
Before anyone could blink, the man had shot out a hand, ready to flip
Serena over on her back, in a gesture that was fundamentally cheating.
The room gasped, but relaxed when Serena's hand rose in a blur and
blocked it. The man was surprised, and tried to wrestle his hand out,
to no avail.
Serena on her part, was surprised at the strength of this trainee. He
was stronger than she, and she could feel it, and he would be out of
her grasp very soon. So she did the first thing she could think of:
She talked.
"WAIT!" Her voice rang clear and startled everyone in the cabin. It
succeeded its purpose, and even the silver-haired man looked up at the
moment.
She smiled sweetly. "You know my name, but I don't believe I know
yours."
"Huh?" Pure dumbfoundment.
"I said that I don't know my opponent's .. NAME!" She struggled to
finish her sentence in surprise when he finally escaped her grasp.
The fighting began.
The cabin watched in amazement at the two highly skilled fighters.
Arms and legs flew in blurs, at speeds too high to be able to see
clearly.
Serena was having a hard time. She knew she was good, and she also
knew that she hadn't finished her training when she came here. This
silver-haired guy was easily her equal. If she hadn't known a few
select techniques her father had taught her before, she would have been
defeated much earlier. She was concentrating so hard on her fighting
that she never heard someone outside of the cabin look in with wide
eyes, then run off to yell "FIGHT!" to tell all the people in the other
cabins.
A good half-hour had passed, and Serena and the other man were both
clearly tired. Cuts and bruises were everywhere on their bodies. Yet
neither would give up.
-----------------
Darien was walking outside, enjoying the winter night air, when he saw
a huge crowd of people gathered around one cabin. They were hooting
and yelling incomprehensible things. Quickly he walked over, afraid
to find gambling. But nothing prepared him for what he was about to
see.
Two people where fighting. And these two were both skilled fighters.
His highly trained eyes saw the strength of one, and the agility of
the other. They both had great potential, yet both were still very
unrefined in their technique.
"Damn," he sighed, "I can't believe we already have fights starting.
Those usually don't start until a month or two into training. This
year is going to be complicated, for sure."
With a high leap, he quickly jumped into the fray. The two fighters
were surprised by the sudden change, and were quickly lying helpless at
his feet.
Darien glared at them. Ren Tsukino was involved. It figured. That boy
probably was doing his best to get into trouble or something.
"First he punches me," Darien mumbled to himself, "Now he's fighting on
the first day. What a trouble maker."
And he would never have suspected Diamond to be involved! Diamond was
the youngest son of a high nobleman, sent to train his ability for the
war. His father was one of the most honored men in the country, and
everyone knew that his son was noble in personality as well as in
looks.
"It couldn't have been Diamond who started this mess." Darien thought.
"I can not believe what has happened tonight," Darien's voice was stern
in reprimand. "It is thoroughly dishonorable to be fighting your own
men. We are here to fight our enemy. If you spend all your energy
fighting amongst yourselves and killing yourselves, who will protect
our village? Who will save all our country?"
"But he ..." Serena couldn't stop herself. It wasn't her fault! That
silver-haired man had been threatening to disgrace her father.
Before she could continue, Diamond quickly cut in. "I am sorry,
Captain. It will never happen again."
"But he ..."
"No more!" Darien all but roared. "Ren, you need to learn and accept
what others tell you. Listen to what I say and learn from it. If I
ever catch you in any more trouble, you are really going to get it.
Good night. I expect you to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow
morning."
After Darien left, the other people left as well, quietly. Those still
in this cabin pitied Serena, for they knew she only fought Diamond
because she was forced to. But they were scared to talk to her; after
all, Diamond's clan was very menacing.
Serena lay on her cot, furious. She wanted to kick Darien on the back
of his head. In fact, she was a lot angrier at Darien than at Diamond.
Diamond had challenged her, bullied her into fighting.
Yet Darien had told her to understand the situation before acting
rashly. He had just stopped their fight without trying to understand
what had caused it in the first place!
"What a first-class jerk," she said to herself. "Telling me to do
whatever. Well, he is my leader, so I guess I'll have to listen to him
anyway. I really should go to him and explain what happened, but like
he'd believe me!"
She laughed rather bitterly. "I bet he thinks that I'm a troublemaker
who is obsessed with fighting. There's no way I'll get any respect
this way."
She lay in thought for a while.
"But I'll show them when training starts. I'll learn harder and work
harder than any of them, and I'll be the best. I'll go to war and
become a hero, just like my father, and then Darien will have to
respect me."
And with that last determined thought. Serena drifted off into a
restless sleep.
-----------------
When Serena was determined, she was determined. Elements of her
father's stubbornness were evident in her personality sometimes. And
this was one of those times.
She was up before the first call of the rooster. That was nothing new
for her, since she'd always a light sleeper [note: what a contrast from
our beloved anime Serena!], and her mother had always required her to
wake up before the rest of the family to do chores.
After quickly dressing and washing up, Serena left to find a solitary
place to practice her fighting techniques.
The winter air felt great to Serena, and she pranced about happily for
a while, swinging arms and whirling around. Her town never had much
snow, so she found a stick and drew pictures in the snow.
She was engrossed in her drawing; she never noticed Darien staring at
her from the window of his cabin.
Darien was indeed staring at her. He'd never known a guy who could be
so un-boyish. Well, Ren was violent, to be sure, but at times like
this, Darien could swear that Ren looked like a child, innocent and
happy, playing in the snow.
He shook his head. Ren wasn't so innocent, in daily life. Perhaps, he
was just a misunderstood child, spoiled by a famous father figure.
Darien couldn't help smiling when he saw Ren throw out his hands and
twirl. Actually, he puzzled, the movements of the boy in the snow were
smooth and graceful, almost that of a girl's.
Ren, a girl?
Darien laughed at himself. With that sharp voice of his? With that
violent nature? He hoped there would never be a girl like that! He'd
pity any man that would marry a girl like that!
Darien closed his drapes, almost unwillingly tearing his eyes away from
a joyful Ren. It was a long time since he'd been as happy or as
carefree as Ren.
His mother had been sick for over ten years, every day hovering between
consciousness and unconsciousness. It had been tough, since Darien had
only been a boy of twelve years when he first heard his mother had
collapsed. She had many people to take care of her, but his mind was
uneasy.
Darien yawned. It was still so early.
"That Ren must be absolutely crazy," he muttered to himself, before
going back to sleep.
Serena had finished her romp in the snow and was now as energetic as
ever to get her self-training started. She walked around, but
everywhere was quiet. There were no birds in the trees, no hum of the
wind, no hustle and bustle of people waking up.
She wandered about, to the edge of the camp, desperate to find some
signs of life. There were guards at the main entrances, so she
couldn't leave camp. After fifteen minutes, she came to a little
forest. It was huge, this forest, and in the early morning light it
was extremely foreboding.
With caution in her step, Serena slowly entered the forest.
-----------------
"Line!"
"March! One! Two! One! Two! Halt!"
Men turned in surprised when they heard the last order.
Ren Tsukino was running was running breakneck speed back to camp.
"I'm sorry sir!" she panted towards Darien, but "I got lost ... "
Darien groaned. More trouble. "Ren, how on earth CAN you get lost in
this camp? There are directions to the training ground everywhere!"
"Well ... " Serena hesitated. It was not allowed for soldiers to leave
campgrounds on non-rest days. She knew that she'd be in more trouble
if she told Darien the truth.
"I'm sorry, sir. I guess I didn't notice them."
Diamond laughed outright.
Darien looked at her in surprise. Could the son of Ken Tsukino really
be so dimwitted? There really were signs all over the camp, and he'd
told them the directions only about ten times yesterday during the
orientation.
A little suspicion creeped into Darien's mind but he squashed it
immediately. No one dared to break camp rules on the first day. There
was no way Ren Tsukino could have left camp without being noticed.
"Fine." he sighed. "Get in line."
"I want you all to run ten circles around this camp."
-----------------
It had been a week of intense training for the entire camp. Even
Serena and Diamond, the two most skilled soldiers in their group, were
extremely tired.
Things had been intense between the two ever since that first fight.
Neither talked to the other, but the quick glances and the unspoken
challenges were evident to all in the camp.
Serena had calmed down somewhat, about Darien. "These few days, he's
just been a harsh trainer, and he hasn't done anything to me." she said
to herself. "Perhaps he's forgiven me. Then I can go return his
wallet to him. If he ever finds this wallet on me, he'll probably
think that I convinced those bratty kids to steal it from him and then
give it to me."
The primitive lamps in the cabin were blown out. Serena stretched on
her back. "I don't know about Diamond. He's such an strange person,
and I know he's trying his hardest so he can be better than me."
A pause.
"I don't think I trust him. He seems to be planning something. His
eyes are always watching me. I hope he doesn't figure out that I'm a
girl."
A sigh.
"I guess, if he does, then I'll be in big trouble."
And her heavy eyelids finally overpowered her, and she slept.
-----------------
"It's been a month, already, and you most of you guys are pretty
pathetic!" Darien's voice seemed harsh and cruel. "You have to learn
to work even harder if you're going to be any good against the enemy."
Darien paced up and down, frustrated with his group. They weren't bad,
he knew, but he knew that they had much more potential. And the enemy
was strong. He'd fought them just a few months ago when they launched
their first attack. A few of their men could easily wipe out his
current army camp. He was seriously worried about the well being of
their country.
"Our enemies are biologically much larger and stronger than we are. If
we want to out fight them, we need a strategy! We need to be quick
with our minds and quick with our bodies."
"Physically," he continued, "you rate of progress is alright. But what
you lack is fast reflexes."
Darien stopped in front of Diamond and sent a punch flying. The latter
was surprised; however, he managed to catch it in time.
"THAT," continued Darien, "is what you need to train. THAT is good
reflex timing. Today you will be pairing up and training your
reflexes."
Serena could barely stand in her spot. Her reflexes were one of her
strong points. It would be a great day to show off her ability and
prove that the son of Ken Tsukino was better than the other's had
thought.
"One last thing. It has been required for several people to be
assigned to kitchen duty."
Groans could be heard throughout the line.
"Kitchen duty is for the delinquent, those that are not on time for
duty," Darien looked pointedly at Serena, "or always talking during
training," he glanced at four other men who were mumbling within
themselves and they immediately shut up, "or those who don't put any
extra effort into their fighting."
Oh no no no, Serena's apprehension grew, he wouldn't ....
"Unless you can prove themselves more diligent students, Malachite,
Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicyte, and Ren, I will have to assign you to
kitchen duty. Please step aside and head over towards the kitchen."
Serena was furious, again. How could he be so cruel! She glared at
Darien, and saw that he was going to be stubborn about his decision.
He wasn't going to even give her a chance.
The men in the lineup looked on nervously, as they knew Ren Tsukino's
sometimes, rather explosive, temper.
Darien looked back at Ren, warily, body ready for any physical attack
Ren might jump at him. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when
Ren turned around angrily and stalked away.
It wasn't that he didn't like the boy, Darien had reasoned with himself
that morning, but Ren Tsukino needed to be taught a lesson. Darien saw
Ren arise early every morning and then disappear. He knew Ren would
leave camp and return late to training practice, tired and out of
breath.
What was Ren doing? For some reason, Darien had an intense curiosity
to find out, yet there was no way he could follow Ren in such bare camp
grounds without being found out easily. Then Ren would just get in
trouble and Darien still would be clueless about where he went.
Serena didn't even dare glance at Diamond. He must have been smirking
again. Imagine her father hearing that his son in the military was a
delinquent. He would be disappointed in her, she knew he would. And
she was trying so hard to do her best.
Here she was in military camp, and she was going to be washing dishes
and cooking, just like a girl. It was the ultimate irony.
Who were the other four who were stuck with kitchen duty with her?
They were the four brothers, somehow through some highly unlikely odds,
ended up in the same military camp. They were some of the laziest
people she'd ever seen, never listening to Darien when he was teaching,
always mumbling some gossip or other.
"Hi." she stuck out her hand, hoping they wouldn't ignore her, "I'm
Ren, but you probably know that by now."
The four men looked at each other, before shaking her hand. "You can
call us Mal, Jed, Neph, and Zoi. Our names are pretty long."
"Umm..." They paused. "Do you know how to cook? Because we don't."
Ren smiled. "I'll cook. But you'll do all the dishes, ok?"
The four smiled. "Deal."
-----------------
Another month passed by. Though Serena was left out of training; when
she wasn't cooking, she always went to watch the others. She learned a
lot, just watching, and absorbing. It was hard, but she learned to
respect Darien's teaching methods. She couldn't say that she admired
him as a person, but he did teach well.
Serena's cooking was a hit. She was popular with the members of her
cabin, solely for the reason that she cooked well. She was humorous
and energetic, that only made her more friendly in their eyes.
Diamond, well, Diamond seemed to have accepted her as well. They still
didn't speak much, but they didn't glare at each other much either.
Only a week had passed after she'd been assigned kitchen duty, before
Mal had come up to her and point blank asked her to teach him to fight
on her own. She had been flattered, but had seen the firm
determination in his eyes. When she asked him why he wanted to learn
so suddenly, he had responded that he wanted to show the other men in
camp that he wasn't useless at all.
True to her word, she trained him. Jed, Neph, and Zoi were quick to
follow, and she helped them all, everyday, when she wasn't watching the
normal soldiers. Serena learned a lot from teaching others. All of
her old techniques, they fully made sense now, and she with that
understanding, she improvised newer and more efficient moves. On their
day off, they would walk to the local library and borrow books teaching
all the different types of fighting. Or if they had enough time, they
would walk to the theatre and watch martial art shows.
They became a close knit group, Serena was regarded as their leader.
When they were ready, they would go show Darien exactly what he had
thought was 'delinquent.'
-----------------
"Ack! Jed! Don't eat that yet! It's super .... " Serena tried to
warn him.
"YOW!" That was Jadeite.
Too late. Jed had already chugged down a big gulp of the burning hot
soup. Serena had to laugh at the picture he made, spinning madly on
the kitchen floor.
"What's going on here?" Zoicyte walked in. "Mmmmm, something smells
great. Ren, you cook better than my mother!"
Ren glared at him.
"I don't mean you're umm.... feminine or anything, just that ..... you
know .... you cook extraordinary for a guy. "
"Uh huh. There are exceptions to rules, you know. Just because I'm a
guy doesn't mean I wasn't taught how to cook when I was young." Serena
giggled to herself. It was partly true. Her mother had almost given
up teaching her how to cook when she was 12, because she was too
tomboyish, and too untalented. But her mother had persisted, and
Serena was grateful for that.
It HAD helped her relationships with other members of her group.
"Ren! Jed! Zoi!" That was Mal shouting from the outside. "You have
GOT to come and see this."
They all rushed outside, and gaped at the spectacle of Darien
practicing his sword technique to show the other men an example of how
it should be done.
Serena was amazed. He was so beautiful, smooth moves and turns. She
wasn't even anywhere close to as skillful as he was. How on earth had
she even managed to punch him that first day?
He must have been really surprised, she mused, to have been caught off
guard. He seemed as good as her father when younger.
She was deep in thought, and never noticed a dark figure creep into the
kitchen and creep out one minute later.
That night, no one got any sleep. The men lay on their beds, sick,
clutching their stomachs, apparently poisoned.
Serena, Malachite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicyte stood in front of
Darien as he scrutinized them.
"There is no way for EVERY person in our group to be poisoned unless it
was contaminated water or contaminated food. Either way, it would have
stemmed from the Kitchen. As the kitchen crew, what have you to say
for yourselves."
The five people looked at each other, dismayed. They didn't know how
it could have happened.
Serena was puzzled. It did make sense that the problem originated from
the kitchen. But how? At least one of them was in the kitchen at all
times during the day. She would show some boys some moves in the early
morning and would prepare breakfast while they practiced. Then one of
them would prepare lunch while she went to watch Darien train her
group. Only ....
It couldn't be. They'd only been out of the room once, to watch
Darien, and only for a few minutes. Could it be that somebody sneaked
into the room during that time and poisoned their food?
Darien's voice jolted her from her thoughts. "What if this was war
right now? If all of our men were be poisoned and the enemy was
approaching. I thought that giving you kitchen duty was a simple task.
It's only been a month, and already you have messed up." He sighed
and added quietly. "I appreciate your cooking, and as much as I don't
want to, I have to deal out punishment."
"For your crime of ignorance or for just not paying attention to the
cooking, I will have to punish you each with twenty whiplashes."
Serena gasped. It was her fault, really. She was the one that cooked
the meal. The others were responsible for setting tables and washing
dishes. It would only be fair if she took the full blame.
But she knew that it would be hard for anybody to survive, even, with
one hundred whiplashes.
Still.
"Sir." Darien glanced at her in surprise. He wasn't expecting such
calmness from Ren. "It was entirely my fault, as I was the one cooking
today. Please, spare my friends and punish only me."
The four brothers looked at her in surprise. Their eyes pleaded with
her not to do it, but she was determined to keep them out of trouble.
Darien looked at her in surprise as well. So Ren Tsukino did have a
sense of honor. A picture of Ren laughing joyfully in the snow plagued
him suddenly, and he suddenly didn't want to punish the boy anymore.
But his word was his word.
"Alright, Ren. I accept your offer." He said. "One hundred whiplashes
it is."
The brothers gasped. They didn't want Ren to die.
But they noticed Darien walking up to the person about to deliver the
torture and whisper. "Keep them light."
Serena didn't. She was lying, still fully clothed, face down on the
table. She waited for the lashes with a kind of acceptance of her
fate. It was her fault, so she deserved these.
And as the lashes descended, she thought, who was it that must have
sneaked into the kitchen?
Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate
it since I've always considered myself rather
English incompetent ^.^ I luv reviews! ^.^
The next part will have to take a few while,
because my exams are coming up. But thanks for
putting up with me so far!
Whoo! What's Diamond doing here?
I, personally, just want to skip everything and
write the romantic parts, but hey, this stuff is
necessary ... sigh
Moni-chan
monichan@telus.net
