"Look, we better get going," Rebecca said sternly, standing up. She looked over at Christopher, who had fallen asleep upon the stone bench. It was dusk now, night was coming soon, and she needed to cover as much ground as she could. She walked voer to him, and gently shook him awake.
"Five more minutes Reeya..." he muttered, still half-asleep. Rebecca smiled to herself. Reeya must be his sister. "
"Chris, walk up, we need to get going," she spoke gently, shaking the young man. His eyes fluttered open. Chris sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Nani?" he asked sleepily.
"We need to leave. It's not safe to stay in one place for so long," Rebecca explained kindly.
"It's gonna be night in a couple of hours. Where are we going to stay?"
"I'm not sure Chris, but we need to at elast leave." He stood up, stretching. Rebecca climbed onto Moonbeam's back and looked at Chris. "Climb on."
"You want me to ride on that thing's back?" Chris asked, eyeing her. Rebecca gave a small smile.
"She isn't an it you know, her name is Moonbeam."
"Still, you expect me to ride her?"
"Hai, what's wrong with that?"
"Shall I make a list for you?" Rebecca shook her head, grabbed his hand and pulled him on.
"All right girl, let's go!" Rebecca spoke, patting Moonbeam on the head.
"Wait, do I Tiger Insuran-woah!" Chris shouted, as Moonbeam sped off, carrying the two humans along with her. Moonbeam ran fast, the shrine disappearing from site. They were soon on a dirt path, leading towards the main city of Toyama.
"Where did you get her?" Chris ask, his arms around rebeca's waist, hanging on for dear life.
"She was given to me when I was bron. She was full grown female tiger, but even after all these years, she has the felixbilty and energy of a cub."
"What made you decide to name her 'Moonbeam'?"
"On her left eye is a black stripe that looks like a crescent moon. It gave me the idea to name her that."
"Okay, then answer me this: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING?!" Rebecca smiled.
"Well, I guess you do have a right to know..."
"Damn straight I do! My sister is gone!"
"All right, just calm down. You're sister is fine. Tulpa won't kill any of the mortals."
"Who is this Tulpa?"
"Tulpa is an ancient demon, who's records I know go as far as over one thousand years ago. His plan was to dominate and control the Mortal World, Earth."
"What stopped him?"
"A great warrior. No one knew his name, but he was accompanied by a large male white tiger, and weilded the sword of the Ancients. He vanquished the demon the Evil Dynasty, sending them bakc to where they had come forth from. But something puzzled the warrior. Though Tulpa's spirit and the Dynasty was gone, the demon's outer shell was still there."
"So, what did he do with it?"
"The warrior took the armor. He was actually the true Ancient, and with his wisdom and power, the Ancient created nine seperate armors: Wildfire, Torrent, Halo, Hardrock, Strata, Illusion, Cruelty, Venom and Curroption."
"And, what happened to them?"
"That I never learned, but centuries later, four of them came into possession of four men. By now though, Tulpa was able to at least get his influence through the gates of his prison. He found these four men, and convinced them with power and immortality, to join the Evil Dynasty."
"But what happened to the other five armors?"
"They were given to five men from our time, who are known as the Ronin warriors. they protect us from the Dynasty. They did, six months ago, when Tulpa had returned for the first time."
"Wait a minue, if he did come six months ago, how come I don't remember that?"
"Because every mortal's memory was erased of the horrible time."
"How come you remember?" Rebecca's eyes narrowed sadly.
"Because I was cursed to never forget."
"How?"
"Look, I'm not done explaining yet. You still need to undertsnad the other half of this horror. Not only is Lord Tulpa attacking, but he also has the help of Queen Beryl."
"Now who the hell is Queen Beryl?"
"Queen Beryl was also a demon from over one thousand years ago. Beryl was jealous of the power and strength of a certain Kingdom: The Moon Kingdom. The Moon Kingdom was built on our very Moon."
"Whadda? You mean, people actually lived on the moon? How come-"
"Scientists never discovered that for the kingom has vanished: the remains of the kingdom have dicintergrated. I remember the day it perished ever so well."
"You mean, you were-"
"Yes, I lived in the Kingdom, but that was one of my two past lives. The kingdom was ruled by Queen Serenity, a kind and gentle queen. She had a daughter, Princess Serena, whom I had to watch over and guide. I was her second royal advisor. Her other one was Luna, one of the remaining Lunarians alive. Herr form is of a black cat, with a crescent moon on her forehead. The kingdom was protected by the Princesses of neighboring planets: Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. they were the guardians of the Royal Family. I was a simple caretaker and advisor."
"How did the kingdom fall?"
"It happened one night, upon a ball. Princess Serena was secretly meeting her love, Prince Edyimon(is that how you spell it?-LS), for their was an arguement going on between the Earth and the Moon. Beryl was jealous of not only the power of the kingdom, but of the young couple. She wanted the prince for herself. She sent forth an army of demons, destroying the fair kingdom. It was beyrl herself who killed the Prince and Princess."
"How did you-I mean, your past self die?"
"I was caught in an attack, meant for the princess. I threw myself in the blasts direction, taking the blast full on. I don't remember what happened next, but I was told in my dreams that Queen Serenity locked Beryl and her shadow demons away, forever, or it seemed so. Then, with the Silver Crystal, she was able to send everyone to the Earth, to be reborn again, and to never again remember the Moon Kingdom. Almost, everyone..."
"Why, what happened?"
"I was reborn on another world, the World of the Ancients. When I was born, the Ancient knew immediatly that I was not become a part of them. I was different, special. It was there I befriend Kyuara, who later captured by Tulpa. I was killed, yet again, when Tulpa attacked the world, trying to save my friend."
"But, you failed?" She nodded. They were now entering the deserted city. The streets were torn aparts, cars were tipped onto their sides, buildings half torn and crumbled. A faint fog covered the ground under them.
"Ne, and I was reborn yet again, here, on this Earth."
"What happened next?" The girl shook her head.
"Not now. You will learn more another time. Can't you see that night has slowly fallen? Look at the sky." He looked up, and sure enough, the sky had already begun to darken. "We had best find shelter."
***
Rowen looked up from the book he was reading, over at Amy and Mia, who were looking at the computer screen intently. The two were talking quietly, eyes narrowed and worried. He listened to Lita and Cye, who were busy in the kitchen, cooking a meal. He grinned to himself, as he heard Cye yell at Kento.
"Kento, get out of my kitchen!" he shouted, and heard the sound of a pan hitting the wall. Rowen sweatdropped, and looked over at Kyuara, who was sweatdropping too.
"This is going to be one insane night, huh?"
"Hai, it is," Kyuara replied, smiling kindly. The two looked over at raye, who had seated herself infront of the fire, gazing into the flames, off in her own world. sage was only a few feet away, meditating. His eyes snapped open, and Raye whirled her head towards the kitchen.
"WOULD YOU QUIET DOWN IN THERE?" they shouted similtaniously. Lita stuck her head out.
"Sorry! We're trying to save the food from Serena and Kento!" The two didn't reply, but went back to what they were doing. Lita looked at Rowen and Kyuara, sighing and shaking her head. Kyuara smiled.
"Do you need help in there?" she asked.
"If you know a way to keep those two out of the kitchen, I would be very grateful." Kyuara stood up and walked into the kitchen. After a moment, there was the sound of chimes, a loud shout from Kento and Serena, and Kyuara returned to the room, smiling. She fingered the necklace with her elegant fingers, and sat down, picking up a magazine from the coffee table. Rowen raised an eyebrow.
"Dare I ask what you did to thsoe two?" Kyuara simply grinned, flipping through the magazines. Rowen smiled at her, and returned to his book. Kyuara has changed a lot since Anubis freed her from the Evil Dynasty. She's not that bad, for a 400 year old chick anyways.
"Mia, are you absolutly sure?" Amy asked, looking at the screen.
"Hai, I'm quite sure Amy. These record are factually."
"I'll take your word on it."
"What is it?" raye asked, still gazing into the flames. Amy looked over at her comrade.
"It seems that this alliance beryl has made with Tulpa is quite the dangerous one. With what Mia ahs shown me of Tulpa, this won't be an easy battle."
"Piece of cake!" Kento said, walking inside. "We kicked Tulpa's ass before, so we'll just do it again."
"But we still have this beryl to deal with Kento," Sage pointed out, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Beryl, Shmeryl, we can finish them off in a snap!"
"Don't underestimate Beryl hardrock," raye snapped, looking up at him, her eyes narrowed. "You don't know Beryl and her tricks. If you go into battle like that, you'll be down before you even know what hit you. I'd advice you to not to take things so lightly."
"Geeze, what's wrong with you two? You're acting so serious and worried! With our powers allied, what could go wrong?" Serena asked.
"That's your problem Serena! You act like thing s are just a simple math problem, not that any math problem is simple for you!" Serena glared at her.
"Quiet raye! At least I'm not all stuck up and serious like you are!" Raye jumped up, her eyes filled with rage.
"At least I'm thinking things through Serena! Lita almost died earlier, because you weren't even thinking!" she snapped back. Serena stared, shocked. tears welled in her eyes. "Now don't you go start crying Serena!"
"Look Raye, you don't get it, do you? I didn't know what to do!" Serena shouted back, before dashing out of the room. raye watched her leave, then sighed, shaking her head.
"Raye, you need to go easy on her. It wasn't her fault that Lita was attacked by the Dynasty soldiers," Amy spoke calmly.
"I know, but Serena isn't taking this seriously. She needs to get her act together, otherwise..." raye sat back down, in front of the flames, and watched them. then, she closed her eyes and began to chant. Sage opened one eye, looking at the girl. he closed them again, and plunged deep into the Princess of Mars' mind. He felt a deep red aura surrounding her, tinted with orange. She is strong Sage thought calmly but she seems confused. He plunged even deeper, trying not to hurt the girl. Then, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. he released Raye, and returned to reality. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see it was Rowen.
"I know that look of yours sage. I know what tou were doing, and isn't right." Sage just clsoed his eyes again, returning to his meditation. Rowen just rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Hey guys, can somebody help me?" they heard Ryo's voice. Mia, Rowen, Kento and sage exchanged exasperated looks. He may bear the armor of Wildfire, but there were times when he just couldn't make a fire in a fireplace. Mia dashed off to get the estinguisher, while Kento, Rowen, and Sage ran downstairs to help put out the fire. Kyuara and Amy laughed quietly, but Raye spoke nothing.
***
Moonbeam stopped infront of a stone building, surrounded by rubble. The tiger jumped up to the rubble, and jumped from stone to stone, before finding a small entrance inside. She lept through, Chris and Rebecca holding on tightly. Rebecca slid off the tiger's back and looked around.
"Good job Moonbeam," she spoke kindly, scratching behind the tiger's ear. Chris looked around. It was trashed department store. He walked overto a damaged display case. He pulled out a couple of towels and ripped clothing.
"I guess this could do for pillows and blankets," he said, tossing Rebecca a semi-big blue towel, and ripped sweatshirt. She caught them. Quietly, she placed the towel onto the ground, and laid upon it. She pulled the sweatshirt on and closed her eyes. Moonbeam walked over and curled up beside her, and rebecca leaned her against her friend's warm fur. Chris watched this, smiling. The tear-drop shaped pendant glittered dully.
" 'Night Becky."
"Shut up Chris." He smiled to himself, before resting himself upon a towel on the ground, using a another one as a blanket, and another one as a pillow. They fell fast asleep, not knowing what the day would bring.
That actually came out really well! Totally different from my first version.
Rowen: No offense or anything, but I read the first one, and it sucked.
No kidding. I wrote that in seventh grade. I'm so glad I decided to revise it.
Kuzco: Why haven't you written anything about me?
'Cause I haven't felt inspired llama, that's why. Now, if you don't stop laughing, I'll go and get Ikky.
Kuzco: :;wide-eyed:: Okay! Bye! ::dashes out of the room::
Hehe!^^ I'm good!
Sage: Well, let's hope you get the next chapter done soon.
hey! Don't be so worried Cyclops! It will be!
Sage: Don't call me Cyclops!
But it fits you so well, Cyclops!
Sage: . Baka.
^_^
