Konni-wa, minna! Wow, I'm kind of surprised. While nobody wrote
saying they were happy with the Andrew/Serena pairing, nobody wrote
threatening me with certain death either!! Happy day!!
Thank you to all you wonderful people who commented. You are the
ones who keep this story moving. You really are!
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and the Night World do not belong to me though I
hope to be that creative someday...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Moon Stalker"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FOUR
This time the bokken was in her back sheath, the handle peeking
above her left shoulder. The paper had reported numerous vampire
sightings and Luna had insisted Serena take the wooden sword with her.
There hadn't seemed any point in arguing, but now as Serena attempted
to slither forward in the undergrowth she cursed the awkward stick.
How am I supposed to sneak up on anything?! she complained as
she topped the rise and the small valley from the other night came into
view. Sure enough, there was the wolf. The beautiful black wolf. It was
sitting there, in a circle of moonlight, waiting for her. It had been
here every night since that first one and had begun to accompany her on
her rounds.
At first Serena was surprised, and a little annoyed, at the
constant presence. But after the wolf helped her with a particularly
annoying black witch, she'd reconsidered her opinion. She'd taken to
calling it "Silk." Mainly because when it moved in the moonlight, it's
fur looked like silk. And as Serena had discovered felt like it too.
Not to mention calling it just "wolf" was too annoying, even for her.
She waited till Silk's back was to her, before suddenly leaping
out of the underbrush and tackling the surprised animal. They rolled
around in the grass for a moment, till the bokken made itself known
again.
"Ouch!" Serena cried rolling onto her stomach abruptly to stop
the wood from stabbing her lower back. She slowly stood up and smiled
down at Silk, who was sitting at her feet. "Hey. Ready to go?" she asked
with a wide grin. The animal leaped to its feet and lifted its nose to
the air.
After a few cautious sniffs, it took off running, Serena in hot
pursuit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask sighed and pushed himself off the tree he had been
leaning on as Stalker ran off into the night. He was thoroughly
frustrated with her. He'd been following her for over a week now and
still didn't have a clue who she really was. She always managed to elude
him at the end of the night when she was headed back to where ever she
lived.
He started to walk slowly in the direction she and the wolf had
run off in as he thought. She sure was chummy with that animal. It made
him all the more curious. It certainly didn't act like a normal wolf,
but he'd never met a werewolf that partnered with a human --assuming the
Moon Stalker was a human-- to help take down others of its own kind.
It didn't make sense. That was what annoyed him the most. He was
used to things making sense. Most of his world made sense... except
first that whole thing with Serena, and now the Moon Stalker. At first
he'd entertained ideas of Serena *being* the Moon Stalker, but he was
sure now that couldn't be true. The Serena he had met was nothing like
Stalker. Serena was so cold... his thoughts trailed off as his memory
showed him an image of a certain red-haired girl standing on a dancing
floor kissing a blonde-haired guy rather passionately. No... Serena
wasn't cold... not really. Just to him, as far as he could tell.
His blood boiled as he thought of that guy. He remembered his
name was Andrew, but in Mask's mind he was only 'that guy.' The one he
wanted to rend limb from limb so he could never touch Serena again.
Because Mask had claimed her, just as he had claimed Stalker. True...
he probably would never have either of them... but that didn't stop him
from wanting one of them. Either of them. He realized he didn't really
care which, as long as no one got the other one.
He wanted them both and he couldn't have either.
He sighed as Stalker and her pet, Silk, came into view. His pace
quickened at the sounds of battle, but he stopped when he heard a voice
he really didn't want to hear.
Serena growled under her breath as she dodged the vamp's
attempts at punching her. With a slight nod to Silk she jumped back and
wrenched the bokken from its sheath. She mumbled some choice words at
the guy circling the fight, looking for a way to jump in.
Why did *he* have to show up?! This is NOT good.
As Silk launched its self off the ground and latched its teeth
onto the vamp's leg, Serena circled around back. With an effective lunge
she rammed the bokken deep into the vamp's back and jumped back,
whistling as she moved. Silk immediately dropped the hapless vamp's leg
and sprang for freedom.
As the last death cries of the vampire were heard Serena turned
to face the guy, who was now staring at her in return.
She cleared her throat and attempted to act nonchalant. "Thank
you for your help, sir, but I have everything under control."
"Stop it, don't pretend. I know you're Serena." Andrew said
sadly with a hopeless look in his eyes. Serena caught her breath and
looked away, the half-mask hiding her confused eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask stopped in his tracks. Had he just heard right?
Serena... was the... Moon Stalker? True, he'd entertained the idea, but
surely it was absurd! Serena wouldn't go around killing monsters! Of
course... people who knew his alter ego could say the same.
Aware that he needed more information, The Mask slipped nimbly
behind a tree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm sure I don't know who you're talking about, sir." Serena
attempted to salvage the situation, but knew it was already pointless
when Andrew started walking towards her. She noticed with grim humor
that he skirted around Silk, who was attempting to use its teeth to pull
the bokken out of the rapidly mummifying vampire.
"Is this what you were hiding the other night? Is this why you
threw me out... why you haven't allowed us to mind-touch again?" Andrew
ignored her feeble protests as he stepped closer and closer, till the
distance between them was a single stride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask groaned softly. Mind-touch. Dammit, he knew that term.
It was used only to describe the kind of contact that was achieved
between soul-mates. If Andrew was Serena's soul-mate, he didn't have a
chance. And if Serena was the Stalker, Mask was quite sure he would go
insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena didn't look up as Andrew slowly reached up and cupped her
cheek in his hand. "Serena?" he whispered quietly, as she stayed silent.
There was no denying it now. The skin to skin contact was
sending shocks all through Serena's body and she was sure the same was
true for Andrew. It was really rather pointless when Serena finally
decided to drop the last barrier. With a tiny sigh she reached up and
untied the cotton portion of the mask that held the plastic part over
her nose and eyes. Pulling the hood-like top from her head, her shoulder
length hair tumbled down, gleaming gently in the moonlight despite its
dark red color.
Serena looked up into Andrew's eyes, the mask still clutched in
her hand. What she saw caused her to be over whelmed with happiness. His
eyes spoke volumes of his forgiveness and love.
He wasn't mad at her for hiding this portion of her life, or
lying to him. He seemed to understand.
"I'm sorry." She needed to say it anyway, even though she knew
he forgave her. She had to let him know that she hadn't wanted it to be
like this. That she wasn't trying to keep him out, but that she was
trying to protect him.
His fingers stroked her cheek softly as he smiled at her. "I
forgive you." he whispered gently as his other arm snaked around her
waist, pulling her into his embrace. He hugged her tightly with his arms
behind the small of her back as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Her arms slipped up around his neck and she didn't even notice
that she was still clutching the mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mask growled in anger. He wanted to go in there and rip them
apart then take Serena and go... somewhere. He didn't care where as long
as Andrew wasn't there. Damn that man. He'd just taken both the girls
he wanted. And he'd done so effortlessly. So what if they were
soul-mated? That didn't give him special rights, did it? And what if
something happened to Andrew? Serena'd be free again...
"Free..." he murmured softly. "But not now... later. I'll come
back for you, Serena." he promised softly as he turned and stalked off
into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew cupped Serena's chin in his hand and forced her to look
up at him. "Serena, we can do this together. You don't have to do it
alone."
Serena looked at him dispassionately. "No. I *have* to do this
alone. And besides, I have Silk." She turned her head to see the wolf
was lying on the ground, staring up at them with an expression that
Serena would almost call happiness... if such a thing were possible.
"A wolf. Is it... a werewolf?"
Serena was a little surprised that Andrew knew the species. Many
humans knew things existed, but they were afraid to learn more about
them, as if knowledge would attract the monsters.
"I don't think so. It doesn't act like a normal wolf, but I've
never met a werewolf that didn't attack anything that could be remotely
labeled as edible."
Andrew merely lifted an eyebrow. "Still... Silk isn't a human.
And I want to help. Don't push me out of your life, Serena."
"I'm not!" she denied. "I'm not. I just don't want you to get
hurt! Andrew, I've been doing this for two years. I know what I'm doing!"
"I don't care. What if something happens to you? At least I'll
be there to help. I couldn't bear to lose you." he ended softly, his
face almost touching hers. Before she knew what she was doing, she
nodded in agreement.
With a gentle smile Andrew kissed her forehead. "Thank you."
he whispered as he kissed her again, this time on her lips.
She never even noticed when the mask fluttered out of her hand
to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Luna! I have news!!" Serena called as she walked into the
apartment. She dropped the half-mask on a side table and kicked off her
boots, pulling the dagger from its sheath. She moved into the bedroom
to find her cat sleeping on her bed. With a playful nudge she woke Luna
up.
"What?" the cat growled.
"I have news." Serena repeated slowly. She sat on the edge of
the bed and began to clean her bokken, waiting for Luna to say something.
"Yippy skippy." Luna grumbled as she rolled over.
After a moment she sighed and sat up, facing Serena.
"Well?" she said slowly.
"Andrew knows." Serena said simply. She watched out of the
corner of her eye in delight as Luna went ridged with shock.
"WHAT?!" She screeched finally. She jumped onto all fours, her
fur standing up. "You told him! I don't believe this!"
"I didn't tell him. He found out himself. Not like I could hide
it. I tried, Luna. But I guess having him for a soul-mate means I don't
get many secrets." she mussed over this quietly as Luna again froze in
shock.
This is too much for my heart. I'm gonna pass out right here.
Luna thought melodramatically as she watched her protege put away the
cleaned bokken. "Soul-mate?" she managed to gasp eventually.
"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you?" Serena asked as she changed into
her sleeping clothes and headed to the bathroom.
"No. You neglected that little fact." Luna growled as she
followed Serena.
"Sorry." Serena mumbled around a mouth full of toothpaste. "Oh
yeah, he wants to help with the slaying."
"NO!" Luna cried. "Absolutely not! You can't have anyone help
you! Your emotions will get in the way of your fighting and you'll do
something STUPID!" She yelled.
"Hush, Luna. These walls are thin and I do have neighbors. And
you don't have a say in the matter. I already said he could." Serena
reprimanded Luna softly as she went back down the short hallway to her
bedroom.
"You had no right." Luna growled, quieter as she started to pace
in Serena's bedroom.
"I do too." Serena said around a yawn as she pulled the covers
down. "He is my soul-mate after all. I should get to decide."
"I'm not happy with you, Serena. Not at all." Luna said,
pointing out the obvious as she attempted to wear a hole in the rug.
"Oh... one other thing. There's this wolf, Silk, that's been
helping me too." Serena said as her eyes drifted closed.
"WHAT? A werewolf has been helping you?! HOW MANY MORE SECRETS
DO YOU HAVE?!" Luna yelled, albeit softly, at the prone form. It was too
late though. Serena was fast asleep and all questions would have to wait.
"That girl's gonna put me in an early grave." Luna muttered as she
stalked out of the room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail!! Me gusta e-mail! OpiumChicken@yahoo.com
Guestbook!! Me gusta guestbook! http://ziskaames.tripod.com/stories/
Ja ne,
Zi-chan
saying they were happy with the Andrew/Serena pairing, nobody wrote
threatening me with certain death either!! Happy day!!
Thank you to all you wonderful people who commented. You are the
ones who keep this story moving. You really are!
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and the Night World do not belong to me though I
hope to be that creative someday...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Moon Stalker"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FOUR
This time the bokken was in her back sheath, the handle peeking
above her left shoulder. The paper had reported numerous vampire
sightings and Luna had insisted Serena take the wooden sword with her.
There hadn't seemed any point in arguing, but now as Serena attempted
to slither forward in the undergrowth she cursed the awkward stick.
How am I supposed to sneak up on anything?! she complained as
she topped the rise and the small valley from the other night came into
view. Sure enough, there was the wolf. The beautiful black wolf. It was
sitting there, in a circle of moonlight, waiting for her. It had been
here every night since that first one and had begun to accompany her on
her rounds.
At first Serena was surprised, and a little annoyed, at the
constant presence. But after the wolf helped her with a particularly
annoying black witch, she'd reconsidered her opinion. She'd taken to
calling it "Silk." Mainly because when it moved in the moonlight, it's
fur looked like silk. And as Serena had discovered felt like it too.
Not to mention calling it just "wolf" was too annoying, even for her.
She waited till Silk's back was to her, before suddenly leaping
out of the underbrush and tackling the surprised animal. They rolled
around in the grass for a moment, till the bokken made itself known
again.
"Ouch!" Serena cried rolling onto her stomach abruptly to stop
the wood from stabbing her lower back. She slowly stood up and smiled
down at Silk, who was sitting at her feet. "Hey. Ready to go?" she asked
with a wide grin. The animal leaped to its feet and lifted its nose to
the air.
After a few cautious sniffs, it took off running, Serena in hot
pursuit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask sighed and pushed himself off the tree he had been
leaning on as Stalker ran off into the night. He was thoroughly
frustrated with her. He'd been following her for over a week now and
still didn't have a clue who she really was. She always managed to elude
him at the end of the night when she was headed back to where ever she
lived.
He started to walk slowly in the direction she and the wolf had
run off in as he thought. She sure was chummy with that animal. It made
him all the more curious. It certainly didn't act like a normal wolf,
but he'd never met a werewolf that partnered with a human --assuming the
Moon Stalker was a human-- to help take down others of its own kind.
It didn't make sense. That was what annoyed him the most. He was
used to things making sense. Most of his world made sense... except
first that whole thing with Serena, and now the Moon Stalker. At first
he'd entertained ideas of Serena *being* the Moon Stalker, but he was
sure now that couldn't be true. The Serena he had met was nothing like
Stalker. Serena was so cold... his thoughts trailed off as his memory
showed him an image of a certain red-haired girl standing on a dancing
floor kissing a blonde-haired guy rather passionately. No... Serena
wasn't cold... not really. Just to him, as far as he could tell.
His blood boiled as he thought of that guy. He remembered his
name was Andrew, but in Mask's mind he was only 'that guy.' The one he
wanted to rend limb from limb so he could never touch Serena again.
Because Mask had claimed her, just as he had claimed Stalker. True...
he probably would never have either of them... but that didn't stop him
from wanting one of them. Either of them. He realized he didn't really
care which, as long as no one got the other one.
He wanted them both and he couldn't have either.
He sighed as Stalker and her pet, Silk, came into view. His pace
quickened at the sounds of battle, but he stopped when he heard a voice
he really didn't want to hear.
Serena growled under her breath as she dodged the vamp's
attempts at punching her. With a slight nod to Silk she jumped back and
wrenched the bokken from its sheath. She mumbled some choice words at
the guy circling the fight, looking for a way to jump in.
Why did *he* have to show up?! This is NOT good.
As Silk launched its self off the ground and latched its teeth
onto the vamp's leg, Serena circled around back. With an effective lunge
she rammed the bokken deep into the vamp's back and jumped back,
whistling as she moved. Silk immediately dropped the hapless vamp's leg
and sprang for freedom.
As the last death cries of the vampire were heard Serena turned
to face the guy, who was now staring at her in return.
She cleared her throat and attempted to act nonchalant. "Thank
you for your help, sir, but I have everything under control."
"Stop it, don't pretend. I know you're Serena." Andrew said
sadly with a hopeless look in his eyes. Serena caught her breath and
looked away, the half-mask hiding her confused eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask stopped in his tracks. Had he just heard right?
Serena... was the... Moon Stalker? True, he'd entertained the idea, but
surely it was absurd! Serena wouldn't go around killing monsters! Of
course... people who knew his alter ego could say the same.
Aware that he needed more information, The Mask slipped nimbly
behind a tree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm sure I don't know who you're talking about, sir." Serena
attempted to salvage the situation, but knew it was already pointless
when Andrew started walking towards her. She noticed with grim humor
that he skirted around Silk, who was attempting to use its teeth to pull
the bokken out of the rapidly mummifying vampire.
"Is this what you were hiding the other night? Is this why you
threw me out... why you haven't allowed us to mind-touch again?" Andrew
ignored her feeble protests as he stepped closer and closer, till the
distance between them was a single stride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mask groaned softly. Mind-touch. Dammit, he knew that term.
It was used only to describe the kind of contact that was achieved
between soul-mates. If Andrew was Serena's soul-mate, he didn't have a
chance. And if Serena was the Stalker, Mask was quite sure he would go
insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena didn't look up as Andrew slowly reached up and cupped her
cheek in his hand. "Serena?" he whispered quietly, as she stayed silent.
There was no denying it now. The skin to skin contact was
sending shocks all through Serena's body and she was sure the same was
true for Andrew. It was really rather pointless when Serena finally
decided to drop the last barrier. With a tiny sigh she reached up and
untied the cotton portion of the mask that held the plastic part over
her nose and eyes. Pulling the hood-like top from her head, her shoulder
length hair tumbled down, gleaming gently in the moonlight despite its
dark red color.
Serena looked up into Andrew's eyes, the mask still clutched in
her hand. What she saw caused her to be over whelmed with happiness. His
eyes spoke volumes of his forgiveness and love.
He wasn't mad at her for hiding this portion of her life, or
lying to him. He seemed to understand.
"I'm sorry." She needed to say it anyway, even though she knew
he forgave her. She had to let him know that she hadn't wanted it to be
like this. That she wasn't trying to keep him out, but that she was
trying to protect him.
His fingers stroked her cheek softly as he smiled at her. "I
forgive you." he whispered gently as his other arm snaked around her
waist, pulling her into his embrace. He hugged her tightly with his arms
behind the small of her back as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Her arms slipped up around his neck and she didn't even notice
that she was still clutching the mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mask growled in anger. He wanted to go in there and rip them
apart then take Serena and go... somewhere. He didn't care where as long
as Andrew wasn't there. Damn that man. He'd just taken both the girls
he wanted. And he'd done so effortlessly. So what if they were
soul-mated? That didn't give him special rights, did it? And what if
something happened to Andrew? Serena'd be free again...
"Free..." he murmured softly. "But not now... later. I'll come
back for you, Serena." he promised softly as he turned and stalked off
into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew cupped Serena's chin in his hand and forced her to look
up at him. "Serena, we can do this together. You don't have to do it
alone."
Serena looked at him dispassionately. "No. I *have* to do this
alone. And besides, I have Silk." She turned her head to see the wolf
was lying on the ground, staring up at them with an expression that
Serena would almost call happiness... if such a thing were possible.
"A wolf. Is it... a werewolf?"
Serena was a little surprised that Andrew knew the species. Many
humans knew things existed, but they were afraid to learn more about
them, as if knowledge would attract the monsters.
"I don't think so. It doesn't act like a normal wolf, but I've
never met a werewolf that didn't attack anything that could be remotely
labeled as edible."
Andrew merely lifted an eyebrow. "Still... Silk isn't a human.
And I want to help. Don't push me out of your life, Serena."
"I'm not!" she denied. "I'm not. I just don't want you to get
hurt! Andrew, I've been doing this for two years. I know what I'm doing!"
"I don't care. What if something happens to you? At least I'll
be there to help. I couldn't bear to lose you." he ended softly, his
face almost touching hers. Before she knew what she was doing, she
nodded in agreement.
With a gentle smile Andrew kissed her forehead. "Thank you."
he whispered as he kissed her again, this time on her lips.
She never even noticed when the mask fluttered out of her hand
to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Luna! I have news!!" Serena called as she walked into the
apartment. She dropped the half-mask on a side table and kicked off her
boots, pulling the dagger from its sheath. She moved into the bedroom
to find her cat sleeping on her bed. With a playful nudge she woke Luna
up.
"What?" the cat growled.
"I have news." Serena repeated slowly. She sat on the edge of
the bed and began to clean her bokken, waiting for Luna to say something.
"Yippy skippy." Luna grumbled as she rolled over.
After a moment she sighed and sat up, facing Serena.
"Well?" she said slowly.
"Andrew knows." Serena said simply. She watched out of the
corner of her eye in delight as Luna went ridged with shock.
"WHAT?!" She screeched finally. She jumped onto all fours, her
fur standing up. "You told him! I don't believe this!"
"I didn't tell him. He found out himself. Not like I could hide
it. I tried, Luna. But I guess having him for a soul-mate means I don't
get many secrets." she mussed over this quietly as Luna again froze in
shock.
This is too much for my heart. I'm gonna pass out right here.
Luna thought melodramatically as she watched her protege put away the
cleaned bokken. "Soul-mate?" she managed to gasp eventually.
"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you?" Serena asked as she changed into
her sleeping clothes and headed to the bathroom.
"No. You neglected that little fact." Luna growled as she
followed Serena.
"Sorry." Serena mumbled around a mouth full of toothpaste. "Oh
yeah, he wants to help with the slaying."
"NO!" Luna cried. "Absolutely not! You can't have anyone help
you! Your emotions will get in the way of your fighting and you'll do
something STUPID!" She yelled.
"Hush, Luna. These walls are thin and I do have neighbors. And
you don't have a say in the matter. I already said he could." Serena
reprimanded Luna softly as she went back down the short hallway to her
bedroom.
"You had no right." Luna growled, quieter as she started to pace
in Serena's bedroom.
"I do too." Serena said around a yawn as she pulled the covers
down. "He is my soul-mate after all. I should get to decide."
"I'm not happy with you, Serena. Not at all." Luna said,
pointing out the obvious as she attempted to wear a hole in the rug.
"Oh... one other thing. There's this wolf, Silk, that's been
helping me too." Serena said as her eyes drifted closed.
"WHAT? A werewolf has been helping you?! HOW MANY MORE SECRETS
DO YOU HAVE?!" Luna yelled, albeit softly, at the prone form. It was too
late though. Serena was fast asleep and all questions would have to wait.
"That girl's gonna put me in an early grave." Luna muttered as she
stalked out of the room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail!! Me gusta e-mail! OpiumChicken@yahoo.com
Guestbook!! Me gusta guestbook! http://ziskaames.tripod.com/stories/
Ja ne,
Zi-chan