In the secrecy of the cave, two women disappeared into the past, gone forever in the swirling abyss of darkness and infinity. In their place stood not girls, not women, but warriors, Amazons, fighters, and perhaps, deep down inside, savages. One of the women, having dyed bits of her purple hair red, slowly donned the tigerskin helmet over her head. Stripping to the bare essentials, she wore tigerskin gloves over her warrior's hands, and tigerskin shin guards over her warrior's legs. The skins were also fitted over her bust and waist, making her look only halfway human.

The other was quietly applying war-paint on the other woman's body. Fierce-looking stripes continued to give the illusion that this was not a girl but a ferocious animal; she applied stripes everywhere, from her face down to her legs, and smiled in approval. Herself, the warrior with spiky turquoise hair, had also applied strange war-paint all around her body, in nightmarish symbols and markings that only they understood.

Turning around to grab their weapons, the warriors plucked spears, machetes, bows and arrows, knives, slings, and a belt to hold them all. The tiger-warrior did not complain one bit about how the belt would make her look more human; indeed, she actually enjoyed the hybrid. The one with strange symbols on her body grinned ferociously, and took a brief moment to examine both warriors.

"Wow," she commented. "I wouldn't wanna meet you in a dark alley." The purple-and-red-haired warrior smiled--then remembered who she was, and grinned savagely.

"Definitely!" she growled. "And as for you, were I anyone else, I would--I mean, I'd soil mys--I mean, I'd piss in my pants." The turquoise-haired woman snickered at her friend's attempt at rough language, and slapped her on the back gently.

"Just do whatever makes you comfortable, Burning Tiger." The Amazon smiled lightly, and nodded her head.

"Driving those savages off our island will make me comfortable," she said. Smiling, the girls nodded in agreement. The spiky-haired one, Eternal Nightmare, cut a gentle line in both their palms, and the two warriors clasped hands over a blood contract.

"You ready, Burning Tiger?" asked Eternal Nightmare.

"Always!" growled the Tiger. The girls grinned ferociously, and put a weapon in each of their hand as they left the cave.

Retaking the Fort

The two warriors slowly crept out of the cave in the mountain, grasping weapons fiercely. For now, they would sneak and dart around, and take the ones who had overrun their island by surprise. With the stealth of a Tiger and the silence of a Nightmare, they snuck around the forested jungle, keeping sharp eyes on the lookout. For the moment, they were alone, and a disappointing hope grew up in their souls--a hope that perhaps, the savages had left.

But the girls smiled in glee as they saw that not one of the boats were gone. Indeed, there were actually more now than there had been. Eternal Nightmare--who was previously called Ryoko--bristled fiercely at the sight of the savages. It had only been a day since she had been rescued from their clutches, so sour memories still persisted.

"Hey," said Burning Tiger softly. She placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't do anything rash yet, Nightmare. We're going to watch them for a little while more. When I give the signal, though, we can exact our vengeance--I mean, we can give'm Hell!" Eternal Nightmare smiled lightly at her friend's speech, and nodded her head in compliance.

"Okay," she sighed, "we'll wait. I mean, after all, you are the brains of this outfit." The warrior formerly known as Ayeka winked playfully, and resumed spying on the trespassing savages.

"…You know, Nightmare," she said after a pause, "we really do make an unbeatable team when we're cooperating. I actually pity those poor fools we're going up against; I really do!" Eternal Nightmare chuckled wickedly.

"We should really do this more often!"

"Ssh!" hissed Burning Tiger. "It's almost time. Are you ready?"

"Oh baby, I've been ready to let loose ever since those punks caught me!" sneered Eternal Nightmare. Burning Tiger grinned a devilish grin, and nodded her head.

"All right, children, just be patient," she whispered. "Just wait a little while longer…" Eternal Nightmare complied, and crouched in wait as they continued to spy on the savages. Eventually, a great number of them gathered around, some of the warrior's tools in their possession. Burning Tiger poked her friend gently, and nodded her head.

"Now?"

"Yes! Now!"

"All riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!" cheered the Nightmare. "There's gonna be some Hell to pay! Get ready, you punks, cuz' the Eternal Nightmare's about to cut loose!!" With a whoop, the Nightmare flew off, screaming louder than any siren, and was promptly followed by a tiger-like human running (quite successfully) on all fours. The savages saw them, and true enough, their dark faces turned white very quickly.

Eternal Nightmare began the assault by hovering over their ranks, cackling wildly and shouting curses in a language she made up on the spot. The savages quivered in horror as they saw the banshee, and were almost too petrified to escape. They did eventually find their legs, but as they scattered, the Eternal Nightmare blocked off the exit. Spreading her arms, the Nightmare blasted at the sand, creating a powerful explosion that repelled the primitives.

In the meantime, Burning Tiger roared forward, gnashing her teeth in savage insanity. She rolled onto the beach where the men were gathered, and bared her teeth and her weapons. The savages, who would have been scared enough of a flying woman, literally did soil themselves as they saw this new warrior. Muttering madly, they scrambled for weapons, but were promptly stopped by the Tiger.

The Burning Tiger leaped into their numbers, swinging a long staff around madly. It struck many a primitive that day, sending most of the men senseless to the floor. As she busied herself with whacking every savage from there to the mountain, the Eternal Nightmare continued blasting at the sand. Dashing forward, she gave the leader a gut-busting punch in the belly, and a fierce kick in the guts that sent him reeling. Not through with the man yet, the Nightmare grabbed him by his armpits and raised him up high in the sky.

"Hi," she hissed darkly. The one who had nearly killed her was almost dead with fright. The Nightmare snarled with glee, gave the man a bone-crushing head butt, and let him fall into the waters below. Whether he lived or not was unimportant to the Nightmare; in fact, there were no killings only because the Burning Tiger didn't want a mess of bodies to clean up. Nightmare had hastily agreed.

While the Nightmare busied herself with the leader, the Burning Tiger was performing maneuvers that would have made Tenchi's grandfather sick to the stomach. Her sanity long since gone, the warrior once known as Ayeka dashed herself onto the savages. With her claws she gashed great scars in their limbs, and with her teeth she dug deep into their meaty bodies. A mere month ago, Ayeka would have given birth to an elephant if she knew that she was going to be biting one of these savages like a tiger; now, though, her sanity was gone and a savage glare was in her eyes.

Chop, chop! went the machete she held. Fingers, hands, feet, and even some limbs were sliced apart, but since the Burning Tiger didn't want a mess of bodies to clean up, she tried hard not to make a kill. In the confusion they had caused, however, the savages were unable to defend themselves with anything save their hands.

Eternal Nightmare paused from bashing the primitives just long enough to gaze at her friend. A great-big smile of glee was painted on her face, and her eyes grew wide in amazement as the once-gentle princess turned into a wild child. The Nightmare laughed out loud, and silently beamed with pride as she saw her friend realize her wish of utter freedom. The one once known as Ryoko smiled fondly, then suddenly remembered her task, and continued slamming savages' heads together.

Finally, after a bloody massacre that only left two dead (counting the leader), the remaining primitives hooted and hollered in a wild frenzy as they scrambled for the safety of their boats. Leaving behind everything, including their fallen comrades, the savages paddled in their boats like they had never paddled before, and in moments, the last of their kind had left the island.

"HAAAA!!!" screeched Burning Tiger. "And don't ever come back!!!"

"YEAH, go on and leave!!!" spat Eternal Nightmare. As they shouted insults to the retreating primitives, the warriors turned around and smiled at each other. With a heartfelt high-five, they lunged at each other and gave the other a tight victory hug.

"We did it, we did it!" they cheered, and never once did it occur to them that they were embracing.

The island was theirs once again.