TITLE: Under a Rising Sun
AUTHOR: William Rayne
EMAIL: knytmare@yahoo.com
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Just how and when did the Kryptonians start visiting our world? My take on how what seems to be a rite of passage for Kryptonians indicated from "Relic" and "Skinwalker". AU set in ancient Japan.
SPOILERS: none, though based somewhat on "Relic" and "Skinwalker"
PAIRING: none
DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, email me
DISCLAIMER someone else owns 'em, I'm just taking them out to play. Don't sue me, I have no money FEEDBACK: Desired like none other.
NOTES AND NEWS: This is a stream of thought concept, may never finish or at the best update even more rarely than my other stories. This stems from an idea I had in my "Elseworlds: Power" fic (that chapter isn't fully edited and up yet). This may change, but my take on Kryptonian language is that it's too complex for humans so comes out like gibberish to us. (Read: I'm too lazy to come up with my own language like others have done.) Also not sure where I should post this since it's derived from Smallville but doesn't have any original characters in it at all and is somewhat original. One more caveat, I don't know any real Japanese history so forgive what will be huge inaccuracies.
As always: bold italics for stressed, italics for thoughts or voice-over, and underlines for sarcasm or disgust.
Oh yeah, I'm horrible with tenses, so please forgive me, I'll try to clean and tighten that up some in the future.
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Prologue
Before there was a Last Son of Krypton, there were those Kryptonians who came before to our planet. It is no secret that Krypton was more advanced than Earth at the time of the planet's demise but what isn't known is that they evolved very much like our world. Their first foray into deep space inadvertently leads to more forays on our planet as well as the discovery of the effects of our sun on their metabolism.
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What was meant to be a simple five year space mission met with somewhat disastrous results when a stray asteroid from the Sol system collided with the craft that carried Krypton's first deep space astronauts: Gir, Luci and Zod. The effect of that asteroid was not noticed by the crew since they slept a cryogenic slumber until they landed on a planet they believed might contain life. If they had been awake, the mission would not have been aborted since the damage seemed superficial. It wouldn't be until the spacecraft entered the atmosphere of the third planet from Sol, that the effects of the asteroid would become apparent and by then it was too late.
As their craft entered the atmosphere, navigation and propulsion systems became affected and irrevocably damaged. Instead of landing on one of the larger continents the planet contained, they successfully managed to avoid the watery depths that made up almost 3/4ths of the planet and hit an island just off the coast of one of the continents. Due to the impact of the landing, the chambers that contained the sleeping explorers were only compromised in that they failed to open. It is a small miracle that days after the crash, Gir's chamber opened due to a system glitch in combination with the curiosity of one of the planet's inhabitants.
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Japan, 1500 BCE
"Kaeru! You aren't seriously going to go to do what I think you're doing? Are you?" Cried out a young Japanese samurai with a scar on his chin to his friend that approached the metal demon that had scorched the sky as well as the earth.
"Stop being so superstitious Hattori. You came with me to find out if my sister's ramblings were madness or true visions. We can't very well do that without venturing inside this beast," his friend replied as both warriors returned their gaze upon the demonic beast that loomed above them.
Hattori considered his friends words and nodded. As they ventured closer to the sleeping demon, he thought back to what had brought them here. A few days before, Kaeru's sister had a fit that could only be described as madness. As she lay on the floor, convulsing, she uttered out that the day was coming when a dragon would crash from the sky carrying inside his belly the gods that would lead the Hasigawa clan to glory. The elders thought it was madness but her brother believed differently. The next day, the sky was scorched with fire and a loud thunder as clouds of dust rose in its wake. Kaeru was convinced that his sister had the sight and spoke prophesy. The council of elders thought this to be the nonsense of a young and inexperienced warrior. Kaeru convinced his childhood friend to aid him in defying the council's decree that no one disturb the demon that fell from the sky.
Kaeru believed that they could not ignore the possibility that his sister's prophecy had merit. The Hasigawa clan was in a delicate position as they negotiated an alliance with the Shoji clan. The increase sightings of Kasha and Yasha had made both clans uneasy and more inclined to ally. Kaeru feared that this may not be enough to stem the thickening air of evil that was choking their territories. If there was any truth to Subaru's prophesy that the beast contained the salvation of their people, he felt obligated to find it.
It had taken several days for them to make their way to the beast. On that journey they had only encountered and successfully defeated one Kasha by setting it on fire. As they approached the beast, they did not fail to notice that no creature inhabited the area surrounding it due to the fact that the usual sounds of wildlife were eerily not present.
Kaeru found an opening into the beast. The opening spit fire every so often but otherwise made no threatening gesture towards the warriors. None-the-less, they unsheathed their katanas as they made their way into its belly. They were surprised to find that the inside of the dragon contained the same metallic scales as the outside. The could also swear that they passed door-like objects that seemed to have writing on them but knew that the beast's magicks were trying to trick them.
They found that the center of the beast contained not fire but cold. Hattori noticed something in the room and as he accidentally brushed against some part of the beast, he regretted his curiosity as he triggered what must've been a ward that summoned guardians. As the guardian fell from the tomb and looked upon the intruders, Hattori and Kaeru seized on their foe's vulnerable state and let loose the cries of warriors. They were awed and scared when their katanas shattered against the beast. It was only as the guardian revealed its true face, as both warriors unarmed strikes did not phase it and only hurt them as if they were hitting a mountain, did Kaeru and Hattori realize that they were attacking one of the gods they had come to find. They begged forgiveness as they bowed low to the god standing before them.
A/N: hopefully you guys liked this and it made some sort of sense. Please let me know where the appropriate place to post is (see notes at the beginning). The next chapter will be from the point of view from the awaking Kryptonians and some more on their encounter with ancient Japan. Wouldn't mind a beta for this if I decide to pursue it more. Tired now so I'll write what I have thought of for this story later on.