A Sailor Moon Story

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, or any of the other scouts, or the show...

However, I do consider myself the owner of my original character, Tay Lorien.

Winter's Guardian: Reflections of Youth

Chapter Two: In-training

The following morning, Tay had been introduced to the current General of the Royal Guard of Mercury, Ura Vilya. Ura was a relatively weak man in stature, but had a heart and courage that his soldiers admired, respected, and followed. He knew some of the ways of the planet as well, and that was the reason it was he who was given the difficult task of training Tay's ability. However, the difficulty was lessened by the facts that they got along immediately, and that Tay was a focused student.

The days of training were separated into three parts: early morning was focused on strength building and fighting techniques; afternoon would be spent learning patience, humor, and other traits that made soldiers dignified; and early night would be for practicing techniques of energy.

Specifically, the morning tended to be simple enough (to understand anyway); the soldiers of Mercury had a fighting style based on aerial assault. "Harder, higher, faster. Fall like rain on your enemies to douse their evil." Cadets were told that rain only hurts its enemies, and that they should act accordingly. Thus, while starting with basic punches and kicks, Tay was taught to apply them mostly while jumping towards or dropping down on the enemy. However, he also learned other techniques off and on through the following years. He trained once and a while with his friend, Prince Surya Narya of Jupiter's moon, "IO." Sword fighting was included with his normal training, but only after he had learned the arts of unarmed combat.

The midday rituals of being a knight were long and difficult, and usually the hardest part would be just standing in place without moving. After all, a soldier's job is usually to guard. Patience was hard to learn, but Tay did gradually improve. Tay also accepted proper grooming and etiquette lessons, gratefully. His hair was put into place, straight back and down, and he was fitted with formal clothing. His manners were constantly put to the test, and he showed near perfect achievement of his acquired knowledge.

The night sessions were explained to him as such: while a person's physical peak is in the morning after a good night's rest, the height of a person's energy from the planet is strongest in the evening. This was the time of day that Tay would be able to train with General Ura, since the leader was the only person who could teach him to use his hidden powers. Ura was always on duty during the rest of the day, but was given special leave at night to train him. Tay considered it an honor to be trained by him; and Ura sensed that Tay would be an excellent prodigy. Their interaction and lessons were the most complicated part of Tay's training.

The first day of Tay's training was almost through. All that was left was to learn how to harness the pure energy of the planet. He was escorted to a private training room, where he was to be taught by General Ura. Having finished with introductions earlier in the day, Ura addressed Tay now with a slight warning: "When we are in this room, we are training. You know enough about me to trust me, I hope. And I know enough about you to give you this opportunity to train. I know that we both will be needed as soon as possible, so I will only say that we should not waste any time socializing. Is that understood?"

Tay nodded and spoke quickly. "So, how should we begin this training?"

Ura was just as quick to respond. "Show me any use of your powers that you know, so that I may see where to begin."

Tay replied, "Most of what I know of it is just what I can sense. I am protected from the weather, especially the wind and precipitation. I can feel my energy at times, but I do not know how to harness it."

Ura touched his chin in thought, and spoke. "We have a long night ahead of us, then. Very well. Let me demonstrate how to access energy, and then I will have you try it slowly." Tay nodded and stepped away from Ura, who had motioned his right hand toward a target on the other side of the room. With a swift movement, he brought back his hand and closed it. He bowed his head for a moment, to focus. His clenched hand began emitting waves of invisible energy. He tilted his head back up, and opened his eyes. He opened the hand now, and aimed it at the target. A fast blast of blue light blazed forth and shattered the target. He dropped his hand down, and finally turned to Tay, who was standing in awe.

"It isn't as difficult as it looks, and doesn't usually take that long to use," Ura explained. "I only wanted to show you the basic motions that are needed. Later, some can be skipped, but for now, this is the way you should try to learn." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "That was an offensive attack, but that is not the only way to use energy. A good warrior has both offense and defense." A small shield of energy suddenly formed in front of Ura's now outstretched hands, and then vanished after a few seconds. "An energy barrier is another way to use energy. Weapons can be made, but I will discuss that later. Finally, there is something you will have to learn on your own. A knight must have armor made from the energy of the planet. However, I must admit that even I have never been able to achieve this. If by some chance you succeed, you will be worthy of this planet. Tell me, do you think you are worthy?"

Tay had been listening intently, so he was startled for a moment about having a chance to speak. Yet his reply was amazing nonetheless. "I was given this power by the planet, to protect it. I will not fail it, or the royal family. I will become worthy!" This surprising outburst of emotion intrigued Ura, but more so due to the fact that Tay seemed to be emitted and astounding amount of energy, probably unconsciously, due to his strong feelings. Ura decided to see if Tay would bring his own powers out in this fashion.

Ura questioned Tay, "And what if an enemy claimed that you were not worthy?" Ura noticed Tay's anger rising, but continued quickly. "What if they said that you were a fake? That even if you did have a little power, that you could never protect the ones you love? Or protect the planet that we love?"

"I would show them my power!" Tay yelled suddenly. A shockwave of invisible energy blasted around him, and Ura had to put up his guard to block the radiating energy. The energy continued across the room, shattering three targets consecutively (in a chain reaction).

After a moment, Tay became aware of his performance, and lowered his head in shame. Ura, however, was impressed. He told Tay, "I'll help you learn to control it. You have great strength dormant inside you. In fact, your power is far beyond any I have ever seen before, outside of the royal family itself." Ura went to a cabinet of weapons near the right side of the room, and felt behind it, until he found and pressed a hidden button. A small opening formed beside the cabinet. Ura took out a small box, and handed it to Tay, who had came up beside Ura in his curiosity.

"This is something that very few people ever receive, and it is extremely rare and precious. Never lose it!" Ura gave the box to Tay. He opened the box and took out a man's ring. It was silver, with a gemstone of aquamarine. The gemstone had a symbol, which Tay did not recognize. He inquired about this to the general, who replied, "It is the symbol of the Knights of Mercury. More specifically, it signifies Mercury itself. Only knights and royalty are allowed to wear this symbol. I will allow you to wear it as help for your training." He motioned for the two of them to sit down, and they did so.

Ura continued his lecture as Tay put the ring on. "The ring itself is not magical; it has no energy of its own. However, it was designed with the ability to concentrate a knight's power into tangible uses, such as creation of planetary weapons, armor, and attacks. It is not absolutely necessary; but it may help. I myself can create weapons, and use attacks, but as I have mentioned, the armor is too difficult for even me to create. Perhaps I am too weak. I will teach you what I can, but you must also practice on your own. "

Tay listened to this lecture, which continued on into other things. He learned that energy must be focused, concentrated into an attack, and then unleashed. For shielding, energy would be used similarly, but formed into a barrier instead of being used as an attack. They then practiced late into the night, and Tay improved a little.

It was this sort of training that they practiced from that night on, and some significant events occurred that year. Tay's first controlled energy attack was surprisingly within the first few days of training. Similarly, his first shield was created before the end of the following week. After that, his progression was slower, but Tay still gradually improved. He developed his own unique weapon, a sword of ice called the "Ice Cutter," that could send volleys of ice shards at an enemy. He improved his barrier into a moved that he called the "Heat Aura," which could totally surround him with a sphere of light blue energy. He even developed an original attack of his own, the "Sweet Lily Caress," which could form a circle of lilies around an opponent. Inside the circle, a cylinder of pink light would erupt skyward, and fill the enemies' hearts and bodies with bliss, stunning them. This was ironically found out when Tay tried it out on the general. Ura was proud, but somewhat angry with Tay for about a week. During all of this, however, no sign had ever occurred that Tay would be able to summon the armor of Mercury.

With his improved strength, Tay was told that there were many weapons of the planet that could be summoned, even stronger than the sword that Tay had created. These weapons had truly immense power, but if they were ever needed, Ura was sure that Tay would know how to summon and use them. After all, Ura did have some knowledge of the future. Yet even Ura was unsure if Tay had the capacity to summon the armor. Ura had tried before, but was too weak. At least, that was his suspicion. Even so, he told Tay of the incantation for the powers of Mercury, which would provide the armor along with the weapon of choice. "You can say 'Give me the strength and intelligence of the planet of Mercury.' That is the formal way. Or, it is believed that simply yelling 'Mercury Planet Power' will suffice. But this is only myth to me, as I have never seen it happen."

Three years of training had passed, and both Tay and the general had improved, Tay especially. But the armor was not summoned, and both of them knew that time was running short. Yet they were not sure exactly how much time was left. One week that year, Ura had other matters to attend to, and left Tay to train himself.

Tay could think of nothing in the normal training room that would help him learn anything new, so he returned to his quarters early the first night. He decided to meditate, which to him was primarily a ritual for focusing his mind, not his energy. Yet he wondered if meditation could be used to look for his true powers. So, he let his mind wander, as his body remained motionless in a small chair near his bed. His position in the chair made him appear to be a monument, with a straight posture that was nearly flawless. But he was oblivious to his physical status; he was looking inward.

He spoke to himself, directing his thoughts, as if in a dream: 'I am Tay Lorien. I have been gifted with the powers of my planet, Mercury. But they are not complete. I am searching for the truth. I ask to be granted the strength and intelligence of the planet of Mercury, so that I may see the truth.' Though he had said the phrase nearly word for word, he knew that it would not be enough.

Ura had mentioned to him a riddle; "It is said that 'A knight's armor is created by their nature.' But you must then realize what your nature is." Tay decided that he would try to figure this out now. Time was short, and he could afford no interruptions. He began that night looking for all of the possible meanings of the quote. "What is nature? To people, it is their personality, their true selves. But that can not be the entire meaning. Nature is like a home, the part of the world where you are born, and a place of great importance to a person's life. He continued this thought until late at night, and then cut off the debate wondering about his true nature and true relation to the planet. At this, weariness took him into slumber, which he accepted humbly.

He spent the rest of the weeknights looking into these two aspects of self. 'They are connected. I must be true to myself and I must also have the specific power of my true place in nature. There are many paths that I have walked, but it all started in the wilderness. Life was always cold, even now. Mercury is known for water, and ice is one of its many forms. But ice isn't my true influence. Ice does not move, yet my life does. My life is a cold stream of water that cascades down into destiny...'

As he trailed off in his words of thought, a memory took over. He was younger, much younger. A thin stream ran by his family's small house. He had walked down by it, and cupped his hands to fetch some water to drink. But at the first touch of the stream, he had pulled his hands back quickly. It was too cold to touch for more than a moment.

He had then proceeded upstream. He soon came to a waterfall that was just a little taller than he was. He had thought at the time that perhaps the water might be warmer up here. He cupped his hands again, and quickly shoved them under.

He had found out painfully that when a waterfall is closer to the snowy mountains, it has even colder water. Tay had returned home crying, but when he was warmed up enough (over a day later), he had realized that the waterfall he felt not only cold, but also pure and powerful.

He awoke from this memory with a start. This must be his part of nature. He decided to create a plan in his meditations, which would have to finish by the end of the week. He wanted to complete this experiment as soon as possible, before Ura returned.

The day of Ura's return, Tay surprised his other trainers by submitting a request for a 'day of rest.' Though he had been allowed to do this before, Tay had never felt obligated to take a day off, so his sudden request had left them speechless. Regardless, permission was quickly granted, and he went back to his room, knowing that today would actually be his hardest day yet.

Back in his room, the day passed as if it were a trial of mind and willpower; a trial of focus specifically. Tay let his imagination flow, slowly at first. He took his thoughts back to the cascade. The waterfall sounded quiet. Tay attempted to picture it in more detail, and the sound of it got louder. Soon, his mind was immersed in the scene; a new waterfall that he had never seen before.

It was taller than he was, and this amazed him; he was grown much taller since the last time he had seen one. But, as he had previously noted, it was not the same place that he had been to, though it was similar. The stream of water that fell was much thinner. Its width was only about as wide as he was. It did not hit any rocks on the way down, either; it plummeted straight down beside him, into a small water basin.

He was now fully drawn into the dream. It beckoned to him, and his mind freely followed. His imagined body floated instantly a little bit above the ground. It then moved slowly, to hover above the water basin. He knew now. He had to willingly enter and endure the chilling water that showered down beside him. And he was determined. It was a test of purity.

Outside the dream, it was about midday. But in his mind, it was still morning. The water moved quickly in its plummet, and seemed to sparkle in the light of early day. Tay put his hands toward the curtain of water, and the water froze above that spot, before he could touch it. It stood frozen above him, as if waiting for him to move under it, so it could cleanse him in one swift motion. He was not sure how he knew this, but he obeyed.

In a thought he was below the frozen water. It seemed to return to normal, but it moved toward him at an unusually slow pace. He held his hands above him just as the water was about to hit, so that the water swirled down his arms. This first contact was cold indeed, but not as cold as it was in his memory. And he could bear it this time. The water gradually ran down the length of his imaginary body. When his body was fully immersed, the water began to take shape around him, somewhat controlling his movement.

His raised arms were completely submerged first, and the water formed into silver gauntlets and durable gloves. It then ran down his back, flowing outward to make a cape of dark blue hue. In the front, the water molded itself into a silver chest piece with a jewel of aquamarine in the center, with clothing of light blue tint under the armor. Near his feet, the water spun around to create boots with shin guards. A silver belt formed at his waist, and his Ice Cutter appeared in the sheath attached to it. Finally, a clear, light blue circlet adorned his forehead. He felt complete; but he also believed that this was just a dream.

At this point in the day, Ura had returned. He had been informed that Tay was in his quarters, and had decided to pay his student a visit. On the way into the palace, he and many other people were stunned by a burst of bright blue light that filled the sky for a moment. Ura wondered if it had came from Tay's room. He ran down the hall in that direction, with other people in tow, and flung open the door.

Tay hadn't opened his eyes yet. Suddenly, he heard a familiar face yell to him, "Wake up!" He opened his eyes, and first noticed that it was already night time. But he soon noticed that he was floating. Ura was in front of him, in the doorway, stunned. Tay was wearing the armor outside of his dream.

As he lowered himself to the ground with his new power, he replied to Ura in a strangely calm voice, "I have awakened."

Preview of "Chapter Three: The Escort"- Having been taught all of the basics, Tay teams up with General Ura (the following year) in a mission that seems oddly simple: guarding the royal family on a trip to the Moon Kingdom. However, as they arrive at the palace of the Moon, they find it under siege by enemies. Will they be able to break through to safety? A sacrifice will be made next chapter!

[an: End of chapter two; I hope to continue the rest soon. I always have five chapters.]