Notes and Disclaimers: I don't own SM, but everyone else (which is most of the people) I do.
Chapter 2
They were walking side by side down main street two hours later. They had already stopped by a small boutique and played dress up with trying on clothes. Tokahari found herself liking Sihane even more as they spent time together. She had first thought Sihane was just a touch girl with no sensitive side what so ever. But Sihane disproved that theory. She was tough when she had to be, though most of the time. But she was also just a girl who loved shopping as much as any other teenaged girl.
"Tokahari, there's a pet shop across the street." Sihane said.
"Where?" Tokahari exclaimed, looking around.
"There," Sihane pointed across the street and slightly to the right, "It's next to the candy store."
Tokahari found it and her eyes lit up. "Let's go. I've always wanted a cat. I wonder if they have any cute ones." She said.
"Okay." Sihane replied. As they looked to cross and started quickly walking, Sihane asked, "Do you mind it if I call you Toka?" she looked down at the girl, "You're whole name can be a mouthful."
Tokahari glanced up and replied, "Sure. I don't mind at all."
They stepped up onto the sidewalk in front of the pet shop and walked up to it. There were animals in the window so they went to look at those first.
"Aw, how cute!" Toka squealed when she saw a litter of kittens playing with some string. She bent over to look more closely and touched the window glass. A couple of the kittens saw her and abandoned their plaything to go up to the window. One pawed at the glass and Toka knew that one was meowing.
Sihane watched her with a smile on her face and said, "Let's go in now. I'm sure there'll be more."
Toka looked up from the little felines and straightened up. She nodded and followed her new friend into the shop.
The two were surrounded by cages and people and the sounds of all the animals there. Sihane found the cat area and guided Toka over to them. Toka's eyes lit up in delight as she caught sight on the cages of cats.
"How do you choose just one?" Toka asked.
Sihane shrugged. "Are you wanting to get one today?" she asked. She tucked her hands into her back pockets and smirked at her newfound friend.
Toka looked up at her and nodded, "Might as well. If my dad asks about it I can say I went after school." She replied.
"Would that lie work?" Sihane inquired.
"Yes. He usually doesn't get home till about 5:30 to 6." Toka replied.
Sihane gave a little laugh, causing Toka to look at her curiously. Sihane shook her head and said, "I hope I'm not being a bad influence on you."
Toka blinked and smiled. "I wouldn't think so. I mean, you aren't a bad influence." She replied.
Sihane groaned, rolling her eyes. But she ended up smiling. "Come on, let's find a fuzzie feline for you." She took Toka's arm and directed her to look at the various cats.
All of the cages were large enough for two cats to live in comfortably. And as Toka and Sihane looked at each of them they found that one cage only held one cat. Toka softly called out to the cat.
"Hey kitty kitty kitty."
The cat's ears twitched and turned its head to the girl. It blinked deep green eyes at her and yawned. The cat rose and stretched also giving Toka and Sihane a good sight on what the cat looked like. It was a short hair with a long tail. It was black and white, though its face was mainly white with just one black splotch on the right side of the face. This was the one she wanted, Toka decided. She told Sihane so and the older girl went to find a clerk.
The clerk came back quickly with Sihane and took one look at the cage, instantly looking worried.
"Are you sure this is the one?" she asked Tokahari.
"Yes." The girl replied. "Why?"
"Well, this cat," she pointed, "is always trying to run away. After three times we put him by himself." She replied, glancing at the staring cat.
Toka looked back at the feline and then at the clerk. "Ma'am, I'm sure I'll have no problem. I've always had a way with cats." She said stubbornly. This was the one she wanted and this was the one she'll get.
"Okay. Will you need a carrier?" she asked, back to her business tone.
"Yes please." Toka replied sweetly.
"Okay will you please wait right here? I'll be right back." The clerk asked.
"Of course." The girls replied.
Thirty minutes later Toka and Sihane were walking out of the pet shop. Toka carried her cat carrier with her new cat huddling in the back of it. Sihane walked beside the girl, thumbs hooked into her front belt loops.
"So what are you going to name him?" Sihane asked.
"I don't know yet. I can't think on an empty stomach. Could we go get some lunch now?" Toka replied with a small sheepish smile.
Sihane laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was already past twelve. Let's go find some food." She said after glancing at her watch.
Still carrying the cat carrier Toka grinned and together they found a McDonalds nearby. They sat out on a patio after ordering and set the carrier on the bench beside them. Toka went and got their food when their number was called and hurried back to where she was sitting.
A couple of bites into her cheeseburger Sihane swallowed and pointed out, "I think he's hungry." She nodded at the cat.
Toka finished chewing a french fry and turned her head to her new pet. The cat had moved to the front of the cage and was sniffing the air. Toka swallowed and asked, "Should I give him something?"
Sihane took another fry and popped it into her mouth. "You could try a little piece of bun. He may eat it." She suggested.
Toka tore a piece off of her own cheeseburger and pushed it through the wires of the carrier door. The two of them watched as the feline backed up a step and lower his head to sniff at the food. Then he quickly ate it. When he finished he looked back up at his new master and let out a meow.
The two girls giggled. "He's hungry." Toka said, tearing off more of her bun. She popped it into the carrier and her cat ate those too. When he finished he sat back and started grooming.
Sihane finished her food a couple of minutes later though Toka took a little longer.
An hour after they ate lunch, they were walking down Main Street again.
"You know, maybe we should head to some place where we can get some things for your cat and then head back to your place." Sihane suggested randomly.
"Yeah, I should probably do that if I want to feed him." Toka looked down at the carrier in Sihane's hand. Sihane had insisted to carry him to let Toka rest.
The cat chose at that moment to let out a piercing scream that cats can make.
Fortunately Sihane didn't drop the carrier, but she set it down on the ground hard.
"What happened? What caused him to do that!" Toka exclaimed, kneeling beside the carrier. She cautiously peered into the carrier and found her cat backed all the way up, his ears back and his fur standing up on ends. She looked up at Sihane, "Something's wrong." Then Toka jerked her head around. She was feeling something weird in the air, but couldn't explain it.
"What is it Toka?" Sihane asked, an instant serious look on her face. Her body was tensing up, like it did when she fought, but she couldn't explain her body.
"I don't know, but I can…feel…something strange happening. I don't know how to explain." Toka replied uncertain on what word to use.
"Let me outta here!" came a male voice. "Let me out!"
Toka and Sihane jerked their heads around, searching for the voice. But nobody was near them. Except for the cat in the carrier.
"You don't think…?" Toka eyed the carrier while asking Sihane.
Sihane sank down beside Toka, her eyes on the carrier. The cat was the one who had spoken and he was pawing at the door.
A roar rang over the girls' silence and without another moment of hesitation, Tokahari slid back the door catch and watched as the door swung open.
The cat was a blur of black and white as it shot out of the carrier. Toka fell back, now siting on the pavement, her eyes wide staring at the cat. But he came back to stand in front of the girls and looked up at them with intelligence in his eyes.
"I have finally found you." He said.
Toka's and Sihane's jaws dropped at the same time.
"Who…What is going on? How can you talk!" Toka sputtered. She shook her head hard to side to side and stopped short when the braid concealing her mark came unpinned and slid down her face.
Sihane's eyes went from the cat to Toka's forehead. She gasped and then looked back at the cat. But before anything else could be said, another roar was heard and this time it was louder, which meant whatever was making it was getting closer.
Toka looked scared now and Sihane was more than just edgy now. Toka tucked her braid behind one ear, fully revealing her star for the first time in public since she was a child.
"My name is Marx and I have been searching for you," the cat said, then turned his gaze to Sihane, "And you. The time has come to activate the Sailor Senshi once again."
"Sailor Senshi? What does that mean?" Sihane asked, a suspicious tone in her voice. She knew she wasn't crazy, but a talking cat took the cake for an overactive imagination.
The cat flipped in the air and a compact and a miniature wand appeared with a swirl of glitter, like magic for lack of a better phrase. The compact was black with a silver eight point star spread across the front, just like the star on Tokahari's forehead. But the little wand was about six inches long, the colors green and silver. The body of it was silver with green marble and the top was an ornate symbol mounted to the body. The symbol consisted of a circle with an x in it and it was also green.
"What are those?" Toka pointed at the objects.
"Your locket and henshin pen." Marx, the cat, replied. He sat on his haunches and cocked his head to the side watching the two girls as they stared at the objects.
"Look, I understand why one of these is mine, but I don't understand the other one." Toka said, her fright fading as a frown crossed her face.
Marx pointedly looked up at Sihane, who stared back at him blankly. She blinked at him ad then aid, "How is it that you know us? How are you able to talk? And what does all of this mean?" she asked, her arms crossing over her chest.
Marx sighed. He concentrated and before their eyes, a silver eight point star appeared on the cat's own forehead. Tokahari gasped.
"I am and was long ago a magical guardian of the Sailor Senshi of the Takarrie Solar System. But long ago an evil force destroyed everyone. But a single warrior-queen sacrificed herself to banish the evil and have everybody be reborn in the distant future. I was also sent to the future to still act as a guardian and reactivate the legendary Sailor Senshi, protectors of the Galaxy. You two are the first to be found, but you will not be alone." Marx explained.
The two teens were rendered speechless and could only blink for the next few seconds.
"What a pretty story. But can you prove it?" Sihane retorted, her green eyes narrowing as the feline turned his head toward her. She looked a little surprised when he nodded, but remained silent.
Marx turned back to Toka and nodded at the locket. "Raise the locket high above your head in both hands and say Starkellis Takarrie Crystal Power." He instructed.
Toka reached out and carefully lifted the black and silver locket, held it in both hand as she rose from the ground. As she was told she raised it just above her head and said, "Starkellis Takarrie Crystal Power."
In a brilliant flash of white light that came from the locket itself, Toka's own star glowed silver. Her whole body was engulfed in the light and a few seconds later the light faded and one look at Toka made Sihane's jaw drop for the second time within ten minutes.
Toka's clothes were gone replaced with a type of feminine sailor suit. Toka's silver eyes blinked and she took in what exactly she was wearing. The main body suit was white, but with a silver skirt that ended about mid-thigh and had eight point stars outlined in black all over the skirt. Above the skirt there was a line border going down into a v that was also black. The locket was nestled between her breasts and in the center of a large silver bow. There was a flap that started from the bow in the front and went back into the actual flap that was also black with a silver border. The sleeves were silver sheer and went down into a point a few inches down her arm. A large silver bow rested at the back of her skirt that matched the one at her chest, minus the locket. There were long white gloves on her arms that ended about two inches from her elbows and the openings were edged in black.
Toka felt her neck carefully, the gloves hindering her touch, and found a choker on her neck.
"It's black with a silver eight point star." Sihane managed to say.
Being told that, Toka moved up to the earrings dangling from her ears. They too were eight point stars. Her hand then went to her forehead and found a metal tiara resting there. It came down into a point, the point resting over her mark.
"That's darkened silver, also with a silver eight point star." Marx said this time.
Still speechless Toka lowered her hands to her sides as her eyes traveled down to her shoes. They were two-inch heels that laced up a little above her ankles. They felt like hemp, but the color silver to match the rest of her outfit. Also, her waist length black hair was loose and out of the braids they had been plaited it.
Finishing her inspection she looked back at Marx, questioning.
"You are Sailor Starkellis, Senshi of Memory and Keeper of Stars." Marx said.
Then the two of them turned to Sihane.
Sihane sighed, reached up to her forehead and rubbed at the skin under her bangs. As she rubbed at it, a green symbol began to show through the makeup that had been applied. When she finished she lowered her hand. The symbol on her forehead was a circle with an x in it. It was green and matched the symbol exactly like the one on the henshin pen.
"Raise it high and say Naklai Star Planet Power." Marx nodded at the pen.
Toka managed to say, "I never thought that anyone else could be marked like me. I always thought I was the only one."
Sihane gave a smile to the girl. "Well, we know now that our symbols mean something." She replied as she scooped up the pen and stood. She raised it and said, "Naklai Star Planet Power."
Her symbol glowed green as the pen flashed green light and engulfed Sihane. When the light faded Sihane stood in her own unique sailor outfit.
The dark silver tiara on her forehead sported her green symbol and came down in a point over it. Her emerald green eyes blinked as the light faded and Toka saw green earrings in her friend's ears. The choker around her neck was light blue with the green symbol in the center. The flap down her back was green with a border of light blue that tucked into the light blue bow in her chest. The locket nestled in the bow was star-shaped and green. Like Toka's, Sihane's main body suit was white, though hers had a green line border that formed a v in the front. The skirt was light blue but had green vines spread all over the material. The skirt also ended mid thigh. Sihane, unlike Toka, wore boots. The tops were just a couple of inches below her knees. On the top, there was a band of white and on the front, Sihane's symbol. But the boots themselves were green and had a one and a half inch heel. Her own white gloves also ended just before reaching her elbows and had a green band. And lastly the large bow in the back was light blue.
Sihane turned this way and that to look at herself and then looked up at Marx expectantly.
"You are Sailor Naklai, Senshi of Life." The cat said.
"So what do we do now?" Sailor Naklai asked.
"You do what you were meant to do. Fight evil and do justice." Marx replied.
Sailor Starkellis looked skeptic, but nodded.
"So something evil was roaring a minute ago?" she asked.
"Yes, now let's go." Marx said as he started running in the direction the roars had been coming from.
The two girls immediately followed, still not sure how they were going to fight as they were. Well, Starkellis was wondering about that, though Naklai knew she would have enough movement space in what she was wearing. The clothes wouldn't hinder her at all.
They ran down the street and turned a corner where the new Sailor Senshi stopped short.
The monster was at least seven feet tall, heavyset and with bright blue fur. His head was square shaped and his mouth was full of sharp pointy teeth. In one monstrous hand it held a limp young woman. She seemed to have passed out but the girls couldn't be for sure on that. The monster roared, causing a couple running from him to become paralyzed where they were. He made a grab at them.
Marx's fur stood up on ends once more as he growled, "Help them! Use your powers!" he ended with a loud hiss.
Sihane braced herself and yelled out, "Hey you! You big ugly furface!"
The monster paused in mid-reach and turned his big face towards the girls.
"Yeah you, you big ugly furball!" Naklai yelled.
ROAR! The big monster aimed it at the girls, but Marx ran in front of them, receiving the paralyzing spell.
"Uh oh. He wants us now!" Starkellis said, frightened. "What do we do?" she cried, frantically looking from monster, to Marx, and then to Naklai. She didn't know what she could do.
"Concentrate…let it come to you…and you…will know…" Marx managed. His body was immobile but he still managed to talk with a little difficulty.
Starkellis stood still, closed her eyes and opened her mind. A minute into the silence of her mind, words were being whispered to her. She listened to them and opened her eyes. She knew what to do now.
"Keep him distracted. I'm going to try something." She said to Naklai.
"Okay, but I don't know how much longer it'll keep him from attacking directly." Naklai replied, keeping her eyes still locked on their enemy.
Starkellis held her arms up to shoulder level palms turned up.
"Starkellis…" she started as white light flared in her palms. It grew brighter and when it was becoming intense, Starkellis turned her hands in facing each other and brought them together, but not yet touching, "…Blinding Light…" She clasped her hands together and brought them towards her chest a few inches. "…Flash!" She pushed out her hands as she opened them and a brilliant stream of white light shot out at the monster. It lasted for about a minute before dimming.
Naklai stood back as she watched the power play and when it finished glanced over at Starkellis. Questions danced across her face but they remained unasked.
"I think he's blinded by the power." Starkellis answered the question she knew that so much wanted to be asked.
"How do you know?" Naklai asked.
"Just a feeling." Starkellis replied, "What now? Do we kill him?"
"No…" Marx suddenly said. The two girls sharply turned to him. "He's not purely monster."
"So, he's human?" Naklai asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
"Yes." Marx replied. The spell keeping him immobile was fading so he was regaining movement and could now talk without difficulty. He looked up at Starkellis and nodded to her. "Concentrate harder and you will know."
Starkellis looked to Naklai, "I think I'm the one with the power to take care of the monster. Just make sure he doesn't try to attack." She said.
Naklai glanced at the monster, "I don't think he can do anything. He's still blind." She replied.
Starkellis nodded and closed her eyes once again. This time she knew she went deeper into herself for the noises she heard a minute ago were now dimmed to almost nothing. The eyes of her inner self opened and blinked. Standing in front of her was an image of herself!
But the image wore a floor length black gown with the prints of silver eight-point stars. The black sleeves had a single eight-point star on the point that ended down her arm. Her black tresses were bound up in a mass of curls and braids and the mark on her forehead was revealed with pride.
"In your heart you remember everything and everything in your heart means something." The image of her said in a soft musical voice, much like her own.
"Who are you?" Tokahari asked. She was still in her sailor fuku.
"I am you, and you were once me." The image replied.
Tokahari was greatly confused. "Are you saying that I'm a reincarnation of you?" she asked, trying to puzzle her thoughts out.
The image nodded.
"May I know your name?" Tokahari asked.
"Certainly. I am Princess Tacria Skystar of Starkellis in the Takarrie System."
"Why have you come to me? What exactly do I need to do to help the human-changed-monster?" Tokahari asked.
"I always appear to the new Sailor Starkellis. In every lifetime I have guided the new reincarnation of myself at the very beginning. It is the time of great need." Tacria replied.
Tokahari sputtered. She couldn't believe that she had multiple past lives. It was unthinkable. But she accepted it. It was just the natural thing to do.
"Okay, I understand. What do I need to do to help this human?" Tokahari asked again.
"You need the Bow of Light. Call it forth and you will know how to use it." Tacria said.
"How do I get it?" the new senshi asked, cocking her head to the side.
Tacria concentrated and all of a sudden a bow appeared in her hands. The wooden part was white and the grip was silver. There was a bowstring strung and ready to be fired. Tacria held the weapon delicately in her hands.
"Just call it forth and you will know how to use it," Tacria said as her image began to fade.
Tokahari threw out an arm trying to stop the image from going. "Don't go!" she cried. She was loosing the one chance to find out all about her symbol and what it really meant to be a Sailor Senshi.
"In your heart you remember everything and everything in your heart means something to you. I will never be far, I am always near." Tacria whispered as she disappeared.
Tokahari opened her physical eyes and found the monster was regaining his sight. Fortunately the two Sailor Senshi were the only ones left in the area.
"Well? You zoned out for like five minutes!" Naklai called out. She was closer to the monster than Starkellis just in case he decided to start attacking.
"I can turn him back into a human." Starkellis replied. Briefly closing her eyes she let the magic come to her once more. Words were being whispered once again and Starkellis whispered, "Bow of Light I call thee forth."
The bow she had just previously seen appeared in a flash of white light before her. She reached out with both hands and took the magical weapon hanging in midair. The light that shone around it dimmed a little, but now she glowed with power. Whispered words continued, but this time they were a different phrase.
Holding the bow in her left hand straight up, she moved her right as if to draw back an arrow. Eight point stars of white light flew all around her body as she took an archer's stance.
"Starkellis…" she drew back her right hand as the lights streaming around her concentrated in her hand and formed an arrow of pure light, though the arrowhead was shaped into an eight-point star. Starkellis fully drew back the arrow made of pure magic, "…Soul Release!" she whispered as she fired.
The arrow changed, forming a very large silvery-white eight-point star as it flew towards the monster. It went through the furry blue creature and as it fully passed through him, the star broke into thousands of little light specks. The magic engulfed the monster and as it faded a human boy stood where their enemy once stood.
The spell holding Marx immobile totally disappeared and he shuddered. Back in control of his body he sat on his haunches looking up at Starkellis.
Starkellis and Naklai were still staring at the boy who had once been bigger and furrier. The boy looked about fourteen or so, but he fell to the ground unconscious.
Starkellis looked away and down at her cat. "Will he be alright?" she asked.
Marx nodded. "Yes. He won't remember a thing." He replied.
"Why did he turn into a monster?" Naklai asked, coming up to stand beside Starkellis.
Marx shrugged, which looked odd for a cat to do.
"Okay, how do we get out of these outfits?" Starkellis inquired. "Oh and the bow." She still held the Bow of Light in her hands.
"Power down. And they're called fukus. Just think about returning to what you had on before you transformed. That's powering down." Marx replied.
"Will the Bow go too?" Sailor Starkellis asked.
"Yes." Marx said simply.
The two girls concentrated and their fukus faded, along with the Bow of Light, into their jeans (or skirt for Toka's case) and shirts and their own shoes.
Toka's hair was even back into the braid down her back and the fallen little braid tucked behind one ear. But their symbols were still very visible. Toka pulled the thin braid back across her forehead and with an extra hairpin she found in her pocket, pinned her hair back in place.
"It is covered?" she asked, though she knew it was; she'd had years of practice.
Sihane looked over at her and nodded, "Yes." She looked back at Marx.
"We should get back to my place. I'm not sure we should be seen around her for awhile, especially if anybody saw." Toka said. She knelt and held her arms out. Marx went to her and was scooped up. Toka then rose and with Marx in her arms looked to Sihane.
"We need to get our things form where we left them." Sihane said as she slid her hands into her pockets. But looked startled as she pulled her right hand out. She pulled out the henshin pen and turned her questioning gaze to the cat.
Marx blinked at her and then turned towards Toka's body and pressed his nose to her chest. Toka looked down and found the locket on a silver chain around her neck.
"Never part with them. You will never know when trouble brews." Marx said and then settled in the girl's arms.
"Okay, let's go now." Sihane urged.
TBC