Chapter 3
Of Cats and… Dragons?—Part 1
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. I only own Rika Dragonsmere, Solar Flare, Kyona Li Windrider, Ula, Karrie, Markis, and Aura.
Place: AvalonTime: 23:72 Evening
/Avalon. A place of wonder. Where King Arthur still reins with his knights of the round table. Where dragons, oni, elementals, and countless other creatures live. But who cares? I, Rika Dragonsmere, daughter of Hevnydd (whoever he is) and Gwen Windsong, would rather be anywhere but Avalon. / a young woman with shoulder-length, purple hair thought as she watched the River Envy rush by. She closed her eyes and let the sound of the crystal water soothe her spirit. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep.
She'd been looking for Rika for about an hour and had finally spotted her on a rise overlooking Envy River. The young woman started towards the rise than stopped. She didn't want to have to go all that way and back, after all, she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and she'd been running all over the place for an hour. She sighed and started walking. Oh well and Avalon goes on, right? But she did decide to see if Rika might meet her partway.
"RIKA!" she yelled. Very loudly. Rika awoke with a start. She turned over and sat up to see her life-long friend, Kyona Li (also known as Windrider), walking toward her. It didn't take Kyona long.
"What do you want, Windrider?" Rika asked looking at Kyona, after she sat down. Kyona didn't say anything, just looked at the sky. Rika studied her friend for any clues. All she got was an image that made her think of the romance novels her mother read. Here's what she saw: a young woman about 16 years old with short, semi-spiky flame colored hair and bangs to her chest, one midnight black and the other moonlit silver, wearing long pants under a knee-length skirt that was split up the front and a short, long-sleeved, shoulder-less shirt. Plus the sunlight playing across her tanned features. Making the long-eared (Kyona's people are 40 cat and 60 elf) beauty absolutely radiant. All ready in the different towns they've visited, Kyona has young men trying to win her favor. As for Rika—she keeps her hood on in towns, for people tend to stare if you have purple hair.
"I've been thinking… and I need your help on what to do." Kyona said suddenly, jerking Rika out of her thoughts. She looked at Kyona again.
"What is it? Surely not yet another marriage proposal?" Rika asked smiling. Kyona laughed.
"No. But there's a rumor that the King is hiring people to look for a 'Dragon Key'. You wanna do it? We might find out more about you father this way." Kyona added knowing full well what effect those few words would do. And she got her desired effect from Rika. In other words Rika agreed. Rika reached under her black long-coat and pulled out a key shaped like a dragon her mother gave to her saying it was a gift from her father, Hevnydd.
"so… do you think is what he's looking for?" she asked holding up the key. Kyona shrugged.
"Who knows? It might even be a dragon itself. I say we do some research on it and see what we find, ne?" Kyona asked. Rika nodded then they both stood up and Kyona cast the teleporting spell…
Meanwhile:
The man had been for about a month. Still no luck, and to make things worse it was raining and his traveling companion was a very powerful magic user sent to ensure he found what they were after—the 'Dragon Key'. A priceless, yet all-powerful ancient artifact. If they, 'The Purifiers', could find it before Icara or worse—the oni captain of the Elite force in the City of Twilight, Hima (the oni), they could rule the universes. That is if he succeeded, should he fail… he shuddered to think what horrors would await if he failed. He'd seen what his companion, the mage called Aura, can do. He also heard rumors that she made a strong-willed young man (wanna take a guess anyone?) shoot a little girl—against his will. No, he would not fail. Not while there was still life in him. He, Markis, would find the 'Dragon Key'.
Elsewhere (not Avalon):
It'd been a couple of weeks since Duo was released from the hospital. And since Solrith (Solar Flare) said he was the 'God of Death' the senshi didn't want anything to happen so he'd been staying with Hotaru and her 'parents'. At the moment Duo was shopping (yeah he got stuck with it—but Hotaru went with him, makes it worthwhile), little did anyone know that someone was watching him. This person was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. She got it, so she threw the knife she was using to try to kill Duo Maxwell… who presently disappeared—along with all the other senshi. She just sat there blinking and staring at the spot where the past lovers had stood.
"Impossible… Karrie, the target's disappeared." She said into a walkie-talkie. A woman's voice responded from the talkie.
"I'm sure that they're still somewhere around in the crowd. You'll find them, after all you're one of the best assassins around Ula… so, we still going out tonight?" the voice, Karrie's, asked. Ula smiled.
"Of course, love. Remember, your choice. As for the target—he really is gone, vanished into thin air. Mm… today hasn't been very pleasant, I could use a good 'pick-me-up' tonight. What do you say? You up for it?" she asked Karrie through the talkie as she was making her way to the car. She got in as Karrie started answering.
"Sounds fun. How about that new restaurant, Marie's? It's been suggested for couples… like us." Karrie said quietly as she looked over towards Ula. Ula smiled then leaned over and kissed her quiet lover.
"Perfect. While we're waiting for our romantic evening to begin, let's check-out the other four targets. Make sure they're still around." Karrie smiled at Ula's comment as she put the car in gear. She was glad they (her and Ula) had found each other. They were perfect together.
Chapter Notes:
'romance novels' Rika does not—I repeat DOES NOT see Kyona as a lover only as a SISTER. After all they grew-up together.
'like us' Ula and Karrie are indeed a 'yuri' couple. The only one in here (Haruka and Michiru DO NOT count).
CSI:Miami Rant:
Okay… that last episode (May 15, 2006) of CSI:Miami made me sooo pissed! I can't believe that they killed off Eric's sister like that! Her and Horasio (did I spell that right?) made the perfect couple (to me that is). Then they had the nerve to make it into a 'To Be Continued…' at such a critical part! I almost fell off my seat at that. And I'm not sorry to say that I hope they catch and are forced to shoot the guy behind all this. In fact they should just send in Heero Yuy and he'll take care of everything. But seriously, I really do wish that they didn't kill off Horasio's (spelling—please!) wife. I really liked her character, she was a really nice person. I know you people are like 'It's just a show.' But please e-mail or review with either comments on the show (CSI:Miami) or my story. Thank you for enduring me (and supporting me).
-- 'Wolfie' Hunter
P.S.: Special thanks to ShadowSonic1 for being… well… my first real 'fan' and for helping out with some story ideas. Without that help my thoughts would still be too jumbled for me to write a chapter 3. And also special thanks to my e-mail buddy, Carly Ravyn, for being my very first reader.
