Disclaimer:
I do not own Sailor Moon, or the canon characters of Naoko Takeuchi's stories. These characters, while loosely based on hers, are my own. They will not be entirely the way you remember them. This is an alternate universe story, and while there is magic, and our heroes do have some powers, there are no Crystals as we know them, and there are no Senshi, or any other major Sailor Moon themes. I do intend to publish my original version, which has my own characters and plots, and may earn compensation for that version. I will not receive monetary compensation for this crossover version.
Author's Note:
Leveling with you here, I was going to try and give you my story, chapter by chapter, as I have it written for the book, but I realized a few weeks ago that I would have to make some changes for this to be possible. So, here is what I have so far of the Sailor Moon version, which now has a different storyline and plot.
One other note, the second chapter is taken from my rough draft of an actual history one of my characters is writing during the course of her story. I pieced the parts together to give you a brief overview of what I've gotten so far in that story. It also gives a bit of a sneak peek at the language I have been creating for the story, and it has a couple pieces and parts of legends. I even included what I have of Drakkon Law, though I'm not sure I like what I have of it yet. It will probably change a bit before the final version of the story is finished.
Readers Note: This page will be updated as new chapters are added.
FORGING THE BOND SERIES
Contents:
Chapter One: Contents, Introduction, Character Guide, The Sky Fire story
Chapter Two: The Drakkon People: From Pre-history to the Modern Age, by Luna Emobs and Artemis Emerdi
Chapter Three: Terror Night (Sailor Moon Version)
Chapter Four:
Introduction:
One of the major themes I have focused on in my fanfiction, is the possibility of alternate versions of Earth. What tiny changes in our history might impact everything we think we know and understand? I have a Youma that is not a Youma, with the ability to move backward and forward in time, at will, and who can cross from one timeline to another, with the specific goal of healing damage caused by those messing with time.
So, what if the changes to the timeline happened millions of years ago? Or perhaps a billion? What if, in some long ago moment in space, there was a small collision that rocketed a tiny, but powerful, asteroid into Earth's gravity, hitting a spot in the Atlantic ocean off what is currently the coast of Maine? What if that asteroid cracked through the earth's crust just enough to cause a volcano to form, which later went dormant? What if, sixty-six million years ago, there were some rather interesting creatures safely inside the ancient cone of that volcano when the asteroid fell?
This is that story. A story of an ancient species called drakkon, the first to develop highly evolved prefrontal cortexes, and who have an intelligence that rivals, and perhaps exceeds, that of humans. This is the story of how they survived, how they changed over millions of years of evolution, and how they impact the humans that came later, as well as how those humans impact them.
For the purposes of this story, our favorite Sailor Moon characters are the descendants of those ancient creatures, as well as descendants of the humans, with and without magic, that came later.
Read Beyond the Character Guide for The Sky Fire. It is the story of how the drakkon survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, through the eyes of a young mother. I hope you enjoy!
Character Guide:
Drakkon (Dragon)
Mamoru Lavoie "Saphgold"
Usagi Pelletier "Amsilver"
Kunzite Obsamber
Minako Lavoie "Saphgold"
Rei Silruby
Jadeite Lavoie "Saphgold"
Zoicite Goldpearl
Ami Pelletier "Amsilver"
Nephrite Goljet
Makoto Amsilver
Shingo
Hotaru
Haruki
Setsuna
Haruka
Michiru
Reta'Vulfa (Shifting-wolves)
Motoki Leadbetter
Reika Lang
Unazuki
Paden
Naru Jones
De'Shaun
Kakyuu
Taiki
Yaten
Seiya
Wita'Hum (Witch-humans)
Natsume
Ail
Fiore
Umino Smith
Non-Enclave Humans
Kenji Pelletier
Ikuko Pelletier
Akiko Pelletier
Ace Pelletier
Hank Lavoie
Jessica Lavoie
Mike (Hank's friend and co-worker)
Mark (Hank's friend and co-worker)
Doug (Hank's friend and co-worker)
Joe (Hank's friend and co-worker)
"The Bad Guys"
Enclave Captive Reta'Vulfa (Shifting-wolves)
Dimande
Sapphire
Rubeus
Esmeraude
Calaveras
Koan
Berthier
Petz
Enclave Captive Wita'Hum (Witch-humans)
Joseph Clemmons
Mariah Clemmons
Jacob Clemmons
Beryl
Agate
Bane
Paden
Enclave Humans
Denny Durhamond - Low-level thug
Mike Jostasio - Low-level thug
The Real Bad Guys
Enclave Free Wita'Hum (Witch-humans)
Wiseman
Pharaoh 90
Metalia
Shadowman
Deceased Characters
Serenity and Pontus Amsilver (mother and father of Usagi, Ami, and Makoto)
Demeter and Endymion Saphgold (mother and father of Mamoru, Minako, and Jadeite)
The Sky Fire
It was warm in the ancient volcanic cone. A layer of thick, coarse sand had built up inside over the centuries, creating a nesting ground that was warmed by the sun and protected from the worst of the elements. The dark brown stone reached up more than two-hundred feet from the sandy floor, with crags of rock creating deep channels in the high walls, and glimmering stones embedded in the surface. One peaked edge of the cone was higher than the other, but protected them from the north winds that howled during the coldest parts of the year.
Dozens of drakka, varying in age from nine winters to hundreds of years, and in colors from nearly translucent to the darkest obsidian, had chosen the warm crater to lay their eggs. They were drakka majora, the newest in a line of creatures that had the ability to swim, climb, run, and fly, and who were the most intelligent of the living creatures that existed.
They were proud creatures, aware of their beautiful nests, lined with melted gold and the softest ocean sand. One, a brilliant ruby-colored mother, stood proudly over her nine-day laid eggs, which had just begun to show their colors, and crooned in delight when she noticed the red sheen on the largest egg, the only female she had lain. Her brilliant red mate bugled in response, his head lifted high as he launched himself into the air to wing over the crater in delight.
One small silver drakka, the youngest and the smallest of the nesting females, lay just under the edge of an overhanging rock, curled over her eggs, which she had only laid a few days before, a bit late into the season, and with only a bit of silver to line the edges of her nest. She could feel the heat of the sun on her tail and feet, but the overhang stopped much of the light from reaching her. It was not an ideal spot, but she had few eggs, as it had been her first rising, and she didn't feel the need to try and find a better spot.
The strange blessing of her position under the overhang also kept the late spring rain away from her eggs, which still had not completely hardened. She already knew her little daughter would match her for color, and for size. Silver drakkon females were the first to gain their color, perhaps because they were smaller and needed less nutrition to grow to their birthing size.
She was content. Her early years had been spent in the same volcano where her nest was now snugged. They had been hard years, after losing her own mother young. She had happy memories of the running tame on the hot sands, or walking in the cold, dark tunnels to find the best fishing places, or swimming in the bright blue waters that surrounded the volcanic island. She felt content that her own young would grow here, where it was safe and few predators would dare approach.
The small drakka sighed softly and looked up at the sky. The sun shone down from its height as always, and just at the rim of the cone, she could see the top of the moon as it set. She wondered when her mates would return with food. She had a female egg in the nest and could not bear to leave her, as females were more rare than males, and took more nurturing.
Stomach grumbling, she stood, circled once over her eggs, and lay back down, her head in the bright spot of sunlight now. She closed her eyes to wait and rest, and so missed the first sight of the Sky Fire. She slept only a short time, then stood to shift the position of each egg to ensure they grew correctly. She was not entirely certain why it was necessary, only that it was.
Two of the males who had joined her mating flight had disappeared shortly after, but the other two had stayed, both preferring to handle the eggs often, so that their scent would be known to their young. Both had left before the sun, to hunt for her and for themselves, and they had not yet returned, though the sun was well over the rim. She was hungry and wanted a meal.
Crooning softly, she looked up into the sky again, and let out a chuff of fear. It looked like red flame filled the sky. Her eggs! Would her eggs be safe? She glanced at the other females. Only about a dozen remained, and none seemed worried. She looked down at her eggs nervously. Did the older females know what it was? Had they seen it before? She was afraid. Her tail began twitching nervously, and she shifted her claws to stretch her wings over the nest.
Another female, this one much older than she, and of a rich golden color, sidled over, looking concerned. She trilled a querrulous greeting, her eye arches shifting to a deeper brown to calm the younger female. The young silver looked up at the sky, and back to the golden drakka in question, attempting to ask if she knew what it was. There were no cries or calls to describe it as anything other than danger, but she trilled it questioningly.
The golden female looked up and let out an immediate fearful chuff, then shook herself and looked back at the little silver, raising her wings slightly in a gesture that meant confusion and fear. It looked as though she were ready to take flight, slamming the edges of her wings into the ground and pushing off. She didn't. Instead, she looked nervously back at her own nest, which was near the center of the nesting ground.
The silver drakka trilled again, and pointed her wing at the overhang, which half circled the ancient rim, with tunnels that led to other parts of the island, or directly into the ocean, where they could fish. If the sky was aflame, the little silver did not want her eggs damaged. She wondered if the golden drakka felt the same. Did she want to hide her eggs? Again, there were no words to relay her message, and the silver drakka wished she could ask a question.
When the golden returned to her nest, the silver hurried to move her eggs deeper into the shadows. Carefully she dug another trench, this one far under the ledge, and lay her eggs inside. She looked up when she had finished, and saw that the fire in the sky had grown larger, and closer.
Alarmed, she bugled a cry of terror, and lifted her wing to point. Only the golden drakka looked up, and she immediately let out her own bugle of fear. Instantly the other mothers, only seven now, rose and began crying in fear. The little silver looked at all of the unattended nests. The mothers would be devastated if they returned to find their eggs burned and their hatchlings gone.
The silver drakka immediately crawled to the nearest nest and clutched two of the eggs in her mouth, then took two more in her talons and shuffled quickly to the overhang. She didn't take the time to dig burrows now, afraid she would not be able to save all of them if she didn't hurry. She did not have words to express her fears, but something inside her told the silver to move quickly, and to save as many as she could.
By the time the little silver started her second trip, this time weighed down by six eggs she dared not drop, the golden drakka had brought all of her own eggs and laid them beside hers. She began grabbing the eggs in other nests, carrying the eggs of mothers who were not there, as she shuffled over the sand. Watching this, the other females began to move their own nests and collect the other eggs.
Soon the last egg was hidden and the mothers, unsure what else they could do, huddled protectively over the delicate eggs. The little silver drakka let out another chuff of fear as the fire in the sky disappeared. Moments later the earth shook like a hatching egg and the rim of the volcano began to crumble and crack.
Staring up at the ancient rim, from her place over her eggs, the little silver stared in horror as day appeared to become night. She heard a familiar bugle and looked to the left, letting out a cry of anguish as she saw one of her mates, dark as the midnight sky on a moonless night, spiraling out of control, his wings aflame, toward the sea a few short miles from safety. The other females screamed their own cries, understanding that their mates, and the missing mothers, would never return.
There was a massive sound filling the sky, like a million waterfalls at once. The silver tried to cover her ears, but her wings were trapped under the weight of other mothers, all spreading their wings over as many eggs as they could. She was nearly suffocated at the back of the group, only her head poking out. She recoiled in fear at another loud crack as the rim on the other side of the nesting ground cracked loudly again and started falling inward.
Covering her head by sticking it under her own wing, the little silver waited anxiously for her death, but only a few massive rocks landed on the ground at the edge of their protected rim. The rest were smaller, though she watched as several of the eggs were destroyed by them. The silver looked up and chuffed again, still afraid, though the cone had stopped it's inward fall, caught at the top of the very ledge they were hiding under. The other mothers were chuffing nervously, and the dark green one had cried out in pain when a rock landed on her hind leg, which was unprotected.
Thinking the worst was over, one of the younger mothers, this one a vibrant blue, began clambering out of the protected shelf, just as the air turned unbearably hot. There was a hiss and sizzle as her skin blistered and burned, and she let out a bugle of sheer agony. The silver drakka tried to move forward and grab her, but she could not. She nearly screamed as the golden drakka hurried out and snatched the blue by her tail, dragging her back with her teeth, burning her own face in the process.
None of them were certain how long the world burned. They could see nothing of what was happening above, and none of them dared to move again. The world shook again, dropping more and more of the stones. All of them had blisters on their skin, though none as bad as the young blue, whose sapphire skin was charred.
There was no light. They had no food. It was possible they were the only drakka still in existence. In the long dark the ground shook many times. The sun did not reappear, and the little silver wondered if they were all going to die too. She began to think and reason more clearly than any of her kind had before in those long hours of waiting, while there was nothing to do but plan for the future and pray all of the unbroken eggs had survived and that the other mothers were not too badly injured.
The blue drakka cried out in pain often, struggling to find a position that did not hurt. The little silver wished she could help her, but she knew of only one thing she could do. It was something many drakka young were discouraged from, except at direst need, as it could endanger the nest, but all drakka could make a low, throaty humming sound that vibrated the ground. She had not made the sound since the death of her mother's mother, to soothe her into the final sleep, but she knew it could also aid hibernation.
Unable to do anything else, as they could not reach the sea, the little silver began to hum. The others joined her. Gradually the blue stopped crying out and the telltale sound of the sleep rumble began. The silver continued her humming, unsure if any of the others would need to put themselves into hibernation. Then the green and golden drakka both began to rumble. A moment later the red drakka, and then the yellow and orange had fallen into the deep sleep.
Only three drakka reamined awake when the silver stopped her humming. She was awake, as were the amethyst and the nearly translucent drakka. They were the only three who were not badly burned or injured, mostly because they were the smallest, and the other mothers had chosen to push them to the back, protecting them nearly as much as the eggs. The little silver had felt that protective instinct from them, and she knew it was because of their protection that only a small portion of her nose had blistered, and the tip of her tail. The others still awake had fared nearly as well, with only a few burns on their legs, tails and heads.
Hovering over all of the eggs, which they had moved carefully into a deep trench they'd dug along the wall, the silver counted those that had survived the falling rocks. She had lost none of her own eggs, and in total, eighty-one had survived the sky fire, the falling rocks, and the searing air. Eighty one, out of nearly two hundred. All the eggs that had not been completely covered had shattered and burned. Several had been near birth, only lacking the life fire to hatch. It saddened the little silver and she carefully moved them to the far end of the ledge, dug a much deeper trench and buried the unhatched young inside, her eyes flowing with moisture she could not explain, as they were not injured.
The silver had no way to speak to the others to tell her sorrow, or ask about this new thing her eyes had done. Except for reassuring trills, fearful chuffs, mating screams, bugles of pain, alarm, attention or anger, or cries of pain and sadness, they could not speak. There were no true words in their language, only sounds that conveyed vague meaning. Each drakka used different sounds for their calls, whatever they were, and each small group of nesting mothers, like theirs, had their own series of known cries and calls, like warnings of danger, that were used within the group.
There was no way the little silver could tell the others she thought the sun should have risen and fallen several times since their ordeal began. She had no word for the sun, or the light that filled the sky. She could not utter her sorrow in words. She had no words to express that she was very hungry, and knew they all needed to eat if they were going to survive. She couldn't tell the others that she was sad her mates would never meet their young, and that she would never see them again. How could she say that she was afraid that the others would not wake? She felt all of these things, but had no words to describe them.
After what must have been nearly a week, the little silver could wait no longer. She was very small for their kind, and needed to eat small meals often because of it. She had not eaten for a day before the fire in the sky had appeared, and she knew she would not last much longer unless she went into hibernation herself, which might very well kill her unless someone else hunted for her and woke her quickly. She had no reserves of fat like the other drakka. She would starve to death in weeks.
There was only one choice. It was not something she wanted to do, as it had been the very way her own mother had died, forcing her to breathe the life fire onto her young early, but she had no other way to get food. She needed to hunt. The thought of leaving her eggs nearly stole her resolve, but she stared at the other two drakka long and hard in the darkness, only the faint sheen of their inner light enabling her to see them at all. She had to believe they would protect her eggs as they had the others. She moved toward them, and pointed with one wing toward the tunnels, but they could not truly see her, nor she them. It was only the inner light she could see, and without that glow, she was not sure she could find her way in the darkness.
Slowly and cautiously, the silver drakka made her way into the deeper black of the old lava vents that opened into branching tunnels. She feared the air, unsure if the heat outside the volcano was as bad as it had been inside on the first day. She could not take the chance of her skin blistering and burning. And she knew that salt water might be painful on a wound, but it often helped it heal. The sea would have larger animals that would be smooth and easy to drag back to the nest.
Decision made, she slipped further into the tunnels. She remembered exploring during her young childhood, when her mother's mother had brought her to the best fishing places during her youth. She had played in these tunnels with her mother's mother's younger children, exploring and learning the skills that would enable them to hunt. Slipping through the caves, she let her other senses make up for the lack of eyesight, sighing in relief as old mental habits awakened and her hearing and sense of touch improved as the dark became complete.
Many of the old tunnels had collapsed when the earth shook, but a new cavern had been exposed. By the change in the air on her skin, the silver drakka knew it was large, and had an opening into the air. It was hotter here, and she could see the glimmer of grey that had been their constant companion since the fire disappeared. She did not approach that exit, but searched for a tunnel she knew, and let out a trill of delight when she found it.
Slipping into the deeper tunnel, which traveled downward through many twists and turns, she found herself in the cave where she had caught her first fish, a bony thing that had hurt her mouth when she'd broken through the outer layer. The cave had an exit under the water that led into the great grey ocean under the waves. Often fish would swim inside and be unable to find their way back out. They grew to enormous sizes eating the variety of moss and fungus that thrived at the water's edge, and without predators other than the occasional drakkon child, learning to fish. Most of their offspring became translucent after a few hundred years, or even glowed with an inner light, making the small cave shimmer with their movement under the water.
Very quickly the little silver drakka found four large fish, each enough to fill the stomach of multiple females. She estimated she had enough, but she wasn't sure how to carry all of them at once. They were rather large and unwieldy. Then she heard the scrape of a claw and turned to see that the translucent female had followed her. The silver let out a trill of welcome and pointed with one talon at her catch. The translucent drakka hurried over and lifted two of them, making chuffing sounds as she scolded the silver for disappearing and frightening her. Though there were no words, the sounds were familiar and comforting.
The silver replied by brushing the smooth skin of her scent glands, located just under her chin, over the shoulder of the translucent drakkon in apology and thanks. She was glad the other mother had followed her, and hoped the trip back to the nesting ground would be shorter and less frightening with her presence. She glowed brightly with an inner light that shimmered through her crystal colored skin. Her Life Fire sacks, near the jaw, swirled with multiple colors of light. In the darkness, she seemed to shimmer like a diamond, those hard stones that littered the grounds of many hatching sites.
The silver picked up two of the fish and watched her companion pick up the other. Then they began the long trek back through the tunnels and lava tubes, until she could smell the charred flesh of the others. Waddling onto the sand, the silver placed the fish she was carrying in the center of the small circle of hibernating drakkon. It would take them time to wake and realize there was food, and longer still to be able to stand and eat it.
The diamond drakka placed one of her fish with the other two, then she clambered around the hibernating females and hurried to the amethyst drakka, who was busily turning the eggs, one at a time, handling them carefully in her talons as she flipped each one. The amethyst drakka trilled to greet them and hurried closer at the smell of fresh caught fish.
The smallest of the four fish was more than enough for the three smallest females, who lay with full bellies, watching the other mothers begin to stir. They would eat their fill, and then return to their hibernation. The little silver sighed and closed her eyes, letting the soothing hum of the sleep song lull her into hibernation. She needed the rest, and the time to heal.
