Kinmoku may have been extremely different from earth but one thing the two planets had in common was how damn annoying their alarm clocks were.
Yes the alarm clock worked properly and woke Haruka up at the right time but the noise it created was enough to make her want to rip her head off. The sound it made was like a long drawn out high pitched scream that wouldn't stop until you turned it off. The only problem was Haruka couldn't find the button to turn it off.
She tried pressing every inch of it, she tried shaking it, she tried reasoning with it but nothing she tried made it stop. Eventually she'd had enough and threw the thing at the wall, guilt flooding through her as she watched it shatter into a bunch of tiny pieces.
She quickly cleaned up the broken parts and threw them in the trash before grabbing her henshin rod from her dresser. She transformed quickly and rushed downstairs, not wanting to be late.
She arrived at the dining area where Healer, Kakyuu and Fighter sat, each with a plate of what looked like pancakes. Kakyuu smiled at her and waved her over to the table. "Ohayo Uranus." she greeted cheerily. "How'd you sleep?" she asked, as the scout took a seat beside her.
"Ohayo Kakyuu." she responded, grabbing a plate from the center of the table and placing a pancake on it. "I slept very well, although I think I broke the alarm clock." she said sheepishly, her cheeks turning slightly red.
Fighter let out a quiet chuckle and Healer elbowed her in the ribs, earning her a glare in response.
Kakyuu however was laughing as well. "Oh my, that's alright. It's happened before with guests that don't know how to turn it off. It was old anyways and needed to be replaced. I'll get you a new one by tonight."
"Arigatou." Uranus replied, taking a bite out of her pancake. She looked around the table and realization hit her that Maker wasn't present. "Say where's Maker at?"
"She's sleeping." Healer said sourly. "She was on guard duty during the night and she has to do more during the afternoon so this is her only time to rest. Fighter's turn is next. "
"Oh, I see." the blonde said quietly, before taking another bite.
Fighter got up, carrying her plate to the sink and gave a small nod to the others sitting at the table before putting her plate down and heading off to the front entrance. Uranus was then left alone with only Kakyuu and Healer who happened to be glaring at her from across the table.
She eventually finished eating and got up from her chair to put her plate in the sink. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Kakyuu standing behind her. "The elders will be here soon. They'll be meeting with you in the palace garden. Do you know where that is?"
Uranus nodded, giving her a small smile. "I think I can find my way."
The red haired princess smiled before walking away. The blonde made her way through the halls of the palace till she found a door that led outside. She opened it and saw what appeared to be tall green hedges blooming with all sorts of flowers.
There was a large white marble bench beside the tallest hedge and she walked over to it, sitting down as she waited for the elders to arrive. Time went by slowly as the scout of the solar system waited, wondering if these people were even going to show up at all. She was beginning to get frustrated and was about ready to leave when she noticed three shadowy figures slowly approaching her.
As the figures grew closer she could tell that they were three men. The man in the middle appeared to be the oldest, his face wrinkly and his snow white hair almost all gone but he had a friendly smile and gentle brown eyes that sparkled with kindness.
The man on the left had mostly silver hair with a single streak of black running through his messy curls, he had a long silver beard and he had a sour expression on his face, making the young woman slightly more uncomfortable then she already was.
The final man on the right was staring at the blonde, his expression was blank as he rubbed his bald head softly, his grey eyes watching the girl closely.
The middle man approached Uranus first, extending a hand towards her. "Hello, you must be Sailor Uranus." he said kindly, as the blonde slowly reached out to shake his hand.
"Yes I am." she replied, letting go of his hand as she stood up. "And you are?"
He let out a soft chuckle and smiled at her. "I'm the elder healer, but you can call me Hiroji."
The silver haired man spoke next, as he also reached out to shake her hand. "My name is Kotaro, I'm the elder fighter around here." he said blankly, as the woman shook his hand hesitantly.
The bald man didn't extend a hand towards her and simply kept eyeing her up and down. Finally he spoke. "I'm the elder maker, Kazuma."
She nodded her head slowly, reciting their names in her head. "Hiroji, Kotaro, and Kazuma." she muttered quietly to herself so she wouldn't forget.
"I'm assuming princess Kakyuu told you about what we're here for, correct?" Hiroji asked.
"Hai, she told me that you'd be assessing me individually."
The healer smiled at her. "That is correct. I'll assess you first. Please follow me." he said, leading her to an empty spot in the garden. He sat down on the ground and gestured for her to sit as well. She sat down awkwardly and he spoke again. "So tell me do you have any experiences with medicine or injuries?"
She shrugged. "Not really. I mean I've dealt with cuts and burns from fights against enemies before but it's generally just minor things that you can fix with a band-aid or a pill."
"What about illnesses? Do you know how to treat someone who is sick?"
"Besides making them soup and giving them some medicine, not really. I generally go online to find out what to do."
The older man closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. "Let's say I was in a fight right here, right now, and I got a bad cut that was super deep and needed emergency care. How would you fix it?"
She sighed as she tried to search for an answer in her brain. "I'd probably take you to a doctor."
"Uranus, you are the doctor in this situation."
Her eyes widened and she smacked herself in the forehead, sighing deeply. "Umm, I'd probably grab a band-aid or something..." she muttered.
Hiroji shook his head softly. "Band-aids won't fix this. I need more then just a band-aid."
This conversation went on for what felt like forever and when it ended the blonde walked away feeling like a total idiot. "I really need to know more about this stuff in case something ever does happen." she said quietly to herself as she walked back over to the two remaining elders.
She saw Kazuma slowly approaching her, and she headed in his direction. "Hello Miss Uranus." he said quietly once she was next to him. "Follow me." he said, leading her around the corner where another bench was.
He sat down and patted the space next to him. She sat down and he began to speak. "So tell me do you have a lot of experience in creating things?"
She thought for a moment, her finger on her chin as she tried to summon her memories. "Well I was always really good in my woods class. And I could sew well enough."
"What's the hardest thing you've ever made on your own?"
"Well in my woods class I made a big chair without any help and got an almost perfect mark on it."
"That's excellent! Are you good at fixing broken appliances?"
"I am actually, back at the palace whenever something broke I'd always be asked to fix it."
"Very good! Now can you explain to me how to build a wooden desk?"
"Oh that's easy! First you need your wood and your nails and screws and hammer and..." she rambled on for a while, listing from memory all the steps she'd learned at school. The elder nodded slowly as he listened, making mental notes of everything.
Around an hour later the old man finally finished with his questions and waved to her as she wandered over to the last elder who was standing in a large open area, far away from the delicate flowers and hedges.
"Hello Miss Uranus." Kotaro said, giving her a slight bow.
The blonde's face flushed slightly as she didn't know what to do and bowed awkwardly in response.
Once the awkward exchange was over the elder spoke. "I'm sure you're well aware that the main job of a fighter is to fight. I would like to observe your fighting skills. I would like you to fight against that tree over there." he said, gesturing to a tall bare tree on his left.
She looked, a confused expression crossing her face but she shook it off and turned to face the tree. Kotaro stood slightly off to the side as the senshi adjusted her pose. She lifted her hand up in the air as the familiar yellow light surrounded it. "World shaking!" she screamed, sending the yellow ball of light flying towards the tree. Half of the tree broke and slid off onto the ground. She ran towards the stump, taking a leap into the air as her talisman formed in her hands. "Space sword blaster!" she yelled, swinging her blade at the large stump.
It only made a small dent and she groaned, getting frustrated with the tree. "Space sword blaster!" she yelled again, this time swinging harder at the wooded stump, finally breaking it completely this time.
She sighed, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead as she turned around to face Kotaro who was eyeing her up and down. "Your fighting is very sloppy." he commented dryly.
Uranus bit her tongue to keep herself from saying something rude in response. Instead she simply mumbled "I know."
Kotaro led her over to another tree and asked her to repeat what she did before. This time it took 4 attacks before the tree was completely down. She was getting frustrated and he kept asking her to knock down more trees, every time taking longer then it should have.
Finally he led her to the last tree and asked her to do the same thing. Feeling extremely frustrated by this point, her arm shot up in the air as her hand glowed yellow again. "World shaking!" she screamed, her voice filled with determination as she sent the ball of light flying. It crashed into the base of the tree with a great force, knocking the tree completely over. A large smile grew on her face as Kotaro walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.
They finished and she was instructed to go and wait on the bench as the elders discussed each of their results with each other. As she waited, she became engrossed in her thoughts. She decided to make a list of the pros and cons of working with each starlight.
Fighter, now that would be complicated, she thought as she shuddered slightly. But the raven haired starlight did seem to have a good heart even if Uranus had viewed her as an intruder in the past. She just didn't want there to be any tension because of Serenity but she hoped that the leader of the starlights had gotten over her by now. Otherwise though as long as Fighter was willing to get along with her, there weren't too many problems there.
Healer seemed cold and guarded, she could already imagine all the possible issues they might have. The oldest starlight might snub her or try to pick fights with her but she didn't know for sure. She hadn't interacted much with Healer on earth so she didn't know too much about what she was like. On the bright side if Healer did choose to snub her and wouldn't talk to her at least she wouldn't have to worry about fighting with her. And for all she knew the silver haired girl could have a soft side but that was a huge maybe. All in all there was a good amount of possible problems.
And then there was Maker. The brunette was mysterious and was also fairly guarded. She seemed to be the most mature out of the three so she seemed like the least likely person that she would have problems with. But then again... Back on Earth Maker had threatened to hurt Serenity if she stood in their way. Then again she was only trying to find their princess who she'd sworn her life to, but that threat made her seem suspicious. She was unsure on what to think about her.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when she saw the three elders approaching her. She stood up from the bench, bowing quickly once they were close enough.
Kotaro was the first of the three to give his assessment. "Uranus, you have great power. You're a skilled fighter and your attacks are quite powerful. However you are somewhat sloppy when it comes to attacking. You don't plan which attack you think would work best, you just attack on impulse which can lead to potential disasters in the future. Although towards the end your attacks seemed more coordinated and I'm impressed by how you took that final tree down with only one attack."
"Arigatou Kotaro."
The elder fighter stepped back and Kazuma stepped forward. "From what you told me today, I can tell that you are quite skilled in crafting. You were able to answer my questions quickly and without too much thought. I'm impressed by your knowledge about this stuff and I have to admit that I didn't expect you to be this knowledgeable about this stuff. Obviously you still have things you could improve on, but I see great potential in you." he said, giving her a small smile.
She returned the smile, her cheeks turning slightly red. "Arigatou Kazuma."
He stepped back to stand beside Kotaro and Hiroji walked forward. He cleared his throat quickly before speaking. "Miss Uranus, I have to say our chat today was certainly interesting. It appears that you don't know too much about medicine aside from a couple basic things. There are things you should work on, such as how to treat a bad wound and how to properly treat someone who's ill. I see potential for improvement in you and I hope that you work on expanding your knowledge on health."
"Arigatou Hiroji." she mumbled as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
Kotaro stepped forward again, eyeing her up and down before he spoke. "We have decided that you'd be best suited to work with Maker. Your skill for crafting is impressive and we think that you can excel further in that area in this moment in time. Maker will be your mentor and will show you where your classes are. You'll be attending classes this week in the afternoon and after supper, each for an hour. Next week Maker will take you around central Kinmoku when she's not on guard duty. The following week you'll have classes again and the week after that you'll begin sharing guard duty with Maker and eventually you'll start taking your own individual shift."
She nodded. "I understand. Arigatou." she said, giving them a small bow.
They all bowed in response before saying a quick goodbye and leaving.
She sighed as she walked back into the palace. She didn't know how working with Maker would go and she simply hoped that the brunette wouldn't give her too much trouble.
As she wandered through the halls she saw Kakyuu who spotted her and waved her over. "How'd your meeting with the elders go, Uranus?" she asked, as the blonde walked towards her.
"It went alright."
"Who did they pair you with?"
"Maker..."
Kakyuu chuckled softly. "Oh you'll love her! She may seem cold but she can also be really sweet and gentle plus she's hilarious. I'm sure you two will be friends in no time!" she exclaimed.
Uranus bit her tongue, trying to hold back a sarcastic retort. "Oh yeah I'm sure we will..." she muttered, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice.
"You should go talk to her after lunch! She's on guard duty right now but she's generally in the library when she has a free time. She's kind of a bookworm." she said, giving her a small wink.
The blonde gulped slightly and forced a smile onto her face. "Sounds great!" she choked out, cringing at how fake her voice sounded.
Kakyuu didn't notice and simply kept walking with her towards the dining room. "By the way I replaced your alarm clock. This new one should work a lot better for you."
"Oh arigatou." she responded, as they walked into the dining room where Fighter already sat.
"Where's Healer?" Kakyuu asked the leader of the starlights, as her and Uranus sat down at the table. She filled a plate for the blonde with what appeared to be some kind of vegetables and meat.
"I think she's in her room sleeping. You know how much she loves her beauty sleep." she replied jokingly, as she cut a piece off of her piece of 'meat'.
Kakyuu smiled, a small giggle escaping her lips. "Oh I think we all know how cranky Healer gets when she's tired."
Uranus managed to drown out their conversation and ate her food in silence, feeling awkward and out of place. She felt weird because before the starlights had been the intruders on her planet and now here she was on their planet, making her an intruder in a way.
She eventually finished eating and thanked Kakyuu for the meal as she stood up to put her dishes in the sink. She decided she'd explore the palace and she began wandering through the halls.
She passed what seemed like hundreds of murals and several closed doors before she arrived in what appeared to be a library. She remembered what Kakyuu had said and she debated whether or not she should try and talk to the brown haired starlight.
She looked over to her left where several large bookcases stood and amongst them were a few chairs. Only one chair was occupied and sitting in it was Maker who's attention was focused on some book she was reading.
Her mind told her to leave her alone but she found her body walking over to the younger girl. She sat down on the chair beside her and cleared her throat. "Hey."
The brunette peered up at her, a guarded expression on her face. "What do you want?"
She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her neck. She didn't know why she was so anxious, maybe she was worried that the starlight would blast her or something. "Oh I just thought you should know that I got paired up with you."
Maker said nothing and Uranus could feel the anger bubbling up inside her. "Look you don't have to be so rude. I don't want to be here either but I'm trying to be nice to you. You're stuck working with me so I thought I'd try and put our differences aside but I guess you just want to hold a grudge against me forever." she spat, standing up to leave.
She was halfway down the hallway when she heard a voice behind her. "Uranus!"
She spun around to see Maker walking towards her. She huffed. "Nani?"
"Gomenasai." the brunette said, shocking the other girl. "I shouldn't have been so rude to you."
"I can understand why you'd be suspicious of me after everything that happened on earth."
"Yeah but I shouldn't have been rude to you when you were only trying to be friendly."
"Listen, I don't expect us to be friends right away but how about we call a truce? We don't have to get along perfectly but let's forget about what happened on earth." she said, holding out her hand.
Maker stared at her hand before grabbing it with her own. "Truce." she replied, shaking it gently as she let her hand linger there for a moment.