Rise of the Ryu-onna
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics.
Dark brown eyes shot open, and Amarante took in the sights and smells around her, of the pristine white walls and floors along with the sharp smell of chemicals. Finishing her scrutiny of the room, she realized that she was in a hospital somewhere, then remembered Sinestro's words. She was on planet Korugar, not her native world, the world of the Dragon People.
Her ki sense immediately felt the life signs of the doctors, nurses, and patients in the hospital, and she noticed one that stood out, and studying it closer, the life sign revealed itself to be from a young woman with red skin, very short cropped black hair, and a triangular mark on her face below her left eye. The woman wore a uniform that, while similar, was vastly different than Sinestro's, with green replacing the yellow, white boots and gloves, and a different insignia on her chest. The uniform was unzipped to half-way down the red-skinned woman's breasts.
Attempting to sit up, Amarante noticed immediately that she wasn't at her best as pain shot through her, slamming her back into the bed as she grit her teeth and refused to cry out. She would not vocalize her pain, it would be unbecoming of a samurai, of a follower of Bushido. Looking down at herself, she noticed that her torso was wrapped in bandages while she wore a strange suit of some kind over them.
Unknown to Amarante, a nurse at the station had been watching the monitors, jealously looking at Amarante's figure and what had been shown of it when they got the ruined armor and robes off of her; long, toned legs, wide hips with a small, firm, and shapely rear that fit her 5'3" height perfectly and tapered to a lithe waist, before moving across a tight, toned stomach and onto a bust that fit her just as perfectly as everything else about her body did.
The nurse, after noticing that the patient was awake, made a call over the PA system for a nurse or doctor to go to the patient's room, and to the nurse's fury, it was that damned bitch in the uniform of the Green Lantern Corps, Natu, who responded first.
Said woman reached the room and read the nameplate 'Hiroshi Amarante', though it was written in her native Korugarian, and knocked on the door, hearing a surprisingly calm and even 'come in' from the room.
Entering the room she was surprised to see that the patient was sitting cross-legged in bed, her feet on top of her knees in what a man from Earth, Kyle Rayner, had informed her was called the Lotus position as the woman's breathing came out evenly. Just as she began to speak she heard the patient say "Greetings, I am Hiroshi Amarante, maiden name first, as is custom."
"I am Soranik Natu, Ms. Hiroshi. I'm glad to see that you're awake and seem to be recovering nicely."
"I am grateful for the aid of both you and the staff here for tending to my injuries." Amarante replied.
"How did you get hurt like that, if I may ask."
"It was in battle against the greatest foe I have ever fought; Ariel Teikoku, Ariel no Ichi Tennō Heika."
"What?"
"Her Imperial Highness, Empress Ariel the First of the Arielian Empire."
"WHAT?!" came Sora's surprised and shocked cry, prompting Amarante to open her eyes and look at the red-skinned woman intently.
"What seems to be the matter, Natu-sensei?"
Soranik's translator managed to get the connotation that time and she replied "Ariel the First of the Arielian Empire died over nine thousand years ago!"
It was Amarante's time to be shocked then as her eyes widened and her mouth opened in surprise. "Nine ... thousand years?"
"Yes." Sora began after calming down. "Ariel the First vanished from her throne room on planet Ariel at the age of 800, just over 9,000 years ago. Her empire, once contained only to their homeworld, has grown to occupy their entire star system and the Empire has become known as the most powerful force in the known universe."
"So, even in the twilight of her life she set the stage to make my final stand and sacrifice against her greed and ambitious lust for power mean nothing." came Amarante's reply, Natu seeing the pain of a defeated warrior in those dark brown orbs.
"Your name comes up quite a bit in their history." Sora said and Amarante looked up at her.
"What?"
"Yeah. It states in the history of the Arielian Empire that Ariel the First's greatest foe was a woman who called herself the Saigo no Samurai and bore the name Hiroshi Amarante. That IS you, isn't it?" Sora said and Amarante nodded before replying "Hai. That is me, Saigo no Samurai, Hiroshi Amarante."
"According to what the Arielian Empire put in their history, you were a warrior so powerful that Empress Ariel was forced to transform into a 'Legendary' Great Arielian form to match you." Sora said and Amarante scowled.
"Legendary Great Arielian, bah. I named that form she used against me, and it was not Legendary Great Arielian."
"Then what was it?"
"Saigo no Ryu-jin is the name I gave the form she used against me, though I suspect it's secretly known as Saigo no Ariel-jin, now." Amarante replied and Sora nodded.
"When we found you outside the hospital here we contacted the Empire to let them know that one of their people was very badly injured and being tended to here."
"I am not a subject of the Arielian Empire, never have and never will I ever submit myself to the whims of Ariel's accursed descendants."
"That is a shame, Hiro-chan, our people would be quite ecstatic to see you alive and well." came a voice and Amarante's head snapped to a shadow in the room as she said "Kage-temee, get out here." and said woman did as asked, surprising Amarante at her vastly different look.
Kage's appearance without her hood and mask had been an unknown to Amarante during their time fighting side by side, but she knew that Kage's hair had to have been as black as Amarante's own. Now, though, the woman's hair was deep scarlet and somewhat wild and unkempt while she still wore a katana's tsuba for an eye patch with the addition of reddish-orange eye shadow around both eyes. Amarante could tell that Kage stood a lot taller than she used to, nearly towering over Amarante herself, while scarlet scales now adorned her arms and legs and the tail wrapped around her waist.
Kage's skin was a light tan color while she wore a tight-fitting, high-collared, and sleeveless scarlet shirt that had golden trim and had a large window in the center with mesh covering the center of her chest and stomach down to her belly button. Over this shirt she wore a close-fitting sleeveless short kimono with a matching coat over that, a golden obi sash keeping them closed. Over her forearms and the backs of her hands was a pair of bracers, revealing that her upper arms and forearms were covered in scarlet scales.
She wore a pair of loose-fitting trousers that had double ties at her waist and knees, cut-outs on the inside of her thighs showed that she wore mesh pants over her thighs, her trousers tucked into knee-high split-toe boots that had an inner layer that went to mid-thigh.
"So you have attained Saigo no Ryu-jin as well, Kage-temee."
"Hai, Hiro-chan. I am not the only wielder of the form, there are two others at this very moment."
"Who?"
"Aracely Herschel, Ariel's daughter-in-law, and the current Emperor: Ariel Teikoku, Mathias no Ichi Tennō Heika." came the reply.
"So Ariel-temee has made the form unique to her clan, did you marry into it too?"
"Hai, I married Boaz Shapiro, the giant warrior who was my rival." came Kage's reply.
"You are a lot more ... talkative than you once were. What happened to the backstabbing kunoichi who saw herself as nothing but a shadow?"
"I fell in love, Hiro-chan. I fell in love with a great man and warrior who gave me the love and care a woman like me needs. I also fell in love with Ariel no Ichi's benevolence, and her virtue."
"I never could understand why people would just bow down whenever that temee would appear with her never-ending legions."
"Ariel-chan did what she did for the people, Hiro-chan. She put our people, our race, ahead of herself. Everything she did benefited our people, and then our empire."
"YOUR Empire, Kage, not MINE. I swore on the day that My Lord's castle fell that I would never stop fighting against the ambitions of the Ariel Teikoku, and on my honor, I will die long before I break my oath."
"So you would forsake part of your code over your selfish pride."
"What?"
"The Ariel Teikoku does not care for conquest anymore, Hiro-chan. We are satisfied with the territory we have. All we desire is to protect the innocent and defend the rights of others. One of the tenants of Bushido is benevolence, will you forsake that tenant just so that you can satisfy your warrior's pride?"
"By Kami damned kunoichi, I always hated you and your backstabbing, but I cannot find fault with your logic."
"Arigatō, Hiro-chan. Here, a gift to celebrate your recovery." Kage said before pulling out a scroll, one of her infamous storage scrolls that could hold who knows what inside. A pulse of chakra with a burst of smoke and a new suit of armor and robes sat on the floor next to the wall. Beside them a new katana/wakizashi daishō while a naginata leaned against the wall.
Sora was in shocked surprise at the sight of the weapons and armor, and her shock only grew as Amarante hovered slowly into the air and over to the armor, her legs straightening up to allow her bare feet to touch the cool floor. Amarante stumbled for just a few seconds, her lingering injuries acting up, before she returned to her straightened stature and began to examine the armor.
She saw that it was identical to her previous armor when it had been whole, save for a subtle fiber-weave inside each plate while an elaborate kataginu, which is a sleeveless jacket with exaggerated shoulders, was folded up underneath the armor. The helmet she once wore was missing, but in it's place was a samurai's jingasa, a round traveling hat.
Her observations were stopped in their tracks when the ring worn on Sora's right hand suddenly beeped and said "Arielian Empire personnel detected, anti-death fail safe is now ... Deactivated. Corpsman, you are hereby ordered to attack the criminal with intent to kill."
"What will you do, Natu-sensei?" Kage began. "Will you blindly follow orders and attack me, or will you disregard the order, knowing what you do of my people?" she finished and Sora shook her head and said "I refuse. I won't attack you. The Oans want the empire destroyed because you stand against them. Your very presence humiliates them."
"Arigatō, Natu-sensei."
"Yes. Even though I fought against the empire for nearly four decades, I will not stand for senseless slaughter. Kage-temee, I will no longer oppose the empire, but neither will I join it."
"I understand, Hiro-chan." Kage said as she backed away, entering a shadow and vanishing completely.
Once Kage's ki was no longer felt, Amarante turned to Sora and said "Natu-sensei."
"Yes?"
"Can you help me to disrobe and then get dressed? I feel naked without my robes and armor." came Amarante's question.
"Your injuries are still hampering you. Once they have healed up sufficiently we can dress you in your preferred clothing." Sora replied. She wasn't expecting Amarante's hands to begin glowing a soothing light green as the woman said "Minazuki." and began running her hands just over her skin. As Amarante's hands traveled down her body, it caused Sora to subtly blush at the unintentionally erotic sight.
After a few minutes, Amarante stopped and, seeing Sora's open-mouthed shock, giggled behind her hand before walking over, her steps sure and painless, and put her fingertips to Sora's temples, a surge of ki shooting through as Amarante used her natural telepathy to send information into Sora's head. Once the information was done being 'downloaded', Amarante removed her finger tips from Sora's temples and put them at her sides.
As Sora shook her head to get back over the shock, she was surprised to see Amarante had already donned a form-fitting black bodysuit, armoured plates on her shoulders, sides, and the small of her back, and was just pulling on her shitagi after putting on her hakama.
As soon as Sora began to move, Amarante had just tied the shitagi with an obi before grabbing the kiahan and yugake.
When Sora approached, Amarante attached the kote and Suneate before donning the dou, haidate, kusazari, sode, though Sora heard Amarante comment "This sode is somewhat smaller than I am used to." and finally came the himo, which Amarante tied around her waist before donning the kataginu and the jingasa. The final touch was when she slid her new katana and wakizashi into her belt on the left side, curved side up, and wrapped her tail around her waist like a belt.
Amarante pulled the hat back and picked up the naginata, sliding it into a set of rings on the back of the dou, and asked "Natu-sensei, would I be allowed to leave now?"
"Huh? I guess, the Minazuki is a healing technique, and based on what I can now sense of your ki, wait? I can sense ki now?"
"Hai, Natu-sensei. I used my telepathy to teach you how to use your ki to sense the ki of others and to heal."
"Incredible." Sora said before she fully turned this new sense on Amarante, a BIG mistake!
Sora looked at the vast well of power for no more than a few seconds before having to stop the sense with a cry of pain.
"You, you really are the Hiroshi Amarante of legend!" Sora cried out, prompting Amarante to gently pat her on the shoulder and say "Gomen, Natu-sensei." then leave the room, headed for the roof.
Later that evening, a man was seen sneaking around on Korugar's surface. The man was indistinct and average, nothing special to distinguish him from the crowd. As he moved, he suddenly ducked into an alley and began to move towards the hospital. He'd only gone a short distance before a feminine voice called "It is a pleasure to see you again."
The man turned and watched as an armor-clad shin revealed itself from the shadows of the alley, this was quickly followed by the other limb and the rest of the body, revealing a very beautiful woman wearing strange armor underneath a sleeveless jacket and a hat on her head as she carried a pole blade in one hand and twin swords on her hips.
"Hiroshi-san." the man said as he seemed to shape shift, quickly transforming into Sinestro once more. Amarante pulled her hat back to expose her face and said "Sinestro-dono."