Title: Death is walking
Author: Ree
Theme: Silver Millennium - Kin Slayer
Genre:Drama/ Horror
Version: Anime/Mange - Silver Millennium
Rating: PG-13

Most of these characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I'm just delving into their skeletons in the closets.

Death is walking

The group of guards readied themselves, determination warring with fear and betrayal on their faces. Each one knew that the Warrior that paced down the hall towards them was more than a match for any of them.

The captain tightened his grip on his sword. 'Useless...my sword is practically useless against her scythe. Maybe all of us together might stand a chance. Some can distract her, and then we might be able to slip past her defense. We have to.' His eyes flickered to the door behind them. 'The King and Queen are counting on us.'

Swinging her scythe, the Warrior danced the dance she knew the best. She wove about her opponents, blocking their swords, ignoring the small slices that made it through her defense. Her scythe cleaved through their defenses, and left them lying on the floor in pieces.

The captain panted as he tried to block the scythe heading for the neck of his lieutenant. His reach was not long enough. Knowing his lieutenant was dead behind him, the captain stabbed in hopes of defeating her.

The Warrior danced away from the captain, his sword barely piercing her skin. The butt of her scythe slapped him to the floor. The blade of the scythe soon found its way past his defense.

When the last of the guards fell, she opened the door.

There, before their thrones, stood the King and Queen. The Warrior's steps echoed ominously through the hall as she trod across the room, the blood of those sworn to protect her next prey dripped onto the floor. The body guards flung themselves into battle. The Warrior decimated the guards, and then cut down everyone in sight.

The dark eyes swept the room, seeking out the ones that still lived. A woman's chest rose and fell. The scythe slid across her throat, slicing it open like a hot knife cutting through butter. Her blood mingled with the blood of the rest of the people draped awkwardly around the room. 'Mother! That was my mother. Why? Why!! And.. there is Nymia, Jami, and Chris. Why did I have to kill them? Why did I have to murder my own family?' The pain that echoed through the thought never crossed the cool pale face. The blood congealed on the blade of the scythe as the dark haired warrior watched for any more signs of life. The air was still, not a breath but her own could be heard. Moving silently, she headed to the next group of people who had to die.

The Warrior strode out of the silent castle in search of her next victim.

In the town that surrounded Saturn's royal palace, chaos was every where. Men threw their wives and children into wagons, carts, or anything that could bear their weight while moving. Slapping the beast of burdens to make them run, they yelled after them, "Run! RUN!! Don't stop. No matter what you hear or see, never stop!" Their voices were almost unheard over the screams of terror. The soft whimpering of the dying was completely lost in the din.

Striding through the town, death following in her wake, walked the strongest warrior that Saturn had ever seen. Her dark boots left red footprints on the road. The wind ruffled a curtain, and her scythe swung. Brushing her short, dark hair out of her eyes, she saw the red streak on the ragged edge of the curtain, and the infant it had tried to hide dead in its cradle. 'All must die.'

With a cold stare, she watched as people fled before her. She knew it was futile to run. She was the Incarnation of Death, no one escaped her.

Cassi held her brother close to her chest as she ran out of the town. Her breath caught in her throat as the dust smothered everything. Breathing was nearly impossible. Making sure the cloth was wrapped loosely over the two year old's face, she knew she wasn't going to be able to run far enough even without his weight. 'I have to hide. I have to find somewhere safe, somewhere we might be able to live. Somewhere she would not think to look.' The eleven year old scurried through the woods, searching for a cave, a hole in a tree, a low lying shrub with its branches on the ground, anything at all that would give the illusion of shelter.

Deep in the woods, she found a cave. Desperate, Cassi ran inside, not taking the time to check for an owner. Running to the deepest part, she found a low rock overhang. Working quickly, she deepened the hole under it. "Mimas." Her voice was the barest hint of a whisper as she tried to wake her brother. "Mimas, you need to slide in here. Come on, you've got to wake up for a moment."

Dark brown eyes opened slightly. "Cassi?" His voice sounded confused.

"Yes, it is me. Nanny..." Cassi's voice voice cracked slightly. "Na...Nanny couldn't come with us." She fought back the tears that tried to fall as she remembered the last time she saw her beloved nurse. That was when she had grabbed Mimas and ran. Forcing the image of the servant's quarters out of her mind, she tried to get Mimas to crawl into the hole. "She wants us to hide. Like the day the guards played that game. We... we have to hide and be very quiet."

Mimas moved sleepily under the ledge. Snuggling down, he drifted back off to sleep.

Cassi stared at the two year old. 'He is sleeping. How can he sleep? How can he when...' Swiftly blocking her thoughts, she moved a few rocks to mask his hiding place. 'It is because he doesn't know. He has slept through it all. Nanny always said he slept like the dead.' Silent tears made tracks in the dirt that covered her cheeks.

Standing up, she headed for the front of the cave. She knew it would be better if they hid in different places. There was a less chance of both of them being found.

Her luck ran out as she stepped out of the cave. There, at the far edge of the clearing, was the bravest, strongest warrior in her father's guard. The gentle breeze caused the soilder's dark skirt to flap against her thighs, painting them red where ever it brushed. Her top and gloves were no longer white, but brilliant red. From this distance, Cassi could have sworn that she was crying tears of blood if she didn't know better.

A small fire caught in Cassi's chest. 'She will not get Mimas! She won't!' Falling into a fighting stance, she faced the Warrior saturated in the blood of the people she had sworn to protect.

The Warrior walked forward, her steps even, her face emotionless, her cold eyes never leaving her prey.

Cassi prayed as hard as she could that she could somehow be able to protect Mimas and the rest of her people. 'They are your people. You know that she had to have killed Mom and Dad. Everyone... everyone in the palace is dead.' The fire in her chest burned deeper spreading through her. The threatening tears vanished like water in a desert.

The silent warrior raised her bloody scythe, Cassi raised her empty hands, and both knew that this was her end. Briefly, violet eyes met dark brown.

As the scythe swung down, the fire caught in the violet eyes, the empty hands moved slightly, and unknown words flowed out of the young girl's mouth. "Silence Wall!" The fire spread from her hands creating a translucent violet wall between her and the Warrior. The bloody blade crashed into it and slowly slid towards the ground, seeking a weak point.

Cassi felt her eyes widen as she stared at what she had wrought. Hope bloomed. 'Maybe... Maybe...we'll survive. ' The scythe battered against her wall. 'If she can't get to us, she'll leave and hunt down others. Then she'll return. She'll find us and...' Fear started to stifle her hope. She knew she had to face the Warrior now. Instinctively reaching deep into her heart, deep into the heart of the fire, she sought the means to fight back, to protect her home, her people, and her brother.

Her first clue that something had happened was when the Warrior's eyes widened. The second was the breeze brushing against her now bear thighs. The third was the glaive that rested in her hand. Tightening her grip around the unfamiliar weapon, she felt confident that she could somehow win. Holding the glaive before her, she ordered the wall to seal the cave. She felt a tingling sensation as it moved, leaving her on the opposite side.

The Warrior's shock wore off. Expertly swinging her scythe, she attacked the princess that now wore a uniform that looked like hers.

Cassi danced around, swinging her glaive to block the Warrior's attacks. All the training she had tried to avoid came back to her. The face that now looked at her so coldly had smiled then. There had been moments of laughter, friendly handshakes, and helping hands. She had battled this warrior so many times, she knew her moves, her steps, but Cassi also knew that she was not as good. 'But.. but maybe... maybe that has changed. I know something has changed.'

Cassi's boots clattered against the ground. Rocks skittered out from under her opponent's boots. The taller, blood soaked woman swung her weapon at the shorter girl. The blood from the weapon splattered her white top as Cassi dodged. The blade made a shallow cut down the her left thigh. Swinging her glaive under the scythe, she made a similar cut across the back of the warrior's thighs. The woods rang out with the clash of blade on blade, as they wove about each other.

With every move, Cassi could feel the dead, cold eyes boring into her. 'Her eyes were always happy, laughing. What has happened? What has changed? ' The scythe sliced in front of her. 'Why are they dead? Dead?' Fear crept into her mind as she dodged once again, partially blocking the blow and letting it slide off the end of her glaive. 'What if... What if it made it here?' Tales had filled the servants' quarters of a space born demon that took over people. It had wreaked destruction on Uranus, Neptune, and even Jupiter. Was this it? Had it come to Saturn? Looking into her friend's dead eyes once more, she knew it had.

Spinning quickly away from her opponent, Cassi sought once again the knowledge to destroy this monster before it traveled to another planet, especially the inner ones. The monster paced its way towards her. Raising her glaive, she bid farewell to her friend. The glaive spun before it struck home, whipping up a large wind that almost masked the words that escaped Cassi's lips. "Death Reborn Revolution."

The monster stood still, staring at the glaive that had pierced its defenses. The demon tried to flee its host, but found that it couldn't. It was pinned by the glaive. As the power of the attack poured into them, the demon shattered, and the Warrior looked upon her princess' face. Her lips moved slowly but no sound came out. Collapsing to the ground, the Warrior's breath stilled with a grateful smile on her face.

Cassi stared down at her, numb, her mind repeating the Warrior's last lip movements, the words the Warrior had attempted to say emblazoned on her heart. Leaning down, she gently closed the woman's eyes. "You're welcome."

Cassi sank to the ground, letting the glaive lean against her. 'What happened to me?' Her eyes trailed over as much of herself as she could see. 'I look like the Warrior. She told me once that her uniform was patterned after the mythical Warrior of Saturn, and that was also why she was called Warrior. Am I... Can I be... Surely I'm not a mythical warrior? How could I be?' Tightening her grip on the glaive, she felt the answer deep inside of herself. Standing, she walked slowly to a small pond. Looking down into its glass like surface, she stared at the image reflected back at her. A name floated out of the fire that filled her. "Sailor Saturn. I am the mythical warrior, Sailor Saturn."