Enter Seika

Seika's head snapped up when the lunch bell rang. She sighed and gathered her things glad for the break. As she walked out side a flash of swirling energy hit her consciousness. It felt familiar and she quickly walked toward it trying not to raise her hopes too high. As she turned the corner of the school orange energy came into her field of vision and she smiled to see her old friend sitting under the tree. She approached him and his brown haired friend, her smile wide. "Mouko," she said, joy in her voice. He looked up at the sound of his name then bounced to his feet quickly, his smile wide.

"Seika! I haven't seen you in ages! What's been going on?" With his usual disregard for her personal space he hugged her tightly and she stiffened slightly as her personal bubble was breached but relaxed after a tense moment. She patted his back lightly and he pulled away. "How have you been?"

"I have been well. You?"

"Aside from some really boring missions I'm good. Board out of my mind on this one. I'm working with Taka." His voice held such disdain when he said her name that Seika couldn't help but laugh.

"You dislike her." He snorted.

"She could test the patience of a saint, and we both know I'm no where near that." He turned slightly and winked at the brunette. "This is Lita. Lita, this is Seika. We go way back. We used to play together as kids." Seika chuckled lightly.

"I tried to keep him as a pet," she said with one raised eyebrow. Mouko laughed at the double meaning. As a child her first encounter with Mouko had been when he had shifted into a Kouen jungle cat trying to be fierce but at the tender age of five his shift had not turned him into a ferocious, deadly predator but into a near harmless cub. Seika, being the fearless child that she was, went up to him and took him home not acknowledging the danger that she would have been in if he had been a real animal and not a Choujuu warrior in disguise. Lita smiled thinking that she was joking but Seika and Mouko shared a look and they both smiled. "We will have to catch up later Mouko," she said. "After school?"

He nodded and she turned away with a small wave. As she walked off she wondered absently if he had mastered the art of species shifting. Since his spirit animal was feline he had had trouble shifting to K-9, aquatic, and avian creatures of any planet but had always flawlessly executed feline changes. Her second encounter with Mouko had been when they were seven while he had been trying to shift into a fish on Choujuu when she had gone with her father for diplomatic reasons. She had found him next to a lake stuck between forms.

His legs had been turned in to a giant fin and his arms flippers with fingers, his skin had turned to scales but other than an enormous pair of fish lips and a set of gills the rest of his body had remained the same. He had lain gasping on the shore dieing because his lungs hadn't been replaced by the gills. He could breath neither water nor air and had flopped around awkwardly until Seika, taking pity on him, had blasted his rear with a fire ball to shock him into one form or another. It had worked but instead of being grateful to her however, he had been indignant because he then smelt like grilled fish for the rest of the day.

Seika found herself laughing uncontrollably, tears rolling down her cheeks. A jab of pain in her side had her doubling over with mirth. She didn't hear Aisu approach her until it was too late. "Found something amusing?" He asked. She choked on an indrawn breath and coughed violently. Aisu moved toward her and patted her back firmly. When her coughing had subsided his large hand slid soothingly up and down her back. Clearing her throat she turned to him.

"Aisu," she said still a little miffed that he had taken out the blonde two days ago. Not that she had been counting or anything. He smiled at her and she blinked in surprise. Since when had they been on a smiling level? Just two days ago they had stormed away from each other in rages. Well. She had stormed away in a rage. It had been either that or rip his liver out trough his nose. She turned and sat down in a sunny patch and spread open her lunch. With out invitation he sat next to her, leaning back on his arms, his legs crossed at the ankles. She glared at him for a moment but he just smiled at her. Feeling slightly foolish for her childish behavior she cleared her throat and glanced down at her lunch. "Would you like some?" He shook his head, his smile widening.

"I do not need to eat as often as Kouen warriors do, Ma- er- Warrior." He said. Seika glanced at him in surprise. He had called her Warrior. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at him.

"So it is true? Hyousetsu warriors can go for weeks with out food?" He smirked.

"Yes. As long as we have water we can do without for quite a while." Seika chewed her rice ball thoughtfully.

"Useful for battles," she said diplomatically.

"And famine." She nodded. "Fire, unlike ice, needs to be fed with some kind of fuel constantly to remain alive while ice can go on for ages under its own power."

"But it only takes one burst of heat to melt that ice. Even if the cold eventually snuffs out the flame the ice will not leave the battle unscathed and most likely weakened irreparably." Aisu chuckled.

"How did we get to the topic of politics?"

"Who was speaking of politics?" She asked with a sly smile. "I was only speaking of the nature of elements." Aisu bumped her small, delicate shoulder gently with his larger one. They both knew that they had been speaking of possible war between Kouen and Hyousetsu. After a few moments of silence Seika sighed and lay back in the grass, her long black hair coiled in a single heavy braid beside her head. Aisu wound the silken end around his finger as she spoke. "Do you think that fire and ice can ever really live together peacefully? Accept each other? Live as equals?" He was quiet for a moment then sighed.

"I believe that they can. I believe that our planets can find a middle ground that everyone is, if not happy, content with. Most Hyousetsu people are only afraid of getting burned by your people Seika."

"And most of us are afraid of being frozen. We need warmth and vitality to survive. Our women cannot be the reserved, submissive women you want them to be. We were bred to be out spoken and opinionated. We cannot just change our very beliefs for your people."

"I know. That is exactly what we are asking you to do isn't it?" He asked thoughtfully.

"It would be like Kouen demanding that Hyousetsu warriors stand behind women. To let them be superior." Aisu's brow wrinkled in a frown. "Exactly. You would rail against that just as we do. I realize that on Hyousetsu that women are not equals and it probably doesn't mean anything to you in that sense but if someone demanded you give your freedom-"

"I would definitely be adverse to the suggestion," he said. "I believe that the only real obstacle that stands between peace between our two planets is ignorance." She turned to him, questions swimming in her ruby colored eyes. "I had a few opinions about Kouen women and you in particular before I met you, Seika." Her eyes narrowed and he chuckled. "I realize now that a lot of them were right. You are willful, stubborn, opinionated, rebellious, and hot tempered." She scowled at him. "But," he said softly, smiling into her eyes. "I have found that it isn't quite as annoying as I had thought it would be." Seika blinked in surprise. The bell rang and they continued to stare at each other. Slowly a smile spread over her face and she turned away to collect her things.

"Maybe you are not such an idiot after all." He laughed.

Written by: Seika (BlackRoseTD)