Strike Witches Boy Meets Witches
Episode 6.7: The Secrets of Shadow
Finally a character about Shadow, the secret member of the Strike Witches, and she came to be.
Shadow had never belonged in this world. But She had very little memory about her previous life, all she had on her was a half chard Student ID card where only the half that had her face and part of some number, she assumed it was some sort of ID number, was visible. Everything else had been burned beyond recognition. She was 15 when she came to this world and she was now 19. In the four years she had been here, she had discovered not only her unique magical abilities, which was to be able to summon anything she wanted as if from thin air, but also the ability to know what was going to happen before it happened. She was somehow was very poplar among the boys and men in the town she had come to know as Folkestone, Britannia. She was not sure if it was her dark brown hair and the most beautiful brown eyes anyone had ever seen as many had told her.
She made a habit of using her mind to make things happen to the guys, such as having things fall on them. She had come to rely on one person since she arrived; the persons name was Minna Dietlinde Wilcke, the commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. She had given her so much over the past four years, including a way to get money and a means for satisfying her thirst for technology and in return Minna could get all the ammunition for their weapons. Though Shadow still struggled with her identity, all she wanted was to know: Who she was.
Though it seemed that this blonde haired boy who fell from the sky into their world might hold the answers to who she is. She had to get close to him. She wrote him a letter saying
Dear Steve,
Ever since you came to our world, I have a weird feeling.
I feel my heart flutter every time I am near you. I want to be with you, I hope you and I can be more than just good friends.
Sincerely,
Your Secret Admirer with a winking smile next to the signature.
Though indirect she hoped it would raise questions about her, but it went unnoticed so she had to get his attention after his first flight with the dragon, she got it by getting the specs on his new striker as well as ordering him a new one with the proper size for Steve. She had been keeping a close eye on him ever since then too.
She had to speak to him, but like she had said in her first letter her heart fluttered when he was around her. She had to get over her fear and talk to him, but first things first she had to talk to Minna about her predicament.
She entered Minna's office.
"Minna, Can I talk to you for a minuet?"
"Sure thing…EH! Shadow what are you doing here?"
Shadow took off her cloak.
"I want to get to know Steve do you think that you could help me achieve that?"
"Why Steve might I ask, don't tell me…"
"I… don't know!" She stammered blushing
"I m me mean… he is cute and attractive and all but I feel like I know him from my previous life."
"Oh." Minna said.
"Minna, I-"
There was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Captain Barkhorn and Lieutenant Clark, Can I come in?" an angry sounding Gertrud said.
"LET GO OF MY EAR!" another feminine voice said from outside.
"In a just a…come in." Minna said nervously glancing at where shadow was standing, but she was gone, or at lest invisible.
Gertrud came in dragging a half dressed Stephanie.
"What is the problem?"
"Steve refuses to dress properly!" Gertrud said folding her arms.
"Well excuse me for never having a set of tits before bitch!"
"What did you say?"
"You heard me!"
"Stephanie do you really hate being a girl that much?" Minna asks trying not giggle.
"YES!" Stephanie said.
"Ok Fine, I lift your ban on being a boy Steve."
No sooner had she finished her sentence, Stephanie transformed back into Steve, though it was still short Steve had regrown his hair to the point where he was no longer bald.
"Thank you Minna." An unfamiliar female voice said through Steve's mouth.
"You're his familiar?" Minna said.
"Yes I am. Steve was crawling up the walls in his mind trying to change back into a male again, but I wouldn't let him, orders are orders after all."
"Yes there are." Minna sweat dropped.
"Dismissed you two."
"Night." Steve said as he skipped out.
"Your too easy on him."
"Maybe, but lets not forget Steve is not one to easily tame." Minna said sighing. Gertrud grunted and left Minna's office.
"Maybe I could tame him?" Shadow said removing her invisibility spell.
"MaybEEK! I forgot you were there."
"Sorry." Shadow blushed.
"What do you mean, "tame" him?"
Shadow reached into her cloak and pulled out a picture. It was a picture of a young blonde haired boy with cheap sunglasses on. He had on a white t-shirt and a black jacket.
"I feel like this guy is Steve. I feel like he may know who I was."
Minna took a look at the picture. While the boy did resemble Steve, there were no dog tags around his neck.
"Only way you'll ever know is if you talk to him."
"Do you know where he might be?"
"Check the hanger, he said it has good acoustics, what ever that means."
"Thank you." She somehow knew exactly what the difference between good and bad acoustics where. She walked to the hanger as she approached the sound of the guitar playing grew louder. She entered the hanger to find Steve playing a song she some how knew the lyrics to. Steve finished playing and went over to a case which he opened to relieve a guitar called a Firebird, whose strings where snapped.
"I really wish I could get strings for this." He sighed.
"Maybe I could get them for you." Shadow said as she looked over his shoulder at the guitar.
"Wahh!" Steve jumped.
"Who are you?" Steve asked.
"I am Shadow."
"So you're the one who gave me the plane and got that F4U Corsair Striker from me."
"Yes, that was me." Shadow said with a slight blush, though Steve could not see it because of the hood over her face.
"So what did you mean you could get them for me?"
"I can open a portal to summon things I want."
"Uh hm. Very interesting but I got very special stings for my–"
"Reissue of the 1964 Gibson Firebird III Sunburst with tubular arm and 'walrus tooth' handle."
"Holy Shit. Ok, what kind of strings do I use?"
"I would have to say medium gauged strings because of the hard yet sloppy playing style you have."
"…Your good." Steve muttered.
Shadow grinned underneath her hood.
"Ok, fine! Can you summon some strings called Gibson Special Alloy Humbucker Medium Light Guitar Strings?" Steve asked looking at her.
"Sure thing."
Shadow shot her right hand into the air and created a portal above her head. She reached up and pulled out the strings, like magic. She closed the portal and held out the small black box for him.
"Wow, thanks!" Steve said getting up to get the strings from her.
"Why do you wear a hood?"
"I find it is easier to get through the day."
"You have a scarred face?"
"No, I just find it easier to move around, People stare at me with lustful eyes."
"Ah." 'Lustful eyes?'
"Yes, I find it's just easier to get through my day."
"I'm going to get some think to drink, you wanna come along?"
Shadow blushed.
"Ya, s..ss...sure!" She statured. She followed him into the kitchen where Yoshika and Lynnette were making tea.
"Oh, hello Steve, your just in time for tea…who is this?" Lynnette said.
"This is Shadow, she's ah… part of an elite team of Spec Ops Witches."
"Spec Ops?" Yoshika questioned
"Special Operations." Steve said forgetting he wasn't in the 21st century anymore.
"Oh, how do you want your tea Miss Shadow?" Lynnette asked.
"Um…. Put in a lot of sugar. You can't add to much sugar, Lynn." Shadow said pondering for a minuet.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I love my tea very sweet."
"Ok, Miss Shadow."
"Just Shadow….Please!" Shadow responded putting emphasize on the "please."
"Oh, ok…Shadow." Lynnette said.
"Thank you."
"So Shadow, you want us to see your pretty face or just keep it a secret?" Steve said
"I was hoping you might say that."
"Eh?"
"You see, Steve, Ever since you came to this world my heart has been fluttering every time I see you."
'Oh…shit!' Steve thought
Shadow removed her hood, Yoshika and Lynn who were sitting next to Steve gasped in aw. Steve's eyes seem to widen. There before them was a girl with beautiful reddish brown hair; She opened her eyes to revile brown eyes that could make a man run through fire if it meant he could kiss her.
"I was hoping, you might be able to clue me in on my past, Steve." Shadow said, reaching into her cloak to pull out the picture she was hoping was a younger Steve.
Steve looked at the picture and sighed.
"That looked like me, but I don't ever recall having a necklace like that." He said pointing to silver arrowhead hanging around his neck.
"Oh, I'm sorry. To have troubled you." Shadow said looking like she was about to cry.
"Aw, come on. Don't cry. Hey. Why you crying Shadow?"
"Because I don't remember anything about my past." She sobbed.
"I…ah."
"I was hoping you would be able to tell me who I am? I can't even remember my own name. I only came up with the name Shadow because I got tired off being whistled at and gawked at everywhere I went. I purchased this cloak in order to stop being stalked."
Steve was stunned, it seemed he dished out what he couldn't take, though he may have started Maloney, he knew he would be back. But Shadow had just put him in his place.
"I'm sorry Shadow." Steve sighed. He stood up.
"Steve." Shadow said looking up at him.
"I wish I could help you, but I'm afraid I can't. Not right now any way."
"Why?"
As if on cue the siren sounded. Steve, Yoshika and Lynn ran to the hanger leaving behind a saddened Shadow. After a few minuets Shadow, smiled.
'Even though I may not remember much about my past, I do recall I was in the seventh grade, my boyfriend had gotten into an car accident, He had amnesia for a month or two but he was able to recover, though when we talked about it, He never seemed to remember that part of his life. I know that is my former boyfriend, and he does hold the key to my past.' She thought happily.
Steve was kicking himself.
'That girl, Shadow, she looks like Michaela. But it couldn't be her. Michaela didn't have that red tint in her hair. All though I get the feeling that she might know something about my past that I don't know. When I was still in middle school, I remember getting a concussion and loosing track of a couple of months. Maybe she holds the key to my past.'
Well I've been working on this one for a few days know. I know I have a couple of loopholes and errors; one example is the Firebird's color was changed from Red to Sunburst. With the conclusion of this chapter we bring to a close this set of bonus chapters arc. Though I have hinted that Shadow and Michaela are same character, I will not officially state if this is true or just some cowinceadenice. Anyway to clear up a few things
Yes, Steve and Eila made up and are close friends.
Lynnette, Shirley, Minna, and Gertrud have a crush on Steve.
Why these four? Well:
Lynnette and Shirley like Steve because he plays guitar and his handsome.
Minna likes him because even though he is immature at times, he still shows strong will and supports her when she needs it.
And Gertrud? Well, she just thinks he is cute.
Yoshika and Francesca see Steve as an older brother.
Everyone else I have not decided yet, though Mio does see him as worth fighting opponent.
Anyway that's all for now.