| The 10th Warrior Chapter 2: Encounters |
| Makoto drove her motorcycle down the streeets of the city, which she had made her new home in. Toyama had been dark and forboding at night when she'd moved there two months ago, but it had soon become a familiar place that she loved as much as she had Tokyo. She'd moved here on Haruka and Michiru's advice. They'd suggested that she should try different things and see more things. She'd considered it and then moved. Rei, Ami, Mina, and most of all, Usagi had been shocked, but they'd adjusted to the idea of Makoto living so far away and soon didn't even think twice about it. The night air swept across her as she sped through the night life of teh city, her eyes shining as she took in every new and old detail on the route she always took home to her new apartment. Abruptly, Makoto heard screams coming from up ahead and people came running past her, weaving through the traffic on the roads, causing people to stop. Makoto felt someone shove her off her bike and took off with it. "Hey!" she shouted in anger. The person and her bike disappeared into the panicked crowds and she got to her feet angrily. More people shoved past her and she looked back, curiousity and a sense of duty replacing her anger. Could a new enemy be behind this? she wondered as she began to move forward through the surging crowds. She got her answer suddenly as gray-armored figures appeared coming down the street, attacking and capturing people. Makoto's eyes widened and she took cover in an alley. Time to transform, she thought to herself as her henshi wand appeared. "Jupiter, Star Power, Make-up!" she exclaimed, and transformed into Sailor Jupiter. She came out of her hiding place and jumped up onto an abandoned van. "Sparkling, Wide, Pressure!" she shouted as lightning gathered into a ball in her hand; she didn't even bother introducing herself. She threw it at a large number of the gray creatures and watched them crumble to dust. The gray soldiers turned their attention to her, and began to run forward. "I don't think so," she said as she flipped off of the car and landed with her feet right into a soldier, causing it to crumble. She ducked and wove through the soldiers as they attempted to stab her with their weapons and then leapt up onto a one-story building's roof. She threw another ball of lightning and watched as they crumbled. Suddenly, she sensed something behind her and turned to see a brown-armored figure with a large Nodachi. Without warning, he raised his weapon and cut down upon her. She backflipped out of the way and off of the roof, back to the street below where the figures were. She stifled a gasp as she was sliced on her arm by a sharp weapon and managed to get to a relatively safe spot. The people were now gone from the streets, either captured, or had escaped. Wish the others were here, she thought wistfully, watching the oncoming soldiers. She was getting tired and the way these things were advancing, she wasn't going to last much longer. She began to spin... "Jupiter, Oak, Evolution!" she shouted as green energy shot from around her and spread out, hitting a large number of soldiers. She finished her attack and stumbled back a bit, the attack have taken most of her energy. The brown-armored figure leapt down amidst the pile of destroyed soldiers. "Who are you and why are you attacking the innocent?" demanded Jupiter from where she stood. "I am Kale of the armor of Corruption," said the armored man. "And I only do what my master bids." "Well, Kale of Corruption," said Jupiter, her eyes narrowed. "I'm Sailor Jupiter, and I'm not going to let you hurt any more people." Kale made a chuckling sound and she clenched her fist. "You have no idea of what you're up against," said Kale and raised his sword. "Black Lightning Slash!" Jupiter's eyes widened as the attack came at her before she jumped up into the air. A small explosion rent the air as the attack hit the 'wall' of abandoned cars. Jupiter landed safely on a lamppost. "Two can play at that game!" she murmured as she turned to face Kale. "Supreme Thunder Dragon!" she shouted, and released her attack of electricity that bore the head of a dragon. Kale evaded the attack and she watched as it tore into a building and blew it apart. She winced, feeling sorry for whoever owned it. Using her distraction, Kale raised his sword and ran forward. She managed to jump away in time to avoid the sword as Kale jumped up at her. She leapt down to the ground with him pressing the attack. She continued to weave with increasing speed, avoiding the sword's sharp swings. As she moved at one point, she made a daring move as she rolled underneath him, between his legs and then kicked him in the back. He spun around angrily and his blade caught her hand as she moved away. She gasped in pain and held it close to her as it began to bleed. "Have you taken to fighting girls, Kale?" asked a young man in green armor, suddenlt appearing between Jupiter and Kale as they circled each other. Jupiter backed away in surprise and watched as four others appeared, each in a different color armor. The rescuer looked back at her and she was met by his violet eyes that seemed to be concerned. She gazed at the violet eyes and something stirred in her memory. Whatever she might have thought of was cut off as Kale began to speak. "We'll fight again," said Kale, looking at Jupiter. Jupiter crossed her arms with a "ya right" look, ignoring the fact that now not only her arm was bleeding, but her hand as well. She watched as he vanished into thin air. Then she noticed the other armored guys looking at her. "Who are you?" asked the red-armored one. "I'm Sailor Jupiter, protector of the planet Jupiter," she answered. "Who are you guys?" "We're the Ronin Warriors," said the one in dark blue armor. "I'm Rowen of Strata." "I'm Ryo of Wildfire," said the red-armored boy. "I'm Cye of Torrent," said the light blue-armored one, smiling slightly. "I'm Kento of Hardrock," said the one in orange. She looked to the green-armored guy and found her eyes locking with his violet ones once more. I feel as if I know him somehow... There was silence till Strata used his bow to tap the green warrior's back. "Sage of Halo," said the green warrior, not shifting his gaze from her. Jupiter's hand began to throb a little and she winced. "We need to get you bandaged up," said Wildfire, stepping towards her. "No..." said Jupiter, taking a step back. The guys looked a little surprised. "I can take care of it myself. I need to go," she said, nervous for some reason. "Wait!" said Torrent as he watched her leap up onto a rooftop effortlessly. She turned and looked down. "I'm sorry. We'll probably meet again, maybe in better circumstances." She disappeared from view and the five Ronins looked at each other. "I thought the Sailor Scouts were only myths," said Kento in surprise. "Apparently not," said Sage. "She was certainly real." "Speaking of her, what was with the staring contest?" asked Rowen. Sage looked startled for a moment. "She reminded me of someone I used to know." "Who?" asked Ryo, interested. "She was a student at my grandfather's dojo for a while. She was getting into fights, though. She moved and I didn't see her again," said Sage thoughtfully. "And she had these green eyes." Cye and Kento smirked at each other, as did Rowen and Ryo, as Sage dropped back into his musings...TO BE CONTINUED |