A fan fic by Caleyndar.
Rating: PG

Notes: This chapter sets the scene for the next chapter. It
does not introduce any new characters; it merely expands on
those already defined in the previous chapters.
        Also, thanks to those who have e-mailed me. I really
enjoy receiving them; they let me know that people are
reading what I write, and that I'm not just wasting me time.
Please write to me if you've read me fan fic, even if you
disliked it. I vow to reply to every one of them.
        If you've looking for a good fan fic, read
Brickgirl's "A Soul Reclaimed". I think it's very well done,
and is original.

Disclaimer: None of the character belong to me; only the
few I make up. The story, however, is mine.

The Name Endymion...

Part One: Innocent Life...

Chapter Five...

        Others who were taking their own horses were
starting to arrive. A camp organiser directed us to tether
our horses up to the fence and to take our bags to a grass
area which was out of the way. We would be appointed our
cabins when the others arrive. David, Luke, Dawn and Claudia
arrived soon after, and we helped them get their horses
ready and to put their luggage aside.
        The bus with our peers arrived fifteen minutes late.
That was nothing unusual, since the school was always
running late. The bus driver got off first, who started to
unload all the bags. He was followed by the teachers, and
then the students. Everyone was wild, with people yelling
to each other, someone shrieking, from a prank, no doubt.
Serena got off near the end, and I ran up to meet her.
Diamond and Sapphire came off next, and I heard Diamond say
something under his breath.
        "I have never known such noisy fifteen year olds,"
he said, walking swiftly past me.
        "I think I am going to throw up," Sapphire said,
sounding rather weak.
        "They aren't use to travelling on bus for so long,"
Serena said, smiling up at me.
        I laughed, just thinking about how they were going
to handle riding horses for two whole days. Serena elbowed
me, and I shut up. We walked to the grass area, where every
one was gathered with their bags. The teachers assigned us
to our cabins, with four in each. David, Luke, Nick and I
formed one, and we quickly grabbed our bags and vanished
into our new home for the next five days.
        We each claimed our own beds, with Nick and I
sharing a bunk. I took the bottom whilst Nick took the top.
We unpacked our few belongs, and had a few moments to spare
before the whistle blew and called us back outside to the
grass area with our riding hats and gloves.
        The teachers said that for the rest of the morning,
before lunch, we would be getting to know the horses that
we were to ride for the remainder of the camp. Those who
brought their own horses could ride as well, or help some
of the others.
        I went off with Serena to pick her own horse, while
Wild Spirit looked on with puppy eyes. I smiled, and gave
him a kiss on the nose when I passed by and promised that
we would ride soon. Serena and I picked out a gelding with
a chocolate coat and flaxen mane and tail, who was named
appropriately 'Chocolate'. They got along great, and I
helped her tack up and mount. She waited for me to get Wild
Spirit, and join her in the large paddock.
        I vaulted on Wild Spirit, showing off a little, and
then asked him to rear. Unlike the first time, this one was
under control, and looked rather spectacular, with both Wild
Spirit and I enjoying it. He pawed the air, and arched his
neck, looking much like a wild stallion in a movie. When we
landed, everyone was looking at us, and I could not help but
grin. Wild Spirit threw up his handsome head, showing off
his silky silver mane as it was displayed in the light
breeze.
        Nick rode up to me, White Angel prancing like a
young filly. We galloped around the outside of the paddock,
regardless of everyone else. I soon sped away from White
Angel as Wild Spirit extended his long legs and flew on the
wind. I halted him when we got back to Serena and Chocolate,
who were getting use to each other's signals and paces. Wild
Spirit pawed the ground, restless to go again, his energy
hardly spent.
        "Come on," I called out to her, trying to hold Wild
Spirit back. "Let's go and see what every one else is
doing," I said, though all I really wanted to go was see how
Diamond and Sapphire was suffering. I grinned at my thought
and cantered off on Wild Spirit, with Serena following on
Chocolate.
        I spotted David and Luke first, since Wolfkiller was
not hard to miss, being so tall. Both of them was merely
sitting on their horses, watching every one else. The rode
off before I reached them, heading over to the gate. I
followed at a slow canter, keeping pace with Chocolate. I
saw who they were heading towards. No doubt they thought
the same as I did about Diamond and Sapphire.
        "What are David and Luke doing?" Serena asked me.
It was faint, for the wind snatched her voice away as we
cantered through the paddock.
        "Going to mock Diamond and Sapphire," I replied.
        "I would think them foolish to do that," was
Serena's reply.
        We halted our horses some distance away from the
four of them. David and Luke had arrived at the gate, where
Diamond and Sapphire were mounting their horses, a grey
gelding with dark points, and a blue roan mare respectively.
>From such a distance, we could not hear what they were
saying to each other, but it wasn't hard to guess.
        David and Luke seemed to be laughing at the two
brothers, who promptly ignored them and mounted their horses
with ease. Their horses were behaving very well, which lead
me to think the they were using mind control. Diamond
finally shot something back at Luke and David, to which
they laughed even more. And then suddenly, Skywalker and
Wolfkiller took off, and Diamond just gave a cold smile
after the two riders fell on the ground, unable to stop
their mounts.
        "Mind control, right?" I asked Serena.
        "Yes. You had better tell David and Luke to leave
Diamond and Sapphire alone," Serena said.
        "I would have thought they learned that after
Diamond and Sapphire beat them up," I replied.
        We rode after Skywalker and Wolfkiller and brought
them back to the dazed Luke and David. They took a moment
before remounting; they had taken a pretty hard fall. I
merely shook my head, smiling a little at their immature
behaviour which had lead to this.
        A little before lunch time, everyone dismounted and
untacked their horses and gave them a quick hose off. We
stored our tack back in our cabins and took our horses out
into a large paddock with a lot of grazing and left them
alone to do as they wished. We quickly cleaned up ourselves
and went to the mess hall for our lunches. Nick and I waited
for Luke and David, who were quite stiff for their fall.
Nick could only laugh when he had found out what had
happened.
        The food at lunch wasn't too bad, for Nick's sake,
and since everyone was starving, no one much minded what
the food tasted like. After the lunch, the teachers called
a quick meeting on the grass area to tell us that we had
free time for the afternoon, before we had dinner and then
the welcoming party. They suggested we pack our bags for
the two day trek tomorrow, for which we had to rise at five
in the morning to ready our horses, as we were leaving at
five thirty. Breakfast would be eaten at a break along the
trail. I could just see Diamond and Sapphire pale.
        My three friends and I returned to our cabin to
pack, and then change into our swimmers to go for a dip in
the creek. The day was rather hot, and I could hardly wait
for the cool waters to cover my body. The four off us left
our cabin and ran towards the creek like little boys, at
which I couldn't stop grinning at. We dived in, creating a
huge splash at which many of our peers complained.
        The girls all stopped, however, when Diamond and
Sapphire appeared on the scene, which made David and Luke
look as if they were going to explode. I laughed at them,
and dove under the water as they splashed water at me. Nick
had disappeared when I surfaced, having swam over to where
Dawn was about to get into the creek. He got out and pushed
her in, which brought him only a scream and then a beating.
I couldn't help but grin. This was how life was meant to be.
        Serena came in the creek, and I swam up behind her
underwater, and surprised her with a kiss on the cheek. She
blushed, but turned around and kissed me full on. I
practically melted, and wrapped my arms around her, never
wanting it to end.
        We finally pulled away, smiling at each other.
        But nothing good every lasts long. Out of the corner
of my eye, I could see Diamond glaring at me with such
hatred that I was beginning to believe that looks could
kill. Sapphire, for once, was enjoying himself, floating on
his back, eyes closed. Well, that was until Claudia dived
on top of him and almost drowned him. Everyone laughed at
that; even Diamond couldn't keep from smiling.
        Someone organised a game of water tag, and everyone
enjoyed the afternoon, including Diamond and Sapphire, who
joined in after he had recovered. Of course, Diamond and
Sapphire were still cold to me and my friends, but at least
we didn't get into any fights. But we all knew the only
reason was because Serena, Serenity to Diamond and Sapphire,
was always around to keep the peace.
        We all showered and changed before dinner, which
was rather nice: fish and chips. After that, we all went
into a hall, much smaller than the one at school, and had a
party. We had some junk food there, and drinks. It was
nothing like Luke's party, for which I was silently
grateful. A band from our grade even played a few song,
but mostly, people just enjoyed themselves and chatted.
        At one time, Diamond and Sapphire got up on the
stage and did a 'magic' show with their powers, creating
colourful illusions in the air. The people who ran the camp
was stunned; they knew there wasn't any trick lighting in
it. Of course, they never wondered why after Diamond and
Sapphire got off the stage; Diamond made sure of that.
        Serena only shook her head, having seen their little
tricks before. The other girls were impressed, which made
most of the boys depressed. Too bad Diamond only had eyes
for Serena, and Sapphire didn't even want to consider
falling in love, or even liking a girl.
        It was eleven at night before the teachers were
able to force us to go to bed. I fell asleep dreaming of
riding in the mountains on Wild Spirit with Serena by my
side, and no care in the world.
        I awoke to someone hitting my face with a pillow.
I struggled, swinging my arms around in front of my face
to get the pillow away from me.
        "Time to wake up, Darien. It's ten to five! Come on!
Up! Get dressed; we've got to be tacking up our horses by
five," Nick was saying to me.
        "God, it's not even light yet!" I complained, but
got out of bed anyway, and hitting my head on the bunk
above. This was not a good start to the day.
        With me up, Nick turned his attention to David and
Luke. I washed my face and cleaned my teeth before packing
my tooth brush in my saddle bag along with a comb for my
hair. After changing into my riding cloths, and rolling up
my bed roll as tight as it would go, I carried all my tack,
back pack and bed roll out to the paddock. A few others
were already out there, catching their horses.
        Giving a long whistle, I called Wild Spirit over to
me, giving him a sugar cube for being so cooperative. I gave
him a quick once over with the brush I had packed in the
saddle bags, and then cleaned out his hooves. Nick soon
arrived, followed by Luke and David who still looked as if
they were asleep. I tacked Wild Spirit up, attaching the
double saddle bag to the saddle, and my bed roll behind it.
        By the time I was finished, it was twenty passed
five, as my new watch told me. Serena had finished, and was
giving Diamond and Sapphire a hand, whilst talking about
something with them. I decided not to interfere, since they
were most probably talking about their kingdoms and the war.
        That confused me. The war. How many kingdoms were
there? And who was with war with whom? There was the Earth
Kingdom, my kingdom, which had been partly destroyed soon
after I had been born. It had then been split up into two,
and my parents had not been heard from since. Then there was
the Moon Kingdom, who supposedly destroyed the Earth
Kingdom. Neither Diamond, Sapphire or Serena had mentioned
it as of yet. The Black Moon Kingdom, to whom Diamond was
Prince, was on the same side of the war as Serena's Kingdom
was, but she won't tell me what her kingdom was. Then there
was the Dark Dragon Kingdom, which sided with one of the
remaining parts of the Earth Kingdom, and fought against
the Black Moon Kingdom and Serena's kingdom.
        And that was only who was fighting who. I still had
no idea why.
        Pushing the confusing problem from my mind, I untied
Wild Spirit's reins and pulled them over his head. Making
sure his girth was tight, and my hard hat was securely
strapped to my head, I mounted him and walked him over to
Nick, who was just mounting White Angel.
        "The weather looks fine," Nick commented once he was
astride White Angel.
        "Yes. But I've brought a set of water proof jodhpurs
and rain coat, just the same," I said, pointing to my back
pack. "I never under estimate the weather."
        "So did I, but I hope I don't have to use it," Nick
said. "Still, it would be most amusing to see some people
caught without it."
        I grinned. "Yes, indeed."
        The teachers blew out a whistle, and had a roll
call. We all yelled out names back, and once they had
established that everyone was present, they mounted their
horses and the camp guide started off on the trail which
would occupy the next two days of our lives.
        Once on the trail, I cantered Wild Spirit to catch
up with Serena. Nick remained behind, since Dawn was there.
When we neared Serena and Chocolate, I slowed him to a walk
so I kept pace.
        "Good morning, my princess," I said, handing her a
flower I had just picked as I cantered by.
        She smiled at me and took it, tucking it up into her
hard hat. "Yes, it's a lovely morning, Darien. I see you and
Wild Spirit are having a lovely time."
        "Yes. I enjoy it more, though, because you are
riding me with," I answered, smiling. I looked up at
Diamond, who was riding in front of Serena. He looked
disgusted. "And what of you, Prince Diamond? Are you
enjoying the ride? The scenery is wonderful in this area."
        He glared at me. "Well, Endymion, I would enjoy it
more if you were burning in hell," he said darkly, his icy
blue eyes burning into my own.
        "There is no reason to be uncivil, Diamond," I
replied, smiling at him. "At least for the next two days,
surly we can get along, for Serenity's sake."
        Diamond glanced at Serenity. "Very well. Until this
'trek' is over, we have a truce, Endymion," he replied, his
voice as could as ice, yet burning with hatred. With that,
he rode up further, his brother following, until he was out
of my sight.
        "Well, how are you enjoying this camp so far?" I
asked.
        "It's like nothing I've known before. Most unusual,
but I love it. It's so relaxing, so peaceful," she replied,
looking up at the tree and the birds that perched in them.
        "Yes, it is, isn't it. You just sit back and relax,
and let your horse do all the work," I said.
        Wild Spirit snorted, and pigrooted, almost unseating
me.
        "Alright! I'm sorry, Spirit. I didn't really mean
it! You mean alot to me. Please don't be mad. Forgive me,
please! I'll give you a sugar cube," I said, grabbing onto
the saddle and taking a sugar cube from my saddle bag. Wild
Spirit stopped of a moment and turned his head around to
take it from me.
        Serena laughed. I smiled; her laughter was like the
sweetest music I had ever heard.
        We stopped at eight to let the horses have a rest
and a drink, and so we could eat our breakfast. It wasn't a
three course breakfast, but at least it was filling. Soon
after, we were once again on the trail, and as it began to
climb, we picked up our paces, going at a trot on the flat,
and cantering up the small rises.
        By the time we reached the summit of the mountain,
it was lunch time. We stopped at ate lunch for an hour,
admiring the wonderful view. We gave our horses some of our
water, since there was no stream or pool as there was at
our last stop.
        The view was tremendous, spanning to the horizon an
endless stretch of dark green. Below us was the valley in
which we were to camp for the night, and I could see the
river running through it, a tiny line of sparkling blue in
the mass of green. The view made me smile, and I froze it
in my mind, knowing that I may never see it again.
        "You look sad," a voice said from behind me,
surprising me. It was Sapphire's.
        "The view. It is so beautiful. Yet I may never see
it again," I said softly, without turning around to face
him. "Do you feel the power of it? Looking at something so
extensive, so immense?"
        "Yes. But the emptiness of space, the view of an
entire planet hanging in it; that makes you feel even less
important. It really makes you consider why you are alive
at all," Sapphire replied.
        "What you say is true," I answered.
        "But why do you say you may never see it again?" he
asked, his voice soft, unusually caring.
        "I fear that I will be taken away from this world
soon. I don't belong here, as much as I wished I did, as
much as I love Earth. And one day, I will have other duties
to complete. My destiny is not here. Fate will not let me
have that," I said.
        "Unfortunately, you're right. One day, you will have
to leave, and take your rightful place as Prince of the
Earth Kingdom. Perhaps you can end the war, and reunite your
people," he said. "And then perhaps, as you said so long ago
to me, we can be friends." His footsteps started to walk
away from me, but stopped. "But you know, you may not be
taken away by force as you think," he added before leaving
me alone to stare out at the ocean of trees.
        During my fifteen years of life, I had only met
four people from these kingdoms and not from this world.
First it was Armand, who taught me these powers, and who
told me my life on this world would soon end. And then I
had met Serenity, Diamond and Sapphire. They ruled their
own kingdoms, and knew of mine. And Sapphire agreed I need
to leave this world and live out my destiny. I was beginning
to consider asking Serenity to take me with her when she
leaves, for that was what Sapphire had implied before he
left. But then, I didn't know if that was the right thing to
do; I was confused about a lot of things in my life right
now.
        When our lunch hour was at an end, we set off once
again on the trail. We descended the mountain at a slower
pace, walking most of the way. After what seemed like hours,
we finally came to the floor of the valley and to our camp
site next to the river I had seen from the top of the
mountains. I think everyone was glad to be off their mounts.
Going down hill for so long was not comfortable.
        Everyone took care of their horses and hobbled them,
which Wild Spirit was not too pleased with. When that was
done, we set up our two man tents, with Nick and I sharing
one. We carried our tack and our bags into them, so that it
would be out of the rain if the weather decided to taunt us.
        The teachers and our camp guide built up a large
bon fire in the middle of a large ring of logs, and let all
the students sit around it while they cooked our dinner of
sausages and buttered bread. Unlike the meals we had back at
the camp, this food was not good. Nick made a face with the
first taste, but ate it anyway, like everyone else, for we
were all starved. The horses were even worst off than us.
They had to graze to get their dinner, since bringing their
feed would have been too hard.
        Never the less, I was very happy. A warm fire
crackling in front of me, my love sitting next to me, and
the clear sky above me studded with stars.
        "You see that bright cluster there," Serena
whispered into my ear as we ate. "That marks the edge of
your once powerful Kingdom. It's neutral now, but perhaps
one day, you can rebuild your Kingdom and become king of
it."
        I smiled at her, but inside, I was saddened,
thinking back to my thoughts earlier that day.
        I led her away from the camp fire when we had
finished our dinner. We stood in the middle of a little
clearing, with the stars and the moon shining down on us.
        "I want to ask you something, Serenity," I said,
calling her by her real name. "I know you mean to leave
soon after this camp is over, and I know it is for the best.
You can not afford to endanger yourself when you know the
Dark Dragon Kingdom is on Earth. But I was wondering if I
could go with you when the time comes for you to leave."
        She was silent for a moment, looking up into the
night sky, as if all the answers to the timeless questions
were written there. "I was going to offer," she finally
whispered to me. "You and I both know who you really are,"
she continued, and waved her hand over my forehead. A blue
light flashed, and my symbol once again shone brightly
there. "And you can not really remain on this world with
the power you possess. "I would be honoured to bring you
home with me. Perhaps we can finally have an alliance with
your kingdom. And I'm sure my Mother would love to met you,
Prince Endymion."
        I smiled down at her. "I hope so, Princess
Serenity," I whispered, and bent down and kissed her sweet,
soft lips. "Another thing I wish for is to be forever in
your arms," I added when we parted.
        "As do I," she replied, and kissed me again.
        A sudden noise in the bushes made us both pull back.
        "What are you two doing out here?" a very angry
teacher demanded of us. "Get back to camp right now, or I
will see to it that you are both on detention when this
camp is over!"
        Serena and I ran back to camp, laughing when we were
out of hearing range. I kissed her again in the bushes
before we walked back to the camp fire, hand in hand.
        I slept well that night, with a smile on my face,
and a clear future ahead of me. Nick fell asleep as soon as
we retired to our tents after the sing-a-long the camp guide
had forced on us. She didn't care that we were fifteen years
old. Diamond and Sapphire turned out to have lovely singing
voices, full of warmth and passion. Serena told me later
that it was a tradition in the Black Moon Kingdom, and
everyone loved to sing and had great singing voices, even
if their normal voices were cold.
        The beeping of my new watch awoke me. It was six in
the morning, but the light was still dark. As my senses
tuned in, I realised there was the dull roar of rain
falling. I sighed, realising the ride back today would not
be pleasant. In fact, nor would be our breakfast. I imagined
our breakfast bars, all soggy from the rain, and wet and
cold. I made a face at the thought, and proceeded to wake up
Nick, who groaned when he heard the rain, complaining that
the sky had been crystal clear the night before.
        We both got dressed and put on our rain coats. When
we left our tents, we were greeted by bone chilling winds,
and teachers trying to get everyone up. Of course, no one
wanted to leave their nice warm and dry tents for a terrible
breakfast and a cold dreary ride.
        Nick and I walked with our heads down to where we
had left our horses the afternoon before. They had all taken
shelter in the trees, so we had to go in after them. Under
the canopy of thick leaves, the light was almost nought, and
the two of us kept tripping over unseen tree roots.
        I suddenly head voices speaking up ahead, and
stopped Nick with a gesture in front of his face. "Wait a
second. There's people up ahead," I whispered to him.
        He nodded, and we crept up to them, hiding behind
the thick trunks of the trees to listen in on their
conversation. There were two people, both not wearing rain
coats. Still, it took me a moment to recognise who they
were, for the darkness and the rain made it hard to see. It
was Diamond and Sapphire, standing in a small clearing in
the thick forest, talking in hushed tones.
        "This planet is driving me insane, Diamond,"
Sapphire said, his tone annoyed. "We never had to deal with
such weather back home. I can not believe you followed her
all the way out into such a back water planet!" Sapphire
continued disgusted, gesturing to their surrounding with
his arms.
        "You did not have to accompany me, brother. And if
this weather really bothers you so much, then," Diamond
replied, lifting both his hands into the air, and looking up
into the over cast sky, shot a brilliant beam of silver
white light up into the clouds, which immediately dispersed
them. The rain stopped, and the sun shone down into the
little clearing. "Happy?" he asked, lowering his arms and
looking at his brother with a raised eyebrow.
        "Yes, but Serenity is not going to be. You know she
does not like you breaking the rules," Sapphire replied,
gazing back at Diamond with is cool dark sapphire blue eyes.
        "I may love her, Sapphire, but she does not rule me.
Yes, I would give her anything she wants, I would even die
for her, but hell, she does not control me!" Diamond turned
his back to his brother, angered by his words. His eyes
locked on mine, and he mentally directed his thoughts to me.
'What do you want, Endymion? And you have a friend there?
Well, make sure he doesn't remember any of this. You don't
want to upset Serenity like I have, do you?'
        I walked out into the clearing. Nick tried to ask
me what I was doing, but I knocked him out and erased his
recent memory with my powers. "Of course not, Diamond. Well,
I must thank you on making this day bearable for everyone,"
I said, looking up at the clear blue sky. "But may I ask,
how will you explain what happened to everyone who saw it?"
        "Easy. I won't." He closed his eyes, and his body
glowed with his power for a moment. "None of them even
remembers ever seeing anything out of the ordinary," he
said, smiling coldly at me.

End of Part One, Chapter Five.


