A Good Sword
Twelve Years Later...
The thrill of battle is an amazing thing. In the heat of a battle you
can commit acts that otherwise might be impossible. Feats of strength,
courage, and prowess that would rival the greatest warriors. For Makoto,
however, no battle was needed to display such qualities. They came
naturally to her.It was just like breathing.
She made a nice show of her skills now for the aspiring troops. It would
ignite a flame in their very being, or so she hoped, and motivate them
to become part of her ever-growing Jovian army. Makoto was exchanging
blows with the Captain of said army at the moment as the sound of steel
hitting upon steel resounded through the halls of the Castle Jupiter.
Her lithe figure traversed the practice yard with ease, while her sword
parried and thrust through the air at the formidable man before her.
There was no doubt who would win. Her movements were quick as her supple
limbs moved to make the "killing" blow. There was a great clash of steel
as the man's sword went flying through the air, landing at the feet of a
startled youth not a stone's throw away. The young man looked at the
sword and backed up wearily as he observed the scene before him. The
princess had one booted foot on the Captain's chest while the tip of her
sword was pressed to his throat. She stood with a haughty gaze on the
man below her, waiting for him to concede. Her face was flushed from the
taxing workout, and her dark green eyes were alight with excitement. The
long auburn hair that fell over her shoulder, from where she had it tied
at the nape of her neck, was damp with perspiration. A small blush crept
up his face as he admired her tall frame. She wore battered tan pants
tucked into her equally rugged boots and a white loose blouse chosen for
comfort and ease of movement rather than style. 'I know I would have
conceded long before now,' he thought, with a grin plastered to his
young face. His blush deepened at this thought and he looked away from
the wild beauty before him just as he heard the Captain's voice ring
out, "I concede my Lady!"
Anyone could hear the smile in his voice without needing to look at his
handsome face. 'What I wouldn't give to be him right now.' He glanced at
the Captain's sword and made a quick decision. Picking the blade up he
made his way over to his soon-to-be commander, who was now wiping the
sand and dust from his backside.
"Captain sir," he said in a timid voice, offering the blade to him.
"Your sword." The man straightened and regarded the youth before him.
"Ah, thank you young man." he took the sword and wiped it across his
pants quickly before sliding it home into its sheath.
"You have already decided you will be joining us then? Are you not a bit
young? " he said, looking the boy over with a critical eye.
The boy chanced a look at the princess and was surprised to find her
doing the same. He turned back to the commander opening his mouth to
reply. He was stopped from saying anything, however, when a voice
interrupted him.
"No one is too young to do anything Captain. I think your question is a
bit unnecessary. It is not your place to question someone else's heart.
If he is set on it, then I will not hold him back." pausing to think,
she then said, "There are two ways to reach the top of a tree Captain,
if I may remind you. Use your own strength to scale its towering
height...or sit on the damn seed and wait for it to grow. I tell you now
that I have no intention of waiting Captain." She leveled her burning
gaze on him. There was something in her eyes in that moment. Something
that spoke of her own past. A past that they would never speak of.
"Now if I might excuse myself I have some trifle business to attend to
that deals with much parchment and sitting." She sighed and rubbed the
back of her neck, annoyed with the task that awaited her in the study.
"You may all stay and begin a nice long day of training or start
tomorrow. Either way, if you have decided not to join me then you may
stay the night and attend the festivities as my honored guests none the
less. My hope is that you will take this opportunity to better yourself
and help protect the people you love the most." The corner of her mouth
twitched somewhat as she said this, but went unnoticed by everyone else.
Everyone, that is, with the exception of the Captain of the Royal Guard
Shinosuki. He knew she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes at this
point in her speech. He merely stood and observed the faces of the
aspiring soldiers as she continued to spout words of wisdom and courage.
She had them and he knew it. Maybe five or six from the some hundred
that had shown up would return home tomorrow. He doubted there would be
many. The looks on their faces said it all. Some wore looks of pride,
some had haughty smirks on there faces, and others were mere hatchlings
with a thirst to prove themselves. There were even quite a few women in
the group this time. Then there were the ones that he knew had fallen in
love with the Jovian princess the moment her boots hit the dusty ground
of the practice yard early this morning. He pitied them greatly, for
they were the ones who would be fighting towards an impossible goal.
Princess Mokoto would never have any of them. She was a woman devoid of
those affections. Never in his 7 years of service had he seen her
consort with a person in any intimate way. He could not bring himself to
call her a cold-hearted woman, however, for he knew there must be some
hope. He loved her greatly, as a brother might love a sister. She would
be his queen one day, and he was immensely proud of this fact. He smiled
as she wound her speech to a dramatic close.
"Now then," she said drawing her sword and swinging it above her head in
an embellished arc. "Who will follow me. Who will help me defeat the
evil of the Negaverse and bring its dog of a queen to her knees at my
very feet." There was an affirmative roar that could be heard throughout
the entire castle. She smirked and shoved her sword unceremoniously into
its sheath. The Princess turned on her heal and, nodding to the Captain,
exited through one of the arched doorways into a darkened hall. The
cheering continued behind her as the newly appointed soldiers dispersed
to their quarters to await the nights festivities. Only a few stayed
behind to continue practicing with the appointed commanders. Little did
they know that these names would be noted. Those who put forth such
effort would be rewarded in the future with higher considerations for
promotions and longer leave. She admired hard workers, as she herself
was one. Her Captain followed her as she made her way up a winding
stairway to her study where a stack of papers and a cold drink awaited
her.
Upon reaching the door, she swung it open widely and marched in heading
for the large oak desk at the back of the large room. "So, Captain
Shinozaki, what do you think?" she said, falling into the immense chair
behind the desk that was perfect for her large frame. Shinozaki followed
her inside, grabbing the door as it bounced back from hitting a bookcase
positioned a bit too close to the door. There was a permanent mark on
the wood that was getting deeper with time. He closed the door and
noted, as he did many times, that the door was in no better condition
than the bookcase was.
"I think you need new furniture, and someone to clean up in here", he
said this gesturing at the books and papers covering most of the floor.
There were a few maps hanging from the top of the bookcase that would
surely fall within the next slamming or two of the door. The pile of
books sitting on a corner of her desk was teetering precariously,
defying gravity as it was.
"Oh and you should probably bathe before you begin working on that pile
of documents that is...where are the documents?" he said, searching the
chaos of her desk with his eyes again. Makoto despised domestic
servitude of any kind, therefore, one noted the lack of maids and
servants throughout the giant castle.
"I know where everything is in here...I'll find them when I'm damned
good and ready to." She said this testily, letting her fist fall on the
desk to punctuate her point. The vibration shook the wooden furniture
causing the pile of books to finally give up its acrobatic limbo and
crash to the carpeted stone floor below. It was soon to be joined by
quite a generous pile of parchment that decided to use the proffered
books as a slide. Upon hitting them, the papers shot across the floor in
a line to Shinozaki's greaves. They made a small tinging noise on
impact.
"See, told ya," She brought her boots up to rest on the spot that the
books had just been occupying. Shinozaki looked down at one of the
documents resting against his left greave and realized that, yes, these
were the documents she was to begin working on this afternoon.
"Well then my Lady, to answer your question, you have those people in
the palm of your hand. They will follow you to their deaths as I will to
mine," he bowed as he completed his flat statement and turned to leave.
"I would never let anyone die for me. They die for their own causes as I
will for mine one day. That woman presents a danger to them. I merely
train them for what is to come. Never say something like that to me
again Captain...and pick up these papers." she lifted her tankard to her
mouth and took a long swallow.
"Forgive me Milady, I was out of place," he said sadly. She waved him
off with her hand as if he had said nothing while taking one of the
papers from the floor and scanning its contents. Bending down, he began
to gather the papers up from the floor. He found her indifference with
acknowledging allegiances and relationships extremely annoying
sometimes. The fact that she led these people with such passion showed
that she had some love for them, but she would never let it show. She
had been through many battles for her people. Helping the Outers
whenever they called upon her, though she never met with any of them
face to face. She was so young and already a veteran fighter. She had
somehow deluded herself into thinking that relationships would only
cause problems and lead to pain. Princess Makoto laughed about her
little "drama speeches" as she liked to call them. Shinozaki wrote most
of them for her and she added the enthusiasm and emotion to get the
people hooked into following her. He would not tell her that he believed
every word she said to be true. He knew that it was, or he would have
refused to continue writing the speeches for her. 'She'll come around
one day,' he thought tiredly.
"What in the fires of Mars is this supposed to mean!?" The Jovian
princess's voice ripped through his silent pondering causing him to
almost drop the pile of papers he was procuring from the floor. He added
a curse himself to her already colorful vocabulary.
"What is it Milady?" he said approaching the desk slowly. He began to
push a pile of rather large books towards it as well while she continued
to complain, waving the offending parchment through the air above her
head.
"This woman expects me to come to some sort
of...of...celebration...thing!" She shouted angrily.
He flinched slightly coming to a stop in front of her desk. Sitting upon
the newly positioned pile of books he ran a hand through his hair. From
what he could see of the paper she was waving around madly, it was from
the Palace of the Moon. The crest it bore flashed silver in the dim
candle light of the study. He groaned inwardly.
"What is wrong this time? You have declined such invitations before. How
should this one be any different. I can remember at least twenty four
that you have refused in fact." Here he rested his arm on his leg,
putting his chin in his hand he said, "Let's see, there were the
birthdays of the Princess of Mars, Venus, Mercury...all of them in
fact." He drew his eyebrows together in thought. "The knighting
ceremonies, the prince of Earth...the Queen's birthdays, I still don't
know how you keep getting away with that one." He closed his eyes for a
few moments. "Ah ha!" he said, snapping them open once more. "You did
attend the Princess of Uranus's birthday ball 10 years ago!" He smiled
like he'd just won at his favorite game of chess.
"I showed up for the first quarter of the event and then left, remember?
Not even half of the guests had arrived yet." She leaned forward on her
desk gloomily. "The princess refused to duel with me, so I got bored."
she shrugged her shoulders and sighed in defeat. "This invitation,
however, cannot really be called an invitation at all. It's more like a
damned order." She threw the invitation into his lap and let her head
fall to the desk with a loud thump. Shinozaki un-crumpled the paper
which had somehow managed to reach such a state in Makoto's impassioned
objections to its very existence. He began to read it aloud.
"High Princess Makoto, Guardian of Jupiter, Head of the House of
Jupiter, Leader of th–" ("blah, blah, blah skip all the crap Captain..."
her voice broke in.) You are requested to attend the celebration of the
20th anniversary of the birth of Princess Serenity Usagi Guardian of–"
("skip it dammit!") "This years celebrations will take place over a
course of one month and one week. There will be an opening Ball on the
first night of the first week of the month of the house of the Moon (a
grumble rose from over the desk). You will be expected to arrive at the
palace of the Moon on the day before the Ball. You will be shown your
rooms and servants shall attend you through the palace as we are aware
that you are unfamiliar with our home. ("Who gives a damn about the big
white piece of–") YOU MUST be at the Ball before the hour of–" ("Before
anyone else gets there basically,"she grumbled again) and you are
expected to stay till the end of the event." He raised both eyebrows
here and looked up towards his princess who was now banging her forehead
lightly on the table and making strange little noises that could be any
number of curses in several different languages. "It goes on to tell of
the various events that will be hosted throughout the month of the Moon
and...what's this note about a meeting of the inner soldiers of the
Moon? Sounds like she wants to get to know all of you a little better."
"Ha!" she croaked, lifting her head from the table and ripping away an
offending piece of paper that had adhered to her forehead. "I bet she
does! More like she wants to know our strengths and weaknesses. She'd
like to get a feel for what kind of weapons she has in her armory. A
good sword is worthless if you don't know how to use it, right? I'll
hand it to her for her conniving mind."
Shinozaki was getting tired of this,"Why can't you just give her a
chance? It's your own fault that it has come to this. The last time you
met her was over thirteen years ago. As long as we are on this topic,
the last time you met with anyone of the royal houses was ten years ago.
You can't just stay here in this castle for the rest of your life. Only
leaving it to fight some battle that might get you closer to that damned
evil woman, or might just get you killed. You are going to have an
extremely long existence, don't spend it alone Milady." He looked at her
sadly. Then there was silence. He expected her to yell at him, to lash
out with some crude remark about minding himself in her presence. The
quiet of the room made him a bit uneasy though.
Mokoto leaned back in her chair, masking her face in the shadows there.
After a few moments had passed Shinozaki was about to leave when Mokoto
suddenly reached behind her head and pulled on the ribbon that bound her
hair. She let it slide from its place and shook her long mane out,
throwing the ribbon over the desk where Shinozaki caught it rather
clumsily. Her Captain looked at her in question holding the green ribbon
in a light grip.
"When I leave for this gala event," the sarcasm fairly dripped from her
voice, "I'm going to leave you in charge here Captain Shinozaki. You are
to see to it that the new soldiers are trained accordingly and that the
castle is kept up."
He was about to interrupt her with a remark about the castle's upkeep
not really being "kept up" as it was, however, he decided against it.
The young Captain was extremely pleased with her decision to go and he
didn't want to spoil it. She went on telling him of all the
responsibilities this would entail him to and how she would still be
checking in on his progress via messengers and so on. He listened
attentively as she rambled about the various workings of being a leader.
She finally came to the end of her lecture and decided she was no longer
in need of his company.
Shinozaki hesitated, "Why me Milady? Would not Captain Nephrite be more
suited to the chore?" He wanted her reason for choosing him over the
more experienced man.
Sorting through the documents on her desk she did not look up. "Don't
think that I didn't consider others before choosing you for this task
Captain. I carefully weigh any decision before I make it, you know that.
This is one of the reasons I've chosen you. You are much more level
headed than Nephrite. He has...changed lately...I will not leave my
people in unstable hands." Her eyes had darkened considerably as she
spoke. Shinozaki found himself wondering what changes she had noted that
went undetected by he himself. He knew his princess could be
overly-analytical when it came to people at times. Usually, though, she
was right when it came to her own. If she saw something in Nephrite that
he did not, then Shinozaki would not question it. He would have a look
for himself.
"Just remember all that I've told you here today. It will be the first
time I've left the Castle of Jupiter in ten years. You may leave now
Captain." She continued scanning the rest of the documents he had placed
on her desk.
He rose from his wobbly seat on the books and gave her a low bow,
"Princess." Standing straight he saluted her with one arm over his
chest. "General," he said formally.
"Damn right," she smirked, still looking at the paper in front of her.
He grinned and walked towards the battered door. As he reached for the
knob he was stopped by her voice.
"You are correct about one thing Captain. I'm going to have a very long
existence, so I might as well use it to get to know the strengths of the
other guardians...and their weaknesses."
He knew it had been to good to be true. 'Oh well,' he thought weakly,
'at least she's getting out of this place for a while. Can't worry about
the little things.' With that he left, shoving the large door closed
behind him roughly. When it finally shut, he heard something fall with a
thwack on the other side. 'Ah, so the maps finally gave way.' Hearing
the curses being directed at the offending objects he began to grin.
Shinozaki could imagine how far the maps had scattered in the cluttered
study.
'If she would just let someone clean the place up a bit...' He started
walking down the torch-lit corridor thinking that maybe he should do
something about the helmet on that suite of armor beside the bookcase
tomorrow if he got the chance. A moment following that thought, he heard
a loud clang followed by one of the most violent lines of curses he had
yet to hear.
"SON OF A–" Ducking his head he quickened his pace, retreating to the
floor below.
Continued....
I apologize for any typos, grammar, or misspellings that you may
encountered in your perusal of the above story... :) thank you.
makeweight noun 1) something put on a scale to make up the required
weight. 2) an extra person or thing needed to complete something.
guardian noun a defender, protector, or keeper.
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