Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Black Moon Rising ❯ Darkest Hour ( Chapter 3 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Konran no Tenshi 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.04.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.04.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
Black Moon Rising
by Konran no Tenshi
Disclaimer: Not mine, all Naoko's, except for Black Moon and Chandra, who are Shinimegami's, yadda yadda yadda...
Part 3: Darkest Hour
The girl opened her eyes slowly, then clamped them shut as pain stabbed through them. Why was it so *bright*? She slowly realized that she was lying on her back on something hard. She sat up and opened her eyes, braving the light.
The girl gasped in awe at the scene her eyes beheld. So different from what she was used to...
The thought trailed off as, abruptly, the girl wondered what, exactly, she *was* used to. On the heels of that thought came a sudden wave of panic as she realized that she could not recall *anything* from before the point where she'd awakened. Her past, her memories, even her name - all gone in one blinding instant.
She huddled up in on herself, resting her forehead on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs, as a wave of loneliness and confusion swept over her. She felt hot tears begin to sting her eyes, but she forced them back. Mustn't cry...
There! That was one thing she remembered. Being told firmly, "You mustn't cry. Not ever. If you want something, say so. If you're in pain, deal with it. Crying reveals weakness and you cannot afford to show any."
The voice sounded familiar, she remembered it, but no name floated up out of the murky depths to match it.
She remembered that there should be someone with her, someone who would be able to take care of her. But who was it? The person from her fleeting memory fragment? No, he had been a guy. The presence she remembered was most definitely female. A... an animal of some kind? She remembered fur, and green eyes.
As if on cue, there was a horrible yowl from somewhere. It sounded like there were two ferocious beasts each trying to give the other a triple bypass, without anesthetic. The fight went on for several minutes, while the girl cowered in the spot where she'd awoken and hoped neither animal came near her. It ended when one of the animals gave a scream that was abruptly cut off.
After a while, the girl decided it was safe, and got up to inspect her surroundings. Mist pervaded the entire area for as far as she could see. There were trees and plants, but subtly mutated. It was like she was in a warped forest. A purple squirrel with a shark fin and three tails ran past her, and she shivered. This was *weird*.
Darkness was beginning to set in, and she had no shelter, no place to go. She definitely didn't want to be out in the open during nighttime, so she climbed a tree and huddled in one of the branches. The girl stuck her hands in her pockets for warmth. They were empty, and she felt an extremely disturbing sense of having forgotten something. She was supposed to have something, but didn't.
"I wish I could remember *something*," the girl said aloud to herself. Little bits and pieces didn't help much.
"Do I have a name?" she wondered aloud to herself. "I must. What is it?" But try as she might, she couldn't come up with anything that sounded like a name at all, much less her own.
Slowly, drowsiness overtook her, and she fell asleep in the tree, the light of three moons shining down on her.
***
The girl awoke suddenly, as a shaft of sunlight hit her square in the face. The mist must have dissipated overnight, she thought. But this sunlight was scary. She knew sunlight was supposed to be yellowy-warm and friendly. This sun was dim red and cold, its rays giving no warmth. And she couldn't ever see it. There was light, but it seemed to be coming from all over, with no distinct source.
She dropped from the tree, grimacing as she landed on stiff legs. She did a few stretches and acrobatics to limber up. The girl found herself getting hungry, but for some reason the thought of food didn't appetize her.
Her hunger problem was instantly forgotten as she heard the cracking of branches. Something was headed towards her.
The girl grabbed a hefty stick from the ground and held it in a ready position. If whatever was coming was hostile, it would get quite a beating before it got to her.
She tensed as the sounds got closer.
Closer.
Closer...
"Mew?"
The girl nearly fell over laughing as a small calico cat with stunning green eyes stepped delicately out of the foliage. She dropped the stick and bent over, gasping for breath in between giggles. Vaguely, she noticed that laughter seemed almost like a new sensation for her.
"Mew!" The cat had walked over and was imperiously butting her head against the girl's arm, a clear demand for attention.
"Ohayou, chisai neko. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" The girl picked up the cat and stroked it. She frowned as she noticed something. "You've got blood on you." It was dried and crusty, stuck to the fur. After a few seconds of picking uselessly at it, the girl gave up. She lifted the fur gently, but there were no wounds underneath. "That's odd..."
Her words trailed off as the cat jumped out of her arms and landed on the ground. It turned to face her, and for the first time the girl noticed the odd moon-shaped mark on the cat's forehead.
Thoughts of the mark were driven completely out of her head, however, at what happened next.
"I thought it was you. But one can never be sure. Just thank goodness you're all right. I spent all night tracking you down."
The girl made a small sound, like "Eep!" and backed away. "Y-you... you... *talked*!"
The cat sniffed. "Of course I talked. I'm no telepath, you know."
"But... but neko don't..." Her sentence died. She now remembered what one of the memory flashes had been. There was a cat... and it talked to her. There was a name... something beginning with a... a C? "Oname wa nan desu ka?" the girl asked curiously. Maybe this cat was the animal she remembered.
"Watashi wa Chandra. To, anata wa..." Chandra gazed at her with piercing green eyes.
The girl stared back unhappily. "I don't know. I can't remember my name, I can't remember *anything*. I think I remember a neko with a name starting with C, so I guess that would be you, but I keep seeing this guy, and there's something I know I'm supposed to have, but I don't have anything... ittai!" She had been in the process of kneeling down so as to be on a better level with Chandra, and something had poked her in the thigh.
She looked inside her robe and found a dagger, set with a black crystal. The girl glanced at Chandra, and was surprised to see all her fur standing straight up.
"Where did you get that?" the cat asked, trying to sound casual.
"I don't remember."
"Hmm... let me see it." The girl hesitated, then set it on the ground in front of the cat. She placed her front paws on it for a moment, then moved away. When she didn't do anything else, the girl moved forward cautiously and quickly snatched it back. She cradled it, staring down at it. She frowned. Now, instead of a black crystal, there was a blood-red stone stuck in it. She stared at Chandra. "Who did you say you were?" she asked finally.
"My name is Chandra, and I've come to be your guardian. And you can put down that stick."
The girl started. She had been quietly reaching for her branch behind her back. "My guardian?" she asked, hastily dropping the stick.
"Hai." No further explanation.
"Well, does a guardian's job include figuring out where we are and whether anything here is poisonous to eat?"
"I don't need to figure out where we are. I know exactly where we are."
The girl waited. After a few minutes, she prompted, "Well?"
"Oh, that was an actual question? Well, it's quite simple. We're in limbo."
"Limbo? Where's that?"
"It's the place between worlds... and between times. If you're not careful, you can get stuck there for all eternity."
"You mean I'm never getting out of here?" The girl felt a surge of panic. Though she didn't know where she belonged, she knew it wasn't here.
"Weren't you listening? I said if you aren't careful. If it was just you, you probably would be stuck here. But you've got me. And I can get you out of here."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!"
"It's not that simple. We have to find a portal, and wait for it to open. The nearest one won't open until tomorrow morning. So I'm afraid we'll have to spend another night here."
The girl sat in silence. Finally she blurted, "Do you know where I belong? Where I come from? Who I am?" This last was said in desperate tones.
"I have an idea of the first, I know the second, and you'll have to figure out the third for yourself. Think. Can you remember your name?"
The girl pouted. "I already tried, I told you."
"Try again."
She closed her eyes and thought, thought hard. Two words floated up out of her subconscious. The girl opened her eyes. "There's only one thing I can remember that sounds like a name."
"Nan desu ka?"
"Kurai... Kurai Tsuki. Is that my name?"
"Well, I suppose it must be."
"You sound like you're not sure."
"I wouldn't know your human name."
The girl - Tsuki - stared at her cat. "What do you mean, my human name? Am I an alien or something?"
"No, you're something much better. You are a Sailor Senshi, a warrior dedicated to fighting evil. There is one for each planet."
"And which one am I? Mercury? Venus? Earth? Mars? Jupiter? Saturn? Uranus? Neptune? Pluto?" She named them all off.
"None of them."
"But you just said..."
"You are a special Sailor Senshi. You are Sailor Black Moon, princess of the planet Nemesis."
Tsuki sat there a moment. "How do I know this isn't some sort of joke?" she said finally.
Chandra sighed. "Very well, I'll prove it to you." A pen made of some sort of black metal appeared. "Hold this up and say, 'Moon Darkness Power, Make Up'."
"Moon Darkness Power, MAKE UP!"
Chandra took her over to a standing pool of water. "Look."
Tsuki stared in shock. She was dressed in a sailor fuku, she had on a tiara with a black crystal set in it, and her hair was up in two black odangoes. "Eew! What is this?!" She undid her hair quickly, and it cascaded about her in a black waterfall.
She tied it up in a braid, then surveyed herself in the makeshift mirror again. "Much better." She gazed at her reflection, smiled at herself slightly. This was way weird, but it actually felt natural.
Chandra cleared her throat. "Sailor Black Moon... I don't mean to intrude, but... THERE'S SOMETHING COMING THIS WAY!"
Black Moon jumped, and went into a fighting stance.
"You'll never get it that way," Chandra commented. "You'll need to use an attack."
"An attack?"
"Of course."
"What do I do? Tell me how to do it!"
Any reply from Chandra was cut off by a monstrous roar as a huge creature came crashing out of the bushes. It looked like a cross between a giant lizard and a giant bat. And it appeared to be hungry. It picked up Chandra as she tried to run, and brought her to its humongous mouth. But it stopped halfway there.
Sailor Black Moon ran up and kicked it in the shin, distracting it. Only now remembering her dagger, she pulled it out and stabbed the monster in the knee, as high as she could reach. It howled in pain and dropped Chandra, who landed nimbly on her feet and dashed behind the nearest tree.
Now the monster was mad. "Anou... I think that was a mistake," Black Moon muttered to herself as she backed away from the monster's frenzied swipes. It cornered her against a boulder and reached down.
Determined to meet her death head-on, Black Moon stared straight at it, not backing down for an instant, not giving into the urge to close her eyes, put her arms over her head and cower, hoping the creature wouldn't notice her. And as she stared, something strange happened.
A flash lit up the surroundings, and the monster went flying backward.
"Good work!" Chandra called. "Now while he's down, hit him with another attack!"
"I don't know how!" Black Moon whimpered. And she had good reason to whimper - the monster had recovered and was heading towards her.
"Take off your tiara, yell 'Black Tiara Destroy', and throw it!" Chandra yelled.
Now why did that command seem strangely familiar? Black Moon shook the thought aside. Now was not the time for analyzing memory flashes; if the monster got to her, there would no longer be a need to worry about such things.
She reached up. "Black Tiara, Destroy!" The black disk sliced the monster, and green, smoking blood poured forth, but he wasn't dead yet. "Chandra!" Black Moon screamed.
"Say Black Rain!" Chandra yelled.
"Black Rain!"
What seemed to be liquid black crystal fell from the sky and encased the monster in a block of solid crystal. Black Moon took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and walked forward cautiously to the newly created boulder.
"I did that?" she asked incredulously, touching the crystal with the dead monster inside.
"You did, and rather well, too, I might add. Though it's not at all surprising, considering-" The cat broke off mid-sentence.
"Considering what?" Black Moon asked suspiciously.
"Considering your aptitude for learning," Chandra said hastily. "Now dehenshin, and let's see about getting us something to eat."
***
Dagger in hand, Tsuki silently and carefully stalked one of the purple three-tailed squirrels. She crept up on it soundlessly. Just as she raised her dagger and was about to strike, however, she moved her foot and a twig snapped.
The squirrel went darting off into the trees.
"Shimatta." Tsuki sighed. That was the third one she'd tried to get. Or maybe it was the same one each time, and the things were just really stupid.
Chandra, up in a tree, made a noise that sounded like she was chuckling. "Give it up, Tsuki-chan. You probably don't want to eat him anyway."
"I *do*, and I'm going to get one! Just wait and see!"
"Very well, it's your meal. You keep trying, then. I'll see what I can find." Still chuckling to herself, Chandra jumped down and headed off.
"Baka furball," Tsuki muttered. "I'll show you."
***
Three hours later, it was dark, and Tsuki and Chandra were happily situated under a large tree, a small fire blazing. Chandra had somehow lit one and had it waiting when Tsuki returned. She had also managed to find some edible berries and greens, which she nibbled on delicately as Tsuki's squirrel, which she had finally managed to sneak up on and knife through the back, roasted over the fire.
"You know, that's just plain weird," Tsuki grumped. "You're a cat, you should *like* eating meat. And here you sit, eating berries."
Chandra, her mouth full, made no reply except for, "I believe your... thing... is cooked."
Tsuki hastily pulled it off the makeshift spit before it burned, and dropped it on a square of cloth she'd torn off the bottom of her robe for that exact purpose, blowing on her fingers and complaining, "Ittai, atsui, atsui atsui atsui!"
She waited until she thought the... animal... was cool, then picked it up in her hands and took a big bite, chewing contentedly.
Her eyes grew huge, and she stopped chewing.
"Ptooey!" A hunk of purple squirrel went flying out into the blackness, and Tsuki was at the puddle, frantically rinsing her mouth out.
"Not enough salt?" Chandra asked sweetly.
Tsuki rose up from the puddle, fists clenched, in a terrible rage. "You overgrown hairball... and you knew, didn't you? You knew it wasn't good to eat!"
"Well, I *did* try to warn you..." Chandra trailed off as Tsuki advanced. Seeing the look on her face, Chandra decided that discretion was the better part of valor. She took off running.
"Come back here, you flea-bitten feline! When I catch you, I'm gonna ram that thing down your throat!"
***
Still fuming, Tsuki sat cramming berries in her mouth. Chandra sat a safe distance off, not daring to break the silence.
It was funny, but the berries were practically tasteless, Tsuki thought. Even more than... even more than something she'd once eaten. Finishing her meal, she sighed, then looked to Chandra, who moved back a few paces. "It's all right," Tsuki assured her. "I'm not mad anymore. Well... not much," she corrected.
Chandra came in closer. "That's a relief," she commented. "I was wondering whether or not it was safe to go to sleep without waking up in the morning as a fur coat."
"Iie, I need you to get me out of here." Tsuki paused. "Just where are we going anyway? 20th century Tokyo?"
The cat froze. "What do you mean? What's so special about 20th century Tokyo?" She seemed to be holding her breath, scrutinizing Tsuki carefully as she replied.
"I keep hearing it in my head. I think that's where I'm supposed to be."
Chandra sighed. "We might be going there, I don't know yet. But we have a stop to make first. That's where we're headed when we go into the portal."
"Where are we going?"
"To visit an old friend."
End Part 3
by Konran no Tenshi
Disclaimer: Not mine, all Naoko's, except for Black Moon and Chandra, who are Shinimegami's, yadda yadda yadda...
Part 3: Darkest Hour
The girl opened her eyes slowly, then clamped them shut as pain stabbed through them. Why was it so *bright*? She slowly realized that she was lying on her back on something hard. She sat up and opened her eyes, braving the light.
The girl gasped in awe at the scene her eyes beheld. So different from what she was used to...
The thought trailed off as, abruptly, the girl wondered what, exactly, she *was* used to. On the heels of that thought came a sudden wave of panic as she realized that she could not recall *anything* from before the point where she'd awakened. Her past, her memories, even her name - all gone in one blinding instant.
She huddled up in on herself, resting her forehead on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs, as a wave of loneliness and confusion swept over her. She felt hot tears begin to sting her eyes, but she forced them back. Mustn't cry...
There! That was one thing she remembered. Being told firmly, "You mustn't cry. Not ever. If you want something, say so. If you're in pain, deal with it. Crying reveals weakness and you cannot afford to show any."
The voice sounded familiar, she remembered it, but no name floated up out of the murky depths to match it.
She remembered that there should be someone with her, someone who would be able to take care of her. But who was it? The person from her fleeting memory fragment? No, he had been a guy. The presence she remembered was most definitely female. A... an animal of some kind? She remembered fur, and green eyes.
As if on cue, there was a horrible yowl from somewhere. It sounded like there were two ferocious beasts each trying to give the other a triple bypass, without anesthetic. The fight went on for several minutes, while the girl cowered in the spot where she'd awoken and hoped neither animal came near her. It ended when one of the animals gave a scream that was abruptly cut off.
After a while, the girl decided it was safe, and got up to inspect her surroundings. Mist pervaded the entire area for as far as she could see. There were trees and plants, but subtly mutated. It was like she was in a warped forest. A purple squirrel with a shark fin and three tails ran past her, and she shivered. This was *weird*.
Darkness was beginning to set in, and she had no shelter, no place to go. She definitely didn't want to be out in the open during nighttime, so she climbed a tree and huddled in one of the branches. The girl stuck her hands in her pockets for warmth. They were empty, and she felt an extremely disturbing sense of having forgotten something. She was supposed to have something, but didn't.
"I wish I could remember *something*," the girl said aloud to herself. Little bits and pieces didn't help much.
"Do I have a name?" she wondered aloud to herself. "I must. What is it?" But try as she might, she couldn't come up with anything that sounded like a name at all, much less her own.
Slowly, drowsiness overtook her, and she fell asleep in the tree, the light of three moons shining down on her.
***
The girl awoke suddenly, as a shaft of sunlight hit her square in the face. The mist must have dissipated overnight, she thought. But this sunlight was scary. She knew sunlight was supposed to be yellowy-warm and friendly. This sun was dim red and cold, its rays giving no warmth. And she couldn't ever see it. There was light, but it seemed to be coming from all over, with no distinct source.
She dropped from the tree, grimacing as she landed on stiff legs. She did a few stretches and acrobatics to limber up. The girl found herself getting hungry, but for some reason the thought of food didn't appetize her.
Her hunger problem was instantly forgotten as she heard the cracking of branches. Something was headed towards her.
The girl grabbed a hefty stick from the ground and held it in a ready position. If whatever was coming was hostile, it would get quite a beating before it got to her.
She tensed as the sounds got closer.
Closer.
Closer...
"Mew?"
The girl nearly fell over laughing as a small calico cat with stunning green eyes stepped delicately out of the foliage. She dropped the stick and bent over, gasping for breath in between giggles. Vaguely, she noticed that laughter seemed almost like a new sensation for her.
"Mew!" The cat had walked over and was imperiously butting her head against the girl's arm, a clear demand for attention.
"Ohayou, chisai neko. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" The girl picked up the cat and stroked it. She frowned as she noticed something. "You've got blood on you." It was dried and crusty, stuck to the fur. After a few seconds of picking uselessly at it, the girl gave up. She lifted the fur gently, but there were no wounds underneath. "That's odd..."
Her words trailed off as the cat jumped out of her arms and landed on the ground. It turned to face her, and for the first time the girl noticed the odd moon-shaped mark on the cat's forehead.
Thoughts of the mark were driven completely out of her head, however, at what happened next.
"I thought it was you. But one can never be sure. Just thank goodness you're all right. I spent all night tracking you down."
The girl made a small sound, like "Eep!" and backed away. "Y-you... you... *talked*!"
The cat sniffed. "Of course I talked. I'm no telepath, you know."
"But... but neko don't..." Her sentence died. She now remembered what one of the memory flashes had been. There was a cat... and it talked to her. There was a name... something beginning with a... a C? "Oname wa nan desu ka?" the girl asked curiously. Maybe this cat was the animal she remembered.
"Watashi wa Chandra. To, anata wa..." Chandra gazed at her with piercing green eyes.
The girl stared back unhappily. "I don't know. I can't remember my name, I can't remember *anything*. I think I remember a neko with a name starting with C, so I guess that would be you, but I keep seeing this guy, and there's something I know I'm supposed to have, but I don't have anything... ittai!" She had been in the process of kneeling down so as to be on a better level with Chandra, and something had poked her in the thigh.
She looked inside her robe and found a dagger, set with a black crystal. The girl glanced at Chandra, and was surprised to see all her fur standing straight up.
"Where did you get that?" the cat asked, trying to sound casual.
"I don't remember."
"Hmm... let me see it." The girl hesitated, then set it on the ground in front of the cat. She placed her front paws on it for a moment, then moved away. When she didn't do anything else, the girl moved forward cautiously and quickly snatched it back. She cradled it, staring down at it. She frowned. Now, instead of a black crystal, there was a blood-red stone stuck in it. She stared at Chandra. "Who did you say you were?" she asked finally.
"My name is Chandra, and I've come to be your guardian. And you can put down that stick."
The girl started. She had been quietly reaching for her branch behind her back. "My guardian?" she asked, hastily dropping the stick.
"Hai." No further explanation.
"Well, does a guardian's job include figuring out where we are and whether anything here is poisonous to eat?"
"I don't need to figure out where we are. I know exactly where we are."
The girl waited. After a few minutes, she prompted, "Well?"
"Oh, that was an actual question? Well, it's quite simple. We're in limbo."
"Limbo? Where's that?"
"It's the place between worlds... and between times. If you're not careful, you can get stuck there for all eternity."
"You mean I'm never getting out of here?" The girl felt a surge of panic. Though she didn't know where she belonged, she knew it wasn't here.
"Weren't you listening? I said if you aren't careful. If it was just you, you probably would be stuck here. But you've got me. And I can get you out of here."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!"
"It's not that simple. We have to find a portal, and wait for it to open. The nearest one won't open until tomorrow morning. So I'm afraid we'll have to spend another night here."
The girl sat in silence. Finally she blurted, "Do you know where I belong? Where I come from? Who I am?" This last was said in desperate tones.
"I have an idea of the first, I know the second, and you'll have to figure out the third for yourself. Think. Can you remember your name?"
The girl pouted. "I already tried, I told you."
"Try again."
She closed her eyes and thought, thought hard. Two words floated up out of her subconscious. The girl opened her eyes. "There's only one thing I can remember that sounds like a name."
"Nan desu ka?"
"Kurai... Kurai Tsuki. Is that my name?"
"Well, I suppose it must be."
"You sound like you're not sure."
"I wouldn't know your human name."
The girl - Tsuki - stared at her cat. "What do you mean, my human name? Am I an alien or something?"
"No, you're something much better. You are a Sailor Senshi, a warrior dedicated to fighting evil. There is one for each planet."
"And which one am I? Mercury? Venus? Earth? Mars? Jupiter? Saturn? Uranus? Neptune? Pluto?" She named them all off.
"None of them."
"But you just said..."
"You are a special Sailor Senshi. You are Sailor Black Moon, princess of the planet Nemesis."
Tsuki sat there a moment. "How do I know this isn't some sort of joke?" she said finally.
Chandra sighed. "Very well, I'll prove it to you." A pen made of some sort of black metal appeared. "Hold this up and say, 'Moon Darkness Power, Make Up'."
"Moon Darkness Power, MAKE UP!"
Chandra took her over to a standing pool of water. "Look."
Tsuki stared in shock. She was dressed in a sailor fuku, she had on a tiara with a black crystal set in it, and her hair was up in two black odangoes. "Eew! What is this?!" She undid her hair quickly, and it cascaded about her in a black waterfall.
She tied it up in a braid, then surveyed herself in the makeshift mirror again. "Much better." She gazed at her reflection, smiled at herself slightly. This was way weird, but it actually felt natural.
Chandra cleared her throat. "Sailor Black Moon... I don't mean to intrude, but... THERE'S SOMETHING COMING THIS WAY!"
Black Moon jumped, and went into a fighting stance.
"You'll never get it that way," Chandra commented. "You'll need to use an attack."
"An attack?"
"Of course."
"What do I do? Tell me how to do it!"
Any reply from Chandra was cut off by a monstrous roar as a huge creature came crashing out of the bushes. It looked like a cross between a giant lizard and a giant bat. And it appeared to be hungry. It picked up Chandra as she tried to run, and brought her to its humongous mouth. But it stopped halfway there.
Sailor Black Moon ran up and kicked it in the shin, distracting it. Only now remembering her dagger, she pulled it out and stabbed the monster in the knee, as high as she could reach. It howled in pain and dropped Chandra, who landed nimbly on her feet and dashed behind the nearest tree.
Now the monster was mad. "Anou... I think that was a mistake," Black Moon muttered to herself as she backed away from the monster's frenzied swipes. It cornered her against a boulder and reached down.
Determined to meet her death head-on, Black Moon stared straight at it, not backing down for an instant, not giving into the urge to close her eyes, put her arms over her head and cower, hoping the creature wouldn't notice her. And as she stared, something strange happened.
A flash lit up the surroundings, and the monster went flying backward.
"Good work!" Chandra called. "Now while he's down, hit him with another attack!"
"I don't know how!" Black Moon whimpered. And she had good reason to whimper - the monster had recovered and was heading towards her.
"Take off your tiara, yell 'Black Tiara Destroy', and throw it!" Chandra yelled.
Now why did that command seem strangely familiar? Black Moon shook the thought aside. Now was not the time for analyzing memory flashes; if the monster got to her, there would no longer be a need to worry about such things.
She reached up. "Black Tiara, Destroy!" The black disk sliced the monster, and green, smoking blood poured forth, but he wasn't dead yet. "Chandra!" Black Moon screamed.
"Say Black Rain!" Chandra yelled.
"Black Rain!"
What seemed to be liquid black crystal fell from the sky and encased the monster in a block of solid crystal. Black Moon took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and walked forward cautiously to the newly created boulder.
"I did that?" she asked incredulously, touching the crystal with the dead monster inside.
"You did, and rather well, too, I might add. Though it's not at all surprising, considering-" The cat broke off mid-sentence.
"Considering what?" Black Moon asked suspiciously.
"Considering your aptitude for learning," Chandra said hastily. "Now dehenshin, and let's see about getting us something to eat."
***
Dagger in hand, Tsuki silently and carefully stalked one of the purple three-tailed squirrels. She crept up on it soundlessly. Just as she raised her dagger and was about to strike, however, she moved her foot and a twig snapped.
The squirrel went darting off into the trees.
"Shimatta." Tsuki sighed. That was the third one she'd tried to get. Or maybe it was the same one each time, and the things were just really stupid.
Chandra, up in a tree, made a noise that sounded like she was chuckling. "Give it up, Tsuki-chan. You probably don't want to eat him anyway."
"I *do*, and I'm going to get one! Just wait and see!"
"Very well, it's your meal. You keep trying, then. I'll see what I can find." Still chuckling to herself, Chandra jumped down and headed off.
"Baka furball," Tsuki muttered. "I'll show you."
***
Three hours later, it was dark, and Tsuki and Chandra were happily situated under a large tree, a small fire blazing. Chandra had somehow lit one and had it waiting when Tsuki returned. She had also managed to find some edible berries and greens, which she nibbled on delicately as Tsuki's squirrel, which she had finally managed to sneak up on and knife through the back, roasted over the fire.
"You know, that's just plain weird," Tsuki grumped. "You're a cat, you should *like* eating meat. And here you sit, eating berries."
Chandra, her mouth full, made no reply except for, "I believe your... thing... is cooked."
Tsuki hastily pulled it off the makeshift spit before it burned, and dropped it on a square of cloth she'd torn off the bottom of her robe for that exact purpose, blowing on her fingers and complaining, "Ittai, atsui, atsui atsui atsui!"
She waited until she thought the... animal... was cool, then picked it up in her hands and took a big bite, chewing contentedly.
Her eyes grew huge, and she stopped chewing.
"Ptooey!" A hunk of purple squirrel went flying out into the blackness, and Tsuki was at the puddle, frantically rinsing her mouth out.
"Not enough salt?" Chandra asked sweetly.
Tsuki rose up from the puddle, fists clenched, in a terrible rage. "You overgrown hairball... and you knew, didn't you? You knew it wasn't good to eat!"
"Well, I *did* try to warn you..." Chandra trailed off as Tsuki advanced. Seeing the look on her face, Chandra decided that discretion was the better part of valor. She took off running.
"Come back here, you flea-bitten feline! When I catch you, I'm gonna ram that thing down your throat!"
***
Still fuming, Tsuki sat cramming berries in her mouth. Chandra sat a safe distance off, not daring to break the silence.
It was funny, but the berries were practically tasteless, Tsuki thought. Even more than... even more than something she'd once eaten. Finishing her meal, she sighed, then looked to Chandra, who moved back a few paces. "It's all right," Tsuki assured her. "I'm not mad anymore. Well... not much," she corrected.
Chandra came in closer. "That's a relief," she commented. "I was wondering whether or not it was safe to go to sleep without waking up in the morning as a fur coat."
"Iie, I need you to get me out of here." Tsuki paused. "Just where are we going anyway? 20th century Tokyo?"
The cat froze. "What do you mean? What's so special about 20th century Tokyo?" She seemed to be holding her breath, scrutinizing Tsuki carefully as she replied.
"I keep hearing it in my head. I think that's where I'm supposed to be."
Chandra sighed. "We might be going there, I don't know yet. But we have a stop to make first. That's where we're headed when we go into the portal."
"Where are we going?"
"To visit an old friend."
End Part 3