Warriors of Magic

By K'thardin

Standard Disclaimer:  Pretty Sami is property of someone else.  
I'm just borrowing the characters for a time.  Any characters I 
make up are mine, and if you don't know the difference you need 
to go watch Pretty Sami!  Heh.

Authors Forward:  I think this will be the second truly Pretty 
Sami fic out there.  It may be the first one posted someplace, 
but I know of one pure Pretty Sami fic that was started way 
before this one (and I look forward to it's completion...along 
with his other projects!)  This one came about when we realized 
all current Pretty Sami fics were either parodies or crossovers 
(with either the original series or something else).  I would 
like to thank Happosai and various others for their invaluable 
assistance in the completion of the first part of this particular 
chapter.  Thank you all, it means more than I can say.

Child Warriors

<Opening Theme: Please Don't Go - KWS>

	"...and you shall rue the day you dared trifle with me!  
Bonjour!"  With that, the blond girl who couldn't have been more 
than 9 or 10 years old, clad in the strange leather outfit that 
showed quite a bit more skin than a girl her age should, jumped 
from the rooftop into the street below, from there disappearing 
to only God knows where.  God and one young man:  a young man who 
happened to be magically disguised as a brightly colored purple 
bird with hash marks of greens and pinks running across his face.  
The bird looked like it came from a more tropical region, but 
only appeared to be exotic upon initial inspection.  If one were 
any kind of expert at all on birds, one would instantly tell that 
this was a bird that has NEVER existed on this world.
	A man though?  No, not man, really.  He himself couldn't be 
much older than the girl he had watched jump from the roof.  But 
you'd never be able to recognize him as a child, if you looked 
into his eyes.  Children did not have eyes like he did; eyes that 
reflected a suppressed pain, and anger that no child should ever 
know.  And the pain was one of having innocence ripped away by 
those who didn't seem to care one way or another about him.  Only 
of what use he would be to them...HER.  He looked back toward the 
blonde's opponent.  This girl was of about the same age as the 
other one.  Long, very long, blue green hair, tied into two 
ponytails, was her most striking feature.
	That and those bright pink eyes that held a fierceness and 
determination in them that he had only seen in one other...that 
being the blonde girl this one had just defeated.
	No that was wrong too.  He used to have that look in his 
eye.  It seemed an eternity since those days, when he and R...try 
not to think about him, he told himself.  Those days are long 
over, and will never come again.
	Despite what he told himself, the memories flashed briefly 
through his mind, of those days when it was just him and his 
friend training in magical, martial, and other arts under the 
watchful eye, and sarcastic smile, of Sensei.
	Poor sensei, the bird chuckled to himself momentarily.
	This was no time for woolgathering, he reminded himself.  
Shaking his head slightly he took off from his perch, unseen by 
the blue haired magical girl. He needed to rejoin his partner, 
his charge, his lo...I'm not even allowed that, he mused sadly as 
he flew through the sky.
	Sasami Kawaii, aka Pretty Sami, aka the girl with the blue 
hair and pink eyes, watched the blonde jump from the roof and 
into the alley below.  Previous experience had taught her that it 
would be futile to follow.  One of these days, though, she would 
corner Pixy Misa, and then...
	Actually, she hadn't thought that far into the future yet.  
Obviously it would be something that would need to be considered 
in case she was ever to find herself in that situation.
	It had to end one day, though.  Somehow, someway.  People 
always got hurt in these fights.  Most notably the people around 
her seemed to be the favorite targets of Misa.  Fortunately not 
this time.  She had managed to stop Misa almost before she had 
started changing people to LoveLove monsters (who came up with 
those names anyway? she wondered), but what about next time?  She 
had to end this before someone got killed.
	Absently she used the heart attachment on her paddle shaped 
baton to scratch the back of her head.  Why do I have to do this?  
It's too much for a fourth grader!
	"What's wrong Sami?"  She started, then focused her 
attention on the source of the voice:  the cute little furry 
creature with it's oversized feet, long extended ears, and feline 
eyes looked like some weird cross between a cat and rabbit, who 
was also her companion, and source of invaluable assistance when 
it came to being a magical girl.  At this moment he looked 
worried.
	"Oh...I was just thinking, Ryo-ohki."
	"About?"
	Sami sighed, and let her arms hang loosely at her sides.  
"I was just wondering when this was going to end."
	Ryo-ohki tried to smile reassuringly, hoping that his own 
misgivings didn't show through.  What she needed now was someone 
to tell her it was all right, and that everything would be fine.  
What he would give to tell her that, to tell her anything at all, 
in his truer form.  What he would give that she would believe him 
in any form.  Despite the courage of this remarkable girl showed, 
she had a major confidence problem.  Worse...she was beginning to 
loose hope.
	"Hey c'mon.  It'll all turn out fine.  You'll see."  Damn 
you, Tsunami.  Why did you have to involve such a kind and 
compassionate girl in your little 'test'?  Silently he berated 
himself for such thoughts.  Those were exactly the qualities 
Tsunami was looking for in a girl to make this world a better 
place in some small way; thus passing the final test.
	And by doing so, he knew she would secure her place on the 
throne of Juraihelm.  This being the position both Tsunami and 
Ramia had been in training for all their lives.  Ah yes, Tsunami, 
his mistress who was innocent and naïve to a fault; and the 
other, Ramia, power hungry and tyrannical, not to mention a total 
bitch.  He felt pity for a certain friend of his that had to deal 
with her day in and day out.  He just wondered if their sensei 
was right in his belief that all she really needed was a 
good...how did he put it?  A good...night's work?  Something like 
that.  Perhaps one day he would figure out what sensei meant by 
that.  Heh...whatever sensei meant it would most definitely prove 
to be entertaining, considering that man's sense of humor.
	In all actuality, given a choice between the two, he would 
still choose Tsunami over Ramia, despite the fact that his best 
friend was called back early to take service with Ramia three 
years ago.  He sure as hell wasn't going to leave him there with 
that...woman...alone.  However, he could not take service with 
her, as she didn't want nor need another for that job.  So he had 
offered his abilities, small and undeveloped though they might 
have been (and still were), to Tsunami.  She surprised him, and 
everyone else, by accepting.
	The reason he would choose Tsunami over Ramia was not only 
because she was kind and forgiving, where Ramia was cold and 
merciless, but also because she let him stay there with his 
friend.  That alone said something about her character.
	Unfortunately duty to Tsunami had caused his separation 
from his friend.  Ryo-ohki hoped his friend was doing okay 
without him.
	He turned his attention back to Sami, who also appeared to 
be lost in thought.  "We should go now.  Your mother and brother 
are probably worried."
	"Hmm? Oh...right."  She raised her baton, preparing to 
transform back to Sasami, but stopped and looked at her clothes 
critically.  "Have you ever thought that Tsunami has really bad 
taste in uniforms?"
	Ryo-ohki looked at the outfit.  Pink blouse, white armlets, 
and short white miniskirt, affording very little in the way of 
protection.  He nodded.  "Yeah, but think of it this way...you 
could be wearing a sailor fuku."
	Sasami shuddered.  "And to think I used to LIKE that show."
	Ryo-ohki chuckled.  On the up side it does show off those 
nice legs of yours quite well.  It was probably a good thing he 
kept that last part to himself.
-------------------------

	Pixy Misa collapsed in one of the back alleys around her 
home neighborhood, breathing very hard as the pain in her chest 
intensified for a moment then slowly began to fade.
	"D...Damn it..." she gasped.  By will alone she forced 
herself to take slow, even breaths in an exercise experience had 
taught her would stop her hyperventilating and bring her 
breathing back to normal.
	"Misa...we've got to get you back into your real form."
	She weakly looked up at Rumia, who was perched on a brick 
fence across from her.  She nodded to him in agreement.  "In a 
moment...mon...mon ami. Le...let me re…rest for a se...econd."  
After a few minutes she was able to fill her lungs and exhale 
normally.  Rumia jumped off the fence and glided to the ground 
next to her.  "Well, that was fun.  I think I actually got in a 
few good licks in that fight.  I'll get her next time."
	Rumia said nothing as he watched her get some of her 
strength back.  Pixy Misa had a very big problem, Rumia had 
found.  Misao, her true form, was a sickly girl, and so didn't 
have that much endurance.  Her alter ego, Pixy Misa, shared all 
of Misao's weaknesses.  Though her magical power could compensate 
for most of them, when pushed to the limits as had happened in 
this fight, Pixy Misa became susceptible to all that Misao 
suffered; asthma being one of the worst.
	Another problem was how hard Pixy pushed their shared body.  
While the magic in Misa's body compensated for a lot of the 
energy that Misao didn't have, again, when pushed to the limits, 
Misao's lack of endurance came back on them...and worse still, 
when she changed back to Misao, Misao would be completely wiped 
out, and weak for days afterward.
	It was beginning to show on both of them.  She was 
beginning to lose weight she couldn't afford to, and the bags 
under her eyes had grown deeper and deeper in the past few weeks.  
She couldn't last much longer like this.  In fact, he wasn't sure 
she'd last the next fight, despite her bravado.  He couldn't 
allow Ramia to keep using this sweet and innocent girl like this.  
Somehow he had to stop her or his beloved Misao would die.
	"It's time," he said emotionlessly.
	She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.  "Do 
you know how much I hate going back to being like that?  Misao is 
so weak and repressed.  I LIKE being strong and free.  Free and 
wild!"  
	Yes, Misao is weak and repressed, Rumia agreed silently.  
All you are is what is underneath that.  Scratch the surface of 
Misao, and what you see is Pixy Misa.
	She looked at him imploringly.  "Don't you like me like 
this too?"
	It's a part of you.  I lo...care about all of it.
	"If you don't go back to normal and really rest you may not 
last much longer."
	"Yeah, Yeah, I know.  Help me up."  Closing his eyes, he 
concentrated for a moment.  A shimmering light flowed around him, 
turning his form to a liquid moving energy.  The energy reshaped 
and reformed itself into a striking-looking boy with red hair, 
and very strange clothes.  She raised her hands to him, and 
wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her to her feet.  
They just stood there holding each other a lot longer than was 
really necessary for just helping Pixy to her feet.
	Then Rumia began to glow again, and something seemed to 
pass between them.  Blond hair grew dark as it turned raven 
black.  The fiery red colored eyes grew dark, then changed to 
green.  The last thing to revert was her clothes, as they changed 
back to a simple fuku, her school uniform.  Misao Amano's eyes 
focused on Rumia briefly.  He thought he saw a smile in them when 
she saw who was holding her, or perhaps that was just wishful 
thinking.  In the next second, she went limp in his arms as she 
passed out from exhaustion.
	As carefully as he could manage, he lowered her back to the 
ground.  Propping her up as gently as he could against a brick 
wall, a tender expression came over him.  Slowly he reached out 
and smoothed the bangs from her eyes.
	"MISAO!"
	Oh, no!  He knew that voice.  She saw me, he thought in 
fear.  
	Sasami ran up to them.  "Who are you?  What did you do to 
her?!" she demanded.
	Take it easy Rumia, she doesn't know who you are, he told 
himself.  "I just saw her back here and was wondering if she was 
all right."  He looked at Sasami's worried face before something 
else caught his attention.
	He stood stock still, eyes wide, totally and completely 
shocked at what he saw.  That which he was watching, not only was 
watching him back, but was also in the same condition.
	Ryo-ohki.  Oh no.
	For a tense moment, each of the two waited for the other to 
make a move.  Finally Sasami broke the tension herself and 
roughly pushed Rumia out of the way so she could check on her 
friend.
	As Sasami put a cool hand to Misao's forehead, the 
unconscious girl stirred.  Her eyes fluttered open and focused on 
the blue-haired girl above her.  "Misao!  Are you alright?"
	"Sa...Sasami," she mumbled.  "I don't feel so good."
	"Here!"  Sasami grabbed one of Misao's arms and pulled it 
over her shoulder.  With strength that would have surprised 
anyone who had been watching, Sasami pulled Misao up to her feet, 
and shouldered most of Misao's weight herself.  "I'll get you 
home, don't worry!"
	Misao nodded weakly. That's when she noticed Rumia.  She 
looked at him curiously.  For his part he looked almost as a deer 
caught in headlights; her gaze holding him fast.  "You are the 
boy who helped me," she stated softly.  "Thank you."
	It took him a moment to break free of the spell she held 
him in, a spell far stronger than anything he had ever imagined 
he would face, before he could answer.  "It...It was nothing.  
Please...let your friend get you home."
	"C'mon, Misao, he's right.  We've got to get home."  Misao 
nodded.  As the two turned to leave the alley Misao cast a quick 
glance back in his direction, almost not expecting him to be 
there any longer.  Yet he was still there...still watching, but 
seemingly not watching her.
	Ryo-ohki and Rumia locked eyes again and stayed that way, 
until Sasami and Misao disappeared from sight.
	Rumia didn't think.  He didn't have to.  He knew what would 
be coming next.  As sure as he knew his duty to his sister, he 
knew:  Ryo-ohki would be looking for him now.  And when they 
inevitably met...
	Rumia transformed back to a bird and flew off in a 
direction.  Didn't matter which one.  No matter what, he'd find 
his way back here.  Back to Misao, Sasami, and...to what would 
need to be done.
	
	As he had many nights before, Ryo-ohki watched Sasami 
sleep.  Not as a cabbit, but as a boy, a boy on the verge of 
becoming a young man.  However, he had been a man in mind, long 
before he would become one in body.
	Sasami shifted in her sleep and mumbled something about 
math and ice cream.  The corners of Ryo-ohki's mouth lifted as 
mirth threatened to overcome him.  His fangs flashed in the 
moonlight as he moved from her chair to her bed. Carefully, so as 
not to wake her, he reached over and pulled covers that she had 
knocked off in her slumber back over her shoulders, and over her 
feet.
	Rumia.
	He looked with wonder in his eyes upon the girl; almost not 
believing such an angelic person could exist in any world.
	Rumia.
	Quietly he walked around Sasami's bed, and sat down next to 
her.  She looked so peaceful and untroubled by all the cares of 
the day.  At night he could just watch as her face untightened, 
as her muscles relaxed, and she let everything go while she slept 
and dreamed.
	Rumia is here.
	She was gorgeous like that.  The moon's light reflecting 
off her bright blue hair.  Her face glowing in its radiance.  
Blue hair...it showed that Tsunami had a lot more to do with 
Sasami than Tsunami had yet revealed.  Who knows what, though?  
Such thoughts began to fade as he continued to look at Sasami 
this night.
	Rumia is here.
	She was more than pretty.  Though still a girl, she showed 
signs that she would be extraordinarily beautiful when she became 
a woman.  As beautiful as Tsunami and Ramia were, which would be 
an amazing thing considering THEIR looks.  However, greed and 
envy twisted Ramia's beauty.  Quite possibly something else as 
well, considering what Ryo-ohki knew of his mistress.  Again 
mirth threatened to overtake him.
	Rumia is waiting for me.
	How he longed to see that woman she would become.  To hold 
her then.  Hell, to hold her now.  Absently he touched his lips 
that still remembered the feel of hers upon them when he shared 
his power with her to defeat that alien.  He wanted that touch 
again.  He wanted her to know him as the Ryo-ohki the man, not 
Ryo-ohki, Sailor Moon cabbit sidekick.  He ground his teeth in 
distaste at that thought...because that was exactly what he had 
become.
	Rumia is waiting for me.
	Briefly Ryo-ohki allowed himself to imagine Sasami and him 
together in the future.  She no longer burdened by this magical 
girl business, and he standing proudly at her side as her 
husband.  Where he would not fear to show her his affection...his 
love.  To just hold her all night long.
	How he burned to do this now.
	Rumia must be confronted.
	How he damned that it could not be so.  How he damned that 
even if he did show her what he really was...there was no telling 
how she'd react.  As much as he fantasized, wondered, and even 
wished for, there was no guarantee that she would not hate him.
	Especially when she discovers that a boy has been sleeping 
with her for all this time, he thought wryly.  That could get me 
killed.
	Rumia must be...YEAH I KNOW! he thought savagely, 
suppressing the part of himself that kept reminding him of his 
new problem.  Rumia must be confronted.  He shifted his weight 
ever so slightly in preparation to stand when he heard her speak.  
"Ryo-ohki?"
	He glanced down in worry, but relaxed when he saw she was 
still asleep.  "Yes?" he replied softly.
	"Don't leave."
	He closed his eyes, and sighed softly.  "I won't," he lied.  
Rumia was here...and a lot of little things began to make sense.  
He knew Ramia was behind Pixy Misa, but until today he'd had no 
idea either who she was or how she infused the power into said 
individual.  It should have been obvious to him from the start.  
The same way Tsunami did with Sasami, the power was already 
there.  However, in this world at this time, these girls...these 
Magical Girls...were not yet able to access their gifts without 
tools and assistance.  One of his purposes was the keeper of her 
wand when she did not need it.  Except in this case it was that 
frail girl, who just happened to be Sasami's best friend, Misao.  
And Rumia was the keeper of her weapon.
	How could he do that to such a girl?  How could he be a 
part of doing this to anyone?  He has disgraced his 
teachings...and worse, disgraced himself.  He must be stopped, 
before he and Ramia kill that girl.
	After that I'll need to tell Tsunami about Misao.  He 
gritted his teeth again.  Assuming she'll believe me.  If not I 
may have to go to sensei, and if he won't do anything, I'm on my 
own.
	Ryo-ohki rose from the bed, causing a slight murmur of 
protest from Sasami.  He walked to the wall and phased his body 
through, pausing halfway to look back on Sasami, who was still 
fast asleep.  	This fight is not for you Sasami, Ryo-ohki 
thought sadly.  Goodbye.
	Ryo-ohki walked through the neighborhood.  His destination 
was the alley where he had seen his old friend.  Turning a 
corner, he finally came upon it, and Rumia was there waiting.  
Ryo-ohki knew he would be.
	Rumia looked up from his seat on a trashcan and 
acknowledged Ryo-ohki's presence.  "I've been waiting."
	"I know."
	Rumia jumped down and landed easily on his feet.  A slight 
breeze billowed through the corridor-like passage between 
buildings, his cape fluttering in the wind as it passed.  
Absently he swept his bangs from his eyes, and looked intently 
into Ryo-ohki's.
	They locked gazes for a time, saying nothing, as nothing 
needed to be said between them.  All that was needed to be 
communicated, all of it, was said in this stare.  Finally Ryo-
ohki looked away, and his clothing blurred and reformed itself 
into a loose fitting garment of soft brown and a grey belt.
	Rumia's clothing had undergone a similar transformation, 
only being blue with a grey belt.
	"Promise me one thing,"  Ramia pleaded.
	"What?"
	"If you survive, promise that you'll take care of Misao."
	Ryo-ohki nodded.  "I promise."
	"Thank you, old friend."
	They charged each other soundlessly, and the battle was 
joined.

<End Theme:  It's a Kind of Magic - Queen>

All C&C (which is liked, appreciated, and shamelessly begged for 
^_-) go to Kthardin@yahoo.com