(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
mafrey@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
Swords of Destiny Chronicle II
Finding the New Cub
By
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used here are the property of those people and
companies holding the copyrights to the respective storylines, series, and
movies. The only exceptions are those created by the demented minds of authors
of this story. The use of this material should be seen as the sign of respect
that it is. Besides, suing either of us would be a waste of time since we don't
have any money to begin with.
* * * * *
It was the evening that everyone had rescued Hotaru and Chibi-Usa from
their kidnappers. They were on Kevin's private island called Drakkensburg, before
they flew back to Tokyo the next day. After a heated debate, everyone wanted to
resume the cooking contest that Kevin and Makoto started the day before. When
the two contestants agreed to do it, everyone cheered. So the great cooking
contest resumed. When it was done and they were done eating, they moved to a lounge
area to settle their stomachs before going to bed.
The Senshi then started asking Kevin and Scott questions about their lives and how they
were dealing with their Immortalhood. The both of them answered as best as they could and
there was one question that was asked that stuck out the most as far as Kevin and Scott were
concerned, and Usagi was the one that asked it.
"How did you two first meet, after the Silver Millennium?" Usagi asked.
Scott and Kevin looked at each other and chuckled at the memory. Both of them looked
at each other and they silently agreed that Scott should start.
"Well, it started near the end of the thirteenth century. I was in France at the time, and
had just finished visiting a friend there, and was wondering where I should go next. It was then
that, I guess fate told me what to do next." Scott started his tale.
"What happened?" Minako asked.
"Kiana showed up." Scott replied.
"What!" Everyone except Scott and Kevin shouted.
"Yeah." Scott replied to them. "The first time I see her in almost thirteen hundred years,
and she decides to visit me when I'm in the middle of bathing in a pond."
"What?" Exclaimed most of the females in the room, some with a red tint to their cheeks.
"Her reply to that when I asked her why she would happen to show up when I was bathing
was to make sure that I didn't go anywhere until I was done hearing what she had to say." Scott
told the group.
"I don't know what one was worse. Your first meeting with her when you were bathing,
or when I first met her and hog-tied her." Kevin said, chuckling.
"What happened with that one?" Chibi-Usa asked in wonder.
"If you want to know about it, you'll have to ask her to tell you." Kevin replied.
"But she won't talk much about herself." Chibi-Usa said, frowning.
"Have fun." Kevin said.
"So what did you two talk about?" Michiru asked, getting back on the original subject.
"To make a long story short, she basically told me I had to go to Scotland, and that my
future will present itself to me." Scott said.
"So how did you meet Kevin?" Rei asked, wondering what all Scott was saying meant.
"Well, I already told this story to some of you, so I guess I'll tell it again, so the others
know. After I made my way to Scotland, I ran into a friend of mine, and stayed over at his place.
I found out that there was a war going on, and decided to join their forces to fight the English. So
we fought many battles that held the English at bay." Scott said, starting the tale. "I had been
through a couple of battles and was the equivalent of a sergeant when we received word of an
army that had been brought over from Ireland. Our leaders were frightened that these troops
would be more dangerous than the usual British troops because of the traditional hatred between
the Irish and the Scots. They were afraid of them, that is, until a patrol found a group of Irish
soldiers who had deserted the force that was marching toward us."
"It seems that this 'Army of Irishmen' we captured, consisted of 100 footmen. Compared
to the English forces we had been fighting, they were poorly equipped, severely disorganized, and,
to the English point of view, dangerously unpredictable. The Irish deserters that we found
willingly turned their weapons over to our sentries as a gesture of good will then simply set up
camp and waited for us to decide what to do with them. When our leaders heard about them, they
were confused...
# # # # #
Scotland, Argyle 1296
"How do we know that they can be trusted?" Sir William Brisbane asked, facing the other
leaders of the Scottish army. “They could all be spies for the English. They might infect some of
our troops with their poisonous words."
"Oh come now Sir William," Scott muttered disbelievingly. “If they were spies, they
would have come up with some better reason for arriving here than that they deserted from the
Irish troops because of Edward's reinstitution of Prima Noctum here. They would more likely say
that they had come here to offer their services after tricking the English to bring them over, or
some such nonsense as that.”
"And what would a simple man of arms know of the practices of royal spies,
Master Schwartzstern?" Sir William asked suspiciously.
"It would seem quite a bit more than you do, sir knight," Scott replied, smiling back at the
man. “But that is beside the point in this case. My recommendation, Sir Andrew, is that we give
them the freedom of the camp, but form them into their own unit so that they will only damage
themselves while keeping them from, as Sir William fears, 'infecting' our otherwise loyal troops.
In this way we can utilize them to the best of our abilities while preventing significant damage to
our own morale."
"A wise precaution, Master Schwartzstern," Sir Andrew de Moravia said, nodding. “As
Sir William has said we cannot risk them turning some of our already few troops against us. This
does bring up the problem of who to set over them as a chieftain, since they have none of their
own.”
"My Lord, since Master Schwartzstern is so positive of the good intentions of these men I
suggest that, for services to the Crown, Master Schwartzstern be given command of this band of
Irishmen.” Sir William's face lit in a smile of victory as Scott realized what he was in for.
"An excellent suggestion, Sir William," Sir Andrew replied smiling in return. “If you are
agreeable, Master Schwartzstern, I will place these men under your command in Fortingal's band.
Young Connor should do well as a second, don't you agree Sir William?" The knight's gleeful
contemplation turned sickly at the mention of his son and heir, but there was nothing he could do
without ruining any chance of advancement his son had.
"Of course my lord, Connor is an excellent choice," Scott replied, smiling at his erstwhile
enemy. “I will have my equipment moved to the new camp immediately if that will be all.” At Sir
Andrew's nod Scott left the tent.
********************
After ordering his squire to move his tent and equipment to the Irish camp, Scott made his
way toward the separate camp that the Irishmen had set up after surrendering their swords. As he
approached the camp he felt an unfamiliar tingling at the back of his neck similar to the one that
signaled the presence of one of his kind. Immediately, Scott shifted to a fully alert posture and
faded into the forest to check on the camp's inhabitants.
As he reached the edge of the camp, he noticed several differences between the Irishmen
and their Scottish counterparts. First, the Irish had posted sentries around their camp armed with
quarterstaffs since they had surrendered their swords. Others were practicing with the staves while
several sat by a nearly smokeless fire obviously making arrows for the long bows that were leaned
against several trees in easy reach. He felt the strange tingling again to his left and spotted one
man who was practicing with a wooden sword that was a little thinner than most of the ones that
they had confiscated from these men. Watching the man, Scott was surprised to see a number of
familiar patterns that he hadn't seen in a number of years. Scott shook off the feeling of familiarity
reminding himself that there were many styles of fighting that he had seen in the last thousand
years.
Shaking himself to clear the last vestiges of the eerie feeling, Scott moved back to a safe
distance then hailed the sentries. When told to come forward, he complied carefully keeping his
hands away from his weapons. When he was in the camp, and had given them Sir Andrew's
response to their request, he was led to the man who was practicing with the wooden sword. This
man was Kevin O'Connell, son of a deposed knight in Donegal County. He was also the one on
which the strange tingling was centered.
As Scott approached he noticed that Kevin trusted the men around him only as much as
the circumstances required. Kevin smirked at the man that had come into their camp and looked
him over. “And who might you be, my fine man? Hmm?" Kevin asked, motioning the guards a
little away from Scott. “You’re not wear the kilt so, I'm guessing you’re not a Scotsman, but the
patrols around here are so thick you'd have to be suicidal to be working for the long shanks.”
"I was ordered by Sir Andrew to act as your commander when we meet the English,"
Scott replied. “Your right that I'm not of the clans, but I am a trusted friend of Sir Andrew's
family, as well as knowing something of warfare. One of the lairds decided that since I wasn't of
the clans, you would be more willing to take my orders.”
"Then your laird was wrong," Kevin replied, and then shook his head when Scott was
going to protest. "Oh, it's not that we aren't willing to take your orders, it's just that we would be
just as willing to take any sane man's orders. Most of us know nothing of warfare, and would be
willing to do anything as long as it made sense.”
"Then I'll try to make sure that my orders make sense," Scott said, smiling in response to
the laughter his reply caused among the group around him. “Since you seem to be the most
talkative among this lot, would you care to tell me what skills these men have that would be
useful? My name is Scott Schwartzstern by the by.”
"Well Master Schwartzstern, these men have several useful talents...” Kevin then
proceeded to explain what the hundred Irishmen were capable of.
********************
The smoke from the fire Sir William Wallace had ignited at the beginning of the battle
was finally starting to dissipate when the runner with orders for the 'Irregulars', as Scott's Irishmen
had come to be called in the last weeks, arrived Scott spent several seconds gaping in shock. “And
these orders came from whom?" He asked the messenger who had been told to join this unit after
delivering the message.
"From Sir William Brisbane, sir...the Irregulars are to fall back to the wood and wait there
for additional orders from him.” The man replied, looking rather uncomfortable under the stares
of the four men. Connor of Brisbane looked at the man in disbelief. Kevin O'Connell and the
other man who Scott had taken as a sergeant wore expressions of disgust.
"And what of Sir Andrew de Moravia?" Scott finally asked.
"Dead sir, killed in the first mounted charge."
Scott stared at the man in shock as the disaster-hit home. He simply stood, shaking his
head. Then his head came up as the sentry on the right flank called a warning.
"Master Schwartzstern, another rider coming.”
The Irishmen blended into the underbrush as silently as ghosts except for Scott and Kevin.
The rider saw them, and then wheeled his horse and rode back the way he'd come.
"We've been seen," Scott shouted to his men.” We have no choice, now we must fight.
Prepare to attack the enemy as they come through the trees.” The men moved into the forest
behind them and prepared themselves.
The enemy first appeared in the form of heavy cavalry. As the mounted men reached the
edge of the forest, which was the only barrier between them and the unprotected left flank of the
Scottish Army, they were met by a storm of arrows from the trees. The commander of the cavalry
unit ordered up the archers attached to the troop he was leading and they unleashed a withering
storm of arrows, which drove the Irish back further under the trees. Scott sent the messenger off to
demand reinforcements then gasped in shock as he felt an all too familiar tingling along his
nerves. Looking around for the source, he saw Kevin O'Connell lying on the ground with an arrow
in his chest. Then he felt a rush of pain as another arrow suddenly blossomed from his belly. Scott
fell over with a groan and blacked out when the arrow was pulled out by his fall.
********************
Scott returned to consciousness at night. From the absence of smoke in the air, he
realized that it was very late at night. He looked around and saw numerous huddled forms that
were the unburied corpses of the dead. From this state he realized that all of the men on both
sides had died, including his messenger. The buzz of another immortal presence was still strong,
and when he walked slowly over to Kevin, he watched the man shudder violently, then lay still
several times. Judging from the arrow's position and Kevin's repeated revivals followed
immediately by death, Scott came to the conclusion that the arrow had gone through his heart.
Snapping the head that protruded from Kevin's back off, Scott slowly slid the arrow and was
rewarded with a rush of arterial blood, which stopped almost immediately. Wrapping Kevin in fur
blankets from some of the bedrolls of the fallen, then set about burying the dead.
After Scott was done burying some of the dead, he was tired and needed some rest. So he
dragged Kevin into a nearby cave and started a fire. He placed Kevin near the fire and started to
prepare an area for him to sleep on. It was about that time that he heard an intake of breath and
saw Kevin trying to sit up. He came up behind him and helped him sit up. When Kevin was
steady enough to sit up by himself, he released him and moved to sit in front of him. He saw the
look of surprise on Kevin's face and started to smile.
"Well, my young Immortal, you're going to need a lot more training to keep your head on
your shoulders." Scott said then started laughing. It was then that Kevin looked very tired and
went and lay down again, and drifted into a deep sleep.
The next morning had Scott and Kevin packing and heading to a nearby port. While they
were walking, Scott was telling Kevin what happened to him and what he was now, and all the
other important information he needed to know. At a break, Kevin started talking to Scott.
“What do you mean, I’m Immortal?” Kevin asked, slightly confused.
“I mean what I said. You died and came back to life.” Scott replied.
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Kevin said, slightly angry.
“You said that you felt a burning sensation in your chest, I pulled an arrow out of your
chest.” Scott said looking directly at Kevin. “Where’s the wound?”
“Okay, I believe you.” Kevin said as he looked at his chest and saw no wound there, only
a barely visible scar. “So what does this mean?”
“What this means is that your life has now began a new, and the rules you lived by have
changed.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Well, as far as everyone you knew is concerned, you’re dead. So you have to leave the
country for a while. Can you handle that?”
“How long must I be gone?”
“For at least one generation.”
“I guess I can handle that.”
“Good.”
“Where are we going?”
“To meet up with a friend of mine in Japan.”
“That is a long way. What are we going to do until then?”
“I’m going to teach you the rules of the Game, and how to handle a sword better.”
“I got no choice in this, do I?”
“Not unless you want to lose your head.”
# # # # #
“So what did you guys do while you were heading to Japan?” Makoto asked.
“Mostly we spent that time training and him learning the rules of the Game.” Scott
replied.
“We ran into several Immortals along the way.” Kevin started saying with s smile. “Most
of them were friendly, but some were just looking for an easy kill. I proved them wrong.”
“What did you guys do when you finally reached Japan?” Hotaru asked.
“We met up with a friend of mine named James Dillinger.” Scott replied.
“Who is that?” Usagi asked.
“One of my students, who at the time, was learning secret techniques of illusions.” Scott
said.
“Illusions? They are real?” Minako asked surprised.
“Yes they are real and he can do them.” Kevin grumbled. “Tricked me one time with
those techniques.”
“So what happened there?” Makoto asked, wanting to hear the rest of the story.
“That is where we met a person by the name of Yosho.” Scott said.
“Yosho, who’s that?” Mostly everyone acquired about. Scott and Kevin looked at each
other and nodded to one another.
“Yosho is the one who started the Masaki shrine, and who is the ancestor of the current
priest.” Kevin replied.
“The Masaki Shrine!” Rei exclaimed.
“Rei, you know about it?” Usagi asked in surprise.
“Every shrine in Japan knows about that shrine.” Rei said.
“What is so special about it?” Haruka asked.
“The legend says that a great warrior from the sky came down to fight a demon that came
out of no where. The demon was destroying several villages before the warrior showed up. The
warrior was putting up a good fight, but was quickly losing. It wasn’t until three other warriors …
came … and … helped … out.” Rei was saying until she just suddenly stopped talking.
Everyone was wondering why Rei suddenly stopped talking. They all looked over at her
and she was staring at Scott and Kevin, wide eyed. They looked over at Scott and Kevin, and
found Scott smiling and Kevin grinning. They were still trying to figure out what was going on.
“You guys were those three warriors.” Rei suddenly said.
It was then that everyone figured out what was going on. From the story that Scott was
saying, and the story that Rei started saying, they pieced it together and everyone was staring at
Scott and Kevin.
“It’s amazing how legends can be really true.” Scott said chuckling at everyone’s
expression.
“So what did you guy’s do?” Ami asked.
“Well, we were wondering around for a bit, to get acquainted with each other, when we
saw what we considered meteors fall to the ground.” Scott started saying again. “We watched
where they landed and saw that it was near a village. Since we were about half a day away, we
decided to see if we could lend a hand. What we saw there surprised all of us.”
# # # # #
Yosho was now having doubts about defeating Ryoko. He was about to defeat her until
she got passed his defense and scored a hit. Now he was pressed to keep her away from killing
him. His hopes were gone when Ryoko had knocked him down and was about to do the killing
blow, when a miracle happened.
A rock flew past and hit Ryoko in the head, causing her to step back and defend against
the on coming rocks. He then felt two hands grab him and pulled him away. Ryoko got fed up
and teleported away for a while. Yosho looked up and found a big burly man pulling him towards
two other men, who were the ones throwing the rocks.
“Who are you people?” Yosho asked.
“Just some people that was nearby when we saw someone in trouble.” The big man had
said. “My name is James, the one in the red hair is Kevin, and the other man is Scott.”
“I thank you for your help, but I need to hunt down that demon.” Yosho said.
“Not with the injuries you got.” Scott said as he was checking Yosho over for any more
injuries.
“But I need to hunt down the demon and destroy her.” Yosho said as he calmed down
and let Scott check him over.
“What is her story, anyway?” Jim asked.
“She came and attacked my home. So I swore I would hunt her down and destroy her.”
Yosho said.
“What is your story?” Scott asked as he wrapped a makeshift bandage over Yosho’s arm.
“What do you mean?” Yosho asked confused.
“In all my time, I have never seen a sword made out of light. If this is a demon, as you
say, I could understand that she would have one.” Scott started saying. “But how do you have
one?”
Yosho looks around and sighs defeated. “I am not from this world.” Yosho said, and
noticed the raised eyebrows. “The demons name is Ryoko and she attacked my world. I came
after her to destroy her, but I guess I was a little careless. I would probably be dead right now if it
wasn’t for you three.”
“No problem.” Kevin said. “We were happy to help out. Now how are we going to take
care of your problem?”
“You don’t need to help me.” Yosho said.
“Just except it.” Jim said.
“We are going to help you wither you like it or not.” Scott said, smiling.
“I thank you.” Yosho said.
After Yosho was well enough to move, they made their way to the nearby village to plan
on what they wanted to do. They sat at an Inn to eat and talk. Yosho filled them in on his life and
why he was there. They were talking about what to do to Ryoko when they heard an explosion
outside.
They all ran outside to see what caused the explosion. When they got outside, they saw
everyone running away from a building that was burning. They heard another explosion and
found Ryoko hovering nearby. All four of them drew their swords and went to where Ryoko was.
As they got closer, they saw Ryoko blasting away aimlessly. Scott and Kevin saw that a
few people were getting killed, so they tried to protect as many as they could. It wasn’t until Scott
took a blast through the chest and dropped dead that things started changing for the worst.
As Kevin saw Scott go down, he failed to dodge a blast and took a hit that killed him.
During the fight, Yosho had reopened his wound, so Jim and him had fallen back to gain a
breather.
“Sorry about your friends.” Yosho said apologetic.
“Don’t worry about them right now. How do we take her out?” Jim said minorly angry.
“The gems that she wears are her power source. If I can get close to her, I should be able
to take care of her.” Yosho said.
“Leave that to me. When I give you the word, start charging her.” Jim said.
“Okay.” Yosho said, wondering what Jim had planned.
Jim waited until Ryoko was hovering near the ground of where they were at, and then Jim
gave Yosho the word. Yosho started running towards Ryoko. When Ryoko saw him, she brought
her hand up and collected energy to shoot it, when all of a sudden; Yosho blurred and suddenly
there was two Yosho’s running towards her.
Then suddenly there were four, then eight, then sixteen, and then over twenty. Ryoko
started shooting at the images of Yosho. One by one, the images started disappearing. When
there were only two images left, Ryoko took her best guess and fired off a blast. The blast hit the
image on the left and disappeared. She was about to fire again, but Yosho was on her.
Yosho thrust his sword, until it went through her neck and she froze. Then all of a
sudden, three flashes occurred and three balls of light traveled down the blade of the sword.
There were another three flashes and there were three gems on the hilt of Yosho’s sword. When
that was done, Yosho removed the sword and Ryoko collapsed on the ground. He then wobbled
over to Jim.
“Is she defeated?” Jim asked, tiredly.
“Yes.” Yosho replied.
“Good, I don’t think I can pull that trick again for a while.” Jim said.
“What did you do?” Yosho asked.
“I created over twenty images of you.”
“Nice trick.”
“It comes in handy.”
“I’m sorry about your friend’s deaths.”
“Don’t worry about them; they’re made of tough stuff.”
“You’re acting as they are going to breath and sit up.”
Jim gave him a smile and looked at Yosho. When he heard two intakes of breath and
smiled at Yosho’s expression when Scott and Kevin breathed and sat up.
“Come, let us take care of your demon and we will tell you our story.” Jim said.
# # # # #
“So what did you guys do?” Makoto asked.
“We helped Yosho seal Ryoko in a cave and told him about our Immortality. After that,
we found out that his ship was beyond repair and he decided to stay. That was how the Masaki
shrine started.” Scott said.
“Wow. That is neat.” Chibi-Usa said excitedly. “Can we go there sometime?”
“We’ll see.” Scott said smiling.
“Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening. Most of us still have to worry about School
tomorrow.” Rei said.
So they enjoyed the evening and went back home the next day. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru
kept pestering Scott and Kevin about wanting to go see the Masaki shrine. They eventually caved
in and agreed.
THE END FOR NOW.