It was a beautiful night. It was the sort of night that made couples want to cuddle and old people to reminisce. It was the sort of night on which nothing spectacular happened. However, that belied the events that occurred on this night. "Oh, man... anybody get the number of that truck?" mumbled Sir Terra. He glanced down at himself, "Wha-...?" Then he remembered. He looked at each of the Senshi present, one at a time. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, and, finally, Sailor Mercury. "I... I remember..." Then he collapsed. *********************************************************************** Based on stuff that's not mine *********************************************************************** Written by Cyclone *********************************************************************** W H I R L W I N D P R O D U C T I O N S *********************************************************************** presents *********************************************************************** T H E L U N A R K N I G H T S *********************************************************************** Author's Notes: Not really much to say here except enjoy the 'fic and tell me what you think. A note on pronounciation: Branaugh is pronounced brawn-NOW. Lathian is pronounced lay-THEE-en. *********************************************************************** Episode Six--Remembrance Mamoru Chiba suddenly jerked upright. Someone close to him was in trouble! He didn't have much time. He bolted to the window. *He needs me _now_!* Then he stumbled as his mind processed that last thought. *'He'?* A vague memory of Sir Terra in the garden of the palace on Earth during the Silver Millenium flashed by. He frowned, shook off the peculiar sensation, and dashed out into the night. Elsewhere... Ranma, Sir Terra, was confused. A myriad of images flashed across his vision. They were at once vague and distinct. An image of a woman with silver hair in an elegant gown passed as his heart was filled with respect and devotion. Another memory, this one of Sailor Mercury laughing and running from him playfully, but it was not the same girl that he knew now. An intense warmth welled up within him. Each of the other Senshi, with the sole exception of Sailor Moon, flashed by, each with a different emotion attached. The last image he could remember when he was again coherent was a young man, older than himself and dressed in armor. He was someone Ranma trusted in his past life. He glanced around and examined his surroundings. He was in a small bedroom, and a glance out the window confirmed his location on the third story of an apartment building. He got off the bed and approached the door with more than a little trepidation. Just before he took hold of the door knob, the door opened to reveal a mannishly-dressed blonde woman. Ranma stepped back in surprise, unconsciously shifting into a deception stance. The woman was equally surprised. "You're awake." "Yeah. So?" She shook her head in disbelief and turned, "C'mon." Ranma blinked. "Geeze, Uranus. You don't hafta be so rude." She spun and stared at him. "How-...?!" He blinked. "I... I don't know. I... I just... _know_..." She eyed him warily. To her, he was a threat. He knew far more about them than they knew about him. The fact that he had figured out her identity the first time he had even met her regular self added to her distrust. They left the room and went to the living room. Waiting for them were the collected Senshi, each with a different expression of surprise on her face. There was also a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties. Ranma gaped when their eyes met, "Endymion?" Suddenly, a rush of memories flooded them both. Prince Endymion was in the palace garden when he heard a very familiar voice call out, "Big brother! Hey!" He turned. Sir Terra stood there. They weren't really brothers, but Terra's position as leader of the Lunar Knights placed him in the line of succession immediately after the heir apparent, namely Endymion himself. He frowned as a thought struck him. "Aren't you and the other Knights supposed to leave tomorrow for some sort of secret mission?" Terra mocked an offended look, "You think I'd go off and cross half the galaxy without even saying goodbye to my favorite brother figure?" Endymion smiled teasingly, "I'm glad you think so highly of your _only_ brother figure." The Knight of Earth waved him off, "Details, details." Then the prince frowned, "And what's this about crossing half the galaxy?" SIr Terra suddenly grew serious. "Umm... I'm afraid that's classified. Need-to-know, y'know? Only Her Majesty and her advisors know the full details." "I... see." This worried him. For Terra to suddenly clam up like this, it had to be something very serious, something that would threaten the entire Moon Kingdom, and the idea of something that _could_ threaten the Moon Kingdom was very disquieting. "Well, gotta go." With that, Sir Terra left. The two young men shook their heads clear. Ranma stared at Mamoru in mild confusion. "Endymion?" Ranma repeated. Mamoru nodded wordlessly, then asked, "But... how? There's no way you could've survived long enough for Queen Serenity to send you to the future. I mean, the mission..." Ranma sighed. "I wish I knew. You know as much as I do. I hardly remember anything from after we left. I don't even remember what the mission was..." "That's not important right now," interrupted Luna. Ranma, who had not noticed either of the moon cats before, predictably freaked. "AHHHH! CAAAAT!" He ran screaming from the two felines. Everyone else there sweatdropped and stared as Ranma cowered in the corner of the room farthest from the two cats. Ami stepped between Ranma and the apparent source of his fear, gesturing for them to hide themselves. "Ranma, what is it?" "C-c-c-cat..." Ami's heart went out to him. Something truly tragic must have happened to cause the Moon Kingdom's bravest warrior to cower from their most trusted advisors. She knelt in front of him. "C'mon, Ranma. It's okay. They won't hurt you." Ranma collapsed into her arms and sobbed, "Stupid pops... stupid training... coward... can't even... face the advisors..." "Shh, Ranma, it's okay... it's not your fault..." she held him close and stroked his head comfortingly. After a few minutes, during which no one dared interrupt the couple, Ranma finally gathered his wits and pulled away. Ami bit her lip as Ranma scrambled to his feet. Her heart yearned for him, but it seemed like he was afraid of her. He mumbled a vague apology for his actions and made for the door. No one made a move to stop him. *Ranma...* Later... Ranma shook his head. He was confused. He felt... something for Ami, that much was clear. _What_ he felt was another matter entirely. *Do I... No! What am I thinking?! I'm already engaged to Akane! And Ucchan. And Kaori. And... okay, this is getting silly...* He pondered his situation, not realizing where he was going. He found himself in the commercial district when he heard a voice call out, "Ranma!" He turned. It was Nabiki. He was in no mood to be blackmailed. "What do _you_ want?" The middle Tendo blinked at the harshness of his voice. She decided to play on it and said soothingly, "Something wrong, Ranma- kun?" "Yeah, but I'd hafta be crazy to tell _you_. You'd find some way to either sell the info or blackmail me with it." Nabiki leaned away from him. Even as a non-martial artist, she could feel his barely controlled aura. He was upset, and she didn't know why. That did not fit in with her ideal universe. Even so, she wasn't about to risk her health to find out just yet. "Okay, Ranma. Just calm down and work through whatever it is with a level head, okay?" Ranma grunted noncommitally. "Hey, I may not act like it sometimes, but I _do_ care about you, ya big lug." *Just so long as you don't hurt sis,* she added silently. "Thanks, Nabiki." The next day... Hotaru didn't understand how Ranma healed so quickly. He had changed back into his normal self long before his Sir Terra powers could have healed him, and she had not used her gift yet. It was impossible for any normal human to recover that quickly. According to Ami, he had had a half-dozen broken ribs and a punctured lung, though his Knight powers had thankfully healed the lung before he had changed back. It simply refused to make sense to her. She pondered this as she made her way to school. She was so preoccupied with this, she failed to notice the large (for his age) boy until she had bumped into him. "Hey, watch where you're goin'!" She stepped back. "Sorry," she said quietly. He suddenly stopped dusting himself off, "Well, well, well... if it isn't the witch..." She backed away fearfully. "Hey!" another voice called out. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" The bully turned to face whoever had said that. It was a teenager carrying a large bamboo umbrella and with a bandanna tied around his head. He grinned, baring a pair of fangs that seemed to gleam eerily in the morning sunlight. The bully blanched and backed away. "I, ah, um... I think I hear my mom callin'. Count yourself lucky, mister!" With that, he ran off. Ryouga turned to the tiny little girl. "Are you okay?" Her reply was barely audible, "Yes. Thank you, mister." "No problem." He turned and walked down the street. He headed off in a random direction and frowned when he recognized Makoto's house. He shrugged. *Might as well stop by before I get lost again.* He knocked on the front door, mildly and pleasantly surprised that he had actually found the front door rather than wind up in her closet or bathroom. The door opened, and he blinked. "Akane?" he glanced around. "This doesn't look like the dojo or the shrine." She chuckled. "It isn't either of them, Ryouga-kun. It's Mako- chan's house." "Oh." "Hey, Akane, who's at the-? RYO-CHAN!" Glomp. Ryouga's mind shut down. He wasn't used to this. *Isn't this supposed to happen to Ranma?* he idly wondered as his body lost the capability to breathe. "Um, Mako-chan. His face is turning blue." "Huh? Oh! Sorry, Ryo-chan!" "No... problem." "Any particular reason you're here, Ryo-chan?" "No. I was passing your house, so I thought I'd drop by." "Oh, okay. Umm... wanna come in? Grab a quick bite?" "Sure, why not?" he shrugged and stepped past the two girls, making a beeline for the kitchen. Elsewhere... Tzo Pu was anxious. With the stirrings of the Dark One, the Council of Elders had unanimously voted on calling in the other tribes and reviving the ancient alliance with the Musk and Phoenix Mountain. She sealed the envelope and handed it to Tao Kum, their fastest runner. "" "" Tao Kum took the envelope and left. She had a long road ahead of her. Tzo Pu watched the gathering army outside, *If we were at our best, we could win this battle, but with our three best warriors in Japan and Saffron trapped as a child, we don't stand a chance! Why can't the rest of the Council see this?!* *********************************************************************** Makoto Voiceover: Oh, no! Ryo-chan, what happened?! How many enemies are there, anyway? Stay out of it?! Hell, no! (Pause.) WHAT?! Ryo-chan's a _what_?! Will Syphon's people keep up their end of the agreement? Be here for the next episode of The Lunar Knights, "The Vengeance of Xerex"! *********************************************************************** Author's Postscript: Oh, boy. The next episode's gonna be a doozy. I guarantee that! I just hope you people will be patient. This is Cyclone, signing off.