Chapter Two

Love, fear, hate… Justice… So many emotions emanated from the dark void surrounding the worrier. The many emotions started to take shape. First was his wife, the black hair spitfire that she was, always trying to prove her strength and honor to her husband. Then… a cry of pain escaped her tiny lips. Large flames jumped up and licked at her body. She couldn’t run with her feet bound like that. Run! Run!

Waking up with a pain filled cry, cold sweat clinging to his toned body, the young Chinese man looked at his wife. She was quietly sleeping, and a small lock of hair had fallen in front of her delicate face. Her husband, gently, so as not to wake her, brushed the lock of black hair behind her ear.

Lying back down, he stared at his wife. Even though the marriage was arranged, he had learned to care for his wife, even though she was stubborn. After a while sleep claimed him once again, his last thought… ‘Marian.’

***

The gray sky produced an uncountable number of the soft liquid teardrops, giving drink to parched crops and small patches of dry earth. On a day like this, there was very little one could do except stare off into a land far away, perhaps even worlds away, just to be anywhere but here.

‘Ouch,’ did she have to pull so hard with that comb on the knots? Sitting patiently, waiting for her servant to finish combing out her hair, she thought of yesterday’s conversation, if you could call it that, with her father and flute teacher.

In two weeks, the whole city would be celebrating the beginning of the blooming of the sakura trees. It was one of the biggest festivals of the year! And everyone would be attending.

Her flute teacher had been very impressed by her natural talent for playing the delicate instrument and had mentioned so to her father. Her father in turn, trusting the flute teacher’s word decided that his own daughter should play her flute in front of everybody who would be attending her father’s personal celebration. Then that afternoon, play for the whole city performing in the town square.

When Princess Relena heard of the news her heart started to beat so fast she could feel it pounding right through her chest. What if she messed up? What if she gave people reason to question her family honor? No, she would not think that way. She would play flawlessly. After all, she was a shogun’s daughter.

When the servant finished combing Princess Relena’s hair, she rose from her sitting position. But before she walked out the door, Relena, still looking at her lap, stated, "please send in the samurai guarding my door."

Bowing, the middle- aged woman replied, "As you wish."

A few seconds later a tall man with piercing green eyes entered the room and walked slowly toward the princess. Relena finally looked up and looked at the samurai.

"Trowa, please, have a seat," she stated softly motioning to the cutioned mat in front of her. He nodded and sat before Relena. After he had settled the princess spoke. "Trowa, did you hear what happened?" she asked excitedly. Trowa was like a big brother that she could talk to whenever she got lonely or just wanted to talk, for both of these reasons, they conversed often.

Trowa nodded his head, and gave her one of his rare smile, which was hardly detectable. "Yes, I did. Congratulations. Do you know what songs you will be playing?"

"I do. But I want to keep them a secret. I want to surprise everyone with my song selections." He gave her a soft chuckle in reply.

Taking a deep breath, as if finally making up her mind, Relena spoke, almost as if she were in a trance. "Trowa, I’ve been having this ominous feeling for the past couple of days. Something is going to happen soon. I don’t know what, but I know it can not be good." She stopped speaking and the room became deathly quiet as if a dark black blanket had been draped over sound. The only thing that was heard was the soft murmur of the clouds, pouring out their sorrows over the brown sodden earth.

***

Soft creaking sounded as the wooden boards spoke to each other while the merchant ship floated a crossed the dark murky sea. The sky was dark and gray monsters loomed above the ship. The wind had all died down and the waters were much too calm. A storm was coming… One of the worst ones this creaky ship or its crew had ever seen.

Blond locks bouncing up and down, the young man quickly strode down the steps the "dungeon" on the ship. Over the past three days, Quatre, the son of the captain of the merchant ship, the Mathew, had gotten to know this new "cabin boy" very well.

Their relationships started on a shaky foundation, however, as they got to know each other, the bond they formed was stronger than steal chains or a hundred manned army.

"Hey Quatre!" The young, chestnut haired man whispered excitedly. "Where have you been? Eating those hard biscuits and a bit of beer isn’t that appetizing." Quatre smiled at his chatter-mouthed friend while he quietly slipped off the keys from the sleeping guard’s belt. He unlocked and opened the door.

For the past few nights, the two boys had gotten into the habit of going above deck and stand at the bow end of the ship and look at the stars. Quatre had decided to save part of his dinner for his friend because his father, John Cabot, was merciless, and treated the happy- go lucky man the exact same way as his last "cabin boy." Duo knew that if Quatre’s father caught him helping himself out, he would get in major trouble, so he was eternally grateful.

Quatre was pretty popular among the crew, so they didn’t have to worry about someone snitching on them.

"So where are we headed?" Duo inquired of his friend while chewing on some salted fish.

Gazing into the sky, Quatre silently pleaded with the clouds to part so he could see the stars. He almost didn’t hear Duo’s question and instead of responding to it, he said something completely different. "Every sailors’ nightmare," he murmured.

"What? What are you talking about? Have you been dipping into the wine barrels?" Duo was extremely confused by his friend’s statement.

Quatre blew air out of his nose and gave his shipmate an exasperated look. " ‘Every sailors’ nightmare’ means not to be able to see the stars, like tonight. Not being able to see the stars means not being able to navigate that well at night. Those clouds, are a bad omen."

"I see… But I’m still a little bit confused."

"Just a little bit confused?"

"All right, all right, I’m still a lot confused. How do you navigate by the stars?"

"Well, navigation is working out the direction to take in order to plan a journey across the sea, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well aside from using compasses, astrolabes, maps, cross staffs, or any other navigational instruments we use the North Star or another name for it is Polaris, to tell direction. If I could see the stars right now, I would point it out to you and some other constellations like Ursa Major or Ursa Minor."

"What’s a… a… um… conste… conste…"

"Constellation?"

"Yeah, that’s the bloody word, constellation." Duo’s eyes danced and any person could see that he was proud of himself for pronouncing that one little word. Quatre gave off a hearty laugh at the expression on Duo’s face.

"A constellation is a group of stars that make up pictures and they usually have a legend or story that goes along with them."

Duo nodded at Quatre in acknowledgement. The tow young men looked at each other for a second then burst out in laughter. After a moment Quatre and Duo stopped laughing and the blond haired boy returned his attention to the ominous gray clouds, and a cold shiver ran down his spine.

***

In the reclusive country of Japan, the rains had stopped later that afternoon, but soon the black sky replaced the sometimes-sunny sky, and the moon and the stars took over the sun’s domain.

Relena lay awake on her bed, unable to let sleep claim her, allowing her body, mind and soul rest. She finally couldn’t stand lying in that bed one more second and rolled off of it. She sat up on her knees and reached for one of three items under her sleeping mat, a sketch of her late mother. She touched her golden hair and smiled. Often people told her she looked like an exact replica of her mother except for her eyes were her fathers. Her mother, Mahault, meaning strong battle maid, was the daughter of Dutch merchant who had fallen in love with Relena’s father. And her father in turn loved her mother just as much, so they got married. Mahault’s father was furious, but their was nothing he could do about it, so he gave her a chose, come back with him, or stay with her new found husband and never see any of her friends and family again. She chose to stay with Arekkusu, which is Relena’s father’s name. Mahault’s father was surprised and miffed at her decision, but had no choice but to leave her. She never saw her father again.

Two years later Mahault gave birth to their first and only child who was given the name Ririn, but often was called Relena, but she didn’t know why.

Relena stared at the sketch of her late mother and felt restless. She needed to get rid of some pent up energy, so she put the sketch away and reached for the other two items under her bed, a samurai sword and a black costume that covered all of her body except for her eyes. It would not be proper for a princess to run around outside in the middle of the night, but it would be perfectly fine for a mysterious rouge warrior, looking for a fight. So she put on the clothes and strapped the sword to her back and stelfuly jumped out the window to her room.

But unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes had witnessed her transformation.

***

Well everyone… here is chapter two. Hoped you enjoyed it. I know the story is confusing now, but it will become clearer later. I promise. Here are a few meanings to a couple of things you might be wondering about:

1. Sakura: Cherry

2.) Ririn: The first name of Ririn gives you a dynamic and highly strung nature. You have a humanitarian and principled side to your character and will go out of your way to help someone if you feel there is injustice or unfairness. You often become involved in situations without any thought of the consequences. You are basically seeking truth in life and have a very analytical and questioning mind. Being perceptive and intuitive, you often respond to your hunches, which can lead you into bitter experiences. You love change, travel, and new opportunities and dislike monotonous detail. Though you show enthusiasm over a newfound interest, you seldom finish the things you start. If you are repressed or restricted in any way, you become frustrated, moody, and depressed. You often speak directly and can be cutting and sarcastic. You experience many disappointments with people, for you trust others and take them at their word, only to be let down. In time, you could become cynical and extremely critical towards people. Your driving, seeking nature and intensity of feelings could cause you to experience nervous breakdowns, nervous problems, fits, goitre, or a weak and sensitive solar plexus. An impulsiveness could cause you to be accident-prone.

http://www.kabalarians.com/female/japan-f.htm – the address I got the name and description from.

Well, feed back would be appreciated. See you soon!

~Titan~