Relena Mori was standing on a raft made of bamboo and was waiting patiently for the raft to reach shore. She was wearing a red sleeveless dress with slits on both sides of her dress that reached up to her thighs. Her collar of the dress covered her neck like a turtleneck and she wore a jade cherry blossom pendant. Her dress had a cherry blossom with a branch picture sewn on at the bottom left corner. The dress itself was made of silk and had golden lining. Her blonde hair was done up in meatballs and her blue eyes were closed. Her body itself was pale as the moon. Anyone who would look at her would think she was a beauty and true she was, but she was a lethal beauty. For she had weapons concealed in her dress and a deadly sword by her side that she wouldn’t hesitate to use. She had daggers strapped onto her left thigh and ninja stars strapped onto her right. Her sword itself was thin yet swift in battle. The blade was silver and the handle had made of polished bamboo. Imprinted on the handle was her crest and symbol, a white phoenix. She was a beauty on the outside, but a deadly warrior on the inside.

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Her raft had reached shore and Relena nimbly jumped off of it and landed on the shore. She walked leisurely, enjoying the tranquility of the serene river and the forest in front of it. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by a group of men who were looking at her lustfully and hungrily. Relena didn’t even flinch as one of the men grabbed her from behind and kissed her neck. Instead, she pulled out her sword and as quick as lightning, and rammed it through the man’s stomach. Immediately, the man staggered away from her, blood already coming out of his mouth.

"You little whore…" he coughed as he fell to the ground and moved no more. The men suddenly became angry at the loss of the friend and began to advance around Relena. Relena’s eyes didn’t even look up.

"You bitch. You killed our friend!" one man shouted. Relena smirked.

"Well he shouldn’t have touched me then." She said softly.

"We can touch you if we want to!" he shouted. Again, Relena smirked.

"Not if you wish to meet your deaths."

"Hah. How can weak women like you kill anyone of us? The man you have just killed was a lucky shot!" Relena’s eyes suddenly danced with the fiery flames of anger.

"Shut your mouth before you regret it." She said.

"Hah. Put away that sissy sword woman and let’s ‘play’." He said as he body slammed Relena to the ground and began to kiss her. Relena was truly angry now. She reached for her leg, grabbed a dagger and plunged it through the man’s stomach. The man instantly rolled off of her, his eyes rolling into his head and blood streamed out of his mouth. Relena got up, brushed herself off and spat in the man’s face.

"Oh my. It seems as if our little ‘play time’ is over. Anyone else want to try what this baka yaro* tried to do?" she said as she turned her attention to the remaining group. The men shook their heads vigorously and ran away from her as fast as they could. Relena smirked and bending over the man’s body, she pulled out her dagger and went to the river. Cleansing the sword and the dagger of the blood, she sheaved them and then fixed her hair and dress so that in the end, it looked like as if nothing had happened at all.

"Hn. There’s a village nearby here." She said as she walked towards the village.

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Relena had reached the village and headed for the nearest sake house. When she got there, all the men’s attention were immediately directed upon her. Ignoring all the catcalls, she took a seat at a table. Ordering some sake, she nibbled on some sweets. A handsome, blonde haired man walked up to her and put his arms around her waist. "Wanna wrestle, baby? Just you and me, one on one." He whispered into her ear. Relena snorted as she moved free from the man’s clutches.

"Forget it, baka*." The man’s eyes flamed in anger because of his fallen pride. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up to him.

"NO ONE refuses Mamaro Osaka!" he whispered. Relena pushed him away and sat down to finish her sweets. "Well then this must be a first. I say again, forget it."

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5 men watched the whole conversation in interest. They had the skill of reading lips and found the whole conversation amusing. "Well, what do you know? A woman that finally refuses that snakes’ charms!" said Duo Maxwell. "He should back off. She looks pretty pissed off." Stated Quatre Winner. Mamaro continued to hit on Relena until finally she pulled out her sword as quick as lightning and had the tip of the blade on his neck.

"I’m warning you for the last time, back off! I’m having a pretty bad day and you just made it worse. Now unless you want your head knocked off your shoulders, I advise you to back off and never come near me again." They read. Mamaro backed away slowly and ran out of the sake house. Relena sheaved her sword and sat down with a smirk. Her sake arrived and nodding her thanks, she poured herself a cup.

"What say we take our sake and drink with her?" said Duo.

"I dunno. She looks very angry right now." Said Quatre as he bit his lip.

"Ahh…but we can cheer her up! I think that as long as we don’t hit on her, she won’t hurt us!" said Duo cheerfully.

"Hn. Go ahead, Maxwell. You can go get your head knocked off if you want. I’ll stay here and watch the show." Snorted Wufei Chang.

"Hn." Was all that Heero Yuy said.

"Fine. Suit yourselves." Shrugged Duo as he grabbed his sake and headed over to Relena’s table.

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"Hey. Do you mind if I sit here?" asked Duo. Relena didn’t even look up at him. "Do what you want." She said. She nibbled on some sweets and drank some more sake.

"Hey! That’s a cool sword! Can I see it?" said Duo as he reached over to touch her sword. His hand was slammed down on the table. Relena looked into his eyes and her own eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No one touches my sword. Got that?" she hissed before she let his hand go. Duo’s eyes flamed in anger for a second, but then it went out.

"Tch. Touchy." He remarked. Relena said nothing but continued to nibble her sweets.

"Hey listen. I’m really sorry that I touched your sword. Let’s start over. My name is Duo Maxwell. What’s yours?"

"What’s it to you?"

"Hey listen lady! I’m just trying to be friendly here!"

"So then go be friendly somewhere else." Duo gave her his death glare and then stomped back to his table where his friends were waiting for him. When he got there, Wufei was laughing his ass off.

"HAHAHAHA!!! Oh did you see that? That was hilarious!" said Wufei in between gasps for air.

"Shut the hell up, Wufei. Or shall I say, Wu-man?" Duo growled. Immediately, Wufei stopped laughing and glared at Duo with his best death glare.

"Maxwell! Don’t ever call me Wu-man!" he shouted. "Don’t call me Maxwell, Wu-man!" "Maxwell!" "Wu-man!" "Maxwell" "Wu-man!" "Will both of you just shut the hell up!? Your stupid bickering is getting on my nerves!" Trowa Barton shouted. Both men ceased bickering and stared at their friend in shock. Trowa hardly talks, ever. And when he does, you can be pretty damn sure that it was important.

"Besides, that woman is leaving." He pointed.

"WHAT!?" shouted Duo and Wufei. They turned around to see that Relena had indeed gone out.

"Let’s follow her." Murmured Heero. "Why the sudden interest, Heero?" asked Duo with a glint in his eye.

"Hn." Heero replied. The men paid the bill and left the sake house to pursue the mysterious lady.

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Relena was at the edge of town when suddenly, she was surrounded by a group of ninjas.

"What do you want?" she said as she fingered her sword. "Our master, the Dark Lord, wants you. He has seen your extraordinary beauty and he wants to see you." Said the leader of the group. "Bullshit. I’ve met your master before. He wants me dead. But quite possibly, he wants to fuck with me and then he wants me dead. Tell him I would rather be dead than to go with you." She snorted.

"Suit yourself." The leader shrugged. Immediately, the ninjas from all sides began to attack her. But as soon as they reached her, she disappeared.

"What the hell?" the leader said in confusion. They looked around everywhere for her but couldn’t even find a trace.

"Hey look! Up there! There she is!" shouted one of the men as they pointed at a tree branch. All the ninja’s attention was directed upon the dead tree’s bare branches. Standing on the branch was Relena with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Pathetic. You guys are all truly pathetic. Is this what Takashi sent me? Or is it to mock me?" she shouted. The ninja’s eyes narrowed in anger. Quick as lightning, they threw their poisonous ninja stars at her. Smirking, Relena took out her sword and with a few swift movements, created a wave of energy. With another movement, she sent the wave flying through the stars, causing the stars to disintegrate into nothingness. The ninja’s mouths opened in sheer surprise and awe.

"Hey woman! Come down here and fight like a true warrior! Are you a coward?" sneered the leader. Relena’s eyes flamed in anger. She jumped from the branch and landed gracefully on the ground.

"I am no coward." She said softly in a dangerous tone. The ninjas wasted no time in attacking her.

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"Where the hell is she?" said Duo as they rested in front of the sake house again.

"We’ve searched throughout town and we can’t find a trace of her!" panted Quatre. Suddenly, all the men heard noises from the edge of town.

"Sounds like someone’s fighting." Said Wufei. "Then that’s where that woman would be. Let’s go." Said Heero as he ran towards the edge of town. The others followed suit.

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Relena sliced a man in half and turned around just in time to block another man’s attack. "There’s so many! But I can finish them off." She thought as she beheaded him. The number of men increased as she killed off each man. "Wha…? This cannot be!? Unless…unless they are Dupilcas…Yes! Of course! That would explain everything! These men are only mirages of the true leader! I must find the real one quickly before they multiple out of control and I cannot fight them anymore. Damn it! I need backup!" she thought as she created another energy wave and sent it crashing through a line of men. Suddenly, 5 men jumped into the battle and surrounded her. Relena would have sliced them if she hadn’t noticed that it was the men from the sake house.

"What are you doing here?! Get out of here quickly before they get you! They are only interested in me! Get out of here you bakas!" she hissed as she sliced another mirage.

"Lady, you need our help and you need it bad. Stop being so god damn stubborn and let us help you!" shouted Duo as he sliced a mirage with his scythe.

"I don’t need your help! I’m fine on my own!" she shouted as she threw a dagger at a mirage’s chest.

"Woman, we will help you whether or not you like it!" said Wufei as he stabbed a mirage with his sword.

"Please, miss. Let us help you." Said Quatre as he felled 3 mirages at once with his whip.

"We’ll help you regardless if you need us or not." Said Trowa quietly as he killed a mirage with his nunchaku.

"…" Heero said nothing as he sliced a mirage with his sword. Relena took her aggravations and annoyance out on the poor mirages. "Baka yaros." She murmured as she continued to search for the original ninja. "It’s no use! There’s too many!" Quatre shouted as he continued to kill mirages with his whip.

"These are just mirages! The original ninja is a Duplica! Look for him! When you destroy him, all the others will disappear." Relena shouted back as she continued to slay mirages with her sword. Heero was by her side all the time as her back up. Suddenly, a mirage appeared beside her and would have stabbed her fatally if Heero had not sliced the ninja in half. Nodding her thanks, Relena started to concentrate. Heero noticed that Relena was concentrating and would not be able to fight so he fought off all her attackers as best as he could. In Relena’s mind, she began to ‘see’ the whole battlefield and its warriors. She saw Duo fighting against 3 mirages at once. There was another mirage behind him that Duo was unaware of. The mirage was about to strike when Relena warned him in his mind.

"Behind you!" she warned. Immediately, Duo turned around and neatly sliced the mirage in half.

"What the hell…?" he thought as he continued to fight. Relena continued to look through the battlefield. Everyone was all right and holding ground, but already she could sense that they were getting weary. "I don’t have much time. I have to find him quickly." She thought.

"Come on, you bastard. Where the hell are you? Come out, come out wherever you are, you coward!" she chanted. Suddenly, she sensed an energy source that was higher than the mirages’ yet lower than Relena or Heero’s group. "Found you. Now you are mine." She thought as she came back into reality. Immediately, she leaped into the air and landed quietly and gracefully behind her enemy. "Boo." She whispered into his ear. The ninja turned around in surprise but acted quickly. He stabbed his last poisonous ninja star into her shoulder. Relena took a sharp intake of breath and her eyes danced with the flames of pain and anger. With a cry of rage, she plunged her sword through her enemy’s stomach and withdrew her it. The ninja fell to his knees and then he dropped to the floor, dead. Immediately, all the mirages flickered and disappeared because their original had died. All that was left were the men and Relena. Duo leapt into the air.

"Whoo-who! We did it!" he crowed in victory. "Shut up and accept the victory in quiet honor, baka." Scowled Wufei. "Please. Don’t fight now. We have just won! I don’t want to ruin this victory with your arguing." Said Quarter softly.

Trowa nodded. The men became silent. They turned their gaze to Heero and Relena. Heero was watching Relena intensely. Relena was clutching her shoulder and wincing in pain. Taking a deep breath, she painfully took out the poisonous star and dropped it on the ground.

"Shit. I didn’t move fast enough to take it out. The poison will be running through my blood now…" she breathed as she dropped to her knees, still clutching her shoulder. Immediately, Heero was by her side, hugging her body to his protectively.

"Her breathing is becoming staggered." He thought. Relena opened her eyes a little bit.

"Why are you helping me?" she rasped. Heero said nothing but merely picked her up and carried her in his arms. He walked back to his friends who were staring at him in shock.

"Let’s go. She’s in need of medical attention. We need to get home as soon as possible." He said over his shoulder as he backed back to town with an unconscious Relena hanging limply in his arms.

"Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you." He murmured.

AN: *baka: idiot *baka yaro: stupid bastard

so whatcha think? too much profanity? let me know!

ja ne! morning_glory 05