Back for seconds, huh?

I never planned for Life’s Lessons to be a stand alone story. It’s part of a much broader timeline, and I’ve got stories planned for a whole slew of my alternate Mooniverse, dating back as far as the Silver Millenium. Out of all that stuff I’m planning to write, the stuff in this session are extras, segments that really don’t fit in the stories, or just stuff that really wasn’t going anywhere.

Well, except for this first one. Remember Makoto and Rei’s dream sequences? Here’s the one I wrote for Minako…

<Dream>

Minako's arm was stiff with pain. She switched her sword to her left hand, flexing the muscles of her right arm. The gash along her bicep wasn't deep, but it burned hotter than a summer on Mars. She hoped it wouldn't interfere with her form; she couldn't afford to die in this place. 'How much further does this forest go on, anyway?'

Her horse was tiring; it had slowed to a walk. She kicked it into a canter, all the while looking about her warily. She had lost the rest of her guard force nearly ten minutes ago, and even their screams had faded. That was not good.

A light flashed to her right. She slowed her horse to a walk, grasping her sword in both hands, and waited. Light flashed again, and again, and suddenly she was surrounded by tens of dozens of will-o-wisps, their multi-hued twinkling illuminating everything around her, and making Minako more of a target.

Her horse reared suddenly, nearly unseating her, and plunged blindly into the forest. Minako clung to its mane with her left hand, waving her sword at the will-o-wisps that easily kept the horse's pace. "Back, vultures! You won't have me this night!"

Her blade sliced through one of the phantom lights, and there was a sound like breaking glass. A scream shattered the relatively calm night, voiced by no human throat. She smiled; she had made it mad.

The will-o-wisps sped past her, arced around, and rushed towards her. Minako gathered her feet under her and leaped upwards, watching the will-o-wisps as they surrounded her horse. It screamed in agony, and crashed into tree. A moment later, the will-o-wisps dispersed, leaving nothing but a heap of bones.

Minako landed in a crouch, expecting herself to be next, but the will-o-wisps spread apart, surrounding her. Minako frowned and stood. So this was it.

"I'm impressed, Venus. Very few people have survived as long as you have. Now I know why you are the leader of the Senshi." The voice, male, boomed around her, seeming to come from everywhere. Minako spun in a tight circle. "Where is Princess Serenity?"

"Your ward is safe enough, Venus. I won't eat her until I've dealt with you, first." A low rumble signified laughter.

Minako struggled to control her anger. Anger clouded the mind, and in order to survive, she needed to be as clearheaded as possible. "I am not interested in your words, snake," she shouted. "Let us get this over with."

Laughter answered her.

Wind. The sound of wings. Although she saw nothing, Minako brought her sword up, slicing at the air above her head. Metal scraped against metal, and again came the piercing shriek of rage.

Minako twisted and swung about, panting.

"Hm... I seem to have underestimated you. I'll have to end my little game." The shadows coalesced in front of her, forming a thin, lithe form taller than she was. It had no legs, only a muscular mass similar to a snake's tail. Its upper torso and chest were human, but covered in black scales, and each finger ended in a razor sharp talon. Leathery wings framed a serpentine head, and it watched Minako from beneath heavy lids. The Anthrax smiled, revealing a double row of sharp fangs. Minako felt fear run through her.

She frowned minutely. It had cast a fear spell just prior to its attack on her guard force. The spell must still be in effect.

Arthraxes were notorious for their powerful magic, it was the main reason why nobody usually survived fighting them. At least, not in a one on one battle.

Minako grinned without humor. "You know, if I kill you, I'll become even more of a legend than I am now."

The Arthrax's eyes narrowed angrily. Spreading wings black as night, it lifted its talons towards her and screamed its rage.

Minako vaulted into the air, sword held high. "Serve or die!" She bellowed, and brought her sword down at its ugly head.

Magic and metal collided and-

Minako bolted upright, panting and sweating and feeling for a sword that wasn't there.

"Sparring Match," originally meant to be a one-shot, was ditched in favor of a fanfic I’m plotting for the Silver Millenium side of my alt-u.

Sparring Match

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Kristin Renee Taylor

CLACK! Leap back. Circle. Circle. Circling... there! Lunge. CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!

CRACK!

"OW!"

"You left yourself open, highness."

I lowered my stave and ruefully rubbed the lump forming on my temple. "Indeed, I did." I smiled at Kunzite. "However, I will not make that mistake again... HA!" I jabbed at his shoulder. Kunzite lazily deflected my blow. I felt him land a blow to my back as I passed him.

"Maybe we should stop for today, Endymion. Your form is becoming increasingly sloppy."

I spun, lifting my practice sword to a ready position. "I'm just getting warmed up, Kunzite. I'll have you laid on the ground before you know it."

He shrugged slightly and raised his own sword. "We shall see, young Prince."

Just as I started my feint, I heard hoofbeats. Simultaneously, Kunzite and I turned, with me shading my eyes from the fierce noonday sun. Together, we peered across the multi-hued fields towards the source of the sound.

I squinted. "No doubt a messenger from the castle. Mother will want me there to meet the embassy from the Moon."

"Not a messenger," Kunzite said. I looked at him. His eyes were unfocused; he was using magic to scout our approaching visitor. "Two women on horses. One appears to be a fighter of some sort; she has a sword."

I blinked in surprise. A woman with a sword? "Are they from one of the Amazon city-states, then?" It was not unheard of for Amazons to carry swords; extremely rare, but not unheard of.

"No." He frowned. "I cannot quite place their features, but something about them seems familiar." He passed a hand in front of his eyes, and they returned to normal. "But we shall inquire for ourselves. They come."

Now I could see them clearly. One woman, the warrior, rode in front on a grey gelding. Dressed in a simple brown tunic and breeches, she somehow managed to look both beautiful and imposing as scanned the countryside. The sword Kunzite had noticed was strapped to her horse's saddle, partially covered by her cloak and her long hair. And now I understood what Kunzite said: even on a horse, this woman moved with a deadly grace that every Amazon would have envied but would have never matched.

And then I saw her companion and my heart stopped.

Riding sidesaddle on her white mare, she looked so closely like the warrior that I thought them to be sisters, but where the warrior's hair could have been made of sunlight, her companion's was spun gold. Where one had eyes of sky-blue, the other's were as blue as the ocean's, and just as deep; I was drowning in them. "Beauty" was too weak a word for one such as her.

Kunzite nudged me suddenly. With a start, I realized that both horses had stopped just ahead of us and both women were watching me. I blushed and looked down at the grass.

Kunzite rescued me from my embarrassment. "Good day, my ladies. Fine weather to be out for ride, isn't it?"

A musical laugh. "Very fine, good sir. I am enjoying it thoroughly, but I fear my companion is a bit out of sorts. She is not

used to such strong sunlight." I looked up to see that it was the goddess that had spoken. She smiled when she saw my attention on her.

The warrior made an annoyed sound. "It is not the sun but this damnable horse. It balks at even the smallest animal, why, I was nearly unseated by a field mouse!" She scowled down at the horse. It flicked an ear at her and pulled up a tuft of grass with its teeth.

To my surprise, Kunzite laughed. "He probably just needs to rest a bit, as do the two of you. We have food if you wish to share it with us."

I spun on him. "Kunzite," I hissed, "we barely packed enough food for ourselves!"

He glared at me. "We'll get more at the castle." He jerked his head towards the women. "Don't be rude, Endy."

I blushed again and scurried away, extending a hand to the warrior's companion. "M-my n-name is Endy-," I bit off my words and turned scarlet. Gods, a beautiful woman shows up and the first thing I do is stumble all over my own tongue. What a dolt!

She laughed lightly as she dismounted. "'Endy.' It is a fine name. My name is," She glanced quickly at the warrior and her smile widened. "My name is Sera. The gloomy one over there is Ven."

"I am *not* gloomy," Ven muttered darkly as she dropped to the ground. I frowned at her, puzzled.

Sera touched my hand. I jumped. Sera was studying my practice sword, which I was still stupidly holding. "You are a soldier, Endy?"

"Well, no. Or, yes. I mean, that is-"

"He is being trained in the arts of war, Lady Sera, but he will not be just a mere soldier." Kunzite again rescued me. He and Ven were studying each other, the same intent, appraising quality in both of their eyes.

Ven said, "You make it seem like being a 'mere soldier' is such a bad thing."

Kunzite snorted. "Soldiers are nothing more than tools, with no mind of their own save for what their users allow them. Endy will be a general; he is already good enough to have his own command."

Ven's eyes raked along my length. She arched an eyebrow. "Him? He looks like he can barely hold that stick in his hand."

I bristled angrily. Sera said softly in my ear, "I wouldn't let her antagonize you, Endy. Ven is quite good."

I wasn't the only person to hear Sera's words. Kunzite fairly shouted, "There is no one in the Ten kingdoms capable of defeating Endy, if you believe you could do better, Ven, I suggest you try it."

I blanched. "Kunzite, I can't fight her. She's a woman."

Sera stepped away from me with a sigh. "I tried to warn you..."

Ven whirled, lighting flashing in her eyes. "A woman, is it?!" In one smooth movement she drew the sword hanging from her horse's saddle. "If you're so good, then you won't object to real swords, will you, soldier boy?"

A flash of light. I spun and caught Kunzite's rapier from the air. "No objection at all," I growled. The tips of our swords touched and then the fight began.

I went immediately on the offensive, intending to make this duel as short as possible to avoid humiliating Ven. I stabbed at her. She parried. I thrust. She dodged. I feinted high, then went low for an undercut. She turned the blade away with ridiculous ease. It was like trying to fight water: she simply flowed out of the way of my attacks. It was impossible.

Ven smiled when I broke away, panting. She wasn't even sweating. "Are you having trouble? Perhaps I should show you how a *real* soldier fights." And with that as her warning, she lunged towards me, broadsword weaving intricate dances in front of her.

Where before she had been a river, now she was an avalanche. Her attacks crashed into me, driving me backwards. I could barely get the rapier up in time to parry, let alone try to counterattack.

Bad luck. My foot tripped and I fell on my back. Ven's sword halted an inch from my left eye. Her smile was gone. "I don't like it when people don't fight at their full potential. You're a lot better than you look, and I suggest you start acting like it." She backed away.

I stood slowly, watching her with a newfound respect. I tossed Kunzite his rapier. "I had thought to spare you embarrassment. It appears that I'll be the one embarrassed if I let you win that easily.

"Kunzite, give me my sword."

Kunzite frowned. "I don't think-"

I looked at him.

Kunzite scowled and walked over to where I had left my own sword. He tossed it to me. I caught it easily and pulled it clear of the scabbard, which I tossed to the ground. "I think that, now, you will have a more entertaining fight."

Fast forwarding several hundred years, Minako gets into quite a few scrapes while working as a secret agent. Introducing one Virginia Ellis: American, terrorist, and an extremely powerful psychic with a vendetta against Minako.

"It's been a while, Minako."

The words, spoken in English, startled her into jerking upright. Slim, cool fingers rested on her shoulders, and the blood within her froze, leaving her rigid.

Reflected in the mirror, Virginia smiled. "Such a very long time. How long has it been? Three, perhaps four years?"

"Not long enough." Somehow, she managed to force words through an unresponsive throat. Virginia’s smile widened slightly, and the taller woman leaned closer to Minako.

"I have missed you," warm breath, smelling of mint, bathed Minako's cheek. "You have no idea how lonely I have been."

"And I don't particularly care, either, Ellis."

A soft chuckle. Virginia lowered her head slightly, and Minako felt lips touch her hair. She closed her eyes, wishing silently that she could move. "Your hands are cold."

"You never cared about that before."

"You weren't trying to kill me, before."

"Indeed..." Virginia's hands slid up Minako's shoulders, caressing skin, and resting, lightly, along Minako's throat. "Times have certainly changed, haven't they?" And the hands begin to tighten.

"Oh, dear. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Minako felt Virginia straighten. "As a matter of fact, you are. Why don't you leave us alone for a while?"

"Well, you see, I would, but I really hate it when people make scenes. And it looks like you're about to make quite a large one."

Minako opened her eyes, watching as Virginia frowned at Michiru's reflection. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I heard you clearly the first time. I just chose not to obey you."

The hands on Minako's throat tensed, and vanished. Virginia turned around. "Who-" Her eyes narrowed. "I know you."

Michiru’s smile was faintly amused. "You were at my concert? Hm.. I suppose even a terrorist can have taste."

"Neptune." Virginia’s voice had roughened to an angry growl.

 Isn’t Virginia such a lovely person?

Anyway, here’s a little flashback sequence of Rei’s sanity going bye-bye…

<<<The Crystal Palace was beautiful at night, with the starlit crystalline spires glowing a faint blue. As I walked the corridors, I imagined how this place would be filled with people, and I smiled. 'She would love this.'

I sighed softly and ran my hand along one wall, feeling the cool, clear stone through the material of my gloves. 'I never thought I'd miss your annoying laugh, Usagi.'

My thoughts came to a crashing halt as I stared at my hand.

I pulled my hand away, staring in wonder at the long, white gloves that covered my hands. Looking down, I realized I was in a fuku, *my* fuku, which couldn't be possible. I reached up, felt for the tiara, found none, and felt my sense of surrealism increase. "What's happening? What's happening to me?"

"Rei."

I spun, and as I did the world blurred, shifted, and became stable once again.

I was no longer in the Crystal Palace. The room I stood in was shabby, dank, and smelled of filth and vomit. I looked around slowly, wondering where I was.

"Rei."

My head hurt. Well, it didn't quite hurt, and it wasn't just my head. My entire body seemed to throb, pulse, ache, *burn.* The pressure beneath my skin was nearly unbearable, demanding release, and it felt like that release would blow out my skull.

Screams startled me. I looked for the source, but couldn't find it, and I wasn't sure I *wanted* to find it. They grated on my already raw nerves, wormed their way inside my head, and I found myself growing angry. "Shut up." The longer I stood here the louder they got. "Shut up!" Dammit, couldn't they just leave me alone? Why didn't everyone leave me alone? "SHUT UP!!!"

The room burst into flames.

I laughed. That'll show them. And if they didn't get it this time, I'd burn the whole freaking world down around their stupid heads!

"Rei." Despite the roaring of the flames and the softness of her voice, I heard her as clearly as if she had stood next to me.

Smiling, I turned to the door. "Minako-chan," I purred, "How kind of you to vis-" I broke off, my smile fading as I stared down the barrel of a 9mm silencer-equipped pistol, complete with laser-sighting.

I lifted my eyes and met her own. "What is this?" I asked angrily, stepping forward.

Minako's eyes never wavered, but the gun swerved slightly as she pulled the trigger. The bullet whined past my head, just above my right ear. Her voice was as cold and hard as her gaze. "The next one *will* kill you."

Rei-chan’s just full of warm, fuzzy moments like that. *snicker*

I’ll end this on a happy, if quirky, note. This is almost a fanfic in itself!

<<<"School year's almost over, Terri-chan. What are you going to do when it's all over?"

I shrugged as I walked. "Probably stay here, Minako-san. There's nothing in England for me to go back to, and, really, I like it here. Evil monsters aside, Tokyo is a really nice place to live."

Minako clapped me on the back. "Great! It's always nice to have another English tutor around. I mean, honestly, you'd think those two would've picked up on it by now! Geez!" She threw a mock glare at the duo in the question. Makoto caught the look and rolled her eyes. "And *how* many times have I had to help *you* with botany, Minako-chan?"

"So I can't cook," Minako countered.

"Botany is the study of plants, Minako-chan," Ami said absently.

"Well, *I* like Minako-chan's cooking," claimed the fifth member of this strange group. She grinned over her shoulder at Minako and me. "But only sometimes. Like those dumpling things you made a couple of months ago."

Minako flushed. Rei, trailing uncomfortably close behind me, muttered, "We all got food poisoning from them, Usagi. Remember?"

"Right." Usagi's face turned an interesting shade of green, but she summoned a faint smile. "Well... um... none of us had to go to the hospital."

"I did," Makoto said.

"Me, too," Ami added.

"So did I. And my parents, too," Minako muttered.

"Oh," Usagi said faintly. "Well… the point is that nobody died!"

Makoto coughed. "That's not technically true. You see, I poured the rest down the toilet, and it ate through my building's septic tank and most of the plumbing system, and, well, the landlord had a heart attack when he found out." She noticed the rest of us staring at her and she laughed nervously. "Not that I'm saying your cooking did that, Minako-chan! The pipes were old; we'd only had them for two months and well..." She trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

All right. Time to cut this bad-boy off, before I start giving away stuff that shouldn’t be given away yet (Pluto’d have my hide if I stuck my timeline in here.). So, stay tuned for Session 3: Video Games!

K-chan and the Animals of Evil- Now in DDR Format! Down, Bunki!