Masters of Destiny

The morning dawned with the crisp freshness of a new fall day, and Abriel'a could almost feel like she was home again. That is, until she stepped outside the Temple and onto the busy city streets of Coruscant. She sighed and walked over to the Marketplace, hands hidden in the billowing folds of her cool-weather Jedi robes. The student meditated on the Force until she felt her frustration melt away.

Waiting as a people mover passed by, Abby had almost put the whole Sailor Jedi nonsense out of her mind when she laid eyes on a billboard on the side of the transport. Depicted in pastels and glitters was a picture of the skirted girls in various poses. It took several more minutes of meditation to get over that, and she arrived at the market at the same time she had begun to feel better.

It had to have been a dream... all of it... Abriel'a thought, ...a dream...

Whispers of the Force are never dreams, a voice spoke to Abby in her mind. The winged student knew what Force telepathy was and did not jump, but she turned a curious turquoise gaze upon the source of the words. Long black hair accented the speaker's blue eyes, and at her side was another girl, she with short brown locks and soft blue eyes. I am Koumi and this is Chikako.

Abriel'a glanced between the two before resigned to her fate. "My name is Abriel'a." She thought a moment and then offered a friendly smile. Did these girls know the Senshi... could they know what the Council had told her about her own destiny?

Chikako returned her smile, unconsciously adjusting a tiny pink flower that perched behind her ear. "You're the new transfer student from Dantooine, right?"

Nodding, Abby fell in step with the two as they entered the bustling market. "Coruscant is so different from Dantooine," she said. "I'm not used to all this activity."

"You'll get used to it in time, I'm sure," the short-haired girl replied. She paused at a flower stand, and then purchased a vibrant bouquet of multicolored Caldarrian peace blossoms. They continued on to a tapestry stand, and Chikako plucked a blue and white bloom from the rest and delicately held it to her winged companion. Blinking in surprise, Abriel'a accepted the gift and smiled.

Have you been here before? Koumi asked as she fingered a purple and gold roll of silk, then put it down in consideration of a blue piece.

"Once, when I was a child," the Blademaster said as she tried to figure out how to put the flower in her hair. "But my travels since never returned here. Never really had the desire to, though... It's too crowded for me." She finally accepted help from Chikako with her flower. "But my Jedi Master thought it would be best..." Abriel'a trailed off with a soft sigh as an image of Master Dylan Crosston came to mind.

Koumi and Chikako shared a silent glance, and the three moved on through the market.

"It's a bit... intimidating, too..." Abriel'a finally admitted, and she paused at the entrance to the food booths. Everything looked so good, but many of the foods looked foreign to her.

Did you eat this morning? Koumi asked through the Force; she had yet to speak out loud.

"No, nothing. I haven't really learned my way around yet."

"It took me quite a while, too," Chikako confided. "This place is very different from Myrkr."

Koumi suddenly spun and stalked off down the aisle. Abby was confused, but Chikako giggled. The silent Jedi was headed for a small group of girls that were flirting with a young shopkeeper. Abriel'a recognized two of the girls as the pair who had been in the hallways the day before with squirting blasters. Koumi did not return, so Chikako and Abby moved on, munching on handfuls of small payaberries.

"You and Koumi are the first people I've met since I had a meeting with the Council yesterday," Abriel'a said conversationally.

Chikako led her new companion to a small park where they could sit and talk. "The others will come around soon enough," she said with a soft laugh. "Trust me. You'll have a good time trying to remember everyone's names."

Abriel'a moaned at the idea, then both girls burst into giggles. Coruscant was such a central planet in the Republic, allowing the presence of people from almost every world throughout all the known sectors. Abby smiled, popping another blue-green payaberry into her mouth. This wasn't so bad, she mused, although she never could imagine wearing a skirt like Chikako's pretty flowered one or the shiny blue blouse that Koumi was wearing. She would ask Chikako about the Sailors, but maybe the girl was just a student. After all, the Senshis' identities were a secret, weren't they?

"Your wings are so pretty!"

Chikako's compliment broke Abby from her thoughts and she fought the color rising in her cheeks.

"Thank you..."

"Can you really fly with them?"

Abriel'a hesitated. While her wings were very prominent, they were also very personal. "Well," she began. "Yes, I can. So, you're a Jedi student, too?" She hoped the subject change wasn't too obvious.

"I am," Chikako said, playing with the delicate locket that she wore. "But I am not as strong in the Force as most of the others."

"That means you have other strengths," Abby smiled. She could already see a friendship with this girl forming. She was not pleased with the move to Coruscant, but the Force willed it and she knew it would be no mistake. Right now, however, she was having a hard time reaching the Force, which was slightly alarming.

Chikako sensed the change in Abriel'a's thoughts and began to suggest they go shopping for decorations for Abby's new room, when a commotion burst out amongst the crowd. Both women stood, Chikako clutching her locket while Abriel'a's hand flew to the lightsabre that was always present at her hip.

The shoppers in the market began to scream and run, fleeing from the figure in black robes that was cutting through awnings and tables of wares with a crimson-red lightsabre. His black eyes found Abriel'a in her Jedi robes and he snarled.

"Jedi fool!" he hissed; his voice was dry and raspy, like a serpent slithering through dead leaves. "Prepare for your destruction!"

"Sith," Abriel'a breathed, then turned to Chikako and pushed her onto a path that led back to the Temple. "Go get help... I can handle it," she said with an authoritative tone to her accented voice. "Go, now."

Chikako ran down the path before hiding in a bush where she could watch. She had a feeling that she trusted, the only thing that was keeping her from transforming. Abriel'a had shed her Jedi robes and stood alone in the empty market with the Sith. She was barefoot in slim khaki leggings and a white sleeveless shirt that laced up the front. The Coruscantian sun caused her turquoise-silver wings to shimmer, though her matching eyes were dark and focused.

"Dishonorable scum," Abriel'a said, embracing the Force as she held her as-yet unlit sabre in one hand. "You're a fool to show your face here."

"No one is here to help you," the man snarled, a look of bloodlust on his dark humanoid face; the hatred for the Jedi that burned within him was obvious in his dead eyes. "Pity... that means no one is here to watch me gut you." The market was empty, cleared of shoppers and vendors, including the group of girls Koumi had joined. Perhaps they had left before the man had appeared?

"You will be destroyed by your own hatred," she replied, circling him into the park's grassy clearing.

"Spoken like a Light Jedi." He laughed maliciously, then leapt towards her, his sabre arching down towards her, fully intending to cut her down where she stood.

Abriel'a blocked the blow effortlessly; he hadn't even seen her raise her blade or ignite it. She spun, using the momentum of her attacker's move to swing back and then slice towards him. Where the Light Jedi was graceful and smooth, her moves precise and purposeful, backed with a power and agility few had witnessed in person, the Sith was a sharp but sloppy attacker, wielding his weapon with full and complete intent on destroying his opponent. Abriel'a was by far his superior with the blade, but he could use the Dark Force to accelerate his movements.

A well-placed Force blast sent Abriel'a tumbling backwards through the air. She caught herself with a hard push of her wings, and lifted into the air. Diving forward, she cut towards him in a spinning, blurred Blademaster move that he was only able to block by using the Force. Blades locked, Abriel'a began to twist her wrist to slice down and across the top of his arm when he brought a spiked hand up to her delicate face and clawed at one of her eyes. She gave a cry and immediately backed away, her move uncompleted.

"Fool child!" the Sith cackled, laughing as he licked the hot, dark red Maronderan blood from his fingers. Abby stared darkly, pressing her free hand to her right eye, where she could feel the small but deep gash at the outside corner of her eye. "Enough playing... now you die..." Purple energy began to crackle with a white light at his hands, building in intensity.

This is it... Abriel'a thought, and without any further consideration, she shot into the sky with her powerful wings. Drawing on the Force, the Jedi Warrior cast Force Persuasion; the Sith would be able to counter it, but he would have to lose his pulse first. Until then, the Jedi was invisible.

Abriel'a had only one choice. Still airborne, she held her turquoise-silver lightsabre straight up to the sky with both hands, saying, "Auril Force Power Make-up!"

The sun caught her black and silver armor in sharp glints of light, and Sailor Auril set her booted feet upon the earth as she let Force Persuasion fade away. Glowing across her chest plate was the crescent moon centered behind a crossed sword and lightsabre. A full circle of six four-pointed stars curved around the two blades, the shapes a faint silver colored as if naturally lit. She turned her head to face the recovering and slightly shocked Sith, the tiny silver moons and stars dangling in her strawberry blond hair clinking against each other.

"Who the Sith are you?" the dark warrior demanded, raising his blade angrily.

That can't be... Chikako thought, blinking in surprise. Abriel'a had disappeared, literally into thin air, and then this new Senshi had appeared. Just to be safe, though... "Super Myrkr Heart Power!" The Sailor, however, stayed behind the bushes, drawing Force energy in preparation.

"My name is Sailor Auril," the Jedi said, slowly walking towards her enemy. "Protector of Auril and her six systems. Defender of Marondera and her people. Warrior of honor and righteousness. And Guardian of the Blade." She stopped, not knowing where the words had come from but feeling as if she had borne them in her heart all her life. She raised her humming sabre in her right hand, holding it steady and flat, pointed straight towards her opponent's heart. "Your kind is a scourge upon this galaxy, and in the name of Force, I will destroy you!"

The Sith only had time to snarl an angered curse, leaping towards the Sailor Jedi with his weapon, the blood-colored blade crackling with Dark Force power. With a crash like lightning, their blades met, filling the clearing with bursts of light. They spun around each other, dueling to the death like two deadly dancers. A deadly grin spread across the dark man's face as he shot a Force blast against the winged warrior's blade arm. She twisted to the side as he lifted his lightsabre and sliced it hard across her chest. With a loud sound and a great burst of light, the blade bounced off her chest plate without even leaving so much as a carbon score.

Losing her footing, Auril stumbled back a few steps, trying to steady herself with her wings. The moments of inaction gave her enemy the opportunity to raise his blade away from her chest, intending on take her head from her neck.

"MARONDERAN SUNFYRE BURST!" Sailor Auril shouted, righting her footing and raising her free hand, palm flat and facing the Sith. A great ball of orange-red light, like the sun of the Maronderan system, appeared in her grasp, and then floated directly between the two figures. Pulsating, it waited only an instant before the miniature star went supernova and sent a great blast of white Force energy into the Sith.

With a scream, he crashed to the ground, sabre falling out of his grasp and to the side. Quickly, he removed his black robes, which had caught on fire, surging to his feet and calling his weapon to his blistered hands. "Jedi tramp!" he snarled viciously. He did not bother lighting his sabre, but instead began to immediately charge a Force Death Ray. Before he could loose the purple energy arcs, however, another voice called out from the side.

"Mrkyr Force SHIELD!"

A purple dome rose from the tree line, where Auril and the dark one could see a skirted figure holding both her tiny hands out. Auril flew into the air, out of the dome's reach as it quickly expanded and surrounded the Sith. The energy left his hands, and he dropped to one knee, weakened without the power of the Dark Side flowing through him.

Sailor Myrkr stepped from the bushes and onto the clear path where the warriors were battling, and seeing Sailor Auril return, she let the shield die away before it used all her energy. The Sith raged, and climbing to his feet, he raised his lightsabre in one final move borne of desperation and hatred, and ran for the winged Senshi.

"Sailor Auril, finish him!" Myrkr shouted, taking a half step towards her new companion and the oncoming attacker.

Abriel'a could hardly believe what was going on, but the Force flowing through her had never been clearer, more precise or ever felt so... destined. She lifted her lightsabre into the air, hoping that the second Sailor would not be hit by her next attack. "Blademaster Sabre QUAKE!" she shouted, and as her blade glowed brighter than ever before, she drove it hard into the packed earth. A great rumbling filled the clearing, turquoise Force energy rippling in an ever-growing circle from Auril's epicenter. Quaking through the ground, it caught the Sith just as he was leaping in his attack. Leaping from the ground like a charge, the energy coursed through his body and he screamed, falling backwards as the Force-ripples ebbed into nothingness.

Rumbles dying away, Abriel'a lifted her lightsabre from the ground with ease and slowly walked towards the still form of the mysterious, dark man who was on the ground. The foul stench of burnt flesh was in the air, his body issuing acrid tendrils of smoke. Reaching through the Force, it was clear he was dead. Lifting a fallen roll of silk from the tapestry booth, Abriel'a draped it over the body and claimed his lightsabre as her own; it was a Blademaster trophy of battle to her.

"You are Sailor Myrkr," Auril said, walking towards the woman who had saved her life. Her words were not a question, but rather a comment.

Chikako unconsciously smoothed her skirt while looking at the armor-clad Warrior that stood before her. "I am." She watched the winged woman. "Abriel'a, you're Sailor Auril?"

"I am, Chikako."

Both Jedi faced each other during the long silent moments. They could hear the sirens of approaching authorities and see the figures in earth tones running from the Jedi Temple to where the battle had taken place. Nodding in silent agreement, they quietly left the scene, Abriel'a using Force Persuasion whenever necessary to avoid questions.

The Room Behind the Waterfall bustled with activity as Sailor Myrkr presented Sailor Auril to the others Senshi. Abriel'a drew a deep breath, unsure but standing proudly nevertheless. She tried to absorb the comments she could hear floating around the room.

"She defeated a Sith in the Marketplace!"

"Sailor Auril is a guy?"

"Look at the armor!"

"The entire Jedi Council wanted her here!"

"Can she fly with those wings?"

"I heard that her armor can even stop lightsabres!"

"Why does she have two lightsabres?"

"Didn't you hear? She's a Blademaster!"

"What's a Blademaster?"

"Everyone, please!" Sailor Myrkr said, quieting the gossip between the girls. They giggled amongst themselves a few moments longer before settling into a respectable silence, every eye gazing towards the new Jedi before them. "Sailor Auril is new here, but let's try and give her a big welcome!" She transformed back to her normal, Chikako-self, then nodded to the winged warrior that it was safe to do so.

Abriel'a took a nervous breath before she let herself transform back to normal. She felt almost strange without the armor, now, and it took her a moment to get used to not bearing its weight. Immediately a buzz of conversation arose as the girls could see that Abriel'a was their new Sailor companion. Everyone stood, joining the two Sailors up front, talking excitedly and introducing themselves to Abriel'a. Chikako giggled, getting several gallons of ice cream from the freezer with all the fixings. Koumi was sitting in the back, arms crossed over her chest and smiling faintly.