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empyreans (empyreans) wrote in starlighting,
@ 2008-09-10 22:56:00

Fate - Or something like it
WHO: Ren Satoh and Adenah Collins
WHAT: Ren fufills her promise to pick up Adenah from school
WHEN: September 10th, around 4:22 pm.
WHERE: York Prep - Right in front of the school
RATING: TBD

The clouds above had passed in front of the sun casting everything in a cool slate colored hue. The weather was cool, almost brisk and the sky looked to be threatening the people below with rain. Ren had gotten off of work early to follow through with a promise she had made over a week ago. Days before her life had changed. No. Her life hadn’t changed – not if she didn’t let it. She could just throw the pen away and continue living her life – or better – she could return it to the man who had given it to her. She wasn’t going to let fate dictate her life. The blonde woman in her dreams had done that and she’d ended up dead and for what? To save a princess or to die with her girlfriend? No, that wasn’t what Ren wanted to do with her life. Her dream was to become a world-class motocross racer and saving the world didn’t quite fit into her two-year plan.

The bright yellow Kawasaki Ninja peeled out of the garage where she worked. It was almost obscene that such a garishly colored vehicle could be called a Ninja. The thoughts on the girl’s mind were far from the bike she was riding as she weaved dangerously between cars. Her mind was on the concert at Julliard. The man who had shown up had given both she and Juli pens which they used to transform into Sailor Uranus and Neptune respectively. Her dreams had only gotten worse since then. Now she was having dreams of Tenoh Haruka and Sailor Uranus. It was unsettling – seeing a life she hadn’t lived but being so intimately familiar with it.

The entire situation scared her more than Ren could comprehend. She wanted to run away from the entire thing. What was worse – it made her realize more than a few things about herself and she wasn’t comfortable admitting any of it to anyone, especially herself. She was in agony, torn between her duty and her fears. Trapped in a cell created by fate. She wasn’t comfortable sitting by idly while her life was forced into a potentially deadly direction. She wasn’t a hero – Ren considered herself to be extremely selfish and she wasn’t prepared to die for a cause when she wasn’t even sure why she was so deeply tied to it. Then there was Juli – That entire situation made her feel light headed and she didn’t understand why she cared so much.

She’d settled on riding her bike to New York Prep. She hopped the curb and came to a very sudden stop on the sidewalk in front of the school. The engine suddenly shut off as Ren parked the bike and hopped off in one fluid motion. She left the additional helmet she’d brought on the seat before taking her own helmet off. Her eyes searched the crowd carefully. Idly she saw one of the flyers for the preview for the school’s musical – she felt compelled to go and couldn’t really explain why. Maybe she’d be back in a few hours but for now she waited for the younger girl.

Maybe fate was meant to win this cluster-bomb her life was becoming but the only thing she cared about right now was taking her bike out. Fate could wait a few more hours.

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fierys
2008-09-11 09:52 am UTC (link)

The fact that today was the day that Ren was supposed to pick her up from school to give her a ride on her bike was not lost to Adenah. What Ren may or may not know was that the younger girl knew who Ren was, and knew who she was. With everything that was happening, she hadn't really expected to see the woman here. Surly she would forget, or just not come. She was aware that the inner Senshi had always been close in their formal life, while the outer kept their distance for the most part. With things the way they were, she wouldn't have been surprised to not find Ren there. It would make sense if the girl wanted her space.

As she came out of the parking lot with her friends, laughing, a bright smile on her face as the excitedly talked about the play performance tonight, she was slightly surprised to see a bright yellow bike there, with Ren waiting. Waving to her friends she called over her shoulder. "See you guys tonight, yeah?" she was answered by calls of 'bye!' and 'good luck Adenah!' as she changed her direction. Adjusting the straps of her shoulder bag, she walked quickly toward Ren, stopping a few feet away.

"You came." she said with a tentative smile. "I wasn't sure you would." she admitted. Did Ren have any idea that just days after she had transformed into Uranus, Adenah had first become Mars. Adenah knew Ren had not been a the football game, so perhaps the older woman had no idea what had happened, and who it was that had been transformed this time.

But, she was here, and Adenah found herself becoming more excited about the idea of riding on the bike. It looked shiny, it looked like new, and she was betting it went really, really fast. So her spirits rising, and bigger smile came to her face. "How've you been?" she meant it in both relations to the other night, and in general. While they were Sailor Senshi, she did believe that they had a life outside of that. Adenah was also a teenager, and while she was willing to take on the responsibility, she still wanted to have fun. She wasn't wanting to catch a drive with Ren because of who they were, she wanted a drive because it looked like fun. It was a new experience, and from what little she knew about Ren, she seemed like an awesome person.

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empyreans
2008-09-12 01:29 am UTC (link)

“I came,” Ren reiterated the girl’s statement without a smile, “I told you, I always follow through.” She’d even made a note of it on her calendar so she wouldn’t forget. She’d been leaning very casually against her bike with her arms crossed as Adenah approached. Ren hadn’t moved and even as she spoke her eyes hadn’t faltered from the clouds moving carefully through the sky. She rarely felt grounded and the past few days had left her head spinning. She was trapped in a state of uncertainty. This new doorway had been forced open in front of her and she knew if she stepped through it everything in her life would change and she wouldn’t ever be able to go back. Was it too late?

She wasn’t aware that the other girl had become Sailor Mars. Had she known she probably wouldn’t have shown up at the school. She knew about the deaths and that another girl had been awakened but she didn’t know who it was nor had she looked into it.. Ren was trying her best to avoid destiny right now. Her gaze finally moved to Adenah.

“Been better,” really she had but the fact that she’d pushed herself away from the bike and slipped her helmet on said she obviously didn’t want to talk about it in the parking lot of the girl’s school. Ren held out the extra helmet she had brought as she hopped on the bike gracefully. “Probably going to muss up your hair,” her voice was muffled. Her extra helmet wasn’t nearly as intimidating as the one she wore – it was simple and it wouldn’t cover Adenah’s face with a tinted visor. It was a British design. Ren was extremely cautious on her bike and generally overprotective of passengers. She tended to drive more carefully and a little slower than usual.

She nodded to the back portion of the motorcycle, “Get on.”

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fierys
2008-09-12 08:35 am UTC (link)

Her smiled faltered and then faded when it was quite obvious Ren was not in a good mood. In all honesty, she'd rather Ren not have showed up if she didn't want to be here, but she was, so Adenah wasn't going to pass up the chance. "I know. But I figured..." she examined the girl carefully. She had sort of figured she'd say something about all of this. Maybe she was avoiding the subject, or maybe she really just didn't know? How could she now know? Adenah had been filled in on who was who right after things had calmed down.

No response was given to how she'd been better. Adenah took the short, crisp answers as a sign that girl didn't really feel like talking. The excitement was still there, but some of the friendliness she had was gone, at least for a the moment. Her face blank, she reached for the helmet, and watched Ren hop on. "I'll survive." she didn't really care if her hair got messed up, she could always fix it when she got off. If she was going somewhere important, Adenah would cared, but she had no where to be for a few hours.

Brushing a few strands of hair out from her eyes, she slid the helmet on over her head, and made sure it was secure. She then looked to the bike, remembering how Ren had got on. Holding her skirt, she did her best to mimic the girls movements. Not nearly as graceful or as easily done, but she managed, and made sure her uniformed skirt was tucked under her legs to it wouldn't blow around on her too much anywhere.

Automatically her hands held on to Ren around the waist, it just sort of felt like the safest thing to do. Flicking her eyes to look forward, past the other woman, she smiled slightly. This was going to be fun. "OK." she said. "Ready when you are."

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empyreans
2008-09-13 05:14 pm UTC (link)

It wasn’t that Ren hadn’t wanted to go out – quite the opposite – her mind was simply preoccupied with other things at the moment. She gave Adenah a quizzical look under the helmet – she had figured what? She tilted her head as if to question the other girl but her voice remained silent. She hadn’t stayed to talk to either Artemis or Luna extensively after the events at the concert and none of the other senshi had shown up that night. Really the only hint Ren had that Adenah was Sailor Mars was that slight feeling of deja-vu. The woman didn’t usually read too far into those feelings.

“Bad hair can ruin your whole night you know,” her lips curled into a small smile as she flicked the visor of her helmet down. Her tone remained somewhat serious but she was kidding. Hair and make-up were obviously not Ren’s strong suit. She never understood girls who took their hair too seriously and was happy that the other girl didn’t seem to care about it.

The bike sprang to life after Ren felt a pair of arms around her waist. The engine rumbled softly as she pulled away from the school. The bike weaved carefully between cars as she moved out onto the main street. Wind rustled the zippers on her jacket as she turned toward Central Park. While it wasn’t the safest way to travel Ren took her bike between cars to pass them occasionally.

A frown formed on her lips as her thoughts returned to what Adenah had said at the school. Her bike stopped suddenly as she pulled into the entrance to the park and killed the engine. She looked over her shoulder to look at the girl holding onto her tightly, “You figured what?” Her tone was more curious than demanding.

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fierys
2008-09-14 02:32 pm UTC (link)

A response wasn't given to the look, and when she didn't actually say anything, Adenah just kept her mouth shut. Quite obviously, Ren didn't know. And the girl wasn't in a good mood, it seemed. Adenah didn't want to be the one to bring up the sailor senshi, especially while she was on the back of Ren's bike. Most of the girls just seemed to know when they were addressing another scout. It was a feeling, but if Ren was ignoring those feelings, then she probably wasn't sure what it was telling her. Adenah was a firm believer in trusting your instints, and that seemed to apply even more so now.

"I can fix it when I get home." she did catch the smile smile, so she didn't think it was a rude comment. Her own voice was kept neutrual. Adenah would no doubt fix her hair the next opportunity she got. Her appearance was very important to her, but she didn't want to pass up the bike ride. She felt overly excited when the bike started, and a grin broke across her face when the bike took off.

She watched the scenry fly by as the moved passed out, enjoying the feeling of being on the bike. It was an interesting and new way to drive. She had driven modpeds, but never a bike. It was a bit to fast for her control, but it really was fun to ride on. Adenah hadn't expected to stop at the park. She had no idea where it was that Ren was going to take her, or leave her, but the park wasn't what crossed her mind.

Adenah released her grip on Ren, sitting back just a little bit. She bit her lip slightly, contemplating what to say to her. She was asking nicely, and there was no reason not to answer her, other than Adenah as worried about what Ren would say and how she was going to react. Finally, she sighed, and shifted into her seat to reach into her coat pocket, where the pen was kept. She wasn't worried about pulling it out. To anyone who actually bothered to look as they walked by, it would just look like an ordinary pen. She produced the pen, holding it up for Ren to see. "I was targeted at the football game." she said, making sure she was looking directly at Ren. She had no reason to hide or be ashamed. "I was almost changed into one of those monsters before the others stepped in, and I was given this." The red pen with the sign of Mars on top made it obvious just who Adenah was supposed to be. She held out the pen for a minute longer before she once again tucked it away safely in her pocket.

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empyreans
2008-09-14 06:05 pm UTC (link)

Ren had gotten off the bike while Adenah reached for the pen in her pocket. She carefully removed her helmet revealing her hair to be something of an unruly mess. The helmet fell from her hands the minute she laid eyes on the pen in the other girl’s hand. It was a strange reaction to a pen but Ren knew exactly what Adenah was telling her with it. Ren had a similar pen on the inside pocket of her jacket – her own displayed the symbol of Uranus. This girl was Sailor Mars. Ren couldn’t mask the shock on her face nor could she pretend she didn’t know what the item was. Adenah’s words had confirmed that none of this was a coincidence. Fate seemed to be driving them all together – is this why she had made such a connection with the girl who became Neptune? She shook the thoughts from her head and focused on the matter at hand.

“Have,” she pursed her lips then cleared her throat in an attempt to regain her composure. “Have you been following me or something?” She knew that wasn’t true. Ren crossed her arms and turned her back to the girl. This wasn’t something she was ready to accept – accepting it meant she lost too many things in her life. She felt secure with her currently life and wasn’t prepared just to trade it off without a fight.

Her boots kicked up some gravel as she turned again to pick up her helmet. How could anyone just be okay with this? It wasn’t a small thing to ask someone – hey, you’re fated to save the world and probably die, hope you don’t mind. Was the girl on her motorcycle actually okay with this? It was weird that they kept bumping into each other like this – the wheels of destiny acting out to move their futures forward or something of the like. Ren wouldn’t listen. She was stubborn and generally moved at her own pace and at her own accord. Very similarly to Haruka Tenoh.

Again her lips pursed as she drummed her fingers lightly on the helmet under her arm Her sharp gaze finally moved from the wheels of the bike to the girl, “Are you really okay with this?” Naturally the ‘this’ she was referring to was the situation all of the senshi seemed to be facing. The dilemma – did personal needs really outweigh the needs of the world? The expression painted across her face said that she wasn’t really sure what to think.

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fierys
2008-09-14 06:32 pm UTC (link)

The question sort of took her by surprise, and it seemed sort of stupid to her. Cocking an eyebrow, lifted the helmet off of her head, and then ran her fingers through her hair, not caring, for the most part, how out of sorts it is. "That's complete rubbish, Ren, and you know it." she said, though her voice remained light. She didn't want Ren to be mad at her, but she wasn't about to take that question seriously. "I did not plan to meet you at that store, and you've know about this longer than I have." she had no real idea who the woman had been before hand. Yea, she had seen her race, but Adenah had forgotten about that until she had met her. Adenah also knew it was fate that was causing all of their lives to collide. Somehow, one way or another they were finding each other again.

Her eyes dropped to the helmet, watching her fingers drum over the object, listening to the sound. She didn't want to upset her, but at the same time, there was no point in lying. If she kept the fact that she knew the truth from her now, it might come back to bite Adenah later.

Her eyes flicked back up to Ren, thinking about her question seriously. Adenah pursed her lips together, contemplating. "I think," she started, choosing her words carefully. "that I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a little upset with this. I didn't ask to be some kind of superhero." she said with a shrug. "But I knew something was coming my way, I've known for a while now, so I'm not too surprised." she didn't mention that she had experienced visions of Sailor Mars before this. Not dreams, but full on visions.

She turned her head slightly, letting her gaze fall on the park, and all the people in it. It was her job to protect them now, and she couldn't let them down. "But people are dying, and I can help save them." she looked back to Ren now, watching her face. It was obvious the woman was torn. Adenah didn't blame her. "There's nine of us. Nine people in the entire world who can stop this Darkness lunatic. If we don't people will continue to die. I can't let people die simply because all I want to worry about is an up coming math test." And then a small smile flicked across her face, thinking of her powers, her better reflexes, her two crows. "Besides, some of it's kind of brilliant."

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empyreans
2008-09-14 07:54 pm UTC (link)

The question had been rubbish and Ren’s wince confirmed it. She ran a hand through her hair – which only managed to add to the unruly mess. She sighed lightly, her eyes moving back to the sky for a moment. It really would have made things a lot easier if Adenah were stalking her – then she’d at least have someone to be angry with. “I know,” another sigh, “I know.” In all honesty it was ridiculous to think that the other girl would be stalking her – They’d never met before that shop in Chinatown and neither would really have a reason to speak to each other before that moment.

Ren tilted her head when Adenah mentioned that she’d been expecting it, “What do you mean you knew it was coming?” Again, her tone conveyed more curiosity than suspicion. Did she have dreams as well? Ren had been having prophetic dreams for a while now – was she just too dense to read the signs? Was that her vague warning that her life was going to be taken away from her? No – if that had been the case they would have stopped. Something was telling her that the world was going to end if they didn’t do something about it.

“I would rather be worrying about a math test,” Ren’s expression had changed into a cold mask. It was one Haruka often wore when questioned about her duty and how it was right to let people die for the good of everyone. The statement sounded ridiculous – even to Ren. She couldn’t just stand by idly while people around her suffered, not without a very good reason. “Fine, we’ll stop this woman. Then what?” She knew it wouldn’t end, it never ended and the simple fact that they’d been brought back to life had been proof enough.

“This isn’t going to end well,” she wasn’t about to bring up the dreams. “These things never do,” and the more she learned about her past life the more she convinced herself that she didn’t want it. In all actuality something was missing from her life and when she was fighting as Sailor Uranus she felt a portion of that hole in her heart disappear. It gave her a deeper sense of purpose and she was terrified to accept it. She slipped the helmet back over her head. “Sorry,” they shouldn’t be talking about this in the open, “You probably just want to get home, right?”

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