Magical Princess Sharra of the Winds
by Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney

Foreword
     Magical Princess Sharra of the Winds was originally based on 
a concept, rather than an actual plot idea. Magical girl anime 
features teenage girls with magical powers fighting evil and 
standing for love and justice; Sailor Moon is the quintessential 

magical girl series, and watching it got me thinking; what if 
there was a magical girl who hated her job?
     Thus, Natsuko was created; abused, bitter, cynical, and 
pessimistic, she finds the very idea of being a magical girl 
revolting. The leader of the Five Princesses, her attitude, and 
actions, shock friend and foe alike.

Music
     Theme Song: If there were a theme song for this series, it 
would begin as the typical bouncy anime theme song, then, about 
halfway through, slide into an industrial grunge parody of it-
self. Imagine a song that was half "Talent for Love", and half 
"Closer"; a duet with Chisa Yokohama and Trent Reznor.
     Incidental Music: It is very important to have suitably 
dramatic music during the important parts of the story; I'm 
thinking along the lines of something by Christopher Franke (who 
did all the music for both Babylon 5 and Tenchi Muyo! In Love), 
with a bouncy Japanese techno-whatever (think of the incidental 
music of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and Ranma 1/2) for the less serious 
parts.
_________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: One
     Natsuko walked down the halls of the school. Alone. She 
alternately glared at the floor and glared at her surroundings, 
so as to be sure of where she was going. She truly hated having 
moved to this horrid city, and, admittedly, that attitude had 
only made things worse.
     Teruo watched her approach, nervously scratching the back of 
his neck. He seemed to be trying to gather his courage, to say 
something, but then, he nearly always did when he was around her. 
He was probably the one thing in the school that irritated her 
more than the sailor fuku.
     Finally, she found the secluded spot, beneath the shade of a 
small cherry tree, where she had taken to eating lunch from the 
first day she arrived at the school. Her mother had, as usual, 
prepared a wonderful bento, though Natsuko hardly noticed any-
more.
     As she sat, nibbling at the rice, she heard a soft meowing 
from behind. She turned around to take a look, wondering how a 
cat could've survived in the polluted air, and saw a full-grown 
house cat with soft, short, white fur. Natsuko sighed, and pulled 
out something fishy from her bento.
     When she offered it to the cat, it shook its head. "No thank 
you." said a small voice.
     Natsuko looked for signs of a ventriloquist as she put the 
fish back. A voice, deep in her mind, was screaming; Cats don't 
speak! it called out.
     As the cat looked at her, she realized that its eyes lacked 
the arrogant contempt of a normal cat. It looked almost... com-
passionate. "Are you Natsuko?" the cat asked.
     She managed a nod.
     "Oh good," said the cat, with a sort of feline smile. "I'm 
so glad I've finally found you. I am Bast."
     "I-I don't understand..."
     Bast nodded, and sat down. "Of course. You haven't seen me 
for three lifetimes."
     "Lifetimes?" She tried to think, but there was only a white-
hot needle of fear in her mind.
     "Please don't be afraid, Natsuko. I'm here to help you, to 
meet your destiny." The cat's words were soothing, and Natsuko 
began, bit by bit, to calm down, but wasn't sure just why. "Now, 
follow me." Bast darted off. Natsuko got to her feet, grabbed her 
school bag, and followed.
     A moment later, they were in a quiet corner of the school, 
rarely visited by anyone. Natsuko came to a halt. "Wha- why...?"
     Bast smiled. There was a flash of light, and Natsuko felt 
something metal land lightly in her hands.
     Natsuko blinked until she could see again, and looked at the 
object. It was a magic wand. It consisted of a 20 centimeter 
silver rod with an open-ended metal ring holding a large, clear 
gem at its center. Natsuko got a slow, sinking feeling, and 
looked at the cat, who looked back up at her expectantly.
     "What's wrong?"
     Natsuko sighed. "I do not want to be come airheaded--!" 
suddenly, the crystal began to glow, and a soft breeze came up. 
The intensity of the light quickly increased, and Natsuko shield-
ed her eyes.
     When she opened her eyes, everything looked normal. Almost. 
She quickly became aware of what she was wearing. The outfit 
consisted of a sleeveless white top that led into a skirt that 
was entirely too short. Accenting the whole affair were knee-high 
boots, gloves, and an amulet with a crystal to match that in the 
wand.
     "What the hell?"
     Bast blinked, obviously a little surprised. "It was supposed 
to be, 'I call upon the Power of the Wind', though it seems that 
'air' will suffice to activate the transformation."
     Natsuko felt her knees ready to give way. "So, I'm supposed 
to be...?"
     Bast raised her head proudly and smiled. "Magical Princess 
Sharra of the Winds."
     "That's perfectly stupid and cute." Natsuko said flatly. 
"And what pointless weird attack do I do?"
     Bast look up at her, at a loss for words, and finally said, 
"You use a spell called 'Hurricane Thunder Burst'." There was a 
long pause. "Why are you acting like this?"
     Natsuko hung her head. "I have yet to see a magical girl 
series that doesn't make me want to throw up." she said slowly. 
"I do not want to live in one." A feeling of sadness mixed with 
anger flooded her mind.
     There was a long silence, and a soft wind blew through the 
trees.
     "So," said a harsh voice, "The Wind Princess returns at 
last."
     Bast and Natsuko turned to see who it was. A man hovered 
some two meters off the ground. He was clad in an elaborate black 
outfit, which included a long cloak. His hair was silver and his 
eyes were green.
     Bast gasped in surprise. "Already?"
     Natsuko gritted her teeth. "Who--?"
     He smiled. "I am Jeykrethal of the Sands." He lowered to the 
ground, and took a step towards her. "It's been a long time, 
Sharra."
     She looked into his eyes, meeting his with as cold a stare 
as she could muster. He did seem familiar somehow, but not in a 
way she liked.
     "You are just as young and vibrant as I remember." He 
reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders.
     Natsuko had had enough. She kicked him.
     Jeykrethal stepped back, and glared at her. "But I see the 
millennia have changed your personality."
     She pointed the wand at him and waited.
     He smiled and produced a sword. He then raised it high above 
his head, and prepared to swing.
     Natsuko didn't waste a second. "Hurricane Thunder Burst!" 
she shouted. It was difficulty to tell just what happened next, 
but it seemed that a stream of solid air slammed into him. After 
what seemed to be an eternity, it ended. Jeykrethal picked him-
self up, looking at her in surprise, and vanished.
     There was a long silence. Natsuko frowned. "Now what?"
     "Now," said Bast, "we find the others."

Chapter 2: Return of Diana
     Jeykrethal stood before the others, in the Great Hall. He 
took a breath in the dim light. "Sharra is back."
     Pyrakalth of the Flames looked him over and smiled. "It 
looks like her work all right. I didn't known you were so weak."
     Jeykrethal frowned. "In this life she is not the feeble 
wench we destroyed so long ago. I saw no fear in her eyes; only 
hatred."
     Trimalthus of the Torrent looked at him calculatingly. "Are 
you certain? The Light Kingdom has always stood for their 'love 
and justice' and so on. For Sharra, of all--"
     "Perhaps it is true, perhaps it is not." said Arkal of the 
Trees. "But if it is, this could work to our advantage. Imagine, 
if we could turn her to our side. Defeating the other Princesses 
would be easy."
     The four of them nodded in agreement. "All that remains," 
said Pyrakalth, "is to ask Lord Tempest."

     Natsuko lay on her bed, looking at the minute cracks in the 
ceiling, with Bast at her side. It was interesting how her mother 
had just accepted the cat's presence outright, as though Bast had 
always been present.
     "I just don't understand why you have this attitude." Bast 
was saying.
     Natsuko looked at the cat and frowned. "I don't know about 
before, but this life hasn't been kind to me. There's a very good 
reason my father isn't around."
     "They divorced."
     Natsuko sighed, determined not to cry. "It's not that sim-
ple." she said, looking away from the cat. "My father... abused 
both of us. Mom... mom still has scars."
     Bast was taken aback, and found herself unable to think of 
anything to say.
     "Mom had to work very hard since then, to take care of us. 
It took her seven years to finally get a stable job. We've had to 
move five times."
     "I never realized..."
     "Bast," she said finally, "tell me what this is all about. 
How it all fits together."
     "Very well," said Bast, "you should know the story anyway."
     The world is made out of the five elements; wind, flame, 
wood, rock, and water. Even today the myriad spirits of the 
elements are present. There was once a time when all was of the 
five, and the cosmos was ruled by the Five. But at some point, 
something happened, and the Five were divided into the ten; each 
was divided into male and female, evil and good. These were the 
Princes and Princesses of the Elements.
     The two factions immediately entered into a great war, which 
lasted, it is said, for over a thousand years. The end of it was 
a great battle, in which the Princes slew all of the Princesses. 
The Princesses have been reborn many times, but only twice have 
they regained their powers, and both times they were crushed.
     Over time, the power of the Elements waned, as the world 
began to become filled with things that were not of the Five.
     Three generations ago was the greatest of the battles. When 
it ended, the Princesses lay dead once again, but before it 
commenced, Sharra of the Winds swore that if not that time, then 
the next time the Princes would fall.
     "But where do you fit into all this?"
     "Well," said Bast, apparently taken by surprise. "I have 
been the Princesses' guardian and mentor since the beginning, 
though this is only the most recent form I've taken."
     She looked out the window thoughtfully. "So, how do we go 
about finding the others?"
     "You mean you're going to help?"
     Natsuko rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, but let's do it 
before I come to my senses."
     "Well, they were your closest... friends, and if you see 
them, you'll know it. Plus, I know what they look like."

     Natsuko stood in the cafeteria. She never came into the 
cafeteria, but felt it might help to actually look for the other 
Princesses. Se wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting 
them, except that if some evil Princes were going to try to kill 
her, there might as well be some allies to help out (if only as 
cannon fodder).
     She scanned the crowds. Students sat, alone or, more often, 
in groups. None looked familiar to her at all. After a few 
minutes, she was ready to leave -- she realized it was kind of 
silly to assume that the other Princesses went to the same 
school, or were even in the same city. Or prefecture. Or conti-
nent!
     "Excuse me..."
     Natsuko turned around to see a girl of average height (which 
put her a few centimeters shorter than Natsuko). She wore a 
normal school uniform, and had short brown hair and brown eyes. 
"Hm?"
     "I, um..."
     Natsuko looked at her, and her mind was suddenly clouded by 
something somewhere in between dream and memory.

     Sharra sat, looking at the stars.
     "Hello."
     Sharra turned to see Diana there. "Oh, it's you." she said 
quietly.
     Diana sat down next to her. "Why are you so sad?"
     She looked up at the moon. "I'm worried about the Princes. 
They seem to be getting further and further from us all the 
time."
     "I know." said Diana. "But at least... we still have each 
other."

     "A-are you allright?"
     Natsuko blinked. She was standing in the cafeteria, the girl 
still standing in front of her -- Diana! "What's your name?"
     "Um, Mayumi. Mayumi Kawamoto, but--"
     Natsuko thought for a moment; if this was who she was look-
ing for, then there was no time to waste; it was imperative that 
she be taken to Bast as soon as possible. That decided, she 
grabbed Mayumi by the wrist, and bolted.
     "Wait!" Mayumi cried. "What are you doing?!"
     Mayumi was obviously hard-pressed to keep up with Natsuko, 
who made a habit of jogging every day. Consequently, when they 
finally stopped, Mayumi fell to her knees and tried to catch her 
breath.
     Bast stepped out and turned around. "What--" she glanced 
between the two of them. "Already?"
     Natsuko nodded. Mayumi looked confused.
     "W-what's going on here?" Mayumi asked, obviously exasperat-
ed. "I-I just wanted to get into the cafeteria!"
     "Please," said Bast, "calm yourself." She took a few steps, 
until she was right in front of Mayumi.
     "How can you talk? You're just a cat!"
     Bast smiled in a feline sort of way. "I am not 'just a cat' 
any more than you are 'just a girl'." A glow appeared in the 
cat's forehead. "The time has come." There was a bright flash, 
and a wand, similar to Natsuko's, only with a green gem, rested 
in Mayumi's hands.
     "Isn't this going to attract some attention?" asked Natsuko.
     Bast shook her head. "No one can see us right now."
     "Why not?"
     "Because--!" she nearly shouted, then switched to a harsh 
whisper. "It's one of my powers."
     "So... why couldn't you do it before?"
     Bast sighed, seeing that she wasn't going to hear the last 
of this unless she explained it. "Most of my power comes from 
you; once the other Princesses are awakened, I'll have even 
greater powers."
     "Excuse me..." Mayumi said hesitantly, especially consider-
ing what had happened the last time she said that.
     "Oh yes." said Bast. "Sorry about that. Now, say 'I call 
upon the Power of the Forests', allright?"
     Confused as ever, Mayumi did as she was asked. She said the 
words with a confidence that hadn't been there a moment ago, and, 
in Natsuko's estimation, never had been before. When the light 
show ended, Mayumi was clothed in an outfit similar to that 
Natsuko had found herself in. She looked herself over in sur-
prise. "This is me? I-I'm...?"
     "Magical Princess Diana of the Forests." Bast said proudly.
     Mayumi looked at herself more, and Natsuko and Bast waited 
for a reaction. Mayumi smiled. "This is so cool!" she said with a 
giggle.
     Natsuko looked at her newfound compatriot with a mix of 
dread and arrogance.
     "Just as I remember her." Bast murmured.
     As far as Natsuko was concerned, that meant that 
Mayumi/Diana had always been this stupid. She could only hope 
that the others would be a little more clear-headed.

Chapter 3: Geometry of Shadows
     For Natsuko to get to know Mayumi was interesting, to say 
the least. They were virtual opposites. Where Natsuko was cynical 
and aloof, Mayumi was an eternal optimist, and eternally in need 
of attention. Mayumi, as it turned out, deeply loved the idea of 
being a Magical Princess -- it had, in fact, always been a fanta-
sy of hers, though she never dreamed it would come true.
     The two of them didn't really get along. Natsuko thought 
Mayumi was childish, while she though Natsuko was boring and 
depressing.
     Mayumi's clique of friends were, by and large, all too much 
like her, saying "kawaii" all the time, giggling like mad, and so 
on. Natsuko had a hard time imagining that, even in a previous 
life, she had been anything like that.
     The six of them, plus Natsuko, sat at a table in the cafete-
ria, and it was painfully obvious that she didn't quite belong.
     "So..." said Kyoko, obviously trying to jump-start a conver-
sation, "What do you like to do?"
     Natsuko thought about it for a moment; there were relatively 
few things in her life that she really enjoyed. "Aikido." she 
said at last.
     More than one pair of eyebrows raised.
     "What about Teruo?" asked Sayo. The six girls shot a glance 
at a another nearby table. Teruo, part of a group of other boys, 
started to turn red and scratched the back of his neck.
     Natsuko glanced at Teruo, then turned back to them. "What 
about him?" she said stiffly.
     "Why are you so mean to him? asked Mayumi. "He's really 
hooked on you, you know."
     The others nodded. Arisa smiled. "You should hear him talk 
about you in class! It's like... like Romeo and Juliet!"
     Natsuko frowned at the mention of Shakespeare's masterpiece. 
"Oh good." she said quietly. "You do realize that in the play 
they both commit suicide at the end?"
     "You're always so cynical." snorted Kyoko.
     They were really getting on her nerved. "Well," Natsuko 
nearly shouted, "try reading the damn play. There's a reason it's 
called 'The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet', you know."
     They got very quiet, and Natsuko realized that a significant 
portion of the cafeteria was looking at her. She sighed, and 
looked at the table.

     Arkal stood at the edge of the school. He had not spent time 
on Earth in some time, and it had changed a great deal since his 
last visit. He had resolved that he would not be as foolish as 
Jeykrethal; Arkal was in human guise, and would gather informa-
tion before they took fighting action.
     He could sense the presence of Princess Diana, his "better 
half," within the school. He smiled, and strode into the campus, 
to all appearances just an average man in a cheap suit.

     Lunch continued largely in silence. Natsuko could tell they 
were thinking things best left unsaid about her, especially given 
that she had a third degree black belt in aikido.
     Mayumi seemed worried. Suddenly, she turned, and looked 
across the cafeteria. The rest of them looked as well; a handsome 
man wearing a dark suit stood on the other side of the room.
     Natsuko looked back at Mayumi; she seemed to look in the 
man's general direction, but not at anything in particular, as 
though lost in memory. Natsuko looked at the man and tried to 
remember who he was. There was something hauntingly familiar 
about him, but she couldn't tell just what it was.
     Mayumi shuddered, and though a cold wind had just struck 
her. "Na-Natsuko... let's go."
     Natsuko could see that she was quite scared, and nodded, 
standing up. They went outside, Mayumi in a daze the whole way. 
Once they were outside, Mayumi sat down on the soft grass.
     "Mayumi, what happened?"
     She nervously picked at the grass. "It was like... like a 
dream, or a memory." She looked up at Natsuko. "I didn't really 
believe all that past life stuff until now. He's Arkal of the 
Trees, one of the Princes."
     Natsuko wasn't sure what to say. If he was the Tree part of 
the Five Princes, that would make him Mayumi's counterpart. 
Mayumi was near the point of tears; would Natsuko's counterpart 
be able to elicit a similar reaction?
     There was a rustling in the trees.
     Natsuko looked around; there was no wind. 
     All was silent.
     "What is it?" asked Mayumi. There was a long pause. 
     Natsuko jumped, throwing herself and Mayumi to the ground, 
just barely avoiding a tree branch that had struck the ground. 
She quickly picked herself up and looked up in astonishment.
     One of the large trees had actually become animated. It 
lifted its great branch from the ground, and the trunk split into 
a pair of legs.
     "Mayumi!" Natsuko hissed. "Transform!"
     Natsuko pulled out her wand and held it in both hands. 
"Air." she whispered.
     Mayumi pulled out her wand, and held it high above her head. 
"I call upon the Power of the Forests!" she called out.
     Natsuko changes in a second, in a bright flash, and pointed 
her wand at the tree.
      A pair of branches became arms. The trunk became less 
rough, and before she knew what was happening, the tree had taken 
on a humanoid form, and a feminine one at that.
     "Hurricane Air Burst!"
     A swirling vortex of wind and mist shot out at the changed 
tree. But when the miniature maelstrom ended, the tree creature 
stood more or less intact.
     It smiled, and pointed one wooden hand at her. Natsuko 
rolled out of the way as a stream of jagged shards of wood sprang 
forth, embedding themselves deep into the ground. Cursing as she 
came to her feet, she realized that Arkal was probably to blame 
for this. "Damn him!" she muttered. She could feel the wand 
shudder, and though it feared what she might do. In a corner of 
her mind, she could feel something at once familiar and at once 
alien.
     Even though it hadn't worked the first time, she tried her 
spell again. "Hurricane Air Burst!" A concussive stream of swirl-
ing dark mists shot out from the wand's crystal, throwing the 
tree-thing to the ground, and wrenching at its limbs.
     "Leaf..."
     Natsuko turned around, and say Mayumi there, finally done 
transforming.
     "Storm..."
     Somehow, Natsuko realized that she should have expected her 
to take forever to act.
     "Blast!"
     A swirling helix of green leaves struck and clawed at the 
tree creature, wracking its body. When it finally ended, a normal 
tree, lying on its side, was all that remained.
     Natsuko took a moment to catch her breath.
     "We..." Mayumi looked at her and smiled. "We did it! All-
right!"
     Natsuko nodded. "Y-yeah." She looked around suspiciously. 
"But where's Arkal?"
     "What do you mean?"
     She scanned the horizon. "Who do you thing summoned that 
thing?"
     "Well... maybe he left?"
     Natsuko shook her head. "I'd bet anything he'll at least 
come back to gloat."
     "You know me too well, Sharra."
     The two of them whirled around -- Arkal stood there, still 
in his double-breasted suit.
     "You fought well, but that was the least of my minions." He 
began to fade away. "But don't worry; we'll kill you ourselves." 
And with that, he was gone.
     "No." Natsuko said under her breath. "Not this time. It's 
your turn."

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Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney                     blackbird@blackbird.nu
Blackbird's Domain                        http://www.blackbird.nu/
The Official Thrash Home Page          http://thrash.blackbird.nu/
Knight Kevlar of the Immortal Frog        Silver Knight of Mihoshi
              "Be nice to me; I might just develop 
             psychokinetic powers and destroy Tokyo!"
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