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

Chapter 4: Quiet
     Natsuko came home, leaving her shoes in the entranceway as 
usual. She felt exhausted -- rare for her -- and headed to her 
bedroom.
     There she found Bast. As Natsuko lay down on the bed, the 
cat joined her there.
     "Hello there."
     Natsuko looked at Bast and sighed. "A funny thing happened 
today, Bast."
     "Oh?"
     She nodded. "A tree tried to kill us. And one of the Princes 
paid a visit to our school again."
     "Oh dear." said Bast, not sure of what else to say. "And... 
how did you fare?"
     "Between the two of us it took three attacks to take the 
thing down. And just before Arkal vanished, he said they were 
going to kill all of us." Natsuko gave a sarcastic smile. "So, 
how was your day?"
     "Besides the fact that your mother has taken a liking to 
me," replied Bast, "I think I've nearly tracked down another of 
the Princesses."
     "Go on."
     "I've been able to determine that one of the Princesses 
lives in another part of this area." Bast paused to stretch her 
legs. "It's only a few miles from here."
     Natsuko sighed. At that time, she was more tired than she'd 
ever been in the past five years. But duty called. "All right, 
let's go, then."

     They hopped off the bus a short while later. Natsuko was 
surprised that the driver had allowed her to bring Bast on the 
bus, but then, no one had seemed to notice the cat's presence at 
all.
     "Where do we go from here?"
     Bast hopped to the ground, and started walking. Though she 
was pretty sure the cat had chosen a random direction, Natsuko 
followed. They walked for a time, through the twisty, unlabeled 
streets, looking in all directions.
     Suddenly, Natsuko spotted someone. She was a tall, teenaged 
caucasian, with long, blonde hair. She turned and faced Natsuko.
     Natsuko froze, and a memory flooded her consciousness.

     Ariel approached Sharra and Diana. "What are you talking 
about?"
     "The Princes." Sharra said at last. "I fear they may come 
for us very soon."
     "But here?"
     Sharra nodded gravely. "Very soon. We should make ready for 
battle."
     Ariel nodded.

     The girl took a few steps closer. "Um... excuse me?" she 
said, her Japanese flawless. "You wouldn't happen to know...?"
     Bast nodded. "Of course. Follow me."
     She turned to Natsuko. "Your cat can talk?"
     Natsuko nodded and began walking. "Annoying, isn't it?"
     "May I ask your name?"
     "Natsuko. You?"
     "Cathy, but..."
     "We'll explain shortly." said Natsuko.
     They walked into an alleyway, and stopped. Cathy looked 
around, confused. "What is this all about?"
     "All in good time." said Bast. "Here." A wand with a red gem 
landed lightly in Cathy's hands. "Now, say 'I call upon the Power 
of the Flames.'"
     Cathy looked to Natsuko for reassurance, and then did as she 
had been asked. Strange energies swirled around the alleyway, and 
then the maelstrom of color ended, Cathy was in full Magical 
Princess garb. "Wha-what is this?" she stammered. "What am I?"
     "Magical Princess Ariel of the Flames." Natsuko said flatly. 
It was about time they got someone with some real firepower, so 
to speak. And there were only two more left to go. "One of the 
five Princesses."
     Cathy looked at the wand. "Oh."

     Natsuko wasn't sure what she expected in Cathy, but whatever 
it was, it wasn't present. She looked to be American, but by her 
actions, she was one of the most Japanese people she'd ever met.
     As she later explained, Cathy was, in fact, born in the 
U.S., but her family moved to Japan when she was three, on ac-
count of her father, a skilled engineer, getting a high-paying 
job there. As a result, Cathy had attended Japanese schools and 
lived immersed in Japanese culture nearly all of her life.
     Natsuko and Bast had a more difficult time explaining the 
story of the Princesses to Cathy. Indeed, were it not for the 
blatant evidence they presented, Cathy would've likely never 
believed them.

     Pyrakalth sat in the Great Hall. His brothers were else-
where, preparing themselves. 
     Anubis, now in the form of a great, black panther, crept 
into the hall. Anubis had been their companion and mentor since 
the beginning, mush as the Princesses had Bast, and Pyrakalth had 
learned long ago to listen to whatever Anubis had to say.
     "What brings you here, Anubis?"
     The cat strode closer. "Ariel has awakened. I can feel Bast 
growing stronger."
     "Only two more to go." he said whimsically.
     Anubis nodded.
     Pyrakalth looked around the hall thoughtfully. "It's been a 
long time since I've seen Ariel..."
     Anubis cocked his head to one side. "Visit your... 'fairer 
half' is you wish, but be wary, especially of Sharra."
     "She always was the greatest of the five. I thought we were 
going to turn her to our side."
     Anubis smiled, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. "He will 
be handling that."
     Anubis could only mean Lord Tempest, Sharra's counterpart, 
and greatest of the Princes.
     "You are correct."
     Pyrakalth smiled; It was all too easy to forget that Anubis 
was telepathic. "So, what if I do visit them?"
     "Expect an attack. And a fierce one, if Sharra is present."
     "I find it hard to believe--"
     "Believe!" Anubis snapped. "This Sharra is no innocent, as 
in past lives. She is more disillusioned and hateful than you 
think. Underestimating her will be your downfall. The time for 
the battle has not yet come."
     "I understand. I'll be back soon."

     As they talked, Cathy led them to her home, a moderate-sized 
house by Tokyo's standards, nestled in with the rest of the city.
     "There's only one thing I don't understand." Cathy said as 
they removed their shoes. "You said I was the third...?"
     "Yeah," Natsuko said reluctantly. "The other one is Mayumi, 
also known as Diana of the Forests."
     Cathy looked at her disapprovingly. "What's with that tone 
of voice, Natsuko?"
     "Mayumi," Natsuko replied, "is a serious airhead. Usually 
acts about half her age."
     Cathy frowned. "You shouldn't insult your friends like that, 
Natsuko."
     She shrugged. "I suppose. Even if it is true."
     "Are you always like this?"
     Natsuko smiled.
     "No," Bast said finally. "Sometimes she's depressing as well 
as cynical and sarcastic."
     Cathy looked at the hardwood floor. "Oh."
     "Oh, come on, I have good moods once in a while," Natsuko 
laughed. "Even if they are at someone else's expense. Or just for 
no reason at all..."
     "Perhaps," said a harsh voice, "you are intoxicated by 
power, Sharra."
     The three of them whirled around -- before them was a tall 
man with orange-red hair and a complicated outfit that looked to 
be on fire. Cathy inhaled sharply and froze.
     "Greeting. I am Pyrakalth, Prince of Fire." he said smugly, 
not giving them a chance to ask his identity.
     "What do you want?" Natsuko yelled, getting ready to pull 
out her wand.
     "Merely," he said, taking Cathy's hands in his, "to... 
visit." He drew her closer, and she became aware, bit by bit, of 
what was going on around her, which only made her more afraid. 
Cathy was brought within inches of his face. "It's been a long 
time, Ariel." He held her head in his hands, pulling her closer 
still.
     Natsuko had seen enough. She pulled out her wand. "Wind!" A 
radiant wind tore through the room; then it stopped, Natsuko was 
Sharra, the Wind Princess.
     She pointed the wand at him. "Get back."
     He looked at Sharra, and let go of Cathy. "They were right 
about you, Sharra." he said as he began to fade away. "You have 
changed."

Chapter 5: The Tempest Spiral
     "Mayumi," said Natsuko, "meet Cathy."

     Mayumi smiled, and gave a short bow. "Pleased to meet you."
     Cathy returned the gesture, bowing more deeply.
     It was Sunday, and none of them had much of any obligations, 
so Mayumi decided that they would go out. Cathy liked the idea, 
and wanted to meet Mayumi. Natsuko, on the other hand, never 
cared for shopping, probably in part because her family had never 
had enough money to make running around the shopping districts an 
option. She had, however, decided to come along anyway, mainly to 
keep the two of them out of trouble.
     Wandering through the district and looking for things to buy 
made Mayumi obnoxiously happy and generally annoying. Cathy, who 
had proven to be quiet most of the time, quickly entered a simi-
lar but less severe state. Natsuko had heard somewhere that in 
each teenaged girl sleeps a raving shop-a-holic. If this was 
true, Natsuko figured hers had been strangled or suffocated in 
its slumber long ago.
     As they moved from store to store, Natsuko got more and more 
bored. Cathy, and Mayumi in particular, had a hard time believing 
that she didn't find the shopping trip to be phenomenally excit-
ing.
     Finally, they stopped for lunch at Makudonarudo.
     "How can you not like shopping?" Mayumi was saying.
     "It just seems really pointless to wander around all day 
looking at stuff I can't afford."
     Cathy shrugged. "Well, what would you rather do, Natsuko?"
     "Well..." she said with a smile, "Aikido practice, 
biking..."
     "You'd never know it looking at you," Mayumi replied, "but 
you really can be quiet a tomboy sometimes."
     Natsuko frowned. She'd been called that many times, and she 
did her best not to let it get to her. It didn't. Natsuko smiled 
and shrugged.
     "You sure are strange sometimes."
     "All of us are; the tomboy, the airhead, and the Japanese in 
an American body." she laughed, "and we're eating at a McDonalds 
in Tokyo of all places."
     Cathy glanced at Mayumi, and gave a mix of a smile and a 
sigh. "I suppose."
     Natsuko took a final sip from her coke, and stood up. Mayumi 
and Cathy followed suit.
     "Hey," said Mayumi as she emptied the tray. "Natsuko, Did 
you mean...?"

     The three of them walked down the narrow street. Natsuko 
held her hands behind her head, and took in her surroundings.
     Mayumi had gotten mad at the airhead comment, refusing to so 
much as talk to her until she apologized (which she did, albeit 
45 minutes later, and at Cathy's insistence).
     As Natsuko looked into the sky, she noticed that gray clouds 
had began to gather. "Um, guys?"
     Both turned around at the same time. "Hm?"
     She looked upwards. "The weather doesn't look that good. I 
think we should head home."
     They looked up and saw the storm clouds gathering. "Do you 
think so?" asked Cathy.
     There was something ominous about those clouds; she could 
feel it in her bones. As she looked at the great mass of gray, a 
strange feeling came over her, and it permeated every fiber of 
her being. It was difficult to define, but the sensation was best 
described as dread.
     "Natsuko?" Mayumi waved a hand in front of her face. "Are 
you allright?"
     She quickly came back to reality. "Let's go." she said at 
last.
     They hastily set off down the street. Mayumi and Cathy were 
obviously worried by Natsuko's reaction, but said nothing.
     In a matter of minutes, the gray clouds had darkened the sky 
and were quickly blotting out the light of day. Before long, a 
light rain began to come down. Owing to the fact that the weather 
report had said there would be clear skies today -- which had 
been very much the case until a few minutes ago -- no one was 
prepared for the rain, including the three of them.
     The rain intensified, and there was a flash, followed a 
split second later by a deafening crack of thunder.
     They stopped short, as a bolt of lightning struck the 
ground, a mere two meters from them. More and more electrical 
arcs struck the same area, until finally a dozen streamed from 
every corner of the sky, combining into one colossal spire of 
electricity.
     Natsuko was nearly blinded by the brilliance of it. But when 
she looked again, a man stood there. He wore all white, and had 
black hair, dark eyes, and a long cloak.
     Natsuko felt a terrible wrenching sensation, and a kind of 
brilliance flooded her mind.

     She lay there for a time, trying to comprehend what had 
happened, and why. She was once whole, but now was not.
     "What are you?" said a harsh voice.
     She rolled over, and looked up. A man stood there, dark eyes 
glaring down at her. "I don't know." she whispered.
     He grasped her neck, lifting her up. The pain was unbear-
able. "Don't trifle with me."
     "But--" He squeezed a bit harder. "Wha- what are you?" she 
whispered through his iron grip.
     He looked down, and then dropped her. "I-I don't know."
     She rested her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe together, we 
can understand ourselves."
     His harsh gaze softened for a brief moment, but just as 
quickly went to twice its previous intensity. He struck her with 
more force than she would have imagined possible... everything 
was blocked out by a blue haze.

     Natsuko was kneeling. The rain came down in torrents, and 
she was thoroughly soaked.
     "At last you emerge, Princess Sharra."
     She slowly nodded. "Baal of the Tempest." Natsuko stood up 
and pulled out her wand. "What do you want here?" she had passed 
beyond fear, to hatred.
     "It's simple, Sharra. If you try to fight us, you will not  
survive. I am offering you a change for redemption, a chance to 
stay alive, if you join us."
     All was silent, save for the sound of the winds that whipped 
across the cityscape, and the constant rainfall.
     "Do you think she would--?" Mayumi whispered.
     Natsuko would not be vulnerable, as before; she felt a kind 
of strength she never had before. She would not run. Not this 
time. Turning back was not an option. "No." The gem in her wand 
began to glow. "I will not turn my back on my friends. Or this 
world."

     Sharra hovered in the air. Baal was floating nearby.
     "I have come to love this world, Baal, and I will not allow 
you to destroy it, or my sisters!" she shouted.
     Ball smiled. "So be it." Clouds gathered, and electricity 
crackled around them. "You will not survive."
     Sharra summoned her own power. The air spirits writhed. "You 
may kill me, you might even get us all, but we will return, and 
if not this time, then next time, the Princes will fall."

     "So," said Baal, "you want to die. Again. See what your 
quest for 'love and justice' brings you. You are grown too human, 
Sharra."
     The glow of the gem in her wand intensified. "Hatred and 
destruction are all too human traits. See how human I am!"

     Mayumi and Cathy could only watch as Natsuko confronted her 
counterpart. They could remember their respective meetings. Each 
had been frozen in fear, surrounded by a vision -- a terrifying 
feeling of loss, followed by a confrontation.
     As near as they could tell, the same had happened to Natsu-
ko. But when she stood up, the gem in her wand was glowing 
brightly. Then there was a bright flash, and two columns of light 
spiraled upwards. Then, all they could see was two dots of light, 
which clashed again and again.

     Natsuko pulled the spirits of air into the very core of her 
being. The power of her spirit was increased exponentially, and 
she wielded the forces of air with a kind of bliss -- this was 
what she was meant to do.
     As first it was hard to believe that she could be doing any 
such thing, but she quickly realized -- she was, and it didn't 
matter how.
     The spirits danced and spun, and before she knew it, a 
hurricane was forming. She looked down, and tried to find Mayumi 
and Cathy.
     A dozen lightning bolts wracked Natsuko's all too fragile 
body. Unconscious, she began to fall.

Chapter 6: Eye of the Storm
     When the Princesses had gone out shopping, Bast was far from 
idle. If three of them were here in Tokyo, it was likely that the 
others would be drawn as though by magnetic force. Furthermore, 
the reawakening of Ariel stepped up Bast's power even more; when 
the fourth Princess awakened, Bast would finally be able to 
change shape once again.
     Bast drifted, in spirit form, unseen by any save the spirits 
that drifted and danced through the ether. She opened her senses 
as fully as possible to the sensations around her, and called to 
the spirits of water and stone. They lamented the loss of their 
princesses, and vowed to help where they could.
     Meanwhile, she continued searching herself. As Bast surveyed 
the cityscape, she realized that the air spirits had become 
unusually restless; this did not bode well.
     A water spirit -- one of many that had appeared because of 
the gathering storm -- zoomed up to her; it had found something.

     Rina did her best to concentrate on the homework, but was 
failing. She simply couldn't concentrate with the memory of Teruo 
lingering in her mind.
     "Excuse me?"
     Rina yelped as she fell backwards in her chair. She looked 
around, still sprawled in the floor, and saw a white cat sitting 
there.
     "Sorry to have startled you," the cat was saying. "But I 
need to talk to you -- it's very important."
     Maybe she'd hit her head a little harder than she'd thought.
     "Listen to me, you must claim your true destiny. People will 
be in danger if we do not hurry!"
     Rina uncrossed her eyes. "Huh?"
     "Oh, get up!"
     Not sure why (except that being upside-down like that was 

kind of uncomfortable) she did as she was told. There was a flash 
of light, and a wand with a cobalt-blue gem set into it landed in 
her hands.
     "Now," said the cat, "sai 'I call upon the Power of the 
Waters."
     Rina nodded, and held up the wand.

     Bast and Rina -- Magical Princess Venus of the Waters -- ran 
through the suddenly drenched streets of Tokyo. Powerful winds 
whipped through the city, and bright flashes danced in the sky. 
Bast cursed; things were moving too quickly. She needed more 
time!
     Cathy whirled around, and saw Bast, accompanied by a girl -- 
obviously the next princess -- run up to them. The gem in the 
girl's wand was a deep blue color. "Um, hello."
     Bast came to a halt. "Cathy, Mayumi, meet Rina." She said, 
sounding a bit exasperated. Bast looked upwards, at the points of 
light in the sky. "Is that Natsuko"
     In the sky, there was a bright flash, and a deafening crack 
of thunder.
     Mayumi swallowed, and nodded. "Is she all right?"
     Bast had a feeling that that was not the case. There was 
only one Princess who had yet to awaken -- for once, Bast had the 
power to do something.
     The three of them watched as the cat closed her eyes, and 
began to glow. An instant later, and angel, with the face of a 
cat, stood before them. A creature with luminous, feathery wings. 
Bast shot upwards, through the terrible storm, and into the eye 
of the hurricane. She would find Sharra.

     The birds sang sweetly, joyous at both the new day and the 
passing of the terrible storm.
     Natsuko slowly opened her eyes and sat up.
     "Oh, you're awake!"
     She turned, and looked to see who had made the remark. The 
girl -- whom Natsuko had never met -- was short and slim, with 
shoulder-length black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a rather 
typical school uniform, which looked to be rather severely wrin-
kled. "And you are?"
     She smiled and bowed slightly. "My name is Rina Yamakawa."
     "Where am I? What happened?" She could scarcely remember a 
thing, and her head hurt like hell.
     "Oh, this is Mayumi's house. Bast rescued you in the storm."
     "And I'm quite glad you're allright." Bast strode into the 
room, and hopped up onto the bed. "It's a good thing I was there, 
or Baal's assault might have finished you off."
     Memories flooded her mind, of the events of the previous 
night. Natsuko stood up, holding one hand to her head, and used 
the other to support herself by leaning against the wall. "How?" 
she murmured. "How did I... call them?"
     Bast looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean--?" The 
cat's eyes abruptly narrowed. "Spirits?"
     Natsuko nodded. "They... they were happy. They called a 
storm and made a hurricane. They gave me power." She stood on her 
feet, her arms dropping to her sides. Natsuko closed her eyes. 
"Such power... yet Baal won the battle. The Princes were holding 
back."
     "Natsuko..."
     She made a fist, and opened her eyes. "Don't you get it?" 
she yelled. "We don't have a chance! None of us has enough 
power!"
     Bast grew, becoming humanoid, but still feline. "Natsuko, it 
didn't matter until now. The princes were going to wait until you 
became powerful before attacking directly. You have taken away 
our only real advantage! Their greatest weakness is arrogance. 
Now they will attack while the outnumber and outgun us! We truly 
won't have a chance!"
     Natsuko charged at the creature that Bast had become. When 
Bast swiped with her claws, Natsuko's combat reflexes, gained 
from many long hours of aikido practice, set in; she grabbed the 
clawed, furry hand, and executed a back flip that left Bast lying 
flat on the ground. "Giving up," Natsuko growled, "is not an 
option."
     Bast winced at the pain. "It's about time you figured that 
out."
     "There has to be a way, Bast."
     Bast nodded. "Of course there is a way. But it won't be 
easy. Or safe."

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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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