SAILOR MOON H
EPISODE 1- STORM WARNING

An unusually bright day, this one was. The walls of corn along the highway 
radiated its emerald green around tiny golden pieces peeking out from their 
husks. The concrete sizzled quietly, a soft breeze carrying trace amounts of 
steam away from it. A pond nearby, still as glass, reflected the brilliant 
blue sky perfectly. Nearby, a red-winged blackbird trilled out a harsh 
oh-ka-leeee! as it fluttered out of a tree, afraid that the girl passing by 
on her rollerblades would come after it.

But the girl's silver eyes were focused on the road. She had let her long, 
chocolate-colored hair loose into her own turbulent wind. These cheerful 
scenes were a fleeting picture in her memory as she whooshed by, with little 
effect on her current thoughts and feelings. Despite the carefree 
appearance, her eyes as bright as the reflection on the water, her skates 
gliding peacefully across the ground, her mind was stormy with the events 
that had taken place earlier.

For one moment her hand slipped into the pocket of her dusty jeans and slid 
the folded paper deeper inside. She wished she could completely push it 
away, it would float off into the breeze and a storm would come and shred it 
with lightning.

"Biology-" she muttered. "So what? One test. My parents won't care, what am 
I going to do with Biology later anyway?"

But that wasn't the only thing that dragged this day down. She had left the 
school only to find her little brother surrounded by teachers. His hair, 
normally a shiny gold, was rusty brown, caked with dirt, like the rest of 
his clothes. His golden-brown eyes turned to her. "Skyler" he whimpered.

"Oriole?!" Skyler had rushed over to him. "Are you OK?"

"Mom's coming to get me-"

It had been those bullies again. The only thing that made Skyler angery. Her 
brother did nothing to them, let they insisted on tormenting him every day 
after school. Usually, Skyler would be right there for him, but she had to 
stay a bit to talk to the teacher about her test.

"I'm sure your brother can take care of himself" Ms. Mather had told her.

Maybe if he was two feet taller. He was the shortest kid in school.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as one of her wheels let out a tired 
squeak and stopped altogether, leaving the rest of her to tumble through the 
air and slam into the ground in a face-down sprawl. She growled as she got 
up, kicking the gravel off the road with her front wheel, and brushed some 
more off. She noticed streaks of upturned grass nearby. Some crazy driver 
must have taken a turn too fast.

A robin in the grass nearby eyed her curiously. It hopped closer, pausing 
only to take a sideways glance at her. She watched it come ever closer.

A larger shadow suddenly passed over them, startling the robin. It flapped 
away with a sharp chattering. Skyler looked up, but only caught a glimpse of 
the silhouette as it soared away. She watched for a few seconds more, then 
started on her way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her skates clacked as she stepped in the door."Mom! I'm home."

"Skyler, take those skates off before you come in the house!" her mother 
scolded.

She set them down back on the porch and took a look around. One of the cars 
was missing from the driveway."Where's Dad?"

"He's down at the airport."

Skyler's eyes widened slightly. He didn't even wait for her? "Can I go?"

"Chores first. I have to go pick up Oriole. Make sure you know how to lock 
the gate this time. We don't want the cows getting in the corn again."

Chores meant feeding the animals. She went to the large shed out back, where 
all the animal food was. First were the cats. Tuna, the gray one, was 
Oriole's favorite. He ran from just about everything except fish. Skyler 
watched him scamper towards the kitchen when she ran the can opener. Then 
there was Frostbite, the mean white one that hated going outside and 
wouldn't eat anything that was more than two days out of the store. The 
other cats seemed to like teasing Frostbite, but it was all in good fun. 
None of them had any claws. And the last one, her favorite, Galaxy. He was 
black with large white streaks, and bright green eyes. And he would always 
be there to cheer her up.

Next was the golden retriever, Turbo. They called him that because he 
absolutely had to run wherever he went. He never stopped, not even in his 
sleep. And the food would be gone within three seconds of the dish being on 
the floor.

Then there were her three budgerigars in her room- the blue one called Sora, 
the green one called Jayde, and the yellow one called Sunny. They didn't 
need a refill yet, so she left them alone.

Finally, there was the chickens. She couldn't keep track of all their names. 
The cows were her father's job, along with many other things.

She raced out, took no more than 20 seconds to strap on her rollerblades, 
then zoomed off towards the town.

Minutes later, she passed the town's welcome sign. Galesburg. She didn't 
think she'd ever get tired of seeing it. It was small, simple, just like the 
town. She often wondered why it was called Galesburg.

Everyone was out today. People crowded the narrow sidewalks, in the park, by 
the high school football field. There was a game today, and the stands were 
full. Skyler smiled contentedly. She knew everyone here, and they knew her. 
At least by name.

Finally, she saw the hangars and turned off at the next driveway. Her 
father's blue truck was there, all right- and there he was, checking out his 
airplane. She tore off her skates and jumped into her sandals. "Dad! Are you 
going up today?"

"Yep" he replied. "Hand me that towel, will ya?"

"Can I come?"

"No, better not today."

"Aww-" Skyler's face fell. "Why not?"

"Why don't you see Uncle Lance in the control tower?

"Uncle Lance is here?!"

"Yeah, go on. He's expecting you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance saw Skyler wandering towards him, the people around her smiling at 
her. "Hey, what's going on? How's my favorite niece?"

Skyler ran to him and gave him a hug. "Dad won't let me go in the plane" she 
whined.

"He's going out--" Lance replied. "Taking a risk, isn't he?"

"What? Why?"

"There's a storm headed this way" he led her to one of the monitors. "See 
this red stuff? Big storm, big trouble for flying. It came up really fast 
and its supposed to hit us. You'd better go home before it does."

Skyler looked out to where the electronic map had shown the disturbance. The 
sky seemed clear to her.

Down below, she saw the town. Something was off, something she hadn't seen 
before. Dirt dug up, steel bars moved in. "What's that?"

"They're putting up apartment buildings. I'm not sure why, but I'll check it 
out for you. Now go on home."

A small scowl clouded her face, but she didn't want to get in Uncle Lance's 
way. "OK-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky dulled as she neared home. Next came drizzles, then rain. She 
grumbled all the way down the road through the town.

The streets, unlike what couldn't have been more than a half-hour earlier, 
were silent. A gray aura had crept through, bringing in a gloomy, yet uneasy 
feeling. Not a bird chirped, not a single leaf moved throughout the whole 
park. Even the rain seemed still and quiet, even though that was impossible. 
Skyler shivered a bit, and not from the cold.

She arrived at home, drenched. Her brother was back to his normal self, 
chasing Tuna all over the place and laughing like a hyena. The other cats, 
and Turbo, were racing around as well.

She reached her room. The parakeets were a little jumpy themselves. They 
were screeching, chirping, jumping all over the cage walls as if they were 
making some desperate attempt to escape. Skyler put her hand in the cage to 
calm the frenzied birds. "Sora? Jayde, calm down! What's with you?"

Outside, the sky grew darker by the minute, the restless clouds twisting and 
sparking in an eerie pattern. The wind chimes by the window tossed wildly, 
and Skyler shut it.

Tuna scampered into her room and screeched to a halt under her bed. Her 
brother followed shortly after.

"Hey, Oriole--" Skyler started as he reached under her bed after the 
frightened cat.

He stopped. "What?"

"What did those kids say to you today?"

"The usual. Calling me 'runt' and 'birdboy' and stuff like that. Why?"

Skyler closed her eyes as she saw the bruises on his face again. "Are you 
mad at me?"

He stared at her with inquisitive eyes. "No, why would I be?"

"I just thought-- since I wasn't there-"

His eyes softened a bit. Skyler had never seen this look from him before. It 
made him look somewhat older, more mature, totally pushing aside his 
under-average seven-year-old height. "You don't have to protect me. You're 
not going to be around me everywhere. I can take care of myself."

Tuna bolted for the door, and once again the playful chase resumed. Skyler 
leaned back on the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

"Sky! Dinner!" she heard her mother call.

Spaghetti and meat sauce awaited them at the table. The sky outside was 
wilder than ever now, turning the trees around and flattening the corn to 
the ground. Rain turned to waterfalls, forming its own rivers as it poured 
relentlessly from the flashing clouds. It soon turned to a heavier tapping. 
Skyler's mother went to the window. "Hail-" she murmured. "Sky, are the 
chickens in the henhouse?"

"Yes, mother."

Suddenly Skyler's father burst in the door. Behind him, Skyler heard a faint 
noise. A distant wail, a simple sound, yet it carried with it a sense of 
danger that affected everyone who heard it. Skyler's mother switched on the 
TV.

"This storm has moved in at incredible speeds, and it is quite 
unpredictable, so please take all the necessary precautions immediately. If 
you're just tuning in now, there is a tornado warning in effect for all of 
our viewing area until 9:45. I've just been handed this-- another tornado 
has been sighted outside of Franklin. People, this is a very dangerous 
situation-"

"I saw one" Skyler's father panted. "We have to get downstairs. C'mon, 
Turbo!"

Galaxy jumped in Skyler's arms. Oriole ran to the corner. "Tuna, let's go!"

Tuna refused to come any closer. Oriole ran after him.

The back door swung open a fierce wind struck the house. Tuna took this 
chance to escape. And Oriole was right behind. "TUNA!"

Without a second thought for her own safety or any attention to her parents' 
calls, Skyler dashed out after him.

The rain and hail tore at her face, keeping her eyes fluttering enough that 
she couldn't see her brother or the grass around her, despite the lightning. 
The wind was howling, now picking up everything in the yard that wasn't tied 
down, Skyler heard her brother's calls ahead of her, she could only focus on 
him now. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. She just ran.

Something flew right past her head, and whatever it was, it was obviously 
larger than their truck. Skyler thought she caught a glimpse of that little 
plastic pool in their backyard go flying by.

And then, she felt her own feet leave the ground.

For a long time, she had wondered what it was like to fly on her own, 
without the aid of wings or propellers. Well, she knew now-

Oriole's screams reached her ears from aways away. But her focus was broken.

A splash of water caught her attention from below. Oriole had landed.

The creek. She knew where she was now. There was a stream that ran though 
their yard way in the back. No one would ever call it a stream now, not this 
overpowering force.

The water was surprisingly cold as it rushed up past her face. She didn't 
waste any time surfacing. Her focus was back. "Oriole!" she screamed, 
garbled by the large waves of water pushing her further down.

She swam as hard and fast as she could towards where she had last seen 
Oriole, but she had little strength left. She had run and "flown" enough, 
and swimming wasn't her strength. Her head became heavy and light at the 
same time, her mind swimming in a frosty haze.

Something snagged her shoulder, stopping her in place and snapping her awake 
a little. She could barely see it, a thin, scraggly hand with long golden 
nails clinging to her. It wasn't till another one clamped onto her other 
shoulder that she realized it wasn't a hand, but a claw. She would probably 
have freaked out if she had the strength left, but whatever it was, it was 
taking her out of the water. She saw the water fall away-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Golden stars, silver moon~
~The past I will never forget~
~Though I fly far, I remember soon~
~The world I must protect~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stars, a patch of infinite blue-

These were scattered around, blocked out by silhouettes. Skyler's vision 
cleared as she sat up.

There was an eerie silence. Sparkling clouds swirled around, occasionally 
revealing more stars, but not for long. She recognized the place- her 
backyard again. Right by the creek. But it looked as if nothing had been 
touched by a storm.

Something fluttered behind her, and she whirled around on her knees.

A golder claw clung to a large broken tree branch. That same one she had 
seen in the creek, now shining brightly despite the dim light. Her eyes 
moved upward, running over glossy golden feathers, past a beak the same 
color as the claws, and into a pair of sharp yellow eyes. These deep eyes, 
clouded with some mystical, enchanting spirit.

It was an eagle. A golden eagle. Skyler saw pictures of golden eagles 
before, and this didn't look like them. It was a bit too small, and too 
light-colored. She approached it tentatively. It only looked at her, with no 
sudden movements. It allowed her to touch its head, and chattered a bit.

"Wow" Skyler said with a smile. "You're a friendly one, aren't you?"

It squealed, as if it were responding.

She sighed and turned to a piece of the sky that had started to clear. She 
could see stars forming an outline-- the constellation Orion. That was the 
first one she learned about.

"I wonder what-"

She turned back to the eagle and received a shock. A light had formed across 
the eagle's face, an outline of a star!

She glanced back at the stars. Then at the eagle again. "Your name's Orion, 
I think. Yeah. That's what I'm going to call you."

The eagle seemed to smile.

"I wonder where we are--"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler's eyelids were as heavy as stone when she opened them again. She 
could make out faint streams of sunlight filtered through her wind chimes.

Was it all a dream?

But she couldn't get up. She became aware of a sharp, throbbing pain in her 
head, tenseness in all of her muscles as if they had been left in a 
refridgerator overnight. She was in different clothes than she last 
remembered.  That mist, that damp, freezing mist she had felt in her mind 
was still there.

She heard a quiet gasp from beside her. Her mother was sitting right beside 
her, with wide eyes. "Skyler's awake!"

Her father rushed into view, along with the town physician. The guy looked 
pretty tired. "She should be all right now. Just give me a call if there's 
any trouble."

A fluttering came from the corner. Everyone glanced in the direction.

There, perched on a wind chime, was the golden eagle. The star on its face 
was gone, but she knew it was the same one.

"That bird's back." Skyler's father walked to it. "Why won't it leave us 
alone?"

"Wait!" Skyler protested.

On the dresser below it, she saw a silver bracelet. It glimmer almost 
blindingly in the morning sun. But it didn't belong to her-

Then she remembered. She totally lost track of time.

"Where's Oriole?!" she cried out suddenly.

Her parents glanced at each other. Her mother abruptly turned and left the 
room. Her father gave a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "Sky, you're old 
enough to handle the truth, so I'll be straight with you--"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler's tearful eyes ran down the stream. It was hard to believe that this 
was that rushing choas it had been the night before. The one that had taken 
her brother from her.

They said they hadn't found him. But Skyler knew, way down on the inside, 
that she would never see him again. She slid the silver bracelet off and 
placed it on the bank of the creek.

"I couldn't be there for you-- but I know you're not angry. You said this 
yourself." She glanced down at the bracelet. "And as long as I have this 
ring from the storm, you will never be alone again--"

She picked it up and walked back to the house. As she did, a pair of golden 
eagle eyes watched her-