Without further ado, here is chapter one of Guardians. Here, you will meet 
the Guardians for the first time.
I hope you like them.

Ja!
Greywolf

Special Thanks: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl for editing, good ideas and
                comments, and providing me with Sailor Moon stories to
                enjoy! Thanks Will!

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi and all terms, names etc associated
            with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha.
            The Guardians and everything pertaining to the Star Kingdoms are
            MINE!

                  Sailor Moon: Guardians of the Star
                     Chapter One: Return to Alare


As the patrol topped the hill, the leader viewed the country ahead
thoughtfully. Dense forests broken periodically by farms, large and
small, covered the land. <Alare was a beautiful world,> he thought,
<and the Star Kingdom of Caladonia was the most beautiful place on
Alare.> He also thought it was the best of all the Kingdoms of the
Star, but he was a bit biased he admitted to himself.

The white haired leader's name was Ashe. The stylized flame symbol on
his forehead proclaimed him to be one of the Guardians of the Star,
defenders of the Kingdoms of the Star. The symbol also showed his power
over the element of fire, the most destructive of the five elements.
Ashe, however, was unconcerned. He'd been a Guardian for many years and
was comfortable with his powers.

He was about to motion the patrol forward when his mount's mindvoice
interrupted. <Ashe! Something lying in the field to the right, about a
100 yards from the road!> Ashe looked where his war unicorn indicated
and spotted the small white form lying in the grass. He motioned to his
men, and the patrol left the road and cantered across the field towards
the mysterious figure.

When they reached the figure, Ashe leaped down from his mount and
approached. <A young girl,> he thought as he knelt next to her supine
form. She was wearing a short blue skirt with a big red bow at the back.
Her blond hair was done in two balls with very long pony tails
descending from them. Red boots almost reaching her knees, covered her
lower legs. She was lying face down, but Ashe was struck by a memory.
This clothing was very familiar. He HAD seen it before but just couldn't
remember where. He noticed her broken right arm with alarm. He got up
and rushed to his mount and opened the saddle bags.

"She was attacked!" he snapped to his men as he removed splints and
bandages from his packs. "Spread out and search for anything out of the
ordinary. Something tells me to get you to keep an eye open for others
dressed similarly to her. Now go!" The eight riders scattered in all
directions while Ashe returned to the injured girl's side.

He carefully took her uninjured wrist and found her pulse to be a little
weak, but not dangerously so. Sighing with relief, he turned his
attention to her broken arm. Grabbing wrist and elbow firmly, he slowly
pulled the broken bones into alignment. A soft moan of pain came from
the unconscious girl, but at Ashe's quick glance, she showed no further
sign of consciousness.  When he had finished splinting and bandaging her
arm, he reached for her shoulder and gently turned her over. Another red
bow was at chest height with a crescent moon broach at its center.

When he looked at her face, his eyes widened with shock. Memories
swirled through his head. Memories of the fight against Morgoth, the
vastly powerful Death Dragon. A fight the Guardians were losing when the
Sailor Senshi and their leader came out of nowhere and threw their
powers into the fight. With the combined powers of Guardians and Senshi,
Morgoth was cast down, defeated. His last sight of this girl was when
she and the others were returned to their own universe through one of
Syrypus' World Gates.

He snapped back to the present and noticed the large bruise on the side
of her head. He probed it gently, but could find no fractures in the
skull. "Well, Princess," he muttered under his breath, "What are YOU
doing here and in THIS condition?!"

"Oh man! What a babe!" an admiring voice came from behind him.
Preoccupied with his memories and the Princess, he had not noticed the
return of his men. His face flushed with anger, he turned to confront
the speaker. "Unless you'd care to spend the rest of your life digging
latrines, Corporal," he growled, "I'd suggest a more respectful tone
when speaking of Princess Serenity!" As the other men exclaimed in
surprise, the corporal's face turned red and he stuttered an apology.
Ashe nodded curtly.

One of his men brought a blanket from his saddle pack and they wrapped
the unconscious Serenity within its warmth. Ashe climbed back into the
saddle and one of his men handed the blanket wrapped Princess up to him.
He carefully settled her in front of him, one arm around her to hold her
in place, and turned to his men. "The rest of you continue the patrol,"
he ordered crisply, "Corporal, you come with me!" "OK Ari!" he said to
his mount, "Make for Caladon! The fastest gallop you can muster!" The
rest of the patrol sat and watched as the two riders disappeared in the
direction of Caladon, four miles distant.

Ashe and his companion stopped on the last hill and looked out over the
Reu River valley. The valley stretched for miles and was filled to
overflowing with the city of Caladon, Throne City of the Star Kingdom of
Caladonia. The city was surrounded by massive battlements of glowing
white, nearly thirty feet high and the Royal Palace at the City's center
could easily be seen, its massive spires piercing the sky. As they
watched, a large three masted schooner lifted off from the StarPort,
bound for the Moon Kingdom of Tarandar judging from the colors on its
flag.

Although science and magic had melded to create the great star sailing
ships and make them the safest way to cross the vast spaces between the
Kingdoms of the Star, Ashe HATED traveling on those graceful vessels.
They looked so flimsy, he kept seeing one fly apart while deep in the
aether, miles from safety. An irrational fear, he knew, but no less
strong for all of that! He shook his head impatiently, and with his
companion behind him, headed for Caladon's main gates at a gallop.

As they thundered through the gates, the guards, recognizing Ashe,
saluted briskly. Ashe reined to a stop and turned to his companion.
"Corporal, go straight to the Temple of Shalhanna and ask Soloman the
Grey and Nonja the Silent Shadow to come to the Royal Palace at once!"
he ordered. His companion saluted wearily and galloped up one of the
side streets, soon disappearing from sight.

Ashe continued on his way to the palace. He was deeply concerned.
Serenity had not shown any signs of awakening during the whole trip, and
that was a very bad sign. He knew her real name, of course. All the
Guardians did, even the ones that never met the Senshi.  Here though,
their ranks would carry more clout than their other identities, and so
the Guardians had made sure that outside their ranks, everyone else knew
the Senshi only as the Princesses they were. Now, here was one of them,
the leader of them all, in fact. Her wounds had been tended and still
she did not wake. He could sense, vaguely, that she was also wounded in
a way he couldn't see.

He was so preoccupied, that he never noticed the Guards at the palace
gates salute as he thundered through. Reining to a halt at the main
doors to the Keep, he leaped down so nimbly, the girl in his arms never
stirred. He ran up the steps and through the doors the guards held open
for him.

Greywolf and Aisllynnia stood waiting for him. Greywolf was a tall elf
with gray hair and eyes. High Chief of the Shaelite Elves and a Guardian
commanding the powers of light, shown by the three concentric circles on
his forehead. Aisllynnia, or Lynn for short, was Crown Princess of the
Star Kingdom of Tarandar on Alare's moon. She was a Shalhananite Elf,
the second of the three elven races. With waist length silver hair and
violet eyes, she was a striking woman, She was also the most powerful of
the Guardians as she commanded the fifth element, aether, and the eight
pointed star on her forehead proclaimed this. She was also Greywolf's
lifemate after having Pair Bonded with him two years past.

"Ashe, what's up?" Greywolf asked worried. "I don't know if you'd
believe it, Wolf! Lynn," Ashe said turning to Aisllynnia, "You were very
close to this child when she was here. Take a look and tell me if I'm
hallucinating!" Apprehensively, she approached Ashe and gently moved the
blanket aside to get a better look at the girl's face. She paled
immediately as she recognized her. "Usagi!" she whispered, horrified,
"What happened, Ashe? How'd she get back here and why is she in THIS
kind of shape?" "Your guess is as good as mine, Lynn," he replied,
shaking his head, "We found her in a field about four miles from
Caladon. No sign of anything else. She's shown no sign of coming to." As
they were talking, they were being lead to another area of the palace
that Ashe knew held rooms for visitors. Lynn opened a door and quietly
lead them inside.

As Greywolf pulled the covers back, Ashe laid his burden on the bed
carefully. Aisllynnia sat on the side of the bed and stroked Usagi's
forehead soothingly.

The short time they had known each other was not short enough to prevent
her from becoming very fond of this child.  Usagi returned that
affection, calling her Aisy-chan, an affectionate nickname if she ever
heard one. Her memory drifted back to two years ago, after the defeat of
Morgoth. The Senshi had returned to Caladon with the Guardians because
at that time, they had not yet learned how to open the gate to Earth to
allow the Senshi to return to their own universe.  During the research
to find a way to do this, Senshi and Guardian grew to know each other
very well.

During this time, Aisllynnia had gone for a walk in the palace gardens.
She became aware of the sound of weeping, and following it to the
source, came upon two of the Senshi, Usagi and Rei.  Usagi was crying
and Rei was trying to comfort her. Rei, however, was not known for her
patience and was trying not to let Usagi see that she was getting fed
up. Aisllynnia stepped from the bushes and walked over to them. Rei
looked up hopefully. "Do you think you can talk some sense into her,
Aisllynnia?" Rei asked her, "I'm not having much luck here!" Lynn
nodded. "You can go, Rei," she responded, "I think I can help her this
time. I believe I know what she feels." Rei nodded and left them alone.

Lynn sat on the bench and pulled the sobbing Usagi onto her lap and
rocked her while making soothing sounds. She was sobbing about
responsibility, she wasn't up to it, she wanted to be normal, she
couldn't lead. All the things that Lynn remembered sobbing on HER
mother's lap about, not so very long ago. Lynn just rocked and let Usagi
cry herself out.

When the crying stopped, Lynn spoke. "You are not unique in feeling
sorry for yourself, child," she said calmly, "Not too long ago, I wept
on my mother's lap for the same reason you're weeping now." Usagi looked
startled at this revelation. "But, you're so calm and collected!" she
exclaimed, "You know your full power AND you're a born leader!" Lynn
smiled. "I was not born that way, little one!" she laughed softly, "At
your age, I was as insecure and as unsure of my power and ability to
lead as you are! The trick is, do not listen to the complaints of others
unless you KNOW they speak true. The only one who truly knows if you're
doing your best is you! You will find, in the long run, that you,
yourself, are your hardest taskmaster!" She smiled again. "Just do your
best and hold back nothing and as you get older, you will gain far more
than you'll lose!" Usagi smiled back and hugged her. "Thank you
Aisy-chan!" she said gratefully, "I needed that. I gotta go. The others
were worried about me!" She watched Usagi leave the garden with a soft
smile on her face.

She was brought back to the present when Soloman and Nonja quietly
entered the room. Without fanfare, Soloman knelt next to the bed and
gently took Usagi's injured arm in his hands and concentrated. Nonja sat
on the opposite side of the bed and placed both hands on the sides of
Usagi's head and soon both healers were deeply entranced. Greywolf and
Lynn watched anxiously while Ashe was busy preparing something near the
fireplace.  After about a half hour, both healers sagged as they came
out of their trances. Soloman wearily removed the splint from her now
healed arm.  "That was......difficult!" Nonja said wearily, "Like
swimming against a current. Her PHYSICAL injuries are healed now."

Greywolf turned to her quickly, catching her emphasis on the word
_physical._ "Are you saying she has non-physical injuries?" Nonja
shrugged but Soloman nodded. "Yes we are. You know we can only detect
the physical, but, look at her!" They looked, and despite the healing,
she was very pale with dark shadows under her eyes. "She should be
glowing with health after that healing!" Soloman continued, "Instead,
she looks terrible! I'd say something has wounded her spirit."

Greywolf shook his head but Lynn interrupted. "He's right Wolf!" she
exclaimed, "I'm looking at her with Mage Sight and the Ginzuishou is
glowing faintly to my Sight! I can almost see it feeding her energy! We
need Haeth and we need her now!!" "If her soul is wounded, then Haeth is
already on her way!" Greywolf replied, putting a comforting hand on his
lifemate's shoulder, "You know that Soul healers can feel an injured
soul anywhere on the planet. The Shieldwall, however, is a good distance
north of here and even in her natural form, she likely won't arrive
before tomorrow."

All attention turned to Usagi as she moaned. Her eyes fluttered open to
see Greywolf's concerned gray ones staring back at her. Ashe gave her a
brief glance before returning to his concoction. Nonja took her pulse
while Soloman looked over her shoulder. At sight of Lynn, however,
Usagi's eyes brimmed and overflowed and with a hysterical wail, she
threw herself into her friend's arms. Lynn wrapped her arms around the
wildly sobbing girl and motioned the others silently out of the room.
Quietly, the others left Lynn alone with Usagi. Ashe stopped to place a
glass on the table beside the bed and then left silently with the
others, closing the door behind them.

Lynn rocked the younger girl in her arms as she listened carefully to
the story Usagi managed to tell between heaving sobs. Several times
during the tale, Lynn's eyes widened in shock, but she gave no
indication of this to the grieving girl in her arms. Finally, her story
told, her sobbing slowly subsided and she leaned wearily against Lynn's
shoulder.

<A Soul Eater,> Lynn thought with horror, <this explained much! But Soul
Eaters can't talk, nor can they turn people to stone. This meant there
was likely something controlling the creature. More important, what was
a Soul Eater doing on Earth? They are creatures native to THIS
universe!>

Gently, Lynn reached up and removed Usagi's tiara revealing the glowing
crescent moon beneath. Usagi looked up questioningly and noticed that
Lynn's star is also glowing. "I need more information, Little Rabbit,"
Lynn explained, "I believe I know who did that to your guardians, but I
need to hear the voice to be sure. I'm afraid we must mind-link for
this." "Afraid?" Usagi questioned. Lynn nodded soberly. "Yes, afraid.
The link will give me the information we need, BUT, it will be traumatic
for both of us because we both will relive that event!" Usagi looked
very frightened at that, but nodded.

Both their symbols began to glow brighter as Lynn initiated the
mind-link. Scenes of chaotic battle and horror as the Senshi are struck
down, one by one. The Soul Eater speaking. At this, Lynn whimpered in
terror. She heard this voice for the first time when she was kidnapped
two years ago and taken to Black Spire Reach, Morgoth's dark fortress
beyond the Reach. Abruptly, the link concluded.

Usagi had little time for grief, Lynn was trembling violently and
whimpering in terror. This terrified Usagi even more and before long,
they were both sobbing on each others shoulders. "M..M..M..org..oth!"
Lynn stuttered shuddering with terror. Lynn closed her eyes and with a
supreme effort, managed to gain control over herself, but she was still
deathly pale.

"Here," she said, taking the sleeping draught Ashe left on the table,
"Drink this or you'll never sleep, and you need to." Usagi took the
glass but didn't drink it. "Will you help us, Aisy-chan?" she pleaded,
"I know how afraid of Morgoth you are, just as afraid as I was of
Metallia.  Will you help us?" Lynn nodded reassuringly, despite her
fear. "Yes, we will help because we must!" she promised, "Morgoth is a
threat from THIS universe that yours is ill equipped to deal with!"
Reassured, Usagi downed the draught, making a face at the bitter taste,
and in moments, was asleep.

Lynn placed Usagi's tiara and the empty glass on the table beside the
bed and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her. She noticed
the guards standing on each side of the door and smiled. Her lifemate
always was one to read her thoughts. "Allow no one past you who is not a
Guardian!" she told them. At their salute, she turned and headed for the
Star Chamber, the meeting hall of the Guardians.

After leaving the room, Greywolf turned to Ashe. "Place two guards on
this door" At Ashe's nod, he regarded Nonja. "Nonja, summon the other
Guardians, besides bringing them here, Haeth will sense the summoning
and may fly faster as a result!" Nonja saluted and ran off. Greywolf
motioned to Soloman and, together, they proceeded to the Star Chamber.
Greywolf smiled as he heard the Summoning Bell's deep mournful call. The
others should be here in minutes. And sensing the Bell, Haeth will make
maximum speed in getting here.

Greywolf and Soloman entered the vaulted door leading into the Chamber.
A vast room with a large table on one side, and empty floor on the
other, on which was etched the symbol of a huge eight pointed Star. They
moved to the table and seated themselves and waited for the arrival of
the others. Nonja and Ashe entered the room five minutes later. Kaylen
the Shadow Tracker arrived at a run, with the whirl wind symbol on his
forehead proclaiming his control of the powers of Air.  Kreigh and Ivee
entered shortly after. Both bore the circled tree symbol representing
the Earth powers. Syrypus followed, the spiral gate symbol showing his
control of Gates, Portals and Doors of all kinds. Shortly thereafter,
Lynn arrived, and they all moved to the table to discuss the current
situation.

"OK people!" Greywolf opened. "We have a serious problem on our hands! A
few hours ago, one of our patrols, led by Ashe, found an unconscious
young woman lying in a field, four miles from here. Closer examination
revealed her to be none other than Princess Serenity!" "What!" "You're
not serious!" "What happened?!" Greywolf held up his hands to cut off
the exclamations. "If you'll be patient, we'll tell you! Now, she
suffered from a concussion and her right forearm was broken. Both
injuries have been healed, but the Healers inform me that they think she
has a spiritual injury and Lynn's Mage Sight seems to confirm it!" Ivee
turned to face Greywolf. "We need Haeth, then! Do you know where she
is?" "She should be on her way and will probably arrive tomorrow," he
answered.

Greywolf looked at his mate. "Did Usagi give you any idea of what
happened?" Lynn nodded somberly. "Yes, she did. Prepare yourselves, it's
worse than we could have imagined! First off, they were attacked by a
Soul Eater!" Syrypus spoke up. "That's impossible! Soul Eaters are
native to THIS universe, more's the pity. They don't exist in her home
universe. Believe me, I know!" Lynn smiled at him and nodded, but her
violet eyes were haunted. "I know, but I mind-linked with her, and their
attacker was unmistakable. It was definitely a Soul Eater! Now, the
Senshi should have been able to defeat it, but it was controlled by
something they couldn't beat. Usagi was banished here on purpose, so
that she'd die alone. Make no mistake, she IS dying. It's thanks to the
Ginzuishou that she's still alive!"

Greywolf looked seriously concerned at that point. "Will she last long
enough for Haeth to get here?" Lynn nodded.  "Yes, provided she doesn't
need to use the Ginzuishou's power for anything.  As long as it has
power to feed her, she won't die, but, she WILL get sicker! The spell
that was used on the Senshi IS reversible but we may have to fight
Morgoth to rescue them!" At that name, pandemonium reined.  Greywolf
moved immediately to his mate and placed his hands on her shoulders. She
sighed and leaned back against him. The others quieted as they noticed
how pale she was. Obviously, she had not forgotten Black Spire Reach or
what she had suffered there. "There's one other thing you should know,"
she stated shakily, "There have been changes since we last met the
Senshi. Including Usagi, they are no longer five, but ten!"

"Well", Greywolf said uneasily, looking down at Lynn, "Our first order
of business is obviously to rescue Usagi's guardians, but with nine to
rescue instead of four, well, our chances of having to fight our old foe
are that much greater!" Syrypus looked up thoughtfully. "I can build a
gate to the battleground if Lynn will link with me and give me the feel
of the place." Lynn nodded her agreement.

Kriegh and Ivee exchanged glances and Ivee nodded as Kriegh stood. As
all eyes turned to her, she spoke. "Ivee and I can go through the gate
and teleport the Senshi through. It'll be tiring, but faster than
carrying 'em! We need to be fast, you KNOW the Dark One will sense the
gate!" "I'll go through too," Kaylen offered quietly, "I can use my air
powers to cast a shield over the area. It may hold him off long enough
for us to get them all here." "It just might," Lynn returned
thoughtfully, "He used a great deal of power the defeat the Senshi. He
won't have recovered yet and should still be weakened!"  Lynn moved to
Syrypus and took his hand. He stared into her eyes for a moment. "OK, I
got it! One gate coming up!"

They all moved across the room to the large eight pointed star etched
into the floor. A Guardian moved to each point and Syrypus moved to the
center of the star to build the gate. He looked around at the others.
"Everyone ready?" At their nods, he turned his attention inward, to
construct the Gate. He extended his arms and after a short time, his
hands and symbol began to glow with power. A spiral swirling luminosity
began to form in from of him. It glowed brighter and brighter, until,
with a blinding flash, the Gate burst into existence.

The Guardians crowded around Syrypus as he peered through the Gate.
Beyond, they could see a large green area, with trees scattered about.
The large area of dead soil and the statues scattered about indicated
that they had indeed found the right place. Syrypus turned to the
others, grinning tightly.  "OK, who wants to go first?"

End of Chapter One

NEXT: Battle, rescue and Mamoru too! Be There!

Chapter 2: Rise of the Shining Star!