Chapter Two: Shadow Hunters

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The slender figure eased its way into Serena’s room, entering through the window. It used a slender dirk to undo the lock on the window, lifted the window, and slipped inside. The slender figure silently moved over to Serena’s bed, where both Serena and Rini were sleeping. Luna was lying on the floor, ensuing that she wouldn’t be smothered by the combined body mass of Serena and Rini.
The slender figure eased its dirk to Serena’s neck, the cold touch of the steel dirk awakening the young girl instantly. Serena struggled for a split second, but stopped as the slender figure applied more pressure to the dirk, drawing a single drop of blood.
“Do not move, Sailor Moon,” the slender figure hissed softly into Serena’s ear.
Serena froze in place. Luna and Rini yawned lazily, slowly coming to wakefulness.
“Do not move,” the slender figure reiterated more sternly. Luna and Rini were fully awake at the sound of the quiet voice.
“Who are you?” Serena whispered beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Luna and Rini, seeing that Serena was in trouble, were about to jump to her rescue, but the slender figure put even more pressure on this dirk. Serena squirmed, a clear sign to the cat and the pink-haired girl that they should back down.
“My name is not important,” the figure hissed. “I am known only as the Guardian.”
Luna gasped.
“Luna?” Rini said softly.
“Guardian? You’re alive?” the black cat said quietly, not believing her eyes.
“Luna? Is that you?” the figure known as the Guardian said in response.

“A Shadow Hunter? Here? In this time period?” the master roared.
“A Shadow Hunter,” the apprentice whispered under his breath. He had heard of the assassin/adventurer group. They were efficient killers, marksmen, expert spies, masters in stealth, magic, long-range and short-range combat, versatile soldiers, and were very dangerous.
“I thought they all died one thousand years ago,” the apprentice whispered.
“I thought that as well,” the master rumbled, “they are very skilled to have survived a war such as that.”
“Indeed,”
“Let us sit back and see what develops from this unforeseen complication,” the master said.

The Guardian eased his dirk from Serena’s neck, slipping the thin blade back into its sheath at his hip. Luna looked at her long-lost friend with teary eyes.
The Guardian was only four foot eight inches tall and only ninety-eight pounds. He appeared weak and frail, but, in reality, was a trained warrior. He was one of the rare Shadow Hunters. The dirk was the Hunters’ symbol.
“Luna, who is this guy?” Rini asked.
“A friend,” the cat replied.
“A friend?” Serena cried, “He tried to skewer my throat!”
“Why did you attack Serena?” Luna asked the Guardian.
“I was assigned to deal with Sailor Moon by my employers,” the Guardian said casually. “They never told me just how to deal with her. I assumed that they wanted her eliminated.”
“How could you become an assassin, Guardian?” Luna snapped, “I thought you had given up that career.”
“Once a Shadow Hunter, always a Shadow Hunter,” came the Guardian’s easy reply.
“Hold it!” Serena said, arms flailing. “What’s a Shadow Hunter? And who is this Guardian? And how do you know this guy, Luna?”
“It’s a long story, Serena,” Luna whispered, “but I guess you should know. Call up an emergency Sailor Scout meeting. The others should know about this.”

Raye, Serena, Darien, Mina, Lita, Amy, Luna, Rini, and Artemis were gathered at the front steps of Raye’s temple in a matter of minutes. The Guardian stayed within the shadows of a large tree in the courtyard. He watched Luna explain what had happened only a few minutes ago: his attack on Serena, his recognition of Luna. Once the story had been told, the Guardian stepped out of the shadows, silent as death. He was standing at the base of the front steps, his steely gaze eyeing each of the gathered friends.
“Nice to see you again, Guardian,” Artemis piped in.
“Hello, Artemis,” the Guardian said.
“I guess you should explain everything,” Luna prompted him.
“Well, the Shadow Hunters are a semi-secret organization of assassin/adventurers. They are hired by both good and evil. We prefer to remain neutral in any conflict. I am the only one to defy that rule. I befriended Artemis, Luna, and Queen Serenity one thousand years ago during the Silver Millennium. I was hired by the good Queen to act as a defender and a soldier in the Queen’s army. When the war against the Negaverse erupted, I was a frontline commander. I was nearly killed by Queen Beryl herself, but I managed to stay alive through her attacks. I was knocked into a coma by a spell Beryl threw at me. When I awoke, the entire Moon Kingdom had been vaporized. I teleported back to the Shadow Hunter’s base and discovered that Queen Serenity had reincarnated the ‘children of the Moon’ and sent them into the future. The reason I wasn’t reincarnated was that I wasn’t a civilian of the Moon Kingdom.
“The reason I attacked Sailor Moon was because some mysterious guy sent a message to the Shadow Hunters, requesting our services to ‘deal with Sailor Moon’. I assumed he wanted you dead, Miss Moon.”
“But, how did you know I was Sailor Moon?” Serena asked.
“The Shadow Hunters know all,” Guardian said cryptically. He continued, “Anyway, I came to Earth to kill you. But, out of respect to the deceased Queen Serenity, who was a dear friend to me, I will not kill the daughter of the good Queen, nor will I kill any of her Court.”
The sigh of relief that came from all of the gathered friends was quite audible.

“So, there is yet another mysterious party who has a stake in the Sailor Scouts.” The apprentice said, looking into the floating energy ball that held the image of the Guardian talking to the Scouts. “Things are going to get very complicated very fast.”
“Ah,” the master rumbled, “but that is the fun of all of this; the challenges of intrigue.”
The apprentice nodded his agreement.
He did so enjoy challenges.