The White Star Legacy: Eclipse

The White Star Legacy: Eclipse
Seven years have passed since the Battle of Yukikaze. The land is at peace, the ecnomy is booming and, for the first time ever, every city and village is united under one banner, one authority, for which a brand new city has been constructed. Life couldn't possibly get any better.

But when a mysterious new creature presents itself to the kingdom, the peace Gale and Mizu have enjoyed for so long is shattered like glass. Something about the mystery monster tells Gale that the situation is much, much deeper than it appears... Can she reach the root of the crisis before it's too late?

New allies.

New enemies.

The Descendants' legacy continues...

The Peace
Mizu yelled out with determination as the Zinogre he'd just slashed toppled over besides him and tumbled acrosss the sandy floor of Chikyuu's Grand Arena.

His Ceanatuar armour and dual blades glinted serenely in the midday sunlight. He stared up, smiling behind his helmet, and waved slowly at the crowds roaring the the names of he and his friends. He looked down and to the right, locking eyes one by one with each of his cherished friends; ever-perky Skylar; eagle-eyed Jinsoku; and Gigas, the smoking, drinking, monster-slashing pyromaniac.

"And once again, the Descendants triumph! BUT! Have they steeled themselves enough for round five? It's time to find out!" A plucky male announcer boomed over the stone-carved speakers dotted around the amphitheatrical arena.

Gale Kaze watched the spectacle through the series of horizontal slits that made up the window of her waiting area. Had it been three years ago, she would have been out there right now, fighting beside Mizu and the others. However, since their status as saviours of the people had skyrocketed them to fame unfathomable, she had learned through experience how to jazz up her appearance.

It's like sex, she thought to herself. ''You have to make them sit in the passenger's seat before you let them behind the wheel. ''As crude an analogy as it was, it did ring true. Many a time she had seen the crowds go wild when finally brandished her blade and took the the fights after holding herself back behind the scenes for ages.

And it would be like that today.

"But Ma!" Arashi moaned. "How come we don't get to fight?" he complained, sat next to his girlfriend, Tsubaki, and brother, Rakurai on a wooden bench. The three of them were dressed in everyday attire, simple shirts and trousers, or a knee-length skirt in Tsubaki's case, while Gale was clad in her trademark Doragyurosu armour. She had her helmet tucked under her arm, though, allowing her beautiful light brown hair to flow freely, cascading like a waterfall all the way down to her thighs. She also had a fringe and long bangs now, giving her a much older appearance than when her children had first met her. Arashi and Rakurai often wondered how she fit all of her hair into her helmet.

"Because you and your brother are not nearly experienced enough for the Grand Arena. We've been through this before. You're not ready," Gale answered chastisingly, still keeping her eyes fixated upon the goings-on outside.

"Your mother's right, Arashi. You're not ready, and neither am I or Rakurai," Tsubaki agreed, her tone steady, in line with her level-headed and sensible demeanour (which sometimes had a tendency to suffocate those around her).

"See? This girl has some sense!" Gale joked, craning her head around to smile at Tsubaki, who responded in kind. "You've got a keeper there, hon. Don't lose her." Arashi growled and blushed at the same time, while Tsubaki avereted her gaze from him in a vain attempt to conceal her cheshire grin and girlish gigling.

"Then why do you bring us here every time? It's so frustrating, watching everybody fight while we have to sit and watch!" Arashi groaned, envy furrowing his brow as he crossed his arms, sulking almost childishly. While he had to try and seem serious in the days before the Peace (the title awarded to the years that had passed since Yukikaze), he had always been a bundle of liveliness, recklessness and overconfidence, and immature too. That hadn't changed in the least. Luckily for him, he had Tsubaki to balance things out.

"Why do I bring you here?! So you can study, of course!" Gale snapped, the question preposterous to her.

"Wha...?! Study?! Study what?!"

"The way I move! How I fight! The way your father fights, the way everybody fights! I bring you here so that you can pay attention to what we're doing and learn from us! And what's more, the way the monsters act, how they attack, how they can be countered, their weaknessess! Physical experience is only half the battle, Arashi; knowing is the other!" Gale ranted, somewhat exasperated, as if she's been playing a guessing game for hours and nobody had got the answer right.

"Oh, yeah...I see..." Arashi murmured resignedly. Gale stared at her son, still as a statue, bewildered by his conceit.

"But I wanna fight! I don't wanna sit here all the time and watch! It's so not fair!" Arashi burst into life again, his frown returning. Gale rolled her eyes and gave a small, inaudible chuckle under her breath, laughing at herself for beging fooish enough to think that Arashi, of all people, would heed his mother's wise words.

"Well, tough. You have to," Gale said stubbornly. This was what she would say when she was tired of debating and wanted Arashi to stop talking.

"Why?!"

"Oh, because I said so!" Gale growled, losing patience. Her brief anger abated when she saw Arashi pout and fall silent. She walked over to him and crouched down to be at eye level with him. She cupped her knuckle under his chin and slowly coxed his gaze upwards.

"Chin up," she said, her smile and gentle as her words. "You'll get your chance someday. It won't be too long now, you'll see." Arashi let slip a smile.

"And now, for our final round of today's grand event, I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the Windweaver, The Wyrmsbane, Mistress of Storms, or perhaps, to you die-hard fangirls in the audince, Kaze-senpai, please welcome! GALE KAZE!"

I'm so glad I decided to keep my surname after all; imagine how hideously un-catchy that would have sounded if I'd kept Mizu's. It only works on him, Gale thought to herself. She blinked slowly and sighed.

"Well, I'm up. Wish me luck!" she beamed. Arashi, Rakurai and Tsubaki smiled and waved as Gale put on her helmet and grabbed a long sword from a large pot by the arena entrance (combatants aren't allowed to use their own weapons) and headed out through the short corridor towards the light, making sure to take small, slow steps so as to hype up the tension.

"Not that I'll need it..." she murmured under her breath.

(unfinished)