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After careful planning, the Blood Moon Court had outlined a series of rules and regulations for the conduct of the organization. Some things were simple -- their oath was their blood, and all promises were dotted with a pinprick of blood for each member. That decision had been easy. Transitioning from Cadet to Mercenary was met with a searing hot wound to bare flesh -- the blood brand. Moving from Mercenary to ISS? Not many walked this path, but those who did had to do so over broken glass.

The Blood Moon Court was, if anything, dedicated to victory through sacrifice.

It was night outside, not that that was evident within the stark stone walls of the underground bunker. The BMC was constantly scouting out new locations for their meetings and training. This particular room was a good one. Sound was muffled by the dirt on all sides, and the thick stone provided a nice dark setting for the ceremony that would take place that night.

Ares was shrouded in the crimson hood of the Blood Moon, one hand covering the crescent brand on her chest. Two figures stood before her in the center of the room, both with bright red hair and fire in their eyes. One wore a crimson cloak. The other did not.

"Mercenary Birhan Isat," Ares began, her voice a low rumble, "has stepped into the circle tonight asking for our recognition. She has served the Blood Moon valiantly for these past months, and has proven herself an asset, a comrade, and an ally." One side of the room was stacked with crates and old iron scaffolding. The other side of the room was stained crimson by the huddled bodies of the audience -- all ISS members and Mercenaries here to partake in the ceremony.

"So she comes before us tonight to prove her might against one of the Inner Sanctum -- Super Sailor Gunn." Sailor Albali stepped forth from the shadows and pulled the crimson cloak off of the Senshi of Wildfire. "Two contenders in this battle, none may intervene. There is no magic in this battle. We are born into chaos, and so with the fury of chaos we shall battle. Anything else is allowed, but a contender who uses magic dishonors the sacred ceremony."

The pomp and circumstance was all borrowed from the Black Moon. It was likely that many found the formality to be overkill, but none dared interrupt, not in this moment. Ares took a step backward. "I have explained the rules to you so I will only repeat myself this once. Birhan, you must defeat Gunn in order to ascend to the Inner Sanctum. We do not pull punches in the Blood Moon Court. Gunn will signal the start." She raised one hand in a half-salute to both girls. "First to draw true blood wins." True blood meaning... enough to stain the floor. They both knew that.

With her part complete, Ares sunk back in line with the rest of the Blood Moon and waited for the battle to begin.

Birhan didn't have much trouble sneaking out at night, either. Sure, her method involved the more cliche aspects - drainpipe, tree branch and the like - but she'd been using it even before becoming a senshi. It was all a bit old hat by now. Tonight, though, there was an extra frission of excitement. Tonight was new, unknown. Tonight was an all-out beat-down on another senshi, in order to prove her value to a team that was worth giving her all to.

The Blood Moon Court had seemed a little strange when Birhan had first heard of it. A little cult-like, maybe. But power coming from your own strength was something Birhan subscribed to, hell, her religion, maybe. She'd never been present for any of the spiritual visits from the Serenity line. The brief view she'd had of the youngest princess at the latest all-senshi meeting had been... disappointing. It had proven the BMC's point, actually. No one should have to follow a young, uncertain, foreign girl just because of who she'd been born to. And so Birhan was here. Ready to strike a fellow senshi with her full might. Ready to lay down her identity and her life, if needed, for a cause she believed in - save yourself, because no one else will.

Her nerves were more excitement than trepidation, but whatever the cause, they kept her bouncing on her toes during Ares' opening speech. It had probably been a nice speech, very rousing. If only Birhan was paying proper attention instead of focusing solely on the battle to come. She couldn't deny that the thought of facing a Super Senshi, someone with an extra boost of power above her own, was an exhilerating one. It would be a challenge, the odds not in Birhan's favour. Most important of all: it would be fun!

And then Ares was stepping back and it was time for Birhan and her opponent, Super Sailor Gunn, to take the floor. She stepped forward and the feeling of watching eyes made her break out in the good kind of goosebumps. Violet eyes were locked onto Gunn as Birhan settled into a neutral kickboxing position, knees bent, legs apart, and fists up to protect her face. She bounced on the balls of her feet impatiently, waiting for Gunn to be ready. This might be a no holds barred fight, but Birhan still wasn't about to take a swing while he fellow senshi was off guard.

Birhan's eyes narrowed. That look just now... it had seemed like Gunn was dismissing Birhan already. Fine. If the Super Senshi wanted to underestimate her, it would just make victory all the more sweet. (It never occurred to Birhan that she might lose - that just wasn't in her mindset.)

Sure, she looked like a delicate, girly senshi. The outfit was a throw-back to a power. And maybe if all she was was her power sphere, then Gunn would be right. But beneath Birhan's skimpy, frivolous exterior, there lay Ari Knight. She was confident, kickass, and gave an otherwise support-based senshi a powerful offensive slant.

"To be a huge cliche," Birhan smirked at the other redhead, "I was born ready."

Sick of all the waiting, Birhan leapt into action. Literally, with a roundhouse kick aimed at Gunn's head.

Birhan saw the punch coming. What she hadn't anticipated was the extra speed a Super Senshi possessed. Her eyes widened and she tried to speed up her block. Gunn's speed was impossible for her to match, though. Instead of cleanly blocking the hit, Birhan just barely managed to deflect it. A hiss escaped as the right hook hit her shoulder. Supers had a nice strength boost, too, it seemed, as Birhan's shoulder ached as if a bodybuilder had struck her.

Dancing back, Birhan grew more serious. Clearly she'd been over-confident. She still thought she could win this - she had to, in order to move up in the BMC - but Gunn wasn't going to be a push over. A pleased smile grew. She did love a challenge.

She darted back in. Head on, Birhan didn't bothering to circle or try and approach from a blind spot. A return jab-punch combo was thrown at Gunn. It wasn't a feint, but it was a distraction. Her opposite leg had come up before the punch was finished, striking down at Gunn's thigh from above and to the side. It was the kind of move designed to rupture muscle - if Birhan had performed it on a civilian, it certainyl would have; against a senshi, her chances were more like her civi chances, less than 50%; against a Super senshi? Well, Birhan would be happy if it connected and possibly left an ache to match the one in her shoulder.

Birhan was a little surprised when her kick did manage to connect. In her shock, she didn't rush to follow up any advantage she (felt she) had while Gunn was down for a brief second. It was probably the only thing that saved her from Gunn's groin kick. Even as a female, that wouldn't have been pleasant (Ari had suffered it before, under the misguided notion that it did nothing to a female - boy had she been proven wrong). It wasn't much better where Gunn did manage to connect, high on the inside of Birhan's thigh.

She stumbled back with a grunt. Rotating that leg earned a hiss; it felt like something had pushed just slightly out of place, catching on the muscle now when she moved it. Birhan could work past the pain, but that was definitely going to be the weaker of her two legs now. Still, it was better than having something in her pelvis kicked out of alignment.

That was not going to end well if it dragged out for too long, Birhan was beginning to realise. Gunn's boost in strength meant there was a high chance of Birhan ending up with all her limbs compromised. She was simply going to have to hope to draw blood before that could happen.

After a quick test that the injured leg could take her weight, Birhan kicked out with her other foot, aiming for Gunn's nose. That'd bleed nicely if she could hit it, right?

Gunn wasn't the first person to be distracted by Birhan's (lack of) uniform, and she likely wouldn't be the last. It did make Birhan very familiar with the slight glaze to someone's expression as they stared at her exposed midriff, though she certainly hadn't expected to see it on Gunn during a battle. Birhan wasn't sure if she was being underestimated again, but she wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this, either.

Birhan saw the kick coming. Perhaps Gunn was slightly slower due to her distraction. Perhaps she just didn't notice Birhan reacting as fast as Gunn normally would have, if paying full attention. Perhaps it was simply that Birhan had countered this move so many times that her civilian self felt she could do it in her sleep.

As Gunn's leg swung back and around, Birhan ducked in close. Her arms closed around the attacking leg and rather than attempting to halt its motion, added to the spin while Birhan's elbow jabbed sharply at Gunn's exposed side. With Gunn's leg in her grasp, it wasn't hard to Birhan to sweep one leg around to knock Gunn off balance and to the floor - or that was the aim, anyway.

Birhan didn't realise what had happened at first. Gunn shoved her away with a Super Senshi's superior strength, and Birhan was waiting for Gunn to strike her again, dreading what vital point Gunn would aim for next. It took her a few moments to notice that Gunn was bleeding. The other redhead held up a red-smeared palm to the other members of the Blood Moon Court. Birhan all but swooned in relief. "Thank god," she whispered, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

Limping her way over to Ares, Birhan reflected that it was lucky for her that Gunn had been distracted. If the fight had dragged on much longer, Birhan would have been out of commission soon enough and then the one bleeding. Gunn's strikes were well aimed - possibly some training present there, or just a lot of senshi experience - and all too good at disabling the limbs of someone with less than Super strength and endurance.

Adrenaline was wearing off, and all the aches and pains came slamming back into Birhan with a vengeance. 'That's what you get for ignoring your injuries and even putting more strain on them,' she scolded herself. Well worth it though, to prove herself to the Blood Moon Court.

Both combatants waited for their leader to speak. Birhan shot Gunn a quick smile. Hopefully the Senshi of Wildfire wouldn't hold a grudge. That had been the most challenging fight Birhan had had in, well, ever. She was hoping for a rematch at some point, or at least some sparring.

Gunn didn't return the smile; she held her hand carefully a bit away, ignored the hot trickle of blood down the side of her face. Ignored Birhan Isat, too, her cerulean eyes firmly on their leader. When Ares acknowledged her defeat, the orange-haired senshi turned to the newest member of the Inner Sanctum.

Well. The newest member if she passed one last test. "Sailor Birhan Isat," she said, "you've proven that you can hold your own among the best of us, even in the face of one ranked higher than you--a warrior of the highest caliber, and deepest spirit. You've proven that." The rest of that oath had been given when Birhan Isat had been recruited and branded; she'd already agreed to lay down her life if it was so required. Gunn skipped ahead, her hands still at her sides. No companionable touches, no shows of camaraderie, not until Birhan Isat was really, truly one of them.

"To be one of us, truly a member of the Inner Sanctum, you must do one more thing." Gunn gestured, finally, to indicate Laocoon, Ares--every present member of the Inner Sanctum. "Reveal yourself to us. Within this circle, none of us may keep ourselves a secret. Your trust will be rewarded with our own." She stepped over to her cloak, picked it up and draped it over her arm. Her face did not betray her worry that she was continuing this entirely wrong.