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It was night, but the sky was darker than usual. The light of the street lamps seemed somehow diminished. They glowed with a subdued sort of force and illuminated the faces of the buildings that lined the road, but did not penetrate very far into the blackness of the alleys.

There was no telling what sort of danger lurked beyond the veil of the light.

Vulcan liked it that way.

Thunder rolled overhead and a lightning bolt shot across the sky, revealing a mass of violent clouds that looked as tormented as she felt. They had been there to greet her when she, seething with the pain of Kam's rejection, stormed out of his apartment.

It seemed fitting.

The sidewalk was cool under the Senshi of Volcanoes' naked feet. Ordinarily, before starting a patrol, Vulcan made sure to put on a pair of shoes upon leaving the house. But she hadn't meant to transform tonight, and was unprepared.

Whatever.

She could kick just as well without shoes.

"Come out come out wherever you are," broiling in her anger, desperate to put her fist in something, Vulcan called out to every and any nearby Negaverse officer. Or youma. She didn't care which.

If there even were any.

That was exactly what she was looking for.

Vulcan twisted just in time to see the massive youma bearing down on her, and the strange warrior who'd leapt to her defence. If they were both not in such immediate danger she might have paused to consider what, exactly, he was.

Gehenna didn't look like any senshi she'd ever seen. But he couldn't be a Negaverse agent, because he had rescued her. If not from death, then from what surely would have been a serious concussion.

He had helped her. He was clearly an ally. Vulcan was grateful for his aid, but far too angry to extend a friendly hand. This was not the time or the place.

The youma was a monster in every sense of the word. It stood about seven feet tall, and had fists the size of hams. Sailor Vulcan was intimidated, but not cowed, and launched herself at the beast with a passionate war cry.

Her fist connected solidly with it's side. There was a satisfying crunch, and Vanessa felt some of her fury dissipate. The youma seemed more irritated than anything else, and swiped at Vulcan's knees with one of its massive hands.

The senshi, gasping, was knocked onto her side. The road scraped her thigh.

The pain of her fall was nowhere near excruciating enough to incapacitate Vulcan who, nevertheless, found herself coveting this curious stranger's garb. A person only had to take one look at Gehenna to know what he was about. Excepting the bracers around her wrists and the guards around her calves, Vulcan might as well have dressed for a day at the beach.

She was back on her feet at once, pulse roaring in her ears. The beast swung at her again, but Vanessa, on the alert this time, managed to dodge.

Managed half of a dodge. One of those meaty fists still clipped her on the shoulder. Vulcan staggered under the force of the blow, and regained her balance just in time to see Gehnenna headed her way. Clutching a trashcan.

Towards the monster.

Understanding flickered across those golden eyes. The sky rumbled.

She held her breath, leapt high into the air, and brought her knee into the youma's back with a fierce slam at the precise moment Gehenna hit it in the stomach. The hapless monster's great jaw flopped open. It roared at once with pain and indignation.

Vulcan poked it in the eyes for good measure, and then cartwheeled out of the way.

Something wasn't right.

Something was off.

Vulcan stood facing Gehenna with a dubious expression on her face. Gone was the anger birthed by Kam's refusal. She glanced at the place where the youma had died, and felt unsatisfied. The force the beast expelled to hit her had helped scatter much of her fury, and so had the scrape on her thigh. It bled a sharp, bright red, but only a little.

Probably she wouldn't even need a band-aid.

"Hmm?"

The stranger's question made Vulcan look up. She seemed thoughtful, but there was no hesitation in her answer.

"Oh, yeah," the senshi nodded, and offered Gehenna a friendly smile that she did not truly feel. Kam was on her mind. "I'm better than alright."

There was nothing sarcastic in her voice. Vulcan took a moment to look Gehenna up and down, and appraised his outfit with what she imagined was a practiced eye. She wet her lips and opened her mouth, intending to turn his question around on him, but something else came out instead.

"What are you?"

Surely, not a senshi. If he hadn't just risked his life to help her Vulcan might have guessed he was one of the Negaverse.

Except. That couldn't possibly be right either.

Vanessa had examined pictures of knights in books at school. She had heard stories about knights saving princesses, and watched several movies in which they starred. This guy looked nothing like them. He was big and strong and pretty badass, but the shine on his armour, if there was any at all, was comparable to hers. Where was Gehenna's sword? His loyal steed?

Wherever he'd left them, apparently.

"It is nice to meet you, Gehenna," the senshi's smile was a little more real this time. She slipped her slender fingers inside his much larger hand and gave it a good shake. "I'm Sailor Vulcan, Senshi of Volcanoes."

He was not imagining the pride in her voice. Vulcan corrected her posture, stood up as tall as she could, and admitted, "I've never seen a real live knight before. Are you the only one?"

It had occurred to her that he wasn't any ordinary knight. Gehenna had taken out a youma, and he was affiliated with Mars. Clearly, he was one of them. A hero. Like her.

Not that knights were ever anything else.

His continued concern made Vulcan blink. Confused, she stared at him, and then followed his gaze to the scrape on her thigh.

"Oh, hey! When did that happen?"

If she wanted to get a good look at it, she'd either have to twist or bend over. She decided to twist, and brushed the tips of her fingers over the wound to test for fresh blood. The skin there was raw and protested with a sharp twinge. Vulcan winced.

"I think it's still bleeding. Can you tell?"

"You've met more than I have," Vulcan informed him graciously, and stepped easily alongside him. Her strides were long and graceful. They matched her legs. "Knights, I mean."

It was not as easy to push thoughts of Kam from her head as Vanessa would have liked, but she was swiftly warming up to Gehenna. She thrilled to the discovery of this new warrior race, and wondered what power had summoned them into being.

"I can't even begin to guess what purpose might have brought you here," Vulcan sounded thoughtful, and confided to him one of her biggest secrets. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure what my purpose is. Probably that other senshi knows more than I do."

Something cool and light landed on top of her head. Vulcan paid it no mind.

"I… I try to help people," she said, glanced sideways at Gehenna's dark face, and then nudged him gently with her shoulder. "I'm glad you guys are on our side. You did some pretty wicked damage back there."

Two somethings cool and light landed on her head. One of them got lost in her hair. The other landed on her cheek.

Thunder roared. Lightning crackled, it's spidery fingers illuminating the the trees in the park. It was easy to imagine that the darkness twisted their branches into claws.

And then the rain came.

Still a basic senshi. Still weak compared to Ares, and to Nemesis, and to almost everyone else in the Blood Moon Court. Deep down, Vulcan knew that she was not the only one just starting out. There were so many other senshi, and most of them had been around a lot longer than she had.

They made Super Van feel like a fool.

The pensive expression that had taken over her face brightened suddenly at his compliment. And then he was smirking, and she couldn't help but smile. They had done very well together, against that youma. A little change came over Vulcan. It was almost imperceptible, but undeniably there. She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Yeah, she wasn't half bad.

Gehenna's conceit was contagious.

Vulcan was surprised and slightly confused when he suddenly seized her by the hand. Her eyes widened. And then she had no choice but to run. Despite the rain and the thunder and the scape on her thigh, Vulcan started laughing. It was a playful, easy sort of sound, and marked with a lightness that she hadn't felted in ages.

"Which way to the bathrooms?" Vulcan had to shout in order to be heard over a sharp crack of lightning. This park was unfamiliar territory to her.

The weight of the rain was picking up. It came harder and faster, and a ferocious gust of wind made the senshi shiver.

It was the middle of the night. They were alone in the lady's room, but Vulcan was certainly not going to complain about Gehenna's being there. She thought his concern for her leg was very sweet, and found herself enjoying his company more and more with every moment that passed. It was wonderful, after the way that Kam had brushed her aside, to have a man pay this much attention to her.

At his question Vulcan hesitated, twisted a little on the counter, and then brushed her fingertips over the bloody scrape on her thigh. It stung, but not as badly as before. Her wince this time was more of a breath than anything else.

"No," she said, and glanced at the knight over her shoulder, "It's a little tender, but I think it'll be okay."

Those golden eyes flickered over the paper towels in Gehenna's hands and the way that he tested the water. A soft smile made a home for itself on her lips. She tried not to think about the last time a boy had done something like this for her, and grazed the top of his hand with the lightest of touches.

"Thank you."