Senshi (Guardians)
Chapter 33: Interstellar Friendships

The next day seemed to drag on for the girls of Takeda san’s class. At lunch they all met on the roof for bento. Thael was speaking: “I’m glad we can all be here to share bento together. For the rest of the week, and next week, Kyoko sama and I will provide bento for all of you as a present to the graduating class.” The girls clapped, etc. “Ami chan has graciously promised to bring the dessert pastries.”

They clapped again, “Ami chan, ichi ban!”

Kyoko spoke up, “Itadakimasu!”

At three o’clock, Thael was standing in front of the classroom. Miss. Takeda was at her desk.

“Konichiwa, Minna.” They bowed their heads and said together, “Konichiwa, Thael sama.”

“Since Takeda sensei invited me here to talk about some of the other diverse life forms in the universe that you will meet on Saturday, here I am.”

The students giggled.

“Leura you have already met, so you know quite a bit about the Larrian fox people.”

Leura was sitting at Kyoko’s desk. She nodded her head.

“You’ve also met our friend that we fondly call, Kip. Even though you’ve had conversations with him, there is a lot more to learn about his people. Kip is the Crown Prince of their planet: Karu Sektu. As I have said before, I can’t pronounce his real name because their language is impossible for me to learn, so I gave him the nickname, ‘Kip’. Fortunately, he doesn’t mind.

“We’ll start off with the Shnark people by introducing you to Kip’s mother, her Majesty the Queen, who has graciously offered to tell us more about them, and their home. Class, may I present her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Karu Sektu.”

As she stepped into the room the class rose and bowed. “Hajimemashite, Your Majesty, Domo yoroshiku” they said respectfully.

The Queen stood in the center of the room by the blackboard.

She bowed. “Minna, Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. You may raise your heads class. I thank you for the respectful way you greeted me. As Thael has said, I am the ruling Queen of Kehrru Hekkrru. My son, the one you call kik, is the Crown Prince. I understand that you have all befriended him. For that, I thank you as well. (Shnark are cat creatures and cannot pronounce a “P” so they use the “K” sound in place of it.)

“Kehrru Hekkrru is about the size of your Earth. There are many forms of life there, but we are the only ones blessed with sentience. Kyoko sama, could you bring in the painting please?”

Kyoko brought in the easel and placed the picture she painted of the Shnark world. The students remarked how beautiful her planet was, etc.

“As you can see, that is our Capitol city. The spires and fancy architecture are only a facade that identifies the cavern opening. Or cities are mostly all built in natural caverns. A few were cut into mountains by the citizens to create small towns.”

There were murmurs in the room. The Queen smiled. “What you are experiencing is living art. Kyoko has a rare gift that anything she paints comes alive for the viewer. That’s why you can smell the air and feel the wind as if you were standing on that hillside. She painted this especially for me and I shall treasure it always.”

She made some cat-like sounds, “That is the name of our city in my language. For you, you may call it Royal City. It’s a lot easier for people to pronounce.”

The class chuckled. She made another cat sound, “Mmkrrhkk - That is the name of our people. It’s hard to pronounce so the Guardians call us Shnark. This is Kik’s real name: Kkrrrukrrru.”

“Did you get that? I’ll do it again,” she repeated his name.

“Now, it’s your turn. Let’s hear you say his name.”

The students made cat sounds but couldn’t reproduce the name properly.

“I guess you should stay with, Kik, ne?”

They all laughed.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed that you can’t pronounce it properly, the only way you could learn our language would be if you grew an extra set of vocal chords. It allows us to purr and speak at the same time.”

“Sugoi!”

“Now you know why even Prince Thael, a master of interplanetary languages, prefers to call my son Kik.” The students laughed.

“We have laws, just as you do. We have our own literature, art, and music. Here’s a sample of a song,” she had Ariella play it for the class. When it was finished they clapped in appreciation.

“It isn’t too strangely different to your own folk music of Japan.”

She purred and spoke in a light tone. When she finished: “That is a famous poem from my home. It translates as, ’As the moon rises over the mountains, I hold you close to my heart. Sleep, my child, and may the dreams you have, be as beautiful as your countenance as the light of the moon caresses your face’.”

The girls applauded and remarked at how beautiful the words were.

“It loses a lot in the translation, so I’ll repeat it in my language.”

As she purred the poem it sounded so sweet and loving that when she finished there was a silence in the room. Finally the girls began clapping.

“Now, if you notice, in the painting there are no roads leading to the city. Because we have wings, we can fly just about anywhere we want.

“We do have air machines, much like your zeppelins, that take our people long distances from city to city, or across our great oceans. These airships also allow us to trade with other cities for goods we don’t produce ourselves. As time passed, we eventually developed star ships to take us to other planets.

“When we came here, we were very fortunate to meet Thael sama and his beautiful wife Kyoko sama. He befriended my son and taught him the way of the Senshi, even though we were at war with them. They helped us end that war by defeating the Tharrdahk, who had tricked us into thinking the Guardians were the evil ones.

“We now know the Guardians are great heroes who protect the inhabited planets of the universe without interfering with their politics or its rulers. Thael was born in Japan, so it was only natural he would bring them here to help local authorities with things they are unable to do by themselves. Like tsunami, large fires, and earthquakes.

“Most importantly, they are our friends, and shall be from now on. I think my time is up, so I will go to the back of the room where my son is. If anyone has any questions about our people, or you just want to talk with me, I’ll be happy to meet you after this presentation is over.”

She bowed to the class and thanked them. Then she thanked Miss Takeda, and went to the back of the room while the class clapped.

Thael once again stood in front of the class. He bowed, “Thank you, Your Majesty for volunteering to do this.”

“Next, I would like to show you all a picture of another of the wedding guests. Ariella, if you please.”

Ariella’s avatar rose up and projected a 3D Vid still of a very beautiful woman with gossamer-like fairy wings. She was facing the camera. She had a beautiful crown on her head made of gold.

“This is Princess Mari. This picture makes her look many times her real size. In reality she stands a little more than fifteen centimeters.”

“Sugoi.”

“Kawaii!”

“How beautiful.”

Thael continued when the comments died down: “Her people are commonly referred to, by us, as fairies. They used to have a large population here on Earth, but because we misunderstood them and mistreated them, most have gone back to their home world. There are still a few fairies that live here, but they stay hidden and to themselves in large forests.

“I have a nice surprise for all of you. Princess Mari is here today, in person. However, for their safety, you can never tell anyone that fairies exist – except little children, of course. So, may I present her Highness, Princess Mari of the Fairies who live here in japan.”

A small fifteen point four centimeter (6 inches) tall fairy flitted into the classroom. She landed on the teacher’s desk.

There were many expressions from the students like: “Kawaii!” and “Kakwii!”

“How cute!”

“Beautiful!”

She bowed to Miss Takeda, “Hajimemashite, sensei,” and then to the class. After the usual greetings were over, she spoke in a small, but clear voice: “My voice is too small to talk to you all at once, however, I will be glad to meet with you after the presentation and answer any questions you may have for me.” She bowed and flew to the back of the room. She sat on Kyoko’s shoulder. The class clapped.

“Next I want you to meet a Dràken.” Ariella projected a picture of one.

“As you can see, Dràken are reptilian-like in appearance. They have three fingers and a thumb. They stand somewhere between five feet and five ten. They are normally a peaceful people, but because they look so different from you, most Earth people might mistake them as monsters. Minna, let me present to you his Highness, Prince Skessh.”

He walked in. The class was murmuring again. They stood up and greeted him properly. He was wearing a royal blue suit coat over a ruffled shirt. His attire looked a lot like American colonial formal wear including his boots.

“Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. Thank you Takeda sensei for the opportunity to talk to your class. When Thael asked for some pictures of me to show you what we Dràken look like, I decided to come and greet you personally. I understand you are all coming to the official wedding ceremony this weekend?”

The class all said, “Yes, your highness.”

“Good. I’ll be there with my Princess Shissaree. I hope you will all come and meet her. I know you will like her immediately, just as I love her.”

The students gave various positive reactions to that.

“The planet Dràken is about the size of Taelon, both of which are slightly smaller than your Earth. Dràken is lush with flora and fauna. I would say it is much like what you call jungles here. There are also great masses of oceans and seas. There are a few small deserts, but we Dràken prefer to live in the cooler jungles.

“Our homes are built so that they blend in with the foliage and plant life around us. If you were to look at our cities from the sky, you would have a hard time replaceing where the buildings are. We have laws, of course, our own culture, literature, art, poetry, and philosophers. We built a transportation system that carries people from one city to the next. It’s very much like your trains here except that they travel deep underground to protect the forests. We also have sailing ships to cross the oceans. The Taelons visited us over five thousand years ago and brought us the technology to build star ships and communicate through a universal translator. With that technology we were able to visit many planets.

“Many years later, one of our Kings visited Taelon. He noticed they had an abundance of a flower that is rare on Dràken. It is used to cure many diseases we are susceptible to. Unfortunately, he was a very foolish King. Instead of setting up trade, he declared war on them in order to steal the valuable plants. This war raged for five hundred years.

“After such a long time, no one could remember why we were fighting, only that we had to. I recently discovered this myself while looking through some ancient texts. Prince Thael offered my father the rare flowers in exchange for flowers we have that grow like weeds around our planet. You see those flowers we have are poison to us, but medicinal for the Taelons.

“Because of this, the war was officially ended and we now have a thriving trade between the two worlds; Thanks to Prince Thael. One of those flowers he brought as a gift to my father the King saved my life. Over the years we have gotten to know each other and have become good friends. He stood with me when I joined with my Princess in marriage.

“I will also stay for questions. Feel free to talk to me after the presentation.”

They all clapped. Thael walked back up to his place in front of the class. He thanked the Prince.

“We would have invited our friend, Lord Rocknash, but he stands over twenty feet tall. This class would understand him, but other people think of giants as something to fear, so rather than cause a panic, he made you a Vid.”

Ariella started the Vid. They could see a large man with a red bushy beard standing there. Next to him, was a very small Kyoko sama.

“As you can see, Lord Rocknash is a very tall person,” the tiny Kyoko on the Vid said.

He put his hand down close to her and they grasped arms. The class erupted in amazement. Lord Rocknash’s hand was large enough to hold her entire arm in it. Then he set his ax down. The blade was taller than she is.

The Kyoko on the Vid continued, “To his people, we are like the Little People of Earth are to us, only we are much smaller compared to the Bagneroth. Standing next to him gives you a great deal of respect and understanding of how the Little People of our planet must feel having to deal with us giants.”

“We’re going to raise the camera up to his face so he can talk to you personally.”

The camera rose slowly into the air until it reached his face. The girls were all murmuring and admiring such a huge man.

He bowed his head a little and greeted them. His voice was very low. His Japanese had a strange accent, but they could all understand him.

“I wish I were able to be there today, so I could meet all of Kyoko sama’s friends, but I’m afraid my presence would cause a panic. I asked Kyoko to help me with this Vid so that you can see about how tall I am compared to her. I stand approximately six point thirty five meters (20’ 8”). I am from a planet known as Bagneroth Prime. My people are called the Bagneroth because of this. We are a peaceful race – unless attacked, of course. Our planet is much like yours, but more than twice as large. Bagneroth Prime is located somewhere just beyond the middle of the Andromeda Constellation.

“Some of my ancestors visited Earth long ago. This is why you have legends of giants. We found people who befriended us and we taught them about mathematics, the stars, how to use sound to levitate objects – and destroy them. The Egyptians were one such people. So were the Aztecs. Unfortunately, the longer we stayed, the more people were jealous of our technology. We had to leave because were always being depicted as bad monsters; People to be feared and killed. So, instead of destroying what we had created here we simply took our technology and left.

“My people also have laws, culture, art, and poetry. If you watched a Vid of one of our plays, you would think you were watching a drama produced on Earth. There would be differences, of course, but you wouldn’t see us as giants since we are all about the same size. We have many pyramids on our planet. These are actually power plants that create massive amounts of electricity which we use to heat and light our homes. They transmit that energy into the air where our devices can pick it up and use it to run our planes, trains, ships, communications, etc. When we left Earth we removed the active energy crystals from the pyramids so they could not be used for warfare. This is why there are empty stone boxes there.

“We also have roads and transportation systems much like your own. We have electric flying ships that are like your airplanes and sailing ships that traverse our oceans. When we discovered space flight, we were surprised to see that most of the galaxy’s inhabitable planets had people that were small, like you. After some bad experiences trying to befriend them we decided to stay away and limit our spaceflight to scientific studies.

“Before you get the wrong idea, our exploration is limited to observation. Unlike those people that come to Earth from far outside the Milky Way, we do not dissect or abduct other sentient beings. We go out of our way to avoid contact lest we be mistaken for alien invaders.

“It was the Taelon Guardians who made peaceful contact with us. There was a time, because of misunderstandings on our part, that we were enemies of the Guardians. Thael changed all that. He also made it possible for us to make peace with the Shnark. I am proud to say that Kip is now my friend. I hope to greet you all personally at the formal wedding on Taelon so that we might become friends also.

“Thank you all for taking the time to listen to my story today,” he bowed again and the Vid went blank.

“Sugoi! A real giant,” one of the girls said.

“To think that they are real, and not just a mythical creature,” another commented.

Thael interrupted their remarks. “There is one last person to meet, except you already know her. Una, it’s your turn.”

Una came forward and addressed the class.

“I am Una, as you know. I am pure Taelon. I was born there.”

Ariella displayed a Vid of the purple planet in space.

“Since you will be visiting Taelon, Thael thought you should know more about us, so here I am.” The students chuckled. “My eyes are different than the normal Taelon in that mine have the Guardian glow. Before I became a Guardian they were just a normal blue. As you can see, we appear to be Asian in looks, except for the ears. They look more elfin because of the pointy shape.”

She lifted her long hair and showed the class.

“Our bodies and DNA are very similar to yours and, because of this, we are able to intermarry with the Earth people and have children. Thael is the proof of that. His mother was pure Taelon and his father was from America. The Taelon DNA is more dominant than the Earth’s, so should you marry one of us and have children, they will have the ears as well. The reason Thael’s eyes glow violet is that he is of royal blood. Only royals have violet eyes. He, his Princess, and their children automatically inherit the Guardian traits and powers.

“For an Earth person to gain Guardian powers, you would have to become one – or marry one. You can see Kyoko sama’s eyes have the violet glow. She also has Guardian powers. That’s why she can call upon the wings and fly. If she hadn’t loved Thael the way she does, her eyes would never have changed and you wouldn’t be going to Taelon this weekend as guests of the Royal Family.

“You’ve all seen the Vid of the singing valley and the bonding ceremony. You’ve also seen Vid of the palace and of the Taelon people living their lives just the same as you do. I joined the Guardian service and my eyes turned. I have been honored to serve with Prince Thael on many occasions where our intervention was invited by the rulers of their planets. His family started the Guardian corps over a thousand years ago, and he is now the Commander and Chief, as well as my longtime friend.

“If you have any questions, I will be staying here as well” She bowed, “Thank you all for listening.”

They clapped for her as she went back to her chair.

Thael bowed, “That’s it for our little presentation. We’ve brought some sushi and tea for you all to enjoy while you converse with our friends. Sensei…?” He went over to Kyoko’s desk and stood by the window.

Takeda sensei walked to the front of the class. “Thank you all for coming here to meet us and share some of your history. I only wish the whole school could have joined us, but there is no telling what their reaction would be. These girls have some experience knowing three of the diverse people of our galaxy before they met you, our new friends, so their normal human reactions of fear were suppressed. That is why they could greet you without any doubts or trepidation. I am so glad my girls have been able to have this rare and remarkable experience. Domo arigato, Thael and Kyoko sama. We owe you and your friends a great debt,” She bowed low. Everybody clapped and said, “Thank you.”

“Now, class, let’s have some refreshments and talk with our remarkable friends.”