The following makes up aspects of Sailorsparrow and Sailorshrike's stories, but as you can see, there are holes in the narrative. These details may come to me in time. They may remain elusive. I would love some help with the brainstorming, so if any ideas come to you while reading the following, please use the form below to tell me about them.
What you are about to read contains massive spoilers concerning Sailorsparrow, Sailorshrike, and the Noble Gas senshi. If you'd rather not have any part of the story spoiled, you should skip this part.
SMD SPOILERS BELOW!
During the time of the Silver Millenium, Sailorsparrow and her cousin, Sailorshrike, spent a great deal of time visiting the kingdom of the Noble Gas senshi because Sparrow was in love with one of the senshi, Sailorkypton (Denki Notama in her present life). But Sparrow, a shy girl with little self-confidence, felt threatened by the frequent presence of a prince from a nearby planet, Prince Platinum (Soldierplatinum). Princess Krypton and Prince Platinum spoke often, laughing and joking in a way that Sparrow took for flirting. She secretly wished that this prince would go away for good, so he would not take her beloved from her.
Metallia saw a way to exploit the girl's self-doubt. Somehow, she needed to gain access to something within the Castle Noble that would help her in her conquest to destroy Silver Millenium, but this item was well guarded by a force field. The item that she wanted was an hourglass filled with the power of the six Noble Gas senshi; it was filled with flourescent green liquid that never stopped moving. Metallia sent Queen Beryl to have a chat with Sailorsparrow where she planted the idea in Sparrow's head that she could write a letter sending Platinum away on a royal mission, asking him not to return to the Castle Noble for a long while. To make it look official, Sparrow would need to get the royal seal and stamp the letter with it. But this seal was well guarded by the same force field. Therefore, Sailorsparrow would need to bring the barrier down long enough to get the seal, stamp the letter, and return the seal to its place without being caught.
Sparrow enlisted the help of her cousin Shrike because Shrike had some sort of knowledge that had eluded Sparrow of how to bring the barrier down for a short time. Sailorshrike had no idea what they were really doing this for because Sailorsparrow lied to her about their real purpose for shutting down the force field. Sparrow encouraged her girlfriend, Krypton, to hold a concert with her sisters on the night that she wanted to carry out this plan because the show would provide the distraction Sparrow and Shrike needed to get the royal seal. Krypton and the others gave this concert. When Shrike shut down the barrier, Queen Beryl (who had been following them) rushed in, grabbed the hourglass, and Metallia immediately absorbed it. The attack on Castle Noble began right after. With the force field down, the castle was helpless.
Just about everyone was killed during this attack. This is why Krypton (Denki) has such crippling stagefright in her current life - she was singing a solo piece on stage when the auditorium was attacked. She watched everyone die from her place on the stage.
Although she was ignorant of Beryl's true plans, Sailorsparrow couldn't help but feel that she was responsible for this attack. If she hadn't been trying to use the royal seal, the castle would not have been made vulnerable to Metallia; Sparrow felt she had betrayed the kingdom and her love within it. Her feelings of guilt were only compounded by the fact that once she blurted the truth to Sailorshrike, Shrike not only blamed her for the carnage because of her deception, but also informed her that Platinum was HER (Shrike's) boyfriend. They had been carrying on a secret love affair for months, and had plans to elope. Shrike declared that she hated Sparrow and would never forgive her for deceiving her into helping to destroy the kingdom.
In their current lives, Sparrow (Suzi) and Shrike (not sure of her name yet, but it may be Mozu) are again cousins. Shrike has always strongly disliked her cousin Suzi, but is not sure why. Suzi would do anything for Shrike, but herself is not sure why she feels this need to make something up to her cousin. Suzi has had dreams and knows that she had a past life intertwined with the senshi of the Castle Noble. However, she does not currently know exactly what she did to "betray" everyone. With the return of their power centers will come the knowledge of the past, and an explanation for why they feel the way they do about each other. (Sparrow's power center, although separated from Sailorhelium, has not yet returned to her.)
Some of the ideas from this story came out of suggestions made by readers for the contest. The following ideas proved to be inspiring:
Kagome suggested that Sparrow and Shrike helped Metallia in some way, but accidentally.
Moosie suggested that there be a fued between Sparrow and Shrike over a man, which ended in them hating each other. These feelings carried over into their current lives; they dislike each other, but have no idea why. I worked these ideas into the story of Sparrow, Shrike, and Platinum.
Do you have an idea for this story? Please send me your suggestions!
If you have any trouble with the form (such as, if your entry turns out to be too long to be submitted that way), please send your entry to my e-mail address instead. I'd prefer you use the form if it's possible. As a note, I do not take entries by Instant Message.