At 01:16 -0400 02/05/97, David Lerman wrote:
At 04:37 PM 5/1/97 -0400, you wrote:
That was a fic that was started by John W. Biles a long time ago. He
never got around to finishing it. I can always send the parts I've got so
far if you tell me the address.
Please send me a copy as well. Perhaps you should post it?
There it is!
Mercredi 04 septembre 1996 02:00:42
Message
From: ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu,Internet
Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic] Power (Part one of Three. Part Three not yet
written :)
To: Louis-Philippe Giroux
****************************************************************************
Power
by John Biles
Part One of a Three Part Story
*****************************************************************************
They were coming. For days, he had led his little band of followers
through the mountains, fleeing the men who pursued them. They had
climbed out of the foothills and were now slowly traversing the trails
that wound through the high peaks, normally used only by prospectors and
the occassional hunter.
The men who pursued them were relentless. They would not stop, not
until they had captured or killed him and all his followers. Not that he
wanted followers. In one way or another, he had saved them all from the
white clad men who followed them. The first three had been accused of
being darkfriends...all they had done was to jostle a few whitecloaks in
a crowd by accident. After that, they were after him too. Finally, they
had had to flee into the mountains, but even that wasn't enough.
Jon turned to him. "Mai says this is a box canyon...we've got to
back up and find another way out."
"What, NOW she recognizes it?" he snapped. Stupid would-be guide.
The woman had already gotten them lost three times.
Mai came forward. "I'm sorry..." She hesitated, then went on. "I
thought this was the canyon with the three big rocks...but there's only
two. This one dead ends in half a mile."
He took a deep breath. I shouldn't snap at them. They're depending
on me...I just wish I knew what I was doing..."I shouldn't have yelled at
you. Just get us out of here."
Nearby, the oldest of the band, a grizzled old man with a bald head
and a thick grey mustache turned and smiled at him. "Don't worry.
You've done a good job so far."
You should be the one in charge, Alain, not me, he thought. You're
at least twice my age. I may fight better than you now...but that's only
because you're getting old. He smiled at his thought. Respect for my
elders...that's new. Well, I never had elders worth respecting before...
At least I have one other person here besides me who knows how to fight.
The group followed Mai's directions, heading for a way up the side
of the canyon. Unfortunately, it was too late. The white cloaks had
already cut them off. There was no way out but the grave it appeared.
Despair washed over them like a wave. Every eye turned to stare at
him, a man with short brown hair, less than twenty years old, clad in
stolen clothing that never quite fit right. They were counting on him
because he had saved them from death before, against the odds. Somehow
he would find the solution, they hoped.
There was no solution. There's too many of them to fight. I can't
take fifty men with swords...it's not like the fights I had when I was a
kid. He laughed bitterly for a moment. A kid. That was less than a
year ago. If only...If only...He choked off the thought. There was no
time for regrets.
At that very moment, he could sense the only possible solution,
floating out of reach, just beyond his ability to grasp it. The power.
The One Power. He had seen it, heard stories of it...even wielded it.
Yet, it would not come at his command...he couldn't even be sure what had
happened had been the power. Still, he had heard stories,
whispers...what he sometimes sensed now had to be the Power. Floating
off to one side, taunting him with its proximity. If he could wield it,
he could show them...
He tried to grab it with his mind and it slid between his fingers,
somehow getting farther away, without actually moving...not that it was
exactly in a given place in the first place. Do something! he shouted
at it! We're all going to die! I don't want to die! I don't want them
to die! The power ignored him, and sat there, existing, taunting him
with its lack of activity.
He wondered for a moment if the Aes Sedai always had this much
trouble with the power. They made it look so easy...she made it look so
easy. He remembered again the woman he had tried to forget. His fiancee...
Her image came to mind as he had last seen her, before she vanished, they
all vanished, leaving him behind in a land not his. They stood outside
of Tarabon, near one of those great pillars, carved with strange runes.
Her red hair glowed in the sunset, flowing freely. She had undone her
usual braid, which had surprised him, but then everything about her
always seemed to surprise him. The dress had been a surprise too. Green
silk from Arad Doman. While she had never been modest, she had always
resisted wearing dresses, but she seemed comfortable in this one. Her
months in the tower must have changed her, he thought. Most people grew
harder edged, but she seemed to have softened. He still wasn't sure how
she had gotten out of the tower so fast, but then, he wasn't sure how the
tower really worked either.
If she was here, she'd just blast that canyon side to ash and bring
it down on their heads...Suddenly, he felt the power. While he was
distracted, it had snuck up on him...or something. He had the power!
Now I'll just...it was at that moment that he realized he didn't ahve the
power...it had him.
Pain rushed through his body as the entire male half of the Source
tried to empty itself through him. He was a vessel for surging energy,
energy no one could see or feel but him. The dam that had protected him
from the power was down and now the waters were rushing through, widing
the hole. Soon, the dam would shatter completely and it would scour him
away, erasing him, or maybe worse yet, leaving him to live, but only a
shell of what he had been. I've screwed up again, he thought. I'm
clumsy and ugly and I can't do anything right. I can't save these
people, can't control the power...I'm doomed.
A voice spoke in her mind. I knew you'd give up, you clumsy,
uncute...A familiar anger flared deep within his mind. He had been
taunted so many times. Told he was ugly, clumsy, couldn't fight, weak.
Told he was trying to do things he shouldn't, that he couldn't. That's
not your place, they told him. You can't do that. Don't even try. He
had refused to listen, but when you hear things over and over, they live
on in your head. So do your responses. His response was rage.
Power haunted his dreams. All his life, he had feared being
powerless. He had lost his mother when he was only five and there had
been nothing he could do about it. Crying out to the heavens above, he'd
begged to be taken if she might live. Heaven was silent.
Since that day, there had been a core of anger in him, an anger
nothing ever soothed for long. He was torn between his rage at her loss
and his desire to be a peaceful, loving person like her. It poisoned his
waking moments with bursts of rage against his lack of power, against the
strong, against those who abused their power, who by their strength
reminded him he had no power.
It grew now, a firey torrent in his mind, blanking out the pain,
wiping away the power from his consciousness. The power could be
mastered. Others had done it. He had fought his father tooth and nail to
learn to fight when his siblings had not been allowed to. He had become
the best in his town, too. That had changed...there were a lot of people
better than him now, but that didn't mean he was worthless.
The power rushed at him again. It sought to dominate, to control,
to destroy. That was its way. It was not mean or evil, it simply was
the essence of control, the desire to overcome. All it knew was
dominance or submission, and all its masters had to win their position on
top every time they called on it. He was ready now for it, and he
refused to submit.
It sought to scour him to ash, but he would not burn. It tried to
crush him, but he would not be broken. It tried to blow him away, but he
would not move. He locked his mind around it and struck back with his
anger, binding it with the power within himself. He had gone beyond
rage, into the calm at the heart of the hurricane of his anger. By
turning his anger outward, he mastered it, and now he did the same for
the power.
Proceeding entirely by instinct, he hurled the power at the
canyonside. He could feel it rushing through him, taste the bitter oil
of the Dark One's taint on it, smell the sweat of those around him. He
heard the cries and the distant explosion as the canyon wall ripped
apart, spraying gravel and collapsing upon the white cloaks. He saw them
die, buried beneath tons of gravel and asphyxiating on a giant dust cloud
raised by the cliff side's destruction.
Dimly, he sensed the horror of what he had done, but for now, he
didn't care. Those around him stared at him in wonder and fear. He
could hear their beating hearts, smell their fear, see the mixture of
hope and terror he had aroused in them.
The dust cleared. The Whitecloaks were dead. He let go of his
rage, let go of the power. It left him, and he felt sorry to see it go.
Drained emotionally and mentally, he fainted.
****************************************************************
He awoke in a cave, dreams of what had happened still echoing
through his head. I killed them. All of them. They were only doing
what they thought was right and I murdered them! There had to have been
something else I could have done, he thought. Guilt washed through him.
A hand gently touched his shoulder. It was Lori, another of the few
women in his band. She had been a ...lady of the evening once. Now she
was just another refugee. She smiled, the dim light glinting off her
bronzed skin. "Well, most of us are still here. Tom and Hari and Rikard
all left, for fear of what you had done...but the rest of us decided we
don't care."
"That...I didn't mean to...I mean..." Three gone. Seventeen
left. What are we going to do about food out here? At least we can
scrounge some more weapons now...The whitecloaks will bring an army when
they find out...if they find out. And the power...I may not live long
enough to get killed by the whitecloaks. Assuming I stay sane. He
sighed and stood up. "Was anyone hurt?"
"No, everyone is fine. My lord destroyed only his enemies." Her
voice had changed, he noticed. There was...something...a more courtly
tone...wait...my lord?
"I'm not a lord. I'm just a...just a normal person like you." No,
I'm not that normal, he thought...if you knew...who I really was...you'd
probably think I was some kind of freak. If any of you knew. He thanked
the heavens that at least his curse had stopped, though this was not how
he would have wanted to stay forever. Or where...stranded in a place not
his own, a body that wasn't quite right. Still, there was nothing he
could do but try to survive. Try to lead those who followed him to
safety. If there was any safety.
He staggered out of the cave into the sunlight. Everyone was
huddled around a fire eating breakfast. It was cold, but the sun was
beautiful. Far off, a single bird sang. Mai sat off to one side, sewing
something. It was white, a banner made from sewn together...white
cloaks. He coughed at the thought of where they had come from. Her
thread was yellow. She was sewing some sort of long sinuous golden
creature onto the banner. "What is it, Mai?"
She smiled. "I hope I'm doing it right. It's a banner for you, my
lord."
"I can see that..." He ignored the my lord for now. "But of what?"
"What else? A dragon. All hail Kaneda, the Lord Dragon!"
A cry rang up around the camp. But I'm not the Dragon, he started
to say. I'm just a lost refugee...This isn't even my world. I'm not
even supposed to be a guy...But he knew they wouldn't listen. It
wouldn't do any good. Sometimes you have to fight, and sometimes...you
should just save your strength. This would take all the strength he had.
A faint breeze began to blow, ruffling Kaneda's blue-black hair.
It was cut short now, and had been for months now. Already, those days
seemed so far away. His old life was starting to fade in his memory, he
realized. His old life was dead, unless somehow they found him. Why
haven't they come back for me? Doesn't anyone care...
The nightmare that sometimes plagued his thoughts rose up to bite
him. Maybe they're all dead...maybe that thing that brought us all here
malfunctioned and killed them all but me...Maybe I'm really dying and
just dreaming all this. Why did that idiot have to come here in the
first place! Just because my sister wanted him to get rid of those damn
cursed rings...No, he couldn't just drop them in the ocean or something,
he had to go find a way to go get lost in another UNIVERSE!!!!!
Kaneda felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Corwin. "Are you okay,
Lord Dragon? You look troubled." Corwin was an Amadician teamster. His
sister, Alya, was a herbalist and healer who the whitecloaks had accused
of being Aes Sedai for some stupid reason. He was tall with dark hair
and a broad frame. Kaneda had saved his sister from being burnt, and
Corwin would probably hurl himself off a cliff if 'the Lord Dragon'
asked him to do so.
"Just feeling...Missing my family." It's been three months I've
been stranded here. Father is probably crying his eyes out right
now...bawling like a small child. If he's alive...he must be dead...they
must all be dead. They'd come looking for me...It's not like they don't
know where they left me... "I don't know if they're alive or dead."
"So what comes next, Kaneda?" Alain asked. "We can probably stay
here a while, but sooner or later, the whitecloaks are going to come
looking for their missing troops."
"We move deeper into the mountains and find somewhere we can
survive the winter. We'll build shelters, gather food, and wait for
spring. We all need rest." And I need time to figure out what I'm going
to do...
****************************************************************************
Author's afterword or...WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
This vignette is inspired by some events in the roleplaying we did at
AnimeMush during 1995. This included a TinyPlot where ...
1. We all suffered at lot due to some magical rings that enabled the
wearer of one to control the wearer of the other (Inspired by the
Seanchan bracelets from WOT)
2. Nabiki put Ranma in charge of disposing of them. Ranma went to CAFAM
and bought a dimension hopper so he could go throw them into Mount Doom
(He read Tolkein :))
3. The D-hopper was harder to use than he anticipated, so he ended up
stranded in the WOT world when the batteries went out :)
4. Ranma ended up in the White Tower as a novice :) (Chi abilities
translated to one power use...)
5. Everyone came looking for him and found him in Tanchico (Months
after his arrival there...the WOT world moved at a much faster time flow
than the Nerima world.) Ranma had been sent with Nynaeve and the others
on the mission that led them to Tanchico. Moghedien ended up getting
clobbered Ranma 1/2 style and the group tried to take Ranma back...but...
6. Earlier in Amush TPs, Akane and Ukyou had both been cursed (by
different things) to change Gender like Ranma....Akane was splashed right
as the group left...The end result was Akane got split in half and her
male aspect stayed in the Wot world while her female aspect came home.
7. This vignette is set before the group figured out what was wrong and
came back to rescue her..him :)
Currently, I'm working on Part Three of this.
John Walter Biles : MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu bailesu@komodo.hacks.arizona.edu
http://www.hacks.arizona.edu/~bailesu/falcon.html
http://www.dhp.com/~wraven/john/index.html
"It's good to kill the King." "I still think the Saxons should have
put a higher price on our heads. I'm more valuable than 25 librum."
--Frequent quotes from our PENDRAGON sessions.
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Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic] Boy-Side/Girl-Side. PArt 2 of a Three part
story. Part three yet unwritten...
Ranma woke up sweating. Someone screaming at him, crying out for
help. The dream had come again. He clambered out of bed and wandered
down to the bathroom. He was only half-awake, but he needed to get
clean. Wash away...something. The feeling of wrongness that pervaded
him at that moment. Thus, he was unaware of the sounds of bathing coming
from inside the bathing chamber.
Having stripped down, he opened the bathing room door right as Akane
stepped out the bathtub. They both froze for a few seconds, staring at
each other. Ranma cringed instinctively and tried to cover himself with
his towel. Akane blushed and grabbed her towel also.
"I...uh...I didn't mean to...umm...err..." Ranma's mind began
running through all the objects Akane could use to hit him with.
Akane sighed. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I forgot to put the occupied sign
on the door." She efficiently tied the towel around herself. "The bath
is nice and hot, just like you like it." She walked past Ranma, paused,
leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Enjoy your bath. Want to go
to the park with me later today?"
Ranma blinked, wondering if he was still asleep and dreaming.
"I...uh...okay..." Maybe she's still, um, tired from the trip or
something, he thought.
She smiled and swept out of the room. "I'll go make you some
breakfast. I think Kasumi is still asleep."
Ranma turned and watched her go. Kasumi is still asleep...wait, Dad
hasn't attacked me yet today either...maybe I am in the wrong universe.
Ranma was half right....
***************************************************************************
Boy-side/Girl-side
Part 2 of Parallel Lives
By John Biles
***************************************************************************
Autumn was coming. The revenge of the whitecloaks seemed likely to
be delayed by the coming snows. The little community of Castle Mist, as
Tyr had dubbed it, was as ready for the coming season as it could
manage. Game was abundant in the mountains, and fruit-bearing plants
were suprisingly common if you had people who knew how to look for them,
like Tyr and Abelard. The arrival of the two mountainmen had been a
godsend for the little community of renegades.
Indeed, the community had grown since the day they had declared
their leader, Kaneda, to be the Lord Dragon. The mountains had held many
who had fled the tyranny of the self titled, 'Children of the Light'.
The community had grown to a hundred strong, mostly men, though a few
women had made the trek into the mountains, following rumors of a place
of safety from the Whitecloaks.
The most important of the women of the camp was a young girl named
Alyssa. She was one of the women who had been unable to face the test to
gain accepted status at the White Tower. The tower had expelled her, as
it did all who were bade three times to take the test and found
themselves unready for it in heart or mind. Still, she had a knack for
healing, and she had found ready employment in many places as a healer,
learning many herbal cures she used to disguise her abilities from those
who disliked channelers. Finally, she had had to flee a group of
Whitecloaks and found herself at Castle Mist, little more than a
collection of ramshackle houses on a small plateau in the heart of the
Mountains of Mist.
Her presence was much welcomed. Those who gathered here were very
appreciative of her healing skills, and she brought good cheer in
abundance to an often gloomy place. Indeed, she was one of the few who
could brighten the visage of their often gloomy leader, Kaneda, a
mysterious man without a past. He appeared to be hardly older than
sixteen or seventeen, though no one among the camp believed he could
possibly be that young. The only soldier among them, an old veteran
named Alain, had watched the young man practice, and he believed Kaneda
would be ready for the rank of swordmaster soon, if not already. In
addition to that, Kaneda practiced unarmed combat styles the like of
which they had never seen. Indeed, he preferred to fight unarmed, saying
only that his father had taught him that way.
Much to the surprise of everyone, one of his first deeds upon their
arrival at what was to become Castle Mist, was to start training everyone
in these styles. Men AND women. This had shocked some among the group,
but if the Lord Dragon commanded...then the Lord Dragon would get what he
wanted.
Right now, he was drilling his five best students, while everyone
else was attending to other duties. Alain and Tyr were the two males.
Alain was old, but determined to learn, long on strength and endurance,
short on speed. Tyr was a young prospector and perhaps the best of all
five of the students. Mai was the daughter of a mountain man, meek but
tough, with a knowlege of the mountains that was often spotty at the
worst possible times, but also very useful. Alya was an unfortunate
wise woman who had been accused untruthfully of channeling by the white
cloaks because her cures were a little too successful. Finally, Celice
was a tanner from Amadicia who had angered the whitecloaks in some way
she would not discuss. She was the best of the female students. She was
taller than many of the men, and probably stronger too. Tyr
occassionally muttered about wondering if she had trolloc in her
ancestry, which got him slapped around a lot.
While Alain directed some of the less skilled students, Kaneda was
drilling the other four in a complex kata. The motions relaxed him,
letting him forget where he was and who they believed him to be, to
simply lose himself in memories of home, of his training under his
father. He pushed his students harder than his father ever had, but then
Kaneda's father hadn't been expecting to fight an army in the spring, either.
A cool breeze evaporated the sweat from their brows as Kaneda
called a break for lunch. Several of the women had prepared the usual
soup. It was a simple meal, but given the relative scarcity of
foodstuffs, it was the best they could do.
Alyssa approached Kaneda. "Have you considered what I discussed
with you, my lord Dragon?"
He sighed. "Please, just call me Kaneda. Do you think it is
possible? I mean...I don't exactly know what I'm doing..."
She had approached him the previous night. Every evening, he
tried to work with the Power, to learn more of what he could do with
it, to gain more control. Without a teacher, he knew he risked
destroying himself, but he knew he would need the power to protect his
people.
"Well, obviously, I don't know exactly what I'm doing either with
this...but I can't see why it would be ...that hard. Linking with
women is easy. The hard part is gonna be that we can't see each
other's flows."
Kaneda nodded. There had to be some trick to let me see her
flows, but I don't know it, and anyone who could teach me is long
dead. If only I could change back to normal...then this would be
easy...But she couldn't. While he had grown used to his cursed form
since the disastrous day he acquired it, he hadn't wanted to grow THIS
used to it.
**************************************************************************
Akane's life had changed forever on a pleasant spring day. Well,
pleasant for her, not so pleasant for Ranma.
"Are you sure I have to stay female until we fix this, Dr. Tofu?"
Dr. Tofu nodded. "Yes. Until we can banish that lust demon that
has possessed you, you have to stay female so it can't control you."
Happousai grovelled at Ranma's feet. "I'm so sorry, boy, for
everything I've done. It was all I could do to keep the demon from
totally controlling me..."
"Why can't we just use the Saint Point? That's what drove it out of
Happousai," Ranma said.
"Because it will just possess someone else. You can function as a
living prison because of your curse. Any other male would be mastered by
it in seconds and become almost unstoppable. Only Happousai's years of
discipline allowed him to maintain some vestiges of control." Dr. Tofu
pulled out a book titled, "The Little Big Book of Demons". "Kinseius is
a very powerful demon of lust. He can only be banished by the Rite of
Seven Bindings, which is found in the Book of Eibon. Until we can get a
copy of that book, we can't drive him off the material plane."
Ranma said, "So where do I find the book?"
"Well, I'm trying to get it through an interlibrary loan. It's
very rare. We might have to go to Peking to see their copy if that
doesn't work out."
"How long is that gonna take?"
At that point, Ryouga entered the room, crashing through the wall.
For a moment, everyone froze. Rain started to drift in through the
wall. It was at that point that Ranma realized Ryouga was dripping
wet...and still male.
He was carrying several jugs of water. He tossed one of them
towards Ranma. "This is for you, Saotome," he said, then collapsed from
exhaustion.
For a moment, everyone watched as it tumbled end over end towards
Ranma. He froze. He knew he should flee it, it must be something
bad...but if it was man water...and it went to waste...he couldn't risk
it, demon or no demon...
Akane knew better. While it might just be ordinary water, she
couldn't let Ranma get more messed up by it. She hurled herself forward
and upward to catch it. For a moment, she held it, then it shattered
against her.
The change was a horrifying experience. Her whole body spasmed and
resphaped itself in the space of a few seconds. A mix of pain, pleasure,
and utter confusion rippled through her mind as she fell to the ground,
no longer a she, but a he...She had joined the legion of the Jyusenko cursed.
The first thing he did was scream.
**************************************************************************
Kaneda shook his head. Best not to dwell on the past...for all
intents and purposes, Tendo Akane was dead. All I have left of my past
is my hair color, eye color and my memories...He sighed.
"Are you all right, my lor...Kaneda? Do you have a headache or
something?"
"Just an unhappy memory surfacing."
"Would you rather I come back later?"
"No, I'm fine. Well, are we going to try this, then?"
Alyssa rose. "Let us begin." A look of calm swept across her
face, a sign that she had embraced the source. Kaneda sighed and grabbed
the source, beating it into submission in a second. It came easily to
him now, too easily. "Weave a flow of spirit and extend it
towards...this point."
A faint glowing sphere of light appeared in the air, floating about
halfway between them. Kaneda drew power from the source and tried to
form what he hoped was a flow of spirit. He could tell the difference
between flows of the five powers, but wasn't quite sure which was which.
A lot of his channeling was more intuitive than consciously designed.
The flow moved forward to the point of light. He waited for something to
happen. Suddenly, there was a yank on the flow. He started. Nothing
like that had ever happened before. It contorted itself, grappling with
something invisible, reshaping into something...a pipe. It ran towards
Alyssa and touched her, forming a conduit connecting them. He could feel
power flow through it, though he couldn't see it. He could sense the
power, alien, yet strangely inviting, just out of sight.
"I think it worked," she said. "You seem to be leading...Try
drawing power from me and the source."
"To do what?"
Alyssa blinked, clearly not having thought of anything to actually
DO if it worked. "Umm...Try moving a really big rock or something?"
Flows of air and earth rushed towards some nearby boulders at
Kaneda's command. They danced across the ground in a whirling pattern
like a huge pinball machine. Kaneda smiled. Now for something bigger.
The rocks whirred off and joined more rocks, forming themselves into a
wall near one of the paths up to the plateau. Fire moved in and rocks
fused together, forming a wall. It was so easy with the extra power. He
smiled.
"Very good, my lord...Kaneda." Alyssa said.
"Aww, it was nothing," he said modestly and released the flows.
The wall fell down, but held together. "AAARGH!"
"I think you forgot to sink it into the ground some or build
supports. It's sort of top heavy too," said Alman, who had once been a
stone mason. "Can you try again? I can show you how it needs to be set up."
They went back to work. Castle Mist would have walls....
***********************************************************************
Ranma sat down at the breakfast table. Kasumi was there eating, but
no one else was there. "Where is everyone?"
"I think you, me, and Akane are the only people who've gotten up,"
Kasumi said. "Probably worn out from the trip they went on to get you
back. So how was the other world?"
"Different..."
"Were you able to get rid of those bracelets?" Kasumi poured Ranma
some tea. He started eating. She blinked. He was eating slowly and
carefully. Ranma NEVER ate slowly and carefully unless he thought he was
going to be poisoned. "Are you okay, Ranma?"
"It feels kinda weird to be able to be a guy again. Well, to be
able to safely be a guy again. I had to live as a girl for nine
months...It was really weird. I'm not acting weird, am I?"
Kasumi decided not to bring Ranma's good manners to his
attention. "You seem subdued."
"I guess maybe I'm kinda tired too."
Akane swept into the room, dressed in her yellow sundress with
hat. She sat down by Ranma, smiling at him. He smiled back nervously.
"Hi, sis. Hi, Ranma-kun. Mmmm. Breakfast looks good as always!" She
started eating.
Ranma resumed eating. Kasumi noted that they were both exhibiting
far more manners than usual. Again, she decided this wasn't worth
bringing to their attention, as it might stop them from acting that way.
"Would you like some tea, Akane?"
"Yes, please. Ranma and I are going to take a walk after
breakfast, if you don't mind, Kasumi."
"Why would I mind?" Kasumi began wondering if something had
happened to everyone on their trip.
"Well, I thought you might want help in the kitchen or something."
"No, no, go right ahead. Perhaps I should go see if Father will be
getting up..." Kasumi rose to check on Mr. Tendo.
********************************************************************
Ranma finally managed to relax. Akane was acting kinda weird, but
hey, it was a pleasant kind of weird. Maybe we're just starting to get
along. She's probably trying to be nice since she hasn't seen me for
nine months. She hasn't changed much while I've been gone...well,
physically. Then again, maybe she just calmed down while I was gone.
"What's today's date, Akane?"
"March 8, 1996." Akane said, bending over to smell a nearby flower
in a flowerbox in someone's front lawn.
Ranma blinked. That was only a week or so after he left..."I've
only been gone...a week?"
Akane cocked her head slightly and stared into nowhere for a
second. "Umm, you left around February 27 or so...Nine, ten days?"
Nine or ten DAYS? But I've been gone nine or ten months!
"Umm...I...uh..."
To Ranma's suprise, Akane leaned over and hugged him. "I've missed
you a lot, Ranma-kun."
"I've...uh, missed you too." His arms twitched in the air for a
few seconds, then he nervously wrapped his arms around her. They hugged
for a few moments. It felt good to Ranma. Then the thunder started.
The world went grey. Another thunderstorm was about to hit.
As Ranma broke the embrace, the rain came down. The change hit
him. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like. Electricity rushed
through him and he twitched slightly, feeling himself reshape. At least
I won't look as silly in my clothing as Akane is gonna look in that
sundress after she changes...It was at this point, he realized Akane
hadn't changed. She stared down at herself. "Oh my, my curse seems to
have gone away..."
For a moment, Ranma wondered if it was raining girl-drown water or
something. The approaching figure removed that possibility. It was
Ukyou, who was quite clearly male. Ranma smiled for a moment. At least
something is like I remember it...She looks about like she did when that
happened to her...
*************************************************************************
It had been last fall. Ranma's birthday to be precise. The usual
brawl was in progress in the dojo. Nabiki and Kasumi were watching
Shampoo, Akane, Ukyou, Ranma, Ryouga, and Mousse throw down for reasons
that were never fully explained. Perhaps one of the participants
understood. Kasumi and Nabiki weren't even sure if it was guys vs.
Girls, fiancees vs fiancees, or what, given that Shampoo was the only
person who hadn't tried to hit Ranma at least once. Currently, Akane was
fighting Mousse, Shampoo was fighting Ukyou, and Ranma and Ryouga were
throwing down as usual. Nabiki popped a fresh tape in the camcorder and
sipped some of the tea Kasumi had made for everyone. As Shampoo
elbow-smashed Ukyou in the chin, Akemi walked in from the courtyard.
"Hi! I finished Ranma's birthday present!"
"I'm sure Ranma will be very appreciative when he's done fighting,"
Kasumi said. "Would you like some tea?"
"Sure!" She sat down. "Hikaru-kun should be here in a little while."
At this point, Akane got tangled up in a web of chains from
Mousse. Ryouga tripped over the chains and crashed into Ryouga, who got
knocked into Ranma. Ranma staggered backwards and knocked Ukyou down
onto Shampoo, who correctly executed a throw and rolled on her back,
tossing Ukyou over her, through the wall and out into the pond in the
courtyard.
Akemi got big eyes. "Uh oh..."
Nabiki turned to Akemi. "What do you mean...uh oh?"
A great scream drew everyone's attention and they all rushed out
into the courtyard, brawl forgotten. Ukyou stood in the Tendo
pond...turned into a guy.
Akemi said, "Aahh! Don't use up the enchantment! I don't know if
it will work more than once!"
Nabiki started to laugh. "Well, you liked to dress as a boy,
Ukyou. I guess your clothing will fit better now."
Ukyou glared at Nabiki. "Let's see if it will work more than
once." She grabbed a handful of water and tossed it at Nabiki, who
realized what was happening too late to dodge. Instant guy. Ukyou
turned and looked at Shampoo with an evil grin. She lowered her hands to
grab the water, but by the time she looked up, Ranma, Ryouga, and Mousse
were closing in on her. She got bowled over as they dived into the
pond. A girl, a pig, and a duck surfaced.
Akemi said, "Drat. The spell wore off. Only works once every
hundred years too..."
Akane yelled from inside the dojo. "Will SOMEONE please get these
CHAINS OFF ME!!!!"
**************************************************************************
Ukyou stared at Akane. "Hey, she didn't change."
Ranma nodded. "I guess it must have worn off."
Akane smiled. "No more being a boy! That makes me very happy."
"Pardon me if I don't celebrate," Ukyou said, sighing. "Oh well,
I was coming to see if you wanted to do something today, Ranchan..."
"Let's go see a movie!" Akane said. "I feel like celebrating."
"All three of us?" Ranma asked.
"Sure! Shampoo and Mousse might want to come too...and Ryouga if
we can find him."
Ukyou and Ranma looked at each other. Something odd was going on.
*************************************************************************
A few days of work and Castle Mist was much more living up to its
name. It wouldn't survive a sustained siege, but any army wanting to
besiege it would have a hard time, given the terrain. Some things had
become clear to Alyssa and Kaneda from their experiments. Kaneda had to
lead the meld. They didn't know why...it just was that way. The amount
of power they could weild was greater than either of them seperately, but
less than the sum of their power added together.
At the end of a long session of work, Kaneda sat down, tired. "I
wish we had more channelers."
"If wishes were fish, the fishermen would be rich," Mai said.
"Now if you could figure out how to cook with the power..."
They both laughed. I can't cook without the power...I'd probably
create a monster if I tried to do it with the power, he thought. "I
don't think I'll be trying that any time soon. I've never been a very
good cook."
"Well, the Lord Dragon does not need to cook," Alyssa said.
Kaneda winced. If I hear the word dragon one more time...
Tyr approached. "Interesting news, my lord Dragon."
Kaneda sighed. "What is it?"
"Rumors that some prophet has seized control of Ghealdan in the name
of the Dragon who proclaimed himself in Tear. He defeated an army sent
against himself by the King. The king is no more..."
Kaneda sighed. As long as he doesn't send an army after ME, he can
do whatever he wants...
***************************************************************************
Ranma sat nervously in the dark of the movie theatre. Ukyou was
latched onto one arm, Akane onto the other. Ukyou was still a guy and
Ranma was still a girl, but Akane didn't seem to care. At least it's
dark so no one can see, he thought.
He sensed a presence behind him, then felt a tap on his head. It
was Shampoo. "Shampoo come to date with Ranma!"
She vaulted over the seats into Ranma's lap. Ranma winced. Well,
here goes this quiet evening. Ukyou said, "SHAMPOO!!!!"
The brawl was soon in progress. It lasted several minutes before
Ranma realized Akane wasn't participating, even after Mousse arrived and
pitched in. In fact, Akane was cowering under the seats, three rows
down. He quietly withdrew from the fight. No one even noticed. "Yo,
Akane, you okay?"
"Save me, Ranma!" She was on the verge of tears. "They're going
to try and hurt me, I can tell!"
Ranma almost fainted. Okay...Something is wrong.
*************************************************************************
Dr. Tofu was closing up shop as Ranma arrived. "Got a minute,
doc?" Ranma asked.
"Sure. What's the problem? More fighting injuries?" Dr. Tofu
continued sweeping up.
"Can you think of anything that would make a woman suddenly get all
ultra-feminine and be afraid of getting beaten up by people she used to
not be afraid of?"
Dr. Tofu stared at Ranma for a moment. "Having more trouble with
Akane?"
"I don't wanna do that to Akane! Someone already has!" Ranma
sounded a little scared himself.
Dr. Tofu blinked. "Hmm. Any other symptoms?"
"Uh...I can't think of anything else weird..."
"Well, why don't you bring her here so I can examine her? Well,
bring her tomorrow. I need to eat dinner and get some rest."
Ranma turned to go, then paused. "Umm...what am I supposed to tell
her to get her to come here?"
"Tell her I said she ought to come in for a checkup." That sounds
lame, Dr. Tofu thought. Can't think of a better excuse. "Hmm. Why
don't I just drop by this evening or some time tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that'd work."
Ranma was sufficiently distracted to forget what that would likely
entail...
**********************************************************************
Weeks had passed. Kaneda and Alyssa were getting fairly good at
linking without too much fumbling around, and together, they had been
able to do a lot of work towards making Castle Mist more liveable,
though Kaneda still longed for the long lost luxury of indoor plumbing.
That, however, simply wasn't available. Not with Kaneda's feeble
understanding of how it worked, anyway. Kaneda slowly turned the crank
to raise the bucket from one of Castle Mist's wells to get some water and
daydreamed of faucets. Nice, white, gleaming faucets. All you had to do
was turn them and water magically appeared. It all seemed like a dream
of a far away place, something out of a faery story, but it was all
real. It has to be real, Kaneda thought. No way I could have imagined
it all...Could I? He shook his head. There were moments when he could
believe that he'd always lived in this world. That he'd grown up in
Tanchico or Tear or Illian. He called the image of his sisters to mind.
Kasumi with her gentle face, sweet voice, and soft hands. Nabiki with
the twinkle of a deal in her eyes, a camera in her hands, persuasive
words upon her lips. Her father, Soun, with his moustache, his robes,
and his tears. Her mother...hardly more than a faint memory even before
her trip here. Only her eyes remain, shining, and her smile.
He brought other images to mind. His friends, Sayuri and Yuka. He
had known them since they all were little. Other friends, relatives,
enemies. Finally, the people who had shattered his life in so many
ways. A man..or a panda? Mr. Saotome, his father's oldest friend. And
then, the one who had truly turned his life upside down. The hair came
first, as he had met her. Red hair drawn back in a pony-tail. A figure
that had made him jealous. Muscular arms and legs, clad in chinese
clothing. Blue-grey eyes. A woman who wore no makeup. That should have
clued me in, he thought, then stifled the thought. I often wear...wore
no makeup either. The image called her to mind as he had last seen her,
at the strange rune-carved stone near Tanchico. Clad in a green silk
dress that clung to her frame, her hair flowing freely, not bound in the
braid as usually, a gold ring on one hand. So beautiful, he thought,
then stifled the thought. Why am I thinking of him this way, he
wondered, then was startled out of his reverie by a voice.
"Who is this, my lord Dragon?" It was Mai.
His eyes snapped open. He realized he was holding the source. He
hastily let go of it and the image dissolved. It had been Ranko...Ranma
as he remember her at their last parting. "My f...My fiancee.
She...went to the tower for training." How could I explain this...
She nodded. "Well, perhaps when the tower eventually comes to
serve you, you'll see her again, my Lord Dragon. They probably won't let
her out of the building for years unless you come to her. Has to
memorize all the rules and cook and clean for the older sisters no
doubt. The usual round of apprentice stuff."
Kaneda started to laugh. "I think she'd die if they tried to make
her do that."
"She...she's very beautiful, my Lord Dragon."
Kaneda finally got his water from the well. "A lot of people
thought that."
"But she preferred you?"
"Our parents arranged it all. We didn't have much choice."
"So she was beautiful, but cruel?"
Kaneda sat down and drank his water. "That about sums it up."
"But you wish she was here anyway."
Kaneda spoke very quietly. "Yes."
**********************************************************************
Dinner was quiet, which was unusual. Nabiki, Soun, and Genma all
looked rather tired despite sleeping until noon. Kasumi and Akane seemed
quite perky on the other hand, and were discussing sewing techniques.
Ranma simply ate in silence, trying to figure out if Akane had been
kidnapped and replaced by a poorly done double.
After finishing off his soup, he asked, "What's in this soup,
Kasumi? It's really good."
"I have absolutely no idea, Ranma." Kasumi said.
Ranma blinked. "You what?"
"Akane made it. What's in the soup, Akane?"
Ranma blinked. "Akane made it?"
"While you were out wandering around," Akane said. "Why'd you
need to go out, anyway?"
"I...uh...just needed some fresh air." I am in the wrong
universe. If Rod Serling walks in...I'll scream.
*********************************************************************
Ranma sat on the rooftop, staring out across the city. It was
raining again, so he was a she, as he so often was. She heard movement
behind her and turned to look. It was Ukyou.
"Hiya, Ranchan."
"Hiya, Ucchan." Ranma got up and walked over to him. She was still
getting used to the idea of Ukyou being cursed. It was easier to accept
than his own curse, in some ways. He'd thought of Ukyou as a guy for so
long, it was easy to see him that way. Maybe too easy. She stuck out
her tongue. "You look good in a wet t-shirt." What frightened her a
little was that she meant that. Ukyou did look good with the boy's
uniform, fitting for once, plastered against her by the rain.
"Not as good as you." Ukyou leered for a second, then stuck out
his tongue out at Ranma for a few seconds, then moved a little closer.
Ranma had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going. She ought to
back off, but she didn't want to. Not with her emotions. Or maybe her
body. Or both, or some combination. She wanted to kiss him. To forget
all her problems and just be caught up in strong arms that could take
her away from all the worries of her life. She hadn't used to have this
problem. Other guys had never been this attractive to her. She would
have blamed it on today's frazzlement, but it had happened before. She
studied Ukyou's face. He was nervous too. They'd both decided they
wouldn't kiss again, not like this. No matter how much they liked it.
They hadn't spoken for almost a week after the first time. It had been
too terrifying. It reminded Ranma too much of when Mikado had kissed
her, except this time...she had wanted it. She'd kissed Akane when
Akane was a guy too...She had been starting to wonder if she'd gone
totally perverted. Of course, Akane had been hit in the head and
thought she was "Ranko's fiancee, Kaneda" at the time.
That had been a mess. They'd come pretty close to actually having
sex, except that Ranma had managed to get ahold of her sanity and
"Kaneda" had snapped out of it. Ranma breathed deeply and stepped back.
I can't afford another incident like that. Not with Ucchan. What if we
didn't stop...what if I got pregnant? I can't do that to Akane...or
Ucchan. She started the calming, focusing exercise she had learned in
the Tower. I am the flower in the river. It came naturally to her now.
The sea of surging emotions and need calmed. Yet, something was wrong.
With a moment's thought, she realized what it was. The source was
gone. She hadn't even thought about it until now. Am I doing this
wrong? Did I get stilled somehow when we returned here? Is the source
simply not reachable from here? For a moment, she felt panic run through
her. The sisters won't be pleased. Aes Sedai who burn out are...She
chased the thought from her head. I'll never see the tower again.
Ukyou looked at her through the rain. "Are you okay, Ranchan?
You're so quiet..."
The realization then struck her. I'll never channel again,
either. EVER. Doesn't that kill people who lose the ability? They just
wither away. For a moment, tears threatened to come. She focused again
and stopped them. The power is gone. Forever. I have to deal with that.
"Ranchan...what's wrong, Ranchan?" Ukyou's voice held a note of
apprehension now. "Are you okay, Ranchan?"
"I'm fine," she lied.
Ukyou wasn't dumb enough to fall for that old line...
*********************************************************************
They sat in Ranma's room now, listening to the rain. Mr. Saotome
was off being a panda somewhere, probably. Normally, he would have been
here asleep. Maybe Azusa caught him again, Ranma thought.
Ranma leaned up against the wall. Ukyou had one of his arms around
her shoulders. I ought to tell him not to do that...but I want him
to...I mean, part of me...aargh, I'm not gonna bother arguing with
myself, she thought. I do like her, but she's gonna have the wrong
idea...I can't marry two different women. Ranma tried to tamp down his
thoughts and pull herself together. "Akane's acting really nuts. She's
never this nice all the time...and when she hid at the movie theatre...I
mean, she just never acts like that."
"Well, I've felt a little bit odd myself today, but not that
odd...Maybe she just got shook up from that dimensional thingie...I had
weird dreams about running a bar in Boston last night after we got back,
and I felt ever so slightly out of place all day."
"Me too. I hope we made it back to the right universe."
"Does Mr. Tendo still cry a lot?"
"I haven't seen him cry yet today."
"Maybe we are in the wrong universe...go get that thing."
Ranma pulled it out of her pocket. It was a long rod with a button
on the top and a series of rings around it with various symbols lined up
on it. She had only the vaguest comprehension of how it worked, and as
usually happens with such artifacts, the store from which she had bought
it had been gone the next time he tried to go back to it.
She knew a few settings. Currently, it was set to take you to
Earth, but she also knew the settings for the other worlds she had
visited, trying to dispose of those evil rings that had caused so much
trouble. "I'm pretty sure this is how it was set when I bought it. I've
got the manual in the closet, but it's rather hard to understand."
A large part of this had to do with the fact that the manual was
originally written in the B'thr..;D'clack language, a language which
is ideal for manual design, but almost impossible to translate. This
has to do with the fact that most languages cannot convey such nuances
as the fifty nine words in B'thr..;D'clack that translate in English
as "left", or the 345 words that translate roughly as "slot B". To
make matters worse, the manual had been translated first into Ute
Indian, then into English from that, then into Serbo-croatian from
that, then into Japanese. With parallel columns of text in 15th
dynasty Egyptian Hieroglyphics, "for your convenience", which, by the
way, can be expressed using 56 different words and phrases in
B'thr..;D'clack. Some of these phrases also translate roughly as "up
yours", depending on inflection and whether your skin is currently
off-mauve or not.
"Okay. This symbol stands for Earth like planets. This one
signifies planes where Japanese is spoken. This one signifies
democracies...or maybe used car salesmen. This one means...umm...can't
find this symbol."
"Well, maybe it's set wrong," Ukyou said, trying to read the
manual. "This ibis looking thing next to it is making me nervous. It
looks evil."
"It's just a silly looking bird!" Ranma said, trying to pretend it
didn't make him nervous either. Paging through the manual, he finally
reached the section he was looking for. "Here's where it has some of the
most popular worlds to visit. Ours is here, listed as "Y'sldkf--*&, pto
World"."
"How can you be sure it's our world?" Ukyou asked, trying to read
the description of it.
"Cause there's a picture of the Dojo right there." Ranma pointed.
Ukyou felt a slight chill on his spine. "Couldn't we be in a world
almost exactly like the right one? I mean, how accurate is this device..."
"I dunno. I guess we ought to see if we can find anything else
wrong with it...There's a help line number, but it doesn't work. I keep
getting a Domino's pizza in New York City when I call it."
Ukyou laughed faintly. "Maybe they went out of business."
"Maybe Ryouga's family runs it and the business just got lost with
them."
They both laughed.
*************************************************************************
Kaneda sat in the big chair (he refused to think of it as a throne)
and listened to yet another stupid argument. How'd I ever let Alyssa
convince me to try to arbitrate this, he wondered. Joan and Sera had
both come from the same village as Tyr, and both of them had been after
him romantically for quite a while now. Either he was really dim, or
just not interested, because their best efforts hadn't gotten much more
out of him than an occasional compliment. As often happens in such
things, they hated each other. Currently, Joan had blue hair because
Sera had mixed crushed berries into her hair dye that she insisted on
using for no apparent reason that Kaneda could determine. Since the dye
was made out of various berries and herbs and whatnot, he couldn't see
anyone WANTING to put it in their hair in the first place.
"So after your hair turned blue, you then snuck into her hut and
cut off all her hair, is that right?" he asked.
"While I was asleep!" Sera wailed, her once long golden locks now
cut to just above her shoulder.
"Umm...well, I suppose you could say that," Joan waffled.
Kaneda sighed. Everyone is starting to go nuts being cooped up in
this place. I've got to come up with some way to relieve tension. Maybe
we should have a festival. He grinned faintly. I can provide the
fireworks myself.
"Sera, your punishment is to have your hair dyed blue, since you
seem to like that color so much. Joan, I'm going to cut your hair
myself, since you seem to like people to wear short hair." They both
wailed and gnashed their teeth in the extravagant style of Taraboners
bewailing their fate. Alyssa, standing nearby, smiled faintly, and
several of the other men and women waiting for disputes to be resolved
laughed loudly. "I hope you all will find this so amusing when it is
your turn," Kaneda said, smiling a little himself, until he spied the
chicken that Alvi was holding. Not the chicken AGAIN....
*************************************************************************
Ranma woke up with the vague feeling he was being crushed. Oh
great, Shampoo's snuck into my bed again...Either that or Dad rolled over
during the night. He opened his eyes and was stunned to see Akane was
lying on top of him in her yellow pajamas. Frozen by shock, he simply
stared at her for a few minutes, wondering if he'd accidentally set off
the Dimension hopper while asleep.
Finally, Akane began to rouse. She yawned, then smiled at Ranma.
"I got lonely last night, so I came to sleep with you, Ranma-kun. You
don't mind, do you?"
Ranma's brain tried to shut down, but he finally mastered his total
panic and shock saying, "Uh..no, of course not, umm..."
She got up over him, leaning on her arms and kissed him, then
blushed and got up. "I'd better get out before anyone notices...Nabiki
and Kasumi might get the wrong idea..."
"Uh...yeah, that's a good idea...You, um...know how they are."
Ranma tried hard to tamp down the vortex of chaotic thoughts in his head.
Akane smiled at Ranma, and tiptoed out of the room, leaving him to
stare mindlessly at the wall.
*************************************************************************
Ranma sat up on the roof again and looked out across the dojo and
the town. Kasumi and Akane were working on the garden inside the dojo
courtyard. Once again, she was dressed in a very feminine manner. Ranma
sighed faintly. I thought I'd like it if she was more like this...but it
just isn't right. She's not supposed to be like Kasumi. Not THIS MUCH
like Kasumi, anyway. Glancing off into the streets, he saw Dr. Tofu
coming. He hopped off the roof and ran to meet him.
"Thanks for coming by. Akane's around back."
Dr. Tofu nodded. "Has the behavior continued?"
"Yeah. Lots. She...She kissed me this morning."
Dr. Tofu tried not to laugh. Only Ranma would sound that concerned
over something most people would welcome. "We'll see." A big waste of
my time, but today was pretty boring anyway.
Ranma led Dr. Tofu through the house to the backyard. Dr. Tofu
stood quietly and observed Akane for a few seconds. "Hmm. Nice dress."
Akane turned and smiled. "Hi, Dr. Tofu! Are you here to see Kasumi?"
Kasumi looked up from raking the sand. "Why, Dr. Tofu! So nice to
see you!"
Dr. Tofu's glasses fogged up and Ranma slapped himself on the
forehead. Oy, I'm an idiot, he thought. We all know what happens next...
***************************************************************************
Ranma regained consciousness in the alleyway behind the Tendo dojo,
having gotten wet at some point along the way, and thus now being
female. Akane was standing over him, wringing her hands. "Are you okay,
Ranma?" she asked. "Dr. Tofu got a little...over enthusiastic."
Ranma tried to remember what had happened, but he couldn't.
"Where...is he?"
"He and Kasumi went off to take a walk together before he could
destroy the house as well as the garden," she said in a matter of fact
tone that sounded more like her old self than she had sounded in a while.
Maybe she's snapped out of it, Ranma thought. She got up. "Oh
well, I guess it's lunch time by now?" I really need to get a watch.
Akane smiled. "I'll make us some lunch. I don't think Kasumi will
be back in time."
"Are you sure that's safe? I mean..." Ranma winced in
anticipation of the blow to come. Instead, Akane's face crumpled and she
started to cry.
"How can you be so mean?" She ran off crying.
On second thought, something is still wrong...why is she being so,
so...She's supposed to hit me when I say that! Ranma ran after her.
"I wasn't thinking...I...Akane, don't cry...I'll eat your cooking..."
Akane stopped running. "You will?"
"I...I shouldn't have teased you. Just don't cry like that."
Ranma said.
Akane stared at Ranma for a moment. The hurt in her face was
clear. Even at his worst, he'd never made her look so sad. She always
got angry instead. "You always say things like that...why, Ranma, why?"
Ranma didn't know how to answer that. "Uh...I guess I talk without
thinking sometimes. You've hurt MY feelings too, ya know."
Akane blinked as if the possibility of this had never crossed her
mind. "I have?"
Ranma face-faulted. "What, you think I LIKE being called a
pervert? That I WANT to have this curse? That I..."
"That really hurts you?" Akane asked. The pain was gone,
apparently replaced by curiousity.
Maybe she's just gone stark raving mad, she thought. How could
anyone constantly taunt someone and not realize they were hurting their
feelings? Ranma carefully failed to draw the appropriate conclusion for
himself. "OF COURSE IT HURTS MY FEELINGS! Isn't that the whole idea
behind you SAYING anything like that?"
Akane wilted under the impact of her yelling. "I...I just...I mean
when you call me names...I could never tell that you were really bothered
by what I said...It really hurt you?"
With a supreme act of will, Ranma pulled herself together.
"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Let's just go get some lunch. I'm
really hungry."
She started to move forward, and was suprised when Akane took her
by the hand. "Maybe we can try to stop fighting so much. I mean, I
really do ...care about you. You care about me, don't you, Ranma?"
Ranma froze up for a moment. "Yeah, I do care about you." Her
stomach grumbled. Akane giggled.
"I can see what else you care about. C'mon, I'll make you some
lunch."
Ranma went off to face her doom like a man.
*************************************************************************
The stars shone clearly over Castle Mist one night. Kaneda sat on
the roof of his "palace" (A house with more than one room), looking up at
the stars. The constellations were strange to him, although he did
manage to find one set of stars that formed the kanji for cat. I could
use a pet, he thought. Although feeding it might be hard. He looked out
across his domain. There were flowers everywhere. It had been easy to
make them grow with the power once he had figured out the trick from
Alyssa's effort to explain how women did it. It gave the place a more
pleasant air, and was the only kind of decoration for the upcoming
festival they could afford.
He'd been able to make food grow too, with some effort, and so
they would have vegetables and fruit, if not much meat for the festival
and for the winter. Other than settling disputes and training his
students, he didn't have much to do besides figuring out new uses for the
power.
One of them he had learned by accident...the making of images. He
concentrated and drew on the power now, and drew lines in the sky,
connecting stars together, trying to make things he knew of. With
substantial effort, he made a big leering line drawing of Happousai by
connecting stars, then laughed faintly. "At least the real one isn't
here..."
He heard movement below him and a voice. "You up there, Kaneda?"
It was Alyssa.
He moved to the edge of the roof and looked down. "Shouldn't you
be asleep right now?"
She looked up at him and wondered how he had gotten onto the roof
without a ladder. "Shouldn't you?"
He laughed and leaped down, picked her up, then leaped back up onto
the roof, setting her down. "How do you like my art?"
"What sort of thing is that?" She pointed at Happousai's image.
"Some sort of legendary monster?"
Kaneda laughed. "Well, you're half right. He trained my father.
He's a martial arts master named Happousai."
She looked at Kaneda. He rarely laughed. Perhaps this was a good
time to find out some things she had been wondering. "So is he legendary
or a monster?"
"Some of both, I guess. He drank like a fleet of sailors and liked
to fondle women's underwear. So my father and his best friend got him
drunk and trapped him in a cave. He later escaped and came back to
torment us." Kaneda laughed. "He'd steal our underwear, then pretend he
didn't know who did it. One time, the local town elders came to my
father and asked him to help track down this horrible panty theif who was
rampaging through the town...You can imagine how well that worked with
the panty thief LIVING in our house."
Alyssa laughed. "You had a much rougher childhood than me, I'd guess."
"It wasn't always bad." Kaneda forced himself to stop staring into
space and to actually LOOK at Alyssa while he was talking to her. She
had long blonde hair, running down to the bottom of her shoulder blades.
She was dressed in her usual red and black dress, although she wasn't
wearing the hood and cape that she often did. She shivered a little in
the cold air. Her eyes were blue and she was quite beautiful, he
suddenly realized. He'd never quite looked at her before, though he
wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she always seemed nervous, as if
she expected someone to jump on her. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure if her
childhood had REALLY been any more peaceful than hers. Well, more
peaceful than MOST of her childhood. "I had a lot of good times with my
sisters."
"You were the only boy?" Alyssa shivered again. Kaneda took off
the jacket he was wearing.
"Here, put this on. I didn't have any brothers," Kaneda evaded.
Alyssa took the jacket.
"Are you sure you won't be cold?"
"I'll be fine." It's not that cold, but I guess some people get
cold easily. "Dad had a hard time raising us all by himself. My mom
died when I was young." He sighed. "Dad trained me to be the fighter of
the family."
"Well, you were his only son," Alyssa said, then wondered why
Kaneda frowned. Did I say something wrong?, she thought.
Kaneda saw Alyssa look faintly worried, and wondered why. I
haven't said something bad, have I? "So what was life in the tower
like? I've heard all sorts of rumors, but...For that matter, do you
think they're likely to send the Reds after...us?"
Alyssa shuddered. "It was awful. They treat the novices
horribly. We were practically slaves. I put up with it for years,
because I didn't know what else I could do...once you get in, you can't
get out. I didn't want to be there. I just wanted to go home. So I
deliberately failed the Accepted test so they'd get rid of me." Well,
okay, the last time, I did...I really did try the first two times. It
was just too scary. I didn't want to risk vanishing just so they could
abuse me some more after I passed the test. Or have to push other people
around.
"It's that bad? I knew someone else who went there...She didn't
seem to think it was that bad. Then again, we didn't have much time to
talk the last time I saw her." She looks like she's about to cry, Kaneda
thought. Great...how do I stop her from crying?
Alyssa tried to pull herself together. I have to be strong, she
thought. I can't let myself fall apart all the time. She hugged herself
in the darkness. "It was awful. I think I've learned more...from being
here with you, and on my own than I ever learned in the Tower."
Kaneda moved a little closer to her, wondering what he could do for
her that wouldn't be taken the wrong way. She needs a hug, but she might
think that I...If I was a girl, this would be a lot easier. "You've
helped me learn a lot about the power. I wouldn't know half as much as I
do without you."
Her face brightened and the shivering stopped. "Really?"
"Really."
"Will you...dance with me at the festival tomorrow?" Please say
yes, she thought.
"Sure! I haven't gotten to dance in a long time," she thought.
"I don't know much about how people dance around here..."
Alyssa smiled and Kaneda smiled in response. "I'll be happy to
teach you that too."
They talked on, into the night.
*************************************************************************
The Autumn festival began with a lot of singing. Kaneda mostly
just listened, since he didn't know any of the songs, which made him feel
a little wierd, since everyone else either knew them by heart or faked it
well. Still, he clapped his hands and joined a few choruses. Everyone
was dressed up, which meant they'd washed their clothing and put some of
the copious flowers to work in decorating themselves. Many of the women
had made wreaths for their hair, in fact. Many of the men had either
shaved or trimmed their beards and moustaches. Only two of the
inhabitants knew anything about music, so they were trying to sing to the
accompaniment of drums and flute. Lori was an accomplished flautist,
while Alain was simply enthusiastic. He had made the drums himself,
while Lori had already had a flute.
Right now, they were playing a song called "Wind on the Mountains",
and Alyssa was trying to teach Kaneda a dance called Windy Five-step.
Unfortunatly, Kaneda kept turning it into either a four step or a six
step. "I'm really sorry. I'm not good at this." Alyssa, on the other
hand, was good.
"You'll learn. No one starts as a good dancer." She smiled and
whirled in close to him, drawing his arms around her, then whirled back
out and they promenaded round the large circle of dancing couples. He's
so nervous, she thought. I've got to find some way to reassure him he's
doing okay.
Kaneda found himself on the recieving end of several knowing winks
as he danced with Alyssa, though he wasn't sure why. Also, he was too
busy enjoying himself to really think about it. Pretty soon, he started
to get the hang of the dances, although he still wasn't ready for a
dancing duel with the local equivalent of Fred Astaire.
The evening blurred on in a swirl of dances, song, eating, and
fun. Kaneda danced with more women than he even remembered being present
at the castle, even a little ten year old girl who was its youngest
resident. Still, somehow, by the end of the evening, he found himself
dancing with Alyssa on an almost empty 'dancefloor'. A few other couples
still danced, but most of the inhabitants of the Castle had slinked off
to bed. The two tired musicians said, "Last dance. We can't take much
more of this."
The final dance was a slow dance, which was good, since none of the
people except Kaneda had much energy left. Luckily, he had already
learned the dance, so he was able to prop Alyssa up as they circled the
'dance floor' in a series of spirals. He could smell the faint scent of
her carefully rationed perfume, a scent that reminded him of the smell of
cherry blossoms in the spring. For a moment, he was no longer in Castle
Mist, but in a park near his old home, with his sisters, watching cherry
blossoms blow in the breeze. Life was a joyous thing then. He smiled
and returned to the present. Alyssa sleepily smiled up at him. The
music stopped, but they still held each other.
Suddenly, he was very aware of her presence and just how pretty
she really was. He could feel her body pressed to his, and felt the
strange sensations that he suspected meant his body was becoming all too
aware of this. She smiled up at him and he found himself transfixed by
her gaze. A moment of decision was upon him, and he had no idea what he
was going to do. As if on autopilot, his head was slowly tilting towards
hers. He saw her eyes close and his eyes closed too.
Oh god, I'm going to kiss her, he realized. What am I DOING? He
tried to stop himself, then realized he wasn't sure if he wanted to
stop. I've been so lonely...
As so often happened in his life, the choice was taken away from
him. A voice spoke nearby, "Will we be having practice
tomorrow?...Ohh...you're busy."
The moment was gone. Kaneda stepped away from Alyssa, blushing as
he did so. "Yes, we will, although I think I'm also going to sleep in."
He wasn't sure if he should be angry at Alain or grateful.
Alyssa, on the other hand, knew exactly how she felt...
***************************************************************************
Ranma-chan stared at her meal as if it had grown fangs. Some days,
it actually wouldn't have surprised her if Akane's cooking DID grow
fangs. However...
Akane frowned. "It's not any good, is it..."
"Actually, this is really great!" Ranma-chan munched on the dumpling
again. Yep, it actually was not only edible, but good.
Akane's face lit up. "You're not just saying that to make me feel
good, are you?"
"When have I ever said anything to make someone feel good?"
"Good point." Akane hugged Ranma-chan then danced about happily,
singing some song about cooking. Ranma-chan returned to eating, mostly
oblivious to her own current display of good manners. Akane smiled.
Everything's been going so well for me the last few days...and they seem
to have taught Ranma some manners in that other dimension. Oh, we're
going to be so happy together! She drifted off into happy daydreams
about being a happy homemaker.
*************************************************************************
Akane sat on the porch and smiled at the setting sun. She had been
so...relaxed the last few days. It was like something had vanished from
her...something that had been driving her on. All her anger was gone,
she realized. The rage that had driven her through life for so many
years. She could remember what it was like, but it was...somehow alien.
This must be what Kasumi feels like all the time. Maybe it's
because Ranma's been so much nicer the last few days. I guess I've been
nicer to him too. She laid back. Maybe I'll just relax for a while.
She coughed faintly. Oh my, I must be catching a cold...
*************************************************************************
Snow would come soon to Castle Mist. Everyone could tell. The
weather was turning chill and clouds constantly blocked out the sun.
They had weather-proofed their homes as best they could, but everyone
could tell this would be a chill winter. Kaneda sat at a crude table
with some of his, well, he refused to call them councillors, but they
were. Alain, Alyssa, Mai, Vanin, and Doric. An old soldier, a failed
Novice, a prospector's daughter, a down on his luck Amadician nobleman,
and a woodcutter. Kaneda wondered again how he'd gotten himself into all
this.
"Well, our food stores should be adequate," Doric said. Kaneda
had put him in charge of the food stores since he at least knew something
about farming. "All the crops are in. Next year, we could easily grow
two crops with the rate at which you can speed up plant growth."
Alyssa nodded. "I'm going to see if we can figure out how to make
them grow during the winter. Then we won't have any worries at all."
Alain said, "I think we need to send out a scouting expedition to
make sure the Whitecloaks aren't going to try and do anything before the
snows hit. Once it snows, they can't get through, but we're still not
ready to face any armies."
Kaneda nodded. "Right. Alain, take some of the prospectors and
other people who know the mountains and see what's going on, if
anything. Well, that's enough for this meeting. I need some food and
some sleep."
Vanin and Alain got up immediately, bowed, and left. Mai smiled.
"Your dinner is on its way. I'll be right back." She got up and headed
out also. Alyssa, on the other hand, didn't leave.
"You can go eat now, Alyssa," Kaneda said. "I won't die while I'm
waiting for my food." He smiled faintly. "Unlike some people I've known."
"Well, I asked Mai to bring me some food too...if you don't mind,"
she said hesitantly.
Kaneda wasn't sure if he minded or not. I'm ENGAGED!, he thought.
But then how much does that mean anymore? Where have they all gone? Is
everyone dead? Will I be here forever? What if I really am the
Dragon...Maybe I never lived that life...No! I'm Tendo Akane! I'm a
girl, not a boy! A GIRL!
"What was that about girls?" Alyssa asked.
"You're a very pretty girl...Ummm..." How did that come out?
Well, better than making her think I'm already going insane.
Alyssa smiled. "You're very handsome, Kaneda." She blushed
slightly. "Are you really...engaged?"
Kaneda nodded. "Who told you that?"
"I asked Alain. He said you had a beautiful, but cruel fiancee.
What was her name? I might have met her in the tower."
Kaneda hesitated. "Ranko. Tendo Ranko."
"Ohh...she's afraid of cats, right?"
Kaneda nodded hesitantly. "Hai...what happened?"
"Well, this one Red has a lot of cats, and she sent Ranko to feed
them one day..."
Kaneda laughed. "Oh god...she started tearing up the furniture and
thinking she was a cat, right?"
"The browns studied her for months trying to figure out how she did
that...without the power! They never did figure it out. SHE was your
fiancee?"
Kaneda nodded.
"But everytime anyone tried to fix her up with someone, she
insisted she hated boys!"
Kaneda began to laugh and laugh and laugh. Alyssa soon found
herself laughing without quite knowing why.
*************************************************************************
Ranma woke in the middle of the night. The room was very dark on a
moonless night. He started to fumble for the source to make a light,
then realized that first of all, he was male right now, and secondly, the
source would probably never come at his command again.
He had dreamed he was back in the Tower. It was a twisted dream
though...Siuan Sanche was not normally at all like Principal Kunou, at
least from what little he had seen of the Amyrlin Seat. Instinctively,
he checked, and his pigtail was still there. He gave a sigh of relief.
I wonder if Elayne and Nynaeve and Egwene are okay. I'll never see
them again. They'll never find out I'm really a boy. Which is probably
a good thing...I'd have been in a lot of trouble. I guess I'll miss some
of it. He looked at the ring on his finger. He was still wearing the
golden band that marked him as Accepted. He hadn't known what to do with
it...or the dress he had been wearing when he finally got back from that
world. I ought to give the dress to Akane or somebody, but what am I
going to do with this ring?
Staring at it brought no answer.
*************************************************************************
Loud coughing woke most of the Tendo household the next morning.
Ranma rushed into Akane's room, as did Nabiki, Kasumi, and Mr. Tendo.
Akane looked pale and coughed a lot.
Kasumi checked Akane's forehead. "Oh dear. I think Akane is
running a fever. How do you feel, Akane-chan?"
"A little weak, but I'll be okay." She sat up. "I've got to make
breakfast...it's my turn."
"You just stay here, Akane. I'll make breakfast," Kasumi said.
"Once you get cleaned up, I'll take you to the doctor."
"Is that really necessary?" Nabiki asked. "If it's just a fever
and a cough..."
"Better to catch it now before it can get worse," Kasumi said.
"Time for me to get to work." She did.
**************************************************************************
Kick, kick, parry, thrust, punch, kick, parry, dodge. Fighting
practice continued at Castle Mist, as it always did, despite the cold.
Kaneda was pleased at everyone's progress. No one could last against him
more than five minutes yet, but then he had years of training, and they
had only a few months. Being the best fighter around was new to Kaneda,
still. For a long time, he had been king of the hill back home, but then
all that had changed.
Now he was the best once more, and he liked it. He liked it a lot,
really. The only bad part was it was hard to spar with people you could
easily slaughter. He'd clobbered a lot of his followers at first, trying
to get used to how flimsy they were compared to the people he was used
to.
They were tougher now, and he was more careful. He had learned more
self-control in these months. He had to. Not because it would hurt him,
but because it would hurt them. His people. He still didn't want to
think of them that way, but they were his responsibility. He was their
sensei, their leader...their...dragon.
Could I really be the one? This isn't my world...I don't even know
exactly what the Dragon is supposed to DO! Besides save the world. And
die and come back...or something. I wish someone would wander by and
tell me what I need to do...
Kaneda snapped out of it when Mai bonked him in the head. "Hey, you
alive in there?"
"Sorry, I got distracted. Just wishing I knew more about...what I'm
supposed to do. I mean..."
Mai nodded. "I wish I knew more of the prophecies. The only ones I
know for sure is that he will die and live again and that he will pull
the sword that is not a sword, from the Heart of the Stone of Tear."
"Like King Arthur?"
"I don't remember any stories about Arthur Hawkwing doing that..."
Kaneda laughed. "A long story...A different story. So how can
something be a sword, but not a sword?"
"Ummm...Actually, I'm not sure."
Kaneda facefaulted.
**************************************************************************
Practice was wrapping up when Alain and the scouts returned.
"Whitecloaks are coming, my lord Dragon. At least three hundred, maybe
more. To make it worse...We've also spotted some men off to the east.
They fly the flag of the Prophet in Ghealdan. Maybe we'll get lucky and
they'll exterminate each other."
Kaneda swore faintly. "I thought we'd be free of them until
spring." We're not ready to fight an army, dammit. Especially not two
armies. "I need a map. We need to make a plan. Mai, go get everyone
who know this area well. We're going to hit them before they can turn
this into a siege."
Soon Castle Mist was a flurry of activity.
**************************************************************************
Dr. Tofu finished making some notations on the medical records of
one of his clients just as footsteps in the reception area alerted him
that he now had another one arriving in need of help. He turned and saw
Kasumi, the love of his life, escorting in Akane, who was clearly not
looking too good.
Professional courtesy and mad, raving, deranged love went to war
with each other. Generally, mad, raving, deranged love would have gotten
its usual victory, but luckily for Akane, Kasumi said, "Can you take a
look at Akane, Dr. Tofu? I have to go run some errands. I'll be back
for her soon!"
She swept out and probably saved Akane's life in the process. Dr.
Tofu snapped back to reality, and went to work examining Akane's condition.
**************************************************************************
Kaneda and his raiding band stood up on a ledge, watching the
whitecloaks pass beneath them. There were about a hundred whitecloaks.
He turned to Alain. "I thought you said there were three hundred of them."
"This could bode ill. Some of them seem ...no, most of them seem to
be missing."
"Well, we deal with what we have. Everyone ready?"
The plan was simple. Collapse a large chunk of the mountain on
them, then move down the slope and take out as many horses as possible,
then withdraw using the paths the mountain men knew. The pack horses
were the especial goal. Take out their supplies and the white cloaks
would have to go home.
He grasped the source. It howled and bucked, but he easily fought
it down. "Now." With the power, dumping a large chunk of mountain on
them was easy. The battle was joined.
*************************************************************************
Ranma and Ukyou were busily puzzling over the D-hopper manual when
Dr. Tofu entered the room. They blinked. "What brings you here, Dr.
Tofu?" Ranma asked. "Kasumi and Akane haven't come back yet."
"Akane is lying down in her room. I have some serious news for you."
Ranma blinked. "Is she going to have to go to the hospital?"
"Worse. This isn't something a hospital can treat."
Ukyou said, "Is it magic?"
"Some of Akane's life force is being drained away. I'm hardly a
specialist in this sort of thing, but I think she was split in half when
you returned from that other dimension. Her 'male self' so to speak was
left behind. The two halves need to be reunited in order for her to
recover her health. In her current state, she's far too vulnerable to
infections."
"But why didn't this happen to me?" Ranma asked. "I mean, I've
been cursed longer than she has..."
"That could be it. I wish I knew more about this, but it's just my
best guess. Part of her is missing in a metaphysical sense, and this
seems the most likely cause. It is at least worth exploring.
Unfortunately, most of the people who could tell you more are rather hard
to find these days."
"So what can we do about it?" Ranma asked. This did make sense.
No wonder Akane was acting so girly...
Dr. Tofu held up a book. "This book details a ritual for
travelling between worlds. It splits you in two, then reunites the two
halves upon its performance in the world you travelled to. I believe we
could use it to send you after Akane, Ranma, then you could use it to
reunite yourself and her once you found her."
"Well, if Ranchan is going, I'm going. I'm not gonna let him go
off alone to that godforsaken primitive place!" Ukyou said.
"You don't have to go, Ucchan. This is all my fault, not yours."
"I don't care whose fault it is! I'm going, and that's it!" Ukyou
said. I can't believe I'm going to go help rescue Akane...but I can't
let Ranchan go into danger by himself like this. It could take a long
time to find her.
"I...are you sure?"
"Yes!" And that was that.
*********************************************************************
Kaneda and his men returned to Castle Mist. The whitecloaks were in
a state of chaos now. Their supplies were gone, and many of them were
wounded or killed by the rockfall. Eight of his men were injured, but none
were dead, thank Kami-sama. Well, men and women. About half of his band
had been female. That had thrown the Whitecloaks as much off their guard
as the rockfall. The Whitecloaks hadn't known what hit them.
They returned to Castle Mist. Mai was waiting for him. She didn't
look very happy.
"We won!" Kaneda said. "Where's Alyssa? We need to get these men
healed."
"The Whitecloaks have her." Mai said flatly.
"What? I TOLD HER TO STAY HERE!" A burst of fear and anger rushed
over Kaneda. He barely fought back the urge to grab the source.
"Two of our new recruits were traitors...They managed to knock her
out and ran before we could stop them." She sighed and stared at the
ground. "We should have caught them. This is all my fault. You left me
in charge here..."
"I will find them." Kaneda's voice seethed with barely supressed
rage. "They will regret this. Which way did they go?"
"I'll go with you. There aren't very many ways they could have gone."
"We'll all go with you," Alain said. "You can't fight them all
alone."
"If they've hurt her..." Kaneda trailed off. He'd explode their
heads one by one and smear their blood on the rocks. If they were lucky,
they'd be the ones he killed first so at least they wouldn't have to
watch their friends die.
Alain whispered in Kaneda's ear. "I've been wondering about you
two. I guess I know now."
Kaneda would have blushed, if he wasn't already on the verge of
going stark raving berserk. "I'm taking only my best students. We go
in, we get her, we get out. I won't risk everyone on this. We need time
to plan...but I won't leave her in their hands. Not on my life. Tyr,
Mai, Alya, Celice, Alain, get ready. We're leaving in ten minutes. I've
got to get some food first."
It wasn't satisfying, but it took the edge off his hunger. Soon, it
was time to go.
*********************************************************************
Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma stood in the circle together. Dr. Tofu had
set up part of his clinic for the ritual. "Are you sure this will work,
Dr. Tofu?" Akane asked.
"Yes," he lied for her peace of mind. This had better work. He
started reading the long complicated chant and waving his arms, while
doing something that resembled the hokey pokey.
*********************************************************************
The Whitecloak camp was spread out around a stream in a small
valley. It was night and the watchmen were posted. They expected
trouble. Commander Ches laid down and prepared to sleep. He could send
the messenger in the morning to demand that the false dragon surrender or
his woman would be killed. He didn't like using a woman as a hostage,
not even an Aes Sedai witch like the men said she was...but this man was
dangerous. Probably she had done all the channeling that he was supposed
to be responsible for, but he wanted to take no risks. She was bound,
gagged, and blindfolded right here where he could keep an eye on her.
Just as he was drifing off to sleep, the explosions began.
Screams and the smell of smoke woke him back up, and his captive too,
whatever her name was. He sprang to his tent and ran to the tent
flap. Most of the tents were on fire. Men were running everywhere.
He started bellowing orders. Some of the men rallied around him.
There was movement inside the tent.
He spun and saw three women and three men inside the tent. Two
of them were hefting the hostage and untying her. The third, a man
with brown eyes and short black hair, was staring at him intensely.
One of the women spoke, "Alyssa, are you okay? Did they do anything to
you?"
Ches frowned. "Of course I haven't done anything to her. I'm
not some kind of petty street criminal who molests women, even Aes
Sedai witches."
The angry man spoke. "So you're in charge of this mob?"
"We are not a mob. We are the children of the light."
"Bullshit. You serve the shadow if you serve anything besides
your own delusions. Get out of my lands. Go home. Or next time, it
will be your men that are on fire, not your supplies and your tents.
Are you sure he didn't do anything to you, Alyssa?"
Her voice came quietly. "I'm fine, Kaneda."
It was the so called dragon himself. Ches frowned. If I move,
he or his witch might strike me down. But if I let him go, when he's
right here...
"If you had harmed her..." The ground nearby exploded upwards.
"That would have been your body. We're leaving. I suggest you do
likewise."
Ches cursed as Kaneda and his band fled through the chaos of the
night. The Lord Commander will not be happy...but I had no choice. I
could not throw away my men for nothing. All that effort...wasted.
At least I wasn't beaten by those stupid men who follow the Prophet. I
was hoping they'd weaken his forces. I wonder if he defeated them this
handily...
***********************************************************************
Kaneda paused at the edge of the camp. It was a seething chaos,
though many of the Whitecloaks had fled the wreckage. He stared back
into the camp, then started to step back into it. Alyssa said, "You're
going to look for the people who kidnapped me, aren't you."
He blinked. "I...how did you know?"
"Let them go. It's not worth it. Who knows if you'd even find them."
"I can't let them get away with doing something like this!" Someone
had to pay. He hadn't been able to bring himself to just blow away the
Whitecloak commander...seeing her safe had lessened his rage...but he
wanted to unleash it on someone...something. Someone had to pay.
Alyssa reached over and touched his shoulder. "We've got to go
while we still can. I don't want to see you get hurt, Kaneda."
Alain nodded. "All it would take is one surprise attack..."
"We can't afford to risk losing you," Mai said.
Kaneda quivered. They were right. It was too dangerous...A few
months ago, he would have done it anyway. Things were different now. He
had responsibilities. People were counting on him. Revenge could wait.
It had to wait. No matter how much he wanted it. He looked at the
burning camp. Maybe this was revenge enough. He turned. "Let's go."
They did.
**********************************************************************
The smoke cleared and Akane, Ranma, and Ukyou stood in the middle of
the circle, nothing having apparently happened. "It didn't work!"
Ranma said.
Dr. Tofu dumped a bucket over Ranma's head. He got wet, but that
was all. "Yes it did."
"I...So now we wait?" Ukyou asked. It was a relief to be free of
that curse, if only for a little while...But now they had to wait. And
she knew that if there was anything she and Ranma were both bad at, it
was waiting.
"Now we wait. You'll need to stay inside the circle so that we
don't have any trouble with reuniting you."
Akane smiled, then coughed again as she leaned over onto Ranma. "I
can stay by Ranma for a really long time."
Ukyou frowned. This was clearly going to be more fun than the human
mind is designed to stand.
**********************************************************************
Kaneda and his band came over the top of a rise and looked down into
the valley below Castle Mist. A rather large mob was gathered there, in
the process of trying to charge up the rather narrow pathway that lead up
to the small plateau upon which Castle Mist stood. They flew the
flag...of the Dragon.
Mai said, "Dragonsworn."
A second flag flew also. Ghealdan. "The Prophet's men. They must
have learned about me," Kaneda said. "Well, I'll put an end to this
foolishness."
"We're gonna fight all of them?" Tyr asked. He looked rather
nervous at the prospect.
"Fight?" Kaneda smiled. "Who said anything about fighting..."
A few minutes later, they had reached a good point from which the
entire valley was easily visible. He turned to Alyssa, "Amplify my
voice, if you can."
She nodded and wove a flow to make his already loud voice louder.
He tapped the source and wove a giant burst of light. It flashed over
the dragonsworn, who halted and looked up. He spoke, his amplified voice
echoing over the valley. "You want the Dragon? Come and get me, you
idiots! I'm UP HERE!"
The mob milled about uncertainly, straining to see the figures in
the darkness. He wove another flow and made his own spotlight. In
addition, he flung a rather crude image of a dragon into the sky over
himself, just in case they couldn't get the point.
That did it. He could hear incoherent shouting and milling around.
He wasn't sure if they thought maybe he was the Dragon they had sworn to,
or were afraid to really face him. Finally, the Dragonsworn began to
warily move up the hill.
He dropped the weave from the sky, and wove a second weave. A wall
of fire. Just a light show, really, but it looked real. They froze up.
He smiled and extended it all the way around them. Terror took them. He
dropped the image. "LEAVE NOW AND NEVER RETURN! OR THE SECOND TIME, I
WON'T STOP!"
The dragonsworn scattered in all directions. They had become a
paniced mob before the wrath of a power they could only vaguely
comprehend. Within a few minutes, the rout was complete.
**********************************************************************
The moon shone down as they staggered into Castle Mist. Kaneda was
carrying Alyssa now, despite her protests that she was fine and could
walk. Alain and Mai were trying not to laugh. Tyr and Celise didn't
bother not laughing. Alya smiled knowingly and said, "I wouldn't
complain if someone wanted to carry me!"
It took a while to disperse the cheering mob of inhabitants, so
glad to have been saved again. The little band finally scattered to their
homes, leaving Kaneda and Alyssa alone, just outside his door. He
opened the door and carried her in. She smiled faintly. He then
realized what he was doing and blushed. "I forgot to take you home."
She smiled nervously and whispered, "Do I...have to go?"
He froze up and stared into her eyes, his mind exploding into a
chaos of thoughts. Did he want her to stay? Yes, he did...but what
about Ranma? It's not like sh...he's going to show up, but we're still
engaged...if he's alive. I've been so lonely...She's so beautiful.
"I...you want to stay?"
"As long as I can, Kaneda. I...you came for me, Kaneda...I...thank
you." She smiled at him and leaned her face a little closer. "I feel so
safe with you."
"You'll always be safe with me." His face crept closer to hers.
I'm going to kiss her, he thought. He did. All of his locked away
passion exploded and he let his emotions take him. The kiss alone, he
thought would never end.
***************************************************************************
A chill wind blew from the west as Ranko and Ukyou stood near a
carved pillar in the midst of the Tarabon plains. "This is where you
lost her, Ranchan?" Ukyou asked.
"Hai."
"So how do we find her?"
"We go to Tarabon...if she was left behind, I think she'd have
headed back there first. I wonder if my friends are still there."
"Well, it's only been a week. Shouldn't be too hard."
Ranko frowned. "It was spring then. This feels like winter or at
least fall." She shivered slightly. "We're going to need warmer
clothing. Although..." Hesitantly, she opened herself to the source.
The power flowed into her like an old friend. Ukyou watched as a look of
ecstasy crept over Ranko's face. "I may be able to fix that problem..."
She wove a thin flow of fire and air and the area grew noticably warmer.
"If I could only figure out how to make that move with us."
Ukyou blinked. "I...didn't see you do anything."
"The power is invisible. You only see its effects." Ranko
demonstrated by creating a ball of light.
"No hand waving or chanting or anything?"
"Nope. Just draw on the One Power and shape it into flows with
your mind that cause what you want. You could do it blindfolded, but it
would be really hard to get the flows to go right."
"Could I learn to do it?"
"It kills men or drives them mad...it's not safe, except for
women. If you were here as your normal self..."
Ukyou blinked. "It kills them?"
"Yeah. For once I'm glad I can't turn male here like this.
C'mon. Let's get going." They turned and headed for Tarabon. Their
quest was just beginning.
*********************************************************************
A ragged band of survivors staggered out of the mountains and into
Ghealdan. The word soon spread. A False Dragon had proclaimed himself
in the mountains. He had called down fire on the faithful. The Prophet
was not pleased...
***********************************************************************
Finis, Part Two.
Part Three will conclude this little saga :)
John Walter Biles : MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu bailesu@komodo.hacks.arizona.edu
http://www.hacks.arizona.edu/~bailesu/falcon.html
http://www.dhp.com/~wraven/john/index.html
"It's good to kill the King." "I still think the Saxons should have
put a higher price on our heads. I'm more valuable than 25 librum."
--Frequent quotes from our PENDRAGON sessions.
**********************
* The Phoenix Reborn * Jordanite and Mystical
********************** Freak at Large
Louis-Philippe Giroux
Phoenix@upc.qc.ca
(Newly updated)
Phoenix's Den at http://www.upc.qc.ca/~phoenix/phoenix.html
Or http://pages.upc.qc.ca/phoenix/phoenix.html