Greetings,
Why Hurrah? Why not 'last hurrah'? Please.
If you don't know my opinions on the FFML's hiccup then..well...
Er..
Ah!
Then people do not recognise true genius.
That works doesn't it?
It does?
Oh goody.
Inaties aside I was talked into posting 'Come in From the Cold' Part 2.
There's no time to have it pre-read, oh I could but then..lots of people might
miss it. That would be terrible wouldn't it?
SO..with much ado.
Let the trumpts blow!!
Well c'mon blow.
Alright forget it then.
Here's 'Cold 2'
Please ignore any huge glaring errors. They are the fault of the situation.
Really.
I remain, as always,
Mad-Hamlet
Disclaimer: (Buckling under the pressure.) These characters are not my own.
They are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi. I'm merely using them.{Authors
voice takes demonic edge while his eyes begin to glow}.Distorting, twisting,
changing them at my whim.. dance puppets..DANCE!!! (I obey the letter of the
law, not the spirit.)
Drain Bramaged Inc. Presents,
A Mad-Hamlet Production
General Advisory: This fic is...not nice. Dark would be a good term. Yes,
we'll go with Dark. I suppose a heavy lime label could also be slapped on it.
However as I equate 'lime' as somewhat erotic it wouldn't apply here as some
of the goings-on herein are so far from erotic the light from Erotic will
never, ever reach it.
Come in From the Cold
Chapter 2
The two girls sat across from each other. On the left one still dressed in
her mandatory school uniform, on the right the other in light traveling
clothes. The one in the clothes sat with her legs crossed, arms folded over
her chest, her back ramrod straight. The light breeze that blew in from the
yard played with her long, braided hair that swung free. The other girl, with
her short, pageboy haircut, sat equally stiff. Her arms were not folded across
her chest instead embracing a third young woman who slept peacefully. The idle
wind also teased the hair of the young girl just home from school.
The Dreamer in her lap was ignorant of anything.
The traveler.
The schoolgirl.
The breeze.
The mental war raging between the two seated women; she slept the sleep of the
blessed. After having been damned for so long, she deserved it.
Akane's fierce gaze met a wall of indifference from the self proclaimed
ex-Amazon. By will alone she tried to convey nearly two years of hurt, tears,
betrayal and hatred. She wanted to share her loathing for the girl in front of
her, how little she trusted her and how, if the day ever came, she'd dance on
the ex-Amazon's corpse and prepare it for burial with an axe and rusty spade.
It didn't work.
With an exasperated sigh Akane spoke first. "Alright, you said we'd talk.
We've been sitting her for five minutes Xia-." Akane bit her tongue. She
tried again.
"What should I call you?"
The formerly named Xian Pu gave a twitch that could have been interpreted as
a shrug.
"Xiaoyu. It good enough for now."
"Fine, whatever, why did Ranma run away?"
Xiaoyu cocked her head to one side. "You sure you is Akane?" She asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The anger, which had been banished mere
moment before, began to creep back into her Akane's voice.
"What Xiaoyu mean is, she call you pervert, and kitchen destroyer, she even
call you stupid. Never think Akane stupid though. Maybe Xiaoyu should
reconsider?"
The storm broke. Akane wanted to rise to her feet. To smash and destroy, to
let vent her fury upon this hateful bitch before her and annihilate her enemy,
utterly, from the face of creation. She shifted her weight, preparing to
follow through on those desires. It was fortuitous for all involved that just
at that moment Ranma chose to shift a little in her sleep. Her hands
instinctively gripped a loose fold of Akane's skirt as she began to mumble.
"Kane...love....knew you...light, finally...light."
Distracted, Akane gazed down at her charge, her features softened and she
gently brushed an errant lock of crimson hair from in front of the redhead's
face.
"Ranma-no-Baka." She whispered affectionately.
Wherever she was, whatever she was seeing, Ranma must have heard her for,
even still asleep, a smile crossed her face.
Xiaoyu watched this exchange of feelings seemingly unmoved, but inside, deep
inside the Chinese girl, the wall crumbled.
It had not been the anger of Akane, or the waves of numbing guilt that had
assaulted her dreams for over a year. These foes had flung themselves
helplessly against her mental fortress, having all the effect a speck of dust
has upon a storm. Now the feelings she saw before her were different. They
had not attacked her, she, in fact, was simply not a factor. All she had done
was get in their way. Knowing that, knowing that she, Xiaoyu, had stood in the
way of this love, had nearly prevented this glorious joy, knowing this added
to the weight of her existing sins, a thousand by a thousand times.
It broke her.
It shattered her.
It crushed her.
It freed her.
At last she could cry.
Akane glanced up at Xiaoyu. Her posture had not changed; she still sat
perfectly still and tall, but where she had appeared cold and aloof a moment
before, now tears ran silently down her face.
"Xiaoyu ..is..." Xiaoyu choked out then stopped.
She bowed her head for a moment then raising it up again met Akane's gaze.
"I am very sorry for the pain I have brought on you, your family and your
loved ones."
With that said Xiaoyu, bending only at the waist, bowed before Akane.
Akane was a little flustered, first Ranma had returned, scarred terribly, and
with a child of all things. Xian Pu had followed after insisting she be called
Xiaoyu and now she was speaking perfect Japanese and apologizing! Akane was
kind of hoping she'd have been an irritating hussy, then, at least, some
things could have been considered 'normal.'
Focusing on Xiaoyu, still bent over at the waist, Akane returned the bow to a
lesser extent and formally responded.
"I accept your apologies Xiaoyu but again respectfully ask to the events that
lead to Ranma's disappearance and left him in such a state."
Xiaoyu fought back the urge to shudder. The story she had to relate was not
going to be pleasant for anyone, the listener, or the storyteller. Hopefully
she who the story was about would remain asleep and escape having to revisit
the memories. She doubted she'd live to complete the tale but she had to
fulfill the request, as honor demanded.
"It begins with the fact Akane," Xiaoyu continued in flawless Japanese. "That
Ranma did not run away. He was taken. As you as probably guessed we took him,
Ku Lon and myself. You probably though as much hundreds of times since all of
us disappeared twenty months ago. After the disaster at your 'wedding' Ku Lon
lost all patience with guile and subtlety. Xian Pu being such a stupid child
did exactly as she was told without so much as a whisper of protest. She
honestly believed that what she was doing was for the best and even if it
wasn't nothing mattered so long as she got her 'Arien'."
As she spoke her mind wandered back to that day, one now she cursed almost
above all others.
Ranma marched home. It had been a good day, which was a rarity in his life,
though it was happening with a bit more frequency. Even Akane's announcement
that she was cooking dinner hadn't failed to sway his good mood. The two had
been getting along much better the past few weeks, Akane herself seemed a
genuinely happier person.
"Who knows?" Ranma thought to himself. "Maybe it'll finally reflect on her
cooking?"
A cheerful "Nihao Arien" interrupted his musings.
With a mental groan Ranma turned to the ever-bouncy Amazon.
"Hey Shampoo." He mumbled.
"Arien come to Neko-Haten? Have too too delicious Ramen with wife?"
Shampoo had bounced to a stop directly in front of Ranma. Her fists were
bunched under her chin. The happy smile and large, innocent eyes glistening in
the sun made her appear a picture of cuteness; if you went for that sort of
thing.
Ranma began to reply in the negative when his stomach caught up with his
mouth.
"Shampoo's Raman versus Akane's Cooking." He mused. "Well, Akane's cooking
has been getting... more cooperative. But..."
"Well...promise no tricks?" He asked.
With an eager nod Shampoo replied, "Yes, yes, Shampoo promise on honor, no
tricks.
His mind ran with that receiving encouragement from his appetite.
"If I eat Akane's food I'll probably be knocked out, both by the food and
Akane. If I eat some ramen with Shampoo at most I'll be knocked out once and
won't be too hungry afterwards."
"Okay." Ranma said. "Lets go. Just ramen though."
"Shampoo so happy!" She giggled with a bounce. "Come come, follow Shampoo!"
A few minutes later Shampoo entered into the Neko-Haten with Ranma walking
through the door a second later. Shampoo vanished into the kitchen calling
back she was getting the "too too delicious meal for her airen."
Ranma idly noticed Mousse standing behind the counter wiping it down with a
wet rag.
"Heh," Ranma thought. "The two ladies must have been beatin' on him pretty
good for him not to attack me simply for bein' here."
Cologne, hopping on her staff, bounded out of the kitchen a second later to
stop in front of Ranma.
"Welcome son-in-law. Please have a seat." She gestured to one of the nearby
tables.
Ranma eyed the matriarch carefully for a moment but slowly sat down.
As Ranma took a seat Cologne hopped onto the table.
"Well son-in-law it is fortuitous that you came to us today."
"Oh yeah? How's that?" Ranma replied. "And I ain't your son-in-law." He shot
out as an after thought.
Ranma glanced around the room. Save for him and the Amazons it was empty.
A slight buzzing began at the back of his mind.
Cologne dismissed Ranma's protests with a wave of her hand. "Your status is
neither here nor there right now, it would seem that we need your help
son-in-law. We have a problem that only you can aid us in."
"I knew it." Ranma thought. "Just ramen, riiiggghhtt."
Still looking about the room Ranma nonchalantly replied, "An' what's the
problem then?"
"Man," He thought to himself. "This place is kinda creepy bein' all quiet-
Quiet? It's silent in here! Restaurants are never silent, there's always
somethin' cookin' or-"
Ranma's eyes locked on Mousse. The Chinese boy was studiously ignoring him
seemingly involved in his task of cleaning the countertop. The same spot on
the countertop, the same spot he had been cleaning since Ranma had entered.
Then Cologne's words registered.
"Restoring Xian Pu's honor!"
Ranma instinctively pushed at the table trying to flip the chair backwards,
away and beneath the blow he knew was coming. He was a heartbeat too slow.
The top of Ku Lon's staff connected with the side of his head just beneath
his ear catapulting him across the restaurant. Even as he flew, even with the
pain of the attack coursing across his skull and the bright lights dancing
before his vision, Ranma's mind planned.
Tuck.
Roll.
Flip to feet.
Jump out window.
He never got the chance. Mu Tse's chain wrapped around his left foot, then,
pivoting on his heel Mousse sent Ranma into the kitchen wall.
Before he could react to the impact they were on top of him.
Xian Pu attacked from the right, Mu Tse, now wielding a steel-banded cudgel
with from the left.
Ranma saw them. He saw it all. He saw the swirling colors and patterns
decorating Xian Pu's bonbori. He saw the thick bands of metal encircling the
wooden shaft of Mu Tse's cudgel; he even saw the faint shimmer of regret in
Xian Pu's eyes.
Then he saw nothing at all.
Akane's jaw was clenched so tightly her teeth threatened to shatter inside
her skull.
The words had to be forced out.
"You. Swore. On. Your. Honor. and you attacked him?"
Xiaoyu could only nod. Her lips were pressed tightly together forming a fine
line and her eyes, though wet and brimming with tears did not-- were not
allowed to cry.
"That," Xiaoyu said in a clipped voice, tightly holding on to her control.
"Was the least of my many crimes. It only gets worse."
"Continue." Akane said.
Xiaoyu recognizing it as a command, and not a request, complied.
Ranma slowly opened his eyes and instantly wished he hadn't. The light from
the dim, ancient bulb directly over head stabbed painfully into the back of
his mind. It was just one voice in a chorus of agony though, not much to pay
attention too really.
He tried to sit up but found himself restrained. Glancing at his wrists he
saw the metal band securely fastened to the metal plate upon which he was
lying. Tilting his head a little he saw his ankles were similarly shackled. He
gave an experimental tug on the metal cuff binding his left wrist and was only
rewarded with the stinging pain of rough metal cutting into flesh.
He nose wrinkled as a stench attacked it.
"Eyuck." He mumbled. "Smells like rotten fish!"
"It is rotten fish son-in-law." Ku Lon said bouncing out of the shadows.
"Which means, yes, we are on a boat, and yes, it is going to China."
Xian Pu and Mu Tse silently stepped out the shadows behind the Matriarch.
Xian Pu had a bonbori in one hand while Mu Tse was idly fingering a large,
curved, blade. Both said nothing to Ranma, merely content to stare at him and
continue to play with their weapons.
"Now son-in-law, you will swear to me a vow." Ku Lon continued.
"Why would I do somethin' like that ya old maggot?" Ranma snarled back.
He stifled a curse as Ku Lon's staff cracked him on the head adding to the
cacophony already inside.
"While I admit being called a maggot is something new, it is still
disrespectful and you will give me respect son-in-law."
"Earn it!" Ranma snapped.
This earned him another blow to the skull. He didn't know how much more he
could take. Already the light was getting dimmer and he was having a hard time
hearing things clearly.
"This grows tiresome son-in-law." Ku Lon sighed. "Now, about that oath."
"I ain't swearin' nothing."
Ku Lon seemed amused by his defiance; she laughed softly.
"Oh yes you will." Ku Lon pinned him with a ghastly smile.
"Or what you'll send one'o your Amazons to kill my friends?" Ranma was
shouting now. "Big threat, you and I both know that Shampoo is yer' best and
if she's the best you got the folks back home would eat em' for lunch."
Ku Lon chuckled. "You're quite right son-in-law, no I would not send an Xian
Pu or Mu Tse to harm your friends and loved ones." The amused look vanished
from the Matriarchs features like magic and Ranma found himself seeing a Ku
Lon he had never seen before. He looked into the twisted features of a beast.
"I would go myself whelp."
Ku Lon was perched atop her staff and though still short in stature she seemed
to tower over his prone form. An aura of menace seemed to spread across the
room. Xian Pu involuntarily took a step backwards, her eyes wide. Oddly Mu Tse
seemed unaffected, he merely stood behind Ku Lon, still fingering his sword
and occasionally muttering to himself.
"Do you really think that after hearing of your feats on Phoenix Mountain I
would allow one such as you to slip from our fingers?" Ku Lon began. "With the
blood of your family flowing through our tribe the Amazons future is assured!
Even the Chinese government dared not oppose Saffron and if we have the power
that destroyed him... The Amazon nation itself could be resurrected. I could
not allow an opportunity such as that to simply melt away just because you
didn't want to. However I am not foolish enough to think even I can restrain
you through force, so that leaves only oaths and threats."
She paused. "If you do not swear to be Xian Pu's loyal and obedient husband I,
myself, will return to Nerima!"
Ku Lon's voice dropped low, and her scratchy, cawing, tone melted away into an
ominous, soft purr that threaded across the space dividing them promising only
absolute truth.
"I will kill Akane,
I will kill Nabiki,
I will kill Kasumi. I'll butcher both those pathetic excuses for fathers and
allow your mother to feel the Saotome blade from the other end before she
dies! Your friends, your acquaintances too; even your enemies will I slay."
Ku Lon's voice began to grown in pitch and intensity as she went on and on,
spitting out a list of blood oaths and death threats. Higher and higher her
voice rose, breaking away from the quiet, deadly purr, shattering it as her
words began to screech along the listeners' ears.
"Do not think either that because your oath was made under duress it is any
less binding either. Even if you should happen to escape the village you
cannot hope to reach Nerima before I. I know my homeland far better than you
and would reach Japan first. When you finally returned you would be greeted by
a dead world and I..."
Her voice dropped again to that lethal purr. "I would be waiting."
In an instant the sense of danger pervading the room vanished. Ku Lon now
stood on her staff, no longer a monster, just a tiny, harmless old woman.
"But of course," Ku Lon finished in a normal tone of voice, the very picture
of reasonableness. "None of this need to occur. All you have to do is swear."
She said it like she was asking to borrow a cup of sugar.
Ranma snarled. "If you touch them I'll KILL you!"
Ku Lon nodded. "Very well. Xian Pu! Instruct the captain we are returning to
Japan. Son-in-law has made his choice. Far be it from me to break my promised
oath."
"NO!!" Ranma shouted. "I...I..." the words choked in his throat.
"Yes son-in-law? You'll what?" Ku Lon peered down at the bound youth.
He was beaten. He may have been able to break free of these bonds but not
before the old ghoul did something. Poked something, stopped him somehow and
then went to carry through on her threat.
Ranma's head slumped back onto the cold steel.
"I...swear." The whispered response echoed throughout the hull.
"What do you swear son-in-law?" Ku Lon snapped back.
Beaten, broken, crushed.
Not even allowed that respite.
Curiously enough he had no trouble now finding the strength to speak in a
calm, tone of voice.
"I swear I will be Xian Pu's loyal and obedient husband."
One last chance.
"On the condition that you and your people never return to Japan or threaten
my friends and family again."
Ku Lon still looked amused. "Your bargaining posture is highly dubious
son-in-law, and you seem to be awfully carefree with their lives." She seemed
to consider it. "But if it makes you feel any better than it is so agreed."
Ku Lon turned to Xian Pu. "Great-Granddaughter it would seem your arien has
been hurt. Tend to his wounds and give him these herbs for the pain." She
handed Xian Pu a small pouch.
"Come with me Mu Tse. We have a matter to discuss."
Xian Pu knelt down beside Ranma. He turned to look at her, his eyes blazing
with accusation.
"You swore on your honor, no tricks." He said quietly.
Ku Lon paused in the doorway.
Xian Pu stared back defiantly. She could feel her great-grandmother's gaze on
her back. Waiting to hear how she would respond.
"This..." Xian Pu began slowly. "This no trick Arien. This war."
With a pleased chuckle Ku Lon hopped through the portal followed by Mu Tse.
Xian Pu followed them after giving Ranma the herbal remedy and shut the door
to the hold. It slammed shut with an awful, final, sounding crash.
Alone, bound to the cold steel of the floor Ranma's mutter carried across the
now empty prison.
"Fine then. Its war."
"It took two days to reach China." Xiaoyu said. "Whenever Xian Pu went to feed
Ranma he didn't even acknowledge her existence. He'd just lay there with his
eyes closed. Xian Pu told her great-grandmother of course but she merely said
that 'Son-in-law is being stubborn. Do not worry, the Saotome appetite will
not be denied.' And it seemed that she was right. A few hours before they made
shore he asked Xian Pu for something to eat."
"And then?" Akane demanded.
"And then we returned to the village and Xian Pu escorted Ranma straight into
hell."
-- HTML Attachment decoded to text by Listar --
Picture yourself near a stream. Birds are softly chirping in the crisp,
cool,mountain air. No one knows your secret place. You are in total
seclusionfrom that hectic place called "the world." The soothing sound of a
gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity. The water is
clear. You can easily make out the face of the person you're holding under
the water...
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