We now return to your regularly-scheduled program....
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The Wheel of Fire, #29: Crystal Spider
Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko
Takahashi. And all that other good stuff. Proper
licenses belong to respective properties and
characters. The manga has precedence over material in
the anime.
This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit given.
No part may be reproduced for monetary gain without
permission from the author.
Fanart can be found at:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/fanart/index.html
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"... You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are
doomed if you don't try." -- Beverly Sills
"Their time has come."
"Yes, I know."
"This is the part where everything is crucial,"
continued the first voice, a dignified, but deep tone.
"And I believe it's time that I did something about
it, don't you think?"
The second shadow said nothing.
"You're right, you know," said the first. "When it
comes down to it, I guess everyone's lives are
interconnected and related to one another. It's about
time I did my part... again."
Day 1
"Akane, where's Ranma?"
"Akane, where's that ungrateful son of mine?"
"Akane dear, where did Ranma run off to?"
"Akane, do you know where your HUSBAND went?"
"Oh, should I set one less plate for dinner?"
The pestering words of her family clouded Akane's
mind even when she was lying in bed the same night
Ranma suddenly left for China. Ranma was, after all,
the life of the town, the heart and soul of everything
that went wrong, and sometimes right, for people, the
guy everybody loved or hated. As such, Ranma Saotome
was definitely someone people missed, and yet only
within a few hours of his departure to Shanghai.
Miranda Kusao, one such... rival of Ranma's, won two
free tickets to China, and in exchange for the tickets
she was promised a wish from the Wishbringer, once
Akane retrieved it from the Kuno estate. The original
plan had Miranda going to China with Ranma, as the
crimson-eyed martial artist refused to yield-- until
her sensei showed up and tried to kidnap Hokuto.
Although Miranda had no idea what her sensei wanted
with Hokuto Akane and Ranma knew the truth.
With plans changed Hokuto went to China with Ranma.
The Shadow Weaver believed she could control Fate, as
Ranma believed, and that was likely what Miranda's
sensei was after, for whatever evil purpose he had in
mind. Ranma admitted that he was no match for the
clawed warrior, but a stroke of luck brought their
one-sided conflict to an end quick.
Not to mention set the wheels in motion for what was
a long time coming.
Mentally, she ran the checklist of things to do in
her head: One, get the Wishbringer from the Kuno
estate. Two, find Miranda. Three, get the letter in
the mail. Four, avoid Dr. Taydome's three battle
machines. Five, make sure that Sensei doesn't follow.
Six, put the sword back where it belongs.
There, that sounds easy enough, she tried to comfort
herself. No problems.
And yet, she couldn't help but wonder....
For a moment, Ranma wished he had Kuno's money.
He waited impatiently as Hokuto haggled with the
merchant, trying to get the best deal for two packs of
supplies that would last them the journey to Jusenkyo,
a place that just happened to be out of the population
zone, away from public transportation. Well, not that
Hokuto had enough money after the airport to hire a
taxi to take them across China. They didn't even have
enough to buy a decent bicycle for two.
That left only hiking, and hiking would take quite a
few days. Ranma wished Hokuto didn't pay the bribe to
the airport officials, but there was some sense in not
getting the local authorities angry.
Miranda, who had won the tickets in the first place,
also provided a stay that night in a five-star hotel,
which was part of the package of her victory prize.
Although most of it would go to waste, as he and Hokuto
only planned to stay for one night, it would serve as a
good start for a long journey.
He estimated two weeks at most, but half a week if
they made it quick. It actually took a week for Ranma
and Genma to make it across China, but that was due to
external factors getting in the way, such as a certain
Chinese Amazon chasing them all over the place, and
dragon whiskers. Of course, since Hokuto looked as if
she never did heavy travel before, half a week was
probably being too optimistic.
When Hokuto came back with a couple heavy backpacks
full of supplies, he said, "'Bout time."
"There's an art to haggling," she replied, throwing
the packs at the martial artist with surprising
strength. "Besides, I saved us some money for later."
Pulling himself from under the heavy packs, Ranma
shook his head. "Packed a little heavy, huh?"
"It has to last us the entire trip," the apprentice
priestess pointed out. "It'll get lighter as we go on."
"Whatever, let's just get back to the hotel."
Tensing suddenly, Hokuto, in a blurred motion,
threw a dart from beneath her cloak. The small metal
spatula speared into one corner of the shop wall, and
the merchant was already complaining in Chinese.
"What did you do that for?" Ranma asked.
She ran to retrieve the dart. Hokuto returned and
showed him the spatula, and the ink-black creature
impaled by its edge.
The creature resembled a sort of small lizard, save
for a single, large eye, gazing off into nothingness
forevermore.
"It's a watcher," Hokuto explained. "I've never seen
one myself before, but I've heard of them. They're
supposed to be the eyes of black magic masters."
"Black magic?" Ranma echoed. "But we've only just got
here! Who in the world wants to know we're here?"
"If it's truly us they're looking for," Hokuto
pointed out, a slight edge in her voice. The watcher
dissolved off the edge of the spatula, crumbling into
fine black dust. "Only someone strong in black magic
could make one of these."
"And whoever that is," Ranma said, seriously doubting
it was Mousse, the only black sorcerer he knew, "he
probably knows what we did to his lizard-eye."
"Then pray we don't cross paths with him," Hokuto
warned. "We cannot afford to make another enemy, not
one this powerful."
Yep, Ranma thought, half a week definitely WAS too
optimistic.
Miranda Kusao stood at attention, alone in the
cavernous, dark hall, illuminated by but a single
candle held in her sensei's hand-- yet it was not a
candle, really, but a small flame burning on the tip
of his steel index finger.
The many scarred features of Sensei were hidden
beneath many folds and layers of robes, cloaks, and
mantles, leaving only his metallic arms exposed for
all to see. The candle-like flame danced on his index
finger, and he barely seemed to noticed. He focused his
mechanical left eye on his student, forcing Miranda to
squint to see Sensei.
"You disappoint me," he said finally, his mechanical
voice mixing with labored breathing.
Miranda winced, unused to hearing Sensei's voice
that bad before. After all, it was Ranma Saotome that
shattered his breather earlier, but she couldn't help
but feel that it was somehow her fault anyway.
"The Shadow Weaver has vanished," he continued. "And
you have been fraternizing with her allies. What say
you in your defense?"
Rehearsing her explanation hardly helped the martial
artist, as the words slipped from her mind. "I... I was
trying to help...."
"Your 'help' is noted," he snapped.
"But," Miranda continued, "I know what they're going
to do. The girl, Akane, is going to take the
Wishbringer back to its resting place to get more
wishes."
"Wishes mean nothing," Sensei growled. "No wish is
strong enough for what I want."
"Maybe," she conceded, "but we must think of the
short-term gain of this, too. We could fix your
breathing problem easily with a wish. Getting another
air filter isn't easy, you know."
The cloaked master's mechanical eye blinked.
Satisfied she finally got her master's full
attentions, Miranda added, "It's likely the Shadow
Weaver is also traveling with her as well."
"I see," he said evenly.
Miranda crooked a smile, pleased that her master
still refrained from looking into matters himself.
"I'm supposed to be traveling with them," she
continued, "so when the time comes you'll know. It
should be a simple matter to take the Wishbringer from
them, AND get the Shadow Weaver."
Sensei seemed to consider this, waving his lighted
finger back and forth in front of him. He closed his
talons into a fist, squelching the flame with the sound
of metal against metal, plunging the chamber into
darkness.
Only his mechanical red eye illuminated the chamber
now.
"I approve your forethought," he said. "But I will be
watching closely. Take care, for I suspect others
contesting for the sword will interfere as well; I will
do what I can. Don't let the Shadow Weaver out of your
sight; the sword is not important."
Miranda bowed respectfully, silently hoping Sensei
would never find out the truth. Only the Wishbringer
mattered now.
For the first time Ranma realized the room he and
Hokuto shared had but a single bed.
"They said nothin' about this," he complained,
throwing the packs into the corner.
Hokuto shut the door behind them, then glided to the
single window and closed the curtains, plunging the
room into darkness. Ranma flicked on a light switch,
breaking the darkness.
It was then the martial artist realized his heart was
beating-- fast.
The Shadow Weaver turned her head at an angle, eyeing
Ranma carefully. "What's your problem?"
"Oh, n... nothin'," he lied, fighting the urge to
look for a quick exit. "It's just... well, how far up
are we?"
"Twelfth floor," Hokuto reminded him, slowly stepping
closer. "And we'd better get some early shut-eye if we
want to leave at dawn or so."
"Uh... about that," Ranma said, raising a point,
"y... you do notice there's just... one bed, right?"
"Is that a problem?" the cloaked girl replied
innocently, a slight hint of amusement in her voice.
"We used to do this as kids, remember?"
"Not you, you know," he corrected.
"Whatever," she brushed off, a gleam in her eyes.
Just as Ranma was ready to take his chances with the
window, Hokuto turned away suddenly. "What am I
thinking?!" she yelled.
Ranma sighed in relief. "Well...."
She turned to face him. "Sleep on the floor."
"Eh?!"
"I don't like this as much as you do," Hokuto said,
"but if we get in that bed TOGETHER, who knows what'll
happen. BUT, if only ONE of us sleeps there it'll be no
problem."
"I ain't sleepin' on the floor!" protested Ranma.
"Neither am I!" Hokuto folded her arms under her
cloak. "And no way in hell am I going to sleep with a
freak-job girl like you, either; you're still a guy on
the inside."
"I...!" the martial artist caught himself. "HEY!
What do you think I am?!"
"When a man and a woman are alone, far from anyone
that could stop them, and best of all, in a bedroom,"
the Shadow Weaver said, "it's inevitable that something
like this should happen! You should've brought Akane
instead."
"Hah!" scoffed Ranma. "As if I'd get in the same bed
as that macho chick!"
"You shouldn't call her names like that," she
suggested.
"Uncute, unsexy...." he rambled, as if suddenly
liberated.
Hokuto bashed his head in with one of the travel
packs.
"What'd you do that for?!" he complained, rubbing his
head.
"Seemed like a good thing to do at the time."
"So what're you now, Akane AND Ukyo rolled-up into
one?"
She shrugged. "Nix that, sex maniac. You'd love that,
wouldn't you? Dream come true," she added with a snort.
"Who're you calling a 'sex maniac?!'"
"The only man in the room, of course."
"Says you! What do you know about me, anyway?"
Hokuto snorted, assuming airs. "It's going to be a
miracle to see if we can make it through this little
excursion alive, given you. Womanizers... can't be
satisfied even when married."
"Oh, I see!" Ranma shouted in realization. "You're
going to make me sleep on the floor!" He turned and
jumped on the bed, bouncing up and down on the springs
of the mattress. "Well, I ain't buyin' it!"
The Shadow Weaver shook her head. "You're even dumber
than I remember. Fine, I'll sleep on the floor."
Just as Ranma was about to declare victory, Hokuto
threw her cloak over his head, blanketing him into
darkness. "But the shower's mine, heh-heh!"
He threw off the cloak as the door to the bathroom
slammed shut. Shaking his head, he muttered, "This is
going to be a long two weeks...."
Day 2
Class simply dragged on for Akane, as very little in
the way of excitement happened. Other than every
student in the school noting that Ranma was ditching
class, of course, which did little at all for his
teachers, and the principal made another empty threat
to shave the truant kid's head when he came back.
When lunch period started she broke off from her
usual group of friends (who were giving her strange
looks anyway, for what reason Akane did not know), and
looked around the school yard for Kodachi Kuno.
Akane hardly had to look far. Kodachi was seated on
a lawn chair, sitting back with an umbrella shading her
from the light of the noon sun. Off to her right were
her groupies-- a menagerie of girls from all classes
that wanted to get a piece of the good graces; one of
them was holding up the umbrella. Sitting at the end of
the lawn chair, beyond Kodachi's feet, was her 'Right
Hand,' the whiney Chika, reading what appeared to be a
thick technical manual of some sort.
"Don't you think you're overdoing it?" Akane blurted
out.
Kodachi sat up in the lawn chair and looked at the
newcomer, then laughed. "Ah, could it be the love of
Ranma Saotome that speaks thusly to Kodachi Kuno?"
"Yes," Chika said plainly, not bothering to look up
from her book.
"No matter," Kodachi replied. "What business have you
with me?"
"I need the Wishbringer," Akane said, driving
straight to the point.
The eyes and ears of the groupies perked up at the
name of the sword Kuno pulled from a stone.
Kodachi raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"I'm not in the mood for the run-around," Akane
warned, "so what'll it be?"
"Ho-ho!" the other girl laughed. "You simply do not
make demands to your superior. With proper respect I
may find your request feasible."
"Or just ask nicely," Chika offered to Akane. "And
the sword's not her's, either."
"But Brother-dear has departed," Kodachi reminded
her.
"Well, it's still not yours to give out."
"Kuno would let me borrow it," insisted Akane. "I
just need to see it, and I need you to let me get it."
"And just how familiar ARE you to him?" demanded
Kodachi. "Your feeble appeal to his feelings are for
naught!"
"I wasn't appealing to his feelings!" she argued.
"Just let her have the stupid thing," Chika
suggested.
Kodachi eyed Chika, startling her. "And why would
there be interest in a 'useless' weapon such as a
Wishbringer long after its power spent?"
"Well, geez," the media specialist said with a shrug.
"How about sentimental value? Art museums? Esthetics?"
"Yeah, whatever," Akane scoffed. "Last time I was
there the sword asked me to put it back."
"Back where?" Kodachi asked, curiosity perked.
"To where Kuno got it, of course."
"What benefit would that yield onto you?"
"Beats me!"
"Maybe you could make a wish with it," suggested
Chika. "Or the sword's got a big ego."
"A WISH?!" Kodachi exclaimed, the groupings echoing
after her lead. Black rose petals fell from the sky.
She grabbed the umbrella, shielding herself from the
sudden black petal blizzard raining from above. "With
such a wish... ALL MY DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!!"
When the storm dissipated, Kodachi was gone.
From under the large pile of petals Chika shook her
head. "How'm I getting all this out of my clothes in
time for class?"
Akane brushed the rose petals from her head. "Oh
brother," she muttered, guessing what Kodachi was
going to do next.
"You seem lost," someone said.
She turned her attention to the speaker. "Miranda,"
Akane said, eyes on the martial artist.
Miranda leaned against a nearby tree, arms folded,
one rubber boot propped against the trunk, obviously
appearing ready to fight despite the calm demeanor.
"You just couldn't steal it, could you?"
"Where've you been?" Akane demanded, leaving Chika
and the other girls to pull themselves out of the
black petals. "You just up and disappeared!"
"I've had business to deal with," she replied. "Are
you ready to go?"
"Go?!" Akane exclaimed. "I'm in the middle of
school now." She narrowed her eyes. "And aren't you
supposed to be at your school?"
Miranda shrugged. "Throw your weight around, get your
way. Works for Kodachi, and it works for me. Doesn't
matter, really; summer vacation's starting this
weekend anyway."
The martial artist stood up and approached Akane
waving an index finger. "And now she's going to put the
sword back herself. What say you?"
Akane snorted. "So what?"
"All of us have wishes and dreams; that's no secret,"
Miranda explained. "She's got the sword, she knows
where it came from, and has the means to get there. We
don't have the means to get there, unless you want to
walk."
"You have any better ideas?" she asked. The only
thing going right so far was the letter was already on
its way.
Miranda chuckled. "You'll see."
Ranma felt no feelings of guilt about Hokuto sleeping
on the floor the moment he stepped out of the shower.
He was not used to taking quick showers as he did
that morning, but it was a necessity, seeing how the
Shadow Weaver managed to use up all the hot water in
one go of her own. She took her time in the shower,
only starting when Ranma got up, and finishing maybe
twenty minutes later, after he scrounged up some free
breakfast from the hotel staff.
When Hokuto waved and smiled at him with a larger
breakfast than his own, Ranma wanted to throttle her.
She sat on the floor, a bun in hand, chewing away.
"That was quick," she said, swallowing.
"And I've you to thank for it," Ranma muttered.
"So much for an early start, eh?"
For a moment the martial artist wondered if Hokuto
was deliberately trying to keep him off-balance. "We
still got time."
"Well, then," she said, "then you wouldn't mind that
I got us a trip up the river." The Shadow Weaver fanned
a couple boat tickets in her free hand. "This should
take us quite a ways, don't you think?"
"Where'd you get those?" Ranma asked suspiciously.
"The tickets?" Hokuto asked, feigning surprise.
"What else?"
"Got 'em last night," she answered, dropping the
charade. "Won them, actually. A good thing, too,
otherwise I don't think you would've liked sleeping
with them."
"You bet my body for tickets?!" the martial artist
screamed angrily.
"It WORKED!" Hokuto emphasized.
"You ain't bettin' me off to anyone!" Ranma
declared, laying down the law. "Not you, or anyone else
has any claim over me but myself!"
"And then some," the Shadow Weaver muttered under her
breath. "But I understand; I won't do it again."
"Yeah, right," Ranma said, unable to curb his anger.
He walked to where his backpack rest against the wall,
then turned to look at the Shadow Weaver. "C'mon, we'd
better go before you do something else wrong."
As he slung the pack over his shoulder, Hokuto
whispered to herself, "Oh, we'll see about that,
Ranma."
"Damn," cursed Shion as he brushed his brow with the
back of his hand. "Lots of things going on today."
The hacker stared at the monitor of his computer for
several moments, leaning back in his chair, as if
seeing what he was reading from afar would make things
look simpler. Shion was used to doing odd jobs, but the
task that girl laid out for him this time, plus any
other job on the side, gave him little time to goof-off
or have fun. He didn't like what she told him, but she
did have a point-- once he was in the circle, he
couldn't get out of it. Not without being dead, at
least-- and he had only himself to blame for that.
Shion wondered just how Shizuka knew what nobody else
should be able to figure out. IF she figured it out,
that is, but the priestess gave a strong indication in
that direction, one too close for comfort.
He barely noticed the door opening, and spared a
glance to note Chika entering, her school uniform
stained here and there, with a few black petals stuck
in every other place.
"Where'd you go?" he asked.
"Did you know the Wishbringer was here, in town?"
Chika asked, driving straight to the point.
Shion nodded. "Last I heard the wishes are spent."
"Well, looks like people want to put it back to get
more wishes," she continued. "They think they can get
more... what morons."
For a moment the hacker scratched his chin. "Who'd
you say was going?"
"That girl, Akane," Chika replied, brushing off a
petal stuck to her sleeve. "Kodachi, too. Oh, and the
red-eyed girl, too."
Shion raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Really."
Smirking to himself, he turned his attentions back to
his computer. "Then I guess it's about time to get some
work done, eh?"
"What work?"
"Nothing!" he shouted. "I've got stuff to take care
of now."
Chika rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're going to
try for the stupid sword, too?"
"What makes you think I'm so petty? I already MAKE
wishes come true!"
The girl nodded, a new idea dawning. "Oh, I see...."
"That's right," Shion replied quickly, "now leave!
Unless you really WANT to stay in this profession?"
Throwing up her arms, Chika turned to leave.
Adjusting his glasses, cracking his knuckles, Shion
started typing away.
Looks like things are going to heat up, he thought,
and quite literally, at that.
"There's a little trick to this," Miranda explained
to Akane as the two stood at the bus stop. "You see, if
you want to get to the middle of nowhere and you don't
have a car, plus the fact that the trains don't go
there at all... you take the bus."
The two girls stood alone with their luggage at the
bus station. The backpacks were filled to the brim
with travel supplies that Miranda prepared the night
before in anticipation of this move, to Akane's
surprise. The moment Akane announced to her family
that she was leaving on a training trip (which wasn't
far from the truth), the crimson-eyed martial artist
got her out of the house, it seemed.
The less people knew about the Wishbringer and its
possible reusability, the better.
Akane shook her head, groaning inwardly. "Aren't we
being a little preemptive about this?" she asked. "I
mean, Kodachi couldn't have left already."
The crimson-eyed martial artist shrugged, seeming
unconcerned. "Just so long as we're there when she gets
there, you know."
"Don't you ever do anything the simple way?"
"The simple way is often easier," she conceded, "but
that's where you're likely to make mistakes."
Miranda sat down on the heavy backpack standing on
the sidewalk next to Akane's pack, propping her right
leg over her left. She gathered her flowing hair with
both hands, cupping them together and throwing them
over her shoulders. "At any rate, this sure beats
walking."
"IF you can stand the waiting," Akane said
impatiently, glancing at her watch. "That bus hasn't
come by in fifteen minutes already."
"It'll come," Miranda assured her, turning to watch
the afternoon sun descend from the sky. "Hunters need
to learn patience when stalking prey."
"All of this is just a big game for you, isn't it?"
"Up to a point."
"And when would that be?"
"Likely when my life is in danger."
At that moment the two girls looked down the street,
watching the bus drive up toward them. Miranda stood
up, scooping up her backpack easily with one arm while
Akane struggled with the heavy pack of her own.
"Well, there," Miranda said, "patience paid off."
For a moment Akane wondered which role in the game
Miranda played.
As the two girls stepped into the bus, a being of
dark cloaks darted quickly under the bus, sliding on
his back with the sound of metal against pavement.
Miranda's sensei ground to a halt near the lower
luggage compartment, sensing the bus was ready to take
off at any moment. He whipped out his steel clawed
hand from the folds of his dark cloak, and bit into the
luggage compartment with each nail easily. With his
other claw he ripped a hole into the compartment, just
as the vehicle switched gears.
The heavy bus picked up speed, dragging Sensei
along its underside on his back. Tossing away the
shards he ripped from the compartment's housing, he
managed to lift himself up off the pavement and into
the compartment, tearing and smashing suitcases and
bags to make room for himself.
Settling himself into a comfortable position in the
dark compartment, the only sources of illumination
being the slight cracks of the compartment's door and
his own mechanical eye, Sensei forced himself to relax
into a meditative trance. Mentally, he set a clock
that would alert him when the bus arrived at the
destination point. He stared out the hole he made in
the compartment, giving him full view of one of the
rear tires.
Stretching out his clawed metal foot, Sensei guessed
he could make the bus stop, if necessary. He doubted
it would come to that, but it never hurt to have extra
plans, in case something went wrong.
In any case, something always did go wrong around
me, he thought, remembering the destruction of his
breather. He reached behind his back, feeling for the
hose attached to the oxygen tanks strapped to him, and
settled it in his steel jaw. It wouldn't do to
suffocate during the trip.
His mechanical eye dimmed as he retracted his foot,
and soon, the noise of the outside world left him,
leaving Sensei alone in silence.
Once again, the nightmarish claws tore at him from
the darkness, but he knew all too well that screaming
never helped.
Philip Taydome rubbed his unshaven chin thoughtfully
as he stared at the computer monitor on his desk
through his thin-framed glasses. Three separate spec
sheets, side-by-side on-screen for comparison,
revealed the current operating specifications for his
three marauding creations. While all three were
operating far better than expected in the test runs,
none of them flagged any signal as to the whereabouts
of one Ranma Saotome.
Spinning in his seat away from the monitor, Taydome
faced the darkness of the closet-like dark room that
served as his office. He narrowly avoided a carefully-
piled stack of papers on the floor, brushing the stack
with his shoe slightly. The office was cluttered
enough without fallen stacks to deal with, especially
not stacks that were organized.
At least, organized in such a way that only Taydome
himself could find something in them.
The three machines, GAIA, CRONOS, and URANOS, were
not only directed to find and retrieve Ranma, the
engineer remembered. At the advice of the director
their directives were appended to search for anyone
close to Ranma that would likely be in his company,
most particularly his wife, Akane. By the time the
directive was appended, however, Akane managed to pull
a disappearing act of her own, as she, too, disappeared
from her residence earlier in the day.
Everything was moving too fast, he thought in
frustration.
A low-level tone from the computer indicated another
message arrived from the director. Turning back to
face the monitor Taydome brought up the message link,
then quickly keyed in two layers of passwords. A small
message window was awarded him, and the message was
indeed from the director.
And quite brief at that: "Results expected. Maintain
low profile until extraction procedures commence with
minimum risk."
The American snarled, pounding his fist on the desk.
"Why do you keep pestering me with this?!"
Killing the message program, Taydome's eyes lit up as
one of the flags tied to URANOS burst to light.
"Ah, my creation!" he exclaimed, rubbing his palms
together. "I see you've found a match!"
Cracking his knuckles, Taydome punched in the
commands that would send URANOS, the drill machine,
after its quarry.
Not far from Taydome's office, another figure
bathed in the darkness of shadow sat back and watched
a monitor with interest. The engineer appeared quite
happy in his work, even if the hidden camera's
position didn't exactly give the best of angles. At
least it still got a decent view of what was on his
own monitors.
"That's right, my friend," the shadow said, "send
your toy after them. We'll see just how interesting
this little game can be."
Day 3
The hike from the last bus stop proved rigorous in of
itself as Akane and Miranda, carrying their own heavy
packs, took a break on the mountainside overlooking
the highway below. The bus that had carried them to
such a remote area had long since left, and there was
no one else in sight, as the people who usually visited
the Wishbringer's home had long since stopped coming.
The two girls sat alone at the winding stone steps
that lead to the shrine above hardly looked inviting,
as they were only about a third of the way up the
slope.
"I don't think Kodachi's here," Akane said between
breaths.
"Really," the crimson-eyed martial artist replied.
"You don't say."
"So what're we going to do in the meantime?"
"We prepare, and wait, of course," Miranda answered.
"Wait until what?" complained Akane. "Wait until the
ground explodes beneath us?"
Before Miranda could reply, the two felt something
rumble beneath their feet.
Slowly, it died. "Did you feel that?" she asked.
Akane nodded, just as the rumbling started again.
This time, however, it was only getting stronger.
Pointing to the ground below them, Akane mouthed,
"It's right below us!" just as they scrambled out of
the way. Rocks and stones burst from the ground where
the two girls once sat, their travel packs part of the
debris. A thick cloud of dust spurt from the explosion,
or rather, from the new hole in the ground.
Two red eyes belonging to a death's head-like face
stared at Akane as the drill-armed URANOS surfaced, the
large drill on its back spinning and showering her with
pebbles and dirt.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED," URANOS droned.
From behind the machine, Miranda brushed off the dirt
on her clothes. "Ugh, not that thing again."
Akane's eyes passed from the death's head to the
arm-mounted drills on each arm, then back to the head.
"NOW what do you want?!"
"Dammit," the machine said with Taydome's voice, "I
don't see Ranma anywhere...."
"Well, DUH, dumbass!" Miranda yelled. "He's not here
you freak!"
The machine's torso spun about to get a good glimpse
at the crimson-eyed girl. "Strange," Taydome muttered,
"your aura's just like his!"
Kicking URANOS with her boot, she replied, "Tell me
something I don't know."
"No wonder my instruments picked you up," the
engineer said to himself aloud. URANOS turned back to
face Akane. "Well, in any case, you're coming with me!
Where you are, Ranma won't be far behind!"
Breaking off into a sprint, Akane yelled over her
shoulder, "Leave me out of this, you loser!"
Ignoring Miranda completely, URANOS wheeled off on
its treads after Akane.
"Hey, you tin can!" Miranda yelled, "don't you
ignore ME!"
Standing at the entrance of the shrine gates above,
surveying the action down the mountain, a single
figure watched with great interest as Akane, URANOS,
and Miranda put on a show of a three-man chase.
"Well," she said to herself, "this should be
interesting."
"Don't make this hard on me or yourself!" Taydome
yelled through URANOS's speakers as the machine ripped
through the bushes and trees dotting the mountainside
as if they were never there.
Akane's mind raced for ideas, knowing full well that
she could never outrun one of Taydome's war machines.
The problem was that anything she could do to try and
shake off the pursuer would likely fail due to the
supposed tracking devices built into it. Attacking it
was totally out of the question; it took a lot of
people in teamwork to take down the first one a year
ago.
So why is Taydome after Ranma again, anyway?
She came to a full stop and turned around to face
URANOS.
Putting on the brakes fast, URANOS ground to a halt,
kicking up much dirt in a cloud behind it. The death's
head's eyes seemed to blink quizzically at Akane.
"What are you up to?" asked the engineer.
"Look," Akane said, "this is pointless; whatever it
is that Ranma did couldn't be worth kidnapping me over
it and hoping he'll come!"
"It was an idea," admitted Taydome.
From behind, Miranda appeared, stepping over the
trampled bushes and trees. "Then what ARE you going to
do?"
"It's nice of you to stop for me, though," he
finished, URANOS's chest opening up to reveal a
mancatcher.
But before the machine could deploy the capture
mechanism, its torso spun suddenly in the direction
downward the hill, its red eyes glowing with alarm.
"What the...?!"
Akane braced herself as something heavy launched at
the hulking titan, smashing into the ground and
blasting more dirt into the air. When the dust cleared
a creature, cloaked in black, slashed at URANOS with
steel claws on its arms and legs mercilessly.
"Sensei!" Miranda cried.
"Cinder!" Taydome squealed.
Bewildered eyes passed from URANOS to Miranda, and
back to Sensei-- Cinder. Akane said, "W... what's
going on here?!"
As Cinder and URANOS struggled on the ground
Miranda's gloved hand grasped Akane's arm tightly.
"Never mind! Let's beat it while it's still good!"
Before Akane could protest the martial artist broke
into a sprint, heading up the mountain and leaving
her sensei and the titan behind. She heard metal
against metal behind her, someone howling in
unearthly pain, and shattered glass.
Pushing the thoughts of Cinder and URANOS in their
deathlock out of her mind, Akane willed her legs to
keep up with Miranda's, focusing on getting to safety.
Rage was foremost in Cinder's thoughts as he smashed
his nails through URANOS's red eyes, snarling like a
wild beast, teeth clenching against a steel jaw.
When he finally realized that the machine had stopped
moving Cinder regained his senses and composure,
standing upright and brushing off the dust on his
cloak. His mechanical eye focused on the voice box,
and although he knew the operator couldn't see him, he
could hear him.
"I trust you're through," Taydome's voice said from
the center of the wrecked URANOS.
"I don't recognize you," Cinder said slowly, allowing
his anger to cool, "but I do recognize the stench of
your organization."
"As do we to you," the engineer replied, obviously
unimpressed. "Your power signature gave it away."
"Undoubtedly from all the built-in recognition flags
from the depths of your Section files," the clawed
master realized. "What is your business with that
girl?"
"I should ask you the same."
"That's unimportant; I hold the advantage, whoever
you are," Cinder snarled, running a toe nail over the
voice box. "I suspect this will hardly be the last of
our little communications."
"In that you'd be correct," Taydome admitted. "My
other children are already on their way to your
position, and I seriously doubt you could defeat more
than one by yourself!"
"Hardly likely!" Cinder spat, his voice grating.
"You could track me to the ends of the Earth if you
wish, but nothing stands in the way of my iron will!"
He closed his heavy metal foot around the voice box,
nails digging into and crushing it in a shower of
sparks. Quickly, Cinder bent down, discarding the box
and digging into the armor with his claws. He ripped
out the processor unit, cables still sparking, and
crushed it in his hands.
That information will never be useful for the
other robots, he thought with satisfaction.
Cinder's mechanical eye focused toward the shrine
atop the mountain. Narrowing his one good eye in
suspicion, he wondered if Miranda betrayed him after
all.
"Slow down!" demanded Akane, on the verge of being
dragged in the dirt behind the fleeing Miranda, her
hand still clamped tightly to her arm.
The crimson-eyed martial artist paid her no heed as
she maintained her pace up the slope, barely
registering the sudden slowdown as Akane fell and
dragged behind her. Only one thought was foremost in
Miranda's thoughts, and it was flight.
Dammit! she shouted inwardly to herself again. Now
Sensei knows I've tricked him!
Her boot got caught on something on the ground,
sending Miranda falling to the dirt slope, added with
the impact of Akane landing on top of her. Despite the
pain the martial artist was laboring to breathe, and
desperately looking for avenues of escape.
"Nowhere... to run!" she cursed, clenching dirt with
her gloved fists.
"Miranda!" Akane shouted, getting up to her feet.
"Just where do you think you were going, anyway?!"
Turning quickly, kicking up dirt everywhere,
Miranda grabbed Akane by the shirt. "Don't you see
danger when you know it?!"
Despite the garbled message, Akane understood the
meaning perfectly. "Why are you running from your
sensei? He might need your help!" she pointed out.
Yelling in panic, Miranda replied, "THAT'S WHY we
need to escape! He KNOWS what I've done, that I've
betrayed him! Now he's going to come after me!!"
Releasing her grip on Akane, Miranda forced herself
to take several deep breaths, attempting to achieve a
sense of calmness. The girl was definitely not going to
understand, she knew.
She remembered what Master Cinder told her when he
taught her this lesson: "Hate can be a powerful weapon
in battle, and passion a drive for success, but panic
and fear tools of ineffectiveness." Ironically, he was
right even now; losing control of her emotions wouldn't
get Miranda's point across to the clueless sod of
Ranma's.
Casting a glance down the mountain to where she
thought her sensei was, Miranda started, "Master Cinder
possesses a skill level that far outstretches that of
myself, or your precious Ranma."
Akane's eyes stared down the mountain as well, where,
when there were lush, green trees before, a column of
flame erupted, consuming all the greenery. "I can see
why he's Cinder," she remarked dryly.
"I doubt 'Cinder' is his true name," Miranda
admitted, "although the name certainly does fit with
his mastery over the fire element."
"Fire elemental master?" Akane repeated, wondering
why those three words would have any meaning to her.
"Using his rebuilt arms to jet flames, Master Cinder
seems to have control over the fire-- to shape, form,
do anything he pleases! He's even thrown a flame dart
around a corner before to chase after some guy."
"And that's why we have to run!" Miranda concluded,
reaching out to grab Akane's arm again, but Akane
pulled herself away at the last moment.
"If Cinder is as powerful as you say he is," Akane
said, "then no matter what you're still going to have
to face him. Running isn't the answer."
"I promised him your friend and the Wishbringer;
what makes you think he won't roast me?!" demanded
the crimson-eyed girl.
"I couldn't imagine what he'd want with Hokuto," she
lied, "but the Wishbringer can't be his; it's not even
here."
"HE doesn't know that!" Miranda insisted, panic
settling in once more.
Akane sighed. "You're really afraid of him, aren't
you?"
"So should you!"
"Even through all the respect and esteem you hold
Cinder in, you're still afraid."
"You would, too, if you saw him when I first met
him," the martial artist replied, her voice evening
out. "I saw him fight-- and I mean really fight. He
fought so well that none of the seven jerks that ganged
up on him laid a hand on him! And I bore witness to all
this!"
"When he was through," she continued, pacing in a
circle around Akane, her eyes never leaving her for one
moment, "I was the only one left standing; I BEGGED him
to teach me! For what I saw that day, that moment, I
knew I could beat Kodachi Kuno with his aid!"
"For some unexplainable, unfathomable reason,
Master Cinder accepted, taking me as his student in his
self-devised fighting style, based on the cutting and
slashing motions. While he possessed actual claws for
such feats, I learned to do it with my hands alone."
"And yet," Miranda finished, "I never could beat him.
Not once have I laid a finger on him, even when I
learned." Eyeing Akane carefully, halting in her
circle, she said bluntly, "I seriously doubt you could
be of any assistance to a master."
"Not even Ranma is that good," Akane muttered to
herself. To the crimson-eyed girl she said, "We'd
better head for the temple and wait for Kodachi to
arrive."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then I don't know what to do," she admitted.
"That's all very interesting," the woman in the dark
cloak said, tapping her long-poled scythe on the
concrete grounds of the temple. She turned her
attention back to the temple warden, who stood next to
her as the two stared down from the wall to where the
column of flame burst to life.
For a moment she wondered if she was way over her
head this time.
"It's a harbinger of doom!" the warden cried
fearfully. "Nothing good can come of it!"
"Perhaps," the reaper-person conceded. She focused
her attention away from the dazzling flame column to
where she thought the two girls fled. From all
appearances, however, it hardly appeared that either of
them had the Wishbringer sword in their possession. "Or
perhaps it's just the beginning."
And when it's all over, everything will be going my
way, she thought with satisfaction.
Before Akane could step through the gate at the
entrance to the complex, Miranda yanked her back
quickly.
"Hey!" she squawked.
"It's trapped," Miranda said simply, pointing her
finger to the ground.
Akane's eyes followed the finger to a thick trip
wire hanging taught near the ground, extending from
one end of the gate to the other, through gears, and
up the side of the gate. Her eyes stopped when she saw
what looked like a net hanging from the underside of
the gate, with several weights attached to the ends.
"How'd he do this so fast?!"
The crimson-eyed girl shook her head. "Sensei didn't
do this; it's not his style.
Carefully, Miranda stepped one leg over the trip
wire, freezing to a halt as she got her first clear
view of the courtyard.
"Now what?" demanded Akane.
Risking a glance back, Miranda answered tensely,
"The entire place is trapped!"
Peeking over Miranda, Akane could not get a full
view of the courtyard. In the midst of it rest a
single stone slab and several signs around it, likely
the original resting place of the Wishbringer. But,
focusing her view back and away from the stone she
realized why the martial artist was so concerned.
Surrounding the stone in what appeared to be in a
perfect circular pattern was a moat made up of
caltrops and other anti-foot spikes to the stone's
castle. Near each and every tree there was a rope loop
tied innocently enough next to it, obviously leading
to a foot trap if one stepped in the loop. If one could
strain their eyes enough they could see that there were
much thinner lines of trip wire running across the
courtyard, leading to traps unknown.
Akane whistled. "Someone's put their time into this,
didn't they?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the traps were linked
together," Miranda snorted, carefully bringing her
other foot over the first trip wire. "Someone knew we
were coming, and they were pretty quick about it."
She helped Akane over the wire. "The thing is, nobody
should've known we were coming, and on short notice!
Who could have the resources to get here before us?"
"Other than Kodachi," Akane thought aloud, "the only
other people who'd know about it would be her groupies
and whoever they talked to." She cast a glance back up
at the net she passed under. "Maybe it's time to find
out."
Miranda flinched, realizing what Akane was going to
do, but before either of the girls could act the ground
was swept from beneath them. Crying out in surprise,
the two were slung up fast by a heavy cargo net,
hanging by the entrance of the gate stupidly staring
down at the ground that formerly concealed the trap.
"That SUCKS!" complained the martial artist.
"In a roundabout way, I suppose it worked," Akane
noted dryly.
"The best way to hide a trap is to hide it behind
another one," a new voice said.
Both of the hanging girls look to the source of the
voice, a figure dressed in all-black robes holding a
long-poled scythe in one hand, head down low as if in a
massive visage to the Grim Reaper. As this Reaper
appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his or her identity
may not be so far from the truth. The scythe's head
seemed made of different material than the steel blade
or the wood pole, looking as if it possessed some kind
of gear mechanism in it.
"Who're you?" demanded Akane.
"The Wishbringer," the robed girl demanded, ignoring
Akane's question. "Where is it?!"
"Ha!" Miranda laughed. "You wasted your traps for
nothing; we don't have it."
"Really," the Reaper replied coolly.
All three girls heard something snap shut above them.
"I believe it's right there."
Akane and Miranda turned their eyes up toward the
wall near the gate, where a metal cage folded itself
together around a fourth girl, holding a long, wrapped
bundle in her hands.
"I see you fell for it, too," Miranda snorted.
Kodachi Kuno beat at the cage with her boots, but to
no avail. "Perhaps it was too easy to be true."
The reaper quickly snatched the cage down from the
wall, setting it down carefully on the ground before
her. "Give me the sword."
"Why, pray tell, should I comply with your demands?!"
demanded Kodachi.
"Suit yourself!" the Reaper said, slightly angered.
She ran the blunt end of her scythe into the cage,
harshly jabbing at Kodachi in the cage. From Akane's
perspective she couldn't see just what was happening to
the caged girl, but the results were apparent enough
when the Reaper produced the bundled Wishbringer from
the cage.
"It's mine!" she exclaimed proudly, throwing off her
black hood. Her dark eyes seemed worn to Akane, peering
calculatingly at everything she saw. The Reaper wore
her midnight hair tied up in a ponytail that seemed to
disappear into her dark robe.
"Who're you?" Akane repeated.
Ignoring Akane once again the Reaper slid her scythe
on the ground, pulling up another trip wire. In several
quick seconds all the traps sprung at once, and the
caltrops surrounding the stone seemed to part for her.
For the first time Akane seemed to notice that
Miranda was trying to cut the cargo net with her bare
hands. "What're you doing?"
"What's it look like?!" she bit back, annoyed. "I'm
getting us out of this mess!"
Akane looked back down at the metal cage where
Kodachi lay, noting that there hadn't been any movement
from the cage at all.
She turned her attention back to the stone, where the
Reaper was already thrusting the Wishbringer back into
the stone. Bracing herself for anything, Akane was
disappointed, and thought the Reaper was too, when
nothing happened.
"What the...?" the Reaper yelled angrily. "Why isn't
it coming out?!"
The warden popped up next to her. "Oh, did I forget
to mention? The Wishbringer gets its power from one
million hopes and dreams from those who attempt to pull
it out. Congratulations, you're number one!"
Fuming with anger, the Reaper threw the warden into
orbit. "YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME SOONER YOU OLD FART!!"
"Looks like it didn't work," Akane said, just as
Miranda finished cutting the cargo net. Both girls
fell to the ground, with Miranda bearing the brunt of
the fall as Akane landed on top of her.
"Dammit," cursed the crimson-eyed girl, "Sensei is
going to be REALLY pissed now."
"What evidence would point in that direction, my
student?"
Glancing up in shock, Miranda looked into the red
mechanical eye of Cinder, and immediately threw Akane
aside and kowtowed quickly. "Forgive me!" she repeated
frantically.
"You have MUCH to answer for!" the master said, his
voice grating more than usual. He raised a claw to
strike.
"HEY!" cried the Reaper, running back to the gate.
"Get away from them!"
His attention diverted, Cinder raised his eyes to
quickly analyze the newcomer. "This is none of your
business!"
"They're MINE!!" she cried, throwing off her black
robe. She dressed in a lavender, oversized dress that
fell to her knees, and tied off with a matching sash at
her waist. Hanging around her neck was a bronze-
chained necklace set with a particularly large piece of
amethyst, with what appeared to be a crystallized
spider of some sort inlaid within it. Her white
stockings reached only half-way up her calves and ended
in a matching pair of white imported basketball shoes,
something that looked completely clashing with the rest
of her costume.
She spun her scythe about and around her with one
hand, and the purpose of the mechanism on the head was
revealed when the blade came to a rest in a position
along the length of the pole, transforming a scythe
into a spear-like naginata in the blink of an eye.
"Kanna Rajura!" she announced proudly, "of the
Rajura Whirling Spear School of fighting! You, as all
my foes, can address me as the 'Crystal Spider!'"
"Cinder," the fire master replied plainly, "the
style is unimportant." His claws glowed in hellflames.
"But now, 'Crystal Spider,' you've met your match!"
Crawling from between the two combatants Miranda
watched as Kanna and Cinder matched blade to flaming
claw with deft speed, in awe that there could be
someone that was fast enough to keep up with her
sensei's attacks.
She jumped when Akane tugged at her arm. "Hey!"
Akane, holding a limp Kodachi over her shoulder,
said, "We'd better get out of here before something
else decides to get us."
Nodding quickly, Miranda quickly spared a glance
back at her master. "While there's still time...."
Kanna's mind barely registered the fact that her
quarry were fleeing the premises, but her attentions
were full on trying to keep up with Cinder's relentless
attacks, coming at higher speeds than she was used to.
Although she was the star pupil of the Rajura school,
no one before had matched the speed level of this one,
not even the kid.
"You're good," she muttered, hoping to lull the
fire master into a false sense of superiority. In the
midst of battle focus was everything; it could easily
be put off-balance by either making them overconfident
or angry. Judging from the demeanor Cinder carried
himself, it was better to appeal to his confidence.
She dodged to the side as he threw a fireball her
way, only then realizing that Cinder, up until now, was
only playing with her; this tactic was not going to
work, she realized. Kanna quickly analyzed the
surroundings into her mind, understanding that there
were a few traps still left to be tripped, ones that
were not chained together.
Risking leaving herself open, the Crystal Spider
broke off her attack and ran to the center of the
circle of caltrops, to the stone where the Wishbringer
stood.
Pressing his advantage, Cinder gave chase, not
bothering to leap over the caltrops as they flew
about and scattered by his steel feet. Kanna hardly
expected her opponent to be so protected against the
caltrops, but it was the furthest thing from her mind
when she committed herself to this action.
Vaulting straight up into the air using her naginata
as a pole, Kanna wheeled herself about quickly and
aimed her weapon downward-- not at Cinder, who stared
upward in amazement, but at the ground at the foot of
the stone.
"Nice trick," was all that Cinder managed to utter
before Kanna made her move.
"New Rajura Style: Eight Gate Array!" Kanna
cried, driving her weapon into the ground.
Ki energy spiked in eight places in the same circular
pattern as the caltrops formed around the stone,
enclosing Kanna and Cinder within. The mechanical eye
of the fire master dimmed for a blink as Kanna
vaulted herself out of the circle and into safety.
Cinder turned to retreat back the way whence he
came, but the ki force from the seven other ki spikes
blasted him and forced him to the center of the array.
"Unfortunately for you," the girl said, "I've
studied the ancient books of war. It'll take a good
while to figure yourself out of that Chinese finger
trap!"
The robed fire master eyed Kanna angrily, but said
no word. He tried to rush back to the same spike, only
to get blasted once more.
Laughing to herself, the Crystal Spider shouldered
her naginata. Turning to the gate, her victory was cut
short as she remembered that her enemy had gotten
loose again.
Then again, they were never the real goal in the
first place, she remembered. Glancing over her shoulder
to Cinder, Kanna dropped her jaw in surprise when she
saw the clawed warrior standing behind her, well away
from the array.
"I, too, know of Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays," Cinder
said in a low tone, citing the source by name as proof.
"The gate whence you enter determines which gate you
must exit in order to survive."
Kanna nodded as she turned around to face him. "I
admire your knowledge of the arts of war."
"Your distraction was merely that; your nose is
in my way!" the fire master railed, seizing Kanna's
arms quickly.
Without her naginata in her hands, Kanna could do
little to resist other than flailing kicks, proving
quite useless overall. She cursed. "You're tougher than
I thought...."
"And thus ends your first lesson!" Cinder announced.
"Now, good-bye!"
Kanna felt herself being lifted higher, and it was
too soon that she could see over Cinder's head, and
much too soon that she could see everything in the
courtyard and beyond.
Wiping his clawed hands as a force of habit, Cinder
was glad the troublesome Spider was out of the way.
"Interesting," he said to himself, "that one such as
you would be after the same objective as I. Or am I
seeing things? I doubt you would be after what I am,
but you are competition nonetheless."
He made his way to the gate, where the empty metal
cage and cargo net were left empty and discarded by the
three other girls. Grasping the cargo net in one claw
the mechanical eye focused on where it was broken with
a saw-like motion.
"Once again, my student, you've proven yourself
quite resourceful," the master praised. "Let's see how
well it'll work for you when the real hunt begins."
Ranma had no idea what was worse: traveling on a
cargo boat up the longest river in southern China, or
being sick while traveling on a cargo boat up the
longest river in southern China.
He regretted having lunch for the umpteenth time,
trying his best not to think of food or the
consequences of doing so. The martial artist turned
his attentions away from the rail at the end of the
boat and toward Hokuto, who sat back on a makeshift
lounge chair made up of a small chair and one of the
fishing tackles belonging to a crewman. She sat back,
wrapped in the blanketing folds of her own traveling
cloak with her eyes closed, oblivious to the world and
to his own suffering. For the latter Ranma was jealous.
Why wasn't that little two-way link thing kicking in?
he wondered.
He risked sudden movement, quickly making his
seemingly-long trip from the protectiveness of the
rail to the sea of uncertainty that was the lounge
chair. Having released his grip on the rail Ranma felt
the urge to go back and hold it again, but his
instincts told him to keep going. This was a battle he
certainly didn't want to lose, not in front of that
crazy Hokuto.
The Shadow Weaver in fact did notice his troubles,
sitting up in her chair and looking in Ranma's
direction. Perhaps she did feel the pain as well.
"Is something the matter?" she asked innocently.
Ranma face-faulted, realizing that she really
didn't have any idea what he was going through. "You
look awfully well."
"Boats don't bother me," Hokuto said. "After we get
to the last port, though, we'll have to walk the rest
of the way. It should be a couple days at least,
provided there aren't any problems."
The sooner we get off this boat, the better, Ranma
thought. "The way things work, give it four days."
He shut Hokuto out of his mind, trying to concentrate
on somehow getting back to the room Hokuto rented for
the two. While it wasn't common practice to get
transportation on a shipping vessel (Ranma initially
believed it to be a tourist boat) it worked, if it was
a bit dull and dirty.
After all that, however, he wished he knew Chinese.
"Akane," Ranma muttered to himself as he stumbled
through the deck, "whatever it is you're doing right
now, it can't be as bad as what this is."
Gazing out into the star-lit sky, Akane distanced
herself from Miranda and Kodachi, sitting around the
fire pit to keep warm in the night. While the fire
could conceivably attract any one of their enemies, the
alternative was freezing, a prospect that didn't sit
well especially after Taydome destroyed their packs,
and Kodachi had still yet to collect herself after the
merciless attack by the new enemy, Kanna Rajura. Cinder
just needed to exist to wreak havoc, especially in
Miranda's confidence.
"Ranma," she whispered to the stars, "whatever it is
you're doing, I hope you're having better luck than I
am...."
Unseen in the bushes beyond the camp set by the three
girls, a specter cloaked in the blackness of the night
watched Akane thoughtfully, then retreated as quickly
and as quietly as it came.
"You're not alone," the specter muttered quietly.
"The world is not so cruel that you should suffer your
torments alone. Never alone."
* * * * *
Ayame (VO):
"Unlikely allies, unlikely foes, unlikely goals,
unlikely relations! Geez crap already; when's it all
going to make sense? Just how is Akane going to keep
one step ahead of Taydome, Cinder, and Kanna? And how's
Ranma gonna resist Hokuto for another week?! It's
impossible, I say!"
"Next time: Revelations. Don't miss it!"
------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes
Kanna and Cinder originally appeared in non-Ranma
fics of mine, but both were written as cunning and
dangerous opponents worthy of this story. They bear no
relation to their previous incarnations in anything but
name and personality.
The Eight Arrays is based off a tactic from the
Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, devised by
one of the main characters, Zhuge Liang. While the
technique Kanna utilized bears little resemblance to
the original, the method by which Cinder escaped was
similar. Instead it was a sort of spirit trap; Zhuge
Liang was reputed for his magic and super-genius.
Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
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