The Legend of Lujen:

Notice: Strong swearing is used

Chapter 3: Ninja Wanderings

The moon was rising above in the heavens, and the breeze was quiet.
"Boy, go away before you get hurt," a temple guard said.
The boy answered, "I have told you there is something I need inside your
temple. Either
let me pass or be defeated!"
"Stupid brat! You won't get past us gate guards, much less the inner
guards. Leave before I
decide to shred you to pieces."
The young man just smiled, lifted his sword high, and charged.
The ensuing battle was brutal. The boy frenziedly battled the trio of
guards in front of
the gates of the oriental stone temple. The guard's attacks were fierce
and violent, yet
the boy managed his overgrown sword masterfully. The boy's skill,
coupled with the fact
that the guard's skimpy shields were pretty innefective against the
mammothian weapon,
defeated the guards.
The bloodied leader, lying on the floor, hissed in his last breath, "You
will never
defeat us all."
"We will see about that," the boy countered, and stepped into the
temple.

***

*My God, don't these guys ever get tired?*
He had been fighting for well over an hour now,  battling whatever
guards he was unlucky
enough to bump into inside the small temple he had infiltrated.
How many had he defeated so far? Seven? Nine? One hundred and forty
five?
He came to an intersection and heard some voices coming from the
perpendicular hall;
*Dammit, not again* he thought wearily. He hid in the shadows of a
doorway and waited
quietly. The couple of guards ceremoniously attired just passed through.
*Damn lucky they
haven't figured out yet I am here. Good thing none of them was ever able
to raise the alarm*
He continued to explore the subterranean halls of the temple, where he
thought he would find
what he so ardently was looking for. After fighting the entrance guards
and the occasional one
that had discovered him in the above halls, he had decided to
concentrate his search in the
lower passages. *I need to find that thing fast... not much time before
they find the hidden
bodies, especially since I didn't hide them that well.*
He walked quickly through the narrow stone passage. He tried to silence
his approach as much
as possible, but the plates of armor we wore on his forearms, forelegs
and chest clanked as he went along. *God knows this outfit was not
meant for espionage* he thought.
He finally came up to a large, solid door with inscriptions on it.
*YES! Jackpot city! This looks like the treasure room.*
He picked the lock with a dagger and stole quietly inside. His eyes lit
up as he saw the
treasure that abounded in every nook and cranny of the room. The two
torches which dimly
lit it revealed all class of weapons, precious items, amulets, gems,
coffers, and such.
In the other end of the room he saw an isolated chest, standing apart
from other
articles-*YES! It HAS to be there!*
He stopped walking on tiptoes and practically lunged over to the chest,
clanking his way there.
He pawed the chest and was eyeing it with greedy eyes when a deep
baritone voice said,
"Unhand that treasure, thief!"
The young man turned around and looked up. And up. And up.
A huge hulk was standing in front of him, a coalition between a man and
a monster, his sword
drawn and pointing towards him.
"What are you doing here, petty scoundrel?" the giant asked.
"Uhm... lost my way to the outhouse?" the adventurer asked meekly.
The giant glared at him.
"So, not only a thief but a bad comedian as well. You won't get out of
this room alive."
*Damn... he said it as if he meant it.* the boy thought, *This is gonna
be a tough one...*
"Very well, we'll have to fight this out!" The young man said as he
lifted his sword.
The giant grinned, "A challenge? I was hoping you'd surrender and die
quietly. I guess I'll
just have to kill you."
He slashed his sword towards the intruder. The intruder parried with his
own sword, and
drove the slash back against the giant.
"Well, well. It seems the mouse knows how to bite." The giant taunted.
"More than what you can at any rate." his adversary answered.
The giant laughed at this. "Ha ha ha, it seems this will be amusing
after all. Now Die!"
The boy, amazignly parried all of the giant's strikes, and drove back a
powerful swing which
the giant parried.
*Dammit* the boy thought *this fucker is a tough one. The only thing
keeping me alive is that
my sword is long enough to keep him at bay, and my thrusts are deep. But
how long will I be
able to hold this?* he wondered.
The giant seemed to read his mind, "Good, boy! You are better than what
I expected. Your
strength is admirable! But the length of your sword will not keep you
alive for long!"
The giant slashed again, the boy parried it with courage, and delivered
a powerful counter
strike. Had a normal man stopped it, he would have probably been thrown
back by the sheer
force of the strike, coupled with the weapon's manss. Unfortunately for
the boy, this was not
an ordinary man.
"Is that the best you've got?"
*Oh man, what can I do? Is it just me or is this sword around 100 times
heavier than a couple
of hours ago? I hafta do something... but this man is like an
imprenetable fortress! I can't
go around him, and with this sword I can't jump over him....* It was
then when an idea hit him.
"So you think I'm weak?!" The boy yelled, "Well, take this!"
He pointed the tip of his sword at the giant's heart and charged with
everything he had.
The giant just smiled and prepared to parry. Before reaching his target,
though, the boy
dropped to his knees and slid between the giant's legs.
By the time the giant had realized what had happened and started to turn
around it was too
late- a large broadsword was embedded in his back and ripping through
his chest.
Ranma retrieved his bloody sword from the titan's back and saw him
crumple to the floor,
gagging incongruencies.
He brushed his sweaty brows with his forearm and muttered, "At last...
all mine."
And it was then when he heard the girlish giggles.
The adventurer quickly went into battle position.
"Who's that?" he asked.
He looked around- left, right, yet saw no-one.
The giggling was louder now, and the boy noticed it came from above.
He looked up and saw a sillouette crouching in the rafters of the room.
The silloutte jumped down in front of him. What the boy saw was what he
least expected- a
totally black clothed figure, with a small slit in the face for eyes.
She was a female,
clearly apparent because of her voice, her small frame, and the pair of
bulges in her chest.
She had landed in a crouch without making a sound, and had a short sword
drawn. Small wisps of
purple hair could be seen coming out of the sides of her head, next to
her green eyes.
"Who the hell are you? Why were you spying on me?" the fiery adventurer
asked.
The female warrior answered, "Who Spy is not matter.Spy just watch
because it easier to defeat
one tired victor than two  strong contendants. But what matters is what
Spy come here for. And
Spy come here for SoulEdge!"
This infuriated the adventurer, "No way! I have traveled my ass off and
thought innumerable
jerks to get it! It is MINE, whoever the hell you are!"
"Then we fight for it!" the girl answered.
"Whatever. Even though I normally don't fight girls, I will make an
exception in your case."
The girl attacked with simply amazing speed. The boy had to parry most
of the blows with his
armor-plated forearm, as his sword was to heavy to swing in time to
parry and he was dead tired.
The girl seemed to have the upper hand, as she was in a better condition
than the warrior.
*I've gotta best this little wench... or it'll have been all in vain* he
thought. This made him
remember all that he'd been through... the ardous traveling.... the
sacrifices, the fighting,
the fight against insurmountable odds... and it made him mad to think it
could end all here.
*It's not gonna end here, if I've got anything to say about it!*
Right after a strong blow from the female warrior the adventurer lifted
his sword and slashed
with fury. True to her appearance, the girl was able to quickly parry
the blow with her own
sword without much hestitation. Unfortunately for her, she made a little
mistake. She forgot to
take into account the simple, yet inescapable fact that the warrior in
front of her was a great
deal bigger than her, and that his sword was simply larger than life. As
a result her frail
female frame was thrown back a good 10 feet before she hit the wall, and
her sword went away
even further. When she opened her eyes she saw the tip of the already
bloodied sword pointing
at her face.
*Haha!* the adventurer thought, *I did it!*
In his elation he failed to notice the change that had overcome the
female fighter. Therefore
he was caught unprepared when she started crying.
"Whoa- what's wrong?" he asked.
Tears marred the beautiful girl's eyes.
"You- you defeat in battle. Now never get sword. Never be ninja."
"Uh? What's a neeja?"
"Ninja be powerful black clothed stealthy warrior. Now never be one" she
sniffed.
"Oh" he said, not understanding much. "Uhm, what is your name?"
"Name of warrioress is Shampoo." After thinking for a bit she asked,
"What is yours?"
"My name is Ranma. Ranma Saotome."
"Well, Ranma, thanks to you Shampoo now never ninja."
"Uhm,  Shampoo, don't feel so bad.  I'm sure you can try another quest
to become a nimjap or
whatever it is you wanna be. Besides, it's for the best. Girls are not
supposed to fight."
Shampoo seemed angered at this, "No! No true! That is what men in my
village say too. Not true!
Shampoo become ninja and prove she good fighter as any man. That is why
Shampoo need SoulEdge."
Ranma was quite lost.
"Hhhmmm... Shampoo, why don't you tell me what your problem is? Maybe I
can help." Ranma offered.
"Well, it start back in ninja training grounds, few weeks ago. It really
all began when...":
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With lightning quickness, darting from cover to cover, Shampoo evaded
the
attacks: the fourpointed stars, the daggers, the spears. Finally she
reached the enourmous tree
and continued jumping from limb to limb, higher and higher, battling
each foe she found in her
way. She stopped on a limb and gazed upwards. A smug smile grinned at
her, the only thing
visible among the leaves.
"Shampoo come to the end. Shampoo ninja."
"Not yet, precocious Shampoo. You still have to defeat me," an arrogant
voice informed her.
"Shampoo kill," she said as she darted upwards with lightning fastness
again.
The other ninja, eluded her faster still, jumping to other trees and
darting through treetops
and then down on the ground until he finally stopped at the entrance of
a stone temple. There
he stood waiting until she had reached him.
She stopped when he stopped and approached cautiously. *Shekhan tricky.
Shampoo better. Shampoo kill Shekan and be ninja* Shampoo thought
murderously. She glared at him, eyeing him with suspision.
"Now, precocious Shampoo, the battle will end when either of us die. Or
when you die, better said even," Shekhan said.
"Shekhan die. Shampoo win," Shampoo taunted.
"Well see about that you little bitch," Shekhan snarled and assumed his
fighting position., feet crossed and arms ready to attack. Shampoo did
likewise and assumed her fighting position. They stood eyeing each other

when a voice floated over them.
"That is enough Shekhan and Shampoo. Shampoo has shown that has all the
necessary abilities and training to become a ninja."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Shekhan snarled, still eyeing
Shampoo dangerously.
"What I'm saying is that this battle is useless. AND THAT IS AN ORDER!"
the
voice ordered angrily. "I will have no more of your impertinence
Shekhan!"
Shekhan's tense muscles relaxed and he turned around to argue with the
person that had ordered him to stop when a shower of bonboris fell upon
him. Shekhan looked murderously at the smiling Shampoo and stodd up to
attack her when...
"Shampoo, that will be enough. I told both of you to stop," the voice
ordered icily.
"Shampoo kill," Shampoo said angrily. *He no right interfere. Shampoo
kill.
Shampoo ninja.*
A ninja stepped from out of the temple, followed by two other ninjas.
The rank of the ninja was obvious, he was Tzu-Fung, prince of dragons
and
the leader in the ninja get-up of the region. His face was uncovered,
his almond eyes closed, and he was perfectly serene.
"I will not tolerate any such more battles," he said.
"But it's necessary, there must be a final test to prove the ability of
a
would be ninja," Shekhan protested.
"Indeed, and Shampoo will have a final examination," Tzu-Fung agreed. He
spoke up, "Be
it made known among our fellow ninjas that I, Tzu-Fung, prince of
dragons
has decreed that Shampoo's final examination will be to recover the
SoulEdge sword and present it to me."
Shampoo looked puzzled at Tzu-Fung. "SoulEdge?"
Shekhan smiled imperceptibly.
"Yes, the legendary SoulEdge sword. Once that it is under my posession
you
will become a ninja and that is my final word," Tzu-Fung said and
disappeared once again inside the temple.
Shekhan turned around to face Shampoo. "Our battle will have to wait
until
your return, precocious Shampoo," he said sardonically and disappeared.
Shampoo stared into the temple and walked away.

***

"But Shampoo, finding the SoulEdge sword is impossible!" Mousse
exclaimed.
"Shampoo find," Shampoo answered watching the water boil and adding in
the
ramen noodles.
"Shampoo, why don't you give up being a ninja and marry me?" Mousse
looked
pleadingly at her through his glasses.
"Shampoo not marry Mousse," Shampoo answered as she added vegetables to
the
cooking noodles.
"But Shampoo, I love you," Mousse said pleadingly.
"Shampoo not love Mousse," Shampoo answered as she stirred the ramen
soup.
"Shampoo..." Mouse said as he approached her.
"Mousse..." Shampoo said ominously and a bonbori struck Mousse in the
face and he fell backwards. "Stay still. Ramen ready," she added as she
placed a hot soup plate on his chest.
"AAAAIIIIEEEE!!!!" Mouse yelled as he jumped ten feet up, spilling soup
on
the floor.
"Mousse bad. He spill soup," Shampoo chastised Mousse.
"Shampoo! You put that hot soup on my chest," Mousse protested showing
her
his now-burnt tunic shirt to her.
Shampoo looked at Mousse through glassy eyes, "Mousse no like Shampoo
either?" *Shampoo failure. Soup no cook. Shampoo no ninja. Shampoo
failure*
Mousse softened and reached for her hand, "Shampoo, I do like you."
Shampoo asked through glassy eyes again, "Shampoo failure?"
Mousse answered softly, "Of course not Shampoo. You've just made the
wrong
choices. What you should have done is not try to become a ninja and
marry
me instead."
Shampoo got angry at this. "Shampoo no marry Mousse. Mousse leave."
"But Shampoo!" Mousse protested but a shower of bonboris began to
assault him and he left running.
Shampoo's anger began to dissipate. *Mousse nice. But he wrong. Shampoo
ninja. Shampoo find SoulEdge sword*. Her determination boldened and she
thought about the SoulEdge sword as she began to eat what was left of
her ramen soup.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Shampoo kept on crying on the floor with her hands upon her face, "Now
no future for Shampoo,"
she said as she finished her story.
Ranma felt bad for the girl, and knelt down and took her hood off, to
ease her crying.
Shampoo, absorbed in her crying, did not notice this until it was simply
too late.
"Heeeyaa!" she cried, "No look at Shampoo!"
She tried to cover her face with her hands, but with little success. The
boy had already seen
her- her beautiful eyes surrounded by a pristine face, and the long
purple locks of hair that
came tumbling down her head.
"Hey, what's wrong??" Ranma asked.
She quickly put on her hood, but after a moment of realization she
seemed to think, "What's the
point now?"
She composed herself and stood in front of Ranma.
What she did was completely unexpected. Had she tried to knife him, he
would have understood.
Had she slapped him, he might have expected. Had she broken again into
tears it would have
been totally acceptable, as weren't women weak? But the pasionate kiss
she landed on his lips
was totally unexpected for him. Astonished as he was, Ranma was unable
to break from the ninja's
amorous grip. Nor was he quite willing, either. Unconciously, at least.
After what seemed an eternity, their lips parted.
"What was that for?" Ranma finally asked.
"It be village tradition, that if ninja or ninja-in-training's identity
uncovered while in
mission, ninja must kill."
"So that kiss means you're gonna kill me?" he asked.
"No. If person is from opposite sex, then have to give kiss of devout
compromise." She answered.
"Huh? What's that?"
"People outside village call it "Kiss of Marriage"."
"WHAT?!?!"
"Now Ranma and Shampoo must marry by law."
"No way! And what about you becoming a ninja? And what about SoulEdge?"
"That no matter now. Since moment you defeat and see Shampoo, she at
your mercy."
Ranma was about to answer when he heard some faraway angry yells. He
couldn't distinguish what
they said, but he took a pretty good guess. "Shit! They found the
bodies!"
"Look, we don't have time to dicuss this right now. Let's get the goddam
sword and get the
hell out of here!"
He lifted his broadsword and it came crashing down unto the chest's
lock. It was split open
like a nut, and Ranma hurriedly and greedily opened the chest. What he
saw did not make him
happy.
"A FUCKING CRUMMY AMULET?!?!?!"
Shampoo peered in. All she saw was a golden amulet. Beautiful, and very
well crafted, but not
at all a sword.
"But Shampoo hear that sword be in Tibetan temple atop mount Dolai."
"So did I!" Ranma answered, "I mean, we are in Tibet, right? I don't
think I could miss a whole
region so easily."
By now the voices were dangerously near and snapped Ranma back to
reality.
"Look, we've gotta get outta here, and I fear it's gonna have to be
fighting. Are you up to it?"
*God knows I'm not* he thought.
"Yes, but Shampoo know secret escape. That is how Shampoo enter without
nobody noticing."
Ranma beamed, "Good! Now, where is it?"
Shampoo pointed upwards, "In hole near ceiling."
Ranma's jaw dropped, "How the hell am I supposed to climb up there, and
with this?" he said as
he pointed at his heavy sword.
Shampoo shrugged, "Shampoo don't know. Shampoo not know heavy husband
come in to steal sword as
well."
"I am NOT your husband, groom, boyfriend, or anything else, got it? I
just wanna get the hell
outta here! There's a whole army coming this way!"
The shouts were near the door by now.
"Look! The Treasury door is open! They must be in there!" a voice
shouted just outside the door.
Ranma turned around and readied his sword as a squad of guards entered
the room.
*I'm wounded and too tired, and there's so many of them!* he thought, *
I ain't getting away
from this one!*
He turned to his newly-found ally, and saw her in a battle position as
well, next to him.
"What the hell are you doing? Escape!"
"Shampoo no leave husband!"
The guards had them surrounded and both outgunned and outnumbered 10 to
1.
"Drop your swords and surrender!" The head guard said.
"Shampoo, get away or DO something!" he hissed.
In an incredibly innocent manner she said, "Ok!" and grabbed into her
suit and pulled something
out, which she threw against the floor in front of them. A screen of
smoke filled the room
immediately and Ranma felt a tug at his arm.
"Don't breath and run!" he heard Shampoo say.
They both darted amongst the coughing and disoriented guards through the
door and into the
hallway.
"Why didn't you do that before?!" Ranma wheezed at Shampoo as they were
running.
"Husband didn't ask," she huffed.
"Urgh! I am not your husband," Ranma shot back.
Shampoo stopped and drew her dagger.
*Now what?* Ranma thought.
She quickly raised it and aimed it at him.
"Hey! Whoa! I didn't mean to-"
He was cut off by the whizzing dagger she threw. To his surprise and
immense relief, it passed
right by him. He heard a grunt behind him and the sound of a body
falling.
"Husband must be more careful or sneaky guards leave Shampoo without
groom."
Ranma turned to see his dead attacker. Shampoo pulled him by the sleeve
and said, "Let us go!".
They quickly made it to the upper levels and safely got outside.

***

"Excellent. The plan worked beautifully," Shekhan said praisingly.
"Of course. That was the least to be expected," Tzu-Fung said as the
walked
through the stone hall.
"The SoulEdge Sword, Shampoo will never find it," Shekhan said
arrogantly.
"Precisely. Admit a woman into our exclusive circle? Preprosterous,"
Tzu-Fung added.
"One question master, what if she does retrieve the sword?" Shekhan
asked slyly.
Tzu-Fung opened his eyes and smiled icily at Shekhan. "Then you will
have
the battle you so desire." And with that the prince of dragons entered
his
chambers. The stone doors closed, forming the symbol of the dragon.
Shekhan
stared at the symbol and walked away satisfied.
*
Tzu-Kung watched Shampoo traversing through the countryside, as he often
had in the last
few days. But now she was with a stranger. *How odd* he thought.*Yet it
doesn't matter. She
won't achieve her objective* He smiled at the fact that Shampoo had
refused that bumbling
farmer's marriage proposition but then his smile turned angry. *Shampoo
refused my marriage
proposition. Refused to become the wife of the prince of dragons.
Instead she wanted to
become a ninja. Well then, she chose her fate. But she will never become
a
ninja* Shampoo's image disappeared from the mirror and Tzu-Kung saw
himself
reflected again.

**************

Idiot's Notes

If you don't want to get bored, don't read this.

First of all, big thanks to our proofreaders, Aaron Jones and Oscar
Labrador. Thanks guys.

I still find something lacking in the chapter. I know I haven't been
able to put as much time
into it as I would have wanted. I guess the biggest hole in the
storyline was how the hell
Ranma got from Germany to a Tibetan temple (presumably somewhere in the
orient, right?). I'm
planning to cover that in chapter 4, but I still think I might have
given some preliminary
explanation. But if I'd kept on editing until I came up with something
really good, you'd be
reading this chapter at least one month from now. Besides, there's still
room for improvement
later on.

For those who are wondering why you haven't seen other main Ranma
characters in the story
(Akane, Ryouga, etc.), you'll find out why soon enough.

While writing I discovered a terrible failing: I forgot about the
language barriers. It's a
terrible goof on my part, but I'll try to fix it one way or another in
the future (I hope)

Please, please, PLEASE give us your
comments/gripes/ideas/suggestions/flames/etc. We love
receiving them, even if they are only one line long. Please take the
time to send us something,
ok?

Ranma ½ and characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi, and SoulEdge
characters and story of
Namco. Everything else is a creation of our demented minds.
Please don't rip us off, and please don't sue us...

Luis Majluf
<98lmajlu@amersol.edu.pe>
Jennifer Yi
<98jen@amersol.edu.pe>

Visit our story's page at:
http://www.geocities.com/~ollantay/lujen/lujen.html