Sword and Sorcery (tentative)
Chapter 6

by D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net

	Ranma snapped awake as his memories came to an end.  Sitting
up, sweat dripping from his forehead, he slowly stumbled to his knees.
He startled Azure to wakefulness with his movement.  "Guardian ...
guardian ..., " he mumbled as he stumbled over to the table where he
had left the Orippa Prophecy.

	He muttered, "MIRUS", conjuring a small globe of light that
bobbed over his shoulder.  Wiping his eyes clear from the blurriness
of sleep, he paged through the book.  "I know I saw something about
that guy in here somewhere."

	Then he found the reference he sought.  He read aloud,

	"When the Companions number 
One less than a full company,
They shall must seek
The Protector from the Void.
Trapped at the end of the path of Light,
Seek out he that holds the answers.
The Guide shall lead the way."

'Well, at least he's legit.'  Ranma closed the book, saying aloud, "It
looks like the first task to find the rest of my friends."  Turning to
Azure, he stated, "We leave in the morning."

***

	Ranma had spent the rest of the night packing his belongings
away.  Sorting through the wall of books, he selected the most
relevant ones and placed them on the table.  Even though Master
Hariule had a huge collection of books, most of them had nothing to do
with magic.  Soon, a small stack of books rose from the table.
Scanning the bookcase once more, Ranma picked out books with
non-magical subjects he thought he might need in his journey.  One
taught woodland survival skills.  Several others described various
creatures that roamed the land.  Although he had read most of these
books, having them along would not hurt.

	When he finished his selection, he prepared to store the
volumes away.  Reaching down to his pouch, he opened it up and placed
everything in his pouch, neatly storing them in a pocket dimension.

	"We're gonna need some supplies, so remind me to stop at that
village to the south," he told Azure as he bustled around the room.
Aside from the books, there wasn't much else he needed to ready.  He
knew that he would appear suspicious to others if he traveled without
luggage, so he also prepared a modest pack.  The pack was a
sturdily-made leather affair, seeming to bulge with pockets.  Deciding
to put the pack to good use, he loaded it with large and blunt rocks.
He thought, 'Since I'll be traveling anyway, I might as well use the
pack to train.'

	All of the magical paraphernalia would be left tucked away
safe in this basement lab.  When he left, the dimensional seal he
placed over the entranceway would hide this place from world.  With a
sigh, he didn't know how long it would be until he returned, or if he
would return at all.

	The final preparation for the journey consisted of enchanting
a guidestone.  Reaching behind a hollow in the wall, he pulled out a
small pouch and a larger sack.  The pouched contained a wealth of gems
while the sack contained small disks of various metals.  Picking out a
small but flawless sapphire from the pouch, he brought it and several
small discs of platinum over to the table and popped the gem into a
glass vial.  Suspending the vial over a small flame, Ranma pulled out
dagger and lightly pricked his finger.  Holding his finger over the
glass tube, he squeezed it lightly with the other hand.  Soon, a drop
of blood formed.  It hung there suspended over the space. Ranma
watched as the small globule of blood slowly dropped into the vial,
settling at the bottom.

	Closing his eyes and concentrating, he chanted,

	"Spirits of fire,
	Spirits of life."

	The tiny flame beneath the vial flared into a miniature
bonfire. 

	"Spirits of prophecy,
	Let this stone be your vessel."

	The blood was slowly drawn into the jewel.  Eyes still closed,
he reached over and unerringly dropped the platinum discs into the
vial

	"From this gloss,
Twine to form a cord."

The metal liquefied and began to bubble.  Ranma opened his eyes.

"To guide this poor soul.
JAENIR MIRUS MORIBUS."

At the end of the spell, the contents of vial exploded into a
shimmering cloud.  Ranma made sure to not inhale any of the cloud.
Seconds later, the cloud was pulled back into the vial.  The vapor,
with an audible pop, solidified into ... something, 

	Excited, Ranma reached over to dump the contents of the vial
out onto the table.  When he touched the vial, he sucked in his breath
in pain as he burned himself on the hot glass.  In his haste to
release the vial, he knocked it over sending it and its content to the
floor.

	"Damn!  I always do that," he mumbled as he soothed his
fingers by sucking on them.

	<You should know better by now, Raeni,> commented Azure from
his bed on the floor.  <Always impatient to get something glittering.>

	Wounded to the core, Ranma glared at Azure.  He sniffed, "Not
true.  I just wanna make sure it worked."  Bending down low, he
muttered, "KIRUS", forming a small softly-glowing ball of light on his
palm.  Blowing gently, he directed the light to where the vial landed.
The light softly settled on the broken remains of the glass, covering
the fragments and the necklace found within with a light layer of
frost.

	"That should do it," continued Ranma as he gingerly picked up
the revealed necklace from the ground.  Bringing the string of
platinum up to eye level, he examined his handiwork.  The stone, which
previously had shined a clear, blue sapphire before now shone a
brilliant violet in color.  Around the stone, a setting of platinum
showed simple beauty with a delicate leaf design.  The necklace itself
was a simple affair, a miniature rope of platinum.

	Ranma undid the clasp as he placed the piece of jewelry around
his neck.  After fastening it securely, he left the basement, heading
for ground level.  Standing quietly, he let his concentration roam
free, emptying his mind.  Soon enough, he felt a light tugging from
the southwest.  Smiling, he opened his eyes, saying, "And so the
journey begins."

OMAKE

Chibi-Azure (pre-panther) rushes onto stage.

CHIBI-AZURE:  U-SA-GI-CHAN.  U-SA-GI-CHAN.  Wake up, Usagi-chan.

CHIBI-RAENI:  [pops out of nowhere and whaps Azure on the head] Luna!
This isn't Sailor Moon.

CHIBI-AZURE:  A-heh-heh.  I lost track of which fanfic I was doing.

CHIBI-RAENI:  Ahem.  Aren't you forgetting something?  You can't talk
in this one.

CHIBI-AZURE:  Oops [looks very embarrassed].  <HOW'S How's How's THIS?
This This> [voice reverberates through scene, shaking the camera and
causing cracks to appear, changing to a slightly lower-key, male
voice]

CHIBI-RAENI:  [yelling and clutching her ears] EGADS! TURN THAT DOWN.

CHIBI-AZURE:  [turns down a dial on a little box by her side] <Sorry.>

CHIBI-RAENI:  [turns to camera] Now to the business at hand.

Suddenly a giant lobster chased by Chibi-Ranma run on stage breezing
by, or rather, over the two already there.

CHIBI-RANMA:  [puffing hard] Hey, come back here!

CHIBI-MALQUAT:  [in a fearful voice] No way!  Are you nuts?  I didn't
do anything to you.

CHIBI-RANMA:  But the producers promised me lunch.  [starts slavering]
I haven't had lobster for ten years.  I'm hungry.

CHIBI-MALQUAT:  [still running]  AEIEIII!  That's it.  I'm outta here.
Maybe I'll work as a youma for Sailor Moon.  At least they won't EAT
me there.

The two run off stage.

CHIBI-RAENI:  [crushed flat as a pancake] Uhh ... Mommy?

CHIBI-AZURE:  [also crushed flat] <Urg.>

Curtain draws closed and the screen darkens.

Words appear on the screen.  "WE'RE SORRY.  WE ARE UNABLE TO CONTINUE
DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES."