Chapter 2: The Purple Hoard
	Running down the narrow corridor, Ranma rushes to find the messenger that
brought the news. The stone walls of his keep, painstakingly cleaned by
helpers and royal
aids, flew by in a blur of motion. Every now and then a door would appear on
the left or
right, but Ranma disregarded them. The hallway that led from his war room
opened up
into a circular portal leading to the throne room and royal hallways.
Entering the royal
room, he turned quickly left and followed the bright red carpet out of the
throne room and
into the audience chamber. There he saw what he was searching for. A tired
looking
messenger was sitting on one of the chairs placed outside of the great hall.
Upon seeing
Ranma, he leaped to his feet in attention.
	"Sir, I bring news of the attack! He seemed to trip over his own words
trying to
speak as fast as was possible.
	"Calm down, just tell me what you brought me" Looking behind him, Ranma saw
that his generals from the room followed him here and was listening with a grave
attentiveness. 	
	"This message from Lord Saotome, your father sir. He requests aid against a
siege
launched against his capitol in Ling Ling. The fighting has been for three
days now."
	Who attacked"
	"The Purple Hoard, sir" Three days. If the attack has been going on for
three days,
then this messenger must of left as soon as it began and rode hard just to
get here in that
time. It is a full five day trip to Ling Ling on a good day. Looking at the
messenger,
Ranma could see the dark circles under his eyes. Worn riding boots with
crusted mud still
stuck to them. Dirt and dust rubbed into his youthful face, and the
exhaustion was evident
throughout.
	"Link!"
	"Yes my liege." A lanky looking servant entered from the left. Appearing more
like the court jester then the head servant, he could put a smile on a
ninety year old
warlord's face, and that trait has saved his life more times then he'd care
to admit. 
	"Tell Queen Saotome to meet me in the forward chamber, clean this messenger....
what was your name again?" In the excitement of the moment, Ranma had forgot
that he
didn't know this messenger personally, being one of his fathers men.
	"Juan, sir." The man looked about to fall over
	"Have this .. Juan... taken care of, make sure he gets whatever he wants and is
cleaned up for an official audience with me and the queen"
	"As my Lord commands." With an overly dramatic bow and a smirk, Link leads
the tired man down the opposite corridor. He must of either told a joke or
something
because all of a sudden, the mans laughter could be heard echoing down the
long hallway.
Why do I feel like that was at my expense? Ranma himself couldn't suppress
the chuckle
as he thought about what devious thing Link could be saying about him.
	"Sir, there is another matter, the Queen wishes to see you immediately" One
of the
servants looked at him and quickly lowered his eyes "If you would please.."
	"Of course, I'll be right there" Looking at the assembled Lords and people he
remembered something. "You are all dismissed. Have the homeland leaders meet
with me
in two hours. I must attend to business."
	The resulting chaos of people tripping over each other lasted for about thirty
seconds and then was replaced with the steady silence of the empty room. Or
almost
empty; Ranma could make out the dim outlines of three guards in the shadows
behind
him. He may of trained them, and they may be the best guard anywhere, but
they could
never avoid his perception. He doubted anyone else knew they were there. He
didn't
become leader for nothing. On the way down the second corridor that lead to
his personal
quarters, he thought about the resulting years of his rule. The rule has
been easy compared
to him getting it. He grabbed the land, leadership, and wife in one series
of harsh fights.
Beating the best of the best was not easy, and he knew he only won by a thread.
Surprisingly, Ryoga was his fiercest opponent, but respected and befriended
him as soon
as he realized he was the best ruler and warrior. Many times Ryoga had saved
his life from
a surprise flank by a cunning enemy. The Nomad doesn't even seem to mind
losing his
land in the resulting competition, it was the woman, Akane of the Tendo
family, that he
seemed to be fighting for. When Genma and Soun decided to give their lands
to the best
fighter, no one seemed really interested, the stakes were too high. If you
lost, your lands
were forfeit to the winner. The Kuno family and Mouse were the only ones who
entered,
of course with Ranma, Genma's son. Soun Tendo decided to spice up the prize,
offering
his youngest daughter of three as part of the booty. Her beauty even at the
young age of
sixteen was legendary and it attracted many more fighters from across china.
This of
course was Genma and Soun's plan, to have Ranma win the tourney that he was
training
his whole life for. So hard was his training in fact, he was cursed forever
with an alter ego
from a mistake at a cursed training spring, forced to change into a female
if he ever gets
dosed with cold water, with warm water being the only cure. The match was
not so cut
and dry, Ranma thought wryly. Eight fought in the tourney, and he almost
lost twice. The
first win was from Kuno the Swordmaster, and that name was definitely
earned. Since
Kuno and Ranma could not agree on the weapon for the competition, it was
decided that
the first would be open hand,  the second would be sword, and the third would be
accuracy with the bow. Ranma won easily in unarmed combat, for Kuno was not
a fighter.
However, when it came to swords, Ranma was overwhelmed by Kuno's quick and
fierce
attacks. It lasted longer then the first fight, but Ranma could tell he was
losing ground.
Finally Kuno jerked forward and struck Ranma in the center of his chest,
denoting the kill.
Kuno was also good at archery, but was no match for Ranma who split the
first three
arrows he shot, one right after another, and then threw one and took the
feather off the
other three. The battle with Ryoga was the worst, with Ryoga's heavy
strength and
endurance leading the fight. Ranma had to counter with every technique he
knew to be
able to defeat him, but he never fought one as furious as Ryoga of Hibiki.
Ryoga seemed
only to care for the woman and unheeded the land. He didn't even care that
he lost his
large province to the east, he never stayed there anyway, having his army always
mobilized, moving and camping. He earned the nickname Nomadic King for these
reasons. Ranma recognized the strength and leadership abilities of the ones
he fought, so
made them rulers of their own lands. This way, he would avoid unrest that would
undoubtedly come from the change of power. Also he kept it a secret from
everyone else,
even his allies, so that they would be privy to more information then if
they knew they
were all one. As it stands, all they know is that they are close allies, and
it served him
well. A unintended result was that Kuno took an interest in the Queen's
sister Nibiki and is
betrothed to her, further cementing that bond. Also Mouse, the delegate of
the western
provinces, is betrothed to the grand-daughter of the secret Amazonian
warrior society, so
Ranma may have an added bonus. Cologne, the grandmother, has the wisdom of
the ages,
and Ranma has never seen a better advisor. I'll have to try to pick her up
as the head
advisor, Ranma thought. Her wisdom is invaluable. Rounding the corner and
standing in
front of the huge, iron gilded door to his private chambers, he pulled the
key from around
his neck and examined it. The key to the kingdom, or at least figuratively.
It does unlock
almost every door in the keep and is the only key to his private chambers,
so in actually, it
is the key to the kingdom. Putting the small key into the keyhole, it turned
with a steady
'click' and the door swung open.