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Name: cj
E-mail: cj <cj@stny.lrun.com>
Date: 6/2/98
Time: 1:41:35 AM
This message was sent by Chameleon
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Here is part 2 of my fanfic. I hope people don't expect regular updates,
the fact that I'm writing at all (voluntarily) is a minor miracle to those
that know me. Please send C&C (grovel, grovel, scrape, scrape) preferably
to cj@stny.lrun.com. If you want to MST it feel free.
LOST BOY OF AMBER
A Ranma 1/2/Chronicles of Amber x-over
By C.J.
All characters from Ranma 1/2 are property of Rumiko Takahashi. All
characters from The Chronicles of Amber are property of Roger Zelazny. Any
new characters are mine. Please don't sue me, I have less money than most
college students (if that's possible).
PART2-NEW ARRIVALS
It was a bright and cheery morning.
Tendo Akane loved mornings, especially sunny spring mornings such as
today. The birds were singing as she finished her jog at the dojo gates and
greeted her sister.
"Good morning, Kasumi-oneechan!"
"Good morning, Akane. It's good to see you in such a good mood."
Akane sighed as she finished her stretches. "Well; it's such a
wonderful morning, I just can't help it." She headed out back to watch the
inevitable struggle between Ranma and his father. Just before she opened
the shoji leading to the yard, there was a tremendous splash that signified
the end of practice.
"Getting old, oyaji? You're hardly a match for me any more. Maybe you
should practice with Akane, instead." Ranma backed away from splashing
range, which put him in front of his fianc�e.
Akane scowled. "What's that supposed to mean, baka?"
"Just that he should fight the one martial artist in the area that
can't clean his clock without trying." Ranma shrugged, not turning his back
on his water-happy father.
All of the witnesses agreed that that was Ranma's biggest mistake so
far that day.
"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane yelled as she pivoted, grabbed the table, and
knocked Ranma flying towards the back wall. For once, Ranma's skill held
out as he spun in midair, pushed off the wall, and landed near the pond,
smirking at his fianc�e. The outer wall exploding inward was not part of
his plan.
"What the..." Ranma muttered to himself as he spun around, analyzing
the situation. 'Let's see,' he thought, 'There's Ryoga and some girl I
don't know versus a bunch of guys in black armor and some
monsters...monsters!'
Ranma immediately plowed into a cluster of men with swords. "Hey,
pigboy! Gotta bring your friends to beat me now?"
"Shaddup!" Ryoga growled. "Can't you see we're fighting for our
lives?"
The pig-tailed martial artist used a Katchuu Tenshin Amiguriken kata to
disarm a trio of swordsmen, followed by a crescent kick that stunned a
dog-ape-lizard(?). "Couldn't you at least tear up someone else's yard?"
The unknown girl spoke up. "I can see why you didn't want to ask him
for help, Ryoga. His ego does most of the fighting for him."
"Hey! Who are you anyway?" As Ranma demanded this, he glanced over his
shoulder to see Akane and his father fending off any attackers that got too
close to the house, with Mr. Tendo shielding Kasumi and Nabiki with his body
and the unpenetrable wall of tears. "Ryoga's never got cute girls hanging
around him, and you ain't dressed like these jokers."
"Why you...Whoulf!" This last was said as the girl was clipped by a
club and knocked into the pond, the murky water concealing her form.
"I've got her!" Akane rushed to the pond's edge to perform a rescue,
but stopped as the bubbles that came to the surface tripled in strength and
roiled the water.
"ENOUGH!" Came a cry from the back of the troops. A wave of armor
parting before him, a man who was obviously the leader strode forward.
"Give us the girl, or you will all die!"
"Never!" said Ryoga.
"Yeah," came from Ranma. "Even if we were gonna give her up, it
wouldn't be to somebody who can't even come up with original lines. I mean,
'do or die' went out in the eighties."
"Kill them all." Was the only reply.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE." This caused all heads to turn to the pond.
Rising out of the pond was a dragon! This new monstrosity stood
roughly thirty feet high, with emerald green scales and smoke streaming out
of the nostrils. "NOW DIE, MORTALS, FOR DISTURBING ME!" With a huge
inhalation, the western-style dragon began to breathe a jet of blue-white
flame, which Ryoga and Ranma managed to dodge. Their opponents, encumbered
by armor, did not.
Once the enemy was reduced to ashes, the wyrm stepped out of the pond
and looked at the other man-folk scurrying around it's mass. "WHY DO YOU
NOT FLEE, MORSELS? DOES NOT MY MIGHT FILL YOU WITH DREAD?" Only after
peering into it's green eyes did one respond.
"Lara-chan, is that you?" Ryoga stammered in amazement.
"HOW DARE YOU PRESUME TO CALL ME...Ryo-chan?" The dragon hunched its
shoulders, and began to shrink. The lost boys stepped forwards as the
dragon returned to it's proper form, that of a brown-haired girl. Ryoga
caught her as she collapsed, turning so that her naked body was concealed
from view.
"Ryoga-kun," Akane stepped forward. "Could you explain what just
happened?"
Kasumi stepped into the living room. "I put her to sleep in my room.
The poor girl must have been exhausted." She sat down at the table and
began to serve tea to everyone.
"Thank you, Kasumi-san. It's been rough since those guys attacked us
three days ago." Ryoga relaxed as much as he could while remaining sitting.
"Three days, Ryoga? You must have really ticked off somebody." Ranma
smirked. "What did you stumble over now? Some villain's secret base? Or
just an overlord's fortress?"
Akane smacked Ranma in the side of the head. "Baka. Stop picking on
Ryoga. Can't you see he's had a hard time?" She turned to Ryoga. "Why
don't you get some rest, too. We can talk about this later."
"Thanks, Akane-san." Ryoga blushed.
A smirk came across Nabiki's face. "Yes, Ryoga. I'll wait until later
to come up with a payment plan for the wall and yard for you." She enjoyed
the look of panic that appeared on his face.
After Ryoga got up and left, the others drifted off to their normal
activities. Kasumi to the kitchen, Nabiki out to inspect the damage, and
Soun and Genma to the game board. Ranma and Akane stayed at the table
looking at one another.
"Three days? He's lucky he can still walk." A gasp rose from Akane at
Ranma's statement. "What?"
"We have to find Ryoga before he gets lost again! What if those men
find him while he's exhausted and alone?"
"Don't worry, he's probably still in the house. I'll check the upper
floor, you get the ground floor." Jumping lightly to his feet, Ranma headed
upstairs. Akane searched the backyard and dojo, hoping to catch him before
he left. Coming back inside, she caught sight of Ranma walking quietly down
the stairs.
"Well? Did you find him?"
"Yeah, he out like a light in the guest bedroom. He must have been so
tired that his sense of direction didn't have the energy to let him wander."
"Stop!"
The master of the guard and battle trainer of the House Rakthiya
stepped back as the mistress strode into the training area. She immediately
went to his newest student, snatched the weapon of choice away, and threw it
at the far wall.
"I thought I told you to train her in the greatsword. What is she
doing with a staff?" The tone of ice within her voice was nearly as deadly
as the glare she leveled at him.
He bowed in apology. "Forgive me mistress..." He was cut off with a
meaty slap to the face, a slap that would have killed a creature of shadow.
"It was my choice, mother, I don't like swords. I prefer a weapon that
can knock out an opponent, not kill."
The lady of the manor stared at the child. "Very well then, let me
give you a lesson that all royalty must learn. The choices that you make
will always affect the lives of others." With that, she turned to the
swordsman and made an arcane gesture with her hand. The old man fell over
to writhe on the ground, unable to even scream due to the pain. As the
mistress left the courtyard, the young girl held her teacher until the fits
left him. Once he was no longer in danger, she walked to the weapon rack
and lifted off a sword. Turning to the man, she spoke in a cold voice.
"Shall we begin?"
"Very well young..." He caught the look in her eye. "Very well, Lady
Lara, let us begin." With that, he brought a sword to bear, and taught her
to kill.
Lara jerked awake, the painful memories receding from the light of
morning. Looking around, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. It was
decorated in a fashion that was Spartan and feminine at the same time.
Getting up and heading towards the door, she realized that the nightgown was
not her usual attire. Once the door was open, the only sounds of life that
she heard were coming downstairs. Following the sounds, she soon made her
way to the kitchen, where a woman a few years older than her was making
preparations for breakfast. At the quiet cough she made, the woman turned
around and smiled.
"Good morning, I hope you slept well." The woman turned so as to be
able to cook and talk to Lara at once.
"Yes, very much so, Ms..."
"Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Tendo Kasumi."
"No problem, Tendo-san. I am... Hibiki Lara. I should ask for
forgiveness after bringing my problems to your home without permission."
Kasumi gave another gentle smile to the girl. "Please, there is no
need for formality, just call me Kasumi."
Lara returned Kasumi's smile with a sheepish one. "Sorry. Manners and
etiquette were beaten into my head at an early age, sometimes I'm too formal
far my own good..."
"There's nothing wrong with being polite. You may wish to use the
bath, breakfast will not be ready for a short while." The older girl smiled
once again at her mysterious guest. "You did have a long day yesterday.
Your pack was gotten out of the pond and the contents dried. They were left
in the laundry room."
Lara nodded and left the kitchen. She got her things from the laundry
room and headed into the bath . 'Wow' she thought, 'these are neater than
they were when I got them. Kasumi is really good at what she does'. By
this time, she noticed the shorthaired girl from yesterday in the furo,
staring at her.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, let me leave."
"Oh, no problem, you can stay. I'm Tendo Akane."
Lara sat down and began to scrub. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hibiki Lara,
Ryoga's cousin. He's told me a lot about you... is something wrong?" She
noticed that Akane was looking intently at the pail in Lara's hands.
"Your not going to use that in here, are you?"
"Why not?"
"That's cold water."
Lara set the pail down. "Is there something I should know about cold
water? I think I'm missing the point."
Akane looked at the girl oddly. "Yesterday you fell into the pond, and
became a Dragon. Didn't you fall in to the spring of the Drowned Dragon or
something?"
"No, that's just a trick I picked up in my travels. What's a 'spring
of the Drowned Dragon?"
Akane sighed in relief as Lara dumped the pail of cold water on herself
to no real effect. "See, there's a place in China called the Cursed Valley
of Jusenkyo, where..."
Ranma came inside, after dumping his father into the drink(again) to
see Akane and that girl from yesterday sitting at the table, giggling. He
plopped down in his usual spot. "Where's pig-boy? He's gonna get lost if
you leave him alone."
Akane just glared at her fianc�e. "Won't you ever stop picking on
Ryoga, Ranma?"
Ranma opened his mouth. "Uncute..." His mouth promptly shut as an
elbow landed on his head.
"Don't worry about me, Akane-san. His childish comments don't bother
me." Ryoga removed his elbow from its position on his rival's head and sat
down next to Lara. "I hope you don't mind, Akane-san, but I used the bath
when I got up."
"When did you get up, three hours ago?" Ranma said, catching nasty
glares from both girls at once.
"No, just a few minutes ago, why?" Ryoga looked curiously around,
ending on Lara's face when he realized that she was giggling.
"See, Ryo-chan, it worked. You don't get lost anymore."
In their astonishment, no one noticed the crow on the outer wall,
staring at Lara, not even flinching at the joyous yell that scattered birds
for three blocks.
To be continued...