HALF A SORCERESS	

Chapter 4:Dash! The Hair-rising Race Across China!

Written by: Jussi Nikander

Ranma 1/2 is a copyright by Rumiko Takahashi and
Shogakukan inc.
Slayers is copyright by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV
Tokyo, SOFTX and Egg Films
Not used under authorisation, but since I don't get any
money from this, don't sue me, okay?

Previous chapters can be found at

http://www.users.fl.net.au/~bcadwgan/Anime.htm

Many thanks to my prereaders, Barry Cadwgan, Joshua
Prismon and Ben Oliver.
And a special thanks to Eternal Lost Lurker for his help. ^_^

Also many thanks to all those wonderful people on the FFML
who answered my questions. You know who you are.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jusenkyou Guide sat by the campfire, worried. Even
after he had explained the situation, Mr and Miss Customer,
as well as Mr Customer who was currently inside Miss
Customer, hadn't showed any concern about what had
happened in the Amazon Village.

The Guide knew well that both his customers were
overconfident, but until now he hadn't realised just how
overconfident they were. It was impossible to escape an
Amazon. She would follow you to the ends of Earth to keep
her honour. Unfortunately for the Guide, as well as elder Mr
Customer, enraged Amazons often practised 'guilt by
association', so all three - or four, depending on your point of
view - of them were in danger, not only Miss Customer. Even
if the Amazon girl needed to kill only Miss Customer, there
was no guarantee that others would survive the
confrontation.

The Guide filled his pipe and lit it. Thank heavens his
contract with Mr Customer would end in the next village.

			* * *

Lina sat on her sleeping bag, staring out of the tent's open
door flap. Even if she hadn't let it show, the Guide's story had
disturbed her. A tribal law that required you to kill somebody
just because you were defeated? Ridiculous.

And to make things worse, she wasn't the only one affected.
If it had been just her, Lina was sure she had nothing to fear
from the Amazon girl, Shampoo. But, as things were, she
wasn't alone in her body. How would Ranma fare?

<Hey, Ranma,> Lina said.

<Yeah, what?>

<Have you thought of what the Guide told us?> Lina tucked
her knees in and rested her chin on them.

Ranma's mental voice sounded arrogant. <Yeah. It's no big
deal, really. If that girl shows up, I can handle her all right.>

<You sure?> Lina asked. <'Cause if you can't I'm going to die
too, and that's an experience I don't want to repeat.>

<No prob. I can beat her.>

<Good. Anyway, I'm going go to sleep. Good night,
Ranma.>

<'Night.>

			* * *

Lina woke up early, next morning. For a while she lay there,
but it seemed that Ranma was still sleeping. Thus, she could
have the body for a while longer. Crawling out of her sleeping
bag and looking out, the redhead was greeted by a beautiful
morning. The sun was bathing the Saotomes' camp in a
warm glow, and all seemed peaceful. They had made their
camp next to a small river, to which Lina now headed.

Lina scooped up a few handfuls of water to ease her thirst
and then splashed some to her face. Wiping away the last
remnants of sleep, she lay back to enjoy the morning. Ranma
would wake soon, and the she would have to give up the
body. Might as well enjoy the morning sun while she still
could. "Mmm.... So warm..." Lina murmured.

A few minutes later a sleepy Genma crawled out of his tent.
Lina sat up and eyed the elder Saotome while he made his
way to the riverside. Genma, too, drank a little before
splashing some water to his face. Unfortunately, the water
was enough to activate his curse, and Genma suddenly
found himself turned into a panda.

Lina snickered. "Looks like you forgot your curse, pops."

The panda shot an angry glance at Lina's way and pulled out
a sign reading: "show respect to your elders, boy!"

Lina snickered louder. The panda growled something and
trudged back to the campfire to heat some water.

Vaguely, Ranma heard something intruding to his sleep. It
sounded like a girl's laughter. Or was it his own? _Her_ own?
Suddenly, Ranma snapped awake. The first thing he saw
was his father in panda form, trying to light a fire. Ranma
realised that Lina was still in control of the body. Wasn't it
supposed to be his day today?

<Hey, Lina!> Ranma shouted.

Lina's laughter quickly subsided. <Oh, morning, Ranma.>

<Morning. Wasn't this supposed to be a day when I'm in
control of my body?>

<Yep, but I woke up before you did and didn't want to just lay
down.> Lina assumed a lotus position on the riverbank.
<Now, do you remember what you have to do?>

<Yeah. I have to concentrate on controlling the body, right?>

<Right.> Lina closed her eyes and tried to shut down all
outside stimuli. Half a minute later, there was a quick feeling
of vertigo, and she found herself a passenger once more.

Ranma flexed his hands to assure himself that the body was
once again his. <Lina, you there?>

<Yup. You okay?>

Ranma stood up, everything seemed to be still working. He
turned back towards the camp just as Genma poured the
warm water over himself, once again assuming his human
form. Unfortunately for Ranma, his father used all the water.

"Hey pop! You could have left some for me!"

Adjusting his glasses, Genma turned to face the young girl.
"Son? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Ranma answered. "It's my day, remember?"

Genma nodded once. "Good." It was as good a time for
another training session as any, the elder Saotome thought.
He took a few deep breaths to prepare himself mentally.
None of them were visible enough to alert his son of course,
but they served to prepare him enough. It was time to see if
Ranma had kept up in his training regime, despite this
unfortunate... accident. Genma jumped high into the air and
came down at Ranma, shouting "Defend yourself!"

Almost taken by surprise, Ranma barely dodged the attack.
"Hey! What's the big deal?"

Taking a ready position, Genma prepared for his next
charge. "You should be always on your guard, son.
Especially now when you've acquired a new enemy."

<Gee, Ranma,> Lina said. <Your father sure initiates training
sessions at odd times.>

<Yeah. Sometimes I think he does it just to spite me.>

Taking a step forward, Genma jumped up in the air, intent on
hitting his son from above. Having anticipated this, Ranma
jumped too and met him in the air where the two exchanged a
blur of punches and kicks. Genma had been easily able to
block everything Ranma threw at him. Ranma, on the other
hand, had taken several hits.

"What is it with you today, son!" Genma bellowed. "You're
fighting like a ten-year-old!"

"I'll show you 'ten-year-old', pop," Ranma muttered, rubbing
his aching side. How was the old man able to get that many
hits in?

The sparring session didn't take much longer. In less than a
minute, Genma sent his son flying to the river. "You're way
too sloppy today, son!" he bellowed. "I expect much a better
performance in the future!"

Spluttering, Ranma trudged out of the water. <How could the
old man wipe the floor with me? It ain't like he's that much
better than I am!>

Lina had followed the sparring session quietly, not wanting to
disturb Ranma. She had, however, realised what Ranma's
problem was early to the fight.

<Ranma?>

<Yeah!?> The young martial artist answered, preparing to
spring at his father.

<I think I know what's wrong with you.>

That stopped Ranma. <Oh. What?>

<You're in my body.>

Ranma blinked a few times. <What's that gotta do with
anything.>

<I'm much smaller than you. My reach is shorter.>

Ranma froze for a second. It had been so obvious that he
hadn't even considered it. Lina's body was way different from
his own. It was smaller, the mass was distributed differently,
and he probably was weaker than in his male body. Curious,
Ranma began a kata. What better way is there to see just
how different Lina's body is, he thought.

			* * *

Ranma stopped doing katas in about half a hour. During that
time Genma had made breakfast, and even heated some
water for his son. Gratefully, Ranma poured the water over
himself, turning back to his own form.

<You know, Lina, your body wasn't that different from mine.>

<Oh, how so?>

<Well, you have a shorter reach and the mass is distributed
a little differently, but the changes aren't that big. Or maybe
it's just me adjusting to the body or something.>

<Hmm... I'm not sure about that adjusting to a body part
myself. But then again, I haven't switched bodies before so I
have no personal experience..>

<Switched bodies?> Ranma asked, curious.

<Yes. There's a shamanistic spell called Kiyor Switch, which
swaps the caster's mind with the mind of the subject. It's not
a very hard spell, I've heard, but only known by a few.>

<Oh.> For a while Ranma sat there, waiting for his food and
thinking back, analysing just where and how Lina's body had
reacted differently from his own.

<By the way Lina, it's a good thing you're so flat-chested,>
Ranma remarked after a while.

<Oh?> Lina said in dangerous voice. To think that somebody
thought her greatest embarrassment was a good thing...

Oblivious as always to the not-so-subtle change in Lina's
voice, Ranma continued <Yeah. Since your breasts are so
small, the center of your body's mass ain't that far from
mine...>

			* * *

The Guide had been so worried about the Amazon situation
that hadn't fallen asleep until near four o'clock, so he didn't
wake up until he heard Ranma's scream. Fearing the worst,
the Chinese man scrambled out of his tent. He wasn't,
however, greeted with a sight of Mr Customer being killed by
the Amazon. Instead, the young boy was doubled over next
to the campfire, clutching his head. The Guide blinked,
confused. Why was Mr Customer acting like that?

			* * *

< ...and don't you ever again make fun of it you tactless
JERK!!!!> Had she been able to, Lina would have taken
Ranma into a headlock and pounded him for good. But, as
things were, she couldn't and had to settle for screaming at
him. Fortunately mental screaming didn't give her a sore
throat.

Rubbing his temples, Ranma sat up. What was it with Lina,
anyway? It wasn't like he could have know it was a sore spot
for her! Sheesh! Women...

"You all right, son?" Genma asked.

Ranma glanced at his father. "Yeah. Lina's just a little peeved
since she's so flatOW!" Ranma winced in pain. Lina knew
how to shout, that was for sure. Just his luck to be stuck with
a short-temper chick like her.

Genma turned to tend the food. It wasn't like he didn't want to
help his son, but this was way out of his league. So, he
decided to use a very old method of dealing with this kind of
situation: ignore it and maybe it'll go away.

Ranma, meanwhile, was still in considerable pain. It was
good that Lina couldn't do anything physical to him. He
wouldn't want to be in the receiving end of that Dillwhatever-
thingie she had used on his father. Still, Ranma wasn't in a
mood to fight, anymore. Maybe it had something to do with
that headache.

"Food's ready," Genma announced and all thoughts of
fighting disappeared from Ranma's head. He was starved
and Pop had already started gobbling down the food.

			* * *

The day might have started sunny, bit that didn't last. After
they had been moving for about an hour, the sky was filled
with dark clouds. Minutes later it started raining, much to
Ranma and Genma's annoyance.

Damn the weather, Ranma though while trying to adjust his
backpack for his now-smaller frame and keep on walking at
the same time. After some struggling, the pack fit comfortably
against his back. It was just his luck to be caught in rain.
And, since the Guide insisted they keep on moving, saying
that there was a village just a short walk ahead, they weren't
stopping to heat some water. So Ranma was stuck as a girl,
and in his opinion that sucked.

<I don't think it's so bad,> Lina said. She and Ranma had
been making small talk for most of the journey. The worst
thing, in Lina's opinion, in being stuck in the back of Ranma's
head, was the boredom. Thus, she had quickly forgiven
Ranma and kept on pestering him about information of the
modern world. Somehow, the discussion had moved on to
Jusenkyou and their shared curse.

<Easy for you to say. Hot water's much easier to avoid than
cold.>

<True.> Had she been able to, Lina would have nodded.
<But isn't it better to turn into a girl than, for example, to a
panda or a piglet? At least you can still talk and people still
consider you a person.>

<Umm. Yeah, I guess you're right.>

<Yup! So cheer up, okay? Life isn't bad, we're on the road,
the food's good and the day isn't too hot.>

<Well, you ain't the one who's currently drenched...>
Suddenly Ranma had a flash of genius. At least for him.
<Say, Lina, would you be able to cast that umbrella spell-
thingie you used yesterday?>

<Why's that?>

<Well, while I've already turned into a girl, it could at least
keep me from being totally drenched.>

<Hmm... I can try.> Lina closed her eyes, or at least ignored
what she saw through Ranma's eyes, and concentrated on
the spell. The energy came to her, was easily bent to her will
and released. Unfortunately, the spell immediately bounced
back at her, accomplishing absolutely nothing. Lina did the
mental equivalent of a blink. She tried again, but with the
same result. Curious, the young sorceress tried a few other
minor spells, but all bounced back at her. For a few minutes
Lina pondered how something seemed to be blocking all her
spells.

Suddenly, it all came clear to her.

<Sorry, Ranma, I can't.>

<Why?> There was a slight accusation in Ranma's voice.

<Since I'm not in control of the body. It seems that I can't use
any spells while I'm just hitching a ride. It's like I'm in some
kind of circle of binding that prevents me from doing
anything.>

<Huh?>

Lina sighed. This reminds me of Gourry, she thought. <In
essence, while you're in control of the body,  it works as a
pentagram that binds me inside it. I can observe what's
happening outside, but unable to affect it. Most likely same
holds true for you while I'm in control. It is probably a side-
effect of the curse. Understood?>

Ranma shook his head. <Uhh... So you can't cast spells?>

<Yes!>

Ranma blinked. <You can or you can't?>

<I can't! Not while you're in control!>

<Sheesh, there's no need to shout, okay? Now what does
that pentagram stuff have to do with it?>

<Every five-year-old knows that a demon can be kept inside
a properly drawn pentagram! It shouldn't be that hard to
make the...awhell!> Lina suddenly remembered that she
wasn't in her time anymore. There weren't monsters roaming
around the countryside anymore. The Mazoku were gone.
There was very little knowledge of magic left. No wonder
Ranma didn't know this stuff.

<Look, Ranma. I can't help you in this, okay?> She said,
forcing her voice to be calm. <As long as you're in control,
I'm just a voice in the back of your head.>

<Yeah, I got that. Umm... If I give you control for a moment,
could you cast the spell?>

<Sure, but I'd probably have to stay in control to maintain it.>

<Oh. So you can't.>

<Nope.>

<Damn.>

			* * *

A few hours later the three reached a small village. "This is
village of Cunzhuang, Mr Customer, Miss Customer..."

"I ain't no girl!" Ranma retorted, angry.

"Aiyah! I sorry, Mr Customer. Much apologising. Now, Mr
Customer..." The Guide turned to Genma and gave him a
piece of paper. A rather long piece of paper. "Here is my bill.
Would you please pay in cash?"

"You're leaving?" Ranma asked.

"I was hired to guide you this far. From here you can easily
find your way to the city of Xining."

Ranma glanced at his father, who produced a sign reading
"He's right."

"Good, now would you please pay."

Genma looked at the total sum and boggled. Sweating hard,
he read the bill through a few times, before looking at the
impassive Guide. "It's... it's an OUTRAGEOUS SUM!!!"
read the sign he held up.

The Guide shook his head a little. "It is what we agreed upon,
Mr Customer. You should not be so surprised."

Genma quickly switched the sign for a bigger one. "But...
But... But it is way too big! I would be reduced to penury!!"

"That is unfortunate, Mr Customer, but this is business."

Genma flipped the sign over. "I would have to sell my only
child to slavery to survive! I would starve!" flip. "How can you
be so cruel!" The last sign was accompanied by one of the
most pitiful, fake puppy dog eye expressions in the recorded
history. It was indeed lucky for Genma that Ranma was
standing behind him, and thus didn't see what was written on
the signs.

The Guide sighed. "Mr Customer. I know you are not that
poor. I know you have enough money to pay the bill. Please,
I would like to be on my way home soon."

Genma sweated a little, glanced at the Guide, at the village
ahead, and the road behind him, but finally reached for his
wallet after Ranma had whapped him. He paid the Guide,
who thanked them and departed.

"Come on, Pop," Ranma said, shouldering his pack. "I don't
know about you, but I'd like to eat something besides your
cooking for a change."

<Is your father always like this?> Lina asked. <I mean a
cheating swindler?>

<Pretty much, I'm afraid,> Ranma sighed.

			* * *

When Shampoo had left Jokentsuzoku, she had been hours
behind her quarry, but the tracks she now saw were recent.
The outsider girl had been here only a few minutes ago. She
wouldn't escape this time. Shampoo had lost the girl's trail
when she had reached her camping place. It seemed like
instead of two people and a panda, three people had left the
camp. That had been merely a diversion, since she had
found the girl and panda's track soon afterwards. Now, she
was about to reach the outsider. Shampoo ran after the girl.

She reached the village of Cunzhuang just in time to see the
girl and the panda enter a local restaurant. It seemed that the
Guide, who had been with them, had left. Wise man,
Shampoo noted as she took out her bonbori.

Shampoo smirked as she saw how fast the street cleared
at her appearance. The people seemed to know that when
there was an angry Amazon in town, it was time to make
yourself scarce.

Walking to the restaurant the girl had entered, Shampoo
peered in through a window. The girl and her panda had
already sat down to eat. It was clear they weren't expecting
her. Good, it was time to kill.

Then, the Chinese girl snuck around the corner, preparing to
ambush the outsider through the flimsy wall.  Letting out a
loud kiai, she created another entrance in her own, unique
way.

			* * *

Ranma was halfway through his portion when the wall next to
him exploded and the Amazon girl charged in, murder in her
eyes. He was barely able to dodge the Chinese girl's first
swings and jump back.

"What the hell!?"

The girl stopped for a moment, giving Ranma a murderous
glare. "You," she said in very shaky Japanese. "KILL!!" The
girl sprang forward, swinging both of her maces. He was
barely able to get out of the  way of the metal death. The
girl tirelessly continued her assault, giving Ranma no time to
counterattack. Finally, he was forced to jump to the center of
the restaurant, trying to get some space in which to
maneuver. Since the staff and all other patrons had fled upon
the sight of Shampoo, there was plenty of room.

Screaming "Kill!!" again, Shampoo attacked. Feinting with
her maces, she was able to get a kick through. The outsider
was slammed against a wall and slumped down. It was time
to end this.

Ranma shook his head. That girl definitely packed a punch.
She was probably stronger than he was in his own form.

<Ranma!!! Don't just lay there!!!!> Lina screamed at him.

<Huh? What!?>

"KILL!!!"

Ranma was barely able to roll to the side, narrowly avoiding
the blow that shattered the wall he had been slammed to.
Still trying to get his bearings, the ponytailed martial artist fell
into a defensive stance.

Shampoo smiled grimly. This would end soon. She charged
with her maces held high. The outsider dodged down, and
Shampoo was able to sweep her legs.

Ranma fell back, but managed to use his hands to spring
back to standing positing. The Amazon followed the leg
sweep with several swings of her maces, but Ranma was
able to dodge back, and every swing missed.

<Why aren't you hitting back!!??> Lina screamed in fright.
The Amazon girl had found them, was trying to kill them, and
there was absolutely nothing Lina could do. If she tried to
interfere, she was most likely to get them both killed. For the
first time since the resurrection of Shabranigdo Lina Inverse
was truly terrified.

<I ain't got a chance! She comes on like a train!> In truth,
Ranma couldn't make himself to attack a girl, even if the girl
was currently trying to kill him. He was again forced to dance
back, as the Chinese girl attacked with a vicious combination
of bonbori swings and kicks.

Jumping back more, Ranma landed next to the hole where
Shampoo had charged in. Screaming, the Amazon chased
after him, preventing him from taking the fight outside.
Ranma ducked around his cowering father and sprang again
for the middle of the restaurant.

Genma had tried to make himself inconspicuous the moment
Shampoo burst in. It was best to leave this to Ranma, after
all, it was him, or at least Lina, who the girl was after. But, as
the two combatants went past him, Genma decided to
interfere. A hard whack from one of his signs dazed the
Chinese girl long enough for Genma to throw Ranma's pack
to him and run out of the restaurant.

Ranma blinked at his pack once, then decided to use the
Saotome Secret Technique and follow his father. That
Amazon chick was scarier than he had thought.

It took Shampoo a few seconds to regain her senses.
Looking around, she saw that her quarry had escaped. After
smashing a third wall for good measure, Shampoo ran after
the duo.

			* * *

<What the hell were you doing back there!? 'Don't worry. I
can handle her all right.' You almost got us killed you
moron!!>

<Shut up, Lina!> Ranma said, glancing around. They were
hiding on a roof, near the restaurant, hoping that the Amazon
wouldn't check the roofs.

<Shut up!? Why should I after what you did!? You didn't even
fight back!>

<Stick it already! I never thought she would try to kill me!>

<What the hell are you talking about!?> Lina screamed.
<That's just what the Guide said she would be doing!! Did
you expect a ramen delivery or what!??>

<I didn't really think they would follow such a moronic law,
you flatchested tomboy!!>

<Tomboy!? Just what are you saying!?>

<That you're a ill-tempered, flatchested tomboy!> At just that
moment, the Amazon girl jumped up to the roof, this time
wielding a huge sword.

"SHIT!" Ranma grabbed his backpack and ran. Shampoo
followed, screaming death threats in Chinese.

			* * *

Several hours later, Ranma and Genma stopped near a small
stream. It seemed like they had finally got rid of the Amazon.
Of course, they had thought the same thing the last five times
they had stopped.

<Great work back there Ranma! I'm amazed we're still alive!
Now, finally give me control so I can trash that girl!>

<No! It's my day! And I know how to get that chick off our
tail.>

<Oh,> Lina said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. After being
chased by a homicidal Amazon for several hours, unable to
do anything, she was in an extremely bad mood. <Just how
you're going to accomplish that?>

<I'm gonna heat water and turn back into a guy. She's
chasing you, so I should be safe.>

<Heat water? Where are you going to heat it?>

"Hey, pop!" Ranma yelled to his father. "Try and gather some
wood. I'm gonna make a fire!"

<That's how,> he added mentally to Lina.

<Fire!?> Lina screamed. <You're nuts! She's gonna see the
smoke miles away!>

<Yeah, but she ain't gonna attack me if I'm male!>

<You won't have time to heat water! She's bound to be
somewhere around here! She'll get here before the water's
even lukewarm!>

Genma took several blank signs out of... somewhere, and
quickly built them into a campfire.  Then he straightened up
and took out one more sign. It read: "Would you please start
the fire, son? It's kind hard to do with paws."

Trying hard to ignore Lina's constant ranting, Ranma settled
down to light the fire.

			* * *

Shampoo soon noticed a near-by thick wisp of smoke. She
was sure the redhead was somewhere around here. It was
worth investigating.

			* * *

<She's going to come here any second now!>  Lina's ranting
had slowed down a little. Even she couldn't go on for long
without losing some of her fire.

<Shut up.>

<And if she kills us, it's going to be your fault!>

<Shut up. It's almost warm enough.>

<And I swear to you that if there's an afterlife, I'm going to
kick your ass from here to the realm of chaos and back!>

This time Ranma didn't answer, but lifted the kettle off the
fire, intent on pouring it over himself. Just then an arrow
struck the kettle with a dull metallic clang, knocking it out of
his hands. The contents poured to the ground.

			* * *

Perched in a near-by tree, Shampoo cursed and started
sending arrows at the outsider as fast as she could.

			* * *

For a moment, Ranma stared at the kettle, not believing what
he saw. Then a rain of arrows started coming his way, and
he scrambled towards some kind of cover.

<Shit!!! She's here!> Lina screamed. <Quick! Give me
control and I'll waste her!>

<I don't have time right now!> Ranma retorted as he
grabbed his pack. A quick glance around showed that
Genma was already running as fast as he could away from
the source of the arrows. Ranma followed him, with Shampoo
hot on his heels.

			* * *

That evening, at dusk, a diminutive old woman entered
Cunzhuang. Even if her physical stature was by no means
impressive, the villagers knew this woman and knew well the
power she commanded. Elder Cologne of Joketsuzoku was
seldom a wanted guest, but she was always given the most
courteous of greetings.

He Chia-liang, leader of the village of Cunzhuang came
running as he heard of the Amazon elder's arrival. "Honoured
Cologne," He bowed low. "What brings you to our village."

Cologne nodded in return. "Greetings, He Chia-liang. I am
looking for a warrior maiden of my village. Has an Amazon
visited this place recently?" the old Amazon asked, pointedly
looking at a broken wall of the more popular of the village's
two restaurants.

He Chia-liang, following Cologne's gaze, let out an
embarrassed chuckle. "Indeed, a maiden of Jokentsuzoku
did pass through here recently. In fact, it was today,
sometime after noon. She fought a western girl in the
restaurant and then, when the girl was able to escape, the
Amazon maiden left too, in pursuit."

Cologne nodded. "Thank you, He Chia-liang. Now, may I
request a place of lodging for the night? I doubt that it would
do me any good to continue my journey today."

He Chia-liang bowed once more. "Of course, honoured elder.
If you'll follow me."

Cologne nodded and the two started walking towards the
village's guest house.

"If I may ask, honoured elder," the village leader said. "Why
are you following this maiden? Is there something special
about this particular Kiss of Death?"

Cologne glanced at He Chia-liang sideways. "It is an internal
Amazon matter and no concern of yours."

"I see."

			* * *

With a sigh, Ranma collapsed on his sleeping bag. The
Amazon and had chased after him and Pop for most of the
day. That chick was worse than anything he'd ever met.
Fortunately it seemed that they had been able to lose her
when the night settled. It made Ranma a little grumpy that he
had to go to sleep as a girl. There hadn't been time to heat
water during the day, and a fire would be seen miles away
when it was dark. So, the Saotomes had eaten a cold meal
and had went to sleep in their cursed forms.

Sleepily, Ranma climbed into his bag. The Amazon hadn't
shown up yet, so she probably hadn't found their camping
place. He was too tired to care, anyway.

<G'night Lina,> Ranma murmured. He was asleep before
Lina could answer.

Grumbling to herself, Lina took over the body. Her opinion on
Ranma had gone down several notches during the day. The
boy had insisted that he could handle Shampoo, despite the
fact that the Chinese girl had been able to ambush them,
time after time. If that idiot hadn't insisted on staying in
control, the problem would have been dealt with already.
Lina was sure that with her magic she could have either
shaken the Amazon off their trail or killed her.

Whatever would happen, she was going to be in control
tomorrow. If Shampoo was foolish enough to show her face,
she'd get burned. Literally. But that was tomorrow. Now it
was best to get some sleep.

			* * *

Lina woke up with a gasp. She had had a horrible nightmare
about being gagged and tied into a chair, while something
prowled in the darkness, hunting for her. It was easy to guess
where that particular bad dream had come from.

Lina crawled to the tent's door flap and peered outside. It
was still dark. Yawning, she went back to sleep.

			* * *

Next morning, Lina and Ranma were woken up quite rudely.
This particular wake-up call involved a loud growl and a
splash of cold water.

Since they woke up at the same moment,  both tried
instinctively take control of the body and ended up hitting
their metaphysical heads together. This caused quite a
headache and left nobody in control.

<Hey! What's the big deal!> Ranma shouted.

<You asking me? It was my turn to be in control!> Lina
retorted.

<Yeah, I know! But what the hell just happened!>

<I don't know! Now, would you please let me take control so
we might find out?> Lina said in a tight voice.

<Yeah, sure,> Ranma grumbled, relaxing and drawing back
from Lina's way.

Reaching out, Lina felt the body. This time it was different,
maybe because there was nobody in control. She 'heard' a
snap and suddenly her perceptions shifted. She was in
control. Lina sat up to see Genma standing there, holding up
a sign saying: "Was about time, son."

"You know, pops," Lina said, creating a ball of energy in her
hand. "You have a really lousy memory."

Genma immediately started sweating. Frantically he flipped
the sign over and knelt down, bowing. "I'm sorry Lina-san.
Please don't kill me," said the other side of the sign.

Lina smiled cheerily and let the energy dissipate. "Okay,
what's the big deal?" <Your father's a total wimp,> she
remarked to Ranma.

Inwardly, Ranma grimaced. He had always known his father
wasn't the most courageous of persons, but it still bothered
him how easily Lina had scared him into what seemed to be
total submission. Sure, Lina seemed to be powerful, but she
wasn't _that_ scary!

Genma took out another sign. "We need to get moving." He
flipped it over. "The Amazon might be near."

Lina crawled out of her wet sleeping bag. "Always eager to
run away, eh?" She asked.

Genma nodded his head, unthinking.

"Thought so," Lina said and started packing her things.

			* * *

"Where to now?" Lina asked Genma.

Genma pointed to the general direction of Southeast and
took out a sign. "Xining should be a three days' journey to
that direction."

Lina nodded. "And what makes you think we can survive that
far?" she asked.

Genma sweated more.

"Anyway," Lina said "I know something that might help us. If
I'm strong enough to do it. Hold my hand."

For a few seconds Genma looked at the offered hand like it
was a dead fish. Then he remembered what Lina had done to
him the day before yesterday, and grasped it with his paw.
It was better to do what she said, he thought.

Lina closed her eyes, started murmuring a spell under her
breath. Around her winds started forming from nothing. Soon,
with a shout of  "RAYWING!" the young sorceress shot up to
the air. Genma quickly grasped Lina's hand with his other
paw too.

For a while Lina flew on towards Xining. Then she frowned.
She had felt completely OK when she had cast the spell, but
her reserves were draining fast. It was like the magic took
more energy to maintain than it had before.

Deciding that she had flown far enough, Lina landed on a
crossroads. One road was the dirt road they had been
following from Cunzhuang, but the other was covered in
some kind of black substance.

Kneeling down, Lina poked at the black road. It was hard as
rock.

<Hey, Ranma,> She asked. <What is this stuff?>

Ranma did the mental equivalent of a blink before
he realised that Lina probably hadn't seen anything like a this
before.. <That's asphalt. They cover roads with it so they're
easier to travel.> There was a short pause. <Or something.>

<Oh. What's it made of?>

<I, uh...> Ranma faltered. <I dunno.>

<Right.> Lina turned to look at Genma. "You can let go of my
hand now, we're no longer in the air."

Hesitantly Genma let go and looked around, as if to make
sure he really was on the ground again. Then, he studied the
sign standing on the roadside for a while, looked around
again, looked at the sign, peered at both roads and finally
pointed at the dirt road and took out a sign. "This way."

Lina shrugged. Any direction was as good as any for her.
"Okay, lets go then." The two continued to follow the dirt
road.

			* * *

Looking around the outsider's camping place, Shampoo
frowned. It was clear that they had spent the night here, but
there were no tracks leading away from the place. It was like
the outsider girl had disappeared into thin air...

Shampoo started circling the abandoned camp in a widening
circle. Hopefully they hadn't bothered to cover their tracks for
long.

			* * *

It was almost dusk when Shampoo reached the crossroads.
For hours she had tried to find the outsider's tracks,
unsuccessfully. Then, she had sat down , convinced that the
outsider had used this diversion to change direction, and
tried to figure out where she was heading now. She had
raced around the countryside, checking all the directions the
outsider could have gone. Finally, Shampoo had ran to this
intersection on the off- chance that her prey had continued to
the same direction than before.  Indeed, it seemed that the
outsider was indeed heading to Xining.

Cursing how she had been caught up in her own cleverness,
Shampoo raced onwards.

			* * *

Lina finished polishing off the remains of the third helping of
the dinner and sighed. They had built camp in the middle of
nowhere, next to a small spring. They hadn't come across
any villages, large streams, rivers or other places where one
could get food, so Lina was feeling a little grumpy.

Well, there wasn't much she could do to correct their meal
situation now, nor was there much she could do to ease her
frustrations. Whining to Genma was no fun since he just
cringedand started begging for mercy. Complaining to
Ranma was equally unproductive, since it always escalated
into an argument, and Ranma being a voice inside her head
(or vice versa), she couldn't physically pound him which
made it much less satisfying.

Lina picked up a stick and started doodling on the ground,
bored. A fine mess she had found herself in this time. She
was in the future, in a world a thousand years away from her
own time. A world filled with Amazon tribes with totally
ridiculous customs, strange martial arts, and all that strange
'technology' she had witnessed and heard of.

A world where the Mazoku were no more,  where her magic
was weak, and where she had only one person she could call
a friend: Ranma. And Ranma was a loudmouthed,
overconfident jellyfish brain who had a total idiot for a father
and because of whom she had to keep half of her time doing
nothing. It was also because of Ranma that she was alive at
all.

A fine mess indeed.

			* * *

Ranma wrung water out of his ponytail and cursed. Again,
the day had started out just fine, and he had been able to
change back to his proper form. But, somewhere in the
afternoon, dark clouds had started to gather over them. Soon
after that the two travellers had been making their way in the
middle of a fierce rainstorm.

The storm hadn't lasted that long - only ten minutes or so -
but it had been quite enough to totally drench Ranma.
<Damn I hate this weather,> he said to Lina. <You sure you
can't do anything to help me?>

<You mean to keep the water away?>

<Yeah.>

<Well...> Actually there were several things Lina could have
done to help Ranma. Unfortunately all of them required her to
either being in a separate body or in charge of this one, so
she hadn't bothered mentioning them. There was one thing
she might ask, even if she was sure Ranma didn't have what
she needed. <I don't supposed we have any diamonds or
jewellery lying around?>

Ranma blinked. <Of course not. Pop would have sold them
long ago if we ever had any. Why do you ask?>

<Because if you had had a preferably largeish diamond or
some other precious stone I could have tried to enchant it.>

<Enchant?>

<Basically, if several conditions, such as a correct alignment
of the gem and a magical circle drawn in the right way are
set, I can infuse a diamond, or in some cases some other
kind of precious stone, with magic and cast a spell, usually a
protection spell or a travelling spell, to the said stone. Now, if
done right, the spell will attach itself to the structure of the
stone permanently, so that it will be always on, or, in case of
such spells as Raywing, can be activated without needing to
draw on your own mana reserves. Basically, when done right,
you get a magical amulet. How powerful the amulet is and
what it can do depend, of course, on the skill and power of
the casted and on what spell was cast on the stone. The
most common magical amulets are different kinds of amulets
of protection, such as protection from fire or cold. There are
also amulets that protect from different kind of creatures,
such as vampires or...>

<Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell are you trying to say,
Lina?>

There was a silence for a second. <You didn't understand a
thing, did you?>

<Umm... I did, some, but it was kind of complicated and
stuff...>

<Knew it,> Lina muttered. <If you had had an diamond, I
could have enchanted it to keep the rain away.>

<Oh. Couldn't you use some normal rock to do that?>

With an effort, Lina kept herself from launching into a long
and angry rant. It wouldn't be worth the effort since Ranma
probably wouldn't understand her.

<No,> the young sorceress said in a tight voice.

			* * *

Tired, Ranma sat down on his bed. After that initial shower, it
had rained for most of the day, making turning back to a boy
a futile effort. And now, when Ranma was finally in a dry
place there was not much he could do to change. The
facilities in this little inn were minimal, and he didn't have
the energy to go to the kitchen and try to ask for hot water.

Ranma had picked up a little Chinese on this trip, but his
vocabulary was very limited, and he wasn't sure of the
meanings of several words, so he'd probably end up getting
something completely different.

			* * *

Lina muttered a few choice oaths under her breath. She
hated being broke. And she hated the modern money system
even more. Earlier that morning, before had Ranma
awakened up, Lina had tried to get something to eat with
Genma's paper money she had 'borrowed', only to find out
that it was of wrong type. She had tried to make Ranma
explain it to her, but the boy didn't seem to understand the
stuff very well himself, and to Lina it sounded ridiculous.
What was the point of having different money in different
countries anyway? Back in the old days it had been much
simpler. Gold was a common currency, fairly valuable,
accepted everywhere and by everyone, and easy enough to
get from one bandit gang or another. Now, you had to
change your money from one type of paper to another if you
went from one country to another. Ridiculous.

Later, when she had gone back and tried to bully Genma into
buying her a decent meal, she had found out that they were
almost out of the local money, yuan, and didn't have much
money left overall. So she had to settle for a light breakfast
before moving on.

<It's too hot and I'm hungry and tired of travelling and I
haven't had a decent meal since that amazon village and
even there it was interrupted and I'm...> Lina took a deep
breath. "... Sick and tired of this!!"

Genma, who had turned back to human that morning, jumped
almost two meters into the air and started sweating
purposefully. Nervous, he turned to look at Lina. "Uhh...
What was that Lina-san?"

"It's too hot here and I'm hungry and I don't have any decent
clothes and I'm hungry and I'm tired of just walking on to
who-knows-where that's on the other side of this continent
and it's boring and I'm HUNGRY!!"

Genma just cringed back and started stammering. Ranma,
however, was more vocal.

<Seesh, don't you have any endurance, Lina? We're not
even running away anymore.>

Lina scowled, making Genma even more nervous. <I'm not
any stupid martial artist! I'm a sorceress and I should be out
there beating bandits and having good time. Instead I'm stuck
inside your head half of the time and have to follow your idiot
father back to some stupid island that's probably halfway
across the world from Zefilia in a time where all my friends
and relatives have been dead for a millennium. And I'm
getting sick and tired of this all, and I especially want to have
a DECENT MEAL!>

<You ain't the only one who's stuck inside somebody's head
half of the time, and now I hafta suffer from your whining too!
There's nothing you can do to change that stuff now, so why
don't you just be a man and take it you tomboy?>

<I'm NOT a tomboy, and I most definitely am not a MAN YOU
STUPID TACTLESS JERK!>

<You sure ain't a girl either, not with that chest size!>

<Why, you... MORON!!!>

<TOMBOY!!!>

<IDIOT!!!>

<CRAZY CHICK!!!>

Genma decided that it would be best to take several steps
back, considering the quite intense aura that was building up
around Lina.

			* * *

Shampoo sped down the road, her hair trailing behind her in
the breeze. It had indeed been a lucky break that she had
found this bicycle. It had been easy enough to persuade the
previous owner to give it to her. After all, a mere postman
didn't need it nearly as much as an amazon warrior hunting
for her prey.

Suddenly, there was a giant explosion in the horizon,
throwing huge gouts of flame thirty meters into the air.
Though the explosion was kilometers away, it was clearly
visible to the ridgetop Shampoo currently was on.

Shampoo screeched to a stop, staring at the explosion. She
hoped that the outsider hadn't died in whatever had just
happened. She wanted to kill the redhead herself.

			* * *

In the middle of a quite large crater, Lina fell down to her
knees, gasping for air. Never before had she lost control so
completely. Almost all of her reserves had been spent in that
explosion of uncontrolled magical energy. She hadn't felt this
spent since the battle against Shabranigdo. <Damn you
Ranma, look at what you made me do!> she weakly
complained.

<Hey, it was you who started it!> And equally spent Ranma
answered. Somehow, the violent outburst of energy had
affected him too.

<I... Oh, damn it all!.> Lina was too weak to argue right now.
Grabbing her backpack which had somehow survived the
explosion, she clambered out of the crater, grumbling at
herself, at Ranma and at the world in general.

"One way or another, I'll get something to eat." The young
sorceress muttered.

			* * *

 Half an hour later Lina was fishing at a small river, a
sizeable pile of fish resting next to her.

<Don'tcha think that's enough?> Ranma asked in a bored
voice.

<No! That's barely enough for an appetizer!>

<Oh. How much are you going to eat then?>

<LOTS!> Lina said, smiling. She had forgotten her anger. At
the moment she had more important matters in her mind,
mainly the fish and how to cook it, and if she should give any
to Genma. After a very brief internal struggle she decided
that since she had caught the fish, they were hers. If
Ranma's lazy idiot father wanted something, he'd better catch
it himself.

Finally, another half an hour later, Lina decided that she had
enough food. The pile was half again as high as she was.
Grinning widely, the young sorceress rubbed her hands
together. <And now for some firewood!>

<You're gonna eat that all?> Ranma asked, disbelieving.

<Yup! I know it might seem a little much, but I'm hungry!>

Ranma didn't say anything.

			* * *

Shampoo was sure her prey was near-by. The trail she was
following was very fresh, most likely less than a hour old. The
outsider girl was near, very near. Shampoo wasn't sure why
she and her panda had left the road, but it didn't matter. All
that was important was the kill. Hearing commotion on the
trail ahead, the Amazon maiden jumped into the trees, and
continued her way there.

A few minutes later, Shampoo smiled. The outsider girl was
below her, gathering firewood, seemingly completely
oblivious to Shampoo's presence. It was time to end this.
Screaming her battlecry, Shampoo dropped down, her sword
drawn.

Lina glanced up just in time to see death coming at her in the
form of an angry Chinese girl holding a sword bigger than
Gourry's. Lina almost fell down when her body suddenly
seemed to decide on its own that it would be a good thing to
drop the firewood and step away from the sword's way.

Unruffled by the fact that her first strike had missed,
Shampoo started swinging her sword in tight pattern. The
outsider girl backpedalled frantically, barely able to dodge
Shampoo's slashes. It was clear that the redhead was in
panic and would soon fall victim to Shampoo's sword. If
she hadn't been so intent on killing the outsider girl,
Shampoo would probably have noticed that the outsider was
moving very oddly.

Lina was in panic. Her control over her movements was
shaky. It was like her mind was telling one thing, and the
body was trying to do something completely different. This
really wasn't a good thing, considering that she had a
bloodthirsty enemy in front of her, currently trying to do her
best to kill her.

Finally, Lina tripped on a treeroot and fell down. Shouting in
triumph, Shampoo thrust her sword down. Lina, however,
rolled to the side and pointed her hand to her opponent.

Somehow, the shock of falling down had cleared most of
Lina's confusion and caused her body to once again
cooperate with her mind. Rolling to avoid the sword, she
reached inside herself for the little power that was left there.

"MEGABRUNTO!" The spell coursed through Lina, drawing
the last remnants of her magical strength to her outstretched
hand. Lina's hair suddenly turned white as the spell was
released.

Shampoo barely had time to scream as she was engulfed in
flames. Her world turned red, and then black.

Lina laid down on the ground, panting, and looked as the
magical flames swallowed Shampoo, fried her crisp and then
died down. The Chinese Girl's burned and blackened body
fell down with a thump.

<What the hell were you doing!?> Ranma, who had been
quiet during the fight, mostly because of shock of not being
able to do anything, shouted. <You scream at me for not
hitting her when you got us near fucking killed!!>

<It wasn't my fault! For some stupid reason this body was
acting like it had a will of its own, trying to do some of your
fancy martial arts or something! Even if I'm not a great fighter
like you, I'm not incompetent!>

<You sure looked like a total klutz to me!>

<Oh, do shut up you moron! You couldn't even lift a finger to
attack! I'm the one who got her!!>

<I... Uhh...> Ranma stammered, unable to come up with a
good retort. <Ummm... What did you do to Shampoo,
anyway?>

Lina blinked, confused at the sudden change of topic, looked
down at Shampoo and then smirked. <What does it look like?
I nailed her!>

Ranma studied the blackened form before Lina. He was no
expert, but Shampoo didn't really look that good. <Uhh... Is
she all right?>

<Huh?> Lina retorted. <All right? Of course she isn't all right!
That's the whole idea! When somebody is after your blood,
you're supposed to blast 'em, not worry about their health!>

<What the hell are you at again!? We can't just let her die
here!>

Lina took a deep breath, more out of reflex than actual need,
since mental ranting wasn't really that exhausting. <And what
kind of stupid attitude is that? 'We can't just let her die here'?
Huh? Her health isn't our problem, but hers. If Shampoo's
tough enough to survive, which I think she is, all's good and
well for her as long as she's far away from me, but I sure ain't
gonna start worrying about her.> At this point Lina knelt down
to check if the Amazon was breathing. She was. <Now, you
don't need to be so concerned about her since she's
obviously breathing, and those burns are mostly just
cosmetic. Even if she's a maniac, I'm not as cruel as to
completely obliterate her, even if she surely deserved it, but
her survival isn't my problem either!> Ranma was quite tired
at this point and didn't bother to answer the rant. It would
have just led to another fight, and he really didn't feel like it
right now.

<Yeah, whatever,> he said. <What happened to your hair
anyway?>

Lina blinked and for the first time realised what had
happened.  The young sorceress fingered her ponytail a little
nervously as she turned to return to the camp. <It's like this.
When I use all my magical reserves...>

end of chapter 4

Spells:

Ray Wing: A flight spell.

Kiyor Switch: Orginal spell. Name invented by Joshua
Prismon. Since Lina doesn't know how to cast it, we probably
won't be seeing it in this story.

Megabrunto: A moderately powerful and quick firespell. Lina
once blasted a couple of 'peeping toms' with it while bathing.
(see Slayers episode 11 for details.)

other stuff.

1 kilometer = 0.621 miles
two meters = 6 and a half feet.
thirty meters = approx. 100 feet.

Cunzhuang means literally 'a village'. If Takahashi-sama can
make puns, I'll be damned if I don't...
Thanks to Gary Kleppe for suggesting this... ^_^

The Village Leader's name was taken from '250 names for
Feng Shui!' webpage. I don't have a clue if it makes any
sense. My apologies to all those, who can speak Chinese.
^_^

How come Ranma realises that if he turns into male,
Shampoo won't chase him, since he didn't think so in the
manga?
Well, since Ranma's female form is Lina in this story, he
thinks his two forms are kinda like separate people. (in the
body) There's the male Ranma Saotome -body and female
Lina Inverse -body. Shampoo is after Lina, so Ranma thinks
if he turns into his male body, he's safe. And, for once, he's
right. Too bad he doesn't have time to pour that hot water on
him.

Lina's hair turned into white in the end of episode 10, after a
major battle, in which she was forced to use REALLY
POWERFUL spells.

And for those who don't know: Lina's definition of a good
meal includes at least the entire menu. In many cases
several times the entire menu.
----------
Jussi Nikander
Jussi.Nikander@alien.nixu.fi