Heart of flame, breath of fire. part 6


	The Dragon quickly dove into a manhole tearing a huge six foot
hole in the pavement as he did so. He slithered down the large
underground drainage system and made his way towards the caverns he had
created. He had no doubt that Taro would follow, but he also knew that
once he reached his home he would be safe, no one got through that maze
unless he wanted them too.
	He heard voices in the tunnels and growled as the familiar scent
of humans lingered in the air. Both of these men smelled familiar. He
crept up silently.

	Ranma hung in the air and frowned as he woke up in a large cage
that hung about six feet in the air over the cavern floor. The last thing
he remembered was a huge claw grabbing him while he was wandering the
tunnels with Cartson. He turned to see the man was hanging from his own
cage a few feet away. The next thing he saw was the fact that his cage
was open. He jumped out and almost passed out in surprise and shock as he
looked around. The great dragon was coiled around the cavern and watching
him lazily.
	"Well, it's nice to see you awake now. Take a seat, we have some
talking to do. I'm afraid I have some rather bad news for you and your
cursed friends." said the thing.
	Ranma did the only sensible thing, he started to scream and run.
	The dragon snagged him as he ran with a swipe of its claw and
held him fast. Ranma struggled, but could not even budge the animals iron
grip.
	"Relax Saotome, I'm not going to kill you." said the beast with a
chuckle.
	Ranma stopped struggling and just stared at the monstrous head in
surprise.
	"Can't say the same thing for him though, he's been a pain in my
ass for some time now." snorted the Dragon as it nodded towards Cartson.
"But I'll probably let him go this time because he is with you." it said
with a heavy sigh. "It didn't seem particularly concerned with it at the
moment.
	Ranma just nodded dumbly. "What do you want?" he said weakly.
	"Well now, that's my line, you are in my home aren't you?" said
the dragon with a chuckle as it moved it�s head in for a closer look at 
the boy. 
	Ranma was growing more relaxed by the moment, but it was still a
terrifying experience. The dragon seemed to be taking him pretty lightly.
It placed him on the ground and let him go. 
	"You don't know who I am do you?" said the animal with a snort.
	"Sheng long." said Ranma.
	"No." replied the great serpent. "I'll tell you about it, and I'm
afraid it effects you a great deal." it said as it rested its head on a
pile of nearby gold.

	Cologne watched Taro dive for the boy and a look of horrible
comprehension crossed her face. Ryu stepped into the koi pond with a dark
smile on his face and vanished beneath the shallow waters. At first a few
small bubbles were all that surfaced, then the water seemed to boil as
the surface became a froth of white turmoil. Taro backed away with an
angry look on his face and he clutched a small necklace that hung around
his neck.
	"What's going on?" said Akane quietly.
	As if in answer the Koi pond exploded sending water in every
direction. Akane saw a flash of teeth and eyes rise from the water at a
speed not even her eyes could follow. A towering golden green pillar
twisted and grew from the water and into the sky. It gradually tapered
off and ended at last after what seemed like hours. Akane saw the dark
shadow cover the ground and dared to look at the sky. 
	Cologne stood and dropped her staff in awe at the sight she had
seen. The sky suddenly grew cloudy and thunder rumbled overhead. The
beast Roared as the lightening flashed behind it sending a cold fear into
her heart. "What have I done?" she whispered to herself.
	"Ryu?" said Ukyo in shock as she stared at the beast overhead. It
was easily three hundred feet long and about six feet thick. The head was
about seven feet long and lined with dangerous looking teeth that
protruded from its lips. A great mane hung around it's head and two long
mustache like whiskers floated softly in the breeze as it floated in the
sky over their heads. Two Six foot long bull like horns reached back
behind its head protruding from the golden mane. It's body twisted in the
air in and out of itself and its four claws groped the air as they hung
from its long snakelike body. It glared at Ukyo with its golden eyes and
roared flicking its forked tongue in and out of its jaws after it did so.
It's scales shone golden green as the lightening flashed from the storm
that had appeared with the dragon.
	Ukyo sat and watched in complete frozen terror as the serpent
glared at her and dove suddenly. She tried to run from it but her body
wouldn't respond as it drew nearer. It's head slammed into her and she
was thrown into the wall crumbling it like dust.
	This did not shock the others present as much as what happened
next. "That's for hitting me." said the beast in a deep rumbling voice.
	"R-Ryu?" gasped Akane as she finally regained control of her
speech.
	The dragon snapped around with lightening speed and faced her,
stopping only a few feet away from her. Akane froze as absolute terror
gripped her heart again. The tongue flicked from the creatures mouth and
touched her forehead lightly. Akane felt the intense heat from the
creatures breath cover her like a soak in a hot spring. She could feel
the sweat on her body evaporate from it. She simply stared at it unable
to remove her eyes from its teeth. 
	"I hope I didn't scare you too much Akane-sensei." said the
beast. 
	Akane made choking sounds as she tried to respond, all she could
think about was the way the monster's mouth moved as it spoke. She could
see straight down it's throat as it spoke and felt herself grow light
headed.
	Cologne stood before the great dragon and stood in a humble
position with her head held low before it. "I apologize great one, I
thought you were one of the cursed ones. If I had known I would never
have..." she said placidly.
	"Explain." said Ryu with his eyes growing narrow. "Know this
witch, your mannerism is the only thing keeping me from killing you now."

	Cologne heard the snarl in the creatures voice and looked at it
sharply. "It is forbidden for an Amazon to hunt a true dragon. For a
thousand years we existed peacefully with your kind until you destroyed
each other. Out of this peace came a pact, we would hunt down those who
would steal your hearts and in exchange would be able to keep them to
make our people stronger. It was these warriors who kept us safe from the
Musk Dynasty when they rose to power, unfortunately the pact also
required that those who took the heart of a dragon should never have
children afterward. Alas, all those who were able to honor that pact died
a thousand years ago..." 
	"I...see." said Ryu. "I'll overlook your transgression for now
hag. Don't think for a moment that I have forgotten or trust you." 
	"Sheng long, tell me...How is it you have forgotten this?" said
the woman curtly after a moment. 
	"Sheng long?" thought Ryu in amusement. He looked at Cologne and
chuckled as she glared at him angrily. "Well, it seems I have offended
her." he muttered to himself. "Calm yourself woman, I am not Sheng long
and know nothing of this pact. But see that you honor it or I will take
my anger out on your people." Lightening flashed behind him as he said
this making it much more dramatic. "That couldn't have worked out better
if I had planed it." thought the dragon pleased with himself.
	"Another ancient Dragon survived? How?" thought the woman to
herself. Then the obvious answer hit her like a load of bricks.
"Jusenkyo.", there was a spring like that in the cursed ground, but no
man, no matter how powerful could ever reach it. If this boy did,
then..."
	"Now, where is my favorite toy?" said Ryu as his face seemed to
take on a cruel grin.
	
	Taro growled as he stood around the corner clutching the necklace
in his hand as hard as he could. A cold sweat formed on his brow as he
tensed himself. "I will not allow another such humiliation to fall on
me." he told himself.
	"Now, where is my favorite toy?" said the beast as it set itself
on the ground next to the Cologne, coiling so it fit in the yard. "Here
dinner dinner ." it called in a sing-song voice. Taro ripped the small
leather bag off his neck and turned the corner with a gaze of steel.
   
	Shampoo sat in the back of the Cat Cafe with Mousse and sighed as
he  placed another of the cards into his hand backwards. She grumbled and
set hers down on the table again. "Mousse win again." she muttered.
	"Really? I've never done this well before." he said happily as he
took the small pile of poker chips from the center of the table. "He
didn't care about the cards or the game of course, he just enjoyed his
time with his beloved.
	"Stupid Mousse can't even read card." she muttered to herself as
she lay her head down on the table.
	"Did you say something my love?" he said with a stupid grin.
	"I want go outside." she sighed.
	"But if you do that evil Saotome will see your still alive. How
will we ever get him to stop hounding you then? Come my love we can plan
for our wedding!" he cried as he tried to jump over the table and bring a
chair into his loving embrace. He had, of course, swallowed Colognes
story immediately without question. Shampoo hit him on the head with a
nearby pan and snorted. 
	"Stupid Mousse, Shampoo rather marry cabbage." she said as she
stormed up to her room again.
	"That wasn't as hard as she usually hits me...I think I'm wearing
her down!" thought Mousse happily as he lay on the ground half conscious.

	Ryu stared Taro down and dove for him. Taro smiled and held the
bag forward. Ryu stopped suddenly and wavered in the air. "What the?" he
thought as he veered straight up and away from the boy. He found himself
too weak to fly very high and skimmed over the dojo wall touching down in
the street for a moment. Taro smiled and stood proudly in front of
Cologne, Akane, and the now slowly recovering Ukyo. 
	"What, happened?" said Akane in shock.
	"This." said Taro with an evil smile he clutched the bag to his
chest and laughed out loud.
	"Dragon's bane." said Cologne with a frown.
	"That's right hag, I picked it up in China. It grows wild there,
has an interesting effect on dragons. It makes them weak as men, when its
dried it's even more potent." said the boy as he walked over to the Koi
pond and stood for a moment. "With this I'll be able to kill that bastard
for what he did to me." With that Taro jumped into what was left of the
Koi and transformed to give chase. He jumped over the wall and hit the
ground before flying after the beast.

	Nabiki Tendo sat at the table and just stared at what transpired
just outside her home. She simply sat with a neutral expression and
didn't move as Akane and Cologne entered the home.
	"Oh, my, I guess I should call someone to take care of those
lizards in the garden. They're becoming bothersome. Oh, hello Akane,
Cologne, Would you like some tea?" she said sweetly.
	"Why thank you dear." said Cologne accepting.
	"Uh, Nabiki. Are you OK?" asked Akane waving her hand in front of
her sister's face.
	Nabiki only gave a light smile. "This is...interesting." she said
calmly.
	"What should we do?" said Akane to both her and Cologne.
	"We? Why nothing dear, it's none of our concern any longer.
Besides those two are big enough to take care of themselves." said
Cologne.
	"Well said granny, I've got some planning to do anyway." said
Nabiki as she stood and went up to her room.

	Ryoga wandered the streets of Nerima and didn't care where he
was. He simply walked onward and watched the ground beneath his feet. "I
recognize this road, this must be Nerima." he thought to himself as he
looked at the pavement. "Wait a minute. I can recognize any road, If I
travel like this all the time I'll never get lost agai..." he was cut off
from his revaluation as something landed on him hard. A few minutes later
he found himself in a large claw shaped crater in the middle of the road
with a hoof shaped mark on the back of his head. "Where am I?" he thought
and stood dusting himself off before wandering off in some Random
direction. "What was I thinking about just a minute ago? Oh well, it
probably wasn't important anyway." he muttered as he plodded on, he had
to find Ranma right now anyway. "I wonder how far Nerima is from Kyushu.
I should be there in a few days."

	Ranma sat uncomfortably on the rocks as the dragon coiled itself
up tighter around him to become more comfortable. It had the opposite
effect on Ranma.
	"Stop your squirming boy, don't you realize who I am? I'm Ryu
fool." said the serpent as it looked at Ranma closely.
	Ranma froze and looked at the beast closer. "Is it really you?"
he gasped.
	"Yes, I like you have visited Jusenkyo." said Ryu with a sigh.
"Unfortunately, for both of us, Jusenkyo no longer exists." 
	TBC!!!

	Next time Ryu and his Jusenkyo story as well as an old legend
foreshadow things to come that may not bode well for our cast. Ranma and
Ryu have a heart to heart and the reason for Jusenkyo's disappearance is
revealed. 
	But Ranma still craves vengeance for his fallen comrade. Things
get resolved and a new problem arises, one that your definitely not
expecting.

	C&C to Catbert25@juno.com

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