Kaneda called a meeting of his council. This might
be our last meeting, he thought. Alain, Alyssa, Mai,
Vanin, and Doric sat around the table with him. Alain
was an old soldier, with grey hair and a body that was
still well muscled, but clearly past its prime.
Mai was the brown-haired daughter of a mountain man,
one of his best students in martial arts, and an excellent
organizer. Now, she was one of his channelers as well.
Vanin was an Amadician nobleman who had to flee the
Whitecloaks after he killed a Lord Commander in a duel.
He was middle-aged and ugly as sin, but a decent fighter
and knew all about managing meager resources. Finally,
there was Doric, a young black haired Amadician
woodcutter and carpenter, who had organized all their
building projects. Every last one of them was older than
him. A year ago, Kaneda would never have believed they'd
follow him.
"I have good news. Thanks to the artifacts we have
found, and deals that have been made, we now have an
easy way to travel to the Lord Dragon in Cairhien and
offer him our services."
Whispers went round the table. He continued. "I am
quite certain that this man, Rand al'Thor is the true
Dragon, and I am merely a channeler. Indeed, Ranko Sedai
witnessed him drawing the Sword That is not a Sword,
and she assures me of this as well. I trust her
judgement in this matter."
They listened quietly now as he continued.
"Secondly, many of those among our company now
possess a vast amount of knowlege of channeling, both
men and women. How I gathered so many people with the
potential all unknowing, I do not know. Perhaps I am
ta'averen. Perhaps it is simply a blessing from the
Wheel. I found an artifact within the mountain that
enables one to bargain for boons." He paused. "This is
going to take a while."
************
Parallel Lives
A Ranma/WOT crossover
Chapter 6: New Alliances
by
John Biles
Old chapters at
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/Stories/PL
************
Ryouga sat and ate breakfast with the other vistors.
Most of them he didn't recognize, but then he spotted
Kasumi and went over to her. She didn't look too happy.
"You okay?"
Kasumi blinked. "Ryouga-kun!" She smiled a little.
"I should have known you'd find a way here."
"Where are we?"
"In another universe."
"..."
"Akane's having a meeting with her council. She's
the lord of this place."
Ryouga boggled. How long have I been lost? "How
long...I mean...this happened in two weeks?"
"Let me try and explain it all." It would have helped
if Kasumi actually knew the whole story.
************
"To demonstrate," Kaneda continued. He picked up
his glass of hot tea and dumped it on himself. Vanin and
Doric fell out of their chairs. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you
before, but it just...I would have sounded crazy. I think I
should tell everyone before we leave. What do you all
think?"
"Not a good idea," Vanin said faintly. "Some people
might start panicking and wondering if it might happen
to them."
Doric simply stared in shock. Mai said, "I think you
should tell everyone. Better to get it over with before
there's an accident."
Alyssa nodded. Alain cocked his head to the left and
stared off thoughtfully into the fire. Finally, he said, "I
agree with Mai. I don't think there's likely to be a panic,
but better not to risk it."
"Well, let's start planning our move, then," Kaneda
said. "We need to find everyone who can channel, first
off."
*************
Ranma and Ukyou showed up as Ryouga and Kasumi
were about to finish breakfast. They were holding hands,
and Ranma looked incredibly nervous. Ryouga looked up
and frowned. "What, holding hands with Ukyou when your
FIANCEE is..."
Ukyou snorted. "He's my fiancee."
"Ranma, you cad!" Ryouga leaped to his feet. "I
won't stand for this!"
"You're standing right now," Ukyou said.
Ryouga frowned and sat down. "I won't let you do
this to Akane!"
Kasumi said, "Would you like something to eat,
Ranma-kun?" She paused. "Well, I suppose it's not my
food to offer." She looked ever so slightly confused, and
a short, skinny man came around with some biscuits and
fruit.
"Good morning," he said, laying out two plates for
Ranma and Ukyou. "I'm Cham, head cook, more or less.
You two with the Lord Ayabara's party?"
"We're friends of Kaneda from his hometown,"
Ukyou said.
Ryouga said to Ranma, "Don't ignore me!"
Ranma sat down with Ukyou to get some breakfast.
"Thank you, Mr. Cham. I'm FAMISHED." He ate like a man
used to having his breakfast stolen daily.
Cham bowed. "An honor to meet you. You look
rather like those other guests of his...Ranko Sedai
and...can't remember the lad's name..."
Ukyou laughed. "Relatives."
Ryouga stood up again and loomed over Ranma.
"Say something!"
"Something." Food continued to vanish.
Ryouga's face was getting red. "Have you NO
HONOR?"
Ranma paused and looked back at Ryouga. "What are
you talking about?"
"Holding hands with another woman when you're
engaged to Akane!" Ryouga screamed.
Half the population of the castle turned and looked.
Since almost none of them knew anything about anyone
named Akane, they soon went back to their food.
Ranma said quietly, "Lemme eat, okay? We can beat
each other hello, later."
Kasumi said, "Now, Ryouga, you shouldn't worry.
Friends hold hands all the time. I remember I held hands
a few times walking home with my friends."
Ryouga twitched, then relaxed slightly. "I'm just
trying to protect Akane's honor."
"And sneak into her bed," Ranma said.
Kasumi blushed. "Ranma-kun, you shouldn't tease
like that."
Ukyou blinked. "I think he'd get rather a surprise if
he did that."
"I do NOT sneak into Akane's bed!" Ryouga shouted.
Several people stared.
"Mr. Head Cook, can I ask you a question?" Ranma
said to Cham, who was eating nearby.
"Sure."
"Any chance we could have pork tonight?"
"I'm afraid we don't have any pigs." Cham said.
Ranma smiled. "I might be able to fix that."
Ryouga howled.
***************
The meeting dispersed as everyone headed out to
prepare for departure in a few days, and to prepare for
the big announcements at dinner time. Kaneda himself
was ready to go work out for a while. Alyssa had left to
go round up female channelers, but he had found Tyr and
Celice to work out with him. I should see if Ranma and
Ukyou and...I almost forgot Ryouga showed up! They found
Ryouga and Ranma going at it on top of the castle wall,
with Ukyou watching them and sighing, along with
Kasumi. Kaneda said to Kasumi, "How long did this take?"
"About twenty minutes. It's nice to see they haven't
forgotten how to play," Kasumi said quietly.
Celice and Tyr watched in awe. When Ranma vaulted
over Ryouga, hooking his umbrella as he went by and
flinging Ryouga off the wall with it, Tyr said, "I can't
believe it."
When Ryouga got up from landing head first in the
ground and leaped back up onto the wall, it was Celice's
turn to boggle. "Is everyone from your hometown this
good a fighter?"
"Some of them are better," Kasumi said. "Not too
many."
"Better than THAT?" a deep voice said nearby,
sounding dubious. "I wouldn't have thought that possible."
It was Perrin.
"Ranma started training as soon as he could walk,"
Kaneda said. "The same for Ryouga."
"Are they Aiel?" Perrin asked. They didn't LOOK
Aiel, but they fought like them.
"Just dedicated." Kaneda said. "HEY, RYOUGA! CAN
YOU COME DOWN HERE?"
Ryouga turned and got knocked off the wall again by
Ranma. He landed at Kaneda's feet, then got up. "I...I
brought you some souveneirs from Hokkaido, A...Kaneda."
He looked around at all the people he didn't know. "It
took me three weeks to get back." He paused. "Where are
we?"
Ranma leaped down off the wall. "Yo, Kaneda."
Kaneda smiled. "I'm glad you found us...hasn't
someone told you where you are?"
"They told me, but I never heard of it."
Kasumi said, "We're in another..." Ukyou's hand
clamped over her mouth.
"Ryouga, you come with me, I'll give you the whole
story." Ukyou dragged Ryouga off.
Ranma stretched. "I feel great. Haven't had that
good a workout in a while not counting the fight
yesterday."
"Ranma, you could have destroyed our homes!"
Kaneda said. "You shouldn't get in these fights with
Ryouga."
"Hey, I waited for breakfast to be over! And I took
it up there where we couldn't hurt anyone." Ranma
sulked.
"Why did you two start fighting, anyway?" Kaneda
wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
"Ranma and Ukyou were holding hands. They're such
good friends," Kasumi said.
Kaneda was surprised by the burst of intense
jealousy that struck him. Only the fact that people who
respected him were watching kept him from shouting or
doing something else impulsive. I have someone else. I
can't...shouldn't be jealous. I can't believe he's moving so
fast, though...I waited months. Kaneda seethed, but kept
a lid on it. "So he got mad about that?"
Ranma took a deep breath. "Cause he loves...Akane.
But she just doesn't seem to get it." I didn't promise to
keep this secret. I think. I'm not saying he's P-chan or
nothing, so it's okay. I think.
"He loves...Akane?" Kaneda said, boggling. Looking
back, it was obvious. How could I have not noticed? Oh,
Ryouga, I'm sorry.
Tyr said, "Celice and I are going to spar while you
all talk, okay?" Kaneda nodded.
Celice grinned. "Well, that won't take long. I'm
going to eat you for breakfast."
Perrin said, "You've been training in unarmed
combat?" He noted they had no weapons.
Celice nodded. "Kaneda trained us." She and Tyr
moved off a bit and got into ready positions.
Perrin watched, impressed by their speed and skill.
I wonder how many of these warriors Lord Kaneda has, he
thought. They rained down blow after blow at each other,
dodging and blocking at a high speed, though not nearly
the speed of the two he had watched on the wall.
"He ain't gonna be too happy about Akane's new
lover, either." Ranma said flatly. I'd love to see his face
when he crawls into THAT bed.
"..."
"Luckily, he doesn't fight girls anymore than I do,
but..."
Kaneda twitched slightly. "Why didn't you ever tell
me this before?" He wanted to scream, but he couldn't,
and holding it back was starting to strain him.
"Hey, it ain't MY job to go around telling people
about Ryouga's heart." Ranma said. "Just cause he never
quite managed to tell you don't mean I had to."
Kaneda sighed. "Got any other surprises for me?"
"I...Can we talk in private?"
"Sure." Kaneda was less calm about this than he
sounded.
**************
Kaneda and Ranma went back to Kaneda's house.
Once they were out of sight, Ranma got some hot water
and splashed Kaneda. "I wanna talk to Akane."
"Kaneda is Akane."
Ranma sighed. "Lemme say what I gotta say before
we have our usual fight."
Akane sighed and sat down in a chair. Ranma sat
down in another one. "Okay, shoot."
"Does Kasumi know about you and Alyssa?"
"She's been too distraught for me to tell her. I
don't need her freaking out more." Akane sighed, and
shivered a bit. The fire was low, and being damp was not
fun.
"You figured out what we're gonna tell Pop and your
dad?"
"I won't be going back, you know that." She paused.
"Ranma, please stay. We can use you. This fight...it's not
going to be easy. I'm probably crazy to stay, but...I can't
leave my people. You'd be a great help, and you'd get all
the fighting you can stand." She cleared her throat
nervously. "We need you, Ranma."
"I'd been thinking about staying. Since a month
passes here for every day back home, we wouldn't even
miss more than a few weeks. I dunno if Ucchan would go
for it, though." He stared at the floor. "Your pop's gonna
freak. Mine's gonna be mad, but you're not his daughter.
Mr. Tendo...he just..."
"I don't care. I never wanted to play housewife to
some guy who would run the dojo, anyway. I wanted to be
something, to make a difference, to...They'll probably just
try to make you marry Kasumi." She sighed. "I couldn't
go back now and just be a high school girl. This...this is
what I was born to do, I think. Daddy can't stop me. And
if he doesn't like Alyssa, well...too bad." Akane tried to
be defiant, but she was worried. She hadn't really
thought about this, mostly because she hadn't expected to
see her father again for a long time.
"Ryouga's gonna freak, too." Ranma sighed. "Ukyou
and I..."
"Hmm?" Akane felt herself getting tense, just
hearing Ukyou's name. She tried to calm herself.
"We...we...we did what you and Alyssa did."
For a minute, Akane stared at Ranma, trying to
figure out what he meant. Then it struck her. "..."
"I...she and I...we're gonna try. And be real fiancees.
Since you...you and I...I guess it's...over." He stared at the
floor. "Right?"
"Yeah," Akane said quietly. It hurt. Even though
they both had someone else, someone they cared about, it
hurt. She and Ranma had never said they loved each
other...while sane, anyway. They'd kissed, but it had been
with tape, or in their cursed forms, or when Ranma
thought he was a cat. And yet...Ranma had been the
constant in her life. Could Alyssa be that for me? I love
her, but...am I doing the right thing? I mean...I...part of
me still l...loves Ranma. "I..I guess."
"We don't...we don't have to hate each other or
nothing, right?"
"No, we don't." Akane said quietly. I wish...I wish I
had some way to be sure, she thought. But there's not
many guarantees of being right in life. "Especially, if you
stay...we need to be able to get along."
"Why'd we fight all the time?" Ranma asked.
"Habit, I guess. I think I've calmed down a lot. I
think you have too. I guess we're growing up."
"I think I wanna spar," Ranma said. "All this being
serious is making my head hurt."
Akane grinned. "What happened to not fighting
girls?"
"I ain't gonna fight no girls, but I'll happily hand
Kaneda his head on a plate." Ranma got up.
Akane smirked and cracked her knuckles. "I'll have
Cham get one ready for YOUR head, then."
After a good beating, they both felt better.
***********
A little before dinner, Mai and Alyssa had finished
rounding up females who could channel. There were eight
of them, not counting Alyssa: Mai, Celice, Joan (who still
had short blue hair), Egwene (no relation), Lori (the
flutist), Haile (a Taraboner noble on the run), Alya
(Corwin's sister, who was an herbalist), and Dora
(Definitely no relation). They'd also dug up eight men:
Alain (the ex-soldier), Corwin (not the wagoneer who
was Alya's brother, but a farmer), Balin and Dor (twin
peddlars, originally from Ebou Dar), Wil (a Ghealdan
farmer), Havric (an Amadician carpenter), Basel (a
Taraboner peddlar), and Jo (an unsuccessful theif-
catcher from Amadica).
Kaneda and Ranko joined the meeting, which started
with tests of everyone's strength. They ranged in power
from Havric and Egwene, who could move small rocks,
light little fires, and make pretty lights to Alain and Lori
who could match Kaneda for strength, although Ranko
was just a tiny bit weaker than the three of them. The
strongest of them, however, was Alyssa, who was
delighted to see that this one of the wishes had come
true the way she intended, at least when she didn't get
knocked out from behind.
After the tests were over, Kaneda said, "The
eighteen of us possess the knowlege of the Age of
Legends, although much of what we know is still not that
useful to us, unless we find a bunch of artifacts we don't
have. Still, I believe we can make a major difference in
the battle to come. We stand at the end of an age in
which channelers have been feared and hated, either
hunted down or withdrawing into seclusion. They have
forgotten the past that we now remember. We know that
Aes Sedai means 'Servants of All', not that all should
serve us."
He took a breath as various people nodded.
"Someone once said that power corrupts, and absolute
power corrupts absolutely. That is the danger we face.
The weakest among us still possesses power that
virtually no one possesses. A single spark can ignite a
fire that burns down a forest. It can make us arrogant.
It will make monsters of us if we are not careful." He
nudged Alyssa, who took over.
"Yet, that power is never enough to accomplish all
we wish. I thought I would be invincible after I made my
bargain, but I'm not. I got taken out by a person who
couldn't even channel. That's part of why power can
corrupt. The more you have, the more you think you need,
but you never have enough. If only I had a little more,
then I could accomplish my goals. But you can't ever have
enough. Not without trampling on other people, and even
then it won't be enough."
Alyssa turned and looked at each of those who sat
around her. "In the Age of Legends, the Aes Sedai wielded
their power responsibly. We are their heirs. We possess
their knowlege now." Her voice sped up a bit, starting to
become a little excited. "Kaneda and I have discussed
this, and we want to take up that legacy and form a new
order of Aes Sedai on the lines of the old, of men and
women working together. The end of this age is coming.
The Dragon is reborn. Tarmon Gai'don casts a shadow on
us all. Will you join us?" She looked hopefully out at
everyone.
She didn't have long to wait. Alain said, "I will do
so gladly." Mai nodded, as did Cerise. A chorus of
affirmatives followed, and the making of plans began.
***********
Kaneda was scared out of his mind as he stood on
the hastily built podium to make his announcement to his
followers. Alyssa stood nearby, smiling at him, which
gave him a little more strength. He could see Kasumi and
Ryouga out in the audience, and spotted Ranma and Ukyou
with a little more effort. He was terrified of how they
would react. "I have several announcements to make.
Firstly, after consulting with Lord Perrin and my council,
I have decided to go to Cairhien and offer my services to
the Lord Dragon." There were several gasps among the
audience. "Thanks to the Ash'aman and the Hall of
Servants, we can easily transport all of you to Cairhien,
or wherever you wish to go. I hope that you will join me
in supporting the Lord Dragon, but you are free to do as
you like. Those of you not interested in fighting, I will
do my best to find you a place to live and the opportunity
to work at what you like best. Cairhien needs just about
every kind of work there is. I myself and the Hall of the
Servants will be needing people who can fight, and I'm
sure the Lord Dragon is hiring as well. I thank you all for
your faith in me, and I intend to make sure all of you have
something to look forward to when you leave here."
He paused to take a couple of breaths. "If you wish
to stay, you're welcome to do so, but I expect the
Whitecloaks and the Prophet's men will be back for
another round in the Spring, and I see no point in fighting
them. On to the second item of business."
"In my recent trip, we recovered some old items of
the Power, cached in the last years of the Age of
Legends. With the aid of one of them, I was able to
endow those among us with the ability to channel with
the knowlege of the Aes Sedai of that age."
A murmering ran through the audience. Many people
visibly boggled. A single voice said in shock, "Men and
women?"
"Men and women."
Lots of people shifted uncomfortably, and the mood
of the crowd started to darken. Kaneda quickly said, "For
lack of a better name, we have dubbed ourselves the Hall
of the Servants, for we intend to serve the world as best
we can, with the memories we now possess of the Age of
Legends. Male and female Aes Sedai working together, as
in the Age of Legends."
He noticed the three Ash'aman in the audience
frowning a bit.
"All channelers will be welcome to join us, and we
hope to train as many people as we can with the
knowlege we possess. The end of this age is coming, and
we intend to be ready to defy the Shadow to our last
breaths. We'll be needing warriors as well, for Warders."
The audience calmed a bit, but only a bit. He
couldn't blame them for being afraid of male channelers.
"Finally, many of you have wondered where I come from
and why I would never talk about it."
That got their attention. There had been a million
crazy rumors. His favorite was that he was actually the
son of Merik the giant, who had somehow slept without
aging for thousands of years. "Once, in the Age of
Legends, the Aes Sedai travelled to the stars and to other
worlds beyond this one by using the ancient secrets of
the Portal Stones. I am from one such world."
They all stared in shock, with a few exceptions.
Cham was nodding his head as if he had expected to hear
this all along. Then again, Cham usually acted as if he
was all knowing.
"That world is very different from this one. There
was no breaking. There are no channelers there.
However, we have very many powerful warriors."
A lot of nodding ensued. Many of them had seen
Ranma and Ryouga's fight, and virtually all had seen
Kaneda fight.
"There's something else different about that world."
He signalled to Alyssa. "Some people in that world
change into something else when they get wet."
Many cocked heads and blank stares followed.
"I know people who become ducks or cats when
wet."
A vast sea of laughter greeted that comment.
Kaneda shook his head. "I'm not joking."
"Tell us another one!" someone shouted.
"I myself..." He signalled again to Alyssa, who
doused him. The change was never pleasant, especially
not in this bitter cold, although it being hot water helped
a little. Alyssa began to channel the water out of
Akane's clothing, which also helped. "...am a girl who
turns into a boy with cold water, and back to a girl with
hot water like the water Alyssa just dumped on me."
Akane had never seen so many people faint in her
life.
***********
"It...it's not infectious, is it?" Faile asked as she
and Perrin ate dinner with Akane's inner circle. The two
of them, Alyssa, Ranma, Ryouga, Kasumi, and Ukyou were
all eating together. Faile looked rather nervous.
Kasumi shook her head. "Not at all, or everyone in
our house back home would be infected by now. Ranma-
kun's been living with us close to a year, and he had
nothing to do with Akane-chan getting cursed." She
paused and cocked her head slightly. "Actually, if he did
somehow infect Nabiki or I, we wouldn't be able to tell
anyway. Well, if it was a drowned girl curse. I suppose
Daddy wouldn't be very happy, though."
Akane and Ranma both began to laugh raucously.
"Daddy would just DIE," Akane managed to say. "He'd
probably fill the tub with hot water and never come out."
"Just don't make a bargain with the Foxes without
thinking about the consequences," Alyssa said quietly.
"And you'll be fine."
Perrin said, "So what are you going to do with the
portal to the Foxes' realm?"
"Give it to the Lord Dragon. I'm sure he can think of
three good wishes. We could probably send in a few
dozen Ash'aman and get enough taint-stopping power to
protect the whole Black Tower too." Akane said. She
was wearing one of Alyssa's dresses. It felt GOOD to
wear a dress. It had been so long. She didn't mind
dressing like a guy, but not all the time. Unfortunately,
Alyssa's dress didn't fit right. Alyssa was about three
inches taller and had slightly smaller breasts. It also
seemed to involve about 3000 hooks, latches, ribbons,
and ties, which had taken forever to arrange, even with
Alyssa helping. Kasumi had borrowed another dress from
Alyssa, and it looked marvellous on her.
Perrin frowned. "Are you sure there aren't any
side-effects to that? It makes me wonder why the Age
of Legends Aes Sedai didn't just go make that wish to
stop the Breaking of the World."
Kaneda sighed. "I didn't think to ask, really. I was
too desperate to find a way to not go mad or die. Maybe
this was the only gateway, and it got sealed away and no
one knew where."
Perrin nodded. "I suppose that's a possibility. Three
wishes...it's quite tempting."
Faile said, "I would wish to seal the Dark One off
forever. Then...hmmm..."
"They're not that powerful," Akane said. "They
couldn't even get rid of the Taint on the Source, let along
seal up the Dark One forever." She pulled her dress into
place. "Too bad they didn't train the ancient Aes Sedai as
tailors..."
Faile laughed. "So, are all of you staying here with
Kaneda?" She paused. "Or would you rather I call you
Akane?"
"Akane when I'm a girl," Akane said.
"I'm going back as soon as I can," Kasumi said. "I
hope Father doesn't flood the entire house before I get
home. Mopping is boring."
Ryouga said, "I suppose if Akane is staying, I'll
probably stay a while and help. Mom and Dad probably
won't be home from the store for another three months or
so."
"Ranchan and I are going back to Nerima," Ukyou
said.
"Ucchan and I are staying," Ranma said.
They paused and looked at each other. Perrin
whispered to Faile, "Brings back old times, eh dear?"
She grinned at him. "Only if he had said she was
going back and he was staying." She tweaked his nose.
Ranma and Ukyou both started to speak, then fell
silent, then both said, "Hey, you should have ASKED
before you said that!"
Kasumi said, "Well, Ranma-kun probably should
stay with his fiancee."
It was at that moment, Akane realized that
disaster was coming. She had always wondered why deer
froze up in headlights. Now she knew. It had been
months since she had had an experience like this. Now
was not the best time for old home week.
Ukyou said, "He is. He's MY fiancee."
Ryouga snarled, "Even though he DOESN'T deserve
it, Ranma is Akane's fiancee! And I won't let him abandon
her!"
Perrin blinked. Didn't he say he was going to
stay...wait...he's engaged to Akane? But she and...they're
both girls. Or is Akane a guy who turns into a girl? No,
wait...she's engaged to Ranma. But Ranma turns into a
girl too. His brain entered the spin cycle.
"I didn't say I was gonna ABANDON HER! I took the
Oath of the Hall of the Servants, ya know!" Ranma
shouted at Ryouga.
"You did WHAT?" Ukyou bellowed. "Without
consulting me? I'm your fiancee, damnit!"
Kasumi said, "Oh my. I didn't mean to start a fight."
She frowned.
"Well, you seem to have done a good job of it,"
Faile idly observed.
"Hey, everyone was doing it! I just kinda...uh..."
Ranma said nervously.
"If EVERYONE WAS DOING IT, WOULD YOU JUMP OFF A
CLIFF?" Ukyou shouted, leaping to her feet. "How can you
DO this?"
"Ta'averen," Perrin muttered. "That's how. That's
how I do everything these days, it seems." Faile pinched
his cheek to silence him.
Ryouga said, "So you betrayed BOTH of your
fiancees! Now, Ranma, you will DIE!" He vaulted across
the table at Ranma, who backflipped away across the
room.
"Can't it wait til we finish eating? We already
fought once today!" Ranma said.
Akane tried to speak, but she couldn't figure out
anything to say except, "Can you take it outside? We're
trying to eat."
Kasumi nodded. "We're guests here, try to be
polite."
Ukyou faced off with Ryouga. "Only I get to kill my
fiancee for being an idiot!"
Perrin watched them, ready to step in if things got
out of hand. I can't believe Akane isn't doing anything.
He looked over at Akane, then recognized the look on her
face. It was a helpless look, of one who had seen this
happen 3000 times and just didn't know what to do
anymore.
He was about to speak when Alyssa said firmly, "If
ANY of you throws a single blow, I'll tie you all up with
the Power and send you to bed without any dinner. We're
all adults here; we shouldn't fight like small children. If
you have quarrels, you can settle them later like
reasonable people." There was a steel in her voice that
none of them had heard before. "In private. Now, can we
all sit down and EAT?"
Ryouga sat down shamefacedly, grumbling. Ranma
looked grateful, scrambling back into his seat. Ukyou
frowned and whispered something to Ranma that made
him look less happy. Faile said, "Nicely said, Lady
Alyssa. Would that my husband might learn when to tell
certain people to be silent." She gave him a meaningful
look.
Perrin frowned slightly. "You trained in the Tower,
right?" He had flashed back to memories of Moraine
when she made her little speech. She would have done
the same thing.
"Rank...Ranma and I trained in the Tower." She
couldn't quite admit that she had washed out.
"Yeah, I made it to Accepted before the Amyrlin
Seat sent Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne, and I on a secret
mission," Ranma said, holding up his great serpent ring.
"Rand and I fought..."
Perrin boggled at a sudden memory. "Wait...that
was YOU?" He thought a moment. "It was you."
Ranma grinned. "Yeah. I showed Bel'al who's boss."
Alyssa's eyes widened. "You fought Bel'al?"
"Yep. Kicked his butt, then Moraine Sedai balefired
Ishmael back to the Stone Age." Ranma thought a
moment. "He was pretty strong in the Power, but he
wouldn't last five minutes with Kunou without it."
"How many of the Forsaken yet live?" Alyssa asked.
Perrin thought a moment. "Aginor and Balthamel
died at the Eye of the World. Rand finished off Bel'al at
Tear and Ishmael got balefired there by Moraine. Lanfear
died with Moraine at Cairhien. Rahvin died at Caemlyn.
Rand killed Sammael at Shadar Logoth. That
makes...seven down, six to go. Demandred, Asmodean,
Semirhage, Moghiedien, Mesaana, Graendal still live."
"Wow. They may all die by Tarmon Gai'don at this
rate," Alyssa said.
"I certainly hope so," Perrin said.
***********
Akane sat next to Alyssa on their bed. "I won't make
you do this." A bucket of water sat nearby.
Alyssa shook her head. "If I'm going to be stuck like
this, I have to get used to it." She sighed and reached for
the bucket.
"You might step away from the bed first," Akane
said. "Unless you like sleeping in wet sheets on a cold
night." Her eyes twinkled as she smiled.
Alyssa laughed nervously. "I guess you can tell I'm
not used to this." She took the bucket and stepped away
from the bed. *SPLASH* Alyssa-kun shook himself. "I
suppose I should have changed out of my clothing too."
"I'll just...then again, maybe I won't channel you
dry," Akane said. "Not unless I get wet too, but then
once I change back, I'll be wet again and...oh, baah."
"I'll just go dry off and change again," Alyssa-kun
said. "Maybe I can think of what to call my boyform
while I'm in the bathroom." He headed into the bathroom.
Boy type Alyssa was about four inches taller, almost as
tall as Akane's father, and a good seven inches taller
than Akane. This was rather pleasing to Akane, who liked
tall guys. He was one of the skinniest men Akane had
ever seen. He might have even lost weight from the
transformation. His hair remained a bright yellow, and
the same length and style, much longer than any man that
Akane had seen in this world, although she had heard that
Kandorian men had long braids. While Akane's boy body
was even more muscular than she was, Alyssa's had only
a little muscle tone, no more than her girl body.
Akane found it quite pleasant to look at, and
recognized the faint stirrings of desire. She tamped
them down. It would take Alyssa a long time to adjust,
and while Akane felt quite ready to go as far with
Alyssa's boy body as she had gone with Alyssa's girl
body, she also was quite certain that Alyssa was not. It
would take a long time, and might never reach that point.
Certainly, Ranma wasn't ready to sleep with men, and he
had been cursed for months. Although there had been that
one incident when she had thought she was a male. She
had been bonked in the head, and then Nodoka had shown
up for a visit, so no one had bothered to disabuse her of
her delusions. She had snapped out of it in the middle of
nuzzling Ranma-chan's cleavage. Ranma-chan hadn't
tried to stop her, really, although she couldn't be sure
that was an accurate memory, since her memories of the
period of her insanity had never been clear.
She laid back on the bed, thinking about it. I guess I
might have gone this way even if I had never come here,
she thought. But am I this way naturally, or is it the
curse? I guess that's a question I'll never be able to
answer. It must be natural, or Ranma would be lusting
after men in his girl form. He's had the curse
longer...maybe I should ask Ukyou.
A voice cut through her thoughts. "Gonna take up the
whole bed, dear?" Alyssa-kun sounded rather scared.
Akane couldn't blame him.
She sat up and made room. "Sorry. I was just
thinking."
"About what?" Alyssa-kun sat down by Akane.
"How handsome you are." Akane smiled reassuringly.
Alyssa-kun twitched slightly and sat down on the
bed. "Now what?"
Akane laughed slightly. "You do remember how to
sleep, right?"
Alyssa-kun frowned. "That's not what I meant."
Akane leaned over, pulling Alyssa to her. "Now we
kiss and get some sleep before we die of exhaustion."
She leaned forward and smooched Alyssa-kun gently on
the lips. Alyssa jumped slightly. Akane laid down. "We
can cuddle up if you feel comfortable, or spread out."
Alyssa-kun laid down on his back, then said, "I
think we're going to need a longer bed."
Akane dragged Alyssa-kun's legs around so his body
lay across the bed diagonally, then plopped down on top
of him and pulled up the covers. "I'll just use you as a
bed, then, okay?"
Alyssa-kun laughed and wrapped his arms gently
around Akane. "Okay, Akane. And I'll use you as a foot
warmer." Cold feet brushed Akane's legs.
Sleep was delayed on account of necessary combat.
***********
Ranma slept on the roof. He and Ukyou had had a
fight that dwarfed any of his fights with Akane, except
for being less violent. In a lot of ways, the yelling was a
lot worse than being hit. Physical pain faded pretty
quick.
Maybe this was a mistake, he thought. No, I'm not
gonna give up that easily. Everyone fights sometimes,
and I guess maybe I shoulda asked her before I swore any
oaths. Not that she had asked him before making a
promise to break a statue for the foxes at some
unspecified time. So she couldn't even really leave,
anyway, until they called in their favor. And there was
no way to find out when.
I just wanna help my friends. He thought about
Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve. They all drove him nuts
sometimes, but they were friends. They'd been kinda
thrust together by their 'wunderkind' status, as all four
of them had been among the strongest new recruits the
Tower had seen in quite a while.
Except for Ukyou, Ranma had never really had
female friends before them, and Ukyou didn't quite count
since she was a fiancee. He had more than enough of
those. It was a different, weird, sometimes exciting,
and sometimes terrifying experience. He'd found himself
engaging in what he could only describe as 'girl talk' with
them, and more frighteningly, enjoying it. They'll
probably die when they find out I'm a guy, he thought.
He laughed a little. I wonder how Elayne and Rand
are doing. She was fretting about him all the way to
Tanchico. Assuming they've seen each other again...surely
they have. I wonder if Nynaeve ever got her
boyfriend...whasshisname...Ran? Lan. That's it. If they
ever finally got hitched. I guess since Moraine died, they
can finally tie the knot since he doesn't have to follow
Moraine everywhere.
He looked down and saw Ryouga wander by. I
wonder if you'll still be in this universe in the morning. I
wonder how you GOT to this universe. I guess you can
find Akane no matter where she is.
A gentle rain began to fall. Ranma-chan swore. I
gotta find somewhere else to sleep, or I'm gonna freeze
to death. Maybe I'll...
She now saw P-chan veering off towards Akane's
house. Ranma-chan swore again. "You moron." First I
stop you, then I'm gonna take YOUR bed. She leaped off
the roof.
P-chan immediately went into evasive manuevers
when he heard Ranma-chan coming. "Oh no, you don't!"
Ranma-chan said, sprinting through the snow. "Ahh, I
should have thought of this before..."
With a little use of fire, the snow under P-chan
turned into very hot water, and an instant naked Ryouga
resulted. He shuddered. "What the..."
Ranma-chan grinned. "Pool of Drowned and nearly
frozen Ryouga. VERY tragic story." She tossed him his
clothing. "Get dressed."
The rain struck him. More P-chan. Ranma-chan
sighed and grabbed him and the clothing, hauling him into
one of the storage buildings. She made more hot water.
"You shouldn't wander in the rain in a world with no hot
and cold running water, ya know."
"I needed to go to the bathroom."
"All the houses have privies inside them."
"..."
Ranma-chan sighed. "Look, just don't go sneaking
off into Akane's bed, okay? If you promise, I'll get you
back to your house, warm and dry."
"I can get myself home."
"And how does the little piggie propose to reach the
doorhandle?"
"I'll improvise."
"Whatever. I'm gonna crash. You go have fun in the
rain without your umbrella."
"Tomorrow, you'll pay for what you've done!"
Ranma-chan rolled her eyes. "I already am. Get
out of here."
Ryouga left. Blink. Instant pig. Ranma-chan
followed him to make sure he got home and not into
Akane's bed, anyway. She didn't get much sleep that
night.
***********
Ukyou found herself in T'A'R in a foul mood. Baka
Ranma, swearing that stupid oath. Now we're stuck. She
wandered through the Dream version of Castle Mist,
kicking rocks and banging on buildings. "THIS SUCKS! I
WANT TO GO HOME!" Ranma didn't break his promises.
That was his strong point. But like his father, he made
stupid ones. That was his weakness.
I can't leave without him. Not now that
we're...we're...what if he swore the oath because he really
wants to be with Akane? No, that can't be it. I hope
that's not it. Please don't let that be it. "I guess I
couldn't leave until I break that statue for the Foxes
anyway...wherever it is."
She sat down and realized she was sitting on stone,
and not dirt. Looking around, she was inside a long
hallway of some building she didn't recognize. "Great, I
let my brain wander."
Looking down at herself, she realized that she was
now dressed in Ranma's usual costume. She sighed and
let it be for now. A bit of wandering found a chamber
full of knicknacks, most of them incomprehensible to her.
Part of the problem was that except for the large
fountain, the items kept appearing and disappearing.
They haven't been here long enough to be part of the way
the place always appears, Ukyou thought. "A bunch of
odds and ends. Funky junk." However, among the junk, a
statue caught her eye. It showed a fox and a serpent
chained together with enough chains for five men. It was
crude and ugly, but made of a soft white stone, the same
as the door to the treasure horde in the mountain had
been made of.
A shadow she hadn't paid any attention to, suddenly
moved. It was vaguely humanoid with glowing eyes.
"What?" It sounded surprised.
Ukyou fled. With a thought, she returned to Castle
Mist, and with a few more, she forced herself to wake up.
"Great. Whatever that was, it was scary."
***********
Mesaana frowned. Spying was hard enough without
someone stumbling into it. Probably one of those
children who had somehow beaten Moghieden. This would
bear looking into.
**********
Kasumi took the cute little piggie, who looked like
P-chan, but of course couldn't be P-chan, since he was in
another universe, to breakfast. Kaneda was quite pleased
to see him. "P-chan!" It was a private breakfast, with
just Kaneda's friends and Perrin and Faile. Kaneda looked
around. "Where's Ryouga?" He cuddled his pet pig,
making Faile grin and Perrin almost laugh.
Alyssa smiled and patted him on the head. "Look,
Ryouga gave him a cute little bandana!"
Ranma discovered that snarfing mead up your nose
feels really bad. Ukyou said, "Ranma?" It was the first
thing she'd said to him that morning.
Kasumi said, "I don't know where Ryouga went. He
must have gone to exercise or something."
Kaneda nodded. "Well, he was planning to stay,
anyway. You'll tell Daddy that we'll be back in a few
weeks, right? Two or three months at most." Three
months at home would be 7 years here, which should be
more than enough. "So he shouldn't worry. And let him
know I love him and miss him a lot."
Kasumi frowned. "Are you sure you can't come home
and tell him yourself?"
Kaneda shook his head. "Not with the oath I had to
make. But he's welcome to come visit with the D-hopper.
And I promise I will come back when this is over." If I
don't die. "At least for a visit."
"If you and Ranma-kun get married without him, he'll
be very disappointed. So I suggest you wait."
Ranma snarfed more mead and incapacitated
himself. Ukyou began whacking him on the back. Alyssa
blushed and Kaneda sighed slightly. "I promise we won't
get married without Daddy."
Kasumi looked relieved. "Then, I'll go after we
finish eating."
Kaneda thought a moment. "Oh, actually...can you get
Ranma's other D-hopper when you get home and bring it
back to us? That way we'll have one and there will be
one at home."
Kasumi nodded.
Perrin said, "Are you ready for the trip today?"
They had decided that Kaneda and Alyssa would go to talk
to Rand before moving everyone, and that Ranko would go
with them since she knew Rand, and Ukyou had insisted
on going with Ranko.
Ranma crawled back into his chair. "All I need is a
bucket of water and something to keep this mead out of
my nose," he choked out.
Faile laughed. "Not used to having it?"
"We don't normally have sweet tasting alcohol with
breakfast." Ranma said. "At least I don't. Happousai
probably does."
Kaneda fed P-chan some of his breakfast. "Eat up,
piggie!" He giggled a little.
Faile gave Perrin another one of those looks that
meant he was supposed to read her mind and draw a
conclusion. The only one he drew was to hope Kaneda
didn't take P-chan to the formal audience.
***********
Kasumi had departed, but they still hadn't found
Ryouga. Kaneda left P-chan in Alya's care, despite his
efforts to come along with the group. Kaneda was
wearing his finest clothing, which meant he looked like a
rich peasant with a nice scarf and a clean hat. Alyssa
was dressed in a nice yellow dress of soft wolsey with a
high neckline and blue embroidered flowers. She wore
one of the dream walking ter'angreals shaped like a ring
and had the strongest of the angreals in a pocket on her
skirt. Ranko and Ukyou were dressed in the only outfits
they had, which had been thoroughly scrubbed. Ranko
wore her great serpent ring with pride, and Ukyou had
shined and polished her spatulas to make them gleam.
Most of the Ash'aman were staying with the Hall of
the Servants to keep guarding the prisoners, but three of
them went with Perrin and Faile, along with a small
honor guard. They appeared in Perrin's chambers and sent
a runner to see how soon the Dragon would be available.
Within a half hour, they were ushered to the Throne
room, where Rand sat in state, the Dragon sceptre across
his lap. Several Aiel chiefs lurked about, looking
impressive, along with the serried ranks of Cairhienin
and Tairen nobility, a few Aes Sedai, and a girl who stood
next to the throne serving no apparent purpose. She was
dressed in men's clothing, brown breeches, a white shirt
and blue vest. The newcomers saw she was staring at
them. Ranko recognized her. "Hi, Min!" she shouted.
The room fell silent, and Min laughed. "Hello,
Ranko."
Perrin laughed a little himself, and said, "My Lord
Dragon, I present to you, Kaneda of House Tendo, lord of
Castle Mist and First among Servants of the Hall of the
Servants, and his consort, Alyssa of Ghealdan. I present
also Ranko Sedai and her warder, Ukyou of Osaka."
There was a wash of whispers around the room.
Kaneda stepped forward and bowed. "I have come to
pledge myself to your service. While my followers
believed for a time that I might be the Dragon, I have
come to the conclusion that you are the one. I believe
you know Ranko Sedai. She told me of your battle in the
Heart of the Stone against Be'lal." He knelt now, as did
his companions. "I command a force of ten female and
nine male channelers, the Hall of Servants, and several
artifacts we recovered from an ancient treasure house.
But most importantly, I have learned a great secret."
Kaneda looked up. "I'm sure you are already holding the
source. Try channeling." He extended his will and
brought his protection against the Taint over Rand.
Rand looked suspicious. He held out one hand and a
ball of flame formed. Then his eyes widened. He stared
at his hand, then at Kaneda. "It...it's not possible."
Kaneda smiled. "It is possible. The Foxes do not
sell power cheaply, but it can be done."
More whispers circulated the room. Most of the
people present couldn't even begin to guess what they
were talking about.
His eyes narrowed. "How can I be sure this isn't a
trick?"
"Shield me all you like. I'm not holding the source.
Shield us all. Send us back to Castle Mist for a while if
you like. It's quite real."
"Just like the Eye of the World," he whispered. Min
whispered something to him, and he whispered back. "You
say you bargained with the Foxes for this?"
"I still possess the means by which the Bargain was
made, if you desire it," Kaneda replied. "I cannot use it
again."
"Come," Rand said. "We will converse in private."
*********
Private included three Aiel women lurking
menacingly, an Aes Sedai named Merana, who Ranko knew
was of the Grey Ajah, and quite highly regarded within it,
the Lord Dragon, Min, an Aielman named Rhuarc, a Wise
One named Amys, Perrin, and Faile. It was better than
having dozens of noblemen staring at them, though.
"So they offer three wishes, but you pay a price,"
Rand said.
Kaneda nodded. "And they have limited power. I can
only shield 20 men."
"How can you be sure that they don't just THINK
they're protected from the Taint?" Merana asked.
"I can't," Kaneda said. "But it's a rather powerful
delusion if it is one. They didn't cheat us on anything
else. If we worded our wishes clearly."
Alyssa nodded. "Be careful about naming your price.
I got stuck channelling with these two women who
apparently had gotten stuck in some kind of long term
service contract or some such thing. They didn't look too
happy, anyway."
Rand twitched. "Did you...get their names by any
chance?"
Alyssa thought hard. "Moraine and...um..Mierin, I
think."
The room fell silent for a moment.
The Lord Dragon snarfed his wine and looked quite
foolish. Ranko tossed him a handkerchief in sympathy.
Min's eyes widened. "Moraine is alive?"
Rhuarc said, "Perhaps."
Amys said, "But who is this other woman?"
"Lanfear." Rand said. "Moraine lives." He smiled
faintly. "One less death..."
Alyssa twitched. "I was linked with one of the
FORSAKEN?"
"Sometimes we pay costs we don't expect," Rand
said.
Alyssa laughed. "You got that right."
"How soon can you bring it?"
"Tomorrow. How soon can I start moving my
people?"
Rand thought a moment. "As soon as you like. Let's
work out the details."
*************
"Wait...this Aviendha person is after him ALSO?"
Ranma-chan boggled. She and Min were hanging out on
one of the Sun Palace's balconies. Rand and Kaneda and
their respective advisors and flunkies were knee-deep in
administrative stuff and discussions. Never in a million
years would either of them admit they had snuck off to
gossip, but they had. Ranma-chan wanted to know what
was up with her old friends, and she had hoped Min would
know.
"Yes. I have to share him with two other women."
She sighed and stared out across the city. "Sometimes I
hate my visions."
"Yeah. So what do you see in my future?"
She sighed and stared at Ranma-chan for a moment.
"A panda bear and three women are chasing you along a
tightrope over an abyss. A hallway with four doors. One
of them is locked, so you go to the next one. A boy who
looks like you kissing a girl who looks like your warder."
She frowned slightly. "Weird. You battling some boy
with a yellow and black bandanna. He looks dark. He
suddenly shouts something and a huge black sphere
erupts from his body, engulfing both of you."
Ranma-chan twitched. "Shishi Hokodan?"
"My visions don't have sound, and I can't read his
lips. He could be shouting, 'I want some beef' for all I
know. The weird thing is that the guy has fangs. Maybe
it's some kind of dreadlord or a..."
Ranma-chan shook her head. "My old enemy/friend,
Ryouga." She sighed. "And these always come true,
right?"
"I didn't see you die, if that's what you're worried
about."
"What you saw was almost certainly the Shishi
Hokodan and I'd bet a week in the kitchens I know what is
gonna set that off."
"You do?" Min was surprised. If she didn't know the
meaning of her vision right off, usually no one figured it
out until it was too late.
"Okay, I'll start by explaining what the Shishi
Hokodan is." This took a while.
Min sat and thought for a minute. "No good way to
ease this revelation to him?"
Ranma-chan sighed. "He loves her too much. For
there to be an easy way. Nothing is ever easy with
Ryouga, anyway. I mean...just imagine if you found out
Rand loved someone else." Pause. "Umm...I mean..."
Min laughed faintly. "I don't like it, but given he
doesn't have forever to live...I'm just glad I'm here and
can be with him."
Ranma-chan nodded. "Anyway, I'm tempted now to
take him off in the countryside and just let him blow up
on me. I can take it better than this palace can or most
of the people in this city."
Min frowned. "But if it gets stronger the more he
despairs..."
"You got a better idea?"
"Not really."
"Right. Let's go find him."
**************
They found P-chan with Alya and Balin. Balin was
trying to show off his knowledge of Cairhien to impress
her, but her real intention was focused on playing with
the pig. Being from Ebou Dar and handsome to boot, he
wasn't used to being upstaged by a pig, so he kept getting
louder and more overly dramatic, occassionaly fingering
his knife or tugging on his short black hair.
"Yo, P-chan, we gotta talk." Ranma-chan grabbed P-
chan. "I'll take care of him now, Alya."
Alya laughed. "Have a nice chat. Who's your
friend?"
"This is Min from Andor. She's an old friend of mine
from the Tower."
"Should I call you Min Sedai, then?" Alya asked.
Min laughed. "I was just there for the laughs. And
to keep a few people company."
"Come on, P-chan." P-chan looked up nervously at
Ranma-chan.
"Take us to the kitchens, Min."
************
"The one thing holding me back is that I just...I'm
suspicious as to why the Aes Sedai of the second age
didn't do this," Rand said to Kaneda.
"It's a good question. If we had some way to contact
the Snakes, I suppose we could find out," Kaneda said.
"But all my knowledge only applies to where the portals
USED to be."
"Well, I know where a portal is, but I can't use
it...ahh, right. I'll take you to Tear and you can ask them
yourself." He stood up. "No time like the present."
Rhuarc said, "I think you can wait for us to gather
a proper bodyguard."
The explosion that shook the palace halted that
discussion.
************
After much panic and searching, they found Ranma-
chan on top of Min, with both unconscious. Ukyou had
been able to easily lead them to her. The back half of
Ranma-chan's clothing was ripped apart and they had
been driven into the ground along one side of a huge
crater.
Alyssa soon had both of them conscious and feeling
much better. "What happened?"
"Ryouga took it pretty hard."
Rand looked around at the crater. I didn't feel any
male channeling, but what else could make a crater this
big? "He did this? Is he a channeler?"
"No, but he took the news pretty badly." Ranma-
chan clutched her head. "You okay, Min? I tried to shield
you, but..." She sighed mentally. I TOLD YOU to stay back,
but no, you wouldn't listen. Everyone in this universe
thinks they know better than everyone else.
"I feel like someone beat me for a few days without
stopping." She stared down into the crater. "He's a
strong channeler."
"It's not channeling. It's chi. Anyone could learn to
do it."
Min looked over at Rand, who said, "I didn't sense it."
He turned to the nearby squad of Asha'man. "Did you feel
anything?"
"Other than a mild case of gas, no," one of them said.
None of the others had felt anything, either.
"He can't have gone far," Rhuarc said, then he sent
out squads of Aiel to search for Ryouga.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Ranma-chan said.
"He can cross oceans without crossing them, if you know
what I mean."
Rand frowned. "I'm a little more aware of that than
I wish."
Several people stared at Rand, who didn't elaborate.
Kaneda frowned. "What the hell did you do to him
this time, Ranma?"
"Min had a vision and I decided it was better to take
him outside than to let him blow up the entire palace."
"But WHY did he...blow up?"
"He found out about Akane's new lover."
Kaneda's eyes widened. "He WHAT?"
Rand looked back and forth between them, clearly
showing he was clueless.
"I thought it was better he find out now instead of
learning in a place with a lot of people."
"He explodes when this happens?" Rand asked.
"When he gets depressed, he can make these
explosions," Ranma-chan said. "And since it was gonna
happen anyway..."
"You should have asked m...her before you told him!"
Kaneda shouted. "She could have told him herself!"
"I can take being blown up better than she can! I can
channel and she can't!" Ranma-chan shouted back.
Everyone began to back away; screaming matches
between channelers do that. Rand signalled the Asha'man
to be ready to shield both of them. The bright glows they
began to emit, on the other hand, was something none of
the others understood.
"He might not have exploded if she had told him
herself! She doesn't go around DELIBERATELY MAKING HIM
MAD like you do!" Kaneda had a hard time restraining
himself from grabbing the source and thwacking Ranma-
chan.
"MIN HAD A VISION! THEY ALWAYS COME TRUE! IT
WAS INEVITABLE! The only question was WHERE he would
blow up!"
"You're making that up!"
They were nose to nose now, shouting. Or to be
more precise, Ranma-chan's nose to Kaneda's adam's
apple. He was much taller than her.
Ukyou-kun came running up at this point. "Ranma!
What happened! I could sense...what happened?"
Rand said, "She's not lying, Kaneda. Min's visions
always come true."
Kaneda reined himself in. People were watching.
"You should have told ...her first, Ranma. You always rush
off half-cocked."
"I do not! Which one of us used to get kidnapped all
the time?"
"What does that have to do with ANYTHING?" Kaneda
began to rant, and Rand began to wonder what he was
getting into with this new ally.
*************
Ryouga ran through the wilderness, not bothering
to figure out why it looked suspiciously like the inside of
a building. He had lost his one true love. Akane.
To...to...he couldn't even think about it. The only comfort
was that at least Ranma hadn't beaten him.
He wondered briefly, if he could be transformed by
his own tears. It hadn't happened yet, though. He didn't
care if he did. His life as a human just wasn't worth
living.
Not looking where he went, he was surprised when
he slammed into a woman. She was dressed in a brown
dress with an odd shawl and had a book under one arm.
He was even more surprised when she didn't fall down.
He certainly did.
"Where are you in such a rush, young one?" she
asked, her voice compassionate. "You look heartbroken."
"I...I...lost the only woman I ever loved. To some
magic using girl."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "You lost her to a
woman?"
Ryouga struggled to come up with some explanation
besides the truth. "She's this...I can't think of the word.
High Sinai."
"Aes Sedai?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "Is
she a novice or something?"
"I dunno. She's named Alyssa. And she...I can't
believe she...Akane!" He struggled to control himself. His
chi was surging, trying to build up and escape. I never
should have learned the Shishi Hokodan, he thought. It's
too dangerous.
The woman's eyes perked up. "Her name is Alyssa?
Blonde?"
Ryouga's eyes widened. "You know her?"
Her voice took on a pitying tone. "Another victim
of that woman. A shame. The way she seduces and
controls her lovers with the One Power. Reshaping their
minds and twisting them to her own path of perversion.
That's why we were going to still her, but she escaped
somehow. Do you know where she is?"
"Umm...there was this city. And a palace and people
and stuff. And a river. Carthage?" Ryouga tried to think.
"She...twists people?"
"She was horrible, a spy of the Dark One in our
walls. She must be brought down. At once. And her
allies, such as that redhaired girl who was her friend
here, Ranko, I believe her name was. They studied many
dark arts together."
Ryouga felt his rage boiling. It WAS Saotome's
fault. "Damn you, Ranma!"
"Would you be willing to help me hunt them down?
They must be stopped."
"I will hunt Saotome to the end of the Earth! And
his evil ally! This, I do swear! I will set you free,
Akane!"
She smiled. "What is your name? My name is
Lara."
"I'm Ryouga Hibiki."
Turning to leave, she said, "Come with me, Ryouga.
I must teach you a few secrets to help you protect
yourself. It is fortunate that you have come here. The
Wheel weaves threads together in mysterious ways."
"I'll do anything to free Akane from
that...those...grrrr," Ryouga said, trying to follow her.
"It will not take long to prepare," she said. "I've
always been good at teaching."
**************
John Walter Biles : MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/
Image is nothing. Underwear is everything. Obey your perversion.
Happousai
--IF people tried to market Happousai... (Mike Loader's suggestion.)