TA'AVEREN 1/2: TALES OF THE RONIN
---
by John Walter Biles (rhea@maison-otaku.net)
 and Jeremy Blackman (loki@maison-otaku.net)
---
DISCLAIMER/CAUTION
This fanfic is a crossover between Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2,
which you all should be familiar with by now <grin>, and Robert
Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ series (6 books and growing!), which if
you aren't familiar with, you should be.  For shame.  Go buy the
whole set.  Right now.  Well, ok, finish this paragraph first.

While it is not necessary to have read _Wheel of Time_ to enjoy
this fanfic, if you have, we warn you that while we didn't follow
the plot of Wheel of Time exactly (in fact, we plan to deviate pretty
majorly by the time we reach the plot of book 3), obviously there will
be some spoilers.  Having warned you about that...

This was originally posted in late 1995 or early 1996.

***

CHAPTER 2
    Manifest Destiny

***

    "We'll have to make camp here, Lady Eleanor," said Roland,
materializing suddenly out of the trees to one side of the trail.  His
cloak swirled around him, the colors seeming to shift to match his
surroundings.

    "I don't like it.  I was hoping we could reach Taren's Ferry by
tonight.  Well, I hadn't counted on having to stray from the trail so
many times to chase after the Aybara boy.  Who would have thought it
possible to have such an awful sense of direction?"  She sighed.
"Very well, we'll have to push on as soon as we can.  Roland, go ahead
and set camp, and keep a watch out for fanboys."  She turned to Ranma
and the others, who all watched intently as Roland seemed to dissolve
into the trees.  "Why didn't you mention that your friend here had
such an incredibly bad sense of direction?"

     Shinnosuke looked over at Ranma with a slight shrug.  Ranma was
seated on a log, staring at the ground, a sulky look on her face.
Every few moments, she unconsciously began to cross her arms over her
chest in a typical pouting gesture.  Each time she did so, she started
in surprise, then returned to sullenly staring at the ground.  "I guess
we all just take for granted that Ryouga can't find his own backyard."
Ryouga turned red, and mumbled something.

     Ranma finally looked up, glaring over at Eleanor.  "You're an Aes
Sedai," she began accusingly, "Can't you just wave your arms and cure
me or something?"  Eleanor gave a long-suffering sigh - this argument
had come up countless times during the trip so far.

     "You don't understand, girl...all right," she amended, fending
off the beginnings of yet another indignant outburst from Ranma, "You
don't understand, BOY.  The One Power does not work that way.
There are different types of Aes Sedai, each specializing in something
different.  The ones you would need to meet are the Yellow Ajah.  To 
bring your problem before them, you will have to travel to the White 
Tower."  Ranma stared sullenly at the ground.  

     Eleanor sighed again, and turned to Hinako.  "You, there.  I'm 
sure everyone will be tired this evening.  You know the herbs of
the region better than me, come help me pick some for some tea."
Hinako began to protest, but Eleanor just gave her a look, and Hinako
subsided and trailed after.

     Shinnosuke shuddered.  "She's scary...anyone who can bully down
Hinako like that..."  He looked down at Ranma.  "Hey, cheer up.  It's
not so bad."  Ranma looked up in disbelief.  "Even if you're stuck as
a girl, at least you're a real cute one!"  He smiled.

***************************

     Akemi entered the clearing just in time to see a muttering
Shinnosuke leaving, with a swollen cheek.  "Try to cheer someone up,"
he muttered, "And get clobbered."  She watched, somewhat puzzled, as
Shinnosuke vanished off to where Eleanor had tied Ryouga to a tree with
a strand of the One Power to prevent his wandering off.

     Akemi walked up to Ranma, and sat down next to her.  "Hey, you ok?"

     Silence.

     "Ranma?"

     Silence.

     Akemi pondered for a moment, then pulled a large megaphone out of
seemingly nowhere.  "HEY!!!  I TALKING HERE!!!"  Ranma was blown
sideways for a moment, then blinked back at Akemi.

     "Whaddya want?" Ranma asked sullenly.

     "Ranma, I...I think it's pretty clear you need to talk to
someone," she began.  "But first you should just settle down and try
to calm yourself..."

     "What could you know about it?" asked Ranma.  "Everything feels
different!  Even walking feels different, like my hips were
moved around!  Even BREATHING feels different!  Calm DOWN?  How can I
calm down??"  She stood up, fire in her eyes.  "I'm the one who has
just had my life altered forever, and you want me to CALM DOWN???"

     Suddenly, Ranma stopped.  Her mouth was still moving, but no sound
came out.  Akemi, rather angry herself now, ignored this.  "And who are
you to complain, Ranma al'Thor?  You're not the only one who's had their
life altered!  You keep insisting that you're still a man...so ACT like
one!  You're acting like a little girl, not a man.  In fact," she
continued, eyes glinting, "Since you're a girl for now, I think it would
be appropriate you follow Two Rivers customs.  Little girls aren't allowed
to have their hair in braids."  Ignoring Ranma's surprisingly ineffective,
and suddenly silent, struggles, she reached back and undid Ranma's braid,
letting the red hair cascade down over the other girl's shoulders. 
"THERE!"  She stalked off out of the clearing. 

     Ranma remained standing there silently, trying to figure out why she 
couldn't move or speak.  Finally, exhausted from her struggles, she 
collapsed, still held in place by invisible bonds.

     Eleanor appeared from in the bushes a few minutes later, and
looked over at the still-unconscious Ranma.  "That one is very
powerful. If she can learn to control her weaves, she will be a
great Aes Sedai indeed.  Now I'd better go free her victim..."  She
tapped Ranma with her staff, and Ranma fell to the ground.  "Powerful
indeed..."  She mused for a moment.  "Now I KNOW we must get to the Tower."

***************************

     They took dinner that night around the campfire, in a rather sullen
atmosphere.  Ryouga ate sullenly, his ankle secured to the log he was
sitting on by the One Power, and glared at Eleanor at frequent intervals.
Shinnosuke glared over at Ranma, rubbing his bruised cheek.  Ranma sat there
picking at her food and glaring at everyone in general and Akemi in
particular.  She had not, however, re-braided her hair.

     Eleanor sighed as she finished her dinner and glanced around.
Suddenly, Roland sat up straighter, motioning for silence.
"What is it?" asked Eleanor.  Just then, a cry rang out in the
distance.

     "Live long and prosper!"

     Eleanor shuddered. "The cry of a fanboy.  We may not have much
time!  Quickly, gather everything up."  Shocked into action,
even Ranma hurried in gathering as much as they could, and ran towards
the horses.

     Another cry sounded, even closer.  "Bentara Bentara space
people!!"  Eleanor motioned for everyone to grab what they could
and run.  Just then, the first fanboys broke through the trees.
Spotting their quarry, their hunting cries changed to the
inexplicable questions of before.

    "How many episodes were there of Macross?"

    "Name the three shows combined to make Robotech!"

    "What was the name and number of the episode of Star Trek where
there was a planet of androids?"

    "Would you rather see Deunan or Minmei naked?"

     Chased by these nerve-wracking questions, and a little
further back, by the fanboys, Ranma and the others lept onto their
horses and fled through the forest. 

     Ranma's new female form gave an advantage... her lighter weight and
increased agility allowed Lugosi to go much faster than otherwise.  Yet
despite the narrow trail and many obstacles, the fanboys - several of whom
were quite obese - moved surprisingly fast, gaining on the party.  As
Lugosi nearly tripped over a fallen tree, the sight of the wood finally
triggered the thought that had been bothering her. 

     "Wait!  We left Ryouga tied to that log!"  Eleanor looked at Roland, 
who nodded and turned his horse back the way they came.  She then motioned 
for Ranma to keep moving.

     Ranma remained there for a moment, caught between following the
others and wanting to go back to help her friend.  In that moment, a
fanboy emerged from the trees beside the trail.  The fanboy took one look
at Ranma, and began to drool slightly.  "MINE!"  Ranma turned her horse,
but the fanboy lept, landing behind her on the horse and grabbed her from
behind.  His hands ended up directly on Ranma's chest, and began feeling
around.  Ranma looked down for a moment, then turned very red. 

     "You...you...you...DIE!!!!"  She turned around and punched
the fanboy.  The fanboy flinched back...and kept going.  Ranma
had already turned Lugosi around again to follow Eleanor by the time
the fanboy collided with a tree across the clearing, leaving a dent.
Ranma flicked Lugosi's reins, still fuming and muttering something about
dubfriend perverts.

    Eleanor glanced back once at the unconscious fanboy, a thoughtful
look on her face.  "Quite a punch that girl has.  I wonder..."  She
turned to follow the others, just as Roland materialized out of the
trees, a struggling Ryouga thrown over one shoulder.

    "We're almost to Taren's Ferry," said Roland.  "If we hurry, we
can make it to the village.  The fanboys may be unwilling to approach
so many people."  Everyone nodded.

    Ranma glanced around, the numerous differences in her new body not
foremost in her mind for the first time since leaving home.  As they
raced along, the trees seemed to blur by.  The world narrowed to
include just the path, the feel of the horses' pounding hooves, and the
relentless cries of the pursuing fanboys.

     Suddenly, a new noise entered this environment.  Faintly, in the
distance Ranma heard a repetitive crashing noise.  "Lagmen!" she
screamed.  Eleanor turned to look.  Ranma pointed in the direction of
the sound.  "It's getting louder!"  Eleanor cocked her head for a
moment, listening.  Then she nodded at Roland, who lept off his horse and
vanished quickly into the bushes on the side of the path.

    "Keep moving!" Eleanor yelled over the fanboy's cries.  "We have
to reach the ferry.  Roland will meet us there!"  She looked around,
and saw that the horses were out of breath and beginning to stagger.
"This won't do.  Here."  She walked over to Hinako's horse.

    "I don't want any of your Aes Sedai witchery!" Hinako snapped, but
Eleanor placed her hands on the horses leg insistently.  The horse
shivered for a moment, then seemed to dance, almost impatiently, ready to
run again.

     Eleanor repeated the process with all the horses, then turned to their
riders.  Ignoring all protests, she placed her hands on them, one after
another.  When it came Ranma's turn, she tried to flinch away, but Eleanor
was relentless.  Ranma felt a strange chill go through her, and then all
her fatigue seemed drained away, as if she'd just had a good night's sleep.

    "Now, we must hurry!" she snapped.  "No more delays!  The lagmen
draw closer, and I daresay none of you have the slightest clue as to
what's truly at stake here!  Far more than your lives rides on this!"
At that moment, the fanboys broke through the trees.  They spotted the
party, and gave a howl of glee.

    "Where can you get the best price on import CD's?"

    "Does Kei or Yuri have the better figure?"

    "Do you still think Gally's a babe even though she's a cyborg?"

    "Is Madoka or Kyoko better looking?"

    Ranma covered her ears and spurred her horse onward.  She tried to
concentrate on just the path, and avoiding obstacles, but the fanboy's
odd cries broke through her concentration constantly.

    "Which of the Sailor Senshi really DOES have the biggest chest?"

    "SHUT UP!"  Ranma stopped, and turned to face the fanboys.  "JUST
SHUT UP!"  She had a feeling as if she'd reached out and grabbed pure
sunlight suddenly.  The warm energy filled her, flowing throughout her
body.  She was distracted from this new feeling when the fanboys began
slowly to advance.  One opened its mouth to scream out another odd
battle cry.  "NO!  SHUT UP!!"  Ranma raised her hands as if to ward
off another incomprehensible question, but it was not forthcoming.
She peeked over her hands.  The fanboys were standing there in shock,
moving their mouths like fish underwater, but unable to make any sound.

    "You'd best keep moving, girl!"  Ranma turned around to see
Eleanor.  "We've got to make the ferry tonight!"  Ranma sighed in
relief, realizing it must have been Eleanor who froze the fanboys.
She ran to catch up with the others.

    Eleanor remained a moment, looking down at the shocked and unhappy
fanboys pensively.  "Indeed...an odd village I seem to have visited.
The old blood runs strong there.  I really must get these girls to the
Tower."  She turned to follow the others.

***************************

     "Look!" Shinnosuke called out.  "Lights!  We're approaching Taren's
Ferry!" Eleanor glared at him.

     "Don't count yourself safe yet!   We have to cross the Taren river
tonight, or none of us will live to see the light of day!"  She pushed
forward towards the lights.  "We'll soon be across, but do NOT speak unless
I tell you to and do not fall behind."  Hinako seemed ready to argue, but
once again Eleanor quieted her with a glare.  They continued forward, with
Hinako muttering something under her breath and avoiding Eleanor's gaze.

     All but Eleanor were frightened by the sudden appearance of a man,
seemingly out of nowhere, before they realized it was Roland.  "I've
arranged for the ferrymaster to take us across.  He needed some... 
convincing...to get out of his bed to carry us across, but the sight of
good Andoran gold, as well as a loosely sheathed blade, helped to win him
over to our side.  But I suggest you all keep on your guard in case he
decides it would be more profitable to merely set upon us and take our
possessions."  He stalked off towards the river, becoming only a vague
shadow in the fog again.  The others followed; Hinako avoiding Eleanor,
Ryouga's horse fastened to hers so he wouldn't ride off in the wrong
direction, Shinnosuke still nursing a large bruise on his cheek with an
occasional glare at Ranma, and Ranma staring anywhere but at her
companions. 

     Soon they reached the fog-covered river...even Ranma was startled out
of her stupor when the horse's footsteps changed tone as they stepped onto
the dock.  It seemed so loud that she was sure the fanboys would hear
them.  The river also seemed unnaturally loud, and Ranma nervously backed
her horse to where she could tell she wouldn't fall into the unseen cold
depths of the Taren.  She shivered in the cold, wondering why she hadn't
grabbed a warmer coat before leaving.  Fool, she thought to herself, it
was because you were being chased by lagmen at the time.  Down below, the
river raced uncaringly and rapidly along its cold path.  Ranma shivered to
think of falling in...  even the Two Rivers folk, who were good swimmers,
would be quickly swallowed up in the raging waters. 

     Shortly, the ferrymaster, a stocky, balding man arrived.  He looked
nervously at Roland's hand where it lay on the hilt of his sword, lying
loosely in the scabbard.  "Are you planning on bringing the horses too? 
The ferry may not be able to carry them all in this weather."  Roland just
gazed at the man, who swallowed nervously.  "I mean, well, for a small
extra fee, for the additional danger, you know, we could carry the
horses."  Roland never stopped staring the man straight in the eyes as he
dropped one additional coin into his hand.  The man looked about to say
something, then seemed to think better of it.  He motioned for his men to
come forward, and they began to pole the ferry across the river. 

     The crossing was cold and wet, and more than once Ranma was afraid
they would be dumped into the cold depths of the Taren.  But despite
whatever vices he might have, the ferrymaster was good at his job.  After
ten minutes during which Ranma later thought that the Wheel of Time itself
must have been turning incredibly slowly - for they seemed like ten hours
- the shivering band of travelers stood on the other side of the Taren. 
The last horse had just gotten off the ferry when the Taren seemed to come
alive and swallow the wooden boat.  The ferrymaster and his men stood at
the edge of the river, staring in shock as Eleanor motioned for the others
to follow her. 

     When they were a short distance away, Hinako muttered angrily, "You
didn't have to sink that man's boat!"  Eleanor just fixed her with a level
gaze.

     "Do you honestly think, child, that he or his men could have kept
silent in the face of a fanboy or lagman?  If they were to return to the
village, they would surely be questioned about any travellers heading
across the Taren.  We need all the lead we can get.  Now, if we ride
fast enough, we can make Baerlon before too long."  She urged her horse
onward, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

***************************

     Finally, exhausted, they stood at the top of a hill and looked down
over Baerlon.  "Blood and ashes!" exclaimed Shinnosuke, "It's huge!  You
could fit ten Nerima's Field's in there!"  Roland tried to hide a smile.
Down below them, small stone houses, some with metal roofs instead of
the hay used in Nerima's Field, were arranged in rows, inside a stockade
wall.

     They rode down to the gate, where the guard addressed Eleanor with
the ease of long aquaintance.  Shinnosuke and Ryouga glanced around in
awe at the number of people and houses they rode past.  Hinako tried to
pretend not to be interested, and seeing this, Akemi tried to mimic her.
Even Ranma forgot her troubles long enough to look around them.  As a
result, she nearly rode into Roland when he abruptly drew his horse up at
an inn.

     After they dismounted and brought their packs into the common room,
the innkeeper rushed out to meet them.  "Ah, Mistress Eleanor, Master
Roland!  It's so good to see you.  I see you've brought some friends along!
I'll get your rooms ready and have Ukyou take your bags and get the baths
ready for you."  He hurried off, leaving Ranma and the others blinking
while Eleanor turned to a young boy with long, black hair bound back.  She
began to quietly discuss something with him.  Ranma, standing nearby,
overheard some of the conversation.

     "Do you know who they're looking for?" asked Eleanor.  The boy nodded.

     "Some Aes Sedai named Cologne, and her Warder, Soun."  Eleanor
exchanged a glance with Roland, who grimaced.

     "Well, we're all too exhausted to worry about that now.  Ukyou...child,
what's wrong?"  For Ukyou was looking rather confusedly at Ranma.   He
shook his head as if to clear it and smiled at Eleanor.

     "Nothing.  Let me go get the baths ready."  He hurried up the stairs.

     Ranma shrugged and trooped upstairs with the others.  She turned to
go into the bath for men, but Roland blocked her way.  "But, but I'm a GUY!"
she protested.  Roland merely gazed levelly at her, and finally she turned
and, very red, walked slowly into the women's bath.  From behind the men's
door she heard Shinnosuke protesting that if Ranma would be more comfortable 
in the men's bath, she should use that.

     She shut the door behind her, and, red-faced, tried to avoid looking
at the girls already in the bath.  She stripped down for the bath, still
avoiding looking down, and the awareness of changes that it would bring.
Slowly, she slid into the corner of the bath...

***************************

     Eleanor looked up in surprise as the first screams sounded from the
women's bath.  She hurried down to the door and opened it, hearing as she
got closer the cries of 'pervert!'...she reached the door only to see an
unconscious...and male...Ranma lying on the floor.

     "My, my..." she muttered.  "This does complicate things."

          
End Chapter 2.