Waters Under Earth

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum - harnums@hotmail.com

All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first
published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North
America by Viz Communications.

Commentary of all sorts, public or private, welcomed.

Homepage at:  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/9758

Chapter 31 : Totentanz (2 of 4)

     As they walked back towards the village, Lang Bei seemed to
straighten up, and by the time they reached her house again, the
weariness was gone from her completely.

     "<Come by after the dinner hour, if you want,>" Lang Bei
said as she stood on the porch of her house.  "<We can go out to
Watcher's Hill together for the meeting.>"

     At the foot of the stairs, Shampoo nodded.  "<Goodbye.>"
     
     She turned and walked away towards the centre of the 
village, not feeling entirely like going home yet.  A pleasant
half-hour was spent wandering throughout the Joketsuzoku village,
giving greetings to old friends and acquaintances she happened to
encounter.  In time, perhaps, she would become a true part of 
village life again.  And there would be time, she promised 
herself that; there would be a resolution to all these things.

     She turned away from a group of girls she had known before,     
smiling and laughing, and went walking down the dusty main street
of the village on the winding route that would take her home.

     He was standing there in the shadows of a house as she
turned a corner.  Without a word, he fell into step beside her,
so silently she didn't even realize he was there for a second.

     He said her name.  "Shampoo."
     
     She turned, and drew a long breath of shock.  "Asakazu."
     
     He smiled.  The blue eyes, shockingly vivid, seemed to look
down into her soul.  "It's good to see you again."

     "What are you doing here?" she said, before she could stop
herself.  "I say we shouldn't..."

     The wind stirred the dust around his feet.  "I know," he
said softly.  "And you might have been right.  But I wanted to
see this place first-hand.  My family is wealthy; I have the
money."

     Shampoo shook her head.  She could not, would not deal with
this on top of everything else.  "You no should have come."

     "Please don't say that."  The wound in his voice was clear
and painful.  She almost winced, and then found her strength not
to.

     "It not work," she said quietly, staring at the dust,
patterned with lines of footsteps.  "What happen was my fault.  I
sorry to hurt you."

     He sighed, a long, heavy sound.  "It wasn't just you.  
Perhaps just... can we not at least be friends?  I will be here 
for at least few days more."

     There was a silence between the two of them.  No one else
seemed to be around; somehow, they had found a patch of calm 
within the bustle of the village.

     "What happened to your hair?" he asked finally, blinking and
looking at her as if seeing the difference for the first time.

     She laughed.  "Is complicated.  I tell you later, okay?"
     
     A hesitant smile crossed his face.  "There will be a later?"
     
     "Tomorrow," she assured, touching his arm lightly.  "I have
things to do now, though.  You come by house tomorrow; anyone in
village can give you directions."

     He ran a hand through his tousled dark hair.  As before, she
was struck by how beautiful he was.  His eyes were like the sky 
on a clear day.  "I'll look forward to it."

     She let her hand linger on his forearm for a moment longer
than she had to, and then turned and walked away, fighting down
the urge to blush, fighting down the urge to smile.  She hurried
away; she could not have stayed a moment longer and remained as
she wished to be.

**********

     The thing that called himself Asakazu watched the girl walk
away until she was out of sight.  Only then did he smile again.  
The smile was cold and cruel, honed to an edge upon so many long 
centuries of bitterness and hate.

     "Fool," he whispered quietly to himself, the ancient
memories rising in him like a tide of venom.  "Little damned
stupid fool."  He took a few steps back into the shadow of a
house and waited for a few moments, gathering his thoughts,
steeping himself again in the long darkness and sharpening his 
hatred; until it would cut like a razor, until it would cut down 
through all the mists of time itself, and he would have his 
long-sought dream at last.

**********

     The winged one stood upon the edge of the cliff, arms folded 
over his chest, and watched the smoke of the chimneys wreath the 
air above the houses in dark tendrils a thousand feet below.  
Evening was coming slowly down upon the Valley of the Waters; in 
the west, the sun was sinking behind the long chain of the 
mountains, a dying cast in red-orange fire and a shifting haze of 
purple sky.

     He had been called the Fair once, and fair he had been.  
Fair no longer, and the few who might have known him would have
called him Traitor, for that was the name he had been given after
he had ceased to be the Fair.  Fair no longer, for there had been 
changes, and more in the time he had spent away from this place.
In time, he had come to consider it a metamorphosis, a passing to
a higher form of existence than the one he had before.

      There was a cave mouth, yawning behind him vast and dark.
>From it, he could hear the breathing of his kin as they slept.
Sleep warded off the hunger, but only for a little while.

     As if at that thought, he heard the sound of bodies 
shifting, and the tread of bare feet upon stone.  He looked back
into the blackness of the cave.  "Go back to sleep."

     The voice that answered was barely more than a hiss.  "I'm
hungry."

     "Not time yet," he answered wearily.  "Go to sleep.  We will 
feed soon.  That has been promised us."

     "So hungry," the voice complained sibilantly.
     
     The Traitor was hungry as well.  He had fed earlier, but
that had not made the hunger go away, only lessened it.  The
hunger never truly went away.  "We do not move until we are told 
to."

     "You take orders now," the voice accused.  "You grow weak."
     
     The Traitor whirled and took two long steps into the
darkness of the cave.  His hands found the throat easily enough.
With a measured movement, he leaned forward until his face was
scant inches from that of the other.  "From this one I take
orders.  Only he and one other might command my loyalty.  You
will go to sleep and wait.  Or I will sate my own hunger upon 
you."

     "Forgive my impudence," the voice begged, the hiss high and
frightened.  "I will sleep."

     The winged one tightened his grip slightly, and then flung
his rebellious kin back into the depths of the cave.  There was a
clamour of angry murmurs, and then the sound of bodies shifting
again.  The kin huddled their bodies around each other like
newborns, shifting and writhing as they slept.

     He walked back out of the cave and back to the edge of the
cliff, to watch the dark coming down across the land and wait for
the signal that would tell him it was time.  

**********

     Akane knocked on the door of the Guide's hut, glancing
warily down the dip of the land towards Jusenkyou.  The pools
glistened like liquid fire in the last of the sunset, catching 
the dying light within themselves and trapping it.  Mist, which 
had risen and dispersed in the heat of the day, was again 
descending down upon the pools for the cooling approach of night.

     The traditional dinner hour was an early one in the village.
They had eaten and then bid farewell to Shampoo, before taking
the quick walk from the village to Jusenkyou.  The sun would be
entirely gone soon; already they could hear the night sounds as
the nocturnal animals awakened.  Overhead, a flock of small birds
flitted, then spun and flew away over the mountains.

     Akane knocked again, and this time heard the sound of
footsteps from beyond the door.  Behind her, Ryoga shifted from
foot to foot and looked down at the hundreds of pools.  The moon
was visible now, a dim spectre in the sky amidst the last of the
day's light.  Soon enough, the stars would come out.

     The round face of the Guide peeked around from the edge of 
the barely-opened door.  When he saw who it was, he smiled.  
"Ahh, welcome customers," he said solicitously.  "I was hoping
you would come back to visit.  Come in, come in."

     He swung the door wide, exposing the interior of his small
hut, and Akane and Ryoga stepped past him.  Outside, Rouge hugged
her arms around herself and watched the mist drape down around 
the forest of the bamboo poles.  

     Akane glanced back.  "Rouge?"
     
     The other girl blinked and shook her head.  "Sorry.  Just
thinking."

     She joined them inside, and the Guide closed the door
against the night.  In the corner of the hut, Plum looked up from
where she sat by the stove drawing.  "Hello," she said, and then
went back with childish intensity to her drawing.

     "Hi Plum," Akane said, walking over and crouching down.  
"What are you drawing?"

     "The lady I see in my dreams," Plum explained carefully, 
gripping her crayon in one small fist.  "She lives under the
earth and helps to keep the evil away."

     Akane smiled.  "That's nice."  She straightened up and
turned away.  Ryoga and Rouge were already seated at the table,
being offered tea by the fussing Guide.  

     Her eye caught on something on a small table by the door.
She walked up behind the Guide and tapped him on the shoulder.  
"You know, I never wondered about this before, but how do you 
have a working phone out in the middle of nowhere like that?"

     The Guide glanced to the old-style rotary phone by the door
and shrugged.  "I know it works.  That is enough for me."

     "But how?  There's no phone lines out here, or..."
     
     The Guide shrugged again.  "It here when I become apprentice
Guide.  Guide before me not know how it work.  I live next to
magic pools and get kidnapped by winged people.  Worrying about 
why phone works is not top priority."

     Akane laughed.  "Can I use it?  I promised Nabiki I'd call
her, but I never really got a chance."

     "Go ahead," the Guide said as he turned back to the other
visitors.  "I never get long-distance bill yet.  Plum?"  The
little girl looked up.  "Come have tea with guests.  You can
finish your drawing later."

     "Okay," Plum said agreeably, putting her crayon and paper
down and coming over.  Her father sat down at the table and
lifted her onto his lap, as Akane picked up the handset of the
phone and put it to her ear.  Amazingly, there was a dialtone.

     She smiled, and carefully dialed in the numbers for an
international call to Japan, then the area code for Tokyo, and
then her home number.  The phone clicked as the old dialing
mechanism rotated with each number.

     One ring.  Two.  A third, and the phone picked up.  No
greeting, not Kasumi's cheerful hello or Nabiki's languid hi.
Only a silence, and then the sound of heavy breathing.

     "Hello?  Dad?  Nabiki?  Kasumi?"
     
     Only the breathing.  Then a click, and the empty buzz of the
dialtone again.  Akane shook her head; she must have entered the
number wrong.  Carefully, she dialed again.

     The phone rang and rang and rang.  No one picked up.  "I
guess they're out," she said softly to herself, and hung up.  She
almost turned away, but then on impulse picked it up and dialed
again.  This time, there was a busy signal.

     Frowning, she put the handset down in the cradle and joined
the others at the table.  "Weird.  No answer, and then a busy
signal."  She didn't mention the first answer; that had surely
been just a wrong number.

     "Old phone," the Guide said.  "Sometimes work a little
funny.  Tea?"

     Akane nodded and accepted the steaming cup gratefully.
     
     "We actually came here to talk to you about some things,"
Ryoga said.  He proceeded to relate quickly the story of Ranma's
disappearance and their search; Akane listened in silence,
sipping her tea and trying to ignore the way the story made her
hurt inside.

     The Guide sighed.  "Very tragic story."
     
     "Anyway," Akane said, forcing down the lump in her throat.
"We think what happened had something to do with Ranma defeating
Saffron.  You know everything there is to know about Jusenkyou,
and you seemed to know a lot about Phoenix Mountain.  Do you
think there's any connection?"

     The Guide looked lost in thought for a moment.  Then he
frowned.  "I... don't remember.  Saffron..."  He rubbed his head.
"I am sorry, customers.  Is like a blank spot.  Something
important about Phoenix Mountain, about Saffron, but..." He shook
his head.  "Maybe it come to me soon."

     "Well, why did they have to destroy Jusenkyou?" Ryoga asked.
     
     The Guide blinked.  "I... they were going to dry up the
pools.  But..."  He looked more and more distressed by the
moment.  "But the pools dried up, and came back, and..."

     "Remember the man who came to visit us, father?" Plum said.
"He gave us the map and told us to take it away, because the
Phoenix were going to destroy Jusenkyou."

     Ryoga stared at the Plum.  "Why didn't you tell us that when
you came to Japan?"

     Plum looked as distressed as her father.  "I don't know.  
Why are you asking all these questions?"

     Akane glanced to the Guide.  "What man?"
     
     "A man in a cloak," the Guide answered.  "He came... and
brought the map... but..."

     Rouge spoke, breaking her silence.  "So... as I understand,
you sent a little girl--"

     "I'm eight," Plum said sourly, glaring at Rouge.
     
     "--running away by herself to Japan, with dangerous enemies
in pursuit, because someone you had never met before came and 
told you to?"

     The Guide nodded.  He scratched his head, shifting his
peaked cap back and forth across his bald skull.  "Now that I
think about it, not a very good idea."

     Akane glanced up to the single lamp that lit the small
interior of the hut.  Flickering shadows danced across the walls
from the sputtering wick.  "Shampoo told us that when she was a
child, someone told her a story.  They said that when the Phoenix 
dies, so dies Jusenkyou, and all her peoples.  Does that remind 
you of anything?"

     The Guide looked almost terrified now.  "It should.  I know
it should.  But... I can't remember.  Like the memories have been
taken away.  I..."  He shook his head.  "I'm sorry.  Perhaps it
come to me later."

     Akane looked around the table at the unhappy faces.  Even
Plum was frowning.  "It's okay, I guess," she said quietly.  "Did
the man ever come back?"

     "No," the Guide said.  He sounded almost angry.  "Seem such 
a stupid thing now.  And Jusenkyou not destroyed.  Jusenkyou
survive being drained just fine.  And Saffron transformed in the
past.  I remember..."  A look of sudden comprehension snapped
across his face.  "The pools drained before.  Three days, no 
water.  About ten years ago.  Old Guide, one who taught me to be
Guide, he say it happen sometimes.  That it necessary.  He tell
me never to go near Jusendo when it happens."

     "Then why..." Ryoga began.
     
     "I NOT KNOW!" the Guide shouted, his face red.  "I not
remember.  What happen to me after Phoenix come to house looking
for map, I not remember.  Everything..."

     Plum shifted in her father's lap and touched him on the
shoulder.  "Father, it's okay."

     The colour drained from the Guide's face.  "Forgive my
outburst, guests," he apologized.  "I sorry I not more help."

     "You know what I think," Akane said slowly.  "I think
something was done to you.  Something to make you forget about
all this, to make you send Plum to Japan after us.  I think we
were just pawns the whole time, matched against Kima and Saffron
and the rest."

     "But why?" Ryoga asked.  "And who?"
     
     "I don't know," Akane muttered.  "Any ideas?"
     
     There was nothing but blank faces.  
     
     "No," Ryoga said finally, breaking the silence.  He gripped
the edge of the table with one hand.  "But we're going to find
out.  I think Happosai was right.  It's all got to do with
Saffron somehow.  It's all got to do with the Phoenix."

     "You should see if you can talk to those prisoners," Rouge
said quietly.  "Maybe they know something."

     The Guide's eyes widened.  "Prisoners?"
     
     Akane explained.
     
     The Guide frowned.  "That not good.  The Joketsuzoku will
not go easy on spies.  If they make the Phoenix angry..."

     "The Council is meeting about it tonight," Ryoga said.  
"Whatever happens, it can wait till morning.  In the morning,
we'll talk to Shampoo and Lang Bei.  See what we can do."

     The Guide nodded.  "Ranma be okay.  If Saffron not kill him,
he not need to worry about much else."

     Despite herself, Akane giggled.  It turned into almost a sob
halfway through, and she wiped at her eyes.  "I hope so."

     The Guide lifted Plum out of his lap and stood to his feet.
He walked to the door and opened it, staring out into the night.
The set of his body spoke of hesitation, and then he looked back.
"Guests, if you want stay another hour or two, you see something
very interesting.  Very few people ever see.  You want to stay?"

     Ryoga shrugged.  "Why not."  He looked to Akane and Rouge.  
"I mean, if it's okay with you two, I don't mind..."

     "Sure," Akane said after a moment's thought.  "Rouge?"
     
     Rouge was staring out the crude bamboo-barred window at the
swathe of night visible beyond.  "Hmm?"

     "Is it okay if we stay?"
     
     She smiled and nodded absently.  "I guess so.  I thought I
didn't like this place, but the more I stay here, I feel... 
better.  More complete."

     Plum was over in the corner again.  "My drawing is 
finished," she declared.  "Does anyone want to see it?"

     Everyone did, of course.  Such imaginations children have,
they all thought, looking at the drawing, done all in scarlet and
gold.

**********     

     Lang Bei pushed a thin branch out of the way as she walked
ahead of Shampoo.  The forest that ringed Watcher's Hill was 
dense with trees, and there were no trails.  The light of the
moon and stars was the only illumination, barely enough to see 
by; they made their way slowly, careful of their footing.

     Lying over a mile south of the Joketsuzoku village, the 
ancient meeting-place of the Council was not exactly forbidden, 
but there was a certain sense conveyed by the older villagers 
that it was one of the few places in the area it was not
appropriate to go exploring.

     "<So when was the first time you came here, Shampoo?>" Lang
Bei asked with a glance back.

     Shampoo shook her head.  "<I've never been here before,>" 
she lied.
     
     Lang Bei laughed.  "<That's what they all say.  You may not
believe it, but I was young once myself.  I first tried to go to
Watcher's Hill when I was thirteen.  Made it a few steps into the
forest with my friends, and then we all gave up.  We thought we
saw something moving behind the trees.>"  She smiled.  "<Of
course, none of us admitted it.  Somehow, from what I know from
talking to others, no one ever comes this place a second time 
unless it's as a Council member.>"

     "<I was eleven,>" Shampoo admitted.  "<Mousse and I... we
came together.  We went in, and kept on hearing someone singing.
It wasn't frightening, but... Mousse wanted to go back.>"

     "<You, of course, wanted to press on?>"
     
     Shampoo sniffed.  "<Of course.  I wasn't scared.  Not like
him.>"     
     
     Lang Bei sighed as she picked her way over a fallen log.
"<Sometimes I wish...>"

     "<Wish what?>"
     
     She shook her head, grey braid bobbing back and forth.  
"<Nothing.>"

     Shampoo hopped over the log and fell into step beside
Mousse's grandmother.  "<No, tell me.>"

     "<I always wondered if things would ever work out between
you and my grandson,>" Lang Bei said after a moment's silence.
"<He loved you so much.  He begged me to train him to fight so he
could impress you, until I finally gave in.>"

     "<I know he loved me,>" Shampoo said softly.  "<I just 
didn't love him.>"

     "<I know, I know,>" Lang Bei said.  "<But now...>"  She 
paused.  "<I fear for him.>"

     "<Why?  He'll wake up.>"
     
     "<That is not what I fear,>" Lang Bei said cryptically.
     
     "<Then what?>"
     
     "<We're almost there,>" Lang Bei answered, as if she had not
heard the question.  "<We can talk later.>"

     Up through the dense trees ahead, a clearing became visible
around a dome-shaped hill.  Atop the hill, a half-dozen lamps 
burned on wooden tripods, casting away the darkness of the night
around the clearing.

     On the flattened top of the hill, a rough, vaguely conical 
piece of white stone rested, the base sunk deep into the ground
around it.  It was taller than a man and as thick around as 
three, of a white, vaguely-mottled stone that was stark and pale
against the rich green of the grass.

     Shampoo stared, half in awe, at Watcher's Hill and the 
Watcher's Stone.  The stone itself was said to have come from the 
first mountain in the world, the one that had spanned between the 
earth and the heavens.  Shattered in a battle between the gods
and their demon enemies, only the capstone remained now.

     Almost all of the Council was gathered atop the hill, 
talking in two different groups and occasionally casting a
suspicious glance at one another.  Shampoo recognized the two
factions; one Fang Shi's, the other the one those who had been
loyal to Cologne.

     Dai Jin, short and powerfully built and only in her late
twenties, came down the hill to greet them.  "<Lang Bei, Shampoo.
Welcome.  We're still waiting for Fang Shi and Bi Shou, of
course.  They like to arrive late because it makes them feel
important.>"

     Dai Jin laughed at her own joke without waiting to see if
they would, then threw a plump but muscular arm around each of
their shoulders and shepherded them up the hill.  "<Come on up to 
our little group, Shampoo.  Our dreams may not be as big, but 
we're a lot less uptight and more fun to be with.>"  She winked 
broadly.  "<We have better booze, as well.>"

     "<You can drink after the meeting, Dai Jin,>" Gu Shu said
grouchily as they approached.  The ancient woman had been the
other Ancient on the Council besides Cologne and Fang Shi; if
Shampoo had to guess, she would have said she was older than both
of them put together.  "<Sit down.  You know everyone already,
Shampoo, so let's not pretend you don't.>"  She hooked a thumb in
the direction of the other group.  "<Lin Ran's over there right
now.>" Lin Ran was the new Ancient on the Council, selected to
replace Cologne's position; a contemplative, quiet old woman 
without known affiliations with either side.  "<I think she's 
with us, but they've got to try on get her on their side.  Fang 
Shi and Bi Shou should show up soon enough, we can get this over 
with and go home, and I can go to sleep.>"

     "<And how are you feeling tonight, Gu Shu,>" Lang Bei asked
with exaggerated courtesy as she sat down next to the ancient 
woman. 

     "<Old,>" Gu Shu complained.  "<I feel old and tired and I
still resent you putting me on this Council anyway.>"

     "<You were the best choice,>" Lang Bei said, patting the
shrunken, wrinkled matriarch on the shoulder.  Shampoo settled
down on the grass next to Dai Jin, adjusting the two bonbori she
wore at her waist.  After a moment, she hesitantly accepted a
drink from the flask Dai Jin offered her.  The small sip burned
fiery going down her throat, and she coughed as she handed it
back with tears in her eyes.

     Dai Jin laughed.  "<Takes some getting used to.  Don't
worry, I'll give you plenty in the future.>"

     "<How reassuring,>" Shampoo said, still coughing.  Dai Jin
laughed again and pounded her on the back until she stopped.
     
     The sound of branches cracking underfoot came from the
forest around them, and Fang Shi and Bi Shou walked out of the
cover of the trees, the flickering light from the lamps seeping
into the map of wrinkles on Fang Shi's face and defining Bi 
Shou's faded beauty in harsh lines.

     Fang Shi ascended the hill, leaning on her weapon, and
looked, hawklike, around at the other Council members.  "<We're
all here.  Let's begin.>"

     The Council gathered in a circle around the Watcher's Stone,
the thirteen women chosen to guide the path the Joketsuzoku took.
There was a vague air of hostility hanging in the air; Council
politics were adversarial at best.

     "<We lay down our weapons,>" Fang Shi said, the first part 
of the old ceremonies that began the meeting.  "<Let us settle
with words and not with blades.>"  

     As the tradition went, the Council laid their weapons down
around the silent sentinel of the Watcher's Stone.  Shampoo put
her bonbori on the grass, and they were joined moments later by
Lang Bei's staff.  Dai Jin tossed her sheathed sword down, and Bi
Shou began to roll up her sleeves in order to extract an 
inordinate number of hidden knives from her person.

     Fang Shi's polearm was put down, and Gu Shu picked up a
wicked-looking axe that had to weigh twenty pounds from the grass
behind her and carefully set it down near the other weapons.  The 
weapons of the other Council members soon followed, ringing the 
stone though none touched it.

     "<The weapons are lain down,>" Dai Jin said.  "<Let us 
share water from the same cup, and unite ourselves in
sisterhood.>"  A voluminous wooden cup was filled, and passed
around in the circle, each of them taking small sips.

     Shampoo tried not to look eager or excited, but a rush of
pride filled her when she sipped and passed the cup on to Dai
Jin.  The older woman winked at her, sipped, and passed it on.

     When that was finished, Lang Bei spoke.  "<Let us sit and
settle what must be settled.>"

     They sat, cross-legged around the Watcher's Stone.  The
vestiges of the lantern-light that reached up the hill glinted on
the metal of the weapons.

     "<Only one thing concerns us tonight,>" Fang Shi said.  
"<What is to be done with the inhuman spies that have only now
been discovered among our people.  Who knows how long they have
sent their people among us in disguise, learning our secrets to 
use against us?  How can we be sure that...>"

     It was, Shampoo concluded near the end, a truly excellent
speech, filled with passion and conviction.  Fang Shi talked
about tradition, about the need to punish harshly any who dared
disrespect the ancient power of the Joketsuzoku.  She talked 
about a lot of things.  The word 'inhuman', Shampoo noted, seemed
to come up frequently.

     "<...for this, I put forward that these spies be executed,
and their heads left at the foot of Mount Phoenix as a warning.>"
She looked around the circle of Council members, nearly all of
whom sat staring at her raptly.  "<Does any speak in
opposition?>"
     
     "<I speak in opposition,>" Lang Bei said.  "<You call these
spies inhuman, Fang Shi.  But what do you define human as?  Is it
in the body or the soul?  If we judge these spies inhuman, do we
not undermine our own humanity...>"

-Continued in section 3


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