---
The Zu presents

black wind

a many-things-x-over (mostly Ranma/NGE/Nausicaa) by Rain Man:

authorschtuppff:  This took a lot of time and work.  And missing classes.  
You have no idea.  Really.  Apologies to all the folks who own these 
series.  And to Stephen King, who is the source of a couple of the nifty 
lines in this.  Frank Herbert too of course.

The words at the beginning are from "A Song without a Song" from 
Please Save My Earth


Chapter 1:  red metal sounds
---

Who are there?  Who?
Voices without sound, do you hear?

Are you ready?  Not yet

Falling star

Are you ready?  Are you ready?

In your hands...

Not yet, not yet

The song of stars
Drifting in deep mind
Tells you the time
Dreams to be found
On which stars?
Tears fall down

Purely reaching to you... the song
Remember this color, don't you?

Are you ready?  Not yet

Yes, you knew...

Are you ready?  Are you ready?

      It was dark, and the voices called to her, called to her over and 
over.  She could not understand what they said, could only feel the 
wonder, an almost childish excitement in those voices... anticipation 
that throbbed in rhythm with the slow beating of her heart.

      A jarring shriek cut into through the harmonies she was floating 
in, and the light was harsh in her eyes.

      She was falling, but could not scream.

      She weeping and there were no more colors.

      And then -

      She was in just a bed, tangled in blankets soaked with her sweat. 
She could not move, drained so, could only lie there, trembling.  
Finally, muscles locked up in tension relaxed, loosened.

      Those eyes shut tight grudgingly peeled open once more, and she 
sighed when she noticed that her clock was ringing, its little silver 
bells struck over and over by the tiny mechanical hammers.  It must have 
been ringing for half an hour by then, she realized in dismay.  She 
cursed as she tumbled out of her sheets and somewhat nimbly onto her feet 
- the brick floor was always so cold!

      Only tiny fragments remained of the voices in her memories, that 
faint childlike wonder of it, the underlying sorrow of its timbre.  And 
even those were soon forgotten in the light of day as she cursed and 
rubbed at the sand in her eyes.

      Then her mother's voice was at her door, asking if she did not have 
a lesson that morning with Lord Tofu.

      "I hate mornings!  Oh, I hate mornings!"

      It was a mantra that she repeated to herself over and over in her 
mind as she hurriedly buckled on padded pants, boots, and a vest of 
armored plates chipped from the shell of an ohmu: "Oh, I'm so late!"  
Last, she slid the heavy white gauntlets onto her hands, the most heavily 
armored part of her practice uniform.      She remembered the first time 
she had put on a pair and that sensation of almost having her hands 
dragged down to her feet, and smiled at the ease with which she moved 
despite the weights on her body now.  She could still remember when it 
had been difficult to even stand straight in the armor.

      Her lips softened as she thought of her sensei at the top of the 
hill at the mouth of the valley.  The sweet scent of her mother's freshly 

baked honeybread drew a sigh from her, as for the first time in years, 
she was tempted to skip out on her lessons.  It was beautiful outside, 
with feathery clouds and just the faintest sweet-sour taste of fruit in 
the air.  The wind was blowing through the valley a little stronger than 
usual that day, and not the slightest stagnant odor of the Forest of 
Corruption lay in the air as it had a tendency to in the mornings.

      Then she thought of the switch in Lord Tofu's heavy, callused 
hands, and blushed at the memory of the last time she had missed their 
morning session.

      "I'm going, Mother, I'm going!" she called out as she flung open 
the window of her house, and leaped out gracefully, dropping into a 
crouch as her legs took the three-story impact smoothly, easily.  She 
uncoiled, kicking at the ground with a vast strength and flung her 
slender, lithe form forward, leaping thirty feet up to the nearest set of 
rooftops.  All the while, the armored plates in her gear sounded with the 
high, tinkling notes of wind chimes.

      "Akane!  You missed your breakfast again!"  Her mother sounded a 
little exasperated, but there was amusement in her voice too, so Akane 
was not worried.

      Her neighbors waved at her as she rushed off, leaping from rooftop 
to rooftop, towards the little white temple in the distance, making music 
as she moved.

      They smiled as they said, "Oh, there goes the Princess again!  
She's late, but doesn't she look so pretty, already moves like the wind 
she does - when she's in a hurry!  And she's only sixteen..."

---

      "Are you ready, Akane?" her teacher asked.

      "I do not strike with my blade," Akane intoned, still as a statue.  
"He who strikes with his blade has forgotten the face of his father.  I 
strike with my will."  Perspiration streamed down her face, plastered her 
short, raven bangs to her temples.

      "I do not fire with my gun," Akane intoned.  "He who fires with his 
gun has forgotten the face of his father.  I fire with my mind.

      "I do not kill with my hands.  He who kills with his hands has 
forgotten the face of his father."

      There were targets around her, a dozen stones the size of fists 
hanging down from the ropes all around her, swinging wildly, somehow 
never tangling together.

      "I kill with my heart!"

      She exploded into motion, drawing a gun with her left, a sword with 
her right.  The blade swept out with a whistling stroke as the gun barked 
out and her feet slid in a patternless, spiraling motion as she moved, 
avoiding the foot-long spikes that thrust in and out of the ground 
beneath her at random.  With will and mind and heart, she struck, and a 
moment later, all the stones were shattered or split, or simply dust, and 
the spikes from the ground severed.

      "Better," a man's voice said.  "But it took you two shots to 
destroy the last target.  In battle, you might not have the ammunition to 
spare.  Again, little miss.  This time, on the balance beam."

      "Oh, please, Sensei!  I'm so hungry, we've been at this for 
hours..."  Her sweat made the heavy gear she wore almost stifling, and 

the way it clung to her in certain places was distinctly uncomfortable.

      He smiled at her as he shook his head.  "Whose fault was it that 
she woke up too late for breakfast?  Again, Akane.  On the balance beam 
over the fire.  Then you may eat, and after we shall begin your history 
lessons."

      She sighed, reloaded her pistol, and followed the man in the 
wheelchair as he rolled down the corridor.  But she was smiling even then 
- Lord Tofu never complimented, he only criticized.  And that was the 
highest praise he ever gave her: "Better."  She listened to his rough, 
kind voice repeating in her thoughts, and the hardened warrior air about 
her was dissolved by her smile, revealing for a moment the charm of a 
slight, boyish, not-quite-pretty- but-close kind of girl.  A young girl 
not quite a woman, but growing all the while.

      "Keep up that progress and you may beat Shinji soon."

      That wondrous smile twisted into something faintly resembling 
chagrin, which drew a hearty laugh from Lord Tofu.

      "Be not so vexed, little miss.  Shinji was trained to fight long 
before he came here to the Valley."

      She muttered crossly, "Yeah, but at least I'm better in the 
Forest."  She twitched at Tofu's response, realizing that he had heard.

      "Very true.  And you are better with the insects and in our history 
lessons and with a rifle and navigating and other things besides."

      Just as her mood began to soar again, he continued, "Just as he is 
better at flying a gunship and piloting a Melef and - "

      A third voice intruded, almost causing Akane to stumble, "and 
cooking!"

      The bearish old man allowed himself to smile, faintly though, so as 
not to overly annoy his Princess.  "Yes, and cooking!"

      Rolling her eyes, the young girl released a tremendous sigh.

      "You had to bring that up, didn't you, Shinji?  Just remember that 
I'm the one who saved your scrawny butt four years ago!"

      Akane leveled a nasty glare upon the person of a wiry young man of 
average height and a smallish, delicate-looking face who wore practice 
gear similar to hers.  Except that it was much more worn and was even 
ragged at some of the seams (a fact which occasionally drew a derisive 
snort from the girl).  His dark, wide eyes were only slightly contrite as 
he bowed deeply in her direction, from the waist.  But there was in those 
eyes a deep fierceness, which she knew was not at all for show.

      "Yes, Princess."  He mumbled the rest of the words in a soft-spoken 
voice that seemed far younger than his twenty years, "That is true.  But 
this is a lesson, you know, and not just idle teasing."  He ran his 
fingers through the wild thatch of his dull, mousy black hair.

      Tofu cleared his throat.  "It is as your young protector says, 
little miss.  You must learn to recognize your limitations.  Right now, 
you are a good fighter.  Given time, I can make you a great swordsman," 
at her snort, he continued, "your pardon, that is, a great swordswoman!  
But remember that there are others who may always be your better in that 
- most likely, Shinji will be one of them.  In a battle, you may have to 

use other things in order to win, other ways - and not all of them have 
to do with a sword and a gun.  Shinji!"

      Suddenly, Shinji was behind her and there was no time to think at 
all, only time to move.  Akane almost screamed when one of his blades 
whistled by her neck, and then she was simply responding as quickly as 
she could, parrying his two slightly curved swords with her own straight 
blade and a hastily- drawn dagger.  Akane was strong, strong enough to 
smash her blade through ohmu armor, she knew that for a fact as she had 
once pierced Lord Tofu's gauntlets during an old drill, almost taking his 
hand off, and she was fast.  But Shinji had greater reach as well as a 
grim, controlled focus and an efficiency in all his movements that Akane 
could not yet match.  His slashing attacks were unpredictable and she 
grew irritated as those curving attacks slapped lightly against her 
armor, informing her of just when her guard was lacking.

      With stunning rapidity, she found her longsword knocked out of her 
grasp by a powerful spiraling motion, and then her knife-hand was twisted 
painfully behind her back by a crushing grip.  Shinji's scimitar was cold 
against her neck.  She had not even noticed him sheathing his left sword 
- the one with an odd, blood-red jewel on the cross-piece.

      "Very good, Shinji.  Watch your left foot when you do that arm lock 
- you have a tendency to let it drag behind you."

      At that, Akane blushed, suddenly noticing that she was pressed 
rather closely against Shinji's noticeably masculine body in an almost 
intimate manner.  "Let me go already!  I mean...  Please?  I get the 
idea, really..."

      "Akane," his whisper was right at her ear, "would an enemy let go 
just because you asked?  Is this what you would do if held hostage?"

      The gentle tone of that voice was suddenly infuriating to her, and 
Akane shifted, managing to twist just so to snap her leg out and up, 
kicking him in the head with the point of her boot as she dropped one 
shoulder and raised the other, catching the edge of the sword against the 
armored plates of her vest.  She started to spin, and was about to slide 
her dagger up under his armored vest -

      But one hard shove and she was sprawled out on the floor in front 
of Shinji, with the tip of his right sword, the plain, worn one at her 
throat.

      Lord Tofu's tones were stern.  "The point of all this, Akane, was 
to show you that there are some situations in which you cannot expect to 
win.  What will you do then?"

      Half-heartedly, she said, "I should not have gotten into the 
situation in the first place?"

      "There are times," Shinji mumbled, "when it cannot be avoided."

      She glared at him then.

      Shinji pulled her to her feet, shrugging apologetically.  With 
almost embarrassing gentleness, he began wiping the smudge off one of her 
cheeks with a clean square of plain linen.

      Lord Tofu said, "It is at those times that you must simply act, and 
act without hesitation, the best you can.  And perhaps extend yourself 
beyond what you are."

      The old man rolled his wheelchair over to them.  "It is a difficult 
lesson to learn, Princess.  It is my hope that you will never have to 
truly learn it.  But I must try to prepare you for it just the same.  You 
can do this, Princess - after all, Shinji already had, and at a much 
younger age."

      She clenched her fists tightly.

      "There was no choice when I learned it," Shinji said as he looked 
at the old man, something unrecognizable in his eyes.  "I - "

      She knocked Shinji's hand away from her cheek, now annoyed at the 
both of them.

      "I am having lunch now," Akane said.  "I will see the two of you 
again tomorrow!"

      "Akane, you forget the face of your father."

      She froze, mouth wide open.  Then she grit her teeth, picked her 
sword and knife up off the ground and slammed them into their respective 
scabbards.  Akane stalked off, and when Shinji turned to follow her, 
their teacher's voice stopped him.

      "She has not faced the tempering fires as you have, Shinji."

      The other mumbled, "That was harsh, sir.  Comparing her to me.  She 
looks up to you so..."

      "Humor an old man, Shinji.  I will teach her the way I must.  She 
must be made ready soon - I wish she was as adept as you in some things."

      "Why her?  This way?  Why not me?"

      Tofu began to wheel himself to the back wall, where stood many long 
shelves of books.  "Because I know that won't work on you."

      "There's been no wars for a long time."  Shinji kept his eyes on 
the open doorway.  "She's very young."

      His eyes turned on him, boring into him.  Gleaming.  "You were 
younger than her yourself, when you were smashed and broken and learned 
what she must, too.  It's not the age that bothers you, young man.  Was 
what happened to your people not a war?"

      "... I like her, sir.  She's got spirit.  She makes me think of... 
of things I would rather forget.  I don't... want her to learn what I 
did, if it means going through the same."

      Lord Tofu pulled from the distant end of farthest shelf, a book 
with a black cross of crystal upon it.  It pulsed in his hands with 
unnatural warmth, but he paid that no heed.  "You brought this book to 
me, four years ago, Sir Knight.  You know what must come as well as I."

      Shinji's head drooped.  And he muttered, "aye, I do."

      They both heard the rush of footsteps approaching the temple, knew 
from the timing that it was a courier who had come in by air with engines 
they had heard during Shinji's fight with Akane.

---

      Akane let out a long, frustrated puff of breath.  She undid the 
buckle of her sword belt, and threw the belt and the blades and the 
pistol down.  Next, she discarded the armored vest and gauntlets.  The 
heavy clunking sounds were vaguely satisfying, but not enough.  She 
contemplated using the sword on a tree or something, but remembered that 
a descendant of Nausicaa was supposed to be far above such things and so 
she felt even more like screaming.

      She slid down bonelessly, and flung her limbs out as she lay on her 
back, watching the windmill turning above her.  Akane decided that if she 

had been Nausicaa, she would have beaten the both of them up!  And maybe 
put the bandages and healing poultices on them afterwards, too, but she 
would at least have had the satisfaction of not being the inferior one 
for once.

      She took a deep breath, and with its release she exhaled the 
tension in her bones, stopped thinking about the two of them.  And looked 
up, watching.

      Sometimes, she could watch them for hours.

      She lay there, on the rooftop of the tallest tower in the valley, 
watching as the blades above her would creak just so as they spun ever so 
slowly.  The shadows of the windmill danced around her, turning the 
sleeveless white shirt she wore a dim blue where they touched her.  Beads 
of sweat gathered at the base of her throat, between her small breasts 
and at the places that curved inwards to her navel, dotting the linen 
there a darker shade than the rest.  Akane closed her eyes, a little 
dizzy from looking into the bright, endless sky.

      And the summer heat suddenly made her so drowsy, it was easy to 
spend a whole afternoon there without noticing.

      Drops of sharp, icy sweetness fell on her lips, and she licked 
them, a little surprised.

      "Thirsty, Akane?"

      She did not laugh when his voice cracked just so and she could tell 
he was blushing.

      "Yes.  More, please?" she said softly, eyes still closed.

      The drops turned into a slow trickle into her open mouth and down 
the back of her throat, and she shivered a little. Finally, he had 
squeezed all the juice there was to be had out of the round red fruit in 
his hand.

      "Thanks, Ryoga.  Did you spill any on my cheeks?"

      He was still blushing.  He did that a lot around her.

      "Um, no."

      "Too bad," she finally opened her eyes as she smiled up at him.  "I 
might've asked you to lick any off."

      He cleared his throat.  "I can spill some on you now, if you'd 
like."

      "Don't sound so eager, dummy.  Pull me up?"

      She extended her hand, and he had to grunt as he got her sitting 
upright - her training regimen added dense muscle to her shoulders, arms 
and legs; though slender, she was almost certainly stronger than he was.

      She patted the place beside her and he gulped a little as he sat 
next to her, trying not to notice the way her legs looked, slender and 
long in those snug white pants.  She was resting her chin on her knees 
and she was lovely and he had been her friend for so very long.  He may 
have been two years older (a huge two years between sixteen and 
eighteen), but she could make him feel so dumb (so out of control!) with 
just a gesture.

      "Got out of training early today?  I saw you coming..." his voice 
trailed off weakly at her changing expression.

      Akane's face looked cross once more, as she gazed at the temple in 
the distance.

      "They are so... SO INFURIATING!" she yelled at last.

      "They're just doing their best," Ryoga's tongue visibly struggled 
in his mouth.  "Um."  What did he have to say, really?  The long hours 
she put into her studies and training - the hardship of it was simply 

alien to him.  But he knew how hard the Master could be, and had met the 
other student, Shinji, before - they were both so very serious about 
every aspect of their Art and scholarship.  He thought that Akane could 
use a real vacation.

      So he just sighed.

      The clock beneath their feet rang then, a long, rich booming that 
echoed up and down the valley.  They could see children atop some of the 
rooftops struggling to get their kites into the sky then.

      "I thought you would like some chilled jalfruit, so I, um, borrowed 
some from the pantry."

      "Oh, Ryoga.  You aren't going to get into trouble again are you?  
Summer's just started and it would not do for your Ma to bury you in 
chores already. I wanted to go swimming in the pond tomorrow."

      "Oh, well," he said hastily, "so long as I didn't get caught, 
right?"

      Akane smiled just a little.  "As you say, my brave kitchen-knight.  
But you should be more wary of the dragon in the kitchen."

      His brow furrowed.  "Don't call my Ma that!"

      "Sorry, it's just that I still remember when she caught me stealing 
sweetbuns once.  She had a really heavy hand, you know!"

      Ryoga winced, almost reaching a hand to his buttocks in sympathy 
(and in some fear, too - he dearly hoped his mother would not notice the 
missing fruit).  Then Akane stretched lazily, sighing, and he decided 
that the sight of her gulping down the juice would be worth it if the 
loss was found out.

      "Okay!" she said firmly.  "Not another word about punishments, or 
anything that is remotely related to learning or studying.  And don't ask 
me about how training was today 'coz it was just awful!  Lord of the 
Wind!  None of the other kids our age have to put up with this junk!  It 
makes me want to scream!"

      He patted her knee.  "That's why you're here early, huh?"

      Akane glared at him, drawing a rueful wince.

      "Okay, okay.  Not one word about it.  What would you like to talk 
about, your Highness?"

      He said it cross-eyed, with a slavering lilt to it, and she laughed 
heartily.

      "Right!" Akane said, composing herself.  "Onto better things!"

      He smiled at her, opening the basket of food he had brought.  The 
sweet scent of spiced, roasted mushrooms rose in the air.  "Better 
things!"

      Politely, he ignored the rumbling sounds of her belly as she 
rapidly snatched a handful of the salty-sweet little morsels.  He let her 
finish most of it before taking the rest, smiling at the suddenly bashful 
look of her face when she noticed how much she had eaten.

      She cleared her throat.

      "What's coming up for us this week?"

      "There's, well."  He looked at the kites floating over the valley.  
"There's the May dance."  He nearly cringed, expecting a violent 
response.  And was quite relieved when she only sighed.

      "Ohhhhh.  Right.  Well, then would you accompany me to the 
Mayingfest?  All these... boys... most of whom never noticed me before or 
always used to call me a tomboy or something... have been pestering me to 
no end since last week.  They're really annoying.  But the Princess is 

expected to go, and I have to have someone with me.  Could you?  Please?"

      "O-of course I'll go with you."  He was glad that she was watching 
the clouds and not him, because now he was positively blood red in the 
face.

      "Most of the boys are just SO immature and annoying.  They used to 
all ignore me and that was fine.  But, it's like, now that I'm finally 
starting to grow breasts," she sniffed, "they're starting to grow 
brainless.  I'm glad you're not like that, Ryoga.  I'd hate to have to 
beat you off, too."

      The expression on his face fell several degrees.  "Oh."

      She blinked.

      "Gee, I hope you didn't plan on going with someone else!" Akane 
said.  "Were you going to ask someone, Ryoga?"

      "Well... maybe I was... but not anymore."  He looked absolutely 
flummoxed by then.

      "Oh ho!  That look!  It's got to be about a girl, right?"  Akane 
looked at him for a moment, then slung a wiry arm around his neck.  "Hey, 
if you want to ask someone, you should!  Nothing comes to you if you 
don't reach yourself.  Lord Tofu taught me that well.  Is it someone I 
could help you with?  Someone I know?"

      He bit his lip.  "Um, nah, thanks, but.  I think I'll just go with 
you."

      "Are you sure?"

      "Nh-huh."

      She smiled broadly.  "Thanks, Ryoga.  You're a pal."  She lay back 
down to watch the windmill once more.

      "Akane?"

      "Hmm?"

      "Is there someone else you'd like to go to the Mayingfest with, 
then?"

      Her expression turned thoughtful, and not a little regretful.

      "Hey, we're pals, right?"

      She murmured.  "It's a nice thought.  But it's not something he'd 
go to."

      "Ah."  Ryoga sighed.  "It's Lord Tofu still."

      "I know I'm foolish and childish.  You don't have to tell me."

      Akane turned on her side, away from him, head cushioned by her arm.  
He could only stare at the long, shadowy silhouette she presented, heart 
more or less racing.

      "You're not foolish, Akane.  You've never been childish to me, 
either."

      "Thanks, I guess.  It's so good having you as a friend, Ryoga.  I 
couldn't talk about Lord Tofu with anyone else without feeling stupid and 
much, much too young.  And apparently, HE thinks I'm a child or something 
'coz that's how he and that oaf Shinji treat me!  That or collar meat 
being prepared for a gladiator ring!"

      He lay down on the roof as well.

      "What's it like, training with the Weapon Master?" he asked almost 
timidly, after waiting for what he felt was long enough.  "Really?  I 
mean, sometimes, you come from the temple and you look so happy."

      Her face brightened slowly as she spoke.  "It's wonderful.  
Sometimes it's difficult but sometimes...  Well, the exercises are 
intense and draining, but it's fun, too.  It's a time when I can forget 
about court duties and other things, and the future and problems and 
everything, 'coz there's no time to think, only time to move, to 
concentrate on being one with my body, the aches in my muscles and 
joints.  And it's nice to know that there's no one in the valley who can 
pick on me.  And there are moments, when there's this - " she stumbled a 

little, casting around for the words, "there's this purity in the 
movements.  Like, suddenly the sword in one hand and the pistol in the 
other aren't just a sword and a gun, they're a part of me, and it feels 
like I can do anything.  It feels like there's all these possibilities I 
can just reach out and grab when it's like that.  Um.

      "And the stories in the books and the knowledge of how to heal, how 
to make unguents and ointments from plants and clean-grown fungus and 
other things and potions...  It's all pretty interesting stuff.  And Lord 
Tofu's always got an interesting story about Nausicaa, or the Sea of 
Corruption, or his time during the war with the Nazis.

      "And then sometimes, Shinji and Lord Tofu are just too much and I 
just can't stand it at all!"

      "I once tried a beginner's class my uncle Tolya held a couple of 
years ago.  I guess I just didn't like the hardship," Ryoga responded.  
"Anyway, when am I going to need to know how to fight, right?  Nothing 
ever happens here in the Valley.  I wonder why Lord Tofu started teaching 
you, so many years ago."

      "I guess he doesn't want the tradition to die out - and it's a 
grand and honorable tradition, Ryoga."

      Akane laughed then as one of the distant kites swooped, tangling 
its line with four other kites.  The children whose kites were involved 
were too far away for her to see the looks of dismay on their faces, but 
she could imagine them.

      "I just remembered the last time something like that happened to a 
kite I was flying," she said.  "I couldn't believe you did that!  After 
the hours it took for me to get that thing into the air!"

      He chuckled.  "It was an accident.  Cross-currents, that sort of 
thing!"

      "Hmph!" she pretended to scowl for a moment, but did not quite 
manage it.  "Oh, I'm so glad it happened.  Where would I be now if we 
hadn't become friends, Ryoga?"

      "Much more unhappy, I'm sure!"

      Akane sat up again, tapping the rough tiles of the roof idly with 
her fingers.  "Probably.  There's no one else I can really talk to, you 
know."

      "Oh, don't say that, Princess.  Lots of people like you - "

      "Yes," she interrupted.  "They like me.  But, I don't know.  I just 
can't seem to talk to them about things.  When I talk about my studies or 
the histories, most of them just shake their heads and smile.  I suppose 
I feel alienated from everyone.  And Shinji and Lord Tofu... they just 
see me as their Princess, not as a person."

      "You are the Princess, Akane.  But there's nothing wrong with that.  
They're just doing what they feel is right - their duty."

      Then they were watching the windmill and the clouds together, 
quietly, and were both surprised when they noticed the setting sun.

      "Swimming tomorrow, right?"

      "Right," she said.  "The day after's studies and training and more 
training for me.  Might as well make the best of tomorrow, before I catch 
hell for throwing my tantrum today."

      "Yes," he murmured.  "Make the best of tomorrow."  He was staring 
openly at the way the lines of her face sharpened in the red-orange light 

of the setting sun, and thought about how beautiful she might become when 
she was older.  There was a quiet radiance in the moment, a moment when 
wished dearly that he could somehow - but it was best simply to hold this 
perfect vision, and someday remember that there was once between her and 
him this singular bond.

      "I'm going to stay here a while longer, 'kay?"

      "Well.  'til tomorrow then."

      Alone again, her thoughts turned to an earlier time.  Before the 
lessons had turned quite so harsh and exacting.  It was the first time 
she had encountered real danger.  And perhaps the one time Tofu had 
actually been...affectionate.

      Akane smiled.  "Why can't the lessons always be pleasant?"

---

      "Why can't our history lessons always be like this?"

      The mask was oppressive and heavy against her face - it felt like a 
heavy man's hand trying to stifle her.  It had taken her weeks to get 
used to it.  But just the same, she had learned to love this place, so 
deadly that a few unfiltered breaths were all it took to kill, and if the 
mask was necessary, she had grown used to its comforting presence against 
her cheeks and jaw and lips and nose.

      Lord Tofu rode ahead of her on Kai, a tough, rangy horseclaw that 
Akane had seen with Lord Tofu for as long as she could remember.  For 
these excursions, the ground was far too rough to take his wheelchair 
through, and so Lord Tofu had devised a special harness that enabled him 
to ride his faithful gray steed even after his legs had been severed 
midway down the thighs.  Seeing him riding like that, high on the old 
bird's saddle with his battered black hat and black cloak, it was easy 
for Akane to picture him as he used to be - Lord Tofu, the greatest 
weapon master in all the realms.  The hero who forged the truce between 
Torumekia and the Nazi empire, a truce that had lasted forty long years 
so far.  His shoulders were still square and powerful and his neck was 
still straight and his bearing was still tall and she often pictured the 
way his gray-streaked brown locks would tangle as they streamed -

      "Stop daydreaming, little miss," he said with his soft whisper that 
carried for long distances.  "You nearly stepped on the door of a spider-
wolf's lair.  While I grant that it would be an educational experience, I 
don't think you would quite appreciate the lesson through the pain as 
your nerves would start burning and not stop for the next week."

      She almost stumbled, and was glad that it was impossible to tell 
she was blushing from behind the mask.  "I was, ah, admiring the bread 
fungus blossoms in the trees!"  It was not too far off a lie - those 
flowers that dotted this trail here and there were beautiful, a 
luminescent pink mass of glassy threads that waved softly, trapping any 
of the smallest insects that were too young to get off the ground.  And 
she had been distracted by them before, she reasoned - perhaps her Sensei 
would not notice the lie as he usually could?

      He cleared his throat, drawing an even deeper blush from Akane.  
"Keep your eyes on the trail, little miss."

      Sometimes, it drove Akane wildly infuriated that the old man knew 
exactly how she felt about him.  And would do nothing about it at all, 
not at all.

      "The most important histories, it is true," he resumed his lecture, 
"are found here in the Forest of Corruption.  But you cannot get around 
the lessons in your books, or in the marketplaces, or in the sparring 
chamber.  This Forest is just another classroom for now.  A wondrous 
place, to be sure, it will one day lead to our promised salvation, but 
'tis also a dangerous place.  Something you would do well to remember."

      Akane readjusted the weight of the pack across her back when parts 
of her rifle (too large for her, back then when she was only twelve), dug 
into the spot between her shoulder-blades.  "Will this place really clean 
the pollution and the blight from the land, sir?  It seems so - 
unbelievable, I guess.  Everything here is so poisonous!"  She did not 
speak of her father, who had died from the hardening sickness due to too 
much exposure to the miasma.  But she thought of it.

      "It is written in the Journals of the Blue Rider," he answered, 
"that the poison comes from the enzymatic processes in the fungus that 
take up the poisons and toxins in the soil - a regrettable by-product.  
I, too, have tried Nausicaa's experiments with the spores; where do you 
think I derive my potions and medicines from?  The fungus is not 
poisonous, when grown on pure soil with a clean water source.  And deep 
beneath this layer of fungus we walk upon now, there are crypts of 
purified crystal and soil and air and water that grow slowly as the Sea 
of Corruption itself ages."

      "One day," Akane said, "will the lands really be clean again?"

      "It has been promised.  But not for a long time, little - "

      A hissing sound cut through the air, and they turned as one to 
watch the flight of Royal Yanmas overhead, noting the direction and the 
wind.

      "There's a rumbling in the distance - an ohmu?" Akane tensed as, 
reflexively, she pulled out the rifle slung across her back.  And there 
was more than the clicking roar of the ohmu's joints and the rending 
cracks of falling fungus trees and the shrieking of angry insects.  There 
was also the sound of something metal, a piston-like hammering.

      "Yes... it's chasing something.  Someone."  His eyes widened.  
"Someone in a Melef!  What fool would crash through the Forest in one of 
those!"

      "They'll need help!"  Akane tensed and threw herself up into the 
branches of the huge white tree fungi that dominated the Forest.

      Lord Tofu nudged Kai into a long, loping stride after her as she 
raced through the treetops.  "Princess Akane!  Be careful, and remember 
not to hurt the insects!"  For the first time in years, he cursed at the 
loss of his legs - even for a nimble creature like his horseclaw, it was 
difficult to move quickly on the soft, hilly ground of the Forest.  If he 
was not careful, he might break Kai's legs, or plunge them through a weak 
place in the ground into the chasms beneath the Forest.  If he still had 
his legs...

      As it was, Akane was already out of sight, and he sighed as he 
tilted the massive barrel of his rifle up into the sky, and fired off a 
siren shell, screaming a warning sound high into the air.

      "I hope I taught you well enough, dear Princess."

      Moving quickly had always been easy for Akane.  Soon, the rumbling 
was loud in her ears, and her legs had just begun to feel tired.

      There!  There it was!  An ohmu!  All fourteen eyes blood red with 
anger in two jeweled semi-circles arcing in the body-segments just behind 
its mouth.

      She felt her throat closing up, they were so magnificent and 
beautiful.  And terrifying too!  Akane wished that she did not feel fear, 
she dearly wanted to love these creatures as the scriptures said, and as 
her great-great-great grandmother was said to have done.  But she was not 
Nausicaa, and so her heart fairly quaked as she saw its great bulk (and 
this one was just a baby!) smashing through a huge ironwood fungus tree 
(petrified, those were as hard as granite) with ease, crushing everything 
in its path.

      Still, she was a Princess of the Valley of the Wind and her hands 
around her rifle were steady as she leaped from branch to branch, almost 
flying through the air.

      A black and red giant of steel ran just ahead of the sixty-foot 
long insect, a dwarf for all its size.  Humanoid in shape but standing 
fifteen feet tall and with heavy armored steel over the machinery that 
powered it, the Melef had become the only unit that really mattered in 
warfare.  More mobile than tanks and with just as much firepower, they 
held the ground in any major confrontation.  An airforce was necessary 
for support and transport at times in a war, but in the end, only ground 
troops could hold or take ground, and there was no ground unit that 
matched the three-ton suits of powered death that Melefs were.  Except 
for the GuyMelefs, of course, largest of all and often standing dozens of 
feet tall, they could decimate whole cities with ease - unless those 
cities were protected by GuyMelefs and Melefs of their own.

      But even a hundred GuyMelefs would be foolish to tear through the 
Forest of Corruption and risk the wrath of an army of insects that could 
crush those armored colossi like so many tin toys.

      Melefs were impractical in the Forests - they were agile, yes, but 
except in the most skilled hands, too loud and prone to crushing the 
unwary insect!  'What is it doing here?' Akane wondered as she got into 
position above a particularly high branch, and widened her stance.

      The hundred-eight legs of the ohmu were practically pounding at the 
lone Melef's heels (those jointed legs made a sound like an avalanche), 
and she knew that the ohmu did not tire.

      She was twelve years old.  She was terrified.  She had never been 
so excited and thrilled before in her life, and it mattered not at all 
that she had just moments before felt clumsy and awkward with the heavy, 
oversized armor and gear.

      Akane slung the rifle over her shoulder with hand, and with the 
other she swung in a speedy circle over her head a heavy ceramic hook 

tied to a spider-silk rope (light and tremendously strong).  The glassy 
fibers caught and redirected the light and made it seem as though Akane 
held narrow sunbeams in her fingers.

      "He who aims with his eyes has forgotten the face of his father," 
she whispered to herself as she threw.

      Her aim was true and the hook caught on the leading edge of the 
fifth segment on the giant worm with a rich, ringing sound.  She had 
braced herself and was prepared for the shock as the line tensed and she 
had to more or less leap the huge gap to the creature's back.  She 
grimaced as she fell against the rear segments of the ohmu, but the armor 
reduced much of the shock and she knew how to take a fall.  She pulled 
herself along on the rope, and got to her feet atop the largest segment 
of the insect, just behind the second ring of eyes.  The ohmu's living 
shell rumbled beneath her feet, but her balance was good and her footing 
just right between the grooves on the shell where the material was not 
yet worn smooth, as she had been taught to do by the finest in the land.

      Akane yelled to the Melef from the pit of her stomach, "I'm going 
to try to calm it!  When you see the flash of light, get out of that 
Melef!  The machine noise just angers everything in the Forest!  Eject, 
throw yourself to the side and DON'T MOVE!"

      She pulled three flash grenades from her satchel and thumbed the 
pins out of the corners of the slender black rectangles.

      "Get ready!" she called out to the steel giant as her right arm 
pulled back for the throw.

      And there was darkness, for a time.

      It had been night when next she opened her eyes.  The heat of a 
nearby fire was pleasant, and the scent of sweet mushrooms roasting 
wafted by.

      "Owww."

      Akane peeled her eyes open, grimaced as the muscles in her neck and 
back tightened painfully.  It was deep into the night, and she recognized 
the small tent she lay in.

      "Rest easy, little Princess."

      She closed her eyes and let the gentle weight of Lord Tofu's huge 
hand on her forehead soothe her.

      "I'm sorry," she murmured.  "I made a mistake."

      The old man laughed then, a dry, rough chuckle like gravel.  "Oh, 
little Princess, you're lucky to be alive."

      "I should've calmed it..."

      He shook his head, index finger pressing lightly against her lips.  
"It was enough that you saved our guest's life.  Princess, you are much 
too taken with the old legends of the Wind Rider.  It usually takes a 
whole team of experienced Valley Guardsmen to confront and confuse an 
angry ohmu without losses.  You did it alone."

      "Nausicaa could," she said.

      "Oh, dear Princess.  Nausicaa's a legend who could charm a squirrel 
fox out of the wilderness and look into the heart of the ohmu without 
flinching.  What she could do can't be taught and you should not expect 
it of yourself.  I did not think you would try to do it all by yourself 
today - I thought you would signal us with siren shells and wait for a 
team to arrive."  His voice turned stern.  "That's what you should have 
done, instead of riding an ohmu alone, without support."

      She closed her eyes, tried not to cry.  "'m really sorry, Sensei."

      His manner softened.  "Shh, little Princess.  You did well, truly 
you did.  The pilot of that Melef had been about to turn and try to 
fight, which would have been disastrous.  You saved his life, don't doubt 
that."  His hand closed around hers and squeezed painfully.  "But never 
be so reckless again, Akane.  Promise an old man?"  Just this once, he 
eased his guard enough for her to hear what he felt in his voice.

      "A-always, Lord Tofu."

      For years afterward, Akane would wonder if she should not have 
simply embraced him then, and kissed him.  But then the dreams began.

---

      She shifted upright when she sensed someone close to her; relaxed 
again when she noticed the distinct pattern of soft footfalls.

      "I know I don't often thank you for saving my life.  But isn't my 
presence here for you enough?"

      Akane wondered for a long moment what she should say.  "You're too 
damned good is all, you know that, Shinji?"

      He hung his head.  She wished she could see his eyes more clearly, 
but night had fallen quickly.

      "Sorry."

      His voice was quite faint, and Akane thought about how easy it was 
to forget how shy and unassuming the older student seemed outside of a 
fight or the cockpit of a ship or Melef.

      "You don't have to tiptoe around me," Akane said.  "I made a fool 
of myself today."

      "No," he said as he sat beside her, right where Ryoga had, "you did 
not."

      She hummed a soft little tune.  "Yes, I did.  First, I should have 
had breakfast this morning.  Next, I shouldn't have lost so easily.  And 
lastly, I should not have lost my temper."  She rested her chin against 
her knees.  "I could tell Lord Tofu was pretty upset with me towards the 
end.  'Akane, you forget the face of your father.'  Yeesh.  I messed up 
badly."

      His heavily callused palm was quite light against her shoulder.  
"Akane, Lord Tofu is not infallible.  He pushed too hard today, and so 
did I.  He admitted that just a few minutes ago.  And told me to explain 
why to you, now."

      "Why?" she asked.  "What's changed?"

      "There has been a summons from Torumekia."

      "What?"

      He paused.  "Lord Tofu knew it was coming some day.  He hoped to 
have you ready for it."

      "For what?"

      "There is a special program for... individuals of special gifts... 
at the capitol city of Tolas.  We have been summoned.  We are to leave 
tomorrow."

      Completely taken aback, Akane did not bother to hide the emotions 
in her voice.  "T-tomorrow!  But...  Wait!  What about my lessons and... 
my mother and the Valley!  My court duties, everything!"  There was 
shock, anger at the lack of control in her life, but there was 
excitement, too, for she had been wishing to leave the Valley to see the 
world as Nausicaa had seen it for a long time.  And more, there was fear 
and the anxiety that something was wrong, a sensation that she realized 
had been with her for weeks by then.

      And she was struck by the horrible premonition that, if she left, 
she might never see her home again.

      There was power in his voice then, a power that had never been 
there before.  It was as if these were words that he had practiced in his 
thoughts all his life.  "Princess Akane, daughter of Sir Zamir and the 
scholar Kehres, you have a Gift that comes with a duty.  And that duty is 
what we are called to now.  Torumekia has invoked the treaty with us, and 
demands your fealty.  You must go."  There was no stammering or mumbling 
in this, not now when he could feel his heart hammering so in his chest.

      "Haven't you felt it in the air, Akane?  Does not the anger of the 
insects trickle into your dreams?  Is that not the reason why your sleep 
has grown less and less restful?"

      Her eyes widened.  "Is that what the dreams are?"

      "The anger of the land, Akane.  And the anger of an otherness, 
something that would destroy the very Sea of Corruption itself.  That is 
why we must go."

      "It wasn't anger," she whispered.  "It didn't seem angry, not to 
me..."

      And he touched her then, with finger and words.  And thought.

      Sparks flashed before her eyes, flung about on a burning hot 
breeze...

      In the brief, terrifying contact with the barren emptiness of 
Shinji's heart, Akane saw them, dim giants marching through flames.  The 
hammering of his heart was now hers, the hammering of steel, and the 
metallic harshness of the songs of war were drumbeats in rhythm with the 
images of those monsters' footsteps.

      There were words without sound, and they reverberated in her mind.

A voice without a voice, not Shinji's, was in her mind:  Are you 
ready?
Are you ready?

      fire burns
      rocks crush
      blood flows

      cool song heals wounds
      (blue song promises
      many promises)
      yet you fight

      and fire burns

      blue sky and black rain

      memories of white wings
      blue wings and black wings

      Yes, can you hear?

      Our voice.  Your voice.

      (but we are only cleansing -
      what about you, your poison that still
      deepens in the soil we touch not)

      Where are you?  Can you see?  Can you remember?

      Be ready
      Are you ready?

      fire burns

      Fury in our heart...

      Are you ready?

      And the sound of huge wings spreading was deafening as she said, 
slowly, softly, pleading, hands over her eyes.  "Not yet... oh, please, 
not yet." And she wept because she knew she needed to leave.

---


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