Yet another installment...Boy, I'm churning it out...


Standard Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this 
fic are the property of their respective creators. 
Please don't sue me, I have no money.

                      Desert Moon
                A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
                 By Valandar the Red


                     Chapter Three
                     Come Sail Away

     A falcon soared across the sky, ripping the wind into 
stray breezes as it raced towards its goal. This would not
normally be that dramatic a sight, unless one realized it
was out to sea, and headed for central Japan.
     It passed over vast expanses of water, cast its shadow
upon small towns and forested lands, until the fabled Mount
Fuji came into sight. Below it, it could finally see Tokyo,
its goal. Settling onto a specific building in the Nerima
prefecture, it stopped to catch its breath, and passed out,
falling off the roof, and onto the stomach of a sleeping
man.
     "Huh? Mnglrmrdrng....whazzis?" Slowly, Ryouga opened
one eye. He had been napping in the warm, mid-morning sun,
and the falling bird had woken him up. Gently picking it up,
he walked inside.
     "What do you have there, Ryouga?" asked Mousse. He was
watching an old gaijin television show, about a young girl
who went around killing vampires. It was horribly dated, 
but had some funny scenes when viewed from the point of view
of a real martial artist.
     "It's the darndest thing. This falcon just fell out of
the sky onto me while I was napping."
     Mousse walked over, and looked closely at the bird. His
eyes grew wide, and he muttered, "Ying Lu...why?" He
immediately turned, and darted up the stairs for the guest 
room, where he and Shampoo were staying. On the way, he 
yelled, "Get the bird into a bed, now, and pour hot water
on her!"
     Realizing he held someone who was cursed, he quickly
did as he was told. The only bed he knew of that he could 
use was the one he and his wife were sharing in what once
was Akane's room. Racing up there, he woke his sleeping wife
with one hand, as he lowered the falcon to the pillow. 
     "Wha...Ryouga?" Akari rubbed her eyes. "What's going
on?" She glanced at the clock with sleep-filled eyes. "And
why haven't you woken me up, yet?" She faced him, to see him
leaving the room. "Huh?"
     He entered the room seconds later, with a cupful of hot
water. A quick splash later, quickly followed by a jerk of
the sheets to cover the unconscious girl that took the place
of the bird, and Akari understood. She slowly left the bed,
wearing her nightshirt, a white one covered in cartoony pigs,
as Mousse and Shampoo entered. "What's going on?" she asked.
     Shampoo was standing next to Ryouga, while Mousse 
quickly examined the girl. "She'll be okay," he said to his
wife, "she's just exhausted. It'll take her about a day for
her to recover. I'll go call Tofu-sensei at his office,
love."
     The young elder turned to face the Lost Man and his wife. 
"Ying Lu is young girl from our village. She also fell 
into cursed spring, the Spring of Drowned Falcon. She revel
in the curse, using it to act as messenger for our village.
Why she is here now, " she spread her hands, "I cannot say."
     Akari looked down at the young girl. She was cute, if
not beautiful, with long green hair, and brown eyes. She was
also about seventeen, the same age as both Kenchiro, Ranma's 
son, and their own Ryunnosuke. She was small, slightly smaller
than Akari, herself, but well proportioned. "You go on with 
Ranma, this afternoon. I'll help Tofu-sensei take care of 
her."
     "Are you sure, honey?" asked Ryouga.
     "Yes, I am."
     A cough at the door caught their attention. Ranma, in 
shorts and a tank top, stood there in front of Akane. "So,
where did she come from?" he murmured.
     Shampoo glanced at him. "As I said before, she is girl
from my village with falcon curse. Village send her here
with important message."
     Akane looked worried. "Did you find out what it was
before she... what, passed out?"
     "No," said Ryouga. "She was in falcon form when she did
pass out, and has been unconscious since then. It's been 
only ten minutes, anyway."
     "Mom, Dad, whassup?" grumbled a certain teenager. He
was dressed very similar to his father, but his hair was 
down, and covered over half of his face. 
     "Shush, we'll explain downstairs. Ranma, you'd better
start getting ready for the luncheon." Akane took her son's
arm, and led him downstairs, closely followed by Shampoo and
Ryouga.

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

     By eleven o'clock, Tofu-Sensei had arrived back home to
examine his newest patient, and the Wrecking Crew were 
dressed in coat and tie, or elegant dress. None of them were
exactly hurting for money, and they all looked good. At least,
they would have, if they all weren't wearing their most 
worried faces. Ranma looked the worst, his face almost
contorted with dread. "It can't mean anything good, I'll tell
you that."
     Akemi looked at him. "Father, you can't worry about it.
Whatever happens will happen, and you can handle it."
     "Yeah. I guess. But I don't know if we can handle it 
without someone getting hurt." There was a call from the front 
door. "That must be Ucchan. Well, guys, it's time to go."
     Kasumi piped up. "I'll go let her in."
     Akane looked at her daughter. "Say, where's Kenchiro?"
     "Oh, he volunteered to help Doctor Tofu with the girl
upstairs. I think he has a crush on her."
     Shampoo laughed. "I hope you trained him well, Ranma.
She no go out with him unless he beat her."
     He grimaced. "I thought your village got rid o' that
tradition."
     "We did. But, some stubborn girls say man must still
defeat her just to begin dating." Her smile upped a few watts.
"Ying Lu one of those girls. And one of Sha...my best 
students."
     "Hey, guys, you ready to go?" Everyone turned to look at
Ukyou, jaws hanging open and eyes wide. She was downright
gorgeous, in an incredibly elegant dress that straddled the
boundary of sundress and evening gown. It was dark blue, her
favorite color, with just the right touches in just the right
places. Her hair was up in a bun, and she was wearing just 
the right amount of makeup to accent her face, without the
makeup being obvious. "What, never seen me all dolled up 
before?"
     Akemi found her voice first. "Actually, no. You're
either in your cook's outfit, or you're in some sort of 
women's business suit for a meeting."
     The others had recovered their composure, but Ranma still
looked worried. Ryouga decided to try to get his mind off the
matter of Ying Lu. "Anyway, Ranma, how did you do that thing
with the plywood, yesterday?"
     Ranma turned to him. "Oh, that. I really haven't given
it a name yet. I just start harmonizing my chi with the chi
of the object, then start harmonizing the object's chi with
whatever I'm merging it with. When they are at the same state,
I begin to push, and they sort of slide together, and become
one. It's a lot easier if they used to be part of the same
object, like a broken plate." 
     "Well, we're all here. Time to go to the luncheon," said
Akane.
     "Where's Akari?" asked Ukyou.
     "Ummm.... we'll explain on the way," said Ryouga.
     Ranma jingled his keys, and said, "Ryouga, you ride with
Ucchan, and tell her what's happening. The rest of us will go
in the minivan, and meet you there."

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

     "Sir, Team Gamma has failed to report in for a second
time in a row." The man at the console was wearing a black
uniform, glasses, a ballcap, and a headset with microphone.
Behind him stood Shiro, the man who had angered Akihito the
previous morning.
     "Well, we must assume they have been compromised. We must
pass along word to the Director." Shiro straightened his
glasses, shaking his head and making the loose flap of skin
on his neck flap back and forth. "I shall take that
responsibility on myself, lieuteneant."
     "Hai, Sempai." The man at the console stood, and saluted.
Shiro saluted back, and left the room. He walked down a 
corridor, towards the director of his corporation, then looked
both ways, and ducked into a smaller one. Finding the 
appropriate room, he activated a special scrambler, as well as
twenty decoy transmitters, and sent a brief burst 
transmission. Odds were, that they would not detect the two
millisecond signal. Even if they did, it could not be 
interpreted. And, it could not be located, either, because 
the twenty decoys were scattered throughout the building, 
which caused the girders used in its construction to act as a
huge antennae. All they would know was that the signal came
from the building. Cutting out of the access closet he was
hiding in, he emerged into the main corridor, and returned
to the communications room.
     In a different building, across Tokyo, a light began to
flash on Tokugawa Akihito's desk. He scowled, slightly. 
Looking up at Kyoko, who was acting as his secretary, he
waved his hand. "Get word to our compatriots. Tomorrow 
morning, we move against the tribes. By tomorrow evening, we
will own the entire valley."

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

     The Furikan High School gymnasium had been decorated for
the reunion, and right now several tables filled the floor.
Daisuke and Hiroshi stood in the middle of the floor with 
their wives. "Wow, look at everybody. Looks like we may not
be the only salarymen here. I figured everyone else would be
doing a lot better than we were," said Daisuke.
     "Yeah. But, hey, Mishima Heavy Industries isn't a bad
place to work, as long as you don't mind the offices being
involuntarily remodeled every few months." Hiroshi started
looking towards the door. "Any sign of Ukyou, Akane, or Ranma
yet ?"
     "Nope, no sign."
     "So when are we going to meet this legendary Saotome
Ranma, huh, Dai-chan?" asked his wife.
     "Don't worry, Aki-chan, he'll be here soon."
     Just for dramatic purpses, no sooner had he said that,
than the Crew decided to show up. Ukyou and Ryouga walked in
first, followed by Ranma and Akane, then, finally, Mousse and
Shampoo. "Wow, Shampoo made it, too? I must be in Heaven!" 
drooled Hiroshi.
     >BAM!< Down came the infamous mallet, as his wife proved
Akane was not the only master of hammerspace.
     "Er, um, yeah, it's...um...great to see Mousse, Ranma,
and...er...Ryouga, too, heh heh," stuttered Daisuke.
     "And what about Ukyou, Shampoo, and Akane ?"
     "Umm... they're okay, but they're nothing compared to
you, Aki-chan?"
     She regarded him critically. "Well, you're learning." She
looked at the aforementioned women, and exhaled, frowning. 
"Even if you are a bad liar."
     The six friends dominated the room, partly from memories
of what these people had done, and partly from the sheer
strength of their presence. As they walked around to talk to
their friends, eyes followed them. At first, the seniors, who
were serving the luncheon, didn't notice, but once they did,
they joined in on the sport of Wrecking Crew Watching. This,
compounded with the tension from earlier today, only served
to heighten Ranma's sense of dread. After about twenty minutes
of walking around, he led Akane over to where the Dreadful
Duo of Hiroshi and Daisuke stood. Hiroshi had managed to pull
himself out of the small crater he had made, and apologized
to his wife.
     "Hey, Ranma-kun, Akane-san, good to see ya," said
Daisuke. "This is my wife, Akiko."
     The bowed slightly at each other, saying greetings. 
Hiroshi stood there for a second, until his wife elbowed him.
"Oh, yeah, Ranma, Akane, this is my wife, Reiko." Greetings 
were exchanged again, as Reiko glared at him, slightly. "So,
has life been just as hectic out in the real world as it was
in High School?"
     Akane grimaced. "Well, it's been just as weird, but the
weirdness is farther apart now."
     Ranma allowed a smirk to grace his countenance. "Yeah, 
she hasn't been kidnapped in six months!"
     >BAM!< Down came the most used mallet in Furinkan High.
I guess the mallet felt obligated to show up for the reunion.
After all, it spent almost as much time in those hallowed 
halls as Ranma, himself, did.
     "*urk* Akane...>pop<...it was a joke!" moaned Ranma.
     "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma, I don't know what came over me."
The dazzling smile on her face told quite a different story.
     "What are you lookin' at?" growled Ranma, at the various
people who were now staring at them, likely having flashbacks
to events of twenty-five or twenty-six years ago. They quickly
went back to what they were doing.
     "Same old couple, eh, Hiroshi?"
     "Yup. They'll never change, Daisuke."
     The luncheon went as scheduled, after that. The only odd 
point was when Ranma found himself running from the Saotome 
Akane Tickle Torture at one point, laughing his head off and 
confusing many of his classmates.

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

     The afternoon wound down, and the six friends went back 
to the dojo to prepare for the full gathering that night.
Akari was waiting for them at the door, a worried expression
on her face. "Shampoo, the young lady is awake, now. She's
asking for you."
     "Aiyah! She say anything at all ?"
     "Not that I could understand. Her Japanese is worse than
yours was."
     Mousse took his wife's had, and they rushed upstairs. In
the room they found, not only Ying Lu, but also kasumi, Doctor 
Tofu, and Kenchiro. The first thing they noticed was how the
two teenagers were stealing glances at each other when they
thought the other wasn't looking. Then, they noticed the 
concerned expression on the doctor's face. Finally, they
noticed that the young woman wasn't doing much to get out of
bed.
     In Chinese, Ying Lu spoke up. "Elder Xian Pu, I'm so
glad you're back. High Matriarch Khu Lon sent me with an
urgent message." She spoke slowly, and distinctly, almost
deliberately. It seemed an effort to force the words out of
her tired frame.
     "What is the message, niece? Please, tell it to me 
exactly as she told it to you."
     She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and nodded. 
"High Matriarch Khu Lon bade me tell you she is sorry she must
pull you away from your friends and allies, but the village
is endangered. Two men, wearing uniforms of a private army,
attacked a party of miners just outside of the village. My
father, your brother-in-law, Shen Kuei, was wounded, and they
may have seen the Bakusai Tenketsu in action. She believes
they may have signaled back to their masters, and enemies of
the village may be on the way. We need you, Elder Xian Pu,
and your husband, Mu Tsu. If possible, bring along..." She 
struggled with the foreign names. "Ran-Ma, A-ka-na, and Ray-
o-ja."
     "Ranma, Akane, and Ryouga," Shampoo idly corrected.
Switching back to Japanese, she looked at Kenchiro. "Go get
your father and mother, They needed here."
     He glanced and smiled briefly at Ying Lu, whose eyes
were still closed, then nodded, and ran downstairs. He was 
back seconds later with them in tow. "Okay, Shampoo, what's
up?"
     "Hired soldiers attack members of village. They may be
back later. Great-grandmother want...er, wants me and Mousse
to return, to defend village. Also ask that you to and the
Lost Man come back to help."
     "Hey, if the five of you are going, i'm going, too. I 
can't let my best friends go off on what may be their last
great adventure without me!" Ukyou was standing behind them,
leaning against the doorway.
     "And what about me an' Akemi? Are we just supposed to
sit here an' wait for you to get back, Pops?" Kenchiro had
actually taken a relatively dramatic pose. Unfortunately,
he had watched Gorangers and Kamen Rider a little too much
as a child, and his dramatic pose was a little silly.
     Ranma turned to his son and best friend. "Ukyou, you sure
you can take that much time off of running your business?"
     She smiled, and nodded. "Positive."
     "Good. As for you, Kenchiro, I don't think Ying Lu, here,
is ready to get out of bed and come help us. If her village
is the target, they may send someone here for her. I need you
here to protect her." He put his hand on his son's shoulder.
"You and Tofu-sensei should be able to protect her, your Aunt
Kasumi, and Akari. I'm counting on you."
     Kenchiro saw right through it. "No, you just want me safe
back here, i know. He looked at the girl, who had fallen
asleep again. He deflated a little. "But you may be right. I
can't go, in good conscience."
     Ranma's grip grew a little tighter. "That's the man I
raised. Now, remember, she's a Jokusetsu, so..."
     "So when she wakes up, and is ready, let her know that
sparring isn't a challenge. I know." 
     "Good." He turned to Akane. "Call the airport, and lets
book...six seats on the next flight to the nearest airport
to the Bayankala mountain range." His gaze settled in the
distance. "Jusenkyo. It's gotta be about Jusenkyo." He sighed
heavily. "Jusenkyo. Why did it have to be Jusenkyo?"


 - Valandar the Red of the Empty Tankard


Author's notes: 
     I just thought I'd explain some of the names I used for 
male and female Amazons in this and previous chapters. Shen
Kuei could either mean Mountain Turtle, an extremely good
name for a master of the Breaking Point, or it could mean
Highly Skilled Ghost...which he almost became. Tieh-Li means
Iron honey, which may give us clues into the personality of 
the Jokusetsu blacksmith's personality. I changed Men Tun,
whose meaning i didn't like, to Ying Lu, which either means
Jade Falcon, or Courageous Deer. Heh, I like that. I still 
don't have a name for the various corporations, yet, but I
have decided that the group of corporate types will simply
be called "The Cabal".
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