Lanko of the Amazons
	part 3
	By 
	Douglas whiddon


	Ranma stared at the thing that was climbing out of
the fountain. He had knocked Ryouga into the fountain.
Ryouga, plus cold water, was resulting in this thing.
Obviously Jusenkyo included a spring of drowned demon.
Ranma thought had thought that Ryouga was speaking
metaphorically when he said he had been to Hell.
	Ranma stood still while the beast charged. He was
standing in front of a sturdy tree and intended to leap out of
the way at the last moment. Hopefully Ryouga would knock
himself senseless.
	Ryouga bellowed loudly, sounding something like a
rabid moose, and charged.
	Just before Ranma was going to leap out of the way
something moved between Ranma and Ryouga. It took a
moment for Ranma to realize it was Kasumi.
	There was a sound like a gunshot and Ryouga
stopped. Kasumi had slapped him on the nose, the way a
ticked off owner slaps a dog. Ryouga stopped, probably
more confused than hurt.
	Kasumi glared at Ryouga. She held up her arm to
show a long rip in the sleeve of the dress. �This was my
mothers dress. Now it�s ruined.� Her voice was full of
anger. �Has it ever occurred to you that someone might be
hurt if you�re not careful? How would you feel if you
accidentally killed someone?�
	Kasumi turned away from Ryouga. �Come on, lets
go home.� She said to Ranma.
	Ranma was still mostly speechless from what he had
just seen, but his manhood, read: macho stupidity, would
not allow him to walk away from a fight.
	�He challenged me, I cant just leave.�
	Kasumi sighed. �Ranma, he�ll kill you, literally. And,
while that would put an end to this engagement nonsense,
your mother would not be happy about it. Now, COME
WITH ME.�
	There was an unexpected fire in Kasumi�s words.
Ranma finally understood why his father never once stood
up to his mother. Docily, Ranma followed Kasumi out of
the park.
	Still stunned, Ryouga watched them leave.


	As they had everyday for the last month Shampoo
and Lanko faced each other on the practice field.
	Shampoo eyed her opponent warily. She was tricky.
He skill was greater than she knew and that made the
combat difficult. It was hard to predict an opponents moves,
and nearly impossible when even they didn�t know what
they might do.
	Shampoo feinted to the left. Lanko fell for it,
moving to the right and catching Shampoo�s leg right in the
stomach. Lanko fell back, the wind knocked out of her.
	Shampoo didn�t let go of her advantage, She pushed
Lanko down to the ground and straddled her torso. A
mirrored version of the previous days fight. Shampoo held
her arm back in the same open-handed spear-strike Lanko
had used the day before.
	�Do you give up?�
	Lanko calculated the odds of winning from this
point, they were non-existent. �Yes.�
	Shampoo stood up and helped Lanko up. Lanko put
her hand on her stomach and winced.
	Shampoo panicked. �Did I hurt you?�
	Lanko shook her head. �I no think so, I just get
cramps in stomach.�
	�Is it your period?�
	Lanko stared at Shampoo blankly.
	�Is it that time of the month?�
	Lanko stared at Shampoo blankly.
	�Oh, boy.� Shampoo groaned. �Let�s go see Loa
Shun. She can explain all of this.�
	
Later that day...

	Lanko stood before a wall of weapons. Swords of
all shapes and sizes, various types of staffs and spears,
numchuks and various weapons that were unfamiliar to
Lanko.
	�Don�t stand there all day! Pick!� The tribe�s
weapons master was a woman named Ryuen, who
resembled nothing so much as the bottom two thirds of an
oak door.
	Lanko continued to stare at the weapons. She was
supposed to pick two weapons to be trained with. The
Bonbori and curved sword which were Shampoo�s weapons
of choice were on the wall, Lanko decided against copying
her sister.
	Finally, after much silent deliberation Lanko selected
a staff and a long straight sword.
	�Ready?�
	Lanko nodded. Ryuen selected a matching set of
weapons and the lessons began.
	Cologne�s method of teaching involved showing a
student something and then going away so they could
practice until they got it.
	Ryuen�s method involved kicking her students ass
until they got the hang of defending themselves.
	That night Lanko limped home. To tired even to
dream, for which she was grateful.
	From then on her schedule consisted of a morning
match with Shampoo, which she won more often then not,
afternoons with Loa Shun studying, and evenings with
Ryuen.
	One night, several days later Lanko stumbled in the
door as usual and bumped into Shampoo.
	�Are you okay?� She asked.
	�Tired.� Lanko looked like she was about to pass
out and was making no effort to waste words. She wanted
to get cleaned off and go to bed. only a few of the buildings
in the village had indoor plumbing and the house that Lanko
shared with Cologne and Shampoo wasn�t one of them. they
wash up in what was basically a closet with a barrel of cold
water. It was better than nothing.
	�I was going to go to the hotsprings, why don�t you
come with me?�
	Lanko perked up slightly. �There is hotsprings
nearby?�
	Shampoo nodded.

	The hot water caressing her body was heavenly. If
Lanko had known that there were hotsprings in the village
she would have come more often.
	She sank into the water leaving only her head above
the water. The men�s and women�s sides were only
separated by a rope. Apparently voyeurism was a popular
pastime here too. No one was bothering with towels or
anything else for modesty. If Cologne showed up the entire
male population of the village would probably be struck
blind, but for now, everyone was enjoying the view. Lanko
let her eyes drift over to a group of young men who were
watching her and Shampoo with interest. She followed there
gazes back to Shampoo and was struck speechless.
	Shampoo was kneeling beside the springs, rinsing
soap out of her hair. Glistening drops of moisture clung to
her body, her breasts heaved as she breathed and...
	Lanko realized with a shock that she was extremely
aroused by the sight of her naked friend. She ducked her
head under the water and closed her eyes tightly. She stayed
under as long as she could and then came up with a gasp.
She opened her eyes and was eye-to-nipple with Shampoo.
That didn�t help.
	�Are you okay?� Shampoo asked. �You�re acting
weird.�	
	�Lanko fine. Just tired.� Lanko turned away from
Shampoo and back to the men�s side. Unlike what she felt
when she looked at Shampoo, all she felt when she looked
at the boys was boredom.
	Lanko decided she was worried.


	Lanko slept late the next day. She skipped her
morning fight wiht Shampoo and went off to find Colgone.
	Cologne was observing a martial arts class being
taught by one of the older girls.
	Lanko wanted to make sure she was understood so
she started in Japanese. �Great-grandmother, where am I
from?�
	Cologne looke dup at her. �What?� She responded
in Japanese as well.
	�Where did I come from? I�m not Chinese, I wasn�t
born here. How did I get from Japan to this village, how did
I wind up here?�
	Cologne hadn�t expected this to happen so soon.
�Why do you want to know?�
	�Because I don�t really think I belong here and I
want to find out where I�m from.�
	�We found you near the cursed springs of Jusenkyo,
you were unconcious on a hillside and completely naked.�
	Lanko�s shoulders slumped, she had hoped for
something more. �How did I get there?�
	�I don�t know, but I think I can point you at
someone who might.�



Weeks later...

	Ranma sat sipping tea in the Tendo home. He had
come by after school as he had almost every day since his
first date with Kasumi. It was his mothers idea, she felt he
should spend time with his �future bride�, as she put it.
	Mostly he practiced in the Dojo. Sometimes with his
father, sometimes alone. Kasumi was usually to busy with
the houshold to actually spend time with him, not that he
would have the first clue what to do if she did. They had
been engaged for months now and had hardly seen each
other. Ranma was unsure what to do and, quite frankly, he
was bored.
	Thus, the universe would endevour to entertain him.
One of the outer walls of the Dojo exploded, showering the
yard with brick fragments. Ryouga, in demon form,
crouched in the hole. He stared at Ranma.
	Ranma stared back. he had wondered where Ryouga
had gotten to. Probably the other side of the planet. He
hadn�t been seen since they left him in the fountain.
	Ranma waited calmly for something to happen.
	Something happened. A kettle came sailing out of
the kitchen, right towards Ryouga. He didn�t notice it until
it was too late. A naked, male, Ryouga lay unconcious on
the grass.
	�Oh, my. Did I hurt him?� Kasumi poked her head
out of the kitchen doorway.
	Ranma face-faulted.
	Another wall, opposite the one Ryouga had come
through, exploded inwards. Ranma stared at the hole,
waiting for the dust to clear. Ryouga was the only enemy of
note, who else could be attacking?
	The dust cleared and two young women, armed with
swords and wearing Chinese clothes with bits of leather
armor, stood in the doorway. One had purple hair and the
other had red hair. There was something familiar about the
red-head, although Ranma couldn�t remember having seen
her before.
	�Oh, my. We have guests.� Kasumi shuffeld off to
get more tea.


	�My name is Lanko. I�m looking for a Panda named
Genma Soatome.�



TBC.


For those of you who are wondering why Lanko and Shampoo 
wound up at the Dojo and not the Soatome home, read the 
next part.
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Science Fiction writers build castles in
the air; the fans move into them; and the
publishers collect the rent. It's a nice
place to visit but please dont' try and
live there

-Sharyn McCrumb "Bimbos of the death sun"
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