Featherbrite's Tale, chapter fourteen. "The Secrets Of
Silver? Well, why not?"
"Nama-byoho wa o-kega no moto." (Crude military tactics are
the cause of severe casualties.)
-ancient Japanese proverb
"FUBAR, SNAFU."
-military terms for the direct
application of Murphy's Law
Ranma (Faerie Princess) Saotome, Ukyo (Sailor Valkyrie)
Kuonji, Kasumi (Sailor Angel) Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, Akane
(Sailor Red) Tendo, Tatewaki (Samurai Mask) Kuno, Kodachi
(Sailor Rose) Kuno, Shampoo (Sailor Amazon), Mousse, Hikaru
Gosunkugi, Rink & Pink are copyright Rumiko Takahashi.
Naoko Takeuchi, Sailorsuited warriors of love & justice,
Moon Kingdom, and assorted concepts are copyright Naoko
Takeuchi.
------------------------
Even in a warrior society there are those who are, well,
just inept at the arts of combat. Those who have been raised
on a lifetime of pillage, violence, and looting who just
AREN'T satisfied with that life. It was true of the Vikings,
it was true of the Nichieju, and it was true of the races of
UnSeelie known collectively as the goblinkin.
And so, in a citadel on the Moon, a certain Faerie
Princess found herself surrounded by goblins, orcs,
hobgoblins, and ogres that did not fit in anywhere else.
"Can I get you more tea, miss?" The hobgoblin bared tusks
in a smile.
"Oh no, I'm fine thank you." Ranma smiled prettily at the
goblinkin.
"Fluff your pillow?"
"Princess? We have acquired some *lovely* gowns. Oh, and
this green would go just marvy with your hair."
"Let me get these tangles out," one of the goblins tsked
as he brushed Ranma's hair out, dislodging a certain flower.
Ranma blinked as the feminine haze receded.
"I'll just put this in some water," suggested the goblin,
seeing Ranma's expression alter quite a bit.
All the various creatures, save one, found something else
to do. Losing a flower had caused the sweet and demure
Princess to grow angry. Or maybe it had been putting up with
Fauntleroy for the past three hours. Fauntleroy had been
known to have that effect on people.
The ogre looked over Ranma with a critical eye. "Are
you OK, princess?"
Ranma tried not to wince at THAT particular title.
"Uhmmm. Yeah, I'll be fine. I just want to be alone for a
bit."
Ranma started checking around. There had to be a way
to escape, though with no air outside her options were cut
considerably. Maybe that book?
Her eyes bugged as Ranma realized WHAT the book was
about.
---------
A yakyoma backed away, fear of what he faced being
greater for the moment than his fear of his immediate
supervisor.
"Just grab a few little high school girls and recruit
'em to the Cause, oh yeah, that's NO problem," another
yakyoma said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Get them, my minions, they are but two little
girls!" Mountaincrest directed his flunkies towards the two
seifuku clad girls protecting the rest.
"YOU bloody get them!" The first yakuza+yoma replied,
though all his fangs made communication a bit difficult.
"That's not a cute little girl, THAT is five feet of
slavering white hot female fury!"
Akane dabbed delicately at her chin. She was NOT
slavering! Oops. Well maybe she was a little. Hmmm. Having
read some of those Sailor Moon manga, and as they weren't
attacking, that meant this was time for a Heroic Pose &
Speech(tm)! She pulled a slip of paper from a pocket, having
the foresight to prepare this.
"Ahem. Evil beings who seek to slake unnatural
thirsts on innocent schoolgirls! Vile perversions of the
natural order who bully the weak! Foul beings who have sold
themselves to the darkness, I cannot forgive you!" Akane
read from her script, heartened that the evil beings still
weren't attacking, which meant she'd guessed right and this
was the proper time for speeches.
"Sailor Red, what you do?" Sailor White wanted to
know.
"It's in genre. Ahem. I, Aka... Sailor Red, the
High School Babe, stand before you to end your villainy! In
the name of Justice and L-l-l-love, I'll punish you!" Akane
went into stance, one arm lifted as if to beseech the
Heavens, while the other was chambered for her Wrecking Ball
Punch. "Huh? Where'd they go?"
Sailor White sighed. "They failed a Morale Check,
obviously." ~Or made an Intelligence Check.~
"Oh..." Akane shrugged after a moment. "Well darn.
So where's Takeuchi-san?"
"On the train, Sailor Rose is staying with her."
Sailor White looked around, ignoring the nonwarrior
schoolgirls still huddled behind them. "We catch next one."
------
Nabiki finished another set of wards around the
restaurant and was pleasantly surprised when a wandering
mailbox passed the door without seeming to find it.
Ukyo flipped another okonomiyaki to a customer,
Shampoo waited tables, and Kasumi was dealing with a
homework crunch. Nothing to indicate to an enemy that the
forces were gathering for a massive assault on the moon.
Nope, just a normal group of schoolgirls just trying to cope
with everyday life.
Nabiki considered the three walls of defense about
her new home with a critical eye and a certain degree of
pride. An anti-evil warding was just powerful enough that
those with ill intentions towards the inhabitants tended to
avoid the doors and windows, the effect being along the
lines of "these aren't the droids you're looking for."
Within the restaurant area itself, Nabiki had placed a
"you don't notice anything unusual" spell. While not very
strong, it would tend to cause people to dismiss strange
things happening or being discussed.
Outside THAT but inside the anti-evil ward, was an
eavesdropping shield. If someone tried, they'd hear was Ukyo
singing karaoke. After she'd been hitting the sake. A song
about love letters written in okonomiyaki. Badly.
It should be enough to dissuade the more common
surveillance.
At least Nabiki hoped so.
----------
Ranma studied the fiery letters, glad now that her
time with Featherbrite had taught her to read magic and
speed read with comprehension. This last had become
necessary with his father's insistence on everything
relating to martial arts. Time studying or doing homework
was not as valuable as time in sparring. Sparring before
breakfast, martial arts eating, more serious training, and
so on.
Hence the creation of the "Martial Arts Cramming
Technique: Read Speeding!"
Emotions were useful in chi, but also in the manna
based systems of this Silver Millenium thing and (from
earlier lessons) in Faerie magic. Intensity of emotion
wasn't a substitute for discipline or knowledge, but could
lend quite an oomph, and if all other things were equal the
one with the more intense emotion could channel the most
energy.
Which explained the Silver and Dark Millenium crystals
to some extent. Opposite ends of the same spectrum.
Ranma continued to read, knowing that SOMEHOW this
would all come in handy someday. She took a moment to douse
herself with water from the teapot, just in case the jailers
didn't know of the transformation and he could escape where
the sylph could not.
------------
Naoko Takeuchi was her name, and she was a simple
manga artist, formerly a pharmacist but manga artist not
only paid well but filled a void in herself that her
previous job hadn't.
Of course, nobody had told her that using her talents
to create a series called "Sailor Moon" would eventually
lead to a sequel series dealing with a war of three
kingdoms. Nor would she personally be faced with Dark
Kingdom Yakuza thugs, transforming ersatz Senshi inspired by
her own stories, running battles with tentacled monsters,
pixie sidekicks, or superpowered fangirls.
Nor had she any warning that she would end up leaving
abruptly one afternoon to go meet a bunch of superpowered
teenage girls in Osaka and discuss rescuing a princess from
a prison that somehow seemed modelled on her first series.
By following an invisible (to most) pixie onto a train to
stay one step ahead of violent yomakuza... or yomayaks or
any number of other terms for monstrous beings that used to
be low level criminals.
Nope. Uh uh. She had NEVER seen this coming. During an
idle moment, she wondered if Tezuka or Miyazaki had days
like this. Did Miyazaki-kun get called to a deep dark forest
to confer with camphor tree-spirits? Had secret government
agent cyborgs ever consulted with Tezuka? Had Fujishima-san
met police officers such as in his series? Did Monkey Punch
personally know international thieves and adventurers?
Were there actually aliens and espers and ninjas (or
even alien esper ninjas) walking the streets?
That fellow over there reading a newspaper, was he a
sarariman on lunch or was he a yoma? He could even be a
sailorsuited warrior of love or justice... well maybe not
that. He could be some cyborg guardian from the afterlife in
disguise.
Or maybe, Naoko considered, she needed to switch to
decaf. Life had been getting pretty stressed lately.
-----------
There was no Typhon, Godzilla, or similar elemental
juggernaut for the UnSeelie to call in that world.
Therefore, in the tradition of the sentai genre,
there were the choices of summoning one or making one.
A massive infusion of pure Faerie magic tended to
have bizarre effects even without someone intending them.
When the intent *was* to do something bizarre, it could get
pretty off the wall.
Unfortunately for Zed, said massive infusion of pure
Faerie had a tendency to go where it wanted, and tended to
be shaped by the receptacle to some extent.
Which is why the first such attempt ended up with 90
foot long laser cannon-tailed giant scorpion in Iraq. Which,
while amusing to the UnSeelie Court, was in entirely the
wrong area to do more than reveal how skilled the Iraqi
military was in fighting bulletproof giant insects.
The second attempt turned out even worse, though it
*also* was deemed quite amusing by the UnSeelie. With
Montreal under siege by giant pink rabbits (each becoming
two more when one was killed), the amount of chaos was quite
high.
The third time wasn't quite the charm, and Zed
decided to call it a day after that. True, the giant snow
dragon had looked quite impressive at start. It had made
quite a mess in Norway. Then it had moved south and had not
fared well in warmer climes. Not fared well at all.
In the meantime, this had an effect that was
extremely beneficial to Ranma and the rest of the so-called
heroes. The attention of the UnSeelie was upon these other
events and the way these mortals scrambled to cope with the
whole thing. Which meant that the plans of various
psuedo-Senshi and their allies were not being monitored at
the moment.
Which meant that most of the effort Nabiki was
putting into Eavesdropping Wards was wasted. But then, Akane
was not the only person capable of making mistakes.
----------
Eyecatch:
Nabiki lays out a line of Tarot cards, one flips up to
reveal:
Junon (High Priestess) Kasumi raising a wooden cup
heavenwards, translucent gold angel's wings extending behind
her. Series logo appears in lower right corner.
-----------
Featherbrite considered the possibilities. Her
friend Ranma was in trouble. There were some serious
difficulties in getting to the moon. In order to do it by
Faerie Magic normally, one would go to Faerie and then to a
weak point that corresponded to the moon. Several problems
with this: the UnSeelie would be waiting for them, the
absolute *right* weakpoint was necessary as Featherbrite was
a wind pixie and therefore needed air, going by human
methods required a couple of weeks enclosed by *metal*!
The Seelie Court had a lot of members with powers
far below those of the UnSeelie. There were a *few* members
of the Seelie who were sufficient that they could stand
against almost any of the UnSeelie. Problem: based on prior
experience it would take weeks for her to get an audience
with any of THEM.
There were those who were not of the Seelie OR the
UnSeelie, beings of vast power who at least considered
mortal concepts of good or evil to be of little import.
Getting their ear would be difficult, their assistance
nearly impossible, just avoiding being swatted out of hand
would be something Featherbrite would consider an
accomplishment.
There was the Queen herself, but Featherbrite knew
the odds on being able to get HER to take notice of an
insignificant little pixie.
Featherbrite had turned and twisted and thought
this over and could only come up with one solution.
"Cast an illusion on all of us so that we look like
yakyoma and infiltrate their base?" Nabiki sounded out the
concept with a frown. "It'd never work."
"Hmmmph," Featherbrite stuck her tongue out at the
sorceress. "I could do it!"
"Wrong! I can scan for disguise spells *really*
easy. There's a ward on the door that'd find anything you or
I can put together, in fact." Nabiki glanced up from her
cards briefly. "Patience. Our forces gather. Ranma-sama's
all right and we'll find a solution for the problems yet."
Featherbrite took a moment to mouth the phrase
"Ranma-sama" and wonder if this had any special
significance.
-------------
Nabiki watched the little pixie flit off and
exhaled. This was it. Her big decision time.
She'd been overjoyed to learn that a fiance would
be arriving. The boys of Furinkan had been solely interested
in little sister, nobody had paid any interest to her or
(from talks with her big sister) Kasumi when *she* was in
high school. There were certain "buttons" that would have
gotten her immediately to reject him, to forever put him in
the pile of "testosterone driven morons that she would use
for her own financial gain" if not earn her outright
contempt. Ranma hadn't done that. Come close a few times,
particularly when he seemed to flirt with either Kasumi or
Shampoo, but had never actually done so.
Nabiki had, instead, been forced to look at her
own life and hadn't been too thrilled with what she had
seen. She could take pride in her accomplishments, keeping
money coming into the dojo, making money for her own little
spending sprees, and proving again and again her
intellectual superiority to the best Furinkan Senior High
School had to offer. The ends, yes, the means- no. It had
started out small, and only now had she come to realize how
much contempt she had built up for nearly everyone. If Ranma
*had* been just a jock, Nabiki could sadly see how she might
have withdrawn further into the soulless mercenary role.
The problem, as she had discovered, was that not
only was Furinkan a little pond, but she was only floating
along the surface and crowing that she was number one. She
could still do it, though, travel the same path using what
she'd learned. Using her new skills in divination and
protective magic, she could become a corporate raider that
would cause CEOs the world over to quake in their dress
shoes. The name of Nabiki Tendo would gut the Nissei stock
value of a company, investors digging foxholes at even a
suggestion that she was looking at their properties.
That was the "shark" option. Kill or be killed.
Be the nastiest, baddest, hungriest, predator in the ocean.
No quarter asked or given. No friends, no one you could
trust, no one you could... love. You'd be feared and have
great power, but you could never never let your guard down.
Then there was the *other* path. The one she
hadn't seen until her unasked for, crazy, chaos bringing,
fiance had walked into her life and chosen... her. Not
Akane. Not the popular sister. Her, Nabiki Tendo, who he had
referred to as complex and interesting. And later referred
to as cute. Cute! Her! The loan shark, the feared Nabiki
Tendo, Ice Queen! Cute? Stupid Ranma, if he were here right
now, she'd...
Nabiki smiled wistfully. If Ranma had walked in
that door right at that moment, he'd have been swept off his
feet and had his hands full of a seventeen year old
emotional wreck and likely she'd not have let go for quite a
long time.
And, through the opportunities Ranma had
presented, Nabiki could now consider being a "dolphin"
instead. Instead of pursuing yen over everything else, there
was another option available. She could swim with the
sharks, yet not *be* a shark herself. She could be someone
who could be a trusted friend, she could find love and
laughter and warm embraces on cool nights, she could be
playful and appreciated, the sort of person that her big
sister would be proud of, her mother could smile at from
whatever lay beyond the grave (having seen faeries and
vampires, Nabiki was not as willing to dismiss an afterlife
as a myth as she would once have been) and that could grow
old and comfortable with her husband-to-be.
Nabiki blinked, then laughed out loud, startling
Kasumi where she was studying a textbook.
"Something amusing, Nabiki?" Kasumi smiled, it
was good to see Nabiki relax after being so tense. In fact,
Kasumi realized she hadn't seen Nabiki look so relaxed and
openly amused in years.
"Here I've been trying to work out this decision
logically," Nabiki said, shaking her head. "And I just
realized that I've already made it."
"Decision, Nabiki?" Kasumi wasn't sure what her
sister meant. Was it regarding her engagement?
"Dolphin, oneechan, definitely 'dolphin'."
Nabiki gathered her cards up and continued to chuckle.
Kasumi smiled and wondered just what Nabiki was
talking about.
--------
Cologne sat back and watched the comings and
goings and was amused. An Epic Quest. She hadn't seen many
of those lately. The last time *she* had taken part in one,
well she'd been a young girl looking to vent after a boy
she'd cared about had proven to be a thief and a lecher and
less than an ideal candidate.
Now she looked over the various participants in
this drama and was glad she'd made it to her advanced age.
This was interesting enough to liven an old woman's days.
And these Japanese soap operas were proving addictive too.
She had slipped into the role of 'Friendly If Somewhat
Irascible Old Mentor' quickly.
Shampoo had always been largely friendless, and
watching her chatting and being companionable with that
older girl was quite pleasant. And this Kasumi was talking
about becoming a Nurse, though there seemed to be some
hesitation as she was interested in several other fields as
well. Cologne approved. If Shampoo took Kasumi as a
bond-sister, then Kasumi would be an Amazon through that
bond. And another Healer, one well versed in more modern
medicine, even if she stayed in Japan most of the time, was
something that could benefit the village quite well.
Besides, there was something quite likable about Kasumi
Tendo.
Kasumi's sister Nabiki was a mage-in-training.
Another valuable commodity, though a brief conversation had
revealed that she would be unlikely to be interested in
spending a lot of time in the village. Nabiki quite
obviously (to Cologne at least) loved Ranma, though she
spent a lot of time saying she just liked him and it was all
just a temporary arrangement and she hadn't chosen to be
engaged to the boy. Cologne thought it likely that if she
was careful, assisted this group, and didn't push too hard,
the Mage would likely to be favorably inclined towards her
and the village. Meaning that having another spellcaster
allied to them, coming to the village's defense in times of
need, and perhaps even an Amazon apprentice down the road
were all distinct possibilities.
Ukyo Kuonji was confused, uncertain, and
changed her mind on a regular basis. Cologne could
understand this, and was already working on gaining the
girl's trust. Ukyo's main reason for existence had just been
cut out from under her, and she was still working at coming
up with a self-image and mindset that didn't revolve around
Vengeance Against Ranma. Ukyo had been *so* dedicated to
that goal that she was trying to find some satisfactory
substitute and failing. Ukyo could see how interested Nabiki
was in Ranma, and Ranma seemed a little extra friendly to
Nabiki, but Ukyo clearly wasn't completely sure about their
relationship. No doubt if Ranma and Nabiki had gotten into a
serious fight, she would have dedicated herself to Winning
Ranma as she had been to Punishing Ranma. As it was, Cologne
thought it likely that the girl would eventually become the
Childhood Friend. Her fighting and cooking skills were
narrowly focussed but sufficient that adoption into the
Tribe was a possibility.
The Old Ones, or faerie, were interesting but
a bit childish. Pretty much as she had expected.
Shampoo was more open, happier, and less
prideful than she'd been upon embarking on this journey. She
was also thinking ahead more. All traits that Cologne was
happy to see in her Heir. The ability to cooperate with
others was *necessary* in an Elder, and if Shampoo could
have an easier time learning that lesson than Cologne had
had, then more power to her.
Cologne sat back and watched the drama
playing out, wishing she had a camcorder so she'd be able to
play this back later. Human drama at its most basic.
Hmmm. It was time for her soaps.
----------
Rink spat moondust out of her mouth.
Pink glared up at her sister, wiped the spit
off, and momentarily stopped digging.
"Sorry," offered Rink. "Over."
Pink merely jabbed with her trowel, and was
rewarded with a clinking noise.
"We're saved!" Rink and Pink exclaimed. "Over."
"We made it." Pink leaned forward to scoot dirt
away from the section of wall. "Now we can get fresh air.
Water. Food. Over."
"Less talk more dig. Or we *be* over. Over."
---------
Ranma flipped over another page, committing the
contents to memory. Emotion as power? This might apply to
chi, in which case...
Putting his hands together, Ranma started doing what
the book suggested as possible- focussing one's chi through
an emotion that the wielder felt strongly. A hateful person
would use hate, a kind and loving person might use love, a
depressed person would focus that depression. It had to be
an emotion you wanted to feel though, as there was a
paragraph indicating that there was feedback. The more one
used an emotion as a weapon in this manner, the more it
would tend to dominate their destiny.
Ranma looked deep within himself, looking for a
suitable feeling. He didn't find anything, except some
degree of nervousness. For the first time in years, he was
completely on his own.
Emotion. Feedback. Ranma nodded, sitting back and
thinking more about this. It made some degree of sense. He'd
read an article on research into Artifical Intelligence
(Featherbrite had been interested as she thought it sounded
like something some dwarven artificier of her acquaintance
would value) and it had talked about feedback loops as being
some measure of sanity and intelligence development. Same
basic principle. If he used depression (being essentially in
prison it would be easy to be depressed about it), then he
would become more and more depressed and prone to fits of
bleak bone-crushing angst. Likewise confidence could be
used, but eventually he might become some sort of egomaniac
if he did that.
So, what was strong enough to use as a
focussing/empowering emotion, yet wouldn't be terribly
horrible if he had a lot of it in his life?
Love? Ranma pondered. Certainly it was one of the
stronger emotions. Hate, fear, and similar things were among
the strongest emotions, and it was one of those listed in
the text. Apparently this Silver Crystal, if it actually
existed, was pretty much an Artifact of Love. Drawing on the
life energy of the wielder and the emotion of love in order
to essentially grant a wish at its most powerful levels-
though as life energy was finite it would be easy for the
wielder to overextend himself and die trying to do too much.
If this book was for real, and Ranma had his doubts
despite it sounding like some of the things he'd heard about
chi training, then using chi for something other than
breaking boulders and leaping rooftops was possible. He
already used chi for faster healing and recovery, to give
his kicks and punches more "oomph", to increase his strength
and stamina. It was natural, instinctive after his years of
training. This... was definitely a next step.
Love? Who did he love? Ranma thought for a moment.
Lots of people, actually. One of the things Featherbrite had
taught him years ago had been that humans tended to be
individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses, and
that a lot of them just did the best they could as they
understood it. Nabiki, who'd gradually overcome her panic
about him and become genuinely friendly. Kasumi, who had
thrown away the life she had known in order to grasp a new
one and stand up for what she thought of as right. Akane,
who had sought to protect her family the only way she knew
how. Ucchan, his childhood friend now trying to feel her way
into a new role. Shampoo, the fierce barbarian who tried to
put on a happy face and remain bubbly despite the fears
gnawing away underneath. Featherbrite, whose mental
architecture was sufficiently different that even flitting
around the outskirts of human society for hundreds of years
hadn't allowed her to really understand them.
Hate, fear, anger, these were *not* him, and Ranma
rejected them.
Love was less certain, and Ranma could admit to
himself at least that he wasn't too sure what love was. But
it seemed a good place to start.
--------
i know, i was going to write more in this chapter, but...
i decided to stop here so that the rescue/meeting of the
various characters, escape, etc. would all be in chapter 15
instead of strewn over more chapters... besides, i thought
Ranma's introspection there was a good breaking off point,
ne?
Yeah, i know, it ain't canon. (shrug) it ain't intended to
be, either.
so chapter 15 things start heading towards Gantlet and the
resolution...
TTFN
gregg
-------------------------------
"Don't forget that for the acorn to
become the mighty oak, it starts with a
little nut that decides to stand its ground."
-Anonymous
metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/