The Dragon and the Ghost
Part 9
The Volcanic Castle
+++++++++++++
Saffron smirked as he stared into the eyes of the Queen. Rouge glared at
him angrily from her chains as she was forced to her knees with a rough
shove. She turned her head and glared at Herb angrily. He kept a tight
grip on the chains behind her that bound all of her arms. He placed his
foot in the small of her back, forcing her down further.
"So, the Queen has bowed before my demands," said the boy with a vicious
smirk. "I accept your surrender. Please sign over your country to me."
"I will never concede to you! My knights..."
"Are dead. The Black Knights, nicely did away with them," finished Herb
with his smirk growing even wider.
"Yes, Akane Tendo was an excellent replacement for her father. She is
quite strict, and has no tolerance for weakness," agreed Kiima. "Their
bodies will be put on display along the outer wall of the palace."
"No! It isn't true!" snarled the angry queen as she attempted to stand.
Herb forced her back to the ground and bent down next to her. "Your
Highness, surely a goddess would have chosen a much better place than
this to rule. Unless you like the cold for some odd reason, or perhaps
you just don't like heat. Or should I say, hot water?" His words were a
whisper. They did have the desired effect though. Rouge's eyes went wide
and she forced a gasp from her lips.
"How did?"
"That's none of your concern. Only that I do know, matters now."
"Herb!" snapped Kiima.
The man looked up at the frowning face of the Emperor and bowed.
"Apologies. I am merely trying to persuade her to cooperate. After all, I
do not dislike her. We have spent much time together, during my
diplomatic missions here."
Saffron nodded and waved his hand. "Her cooperation is not really
needed. After all, the legion that follows us here will ensure our
victory. By tomorrow, the entire country will be well within my grasp.
She is yours Herb, do as you will with her."
"Highness," replied the man with a low bow. He lifted the woman up by
her arms and carried her from the throne room.
++++++++
Akane glared forward as she stood in front of the room containing the
Kajakan. After insuring that the door was the only entrance to the
dungeon, she had left the room. The Kajakan did not really need a guard;
its power was enough to destroy any thief that might dare touch it.
Apparently, Saffron thought she needed something to do.
She growled slightly and glanced around. Lime and Mint were back with
their master at the moment, and she was bored. The steam that rose from
the ground created a sauna throughout the entire castle. Occasionally, a
blast of steam would jet through one of the walls. Her armor kept her
protected, thanks to her sister's enchantment, but it was still damn
uncomfortable.
Saffron also left a few nasty surprises in the halls as well. That meant
she was going to stand here doing nothing for the rest of the trip. Herb
would come down on occasion and try to catch her sleeping, or relaxing.
Once again, her sister's anti sleep pills would keep her vigilant. She
hated owing the sorceress favors; she often took payment in the most
unusual ways. It irritated her to no end. Once, Nabiki had made her wear
a dress to the ball that followed the tournament where she had beaten
Saffron's best knights. That was when that moron Kuno started to bother
her.
Nabiki actually seemed amused with this problem. The only reason she
hadn't gutted the poor fool already, was his nobility status. She sighed
and remained standing rigidly in front of the door.
++++++++++
Outside the palace, a large crowd had gathered. Black knights stood in
front of the gates, guarding the entrance. While others posted notices
that the land was now a part of the Empire. Through the gates around the
city, more guards, soldiers, and knights arrived each hour.
"Well, that's the end of Joketsuko," muttered Ryu.
"It's a shame, but now you see why our mission is so important. He could
easily do the same thing to any country. No one here knows how he did
it," said Shampoo.
"I don't like being out in the open like this," grumbled Ryoga.
"What did you want us to do? Hide ourselves in suspicious looking
cloaks, and cling to the shadows? They'd grab us for just looking like
that," snapped Ranma quietly.
"Well, what should we do?" asked Shampoo.
"Not sure, wait till nightfall at least," replied Ryu.
"He's right, with this much protection, we won't be able to sneak you in
easily. We need this to go smoothly," agreed Ranma. "I'm not sure if we
can pull it off. They're bound to be watching that thing with magic. If
it was just me, I could probably pull it off."
"It has to be me. If you tried to grab the Kajakan on your own, you
would be killed the instant you touched it," replied Shampoo sharply.
"You shouldn't be discussing such things in public," said a new voice.
Ranma seemed to vanish for a moment. He appeared behind the cloaked man
standing behind them and grabbed him by the neck. The rest of the group
surrounded the scene quietly and pushed towards an alleyway nearby.
Once hidden away from the eyes of the crowd Ranma backed against the
wall. He had a small knife pressed against the stranger's neck. "You
should learn to keep your mouth shut. I can help with that if you'd like.
After applying a little pressure, he relaxed his grip and pushed the
stranger away.
She pulled back her hood and smiled lightly before she embraced Ranma
and kissed him. He stared in shock and dropped the knife as she pulled
away.
"Ucchan? What the hell are you doing here? You've got to get out of
town! You'll be killed!"
"Don't worry Ranchan, I'm not wearing a uniform right now. They'll never
know a cute girl like me is a knight. Right?" Ranma was sent to his knees
as he was promptly punched in the gut. "I'm glad you're here Ranchan, but
why are you here?" Her face had gone from a gentle smile, to a full-blown
scowl in a split second.
"What do you think? You heard us talking," replied Ryu calmly.
"As did anyone else within ten feet," replied the girl sharply.
"These people don't care. They're too worried about what the empire is
going to do to them," replied Shampoo with a small shrug.
"And if one of them decides to rat you out? Maybe to make sure nothing
happens to them?"
"It won't matter. They don't know who we are," replied Ranma with a
shrug.
"And who exactly are you?" snapped Ukyo.
"That...is a secret," replied Ryu as he winked and wagged his finger at
her.
"Gods! How stupid do you think I am?" snapped Ukyo. "This is why you
came here to begin with isn't it? To steal that staff?"
"Well, kinda," said Ranma sheepishly.
"And you didn't tell me? You lied to me?" Ukyo was furious.
Ryu chuckled at this. "Oh, would you please help us steal from an
important guest of your queen, Miss Knight? I know you're not sworn to
protect her or anything, and you'd be a big help!"
Ukyo frowned at him and looked away. "Okay, I see your point."
"How many other knights have you found?" asked Ryoga as he pushed up to
her.
"Huh? Only three. Konatsu, Hiroshi, and Daisuke. They're waiting outside
of town. I came in to see how bad things were," said Ukyo.
"About as bad as they can get," noted Shampoo.
"You don't know the half of it. All the other knights were killed. I've
gotten word that the other garrisons have been destroyed as well. We
three are the last." Ukyo looked near the point of tears as she said
this. "There's nothing we can do."
"Then get out of town. Let us do our job," said Ranma firmly.
"I can't do that. I've got to try. I'm coming with you," replied the
girl as she glared at him.
"Absolutely not! You'll shine like a beacon inside that castle! You're
too tied down by all that magic," replied Ryu.
"I'm going in anyway. I don't need my spear, or my armor to fight. I did
well enough before without it," snapped Ukyo firmly. "I'm doing this with
or without you."
"Then you're doing it without us," said Ryu coldly.
"I'll go with her then," said Ranma.
"What?" snapped Shampoo. "I need you to get in there!"
"No you don't. My technique will be useless. I can't hide the both of
us, Ryu would be better protection. You'll go after the Kajakan with him,
while Ukyo and I provide a distraction."
"Hey! Why are we a diversion?" snapped the knight angrily.
"Do you have a weapon?" asked Ranma as he ignored her ranting.
Ukyo paused and lifted up her cloak. She was wearing plain looking
peasant clothes underneath it; a pair of pants and a shirt. At her side,
a short-sword hung from her belt.
"Good enough. Get rid of that cloak," said Ranma as he pulled the
offending item from her neck and tossed it away.
"Hey!"
"Quit complainin will ya? You stick out like a sore thumb wearing that
thing."
Shampoo smiled at this, and looked towards the dwarf. He glanced up at
her and shrugged his shoulders. "What?"
"Perhaps Ryoga should accompany you two as well?" said the elf calmly.
"Hey, that ain't a bad idea," said Ryu.
Ranma frowned and glared at them.
"What the hell you talkin about?" snapped Ryoga. "I told you! He ain't
leavin my sight until I get paid! I was goin with him anyway!"
"All right! Fine! Just, come on then," said the pigtailed boy as he
started walking away. "It'll be better if we prepare separately."
Ryu stopped and clenched his fist. "Damn! Ranma wait!"
"Huh? What is it?"
"We both know the truth, I make too much noise. You go with Shampoo.
This is the one we don't want noticed."
Ranma glanced at Ukyo and then back at Ryu.
"I promise, I'll bring her back to you in once piece," said Ryu. He
rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air.
"All right," agreed Ranma after a few seconds of silence. "You'd better
bring her back."
"Ranchan?" muttered Ukyo.
"Have I ever let you down?" said Kumon with a smirk.
The two parties both started to walk away again. Ukyo broke away and
rushed up behind Ranma grabbing him in a rough hug.
"Promise me Ranchan, promise you'll come back to me this time. Don't lie
again."
"I promise," said the boy as he disappeared from her grasp suddenly,
leaving her standing alone in the shadows. Shampoo disappeared with him,
with a slightly surprised look on her face.
"Come on! Quit wasting time!" snapped Ryoga grumpily. He paused and
blinked. "Ranma! You bastard! How dare you leave me behind!"
"Shut up and come on!" snapped Ryu as he pulled the feisty dwarf away by
the back of his shirt. "Before one of those black knights notices us
standing around in the shadows like rats."
++++++++++
"Man, I thought it'd take a lot longer for that noisy runt to notice
he'd been duped," commented Ranma as he glanced down at their friends
from the rooftops above them. He was holding Shampoo in his arms.
"Well, that was quite a surprise. Just wanted to get me alone?" muttered
Shampoo seductively as she hug from his neck. "By the way, you can put me
down now, but only if you want too." Ranma looked at her and blinked as
he set her down on the ground. "Aww, so soon?"
"What's with you all of a sudden?" said the pigtailed boy as he blushed
and scratched the back of his head.
"Ukyo was having so much fun teasing you. I was starting to feel left
out, that's all," said the elf girl as she put forth her cutest face.
"Yeah. Great. Could you stop now? You're creeping me out," said Ranma
nervously.
"Oh don't be so serious. I thought you were the one with the sense of
humor," said the elf with a small giggle.
"Yeah? Well, even I can only take so much of that crap. Here I thought
you were normal."
"Hardly, normal is something I'm not allowed to be," grumbled Shampoo
with a slight frown appearing on her face.
"Sensitive spot?" the pigtailed boy raised his eyebrow slightly and
smirked.
"No. You just reminded me, that when this is over. I have to be a
princess again."
"Not much fun eh? I don't miss palace life, I'll tell you that much."
Ranma started walking.
"So, it is true?" muttered Shampoo, more to herself than Ranma.
The boy snorted. "What of it? It doesn't matter anymore, it's all in the
past. I'll never go back to it, even if I could."
"It matters to some people," commented Shampoo with a light smirk. "Like
snooty relatives, who insist on 'royal blood' being married into the
family," finished her mind.
"Whatever. Shampoo, you know more about me than anyone alive. Keep it
that way, or you might not be," said the boy as he gave her a cold stare.
The elf girl smirked slightly. She could see the fear in the back of his
eyes, well hidden, but he did not want to hurt her. "Perhaps I have grown
on him?" she thought wryly.
Ranma watched her in silence for a moment. She had the weirdest smile on
her face and didn't appear to be paying much attention. He shrugged his
shoulders and pulled the flask from his side. After a moment, he was a
young red-haired elf yet again. "Come on. We're leaving."
+++++++++++++
Ryu stepped into the darkened palace room carefully. Kajakan or no,
there was no time for them to set up any magic spells that could watch
the whole castle. Behind him Ryoga grunted and pulled himself up the rope
into the window.
"Urgh! Couldn't you have picked a lower window?" he whispered harshly.
Ryu put his finger up to his lip and glared at him for a moment before
turning again to scan the room with his eyes.
Ukyo appeared a moment later and dusted herself off as she landed
lightly on the floor. "Next time, I go first dwarf," she growled as she
waved her hand in front of her face.
"Eeh?" said Ryoga as he looked at her for a moment. He waved his hand
and dismissed the comment. "Bah!"
+++++++++
A few moments later they were moving from shadow to shadow in the
hallway. Ryu was trying his best to contain his anger. Ukyo was doing
relatively well, but Ryoga grunted dwarfishly every time he had run
across the hall.
"These idiots are going to get me killed," he thought as he glanced back
at the pair. They weren't there. "What the? Where did? Oh no. Ryoga."
++++++++++++++
"Are you sure he went this way? I haven't seen him since he
disappeared," said Ukyo with a frown forming on her face. "Look, maybe we
should go back to the room and wait for him there?"
"I know where we're goin damn it!" snapped the dwarf as he strolled down
the darkened hallway.
Ukyo sighed and followed him. She didn't have much choice now.
Ryoga jumped back and eeped in alarm as his foot hit one of the large
stones on the ground. A jet of steam erupted all around him sending him
jumping back howling in pain.
The knight managed to grab him and shove a hand over his mouth roughly.
They both paused as the entire hallway seemed to jump ten degrees in
temperature in a split second.
"What the hell was that?" said Ukyo quietly.
Ryoga looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders. Only then did he
notice the orange glow that was starting to shine from behind her. The
pair slowly turned around and saw a large black lump sitting in the
shadows behind them.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," said the knight as she backed away
from the mass with her sword drawn. It had started to move.
+++++++++++++
"Ranma, where are we?" said Shampoo as she looked around the room
nervously.
"We should be right above the dungeon," said the redhead as she glanced
around the room. They were in some sort of drainage system. She didn't
have the heart to tell Shampoo what it was for, but the smell probably
gave it away.
"This is great! What the hell are we going to do stuck in a pipe?"
snapped the elf princess.
Ranma smirked and tossed her hair as she turned to face her. "This is
going to be pretty messy. Stand back." Her hands became a blur and a
circular section of the pipe they were standing in started to fall away.
Ranma reached down and grabbed it as it fell, pulling it up with a
strained look on her face. She slid it back up through the hole, and then
placed it on the ground on the opposite side of the opening.
Shampoo blinked and looked down at herself. Whatever that slime was that
lined the walls of the pipe, she was covered in it now. "Ranma, what is
this? Is it what I think it is?"
"It's better if you don't know," replied the redhead as she jumped down.
Shampoo quickly followed, as she glanced around at her new surroundings,
she realized that they were in a hallway of some kind. There was a thick
haze of steam in the air, and the walls around them occasionally turned
slightly orange with the heat generated from the Kajakan.
"The Kajakan, where would he put it?" said Ranma as she looked to her
companion.
"The most probable place would be the lowest point of the castle."
"Then we go down," said Ranma as she pointed towards a staircase.
"Hurry," agreed Shampoo. She had started to feel the heat through the
bottom of her shoes, a quick glance at Ranma revealed that she had
realized the same thing.
The pair raced down the steps as fast as they could. Ranma pulled ahead
easily and slowed her pace slightly. A red glow became apparent from the
bottom of the stairs. "There it is!" he said to himself.
Shampoo caught up with him about the time he entered the large round
room. There were several cells along the walls. Inside the bent and
warped bars were the skeletons of the former inmates. Even they had a
burnt look to them, as if touching them would reduce the remains to
nothing but dust.
Standing in the center of the room was the Kajakan. The red aura of
power forced them to shield their faces in an attempt to push back the
heat.
Ranma noticed a wisp of smoke directly in front of her face. She looked
down and saw that her shoes were beginning to smoke. "Hurry up and grab
that damn thing!"
Shampoo had already stepped forward. She had a tranced look in her eyes,
and her hair was blowing as if pushed up by a magical wind. She seemed to
glide forward as she reached for the staff. The light of the Kajakan
seemed to almost swallow her up leaving only a blurry silhouette behind.
"Come on! Take it!" whispered Ranma as she rubbed her fingers together
in anticipation.
Shampoo's had closed around the staff and hissed on contact, sending a
few tendrils of smoke into the air. Slowly, the metal began to scrape the
stone below as it was pulled away. Finally the young elf girl released
the Kajakan from the ground and held it high over her head in the air.
The red glow died down completely and left them in total blackness.
+++++++++++++++
Ryu Kumon was having a bad day. He was stuck in a castle full of hostile
soldiers, looking for two lost idiots. It was not his idea of a good
time. Apparently Ranma was doing all right. He knew this because none of
the men sleeping in the rooms that lined the hallway had been awakened
yet. If they were, he was basically screwed. He frowned and slipped into
a room where the door was opened slightly. It was pitch black, with no
windows to let in any light.
"Who goes there?" said a small quiet voice.
Ryu froze and slowly turned around. He grit his teeth and slowly began
to draw his sword. If he was fast enough, and lucky enough...
"You are not Lord Herb?" the voice sounded hopeful, and feminine.
Ryu replaced the blade as he saw who was speaking. It was a young girl,
sitting in what appeared to be a cage. "Who the hell?"
"You've come to help me?" said the woman as she rushed up to the bars.
"Nope, sorry. You're out of luck," said Ryu. "Who are you anyway?"
"Oh! You must help me! Lord Herb locked me away in here! I can't stand
it!"
"Why should I?" said Ryu calmly.
"If you don't, I'll scream," said the girl with tears starting to form
in her eyes. There wasn't much light in the room, so he couldn't see her
very well.
"I'll bet I can shut you up before you do," replied Ryu as he slowly
pulled the sword out again.
"Please! You can't just leave me here!" cried the girl desperately.
"Why not? You might be a trap. I've seen things that act like young
girls in order to get men to drop their guard. Many wizards like to use
them as traps. It'd be safer just to leave you where you are and leave."
"Please no!" cried the girl desperately.
"Sorry," Ryu turned away and stalked back towards the door.
"Please! I'll do anything!" cried the girl in desperation. It was a
little too loud for Ryu's liking.
"She's gonna wake up the whole damn castle if I leave her here! Shit!"
He slowly turned back and drew his sword again.
He could see the girl cringe back with fear in the shadows. He hacked
down and she squeaked in terror.
"Damn, she would have died quietly too," grumbled the boy angrily.
"You'd better be rich, or at least cute." He said as he grabbed her
roughly by her arm and pulled her from the now opened cage. The heavy
lock that had held her was in two pieces on the floor.
+++++++++++
Ranma's eyes adjusted to the darkness, then a small flash of light
nearly blinded her. She cringed back and shielded her eyes for a moment.
After she adjusted again she looked at the source. Shampoo had drawn a
small light dagger from her side and planted it in the ground. She was
holding her left hand gingerly, and it was obvious it was pretty badly
burned. At her feet was the Kajakan.
"Pick that up will you? I can't carry it until I heal my hand."
"Right, you're a real riot," muttered Ranma.
"I'm serious. The Kajakan will not harm you now. Its power has been
sealed for now. Only the Emperor or a powerful wizard can use its magic
now. It is nothing more than an interesting weapon to us."
"Great, so let's get out of here," said the redhead cheerfully. "You can
heal that after we're a safe distance away."
"Right," agreed Shampoo as she pulled her dagger out of the ground.
Ranma frowned at the knife, but said nothing.
"Well, it seems I've got rats in my cellar," said an amused sounding
voice from above them.
Ranma and Shampoo stepped back as the black clad figure stalked down the
stairs with her sword drawn.
"That armor," muttered Ranma with her eyes growing wide. "I know that
armor!"
"I am Akane, leader of the Emperor's Black Knights. You will not leave
this dungeon alive." The menacing woman took up a combat stance and Ranma
narrowed his eyes.
"I also know this style," she said out loud. "Anything Goes Martial
Arts."
"How do you know that?" said Akane with an amused chuckle. "Has it
killed one of your friends, or perhaps a family member."
Ranma smirked. "No, it left about twenty of your men dead outside the
barracks of the Knights of Bahamut." She took up her own combat stance
and smiled as she stared into the black knight's eyes.
Akane was speechless, her mind raced for an explanation and could find
none. "How can this be? It's not possible!"
"You also wear the armor of the man who killed my father. I guess I'll
have to let you live, so I can find out who he really is," thought the
redhead with a small frown.
Shampoo picked up the Kajakan with her good hand and backed away into
the shadows. She would be of no use without her burnt hand in a fight
like this. It would be best to try and leave before things got out of
hand. Ranma glanced at her and gave her a small nod in approval. The
redhead then turned her attention towards the black knight, and did not
waver again.
+++++++++++=
I know you hate me this time. TBC...
Next time: Ranma vs. Akane. Ryu attempts to find Ryoga and Ukyo with the
girl he 'rescued'. The question is, did she need rescuing, and who is she
really? Also, Ryoga and Ukyo have problems of their own to deal with.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com