And doing this to take a break from working on the next chapter of Avenging:

Song of the Void

Compass Points: Act V

-------------------------------------

[Earth]

He had never considered himself a man of deep thought,

Largely in part because he was not a man of deep thought.

and outside of

combat and martial arts, he felt that his mind was slow about many
things. But of late, something had nagged at him, pulling at stray
thoughts and worrying at them in the manner of a young, untrained puppy.

Which meant he had to change his carpet often since they weren't housebroken
either.

His eyes narrowed, and his head bowed slightly allowing

slightly,

But he didn't really know what to think of. He supposed that it meant
he was bored. But he wasn't much given to daydreaming, either. What
need did he have for daydreams? He found his life of simple work and
simpler pleasures enough.

A hobby, he decided. He needed a hobby.

Something like alcoholism.

He frowned at that thought. Aside from martial arts, all he truly did
with his free time was tell stories to his children. They seemed to
enjoy his tales, as did his wife. Yet....

Eyes growing distant for a moment, he allowed his senses to drift,
casting about him through the earth, stone, and concrete that lay
beneath and around him. His wife was safe, he could feel her
presence a mile and more distant,

bit awkward. I'd change that sentence.

A thing of light and shadow -- structure frail and empty. "You do not
exist," he remarked.

"Then why are you talking to me if I don't?" it answered back.

[Fire]

He lay on the bed, staring at the stone ceiling above him. He felt
oddly pensive, though he knew well enough that he was happiest
waking the way he had. His wife remained asleep -- drained from the
ordeals of the last few days, and contented to rest for the moment.

Tired, he knew in a clinical sense, because the journey so far from
Qinghai amid lands where his own kind were persecuted and killed
drained her. Content because his presence restored her.

Sort of like a giant  battery. It was a good thing she enjoyed electric
shocks during sex.

His lips curved upward in a smile, and he was unable to resist the
impulse to push his wife's hair our

out

of her eyes, brushing it gently

back, and

think you can drop that comma

mussing it in the process. "Nnng," she noised, screwing

her eyes shut and pressing her face into his chest.

She squirmed about for a moment before waking, sitting up slowly, and

think you can drop that one as well.

"Yes," she said fingers

said, fingers

 absently raking through her hair and setting

it back to some semblance of order. Cocking her head to one side
suddenly, she asked, "Do you think I would look better with blonde
hair?"

To which he should reply, 'Of course' since this is obviously what she wants
to do.

Which, as Ukyou knew, would mean it was about Ranma, too.

Heh

He straightened up, folding his arms over his chest. "How
remarkable," he mused. "Base he would be, assuredly, but enough so
to have children? Remarkable."

Hmm. This bodes ill from the sounds of things.

Ukyou growled, eyes flickering briefly to Nabiki, then back to the
man. Stubbornly, she warned, "My husband can be here in... in... in
two minutes and three seconds, if someone calls him right now."

Heh. Not that useful an ability, the time thing.

The man bore a strong resemblance to Keitaro, too, though his dress
was entirely different. He wore the standard garb of a swordsman in
a long passed age,

The twenties, to be specific. He looked odd then, too.

 and too, a blade was at his side. The grace he

carried himself with warned that he more than likely knew how to use
the sword, too. He smiled, inclining his head to Keitaro. "Koara,"
he returned levelly. "I come on my own business."

"Dad told you to seek your destiny?" Keitaro asked, narrowing his
eyes slightly. "Said you had to pick a college or find someone to
serve, eh?"

Heh. Some choices.

"Do we have to settle this with a duel, Koara?"

Koara: Not if I shoot you first.

"If he's your brother, why does he call you by your last name?" she
inquired quietly. Not exactly a polite question, but she noticed
that Keitaro generally didn't care much for a lot of civility anyway.

"Oh," Keitaro answered slowly. "Well... that's... uh, he's only my
half-brother, see... I don't got any brothers, just a bunch of half
brothers...."

Mom was kind of a slut and slept with anything on two legs and that had
balls.

She winced at that. "Five brothers named Keitaro? That must have been
really confusing when you were children, growing up together."

Not when you call everyone by their last name.

remembering her parent's admonishments and warnings that she never
misuse her powers, she lashed out, yelling, "Spirits of Earth and
Cloud, heed my Call!" The words, as they always did, came from
somewhere under her heart,

near her lungs.

not from her own mind. With that same

familiarity, though strangely brighter then it had ever been before,
a bolt of lightning surged from her fingertips, searing through the
air, and passing only a hairsbreadth from her mother. But she knew
well enough to not let the power strike her mother, and it arced
smoothly around the woman, slamming into the gaping maw of the smoky
Dragon, and passing through that to wreath the man behind the dragon
in writhing bands of electricity.

Which didn't affect him since he was the lord of air, and subsequently
lightning.

"No?" the man asked, frowning. "Perhaps, then, it should begin with
you. Where is Earth?"

Ukyou: It's the third rock from the sun.

Man: No jokes, please. You're not the type.

The Dragon reeled, the force of the blow knocking its head back,
straining the creature's long, slender neck. The strange man hissed,
raising one hand to his temple, then growled, as the Dragon
recovered, eyeing him warily. "Ah," the man grumped. "You arrive.
Let us be quit of this place -- our brothers and we have much work
to do."

Ryu: You know, you could have sought me out instead of the kids. We would
have been out of here sooner.

Man: I hadn't thought of that.

"Anyone ever tell you that you talk crazy?" Ryu grumbled, "I don't
have a clue what you're talking about. All I know is that you
threatened my family, and I'm going to beat you within an inch of
your life for it."

Man: Actually I'm already dead.

Ryu: Got me there, then.

"Ryu-chan! Why are you just standing there."

there?"

And yet, her precautions were unneeded. The man's strike was halted,
his extended fist caught in her father's hand, as he stared at it in
fascination. He had not moved to intercept the strike; he had simply
stopped being in one place, and immediately started being in
another.

Makes family trips much shorter, which was a good thing. No one ever asked
if they were there yet since they always were.

Rising from the bed that she had rested in throughout the night,
though her lover was gone at the moment... she smiled, relishing the
sensation. Even the feel of the muscles in her face moving. So
strange, such a strange power that had brought her back from death
and restored her flesh. Shaking her head, she gingerly paced across
the floor, the thick carpet unable to completely protect her from
the cold of the stone beneath.

A note in a hand that was far to

too

The girl who she had surprised was not the girl she had thought, and
she spent a moment staring, absorbing the red hair and strong
features, before she remembered.

"Kiima?" Akane asked warily, eyes wide.

"No..." the woman said, shaking her head, and shifting again to
emulate the form before her. "I suppose... 'Shampoo is copy-cat',"
she offered, smirking.

Heh. Interesting ability.

Across the room, peering at the young woman intently, the young man
smiled -- smiled so deeply his eyes narrowed to the point of nearly
being closed. "You can call me Keitaro," he said. After a pause, he
added, "Right now you should probably call me Konno, though. I have
a lot of half-brothers."

"Fey," the woman spat. "Why are you holding me here?"

Keitaro: Has to do with that whole trying to kill us bit.

I will tell you this much of the woman though, Shia Hai. Her name
meant Scent of Spring. Haruka.

Wonder which Haruka they refer to.

***

[Center of the Spiral]

Ukyou staggered, unsettled by the sensation of being one place, then
suddenly shifting to another. She stared at the flagstones of the
courtyard around her in confusion, noting Nabiki's equal disorientation.

Ryu stared about, bearing not

no

"I was once called Shinnosuke,"

Oh. Didn't realize it was him.

Nonchalantly, the man drew a coin from his pocket, flipped it with
his thumb, and when it landed in his hand, it burst into a tiny ball
of flame. Grinning, the man presented Shia Hai with the handful of
fire. She drew away fearfully, whimpering.

Laughing, Konno asked, "Are you afraid of fire?"

"No!" Shia Hai snapped. "Just magic!"

No she's not. She used the gekkaja. :)

Konno smirked, asking, "Do you understand, then? Are you willing to
bring Summer to us?"

Hmm. So she's the key?

"You'd be skipping Fall," he noted. "And the key to Winter would
still be you. Just reborn, like."

like what?

***

[Compass Points]

"Okay," Ranma said, shrugging. "Let's do this thing. Any words of
wisdom, Shinnosuke? You seem to know what's going on."

The man nodded, gesturing to the courtyard. "Take the places you know
in your hearts that you're needed to go," he advised.

Hmm. Things are moving quickly now.

Someone else spoke, hesitantly, from the edge of the circle of
magics. Where, was not possible to say, for she was no closer to the
east or west, than north or south, yet she was only at the edge of
the circle. Her voice, wavering and unsure, said, "And I am the
key... the key to Summer."

And with those words, Summer began.

All quite simple, really.

"Well," he said at length, turning to look her in the eye. "I guess
that's all up to you, ain't it?"

[END, Compass Points]

Hmm. Seemed a bit anti-climatic, after that build up. Expected something a
little more, I suppose. Still, a very enjoyable piece.
I liked it.

D.B. Sommer

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