Minna-san,
Here's the third part of Part 4. The fourth part will
have Ranma's return to Nerima, plus a big fight!
Enjoy and stay tuned!
Cheers!
Fred
=====
Fred Herriotfherriot@yahoo.com**** **** ****"Fanfiction IS Real Life!"**** **** ****
______________________________________________________________________
Post your ad for free now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: LoneS-04C.txt
-- Desc: LoneS-04C.txt
The tunnel seems to last forever.
Ranma grunts, adjusting the straps of her backpack as she
follows Negako towards the beacon of light which seems to lay an
eternity ahead of them. Glancing to both sides, then up, then down,
she notes the stars surrounding them. There was no discernable
pattern to them, at least not one Ranma can recognize. It was as if
she was in some corridor reaching throughout the Universe, one lined
on all sides by crystal clear glass. The air was breathable
yet not stale, salty, misty or any other condition she might
immediately recognize as "normal." Normal for Earth, that is.
This was clearly NOT Earth.
"Frightened?"
Ranma stops. Negako glances on her. "I..." an automatic
denial surges up her throat, then she sighs. Lies sang out to the
person before her. "Somewhat. I'm trying not to feel too
overwhelmed here."
"Understandable," the ninjitsu grandmistress smiles. It was
hard to tell given the low level of light in this tunnel. "Ataru
was the same way when he first travelled to Sanctuary." She turns,
waving Ranma with her.
Ranma picks up her pace. "How long?"
"It depends," Negako reports. "Remember, there is a profound
level of difference between the temporal dynamics of Earth's
dimension and the temporal dynamics in Sanctuary itself. Sometimes,
the journey is very short, a matter of minutes. Sometimes, it can
last for hours. Hungry?"
"I'm alright. Can we walk abreast?"
"If you wish."
Ranma moves to Negako's right, then automatically reaches for
the grandmistress' hand. The latter blinks, then tries not to grin
too much. The former is quick to notice. "You know, you really
are beautiful when you smile, Negako," she winks at her companion.
"Why are you so afraid of showing emotion to other people? Ataru
told me you have them."
"True, I do," Negako admits. "But in most situations,
I simply see no need to express emotion, especially to the extent
most 'normal' people take for granted. Until I was freed of Ataru,
I never had..." she pauses, then shakes her head. "No, I RARELY
had chances to experience the 'good' side of humanity. Ironically,
they all happened when I was with Happy."
"Jijii?!" Ranma gapes at her, then nods. "So that's why you
call him 'Happy' instead of 'Happousai,' eh? Did he try to free you
before?"
"Three times. The third time, he paid dearly for his attempt
at 'stealing' me from the Clan," Negako sighs. "His addiction
to absorbing the chi from female undergarments was a result of that
incident."
"Damn..." the younger woman looks down. "I mean, he annoys
the living hell out of me at times, but I'd never really wish him
dead or anything like that. Just like all the others..." she sighs.
"Though he may not say it openly, he cares for you, Ranma. You
have the potential to become the ultimate expression of what he
wanted to create when he took what I taught him and created Musabetsu
Kakutou-ryuu. In you, he sees what he's tried to create preserved
for future generations."
"But what if I don't want to run a dojo, Negako?"
"That is alright. One needs no physical structure to pass the
Art to a worthy student. Your training trip with Genma, for all his
faults in teaching you, did prove that," Negako looks on her, then
hums.
"What is it?"
"Have you ever contemplated becoming a doctor?"
Ranma's eyes widen, then she stares thoughtfully at the light
ahead. "Not really. You saying that should be something I should
consider?"
"It is a possibility to be considered," Negako admits. "Toofuu
spoke of your potential when I invited him to came to Promised
Island to train with Chikage's grandfather Ryuuji and myself. Even
in the brief time he knew you, he lamented that your skill level was
so narrowly focused. He did not understand why until we discovered
what Genma did to you, though." A pause, then, "He sends his
apologizes for not noticing that before, much less considering
that Genma did that to you. He also apologizes for the one incident
with Akane when he made your legs lose their strength."
Ranma takes that in, then smiles. "Thanks. And I'll thank him
when we get back to the Island." A pause, then, "Negako?"
"Yes?"
"Where did I go wrong with Akane?"
Negako blinks, then shakes her head. "That, I suggest you
discuss with Sakuya. I am capable of many things, but emotional
psychoanalysis is not one of my stronger suits." She pauses, then
stops. Ranma looks at her. Negako faces her companion, then to the
other woman's total surprise, leans up to give her a tender kiss.
"Thank you, Ranma."
Ranma blinks, blinks again, then stutters, "F-f-for wh-what...?"
"For rating my smile as 'beautiful.' I know you rated Akane's
smile the same way when you feelings for her were the strongest."
"I..." Ranma stops, then smiles. "You're welcome...!"
she pauses, then turns as the light ahead of them seems to grow in
size and intensity. "Eh?!" she automatically shifts herself before
Negako. "What the hell's going on...?!" she demands, tensing as
Negako squeezes her shoulder.
"It is alright," Negako reports. "Our trip will be shortened
this time around. Brace yourself to jump at my command," she tenses.
Ranma nods as the light seems to encompass her whole field of
vision, then on hearing Negako call out "NOW!!!", she springs...
...and lands on a rock the size of the Tendou sitting room.
Quickly rolling back to her feet, she stops on seeing the rock's
edge...
...and a black void beyond.
Ranma backs away before feeling Negako's hands on her shoulders.
At that moment, her eyes pick up a faint aura of light lying above
that pitch-black night. Before looking, she turns to Negako. "Is
there any end to that?" she points beyond the edge of the rock.
"No," Negako shakes her head. "Not until the end of Time
Itself."
Ranma takes that in, then gulps before she turns back, this time
looking up and away from the darkness. And onto a floating,
flat-topped asteroid about five kilometres wide, it supporting
a glittering city so futuristic in style and design, she doubted
the creators of "Star Trek" could equal it! "Whoa..." she gapes,
then her eyes turn up to gaze into a -- well, "sky" seemed the most
comfortable term for the panorama of boiling platinum, silvery,
golden, crimson and deep azure energy that lay overhead. A sky that
seemed to stretch forever and ever, yet clearly melted into the pitch
darkness lying beneath Ranma's and Negako's feet. "Oh, man...!"
"Welcome to Sanctuary, Ranma," Negako announces...
* * *
"Lonely Souls"
by Fred Herriot
fherriot@yahoo.com
**** **** ****
Based on "Urusei Yatsura" and "Ranma 1/2" created by Rumiko
Takahashi; and "Sister Princess," created by Naoto Tenhiro and
Sakurako Kimino. This story is set after the end of the "UY" and
"Ranma" manga series.
**** **** ****
NOTE: The writer's notes are at the end of the "A" Side of the
Prologue.
**** **** ****
THE FOURTH PART, "C" SIDE - FREEDOM FROM DESTINY
Welcome House...
"Onii-chan?"
"Hmm...?" Ataru's eyes flutter, then he sits up, blinking
on seeing Karen peeking into his room. "Oh, Karen-chan..."
he glances at the clock on the nightstand, then sits up. "What's
wrong? Can't you sleep?"
"Not really," Karen steps into the room, then walks over to sit
on his bed. "I was wondering if you were feeling sleepy or not."
"I..." he shudders as a bout of dizziness overwhelms him for a
moment, then he lays back. "Oh, man! What the heck happened...?"
"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Karen slides over to feel his head.
Ataru stays still for a moment, then relaxes as she pulls her hand
back. "Well, you're not running a fever or anything. Was it
something you ate?"
"Better make sure Shirayuki-chan doesn't hear that," he
chuckles, then reaches over to draw her sister close to him.
"Onii-chan!!" she squeals, then sighs contently as he draws her
into his embrace. "Oh, Onii-chan, you miss Onee-chan already,
don't you?"
He considers that, then nods. "Funny. I do miss her. And it's
worse knowing that when she and Onee-chan comes back, five weeks
would've passed for Ranma. And for us, it'd be..." a pause. "Five
hours or so."
"I'd love to see Sanctuary," she admits. "We all would love to
see it, even just once. Why won't you let us go there, Onii-chan?"
He ruffles her hair. "Because it's not a safe place for nice
girls like you and the others," he reminds her, then sighs. "It's
an asteroid floating in a null-time tunnel reaching all the way to
this moment from the end of Time. If you fell off the asteroid,
you'd fall and fall and fall until you'd vanish into Eternity.
And THAT, I'd never wish on ANYONE."
"Not even those jerks in Tomobiki?"
He lightly smiles. "No, not even then, Karen-chan."
"You hate them, don't you?"
Ataru leans over to kiss her cheek. "Not really. I just don't
have any desire to be with them anymore, Karen-chan. And I'm worried
about you guys. You and the others're more important to me,
Karen-chan. You're my family now. A family that cares for me a hell
of a lot more than Muchi or Kinshou ever did. What happens if they
find out that I've got twelve sisters, all who love me very much?
Would they accept it? Would they decide that since, in their eyes,
I never deserved anything good to happen to me, they'd do everything
in their power to break us apart? All so they could enjoy seeing
me suffer? I don't want that. Do you?"
"Of course not!" Karen reaches up to hold the arm lying on her
tummy close to her. "We'll never leave you, Onii-chan! Never!!"
"Thanks."
Silence falls as they lay there, then the door opens.
"Onii-chama?"
"Kaho-chan?!" both see the young cheerleader peeking into the
room.
Kaho sees Karen lying beside Ataru. "Ah, Karen-chan, gomen ne,"
she walks in, then yelps as a foot trips over the doorstop.
Both wince as Kaho falls on her face, then Karen moves to help
her sister to her feet. "Kaho-chan, are you okay?" Karen tries not
to laugh; Kaho's tripping over something seemed sometimes a daily
occurrence.
Kaho giggles, then walks over to sit on the bed. "Kaho thought
Onii-chama didn't want to be alone tonight with Onee-chama in
Sanctuary, so Kaho came to be with Onii-chama," she slides in to
embrace Ataru.
"Kaho..." he whispers, then kisses her forehead. "Thanks."
"Aaah!" she squeals. "Onii-chama's beard tickles!!"
Laughter fills the room, then Karen slips back into bed. Seeing
that things were becoming crowded, Ataru sits up, lying his back on
the wall. Karen sits between him and the nightstand while Kaho lies
to the other side, draping herself on his lap. "Oh, Onii-chan,
what's going to happen if the others come in here to be with you?"
Karen giggles.
"It best not become a fight," Ataru warns.
"Onii-chama?"
"Hmm? What is it, Kaho-chan?"
"Why won't Onii-chama or Onee-chama let Kaho go to Sanctuary?"
"Why?" he sighs. "Well, when you go through the tunnel and come
out the other end, you land on a rock the size of this room. But
beyond the rock is this big void of NOTHING that extends all the way
to the end of Time. If you fall of, you'll fall and fall and just
keep on falling...!"
Kaho quivers, then yelps, burying her face into Ataru's chest.
"Kaho doesn't want to fall!!" she wails, then starts to cry.
He rubs Kaho's forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kisses
her forehead, then lets her lay her head on his shoulder.
"Anyhow..."
* * *
"Ranma, I DID warn you about taking a wrong step."
"I REALLY NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THAT RIGHT NOW, NEGAKO!!!!"
Ranma grunts as she claws her way back to the surface of one of
the small rocks leading in a chain of ten such boulders between
what she saw as the "beam in" point and Sanctuary itself. As soon
as she is on flat ground, she takes a deep breath, then stands.
Her eyes fall on the next rock in the chain, about the size of a
king-sized bed, appearing to hover forty metres away. "Damn, how
could I've misjudged that last jump...?"
"Ranma, if the dynamics of time are different here, how
different can the dynamics of space be?" Negako's eyebrow arches.
The younger woman pauses, then stares at the grandmistress
before a reluctant nod bobs her head. "So I can't judge distances
here, right?"
"Exactly," Negako nods. "When you are in Sanctuary itself,
then you can relax since an artificial environment is kept there for
the benefit of those who visit this place. The same is true for the
asteroids that allow people to enter Sanctuary. If they are capable,
of course."
Ranma shudders, then calms herself. "So how can I...?"
She screams out as Negako grabs her by the straps of her
backpack, then her eyes widen to the size of saucers as she is pulled
across that endless chasm below to the next asteroid. Negako, at
least, allows Ranma to land on her feet. Gasping as she collapses
to her knees, the younger woman pants, then looks up as Negako takes
the measure of the next leap. "Damn it all, Negako, WARN me about
that, will ya?!" she pleads.
"Things happen here without warning, Ranma," Negako tries not to
smirk, then blinks. "Alright, three more jumps and we are..."
Ranma screams as Negako grabs her by the backpack again, then
they're flying. As they turn to make a landing, the rock shatters!
"OH, SHIT!!!!" Ranma screams out as they slip towards the unending
tunnel below.
"***SEISHIN KUSARIGAMA!!!!***"
A glowing chi-chain with a hooked end leaps out of Negako's
palm, soaring past the remaining rocks in the chain to dig into the
hard rock of the Sanctuary asteroid itself. Ranma cries out as she
finds herself yanked across the chasm, then is flipped up to land on
the flat ground. A second later, Negako flips herself up to join
her, then disperses the Psychic Kusarigama. "We are here," she waves
Ranma with her into town.
Ranma pants. "Shit, Jusenkyou was NICE compared to this place!"
* * *
The city atop the Sanctuary asteroid is walled in on all sides.
Two gates provide entrance to the city, one opening to the chain of
rocks from the "beam in" point, the other opening to the time-chasm
itself. The city's interior is built on a spoked-wheel format,
eight streets leading from the wall to intersect at the centre of
town itself. The centre-point of the asteroid is marked by a simple
lighthouse-like tower surrounded by a traffic circle. As they walk
from the gate, Ranma notices the buildings lining the streets are low
structures, none higher than five floors in human terms. Still,
despite the rural feel of this place, the building designs are as
futuristic as Ranma assumed when she first saw this place.
"Hey, Negako, who built this place anyway?"
"Their identities are unknown to me at this time," Negako
reports. "From what I have ascertained in previous visits here,
those who frequent Sanctuary refer to its builders as the
'Questors.'"
"'Questors,' huh? What were they looking for?"
"That is unknown to anyone. However, what is known is that the
Questors hailed from the very end of Time itself."
"They were reaching back in time?"
"Yes. They reached to a point about three billion years ago.
Then, for reasons unknown, they committed mass suicide. Sanctuary
itself is all that remains of their culture. In this time period,
of course."
Ranma takes that in, then whistles. "Weird."
"Indeed."
They reach the traffic circle, then Negako leads Ranma to the
second street to their left. Heading back towards the wall, Ranma
notes that some of the lots lining this street are undeveloped.
Trees -- many of them so alien-looking to Ranma, she can't HOPE to
find words to describe them -- take up those empty lots. "None of
these are dangerous, are they?"
"It depends on how you define the word 'danger,'" Negako
reports. "The fruit they produce is incompatible to our digestive
systems, but Ataru reported that when he sat on one of the limbs to
relax, it felt as if he was in bed. However, I advise you to NOT try
to injure them."
"Gotcha...! Hey, there's a dojo!!"
Negako chuckles as Ranma runs past her to a cleared lot bearing
a simple wood and paper-walled dojo, somewhat like the Tendou's
training hall in general design. Stopping at the gate, she notes
there is no sign to indicate what Art was practised here, then she
opens the doors to head inside. Glancing around, she quickly sees
that a classical rock garden has been raked out around the dojo
itself. "Nice place..." she whistles, then sees a small residence
located behind the dojo. "Hey, Negako, did you build this place or
did someone else from Earth come here?"
"Someone else did come here. Around 1942 as we tell time,"
Negako steps into the garden, then waves Ranma with her to the
residence.
"Who? Do you know her?"
"I know OF her," Negako smirks. "Deannette Antonia Raeburn."
Silence.
"Major Raeburn...?" Ranma gapes, then whistles. "Oh, man!"
"The very same," Negako confirms as they step into the
residence. That reminded Ranma a lot of her own family home in
Tokyo. "Sanctuary is most frequently used by the various Seeker
Power Jewel Warriors as a rest-and-relaxation zone to help them
recover from their various battles."
"So how did you get the 'keys' to this place?"
"Someone gave the 'key' to me two years ago. I would rather
not reveal that person's identity at this time, though."
"Oh? Sounds fair enough. So where do I sleep?"
"Right here," Negako indicates one room.
Ranma looks inside, then smirks on seeing a thick futon and
other basic home necessities awaiting her. "Nice place," she slips
off her pack, then sets it aside. "What about food? Where can we
get that?"
"There's a dry storage room in the basement here that has a fair
selection. If you wish to try it, there's also a replicator
unit."
"Like from 'Star Trek?!'"
"Roughly the same concept," Negako nods. "The unit is Zephyrite
in origin. Anything that is flagged in red are foods you should
avoid. The Terran selections span Japanese, Korean,
Mandarin/Cantonese, Italian and standard American cuisines. There
should be no problems in that regard."
"Gotcha."
"Oh, one other thing," Negako reaches into her own small pack,
then draws out a laptop computer. "Rinrin believed you might need
this."
Ranma smiles, taking the machine from the grandmistress.
"Thanks. I guess I would need it. There're no power problems
here?"
"No. I will leave you to make yourself at home. Get some sleep
as soon as you can. When you wake up, we will begin training."
"Right. Um, do we try to keep time in this place?"
"In a place where normal rules of time have little effect?"
Negako's eyebrow arches. "What do you suggest, Ranma?"
"Ah...!" the younger woman flusters. "R-right! I should've
realized that!" she shrugs embarrassingly. "So how do we do this?"
"Your body's internal timekeeping mechanisms will suffice for
now. Do not worry if you feel your internal 'clock' going out of
sync. Ataru found it to be of no real concern. Try to get some
sleep."
"Okay."
Negako steps out of the room. Ranma sighs, then moves to draw
the shades over the window. To her surprise, the shades block out
all exterior light. Overhead, a two-tube ceiling light provides
what internal light there is, though there is also a lamp on a
nightstand by the futon. There is also a work table here. Ranma
sets the laptop there, then plugs it into a nearby outlet. Flicking
the machine on, she smiles as the programs click on, then she digs
out her UHD diskette from her backpack. Loading that in, she draws
up her personal journal files, then makes a new entry:
"Journal Entry, Day 0 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"I never thought I would wind up on another PLANET of all
things, even after meeting Ataru and his family. Yet now, I'm
writing this from a city in another DIMENSION, let alone another
planet! Wild, huh?
"Comparing this place to all the other places I've been to,
Sanctuary is in a class all by itself. There's no clear day or night
here. All light comes from a sky of burning energy above the rock
where the city stands. Have to ask Negako about that. How far up is
that 'sky' anyway? It's hard to tell distances in this place. And
I HAVE to watch my step here. If what just happened to Negako and I
as we were making our way into this place is normal, all it would
take is one bad move and I'm a goner!
"Sanctuary floats over a tunnel that, according to Negako,
extends to the end of Time Itself. How far ahead is that? Billions
of years? Or is there no end of Time? That's pretty scary, I'll
admit. It's no wonder Ataru doesn't want his sisters, especially
Kaho-chan, to come here."
"Ataru...?" Ranma stops, then sighs, glancing at the futon.
Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she turns back to the
laptop...
"I feel weird. Tonight's the first night I'm gonna be sleeping
alone since Ataru dropped the whole damned story about the
Niphentaxians on me. That was what? Three, four days ago? And
I..."
She pauses, then continues...
"...I miss him already. Strange, isn't it? I just left him in the
House not an hour ago. And yeah, Negako's here, but she's not Ataru.
What does that mean to me? Does it mean that I really care for him?
Do I..."
Another pause, then she finishes...
"...I love him?
"I wish I could answer that.
"I know that I LIKE him! But is that enough for me now?
"Oh, well, I guess we'll have to wait and see."
Glancing over the words she just typed, Ranma sighs, then
memorizes the journal entry before closing down her laptop for the
night...
* * *
"Onii-tama?"
Ataru, Karen and Kaho look up to see Hinako peek into the room.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he wonders. "Can't you sleep?"
Hinako shakes her head. "Hina's worried about Onee-tama,"
she walks into the room, rubbing her eyes, then she crawls onto the
bed. "And Hina knows Onii-tama's also worried about Onee-tama.
Hina just wishes..."
Ataru shifts Kaho away from him to draw his youngest sister
onto his lap. "You wanted to go to Sanctuary too, huh?" he ruffles
her hair.
Hinako giggles, then leans into his chest. "Onii-tama really,
really, really likes Onee-tama, doesn't he?" she sighs.
"Well, if Hinako-chan likes her, then I have to like her too,
I guess," he muses, then rubs his chin on her forehead.
Hinako squeals, then everyone blinks as the door opens again,
revealing Sakuya carrying a rolled-up futon under one arm and
Hinako's favourite stuffed teddy bear, a huge toy as big as Marie's
dog Michael, in the other hand. "I guess I'm not the only one who
thought of keeping Onii-sama company," the eldest of the sisters
walks inside, laying the futon and Mister Bear on the floor beside
Ataru's bedroom window.
"Waai!! Sakuya-chan brought Kuma-san!" Hinako reaches out for
her prized bedtime companion. "Hina wants Kuma-san! Kuma-san!!"
"Ah! You have to choose, Hinako-chan!" Sakuya wags her finger.
"What's it going to be?! Kuma-san or Onii-sama?!"
Hinako stops, then giggles, leaning into Ataru's chest.
"Hina'll always choose Onii-tama!" she rubs her head in the crook
of his neck.
"Aaah!! He's OUR brother, too, Hinako-chan!" Kaho wails.
Ataru rolls his eyes to the ceiling as the sisters start
arguing. *Maybe I SHOULD have gone to Sanctuary,* he ruefully
muses...
* * *
"Wake up, Ranma!"
Ranma grunts, then looks up to see Negako gazing down on her.
"Oh, man..." she yawns, then sits up. "How long was I asleep?"
"That is a hard question to answer," the grandmistress
warns. "In one respect, you got eight hours' rest. Come. Breakfast
is waiting."
Ranma watches her go, then scrambles out of bed, she following
her host to the small sitting room located between the sleeping
quarters and the dojo. "'In one respect?' What the heck does THAT
mean, Negako?"
"Observe," Negako reaches into her top, then draws out a
hand-held timepiece to show to the younger woman.
Ranma notes it is a gear-driven device, no doubt made in Europe.
"It needs to be wound up," she takes it from Negako, then twists
the knob to wind the spring. The clock begins to tick, then falls
silent. "Huh?!" she blinks, then winds it up again. Again, only a
few ticks echo from the timepiece before it falls silent. "What the
hell...?!"
"A null-time vacuum," Negako takes the timepiece back.
"'Null-time vacuum?!'" Ranma stares at her.
The grandmistress waves her into the sitting room, then once
Ranma sits, heads into the kitchen to bring out two bowls of
soulloungt'ang, Korean beef-and-noodles stew. "Exactly. Anything
affected strongly by lineal time is halted or slowed to a snail's
pace when it is brought into Sanctuary. Your aging process, for
example. As long as you remain, you will not age. If you wanted,
you could be virtually immortal. But since Sanctuary itself has
little in the way of 'creature comforts'..."
"People'd go insane here," Ranma muses, sniffing the delicious
aroma of the soulloungt'ang as Negako retrieves kitchen utensils
and a bottle of spring water. "Then how can you cook food here?"
"Cooking food, healing from injuries and other like matters
are not totally influenced by lineal time, Ranma," Negako sets out
the chopsticks, then pours Ranma a glass of water. "Take boiling
soulloungt'ang, for example. The basic broth takes from one to two
days to prepare. But if you used a microwave oven or 'hot' chi to
aid in the actual cooking..."
"It goes faster," Ranma concludes.
"Exactly."
Ranma shakes her head. "It's hard to accept."
"It is, even for me," Negako muses. "Clearly, the Questors,
whoever they were, possessed -- or WILL possess if you view it in
that manner -- such an advanced understanding of temporal science,
creating Sanctuary was child's play to them. I believe I COULD come
to understand it..."
"But you'd be probably driven out of your mind doing that,
right?"
"Perhaps," Negako admits.
Ranma laughs. "Guess what? You're human, Negako!"
Negako blinks. "Should I feel complimented or insulted?"
The younger woman's laughter picks up...
* * *
Breakfast is soon done, then Negako directs Ranma into a furo
for a long soak. While there, Ranma receives her healing shiatsu,
something she got from Ataru before breakfast when she was on
Promised Island. As that goes ahead, Ranma asks if the healing
process could be picked up given the temporal and spacial differences
between Sanctuary and Earth.
"I will try to do that, but there is a danger," Negako responds.
"What sort of danger?"
"Overtreatment," the grandmistress gently vibrates a finger
over a point on Ranma's scalp. "You know of overmedication,
do you not?" Seeing her nod, she continues. "Well, there is also
such a thing as receiving TOO much shiatsu treatment. Your body
needs all the chances it can receive to adjust to any significant
changes in your shiatsu or chi patterns, Ranma, just as it must
adjust to 'normal' matters like a change of diet or a change in your
exercise pattern. If that time is not allocated..."
"It'd be just as bad as not being treated at all."
"Exactly."
"Gotcha," Ranma relaxes her head on the furo's edge. "Hey,
Negako, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Was Ataru ever bothered whenever you and he were together
here in Sanctuary?" a slow flush crosses Ranma's cheeks. "You know,
like in...?"
"Sexual arousal?"
Ranma's cheeks go cherry-red. "Um, y-y-yeah..."
"Sometimes," Negako presses on another point. "As Sakuya and
Chikage tried to impress on you, Ranma, there is no shame in feeling
that type of arousal. In fact, I am aware of certain cultures
that consider sexual relations between siblings to be not only
natural but *proper.*"
"Really?!" Ranma gapes at her.
"Indeed," Negako nods. "Ranma, sexual arousal is a natural
function of human biology. It is the obvious physical sign that you
are ready to procreate. However, the physical desire to procreate
does not always match to a compatible emotional need. So our society
considers it 'proper' to control the physical need, focus it only to
those one emotionally considers to be 'safe.' You felt that way on
occasion for Akane, did you not?"
"Um, y-yeah...! I g-guess so," Ranma stutters. "At least,
I think I d-d-did. I just didn't really u-u-understand it," she
shrugs, then glances quizzically on Negako. "Does that make me
perverted, Negako?"
"No, not by the definition of the term I understand,"
Negako admits. "Why are you so curious about this, Ranma? You
clearly do not wish to pursue an intimate relationship with Akane
at this time."
"Yeah, I don't, but...!" Ranma's voice stops, then she sighs.
"I guess I just want to try to understand where things went wrong
between us, Negako. I mean, I don't imagine marrying Akane anymore,
not after what's happened. But I still want to be her friend. And
I don't want to make the same mistakes Oyaji made with me when I
finally have kids. IF I have kids, of course!" she holds up her
finger, then sighs. "Damn it all! Sakuya-chan was right. I AM too
young to worry about shit like this!"
"Well, it is good that you realize it now instead of when you
are trapped in a marriage with no emotional underpinnings,"
Negako nods. "Alright, we are done for this session. Time for the
dojo."
"Hai..."
* * *
Nerima, the Tendou dojo...
"You can't access them at ALL?!"
Genma shakes his head. Despite it being well past midnight,
the lights in the sitting room shine brightly. Kasumi and Nabiki
are both in bed, though Souun could sense that Akane is still awake.
"I've tried everything, Tendou-kun! Much that I personally am VERY
wary to call upon the Sen-ken forms, the fact that the boy memorized
them, then passed on that knowledge to those infernal mirror-twins
of his...!"
Souun sighs. He did feel some sympathy to Genma's plight.
Yes, the Sen-ken techniques, especially the Yamasen-ken forms, WERE
dangerous. One need not look past the tragic example of Ryuu Kumon's
father to see that. But Ranma was certainly more responsible
than THAT! After all, had Ranma used those techniques for personal
gain? Of course not! Since Ranma DID know them, it was logical
they would be copied into the mirror-clones...
A shudder, half-anger and half-fear, quakes the Tendou patriarch
as he remembers Toshiko's words to him about that. Why did Ranma
disregard what Souun had decided about those two, then actually
STOLE that compact from Nabiki to let them go free? Why?! Did that
mean...? That Ranma had come to the point where he no longer cared
about what Souun wanted? It was very clear that Ranma had reached
that point concerning Genma!
Which meant...
No!
The schools HAD to be united! Genma had been right all along.
No matter what happened, the schools just HAD to be united. If what
was now happening with Nodoka and her relatives bore fruit, then
everything his friend had done would be lost. And though Souun
didn't really appreciate the idiot stunts Genma had pulled concerning
Ranma's training, he did know that Genma had trained a very fine
martial artist. That outcome had to be protected and nourished
under their guidance, not allowed to be lost to a family of greedy
bastards like the Asagayas, much less a wandering family of cooks
like the Kuonjis, a family of rich deviants like the Kunous and
ESPECIALLY a clan of female chauvinists like those Chinese Amazons!
"Dad?!"
Both turn as Akane steps into the room. A hopeful smile is on
her face as she twirls around, modelling the now-restored Densetsu
no Doogi. Seeing that, Souun's eyes widen, then he nods
understandingly. "I see you wish to continue to press your claim
for Ranma-kun, Akane-chan."
"I've no choice!" the smile fades from her face. "I don't know
what the hell you were thinking earlier by saying that fake was going
to marry Ranma! If she wants him, she has to come through me first,
Dad!"
The fathers gaze on her, then exchange a look before Genma
slides his glasses up on his nose. "Perhaps we were both too hasty
about moving the engagement away from you, Akane-chan," he waves the
youngest of the Tendou sisters to a floor mat. "Please understand
that this is something your father and I've dreamed of for a very
long time. To come so close to making it happen, then have it
snatched away..." he shudders. "It galls me. I..." he pauses,
then to Souun's and Akane's surprise, prostrates himself before her.
"Akane Tendou, I only can but give you my sincerest apologies
for the trouble my mistakes in raising my son, your fiance, have
brought on you. Please, know that I will be honoured to call you my
daughter-in-law when we finally make my son see some reason."
"I...!" Akane's cheeks redden. "Uncle...!"
"Genma..." Souun's jaw drops.
Silence falls as Akane considers the older man's words, then she
nods. "Thank you, Uncle. That really meant a lot to me."
"You deserve it," Genma sits up, then holds up a finger. "Now,
before we press on, I must ask you this: do you love my son?"
"Yes!" Akane nods.
Hearing that, Souun moans. "Oh, Akane...!"
"Very well," Genma squeezes his friend's shoulder, then he
sighs. "Unfortunately, given what happened to you on Tuesday,
the boy seems to think that he has no obligation to you anymore.
That HAS to be corrected. And it's best corrected by you, Akane,"
he points to her.
Akane sighs. "You mean I have to challenge him?"
"It may be the only thing we can do to make Ranma-kun come back,
Akane-chan," Souun nods understandingly. "That he's gone out of his
way to pay back the debts he accumulated with the Kuonji girl and
that China girl is fine enough. That Kuonji's dowry has been
returned to her is also a good thing. As far as I'm now concerned
-- and I hope, Saotome-kun, that I speak for you as well..." he
glances at Genma, who nods in return, "...we have no need to concern
ourselves with their troubles anymore."
"They may disagree with that, Dad," Akane warns.
"Indeed, I suspect they will," Souun indicates the Doogi.
"Well, it's it so fortunate that you have this now?" he then grins.
Akane nods. "You have a point," she gazes intently at her
father. "What about that double of mine?!"
Souun sighs, then bows his head. "Akane-chan, I'm sorry that
I said those things after Kimiko-chan had her *fight* with
Saotome-kun here," he indicates Genma. "I admit, I've become
desperate as of late to see this whole agreement through to its
rightful conclusion. That Nabiki-chan is capable of pursuing the Art
again fills me with joy. And your own desire to progress in the Art
has never abated. Please..." he bows low. "Can you forgive your
foolish father for what he did to hurt you?"
Akane stares at him, then smiles. "It's okay, Dad," she reaches
over to rub his shoulder. "We just wanted you to be yourself again!"
He takes that in, then rises, nodding. "So," Genma sighs. "The
time has come for us to plan on what we must do to bring the boy
back."
"Negako-san said he'll be in Nerima by tomorrow," Akane reports.
"Good," Souun nods, then sighs, gazing intently at her. "Do you
intend to press your challenge against Kimiko-chan, Akane?"
The youngest of the Tendous considers that for a moment, then
sighs. "I have to make sure of it, Dad. I don't want to deal with
another rival and I know Ranma doesn't want to deal with another
fiancee."
"Understandable, but remember..." Souun holds up a finger.
"Ranma DID name Kimiko-chan after your mother. Certainly if he did
that, it means he does care for what happens with our family,
Akane-chan."
Akane sighs. "Yeah, that's true," she nods. "Alright, if you
want, I'll ask her if she has any feelings for Ranma. If she does,
I have to challenge her then, Dad! But if she doesn't, I'll leave
her be."
"Fair enough," Souun nods.
"Then you have to challenge the boy himself," Genma warns.
Silence.
"Do you think I have to go THAT far with him, Uncle?" Akane
asks.
"Yes, I do," Genma sagely nods. "Remember, Akane-chan,
the boy is extremely stubborn. That has its good and bad sides.
The good side is that he will never give up when faced with a
challenge. Much that I would not want to remind you of this, but how
did he manage to save you from Saffron?" Seeing Akane tense, then
slowly nod, he adds, "I'm sorry, child. I didn't mean to hurt you.
But the boy has to face his obligations. And if he runs around
willy-nilly thinking he can avoid it..."
He shrugs. "Indeed, Saotome-kun, you have a point," Souun gazes
on Akane. "Child, I know you might want to hesitate before facing
something like this, but you MUST challenge Ranma-kun to force him
into acknowledging the agreement again. And you must also focus the
challenge to ensure he no longer defers to his other would-be
suitors..." a pause, then he sighs, shaking his head, "...not to
mention his mother."
"What if he refuses?" Akane asks. "His mother means a lot to
him."
"He won't," Genma warns. "I won't allow it. If he does, I'll
disown him on the spot. He certainly doesn't wish to face THAT."
"Indeed," Souun nods. "And Ranma-kun's NEVER refused a
challenge. You must use that against him if you're to bring him
back, Akane-chan."
Akane sighs. "I don't like this," she admits, then squeezes
her fingers into fists. "But he's my fiance. I've no choice now."
She then nods. "Alright, I'll do it. On one condition," she holds
up a finger, then points to Genma. "You vow right here and now that
when I bring him home, you'll NEVER do what you did to Ranma when he
was a boy. I want him as my fiance, but I don't want to marry a
scholastic roonin."
"But...!" Genma tenses.
"Please," she holds up a hand. "I know you wanted to make sure
he would become a fine martial artist. In that, Uncle, you succeeded
beyond your wildest dreams. You know that as well as I. But in
other situations, Ranma's hopeless. I don't want that anymore.
I'm sure he doesn't want it, either. If you try to put that on him
again, HE might be the one who makes himself roonin and walk away
from ALL of us! Do you want that?"
Genma shakes his head. "No."
"Alright, then," Akane nods. "If Negako-san can fix up what you
did to him, not to mention rid him of his ailurophobia, let's let it
happen."
"Agreed," Souun nods, then chuckles. "You best get some sleep,
child. You'll have quite the busy day tomorrow."
"Hai! Good night, Dad, Uncle," Akane heads upstairs.
They watch her go, then exchange a look. "We're close, Genma,"
Souun chuckles, then raises his tea cup. "We're so close!"
"That, my old friend, we are!" Genma returns his toast...
* * *
Ranma sighs, sitting on the dojo roof as she gazes on the
swirling clouds of gas and fire overhead. It is the late "morning"
of the sixth full "day" she had stayed in Sanctuary. Not two hours
ago -- at least, Ranma believed it had been two hours -- Negako
pronounced her healed from the neural damage Genma's actions years
ago had provoked, not to mention the recent damage taken on thanks
to Akane and all the people in Nerima. Come "tomorrow," the healing
of the Neko-ken would start. The final step before she would learn
if Chikage and the Jusenkyou guide was right about how the
Nyanniichuan curse would ultimately affect her.
Now she had a decision to make.
"Ranma?"
Ranma blinks, then gazes on Negako. Damn, even without using
the Umisen-ken cloak, she could pretty much sneak up on anyone!
Taking a deep breath on sensing what the grandmistress wanted to
know, she then sits up. "Before I say 'yes' or 'no,' can you answer
me something, Negako?"
"Why Ataru?" Negako's eyebrows arch.
Ranma nods. The grandmistress looks away from her, staring
towards the small tower in the heart of Sanctuary. "You were four
years old, I believe. Genma took you away from Nodoka on a small
training trip to get you used to various changes in weather
conditions when you were camping on the road. That trip took you to
Sendai. Ataru's uncle Komeru owns a significant amount of property
in the area." A pause, then, "From what I've been able to deduce,
Genma tried to sneak onto the property to steal some food and other
supplies. He left you alone in the camp you made just outside the
property line. And you, being so young and alone..."
"I got scared?"
"Very. Fortunately, you were found by Ataru, who was then
visiting his 'cousin,' Nokoko. You know the real story about her."
"Yeah! She's really his older sister, but Kinshou sent her up
to be raised by Komeru after Ataru's twin brother Kaeru died."
Negako nods. "Ataru and Nokoko found you, then invited you to
the house. By then, Genma had been spotted by the security
personnel. He managed to evade them, but when he got back to the
camp, he found you gone. Tracing down where you had went, he found
you playing with Ataru and Nokoko. Naturally, that displeased
him, so he tried to take you away."
"What happened?"
"Nokoko and Ataru were both pleased to see you as a new friend
and playmate, so it naturally displeased them when Genma tried to
take you away. They tried to follow Genma through the snow to
'rescue' you from the 'bad man.' Nokoko fell behind, but Ataru
stayed on as best he could."
Ranma's eyes go wide. "Really?!"
"Yes. At that moment, things become very unclear. Security
later found you and Ataru at the camp. Genma..." an icy smirk turns
her lips, then she continues, "...was nearby, throughly beaten down.
It looked as if both a person and some wild animal had their way with
him. As to who it was that dealt with Genma, no one was able to
properly ascertain."
"Do you have an idea?"
"I do," Negako nods. "Clearly, whoever it was, he or she is not
native to Earth. The animal's footprints indicate a..." she glances
at Ranma, "...type of animal you would not like to hear of."
Ranma gulps. Negako sighs. "There is something else. As of
now, there is a low-level psionic bond connection you to Ataru. A
bond that could only have been forged by a high-order telepath
or broadcast empath."
Silence.
Ranma gapes. "What...?!"
"It is true. You cannot access it now due to the damage from
the Neko-ken training," Negako ignores the shiver that runs through
Ranma on hearing that form's name. "And because you are 'silent'
in that regard, Ataru cannot consciously access it, either. Even if
both of you could access it, I do not believe it will allow you to
communicate 'in the clear,' so to speak, to each other. But it will
allow you to understand the other's feelings quite well." A pause,
then, "And before you ask, I do not believe that bond can be severed.
Not without killing you both."
The grandmistress falls silent as Ranma takes that in. The
younger woman then stares towards the tower in the centre of
Sanctuary. "Who would do something like THAT to us? WHY would they
do it? I don't get it!"
"I cannot answer that question. The only one who can..."
"Is whoever bonded us," Ranma finishes. "Does Ataru know?"
"I have not told him that you are the one he was bonded to,"
Negako reports. "Not yet. But he does know he has a bond with
someone else. His 'Other.' When the repairs on your mind are
complete -- IF you want me to complete them to that extent -- the
truth can at last be revealed."
"Can't you try to dredge up my memories and put this puzzle
together that way?" Ranma stares at her, then seeing Negako shake
her head, sighs. "Damn. All because of the N-n-n-Neko-ken,
r-right?" she stutters.
"Exactly."
Ranma takes a deep breath. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't."
"You need not look at it that way, Ranma."
They stare at each other. "What do you mean?" Ranma asks.
"Would it be better to simply learn the truth about yourself?"
Negako wonders. "Instead of always living in fear and uncertainty?
There are those in this existence who would take gross advantage
of that fear. Do you wish to leave yourself vulnerable to that sort
of thing, Ranma?"
Ranma shakes her head. "No."
"Then you have only one choice before you."
They look on each other, then Ranma nods. "Yeah..."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 7 (I think!) of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Well, it's started.
"This morning, Negako kept me in the furo for about an hour or
so as she did the first shiatsu treatment to help me be rid of my
ailurophobia. Man, it's easier to think of that Latin term instead
of using the 'N' word. And believe me, the idea of finally being
rid of that fear and the madness that comes with it when it gets
triggered just fills me with joy.
"Still, the..."
Ranma pauses, then sighs as she continues to type...
"...the idea of finally facing what the Jusenkyou guide and Chikage
told me MIGHT happen when I'm mentally back 'in shape' sends chills
down my back.
"Part of me, even with what I feel now for Ataru, still wants
to BE a man in my heart and soul. Would it really matter when this
is all over? What would happen to me if I came out of this and still
felt I was a guy? What would happen between Ataru and I, then? I
mean, when we slept together, he didn't do anything I'd consider
perverted."
A giggle runs through her, then she types on...
"Oh, jeez, if any of those morons from Tomobiki heard that Ataru
did NOT do something perverted in close company with a pretty girl
like me, they'd probably think the world was coming to an end.
"What a bunch of jerks!
"Just like Akane would think about me, I guess.
"Stupid, ignorant tomboy.
"Rinrin was right about that, I guess. Who the HELL gave Akane
the right to judge what I could or couldn't feel? If I feel anything
about that idiot now, it's a desire to get back to Nerima, then use
a soulsword and make that tomboy's precious 'Dou-chan' go bye-bye.
"The look on her face when that happens..."
She stops typing. Gazing at the screen for a moment, Ranma then
takes a deep breath before putting fingers back to keys...
"...happens would be priceless!"
"That, of course, requires that I actually LEARN how to make a
soulsword. I've seen Ataru and Negako do it, but for some reason,
I can't picture in my mind how they could manipulate chi into doing
THAT! Heh?! Isn't that something? Me, Ranma Saotome, who can pick
up martial arts techniques on the first try -- and I can't get the
knack of THIS one.
"Maybe it's because the soulsword's a KILLING technique?
"I guess so.
"And I suppose I can see why learning the soulsword's the last
major thing one does in learning the basics in Saikoo
Jinseijitsu-ryuu.
"Oh, well, I can wait. Lots of other things to do first."
Ranma stops again, then reads through what she has written.
A few spelling corrections later, she moves to finish the entry...
"Thinking on Ataru and what's going on between us, I guess
Chikage was right about one thing, though. Love, in all its many
ways of being expressed, really doesn't recognize a person's gender.
And I..."
She pauses, then...
"...I miss him.
"And I miss the sisters, too.
"I wish they were here.
"Hell, I wish I was back on Promised Island right now.
"I miss them all.
"What does that mean for me?
"I suppose I'll figure it out soon.
"I hope."
Reading that over, she nods, then memorizes the entry...
* * *
"No day OR night, Aniki?"
"And no way to keep track of time? Man, that's rough, Anii!"
"No, it wasn't too rough," Ataru shakes his head. The futon
Sakuya brought into the room is now laid out. Mamoru brought a
second futon -- "Just in case!" the athlete explained when she came
in -- while Rinrin had brought her personal alarm clock -- a
miniature Mega-Rinrin with an "02" on the chest; she refers to it as
the "Prototype Robot Number Two" -- to set up on Ataru's nightstand.
A CD player nearby was playing some soft nature music. Hinako,
now asleep, is on the futon, her head resting in Mister Bear's lap.
Kaho has also gone to sleep; she commandeered Mamoru's lap to serve
as her pillow. Sakuya is now with Karen on Ataru's bed. "You know,
they say that time flies when you're having fun. I guess Onee-chan's
gonna be keeping Ranma so busy, she won't have *time* to notice the
time."
"I just can't imagine what sort of temporal dynamics must run
that place, if at ALL!" Rinrin shakes her head.
Mamoru sighs. "Rinrin, ain't there ANYTHING you've never looked
at?!" she gazes in exasperation at the teen scientist.
Rinrin shrugs. "I haven't studied the Tarot."
"Who said the magic word?"
Everyone gasps as Chikage steps out of the shadows, she draped
in the long, black nun's habit she used as pyjamas. "Chikage,
for the love of Heaven, do you MIND?!" Rinrin snaps as the sorceress
sits beside her.
"Huh...? Is Onee-tama back...?"
People stare at Hinako. The youngest of the sisters is blearily
looking around the room. "Go back to sleep, Hinako-chan,"
Ataru waves her down. "Chikage just came to visit and Rinrin got
upset."
"Huh...?" Hinako tries to focus on Chikage, then moans, leaning
once more against her beloved Kuma-san. "Silly Chikage-chan.
'Night..."
The others giggle while Chikage tries not to look annoyed...
* * *
"So what do you think?"
It is the ninth "day" in Sanctuary. Negako decides to give
Ranma a chance to express herself in a classic Japanese way: ukiyo-e
painting. Making the wood-block carving for the prints was easy for
someone who had to develop an exacting sense of distance to help in
combat. Once a "test" print was made to ensure her initial carving
was exactly the way she wanted it, Ranma quickly produces her first
coloured painting. Inspecting it, Negako quickly notes that Ranma
was clearly a reds and blacks lover. "A decent interpretation
of the energy matrices overhead," the grandmistress nods approvingly.
"I would dare say that with practice, you will easily equal if not
surpass some of the classical masters of this art."
"I bet you met some of them," Ranma chuckles.
"Personally, no, but several of my hosts did meet some of the
more known personalities, people like Moronobu Hishikawa, Utamaro
Kitagawa and Katsushika Hokusai." A hum escapes Negako's lips. "I
do not remember if any of my hosts ever met Tooshuusai Sharaku,
though."
Ranma chuckles. "Anyhow, I'm going out to do some sketches
of the city," she picks up a sketch pad and some pencils. "Be back
later."
"Take your time," Negako nods.
Stepping out of the dojo, Ranma looks around, then heads up the
street towards the city wall. Arriving there soon enough, she hops
up to the flat surface, then sits to gaze on the city. The silence
seems to freeze her in place for a moment. Unlike other cities,
Sanctuary was not haunted by "normal" city sounds like cars, trains,
birds, children, even household appliances. Shuddering, she lays the
sketch book on her lap, then does a detailed drawing of the city.
Time quickly becomes meaningless to her as she glances at a
particular building, then moves to capture its essence on the paper.
Soon enough, though, the sketch is done.
Taking a few minutes to inspect her work, Ranma smiles.
"Perfect," she rises. "Maybe I should follow Hokusai's example
and make thirty-six views of Sanctuary...! Eh?" her eyes widen on
noticing an odd colour in a vacant lot to her right. "What the
hell...?" she squints. "What's that?"
Hopping off the wall to the roof of a nearby building, Ranma
bounds over to the next street before dropping to ground level.
Walking towards the city centre, she stops before an empty lot on her
left. Looking at it, she quickly notes the absence of plant life
save a trimmed layer of blue grass, then steps off the street. She
only has to take a couple of steps before realizing what is there.
"Graves..." she whispers.
There are eleven mounds. Given the nature of Sanctuary,
Ranma could assume that they have been her since the day this place
was created by the Questors. However, the simple wooden poles acting
as markers have some of their bark taken away, then smoothed into a
flat plate. Etched on there are several lines in kana and kanji.
Leaning up, Ranma reads:
Here likes a soldier of the Union of Uru
Who died not knowing the truth of what she fought for.
Though we were made enemies by Fate and Circumstance,
I, the unwilling vessel of her Judgement,
Do wish her peace and happiness in the embrace of Eternity.
The two kanji at the end of that thoughtful invocation sends
chills down Ranma's back. "'Moroboshi'...?" she whispers. "That
means...!"
She stands, moving to leave. She halts on seeing Negako
standing on the roadway. Ranma blinks, then walks onto the street
before looking back on the graves. "They're the group that...?"
she points.
"Some were," Negako explains.
"Ataru said there were twelve of them," Ranma sighs. "There're
only eleven graves here. What happened to the last one?"
Negako nods towards the wall. "He boasted too much about what
he did. Foolish thing to do. After Ataru ripped his horns off, then
slit his throat, he pitched the stupid fool over the wall. In front
of their very own eyes," she points to the graves. "Whatever
illusions those fools might have had towards Lum's so-called
'Darling' vanished in an instant."
Ranma pales, then takes several deep breaths to calm herself.
"Man, I can see why Ataru doesn't want to talk about things like this
to his sisters," she shakes her head, then turns towards the dojo.
"This could easily have been you, Ranma."
The martial artist stops, then gazes on Negako. "What do you
mean?"
An icy grin crosses the ninjitsu grandmistress' face. "That,
I will allow you to contemplate on. But know this. I told Lum's
cousin Jariten this once: 'Wars do not make one great. Wars
normally make one *dead.*'"
She leaps into the air for the dojo. Ranma watches her go, then
looks nowhere in particular as Negako's words echo in her mind...
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 10 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"'Wars do not make one great. Wars normally make one dead.'
"What did she mean?
"Ever since I could remember, I was always taught something
by Oyaji that, even now, I can agree with: 'Martial artists live to
protect those who can't protect themselves.' That's something
I've always strived to succeed in. It's a good theory. It's decent.
Hell, it's RIGHT!
"Or is it?"
Ranma pauses, shifting her hands away from her keyboard.
Taking several deep breaths to calm herself as her mind roils over
what Negako said to her the previous "day," she returns to typing.
As a new string of characters appears on the screen, her eyes glisten
with shamed tears...
"No. I haven't succeeded in doing that at ALL! Yes, I've been
there when people needed help, but most other times, I've fought
for the sheer joy of fighting. And what has that ultimately
done for me?
"Nothing.
"NOTHING!
"All it's got me is more enemies and rivals than I want to deal
with, a pack of 'fiancees' who are just impossible to handle, no real
respect from those of my peers I don't fight and..."
A pause, then...
"...and no real friends."
Another pause, then...
"Yesterday, I saw the graves of eleven of twelve Oni warriors
Ataru and Negako killed here in Sanctuary. Some of them were
involved with what really happened to Ataru's grandmother.
One of them, according to Negako, boasted about what he did so much
that Ataru lost it, then pitched the fool over the wall. Well, I
suppose that bastard had it coming.
"But the rest got a beautiful farewell note from Ataru. Yes,
he killed them, but he showed them RESPECT for what they went
through.
"Now, I understand another reason Ataru doesn't want anything
to do with Tomobiki anymore. Those people see him in a certain
way. But because Sanctuary let Ataru do a heck of a lot more things
in the six weeks he had been gone from Tomobiki than most others
could suspect, he..."
Another pause, then...
"...he simply outgrew them.
"Fate and time forced him to finally grow up. And that's
something people in Tomobiki probably just wouldn't know HOW to deal
with, I think. And with twelve sisters on Promised Island to worry
about, Ataru doesn't want to take the CHANCE of mending fences with
people like Shinobu Miyaki and the rest of them. Can he trust those
people after what he's been through? Can he trust any of them with
the knowledge that he had sided AGAINST Lum and her people? Can he
trust them to understand that he had all the right reasons in the
world to stand against the Onis?
"For the sisters' sake, he can't.
"And regardless of what he really feels for the people in
Tomobiki -- and what he really feels for Lum -- that decision hurts
him.
"Badly."
Ranma stops, staring at the words she has written. Wiping her
eyes, she makes some spelling corrections, then carries on...
"Now I face the same decision.
"Which path do *I* choose now?
"I can't be what Oyaji tried to make of me. Worse, I DON'T want
to be what Oyaji tried to make of me. I certainly can't be what Mom
wants me to be. And I don't want to be what Akane wants me to be,
either. And that doesn't mention what Ukyou, Xian-pu or Kodachi
might want, too.
"It's MY life.
"And I want to live it.
"Should I do what Ataru did?
"Will I have a choice in that?"
Another pause, then...
"No. There is no choice now. It IS my life. And if they got
a problem with that, that's just too bad.
"And if I hurt them?
"Then they get hurt."
She looks at the diary entry, then memorizes it...
* * *
"The Sun? What does that mean for Anegimi-sama?"
"This is the card that marks enlightenment," Chikage holds up
the card for Haruka's view. The sorceress and the martial artist
have moved into the dining room to enjoy some tea. The Rinrin Viewer
is on, Rinrin herself verbally directing the Viewer's Internet
link to click on some favoured web pages. Aria sleeps on the couch,
she leaning into Michael's side. She came down to be with the others
in Ataru's room, then promptly fell asleep on the futon. Haruka
carried her into the dining room. "At this time, it appears that
Ane-kun has made some profound discoveries about either herself
or someone she cares for. Ani-kun perhaps?"
Haruka sighs. "We may be pushing her too hard, Chikage-chan."
"Perhaps, were this anyone else but Ranma Saotome," Chikage
smiles. "I believe the one thing all those who interact with Ane-kun
can agree upon is this: she lives to face challenge. No doubt as we
speak, Negako-anekun is doing her best to force Ane-kun into new
types of challenge."
Haruka nods. "I believe the one thing Anegimi-sama has to learn
is to separate the good challenges from the bad ones."
Chikage sips her tea. "Experience has taught her that, not to
mention the many betrayals Ane-kun has faced in her lifetime."
She sets the cup down on the table. The slight vibration
is enough to let the top card now on the Tarot deck to slip off.
Chikage gazes on that, then flips the card around. The Emperor,
upside-down. Chikage's eyes narrow, a thoughtful hum escaping
her. "Is there something wrong?" Haruka wonders, then notices the
card. "What does that mean?"
"It's hard to say," Chikage whispers...
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 12 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"So far, I've completed ten ukiyo-e blocks of Sanctuary.
When I told Negako that I wanted to emulate Katsushika Hokusai's
thirty-six views of Fuji-san with thirty-six views of Sanctuary,
that got me a big smile.
"I guess she does have feelings after all.
"Training in Saikoo Jinseijitsu-ryuu is going ahead. I've got
the various 'seishin' attacks -- the Psychic Laser Beam, the Psychic
Shuriken Storm and the Psychic Kusarigama -- down pat. All it takes
to do them is to visualize what you want in your mind, implant that
desire onto your chi energy, then focus it on the target. I think
learning how to do the Kusarigama is a necessary percussor, if not
THE necessary percussor, to learning the soulsword, but I haven't
asked Negako about that just yet.
"I think I also got the basic philosophy of the Art down pat.
It all depends on using your TOTAL willpower to make something
happen. Now, in a fight, that's often next to impossible, especially
if you wind up facing multiple opponents, which is pretty normal
for me. And thanks to Oyaji, I couldn't think to much beyond the
fight before me at the time.
"Well, now I can evolve from that.
"I'm going to spend the next while on some internal meditation,
try to stretch my ability to sense things beyond the obvious direct
threat to me. Heh! If I can do that, then I won't need Negako's
shiatsu shield to avoid the tomboy's temper-tantrums anymore. Won't
she be surprised?
"Not that she doesn't deserve it, of course."
* * *
The "afternoon" of the thirteenth "day" in Sanctuary finds Ranma
sitting on the apex of the tower in the centre of town. She is in
lotus position, her breathing shallow and highly regulated as she
focuses her mind's eye on herself. Every step of the way, she pulls
her attention away from parts of the outside world onto herself.
Every step of the way, parts of her she never really paid attention
to in the past come into focus. Her many vital organs, her muscles
and skeleton, her physical senses, her heartbeat, her breathing,
her thinking, her very soul itself.
Her soul...
Wait a second here.
Ranma clenches her fists, then relaxes herself as her battle
aura begins to flare. At first a brilliant crimson shade, it then
fades in colour, morphing to pure gold, then a brilliant white.
Taking time to regulate her breathing, Ranma shifts into a one knee
stance. She lets her arms reach out before her. Slowly, they come
together as if she is grasping the scabbard and handle of a sword.
A sword...
Yes.
Think of a sword...
A sword...
The chi flares, then she feels something fill her hands...
"***KONTOU!!!!***"
Her eyes snap open as she mimes the unsheathing of a katana,
then they focus on what is in her right hand. They widen on seeing
her chi form something that looked like a sword, but it leaks energy
to the surrounding air like water flooding the "Titanic" after she
brushed past the iceberg! In several heartbeats, the proto-soulsword
fades into nothingness. Turning her hand to gaze on her palm, Ranma
sighs. "I did SOMETHING wrong..." she returns to a sitting position,
then tenses on feeling someone behind her.
"That was a remarkable first attempt."
Ranma looks up to see Negako standing behind her, a bemused
smile on the grandmistress' face. "What did I do wrong?" the former
wonders.
"You focused on only one thing, Ranma."
"Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?"
"No. Now try it again."
Ranma blinks, then closes her eyes, again assuming the
unsheathing position. Her battle aura flares, then melts into pure
white as she focuses on her hands. "Good. Excellent form," Negako
nods. "Now draw."
"***KONTOU!!!!***"
The soulsword blazes to life as Ranma gets to her feet, then
starts to flare wildly as chi leaks away from it. Negako shifts
around to place herself beside the blade. One hand then reaches
for the tip, then pushes in. Ranma watches, stunned speechless,
as the soulsword MELTS as Negako's hand advances. In two seconds,
what little is left vanishes.
Silence falls as they remain there, then Ranma stares at Negako.
A light smile crosses the grandmistress' face. "Willpower without
context is pure, blinding ego, Ranma. THAT can get you killed if you
are not careful. You need not have to see beyond Akane's example
to understand that."
With that, she leaps off the tower. Making a perfect landing,
Negako walks back to the dojo. Ranma remains atop the tower, a lost
look on her face. "'Willpower without context'..." she whispers.
"Why do you think it's called 'the Way of the Supreme LIFE?'"
Ranma screams, spinning around to see whom she at first thinks
is Negako. The martial artist stops herself as the newcomer's
older looks and more plain clothes come into focus. Her nose then
picks up a funny, salty tang in the air around the newcomer. "Who
are you?" Ranma demands.
"Nokoko, what are you doing here?" echoes from below.
Ranma looks down to see Negako standing by the tower base. She
then looks back at the newcomer. "Nokoko...?" she whispers.
"You're...!"
"Ataru-chan's older sister," Nokoko nods approvingly,
giving Ranma a very intense look. "My, I have to admit, his taste
in girls is superb. Even if you were born a boy. Eh, Ranma-chan?"
her eyebrow cocks.
Silence falls over the tower...
* * *
"So you don't know who it was that bonded Ataru and I, right?"
Ranma, Negako and Nokoko sit in the living room by the dojo,
tea cups in hand. "No. I fell behind Ataru-chan when he was chasing
you and that fool father of yours back to your campsite. By the time
I got there, I had half of Uncle's security people protecting
me. I know as much as anyone else," the eldest-born of Muchi's
and Kinshou's children sighs.
"So what happened to you after Oyaji took me home?" Ranma asks.
"I stayed with Uncle Komeru until I turned six," Nokoko
grimaces. "As a birthday 'present' to me, he finally told me about
my relationship with Ataru-chan and his 'parents.' Well..." she
looks down. "I didn't like hearing that. The next thing I knew,
a voice echoed in my head, asking if I'd want to meet some new
friends, try to have a real family for a change. So I left and wound
up going to another dimension."
"Another dimension?! You mean here?" Ranma perks.
"No. The dimension I'm talking about is a place most people
in our galaxy and elsewhere call 'the Outland,'" Nokoko smirks.
"It's a hyper-warp pocket, between normal warp space and transwarp
space. Only access point in the Milky Way galaxy is near planet
Elle." Her smirk turns sarcastic. "Oh, did Ataru-chan ever tell you
about their queen?"
"The bitch with the hundred thousand guys in deep freeze?"
"That's her," Nokoko nods. "I've stayed in the Outland ever
since, save for the odd trip to Elle or back to Earth. Brief visits,
of course."
Ranma blinks. "Why?"
Nokoko considers that question for a moment. "For Ataru-chan's
sake and especially for our half-sisters' sake, I can't come back
home full-time, Ranma-chan. Not for some years to come." Sensing
Ranma about to launch into a protest, Nokoko holds up a hand.
"Please! There's a reason I made that choice, Ranma-chan. Will you
hear me out first?!"
Ranma tenses, then relaxes herself. "Why?"
"You know how succession works in our family, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Then you know what might happen if I do suddenly appear alive?"
"You'd be the next Matriarch. Matter of fact, I'd say you're
over twenty now, so you'd be able to take over right away."
"What happens to Sakuya-chan and the others, then?"
"Well, they can still be cared for, can't they?" Ranma demands.
Seeing Nokoko shake her head in response, she demands, "Why not?!"
"Simple. All of them were born out of wedlock, remember?
In fact, according to Negako-chan, almost all of those poor girls
have been either abandoned or orphaned by their birth-mothers
and step-fathers. Do you really think people who associate with our
family would choose a girl like Sakuya-chan over someone like me, the
*legitimate* blood-descendant of Nagaiwakai Moroboshi?" Nokoko
wonders. "No, Ranma-chan. Even if my family has welcomed orphans
left, right and centre into the overall extended family, the CORE of
the family has to remain as 'pure' as possible."
"Even if our clan, not to mention the others forming the
Tenchiaiki Juukazoku, were founded to shield 'illegitimate'
births from public outcry in the first place," Negako lightly smiles,
then sips her tea.
"What does that mean?" Ranma asks.
"Have you ever heard of the Empress Shotoku?"
Ranma blinks, then shakes her head. "I don't know the name."
"She was one of the last of the Nara Dynasty monarchs,"
the ninjitsu grandmistress explains. "In fact, Shotoku was one of
the rare rulers of Japan who spent two separate periods on the
throne. The first time she ruled the land, she went by the name
'Koken.' It was the second time that directly influenced the early
history of our clan, Ranma. Thanks very much to Shotoku's quite
passionate interest in a fellow named Kokyou."
Ranma starts, then holds up a finger. "Oh, wait a sec'! He was
a Buddhist priest who..." a pause, then, "I remember now! Damn, I
should've paid more attention in history classes! Kokyou was the guy
an empress -- Shotoku, right? -- fell in love with. It came to the
point where she wanted to make him the emperor, but folks in Nara
hated the idea, so they kicked her off the throne, then shifted
the capital to Kyoto, right?"
"Exactly," Negako nods. "But what has never been mentioned
in a history book is that prior to her reported death in 770, Shotoku
managed to..." she sips her tea, "...consummate her relationship
with Kokyou."
"They had a baby?"
"Yes," Negako replies. "A lovely girl they named Mihei. In
fact, according to the old tales that were preserved in the psychic
database that eventually evolved into me, Mihei was so beautiful,
those who wanted to see her dead because her existence threatened
the Imperial succession vowed they'd rather kill themselves than
raise a knife against her."
"So what happened?"
"It was decided by Shotoku's successor, Konin, that she, Kokyou
and Mihei would be banished from the court. To the public at large,
Shotoku and Kokyou would be dead. No mention would EVER be made of
Mihei. But in private, they would be allowed to live in peace as
long as they never revealed their affiliation to the Imperial throne
to the public at large. To better facilitate that, Shotoku and
Kokyou were adopted into a low-rank noble family, the ancestors
to the modern-day Moroboshi Clan. And they lived to the promise
they made to Konin for the rest of their days."
"What happened to Mihei?"
"She married the young heir of the family and bore him ten very
healthy children. For the time, it was seen as the greatest of
miracles that none of them succumbed to the many illnesses rampant
then. That brought Mihei to the attention of Master Hosan, who at
that time served as Emperor Kammu's personal inspector for the noble
houses."
"Did Kammu know about Mihei being Shotoku's daughter?"
"Master Hosan discovered that soon enough, then persuaded
Kammu to allow things to stand as they were. In fact, Kammu and
Mihei came to maintain a lively -- and top secret, of course --
correspondence for the remainder of their lives. It was during that
time that Mihei came up with an interesting idea. Since many
children were being born out of wedlock among the noble houses,
why could there not be a place where they ALL could go to live their
lives in peace? A place where they could also learn to be active
and productive assets for Japan as a whole? Kammu was intrigued
by the concept -- I believe Master Hosan persuaded him -- so the
agreement that created the Tenchiaiki Juukazoku was made. All of
Mihei's children, both sons and daughters, were the founders of the
Ten Families."
"So that started the whole idea of your family adopting people
who were orphaned or abandoned because they weren't 'pure,' right?"
"Exactly," Negako nods. "Over the years, the Juukazoku have
been forced to conform to some set standards imposed on them by
outside society. But the primary mission remains. In fact, in this
day and age, with there being so much of a struggle between
'traditional' and 'modern' values, our clan's traditional mission
becomes more paramount. How better to symbolize it than by allowing
those who were not of 'pure' birth to take control of the family's
future? If Nokoko returns..." she indicates her sister.
"What happens to the sisters?" Nokoko finishes.
Ranma considers that. "Don't you miss Ataru?"
"Yes, I DO miss him!" Nokoko's eyes harden. "I miss him very
much. Before Negako got pulled out of his head, my fondest dream
was to go back to Tomobiki and pull Ataru-chan away from Muchi and
Kinshou. I couldn't do it at the time, though, since I was stuck
in the Outland dealing with other matters. By the time I DID get to
Earth, what did I find? My own brother brainwashed, Kinshou just
waiting for the chance to get her hands on the family fortune,
Uncle having gone of who-knows-where, and..." she shrugs. "There
was Nagaiwakai up on Rishiri-tou, acting as if it was totally BELOW
her to go down and straighten this whole mess out herself."
Silence falls as Nokoko sips her tea. "Didn't you offer to
handle this whole mess for her?" Ranma asks.
Nokoko stares at her. "And what would that have done?"
"But Ataru was...!"
"Suffering?" Nokoko's eyebrows arch. "Not exactly. Yes, he was
being lied to and manipulated to a certain extent, but not suffering.
And Negako-chan was planning to go back to him sooner or later,
regardless of what she 'promised' Kinshou. We wanted to wait for the
right time to move in. Well..." she shrugs. "Lum's arrival
complicated matters."
"Not to mention Nagaiwakai's death," Negako adds, then sips her
tea before continuing, "Plus the many questions hovering over the
sisters."
Ranma sighs. "You guys wanted to do it in such a way that
didn't wind up hurting the ones you really wanted to help, right?"
"Exactly," Nokoko nods. "Ranma-chan, if I went back when she
was still alive, Nagaiwakai would've made me the
Matriarch-in-Waiting, then turned around and abandoned Sakuya-chan
and the others without a second's hesitation. Yeah, she could've
used the sisters to break up Muchi's and Kinshou's marriage, but that
would've put those girls through an eternity of pain and misery for
no real benefit whatsoever. And you know how Ataru-chan eventually
came to think of what Muchi and Kinshou did."
"Nagaiwakai's death cleared matters considerably since Nokoko
never bothered to reveal she was still alive to anyone, not even
Komeru," Negako adds. "For the sisters' sake -- and in some ways,
for Ataru's as well -- Nokoko must remain 'dead' until well after
Sakuya turns twenty and is made the new Matriarch. After that, it
will be of no concern."
Ranma considers that. "And because you've obviously got access
to some pretty powerful stuff -- if you didn't, how the hell could
you've come to a place like Sanctuary, eh? -- you wanted to stay away
while Lum was busy making hash out of Ataru's life, right?" she
stares at Nokoko.
"Yes," the eldest of the Moroboshi children nods. "I'm not
fully human, Ranma. In part, I'm of a race who call themselves
'the Great School of the Nendo-kata.' Socially, my Great School
is very advanced and we do our best to bring peace -- what we call
'Unity' -- to other species without forcing our beliefs on them. In
effect, we don't want to provoke something that would bring untold
misery to other people. It's wrong, very wrong. It flies against
our core belief in the fostering of Unity, the moulding of the
Universal School." She sips her tea. "Ranma-chan, if we tried to
set matters aright concerning the Urusians and their interest in
Earth, what might've happened? I'm sure Ataru-chan's told you about
all the fun he had dealing with Uru's Imperial sects while he was
busy learning the Art from Negako-chan. Do you really think they'd
tolerate something like that?"
"After they helped kill Ataru's grandmother?" Ranma grimaces.
"No."
Nokoko lightly smiles. "It hurts me to do this, Ranma-chan,"
she reaches over to squeeze Ranma's hand. "But for my brother's
and sisters' sake, I have to do this. It doesn't mean that I won't
stay away forever. I will come back to be with you guys. It just
can't happen now."
"Does he know you're still alive?"
"He knows," Negako replies. "And it hurts him as well. The
sisters do not know, though Chikage may come to suspect it sooner
or later."
Ranma takes a deep breath. "You don't want me to tell them
anything at all, right?" she stares concernedly at Nokoko.
"No, not now," Nokoko shakes her head. "Let them feel they're
in control of their lives, Ranma-chan. It's what they deserve most
of all." A snide smile crosses her face. "And if they have that,
then everything the rest of those fools tried to force on them will
be nothing but hot air. After all, they say that living well IS the
best revenge, ne?"
"True!" Ranma laughs...
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 14 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"'Willpower without context is pure, blinding ego.'
"I think I understand that now.
"Telling me that, Negako hinted to me that to properly forge
a real soulsword, I have to tap into my willpower within 'context.'
"I didn't understand it at first, but Nokoko-oneechan's
visit, the reasons she gave me for staying away from Ataru and the
sisters, pretending to be 'dead' to the rest of her family, woke me
up to something I've never really sat back and thought about. That
I realize it *now,* after so much wasted time digging myself into a
pit I probably could never had got myself out of hadn't the
Moroboshis entered my life, hurts me worse.
"It's my ego.
"The very same ego that kept prodding me on and on regardless
of the pathetic crap that came down on my head. The ego that made
me always say 'Ranma Saotome doesn't lose.' The ego that made me
learn some of the most stupid, ridiculous forms for some of the most
idiotic reasons conceivable.
"To think it took me THIS long to wake up to that."
Ranma sighs, wiping her eyes as she continues to type...
"I hate myself now. Rather, I hate what that ego of mine
blinded me to. I'm not the only one who has it. Everyone has ego;
it's what drives people to do what they feel is good for them. From
ego comes confidence, the belief that makes my Mouko Takabisha
attack possible. But when one allows one's ego to take control
of his life, well..."
A pause, then...
"...well, we get situations like Akane, who says over and over that
she's a martial artist when she hasn't really put her heart into
studying the Art.
"We get situations like the Nyu-che-zuu, who believe their way
of life is perfect and kill anyone who disagrees with them.
"We get situations like Tatewaki and Kodachi Kunou, who feel
that because they're noble-born, they're entitled to anything they
want.
"We get people like Oyaji and Akane's dad -- and Mom, too -- who
say they're right when it'd be clear to a blind man that they're
wrong.
"And we..."
Another pause, then...
"...we get me.
"Ranma 'Never Loses A Fight' Saotome.
"Ranma 'Best Martial Artist In The World' Saotome.
"Ranma 'Won't Refuse A Challenge' Saotome.
"Kami-sama, I hate myself!"
Fresh tears flow down her cheeks, then she finishes the entry:
"I'm gonna stop now. I think I need to cry a bit."
She memorizes the entry...
* * *
The next "morning"...
"Feeling better?"
Ranma stares nowhere in particular as Negako places a bowl of
ttouk-manduguk, Korean rice cake and dumpling stew, before her.
Picking up her chopsticks, Ranma fishes out a couple of the flat rice
cakes, then nibbles on them. "Not really," she sighs. "Part of me
wants to quit."
Negako gazes on her. "Then quit," she shrugs.
"Is everything so black-and-white to you?"
"No, for Existence Itself is not black-and-white,"
Negako smiles. "If you decide to 'quit,' you must realize that your
decision will have a profound effect on those who believe they have
a place in your life. If you press on the path you are on now, that
decision will also have a profound effect on those who believe they
have a place in your life. The question you must ask yourself
is this: which path will produce the most positive effect, to both
yourself and those associated with you? And are you willing to make
the necessary sacrifices to your heart and soul to achieve that goal?
Or, if neither path can produce what you want...?"
"Find a third path."
"Exactly."
"Shit!" Ranma shakes her head, leaning on one palm as she looks
nowhere in particular. "Well, for one thing, I know I can't live in
Nerima anymore. And I don't want certain people in my life anymore."
"Who exactly?"
"The Kunous, Oyaji and his 'friend' are definitely on the 'out'
list. The Nyu-che-zuu and Jijii aren't bad, now that I understand
where they're coming from, but I still want to keep them at a
distance. I might be able to remain friends with Ryouga. Ditto with
Akane and Ukyou one we get this engagement business out of the way.
Kasumi, too. Maybe Nabiki, but that's a BIG 'maybe.' And I'll
certainly count Doc Toofuu as a friend even if he doesn't come back
the Island. And Mom..." she takes a breath. "Well, that all depends
on her relatives, I guess. If they're out to manipulate me into
earning money just for them, screw 'em! I'll walk out on Mom so
fast, it'll make all their heads spin. Though I'll hate it..."
"Do you wish to remain a martial artist?" Negako asks.
Ranma sits back, gazing at the ceiling as she contemplates
that question. Oh, Kami-sama, that WAS the question, wasn't it? "I
do..." she whispers, "...but I don't want to be the type of martial
artist that Oyaji wanted to make of me. Fight everyone at the drop
of a hat, never turn back a challenge, never accept defeat..."
her voice trails off.
"Even I can be defeated, Ranma."
Ranma gazes on her host, a smile crossing her face. "You're
not afraid to admit that," she leans on the table. "I could never
admit it."
"You were not allowed to admit it," the grandmistress
crosses her hands under her chin. "And by not being allowed to admit
it by those who guided you down that path, you left yourself
vulnerable to attacks that, though not done within the bounds of
martial arts, hurt you greatly." A pause, then, "What did I tell you
before you met Nokoko?"
"'Willpower without context is pure, blinding ego.'"
"What is the context then?"
Ranma looks down at her bowl of stew, then replies, "People."
"Not just people," Negako holds up a finger. "Your environment
as a WHOLE, Ranma. People do not compose the sum total of Existence.
They are, depending on where you are, only a minute part. It is only
human arrogance that makes many presume that people are all that
matter."
"Like bears and sharks and dogs."
"And cats."
Ranma starts, then blinks as that flash of raw terror suddenly
fades. Seeing her reaction, Negako smiles. The younger woman stares
at her. "I guess it's working," she chuckles, gazing at her hands.
"Finish your breakfast, then meditate," Negako warns.
"Okay," Ranma picks up her chopsticks, then grins at her host.
"Don't tell Shirayuki-chan that I did this..."
She fires down the ttouk-manduguk with the same rigorous elan
she demonstrated at the Tendou's dinner table. Negako shakes her
head, then takes the empty bowl back as Ranma rises. As the younger
woman turns to leave, the ninjitsu grandmistress calls out, "One more
thing, Ranma."
"What?" Ranma stares at her.
"When you understand your environment as much as you do
yourself, THEN you can forge a proper soulsword," Negako holds up a
finger.
The younger woman blinks, then nods...
* * *
"AH-CHOO!!!"
The door to the kitchen opens. "Are you okay, Shirayuki-chan?"
Karen peeks in to see the chef hard at work baking muffins.
Shirayuki moans, rubbing her nose. "Hime thinks someone's
talking about Hime," she sniffs, then looks into the oven. "Maybe
it's Nee-sama."
"Probably," Karen smiles, heading back to Ataru's room...
* * *
The sixteenth "day"...
"'Willpower without context is pure, blinding ego,'" Ranma
mutters to herself as she lays on the dojo roof, gazing on the
swirling energy overhead. "Find the context, Saotome. Find the
context..."
Her eyes narrow as she uses her chi-vision to pick out what lay
in the space between Sanctuary and the "cap" over the time-chasm.
*Thank the gods that Ataru showed me how to pick out -- what did he
call it again? The Te'a lines?* she relaxes herself. Her eyes then
widen as tiny, spider web-like lines of energy appear in her vision.
"Alright..."
Shifting her hands up as if she was reaching out, Ranma infuses
her fingers with chi. Instantly, new matrix lines form from her
fingertips to attempt to mesh with the surrounding area. Ranma
grunts on seeing patterns shatter when they are touched by her own
chi energy. "Whoops! That's not right!" she mutters, then blinks.
"The Umisen-ken, maybe...?"
Focusing her chi on herself, she moves to match her body's aura
with the surrounding air. To an onlooker, Ranma appears to slowly
fade from physical view. This wasn't the Goshin Buufu, however.
The Body Defence Air Cloak was a total-energy chi-cloak, initially
perfected in secret by Ranma, Toshiko and Kumiko after the
mirror-twins had been freed from the compact. No, doing THAT would
probably be as much a disruption to the surrounding matrices of
energy as a straightforward physical or energy attack. Back to
basics, then. Just a simple Umisen-ken cloak...
Yes...
Ranma tries not to smile as the surrounding air's chi matrices
begin to mould with her own chi aura. Okay, first step done. *Let's
see if we can change it now,* she concentrates, tenderly projecting
her chi from herself through her fingertips into the surrounding
atmosphere...
...then she sighs as the matrices around her arms shatter.
"Damn, too much force!" she relaxes herself, preparing to try again.
Well, if at first you don't succeed...
* * *
Negako looks up. The ninjitsu grandmistress stands in the
kitchen. Nodding approvingly, she turns back to preparing lunch...
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 18 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Damn, I haven't concentrated THIS much on perfecting a single
martial arts form since I learned the Hiryuu Shooten-ha!
"But I know I'm getting somewhere. Right now, I've evolved
a variation of the Goshin Buufu that would work perfectly in
Sanctuary. I can't test it out somewhere else, not until I get home,
but if it works on Earth, then I'll give it the name 'Goshin Eifu.'
I doubt I could perform anything like the Goshin Kaze-fu here,
though.
"I don't want to risk doing something like THAT in Sanctuary.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you that Kumiko and Toshiko
have started creating their own variation of the Sen-ken forms. They
titled their approach the 'Fuusen-ken.' I like the name since air
can be both passive and active. They wanted to take the best of both
the Yamasen-ken and the Umisen-ken, then mix it all together to
create something unique.
"From what I've been told by Negako when I discussed this with
her last night, they've already made progress, mixing the cloaking
techniques of the Umisen-ken with the more brutal attacks of the
Yamasen-ken. Oyaji and Akane's father got a taste of it before I
came here with Negako.
"Too bad for them.
"While I do have the twins' permission to use the Fuusen-ken
forms if I need to, I want to make something for myself. The Goshin
Eifu is just the first step. Right now, I'm thinking of giving the
collected forms the name 'Eisen-ken.' That could change. It depends
on what happens next."
Ranma pauses. Taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts,
she puts her fingers back on the keyboard...
"What happens next?
"I've gone twenty-five days or so as a girl with no change back
to being a boy -- unless someone's switched me back to being a boy
when I was asleep and I didn't know about it. Better ask Negako
about that first, but if I haven't, that means in the next three days
or so -- if my cycle's like any other girl's -- I should be facing
my first period.
"My first period.
"To believe that I have to face THIS of all things?
"Right now, I say this: if any girl can live through it, so can
I. And if I DO become a girl in spirit and elect to have my curse
frozen in place, I'll have no choice BUT to face it every month."
Another pause, then...
"It's funny. I'm being pretty calm about this. What will
happen to me over the next while? How will it affect me?
"I wish I could predict it.
"Oh, well. Grin and bear it.
"Better talk to Negako, though."
* * *
"Your first period?"
"Yeah," Ranma nods. "I mean, the longest time I've ever been
frozen as a girl was twenty days. That's when Herb froze me with the
Chiisui-ton. What Elder Cologne did to me lasted nine days. So what
can I expect?"
The ninjitsu grandmistress considers that, then smirks. "Well,
I noticed you wisely packed some tampons with you when you came
here."
"When I had to deal with Herb, Kasumi told me stuff," Ranma
reports. "On average, you start getting wet down there the tenth
day after the cycle begins. That lasts eleven days. The eighth
day of that period's the real bad one. After that, you go dry until
you start to menstruate." A wry smile crosses her face. "I got wet
down there right when Kasumi predicted it'd happen. When I was
stuck, I had to hide tampons in my backpack and wear panties under
my boxers to hold the damned things in place when I was going to
school. If Oyaji ever saw them..." she rolls her eyes.
"Fool," Negako shakes her head.
"How do you handle it, Negako?"
Silence follows as Negako considers what to say, then she
shrugs. "Experiencing menstruation is a price I have to pay for
having a woman's body, Ranma. It is as much a function of human
biology as sexual arousal. When it comes, I deal with it. Like many
women, I prefer tampons when I confront both menstrual and cervical
mucus discharge. Unlike most, I use shiatsu in lieu of medication
to deal with cramps and other side-effects of the process. I will
teach that to you over the next few days."
"Have you ever thought of becoming a mother?"
"To bear a child?" Negako glances at her, then shakes her head.
"No. I still require time to fully comprehend the human condition
before I could consider bringing new life into this world. To bring
life into this world is a grave responsibility, Ranma. Who would
I choose as my potential mate? Would I be a good mother to my child?
What would my feelings for my child be? Would it be healthy for my
child if I raised her?" A pause, then, "And, being what I am, would
bearing a child make me vulnerable?"
"Emotionally, you mean," Ranma squeezes her host's shoulder.
"Yes. Emotional attacks are just as vicious, if not more so,
than mere physical attacks. You know that as well as I, Ranma."
"Hai, true..."
* * *
"Shirayuki?"
"Hai, Chikage-chan, is there something wrong?"
"I recommend you prepare some red beans and rice for Ane-kun
when she returns from Sanctuary," the sorceress instructs.
The chef, standing beside the stove, considers Chikage's
words, then her eyes widen. "Oh, Hime forgot that Nee-sama'll
be staying in Sanctuary for over a month!" She nods. "Hai, Hime'll
make some today!" A pause, then, "Um, Chikage-chan, do you think
Negako-neesama'll make some?"
"Do YOU believe Ane-kun would do something like that?"
Shirayuki blinks, then sighs. "Hime doesn't think so..."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 19 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"It's happening.
"I started getting bad cramps sometime after breakfast.
Negako kept me in the furo longer today, teaching me how to use
shiatsu to moderate the symptoms. It won't make it go away, but it
will allow me to function with some degree of normalcy. It's not
full-blown PMS -- that normally hits between five to eleven days
before menstruation starts -- but it's close.
"Felt something like a headache just before lunch. And when I
changed my clothes after a spell in the dojo, it felt as if someone
stuck a handful of knives into my breasts. More shiatsu in the furo
to deal with that, then I decided to go topless when I went out to do
some sketches. Heck, no one's here save us, so who the hell'd
notice?
"Negako tells me this is pretty much normal.
"Some 'normal!'"
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 20 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Oh, man, this is so damned ANNOYING!
"Girls put up to this crap every MONTH?!
"Oyaji always said girls were weak!
"Oyaji no baka!
"What the hell does HE know?!"
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 21 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"The blood. Oh, damn, the BLOOD!
"Oh, Kami-sama, why did you force girls THROUGH this shit?!"
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 22 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"The blood's not so bad now, but gods, it's DISGUSTING!
"Anyone ever tells me that girls are weak, I'll strangle them.
"Heh! I'll bet Xian and Elder Cologne'd love to see THAT!
"Akane, too."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 23 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Only two more days of this garbage.
"And then I wait twenty-three more days for it to hit the NEXT
time!
"And this'll last until my mid-FORTIES?!
"Kami-sama, I've decided.
"For forcing women throughout time to put up to this crap, not
to mention forcing ME through this crap, you're FIRED!
"I want a Megami-sama instead!
"At least She would understand this and DO something about it!
"I hate this."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 24 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"When she was doing shiatsu in the furo with me this morning,
Negako told me that I'm a very healthy girl. When I decide to have
children of my own, I wouldn't have many problems conceiving
and bearing them.
"I almost wanted to hit her for that!
"One more day.
"One more day.
"One more day."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 25 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Breakfast was red beans and rice.
"I actually cried.
"I never thought Negako had it in her.
"Even better, she prepared it Louisiana Cajun style, which she
picked up when she travelled to the States some years ago.
"Damn, it was GOOD! Spicy, but good!
"The blood wasn't that bad today. It's easier to concentrate
now. Looks like I'm one of the fifty-to-seventy percent of women
who have to deal with some sort of PMS, THEN deal with menstruation
atop that.
"Negako assures me that the next time this happens, it won't
be so distracting. I hope, I hope, I HOPE that she's right!"
* * *
The twenty-sixth "day"...
"So why are we doing this again?"
Ranma and Negako are in the living room, knitting needles in
hand as they create a pair of thick wool blankets. "Part of your
time with me will not be spent in Sanctuary," the grandmistress
states. "I will take you to Noukiios and her older colony worlds
so you may see for yourself why Ataru decided to side with them
against the Urusians. We are preparing these blankets..."
she waves to dozen blankets already done, now folded on one corner
of the living room, "...as an offering to the homeless."
Ranma stops. "How long are we going to be there?"
"Two days."
The younger woman's eyes widen. "Won't that affect our going
back to Earth? Or can we do some sort of time-travel from here?"
"Limited. At most, one could shift himself or herself to a
maximum of a week as it would be measured in our dimension. That
depends on the exact conditions between there and here," Negako
reports. "And no, it will not affect our return to Earth. Besides,
there are some people I would like you to meet. You will understand
when we arrive."
"Oh, okay," Ranma nods. "How many of these do you want to
make?"
"Two hundred full-sized ones for adults. Three hundred
half-sized ones for the children. We will depart when they are
done."
"Don't rush this, right?"
"Yes."
"Gotcha..."
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 27 of Sanctuary visit,
"Dear Diary,
"Another world.
"I'm going to another planet.
"No, FOUR planets.
"The first world I'm going to is Noukiios, home to a worldwide
culture five thousand years old. The culture itself is akin to a mix
of Hindu India with some Three Kingdoms, Koryou and Chosoun Korea
tossed in.
"The other planets -- Okusei, Tunchusei and Kurrusei -- are
Noukiios' oldest colony worlds. They got settled three hundred
years ago by Noukiite refugees not wanting anything to do with the
Urusians occupying Noukiios at the time. They eventually became
the Ip'ihu, an 'outcaste' society who made life REALLY rough for the
Urusians for a century.
"When the Onis got their asses booted off Noukiios, they
demanded Okusei and the other planets 'back,' ignoring the fact that
no Urusian ever WENT to those planets in the first place! The
Noukiites told them where to stick it and the two peoples've
been in a cold war state since.
"I can't imagine what it'll be like. I mean, to actually
walk on another planet. One with a different sun, different length
of day -- it's longer on Noukiios according to Negako -- and people
who, from how she described them to me, look like fair-skinned
Klingons from 'Star Trek.'
"Damn, I'm actually excited! I'm going to places I could've
never imagined going to not more than a year ago! Damn good thing
Negako's got a camera with her; when news of this gets out, no one
outside Ataru and his sisters won't believe a damned word I say! Oh,
well, it's their loss."
* * *
"So why do you want me to watch the chi patterns, Negako?"
Ranma demands. "Aren't we supposed to be going to Noukiios?"
"Patience, Ranma," Negako chuckles. "There is method to my
madness. Tell me, in the meditations you have engaged in over the
last 'week' to create the Eisen-ken, have you noticed the many
null-time bubbles?"
She points up. Ranma looks, her eyes narrowing. "Hey, yeah,
I do see them! The little white-chi air bubbles, you mean?"
"The same," Negako reaches behind her, drawing out Mister Bunny.
"Now, observe," she crouches to send the stuffed toy flying.
Ranma panics. "Hey, Negako, what the hell are you doing?!
You toss him and lose him, Hinako-chan'll throw a fit for a month!!"
"Patience, Ranma," Negako smirks, then sends Mister Bunny
flying.
The stuffed rabbit soars up to about fifty metres, then stops.
Ranma quickly notices that Mister Bunny is now trapped in a null-time
bubble. "Okay, it's trapped there! Now what?!" she gazes on Negako.
"***SEISHIN KUSARIGAMA!!!!***"
A glowing chain-and-hook forms around Negako's arm. Glancing
up, she lets the chain draw out, then sends it flying. Ranma blinks
on seeing the hook snare another time bubble close to the one holding
Mister Bunny. "Watch me, then do as I do, Ranma. And do it GENTLY!"
Negako tugs the time bubble gently over to touch the one holding
Mister Bunny in place.
Ranma gapes as the two bubbles suddenly merge as one. "Oh,
man!" she whistles, then drawing out her own Psychic Kusarigama,
gets to work. "How many of them do you want to draw in, Negako?"
"Five hundred-and-one."
"Why so many?!"
"You will see."
"Gotcha!"
Within thirty minutes, the requisite number of time bubbles
have been made to merge with the one holding Mister Bunny. Once that
is done, Negako orders Ranma to create a modified Psychic Kusarigama
Storm. "Now, observe, then be ready to retrieve," the grandmistress
holds up a finger, then aims on the time bubble. "***SEISHIN
HASAI HI-KOOSEN!!!!***"
The Spirit-Breaker Fire-Light bolt shears through the time
bubble like a laser through the time bubble. Ranma blinks at the
moment of impact, then gapes on seeing a SHOWER of Mister Bunnies
descend towards Sanctuary. "How the HELL...?!!" she sputters,
then realizing why Negako told her to prepare multiple Psychic
Kusarigamas, gets to work.
In less than a moment, all 501 Mister Bunnies are piled up on
the ground beside the dojo. Negako waves Ranma with her to ground
level, then takes one of the stuffed toys and transports it into the
dojo. "One for Hinako when we return home," she announces on coming
out. "The remainder will come with us to Noukiios as gifts to some
people Ataru knows."
Ranma blinks, then glances skyward. "How...?"
Negako gently pushes her head so they can gaze into each other's
eyes. "Time, Ranma, is perception first and foremost."
The younger woman blinks as Negako moves to bundle all the
stuffed toys in the blankets they knitted, then sighs. "Right..."
* * *
"Hinako-chan, why are you awake?"
Hinako moans as she rubs her eyes. "Hina just had a really,
really strange dream," she mutters, sitting at the dining room table.
"What sort of dream?" Rinrin asks.
"Hina dreamt that Onee-tama somehow helped Usagi-san have
babies."
The others in the room consider that, then Rinrin shakes her
head. "You're right, Hinako-chan. That IS a strange dream!"
The others nod as Hinako rests her head on her arms...
* * *
"How does it smell?"
"Stale," Ranma's nose crinkles, then she glances up.
An orange-gold sun, about the same size as Sol, blazes overhead.
The sky itself is a brilliant pale blue, though there is a tinge of
green in the clouds to her right and behind her. The land itself
is mountainous, somewhat like the mountains around Jusenkyou and
Joketsuzoku. The trees are similar in shape to what Ranma is used
to, but the leaf colours span the spectrum. There are many bare
spots in the surrounding landscape, revealing worn, arid soil. "What
happened here, Negako?" she asks.
"Famine. It is not as acute here as it is on the colony
worlds," Negako waves Ranma down a trail towards a valley about a
kilometre away. "And with the new colonies the Noukiites are
establishing far from any reach by elements of the Urusian military,
the famine should vanish within five years or so as more
food-producing areas are put into production."
"Don't the Onis know what they're doing to these people?!"
"No. Granted, the normal Urusian would be horrified on
confronting such information. However, until this war started,
the government did as much as it could to censure such information
in the Urusian press and public media. Do you have your translator
with you, Ranma?"
"Hai," Ranma taps the pen-like device slung around her neck,
then grunts on feeling the weight of the massive bundle on her back.
"By the way, how far before we get to where we're going?"
"Not too far," Negako assures her; she carries a bundle the same
size as the one now propped on Ranma's back. "But I would not
recommend running. The Lost Stars might interpret it as an attack."
"Right...!" Ranma pauses. "'Lost Stars?!'"
"Patience, Ranma. You will see."
"Hai..."
They proceed into the valley. As they walk, Ranma takes the
chance to gaze at the scenery around her. Despite the strange
colours and shapes, not to mention the splotches of bare soil, this
place could easily be mistaken for one of the rural parts of Japan.
Gravity seemed to match Earth's. The air was breathable despite
the lack of moisture. No doubt, they were some distance from any
large bodies of water. And the mountains would block the flow of
air. No, this part of Noukiios would match some places in North or
South America, the martial artist decides.
About twenty minutes later, they step out of the forest into a
wide clearing. Set up there is a small village, walled in like
Sanctuary. The walls are wood this time, not concrete. A heliport
or something like it lies off to Ranma's right. The trail she and
Negako had been using to get to this place leads right to the main
gate of the village. Standing guard by the gate are two burly men in
camouflage fatigues, very advanced-looking assault rifles in hand at
port-arms. Both tense on seeing the newcomers, then relax on
recognizing Negako, lower their weapons.
"Greetings," Negako hails as they stop before the gate, she
lowering the bundle on her back to the ground. Ranma does the same.
A quick glance towards the centre of the walled village later, the
grandmistress asks, "Are the girls up to visitors from Earth today,
Ch'ekaech?"
"They are, Most Venerable," the guard to Ranma's left nods, then
gazes on her. "And this is...?" he glances curiously at Negako.
"Ataru's 'Other,' Ranma Saotome. A student of mine," Negako
states.
The guards smile. "Heaven's blessings to you. Welcome to
Noukiios, Venerable Ranma. Please allow me..." Ch'ekaech nods as he
and his friend sling their weapons, then move to carry the bundle
off Ranma's back. "Where do you wish this placed, Most Venerable?"
he looks at Negako.
"The blankets are for whatever homeless group requires them.
The stuffed animals are for the girls themselves. Save Nich of
course."
"We understand, Most Venerable," the guards nod.
Ranma stares at Negako. "'Most Venerable?'"
The grandmistress rolls her eyes. "Try as I might, I cannot
make any of them address me as anything but that. Their society
is, as I warned you back in Sanctuary, more rigidly structured
than even India's. In their eyes, Ataru and I are considered
the equivalent of the Yekhu..."
"Their top caste," Ranma nods.
"The same. 'Venerable' is their form of address to those Yekhu
who do not serve as anointed priests in their religion."
"And 'Most Venerable?'" Ranma tries not to grin.
Before Negako could answer, a voice squeals "Auntie Negako!!!"
as two little typhoons around Hinako's age slam into the
grandmistress.
Ranma gapes on seeing Negako now holding twin girls, both
possessing electric blue hair and blue-green eyes, close to her. As
befitting those of Noukiios' highest caste, circular gold dots adorn
their cheeks. Their head-ridges are in a crow's feet pattern based
above the bridge of their noses. Both are now dressed in the same
type of military fatigues the guards from the main gate wear, though
they do not have weapons on their person. One girl wore her hair
loose to past her shoulders while the other tied her hair in a shaggy
ponytail to her waist. "Hello, girls," Negako's voice softens
considerably. Interpreting the change of tone, Ranma smirks. Yeah,
now she could understand why Negako was so hesitant on the idea of
having her own children. "How are you? At least you are eating
well."
"How can we eat so well when so many are starving, Auntie?"
the girl sans ponytail wonders, then her eyes fall on Ranma.
"Auntie, who's this?"
"Ah," Negako lowers them to the ground, then indicates Ranma.
"This is the person your father is bonded to, girls. Her name is
Ranma Saotome. 'Ye-Neap'ye Yesu-P'ucht'u' in your format. Ranma..."
she waves to the twins. "May I present Ataru's adopted daughters,
Reiko..." she indicates the girl without the ponytail, "...and
Kaneko..." she indicates the girl with the ponytail, "...Moroboshi,
two of the Lost Stars of Noukiios."
Ranma takes that in, unsure of what to say. Hearing who this
person is concerning their adopted father, Reiko and Kaneko smile.
Finally, she turns to stare intently at Negako. "If they're his
daughters, what the hell are they doing HERE, Negako?!" she points
to the ground.
"Would you abandon your friends if they were fighting a war for
their race's survival and freedom, Venerable P'ucht'u?"
Ranma jolts, then looks through the open gate, surprised
to see a mass of girls standing there gazing at her. Some of them
were younger than Hinako. Not one Ranma could see now appears older
than Shirayuki. The one who just spoke to her is a silver-haired,
golden-eyed girl appearing to be about Aria's age. She now bears
the silver dots of a K'et'hu -- the caste of wandering missionaries,
second only to the Yekhu in social standing -- on her cheeks and a
ray of five head ridges on her forehead. All of the girls are
dressed like Reiko and Kaneko, none of them bearing arms.
"I'm not going to like hearing this, am I?" she gazes on Negako.
Negako shakes her head...
* * *
Within an hour, Ranma and Negako are secured in the guesthouse,
a raised structure located near the main gate. The blankets are
quickly separated from all the Mister Bunny clones, then folded and
prepared for transport. As soon as Negako tells the Lost Stars that
the stuffed toys are theirs thanks to Hinako, a mad frenzy of girls
nearly sees all of the grandmistress' and Ranma's work in Sanctuary
undone. Once all the toys are matched with a Lost Star, a plain yet
well-cooked lunch is prepared by a smiling platinum-haired
girl Kaho's age, she reminding Ranma of a young Kasumi Tendou.
"Chyek, did you remember to not serve foods that aren't compatible
to Terrans?" Negako wonders as Ranma draws chopsticks to eat.
"Yes, Most Venerable," she gazes apologetically at Ranma.
"There isn't much to spare for visitors, Venerable. I'm sorry about
that."
"Oh, heck, don't worry about it," Ranma smiles, drawing up a
strip of brownish-grey meat from the bowl, then nibbles on it. "Hmm.
Odd taste," she muses, then takes down the rest. "What is this,
anyway?"
"Nat'echinai stew," she explains.
Ranma hears "opossum" instead of the nicer-flowing Noukiite
word thanks to her translator. "Opossum stew?! Well..." she brings
up another slice of meat, then nibbles on it. "I've had a lot worse.
It's good."
Chyek blushes, then looks over as Reiko and Kaneko walk in, both
carrying Mister Bunny clones. "Mama, could you tell Auntie Hinako
when you get back to Earth that we really, really appreciate
her presents!"
A funnel of half-chewed stew bursts from Ranma's mouth.
"***WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!?!***" Ranma shrills, causing the
twins to duck.
Instantly, their eyes tear. "B-but you're b-bonded to Papa!"
Kaneko sniffles, pointing to Negako. "Auntie Negako said you were
bonded to Papa! That means you and Papa are going to marry one day!
Wh-why don't you w-want us to call you 'Mama'...?!" she sniffles,
then starts to cry.
Reiko joins her. Seeing this, Ranma's bluster instantly
crashes. When it came to the waterworks, Reiko and Kaneko were Aria
times two, magnified to the hundredth degree. "Oh, man...!" she
deflates, then staring at the weeping Noukiite pre-teens, sighs.
"Oh, c'mere..."
She reaches over, drawing them into her arms. Sensing her warm
embrace, the twins sniffle, then move to cuddle, allowing their
stuffed toys to fall to the floor. Chyek gazes quizzically
at Negako. "Most Venerable, why is the Venerable One so hesitant
on the idea of marrying the Euk Hisehek and adopting P'yeknu and
At'nu as her daughters?"
Ranma blinks. The translator got hung up on "Euk Hisehek"
-- it allowed its wearer to hear the Noukiite words clearly -- though
it did translate the Noukiite names properly as "Reiko" and "Kaneko."
"Ranma is unique as would-be spouses come, Chyek," Negako smiles.
"Give her time."
"If you believe so," Chyek sighs...
* * *
"Anigimi-sama, are you alright?"
Ataru sits down at the dining room table. He seems to be
distant for a moment, then he flashes Haruka a reassuring smile.
"I was just thinking about something, Haruka-chan. It's alright,"
he nods.
"Aniue-sama, would you want some tea?" Marie asks.
"Sure! Some of your cherry tea?"
"Alright!"
Marie steps out of the room. Ataru sighs, then sits back in his
chair. Looking over to where Hinako now sleeps on the couch beside
Aria, he takes a deep breath. So beautiful. So much like Reiko and
Kaneko...
Reiko. Kaneko.
Damn it! How was he supposed to explain THEM to his sisters?
"Oh, by the way, did you girls know you're AUNTS now because I
adopted a pair of Noukiite girls as my very own DAUGHTERS?"
After they got over the shock THAT would unleash, he would then have
to explain why is it their seven-year-old nieces were off fighting
the war against Uru. And that wasn't in a support role, but actually
in the front line of battle!
How...?
"Ani-kun?"
He perks, then looks up to see Chikage gazing knowingly at him.
"What is it, Chikage-chan?" he wonders.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, she leans down to whisper,
"I would like to meet them sometime soon, Ani-kun. So would the
others once you tell them of our nieces. You have nothing to fear,
Ani-kun."
She walks away. Ataru watches her, then looks at his hands...
* * *
"Venerable?"
Ranma turns to see the silver-haired K'et'hu girl from the front
gate now standing at the door. Shushing her, the former points to
the sleeping girls on a futon, both clutching their Mister Bunnies.
The girl nods, then waves Ranma to follow her. In a minute, they
arrive at another hut, this one looking more lived-in. "This is
where you live, Sister?"
The girl stops, her cheeks flaming. "V-v-venerable,
you don't need to address me as *that!*" she stutters. "I haven't
taken any vows!!"
Ranma laughs, then sits down beside one futon. The girl relaxes
beside her. "Sorry, but being called 'venerable' all the time'd
drive me up the wall! I haven't done anything much to earn that sort
of title."
She considers that for a moment. "I'm sorry. But in my
culture, respect for those born of a higher element of the Ten Orders
must be shown. Though many of us do envy the equality the Ip'ihu
project, we fear doing something which could threaten our advancement
to the next life when we face the Ch'uoeuk." A thoughtful look
crosses her face, then she offers her hands. "Forgive me. My name
is K'e-Nuk Yeho-Niap'yeng. It's an honour to meet you, Ven-..."
she stops herself, then smiles. "Ranma."
"Niap'yeng," Ranma repeats her given name, hoping she got the
hard burst of air on the "p" sound right, plus enunciated the "ng"
as it would be said in Korean, with just a slight "g" sound. She
grasps Niap'yeng's offered hands, then draws them close, which makes
Niap'yeng shift onto her lap. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too. So
how the heck does a cute girl like you, at your age, wind up fighting
for your planet?"
Niap'yeng stares at her, then forlornly sighs. "How much has
the Most Venerable One told you of us, Ven-...? Er, Ranma?"
"Not much, but I can see through your battle auras that you've
been through quite a lot recently," Ranma cradles her. "And I can
tell that you've all been to Sanctuary. Is that where you met Ataru
and Negako?"
"Yes. We were the victims -- or if you wish to see it that way,
the *beneficiaries* -- of an evil plot to create a group of
metahuman-powered Naihu warriors to be indentured across the Galactic
Federation." Hearing that, Ranma nods. She knew the Naihu were
Noukiios' slave caste, though in pre-Occupation Noukiite society,
they served along the lines of the English concept of "gentleman's
gentleman" or "lady's lady-in-waiting." "Most of the Lost Stars were
abandoned at birth, left to die because their families just couldn't
support them due to famine or poverty. Some, such as myself, were
kidnapped from our families to fill the quotas our 'dealers,'
who styled themselves 'the Masters of Noukiios,' needed to fill."
Ranma blanches. "What happened?"
"Well, when the war with the dog people..." -- Ranma knew that
term was the usual way of addressing the Urusians -- "...started,
the government drafted us into the Dominion's service. The Masters
tried to keep us under their control, but they were put to death by
the Zephyrite Inquisition, aided by the Most Venerable One and your
soul-mate." Niap'yeng ignores the blush crossing Ranma's face.
"When your soul-mate announced his intention to persecute the Urusian
Imperials responsible for his grandmother's death, the Dominion
government offered their assistance. In repayment of that, the Most
Venerable One offered to train us in Sanctuary so we can help the
Dominion's cause against the Urusians and bring the war to a quick
end."
Ranma considers that. "Yeah, I can see that. What about
Reiko-chan and Kaneko-chan? How'd Ataru end up adopting them?"
Niap'yeng sighs. "P'yeknu and At'nu are very unique. They're
both bioroids, Ranma. Purpose-built from the DNA of some of
Noukiios' greatest heroes, emperors and philosophers, all mixed
together."
"'Bioroids?!' Like Negako?"
"Yes. Their creators wanted to give Noukiios living symbols
of what makes us who we are, symbols that could help us finally
overcome the pain and misery the Urusians left behind. They simply
tricked the Masters into paying for P'yeknu's and At'nu's creation.
It..." Niap'yeng stops, then takes a deep breath. "It's been hard
for them, though. The DNA that went into P'yeknu and At'nu had to be
taken from the graves of their 'parents,' but grave-robbing
of any sort is a capital crime on Noukiios. So..."
"So they needed to be adopted by someone who wouldn't look down
on them because of how they came into this world, right?"
"Yes."
Ranma sighs. "So when did it happen?"
"After your soul-mate had his ugly encounter with those
dungheap-dog Niphentaxians," Niap'yeng makes a face. "When he
returned to Sanctuary, he was on the brink of a total nervous
breakdown. We..." she closes her eyes as echoes of pained screams
reverberate through her mind. "We helped as best as we could. P'ye
and At'nu most of all. Eventually, he came out of it. And as he
did, he started to call P'ye and At'nu 'musume-chan.' When the Most
Venerable One told them what that term meant, P'ye and At'nu knew
they had found someone who could adopt them. When our training
with the Most Venerable One was complete, her brother formally
adopted them."
"But they had to come back here to help end this war, right?"
"Yes. Your soul-mate didn't want them to come back here. Many
of us felt it wouldn't be right, either, especially now that P'ye and
At'nu now had a family to call their own. But..." Niap'yeng shrugs.
"They just couldn't envision leaving Noukiios once and for all while
we were still fighting the Urusians. So they came back with us."
"They WILL go back to Ataru, won't they?"
"When it's all over, yes."
Ranma breathes out in relief. "That's good. I mean, they're
both sweet girls and all. I..." she pauses. "Ataru never told me
about them."
"I would not blame him for that," Niap'yeng sighs.
Both perk on hearing someone step inside, then look as a
crimson-haired girl Niap'yeng's age walks up. "Nia, we've got a
problem."
"What is it, Han?" Niap'yeng asks.
"Our friends on Okusei received a message from across the line,"
Han -- her full name is Eyu-Teo Yeho-Hanak'at' -- reports, her eyes
sparkling with excitement. "Yethis Seq is still alive! As is his
sister and his niece, Sugoi. They fled to Machibusu after Onishuto
was destroyed. A group's preparing to try to get them. They want
us to help out."
Niap'yeng's eyes widen. "Still alive?! But I thought all the
major leaders of the Imperial Round were accounted for by P'ye's
father!"
"Who could identify bodies after Onishuto was atomized by an
anti-matter bomb, Nia?" Hanak'at' shrugs. "The sighting's been
confirmed."
Niap'yeng considers that. Ranma stares at her, then at
Hanak'at'. "Did this guy have a hand in what happened to Ataru's
grandma?"
"He had a hand in a LOT of things concerning your kind,
Venerable," Hanak'at' warns. "He was the one who slipped in a clause
in the First Tag Race agreement that would've forced another tag race
if P'ye's father was killed or permanently crippled, even AFTER the
original race was done. He and his kind have dreamt of conquering
your planet, just like they dreamt of reconquering us! In his eyes,
Venerable, your people are the 'uo-t'ich.' And before this war
started, he was the chief-of-staff to the Urusian President himself!
What do you think we should do with him?!"
"Han's right, Ranma," Niap'yeng sighs. "If Yethis is allowed
to live, then he could reconstitute a government that would present
a threat to your people and mine. He has to be eliminated.
Quickly."
Ranma considers that, then sighs...
* * *
Night comes quickly to the Lost Stars' village. Ranma lies on
the roof of the guest hut inside the village, gazing on the stars.
The star pattern was wildly different from what she was used to on
Earth, but some of the constellations were still recognizable.
Another big difference between this world and Earth was the absence
of a moon, though there were a pair of -- she assumed this -- large
planets quite visible in the sky to her left. Taking a deep breath
to calm herself, she shudders as Niap'yeng's and Hanak'at''s
conversation replays in her mind.
Damn, was THIS ugly or WHAT?!
Young children, both of whom should be with their families,
playing with each other and their friends -- now forced to fight a
war. And there they were, calmly discussing ways of KILLING somebody
with the same tone of voice others would use to discuss going to a
movie or buying some cosmetics at the local store. Yeah, this Yethis
Seq guy sounded like someone who clearly had no sense of honour.
And he clearly was someone who was not just a threat to Niap'yeng's
people but to Ranma's. But still...!
"Ranma?"
She looks left to see Niap'yeng standing beside her, then sighs.
"I needed some time to think to myself, Nia-chan," she whispers.
The young girl blushes on hearing Ranma freely give her the
"-chan" appellation with her "pet" name, then sits beside her. "It
has to be done, Ranma," she stares at the stars. "For the sake of
countless millions -- on my planet, on yours -- and yes, on Uru, too
-- he has to die."
"Why can't you just capture him and put him on trial? Make him
admit what he did wrong in a court? That could hurt?"
Niap'yeng shakes her head. "If we did that, Ranma, he
potentially could do all sorts of things that would hurt us both in
the short and long term. He's THAT committed to his cause. He's
THAT convinced that he's right, Ranma. No attempt at persuasion
will help, not now." She takes a deep breath. "If we make him
disappear, make his final fate a mystery to his kind, the Urusian
Imperial cause will be dealt a crippling blow. That is what we want,
Ranma. We don't want to kill every Urusian alive. To do THAT is a
hideous crime before the Ch'uoeuk and we would be damned to the
lowest level of the Ten Orders for it. Just like the fellow who took
that annihilation bomb into Onishuto not so long ago. P'ye's father
told you about that, didn't he?" Seeing Ranma slowly nod, she
continues. "Yes, he was able to destroy the whole Urusian government
machinery, but millions of innocent people died, too. That he did
that..." she shudders. "That he would gladly do that would make me
pray for the salvation of his soul and the souls of those who helped
him, for the Ch'uoeuk will not show him an ounce of mercy when he
faces his judgement at the Pool of Reincarnation."
Ranma nods, then sighs. "Is Negako going with you guys?"
"Yes, she is. Do you want to come?"
"I guess I should. And for that," she sits up, "...I best get
in some practice before going to bed tonight, Nia-chan."
"Practice in what...?"
Her eyes widen in shock as Ranma vanishes before her...
* * *
Ranma smiles as she feels her body slip into the embrace of the
Goshin Eifu, then she stops on seeing Niap'yeng frozen in place,
her eyes wide with shock as her jaw seems to drop towards the roof.
"What the...?" she blurts out, then takes a detailed look around
the small camp.
What the...?
Holy...!
Oh, gods, this was JUST not POSSIBLE!
EVERYTHING...?!
"Now do you understand, Ranma?"
Ranma gasps, spinning around to see Negako sitting on the roof,
a bemused smile on her face. "NEGAKO?!! Jeez, you're just as...!"
she stops, then looks at her hand. "Negako, what did I just do?!"
An eyebrow arches. "Remember what I told you in Sanctuary,
Ranma?"
Ranma stops, then a surprised grin crosses her face. "'Time
is perception first and foremost.' Then that means..."
"By mixing your chi with the temporal energy of Sanctuary,
you've given yourself the ability to, for brief periods, step
completely outside of linear time," Negako explains. "And I
emphasize BRIEF periods, Ranma. If you do this far TOO often..."
she holds up a warning finger.
"I could be stuck here forever, right?"
"Exactly."
"Ranma, why did you do that?!"
Ranma screams, spinning around to see a mildly-annoyed
Niap'yeng now standing, glaring at her. "What the HELL?!?!" she
nearly backs into Negako, then turns to face the grandmistress.
"H-how...?!"
Negako chuckles. "Niap'yeng has the ability to temporarily
shift herself out of linear time herself. She has the added
advantage of being able to shift herself forwards and backwards
through time."
Ranma blinks, blinks again, then sighs. "Oh!"
Niap'yeng giggles...
* * *
The next morning sees a fair-sized group of Lost Stars,
including Reiko, Kaneko, Niap'yeng and Hanak'at', plus Ranma and
Negako, board a clunky-looking starship for the voyage to Okusei.
The ship blasts off from the village, then soars into orbit without
any noticeable side-effects on her passengers. Glancing out a
viewport in one of the ship's recreation lounges, Ranma sighs as
Noukiios, a water-bound planet with only two large continents,
recedes from view. As soon as the ship enters warp, she relaxes.
"Man, I'll be glad when this is over with..."
"Mama?"
She perks, turning to see Reiko and Kaneko standing there.
"What is it, girls?" she beckons the twins to approach her.
Both sit down to either side of her. "Mama, we made these for
Papa's sisters," Reiko holds up a computer chip, then hands it to
Ranma.
"What's this?"
"It's a replicator code-chip," Kaneko explains. "Auntie Negako
can help you work it when you get back to Sanctuary. It'll create
sets of formal noukik'eng for our other aunts. We..." she looks
down. "We can guess that Papa hasn't told his sisters about us just
yet. But no matter what, we want to care for them as much as Papa
cares for them."
Ranma considers that, then smiles, slipping the chip into her
jersey pocket. "Don't worry," she reaches over to draw the twins
into her embrace. "I'll make sure they get it. When this is all
over..."
"We'll be together as one family," Reiko sighs.
Silence falls as Ranma reflects on what Reiko said, then she
nods, leaning down to kiss their foreheads. "Yeah. One family..."
* * *
Within two hours, the ship arrives in orbit over Okusei.
Staring at the planet, about Venus' size and mass, Ranma is stunned
to see the visual differences between this world and Noukiios,
much less Earth. Most of Okusei's land-mass, broken up into a dozen
Greenland-sized mini-continents in a planet-wide ocean, is a
brownish-grey, not the lush green of Noukiios. If that was the
consistency of the planet's surface...!
"Terrible, is it not?" Negako steps up behind her.
Ranma tenses, then breathes out. "Bad?"
"Very. Look," Negako points to their right.
Ranma watches as the ship drifts alongside what appears to be an
orbital docking station, like the one from the first "Star Trek"
movie. A glass-lined lounge is located beside the docking collar.
Staring into it, Ranma blanches on seeing a sea of living skeletons
in the barest of rags. Men and women of all ages, children...!
Oh, gods, the CHILDREN...?!
The martial artist races to the nearest washroom, a hand
covering her mouth as nausea overwhelms her. Negako watches her go,
then sighs, staring at the station. "Not as pretty as you would
think, eh, Ranma?"
* * *
The ship takes on a battalion's worth of Ip'ihu irregulars
and two companies of Dominion Marines, the Noukiites' elite shock
troopers below the Lost Stars. Once aboard, the leader of the strike
force, a wizened brigade commander about Genma's age, calls everyone
together for a meeting in the ship's largest lounge. Ranma and
Negako are invited along, the grandmistress doing the introductions.
On hearing Ranma's "relationship" to Ataru Moroboshi, Eyu-Uch
Chuho-Nakseuch grins. "So you are the one the Euk Hisehek bonded
with?" he gives Ranma a firm squeeze of the hand in friendship.
"We've all heard of his so-called 'girl-hunts' even on Noukiios.
It's nice to see that his taste in ladies is so high."
Ranma flusters, feeling embarrassed that she would be seen as
THAT in the old soldier's eyes, yet feeling...! Complimented?
"Um, y-yeah!"
"Oh, it's alright, child," Nakseuch chuckles, then stares at
Negako. "Most Venerable, did young Niap'yeng speak the truth to me
earlier on about the Venerable One's newfound ability to step clear
of linear time?"
"Yes, she does speak the truth," Negako nods. "Unlike
Niap'yeng's power, however, Ranma's is not based on alterations
of her DNA, but her ability to manipulate her very own life-force
to do what she desires."
"Indeed?" Nakseuch grimaces, nodding. "Good. We've heard
reports that some scientists from the Urusian Defence Chronology
Institute -- those who survived the Euk Hisehek's attack some weeks
ago, I should add -- might be trying to develop defences against
our manipulating time to our own benefit. They're unsubstantiated,
but one cannot run the risk."
"You mean the stupid jerks who helped Ando Pochik kill Ataru's
grandmother?" Ranma perks up on hearing that establishment's
name.
"The same," the Noukiite commander nods. "One of the goals of
our current conflict with the dog people, Venerable, is to see to it
that all commercial use of time-travel devices -- 'spacializers'
as they call them -- is put to a total, complete stop. What happened
to the Most Venerable Lady Nagaiwakai is just an example of what
their kind could do to every civilized race in the galaxy and beyond
if they're not checked."
Ranma shudders as Nakseuch's words sink in. "Damn...!"
she crosses her arms. "If they succeeded in screwing around with
history..."
"Many would be affected across a dozen worlds," Negako finishes.
"So how can I help if these guys did what the general just said,
Negako?" Ranma demands. "I can't slip from one time-frame to another
like Nia-chan can. I CAN step out of linear time, but everything
around me freezes in place..." her voice trails off as her eyes
widen. "Oh."
"Exactly," Nakseuch grins...
* * *
Another two-hour trip brings the ship to Machibusu. Gazing
on the planet, an Earth-sized world, Ranma whistles. "Man, THAT'S
different."
"Indeed it is," Niap'yeng walks up beside her as they stare down
on the pink-orange hued world. Blue seas, some as big as the
Mediterranean, dotted Machibusu's surface, but they was no ocean like
the ones found on Earth, Noukiios or Okusei. Taking a closer look,
Ranma quickly picks out the fair-sized cities hugging the shores
of those seas. "This is one of their larger food-producing
worlds, Ranma. With what is made here, the Urusians have more than
enough to sustain their people, plus export the surplus elsewhere."
She gazes on the martial artist. "Why then do they seek to deprive
us of the ability to sustain our own people?"
Ranma shudders as she tries to think up an answer. Fortunately,
the arrival of Nakseuch, Negako and Chyek cuts into her thoughts.
"We have located Yethis and his relatives," the grandmistress
warns. "They have hidden themselves in a farming village near the
planetary capital."
"That was pretty quick!" Ranma stares at her.
"Clearly, someone in the general's party is very sympathetic
to our cause," Nakseuch chuckles. "Not all Urusians are 'dog people'
as we term them, Venerable. Many of them are descent of commoner
families who were made to resettle on our planet during the
Occupation. We have always treated them with the respect they
deserve even if their own government at times views them as traitors
to the Urusian 'cause.'"
Ranma considers that, then nods. "So what do we do?"
* * *
Twenty minutes later -- after Ranma's first ride via
matter-quantum transporter; it made her feel like someone had infused
her body with a sea of ants for about five seconds -- finds her and
Negako, both masked by the Goshin Buufu, as they steal their way into
a village about the same size as the Lost Stars'. The difference
between Niap'yeng's current home and the village here are stark.
Everything appears to be pre-fabricated, either reinforced plastic
or some form of stainless steel. All the houses sit on stilts,
the main floors ten metres or so off the ground. Well, that made
sense, Ranma muses. Most Oni-Urusians could fly and those who
couldn't could be given anti-gravity belts with thruster jets to
compensate.
"Where're the folks who live here?" she asks Negako as they
place themselves under the overhang of one fair-sized family home.
"In the capital city being processed by the occupation forces,
I believe," Negako reports. "Another goal the Noukiites seek in this
war is the total destruction of the colonial militia forces who've
raided Okusei, Tunchusei and Kurrusei since the Union Revolution
two centuries ago. It has resulted in the near-extermination
of whole towns on this world."
Ranma pales. "But...!"
"Ranma, remember what I told you about wars?"
Silence, then a grudging nods. "Right..." she drawls, then
perks. "Wait!" her eyes focus on a small building, built of the very
same design as the village's other structures, located near a line
of pink-leaved trees. "Over there," she points. "Someone's
there."
Negako looks. "Good. Shall we pay them a visit?"
"Let's go."
The two slip into the open, then casually make their way to the
hut in question. Given their being hidden under a total-chi shield,
there was no fear of anyone spotting them. Even better, the grass
is cut very low to the ground, thus no tall stalks could get in their
way. "Negako, this is way too easy," Ranma warns as they come within
ten metres of the hut.
"Perhaps. Then again, the Onis are too addicted to technology
to worry about this sort of approach," Negako smirks, then her eyes
widen.
"What's wrong?"
The ninjitsu grandmistress stops, her eyes narrowing as she
focuses her senses on the hut. "Interesting..." she muses.
"What?" Ranma prods.
"Ranma, do you remember who Yedris and Sugoi look like?"
"Um, yeah!" The martial artist had been shown pictures of the
Seq family by Nakseuch before beaming down. "What about them?!"
"Use the Goshin Eifu to get in there, then carry them out. When
you do get to them, strike them here..." Negako points to an area on
the back of her head, an inch or so above where the skull joins the
spinal column, "...before handling their bodies. I will explain
why later. Go now!"
Ranma nods, then concentrates as she shifts from the Body
Defence Air Cloth to the Body Defence Cloth of Eternity. Everyone
around her, even Negako, freezes in place as she races to the hut.
Getting there, she notices an open hatchway leading into the
lowermost floor of the hut. For her, leaping inside is child's
play. Once there, she looks around, then relaxes, switching back to
the Goshin Buufu. With that, she perks on hearing several voices
muttering from above. Finding a set of stairs, she then heads to the
upper floor, doing her best to stay quiet.
"...very unsafe for you and your family here, General."
The speaker is a burly Oni soldier, he standing by a window
to stare at the surrounding scenery. There are a half-dozen
others like him in the room, along with three others. Yethis Seq
reminds Ranma of a green-haired Oni version of Abraham Lincoln,
though he also wore glasses. Yedris Seq is Nodoka's age and every
bit as beautiful, though she wears her hair loose to her waist.
Sugoi, a girl Rinrin's age, is a slender teen about to blossom into
full womanhood. Unlike her mother, Sugoi only has one horn on the
back of her head, just above the point where Ranma had to strike
her...
Wait!
*Well, I'll be damned! They're just like Kimiko-chan!*
she muses to herself, then turns back to the conversation as Yethis
moves to reply.
"There's no need to concern yourself, Captain," he lightly
smiles, then turns to look out the window. "The Noukiites have been
VERY lucky of late, but they're not the warriors they like to think
they are. One strong strike against them would send them reeling
back past *our* colonies, then we'll show them who are the REAL
warriors in this galaxy."
Ranma scowls. *Jeez, just like Kunou!* she snorts, then her
eyes widen as an idea pops into her head. With that, she allows
the Goshin Buufu to shift back to the normal Umisen-ken visual cloak
as she speaks out, "Then let's test that theory of yours, General!"
Everyone in the room screams out on hearing that alien voice
as Ranma shifts into the Goshin Eifu. The screams fade into total
silence as she yanks the weapons out of the troopers' hands, then
shatters them. They wind up in a pile on the floor. Over to Yedris
and Sugoi. Shiatsu strikes to the backs of their heads, then Ranma
calls out, "Negako!!"
"Bring them downstairs!" Negako orders from the lower floor.
Ranma grunts as she carries Yedris to the stairwell, then lowers
her down. "Sorry about that, ma'am!" she apologizes as her hands
brush past the older woman's bust, then once Negako has her in hand,
she goes back to Sugoi. Once the younger girl is passed down, Ranma
shifts back to the Air Cloth. Instantly, everything goes back to
normal. "Hey!!!" the captain screams out, finding himself without
a rifle. "What the hell...?!"
"Who was that?!" Yethis demands, then notices two people missing
from the room. "Yedris?! Sugoi?! What the...?!"
"That was me!"
Ranma drops the Goshin Buufu, cracking her knuckles. The Onis
spin on her, stunned to see a TERRAN here. "Who are you?!!" Yethis
demands.
"Name's Ranma Saotome, Yethis," she smirks, her battle aura
flaring. "Oh, just in case you were wondering about your other
Imperial pals, I got a news flash for you," she tenses. "Ataru
Moroboshi killed them!"
Silence.
"Moroboshi...?!" Yethis' eyes go wide.
"Yeah!" Ranma nods as chi coalesces in her hands. "***KACHUU
TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN KITEI!!!! SEISHIN SHURIKEN TAIFUN!!!!***"
A storm of chi bolts slam into the troopers protecting Yethis,
sending them flying through the window to crash-land on the ground
beyond. Suddenly finding himself alone, the general moves to flee,
but a Psychic Kusarigama snares his legs, then yanks him back to kiss
Ranma's fist. He drops to the floor, blood showering from a broken
nose and shattered teeth. Ranma's foot then slams into the back of
his head to keep him down, then she allows chi to flow into her.
"Jeez, Yethis! Did you REALLY think Ataru was gonna let you get away
with murdering his grandmother?!" she leans down to flick the horns
from his head. "I don't think so!"
Yethis shudders as he senses Ranma fade from view, then screams
out as a storm of fists smash into his body from all over...
* * *
"Impressive," Negako chuckles, sensing what Ranma is now doing
from nearby the hut. Around the grandmistress, the troopers Ranma
dealt with are tied up, stripped of their horns and made to sleep
thanks to some deft shiatsu strikes. Yedris and Sugoi are asleep
nearby, they having been given their own shiatsu treatment to allow
them to better function among other people without their unmoulded
Avalonian powers overcoming them.
A second later, a broken body sails out one of the shattered
windows to smash into the ground some distance away from Negako.
She gazes at Yethis' battered face, then turns back as Ranma leaps
down to join her. "I trust your first test of the Eien Mouko
Taifun-ke went well?"
Ranma sighs. "Needs some work."
"Fair enough," Negako draws out a communicator...
* * *
An hour later, in orbit over Machibusu...
"She sold her own brother out?!"
"Yes!" Nakseuch nods. The general is meeting with Ranma in one
of the ship's lounges. "Lady Yedris is one of the leaders of the
Urusian Democratic Alliance. We want them to survive this war
unscathed so they can lead their people to a much better future.
They will need strong and determined leadership, especially after
what happened some weeks ago."
Ranma takes that in, then sighs. "That's a brave lady. I take
it Sugoi-chan there backs her up all the way."
"I do."
Both turn as Sugoi steps into the room, followed by Yedris and
Negako. Seeing them now in plain noukik'eng in lieu of the
tiger-striped cheongsam-like dresses Ranma had first seen them in on
the planet, the martial artist grins as she accepts the Seqs'
embrace. "So you are the one who was truly meant for Lum-chan's
Darling," Yedris gives the Terran a careful look-over, nodding
approvingly. "Well, at least, if what Negako here told us is true,
he'll have someone who truly understands him."
"I do," Ranma nods. "So what's going to happen to you two?"
"We'll stay with the Lost Stars for now," Yedris explains.
"They're interrogating my brother as we speak. He supposedly
has knowledge of a Noukiite missionary colony that was established
on Uru over a thousand years ago, before the Seifukusu conquered
us. If the remains of that colony is found, everything the Imperial
Round has espoused concerning the Noukiites will be made hollow.
And, if the good general here..." she gazes on Nakseuch, who bows in
return, "...speaks the truth about his people's war aims, once
Heaven's Gate Bridge -- that's the colony's name -- is found, the
Dominion will then move to bring hostilities to an end."
"That is something we all want, Lady," Nakseuch smiles.
"Hey, if you need help with that creep, let me have some time
with him," Ranma smirks, popping her knuckles to emphasize her point.
"It's alright, dear. The Lost Stars have some strong telepaths
among them, so it shouldn't be too bad," Yedris chuckles.
"And if Uncle proves stubborn about it, that's just too bad,"
Sugoi adds. "Don't they say on your planet, 'You reap what you
sew?'"
"Yeah, that's true," Ranma chuckles. "Um, General, if you don't
mind, I'd like to talk to Yedris and Sugoi-chan here alone..."
"Of course," Nakseuch nods, then heads off.
Once she senses that they are alone, Ranma turns to Yedris.
"Um, if you were wondering about Lum and Lan, ma'am, I can tell
you..."
"It's alright, dear," Yedris gently squeezes Ranma's hand.
"Negako here told us about them. It's good that they're safe on
Earth. Even if Lum-chan wouldn't EVER think of doing what my brother
and his friends might have wanted to do, there are many on Noukiios
who wouldn't hesitate in 'finishing the job' as your people'd say it.
I just hope that the chance will come that Lum-chan and your fiance
will reconcile."
Ranma nearly gags on her throat, then sputters, "Hey, wait a
sec' here...!" she backs away from Yedris, then feels Negako's
hand on her shoulder, the grandmistress guiding her out of the
lounge.
"Come, Ranma. It is time to return to Sanctuary," Negako
ordains.
"Um, y-y-yeah, r-right!" Ranma nods, waving. "'Bye!"
"Mama, wait!!"
Ranma stops as Reiko and Kaneko run into the room. The twins
carry long, narrow cases with them, cases that could only contain
swords or some other type of personal weapon. Stopping before their
father's friend, they hold out the cases. "Here you go, Mama!" they
chime together.
"What're these?" Ranma wonders.
"Seucheuchet'," Reiko explains, that word translating as "eunuch
sword" thanks to Ranma's translator. "It's okay! Papa has two of
his own; he found them when he helped the Inquisition deal with
Yethis' friends."
"It's only right that you have a pair of your own," Kaneko adds.
"These were ones welded by our..." she pauses, then shrugs. "Well,
two of the people -- the two women of the group -- whose DNA went
into us."
Ranma considers that, then sighs, shaking her head. "They
should go back to the graves where they were found, Kaneko-chan..."
"It's alright," Reiko shakes her head. "One of them -- this is
her blade..." she pats her case, "...was the Empress T'ich. She was
murdered by Urusian agents before the Occupation began, then her
grave was destroyed by the Imperials mid-way through the Occupation.
She..." she looks at the case, "...wound up with Auntie Yedris'
family on Uru after the Liberation."
Ranma gazes on Yedris. Seeing the older woman nod, the martial
artist then turns on Kaneko. "What about that one?"
"This was a posthumous present meant for the Most Venerable
Ye-Hit' Yeho-Huit'ch'uk, the mother of one of our planet's greatest
philosophers," Kaneko explains. "It was never buried with her, but
it was kept by her family until some Urusian stole it during the
Occupation." She glances at Yedris and Sugoi. "Somehow, it wound
up with the Seqs, too."
"And there's no one left of the Most Venerable's family, Mama,"
Reiko adds, then holds up the case to Ranma. "Please?"
Kaneko echoes her sister's actions. Seeing the looks in their
eyes, Ranma takes a deep breath, then nods. "Alright, then. I vow
on my honour as a student of Saikoo Jinseijitsu Ninjitsu-ryuu,
home Art of your family, that I will keep these noble blades in my
company until such time as the government of the Dominion of Noukiios
requests their return. OR until such time that you two are old
enough to weld them yourselves."
Hearing that, the twins beam...
* * *
"Journal Entry, Day 30 of Sanctuary visit (counting time elsewhere),
"Dear Diary,
"They called me 'Mother.'
"That scared me, but at the same time, it warmed my heart.
"Once we returned to Sanctuary, Negako explained to me that if
it wasn't for Reiko-chan and Kaneko-chan, Ataru's recovery from what
happened in Lumukyou might not have happened. It's no wonder he was
willing to adopt them once he learned of the problems they faced
being what they are. If that had been me, I probably would've
done the same thing.
"The blades they gave me, according to Negako, have nice names
to them. According to the traditions concerning these swords, they
have to be given 'soft' names to offset their dark purpose.
Huit'ch'uk's blade is called Et'a Yekaechsuch-at', 'Mother's Eternal
Dream.' T'ich's blade has the name Aeyek-hup'uk, 'Righteous
Love.' Oh, man, some of these Noukiite syllables are
tongue-twisters, but I won't give them Japanese names. After hearing
what happened to Reiko-chan's and Kaneko-chan's people, it doesn't
seem right. Reminds me too much of what Japan did to Korea long
ago."
Ranma pauses to collect her thoughts, then she carries on...
"It's nice to be back in Sanctuary, though, even if I can't work
on the new form I used against Yethis, the Eternal Righteous
Typhoon-Hand. When I get back to Earth, I'll have to practice
it quick, though. There's no telling what might happen when I go to
Nerima and have to worry about the tomboy or the lunkheads,
especially with what Negako has in mind now.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that. Negako's come up with an idea
about my breaking away forever from the panda. What I'd have to do
is apply to the Family Registrar to start up an independent
branch of the Saotome family on Promised Island. Along the way, I
have to talk to the Court of Special Appeals to ensure Oyaji couldn't
dodge around that and make me roonin before I could finally stick
it to him. Even if he HAS dragged our family honour through the
dirt, I'm not taking another name.
"To do THAT would give the bastard some satisfaction in the end.
"He gets NONE because of me.
"NONE!!
"To do that, though, I'd have to turn over all the information
Tampopo-chan had helped collect on the bastard when I was off
modelling to the Court of Special Appeals. I doubt that showing
some of that stuff, including the five OTHER fiancees Oyaji got me
engaged to -- Honestly! What the hell was I supposed to do with
TRIPLETS as my fiancees?! -- to Akane's dad won't make him turn away
from his so-called 'dream' of uniting the schools. That also means
I have to attack him where it'll hurt the most: going after his dojo
sign. I've got a couple ideas about that, but I'll bounce it off
Negako first before making any firm plans.
"And no, it won't involve a Dojo Destroyer!
"Whoo, won't HE be in for a surprise!"
Ranma stops, then memorizes the entry...
* * *
Six "days" later...
Negako silently steps into Ranma's room, then crouches beside
the sleeping girl. Fortunately for her, Ranma now lays on her side,
her back to Negako. Reaching over, the grandmistress taps several
points on the back of the younger woman's head and back. With that,
she rises, moving to the door. "Time to wake up, Ranma. Go have a
bath first."
A moan escapes Ranma, then she rolls onto her back. "Right..."
Negako heads into the kitchen as Ranma gathers her toiletries,
then jogs into the bathroom. Turning back to her cooking, the
grandmistress relaxes as she extends her chi-senses to keep an "eye"
on her student.
Any moment now...
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
That was a BOY'S yell, by the way.
Sighing, Negako walks to the bathroom door, then peeks in. Now
in the furo is a MALE Ranma, staring down at himself with a mixture
of shock and horror. *Perhaps the same expression he showed when he
was initially immersed in the Nyanniichuan a lifetime ago?* she
wonders to herself as she crosses her arms. "Are you alright,
Ranma?" she calmly asks.
He shudders, gazing at her, then sputters, "W-why...?"
"You had to feel it for yourself," Negako reports. "Change
back, then meet me in the dojo. It is time for your final lesson
here."
She heads out...
* * *
Minutes later, a female Ranma steps into the dojo. Negako
kneels by the head. Ranma places herself before her, then bows.
Negako nods in return. Straightening herself, Ranma sniffs, then
wipes her eyes. Silence then falls as the younger woman collects
herself, then she stares at her host. "Could you please lock me up
as a girl again, Negako?"
"Are you a man or a woman?" Negako asks in return.
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"I'm a woman. Chikage and the Jusenkyou guide were right."
Negako nods, then beckons Ranma with a hand. Ranma shifts over,
then remains still as the grandmistress fuses new chi into her. Once
that is done and the Chiisui-ton lock is again in place, Ranma shifts
back to where she first sat. "How did you feel when you changed?"
Negako asks.
"Ugly!" Ranma immediately responds. "I went over a month
without a change. My balance was totally out of whack. And I..."
she quakes. "I saw myself in the mirror there, as a guy. And it
just HIT me right then and there, Negako! That just wasn't ME! It
wasn't ME, Negako!!" Taking another deep breath, she points to
herself. "This IS me, Negako! A woman who wants nothing to do with
that...! That..." she sputters. "That macho, sexist FREAK Oyaji
wanted to create to please Mom! Oh, gods..."
She covers her face with her hands, wiping away the tears. "Now
that you have allowed that to escape you, it is time," Negako sighs.
She reaches behind her to draw out a small box. Laying that
before Ranma, she opens it. Ranma looks in. A black belt with a
kanji symbol.
"Mizu." Water.
Ranma stares wide-eyed at Negako. "With Tampopo's help, Happy,
Kun-lon and I made an agreement before you and I came here," the
grandmistress explains. "If you show to me that you have proven
the right to have this belt, Happy will release you as a student
of Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu and acknowledge you as a student of Saikoo
Jinseijitsu-ryuu under my full-time tutelage. Furthermore,
he will strip Souun and Genma of their teaching licenses. The
Tendou-ryuu and the Saotome-ryuu will cease to be. Happy will then
take Nabiki and Akane under his direct tutelage." A pause, then,
"Furthermore, if you earn this, Kun-lon will send a message to her
sister councillors about your emotional change of gender, then have
you adopted into the Nyu-che-zuu as a warrior of full standing.
You and Xian-pu will become blood-sisters under their Blood Sibling
Law. Chikage explained to you about that after you first came to
Promised Island, did she not? Once that is done, if you so desire,
you will be then free to pursue your own future. It will NOT force
you into a marriage with Ataru, though."
"And if I desire to marry Ataru?"
"Do you desire that now?"
"I..." Ranma stops, then sighs. "I don't know."
"Then you have to find out."
"I guess I do," Ranma looks down at the belt. "Negako, I
haven't learned all the forms yet. I don't even deserve a plain
black belt..."
Negako holds up her hand. "Ranma, your time here wasn't meant
to be spent learning ALL the basic forms. Some of them, including
the Earth-Heart Fire Geyser and the Paranormal-Power Inverse Fire
Bomb, require very special training. And you might not be compatible
to learning those forms since, even with your curse now locked in
place, your natural affinity is water, not earth," she points to her
own belt with the "chi" kanji. "What you had to prove, to yourself
most of all..." she points to Ranma, "...is the simple fact that
before a teacher can truly teach others..."
"I have to learn how to teach myself."
"Yes. And to THINK for yourself. To take what you hear from
other PEOPLE, make your own theory, then prove it. You did it when
you created the Mouko Takabisha. You did it when you modified
the Hiryuu Shooten-ha to better suit your style of combat. You did
it when you created the Goshin Buufu, then later the Goshin Eifu and
the Eien Mouko Taifun-ke. You CAN do it with every form, both within
martial arts and beyond, that you see and experience. What you will
learn, within time, is how to differentiate between the good forms
and the bad forms. That comes with experience."
Silence falls as Ranma considers that, then she sighs. "What
now?"
"Part of the trial will be done here. The rest comes in Nerima
when you deal with your would-be suitors and the other hangers-on."
"So this includes the thing with the Court of Special Appeals
and the Family Registrar, right?!" Ranma's eyebrow arches.
"Exactly. Not everything in life is battle, Ranma."
Ranma grins. Life. "I can see that. Nokoko-oneechan
was right."
"She was. Up!"
Both rise, then bow; practitioners in Saikoo Jinseijitsu
use the fist-in-palm salute employed by certain kung fu schools.
Ranma steps back to give Negako space, then assumes a standing
sword-draw stance. Negako nods, then concentrates her chi into her
hand. Seeing that, Ranma nods, relaxing herself. "Better," Negako
smiles. "Now, draw."
"***KONTOU!!!!***"
* * *
"Ranma...?!"
Everyone in the dining room perks on hearing Ataru's voice,
then turn to gaze on him. "Onii-chan, are you alright?!" Karen asks.
A lost look is on his face as he rises, heading out.
"Anigimi-sama, what's wrong?!" Haruka demands as the sisters crowd
the door.
"Leave him be."
"Chikage!" Karen snaps, then falls silent as everyone watches
Ataru place himself before the doors leading out of the rotunda.
He lowers himself into seiza, then relaxes, his eyes fixed on the
doorknobs.
"What's wrong with Onii-tama?" Hinako wonders.
"What we have wished for has taken the largest step towards
coming true, Hinako," Chikage reports. "Now, we wait."
The others nod...
* * *
To be continued...
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