Title: Ancestors
Part: Six
Author: Rann Aridorn
Credits: Ranma � is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi, and was then sold 
to various corporations which allowed us fanauthors to drop the 
characters� cute butts into various embarrassing situations. All other 
characters are original and property of Rann Aridorn, but some credit 
must be given for the inspiration provided by The Sinner Dragon ( 
http://sinnerdragon.keenspace.com ). Thanks must also be given to Hajime 
Kanzaka, Andre Germain, Stephen Arkhaine, and Ryo Mizuno, for reasons 
I'll make clear in additional notes at the end of the fic.


	"Balance be all to hell on this'ere..." Neren handed over the loosely 
bound-together lengths of metal. "But th' weight be 'bout right, should be."
	Ukyo shifted the object in her hands. It resembled her weapon only if 
it had been assembled by a young child, held together with twine and 
wire, the long shaft of the weapon feeling bulky and uncomfortable in 
her hands. But after lifting it and moving it lightly through the air 
for a few moments, she felt her reflexes responding to it in the 
familiar manner. "Yeah, the weight's just perfect."
	"Aye, aye. I'll judge 'gainst that as I work." The dwarf accepted the 
model back and set it down nearby. "An' your measurements I have, so 
that's taken care of."
	"When do you think you'll have it done...?"
	"Lessee now." Neren paused, fingering one of the small braids dotted 
through her thick red hair. "Got no other jobs right now... ain't 
terrible complicated t'do... but 'course gonna do it well, I am... if ya 
don't want it all fancy an' stuff, around noon of th' morrow."
	"So soon?" Ukyo blinked, surprised.
	"Aye." Neren chuckled, rubbing her thumb across her cheek. "Quality 
weapon like that, 'tis no big job. 'Tis only if ya want some special 
property or want it all fancy-lookin' that it be takin' longer."
	"I don't think that will be a problem," Teritha cut in as she stepped 
into the back area from the front of the shop.
	"Oh, Teritha." Ukyo blinked. "Back already?"
	"It's late afternoon, kiddo." The elf woman chuckled. "Did Neren feed you?"
	"Er, come to think of it, yes," Ukyo murmured abashedly, embarrassed 
that she'd so completely lost track of time talking about her weapons 
with the dwarven smith. "I never even thanked you, Neren. I'm sorry."
	"Don't even think of it, lass. 'Lo, Teritha, it be good ta see ya."
	"You too, Neren. We're going to be staying the night at Elsa's, so 
we'll drop by tomorrow afternoon before we leave."
	"Best be, or I'll make ya sorry for it," the dwarf chuckled, waving 
them out the door. "Go on, an' be lettin' me get ta my work."
	As they left the shop, Ukyo pulled her coat tightly closed around 
herself, looking around the town, the light fog of her frosted breath 
sweeping in uneven trails as she turned her head. Teritha had perhaps 
been generous in calling it late afternoon, as it was more like early 
evening, the sky above already beginning to darken to just that color 
where it seemed like an invitation to the stars, which had not yet 
arrived. The streets were already practically empty, many shops having 
shut and the street carts and vendors having cleared out or closed up 
for the night. A few elves went about their business still, but in a 
sort of slow, easy way that implied that they knew they'd soon be home 
in front of a comfy fire.
	Ukyo was suddenly struck by an utter calm and peace that no simple 
vista or meditation could have ever provided. She was simultaneously 
extremely homesick for her little shop back in Japan, where she'd seen 
many an evening very much like this one happen as she closed her own 
door, and utterly content to be just exactly where she was now, because 
it was something new and wonderful that she could never have imagined, 
wrapped up in a feeling of contentment that could only come from a 
moment like this.
	"Something changed in you, just now."
	The spell broken, Ukyo gasped almost as if she'd forgotten to breathe, 
and turned her head to look at Teritha. The tall elf woman was still 
looking forward as the two of them walked down the small streets, hands 
tucked in the pockets of her long coat.
	"... What?"
	"I don't know." Teritha slowed a little, actually looking at Ukyo. "But 
all of a sudden, things shifted a little bit. Your heart rate, your 
breathing, they changed slightly. And even looking at you... there's 
something in your eyes that I've never seen there before. And I don't 
know what it is, because I think it's something that's yours and yours 
alone."
	The younger woman had no real response for that. She tried to say 
something... say anything, really, just to be saying something... but it 
died in her throat, and she just turned her head forward again, watching 
as they approached the house where Teritha was leading them. But as they 
drew closer, she did find something to say. "Do you think Ranma and... 
all the rest... will ever go back to Japan? I mean, our Japan?"
	"Mm. Not sure. Probably create chaos wherever they go, and then there 
I'd be, back to the same problem. But, who knows? Maybe one day they'll 
be mature and ready enough to go back." Teritha laughed a little. 
"Someday very far away."
	"... If they do... could I stay?"
	Teritha stopped after only another step, her feet crunching lightly in 
the earth they stood on as she turned to look at Ukyo, who likewise 
stopped and turned to face the elf.
	"... Why would you do that, kid?" When she received no reply, Teritha 
continued after a few moments, voice soft. "You came here after Ranma, 
didn't you? That was the whole reason. If he went back and stayed, you 
wouldn't just lose him... you'd be losing out on the place you were 
born. Your friends, your family. Your culture. Pretty much your entire 
way of life. Why?"
	Ukyo lowered her head, closing her eyes. It was a good question. A very 
good question. She loved Ranma with all her heart. Didn't she? But 
hadn't she just had a bit of her heart stolen away by the feeling that 
this place had given her in that one moment? If something so simple as a 
small-town evening could make her think of giving not only him, but 
EVERYTHING, up, didn�t it mean that she wasn't so sure as all that? But 
if she wasn't sure of that, what could she be sure of?"
	"... I guess," Ukyo whispered, opening her eyes and turning her head to 
look up at the sky, at the few stars that had already dared venture into 
the dusk sky. "I guess because people can change."
	Teritha was silent for a full minute. Then she reached out and drew 
Ukyo to her in a hug, resting a hand on the back of the smaller girl's 
head to press it to her shoulder. After a moment, Ukyo returned the hug, 
closing her eyes again and letting the scent of well-worn leather and 
something strange and spicy and sweet wrap around her.
	"Yeah, kid," Teritha murmured. "When that day comes... if it comes... 
it'll be your choice to make. And you'll always be welcome in my home."

	"Ukyo is finally back?" Shampoo chirped as Ukyo walked into the room 
she'd been told would be hers for the night. Shampoo and Akane were both 
laying on a thick pile of blankets on the floor next to the bed, wearing 
identical sets of dark blue pajamas. Ranma and Kodachi were on the other 
side of the room, and Ranma was apparently trying to explain something, 
with a great deal of waving her hands and gesturing wildly, in ways that 
didn't really seem to indicate anything at all. Though Shampoo seemed 
perky and alert, Akane was burrowed beneath several layers of blankets 
and had a pillow over her head.
	"What's going on?" Ukyo queried, blinking at both halves of the scene.
	"Ranma get sent to stay with us because everyone think he actually a 
girl," Shampoo murmured back, rolling her eyes. "And Kodachi bothering 
him, so he decide he finally going to explain to he is a he, and is not 
she."
	"I see it's going well." Ukyo shook her head, then spied the pair of 
folded-up pajamas that had apparently been left for her and picked it 
up. "So who gets the bed?"
	"We has bet about that," Shampoo chimed in evenly, not looking away 
from Ranma and Kodachi. "If Ranma no can make crazy girl understand, 
Shampoo is get the bed. If Ranma can make understand, Akane is get bed. 
Except Akane fall asleep, so will have to wake her up to tell if win, so 
she can go to sleep."
	"-and I change back when I'm splashed with hot water! Really!"
	"How ridiculous."
	"MORE RIDICULOUS THAN A PET CROCODILE?!"
	"Good luck, Akane," Ukyo snorted as she stepped back out of the room to 
go to the bathroom and change.

	The house was, miraculously, very quiet and very still as midnight 
approached. Teritha slipped down the hallway feeling as if everything 
was frozen in time around her, save for the one thing that was drawing 
her onward... not quite a sound, not quite a feeling, just a... knowing. 
Naked save for a short robe that was pulled on rather haphazardly, she 
drew close to the door of Rannen's study. Pausing for a moment to 
question why she was about to have this... confrontation... she 
nevertheless grasped the knob and pulled the door open, quickly slipping 
through and closing it after her.
	She scanned over the innocently and cheerfully pretentious d�cor, solid 
things seeming like shadows as the only light in the room flickered 
dimly over them from the fireplace. Teritha eyed the form leaning 
against the hearth with a glass in its hand, trying to even her 
breathing, keep herself calm.
	"... What?" Zek grumbled after long minutes had passed in silence.
	"Zek, what are you doing here?" Teritha repressed the urge to wince. 
She hadn't meant that to sound accusatory.
	"Why shouldn't I be here?" Zek shot back cheerfully. The jocularity had 
an edge, however. "Elsa and Rannen are my friends, too. And Annala... 
heh... she's a GOOD friend."
	"You know what I mean." This time, Teritha meant the light harshness 
that colored her tone. "And you're drunk."
	"And what the fuck is so novel about that, anyway?" Zek pushed away 
from the hearth, turning to glower at the elf. "I'm always drunk."
	"The hell you are. And I always hated it when you got to being a mean 
drunk." Teritha moved forward a few steps, watching her friend a little 
warily. "What's gotten into you? You were gone all week without a word."
	Zek didn't answer, and instead took a pull from his glass. After a few 
moments, he instead noted, "I heard about your little testing of Akane's 
training today."
	"Something like that's got you drinking like this...?"
	"Well WHY THE FUCK NOT?!" Zek suddenly shouted, knuckles whitening as 
he clenched his fingers around the crystal glass he held. "What the FUCK 
were you gonna do, let them gang-beat her if she wasn't up to snuff?!"
	"That is bullshit and you know it," Teritha snapped back, her voice ice 
cold. "I would have stepped in-"
	"Before WHAT?! Before she got a knife shoved in her chest?! Got news, 
could have happened ANYWAY!" Zek suddenly whirled and threw the glass 
into the fire, the sound of the crystal shattering mingling with a small 
roar from the flame as it consumed the liquor.
	"Keep your damn voice down." Teritha's voice cracked like a whip, even 
low as she kept it. "And I'll remind you that you survived everything I-"
	"Oh, don't, don't you dare," snarled Zek, turning back to her and 
shaking a finger.
	"Don't I dare what? Don't I dare remind you that you were a 
fifteen-year-old snot picking pockets and cutting pursestrings before I 
found you?" Teritha stepped closer, looking Zek right in the eye, 
unflinching in the face of his now wordless fury. "Don't I dare remember 
how I taught you to read? To fight? To make love? Don't I dare to recall 
how I took you out of a life where you'd have either turned to thug 
crimes or prostitution by now, if you'd even survived, and gave you a 
life where you romance princesses and laugh in the faces of demons?"
	"Minor demons," Zek grumbled, drawing away and sitting heavily in a 
nearby chair, putting his face in his hands. "But God, Teritha, what 
you're doing to these kids-"
	"Is what I did to you?"
	"Exactly!" Zek snapped back, looking up at her again, blinking hard 
against tears despite his anger. "You put me in that tournament, too, 
practically threw me into it, all without telling me why! How do you 
think it felt when I found out?!" He stood up so abruptly that the chair 
turned over and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
	"You don't understand," Teritha whispered in reply, but drew back, 
starting to turn away, putting one hand to her cheek.
	"It's a book! It's JUST a GODDAMN BOOK!"
	"You SHUT UP!" Teritha suddenly screamed, turning on Zek and dealing 
him a stinging slap across the cheek that snapped his head to one side 
and almost made him stumble over the legs of the overturned chair. Her 
eyes were narrow, angry, hurt, tears gathered near the corners and 
threatening to fall. "I've given you love for decades, you son of a 
bitch, how dare you say that?"
	Zek's jaw worked as he turned away a little, lips sliding over his 
teeth as he tried to keep his lower one from trembling, less a grown man 
at the moment and more a teenage boy dealt a hurtful blow by his mother. 
"... Does he mean that little to you...? Do they? Do their lives, their 
dignity...?"
	Teritha swallowed hard, trying to push her tears back, as she moved 
over to a chair and sank into it, putting a shaking hand to her 
forehead. "... You don't understand. It's not about Shel, or you, or 
them. You have no idea of how much it is possible to miss someone... not 
after days, or a handful of years, but after thousands of years. You 
have no way of knowing the..." She choked for a moment, and was silent 
until she managed to regain her voice, though it trembled. "When you 
miss someone for years... sometimes, it's possible to forget for days, 
weeks, even months that you're missing them. But somehow... after so 
long... it suddenly hits you just how long they've been gone, and every 
single day after that, you miss them more, not less."
	She could fight it no longer, and a sob constricted her throat. "I 
thought I'd moved on, that I was fine. I had thought that for centuries. 
When it came, it was so sudden and so all-consuming that I literally 
fell flat and couldn't move for hours. I had never actually had loss 
become a PHYSICAL sensation to me. And it's only gotten worse every day. 
Even though since then I've fallen in love, remarried, and been happy... 
that ache is there all the time. ... If I... if I could just..."
	"..." The tension seemed to drain out of Zek like water from a jar, and 
with a soft sigh he moved over to kneel at Teritha's side, taking one of 
her hands between both of his. "... I still don't think this is worth 
the risk... but for you, I'm going to help."

	Ukyo lay on her side in bed, staring past her hand where it rested on 
the pillow in front of her face at the wall. Hearing Zek and Teritha 
fighting downstairs felt strange. Her heart felt like it had a hand 
gripping around it, not really squeezing, but feeling tight all the 
time. She supposed it was what it was like to hear your parents fight in 
the middle of the night. Her parents hadn't fought... if only they had.
	But it had gotten quiet, and she hoped that meant things were okay. How 
she'd wound up getting the bed was still a little confusing to her. 
Apparently, Kodachi had eventually just stopped responding completely 
and simply stared at Ranma a little wide-eyed. Since she wouldn't talk 
to anyone after that, Shampoo couldn't figure out if that meant she 
understood about the curse or not, so, in a fit of fair play, had 
decided they'd both lost and given the bed to the only party uninvolved 
in the bet.
	She blinked at a shift in the bed, and stiffened as an arm draped 
itself over her between herself and the covers.
	"Ukyo is relax, is only Shampoo," came a sweet whisper from close by.
	"What are you DOING?" Ukyo hissed back.
	"Just want come talk, since Shampoo no think you asleep after hearing 
all that. Can leave if want...?"
	"... No. I guess it's okay."
	Apparently taking that as an endorsement, Shampoo snuggled herself up 
to Ukyo's back a bit, making the chef blush a little as she felt the 
Amazon's generous endowments press against her back.
	"Ukyo seem different somehow when come back today," Shampoo whispered 
after a few moments, her voice seeming very gentle, somehow, in the 
dark. "Something happen?"
	"... Maybe, sugar."
	"Maybe something happen, or maybe Ukyo different?"
	"Both. Neither. Don't know."
	"Shampoo think maybe it something important. Shampoo want to know."
	"How come you want to know?"
	"Shampoo care about what happen to Ukyo, now. Even if still can no 
agree about Ranma, Ukyo now... Shampoo's friend. Shampoo not have many 
friends. So Shampoo is very careful of friends she does have."
	Ukyo sighed softly, surprised at how flattered and happy that little 
speech made her. "... I don't have many friends either. So... I don't 
know. What would you do if you had two paths in front of you, and one 
path would make your heart happy, but the other would... make your soul 
happy?"
	"Mmm, is very tricky question. On one hand, how is heart be happy if 
soul is no content? But then how can soul be at rest if heart is upset? 
Is a big problem." The Amazon was quiet for a moment, then whispered 
thoughtfully, "Shampoo will ask great-grandmother about in next letter, 
if no mind?"
	"Er... sure, I guess. Has she been writing back?"
	"Not yet. Shampoo is no sure great-grandmother can, yet," Shampoo 
replied, seeming undaunted. "But Shampoo find it help anyway. Shampoo 
find it best to ask great-grandmother about important things, because 
great-grandmother is very old and has seen and done many things. Shampoo 
no always agree with answers she get... sometimes Shampoo not even 
follow advice. But Shampoo finds great-grandmother's advice is always 
useful one way or other, even if advice is only silence."
	"So. Kind of like praying, huh?" 	"Is kind of like," Shampoo 
acknowledged, still sounding thoughtful. "Though great-grandmother no is 
god." She paused, then added, "But Shampoo think she might be old enough 
to be."
	Ukyo clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles.

	"Oh God." The whining little complaint was so plaintive that it almost 
sounded like last words. Akane pressed the pillow in tighter over her 
head, fighting to keep out the horrid, evil rays of sunlight. Though, in 
reality, the utterance was something more like "Ogd."
	"First hangover?" came a nauseatingly cheerful voice from above, and 
despite it being muffled by the pillow, it still razed giant glowing 
letters of fire that spelled 'Screw you' across Akane's nerves.
	"Go 'way, whevr yar."
	"I'm Kira. I'm Shel's sister. Look, I understand you're miserable, but 
everyone else has been up for three hours, and I think Teritha wants to 
leave soon."
	"Nt lvng. Stng hr frvr. Dyng hr."
	"You're not dying. Come on, just get up and get it over with."
	"Nooooooo!"
	The woman's sigh just barely filtered through the pillow. "Fine."
	There are a few things that will get you up no matter what kind of 
state you're in. Most of them due to unpleasantness. Some more to do 
with surprise. Luckily, it was one of the latter that Kira had at her 
disposal. Akane was in too much misery to care about the back of her 
pajama top being nudged upward slightly. However, one of the 
aforementioned things that will get someone up no matter what just 
happens to be having a cold, wet canine nose get pressed to the bare 
skin of your back.
	Akane's eyes shot open, and she was perfectly still for half a 
heartbeat, before yelping in surprise and leaping up, winding up landing 
on the bed and clutching at her head in agony over the volume of her own 
voice. When she managed to squint her eyes open, she espied the wolf 
bitch sitting nearby, tail sweeping across the floor as it wagged, pink 
tongue lolling out in a smug grin.
	"Evil," Akane croaked, sitting up and still holding her head.
	"Only on a technicality," Kira answered cheerfully, standing up as she 
shifted back to human form, patting down her clothes. "Trust me, this is 
better. You need to get some water or juice back in you, and eating a 
little something would help."
	"Eat?" Akane clamped her teeth together, wondering if she'd actually 
turned as green as she felt. A moment later, she just groaned again, 
putting her hands to her head. "It's not fair. Teritha drank the same 
things I did, but she didn't get drunk at all."
	"Of course she didn't," Kira answered, sitting down beside Akane on the 
bed and looking bemused.
	"But... I saw her get drunk off of a few cups of hot chocolate with 
liquor into it!" Akane whimpered, as much at her throbbing headache as 
the inherent unfairness of the situation. "She was telling them to make 
it 'so Irish it would throw Blarney stones', or something..."
	"She was telling them to dilute it," Kira supplied, grinning.
	"Wha?" Akane lifted her head and stared at the other woman, feeling as 
if she were missing something obvious.
	"Elves get drunk off of chocolate."
	"... You're kidding."
	"Nope."
	"... Lucky bastards."
	"There is a reason that some people refer to them as 'God's Favorite 
Race'," the werewolf replied cheerfully, then set Akane's clothes in her 
lap. "Here, all cleaned up. Get dressed and come downsta-" She was 
suddenly interrupted by a loud, resounding gong from close to the center 
of the village. Kira's ears practically perked despite being in human 
form, and she gave a low growl. "Change of plans. Go downstairs RIGHT 
NOW, and find Elsa, get in the basement."
	"What's going on?!"
	"Dragon attack."

	"Come on, you two!" Teritha snapped to Ranma and Ryoga as she ran out 
the front door, pulling on her coat as she went, staff in her hands. 
"Time for you two to show that all my bragging isn't just empty boasting!"
	"You want us to fight a dragon?!" Ranma cried as she and Ryoga ran 
along after their ancestor. "Besides, I thought you said they were good 
guys!"
	"All dragons are NOT created equal!" Teritha leapt over a stone wall, 
Ranma and Ryoga both jumping over it right after, landing still running. 
"Some of them are just beasts, mindless animals, and like any animal, 
sometimes they just take it into their head to be -pissed off-!"
	Indeed, as they ran into the forest surrounding the small town, the 
sound of trees being crushed and torn asunder became audible, as did the 
sound of a loud, resounding roar, which seemed to shake the earth with 
its very presence. As the three of them got to the top of the hill, the 
dragon itself came into view.
It appeared to be over eighty feet long, though thirty of that was 
probably tail, and another twenty neck. It was an almost shocking color 
of red, like its skin had been studded by a billion gems made of blood 
trapped within diamonds. Every step it took tore up the ground and 
knocked trees aside, or simply crushed them under foot, glistening onyx 
claws tearing through the earth. Jagged ridges ran along the entire 
length of its back, looking like someone had colored giant pieces of 
smashed glass the proper red and then shoved them halfway into the 
beast's spine. Its wings were broad, bright crimson joints with tattered 
grey membranes between them. At least five black horns swept back from 
its head, and there was rage in its oil-black eyes as it swept its head 
down and to the side, opening its fang-studded maw to send a long blast 
of flame pouring over the trees ahead of it.
"... You have to be fucking kidding me," Ranma murmured, looking aside 
at Teritha.
"You want us to fight THAT?!" Ryoga yowled, pointing towards the dragon.
	"Don't wimp out on me now, boys!"
	"They're really not as tough as they look," Shel advised as he, Zek, 
Kira, and Annala came to stand nearby. "And if you get in any real 
trouble, the rest of us will help out. You can at least give it a shot."
	"Give it a shot?!"
	"Fine. I'll do it."
	"Ryoga?!?!!" Ranma wheeled around to face her rival, eyes wide.
	"I'm going to try! You can stay here, Ranma, if you're not up to the 
challenge." Ryoga smirked, a fang peeking over the edge of his lip, 
before he ran off down the hill towards the oncoming dragon.
	"HEY! Why you-!" Ranma snarled, then took off like a shot in hot 
pursuit. "You come back here, you son of a bitch, I'll show you who's 
not up to the challenge!"
	The dragon wheeled its head around as two little somethings moved 
towards it, one of them making a lot of noise the whole way. Opening its 
mouth and raising its head, it gave out a roar for the moment before its 
vocal chords were blocked by the flames gushing from its maw, head 
coming down to direct the pillar of pyrotechnics at the invaders.
	Ranma and Ryoga leapt into the air in unison, the burst of fire passing 
harmlessly by underneath them. Ryoga's arc took him down to one side of 
the dragon, landing in the shattered and smashed trees nearby, while 
Ranma's landed her directly atop the dragon's snout. Not losing a 
second, Ranma dashed forward, making a point to stomp particularly hard 
right between the beast's eyes; the blow didn't actually seem to -hurt- 
it, but it did give a snort of what sounded like surprise. As Ranma 
bolted at high-speed down its back, running down the spine-spikes as 
easily as she would have run along the top of a fence, the dragon craned 
its head around, inhaling. Ranma darted a glance to the side as she 
heard that massive intake of breath, and took off in a leap again just 
as the monster let out another blast of flames, which washed over its 
own hide.
	Though it didn't seem to actually damage itself, the dragon roared in 
pain, thrashing around and trying to swing its tail at the annoying 
little gnat that had made it cause itself hurt. Though the tail missed, 
the air disturbance sent Ranma tumbling, and the dragon wheeled its head 
around to snap at her. However, it inexplicably found itself turning its 
head towards an oncoming tree, as Ryoga swung the massive downed oak at 
the creature's face.
	The tree trunk smashed against the dragon's muzzle and shattered, huge 
splinters of wood flying back from the angle of force. The dragon 
reeled, giving its huge head a confused shake to clear it, before it 
managed to focus its eyes on its attacker, who was currently dropping 
the ruined remains of his weapon. With a wild shriek of fury, it slammed 
a foot down to squash the meddlesome insect.
	Ryoga threw his hands up just in time, catching the gigantic paw on 
them. He grunted, every muscle in his body going taut as he fought 
against the tremendous force of the huge creature trying to crush him. 
Sweat burst into being on his skin, his arms and legs trembling. The 
ground buckled underneath him, creating a small crater, his pupils 
contracting with the sheer effort. The beast's claws began slicing 
through the earth like great plows as it began to close its paw.
	Ranma groaned as she sat up out of a pile of ruined lumber, then stared 
at what was happening. "Ryoga!" She leapt to her feet and grit her 
teeth. 'I gotta end this now! I gotta hit it with a stronger blast than 
I've ever done!' Closing her eyes, she forced every thought in her brain 
towards confident, happy thoughts. 'You have to do it, Saotome! Do this, 
and it'll be a victory like never before! You'll have beaten a -dragon-! 
A whole town will owe you! Think of the respect! Think of the glory!' 
She tensed her shoulders, then smirks. 'Think of how Ryoga will know you 
had to save his sorry ass!'
	Ranma opened her eyes, feeling the energy surge through her body, flow 
through her arms, and smash against the palms of her hands, a dam 
waiting for the floodgates to be opened. Thrusting her hands forward and 
bracing her feet, she shouted the phrase that would open them. "MOUKO 
TAKABISHYA!"
	The bright yellow ki energy exploded from Ranma's palms with such force 
that the loose debris in the area around her was sent flying backwards, 
tossed around as if in a gale-force wind, Ranma's clothes flapping madly 
from the backlash. The enormous column of amber power washed over the 
dragon's body just above its legs, the mad beast roaring in agony as the 
attack struck it. It shuddered, and then was literally lifted from its 
feet and sent flying by the power of the blast, becoming a dark 
silhouette in the center of the column as the forces buffeted at it, a 
silhouette that seemed to become ragged at the edges and then just 
dissolve away. The yellow energy slowly petered out, leaving nothing but 
a large smoke-covered stretch of land where the dragon's fire and 
Ranma's attack had scorched the trees.
	"... Holy shit you weren't just boasting," Annala murmured, staring 
below with wide eyes.
	"Uh... yeah," Teritha murmured, an equally shocked look on her face.
	"... Did I do that?" Ranma whispered, staring at her hands. Then she 
started to grin. With a whoop, she hopped in place and punched the air. 
"DAMN, I -rule-!"
	"What the hell, Saotome?" Ryoga rasped as he walked over, rubbing his 
shoulder. "Have you been practicing that one behind my back?"
	"Biiiiiiih." Ranma pulled down one eyelid, sticking her tongue out at 
Ryoga. She smirked. "I'm just better than you!"
	Suddenly, a loud crackle raked across the shallow valley, and in a 
surge of red and burgundy, the dragon hefted itself up to its feet from 
out of the smoking forest, snarling. Other than the fact that some of 
its scales were darker than they had been, and its wings were more 
ragged than before, it seemed unhurt.
	"... How much better than me can you get in the next ten seconds?"
	"... Probably not enough."
	"Shit."
	"DIGUUUUU VORUTUUUUUUUUUUU!"
	At that sudden cry from nearby, the area suddenly seemed to darken 
momentarily, making the bright arc of lightning streaking towards the 
dragon blaze all the brighter. It struck the beast in the side and 
seemed to stagger it, the dragon shrieking in pain and twitching as 
little zaps of electricity danced across its hide.
	"What the hell was that?!" Ranma cried, looking around wildly.
	"Oh, shit," groaned Teritha, putting a hand to her face. "It's the 
Gabrievs."
	"Yooo-hoooo! Up here, elf girl!" called the same voice that had shouted 
the words from before. Ranma and Ryoga both blinked and looked towards 
the call, eventually spotting its source atop another hill. She appeared 
to be a human girl with dark strawberry-blonde hair falling down her 
back, very petite and wearing a maroon bodysuit, with yellow scarves 
wrapped in an X across her chest and going around her waist like a sash, 
and then one going between her legs. Atop the sash part of the scarves 
was fastened a brown leather belt with several pouches and a holster for 
what looked like a long black cane with a red gem at the top. She had 
also accessorized with knee-high black boots and elbow-high black 
gloves, and a set of black shoulder guards with gold trim, attached to 
which was a purple cape with a lighter purple lining. She was smiling 
and waving, and winking one blue eye at them.
	Her companion was a lot taller and broader across the shoulders, with 
copper-colored hair cut fairly short in back but shaggy bangs. and hazel 
eyes set in a very handsome face. He was wearing a much simpler outfit 
of plain maroon pants and shirt, black boots and gloves, and black light 
armor across the shoulders and chest. He was wearing a broadsword 
buckled at his waist, one hand on the sheath and the other resting on 
the hilt. He had a vaguely pleasant expression on his face, but 
otherwise didn't seem too concerned with the situation.
	"Hey! Back off, that's our dragon!" Ranma shouted, gesturing wildly at 
the still-twitching monster.
	"Ranma, shut up," Ryoga grumbled.
	"You heard her!" Teritha shouted over from her own hill, causing Ryoga 
to sweatdrop. "Shale! Linna! Both of you just go home!"
	"Biiiiiiih! Don't tell us what to do, old lady!" Linna put her fists on 
her hips and leaned forward, sticking her tongue out at Teritha. "My 
brother and I came to kill the dragon, and we're gonna!"
	"Old... lady?" Teritha's eyebrow twitched, and she leapt forward, staff 
raised. "KILL!" Annala tackled her out of the air and Kira leapt atop 
them both to keep her pinned down, Zek and Shel simply lowering their 
heads to watch, not saying a word.
	"We'll kill the dragon just fine!" Ranma shouted, clenching a fist.
	"Yeah, and you were doing such a good job before. C'mon, Shale, let's go!"
	"You got it." The tall boy leapt up in a jump that would have done any 
of the Nerima group proud, landing and darting forward towards the 
dragon, who roared and took a swipe at him with one hand. There was a 
bright flash of light, and then Shale was moving past the dragon's 
extended paw in a low jump, the obsidian black claws coming away in 
clean cuts from the rest of the limb as it continued to move forward in 
the motion.
	"Levitatiooon!" Linna cried as she leapt into the air, the air around 
her glowing. Instead of arcing forward and down, her jump continued to 
carry her up and up, until she stopped and hovered some ways above. 
"Hey! Shale, whatcha think, the Big Boom?"
	Shale almost boredly dodged as the dragon swept its head in and snapped 
its jaws at him, taking an idle swipe with his sword and slicing off one 
of the dragon's horns, while Ranma and Ryoga both simply stared. "Hm. 
Little close to town for that. Better not risk it. Why don't you just 
get him to hold still, and I'll finish him off myself?"
	"Alriiiiiight!" the girl chirped, smiling brightly and holding up her 
hands. "Better get out of the way, big brother!"
	Shale nodded, suddenly breaking into a run away from the dragon and 
sheathing his sword. Before Ranma and Ryoga could so much as cry 
protest, he was grabbing them both up, yanking on the back of Ryoga's 
jacket and picking Ranma up off her feet and carrying them both further 
away. "Better get you two further from this, my sister can get a little 
overenthusiastic."
	"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Ranma shrieked, raising her 
fist with the intent to punch Shale in the head, only to be distracted 
by Linna chanting something. The words were too indistinct to make out 
from where she was, only the last words carrying.
	"HAURUUUU FURIIZUUUUU!" The floating girl lowered both her hands, 
seeming to spill a blizzard down onto the valley below. Howling winds 
and snow poured down over the dragon like floodwaters. The dragon 
roared, then went silent as it was obscured from sight. As the wall of 
snow and ice settled down, the dragon was revealed, parts of its body 
caked in frost and ice. It turned its neck slowly, as if trying to move 
and not having much luck, giving a strangled growl.
	Shale deposited Ranma and Ryoga beside the others waiting on the 
sidelines, gave them a cheerful salute, and then raced back down the 
hill, leaping into the air again at the halfway point, soaring through 
the air like a maroon and black missile aimed directly at the dragon's 
raised neck. Again, there was a bright, almost blinding flash, and Shale 
was moving forward in the downward arc of his leap, past the dragon and 
dropping towards the valley floor again. The dragon gave a low, almost 
whining rumble, trying to turn its head to watch... only to have its 
head, and the upper third of its neck, separate from the other 
two-thirds and go crashing to the ground in a shower of steaming purple 
blood. The rest of the dragon twitched and staggered side-to-side for a 
few moments, before collapsing as well.
	"Yay! One dead dragon!" Linna squealed, lowering back down to the 
ground slowly and carefully avoiding the smoking blood, which seemed to 
be eating into the ground. As she touched down, the glow around her 
faded, and she hurried over to Shale, bouncing up and down lightly and 
clapping her hands together with her fingers curled in. "I did good, 
right? That was what you wanted, right, right, right?"
	"Yup, you did really good, sis," Shale said, smiling and resting a hand 
atop the girl's head. "Just perfect for what I needed."
	"Chee," Linna cooed, tilting her head and smiling so wide her eyes 
closed, raising one hand to rest her extended index finger along her cheek.
	Finally managing to struggle out from under Annala and Kira, Teritha 
glowered down at the scene below. Yanking her rumpled jacket back into 
place, she turned and stalked back towards town. "... Let's go, everybody."

	"Look, Tear, it's not that bad," Kira counseled, trying to sound 
cheerful. They had dropped the kids off at Elsa's house and come 
straight to the bar. Teritha had been silent and sullen the whole way, 
and was now leaning forward over the table, gripping a glass of some 
murky liquid and glaring straight ahead. "I mean, so what if the Gabriev 
kids get another few hundred thousand gold from divvying up the dragon 
parts and selling them, not to mention the reward? You've got plenty of 
money."
	"And it's not like they've won out in the tournament all THAT many more 
times than you," Annala added, sitting back in her seat and sipping 
lightly at her tankard. "Hell, Linna only started competing year before 
last."
	"Right. C'mon, that's nothing stuff, it shouldn't bother you," Kira 
picked up. "So why are you so pissed off?"
	"Hey, Teritha!" one of the bar's regulars called, walking over and 
leaning down to grin at her. "Heard your descendents had to be saved 
from a dragon by the Gabriev kids! Hahahaha!"
	Without so much as moving her eyes, Teritha snapped one fist up, the 
back of it slamming against the man's face. He thudded heavily to the 
floor, unconscious.
	"Oh. Right," Kira murmured, glancing down at the victim of her 
sister-in-law's foul mood, then simply shrugging.
	"I dunno, maybe this is a sign," Zek started, then coughed and looked 
down into his tankard as Teritha's head turned ever-so-slightly in his 
direction. "But then, what the fuck do I know?"
	"Perhaps we should stop focusing on the end of the fight, and on what 
occurred during it?" Shel folded his arms over his chest. "Specifically, 
how Ranma managed such a powerful ki attack. Though the situation was 
somewhat desperate, it wasn't unusually so."
	"Heh. I knew you had to be bullshitting me just a little," Annala 
chuckled, then waved a hand. "Yeah, Tear, what was that? If it hadn't 
been a red dragon, the kid would've disintegrated it."
	"..." Teritha glowered briefly, then sighed and sat up, rolling her 
shoulders. "... Before we came, I cast a minor spell on her to bring out 
some of her recessive elf traits temporarily. But that can't be it."
	"Elves can't use ki maneuvers," Annala agreed. "Just magic."
	"Mmm. How much elf would you say Ranma is right now, anyway, Tear?" Zek 
said thoughtfully.
	"Well, I may have gone just a little overboard." Teritha coughed, 
glancing up and off to the side. "... She's probably about half right 
now, maybe a little less."
	"Mmm. Any of your more direct kids ever use ki moves?"
	"No... they stuck more to magic. Never got into the complicated kinds 
of martial arts these kids are using." Teritha looked back at Zek, 
frowning a little. "What are you getting at?"
	"Nothing in particular. Just wondering."
	"Maybe this world just agrees with the kid," Annala mused. "Not a lot 
of cities around, ki is supposed to flow better in natural conditions, 
right? Maybe it's just stronger in a world that's not so built-up."
	"Eh, you're probably right," Teritha sighed. "Didn't make much of a 
difference, anyway."
	"You'll get over it." Annala chuckled, standing and patting her friend 
on the shoulder. "I gotta go. Kenza and I are taking a job over on 
another continent, and we've gotta leave now to get to the gate in time. 
I'll see you in a few months, probably."
	"Yeah. Talk to you later." Teritha smiled and rested a hand atop 
Annala's on her shoulder for a few moments, before the other elf drew 
away and made her way out of the tavern.
	"We should probably head home, too," Shel added. "Ukyo's new weapon 
must be ready by now, and I hesitate to leave our 'brood' with Elsa for 
too long. They might be a bit of a volatile mix."
	"Yeah, you're probably right." Teritha sighed, pushing her chair back, 
then stepping on the still-unconscious fellow who'd annoyed her earlier 
to move closer to the bar and call, "Yo! He's paying!" She pointed down 
briefly, then stepped on him again before heading for the door.
	"Woman's cruel," Zek observed, standing up and walking around the table 
to step on the crumpled form before making for the door as well.
	Shel and Kira simply glanced at each other, then shrugged, stood up, 
stepped on the idiot, and left.

	The group, now reassembled, walked along through the streets, oddly 
silent and somber. Kodachi seemed absorbed with her own thoughts, while 
the others glanced nervously back at Ranma and Ryoga, who trailed the 
group, the two of them walking in synch barely two feet apart, and yet 
seemingly not even aware of each other's existence.
	"Maybe if they'd taken the rest of us along, we could have beaten it," 
Akane muttered, glowering over her shoulder for a moment.
	"Would you have really wanted to fight a dragon? Especially as big as 
Shel said it was?" Ukyo asked, glancing aside at the other girl.
	"... I guess... no... but..."
	"Just let it go, Akane." Ukyo sighed. "You had a hangover anyway."
	"What's WITH you?" Akane grumbled, looking away.
	"... Nothing." Ukyo shook her head, and looked down at the packed earth 
under her feet.
	"Maybe Ukyo just want Akane be more realistic," Shampoo interjected, 
apparently trying to play peacemaker. "Akane learning handle groups very 
well, but dragon is no group, is just one. Is very big one."
	"I... guess," Akane allowed after a few moments' thought.
	"You all just wait here," Teritha instructed as they approached the 
weaponsmith's shop. "Kodachi, try not to get any marriage proposals 
while we're gone." Even the elf-woman's teasing seemed subdued, however, 
and she and Ukyo went inside without any further comment.
	"Well don't this be a sorry lot t'come t'my door now?" Neren called as 
the two walked in, coming out from around the counter to look up at both 
of them. "Did that bloody great worm happen ta be steppin' on your good 
humor?"
	"After a fashion. You finish the kid's weapon?"
	"Aye, that I did." The dwarf woman made her way into the back again, 
disappearing briefly. "An' since ye were takin' yer own sweet time 'bout 
comin' by, I went ahead and embellished just a bit, now I'm hopin' ya 
don't mind!" With that, she came back out front, holding the new spatula 
up to Ukyo.
	The somber mood fell away from Ukyo like frost under flame, replaced by 
wide-eyed awe. She reached for the long bar of the weapon, fighting to 
keep her hands from shaking as she picked it up. The cool metal was 
engraved with a thousand tiny spirals and arcs reminiscent of ivy grown 
over it, and they textured it so that trying to hold it firm would keep 
her grip as tight as if her hands were glued to it, and simply trying to 
hold it loose would allow her to shift the position of her hands 
effortlessly. The silver of the handle curved up to the flat of the 
spatula in a design like ocean waves parting to hold the 'blade', which 
was wide at the base, angling out for a few inches before coming to a 
point and then angling back in, making it narrower at the top.
	She shifted it in her hands a few times, then spun it around, passing 
it behind her back and over her head.
	"Now, ye be careful with that thing, it's sharp, an' not much room in 
here," Neren cautioned, then smiled and held up a bundle. "An', jus' 
'cause I like ye, lass, I made these, since you mentioned 'em."
	Ukyo blinked, then shouldered her weapon so she could take the bundle 
in her other hand. As it unfurled, she smiled brightly. "Bandoliers!"
	"An' some of those smaller, for throwin'. Now them's quality, so if 
it's not too much an' imposition, ye might try getting' one or two back. 
But as 'at's often not much th' case, ye just come back when you run 
out, y'here?"
	"Thanks, Neren." Ukyo smiled brightly, and had to resist the urge to 
hug the dwarf, suspecting it would embarrass the smith to no end. She 
quickly slung the bandoliers on over her coat, then tucked her new 
spatula behind her back. "With these, there's no way I'm gonna lose!"
	"Well, just so ye don't be gettin' no ideas 'cause of certain people," 
and here Neren gave a significant look in Teritha's direction, though 
the elf woman was making a show of busily examining a sword on the wall. 
"I wouldn't be tryin' ta match it up 'gainst the Gabriev boy's blade."
	"Why?" Ukyo blinked. "Is it so much better than your stuff?"
	"Aye, lass." Neren looked very serious, rubbing her chin. "Better'n any 
hand alive today could forge, an' I'd wager much on it. Had it in here a 
time or two for hilt replacements an' th' like. Th' blade's so bloody 
sharp that ye could cut steel wi' it wi'out tryin' too hard."
	"Whoa."
	"What's more, says th' boy, that ain't th' all of it. It's BLUNTED."
	"It's... it's that sharp and it's been turned blunt?! How can that...?!"
	"Th' lad says that when th' first o' his family t'have it got hold of 
it, ye could like as cut stone as air with it. T'was so sharp, t'was 
nearly useless from bein' so dangerous t'have. But in some big fight, it 
got blunted, jus' a wee bit. But that Shale lad, he's a Gabriev good an' 
true, 'magine he could cut a boulder with th' thing without much tryin'."
	"If you're done talking up the competition?" Teritha muttered, then 
spoke up. "What do I owe you, Neren?"
	"Ah, I'll jes' be addin' it t' yer tab. That way ye won't be able to 
argue me down 'bout anythin' in partic'lar."
	"Wicked," Teritha chuckled, then waved a hand. "Fine, be that way. I'll 
see you later."
	"Be seein' ye, Ter'tha. An' you too, lass, ye come back an' see me 
sometime soon. Ye got a head on y' shoulders 'bout what makes a good 
weapon, more'n most have."
	"Thanks. Seeya, Neren!"

	The next day saw the group back at Teritha's home, plus one as Kira had 
decided to visit for awhile. The morning was barely brightening when 
Teritha led the way outside, followed by the rest minus Ranma and Ryoga.
	"How long are those two going to -sulk-?" Akane said, glancing back 
towards the house.
	"Oh, who knows? Ranma's probably just glad I took the spell off her. 
Now! Today sees some changes in our training regimen, and expect this to 
last at least a week! Remember, guys, we've got a little over a month 
left to get ready, and some of you are pretty behind. Others of you 
should be juuust ready by tournament time. Kodachi!"
	The raven-haired girl stepped forward, seeming quite comfortable in 
nothing but her new bodysuit.
	"The reason I haven't been giving you too much attention is that 
there's already a category a lot like rhythmic gymnastics in the 
tournament. Just remember, you won't have a moving ring this time. I'll 
be training you from now on."
	"Very well."
	"Akane!"
	"Yes, sensei!" Akane stepped forward, looking like she was resisting 
the urge to salute.
	Teritha grinned. "You get to play a game for a week."
	"... What?"
	Teritha pointed to a section of the yard where a square about fifteen 
by fifteen feet had been staked off. "You and the shaggy siblings are 
going to play tag, in there."
	Akane blinked, looking over at Shel and Kira, both of whom were in 
normal-sized wolf form and sitting in the snow, breath misting as they 
panted. "Okay...?"
	"Not just any kind of tag, though. If either of them touches you, 
you're 'it'. And to stop being 'it', you have to touch -both- of them. 
If you touch one and either one of them touches you after that, you're 
still 'it' and you have to start over. No weapons, no attacks. Just 
tagging."
	Akane shrank in on herself a little. What had, at the first utterance, 
sounded so simple she couldn't believe it, now looked to be an extremely 
complicated and very taxing endeavor. Then she squared her shoulders a 
little, and nodded. "Yes, sensei."
	"Ukyo!"
	"Yes?"
	"Since Zek has apparently been overseeing your training, he'll continue 
to do so. But now, I'm going to be saying just what he's overseeing. 
Shampoo! You're going to be training with Ukyo. Ukyo, your goal is to 
hit Shampoo with snowballs. Shampoo, your goal is to use your bonbori to 
block the snowballs."
	"Aiya! Could not have training that not wind up turning Shampoo into cat?!"
	"Consider it added incentive. Okay, everyone, let's get to work. 
Kodachi, follow me."
	Akane watched the rest of the group disperse, then walked over to the 
squared-off area and stepped over the low rope stretched between the 
pegs. She walked to the center of it, looking over the field, then 
turned to see Shel and Kira both already in the ring, their front ends 
lowered and tails high in the air, wagging ecstatically. "You two don't 
have to look THAT happy about this!"

	Teritha led Kodachi away from the others, and over to where a long 
board had been set up atop two rocks so that it was about twenty feet 
long and five feet off the ground.
	"Alright, Kodachi. Are you paying attention?"
	"I am here and I am looking at you, aren't I? Obviously I'm paying 
attention to you."
	"Right. Bridge Defense is a bit like a stripped-down version of 
rhythmic gymnastics, usually played on a kind of bridge rather than a 
ring. Instead of not being able to touch outside the ring's surface, 
you're not allowed to go off of the bridge. Which is generally a good 
idea, since it could be something as simple as a short fall into water, 
or anything from lava to spikes to a thousand-foot-drop."
	"Mmm-hmm."
	"You're also not allowed to step back off of the bridge to either side. 
A lot of fighters try for that, but the more ruthless just try to force 
you off the sides. There's also the matter of a ten-count, where if you 
hit the ground and don't get up after the count of ten, you lose. You're 
in luck one other way... the only kinds of weapons allowed in Bridge 
Defense are staffs and whips. I'll be working with both at various 
points while I'm training with you. Got your ribbon?"
	"Of course," Kodachi answered languidly, already twirling it in a lazy 
circle at her side.
	"Alright then, hop on up there." Following her own advice and jumping 
up to one end of the board, Teritha nodded down. "The blue line will 
represent the point where you've been forced back off the bridge. Okay 
then." She unhooked the coil from her belt and flicked it out to the 
side, unfurling the bullwhip. "Let's get started."

	Akane thumped on her rear in the snow, yelping a bit, and then glaring 
after Kira as she barked cheerfully and bounded away. Then, the 
short-haired girl grinned and scrambled to her feet, chasing after her. 
Despite herself, she really way having fun. She leapt and managed to 
briefly slap a hand against the werewolf's back leg, only to have Shel 
leap from the side and thump her on the back with his forelegs before 
scurrying off again.
	"Ack! Come back here! Bad puppy!"

	"Should I take off my spatula, since I'm just going to be using 
snowballs?" Ukyo queried as the three of them walked into the woods.
	"No, go ahead and wear it, you need to get used to moving with it on." 
Zek leaned against a tree, folding his arms over his chest. "Okay, 
Shampoo, get ready."
	The Amazon settled into a light crouch, holding up her bonbori. 
"Shampoo is ready!"
	"Ukyo, go."
	The chef was off like a flash, leaping up and rebounding off one tree 
and into the canopy above in a blur. Shampoo blinked a little, then 
shuffled forward slightly, looking above warily. A very small shuffle of 
pine needles was the only warning she got mere seconds later as Ukyo 
dropped behind her, hanging upside from a branch to throw the first 
snowball and hit the Amazon in the back of the shoulder, then drop and 
twist in midair. Shampoo, of course, tried to turn around to see her 
attacker, and got the next snowball right in the chest, Ukyo springing 
over her head and zipping back into the trees above.
	Dumbfounded, Shampoo stared down at the caked snow on her chest, then 
over at Zek.
	"Hey, what can I say?" The mixed-blood grinned, shrugging negligently. 
"She's been practicing."

	Ranma lay on the bed, hands behind his head, staring at the blank stone 
ceiling. Ryoga lay on his sleeping bag on the floor, in the opposite 
direction, slowly cracking his knuckles one by one.
	"..."
	"..."
	"..."
	"... Pervert."
	"... Pig."
	"Fight."
	"Hell yeah."

	Teritha sighed, putting a hand to her head as she looked down at where 
Kodachi was sprawled in the snow. "... Kodachi."
	"Yeeees, Teritha-sama?" Kodachi sing-songed, flopping over onto her 
back and propping herself up on her elbows.
	"What did I say the proper method for dealing with an incoming strike 
from a whip is?"
	The teenager pondered for long moments, then recited back, "Deflect it 
with my ribbon. Duck back from it. Go over it. Allow it to wrap around 
my arm and try pulling if I want to risk it."
	"Right. And what did I say the improper method was?"
	"... Turning around and allowing it to strike my buttocks?"
	"Right. ... So do you think you could stop doing that?"
	"... Must I?"
	"... Fine, three more times, then we're getting serious."
	"As you like!"
	
-End Part Six-

Additional Notes:
An explanation of the thanks I gave in the notes at the top! ^.^
I thank Hajime Kanzaka, for inventing The Slayers, and of course Lina 
and Gourry, so that I can have their descendents appear in this fic.
I thank Andre Germain for his listing of Slayers spells, which has often 
been useful and likely will continue to be useful in any effort in which 
I need to look up Slayers magic spells.
I thank Ryo Mizuno for creating Deedlit, and forever getting me hooked 
on anime-style elves. Lord those ears are sexy.
And I thank Stephen Arkhaine, for being my best friend and just a 
generally really cool guy. n.n


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