[FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma][Ratatouille] The Secret of Ukyo: Food & Love - Chapter 4

[Wanderer D]

Secret of Ukyo: Food and Love
Chapter 4
By Wanderer D

--

“Paris has been-” Rémy shook his head. “What do you mean by that?”
The rats all grinned, until Ukyo pulled out her spatula.
“Girl... Be careful with that.” One of the rats sneered. “You might hurt yourself.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of hurting you with it!” Ukyo swirled the spatula around her
expertly.
“Get them, boys!” The foremost rat shouted.
Rémy dodged the clumsy attempt of two of the rats to catch him, nimbly jumping to the side and
letting them fall into the river with a splash. He turned to offer Ukyo a hand, but the mouse
seemed to be in control of the situation. Using the handle of the spatula, she knocked the air out
of the first one; at the same time throwing him on top of the one right behind him. With an expert
flick of the wrist she tossed them out of the boat and into the river.
The first rat looked at them angrily as Rémy smiled smugly at them.
“Seems like you’re aching to take a bath, smelly.” Ukyo said, pointing at him with her spatula.
The rat growled, and whistled. Ukyo and Rémy exchanged worried glances at the sound of several
things moving around the boat. And in seconds they saw that they were surrounded by more than
fifty rats.
The rat smirked. “You were saying?”
Ukyo gritted her teeth and crouched. “Ever heard the term ‘blaze of glory’?” she turned her hold
on the spatula, gripping it in anticipation of a sweep designed to take as many enemies as
possible in one go. “I’ll clear a path, and you escape, Rémy.”
“What?!” Rémy looked at her, incredulous. “There’s no way I’m leaving you here, Ukyo.”
Despite herself, Ukyo smiled as a blush rushed to her cheeks.
“I might not know fancy tricks like yours, but I’m no slouch in fights!” Rémy proclaimed, looking
around without a hint of fear.
Ukyo’s spatula lowered as she gazed at him with small hearts in her eyes. Rémy, noticing this
sweated a bit. “Um
 Ukyo?”
“Yes?”
“Enemies
 there?”
Ukyo shook her head and faced the annoyed rats. “Whenever you’re ready. I’ll give you a fight
you’ll never forget!”
“Hey, hey, what’s all this ruckus about?” a voice asked from just under the roof.
The rats and mouse looked around confused as to where the voice was coming from. With a flutter of
wings a pigeon flew up from under the roof. “I got hatchlings down there, you know? Tryin’ to
sleep.”
The rats looked at the pigeon, murderous intent still intact. “Get lost feather-brain. Or we’ll
maul you along with those two.”
The pigeon looked from the pair to the ten rats and let out a sigh. “Well, as much as I would like
to do that, I can’t.”
The rats stepped back to keep a careful look on both Ukyo and Rémy and the pigeon. “Why not?” the
leader asked.
“Well
” the pigeon pointed at Ukyo. “She’s under bird-kind’s protection. And he’s with her, ergo,
he is too.”
The rats blinked.
“Um. Bird-kind protection?” Rémy asked, looking at Ukyo, who shook her head and shrugged.
“There’s still one of you and ten of us!” The rat said.
“Correction.” A male voice said from above them. “There’s twenty and three of us, and ten of you.”
Looking around they discovered they were completely surrounded by black birds. Crows and ravens
were perched along the border of the roof watching intently the increasingly nervous rats.
“This
 this is not right!” the rat said. “Joan of the Paris Rats had a deal with Alissandre of the
Owls precisely to avoid this kind of situation.”
One of the ravens stepped forward. His voice was deep and carried a strange echo behind it. “She
has bowed to a higher authority amongst the avian hierarchy.”
The rat growled. “And who is this higher authority? She was the leader last time we checked.”
“And she still is,” another male raven said, stepping forward. “However even she would have to be
a fool of titanic proportions to ignore an order from one of the Phantom Queens. And Alissandre is
no fool.”
The rat shook his head, venomously looking from one group to the other before turning his back on
them. “Fine. Do what you want tonight. Joan will not be happy and I promise you, Django’s clan
will pay, bird or no bird help.”
Rémy didn’t even have time to step forward when the rat was on his back, staring in wild panic at
the glinting metal surface of the razor-sharp spatula as the edge was pressed against his neck.
“Listen to me, you little piece of crap.” Ukyo growled, slight wisps of energy appearing around
her. “I will make one thing absolutely clear. The birds saved your hides. Not ours.” She leaned
forward, her eyes boring into the paralyzed rat like drills. “Go tell that coward Joan that if he
is too blind and deaf to see or hear the truth, I will personally shove it down his neck and keep
his mouth from opening until he can stomach it. Understood?”
The rat’s eyes said he did as he was to afraid to nod or speak and risk slicing his throat open.
With a huff, Ukyo moved the spatula away and kicked the downed rat in the rump. “Now go.”
The rats ran away as fast as they could, leaving Rémy and Ukyo to stare at the gathered birds.
Slowly, one by one they left until they were left only with the two male ravens that had spoken.
“Um
” Rémy stepped forward, looking at each of the birds with a slight smile of confusion. “Thank
you for helping us
”
The ravens looked at each other, then the one on the left, the first to speak looked at both the
rat and the mouse. “The Phantom Queen also asked to do one more thing before we leave.”
Ukyo arched an eyebrow. “Oh? And what was it?”

-o-

The place where the ravens left them was surrounded by golden lights, spreading up and down from
their position, and yet not overshadowing the sight of Paris, extending like black velvet with a
thousand multicolored glowing lights as far as the pair could see.
Ukyo’s eyes were wide, taking in the sights and almost going out of breath as she looked around
and into the distance. Her paw was holding on to Rémy’s as he too watched the city from their
perch on the roof of the first level of the Eiffel Tower.
“This is so beautiful
” Ukyo said, slowly lowering her head into the fur of Remy’s arm. She closed
her eyes as she felt him breathe next to him.
Rémy looked down at her, a soft smile spreading on his face as he looked back to where the two
ravens had left them; right next to a small picnic mat with a bottle of wine and several types of
snacks.
“How did this happen?” Remy asked.
“I don’t know
” Ukyo sighed. Turning her head slightly to open her eyes and gaze at the city
again. “But right now I don’t care.”
Rémy sighed as he guided Ukyo to sit down next to him. Carefully serving some wine into the
thimble-sized cups their mysterious guardian had left for them.
“Ukyo
 thank you.”
Ukyo blinked. “What for?”
“For trying your best to save me!” Rémy said, smiling at her as he gave her one of the cups.
“I only beat you from trying first.” Ukyo whispered, her eyes and Rémy’s sharing yet another
smile.

-o-

“Welcome back.” Nabiki said as Ukyo stumbled into the room. “Did you have a good night?”
Ukyo felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she nodded noncommittally and proceeded to open the
mini-bar.
Nabiki laughed. “Well, I hope you and Rémy did. I spent most of the time waiting for you doing
work.”
Ukyo sighed. “I’m sorry Nabs. I promise to be on my best tomorrow morning.”
Nabiki chuckled as she closed her laptop. “You mean later today.” She stretched and walked to her
bed, sitting down on it and looking at her friend. “I’ll take your word on it.”
Ukyo nodded and quickly changed into her pajamas. As she slid into her bed, and Nabiki turned off
the light, she looked at her friend’s silhouette against the moonlight. “Nabs
 who are the Phantom
Queens?”
Nabiki didn’t stir or make a sound and Ukyo slowly closed her eyes. In the distance, as Ukyo
descended into dreams, she could hear her friend’s voice spiraling down into darkness with her.
“All in good time, Ukyo
 Sleep now.”

-o-

“Dad?” Rémy asked, walking into the nest. He had noticed the increased security. Some of Git’s
friends roamed the area in the form of unexpected patrols; the entrances had been guarded by at
least three rats each. There was an air of tension all around and Rémy began to understand that
the threats from the rat that had attacked them that night had not been a lie.
“Rémy!” Django came out of his shelter with a broad smile, tired eyes looking up and down his son
as he approached him enough to give him a hug. “What brings you here?”
“Dad, today I went out with Ukyo
”
A gleam came to Django’s eyes. “Ah,” he grinned. “That young mouse caught your eye, eh, Rémy?
Well, rats and mice normally don’t mingle, but you have my blessing.”
“Dad
 wait
” Rémy started to say when Émile rushed him.
“Did I hear right? Are you getting together with the mouse girl?” His broad brother was smiling
from ear to ear as he hugged Rémy. “Wait, Émile. I need to talk
”
“We should celebrate!” Git said, his patrol group surrounding Django, Rémy and Émile. He patted
Rémy on the back, almost bowling him over. “Congratulations buddy! I guess the good thing is you
don’t have to worry about the catering for the wedding night!”
Git’s friends laughed at his joke as Rémy’s eyes lowered halfway as he tried, unsuccessfully to
talk.
“Rémy is getting married?” A female rat asked, eyes wide. “I have to tell the others!”
“Ok
 stop. I mean it.” Rémy groaned as he was pushed towards the centre of the room colony. The
now fully awake rats started pulling out food.
“Look, I’m not hungry.” The young chef said amiably, yet annoyed as he turned to his dad. “Dad, we
need to talk
”
“Don’t worry about the details Rémy, we will deal with them in time!” Django said.
“Dad
”
“Okay, Émile, you will go get the decorations along with
”
“Daaaad
”
“Git, we will need your muscle to move the cake
 wait
 we might have to ask Linguini to do that.
Rémy knows how to read and write so he’ll tell him, but I still need you to move the drinks
”
“DAD!”
Django and the others stopped and looked back at Rémy as the young rat breathed hard and tried to
calm himself.
“What is it son? Wait
 don’t tell me
” his eyes widened. “You haven’t asked her yet?”
“YES! I mean, no! I mean
” Rémy shook his head. “Wait. Stop.” His hands made slowing motions
towards everyone present until even the musicians stopped strumming their instruments. “Okay. I
haven’t asked Ukyo to marry me
”
A collective groan reached his ears and he glared around until everyone quieted down.
“Geez, Rémy
” Émile suddenly said. “Do you think she would say no?”
At that Rémy’s mind blanked and he took two steps back.
Everyone looked expectantly at him as he slowly shook his head.
“That
 is not what I wanted to talk about
” he faced Django. “Dad
 me and Ukyo were attacked
tonight.”
Everyone took a deep breath. Django looked worried for a bit. Then, slowly his eyelids lowered
dangerously. “Were you or the girl harmed?”
Rémy sighed as he shook his head. “It was a close call. We were saved by the birds.”
Django’s brow furrowed further. “Why would they help you?”
Rémy shook his head. “I don’t know
 it was because of Ukyo. They said she was under the protection
of someone called the Phantom Queen.”
“But that makes no sense
” Django said. “The ruler of the birds of Paris is an old Owl called
Alissandre and she’s been in very good terms with Joan.”
Rémy’s eyes shot up. “The rat that attacked us said Joan had sent them. Dad
 what’s happening?”
“That is something I’d like to know too.” A female voice drifted down to the rats.
Immediately, Git and his troops surrounded Django, Rémy and Émile. “Who said that?” the big rat
challenged, looking about.
With a sudden gust of wind, a raven landed in the middle of the rats, scaring and scattering a few
of them. Two more ravens landed slightly behind her, and Rémy recognized them.
“Dad, those two helped me and Ukyo against Joan’s rats!”
“Who are you?” Django asked the female raven.
“The Phantom Queen.” The raven answered, a glint of amusement in her eye. “And you are Rémy’s
father.” She turned her eyes to the young rat-chef. “Did you enjoy your night, young rat? I mean,
I set up everything for you to enjoy the night with dear Ukyo. Good wine, breath-taking view
..
complete and utter solitude for the both of you
”
Behind her the two ravens exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.
Rémy on the other hand was starting to show a blush through his blue-gray fur.
“You did. Didn’t you?” the female raven laughed. “This is priceless. And to think she never
thought she’d fall for another rodent.”
This drew a few blinks.
“What?” Rémy asked.
“My, hasn’t she told you about her ex-fiancée?” the raven did her best impression of a smile. Rémy
didn’t know that birds beaks could form such convincing grins. “Wild Horse.”
Everyone stared.
“How do you know so much about her?” Rémy demanded.
The Phantom Queen snorted. “All the questions you can ask and you go for that one? Lack of
imagination for a chef of your caliber, Mr. Rémy.”
As the young rat seethed, Django stepped forward, with Git slightly behind him, ready to jump
forward in a second. “It seems you are the one to thank for saving Rémy and Ukyo
 thank you.” He
bowed slightly.
“Yes, but now it’s time for you to tell me exactly why two of my favorite rodents are in danger.”
Django sighed. “Rémy... follow us.” He motioned for the ravens to fall behind as he led them to a
secluded area of the nest.

-o-

Joan followed the secret paths his predecessor had taught him to reach Jean Sans Peur. Once inside
he made his way to his appointed place and waited for his acquaintance to arrive.
“Damn it, Alissandre we had an arrangement.” Joan said from a hole in the wall. The lanky-looking
rat was glaring upwards at the large brown owl who was glaring right back as it settled down on a
next to the staircase.
“We do have an arrangement, Joan.” The owl said, her voice dropping in temperature with each word.
“But there is little I can do if the so-called Phantom Queen appears and demands a favor.”
“Who is this ‘Queen’?” another voice purred from the darkness of a distant corner. “Is she really
royalty to order you about, Alissandre mon aimé?”
The owl ruffled her feathers, shooting an amused glance at the corner. “Armand mon cher
” She
nodded. “How nice of you to join us.”
“Hardly anything happens without us knowing about it, bird.” A growl echoed in the room, drawing
an antagonistic hiss from Armand.
“Watch your mouth wag-tail.” He hissed. “Or I will make sure you can’t sleep at night for fear of
your eyes being gauged out!”
A soft “woof” laughed its way up. “Fine, fine. Never be said Lydie didn’t have proper respect for
the alphas of other clans.”
“That is if Alissandre is still an ‘alpha’ as you call it.” Jean said. “If you are the leader of
the birds, why did you follow orders from this Queen of yours?”
Alissandre considered her options, then sighed. “She has every crow and raven in the city
believing she is the Phantom Queen that had I not acquiesced to her request she would have started
a fight I could ill afford.”
“That is an unusually pacifist approach from you, Alissandre, you normally favor battle.” Yet
another female voice echoed in the empty tower, coming from the dark confines of the top of the
tower.
“Minuit-fleur
” Joan looked up, a sigh escaping him.
“Joan.” The reply was curt. “Why were your rats attacking them in the first place?”
The rat cringed at the coldness of the reply, but, heart beating fast he explained. “The girl
wasn’t the target, it was her companion. He’s from a clan from the north, they came to live in
Paris, agreed to our rules and then broke them.”
The amber eyes in the topmost shadows glinted. “Why did they do that?”
“Does it matter?” the growl drew everyone’s attention down as the moonlight entered the tower
through several cracks and windows. The dog that stood on the floor was almost wolf-like in size
and appearance. Her canines shone white-blue in the moonlight and her matted black and gray fur
seemed to absorb the light while her eyes glowed red in the darkness. “They broke the law.”
“As much as I hate to agree with the flea-bag, I have to do so.” Armand said, ignoring the
threatening growl and purring slightly as he balanced his way over the beam to sit next to
Alissandre. “If anyone breaks the laws then they have to be either exiled or punished. No
exceptions.”
Jean looked at the color-patchwork tabby with a mixture of contempt and well hid fear. “Agreed.
And That was what I was doing. The boy, Rémy, is from Django’s clan. I was in my right to punish
him.”
“That hardly sounds like Django. You had good words to say about him when his clan came to Paris.”
Minuit-fleur said.
“I thought he was a proud Rat. That he remembered the ways, and respected the thousand-year old
traditions we of the Voix Cachées guard. He betrayed that trust by claiming food only for his clan
under the pretense of setting the area off-limits.” The rat retorted.
“So.” Armand nodded, and looked deeply into Alissandre’s brown eyes. “If we were to get rid of
this so-called queen, you would be free to rule your avian cousins as your position demands.”
Alissandre looked back at the cat’s green eyes and hooted so softly only Armand and Minuit-fleur
were able to hear it. “Yes
 but I cannot do it alone. And if we do this, it has to look like an
accident.”
The amber eyes in the shadows slid down dangerously. But Minuit-fleur kept her silence.
“I have an idea
” Armand said.

End Chapter 4



       
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