***AN.***None of these characters (except for David!!!) belong to me, and
guess what?! I'm gonna use em anyway!!! Bwa ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!
"..." = Japanese *...* = thoughts {...} = Chinese [...] = English
Here's David!
He must have made a wrong turn somewhere down the line.
David normally didn't get lost, but this time fate has decreed that he enter a land where everybody was almost a head shorter than his 6' frame, and nobody except the oldsters has anything resembling his shock of white hair.
This wasn't even the worst part. Apparently, no one spoke English or Chinese either.
When he accidentally walked out in front of a moving car, the driver yelled something at him that needed no translation. From what the driver shouted, the stares he got for his black Chinese robes as well as his facial structure and silvery white hair, David could guess that he was somewhere in Japan. But he didn't remember crossing any body of water to get there.
It just wasn't fair. Oh wait. Life is never fair.
David supposed it was time to figure out where he was, and find something interesting to do. It was easy to lose interest in the mundane workings of society. He didn't speak the language, but he was sure he could make himself understood if given enough time. And that he had plenty of.
He started off in a random direction along the busy streets, and heard the sounds of a fight somewhere in the distance. The air whooshed as the people that once walked the streets fled with fear on their faces. The people had disappeared, leaving the streets to two combatants duking it out and a pair of girls watching from the sidelines.
The boy with the pig-tail caught David's attention. What caught his attention wasn't the fact that the pig-tailed boy was fighting, rather, it was what the martial artist was wearing. A red shirt in the Chinese style, black pants cuffed at the ankles, and black fighting slippers. It had been so long since he had seen someone wearing the familiar, comfortable clothing that the Chinese prefer.
Quickly padding on quiet feet toward the sounds of fists giving off meaty thunks on whirling bodies, David saw the opponent of the pig-tailed boy give off a greenish aura and prepare something that he knew would be bad.
Not seeming to give a thought to what he was doing, David stepped closer to the fighters, but out of reach of any stray strikes, ignoring the gasps from the two onlookers, and...paused.
Things grew still... Literally.
David had no trouble inserting himself between the two, and angling to get the best leverage.
Still covered in a green aura, the boy with little fangs peeking out of snarling lips looked like a frozen statue of vengeance, and slightly unnerved the boy who pushed his hand through the aura. A second before David sent the two fighters flying - thanks to a magnificent leverage point, an impish smile crossed the white-haired American boy's face and he stepped back.
Reassessing the situation, David saw an opening and maneuvered the boy with the aura into an uncomfortable position he was going to regret when David restarted time. Even though he had nothing against the two fighters, it would be interesting to see their expressions. Still grinning at the fun to come, he returned to his original position, out of reach, and willed time to restart.
Ranma was on his way to thrashing Ryoga when several things happened almost simultaneously.
Ryoga, powering up for his depression attack, flicked his eyes toward a noncombatant that Ranma had sensed coming up behind him. Ranma had already noticed, analyzed, and forgot about the newcomer.
For one thing, he had no aura. For another, he didn't move like a martial artist, and Ranma considered the threat in front of him greater than the unknown one coming up behind him.
An eye blink later, he was somewhere he never in any Kami-forsaken place wanted to be. In Ryoga's arms, with his own clasped around his enemy/friend's neck in what seemed to be a passionate embrace.
An eternity later, almost a second, both Ranma and Ryoga jumped back from each other, turned around, and became deeply interested in certain parts of the scenery.
Akane and Shampoo were still silent in shock after witnessing something they thought could never happen.
All this was a backdrop for a loud guffaw coming from the direction of the one party that had no stake in any of the goings on of Nerima Ward.
Still shell-shocked, Ranma numbly turned to look at the laughing nuisance and watched as Shampoo broke out her bonburies, wind up, and give the guy with the white hair a thump that should have sent him hurtling through a number of concrete walls. All it did was force his head to cant to the side and give the guy a lump he was going to remember.
Shampoo's, "You no laugh at Airen! Was trick! Airen no like pig-boy!" caused a look of confusion to run across his features.
Not knowing a word of what the violent purple haired girl just said, David ceased his chuckles, clutched at his head and wondered at the odd weapons the girl was holding. In each hand, a large sphere was attached to a stick and seemed to be made of metal. [Bonbories?!] he said in English. [Now where have I seen those?]
What snapped Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga out of their stupor was Shampoo replying to what sounded like a question from the gajin guy in the same language. Shampoo spoke English?!?!?! They started to pay attention to the conversation, even though Ryoga was the only who could somewhat understand what was said.
[You know what a bonbori is? How can you? It is an ancient Amazon weapon, and no outsider has ever seen one in four hundred years. Aside from my Airen and his 'friends' of course.]
[Amazon?! Wait a sec. Bonbories, purple hair, Amazon.] In mid- sentence, the gajin switched from English to perfect Mandarin Chinese. {Xian Pu? Is that you?!}
Faltering at his correct identification, Shampoo also changes to Chinese. {Yes, I am Xian...hold...David?!?!} She peers closer at the new guy who strikes a pose that turns his body to profile while the near arm is held out to her, elbow cocked at a ninety degree angle and hand open to receive her own. {Aiya! David!!!!}
The rest, not understanding a word of what was said, nor what the silly pose the boy did meant to their purple haired friend, they were surprised to no end when Shampoo sent her bonbories flying with abandon. She then rushed the new guy in what they considered a full battle charge because she was screaming like a maniac, and they winced in anticipation of the broken bones of the non-martial artist. They were not expecting the girl to reach out her right hand, clasp the other held out to her in what was a familiar gesture, and then proceed to lavish a full-blown Amazon glomp on him. No one heard a shout of rage from some of the bushes that rustled ominously at the sight of the girl hugging the stranger.
Still in Chinese, {Oh, David! I can't believe it is you! It has been what, eight years since I've seen you. You've grown so much since I was eight, and you were ten. Why, you are even taller than my husband!}
{You are married, Xian Pu?! Who has defeated you, the greatest warrior in the village?} He then grins teasingly, {who do I have to kill to restore your honor?}
{David! Do not say such things.} Shampoo then grins in tandem with her friend. {I happen to like my husband, although he does not agree that we are married. My Ranma can be very stubborn when confronted with Amazon ways.} She then directs a pointed look in Ranma's direction that sends the pig-tailed boy into a paroxysm of coughing as Akane glares at him for that 'come-hither' look Shampoo gave him.
David arches his brow. {That's the guy?! It was a piece of cake to get him and his buddy into that - eep!}
Waving his hands in front of him, he was trying to head off Shampoo's growing fury. {No, no! That wasn't what I meant! I was only.}
But he was cut off by a furl of chain whizzing by his nose, almost taking it off. An explosion from a nearby bush resulted in a guy with really thick glasses and a white robe almost identical to David's own black attire attacking him.
Reflex was the only thing that saved David from further grief, since that semi-subconscious instinct that sent everything into a frozen state kicked in. It kept a pointy object at the end of another chain from skewering him in the side.
Glaring in annoyance at the relatively tall Chinese boy, David stalked over the ambusher and studied the two chains that protruded from voluminous sleeves of the white robes. A nasty smirk crossed the white haired boy's face as he set about searching the other boy's robes for an unseemly amount of time.
What he unearthed to light astounded him. It was impossible to stick that volume of assorted junk and weapons into two sleeves and still make it look like there was nothing there. It defied description!
Glancing back over the pile of stuff he had just confiscated, David moved the giant pile of weapons, porcelain potty trainers, and odd bits and pieces further away from his deceiving adversary and concealed it behind some bushes.
After making one final check to see that he had taken everything, David moved back to his position with one slight adjustment. He moved just out of the way of the last remaining blade on a chain, which he decided to let the Chinese boy keep.
Without a flicker of an eyelid, David restarted time and felt the whooshing of displaced air from the knife on the chain against his side. It struck a tree a few yards away and embedded itself so deeply that the Chinese boy would have trouble getting it out.
David walked up to the thrashing figure that just tried to shish kabob him and zeroed in on the best leverage point that would allow him to punt the maniac in the white robes into the stratosphere. As he pulled his leg back to accomplish the deed, Shampoo grabbed a hand and tried to tow him away from his anticipated fun. She wanted to get reacquainted with her long lost friend, not waste time on silly Mousse.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at the white-haired gajin when the sudden interference of Shampoo failed to move him the way she wanted. In fact, the pull she exerted did not seem to cause him any troubles with his balance either, considering the gajin was still on one foot. Ranma might just need to revise his assumption of the American if the attentions of the Amazon could not sway him. Plus, he had the sneaking suspicion that the newcomer had something to do with the compromising position he found himself in with Ryoga.
Meanwhile, back at the Tendo dojo, Nabiki was receiving some startling news. "What do you mean 'you should have gotten this information a week ago'?!?!?" she yelled at the phone.
"Well," said the smooth voice on the other end, "when you defeated the prior master for his position, it was his duty as a member of the network to pass down all directives the council issues to his successor. Because he did not, he has violated the Nerima district's code and will be punished as per tradition and council decree. You do not have to worry about that part, but as for the directives, a messenger will be dispatched to your section with the proper documents for you to look over.
"Because we deal in information, our reputation as a network is dependent upon the district masters to maintain perfect honesty in all their dealings, and perfect secrecy. In effect, stick to your district and run it the way you want, but be truthful in your dealings, secret in anything that is not for your gain, and be willing to help when another district master needs you. This will ensure their help for when you will sorely need them in some future time. Do you understand these directives, even if they are the condensed version?"
"Yes."
"Two more things. When you messenger has delivered the documents, sign what is needed and return them to the messenger, for he will get them back to the council. The other thing is to be on the look out for a certain player. You will know him by his attire and hair. If you are fortunate in seeing him, please convey the council's thanks and place your services at his disposal. He is indeed to be honored and any and all help is to be provided. Is that clear?"
"Yes." *By his attire and his hair? That describes half of Nerima.*
"Very good, fledgling. We of the council are proud you have joined our ranks. Certain members have been watching your progress and are pleased with what you have wrought in Nerima without the assistance of the council. Your career will be observed as the years go by and annotated in our records."
Hanging up the phone, Nabiki mulled the new data in her mind. It certainly put a twist in her future plans for the Nerima ward of Tokyo. "And just who is this new player the region master spoke of. He certainly seemed to want to help the 'clothing and hair' guy. What could one person do that was so valuable to the network's ranks that would warrant their thanks?"
"Nabiki?"
"Yipe! Don't do that Kasumi!" Nabiki's heart was running around in little circles in her chest playing tag with elusive speed demons. As she patted her chest to calm down, she turned to look up at her older sister at the door, wondering how much she had heard.
"Oh my! I did not mean to startle you so. Are you coming down for dinner? Akane and Ranma said they were going out to eat and father and Mr. Saotome are out celebrating 'the union of the schools'." Looking a bit shy, she added, "And I was kind of hoping to have some company."
Instantly chastised, Nabiki quickly nodded her assent. No one could guilt her into doing anything like the young Tendo matriarch could. *Who knows,* the middle sister thought, *I just might be able to get her on the payroll, if Kasumi could do that to other people.*
Shelving that thought for another day, Nabiki pulled a ledger out from a hidey-hole cupboard where she kept her 'network' business. Flipping to a new page, she swiftly wrote in the information the region master gave her, and made an entry on the known players list, in case she should encounter the 'clothing and hair' boy.
It pricked her ego that there was someone important in her domain and none of her sources had coughed up to seeing him. *It might just be time for a wage deduction if my little intelligence network doesn't come up with something soon.*
Nabiki then made her way to the dining room where Kasumi had that evening's meal already laid out. Everything just smelled so good. And it was a good thing that it was Kasumi, and not Akane that cooked. Nabiki did not feel like a trip to the hospital to have her stomach pumped.
Back at that deserted street, Ryoga and Akane were still in awe of the unknown quantity in their midst. Ranma, however, still kept his wits about him, which was a very good thing, since Mousse had unstuck himself from the tree and was almost at the point of skewering the boy who had his arm casually slung around Shampoo. Slinking behind the blind Chinese boy, Ranma punted him into Leo before he could release any of the assorted stuff normally held up his sleeves.
Akane broke out of her stupefaction at seeing the Amazon hugging someone other than her Ranma, just in time to see said fiancee enacting violence on Duckboy. Glowing slightly red after watching Mousse go flying, she pulled her trusty mallet and sent her fiancee into the concrete and a few inches under for good measure. She had forgotten for the time being that it was Mousse who had started the ruckus with the gajin boy.
Walking away from her downed fiancee, she approached the laughing couple that spoke amongst themselves in a bewilderingly fast array of Chinese with some English judiciously thrown in. Apparently, they had not noticed Ranma's bad behavior, but she was more than willing to introduce Shampoo to her fist for the come-hither look she had directed towards Ranma earlier.
David had a prickling at the nape of his neck that warned of an impending attack, and almost sent the world into its frozen state from pure reflex alone. Instead, he glanced at the lovely approaching figure of the second girl that had watched the fight and then turned back to his conversation with Xian Pu.
It had been a very long time since he had met with someone who had shared a deeply important part of his normal past and he wanted to give her his undivided attention. He tuned back in to what his childhood friend was saying.
{And then, I entered into that years tournament, and won over every other Amazon in my age category-} she went on.
Still paying attention to Xian Pu, David also kept an eye on the fist that the other girl was swinging at his friend. Not wishing to interrupt the monologue that had Xian so excited, he paused, and then redirected Akane's fist away from its intended target.
Replacing his arm around Xian, and pasting the correct expression back onto his face, David restarted time and had the pleasure of seeing out of the corner of his eye the girl lose her balance.
It was almost comical to view her look of inner consternation when she realized that she had seemingly miscalculated her fist's trajectory. Flustered, but by no means vanquished, the girl wound up to try again.
And still Xian went on, {But someone and her panda had eaten my prize. I challenged her, and wouldn't you know it, she won!}
At that last comment, David almost forgot about the other girl's unwarranted attack because Xian's tone of voice was totally at odds with what he knew of the Amazon's culture. {And you were-}
Again the pause and redirection.
{happy about this?! Aw, Xian. You had to kill her didn't you?}
Xian Pu blushed at this and mumbled something that he didn't quite catch. Akane, meanwhile still couldn't figure out why her punches kept missing.
{What was that, Xian? I didn't hear you.}
{The girl turned out to be Ranma.} she said in a quiet voice.
{Turned out to be.} David about-faced, startling Akane, and looked in the direction of the puddle Ranma who was being helped up by Ryoga.
Goggly bug eyes turned back to Xian Pu. [You married the girl?!]
At this, Ranma perked up enough to moan, "I ain't a girl!" before collapsing again. Ryoga was the only thing holding him up from the ground. He didn't know that Ranma had understood English. Ryoga could, but then again, he had spent a couple of months in America before he could find his way back to Japan. He still didn't know how the Hibiki curse could make someone so lost that they could cross to lands separated by great bodies of water without going over any ocean. ***A.N. Cough cough..looks pointedly at David and scrolls back up to the beginning of the story..***
Xian Pu tugged at David's silk robe sleeve. {At the time I thought that I had to kill her, but she really was a he.} At David's look of confusion, she explained further. {Ranma was cursed at the Jusenkyo pools. He fell into spring of drowned young girl.} Comprehension dawned across her friend's face. His hand came up to wipe away a sweatdrop that had formed on the side of his face. {You had me worried there for a moment, Xian Pu.}
Akane's stomach chose that moment to voice its displeasure at the late hour with no food coming down the esophagus to greet it. Almost like the yawning phenomenon, rumbling tummies could be heard from various points arrayed around the street. Ranma, Xian Pu, David, Akane and Ryoga all looked sheepishly at one another. Ranma shrugged, Akane looked toward the dojo, and Ryoga blushed. Xian Pu took the moment to glomp Ranma. "You come with David and Shampoo to café, yes? Have nice ramen that make tummy stop speaking."
Akane wedged between them. "Ranma is not going anywhere with you, hussy!"
Ranma danced away from the two feuding contenders for his hand. "You know Akane, I never turn down free food, and David here, he looks like he has a few good moves in him, and you know how I like to learn the Art."
Akane glared at him, snapping, "Well, I'm coming too. I don't trust her to behave."
Ranma jumped at the chance to find out about the new guy. "OK, Akane. I got no problem with that." It was a rare day when a stranger turned up and didn't want something from him. Plus, Ranma wanted to know how the guy kept his balance even after taking a bonbori to the head, and an Amazon tugging at him full strength. As far as he knew, only Ryoga could have taken the bonbori, and with an Amazon latched on to you, it would take a crowbar to pry her off, after being dragged wherever she wanted to drag you. This David was interesting indeed.
Ryoga took a few steps in an entirely wrong direction, and was snagged by David and redirected toward where Shampoo, Ranma and Akane were making their way down the street. "Thanks, man," Ryoga muttered, as he was glad that the white haired guy did not remark upon his abysmally bad sense of direction. David cocked his head to the side with a look of confusion on his face. Ryoga just patted the guy's shoulder, hooked a hand onto the sleeve that looked handy, and both followed the trio as they made their way off into the sunset.
* * * * *
At the Nekohanten, Khu Lon was shooing the rest of the straggling dinner crowd out the door when an unidentified flying Mousse came arching over the city and landing limbs akimbo in front of the café's door.
Raising a brow at the entrance, Khu Lon handed Mousse a broom and pointed towards the main room of the restaurant. What really surprised her was the fact that Mousse did not mention any of his favorite 'pet' names for her, nor did he curse son-in-law for his current predicament.
"Mousse, what happened?"
"..."
"It must not have been son-in-law, because you would normally have started planning revenge on him..in extremely vocal tones."
"No, elder. It is not the cretin that womanizes all women. It is another that has caused me to temporarily abandon my revenge against Saotome."
"Oh? Who?"
"I do not know, old mummy," he said off-handedly. Thwap! "Ow!"
"What did this person look like then?"
"Ah, the boy has nothing on me. I'd even go on to say that he was copying my own sophisticated style! His robes were remarkably like my own, except that they were black. The pants were grey, kung fu slippers the same as the robe, and a sash that was as red as blood. The gajin had the weirdest hair I'd ever seen. You know how most of the Amazons have hair that rivals the rainbow? Well, the gajin's was as white as yours, except that it was more silvery and not bleached as bones as yours is. "
Thwap Thwap
"Ite! Anyway, what has me most worried was a compilation of things. One, when Xian Pu clobbered him with her bonbories for laughing at Saotome, he didn't go down. He just stood there with his head tilted to the side, and didn't look like he was going to fall over. Two, they seemed to have some bond with each other that I didn't know about. Three, he was able to dodge my shurikens. And four, what has me most worried, when I was sent flying by Saotome, I checked my robes, and couldn't find a single weapon! They're all gone!"
With each reason that the part-timer rattled off, Khu Lon grew more and more interested. If this foreign boy could give Mousse a run for his yen, and has a connection with Xian Pu, then perhaps she could use him as a lure to make son-in-law jealous! Yes, this just might be enough to get Ranma to cave! What started out as a small chuckle grew into a laugh that sent the hairs at the nape of Mousse's neck screaming in terror. Kodachi had nothing on Khu Lon when she was in this state.
Walking down the Nerimian streets, Ryoga kept glancing at his guide's rather odd hair color. In halting English he asked, [Is hair a dye job?]
Looking back at the lost boy, David quirked a brow. [Nah. Just prematurely white. Two years ago my hair just started growing in this way, and after it got long enough, I cut off the black hair, as it looked freaky with the white roots.]
[Oh...]
[Say, why were you and Xian Pu's husband fighting?] Frowning momentarily, [You weren't trying to mess with my friend's marriage were you?]
"Nani!" [Uh, no. Why you think that?]
[Nevermind then.] David smiles. [How did you end up hugging Xian Pu's husband, by the way?]
[His name Ranma. And I no hug him! Just about to "shi shi hokudan" into air, when he hug me!] Ryoga's face turned suspicious eyes towards David. [I know you from somewhere?]
[Well, I've been moving around a lot these past two years. I don't think I've been to Japan before. Do you get around too?]
Ryoga blushes, [Yeah, you able say that.]
At this time, all five have arrived at the Nekohanten just in time to see Mousse getting thwacked on the head by Cologne. "Part-timer! If you drop one more bowl of ramen, the Nekohanten will be getting a new dish to serve on the menu! Duck! Now get back into the kitchen and clean the stove."
Ranma and Ryoga both wince in sympathy even though neither of the two were friends with Mousse. Shampoo glomps onto David's and Ranma's arm and tries to drag them toward a table.
"Sit, sit! I bring yummy ramen and -" She is interrupted by Akane who mallets Ranma into bouncing off the wall and flopping bonelessly onto the floor.
"Ranma no baka! How dare you flirt with that hussy right in front of me!"
As Xian Pu gazed worriedly at her airen, David tapped Akane on her shoulder to get her attention, and suffered through a mallet to the head as a result. [Now why would a pretty girl like yourself worry about one such as him?]
Ryoga is heard gritting his teeth in the background.
[Say, why don't I buy you dinner, and we can let your friend here sleep peacefully?]
Akane had differing emotions running through her at this turn of events. Not only did the gajin not drop immediately into a crater at the stroke of her mallet, he was apparently asking her something, and looking quite cute as well. *Wait a second! I hate boys! What am I thinking?!*
She turns to Ryoga for translation, who squirms upon being the recipient of Akane's full attention. "Ryoga-kun, what did the hussy's friend say?"
"Uh, er.." He clenches his hands at being forced to translate the guy's invitation toward beloved Akane. But he couldn't smash the gajin in front of her for his daring. All he could do was..translate..with a twist.
"He said that he would buy all of us dinner if we could sit down now." An evil little grin popped up on Ryoga's face. "He said we could order anything we want!"
"Oh," Akane said, looking happier at the prospect of being fed, for free. Grinning cutely up at the white-haired guy, she nodded and skipped over to a booth and plopped down.
David beat Ryoga to the booth and got the seat right next to her, leaving 'P-chan' to sit across from them.
Xian Pu, meanwhile was helping Ranma up while out of sight of Akane.
After regaining balance, Ranma shook off her roaming hands and made his way to the booth as well. No way was he gonna pass up free eats. That part he did hear when Ryoga 'translated' for the gajin.
Xian Pu flounced back into the kitchen to scramble up some appetizers for her airen and best friend.
At the table, Ranma and Co. heard the distinct ringing sound of a skillet hitting a hard head, along with a "Silly, blind Mousse no touch Xian Pu!"
With a shake of his head to rid himself of the remaining disorientation, Ranma turned to the new guy. But before he could get a word out, Cologne pogoed up on her cane almost giving David a heart attack.
[Ack! The Mummy Returns! I thought it was just a movie!!!] earned him a thwack on his noggin.
[As I tell Son-in-law, I am not a mummy. I am Xian Pu's great grandmother.]
[Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Someone who looks like a mummy is my best friend's relative.] And to himself, [so she does have some skeletons in her closet.]
Cologne gave him the evil eye but refrained from doing violence to his person. Something was not quite right to her senses. What Mousse said about the gajin was making more sense to her now. He just seemed a little.off.
Not to be put off for long, Ranma once again opened his maw to address the new guy. "So how do ya know Shampoo?"
With Akane experiencing a twitch under her right eye, Ranma looked expectantly oblivious at their guest. When the silence drew out, and everybody looked at David, the icy-white haired boy kicked Ryoga from under the table and asked in English [Was he asking me a question?]
Ryoga face faulted at this. "Ano" [Ranma ask, you know Shampoo how?]
[Ah! She was my best friend when we were kids. My parents were on assignment in China and I had lotsa time on my hands. I go exploring when I'm bored, and somehow, I ended up on the outskirts of some village land by a river.]
Cologne was amazed. She never knew that Xian Pu could keep the meeting of a stranger from her all this time. As an elder, Khu Lon already knew English, but thought it prudent to keep silent about this ability in order to learn more about the white haired boy. She waited until Ryoga translated what was said before she posed another question.
"Why would my great granddaughter consort with an outsider, even if she was a child at the time?"
Again, translation via Ryoga. [Because she was crying by a pair of bonborries and just wanted someone to comfort her. She later told me that the other girls were picking on her for her lack of skill in her chosen weapon. I offered to be her sparring partner until she got better.] He rubbed the side of his head. [Those next couple of weeks were pure hell, but when she saw improvement, her smile kept me coming back. Somehow, I couldn't say no to those glistening purple eyes.]
"Ah! So that is why I saw a drastic change in her attitude when she was eight. But tell me, even though Xian Pu is a skilled fighter now, and knows her limits, what kept her from smashing your brains in before she could gain control?
"If I remember correctly, at that age, she was a reckless hoyden and was apt to use her full strength for even the weakest of foes. You do not look like a fighter. How did you stay on your feet after the first blow?"
With constant interruptions from Ryoga, the conversation moved smoothly.
[Now that is an interesting tale. Lets just say that I grew tired of getting knocked around, and resolved to find a way to always remain on my feet no matter what was done to me. I call the technique "The Balance Point". ]
David looked smug about his accomplishment. After translation, the males burst into laughter.
Ranma: "Balancing point! Bwa ha ha ha! If there were such a thing, I would have learned it by now!"
Ryoga: [Gajin make joke, yes?! I know "Breaking point", but there no such thing "Balancing Point".]
Akane in an aside: "I don't know, Ranma. He was still standing after Shampoo thumped him upside the head."
After more translation, David is beginning to be a little peeved. Looking at the elder he still thinks of as a shriveled mummy, he slips out of his seat and bows respectfully in the Chinese manner at her.
While still down, in the manner of the Amazon male addressing an elder, he asks, {Honored Elder and great grandmother of Xian Pu, will you do me the honor of lending me your staff for a moment?}
Cologne is intrigued despite herself. His story of friendship with her great granddaughter must be true if he was to learn some of the Amazon ways. She decides to humor the boy and settles herself on the table, tossing her staff to him.
The piece of wood, in relation to the elder's size is on par with a staff. To the six foot tall David, however, it is little more than a stick. David, having already discerned the balance point that the old ghoul used to remain aloft, had no trouble in gently grasping the polished wood and seemingly levitated like magic a foot off of the floor.
At the disbelieving looks he got from the bunch still sitting, David hopped around a nearby table to demonstrate his success moving as Cologne did. As a finally, he gestured to Ranma, who was the only one who could move out of the booth, as he was sitting next to Ryoga.
[Try to knock me over,] he said.
Ryoga translated and Ranma extended his index finger to David's arm. Giving him a firm nudge did not even rock the boy on the staff.
Perplexed, Ranma tried an open palm with a little more force. No such luck. The staff remained as steady as if it were grounded in cement. As a last resort, to see if David was paying attention, Ranma fisted his hand and gave him a solid thwack in the chest. Not only did the wood not move, but Ranma surreptitiously rubbed his knuckles.
"Ok. But does it only work on wood?" he asked.
Ryoga translates and [Nah, just about everything can be used in relation to this.] David, upon seeing the ravenous look in Ranma's eyes, sought to dissuade him in the hopes of sparing him pain.
***A.N. David does not know Ranma would do almost anything for a new technique.***
[To learn, the Balancing Point requires almost constant impacts at different angles as well as many days of meditation to recognize the relationships between yourself and your surroundings. Only after you can keep your balance in yourself, can you begin to learn the applications of the Balancing Point in things around you.]
At this point, Ryoga was a little lost ***A.N. no pun intended.*** in the conversation. All he managed to get across to the others was "Lotsa pain followed by lotsa thinking."
Ranma, of course, was not phased in the least when he was told that there would be a lot of pain involved with the learning of a new technique. After all, it seemed to be the tenet of everything martial art. It was the thinking part that had him stumped. Hopefully, it would turn out like the battles. He would just KNOW.
"..." = Japanese *...* = thoughts {...} = Chinese [...] = English
Here's David!
He must have made a wrong turn somewhere down the line.
David normally didn't get lost, but this time fate has decreed that he enter a land where everybody was almost a head shorter than his 6' frame, and nobody except the oldsters has anything resembling his shock of white hair.
This wasn't even the worst part. Apparently, no one spoke English or Chinese either.
When he accidentally walked out in front of a moving car, the driver yelled something at him that needed no translation. From what the driver shouted, the stares he got for his black Chinese robes as well as his facial structure and silvery white hair, David could guess that he was somewhere in Japan. But he didn't remember crossing any body of water to get there.
It just wasn't fair. Oh wait. Life is never fair.
David supposed it was time to figure out where he was, and find something interesting to do. It was easy to lose interest in the mundane workings of society. He didn't speak the language, but he was sure he could make himself understood if given enough time. And that he had plenty of.
He started off in a random direction along the busy streets, and heard the sounds of a fight somewhere in the distance. The air whooshed as the people that once walked the streets fled with fear on their faces. The people had disappeared, leaving the streets to two combatants duking it out and a pair of girls watching from the sidelines.
The boy with the pig-tail caught David's attention. What caught his attention wasn't the fact that the pig-tailed boy was fighting, rather, it was what the martial artist was wearing. A red shirt in the Chinese style, black pants cuffed at the ankles, and black fighting slippers. It had been so long since he had seen someone wearing the familiar, comfortable clothing that the Chinese prefer.
Quickly padding on quiet feet toward the sounds of fists giving off meaty thunks on whirling bodies, David saw the opponent of the pig-tailed boy give off a greenish aura and prepare something that he knew would be bad.
Not seeming to give a thought to what he was doing, David stepped closer to the fighters, but out of reach of any stray strikes, ignoring the gasps from the two onlookers, and...paused.
Things grew still... Literally.
David had no trouble inserting himself between the two, and angling to get the best leverage.
Still covered in a green aura, the boy with little fangs peeking out of snarling lips looked like a frozen statue of vengeance, and slightly unnerved the boy who pushed his hand through the aura. A second before David sent the two fighters flying - thanks to a magnificent leverage point, an impish smile crossed the white-haired American boy's face and he stepped back.
Reassessing the situation, David saw an opening and maneuvered the boy with the aura into an uncomfortable position he was going to regret when David restarted time. Even though he had nothing against the two fighters, it would be interesting to see their expressions. Still grinning at the fun to come, he returned to his original position, out of reach, and willed time to restart.
Ranma was on his way to thrashing Ryoga when several things happened almost simultaneously.
Ryoga, powering up for his depression attack, flicked his eyes toward a noncombatant that Ranma had sensed coming up behind him. Ranma had already noticed, analyzed, and forgot about the newcomer.
For one thing, he had no aura. For another, he didn't move like a martial artist, and Ranma considered the threat in front of him greater than the unknown one coming up behind him.
An eye blink later, he was somewhere he never in any Kami-forsaken place wanted to be. In Ryoga's arms, with his own clasped around his enemy/friend's neck in what seemed to be a passionate embrace.
An eternity later, almost a second, both Ranma and Ryoga jumped back from each other, turned around, and became deeply interested in certain parts of the scenery.
Akane and Shampoo were still silent in shock after witnessing something they thought could never happen.
All this was a backdrop for a loud guffaw coming from the direction of the one party that had no stake in any of the goings on of Nerima Ward.
Still shell-shocked, Ranma numbly turned to look at the laughing nuisance and watched as Shampoo broke out her bonburies, wind up, and give the guy with the white hair a thump that should have sent him hurtling through a number of concrete walls. All it did was force his head to cant to the side and give the guy a lump he was going to remember.
Shampoo's, "You no laugh at Airen! Was trick! Airen no like pig-boy!" caused a look of confusion to run across his features.
Not knowing a word of what the violent purple haired girl just said, David ceased his chuckles, clutched at his head and wondered at the odd weapons the girl was holding. In each hand, a large sphere was attached to a stick and seemed to be made of metal. [Bonbories?!] he said in English. [Now where have I seen those?]
What snapped Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga out of their stupor was Shampoo replying to what sounded like a question from the gajin guy in the same language. Shampoo spoke English?!?!?! They started to pay attention to the conversation, even though Ryoga was the only who could somewhat understand what was said.
[You know what a bonbori is? How can you? It is an ancient Amazon weapon, and no outsider has ever seen one in four hundred years. Aside from my Airen and his 'friends' of course.]
[Amazon?! Wait a sec. Bonbories, purple hair, Amazon.] In mid- sentence, the gajin switched from English to perfect Mandarin Chinese. {Xian Pu? Is that you?!}
Faltering at his correct identification, Shampoo also changes to Chinese. {Yes, I am Xian...hold...David?!?!} She peers closer at the new guy who strikes a pose that turns his body to profile while the near arm is held out to her, elbow cocked at a ninety degree angle and hand open to receive her own. {Aiya! David!!!!}
The rest, not understanding a word of what was said, nor what the silly pose the boy did meant to their purple haired friend, they were surprised to no end when Shampoo sent her bonbories flying with abandon. She then rushed the new guy in what they considered a full battle charge because she was screaming like a maniac, and they winced in anticipation of the broken bones of the non-martial artist. They were not expecting the girl to reach out her right hand, clasp the other held out to her in what was a familiar gesture, and then proceed to lavish a full-blown Amazon glomp on him. No one heard a shout of rage from some of the bushes that rustled ominously at the sight of the girl hugging the stranger.
Still in Chinese, {Oh, David! I can't believe it is you! It has been what, eight years since I've seen you. You've grown so much since I was eight, and you were ten. Why, you are even taller than my husband!}
{You are married, Xian Pu?! Who has defeated you, the greatest warrior in the village?} He then grins teasingly, {who do I have to kill to restore your honor?}
{David! Do not say such things.} Shampoo then grins in tandem with her friend. {I happen to like my husband, although he does not agree that we are married. My Ranma can be very stubborn when confronted with Amazon ways.} She then directs a pointed look in Ranma's direction that sends the pig-tailed boy into a paroxysm of coughing as Akane glares at him for that 'come-hither' look Shampoo gave him.
David arches his brow. {That's the guy?! It was a piece of cake to get him and his buddy into that - eep!}
Waving his hands in front of him, he was trying to head off Shampoo's growing fury. {No, no! That wasn't what I meant! I was only.}
But he was cut off by a furl of chain whizzing by his nose, almost taking it off. An explosion from a nearby bush resulted in a guy with really thick glasses and a white robe almost identical to David's own black attire attacking him.
Reflex was the only thing that saved David from further grief, since that semi-subconscious instinct that sent everything into a frozen state kicked in. It kept a pointy object at the end of another chain from skewering him in the side.
Glaring in annoyance at the relatively tall Chinese boy, David stalked over the ambusher and studied the two chains that protruded from voluminous sleeves of the white robes. A nasty smirk crossed the white haired boy's face as he set about searching the other boy's robes for an unseemly amount of time.
What he unearthed to light astounded him. It was impossible to stick that volume of assorted junk and weapons into two sleeves and still make it look like there was nothing there. It defied description!
Glancing back over the pile of stuff he had just confiscated, David moved the giant pile of weapons, porcelain potty trainers, and odd bits and pieces further away from his deceiving adversary and concealed it behind some bushes.
After making one final check to see that he had taken everything, David moved back to his position with one slight adjustment. He moved just out of the way of the last remaining blade on a chain, which he decided to let the Chinese boy keep.
Without a flicker of an eyelid, David restarted time and felt the whooshing of displaced air from the knife on the chain against his side. It struck a tree a few yards away and embedded itself so deeply that the Chinese boy would have trouble getting it out.
David walked up to the thrashing figure that just tried to shish kabob him and zeroed in on the best leverage point that would allow him to punt the maniac in the white robes into the stratosphere. As he pulled his leg back to accomplish the deed, Shampoo grabbed a hand and tried to tow him away from his anticipated fun. She wanted to get reacquainted with her long lost friend, not waste time on silly Mousse.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at the white-haired gajin when the sudden interference of Shampoo failed to move him the way she wanted. In fact, the pull she exerted did not seem to cause him any troubles with his balance either, considering the gajin was still on one foot. Ranma might just need to revise his assumption of the American if the attentions of the Amazon could not sway him. Plus, he had the sneaking suspicion that the newcomer had something to do with the compromising position he found himself in with Ryoga.
Meanwhile, back at the Tendo dojo, Nabiki was receiving some startling news. "What do you mean 'you should have gotten this information a week ago'?!?!?" she yelled at the phone.
"Well," said the smooth voice on the other end, "when you defeated the prior master for his position, it was his duty as a member of the network to pass down all directives the council issues to his successor. Because he did not, he has violated the Nerima district's code and will be punished as per tradition and council decree. You do not have to worry about that part, but as for the directives, a messenger will be dispatched to your section with the proper documents for you to look over.
"Because we deal in information, our reputation as a network is dependent upon the district masters to maintain perfect honesty in all their dealings, and perfect secrecy. In effect, stick to your district and run it the way you want, but be truthful in your dealings, secret in anything that is not for your gain, and be willing to help when another district master needs you. This will ensure their help for when you will sorely need them in some future time. Do you understand these directives, even if they are the condensed version?"
"Yes."
"Two more things. When you messenger has delivered the documents, sign what is needed and return them to the messenger, for he will get them back to the council. The other thing is to be on the look out for a certain player. You will know him by his attire and hair. If you are fortunate in seeing him, please convey the council's thanks and place your services at his disposal. He is indeed to be honored and any and all help is to be provided. Is that clear?"
"Yes." *By his attire and his hair? That describes half of Nerima.*
"Very good, fledgling. We of the council are proud you have joined our ranks. Certain members have been watching your progress and are pleased with what you have wrought in Nerima without the assistance of the council. Your career will be observed as the years go by and annotated in our records."
Hanging up the phone, Nabiki mulled the new data in her mind. It certainly put a twist in her future plans for the Nerima ward of Tokyo. "And just who is this new player the region master spoke of. He certainly seemed to want to help the 'clothing and hair' guy. What could one person do that was so valuable to the network's ranks that would warrant their thanks?"
"Nabiki?"
"Yipe! Don't do that Kasumi!" Nabiki's heart was running around in little circles in her chest playing tag with elusive speed demons. As she patted her chest to calm down, she turned to look up at her older sister at the door, wondering how much she had heard.
"Oh my! I did not mean to startle you so. Are you coming down for dinner? Akane and Ranma said they were going out to eat and father and Mr. Saotome are out celebrating 'the union of the schools'." Looking a bit shy, she added, "And I was kind of hoping to have some company."
Instantly chastised, Nabiki quickly nodded her assent. No one could guilt her into doing anything like the young Tendo matriarch could. *Who knows,* the middle sister thought, *I just might be able to get her on the payroll, if Kasumi could do that to other people.*
Shelving that thought for another day, Nabiki pulled a ledger out from a hidey-hole cupboard where she kept her 'network' business. Flipping to a new page, she swiftly wrote in the information the region master gave her, and made an entry on the known players list, in case she should encounter the 'clothing and hair' boy.
It pricked her ego that there was someone important in her domain and none of her sources had coughed up to seeing him. *It might just be time for a wage deduction if my little intelligence network doesn't come up with something soon.*
Nabiki then made her way to the dining room where Kasumi had that evening's meal already laid out. Everything just smelled so good. And it was a good thing that it was Kasumi, and not Akane that cooked. Nabiki did not feel like a trip to the hospital to have her stomach pumped.
Back at that deserted street, Ryoga and Akane were still in awe of the unknown quantity in their midst. Ranma, however, still kept his wits about him, which was a very good thing, since Mousse had unstuck himself from the tree and was almost at the point of skewering the boy who had his arm casually slung around Shampoo. Slinking behind the blind Chinese boy, Ranma punted him into Leo before he could release any of the assorted stuff normally held up his sleeves.
Akane broke out of her stupefaction at seeing the Amazon hugging someone other than her Ranma, just in time to see said fiancee enacting violence on Duckboy. Glowing slightly red after watching Mousse go flying, she pulled her trusty mallet and sent her fiancee into the concrete and a few inches under for good measure. She had forgotten for the time being that it was Mousse who had started the ruckus with the gajin boy.
Walking away from her downed fiancee, she approached the laughing couple that spoke amongst themselves in a bewilderingly fast array of Chinese with some English judiciously thrown in. Apparently, they had not noticed Ranma's bad behavior, but she was more than willing to introduce Shampoo to her fist for the come-hither look she had directed towards Ranma earlier.
David had a prickling at the nape of his neck that warned of an impending attack, and almost sent the world into its frozen state from pure reflex alone. Instead, he glanced at the lovely approaching figure of the second girl that had watched the fight and then turned back to his conversation with Xian Pu.
It had been a very long time since he had met with someone who had shared a deeply important part of his normal past and he wanted to give her his undivided attention. He tuned back in to what his childhood friend was saying.
{And then, I entered into that years tournament, and won over every other Amazon in my age category-} she went on.
Still paying attention to Xian Pu, David also kept an eye on the fist that the other girl was swinging at his friend. Not wishing to interrupt the monologue that had Xian so excited, he paused, and then redirected Akane's fist away from its intended target.
Replacing his arm around Xian, and pasting the correct expression back onto his face, David restarted time and had the pleasure of seeing out of the corner of his eye the girl lose her balance.
It was almost comical to view her look of inner consternation when she realized that she had seemingly miscalculated her fist's trajectory. Flustered, but by no means vanquished, the girl wound up to try again.
And still Xian went on, {But someone and her panda had eaten my prize. I challenged her, and wouldn't you know it, she won!}
At that last comment, David almost forgot about the other girl's unwarranted attack because Xian's tone of voice was totally at odds with what he knew of the Amazon's culture. {And you were-}
Again the pause and redirection.
{happy about this?! Aw, Xian. You had to kill her didn't you?}
Xian Pu blushed at this and mumbled something that he didn't quite catch. Akane, meanwhile still couldn't figure out why her punches kept missing.
{What was that, Xian? I didn't hear you.}
{The girl turned out to be Ranma.} she said in a quiet voice.
{Turned out to be.} David about-faced, startling Akane, and looked in the direction of the puddle Ranma who was being helped up by Ryoga.
Goggly bug eyes turned back to Xian Pu. [You married the girl?!]
At this, Ranma perked up enough to moan, "I ain't a girl!" before collapsing again. Ryoga was the only thing holding him up from the ground. He didn't know that Ranma had understood English. Ryoga could, but then again, he had spent a couple of months in America before he could find his way back to Japan. He still didn't know how the Hibiki curse could make someone so lost that they could cross to lands separated by great bodies of water without going over any ocean. ***A.N. Cough cough..looks pointedly at David and scrolls back up to the beginning of the story..***
Xian Pu tugged at David's silk robe sleeve. {At the time I thought that I had to kill her, but she really was a he.} At David's look of confusion, she explained further. {Ranma was cursed at the Jusenkyo pools. He fell into spring of drowned young girl.} Comprehension dawned across her friend's face. His hand came up to wipe away a sweatdrop that had formed on the side of his face. {You had me worried there for a moment, Xian Pu.}
Akane's stomach chose that moment to voice its displeasure at the late hour with no food coming down the esophagus to greet it. Almost like the yawning phenomenon, rumbling tummies could be heard from various points arrayed around the street. Ranma, Xian Pu, David, Akane and Ryoga all looked sheepishly at one another. Ranma shrugged, Akane looked toward the dojo, and Ryoga blushed. Xian Pu took the moment to glomp Ranma. "You come with David and Shampoo to café, yes? Have nice ramen that make tummy stop speaking."
Akane wedged between them. "Ranma is not going anywhere with you, hussy!"
Ranma danced away from the two feuding contenders for his hand. "You know Akane, I never turn down free food, and David here, he looks like he has a few good moves in him, and you know how I like to learn the Art."
Akane glared at him, snapping, "Well, I'm coming too. I don't trust her to behave."
Ranma jumped at the chance to find out about the new guy. "OK, Akane. I got no problem with that." It was a rare day when a stranger turned up and didn't want something from him. Plus, Ranma wanted to know how the guy kept his balance even after taking a bonbori to the head, and an Amazon tugging at him full strength. As far as he knew, only Ryoga could have taken the bonbori, and with an Amazon latched on to you, it would take a crowbar to pry her off, after being dragged wherever she wanted to drag you. This David was interesting indeed.
Ryoga took a few steps in an entirely wrong direction, and was snagged by David and redirected toward where Shampoo, Ranma and Akane were making their way down the street. "Thanks, man," Ryoga muttered, as he was glad that the white haired guy did not remark upon his abysmally bad sense of direction. David cocked his head to the side with a look of confusion on his face. Ryoga just patted the guy's shoulder, hooked a hand onto the sleeve that looked handy, and both followed the trio as they made their way off into the sunset.
* * * * *
At the Nekohanten, Khu Lon was shooing the rest of the straggling dinner crowd out the door when an unidentified flying Mousse came arching over the city and landing limbs akimbo in front of the café's door.
Raising a brow at the entrance, Khu Lon handed Mousse a broom and pointed towards the main room of the restaurant. What really surprised her was the fact that Mousse did not mention any of his favorite 'pet' names for her, nor did he curse son-in-law for his current predicament.
"Mousse, what happened?"
"..."
"It must not have been son-in-law, because you would normally have started planning revenge on him..in extremely vocal tones."
"No, elder. It is not the cretin that womanizes all women. It is another that has caused me to temporarily abandon my revenge against Saotome."
"Oh? Who?"
"I do not know, old mummy," he said off-handedly. Thwap! "Ow!"
"What did this person look like then?"
"Ah, the boy has nothing on me. I'd even go on to say that he was copying my own sophisticated style! His robes were remarkably like my own, except that they were black. The pants were grey, kung fu slippers the same as the robe, and a sash that was as red as blood. The gajin had the weirdest hair I'd ever seen. You know how most of the Amazons have hair that rivals the rainbow? Well, the gajin's was as white as yours, except that it was more silvery and not bleached as bones as yours is. "
Thwap Thwap
"Ite! Anyway, what has me most worried was a compilation of things. One, when Xian Pu clobbered him with her bonbories for laughing at Saotome, he didn't go down. He just stood there with his head tilted to the side, and didn't look like he was going to fall over. Two, they seemed to have some bond with each other that I didn't know about. Three, he was able to dodge my shurikens. And four, what has me most worried, when I was sent flying by Saotome, I checked my robes, and couldn't find a single weapon! They're all gone!"
With each reason that the part-timer rattled off, Khu Lon grew more and more interested. If this foreign boy could give Mousse a run for his yen, and has a connection with Xian Pu, then perhaps she could use him as a lure to make son-in-law jealous! Yes, this just might be enough to get Ranma to cave! What started out as a small chuckle grew into a laugh that sent the hairs at the nape of Mousse's neck screaming in terror. Kodachi had nothing on Khu Lon when she was in this state.
Walking down the Nerimian streets, Ryoga kept glancing at his guide's rather odd hair color. In halting English he asked, [Is hair a dye job?]
Looking back at the lost boy, David quirked a brow. [Nah. Just prematurely white. Two years ago my hair just started growing in this way, and after it got long enough, I cut off the black hair, as it looked freaky with the white roots.]
[Oh...]
[Say, why were you and Xian Pu's husband fighting?] Frowning momentarily, [You weren't trying to mess with my friend's marriage were you?]
"Nani!" [Uh, no. Why you think that?]
[Nevermind then.] David smiles. [How did you end up hugging Xian Pu's husband, by the way?]
[His name Ranma. And I no hug him! Just about to "shi shi hokudan" into air, when he hug me!] Ryoga's face turned suspicious eyes towards David. [I know you from somewhere?]
[Well, I've been moving around a lot these past two years. I don't think I've been to Japan before. Do you get around too?]
Ryoga blushes, [Yeah, you able say that.]
At this time, all five have arrived at the Nekohanten just in time to see Mousse getting thwacked on the head by Cologne. "Part-timer! If you drop one more bowl of ramen, the Nekohanten will be getting a new dish to serve on the menu! Duck! Now get back into the kitchen and clean the stove."
Ranma and Ryoga both wince in sympathy even though neither of the two were friends with Mousse. Shampoo glomps onto David's and Ranma's arm and tries to drag them toward a table.
"Sit, sit! I bring yummy ramen and -" She is interrupted by Akane who mallets Ranma into bouncing off the wall and flopping bonelessly onto the floor.
"Ranma no baka! How dare you flirt with that hussy right in front of me!"
As Xian Pu gazed worriedly at her airen, David tapped Akane on her shoulder to get her attention, and suffered through a mallet to the head as a result. [Now why would a pretty girl like yourself worry about one such as him?]
Ryoga is heard gritting his teeth in the background.
[Say, why don't I buy you dinner, and we can let your friend here sleep peacefully?]
Akane had differing emotions running through her at this turn of events. Not only did the gajin not drop immediately into a crater at the stroke of her mallet, he was apparently asking her something, and looking quite cute as well. *Wait a second! I hate boys! What am I thinking?!*
She turns to Ryoga for translation, who squirms upon being the recipient of Akane's full attention. "Ryoga-kun, what did the hussy's friend say?"
"Uh, er.." He clenches his hands at being forced to translate the guy's invitation toward beloved Akane. But he couldn't smash the gajin in front of her for his daring. All he could do was..translate..with a twist.
"He said that he would buy all of us dinner if we could sit down now." An evil little grin popped up on Ryoga's face. "He said we could order anything we want!"
"Oh," Akane said, looking happier at the prospect of being fed, for free. Grinning cutely up at the white-haired guy, she nodded and skipped over to a booth and plopped down.
David beat Ryoga to the booth and got the seat right next to her, leaving 'P-chan' to sit across from them.
Xian Pu, meanwhile was helping Ranma up while out of sight of Akane.
After regaining balance, Ranma shook off her roaming hands and made his way to the booth as well. No way was he gonna pass up free eats. That part he did hear when Ryoga 'translated' for the gajin.
Xian Pu flounced back into the kitchen to scramble up some appetizers for her airen and best friend.
At the table, Ranma and Co. heard the distinct ringing sound of a skillet hitting a hard head, along with a "Silly, blind Mousse no touch Xian Pu!"
With a shake of his head to rid himself of the remaining disorientation, Ranma turned to the new guy. But before he could get a word out, Cologne pogoed up on her cane almost giving David a heart attack.
[Ack! The Mummy Returns! I thought it was just a movie!!!] earned him a thwack on his noggin.
[As I tell Son-in-law, I am not a mummy. I am Xian Pu's great grandmother.]
[Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Someone who looks like a mummy is my best friend's relative.] And to himself, [so she does have some skeletons in her closet.]
Cologne gave him the evil eye but refrained from doing violence to his person. Something was not quite right to her senses. What Mousse said about the gajin was making more sense to her now. He just seemed a little.off.
Not to be put off for long, Ranma once again opened his maw to address the new guy. "So how do ya know Shampoo?"
With Akane experiencing a twitch under her right eye, Ranma looked expectantly oblivious at their guest. When the silence drew out, and everybody looked at David, the icy-white haired boy kicked Ryoga from under the table and asked in English [Was he asking me a question?]
Ryoga face faulted at this. "Ano" [Ranma ask, you know Shampoo how?]
[Ah! She was my best friend when we were kids. My parents were on assignment in China and I had lotsa time on my hands. I go exploring when I'm bored, and somehow, I ended up on the outskirts of some village land by a river.]
Cologne was amazed. She never knew that Xian Pu could keep the meeting of a stranger from her all this time. As an elder, Khu Lon already knew English, but thought it prudent to keep silent about this ability in order to learn more about the white haired boy. She waited until Ryoga translated what was said before she posed another question.
"Why would my great granddaughter consort with an outsider, even if she was a child at the time?"
Again, translation via Ryoga. [Because she was crying by a pair of bonborries and just wanted someone to comfort her. She later told me that the other girls were picking on her for her lack of skill in her chosen weapon. I offered to be her sparring partner until she got better.] He rubbed the side of his head. [Those next couple of weeks were pure hell, but when she saw improvement, her smile kept me coming back. Somehow, I couldn't say no to those glistening purple eyes.]
"Ah! So that is why I saw a drastic change in her attitude when she was eight. But tell me, even though Xian Pu is a skilled fighter now, and knows her limits, what kept her from smashing your brains in before she could gain control?
"If I remember correctly, at that age, she was a reckless hoyden and was apt to use her full strength for even the weakest of foes. You do not look like a fighter. How did you stay on your feet after the first blow?"
With constant interruptions from Ryoga, the conversation moved smoothly.
[Now that is an interesting tale. Lets just say that I grew tired of getting knocked around, and resolved to find a way to always remain on my feet no matter what was done to me. I call the technique "The Balance Point". ]
David looked smug about his accomplishment. After translation, the males burst into laughter.
Ranma: "Balancing point! Bwa ha ha ha! If there were such a thing, I would have learned it by now!"
Ryoga: [Gajin make joke, yes?! I know "Breaking point", but there no such thing "Balancing Point".]
Akane in an aside: "I don't know, Ranma. He was still standing after Shampoo thumped him upside the head."
After more translation, David is beginning to be a little peeved. Looking at the elder he still thinks of as a shriveled mummy, he slips out of his seat and bows respectfully in the Chinese manner at her.
While still down, in the manner of the Amazon male addressing an elder, he asks, {Honored Elder and great grandmother of Xian Pu, will you do me the honor of lending me your staff for a moment?}
Cologne is intrigued despite herself. His story of friendship with her great granddaughter must be true if he was to learn some of the Amazon ways. She decides to humor the boy and settles herself on the table, tossing her staff to him.
The piece of wood, in relation to the elder's size is on par with a staff. To the six foot tall David, however, it is little more than a stick. David, having already discerned the balance point that the old ghoul used to remain aloft, had no trouble in gently grasping the polished wood and seemingly levitated like magic a foot off of the floor.
At the disbelieving looks he got from the bunch still sitting, David hopped around a nearby table to demonstrate his success moving as Cologne did. As a finally, he gestured to Ranma, who was the only one who could move out of the booth, as he was sitting next to Ryoga.
[Try to knock me over,] he said.
Ryoga translated and Ranma extended his index finger to David's arm. Giving him a firm nudge did not even rock the boy on the staff.
Perplexed, Ranma tried an open palm with a little more force. No such luck. The staff remained as steady as if it were grounded in cement. As a last resort, to see if David was paying attention, Ranma fisted his hand and gave him a solid thwack in the chest. Not only did the wood not move, but Ranma surreptitiously rubbed his knuckles.
"Ok. But does it only work on wood?" he asked.
Ryoga translates and [Nah, just about everything can be used in relation to this.] David, upon seeing the ravenous look in Ranma's eyes, sought to dissuade him in the hopes of sparing him pain.
***A.N. David does not know Ranma would do almost anything for a new technique.***
[To learn, the Balancing Point requires almost constant impacts at different angles as well as many days of meditation to recognize the relationships between yourself and your surroundings. Only after you can keep your balance in yourself, can you begin to learn the applications of the Balancing Point in things around you.]
At this point, Ryoga was a little lost ***A.N. no pun intended.*** in the conversation. All he managed to get across to the others was "Lotsa pain followed by lotsa thinking."
Ranma, of course, was not phased in the least when he was told that there would be a lot of pain involved with the learning of a new technique. After all, it seemed to be the tenet of everything martial art. It was the thinking part that had him stumped. Hopefully, it would turn out like the battles. He would just KNOW.