DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Oh! My Goddess, or any other property which might show up. What I do own is the Freedom Society and it's world setting. They originate from a long standing Heroes Unlimited campaign that spanned six decades of in-game continuity. A setting and characters which the other former gaming group members gave me permission to use as my own.
Wild Horses Sometimes Breed
by Faerie Knight
First, a few words to the reader. Yes, this story is a self insertion of sorts. My gaming group has ran a few avatar campaigns. For those who don't know, an avatar campaign is one where your character is you. One was a Heroes Unlimited campaign which is where I pulled the info for this self insertion variant. Another was a D&D 3rd edition game. Several events in this story come from that D&D game. Normally for D&D I use a personal campaign setting with it's own gods, history, heroes, and so forth. But for this story I am using the Forgotten Realms setting.
And I warn my readers right here and now, seriously bad things do happen further in. While I wont go into extreme detail about those events when they happen, they can be disturbing. If you don't want to read them, please stop reading this story. I don't condone things like rape or torture. And the only time it appears in my stories is when the story demands it. Even then I do my best NOT to focus on such scenes.
Without further delay, on with the story.
XxXxX
"How did I get dragged into this, again?" Faerie asked as a hand axe glanced off his vest.
His US military combat harness had changed much over the last two years. While the outward appearance was the same, it now was infused with great magics. The pouches had been enchanted to safely hold more then the physical volume would allow. The harness it's self now also contained an enchantment that protected it from damage. Another one allowed it to provide as much protection as a suit of half plate, without sacrificing mobility. His belt had long ago been replaced with a simpler one. He also had a magical longsword which normally was in it's scabbard at his side.
The survival knife was still there, but the punching dagger had been replaced with a different one. One capable of actually capable of harming ghosts. As for the 'this' he'd been pulled into, Anna and he had been embroiled in the defense of Waterdeep. A city which was once again under assault by dark skinned elves called drow. A few feet away from him, the girl who'd convinced him to help the local Constable was weaving her way through a wall of glistening steel.
If there's one thing I hate about drow, he thought while countering another attack, it's that they always poison their weapons. While their poisons were unlikely to actually kill him, they did cause a lot of pain. An entirely too familiar whistling sound alerted Faerie to impending danger from behind. As the middle aged man dove behind a low wall a sphere of fire detonated. The din of combat seemed to be lessening. Looking out from his cover, the warrior examined the battle field.
It looked like reinforcements had finally arrived. And not a moment too soon. The beleaguered defenders had been close to being overwhelmed. For years Faerie had told his friends that he'd like to think he'd protect others if he had an edge. Now for some reason he had that edge. And ironically enough, it was only with reluctance that he risked life and limb for others. It happened, and far too often for Faerie's taste. But it wasn't a preferred lifestyle.
With a tired sigh he pulled a potion bottle from one breast pouch and drank it's contents.
Time passes
The inn had been a trap. That much was obvious now. Anna looked around her current surroundings with disgust. It looked like a dungeon. She was strung up against a wall, spread eagle. Worst of all, her cloths were missing. An experimental tugging on the chains revealed they would probably not hold long. This was one of the few times when being male would actually be an advantage. And yet her ability to shift genders seemed to be blocked.
Many assumed her to be a monk. Not surprising really. Anna had been trained in her family arts since she could walk. This by the age of sixteen had made the teen a master of unarmed combat. The five years since leaving home had only sharpened those skills. Because of the unusual training methods her parents used, Anna was incredibly strong. Why, one time she'd managed to out arm wrestle a hill giant. She'd barely done it, but still the fact remained.
A mighty pull ripped iron bolts from stone wall. The chains had been designed with a normal person in mind, not someone as strong as a hill giant. Okay, almost as strong. The cuffs themselves would be more of a problem. Tearing off the chains a few links out wasn't much of an issue though. A bigger one was her unclothed state. No good reason can exist for this. The thought was accompanied by a scowl. Better rescue Faerie, and anyone else caught by that trap.
The door to the cell proved to be unlocked. There didn't seem to be any guards either. While searching a small storeroom was discovered. Within Anna found what appeared to be some sort of skimpy maid outfit. Since it was better then the alternative the embarrassing cloths were quickly donned. She was about to leave the room when Anna heard voices in the hallway. They were approaching slowly, but clearly audible.
"That new kit will make us rich," one male voice said with a dark chuckle.
"As will the girl once she's broken," a second male voice said.
"Yeah," the first one responded. "But why didn't the curse take effect?"
Curse? Anna thought to herself. I don't like the sounds of that.
"Who knows? I figure once she's been put to work the boss can figure it out anytime. Too bad the original escaped."
The two men were then out of hearing. So it was back to searching. But now Anna was even more worried. Whoever was behind this, they had to be stopped. And the sexy kitten inn would have to be shut down. Considering from a young age the young woman had been taught to be hyper aware of her surroundings, walking into an invisible object alarmed her. Anna opened her senses like her parents had taught and sought out the invisible person's location.
Oddly enough, she couldn't sense anything. Even the best mage couldn't hide their ki signature. The best thief couldn't hide their ki signature either, and still left minor clues to their location. There was only one person who could so completely erase their presence. It was someone Anna hadn't seen in four years. A person the young woman was sure would be mad at her to boot. There was a reason she normally avoided the area near Shadowdale.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
The unseen woman relaxed a little. Turning around, Ranma Masaki suddenly lost her focus. As she faded into view her daughter could see an expression of righteous fury directed at her. Anna found herself being dragged into one of the many storerooms in the area. This particular one held leather and metal bands identical to the one around her mother's neck. Which caused a double take. Why was her mother wearing one of those collars? Let alone that incredibly pink and highly impractical outfit?
"Anna Reese Masaki, what in Bast's name are you wearing!" Her mother practically yelled.
Elsewhere
Faerie would have ground his teeth if able. Hell, if his body would respond to his will there would be a lot of severely hurt slavers. The man had gone to sleep in the Sexy Kitten inn. But waking up hadn't been in the inn. It had been on a bed with some unknown man raping him. This was how Faerie had discovered that the one constant in his life these last four years was gone. Faerie was no longer a man. Or human for that matter.
Humans after all don't have orange fur. The first thing 'he' did was try to deck the rapist. Try being the operative word. His, or rather her body refused to obey. The only thing being worn was apparently a collar of some sort. She could feel it through the thin fur. Any aggressive action seemed to be impossible. But if there was one thing twenty years of roleplaying had taught, it was to be creative. Since the only things this compulsion seemed to allow were expressions of passion, it limited options.
With the man still forcing himself upon Faerie, she grabbed the bed posts. With a scream as if in the throws of an orgasm, she tightened the muscles of each arm. With a loud crack the headboard came off. It's momentum caused the solid oak to slam into the man's head with a loud clunk. The compulsion didn't seem to recognize this as an attack though. Merely a reflexive action due to stimuli. And to a large degree it was. That Faerie had known this would happen was immaterial.
Since that day four years ago Faerie had been in perfect health. Even more so then what should have been possible. Muscles that had been missing when born had been regenerated. The length of her large intestine that had been surgecally removed regrew, and the plumbing had rerouted to the 'normal' position. Eyesight had improved to the point where her glasses made it hard to see, not easier. But the most startling change had been her strength.
While muscle mass hadn't increased at all, since that day Faerie had been able to lift over half a ton. So ripping off an oak headboard hadn't exactly been a challenge. It wasn't exactly made of thick beams or anything. With that dealt with, Faerie focused on trying to mentally overpower the compulsion. Which proved to be difficult. While not exactly week willed, resisting mind affecting magics was not easy for her. Easier then for many warriors Faerie had met, but still not easy.
A lifetime of being a couch potato doesn't translate well into having an iron will after all. Another difficulty proved to be simply being a non-human female. Faerie's balance was off. His, her, it was confusing but the breasts kept throwing Faerie off every time they swayed. It was also starting to cause back pain. The tail seemed to help a little. But it got in the way almost as much as it helped. Then there was the problem of being unarmed. Every scrap of combat skill was hard earned, and self taught. But hand to hand combat was not among those skills.
That made two priorities. The first being cloths, the second being weapons. The bed supplied both needs well enough. A board from the bed's frame could serve as a makeshift staff. And the fitted sheet was quickly converted into a makeshift shirt. Faerie made the shirt long enough to conceal everything. It wasn't a pretty job. Nor would it last for long. But it was good enough for the moment. The collar wasn't coming off either.
Years of roleplaying said the collar was probably cursed if it wouldn't come off. Which meant it was probably the source of that compulsion. Since there were only two spells which could be responsible, the former roleplayer deduced it must have been a lesser gais spell embedded in the collar. That spell has a duration of days for tasks that can't be completed. Since I'm guessing 'be a willing sex slave' is such a task, wouldn't that mean the collar reapplies the spell every few days?
Back at the ranch
It had taken three months to track Ranma down. Another month had been spent investigating the situation. Which meant by the time Sam Masaki had discovered the sexy kitten inn's connection to his wife's kidnappers, his daughter had already fallen into their hands. If there was any consolation to be had, this event had lead Sam to where his wife was probably being held. It had taken every bit of willpower to not rescue his 'little' Anna.
Instead the man followed the caravan, intending to trail them to their destination. Unfortunately the destination proved to be a keep. Not one to overestimate his skills, Sam decided he would need help. After all, Ranma had been captured by these people. And that said they were capable of handling someone of his power and skill. Fortunately there were a few people he could trust. He'd first met the group shortly after Anna left home.
Their leader was a elven woman named Shardrena Treerunner. A girl of fiery hair, and equally fiery temper. She was a spell caster of some sort. Considering her tome always carried around, Sam assumed her to be a wizard. A powerful one at that. He'd seen her using magic for far longer then other wizards of comparable experience on this world. With Shardrena traveled a stout and taciturn man of indeterminate age named Bashar. A warrior of some skill, he preferred to let his sword do the talking when it came to a confrontation.
With them traveled two others. The first was a young thief with a surprisingly noble heart. Carl was of a race known as halflings, although he was all courage. From the tales Shardrena spun the young thief had once managed to trick a beholder into thinking it was the bodyguard of the four adventurers. The fourth member of their band was a warrior priest who served the the patron goddess of magic. The four were rumored to be in the area, hot on the trail of some slavers.
Tracking down the band of adventurers had been a task which took two weeks in it's self. But now they were ready. The keep laid ahead, and within it was his family. For the first time in a little over two decades Sam Masaki triggered his unnatural abilities. An aura of freezing cold surrounded him. The intense cold flash froze his cloths even as his body turned into living ice. A fact which he'd forgotten about. When next he moved the crystallized breaches and tunic shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Oops," Sam said as he dove into a nearby stream.
From the chilled waters emerged a busty teenage girl made of ice. Her hair was an unnatural shade of blue. She was wearing a sleeveless and legless white bodysuit with a diamond cut out in the middle of the chest. White gloves covered her hands, and white knee length boots encased her feet. There was a time this costume had embarrassed Sam. Over the years it had become first accepted, then appreciated. It had been subtle, but over the years Sam had grown to enjoy showing off her female form's assets. Especially around Ranma.
Hey look, it's a scene change!
The alarm had been raised. One of the slaves had somehow managed to kill a client and escape. Again. A second slave had escaped the dungeons as well. As if that wasn't bad enough, an elemental was assaulting the keep as well. The fact the elemental was accompanied by four adventurers seemed almost inconsequential. It was one thing when giants toss trees like javelins at a keep's gate. It was something else all together when six foot tall ice maidens did the same.
Even as the outer gate was under attack, two other battles had been started in the slave pen and 'work' quarters. While there were a little over two hundred men stationed in the keep, they were feeling overwhelmed. Two of the escaped slaves had proven to be monks of incredible strength and skill. The third was a warrior of some sort, also with inhuman strength. It was starting to alarm the mage Alistar. Nothing had even remotely hinted the two new slaves were this dangerous.
While te two monks moved like the wind, avoiding most blows the warrior was healing almost as fast as they could hurt her. Even the traditional methods of halting regeneration, acid and fire, were less then effective. Oh sure, fire and acid hurt the feline slave. Acid seemed to be more effective then fire for some reason. But they didn't prevent regeneration. One group of men would try to subdue her, and fail. By the time another group could be sent the slave would be fully recovered.
Not that many could be spared for the task. Between the three engagements, Alistar's men were getting hammered. A loud splintering crash signaled the end of the drawbridge. Which he hoped would at least delay those outside the keep. The only real consolation was that all three escaped slaves had yet to leave the areas slaves are permitted. A sure sign the enchantments on their collars hadn't completely failed. It still left him wondering why they were able to fight back at all.
It was small comfort though. Unless the slaves could be subdued, their inability to leave meant little. Nor was it stopping the others from invading his domain. One of the intruders reminded Alistar of another time one of his projects had been ruined. While the name of the elf eluded him, the spitfire wizard had been responsible for his failed attempt to establish a new thieves guild in Balder's Gate. And again when he tried taking advantage of the aftermath of something big in Neverwinter.
The elf spat a stream of fire at his men, roasting them alive. That's new, he thought even as plans for a hasty exit were made. His sex kitten slave ring was finished, that much was clear. It would be better to start again elsewhere. Maybe try something new. Something that wouldn't draw the ire of strange ice elementals and monks capable of throwing trees around. Maybe he could look into rumors of a mystic pool of untold power near the ruins of an ancient elven city. Yes, that sounded like a safer idea then sticking around.
Gee, another one already?
It had been an hour since the last thug had shown up. Distant sounds of battle had finally ended. So now Anna started searching for her friend. The search also had the benefit of avoiding her mother's accusations. Mom sure is pissed, she thought with a little annoyance. Their slavers, they deserve what they got. Besides, every one spared will just go back to doing this. Or be executed anyway. Upon reaching one hall though the young woman found herself unable to enter it.
There wasn't a physical barrier or anything. It was rather a case of being unable to willingly step into the hall. Only once before had Anna experienced something like this. That was three years ago. A baron had his court wizard place a geas on both Faerie and herself. Until the bandit troubles had been ended they had been compelled to spend as much time as they could tracking the criminals. Anna would have done so anyway, but they were punished for Faerie's actions.
For the thousandth time she wondered at his real name. The mysterious man had never given it. Instead he'd taken to using an apparent title as his name, that of Faerie Knight. Where he came from was a mystery. He had things unheard of by anyone else. His vest alone was a marvel due to it's versatility. The pack he carried was also unlike anything seen before. His dagger was an unusual design. Never before had Anna heard of one with a hollowed out metal hilt. Nor did it show any signs of a smith's hammer ever touching it.
A while back Faerie had the knife enchanted to retain it's edge. Not to make it more dangerous. Not to add additional features to it. Just to retain it's cutting edge. He was so unlike anyone else Anna had met before. This introspection was getting her nowhere though. Over the course of an hour the extent of her limits was discovered. One tower was accessible, as well as the one wing of what appeared to be a keep. The dungeons too were accessible.
During the search Anna had found hundreds of young feline humanoids females. Another common sight was that all had a collar around their necks. Was this the curse that had been mentioned? It seemed likely. Which made it less likely that Anna would recognize her friend. The keep also seemed entirely too large. From looking out a tower window, there was no way it's size accounted for how much interior space there was. Which meant magic was involved.
Powerful magic at that. A kind completely unheard of to Anna. Now it should be noted that Anna didn't distrust magic anywhere near as much as her mom. It could be helpful, or harmful. It all depended on the user. For every evil wizard or cursed item, Anna knew there were ten good wizards and helpful items. Or at least indifferent wizards.
But even the most powerful couldn't turn a normal keep's tower into a six league tall one. Towards the top of the tower she came across yet another feline humanoid slave. This one however had used a sheet to make a sort of shirt. She also was wielding a bloody length of wood. This was a first. She seemed to recognize Anna too. That was a good sign. Anna stopped and tried to catch her breath. If this was who she feared, then half the search was over.
"Faerie, is that you?"
The felinoid nodded. "Yeah, the bastards did something to me. Anyway, let's get out of here."
Anna's scowl expressed her displeasure at the situation. "Easier said then done. This place is huge, and I couldn't actually leave the slave wing."
Faerie nodded at that. "Wall of force, or compulsion?"
"Compulsion, but irresistible. I overheard something about the slavers wanting to 'break' me since I was immune to a curse." Anna told him, her, pronouns were confusing at the moment.
Faerie nodded her head in thought. "A geas then, probably greater. There has to be a way to reapply the spell periodically. Otherwise it'd wear off after a month at most since the task can't be completed. I was under a lesser geas to be an obedient sex slave when I first became aware. Again, probably will be automatically reapplied. It's likely from these collars. I don't suppose you found where our stuff was stored?"
Anna shook her head, which caused Faerie to curse. The treasure room probably is outside our 'area'. Faerie lead her friend back down the stairs. It would take time to reach the ground, apparently. But it was better to be together then separated. Along the way they could round up the slaves. Faerie had spied a group attacking the place at one point. And one of them appeared to be an honest to god super hero. Which hinted at who it might be.
"Don't suppose you found your mom somewhere in here too? I think I saw your dad with a group of adventurers attacking the place."
Dang there's a lot of these things
The keep's interior reminded Sam too much of Washu's lab. The inside was far too big to fit within the outer walls. Which meant that it likely wasn't fully contained within the structure. This idea was confirmed when Shardrena commented upon there being a desert outside one window. Due to the vast size, either this facility had been found by the slavers, or had been built some time ago. There also was another problem. The place was too large to search systematically.
Fortunately one of the leaders had a map of the general layout. As well as written orders. This was the center of something much much larger. A slavery ring that spanned several 'planes' as they called it on this planet. Sam would have said it spanned multiple dimensions. The keep appeared to act as a central distributing hub, as well as brothel for members of the cabal and their allies I'll have to tell the harpers about this. It's too big for one small band to handle.
"Well guys, I've narrowed down where they are. But it's still a big area to search. And there's who knows how many others to rescue too."
After going over some notes in the 'office' they had found, Sam really hoped they could help the girls here..
