Crystal Memories
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
Author: Konsaki

As he hunted for food in the small clearing that he claimed as his territory of the large forest, he poked his head up and sniffed at the winds. Sensing an invader to his realm, he searched and found his target; now baring his teeth and folding his ears back in anger. Hearing the warning cry, the invader let loose its own challenging call and the fight was on. Both males flashed back and forth inside the clearing, trading off hunter and prey roles as the flow of the chase gave way to small bouts of fierce exchanges of teeth and savage kicks.

Now, the pair just stared each other down, each catching their breath, as neither would back down from this prime real estate. Deciding on another show of dominance, he raised up to his full height with arms wide in the air, barring and gnashing his teeth in display of his prowess. Not be outdone, much to his frustration, the challenger responded in kind with no show of fear.

Two bolts of lightning flashed through the air, striking their targets dead on.

The challenger jerked and convulsed as the electric fury discharged through its body on the way towards ground. An instant later, its lifeless, smoking corpse fell to the grassy earth, one last twitch of its leg before final stillness.

The defender never had time to relish its victory, the flash of light connecting only a fraction of an instant after. The next instant, the hare exploded in a violent shower of bloody globules of flesh, bone and fur, small arcs of electricity flashing amongst the flying bits of rabbit.

Eye twitching as he beheld the bloody mess on the forest floor that was once a full hare; Corellon looked towards the blinking copper haired mage to his side. "I must regretfully inform you once more that this," the elvaan mage dryly intoned, waving a hand towards the bloody smear, "is commonly referred to 'overkill'."

Face completely flush in embarrassment, Hiroshi bashfully fidgeted her index fingers together while apologetically replying, "Ah… sorry?"

"Damn, you see how far that one piece went?" Jax asked with an awed whistle, tracking that specific gib's flight to its final resting place from memory.

Ignoring the blonde human's comment, Corellon rubbed at his forehead in mild frustration. "While I must note and laude your incredibly swift learning of this spell, I must, once more, stress the importance of controlling the power you put into it," he stated, giving a stern look into the younger red eyes of his temporary student.

"I know," the yellow shirted female mage replied, feeling the chastisement and disapproval from the elder mage, "but it's just so hard not to… put everything into it."

"Be that as it may," the blue tunic wearing man answered sternly, "if you cannot regulate yourself appropriately, further spellcraft will be beyond your reach." Shifting into a slightly more lecturely mode, he explained again, "Once more, if you continue to overcharge the spells you cast, you run the risk of having the spell either fail outright or, even worse, risk the spell backfiring to 'you' being the target."

"Damnit! I can't do anything with this shit," Jaxrinde exclaimed in disgust while examining the remains of Hiroshi's hare. "All that good meat, wasted…," he lamented as he reached down to pick up the one Corellon killed.

Letting out a sigh, the tall black haired man moved his hand down to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Let us hope that we encounter another such as this, you may try your hand again," he stated, not looking at the fidgeting younger mage.

"Sure hope so, just as long as she doesn't explode the next one like she has the last two," Jax agreed, fixing the girl with a light look of annoyance. "Tonight's stew is gonna be kinda lean otherwise," he stated, turning away to take the hare back to where the caravan had stopped overnight.

"Sorry…," Hiroshi lamely and lightly apologized, a light flush still reddening her cheeks.

"Do not apologize, as every mage has to push past this step of their training," the elvaan replied, tipping his head down to eye the shorter spellcaster. "Use this shame you feel to fuel your drive to improve past this hurdle but know that no respectable mage will train you further until you accomplish such," he warned seriously. "Also know that your time runs short before we arrive at the gates to San d'Oria and your ease of practice diminishes drastically."

Hiroshi nodded at that, knowing that the caravan had made good time through the La Theine Plateau and was closing in on their final destination. It had only taken just over two days' time to traverse the plateau instead of the estimated three once they had left the lake, the weather cooperating nicely the entire time they pushed towards Ronfaure Forest.

As it was right now, the caravan was taking the morning to rest up at a watering hole called the Knightwell, which was refreshed by an underground spring. Even though she had completed learning the lightning spell she had used on the hare just yesterday, exploding a different hare just as they entered the forest, Cor had effectively tempered her enthusiasm.

"Come along, now," the taller magic wielder directed, striding away from the scene of the incident, "Let us return to the others."

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Pulling back from the edge of the rocky outcropping, Kitoria's grim face said more than her words, "There's three of them headed this way." The morning sun made the air hazy, illuminating the misty fog which liked to crop up in the forest overnight this time of year, but the green eyed mithra was used to looking through it that it barely impeded her sight.

While Fang just grinned from beneath his half-face helm, Ranma frowned slightly. "So, what's the plan?"

"Since it looks like an advance scouting party, we're gonna have to take them out," the mithra mage replied, the large galka in dark armor silently nodding in agreement. Glancing towards said hulking wall of muscle, Kit talked her plan out, "From what I saw, there's a warrior, brawler and shaman. So, Fang takes out the warrior, you get the brawler and I'll lock down the shaman."

Fang made an agreeing grunt with a satisfied grin, pulling his greatsword loose from his back scabbard. Looking through the visor's eye-slit, Ranma could see the galka's grey eyes itching for a good fight. Even he had to admit there was some good itching in his own system, the adrenaline pumping through his veins already.

Peeking around the corner once more, Kit whispered back, "Almost there… Wait for it…"

Shifting their stances, the blood-knight and martial artist prepared to spring their ambush on the unsuspecting enemy ork scout party. At the edge of the stone face, Kit silently raised a hand, increasing the duo's tension level slightly as the seconds passed. Eventually, she flung it forward, yelling "Silence!"

Fang burst forward with a deceptive speed one wouldn't expect from someone his size, shooting around the corner with his sword gripped with both hands. Ranma shot off right after, following the clanking giant with a silent grace before overtaking the galka from the outside. Now, with an unobstructed view, the black haired teen could see the three targets as they broke from their shock and started a counter charge.

The largest of the trio of orks wore ramshackle armor, which looked to be slapped together from a scrap heap, banging his chipped and rusting sword against a weathered reinforced wooden shield. The next was Ranma's target, he assumed, the lightly armored ork wielding nothing but large claw like devices on his arms. The final target was trying to bellow a warcry like the others were but nothing seemed to be coming from its throat, rendered impotent by Kitoria's first spell volley.

"Blind! Paralyze," said female cried out as she ran from behind the two males, drawing her sword once she finished. Her target seemed to stumble in its charge at that, tripping on its own feet as its limbs started fighting its mental directives.

Fang bellowed his own wordless battle challenge as darkness seemed to envelope his being, bits of shadow trailing off of him like black steam from a hotspring in winter. Swinging his greatsword in a wide arc, he broke through his opponent's guard, sending the rusted sword to fly wide; the ork barely managing to hold onto it. The ork pushing forward with its shield to try and counter with a shield bash.

Ranma practically flew over the ground as he sprinted directly towards his own opponent, grinning widely at the expected challenge awaiting him. Just as he reached engagement range, he shot into the air, flipping over the not so clumsy attack from the ork to lash out with a strong kick to the back of the ork's bald head before landing in a handstand. Pushing off into the air again, using his arms, Ranma flashed out with his other leg, striking a solid blow into his target's shoulder, knocking the ork even further off balance.

"Come on, let's see what you got," he yelled in challenge, seeing the thing's red eyes seem to glow as it bellowed out an inarticulate yell of rage. Ranma looked interested for a moment as it seemed to psyche itself up, pounding on its chest with its arms, the skin gaining a deeper green hue before it launched into a frenzied attack.

Trying to gauge how skilled the thing was, the mithran martial artist ducked under the brawler's clawed hand before being forced to roll under another lower back-swipe. Another handspring took him clear of the powerful stomp the green skinned brawler induced into the ground, dust shaking up from the impact of its booted feet.

"That all you got?" Ranma taunted as swiftly re-centered and shot inside the ork's guard. Knocking away the ork's right arm, the teen pounded away with his fists into the greenskin's barrel chest, feeling at least one rib buckling under his assault. He overstayed his welcome a second too long, the ork flailing around in a swift sweep, forcing Ranma away but not before taking a solid knick to his left arm.

Glancing over to see the line of red and blood seeping down his bare arm, Ranma grimaced, "Careless…" Looking back over to the much larger opponent, he grinned as he said, "Got some fight in you, though." Said opponent was warily favoring its right side, its breath noticeably more ragged and labored than before. "Time to finish this," Ranma declared lowly to himself.

Kicking off into a short sprint, Ranma saw the brawler ready itself for a frontal assault. The long haired youth just grinned as he slid between the taller fighter's legs, coming out behind the off balanced ork. Flashing out with another kick, the martial artist connected solidly with the ork's left knee, a loud resounding crack breaking into the air as the knee snapped, causing the brawler to crumble to the ground.

Having the full advantage now, the blue eyed mithra skipped and hopped over a vain flail of a clawed arm, stopping by the beasts head. The next instant, Ranma delivered a swift boot into the brawler's scowling face, breaking a few of its jagged teeth and smashing its nose in even further. The ork's arms dropped to the dirt, the brawler knocked out cold from the final attack.

Hearing the continued sounds of combat, Ranma glanced over and saw Fang also pulling the last move his own fight. The galka cleaved the head of his opponent with a rushing broad swing of his blood coated greatsword, crying out with a wordless yell as his eyes glowed a ghostly white from inside his helmet. Green blood rained from the neck stump at the greenskin's body a moment before the ork finally realized it had died, toppling over on its side like a puppet with its strings cut.

Turning his head from the grizzly scene, the Japanese teen found the third fight also wrapping up but with a different type of end. The mithra mage's thin rapier was also coated in a sheen of green blood but she now stood well out of melee range with her opponent. Holding her sword in a raised thrusting position, she struck forward while still staying well out of range, yelling, "Earth Spike!"

What happened next was another cringe worthy event, as a shard of rock the size of Fang's sword shot from the ground near her to spear into the ork shaman's chest where its heart would be. It looked down and ineffectually grabbed at the protruding earthen shard, spewing green viscous fluids from its mouth before gravity took over, the life leaving its red eyes.

Wincing at the combined gruesome ends his companions had enacted on their opponents, Ranma commented, "Kinda brutal…"

"It's kill or be killed," Kitoria bluntly stated, her voice getting across that she didn't necessarily like that fact but still accepted it. Even as she said that, she walked over to her kill, ripped off a piece of its tattered shirt and used it to wipe off her blade.

Hearing the sound of metal parting flesh, both mithra looked over to see Fang having speared Ranma's downed opponent through the back with his giant sword. Looking directly into the martial artist's blue eyes, Fang jerked upward with one hand, the splurching sound of his sword withdrawing echoing out into the silent air.

Understanding the unspoken words, Ranma scowled, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I hope you never do," the fiery hared mage answered from the side, rummaging through the shaman's things. "No matter what Fang tells you; if you ever start to like it, you've lost yourself."

Ranma just nodded as he watched the giant rip off the shirt from the now dead brawler to clean off his own blade. Shaking his head, he decided to move over to the decapitated warrior and detached the obvious pouch from its belt. Giving it a shake, it jingled with the sound of metal coins of a decent amount. Pocketing the pouch, he followed by looting the metal necklaces, careful not to get too much of the green blood on his hands.

"So… now what?" Ranma asked, ignoring how Fang had exchanged his giant blade for a smaller knife to cut off each ork's right ear.

Frowning while looking down at the mutilated corpses, Kitoria crossed her arms and tapped her lips with a finger. "Scouts wouldn't normally be this close to the city. Something's going on and I don't like the implications." Hearing a snort from the side, glancing over to see Fang clenching a fist and pumping his arm, Kitoria's frown deepened with a nod. "You're probably right… They're planning an attack or… something." Giving her head one last shake, her moderately long, spiky hair shaking with the movement, she admitted, "We need to tell Cor and let him decide what to do. He's 'is' the leader for this one."

The mithra in the red fedora ignored the derisive snort from the giant galka, though Ranma raised a curious brow at that. He shrugged it off as unimportant with nothing more came from it.

As the three started back towards where the caravan had held up while they scouted forward, Ranma asked, "So, what's with the ears?"

"Oh, that," Kitoria started, as if forgetting about it all together, "Well, since the Crystal War, San d'Oria has had an open bounty on hostile Orks, which they all are." Raising a finger in the air, mimicking a lecturer, she added, "The exact amount of the bounty changes frequently, depending on the current threat level." Frowning, she finished by saying, "Considering what we've just found, that might be going up soon…"

As they approached the stalled caravan, the returning trio could see Corellon's very displeased expression at seeing the green blood soaked galka. Walking forward away from the drivers, he lowly asked, "How many?"

"Three scouts, none escaped," the emerald eyed mage answered succinctly before pointing back the way they came, "Headed west around a kilo that way."

The tall elvaan mage let out a disquieted hum, his frown giving unvocal words to his current mood. Glancing towards the tall blood covered Fang, receiving a small nod in turn, Corellon stated, "I must speak with our clients." With that, he turned towards the carts, already thinking of what he would be saying to the lead driver.

Interested in the situation, Jax made his way forward with the other two Japanese teenagers in tow. "What's the situation?" He asked, quirking his brow at how Cor was talking relatively animatedly with the vastly smaller tarutaru driver.

"Just took out three ork scouts," Kitoria repeated before adding, "Considering how close we are to Sandy, we might be pushing hard until we make it there, just to be safe."

The blonde human winced at that thought, "Damn, that's going to suck… Even if we push ourselves, we're not going to make it by nightfall…"

"Aw, man…" Daisuke whined out, reaching back to rub the back of a thigh, "I'm getting tired of all this hiking. Was looking forward for an easy pace…"

"Shut it, Dai," Hiroshi snapped out, crossing her arms under her chest, "I'm all for hustling if it means I can sleep in a bed tonight!"

Smirking lightly, Jax started to joke out, "Hey, you can always share…"

"Finish that and I'll shove a fireball up your ass," Hiroshi quickly interrupted with a sharp glare and setting her hands ready to cast.

"She has your number," Kitoria chipped in, with a knowing smirk on her own lips as she saw Jax's stricken expression.

"Enough," Corellon's rich voice broke in, causing everyone to look towards his approaching form. "I have discussed it with our clients and we will be increasing our pace, continuing until we reach the gates."

"Called it," the fiery haired mithra said under her breath as she continued smirking towards the blonde human.

"We're pressing on immediately," Corellon continued on, either not hearing or ignoring the whispered comment and groan from Daisuke. "Fang, you have point with Ranma. Jaxrinde, Daisuke; you have rear guard. Hiroshi, Kitoria and I will have the middle," he directed, looking at each named person. "We're moving quickly but keep careful watch, we're not safe until we reach the walls."

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The evening sun had set long ago in the western sky, allowing the shadowy night to hold sway over the world. Both mithra of the security detail were a vigilant vanguard in the dark, Kitoria having replaced the much larger galka with the sun. This allowed the two mithra, who's eyes didn't require torches to see like the rest of the crew, to wander around without giving their positions away; increasing the chance of finding danger before it found them.

As such, they were the first of the travelers to witness the great walls of San d'Oria as they turned the last corner of the road.

"Ung… It's about time," Kitoria groaned out, sliding down the trunk of a nearby tree to sit down.

"So, we're just waiting for them to catch up?" Ranma asked, leaning against a different tree nearby, looking down the path towards the advancing torch light in the distance.

Taking her red fedora off her head to run a hand through her hair, the elder mithra nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. The guards at the gate won't let us through by ourselves since they secure the gates at night for security." Gesturing towards the closing caravan, she added, "They'll open it for all of us, though, cause of a treaty with the Merchant's Council."

Looking back towards the partially illuminated walls which filled as much as he could see to the north, dots of light stringing out into the darkness. Estimating the height of the walls, the martial artist guessed them to be around fifteen to twenty meters tall; which if he remembered correctly, dwarfed even the Great Wall which the Chinese built. Thinking about that, he asked his partner, "Hey, this wall go all the way around?"

"Huh?" the fiery haired young woman asked in confusion, not paying attention and nessesitating the black haired male to repeat the question. "Oh… No, it doesn't," she answered, gesturing towards the east. "There's a band of high mountain ridges which surround San d'Oria, both this and the east gate plug up the only holes, other than the bay on the north which leads out into the sea."

"Ah…," the martial artist replied in understanding, mentally figuring that the answer explained how the wall was so tall; they didn't have to make it very long comparatively.

After a few more minutes of wait, which neither one complained about, the two carts and accompanying personnel rolled close enough that the two mithra rejoined them.

"Finally," Ranma heard Daisuke exclaim both impatient and happy at the same time, "No more! We're done!"

"Sleeeeep," Hiroshi drawled out tiredly, her body flagging with the twilight.

Grinning at his friend's reactions to seeing the city walls, Ranma walked completely into their vision, "Come on, guys. Only a little more to go."

"Screw you, man," the cowboy hat wearing teen replied with a weary glare, "You were raised on this shit, not us."

Ranma just shrugged nonchalantly, unconcerned with his friend's snipe as it was true, sort of. The fact was, Genma had run him even worse during their travels, so this was still a pretty nice and relaxing hike, even with the sparse battles with bloodthirsty berserkers out for his blood.

Corellon, for his part, ignored the exchange along with Jax's own prayers thanking the Goddess; choosing instead to move to the far front of the company to greet the armored and armed elvaan guards alertly watching their approach.

"Halt! Identify yourselves," one of the guards called out, resting a hand on the hilt of his still sheathed sword, readying to draw it if the answer wasn't to his liking.

"I am Corellon Del'Norta and leader of this 'Reygar's Irregulars' security escort," the elvaan mage responded as he stopped around twenty meters out, just beside the first lit brazier which lined the path to the closed portcullis.

"Advance forward for inspection," the same guard instructed, per regulations as he moved out a little way from the secured gate. Once both elvaan reached each other, the guard accepted the contract scroll Corellon presented. After a quick scan of the document, verifying its authenticity, the armored man asked suspiciously, "What brings you to the gates at this late hour?"

"My men," Corellon started to explain, gesturing towards the gathered people standing before the carts behind him, "encountered an ork scouting party soon after entering Ronfaure from the plateau. We also were assaulted by a ork raiding party in Jugnar, where I lost one of my men."

Looking from the caravan back to Corellon, the guardsman frowned. "That is… unsettling news. Are you sure of this?"

"The gathered bounty tags my second is holding onto seem to agree with me," Corellon dryly stated.

Taking one last look at the scroll in his hands, the guardsman rolled it back up and handed it back to the brown eyed elvaan mage before him. "I will notify my Lieutenant of this. Have your wagons approach for contraband inspection."

A relatively short inspection later, taking around twenty minutes to complete, the large portcullis clanked and rattled open. A tired and trail worn troop finally made its way into city, hard packed trail dirt giving way to paved cobblestone streets. A short exchange between Corellon and the lead driver completed the contract with a scrawled signature, signifying the end of their escort duty.

After bidding their previous client farewell, Corellon turned to the gathered and eagerly waiting group of warriors and magic users. "Our contract is now completed. Due to the late hour, we shall meet up at the guild hall at noon to debrief with the Guild Master." Seeing the relieved expressions on most of the faces, he inquired about the only derisive snort of the group, "You have something to say?"

"Yeah," Fang drawled out in a deep rough voice, giving an outright hostile look towards the blue clad mage, "Fuck you and fuck the chocobo you rode in on."

Instead of returning the hostile emotions, Corellon just smirked in amusement as he watched the giant armored death machine stomp away, clanking into the darkness.

"Wow, I'm kinda surprised the big guy held up that long," Jaxrinde commented in mild astonishment, a large backpack sitting at his feet.

"Holy shit, he talks?" Daisuke excitedly asked, as the situation percolated through his brain. "I thought he was mute or something!"

"No, Fang can talk," Kitoria stated, rolling her eyes at the elvaan still in their midst.

Adopting a smug grin, Corellon stated, "Some would say too much." Shrugging it off, he added, "either way, it's his fault for agreeing to a bet without specifying the loss condition."

"No one expected you to win with that hand," Jaxrinde stated in defense of the galka who had just left before shaking his head in annoyance, "You know what, screw it, it doesn't matter. I'm going home and collapsing into my warm, soft bed." Picking his backpack up and turning about, the human started walking away with a wave over his shoulder and a yawn. "See you guys tomorrow."

"See ya, Jax," Kitoria called out with a small wave, even though he couldn't see it. Turning towards the Japanese trio, she offered up, "Speaking of beds, I have some spare rooms at my place if you want." The red tailed mithra shrugged as she added her reasoning, "Getting an inn at this time of night will be kinda hard and all…"

Seeing Dai just shrug and Hiroshi busy yawning behind a hand, Ranma nodded, "Sounds good. Thanks."

"Well, now that that's settled," Corellon broke in, nodding towards Kitoria and the teen trio, "I bid you good night and restful sleep." Speaking directly towards the red fedora wearing mithra, he requested, "Please bring them with you to the guild hall tomorrow." Seeing her agreeing nod, the tall navy-blue clad man turned about and made his own way into the dark night streets of San d'Oria.

"Well, follow me," Kitoria directed towards the three younger companions. "Sorry, but it's a bit of a walk, but at least we've made it this far."

"No problem," Ranma replied, falling into step with the older mithra as she started leading the trio through the dark streets.

Admittedly, it take another half hour of walking the streets to finally get to the building the mithra mage indicated was her home. It was a big square building with three floors and a set of stairs leading up on one side with a landing at the second and third floor along with going up to the flat roof.

"Last stop, third floor," she informed the crew, starting up the steps to the indicated floor. Ranma followed along behind her, having long since offered to carry her backpack of gear. Dai and Hiro taking up the rear with their lethargic gate, though it was tempered by the knowledge that the trek was almost over.

Pulling out a key ring from her belt pouch, Kitoria started to unlock the door, lowly saying, "Please keep it down, I don't want to wake them up if we can help it."

"No worries, just lead me to a bed," Daisuke answered with a yawn, getting a nod of agreement from a flagging Hiroshi who was about to lean into his shoulder, almost asleep standing. Ranma just smirked and nodded his own agreement as the mithra mage opened the door with a light creak.

They barely made it into the home when a wary woman's voice growled out of the pitch black darkness, "You better tell me why you're breaking into my house before I gut you where you stand!"

"Well, that's a damn nice 'Welcome home, sister' if I've ever heard one," Kitoria replied amusedly as she reached over to turn on a small crystal powered lamp.

Light seemed to flood in the room, the relative difference the small light had on the near absolute darkness seemed extreme. As everyone blinked with the sudden influx of relative brightness, they found a surprised looking brown haired mithra woman in a white shirt and half hid similarly colored panties holding twin daggers at the entrance to a hallway. As her ready stance broke away with her standing straight up, she asked out, "Kit? You're back?"

"Yup, just got back in town about an hour ago," the fiery haired woman replied as she shucked her jacket and hung it on a coat peg on the wall nearby. "Found some orks in Ronfaure and we chose to rush to the walls."

"Ah," the woman replied in understanding, flicking her eyes from her sister to the trio watching the interaction, "Who're they?"

"They saved our asses in an ambush," Kitoria replied, gesturing towards them with a hand, "I offered them a night here, late hour and all." Blinking in realization as her sister moved to put away her weapons, she lightly smacked her forehead, "Ack, sorry, forgot. Guys, this is my sister, Liana. Liana, this is Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke."

"Nice to meet you," Liana replied with a yawn, though she was already turning to head back to her room down the hallway.

"Okay," Kitoria started, looking to the tired trio, "We've only got two spare beds, so one of you gets the couch."

"I'll take it," Ranma offered, having set down the backpack in a spot out of the way.

"Okay then," the mage nodded, motioning to the other two teens, "I'll bring out a blanket and pillow once I get them set up."

"Thanks for all the help," Hiroshi offered up with sincere appreciation. Daisuke quickly but quietly parroting the gratitude.

"No problem at all," the mithra replied, leading them down the hall, "but the sooner I get you guys set up, the sooner I can crash…"

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Ranma awoke with a groan, cracking his eyes open to see the blurry image of the ceiling above him. Reaching a hand out from underneath his blanket to rub his blue eyes clear from the sleeping crust buildup, he reopened them fully with another groan to notice the bare hint of pre-dawn sunlight trickling in through a nearby window. Still in a half slumber daze, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was; laying on the couch of Kitoria's house.

Feeling something poking into his right arm, he rolled his head that direction to find a small young girl, of two to three years in age wearing a small brown dress, standing there intently looking at him. Pushing himself up to a half seated position, using his other hand to scratch at his early morning bed head, the confused martial artist let out a mumbled, "Hello?"

Still looking at him with intent blue eyes, the young mithra girl retracted her hand to clasp them both over her lower waist. "Potty!"

Shaking his head clear at her whimpered statement, the white eared teen asked out a still confused, "What?"

"Need potty," the brown haired girl replied with more intensity, shifting her weight from leg to leg slightly.

Grimacing as the situation filtered into his mind, the mists finally fading from his conscious thoughts, Ranma asked, "Where's your Mom at?"

Instead of answering, the girl's blue eyes started to water as her dancing became more pronounced, crying out excitedly with her brown furred ears folded back flat on her head, "Potty!"

"Crap," the teen cursed under his breath, sliding sideways on the couch before standing up, the blanket falling back to leave him just in his boxers. "Come on," he said, picking the girl up in his arms, her slight weight negligible to his strength, "Let's get you to the 'potty'."

Feeling the girl lean into his naked chest, Ranma sighed as he walked the small distance to the small water closet Kitoria had pointed out last night. Opening the door and turning on the small lightning crystal powered lamp with his free hand after a second of searching, Ranma set her down while he looked into the room for the first time. There was a small bucket under a water tap near a squat toilet in the center of the room.

Looking back to the girl who was still looking at him intently, the martial artist groaned as he realized how much further he'd have to help the girl.

It was a few minutes later that the girl finally cried out happily, "All done!"

"Congrats," he wryly replied as he carefully dumped the bucket of cool water down the toilet to flush it, having had to do such many times while in small rural villages growing up. "Now, where's your mom?"

"Right behind you," an amused but still drowsy female voice replied from behind his back.

"Shit," the black haired mithra exclaimed, twisting around on the smooth tile to find an amusedly smiling Liana leaning against the doorframe still dressed in her white long-shirt which just half covered her white panties. Still warily watching the woman who's braded brown hair laid over her shoulder looked similarly to how Kasumi wore hers, Ranma pointedly asked, "How long were you there?"

"Long enough," she answered cryptically with a similar smile before squatting down with her arms out, causing her daughter to run into her hug. "Did you go potty, honey?" She asked, cooing at the toddler in her arms, tickling the girl under her chin.

"Daddy helped," the small girl cried out happily, giggling from the tickle even as she threw an arm towards the surprised teen trapped in the small room.

Blinking in her own surprise, looking from her daughter to the wary Ranma, Liana hugged the small girl in her arms a little snugger. "Oh, Mariana…," she sorrowfully replied, stroking her daughter's loose brown hair tenderly as her own eye's misted, "That's not your daddy…"

Feeling definitely nervous with the entire situation, Ranma rubbed the back of his neck, "Look… sorry if I, you know…"

"No, it's alright," Liana quickly interrupted, wiping her eyes with a hand, "It's not your fault… I just miss him, you know?" Giving a quick laugh at how she must look, misting up in front of a stranger while standing in the water closet, she picked up little Mariana who let out a yawn and leaned into her mother's chest. "Let's get you back to bed, baby," she said down to the dozing girl with a small motherly smile, gesturing to the male to follow along.

Still rubbing the back of his neck, but following along anyways out of curiosity, Ranma stopped outside the door to what he now labeled 'Liana and Daughter's' room. Peeking in, he pointedly looked away from the leant over woman tucking her daughter into the lone bed to examine the small amount of decoration and knickknacks within.

"Cute kid," Ranma said conversationally, as he pointedly looked at the dozing little girl bundled under the covers instead of the mother putting on a pair of tan trousers.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" the mother replied with obvious affection for her daughter, tightening the belt of her pants before slipping her slippers back on. Silently gesturing towards the hallway, she closed the door quietly behind her before leading the martial artist back towards the living area where he had slept previously.

Moving over to the couch, Ranma let out a yawn as he picked up and put on his grey shorts and vest, forgoing the black shirt which definitely needed washed. While he was doing that, the brown haired mithra was setting a pot on the small stove to heat, dropping in a filter container full of coffee grounds to help her fully wake up.

"Mariana never really got to know her father," she said to break the silence after a bit, setting out two empty mugs on the counter nearby. "She wasn't even a year old when Marth left for his last mission," she explained, her voice light in volume but heavy with emotion.

"Sorry for your loss," the martial artist stated, following social common courtesy demands.

"He's not dead," Kitoria interrupted with a yawn as she exited the hallway into the main area, her sister automatically adding a third mug to the counter. Scratching her bare stomach beneath the sports bra like top she was wearing, she sat down at a small square table as she added, "The guild would know if he was."

"That's good, I guess," Ranma replied, though he asked with confusion, "But he's been missing for, what, a year?"

"One year, three months and ten days," Liana answered as she poured out the steaming coffee into the three mugs before setting them out on the table and sitting herself in an empty chair next to her sister. Accepting the white eared mithra's nod of thanks as he sat down on the opposite side from her, she cradled the steaming mug between her hands as she continued wistfully, "I've hoped to hear something from Marth or see him strolling through the front door with that goofy grin of his again…"

Ranma just took a long sip of the dark liquid before him, trying not to wince at the bitter taste as an, to him, awkward silence fell over the trio of mithra. Kitoria and Liana just sipped their own coffee as they reminisced through their own memories of the lost man.

After he had drained it, Ranma set the mug down and pushed his chair back to stand up. "Thanks for the coffee," he said with a nod before stretching his back out. "Hey, ah… You guys got a place nearby I could use to practice?"

Blinking at the request before realizing what he wanted, the brown haired woman pointed towards the ceiling, "You can use the roof, if you want. That's where Kit and I practice when we have time."

"Cool, thanks," Ranma said with another nod, putting the mug back onto the counter by the small sink before heading towards the front door, a set of green eyes watching him leave.

Draining her own mug as the martial artist made his way out the front door and up the stairs to the roof, closing the door behind him, the fiery haired mage stood from the table herself. Stretching out, her red tail poking straight out behind her, Kitoria groaned before stating, "I'm going to get a shower before the rest start waking up."

"Sure," Liana replied, a mischievously knowing smile on her lips which she hid behind another sip of coffee, "Have fun."

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Mariana's laughter and squeals of happiness filled the air as the group slowly strolled through the stone encrusted streets of San d'Oria. Having a time of his own, Daisuke used his hands to distort his face again while making funny noises towards the toddler being held by her mother, causing another bout of giggling laughter to spout up from the girl.

Eventually, the teen stopped his antics with a loud breath. "Whew, that gets tiring after a while," he stated, running a hand over his face to get the tingling feeling out of it.

"Hiro and me were taking bets on if your face would stick like that," Ranma quipped out with her own grin, walking beside the slightly taller human mage-in-training.

"Problem is, how would we tell from his normal face," Hiroshi asked, playing along by tapping a finger to her chin before bursting out in a her own grin.

Frowning at the double teaming, Dai stated plainly, "Hey, no fair ganging up on me!"

Kitoria and Liana just smiled at each other, enjoying the company and the cool sunny morning. Liana was comfortably wearing a pale yellow sun dress with some red and blue floral prints along the bottom hemline. Kitoria, on the other hand, was wearing her red leather fedora, tan leather jacket and rapier as her standard equipment loadout. Changed, was the dark brown tight leather pants along with the green tunic which laced up from bottom to top in the front, displaying that she was indeed a well endowed female mithra.

"Deal with it," the black haired martial artist replied with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest in mild satisfaction. At the moment, she was borrowing a simple set of black tunic and pants from the mithra pair because, unlike Daisuke, she couldn't wear Marth's old clothes due to a lack of tail hole in his clothes. It didn't really bother her, though, the clothes being relatively gender neutral other than the female cut.

Wearing his own set of borrowed light brown shirt and pants, Daisuke decided to take the honorable way out and changed the subject, "You know, now that the suns out, this place looks like it belongs in Chrono Quest Nine or something…"

Looking around with a different eye now that it was brought up, Hiroshi nodded in agreement, "Yeah, maybe Lindblum?" Hiro, for her part was borrowing a pink shirt and red pants from the mithran mage, the tail hole in the back covered by the long black cape she was wearing.

"Is Lindblum your home country?" Liana asked, shifting her daughter slightly in her arms.

"Nah, it's just a fantasy country from a picture story," Daisuke replied with a shrug, using the explanation he and Hiro worked out to easily explain stuff like this. Deciding that because his earlier tactic bore fruit, Dai tried it again, "So, where are we headed again?"

Smirking lightly as she recognized his topic shifting, Liana decided to play along, "The Consulate District."

"Yeah, our guild hall for Sandy is there," Kitoria pitched in with a nod. "Apparently way back when, the Guildmaster was able to buy the building for a good price after a bad fire swept through the area." Taking a quick look around her to catch her bearings, the fiery headed woman added, "Should be only a couple more minutes before we get into the Grounds."

True to her words, the road they were on through the residential section opened up into a large courtyard with an awe inspiring view of a royal castle, grand cathedral and the huge embassies of the three major countries of the combined continents. As they wandered into the large grassy park like area amid the great political and religious structures, they saw other assorted people standing under the interspaced trees or around the large fountain in the center, which would spray spouts of water into the air in random formations.

"Whoa," Daisuke let out in awe, pushing back the brim of his hat as he looked about with wide brown eyes.

"Yeah," Hiroshi nodded in amazed agreement, looking around herself with a slightly dazed look.

"You should see the embassy section of Jeuno," Kitoria stated with a smirk as she led the group past the fountain, a rather large combination of spouts shooting up in seeming protest. "It's smaller in area than this, but it's built up on the top of a tower that makes the cathedral look tiny!"

"Just don't tell that to the royal family," Liana added sagely, shifting the squirming Mariana in her hands once more so she could continue to look at the fountain, "they get a bit jealous over that fact."

Ranma just snorted as she pictured Kuno being pissed that someone else had a bigger sword than him, easily seeing how the nobles and royals would act that way.

It was only a little longer that the mithra mage led the group into a side street off the main plaza. The buildings quickly shifted from obvious opulence and pageantry to a more subdued show of wealthy businesses ready to serve nobles with too much coin weighing down their pockets.

"And here we are," Kitoria finally stated, grandly waving her hand to show off a rather plain looking building compared to the surrounding stores, only a red and blue lacquered 'Reygar's Irregulars' hanging outside the main entrance displayed the business within.

Smiling at the brown haired teen who held the door open for her, Liana led the group inside. Once through the threshold, she smiled again as she greeted the man behind the desk, "Hello, Rodrick. How is your day going?"

"Oh, hey! Liana, good morning," a surprised and quickly brightening elderly grey haired elvaan replied as he waved to the woman. "I'm doing better now that you've brought me something to look at other than the old battleaxe in the back and these lot," Rodrick answered with a wide grin, throwing a thumbed gesture to the closed doors nearby before shifting to Jaxrinde and Corellon who were standing at the counter.

Jaxrinde just theatrically looked like someone shot him through the heart, "And I thought we were having a good old time trading war stories."

"Boy, the day you're better company than any of these ladies is the day they put me into the ground," the old elvaan replied with a snort.

"Just remember, look but don't touch," Kitoria smugly added to the conversation as she walked up to her team, "Hope we weren't keeping you too long."

"We are still awaiting Broken Fang to arrive," Corellon answered with a cordial nod to the mage and her companions. "Good day to the rest of you, as well."

"Come on, honey, say hello to Uncle Rodrick," Liana coaxed her daughter as she approached the counter. Mariana just shyly hid her face in the crook of her mother's neck.

The grey haired elvaan just grinned, showing a couple missing teeth while his scars stretched on his face. "No worries, I'm surprised she ain't bawling her eyes out at the sight of ol' Rodrick. So, I know this lot is here to see 'her', but how can I help you?"

"I'm looking for something inside the city," the brown haired mithra mother replied.

Nodding in understanding, Rodrick waved to the wall with multiple pieces of paper pinned up in different sections. "Just put up some new stuff this morning," he notified the woman, "think there's one or two. Might be something up your alley."

While Ranma watched the woman set her daughter down but kept hold of one hand as she examined the posted contracts, the door to the guild hall opened once more. Glancing over, she saw the giant galka Fang squeeze through the entrance.

"Looking good, big man," Jaxrinde spoke out with a whistle, as he saw what the galka was wearing. Still grinning, he asked out, "Trying to impress the old lady?"

Fang just smirked as he brushed some imaginary dust from the shoulder of his outfit. "Always equip for the job at hand," he replied in the deep rumble that was his voice.

While Ranma didn't know what exactly the 'job' was that Fang was referring too, the pink long sleved shirt topped by a black leather vest with bright brass buttons holding it closed was definitely not what she expected to see the galka wearing. Especially not after seeing him liberally splashed with viscous green blood in his dark metal armor, a wide toothy smile adorning his helmet covered face.

"If the job was to make me blind, you're almost there," a wry woman's voice rolled out from the now open door leading into the back.

"You're already half blind," Rodrick called out from across the room, making a verbal jab at her patch covered left eye.

"Shut it, you old goat, or it's the couch for you," the aged elvaan woman sniped back in reply before turning her remaining eye towards the gathered group. "As for you lot, get your asses in here and let's get this over with," she ordered before disappearing back through the open door.

The blond human of the group just let out a sigh as he pushed off the counter and lamented, "She's cheerful as usual."

"I wonder what has her in a bad mood," Kitoria wondered out loud as she moved with the rest to and through the door.

"It's just her time of the month. Drives me batty around this time," Rodrick called out loudly.

As she stepped through the door, Ranma got an eyeful of the elvaan woman as she sat behind a large desk full of paperwork just as she yelled out, "I'm not deaf, Rod, and you're ass is mine once I'm done here!"

"So you've said for twenty five years and I'm still here," the scarred elvaan male's voice trailed the last of the group before Corellon closed the door behind him.

Growling in her seat, the guildmaster cursed out, "That man…"

"To be fair, you did marry him," Corellon stated with a hint of a grin on his lips as he stood nearby.

"Quiet you," the elvaan woman stated in a noticeably more quiet reprimand. "Now, down to business," she said to start the debriefing session, readying a sheet of paper and quill pen, "give me the rundown."

For the next block of time, Corellon gave the highlights of their mission, the other three members filling in gaps when questioned by the woman. Eventually, the black haired elvaan mage finished by saying, "Once we received confirmation from the client, I declared the mission complete and the team split apart for the night to sleep."

Finishing with whatever she was writing on the paper, the woman set the pen back in its stand to direct her gaze at the Japanese trio. "So, I guess I should thank you for your assistance then."

"Pretty much," Ranma replied with a slight nod, before quirking her brow, "but first off, who are you?"

The aging elvaan woman quirked her own brow a moment before letting out an amused snort, "Guess I owe you at least that." Standing up from her chair to her full height, she stated, " Claudine Montplaisir, Guildmaster for the San d'Orian branch of 'Reygar's Irregulars'."

"Ranma Saotome, heir to the 'Saotome School of Indiscriminant Grappling'," the shorter black haired mithra replied with a slight bow.

The long haired girl spoke up next, "I'm Hiroshi Takano, mage-in-training, I guess."

" Daisuke Masaki," the final teen of the trio added, "and… I've got a gun?" Seeing the two other teens look at him, he shrugged his shoulders and replied with a defensive, "What?"

The grey haired woman politely ignored the interchange to muse out, "So, from what Corellon says, you've been 'transformed' to varying degrees and transported from your home world to ours." She also ignored the short nods of the teens as she began pacing with a slight limp behind her desk. "Ignoring the improbability and unbelievability of it all, based off an earlier conversation, he has also recommended that I offer you recruitment into the guild based off your assistance and evaluation of your abilities."

"That's cool and all, but we're really just trying to get back home," Daisuke interjected.

Hiroshi quickly added in, "And change back!"

Stopping her pacing to look towards the speaking teens, she waited a moment before looking towards the shortest of the trio and asked, "Not going to add anything else?"

Ranma just shrugged as she answered, "Nah, I'm good. Just want to see where this is going 'n all."

Smiling slightly, Claudine sat back down and stated, "Where this is going is a 'win/win' situation for both of us. You get a way to make money and help from contacts the guild has to 'change back' and get home. The guild gets new blood that has already paid off and proven it's worth."

Smirking, the white eared martial artist countered, "And you're going to send someone along with us to babysit us."

Smirking back, the local guildmaster answered back, "Of course. I don't assume you know how to get to Jeuno, Selbina or even to the port here in this very city. It'd be suicide to send you alone without an experienced guide to show you around and notify you of dangers. The fact that your guide will also be your leader is just standard protocol for all recruits until they've completely proven themselves with a number of missions under their belts."

"Here, take this," she directed, handing over a small piece of paper with something written on it, "It's the name and address to a scholar who might be able to assist you three. I will state, however, that members of the guild get a substantial discount on his services…"

"Alright, alright," Hiroshi broke in, holding her hand up in a stopping motion, "We get it." Looking to Ranma and Daisuke, the copper haired girl got their shrug and nod in response. "We're in, so what do we do now?"

Smiling in satisfaction, the woman pulled open a drawer of her desk open and pulled out a book and a scroll. Unfurling the scroll and opening the book to the proper page, she stated, "Now, we get to the part the other's have been waiting for; getting paid."

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"This all seems a little too planned," Hiroshi stated as she held the off-white tunic up to her to roughly test the fit.

To the side, Kitoria held a red and black pair of shorts up before her, flipping it back and forth. "Considering Cor had talked to her before we got there, it probably is." Setting folding and placing the shorts back onto the table, she explained, "Cor knows I have the extra space since Hermi and Phont moved out and the guild master thinks I'm ready to start leading my own group missions now." Shrugging she added, "Personally, I don't mind you guys crashing until you can find your own place to stay, just as long as you help pay the bills."

"No problem there," Ranma stated as the black and white tailed mithra decided on her final purchase, a set of long dark grey shorts which would turn into short pants when she was female. "I'm kinda surprised how much she paid us. Is that normal?"

"Not really," the fiery haired mithra responded, turning towards the questioning martial artist, "since it a combination of a signup bonus and a small percentage of the mission pay you helped out on."

"Considering the price of these clothes, we'll be good for a while," Hiroshi commented on, putting the blood red shirt she was holding into the 'buy' stack.

"Speaking of clothes, are you done yet?"

"Shut up, Dai," Hiroshi snapped, tired of the bored comments from the only 'all the time' male of the trio. "Shopping as a girl is harder than you think."

Having heard this second complaint from the bored looking male, the woman running the store suggested, "If you'd like, there's a weapons smith just down the way your boyfriend can visit."

"He's not my boyfriend," the copper haired mage vehemently cried out.

Smirking at his friend's reaction, Dai just asked what the place was called and left when he got his answer. As he left, he heard Kitoria advise the girl who was still giving the shopkeeper the evil eye, "You should calm down, it's just a simple mistake."

Dai just snickered as he walked the short distance towards the suggested store, finding a rather non-descript building which opened up into a weapon warehouse inside. "Whoa, nice," the brown haired teen whistled out as he eyed the racked metal instruments of damage.

"Ain't the first time I've heard someone your age say that," a short tarutaru stated with amusement from behind a counter as he leant over an open book.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn't see you," Daisuke apologized as he moved over to the counter.

Smirking slightly, the middle aged tarutaru waved it off, "Considering your reaction to our wares, I'll let it slide. Anyways, welcome to 'Sharp's Sharps'. I'm Sharp and how can I help you?"

"You made all these," the teenaged human asked in incredulity, wondering how a one meter tall person could make some of the weapons which looked to be at least two meters in length.

"Oh, no," the brown haired taru waved off with a grin, having had this question asked many times. "I've got a couple galka friends who I buy the larger weapons from. Me, I'm better at the smaller finesse ones' if you get my drift." He punctuated the statement by pointing to the thin foil hanging on the wall behind him, the pommel a work of interlaced artwork.

Showing an impressed expression, Dai looked around at some of the smaller weapons which he found along that wall. "Hey, got any suggestions? I'm sorta looking for something to fall back on incase I run out of ammo."

"Do you have any preferences or training in any specific weapon type?" The short humanoid asked, hoping to narrow down the selection from 'my entire store'.

"Not really, but someone I know suggested a knife or small sword," the brown eyed teen replied, looking back to the storekeeper before added, "Oh, and I don't have a lot of cash to burn, so…"

"So, you're a newbie on a budget," Sharp bluntly summed up, hopping off his stool and wandering out into the open store. "Come on, let me show you the bargain knives and daggers."

Dai wasn't sure he liked the attitude the short store owner was letting off, but he didn't know what the hell he was doing with selecting a spare weapon. Even still, he was expecting something more low quality than the racks of knives and daggers he found himself standing before.

"They're inexpensive and still good enough quality," Sharp pitched, waving a short arm over the display. "They're all marked based off the rack they're on and don't go switching them around, I'll know," he explained and warned at the same time. "Test them out and see if one suits your hand. Just try not to cut yourself or anything else in here."

When the females walked into the store a little while later, they found him at the counter talking to the relatively tall tarutaru proprietor, a simple single blade long knife on the counter between them. Dai was dropping some coins on the counter, the local currency being called 'Gil', which the taru was counting out silently.

"And that's paid in full," Sharp stated once he pulled the last coin to him and slid them all into a sack before storing it behind the counter.

"Nice," Dai lightly exclaimed, sliding the knife into a leather sheath and reworking his belt to thread the sheath to his hip.

"Find a new toy," Ranma asked out with a grin, as she walked up to the other teen.

Daisuke just grinned as he patted the knife hanging off his right hip, nodding in affirmative. "Now I just need to find a place that sells bullets and gun stuff."

"If you're looking for firearm supplies, I happen to know a guy up in the port who deals with them. One of the few guys in the city on the up and up with them, too," Sharp supplied helpfully, more pleasant now that he'd gotten a sale and maybe a referral favor with his friend.

"I'll have to check it out," Daisuke replied happily, nodding to the taru.

Looking over the trio of females, Sharp asked out, "Any of you ladies looking for some new weapons?" His expression dropped slightly when they indicated 'no, they weren't', but kept up his mercantile pitch, "Keep 'Sharp's' in mind if you ever do."

"Come on, guys," the spiky haired mithra called out to the group, "we can stop by there later. We've got to hit up a mage store near there."

The quad of adventurers exited the weapon smiths and entered the bustling San d'Oria streets once more. They wandered along, mild conversations between the four over their purchases; along with one punch in the arm from Hiroshi to Dai for an offhand comment which neither Ranma or Kitoria felt was undeserved.

As they passed through the craftsman district, the area where the blacksmithing and woodworking guild councils had set up shop. Due to the large influence the two councils had, along with the flow of raw supplies into the area from the port, a vast majority of the larger smithies and workshops concentrated in the area as well. Kitoria explained that the local resources surrounding the kingdom being trees and mines led to the major export being metal and wood products.

Eventually, they entered a cave large cut out of the mountain chain, the smell and sound of the sea blowing through with breeze. "They say that this used to be a pirate's cove back before the kingdom started but when it got found out by the founding king's expedition, they cleared it out and set up shop themselves."

Pointing towards the walls of the cave, cut to look like bricks instead of flat wall, she explained, "The founding king died of illness before they could begin construction, so it wasn't until his son took over before the port became a reality."

"That's pretty cool," Daisuke commented, looking at the walls and light sconces near the ceilings.

Ranma was doing the same, asking a moment later, "I'm guessing those are more of those crystal powered lights?"

"Yes, they are," the red tailed mithra confirmed, pointing to one, "They used to be torches and oil lamps back in the day, but they finally changed them over after the current king fielded complaints from the porter's guild." She pointed up to the ceiling and the smoke stains that remained, "When the wind shifted, the merchants and porters would be smoked out by their own torches."

As they continued into the cave, the entrance further behind them, they found small outlets cut into the rock which led into small stores, their wares advertised by small signs outside their open doors. As they moved through the passageways, Kitoria leading the group through the various splits in the passage, they passed through an intersection which held a duo of stumpy masked creatures surrounded by their displayed wares.

"What are those guys," Hiroshi asked quietly to the taller female mithra, lightly gesturing towards the shorter beings.

"They're goblins," Kitoria answered easily. "It's sort of iffy on who's side they're really on, since they're technically a Beastman tribe, but quite a few of them are at least neutral and are willing to trade, like these guys. Just don't make the mistake in thinking they're friendly; they'll rip you for what they can on the deal."

"If you do trade with them, they've got some interesting things but they rarely take Gil," she explained before shrugging, "I've heard of some of them taking steel ingots, gems of varying types, weird useless animal parts… It's sort of random and annoying cause they usually don't want what you have."

The pair of goblins were chattering lowly between themselves, too low for the mithra to make out what was being said, but Kitoria continued to lead the group deeper through the tunnels. Eventually, she pointed towards the left fork at the next intersection, saying, "It's just at the end of this passageway."

As the group came up to the indicated path at the intersection, Ranma slipped back away from her companions till she watched them turn the corner and disappear from view. Stopping a moment to hear their footsteps receding down the chamber, she double backed to the previous intersection to find the two goblins still conversing lowly to one another.

"Yo," the white eared mithra called out with a jaunty wave, gaining the attention of the two smaller masked beings as she approached, "How you guys doing today?"

"Day is pleasant, She-Mithra," one of the two responded after a moment before waving a hand over his displayed wares on blankets over the stone floor, "More with good trading, yes?"

"That's the plan," Ranma replied with a grin, looking over the assorted knick-knacks they had out for show. "I heard you guys had some interesting stuff for sale."

"Jixnix has pretty shiny jewelry," the now named Jixnix started out only to be quickly interrupted by the browsing mithra.

"Nah, don't need that stuff," Ranma quickly stated with a dismissive wave of her hand, looking more at the pile of bottled liquids, small weapons and odd items to the other side.

"Raksvox has Potion of Strength," the other goblin voiced out, picking up a purple colored bottle out of the pile to show, "make strong like Galka! Good, good price!"

The black and white tailed mithra thought about it for a moment, rubbing her chin while her tail flicked back and forth behind her. Eventually she shook her head in the negative, saying, "Nah, probably some side effect, too. Seen some bad stuff happen with boosts like that."

"Quality best," the brown leather masked goblin countered, sounding offended at the mithra's comment but put the down the bottle when he read that she wasn't buying. He eventually started listing more items on display in a more general fashion.

Finding something that caught her eye, Ranma picked up a set of opaque glass goggles and asked, "What's so special about these?" She flipped them around to find anything identifiable on them but failed to do so.

"Ah, good find," Jixnix praised as he stepped forward to tap the darkened lenses, "Goblin make, stop bright eye burn in great outside." He tapped his own darkened lenses of his leather mask to reiterate.

"No thanks," Ranma stated with slight amusement, setting the goggles back down on the blue and green dyed blanket she picked them up from. "What about the bag?" She asked, pointing to a rather non-descript belt pouch that was on the back of the blanket, closest to the goblins.

"This rare gobbie bag," Raksvox explained, picking up the bag so the black haired martial artist could see it but far enough away not to hand it over, "very good use, much expensive!"

"What's so special about it?" Ranma asked, her curiosity peaked as she raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"Gobbie secret make," Raksvox continued to talk as he started putting items into the small bag. "Hold much things," he continued, putting actions to words as he continued loading more things into the container. Ranma blinked and uncrossed her arms as she realized that the amount of things going in dwarfed the physical size of the container by twice when the goblin finally put in a box that was literally bigger than the bag.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Ranma asked out, visibly and audibly impressed.

"Gobbie secret Gobbie bag," Jixnix smugly replied. "Hold lots, no spill," he added, with his goblin compatriot turning the bag over and shaking it with nothing falling out. "Grab what want when want," he continued, reaching over to pull out the goggles which were one of the first items to go into the bag.

"How much for it?" The martial artist asked while Raksvox continued to empty the bag to the side.

Jixnix waggled a finger, sending his long floppy ears waggling as well. "No gil, trade! Much expensive, very rare, yes! Trade rare!"

Ranma frowned lightly, trying to think of anything she had that was trade-worthy, which wasn't much, especially not much that these goblins would take considering they didn't want the local currency. Thinking about it, she eventually pulled out a small bag of coins from a pants pocket. "How about this," she said when she poured the bag of coins into her other hand, the gold and silver 'beastcoins' clinking audibly.

Leaning forward to examine and count the money, Jixnix eventually shook his head, "Good money, not enough."

Tightening her lips in irritation, Ranma poured the money back into the small bag and then pulled out the two necklaces she had also looted from the ork's corpse. "What about these?" Ranma let the goblin take the dangling chains from her hand to examine them more closely.

She could just imagine Jixnix blinking behind those cloudy lenses of the gasmask as he held them up before his face. Her thoughts held true when he spoke out when Raksvox moved over to look at them as well, "Look at this, cousin!"

"Hey," Raksvox lightly exclaimed, "That's one of those lost 'sacred' necklaces that that Yagudo priest was talking about, right?"

"Think so," Jixnix responded with a nod, before pointing towards the second one, "and we could probably make good coin on this one once we get home. We'd be set for a good while!"

"So they're both worth a lot, that's good to know," Ranma commented, leaning over the two shorter humanoids with a large grin.

Both goblins jerked and looked up before Jixnix asked in a shocked voice, "You overheard that?"

"Yup," the black haired female replied with a nod before offering, "So… how about the bag and these for those and the coins?" She picked up a set of black fingerless leather gloves with metal plates on the back of the hands to show her request. Raksvox had earlier pointed them out as being made from enchanted basilisk leather and mithril plates to increase unarmed strength without removing any hand dexterity.

Both goblins looked at each other silently for a moment before Jixnix hesitantly answered, "That would be… acceptable."

"Awesome," Ranma happily exclaimed, smiling widely, "It's a deal, then!" Handing over the small bag of beastmen coins, the martial artist nicked the 'gobbie bag' from Raksvox's gloved hands. "Thanks for the trade, guys, but I need to catch up with my friends," Ranma said, giving a jaunty wave before jogging off towards the magic shop that Kitoria had led the other two towards.

Behind at the intersection, Jixnix and Raksvox just watched her turn the corner and disappear from sight. After a moment of silence, Jixnix asked his cousin, "When's the last time you've heard of a Mithra knowing Goblinese?"

"Never," Raksvox replied off handedly as he moved over to his wares and started packing up. "All I know is that trade made our entire trip profitable and that's not something I'm going to question."

o0O0o

End of Chapter 4

A/N

- First off, I need to point out that I planned on having at least 2-3 more sections to this chapter but as I started writing it, the sections and words just kept piling on as I went on. Woe is me when my muse gives me more stuff to write than normal, I know. World's smallest violin and all. XD

- Probably one the hardest things I'm trying to work with is the balancing act of moving the plot along, doing character growth and creation, world explanation so you readers know what's going on and doing it all while still keeping the story interesting. Hopefully I'm accomplishing this, but let me know in the reviews.

- Speaking of reviews, I'll just say now that some of the reviews I've received so far have been a good boost to my ego and I'm thankful. While I'm really writing for my own reasons as a way to fulfill my creative urges, getting a good long review and critique of my works is very rewarding. So, to those of you who have done so, thanks for spending the time to give a lengthy review and I hope you're enjoying my work in the future.