Chapter III
In The Wind Lies The Answer
Quiet as a mouse Ranma walked out the door of this room holding a sword. He glanced both ways, making sure he was alone. Good, he though when no one was seen. He saw that old rocking chair creaking by itself when he walked by; it sent a chill up his spine. Slowly he crept outside holing the key in the palm of his hand. Gripping it so hard he though that it might disappear into his hand, he checked to make sure he was alone. He saw no one once again.
The key fell out of his hand and onto the ground. Ranma bent down to pick it up and saw a pattern on the ground under a layer of dirt. The pattern in a stone was glowing a weak strange white light. Ranma brushed off the dirt to get a closer look at the pattern. It was based off of a circle and had symbols embedded in the inner circle. In the middle there was a hole. He picked up the key; the pattern stopped glowing so he placed the key in the hole in the middle circle.
The symbols in pattern stared reacting with a more violet light when the key was placed in the center. Out of curiosity he ran his fingers over the symbols and with the touch of his fingers it stared glowing a stronger purple light. Then for a second the glowing stopped completely. Ranma looked at it closer and then all of a sudden a ray of light shot out of the ground and pulled him toward the pattern.
No one inside heard his scream except for the old sorceress who had materialized in the old rocking chair a moment earlier. She frowned a frown so deep it might as well stuck there. She pounded her fist against the arm of the rocking chair. The old sorceress sipped her tea that always seemed to be there. "Akane." She called.
Akane was in her room sitting up on her mat she used as a bed. She glanced outside, it couldn't be more then midnight. Then out of nowhere she saw a ray of light shout out of the ground. She looked at outside, puzzled, she saw nothing.
"Akane." She heard her grandmother call.
Akane got up and brushed her hands through her short hair. "Coming Grandmother." She called back and got up. Akane saw her grandmother hobbling over to the table to light the candle.
"Wake Ryoga for me." She said waving her hand to Akane. "And get our coats."
As the sound of his name was an instinct for him to come, Ryoga walked out of the hall and into the main room just as Akane turned to get him up. "No need to wake me, that light could wake anyone, it was so bright."
Akane went to the closet and gabbed the coats and handed her grandmothers to her. "Are we going somewhere?"
"We can't just leave Ranma here." Ryoga said, not sure what was going on.
The old woman narrowed her eyes at them and said nothing at first. "That boy is no longer our concern. Yes we are going somewhere, where it is you don't need to know. Ryoga you can stay if you like, but I know you'll want to come. This is, the turning point you know and I'm sure you want to get her back so let's go." She warped her cloak around her shoulders. "Akane get the katana, Ryoga get what ever weapon you have we have no time to waste here."
Soon they where off Ryoga holding his umbrella, Akane with the katana in it's sheath and the old sorceress leading the way. Ryoga stayed between the two so he wouldn't get lost, he was sick of getting lost and this wasn't the time to. They wandered through the woods for a long while.
About two hour later they reached a camp of people whom where singing and dancing next to the fire. The old sorceress told them to wait here and she wandered off. A lady with long jet-black hair approached the old sorceress and frowned at her.
The woman looked at her shaking her head. "You promised to leave us. We have helped you once. Leave us!" The woman's voice held a tone of anger, fear, and authority all at once.
"I am not here for you. I am here to for the girl." She told her in the tone of voice that told she was serious.
The woman's face had a look of panic on it. "Fine. Take her, take the dammed child. She is more hassle for us then good. Take the dammed child you old hag."
"She is no long a child, she isn't one of you either. She never belonged to you nor will she ever." She told the woman before walking to the large tent at the edge of the people's land. A gold serpent was sewed into the top of the tent, the mark that who lived there had the gift.
A teenage girl with purple hair sat there, her back to the old sorceress. She ran her hands over rocks as she hummed to herself. Her eyes where closed and every once and a while she would switch the rocks. A boy stood next to her holing a spear and had long black hair.
"What is your business with us?" His tone was strong but sounded funny with his higher tone voice.
The old sorceress rolled her eyes. "Good evening Mouse." She said brushing out her cloak. Mouse put down his spear and narrowed his eyes at her. "I am here for Shampoo, not you."
"Fine." He said not wanting to fight her. Shampoo sat stood and tuned to face her.
Shampoo already knew why she was here. "It is time." She said not needing an answer, nor expecting one. Shampoo had on a red dress at had a gold serpent on the back and was collared. There was a long slit up the sides but the dress reached her ankles. "It is time." She repeated.
She walked outside, her hands clenched into fists. Mouse was at her toe and the old sorceress behind them. The woman from earlier clenched her spar and glanced at them. The music and dancing had stopped and all eyes where on Shampoo, whose head was high and shown no expression. Before she reached where Akane and Ryoga stood she turned and placed her fist to her heart, showing her loyalty to their tribe. The people mimicked her putting their fist to their chest. All except for the woman who had driven her spar into the ground, a sign of an honor less defeat.
When Akane saw Shampoo she said nothing, but she knew too that it was time. Soon the all fell into step, no one saying anything until they reached mid forest.
Ranma stood in the center of a room, he didn't know where exactly he was but he knew that he was somewhere important. He hung his key over his neck again and pulled out the sword from the sheath. He gripped onto it for dear life. Something big was going to happen, he didn't know what yet, but it was going to be something big.
"OPEN THE GATES!" A voice said screaming in the room, Ranma turned around. No one was there. "OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES!" A blue light filled the room…
Shampoo held out the stone. It was rather large and had the same glowing pattern on it that Ranma had come across earlier. A key was placed in it, a black key. Shampoo was turning a blue color and had her eyes was shut closed. "OPEN THE GATES! OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES! Open the gates of and space, tare down the veil of time, open the gates!" Her knuckles bleed from gripping onto the stone.
She chanted the same thing over and over again. Ryoga and Akane stood ready to go, the old sorceress stood there. "Akane when the gate opens you and Shampoo may only pass. Unless you have the right key, only virgin females may pass into the gateway. You must do this, the fate of the world is in your hands, and you must kill Ranma."
Akane looked at her through the blue that had begin to glow all over. "Why?"
"Because he is the enemy."
End of chapter three! Hahaha! I have to go, evil Algebra homework…. Bah!
