I don't own Ranma or GD.

I have to say the results of the poll is amusing so far, but so are the PMs I'm getting in defense of not breaking up Strype/Brittany, and I have to say that the PM's are convincing me far more than the votes. One especially brought up a point about Brit being possessive and not willing to share. Now while there is a bit of magic explained in this chapter to explain why the idea of sharing is so, not easy, but an option to the girls with Ranma, but the point is a really good one. Still, keep them coming, as I said you have until they leave for Aebra to convince me one way or the other. Any review or pm that is well thought out will count as five votes in the poll.

I will also possibly not be able to update on Wednesday, as I am not happy with the next chapter.


Chapter 10 Mage Council, mysteries, and curiosity killing someone

Karia awoke to a blinding headache. After a moment, her eyes began to work without pain and she opened them fully. Recognizing the ceiling as that of her own room, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least some of my dojo is still standing. She began to recall the fight, and winced as she realized she had stupidly made the same mistake twice. Still, why in the world did our attacks react like that? I have seen ki attacks and spells intersect before, and nothing like that has happened before! What is it about that young boy's life energy that makes spells go insane?

Now she was paying for it. Her body was sore beyond belief, she had at least two broken ribs, and she could feel that her mana reserves were nonexistent; barely enough to reform her war-mage body, and nowhere near enough to sustain it for longer than a few seconds. It'll take a while to get my reserves up to where they were before, but maybe that's a good thing. I seem to have been relying on my mage skills and war mage body too much of late. Karia thought ruefully. Once I get back on my feet I will have to rectify that.

A gruff voice brought her attention back to the world around her. "So, awake at last are we. You've been unconscious for four hours master." Karia turned her head toward the left, where the familiar voice had come from.

Sahftil sat there, a small book balanced on his knee. She blinked owlishly at him. "Did I win?" She croaked.

- Sahftil laughed, beard quivering in his mirth. "No, no I don't think so. The young man you fought was still conscious and able to speak for a few minutes after the explosion before he joined you in la-la land, so technically he won. My brother thanks you for the business by the way."

Karia groaned aloud, thinking how much it had cost her the last time to rebuild her dojo. Sahftil went on mercilessly. "Also remember, you have that mage council meeting to attend tonight. You have about three hours to get yourself presentable." Karia groaned again, and Sahftil laughed, enjoying this immensely.

Karia turned away from her oldest student with a huff of anger. Soon though, her thoughts went back to the fight and the young man she had been fighting. Ranma. It has been a long time since I had a match that exceptional. For one so young to be that skilled, what kind of trials has he gone through? You intrigue me Ranma, and it has been even longer since a man has done that. I think I want to know more about you. She grinned, a slow sensual curve of her mouth, remembering his cute blush and shy reaction to her unenhanced body during the match and the fact that you are possibly the hottest male I have ever seen does not help your case at all. Look out world, for the first time in four hundred years Karia man-hunter is on the prowl again! Only this time, I have a veeeerrry specific target. Oh yes.

Stahfil looked at her askance has she began to chuckle darkly. That can't be good.


Ranma groaned aloud, sitting up in an unfamiliar bed, a little sore and his ki reservoir drained to about a tenth of its original strength. "Ugh, got to remember, ki and whatever that was don't mix. Was it magic? Seemed way different than anything the old ghoul or Happosai did, way more primal."

Before he could analyze the fight further a wild Sheila beast glomped him. "Jeeze, Ranma don't scare me like that. You were out for a long time, I was so worried, Nali said your life energy was nearly gone!" Ranma blushed hotly as she continued to berate and hug at the same time. Being hugged like this was still not something he was really used to, especially from cute girls, and even more especially in public. He hesitantly put his arms around her, comforting her.

They were interrupted by a loud roar coming from his stomach. Sheila broke down, laughing so hard her sides hurt as Ranma sheepishly twiddled his fingers, looking down at the ground and blushing in embarrassment.

"Why don't I get something for us to eat okay?" Sheila said, pushing herself off the bed. "And then, you can give me some more of those magical pills of yours and another one of those tampie things. I need to change out."

Ranma blanched, but pulled out the requested supplies from hidden weapon space, putting them on the table next to his cot. Sheila came back with a large plate of food, mostly sandwiches and slices of meat, with a few vegetables. Ranma could see a twitching heap of black fur for a moment before Sheila could close the door. He shrugged, deciding it was none of his business. The black lump was actually Thropan, who had tried to make fun of Sheila's doting on the invalid Ranma, and been kapowied for it.

For her part Sheila was just glad her new friend was up and about. Thropan's innuendo had simply been badly timed, what with the magic Midol having worn off, and her thingie giving out. Still she was in a much better mood now that Ranma was awake.

Ranma picked up a glass of water from the tray, tilting it inquiringly. Sheila thought for a minute then nodded. She really did not want to be around any guy at the moment, not until the mighty Midol kicked in again, not even one as nice and good looking as Ranma.

Ranma grinned reassuringly at her before tipping the cold water over his head, initiating the change. Again, he had long gotten used to his curse, even welcoming it in some ways, so he had no problem being a girl for his new friend.

The two talked throughout the meal, Sheila eventually wringing the story of the neko-ken out of Ranma, as well as a slightly more detailed story about his curse. When she got over her horror at a father doing that to his own son she asked "So originally this technique made you act like a cat? What exactly did you do?"
Ranma shrugged. "Cat stuff I guess. Chase people, climb trees, shred rocks like paper, play with string, rip giant holes in buildings, that sort of thing."

Sheila laughed thinking he was exaggerating. "Sounds like fun. I can't remember the last time I had simple fun like that. In the city, we always have to act as human as possible. Sometimes I just want to escape from it all, go back to when I was a cub and have fun like a cat again you know." She sighed wistfully.

Ranma cocked his head for a moment thinking. My ki levels are back to 'normal' not full but enough, and my body seems pretty healed, enough to move around with. I guess I could see if I can get in touch with my neko side a bit more. Ranma had noticed he was more catty than in Nerima right after moving to the Diggers, but he normally repressed it. Now he reached inside his psyche and let his inner cat out to play.

Sheila's eyes widened in surprise as Ranma suddenly sat up, moving back on her haunches like a house cat. The redhead cocked her head at her. "Mreow?"

Sheila giggled at what she thought was an act for a second, until Ranma batted her on top of her head. She glared at him and Ranma skittered a few feet away. Sheila looked at her friend for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. She moved forward around the cot, and Ranma bounced forward, smacking her head lightly, before moving away again. She glared again at Ranma's unrepentant expression.

Slowly, Sheila began to smile. "So the little kitty wants to play?" Ranma chirped agreement. Sheila thought about it for a few seconds and then smiled, a wide happy smile, before transforming into her full werejaguar form. She shook off her clothes and bounded over to Ranma smacking her on the shoulder gently.

Ranma meowed happily. Her new friend did want to play after all! Neko-Ranma loved to play. Sheila jumped up to a window ledge, and looked back at Ranma invitingly. With a snarl/purr she jumped out. Ranma quickly followed after her. The chase was on.


Dr. Diggers smiled as the last two mages walked in taking their seats in the small half circle of the magical assembly hall he had rented out for the evening. This was not the ruling body of Jade, though it did number two of that councils numbers, it was simply the most knowledgeable masters of auras, gods, and curses that he could gather. They were also all good friends of both himself and his former master. He had also invited Weaponsmaster Karia and the Amazon representative Do-Jin to give a warriors perspective.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice. I come to ask you for help in deciphering a puzzle." He touched the large crystal laying in the center of a magic circle next to him, and with a flash a copy of Ranma's aura appeared in the air. Two more flashes and the auras and images of his other forms appeared next to one another, making it easy to compare all of them at once.

"This is a copy of the aura of one Ranma Saotome, a young man that has recently moved in with my family. I think that you can all see what the problem is."

Karia twitched at the name and the main image, looking at it intently. Do-Jin noticed her reaction, but stayed silent, gazing intently at the images before them.

From where he sat on the Amazons other side, the scroll master mage Akbar snorted in amusement. "You're right about that Theo. That has to be the most fucked up aura I have ever seen."

Archivist Tia of the council Librarium shook her head, awed by what she was seeing. "No kidding, is that five curses I see, or six? And what is that, two blessings? I recognize one as a familial blessing, but not its effect. And the other…" She snapped her fingers, and a thick tome appeared, falling into her lap with a thump. "The other I've seen somewhere before…" She fell silent, flipping through the Blessia Arcana, a magic tome that had a record of nearly every deific blessing ever seen on Earth or Jade.

"You might want to look up demonic or god related curses as well." Theo said, and began to give a brief background on Ranma.

As he was doing so, the married pair of Elven aura mages Andre and Riza stood up and began walking around the pictures, pointing out sections to one another as they communicated telepathically so as not to interrupt Theo's flow. When Dr. Diggers got to the description of the fight, he brought out the bracelet and held it out for all to see.

Item user Jetelle and Do-Jin both recognized it immediately. Do-Jin bounded forward from her seat, snatching it swiftly out of Theo's hands. 'How the hell did a male outsider get their hands on this!?"

Theo was nonplussed for a moment. "As I stated in the fight, it was not so much that he took it as it was placed on him. Might I ask what it is?"

Do-Jin may not have chosen to answer that, it was an Amazon treasure after all, but Jetelle had made his way over to stand by her. He stroked his long, white goatee pensively as he looked at the bracelet in Do-Jin's hands. "That is the Dragon's Scale. Legend tells us it was made by taking the life force of an Elder dragon and changing it into a metal somehow. While that is mere conjecture, what is known is that it employs the life force of the user to grant one wish. Let me hasten to add it is not one of those superficial make it yourself wishes. It grants the wish you want deep down, in the deepest part of your soul. There is no way to really control its powers. If you don't know what you want, you may never even notice it's effects. However the down side is that it takes so much life energy that it almost always kills the user."

Do-Jin nodded reluctantly. "That agrees with our own records. It was reported lost during the immigration to Jade. Who would have thought it was still around, let alone still useable and still held by the Amazons that stayed on earth? Remarkable." And why, she thought darkly, have they never shared the fact of its continued existence with us? We've spoken to one another many times, and the Scale could've been used several times in our history, especially in the Shadow War. What could have possessed them to keep it for themselves alone, and if they did so purposefully, what else are they hiding?

Theo nodded thoughtfully before speaking, bringing Do-Jin back to the here and now. "I see, the Ryoga boy Ranma spoke of must have found out about the draining aspect, but not the rest. He presumably stole it from the Amazons and tried to use it on Ranma. The amazons joined the fight to retrieve it."

Do-Jin nodded again, "yes that matches with what I would do. I would try to get it back as quickly as possible before it could be used. Though why the Earth Amazons did not ask for it back or simply demand its return eludes me. Did this Ranma have previous dealings with them?"

Theodore grimaced internally. I hoped to avoid talking about Ranma's various… entanglements in Nerima, but it appears I have no choice. He began to tell them all he knew, which wasn't much outside the bare facts of Ranma's past issues and a few of the worst magical traps the Amazons had tried. Afterward he said, "I want to make it clear that from Ranma's perspective this Shampoo girl was little more than a nuisance, that in his eyes and the laws of most of the world as a whole she had no case whatsoever. I have no idea why she and this Cologne were allowed to chase after him so long without official reprisal. I need to stress that this is not like on Jade, where there are agreements between the other countries and the Amazons to cover husband hunting. They were clearly in the wrong."

Do-Jin nodded reluctant agreement. "Husband hunting is a time honored ritual, but from what you have told me their methods were deplorable. I will have to talk to this Ranma first before I make a decision however." There's no way an Amazon Matriarch wouldn't know about international laws. Have our earth born cousins become so insular they simply don't care how they are viewed by the rest of the world? Or did she think this boy's seed worth the risk? Either way, how this Shampoo went about her hunt is deplorable. Especially since, if this Ranma was able to defeat her in both forms, his female form should have been offered the chance to join the tribe immediately.

Jetelle was still looking at the bracelet, puzzlement clear on his face above his goatee. "What I still don't understand is what wish was granted in the first place. And whatever it is, why did it then transform him to this other form you've shown us here?" He reached out, plucking the bracelet from Do-Jin's hand before she could react. "Thank you my dear." Jetelle moved over to stand in front of the werelion image, looking from it to the bracelet. A softly murmured incantation, and the bracelet began to glow slightly in his palm, and he seemed to concentrate on the color of the glow for a moment.

Do-Jin could have gotten angry, but instead she just shook her head and moved after him, chuckling to herself at the old man antics, distracted from her own increasingly angry thoughts for the moment.

Karia and Element mage Shion stood up as well, the former only reluctantly, given her injuries. Every mage was talking excitedly about the puzzle that Theo had brought them, but Karia could only stare in wonder at Ranma's werecat form. He could have fought me in that form and beaten me easily. He was honorable enough, honest enough to fight me in human form man to woman. She shivered, hands clenching and unclenching, fighting down a shocking amount of arousal as she thought of those blue eyes and handsome face. Skilled, cute, and honorable! Ranma, you interest me more and more. I can't wait until next we meet!

"I've found it." Tia brought everyone's attention back to her with a triumphant shout. "The blessing I see is a blessing of Bastet, the goddess of cats, virility/fertility and protection. I assume that is in some way connected to the fading aura of the neko-ken berserk aura we see there. Did the young man ever tell you who taught him that by the way?" In the aged grandmotherly face of the recorder was a hard angry cast that few had ever seen there.

Theo looked at his fellow mage quizzically. "I believe he said that his father was the one to put him through the training, though he never told me what it consisted of. My daughter however passed on that it she considered it more a form of torture than a true martial arts technique."

Tia nodded grimly, and filled them in on how the neko-ken was taught and the normal outcome to those put through it, i.e. madness or death. "In all my years, this young man is the first I have ever seen to not come out of it either completely insane or crippled. The blessing I see may have shielded him somehow."

Theo and the others looked ill for a moment but the quirky Jetelle laughed aloud dispelling their horror. "That's it then." He turned to his peers, rheumy eyes gleaming in satisfaction. "The Dragon's vow took his deepest desire. It merged with this resurrection technique you said he tried and fused further with the ghost cats you mentioned he saw in the fight to create his new form. Look here." He pointed at two areas of the lion-forms aura, one a pale gray along the edge, the other a tiny dot of deep red centered in Ranma's brain box. Muttering a spell the light around the Dragons Vow shown brighter, its slightly green glow changing to a dull red. "The grey represents something elsewhen, something like the ghost cats he told you about from the fight. And the red represents the area touched by the use of the vow. Correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor, but this area of the brain is where memory, specifically primal fears and terrors are kept yes?"

Theo nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that is correct. So, that's part of the mystery solved. I have to wonder though why he seems to have such bad luck to have collected so many curses, strange blessings and odd occurrences in the first place. Mere chance alone does not seem to cover it."

Andre and Riza spoke up for the first time. "Neither luck nor chance have anything to do with it." Andre gestured at the male aura image and Riza began to point to corresponding places on the other two as her mate spoke. "This area of swirling colors here at the center of the chakra point for energy, the point for control and the outer edge, the area of aura intersection. All of them are far more chaotic, undisciplined then should be the case in anyone, even with all his curses and blessings interacting, regardless of the rest of the aura. It is the sign of a chaotic locus. I have only seen two others like this in my lifetime." It did not need to be said that as an elf that was a very long time indeed. His wife took up the thread of the discussion seamlessly. "Chaos is necessary to change, to evolve, and sometimes a living being or a place will become a chaotic locus, to create that change. He will attract chaos, he will be a chaotic tornado, and he will stand at the center, the reason for the chaos around him and the only hope of controlling it. The ancient Chinese curse given life."

Akbar snorted. "A spell over here from a scroll I can recognize, see the deep purple in the pattern around his skull in all these images? That is the sign of mallet psychosis, a classic attraction to large objects curse. It's an old scroll spell made by vindictive practical jokers. Simply swing a large blunt object at the person and no matter how good he is, he'll never be able to dodge or even block. Another two spells here, a trouble with women scroll, and a trouble with planning scroll. I wonder if the trouble with women scroll was used to counteract the attraction to women familial blessing. Certainly their interaction would have made any problem involving a woman that much worse. All of them are simple, common spells with long term effects on their target. I'd say someone or someone's plural wanted to get a bit of revenge on this young man, or more probably his father if the man is such a louse as you describe. All of these scroll spells can affect more than one target at a time. Yes, I definitely think chaos has made its mark on him."

Jetelle snorted from where he was still looking at the lion figure. "Trouble with women isn't the half of it." He turned an amused glance at Do-Jin and the other women present. "Look at his lion form and aura. It's not that of a normal werelion. I have no idea why, but his aura is that of a regular lion. And the difference between a werelion and a regular male lion is…" He looked at them expectantly.

Theo got it first, and shook his head at the old man's sense of humor. "He'll want to build a pride. Multiple women will react to him, and once his aura connects with their own, they'll be more open to sharing him with eachother without ever seeing anything wrong with it. Good grief." No wonder Brianna and the Tendo sisters are so comfortable sharing him, Brianna especially.

Karia heard this and mentally shrugged her shoulders. She had no problems with sharing a piece of the pie, so long as she got a slice.

Shion physically shrugged her shoulders, still looking at the aura images in confusion. Polygamy wasn't uncommon in Jade, especially among the ancient races. She snapped her fingers, and her copy of Element-ary Auras fell into her hands, much like Tia's book had done earlier. There is something missing from the aura images, and I can't quite place it. And I hate unsolved mysteries.

Akbar too shrugged his shoulders. "That's all very well, but you didn't come here just to ask for help in figuring out the young mans aura, but how to help him correct?" Theo nodded, and the ever-practical scroll user rubbed his hands together. "So lets get down to cases. You said we can't do anything about his Jusenkyo curse or his werelion form, and I have no doubt you are your usual accurate self there. But what about if we solve this scroll curse first?" The mages gathered around, manipulating the crystal to try to see what would happen if they tried to solve this or that problem with Ranma's aura.


Neko-Ranma bounded from one tree limb to another after the faster Sheila, purring happily. This was fun! Sheila too, was having a lot of fun; it had been far too long since she had allowed her inner jaguar out to play. The two of them had chased each other around the city and out into the forest. They had played catch the squirrel, climbed trees, roughhoused, and generally had a lot of fun, moving further away from Seer's Hamlet and deeper into the wilderness for hours at a speed that The Edge Guard would have found difficult to match. If they had travelled normally, Sheila estimated it would have taken them at least six hours to travel this far from Seers Hamlet.

Abruptly, the fun ended, as Neko-Ranma smelled something on the wind. Leaping down she stayed still for a moment, trying ti figure out where the Bad Scent was coming from. Sheila turned, watching her companion questionably. Not wanting to act normal and somehow ruin the fun, she growled interrogatively deep in her throat.

Neko-Ranma responded by meowing loudly and leading the way westward through the trees. Sheila followed, wondering what her friend was up to, and what she wanted from Bedelz River. It took them a few minutes to get there, because Ranma-neko stopped occasionally to sniff the air, and madecertain they were moving stealthily.

When they arrived they hid themselves in the underbrush looking out at the river, and what they saw made Sheila snarl just as much as Ranma. The Bad Smell was blood, and it was coming from right in front of them.

Three boats were tied up to the side of the river, and it was obvious what they being used for. Two of the boats were makeshift mobile cages, with a walkway all around them, and inside each cage were fifteen to twenty children of all ages, it was hard to tell from here. Some of them were injured, most of them were underfed, and all of them were werecats of various types or young girls of the other races. There were at least twenty guards as well, armed with a variety of weapons and three mages as well on the lead boat. Sheila stared hard at the scene, trying to figure out what to do. As she watched one of the mages tapped the forward ship, the one that didn't have a built in cage, and suddenly it started to shimmer and slowly disappear inch by inch.

Neko-Ranma was incensed. There were kittens and they were in pain and getting hurt by stupid two-feet! Well, she would see about that. With a snarl Neko Ranma bounded down the ravine and toward stupid two-feet! "MREOWWOEW!" Sheila blinked in shock, then swiftly turned into her werecat mode, and charged after him, cursing herself for having left Ice fang behind.


ToeRag was an apprentice mage who had run away from his master when his lessons hadn't gone fast enough to suit him. He wanted power, not endless lessons from the old man about what a mage couldn't and shouldn't do. It hadn't taken long for him to fall in with the Fellen Slavers. The slavers were always looking for more mages, as they specialized in kidnapping and enslaving were-beasts, who while stronger and faster than most humans or elves, were susceptible to magic, and made excellent merchandise for the slave markets.

Then too, he knew the spell Chameleon. It took a while, but eventually a wizard could make something disappear. This spell had allowed them to use the river to move around from one country to another and away. The slavers had just sacked a farmstead, and now they were going to turn around and head out into the empty lands. Toerag was looking forward to getting back to their base. One of the little Elfin girls had caught his eye and he was wondering if he should use some of his stowed away cash to buy her.

These happy thoughts were interrupted by a snarling yowl that caused every slaver to shiver and turn and gape as young redheaded girl bounded down the riverbed toward them on all fours. For a moment the slavers stood stock still, just taking in the odd sight. Then the redhead swiped her right hand forward like a cat, and suddenly the two foremost slavers fell down screaming, their armor, shredded, and one of them grabbing at where one of his arms had been. Behind her another woman, this time one known to ToeRag, came running after her.

As another guard fell down clutching at a stump that had been a leg ToeRag yelled out "It's the Edge Guard!" That was the last coherent thing he said for a while as suddenly the redhead was right in front of him, her arm smacking out, and ToeRag knew no more.


Sheila gawked at the amount of damage Ranma had done, then shook her head, grabbed up a fallen sword and joined the fight. She noticed that Ranma wasn't killing anyone, but that the wounds her claw attack was causing were horrendous. She parried a wild blow from a panicking slaver but both of them paused as Ranma smashed the cabins wall off the foremost ship before turning and smacking the last mage aside like a fly. Indeed the mage actually was lifted off the ground and flew through the air into the distance, his scream dopplering behind him. Sheila turned back to business and gutted her enemy before turning and taking on two more.


Neko-Ranma didn't want to kill this kitten hurting Two-Feet, that wasn't what a cat did. It was always better in her point of view to have an enemy that knew he was beaten. Hence her blows were designed to permanently maim, that way every two-feet there would always knew he had lost, and would be reminded about it every day. She paused momentarily when a male werecat appeared on the other bank, and bounded into the water, followed by several more of the same species. Several of the kittens began to make happy noises, and Ranma took a moment out of her chastiseing the two feet to slash at the cages the kittens were held in.


Sheila breathed a sigh of relief as the were-lions wade the river. Each of them were tall, strong and armed, and suddenly the fight the slavers had been losing badly (and she was still a little shocked about that) became a rout. Slavers began to throw down their weapons and plead for mercy, but Ranma didn't care, and continued to attack until Sheila pulled her friend away from them. "Easy Ranma, fights over, no need for any more." It took her a while but eventually Ranma calmed down. She wondered though why Ranma hadn't come out of whatever weird trance she was in when the fight began, but figured it didn't matter right now.

The werelions were quick to free the slaves, and Sheila and Ranma watched as families were reunited, and the other children taken back across the river to see a few healers on the other side. Six large were-lions, almost as lartge as Onoli stood over the cowed slavers while to other moved around the crippled, killing those who had lost too much blood and doing what they could for the others. After all, the more slavers they had to question the more information they could get. Another were-lion, this one female, walked over to them, her eyes straying to Ranma quizzically. "We thank you for the aid Sheila of the Edge Guard. We nearly lost them a time or two, and it was only the sound of the battle that led us to finding this scum again. But I have to ask, what is with your human companion?"

Sheila gulped. "Er, it's kind of a long story. I'll tell you about it if you ever come to Seer's Hamlet. We actually were only out here having fun when we found the slavers. If you can take them into custody a patrol will head out to you and take them off your hands. Where are you all from?"

"Moridin's prairie, this group hit two of our farmsteads near the river, they must have gotten arrogant to not cover their tracks, so we followed them. And I'll hold you to that explanation." She smiled oddly at Ranma, who had begun to playfully tug at Sheila's tail. Evidently now that the fighting was over and the children being looked after, she wanted to go back to playing. Sheila paused, her own feline instincts at war with her sense of duty. The female were-lion smiled. "Go on, we can take it from here. My names Allia, when you come to take them off our hands, come and find me. And" she smirked coquettishly, "Make certain that you bring Onoli with you. I haven't seen him in a while, and it would be good to see him again." Sheila smirked at that, knowing a story when she heard one, and agreed. With that she turned, changed into her full jaguar form and pounced on Ranma, who yowled happily. Sheila jumped off and away, with Ranma chasing after her, the thanks and well wishes of the were-lions and children ringing in their ears.


Back with the mages, the research group was just breaking up. After many hours of discussion, attempts and magical exploration, the group was forced to conclude they could only do a bit more than Theo already had. There were so many different things effecting Ranma's aura no cure all removal spell would work, and there was just no way to see how removing most of them would change it, whether for the good or the bad. They could do some good, especially with the scroll based curses, but that was the limits of what they were prepared to chance.

At last Theo, Akbar, Shion and Do-Jin bid goodnight to their fellows, who teleported away. The four of them made their way to the Edge Gaud barracks, where Ranma was supposed to meet up with Theo, each with questions they still wanted answered that night. Karia would have come with them, but her injuries were acting up, and all she wanted to do was crash for the night. She also had a lot to think about before she could start her hunt in earnest.

Sheila and Ranma reluctantly made their way back to the edge guard barracks. Sheila in particular was sad. I haven't had this much fun since… Ever! Even with the fight with the slavers, this has been one of the best days I've had for a while. I have got to get Ranma back here in male form when I'm not on my monthly. Maybe then when we play catch the tail I'll let him catch me… That particular lecherous thought brought her up short. Wasn't she in love with Tirga? But where was he when I needed support, where is he ever? Simply jumping from one bed to another. Ranma by his own admission may be a chaotic magnet and have a lot of girl problems in his past and several girls he was involved with now, but he would never lead a girl on or run after every piece of tail he could see. If anything from the stories he was telling me about this Nerima place it's the other way around.

The two hopped to the barracks rooftop, Sheila slipping back into the infirmary and changing form before putting on her cloths and waving Ranma-chan in. The redhead bounded in, rubbing up against Sheila's stomach and purring like a race car engine. Sheila sighed, ignoring again that odd feeling in her stomach as she ran her fingers through her friend's silky red hair, and hoping that now they were back where their night began that she would come out of her trance. "It's time to go back to normal Ranma."

Ranma looked at her confused for a moment, before turning to gaze around her, taking in their surroundings. She shook her head a few times, and her eyes became lucid. Ranma stood up, stretching her arms above her head, accidentally thrusting her large chest toward Sheila, who blushed, that odd feeling again returning. Then paused as the memories of the slaughter of the slavers hit her, and she turned a little green around the gills. "Um…"

Sheila shook her head. "Don't worry about it Ranma, you weren't the one in control, and you saved those children from a fate worse than death. Trust me."

Ranma sat there for a moment controlling her gorge, but the memory of the kids in the cages allowed her to see that yes what she did was necessary to free them. After a moment she smiled. "So other than that did you have fun today, Sheila?"

Sheila grinned, banishing her blush. "You bet I did, and the fight was fun too. And I've never had that much fun in cat form ever!"

Ranma smiled back. "I'm glad."

A knock at the door drew their attention, followed by Theo's voice. "Ranma? I have a few associates here who want to ask you some questions. Thropan told us you would be in here."

Ranma answered in the affirmative and Sheila sat down on a bed nearby as Dr. Diggers and the others. Akbar immediately took out a scroll and muttered an incantation, pointing a finger at Ranma. "There, the foot in mouth disease curse and the mallet attraction spells are both removed. Now, if you will all excuse me." The bearded mage nodded cordially and left without a word, leaving Ranma and Sheila blinking in surprise.

Do-Jin and Shion laughed at their expressions as Theo shook his head. "Don't worry about Akbar he simply has a very controlling wife waiting for him at home." She makes Julia or even her mother look tame by comparison, he thought ruefully. "I'm surprised he showed enough courage to stay out as late as this in the first place." Do-Jin stood in front of Ranma. "My name is Do-Jin, and I am currently the Jaden Amazon tribe's representative to the ruling council. I have some questions for you about your dealings with the Earth Amazons."

Ranma shrugged. "Ask away, but I ain't gonna lie or sugarcoat it to save yer feelings or nothin'. If you side with 'em you're gonna be eatin' my dust." When in stressful situations, Ranma's speech tended to slip and any mention of his Amazon troubles put him on edge.

Do-Jin smiled, though she saw the truth in the statement. Ranma's whole body was coiled like a spring, ready for anything. Sheila of the edge Guard, who Do-Jin had met briefly a time or two before, also seemed to be ready for trouble. Which is strange, given they have only known each other for a day at most. It seems that Jetelle was correct about his attracting women. "First, let me ask, did this Shan Pu issue a verbal challenge to you before attacking you in your male form?"

Ranma answered promptly. "No. She attacked me right off the bat when I refused to tell her where my female form was." Ranma gestured at her body. "When she did she swung her bonbori at me. She woulda hit both Nabiki and Akane, two of the Tendo's, a family I was stayin' with at the time if I hadn't a stopped her. I kicked her maces head off, it came down, hit her on the head and knocked her out."

Do-Jin's eye widened. Worse than I thought, not only was there no formal challenge but the way she was defeated was by luck not her opponent's hands. "And not once did she issue a challenge to you?" Ranma shook her head. "And how do you feel about her?"

Ranma answered after a moment's thought. "I felt sorry for her. She's got all these laws she's gotta obey. When she first went back ta her village, she got turned into a cat. I didn't wanta have anythin' more happen because of me. You gotta understand though, Shampoo went from hunting me down to kill me to hunting me down to bed me, both because I beat her. She and Ku Lon then use dirty tricks, brute force and bribes ta try ta get me back ta China with 'em. The entire tribe came off as the world's worst sore losers ever. I ain't saying they didn't ever help out, but they always did so fer their own good, they never saw me as more than, than" Ranma halted, searching for the right word.

Sheila supplied it, face twisted in contempt. "Breeding stock?"

Ranma nodded. "That's it yeah. They only cared about getting my blood in the tribe and producin' girl warriors. Like that was all I was good for. Even after I got good enough to beat Cologne hollow, she still tried these dirty tricks. I hate 'em!" Ranma stopped, a little shocked at how vehement that had come out, but not regretting it in the slightest.

Do-Jin carefully kept her face neutral but inside she was seething. Damn those arrogant fools! If they had used honey instead of a stick, been willing to bend like the willow instead of ensnare like the vine this man could have joined them willingly. As it is I fear he is out of their reach and our own which is a damn shame. His life energy is greater than mine by far, maybe more than a weaponsmaster, and if he has skill to match that and his boasts, especially at his young age…. Best to cut our losses. She reached into her pocket and brought out the Dragon's Scale. "Judging by your description, I agree that they acted dishonorably by our own laws, not just by common decency. If Shan Pu issued no challenge her chase of you thereafter and everything that came with it is invalid. Regardless of their actions however this belongs to the Amazon Nation. If I return it as a gift from you who recovered it as part of your battle against the one who stole it I can waive all laws and challenges pertaining to you and insure that the Amazon tribe of Jade at least will consider you an ally. I'm afraid I can't help with your aura issues however."

Ranma nodded acquiescence. "Sure, I just don't want more a' you comin' after me. I've had enough of amazons and yer problems to last me a lifetime." Sheila smiled as Ranma turned down the chance to be with an Amazon, reflecting on how Tirga would have jumped at the chance, regardless of the consequences.

Do-Jin smiled acquiescence, still fuming internally, and left a few minutes later, intent on leaving the city that very night. She had words to say to the Amazon council about their earthside cousins and the sooner the better.

Back in the hospital room Theo explained that the council were able to tell what had effected Ranma's aura, but could not do anything about it, as his aura was too chaotic to try and fix. He went on to explain the pieces they knew, with Ranma interrupting at times, and Sheila giggling hysterically in the background.


Ranma groaned. "An attraction to mallets, you have to be kidding me, there's a spell like that? I thought the bearded dude was just joking around. What the hell?"

Theo's lips twitched. "Scroll users are rather notorious for their non-sense of humor."


"Chaotic locus?" You mean I've been screwed from even before my old man took me on the training trip?" Theo nodded. "Well, damn, guess that means I can't blame him for all my problems anymore."

Theo shook his head amusedly. "No just most of them."


"Trouble with women, huh Ranma? That one sure hit home hard." Sheila smirked while elsewhere several delusional young women suddenly had sneezing fits. Ranma just growled at her, though deep inside Sheila was wondering if she wanted to add herself to his growing pride, despite her feelings for Tirga. Elsewhere in the city a certain weaponsmaster was dreaming about doing much the same thing.


"A blessing of Bastet? Weird, how did I, a Japanese boy, get the blessing of an Egyptian god?" Theo shrugged, and Sheila simply chalked it up to his chaotic aura.

During the discussion, Shion had taken a small viewing spectacle made of a light orange crystal out of her pocket and was staring at Ranma intently threw it during the entire discussion. As it wound down she spoke up. "Young man, can you tell me what your element affinity is?"

Ranma nodded at her. "Yes miss, it's alban, or light. I found out when Gina took me to this huge library place, this old scroll they had there had a way to figger your element out."

Shion nodded, putting the monocle away. "Interesting, I have not met a light user before. Mages can cast light spells of course, and certainly priests can use a few light based prayers, but a ki user? Something for me to research. And with that, Theo, younglings, I bid you good night."

Theo nodded. "We should get ready to leave as well." He led the way to the roof, taking out a beacon, which would let Gina's dimensional gate lock onto their position and pull them through.

Sheila looked down at the ground, sad that her new friend was leaving so soon. Ranma looked at her too, sad to leave her behind. "I'll ask Gina if I can get in touch with you somehow so we can keep in touch."

Sheila nodded, grabbing the shorter girl in a hug. Ranma stiffened for a second before returning it as Theo watched, lips twitching in amusement. Ranma did seem to attract the ladies. "Promise you won't forget?"

Ranma nodded, stepping back and ruffling Sheila's hair. "I've got too few friends to neglect the newest one. Trust me, I'll find some way to keep in contact with you."

Sheila nodded, and on impulse leaned forward and kissed the redhead on the lips. It was brief, but heartfelt before she bounded away.

Ranma stood there in shock and Theo, smiling widely now, clapped a hand on her shoulder as the portal opened.


They appeared back in the lab and walked upstairs, finding the rest of the houses denizens gathered and looking worried. Ranma spoke up, "Hey guys what's going on?"

end chapter

Next chapter will be the Peabody arc, so it will be quite large and with a lot more action. Look forward to it.