"... and we the honored elders of the tribe find you guilty..." Lao Shen motioned towards Shampoo's shocked form.
Despite both Ranma and Akane's best efforts to defend her, Shampoo was still found guilty of disgracing the tribe. Not only had her quest to kill/marry Ranma failed, but she had deliberately misused Amazon techniques to cheat her way into his heart. She had allowed the death of an elder, and a defenseless (relatively speaking) man. Shampoo could only plead no contest to these charges and the rest of the elders began their assault on her honor.
For the first time seen by the eyes of her Japanese friends, Shampoo let loose tears of desperation.
For the first time, they had seen her surrender.
The trial was over.
"...and you are to be banished from the tribe so as to seek your own path in life..." the elder continued.
They had come all this way only to be cast out again?
Akane gritted her teeth and let loose an aura that Ranma was all too familiar with. "What about the reason she brought us here in the first place! Does this count for nothing!" Akane vented in her trademark shout.
"Patience child..." Lao shen continued in a 'sweet little granny' kind of voice "...you are guests here, and I must ask that you mind your manners as some of the other elders do not take too kindly to outsiders as Ku Lon and I."
Three glares from behind the leading elder silently screamed "no shit".
"...and if I may continue?" Lao Shen resumed the authoritative tone in her voice "However, there are unique circumstances involving recent developments" she motioned towards Ranma "and to cast out a member of the tribe when it seems that all of our warriors would soon be needed is a tactical mistake."
Hope entered Shampoo's face for a moment.
"Therefore, it is the decision that you Xian Pu will be stripped of all of your title and rank, and that you must rebuild your honor on your own."
Hope once more crashed down into the depths of the purple-haired warrior's stomach.
"It seems that you took a long enough time in arriving..." Fear entered the elders voice "...had you made it to the village sooner, we might have been able to prepare some sort of defenses or some additional training..." she wandered off for a moment "...but by our calendar, tonight is the night. Why Ku Lon would bring it's prey to us instead of driving it as far away is possible is beyond my understanding, but I respect her intellect and her memory enough to honor this wish." A nod of agreement went through the other elders as she said this statement.
"How bad is this gonna be?" Ranma managed to meekly make out.
*----------*
Despite her genuine interest in the trial unfolding, So Pei could not concentrate. As a trainee, it was her job to observe her house's elder to learn from them, and to obey orders so that she may be molded into someone suitable to help lead the tribe. Her assignment, which both pleased and annoyed her, was to act as one of the guards at the village hall.
Up until recently, the tall green haired woman, had been listening in on the proceedings of the most sensational trial her village had had in many years. Xian Pu was one of the greatest warriors in recent history, her name was known by every small child as a model woman and great warrior. These were many fine reasons to listen in, but the most important one to So Pei was much more petty.
For the past three years, Xian Pu was reigning champion, and were it not for her suffering an injury in the last competition they met, she would have been the one fighting that brute when that foreign girl and her pet had eaten the prize.
Something aside from the fall of the Amazon's greatest warrior of this generation was amiss. Her deep training in ki sensing had allowed her to pick up the somber energy coming from inside the hall, not something out of the ordinary she figured, but something stronger. She sensed fear, not just from Xian Pu, but fear from all of the elders and from the foreigners as well.
Could this be related to that light show earlier?
To that strange thing that she felt at the fringe of her senses towards the pools?
A powerful nothing... A hole in life itself...
...and it was growing.
Her thoughts were quickly put back away when the doors to the village hall were slammed open. A frantic elder council began barking orders at everyone in the street. The only phrases she could make out in her haze were 'take up arms' and 'seek shelter'.
Wa She simply ran up to her and yelled incoherently into her face about preparing for nightfall.
*----------*
Kiima simply stared out at what she had found at the pools. As a warrior, this was not the first time she had seen a dead body, even one that has had such a particular wound. This was different somehow, unnatural if any word best fit, there were no animals nearby. One should expect something, a scavenger, insects, something!
Even in the midst of death, there was usually some evidence of life. The body was ragged and torn, giving it the illusion of being very old, but the weak trickle of blood that still flowed into the pool indicated otherwise. The feathers on her back began to stand on end.
Irrationally, she couldn't quite explain these feelings, feelings she was taught to ignore in her training.
She had the utmost desire to leave.
To flee.
The sun was beginning to set, adding to the eerie effect of the scene in front of her.
It was too sterile for death.
As much as her rational thought fought for control, she allowed her instincts to guide her. Too terrified to even think about flying, she made her way towards home as fast as her feet would carry her. She didn't even think that she would have to pass through the Amazon village.
*----------*
Just outside the Village, a ring of the most powerful Amazon warriors surrounded the body of one Ranma Saotome. Standing just outside and feeling out of place, Shampoo and Akane stared as the women formed a defensive line around his body.
"Listen up women..." Lao Shen began in their native toungue "...If this creature manages to kill this Ranma before the night is over, a dangerous prophesy will be completed. The writings on the sacred endtime scrolls may come true. It may come in any form, but we must not allow it to harm this man."
"Hey!" Ranma interjected "I can take care of myself"
"Can you? Getting a little cocky from defeating Saffron? You fought him at less than half his strength and Ah rin is much more powerful." she leveled with him "According to the legends, it took Saffron, the ancestors of the Phoenix, and our ancestors to defeat him."
"Xian Pu! Foreign woman!" Wa Kes shouted "You have no place here! Go hide with men and children!"
"Guard the children!" Lao Shen issued a new command.
Lao Shen continued her original speech "Long before the peoples that exist now lived, the Shadow God Ah rin created Jusenkyo and used that power to nearly destroy the world until our honored ancestors helped fight him off. It is therefore our duty and birthright to assist in once more fighting off this evil. Should we repel the Shadow God until daybreak, we will break the prophesy."
*----------*
A dejected Shampoo and an angry Akane made their way towards the makeshift shelter for those who could not participate in the fighting. The Village hall was emptied out and filled with frightened men and children. The bravest of the little girls played with toy weapons and prepared with grim determination to fend of any of the monsters that came their way.
Families huddled up to their fathers and small babies cried for their mothers to return to them. Tensions ran high and a deep and foreboding sadness permeated the air. Angry looks crossed Shampoo's way as she made her way towards a bare spot on the floor and prepared to wait out the evening.
"Why are you not out with the others?" a small girl, no older than six asked her idol.
"I was ordered to remain her with you" The former warrior responded
"Come away from the disgraced one dear" a rather domestic looking man guided his young daughter away from her by the hand.
Akane felt terrible for the treatment the other people were giving her friend and could not stand to bear witnessing it any longer. The warning from the elders earlier was the only thing that gave her a good reason to keep her anger in check. Looking out the window towards the west, she spotted the sun just as it disappeared behind the mountains and prayed that Ranma would live.
*----------*
As the last rays of the sun left the body of Ah rin's sacrifice, the flesh began to melt into the pool like hot wax. The resulting mixture of fluid, flesh, blood, and shadow, began to take form.