Leaves. Trees. A forest, shimmering in the Moonlight.
Water. A Glade. A pond, reflecting the beauty of the Moon above.
Silver hair. A woman. Dancing by the pond, her reflection the glimmering moon.
She notices. A smile. Words, lost in the play of moonlight on her skin.
A Whisper. A smile. Words, felt more than heard.
Hello Hibiki Ryouga.
Warrior, Wanderer.
Long you have searched.
For meaning, for family.
Lost, but not by choice.
Two curses, conspiring,
keep them from you.
But survive you have,
strong, resilient, unbreakable.
None of it matters anymore,
child of the Moon.
For you are a Lunar.
You are Exalted.
A smile. A wolf's howl. The world, consumed in light.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Tangled Fate
Chapter Two: Moon of Broken Fate
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
The nights of Calibration were, in Setarial's opinion, both a kind reprieve from the day to day grind of managing a nation-state of Greyfalls position and an interminable bore that came from being blacklisted from mainstream Yu-Shan. Well she had known what she was getting into when she arrange to become the Goddess of Greyfalls, both nation and city. Still not having to deal with the politics of Yu-Shan was something she treasured, even after several hundred years.
She sighed as she sipped her glass of wine and looked out the window of her temple across the landscape of the city. It wasn't the largest city, even in this fallen age, but it was hers and she loved it.
She normally stayed away from her temple except on those days the Immaculate Order deigned to grant her for worship. There wasn't a point except to possibly be harassed by obnoxious Dragon-Bloods who thought they were more important than they really were.
The Dragon-Bloods, however, were either partying the night away in their quaint fortress that she could see from her window, or they were off to the south playing soldier with a newly exalted solar. Sorry, anathema.
She snorted at the thought as she continued to stargaze. The Dragon-Bloods of the 'modern' era had never encountered something worthy of that title, however much they liked to toss it about. She gave her glass of wine, though some would argue it was more of an oversized stein with a glass wine stem attached, an inquisitive look. Normally she was more circumspect, even within her own head, about matters like this. Perhaps twelve glasses was enough for the evening.
She drained the last of the glass and made to turn away when a distant fluttering sound reached her ears. It was familiar, and coming from outside. She leaned out the window, and immediately stepped back as a midnight black raven the size of a basset hound flew into the room. It landed in an uncontrolled skid on the marble floor and went spinning along until it hit the far wall of the study.
It shook off the impact and stumbled to its feet looking to her as it did. "Lady Setarial, my apologies for any damage my entrance may have caused." She said with a shaky bow, "I bring grave news from the battle southward."
Setarial sighed and set her wine glass aside. "The scratches can be waxed out Leitleen. What news is so urgent that you nearly ran me over in your haste?" She asked.
Leitleen's response stunned the Goddess. "General Kitano is dead." She said.
Setarial stared at the Raven for a moment before she walked over to her desk and sat down. The raven hopped from the floor onto the corner of the desk. "How?" She asked.
"Four days ago, at the beginning of Calibration he launched an attack on the Vaneha Army just north of the Yanaze, at Kindler's Rock. It was a trap. He launched an attack on the enemy encampment, it was supposed to be a night attack while they were sleeping. The camp was a set up. Only small fragment of the army was there. Once they were fully committed to the assault the Vaneha forces swept in from behind. The one they call Dawn Comes With Thunder was at their head. He found and killed Kitano personally before he could rally his men. He took no prisoners from what I could see…" The raven trailed off with a sad look, her gaze firmly on the desktop.
The Goddess sighed and refrained from running a hand through her hair. "No survivors?" She asked. The Field Force General Kitano had lead south to interdict the Vaneha Army had included six dragons of men, over three thousand soldiers. The Vartabed, Sister Hand, and all but one of her Immaculate Monks had accompanied the army, as had four Magistrates and their retinues.
"A handful of men were running for the hills when I started heading back… I doubt they made it far." Leitleen pronounced.
"Is he headed this way?" Setarial asked.
"I believe so. He wiped out the entire army for only a fraction of his men. His army numbers more than ten thousand at my lowest estimate." She said.
"And he hates the Realm…" Setarial groaned. She knew little about the Dawn Caste Solar who had recently come to power in Vaneha, but his hatred of the Realm was well known even amongst the ordinary people of Greyfalls.
"If rumour is correct." Leitleen responded quietly.
"We knew the army was large, but over ten thousand… How did Kitano not know he was that badly outnumbered?" Setarial asked.
"They were hidden. Kindler's Rock used to be a mining town several hundred years ago. The tunnels are still there. His scouts found the camp, but so few have experience outside of Grefalls." Leitleen gave an approximation of a shrug.
Setarial let her hand fall to the table and sighed. "Well I suppose we had best inform the Satrap. We have a mad power hungry Solar out for blood." She said. She rose gracefully and walked over to the window looking west up the slope of the city.
Several minutes passed as she stood looking out over the city. Her eyes traced the lights of businesses still open even at this late an hour, mainly taverns and inns. This city, her city, was now in more danger than she had realized. "How long?" She finally asked.
"A week, maybe two if we're lucky." Leitleen said.
"We've had good weather up until now, but you know that the snows will begin to fall soon." Setarial said, "If he wants to invest the city, he'll have to push his men."
"Six days, mortal men can't possibly be pushed faster than that and be expected to fight." The raven said.
"He is a Solar. We'll be lucky to have three." Setarial replied, "Come, we need to head up to the-" The Goddess cut off as a bright light flashed far in the distance beyond the city. For an instant a pillar of essence was visible reaching from ground to sky, then it vanished leaving Setarial to blink spots from her vision as the darkness of Calibration returned.
"What was that?" Leitleen asked.
"An uncomfortably large release of essence." The Goddess replied honestly. She leaned out the window as she tried to spot where it had come from. "I haven't seen anything that impressive since that one time I saw a Solar manse detonate."
"A manse detonation?" Leitleen fluttered over to the window and peeked out over her shoulder.
"Not likely. We'd be feeling a shockwave it it was. Especially given the size of the release." A flicker of light in the sky caught her eye. A gold and red comet was falling through the sky, lighting the skyline in a display of essence that Setarial hadn't seen in over a millennia. It fell from the direction of the essence pillar and as she watched it slammed into the roof of the fortress of Garrison Heights. The crash reverberated across the entire city.
"And another thing to add to the ever increasing pile of problems we have…" Leitleen muttered behind her.
Setarial managed to restrain a snort of amusement, but only just. "So it is." She agreed, "Come now, we need to head up and find out what is happening." Her form shimmered and she faded from the world, becoming incorporeal. Behind her she felt her companion do the same as they passed through the wall and out over the city. A few minutes into their travel a similar silver comet fell from the sky to impact another building. Hopefully it meant nothing terrible.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ryouga's first thought as he found himself plummeting to the ground from high above was to wonder why he was tasting the colour blue. The second was to wonder why the hell he was several hundred feet up plummeting to his death. Far below lights flickered. It was a city on hill, and he was falling towards the peak of the hill that is surrounded. It was difficult to spot in the darkness but he managed to make out the shapes of stone walls and towers.
"'Course I'm heading straight for them." He muttered as he tried to slow his fall. Unlike Ranma aerial maneuvers were not something he practiced frequently. So as he tried to gain some control of his fall all he managed to do was send himself into an uncontrollable spin. The fall ended thirty seconds later with him slamming shoulder first into the tiled roof of the mid-sized building off to the side of the courtyard.
The terracotta tiles shattered against his skin as he slammed through the roof. The wooden support beams suffered a similar fate as they buckled and snapped as he slammed into and through them. The flooring of the third floor of the building, fared no better as Ryouga broke through the thin wooden planks and fell to the level below.
Thin the wooden plank might have been, but it was still wood that Ryouga's face smacked into on the second floor. He picked himself up with a groan.
"First that stupid bath, then that weird dream and now this?" He muttered angrily as he got to his knees and looked around. Triple-decker bunkbeds lined both sides. Men could be seen waking up and looking around as they pulled themselves up on straw mattresses. Probably woken up by the noise he'd made falling from the sky. The room itself was lit by a strange silver glow that was coming from…
Huh. He held up one hand. Yeah he was glowing alright. A bright pure silver like a clear full moon. "That's new."
"The hell is going on?" One of the men demanded as he sat up. Others chimed in immediately.
"Where's that glow coming from?"
"Why's there a hole in the ceiling?"
"Why's that guy glowing?" The last question cut through the chatter of waking men.
Ryouga became distinctly aware to the fact that everyone in the room was suddenly looking at him, and the fact that he was definitely naked. He cleared his throat and stood, trying desperately to keep his embarrassment from showing. "Sorry, 'bout that. I'll just be going now."
Any attempt at ducking out of the room was immediately shut down before he could try as the door slammed open with enough force to bounce of the wall. "What the fuck is going on in here?" Shouted the large man who kicked the door open. He was clad in full steel plate with a long blade on his left hip. His eyes rested on Ryouga and he went pale instantly as his hands went for his blade.
"Daana's tits. INTRUDER! SOUND THE ALARM! ANATHEMA IN THE BARRACKS!" He shouted as he drew his weapon.
Curses of alarm sounded from both the soldiers in the room and from the hole above Ryouga. "God damn it." He muttered as the two soldiers nearest him swung out of bed, grabbing their swords as they did. With a cry they both lunged at him.
Ryouga didn't even twitch as the two blades struck him in the chest and stopped dead. He raised and eyebrow as the two men tried valiantly to force the blades through his skin. They stabbed him twice more before he grabbed the two short swords by the blades and bent them into scrap metal with a flick of the wrist.
"You might want to find some better weapons." He advised more calmly than he was feeling before he smacked them both upside the head hard enough to knock them out.
Above him a man screamed as he threw himself off the top of one of the bunkbeds, knife in hand. Ryouga caught the man by the hand before swinging him around to knock back the line of soldiers forming to attack him. Three men were knocked back into beds or comrades as the man struck them.
The room was, fortunately, small with only a thin walkway no more than one and a half men wide between the beds. Except for the hole in the ceiling above him, where he heard more men scrambling for equipment, it was a perfect place for him to fight.
He cracked his knuckles and grinned. This would be fun, for him anyway. He'd just have to make sure not to get too brutal. Broken limbs healed, broken necks… not so much. "You can just let me leave you know." He offered.
"Strike down the Anathema!" Shouted the armoured man loudly, "Poisonous are his words! Deceitful his intentions! Strike him down before he can accomplish whatever nefarious deed he has planned!"
"Nefarious? Really?" Ryouga sighed as he deflected a sword into the nearby bedpost before relieving it's owner of consciousness. "Is this guy taking lessons from Kuno?" He wondered before he stepped forward and delivered a palm strike to the chest of the next man.
The leather jerkin he'd thrown on did nothing to stop the blow from throwing him back through the crowd of soldiers like a battering ram. Men were scattered across the ground and beds. Most of them groaned and lay where they'd landed, while a few struggled to their feet hands still clutching weapons.
Ryouga ignored them as he strode through the semi-clear walkway. The couple that tried to stop him were deal with out of hand, not one of them slowing him down for even a second. The large soldier at the door cursed and ducked out the door, slamming it shut behind him as he fled.
Ryouga paused by the door and glanced back. More than twenty men lay scattered across the room in varying stages of unconsciousness and pain. Not all that different from when he'd entered really.
"You know, when a naked guy falls through the roof and tells you he'll be leaving, maybe you should just let him go next time." He said. The only response was a chorus of groans and a single shaking hand with the middle finger extended. He shrugged. Their loss if they didn't want to take his advice.
He pushed on the door. It creaked as it jerked to a stop after a few inches. "Oh, great they've barricaded it." He muttered before giving the door a solid kick. The door shattered into a thousand splinters as it was ripped off its hinges and blasted back through the table that had been it shut.
In the hallway more than a dozen men ducked behind shields as the spray of wood flew at them. Ryouga looked left, then right. With with sword and shields to his left, more men with sword and shield to his right. Oh, and that large guy in plate armour was off the right as well.
"Prepare yourself men. The beast comes!" He shouted.
Ryouga mouthed the last three words quietly to himself. "What are you talking about?" He finally asked.
"Ready men! CHARGE!" The man continued without even sparing Ryouga's words a second. From both side men charged the few remaining feet, shields up and swords held high. Ryouga sighed. As much as he liked a fight, getting into stupid things like this just got annoying after a while.
Rather than wait for the men to close he stepped into the right hand charge and kicked in the shield of the first soldier like he had the door. His unconscious body crashed into the men behind and sent them tumbling to the ground, fouling the charge of most of the right side. Still the hallway was wide and there were others who weren't sent to the ground.
The martial artist raised a hand as one of the men swung their sword for his head. In one clean motion he caught the hand, snapped the elbow and stole the sword, which was promptly used to deflect another blade, before kicking the wailing man away into the wall. What happened to him next was lost as the wave of men continued to swarm over Ryouga's position.
The next minute devolved into a flurry of blows, blocks and dodges as Ryouga systematically tore a path through the soldiers in the direction of the guy who had set them on him in the first place. By the time the last soldier fell, the large plated soldier had fled further down the hall, his cries of "Anathema! Anathema!" could be heard echoing off the stone walls.
Ryouga sighed and threw down the sword he'd still been holding in one hand. It was too short for his tastes. "Keep running you idiot." He muttered before heading down the hall after him. He wanted out of this place, but busting down walls had proven, in the past, to be a rather foolish idea. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally kill someone by dropping tons of wood and stone on their heads. So he only had one choice, follow the idiot to the exit. After all a man that scared would only head for one place.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Anathema! Anathema!"
Sergeant Ragara Lockler ran. He ran with the speed that only fear could spark. Fear that only an Anathema could put into a good Dragon-fearing man.
"Anathema! Anathema! To arms! Anathema in the Barracks!"
His voice was growing raspy as he continued shouting at the top of his lungs. Still he had to spread the word, let the rest of his dragon know what was in the building with them.
"Anathema! Anathema! Awake! Awake! Anathema in the Barracks!"
He stumbled as he reached the stairs leading down to the first floor. He risked a look over his shoulder. Behind him, still naked as a newborn was the glowing silver apparition that had tore through two full scales of men without slowing down. Fifty men, felled in only a couple minutes by a man with no weapons, and in fact no clothes.
The apparition, the demon for it could be nothing else, casual cast aside the efforts of men as they came pouring out of their bunk rooms dressed for battle. Another scale swarmed out of their room as he watched, only for the monster to scatter them like chaff before the wind. Armour, forged on the Blessed Isle of steel of Jade crumpled beneath his blows. The walls shook as bodies, conscious and not, were slammed mercilessly against them by the blazingly fast, but seemingly casual strikes.
Lockler whimpered quietly and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He stumbled at the bottom but continued to run down the main hallway. He needed to let the Dragon Lord's know. He had to get help.
"Anathema! Anathema!" He continued to shout as he thundered down the hall. He full plate clanked and crashed as he ran, making almost as much racket as his own voice. Even has he was running down the hall the doors around him were crashing open as men in full combat dress ran out into the corridor.
"It's up the stairs. Second level!" He shouted. "Its coming this way. Form ranks and hold it back!"
He was, at the moment, the highest ranking soldier on this floor. Malfeas he was the highest ranking soldier in the building at the moment. All the officers were at the closing feast of Calibration and if tradition was followed, even the lowest ranking officers wouldn't be back until first light.
Dust and dirt fell from the ceiling as the building shook from some incredible impact on the floor above. He gulped and redoubled his pace, shoving aside some of the men as he ran for the main door. Just as he exited the hallway into the small, but more spacious than the hallway entrance hall the great jade doors swung open.
Through them strode a tall man in ornate jade armour. Resting on one shoulder was a large black Jade Daiklave. The man's girth was impressive, broader than even Lockler's less than stellar fitness. Yet he held the blade like an ordinary man would a butter knife, as though it weighed nothing at all.
Sergeant Ragara Lockler stumbled to a stop in front of the man. He snapped to attention as best he was able. "Lord Satrap. I was just coming to inform you-" He began.
"Of the presence of another Anathema?" The Dragon-blood cut him off. Behind him five more Dragon-blooded warriors in full regalia marched through the door. They weren't officers of the Legion, probably members of the Thousand Scales, but that fact was of little consequence to Lockler.
"A-another? There's a second one here?" Lockler breathed out, panic showing in his eyes and posture. He stiffened as the Satrap's eyes narrowed.
"Yes another it fell through the ceiling of the dining hall. What can you tell me about this one?" He asked.
The sergeant suppressed the urge to gulp nervously. "Male, with a mark like the full moon on its head. It glows silver." He said.
"How did it enter?"
"Through the roof. It fell to the second floor, tore through an entire room of sleeping men before making its way into the hallway. I barely managed to get down here ahead of it." He said nervously.
The Satrap's eyes narrowed as he looked past the sergeant. "I see… It appears you have the men forming up to defend the stairs." It wasn't a question. "What guarantee do you have that it will come down the stairs?"
Lockler started. "It was right behind me." He began. He was cut off as the Satrap continued.
"And if it has any sense it'll know a trap. Anathema aren't just engines of destruction Sergeant, they are cunning and-" The building rumbled and dust fell from the ceiling. The Satrap looked down the hallway with a frown. His gaze raked over the heads of the soldiers…
'Not the men.' Lockler realized after a second, 'The ceiling.' A second rumble rolled through the building and more dust fell from the ceiling.
"Call the men back Sergeant." The Satrap ordered suddenly.
"Sir?" Lockler looked at his superior with confusion.
"NOW SERGEANT!" He barked.
"Sir!" He turned to the ranks of men in the hallway and shouted, "Fall back! All men fall back to the Entrance. All men Fall back!"
It spoke to the discipline of the men that they reacted without hesitation. Men in the middle stepped to the side, pressing against their comrades, to allow the front ranks to fall back down the middle. Each row stepped one at a time out of formation and streamed down the corridor back to the entrance.
"Get them set up outside the Barracks." The Satrap ordered.
"Sir?" Lockler questioned.
"These close quarters favour the Anathema. If we wish to stop them we must be able to bring our full might to bear on them." He replied.
"Yes sir." Lockler saluted. He turned back to the men, "Once you're outside form a perimeter and prepare to receive-"
The building rumbled and shook and the ceiling mere feet away from him caved in with a hail of stone and wood chips. Not for the first time Lockler was thankful for his full face helmet as wood and rock deflected off it.
As the dust cleared Lockler was able to see the cause standing up over the body of another soldier. The Anathema had at some point managed to find a pair of red trousers to wear. A rather ratty and torn pair, but it was significantly more than being naked.
"I was wondering when you'd stop playing scared boy." The Satrap said as he lifted the daiklave from his shoulder and leveled it at the anathema.
The demon looked at the blade pointed directed at it's head and laughed nervously. "Uh, we can this out, right?" It asked.
Lockler grinned. "Not so invincible once facing one of the Dragon-Blooded Princes of the Earth." He mocked. It was mainly bravado, the courage he was showing, but he'd be damned if he allowed cowardness to show in his actions in front of the Satrap.
The demon gave him a blank look. "What, like those Musk guys?" He asked.
Lockler almost asked him who, before he managed to reign in his tongue. Talking to an Anathema could be exceptionally dangerous. They'd twist your words and thoughts until you'd do things you'd never think yourself capable of.
"Surrender and your death will be swift." The Satrap said as the other Dragon-Blooded surrounded the Anathema. Around them soldier continued to stream past them out the door, though with less organization and more speed as everyone realized the enemy was in their midst.
"I guess that's a no?" The demon responded, "Damn it. I just want to leave you bastard." His last words were a growl.
"And you will leave." The Satrap said as he raised his black blade into a ready position. "You will leave this life and find forgiveness in the next. Perhaps as a snail."
It was definitely a hair raising growl that escaped the anathema at that. "Go to hell." He snarled before lunging.
Lockler just barely missed getting hit by the backswing of the Satrap's sword as he threw himself back away from the conflict. This had escalated to a fight beyond mere mortals. He followed his baser instincts and booked it out of the building. Behind him the building shook as forces beyond mortal means clashed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ryouga stepped back as the enormous blade the fat man wielded carved the air where his neck had been a moment earlier. He had learned just how sharp the blade was the hard way, as attested by the shallow but long and bleeding cuts across his chest. The fat man everyone seemed to refer to as 'Satrap' was clearly an experienced and skilled warrior, but if he had been alone Ryouga was sure he'd have already crushed him and moved on.
A spear made of a strange green metal came streaking for his head. He sidestepped it and promptly had to dodge another swing from the Satrap. An arrow was batted aside, despite the sharp barbs that had seemingly grown in the milliseconds since it had left the other warrior's bow. It bounced off the stone wall of the entrance hall with a tink that was lost in the sound of blades and spears crushing stone and ripping air with every missed swing.
Ryouga rolled under a pair of strikes from two of the 'Dragon-Blooded' and came up to his feet in time to catch the spear head between his hands. He pushed it to the side and pulled, dragging it's wielder forward. A young woman, pretty, but with a permanent scowl on her face. He grabbed her by the neck of her armour and hurled her, and her spear, into two sword wielders. The three went down in a tangle of limbs. He scowled. No each one of them lacked the speed or strength to challenge him, but they had tricks he'd never seen before, some of which had to be magic, and they worked together flawlessly.
There were six of them. Beyond the spear girl and the two swordsmen there was the Satrap who was always pressing him, an archer who lurked at the far end of the room, and another sword swinging man who hadn't lasted through the first minute before being introduced headfirst to the wall.
As the the spear girl and swordsmen untangled themselves the Satrap backed off, wisely recognizing that without support he was vulnerable. A fact that Ryouga was just as aware of. With a snarl he charged, flowing forward with a grace that Ryouga knew he hadn't possessed even hours earlier.
The Satrap swung his sword to ward off the martial artist. In response Ryouga's ki surged, the power hardening his skin as he stepped into the blow. One raised arm caught the blow on his forearm while he struck the fat man with a blow to the chest with his other closed fist. Metal shattered under his fist as the blow lifted the large from his feet and sent him hurtling out the main entrance.
He spared a glance for his arm as he leaned aside to dodge an arrow. A thin cut ran across the back of his forearm. So he could take a blow if he used more ki. Good to know, if inefficient.
"Bastard." The spear wielding girl growl as she fought her way to her feet. She seemed a bit woozy as she leaned on her spear. "Why won't you just die." It wasn't a question.
Ryouga snorted. "Why won't you let me leave?" He asked. He batted aside another arrow and glared at the archer. That idiot was getting on his nerves. He flicked a stone into his hands with his toe and launched it at the archer. It caught the man between the eyes even as he was trying to evade and sent him to the ground unconscious.
"Why do you think we'd allow something as unvirtuous as yourself free reign in our city beast?" Asked one of the swordsmen as the pair of them managed to stand. They were both in better condition than the spear wielding girl, but that wasn't saying much as both were still swaying on their feet.
Ryouga shook his head and headed for the door. "You can tell me why after you learn to take a hit." He said over his shoulders. They didn't respond, but he heard running feet and leaned forward just in time to duck the blades of the two swordsmen. He reached out as they went passed and grabbed them by the shoulders before slamming their heads together with enough force to send them both to the ground.
He sighed and glanced back at the girl. She was staring at him wide eyed and open mouthed. "Like I said," he said, " learn to take a hit, then get back to me." He stepped over the two insensate warriors and walked out the door, only to stop and stare at what was waiting for him.
Surrounding the entrance of the building were at least five hundred men in full armour, both leather and steel. They were formed in a shield wall just under twenty feet from the door. Interspersed amongst them were another three dozen Dragon-Blooded in full regalia. Kneeling in front of the army the Satrap was being helped to his feet. His armour was broken and his weapon was nowhere to be found. He pointed at Ryouga with one shaking hand.
"Kill him." He ordered.
"OH COME ON!" Ryouga shouted, "JUST LET ME LEAVE!"
"FOR THE REALM!" Shouted the soldiers as the first rank charged.
As the men crossed the open ground a whisper that had been in the back of Ryouga's mind since he had crash landed grew in strength with his frustration and Ryouga listened for the first time. Following instincts that were until that moment as foreign as another world he charged the line of men with a roar.
As he ran his body changed, shifting between steps. Bare skin was covered in black fur, eyes turned yellow, a tail grew and he found himself running on all fours. What had started the charge as a man impacted a suddenly terrified group of men as a midnight black wolf the size of a full grown lion.
A howl leapt from his muzzle as he scattered the first rank of men. This felt right, the urge to hunt, to fight, to win. This body was as much his as the human body he had always had, not like that stupid little piglet Jusenkyo had cursed him with.
He leapt back as Dragon-Bloods surged out of the ranks of soldiers. Their weapons struck the ground fruitlessly as he danced away. He dodged and weaved as easily in this new body as he had as a human. Leaping over swings and under stabs of swords, spears and axes. He bounced off the haft of a massive warhammer and flew over the first few ranks of soldiers to land in the formation of ordinary men.
Screams of fear arose as he batted them aside with tail and paw, in seconds opening a hole in their ranks that none had the courage to try and close. Dozens of men scrambled back. Rapidly a space thirty feet wide formed around him as the men kept their distance. Scared and panicked faces looked over shields that suddenly felt flimsy despite their jade-steel construction.
On all side Dragon-Bloods sauntered out of the ranks of men, surrounding him once more. Preventing his escape. Ryouga let them. He wasn't even trying to get away anymore. If these people wanted to fight him, fine he'd fight them. He'd beat them. He'd prove he was stronger than all of-
The world shook as a golden beam of ki roared through the wall of the large keep across the courtyard. The beam clipped one of the Dragon-Blooded, sending him spinning across the courtyard. He didn't get up. Golden beam continued on plowing through the outer wall of the fortress and out over the open air.
A rough barking laugh found its way out as Ryouga recognized the technique. That was the Moko Takabisha, Ranma's technique. So he wasn't the only one to find himself in this strange place.
Orders were shouted over the crowd by the Satrap, sending dozens of men and more than half the Dragon-Blooded off to the new hole in the keep. Ryouga ignored them. Ranma could handle whatever they could throw at him.
One of the Dragon-Blooded stepped forward, spear held low as he began to circle. Ryouga bared his fangs and matched him step for step. If he wanted to challenge him, then who was he to decline.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Setarial took in the destruction that had filled the drill yard of the fortress with an impassive gaze. Hundreds of men were locked in formation around a great wolf the size of a lion forming a massive circle in which Dragon-Blooded appeared to be trying to kill the beast. The silver glow of the full moon on its forehead and the silver anima banner explained by those efforts appeared to be less than successful. The golden glow flickering out of the hole in the keep's wall also gave a clue as to why the 'beast' wasn't simply being swarmed under with pure numbers.
"A Solar and a Lunar. I thought I recognized those lights." Setarial said to her companion as they rematerialized on the outer wall adjacent to the new hole that had been ripped in it.
"The timing of their arrival… Do you think they are with Dawn Comes With Thunder?" Leitleen asked as she settled on the ramparts.
"I do not know." The elder goddess said as she watched the battle between the Wolf Totem Lunar and the Dragon-Blooded. To the untrained, or inexperienced, eye the Lunar moved with a swiftness and grace that boggled the mind as it ducked and weaved through the strikes of the Dragon-Blooded to send them flying back into the ranks of their mortal soldiers. Setarial, however, was old enough to have seen Lunar's, young and old, fight in battle. To her its movements lacked the fluidity of an ancient lunar. When it moved out of the way of a strike it simply, well, moved. Its body did not flow and twist unnaturally as it used its innate shapeshifting abilities to allow it to perform anatomically impossible actions.
As she watched the Lunar rebounded off the flat side of a daiklave and shifted midair into a well built young man who slammed into a startled Dragonblood's face feet first. Were Greyfalls not under Dragon-Blooded rule she'd have been tempted to take him as a consort, even if only for a night. Still that one moment of transition was enough for her to take his measure.
"I do not believe he serves Thunder." She said to Leitleen, "His movements are too rough, too new. He must have only just Exalted as he fell."
The raven gave her an incredulous look. "No new Lunar could tear through so many Dragon-Blooded in open combat. Even most experienced ones would run rather than fight a fourth as many as are here." She said.
"You forget, most of these Dragon-Blooded are here on vacation or are part of the local bureaucracy under Rumbulac. Dragon-Blooded they may be, but they lack wartime experience." Setarial replied, "Still, to face so many…" She frowned.
This situation was unusual, not just in its suddenness, but also in its timing. The loss of so many soldiers, even temporarily, would make Greyfalls even more vulnerable than even the loss of the main army had done. It took four Dragons to properly man the walls of the outer city. Even with just a few seconds she could already count nearly an entire Dragon as having been hauled from the battle for injuries ranging from broken bones to total loss of consciousness.
A thought, a small traitorous thought that would have, under any other circumstances been quashed, formed in the back of her mind. 'If this is what these two can do, alone and with nothing but their own hands…' Perhaps it was the lateness of the hour, or the sudden danger that now seemed to have found its way into the heart of her city, or maybe it was the more than a dozen steins of wine she had consumed; whatever the cause rather than dismiss the thought she considered it.
After a moment she glanced to Leitleen and said, "Scout the rest of the city. If these two are here there may be others. Return to me if you find them."
The raven nodded spreading her wings. She paused on the stone parapet before turning back to her mistress. "And you, milady? What will you do?" She asked.
The Goddess smiled sadly as she settled down on the wall. "I have some thinking to do Leitleen. I will observe the battle, perhaps it will shed light on my predicament." She said.
"Good luck milady." Leitleen said after a moment before throwing herself into the air over the city.
"And to you my friend." Setarial said to the empty night air as she turned her attention to the raging battle. A battle that may shape her home's future.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ranma leaned aside as another large blue sword tried to cleave her skull open. Really if her life wasn't in danger she'd be almost bored at how easy the battle had become. The reinforcements that had swarmed the room had, despite a number of them being more heavily equipped than her previous foes, apparently traded skill for raw numbers. Sure the more extravagantly dressed and armed men and women easily outstripped the more ordinary martial artists in Nerima, but that was like saying a bonfire is brighter than a candle when what you're trying to compare them to is the sun.
She stepped inside the swordsman's guard and shattered the armour of his chestplate with a single strike, throwing him away in the process. The men behind him stumbled and she charged into them without mercy. Well, without too much mercy. Despite what she had threatened Lily with earlier none of the current force had a hope in hell of making her escalate to Saffron or even Herb levels of lethality.
As she slid between the lines of men she lashed out not with the intent to kill, but with the intention to disable. Joints were hyperextended, bones were broken, and weapons were snapped or shattered in her hands. In moments the men who had surrounded the swordsman were on the ground, some crying others unconscious from the pain.
She ignored them, as she had done many times in the past with groups that had attempted to beat her into submission. They were cannon fodder, intended to do little more than wear her out while the real threats prepared to attack. Like those two with spears lunging from the surging mass of humanity to either side.
Ranma bounced lightly off the ground and landed on the haft of one of the spears as it passed through her former position. Its wielder, and indeed most of those around her, stared as she stood with picture perfect poise on the thin strand of green metal as those it were solid ground. She smirked at the idiot holding the spear. She loved this little trick, balancing on your enemy's weapon always drew the most incredulous stares that never got old. The very act itself often served to drive home just how outclassed they were.
Before the Dragon-Blood could recover she ran down the length of the spear and rammed her knee into his face. The ornate and decorated helm he was wearing shattered under the blow as he fell backwards to the ground, thoroughly unconscious.
The soldiers around her backed off again as she stepped away from the downed man. Behind her the other Dragon-Blood ran to his comrade's side looking for a pulse. She ignored him as she charged into the lines separating her from the exit. Unlike before there was now a way out of the hall that she could guarantee wouldn't lead to an annoying maze of rooms, traps and gods knew what else these people might have thought up. Maybe they had cats?
Ranma barely managed to restrain a shudder at the thought of the small furry demons as she sidestepped a sword thrust and casually flipped the soldier wielding it into his comrades. As they went down they dragged most of Ranma's left flank with them briefly relieving pressure long enough for the martial artist to step into the charge of a Dragon-Blood with a hammer whose head was bigger than Ranma's torso.
She caught the shaft of the handle just behind the head and kicked the owner hard in his chest. He stumbled but refused to let go. That immediately made him more dangerous than the rest of those around in her eyes. With a smile that sent shivers down the spines of everyone who saw it she grabbed the hammer with both hands and pulled. The Dragon-Blood immediately regretted not letting go as she threw both him and his hammer up and over the crowd of men to impact with one of the more intact pillars of the dining hall. It cracked and shuddered as the hammer splintered the stonework on impact.
The throw immediately transitioned into a roll as three ordinary soldiers lunged at her open back, taking advantage of the opening her open back revealed. She sprang up out of the roll and flipped over their heads to land behind them. Before they could turn she swept their feet from under them. Three swift strikes made sure they were all unconscious before the next attempt on her life sent her into another roll as molten steel arrows peppered her position.
She traced the shots back to the hole in the wall. Standing on the fallen brickwork a dashing young man in green stood with a red bow. He leaned casually to the side as her return fire of a stolen legionnaires boot went whirling past.
Ranma scowled as she dodge his return fire of several more burning arrows and was forced to take a shoulder check from a soldier head on. The man, wearing full plate and wielding a shield and axe, bounced off her unmoving frame and hit the floor before she slammed him into the ground with her foot. The move left him unconscious, probably with several broken ribs, and a permanent footprint on his chestplate.
As a couple more archers opened fire from the pile of brickwork Ranma ripped the shield the soldier had been using from his arm. She weighed it and nodded. It would work. She leaned back as one arrow came particularly close to taking her in the eye. As it was a small lock of her hair followed it to the ground. She scowled. He was getting on her nerves.
Three more soldiers lunged at her and she hopped up, using their shields and heads as convenient steps to launch herself into the air. As she flew the now trio of archers tracked her and fired as one. She flicked the shield with a twist of her wrist, sending it spinning through the air where crashed into and through the volley of arrows, sending them falling into the crowd below. The shield continued on without slowing, heading straight for the first archer who threw himself off the pile of brickwork with more than enough time to avoid the improvised projectile.
Rather than fall back into the crowd Ranma landed lightly on the helm of one soldier and started running across the helms and weapons of the crowd. In moments she had cleared the remaining hall, leaving a stupefied crowd of ordinary soldiers behind.
The archers abandoned their position as Ranma crashed down between them. A rock took one in the back of the head, sending him to the ground. The other a rock to the knee with a loud crack of breaking bones. She tumbled down the pile of stonework and lay screaming where she fell. Ranma deliberately ignored her. It was hard, but these people were trying to kill her. She couldn't afford to be gentle.
Standing on the entrance wall she looked out over the courtyard for the first time. Even in the thin torchlight she could make out the shapes of several other buildings inside the wall. Vague and somewhat undefined, but still visible from her position. Of more importance though was fact that there was the sound of battle coming from outside as well. The sounds of an animal of some kind roaring were barely audible of the shouts and screams of wounded men.
From her position she could just see over the crowd of men to what they were fighting, and really it was just her luck she had to show up during some other fight. They probably thought she was- her train of thought ground to a halt as she finally made out what it was the men outside were battling.
In a circle of men, thirty feet wide at least, a large wolf the size of a lion was batting around a handful of Dragon-bloods. That wasn't what cause her mind to grind to a halt. No, what did that was when, between leaping towards a Dragon-blood and actually landing on him the beast's form rippled and flowed into very familiar human shape.
"Ryouga?" She said incredulously. Since when could he shapeshift?! "He's been holding out again. Bastard." She muttered with a huff. While he looked like he was handling the men just as easily as she was he could probably use the help… And maybe he could point her in the direction of some clothes since he'd managed to find a pair of pants.
Ranma went to step down the pile of stonework when a whisper of wind, felt rather than heard, brushed the back of her neck. She twisted away, dancing across the broken stonework as she turned to face her most recent attacker.
An older man dressed in ornate full plate with a long thin blade, curved at the end, in a sheath by his waist was standing on the broken stones as easily as she was. "Good reaction time. Certainly better than the last of your kind I put down." He drawled. Both of his hands were on the hilt of the blade.
Ranma pursed her lips as she looked as him. That strike had been quick, not enough to catch her even by surprise, but that combined with the stance he had taken up… "Battojutsu huh." She muttered. Her own stance shifted, to allow her to move more easily.
She glanced back inside the building. Then soldiers had formed a shield wall at the base of the stonework, but they weren't advancing. In the time it took for her to look back the man was already moving, his sword in mid swing heading for her head. She hands lashed out as she flooded them with ki in a desperate parry as she stepped forward into his rush. One hand reached out and caught the gleaming red blade as her other one thrust out for his chest.
The man jerked away as her hand brushed his chest. The jade-steel plate cracked as he stumbled away, letting go of his sword as he slipped on the slope and slid down to the line of men below.
Ranma sighed and dropped the sword, allowing it to fall point first into the stone. "Why do you keep trying to kill me when you know it won't work?" She asked him.
The old man coughed as he held his chest. "You sure about that?" He asked through a wheezing voice.
Before Ranma could respond, or even think about what he had said a wave of heat washed over her. She threw herself off the rubble pile and out of the building, rolling to her feet to stare at the source of the fire.
The weapon she had let fall was a brilliant red before, now it was quite literally on fire. The flames roared, consuming the stone as the sword burned a crater out of the brick and stone before the flames turned on the sword itself in a fiery display until nothing was left by fire. The flames swirled through the air before flowing back to the old man, revitalizing him before her eyes as the sword reappeared in the old man's hand.
He chuckled as he got up, brushing dirt and dust from his pants. "Eternal Reward, red jade daiklave created with the feather of a god of fire and dreams of eternity stolen from the fair folk." He said with a laugh. "Now, why don't we try this again. Try to keep up girl." He shifted his grip on the sword as he sheathed it. Without another word of warning he charged.
"And another magic sword." She shouted, "How many of those stupid things do you people have anyway!"
The old man laughed. "As many as needed." He shouted as he drew the blade, burning with a brilliant blue flame, and swung it long before he was in range. A thin line of fire roared through the air ahead of him, growing with each passing foot.
Ranma cursed and rolled under the wave of fire. She could feel the heat scratching at her back as she did. It was almost a good thing she was naked at that moment, since cloth would have probably caught fire from sheer proximity. As it was she was almost sure she could count on a sunburn from it.
As she rolled to her feet she had to twist to avoid the follow up swing that tried to remove her head from her shoulders. With the blade on fire she couldn't just grab it, nor could she risk it hitting her. She was tough enough it couldn't cut, but the burns would be debilitatingly painful.
He pushed her away from the building into the courtyard step by step, strike after strike. Still he was slow, and she was fast. He couldn't keep her on the defensive for long, not by himself. Even as the men from within the hall came pouring out to form a circular perimeter around her, she launched her counter attack. She ducked a swing and stepped into his guard, grabbing his arm with one hand as she drove her other fist into his side before snapping his forearm with a sharp twist.
He barely managed to strangle a scream as he dropped his sword. This time though Ranma didn't stop there, she continued her assault taking his feet out from under him with a low sweep before catching him with a kick that sent him soaring across the courtyard to crash into a line of running soldiers. Not even a second later the sword once again caught fire, consuming itself and its surroundings to teleport to its master's side restoring his wounds as he struggled to free himself from the tangle of limbs.
"Because of course it works more than once." Ranma cursed. Why was it fire and regeneration always seemed to go hand in hand? First that bird brain in china, now a swordsman in god knows where. She sighed and looked around men locked shields together, trapping in a circle much like Ryouga was in.
Looking over the crowds towards the hole in the wall she spotted a familiar bluenette stumbling out of the rubble with her large friend over one shoulder. Ranma ignored her and turned her attention back to the swordsman. Despite the effects of the sword he was still nursing his side as he entered the circle.
"A good strike girl." He said as he straightened up and slid back into his opening form. "A pity such talent is wasted on one like you."
"What would you know of talent." She said.
He laughed. "I am a master of Single Point Shining into the Void. Now though is not the time for pleasantries." He lunged at her, crossing the distance in a burst of speed unmatched by the other Dragon-blooded. His sword flowed like quicksilver as he crossed the distance and only Ranma's reflexes allowed her to roll under the strike in the space between heartbeats. The swordsman slid past her, stopping a short distance outside the reach of his sword.
His feet dug into the ground and he launched himself into another assault as Ranma regained his feet. His blade, still aflame, appeared to be liquid fire as he swung it with speed beyond anything he'd shown before. To the men around them it appeared to be in two places simultaneously. Ranma however saw the individual strikes, each faster than anything she'd seen displayed by the a Dragon-blood that night, yet to her they were slow ponderous movements. She'd performed strikes far quicker than that the master in front of her was managing.
Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken, also known as the chestnut fist after the method used to practice it. The speed required to pluck roasting chestnuts from an open fire without being burned. A master of it could throw hundreds of punches in the blink of an eye.
Ranma's ki flooded her veins unconsciously as she stepped forward and under the first strike. Ranma had long since mastered the chestnut fist, and she demonstrated it as she reached out and tapped the sword as it came back around for a second attempt on her life. With the sort of force normally reserved for cannonballs the sword was set flying across the clearing, having been ripped from the old man's grip. In the time of a heartbeat the blade had already flashed back into flame and was reappearing in his hand, but it was too late as she delivered a blow to his chest that sent him flying back across the clearing.
She folded her hands behind her back and balanced on the balls of her feet innocently as he picked himself up from his latest brush with death. He rubbed the center of his chest where she had delivered a vicious palm strike that should have powdered most of his ribs. Again it was probably thanks to the sword that he was still moving.
He old man coughed as he rubbed his chest and eyed her warily. "An interesting surprise that. Not nearly showy enough to be a normal Forsaken trick. A martial art technique then?" He asked.
"Well, you showed me yours so I guess it was only fair." Ranma said with a smirk.
"Hah!" The old man's laugh was sharp as he continued to rub the mark on his chest. "girl the one who's shown the most tonight is you. Not sure how you could show more."
Ranma's eye twitched at the pointed reminder that she still lacked anything in the way of clothing. "Well apparently you lot are pathetic enough a butt naked girl is kicking all your asses." She snapped, "Some martial arts master you are. I've met grandmothers who can give me a better fight."
The old man's laugh grew until he started coughing and rubbed his chest once more. "Girl I don't doubt that said old woman taught you that trick." He said as he slid the flaming blade back into its sheath. "Now I doubt you'll give me more than this next shot, so I suppose I'd best stop trying to keep secrets. Witness girl, the true strength of Single Point Shining into the Void."
As he slid into a low stance, his blade held tightly as he stared across the open courtyard. The men around them looked both worried as they watched. Interspersed amongst the soldiers were more Dragon-blooded. Many were nursing wounds from either herself or Ryouga, but she was certain the only thing keeping them from intervening was respect for the man she now stood across from. Well the least she could do was not mock him too badly.
Ranma stopped rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, instead she let her hands fall from behind her back and assumed an actual stance. Hands low and feet spread. The old man gave her a single solemn nod, then he charged. He crossed the distance just like he had the time before, and just like then she dodged it with ease, dancing around his opening strike. It was as he turned back to face her that the difference hit her, almost physically. As he drew his blade a brilliant nova of light erupted from his blade. It leapt from the edge of his blade and proceed his strike, carrying with it the entirety of the old man's spirit and will. It was almost enough to stop her in her tracks.
Almost, but not enough. As the blade cut through the air she shook off the shock of the spiritual attack and rolled beneath the strike with only the barest hint of hesitation. As she came to her feet she caught sight of the old man. His expression was resign, and perhaps just a bit defeated. He knew he had lost even before her counterattack was launched. Three blows caught him in his unguarded side, not one of them was lethal, but all were capable of incapacitating a normal man. For a Dragon-blood it was just enough to send him to the ground unconscious. The flames of his sword flickered and died as he fell.
For a solid ten seconds all was quiet as Ranma bent and checked his pulse. It was weak, but he was alive. Good. She didn't want him dead.
As she rose an angry shout arose from the Dragon-blooded in the crowd. A half dozen men with swords and spears forced their way through the lines of soldiers and charged her. Before they managed more than a dozen feet in her direction a large black shape fell out of the darkness. Ryouga, in the shape of that truly gigantic wolf, crashed into the first two like a freight train, sending them flying. His tail claimed two more as he turned on the last couple of Dragon-blooded in the circle. They backed away, all aggression suddenly having disappeared.
Ranma shook her head. "I could have handled it you idiot." She shouted angrily, "Go back to your fight fur ball."
The wolf scoffed at her as he shifted back into a more human form. "Well I figured after that fight you could use a break." He said mockingly as he wandered over. He stopped as he finally got a good look at her. His eyes raked her naked body up and down. "And you're still naked."
"I've been fighting for my life this whole time, where am I supposed to find clothes!" She snapped as she turned away from him. A blush was trying desperately to form on her face as she looked away. A ruthless application of will forced it down. She was not a blushing schoolgirl and she would not act like one.
"Just take them from someone. That's what I did." Ryouga responded.
Ranma scoffed. "Which explains why you look like you robbed a corpse." She turned back to him, "When the hell did you find the time to change anyway?"
Ryouga shrugged. "There was a moment." He said.
Before Ranma could snark another reply an arrow landed next to them. Then another, and another. Before Ranma could move Ryouga's shape rippled and flowed into that of the wolf once more as he imposed himself between her and the source of the arrows, the nearest outer wall. Several Dragon-bloods were visible on the wall shooting arrows, including the archer from before that Ranma had almost hit with that shield.
"What the hell has gotten into you." Ranma snapped as she ducked low behind Ryouga. He growled and shrugged as the arrows bounced off his fur. "You realize I can understand you about as well as I could when you were P-chan right? How the hell are you doing this anyway?"
The wolf gave her an annoyed look and started turning towards the wall. Ranma sighed and grabbed the fur on his neck bringing him up short. "Hang on I got those idiots." She leveling a hand at the wall, somewhat off to one side. "Moko Takabisha." A brilliant golden beam sprang out of her open palm and lanced through the air, briefly turning night to high noon. Ki blast wasn't aimed at the archers, instead it was aimed at the watchtower just a bit down the wall from them. The beam smashed through the meters of stone and brickwork before continuing off into the space above the city.
The tower tilted precariously then, with speed normally reserved for tortoises and the terminally ill, it collapsed falling in the general direction of the archers. They scrambled out of the way of falling masonry, abandoning the high ground as they ran for safety.
Ryouga's form flowed back into the familiar human form and he stretched. "Well that's one way. Still leaves everyone else." He said gesturing to the hundreds of soldiers that were continuing to give them a wide berth. What Dragon-blooded that remained capable of fighting were hanging back, behind the ranks of soldiers.
"I'd settle for leaving." Ranma replied as she looked out at the literal army that seemed torn between trying to kill them, and cowering at their very presence. "This was not what I thought we'd be doing today."
Ryouga snorted. "Better than listening to genealogy all day long." He said.
"Yes, because dealing with an army is better than listening to my mother." Ranma drawled with a raised eyebrow.
"No my mother." Ryouga said with a shrug.
"Thank god for that. The idea of being related to a walking carpet like you is disgusting." She snapped.
Ryouga shot her a dry look. "Walking carpet? That's the best you can do?"
Ranma huffed. So inventing insults for a giant wolf was harder than she'd figured it might be. Still that should have gotten some sorta reaction. Mind you, a wolf was better than a pig so maybe that had to do with it…
A commotion in the lines of their opponents drew their attention. "Looks like the next rounds about to start." Ryouga said, cracking his knuckles.
"Try and keep up." Ranma said mocked.
A familiar large man with a another of those large black swords limped his way out of the ranks of soldiers. He stopped just out in front and tried to stand tall for a moment before wincing and letting himself slouch a moment.
"I" He shouted, "am Nellens Rombulac, Satrap of Greyfalls. I offer you this one chance. Surrender and your deaths will be swift."
The two martial artists exchanged looks and tried desperately not to laugh. An effort Ranma completely failed at as she started howling with laughter. After a minute she managed to get control of herself. "He wants us to surrender, when we're beating them around like tennis balls?" She asked.
"Isn't this the point where he unveils some secret weapon he's been holding back?" Ryouga pointed out, sobering the redhead instantly.
Ranma conceded the point with a nod of her head. "True. Still, I wonder what it might be?" She pondered aloud. "Maybe a cannon?"
"Why a cannon?" Ryouga asked.
"They never use guns on us. It'd be different at least." Ranma said.
"Do they look like they'd have a cannon?" Ryouga waved at the crowd of men.
"I take it you are rejecting my offer Anathema?" The man shouted.
"What do you think?!" Ranma shouted back, waving him off. "Just let us go and this'll be completely painless." She counter offered.
The boy at her side snorted. "Speak for yourself." He said, "I still want to get a few knocks in."
Ranma sent him a dry look. "Just drop it." She said, and sighed when all he did was grumble. Typical really, the guy never could let go of a grudge.
Across the field the Satrap sighed and shook his head. "Very well then, do remember I offered you a way out of this. Send them in!" The last was shouted to the men behind him as he turned and walked back into the crowd.
An opening formed in the line that stretched back into the near darkness of the courtyard. "Somehow I don't think that's for us." Ranma snarked. The ground shook suddenly with a loud thud that echoed through the courtyard. It was repeated a moment later.
"Earthquake?" Ryouga offered.
"Not likely." Ranma responded as the earth continued to shake in time with the thuds. Then, from around the corner of the castle, tall humanoid figures stepped out into view. They were tall, fifteen feet at the shortest, and the metal of their armour reflected reds and blues in the flickering torchlight.
"Oh hell." Ranma muttered, "They've got mecha."
Ryouga shrugged. "Wonder how they work." He said as they giant humanoid suits of armour strode down the corridor opened for them.
"On magic?" Ranma replied glibly. She sighed and shook her head. "They don't look like much. Still, maybe we should run? They can't be that quick."
"Oh? Running already Ranma?" He mocked, a fanged grin spreading across his face. In fact Ranma was sure that he wasn't supposed to have quite that many fangs…
"Hardly, but if you want an out…" She trailed off with an expectant look, like she was expecting him to run screaming for the walls.
"Oh fuck you." He snapped.
"I'd rather not." She quipped, drawing a look from her companion. "Oh look, here they come."
In the time they had spent bickering the two mechas had marched into the expanded circle. Their fists were held up in a vague approximation of martial arts stances. They both looked ready to start the battle.
"And so are others." Ryouga said gesturing vaguely to the crowd. Ranma glanced over and spotted a few Dragon-blooded who were gathering surreptitiously into groups near the edge of the crowds. "Hardly fair," Ryouga grumbled.
Ranma rolled her eyes. "Like you're one to talk." She snarked. More than once she'd been on the receiving end of Ryouga teaming up with others to take her down. Not that they'd ever succeeded without some magic trinket or cheap trick. "They are trying to kill us."
He grumbled a shrugged, vaguely conceding the point. Ranma sighed, so typically stubborn of him, before grinning. "Bet I can bring mine down first." She said, then, without warning, she charged off across the field towards the giant mecha.
"OI!" Ryouga shouted taking off after her. "Cheater! You're supposed to give warning when you do that!" Rich laughter was the only reply he received.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Author's Note: Well damn this chapter just keeps getting longer and longer. I've once again wound up splitting the chapter as it's gotten a bit ridiculous of a length. Conclusion of the first day will be next chapter, in theory. Assuming I don't wind up creating an entire fight involving a Dragon-Blooded swordsmaster who didn't exist in my notes until I needed someone to challenge Ranma and Lily was busy elsewhere... I hope you enjoy it