CHAPTER 4: THE GIFT pt.2
With the mysterious armored soldier gone with the wind, Akane and company slowly let their guard down enough to follow the ancient looking monk to the nearby village. Everyone stood on alert still just in case of another surprise attack as Akane took over point with Ran-Chan pulling up the rear this time.
With their adjusted to almost no light at all, the girls were temporarily blinded by the light the soft light of a huge bonfire burning near the center of the town. The radiating heat from the blaze also grew in intensity as the girls drew closer to the pit fire. Akane had to stop about 30 paces from the fire because it became too hot for her or anyone to get any closer.
The monk stepped a couple of paces in front of the group. He raised his left hand to the center of his chest in a prayer like gesture. And a few seconds later, he passed his hand through the dancing flames. Instantly, the flames died down from a raging inferno to a medium sized fire in the blink of an eye.
The kind monk gestured towards the fireside area and asked," Would you ladies please join me beside the fire?". Unsure of how the Ancient One might react if they said no, the girls cautiously sat around the campfire in a circle. They did this to keep an eye out for each other and on the Ancient One.
A few tense moments had passed before the Ancient One spoke to the captive audience," You 5 ladies have no reason to be afraid of me. I am here to help you get ready for the most difficult fight of your collectives that lays ahead of you.".
Shampoo spoke up," Honorable Monk, please forgive Shampoo. But why you think that Shampoo need your help?".
The monk calmly responded," Dearest Shampoo. Even though you are an Amazon and one of the strongest in this group. Your brute strength will not be enough to help you defeat this particular opponent. As all of you just saw with that foot soldier back there.".
"Pardon me, but I think that we would've done alright...", Ran-Chan said confidently. The monk calmly replied," For all of you to be victorious over this enormous challenge, Ran-Chan Saotome. You must bring your 5 individual minds & souls into one singular focus like a razor sharp blade."pausing," You were very lucky that the soldier' cockiness helped overlook Nabiki' secret skill. Or else you would've lost that fight badly.".
As the seemingly harsh truth set into each girl' mind, the Ancient One reached into his pouch and pulled out 5 glass spheres. The 5 spheres glowed in the soft light of the campfire. Each one of the spheres glowed in a different color.
As the Ancient One moved his hand towards the now white hot fire, the spheres started glowing brighter and slowly lifted up from the monk' hand. Slowly the hovering balls started spinning in a circle as the monk removed his hand and placed it in the same prayer gesture as earlier. The spheres gained enough speed that they went flying off towards each girl. The girls caught the spheres in their bare right hands.
The Ancient One rose to his feet and slowly walked to his left until he stopped behind Ukyo. Placing his staff on Ukyo' right shoulder as he spoke," Ukyo Kuonji. You are a perfect mix of beauty, brawn, and brains. Your heart and soul seeks justice. So, that will be your reward as well as the Armor of Hard Rock. Be careful with the strength that your armor will bring you, U-Chan. It could be a help as much as a hindrance.".
As the Ancient One raised the staff from Ukyo' shoulder and moved onto Ran-Chan, the character symbol for "Justice" appeared in orange on Ukyo' forehead.
He placed the staff on the right should of Ran-Chan and spoke," Ranma-Chan Saotome. I sense a white hot fire burning in your soul that can be only rivaled by the heart of an erupting volcano. Thus, your reward is virtue and the Armor of Wildfire. Many secrets of all the armors will be revealed to you all in time. Be careful of your emotions with these armors. Like emotions, these armors can also flare up and out of control at anytime.". The monk raised the back to his side and moved onto Shampoo as the red character of "virtue" shown brightly on Ran-Chan' forehead.
With the monk in place behind Shampoo, he placed the staff on her shoulder and spoke," Shampoo the Chinese Amazon. Much like Ukyo, you have the mix of beauty and strength with cunning added in. With all of these attributes at your disposal, you still hold the value of life high upon a pedestal. That is why I give you the reward of life and the Armor of Strata will answer to you.". With the staff removed, Shampoo' forehead adorned with the dark blue character for "life".
The ceremony continued with Nabiki. She took a deep breath as the Monk decree," Nabiki Tendo. You have proven to be deceptively powerful that only needs to be unleashed. Trust is strong within your soul like the waves of the swirling oceans. Thus you will be rewarded with trust and the Armor of the Torrent will be yours to control. Let your heart guide you and your friends to safety, Nabiki-chan.". The staff was removed as Nabiki' light blue symbol for "trust" made a return visit to Nabiki' forehead as the monk moved onto Akane.
The Ancient One finished the ceremony by placing the staff on her shoulder and decreed," Akane Tendo. Inside of you is a ray of light that you must find for yourself. You also possess the wisdom to set that light free. And so I give you the reward of wisdom and the Armor of Halo which will be yours to handle.". With that said, the Ancient One returned to his seat at the top of the campfire circle as the green symbol for "wisdom" shone through.
With the monk back to where he sat before the little ceremony, he spoke once again," Now, to bring the first part of your armor to light. You need only call out the name of your armor and they will respond. Once that happens, you will be able to call upon the full power of your armor after that.".
Hesitantly, the girls stood up with a firm grasp on their spheres as they extended their hands over the fire. Somehow the spheres protected their hands from the kiss of the flames.
Needing someone to start the ball rolling, Akane stated," Okay, I will go first. But I want you all to promise me that you will do it with me.", pausing," I know that we are all scared, but the Ancient One hasn't done anything to wrong us since we met him. Here goes.". The agreement was accepted with 4 uneasy nods.
With that said, Akane cried out," HALO!!!!!". Akane' battle cry was soon followed by other cries," WILDFIRE!! HARD ROCK !! TORRENT!! STRATA!!". Instantly, the 5 apprehensive girls were engulfed by a blinding light as the girls could feel an incredible change took place. Just as quickly as they were encased in the light, Team Tendo was released from it with a major change.
The slightly ragged clothes that the girls had been wearing were replaced by a mystical metal that felt more like skin than armor. A tingling sensation raced through every one of the girls fiber as their armor increased their speed, reflexes, agility, and strength in an indescribable way.
Wishing to thank the Ancient one for his gifts, Ran-Chan and Akane turned to where the monk was sitting and found that he was gone as the sun slowly started to rise.
The puzzled girls tried to make sense out of what had just occurred . The hardest part to figure out was exactly how did the Ancient One knew stuff about them without them saying anything to him.
With the mysterious armored soldier gone with the wind, Akane and company slowly let their guard down enough to follow the ancient looking monk to the nearby village. Everyone stood on alert still just in case of another surprise attack as Akane took over point with Ran-Chan pulling up the rear this time.
With their adjusted to almost no light at all, the girls were temporarily blinded by the light the soft light of a huge bonfire burning near the center of the town. The radiating heat from the blaze also grew in intensity as the girls drew closer to the pit fire. Akane had to stop about 30 paces from the fire because it became too hot for her or anyone to get any closer.
The monk stepped a couple of paces in front of the group. He raised his left hand to the center of his chest in a prayer like gesture. And a few seconds later, he passed his hand through the dancing flames. Instantly, the flames died down from a raging inferno to a medium sized fire in the blink of an eye.
The kind monk gestured towards the fireside area and asked," Would you ladies please join me beside the fire?". Unsure of how the Ancient One might react if they said no, the girls cautiously sat around the campfire in a circle. They did this to keep an eye out for each other and on the Ancient One.
A few tense moments had passed before the Ancient One spoke to the captive audience," You 5 ladies have no reason to be afraid of me. I am here to help you get ready for the most difficult fight of your collectives that lays ahead of you.".
Shampoo spoke up," Honorable Monk, please forgive Shampoo. But why you think that Shampoo need your help?".
The monk calmly responded," Dearest Shampoo. Even though you are an Amazon and one of the strongest in this group. Your brute strength will not be enough to help you defeat this particular opponent. As all of you just saw with that foot soldier back there.".
"Pardon me, but I think that we would've done alright...", Ran-Chan said confidently. The monk calmly replied," For all of you to be victorious over this enormous challenge, Ran-Chan Saotome. You must bring your 5 individual minds & souls into one singular focus like a razor sharp blade."pausing," You were very lucky that the soldier' cockiness helped overlook Nabiki' secret skill. Or else you would've lost that fight badly.".
As the seemingly harsh truth set into each girl' mind, the Ancient One reached into his pouch and pulled out 5 glass spheres. The 5 spheres glowed in the soft light of the campfire. Each one of the spheres glowed in a different color.
As the Ancient One moved his hand towards the now white hot fire, the spheres started glowing brighter and slowly lifted up from the monk' hand. Slowly the hovering balls started spinning in a circle as the monk removed his hand and placed it in the same prayer gesture as earlier. The spheres gained enough speed that they went flying off towards each girl. The girls caught the spheres in their bare right hands.
The Ancient One rose to his feet and slowly walked to his left until he stopped behind Ukyo. Placing his staff on Ukyo' right shoulder as he spoke," Ukyo Kuonji. You are a perfect mix of beauty, brawn, and brains. Your heart and soul seeks justice. So, that will be your reward as well as the Armor of Hard Rock. Be careful with the strength that your armor will bring you, U-Chan. It could be a help as much as a hindrance.".
As the Ancient One raised the staff from Ukyo' shoulder and moved onto Ran-Chan, the character symbol for "Justice" appeared in orange on Ukyo' forehead.
He placed the staff on the right should of Ran-Chan and spoke," Ranma-Chan Saotome. I sense a white hot fire burning in your soul that can be only rivaled by the heart of an erupting volcano. Thus, your reward is virtue and the Armor of Wildfire. Many secrets of all the armors will be revealed to you all in time. Be careful of your emotions with these armors. Like emotions, these armors can also flare up and out of control at anytime.". The monk raised the back to his side and moved onto Shampoo as the red character of "virtue" shown brightly on Ran-Chan' forehead.
With the monk in place behind Shampoo, he placed the staff on her shoulder and spoke," Shampoo the Chinese Amazon. Much like Ukyo, you have the mix of beauty and strength with cunning added in. With all of these attributes at your disposal, you still hold the value of life high upon a pedestal. That is why I give you the reward of life and the Armor of Strata will answer to you.". With the staff removed, Shampoo' forehead adorned with the dark blue character for "life".
The ceremony continued with Nabiki. She took a deep breath as the Monk decree," Nabiki Tendo. You have proven to be deceptively powerful that only needs to be unleashed. Trust is strong within your soul like the waves of the swirling oceans. Thus you will be rewarded with trust and the Armor of the Torrent will be yours to control. Let your heart guide you and your friends to safety, Nabiki-chan.". The staff was removed as Nabiki' light blue symbol for "trust" made a return visit to Nabiki' forehead as the monk moved onto Akane.
The Ancient One finished the ceremony by placing the staff on her shoulder and decreed," Akane Tendo. Inside of you is a ray of light that you must find for yourself. You also possess the wisdom to set that light free. And so I give you the reward of wisdom and the Armor of Halo which will be yours to handle.". With that said, the Ancient One returned to his seat at the top of the campfire circle as the green symbol for "wisdom" shone through.
With the monk back to where he sat before the little ceremony, he spoke once again," Now, to bring the first part of your armor to light. You need only call out the name of your armor and they will respond. Once that happens, you will be able to call upon the full power of your armor after that.".
Hesitantly, the girls stood up with a firm grasp on their spheres as they extended their hands over the fire. Somehow the spheres protected their hands from the kiss of the flames.
Needing someone to start the ball rolling, Akane stated," Okay, I will go first. But I want you all to promise me that you will do it with me.", pausing," I know that we are all scared, but the Ancient One hasn't done anything to wrong us since we met him. Here goes.". The agreement was accepted with 4 uneasy nods.
With that said, Akane cried out," HALO!!!!!". Akane' battle cry was soon followed by other cries," WILDFIRE!! HARD ROCK !! TORRENT!! STRATA!!". Instantly, the 5 apprehensive girls were engulfed by a blinding light as the girls could feel an incredible change took place. Just as quickly as they were encased in the light, Team Tendo was released from it with a major change.
The slightly ragged clothes that the girls had been wearing were replaced by a mystical metal that felt more like skin than armor. A tingling sensation raced through every one of the girls fiber as their armor increased their speed, reflexes, agility, and strength in an indescribable way.
Wishing to thank the Ancient one for his gifts, Ran-Chan and Akane turned to where the monk was sitting and found that he was gone as the sun slowly started to rise.
The puzzled girls tried to make sense out of what had just occurred . The hardest part to figure out was exactly how did the Ancient One knew stuff about them without them saying anything to him.