Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Don't worry, I'll return what I borrowed when I'm done.
Though I'll never actually BE done. Heh, heh, heh.
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 10
"Saotome, look out!"
The man known as Saotome Tenma backflipped behind the man who
tried to stab him in the back with a sharpened polearm. A powerful kick
sent the dark shogun warrior stumbling into his companions. Using the
brief break, he concentrated his ki and sent a medium-sized ki-ball into
the group, knocking them together and sending them to the ground in a
jumble of arms and legs.
He looked up to see his companion, Akara, maul her opponent. He
winced. [Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.] Her adversary dropped to the
ground, unconscious.
"Are you always this brutal in your attacks?" he asked.
"You haven't been fighting the dark shogun's men as long as I
have," she retorted. "When you have, you tend to forget the niceties of
combat."
Tenma shook his head. True, he hadn't fought the Dark Shogun's
men until a few days ago, but his sensei had always stressed the use of
minimal force and honor in combat. He really missed his sensei, but he
had passed on to the next world and left a message for him to seek out a
man name Tendo Senshin and aid him. Tenma finally made arrangements to
meet him at the Inn, but met his daughter instead, a feisty warrior by
the name of Tendo Akara.
"Shall we get going?" she asked, almost perturbed.
"Have to wait for Neko," he replied. As if on cue, the huge
black cat emerged from the woods and bounded up to Tenma, rubbing
against him. "Easy girl. Did you get him?" The puma nodded. "Good girl.
Now we can go."
Neko was his sensei's companion, but decided to come with Tenma
when her master died. He couldn't dissuade the big cat, so he brought
her along, much to the annoyance of Akara.
"We should reach my father's camp in a little under two hours if
we hurry," she said in a tone that meant that she would hurry and he
would have to if he wanted to keep up.
As they began to move, Tenma became tired of the way his guide
was treating him. "Look, I don't know what you're problem is with me,
but can't you at least try to act civil?"
She snorted. "Why?"
"Well then, what is your problem with me?"
She seemed to hesitate, then answered, "I don't know you. My
father may trust you, but I don't. As far as I am concerned, you're a
spy sent by the Dark Shogun. If you want my trust, you'll have to earn
it."
"That's fair. To be honest, I've never met your father, but
supposedly he was friends with my sensei, who was my only family with
the exception of Neko."
"What about your parents?"
His face fell a bit. "I never knew them. I don't know any of my
family, or what happened to them."
"So you're an orphan?"
"Pretty much."
The rest of the trip went in silence.
Sure enough, two grueling hours later, they entered the large
encampment. Akara quickly led him to the command tent. Stepping inside,
he was introduced to the man in command of the little army, Tendo
Senshin, who was dressed in sturdy brown, samurai armor. Tenma executed
a short bow as taught by his sensei.
"Saotome Tenma, eh?" Senshin asked. "I'm sorry to hear of your
sensei's passing; Satsu was an old friend of mine."
"Thank you for your concern, Tendo-san."
"No need to be so formal, call me Senshin. How old are you?"
"Nineteen... Senshin-san." He stumbled a bit over the name,
feeling slightly uncomfortable saying it.
"Father, who's the guest?" came the voice of a new girl entering
the tent. She was followed by another girl, slightly shorter than she
was.
Senshin's face brightened. "Ah, Allow me to introduce to my old
friend's pupil, Saotome Tenma. Tenma-kun, these are my daughters. My
oldest daughter Kimiko, she's 22." He indicated the tall, mild mannered
girl who was dressed like a Shinto priestess. She bowed. "My middle
daughter Nayrumi, she's 20." The second girl with the short brown hair
smirked at him. "And you've already met my youngest daughter, Akara,
she's 19 as well. They are all available if you are seeking a wife."
Tenma blanched. [Wife? They're in the middle of a war and he's
trying to marry off his daughters? Well I suppose good men are hard to
find...] He could see the reactions of the three girls were almost the
same as his.
"I'm sorry father, but my priestess duties come first, no
offense Saotome-san," Kimiko said.
"I might be interested," Nayrumi said as she began to look him
over. Something about her gaze made Tenma decidedly uncomfortable. "Nah,
on second thought, he's too much of country bumpkin for my tastes. You
can have him, Imouto-chan."
Akara fumed, something Tenma had seen quite a bit the past two
days. "Oh sure! Pass him off on me! Well I don't want him!" Though a
part of her couldn't help but think his short pony-tail gave him a
certain attractiveness factor. The rest of her fought that thought off
as she stormed out of the tent.
"You'll have to forgive her, she's a bit... high-spirited."
"Oh good, daddy," said Nayrumi. "Like that explains everything."
Senshin cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad you could join
us, we could really use your help. Nayrumi is our main tactician, and
plans all our strategies."
Tenma blinked. "A girl plans your strategies?"
"And I'm quite good at it, thank you very much," Nayrumi replied
evenly.
"Why don't you explain the current situation and the proposed
mission?" Senshin suggested.
"Certainly daddy." She gestured him over to a map of Japan. "Now
we know the this Dark Shogun has been steadily advancing his army
northward from the south end of Japan. Where he's getting his men,
supplies and equipment from is still a mystery I'm working on.
"I've sketched a preliminary plan to eliminate the Dark Shogun
and his armies, but we currently don't have enough manpower to carry it
out. Our army only consists of about 500 men and women who have flocked
to our banner for one reason or another, while the Dark Shogun seemingly
has thousands of troops. To that end, we've been seeking to gain as many
allies as possible. The House of Kuno has recently, and secretly, joined
our cause. However, most everyone else has decided to stay out of it
until the war is finished."
She scoffed. "They're scared, so they sit in their little huts,
hoping this will all blow over." She shook her head. "In any case, we
have learned of one ninja clan that may help us if we can contact them."
She pointed at a spot on the map and grinned. "This is your
mission...
Miyo awoke and sat up. [That was too realistic! What is going
on? That's seems to be a continuation of the last dream I had. Is
someone trying to tell me something?]
She collapsed back onto the bed. [Well, at least I recognize
the names Saotome and Tendo. I wonder if they know anything about this?]
She sighed. [Well, I can't go to them yet. I need more info. Maybe I
should talk to Toshi and see if Yubanaga knows anything. I'll wait and
see if I have any more dreams before confronting the Tendos. Whatever I
sense is coming, is still quite aways off.]
She turned over, closing her eyes. [And I need my beauty
sleep.]
Light gradually spilled into the room of Tendo Nabiki and she
groaned. Off-hand, she wondered how much she could pay the sun to
disappear for a few more hours. It was Sunday, so she could sleep in and
she could've used it, too.
She was up late last night trying to figure out a mystery, and
nothing gave her greater satisfaction that solving a mystery. Then she
remembered what the mystery was and decided she needed to get up.
She opened her eyes and rose to a sitting position, yawning and
stretching. All was quiet in the house. [Hmmm, that's odd. Usually there
is some type of noise. Either Ranma spars with his father or he and
Akane fight. But of course, the no-good panda moved back home.] She
frowned. [That's another reason I don't like that boy; his presence
disrupts my mornings. Still, Akane seems to like him for some reason. He
does have a cute butt, but his personality leaves much to be desired. I
don't know what my sis sees in him.]
She yawned again and got up. Looking at the clock, she deduced
that at least Kasumi would be up fixing breakfast. And who knows, maybe
she could get the bathroom first this morning?
She walked down the stairs with a change of clothes. Kasumi was
humming to herself in the kitchen, but the dining room was empty. She
was the first one up apparently, besides her elder sister. Nabiki
quickly made her way to the bath to wash up.
Several minutes after cleaning herself and relaxing in the
furo, there came a knocking at the door. "Nabiki? Are you in there?"
She smirked. "Yeah, you can come on in, sis."
She could hear the door to the changing room open and some
muffled sounds that said someone outside was stripping. Then the door to
the bathroom opened and in walked Akane, a tired look on her face. To
Nabiki's eye, it looked like her little sister was slightly upset about
something.
"What's up, Akane?" she asked as her sister sat down on the
stool to wash herself.
Akane sighed. If she told Nabiki, chances are it could end up
all over school. If she didn't, Nabiki would find out anyway, she always
did. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Ranma's
hurt enough about this as it is."
That perked up her ears. If Ranma is hurting about something,
it's either a really tough fight that he lost, or some emotional thing
that he wasn't good at dealing with. She debated the pros and cons,
before deciding that her sister's best interests were her own. "I
promise sis, now what's going on?"
"Last night at the party, Ranma got drunk and tried to... to...
grope me." Akane was slightly red.
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "I'll kill him."
"No!" Akane said quickly. "Don't do anything, you haven't heard
the rest of the story." Nabiki nodded and waited for her to continue.
"After I slapped him, he ran off. The next time I found him, he was a
she and... I found her... in one of the bedrooms upstairs." A lone tear
fell down her cheek and she wiped it before continuing. "She was passed
out and there were three guys there undressing her."
Nabiki's eyes widened as she considered this. [Oh kami-sama.
Ranma may have his bad points, but he doesn't deserve that. Akane's
right, I don't need to do anything.] "Did they rape her?"
Akane shook her head. "No, I think I got there in time, but
Ranma remembers some of it and he feels terrible. He even cried last
night."
Nabiki was shocked. "Mr. Man-Among-Men cried?"
Akane nodded. "He's feeling a bit touchy about his `weak'
female form, so please don't tease him about it." She finished washing
and slipped into the furo with her older sister.
"It's okay sis, I won't say anything." She cocked her head.
"Besides, I think I'm gonna need your's and Ranma's help with something.
In case you haven't noticed, Kuno's been missing from school for the
past week."
"I wondered a bit about that. I just put it up to good luck."
"Now Akane," Nabiki scolded. "He has been getting better. He's
all but given you up and I almost had him give up on his `pig-tailed
goddess'. Now he pulls this disappearing trick. Also, there's been no
sign of Kodachi either."
"Think they're related?"
"I don't believe in coincidences," she said evenly. "I believe
Kuno is in his estate somewhere, but not Kodachi. I asked at the door
for them and the servant who answered the door said Kuno was in, but not
seeing anyone, and his sister was gone." She tapped her chin. "I haven't
seen Sasuke either."
"So you want us to sneak in and look for him?"
Nabiki smiled. "That would be ever so helpful of you. You two
are the martial artists of the family." She leaned foreword. "Also, you
need to deal with both Kuno's if you ever hope to marry Ranma in peace.
You already said Ukyo gave up and you beat Shampoo, so they're the only
ones left."
Akane blushed a bit, but nodded. "I'll see what we can do.
Ranma will probably have a bit of a hangover, so if we go, it will be
later tonight."
As a matter of fact, Ranma-onna did have a hangover. Not as bad
as normal people, thanks to her amazing healing factor, but it wasn't
pleasant. She groaned and got up, going through the motions of getting
ready for the day in a zombie-like state. When it was her turn for the
bath, she washed quickly and slipped into the furo, feeling the change
come over him, like it always did. Amazingly, it seemed to help his
condition somewhat.
He entered the dining room and took his usual place next to
Akane. She smiled at him and he felt a wave of happiness wash over him.
[I love that smile!] She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand.
"So what's this I hear about a training trip, Ranma-kun?" Soun
asked.
Ranma sighed. He knew this would probably get brought up.
"Gotta do something with my summer break. With the way my fights have
been goin' lately, I think it's a good idea to brush up my skills."
"And you're taking Akane with you?" he asked, smiling and
hopeful.
He glanced at her. "Yeah, I am her sensei, so there's a lot I
need ta teach her, and I know a place where it'll be easier ta do that.
Besides, It's only for a week or two, depending on how much we can
accomplish and how long our supplies last."
Soun nodded his approval and gave him a knowing glance. Ranma
sighed. They may have stopped trying to push him and Akane together, but
they still were over eager to help the process along. He hoped the two
fathers weren't planning anything.
Nabiki saw what Ranma did not. [I swear, that boy is clueless.
Akane and him up in the mountains, all alone, sharing a tent...
Obviously our father expects nature to take it's course and then they'd
have the final reason the marry the two.] She sighed. [If anything is
going to happen, it'll be up to Akane.] She looked at her sister and
smirked. Akane caught the meaning and blushed bright red. [Well, then
again, maybe she won't. She just might wait `til her wedding night. I
know Ranma will. And even then... I suppose it's to be expected with a
father like Genma, too busy teaching his son how to beat up people and
none on how to relate with the opposite sex.]
All of this passed right by the young Saotome. Of course,
breakfast was served and the rest of the world was forgotten as Ranma
dove into his food with a vengeance. Akane sighed and Nabiki thought
that her younger sister had her work cut out for her if she wanted to
tame Ranma into a proper husband.
Hikaru concentrated. Behind him, Ariko had her hands on his
shoulders and was trying to send him magical energy. The glass in front
of him moved slightly. Hikaru groaned.
After several days of study, Ariko found that Gos's problem was
that he was a magical sponge. He could absorb expended magical energies
from around him, and concentrate them into telekinetic abilities. That's
why they worked so well during the fight with Krynn; the evil wizard was
emitting high levels of the stuff. Nerima had a slightly higher
concentration of magics, but he was having trouble tapping it. Even with
Ariko sending him some of her powers, he could barely do move anything.
"This isn't working," Hikaru said, exasperated.
"Calm down, Hi-chan," Ariko soothed. "You're getting better, you
just need to learn to better absorb and control the energies. Also, if
you spend some more time storing up the magic, your power would grow."
Gos leaned his face into his hand and sighed. "You think so?"
She smiled. "Of course, silly." She snapped her fingers. "And I
think I know something that'll help you!" She ran over to wear their
magic books lay and began flipping through them. Finally, she found her
page. "Ah, here it is!"
Hikaru looked it over. "A magic amplifier amulet? Can we make
one?"
"I think so. All the ingredients are easy enough to obtain.
Here's the spell and ritual. Yeah, I think it's doable. And if it works,
you should have an easier time gathering and using magic."
"If." Gos said simply. None of his spells ever worked right. He
hoped Ariko was better than he was.
That evening two figures moved silently through the darkness,
going from shadow to shadow. Their target was the mansion at the end of
the street. With a final burst of stealthy speed, they reached the outer
wall of their target and leapt to the top.
"What do you think?" Akane asked. She was wearing dark sweat
pants with a matching dark shirt, same as the person next to her.
Ranma studied the interior a bit before responding. "Looks good
so far. Still, who knows how many traps Sasuke's got out there. Man, I
can't believe I'm doing this."
Akane smiled. "How did Nabiki get you to help anyways?"
Ranma grimaced. [Can't tell her.] "Uh, I'll tell ya later.
Right now, I think we should go." He leapt down and Akane followed.
"Man, it's too quiet."
Akane nodded in agreement and the two made their way to the
mansion. As they flattened themselves against the wall, the couple
peeked into one of the many window and beheld only a darkened room.
Ranma nodded to Akane, and he slid the window open. As he did, a panel
underneath Akane opened up and she fell in.
"Ranma!"
Acting quickly, Ranma dropped to his stomach and grabbed her
hand. "I've got you!" She latched onto his arm with her other hand and
he began to pull her up. "Ugh! Akane, you're gettin' pretty heavy, you
know that?"
Akane started a quick boil. "Raaannnnmmmaaa!"
He smiled. "But that's just because you're strong, and I like
you that way." He pulled her all the way back up and kissed her. [Heh,
heh. This is more fun than getting hit. I can tease her and get away
with it.]
"Ranma!" she exclaimed as she slugged him. "That's not going to
work everytime. Let's go."
They climbed into the room and moved silently to the other
door, passing through it and into a darkened hall.
"Now which way?" Akane asked. "Should we split up?"
Ranma shook his head. "Naw. Too many traps and unknowns. We
should stick together."
Picking a direction, they moved silently down the hall.
"Hey Nabiki-san!" Yuri greeted the middle Tendo as she walked
into Ucchan's. The ninja girl was behind the grill, cooking. Well,
cleaning up. "We're almost at closing time, but I can still make ya
something."
"Sure, that's be great," Nabiki said, sitting down on a stool.
"Is that Tendo Nabiki-san I hear out there?" Kenji called from
the back where he was washing dishes.
"Sure is!" his sister replied.
Kenji walked out and looked at her. He didn't really hate
Nabiki, but she wasn't exactly his best friend either. He still wasn't
happy at the way she had put out the information that allowed the Fire
Lord to find and capture him.
"How are things at the dojo?" he asked evenly.
"Same old, same old." Nabiki caught the hidden message. [Still
not on his good list. That's fine by me.] "Where's the main chef?"
Kenji turned away while Yuri spoke up. "She's up in her room.
She didn't feel much like coming down today, so we ran the restaurant
instead. Apparently she can't handle her liquor very well."
"We actually had to shut down for awhile while Yuri trained with
our new sensei," said Kenji.
Nabiki gave a questioning look. "New sensei?"
Yuri finished the okonomiyaki and handed it to Nabiki. "Yeah.
Apparently he was sent from our clan to train us." Yuri looked
thoughtful. "Say, why don't you practice martial arts, Nabiki-chan? You
do live in a dojo."
"I did for awhile," she explained between bites, "but Akane
quickly became better at it, and I found my time taken up by keeping the
dojo afloat, financially. Just don't have the desire much anymore. Mmmm,
this is pretty good. Not as good as Ukyo makes, but still pretty tasty."
Yuri bowed. "Arigato, I'm a quick study and Ucchan's a good
teacher. By the way, how are Ranma and Akane doing?"
Nabiki blanched. "Nowadays I look foreword to their fights.
Their lovey-dovey act makes me sick. I assume they'll get married as
soon as the Kuno's are dealt with."
"Any sign of Kodachi?" Kenji asked.
Nabiki shook her head. "Not really. I've had a few contacts say
they saw her leave the city, but that's about it. I don't know what
she's up to, and that worries me. But that can wait. The bigger mystery
is what's happening with Tatewaki. He hasn't been in school all week, so
I had the lovebirds go check out his mansion."
"Kuno Tatewaki..." Yuri tapped her chin. "He's the guy in the
blue samurai garb and wields a bokken?" The middle Tendo sister nodded.
"I thought I saw him practicing when I went to meet with Sensei. Only he
was wielding a real katana and saying something about finally having his
two loves."
Nabiki stopped eating. "When and where was this?"
"Earlier today when I went to meet our sensei in the park. I
didn't pay much attention to him, but he said something about tonight
being the night when he gets his vengeance against the `vile sorcerer'
and frees his two loves. Said he had it all planned out."
Nabiki frowned. "I thought I got him out of his dreamworld. Why
would he..." Her blood ran cold. "Oh no. I sent Ranma and Akane to his
mansion. I think they're walking into a trap! I have to stop them."
She got up and felt a hand restrain her arm. It was Kenji. He
may not have liked her much, but Ranma and Akane were a different story.
"We'll go with you."
Yuri nodded in agreement. "Give us a minute to get ready."
"I'm going, too," came a voice from a nearby doorway.
"Ukyo-chan?" Yuri questioned. "Are you sure? Are you feeling
okay?"
Ukyo nodded. "I've been sleeping all day. If Ranchan and Akane-
chan are in trouble, count me in." She snapped on her bandoleer of
spatula's and grabbed her battle spat off the wall.
"Okay, but we have to hurry," Nabiki said.
The Soyokaze siblings disappeared into their rooms and returned
a couple of minutes later, wearing twin grey, ninja bodysuits. With a
nod, the quartet took off into the night.
From an isolated room, a figure watched several monitor
screens, paying attention to one in particular. On it, two figures could
be seen walking down a hallway. [Galfgar was right. Disappear long
enough, and both my enemy and my love will come looking for me.] He
smiled. [Now I just have to separate them...]
Kuno reached forward flicked a few switches. On the screen, the
two people were boxed in as walls blocked off either end of the hallway.
[I must thank Sasuke for these wonderful traps.]
Another flick of a switch, and the walls started closing in.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
You make ask yourself where I'm planning on going with this series. I
ask myself that same thing. I have a definite direction I'm heading in,
and I'm slowly building little things up to that point. I'm also trying
to have some fun and good character development along the way; just like
a normal continuation series. Here's a hint: Miyo's dream sequences have
a major bearing on the characters.
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Don't worry, I'll return what I borrowed when I'm done.
Though I'll never actually BE done. Heh, heh, heh.
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 10
"Saotome, look out!"
The man known as Saotome Tenma backflipped behind the man who
tried to stab him in the back with a sharpened polearm. A powerful kick
sent the dark shogun warrior stumbling into his companions. Using the
brief break, he concentrated his ki and sent a medium-sized ki-ball into
the group, knocking them together and sending them to the ground in a
jumble of arms and legs.
He looked up to see his companion, Akara, maul her opponent. He
winced. [Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.] Her adversary dropped to the
ground, unconscious.
"Are you always this brutal in your attacks?" he asked.
"You haven't been fighting the dark shogun's men as long as I
have," she retorted. "When you have, you tend to forget the niceties of
combat."
Tenma shook his head. True, he hadn't fought the Dark Shogun's
men until a few days ago, but his sensei had always stressed the use of
minimal force and honor in combat. He really missed his sensei, but he
had passed on to the next world and left a message for him to seek out a
man name Tendo Senshin and aid him. Tenma finally made arrangements to
meet him at the Inn, but met his daughter instead, a feisty warrior by
the name of Tendo Akara.
"Shall we get going?" she asked, almost perturbed.
"Have to wait for Neko," he replied. As if on cue, the huge
black cat emerged from the woods and bounded up to Tenma, rubbing
against him. "Easy girl. Did you get him?" The puma nodded. "Good girl.
Now we can go."
Neko was his sensei's companion, but decided to come with Tenma
when her master died. He couldn't dissuade the big cat, so he brought
her along, much to the annoyance of Akara.
"We should reach my father's camp in a little under two hours if
we hurry," she said in a tone that meant that she would hurry and he
would have to if he wanted to keep up.
As they began to move, Tenma became tired of the way his guide
was treating him. "Look, I don't know what you're problem is with me,
but can't you at least try to act civil?"
She snorted. "Why?"
"Well then, what is your problem with me?"
She seemed to hesitate, then answered, "I don't know you. My
father may trust you, but I don't. As far as I am concerned, you're a
spy sent by the Dark Shogun. If you want my trust, you'll have to earn
it."
"That's fair. To be honest, I've never met your father, but
supposedly he was friends with my sensei, who was my only family with
the exception of Neko."
"What about your parents?"
His face fell a bit. "I never knew them. I don't know any of my
family, or what happened to them."
"So you're an orphan?"
"Pretty much."
The rest of the trip went in silence.
Sure enough, two grueling hours later, they entered the large
encampment. Akara quickly led him to the command tent. Stepping inside,
he was introduced to the man in command of the little army, Tendo
Senshin, who was dressed in sturdy brown, samurai armor. Tenma executed
a short bow as taught by his sensei.
"Saotome Tenma, eh?" Senshin asked. "I'm sorry to hear of your
sensei's passing; Satsu was an old friend of mine."
"Thank you for your concern, Tendo-san."
"No need to be so formal, call me Senshin. How old are you?"
"Nineteen... Senshin-san." He stumbled a bit over the name,
feeling slightly uncomfortable saying it.
"Father, who's the guest?" came the voice of a new girl entering
the tent. She was followed by another girl, slightly shorter than she
was.
Senshin's face brightened. "Ah, Allow me to introduce to my old
friend's pupil, Saotome Tenma. Tenma-kun, these are my daughters. My
oldest daughter Kimiko, she's 22." He indicated the tall, mild mannered
girl who was dressed like a Shinto priestess. She bowed. "My middle
daughter Nayrumi, she's 20." The second girl with the short brown hair
smirked at him. "And you've already met my youngest daughter, Akara,
she's 19 as well. They are all available if you are seeking a wife."
Tenma blanched. [Wife? They're in the middle of a war and he's
trying to marry off his daughters? Well I suppose good men are hard to
find...] He could see the reactions of the three girls were almost the
same as his.
"I'm sorry father, but my priestess duties come first, no
offense Saotome-san," Kimiko said.
"I might be interested," Nayrumi said as she began to look him
over. Something about her gaze made Tenma decidedly uncomfortable. "Nah,
on second thought, he's too much of country bumpkin for my tastes. You
can have him, Imouto-chan."
Akara fumed, something Tenma had seen quite a bit the past two
days. "Oh sure! Pass him off on me! Well I don't want him!" Though a
part of her couldn't help but think his short pony-tail gave him a
certain attractiveness factor. The rest of her fought that thought off
as she stormed out of the tent.
"You'll have to forgive her, she's a bit... high-spirited."
"Oh good, daddy," said Nayrumi. "Like that explains everything."
Senshin cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad you could join
us, we could really use your help. Nayrumi is our main tactician, and
plans all our strategies."
Tenma blinked. "A girl plans your strategies?"
"And I'm quite good at it, thank you very much," Nayrumi replied
evenly.
"Why don't you explain the current situation and the proposed
mission?" Senshin suggested.
"Certainly daddy." She gestured him over to a map of Japan. "Now
we know the this Dark Shogun has been steadily advancing his army
northward from the south end of Japan. Where he's getting his men,
supplies and equipment from is still a mystery I'm working on.
"I've sketched a preliminary plan to eliminate the Dark Shogun
and his armies, but we currently don't have enough manpower to carry it
out. Our army only consists of about 500 men and women who have flocked
to our banner for one reason or another, while the Dark Shogun seemingly
has thousands of troops. To that end, we've been seeking to gain as many
allies as possible. The House of Kuno has recently, and secretly, joined
our cause. However, most everyone else has decided to stay out of it
until the war is finished."
She scoffed. "They're scared, so they sit in their little huts,
hoping this will all blow over." She shook her head. "In any case, we
have learned of one ninja clan that may help us if we can contact them."
She pointed at a spot on the map and grinned. "This is your
mission...
Miyo awoke and sat up. [That was too realistic! What is going
on? That's seems to be a continuation of the last dream I had. Is
someone trying to tell me something?]
She collapsed back onto the bed. [Well, at least I recognize
the names Saotome and Tendo. I wonder if they know anything about this?]
She sighed. [Well, I can't go to them yet. I need more info. Maybe I
should talk to Toshi and see if Yubanaga knows anything. I'll wait and
see if I have any more dreams before confronting the Tendos. Whatever I
sense is coming, is still quite aways off.]
She turned over, closing her eyes. [And I need my beauty
sleep.]
Light gradually spilled into the room of Tendo Nabiki and she
groaned. Off-hand, she wondered how much she could pay the sun to
disappear for a few more hours. It was Sunday, so she could sleep in and
she could've used it, too.
She was up late last night trying to figure out a mystery, and
nothing gave her greater satisfaction that solving a mystery. Then she
remembered what the mystery was and decided she needed to get up.
She opened her eyes and rose to a sitting position, yawning and
stretching. All was quiet in the house. [Hmmm, that's odd. Usually there
is some type of noise. Either Ranma spars with his father or he and
Akane fight. But of course, the no-good panda moved back home.] She
frowned. [That's another reason I don't like that boy; his presence
disrupts my mornings. Still, Akane seems to like him for some reason. He
does have a cute butt, but his personality leaves much to be desired. I
don't know what my sis sees in him.]
She yawned again and got up. Looking at the clock, she deduced
that at least Kasumi would be up fixing breakfast. And who knows, maybe
she could get the bathroom first this morning?
She walked down the stairs with a change of clothes. Kasumi was
humming to herself in the kitchen, but the dining room was empty. She
was the first one up apparently, besides her elder sister. Nabiki
quickly made her way to the bath to wash up.
Several minutes after cleaning herself and relaxing in the
furo, there came a knocking at the door. "Nabiki? Are you in there?"
She smirked. "Yeah, you can come on in, sis."
She could hear the door to the changing room open and some
muffled sounds that said someone outside was stripping. Then the door to
the bathroom opened and in walked Akane, a tired look on her face. To
Nabiki's eye, it looked like her little sister was slightly upset about
something.
"What's up, Akane?" she asked as her sister sat down on the
stool to wash herself.
Akane sighed. If she told Nabiki, chances are it could end up
all over school. If she didn't, Nabiki would find out anyway, she always
did. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Ranma's
hurt enough about this as it is."
That perked up her ears. If Ranma is hurting about something,
it's either a really tough fight that he lost, or some emotional thing
that he wasn't good at dealing with. She debated the pros and cons,
before deciding that her sister's best interests were her own. "I
promise sis, now what's going on?"
"Last night at the party, Ranma got drunk and tried to... to...
grope me." Akane was slightly red.
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "I'll kill him."
"No!" Akane said quickly. "Don't do anything, you haven't heard
the rest of the story." Nabiki nodded and waited for her to continue.
"After I slapped him, he ran off. The next time I found him, he was a
she and... I found her... in one of the bedrooms upstairs." A lone tear
fell down her cheek and she wiped it before continuing. "She was passed
out and there were three guys there undressing her."
Nabiki's eyes widened as she considered this. [Oh kami-sama.
Ranma may have his bad points, but he doesn't deserve that. Akane's
right, I don't need to do anything.] "Did they rape her?"
Akane shook her head. "No, I think I got there in time, but
Ranma remembers some of it and he feels terrible. He even cried last
night."
Nabiki was shocked. "Mr. Man-Among-Men cried?"
Akane nodded. "He's feeling a bit touchy about his `weak'
female form, so please don't tease him about it." She finished washing
and slipped into the furo with her older sister.
"It's okay sis, I won't say anything." She cocked her head.
"Besides, I think I'm gonna need your's and Ranma's help with something.
In case you haven't noticed, Kuno's been missing from school for the
past week."
"I wondered a bit about that. I just put it up to good luck."
"Now Akane," Nabiki scolded. "He has been getting better. He's
all but given you up and I almost had him give up on his `pig-tailed
goddess'. Now he pulls this disappearing trick. Also, there's been no
sign of Kodachi either."
"Think they're related?"
"I don't believe in coincidences," she said evenly. "I believe
Kuno is in his estate somewhere, but not Kodachi. I asked at the door
for them and the servant who answered the door said Kuno was in, but not
seeing anyone, and his sister was gone." She tapped her chin. "I haven't
seen Sasuke either."
"So you want us to sneak in and look for him?"
Nabiki smiled. "That would be ever so helpful of you. You two
are the martial artists of the family." She leaned foreword. "Also, you
need to deal with both Kuno's if you ever hope to marry Ranma in peace.
You already said Ukyo gave up and you beat Shampoo, so they're the only
ones left."
Akane blushed a bit, but nodded. "I'll see what we can do.
Ranma will probably have a bit of a hangover, so if we go, it will be
later tonight."
As a matter of fact, Ranma-onna did have a hangover. Not as bad
as normal people, thanks to her amazing healing factor, but it wasn't
pleasant. She groaned and got up, going through the motions of getting
ready for the day in a zombie-like state. When it was her turn for the
bath, she washed quickly and slipped into the furo, feeling the change
come over him, like it always did. Amazingly, it seemed to help his
condition somewhat.
He entered the dining room and took his usual place next to
Akane. She smiled at him and he felt a wave of happiness wash over him.
[I love that smile!] She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand.
"So what's this I hear about a training trip, Ranma-kun?" Soun
asked.
Ranma sighed. He knew this would probably get brought up.
"Gotta do something with my summer break. With the way my fights have
been goin' lately, I think it's a good idea to brush up my skills."
"And you're taking Akane with you?" he asked, smiling and
hopeful.
He glanced at her. "Yeah, I am her sensei, so there's a lot I
need ta teach her, and I know a place where it'll be easier ta do that.
Besides, It's only for a week or two, depending on how much we can
accomplish and how long our supplies last."
Soun nodded his approval and gave him a knowing glance. Ranma
sighed. They may have stopped trying to push him and Akane together, but
they still were over eager to help the process along. He hoped the two
fathers weren't planning anything.
Nabiki saw what Ranma did not. [I swear, that boy is clueless.
Akane and him up in the mountains, all alone, sharing a tent...
Obviously our father expects nature to take it's course and then they'd
have the final reason the marry the two.] She sighed. [If anything is
going to happen, it'll be up to Akane.] She looked at her sister and
smirked. Akane caught the meaning and blushed bright red. [Well, then
again, maybe she won't. She just might wait `til her wedding night. I
know Ranma will. And even then... I suppose it's to be expected with a
father like Genma, too busy teaching his son how to beat up people and
none on how to relate with the opposite sex.]
All of this passed right by the young Saotome. Of course,
breakfast was served and the rest of the world was forgotten as Ranma
dove into his food with a vengeance. Akane sighed and Nabiki thought
that her younger sister had her work cut out for her if she wanted to
tame Ranma into a proper husband.
Hikaru concentrated. Behind him, Ariko had her hands on his
shoulders and was trying to send him magical energy. The glass in front
of him moved slightly. Hikaru groaned.
After several days of study, Ariko found that Gos's problem was
that he was a magical sponge. He could absorb expended magical energies
from around him, and concentrate them into telekinetic abilities. That's
why they worked so well during the fight with Krynn; the evil wizard was
emitting high levels of the stuff. Nerima had a slightly higher
concentration of magics, but he was having trouble tapping it. Even with
Ariko sending him some of her powers, he could barely do move anything.
"This isn't working," Hikaru said, exasperated.
"Calm down, Hi-chan," Ariko soothed. "You're getting better, you
just need to learn to better absorb and control the energies. Also, if
you spend some more time storing up the magic, your power would grow."
Gos leaned his face into his hand and sighed. "You think so?"
She smiled. "Of course, silly." She snapped her fingers. "And I
think I know something that'll help you!" She ran over to wear their
magic books lay and began flipping through them. Finally, she found her
page. "Ah, here it is!"
Hikaru looked it over. "A magic amplifier amulet? Can we make
one?"
"I think so. All the ingredients are easy enough to obtain.
Here's the spell and ritual. Yeah, I think it's doable. And if it works,
you should have an easier time gathering and using magic."
"If." Gos said simply. None of his spells ever worked right. He
hoped Ariko was better than he was.
That evening two figures moved silently through the darkness,
going from shadow to shadow. Their target was the mansion at the end of
the street. With a final burst of stealthy speed, they reached the outer
wall of their target and leapt to the top.
"What do you think?" Akane asked. She was wearing dark sweat
pants with a matching dark shirt, same as the person next to her.
Ranma studied the interior a bit before responding. "Looks good
so far. Still, who knows how many traps Sasuke's got out there. Man, I
can't believe I'm doing this."
Akane smiled. "How did Nabiki get you to help anyways?"
Ranma grimaced. [Can't tell her.] "Uh, I'll tell ya later.
Right now, I think we should go." He leapt down and Akane followed.
"Man, it's too quiet."
Akane nodded in agreement and the two made their way to the
mansion. As they flattened themselves against the wall, the couple
peeked into one of the many window and beheld only a darkened room.
Ranma nodded to Akane, and he slid the window open. As he did, a panel
underneath Akane opened up and she fell in.
"Ranma!"
Acting quickly, Ranma dropped to his stomach and grabbed her
hand. "I've got you!" She latched onto his arm with her other hand and
he began to pull her up. "Ugh! Akane, you're gettin' pretty heavy, you
know that?"
Akane started a quick boil. "Raaannnnmmmaaa!"
He smiled. "But that's just because you're strong, and I like
you that way." He pulled her all the way back up and kissed her. [Heh,
heh. This is more fun than getting hit. I can tease her and get away
with it.]
"Ranma!" she exclaimed as she slugged him. "That's not going to
work everytime. Let's go."
They climbed into the room and moved silently to the other
door, passing through it and into a darkened hall.
"Now which way?" Akane asked. "Should we split up?"
Ranma shook his head. "Naw. Too many traps and unknowns. We
should stick together."
Picking a direction, they moved silently down the hall.
"Hey Nabiki-san!" Yuri greeted the middle Tendo as she walked
into Ucchan's. The ninja girl was behind the grill, cooking. Well,
cleaning up. "We're almost at closing time, but I can still make ya
something."
"Sure, that's be great," Nabiki said, sitting down on a stool.
"Is that Tendo Nabiki-san I hear out there?" Kenji called from
the back where he was washing dishes.
"Sure is!" his sister replied.
Kenji walked out and looked at her. He didn't really hate
Nabiki, but she wasn't exactly his best friend either. He still wasn't
happy at the way she had put out the information that allowed the Fire
Lord to find and capture him.
"How are things at the dojo?" he asked evenly.
"Same old, same old." Nabiki caught the hidden message. [Still
not on his good list. That's fine by me.] "Where's the main chef?"
Kenji turned away while Yuri spoke up. "She's up in her room.
She didn't feel much like coming down today, so we ran the restaurant
instead. Apparently she can't handle her liquor very well."
"We actually had to shut down for awhile while Yuri trained with
our new sensei," said Kenji.
Nabiki gave a questioning look. "New sensei?"
Yuri finished the okonomiyaki and handed it to Nabiki. "Yeah.
Apparently he was sent from our clan to train us." Yuri looked
thoughtful. "Say, why don't you practice martial arts, Nabiki-chan? You
do live in a dojo."
"I did for awhile," she explained between bites, "but Akane
quickly became better at it, and I found my time taken up by keeping the
dojo afloat, financially. Just don't have the desire much anymore. Mmmm,
this is pretty good. Not as good as Ukyo makes, but still pretty tasty."
Yuri bowed. "Arigato, I'm a quick study and Ucchan's a good
teacher. By the way, how are Ranma and Akane doing?"
Nabiki blanched. "Nowadays I look foreword to their fights.
Their lovey-dovey act makes me sick. I assume they'll get married as
soon as the Kuno's are dealt with."
"Any sign of Kodachi?" Kenji asked.
Nabiki shook her head. "Not really. I've had a few contacts say
they saw her leave the city, but that's about it. I don't know what
she's up to, and that worries me. But that can wait. The bigger mystery
is what's happening with Tatewaki. He hasn't been in school all week, so
I had the lovebirds go check out his mansion."
"Kuno Tatewaki..." Yuri tapped her chin. "He's the guy in the
blue samurai garb and wields a bokken?" The middle Tendo sister nodded.
"I thought I saw him practicing when I went to meet with Sensei. Only he
was wielding a real katana and saying something about finally having his
two loves."
Nabiki stopped eating. "When and where was this?"
"Earlier today when I went to meet our sensei in the park. I
didn't pay much attention to him, but he said something about tonight
being the night when he gets his vengeance against the `vile sorcerer'
and frees his two loves. Said he had it all planned out."
Nabiki frowned. "I thought I got him out of his dreamworld. Why
would he..." Her blood ran cold. "Oh no. I sent Ranma and Akane to his
mansion. I think they're walking into a trap! I have to stop them."
She got up and felt a hand restrain her arm. It was Kenji. He
may not have liked her much, but Ranma and Akane were a different story.
"We'll go with you."
Yuri nodded in agreement. "Give us a minute to get ready."
"I'm going, too," came a voice from a nearby doorway.
"Ukyo-chan?" Yuri questioned. "Are you sure? Are you feeling
okay?"
Ukyo nodded. "I've been sleeping all day. If Ranchan and Akane-
chan are in trouble, count me in." She snapped on her bandoleer of
spatula's and grabbed her battle spat off the wall.
"Okay, but we have to hurry," Nabiki said.
The Soyokaze siblings disappeared into their rooms and returned
a couple of minutes later, wearing twin grey, ninja bodysuits. With a
nod, the quartet took off into the night.
From an isolated room, a figure watched several monitor
screens, paying attention to one in particular. On it, two figures could
be seen walking down a hallway. [Galfgar was right. Disappear long
enough, and both my enemy and my love will come looking for me.] He
smiled. [Now I just have to separate them...]
Kuno reached forward flicked a few switches. On the screen, the
two people were boxed in as walls blocked off either end of the hallway.
[I must thank Sasuke for these wonderful traps.]
Another flick of a switch, and the walls started closing in.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
You make ask yourself where I'm planning on going with this series. I
ask myself that same thing. I have a definite direction I'm heading in,
and I'm slowly building little things up to that point. I'm also trying
to have some fun and good character development along the way; just like
a normal continuation series. Here's a hint: Miyo's dream sequences have
a major bearing on the characters.
