Author's Note: Hmmm… people have been asking about Happosai and truth be
told I had him slated for something a little bit further down. But then I
actually had an inspiration and decided to move it up a bit. Try to guess
where he is.
A special note for Diablo fans… I HATE Flayers. I mean I really really really hate them with a passion. Therefore for the next six chapters or so will be my way of gaining retribution against those little @!#!$#
* * *
The breaths came ragged at first. Her lips were dry and crusted over with salt. Akane's fingers clutching the rich dirt that she lay on as her body was wracked with another series of coughs. Her eyes refused to open, as if she was afraid to break this reality. If I open my eyes, she thought, I'll still be under water.
She felt something warm against her face and the darkness slowly started to fade. Reluctantly, she gave in and let her eyes blink open. She was staring at a green canopy, the sunlight of a new day was pushing through the leaves. Carefully, she pushed herself off the ground and tried to stand.
She regretted it immediately and she sank back to her knees as dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. She wrapped her arms around her arms, realizing that she had been stripped of most of her clothes by the storm. The skin around her ribs hurt and looking down, she saw what remained of the harness. It looked like someone had ripped through it with their teeth!
There was a rustling in the trees and Akane went on full alert. She tried to stand up to prepare to fight. But she was still too weak. And a second later, she felt a dozen forms descend on her. She curled up into a ball to protect herself and moments later she was unconscious again.
* * *
The dock man caught the rope and secured to the wooden post. The ship pulled towards the dock and gentle hit it. The man finished tying his knot and signaled to the captain.
"We have arrived at our destination," Kuno said to the group assembled on the deck. There was a general murmur of thanks as they slowly descended down the gangplank. The night was almost over and they were all weary from their journey.
"Welcome to Kurast!" A tall man made his way over to them holding a lantern. "We don't usually get visitors so early. Dawn has not broken yet. But I am glad you have arrived safely."
"We thank you for your hospitality," Kuno said. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, leader of Lut Gholeim. "
"Tofu Ono, leader of Kurast. Or what's left of it at any rate," he said with a small smile.
"It is a honor to meet you," Kuno said. "I wish our welcome were as energetic as your own but we are all tired from our journey. Is there an inn that we may secure lodging in?"
"Of course, follow me." Tofu said.
Kuno looked behind him and made sure the rest of the group was following. Slowly, Tofu led them away from the dock and onto a stone road that bordered the sea. "Tell me, have any other ships docked here recently."
Tofu paused. "Well, we were expecting a freight ship but she never showed up."
"Any caravans by land?"
"No, nothing can cross the land between the docks and Travincal."
Kuno paused. Then his beloved Akane Tendo would not have come here. Still, it was odd that a town as prosperous as Kurast was so lacking in trade. He had sent almost forty ships himself last year here.
Kuno then noticed the silence. Even this early in the morning, the town should have had been coming alive. The fisherman would return from their trips soon and the docks should be overrun with activity. But it was dead silent.
As the sun rose in the east, he looked down and he watched his feet walk on uneven ground. Even more peculiar. A town as rich as this one should not have roads that were in need of repair. But the stone roads were cracked.
"Tell me, Leader Ono…"
"Tofu," he said.
"Very well Leader Tofu. Why is it that Kurast is in such ill repair? And where are your people?"
Tofu stopped and turned to Kuno. "I hesitated to ask you about Lut Gholeim but I am glad to know that this evil has no yet reached your shores." With a pause, he continued forward, taking the group away from the sea and towards the center of town.
Before Kuno could ask him what he meant by his statement, he saw it first hand. Kurast, once beautiful and a center of financial activity of the continent, appeared to have been nearly destroyed. The proud buildings crumbled and left piles of stone at their base. The roads were not merely cracked but looked as if parts of them had been uprooted completely. People peered wearily out of windows as the group passed by, quickly disappearing if someone caught their eye.
"What happened here?" Kuno asked. Tofu started to reply but he was interrupted by a female voice.
"Simple. These people tried to fight back and they were almost destroyed. Just like Tristram."
The group turned around quickly as a figure emerged out of the shadows. She was dressed in a black uniform, her short brown hair barely brushing her shoulders. Her eyes glittered with mischief and her arms were crossed against her chest.
"Na… Nabiki?" Soun asked, pushing his way through the group.
"Hi daddy," Nabiki said with a smile. She tried to maintain her aloof look but suddenly she found herself being crushed by her father's hug. It was soon afterwards that she was hugging him back.
* * *
"So what happened after you teleported?" Soun asked.
Nabiki sighed and put down her glass of milk. She settled into her seat and looked at the assembled group. Genma, Soun and Kuno had just sat down with her to have some breakfast at the inn but it appeared her father wasn't going to let her eat until her story was told.
"Kasumi and I decided to teleport before Tristram was completely consumed," Nabiki said. "We thought it would be safer to teleport ourselves as far away as possible. But we didn't do it together and she's much stronger than I am so I wasn't surprised that I didn't see her when I rematerialized. When I finally got my bearings, I realized I wasn't near Tristram anymore. In fact, I wasn't sure where I was.
"I heard some sounds and decided to follow them. I recognized Kurast from some books I read a while back. Can you imagine my surprise? I wanted to teleport away from Tristram. I didn't expect it to be halfway across the world! Luckily, I knew quite a few people who were in Kurast so it took no time to get settled in. I wanted to send you some kind of message but it wasn't possible."
"So what's with the uniform," Genma asked, pointing at her clothes.
Nabiki smiled. "Let's just say, I moved my business from Tristram to here in record time."
"Spying," Soun said softly.
"Not at all," Nabiki said. "I merely gather information on things, especially those dark things that have been causing us so much trouble. I heard about the Rogue Encampment so I knew you were okay. I tried to get a message to Lut Gholeim but…"
She paused and took a sip of her milk. "It was just like Tristram. A warning only a few seconds before the attack. We held them back, mainly thanks to fact that there are an ungodly number of magic based mercenaries based here." She put the glass down. "Since then, we've been trying to keep them away from this area."
"And the rest of Kurast?" Kuno asked.
Nabiki sighed. "It's been completely overrun. Outside of the walls we've erected is just endless jungle with a host of monsters roaming through it."
"Wonderful," Genma said leaning back in his seat.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Saotome," Nabiki said. "I know that you were looking for a cure for your and Ranma's curses." She paused. "Still… there may be a way." Genma's eyes widened but Soun wasn't quite as excited. If he knew his daughter, there was going to be some heavy money involved.
"There's a potion dealer in town," she said, "who has a potion that can remove one curse from anyone. But… he has a high price."
"Here we go," Soun said with a resigned sigh.
Nabiki looked hurt. "Really Daddy."
"Name the price," Kuno said with a wave of his hand. "Money is of no object to the leader of Lut Gholeim."
Any look of hurt on Nabiki's suddenly disappeared and was replaced with greed. "Leader, eh? Kuno-baby, you and I are going to be great friends. But money isn't what he wants. It's the golden figurine and it's not something you can buy."
"Here it comes," Soun said, with a knowing smile.
"The owner of this figurine will trade it," Nabiki said. "But only in exchange for something that was lost during the battle."
"What is it?" Genma asked.
"A jade figurine of a little bird."
"And where shall we find this bird?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Somewhere out there."
"Out there," Soun said. "Where there are, and I'm quoting you, 'a host of monsters roaming through it'. Nabiki, this isn't some elaborate scheme to…"
"Daddy!" Nabiki cried. "Really! I would think that after all I've been through you'd realize that I've changed."
Soun's face remained impassive but he finally sighed. "I'm sorry Nabiki. Go on."
With a triumphant smile, Nabiki began to outline her plan.
* * *
Lying in bed, Ranma looked up at the thatched ceiling. In the two beds next to him, he could hear Ryoga snoring loudly and Mousse repeating something that he probably shouldn't be hearing. It wasn't there distractions that were keeping him awake.
He kept replaying the scene from the boat over and over in his mind, trying to see what had happened. It was worse each time because each time he saw his mistakes in more and more detail. If only he had stopped them from boarding the ship. If only he had listened to his instincts. If only he had realized that it wasn't Akane. If only…
He sighed, picking up the necklace from around his neck and looking at the small fragment of the helmet as it twirled in the semi-darkness. He wondered where she was and if she was all right. It had never occurred to him before that she wasn't because he knew Akane and she wouldn't do anything that might hurt her.
Of course, she had charged into a few battles before thinking. And she had been hurt in Lut Gholeim by that monster. And she had made a deal with those demons that had resulted in her being trapped in a shadow world that almost trapped her for eternity.
Yeah, there was nothing to worry about.
* * *
"Shampoo?"
"Mmmhmmm??"
"Shampoo are you awake?"
"Mhmmmm…"
"I wanted to ask you something," Ukyo said leaning over her bed and facing the purple-haired Amazon. "It's about Ranma and… SHAMPOO!"
"What!" she said shooting out of bed. Shampoo looked over at Ukyo. "What about Ranma?"
"Do you think… do you think I obsess about him too much?"
Shampoo sighed and got comfortable in bed again. "No right way to answer question."
"What?" Ukyo asked.
"If Shampoo say yes, assassin think Shampoo lying so can get Ranma for self. If Shampoo say no, then not answering Ukyo's question truthfully."
Ukyo sighed. "I see. It's just… well, come on, why do you want to marry him?"
Shampoo looked over at her. "Is simple. In Rouge camp, great-grandmother says Ranma stronger than Shampoo and would lead group. Amazon need strong husband and Ranma strongest man Shampoo know."
"Yeah but don't you love him?"
Shampoo looked over. "He good man. Smart and strong. But Shampoo not love him. Not believe in love."
"Really?" Ukyo said perking up. "You really believe that?"
"Shampoo mom marry strong man she not love. All Shampoo tribe marry strong men they not love."
"But what about Mousse! He's confessed his love every day."
Shampoo frowned. "Is not love," she said firmly. "Is infa.. infr…"
"Infatuation?" Ukyo said.
"That word Shampoo need."
"I guess," Ukyo said. "But I would have thought that a guy who followed you half way across the world would have to be more than just infatuated with you. And I would give anything to have a guy profess his undying love to me every day."
"Then duck boy all yours."
"Really?" Ukyo said. "Great! I mean, I've always thought Mousse was handsome and he's real smart. He'd make a perfect…" She slowed down as the Amazon's glare became more dangerous. Ukyo smiled. "Got you."
Shampoo balked and hmphed at Ukyo. "Should have known. Ukyo so crazy over Ranma anyway would not want anyone else."
Ukyo was silent for a moment. "It's strange, you know. When I was growing up with Ranma, I just knew we would be together forever. And when he left, he was all I could think of. Ten years consumed by this feeling that I had to get Ranma. All I needed was Ranma. But…"
Shampoo's ears perked up. "But what?"
"But I think I realized on the trip here, that our Ranma isn't the Ranma in my mind. It's like I made this image of him in my mind, this hateful person that I wouldn't mind killing. Only when I got here, it wasn't him."
"Assassins train Ukyo too well," Shampoo said. "Is perfect technique, to make target bad person before killing him."
Ukyo sighed and nestled back into bed. "I guess but then after I realized he was a good person, I thought that maybe… maybe…"
"Ukyo get childhood back," Shampoo said.
"What?" Ukyo asked looking over.
Shampoo sighed. "Ranma from Ukyo past, past she no talk about with anyone on all trip. Can not be happy past if she only live so can kill Ranma. Now Ukyo know that Ranma not bad person and feel like wasted life. So try to get back some of… lost time. Make Ranma seven again and believe he still Ukyo best friend. Make like happy child again."
Ukyo was silent. Shampoo sighed. "Shampoo not know all words to speak but not mean she dumb. " She pulled the cover over her body again. "But assassin think this Shampoo ploy to get Ranma," she said with a yawn. "So won't listen."
Ukyo lay silently in bed for several moments. She looked over at Shampoo and saw that the Amazon had fallen asleep again. Ukyo sighed and folded her arms under her head. After a few moments of silence, she fell asleep too.
* * *
Ryoga woke up to an empty room. He tossed and turned, trying to catch the last few minutes of sleep before someone found him.
"Hey, Ryoga! I saw you!"
Ryoga groaned and covered his head with the blanket but found someone pulling at them. "Get up already!"
With the urge to grab his axe suddenly rising, Ryoga shot up and glared at the person who was trying to get him up. Anyone else would have cowered at his glance but Mousse couldn't see it.
"We're having some food and then we're off!"
"Where?" Ryoga mumbled.
"To find a cure for these curses!"
Ryoga was suddenly fully awake. "What?"
Mousse nodded and related the story Nabiki had given them. Ryoga finished strapping on his armor and reached over for his axe. "Come on," Ryoga said, grabbing Mousse's arm and dragging him down to meet the others.
By the time they got there most of the food but Ryoga was able to get a decent sized meal in his stomach.
"According to my sources," Nabiki was saying, "the Jade Figurine should be somewhere in the jungle just beyond Kurast. I would check monster liars since they like to horde this type of stuff."
"Ah, Nabiki," Ranma asked. "Exactly what type of monsters are out there?"
Nabiki looked at him innocently. "I have no idea. No one's ventured out since after the assault."
"Great," Ranma said. "There just better not be any huge mummies."
"Or any giant snakes," Ukyo said.
"I'd love to just for once," Mousse said, "meet a monster that only came up to my knee."
Ryoga laughed. "We'd just step on them. Squash."
Ranma looked over as Ryoga devoured his food. "Some of us could have squashed those big monsters too."
There were assorted chuckles until Ryoga looked up and realized what was going on. "HEY!" he yelled. But he wasn't serious. In fact, he was glad to hear them all laughing again.
"Shampoo think we need move now," she said. "Get dark soon."
"Right," Ranma said. "Let's move, unless Ryoga wants to have some more to eat."
* * *
The jungle seemed empty. The tropical birds had stopped chirping. The wind moved silently through the leaves. Even the forest life seemed to have gone into hibernation.
Then suddenly a high pitched scream broke through the silence. It shattered the calm like an axe through glass. The birds broke from the trees and filled the sky, squawking as they flew as far away from the source of the noise as possible.
Nearby, a group of adventures covered their ears.
"By the GODS!" Ukyo cried as soon as it was done.
"I never knew that a sound like could exist in nature," Ryoga said, gripping his axe tightly.
"I didn't know that a guy could scream like that," Ranma said. "Well, unless he lost his… you know." He looked over at Mousse who was clutching onto Shampoo for dear life.
"Get it away, get it away!" he screamed.
Shampoo looked a bit ticked off at having the Necromancer clawing at her. "Duck boy stop now!" she said hitting him on the head her spear. But he didn't let go. Surprised, she tried it a couple of more times but nothing worked.
Ukyo sighed and walked over. She leaned down and cupped her hands. "You think a guy who deals with the undead on a regular basis wouldn't be afraid of little spider." She walked away and through the bug into the nearby brush.
Mousse finally calmed down and released Shampoo, who walked away from him quickly. "We go down into den know before duck boy make any more noise," she said motioning to the cave.
Watching them descend, Ranma walked over to Mousse. "I thought you couldn't see."
Mousse was still shivering. "I can see those," he said. "I sense them, those disgusting, nasty…"
"Mousse," Ranma said. "It's a little insect. Who in his right mind would be afraid of…"
"Meow," Mousse said. Ranma shivered and looked over at him angrily.
"MOVE!" They heard Shampoo yell from inside the den.
"Come on Mousse," Ranma said. "I bet there won't be any more spiders in that den."
"Yeah," Mousse said with a laugh. "The monsters probably ate them already."
* * *
"Eeeeew," Ukyo said as she walked through more white stuff. "What is this stuff!" she continued, picking it out of her clothes.
Ryoga looked around the web-covered den. "I have a real bad feeling about this," he said softly.
Shampoo nodded grimly. She heard Ranma and Mousse coming down the stairs and realized all too late what was going on. "No, Mousse stay upst…"
But he had already come down. "Stay what?" he asked.
Then he heard it. The clicking sound across the ground that could only be one thing. He started to turn pale. Suddenly from behind a corner, it appeared. The huge spider hissed at them and spit some venom towards them.
The group scattered to avoid its spray. Everyone except Mousse though, who was beyond terrified and just stood there frozen in fear. A huge axe came down and split the monster in two, leaving a pile of green goo in its place.
"Ugh," Ryoga said looking at his axe. "That's just gross."
"There are more of them," Ukyo said. "A single spider couldn't make this much of a mess."
"Hey Mousse," Ranma said, waving his hand in front of the Necromancer's eyes. "Wow, he's out cold."
"But he's standing," Ukyo said walking over to him. "And his eyes are open."
"I know, that's the strange part," Ranma said.
"Should we leave him here?" Ryoga asked. Ranma shrugged. Shampoo sighed.
"Ranma take group ahead. Shampoo baby-sit duck boy," she said unhappily.
"We'll be right back," Ranma said as he, Ryoga and Ukyo ran off.
Shampoo looked back at Mousse and rolled her eyes. She pushed his arm to see if she could get a reaction. Nothing. She pushed his nose. Nothing. In the distance, she could hear fighting and she wanted more than anything to be with them. If only Mousse would just wake up.
She leaned forward and looked into his eyes. They were completely blank with fear. She stared at them, waiting for him to blink. Looking at them this close, they were actually kind of nice. Her breath slowed as it fell on his face. "Mou.." she started to say softly.
Suddenly something grabbed her from behind. She realized all too late that it was his hands. It pushed her forward and before she could react she found herself in a rather deep kiss with him.
This is when you should pull away, a voice in her head said. This is not a good position to be in. This is when you should kill him. This is when you should do ANYTHING but what you are doing right now.
The voice in her mind never won out. It was only when she heard the voice of the others that she finally broke away. Looking up she saw two very awake eyes staring back at her.
"Sha…" he started.
"HEY SHAMPOO!" Ranma called from the distance.
She panicked, took her spear and hit him hard upside the head. He dropped to the ground unconsciously.
"Shampoo!" Ranma said as they ran towards her. She looked at them, her face completely pale. "What happened? We were calling you."
"Nothing!" she said loudly.
"Why didn't you answer?" Ranma asked.
"Nothing!" she said again.
The group paused and looked at her, then at Mousse. "What happened?" Ryoga asked.
"NOTHING!" she yelled. She looked at them and then turned around and headed upstairs.
Ukyo took off. "Hey! Wait up!!"
Ryoga and Ranma looked at each other and shrugged. They walked over to Mousse. As Ranma grabbed his arms and Ryoga grabbed his legs, they couldn't help but notice something.
"Is it me, or is he smiling?" Ranma asked.
"Kind of freaky," Ryoga said.
They dragged him upstairs and dropped him on the ground. Ukyo was next to Shampoo trying to get something other than 'Nothing' from the girl. Ranma shook his head.
"What a mess," he said.
"At least we got that damn figurine," Ryoga said. "Think about it… in a few short hours we might be free of these…"
The air was suddenly filled with a feminine scream. They all looked at Mousse but he was still on the ground unconscious. A second later they heard it again. Something clicked on Ranma's face.
"Akane," he said. A moment later, he took off. Ryoga watched him go. Looking at the ground to where Mousse was.
"Shampoo! After him!" he cried. "Ukyo, stay with me."
Shampoo nodded and took off in pursuit of Ranma. Looking down at Mousse, Ryoga grabbed the Necromancer by his waist and threw him over his shoulder, slowly following Ukyo.
* * *
Akane looked at the vat of boiling water below her. Her feet were bound and tied to a rope that was looped over a branch. It was slowly lowering her in the pot, something which she was not happy about.
She screamed again, not some much in fear but in rage. "You little creeps! I'll kill you as soon I get out of this!!!"
Suddenly the creatures disappeared into the forest. Thinking she had startled them, she nodded to herself. "Damn straight!" she said, trying to bend upwards so she could reach her feet.
"AKANE!"
Her stomach muscles released and she flopped back to her invert position. She recognized that voice.
"AKANE!"
She blinked her eyes in surprise. "Ranma? RANMA!" she called out.
"AKANE, HANG ON!"
In the forest, Ranma was performing more than one gravity-defying feat as he leapt through the foliage as if it was merely fog in the air. It never crossed his mind that it wasn't Akane. Somehow, he just knew.
He was getting close to where she was when something crossed in his path. Skidding to a stop he looked at the small creature in front of him. It stood below his knee, a little gray man wearing in loincloth.
"Hey," Ranma said. "Hey, did you see a girl in…"
The creature made a noise. It sounded like a word but it wasn't in any language Ranma understood. The creature smiled making its hideous teeth suddenly visible. Ranma stepped back just as it pulled out a huge knife.
Ranma drew his sword and hacked the creature in two. Shampoo, finally caught up with him, watched the scene with dismay. A second later, Ukyo showed up having left Ryoga behind with Mousse.
"What the hell was that?" Ukyo cried as she walked over to him.
"I don't know," Ranma said. "But whatever it was, it's dead no…"
The corpse twitched a bit. The trio stepped back. Suddenly a cloud of sparkle appeared over its head and the little beast rose to its feet. With a snarl, it looked over at Ranma and launched another attack.
"SHAMAN!" Ranma cried as he defending himself.
Ukyo and Shampoo scattered to either side, searching the area for something that resembled a shaman. They were met with a hail of pellets. As they retreated back to Ranma, almost two dozen more of the creatures appeared.
"Holy…" Ukyo cried seeing it.
For the next few minutes, it was a hack and slash-fest. Little bodies littered the ground but would spring up seconds later. They realized it was a losing battle but they couldn't make enough headway to break away.
In the distance, they heard a Barbarian war cry and the anguished scream of a dying creature. Suddenly the creatures weren't rising anymore. Realizing this was their chance, the trio set to killing as many of the creatures as possible.
By the time Ryoga finally got there, they had finished off the last of them. "You guys won't believe what I just saw," Ryoga said. He paused and looked at the ground littered with corpses. "Or maybe you will."
"RANMA!"
"Akane," Ranma said and took off again. Ukyo and Shampoo followed quickly. Ryoga sighed and readjusted Mousse on his shoulder before following, hoping that he wouldn't get lost.
Akane swung back and forth furiously. Where the hell was he! She could feel the heat of the water below her. Was he going to let her roast?
Suddenly a pair of hand grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the pot and towards the safe ground next to it. She saw a bladed hand slash the rope at her feet and looking around she saw Ranma, Shampoo and Ukyo standing above her.
"Hi," she said, somewhat lamely. "Can someone untie me please?"
* * *
Back in Kurast, Soun and Genma played a game of go. Soun sighed after a few moments. "I'm sorry Saotome but it's just not…"
"I understand," Genma said.
"To get back one daughter," he started, "just in time to lose the other."
"Don't worry, Tendo, we'll find…" He trailed off.
Soun looked at his old friend and realized Genma was staring at whatever was behind his back. Soun slowly turned and saw Akane standing at the door.
"A… Akane," he said softly.
Akane nodded slowly. The group had filled her in on what had happened after she left them. She could only hope that her hypothesis was right. "Daddy," she said slowly. "You didn't ask me to stay behind in Lut Gholeim and marry Kuno did you?"
Soun looked confused. "What? Never!" he said. "Why would I ever ask you to such a…" He paused. "Oh, I understand it now."
"I should have known," Akane said. "But it was like you were saying exactly what I thought you should."
"Akane," Soun said firmly. "I would never, ever leave you behind. I promise." He took his youngest daughter in a deep embrace.
"Oh man, if this gets any more mushy, I'm going to puke."
Akane's eyes blinked. She pushed away slowly from her father and looked across the room. "Nabiki?" she asked slowly. She crossed over and looked at the older girl. "Is that really you?"
"No, it's not," Nabiki said with a smile.
"NABIKI!" Akane said leaping forward and engulfing her older sister in a hug. Nabiki waited a beat longer before returning the hug.
"If this keeps up," Nabiki said, "my reputation is going to be ruined."
"What a wonderful sight!" Tofu said as he walked into the room, Cologne following close behind. "It's nice to see some joy come to Kurast after these weeks of siege."
"Indeed," Cologne said. "It seems even our little group has been lacking happy moments."
"Well, then there is only one thing to do," Tofu said.
* * *
Lanterns swung in the night breeze, making colorful patterns on the ground. Music filtered down the streets and people slowly walked towards the inn at the edge of the docks. Inside the inn, tables were laden with food and a band played in the corner. People laughed softly at first but as time wore on, it was more prominent and several people even ventured towards the dance floor.
In one corner, the Tendo family sat speaking amongst themselves, laughing ever so often. Tofu and Kuno were discussing things in a bit more serious tone though Tofu would look up and smile at some of the villagers that passed.
Seated around the table, Genma, Ranma, Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse all started at a gold figurine in the center.
"It's obscene," Mousse said.
"Completely," Genma agreed but his eyes never left it. In fact, they were running up and down the curvy figure of a naked woman. "I wonder what the potion maker will do with it."
"I don't think I want to know," Ryoga said softly, sniffling slightly at the impending nose bleed.
"It doesn't matter," Ranma said. "What matters is that we give him this and he gives us the potion. And one of us is cured."
There was silence. It seemed too good to be true. A cure for their curse. No more crazy quests or nasty monsters. They could go home and return to their normal lives. But somehow they all knew what their answer was.
"Bah," Ryoga said. "I don't need it. As soon as I get back to Harrogath, the healers there will have a cure."
"Shampoo know great-grandmother find cure soon too," she said.
"I've read about several possibilities," Mousse said. "I just need a few ingredients."
"Well then," Genma said reaching forward for the figurine. "Thank you for your sacrifice. I'm sure that when I am returned to human form I will…"
Ranma reached forward and grabbed his father's wrist. "We're giving the cure to Akane," he said evenly.
Genma let go and stood up. "Well, of course," he said. "I was only kidding. I'm going to go get something to drink." He walked away from the table.
"Shampoo go find Ukyo," she said, jumping up and leaving Mousse looking like he wanted to say something. The three boys looked around at each other and sat in silence for a few moments.
"Well," Ryoga said. "I'm sure this is a rowdy bunch to be with but I think I'm going to get some beer."
Ranma shook his head as he watched Ryoga go. "I never thought I'd see so a dedicated warrior like Ryoga succumb to alcohol."
Mousse raised an eyebrow. "He's Barbarian. It's kind of like water for them."
Ranma shrugged. "Hey Mousse… did something happen with you and Shampoo?"
Mousse looked at Ranma and tried to say something. In the end, he just shook his head.
Ranma looked at him. "Are you sure, I mean, if I didn't know any better…"
"You don't know any better," Mousse said. "Unless you want to talk about you and Akane too."
Ranma nodded. "Point taken."
There was loud yell from the other end of the dining hall. Ryoga had successfully wrestled another man's arm down and earned a free drink. Ranma laughed. "Ha, what weakling could have been beaten by Ryoga."
"Ah, I don't think you should take him so lightly," Mousse said.
"Wanna bet?" Ranma said, sticking out his hand. Mousse smiled and shook it once.
In a corner, Shampoo sat with her head on the table. Ukyo walked over with a jug of beer and two glasses.
"Okay," she said putting down the empty glass in front of Shampoo. The purple haired Amazon raised her head at the sound. "What happened?
"Mousse kiss Shampoo," she said miserably.
Ukyo's eyes opened. She grabbed Shampoo's glass and filled it to the top. "Wow," she said. "What did you do?"
"Shampoo hit him on head, really hard."
"Why?" Ukyo asked.
"Because Shampoo not make him stop, not WANT to stop him."
Ukyo looked at the glass in front of Shampoo and picked it up. She dumped it back into the jug and handed it to the Amazon. "Here," she said. "I think you're going to need it all."
Suddenly the room was filled with a yell of celebration. "I did it!" Ryoga screamed. "I finally BEAT RANMA!!"
"NO WAY!" Ranma said, trying to drown him out. "We're doing best two out of three!" But Ryoga was already gloating and walking around the room, singing Barbarian victory songs.
Nabiki watched the scene with a little smile. "Well, I'm going to go talk to a few people," she said standing up. She started to walk away from her family but didn't make it past Kuno. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close.
"So Nabiki Tendo," he said softly. "Tell me one thing."
Nabiki smiled. "Anything, Kuno-baby."
"Is that a Jade Figurine in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" he asked. Nabiki paled and looked down at her clothes. Impossible, she had left the figurine in her room. She realized her mistake.
"Good one, Kuno-baby," she said with a smile. "Very good."
Akane watched the exchange with a puzzled expression. She didn't really care what Nabiki was up to. She was just happy. Happier than she had been in a very long time. She knew that this couldn't last forever but she wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as she could.
It was perfect.
Well until Ranma got drenched by beer, turned into a girl and had Ryoga dancing with her across the floor.
A special note for Diablo fans… I HATE Flayers. I mean I really really really hate them with a passion. Therefore for the next six chapters or so will be my way of gaining retribution against those little @!#!$#
* * *
The breaths came ragged at first. Her lips were dry and crusted over with salt. Akane's fingers clutching the rich dirt that she lay on as her body was wracked with another series of coughs. Her eyes refused to open, as if she was afraid to break this reality. If I open my eyes, she thought, I'll still be under water.
She felt something warm against her face and the darkness slowly started to fade. Reluctantly, she gave in and let her eyes blink open. She was staring at a green canopy, the sunlight of a new day was pushing through the leaves. Carefully, she pushed herself off the ground and tried to stand.
She regretted it immediately and she sank back to her knees as dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. She wrapped her arms around her arms, realizing that she had been stripped of most of her clothes by the storm. The skin around her ribs hurt and looking down, she saw what remained of the harness. It looked like someone had ripped through it with their teeth!
There was a rustling in the trees and Akane went on full alert. She tried to stand up to prepare to fight. But she was still too weak. And a second later, she felt a dozen forms descend on her. She curled up into a ball to protect herself and moments later she was unconscious again.
* * *
The dock man caught the rope and secured to the wooden post. The ship pulled towards the dock and gentle hit it. The man finished tying his knot and signaled to the captain.
"We have arrived at our destination," Kuno said to the group assembled on the deck. There was a general murmur of thanks as they slowly descended down the gangplank. The night was almost over and they were all weary from their journey.
"Welcome to Kurast!" A tall man made his way over to them holding a lantern. "We don't usually get visitors so early. Dawn has not broken yet. But I am glad you have arrived safely."
"We thank you for your hospitality," Kuno said. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, leader of Lut Gholeim. "
"Tofu Ono, leader of Kurast. Or what's left of it at any rate," he said with a small smile.
"It is a honor to meet you," Kuno said. "I wish our welcome were as energetic as your own but we are all tired from our journey. Is there an inn that we may secure lodging in?"
"Of course, follow me." Tofu said.
Kuno looked behind him and made sure the rest of the group was following. Slowly, Tofu led them away from the dock and onto a stone road that bordered the sea. "Tell me, have any other ships docked here recently."
Tofu paused. "Well, we were expecting a freight ship but she never showed up."
"Any caravans by land?"
"No, nothing can cross the land between the docks and Travincal."
Kuno paused. Then his beloved Akane Tendo would not have come here. Still, it was odd that a town as prosperous as Kurast was so lacking in trade. He had sent almost forty ships himself last year here.
Kuno then noticed the silence. Even this early in the morning, the town should have had been coming alive. The fisherman would return from their trips soon and the docks should be overrun with activity. But it was dead silent.
As the sun rose in the east, he looked down and he watched his feet walk on uneven ground. Even more peculiar. A town as rich as this one should not have roads that were in need of repair. But the stone roads were cracked.
"Tell me, Leader Ono…"
"Tofu," he said.
"Very well Leader Tofu. Why is it that Kurast is in such ill repair? And where are your people?"
Tofu stopped and turned to Kuno. "I hesitated to ask you about Lut Gholeim but I am glad to know that this evil has no yet reached your shores." With a pause, he continued forward, taking the group away from the sea and towards the center of town.
Before Kuno could ask him what he meant by his statement, he saw it first hand. Kurast, once beautiful and a center of financial activity of the continent, appeared to have been nearly destroyed. The proud buildings crumbled and left piles of stone at their base. The roads were not merely cracked but looked as if parts of them had been uprooted completely. People peered wearily out of windows as the group passed by, quickly disappearing if someone caught their eye.
"What happened here?" Kuno asked. Tofu started to reply but he was interrupted by a female voice.
"Simple. These people tried to fight back and they were almost destroyed. Just like Tristram."
The group turned around quickly as a figure emerged out of the shadows. She was dressed in a black uniform, her short brown hair barely brushing her shoulders. Her eyes glittered with mischief and her arms were crossed against her chest.
"Na… Nabiki?" Soun asked, pushing his way through the group.
"Hi daddy," Nabiki said with a smile. She tried to maintain her aloof look but suddenly she found herself being crushed by her father's hug. It was soon afterwards that she was hugging him back.
* * *
"So what happened after you teleported?" Soun asked.
Nabiki sighed and put down her glass of milk. She settled into her seat and looked at the assembled group. Genma, Soun and Kuno had just sat down with her to have some breakfast at the inn but it appeared her father wasn't going to let her eat until her story was told.
"Kasumi and I decided to teleport before Tristram was completely consumed," Nabiki said. "We thought it would be safer to teleport ourselves as far away as possible. But we didn't do it together and she's much stronger than I am so I wasn't surprised that I didn't see her when I rematerialized. When I finally got my bearings, I realized I wasn't near Tristram anymore. In fact, I wasn't sure where I was.
"I heard some sounds and decided to follow them. I recognized Kurast from some books I read a while back. Can you imagine my surprise? I wanted to teleport away from Tristram. I didn't expect it to be halfway across the world! Luckily, I knew quite a few people who were in Kurast so it took no time to get settled in. I wanted to send you some kind of message but it wasn't possible."
"So what's with the uniform," Genma asked, pointing at her clothes.
Nabiki smiled. "Let's just say, I moved my business from Tristram to here in record time."
"Spying," Soun said softly.
"Not at all," Nabiki said. "I merely gather information on things, especially those dark things that have been causing us so much trouble. I heard about the Rogue Encampment so I knew you were okay. I tried to get a message to Lut Gholeim but…"
She paused and took a sip of her milk. "It was just like Tristram. A warning only a few seconds before the attack. We held them back, mainly thanks to fact that there are an ungodly number of magic based mercenaries based here." She put the glass down. "Since then, we've been trying to keep them away from this area."
"And the rest of Kurast?" Kuno asked.
Nabiki sighed. "It's been completely overrun. Outside of the walls we've erected is just endless jungle with a host of monsters roaming through it."
"Wonderful," Genma said leaning back in his seat.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Saotome," Nabiki said. "I know that you were looking for a cure for your and Ranma's curses." She paused. "Still… there may be a way." Genma's eyes widened but Soun wasn't quite as excited. If he knew his daughter, there was going to be some heavy money involved.
"There's a potion dealer in town," she said, "who has a potion that can remove one curse from anyone. But… he has a high price."
"Here we go," Soun said with a resigned sigh.
Nabiki looked hurt. "Really Daddy."
"Name the price," Kuno said with a wave of his hand. "Money is of no object to the leader of Lut Gholeim."
Any look of hurt on Nabiki's suddenly disappeared and was replaced with greed. "Leader, eh? Kuno-baby, you and I are going to be great friends. But money isn't what he wants. It's the golden figurine and it's not something you can buy."
"Here it comes," Soun said, with a knowing smile.
"The owner of this figurine will trade it," Nabiki said. "But only in exchange for something that was lost during the battle."
"What is it?" Genma asked.
"A jade figurine of a little bird."
"And where shall we find this bird?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Somewhere out there."
"Out there," Soun said. "Where there are, and I'm quoting you, 'a host of monsters roaming through it'. Nabiki, this isn't some elaborate scheme to…"
"Daddy!" Nabiki cried. "Really! I would think that after all I've been through you'd realize that I've changed."
Soun's face remained impassive but he finally sighed. "I'm sorry Nabiki. Go on."
With a triumphant smile, Nabiki began to outline her plan.
* * *
Lying in bed, Ranma looked up at the thatched ceiling. In the two beds next to him, he could hear Ryoga snoring loudly and Mousse repeating something that he probably shouldn't be hearing. It wasn't there distractions that were keeping him awake.
He kept replaying the scene from the boat over and over in his mind, trying to see what had happened. It was worse each time because each time he saw his mistakes in more and more detail. If only he had stopped them from boarding the ship. If only he had listened to his instincts. If only he had realized that it wasn't Akane. If only…
He sighed, picking up the necklace from around his neck and looking at the small fragment of the helmet as it twirled in the semi-darkness. He wondered where she was and if she was all right. It had never occurred to him before that she wasn't because he knew Akane and she wouldn't do anything that might hurt her.
Of course, she had charged into a few battles before thinking. And she had been hurt in Lut Gholeim by that monster. And she had made a deal with those demons that had resulted in her being trapped in a shadow world that almost trapped her for eternity.
Yeah, there was nothing to worry about.
* * *
"Shampoo?"
"Mmmhmmm??"
"Shampoo are you awake?"
"Mhmmmm…"
"I wanted to ask you something," Ukyo said leaning over her bed and facing the purple-haired Amazon. "It's about Ranma and… SHAMPOO!"
"What!" she said shooting out of bed. Shampoo looked over at Ukyo. "What about Ranma?"
"Do you think… do you think I obsess about him too much?"
Shampoo sighed and got comfortable in bed again. "No right way to answer question."
"What?" Ukyo asked.
"If Shampoo say yes, assassin think Shampoo lying so can get Ranma for self. If Shampoo say no, then not answering Ukyo's question truthfully."
Ukyo sighed. "I see. It's just… well, come on, why do you want to marry him?"
Shampoo looked over at her. "Is simple. In Rouge camp, great-grandmother says Ranma stronger than Shampoo and would lead group. Amazon need strong husband and Ranma strongest man Shampoo know."
"Yeah but don't you love him?"
Shampoo looked over. "He good man. Smart and strong. But Shampoo not love him. Not believe in love."
"Really?" Ukyo said perking up. "You really believe that?"
"Shampoo mom marry strong man she not love. All Shampoo tribe marry strong men they not love."
"But what about Mousse! He's confessed his love every day."
Shampoo frowned. "Is not love," she said firmly. "Is infa.. infr…"
"Infatuation?" Ukyo said.
"That word Shampoo need."
"I guess," Ukyo said. "But I would have thought that a guy who followed you half way across the world would have to be more than just infatuated with you. And I would give anything to have a guy profess his undying love to me every day."
"Then duck boy all yours."
"Really?" Ukyo said. "Great! I mean, I've always thought Mousse was handsome and he's real smart. He'd make a perfect…" She slowed down as the Amazon's glare became more dangerous. Ukyo smiled. "Got you."
Shampoo balked and hmphed at Ukyo. "Should have known. Ukyo so crazy over Ranma anyway would not want anyone else."
Ukyo was silent for a moment. "It's strange, you know. When I was growing up with Ranma, I just knew we would be together forever. And when he left, he was all I could think of. Ten years consumed by this feeling that I had to get Ranma. All I needed was Ranma. But…"
Shampoo's ears perked up. "But what?"
"But I think I realized on the trip here, that our Ranma isn't the Ranma in my mind. It's like I made this image of him in my mind, this hateful person that I wouldn't mind killing. Only when I got here, it wasn't him."
"Assassins train Ukyo too well," Shampoo said. "Is perfect technique, to make target bad person before killing him."
Ukyo sighed and nestled back into bed. "I guess but then after I realized he was a good person, I thought that maybe… maybe…"
"Ukyo get childhood back," Shampoo said.
"What?" Ukyo asked looking over.
Shampoo sighed. "Ranma from Ukyo past, past she no talk about with anyone on all trip. Can not be happy past if she only live so can kill Ranma. Now Ukyo know that Ranma not bad person and feel like wasted life. So try to get back some of… lost time. Make Ranma seven again and believe he still Ukyo best friend. Make like happy child again."
Ukyo was silent. Shampoo sighed. "Shampoo not know all words to speak but not mean she dumb. " She pulled the cover over her body again. "But assassin think this Shampoo ploy to get Ranma," she said with a yawn. "So won't listen."
Ukyo lay silently in bed for several moments. She looked over at Shampoo and saw that the Amazon had fallen asleep again. Ukyo sighed and folded her arms under her head. After a few moments of silence, she fell asleep too.
* * *
Ryoga woke up to an empty room. He tossed and turned, trying to catch the last few minutes of sleep before someone found him.
"Hey, Ryoga! I saw you!"
Ryoga groaned and covered his head with the blanket but found someone pulling at them. "Get up already!"
With the urge to grab his axe suddenly rising, Ryoga shot up and glared at the person who was trying to get him up. Anyone else would have cowered at his glance but Mousse couldn't see it.
"We're having some food and then we're off!"
"Where?" Ryoga mumbled.
"To find a cure for these curses!"
Ryoga was suddenly fully awake. "What?"
Mousse nodded and related the story Nabiki had given them. Ryoga finished strapping on his armor and reached over for his axe. "Come on," Ryoga said, grabbing Mousse's arm and dragging him down to meet the others.
By the time they got there most of the food but Ryoga was able to get a decent sized meal in his stomach.
"According to my sources," Nabiki was saying, "the Jade Figurine should be somewhere in the jungle just beyond Kurast. I would check monster liars since they like to horde this type of stuff."
"Ah, Nabiki," Ranma asked. "Exactly what type of monsters are out there?"
Nabiki looked at him innocently. "I have no idea. No one's ventured out since after the assault."
"Great," Ranma said. "There just better not be any huge mummies."
"Or any giant snakes," Ukyo said.
"I'd love to just for once," Mousse said, "meet a monster that only came up to my knee."
Ryoga laughed. "We'd just step on them. Squash."
Ranma looked over as Ryoga devoured his food. "Some of us could have squashed those big monsters too."
There were assorted chuckles until Ryoga looked up and realized what was going on. "HEY!" he yelled. But he wasn't serious. In fact, he was glad to hear them all laughing again.
"Shampoo think we need move now," she said. "Get dark soon."
"Right," Ranma said. "Let's move, unless Ryoga wants to have some more to eat."
* * *
The jungle seemed empty. The tropical birds had stopped chirping. The wind moved silently through the leaves. Even the forest life seemed to have gone into hibernation.
Then suddenly a high pitched scream broke through the silence. It shattered the calm like an axe through glass. The birds broke from the trees and filled the sky, squawking as they flew as far away from the source of the noise as possible.
Nearby, a group of adventures covered their ears.
"By the GODS!" Ukyo cried as soon as it was done.
"I never knew that a sound like could exist in nature," Ryoga said, gripping his axe tightly.
"I didn't know that a guy could scream like that," Ranma said. "Well, unless he lost his… you know." He looked over at Mousse who was clutching onto Shampoo for dear life.
"Get it away, get it away!" he screamed.
Shampoo looked a bit ticked off at having the Necromancer clawing at her. "Duck boy stop now!" she said hitting him on the head her spear. But he didn't let go. Surprised, she tried it a couple of more times but nothing worked.
Ukyo sighed and walked over. She leaned down and cupped her hands. "You think a guy who deals with the undead on a regular basis wouldn't be afraid of little spider." She walked away and through the bug into the nearby brush.
Mousse finally calmed down and released Shampoo, who walked away from him quickly. "We go down into den know before duck boy make any more noise," she said motioning to the cave.
Watching them descend, Ranma walked over to Mousse. "I thought you couldn't see."
Mousse was still shivering. "I can see those," he said. "I sense them, those disgusting, nasty…"
"Mousse," Ranma said. "It's a little insect. Who in his right mind would be afraid of…"
"Meow," Mousse said. Ranma shivered and looked over at him angrily.
"MOVE!" They heard Shampoo yell from inside the den.
"Come on Mousse," Ranma said. "I bet there won't be any more spiders in that den."
"Yeah," Mousse said with a laugh. "The monsters probably ate them already."
* * *
"Eeeeew," Ukyo said as she walked through more white stuff. "What is this stuff!" she continued, picking it out of her clothes.
Ryoga looked around the web-covered den. "I have a real bad feeling about this," he said softly.
Shampoo nodded grimly. She heard Ranma and Mousse coming down the stairs and realized all too late what was going on. "No, Mousse stay upst…"
But he had already come down. "Stay what?" he asked.
Then he heard it. The clicking sound across the ground that could only be one thing. He started to turn pale. Suddenly from behind a corner, it appeared. The huge spider hissed at them and spit some venom towards them.
The group scattered to avoid its spray. Everyone except Mousse though, who was beyond terrified and just stood there frozen in fear. A huge axe came down and split the monster in two, leaving a pile of green goo in its place.
"Ugh," Ryoga said looking at his axe. "That's just gross."
"There are more of them," Ukyo said. "A single spider couldn't make this much of a mess."
"Hey Mousse," Ranma said, waving his hand in front of the Necromancer's eyes. "Wow, he's out cold."
"But he's standing," Ukyo said walking over to him. "And his eyes are open."
"I know, that's the strange part," Ranma said.
"Should we leave him here?" Ryoga asked. Ranma shrugged. Shampoo sighed.
"Ranma take group ahead. Shampoo baby-sit duck boy," she said unhappily.
"We'll be right back," Ranma said as he, Ryoga and Ukyo ran off.
Shampoo looked back at Mousse and rolled her eyes. She pushed his arm to see if she could get a reaction. Nothing. She pushed his nose. Nothing. In the distance, she could hear fighting and she wanted more than anything to be with them. If only Mousse would just wake up.
She leaned forward and looked into his eyes. They were completely blank with fear. She stared at them, waiting for him to blink. Looking at them this close, they were actually kind of nice. Her breath slowed as it fell on his face. "Mou.." she started to say softly.
Suddenly something grabbed her from behind. She realized all too late that it was his hands. It pushed her forward and before she could react she found herself in a rather deep kiss with him.
This is when you should pull away, a voice in her head said. This is not a good position to be in. This is when you should kill him. This is when you should do ANYTHING but what you are doing right now.
The voice in her mind never won out. It was only when she heard the voice of the others that she finally broke away. Looking up she saw two very awake eyes staring back at her.
"Sha…" he started.
"HEY SHAMPOO!" Ranma called from the distance.
She panicked, took her spear and hit him hard upside the head. He dropped to the ground unconsciously.
"Shampoo!" Ranma said as they ran towards her. She looked at them, her face completely pale. "What happened? We were calling you."
"Nothing!" she said loudly.
"Why didn't you answer?" Ranma asked.
"Nothing!" she said again.
The group paused and looked at her, then at Mousse. "What happened?" Ryoga asked.
"NOTHING!" she yelled. She looked at them and then turned around and headed upstairs.
Ukyo took off. "Hey! Wait up!!"
Ryoga and Ranma looked at each other and shrugged. They walked over to Mousse. As Ranma grabbed his arms and Ryoga grabbed his legs, they couldn't help but notice something.
"Is it me, or is he smiling?" Ranma asked.
"Kind of freaky," Ryoga said.
They dragged him upstairs and dropped him on the ground. Ukyo was next to Shampoo trying to get something other than 'Nothing' from the girl. Ranma shook his head.
"What a mess," he said.
"At least we got that damn figurine," Ryoga said. "Think about it… in a few short hours we might be free of these…"
The air was suddenly filled with a feminine scream. They all looked at Mousse but he was still on the ground unconscious. A second later they heard it again. Something clicked on Ranma's face.
"Akane," he said. A moment later, he took off. Ryoga watched him go. Looking at the ground to where Mousse was.
"Shampoo! After him!" he cried. "Ukyo, stay with me."
Shampoo nodded and took off in pursuit of Ranma. Looking down at Mousse, Ryoga grabbed the Necromancer by his waist and threw him over his shoulder, slowly following Ukyo.
* * *
Akane looked at the vat of boiling water below her. Her feet were bound and tied to a rope that was looped over a branch. It was slowly lowering her in the pot, something which she was not happy about.
She screamed again, not some much in fear but in rage. "You little creeps! I'll kill you as soon I get out of this!!!"
Suddenly the creatures disappeared into the forest. Thinking she had startled them, she nodded to herself. "Damn straight!" she said, trying to bend upwards so she could reach her feet.
"AKANE!"
Her stomach muscles released and she flopped back to her invert position. She recognized that voice.
"AKANE!"
She blinked her eyes in surprise. "Ranma? RANMA!" she called out.
"AKANE, HANG ON!"
In the forest, Ranma was performing more than one gravity-defying feat as he leapt through the foliage as if it was merely fog in the air. It never crossed his mind that it wasn't Akane. Somehow, he just knew.
He was getting close to where she was when something crossed in his path. Skidding to a stop he looked at the small creature in front of him. It stood below his knee, a little gray man wearing in loincloth.
"Hey," Ranma said. "Hey, did you see a girl in…"
The creature made a noise. It sounded like a word but it wasn't in any language Ranma understood. The creature smiled making its hideous teeth suddenly visible. Ranma stepped back just as it pulled out a huge knife.
Ranma drew his sword and hacked the creature in two. Shampoo, finally caught up with him, watched the scene with dismay. A second later, Ukyo showed up having left Ryoga behind with Mousse.
"What the hell was that?" Ukyo cried as she walked over to him.
"I don't know," Ranma said. "But whatever it was, it's dead no…"
The corpse twitched a bit. The trio stepped back. Suddenly a cloud of sparkle appeared over its head and the little beast rose to its feet. With a snarl, it looked over at Ranma and launched another attack.
"SHAMAN!" Ranma cried as he defending himself.
Ukyo and Shampoo scattered to either side, searching the area for something that resembled a shaman. They were met with a hail of pellets. As they retreated back to Ranma, almost two dozen more of the creatures appeared.
"Holy…" Ukyo cried seeing it.
For the next few minutes, it was a hack and slash-fest. Little bodies littered the ground but would spring up seconds later. They realized it was a losing battle but they couldn't make enough headway to break away.
In the distance, they heard a Barbarian war cry and the anguished scream of a dying creature. Suddenly the creatures weren't rising anymore. Realizing this was their chance, the trio set to killing as many of the creatures as possible.
By the time Ryoga finally got there, they had finished off the last of them. "You guys won't believe what I just saw," Ryoga said. He paused and looked at the ground littered with corpses. "Or maybe you will."
"RANMA!"
"Akane," Ranma said and took off again. Ukyo and Shampoo followed quickly. Ryoga sighed and readjusted Mousse on his shoulder before following, hoping that he wouldn't get lost.
Akane swung back and forth furiously. Where the hell was he! She could feel the heat of the water below her. Was he going to let her roast?
Suddenly a pair of hand grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the pot and towards the safe ground next to it. She saw a bladed hand slash the rope at her feet and looking around she saw Ranma, Shampoo and Ukyo standing above her.
"Hi," she said, somewhat lamely. "Can someone untie me please?"
* * *
Back in Kurast, Soun and Genma played a game of go. Soun sighed after a few moments. "I'm sorry Saotome but it's just not…"
"I understand," Genma said.
"To get back one daughter," he started, "just in time to lose the other."
"Don't worry, Tendo, we'll find…" He trailed off.
Soun looked at his old friend and realized Genma was staring at whatever was behind his back. Soun slowly turned and saw Akane standing at the door.
"A… Akane," he said softly.
Akane nodded slowly. The group had filled her in on what had happened after she left them. She could only hope that her hypothesis was right. "Daddy," she said slowly. "You didn't ask me to stay behind in Lut Gholeim and marry Kuno did you?"
Soun looked confused. "What? Never!" he said. "Why would I ever ask you to such a…" He paused. "Oh, I understand it now."
"I should have known," Akane said. "But it was like you were saying exactly what I thought you should."
"Akane," Soun said firmly. "I would never, ever leave you behind. I promise." He took his youngest daughter in a deep embrace.
"Oh man, if this gets any more mushy, I'm going to puke."
Akane's eyes blinked. She pushed away slowly from her father and looked across the room. "Nabiki?" she asked slowly. She crossed over and looked at the older girl. "Is that really you?"
"No, it's not," Nabiki said with a smile.
"NABIKI!" Akane said leaping forward and engulfing her older sister in a hug. Nabiki waited a beat longer before returning the hug.
"If this keeps up," Nabiki said, "my reputation is going to be ruined."
"What a wonderful sight!" Tofu said as he walked into the room, Cologne following close behind. "It's nice to see some joy come to Kurast after these weeks of siege."
"Indeed," Cologne said. "It seems even our little group has been lacking happy moments."
"Well, then there is only one thing to do," Tofu said.
* * *
Lanterns swung in the night breeze, making colorful patterns on the ground. Music filtered down the streets and people slowly walked towards the inn at the edge of the docks. Inside the inn, tables were laden with food and a band played in the corner. People laughed softly at first but as time wore on, it was more prominent and several people even ventured towards the dance floor.
In one corner, the Tendo family sat speaking amongst themselves, laughing ever so often. Tofu and Kuno were discussing things in a bit more serious tone though Tofu would look up and smile at some of the villagers that passed.
Seated around the table, Genma, Ranma, Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse all started at a gold figurine in the center.
"It's obscene," Mousse said.
"Completely," Genma agreed but his eyes never left it. In fact, they were running up and down the curvy figure of a naked woman. "I wonder what the potion maker will do with it."
"I don't think I want to know," Ryoga said softly, sniffling slightly at the impending nose bleed.
"It doesn't matter," Ranma said. "What matters is that we give him this and he gives us the potion. And one of us is cured."
There was silence. It seemed too good to be true. A cure for their curse. No more crazy quests or nasty monsters. They could go home and return to their normal lives. But somehow they all knew what their answer was.
"Bah," Ryoga said. "I don't need it. As soon as I get back to Harrogath, the healers there will have a cure."
"Shampoo know great-grandmother find cure soon too," she said.
"I've read about several possibilities," Mousse said. "I just need a few ingredients."
"Well then," Genma said reaching forward for the figurine. "Thank you for your sacrifice. I'm sure that when I am returned to human form I will…"
Ranma reached forward and grabbed his father's wrist. "We're giving the cure to Akane," he said evenly.
Genma let go and stood up. "Well, of course," he said. "I was only kidding. I'm going to go get something to drink." He walked away from the table.
"Shampoo go find Ukyo," she said, jumping up and leaving Mousse looking like he wanted to say something. The three boys looked around at each other and sat in silence for a few moments.
"Well," Ryoga said. "I'm sure this is a rowdy bunch to be with but I think I'm going to get some beer."
Ranma shook his head as he watched Ryoga go. "I never thought I'd see so a dedicated warrior like Ryoga succumb to alcohol."
Mousse raised an eyebrow. "He's Barbarian. It's kind of like water for them."
Ranma shrugged. "Hey Mousse… did something happen with you and Shampoo?"
Mousse looked at Ranma and tried to say something. In the end, he just shook his head.
Ranma looked at him. "Are you sure, I mean, if I didn't know any better…"
"You don't know any better," Mousse said. "Unless you want to talk about you and Akane too."
Ranma nodded. "Point taken."
There was loud yell from the other end of the dining hall. Ryoga had successfully wrestled another man's arm down and earned a free drink. Ranma laughed. "Ha, what weakling could have been beaten by Ryoga."
"Ah, I don't think you should take him so lightly," Mousse said.
"Wanna bet?" Ranma said, sticking out his hand. Mousse smiled and shook it once.
In a corner, Shampoo sat with her head on the table. Ukyo walked over with a jug of beer and two glasses.
"Okay," she said putting down the empty glass in front of Shampoo. The purple haired Amazon raised her head at the sound. "What happened?
"Mousse kiss Shampoo," she said miserably.
Ukyo's eyes opened. She grabbed Shampoo's glass and filled it to the top. "Wow," she said. "What did you do?"
"Shampoo hit him on head, really hard."
"Why?" Ukyo asked.
"Because Shampoo not make him stop, not WANT to stop him."
Ukyo looked at the glass in front of Shampoo and picked it up. She dumped it back into the jug and handed it to the Amazon. "Here," she said. "I think you're going to need it all."
Suddenly the room was filled with a yell of celebration. "I did it!" Ryoga screamed. "I finally BEAT RANMA!!"
"NO WAY!" Ranma said, trying to drown him out. "We're doing best two out of three!" But Ryoga was already gloating and walking around the room, singing Barbarian victory songs.
Nabiki watched the scene with a little smile. "Well, I'm going to go talk to a few people," she said standing up. She started to walk away from her family but didn't make it past Kuno. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close.
"So Nabiki Tendo," he said softly. "Tell me one thing."
Nabiki smiled. "Anything, Kuno-baby."
"Is that a Jade Figurine in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" he asked. Nabiki paled and looked down at her clothes. Impossible, she had left the figurine in her room. She realized her mistake.
"Good one, Kuno-baby," she said with a smile. "Very good."
Akane watched the exchange with a puzzled expression. She didn't really care what Nabiki was up to. She was just happy. Happier than she had been in a very long time. She knew that this couldn't last forever but she wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as she could.
It was perfect.
Well until Ranma got drenched by beer, turned into a girl and had Ryoga dancing with her across the floor.
