I know, I know, I have taken too long to put out this chapter. Well, now
that it is finally here I hope that all of you have not given up on reading
my story! Enjoy!
STARRY NIGHT
CHAPTER 17
After a few minutes of working the tumblers, Mousse had the door at the top of the stairs open. Surprised at how easy the task was, he quietly opened the door and peered in to make sure Nabiki was indeed asleep. The door to her room was closed, and no light was seeping through. Still, he waited and listened for a while to make sure this was the case.
When he was sure that the way was clear, he swiftly moved to the door at the end of the hall. There was a rather large and ancient lock on the door that looked like it could crumble at any moment. Mousse was very cautious with the lock even though he knew he didn't have to be, the thing did belong to Cologne after all.
This lock was considerably harder to open than the one on the door at the top of the stairs. Mousse worked diligently at it for close to ten minutes before he heard the tumblers giving way, allowing him access to the room.
He pushed the door slowly, wincing at the squeaking noise that echoed down the hallway. Now would not be a good time for Nabiki to wake up. If she knew what he was up to, she would stop him, and he didn't want to be stopped. This was something that needed to be done, should have actually been done a long time ago. He would finish his task no matter what.
After the door was opened far enough for him to squeeze through, Mousse paused and looked back down the hall. When he was satisfied that Nabiki was still safely tucked in her bed, he slipped into the room and began searching for the things he wanted.
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Choon Li had just climbed into bed when the first feelings of someone's ki flaring reached him. At first he wasn't sure what was happening or who was in trouble, then he recognized the ki. The intertwining patterns of hot and cold were so prevalent that there was no mistaking what had happened. The fated couple of prophecy had finally balanced the scales of yin and yang.
Rising quickly from his bed, Choon Li grabbed his hastily discarded clothes and ran to the elder's hut. He needed to get into the sacred woods so he could figure out where the couple was. Their bodies would have to be guarded until the melding process was completed.
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In a forest glade, in rural China somewhere, Natsume jumped up from where she lay by the fire. As she turned in circles, the green glow that surrounded her eyes trailed her. She was searching for the ki she had just felt. The ki she had been feeling ever since she had been released from her crystal prison. The only difference was that now she could feel the two intertwining, straining to become one whole. They were melding now, balancing each other out until they were in complete harmony with each other.
The couple would be very vulnerable right now. If her memory served her correctly, they would be unconscious until the process was complete. If she could eliminate them now, then there would be no one to challenge her domination of this world. She would have to be swift though, the Amazon's were probably already on their way to the couple.
Closing her eyes and concentrating, Natsume finally stopped turning in circles knowing she had found the direction to take. Mentally, she called on her pet, letting him know that it was time to come to her. Thankfully he could travel through the air very rapidly and would probably be there in a few hours. Until then though, she would prepare for her future task.
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Choon Li paced nervously in front of the door of the elder's hut. The guard on duty had challenged him as he neared the hut, refusing to let him enter. Obviously, she did not understand the urgency of the situation, so he had tried to explain. She wouldn't listen to him though! All she would do was tell him that no one was allowed to bother the matriarch while she was sleeping.
A sudden surge crossed the sky above Choon Li, filling him with panic. The demon had also felt the fated couples rising ki and was searching for them. There was no time to waste; the future of the world was at stake.
Without thinking of the consequences of his actions, Choon Li raised his hands, pointing them at the guard by the door. Slowly she rose into the air and was deposited in the top branches of the tree by the elder's hut; now she would have to jump down from the tree before she could stop him. A satisfied grin played across the druid's features as he walked into the hut. He needed to save his people, and no warrior was going to stand in the way of him performing his duty.
Fearing that one of the other guards might return at any moment, he quickly strode across the room, stopping at the door that led to the matriarch's private chambers. A look of regret momentarily played across his features; he really didn't want to have to disrupt the elder's rest. He had a duty though; a duty that extended beyond his tribe to encompass all of humanity. The regret he felt at this moment would be much greater if the demon got to the fated couple before he could. They needed to be found and now. With that thought in mind, he started to pound on the door.
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Shampoo was in a daze as she ran out of the valley and headed back towards the village; nothing had gone as she planned. She should have known that Ranma would have gone back to be by Akane's side, he always did. How could she have been so stupid! Akane had seen who pushed her into the pool, Ranma had run by her on the path, and her clothes were still lying in a pile at the bottom of the tree.
There was no doubt that Ranma had saved the Tendo girl, and they were probably on their way to the village right now. Panic stricken, Shampoo quickened her pace, taking the shortest route she knew to her great- grandmother's hut. Once there, she headed straight for the kitchen and jumped up on the counter. Before she had headed out for the night, she had left a pot of water on a low fire on the stove so she could change back. Gingerly, she dipped her front legs into the water, and waited for the change to occur.
Shampoo's original plan might have gone awry, but she was an Amazon born and bred, so she had planned for several different outcomes; being caught was one of them. Moving as quickly as she could, she moved to the table on the other side of the room. There she had left a change of clothes and her pack. She wasn't sure where she was going to go, she just knew that, if she valued her life, she had to put as much distance between her and the village as she could.
As she walked out of the door to her great-grandmother's hut for the last time, she felt the beginnings of self-pity start to creep up on her; she quickly squashed it though. Instead she turned her sights towards the bane of her existence, Akane Tendo. She wasn't sure how, and she wasn't sure when, but she would make the girl pay. With that thought lodged firmly in her mind, she walked out of the village and into the comforting darkness of the surrounding forest.
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"Let's go find them!" Soon Hee shouted as she opened her door just as Choon Li started to pound. Shaking her head, she stepped over the druid as he fell to the floor then continued on to the village commons.
"Get up off of the floor Choon Li!" the elder yelled back towards the hut. "Don't look so confused. Honestly, do you think you are the only person who could feel that ki surge?"
"You could feel them?" Choon Li asked incredulously as he stood up.
"You're smarter than the average male, use your brain," Soon Hee said. "Hurry up, we need you to lead us to the couple.
Showing an agility that defied her age, Soon Hee turned and thrust her walking stick into the ground. The stick started to give off an eerie purple glow as the elder directed her ki into it. The ki quickly traveled the length of the stick to the little golden eagle that was sitting atop of it. The eagle' beak opened slightly, allowing the molten image to give off a shrill whistle. Not to long afterwards, every window in the village was lit as armed warriors poured out into the commons.
"Warriors," Soon Hee said after allow herself to feel satisfied at how promptly all the women had assembled, ready to go, "we have a dire situation on our hands."
The clamor in the square quickly died down at the Elder's words. She could have spoken then, but she waited until the silence hung thick in the air. She wanted to make sure she had everyone's undivided attention before she told of the return of the prophesied couple.
"Remember a few weeks ago, when I had all of the heads of family remind their family members about the ancient prophesy?" Again the matriarch paused to ensure that she had every warrior's undivided attention. "Over the past few weeks, the events have been occurring as was predicted. They are very vulnerable right now; we must find them."
Murmurs spread through the crowd as the warriors sought out their team members; the ones they had been trained to work with since childhood. Within minutes the warriors, who had divided themselves into search parties of ten, had assessed the information and were once again giving their full attention to Soon Hee.
"Choon Li said that he could feel the couple's ki surging in the direction of the springs; that is the way we will search."
Pride shone in Soon Hee's eyes as the warriors before her began to move with the precision of a well-oiled machine. They had trained their entire lives for just such a moment, and now that training was paying off.
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Akane-kun woke to a strange sensation shooting through his body, tingling, yet burning at the same time. Struggling to sit up, he noticed that something wasn't quite right. He was sitting on Ranma's lap, like he had many times before, yet this time was different. Instead of his head fitting comfortable on Ranma's shoulder, it was now resting on the other boy's cheek.
Thinking that Ranma must have changed into his cursed form, Akane-kun glanced at her fiancée before moving to wake him up; what she saw was a complete shock, Ranma was still a male.
"AHHHHHH!" The deep, resonating scream that filled the woods was loud enough to wake Ranma. He quickly jumped to his feet to see what was wrong, dumping Akane-kun on the ground in the process.
"What's wrong, Akane?" Ranma said as he turned to face her.
Akane-kun could see the shock register in Ranma's eyes as he looked her cursed form over; the shock was quickly replaced by a smirk though. An insecurity she had never felt before suddenly flooded her mind. True she had been insecure in the past when all the other fiancée's had been chasing Ranma, but this was different. Back then she had not been sure of her feelings, now she was, and what was more, she knew how Ranma felt about her. The hard part was actually speaking the question that she was dying to know the answer too.
"Are you disgusted by me?" Akane-kun asked in a very quiet tone of voice. A tight knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she nervously awaited Ranma's answer.
"It figures you would be built like Ryoga in your cursed form," Ranma said with a slight chuckle. "Didn't I always say you were built like an ox? Don't get any ideas though, I could still take you in a fight."
"You didn't answer my question," Akane-kun said, speaking a little louder, radiating anger.
"Let's see, you're still built like bricks so I am guessing that you are still as strong as an ox," Ranma said while walking back and forth, keeping Akane-kun in his peripheral line of vision. "Your waist is still thicker than mine, and I'm still better looking."
Akane-kun's anger quickly got the best of her as Ranma ran through his litany of her bad points, but she was able to contain her emotions, that is until he got to the part about who was the better looking female. Before she could stop herself, her ever-hated mallet had been pulled out.
"I will not do this!" Akane yelled at herself, as she pulled back on her mallet and twisted to the side, barely missing the pig-tailed boy.
"Wow! You've learned some control. Living with the Amazon's has definitely been good for you." Ranma said with a tone of respect, his words fell on deaf ears though.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me," Akane-kun said as tears started to fill her eyes. "I haven't lost control like that in such a long time; I.I don't know what came over me."
The shame that Ranma heard in Akane-kun's voice filled him with regret. All he had wanted to do was prove a point to his fiancée, but all he had succeeded in was feeding her cycle of self-doubt; a cycle she had worked very hard to overcome.
With a heavy sigh, Ranma reached over to Akane-kun and gently took her face in his hands. The hard, chiseled features of the other boy's face were a great contrast to what he associated with Akane. He had to stop that thought there though; he had to prove his point. Slowly he closed the distance between the two of them, until their faces were inches apart.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Ranma said, looking directly into Akane-kun's eyes, "I goaded you into attacking. I know you Akane, I know what makes you mad and I know just how far I can push you before your mallet comes into play."
"You made me mad on purpose," Akane-kun asked incredulously.
Ranma tenderly kissed Akane-kun on the forehead. "I wanted to prove to you that even though you are in a male body, you are still the Akane I know and love."
A sparkle of realization started to gleam in Akane-kun's eyes as Ranma's words sunk in. He loved her, no matter what happened he loved her, and love was not a thing he took lightly. In all the years that she had known the pig-tailed boy he had never once said that he loved anyone, not even to gain something he wanted, not counting potions and curses of course. So now that Ranma had finally said the words, she knew that the other boy really meant them.
"What were you doing in the valley at night anyways?" Ranma asked Akane-kun, "You of all people should know just how dangerous that place can be!"
Akane-kun's eyes got bigger as the evenings events started to come back to her. "I heard a noise in the valley. Someone needed help, and you were already headed back towards the village. I thought I had to act fast, but when I got there I couldn't see anyone. The noise stopped when I came to the pool that was closest to the trees, and then the next thing I know a cat jumped at me.."
"Wait a minute!" Ranma interrupted. "I ran past a cat on my way into the valley! Now that I think about it, the cat looked an awful lot like Shampoo's cursed form!"
"She must have seen us together by the lake, but how could she have known who I was," Akane-kun replied as the enormity of the situation came to her. "We need to get to the village and tell someone about this!"
For the first time since she had awoken, Akane-kun looked at her surroundings. Slowly, she turned her gaze to Ranma and slightly raised an eyebrow.
"There's something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while now," Ranma started when he saw the look on his fiancée's face. "I've been coming into these woods on a nightly basis. I don't know how I get here, but that's okay because seeing you alive has been keeping me sane."
Ranma almost laughed as the look on Akane-kun's face slowly changed from accusatory to wonder. "You see, as long as I got to see you here in these woods every night, then I knew you were safe somewhere."
"I thought you were a dream," Akane-kun breathed, "why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"We were getting along so well," Ranma started to explain. "I just didn't want to ruin everything. Besides that, would you have believed me if I had told you?"
"No, I probably wouldn't have," Akane-kun agreed, pulling Ranma down with her as she sat on the log. "For that matter, I'm having problems believing that you are really here with me right now."
As they sat in companionable silence, Ranma's errant thoughts returned to the sight of Akane's body floating in the cursed pool. The familiar gut-wrenching fear that he had felt when he had almost lost her at Jusenkyo was once again afflicting him. Since he had first met her, she had become such an integral part of his life that he didn't know what he would do if he lost her. As he was thinking along those lines, something occurred to him that scared him to the very depths of his soul. If they were in the dream forest, then that meant their bodies were still by the pool! Shampoo could be doing all kinds of things to them, and there was nothing he could do to stop her!
"What's wrong?" Akane-kun asked when he noticed the panicked look on his fiancée's face.
"I was just wondering if Shampoo kept running for the village, or." Ranma left off; he couldn't finish his sentence.
"I'm sure if she had done something to one of us that we would know about it," Akane-kun said in an unsure voice as she reached over and grasped the other boy's hand.
A tender smile tugged at the corners of Ranma's mouth as he felt Akane-kun's warmth seep into his hand. "I guess only time will answer that question."
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"This way," Choon Li yelled as he ran down the path into the valley below. "Hurry, we don't have much time! The evil draws nearer!"
The further the Amazon's went into the valley, the brighter the sky grew. Finally, as they entered the clearing, they understood the reason for the brightly lit night sky. Off on the fringes of the clearing they could see the prophesied couple lying on the ground, several hundred golden spots of light floated in the air around them. The whole scene looked very surreal to everyone present.
"Quick! Someone grab them! They will have to be carried to the caves until the process is complete," Soon Hee yelled as she ran to stand next to the druid, helping him to scan the night sky.
The distant night sky was suddenly set ablaze as a fireball burst from its inky depths, careening towards the earth, and exploding in the trees just beyond the enchanted couple. Almost as one, the warriors ran forward into the woods, two of them slowing just enough to grab the couple. Behind them Choon Li had his hands extending towards the sky, sending ki blasts to various points in the sky. Beside him, Soon Hee, who had her staff raised, was also sending balls of ki into the black void above.
As the warriors spread out and ran in different directions through the forest, the demon shifted her focus to the gently swaying trees below. From her vantage point she couldn't tell exactly where the various warriors were or which ones had the two people she wanted to destroy, so she randomly fired ki blasts where she saw the trees moving. One by one they flew from her fingertips, sending a shower of rocks, dirt and decimated trees where they hit.
After sending dozens of blasts hurling towards the earth without so much as one lucky strike, she finally hit pay dirt. Through a cloud of debris, she could see a warrior running with another person in her arms. A cruel smile formed on her lips as she took careful aim at the trees just beyond the newly created clearing, the blood lust of the moment almost unbearable. A thrill beyond comprehension filled her dark soul as she felt the energies created by her body surging towards her fingertips. With victory just seconds away, a totally demonic smile marred the already twisted features on the once beautiful face; an assured victory was within her grasps. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from the ground below, followed almost instantly by a sharp pain in her extended arm. The force of the blow was so great that she almost fell off of her pet as the ki ball missed its target, flying instead into a mountainside in the distance.
There, on the ground below her, Soon Hee and Choon Li stood side by side, their arms raised towards the sky. They had bought enough time for the warriors to reach the safety of the caves, but now the real battle was about to begin. As soon as their combined blasts had reached the intended target, Choon Li started to chant a spell. The air above the forest started to waver a little as the last words were spoken, slightly distorting the image of the possessed person in the sky above.
Soon Hee quickly got to work as the demon sent ki blast after ki blast hurtling at the same spot in the huge shield. She varied her well- aimed shots between the demon and the dragon, hoping to injure one of them enough that they would have to leave. Shot after shot went coursing through the seemingly one-way shield, some hitting both beast and master, and the others exploding after being met by other ki blasts. If the stakes in this game were not quite so high, she would have stopped to enjoy the spectacular light show their fighting was creating.
A groan escaping from Choon Li, and the shield starting to weaken caused Soon Hee to strengthen the intensity of her attacks; if the shield failed then battle would be a bloody one. Her tribe could ill afford to battle the demon so soon; they would be needed for the upcoming events.
Two ki blasts came tearing through the air from behind Soon Hee, startling her. Sparing a few seconds, she glanced to either side of her and noted that she had been joined by Kai Xing and Ku Lon, with their help the fight should be over fairly soon. The three elders stood side-by-side, firing one shot after the other, all in a seemingly endless procession. After but a few minutes their strategy paid off, and two of their shots merged and hit the lithe dragon as it was darting across the sky. The great beast let off a screeching cry as it began to plunge towards the ground. Seeing their opportunity, the elders and the druid quickly darted under the cover of the trees before the pair could right themselves, and headed for the relative safety of the caves.
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As the starry night skies above the city of Nerima began to be lightened by the first tender rays of the sun, a white duck settled itself on the corner post of a massive wrought stone fence. Before it began its watch, the duck lifted its wing, tucked its head into the space underneath, and pulled a vial from some unidentifiable place beneath its feathers. With the vial in its beak, the duck turned its attention back to the object that the massive fence was constructed to guard, a mansion.
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Natsume could feel the ki coming towards her and her pet before they were ever struck. There was no way they could avoid them however, she had detected them too late. As quickly as she could, she wrapped the straps from the leather harness around her arms, hoping she would be able to stay astride. Just as she finished securing herself, the blasts hit, and they were more powerful than she had anticipated, almost flinging her from her pet. Desperately, she clung to the beast with her legs as they plummeted through the skies, the ground below looming ever closer. She pulled back on the reins with a strength that should have eluded a woman of her stature, trying to coax her pet to change the course they were on. Slowly, bit-by-bit, got her pet to raise its head and level out in the skies, leaving them to soar over the forest once more.
Despite the various areas of carnage, the trees below did not belay any of the chaos that had just ensued as they gently swayed in the breeze. Even though they circled the area a few more times, Natsume could not determine where the whole of the Amazon tribe had gone. Letting lose a frustrated cry of rage, she randomly flung ki blasts into the trees below in the hopes that she would hit something, and then directed her beast to fly towards the Amazon village. She may have lost the battle, but she would not lose the war.
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Choon Li, Soon Hee, Kai Xing and Ku Lon reached the safety of the hidden caves just as the male population of the village arrived with the children. They swiftly made their way through the crowds of people, and headed towards a small side chamber. Tapers that were randomly placed around the room softly lit the hand-carved, domed room. On the rush covered floor, to one side of the chamber, the prophesied couple lay on a blanket with their arms wrapped protectively around one another.
"That was too close for comfort," Ku Lon stated as she sat on the floor by the matriarch, "we almost lost the world's only hope."
Soon Hee relished the coolness that rushed through to her skin as she leaned back against the stonewall of the chamber. She was very tired from all of her earlier exertions and really would have liked to take a nap, but she had pressing duties that needed to be seen to.
She could hear a soft chuckling next to her as a sigh of relief escaped her lips. "We are not as young as we use to be," Soon Hee said to her life long friend. "We need to step up the ki training of the younger warriors, they have more stamina for this kind of exertion."
"Yes, that is true," Ku Lon answered, "but the youth of today are so impatient that I fear we will not be able to teach them the focus that they will need."
"Ang Mei has already started on that task, and she is having quite a bit of success with a few of them." Soon Hee said as she rose to her feet. "Come, we need to go and see to the wounded before we can do anything else."
Choon Li and Ku Lon both moved to the entrance of the chamber and waited as Soon Hee moved to the other side of the room with her cup of tea in hand. She carefully poured the contents of the cup on Akane-kun and watched as the change took place.
"Do you know this girl, Ku Lon?" Soon Hee asked when she saw the surprised look on the other woman's face.
A few seconds passed before Ku Lon was able to speak. "She was Xian Pu's rival for the boy's affections. Xian Pu gave her the kiss of death when she found out that Ranma was engaged to the other girl, I am now glad that I forbade her from killing the girl."
"Why wouldn't you let Shampoo try to fulfill her vow?" Soon Hee asked, glad that the deed was never done.
"The girl was such a weakling," Ku Lon replied matter of factly, as she left the room. "She has improved tremendously."
"Call me if you hear them return to consciousness," Soon Hee instructed the guards as she pulled the curtain across the entrance of the room. "Under no circumstances are you to enter the room."
Without looking back to see if the other two were following, the Matriarch headed deeper into the cave to check on the well being of her people.
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Akane-kun was struggling with whether or not to put her head on Ranma's shoulder when a strange, tingling sensation spread though her body; the feeling was so startling that she jumped off of the log.
"Don't worry," Ranma said as he stood and put his arms around Akane- kun's waist, "you're just changing back to your normal form. Someone must have found our bodies and taken us back to the village."
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Akane said after she finished changing back into her girl form. "I was so uncomfortable being a boy, I was never really sure how I should behave."
"Now you know how I felt," Ranma replied with a grin. "At least I wasn't chasing you around saying you were a pervert because you didn't know what to do."
"I'm so." Akane started to say, but was cut off by Ranma's kiss. By the time he was finished she was tingling from head to toe.
"I want to know all of you," Ranma said in a deep, husky voice that made Akane shiver all over and long to be kissed again.
Akane nervously licked her lips as she gazed up at Ranma's face when she realized that he was not going to kiss her again anytime soon. His eyes had changed from their normal calm blue to a gray storm that was swirling with an emotion that both excited and frightened her.
When their gazes met, they became transfixed and couldn't move as a strange power began to envelop them. Scenes from both of their lives started to travel from one to another without one word being said. As they moved through the various stages of each other lives, they began to develop an understanding about the other. Suddenly they knew why they were each desperately seeking something in their lives, they knew why they were the way they were, and they knew why they had never found a significant other. They had been searching for each other their entire lives; they were each one part of a whole that could only be completed when they were together.
"I understand," Ranma and Akane both thought at the same time, their voices mingling together in their minds even though neither of them spoke a word.
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"It's daybreak now," Soon Hee said to the group of women assembled in front of her. "We need to go see what is left of our village. Wu Shan, take Mai Tsu, Guai Guai, Yang Yang, and Xian Nam, scout the area and then report back to the council."
"Do you think she left anything standing?" A young warrior asked the council.
A shadow fell across the Matriarch's tired eyes as she answered the question, "Not likely, dear, not likely."
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The sun was well above the Nerima horizon when the duck first noticed the front door to the mansion open. A tall man with a bokken strapped to his waist stepped out onto the landing.
"I shall return later this is a fine morning, the kind that demands a walk to be taken," he called back into the house before bounding down the stairs, all the while muttering under his breath.
The duck strained to hear what the man was saying, trying to make out some of the words that were floating on the breeze. Anything, something that could convince him that he was making the correct decision.
"Nay, please forgive me little sister, but there is no time to waste in small talk. If I tarry here any longer than I shall miss the evil fork- tongued Nabiki Tendo," Kuno answered his Kodachi, who was standing in the doorway. "I must not miss her; I have to hurry! I will find out where she has hidden the beautiful Akane Tendo so that I may save her from her sister's evil clutches!" The man kept muttering the last part to himself over and over again as he neared the fence. That was all the convincing that the duck needed, this man was truly a menace to the life of Nabiki Tendo.
The duck waited until the man got closer to the fence and then launched his attack. Jumping off of the post and into the air, the duck flew straight at Kuno while holding the vial in his mouth. Seeing the crazed bird fly towards him, Kuno threw his arms up over his face to protect himself from the fury that nature was about to unleash upon him.
This move, however, ended up being the worst thing that the Kuno could have done. As the duck neared, it threw its head back and launched the vial at Kuno, then circled around to make sure the potion had done the job. Just as the duck completed the circle, Kuno suddenly disappeared, leaving a pile of clothes in his wake. Satisfied that everything was going to be all right now, the duck flew towards his home to face another busy day at the Nekohatten.
WOW! I never thought I would get this finished! I am so sorry that I have taken so long to write this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it, and I will try to start chapter 18 sometime soon. No guarantees though. The only one I will make you is that I will finish this story..I am just not sure when.
As always thank you for all the wonderful reviews that I have gotten! I really enjoy reading them, so keep them coming! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to know that you guys are actually enjoying my story!
And, I would like to thank Taechunsa for pre-reading my story for me! You are the greatest!
STARRY NIGHT
CHAPTER 17
After a few minutes of working the tumblers, Mousse had the door at the top of the stairs open. Surprised at how easy the task was, he quietly opened the door and peered in to make sure Nabiki was indeed asleep. The door to her room was closed, and no light was seeping through. Still, he waited and listened for a while to make sure this was the case.
When he was sure that the way was clear, he swiftly moved to the door at the end of the hall. There was a rather large and ancient lock on the door that looked like it could crumble at any moment. Mousse was very cautious with the lock even though he knew he didn't have to be, the thing did belong to Cologne after all.
This lock was considerably harder to open than the one on the door at the top of the stairs. Mousse worked diligently at it for close to ten minutes before he heard the tumblers giving way, allowing him access to the room.
He pushed the door slowly, wincing at the squeaking noise that echoed down the hallway. Now would not be a good time for Nabiki to wake up. If she knew what he was up to, she would stop him, and he didn't want to be stopped. This was something that needed to be done, should have actually been done a long time ago. He would finish his task no matter what.
After the door was opened far enough for him to squeeze through, Mousse paused and looked back down the hall. When he was satisfied that Nabiki was still safely tucked in her bed, he slipped into the room and began searching for the things he wanted.
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Choon Li had just climbed into bed when the first feelings of someone's ki flaring reached him. At first he wasn't sure what was happening or who was in trouble, then he recognized the ki. The intertwining patterns of hot and cold were so prevalent that there was no mistaking what had happened. The fated couple of prophecy had finally balanced the scales of yin and yang.
Rising quickly from his bed, Choon Li grabbed his hastily discarded clothes and ran to the elder's hut. He needed to get into the sacred woods so he could figure out where the couple was. Their bodies would have to be guarded until the melding process was completed.
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In a forest glade, in rural China somewhere, Natsume jumped up from where she lay by the fire. As she turned in circles, the green glow that surrounded her eyes trailed her. She was searching for the ki she had just felt. The ki she had been feeling ever since she had been released from her crystal prison. The only difference was that now she could feel the two intertwining, straining to become one whole. They were melding now, balancing each other out until they were in complete harmony with each other.
The couple would be very vulnerable right now. If her memory served her correctly, they would be unconscious until the process was complete. If she could eliminate them now, then there would be no one to challenge her domination of this world. She would have to be swift though, the Amazon's were probably already on their way to the couple.
Closing her eyes and concentrating, Natsume finally stopped turning in circles knowing she had found the direction to take. Mentally, she called on her pet, letting him know that it was time to come to her. Thankfully he could travel through the air very rapidly and would probably be there in a few hours. Until then though, she would prepare for her future task.
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Choon Li paced nervously in front of the door of the elder's hut. The guard on duty had challenged him as he neared the hut, refusing to let him enter. Obviously, she did not understand the urgency of the situation, so he had tried to explain. She wouldn't listen to him though! All she would do was tell him that no one was allowed to bother the matriarch while she was sleeping.
A sudden surge crossed the sky above Choon Li, filling him with panic. The demon had also felt the fated couples rising ki and was searching for them. There was no time to waste; the future of the world was at stake.
Without thinking of the consequences of his actions, Choon Li raised his hands, pointing them at the guard by the door. Slowly she rose into the air and was deposited in the top branches of the tree by the elder's hut; now she would have to jump down from the tree before she could stop him. A satisfied grin played across the druid's features as he walked into the hut. He needed to save his people, and no warrior was going to stand in the way of him performing his duty.
Fearing that one of the other guards might return at any moment, he quickly strode across the room, stopping at the door that led to the matriarch's private chambers. A look of regret momentarily played across his features; he really didn't want to have to disrupt the elder's rest. He had a duty though; a duty that extended beyond his tribe to encompass all of humanity. The regret he felt at this moment would be much greater if the demon got to the fated couple before he could. They needed to be found and now. With that thought in mind, he started to pound on the door.
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Shampoo was in a daze as she ran out of the valley and headed back towards the village; nothing had gone as she planned. She should have known that Ranma would have gone back to be by Akane's side, he always did. How could she have been so stupid! Akane had seen who pushed her into the pool, Ranma had run by her on the path, and her clothes were still lying in a pile at the bottom of the tree.
There was no doubt that Ranma had saved the Tendo girl, and they were probably on their way to the village right now. Panic stricken, Shampoo quickened her pace, taking the shortest route she knew to her great- grandmother's hut. Once there, she headed straight for the kitchen and jumped up on the counter. Before she had headed out for the night, she had left a pot of water on a low fire on the stove so she could change back. Gingerly, she dipped her front legs into the water, and waited for the change to occur.
Shampoo's original plan might have gone awry, but she was an Amazon born and bred, so she had planned for several different outcomes; being caught was one of them. Moving as quickly as she could, she moved to the table on the other side of the room. There she had left a change of clothes and her pack. She wasn't sure where she was going to go, she just knew that, if she valued her life, she had to put as much distance between her and the village as she could.
As she walked out of the door to her great-grandmother's hut for the last time, she felt the beginnings of self-pity start to creep up on her; she quickly squashed it though. Instead she turned her sights towards the bane of her existence, Akane Tendo. She wasn't sure how, and she wasn't sure when, but she would make the girl pay. With that thought lodged firmly in her mind, she walked out of the village and into the comforting darkness of the surrounding forest.
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"Let's go find them!" Soon Hee shouted as she opened her door just as Choon Li started to pound. Shaking her head, she stepped over the druid as he fell to the floor then continued on to the village commons.
"Get up off of the floor Choon Li!" the elder yelled back towards the hut. "Don't look so confused. Honestly, do you think you are the only person who could feel that ki surge?"
"You could feel them?" Choon Li asked incredulously as he stood up.
"You're smarter than the average male, use your brain," Soon Hee said. "Hurry up, we need you to lead us to the couple.
Showing an agility that defied her age, Soon Hee turned and thrust her walking stick into the ground. The stick started to give off an eerie purple glow as the elder directed her ki into it. The ki quickly traveled the length of the stick to the little golden eagle that was sitting atop of it. The eagle' beak opened slightly, allowing the molten image to give off a shrill whistle. Not to long afterwards, every window in the village was lit as armed warriors poured out into the commons.
"Warriors," Soon Hee said after allow herself to feel satisfied at how promptly all the women had assembled, ready to go, "we have a dire situation on our hands."
The clamor in the square quickly died down at the Elder's words. She could have spoken then, but she waited until the silence hung thick in the air. She wanted to make sure she had everyone's undivided attention before she told of the return of the prophesied couple.
"Remember a few weeks ago, when I had all of the heads of family remind their family members about the ancient prophesy?" Again the matriarch paused to ensure that she had every warrior's undivided attention. "Over the past few weeks, the events have been occurring as was predicted. They are very vulnerable right now; we must find them."
Murmurs spread through the crowd as the warriors sought out their team members; the ones they had been trained to work with since childhood. Within minutes the warriors, who had divided themselves into search parties of ten, had assessed the information and were once again giving their full attention to Soon Hee.
"Choon Li said that he could feel the couple's ki surging in the direction of the springs; that is the way we will search."
Pride shone in Soon Hee's eyes as the warriors before her began to move with the precision of a well-oiled machine. They had trained their entire lives for just such a moment, and now that training was paying off.
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Akane-kun woke to a strange sensation shooting through his body, tingling, yet burning at the same time. Struggling to sit up, he noticed that something wasn't quite right. He was sitting on Ranma's lap, like he had many times before, yet this time was different. Instead of his head fitting comfortable on Ranma's shoulder, it was now resting on the other boy's cheek.
Thinking that Ranma must have changed into his cursed form, Akane-kun glanced at her fiancée before moving to wake him up; what she saw was a complete shock, Ranma was still a male.
"AHHHHHH!" The deep, resonating scream that filled the woods was loud enough to wake Ranma. He quickly jumped to his feet to see what was wrong, dumping Akane-kun on the ground in the process.
"What's wrong, Akane?" Ranma said as he turned to face her.
Akane-kun could see the shock register in Ranma's eyes as he looked her cursed form over; the shock was quickly replaced by a smirk though. An insecurity she had never felt before suddenly flooded her mind. True she had been insecure in the past when all the other fiancée's had been chasing Ranma, but this was different. Back then she had not been sure of her feelings, now she was, and what was more, she knew how Ranma felt about her. The hard part was actually speaking the question that she was dying to know the answer too.
"Are you disgusted by me?" Akane-kun asked in a very quiet tone of voice. A tight knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she nervously awaited Ranma's answer.
"It figures you would be built like Ryoga in your cursed form," Ranma said with a slight chuckle. "Didn't I always say you were built like an ox? Don't get any ideas though, I could still take you in a fight."
"You didn't answer my question," Akane-kun said, speaking a little louder, radiating anger.
"Let's see, you're still built like bricks so I am guessing that you are still as strong as an ox," Ranma said while walking back and forth, keeping Akane-kun in his peripheral line of vision. "Your waist is still thicker than mine, and I'm still better looking."
Akane-kun's anger quickly got the best of her as Ranma ran through his litany of her bad points, but she was able to contain her emotions, that is until he got to the part about who was the better looking female. Before she could stop herself, her ever-hated mallet had been pulled out.
"I will not do this!" Akane yelled at herself, as she pulled back on her mallet and twisted to the side, barely missing the pig-tailed boy.
"Wow! You've learned some control. Living with the Amazon's has definitely been good for you." Ranma said with a tone of respect, his words fell on deaf ears though.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me," Akane-kun said as tears started to fill her eyes. "I haven't lost control like that in such a long time; I.I don't know what came over me."
The shame that Ranma heard in Akane-kun's voice filled him with regret. All he had wanted to do was prove a point to his fiancée, but all he had succeeded in was feeding her cycle of self-doubt; a cycle she had worked very hard to overcome.
With a heavy sigh, Ranma reached over to Akane-kun and gently took her face in his hands. The hard, chiseled features of the other boy's face were a great contrast to what he associated with Akane. He had to stop that thought there though; he had to prove his point. Slowly he closed the distance between the two of them, until their faces were inches apart.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Ranma said, looking directly into Akane-kun's eyes, "I goaded you into attacking. I know you Akane, I know what makes you mad and I know just how far I can push you before your mallet comes into play."
"You made me mad on purpose," Akane-kun asked incredulously.
Ranma tenderly kissed Akane-kun on the forehead. "I wanted to prove to you that even though you are in a male body, you are still the Akane I know and love."
A sparkle of realization started to gleam in Akane-kun's eyes as Ranma's words sunk in. He loved her, no matter what happened he loved her, and love was not a thing he took lightly. In all the years that she had known the pig-tailed boy he had never once said that he loved anyone, not even to gain something he wanted, not counting potions and curses of course. So now that Ranma had finally said the words, she knew that the other boy really meant them.
"What were you doing in the valley at night anyways?" Ranma asked Akane-kun, "You of all people should know just how dangerous that place can be!"
Akane-kun's eyes got bigger as the evenings events started to come back to her. "I heard a noise in the valley. Someone needed help, and you were already headed back towards the village. I thought I had to act fast, but when I got there I couldn't see anyone. The noise stopped when I came to the pool that was closest to the trees, and then the next thing I know a cat jumped at me.."
"Wait a minute!" Ranma interrupted. "I ran past a cat on my way into the valley! Now that I think about it, the cat looked an awful lot like Shampoo's cursed form!"
"She must have seen us together by the lake, but how could she have known who I was," Akane-kun replied as the enormity of the situation came to her. "We need to get to the village and tell someone about this!"
For the first time since she had awoken, Akane-kun looked at her surroundings. Slowly, she turned her gaze to Ranma and slightly raised an eyebrow.
"There's something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while now," Ranma started when he saw the look on his fiancée's face. "I've been coming into these woods on a nightly basis. I don't know how I get here, but that's okay because seeing you alive has been keeping me sane."
Ranma almost laughed as the look on Akane-kun's face slowly changed from accusatory to wonder. "You see, as long as I got to see you here in these woods every night, then I knew you were safe somewhere."
"I thought you were a dream," Akane-kun breathed, "why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"We were getting along so well," Ranma started to explain. "I just didn't want to ruin everything. Besides that, would you have believed me if I had told you?"
"No, I probably wouldn't have," Akane-kun agreed, pulling Ranma down with her as she sat on the log. "For that matter, I'm having problems believing that you are really here with me right now."
As they sat in companionable silence, Ranma's errant thoughts returned to the sight of Akane's body floating in the cursed pool. The familiar gut-wrenching fear that he had felt when he had almost lost her at Jusenkyo was once again afflicting him. Since he had first met her, she had become such an integral part of his life that he didn't know what he would do if he lost her. As he was thinking along those lines, something occurred to him that scared him to the very depths of his soul. If they were in the dream forest, then that meant their bodies were still by the pool! Shampoo could be doing all kinds of things to them, and there was nothing he could do to stop her!
"What's wrong?" Akane-kun asked when he noticed the panicked look on his fiancée's face.
"I was just wondering if Shampoo kept running for the village, or." Ranma left off; he couldn't finish his sentence.
"I'm sure if she had done something to one of us that we would know about it," Akane-kun said in an unsure voice as she reached over and grasped the other boy's hand.
A tender smile tugged at the corners of Ranma's mouth as he felt Akane-kun's warmth seep into his hand. "I guess only time will answer that question."
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"This way," Choon Li yelled as he ran down the path into the valley below. "Hurry, we don't have much time! The evil draws nearer!"
The further the Amazon's went into the valley, the brighter the sky grew. Finally, as they entered the clearing, they understood the reason for the brightly lit night sky. Off on the fringes of the clearing they could see the prophesied couple lying on the ground, several hundred golden spots of light floated in the air around them. The whole scene looked very surreal to everyone present.
"Quick! Someone grab them! They will have to be carried to the caves until the process is complete," Soon Hee yelled as she ran to stand next to the druid, helping him to scan the night sky.
The distant night sky was suddenly set ablaze as a fireball burst from its inky depths, careening towards the earth, and exploding in the trees just beyond the enchanted couple. Almost as one, the warriors ran forward into the woods, two of them slowing just enough to grab the couple. Behind them Choon Li had his hands extending towards the sky, sending ki blasts to various points in the sky. Beside him, Soon Hee, who had her staff raised, was also sending balls of ki into the black void above.
As the warriors spread out and ran in different directions through the forest, the demon shifted her focus to the gently swaying trees below. From her vantage point she couldn't tell exactly where the various warriors were or which ones had the two people she wanted to destroy, so she randomly fired ki blasts where she saw the trees moving. One by one they flew from her fingertips, sending a shower of rocks, dirt and decimated trees where they hit.
After sending dozens of blasts hurling towards the earth without so much as one lucky strike, she finally hit pay dirt. Through a cloud of debris, she could see a warrior running with another person in her arms. A cruel smile formed on her lips as she took careful aim at the trees just beyond the newly created clearing, the blood lust of the moment almost unbearable. A thrill beyond comprehension filled her dark soul as she felt the energies created by her body surging towards her fingertips. With victory just seconds away, a totally demonic smile marred the already twisted features on the once beautiful face; an assured victory was within her grasps. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from the ground below, followed almost instantly by a sharp pain in her extended arm. The force of the blow was so great that she almost fell off of her pet as the ki ball missed its target, flying instead into a mountainside in the distance.
There, on the ground below her, Soon Hee and Choon Li stood side by side, their arms raised towards the sky. They had bought enough time for the warriors to reach the safety of the caves, but now the real battle was about to begin. As soon as their combined blasts had reached the intended target, Choon Li started to chant a spell. The air above the forest started to waver a little as the last words were spoken, slightly distorting the image of the possessed person in the sky above.
Soon Hee quickly got to work as the demon sent ki blast after ki blast hurtling at the same spot in the huge shield. She varied her well- aimed shots between the demon and the dragon, hoping to injure one of them enough that they would have to leave. Shot after shot went coursing through the seemingly one-way shield, some hitting both beast and master, and the others exploding after being met by other ki blasts. If the stakes in this game were not quite so high, she would have stopped to enjoy the spectacular light show their fighting was creating.
A groan escaping from Choon Li, and the shield starting to weaken caused Soon Hee to strengthen the intensity of her attacks; if the shield failed then battle would be a bloody one. Her tribe could ill afford to battle the demon so soon; they would be needed for the upcoming events.
Two ki blasts came tearing through the air from behind Soon Hee, startling her. Sparing a few seconds, she glanced to either side of her and noted that she had been joined by Kai Xing and Ku Lon, with their help the fight should be over fairly soon. The three elders stood side-by-side, firing one shot after the other, all in a seemingly endless procession. After but a few minutes their strategy paid off, and two of their shots merged and hit the lithe dragon as it was darting across the sky. The great beast let off a screeching cry as it began to plunge towards the ground. Seeing their opportunity, the elders and the druid quickly darted under the cover of the trees before the pair could right themselves, and headed for the relative safety of the caves.
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As the starry night skies above the city of Nerima began to be lightened by the first tender rays of the sun, a white duck settled itself on the corner post of a massive wrought stone fence. Before it began its watch, the duck lifted its wing, tucked its head into the space underneath, and pulled a vial from some unidentifiable place beneath its feathers. With the vial in its beak, the duck turned its attention back to the object that the massive fence was constructed to guard, a mansion.
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Natsume could feel the ki coming towards her and her pet before they were ever struck. There was no way they could avoid them however, she had detected them too late. As quickly as she could, she wrapped the straps from the leather harness around her arms, hoping she would be able to stay astride. Just as she finished securing herself, the blasts hit, and they were more powerful than she had anticipated, almost flinging her from her pet. Desperately, she clung to the beast with her legs as they plummeted through the skies, the ground below looming ever closer. She pulled back on the reins with a strength that should have eluded a woman of her stature, trying to coax her pet to change the course they were on. Slowly, bit-by-bit, got her pet to raise its head and level out in the skies, leaving them to soar over the forest once more.
Despite the various areas of carnage, the trees below did not belay any of the chaos that had just ensued as they gently swayed in the breeze. Even though they circled the area a few more times, Natsume could not determine where the whole of the Amazon tribe had gone. Letting lose a frustrated cry of rage, she randomly flung ki blasts into the trees below in the hopes that she would hit something, and then directed her beast to fly towards the Amazon village. She may have lost the battle, but she would not lose the war.
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Choon Li, Soon Hee, Kai Xing and Ku Lon reached the safety of the hidden caves just as the male population of the village arrived with the children. They swiftly made their way through the crowds of people, and headed towards a small side chamber. Tapers that were randomly placed around the room softly lit the hand-carved, domed room. On the rush covered floor, to one side of the chamber, the prophesied couple lay on a blanket with their arms wrapped protectively around one another.
"That was too close for comfort," Ku Lon stated as she sat on the floor by the matriarch, "we almost lost the world's only hope."
Soon Hee relished the coolness that rushed through to her skin as she leaned back against the stonewall of the chamber. She was very tired from all of her earlier exertions and really would have liked to take a nap, but she had pressing duties that needed to be seen to.
She could hear a soft chuckling next to her as a sigh of relief escaped her lips. "We are not as young as we use to be," Soon Hee said to her life long friend. "We need to step up the ki training of the younger warriors, they have more stamina for this kind of exertion."
"Yes, that is true," Ku Lon answered, "but the youth of today are so impatient that I fear we will not be able to teach them the focus that they will need."
"Ang Mei has already started on that task, and she is having quite a bit of success with a few of them." Soon Hee said as she rose to her feet. "Come, we need to go and see to the wounded before we can do anything else."
Choon Li and Ku Lon both moved to the entrance of the chamber and waited as Soon Hee moved to the other side of the room with her cup of tea in hand. She carefully poured the contents of the cup on Akane-kun and watched as the change took place.
"Do you know this girl, Ku Lon?" Soon Hee asked when she saw the surprised look on the other woman's face.
A few seconds passed before Ku Lon was able to speak. "She was Xian Pu's rival for the boy's affections. Xian Pu gave her the kiss of death when she found out that Ranma was engaged to the other girl, I am now glad that I forbade her from killing the girl."
"Why wouldn't you let Shampoo try to fulfill her vow?" Soon Hee asked, glad that the deed was never done.
"The girl was such a weakling," Ku Lon replied matter of factly, as she left the room. "She has improved tremendously."
"Call me if you hear them return to consciousness," Soon Hee instructed the guards as she pulled the curtain across the entrance of the room. "Under no circumstances are you to enter the room."
Without looking back to see if the other two were following, the Matriarch headed deeper into the cave to check on the well being of her people.
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Akane-kun was struggling with whether or not to put her head on Ranma's shoulder when a strange, tingling sensation spread though her body; the feeling was so startling that she jumped off of the log.
"Don't worry," Ranma said as he stood and put his arms around Akane- kun's waist, "you're just changing back to your normal form. Someone must have found our bodies and taken us back to the village."
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Akane said after she finished changing back into her girl form. "I was so uncomfortable being a boy, I was never really sure how I should behave."
"Now you know how I felt," Ranma replied with a grin. "At least I wasn't chasing you around saying you were a pervert because you didn't know what to do."
"I'm so." Akane started to say, but was cut off by Ranma's kiss. By the time he was finished she was tingling from head to toe.
"I want to know all of you," Ranma said in a deep, husky voice that made Akane shiver all over and long to be kissed again.
Akane nervously licked her lips as she gazed up at Ranma's face when she realized that he was not going to kiss her again anytime soon. His eyes had changed from their normal calm blue to a gray storm that was swirling with an emotion that both excited and frightened her.
When their gazes met, they became transfixed and couldn't move as a strange power began to envelop them. Scenes from both of their lives started to travel from one to another without one word being said. As they moved through the various stages of each other lives, they began to develop an understanding about the other. Suddenly they knew why they were each desperately seeking something in their lives, they knew why they were the way they were, and they knew why they had never found a significant other. They had been searching for each other their entire lives; they were each one part of a whole that could only be completed when they were together.
"I understand," Ranma and Akane both thought at the same time, their voices mingling together in their minds even though neither of them spoke a word.
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"It's daybreak now," Soon Hee said to the group of women assembled in front of her. "We need to go see what is left of our village. Wu Shan, take Mai Tsu, Guai Guai, Yang Yang, and Xian Nam, scout the area and then report back to the council."
"Do you think she left anything standing?" A young warrior asked the council.
A shadow fell across the Matriarch's tired eyes as she answered the question, "Not likely, dear, not likely."
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The sun was well above the Nerima horizon when the duck first noticed the front door to the mansion open. A tall man with a bokken strapped to his waist stepped out onto the landing.
"I shall return later this is a fine morning, the kind that demands a walk to be taken," he called back into the house before bounding down the stairs, all the while muttering under his breath.
The duck strained to hear what the man was saying, trying to make out some of the words that were floating on the breeze. Anything, something that could convince him that he was making the correct decision.
"Nay, please forgive me little sister, but there is no time to waste in small talk. If I tarry here any longer than I shall miss the evil fork- tongued Nabiki Tendo," Kuno answered his Kodachi, who was standing in the doorway. "I must not miss her; I have to hurry! I will find out where she has hidden the beautiful Akane Tendo so that I may save her from her sister's evil clutches!" The man kept muttering the last part to himself over and over again as he neared the fence. That was all the convincing that the duck needed, this man was truly a menace to the life of Nabiki Tendo.
The duck waited until the man got closer to the fence and then launched his attack. Jumping off of the post and into the air, the duck flew straight at Kuno while holding the vial in his mouth. Seeing the crazed bird fly towards him, Kuno threw his arms up over his face to protect himself from the fury that nature was about to unleash upon him.
This move, however, ended up being the worst thing that the Kuno could have done. As the duck neared, it threw its head back and launched the vial at Kuno, then circled around to make sure the potion had done the job. Just as the duck completed the circle, Kuno suddenly disappeared, leaving a pile of clothes in his wake. Satisfied that everything was going to be all right now, the duck flew towards his home to face another busy day at the Nekohatten.
WOW! I never thought I would get this finished! I am so sorry that I have taken so long to write this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it, and I will try to start chapter 18 sometime soon. No guarantees though. The only one I will make you is that I will finish this story..I am just not sure when.
As always thank you for all the wonderful reviews that I have gotten! I really enjoy reading them, so keep them coming! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to know that you guys are actually enjoying my story!
And, I would like to thank Taechunsa for pre-reading my story for me! You are the greatest!