A Reflections Bonus Volume
A. V. Morgan
Author's Note
I'd like to apologize for the delay in releasing this chapter. December turned into an insane month for me, with a mortgage check bouncing, the bank foreclosing on the house, suddenly having to find a new place to live, pack, move and at the same time deal with increased hours at work and the holidays. Thus, what should have been a day's delay to complete a mere 1,000 words and a bit of proofing to do between posting the previous part and this one turned into a month of struggling to squeeze in a sentence here and there in my spare time. Fortunately, the holidays are over, the move is in the final settling-in phase, and I have a laptop on loan to allow me to work in whatever space I can find. Hopefully, this means the wait for the final part of Reflexes will be significantly less. Once again, I'd like to thank my readers for their patience and persistence. Happy New Year!
A.V. Morgan
Part Fourteen
When Cinnamon and Nodoka entered the vault next to the Matriarch's Manor, both the Musk and the amazons had placed an honor guard at the door to ensure there were no interruptions or interference by members of either tribe. Fa Shen had been permitted entrance by Cinnamon's specific instructions, but when she and Cinnamon both emerged, with Nodoka, in obvious male guise, the Musk guards had been alarmed and detached a messenger to inform their emperor and prince. That messenger arrived at the courtyard of the village council hall, where the Musk contingent had been settled to await the results of Cinnamon's examination of Nodoka, and was instantly escorted before Spice and Herb. The pair were busy discussing arrangements for a lunch banquet to feed the large contingent of Musk with a couple of amazon elders. They hastily wrapped up that negotiation and then turned their attention to the soldier's report. Spice and Herb fought to contain their displeasure at what the man revealed, demanding an explanation for Cinnamon's transformation.
"My Lord Emperor, it was discovered, after the three left, that there had been casks of Nanniichuan water stored in the vault. The other guards and I distinctly heard some kind of commotion just before the dragon and the amazons emerged from within. One cask was shattered, and the dragon, Cinnamon, was the only one soaked when they came out."
"I see. Did they offer any explanation?" Spice inquired.
"Not as such. We did overhear the woman instructing her child to prepare a bath for the dragon as they departed for the manor."
"I would assume there was an accident then," Spice mused aloud, picturing the chaos that would have occurred if the dragon had been cursed deliberately or in malice. For that matter, there was no logical reason for the amazons to inflict such a curse on a woman, even if that woman was previously inhuman. In fact, it was hard to believe the amazons would keep a store of nanniichuan water on hand at all. Unfortunately, it was obvious now that they had, and it was logical that it would be kept in a vault, and perhaps those who had cleared out the vault for the dragon's use had not recognized the casks for the danger they were.
"It still seems suspicious, Father," Herb glowered. In the wake of Ranko's departure, after denouncing Herb's challenge on the grounds of sabotage, Spice had taken Herb aside to explain the situation he had forced them into. In the event that Ranko could not be claimed for Herb's bride, the only remaining candidate would be Cinnamon. Not that either felt enthusiastic about Herb's chances with the dragon. However, Ranko had been made well aware of the criteria of Spice's command. It was possible Ranko or her siblings would have concluded that Cinnamon was a bridal candidate and taken steps to frustrate Herb out of spite.
"This makes Cinnamon an unacceptable candidate," Spice noted aloud, clearly thinking along the same lines as his son. Strangely, he sounded more relieved than outraged. Turning to Herb, he pulled himself to his full height and declared, imperiously, "Ranko is now your only option, Son."
Herb stared back at him, straining to keep his face composed. Since that had hardly needed to be said, what his father really meant was that Herb needed to act at once. That meant making good on his threat to conquer Ranko without a formal challenge. For the fight itself, it made no difference, but politically it might prove disastrous. Without the protection of a formal challenge, a fight with Ranko could precipitate a war with the amazon tribe. This would not be good for the Musk. The Musk remained a formidable power, but there were very few true, traditional Musk remaining. The modern Musk Empire was more of a financial or industrial empire, its warriors chosen and trained in the traditional ways from birth, but sufficient in number only to form the core of an elite strike force and provide the emperor and prince with their personal guards. The rest of the Musk were more of a cult or secret society than a brotherhood of warriors, composed of men who traced their ancestry to the empire, but who had been born scattered throughout Asia.
"You realize what that means?" Herb asked softly.
Spice maintained a stony reserve, allowing his eyes to sweep over the bulk of the Musk army. If he called upon the elite guard, he might be able to double his current forces. But, the amazons could not know that was the limit of the Musk's combat capability. "These women are no more eager for war than I, my Son. I think the threat of open war might be enough to force them to encourage Ranko to meet you in formal combat. I do not doubt that she may be willing to kill by this stage in your affairs, but I sincerely doubt she can stomach the thought of others dying for her."
Herb considered that for a moment before nodding. "Very well then. That leaves only the outsiders. They proved this morning, again, that they will intervene on Ranko's behalf, either out of loyalty to her or to protect their own interests. How do you recommend they be dealt with?"
Spice gave his son an evil smile, "That is an interesting point. On one hand, it would hurt your bid to tame Ranko if you were forced to eliminate her friends, but at the same time she would be far easier to control if she were stripped of all of her allies before submitting to you. Naturally, it would be 'unfortunate' if these people were slain or injured accidentally as a result of interfering in the battle. Ranko would certainly be distraught, but who could really blame you for the folly of others, and it is a given that girl will be difficult to manage under any circumstances. When you 'claim a bride from the wild', you have no choice but to break her to your will. Eventually, you will be able to mold her into a suitable mate."
Herb snorted. The challenge of breaking someone as spirited and impertinent as Ranko or her siblings was exciting to contemplate, but the fact remained, he did not particularly desire her for a mate. Also, it seemed wrong somehow to crush Ranko so ruthlessly, when he still owed her a debt for saving his life at Horiisan. It was somehow tragic, yet his loyalty to his father was unquestionable. He resolved to defeat her utterly, but nevermore to hurt or humiliate her once he fulfilled his father's wishes. Somehow, he would make her happy, make up for this seeming treachery. He just needed to make her understand they BOTH would be forced to try and make the best of a difficult situation. Not that that would be easy if he followed his father's advice.
"So, you suggest I simply kill her friends if they interfere?" Herb surmised, focusing on the problem of Ranko's allies.
"I suggest you reissue your challenge and demand resolution on the spot. We can bluff the amazons into conceding to a formal challenge, and if so, you are within your rights to dispatch anyone who interferes. Point out to them that they can expect no mercy if they dare. They are not amazons, so striking them down will not incur the wrath of the Joketsuzoku. The amazons, in turn, would not risk going to war over the deaths of outsiders, if they will not risk it for Ranko's sake," Spice counseled.
Herb shrugged and proceeded to summon his personal guard. "Then I shall go and confront her now. I can state my conditions before Ranko, and the Matriarch herself, at the same time."
"Very well. I will speak to the Council of Elders."
Father and son parted ways, one entering the village hall behind him, the other marching directly to the Matriarch's Manor. As he turned onto the path to Cologne's home, he looked up in surprise. Raw chi seemed to be flooding outward from the building ahead of Herb. It was a kind of energy that crawled along his flesh and awakened a hunger he rarely acknowledged in himself. Blinking in confusion, he increased his pace, curious about what was causing this display of power. He stopped short about twenty meters from the house when a group of people crashed through an upper-story window and dove for the ground. While Herb quirked an eyebrow--frowning, as the presence of two naked girls suggested the exodus was in dire haste--a heart stopping detonation of chi ripped away the roof of the dormitory wing of the manor.
"What the-!?" the prince gasped, before the concussion wave hit.
Caught totally off guard, Herb could only pray that this was not some kind of ambush. Blinded, deafened, and stung numb from being blown off his feet and smacked into the wall surrounding the front courtyard, Herb wasted several long, precious moments recovering his wits. Moments an assassin would not have permitted him. As his vision cleared, he scanned the area, and noticed that he was not the only one picking themselves up and dusting themselves off. Some of the girls who threw themselves out the window ahead of the blast had been caught in mid fall by the shock wave and blown through the upper sections of the courtyard wall. Fortunately, they had been hit only by displaced air and not the chi propelled debris of the house. That would have been akin to taking a shotgun blast at close range, considering the fact that the upper half of the dormitory wing appeared to have disintegrated in the explosion.
The only person who seemed to have suffered no damage or discomfort was Cinnamon, standing naked and proud where she had landed beneath the recently shattered--now obliterated--window. The other naked girl, and the girl who typically disguised herself as a boy, were each cradled in one of Cinnamon's arms. The dragon had erected some form of chi shield to protect herself and her passengers, and was probably the only person who clearly witnessed the explosion.
Before Herb could confront her, the dragon dropped her passengers and leapt back up to the now devastated collection of guest bedrooms. Dusting himself off, Herb launched himself after her, tracking her to what would have been the bedroom across the hall from the one the dragon escaped through. Herb's demand for an explanation died stillborn, as he saw Cinnamon kneel beside a younger, but equally naked, red-headed girl. The dragon's words carried back to him in the eerie silence that followed the disruption.
"Uh, where's… um… the rest of you?"
The Saotome girl did not respond for a moment, seeming to be staring off in shock. Gradually, she noticed the older girl's presence and started. "What have I done!?" she suddenly cried out, jumping to her feet.
"From the glimpse I got, I'd say you blew off a bit more than just steam, girl," Cinnamon joked, trying to calm her. "Um, I don't suppose you saw where the others got blown off to?"
The girl seemed to jerk in pain, then sagged. "I… it… we… There's just me," she spoke softly. "I… I killed Ranma and Fa Shen!" Ranko collapsed to her knees and gasped. Tears and agony would not come, however. Ranko was caught in the numbing grip of shock. Even as she accused herself, an inner voice reminded her she WAS Ranma and Fa Shen. That's what being Ranko meant. But the guilt remained. By absorbing her reflections, there was no longer the possibility of sustaining either identity independent of herself. "Why did they do that? NO! Why did *I* do that!?" she demanded, correcting herself at once as she recalled why her reflections assumed her perspective to deal with the power of the circuit. But the answers to these questions would not come, as she knelt looking up at the dragon. Ranko cursed her self for not realizing Ranma and Fa Shen would be affected by the reversal curse. If she had not put their bodies into physical contact with her split bodies, they could not have been forced to merge with her when the chi curse imprinted them.
"Do what?" Herb finally interrupted, having approached unnoticed by the two girls. "What did you do, Ranko?" It was convenient of the girl to identify herself, even if the statement she made roused some alarming questions. "What do you mean, you killed Ranma and Fa Shen?"
Ranko stiffened, whipping around to stare at Herb. Instinctively she leapt to her feet and brought up her guard as she spun around. Surprise melted into instant rage and she spat out, "What are you doing here!?" It was just perfect. He WOULD show up the instant she was weakened. The instant she lost the two most important people in her life, through her own ignorance and Herb's interference. She growled and narrowed her eyes dangerously, accusing, "Actually, if it wasn't for you, this never would have happened!"
Herb was nonplussed. "I don't suppose you plan to answer my question, but I can easily answer yours. It is time for you to honor my challenge, and if your friends and the lives of the amazons mean anything to you, you will answer it honorably," Herb declared.
Cinnamon glared at the prince, stepping close to Ranko and placing a comforting and restraining hand on her shoulder. "Is this honorable, Prince Herb? Confronting her now, in the wake of an obvious disaster, when she is naked and in shock?" the dragon challenged acidly.
"Considering the amount of power she just displayed? The power that clings to her still?" Herb retorted, having taken the opportunity to gauge Ranko's ki and chi reserves. "I believe she is capable of fighting, noble dragon. Also, one would think that I was putting myself at a disadvantage, fighting her with all of her assets on display…"
"You don't possess that weakness anymore, remember?" Cinnamon snorted, faintly insulted that he would claim a weakness he had bragged to her, just that morning, about overcoming.
Herb waved her accusation off. "It matters little. As longs as she agrees to the challenge, I have no issue with allowing her to dress and collect herself before the battle. Now, why are you acting as her advocate?"
"Simple, once she has defeated you, I plan to make my own suit," the dragon admitted.
Ranko gasped, eyes snapping open wide, and jerked away from the taller girl. "What do you mean? What did I ever do to you!?" she cried. Unfortunately, Ranko had gained the memory of Cinnamon's revelation to Fa Shen, and combined with the memories of her childhood as Fa Shen, it was not hard to see why the dragon would take advantage of its new curse to claim the object of its fifteen-hundred-year obsession. "That's the final straw! I'm not putting up with this any more!" she shouted, twisting her head about to scan the debris of her room. Spotting her pack in a pile of wreckage where the closet had been, Ranko darted towards it.
Before Herb or Cinnamon could react, Ranko had snagged her travel pack and launched herself high into the air, rocketing away from the village. The two blinked in surprise and then turned to each other.
"That was one hell of a jump…" Herb remarked.
"Jump, hell…! I think she's flying!" Cinnamon gasped, stunned to witness such power an unconscious skill in one so young.
"Flying? At that speed? She'll burn herself out…" the prince argued.
"You question her power, dragonling? Look around you!" Cinnamon gestured broadly, a look of excitement and longing flickering over her features. She could see the prince unconsciously fighting the arousal caused by standing in the wash of Ranko's power. "I don't think she even realizes how much raw chi she's generating. She had to have pulled most of the energy of that explosion back into herself, or I doubt the village would still be here," Cinnamon frowned, resisting the urge to pursue Ranko--at least long enough to return to the bath and dress. It was highly unlikely that Ranko would burn off all this excess energy even to power something as extravagant as flight, so Cinnamon was confident she would be able to track her down later easily enough. Considering how negatively Ranko had reacted to Cinnamon's intention to pursue her, it might not be a bad idea to let her have some time alone.
Herb, however, chose not to exercise patience. "Her power is truly impressive, but I doubt she is able to use it efficiently. She will certainly be careless and clumsy in the use of this much power. She can't know her present limits, and I can use that to my advantage." He launched himself into the air after Ranko, ignoring the dragon and her ridiculous assertion. He had no intention of losing his fight with Ranko. The dragon was an idiot to permit Herb the chance to stake his claim first.
Cinnamon sighed as he flew off in pursuit. "Foolish boy," she muttered. Levitating a few feet over the remains of the upper story, she shifted into her native form, instantly dwarfing the manor and sparking cries of terror throughout the village. With the keen senses of a dragon, Cinnamon conducted a quick search of the area. It took only fifteen minutes to cover the entire village in an outward spiral search, and determine that there were no bodies to support Ranko's claim of having killed Ranma and Fa Shen. It was as if they had both ceased to exist. Returning to the manor and reverting to female, human form, she entered the building to collect her clothes and ponder the mystery of what had really happened.
Emerging fully dressed from the bath, she confronted Cologne, Nodoka and the teenagers in the front yard. "Can anyone here explain how three of the Fa Shen incarnations could simply vanish in Ranko's blast?" she demanded.
This prompted a quick summation of the manner in which Ranma and Fa Shen had been split off from Ranko, and how Ranko was twinned. Ukyo volunteered a quick explanation of Ranko's plan to restore herself to her untwined state, and Cologne deduced, after getting a description of the last moments in Ranko's room before the explosion, that the chi blast had been infected with the shed, chuanshontsuniichuan reversal curse--guessing that the magic treated Ranma and Fa Shen as additional byproducts of the salted curse.
"All that would matter, I suppose, was that all four of them were divided by similar magic from a single source," Cologne concluded amidst stunned and horrified gasps from Akane, Ryouga and Ukyo.
"What about Ranma?" Ryouga cried desperately.
"What about Fa Shen?" Akane echoed anxiously.
"Why would Ranko think she killed Ranma and Fa Shen, if they all just merged together?" Cinnamon puzzled, while sorting through all the details provided to explain the situation. For someone who had lived for so long with a Jusenkyo curse, it was startling to discover so many new things about the magic of the accursed springs and the products created from them. "If these chi based curses can be reversed, wouldn't it be simple enough to bring them both back?"
Ukyo, still in temporary male form, looked up from his own contemplation, and finally voiced the question he had been restraining, "Where is Ranko now? Why did she take off like that, without explaining anything?"
Cinnamon paused from her ruminations, to say, "Oh, I forgot to mention that. Herb arrived just after I went back up to check on her. He went on about it being time for them to fight their marriage duel. When I told him I would be challenging her, after she defeated him, she got upset with both of us and took off. He chased after her and I stopped to look for her siblings."
Everyone stared at the dragon in disbelief, shocked at the matter-of-fact way she declared her intentions toward Ranko.
"Are you insane!? You challenged her!?" Ryouga and Akane shouted.
"Well, no. Not yet. She hasn't defeated Herb yet," she corrected, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"You can't challenge her!" Ukyo cried in dismay.
"Oh? Why is that?" the dragon looked curious.
"You… you just can't!" Ukyo, Akane and Ryouga all chorused.
Cologne cleared her throat. This drew everyone's attention to her. Holding up a cautionary hand, she offered, "Before you start fighting, I need to point out that there are a number of things yet to be settled. Such as, finding out if Ranma and Fa Shen can be split off from Ranko again. If it turns out that they can not be recovered, their marriages with Ryouga and Akane would devolve onto Ranko. It has already been established that Ranko is a blend of the two."
"What do you mean, if they can't be recovered!? Why wouldn't they be able to split up again!?" Ryouga panicked. Once again, the threat of losing the one she loved had reared its ugly head, and Ryouga could not stand it.
Cologne sighed. "Please, contain yourself, Ryouga. This is a troubling development, but nothing has been tested or proven yet."
"I am curious about this too," the dragon pointed out, referring to the question she had asked before Ukyo interrupted.
"I suspect that Ranko fears the same thing I do," the old woman confided edgily. Clearing her throat, she summarized what she had picked up and concluded about the incident, "The trigger for the fusion seems to have been the climax of passion. An orgasm naturally releases the energy built up in sex to trigger conception. This accident has to be a result of that. The aura they built up at the critical moment was white-gold; an aura of ecstasy and love. That suggests that an aura of hatred and agony might be the trigger to split Ranko again, but…" Cologne trailed off with a sigh.
"But what?" the others asked, clinging to every word.
"Curses of the same type generally do not stack. If the instant curse on Ranko reversed the effect of the Mirror of Broken Souls, the chi curse she imprinted herself with might not have the capacity to produce the two couples it merged. It might only split Ranko back into male and female, or it might produce identical twins with mastered curses. Whenever possible, Jusenkyo magic simplifies things like that," Cologne warned.
Cinnamon nodded. "I would concur, based on my own studies."
"So… That's it? Ranma and Fa Shen are… dead?" Akane cringed.
"No more than Ranko is. They are all one and the same, it's just a matter of having enough of Ranko to go around." Cologne produced her pipe and lit it. The fight between Ranko and Herb might provide some answers. It would be a wonder if an aura of hatred and agony did not emerge in the course of the battle certain to evolve between those two. It served no purpose to try and prevent their contest. Now that Ranko had circumvented the prince's sabotage attempt, the grounds for invalidating Herb's challenge had evaporated. There was nothing left to protest. She was strong and whole, and Herb had pushed Ranko to the utter limit. Even someone as naïve and forgiving as she was had a breaking point, and then all bets were off.
Ukyo slammed his palm on the table. "We'll worry about this later! Right now, we have to do something about Herb! I can't believe he'd go after her so soon, especially after something like this!"
"I can't believe you'd think of interfering, Ukyo," Cologne criticized. "If what Cinnamon says is true, the poor boy doesn't have a chance against Ranko right now. It's best to let them get it over with once and for all."
"Hey, I'm a true believer in Ranchan! Ranma or Ranko, Ranchan never loses in a serious fight! But hasn't everyone been saying that Herb plays for keeps? Do you believe he wouldn't try some dirty trick or cheat in order to win? Is it really worth the risk of him beating Ranko?" Ukyo entreated angrily.
"Herb needs to have that chance, or he will never let up. Until he loses this challenge, he has no other options," Cinnamon stated coolly.
"I can't believe you, Old Woman!" Ukyo barked at Cologne, jumping up and turning to her friends and rivals. "Are all of you gonna sit around here and listen to this crap when Ranko needs us?"
Ryouga stood up with grim determination. To everyone's surprise, Mirror stood barely a second after. Shampoo and Akane exchanged looks for a moment before standing in turn. Akane stepped forward and stated fervently, "Suddenly, it feels like old times. Ranko may be a pervert and a jerk, but she's our perverted jerk! More importantly, we're her friends. Let's show that arrogant prince what it means to mess with Ranko's friends!"
Cinnamon looked from them, to Nodoka, and finally to Cologne. "Are they always like this?"
"When they're not trying to kill each other over her?" Cologne smirked. Shaking her head, she turned to the teenagers, "It might not be a bad idea to watch Ranko's back for her. Try not to get yourselves killed in the process, and… don't let yourselves be used against her. You simply cannot afford to underestimate Prince Herb. Ranko is the only one of you who is truly safe in a fight with him."
It took a while for Ranko to realize that the ground was not getting any closer. Her emotional state was so wild and chaotic, her temper so raw, even the passage of time barely registered. Inevitably, however, she was forced to notice the fact that she was literally flying. When it hit her, she was so surprised her aura flickered out for an instant causing her to begin plummeting to earth. As her aura surged forth again, the unconscious command she had been exerting to sustain her flight did not return with it. Voicing a squawk of panic, Ranko crashed through the canopy of the forest she had been hurtling over, instinctively raising a sphere of chi to shield herself from an onslaught of branches and the jarring collision with the ground. The sudden impact formed an oblong crater and scattered dirt and debris throughout the clearing she came to rest in. Fortunately, her shield held, cushioning her body and softening her landing to the point where she might have just thrown herself down on a bed.
"Oh, man," she groaned, shaking her head and picking herself up. Taking a look around, once she got back to her feet, she noticed the crater she had made and blinked in amazement. As fast as she had been going, there at the end, she had expected to become a smear along the forest floor. She shuddered once in reaction to that image, then turned her attention to the pack she had balled herself around at the last moment.
Frowning, as a cool wind blew over her skin and reminded her of her nudity, she opened the pack and pulled out a change of clothes. While slipping into panties and a sports' halter, she reflected on what she had just been doing. "I can't believe it! I was actually flying!" an unbidden smile of excitement and delight spread across her lips, as the wonder of that realization temporarily displaced the anger and grief resulting from absorbing her other selves. Unfortunately, her next thought was to wonder how she had accomplished the feat, and that shifted her focus to the power now coursing through her. With a start, she realized that the merge had not broken the circuit! She had been locked in intercourse when the four of her fused into one.
"What the-!?" she gasped. Her feelings of guilt and shame suddenly multiplied as the notion that she had gained the full power of the circuit at the cost of Ranma and Fa Shen crystallized. "Ohmygod. What have I done?" she cried out in despair. The emotion summoned a fresh surge of power.
Ranko squeezed her eyes shut tight, fighting to bring herself under control. Mechanically, she continued to dress and then re-secured her pack for traveling. To discipline her emotions, she carefully analyzed her situation and the consequences of her fusion. Her first comment to herself about her situation brought an ugly frown to her face. "I'm running away," she observed with mild disgust. Facts danced in her head for a second, and she spat out, "I may not be that lazy panda's kid in fact, but I sure seem to be his kid in spirit!"
She growled and slipped her arms through the pack's shoulder straps. She was not just running away from Herb and Cinnamon, she noted miserably. She had fled from the scene of the disaster as much to avoid the reaction of Ryouga and Akane, or Ukyo and the others, as out of frustration over the escalating efforts of those who wanted to marry her. Everything was a mess. Ukyo had turned herself into a man. Mousse had turned himself into a girl, after betraying her to Herb--like Akane, infecting himself with the ghost of an instant curse. Ryouga was stuck as a girl and needed Ranma's "encouragement" to regain his manhood, and Cinnamon intended to exploit her new found manhood to join the race to win Ranko. Everyone wanted a piece of her, and each of them had paid dearly for the privilege, but now there was less of her to go around. That last point caused her the most grief because, in spite of her guilt and shame, she was secretly pleased to be all together in one piece.
"I'm happy," she slurred miserably, fighting the onset of tears. That realization was undeniable. After watching Ranma and Fa Shen's identity crises, and suffering another split, the whole notion of divvying herself up to meet all the demands on her had begun to seriously rankle. "I'm actually relieved to be whole again." It figured, what was probably the best thing for her was the worst thing that could have happened. As far as it concerned Ryouga and Akane, who she loved, what she had done was horrible. Unforgivable. At the same time, Ranko no longer had to keep herself "one incarnation away" from either of them. She did not have to suffer as Ranma walked away with Ryouga, or as Akane began to embrace her relationship with Fa Shen.
"They're gonna hate me for this!" Ranko cried.
It also hurt to know that Ukyo, and even Shampoo--who she had sex with as Fa Shen--were not even factored in. Knowing now what it was to love, knowing how much those two loved her, in part or in whole, only added a new dimension of anguish for her to struggle with. She did not return their love, but Ranko did not honestly know if she COULD not return their love, or if she simply could not AFFORD to return their love. Every time she looked in their eyes, they were begging Ranko to give them a chance to win her heart, and every time Ranko denied them. They were her friends, but she resented their demands almost as much as she abhorred the intentions of Herb, and now Cinnamon.
But, running away was no solution. Even if she could not fix the mess she was in, it was damn time she did something to keep it from growing any worse. It was already more than she could handle, even if she still had Ranma and Fa Shen to share the load. Unfortunately, by using them to liberate herself, Ranko had only made her problems worse. Exploiting their presence had merely been a different form of running away.
Ranko tightened her fist.
Reverting to this singular state changed everything.
For the first time, Ranko stood in a position to truly take her destiny into her own hands. There was no need to divide her life up between different aspects of herself. No need to distance herself from her past AS Ranma and Fa Shen, or present herself as a mere echo of them. No need to pretend that this was not her life or that she could not claim her right to it. It was a good time to start fighting back, beginning with the fight she could not have run away from no matter how much she wanted to. Herb was certain to chase her down and try forcing her to marry him. She was mad enough at that to really look forward to fighting him. Ranko cringed immediately after that thought, feeling her resolve waver even as she built it up. It was not enough to just fight. It was not enough to win. Even if she did beat him down, those stupid amazon laws would still remain. No matter how often she fought and won, she would always have to endure some man trying to force her into marriage.
"Like being married to Ryouga AND Akane isn't enough!" she growled, accurately predicting the ruling of the council in the case of her fusion. Which was a problem for Ryouga and Akane as much as it was for her. Without even begging the question of whether they could or would share her, neither of them was any more ready for marriage than Ranko was. For that matter, Ranko had never truly been defeated at either of their hands. The marriages were based on misapprehension, but the feelings that were strung between them were real. Ranko would love to reject the former and embrace the latter, but rejecting the marriages would just encourage people like Herb and Cinnamon--who were nothing to her.
"I swear, it'd be simpler to just get knocked up by some stranger, have the baby and claim matriarch status!" she griped, turning to face back toward the village. That was the real key to power and status among the amazons: Motherhood, and strong descendants. Mothers were exempt from the marriage laws, having fulfilled their duty to strengthen the tribe. The real power of the elders came from the success of their blood lines, the proof of their progeny. Ranko shook her head, "Man. There's got to be a better way to stop this insanity than bring a kid into the middle of it! If I'm not ready for marriage, I totally ain't ready to be a mom. But that's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what Mom wants. That's what Herb and Spice want. That's that Pop and Tendo-san want.
"It was never really about me," Ranko spat, feeling somehow betrayed. "All this pressure about marriage, it was always about havin' kids, providin' heirs, buildin' a legacy. My feelings never mattered!" Thoughts and emotions began to feed on each other, fueling a storm surge of chi. Ranko noticed it as the aura she was generating began to spiral around her, leaving her behind in a sheltered eye of calm. It was a deceptive calm, one charged with dangerous intent.
Ranko took a deep breath and fought to compose herself again.
Once her emotions were back under her control, she reexamined the idea. She had come close to deciding to have a child just to spite everyone. Fortunately, she had realized the idea was ridiculous. Just losing her virginity had cost her, cost the people she cared for, too much. She was just fooling herself. All the protection that matriarch status offered would not fix the mess she was in now. Getting knocked up in the lame hope of gaining that protection would cause a new world of chaos and hurt. And, ultimately, what would be the point? How much difference would one kid make when half of the bloody amazons were indirectly spawned from her--via the Nyanniichuan--anyway?
Ranko's head jerked up.
"That's it…" she murmured, just before an alarm flashed through her skull, forcing her to dodge acrobatically through a barrage of coruscating spheres of focused chi. For the next six seconds, she twisted, leapt, rolled and pivoted madly to evade the opening assault from Prince Herb. Somewhere in the first dozen evasions, she was forced to strip off her backpack and toss it deep into the woods to keep it from tripping her up. She had barely enough breathing space to snarl in irritation over the fact that he was shooting at long range from the air, as he flew in to confront her. The clearing she was in had grown by an acre, and become cluttered by the trunks of a few dozen trees, by the time he reached it and touched down across from her.
"Herb!" she hissed angrily, flaring up dangerously.
"Ranko," he inclined his head. To her surprise, he held out his hands to offer a temporary truce. When he saw her hesitate, he spoke, "Out of respect for having saved my life, I must offer you the chance to surrender."
"Are you kidding!?" she shouted, completely dropping her guard. When he merely arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, she composed herself. If he had not been serious, he would have attacked in that moment. Her eyes hardened angrily. "Forget it, Herb. There's no point to this." As she took a breath to explain what she had just realized, he suddenly vanished in a streak of motion. Her fierce rejection was apparently sufficient cause to annul the "truce" and spur him to combat. A cloud of dust and leaves whipped up in the wake of his accelerated charge, further obscuring vision.
She instantly raised her guard, "Damn it!"
Her arms barely intercepted the blow that solidified from the blur of his attack. Catching the impact on her cross-braced forearms, she was launched off her feet to crash into a tree on the edge of the clearing. Rebounding off the trunk, she narrowly dodged his follow-up strike as he raced in to press his advantage. Chunks of wood and bark exploded through the space she just vacated as his punch collided with her after image.
Channeling chi through her body, down her legs, she desperately rocketed away, trying to put some distance between them before he could launch himself at her again. Clearly, he was taking this fight seriously, striking as hard and fast as he could to overwhelm her.
"Herb! Listen to me!" she demanded, narrowing her eyes to track him as he recovered from his blow and hurtled back at her.
He came into focus again right in front of her, planting his feet to add leverage to the speed of his next blow. Ranko leaned left just enough to allow his fist to miss her face, and snapped off an amagurikan barrage into his exposed flank.
"Hyaaaaaa!" she cried out, forgoing the effort of naming her attack.
Herb grunted as the rapid fire punishment made itself felt through his armor. Riding the force of the blows back a pace or two, he retorted, "Nothing you could say at this point would interest me!"
"But there's no reason for us to fight!" she cried, stepping back into a purely defensive posture.
"I thought you were not going to surrender?" he challenged, summoning his chi while levitating up and slipping around to flank her.
"Damn it, Herb! If you really want to fight, I won't stop you, but at least hear me out!" she shouted, pivoting to keep him in front of her.
"You can't stop me. Certainly not with pathetic excuses or distractions!"
He followed his retort with the onslaught of an amped up Ryuu Sei Hishou, ricocheting dozens of hard hitting globes of energy off the surrounding rocks and trees to hammer her from every side. Ranko took the first couple of blind siding blows across her chin and hip, before summoning up a wall of chi around herself to ward off his attacks. That seemed to work, until he maneuvered directly over head and dropped a veritable bomb straight down on her. Taking the blow on the crown of her head, she was crushed to her knees, and nearly keeled over as her limbs went weak for an instant.
Ranko exploited the urge to collapse by relaxing into a fluid roll, to remove herself from ground zero, as Herb streaked downward in a chi-cloaked chisel kick. The ground was split open into a wide fissure by the knife edge of his foot as it pierced the earth. Ranko kept rolling until she was clear of the rift, where she coiled back up to her feet. If Herb continued to press her this hard, Ranko could soon have more to worry about than merely losing to him. One misstep or bit of mistiming and she could very easily become crippled or maimed to boot. Shaking her head and jumping back to give her some distance she began to wave her arms for his attention. "Hold it!'
"Not a chance!" Herb sneered, rushing forward again.
"I'm serious, Herb! You need to stop for a sec and listen!" Ranko growled, flaring her aura mightily to reinforce her command.
"I know better than to give you time to think, Saotome," Herb chided with a dry smirk. Still he slowed his advance a touch.
"It's you who needs to stop and think! Do you have any idea what just happened to me? Do you have any idea what any of it means?"
"I assume you think whatever you have to say will somehow change the outcome of this contest."
"I know it does!" Ranko shouted in growing irritation, dodging casually as he closed the range and began a series of strikes.
"If you are so certain then, perhaps you should wager the difference for me to hear you out," Herb challenged coldly, maintaining the rhythm of his attacks.
"What? What do you mean?" Ranko blinked and recoiled. Her shock almost caused her to take a hit to the temple. Once again she was forced to retreat.
Once separated again, the combatants paused. A breeze stirred up a cloud of leaves stripped loose from the fallen trees of their battle field. The dragon prince relaxed his guard to study the form of his opponent more intently, more appraisingly, while considering her question. He was also reflecting upon her responses to each of his recent provocations. He had known that Ranko would be less susceptible than Fa Shen to manipulation through amazon law, but she was also proving to be less hot headed than Ranma. She was a slippery fish, and he needed to hook her more securely before he could reel her in. Anticipating the basis of her protest against this fight, it was simple enough to bait her into making a more binding wager. "It is becoming clear to me that it is useless to try to claim you against your will. I sincerely doubt that amazon law is sufficient to compel you to marry even if I defeat you. That is evident in your protests. Thus, before I condescend to hear whatever excuses you presume would negate the value of this fight, I require that you guarantee the stakes of this fight on your honor."
Ranko took a sharp breath. "You mean, I gotta agree to marry you if I lose before you'll let me tell you why I don't gotta marry you if I lose?"
"That is correct," Herb nodded regally.
"That's insane!" Ranko exploded.
"Those are my terms," Herb snapped, shifting his balance to resume the offensive.
"Wait!" Ranko held up her hand. If she gave her word, Herb would have the leverage to force her into marriage. Only an immediate obstacle would foil that gambit. "What if I'm not even available to marry?" she tried to counter, cringing at the though of trying to hide behind Ryouga or Akane. "I can't promise to marry you if I'm already married to someone else!"
Herb was nonplussed. "Are you suggesting you have been defeated since we last spoke?"
"I'm just trying to tell you, I merged with Ranma and Fa Shen when I was merging with my guy side!"
Herb blinked and stormed forward. "This is nonsense! You were locked! You can't have merged with your male half!"
Ranko blushed but stood her ground. "That shows what you know, Herb! Because you locked me in that split state, I had no choice but to try and infect myself with a chi curse based on the instant!" Seeing the look of confusion on his face, she rapidly explained the things she and her friends had discovered starting with Ryouga being branded with the ghost of his pig curse. Herb listened in spite of himself, but unlike a normal Jusenkyo curse, Ranko could not easily demonstrate the new curse to prove it. Instead, she asserted, "Let's heat up some water. If I turn back into a guy, that will prove what I am telling you."
Herb glared at her in mingled disgust and frustration. With jerky movements, he produced a flask of water from the folds of his shadow and proceeded to heat it with his chi. This situation was not something Herb could have anticipated, but it still presented useful leverage. "If what you are saying is true, you still owe me for listening to your explanation. If you are fused with Ranma and Fa Shen, and thus obligated to honor their marriages to Ryouga and Akane, I am still within my rights to challenge them to secure my claim to you. I would consider accepting your word to honor a union with me in return for giving you my assurances that I will not slay or grievously injure your other suitors."
Ranko looked up at him unhappily as he restated his terms. She was less than pleased to have him remind her of the threats he had made against her friends, family and the amazons when he confronted her at the manor. Swearing under her breath while holding out her hand for the heated flask, she muttered to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! I shouldn't have involved them!" Ryouga was an impressive martial artist, the closest thing Ranko had to a peer in the art, but he would not fare well against Herb, and Akane did not stand a chance. Her brain revved into high gear, painting an ugly picture of the ways the people she cared about could be used to force her bow to him. Suddenly this fight had a more important purpose. Instead of fighting merely to win, she had to somehow secure the safety of everyone she cared about. That would take some smart wording, she realized. Unfortunately that was never her strong suit. Herb finished heating the water, but pulled the flask out of her reach as she tried to grab it. "Hey!" she blurted aloud.
"Your word, Ranko. Give me your word or this parlay is over," Herb grated.
Ranko snatched the flask out of his hands and growled, "Fine. But this is a one time offer. If you can defeat me today--honorably--and you promise on whatever you hold sacred not to hurt the people I care about, no matter who wins, I'll marry you. Not that it really matters, since I am NOT going to lose." With that, she tipped the open flask over her head. To her relief, the familiar tingle of transformation passed through her, once she remembered to "unlock" the chisuiiton effect.
Herb's disappointment at seeing Ranko assume male form was unmistakable. Still, he had her hooked, he smiled and returned, "You have my word."
"That reminds me, you have to hear me out now, so let's start with this," Ranko gestured to himself. "I will always be as much a man as I am a woman, and now there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Do you really want to be married to another guy, Herb?" he offered an evil smirk.
"It is an inconvenience. All that matters is that the ability you have to lock yourself in female form makes you capable of bearing children to term."
"Which brings up the topic of sex," Ranko leered. Something in the back of his brain was warning that it might not be a good idea to bait the dragon prince like this, but Ranko felt oddly reluctant to reveal his real reason for disputing the challenge, now that Herb had made it a personal challenge. All Ranko could really do now was try to discourage Herb from wanting him altogether. "Have you really given any thought to what it would mean to be married to me? Have you stopped to ask yourself if you can be in an intimate relationship with someone you forced into it?"
"I do not care to discuss this," Herb spat, looking away. "You seem to be under the impression that I am under any less duress than you."
"Now who's making excuses?" Ranko retorted softly.
"You know nothing. The obligations of my station and heritage are beyond your grasp."
"Then explain it to me!" Ranko shouted. "Explain to me how being the prince of some dead empire gives you the right to mess with my life!?"
"You would not exist if not for that 'dead' empire, Saotome," Herb reminded Ranko acidly. "You and I are both products of the same culture. At least I have the decency to honor and respect my heritage and ancestry." Herb was finding this discussion less and less palatable the longer he looked at Ranko's male countenance. In a gesture of pure spite, he produced another flask of water, slashing it open with a knife drawn from his left sleeve, to douse Ranko with its chill contents.
"Hey!" she sputtered after taking the splash right in the face. "What was that for? Can't take me as a guy?"
"Do not delude yourself. I simply have no desire to have this battle with another man. I might forget my intentions and kill you."
"Maybe I should return the favor," Ranko fumed, wiping her face and slicking her bangs out of her eyes. Not surprisingly, he used the moment her vision was obscured to launch another attack. Ranko was forced to twist and leap evasively for several moments, protesting angrily, "Hey! You're supposed to be listening to me! Dammit, Herb!"
"What more is there to say, Saotome? I have your word, you have mine. Is there anything else to dispute?"
"Not that you'd care, I see. Just remember, you only get this chance, then me and mine are off limits!"
"Don't be a fool. I am bound to leave your loved ones alone, but even if I lose I will continue to pursue you as my bride, by whatever means necessary."
Ranko was forced to choke on her response, as her anger caused her to surge forward in anger and take a stiff kick in the ribs.
"You almost make it too easy," Herb grinned, following up on his advantage to drop her to her knees and then whip kick her from the boulder she had perched on, spinning toward a pile of shattered stone and wood. Leaping up, he came arcing down to deliver a combination of chi bombs and a descending kick.
"You wish! That's your last cheapshot, Herb!" Ranko shouted, twisting her body, deflecting a pair of chi spheres, then launching herself up in a cross counter kick. Gritting her teeth, she braced for what could become the hardest fight of her life. She had done her best to reason with him, and even if he never left her alone, she had his word that everyone else was protected from him. It was a relief to stop holding back, especially since she could not afford to remain on the defensive against Herb. Sensing--more than seeing--him closing in again, she twisted herself into a whirlwind of kicks and chops. Each maneuver positioned her inside his guard, forcing him to stumble back and give ground, remaining unbalanced, or accept a string of coordinated hits, as kick flowed into punch, into knee ram, into elbow strike, topped off by brutal back hand.
It took Herb about ten seconds to realize he did not want to be in close fighting range of the red-headed Cuisinart. Unfortunately, it took him about ten minutes to extract himself from the intricate ferocity of her dance. Maybe if he were in female form, he might have had the speed necessary to effectively block or counter-strike and regain the initiative. Instead, he was forced to offer her a delicate target, absorb her attack, and then trap her in a bind where his superior strength and leverage could be put to use.
Even then, she writhed and twisted like an eel, practically slithering up his front until she could escape by planting one foot on his shoulder and use the other to launch herself off the top of his head--kicking away from him as she sent him down in a face plant. For a few moments, Herb had to fire off a blind string of chi blasts, and more dangerous Hitou Ryuu-zan Ha chi blades, targeting by the sound of her rebounding from tree trunk to boulder to overhanging branch. It was about this point in the battle when Herb realized he was actually enjoying himself.
"It's nice to see you haven't lost your touch," he quipped, finally regaining his feet and coming around properly to track her as she flew from perch to perch. He had to throw himself to the side, however, since she had lined him up for a chi blast of her own as the momentum of his strafing run died.
"That's because I'm the best," she snapped right back.
"Feh. A true warrior doesn't try to take credit for luck!" he sniped.
Ranko had continued to rocket along, flying hard into a tree top, her feet braced against a long, sturdy branch, feeling it bend under her weight and momentum, then riding the recoil straight back into Herb's face. As she shot forward, her hands snapped apart, dividing the ball of chi she had been building up after her last shot into ring of negatively charged energy and a knot of compressed positive chi. "Wrath of Heaven!" she shouted, with an evil smile.
Herb's eyes widened as he realized he was grounded in the center of the clearing, unable to escape the noose of this devastating attack. His only avenue of escape was through the loop. Recognizing this as a potential fight stopper, he had instants to make a difficult, potentially damning decision. Just as his movement was dictated by Ranko's attack, so were hers. One hand slipped instinctively into his sleeve, where he had resheathed his dagger. It was the only advantage he had. Snarling, he gathered his chi and tried to rocket through the center faster than Ranko could close the trap.
"Snapping Jaws!" she cried, already on a course to intercept him, releasing the black bolt still in her hands directly into his face with an echoing clap. As the positive charge lanced through him, the ring of ethereal fire discharged into Herb, unleashing its elemental fury in a blinding disk of lightning. Ranko twisted and writhed in mid air, passing a hairsbreadth from Herb's form as she slithered past him, threading the eye of her own attack. As she flashed by, he landed a numbing blow to her exposed abdomen. That was all he had time for, however, as momentum carried them off in opposite directions.
Ranko flipped over gracefully to land poised on her toes, facing her opponent. She caught a glimpse of Herb plummeting senseless to the ground, wreathed in lightning, while discovering she felt oddly lightheaded. Herb must have knocked the wind out of her, she realized. Attempting to fill her lungs, she was surprised to find she could not, and shocked that the attempt sent a searing lance of pain from her naval to her collarbones. The root of the horrible pain was right where he had struck her. She raised a hand reflexively to explore the injury, unwilling to take her eyes off her foe while at the slightest disadvantage. Then her hand encountered the hilt of the wicked dagger he had impaled her with. The reflexive gasp sent another tear of agony through her, as she stared down in absolute disbelief.
"You stabbed me!" she mewled, wasting what shallow breath she had. The hilt was angled, intersecting her midriff just above her navel and indicating the presence of a blade pointed mercilessly toward her heart. Realization brought restored sensation, and Ranko knew the knife pierced her diaphragm and punctured at least one of her lungs. Her acrobatics had twisted it around inside her, compounding the damage. Only the seal of blood around the foreign object permitted her to draw a few shallow, excruciating breaths to fight off the assault of oblivion.
She could not believe it. How could he risk killing her if his intention was to marry her? Such an attack should not have even been a possibility! But there it was, a blood soaked dagger pouring her life out onto the dirt. To draw it out was to sign her death warrant, but there was no way she could continue to fight while it impaled her. Either way, she could hardly breathe. Without breath, she was doomed.
Sinking to her knees, carefully cradling the weapon to prevent further damage, she cursed Herb furiously in her mind.
Across the clearing, Herb began to pry himself up off the ground. He too was struggling to remain conscious, charred and smoking from the searing fury of her attack. Damaged though he was, he remained intact. Slowly, painfully, he forced himself to his hands and knees and turned to study Ranko.
She glared at him, tightening her hand around the hilt of his dagger. If he dared to approach her, she swore to herself she would rip the blade out of her gut and bury it in his throat.
"It's over, Ranko," he croaked, beginning to inch toward her. "You cannot continue to fight."
"Try me!" she spat vindictively, forcing the words out with a trickle of blood. Drawing upon the limitless well of ki, she willed it through her body, focusing on the wound in her abdomen.
"Damn it! You lost! Admit it, so I can help you!" he shouted.
"Never! You had…" Ranko's voice quit, and she panted to fill her lungs and continue, "…the right… idea…. The only… way…" The effort was making her vision dance, but she was determined to have her say. "The only way… you… will EVER… haaaahh… defeat me… nnnnrnh… is to… KILL… ME!"
Herb gasped as she began to collapse forward in exhaustion. In a panic, he lunged forward to catch her, before she folded and drove the blade into her heart. "NO!"
To his shock, she flinched back at his approach, ripping the blade free and leveling it at his throat. If he had not come up short in shock, he would have spitted his neck on it. He instantly seized her arm, eyes flickering down to see her other fist shoved into the now open wound. "Ranko! Please…" At Horiisan, Herb had been impressed with Ranko's sheer nerve and determination, or at the time, Ranma's indomitable will. Once again, he found himself astounded by Ranko's unbreakable spirit. It was only a small step to progress from that respect and admiration to something far stronger, aided by the attraction he had been fighting and the concern that suddenly overwhelmed him.
"Damn…" she wheezed, struggling weakly to wrest her striking arm from his grip. Sagging, she closed her eyes, looking inward for some other way to avenge herself. Strangely, the weaker her grip on the flesh became, the stronger the pulse of her ki became. Her mind flashed to the instant before her fusion, remembering the way she had burned from within as the power inside her exceeded her capacity to endure. A bitter smirk touched her lips as it struck her that she was more deadly, stark naked and aroused, than a thousand blades.
"You stupid woman! Do you want to die!?" Herb demanded as she lunged forward and snapped her free hand from the wound in her gut over his shoulder, pressing herself against him in a parody of a hug while knotting his long, violet and white hair in her fist. In the heat of the moment, in the intimacy of their pose, Herb was seared by feelings and sensations he was helpless against, feelings a man could have for a woman, which his upbringing had never prepared him for.
"Do you?" she purred, ignoring the sickly gurgle deep in her throat. The sensation of all bodily warmth pouring out through the open wound, soaking them from the waist down, was harder to dismiss. Her insides had to be terribly shredded to cause such bleeding, and that banished whatever fleeting hope she had of surviving much longer. Pressing her cheek against his, and summoning every ounce of ki she could command to surge forth, she panted into his ear, "I meant… to te-ehhh… tell you… There was… no… way… you could w-uhhh… win. I… am… the… Ny-an… nii… chuan…"
"What? Stop it, Ranko. Save your breath…" he begged, terrified by the sudden ache in his chest, the fear of losing her.
"Shut… UP!" she hissed, jerking his head back by his hair. Taking a moment to gulp for air, she then announced, "It m-mah… makes… me… unnnnnh… matriarch…" By now, the ki she was building up was wreathing both of them in diaphanous blue. Ultimately, pain, anger, and hatred, had all fallen away as she grew confident of her victory.
Herb blinked, trying in vain to pull back to stare into her eyes. "What!?" he could not help shouting, but at the same time the logic of her statement made itself clear. Ranko had thought her way out of the trap. She had found a defense against all challengers, and the key to assuming power among the amazons. The implications were staggering, and the tragedy of the moment doubly profound.
Ranko coughed, spilling warm crimson fluid along Herb's neck. The next breath she took gurgled sickeningly. Herb was about to beg her once more to stop trying to talk, gathering her in his arms as he prepared to fly her back to the village in the desperate hope there was still time to save her. But Ranko's words stopped him cold.
"Hey, He-urghk… Herb. Do you… know…?" her first attempt to ask dwindled below the threshold of hearing. Refocusing herself, and noticing that her hand was beginning to glow from within, she rasped, "Do… you… kn-Nnnrrrhh… know… wh-what… I… am? What… Pa… Sh-Shen… was?"
Herb could practically feel the smile on her face.
When he said noting, she decided his stiffening in shock was sufficient answer. "I di'nt… think… I… would… te… ssssst 't so… sooonnn," she trailed off breathlessly as her body went slack. Cursing herself, she prayed he would not realize the danger he was in and escape before she could unleash the power she had collected.
Herb did suddenly realize what she was doing. Her final act would fulfill her promise. She was going to kill him. His respect, admiration and concern peaked and in that instant he realized it. He had fallen in love. Feeling her go limp, he sensed he had a heartbeat to launch himself away and summon his own ki to shield himself. But, as he pulled away from her, he could not help but look at the wound he inflicted. The gushing crimson torrent had trickled to nothing. Instead, brilliant light poured out of her gut. The hole in the blood soaked shirt was hard to see through, but as he shifted back, he noticed that the light that was spilling out of her wound was diminishing. Like a ray of sun piercing a thickening cloud, the brilliant beam was gradually winking out. The aperture was closing.
The power she intended to kill him with was actually healing her.
"Ranko!" he shouted in excitement, seizing her by the arms and staring into her listless eyes. Her face was so pale, the loss of blood alone was proving to be a traumatic blow to her system. She did not realize her wounds were being repaired. She felt herself losing consciousness, believed she was dying. Herb fought to get her attention, to tell her she was healed. "Ranko," he spoke more gently, urging her to respond. Her lids flickered for a moment then opened. As she focused her vision on his face, a strange, triumphant smile stretched across her face.
"I… win…" she chirped confidently. Then she cut loose.