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Dragon's Destiny
Nabiki and Ranma headed home from the clinic each lost in their own thoughts. Ranma was replaying the battle earlier in his head. Going over it step by step he thought of how he could improve. Being distracted like that was something an amateur would do. That was almost as bad as Lime or Mint of the musk. Sure Ranma hadn't seen very many nude females in his life, except for that magazine he'd found and looked at before his father took it away. According to Genma Saotome anything to do with women was a distraction from the art. Ranma however liked to think he had a little more self-control than those two bumbling idiots that followed Prince Herb around.
Nabiki was thinking about her feelings in regards to a certain young dragon. She knew it was possible to have children with Ranma from hearing about the Prince of the Musk. She wondered if she'd ever want to, or how society would view her if they knew she was dating outside her species. Nabiki knew she was far from a perfect example of the traditional Japanese housewife. Even with as liberated as her generation was, Nabiki was a nail that stuck up. She made waves and rocked the boat of the system. Hell, her goal in life was to own a huge corporation, something women worldwide had trouble achieving. So falling in love and marrying a mythological creature shouldn't be much different. Besides, Nabiki was beginning to realize that it wasn't for the money that she continued to pull her scams and blackmail schemes. It was the adventure, the planning, the knowledge you'd outwitted an opponent. In a way she was as much a fighter as Ranma or any of the other martial artists in the area only her arena was the mind. Being with Ranma would probably never be boring.
Nabiki looked up at her fiancé and marveled at the way the sunlight made his coppery hair glow. He seemed deep in thought and Nabiki couldn't help but smile at the way his little frown made him look so cute!
"A yen for your thoughts." Nabiki said, breaking the silence.
Ranma seemed looked up startled but quickly composed himself.
"I'm just going over the fight. I need to train harder. That sword-wielding idiot shouldn't have been able to get close to me let alone cut me like that."
"Don't feel too bad. Kuno is really good at kendo. I always thought he was holding back against Akane but I never realized how much."
Ranma frowned. "That's just it. He's not that good. He's too locked into his kendo forms. It makes him predictable. I should have been able to take him down without breaking a sweat."
Nabiki thought about that for a minute. She was about to say something when a dark shadow passed overhead quickly. The teenaged couple looked up to see three large winged figures circling overhead.
As they drew nearer a voice shouted out, "Ryuujin-sama!"
Ranma looked up and smiled. "Kiima! What the heck are you doing in Japan?"
The figures finally came close enough to land. Nabiki gawked at the three winged people landing in front of her. There were two men and a woman, the woman being the tallest. She was almost a head taller than Ranma with her snow white wings making her seem even taller. Her hair was white with a bluish tint and her eyes were the color of the sky on a clear day. The two men seemed almost twins and were looking around in almost childish wonder. They both had black hair and wings. All three of them had large claw-like hands and feet.
The woman quickly went to one knee and bowed her head. "I am so glad we found you in time Ryuujin-sama. I bring dire news! The Amazons have sent a hunting party after you."
Ranma shook his head. "We have already encountered the Amazons. And what have I told you about calling me Ryuujin-sama?"
The woman winced. "But Lord Ranma..."
"Kiima..."
"Yes Ranma-san. I apologize."
Ranma sighed in frustration and Nabiki giggled. Kiima gave Nabiki a harsh glare from the corner of her eye.
"Kiima, get up. You know I hate all that bowing and other courtly crap." Ranma said with a short laugh.
Kiima stood up and looked Nabiki up and down. Nabiki could see jealousy in those sky blue eyes.
"Who is this landling?" Kiima asked.
Ranma looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Nabiki, this is Kiima, commander of Saffron's armed forces. Kiima, this is Tendo Nabiki, my fiancé."
Nabiki swore she heard an audible crack as Kiima seemed to freeze up at the announcement. She'd have to talk to Ranma later to make sure this little crush was one way. As it was she didn't relish the idea of a rival for Ranma's affections. Of course the fact Kiima looked to be in her early twenties wouldn't hurt either.
"I see." Kiima said coldly after regaining her composure.
"So what are you doing here in Tokyo Kiima?" Ranma asked completely oblivious to the subtle exchange taking place between the two women.
Kiima tore her gaze from Nabiki and stars appeared in her eyes as she looked upon her hero.
"Lord Saffron sent me to discuss the state of the valley and to provide protection from Amazon forces." Kiima explained.
Ranma nodded quietly. "Let's get home and we can discuss it. We're a little too exposed out here."
"You need to rest anyway. The doctor told you not to strain yourself." Nabiki scolded.
Kiima suddenly noticed Ranma's cut and bloody shirt. "My Lord! You're wounded!"
Ranma waved her off. "It's nothing. Idiot got in a lucky hit."
Kiima glared angrily at Nabiki, "Why is he not being taken care of?"
Ranma coughed to get everyone's attention. "Don't take it out on Nabiki. It's not her fault. I've already had a doctor take care of the wound and I'm going home as he told me to."
Kiima backed off and bowed politely. "I meant no offense Nabiki-san."
"Er, it's all right. Let's just get home. People are starting to stare."
As inured as the population was to the strangeness that was Nerima, winged people did tend to stand out and there was a small crowd beginning to form. There was no screaming or panic, just idle curiosity.
Kiima looked around and chuckled nervously. "We would have taken on human forms if Jusenkyou was still cursed. It will be hard to blend in otherwise."
Ranma looked puzzled. "Jusenkyou's not cursed anymore?"
"The magic is gone. Ever since you fell in I assume."
Ranma seemed thoughtful and began walking. Nabiki again took his hand as Kiima took a position on the other side of Ranma. Kiima again gave Nabiki a dirty look but didn't attempt to take Ranma's hand. Nabiki however gave Kiima a knowing smile and leaned against Ranma. She was pretty sure she could hear Kiima's teeth grinding.
As the group continued towards the Tendo home a small purple cat moved unnoticed in the shadows. It moved off towards a certain hotel to report its bad news.
A cloaked figure stood atop a cliff overlooking a thick Japanese forest. Wind whipped at his worn travel clothes as he gazed over the wilderness.
"Damn it! Where the hell am I now!" He yelled loud enough to cause flocks of birds to take flight in the forest below.
Suddenly there was a cracking noise as the edge of the cliff slowly broke away taking the lost boy with it into the abyss below.
"Damn You Ranma! This is all your FAULT!"
The purple cat scratched at the window of the hotel room. Tal Kun opened the window allowing the small animal into the room. Sal Bu went into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the shower. The cat followed and jumped into the hot stream of water to turn into a buxom purpled haired girl. Turning off the water, Xian Pu took a towel and began to dry herself off as she made her way back to the main room.
"I hope you have something important to report. We don't have anymore instant packs of spring of drowned cat." The Amazon elder said from her chair as Xian Pu sat down on the edge of the bed.
Xian nodded, "Airen attacked by other boy at school. Get bad cut on side from sword. Dragon boy beat him easy though."
"So the DaiRyuujin is wounded. He heals quickly though so that is of no use to us. You have more to report?"
"Phoenix people come to help Airen. They bring news of Jusenkyou valley."
Khu Lon frowned. Things were not getting any easier. The boy had the advantage of territory. The local government would side with him in a dispute. Now he had allies to help him. It would be a miracle to bring the boy back to China now. Maybe it was time to just find the key and destroy the monster.
"Was there anything else?" The elder asked.
Xian Pu seemed to think hard for a moment. "Short hair girl was too too lovey dovey with Shampoo Airen." She said indignantly.
That brought a sly smile to the ancient's face. If he was getting closer to the Tendo girl then maybe her initial plans for the boy might bear fruit after all.
Kasumi was startled to see three bird people sitting at the table across from Ranma and Nabiki when she got home. Genma and Soun were sitting off to the side listening in on the conversation. She nodded to everyone and went to the kitchen to make tea.
"Without Jusenkyou's magic protecting the valley, it will be only a matter of time before the Chinese army notices us and invades. Especially if war breaks out with the Amazons."
"Does anyone have any ideas on what to do about it?" Ranma asked.
"Saffron is still too young to make any kind of decision about it. The Phoenix council is recommending total withdrawal and isolation." Kiima said.
Ranma shook his head. "Idiots. That will only prolong the inevitable. What has Herb said about it?"
From the look on Kiima's face, Nabiki could tell the bird woman had a low opinion of the Musk prince.
"He suggests we find allies outside of China. Maybe his people can pass unnoticed among the landlings but we cannot. The phoenix would most likely be destroyed on sight or captured as laboratory specimens."
Ranma nodded in agreement. He didn't mention that there was the possibility of being mistaken for angels as well.
Kasumi came in with a tray of snacks and tea. She set it on the table and smiled at her guests and apologized for being such a poor host. Nabiki smirked at how her sister never seemed to let anything faze her. Kasumi filled everyone's cup and went back to the kitchen.
"Do you have to stay in the valley?" Nabiki suddenly asked.
Ranma seemed to get what she was saying and thought about it.
"We cannot leave Jusendo mountain to the Chinese. It is a holy place to the Phoenix people." Kiima said. She couldn't understand why these landlings were present let alone why her DaiRyuujin-sama was engaged to one of them. She only tolerated Prince Herb because he was descended from the original dragon. Lord Ranma had requested their presence however so she suffered in silence.
"Actually Jusendo isn't the problem. I just need to retrieve the Hearts Fire Ruby that powers Jusendou from the depths of the mountain. We can rebuild the giant taps somewhere else. But where?" Ranma trailed off into silence as he turned his thoughts inward trying to recall more knowledge of the original dragon.
Kiima bristled at being contradicted but kept it in considering it was Ranma.
Conversation degenerated into idle chatter about what everyone had been doing since they last saw each other and Nabiki excused herself when she was convinced Ranma was either ignoring or oblivious to Kiima's advances. She passed the kitchen on the way to the stairs and saw Kasumi going over some papers on the kitchen counter. She was mildly surprised at the look of serious concentration on her normally serene sister.
"Hey Kasumi, what are you looking at?"
Kasumi looked up and smiled at her sister. "Oh, I managed to compile some information on the Saotome and Tendo families. I decided that if Ranma was going to marry into the family we should know a little about his side."
Nabiki nodded at the logic of that but wondered why Kasumi of all people had been the first to do it. Usually Nabiki was the one to do background checks on people as part of her daily dealings. She realized then that she'd have to re-evaluate her life. Things had become too chaotic within the last two days and Nabiki felt she was losing her edge. She shook her head to clear it and deal with the matters at hand.
"So what have you dug up sis?"
"Oh, quite a few fascinating things actually. For instance," she held up a sheet of paper, "The Tendo clan was one of a minor samurai clan that was allied with the emperor of Japan clear back to the Heian period. And the Saotomes have served the Tendo clan since the Tokagowa Shogunate."
Nabiki looked at the paper thoughtfully. It was a printout from what looked like the local library's computer. "So Ranma's clan has served us for centuries huh?" She hummed to herself as Kasumi pointed out various ancestors of importance and talked about the family's role in the Meiji revolution. Nabiki spotted a page highlighted in red and picked it up.
"What's this? Almost three hundred years ago a Happosai Saotome married a nameless ronin tanner?" Nabiki frowned. If Ranma was descended from a Burakamin ancestor then there could be problems. She didn't want to give up Ranma now that they were beginning to show feelings for each other but it would look bad for her business career if she were to marry one of the untouchables of society even in this modern age.
Kasumi saw the concerned almost panicked look on Nabiki's face and grabbed the paper from Nabiki's hand. "Don't worry Nabiki. Happosai never had any children on record. He was a distant cousin to Ranma's line."
Nabiki let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Not that I care what someone's ancestors did for a living but it could have complicated things."
Kasumi nodded serenely, "Duty and love can be hard to balance."
Nabiki swore that Kasumi was referring to something else entirely by the way she said that but she became distracted by another paper set aside from the rest.
"Hmmm, the Kuno's were allied against the imperial family during the Meiji Revolution. According to this document they switched sides near the end of the war after their clan head was assassinated. Must be why they were able to keep so much of their money during the restoration." Nabiki paged through the short stack of sheets on the Kuno family.
"Wow, the Kuno's sure know how to die dramatically. Every one of these guys seems to have died of mysterious circumstances." She turned to the last page and scanned the most recent obituaries. She frowned when she reached the last one. "I always wondered what happened to Kuno baby's mom. Suicide by prescription drug overdose."
Nabiki put the pages down and looked at her older sister. "That would explain why Kuno behaves the way he does."
Kasumi nodded with a sad look in her eyes as she shuffled the papers back into the assortment scattered on the counter. She looked over at the clock suddenly.
"Oh My! I should start dinner. Will Ranma's friends be staying for dinner?" She asked.
Nabiki nodded before telling Kasumi she'd be up in her room doing the finances until dinner. She was almost to her room when something occurred to her.
"Wait a minute," she said under her breath, "If she was researching the Tendo and Saotome families then why did she have a stack on the Kuno clan?"
Nabiki was a very suspicious person by nature but this was Kasumi she was thinking about. Deciding Kasumi must have had a reason, Nabiki shelved the matter for another time and went to pay bills.
It was two hours later that found Akane looking for Ranma. She had been stopped at the gate by some short guy with black wings on his back. She had nearly punched him before Kasumi called out from the house saying that it was all right and that Akane lived here. After getting some of the story from Kasumi she then went upstairs to get the rest from Nabiki. The problem was that instead of chewing out Nabiki for the weird people in her house she was on the receiving end. Nabiki continued on from that morning about how irresponsible it was to set off Kuno and how Ranma could have been seriously hurt or even killed. Akane had stated she was only looking out for her sister and how she didn't want that monster near her family. Nabiki again stressed that it was not Akane's business who she dated or became engaged to and that Ranma was not a monster.
Akane finally conceded when Nabiki threatened to cut off her allowance. That was why she was looking for Ranma, to apologize. She entered the dojo to see the white winged woman, Kiima, sitting and staring at Ranma in awe as he performed an incredible aerial kata. She went over and sat next to the strange woman to wait for Ranma to finish.
"It's like he can fly." Kiima whispered.
Akane turned to get a better look at the phoenix woman and saw the hero worship plainly plastered on her face. Suddenly she had an idea. If she could get the bird freak and the monster together then her sister would be safe. Until then she'd go along with her sister's wishes.
Finally Ranma finished up his kata and stretched, wincing a little as he pulled on the stitches in his side. He bowed to the shrine then turned and accepted a towel from Kiima who Akane couldn't help noticing was acting like a schoolgirl with her first crush.
Akane bowed to Ranma. "I apologize Saotome-san for my part in instigating Kuno's anger towards you. I have no right to interfere in your relationship with my sister and realize it is a matter of honor that you marry into our family. If it pleases you I would like to continue my training with you as well."
The last part irked Akane some. She didn't like being beaten as easily as Ranma had done and while she felt it was due to Ranma not being human she also felt the benefits of his training even after just one day. After some thought she realized that she should take advantage of such training until she could get rid of the dragon.
Ranma looked Akane over in silence for a moment before responding. Akane felt nervous as his gaze met hers. It was a muted version of the feeling she got from his dragon form and it wasn't as bad as it had been the previous day.
"Apology accepted," He said finally, "I'll try to be a little nicer in the mornings than I was yesterday."
"Uh, Thank you." Akane said before leaving the dojo.
Kima watched Akane leave then turned to Ranma. "That was incredible Ranma-sama!"
Ranma just shook his head.
Nabiki was looking over the books trying to figure out what to do. Things were all right at the moment but with three more added guests and another three on the way, things were going to be tight. She pulled out the money Ranma had given her and sat it on her desk. Ranma had told her to spend it on herself but she was having a hard time justifying to herself the extravagance. Sure there was manga and CDs to buy but it wouldn't feed everyone. She was just about to put the money with the rest of her deposit when there was a knock at the door.
She got up to answer it and found her fiancé standing there. She stepped back to let him in and sat on her bed so he could take the chair.
"So what do you think of the Phoenix?" Ranma asked.
Nabiki gave one of her expensive smiles. "I think Kiima has the hots for you." She teased.
Ranma groaned and slumped in his seat. "I don't know what to do about her. She's so prejudiced against humans. It gets really annoying to listen to her talk about how awful the 'Landlings' are after a while. If I'd never fallen into that spring, she'd never even give me the time of day. I almost think she's forcing herself to love me because of the political strength she'd have being married to the DaiRyuujin no Nishi."
"So you don't have any feelings for her?" Nabiki asked with trepidation.
Ranma shook his head. "Nah, I've got my eyes set on this lowly land based human I know. Kiima's a friend and that's as far as that goes."
"So this lowly human, she got a name?" Nabiki asked following Ranma's joke. It damn well better be a joke she thought.
Ranma straightened up in the chair. "Uh hum." He said. Before Nabiki could say anything in return, Ranma looked over at the desk.
"You're not planning on paying bills with the money I gave you are you?"
Nabiki blushed slightly. "Your new friends are going to eat a lot of food." She explained.
Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a few thousand yen. "Hmm, I running low on cash too. Oh well, I was going to show you this eventually anyway. Besides I'll need your help to exchange some of this stuff for money."
Nabiki didn't know what he was referring to until the jeweled key appeared in Ranma's hand. He brought it up and seemed to insert it into midair. He gave a half-turn then back and a heavy oak door appeared in Nabiki's room reaching nearly the ceiling and almost reaching the distance from her bedroom door to the window. It was engraved with carvings of dragons and other creatures that she'd always assumed were just myth. She just stared at it in awe as Ranma grabbed the door handle and gave it a turn.
"Come on, you'll love this." Ranma said as he took her hand and dragged her through the door.
She felt like she was in shock as she was led down a long tunnel. It was longer than the Tendo property and even though they had been on the second floor, she had the impression they were deep underground. A bright golden light shone from the end of the tunnel and she had to blink to adjust her eyes to the light as they stepped into a large cavern.
Ranma looked over to Nabiki as her mouth dropped open and her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. She was trying to look everywhere at once and he could feel her emotional excitement level soar. He had to admit, his own reaction was somewhat similar even though he knew what to expect the first time he came in here.
Nabiki's first coherent thought was, 'Gold! There's gold everywhere!'
And there was. Piles of gold coins were scattered randomly all around. Gold bricks were stacked neatly here and there while wooden and metal chests were laying both in the piles of coins and placed neatly in rows. There were racks of weapons and armor as well bookcases full of books and scrolls. On the walls of the cavern were heavy tapestries with bright colors and gold and silver thread. There were also statues and vases and other art objects like paintings. She could see tables piled with various gems. Then she realized there were four tunnels leading off from this one. If they were full like this room, Ranma could buy the world!
"No wonder they want the key back so bad." She finally squeaked.
Ranma nodded. "They've added some things in three thousand years. I don't recognize many of the statues other than the Atlantean ones. The tapestries are new as well as most of the books. We used mostly scrolls in the old days."
Nabiki listened as well as she was able. Her mental functions were working on other things at the moment. Mainly, 'Ranma's the richest person on earth. I'm engaged to marry Ranma. That will make me the wife of the richest man on earth. I'm going to have that man's baby!' or something like that. She repressed the urge to dive into a pile of gold like that Disney character as she realized it would probably hurt her face.
"So what do you think?" Ranma finally asked.
Nabiki focused on her fiancé then looked back into the cavern. "Can I go look around?"
Ranma nodded then grinned as Nabiki went running off like a kid in a candy store. He went over to the nearest pile of gold, picked up a handful of coins, and put them into a small pouch. Then he found a chair at a table and sat to watch his fiancé. He liked seeing her happy and his dragon blood had him admitting that her greed made her all the more desirable.
Nabiki had climbed to the top of a tall stack of gold coins and came sliding down it with a whoop. She'd never felt like this in her life. She was excited, happy, and felt more like a kid than she ever had before. She had always had an affinity for money ever since she was little so she was feeling a little overloaded from so much around her. She noticed Ranma sitting by a table stacked with boxes of gems and suddenly felt really hot. All this money and the look her fiancé was giving her was starting to arouse her. She tried to bring herself back under control before she went over and seduced him on top of a pile of gold. She was going to have to take care of her little problem later when everyone was asleep. She definitely had good material to fantasize over tonight. Realizing that the longer they stayed in here the more likely someone would come looking for them, Nabiki decided to head back over to Ranma. She'd definitely have to bring him in here and have her way with him in the future.
Come to me.
Nabiki stopped and looked around. That didn't sound like Ranma's voice. There was no one else in here either.
I have waited so long. Come to me.
She turned. There were three racks of weapons arranged in a 'C' shape with a stone pedestal sitting in the center. On the pedestal was an object that looked like a sword hilt. The grip was about a foot long and the hilt was about ten inches across. It was placed pommel up so that it looked like the sword was imbedded in the stone. Something about the design seemed familiar to her and she realized the sword should be much longer than the pedestal was tall.
My Chosen Warrior, It has been a long time. Come, I await you. The hilt pulsed a light blue in time with the words Nabiki realized she was hearing in her head.
Ranma had noticed Nabiki stop and look around in confusion. When she started to move towards the stone pedestal he had a sudden flash of memory. He knew what it was and what it would do to someone. He stood up and started running towards Nabiki hoping he could get to her in time.
"Nabiki! Stop! Don't touch it!"
It was too late as Nabiki had already grabbed the hilt.
Author's Rants:
I know it's been forever since I've posted anything at all, so everyone might be surprised at the amount of stuff that just suddenly appears here soon. I've been writing a little bit every other day on various fics as the mood hits me. Unfortunately, I haven't worked on any one title exclusively so all are in various stages of completion for their next chapter. I have four or five that will be posted of the next few days as I clean them up and maybe get some feedback from my proofreader. If anyone wants to volunteer to proofread let me know. The main qualifications I ask for are a decent grasp of grammar and an active imagination as well being forthright when it comes to criticism.