Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ use it merely for entertainment purposes.
Herb drifted between being awake and being unconscious for several minutes until he finally was able to wake up. It had been a couple of days since he woke up the first time and found he had made it to the Amazons' village. It was still a sore spot to his pride that he had to come here for help but that was his only option considering that it was weretigers that were the ones that almost killed him. He remembered his Father once telling him long ago when the Musk tried to get real werecreature blood into their people and the resulting defeat. It was because of that there was a law among the Musk to never try and take a werecreature by force. Herb himself never really believed those stories, "Guess Father was correct about their strength, even though I lost to Saotome I never thought I would loose so completely like I did to them."
Sitting up and receiving pain from all over his body Herb looked around his cell/room he was staying in. There were surprisingly very guards that he could detect around the immediate area. But then again considering his current state there would not be much to warrant more than a handful of guards. Herb knew that even with his dragon blood and his Ki abilities it would be several weeks before he would be well enough to be much of a threat to anyone much less the entire Amazon population. After a few minutes of silence he heard some commotion from outside and focused he Ki senses to try and figure out what was going on. When he did he discovered some high levels of Ki coming his way and could only assume that the Elders of the Village were coming to see him.
His assumption was correct as two extremely old and short women entered the room. Herb looked closely at the two Elders and saw one he somewhat recognized from the time he was conscious. Not wasting anytime the Elder, Herb recognized moved forward and spoke, "Prince we do not have much time. The full moon is tonight and if the Weartigers are going to attack us it will be tonight. You have information that we need so let us dispense with any games and get down to business."
"Very well Elder…" Herb began not remembering if the one he recognized told him her name.
"Lo Xian," Lo Xian provided, "And this is Elder Ma Scra. What we need to know is how many weretigers attacked you, their strategy, were they young or more experienced weretigers."
"The attack came fast and hard," Herb conveyed. "We did not have any time to prepare, they came up and attacked from what I could tell there were at least a dozen or so. By the time I entered the battle they had already defeated my two strongest warriors Lime and Mint. Not long after I was taken down by what appeared to be their leader. He had incredible strength speed and Chi and Ki powers."
"Sounds like a small pride," Ma Scra said. "And by know there could be more."
"I don't suppose you have any of your Lupine allies here," Herb spoke up.
"Early this morning a mated pair of Lupines came into the village responding to our call to aide," Lo Xian answered. "They are the only ones that were able make it here by tonight. There are more that will come but they will not be here until after the full moon."
"Two Lupines will not be of much help," Herb commented.
"Did the Weretigers know you are alive?" Ma Scra asked.
"I do not believe so," Herb answered. "I was practically dieing from the attack and they dumped my body into the river that was close by. It was only because my blood is that of a water dragon that I was able to survive."
"Then we may have surprise on our side," Lo Xian commented. "That could be what tips the balance in our favor in the coming battle."
"I do not suppose Saotome is here?" Herb asked out of the blue. "He was able to beat me and Saffron so he could be of use."
"Saotome Ranma is currently still in Japan," Lo Xian answered. "He is still with Elder Ku Lon but will probably accompany her and the Lupines with Ku Lon after the full moon."
"We should prepare the defenses," Ma Scra said. "Sunset will be in a few hours and we still have much to prepare for." Lo Xian nodded and the two Elders left the Prince of the Musk alone in his room.
In Nerima it was about an hour until sunset and by unconscious agreement everyone that knew about Ranma's Lycanthropy, except for Ukyou, were coming to the former Saotome, now Wolf's Eye, Residence. The first to arrive were Nabiki and Kasumi with Ryouga in tow. The two Tendo daughters convinced Ryouga to come with them, as it would most likely be best to be around people that knew about his newest change and added to that recent change in attitude of the Lost Boy he agreed to join them. The next to arrive were the Amazons and Aishia. They were there to not only there to tell Ranma what was happening in Joketsuzoku but also to see Ranma's bipedal form because they had not witnessed it yet, well Shampoo and Cologne were there for that reason Mousse was there because he had nothing better to do and followed after Shampoo. The person to arrive was Happosai, he wanted to see how his heir was doing and gauge the Ki levels of Ranma at his absolute strongest. He was allowed to stay only because he promised to remain on his best behavior and not do anything perverted. Happosai was a shameless letch but he was far from stupid knowing if he did try anything he would be in a world of hurt with four people that could probably beat him there alone. So his promise to behave was accepted and everyone began wait patiently for the full moon to rise. Well almost everyone, Ranma and Ryouga were rather twitchy and would often get up and pace around the room.
"You two need to calm yourselves," Aishia instructed. "Use the meditation techniques Cologne and I taught you to relax your instincts. If you're this tense when the moon rises it will only cause problems, one neither you nor us need."
The first one to respond was Ranma. After taking a deep breath to calm himself a little he announced, "I'll be outside I need some air."
"Just don't go anywhere," Aishia replied. Ranma nodded and stepped out the back door to get some air.
Ryouga looked around saying, "I think I could stand to be alone as well."
"I'll take you to the other room," Happosai volunteered. He did this more for his own safety than anything else. He was starting to get rather twitchy himself and needed a bit or a break to get away from all the females in the room. So the old pervert and Ryouga left the room with Ryouga watching Happosai intently and Happosai remaining with in one or two steps in front of him.
After they left Nabiki spoke up, "Is it me or do Ranma and Ryouga seem to be constantly irritated?"
"It's not you," Aishia responded. "It's natural for Lycanthropes to be like this just before a full moon. Even I am feeling a bit uneasy and I have several centuries of experience with this. It also does not help that those two are rivals and the territory instinct is beginning to rise."
"Maybe it was not a wise idea to bring Ryouga here after all," Kasumi said.
"No here is as good as any place for him," Aishia said. "Here we can keep an eye on him and calm him down if he starts to get angry or frustrated. With his directional sense Ryouga would feel the same about being away from his home territory no matter what he did."
"What about my Son?" Nodoka asked. "Will he feel that you are invading his territory?"
"Yes," Aishia answered. "But again we can keep him calm. He considers most of the people here as friends and family so the feeling of encroachment is actually only from Ryouga and Mousse, his rivals. As long as no one tries to attack him he should be fine."
"What about Stick Boy and Crazy Girl?" Shampoo asked. "They attack Ranma if see him."
"Don't worry Shampoo," Nabiki answered. "I sold Kuno and Kodachi some information that their 'loves' are in Okinawa right now. They won't be back for at least a day or so."
"Quick thinking Nabiki," Cologne smirked. "Simple yet effective."
"Well as Aunty said, 'the less complicated a plan is the least likely it will fail,'" Nabiki quoted.
"What I want to know is where Ukyou is," Mousse surprisingly said. "You would think she would want to be here as much as anyone."
Surprised that Mousse was able to think of something other than winning Shampoo or trying to punish Ranma just stared at him for several minutes until Nabiki shook herself out of it. "I spoke with Konatsu yesterday. He said Ukyou had contacted him saying that she would not be able to make it back to Nerima, something about a family friend."
"Oh my I hope she is all right," Kasumi said.
"I would not worry to much Kasumi," Nodoka replied. "She seems to be able to take care of herself quite well."
"She's right Sis," Nabiki joined in. "Ukyou will be all right so you don't have to worry about her."
"Where should we be once the sun does go down?" Cologne asked. "With three Lupines in one house the area tends to be a bit crowded."
"I would suggest the back yard then," Nodoka answered. "It is more out of sight and there should be enough room for everyone while you three transform." The last part was directed at Aishia who nodded in agreement.
"Since Ranma is already out there why don't all of you go out there while I get Happi and Ryouga," Cologne suggested.
With that everyone stood up and were about to leave when Nabiki suddenly thought of something that made her stop in her tracks causing Mousse to bump into her because he was no able to see her all that well without his glasses. "You did you stop Mrs. Sato…I mean Wolf's Eye."
"I am Nabiki, Mousse" Nabiki corrected. "And I just thought of something."
Everyone else paused at the statement and turned a questioning look towards Nabiki. "What Mercenary Girl think of?" Shampoo asked.
"Aishia you said that Lycanthrope Instincts are enhanced during a full moon, right?" Nabiki asked. Aishia nodded wondering where Nabiki was going with this. "Well does that mean all instincts like…um…a…m…mating?" Even as she said the word her entire face lit up in embarrassment. Her Sister and Shampoo did the same as soon as they realized what Nabiki was hinting at.
Aishia smirked at the question and the result from the three girls. "You would have to worry about that if you were having your monthly cycle. As none of the women here are we don't have to worry about that."
"That's too bad I was looking forward to possible Grandchildren," Nodoka thought out loud causing everyone else to sweat drop.
A few hours later as the full moon was high in the cloudless sky the one person that was not at Ranma's home was currently in the middle of a forest outside of Kyoto looking at her reflection in a small pool of water. Ukyou looked at her reflection she took note that her eyes were still chocolate brown. It was the only feature that was still the same on her body, not really surprising when one thinks about it considering she changed from human girl to large red and white female fox with two tails. Turning away from the small pool Ukyou took note of how big she was when she stood up on all four legs. She was about the size of a small car from nose to the base of her tails and her tails were each half her body length and quite bushy. Looking back at her newly acquired fur Ukyou could easily tell that it was silky soft just from looking at it. All in all she felt she made a pretty good-looking werefox.
"I see you're admiring yourself," Ominai said from near by. Ukyou turned to him and saw he was in his bipedal form. Ominai was a silver fox and stood just over two meters tall. While rather large for a Japanese man he said he and every Kitsune, were on the smaller size when it came to Lycanthropes. He explained that Kitsune were never known for their size and power like Lupines and Weretigers but more for their cunning, speed and agility.
Ukyou tried to speak but all that came out was a series of yips and barks causing to confuse her. "I thought Ominai said I would be able to talk when I was transformed," Ukyou thought.
Knowing what she was thinking Ominai answered her. "You need to get a better feel for your body before you can talk. It won't take very long, only a couple of days at most." Ukyou nodded in understanding and Ominai continued, "It'll be easier to talk once you learn how to change into your bipedal form. But you'll have to learn how to change at will by your own method. For each person it is different." Again Ukyou nodded she understood. "For tonight you should get used to your new body." Ukyou gave Ominai a questioning look wondering what he was talking about. "You move with rather shaky legs. I would recommend taking a light run through the forest. There are enough obstacles to avoid around here that it will help you learn how to adjust to you're new center of gravity, speed and the increase of sensory information."
Mentally shrugging Ukyou followed Ominai's advice and began a light run through the surrounding forest. After a few minutes of a light jog Ukyou decided it was time to start pushing herself. So she increased her rate of speed and soon found herself running close to 100 kilometers an hour (60 mph) and the forest started to blur around her. It was unfortunate for her that her reflexes had not adapted enough to properly compensate for the increase in speed because if they had Ukyou would have reacted fast enough to avoid a large stone in her path. That was not the case however and as a result she tripped over the rock causing her to tumble down into a stream a few meters a head of her. With a splash Ukyou shook her head, "Great now I've got wet fur. I wonder if Ran-chan went through this kind of thing when he was learning how to be a Lycanthrope?"
At Joketsuzoku the Amazons were waiting with anticipation for the attack the suspected from the weretigers to begin. The sun had just set an hour ago and the moon was beginning to rise. As they waited the two Lupines that were there had already transformed and were constantly sniffing the air for any sign of the enemy. The longer everyone was forced to wait the more nervous they got. After what seemed like an eternity however the two Lupines' heads snapped to the north just before a loud roar echoed from the same direction. "To the North Wall!" shouted Lo Xian.
Several Amazon warriors rushed to the location along with the two Lupines. As the approached one of the Lupine said, "Their scents are getting stronger by the second. They'll be here in seconds."
"Can you tell us how many there are?" Lo Xian asked.
The same Lupine sniffed the air once again, "I would say, six?"
"Six?" Ma Scra asked. "Prince Herb said their were at least a dozen!" Further speculation was cut off as another roar from the North Wall indicated that the weretigers had arrived.
Up on the wall the archers pulled their bows back waiting unleash their silver arrows at the weretigers. As they approached one young and inexperienced Amazon fired to soon and several others soon followed. Because the arrows were fired to soon the weretigers were out of the effective range and were easily able to dodge the barrage and with incredible speed they made it to the wall and three jumped up to the top. Cut by surprise the Amazons that were near where the three landed were not able to react fast enough and were soon cut up and knocked out by the weretigers's claws. As soon as the one close to where the weretigers landed fell the lycanthropes jumped off the wall and into the interior of the village.
While first three were inside the wall the other three were running along the perimeter after having transformed into full tigers. With this form their speed was increased and they were able to run and avoid the arrows and spears that were sent their way. The puzzling thing, one had enough time to think about it, was that the weretigers on the outside of the wall were making no move to attack like the first three did. Instead they simple ran along the wall occasionally glancing at the wall itself. It was almost as if they were looking for any weak spots along the wall.
Inside the village the two Lupines were fighting two of the weretigers one on one and the two Elders were taking on the third two on one. The matches were rather even with neither side gaining any real advantage. That is until Lo Xian tried an Amaguriken with her staff and the weretiger cut the staff into pieces taking away the Elder's reach. With her reach cut to a third Lo Xian quickly became the target of the weretiger her and Ma Scra were fighting. And even with the other Elder's help Lo Xian quickly started to feel pressed by the fury of the attacking weretiger. The attack proceeded for several minutes until suddenly an extremely loud roar from the other side of the wall was heard. This caused the weretigers to pause glance in the direction of the wall and back at their opponents. With a smile from each weretiger they quickly spun around and made their way back to the wall. When they were close enough the jumped and cleared the wall in one leap and joined up with their companions and ran off into the night.
Ma Scra limped to Lo Xian supported by her staff, that had been cut in half, and noted that the other Elder had several wounds, from bruises to claw marks all over her small body. "Are you all right Lo Xian?"
"Surprisingly yes," Lo Xian answered. "None of his blows were fatal."
"Neither were the ones we sustained," the female Lupine said holding her dislocated arm approaching the two. "I don't think this was the attack we were expecting."
"I agree," Ma Scra nodded. "That last roar was a signal for retreat. And with only six coming and three actually entering the village. I think that was just a scouting parting to see what kind of defenses we have."
"That means the next attack that comes will be full force," Lo Xian said. "And I have a feeling it will be much larger than a dozen"