Chapter 47 A Wedding at Joketsuzoku
Author's Note: Warning-this chapter has a bit of a lime scene in it
#Listen closely, Son-in-law,# the Elder said, coldly to Taro, #Hurry up and change!# She handed him a folded robe made out of a white linen cloth. After unfolding the robe, Taro recognized it as an ancient Greek chiton, with buttons fastening the open shoulders at the top. Khu Lon watched dispassionately as Taro stripped down to his boxers and pulled the robe on over his head. The robe fell down to slightly more than mid-thigh. She handed him a soft belt that he wrapped around his waist and then tied tightly. She grimaced as she fixed the drape of the material, and snapped, #Well, that will have to do.#
#What gives, Khu Lon? Why the rush?# Taro asked.
Khu Lon smiled grimly and replied, #The sooner you and Xian Pu are married, the better. Par Fum is planning something, but once the two of you are married, she is stymied. That was the message the Matriarch gave me in those parting words.#
#So what does it take for us to be married according to your laws, great-grandmother-to-be,# Taro asked.
#We are a simple people, with a rich tradition. However, all it really takes is for a wedding feast to begin, and the meat and wine to be shared by the bride and groom,# Khu Lon said, #Now hurry! Enough talking. Xian Pu will show you what needs to be done.#
'Great, I get caught up in an ancient Amazon cat fight,' Taro thought, in disgust, 'I wonder if she's worth it.' Then he remembered how Xian Pu had taken care of him, and the fun they had had on the way to the village. The many times they had kissed during the two nights in Shanghai while they were waiting for the rest of the Amazon party to arrive from Japan and meet them. Those two nights had been filled with both pleasure and sheer torture. He chuckled lightly to himself as he recalled the look of disbelief that Xian Pu had given him the first night she had tried to sleep with him. It had taken all of his considerable willpower to turn her down, especially since all she was wearing was a cute pout on her face. But his sense of honor wouldn't allow him to do that until they were married. He grinned widely as he realized he had answered his own question. 'Hell yeah, she's worth it!' he thought as he followed the Elder out of the small cottage he had temporarily been given and walked over to a long table loaded with various foodstuff. Xian Pu met him at the center two chairs. He barely avoided a snicker at what the Amazons considered appropriate bridal attire, but then remembering their alleged history, he was able to suppress it.
Xian Pu looked slightly uncomfortable, even as accustomed as she was to somewhat immodest clothing. What she was wearing was definitely less than what she was generally used to wearing. Besides, the leather bustiér was chafing her most prominent set of assets, showing them off to their fullest extent while preserving the barest modicum of decency. The short leather skirt, the leather bracers on each arm, and the leather sandals, with lacing nearly to mid-calf, left little to the imagination as well. With her hair tied back, and a small circlet of gold on her hair; the only thing that made her feel comfortable about the situation was the steel short sword, the razor sharp belt knife and the metal hoop she had laced to her belt.
Taro said in an aside, #Well, at least you look good in that getup. This thing I'm wearing is absurd.# Xian Pu hid a brief smile and then the two of them sat down quickly. They waited politely for the rest of the guests to be seated and then Xian Pu picked up her silver goblet and held it to Taro's lips.
She hissed, "Drink!" Taro took a polite sip of the bitter red wine and then picked up his goblet and after catching her nod, held it to her lips. She drank heavily, allowing the vintage to pour out of either side of her mouth and down to the table below. "Don't worry, it's just tradition," she said in quiet aside to Taro's shocked expression.
Xian Pu then looked at the meat on his plate and Taro took the hint. Using his belt knife, he cut a large piece of the meat off and held it up to her mouth. Her eyes dancing, she took a large bit and began chewing. She reached for her knife and held up a large piece of the meat from her plate. Taro bit off a chunk of the meat and the two of them slowly chewed. Finally, to Khu Lon's relief, they swallowed the two bites.
Xian Pu then turned to Taro and said, #Now, I have fed my husband according to the ancient rites of my people.#
Taro replied, #And I have fed my wife.# Xian Pu flashed a brief smile as he had followed her lead correctly.
Khu Lon said, in loud, ringing tones, #We have witnessed the sharing of the meat and the sharing of the wine. According to our ancient and holy traditions, Xian Pu and Ah Sum Taro are wed.#
Under the cover of the noisy intruments blaring something that might be considered music by an alien culture with no sense of the normal tonic scales, Taro whispered sardonically, "Okay, am I supposed to carry you off over my shoulder, kicking and screaming, or what?"
Xian Pu giggled and replied, "This is an Amazon village. I'm supposed to carry you off. Screaming is optional."
Taro cracked a smile and replied, "Good luck, wife of mine. I hope you're plenty strong."
She flashed him a happy smile and said, "I am the village Champion, dear husband!"
Taro snorted half the gulp of wine he had just finished taking through his nose. After recovering his composure, and ignoring the burning sensation, he reached around and goosed his wife.
Xian Pu blushed, and asked, #Is Airen in a hurry to fulfill duty to wife? I'm not quite ready. I want my Airen to have plenty of staying power for our first time. Then maybe he might hear screaming.#
Taro gave his bride an appraising look and then shook his head. "You're going to take some getting used to, Shampoo."
She smiled at him mysteriously and whispered, #Who says I want you to get used to me, husband? A good wife always keeps her husband guessing.#
Then the two newlyweds felt a sudden chill from behind them. They turned to see the Amazon Elder Par Fum icily looking at both of them. Khu Lon turned and said, #It is too late for you to interfere, Par Fum. We have witnessed them sharing the meat and wine. I'm sorry you missed it.#
#I'm sure you are, my old friend,# Par Fum said coldly, #Apparently my invitation got misplaced or I would have made sure that I was here for this joyous occasion. It's not everyday a warrior as weak as your great granddaughter gets married to a warrior like this.#
Xian Pu half-rose from her chair, only to stop as Taro grabbed her. At the same time, Khu Lon hissed, "No child, do not take her bait."
Taro glared at the Amazon Elder, with a look that promised great pain if the old woman continued that line of talk. Then he turned to Khu Lon and asked, #Elder, I am unfamiliar with all of your laws. What does it say about this kind of challenge? What would be the appropriate response for this kind of insult?#
#Actually, son-in-law, neither our tradition nor our laws have addressed this type of behavior. I think she must be going senile. She is, after all, getting on in years. Her manners used to be much better when she was younger,# Khu Lon replied. She smiled sweetly at Par Fum.
#Well, I'm sure allowances must be made for that,# Taro said in agreement.
Par Fum bristled and said, in annoyance, #Watch it boy! You really don't want me for an enemy.#
Taro shrugged his shoulders and replied, #I've always been told that one measure of a man is the quality of his enemies. Don't insult my wife, or me and we won't have any trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think my wife and I will go spend some quality time together.# He turned to Xian Pu and said, #I think it's time we found our room for the evening.# He stood and followed Xian Pu as she left the table heading for the cabin she was staying in.
Ah Sum waited impatiently, laying on the bed in the candle-lit cabin. They had shared a couple of deep passionate kisses as they entered the cabin, but Xian Pu had smilingly eluded his grasp and fled into the bathing room. Finally, he was rewarded by his new wife, as she walked back into the bedroom, her face glowing slightly, wearing a very sheer negligee. As he took in her beauty, he was painfully aware of the impact she was having on him. The swell of her breasts, covered by the sheer material, ending in the dark aureola around her nipples, the trim stomach, tiny waist and then swooping down to the tight, lavender curls. Ah Sum smiled quickly and then said, huskily, "I had always wondered if that hair color was natural."
Xian Pu giggled as she saw the effect her body was having on the nude man laying on the bed. Then she joined him, as he pulled her into his embrace and they kissed, their tongues caressing. She gasped as he slid one hand over her left breast and began caressing the nipple, gently toying with it as it became erect. With his other hand, he began tracing gentle circular patterns on her proud buttocks, sending chills running up and down her spine. Xian Pu gasped as she began to feel excited, as a feeling of warmth began to spread from her most private areas. He slowly moved his hand up and began to slide the sheer material off of one shoulder, as he bent down and began to kiss her neck and then on down to her shoulder. She reluctantly pulled herself away, and then with one motion, languorously pulled the negligee off over her head, allowing him an unabated view of her charms. Taro rolled over and blew out the candles, and then…
Taro was awakened abruptly from a dreamless sleep by the sound of someone steathily entering the main room of the cabin. He gently shook his wife awake and whispered, "Get your sword and some water. I think we have company."
Shampoo's eyes narrowed as she heard the same noise, and then heard someone attempt to open the locked door to the bedroom. She rolled quickly out of bed and ran to the bathing chamber. As she returned, with her sword, and a glass of water, the door to their bedroom burst open and several Amazon women rushed in, led by the Elder Perfume. Shampoo threw the water at Taro, triggering his transformation. The Amazons fell back in dismay, as they saw facing them not the sleeping couple that they had expected to see, but instead a winged minotaur, angrily swishing its tail, and a nude but furious Amazon warrior, with a razor sharp sword in one hand, her belt knife in another and a towel wrapped around her arm for protection. Perfume barked a command and several of the warriors began to charge Taro, only to fall back in disarray as with one swipe of his razor sharp claws, he severed the heads of the poleaxes they were carrying.
The disarmed spearwomen fell back, discarding their useless poles, and allowed the two carrying maces to advance while they drew their short swords. Taking care to stay out of Taro's way, Shampoo moved up to protect his flank from the women. One of them swung her mace at Shampoo, only to sink to the floor with Shampoo's knife buried up to the hilt in her stomach. The second macewoman was flung crashing to the wall by one swipe of Taro's paw, where she slid down limply to the floor.
Par Fum began to chant an incantation in an ancient language that had vanished from the face of the earth around the time of the vast migration that had occurred after the fall of Troy. Taro smiled evilly, showing massive teeth and using his tentacles, shot a steady stream of octupus ink that blinded several of the swordwomen, as well as filling the mouth of the chanting Amazon Elder. Sputtering, the Elder fell back, and tried to wipe the ink from her mouth and face. The few warriors that were left to fight began to back up out of the room, allowing Taro to move forward and block the doorway, using his vast body to push the blinded warriors into the walls of the room and knocking them out.
Xian Pu rushed forward and ripped their belts off and tied their hands together. She then pulled the knife out of the wounded belly of the warrior that had first attacked her, and stanched the flow of blood with a piece of cloth ripped from the warriors clothing. She pulled the warrior's hands forward and pressed them against the wound, and hissed, #Keep pressure there if you want to live!#
As she approached the last warrior remaining in the room, that warrior sprang up and swung her sword at Taro, attempting to hit him in a blind spot. Xian Pu dived forward and interposed her sword, blocking the blow. The two warriors began trading strikes, until finally, the warrior managed to hit Xian Pu a glancing blow in her side. Xian Pu flung her knife, sinking it deep into the warrior's right arm, and then sank to the floor. Taro saw his wife collapse, and with a roar of outrage, swung his hindclaw and nearly disemboweled the warrior.
At that moment, the cottage was flooded with warriors as a squad rushed into the main room, led by a furiously cursing Khu Lon. Quickly the remaining attackers were restrained, with Khu Lon herself striking Par Fum with her cane, knocking her out. Taro backed out of the doorway and stood crouching protectively over the body of his wife, swishing his tail angrily, growling just a bit. Khu Lon made her way to the body of her great granddaughter and gasped at the damage she saw. She snapped several orders and began bandaging the wound. Xian Pu stirred weakly and said, "Get Taro some hot water, great grandmother." A warrior approached warily and doused Taro with hot water, who promptly dove for his clothing. The few warriors who weren't busily frog-marching the defeated out of the cottage grinned in appreciation at the sight that was there in front of them, and then sighed as it quickly vanished as Taro shrugged his pants and shirt on.
The dumpy, middle-aged woman, with dishwater blond hair, slumped dispiritedly on the bed in the run-down hotel room on the island of Okinawa she had checked into a few days before. She stared around the room, silently cursing her fate, as she contemplated the ruin that her life had become. As she sat there, she saw herself in the flyspecked mirror over the battered dresser that she had thrown her few belongings into. 'How could that ungrateful boy do this to me? How could Nodoka do this?' the woman thought. Then to her everlasting shame, she felt the tears begin to stream from her eyes. "This damn, weak woman's body!" she growled to herself, "I'm supposed to be a man, dammit! Men don't cry." 'But you're not a man anymore,' came a betraying thought from somewhere buried in the dim recesses of her brain, 'Not since Nerima. Your family took care of that. They'll never give me the Phoenix Pill so I can change back.' Shuddering, she walked over to the dresser where there was a half-full bottle of sakeî Grabbing the bottle, she knocked back a large swallow. Then she carried the bottle back to the bed, and collapsed upon it. After several minutes of serious drinking, interspersed with bouts of crying, the level in the bottle was terribly depleted. The woman woozily set the bottle down on the table next to the bed and then fell drunkenly back upon her pillow, as she slipped into a stupor.
As the light from the morning sun began to stream through the window of the hotel room, the figure on the bed started thrashing in her sleep. "No, don't Nodoka, please," she said in her sleep. Suddenly, she bolted upright, her unseeing eyes wide in terror, as she awoke from her nightmare. She grabbed her head with both hands as she felt the well-earned hangover begin to pound like a jackhammer in her skull.
The woman froze as she heard a maliciously sweet voice say, "You never could handle a hangover, Genma. Don't you know that drinking is hazardous to your health?"
Genma turned her head to one side and saw her former wife sitting comfortably in the single chair that the room had been provided.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all of the reviews. As always constructive comments are welcomed and encouraged.