Author's Notes: First off I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed. I greatly appreciate the time you took to read the story and give me feedback. Comments, criticisms, suggestions, ideas, MSTs, flames, and death threats are all welcome.
Legal Notice: Ranma½ is copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi. All characters presented in this story are her property except for the ones I created.
Mousse watched as the descending sun set the sky on fire, while from the east hints of blue twilight began to make its way west. The lake in the valley below reflected the light with an almost mirror like quality.
He admired it for a moment before he stretched languidly and settled back onto the grass. I've never known the sunsets here were so beautiful. He smiled wryly. Then again I've never been able to see them before.
He drew in a deep breath of mountain air and let it out contentedly. There were only two elders in the village and one of them wasn't a threat. The other three were probably off somewhere in another country searching for any martial arts they could learn and then teach the rest of the village. Perfect.
Perhaps I should wipe out the village. He smiled at the thought. It wouldn't be too hard after I eliminate the elders. Or then again maybe I should kill all of the elders first and then come back.
He mulled the thought over in his mind for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion. He pulled a coin out of his sleeve.
Heads I do the village now, tails later. He flipped the coin in the air, caught it his palm and flipped it over to the back of his other hand. Tails.
He shrugged and the coin disappeared back in to his sleeve. Later it is.
He yawned sleepily. I
have a while before full dark. I can
rest for a few hours.
Before closing his eyes he pulled out his two revolvers. He pulled the catches and flipped out the cylinders, checking each chamber. Satisfied that they were fully loaded, he lay back and felt himself drift.
He smiled faintly before sleep claimed him. Soon. Very soon.
***
"Be still child, this won't take more than a moment," Po-Hsin assured the young Amazon lying in front of her. The warrior nodded once, her face pale and drawn from pain. A sharp cracking sound filled the air for a brief moment as Po-Hsin set her broken leg straight. To the young warrior's credit she didn't cry out, but she was in no position to cry out at her own misfortune. She was one of the lucky ones to have gotten away with only a broken limb.
The elder sighed as she prepared the splint. She could feel the weariness settle across her shoulders. Only once during her entire life as an elder could she recall the Amazon people being dealt such a harsh blow.
She tightened the strips of cloth bounding the leg to the splint while she pondered the situation. Twelve dead. Twice that many wounded and a third of them won't likely survive the night. Not since the battles with the Musk have our people been defeated so badly.
She straightened up,
groaning and knuckling the small of her back. She looked down and saw her patient was already asleep without the aid
of any herbs. She leaned over and
gently brushed a few strands of pastel colored hair away from the sleeping
girl's forehead before picking up her staff and making her way around the
infirmary. All around she saw the
warriors, the Amazon children, her children, lying in bed while the men kept
silent vigil around them. Soft cries of
pain from the wounded and the dying echoed throughout the hall.
Po-Hsin leaned heavily on
her staff as she walked heavily to the entrance. She had done all she could do and it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.
She looked up to see
Lo-Hsin standing at the window beside the door, arms crossed and with a face
that looked chiseled out of stone.
Po-Hsin walked up next to her fellow elder and looked at her with concern. Some wounds are not physical.
"He's out there," Lo-Hsin
said, tone flat and hard. "He's out
there watching us right now."
They stood there in
silence before Lo-Hsin spoke again. "I
was so close," she said, her voice almost breaking. "I was so close to the bastard I could have killed him if I had
not hesitated like a coward."
Po-Hsin shook her head
sadly. Some wounds go deeper
than the physical. "Sister, you could not have known he would use those…
things. And what if he had more? You would be among the wounded or the dead
right now."
Lo-Hsin's expression
hardened even more. "He stopped using
those things, those guns, after he used them to kill the first twelve of our
warriors. It was my own fear that kept
me from facing him sooner."
Po-Hsin felt her mouth
twist in distaste. That's what they
were called, guns. Loud and unwieldy
looking things. She had seen one taken
apart when she was younger, all bits and pieces of metal fit together to form
an ugly contraption that didn't seem to have any apparent use. They did not have the simple grace and
elegance of a sword or spear. They were
a coward's weapons, made for those from 'civilization' who lacked the courage
to match their strength and wits against their opponent. However, despite all this, guns were
fearsome weapons, more deadly than anything the Amazons were trained with. And it seems Mu Tzu had mastered them.
"We must contact our
sisters as soon as possible Lo-Hsin. They must be warned that…"
Lo-Hsin shook her
head. "The messenger birds are dead."
Po-Hsin's eyes widened in
shock. "How did this happen?"
The other elder's
expression became even grimmer. "He
killed them all. The cage was set on
fire."
"What about the carrier
birds? Surely he didn't destroy the eyrie?"
Lo-Hsin nodded. "Did you hear the thunder earlier? It wasn't thunder. The eyrie was destroyed. I don't know how he did it but he somehow managed to collapse the entire
peak. There is no way to get messages
to our sisters."
The feeling of dread was
back in Po-Hsin's stomach, stronger than before. Mu Tzu was more dangerous than they realized. Much more.
"You should have seen him
Po-Hsin. The way he fought, even after
he stopped using those guns. If he were
born female he would have been an Amazon to be proud of. But now…"
Lo-Hsin clenched her
fists. "We should have let him be. It is our fault he turned into this
monster."
Po-Hsin placed a hand on
her fellow elder's arm. "Sister, you
saw what he was like when he was younger. He was a danger to all those around him. We had to get rid of him somehow or he would have destroyed our
people from the inside out."
Lo-Hsin jerked her arm
away from her sister, still grim and with a look of regret in her eyes. Po-Hsin continued. "It doesn't matter now. We cannot call for help and many of our warriors are unable to fight. We must prepare for the time Mu Tzu
returns."
"I've already sent patrols
on the outskirts of the village," Lo-Hsin replied. "Many wanted to
go into the forest after him to avenge their fallen sisters but I would not
allow it. You don't need any more
patients."
Po-Hsin nodded
tiredly. "I think I'll go home
now. I've tended to all those I could
and I must rest. You should get some
sleep too."
Lo-Hsin shook her
head. "He is still out there and I'm
the only one that can fight him. I must
stay alert for his coming." She looked down
at Po-Hsin. "Do you need a guard? I can…"
"No, you need as many
women out there on patrol as you can," she replied before Lo-Hsin could go any
further. "I think I'll be safe just
going to my home."
"If that's the way you
feel sister, then so be it. Just be
careful."
She watched as Po-Hsin
hobbled outside, leaning heavily on her staff. Age was catching up with her fast. She turned her attention outside. He was out there, waiting for the right time to strike. She felt a pang of regret, knowing that all
of this could have been prevented.
Perhaps this is how we are to be punished? One of our own coming back to kill us all?
She stopped before she
went any further. Thoughts like that
can get a person killed in battle. Regardless of what happened in the past, her duty now was to protect the
village. With that, she firmed her
resolve and continued her watch.
***
Po-Hsin made her way
slowly down the street to her home. Everywhere were warriors with torches, weapons at ready, patrolling the
streets and outside the village. All
bowed respectfully as she passed but she paid them no mind. Her thoughts were on how she was going to
explain to the rest of the tribe how Mu Tzu, who was supposedly dead, had
returned, killed many of its warriors, and then disappeared. They now knew it was not a ghost. A ghost could not have done nearly so much
damage.
She opened the door to her
house and walked in. It was no larger
than a common warrior's house, but she preferred it that way. Inside was completely dark, but she was
familiar with the place and easily made her way around any obstacles. She stopped in front of the fireplace and
bent down, gathering up pieces of flint and steel. She struck the pieces together sharply and watched as sparks lit
the tinder. Soon a fire was started and
the room was bathed in its cheery glow.
She stood up, groaning,
and reached for her staff. It wasn't
there.
"That fire's too small,
you need more wood than that. Here, let
me."
There were three sharp
cracks as she heard her staff snapped into smaller pieces and thrown into the
fire.
"There that's much
better."
Po-Hsin didn't need to
turn to see who stood beside her. "Mu
Tzu," she whispered, her voice trembling.
There was no answer. She stood there, terrified, without turning
to face the one standing beside her. Long moments passed as she waited, the crackling fire the only sound in
the room.
"Look at me."
She obeyed without
thinking, turning slowly until she was fully facing him. He loomed over her, the firelight
highlighting one half of his face while casting the other half into shadows. His green eyes glinted as they looked down
at her.
His lips peeled back into
a grin. "Po-Hsin. You look well."
"Mu Tzu," she whispered
again. "What…"
She stopped suddenly as Mu
Tzu pushed her roughly back into a chair.
"Have a seat, elder," he
said amiably. "Someone your age
shouldn't be moving around so much."
He pulled up a chair and
sat across from the elder and leaned back, setting one leg over the other.
Po-Hsin shifted
uncomfortably, her bones aching from being shoved into the chair. "What do you want Mu Tzu?" she asked.
Mousse's grin was replaced
by a look of disappointment. "After all
this time, and that's all you can say to me?" He turned his head away. "I
though you would have at least offered me some tea," he said sadly.
Po-Hsin began to speak
again but was cut off by a raised hand from Mousse. "No, no, that's alright, I'll answer your question. I'm a guest in your home so it's the least I
can do."
Suddenly he was out of his
seat and in front of Po-Hsin, hands gripping the armrests with his face inches
from hers.
"I want to kill you," he
whispered, his eyes burning with a hatred so intense Po-Hsin could feel it on
her skin. "All of you. I want the streets to flow with the blood of
the Amazons. I want to burn this
pathetic village to the ground and piss on its ashes. I want any evidence that the Amazon people ever existed to be
wiped off the face of this planet. What
I want is your total and utter extinction."
Po-Hsin shuddered as
realization dawned on her. She feared
that Mu Tzu had gone mad. It would
explain his actions and in fact, she fully expected him to have snapped, going
through what he had. But now she saw
something that truly terrified her. He
was completely, frighteningly sane. He
hated her and the Amazons with the passion of a madman but had somehow managed
to keep his mind intact.
"How did it feel," he
asked, still close enough so she could feel his breath on her face. "How did it feel when you took my life from
me? Did you feel relieved? Proud, that you removed a threat from your disgusting
way of life? Did you believe you were
doing the right thing?"
Po-Hsin couldn't look
away. The sheer hate in his eyes kept
her transfixed as well as if he had stabbed her through with a spear.
He stood up slowly, a
sneer forming on his face. "I thought
as much."
Po-Hsin watched in horror
as he pulled out a number of small knives from his coat. She said the only thing she could think of
before he lifted her up by the front of her robe.
"Your hate will consume
you in the end, Mu Tzu."
He paused and he lowered
his knife, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he smiled. "Perhaps
Elder Po-Hsin. But not before I take
back what is mine."
***
Lo-Hsin stood in front of
Po-Hsin's house and knocked again. She
let out a frustrated sound. One of the
injured warriors had started screaming and thrashing and wouldn't stop. She herself had only rudimentary knowledge
of healing herbs, and she knew nothing of how to treat a patient. Finally fed up with waiting she opened the
door.
What immediately hit her
was the smell. Blood.
She hurried in and
stopped, her heart pounding, and quickly searched the room. The fire had died down, casting a dim light
that only left flickering shadows rather than illumination.
She waited tensely,
searching the room and listening for any intruder.
She moved forward slowly,
eyes and ears straining to sense anything out of the ordinary. The scent of blood was getting
stronger. She stopped when her foot
touched something. She cast her gaze
down and frowned. On the floor was a
pile of something she didn't recognize. She nudged it slightly with her foot and grimaced. It was soft and glistened in the dim
firelight.
She crouched down to get a
closer look and then recoiled in horror. It was a pile of entrails. She
raised her head up and a scream began to form in her throat. Po-Hsin was on the ceiling, multiple knives
driven through her limbs to keep her pinned and her midsection cut open to let
her innards fall to the floor. Her eyes
held the glaze of death but her face was still contorted in the same
excruciating pain she must have felt before she died.
Lo-Hsin tripped while
scrambling back, trying to escape the horror that she found. She landed on her back, sprawled and looking
up. A shadow detached itself from the
wall and stood over her, turning into the form of Mu Tzu.
Her eyes widened in alarm
as he smiled coldly. "Goodnight
Gracie," he said, bringing his fist down on her face.
***
Lo-Hsin awoke to the sound
of rain. She blinked, wondering if it was
all just a terrible nightmare. A flash
of lightning briefly illuminated the room, revealing the smiling face of Mu Tzu
hovering above her.
She snarled, leaping from
the bed and into a fighting stance. Her
eyes widened in surprise as she realized was still looking down on her. The surprise quickly turned to horror when
she realized she couldn't move.
She tried frantically to move her body but it would not follow her orders. What's happening!?
Mu Tzu smiled smugly. "I suppose you're wondering how I did this."
He leaned forward, a small
vial in his hand. "This is atracurium,"
he said. "It is a derivative of
curare. Unlike curare, however, it is
better suited as an anesthetic, especially if you want your patient fully aware
during the procedure."
"Don't worry," he
continued, seeing the look of fear in her eyes. "I'm not going to do to you what I did to Po-Hsin. I'm running out of time and I must hurry."
He pulled a round object
out of his sleeve and held it in front of her. "Do you know what this is? This
is what is called a fragmentation grenade. Would you like to know how it works? Okay then. It normally works by
pulling the pin and throwing it at the enemy. It then explodes. However it's
not the explosion that usually kills them. It's the jagged pieces of metal that fly out when it explodes that get
them."
He began tossing it from
one hand to another. "I modified this
one so that an electric charge would set it off."
Lo-Hsin followed him with
her eyes, the only part of her body she could control. She watched as he stood up and tied the
grenade to a wire suspended directly above her head. Sweat began to pour down her face as she watched him move to the foot
of the bed. The wire ran from there to
the ceiling, which was in turn attached to the grenade.
Suddenly, numbers lit up
from the foot of her bed. There was a
digital display set on a tripod, the numbers shining with a red light. He pressed something on the display and moved
back to the side of the bed.
"In three minutes that
thing is going to start," he said. "I'll assume you know basic arithmetic in spite of your wondrous
education here in this primitive village so let me explain. It's going to randomly choose a number
between one and one hundred. When it
hits a prime number the grenade above you will explode. Then you will die."
Lo-Hsin desperately tried
to move but all she could manage was a noise in her throat.
Mu Tzu only smiled at her
impotent struggling. He crouched down
until his head was by hers.
"Before I leave, I just
want you to know that I'm not done yet. After I'm done hunting down the other elders, I'm coming back to destroy
this town. Take this thought with you
before you go to hell."
He stood and turned to
leave but then stopped and turned back around. "By the way is it alright if I take these," he asked, dangling two small
silver medallions in front of her face. "You know, as souvenirs for old times' sake."
In spite of the
anesthetic, Lo-Hsin almost screamed. The medallions were symbols of authority for the elders, passed down for
countless generations and only earned through the most demanding of
trials. To have this monster in
possession of them…
Mu Tzu smiled. "Really? It's all right? That's
great. Well, I'll be seeing you around. Later."
Lo-Hsin could only watch
as he walked out the door. That
little bastard! When I get out of here…
A beep from the foot of
her bed stopped her thoughts. Sweat
began pouring down her face as she watched in terror as the screen blinked a
few times before displaying numbers.
…8…24…35…14…58…72…75…
***
Mousse once again stood on
the hill overlooking the village. Many
small points of torchlight could be seen gathered around a single house.
He smiled coldly. I guess they found the bodies.
He pulled out a watch and began counting down in his mind. 3…2…1…
An explosion ripped
through the night air, followed by the sound of rocks tumbling down the
mountain, piling up at the entrance to the village. He turned and made his way back through the wilderness. With their birds dead and the main road cut
off the Amazons won't be able to warn the elders before it's too late.
Mousse looked down at the
piece of paper, written in Po-Hsin's hand. First stop, Tibet.