Author's notes: I apologize for the long hiatus, but my muse left me abruptly. Also, real life has been taking much of my attention, and I went through a period of time completely disinterested in writing. But now I'm back, and I'll be updating (if a bit slowly). Enjoy the next installment!
Chapter Two: Chosen of the Goddess
He knew something was wrong the moment he felt the chill run across his spine. It was as if someone had walked across his grave, chilling him to the bone and giving him a feeling of unease he had not felt since the last time he had fought a life-or-death battle. It wasn't a feeling he relished, but he trusted his instincts enough to know when to get up. Glancing around the small hut he checked on its other occupants. Finding that his mother and Ryoga were still asleep, he carefully stepped out into the cool night.
"Something's fishy," Ryoga muttered, and Ranma half-turned to acknowledge the lost boy's presence. "Yeah, I know. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark." At the semi-quote, Ryoga gave a wry grin. "You've been hanging around Kuno too much. Don't you start quoting Shakespeare on me, too." Ranma suppressed a chuckle. With his curse gone, and their friendship beginning to revive during the battle at Jusendo, the two of them had found it was much more fun going through adventures with each other instead of against each other.
It was that which had made Ranma ask his rival to accompany him and his mother after they had received an invitation to the rebuilt Joketsuzoku's first annual martial arts tournament. Oddly enough – or maybe understandably – Cologne had requested in her letter that Genma remain at home. And while his mother was currently filing for divorce and parental rights, something Genma fought tooth and nail, as it meant he would have to give up on pretty much anything he had "accomplished," such as the Tendo/Saotome marriage pledge, it was a long process.
So when the time had come to leave, Ryoga and Ranma had been too pleased to go through an "extra hard" training session with the man…making sure not to hold back. The end result was that Genma was in no condition to come along, something all parties involved (except Genma himself) were wholeheartedly grateful for.
Extending their senses as far as they could, the two of them searched for whatever had caused them to awaken. Not noticing anything after several minutes, Ryoga arched an eyebrow. "False alarm?" Ranma shook his head. "I don't think so. Something's going on." There was no movement that could be detected in the village, and there was no one they expected to be outside this deep into the night. A hushed shadow made them both turn around, staring at the same spot, neither totally sure whether they had imagined it. After waiting for several more moments, both martial artists shared a glance. "Something's fishy, but I don't think we'll find it tonight," Ryoga noted.
Ranma agreed with the lost boy, but that didn't do much to alleviate the queasy feeling in the bottom of his stomach.
V-------------------V
"What the hell is all the racket about?" Ranma groaned as he pushed himself out of the futon, glaring at the door as if he could somehow shut up the noise coming through it. When the noise didn't relent, he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and glanced over, to see Ryoga stirring awake. His mother was already out, and she had taken the reforged Saotome family blade with her, so he knew she wasn't in any danger. "What the hell…can't a guy sleep in in thiss village?" Ryoga groaned from his side of the cabin.
Chuckling, Ranma shook his head and slid open the simple wooden door. "Dunno what this is all about but-" he cut off as he noted that everything that had legs seemed to be up and about at this unholy hour of the morning, streaming out of the village and past their hut. "Huh? Mass exodus or something?" Smirking, Ryoga couldn't resist a playful taunt. "Oh, learned a new word, did you?" That earned him an equally playful elbow to the gut which would have floored a lesser man.
"I don't know, but wanna check it out? Not like we can sleep with this going on." The lost boy shrugged and headed outside, Ranma following after picking up his own blade.
The sun was barely over the horizon, but a large number of people were already awake and rushing out the east gate of the village, something that struck the two martial artists as odd. "What's going on here?" Ranma asked no one in particular; receiving no reply, the two followed the villagers out of town.
After they had travelled what they estimated to be a mile east of Joketsuzoku, just barely outside Jusenkyo valley, the procession halted, and the people surrounded a single spot like spectators had the fight the day before. Pushing their way through the crowd, Ranma and Ryoga arrived to a scene that didn't really answer any of their questions.
Before them, a small mound of earth had been piled up, apparently left over from the excavation of the shallow hole that looked remotely like an ancient tomb. The thing that caught both their attention was a small rock that lay nearby, a part of which had clearly been blown apart with the Bakusai Tenketsu. There had been something engraved upon the stone, but neither were close enough to read it, the only recognizable feature being the Chinese symbol for "evil," which both recognized because it resembled its Japanese equivalent.
"Uh…Ryoga…why is there a rock with the kanji for 'evil' in the middle of nowhere?" Ranma asked tentativly, not knowing what to make of the scene. "I have no idea…" came the reply. Ranma was about to return his attention to the field before them when Ryoga tugged at his sleeve and indicated over to where Cologne and several of the amazon elders were conferring. Oddly, Nodoka as standing off on the sidelines, obviously listening in. Nodding, Ranma acknowledged it and the two of them headed over.
V-------------------V
"This is not a good sign," Cologne noted as Soap and the remaining elders nodded in agreement. "Indeed. The fact that this seal has turned up and has been broken does not bode well. If someone knew of the location of the seal, then why break it now?" Soap questioned. Cologne shook her head. "I do now know. But we should be more worried about who actually broke it. If someone has enough power to remove the seal and take the sword that is supposed to be here…"
Nodoka picked that moment to interrupt the conversation, asking in nearly flawless Mandarin, "But if the seal has been broken and the legendary evil that has been sealed away has not emerged…then wouldn't that leave only one option?" The elders stared at the woman in surprise, realization dawning across their faces. "That would mean-" Cologne began.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Ranma's voice prevented her from finishing that thougth. Turning to face the two young martial artists, Cologne and Nodoka froze. "Mom?" Ranma asked at seeing his mother lock up in shock as she looked past him. Turning around to see what had captivated her so, he gaped. "Huh?" was all he managed. Dead silence permeated the area, he entire crowd's attention having been riveted on the form that stood on the broken seal.
Surrounded by an aura of nearly pure white floated a woman with long, flowing black hair tied back in a swordsman's ponytail. Her elegant features and piercing blue eyes seemed to radiate a nearly ethereal, otherworldly beauty; her milky white skin covered in archaic armor that seemed to give her an aura of power. Strapped at her side was a broadsword bearing the same runes Perfume's had, and Ranma arched an eyebrow. For a moment, her eyes closed. When they opened again, they had focused on the pig-tailed martial artist.
"You," she spoke, her voice deep and rich, soft as silk but with an undercurrent that spoke volumes about her ability to crush any opposition to her will if she chose to. "Me?" Ranma pointed at himself, stepping forward. "Whatcha want?" He had never been one for formalities, and it showed. Catching a glimpse of her aura, he frowned. It felt similar to what he had felt on Urd and Belldandy when he had met the Norns, but not quite. Something was different, and a nagging voice in the back of his head told him it was something important.
"You are the one who bested the one I chose to bring light to this world once more, are you not?" She asked in the same deep baritone. Huh? What the hell is she talking about? Ranma thought as he tried to remember who he had beaten up in the last couple of days. Wait a sec…that sword's the same. She talking about Perfume? "If you're talking 'bout Perfume, yeah," he answered, his mind wondering at why exactly they were speaking Japanese now. "She was about to hurt a friend of mine, and I ain't let anyone do that." A slight smile played around the woman's mouth for a moment, before it vanished.
"The seal has been broken. The evil will wash across the world once more, and only the one who wields the sunblade shall stop it. I have chosen my avatar, and it is she who will bring the light back to this world. She is the chosen one." Ranma worked over her words for a moment. In other words, please refrain from beating her up any more than you already have, he mentally translated. "Amaterasu, I presume?" Both their turned their attention to the source of the female voice, to find Nodoka and the rest of the amazon elders kneeling on he ground, head bowed. "Goddess of light, you bless us with your presence," she spoke, before looking up. "Tell us, who broke the seal so we can prepare for the evil that comes."
Amaterasu smiled visibly this time, before she turned back to Ranma. "There is a grave danger coming from your midst, from one who holds great power. An outsider, not of the Joketsuzoku, who brought this upon us all." Every single pair of eyes present turned to look at the three visitors warily. While their attention was diverted, the apparition vanished.
"Okay…" Ranma muttered, "Anyone else get the feeling we've just been set up?"
V-------------------V
Ranma shook his head at the commotion outside. Who would have thought level-headed, rational (more or less) women would turn into raving lunatics because of the words of one apparition? Granted, it was supposed to be their patron goddess, but that didn't necessarily mean it had to be right. Or did it? He shook his head when the sound of splintering wood filled the room and leapt up into a defensive stance, his mother, Ryoga, Cologne and Shampoo next to him.
When the dust cleared, they were faced with a mob of angry people, lead by the one person Ranma had last expected to see. Brush was leading what he could only call a mob that by all appereances seemed to be ready to lynch them. "What is the meaning of this, Brush?" Cologne asked. Her ex-colleague smirked. "Isn't it obvious? The goddess has spoken. The outsiders are responsible for the unsealing of the evil. Either they leave Joketsuzoku, or we will force them to leave."
"Now hang on a sec!" Ranma protested. "We didn't unseal no evil! Hell, we didn't even know that blasted seal was there till this morning!" Turning her ancient eyes on the pig-tailed martial artist, Ranma felt a chill run down his spine as for a moment he caught a glimpse of a hatred that ran far deeper than any he had ever seen, along with a bloodlust that made him shudder. "You, outsider, have no say in the matter. A male like you should know your place!" Ryoga growled and attempted to step forward, along with Shampoo, but both were restrained as Nodoka placed a hand on each of the fighters' shoulders. "That is enough, you two. We will leave, but know that we are innocent of what you accuse us of. If the evil truly has been unsealed, then we can only hope that the chosen of the goddess is able to reign it in." Turning to the three teenagers, the auburn-haired woman smiled. "It looks like we have overstayed our welcome. Come, Ranma, Ryoga."
As the three of them began to move forward, Shampoo exchanged a glance with Cologne, and the matriarch nodded. The girl started after her friends. Their progress halted when they found the door blocked by not only Brush, but the majority of amazons in the village. In fact, the only ones conspicious by their absence were several of the more conservative elders. Staring Brush straight in the eye and matching the ancient woman glare for glare, Saotome Nodoka stood, her right hand moving to the hilt of her family blade. "What more is it that you want?" Her tone was cold enough that it felt as if someone had deployed the Soul of Ice, and projected that ki into the air around them. The temperature seemed to drop even further when Brush grinned a toothy grin.
"You foolish outsiders have cost us dearly, and may have caused the destruction of our tribe," she began, only to be interrupted by Ranma, who nimbly dodged a swing of her staff. "We already told ya we didn't do it! You taking the word of some hokey-pokey ghost over ours?" He realized it may have been a mistake to refer to the apparition as he had, when the majority of people before them turned a glare on him. "Great, me and my big mouth," he lamented quietly. Ryoga nodded in agreement, and Shampoo hid a chuckle.
"Whatcha want now? First you tell us to get lost, now you won't let us leave! Make up your mind, for Pete's sake!" He really didn't like the goofy smirk on Brush's face. It was starting t creep him out. Not particularly because it was that evil – and it was – but moreso because a nearly three-hundred year old wrinkled gnome of a woman grinning like a Cheshire cat looked more than a little disturbing. "What we want," she began grandly, "is your head!"
Ranma hung his head and sighed. "Oh, boy…" Ryoga groaned. "You didn't get infectious, did you, Ranma?" And Shampoo and Cologne stared disbelievingly at the mob that was about to lynch the three that had been, until a few hours ago, their guests of honor. Sliding into an offensive stance, Ryoga snorted, "Ranma, this is all your fault!" Said pig-tailed boy chuckled in response and shook his head. "In your dreams, P-chan." Turning to the assembled amazons, he eyed them warily. "Are you prepared for us fighting our way out? 'Cause I'm not gonna let any of you do anything to my friends and family." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he let his battle aura hover just outside the visible spectrum.
Brush smirked as she took a step back, the majority of the amazons moving back so that they formed a semi-circle around the front of the hut. "If you want to fight, I'll take all the more pleasure in taking you down, boy." Lashing out with her staff, she expected the strike to connect with the pig-tailed martial artist's head, but when it landed, he wasn't there. Appearing two meters to the left, he narrowed his eyes. The former elder was serious about this, and seemed to have the backing of the majority of the tribe. He swore mentally, things were not looking good right now; and he didn't exactly feel a burning desire to beat up an entire village of warrior women.
When the ancient woman lunged at him, he turned to the side, but the strike he had been expecting never came. Instead, Brush altered her staff's course in mid-air to aim at the woman that stood unprotected to one side of the group. Anger flooded her as she recalled the humiliation she had suffered in her first duel with the Japanese woman. Startled, Nodoka's hands went to her family blade, but before she could reach the handle, a silver blur hissed through the air, and the crack of splintering wood silenced every single bystander.
With a dull thud the first third of the broken mahagoni staff hit the ground, and Ranma stood before his mother, sword drawn and in a ready stance. His eyes flashed a brilliant gold for an instant as he ignited his battle aura, the flame of ki burning high into the sky as it wrapped itself around him. Emitting a cat-like hiss, his sapphire eyes slitted as he stared at the one who had attacked his mother. "We will be going. And you won't stop us, Brush." The raw power rolling off the pig-tailed martial artist was enough to sent the majority of the amazons scattering away, and the former elder glanced down at her broken weapon.
She had no choice to let them go.
V-------------------V
"Y'know, I'm getting this weird sense of dejá vú," Ranma commented as he, Ryoga, Nodoka, and Shampoo sprinted through the woods, in no particular direction but away from Joketsuzoku. The sounds of the hunting parties faded behind them, and they allowed themselves to rest for the first time since they had run from the amazon village. "This like first time you come here," Shampoo chuckled, "everyone looking for you to kill."
Ryoga elbowed the pig-tailed martial artist lightly. "You do have a way of making enemies, don't you? I'm starting to think you're doing that on purpose." Ranma didn't comment as he sat down next to his mother. "Well, that didn't go all like I had planned it would…" Of course not. I didn't exactly plan on having a ghost claiming to be Amaterasu pop up and declare us the harbingers of doom. Making a mental note to talk to the Norns when he saw them next time, he sighed tiredly. His mother smiled at him as he leaned against her slightly.
"Cologne will work things out. She is the matriarch, after all," she attempted to calm her son, and he nodded. "Hope so." When his mother perked up, he followed the direction of her gaze and noticed the sun reflecting off a smooth black surface. Reaching over to push the vines aside, he ran his finger over it. It felt smoother than silk, yet the ragged edges spoke of a solidity and brittleness that came with stone. It felt cold to the touch and seemed to absord the sunlight as he looked at it. "Obsidian?" Nodoka murmured, and he warily followed Nodoka deeper into the brush.
"What's this?" Her gasp made him look up, and for a moment he stood in shocked silence as he took in the giant structure before them. On a small hill, surrounded by obelisks made of the same black stone, stood a giant, milky white crystal on a pedestal. Surrounding it and covering almost the entire hill was an array of buildings that dwarfed many modern complexes in size and architecture. The majority of the buildings had flat roofs and were two stories tall, scattered widely around the hill but connected by roofed walkways. Broken stone pillars spoke of where the gates had once been, and Ranma could feel the residual chi lingering in the air.
It was a tantalizing feeling, the energy that permeated the place so obviously not natural, yet not malevolent at the same time. It felt almost as if this place was otherworldy, as if some divine being had touched this place and made it their own. It made a chill run down his spine as he realized it was coming from the crystal in the center of the hill. While time had clearly taken its toll on the buildings, all of them were still standing, and most of them showed no structural damage.
"What the-" Ryoga cut off as soon as he saw the sight before them. "Holy hell," he muttered, completely ignoring the contradiction in his words. Like Ranma he could feel the energy emanating from the crystal. As the group stood in awe of the structure before them, Shampoo joined them. "Aiya! What this?" The young amazon stared wide eyed at the assembled buildings, and a memory floated into her mind.
"This hidden temple of sun goddess!" She nearly shouted. "It supposed to be legend!" Ryoga snorted. "Some legend. Looks pretty real to me." Sharing a glance with his mother, Ranma wondered just what they would find in this place. Why me…? He mentally groaned, wishing that for once he could have a nice, easy life.
V-------------------V
Ukyo woke with a start. And she screamed. Of course, waking up and staring straight into the wrinkled face of a three hundred year old woman wasn't exactly the best way to wake up. When she had gotten her breathing under control, Ukyo dropped from the ceiling and glared at Cologne as the elder amazon chuckled. "That wasn't funny!" When Cologne continued to smile, Ukyo shook her head. It was useless to argue with a three hundred year old bad sense of humor.
When she looked around the cabin, she found her friends gone and Shampoo's travel backpack missing. "Where are all the others? Where's Ranchan?" The okonomiyaki chef demanded. Cologne sobered up immediately. "They had to leave the village. Something has come up, and I doubt it's a good thing." Sighing and hanging her dead, Ukyo mumbled, "Why can't things ever be easy around Ranchan?" Looking up into the elder's eyes, she asked, "How long have I been out, and what happened?"
"You were only out for a day, and a lot has happened. This morning the elders of the village were woken by a large wave of chi that passed through this area. We followed it to the source and found a broken seal, with the seal of the sun goddess on it." Quickly telling Ukyo about the legend, Cologne continued with the morning's incident. "When Ranma got there, the goddess herself appeared and told us the evil had been released and she had choosen her champion to wield the sunblade against it. She also said that the ones responsible for releasing the evil were outsiders."
Eyes wide with disbelief, Ukyo shook her head. "So Ranchan and his mother got chased out because this weird ghost popped up and said that they let loose something evil and that only the one she said could defeat it?" "In essence, yes," Cologne nodded.
"That's a load of bull! How do you even know it was Amaterasu, and not some fake spirit?" Cologne held up a scroll that had the kanji for "sun" surrounded by runes drawn on it. "This is the symbol of the seal. It matched the one we found, the one that was broken. And…" Cologne hated to admit it, but she said it anyway, "it looked like her."
Silence was her answer for several moments until Ukyo burst out laughing. "You mean to tell me you looked at her and said they looked the same so that makes her the real one? Oh, that's rich!" Soon, the young warrior was rolling on her bed, shaking with silent laughter. Cologne, too, managed a chuckle.
When they both had themselves under control, the elder continued. "You may see it that way, but our culture is very traditional. There is a prophecy, and it has started coming true piece by piece. The seal and appereance are enough for most to believe it is the actual goddess." Placing the scroll away, Cologne shot a quick glance out the window. "There is one more thing. She said that she had chosen her champion, and that that person would wield the sunblade."
A memory came to the fore, and Ukyo recalled her battle the previous day. "Perfume? You're not going to tell me that sword of hers is the one you mean?" Again, Cologne sighed. "It is. The fact alone that she can wield such a mystical blade has convinced those who were till skeptical." Ukyo fell back against the wall. "Oh great. You mean now everyone thinks Perfume is their savior, or something?"
"Unfortunately, that is the situation, child."
V-------------------V
It was growing dark when the four of them began building a fire near one of the abandoned buildings. All four kept their senses on alert – the fact that the buildings seemed to be abandoned and that this seemed to be the place of several amazon legends didn't necessarily mean it was devoid of hostilities. But when the sun set, their attention riveted on the crystal that stood in the center of the structure. In the dying sunlight it had begun to glow, emitting a soft silver light as the martial artists could feel its power.
The glow intensified as the sun went down, passing the horizon, bathing the area around the crystal in a fourty feet radius in a warm silver glow. Eyes wide in surprise, The group moved closer to the stone, now feeling the warmth that came from it. With a bit of trouble, Shampoo deciphered the ancient symbols etched onto the pedestal. "Guardian Crystal," she read, "put in place to protect temple from evil demons by sun goddess. This shrine to sun goddess, built after she kill evil. This where old priestesses worship her." Smiling, Nodoka sat down on the stairs that lead to the pedestal. "Well, looks like we won't have to worry about light or danger."
Ranma was about to agree, when a rumble went through the place. With a sudden flash, the crystal went dark. "Uh…is it supposed to do that?" Ryoga asked warily. Shampoo shook her head wildly. "Guys…I think we have more problems than that oversize flashlight back there," Ranma muttered, indicating to where glowing eyes had appeared around them in the darkness.
V-------------------V
A figure shrouded in shadows smiled to itself as it materialized where the broken seal lay. It gave a grim smile, as light and shadow flashed across its face, only revealing cold blue eyes. It solidified an instant later, wisps of white smoke coalescing into white robes and armor. Slowly, as if relearning how to walk, the figure took a tentative step forward, followed by another.
Soon, it passed the gates of Joketsuzoku, the heavy wooden doors parting easily with the wave of a hand. Everything inside the village stopped dead in its tracks as they saw the figure that had so easily bypassed the guards and entered their homes.
Brush was the first to arrive, followed by Perfume. A single look at the woman now standing before them was enough to make the amazons drop to their knees in reverence. The woman smiled as the villagers filled the town square, kneeling around her. "Mistress," Brush began, raising her eyes. "We are yours to command."
"Rise, Brush of the Joketsuzoku. One among my children wields the sunblade now, it is her you must follow." The runes on the sword strapped on Perfume's side began to glow white at first, then a dark red. "She is the chosen one, she will battle the darkness and bring light upon us again." The ancient woman shot a glance at her great-granddaughter, and nodded. Perfume rose and stood beside her as she drew her sword.
Offering it to the goddess before them, they were startled when she shook her head. "It has chosen its wielder. Perfume, by the blessings of the gods, I grant you this sword, Hizashi-jin, the sunblade that once banished evil from this plane. You are chosen to champion the sun in the coming war. Do not fail, or all shall be lost." Turning around and sweeping her gaze around the assembled warrior women, she smiled. "Follow her, my children, follow the chosen of the sun!"
As one, the amazons rose, and the air resounded with a wild, wavering warcry.
V-------------------V
Ranma felt the cold stone of the pedestal brush against his back, and not for the first time he asked himself whatever he had done to deserve this. It wasn't the fact that he was fighting for his life, no that wasn't something new. It wasn't even the fact that he was lost somewhere in China, that had happened before. No, he wondered, why, by all that was holy, did those monsters have to be giant, evil, bloodthirsty killer cats?
He heard a cat-like yowl and nearly jumped, lashing out instinctively with a ki blast that illuminated the area for a split second before it struck its target in a brilliant explosion of golden fire. "Why me?" He lamented before firing off another ki blast into the group of creatures that assembled before them. "There stairs back here, we go in?" Shampoo noted from behind them as she pointed her flashlight at a stairwell.
Without further notice Ryoga leapt down, followed by Nodoka and Shampoo; Ranma shot a glance behind him before he let loose with a vacuum blade and jumped down the stairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the sounds of fighting reached his ears, and he groaned. Out of the frying pan, into the fire…
Running towards the noise, he found his mother, and Shampoo backing off from a humanoid figure, nearly twice as tall as he was, while Ryoga had engaged two of them at once. Shampoo's flashlight washed over their opponents, and the pig-tailed martial artist cursed their luck as he recognized the shimmering white bone, bound together by magic and clad in archaic armor. With a loud kiai, he flew forward in a jump kick that threw the skeleton attacking his mother backwards, and rained an Amaguri-Ken onto its breastplate, cracking through the ancient metal easily.
"What the hell is this place?" He ducked instinctively as the blade of a giant sword cut the air above him, before sweeping the skeleton's legs from underneath it. "I shoulda figured we'd run into something like this," he muttered as Ryoga let loose with a ki blast that tore through the tunnel before them, effectively clearing it. He sighed in exhasperation as Shampoo finally managed to align her flashlight.
They were in an underground tunnel, which was probably not too deep under the surface, wide enough for three people to walk shoulder-to-shoulder, and around twelve feet high. Taking a look at the remains of the creatures they had just fought, Ranma swore under his breath, muttering about stupid ancient amazon magic. Shampoo caught an earful of it and giggled, but the sight of the dismantled skeletons before them sobered her up.
"Say Shampoo…is there supposed to be something like this in a temple of a good goddess?" Ryoga noted, indicating the ancient bones. "I mean, I don't exactly think skeleton warriors are good guys…" A growl from behind them cut off her reply, and they turned around to see the stairway they had come from filling with more predatory cats. "Hinokuruma!" Ryoga yelled, letting loose with a reddish ki blast that caved in the ceiling on top of the intruders behind them.
It also cut off the air flow. The four of them stared at the collapsed entrance, before the other three directed a collective glare at the lost boy. Ryoga chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Oops?" he muttered. Ranma knocked him atop the head once, which hurt his fingers more than Ryoga's head, before shaking his head. "Well, we better get going and find some air vent," Nodoka commented as she turned down the tunnel. Ranma nodded, and took a rather long piece of rope out of nowhere. At Shampoo and Ryoga's inquisitive glances, he smirked. "You'd be surprised what you can pick up from Mousse if you keep watching him."
He then proceeded to tie one end of the rope around his waist, and the other around Ryoga's. "You ain't getting lost on us in here, P-chan," he said, before the three of them walked off after Nodoka.
V-------------------V
When the Saotome matriarch stopped, and Shampoo angled her flashlight against the barrier that stood before them, the two rivals suppressed the urge to groan. "Ranma, how come I always get into these messes when you're around?" Said pig-tailed martial artist didn't bother to reply, instead walking up to the semi-transparent barrier that stood in their way. In the light from Shampoo's flashlight it shimmered a light grey, with a soapy texture and occassional flashes of scintillating colors.
It completely blocked their path, closing off the tunnel from the bottom all the way to the ceiling. Tentatively, Shampoo stepped forward and picked up a small rock, tossing it against the barrier. Four pairs of eyes widened in shocked surprise when the rock disintegrated, falling into dust the instant it hit the barrier. "Shampoo think we no go through there," the young amazon managed after the shock wore off.
"We still need to get out of this tunnel, without the air flow from the entrance we'll suffocate in here." Nodoka glanced around, her eyes settling on an ark that had been carved into the rock of the tunnel wall. Age had worn away the ornate decorations that had been hammered into it, and a thick layer of dust and debris now blocked the heavy door, making it nearly impossible to spot.
Handing her katana to Shampoo, the elder Saotome carefully brushed away at the sides of the ark, uncovering rusted and broken hinges. She continued to move on to the door itself, carefully removing small pieces of clay and rock and brushing away the dust that had collected with the sure hand of a trained archeologist. When she had totally uncovered the doorway, she stood again, running a finger through the crack that separated the double doors, trying to find enough purchase to force it open.
When the massive door didn't budge, Ranma and Ryoga stepped forward, and she accepted her sword back from Shampoo. At the trio's inquisitive look, she shrugged. "I had to keep occupied while you were away, son. Archeology is a hobby of mine." A dull thud shook the tunnel as the two boys struck the door, but the solid iron held steady. Ryoga growled and glared at the door before hauling back and focusing his ki. Ranma's arm on his shoulder held him back. "Hey, if you do that you'll bring down the whole tunnel on top of us!"
"Got a better idea, Ranma?"
The pig-tailed martial artist smirked as he stood back and drew his blade. With two quick slashes, the door fell into the room beyond in four neat pieces, and Ranma returned the sword to its sheath. "Zantetsu," Nodoka whispered in awe. "Metal slash." He grinned at them and gave them a victory sign, before stepping into the next room.