Lesson and a Return
Disclaimer: Not mine.
…...
Glancing at the walls Ranma stayed silent. Here was possibly the means to re-gain their bodies and yet he couldn't muster any enthusiasm. His reaction to Shampoo still weighed heavily on his mind. Even now, just the knowledge that she was nearby set him on edge. He knew now that a shadow had possessed her, so it was possible her actions toward Akane were not entirely her own. Yet Ranma still felt furious at Shampoo, and that bothered him greatly. Was it really necessary for him to bite her as hard as he had?
Sitting down next to Akane he turned his attention toward the Godling.
His former likeness pulled a book from the middle of the bookcase to their right. He then opened the book and set it before them showing a swirling image of a shisa and a sea serpent on the crinkled faded pages. The puppet began a dry lecture, "You are shisa, shishi, komainu; guardians of the physical realm against the mythical realm."
As He turned a few pages Ranma took the opportunity to glance at Akane. She was devoting her entire focus on the lesson unfolding before them. She really must be taking this fighting shadow thing seriously. Ranma quickly turned his attention back on the puppet.
"Those spirits you have encountered thus far are shadow sprites. The shadow sprites are common evil spirits that mortals often do not detect. They feed off of dark emotions and intensify these feelings in their hosts. If attached long enough the victims begin to act on their dark emotions more readily and provide more nourishment for the shadow sprites. Their feeding eventually leads their hosts to madness. Shadow sprites appear as corpses or demons and have the ability to fade into smoke and shadow.
"For shisa they are not difficult to remove. Your roar severely weakens shadow sprites that are not strongly attached to a host. Your bite causes them to dissolve and only more feedings can regenerate what they lost. If their hosts pass between two shisa they are forced out."
"What about the one from Shampoo just now, why did it try to attack you?" Akane interrupted.
Silence stretched as their instructor raised his eyes with agonizing slowness. "I am the incarnation of a God. The spirit realm views that as an immense power source with little protection."
"Then why are you here?"
He gave them a blank look, "I have reason to be here," and said no more on the matter.
The Godling continued, "Shadow sprites are difficult to permanently exterminate. They require a bite to the head or neck or to be in the presence of a shisa's roar long enough. If not exterminated they tend to hold grudges and will continually pester any who remove them from their hosts."
The Godling continued on listing other detailed aspects of the shadow sprites. Ranma did his best to stay focused but the droning of the Godling was incredibly had to listen to after awhile. Besides, verbal lessons where never his strong suit. He learned best with action and movement. Glancing at Akane he noticed as she began to sag as well, still watching and listening to the lecture. Eventually the Godling must have realized how their attentions were wavering as He sent them back to the front yard to guard the Temple-Palace.
…
Sitting once more on either side of the path that led from the gate to the front steps Ranma said to Akane between visitors, "that lesson this morning wasn't very helpful."
Akane shook her mane, "it was and it wasn't. It told us how to defeat the shadow sprites we have encountered. It didn't tell us much else though."
Ranma gave her a cat-grin, "Now we have a place to begin searching for a way to get our bodies back."
Akane flicked her tail agitatedly before resettling it around herself, "I really don't like those evil spirits."
"Come on Akane, we'll search one at a time. Tonight I'll take a look around, and then tomorrow night you can. One of us will always be guarding this place."
Akane paused to watch a cloud past overhead. She faced him and nodded her consent.
Excited Ranma jumped towards her, licked her cheek, and jumped back to his side of the path just as a visitor entered the gate and they froze. Glancing to the side he inwardly smirked at Akane's startled gaze.
….
True to his word Ranma set off to search that night. As the Servers blew out the last outside light he gave Akane a little nudge and left her sitting sentinel in the wide front yard. Crouching in the shadows from the porch on the left side of the building Ranma looked back at Akane one more time. She sat rigid her eyes and ears constantly scanning the area, as if expecting a group ambush at any moment.
Shaking his head slightly Ranma set his mind on the task at hand and masked his presence as he crept deeper into the shadows around the building. He successfully passed the point where the porch railing ended and had to slink farther under the porch to remain unseen. He kept one watchful eye on the glow in the yard from the lights in the rooms above him. The outlines of the Servers depicted them meditating, reading, and stretching, each in his own isolated chamber.
Something small and swift raced passed him and Ranma paused, crouching low. He strained his senses, but beyond a faint scent of fur he could not detect what had run past. A light breeze blew past ruffling his fur and sending particles of dust to tickle his nose. Ranma tried wrinkling his nose, then rubbing it, but the tickle intensified rather than lessened.
One of the Servers above was humming in a low voice. A night bird called. The building creaked. Some crickets chirped. Silence stretched. Then Ranma sneezed in a loud and echoing manner.
Doors opened as several of the Servers stepped outside their rooms, investigating the noise. To his displeasure Ranma felt himself freeze, one paw still draped over his nose.
"What was that sound?"
"Did you hear it too?"
"Where did it come from?"
"It sounded like a rock exploding."
"Is it a demon?"
Cursing inside Ranma listened as the high priests scanned the area.
One ventured down the steps and, after a minute of searching, spotted him, "Hey, one of the shisa is here. How did it get here?"
Another man proclaimed, "The sound must have been an ogre that the shisa startled off!"
"But how did the shisa get there?" Someone persisted.
"The ways of The Great One are mysterious. We should be honored that He protects us from darkness. Let us thank Him."
Clasping their hands in unison the Servers bowed where they stood, mumbling their thanks as they did so. Afterwards all the men filed back into their individual rooms except the one Ranma recognized as the apprentice. The younger man mumbled something about viewing the records and followed the porch toward the back of the building.
As the last one shut his door behind him Ranma felt his muscles melt and lowered his paw from his nose. He glanced towards the back of the compound and paused. With the apprentice where Ranma wanted to go there was no point in continuing his search. Was it worth the risk being caught and freezing again? Or worse, that the apprentice told the Godling what he was up to? Ranma did not know how the Godling would react, but he was willing to bet that it wouldn't be good.
He turned around and headed toward the entrance where Akane was. He would have to try later in the night to find the lore without anyone aware of what he was doing. Unfortunately, as soon as he made it back to Akane, an immense wave of exhaustion flowed over him so that it was all he could do to just settle down to sleep.
….
"Does your nose still itch? Are you going to sneeze away all the ogres again?" Akane teased good naturedly as Ranma grumbled back at her. She had been in an unordinary good mood since he told her what had happened the night before. They were both currently seated on the right side of the path just beyond the shade of the tree.
"Yeah, well, it's your turn tonight; we'll see how far you get," Ranma rumbled amused as Akane's ears twisted back.
She sniffed, "Farther than you."
Ranma playfully licked her ear, and then turned away as her head whipped around.
They were interrupted when a familiar man entered the Temple grounds and they froze.
Dressed in his usual long white robe, Mousse appeared as if he would fit right in with the generally solemn inhabitants of the Temple-Palace. His manner of behavior, however, quickly set him apart. Marching right up to the frozen Akane he pointed and demanded, "Where is Shampoo?"
Akane, of course, made no response, her jaw glued shut.
Receiving no answer did not faze Mousse as he pulled out a few throwing knives to wave around threateningly, "I know she came here last night, where is she?"
Apprehensively watching, Ranma wondered how far Mousse would go before he decided he was talking to a 'statue'. Normally he would have thought that the short-sighted Amazon would have figured it out by now, but whenever Mousse was doing something for Shampoo his brains seemed to desert him.
Luckily a voice from the porch behind Ranma distracted Mousse, "Uh, Sir? What are you doing to the shisa?"
The male Amazon immediately twisted toward the voice, entirely unbothered by the situation and responded, "Where is Shampoo?"
"Shampoo?" the man (he must be one of the Servers, Ranma decided) asked. Then his tone turned to one of realization, "Do you mean the young woman who came here yesterday? From one of warrior tribes, Amazon, I think in her case?"
"Yes! Where is she?" Mousse moved to rush towards the Server, but he either didn't see or forgot about the shisa right in front of him.
Ranma had to wince in sympathy as Akane, still mostly frozen, squinted her eyes in pain. It looked as if Mousse's knee had connected with her nose. Mousse meanwhile was still spread flat on the ground where he crashed face first after flying over Akane.
"Sir, are you alright?" the Server came down the steps and helped Mousse to his feet. He then proceeded to help the Amazon inside telling him as he did about how The Great One banished an evil force from Shampoo and that she was still recovering.
As soon as they left, Ranma turned towards Akane, "Are you alright?"
She groaned in response and covered her nose, "next time you sit closer to the path, and I'll sit farther off to the side, okay?"
"What happened?" The toneless voice asked from behind them.
Ranma turned, expecting to see the Godling as usual unfazed by the world. His eyes widened, "My hair!" Out of the corner of his eye Ranma saw Akane whip her head around and gasp. "What did you do to my hair?"
The Godling blinked at him from where He stood on the porch. "I cut it," was the simple, obvious response. Ranma's trademark pigtail was gone. Instead the Godling had a plain cropped unisex hair style.
For a moment Ranma wished the Dragon's Whisker was still in effect, just to spite the Godling. The shisa shook his head, "Why did you do that?"
The puppet gave the slightest shrug, "You did not want me to impersonate you."
The two shisa stared blankly in response.
The Godling spoke, "Your acquaintances will stay here for a few days." His message delivered He turned around and disappeared into one of the rooms not once looking back.
….
Another chapter done, yay!