Former Adversaries
Cinnamon had flown after Ranko's mother and friends with the greatest haste, homing in on the signatures of their trained ki and Jusenkyo curses. Without those unusual traits, gathered together in one place, the dragon would have found it all but impossible to track down a single mandarin duck winging her way from the Bayankala Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Even though Mirror could have flown the compact all the way back to Tokyo, she and the others would require rest stops along the way and Cologne was certain to take advantage of those breaks to check in with allies of her tribe. This suspicion proved true as Cinnamon picked up the auras of the group gathered in an inn in a small town on the banks of the Yellow River. The dragon glided to a landing in the sparse woods just outside of the town and reverted to human form. She considered her state of undress for a moment, before chanting a simple spell that summoned her clothes to her. The faint glow of magic faded and she pushed through the trees, making her way to the nearest road into town. By the time she had reached the road, her eyes had picked out the building where Nodoka and the others had put up for the night. Giving the sky a quick glance, Cinnamon judged that dawn was less than an hour off, and hoped that she would not come to regret the time she had spent in flight, and now wasted walking on foot.
With the stealth of ages, she slipped past the proprietor and staff of the inn, making her way to the door to Nodoka's room. To her relief, she heard the familiar voices of Nodoka and Cologne engaged in quiet conversation. Cinnamon paused to listen a moment, while her senses examined the room and confirmed the presence of Ranma's friends, sleeping soundly within.
"I have no doubt, Nodoka, that the girl promised to marry Herb if he defeated her," Cologne was saying, "simply because I cannot imagine him failing to issue such a challenge. It is all well and good to exploit our laws, but a clever suitor would leave nothing in doubt and make it a personal challenge as well. From what happened, it is pretty clear that Ranko expected to die before acknowledging defeat, so of course she would have accepted the challenge."
"I am sure you are right, Mother," Nodoka responded. "That does not explain why we are leaving her behind like this."
"Because as long as the Musk can threaten the ones she loves, Ranko does not dare to defy them," Cologne explained patiently. "It is a shame that you have no recollection of your former self. If you could call upon your own true heritage, you would be able to stand beside her and give her the support she needs."
"Is there no hope of restoring my memory, then?" Nodoka asked.
"Oh, I am certain there is, if we can only discover the means through which those memories were taken from you," Cologne confided with a faint cackle. "I have tried the remedies for all the memory manipulation and removal techniques I know if. According to legend, a phoenix often loses its memories as a consequence of rebirth, but someone has taken measures to ensure that yours would not resurface on their own."
"Ah. Well I suppose that would explain why I never even suspected the truth about myself. I can hardly believe it even now," Nodoka laughed a bit uneasily.
"Believe it, Pa Shen," Cinnamon instructed, opening the door and stepping into the room. "Ignorance of your own nature can not conceal it from me. No more than my true nature could ever be concealed from you."
Nodoka and Cologne hopped to their feet, each responding to the intrusion in instinctive alarm. "What are you doing here?" the two women asked in unison.
Cinnamon smiled an unpleasant smile. "I could say I've come to find out why you neglected to warn me that the girl knows the ancient Cat Fist," she began, her eye glinting at Cologne's indrawn gasp of horror. "Instead, I am more concerned with learning how to restore the girl's sanity," she concluded.
Cologne glanced down instantly at Akane, but she pulled herself up short and turned to look at Ryouga. "At one time, I would have said Akane is the only one who can bring her back, but with all that has happened, I honestly do not know who the girl trusts enough take comfort from. Perhaps her mother..."
"What has happened to Ranko?" Nodoka cut in, worry for her child overcoming her normal decorum.
"Do you not know? I would have expected the mere mention of the Cat Fist to have explained things," Cinnamon responded.
"I believe Akane mentioned it to me, that horrible ordeal Genma put Ranma through..." Nodoka trailed off. The very idea of her husband torturing her child like that was enough to make her grip her sword fiercely. An inch of steel flashed in the darkened room, before Cologne rested a wizened hand on Nodoka's.
"Sheathe your blade, Daughter. What's done is done, and the one you should hold accountable is still in Japan. We need to consider carefully what to do. If we were to gather the children and return, we would only be providing the Musk with potential hostages, and by now they must realize why Ranko sent you all away." Cologne resumed her seat, and gestured for Nodoka and Cinnamon to join her. Giving the sleeping youths around them a quick glance, and ensuring that none had awakened and were merely feigning sleep, she cleared her throat, "From what I have seen, it is only necessary for the girl to calm down enough to sleep in order for her to regain her senses. Given that, I suspect that the problem may have already resolved itself, but of course we cannot take that for granted."
"What do you suggest, then?" Nodoka demanded, feeling the urge to go at once to her daughter's side.
"I am afraid that I cannot allow you or the others to be lured back, but there is no reason why I can not return to deal with 'tribal matters' and entrust you with the task of returning the children to Japan," Cologne deliberated thoughtfully. "Granted, I am not the one to restore the girl to her self if she has not regained her senses on her own, but so long as she is in the state brought on by the Neko-ken the only one who is any threat to her is Ranko herself."
"In which case, you must take me to her," Nodoka turned to Cinnamon. After learning of all the abuse her child had endured while Nodoka permitted her husband to separate her from Ranma, there was no way she was going to abandon Ranko to anyone else's care if she could help it.
"Nodoka, I just told you, I can not allow you or the children to fall into the hands of the Musk. I have given my word to Ranko that I will do everything in my power to ensure that you do not come to harm!" Cologne reprimanded her adopted daughter firmly.
"Forgive me, 'Mother', but as I recall, you have done my daughter little good up until now. Having done more than enough harm myself, intentionally or no, I can not, at this point, ignore my daughter's needs for any reason," Nodoka retorted a bit hotly.
Cologne cackled, "Well, I begin to see where the child gets her fire and determination. Unfortunately, you are not the warrior you once were. If I could have restored your memory, things would be quite different. You do not need to remind me of a mother's duty to her children, but speaking as your 'mother' I must insist that you are not ready to face opponents as dangerous as the Musk. Now, for the last time, put that sword away and heed me."
With an audible grating of teeth, Nodoka returned the Saotome Honor Blade to the folds of her kimono and bowed her head in submission. In spite of that outward obedience, she cast a look at Cinnamon from the corner of her eye. The dragon met her gaze and after a moment nodded faintly.
"If you are willing to entrust Nodoka's safety to me, I believe the two of us are best suited to resolving this matter," Cinnamon proposed confidently. "The girl is recovering far more quickly than I anticipated, and within the next few days will be capable of defending herself from any physical threat, so I will not be overstretched looking after her and her mother, and her mother is the best guarantee we have of ensuring Ranko's sanity."
"Now why do I not find that reassuring, oh noble dragon?" Cologne retorted sourly, realizing that she could neither alter nor overrule Cinnamon's argument.
"Blame your ancestors, dear child! It was your grandmother who drove me to sever my ties with the tribe, as you well remember," Cinnamon smiled. Rising to her feet, she held a hand out to Nodoka. As Ranko's mother took that hand and rose to her feet, Cinnamon felt a strange thrill shoot through her body as her cursed form recognized its ultimate source. Blinking, she paused to look into Nodoka's eyes, and realized that they were physically of the same age. She ran her hand impulsively through the hair that Nodoka had let down, either to sleep or to allow Cologne to work on awakening the memory of Pa Shen.
"Um..." Nodoka pulled back in embarrassment at the intimate gesture.
"I am sorry," Cinnamon apologized at once, pulling her hand back. "I had not seen you with your hair down like this before. The sudden resemblance overcame me." Cinnamon gestured at herself, calling Nodoka's attention to the similarity in age and stature that made them appear to be twins.
"I understand. Please, give me a moment to ready myself. I will meet you out front when I am ready to go," Nodoka instructed, gathering her hair and pulling it back. With a few deft motions, she had it coiled up and pinned back in the severe bun to which she was accustomed. Turning to Cologne, she began to gather her belongings, saying, "I will call you and let you know what is going on tonight. You should be back home by then, yes?"
"I believe Mirror is rested sufficiently to make it that far if we leave right away. Here, let me help you. If you are gone before the others awake, it will be much easier to get them to cooperate. I will simply remind them that you have a return flight to make and say that you left early this morning to catch a bus to Beijing."
"Thank you, Cologne. Forgive me if I seem disobedient, but..." Nodoka fell silent and finished with a shrug.
"I understand. I am a mother after all. Do be careful, though, and do not make me regret my sentimentality," Cologne replied gruffly. With amaguriken speed, she packed Nodoka's few belongings into her knapsack and handed it to her. "Do not think for a moment that I backed down just because you had a dragon on your side. You really are the one person Ranko trusts implicitly, so my only concern was seeing to your safety for her sake!"
Nodoka smiled, nodded pleasantly, and bowed to excuse herself, "Of course, Mother. Take care of the children and have a safe journey. I will call you as promised."
Cologne nodded and coughed. With a murmured farewell, she shooed Nodoka out into the pre-dawn light and waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairwell before going around to the sleeping teens and poking the pressure points that would counter the ones that had put them all into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Out in front of the inn, Nodoka paused and turned her head side to side searching for Cinnamon. The dragon woman stepped out of the shadows gestured for Nodoka to follow her quietly. Once they had walked to the edge of the town, Cinnamon turned to Nodoka and reminded her that she would be reverting to her normal form to make the fight back to the Musk Fortress. Nodoka collected herself while the dragon explained what she must do to ride safely on her back, and then followed Cinnamon off the road, through the woods to a clearing. Making sure that there were no human eyes watching, Cinnamon dismissed her clothes with a gesture and changed shape, growing to the massive scale Nodoka had seen only once before, and waiting while the Saotome matriarch climbed up to the spot between the dragon's shoulders and where her wings sprouted from her back.
At least, Nodoka assumed that the dragon remained female when changing into animal form the way Ryouga and Mousse/Mirror did. "I've been wondering," she asked, as the dragon gathered herself to leap into the air, "do you suppose that I would change back into a phoenix if I were splashed with that unlocking water Ranko told me about?"
Cinnamon paused and twisted her head around to look at Nodoka over her shoulder. "That would depend on whether or not you mastered your curse prior to being reborn," the dragon declared, after giving the question a little thought. "As far as I know, you have been protected by the power of the Chisuiiton since your arrival in China. Why do you ask?"
Nodoka shrugged, "I wondered if changing back would help restore my memory of being Pa Shen."
Cinnamon nodded thoughtfully. "Well, if you mastered your curse, then the Kaisuifuu would have no effect on you." With a titanic shrug, the dragon looked forward, or rather up, and sprung cat-like up into the air. Once she was clear of the tree-tops, Cinnamon spread her wings and flapped a handful of quick, powerful strokes to gain altitude. Once she had achieved sufficient height and speed, she projected her thoughts into Nodoka's mind, "Hold on tight. If you need to speak to me, you will not need to shout. The wind will carry away your voice, but I will hear the thoughts behind the words. I am sorry I did not have time to catch up on what you and Cologne have been doing, but I heard you discussing your memory problem when I arrived. If your memory has been deliberately removed, I believe you would first have to recover your memory of being Pa Shen to be able to revert to your true form."
Nodoka sighed and nodded, realizing that the dragon was probably right. "I find it unlikely that I ever mastered the curse. If I had, I could have gotten a curse that turned me into a man and had a son that way, instead of waiting until Genma slipped me Togenkyo water," Nodoka disputed, thinking back on all of the things she had learned since discovering that Ranma and Ranko were the same person. Clearing her throat, she explained what she understood to the dragon, "According to you and Cologne, the reason I needed to have a son was to complete the conception of Fa Shen."
"That is correct. Your first child, Lo Shen, was sired by a human father and was thus only half phoenix. Fa Shen, on the other hand, did not have a human father," Cinnamon confirmed, going on to explain. "Lo Shen was able to tap into her phoenix heritage after being cursed to turn into a woman, and Lo Shen came to believe that Fa Shen would have become whole if she had been cursed to turn into a man. Apparently, that was what you believed, as Pa Shen, because you had encouraged Fa Shen to study the Shokei Fist and tried to convince her to get such a curse."
Nodoka nodded, realizing the dragon could not see it, and said, "So I've heard. The thing I don't understand is how you can be sure that Fa Shen was conceived parta... para..."
"Parthenogenically," the dragon supplied, glancing back over her shoulder quickly. With a throaty chuckle, the dragon answered, "The reason I know Fa Shen did not have a human father is because I know what happened to Lo Shen's father, and so did every other man alive at the time. The first time he raped you, you were utterly innocent. You had no idea what was going on. The second time he attempted to force himself on you, you... well... emasculated him."
Nodoka's eyes went wide in surprise, "I did what?"
"You burned away his manhood," Cinnamon replied more specifically. "He survived, and word of his fate spread through the Musk like wildfire. Unfortunately, that first rape had been enough to conceive Lo Shen. There were no doubts about who Lo Shen's father was, but when you became pregnant again a year later, there was not a man in China who would knowingly have slept with you, so there is little doubt that you were the sole parent of Fa Shen. No one knows what prompted her conception, but from what I know of phoenixes, one of two things is possible. If you had just reached full maturity as a phoenix, you would normally lay an egg before 'leaving the nest' but being in human form you had a daughter instead. On the other hand, if becoming human had allowed you to evolve, Fa Shen would have been conceived in order for you to be 'reborn' in your human form."
"Which is what you told me had happened the first time we talked," Nodoka reminded the dragon.
"Yes," Cinnamon acknowledged. "In my excitement at discovering you and your daughter, I may have rushed to that conclusion. If it is true, however, then you will die when Ranko fully matures, completing this evolutionary cycle."
Nodoka swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. "When will that happen, do you suppose?" she asked with false nonchalance.
"A year, maybe two," Cinnamon calculated, bleakly.
"Oh, my..." Nodoka covered her mouth and stared out over the horizon.
Ryu Kumon had made camp in the same neighboring hot springs Ranko and the others had the night before Herb and Fa Shen's duel at Jusenkyo. While soaking in one of the heated pools, after an intensive morning workout, he had spotted the winged form of Koruma descending from Mount Phoenix toward Jusenkyo. Remembering the pair of Hououjin he had seen on his arrival, he could not resist going to see what had brought another one to visit the cursed springs. With perfect stealth, and the grin that visited him every time he broke his promise about using the sealed techniques, he spied on the creature. Like the others he had seen, this one perched on a pole that emerged from one of the springs, and then dropped into the water. Unlike the previous bather, this one crawled out of the spring in a different form. The wings that Ryu had been admiring from a distance had been washed away, and Ryu nodded, remembering how the bird-woman had been trying to get cursed to turn into a human girl. Ryu's eyes narrowed as the shock on the stranger's face registered. His actions had been too deliberate for Ryu to think the bird-man had not known what he was doing, so the curse itself could not be what shocked him. Ryu watched as the new made man carefully made his way through the springs toward the guide's hut. It was obvious he knew what he was doing when he headed straight for the rain barrel to splash cold, uncursed water over his head. Ryu frowned as the wings promptly reappeared, noticing for the first time the clawed hands and feet that were part of the creature's true form.
"I thought these curses were all reversed by hot water," Ryu murmured to himself.
"Is true, Mr. Customer," the Guide responded from less than two meters away, making Ryu jump in shock.
"How do you keep sneaking up on me like that?" the young martial artist shouted, causing the stocky, older man to wave his hands vigorously and make shushing noises. "Where the hell did you come from?" Ryu asked irritably, but in softer tones.
"You are funny guy! I am standing here for very long time!" the Guide laughed, trying to keep his voice down. Then, with gestures and poses to illustrate, he explained, "I stop, wait under this tree when I hear Hououjin wing flapping in distance. You sneak up, like panty thief, so so sneaky, you not even notice me, you so sneaky!"
Ryu shook his head and dropped out of the Umisenken, demanding, "How in the world did you even see me?"
The Guide just laughed and grabbed his arm, "Hououjin leaving now. This very bad sign. Very bad."
"What? And why did cold water change him back, if curses are supposed to be activated in cold water and reversed in hot?" Ryu pressed, slipping out of the older man's grasp. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the winged man flew back toward the towering mountain that Guide had identified as the home of the Hououjin.
"That true for normal curse, but that spring become hot spring after Prince Herb of Musk fight Fa Shen here one week ago," the Guide explained, before leaning in with an ominous look. "Before, I tell you about Shokei Fist and how Musk eradicate old masters and use springs to create new Shokei Fist, yes? I also tell you how Hououjin use springs to take human form and spy on enemies. Is very bad Musk and Hououjin visit spring so close together. Very bad. Now, Hououjin know Nanniichuan give curse that is not triggered by cold water or rain."
"So?" Ryu asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Before, Hououjin not want curse, not want lose wings by accident while flying, see?" the Guide elaborated. "Now, bird-men have no fear, can all come visit Jusenkyo, gain human form and walk among men. Very dangerous people, Hououjin. For long time, keep to selves, no make trouble. Now, everything change."
"What do you think they'll do? I mean, so they can turn into men now, I don't see how that makes them a threat," Ryu objected.
"You wait, you see. Very bad times to come. Magic of springs very dangerous, when just one person cursed. When many many people together become cursed, strange, terrible things happen. I tell you, you leave this place if you wise!" the Guide warned in dire tones. Shaking his head, he started marching down the slope towards his hut on the edge of the springs.
Ryu fell into step beside him, "I don't see you in any hurry to leave."
"Jusenkyo Guide have sacred duty. You different from other visitors to Jusenkyo. Maybe you have what it take to become Guide," the older man contemplated aloud, turning his head to take in the boy who was walking along the path beside him. "Not many come to spring, take time to hear tragic stories, learn of danger, before becoming victim of Jusenkyo spring."
Ryu shrugged and then shook his head, "No. I am only here to learn the secrets of the Shokei Fist. From what you've said, I know that the person I am looking for is here. Once I have found this Fa Shen and asked him to teach me its secrets, I plan to return home and rebuild my family's dojo."
"Her," the Guide corrected, absently.
"What?" Ryu stopped and laid a hand on the guide's shoulder.
"I say, 'her'," the other man turned to reply, "Fa Shen is woman. You remember, I tell you about girl who drowned in Nyanniichuan and get reborn as boy. He come to Jusenkyo, fall in Nyanniichuan. Is okay. Is not only tragic, tragic story, is very confusing now too!" The Guide laughed impishly. "You remember, Hououjin last night find out Nyanniichuan no longer cursed. That because boy who fall in spring have same soul as girl who first drown in spring. She also cursed by mirror created using Chuanshontsuniichuan, split into three, then, all three cured by amazon antidote for Togenkyo water responsible for making girl reborn as boy. They say, Fa Shen accidentally turned into boy using Instant Nanniichuan and water from Chisuiiton, that is why she come fight Prince Herb to get Kaisuifuu so she can change back into girl."
"Okay, stop. You made your point. My head hurts just listening to all of that!" Ryu complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Just remember, to be true master of Shokei Fist, you must remain close to Jusenkyo. Cursed springs are essential to any kind of Shokei Fist, maybe you think, what kind of animal you want spend rest of life as. That way, if you no can learn true Shokei Fist, you at least have curse you can live with," the Guide counseled with a sad shake of his head. "Is too bad, you so set on learning. You first good choice for apprentice to visit in long time. On good side, first Jusenkyo Guide trained by last true master of Shokei Fist, so maybe if there is new master then no longer is need for mere guide, no?"
"Uh, I guess I didn't think about that," Ryu frowned, falling once more into step behind the older man as he resumed walking toward the hut at the bottom of the hill. The more he learned about the ancient art and the cursed springs, the more complicated everything seemed to get. He certainly had not given sufficient thought to the sacrifices he might have to make to master the lost art. From what he had heard, it was not really a lost art, since the person identified as the key to mastering it had turned out to be a resurrected victim of the springs. If what he suspected was true, then once more he was in the position of trying to inherit an art that already had an heir. "Damn!" he cursed under his breath.
In his distraction, Ryu did not notice that they had reached the hut until the Guide invited him in for breakfast. Seeing no reason to object, he agreed and offered to help. Through the meal and for some time after, Ryu continued to contemplate his plan, trying to decide whether or not to continue with his quest or quit while he remained uncursed. Although the Guide assured him that he would be able to help Ryu select a specific spring, and thus a curse that would be both tolerable and beneficial for a student of the Shokei Fist, the random stories of other curse victims that he heard as the Guide wandered off onto tangents made him increasingly wary.
In fact, he had begun to truly respect the danger of the springs, so when he noticed a kid riding on some sort of bizarre unicycle toward the springs, he jumped up and ran towards the boy with the intention of stopping him from entering the ancient training grounds. Shouting as he raced forward, he quickly caught the boy's attention, but Ryu was so focused on stopping him that he did not notice the tiny pair of wings that graced his shoulders under his billowing cloak. As their paths converged at the edge of the springs, Ryu called out.
"Hey, kid! Wait! This place is dangerous! You shouldn't be playing around here!" Ryu declared, coming to a stop between Lord Saffron and his goal.
The boy looked up at him and hopped off the strange contraption he had been riding. Flipping it over in his hands, he grasped the Kinjakan threateningly and laughed. "Am I mistaken, or do you honestly dare to stand between me and my goal?"
Ryu took in the elaborate tailoring of the child's outfit and sighed in annoyance, "Oh, great! One of the native nuts! Give me a break, kid, haven't your parents warned you not to come here?"
"I have no time for fools! Stand aside!" Saffron growled.
"Don't you realize where you are?" Ryu demanded in disbelief as the kid tried to march past him. In response to Ryu's effort to grab his arm and stop him, Saffron blocked Ryu's hand away with the staff of the Kinjakan. "Hey!" he growled, attempting to seize the staff and jerk it out of the kid's hands.
"Idiot!" Saffron snarled, bracing his feet and spun the staff around, once Ryu had a good grip, and dragging the larger boy off his feet. Saffron continued to whirl around a few times to build up momentum, and then snapped the Kinjakan around toward the cursed springs, flinging Ryu off into the air.
"What the...?" Ryu cried as he flew away. Then he saw the first spring pass beneath him and he twisted in mid air searching desperately for a pole to land upon before he plummeted into the water. Fortunately, his experience with fighting Ranma had encouraged him to devote some time to learning aerial combat, so he found a safe perch with a minimum of panic. Pivoting on one foot, he turned to see where the kid had gone and was not surprised to see him marching straight for the springs. The look of determination on the boy's face sparked a moment of consideration. Was it possible he did not face a boy at all, but rather a victim of one of the springs intent upon a cure?
Seeing the boy pause to glare at him, he quickly threw up his hands. "Wait! I wasn't picking a fight with you! I was simply trying to warn you about the springs! Just... tell me you know what you're doing and I won't interfere!"
The boy stopped, considering. After a moment, he seemed to reach a decision. "My purpose here is none of your business! If, however, you are sincere and promise not to interfere, then I will say this. One of these springs has the power to restore my manhood, and I will allow no one to prevent me from reaching it!"
Ryu lowered his hands and nodded. "In that case, I believe I know which spring you are looking for," he announced.
The boy gave him a surprised look. His eyes immediately clouded with suspicion. "What makes you think I'd trust you to direct me to the right spring?"
Ryu rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "Hey, if you would rather make a wild guess, be my guest! From what I hear, nobody ever listens to the Guide, so why should I expect you to listen to me?"
"Fine then," the boy challenged in imperious resignation, "which spring do you suggest?"
Ryu considered the boy's attitude and sighed. Turning to look over his shoulder, and making adjustments for the different point of view, he pointed out the spring the bird-man had used. "Do you see that one over there, with the steam rising off of it? That's the Nanniichuan. But I should warn you, it won't do you any good if the form you have now was created by one of these springs."
"Interesting. I did not intend to leave a witness to my transformation, but it appears that you have indeed shown me the correct spring. As a reward, I suppose I ought to let you live," the boy declared with obvious reluctance. With one arm, he swung the Kinjakan behind his back. "Unfortunately, I can not allow you to spread tales of my presence here!" With no other warning, Saffron snapped the staff around, sending the deadly halo at its tip flying toward Ryu.
Ryu realized that the disc flying toward him was razor sharp, and aimed at the pole he stood upon. With a shout of anger, he launched himself from the pole, "You little brat! You plan to curse me after I tried to help you?" He landed on another pole and scowled furiously at the boy as the Kinjakan cut through the pole he had been standing on. To his shock, the disc seemed to turn and head straight for the pole he had retreated to. With haste, he gathered himself to leap again, but the disc cut through the bamboo while he was springing, causing the support to collapse under him and throw him off course. "Oh, shit!" he cried as he plummeted face first into the cold, cruel hands of an unnamed spring.
Saffron held out the staff, to catch the disc as it raced back, and laughed mercilessly as the older boy sank out of sight. Making a mental note to remember what crawled out of the spring so he could tell Kiima what creature to use her new toy on, Saffron headed into the pool riddled valley toward the hot water Nanniichuan. In hind sight, he realized he should have slipped into her quarters and retrieved the Chisuiiton. It would have been easier to silence the stranger if he had, but how could he have anticipated encountering a witness who would behave in such a manner that Saffron would be compelled to spare his life?
Fortunately for Ryu, there was a bit of distance between the Huniichuan and the Nanniichuan, so Saffron was fully distracted carefully navigating the narrow strips of embankment between the dangerous springs while Ryu clawed his way back to the surface and came to grips with the new dimensions of his cursed form. The first thing he saw was the sign posted next to the spring, identifying it. The next thing he looked at told him that "clawed" had been the right way to describe his desperate escape from the spring. The stripes on the back of his paws, which he stared at for a moment in disbelief, told him everything else he needed to know. He had been turned into a tiger!
With feline grace, he padded along the narrow path between springs, headed away from the psychotic boy that had cursed him. Once he reached safe ground, Ryu turned to glare at his new nemesis, determined to see what Saffron looked like in his new form before retreating to the hot springs. With some surprise, he noticed that the kid had a pair of wings growing out of his back, as he removed the cloak that had hidden them before. As the kid jumped into the hot water, Ryu allowed himself a rumble of amusement at the titanic wedgie the little brat was about to get when his body expanded to adult proportions while encased in pants suddenly twelve sizes too small. As expected, Saffron broke the surface with a wail of shock and minced his way to the edge of the spring.
Deciding that it was time to go, Ryu took one last look at the adult face of little brat, and then loped into the woods, taking an indirect route back to the hot springs and his sparse encampment. As he prowled through the woods, he made a metal note to ask the Guide to dredge the spring he had fallen into to retrieve his pants. The clothes he had been wearing had been ripped or kicked off as he struggled to escape from their entanglement, so all of his money, his ID, passport and traveling papers had been left behind in the spring. He imagined he must look odd with his torn, tattered shirt stretched awkwardly over his present form, but he had no idea how to get it off by himself. The only good thing about his visit to Jusenkyo was that he had already devoted some thought to how he would cope with having a curse. With the sealed techniques of the Umisenken, he would be able to remove his clothes quickly if he had any forewarning of being splashed with cold water. He would have to learn some form of hidden weapon or spatial displacement technique if he did not want to lose his clothes and other belongings with every change. First, however, he was committed to learning the Shokei Fist, which meant he would have to track down this Fa Shen he had heard about as soon as possible.
Soon enough, he had reached the hot springs and jumped in. "Well, that was not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning!" he said as soon as he had regained his humanity. "Still, it could be worse. I could have been cursed to turn into a pig or a duck or some other useless animal. Being a tiger sounds pretty cool to me!"
High in the mountains, through the first month of spring, the mornings were still bitterly cold. Ranko stopped and hugged herself as a sudden wind cut through the layers of silk clothing and the cloak she had borrowed from Herb's wardrobe. In the past, she had instinctively compensated for the more rapid dissipation of heat her smaller, female form was prone to by using her ki to generate more warmth. As a victim of a Jusenkyo curse, she had greater tolerance for the cold, but that did not mean she enjoyed it. Increasing her pace to raise her body temperature, Ranko thought of the other thing she really missed using her ki for, the ability to cover ground in great leaps and bounds. At least while descending the slopes of the mountain where the Musk Fortress towered, she had made good speed leaping down from ledge to ledge, from cliff to tree, and from tree branch to tree branch. Once on level ground, she pushed herself as hard as she thought she could, but by underestimating the speed of her recovery she was holding back far more than she needed to. Which meant that she was covering ground only at the pace of a well trained marathon runner.
At the rate she was going, she expected to reach Jusenkyo by mid morning. She had to laugh, remembering what it had been like traveling with Genma. Except when they were fleeing from unpaid bills, the victims of Genma's petty thefts and swindling, or when they were honestly engaged in genuine training, it could take days to cover the distance Ranko could on her own in hours.
The thought lifted her spirits and allowed her to draw upon her ki a bit more for a boost of energy. It was difficult to sustain those high spirits when her mind flashed back to the reason for her swift pursuit. From the look of it, Herb had blazed the trail that Ranko was following, and in her disturbed mental state the dragon princess was not restraining herself at all.
If anything, Herb was pushing her limits dangerously in mindless haste to regain what had been stripped from her. Ranko sprinted along down a path of broken branches and shattered stones. The latter spoke of a fury that Ranko was not eager to face, for Herb's sake as well as her own.
"Damn you, Herb!" she gasped, dodging between the branches of listing trees. "Stop and think about what you're doing!" she urged in vain, speaking aloud to focus the thoughts that she was desperately trying to project at the dragon princess. Her lack of success caused her to curse herself for not taking Cinnamon's claim that she had psychic potential seriously. Ranko had not even tried to project her thoughts since first awakening in Herb's bed, and now she was too emotionally worked up to achieve the state of mind necessary to repeat her initial success.
Eventually, she just gave up on trying to contact Herb or Cinnamon that way. Even with the absorption of Fa Shen, resolving a problem by talking was still not her strong suit. One thing Ranma and Fa Shen had deeply in common was their preference for action over words. When the marks from Herb's passage began to suggest that the dragonling was attempting to take flight, pushing herself to make greater and greater leaps, Ranko bit her lip and began to push harder. Ignoring the stabs of pain wrapped in pleasure, she increased the flow of ki through her body, launching herself into the air with each step trying to match the fifty and hundred meter strides Herb had made as she pushed herself to the limit.
The exertion made her whole being ache in a way that fell short of agony only by virtue of the ecstatic overtones of the open circuit. Hurting like she did was not unusual, given the extremes her training had regularly pushed her to. It was the familiar burn of refinement and growth, and not the gut wrenching twist of injury or over extension, so Ranko pushed herself on. She would pay for it later, but knowing that Herb was almost certainly going to be in worse shape when she caught up to the other girl she did not expect Herb to be able to put up much of a fight. Lime and Mint would be following in her wake, so there was no need to worry about exhausting herself in her haste to stop Herb from possibly killing herself. Because of the damage Herb had suffered in his battle with Ranko, 'his' true form had been destroyed in his last transformation. Until Herb fully recovered, another such transformation, even from a new curse, could very well be fatal, Ranko feared.
Her single minded determination made her completely oblivious to anything but the trail she was following, so she did not even notice when she came hurtling down and launched herself back into the air off the head of a young man who had stumbled upon Herb's path and stood contemplating it. Driven face first into the dirt, he rose up with a bellow of anger, and fixed his angry eyes on the retreating form of his "attacker". Spotting the trademark red pigtail, and recognizing the feminine form of Ranma, the young man cursed, "Femboy!" and pulled the stopper out of the water bottle he always carried.
Blinking water out of his eyes, and shaking his minotaur head, Pantsuto Taro spread his wings and launched himself in pursuit with a deep throated, coughing laugh. He was not in the least surprised that "Ranma" was making a beeline straight to Jusenkyo, but past experience made him consider the possibility that if Ranma was present, than his annoying friends might be in the vicinity as well. Instead of quickly closing the distance between him and his despised foe, he climbed to an altitude from which he could observe the surrounding countryside for signs of Ranma's friends. By the time he had completed a thorough examination of the region, "Ranma" had disappeared into the woods girding the nearest edge of the springs.
Oblivious to her brush with her old enemy, Ranko stood in the shade of the trees trying to recover her breath while examining the site where Herb had landed. Wishing she could estimate the time that had passed since Herb broke through the trees, Ranko followed bruised leaves and crushed grass to a path that let down to the embankment closest to the Nanniichuan. Clearly, Herb had taken the most direct route possible, but there was no sign of the snow-tressed princess anywhere. Biting her lip, Ranko carefully made her way through the springs, dreading what she might discover in the spring her would-be husband had sought out.
In no time, she stood on the edge of the Nanniichuan and stared into its clear depths. If her worst fear had been realized, and becoming cursed literally destroyed Herb, there ought to at least be a wad of clothing to mark her passage. Instead, the pool contained nothing more than rocks, sand and water that was fatal to her at the moment. Not wanting to linger, Ranko carefully backed away, turning and making her way carefully across the narrow strips of earth between the springs toward the Jusenkyo Guide's hut. If Herb had not entered the spring, or if she had had second thoughts, there was a chance she might have consulted with the Guide. Considering that fact that the water had still been steaming when Ranko examined it, it was possible that Herb had realized that entering the pool would result in gaining a curse identical to the one she had had before. If she had given the matter any thought, she would have preferred to get her hands on normal Nanniichuan water so that cold water, so much more common, would grant Herb her true form. "That's what I would have done... or what I did, actually, as Ranma," Ranko noted to herself with a nod.
As she reached the opposite edge of the springs, she looked up and found the silhouette of a man standing just inside the entrance of the hut facing the familiar, stocky form of the Guide. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ranko sprinted to the door and poked her head inside, "Herb! You're still a..." Ranko's voice cut off in shock as the man she was addressing turned around to stare at her.
"Ranma!" Ryu shouted. "What are you doing here?"
"Ryu Kumon!" Ranko shouted at the same time, head whipping side to side in search of Herb. "Have you seen a girl, about this tall, long white hair? Uh, or a guy, same hair, a little taller than you?" she demanded, pushing through her shock at seeing the boy who once assumed the identity of Ranma Saotome and came between her and her mother.
"You know that girl?" Ryu asked in surprise, grabbing her by the arm. "You knew she was trying to curse herself to turn into a man?" he stressed, tightening his grip and shaking.
"What happened to her?" Ranko demanded desperately, breaking out of Ryu's grip.
"Is tragic, tragic story," the voice of the Guide broke in solemnly.
In horror, Ranko turned to stare at him. "Oh, no! Don't tell me she..."
"She come at very bad time," the Guide cut her off, determined to get the story out his way. Ranko bit her tongue, realizing that he would not explain what had happened any quicker if she tried to beat it out of him. "Strange girl. Remind me of someone, but that not important! She show up right when Hououjin visiting spring for new hot Nanniichuan curse. He already have curse, but clothes no longer fit, so he standing there naked when she show up. She very surprised at first, then throw cloak at him, get very angry and shout to man saying to cover himself, and asking him what kind of animal he is when he just stare back at her. This woman, very short tempered, she march forward, throw something at man and shout like to drive frightened animal away and man get very angry. They fight. Woman is very skilled, like amazon, but not look like any amazon I know. But she seem very weak, and collapse when man attack with flying weapon. Whole fight on far side of spring, so I no get very good look, but weapon remind me of legendary Kinjakan of Hououjin Lord Saffron!"
Ranko blinked and shook her head. She had heard that name before, but she could not remember where at the moment. She pushed it aside to focus on what was important, "What happened? What did this man do to her?"
"I no hear what they say, barely can make out shouting, so I only know that he follow to where she fall, get ready to give killing blow but he stop. She say something to him, and he shake head. He just stand there staring at her for long time, then he knock her on head and take her away. He carry her back to Phoenix Mountain," the Guide explained in mournful tones.
Ranko allowed that to sink in and then sighed. Not that the idea that someone had kidnapped Princess Herb thrilled her, but at least the jerk had kept her from going into the Nanniichuan and getting herself killed. Only after completing that thought did the name of the place she was taken catch her attention. "Wait, did you say Phoenix Mountain?" she asked, as that name joined the other name echoing through her mind. Saffron. Phoenix Mountain. Why did those names ring a bell with her? The second one seemed obvious. After what she had learned, she could not ignore anything that was associated with phoenixes. Frowning, she realized that there was one more reference she missed. How could she not have reacted to hearing the Guide mention the "Phoenix-people"?
All at once her eyes grew wide. "Saffron!" she shouted, staring at the Guide once more. "Are you saying that Prince Herb of the Musk has been abducted by Lord Saffron of the Hououjin?"
The Guide stared at her open mouthed and then nodded, "You become much better listener, since first visit, Mr. Customer! Is correct! Aiyaa, but you say girl with white hair, she is actually Prince Herb of Musk! Oh, this very, very terrible news! This is for causing war and chaos! Is almost five hundred year since one great tribe commit such act against another!"
"You're not serious," Ranko drawled sarcastically, putting one hand on her hips and pointing at herself with the other, "Just last week, Prince Herb was here trying to force an amazon princess to marry him! Remember! These guys are always pullin' this crap on each other! Five hundred years! Right!"
"Uh, excuse me," Ryu called her attention to himself, meeting her fierce look with a chagrined smirk. "Did I just hear you call yourself an 'amazon princess'?"
Ranko looked him up and down and then rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here again?" she asked, side stepping the question. Then she remembered where 'here' was and her eyes turned suspicious. Grabbing her water flask and pulling the stopper out, she stepped toward him and muttered, "Oh, you had better not have..."
"Whoa, wait! What do you think you're going to do with that?" Ryu backpedaled in haste, putting the Guide between them and eying the water flask in fear.
"Shit! You did get cursed!" Ranko cried in disbelief. "You knew about the curses! You can't be here by accident! What crazy scheme are you up to now?"
"Hold on! This doesn't really have anything to do with you!" Ryu tried to stop the accusation he sensed coming. "Yes, I learned about this place from you and your friends, but I didn't come here to get cursed. At least, that was not my original intention. I was here researching a lost art, and only learned when I got here that it was for those who had been cursed."
Ranko blinked and took a step back. "But, the only art I know of for people who have been cursed is the Shokei Fist."
"You know about that?" Ryu asked in surprise, then hit himself on the head. "Right. You've been cursed, so you would naturally come here for the same reason."
"And now you're cursed," Ranko pointed out. "Idiot! What do you turn into?"
"That's for me to know, thanks. I learned enough from you to know what a weakness my curse can be," Ryu asserted warily.
"Fine then. I just want to make sure you understand that I am not to blame for this! I am sick of everyone trying to blame me for getting cursed or for whatever else has gone wrong in their life," Ranko declared.
"Oh no, he know who responsible for giving him curse," the Guide cut in helpfully. "He is cursed by same one that abduct Prince of Musk. Saffron be very surprised when he learn that woman is really man!" The Guide laughed for a moment until he noticed the odd look that Ranko was giving him. "What you look like that for?"
"Prince Herb doesn't turn into a man anymore," she informed him bleakly. "His true form was destroyed in our battle." Ranko quickly explained how Herb had been injured in the battle, and how his true form had been destroyed by the last transformation he had endured as Ranko's friends locked his curse. "He came here to get a Nanniichuan curse, but... I feared that the damage was not fully healed... that it would have killed him to jump in that spring. Saffron did her a favor by dragging her away from here, but now... I guess I'm gonna have to go and rescue her from him." The sheer irony of that made her shake her head in disbelief.
Ryu stood there in utter disbelief. "You can't possibly have that much power! You only barely beat me the last time we fought! And what's with you acting so girly, Saotome? Don't you have to commit seppuku if your mother finds you less than a man among men? And here you are pretending to be an 'amazon princess' and dressing like a girl, and claiming to have awesome spiritual powers! What's next? You gonna put on a fuku and start fighting in the name of love and justice?" he asked, a condescending smirk growing across his face.
Ranko winced at each verbal blow, but at the end of it she turned a withering glare on the boy. "Are you trying to insult me, Ryu?" she asked in fierce, icy tones, oblivious as the temperature of the hut plummeted. "That's not very manly, is it 'Ranma'? Oh, wait! That's right, you're really a worthless nobody with no prospects and less ingenuity. Please, do keep acting like it!"
Ryu's color deepened as fury gripped his soul, but the chill in the air, the cutting tones of her voice, and the perfect calm with which she melted into the stanceless guard stopped him. Ranma had always been an insulting bastard, in Ryu's opinion, but the contempt she flung at him now was unexpected. His eyes widened in shock as it struck him that this time she was being a real bitch. "What the hell has happened to you, Saotome?" he asked in faint horror. Was this the fate of those who became cursed? Would he eventually become so warped by the curse he had just received.
"You don't want to know, Ryu. You don't ever want to know," she advised him, letting her soul of ice gradually thaw. Dismissing him from her concerns, she turned and stepped out into the mid-morning sun to think. Herb was now a captive of her... nephew... and the ruler of yet another tribe of psychotic locals. Cinnamon had not told her much about the Hououjin, beyond the fact that they worshiped Saffron like some sort of god because he was descended from a phoenix. "Well, at least I outrank him in that respect," Ranko told herself as she drifted away from the hut.
While Ranko pondered what to do and waited for Lime and Mint to catch up to her, Ryu turned to the Guide and tried to remember what they had been talking about when they were interrupted. Snapping his fingers, he turned to the Guide, "Right, I was just about to ask you, where do I find this Fa Shen who knows the secret of the Shokei Fist?"
The Guide just stared at him for a moment, "That funny! You seem to know Mr. Customer so well, I no think of mentioning it."
"What?" Ryu prompted, wishing that the Guide had a less confusing way of expressing himself. "Oh, Ranma. Yeah, we've met. What I want to know is, where do I find that girl, Fa Shen?"
The Guide blinked, and pointed out the door, "That what I just say. That girl you just talk to, that is Fa Shen. Reborn as boy, come to Jusenkyo and get cursed as girl. Girl wakes up and comes back to Jusenkyo, I tell you whole story."
Ryu turned and stared out the door at Ranko, turned back to stare at the Guide, then once more turned to look at Ranko. "No way. That can't be possible. You have to be kidding me!" he cried, grabbing the Guide by the shirt.
"Jusenkyo Guide never lie! Is bad for business, and probably get self killed!" the Guide protested feverishly, wishing that for once a guest did not turn into a violent maniac and try to attack him at one point or other.
"No. Not again! This can't be happening again!" Ryu shouted, stomping out of the hut and following Ranko. It just was not fair. Once again, his search for a way to rebuild his family's dojo and reputation had led him to the same person. What made him, or rather her, so special? Why was she the one handed everything that Ryu so desperately needed? "Dammit, Ranma! Wait! We're not done here! Tell me it's not true!"
Realizing that she was being pursued, Ranko turned and saw Ryu running toward her. "Great, just what I need," she sighed, dropping into a defensive stance and calling up her ki to see if she was in any condition to fight. She was surprised to find that she could bear the strain as her ki swelled up, but something told her that she was close to her limit. "What is it now, Ryu?" she asked when the boy came to a stop in front of her.
"Tell me you are not Fa Shen," he demanded without preamble.
The surprise showed on her face, "How do you know that name?"
"That doesn't matter! Is it true or not?" he insisted, looking almost desperate.
Ranko shrugged. "I go by Ranko now, but yes, I was once Fa Shen, the girl who drowned in the Nyanniichuan," she confessed, giving him a puzzled look. He did not seem to have any intention of attacking her, and her answer seemed to cause him to deflate. "What is your problem, Ryu? I'm in the middle of some serious shit, here, and I don't have time to be getting into fights with you!"
"What?" the boy asked, in genuine surprise.
With a heavy sigh, Ranko quickly summed up the situation she had gotten into since her encounter with the Mirror of Broken Souls. Even abridged, it was a long, complicated tale, and several parts had to be reiterated before Ryu understood the situation Ranko was in.
"Holy shit! You are in a lot of trouble," Ryu acknowledged when she was finished.
"You don't know the half of it," a voice announced from the tree line.
Turning in alarm, Ranko and Ryu brought up their guards as Pantsuto Taro stepped out of the woods and sneered at them.
"Who the hell are you?" Ryu demanded, giving the older boy a critical look.
"Pantyhose Taro!" Ranko hissed, wanting to curse. "What are you doing here?"
"I live around here, remember?" Taro grinned menacingly. "The question ought to be, 'What are you doing here?' but I just heard the whole thing, Femboy. I gotta say, 's pretty damn funny hearing you say you're really a girl after all that 'man among men' bullshit you kept whining about!"
"Fine. Who cares? Have a good laugh! It doesn't really matter to anyone what you think anyway, you Panty Pervert!" Ranko snarled, unable to endure Taro's contempt without responding in kind. As far as she was concerned, he was the worst sort of man, the kind that had no respect for anyone but himself. The kind of man who made someone like Genma seem mostly harmless.
"Feh. You are so pathetic. If I didn't know how much I am going to enjoy putting you in your place, I wouldn't even bother with you," Taro drawled, resting a hand on the water bottle hung at his hip. The one, true drawback of his curse was that in his other form he could not deliver these cutting insults he so enjoyed making.
"You're not going to suffer that kind of talk, are you?" Ryu demanded, wondering why Ranko just stood there.
Ranko glared, wanting to tear Taro's smug face off, but knowing that the longer he stood there blathering and blowing, the more time she had to gather her resources. He would fight in human form, but the instant things turned in her favor, he would pull out all the stops and switch over to his cursed form. Instead of responding to the last insult, she grabbed Ryu by the arm. "Cool it, Ryu. This isn't your average bully. Taro here is much more than he seems," she warned.
"Cursed?" Ryu asked, taking the hint.
"And how," Ranko nodded, giving him the short version of Taro's history, knowing that he would allow it as long as she skipped over the humiliation of his naming by Happosai. "He was bathed in the Niuhoomanmaorenniichuan when he was born and turns into, well, you'll get to see it soon enough," she said, with a bitter laugh.
"The what-niichuan?" Ryu asked, giving her an odd look.
"Don't ask," Ranko sighed. "It's big, it's bad, and if you ask me, it's this bastard's true form."
"Hey, you're the one that proves that a curse can actually reveal one's true form. Seems I can't call you Femboy anymore either," Taro observed with insincere thoughfullness. He rubbed his jaw for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I got it! And it fits you perfectly... Bitch!"
Ranko stiffened, and Ryu almost pulled out of her grip, responding to the malice with instinctive hatred.
"Yep. That's perfect. I have to wonder if dear old 'Grampa Happosai' knows you've gone girly through and through?" Taro continued digging his barbs in. "Either way, you are his weak spot. Oh, this is going to take some major sacrifices on my part, but... with a little effort, I think you could be the perfect solution to all my problems."
Ranko did not like the sound of that. "Just what, exactly, has that warped mind of yours thought up now?" she demanded.
"Well, I do believe the Americans have a phrase for it. Now, what was it again...?" Taro eyed her in a way that made Ranko's blood run cold. Taro smiled an ugly smile and licked his lips, saying, "Oh, yeah! I'm going to 'make you my bitch!'"
Ryu jerked his arm out of Ranko's hand and stepped between them. "That's it! That just crossed the line," Ryu declared, to Ranko's utter surprise.
Taro just laughed and faded back a few steps, loosening his muscles for the fight.
Ranma Nibunnoichi: Reflections – Volume 5: Paying the Price – Part 05
Author's Note: I'm happy to present the fifth chapter of Reflections: Paying the Price with a mimimum of delay. I do hope this twist comes as a pleasant surprise to you, dear readers! I'm sorry I couldn't get right into the fight with Taro, but these chapters are long enough to start with! So, here we are, Ranko and Ryu face off against the infamous Pantsuto Taro, Princess Herb has been abducted by Lord Saffron, and Cinnamon and Nodoka are about to fly right into the middle of it without a clue! Where can things go from here?
As before, I intend to get the next chapter out without any extreme delays. I am hoping to keep it between one to two weeks between chapters, no more than a month if things get iffy for me again. If you don't see something in that time frame, send me a note to remind me you guys are still out here, and I'll get right on it! Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, you have yourselves to think for encouraging me to get this chapter out as quickly as possible. Now all you need to do is donate a few thousand dollars apeice to the AV Morgan Starvation Relief Fund and I am sure things will continue to go quite smoothly! Just kidding! This is fanfiction, kiddos, so if you want to show your appreciation, I suppose you have to visit my deviantart site and fall in love with my artwork! End shameless plug.