Fight or Flight
In the long months that Herb had been locked in female form by the Chisuiiton, she had never allowed herself to be in a position where her masculine identity could be threatened. She had never even imagined herself in a position as compromising as the one she was in now, in the arms of a man with a phoenix nature. Unfortunately, by giving in to her attraction to Ranko, to the redhead's phoenix nature, she had unwittingly given Saffron an unguarded opening. Combined with the blow to her manhood, when she discovered that her true, male form had been destroyed, she had lost the confidence in herself necessary to defy the instincts that came with her female form. Together, that was enough for her to become lost in Saffron's kiss.
For a moment, anyway.
The simple animal pleasure of that moment, the pure sensuality of it, prompted her to respond to him and return his kiss with interest. Ironically, it was her own desire, her active participation that snapped her awake and made her question what she was doing. This was so close to what she wanted, with Ranko, that for a moment she had responded as if Saffron was Ranko. Opening her eyes, however, the illusion shattered and she began to struggle again.
Pushing Saffron away, holding him back just enough to gasp for breath, she protested, "This isn't right. I can't do this."
Saffron frowned and tried to pull her closer, crushing her body to his, while she strained to keep their faces centimeters apart. "I insist. Forget this other man you cannot have," he argued almost petulantly.
"Even if I could, how could I forget that you said you would slay me if I dared to claim you by Amazon Law?" she challenged, bowing her head to avoid his amorous lips.
"I should think that asserting my claim would be sufficient to assure you that you no longer face such danger," he countered, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze, amused by the defiant glint in her eyes.
"I take no assurance in knowing that you have forgotten yourself, Lord Saffron. I see only that you might do so again and regret this little indulgence. Thus, I would lose my honor and my life, as well as the one I love!" she declared hotly.
Saffron frowned in displeasure. Her defiance was unwelcome, but she was not entirely wrong in her assessment of the risk. Since gaining adult form using the Nanniichuan, memories, out of the reach of the child's mind he had been trapped in by rebirth, had become accessible, along with the passions he now experienced as a man. In past lives, even when he was moved to intimacy with a mortal woman, he thought of her as a temporary diversion. Even as a child, he could remember his longing for a mate who could endure the centuries at his side.
He pulled back and studied 'his' Amazon carefully. She was afraid, in spite of her obvious attraction to him. With a suspicious frown, he wondered if she had reason to doubt his ability to commit to her. He knew the ways of the Amazons; any maiden who could claim a warrior of Saffron's stature would be hailed a heroine and gain immense status within her tribe. No love for a lesser man would be allowed to stand in the way. Her own elders would remove that obstacle if she dared to bring it to their attention. If she truly loved another man, she would renounce him for his own protection.
He considered her stated fear of being cast aside, and what that implied about the stories she had told about Ranko. It was logical for a loyal Amazon to attempt to discourage his interest in a revered tribal icon, but if she had lied outright, she would have to have known her life would be forfeit the moment the truth became evident. The facts of her story were probably true, or at least what most people believed to be true, but what if she suspected the truth was different from what other people believed?
"It would seem, for you to doubt the word of a living god, you must have significant cause to believe my interest in Ranko might be revived," Saffron concluded aloud, giving Herb a dark and dangerous look. A visible shudder ran through her body and he clenched his teeth. "I believe it would be best if you explained your doubts," Saffron commanded, pausing for a moment as he realized he had yet to hear her name. "And while you are at it, you might tell me your name."
Herb swallowed and took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself. It was not hard to convert her name into an Amazon sounding name, so she shrugged and answered, "Ur Ba Rin Ze. As for my doubts, Lord Saffron, what mortal would not have doubts? What I have told you about Ranko is the truth as I know it, but I could be wrong about many things. As the reincarnation of Fa Shen, she has to be a woman first, but I am absolutely certain she will never surrender her manhood completely and she would never yeild to a man who expected her to."
Saffron considered that for a moment before giving a nod and prompting, "Is there anything else?"
Herb rolled her eyes, biting her lip and thinking fast. As long as she did not explain it, there was at least one true objection she could make, "I must confess I worry more that there might be something about me, some imperfection you could not overlook once you discovered it, that would change how you feel about me." Like the fact that she was really the Prince of the Musk Dynasty. A man.
That fatal pair of facts could never be kept secret forever. With her luck, Lime and Mint were on their way to storm the mountain, and they would be shouting for "Prince Herb" at the top of their lungs the whole way. She prayed to the dragons of heaven they were wise enough not to, but knew better than to count on it.
Fortunately, Saffron found the implicit insecurity of her response to be both reasonable and charming, and he smiled. "So, in truth you fear most to offend me. I must commend your wisdom and humility, and out of respect for such considerate caution, I will restrain myself for both our sakes. So that I may confirm for myself that Ranko is unsuitable to wed, and that you possess no qualities that would offend me before consummating our union," he declared in the manner of a true monarch speaking with the force of law.
Herb stared at him wide eyed, realizing that her unofficial and illegitimate engagement by Amazon Law, had just been turned into an official and utterly legitimate engagement to Saffron by Hououjin Law. If her father learned of this, she was doomed. The Musk had been trying to engineer such an arrangement for a thousand years, hoping to heal the rift between the Dragon and Phoenix Houses and end their endless feud. In this one thing, a princess was worth more to the Musk Empire than a prince.
Saffron pulled himself reluctantly away from Herb, to clear his mind and quiet his arousal. In the process he became aware of another presence that had been calling to him. His interest in Herb had almost blinded him to the sensation of another phoenix; it could only be Ranko, and while her presence seemed to be fading in and out, it was close by. Very close.
He turned, tracking her presence to the peak of the nearest mountain, and closed his eyes. Was it possible she had been drawn to his presence, or was there another reason for her to come so close to Mount Phoenix? He opened his eyes and glanced back at Herb; there had been witnesses to her abduction, the strange man who confronted him at Jusenkyo and the Jusenkyo Guide. It was as likely as not that Ranko was there in search of Herb, but all that really mattered was that she had given Saffron an opportunity to find out for himself how suitable Ranko was for his purposes.
He grabbed Herb by the arm and dragged her into his private audience chamber. "Wait here," he commanded, pointing to a spot in the middle of the room. "There are matters that call for my attention, and until we have resolved the questions you have raised it would be best to provide you with rooms of your own. I will make the arrangements and send someone to escort you."
Herb inclined her head, grateful for the opportunity to put some distance between them and have some privacy. "As you wish, Lord Saffron."
Saffron nodded and then pushed through the curtain into the vestibule that separated his chambers from those occupied by Captain Kiima, his appointed guardian until the day of his Ascension. Normally, the ritual bath at Jusendo was essential for his return to adult form. It was also required if he was to unlock his full power, and thanks to the curse he had taken to pursue the reincarnation of Fa Shen, he knew about it months ahead of schedule. Because of the stories Herb had told him about Ranko, he had even thought of a way to use her during his Ascension to become a full phoenix. He had gained his wings from a Hououjin he had consumed by accident during a previous Ascension, after all.
It was an evil impulse; not even Saffron could deny that. Tempting, but there was still hope that Ranko would be a suitable bride, or could be convinced to serve his interests in other ways. At worst, if she opposed him, he should just kill her and see to it that she was raised in a manner that suited him following her rebirth. It would also resolve all the problems of Ranko being an outsider in her current incarnation. He rather hoped it came to that, since he would then be able to indulge his interest in the platinum blond Amazon, and when her brief life came to an end, his phoenix bride would be ready.
In the other room, Herb was examining her surroundings, taking note of a balcony overlooking the Bayankala Mountain Range. Seeing such an obvious way out, she crept over to the curtains Saffon had exited through, peeking through them to make sure no one was likely to walk in and catch her trying to escape. She heard him unlock the door to the adjoining suite and saw him pause before opening it.
Saffron had just realized that it would be a bad idea confront Captain Kiima in his present form without warning. It would be easier to demonstrate the curse starting in the form she was familiar with, where as confronting her in human form might actually prompt an attack!
Herb fought to contain her gasp of disbelief when she saw Saffron douse himself with a glass of cold water and turn into a little boy with tiny wings sprouting out of his back. The shock and fury that raced through her, at discovering the true form of the man who had almost seduced—and could have easily raped—her, was immense. Clapping her hands over her mouth, she avoided shouting out, in slightly more profane words, "He's a frigging kid!" and tried to satisfy herself with the thought of choking him to death with her bare hands.
When she heard a deep resounding note of the bell he rang to summon his attendants, Herb resumed spying through the curtain. Saffron was releasing the ornate bell-rope and moving to the center of the room to await his Captain and his Chamberlain. The bird-woman stormed in first, with an expression caught between furious and concerned.
"My Lord Saffron! I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to speak to me again!" Kiima declared, trying to express her frustration at being ignored without openly accusing him of delinquency. "I have a great deal to report!"
"Forgive me, Captain Kiima. I was busy with something and did not wish to be disturbed. I will hear your reports once the Chamberlain has joined us. I have a task requiring his immediate attention," the boy responded.
The Chamberlain entered at that moment and cleared his throat to call attention to himself. "A Task, My Lord?" he prompted.
Saffron nodded. "Chamberlain, I need you to prepare the royal guest chambers. We, ah, have a guest, and if all goes well, there will be another soon."
The old man and Kiima exchanged looks and raised eyebrows. "As you wish, Lord Saffron. I will deal with it immediately," the Chamberlain promised, bowing and backing out of the room.
Kiima gave her charge a curious look. "A guest, My Lord?"
"That can wait a moment. You said you had something to report," Saffron cued, crossing his arms and giving her his full attention.
Kiima took a deep breath and composed herself. "As commanded, I have dispatched scouts to infiltrate the Musk and the Joketsuzoku to confirm the resurrection of Fa Shen," she began, biting her lip when Saffron raised a hand and interrupted her.
"As to that, our guest has already provided me with that confirmation," he informed her casually, providing an incomplete explanation for his earlier absence from Mount Phoenix. "I know you do not approve of my venturing out alone, but there was something I had to attend to personally, and while I did, I encountered an Amazon who was able to tell me the full story of Fa Shen's resurrection."
Kiima was not entirely happy to hear it. "That is most unfortunate, My Lord," she sighed, catching herself and hastening to explain, "I mean, I am pleased to hear that you achieved so much so quickly, but there have been some unfortunate complications, for which I take full responsibility, having acted in haste to fulfill your commands.
"As you may know," Kiima continued, hoping her explanation would not be taken for an excuse, "the Musk and the Joketsuzoku are ever on guard against the use of Jusenkyo curses by enemy spies, so I acquired the Chisuiiton from the lackeys of Prince Herb of the Musk and used it to lock the curses given to my agents.
"After acquiring it, we discovered that the Musk had awakened a dragon, and I fear they may intend to use it to help them recover the Chisuiiton and prevent us from acquiring its counterpart, the Kaisuifuu, which will be needed to unlock the agent's curses, when their missions are completed," Kiima finished, trying not to cringe.
Behind the curtain, Herb stood wide eyed in disbelief at Kiima's report. They stole the Chisuiiton, too? Their arrogance is unbelievable! Herb thought, suddenly understanding why the Musk still considered themselves at war with the Hououjin, in spite of the fact that generations had passed between battles. Even more infuriating, she could not make good on her escape until she located and retrieved the sacred relic.
At the same time, Saffron could not help staring at Kiima in surprise. Closing his eyes and looking up, he resisted the urge to blow up. Instead, once he had squelched the impulse, he asked, in mild confusion, "How could you use the Chisuiiton to lock the men's hot water curses?"
"Well, having confirmed that the curse was lifted from the Nyanniichuan, our 'female' spies had to be created using instant curses. When we established that the ladle could lock instant curses, we did the same with our men" Kiima explained. Then she processed his question again and stared at him in shock. "How do you know about the hot-water curse?"
Saffron shrugged and looked away a bit guiltily, gesturing towards the adjoining audience chamber, "I was in the next room when your scout told you about it."
Kiima's mouth fell open, and her mind quickly worked out the implications. She stepped to the door and ordered one of the guards to fetch a kettle of hot water. When she turned around, Saffron was giving her a knowing look. She knew then that the hot water would only confirm what she had immediately suspected. With a sigh, she groaned, "You did. Why?"
Saffron shrugged, "Even if I had known about my Ascension, it would have been too late for dealing with this new phoenix. She is practically a child, herself, but I dared not confront her like this. I needed to be a man, for her sake, to give her a chance to accept what we cannot let her refuse."
Kiima did not need a full explanation. Saffron himself had been slain at one point in the past to keep him from abdicating the throne of Mount Phoenix. They would not hesitate to put down a foreign born incarnation of a full-blooded phoenix. "I see."
Saffron heaved a deep sigh and nodded. "I am not happy to hear that the Musk have raised a dragon against me, but we can worry about that problem when it rears its head. For now, however, Ranko is close at hand."
"Ranko?" Kimma voiced her confusion.
"According to my informant, that is what the current incarnation of Fa Shen calls herself," Saffron revealed, with a nod toward his guest in the adjoining room.
Right at that moment, alarms began to ring, repeated from the depths of the mountain. Kiima jumped to the door and dispatched one of the guards to get a full report on the situation. "We have intruders, My Lord. I would guess it's the Musk, here to get the damn locking ladle back!"
"Wait for the report, Captain. It could just as well be the Joketsuzoku," Saffron advised, giving a rueful shake of his head before adding, "no doubt led by Ranko."
"My Lord?" Kiima returned once more in confusion.
"My informant did not return with me voluntarily, I am afraid," he replied with an impish grin, before describing his encounter with Herb at Jusenkyo.
Kiima groaned. "So now the Amazons, including this Ranko, have a reason to go to war with us too." It was hard to believe that so much could go wrong in one day. "I just hope that when we inform her of her relationship to you, she will stand down and embrace her ties to us." According to the Hououjin Archives, the Joketsuzoku had not known Pa Shen and Fa Shen's true nature, but the Musk had. Since it was possible Ranko had been among the Musk, she might have learned her true heritage by now, if she did not know it as Fa Shen. Either way, Saffron was the only other of her kind, and hopefully that would be enough to win her over, and through her gain an alliance with the Joketsuzoku.
A guard entered, announcing himself with, "Captain Kiima, I have the hot water you requested."
"Thank you, Sergeant. Leave it here and wait for me outside," Kiima instructed, gesturing for him to place the kettle on her desk. When he had done that, and bowed his way out the door, Kiima turned her attention back to Saffron. "At least now I know why you were wearing those ridiculously baggy clothes, My Lord. I take it they fit well enough in your other form?"
Saffron looked at the clothes he was practically swimming in. He was used to loose robes with sleeves extended to the floor, but no one would have mistaken what he was wearing for ceremonial garb. "I suppose I need to dip a few outfits into the spring of drowned child," he commented.
"Would that really work?" Kiima asked in surprise.
"Not without special preparations," Saffron informed her. "Infusing the cloth with my ki and binding it with a spell," he elaborated, as he reached for the kettle and tipped it over his head. He adjusted his body as it expanded to ensure that the clothes did not bunch or bind, and then set the kettle back on the table. He quickly appraised his adult body, confiding, "I am not as powerful in this form as I would be following Ascension, but my memory is more complete. I have enough power and experience to deal with the Musk and their dragon."
"I am pleased to hear it, My Lord," Kiima breathed, unable to conceal her shock at seeing this adult and wingless Saffron. He looked so much like the lover he had once been to her, before his swift decline and rebirth. Because of his lingering affection for her, she had become his guardian in addition to being the Captain of his Guard. The odd look he gave in response to hers made her suspect that his memories of their old affair had not been restored. She bowed her head formally, hiding the blush that burned on her face.
"Let's go confront our intruders, then, Captain. Instruct the guard to have any captives brought before me—and be clear, I expect them to be alive," Saffron instructed, adding, "I will fetch our guest. If they have come to her rescue, it would improve our negotiations to have her present." His announcement gave Herb enough warning to retreat to the spot she had been ordered not to stray from before he breezed through the curtains and took her by the arm with a curt, "Come with me."
In spite of her best efforts, Ranko was having little success using the Umisenken to mask her presence while trying to fly; it simply took too much power. Checking the position of the sun, she noted that it was not helping the time to pass any faster, either. It was still hours before dark, and she was afraid that Herb could not afford for her to wait for the cover of darkness. Having been abducted by strange men a few times, Ranko did not have a hard time imagining the trouble Herb might be in, stuck against her will in female form with her powers at less than full strength. Ranko did not know much about Saffron, except that Cinnamon mentioned him as an example of an immortal who might attempt to conquer her. He had to at least be in the same league as Herb, at full-strength in male form, and the Jusenkyou Guide had clearly expected Saffron to kill Herb; the abduction had been out of character for him.
It did not make Ranko feel very optimistic about Herb's situation. Thanks to the fight with Taro, she was confident that she had the power to deal with Saffron, but if she was forced to fight her way through an army of Hououjin, she would lose the element of surprise and he would be able to use Herb as a hostage. If she were not worried about that, she might have tried to simply walk in and demand an audience, playing on their relationship to negotiate for Herb's release.
That only way that would work was if she could think like Nabiki, but not even her experiences as Fa Shen gave her that ability.
Fortunately, she had perched herself on the nearest peak to Mount Phoenix studying the Hououjin fortifications while she contemplated the problem, and noticed all of the scouts on patrol suddenly turn about and fly inside, as if summoned. "Something's up," she guessed in excitement, recognizing the opportunity.
With no patrols to spot her, Ranko was willing to risk a fast flight. Wasting no time, she launched herself into the air and rocketed across the gap between the perch she abandoned and an open entrance in the side of Mount Phoenix. As she came closer, she could hear the alarms that the patrolling bird-men had responded to, and her grin grew even more fierce. "A distraction!" she cried out in triumph.
As she landed on a balcony and darted forward to conceal herself from view, no one called out a challenge. She hoped that meant no one had noticed her arrival. In order to subdue the power of the circuit, she had to call upon her normal ki, which did not have an arousing effect and allowed her to use the Umisenken to mask her presence and become virtually invisible.
With her body's normal ki flow restored, she found it easier to sense what had happened to her during the fight with Taro. She remembered the sensation of breaking free of confinement, of obstacles and obstructions being cleared and washed away while new channels within her opened up. The fight with Taro had finished what her fight with Herb had started, rerouting and streamlining all the ki pathways in her body, making it easier for her to handle the full power of the circuit.
It did not protect her from the arousing effect, but oddly, calling upon the normal ki of her body was like a splash of cold water, snapping her out of that aroused state and arresting the flow of circuit. With the circuit closed, she was nowhere near as powerful as she had been with the circuit open, but she was vastly more powerful than she had ever been without the circuit.
Ranko resisted the urge to try and find out just how powerful she was, with the circuit closed. She definitely needed to test the new limits of her strength, but for now she had to focus on the mission at hand. Having pierced the outer defenses successfully, she could now rely on stealth to locate Herb and preserve the element of surprise.
Since she had not seen anyone mounting an attack on the mountain from the outside, Ranko suspected that the commotion that had raised all the alarms was probably Herb trying to escape. In that case, the fastest way to find her would probably be to follow the Hououjin converging on the battle. "Just hold out a little longer, Herb. I'm on my way," she murmured, putting her plan into action.
Taro had known where Ranko would go when he gave up the chase. He had not expected her allies to track him down and flush him out of the cave, but once he escaped from Ryu, he resumed his pursuit of Ranko. It had not been difficult to catch up to her and use the same distraction to follow her inside Mount Phoenix.
Once inside, he reverted to human form, being careful to avoid detection as he stalked her. He had lost sight of her the moment she had entered the mountain, but her scent had been branded into his brain. Even in human form, he would be able to track her down in a place like this. He did not want to think about why he was following her, but it was hard to avoid. Whatever Ranko had done to Taro, it had opened his eyes and forced him to see things differently; some things, maybe even more clearly.
Where he would have refused to give Ranko the benefit of the doubt before, what he had learned during the fight had changed his outlook. As hard as it was to imagine, he had been convinced of the change in Ranko. She was as female in mind as she was in body; granted, Ranma was still in there somewhere, but if he had heard Ranko right, that side was locked away.
Not that it mattered to Taro. As someone who had grown up with a curse, Taro was accustomed to seeing the cursed side of a person as being as real as the normal side. His contempt for Ranma had been inspired as much by Ranma's rejection of the Nyanniichuan curse as by the way Ranma had mocked Taro about his name. Ranma's curse had been his weakness, so Taro had retaliated by mocking Ranma's femininity.
"I had you totally wrong, Saotome," he admitted softly, to himself, as he paused at a corner to let a pair of bird-men go by. Once they had, he continued on, following his nose while letting his thoughts chase her down in different ways.
Taro had not been prepared for Ranma to embrace his girl side. In his disbelief, however, he had taken his mocking too far, all but threatening to rape her. He knew he could be a real bastard at times, but he was not that kind of bastard. The truth was, he was actually very protective of women. He could not count the number of times he had come to some girl's rescue.
The girls all seemed to take a fast liking to him, but because of the shame of his disastrous naming—his true curse, as far as he was concerned—he had never been able to risk a relationship with any of them. Everything would be going perfect, but as soon as the girl asked who he was, he was forced to walk away. The instant a girl heard his name she would think he was some kind of pervert.
Even though Ranko—it was hard not to think of Ranma that way now—did not hesitate to call him a pervert to his face, the insult had the same feel as Taro's own goads. They were intended as insults, deliberate jabs from one opponent to another. Taro was no more a pervert than he was a rapist, and deep down Ranko knew that too. Their fights would have gone very differently if she had seen him as a real monster.
Ranma had always seemed odd to Taro. In spite of his curse, or because of it—who knew?—Ranma had been even more popular with the girls than Taro. He had dozens of them chasing after him, and never made a move on one. If anything, Ranma should have had an advantage, knowing what it was like to be a girl. But, maybe Ranma had been too much of a girl, man-among-men nonsense aside.
Maybe Ranma had not picked a girl because deep down he—or rather, she—was waiting for the right guy to sweep her off her feet. Taro might not think much of his chances, pursuing Ranko, if he felt that any of those girls stood a chance of winning her. There were probably a dozen guys chasing her, as well. If they were all like Ryu, Taro smirked, then maybe he had a chance.
If Ranko was like most girls, where it counted, then Taro was the one thing she could not resist, a true scoundrel. It was worth risking a beating—and a few more of those orgasmic ki attacks she had used on him earlier—to find out. Everything that made Ranma a good catch for a girl made Ranko as much of a prize for any guy.
As Ranko followed Hououjin warriors deeper into the mountain, dodging a steady stream of Hououjin women, children and elders trying to get clear of the battle, she could not help feeling a little sympathy at seeing them driven from their homes. When powerful people made bad decisions, it was always the regular people who suffered for it. She would not have imagined this large a community could reside within Mount Phoenix. The steep spire had apparently been hollowed out and reshaped into a kind of city-state, creating room enough to house the entire Hououjin race.
In addition to tunnels designed for normal foot traffic, there were tall, open air shafts and vaulted chambers running vertically between levels for winged traffic. The complex convolutions of the shafts and tunnels were disorienting, and if she had not had the warriors to lead the way, Ranko thought she would quickly have become as lost as Ryouga crossing his own backyard!
Soon enough, though, the sounds of combat could be heard, and the winged warriors slowed down to join the others already crowding the corridor. Ranko had to stop, scaling the wall and bracing herself between the corridor's ceiling supports to get out of the press of bodies and see over their heads. Even before she could see who they were fighting, Ranko knew it had to be more than just Herb.
Just as Ranko was unable to see clearly past the overwhelming hoard of Hououjin warriors, her embattled friends could not see her. Even if they could, their attention would have been too focused on the fight. It had only been about fifteen minutes since the alarm had been raised and the bird-people started swarming, but every second of it had been a fiercely pitched battle.
Cologne assumed that someone had stumbled across one of the Hououjin they'd left unconscious in the wake of their passage. A few moments after the alarm sounded, they had been spotted by scouts flitting rapidly through the stone corridors. In ones or twos, the winged warriors had the advantage of speed and mobility, flashing past in the blink of an eye, but in larger groups, the wings were proving to be a disadvantage in the confined space of the tunnels.
As she had expected, the Hououjin were all armed and using their weapons with lethal intent. So far, the swift and nimble martial artists had been able to charge forward, delivering subduing blows while dancing past swords and spears to quickly take out the supporting ranks of archers before they could unleash a storm of arrows. Likewise, the Amazons and Nerimans prevented an equally dangerous rain of darts and knives by pitching their immediate opponents into Hououjin with throwing weapons at hand. Cologne directed the fierce and agile females, coordinating their attacks while darting among them guarding their backs against stray attacks from foes they had bypassed.
"Ryouga! Hit them hard! Do not hold back!" Cologne was particularly concerned for the two former boys in the group. Ryouga and Mirror had never been in a serious fight while in female form. While fighting at long range, they were fine, but at close range they were in greater danger. Although it was obvious that they were taking full advantage of their smaller, lighter and agile forms, they suffered from the lesser reach and lower strength.
"I hate being weak!" Ryouga snarled, fangs bared in fury. An enemy foot lashed in through the opening created by her frustrated outburst, smashing into the side of her face. Whipping around, she flung her own foot out, transferring momentum into her return kick. Ryouga could still absorb more damage than most, but just did not hit as hard. Nor could she use her usual ki attack; a shishihokodan would just turn her into a piglet. She only had so many bandannas she could throw and had to use her bakusai tenketsu sparingly, or risk collapsing the tunnels they were fighting in.
"Feh! I have never relied on pure, brute strength!" Mirror had her usual arsenal of dirty tricks, effective at long range or up close and personal, and she also had her new ki attack. Along with perfect eyesight, it was one of the two perks of being trapped in female form. Like Ryouga, however, too many of her blows came up short or hit too lightly.
One of the Hououjin batted aside the weighted net Mirror flung at him and lunged forward with his other hand to seize her around the neck. Before the bird-man could crush her throat, Ukyo pirouetted into position and slammed her mega-spatula down over his head, shouting, "Keep your claws to yourself!"
Ukyou was in top form, but her style of martial art was not meant for fighting in a group at close quarters. She had to watch and wait for the right opening to strike, using her big spatula more to defend herself and shield the others. Her throwing spatulas were running out fast, and her hand-to-hand fighting skills were about on par with Akane's. Of course, once she thought of it, Akane was significantly better at taking on large, if relatively unskilled, groups. "They're pressing in too tight!"
"Shampoo clear hole!" Shampoo declared, using her bonbori at close quarters. In some respects, she was at the same disadvantage as Ukyo, but combined with the full range of her combat skills she was unstoppable; at least until she was splashed with water.
"Bakusai Tenketsu!" echoed ahead of the flood, as Ryouga launched herself at the ceiling to intercept the charge of a dozen fresh Hououjin. The explosion of shrapnel accompanied the sudden deluge of water from a pipe that had broken as the corridor ceiling was shattered. Shampoo wiggled out of the pile of damp clothes and kept fighting with claws and fangs, darting from foe to foe to avoid retaliation; if the enemy got their hands on her, she was done for.
Ukyo had managed to whip her mega-spatula up in time to deflect the water gushing toward her and step clear of the spray.
"Forward! Now, while they're stunned!" Cologne commanded, urging her charges up the passage, doing a perfect impression of Happosai engaging dozens of opponents at once, taking advantage of her small stature, exceptional experience and formidable skill to be wherever she was needed to protect her companions and attack their foes.
Ranko had heard Ryouga cry out the name of the breaking-point special attack, but remained frozen in surprised disbelief for a moment. It was possible, given the female voice, that it was some other Amazon. Then again, it was just like Ryouga to turn up unexpectedly in the last place he ought to be. "Ryouga!" Ranko called out, "Is that you?"
Ranko stared in disbelief as Ryouga, Mirror and Ukyo exploded out of the dust cloud, clobbering Hououjin as they advanced. Cologne burst through next, perched on top of her walking stick, and regarding the red-head in mild surprise, "Ranko! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to rescue Herb," Ranko responded, giving each of them a quick look. "What are you guys doing here?" With her attention focused on Cologne, Ranko did not notice Shampoo jumping up at her, she simply caught the cat in her arms by reflex. Then she looked down, right into Shampoo's adoring, feline eyes. Ranko's eyes widened and her pig-tail shot straight up as her body went stone stiff.
For an instant, Cologne considered taking advantage of the situation, to unleash the Neko-ken on the Hououjin. Unfortunately, there was no time. They were hip deep in enemies and they would act before Ranko's fear peaked, while she was still paralyzed. Before the winged warriors could take advantage of the situation, Cologne barked at Mirror, "Quick! Give me the compact!"
"Here," Mirror acquiesced, slapping the compact into Cologne's palm.
Cologne snapped the trap mirror open and thrust it in front of Shampoo's nose. "Inside, Great-granddaughter! Quickly!"
Ranko blinked in mild incoherence as she felt the cat's claws pluck at her shirt when Shampoo was whisked out of her arms and into the compact. In spite of Cologne's swift action, the distraction had been too great. While Ranko and her friends were all caught off guard by their unexpected reunion, the Hououjin defenders had recovered. Ranko and her friends were each seized by several warriors, with a knife or sword blade pressed to their necks.
"Surrender or die!" a bruised and infuriated Hououjin commanded.
Cologne snapped the compact closed and made it vanish up her sleeve as she turned around to face him. "No one move," she instructed the teens, firmly, "they will not hesitate to slit your throats." Pausing to make sure none of the young martial artists misunderstood her warning, Cologne looked each of them in the eye, turning last to Ranko. "Do you understand me?"
Ranko stared into the old woman's eyes, seeing the depth of Cologne's seriousness. It was a look Ranma would not have understood, but Fa Shen could read it. Cologne was telling her that the Hououjin were not just ruthless warriors; they were ruthless people. They would take advantage of any weakness to achieve their own ends. "I get it," she sighed. Ranko had to keep the Hououjin, especially Lord Saffron, from realizing how important her friends were to her.
Cologne nodded, satisfied with the understanding she had seen in Ranko's eyes. Turning to the Hououjin who had addressed them, she conceded, "You have our surrender. Withdraw your blades and we will go peacefully."
Ranma Nibunnoichi: Reflections – Volume 5: Paying the Price – Part 08
Author's Note: It was never my intention to let years go by between updates. Unfortunately, life has a way of turning impossible. I made the decision to return to school and earn a degree that would help me find the kind of job and income I needed to do more than just scrape by. As a result, for the next five years, I was stuck working for much less than a living while devoting most of my free time to school. I suppose I could have kept up with the story. I was just barely clinging to my sanity, though. I mean, there was no hope of going through transition, no hope short of a miracle of ever being "me" and that took its toll on me. Reflections suffered because I really could not stand telling the story of a person whose "curse" would be my salvation. The only way I could have kept up with the writing would have been by making a living at it. You can't do that with fanfiction, though. It's taken far too long, but I've got my degree, I've got back more of my free time, and I really do want to finish this story.