Disclaimer: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… Huh? Oh what! A disclaimer? Nah. Zzzzzzzzzzzz
Pairing results: Heh. That would give it away, but the results have been decided.
Oh and by the way, some people have petitioned me saying that Ranma should be able to beat Kratos easily but I do not think that is so. All of you people who have beaten the game know what I mean when I say that experience and learning comes with age.
Ranma and the Land of Symphonia
Chapter 11: The Deadly Assassin (Yeah Right)
Ranma lay awake, staring at the ceiling of his tent unable to fall asleep. After they had beaten the Kutgach, Remial had appeared again and blessed Colette with the power of the Angels. She now had a set of wings to go along with her white clothes making her look like a real angel. Ranma had said as much to a blushing Colette.
He then gave his standard cryptic hint before vanishing in a flash of light and feathers. For some reason he didn't like Remial that much. Maybe it was his 'I know everything' attitude or maybe it was because he gave the impression that everyone besides Colette was inferior to him.
The temple had been devoid of enemies as soon as the seal was released so they had an easier time getting back out of the ruins. They had decided to set up camp a little ways away from the ruins as night was coming on fast and he, along with Raine and Genis, were dead on their feet.
Colette had also collapsed as soon as they got out of the ruins which furthered their decision.
The biggest shock, however, came when Kratos talked to Ranma and Lloyd later that evening.
FLASHBACK
Kratos, Ranma and Lloyd were seated around the campfire.
"That boy Genis, he has the strength and potential to become a very good mage." Mused Kratos to himself but loud enough for Lloyd and Ranma to hear.
"Yeah if he worked on his aim a little bit." Mumbled Ranma.
Lloyd chuckled a little from that but stopped when they saw Kratos' glare.
"By all rights Genis should be dead now."
Lloyd was shocked, "B..b…but why?"
"Any human that ever tried to channel that much mana would die straight out. Half-Elves and Elves like you friend Genis do have an easier time with it but having 3 different sources of energy enter your body at once, even if they were in perfect tune with one another, has had more drastic effects on people older and stronger than Genis."
That silenced both of them for a bit but then Ranma spoke up, "If its as bad as you say it is then why did Genis get off with just a fainting spell? And besides, we won didn't we."
"I admit we did win in the end. As to Genis' condition," For the first time since Ranma saw him, Kratos smiled, "As much as it may seem that I do, I don't know everything in the universe."
He walked away leaving Ranma and Lloyd with their thoughts.
Genis, despite being a little tired, claimed he was perfectly fine and had offered to cook dinner when Raine had volunteered to do it instead. Kratos had told Genis to rest and let Raine cook.
Kratos was the first person to take a bite. He was also the first person to be on the receiving end of several healing gels and first aid spells.
Ranma and Lloyd did the smart thing and disposed of their food the minute Raine's back was turned. That food was swallowed up by a worm that mutated into an enormous monster that would eventually swallow the Soul Eater… but that comes later.
Colette had decided to skip the meal, claiming she was not hungry.
END FLASHBACK
'Who would have thought that Kratos could actually make a joke?' thought Ranma to himself.
Sighing to himself Ranma got to his feet, careful not to wake up Lloyd who was sleeping next to him.
Ranma walked a few yards away from the camp before beginning a slow Tai Chi kata while simultaneously meditating. Kratos had showed him a different way of meditating after Ranma had told him that he couldn't sit still long enough to find his center.
The style was basically clearing ones mind and doing a kata that had been so ingrained into your memory that it was second nature. Any form would do but Ranma had chosen Tai Chi for its clam and relaxing nature. Although Genma had frowned upon these styles claiming that they were unworthy with all his usual BS.
It had only taken a little time before Kratos had begun to slowly break Ranma away from his fathers 'teachings.' Old habits were dying quite hard unfortunately as Ranma still ate at supersonic speed.
"Cant sleep?"
"Aaaahh!" Ranma quickly turned around and got into a defensive position only to find Kratos looking back at him. No matter how hard he tried Kratos had always been able to sneak up on him.
"You shouldn't be so tense. Its not good for the mind and spirit."
Ranma relaxed his stance, "Yeah, well being ambushed at every time of the day by your old man can do that to a person. Why are you here anyway?"
"…I came here to cook some food."
"I guess not even your endurance could handle Raine's cooking then." Snickered Ranma.
Kratos twitched.
Together they gathered wood and put some meat over the no-smoke campfire they built.
There was silence between them until Noishe came from behind him and butted his head gently. Ranma gave him a pat on the head and Noishe licked his face.
The real surprise was when Noishe went over to Kratos and started to lick his face.
"Stop Noishe." Mumbled Kratos tiredly. The animal gave a whine before laying down next to Ranma who began to stroke him absentmindedly.
"Do you like animals?" Ranma asked suddenly.
"No. Not particularly."
"That's odd. Noishe seems to like you quite well."
Kratos quickly changed the subject, "You said you came from a different world right?"
Ranma nodded.
"Which one?" asked Kratos.
"A place called earth. Japan to be exact although I was at China when I was brought here." Ranma provided.
A different expression flashed across Kratos' face but is was gone too quickly for Ranma to see it.
"Never heard of it."
"Didn't think so. Hey Kratos, have you ever heard of some guys named Origin or Maxwell?"
This time Ranma did see the expression on Kratos' face change but only briefly.
"Where did you hear those names?"
Ranma thought fast. He didn't want to reveal his dream to them just yet.
"Uh…around."
It was obvious that Kratos didn't believe him but he seemed to accept Ranma's reluctance to answer, "Each of the four seals has their own separate deity. For instance the fire seal here is watched over by the spirit Ifrit. The other seals of Light, Water, and Wind are watched over by the spirits Luna, Undine, and Slyph respectively."
"So where do Origin and Maxwell fit into this?"
"Origin is the supposed leader of all the summon spirits although this is based strictly on legend. Maxwell…" he trailed off.
"Well?" asked Ranma expectantly.
"No one knows who he is. The name appeared in the history texts under the other spirits but he has never been classified or seen." He spoke quietly.
Ranma was able to get to sleep later that night which was fortunate because Kratos woke them up real early saying that they had a long way to go before they could get out of the Triet Desert. He wanted to make it to the Ossa Trail before the heat really set in.
After much griping, complaining, and the usual things associated with packing up camp they had finally set out.
"Man why do we have to get up so early? Not even the fiends are stupid enough to wake up this early." Complained Lloyd.
"If you can't handle it then you can always go home," stated Kratos.
"I can't go back to Iselia Village! I was exiled."
"Then quit acting like we're on vacation."
That silenced all the complainers. Ranma didn't complain because he was used to running on little to no sleep and Raine was saving her breath for walking rather than talking.
Kratos and Colette seemed to be the only ones that were unaffected by the lack of sleep. Fortunately they were able to make good time and had gotten to the entrance of the trail by about 9am (to Ranma's estimation) right before the sun really started giving off rays.
The party halted at the entrance to the trail at Kratos' command.
"Sensing something?" asked Ranma looking around.
"Just the regular fiends. There's an enemy close by however so keep your guard up."
The group walked cautiously on the trail for a few minutes before Kratos shouted out.
"Above you!"
Another voice soon followed this statement.
"Stop!"
Everyone looked up to see a female figure. She had wild black hair tied back in a braid and was wearing a purple robe with black pants and a pink ribbon tied around her middle that trailed down to her ankles. She had brown eyes and was generously endowed and looked like the perfect picture of someone who was not a fighter.
"Is the chosen of mana among you?" she asked in a commanding voice.
Colette actually went as far as to raise her hand, "Oh! That would be me!"
"Die!" she shouted and leaped off the cliff. Everyone prepared for a fight but all of a sudden she was interrupted by a gale of laughter.
Everyone looked around to see Ranma rolling on the ground laughing.
"…Okay I'll bite. What's so funny?" asked Lloyd.
"This!" shouted Ranma before laughing again.
"And what's so funny about it?" asked the female.
Ranma seemed to gain control of himself, "Well, seriously. Here you are, trying to assassinate someone and you shout at us from the top of the cliff in plain view of everyone where someone could hit you with a spell or arrow. And then shout out your intentions at the top of your lungs so the world could hear them. I thought assassins were supposed to strike secretly from the shadows while wearing dark clothes and all that."
The woman started to visibly twitch as Ranma made his assessment of her, "Give me a break," she shouted, "It's my first time!"
Lloyd was starting to snigger to himself as well, "Hey assassin, how many people did you shout at before finally finding the right group?"
The woman was really getting angry now.
"I wonder how long she spent on the cliff waiting for us. I mean, it probably would have been easier to attack right after the fire seal." Joked Ranma.
Even Raine was trying to hold back her laughter now.
'Screw the chosen,' thought the woman irritably, "Die!"
The woman ran directly at Ranma who casually pushed Colette out of the way. Unfortunately Ranma was standing right on a trap door waiting for Sheena's attack, and Colette stumbled from the force of the push, falling and hitting a conspicuous red lever that opened the trap door that Ranma and Sheena were now standing on.
Both Ranma and Sheena comically stood in the air for a few seconds before looking down and seeing they were standing on air.
"Well this sucks." Commented Ranma before the laws of gravity took effect and both of them fell down the mineshaft.
Everyone stood around stupidly for a few seconds before Colette ran over to the trap door, "Oh no I just dropped Ranma and that girl into the mineshaft! I hope that their oaky!"
"Smooth Colette. Real smooth." Commented Lloyd.
Genis walked over to the trapdoor and looked down, "Considering the distance to be 15 meters deep and assuming her weight to be 52kg multiplied by the 4.2 gravity constant…" Genis went on rambling for a bit until Kratos cut in.
"The fall wasn't fatal. She would be luck if she got an injury from it."
"And how did you conclude that?" asked Raine.
"Because if I know Ranma he'll take the brunt of the fall by shielding her with his own body."
In the Mineshaft…
Ranma reacted purely on instinct. Positioning his body behind Sheena he grabbed her around the waist.
"Hey! What do you think your doing?"
"Its gonna be a rough landing! Hold on!" Ranma shouted back ignoring her shouting.
The landing shook the entire mineshaft and nearly caused a cave in.
Sheena immediately got out of Ranma limp embrace and checked herself for injuries. Surprisingly she found none on her entire body. Looking over at Ranma she found out why.
The landing had not been pleasant for Saotome. The mineshaft had deposited them right on some loose gravel with the rocks jutting up at odd angles. A particularly large rock had hit Ranma's head and had knocked him out.
Sheena sighed. They may be enemies but he did save her life. And he wasn't that bad looking either… she mentally beat herself up for going down that line of thinking.
Slipping out a gel from her robe she placed it on the ground next to him along with one of her cards. She then ran to look for the exit from the mines.
"So you think she's going to attack us again?" asked Lloyd.
"I'm sure of it. The space is too cramped and the footing is poor. We should hurry to the end and try to find a safer way into the mineshaft so we can find Ranma." Stated Kratos.
The party started the task of climbing the trail. It was mostly uphill on one side and downhill on the other which made fighting difficult halfway and easy halfway. Despite the fiends they were able to make pretty good time but they were in for a surprise as they got to the bottom of the trail.
Standing there, out of breath, was the clumsy assassin ready (sort of) for battle.
"This time you wont get away!" she shouted.
"Are you really sure you want to fight us 4 on 1?" asked Raine skeptically.
"Of course not! That's why I brought some help!" taking a particular card out of her supply she shouted out, "Come! Wind Guardian!"
Ranma awoke a few minutes later with a sharp headache and pain all over his body. Much to his limbs protest he forced himself into a sitting position and assessed his surroundings. It appeared that he was in some sort of mine. Looking on the ground around him he spotted the gifts left by Sheena.
There was an Apple Gel along with a small card. Picking up the card Ranma read the four words on the card.
Thank you,
Sheena Fujibayashi
Smiling to himself Ranma pocketed the card and used the gel on himself. Feeling his injuries slightly disappear he picked himself off the ground and began to explore the mineshaft.
He wandered around aimlessly with no real destination in mind (except the exit of course). He saw several fiends in the mineshaft but he easily snuck around them. Finally he came to what appeared to be a dead end but a black skull caught his eye before he turned to leave.
Approaching the skull he saw that an entire skeleton lay out before him with four different blades in the ground around it.
Looking at the skull Ranma received the shock of his life when the thing turned its head and looked back at him.
If that wasn't enough the thing began to speak to him too.
"S…TRONG ONE….I SEEK."
The skull seemed to be struggling to speak now. It gave long pauses between its words and seemed to be gasping for breath.
"F..FIGHT?"
Ranma finally picked his jaw off the ground, "You mean your actually giving me a choice?"
"…YES."
Ranma assessed the skull and his injuries. He figured that he could take on one measly skull.
"Alright I accept."
"I…COME!"
Ranma watched once more in shock as the body of the skeleton came to life and picked up the skull with horns on it. The thing then waved its arms over the four swords placed around its body and all four of them jumped into his hands. The thing was now a black skeleton with four swords twice Ranma's height.
"Me and my biiiiiiiiiiiig mouth." Mumbled Ranma getting into a defensive stance.
A/N: And so we introduce the popular female assassin Sheena Fujibayashi. Tune in next time for Chapter 11: Battles Abound. Ranma vs. Sword Dancer and Sheena vs. The Chosen of Mana.
Please remember to leave a chapter on your way out.
Cheers.
