A/N: The following scene contains content unsuitable for flamers. If you have the intention of burning my story then I suggest that you press the back button on your browser and leave now.

Now without further ado, I present:

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia

Chapter 14: A Time of Thought

And…

Aboard the Centennial Hawk

"Do you really expect us to get to Palmacosta on that thing?"

"…He was the only one who would take the job on short notice." Muttered Kratos.

"I think I'd rather take the long notice and the better ship myself."

The Centennial Hawk only appeared seaworthy, in the sense that it was on the sea, and not currently sinking. Ranma had seen boats before, they had nearly hit him on his journey to China, but this had to be the ugliest piece of junk ever to touch the ocean.

Entire portions of the ship had been patched over with various pieces of metal from several different structures. Pieces of shrapnel jutted out on odd places and Ranma was even convinced he saw some shingles from a house roof covering part of the ships hull.

The sail of the ship seemed like on big patch. It may have been white at one time but so many different sections of it had been repaired the original color had been lost.

"I don't like the look of this," said Raine nervously.

"I'd feel safer swimming." Said Ranma quietly.

"Quit your bellyaching!"

The sharp voice came from behind Ranma, making him jump. He wasn't the only one as Lloyd had his sword pointed at the man's throat.

"She may not look like much but she's as sturdy as they come," the man casually gripped Lloyd's sword between his thumb and forefinger and slowly moved the point away from his neck.

"So, what's your name?" asked Colette.

"The names Han. Han Duo at your service. The boat may wreck, people may die, and the ship may be upside-down but by got I'll get you there."

Needless to say this didn't reassure them.

Everyone stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Han Duo spoke up again, "Well come on, what are you waiting for?"

Not surprisingly it was Ranma who stepped forward first. He stepped on the plank testing its weight, finally putting his entire body on it.

"Seems okay." He said to no one in particular. Confident, he took a step forward…

CRASH!

And fell into the water below.

"Hmm. Should have seen that one coming." Mumbled Han Duo.

An hour later the chosen's group had climbed on board and they had set sail. Kratos said the voyage was to take three days and they would spend the night on the seas.

"Three days?" Raine almost shouted.

"Well, normally we would be there by tomorrow night, but…" Kratos cast a glace at the dingy sail.

Raine merely shook her head and walked off muttering under her breath, "I knew this journey would put me on a boat sooner or later…" Only Ranma heard her.

Genis had other problems, "Hey Duo, where are we going to sleep? This boat doesn't even look like it can support our weight let alone have enough room for us to bunk."

"Well I'm sorry my ships to tiny for ya," He replied tartly, "Explore it yourself if you've got a mind to."

Genis wandered off down below also mumbling to himself.

"Um Mr. Duo?"

A twitch was starting to develop in the captain's eye, "Yes?"

"Do you have a bathroom on board? The ship seems so small…"

Han Duo clenched his fist his reply forcibly cheerful, "Go down below and use the first door on the left."

"Yo, Han Duo!" called Ranma.

"Are you here to complain about the ship too?" he asked pleasantly, the twitch in his eyes gave him away however.

"No actually, I was wondering what you had to eat on this dump."

Han merely grunted and threw something at him. Ranma caught it by reflex and found a fishing rod in his hand.

"Eat all ya want." He said grumpily and stalked off.

With a sigh Ranma baited his hook and cast the line.

It's quit the world I've been thrown into. Thought Ranma to himself, I don't really think I've had time to think about it till now.

He felt a small tug on the end of the line. Performing a quick tug, Ranma found a tiny fish on the end of the line. Releasing the hook from its mouth he threw it back into the water.

It's hard to believe that I've only been here for about 2 weeks. With all these crazy adventures going on it seems like 2 months.

Feeling a large tug this time, Ranma casually flicked his wrist and sent the fish sailing into the metal bucket that lay beside him.

It's also been a while since I stayed in the same company for longer than a week. Pops moved us around so much I didn't have time to make friends.

He briefly entertained himself with the thought of his old buddy Ukyo but quickly banished that though.

It's not like I'm going to get back any time soon. Those gods Kratos spoke of seem to be more myth than reality. But then again, do I even want to go back? I have people here that I can call friends. Even Raine isn't so bad, once you get to know her.

Raine often played the part of cold cruel professor but underneath that she was really a caring person. One only had to look at Genis to figure that out.

And Kratos, man. He's a far better trainer than pops ever was. And pops always said to take training opportunities whenever you could.

Ranma began to let his mind wander. He thought about his elfin ancestry and his time at Jusenkyou. Now that he had time to sort his thoughts out he remembered his time clearly. I guess I really owe that goddess a favor. Who knows? If I hadn't come to this world I could of ended up falling in the spring of drowned pig or something. Even so, I kinda miss… "Penny for your thoughts?" Ranma looked up from his thinking to find Genis standing beside him. Even sitting down Genis was barely taller than him. "Just thinking." He replied mildly.

"Bout what?" Genis took a seat next to him.

"Well…stuff," he replied cautiously.

"I see." Genis had replied in a voice that belied his true age, "Your homesick aren't you."

Ranma looked at him strangely for a few seconds, "Has anyone ever told you your pretty darn perceptive?"

"I think everyone's suffering from it actually," he continued, "Raine and I haven't really been far out of town and I know Lloyd and Colette haven't even been to the desert until the journey had started. I don't know about Kratos though."

"He's a mercenary. He probably doesn't have a home."

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes looking at the waves.

"What do you think of Colette?" asked Genis suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, what do you think of her as the Chosen of Mana?"

Ranma thought carefully about his answer before he replied. This was not a time to stick his foot in his mouth.

"Well, she really has her heart in it. She's a bit of a klutz but she's not stuck up like some of the other priests and holy people that I've met. She's really determined and I think that's a good quality for someone destined to save the earth."

"You really think so?"

"Well…yeah. People always told me I suck at lying…"

They sat there in silence for a few minutes looking at the waves. Occasionally Ranma would jerk the rod and send a fish flying into the bucket.

"Where is everyone?" asked Ranma suddenly.

"Lloyd's asleep. He said that Kratos worked him to death this morning and he probably wont wake until tomorrow, and if I know anything about my sis, she's asleep with her head under a pillow."

"She gets seasick?" asked Ranma surprised.

"Yeah, she tries to hide it but everyone can see it." He joked.

"What about Colette?"

"She's listening to us."

Ranma turned around quickly and saw a head of blond hair ducking behind a corner.

"Come on and join us Colette." Genis patted the ground next to him.

Nervously, Colette came out of hiding and sat down next to Genis, "Um Ranma? We're you serious when you said that about me?" she asked timidly.

"Of course I was!" Ranma said quickly, "I don't know of a better person who could take your place! Not that I've met many people…but still!"

Colette smiled one of her special smiles that she reserved only for her friends, "Thanks Ranma. That really makes me feel better."

'Wow she sure does look cute when she smiles,' thought Ranma. Just as quickly, he banished the thought.

His train of thought was interrupted by a gigantic tug on the fishing line that nearly ripped the rod from his hand. Ranma immediately stood up and tugged on the rod with all his might, still not making any progress. The thing on the other end was slowly pulling him overboard.

Hands gripped his shoulders; Colette had grabbed him to try and help pull the fishing rod back, which was threatening to break from the pressure.

"What the hell is on this line?" Ranma shouted.

"I don't know but its tough!" Genis responded.

"Colette! Go wake Lloyd! I don't think I can take this by myself." Shouted Ranma. Although it was not in his nature to ask for help, he really lost a lot of his ego when he faced the Sword Dancer. And anything that could match him in strength was trouble in and of itself.

"Hold on a bit longer." Genis shouted. From the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed a purple aura surrounding the kid who had brought his kendama out. A few seconds later a shout of "LIGHTNING" heralded the coming of a blue bolt of energy.

The shock hit the water and all was still. Hearing several feet behind them, Ranma turned to find Han Duo, Kratos, Lloyd, and Colette behind them. Even Raine was there, albeit a little queasy.

"What happened?" asked Kratos.

Ranma shrugged, "Don't know. Something grabbed on to the line and I don't think it was a fish."

Kratos grabbed the line and yanked upwards on it. Everyone recoiled as they saw an unmoving tentacle wrapped around the fishing line.

The mercenary was the only person who was not surprised, "So I suppose this is the protection part of the deal then?" He spoke directly to captain Duo.

"Err…well, yes."

"The ferryman asks a high price," he mumbled to no one in particular. Dropping the line back into the water, Kratos drew his sword and released the holds on his battle aura. Everyone around him followed suit.

"What are we fighting?" asked Raine. Her seasickness was gone; in its place was the cool commanding woman that Ranma knew of.

"My guess would be," Several hundred tentacles broke the surface of the water, surrounding the boat, "A kraken." He finished calmly.

"What's a Kraken?" shouted Ranma.

"A large sea monster with a lot of tentacles." Said Captain Duo simply.

As one the tentacles attacked the boat, causing Chaos everywhere. Around the ship people were franticly dodging the whip like appendages, getting an attack in here and there. Captain Duo had even taken an oar and was beating any that came within reach.

Several times the Kraken had tried to crush the boat by wrapping its tentacles around it but was thwarted by Kratos and Raine's quick thinking and actions. Then it got smart.

SMASH!

"What was that?" shouted Lloyd.

"He just punched a hole in the boat!" shouted Genis.

Captain Duo came up behind Kratos and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I need your help."

"Obviously." He responded curtly.

Duo ignored the jibe, "I can protect this boat but I need more power. I need you to form a mana link with me."

Kratos briefly closed his eyes and flashed white to the naked eye. Captain Duo also flashed white as his ki registered Kratos' power.

"Don't take too long."

Tuning out the noise around him, Captain Duo sat in the middle of the ship and closed his eyes.

"What the hell is he doing?" shouted Lloyd.

Ranma beat off another attacking tentacle and looked at Han.

"Ouch!" Ranma blinked several times to get the spots out of his eyes. Reaching around for a nearby water source, Ranma found a small pool of water and splashed some of it into his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"That guys throwing off more power than Kratos!"

Although he couldn't quite sense chi yet, Duo was throwing off enough power for anyone to see if they looked carefully enough.

The Kraken had not been idle while Duo was meditating. It had punched another two holes in the boat and water was starting to leak in.

"The ship ain't gonna hold out much longer!"

"Brace yourself! Here it comes again!"

The largest tentacle yet had lifted itself out of the water, poised to smash down in the middle of the boat.

"We can't stop it!"

The tentacle paused in the middle of the air as if to build up tension, then fell into the middle of the ship…

BOING!

Only to rebound back as if it had hit a rubber wall.

"What happened?" asked Ranma.

"A major protection spell." Said Raine, who had come up behind him, "It's an easy spell to cast but Captain Duo put a barrier on the whole ship. I cant even make it that powerful!"

The kraken was not the smartest beast ever to walk the earth. He tried several more times to hit the ship, but was stopped by the barrier each time.

"How long is this thing going to hold?"

"About 10 minutes." Kratos had joined them and was looking overboard at the shadow of the Kraken in the water, "We hope it's going to be enough time for that thing to loose interest."

"Not likely," said Captain Duo, "That things been out for me blood at least 3 years now."

"3 years?" shouted Lloyd, "What the hell did you do to piss that thing off?"

"Its not my fault! He overreacted!"

Raine sighed, "We're not solving anything right now, we need to come up with a course of action."

"How about a concentrated lightning spell?" asked Ranma, "The water should be able to conduct it down to his body and stun him. We could channel energy into Genis like we did before."

"That might work, but a regular lightning spell, no matter how concentrated, would be like throwing rocks at it. The rubbery skin on the body is semi-resistant to electricity that doesn't pierce the skin." Explained Kratos.

"How about we enchant someone's blade with lightning then?" asked Duo, "Then we can pierce the demons hide."

"Sounds good. I'll do the piercing." Lloyd unsheathed his swords and handed them to Kratos.

"Genis, watch how I do this so you can do the same thing to the other sword."

"This isn't a time for lessons," shouted Ranma. The Kraken had renewed its attack on the barrier, each strike making a loud ringing sound.

"Think of it has hands on experience!"

'If this is hands on experience then I'd hate to see what he thinks a real fight is.' Thought Ranma.

"Lord Rodyle!"

"Enter."

A desian shaman entered the office. He looked like a normal desian except for the gold insignia he wore on his helmet. Instead of the usual sword or crossbow that was assigned to the grunts, the captain held a staff that singled him out as a magic user.

"What news do you bring?" asked Rodyle.

"The chosen's party is crossing the ocean to Palmacosta. They are on a slow ship so it will take them an estimated three days."

Rodyle put his hand to his chin in thought, "Who is with the chosen?"

The shaman brought out a folder and placed it on the desk, "Our spies weren't able to get much. We have confirmed however, that Lloyd Irving of the angelus project, and Ranma Saotome, an escaped ranch prisoner, are aboard that vessel."

"Saotome? Of that project?"

"The very same sir."

Rodyle turned to the giant map of Sylvarant placed behind his desk. Taking out a few pins, he placed them on the map, showing the chosen's position.

"I want our pirate unit to intercept them before they reach the port. At their rate of speed we can take them…here." He placed a red pin on the map.

"It will be done sir."

"I'm telling you man, this is the best gig yet. She even looks like the chosen!"

"I dunno man. Impersonating Ranma seems like a bad idea to me. You did hear that he broke out of the Iselia Human Ranch right?"

"He'll never know! As long as we travel faster then them we can mark them as the imposters. Its foolproof!"

"So what happens if we get caught?"

"Don't worry, we wont."

"…Alright I'm in."

To be continued…

A/N: Well that was a bit different from the original storyline ne? Once again, please read and review the story, I want to know where my mistakes are.

At this point I'll probably go back and redo some of the older chapters. I went back and read them myself and I couldn't believe how many mistakes I made. Oh well. It's spring break now so I have a good amount of time on my hands to write to my hearts content.

Till next time.