The last two weeks have been rough. Even allowing for the changes due to enforced isolation, just functioning day to day has been way more difficult than I'd have thought. Cabin Fever is awful. Throughout it all, I'm grateful for a strong network of friends online who have helped me on my worst days, and lots and lots of anime. To all you out there still struggling, I know it looks rough right now, and we may never get back to what we used to call 'normal'. But I have to have faith that we'll survive it. Right now, at this moment, survival is enough.

doraemax: Suffice it to say that I've had experiences with my own brand of Kuno in my life. I'll leave the details out of here, for everyone's sake.
KuraraII: Essentially, the factor in 'what would Kuno do if he succeeded' would become a problem of Kuno's already warped perspective. He already refuses to live in a world where a girl tells him 'no.' So, what happens when he exists in a world where a half dozen women he's lusted after at various points are magically compelled to be incapable of saying no?
NightmareKnight1: It's been a little bit since I've done my playthrough, but after the flashback, there's an NPC near the Kalm entrance who wasn't there before. If you talk to him, he points you in the right direction.

I haven't got a lot of new writing done since this COVID mess started, but I'm still keeping up on editing as much as possible. A day late, but here is the next chapter. Hopefully future ones will continue to progress as regularly as possible.

Chapter Twenty Six

The Horse, the Boar, and the Serpent

[ ν ] - εγλ 0007, December 14

After a rapid supply run, the group asked around Kalm town about the 'Zolom' the young man had mentioned before. Fifteen minutes later, they met back up in the town square to review their findings. "So… let's run down the list here," Cloud said after having pooled everyone's collected information. "There's a thirty kilometer-wide swamp that sits between us and the abandoned mining cavern that Sephiroth was supposed to be headed for. There are these big serpent creatures that nest there, and we're about to walk through their territory during the middle of their mating season. The mountains are basically impassable, and we'll either need to catch a chocobo that can go fast enough to outrun them completely, or we run through and try to evade or fight them off."

"And they breathe fire," Ranma added, loading up a mess of gear on her new knapsack.

"And they breathe fire," Cloud confirmed. "And after that, the mine itself is supposed to be infested with monsters itself, which is why it was abandoned in the first place. Whatever we're doing, we need to do it fast if we're going to catch him."

Tifa shook her head. "Don't suppose it's too much for us to hope that the Zoloms just eat Sephiroth?"

Cloud turned to face her. "Nibel dragon," he reminded her, miming a sword swing with his hands. "Two strikes. Even if the Zoloms are as big and as tough as the locals say, we'd be lucky if those things even slowed him down."

"Where did that big guy come from, anyway?" Aerith wondered. "Maybe we can figure out how far behind we are with that."

"I asked im'," Barret piped up. "Says his family runs a farm about a half day's run from here. So if he came right out from there, and ran the whole way, we're about a day behind Sephiroth right now."

Red looked up at the others. "My people also have stories of the creature you speak of," he said calmly. "I admit, it has been long since I heard the tales, but I believe we may be able to pass by on foot, unnoticed… if we are careful."

Ranma looked down at Red. "If you say you can, then I'm all for it," she confirmed. "'Sides which, I doubt you're lookin' forward to gettin' strapped to my back again while we ride some weird horsy-birds."

"There is that, of course," Red mused. "Under the circumstances, I would more likely just run alongside."

Cloud glanced at Ranma with a smirk. "'Horsy-birds'… You really don't have anything like a chocobo in your world?" he asked, curious.

Ranma hesitated. "I wouldn't say nothin' like them, but…" she paused for a moment, thinking. "There's a bird like that in the wild in one or two parts of the world, but they ain't strong enough or calm enough to use as a mount, and they've got different color feathers. We have mounts, but they're four-legged and have short fur instead of feathers, and hooves instead of talons."

"Huh," he responded. "Weird."

Ranma chuckled at that. "Trust me, if the weirdest thing between our worlds was 'we use horses instead of chocobos' I'd die happy." She turned down to Red. "Which way are we headed, anyway?"

Red shook his head, a very human looking gesture. "We will need to travel much closer to the swamplands before any of my knowledge becomes relevant. Please, lead on," he said, facing Cloud.

"All right then," Cloud replied, lifting a framed rucksack and strapping the Buster Sword to one side, before slinging the entire pack behind him. "Everyone pack up and pick up, we've got ground to cover."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

A half day's march had taken them into the heart of the pastoral fields and rich farmlands that made up much of the continent, where they made camp for the evening. Aerith had succeeded in obtaining several tins of stew, which nicely supplemented the tough bread and other travel rations they had stocked up on. A nearby creek let them refill for water, and Ranma managed to heat up enough clean water in their campfire to transform back before settling in for the night.

Ranma woke up before dawn, and roused Tifa and Aerith for their first joint training session. After getting the embers left in the firepit going again with some extra kindling so that breakfast could be made shortly, the three of them stepped out of the camp.

"So, what's first?" Tifa asked, having done little to combat the cold air besides to add a pair of leggings and arm-warmers to her normal outfit. Aerith had likewise added a layer beneath her regular dress, and was practicing her modified kata to one side.

Ranma gave her a smile. "I've seen you in combat, some," he started, "but I wanna get a better idea of what you can do. So… hit me if you can."

"You want me to hit you?" Tifa asked, incredulous.

Ranma smirked, bouncing lightly on his feet as he settled into a familiar stance. "I want you to try," he repeated. "You've got three minutes, starting now."

Tifa grinned and stepped forward, swinging her arms into a simple attack posture, before throwing a trio of swift jabs at Ranma's torso, all of which struck nothing but air. She watched Ranma's movements as he dodged the opening attack, and twisted her body sharply, turning a backhanded swing of her fist into the momentum for a fierce kick, which Ranma somehow wove his body between. She growled in frustration and unleashed a volley of blows, knees and elbows, feet and knuckles, turning the space in front of her into a minefield of attacks. Ranma began to parry and push aside the blows, carefully redirecting her force and momentum away from his center. A swift three-part low kick aimed at his legs forced him to quickly step backwards to avoid the blows.

Tifa took advantage of the space by charging him, her speed in the small opening astonishing Aerith as she watched. Tifa leaped forward and spun, pulling herself around into a spinning kick which Ranma ducked beneath. As she landed, she shifted her weight, rotating her opposite leg out to sweep hard at his ankles, which he barely hopped over. Sensing a moment of vulnerability, she continued moving into a rising flip kick, intending to strike him as he descended out of his jump. To her astonishment, Ranma somehow managed to push himself upward and forward in midair by resting his crossed palms onto her rising leg, and shoved off of her without disrupting her own momentum. He landed behind her and waited for her to regain her footing, smiling amicably the whole time.

Tifa responded by slamming her fists together, stepping forward and shifting her stance into a much more aggressive position, reminding Ranma somewhat of a traditional Muay Thai stance from his own world. Her blows became more calculated, two and three coming at a time, giving no time or space to move away from any one strike without another connecting. Ranma breathed in sharply and blurred, his own limbs matching her speed for speed. As she pressed her assault, he shifted his own strategy, finding her center of balance in each attack and just upending it, causing each of her combination strikes to sail wide as the force behind them was twisted to point in the wrong direction.

Tifa leaped backwards, growing steadily more infuriated by Ranma's unwavering smile. She forced down her anger, studying him, looking for an opening, returning to her basic stances. She stepped forward, and waited, watching every twitch of his body, making short jabs and feints, quick kicks and pulling her blows. She observed his movements, looking for patterns, any motion that overbalanced him, recovery from his parries, anything at all she could use to draw out a chance to land a solid blow. But despite her efforts, she could not find it. It wasn't that his defense was perfect, it was simply that his defense was better, or faster, than her attacks.

"Time," he called suddenly.

Tifa blinked, pulling back to a neutral stance, shaking out her limbs. "How the hell did you do that, anyway?" she demanded, taking a few deep breaths. "I thought I had you a dozen different times and each time you just slipped out of the way. I've never seen anyone move that fast before."

Ranma finally let go of his grin and relaxed. "Not gonna lie, you've got a lot of skill," he remarked casually. "Adaptation, analysis, and I can tell if you'd managed to hit me it woulda hurt no matter what I did. As for what I did…" he took a deep breath, drew his arms into his own default stance, and his outline seemed to fuzz over at the edges, as if someone was rattling the entirety of his body back and forth. The moment passed, and he exhaled, his appearance returning to normal. "A while back, the old ghoul taught me somethin' called Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken. It's not really an attack on its own, just training the body to be able to move one's limbs at high speeds. The result of the training is that one can move their limbs fast enough to snatch chestnuts out of an open flame without burning themselves, which is how they named the technique. It took me a few months of practice, but I managed to expand the technique to affect my whole body. I call it Inka-ten Hashiru."

"You…" Tifa glared at the impossible boy, clenching her fists. "You can't be serious! How can you do something like that? Why wouldn't you use it all the time?"

"Second question first, because it hurts like hell to hold the stance for more than about a dozen heartbeats at a time, and the adrenaline crash afterwards is murder if I try to go longer," he answered. "I'm accelerating every part of my body and mind for a second or two. To me, it's like the whole world is going in slow-mo for that time, but what's really happening is that I'm going way faster than a human body oughta."

Aerith tried to wrap her head around this. "Oh! So it's like shaking a can of soda until it's about to explode?" she asked.

Ranma considered that. "I'd have gone with popcorn kernels in oil, but I like that better now that I think about it." He smirked and looked over at the two of them. "So, that's where we're going to start. Aerith, your skill with the staff has improved a lot over the last week or so, I can tell, and you're getting better at sensing with your chi. I want you to keep up your practice daily, and see how far out you can sense things. Tifa, I don't think you need any help fightin', so I'm going to try to catch you up on chi focus and sensing, and then you're both going to start the Amaguriken training. Any questions?"

Tifa glanced between Ranma and the slowly rousing campers behind them. "You really think we can grab something out of a fire like that?"

"Not yet, you can't," Ranma answered, crossing both arms casually behind his head as they walked. "But both of you have a lotta potential, and I think you can learn it. For now, though, let's go get fed."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

The group ate, broke camp, and continued trekking across the farmland between Kalm and the swamp for another full day. By the afternoon of the second day of their travel across the low plains, mountain peaks were hazily visible in the distance, and they knew they were approaching the landmarks they had set themselves.

Something else approached them, as well. Ranma and Red both saw the dust cloud in the distance at almost the same time. "Are those… chocobos?" Ranma asked, the wonder evident in his voice.

"They are, indeed," Red confirmed, a strange smirk across his face. He looked up at the boy. "This truly is your first time seeing them, isn't it?"

It was barely a question, but Ranma nodded his answer regardless. The cloud of dust on the horizon began to draw closer, resolving itself into individual shapes. Tall, feathered and heavily built above their long, spindly legs, they somehow managed to appear both majestic and comical at the same time. Wheeling across the plain in an almost perfectly maintained formation, even at a full run, the creatures were The herd of wild chocobos trampled the land in front of them, seemingly fleeing from something. Something that was entangled in the beak of one of the chocobos.

"No…" Ranma muttered. "It can't be… Ryoga?"

A small black piglet wearing a familiar yellow-and-black kerchief around its neck struggled against the chocobo holding him captive, its beak tangled in the kerchief and holding him firmly. Another of the animals struggled under the weight of an enormous knapsack and a simple bamboo umbrella. Had the situation been less serious, Ranma likely would have laughed himself silly. As it was, however…

"Hey, Aerith! Need your help!" he called behind him. He looked down to Red. "Know anythin' about stoppin' a stampede?"

Red's face was a moderately scarred impression of perplexity. "If you are that hungry for fresh meat, I am sure we can find an easier target."

Ranma shook his head. "Not for eating, we're gonna save him," he said, pointing to the chocobo carrying the piglet.

"You want to save a tiny animal from chocobos," Red declared flatly. He sighed and shook his head. "I will be very interested in hearing the reason for this later." With that, he charged forward, circling wide around the path of the herd of chocobos.

Aerith stepped up behind Ranma. "What's up?"

Ranma pointed at the charging birds in the distance. "Ryoga's in that mess, we need to get him out." He unslung his own pack and set it down. "Do what you can to get the piglet and get him to safety."

Aerith nodded, pulling her staff out and spinning it in her hands briefly. "I think... I can be more useful out here. Give me thirty seconds, then you can go in."

Ranma blinked at that, but nodded, stepping forward and giving Aerith some space. Aerith closed her eyes, her staff resting between her hands, and began reaching out her awareness, feeling the grass and soil beneath her booted feet. The gentle breeze around them all. She released the staff, and to Ranma's surprise it remained floating there in front of her, perfectly level. A soft aura seemed to emanate from Aerith's body, an energy that Ranma couldn't help but compare to a battle aura, but far gentler, more peaceful. Aerith reached out with her awareness, a sweeping line extending to the horizon, and for one brief, perfect moment, she was acutely aware of every single living being within more than a kilometer. And in that moment, she found the herd of chocobos, careening across the countryside, and spoke a single word into each of their minds.

"Calm."

The chocobos, almost as a single being, looked up and glanced around, their legs already slowing from a full run. Over the next hundred meters, they decelerated into a trot, then to small steps, and finally ground to a halt. The overladen backpack slipped off the rearmost chocobo's back and fell to the ground with a noisome thud, causing the nearest birds to hop a few paces away before settling again. Ryoga's porcine struggling slowed, as he caught sight of Ranma's familiar red tunic in the distance, and let out a sigh of relief.

Ranma glanced briefly at Aerith, still glowing softly in an eerie blue light, before he waved Red back over. He strode lightly into the herd, retrieving the transformed Ryoga and his bag, before darting back out and retreating to the rest of the group. Aerith lowered her arms, the staff dropping unceremoniously to the ground as the soft blue outline around her faded away. Her face was covered in sweat, strands of her hair matted to her forehead. She appeared as though she was about to fall over. The chocobos milled about idly, grazing in the field nearby.

"Okay, P-chan," he said quietly, pulling the piglet up to eye level and regarding him calmly, "these guys are friends, they know about Jusenkyo curses, and the one that looks like a wolf isn't gonna eat you. I'm gonna try to get you some hot water and a couple minutes privacy. Play nice when ya come out, will ya?" The piglet nodded, though managed to convey a level of grumpiness behind his porcine features. "Good. Okay, guys, the piglet here is a friend of mine, and we need to get him some hot water."

"That thing's a friend of yours?" Barret asked doubtfully.

"...what's a 'piglet'?" Tifa inquired, puzzled.

Ranma blinked in shock, and then remembered himself. "Right, different world, different creatures. Gonna get used ta that eventually. This," he said, holding up the tiny black animal, "is a piglet. He's cursed, like me, but unlike me, he can't do human things when he's cursed. I know it's early, but I think we oughta make camp so he can make himself presentable."

"Why would that be a problem?" Aerith asked, still panting slightly from her earlier effort.

Ranma smiled mirthlessly. "Because our clothes don't transform with us," he explained.

"Why would that- oh!" Aerith caught herself as she realized the implications. "But wait, you keep your clothes when you transform! Why doesn't he?"

"Because I'm still human-shaped when I'm transformed. Ryoga ain't that lucky. Whatever he was wearing is probably laying out in a field somewhere." Ranma sighed, struggling slightly under the weight of Ryoga's travel pack. "Hopefully he still keeps a change of clothes in his pack."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

Camp had been pitched up in good time, a fire started, and a bowl of water had been heated for Ryoga. One of the tents had been vacated so that Ryoga could transform and re-dress himself in relative privacy. A few moments later, the lost boy stepped out of the tent, dressed in his usual nomadic gear. "So, I guess we're not back in Japan yet, are we?" Ryoga asked flatly.

"Nope," Ranma replied. "Found out some more details this week, though, you might wanna sit down for all this." Ryoga sat near the fire, and Tifa passed him a bowl of the stew they had obtained from Kalm. "Okay, everybody, introductions all around. This is Ryoga Hibiki, an' right now he's the closest thing I have to a friend from my world. He's also got a curse, don't give him a hassle over it if you can."

Red was busy sniffing at Ryoga, still trying to understand the nature of the transformative magic. "You don't smell like an animal..." he said in an inquisitive tone.

"I hope not," Ryoga answered. "I'm human, and I'm not food."

"I understand this, but it is still puzzling," he continued. "It is not just a physical change. For both of you, you each smell like what you appear as while you are transformed. It is… confusing for one such as me."

Ranma looked between the two of them. "That's Red. He talks a lot, but he's okay." Ryoga extended a palm, and Red responded by dropping his paw into it. Ryoga gave the wolf a smile. "You remember Aerith, from back in Midgar," he continued, and they exchanged pleasant waves across the campfire. "The other girl is Tifa, she's at least as good a martial artist as Akane, so don't get on her bad side." Tifa flashed a smile. "The guy built like a tank, complete with the cannon on his arm, is Barret." Barret inclined his head. "And the blond with the big stick is Cloud." Cloud shrugged and said nothing.

Ryoga gave a short bow of his head to each of them. "Thank you all for your help."

"So… got caught in a rainstorm out in the fields?" Ranma asked.

"No," Ryoga answered grumpily. "I tried to ride one of those bird-things. I saw some other people riding some, but it's a lot harder than I thought. The whole flock ran into a lake while I was tangled up in the middle of 'em."

Ranma stifled a grin. "Extra points for finding a new way of transforming, at least. Been holding up aside from that?"

"Hold up," Barret cut them both off. "Gonna tell us anything more about this guy? How the hell'd he get here anyway?"

Ranma glanced at Barret, then at Ryoga. "You wanna tell 'em, or me?"

"You do it," Ryoga answered quietly. "They're your friends, aren't they? They'd probably get it better if you tell 'em."

Ranma nodded, before turning back to the others. "Ryoga has… a really bad sense of direction."

There was a long tense silence, as the story failed to unfold even another word beyond that point. "Is… is that it?" Tifa asked. "Is that the whole story?"

"Kinda."

"The hell kinda explanation is that?" Barret growled, gesturing with his good hand. "You tellin' me he lost his way here?"

"That's pretty much it, yeah," Ranma said, running one hand through his hair in frustration. "Look, there's no way I can explain this in words where you're gonna understand it. But I promise ya, if he starts walkin' with us, he'll vanish before ya know it."

"Ranma told me," Aerith chimed in, "that Ryoga once got lost on the way between his own home and the empty space immediately behind his home…" A chorus of disbelief surrounded this statement. "...for three days," she finished.

A cacophony of comments erupted from the party. "That's absurd," Red declared over the sound of the others. "How could someone like that even survive your world, let alone ours?"

"See, now that's a good question," Ranma said brightly, "and it's got a good answer to boot. Ryoga, mind if I use your umbrella a sec?"

"Long as I get it back in one piece," he shrugged.

Ranma stepped over to Ryoga's pack and unfastened the umbrella from the top. Still heavy to me, even after all my training, he mused, and held it out to Tifa. "Lift it."

Tifa grinned and stood up, walking around the campfire to meet Ranma. She gripped the shaft of the umbrella just underneath Ranma's hand, and he let go. Tifa felt a sudden jerk as gravity took hold and without even realizing it found herself pulled roughly to one side, the immense weight having caught her off guard. "What-" she gasped out, having to brace her legs against the umbrella to keep it from tipping over again. "What the hell is this thing?"

"Yeah, I don't even know what he's got shoved inside there," Ranma admitted, "but he can hold it in one hand like a rapier and he can swing an electric pole around like a club. And as far as his durability, I doubt any of you'd be able to put a mark on him unless you were gonna try to kill him. I can't even beat him in a straight fight anymore."

Ryoga looked up at him, surprised. "Kami, you're actually admitting it."

"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head, P-chan," Ranma teased, pulling the umbrella back to vertical. After a moment, he turned to look at Ryoga. "I know I'm gonna regret this, but why were you so upset with me when you saw me last week?"

There was a brief silence as Ryoga eyed the other martial artist. "Because the last time we saw each other, you sent me flyin', remember?"

"Yeah, I remember, that was during a spar." Ranma returned the lost boy's odd gaze. "Ya lost, remember?"

"You didn't have to throw me out of the dojo, ya know!" he cried angrily. "My pack came loose and landed next to me on the ground, but this complete asshole of a goose grabbed it and pulled it into a lake!"

Ranma was stunned. "A goose," he repeated carefully. "Less than a meter tall? Feathers, big wings, flat beak, webbed feet?" Ryoga nodded, frowning. "And not wearing glasses?"

"It wasn't Mousse, if that's what yer askin'," Ryoga answered with a grumble, crossing his arms.

"A goose... lifted your pack. The pack you carry... that has this umbrella on it, and dragged it into a lake." Ryoga nodded. Ranma was at a loss. So many questions ran across his mind that it was hard to find a starting point, but after a good five seconds he settled on, "How?"

Ryoga shrugged. "Hell if I know," he answered, his posture stiff. "It took me hours to get it back without transforming, and then I had to take all my clothes to get dried. It… took a while to find a laundromat. So, yeah, I was angry with you after that." He let his shoulders relax some. "Still truce until we get back, but you better let me have that punch."

Ranma nodded. "Deal," he said. He carefully hefted the umbrella to pass it back to Ryoga, and then noticed Cloud eyeing it. "Wanna try?"

Cloud shook his head. "I know how strong Tifa is," he commented. "If she can't lift it, I know it's heavy. I might be able to, but I'm not gonna be fighting with an umbrella if I can help it. Just... thinking about your world, about how... contradictory it all is. It sounds peaceful, but then there are people like you, barely even adults, who train their bodies to… fight, grow strong, what? You say you don't have magic, but your friend turns into a piglet. You say you've got hundreds of countries across the planet, and no single world government. I don't want Shinra running things any more than the next person-"

"And the next person is me," Barret cut in, "so I hope this little speech of yours is goin' somewhere."

Cloud shook his head. "I just wonder if we're going to make any difference, is all. What if we all left? Went to Ranma's world, lived out the rest of our lives there instead. What if this whole world is already too broken, too set in its ways, and everything we do to fight against it is pointless?"

"And what if it rained horses, would you wish for fish?" Ryoga grumbled, mangling the phrase somewhat in his frustration. "It ain't always about winning or losing. It ain't always about 'change the world or die trying'. Sometimes it's about fighting to protect someone or something you care about, or just for the folks who can't fight on their own, or who've forgotten how to fight or even that they oughta fight. Sometimes it's about holding up a light in the darkness, drawing a line in the sand, however you wanna say it. It's about fighting, to give others a reason to fight."

Cloud looked at Ryoga, and took a deep breath. "You don't even know what we're fighting for, though."

"Do you?" Ryoga countered. Cloud glared in response, but said nothing. "Doesn't always matter why you fight. Doesn't always matter what you fight. Sometimes, the only thing that matters is what you're standing between."

Barret glanced between Cloud and Ryoga, and nodded. "I know that feelin', that's fer sure. I wanna say I'm doin' all this cuz I'm noble and fighting against evil and alla that, and maybe that's the result of what I'm doin'. But if I'm honest, I'm fightin' to make sure my daughter has a world to grow up in."

Aerith nodded. "I want to fight to protect my mother… and anyone else who would get hurt."

Red gave a happy wag of his tail and looked around at the others. "I fight to protect my home, my people, and my grandfather."

"I'm fighting because I want to make sure nothing like Nibelheim ever happens again," Tifa said defiantly.

Cloud nodded. "I suppose I'm fighting to bring closure to my own past," he said after a long pause.

"I'm fighting because I promised," Ranma said simply.

Ryoga nodded. "I'm not getting involved in this one, though."

Ranma looked over at him, genuinely surprised. "Why not?"

"Because whatever's going on," he answered simply, "it's not my business. Besides, you probably don't have time to lead me around like a child. I'm not an idiot, I'm not gonna be your pity case, and I'm not gonna waste your time slowing you down. I'll stay in camp the night, and we'll go our separate ways in the morning."

Ranma shook his head, but relented. "Fine, that's probably the smart decision anyway. Oh, before I forget, if you see a tall man in a black coat and carrying a sword longer than you are tall… keep away from him, he's dangerous."

Ryoga considered this for a moment. "You mean an o-dachi?"

"A what?" Cloud asked, confused.

"I'll explain later," Ranma said quickly, waving his hands to forestall any other questions. He turned to Ryoga. "You saw him? When? Where?"

"It was a couple of days ago," Ryoga answered. "It was somewhere cold, there was this enormous tree, and I saw a man with silver hair, wearing a black cloak with a long curved sword on his hip. He didn't look that dangerous though. He looked like he was dead."

Ranma frowned. "What made you think he was dead?"

Ryoga scoffed. "Well, I didn't check for a pulse, but there was the part where he looked like he was frozen inside a ten meter thick block of clear rock crystal, that was my big clue," he answered sarcastically.

Ranma shook his head. "Can't be him, then," he said simply. "The man we're chasing right now is named Sephiroth. And except for being dead in a rock, pretty much matches the description you just gave. Just… trust me on this one, if you see him, stay the hell away. He was once a pretty respected warrior, but he set fire to an entire town several years back, and he's already killed people since then."

"All right, I'll keep my eyes open," Ryoga responded. "Is there any more of that stew? Reminds me of my mom's cooking."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

After the meal, Ranma approached Tifa again. "All right," he began. "Far as I can tell, you don't use... whaddya call it here, lifestream arts, in your techniques, am I right?"

Tifa shook her head in response. "No, sensei," she replied. "My master, Zangan, said that it would take years of practice for me to learn how to channel lifestream effectively."

"Well, he wasn't wrong," Ranma answered flatly. He reached down and took off his flats, setting them off to one side, letting his feet rest in the cool grass and rich soil for a moment, enjoying the sensation. "Aerith has a headstart on this because of... I guess, because she's part Ancient? But that doesn't mean you're going to be stuck behind forever." He turned and gave Tifa a grin. "Just means you're gonna get the crash course."

Tifa blinked. "You really think you can teach me to do the same kinds of things you've been teaching Aerith?" she wondered aloud.

Ranma shook her head, taking a few steps forward. "Gonna tell you the same thing I told her on day one. She ain't your competition. Neither am I. You are," he said, jabbing a finger into Tifa's collarbone. You try to use her an' me as markerstones for your progress, you're gonna be disappointed a lot. When you compare yourself to anything, you compare yourself to you."

Tifa froze, the words echoing in her mind. "'It's... not about how you measure up to the master...'" she recited slowly, the words coming back to her, "'it's about being a better version of you at the end of the day than you were when you woke up.' I... Master Zangan told me the same thing. I remember I'd been his student for all of a month. I'd been trying to learn one of the basic techniques of his style... And I couldn't do it. I got frustrated, angry, and he told me that. It still took me another two months to get that technique down," she said softly. "But I managed it. And every day between then, I was slowly getting better."

Ranma gave a grin. "Your master was smart, then," he commented. "You wouldn't believe how long it took me to figure that one out." He took a deep breath. "Chi, or lifestream, whatever you wanna call it, is the energy we all have inside us. There's a lot of ways a martial artist can use that energy, but right now we're going to focus on one of the basics. Use your chi to find someone else."

Tifa nodded and squared herself up. "All right, tell me what to do."

Ranma nodded, preparing his chi.

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

"Ryoga."

It was full night, and a fire had been lit. The lost boy looked up, and saw Ranma as he approached. "What's up?"

Ranma plopped down unceremoniously about a meter away from Ryoga. "You're really leavin' in the morning?" Ryoga hesitated, but nodded. "These guys could use someone like you."

"Ranma, I meant what I said," he answered in a gruff tone. "I can tell from the look of this crew you're traveling with. Whatever you're mixed up in, it's serious. I ain't afraid of that, but..." he leaned back, staring up at the night sky. "If it's serious, then you're not gonna have time to keep me in sight. So I'm not gonna burden ya with that. Gonna try to get back home instead."

Ranma paused for a moment. "Home," he muttered. Thoughts of Tokyo flashed across his memory , of the familiar streets of Nerima ward, of Furinkan High School, of the ice cream parlor, the burger shoppe, Tofu's clinic, and the Tendo Dojo. Thoughts of his family, his friends, his many and varied rivals, and Akane. He took a deep breath. "Then... I gotta ask a favor."

A moment of quiet passed between them, a cold breeze slipping across the plain as they sat there. "What kinda favor?"

Ranma turned to face the other boy. "It's been three whole weeks, Ryoga. I've been stuck here that long. I... miss home. I think... for the first time, maybe I'm startin' to understand what it's like to be Ryoga Hibiki. I don't know where I am, I don't know when or if I'll ever get back, or if I'll see my friends, my family..." He paused, considering his words carefully. "What I'm tryin' ta ask is, if you get home... and I ain't back yet... I want you to do everything you can to find Akane, and tell her what's going on. Tell her about Gaia, tell her about this place, about what's going on. Tell her I'm trying to get back. And... if that asshole Kuno's still hangin' around, break his legs or somethin'."

Ryoga stared at him throughout the winding, rambling confession. "Man, you're lucky this isn't last year," he said off-handedly, "or I'd've probably just let you sit there and squirm." He gave a chuckle and looked away. "Yeah, if I get back to Earth, and if I can get back to Tokyo when I'm there, I'll tell Akane."

Ranma smiled softly. "Thanks, buddy." He tilted his head back and stared upwards at the alien night sky. "Wonder if you can see Earth from here..."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

True to his word, Ryoga stayed within the campsite until they broke for the morning. True to Ranma's word, he had vanished completely from sight within fifteen seconds of them parting ways. "He'll be fine," Ranma insisted when the others asked after Ryoga. "I've literally seen him walk straight through a mountain. Which would probably be useful right now, but that's another story. By the way, Aerith, how did you do that thing with the chocobos, anyway?"

"I… I just felt them, somehow," she answered, doubtful of her own response. "I didn't know if I could do it, I just... did it. I don't know if it's this chi training you've been putting me through or what, but…" she trailed off, still confused.

"Well, whatever it is, you're getting a lot stronger," Ranma answered. "I think Tifa's training session went well last night too, so once I'm sure she can do some basic chi sensing, I'm probably gonna start gettin' ready to put you both through the Amaguriken training."

Aerith beamed at that, and they came to a stop. Stretching before them, to the horizon and beyond, lay an enormous, murky bog. Short, gnarled trees sprung up periodically, their branches hung with moss and ivy. The swamp may have only been a half-meter deep or less near the shores. It seemed as if much of the sounds of wildlife shifted as they approached, most of the noises falling away into silence.

"Probably gonna wait until we're past this, though," he admitted. "Not gonna get much of a fire goin' here."

Red sniffed carefully around the shores, looking for his hidden path. "Much has changed here. The shores are further out than they used to be. It is possible my people's route has sunk," he said quietly.

"You sure we're in the right place?" Barret asked doubtfully.

Red nodded in reply. "The landmarks are the mountains themselves, the positions of the peaks in the distance. But the old tales said that the water would still be distant at this point. The entrance should be about two hundred meters… in that direction," he said, gesturing in the direction of the bog with one paw.

"Which means, either it's already flooded, or it would flood the moment we opened it," Cloud finished. "So, we either go back into the fields and try to catch chocobos… or we press on." As if to indicate his own choice, he drew the Buster Sword from its position on his back. "We're already behind Sephiroth, we can't afford to lose more ground. Everyone, make sure your gear is secured, we're going through."

The others nodded their understanding, and took a few moments to tie down anything that would produce extra sound. "Well, looks like I get to be a girl again," Ranma grumbled. "Oh, joy." Without another word he stepped into the murky bog, her body shifting forms as she walked. The weight of her pack shifted slightly, but she adjusted the shoulder straps and started walking.

"Hey, Red, how far across is it, anyway?" Tifa asked.

Red thought for a moment. "According to our tales, the safe path reached the dry shores on both sides and only took an hour at a walking pace. I would guess that we may be able to cross within two hours if we are fortunate."

They continued walking in relative silence for nearly an hour, the murky waters and the mists which obscured the center of the bog making it difficult to hear or see much further than throwing distance. Ranma could understand why something like this Zolom would make its home here. It was a perfect hunting ground for anything that could survive here, and a perfect trap for anything that wandered in. Her eyes would be useless here in the dense fog. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on the water, feeling out for any ripples approaching them. "Guys," she called out calmly. "Everyone freeze."

The party came to a halt, standing still in the knee-deep water. "What is it, Ranma?" Aerith whispered from behind her.

"I think... we're being followed," she spoke slowly. "There's something moving… something big. I feel the ripples in the water. When I say, everyone take one step forward and then stop again, but be ready to run." She exhaled, then drew in another breath. "Now."

The six of them stepped forward, an odd staccato march for the left foot in the middle of the bog.

In the distance, something hissed loudly.

"Run!" Ranma shouted.

All six of them took off at a full sprint, moving as fast as they could in the knee-deep water. Just as they emerged from the fog onto a small shoal in the middle of the bog, the water around them rippled sharply, and an enormous shadow in the water began to unfurl itself. The creature resembled a cobra in most respects, including the enormous curved hood across its head. The primary visible differences at the moment was that it was nearly 15 meters long, and it looked fully capable of devouring them all whole. The far shore was in sight, but now the Zolom blocked their path, swaying menacingly in the water.

Cloud pulled his blade forward, shucking his pack free onto the shoal. "Everyone, get ready!"

Barret strode out in front and opened fire, unleashing a barrage at long range. The creature reared back briefly, before diving forward at Barret, its fangs missing but knocking him prone with the blunt hood on one side. Cloud leaped up and swung at the head of the serpent, but before his blow could land, the Zolom thrashed sharply to one side, colliding with Cloud in midair and causing his swing to fall flat.

Ranma and Tifa charged in from either side, aiming instead at the serpent's neck, hoping to disable or at least wound it, but the creature's scales were thick and seemed to absorb their blows. Red charged forward, sinking his fangs into the neck and diving away as the Zolom raised back up. Ranma dashed over to Barret and tugged the man to his feet. "Hey Aerith!" she called out. "Think you might be able to shut this one down too?"

"I'm trying," she shouted back, "but it's a lot harder here for some reason!"

Tifa threw a Fire spell forward, striking the creature in the face. Barret loaded a fresh belt of heavy ammo into his gun-arm, pouring all of the rounds into a single Big Shot, before reloading again. Cloud hurled a bolt of Thunder at the Zolom, causing it to twitch in agony as the current spread into the water around it. A roaring hiss drew their attention, as the serpent reared up higher, towering over them at almost its full height.

"Oh hell," Ranma muttered. "Scatter!"

The six of them moved, but it was not quick enough. The Zolom struck from above, narrowly missing Aerith with its massive fangs, but pushing hard as it struck its head against her torso, sending the woman flying to the far edge of the shoal, unconscious. Tifa immediately darted towards Aerith, throwing as much as she dared into a Cure spell, while Cloud charged in and carved a vicious pattern with his Cross Slash into the Zolom's exposed face. The serpent drew back, raising back to its full height, its mouth glowing oddly. A low growl seemed to echo from everywhere at once, and the Zolom spat out an enormous orb of radiant flame.

The fireball struck the shoal and erupted into a Beta explosion, throwing everyone aside with the force of the impact. Ranma did her best to brace against the shockwave, but even she was knocked flat as the heat rushed outwards, the water surrounding the shoal beginning to steam from the intense temperature. She waited for the sudden wind to pass, then pushed herself to her feet, noticing her friends already in deep trouble. Cloud and Tifa were already struggling to their feet, but it was clear that they were hurting. Barret was on his knees, breathing ragged and heavy, but refusing to give up, firing at the Zolom with abandon. Red lay on his side behind Barret, twitching in pain. Aerith was standing, but barely, using her staff to prop herself up as she inched forward,

"Okay, I've had enough of this," Ranma growled, striding forward, fists clenched. She felt an odd tingle of energy surround her, but ignored it and charged. As she reached the edge of the now-burnt grass, she leaped into the air, feeling the energy begin to coalesce in her mind and her body, an aura of glowing orange and red. She felt the now-familiar snap behind her eyes and reached for it, letting it happen. She raised her arms over her head and felt the energy pouring into the construct, a titanic orb of chi and flame and something else she didn't know how to label. As the energy filled the air above her, the Zolom reared its head back, angling for another strike. But at that point it was too late.

"Mahō no Ao Ka Jūden: Beta!" she screamed, throwing the energy forward at the Zolom as it began to move forward. She fell backwards, flipping once in her descent and landing three-point, crouched on one knee. The Zolom tried to swerve to avoid the attack, but its momentum was too great. The orb collided with its head and detonated immediately. There was a burst of almost blinding red light, an enormous cloud of raw fire, and a shockwave of air and heat that made the party drop again to the ground to avoid being cast into the water.

When the shockwave passed, the damage was made abundantly clear. The Zolom was in pieces. Its head was nowhere to be seen; several chunks of steaming, burnt snakeflesh and fragments of bone cascaded down about their heads. About half of the serpent's body lay exposed in the bog water, spasming from side to side and oozing blood. Tifa staggered forward and began tossing Cure spells at the others, before grabbing Ranma's collar. "How did you do that?" she demanded.

"...do what?"

"You just... " Tifa began, but Cloud stepped behind her and placed one hand on her shoulder.

"We need to get moving, Tifa," he said calmly. "There are more of those things out there, and if they come running, we're not going to last long here."

Tifa released Ranma, and turned on Cloud. "You can't be-"

"I want answers too," Cloud interrupted, glancing around at the swamp, hearing the distant sounds of more of the overgrown serpents. "But not here. Not now. When we're across, then you can ask." Tifa glared at him, but nodded, and turned back to get the others on their feet. "You're going to answer her question, when we get to safety?" he asked Ranma under his breath.

"If I know the answer, yeah," Ranma said simply. "I dunno what the question is yet though." She pulled out her materia bracer and aimed a Cure spell at Cloud, but nothing happened. "Huh… is it broken?" she mumbled, before shaking her wrist.

Cloud glanced down at the bracer, seeing the materia equipped in it, and stared at her in disbelief. "I think... we better start moving," he repeated, corralling his own thoughts. "If you can carry my pack, I can carry Red."

Ranma nodded, and they continued onwards.

A/N: LIMIT BREAK UNLOCKED.

Here's a long one... The way I normally write these I could have split this to two chapters, but in the past where I split up chapters to keep salient points from getting overwhelmed, I felt here it was needed to get all of this out of the way in one go. Also, you have read this right, this chapter spans almost three full days of travel across the Eastern Continent. I can say that, barring some major events in the future, I don't foresee the party spending any time whatsoever at the Chocobo Farm.

I did write this chapter way back in like November when Untitled Goose Game was memetically popular. Obviously that's been a while, but I think the game's still well known enough that I left it in.

Ranma's techniques...

Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken: Variously, the Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire Attack, Imperial Roasting Chestnuts Fist, or the Chestnuts Fist attack, is a technique of sorts taught to Ranma by Cologne, one of the matriarchs of the Chinese Amazon tribe and Shampoo's great-grandmother. Less of an attack on its own, it is nonetheless named for the training regimen in which it is taught, where students are made to pull chestnuts out of an open flame. The result of the training is an increase in attack speed, such that they can land a flurry of blows in such a small space of time that it appears to have only been a single punch.

Inka-Ten Hachiru: Flash-Point Step. An extension of the Amaguriken training, extending the speed increase to the whole body. The visual effect is such that it appears that Ranma's body is blurring in air to the unassisted human eye. Ranma is still working on this one, so he can't hold it for more than about three seconds at a time without experiencing significant physical distress and eventually severe pain. But during that time, his reflexes and reaction times are boosted significantly, and he can move extremely quickly over short distances. The technique is named for the term used in chemistry when a flammable substance is at a temperature that causes it to release enough vapor to be ignited from the air.

Mahō no Ao Ka Jūden: Literally, Blue Magic Overcharge. The characters are going to be discussing this in the next chapter.

Aerith's abilities...
Note: Aerith's techniques are (possibly badly) translated in Greek. My logic is that the text used for the Gaian calendar is based on an older form of Cetran script.

φωνή της γης (Voice of Gaia): Aerith has discovered a limited ability to communicate with non-hostile animals native to Gaia. The simpler the concept, the easier it is to convey.

Hope you liked it! Comments and feedback welcome!