Martial Artists and Mayhem: Third Edition
Part 10: He's Got a Job
By Thrythlind
Starless, overcast night covered Nerima like shroud, unleashing a torrent of rain down on the city below. Few were those who dared to travel on such a night. Yet one young man tramped through the wet and churning streets of Nerima with little concern for either monsters or weather. Holding his umbrella above his head, which somehow deflected all the ambient rain and water, Ryouga strode resolutely through the city where his quarry had chosen to dwell.
"This must be the Tendo monastary," Ryouga said as he stopped in front of a sign that read just that. ~Today Ranma,~ he thought, ignoring the present condition of nighttime. ~You meet your end!~
Ranma lay sprawled across his sleeping mat, he slept on, ignorant of the sound of rain that suddenly became more distinct. Or the sound of creeking wood as a pair of feet appeared at his head.
"Wake up, Ranma," Ryouga said quietly. "It's me--Ryouga." The sleeping half-fiend didn't respond. "Fight me!" Ryouga said louder. "Hey! Ranma!" Ranma slept on. "Would you WAKE UP!?"
Ryouga punched downward towards Ranma's head, and growled as Ranma rolled over allowing the celestial's hand to go into the pillow and through the sleeping mat. The pillow came up stuck around his hand. Ryouga glared at it before punching down with his other hand and putting a new hole in the sleeping mat as Ranma rolled over again.
Ryouga glared balefully at Ranma as he scratched his head, still asleep. Then the celestial pulled in a huge breath. He held it until it felt like he'd burst, and then released it all in a loud roar.
"WAKE UP, DAMMIT!!!" Ryouga shouted. Ranma's eyes flashed open wide as the panda that was his father sat bolt up right next to him. Next thing Ryouga knew he was being tossed outside by a panda waving a sign that read "QUIET!" Ryouga easily flipped upright in his flight and produced that umbrella that when raised above his head somehow miraculously kept him dry. Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't truly aware of anything until a second or two after she landed in the pond.
"Wha-?" Ranma sputtered. "Wha-? Wha-?" She splashed about the pool for a couple more seconds before Ryouga landed and she found her footing again. She found herself facing Ryouga and narrowed her eyes. "Ryouga."
"That's right Ranma now its time for you to pray to whatever da..." Ryouga didn't get any further on his carefully rehearsed speech as there was suddenly the matter of a furious red-head charging at him.
"JERK!!!" Ranma shouted. "BASTARD!! IDIOT!! ASSHOLE!!" Ryouga nearly choked as he proceeded to attempt a defense against the furious pace of attack Ranma was setting. He'd never really had to defend against someone before, and he couldn't take his natural form at the moment or he'd get wet.
"You call this an attack, Ranma?" Ryouga snapped, proving that bravado was still in full effect. As he shouted he barely dodged a fast kick at his head. It was followed by half a dozen punches that he managed to mostly avoid. About the only thing, he realized, keeping him both dry and uninjured was the fact that Ranma was enraged and not paying much attention to what she was doing.
Ranma paused in her onslaught giving Ryouga time to recover some initiative. He didn't notice her glaring at the umbrella in his hand. Ryouga smirked as he was prepared to launch a flurry of his own.
"QUIT PLAYING GAMES!!!" As Ranma shouted the demon shifted forms and genders into his male demon form. He stayed male for all of about the two seconds that it took to get her mind off shapeshifting and the trigger spell responded to the rain again. Ryouga had time to blink before the half-demon launched herself forward. "Put up a fight, damn it!"
~Well, I would if it weren't raining,~ Ryouga grumbled to himself, then jumped back. Of course all he had to do was wait for Ranma to get tired, and if the half-demon stayed this enraged that would be easy.
"What by Ryoko's Gems is that noise?" Akane grumbled as she woke up, slowly. The door to her room opened softly to admit her eldest sister.
"Akane?" Kasumi asked. "Are you awake?"
"Kasumi, you hear it too?" Akane asked. She absent-mindedly picked up a practice sword, not her favored weapon personally, but Ryoko's priestesses were expected to know how to use it, and then joined her sister out in the hall.
"Do you think its a thief?" Kasumi asked.
"It had better not be," Akane growled, gripping her sword's hilt. A flash of lightning highlighted a figure with an umbrella jumping backwards. Akane thought she saw something else enter the view just after the lightning vanished, but her eyes were still adjusting to the flash so she couldn't tell for certain.
"It is a thief," Kasumi said a little panicky. Akane merely growled already starting out for the yard.
"I'm going to beat his brains out!" Akane said. She stopped as a firm hand on her shoulder pulled her back.
"NO!! It's too dangerous," Kasumi shouted.
"But.." Akane started, not understanding why Kasumi would stop her. This is what battle priestesses did after all. Suddenly her sister was holding a heavy stone statue of a bear towards her.
"Here."
"Huh?"
Ryouga smirked as he finally discovered a safe opening to exploit in Ranma's almost unending stream of kicks, punches and wing swipes. He bounced off the ground and launched forward in a kick. Then something hard and stone smacked into the back of his head, and knocking him slightly off balance. It was enough for Ranma's kick to reach his gut. Then came several follow-up strikes that dazed him enough for the umbrella to fall out of his hand.
"Are making fun of me with that umbrella, Ryouga!?" Ranma demanded, before noting that her target wasn't answering. "Hey, you...okay?" Ranma glanced at the suddenly empty clothes in her hands, before the statue caught in the clothes and carried the surprised half-demon down to the ground.
"Oh it's only Ranma's old...friend," Kasumi said as the shouting came clear.
"In the middle of the night?" Akane rolled her eyes and walked back into the house part of the complex to return to her bed.
Ranma took a moment to "drop her wings" as she returned to human form and looked at the mass of clothes in her hands. She glanced around cautiously for the Celestial but couldn't see him anywhere.
"Weird," Ranma muttered. "I didn't think that little bit would send him back to the planes." She swallowed nervously and started collecting his stuff. A flutter of movement out of the corner of her eye attracted her attention, and she turned to catch whatever was heading her direction.
Ranma was surprised at what she found in her hand.
"A pigeon?" she said, confused. The bird started pecking at her hand, but it only barely hurt. "Hey, stop that. That's quiet a bump you got there birdy." Ranma looked up and then finished collecting Ryouga's stuff while still holding the bird. The bird continued to peck at her. "Let's get out of this rain and get you fixed up."
Akane shut her door forcefully behind her as she entered her room and stretched out.
"All that racket in the middle of the night," she grumbled. She flopped down on her bed and pulled the sleeping furs over herself. A second or two later she was up again. "Argg, I can't sleep now." she walked irritably out into the hallway again.
"Hey, stop that," Ranma growled as the bird continued to peck at her. "I ain't gonna hurt ya, you stupid birdbrain. I just gonna take some of this healing salve her and fix that bump on your head." Ranma took the salve from the Tendo's stores and carefully applied a little of it to the head of the bird that was still attacking him.
"What happened to Ryouga," Ranma muttered as he worked on the bird. "I know damn well that wasn't enough to send him back home. Though the jerk deserves to be stuck home for a hundred years or so." The pigeon let out an angry coo and continued attacking Ranma. "Would you stop that? Ain't no way Ryouga ain't fine. He'll be back to torment me later." She held the pigeon a little tighter, both to keep it from pecking her and just because. There was a flare of embarrasment from, surprisingly enough, the pigeon. Ranma looked down and blinked at it. "Dirty minded little thing, aintcha?" The pigeon visibly huffed up and did what it could to peck at Ranma again.
"Hey, Ranma," Akane said as she entered into the room. "Isn't that Ryouga's stuff?"
"Yeah," Ranma said irritably.
"Where's Ryouga," Akane asked narrowly.
"He just sort of vanished in front of me," Ranma shrugged. Then he turned around irritably. "Aww...he's probably just back at his home having an ale and laughing at me."
"Why are you worried about the 'monster' that 'ruined' your face?" Akane asked sarcastically.
"I never said he was a monster!" Ranma snapped, getting to her feet. "He's a jerk, but don't call him a monster!" Akane blinked, then Ranma sat back down. "And I ain't worried about him." She stroked the pigeon's head gently as she spoke.
"Sure you're not," Akane muttered darkly. She briskly told herself that she was not jealous. Surely she couldn't be jealous over Ranma. Jealous of a man no less. "Whatever, I need to relax after you two making such a racket."
"You're going to take a bath aren't you?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, so?" Akane asked. Ranma grumbled and handed the bird out to her.
"Could ya take the bird too?" Ranma asked. "He was out in the rain too, I can wait but not sure about this little guy. Besides, he doesn't seem to like me."
"Yeah, I guess," Akane wondered briefly why the pigeon was shaking its head at the suggestion. "How do you know its male?"
"Trust me on this one," Ranma said. "I know these things."
"A week ago he's so upset that Nabiki mentioned it," Akane growled. "Now he talks like Ryouga's gone for good and that's a bad thing. I'm never going to understand him." Akane looked at the pigeon and considered it. "Well, are you ready for a bath?"
The pigeon again frantically shook its head. The action served to spray Akane with a few drops of cold water, then the bird gave what Akane took to be the pigeon equivilent of a sneeze.
"I'm not trying to cook you or anything," Akane said. "Look the water isn't even very hot." Akane set the pigeon in the water and was surprised as a familiar young man suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere. A very embarrassed look on his face. Akane noticed quickly that he seemed to be naked, and her face darkened quickly.
"PERVERT!!" she stood up quickly raising her hands back Ryouga saw a flash of red power form into a hammer.
"Wait, wait!!" Ryouga waved his hands furiously. "I'm here to pr.." whatever he had been going to say was lost as Akane swung downward. Akane stood over the unconscious Ryouga and huffed angrily. Truly, Akane's ability to almost unfailing knock Outsiders unconscious was an impressive thing. If only she was aware that she was doing it.
"Hey Akane are you alright in there?" Ranma called out. Akane glanced at the unconscious Ryouga and considered Ranma's earlier behavior.
"Oh, Ryouga!" Ranma-chan gasped in an overly feminine manner. "You're alive! I thought I'd killed you!" Then the red-head brushed past Akane, knocking her into a wall and cradling the unconscious Ryouga.
~Right,~ Akane said. ~Again, why am I worried about that. What does matter to me if Ranma wants to try out his girl side. The pervert can do whatever he wants, not like I...."
"Akane?" Ranma called out, the door to the springs antechamber opened cautiously.
"I'm fine! What are you doing trying to sneak in here while I'm bathing!?" Akane shouted angrily. The door closed quickly and she thought she heard Ranma beating a retreat back to the living quarters.
"Owww..." Ryouga groaned reaching up to grab his head. Akane retreated into the changing room as she noted him waking up. "How'd she do that?"
"Okay, pervert," Akane snapped from the other side of the door. "What are you doing going around disguised as a pigeon."
"I wasn't disguised as a pigeon!" Ryouga snapped. "It's a curse!"
"You've been to Jusenkyo?" Akane asked after a moment.
"It was soon after I learned from an oracle that Ranma had a bearing on my mission," Ryouga explained as he summoned his items to him.
"Curse you, Ranma!" Ryouga growled as he walked along a cliff, he wanted to be flying, but last time he'd tried it had taken him a month to get back to the right continent. "What are you hiding from me you fiend?!"
~Why is it every crazy seems to decide to call Ranma a fiend?~ Akane asked herself irritably. ~It's not like he's THAT bad.~
"I had been wandering for days," Ryouga continued. "Until that last fateful afternoon..."
The sound of running footsteps reverberated through the landscape and Ryouga turned toward the sounds, curious.
"Eh?" Ryouga blinked in confusion as the noise got louder. Suddenly the wall of trees burst apart to reveal a hurriedly running red-headed girl. The girl looked familiar somehow, but Ryouga didn't have time to figure out from where as the girl ran straight past him, almost through him. He stumbled out of the way, closer to the edge of the cliff overlooking a number of bamboo poles stuck in ponds.
"Run for the hills!" the girl shouted in passing. Following quickly behind her was a large panda also looking to be panic-stricken. "What the hell were you thinking pop?!" Ryouga heard the red-head yell as the panda nearly tossed him off the edge of the cliff.
Ryouga desperately fought to recover his balance, finally giving up and dropping his human disguise. He certainly had enough time to transform before he lost his grip. At least that's what he was thinking when a black and purple blur rushed by while swinging a large sword.
"You I KILL!!!" the new individual shouted. Ryouga dodged a careless back swing, taking him out into the air, and already descending.
Ryouga glanced down and noticed, with dismay, the massive weaves of magic threading through the cursed place. He made a final attempt to pull away from the pools with his great wings, but his downward velocity was already too high. Had he been as light and maneuverable as Ranma, he would have made it easily.
"A bunch of freaks had tossed me into the pools," Ryouga growled angrily as he finished dressing. "That's when I'd realized I'd been cast into hell." As Ryouga went on to talk about being hunted by hawks, almost eaten by a beardless dwarf, and other similar perils, Akane considered something else.
"Oh Ryouga," Ranma-chan, again overly feminine. Disgustingly feminine as far as Akane was concerned. "I'm so sorry I knocked you into a Jusenkyo spring. I'll do anything to it up to you?"
"Anything?" Ryouga leered.
"Hey," Akane shouted. "HE's my fiancee!"
"Well seems like SHE's mine now," Ryouga smirked.
~Great, I'm turning into a pervert too,~ Akane grumbled to herself, not really listening to what Ryouga was saying. ~WHY am I even thinking of this stuff?!~
"...you from that fiend," Ryouga finished off as he opened the door. Akane blinked and turned toward him, trying to figure out where the clothes had come from.
"I'm sorry. What?" Akane asked.
"I said, I think I'm here to protect you from Ranma," Ryouga said.
~Just in case...~ Akane thought, not focusing on why she should care. "Really? Good, of course we'll have to keep Ranma from learning about this problem of yours. Imagine what would happen if he knew about it." Ryouga had a sudden flash of Ranma easily tearing apart a little pigeon and swallowed.
"Hey, Akane!" Ranma shouted down the hall towards the spring cavern. Ryouga growled and moved to stand between Akane and the oncoming half-demon. He was surprised at the shower of cold water that suddenly washed over him. He turned to see Akane hiding his equipment and then turning toward him. Akane scooped the pigeon up, wrapping it up in a fur, and walking out to meet Ranma.
"What is it Ranma?" Akane asked irritably. Ranma stopped and stared at Akane for a moment.
"I thought you were taking a bath," Ranma said.
"I was going to, but got busy with your little friend here," Akane said. "Now what are you yelling about?"
"Ryouga's stuff is gone," Ranma snapped angrily. "I knew it! I knew he was playing games with me! When I find that jerk I'm going to tear him to pieces." The pigeon in Akane's hands bridled angrily while Akane smiled in a satisfied manner.
"Are you sure you can do that, Ranma?" Akane asked. The red-head looked at her curiously.
"Wow, you're chipper all of a sudden," Ranma said. "Are you going to use the bath?"
"No," Akane said. "You're free to it." She walked down the hallway and moved up out of the hot spring cavern into the above ground portions of the Tendo estate. She turned to look down at Ryouga. "I go in with a pigeon and you come out, think he's not going to notice that?" She entered her room, opened the door to the small storage closet and set Ryouga inside. "Have a good night." She yawned and strolled to her bed, finally flopping down for some sleep.
~I can't believe I'm getting jealous over Ryouga,~ Akane said irritably. ~What is there even there to get jealous over. Nothing. So I can't be jealous. Right!~
Akane turned over an indeterminate amount of time later and noticed her closet door was open. She growled irritably and walked over to find the closet, predictably, empty. There was only one place the pigeon would conceivably head for. Grumbling irritably she walked out into the hallway and headed for Ranma's room.
Akane snuck quietly into the room and cast her glance about looking for oddball pigeons. She scratched her head, beginning to get more than a little angry at Ryouga. She looked at Ranma and stared hard to find any sort of small struggling form under his sleeping furs. She couldn't see anything for sure, but she could only guess at this point.
After several seconds of self-debate she edged closer to Ranma and cautiously pulled up his sheet. She found nothing underneath the blankets aside from Ranma himself. Akane blushed as she realized that she was staring at Ranma in a mostly unclothed state. Then the pig-tailed martial artist rolled about and a flailing arm pulled her down.
"Mmf...kane..." Ranma muttered. Akane went from enraged to embarrassed in a flash.
~He's DREAMING about ME!!~ Akane growled in disbelief and turning beet red.
The hand that had pulled her down suddenly grabbed her head, and seemed to follow the contours of her body. Akane noted the confused, and growingly fearful, look on Ranma's face only periphally.
"Oh!" She gasped as Ranma reached an especially sensitive area. Ranma's eyes flashed open and found himself facing Akane.
"AAHHH!!!" Ranma screamed. Akane responded by returning to her previous enraged state.
"If I'm so repulsive," Akane shouted. "Why did you grab me pervert!?!" She rose up and summoned her hammer again. Behind her, Genma took the recommended procedure of vacating the room.
"I heard you battle priestess had some interesting habits," Nabiki said as she ate. "But don't you think you should ask Ranma before you sneak into his room to beat him up?"
"She shouldn't be sneaking into his room at all," Kasumi said severely. "They should wait until they're married." Nabiki laughed at the apparent joke of Ranma waiting until he was married. It was even funnier since she knew it might be true.
"Ranma should take lessons from her in initiative," Soun noted. Next to him Genma in panda form held up a sign asking for more food.
"It wasn't like that!" Akane demanded.
"My life sucks," Ranma muttered.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere a humanoid being that looked as if it had an octopus for a head was running madly away from a viciously cooing and pecking pigeon. The pigeon, on the other hand, was learning that even being a homing pigeon didn't get him where he wanted to go.
Martial Artists and Mayhem: Third Edition
Part 11: Kodachi, the Black Rose
By Thrythlind
Akane grumbled as she lumbered out of her bed, the sound of someone banging on the gates having woken her up. She wearily put on some simple clothes and proceeded out into the hallway still half awake. Her first stop she paused at the guest room in order to prove to herself that Ranma wasn't in bed and this was his fault somehow. Surprisingly enough, she found both Ranma and Genma sleeping soundly in their room. She blinked, the confusion making her a little more awake, she shrugged and closed the door yawning as the pounding continued.
"How could anyone sleep through this noise," Akane wondered as she shuffled downstairs toward the noise.
Akane was getting more cautious as she continued towards the banging sound. By the time she exited the main building she was wide awake and considering whether or not she should go back and wake up Ranma. That thought got her more than a little riled up.
"Why do I need that idiot?" Akane demanded irritably. She paused a moment to say a prayer to Ryoko for protection. The divine incantation was answered with phenomenal speed as a field of protection surrounded her. Akane briefly wondered at how fast the request had been answered and then shook it off as she proceeded to the gate.
Akane stopped at the gate and growled, the fingers of her hammer hand itched to summon her weapon upon the fool that had dared interrupt her sleep. She ripped open the gate and looked beyond, shouting as she did so. A strong flash of red power formed into her hammer and it was pulled back prepared to land a mighty blow.
"WHAT DO YOU--acck!!!" Akane's hammer dissipated instantly as her words caught in her throat. Her eyes bugged out and she stood there, concentration split between getting her breathing started again and trying to assimilate the evidence her senses were providing her.
Sitting, in midair, outside her gate was a woman with long silver hair a black swishing tail. Her head was nodded forward and she was loudly snoring. Her hand was still repeating the action of knocking on the now absent gate.
Akane managed a breath at about the time she was starting to turn blue and was now trying to get sound out of her mouth. The woman continued knocking.
"Ry...Ry...Ry..." Akane stuttered, then she took a deep breath and at least superficially calmed down. "Lady Ryoko?!" The woman's head snapped up and she looked around blinking.
"Oh..." Ryoko yawned, stopping her knocking as she stretched out. She blinked a few more times and turned to Akane. "Couch?" Akane, shocked speechless pointed back towards the main building. "Thanks." Ryoko breezed past Akane and quickly found the main shared rooms. She hunted down one of the long comfortable couches Nabiki had acquired and plopped down, falling instantly asleep.
Kasumi strode quietly towards the kitchen and paused a moment to regard the visitor sprawled out on the crouch and contentedly snoring away. Kneeling in front of the couch, Akane was still wide-eyed and apparently in shock. Abruptly the silver haired woman gave a low, mischievous giggle.
"Tennnchi," Ryoko muttered, before rolling over and curling up on the couch. The goddess then smirked and growled low, "Ayeka." She flailed out her arms and then started snoring again. Kasumi turned beet red as she recognized the implications of the mutterings, but Akane was fortunately still enough out of it that she completely missed everything.
"I think I shall have to put a great deal of extra effort into breakfast," Kasumi commented calmly as she walked into the kitchen. Akane nodded and continued attending her goddess as Ryoko slept on.
Genma woke up and prepared to wake up his son in the traditional manner of punting him outside and then attacking at full force, eventually getting tossed into a pool. He hesistated and glanced around warily.
"I sense a presence," he muttered. "Of one I have not felt since....It's probably nothing." He waved it off stood up, reared back his foot and kicked forward.
"Wha--?!" Ranma was out the window before he was even aware of the strike, he came to his senses quickly and whirled about to glare angrily at where his father would be coming from. He suddenly hesitated in his motion, looked towards the living room, and was unprepared when Genma attacked. A dazed Ranma stood up and looked down at her soaking self irritably.
"You're slacking off boy!" Genma snapped proudly.
Ranma got to his feet and hit the air in one motion, Genma started to respond when Ranma reached him. Unsurprisngly there was soon a panda in the pond. Genma rose up and launched another attack on Ranma and soon the sparring was on in full gear, Ranma forgetting what had distracted her in the first place as she made the effort to teach her father a lesson.
The morning sparring ranged a little further than normal as Ranma decided to bring retribution in spades on her father for catching her off guard earlier. Both martial artists took a leap over the walls and took the battle into the town. If it had been a normal day Akane would have been returning from her jogging about now, and wondering why she couldn't hear the sparring.
Nabiki stretched awake and yawned as she stepped off her bed. She sauntered over to her desk and prepared to do some morning scrying. Nabiki yawned again as she assembled her scrying brazier. She pulled out a set of flint and steel, not wanting to waste magic just to start a small fire. As the flint and steel refused to spark she began to get a little irritated, which woke her up a little.
"I guess I have to use a little magic today," she finally muttered, nearly tossing the flint and steel away. She shook herself fully awake and incanted a small fire spell...and nothing happened. She glared at the obstinate brazier. "I know I cast that correctly."
Nabiki stood up from her chair and looked down at the brazier angrily. She picked up the brazier and examined as she decided whether or not to pray to Xellos for a small fire. Then a small fire seemed to spontaneously start in the brazier. Nabiki narrowed her eyes supiciously and leaned in toward it to make a closer examination of the brazier.
Kasumi halted the practice of making breakfast and rushed towards the sound of the explosion mixxed with her sister's scream. As she passed through the common room she briefly saw Akane standing up, knocked out of her deity inspired daze when a threat to her family appeared. As they pounded up the stairs to see what happened, Ryoko blinked awake and sat up looking around.
"What went boom?" She looked around for a couple moments, shrugged upon deciding that there was nothing that required her avatar's attention and laid back down on the couch.
The Tendos stopped dead at the smoke trailing out of Nabiki's room, then continued forward, crowding into the door. They coughed as they fought through the smoke to find Nabiki's room covered in soot. As for Nabiki.
The priestess of Xellos was staring at the twisted remains of a brazier, covered, head to toe, in thick black soot. Where exactly the soot came from no one could tell, only the brazier seemed to be damaged.
"Nabiki!" Soun called out desperately. "What happened in here?! What attacked you daughter?"
"Yeah, Nabiki," Akane said. "What happened?"
"Sister?" Kasumi asked. Nabiki blinked and rolled her eyes before shaking her head clear and turning to them.
"I think I may have annoyed Lina," she said. Akane lost her balance and planted her face into the floor.
"What the--?" Ranma's eyes were drawn away from her retreating father to a group of three people in light tunics, wrapped head to toe in bandages. They were surrounding a woman in priestess robes in an empty lot. It was easy to identify who she was a priestess of. Only Jurains wore robes that intricate.
"What's with the guys in the banda...arrgg! Damn it!" Ranma stopped dead as she realized that her father had vanished while she was distracted.
"Pardon me," the priestess said politely. "But you are from Furinkan Hall are you not?" The woman had a cultured accent, with a taste of viciousness laced under the surface. It was no surprise that she was accepted as a priestess by Ayeka.
Ranma turned her attention to the situation and sat down irritably. She considered helping the priestess, but a quick survey of all involved showed there was little need. She settled down to watch the show just in case, however. One of the bandaged attackers might get lucky, even against a priestess favored enough to use magic.
"Please," the priestess continued, still standing still. "No need to hurry on my account. If I am not mistaken, the competition is not for a week."
"No more talk!" one of the bandaged attackers shouted.
"We've got you," another added. "At last! We're finishing you off here and now!"
"Prepare to die!" The attackers launched forward, each weilding a pair of light, colorful clubs. The priestess finally moved in response to the attack, producing an acrobat's ribbon from her robes.
"Forgive me, please," the priestess said more firmly. "If I've failed to convey my message!" The viciousness was no longer vieled as the ribbon whipped in a cricle about the woman, disarming all three attackers and putting an end to their charge.
"Huh?" Ranma said, mildly impressed. Ayeka's priesthood preferred the whip, but they weren't commonly regarded as warriors of exceptional ability.
"If I may restate it," the woman almost growled now as the ribbon surrounded her . "...perhaps this! Or this! Or this! Will be clearer!" With each shout the ribbon came down on her attackers. Then the ribbon came to a halt, wrapped around a slim hand. The priestess stared in shock at the person that had stopped her whip.
"Dontcha' think that's enough?" Ranma asked honestly. "I mean ya already beat em, now ya just gotta call the constable, right?"
"You stopped that ribbon as if it were nothing," the priestess said quietly. She was sweating a little as the level of tension rose, but she still held the ribbon tight against Ranma's grip. "If you'll forgive me, you seem to be no ordinary girl." Ranma swallowed nervously.
"Uhh, yeah," Ranma admitted, the priestess's eyes narrowed as she examined the girl. "I'm not."
"Good," she said. Ranma prepared to move as the priestess spoke. "Because I prefer not to treat girls with ordinary courtesy!!" The ribbon in Ranma's hands faded to nothing as the priestess's hands shifted quickly.
A host of thorny vines erupted under Ranma trying wrap about her, but found nothing but an after image. The priestess kicked up one of the dropped clubs, catching it and swinging outward towards a blurry shape moving away from her spell. The blur coalesced into Ranma as she split her legs, dodging under the clubs and taking the priestess's feet out from under her.
The priestess rolled into a handspring that revealed a little more than Ayeka would have been comfortable showing of herself in public. The priestess landed and looked back over her shoulder to see Ranma already prepared for another round, and not looking at all worried.
"Well, you are very good," she said with a smile. She relaxed her stance, one hand twisting as she summoned magic to produce one rose, black as the night. "Remember, I am called the Black Rose of Hebereke Temple. Kodachi, the Black Rose. Please don't forget it." Then the woman leaped away cackling shrilly as Ranma looked on, cringing at the similarity to the woman's goddess.
"Oh, how humiliating!" one of the attackers moaned, bandaged face in her hands. Ranma rolled her eyes and turned toward them.
"What's with the crying?" Ranma demanded. "You attacked her." The attacker whirled on Ranma tearing the bandages off and revealing a young woman's face.
"She attacked us first!" the woman snapped.
"We're the Furinkan acrobatic troop!" they declared.
~Hey, I know these girls,~ Ranma thought nervously.
Ryoko finally stretched awake and popped her spine, standing up. She yawned and looked around wearily. She finally caught sight of Akane kneeling in front of her and smiled.
"Hey, what's going on?" she asked pleasantly. Akane blinked and leaned forward in confusion.
"Lady Ryoko..." Akane started.
"Ooo...say that again," Ryoko asked cheerfully.
"Uhhh," Akane blinked. "Lady Ryoko?"
"Yeah!" Ryoko slammed her fist down triumphantly. "Lady Ryoko. LADY Ryoko. Lady RYOKO her divine grace." She sighed. "I never get tired of that." Akane's jaw had dropped, and she hadn't picked it up yet. Nabiki walked in, head wrapped in damp, soot soaked towel, and Ryoko blinked. "What happened to you?"
"How much do you want to know?" Nabiki asked, without dropping a beat. Ryoko smirked teleported behind Nabiki, slapping the woman on the back companionably. Nabiki went sprawling several feet forward, catching her balance with Akane's help.
"You got guts, girl," Ryoko said approvingly.
"Yeah," Nabiki said cautiously, drawling it out. She caught a glimpse of Akane's face and started for the door. "I'm going to try another bath." She spoke irritably as she strode out of the room.
"So Akane, what's going on?" Ryoko asked again with a smirk.
"Uhh..." Akane paused as she considered the question. "I...going on?"
"You're not freaking out on me, are you?" Ryoko asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No!No!No!" Akane said waving her hands. "I'm fine."
"Good," Ryoko said, nodding. "You know, I like you. I think you've got potential."
"Thank you, Lady Ryoko," Akane said breathlessly, bowing deeply. "I can't begin to tell you how much it.." She stopped and swallowed as Ryoko leaned forward into her face, eyes narrowed.
"That's why I'm giving you a little warning," the silver haired goddess said.
"Warning..?" Akane swallowed.
"I'm not the goddess of mindless violence," Ryoko said solemnly, arms crossed. "Whatever your sister says."
"Uhhh..."
"Akane Tendo!" someone called out. Ryoko put her face into her hand as three people rushed past her towards Akane.
"We've been so humiliated!" One of the girls asked. Akane was still looking at Ryoko nervously. In the entrance to the room, Ranma saw her Auntie in lecture mod and "eeped," freezing in mid step.
"Excuse me," Ryoko said. "Can't you recognize a goddess lecturing her priestess?" The three acrobats froze and blinked before turning slowly around.
"Uhhh..." their eyes popped wide as they recognized the being that they had just brushed past. Ranma was meanwhile trying to sneak out.
"Ranma," Ryoko said without turning aound. Ranma froze and slumped in resignation. "Aren't you going to say hello?" Akane and the three acrobats leveled surprised stares at the red head.
"Uhh.." she swallowed, and turned to face her Aunt. ~Auntie she doesn't know what I am!~ Ryoko arched an eyebrow and smirked, but continued to look in Akane's direction.
"It isn't everyday you meet your fiancee's goddess," she said. Ranma released a deep sigh of relief as the mortals all nodded, certain that nothing else was going on.
"Hello...uhh...Lady Ryoko," Ranma hesitantly spoke to Ryoko's obvious amusment. Ranma had no problem imitating a nervous attitude. This being because the nervous attitude was real. And perhaps Ryoko might know something about where her mother.
"Now, why were you three screaming for Akane-chan here?" Ryoko asked.
"Contest...injured....cheating Jurain bit..." one of them stuttered.
"Did you say 'cheating Jurain'?" Ryoko asked. They nodded fervently. Ryoko turned toward Akane. "You were here to ask Akane to take your place I guess?"
"Yes," one of them said.
~She's good,~ Ranma thought. ~Better fighter than most of them.~ Ryoko chuckled and rubbed her hands together. Ranma shuffled nervously, this could get very bad.
"Akane, feel like humiliating a Jurain?" Ryoko asked. Akane blinked and gave a determined look.
"I'll do it!" Akane declared. "I won't embarrass you!"
"Ohh," Ayeka said looking down into the still pool. "She's going to humiliate one of my servants, is she?" She smiled and cackled evily. Elsewhere in the great forest of trees that encompassed the combined realms of the Masaki powers, Tenchi looked up and gave a resigned sigh.
After the three acrobats had left Ryoko made a play of looking Ranma over carefully. Her smirk faded soon after she saw the scar on Ranma's cheek.
"That's a neat little battle scar, kiddo," she said. ~Had to be good, are they dead?~
~A jerk of a celestial,~ Ranma muttered. Ryoko arched an eyebrow at the half-formed thought. Ranma's eyes popped wide as she felt Ryoko gathering power. ~Wait.~
"Hmm," Ryoko said outloud. "I guess that means you can fight." ~You don't want me to heal it?~ Ryoko stood upright and smirked as a memory of Akane calling the scar cute flashed through Ranma's mind. Akane looked on at Ranma's facial expressions and bit her lip. It looked like there was another level to the discussion almost.
"Yeah, I can fight a little," Ranma said dryly. She turned to Ryoko and saw the goddess's face turn suddenly solemn. "What?"
~Have you been talking to devils?` Ryoko asked.
"Wha.." Ranma stopped herself. ~I mean, WHAT!? Do I look stupid?~ Ryoko stared at him for a moment longer
"Don't worry, its probably nothing," Ryoko said waving off Ranma's concern. "Well, you're a fine choice by me." Akane slumped in surprise.
"You accept he...I mean him?" Akane gasped, then quickly added, "Lady Ryoko."
"Yeah," Ryoko smirked, amused at Akane's self-denial. "I couldn't like him better if we were related." Ranma sweated.
"Uhh," Ranma said. "Shouldn't Akane be practicing for this competition?"
"Acrobatic Martial Arts?" Akane asked disparagingly.
"Against one of Ayeka's?" Ryoko added.
"Yeah," Ranma scratched the back of her head. "How hard could it be?"
Martial Artists and Mayhem: Third Edition
Part 12:The Love of the Black Rose
By Thrythlind
"You sure you can use all this junk?" Ranma asked, twirling a club on his finger. Akane looked between the hoop and the ribbon calmly. "Just you watch," she said. As for Ryoko. ******* "So its settled then," Ryoko said. "When Akane defeats your uptight little noble, I get Tenchi for a month." "Hmph." Ayeka smirked. "As if one of your berserkers can compete with any of mine in such a contest of style and grace. Kodachi will dance around this Akane as if she were a rotund bear!" "Oh, we'll see who's graceless after this, your divine highness," Ryoko growled. ~And then I won't have to share either of you for a full month,~ both of them thought with a smirk. "I don't get any say in this, do I?" Tenchi asked. The girls didn't seem to hear him and he sighed. "Didn't think so." ******* "Coo" The sound caught both Ranma's and Akane's attention. Both saw a familiar pigeon chickenwalking across the dojo floor towards them. ~Ryouga,~ Akane's mouth quirked into a frown before it settled into a neutral expression. She glanced nervously at Ranma, wondering if he had been reading her mind when she identified the pigeon. "Hey, Mr. P," Ranma said cheerfully, to which response the bird seemed to wince. ~Apparently not,~ Akane thought. Then Ryouga took to the wing. Ranma easily caught the bird before it reached him and watched as it started to peck at his hand. "Hey, where you been?" Ranma asked, as if he couldn't feel the beak, which was pretty much the case. "Mr. P?" Akane asked. Ranma gave her a suffering look that clearly said, "Do I really have to explain?" "Yeah, Mister Pigeon, Mr. P," Ranma shrugged. The pigeon continued to peck at him. "Isn't kind of feminine give a small animal a cutesy name like that?" Akane asked. "What would you know about it?" Ranma asked sticking his tongue out. "He doesn't even like you and you're falling all over him," Akane snapped. Ranma stared at her and blinked. "Its just a bird, Akane," Ranma said, then he looked down and continued under his breath. "And most of them won't come near me. Anyway, ain't you supposed to be practicing?" "Fine, don't come crying to me when you start having accidents," Akane huffed as she walked back to the tools. Ranma looked at the bird in his hand. "Sheesh, jealous of a bird," Ranma rolled his eyes. Then a gymnastics club pounded him on the head. "I am NOT jealous," Akane snapped. The priestess rose the clubs up in a starting stance. "Now watch this!" Akane leaped into the air, tossing the clubs, kicked her legs out and landed gracefully. The clubs landed several strides to either side of her. Ranma and Mr. P blinked. "Are you supposed to let those drop?" Ranma asked, wondering if the clubs were supposed to hit a target of some sort. "Very funny," Akane growled. Ranma blinked again and then smirked. "Let's try the ribbon." Moments later the ribbon was draped around Akane. "Are you supposed to get yourself all tangled up like that?" Ranma asked. The pigeon in his hands cooed angrily and struggled to get free. "Shut up!" Akane grumbled. The hoop was thrown up into the air, Akane followed it, easily catching it. She landed into an easy somersault and tried to pull herself through. Ranma, smirking, muttered under his breath, and the hoop broke in three places. "Are you supposed to break the hoop?" Ranma asked, trying to keep from laughing. The distraction proved enough for Ryouga to get free and fly further into the building. Ranma glanced briefly in the direction of pigeon and slumped a little, before turning back to Akane. "That does it!" Akane shouted, stomping her feet. "Aren't you supposed to have just a little bit of grace?" Ranma asked, a little calmer. Akane continued to throw a temper-tantrum. ******* Soun was avoiding the chaos, sitting in the hot springs and relaxing. He barely blinked when a pigeon flapped into the room and dropped into the water. A moment later Ryouga rose up out of the water, without saying anything and walked out towards the dojo. ******* "I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz!" Akane cried at Ranma. "Come on Akane," Ranma said in response, feeling guilty at his joke earlier. "You ain't that bad, I mean you're just gettin' started you know." "I can instruct you." A voice said from the doorway. Akane stopped dead and turned around. "Hey, what happened to the pigeon?" she asked dryly. The low growling behind her attracted her attention quickly though. "Ry.Ou.Ga..." Ranma growled out while getting ready to launch. There was a flash of red light as Akane invoked her goddess's gifts to intercept Ranma before he could attack Ryouga. "Let me go! I'm going to kill him!!" "You're welcome to try, Ranma," Ryouga smirked. "If you can get past her that is." Akane was tempted to let Ranma go after that comment. "I thought you were supposed to protect me," Akane reminded him. Ranma stopped struggling at that comment. "Not the other way...Ranma are you okay?" The pig-tailed boy looked from Akane to Ryouga and back. "Yeah," Ranma said quietly. Then he growled and snapped angrily. "Just fine!" In the next moment Akane was holding nothing as Ranma vanished from her grip. "Ranma!" Akane shouted, standing up straight and looking around. "What was that about?" She glanced at Ryouga speculatively, who blushed under the scrutiny. ~He couldn't have been jealous...could he?~ "Well, uh....shall we get started?" he asked. Akane shook herself back to reality. "Yeah, but we really should..." Akane was interrupted as Ryoko appeared in the dojo. "Are you still just hanging around?" Ryoko asked, she noted Ryouga and frowned as she recognized him. There was something relating to Ryouga that she couldn't quite grab hold of, a favor she had asked of his aunt or something. The problem was almost everytime she was around Urd she got almost blind drunk so remembering the exact conversation was somewhat difficult. "Lady Ryoko," Akane sputtered. "Ryouga was just offering to teach me how to use the tools." ~Ahh, maybe that was it,~ Ryoko said, not yet realizing that she hadn't talked to Urd in the hour since the challenge was decided. "That's good, where's your fiance?" "He..left," Akane said. Ryoko arched an eyebrow and floated in front of Ryouga. After a moment's investigation she knocked the celestial on the head and received no response. "Hey, this guy's worse than you," Ryoko said. ******* Kasumi turned to see Ranma appear in the doorway behind her. She smiled at the half-demon as he walked in next to her. Ranma stared at the dirty dishes for a moment. "Is there something I can help you with, Ranma," Kasumi asked encouragingly. "Do ya need help with the dishes?" he asked in response. Kasumi smiled and moved to a small closet to get a smock for Ranma. "I could always use more help," Kasumi said. She handed him the smock and a rag. "Why don't you dry them?" Ranma nodded and slipped the protective smock over his clothes before taking a dish from Kasumi and drying it. Kasumi noticed Ranma become noticeably more tense after a few moments and almost frowned. "Did you have another fight with Akane?" Kasumi asked. "Ryouga's in there," Ranma said simply. "Oh, I see," Kasumi said. "I shouldn't worry if I were you. Lady Ryoko is there as well." Ranma nodded and continued drying dishes, glancing towards the dojo. ******* ~So this is the dwelling of the little barbarian that the Demon has sent to challenge me,~ Kodachi thought as she stood outside the Tendo monastery. "Akane Tendo!" Kodachi shouted, causing a couple of people to glance at her nervously and shuffle away. "Tonight, Kodachi the Black Rose, will cripple you!" She paused for a moment. ******* "Heh," Ryoko snickered holding a ribbon. "I can see where one of Ayeka's kids would like a 'combat..." Ryoko's eye started twitching for apparently no reason. Ryouga swallowed nervously. After all, he was certain that Ryoko was the one that had arranged for him to come down here. The fact that he was currently attempting to speed teach Akane Acrobatic Martial Arts, and, in the process, making her look like a clumsy fool, did not escape him. "Uh, that's enough special..." Ryouga started "Keep training, there's a small problem," Ryoko said. "Its being taken care of." ******* ~Yeah, I got it covered,~ Ranma thought in response to Ryoko's request. He turned to Kasumi. "Sorry, Kasumi, I gotta do something for Auntie." "Oh, that is quite all right," Kasumi said smiling. There was an explosion and an irritated scream. Ranma and Kasumi looked in that direction for a moment. "Incidentally, how well do you know Lady Lina?" "Well enough not to tell her 'that...is a secret,'" Ranma said, heading out the door. ******* Kodachi padded across the roof of the Tendo dojo smiling madly as she tried to ascertain where her enemy's room was. She had already ruled out several rooms and she was quick on her way to eliminating all but the beserker's dwelling. Then all she had to do was...be sent flying through the air on a rush of burning air. ~What....was that?~ Kodachi asked herself, staring up at the growing stars in a daze. Then the stars started to shrink again. "Wasn't there supposed to be someone out here for me to send away," Ranma asked as he stepped out into the courtyard. He glanced up and saw a swiftly descending form, not bracing itself for a fall. "Uh oh." He leapt up from the ground and intercepted the falling figure before she could hit the ground. Ranma looked to see who he had caught and winced as he landed. "Well, this was easy," Ranma muttered. The woman was apparently still staring off into space, but her eyes were fluttering. Ranma took a moment to read what she was thinking. ~Oh!~ Kodachi thought as she came to. ~He's gorgeous!~ Ranma paled and tried to set her down before...Kodachi latched onto him solidly. "Hold on here," Ranma said shakily, though he could tell Kodachi wasn't paying attention. ~Kiss her, don't kiss her. If I do that I have to change.~ Ranma grimaced, wishing that he could feed without dropping the disguise like a full blooded demon could. ~Oh, the grey dreary life of a Jurain novice cloistered away,~ Kodachi ranted internally, unaware that her thoughts had an audience. ~I'd given up any hope of finding a man to love! Ohh! To think that such a wonderful encounter was awaiting me.~ She took turned to face him, after drying her face of the tears of happiness that had been shed. "Please sir, may I ask your name?" "R-r-r.Ranma Saotome," Ranma answered nervously. He paled suddenly as he caught a glimpse of her thoughts. ~Okay, she goes down.~ "For you," Kodachi said as she produced a bouquet of roses. "My...Ranma?" Ranma stepped back away from the flowers letting them fall to the ground. A puff of enchanted smoke rose from the roses and dissipated harmlessly. "You don't need that," Ranma said, smirking. Kodachi watched, rapt as he slipped out of his upper jacket and tunic, revealing his well-muscled chest and firm abdomen. "Oh, Ranma," Kodachi sighed. "Take these lips of...mmph!?" She didn't get to finish her spiel as Ranma quickly embraced her. She caught sight, however, of the great bat wings rising out of her new loves back before the ecstacy hit. A couple of seconds later she slumped to the roof, mind completely blank from the pleasure. Ranma returned to human form, not bothering to listen to Kodachi's currently jumbled thoughts. With any luck she'd think it was a dream. He slipped back into his tunic and jumped down through the hole in the roof. ******* "Wait!" Ryouga snapped. "I feel the presence of demonic power!" Ryoko narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as Ryouga dashed out of the dojo before she could respond. "Demonic power," Ryoko repeated. "Imagine that. Akane-chan, do you know of anyone in this room that could be a 'presence of demonic power?'" "I am sorry Lady Ryoko," Akane said. "What do you mean?" "It wasn't anything important," Ryoko looked Akane up and down and smirked. "Are you supposed to tie yourself up like that?" Akane twitched, the words sparked a memory of Ranma teasing her earlier. "No, I don't think so, Lady Ryoko," Akane said respectfully. Ryoko snickered. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't get lost." She carefully disengaged herself from the ribbon and followed Ryouga. Curiously she lost him almost immediately. "Good idea," Ryoko said. She continued, muttering as Akane left, "I wonder if Urd ever mentioned to Skuld who's fault that was." ******* "Saotome," Nabiki growled behind him. "My ceiling is not a door." Ranma turned around to look at the soot covered Nabiki and struggled to keep from laughing, then had a horrid thought. "Umm, how much did you see of...?" he started. "You getting a little snack off the flower girl?" Nabiki asked. "Errr, yeah," Ranma said paling. Nabiki smirked. "Let's talk deal here, Ranma," Nabiki said. "For what?" Ranma asked nervously. "If I go to Lord Xellos for help with Lina," she stated plainly. "Well, it wouldn't be against the rules, but it would be terribly disappointing." "Umm, what's that got to do with me?" Ranma asked. "I need a middleman," she smirked. "In a manner of speaking, to talk to Lina, understand?" Ranma slumped with a sigh "Yeah," Ranma said. "I'll see what I can do. Now, how do we get her out of here so wakes up at home and thinks this was a dream." They both felt magic of some sort above them. Ranma sighed resignedly. "Maybe she has one of those rings too." ******* Ryouga, flying about the Tendo household, was fortunate enough to spot the girl on top of the house right away. Otherwise he might have wandered for ages before finding anything. He swooped down, landing lightly on the roof next to the dazedly staring girl. ~And now angels fall from the heavens to attend to my greatness,~ a semi-delusional Kodachi thought. "Hey, miss," Ryouga said leaning over. ~Her life force has been drained, oh that villian, Ranma! To attack an innocent woman and leave her out in the cold.~ He reached out, calling on his celestial nature to heal the girl. Down in the courtyard Akane turned toward the roof as she sensed magic. Sure enough there was a bright white glow coming from up on the roof. She hopped up to the roof to see Ryouga leaning over some girl in a black acrobat's outfit, emblazoned with roses. "RYOUGA!! What do you think you're DOING!" Ranma yelled as he joined the party on the roof again. "Fixxing whatever evil you did to this poor inno..." Ryouga started angrily. "That's Kodachi the Black Rose you jerk!" Ranma snapped. Akane glanced at the girl again, and this time recognized her. "Oh my," Kodachi said again. "I must thank you, oh divine one, for bringing me to my senses. Here, a token of my esteem." A bouquet of roses appeared from nothing, and everybody felt the magic in them. "Oh....uh...th..th.thank you," Ryouga stammered accepting the roses. "No wait!!" Ranma leaped across to try to knock the roses away from Ryouga. He managed to reach there just as the spell went off. "Binding spell in the flowers." Ranma muttered weakly as he and Ryouga were both bound by an ephemeral chain of roses. "How was I to know?" Ryouga protested. "Mind-reading," Ranma suggested irritably. "Oh, my dark knight and divine saviour," Kodachi sighed. "They are both so gorgeous, a pity that they should be of such opposing factions. Whichever shall I choose?" Kodachi paused for a moment, and Akane's eye twitched angrily as she guessed what was coming next. Ranma, on the other hand, looked pale as Kodachi herself. Ryouga was clueless. "I must have them both!" Kodachi shouted. She started forward to kiss one of the trapped men when something seemed to appear out of nowhere and kick her away. "Right over my bedroom no less!" Akane shouted angrily. "Oh, what tragic timing," Kodachi sighed irritably. "My immortal loves, let us meet again!" "Feh," Akane grumbled. "Ridiculous. And YOU!" Akane whirled on the two bound men. A flash of red burst between her hands and suddenly she was holding a red mallet. The berserker rushed at them angrily. "YOU are supposed to be training me, not flirting with the enemy!" Akane swung her mallet and Ryouga flew backwards into the pool. She angrily noted that, of course, Ranma was stuck looking the wrong way. Ranma felt the waves of jealousy off of Akane and felt depressed. Of course she would get jealous over Ryouga and Kodachi. The jerk didn't even bother to hide it, just rubbed it right in your face. He was thinking along those lines when Akane pushed him over so that he fell to the roof on his face. When he hit his thoughts sounded more like ~This is going to be an uncomfortable night.~ ~Jerk,~ Akane thought behind a shield of limmericks. ~He's supposed to be my fiance, not flirting around with Ryouga and Kodachi.~ Akane jumped off the roof and headed angrily for the pool dragging out the paralyzed pigeon. She got to bed and set the pigeon in a box before settling for bed. ~There's no way I'm losing to her!~ Akane declared to herself. ******* Ryoko looked around the empty dojo and blinked "This party sure died fast," she said to nobody in particular.