[Ranma/Xover][FanFic] The Bet-Children Of Jurai 1a
GreggSharp
http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html
char owned by Pioneer, R.Takahashi, etc.
WARNING:Xover with some degree of fusion.
Series involved are (in order of degree):
[Ranma][TM][SM].
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Children Of Jurai 1a: Jurai 1/2
this is an attempt to consolidate the Ranma Muyo
of the Bet and Children Of An Alien God. "Ranma
Muyo" has been used several times as a title for
that particular fusion, and there's another fic with
a very similar name to "Children of an alien god"
out there (or so i'm told.)
--------Jurai Lunar Orbit, 1240 AD----------
Kagato's arrival occurred exactly
three hundred minutes after Ryoko's appearance.
The defenses of planet Jurai failed during Ryoko's
attack, and there was nothing to impede the
progress of the massive ship Solja as it landed.
The fires were planetary in scope,
quite visible from orbit. Sparks seemed to be leaving
those fires to lose themselves among the sparks that
were the stars.
Aboard one of those sparks, Yosho turned
to one of his soldiers. "Kodai, report."
The young knight brought fist to chest in
a salute. "Sir, all personnel are secure. We have no
communication with the other ships as Kagato may
have a way to monitor even coded direct-line methods."
"And Ryoko?"
"Tracking her currently. She is attempting
to evade. Not that it will do her a lot of good." Kodai
made a salute towards the "hub" of the tree-ship.
"Your ship's capabilities make such efforts pointless."
Yosho nodded. "And the refugees?"
"Secure, my liege. Any further orders?"
"No. My ship will notify me when Ryoko
slows enough to make weapon fire practical." The
bond between pilot and ship went deeper than Kodai
knew, and now was not the time to burden the
warrior further.
------------Jurai, 1240 AD----------------
Kagato left, he'd learned some, but not
enough. It was never enough. For over one Juraian
month he'd sifted the wreckage, with little to show
for it.
Solja lifted and Kagato turned his eyes to
another planetary system. Vladis VI, perhaps the
answers he sought would be in the ancient catacombs
of that world...
A piece of "wreckage" noted the departure
and notified a relay system. Some ships would begin
coming back to Jurai within the decade.
----Hokkaido 12/20/1240 AD:-----------
"Master Yosho?" The knight stood to
the side. "Your ship-tree was damaged severely,
sir, it doesn't look like we'll be leaving this world.
Sorry to disturb you, sir, but the other survivors..."
Yosho nodded. A scant two dozen
survivors. If the other ships had survived, they
would be in similar condition. There was no way
to tell as yet.
"Plant my ship-tree's seedling there,
in the mound at the center of the crater." Yosho
pushed his grief to the side. Time for that later,
for now he had to be strong. "How many warriors
do we have?"
"Four, sir. Myself, Kino, Seikou, and
Nigami." The knight paused. "Some of the farmers
remember enough of their militia training that they
need some polish but can be brought up to speed."
Yosho nodded again. "Principal lifeform
of this world?"
"That's one of the strange things, sir. Our
readings come back that they are 99% Juraian down
to the genetic level. I suppose this could be one of
the Seeded worlds..."
"Could be," agreed Yosho. This made things
a little easier, at least. There were two philosophies
regarding the number of human-type lifeforms in the
galaxy. One was the ancient Precursor race, who seeded
the galaxy with similar lifeforms. The other was the
idea that the upright biped humanoid was simply an
efficient design that was naturally dominant.
Both ideas had their opponents and
proponents. The latter was especially reviled by the
hexapedal and quadrapedal species.
----Hokkaido, Masaki Shrine, 1244 AD-------
"Report," Yosho ordered. He spared
a smile and a nod at his native-born wife before
turning his attention to the knight.
Keeping it casual, the natives were
watching after all, Kodai nodded his head
respectfully. "All goes well sir. We know from
resonance of the trees that Tsunami is intact."
"But not where, nor do we have the
means to communicate right now." Yosho adjusted
his native clothing. As refugees from a wartorn
land, they had been granted sanctuary in what
had been a lightly occupied mountain valley.
"What of Ryoko?"
"Her containment has been accomplished.
Scientist Tombo estimates that by the time our people
are ready, all of Kagato's controls will have been
removed over her."
"Good." Yosho glanced back at his
wife, marvelling anew at her poise and beauty,
and that he had found such a jewel in such a
primitive setting. "What of the others? What
of yourself, Kodai? How are you settling in?"
A faint smile crossed the young
knight's face. "Not having nearly your luck
with the ladies, my liege. I understand that
we need to blend in, but..."
"Fifteen of our number are in
hibernation," pointed out Yosho. "If the
primitive living conditions and lack of Jurai
energy here are getting to you, that remains an
option."
"No, my liege." Kodai sighed and
rested his weight on his battlestaff. "We who
remain are loyal to you, and there are many
things that must be done before we are ready
for the awakening."
Yosho nodded, appreciating the
enormity of the task before them. He was well
into his guise as a priest of the Masaki Shrine,
which was the Demon's Prison.
"The hot spring we created will be
ringed with Jurai sprouts soon." Kodai's smile
broadened. When they reached maturity in
four hundred years, they would begin building
the Jurai power. By the time of the planned
awakening, it would be enough to sustain the
populace.
"They are growing well, then."
Yosho nodded. In many ways, this was a
perfect world for them. "Well, I appreciate
the information, Kodai. Get back to your
role as a farmer then, and by all means
keep well till next we meet."
"And you, my liege."
----Hokkaido, Masaki Shrine, 1251 AD:-----
"You won't change your mind,
Kodai? We shall miss you." Yosho appeared
to be studying the ring of trees around the
steaming pool. The hot spring was created
by the battle between Ryoko and Yosho,
constrained and shaped by the scientist
Tombo.
"As the natives say, 'do not
put all of your eggs in one basket', milord.
By planting and tending Jurai seedlings far
from here, we are not entirely cut off if
something happens here within this valley."
Kodai paused. "Too, I have not
been able to fit well into my role here. I have
found none to ease my own loneliness the
way the other men have, nor do I have any
kin among those here. I am the most dispensable,
therefore the duty falls to me."
Yosho nodded. Not really agreeing,
but seeing the other's point of view. "So where
are you going?"
"I shall plant the seedlings in areas
where they can thrive, and in areas that are
sufficiently out of the way that they may grow
to maturity without native interference. My
planned route will go through the West, though
I hope to wander the planet till I find a place that
I may call home."
"What of the others?"
"The same," Kodai said. "Nothing here
to hold us. We'll each find a place to farm, and to
tend the trees we plant. There are only three of us
going, though, and the mission is mainly mine. I
fully expect Kogen and Nigami to return."
"Go then, my friend. Success in your
mission, and may you find happiness in your
chosen path."
"Thank you, my liege." Kodai smiled.
"Thank you, my friend."
---Bayankala Mountain Range, China.----
"Some sort of warrior woman, isn't
she?" Kodai smiled at the fierce, sword-wielding,
maiden who was apparently questioning their
right to continue. "Damn, the translation
effect is apparently not working."
"Another primitive violent maniac,"
summed up Nigami's opinion.
Kogen grinned and tried to look
friendly/nonthreatening. "Maybe, but she's
REALLY cute."
"Kinda young for you, isn't she,
Kogen?" Nigami elbowed the farmer.
"Yeah, I suppose. I just miss..."
Noting the warrior girl was just
standing there, weapon ready, Kodai forced
himself to relax. "We all miss home."
"Sir, I was engaged. She was
a pilot. She was on one of the ships that
was destroyed when Kagato began his
final approach." Kogen blinked and
sighed. "She was a fierce warrior herself."
"Ah." Kodai noted that the
girl was still eyeing them suspiciously.
"Well, what do you think? Do we go around
and avoid whatever she's guarding? Or do
we..."
The girl, perhaps 17 years of age,
moved forward, her sword coming up on a
course that would drive it through Kodai.
Kogen's battlestaff slammed into
the girl's head with a thunderous crack, and
the girl slumped to the ground, stunned. Kogen
held the end of his staff above the girl's throat.
"Just because I admire you, fierce little one,
does not mean I will allow you to harm one of
my companions. Now we shall leave here, and
you will never have to see us again."
"That was a good strike," the girl
said as she looked over Kogen from where she
lay sprawled. She waited until there was just one
of him again.
"Oh, so the translators ARE working."
Kodai shook his head. "That's surprising considering
everything else around here."
"Hmmmph," the girl looked over Kodai,
then turned her regard back to Kogen. "You want
to leave here?"
"Yes, we have business elsewhere."
Kogen didn't lower his guard.
"Then it is a foursome." The girl moved
away from Kogen slowly, then rolled to her feet.
"Where are we going?"
"We?" Kodai raised an eyebrow.
The girl matched his gesture. "You whose
culture includes woman warriors don't believe in
seperating a wife and her husband, do you?"
----Northern wilderness, Norway, 1255 AD----
Kodai buried his longtime companion
Nigami in the heavy snows near the third seedling.
Kogen and his wife Lehong had returned
to her ancestral home in the mountains, to tend what
had been the first of the seedlings they had planted.
That left Kodai, alone, to carry the remaining
two seedlings to where they could grow. Then would
come a final task, searching this world for any of their
kind that might have made it here, might have found their
way free of the destruction of Jurai.
With a brief prayer, Kodai turned to the West
and continued his journey alone.
---Amazon Rainforest, 1298 AD-------
Looking back once at where the final seedling
had taken root in the rich soil, Kodai swatted at the
annoying cloud of insects and brushed gray hairs away
from his eyes. To grow old at such an accelerated rate,
just like one of the primitives of this world, seemed to
be a cosmic joke at his expense.
When he had started this journey, he had
been one of the youngest knights to graduate from
the Academy. A mere thirty-one of this planet's orbits
around its primary. Now at the age of seventy-eight
Earth-years, he still stood strong and proud, though
he was neither as fast nor as enduring as he once had
been.
As he walked he wondered how Yosho had
done with his colony. Was he alone now, the others
having gone into hibernation? Was he surrounded by
his native-born children, and by the next generation of
the Jurai heritage?
Or Kogen and Lehong. The tales of the warrior
women and their tribal customs had enlivened many a
night of travel. As had watching the forward Lehong
slowly seduce and capture the heart of the shy navigator
turned farmer Kogen. Did Kogen even now spin tales to
his disbelieving children? Of an empire among the stars,
of a paradise destroyed, of the sleeping hopes of rebirth
buried beneath the mountains of Japan?
Kodai hurt. He was old and he was tired, so
very tired. So very lonely, and loneliness can be a pain
beyond endurance that poisons the soul and deadens
the will. Yet he remained true to his mission, had planted
the seedlings, and now sought the completion of the
remainder of his mission. Then, he thought with some
longing, then he could rest.
__/Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, 1881 AD\_
"I am to be alone, then?" Yosho raised
an eyebrow.
"Alone, father?" Seigo raised an eyebrow.
"You have the trees, you have your human companions,
you have the sleepers. You will HARDLY be alone."
"You know what I mean." Yosho tilted his head
back to look at the child he'd fathered some years ago. A
pity that the Jurai power would be weak in his branch, but
one could see that Seigo had little ability with that power.
"Father, we have a chance at another life, and
it is over one hundred years before those who sleep will
awaken. Give me your blessings and the remaining lines of
the Blood Jurai will go and strengthen our roots elsewhere."
"The lines are already pretty divergent." Yosho
noted. "Tombo the scientist, Kogen the farmer, my line, Kino
the aspiring Knight, and Kiba the technician. All have formed
lines of Jurai within the native population. All have given some
gift of Jurai to their children and children's children."
"You know that I too must go, Father. There is nothing
to keep me here." Seigo paused. "We must all find and pursue the
paths of our own destiny."
Yosho nodded. He understood. Regretted the event,
but understood why it was happening. "I have outlived all of those
who came with me, I do find it regrettable that my children also must
leave."
Seigo's eyes were sad. "I know, but this must be done."
Yosho nodded again. "Well, you know how I hate these
long goodbyes."
Seigo smirked slightly. The old man understood but would
weep anyway. Well, the young prince would also miss his father. Tugging
at the ponytail he now wore, Seigo nodded and left.
Yosho experienced a brief moment of prescience from the
assembled trees. He saw a brief vision of the future where a child of
Seigo's descent stood revealed at the edge of the clearing. A girl whose
hair was tied back in a pigtail, nervously deciding whether or not to
approach the house.
Shaking his head, Yosho cleared the vision. He
had duties in the present, the future would have to wait.
__/Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, 1942 AD\__
"Keep your wars far from here," advised
Yosho. "We have had enough of wholescale slaughter,
thank you, whatever the justification you might have."
"It would be a shame," the lieutenant said
with a bow, "to lose such an important ancient temple.
Yet if we cannot store armaments in one of the few areas
the Americans do not bomb..."
"If such an attitude is prevelant, then the
Japan I knew in my youth is already lost," said Yosho
as he turned back to his devotions. He dismissed the
officer, he'd met and weathered similar confrontations
over the centuries with similar bureaucrats.
He had far more important things to consider,
such as his newest wife. It _had_ been a century, after
all.
---Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, 1976 AD------
"Nobuyuki-san, you are about to marry
my daughter Achika," Yosho intoned to the young
architect. "She has consented. Do you now swear
to never reveal what you learn here tonight?"
"You're not ninjas," Nobuyuki scoffed.
"I know better than that. You're not Yakuza, so yeah,
I swear."
"You're right, we are not ninjas." Yosho
nodded his head. Shadows began to take shape,
drawing a startled sound from Nobuyuki. "We are
far more and far less than a clan of assassins."
Achika was watching him out of the
corner of her eye, and Nobuyuki was quite aware
of this.
"We are," Yosho said with a shrug,
"refugees of a sort. We are from a land farther
away than you think, known as Jurai..."
----Masaki Shrine, 1991 AD-----
It had been implied permission,
hadn't it? If he could get the keys from
grandpa, he could explore the cave, right?
Tenchi crept down the corridor.
He didn't know it, but he had
an appointment to keep.
<clip here to chapter 1b>