[Ranma/SM][FanFic] The Phoenix Prince Saga Book 2, Part 4, Chapter 1
Linda Ward
Part Four: Ablaze
Chapter One: Kindle
The young lad, once the High Prince of Mars, walked along at
the side of the being who had claimed his troth only two days earlier
in the Throne Hall of Mars. He was a handsome boy, if a bit on the thin
and scrawny side. Some might even have been tempted to call him pretty
or effeminate if it wasn't for the sword hilt dangling from his belt.
The hilt itself wasn't truly awe inspiring, rather it was the
promise of what had the possibility of protruding from the hilt at any
given time. The Sword of the High Prince, which he still retained
despite having surrendered his title for the dubious honor he strode
towards, had been known to sprout blades of many varied and sundry
types. On occasion, a blade formed of pure light had formed, on others
lightning and yet others called forth a blade of purest fire. Only
once had a more material form been summoned. That had been during
the fated duel to the death betwixt him and his arc nemesis, the
Raging Boar, sometimes better known by his given name, Butano Gekido.
During that battle, despite the fact that Shima had won the
hand-to-hand duel notwithstanding that Shima was half the size of
the monstrous warrior, Gekido had chosen to attack the victorious
prince in a blind rage as he left the arena. Shima had reacted with
the speed of a lifetime of training in the Arts of War. He had drawn
the Sword of the High Prince from where he had just hung it at his
hip, whirled about, and, summoning a blade, plunged it to the hilt
in the chest of the berserk gladiator. The blade had been formed of
a rainbowed crystalline structure unlike any before seen in the Lunar
Realm.
And so Butano Gekido died with an expression of shock on
his face as his killer looked on in tears. For Shima had not wished
to kill his opponent. Despite their differences and animosity, the
two youthful knights of the Solar Kingdom had been true friends.
Later, it had been discovered that the burlier warrior had been
drugged in an attempt to create the perfect assassin of the juvenile
cavalier. Shima himself had delivered Gekido's lifeless corpse into
the arms of the boy's father. Even three years after the event, it
still brought pain to the prince's heart.
**********
He was suddenly shaken from his silent reverie by the duo's
arrival at their destination. A massive slab of iron stood before the
pair barring their passage further down the ancient corridor.
The being at his side gestured towards the gigantic slab of
primitive metal and spoke in his fluting, child-like voice.
"In here, Mortal, you shall find the first stage of your
transformation into my Champion."
"Lord Phoenix, I am sorry, but I do not understand."
Lord Phoenix stared at the mortal for a solid minute before
replying.
"You are weak, as are all mortals. You are like this iron,
which was extracted from the ore, as you were from the womb. You
are malleable, flexible. You have no path chosen. If you are struck
with power, you bend, if you do not break. You are brittle. You are
fragile. Like iron. However, iron can be refined through fire with
other materials into steel, which is strong. You must be refined,
through the fires, with courage and determination. As with the
creation of steel from iron, my Champion shall be created of
strength from weakness through several stages. This is the
first of many. As steel must come of iron, there are hidden
strengths in even the weakest. Find yours."
With that, Lord Phoenix vanished in a brilliant flare
of white hot flames.
**********
Shima stood in the ancient corridor for many hours, pondering
the words of the Lord Phoenix. The iron slab loomed over his head the
entire time.
He believed that he had tried everything. Not one single blade
in the Sword of the High Prince's repertoire caused even the slightest
scratch in the increasingly puzzling slab. Finally, he roared with
frustration and slammed his fist into the slab.
After recovering from the pain of doing something that
infinitely stupid, he noticed a significant fact.
The slab had moved.
It wasn't much. Only a few inches at the most, but it was a
start!
With a grim smile the young ex-High Prince quickly tied back
his long raven dark hair into a tight braid and tied it off with a
scrap of thread he tugged from his tunic hem. Then he set his
shoulders against the slab and heaved against it with all of his
strength.
It didn't move.
Puzzled he took a step back to reassess the situation.
"So, if I slam my fist into, which really, really hurt, it
moved. But when I pushed it as hard as I could, nothing happened."
He stared at his throbbing hand in bewilderment. Which was
when he noticed the fact that he was bleeding. He raised his fist to
his face and stared at the blood creeping down the back of his hand
from his split knuckles deep in thought. Then he walked over and
examined where he had struck the slab.
Just as he had suspected, there was blood on the slab.
"Clever. Very clever. Hidden strengths." Shima chuckled
as he began smearing as much of the blood from his hand as he
could onto the slab.
He reached out and smacked his hand against the slab, causing
the palm to sting rather nicely.
The area covered in his blood slid back and disappeared.
Shima quickly tore off a piece of his tunic and bound his
still bleeding hand. Then he strode through the slab to where the
Lord Phoenix was waiting on the other side.
**********
The duo had traveled for many days through the torturous
twisting of the catacombs in the Earth mountain the Lord Phoenix
called his home. Unfortunately for Shima, Lord Phoenix still
didn't truly know how to treat his new mortal. They had disdained
food, water and sleep for the past several days. Shima was steadily
growing weaker, but he adamantly refused to give in and prove that
the Lord Phoenix had been correct about him.
Typical arrogantly stupid mortal. Creatures like the Lord
Phoenix are generally right when they pass judgement about a person.
**********
They were fast approaching the end of their second week of
travel. Shima had faced down and defeated several more obstacles,
but he was very frail now. His clothing, once well fitted, now
draped loosely on his emaciated frame. The Sword of the High Prince
hung heavy at his hip, its belt wrapped nearly double around the
haggard prince's waist.
To put it simply, Shima, who had once been the High Prince of
Mars and the Heir to the War Throne, was dying.
And he knew it.
But that, by no means, meant that he would admit it to anyone.
Not even himself.
**********
It had been a long and arduous journey. It had taken the
better part of two weeks without food. Without sleep. And without
water. But he had survived. He had triumphed at last!
Barely.
His skeletal hand reached out and seized the ornate golden
handle of the elaborate portal that the Lord Phoenix had informed
him would lead him to a place where he could rest and, if he so
chose, return to his home. The tests were over. He had passed.
With a weak smile, the moribund mortal opened the door
and passed through the portal.
**********
The flames leapt up to catch him as he fell. And he fell
forever, the fiercely hot flames eating at his soul for all eternity.