[Ranma][FanFic] The Bet - Featherbrite's Tale 4a
MetroAnime
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors. minor citrus flavoring.
Metro...@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html
4a: Arrested? No. Captured!
--------------Tendo-ke, Nerima---------------------------------
Ranma sat back and enjoyed the simple
luxury of a hot soak. Rinsing had put him in yousei
form, which he hated for its alien appearance and
attendent sex change. (Though he _would_ admit
that the flight stuff and enhanced senses were cool.)
The hot water had instantly restored both gender
and species, and was welcome for other reasons.
For much of his life, bathing had been
done in lakes or streams, or an old oil barrel at best.
This, an actual furo or soaking tub, was something
that Ranma felt he could get used to.
He didn't have long though. He knew that
tonight there would be another attack by the vampire.
Having tasted Akane's blood once, the vampire would
return again to sample the same prey and increase his
influence on her.
There were further preparations to be made.
Now, however, Ranma could spend a few moments in
quiet appreciation of a hot soak.
The moment was broken as the door slid open.
"OH my-------!"
"Aiyaaa!"
"Mine!"
Kasumi had blushed and covered herself with a
towel. Shampoo had covered her eyes, only to spread her
fingers a moment later. Both tore their eyes away from
Ranma to stare at Nabiki, who was looking thoroughly
embarrassed and flushed, but hadn't looked away either.
Ranma lowered himself further into the water
and wondered if he could possibly learn invisibility.
Featherbrite, having flipped the "Occupied" sign
earlier, thought it was only fair for the Candidates to get a
good look at what faerie magic, good genes, and a good diet
while growing up could do.(1)
"A man among men, indeed," snickered the
faerie. With a rather lighter heart, Featherbrite turned
her attention to her own preparations for the upcoming
battle.
--------------Furinkan SHS, Nerima-------------
"Got it!"
"You've still got your touch, my dear
Hitomi."
"Isao, you say the sweetest things. Now
shut up."
The catburglar riffled through the files until
she found what she wanted. Then discovered that
Hisakawa was about as organized as he was famous.
"Kuso!"
Isao flipped through the papers as he was
handed them. "Name, address, curse? Jusenkyo, eh?
So it's real..."
"If the minotaur shows up, I'm outta here."
Hitomi didn't even look up from where she was sorting
through the files. "Hmmm. Looks like Hisagawa-sensei
has been collecting panty shots of his students."
"Somehow it doesn't surprise me." Isao
spread papers out, then quickly used the school
photocopier to make duplicates of the important
bits. "Okay, we've got what we want. Now we split."
"Uh uh, darling. YOU split. I've got a few
more things to take. Make it look like a real robbery,
where they broke into the files looking for loot. The
stolen items will turn up in the possession of a few
juvenile delinquents, and the police will be happily
satisfied with solving yet another crime."
"You're the expert," Isao nodded.
"And don't you ever forget it."
--------------Nichieju, China----------------------
"<Rink!>"
"<Pink?>" The Healer (apprentice,
second class) blinked at the presence of her
sister the Herbalist.
"<News!>" Pink held up a newspaper. It
had a story about whoever that guy had been who
had beaten Shampoo and vanished. For some reason
a number of Elders had taken enormous interest in
the guy.
"<Shampoo? Honestly, your rivalry with
her is...RANMA SAOTOME??!>" Rink blinked again,
her jaw hanging open. She'd caught a glimpse of a
tall and handsome young man during the event, but
her reaction at that time had been more along the
lines of how Shampoo might finally have a life outside
of beating on people all the time.
"<What do you say NOW, sister? She is
stealing YOUR fiance as arranged by our mother.>"
They knew all about it. Pink had no interest in the boy,
other than as something to take away from Shampoo.
Rink looked up at her sister, crumpling the
newspaper in her hand. "<Shampoo, I will steal your
happiness!>"
--------------Tendo-ke, Nerima-------------------
A few hours later, Ranma-yousei was sleeping.
Nabiki was glad that the sylph didn't snore at
least. She, however, wasn't able to sleep just yet. Having
a boy (even if he was a she at the time) sleeping THAT
close was...distracting.
Maybe it had been the earlier scene in the furo.
Maybe it was just she wasn't used to having a nightlight.
Ranma's faerie form put out a slight glow. It
was only noticeable during periods of great stress, or
like now where there was no other source of light. A
slight sparkly glimmering that shifted continually in
hue and brightness- reflecting Ranma's emotional state.
"This has GOT to go," Nabiki muttered at
the ceiling. Pink and purple flickering answered her
quiet comment. "Great. Just great." More multicolored
flickering, shifting with each syllable.
A little smile crossed Nabiki's face. Annoying,
but also amusing in a way. "I really value my privacy,
Saotome. Just wanted you to know, I'm REALLY beginning
to resent your presence." The colors flickered to a more
dark blue. "You also smell, you know that? Sort of a baked
cinnamon. Men are _not_ supposed to smell like baked
goods. I'd noticed that earlier. I can tell what mood you're
in by the scent." The colors had faded down to violet.
"Nabiki?"
Nabiki turned her head slightly to look at the
figure standing on the edge of her bed. "How come I can
see you?"
"You're in the state between awake and asleep,
the twilight between reality and dream. You're open to a
lot of things you wouldn't be normally." Featherbrite
walked up to the girl's shoulder and sat down.
"I don't get it, but okay." Nabiki filed the
information away for later retrieval. "What's the deal with
cold iron, anyway? The old stories conflict about the
effects and don't go into why."
"I'm not sure. The faerie way is to accept things,
not to do as you humans do and concern yourselves with
the why." Featherbrite sighed. "I think it's like this tamed
lightning you use."
"Electricity?" Nabiki yawned as she started thinking
about this. Grounding effect? Magnetism? "Can you turn off
the nightlight at least?"
"Oh, Ranma's glow? He won't have it in his
uncursed form." Featherbrite looked into the young girl's
eyes. "Do you want to sleep? I can help you there."
"Of course I want to sleep. I've got school
tomorr..." Nabiki's eyes abruptly closed and she slept.
Featherbrite smiled and walked up to the girl's
head. "Sweet dreams," the faerie said. It was a promise.(2)
Nabiki's lips curled up in a little smile as she
dreamed.
---------Myou no maru, Sea Of Japan---------
Tolkein watched the wake behind the
ship and smiled. It was easy for him to picture the
same wake behind a galleon as when he first had
come to these waters over 200 years previously.
He was aware of the ship almost as if
it were a part of him. It was his lair, after all, and
a dragon was aware of every part of his lair.
Tolkein had wondered if there were other
dragons out there, doing the same thing. Or was he
the last of his kind? He hadn't seen another dragon
in over four hundred years, and that had been an
ancient one preparing to leave this world behind.
Upon seeing the albino and sensing the
strangeness, he'd hoped that here was another. It
had taken some time to determine that she was NOT
a dragon but was a half-breed. Of WHAT he was
not sure yet.
Tolkein smiled because one of the
dangers of such a long life was getting bored.
Things were looking less boring.
---------Tendo-ke, Nerima------------------------
Ranma awoke when the disturbance hit the
first set of wards. Featherbrite settled onto his shoulder
and lightly touched his mind, adding her own sensory
input. That sometime during the night he had shifted
back to male form was noted, and he sensed that the
little faerie had had something to do with it.
As Featherbrite's perceptions added to his
own, the darkened room seemed to suddenly
come into color. A pale blue glow surrounded
the softly murmurring Nabiki, and the various wards
had a fitful white flickering around them.
Ranma snuck towards Akane's room,
where the attack would begin, stopping only
long enough to open Kasumi's door. Featherbrite
briefly conjured a blue glow into the room which
was enough to awake the two occupants.
Sounds of a window being opened
reached Ranma. "Now."
Ranma opened the door, interrupting
an attempt to give Akane a hickey that would
do more than break the skin. His opening remark
was a flying front kick.
Akane dropped as the vampire turned
his attention to the newest victim. The shock was
enough to bring her to full wakefulness. Her
reaction to seeing a slavering, fanged, middle-aged
European businessman fighting Ranma in her room
at midnight was about what one would expect.
Her scream got everyone up but Nabiki.
Nabiki merely put her head under her pillow
and mumbled something about ice cubes and ostrich
feathers. Ranma's name came up a couple of times.(3)
"Oh...my..." Kasumi managed to say, holding
her cross to bar passage into the rest of the house. She
couldn't believe she'd ever thought that younger men
were boring.
Shampoo stood guard in front of Kasumi.
She knew the plan. She also knew that no plan ever
survived contact with the enemy.
"What's going on..." Genma saw the vampire,
remembered Akane throwing him down the stairs, and
decided to leave this fight to the boy. About time Ranma
stood on his own two feet.
Soun saw one of his daughters being menaced
by a vampire and started to squeeze past Kasumi. He would
not allow this to continue. Thereby proving Shampoo's point
about battles not allowing a plan to survive.
Featherbrite took the opportunity afforded her by
Ranma's battle and sat on Akane's head. Magic flowed like a
stream around the young girl from the faerie.
Vladimir was unused to this level of interference,
but wasn't letting any of the cattle get in the way of his plans.
Unfortunately, the martial artist didn't seem inclined to stand
still and let the vampire get to business. "Slave, attack." Let
the girl take some of the heat off of him.
Akane watched but didn't hear the command.
Featherbrite had turned off the sound.
A vicious backhand with a vampire's supernatural
strength managed to throw Soun Tendo the length of the
room, a demon head attack just beginning to form. He slumped
and went still.
Vladimir finally managed to grasp the young
man whose harmless blows had proved such a distraction.
One hand was enough to hold this worthless creature up
and would be enough to crush his neck in front of his
family. Then Vladimir could find the faerie and gain the
power needed to avenge himself against Dmitri.
"Shampoo want to know if she can cut in?"
Shampoo ducked under another swing from the vampire,
to come up behind him. She attacked.
Vladimir looked down at his chest noting
that there appeared to be a wooden practice sword
sticking out of it.
"Technically, Shampoo, that doesn't qualify
as a 'cut' at all. More of a thrust." Kasumi smiled at her
friend. It was so nice that she was getting the chance to
vent some of her violent impulses.
"Oh," Shampoo stepped back and regarded
the impaled vampire. "Shampoo think maybe big sister
Kasumi is right. Just moment please."
Ranma thumped to the ground, feeling that
his neck had taken WAY too much abuse today.
"Kasumi please to look other way briefly?"
Shampoo smiled at her "big sister" who was almost like
the mother she'd never had.
Vladimir dropped to his knees, trying to push
the wooden sword out of his chest. He was too close, he
couldn't be stopped NOW.
A Chinese sword made a whispering noise as
it cut through the air. "Shampoo have to thank Razor. He
very good weaponsmith, put good edge on sword. Even
if he a very weird male, he know his business."
"Shampoo. Why?" Kasumi blinked, puzzled over
her friend's actions but grateful there was no blood to mess
up the floor.
Shampoo began cleaning her sword and smiled
at her big sister's confusion. "Ah, Kasumi not know?
Shampoo know how deal with vampires. First have to use
stake or wood through heart. Then have to cut off vampire
head. Then leave head and body out for sun. When
turn to ash must use running water to flush ashes or throw
in sea. Then, very important, must celebrate three nights
later to honor ancestors and spirits who help bring victory."
"Oh, a party?" Kasumi nodded to indicate she
understood. She'd have to go shopping.
"You...saved me." Akane looked at the amazon
with a completely different viewpoint. "He...he would have..."
Shampoo nodded and smiled. After all, she had
just proven that she was a thoroughly kick-butt amazon
warrior who had the tools and the talent. She was feeling
every inch the champion.
"And I thought you were just a stupid violent
bimbo," Akane murmurred.
Shampoo frowned and took out her dictionary.
"Just when Shampoo think she getting hang of language..."
"It's not important, Shampoo," Kasumi quickly
covered. Akane was just feeling a bit free with her tongue
after having just escaped being a vampiric slave. No reason
to spoil the moment. "Come on, Featherbrite can put wards
around the head and body."
"You are NOT leaving that in my room, are you?"
Akane swallowed hard, turning a pleading gaze from one
person to the next. She was supposed to trust her safety
to Ranma's imaginary friend? "C'mon. Kasumi? Ranma?
Shampoo? Please? Can't I sleep with one of you guys
tonight?"
Downstairs, Genma was draining his third bottle.
He had *not* seen what he'd thought he'd seen. It had to
have been a hallucination, so there was nothing to get
worked up about. Ranma could *not* have been fighting
some snarling fanged guy with glowing red eyes in Akane's
bedroom. Absolutely not.
Lots of sake helped. Years of denial gave him a
lot of practice. Hard enough to accept a Chinese curse that
turned him into a panda and his son into a winged daughter.
Vampires could *not* really exist, just myth and superstition.
Had Ranma been making advances on Akane? Yeah,
that was it, and she'd been fighting him off. If this thing with
Nabiki didn't go off as planned, they could try for a few
illegitimate children on the side. The lines would still be joined
and the mother wouldn't mind shoving an embarrassment
off on a long training journey.
Genma would have found Soun and explained the
sake-granted insight, except that the sake was finally having
the intended effect. He would wake up in the morning with a
rather severe hangover and only fuzzy recollections of the
night.
Besides, Soun Tendo was still unconcious, though
Shampoo and Kasumi had carried him off to his own bed where
he'd be more comfortable. At least more comfortable there than
imbedded in the wall he'd impacted.
In her room, Nabiki was smiling and mumbling something
about whipped cream and strawberries.
Ranma glanced over at Nabiki as he prepared for bed. He
hadn't known that she liked strawberries. Maybe he ought to pick
her up some as a peacekeeping gesture, after all she couldn't be
happy about these living arrangements.
Shampoo stared at the ceiling on her futon, listening to
Akane on HER futon. Kasumi kept her bed. Life in Japan was so
different from the village. A warrior's life was hard, because an
Amazon had to be tough and ready to fight for everything. Her
eyes caught the frills and lace around her friend's bed. If she
dressed more like Nabiki or Kasumi would Ranma pay more
attention to her?
Featherbrite checked on Nabiki, and wondered at
some of the strangeness the girl was dreaming of. Well, the
ostrich feathers weren't THAT bizarre, she'd heard of that
back in that Sultan's harem. After a moment's deliberation,
she decided that she ought to see if Kasumi or Shampoo had
the same sort of reaction. Maybe it was some Japanese thing...
==================
(1) Having worked in predominantly female
staffed offices for the past twelve years, one notes
that a favorite topic of conversation/gossip are the
shortcomings of the male gender. That this one is
apparently as invisible as Gosunkugi most of the time
no doubt contributes to the freeness of such conversation.
Featherbrite has been listening to washerwomen, harem
girls, and other gossips for centuries. Does she want her
friend to suffer from these complained about lacks or
being substandard? No! She therefore used magic to
correct these perceived deficiencies/problems during
Ranma's development. If you need more details and still do
not understand, you are too young for that information.
This note is because some people still don't get it.
(2) In case anyone objects to this, remember,
FB has an _alien_ sense of morality. She doesn't
see anything wrong with manipulating a few dreams
to be "educational" in a manner the dreamer wouldn't
object to completely. She waits until AFTER the
fight to do this with Kasumi and Shampoo. She
also takes some artistic pride in what she's done to
Ranma's development, as revealed in the bath scene.
She's learned something of human morality, but still
doesn't quite get it.
(3) Don't ask. See also note #2 above.
<clip to 4b> (when available)