[Ranma][FanFic] A Different art chapter 4

[Gregg Sharp]

===============================

A Different Art, chapter 4 "Calm before extreme
precipitation hits the fan"

"Is manliness defined by the trials *not* faced?"
-Jared Saotome, "Skysaber's Choice"

-------------------------

"So, let me just see if I understand this. After not
knowing him for more than ten years, on the basis of his
behavior in just under an hour, you've decided he's not
'manly' enough and therefore has to honor a seppuku pledge
that he never knew he had made." Nabiki frowned at the woman
sitting across from her and her two sisters. "Does that
sound about right?"

Nodoka looked across at the three and frowned ever so
slightly. "Well... yes."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. He's arrogant and
conceited and an idiot, THAT'S manly!" Akane pointed out as
she held P-chan on her lap. "He's clueless, and that's
pretty manly."

"It might help," interjected Nabiki, "if you explained what
you considered manly."

Nodoka adjusted her kimono slightly, and noted that someone
had applied superglue to the tsuba of her sword- it would
take some work to free the blade from the scabbard at this
point. Sighing, she began. "Manly behavior is based on three
principles. Properly manly behavior towards the opposite
sex: such as peeping, sleeping around, and being forward
with affections even in the face of rejection."

"Being a pervert is manly?!" Akane blinked. "No WONDER all
those guys act like that at school. It's their mother's
fault!"

Nodoka favored Akane with an odd look. "Secondly, manly is
also a matter of honor. A TRUE manly man would not hesitate
to commit seppuku for a pledge even if made unknowingly in a
previous generation! Errr, by the way, where is Ranma?"

"He's renewing his magic. He said the sooner he gets home
'where everything makes sense' the better." Nabiki shook her
head. (If *I* came to my land of origin without knowing
better, and encountered this sort of attitude, I'd probably
want to go back where I'd just exited from too.)

"The third is the principle of personal courage. If he were
a TRUE manly man, as Genma had promised, he would have
accepted his duty." Nodoka dabbed at the tears on her face
with a fine hankerchief.

"So, if Ranma were to sleep with a girl, he'd be considered
manly?"

Akane and Kasumi could only stare at their sister.

Nabiki proved that she *could* blush as she hadn't realized
that she had spoken aloud. "Well, uhm... He's profitable.
AND I have to admit that certain things said about this
other world intrigue me."

"Such as?" Akane wondered what could get Nabiki to make
such a sacrifice. Unless her other sister was under a spell
too?! That fiend! (Waitaminute, I'm beginning to sound
like... Kuno. Eeeeeewww!)

"Bweeee!" (Kill the varlet! The Heavens themselves demand
his life for smiting the mighty Tatewaki Kuno and turning
him into such a vile form! Sitting in Akane's lap proves
well her love for me, save where the evil one's spell has
ensorcelled her! Ah, Akane, how I long to do this in my true
human shape!)

"Cut it out, P-chan, that tickles!"

All three of the other women present winced as P-chan
nuzzled Akane's lap as if in search of wayward crumbs, the
mood completely broken.

"Uhm, Akane, you know the Jusenkyo curse I've got," Nabiki
said as calmly as she could. She'd accept the change of
subject as it seemed that the seeds of doubt were already
planted and needed some room to grow.

"Well, yeah," agreed Akane.

"You know how it works. Hot water to reverse, cold water
turns me into an owl. Right?"

"Yeah, Nabiki. What's your point?"

"Now, when Ranma was pointing at 'P-chan' and telling you
that Kuno was right here?"

"Why are you going on about THAT? Look, he was picking on
P-chan! Big bully!" Akane was getting a feeling like
something she didn't really want to think about was about to
be said. "P-chan, stop squirming!"

"Bweee!" (Water is the key to breaking the spell! I must
find some hot water that I may be reunited with my love in
my human form.)

Nabiki growled, feeling like she should get up and shake
her sister to try and get her to understand. Only the very
real chance that she'd be missing teeth kept her from doing
so.

Kasumi poured some hot tea into a cup and handed it to
Akane. Except that for some unexplained reason Kasumi
dropped it. "Oh my! I'm sorry Akane."

"Akane Tendo MY LOVE!"

"Aaaaaaaa!" Akane shrieked as a naked Kuno wrapped himself
around her.

Nabiki looked directly into Nodoka's eyes and inclined her
head towards the amorous Kuno and her frantically struggling
sister. "Now, I take it this means that Kuno-baby here is
'manly' in your book?"

Nodoka agreed, but sounded a little unsure of herself.

--------------------

Ranma frowned as the information began accumulating. He
was having trouble replenishing his magic reserves because
of a basic problem with the local magical energies. There
was a taint of chaos EVERYWHERE in the flow of magical
energies, and the level of manna he could tap normally was
lower than he liked it.

This was good news *and* bad news to Ranma. The good news
was that it wouldn't take much of the right kind of
dispelling to break his curse. A Healer priest could
probably do it without much effort. If he could find the
right counterspell, it wouldn't take long to weave the
correct pattern, filter out the chaos, and then cast it. The
bad news, and it was a doozy, is that if he went back home
to cure the curse it could be strengthened by the higher
ambient magic levels. Certainly it seemed to be the sort
that grew stronger as the strength of the victim increased.

Another thing for the Very Bad pile was that he was
currently using a technique with two circles of power and a
tap into the nearest feng shui junction just to recharge his
normal spell load. WITH filters in place, it could take him
days to recharge just what he'd cast in his first week.
During spelljammer operations, he'd met a few wizards
(mainly from that Toril place) that memorized spells and
then released them. In Shadar, one spent time learning a
spell, and as long as one had enough manna one could cast
that spell.

The lowest cost spell one could cast was something like the
Image Sphere, just pushing light around and partially
translucent. Unfortunately, Ranma was so used to using magic
that to suddenly have to mind the costs was counter to
habit. The spellsinger, tapping into wild magic, might have
access to a bit more power as chaos seemed to have a local
influence.

After more than six years learning how to pull in manna,
store it, pattern and use it, NOT using magic wasn't an
option. Maybe he couldn't cast a Dragonform spell while
here, but he could still use Fireball.

Then there was the problem with the chaos infecting his
spells. Ranma wasn't sure what would happen if he tried some
of his more powerful magics like Nike's Wings.

Shampoo looked around the chamber and wondered if she could
make nice with the doggie.

-----Shadar-------

The world was a sort of Dyson sphere, though that wasn't
the term the inhabitants and most visitors knew it by. The
great Shadarian Empire stretched out over thousands of
miles. There were three neighbors, each of which was only a
few hundred miles across themselves. The Goblin Reaches was
an island seven hundred miles long that was populated by
goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, twisted ones,
trollak, and other types who ruled by strength. Nihon was a
kingdom largely composed of Delphins Amazons of House Rising
Sun and was less than four hundred miles at its longest
point. Finally came the Free Kingdom, despite the name not a
kingdom so much as a large group of people who didn't want a
single unified ruler and preferred to work without rules
forced upon them. So mainly there were a lot of little
rulers. Still, if you added each nation and empire and
included the little outlying villages you ended up with less
than one hundred thousand square miles of islands in a big
ocean.

Scarcely a drop in the bucket. The inhabitants merely
called it the world. Visitors called it big.

And in all that big, one 4'5" dwarf was trying not to track
mud into the Imperial Palace and swearing under his breath
all the way.

There were a large number of races mainly united through
the Empire, though regional governors and the like tended to
take care of the discrete clumps of them. So, of course, a
trip through the outer areas of the Palace tended to present
one with a wide variety of those communities'
representitives. Unfortunately, this meant that one could be
trampled or could accidently trample another. The halfling
races (so called because each race was about the same size -
roughly half the size of an elf and it was a convenient tag)
were over a head shorter than Thurin, and pixies and the
like even shorter. Then there were the bigger races, the
nine foot tall ogrii and twelve feet long mu. And then there
were Amazons and dwarves who were representitives for races
who physically couldn't leave their homelands or tolerate
this environment for whatever reasons.

Which made for a colorful chaos in the Outer Circle. Then
one made one's way to the Inner Keep and things changed
considerably. A few dwarves, a few elves, and LOTS of
Delphins. He was passed through, though he had to check his
axe Mountaincutter at the front. He was allowed to keep
Wraithsfire due to respect for his beliefs. Thurin took some
delight in Stormshadow being shaken down, though he was
somewhat impressed at the number of hidden weapons unloaded.
Silvara had no weapons, and the Amazons covered their
dislike of nymphs fairly professionally.

Finally they reached the Inner Court and Thurin suppressed
a gasp.

Stormshadow merely knelt, fist to chest, head bowed.
Silvara DID gasp and stare.

The Emperor himself. Like Ranma, one of that near-extinct
elder race known as humans. A young warrior from another
space and time who had come and conquered - mainly through
attitude and luck during a time when kingdoms had been
shattered and laid waste by the Godswar. Now old and
shriveled, thin flesh and scars over thin bones. The eyes,
though, the eyes were still sharp and clear.

"First off, yes, as you can see the rumors are true." The
old man's voice was a dry rasp that Thurin had to strain to
hear. "Longevity potions and spells eventually stop being
effective. I am at the end of my days and will go to join my
First Wife soon. About time too. I never wanted this damn
job."

Thurin nodded. One of the endearing traits of the Emperor
was that he had never actually sought power, merely accepted
the responsibility when it came down to it. Which, in the
minds of many, made him the perfect man for the job. He
generally stayed out of everyone's hair (those races that
had hair) except to make sure that the various factions
never started pushing any of the other factions around. The
ninjas, the dragons, and the mu were enough for most
threats.

"None of my heirs want the damn job either," continued the
Emperor, eyes glittering. "Proving that they've got SOME
sense at least. Heh. But I'm gonna see SOMEONE else stuck
with the job before I pass on..."

"Not the kid?!" Thurin recovered and bowed an apology for
his outburst.

"Pfeh. That Ranma? Hardly. HE has enough sense to weasel
out of the job too. Though he's gonna go through SOME of my
problems, and it'll be amusing to see someone else deal with
'em." The Emperor coughed a bit before resuming. "No, when
he does get back he'll go through his Ordeal, and I've
little doubt he'll both survive and pass- making him a
Sapphirerank. I'd ordered him left alone as far as female
companionship was concerned."

Silvara nodded and murmurred agreement to that.

"Oh, Stormshadow, DO get up. I've known you for over four
hundred years now and you know damn well I can't stand all
this prissy court stuff." The Emperor glared at the elven
troubleshooter. "Where was I? Oh yes. I ordered him to be
'hands off' otherwise some of the Amazons or nymphs or even
those elven lasses would have dragged him off as soon as he
was old enough to leave Lijra's tower. Stormy there's been
keeping an eye on him since he started adventuring, though
low profile. Now that protection is about to end."

"The Sadie Hawkins Race, my liege?"

The Emperor glared first at Stormshadow for the use of a
title, then at the Amazons still guarding the chamber.
Neither was phased in the slightest, having endured such
things for years. "Whoever dug up that ancient story and
presented it to the Delphins should be shot, hanged, and
drawn and quartered. EVERYONE knows how the Delphins take
ancient concepts and find a way to fit it into their
cultures. Hell, Ruine even discovered that House Rising Sun
based their entire culture on a series of ancient holovid
dramas about samurai and ninja. Though blonde beachbunny
ninjas..." The Emperor shuddered slightly. "Fortunately
there ain't many. Still, the Race is the best place for
Ranma to determine who (and what) he will marry. Garr of
Rising Sun and Izak of Southern Cross will also attend,
standard rules.

"According to the mu, Ranma will re-enter our world soon.
Something goes wrong, though, and he is accompanied by
others." The Emperor made a face as if tasting something
vile. "One of whom is an Analogue of the girl known as
Scarlet."

<SCHINNNNG!> Many weapons were drawn simultaneously, only
to have the embarassed Amazons slowly sheath them again.

"There is to be NO repeat of the previous disastrous series
of events... You've got a blank look on your face, Thurin."
The Emperor looked amused again.

"Who is Scarlet, milord?" Thurin still couldn't think of
anyone with that name.

"Emperor, may I?" Stormshadow waited for the Emperor's nod.
"Scarlet, like Ranma and the Emperor himself, was a
traveller from offplane who arrived here by accident. She
was discovered wandering in the desert, not dressed for the
occasion, by Rebas the Diviner. Rebas determined the girl
was lost and alone, and rescued her.

"Rebas had his little desert oasis, and had patterned his
lifestyle on legends of ancient sheikhs such as those from
Al-Qadim. Initial spells apparently determined that she was
a very nice girl, and therefore he didn't take some
precautions that he might otherwise have. She awoke, tended
by nymphs dressed in keeping with Rebas' tastes, amid a
feast and swirling dancers and the like. Upon finding
herself dressed similarly (due to her own clothing being
laundered), she proclaimed Rebas a pervert and killed him
with a large blunt instrument. She escaped during the
confusion that followed.

"Scarlet turned up next in a tavern frequented by Amazons
of House Southern Cross and House Northstar. She reacted
loudly and negatively to the presence of 'Amazons' and when
asked if she was confusing the Feryl with the Delphins
replied that all Amazons were the same. Naturally, several
of the Amazons were about to forcibly correct this attitude
when things turned even worse.

"One of the pacifist priests, a Healer, named Danyd of
House Northstar, attempted to restrain Scarlet and stop the
fight. Again she produced some sort of warhammer and brought
it down on the apprentice Healer. He died. Scarlet later
protested that she didn't expect anyone to die just because
their skull had been crushed. Three other Amazons died
trying to restrain her. Due to her actions, the White Temple
cannot heal her, even if they try. Southern Cross,
Northstar, and quite a few nymphs swore bloodfeud with
Scarlet.

"Apparently, Scarlet went underground for awhile. When she
resurfaced she'd learned the assassin's martial arts style
known as the Black Rose. As long as she stayed in the Goblin
Reaches, however, she was safe. On occasion, someone goes
hunting for her and never returns. Also on occasion, someone
is assassinated with the Black Rose style, and Scarlet is
among the chief suspects. At least until recently, there are
rumors that she returned to the world from which she came."

"Fair enough summation," the Emperor agreed. "However it
turned out that the girl DIDN'T intend to kill. Once she had
embarked on a path of denial and violence, however, the
Rules Of Magic came into play and her karma sped her along
that path. By the time my ninja and espers had untangled the
events, she was already being indoctrinated into the Black
Rose cult. She went on to become a power of death that was
useful where she was, the Goblin Reaches. With her in power,
the incursions of the Tribes were greatly reduced. With her
having slain many of the upper echelons of the Black Rose,
THAT group was also weakened.

"The White Temple may have forgiven the loss of a promising
Healer. So, even though Scarlet had to require on potions
for healing thereafter, they didn't pose much of a problem
to this girl returning eventually. Like most of the ninja,
they regard her as having come under the Rules for Tragic &
Flawed Hero. The AMAZONS on the other hand, well, killing a
child, a male of their species, AND a pacifist cleric was
about the most reprehensible thing that could be done short
of an event like the one that started the Feryl-Delphins
War."

Muttered grumbles from the various guards in the chamber
indicated their agreement.

"In any case, another such instance is to be avoided at all
costs," the Emperor said, settling back into his throne. His
hand moved a lever, which altered the throne into a
recliner. "I grow weak now. This audience is at an end. I
leave you with one final command. If Ranma returns with
others, they will likely be human as well. Warn them of the
Rules of Magic, and do your best to see that they end up in
the roles they would have chosen. But if ANY look to become
dangers to the populace and security of the realm - end the
threat as quickly and mercifully as you can."

Thurin began reconsidering the problem on the way back to
the ship. Originally he'd thought that Ranma would be
sought, as the Wildhorse had one of the old spelljamming
helms and the ship had performed flawlessly under the mage's
direction. For everyone else, it wallowed.

----Eyecatch------

A mob of armored, sword wielding, orcs go rushing across
the screen to exit Stage Right. A moment later, they trudge
from R to L, now clothed solely in boxer shorts.

Camera pans right to reveal Nabiki with several large
bundles marked "Swag" and operating a gambling table. She
winks at the camera.

"Next!"

------China--------

Private Huang Li ran. The price for desertion from the
Chinese Army was death.

Being shot to death was preferable to some things.

The effeminite Westerner continued walking around the
village as if looking for something. The bullets had had as
much effect as a thrown grenade. Zip, nada, nothing.

A panicked call by a retired Colonel had brought Huang's
company running with an APC. Some sort of weird westerner
using biological weapons? Or maybe someone had just gotten
ahold of some of those pesky mogwai again. Like anyone paid
attention to the rules about getting them wet or feeding
them after midnight. So they'd come locked and loaded, ready
for a bug hunt.

The last Huang had seen of his APC was that it had become a
transforming vehicle. A grisly series of pops and crunches
with accompanying screams had told him what had occurred to
the remainder of his squad. The APC was now a suitcase-sized
box in the middle of the road.

The town *seemed* deserted, but there were a lot of cows
about for some reason.

The Westerner was THAT way. Which was why Huang Li was
running THIS way. Besides, he needed to warn people. HIS
village wasn't that far away.

-----Japan-------

Genma snuck along. With any luck, he wouldn't have to face
Nodoka until MUCH later. Though her name meant "peaceful" -
she was awfully fond of that sword.

Grumbling along in his wake was his eight year old
daughter. She was *not* happy. "Why can't we go home,
anyway, Pop? Mom's not gonna be as mad at you as she was
after all that Catfist stuff."

Genma shuddered at the memory of THAT. (Who the heck reads
all of the manual nowadays? That woman can be *so*
unreasonable!)

Midori let out a deep breath, and tried to find some
pleasant aspect of the situation to focus on. "Well, at
least you'll get to visit that friend of yours while we're
*hiding* from my mother." (Honestly, couldn't I have gotten
better parents? My mother trusts my father, even AFTER crap
like that Catfist training and the engagement to Satoshi,
and the...)

"That's true," agreed Genma, brightening slightly. Maybe he
could get a game of shogi in with his old pal Soun. And
maybe he's remarried and had a son! We could still unite the
two houses! His eyes tracked towards the green eyed girl who
was trying to put on a cheerful face. (If I mention it in
front of Midori, then she'll go straight to Nodoka and give
everything away. Best to keep it quiet for now.)

"Well, at least it isn't raining!" Midori managed to chirp
before the clouds started thickening overhead. "Oh, CRAP!"

The rain pattered down on the panda and son briefly before
the boy pulled a girl's umbrella out and started muttering
about how difficult it was to try to keep a "positive mental
outlook" with a father like Genma.

Genma tried to look hurt, but the panda didn't quite pull
it off.

------------------

Ranma regarded the two girls sitting just outside the
circle and then his biological mother.

"Two words! PORK CUTLETS!" A shout from elsewhere in the
house announced that Akane had located P-chan again.

"So you're withholding judgement?" Ranma asked curiously,
not able to leave his current position without disrupting
the flows of energy.

"For now," Nodoka agreed. "I may have been over hasty in my
judgement."

Kasumi nodded.

Shampoo looked at Kasumi, her expression unreadable.

Ranma shook his head, not understanding. "Well, whatever
the case. I think I've got a lock on some of the problems
and can wrap things up here soon."

"RANMA! YOU MUST MARRY..." Soun slammed into the outer
ward.

"I'm sorry, Mister Tendo. I've heard the Emperor doesn't
want me to marry until after my next Ordeal."

"Ordeal?" Kasumi asked politely, of course.

Ranma was grateful to be able to talk about something
familiar, as opposed to marriages and the like. Wasn't he
too young? Heck, elves didn't marry until they'd passed the
century mark. Dwarven women were in their forties before
they took their first husband. Besides, Kasumi reminded him
too much of Lijra. It just didn't seem right.

"The Ordeal is something the Mage Guild worked out
centuries ago. Only those who pass their Ordeal are allowed
to proceed into the next rank. The one I passed to become
Emeraldrank involved a Trial By Combat, some fruitloop named
Wyndlace challenged me." Ranma rolled his eyes at the
memory. "You know, that was one of those elves that give the
rest of 'em a bad name. He felt that because I had received
four battlefield rank advances, I had to go through four
Ordeals to make up for it. Nobody else agreed, and when he
hit me with four Ordeals wired together, KHARON got
incensed.

"Anyway, what Wyndlace hit me with was the typical Locked
Room trial. A cage with anti-teleport wards being slowly
lowered down a cable towards a lava pool. So I'm hacking and
coughing from the fumes while I get a Telekinesis spell off
and lift the keys from one of the guards. The guards start
SHOOTING at me, making me use a Shield spell, then one of
'em pulls out a *morrani* dagger!"

Everyone, including Soun (who was still rubbing his nose)
noted how Ranma had put emphasis on that word.

"A 'moranni' dagger?" Kasumi politely inquired.

"Morrani. Developed thousands of years ago by the elves,
even during the worst days of the Elven Empire though, they
never used *them* that much." Ranma noted that nobody looked
as if they understood it. "Look, moranni weapons have a
blue-black glow to them. Just being in the room with an
unsheathed one is pretty horrific, you *feel* the blade's
presence. They're a shard of the True Death, you even get
nicked by one and you might die from it. And if you die from
a moranni weapon, that's it, you can't be brought back and
there's no trace of your soul as far as magic can determine.
They're *evil* - even goblins and orcs won't usually touch
the damn things. Sorta like having a poison that taints
everything it touches and that actively WANTS to kill
everything around it.

"So, even the animals that Wyndlace had around to attack me
are fleeing. Trained attack snakes or not, even really
vicious dumb critters can feel the presence of a moranni
weapon and want as far away as they can. Wyndlace held that
this invalidated the Ordeal.

"Kharon and the Council came down on Wyndlace like a
dwarven blacksmith on a beer. Not only did he have a damn
moranni weapon, he entrusted it to a low level hireling-
tell me that THAT wasn't a disaster waiting to happen. Not
only did he overstep his boundaries with an Ordeal of that
fatality level, but then he tries to bargain with Kharon.
Dumb, really dumb. You can't bribe or argue with Kharon, you
cross him and you're damn near crossing the Emperor.

"So he's looking at demotion or censure. THEN he goes and
compounds the problem by making an attempt on my life just
prior to his sentencing. Four hundred fifty years old and
STILL an idiot. So last I hear he's facing permanent exile
or worse!"

Everyone was silent, having tuned out at various points.

Soun had tuned out at the thought that back where Ranma
came from, it was possible to return from being dead.

Kasumi thought about how horrible these Ordeals sounded and
how she just wanted to hug Ranma and give him some
reassurance.

Nodoka considered the references to battlefield promotions
and wondered how much Ranma had actually seen.

Nabiki noted that it sounded like this "Emperor" had a
personal interest in Ranma. And if so, might not a clever
individual be able to use that closeness to curry favor with
the wealthy?

The sounds of violence being committed downstairs indicated
that at least two individuals weren't paying much attention
to any of this.

==============================

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