[Ranma][Fanfic] Featherbrite's Tale 6
Gregg Sharp
Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. Rough version
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors.
Metro...@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
6a: Osaka Or Bust
--------------------------------------
In a lot of Somewheres, there is an otherwise mythical
place called Japan. In a lot of the versions of this mythical land
is a ridiculously large and sprawling city called Tokyo, Tokio, or
some variant thereof. Such sprawling cities usually end up with
segments of themselves that have other names, so that these
imaginary inhabitants of these mythical regions can identify one
segment of their city from another. In some of these no doubt
ridiculous fantasies, there is a chunk of the city of Tokyo which
is known as the prefecture of Nerima or Nerima-shi.
In such a fanciful setting, one could further imagine
segmenting the city down further to make manageable chunks
out of it, thereby increasing your chances of actually finding
one of these imaginary inhabitants. There might even be a few
variants of those with a Nerima-shi, which would contain a few
notable locations such as a Tomobiki-cho or a Furin-ken.
Of course, if one could imagine this, one could easily
imagine that within such a section as Furinken (sometimes
spelled Furinkan) that there would be a number of dwelling places
and businesses and some locations that were a bit of both.
And, though this might be stretching it, that one of
those purely imaginary beings, in a totally hypothetical dwelling,
in just such a mythical city, in a land that was just made up by
someone years ago, would have come across a book of Magic
and realized one of the very great Truths of existence.
Ignorance may not be bliss, but it can be far more
comfortable than realizing that Everything You Thought You
Knew Was Wrong. Of course, this wasn't completely true either,
but that would be revealed rather later in a different chapter
dealing with stabilizing reality and predominant paradigms and
feedback loops.
--------------------------
Nabiki growled at the figures in front of her, not finding
NEARLY the satisfaction she had in the comforting flow of numbers
that she usually did.
Her eyes tracked back to The Book. The problem she
knew, was one of control. Her various businesses: loans, the
shake-downs and the photos, all were a full time job. In order
to pursue this new line, she would have to relinquish control
over at least some of her current work.
There was Ryonami. She could take over much of
her bookie business. Midori could take over other duties, while
Akira could quite easily handle the photo jobs. It was just that
she had worked so long to put it all together, how could she
relinquish any of it?
Nabiki leaned back in the chair and sighed. Well,
that was only PART of the problem, wasn't it?
It galled her. The Ice Queen, the tough girl who
had no heart, who could destroy people without a second
thought, was human too. She missed Ranma. Missed an
unasked for iinazuke who had brought chaos and the bizarre
into her life, and had vanished just as quickly.
He'd left enough bizarre behind to occupy her
attention, but she found herself missing HIM.
Nabiki threw the pencil down onto the ledger
and pressed her hands up against her face. Why was this
happening to her? She liked boys, unlike Akane, but she
had never lost control. She'd never felt an absence like
this. Akane had one kind of strength, she had another.
To lose that edge...
She was used to playing with sharks. Any
sign of weakness and she could be pulled down into
those dark waters without so much as a ripple.
A voice seemed to whisper in her head that
maybe, just maybe, it was time to give up being a shark.
She had enjoyed being a shark, but could see where sooner
or later, she'd stumble. The voice whispered again that maybe,
just maybe, she could be a dolphin instead.
Dolphins seemed to have more fun than sharks.
The ancient leather tome, gilt-edged, seemed
to call her. In it were information gathering techniques
beyond anything she'd ever tapped into. In it were ways
that she could take control of her life and take steps
away from the familiar life she'd led. Into an unknown
future where nothing was certain.
Had she overreached by taking it? Would
this be damnation, or salvation?
Nabiki Tendo, of course, did not realize
that the Book was looking at her and wondering the
same thing.
---------------Faerie Realm----------------------
The figure loomed over the comparitively
tiny girl before it, long fangs dripping saliva, batlike
wings spread out impressively, yellow eyes staring
down at the morsel before him.
"Why hello, Mister Dragon, it's a beautiful
day isn't it?"
The dragon paused. He blinked. The mouth
shut with an audible crash. Shaking his head, he again
bared fangs, essaying a growl that echoed off the mountains.
"I'd really love to chat, but I've got to get
this water back to my friends."
The growl trailed off to an uncertain whine.
He blinked down at the little figure in front of him. The
mouth shut and opened and shut again.
"Is there something wrong, Mister Dragon?"
The dragon looked pleadingly at the sky and
muttered something about the unfairness of it all and why
did this sort of thing happen to him?
"Look 'ere," the dragon finally rumbled at Kasumi.
"Aren't you at least a little bit scared?"
"But you're so cute!"
Kasumi felt the shudder in the ground as
something weighing over ten tons facefaulted.
"Oh my."
"Ah think that would be my line," the
dragon mumbled into the dirt. Unplanting his face,
he stared directly at the human in front of him. "Look,
you're a human, and from the smell of you, you've been
baptized, right?"
"It's really not polite to tell someone they
smell, I think." Kasumi frowned ever so slightly.
The ground shuddered again, this time from
the dragon slamming his chin down on the ground. "Look,
you're NOT doing this right! Can we get back to the usual
deal, eh?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kasumi cocked her head at the
dragon. "What am I doing wrong?"
Muttering something about how this sort of
thing never happened in his youth, the dragon shook
his head as if to clear it. "Look, you're SUPPOSED to
either flee in mortal terror, or attack me in some misguided
religious fervor, or challenge me in order to free the elf
from her centuries long sleep, OR try to steal the magical
sword from its prison. Okay?"
"I'm sorry. Should we start over?"
The dragon thought for a moment. "No. I
don't think it would be the same." He seemed rather
dejected. "What gave it away?"
"Pardon?"
"What gave it away that I wasn't a bloodthirsty
monster who would snap you up and devour you as a light
breakfast?"
"Your entire attack was off. You charged forward,
then stopped. The snapping out of your wings was entirely
reminiscent of intimidation tactics used to ward off some
species of predators by certain insects. You made several
warning moves, indicating you were trying to scare me off
rather than come out and attack." Kasumi thought about it.
"Plus I had a feeling."
"I was that bad?" The dragon really seemed dejected
now.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Kasumi Tendo." Kasumi bowed
slightly, no reason not to be polite. "Could I ask you for a favor?"
"I'm Drath, Magical Site Guardian third class." Drath
looked sadly at his cave. "I'm just having a Maalox millenium, I
am. No wonder I couldn't make second class."
"Could you heat up the water in this kettle, Mister
Drath?"
"Great, from Magical Site Guardian (third class), I
get demoted to tea-maker. You won't tell any other dragons, will
you? I'd never live it down. Not that that will really be a problem."
"Oh?" Kasumi smiled as flames enveloped the kettle
briefly. This would do. If she walked slowly it ought to be cool
enough not to burn Ranma when she changed him back.
"Yes, one of my little talents. I've always known the
moment of my death." Drath sighed. "But it's dangerous for
you here. Whatever it is that's going to kill me is going to
arrive within the next five minutes."
"My, that must make things...tidy." Kasumi nodded
as the dragon resumed heating the teakettle. "What's arriving?"
"I don't know," the dragon sighed. "Four minutes now.
Y'know, I really wouldn't mind this so much, we've all got to go
sometime, but there's so much I've wanted to DO!"
"Oh, you've made plans." Kasumi was slightly interested
now. She'd just cut major ties with her own past and was trying to
decide what she'd be doing while she thought things out.
"Well, yeah, sorta." Drath shook his head. "Never had
kids, never got to see the sunrise over the Dire Straits, never met
a princess, never done anything REALLY important or even
accomplished much except get rooked into watching an elf who's
put herself into enchanted slumber, and a magic sword of sorts."
"How disappointing." Kasumi looked with sympathy
at the dragon. "I'm sorry, but I really must go now. My friends
need me."
"Hmmm. Hang on. You're a human in the Faerie Realm,
you're with friends. You wouldn't happen to be on a quest, would
you?"
"Well, I suppose."
"Good. Can you hold something for me?" The dragon
grinned. "If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well spite whoever
or whatever the thief is in some little way, eh?"
"I suppose..." Kasumi repeated, looking a little uncertain.
A claw reached into the stream and pulled out a pearl
roughly the size of a baseball. "Take this with you. Give it to the
person you deem most worthy."
Kasumi took the strangely warm pearl into her hands,
bowed slightly and started her trip back to camp. Such a nice
dragon. She wondered what it was that was going to kill him.
"And if your friends are OK, come by later. I'd at
least like to have a pyre, y'know."
-------------------------
Drath sat back and watched the girl go. "That was
a strange one, but destiny walks with her. Maybe I can get an
adventure accomplished posthumously..."
Drath checked his mental clock. The purple-haired
girl hiding in the bushes moved back away from the stream.
Drath lowered his head slightly. Not that one either?! Then
how was it that he was going to die in thirty seconds?
He scanned the sky with eyesight far keener than
a falcon. His ears twitched, ready to catch a cricket's footfall.
He sniffed the air, with an olfactory acuity similar to a bloodhound.
Nothing registered on his senses that was out of the ordinary.
What a nasty headache he was beginning to get.
Reminded him of when he'd eaten icecream too fast. Still, no
one ever died of a....
The dragon keeled over, dead before he hit the
ground.
-----------------------------------------
Hot water splashed over Ranma, causing the
familiar transformation. He blinked up to see a face he
hadn't expected to see ever again. "Kasumi?"
"Ranma, are you okay?"
"Hah, it'll take more than a few drugs to keep
me down," Ranma rolled to his feet. Unfortunately the
world seemed to be rolling right along with him and he
kept going.
"Airen has more pride than sense, Shampoo
think." The amazon looked over her airen and wondered
if maybe he ought to be restrained in bed. She smiled at
the thought. That could be fun!
"Ranma, they knew what they were doing.
They most likely used some really powerful drugs. You're
going to have to move soon. In the meantime, I have to
go check something." Featherbrite hovered a little uncertainly.
"Shampoo carry airen this time. You awake now,
so you just hang on while Shampoo carry you piggy back."
"I'm going to search for a weak point so we can
get back to the mortal realm. Try not to get into any trouble
while I'm gone." Featherbrite had recovered enough to do
basic reconnaisance. "And stay away from any Unseelie!"
"What mean Unseelie?" Shampoo looked up
from checking her weapons. "Mean enemy?"
"Shampoo, try speaking Mandarin instead of
Japanese." Featherbrite rubbed her forehead.
"Okay, but I really don't think big sister Kasumi
speaks Mandarin, especially the Nichieju dialect."
"My, Shampoo, your Japanese has just improved
dramatically!"
"Eh?"
"There's a translation effect here." Featherbrite
sighed. "Ok, here's the deal. Ancient times on Earth between
one of the sets of Ice Ages, ok? You've got a magical race
which can go between one universe and another at the 'weak
points' - are you with me so far?"
Ranma looked off, a little bored, he'd heard all this
before.
"What is Ice Age?"
"A winter lasting centuries," the faerie replied.
Well, at least she was paying attention. "It was noted that
in some areas, the faerie had tampered with the lifeforce of
the planet, producing strange animals and effects. One of
these, I suspect, is Jusenkyo. It turned out that the Faerie
Court was about to have its first and only Civil War dealing
with the consequences of using this planetary lifeforce.
"Those who felt we should not kill, not cripple
this other world by stealing its life were known as the Seelie
faction. They became the Seelie Court. Those who felt that
this world and its life were to be used without concern, they
were known as the Unseelie. Do you understand?"
Shampoo nodded. "You mean that they are
enemies. I understand."
Featherbrite sighed. Well, maybe she'd gotten the
most important point at least.
-----------Nerima, Japan-------------------
Hikaru Gosunkugi looked from the new spellbook
(which had fallen from a tree in his own backyard, narrowly
missing him) to the various circles, sigils, lit candles, the bowl
of pure rainwater, sacrifice of old ways for new (ashes from his
previous spellbooks), and the three stones.
That the book had fallen from a tree was not nearly
so concerning to Gos as the giggle and feminine voice that
said "oops" quite distinctly...
Upon these three stones were scribed the words
that he'd found in the book, which invoked the changes that
he wanted to accomplish.
Having finished all this with attention to every
detail, Hikaru paused. Much as he cared for Akane, this was
a big step. Casting it would likely destroy him, even if it were
successful. Make that especially if it were successful.
Plenty of guys had been willing to fight for Akane.
How many of them would be willing to die for her? How
many would literally unmake themselves for her? Gos couldn't
think of one among the throng. Excepting one.
That one checked everything a third time, and
Hikaru Gosunkugi cast the spell.
Five minutes later, upon completing the spell,
Hikaru Gosunkugi (Furinken SHS student) ceased to exist.
------------------------------------------------
clip to 6b
Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. Rough version
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors.
Metro...@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
6b: Osaka Or Bust
-------------Nerima, Japan---------------------------
Akane stared at the television. She blinked.
"NABIKI! Get down here!"
Nabiki came down, wondering if paint had
been peeled off the house from her sister's shriek.
"What, a commercial for Suntory?"
"No, it was the 'coming up next' segment."
Akane pointed. They still had to wait through a
Tampax and Micro-M commercial.
"Footage from Nerima earlier today
that has captured the imagination of a nation,"
the announcer began.
"Sailor..." Akane began.
"Amazon?!" Nabiki blinked. "I
guess Shampoo called in for backup."
"WHAT HAS HE DONE?" Genma
shouted, appearing out of nowhere. "Oh, the
shame that my only son..."
"You're gonna have to pay those
nice men back, eh, Mister Saotome?" Nabiki
grinned. "Oh dear. And here you've spent
some of that money, haven't you?"
"Huh?" Akane looked back and
forth. She noticed that Genma's face had gone
quite pale. "Oh."
"Meaning that he may have to
pay back money he's already spent to people
who LOVE inflicting pain on other people."
Genma started looking for some
cold water. It was time to be just a cute little
panda.
Nabiki turned back to the screen,
now showing a still frame of Sailor Amazon as
she unleashed her "Kawaii Hurricane." The
blowing sakura petals were a nice touch.
It shouldn't take much to determine if she
was right and Sailor Amazon WAS the only
Chinese Amazon she personally knew.
If so, then she'd have to help cover
their tracks. Even Genma and her father might
figure out the link between Sailor Amazon appearances
and the vanished threesome.
------------Fairy Realm----------------
Ranma watched the towering flame
that marked one heck of a big lizard going up.
"AIREN!" Shampoo stuck her head
out of the cave and beckoned her two companions.
"Shampoo find treasure cave!"
The cave interior proved to be about the
size of football field. Each of the three adventurers
proved to have their own priorities while looking
around.
Shampoo made a beeline for a wall that
had a number of weapons hanging on display. No
stranger to such setups, she determined which was
the false weapons, where the traps were, and where
the switch for the false panel was. Otherwise it was
definitely a "kid in the candy store" reaction.
Ranma looked over the greatest concentrations
of magic, which were the two items in the center. A wooden
shortsword, thrust pointfirst into a hovering crystal dias
had the strongest aura.
Next to the sword was an odd crystal coffin
containing some elfin maiden who looked as if she was
asleep. Brushing some of the dust off the coffin, Ranma
noted that it had to have been here a long time even by
faerie standards.
Odd, he could have sworn her eyes were closed
a moment ago. Must be the odd lighting.
Kasumi didn't want to touch anything. It wouldn't
be proper. Well, the nice dragon HAD said something about
foiling the thieves who had killed him. Maybe she _should_
take a couple of things. Certainly that band of beaten gold
seemed to call her.
She was reaching for it when she felt Ranma's hand
on her wrist.
"No, Kasumi, that one's got a curse on it." Ranma had
had enough of curses himself, he'd started looking around for
anything bearing that sort of taint now as a reflex. "Take THIS
one, instead."
Kasumi looked at the one Ranma was indicating. A
simple wooden ring with a Celtic sort of design. It did look
rather nice.
Ranma left to convince Shampoo not to carry off
half the weapons from the wall.
Kasumi noted that there was a box that the cursed
ring was on. It occurred to her that by touching the cursed ring,
it might inflict a curse by that method. Seeing a wooden sword
(which shouldn't be much of a bother), Kasumi decided to use
IT to push away the cursed ring so that the box could be
safely opened. She was just...curious.
The sword came away from the dias quite easily.
Ranma and Shampoo both stared openmouthed
as Kasumi was lit up by a golden beam of light and something
not unlike the "Halleluiah chorus" started playing.
---------------EYECATCH----------------------------------
RPG music plays in the background. Three
typical RPG archetypes wander through a 2D landscape,
also typical of 70-80s videogame RPGs. (Ranma as the
Mage, Shampoo as the Warrior, Kasumi as the Cleric,
all are in SD form.)
Music changes to a battle sequence and we
see the typical battle scene beginning. The backs of the
three characters as they prepare for a fight are shown.
Ryouga wanders into the scene, blinks, and runs
offscreen. A moment later Shammi comes bouncing through.
Ranma, Kasumi, and Shampoo develop large
sweatdrops. Series title appears.
--------------------end eyecatch----------------------
Kasumi stared down at the wooden sword in
her hand and wondered why this felt so "right" to her.
Also of some concern were the golden light and chorus
from above.
This wasn't Excalibur at least, THAT much she
was sure of. Nor was it Kusanagi or Stormbringer. As those
were the only magical swords that she'd read about (having
a faerie around had stirred her interest in fantasy literature)
she wondered exactly why someone would enchant a wooden
sword anyway?
"Come on," Ranma said, gently touching Kasumi's
shoulder. "We need to get going. This area doesn't have much
of a time differential from our world, but we need to avoid
spending more time here than we can."
"You said it, Ranma!" Shampoo grinned, still the kid in
a candy store who was in the process of selecting the choicest
pieces. "We go back now to my village. If you go back
to Nerima, your father would only sell you again..."
"Oh, Shampoo, we can't go back to your village
yet." Kasumi shook her head.
"Why not?" Shampoo blinked. "Oh...that's right,
when we got to the village you'd get challenged. Of course, you
COULD appoint me as your champion to settle any duels..."
"Shampoo, regardless of how wonderful your
homeland might be, it would be a final step." Kasumi looked
sadly at her younger sister. "Your people tend to be a little
reclusive, don't they?"
"Well..."
"Besides, Shampoo, we can talk about that when
we're back in Japan." Ranma stretched as he walked out of
the cave. He had the most peculiar sensation that he had
been watched the entire time he was in there.
--------------------
Eyes blinked the sleep of ages away. It was him,
she well knew it. As she had planned the Wheel Of Time had
circled around again and he had been reborn.
He had entered the cave and had stood before
her self-made prison. Now life began to flow through slender
limbs again.
How long had she been asleep? A thousand years,
more perhaps? It didn't matter. Their love had been cut short
before, and now was the time to renew it. The elven lover of a
human male, she knew that she had to savor every moment
before that fragile flower withered again. Yet this time she
was better prepared, having gone through it once before.
She prepared to rise from her resting place, only
to realize that the sleep of ages had left her with some
serious muscle cramps.
Well, she could catch up with them later.
------------------
Queen Beryl shook her head. First this rumor
of another Kingdom besides the Moon Kingdom emerging,
and now here was proof of it before her eyes. In the form
of some surfaceworld news publications called (for whatever
reason) tabloids...
They'd apparently come to the defense of a SWAT team
in Chicago (assisting some odd mercenary girls at that time), beaten
a pair of gun-toting would-be kidnappers in Berlin within an inch of
their lives, played tourist in Minneapolis and Dallas, confessed to
being lost in Hong Kong, and told a reporter that some unnamed
Japanese girl was actually the reincarnated Lady of the Lake who
was looking to give Arthur his sword and had anyone seen him?
The reporter of this last confessed that they had been
joking at the time, but afterwards (particularly under questioning
from his editor) hadn't been entirely too sure. They HAD been
evasive about several key points, and the Lady in question HAD
seemed to be communicating with unseen spirits...
"Milady!" Zoicite called as he approached with
another of these "tabloids." He seemed quite excited. "They
have announced the name of this other Senshi that has been
sighted with Sailor Amazon!"
"At last! I have a name to go with this other Sailor."
"They are calling her... Sailor Bard." Zoicite paused.
"Even though she has not worn anything similar to a Senshi
costume."
"Bard? What in the Dark Kingdom is a 'Bard'?"
"A minstrel, I think."
"An amazon and a minstrel?" Beryl thought about it.
She couldn't see the connection.
---------------------------------------------------
"Don't you see it?" Rei held up the newspaper excitedly.
"I don't read English," replied Usagi with a moan.
"That's just one of those British tabloids, you
can't trust what's in those," Ami responded, shaking her head.
"No, the connection. We have the Lady, the Amazon,
and the Bard or the Entertainer! These are all basic RPG types!"
"Or ancient women's roles on which the fantasy types
were based," mused Makoto with a thoughtful expression.
"I don't get it," Usagi complained. "The one girl isn't
even wearing anything that looks remotely like a fuku. How can
she be a Sailor anything?"
Everyone blinked at that for a moment.
"That's beside the point," Ami said with a sigh. "Look,
they're calling this one a Sailor because of the association with
Sailor Amazon. This other one hasn't even announced her own
name, this newspaper is calling her Sailor Bard solely because she
was playing a magic harp of some kind."
"Still, that leaves the Lady and the Amazon." Minako
noted. "Maybe Rei is on to something here."
"They can't be Senshi!" Luna's hackles were beginning
to rise. Maybe they were agents of Queen Beryl? "They're not part
of the Silver Millenium..."
"Oh, come on." Ami smiled a little. "You might as well
speculate that they really are King Arthur's Court reborn in modern
times."
"So...the Lady Of The Lake carries Excalibur..." Rei's eyes
shot wide. "Oh my..."
"A Japanese Lady of the Lake?" Ami frowned. They
weren't taking this seriously were they?
"Lancelot reborn an Amazon maybe? But there weren't
any minstrels in Camelot were there?" Makoto frowned.
"Will Scarlet!" Minako shot her hand up triumphantly.
Everyone except Usagi and Minako gave a tired sigh.
Usagi didn't get it.
--------------------------------------------
Merlin frowned. "This wasn't scheduled for another
ten years. Who's been playing with the Scenario? I'll bet it's those
pups over in Seale..."
-------------------------------------------
"Well," Ranma started to relax slightly. "The street signs
are in Japanese. That's a good start at least."
"Places in the Faerie Realm aren't always contiguous with
their Mortal Realm counterparts, give me a break at least I've gotten
the fourth dimensional workings right!" Featherbrite huffed. "It's not
like it's easy moving this stuff around like this!"
"Shampoo think you can drop disguise field. We not stand
out that much." Shampoo nodded.
"Good, we back in airen's homeland!" Shammi glomped her
husband. "We can leave now, take care of challenges when we meet
next time, yes?"
"Yeah, Saotome." Ryouga glared at his rival. "It's YOUR
fault I have this curse!"
"Oh, it's not so bad, Ryouga. So what if you turn into..."
"It's bad, bad I tell you! That damn pig tried to hit me
with a curse to turn into a pig at night, but with that apple in his
mouth it got all mumbled."
"Could be worse, airen! Many many worse fates than
to turn into what living creature you next to during full moon. After
all, you sleep with tai tai, then you just turn into Shammi. Is no big
deal!"
"Curse you, Ranma!" Ryouga couldn't seem to put much
venom in it. Maybe it was the way the girl glomping him seemed to
make his heart want to skip. Nah, that couldn't be it...
"So where do you think we are?" Ranma looked around.
"There's the Statue Of Liberty!" Kasumi exclaimed, pointing
to the top of a building.
"Huh?" Ranma managed after a moment.
"Osaka," said Ryouga after a moment. "We're in Osaka."(1)
Wait a minute, Shammi was saying that she...nights with a full moon...
they'd be...together?!?!
"Damn, I always thought the bit with the nosebleeds and
fainting was some sort of etchi humor." Ranma blinked as Ryouga
performed both actions. "Y'know, a metaphor, not that he'd know a
metaphor if it bit him."
Shampoo flipped through her Japanese-Chinese dictionary.
Metaphors were some kind of bug?
"Shammi think she have to break airen of this, really, really
quick." A very disappointed Amazon looked down at her husband. She'd
have to work on his stamina if nothing else.
"Shammi have work cut out for her," Shampoo agreed. "We
settle own challenge after you work out problems with your airen."
Slinging her husband over one shoulder, Shammi decided
to go check out the building with the woman on top of it. It sounded
like a good place to start.
"So, where now, Ranma?" Shampoo pulled out her wallet,
showing him the meager collection of yen and foreign money they'd
collected. "Not have that much."
Ranma thought for a few minutes. "UCCHAN!"
"What is Ucchan? Is place to stay?"
"No, no, my old buddy Ucchan Kuonji. He and his pop
used to run an okonomiyaki stand down near here. I'm sure
they'll let us stay." Ranma nodded, lost in pleasant rememberance
of older happier times.
Kasumi nodded. "You and Shampoo stay here with the
luggage. I'll take the money and make a few inquiries. Featherbrite?"
"Yeah, I'll do a 'Find The Path' spell."
"Like that worked? Remember when it led us right to
that gun shop in Chicago? Remember the little girl with all the
grenades?"
"Aw, c'mon. I think I got the bugs out of it!"
Shampoo stuck her head up. More bugs? There must
be a lot of these metaphor things around. Why couldn't she find
them in her dictionary?
====================================
(1) When i was in Kansai, you could see this from the road.
Oddly enough, none of the Japanese i was with would
comment about it. (They started talking really damn
quickly, and I caught the word etchi in the same sentence
with Osaka.) Later i found out that this was a Love Hotel
visible from the freeway. Makes for a decent landmark.
At least i don't know of any other buildings with a
Statue Of Liberty up top.
Chapters 1-5 Betrayal
Chapters 6-10 Quest
Chapters11-15 Oberon's Challenge
Chapters16-20 Gantlet
Chapter 21 Grimm Faerie Tale
Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. Rough version
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors.
Metro...@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html
6c: Osaka Or Bust
---------Faerie Realm-----------------------------
"How dare they treat Greaket, Master of Pigs,
like that! I, Sakshel, will avenge you!"
"Thank you, Sakshel, thank you. I'll regenerate in
a few days, but if you want to catch them. HEY!"
Sakshel raised his stinger. "But you see, Greaket,
if you don't survive, then I can advance from the tenth level
to the ninth. You understand how it is among the Unseelie
Court. Besides, I hear pork tastes just like human."
------------------------------------------------------
Holly dusted her hands off, grinning at the thought
of tonight's session with her changeling. Yes, tonight was
going to be really special. She'd gotten the book of spells to
that would-be mage, the divination materials to that girl Nabiki,
and had made sure that Tate-chan had let his ninjas off tonight.
Phasing into one of her own trees, she emerged on the Kuno
estate to a bright spring day.
"WHAT?! Who are you, and how dare you
trespass on the Kuno ancestral grounds?"
Holly blinked and looked at the odd girl. She was
wearing..."OH! You must be one of those Sailor Senshi!"
Kodachi blinked and noted that she was still
wearing her Saint Hebereke school uniform. "And you would
have to be at least slightly deranged, I think."
"It's OK, I'm Tate-chan's friend." Holly smiled.
Wow, she was really going places now. Not only had she
met a real mortal, adopted him as her changeling, and now
she'd met a Sailor Senshi! How neat.
"Tate-chan?" Kodachi considered facefaulting
but preferred to keep her dignity intact for the moment.
"Yeah," Holly's smile vanished as a ribbon
shot out at her. Holly parried by asking the nearest tree
to block. Obviously the negaverse had brainwashed
this Senshi.
"You! You're the reason my brother has been
acting like this! You! You!" Kodachi was at a loss for things
to say.
"Why, yes, I am. Don't worry, Senshi-san, we'll
get you back to normal soon." Holly was nice and asked the
tree to hold onto the odd girl until she'd gotten finished with
Tate-chan's session for the day. Then Holly could see about
fixing whatever odd spell the Senshi had been put under. This
would be fun!
Skipping lightly past the deathtraps, the green-haired
dryad went looking for her Tate-chan.
-------------Osaka, Japan-----------------------------------------
Kasumi sat down at the counter and looked over the
nice place. A tiny magazine rack near the front door had a set of
catalogs for a local college, which had been enough to entice
Kasumi to sit down briefly and order a hot tea.
"Thinkin' of going to the local college?" The girl
behind the counter slipped the tea over. "There's some good 'uns.
Osaka Kyouiku University isn't bad, but it's really pricey. Y'might
wanna try Korobu Community College if ya aren't that well-heeled."
"Oh, is it a good college?" Kasumi sipped at the tea, a
nice local green tea she decided after a moment.
"Yeah, well, a little strange at times, I hear. We get a
lotta the students in here."
"Ah," Kasumi nodded. She looked over the young
woman with a slight smile. "Actually I'm looking for a boy said
to be living in this area. I figured that since you make okonomiyaki
as well, you might know of him."
Unseen and unheard by the cafe owner, Featherbrite
grumbled about her "Find The Path" had led right to this girl and
she was SURE she had all the problems fixed this time!
"Oh? Maybe. What's his name?"
"Ucchan. Ucchan Kuonji." Kasumi paused
before sipping on her tea.
The girl looked quite puzzled. "I'm Ukyou
Kuonji, but nobody's called me Ucchan in years. Not since,
well, since that crook stole my father's cart."
"Ah." Kasumi shrugged. "That doesn't sound at
all right. A friend of mine mentioned that he had a friend from
his childhood in the area, named Ucchan Kuonji, who might be
able to help us. I can picture his father doing something that
unwise, but certainly not him."
Ukyou looked suspiciously at the young woman
sipping tea calmly in front of her. "What was your friend's
name? I must have missed it the first time."
"Oh, I can't say that."
"Damn, is she reacting to my presence?"
The faerie looked over the girl in blue and white. "Crap, well
at least THIS time it's soon enough I can do something about
it. I still feel bad about not being able to do something to your
little sister, but you humans have the weirdest hangups."
"Oh," Ukyou began fixing an okonomiyaki. "Why
can't you mention it?"
"I..." Kasumi's eyes flicked over at something
the chef couldn't see.
"Got it," Featherbrite nodded and flitted over
to rest on the top of the chef's head. "I've masked my
presence more and put a tranquilizer effect in. Oh, by
the way, this is the Ucchan Ranma was looking for."
"But," Kasumi paused. "Ranma is SURE
that his old friend Ucchan is a boy."
"RANMA!" Ukyou frowned. Why wasn't
she angrier? "Wait a minute. He's sure I'm a BOY?"
"Yup," said Featherbrite. "He mentioned his
old buddy enough to me back when we met. It was right
after he'd left his buddy Ucchan and Ranma was still
pretty broken up about it all."
Kasumi blinked and repeated it for Ukyou's
benefit, changing it to something that she had heard
herself rather than try to explain invisible faeries and
the like.
"Well, we're not exactly busy right now."
Ukyou weighed her options and hefted her spatula.
"Show me where Ranma is so I can see for myself."
Ukyou silently added that she was gonna flatten the
crook as soon as she found him. Ten years of vengeance
would not be denied!
--------------------------------------------
"Isao, we have wasted enough time and
resources on this quest of yours." The oyabun was
disappointed. The chunin fled.
"I understand. We have their phone tapped
and the house monitored. It is inevitable that at least the
eldest sister will contact the boy's fiancee, when she does
we shall have them."
"Why are there no transmitters in the house
itself?" TheYakuza leader didn't think it was like Isao to
miss such an obvious step.
"We have placed them on three occasions. Each
time they mysteriously fail to operate shortly after four in the
afternoon."
"And Agent Sakura Jama?"
"She has reminded Genma of the agreement,
and that the money is expected to be returned with the
additional markup as we do not have the boy in custody."
Isao shrugged. He expected that the Oyabun would have
a pandaskin rug quite shortly.
"See that he does," the Oyabun started stroking
the white cat in his lap. He'd seen this in a James Bond
movie once and had thought it wonderfully cliche. Of
course, he had to keep replacing the cats after the inevitable
clash over who the master was arose. Like Isao, he also
thought he would have a pandaskin rug made soon.
Probably send it to that annoying group of wildlife
lobbyists that kept sending him those damn flyers.
"I thank you for your help so far, and when
I have further leads regarding the boy I shall contact
you with all haste."
"See that you do," the Oyabun smiled.
He wondered how panda steaks, broiled over mesquite
might taste.
--------------------------------------------
Genma sneezed, shivered as something cold and
with a lotta legs crawled up his spine, and had a sort of
religious experience. Or it might have been Akane's potroast
a la Antoine. Whatever the case, he felt a strong need to go
out and find his wayward son.
Soun Tendo threw a dart at a map of Tokyo
and decided THAT was where they'd start looking.
--------------------------------------------
"Something's coming." Ranma started looking
around. "Something nasty is coming."
"Shampoo feel it too." Shampoo went over to
her "collection" and started going through it. "Hmmm.
Shampoo in Japan, so should use Japanese weapon, yes?
Manriki-gusari? No. No-dachi? No. Rice flail? Why the
heck did Shampoo grab that? Oh yeah, give as present
to Akane. Make nice-nice. Gold dagger? Oh yeah, that
one for Nabiki. Maybe bribe her to leave husband alone.
Hmmm."
Ranma noticed a ripple in midair. "Shampoo,
you better make your choice and get away from the luggage.
There's something coming through the weak point between
here and Faerie."
"Shampoo choose. Naginata is traditional weapon
of Japonese womans, yes? Is very similar to Korean horse
spear in way is used." Shampoo spun the weapon around a
few times, getting used to the feel of it.
"Why did you take all those anyway? You're
pretty good without weapons."
Shampoo's grin was electric. Airen appreciated
her! "Ancient Chinese Amazon wisdom. Have many weapons.
Rely on none."
"A scorpion?" Ranma blinked at the shape
forming in front of them. "A twenty foot long scorpion with
a lizard's head. Let me guess, you're of the Unseelie Court?"
"I am Sakshel of the Tenth Circle!"
"Hmmm. Maybe should use bow or kusarigama."
Ranma dodged a grabbing manuever by a foreclaw.
"C'mon, ugly. You'll never make Ninth Circle if you're that clumsy."
"Foolish mortals to challenge the Unseelie! I will OUCH!"
Shampoo looked at her handiwork and tsked. "How could
Shampoo miss mouth when it open that much?"
"Moving target," remarked Ranma, backflipping out of the
way of another clawstrike.
Sakshel's tongue probed forward and removed the naginata
from its nostril, staring in horror at the purplish ichor coating the sharp
end of the stick. "Blood? You dare to draw blood from Sakshel of the..."
"Got it that time," Shampoo said brightly, aiming another arrow.
"Right through the tongue," Ranma said, flipping on top of
one claw then back around to the side. "Good shot!"
Sakshel was beginning to realize that these weren't the sort
of mortals you picked off with impunity to become statistics on some
missing persons report. Time for the heavy stuff. Jaws slammed shut,
driving the arrow through the lower jaw but now the tongue was free.
Necessary when you needed to name your attacks. "Protection From
Normal Missles."
Ranma didn't miss the flare of magic. "Shampoo, watch out,
he's a spellcaster."
Shampoo watched as her next arrow stopped before hitting
the target. "Can see. Good. Would be too easy fight otherwise."
Sakshel blinked yellow eyes and would have sweated if
he had pores. "Flame Arrow."
------------------------
Featherbrite was apparently half-asleep and resting on the
chef's head. She was actually engaged in a eons-old tradition, something
that was almost an instinctual behavior for all members of Faerie.
She was meddling, of course.
Mind control was evil by human morality, but then again,
Featherbrite wasn't human. After centuries of learning about the
human species, she would be among the first to admit that she
didn't understand them one bit.
In the 19th Century she'd run into an odd practice
called the "7% Solution" where a very LARGE number of humans
(who would have screamed bloody murder at a little faerie mind
manipulation) purposely injected chemicals into their bloodstreams
that had a large number of not entirely controlled effects. Much
less safe and not nearly as effective as faerie magic.
In a truly strange era known as the Sixties, Featherbrite
had been in a peculiar land known as America. Having heard
repeatedly from some people that mind control was so terribly
evil, but that many of those same people were in the process of
controlling other people's minds through the uses of these same
chemicals, had merely proven to the wind faery that humans
would forever remain an enigma.
Then had come a bizarre thing she'd noted at a strange
event called a "Woodstock" for reasons that continued to escape
the faerie years later. (Actually she had noted a LOT of bizarre
things at that human gathering.) While some of it had struck her
as absolutely silly, every so often someone would do something
that struck her as insightful. One of those powerful insights was
that one should "make love, not war."
So, sitting on the head of a certain okonomiyaki chef,
a wind faery continued to nudge a few memories to the surface.
A little shove here so that she remembered the times when they
shared a pleasant moment munching okonomiyaki in the park. A
tiny push there to remember that she HAD been dressing pretty
boyishly at the time. A little shove here to indicate that just
maybe Ranma hadn't actually known what he was doing.
If she could get the girl to do exactly as that human
had been suggesting, Featherbrite would feel much better
about her friend Ranma's chances of making it to adulthood.
----------------------
A powerful spell had been cast. Ripples went through the
flows of manna as the spell concluded.
Those who knew of such things could determine roughly
where and most likely what, especially as the power had built up for
roughly five minutes then continued on at that level for a half hour
before finally dissipating.
Nabiki Tendo, doing her divination exercises and checking
for any more of those more conventional eavesdropping devices,
noted the echoes of the disturbance and investigated further.
This was made more difficult by her inexperience with such
things, as she had to research each step before determining what had
happened. It was quite late before she had the basics down, but her
curiosity had been piqued.
The Book made it easier than it might have been, after all,
it was curious itself.(1)
"A Reweave?" Nabiki murmurred to herself. A powerful
spell, similar to a Wish, which actually remade reality on a local level.
Reweaving the threads of fate for a different pattern. Someone had
cast a Reweave on himself, likely burning out his magical
potential in the process.
If you'd changed your own past, would you know about
it? If you'd altered reality, would anyone else notice? In this case, no
and yes. Whoever had cast the spell had started out fine but had lost
control near the end.
Why someone would do such a thing when they wouldn't
even remember doing it was one of a whole set of questions that
Nabiki wasn't sure she wanted the answers to.
Having found enough of the answers to satisfy her initial
curiosity, and tired from casting the divinations and a Glamour Versus
Eavesdropping, Nabiki's eye fell upon her still open ledger.(2)
Very deliberately, she reached out and closed the cover.
It had taken too many hours for all this, and she was too tired to
make those decisions.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow sounded good.
----------------------------------------------------
(1) No, this is not the Necronomicon. AL:LN. It's a book
of divinations and protection magic, after all.
(2) Anybody who's ever RPGed can see the uses for this
spell immediately.