[Ranma][Fanfic] Ruler of the Raging Main Part 7

[Jamie and Bridget Wilde]

SYNOPSIS:

It is now the year 1670 AD. Ranma Saotome, his adopted sister
Ukyo, their panda-cursed father Genma, the Amazon Warrior Shampoo, and
the Lady Akane of the House of Tendo have been taken prisoner by
Portuguese traders in the Orient. The women were to be sold as slaves
to the President of the Audencia de Panama, Don Juan Perez deGuzman,
who was rumored to have a fetish for Asian girls.
The ship that transported them far from their homes has been
destroyed by a sea monster in the Andaman Sea, south of Burma. In the
aftermath of the wreck, Ranma receives the ring worn by the ship's
captain, Eduardo Cristobal, from the man's own dead hand. He and Akane
are dragged down beneath the waves by a squall that blows up shortly
after the shipwreck, and are believed lost.
Neptune, the god of the seas, comes to collect the ring. He informs
Ranma that the ring is occupied by the vengeful spirit of the Queen of
the
Mermaids, and that he must either accept the ring for himself or
surrender
it. Knowing that Akane will drown without the magical aid of the ring,
Ranma agrees to keep it. The ring, known as the Tears of the Siren, was
created by Neptune to be a curse upon all mariners. The Tears will grant
the wearer all the powers of Neptune. It will also kill him after a year
and a day.
Meanwhile, Manuel Delgado, former first mate of the lost
_Deguello_,
has survived the wreck in the company of Jesuit priest Father deGama and
the panda-cursed form of Genma Saotome. They hope to reach the colony of
Syriam, near Rangoon, before they die of thirst and exposure. During
their
trek Delgado is visited in a dream by Nerial, Queen of the Mermaids, and
told that Ranma Saotome has the ring that he has long coveted.

-There are now 364 days remaining to Ranma Saotome-

_________________________________________________________________________
J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present:

RULER OF THE RAGING MAIN
Part Seven: The Gaze of the Golden Dragon

By J. Austin Wilde, K.B.C.S.
Super Critical Reactor Axe Man,
Fission Park Press
wild...@psn.net
http://www.psn.net/~wildeman/

The characters and situations of Ranma 1/2
are the creation and property of Rumiko
Takahashi and Shogakukan/Kitty TV/VIZ

-----------------------------------------
| Previous installments are available |
| at the URL listed above, or by request. |
-----------------------------------------

________________________________________________________________________

"Thou wast all that to me, love,
For which my soul did pine:
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine."

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter One

Through the deep blue waters slipped the long sinewy body of a sea
serpent. His green and gold scales were marred with a patina of
verdigris,
and his soulless black eyes cast a baleful glance at all he looked upon.
The low and mournful calls of whales echoed through the great halls of
the
warm Indian Ocean as a warning to all that he was near, and fish
scattered
before him.
His old name was long forgotten, even to him, but the one he now
took
for himself was from the language of long drowned Maianar. The name
given to
him, and the name by which he was feared by all the denizens of the deep
was
this: Anfaulag, the Jaws of Thirst, and he was also called the
Insatiable.
Anfaulag was a wounded beast, both in body and in pride. Once again
he
had felt the sting of Neptune's wrath, this time through the will of his
mortal agent, the cursed and now deceased Eduardo Cristobal. Once again
he
had been denied possession of his lover, and thoughts of lovely and
cruel
Nerial, the Queen of the Mermaids, consumed him.
She had been so close, and Cristobal was old, sick and weak, and at
the end of his allotted time. The lightning bolt that had nearly slain
him
shouldn't have been Cristobal's to mete out. Damn him in whatever place
the
souls of men went upon their deaths!
Ulmo of the Waters had been close as well, Anfaulag knew. He was
well
aware of the fact that the sea god also desired Nerial, if only to keep
her
from causing any more harm to the pathetic mortals who braved his seas
and
paid him homage. Even if he had been able to destroy Cristobal and seize
the ring, Ulmo of the Waters would have surely demanded it from him.
Yet even Ulmo, his nemesis, was denied her. He could sense the
ring,
could smell the passage of Nerial's crystallized tears through the
waters
of the sea. Someone else had taken her from Cristobal, and Neptune,
still
foolishly bound by his oath, had permitted it.
Anfaulag repeated his simple vow. He would have the Tears of the
Siren,
and with it his lover. Murder and ruin awaited any who were foolish
enough
to stand before him.

Chapter Two

"Do you remember what happened to you?"
Ranma looked with bloodshot eyes at Akane, who sat across from him
on
the sandy ground. The late afternoon heat hung oppressively over the two
of
them, and the incessant chatter of monkeys in the trees mingled with the
crash of the surf nearby.
"Not really."
It was a lie. He had a pretty good idea what had happened to him,
but
to say so would mean opening the conversation to a topic he did not want
to
discuss. Namely the ring he wore, what it was, and what it was going to
do
to him in a year. That line of discussion would then proceed into
questions
about why he had accepted the ring, and those were questions whose
answers
on the surface were immediate and obvious, but were becoming more and
more
difficult to justify to himself as the magnitude of the ring's eventual
consequences sank in.
To save the life of a girl he told himself he didn't particularly
like,
he had sentenced himself to certain death. There were no easy answers
there,
and Ranma wasn't used to facing such quandaries. Better to feign
ignorance
and hope that she would let the matter drop, rather than explore a
question
he wasn't prepared to deal with.
Akane didn't seem to be the type to let things go.
"Are you sure?" she pressed.
"Yeah," Ranma said wearily. "I was just walking along and suddenly
felt dizzy. It must've been the heat or something. My head hurts, but
I'm
okay now."
She gave him a dubious look. It was clear that she didn't believe a
word he had said. Especially the part about being okay. She had held him
in her lap for several hours, and the things he had mumbled in his
delirium
disturbed her for several reasons.
"Oh," she said after some internal reflection. "As long as you're
okay, I guess that's it then."
"Yeah."
She stood up and stretched out her arms over her head.
"Where do you suppose we are?" she asked as she looked out through
a copse of mangroves to the sea.
"I have no idea," Ranma grunted.
"We could be here for the rest of our lives then," she observed.
She
continued to look out across the beach to the water. The sky was
darkening
with the approaching sunset, and blended perfectly with the color of the
water, making both seem to go on forever.
"No way," he said to her. "A ship's bound to come by sooner or
later."
Akane turned around to give him a sobering look.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why should a ship come?" Her eyes seemed to tremble as she said
it.
Ranma thought about this for a moment, but couldn't come up with a
convincing argument.
"Well... Because," he replied lamely.
Akane turned back to look at the sea.

* * *

"Come over by the fire, Akane," Ranma said quietly. He had managed
to
scrounge up enough dry wood to get a small fire going. The night air
wasn't
cold, but the dancing yellow flames offered a comfort to the soul that
no
amount of fair weather could match.
Akane sat on a rock and faced the ocean, as she had done without
motion
or sound for the last hour. She hadn't said anything else to him since
that
afternoon. Her share of mangos and bananas sat uneaten next to her.
"Man, I didn't think I was going to get this thing going," Ranma
said
to himself, but loud enough for her to hear him. "I mean Ucchan usually
takes care of this kind of thing."
"Do you love her?" Akane asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
Akane remained silent to his query, and looked out to the rising
tide.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Ranma asked. "She's my sister."
She turned her head enough to look at him. Her eyes flashed for a
moment as the light from the flames fell upon her face.
"You were calling out to her while you were unconscious this
afternoon," she said. "...I guess I still don't understand what she
means
to you after all this time."
"She means a lot to me," Ranma replied. He put a few more pieces of
wood on the fire. "We grew up together. If there's any way I can find
her,
I'll do it."
"Do you think she's still alive?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. I do."
Akane seemed to smile. "I'm glad." Then she turned back to the sea.
Ranma watched her in silence for a few moments.
"You should probably eat something," he told her.
"I will," she replied. "There's just a few things I need to think
about
first."
"Oh?" he asked, intrigued. "Like what?"
She turned to face him once again. Her face was clouded with
sorrow,
and he cringed inwardly to see such an abrupt change in her demeanor.
"Why did you take the ring, Ranma?" she asked in a voice so soft he
almost didn't hear her.
Ranma froze up. Akane continued when he did not speak.
"At first I thought it was all a dream, but when I woke up and saw
the ring on your finger, I knew that what took place between you and
Neptune really happened."
"Y-You were awake for that?" he stammered in shock.
"Not really," she replied. "Like I said, I thought at first that it
was all a dream. A vivid and frightening dream that I couldn't wake up
from." She looked down to the tattered hemline of her ruined kimono.
"Then you know why I took the ring," Ranma said slowly. If she did
know why he had taken the ring, at least one person in the world would.
He
certainly couldn't answer that question.
Akane didn't look up from her feet.
"Do I? You said you couldn't have my death on your soul. Was that
it?
You were afraid of my death affecting your karma?"
Ranma sat in frustrated silence.
"I-- I guess so," he said finally.
"Nothing else?"
He shrugged helplessly.
"I don't think so. I mean, um..."
He pawed at the sandy ground with his foot while trying to come up
with something to tell her.
"I don't know why I did it, Akane. I just did... I was on the spot,
facing an angry *god* who wanted an answer, and he wanted it right away,
and I just did what I thought was the right thing to do."
He put his hands on his hips and faced her with growing anger
because
she was forcing him to face a question he didn't want to think about.
"Is that all right with you? Would you rather be dead?"
Akane remained silent, staring at the fire. She chewed slowly on
her
bottom lip, and her dark eyes seemed to tremble in the flickering light.
"Well?" Ranma pressed. "Just what did you want me to say to you?"
"I HATE YOU!!!" she screamed suddenly at him, and then began to
scrub
furiously at the tears welling in her eyes. "I wish I'd never even met
you!"
With a single anguished cry, she shoved him down and fled into the
darkness
of the trees.
"Akane?!" Ranma cried after her. "Akane, stop!"
She was lost from sight now, only the fading sounds of her
thrashing
through the undergrowth marked her flight.
"Dammit, Akane..."
He considered chasing after her, and settled for waiting until she
came back on her own. After more than an hour had passed without her, he
gave up on her returning, and rose to his feet to find her.
She had a good head start, and apparently didn't care much about
bushes
and brambles. Ranma found that unless he wanted to get himself scratched
up,
he was going to lose track of her. With yet another curse for the
impossible
girl, he dove after her.

He found her much later in the evening. She sat upon a rock near
the
top of the hill, looking out to the dark ocean that reached to the
infinity
of the horizon. She was still crying, softly now, as if she had nearly
spent
herself. If she registered his approach, she gave no sign.
Ranma decided to watch over her from a short distance. He had no
idea
what had set her off, and figured that if he tried to apologize or did
something to make her feel better, she would only get angry with him
again
and run off to some place where he wouldn't find her.
"Stupid Ranma," he heard her say. The words made him grit his
teeth.
He crouched in the shelter of another rock and clenched his fists as she
went on. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
"Who you callin' stupid?" he said sharply, making her jump in
surprise.
"You," she replied upon regaining her composure.
"Ya mind tellin' me why?"
She turned to face him. Her eyes were swollen and red, her long
blue-
black hair disheveled, and her face pale and lined with sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Ranma. I really am."
He scratched his head at her non sequitur. "Sorry for what, running
off like that? It's no big deal."
She frowned. "No, not for that. I'm sorry that you took the ring
because of me. It's been eating away at me since we washed up here, and
I've been a little edgy because of it."
"I don't understand."
Akane made an exasperated sigh. "You're going to die because of me!
I feel like I've killed you. That I'm responsible for all of this."
"Don't say that," Ranma replied. "It ain't your fault. Not really,
anyway. I made my own choice. Besides, I can always give the ring to
someone else before the year is up."
Akane reached out her hand to him.
"Give it to me, then," she said.
"What?" he cried. The ring began to throb on his finger, though
Nerial
chose to remain silent.
"Give me the ring. It's my fault that you took it, and you know
it."
She closed her eyes. "It's the honorable thing to do."
"Forget honor," Ranma snorted. "Honor has nothing to do with this.
If I gave you the ring, then you'll die, and what would be the point of
me even taking the stupid thing from Neptune in the first place?"
"Maybe you weren't supposed to take the ring. Maybe I was supposed
to
die," she said slowly.
"No way," Ranma said, waving his hands in dismissal. "I don't
believe
that, and you shouldn't either."
"Don't you understand, you idiot!" Akane cried in frustration. "I'm
trying to save your life, and you won't even listen to me!"
"And I'm trying to save yours!" Ranma retorted. "I don't want you
to
die, you got that? If I ever wanted anything bad to happen to you, you'd
be
fish food on the bottom of the ocean right now."
Akane's hand returned to her side. Her eyes began to tremble again,
but she willed away the tears before they could form.
"That's the end of it," Ranma continued. "I took the ring. I knew
what
would happen if I did, and I knew what would happen if I didn't. It was
my
choice, and I made it. Whether it was the smart thing to do or the right
thing to do, I really don't know. The only thing that matters is that
I'm
gonna live with it..." His voice trailed off as he realized the irony of
what he was about to say. "...Even if it kills me."
He stood there facing her for a few moments, unsure of what to do
or say next. Finally, he brushed at his pig-tail and cleared his throat
nervously.
"It's getting late," he said. "We should probably go back to camp.
The
fire's probably almost out by now."
Akane nodded slowly in agreement.
"Okay."
As he started to turn away, she caught him from behind, wrapped her
arms around his chest, and squeezed him tightly. Her tearstreaked face
pressed against his bare shoulder as she held him. Ranma's own face
burned
brightly as he stood as still as a statue in her embrace.
She released him after several minutes had passed, and then began
walking down the hill as if nothing had happened. Ranma remained behind,
frozen stiff as his heart pounded in his ears. When he finally managed
to
move, one thought and one thought alone raced through his head.
**What the heck did she do that for?**

Chapter Three

"We are ready to put to shore on your command, my lord."
Prince Hsinbyushin, the Golden Dragon of Myanmar, heir to the
Toungoon
Dynasty of the Kingdom of Mandalay, nodded imperiously. He did not look
at
his servant. He looked out across the lagoon's dark waters instead.
They would make camp along the beach for the evening, and by
morning
his scouts would fan out across the island searching for the tigers he
had
set loose several months earlier. If the gods smiled on his endeavors,
he
would be thrusting his lance into a tiger's flank before sundown
tomorrow.
His thoughtful sienna eyes reflected the golden gleam of his ships
in the ruddy light of lanterns. Serpentine dragons cut from
cloth-of-gold
wriggled upon their great scarlet sails. It was a proud fleet, built by
expatriate Chinese shipbuilders in the finest traditions of their great-
grandfathers. When the Ming Emperors recalled their fleets a century
earlier, and decreed that China would sail no more upon the seas, they
could not have known what they were setting in motion.
His ships were the finest on the seas, and even the mongrel whites
in his party remarked that they had never seen such cleverly
constructed,
swift, and durable vessels. He suspected that they were lying about the
power of the European nations' ships-of-the-line to flatter him, but it
was clear that the ships of his fleet were more powerful than any Dutch
merchanter, and that was what mattered.
When he had brought Siam, Ceylon, and the Bengal states to heel, he
would have the wealth to arm himself in the grand fashion of Europe,
with
powerful muzzle loading iron cannons from the Beretta family of Italy to
supplement the rockets of his grandfathers. Then he would move to
control
all sea borne trade in the Orient.
"Send a boat ashore to scout," he ordered. While there was no
indication that the Dutch had learned of his fleet, there was also no
reason to be careless. The treachery of the Dutch had been made known
to him through his Portuguese advisors.
"At once, my lord!"
His servant left him.
Prince Hsinbyushin leaned against the rail and smiled in
anticipation
of tomorrow's hunt.

* * *

"What do you make of this, Shampoo?" Ukyo asked in a hushed voice.
She winced as she realized that she was talking to a cat. Shampoo
emitted
a brief meow in reply.
There were twelve ships at anchor in the lagoon. They were much
bigger
than the _Deguello_, and rigged in the manner of Chinese ships. The
creaking
of boat davits and the curses of the men carried across the water as
several
smaller boats were put over the sides and men paddled to the beach. The
girl
and the cat watched from the cover of trees as the men in the boats come
ashore by the light of Chinese style lanterns.
"I wonder who they are."
Shampoo meowed again, and watched with big violet eyes as the men
splashed in the mild surf and pulled their boats up onto the beach.
They were armed mostly with spears. Two whites shouldered muskets
with
unlit match cords. Ukyo shuddered as she realized the musket armed men
were
white. The _Deguello_ was still fresh in her memory.
Approaching them would probably be asking to get locked up as a
slave
again - or worse. Even the cold and aloof Delgado had taken measures to
protect them from the rapacious appetites of his crew. She doubted these
men would feel the same way.
"We should watch them," she told Shampoo. The cat seemed to agree.
"They'll have food and water," she continued slowly. "They might even
know
about Ranma." This last was a desperate hope on her part, but she was
determined to hang on to it until the end.
The men formed up into several groups of two. They began to spread
out into the trees, leaving behind a few men to watch the boats. One
group
was headed right for them.
Ukyo crouched into the shadows of an overgrown palm, biting her lip
as the thorns on the fronds scratched her skin and snagged on her
already
tattered clothes. Shampoo was puffed up and wary as she waited nearby.
Ukyo held her breath as two of them passed within arm's reach. The two
seemed bored and disinterested in their task, and hacked half-heartedly
with large heavy bladed knives into the trees.
Once they were out of earshot, Ukyo slipped from the shelter of the
palm fronds and sought a more comfortable place to observe the lagoon.
Shampoo kept a wary lookout for the return of the two men. She sensed
danger in the air, and was not altogether convinced that it was because
of the strange sailors that roamed the beach.
After some time the parties of searchers returned to the boats. A
single musket was discharged into the air when all had reported their
findings. A musket answered from the largest of the dozen ships anchored
in the lagoon.
"I wonder what's going on?" Ukyo asked Shampoo. The cat replied
with
a terse meow.
Men began pushing the boats back into the water. Ukyo watched as
they
paddled back out to the ships. There were over a dozen men remaining on
the
beach, which probably meant that whoever was in command of the fleet
wasn't
planning on leaving any time soon.
Almost as soon as the boats had pulled alongside their respective
ships, they were being loaded with cargo and more men who clambered down
rope ladders to the waterline. Within minutes the boats were once again
paddling towards the beach.
They wasted no time in setting up several large pavilions of yellow
silk on the beach well clear of the high tide limit. Lanterns were hung
on
poles driven into the sand and braced with rocks that could be scrounged
up
from close by. Men armed with spears began patrolling the campsite at
the
limits of the lantern light.
Only when the camp was completely set up did Prince Hsinbyushin
take
leave of his flagship and come ashore. Ukyo and Shampoo could see the
sparkle of his yellow and white silk robes all the way across the
lagoon.
His long black hair flowed freely in the gentle breeze blowing in from
the
open ocean, and he was as tall as the two white men who stood by his
side.
A second boat followed behind the prince, and the voices of young women
carried across the water.
"Who do you suppose that is, Shampoo?"
As the boat approached, one of the men went down on his face into
the
surf. When the prince reached the beach, he stepped lightly onto the
back
of this prostrate servant to keep the hem of his robes dry. He stepped
off
the man and onto the beach, the servant not rising until he was
commanded
to do so.
When he spoke to one of his servants, he addressed them in Chinese.
Ukyo was certain of this, even if she didn't understand much of what was
said. She wished even more that Shampoo was human, so that she could
tell
her what he was saying.
The prince entered the largest pavilion after a brief tour of the
camp. Three young women adorned with gold and rubies and wearing
expensive
looking silk robes entered another tent. The women were under the guard
of
several men dressed in red loincloths. Soon the smells of grilling meat
reached the tree line, and Ukyo's stomach began to rumble in protest.
"Here's the plan," she said softly to the cat. "We wait until
everyone
but the guards are asleep, and then we take a closer look."
Shampoo rolled her eyes and crouched on all fours to take a nap.
Her
purple tipped tail lashed lazily behind her as Ukyo watched the camp
with
increasing boredom and weariness. Soon both cat and girl were fast
asleep.

* * *

Ukyo awoke to the insistent prodding of a spear point in her chest.
She managed a scream as another man grabbed her by her long fall of
chestnut hair and jerked her to her feet. Her eyes darted frantically
around her feet for some sign of Shampoo, but the cat was nowhere to be
found.
**Damn you, Shampoo!** she cursed to herself as she was dragged by
her hair towards the beach. **I saved your life and this is how you
repay
me?**
"Cut it out!" she shrieked in protest at another tug on her hair.
"I
can walk just fine by myself!"
The man grunted something unintelligible, and Ukyo guessed she must
have sounded just as alien to his ears. That didn't keep her from
screaming
curses at him anyway.
She was half dragged into the center of the camp before being
struck
behind the knees with the haft of a spear and dropped to the sand. One
of
her tormentors entered the prince's pavilion at a bow while she was held
down by another man who kept an iron grip on the back of her neck. Words
were exchanged within, and the man returned to grab Ukyo by the hair
again.
"I said cut it out!" she shrieked. Her fist lashed out and struck
the
man squarely upon the chin. He reeled from the blow as she sprang from
the
sand to land a jumping side kick to his chest, blasting him back through
the pavilion flap in an explosion of air from his lungs.
Before the guard behind her could catch her up in his grasp, she
sprang forward into the pavilion and stomped her foot down into her
gasping tormentor's groin. The man emitted a low groan of agony and fell
unconscious.
"Don't you ever touch me again," she growled at him.

Prince Hsinbyushin watched with a mixture of fascination and
disgust
as the strange girl was caught from behind and thrown roughly onto the
Persian rug laid before his cushions. The guard was about to follow up
with
a blow to the back of the neck -surely fatal- before he commanded him to
stop. The guard's fist flew swiftly to his side, and he bowed deeply
from
the waist before stepping back from the girl.
She was about seventeen years old, if even that, he guessed. She
wasn't
much younger than he was. One thing was certain about her, however: she
was truly a flower of youth and beauty. Her race was uncertain, but
probably
Japanese. He was not accustomed to women displaying such ferocity, and a
sudden caution checked his immediate desire for her. Her fiery
temperament
and fierce green eyes reminded him of the tigers he hoped to hunt the
next
day. One did not hunt such beasts without a measure of respect - if he
wished to see the sunset.
**Surely I have not found one so soon?** he thought with a smile.
He stood from his cushions and bade her to rise with his hand.

Ukyo Saotome watched the yellow robed prince smile with amusement
and
beckon her to stand. She did so slowly, still wary of another blow from
behind. Two servants hovering at the edge of the pavilion appeared from
the shadows long enough to take the fallen guard by the arms and drag
him
outside.
The prince said something to another servant, who brought a green
silk lined pillow and set it before her feet. Another man brought her a
silver cup filled with warm yellow rice wine. She could feel the
prince's
eyes upon her, and knew that she was expected to take the cup and kneel
upon the pillow, but all she could think about was how she was going to
escape the pavilion.
He continued to watch her dispassionately as she tried to come up
with
some sort of distraction that would allow her to make a run for it. A
quick
mental count of the pavilion's occupants wasn't encouraging. There were
plenty of servants and soldiers who could stop her before she could get
very
far.
With a sigh, she knelt upon the pillow and sipped from the wine. It
was actually fairly good wine, but then all she had ever known was the
cheap sake that Genma was known to drink whenever they came into a
little
money. The prince seemed to approve of her actions, and relaxed upon his
own cushions.
"<Where did you come from, woman?>" he asked her in Chinese. "<Are
there any others like you on this island?>" Ukyo looked up in ignorance
and
cursed silently once again at Shampoo's betrayal.

The prince frowned. It was obvious that she did not understand him,
and Japanese was a language he had never concerned himself with
learning.
They were an island of children, aping the higher civilizations they
encountered because they had neither the intellect nor the imagination
to
create something fine and lasting of their own. More was the pity, for
she
was a lovely creature to behold.
"Have my concubines brought in," he ordered his servants. "And take
this one to their pavilion. See that she is fed, bathed, and properly
clothed -and under close watch." He turned to his captain of the guard.
"Have some of your men make another search of the surrounding area,
there
may be more like her to be found. If there are, bring them to me at
once."
The guard and the servants bowed and sprang to comply.
Hsinbyushin sighed. His concubines were all pleasing in their own
ways,
but he found himself desiring the strange girl more and more. Once she
was
cleaned and presentable, he would certainly avail himself to her charms
-it
would be unthinkable for him to sully himself with her in her present
condition. The next evening then, after he had slain his tiger, he would
feast upon its flesh, drink an elixir gleaned from its various parts
that
would heighten his potency, and then make love to his newest concubine
well
into the night. If she gave him a son, he might even consider marrying
her.
Her fiery green eyes flashed at him as she was led away, causing
him
to smile once again at the hand of fate, for tomorrow he would conquer
not
one tiger, but two.

Chapter Four

Ukyo Saotome let the old women who looked after the prince's
concubines
finish drying her hair. She smelled of rich oils from the bath, of
jasmine,
hyacinth, and chrysanthemums. Once dry, they twisted strings of pearls
and
gold beads into her long fall of chestnut hair. Then they dressed her in
fine purple silk, and set a belt of gold and rubies upon her waist. If
not
for the fact that she was now a slave again, and a concubine at that,
she
would have enjoyed the attention.
Wine and a plate of fruits sweetened with honey and edible flowers
was offered to her. She ate a little of everything as she went over ways
to
escape the pavilion before the prince came calling. Anyone who sent for
three young women to satisfy his sexual appetite was either a braggart
or
dangerously potent, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't want her
as well before the dawn came. She meant to be well away from the
prince's
camp before that happened.
It wouldn't be easy. The eunuchs in the red loincloths had to be
good
fighters considering the nature of their charge. The element of surprise
would be harder to come by as well, for word of her trouncing the one
soldier had to have spread to the rest of them by now. Her quick scan of
the pavilion's furnishings wasn't very encouraging, either. The best
weapons she could come up with were a jade comb and a small porcelain
decanter of hot water for making tea. There wasn't even a hairpin she
could use as a dagger.
The old women left her alone eventually, though it was clear from
the silhouette of a eunuch through a privacy screen at the front of the
pavilion that she was not unsupervised. Presumably she was to sleep, but
there was no way she was going to do that. As long as she remained
quiet,
they would probably believe she had gone to sleep after enough time had
passed.
As she considered what to do next, Shampoo appeared from behind the
screen. Ukyo's eyes fell sharply upon the cat as it looked about the
pavilion without a bit of concern for her. She was obviously looking
for something.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here," Ukyo said to the cat.
Shampoo meowed once as she sniffed at the air.
"Well?" Ukyo asked in a hushed voice. "What do you want?"
Shampoo found what she was searching for, and pounced upon Ukyo
with
a quick yowl of excitement. Ukyo yelped in pain as the cat's claws raked
across her thighs. She grabbed her roughly in both hands and held her
off
the ground -thrashing, spitting, and howling. The eunuchs seemed
oblivious
to the goings on within the pavilion, for they did not investigate.
"Stop it, you treacherous little bitch," Ukyo cursed at Shampoo. "I
want some answers."
Shampoo glared at her with flattened ears and brilliant violet
eyes.
"I suppose you wanted this," Ukyo replied, gesturing to the
porcelain
decanter of hot water with her slippered foot.
Shampoo meowed angrily.
"Fine with me," Ukyo declared.
She pinned the cat to a pillow and dumped some of the water on her.
A
naked and angry Shampoo appeared as the steam cleared, and Ukyo fell
upon
her to keep her down. She put all of her weight upon the Chinese girl,
not
caring if it hurt.
"What you doing, stupid spatula girl?!" Shampoo demanded in gasps.
"What's the big idea about not warning me when those men came
along,
huh? I could be dead right now."
"Shampoo smell something strange and go find out what it was," she
replied quietly. "Come back to find spatula girl gone. Decide men take
her
to camp. I come find you. Now get off Shampoo!"
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Shampoo not care if spatula girl trust her," Shampoo grunted as
she
tried to wrench herself free. "Shampoo could have looked for hot water
in
other tents, but chose one with Ukyo."
Ukyo thought about it for a moment. Shampoo did have a point, she
decided. She warily eased herself off the purple-haired girl, and rose
to
her feet.
Shampoo rose up on all fours and turned to look at Ukyo.
"We even now," she said. "You save Shampoo's life. Now Shampoo save
yours."
"Not yet," Ukyo replied. "Not until we get out of here. *Then*
we'll
be even."
Shampoo nodded in agreement. She then began a quiet search of the
pavilion for clothes that would fit. She came up with an outfit that
would give her the most mobility in battle and still protect her from
the
elements. It was a bit provocative by most mens' standards, but when had
Shampoo ever worn anything tame?
"Do you have any idea who these people are?" Ukyo asked as the
Amazon
adjusted the fit of her red silk sash.
Shampoo shrugged. "Tall man in gold robes, they call him Prince
Hsinbyushin. He speak Chinese of Manchu Emperors of Ch'ing Dynasty.
Shampoo know this because Emperor's servants come to village every year
to count men and collect taxes. Sometimes they take men away to fight
in army. So stupid. They not care that women of village ten times better
fighters."
"So you're saying that he's one of the Chinese Emperor's sons?"
"No. Only say he talk like one. Shampoo hear servants speak other
language when man in gold not around. This other language not Chinese.
Shampoo not know what it is. I not know what they doing here on island."
"He had some white men with him too," Ukyo added. "I'm pretty sure
they spoke Portuguese, because I recognized some of the words."
"Shampoo think so too," she agreed. "Is puzzling." Shampoo looked
around the pavilion once again. "What we have for weapons?" she asked
Ukyo.
"Not much," Ukyo admitted. "Just this comb and some little bits of
jewelry." She looked around again. "I suppose we could make knives out
of
those bottles of oil if we broke them."
"No bother," Shampoo said with a shake of her head. "It better that
we escape quietly. There many men here. Some have guns. We no fight them
all and win."
She gathered up the remainder of the food presented to Ukyo and
took
some of the sleeping blankets. Ukyo followed her lead and took several
small lamps and a tinderbox. They'd need a few things to make their
lives
on the island more comfortable.
"What about stealing one of the boats?" Ukyo asked.
"Shampoo think about that," she replied. "It good to have if we
want
look for Ranma. Not know if risk of getting caught make it worth
trouble."
"Anything is worth finding Ranma."
Shampoo was silent a moment. Thoughts of Ranma as a man brought a
wave of longing into her heart.
"Shampoo agree..." she said slowly. "But there no reason to take
stupid risk. We come back for boat later, when we have time to plan."
"So how do you plan to get us out of here?" Ukyo asked. The front
door
seemed like an obvious bad idea, even if the eunuch seemed to be snoring
outside.
Shampoo bent low to the pavilion edge.
"It easy. Tents held up with rope tied to heavy rocks and stretched
tight. We dig out under wall and crawl under."
She began scooping handfuls of sand out from the edge of the
pavilion.
Ukyo watched her for several moments, and then joined her. It was just
as
easy as the purple-haired Amazon said it would be.
They crawled under the pavilion wall with their booty. The
concubines'
pavilion was near the center of camp, but it was late and there were
only
sentries making their boring rounds on the perimeter. If they were
careful
and quiet, it would be simple to slip past them and into the cover of
the
trees.
Shampoo kept a wary eye out for sentries as she led Ukyo past the
kitchen pavilion. The smell of grilled meat and savory rice was a
powerful
temptation to the two girls, and Shampoo halted close to the open flaps
of the door.
"It's too risky," Ukyo hissed, even though her mouth was watering
as
much as the Amazon's.
"We may go long time before next chance," Shampoo returned. She
peeked
her head inside, and satisfied herself that the cook was asleep.
"Come inside," she told Ukyo. "You no stand out in open while
Shampoo
busy."
Ukyo reluctantly stepped inside. She told herself that this was a
bad idea, that they were asking to get caught. Watching Shampoo grab a
large porcelain bowl full of steamed rice and top it with skewers of
meat
and vegetables however made a believer out of her.
Shampoo stuffed a small sack of uncooked rice into her robes and
handed the other food to Ukyo. As an afterthought she grabbed a large
kitchen knife and tested its edge. She decided that it would suffice,
and
tucked it into her sash.
Ukyo spied the battered brass tea kettle of the _Deguello_ sitting
next to the cook fire. The prince's men must have found their makeshift
campsite in the course of their searches.
"Take the kettle," she whispered to Shampoo.
"Why for?"
"You never know when we'll need hot water."
Shampoo conceded the point, and handed her the tea kettle.
"We go now," she said to Ukyo.
"I'm right behind you."
They slipped out of the kitchen tent just as a sentry was walking
by
on the outer perimeter. Shampoo froze without warning, and Ukyo bumped
into
her, knocking them both over. They spilled over a guy line for one of
the
pavilions, dislodging the rock that held that end up. The tent began to
collapse with a cries of surprise and alarm from the men within.
"Stupid!" Shampoo cursed as she sprang to her feet.
"You could have warned me!" Ukyo hissed in reply. She gathered
their
spilled booty and jumped up as the sentry came charging towards them.
The
sounds of others giving the alarm echoed around her.
Shampoo flicked out the kitchen knife, the blade following along
the
outside edge of her forearm. The sentry dropped his spear parallel with
the ground, at first intending to corner her and force her to surrender.
Once he saw the glint of the knife blade in the lantern light, he dug in
his feet for a skewering thrust.
The Amazon jumped aside of the spear thrust, letting the haft graze
the knife against her forearm. As the soldier tried to recover from his
spear thrust, the blade sank into the wooden haft and slowed its return.
It was all the delay Shampoo needed as she whirled into a jumping kick
that connected with the side of his head. The soldier flew into a
another
pavilion, bringing it down as the men inside strapped on bits of armor
and grabbed for weapons.
"Head for boats!" Shampoo cried.
"But you said--" Ukyo began to protest.
"No may get second chance!"
"That's what you said about the food, and now look at what's
happened!"
"You one who knock Shampoo over!"
"It's your fault for not warning me!"
Before Shampoo could continue their bickering, they were set upon
by
the other sentries. She brought down the knife blade in a slashing
motion
that lacerated the first man's thigh and drove him to the ground in
agony.
Ukyo barely avoided a spear in the face, and scrabbled for open
space
as a second ripped into her robes. A desperate leap put her just out of
range before the first spearman could recover and make a second attack.
She began to sprint for the surf with the two of them in pursuit.
Shampoo fell backwards under a spear thrust, letting the man
overextend
himself in what should have been a perfect attack to her midsection. As
he
stumbled forward in the sand, she arched her back and launched her feet
up
into his belly, blasting him through the spear of the sentry behind him.
The man was still screaming as Shampoo rolled clear of another foe and
jumped to her feet.

Prince Hsinbyushin watched in awe as a purple-haired girl wearing
the
robes of his concubines took his best soldiers apart in hand to hand
combat.
All she was apparently armed with was a kitchen knife, and she destroyed
experienced men using swords and spears. He should have been outraged at
this, but instead he was fascinated.
She was terribly beautiful to behold. Her long purple hair flowed
with the same fluid grace as her lean and supple body. She cursed them
in
Chinese as she fought, and as he watched her he knew that she was indeed
of Chinese birth. He had thought the chestnut haired girl a tigress, but
this girl even roared like one!
"Take her alive and unharmed!" he ordered his men. "I want both of
them unharmed!" It didn't seem possible, but that was no concern of his.

Ukyo bodychecked a white man near the boats whose musket failed to
discharge. He crumpled into the surf as she threw the food and the other
items they had taken into the boat. She kicked him in the head for good
measure and cried to Shampoo to hurry.
Shampoo whirled in time to the motion of the swordsman she dueled
with. She had heard the prince's admonition that she was not to be
harmed
and grinned to herself. They didn't stand a chance against her now.
As if to prove the point, she stepped inside the man's guard,
having
noted the regularity of his form and exploiting it. Before he could
backpedal and escape, she smashed the wooden end of her knife handle
into
his nose, flattening it with a satisfying *crunch.* The sword wobbled in
his weakened grasp, and she stripped it from him with her left hand.
The sharp curved blade whistled through the air as she immediately
spun around to face anyone who might try to attack her from behind. One
of the prince's men barely escaped decapitation as he stumbled
backwards.
With a flash of brilliant steel she swapped weapons in her hands.
She
kept the knife just below the level of her chin, close to her chest and
parallel to the sand. The sword she kept out at near arm's length,
daring
her opponents to engage as she moved steadily towards the beach.
She stomped at the man she had nearly killed with her sword stroke,
and he scrabbled on all fours to escape. She used his clumsy retreat as
a
screen against yet another of the prince's men. As he rushed wide of her
to get clear of the crawling soldier, she leaped over the hunched man
and
began a full out sprint to the boats.
A bullet whizzed past her and smashed into the beach ahead. She
knew
it wasn't aimed at her, but jumped in surprise anyway. In their attempts
to intimidate, they might accidentally shoot her.
"Come on, Shampoo! Ukyo cried. She began to push the boat into the
water.
"No go too far!" Shampoo cried in return. "I no want to be cat
again!"
"Better a cat than dead!"
Shampoo used the white man Ukyo had taken down as a springboard,
and
leaped into the air towards the sea. Ukyo reached out her arms and
caught
Shampoo, dragging her roughly into the boat with a crash. They managed
to
sit up as bullets splashed into the water around them. Still reeling
from
the blow, Ukyo dragged at the oars and began rowing.
Shampoo knew that they had to keep their distance from the prince's
ships in the lagoon, and told Ukyo as much. She could also see men on
the
shore begin piling into the remaining boats to pursue. Rockets started
flying high into the sky from the ships as the alarm reached them. The
rockets' golden glow illuminated the water around them, and highlighted
them for the men in the other boats to steer their way.
"Where are we going?" Ukyo cried.
"Out of lagoon first," Shampoo replied. "After that, Shampoo not
know."
"I was afraid you'd say something like that."
"If spatula girl no like Shampoo's ideas, than spatula girl can get
out of boat and swim!"
"Like hell I will!"

Prince Hsinbyushin watched the boat with Shampoo and Ukyo rowing
madly out towards open water by the glow of rockets from his ships. In
spite of the ruin of his campsite, and possibly even of his tiger hunt,
he began to smile. He had known many pleasures and many rewards in the
nineteen years of his current life, and one thing was absolutely clear
to him: here was sport far more exciting than killing a wild animal.
The rewards of success were far greater as well, for such tigresses
could only bear him the strongest and mightiest of sons. Sons that could
hold and even expand the mighty empire he would carve for them.
He made his decision as his aides and servants assisted him into
the
last boat on the beach.
No matter what might come, he would have them both!

Chapter Five

Manuel Delgado looked out across the endless waves and knew that
they
were going to die. Estremoz lay at the bottom of the longboat. He hadn't
moved for some time, though slow ragged breaths still slipped from his
cracked and bleeding lips. Father deGama seemed a shriveled brown husk
as
he huddled within his loose fitting sackcloth.
Genma Saotome, still a panda, continued to row. The beast was
nearly
spent, his bloody paws still pulling at the oars in a futile effort to
overcome the current that held the boat in its thrall. His long black
tongue wagged listlessly from his mouth. His eyes were glazed over with
pain, exhaustion, and possibly delirium.
"Great and almighty God," deGama gasped. "Just a little rain."
None came at his prayer. The Jesuit bowed his head and went back to
his fitful dozing.
Delgado did not know how many days they had been drifting. It could
have been a week and it could have been a month. Time had become a blur
of
thirst and pain to them. Even the night, with its bitter wind, offered
no
comfort after the blazing punishment of the sun had taken its daily
toll.
He had never been a believer in the Church, whether the one in Rome
or those of the supposed heretical Protestants, but now he prayed. He
prayed to whatever god or gods might pay him heed, named, unnamed, or
even
unholy. He prayed to die. All his desires became subordinate to this one
most ardent wish, including his desire for the phantasmal nymph and for
Cristobal's ring.
As his lips gibbered his plaintive request, his head slowly sank
down
upon his shoulder. Only Genma, still obsessed with reaching land and
shelter from the deadly sun, remained conscious. He continued his futile
battle against the current, pulling at the oars with numbing paws.
Finally, as the sun continued its relentless assault, even Genma
sank into exhaustion. The oars hung uselessly in their locks. The
longboat,
with its splintered mast and sun-broiled crew, began to spin slowly in
the
current.

END OF PART SEVEN

Author's Notes

1. The Toungoon Dynasty was established in what is modern day Burma
(Myanmar) in the mid 17th century. The Toungoons were heavily influenced
by the Chinese, and came to power through the assistance of Portuguese
adventurers and their modern weapons. The name Hsinbyushin comes from a
later period (early 18th century) ruler of the Dynasty. The power of the
Kingdom of Mandalay has obviously been expanded beyond what is
historically
known for the purposes of the story.

2. The height of military power for China's Ming Dynasty included a
fleet
of ocean going ships that indirectly controlled the Philippines,
Indochina,
Singapore, and Indonesia, and was known to travel to India, Persia, the
eastern coast of Africa, and even as far as Madagascar for trade and
exploration. These ships were known for their strength and durability
- being the first ships in history to feature watertight compartments -
for their remarkable lack of a keel (they used a large retractable
rudder
or rudders mounted in a watertight housing for stability and steering),
and
for their speed.

3. The later years of the Ming Dynasty marked the decline of China as a
world power, and the fleets were brought home both to enforce a policy
of
isolation from the world, and to combat the growing menace of Japanese
fishermen turned pirates in the Sea of Japan. By the time of the Ch'ing
Dynasty, the fleets are all but forgotten, yet their superior
construction
methods lived on in the form of the Junk, and remain to this day. The
ships of Prince Hsinbyushin's fleet are of course an invention for the
the story, but one I feel that was certainly plausible given the power
of
the Chinese navy in the recent past, and the possible reluctance of some
of its commanders to obey the Emperor's recall order.

4. The Beretta family has been in the firearms business since 1526, when
they began manufacturing early firelock longarms (true "rifles" wouldn't
appear until centuries later). The various northern Italian states were
home to some of the great arms manufacturing companies in Europe, with
only a few German firms such as Merkel (founded in 1535 and like Beretta
is still around), matching their craftsmanship and expertise. By the
time
of "Ruler of the Raging Main," the French are also noted for their
expertly
crafted matchlock and wheel-lock longarms.

Free The Nukes!