[fic][Ranma][Shampoo’s Chance:  Spirit of the Law]

if you like this fic or have CC let me know at caleb_david@angelfire.com;  ego gratification and self improvement are what keep me writing

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the creation and property of Takahashi-sama and various other entities.  I’m just borrowing them without permission.  I promise to put them all back when I’m done... except possibly for Shampoo:)

Shampoo’s Chance:  Spirit of the Law

By: Kaleb

Prologue

      All was dark and quiet in the forest, save for the crackle from a solitary campfire.  It was barely visible through the thick ring of ancient trees that towered over the small clearing like menacing sentinels, ready to rend to shreds with ragged branches any who would dare intrude upon the personal and sacred ritual taking place.  Still, the figure beside the fire would be enough to make any youth overcome his fear and brave the stinging nettles and poison ivy of the underbrush to get a closer look.

      In the middle of the clearing sat a girl meditating in the lotus position.  She was an exotic beauty; unbound purple hair cascading down a shapely and entirely nude body.  Her proximity to the fire made her smooth skin glisten with sweat, and the deep breathing  of her meditation caused her ample chest to rise and fall in such a way that any youth would gladly accept tender cuts and itching rash as well worth the view. 

      But there were no peeping toms.  There were not even the usual rodents and owls who hunted them in this clearing.  Shampoo was all alone with herself tonight, as she had been for the last six nights of purification and penance.  And, as she was beginning to become painfully aware of, as she had been for most of her life. 

      In fact, there were many things Shampoo was becoming painfully aware of.  She’d always been so confident that she’d never bothered much with introspection; why examine yourself when were surely going to win someday?  No, to even do so would be to admit that there might be a chance that you’d lose.  

      But Shampoo _was_ losing to that girl.  No, there she went trying to delude herself again.  She’d lost to Akane.  Hell, she’d never even been a competitor.  Goddess, it still hurt just as much as it had when she’d first admitted it.  That was the reason she’d come out here.  To start her penance for her failure.  To try and figure out how the she’d lost and what the hell she was going to do next.

      “You’re a powerful Amazon, Shan Pu.”  The intruder’s Mandarin was like cold steel, whose hard edge cut off the sound of the chirping crickets and the flow of heat from the fire; cold silence was all that remained in its wake.   “If she’s an obstacle, why don’t you remove her?  After all, obstacles are for killing, are they not?”  A shiver ran down Shampoo’s spine.  The intruder was really good to have snuck up on her like this.  Shampoo slowly reached into the folds of nowhere and gripped her bonbori as her eyes opened, then widened in shock.

      There wasn’t just one intruder.  She was surrounded!  Through the transparent Amazon in front of her she could make out a ring of elders kneeling at the perimeter of the clearing.  But most surprising was the identity of the warrior holding a sword toward her.  Shampoo would never forget those eyes.  She hated that cold unforgiving glare that looked down on her, yet she couldn’t help but admire the fierce pride and determination that burnt beneath them.  “K-ka-san*?!”

      *SLAP*  “How dare you address me like that!”  Shampoo blinked back tears in surprise.  Her mother’s body was even slenderer and faster than her own.  And apparently stronger despite its dainty limbs.  Her mother’s blow had landed before she’d even had a chance to react. 

      And what a blow.  Not just her cheek, but her whole lower face was crying out in pain, as if she’d been struck with such force that the assaulting hand had gone through her, which, on looking  back at her transparent mother with a pained expression (and not just from the difficulty of turning her strained neck), Shampoo figured it had.  “You’ve been wasting so much time with these japs that you even sound like one now.  And that expression...” spat Shampoo’s mother with disgust, “You’ve gone soft, Shampoo.  This is what happens when you spend too much time with outsiders.” 

      The elders began to murmur their concurment.   Shampoo wasted no time in defending herself.  “Me under order from matriarch to no speak native tongue in Nippon.  Shampoo must practice Japnese, still need much work.”

      “Does it ever.”  Shampoo wasn’t sure which of the elders said that, but it caused the rest of them to snicker.  Shampoo gritted her teeth and forced a sheepish smile.  Mocking was better than murmuring.  At least they all seemed to accept her excuse.  No one could fault her for obeying the matriarch.  Well, except maybe for one who always seemed to find fault.

      “Oh, so I see our great grandma still has her strange obsession with all things foreign.  She’s even taken it so far as to actually abandon our village, the village she’s supposedly in charge of, and live abroad.”  Murmuring broke out again, but this time Shampoo was glad it wasn’t directed toward her, though she found it unsettling that it wasn’t entirely one-sided.  It appeared though that the majority seemed displeased with what had been said. 

      Shampoo’s mother took the hint and shrugged her hands in submission, “I was just looking forward to hearing my daughter’s graceful Mandarin, and all I get is this childish barbarian tongue.  But if our oh so great matriarch says so, it must be, even if it means breaking your poor mother’s heart, eh?”     

      “Damn it,” thought Shampoo angrily, “Why she always make Shampoo feel so much guilty, as if me and Grandma bad guys.  SHE one should feel guilty.  HER training what make Grandma custody take.”   Why was she letting this get to her so much?  It probably wasn’t even happening.  Much more likely that the purification herb used in this ritual had psychedelic properties than that her ancestors’ spirits had come to pass judgement on her.   

      “Oh, you think I’m not real, Shampoo?  That this is just a hallucination?  Then I shouldn’t be able to hurt you...”

      “No, you hurt Shampoo every time you speak,” thought Shampoo.

      “I’m sick and tired of your disrespect, child. YAAAA!”  With a sudden charge Shampoo’s mother came at her, sword trailing along the ground behind.  Even if this was a hallucination, Shampoo wasn’t going to take any chances, besides, the chance to beat her mother was to tempting to resist.  Such a simple charge, she’d have expected something more subtle from Mom.  The only viable attack from it was a full arc swing, which while powerful could easily be dodged by someone like Shampoo who saw it coming, and then her mother would be left wide open.  Shampoo decided to duck in low, setting herself up to counter with an uppercut.  Such a close range attack would put her in to close for her mother to effectively use her sword, switching the range advantage to Shampoo.

      As soon as her mother started to twist her body back to strike, Shampoo ducked, and played right into her opponent’s hands.  As her mother’s other hand snaked under her black and silver shirt Shampoo realized the charge had been a feint.  With blinding speed Shampoo’s mother drew her concealed sword in a battoujitsu* attack which Shampoo couldn’t dodge. 

      “What a disappointment you’ve turned out to be, daughter.”    Shampoo stared in shock at her bleeding right arm, blade imbedded in it’s ulnar marrow, blade which had been going for her neck before she barely blocked it.  How could she be bleeding?  A psychosomatic effect?  Or was this really... 

      Shampoo trembled at how close she’d came to being killed.  If she’d tried to deflect the attack with her bonbori the slight delay from drawing them would have been fatal.  Her mother’s lack of mass seemed to be giving her a deadly speed advantage. 

      “If you’d have been so pathetic as to have let that blow through, you’d have deserved to die,” stated Shampoo’s mother coolly as she removed her weapon from Shampoo’s bone and casually flicked the blood into the fire, which crackled and hissed pleasurably at the offering.  “You know I brought this first blade for you, Shampoo,” scolded Shampoo’s mother as she once again held the sword out toward her daughter.  “Don’t you recognize it?  It’s the first blade I gave you when you were finally strong enough to hold up a real sword.  You should have known I’d have one of my own blades on me too, stupid daughter.”  Shampoo’s mother then planted the sword into the ground before her daughter.  “As I was saying, this blade is for removing obstacles, not you.  Now take the sword and fight like a true Amazon!”    

      Shampoo looked at the blade.  Then at her mother, who was waiting eagerly in combat stance.  Her blood boiled in response and she grabbed the hilt of the sword.  She’d show her.  She was the better one!  Her mother’s lips turned up in a pleased smile.  As Shampoo hefted the sword a spurt of blood from her wrist landed on the blade.  Shampoo gasped at the pain holding the sword was causing in her wrist.  As she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain the blood on the blade caught her eye.  Her eyes widened in shock as it slowly dripped down the blade onto her palm.  She let go of the sword in alarm and gazed in horror at her blood-stained hand. 

      Shampoo’s mother snarled and advanced on Shampoo, but before she could speak or strike Shampoo looked her in the eye and firmly said, “No.”  Her mother was taken aback by her daughter’s defiance, so Shampoo quickly continued before she could recovered.  “Shampoo no fight.  Shampoo no can win this battle, specially no like that.  I already hurting.  That make Shampoo hurt even much more, if no cost me life.”

      The elders once again began to murmur.  “Coward!” screamed her mother in rage.  “So you’re going to just let go of your obligations to our law?!  You know our law is what makes us Amazons strong and rids us of weakness.  Without the law we would degenerate; becoming dispersed and dominated like ordinary weak women!  If you will not fulfill our law then you are weak and it is my duty to rid the Amazons of you!  Now fight, or you will truly cost yourself your life!”  Shampoo jumped back as her mother swung at her in fury.          

      Ducking and dodging, Shampoo tried to keep away from her mother’s furious blade.  Unfortunately she all too quickly found herself backed up against the elders.  Now that she was closer she saw that they too were transparent.  Taking a deep breath, Shampoo hoped she’d be able to pass right through them, but as she backed up they raised their staves and fenced her in; these spirits would see that she faced the law.  Here she was haunted, hunted, by spirits of the law...  spirit of the law... !!

      Shampoo suddenly turned her back on her mother and faced the elders, trying to look as confident as she could.  “You listen, oh great Spirits of Law.  Shampoo will do honor to law.”  Then she turned and faced her seething mother who was holding her blade inches from Shampoo’s throat.  “You say law what make Amazons strong, and you right.  But you wrong despise outside, for brining back what is best from outside what letter law try do to strengthens Amazons.  But letter law Shampoo no can fulfill.”  Murmuring arose once again and her mother’s blade began to press against her flesh.  “But Shampoo can spirit of law fulfill!  Would yous kill Shampoo here, or have Shampoo try obey law and gain nothing for tribe... or let Shampoo let go of letter law so can fulfill spirit of law and bring back tribe what purpose behind law?!”

      A great wind suddenly picked up and blew out the fire and engulfed the clearing in darkness.  After a moment Shampoo realized she’d been holding her breath to try and keep her throat from expanding on to her mothers blade, which was no longer there.  Shampoo sank to the ground as she let out her breath in a sigh of relief.  The clouds overhead cleared and Shampoo could see the stars twinkling clearly above her.  Their small light revealed that she was once again alone in the clearing. 

      The starry night sky was so beautiful, Shampoo laid back on the grass and just gazed into its infiniteness as silent tears of relief ran down her face, to be left in the clearing, left with so many other things, when she’d leave at dawn.  There was so much to get started on tomorrow, but for now, for now she’d lie here and watch the stars.

*     *     *

*  Ka-san:  The common form of mom.  Shampoo’s mother is doubly insulted because Shampoo didn’t address her with the upper class refined form of mother, Ohawe (spelling may be off)  Not particularly fair to hold that against Shampoo; it’s doubtful her limited knowledge of Japanese makes her aware of the distinction.   

*  Battoujitsu:  If you don’t know what this means you need to watch more Ruroni Kenshin (or at least the Kyoto Arc:)  *ahem*  The art of attacking your opponent off the sword draw.  The Japanese actually have an entire school of martial arts devoted to killing off the initial sword draw.  It’s very detailed, even down to how to properly flick the fresh blood off your blade after you’ve make the kill (so there’s less corrosion and the blade lasts longer)