The Wheel of Fire, #30: Flame of the Red Lotus 

  Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com) 
  http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 
  Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko 
Takahashi. And all that other good stuff. Proper 
licenses belong to respective properties and 
characters. The manga has precedence over material in 
the anime. 
  This file can be freely distributed so long as it 
appears in its complete form and proper credit given. 
No part may be reproduced for monetary gain without 
permission from the author. 

  Fanart located: 
    http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/fanart/index.html 

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

"In order to succeed we must first believe that we 
  can." -- Michael Korda 


  He ran from the creature of darkness at top speed, 
feeling as though he would never be a sufficient 
distance away despite his speed. 
  As he sprinted through the inky blackness somehow 
he made out the tiny shapes of lizards as black as 
their surroundings, each possessing one large, glowing 
green eye where their heads should have been. Each 
lizard gazed at him as he passed by, and continued to 
follow. When they disappeared into the distance behind 
they meshed together with the sickly-green cloud of 
pestilence that chased him. 
  The cloud grew larger, and to his dismay it wasn't 
because it was growing in size-- it was getting closer. 
It was then that he decided to stop running, and turned 
to face the cloud-creature defiantly. 
  "The nightmares ended a long time ago," Ranma shouted 
at the top of his lungs, despite realizing he was in a 
dream-- it was all he could do to try and wake up. But, 
as before, the nightmare would never release him until 
it got its message across first. 
  The cloud threatened to envelop the martial artist 
in its green wisps, but the creature stopped short of 
doing so. Ranma could barely make out a shape within 
the cloud, one that resembled human. 
  "Caught you are in the strings spun by the Fates," 
the entity said in a whispering tone. "Destiny has 
many plans for you." 
  "Destiny," the martial artist repeated to himself. 
"It's always destiny it's all comin' back to!" 
  "Actions of the past dictate what you must do in the 
near future," the cloud-creature insisted with a 
certain urgency. 
  The sickly-green glow softened in Ranma's eyes, 
transforming before his eyes into a darker, forest- 
green. The shape within became nearly invisible until 
the forest-green turned into a turquoise, then sea- 
blue. When the cloud transformed into a sky-blue, the 
shape emerged from creature. 
  He was hardly surprised when he saw who came out. 
  The clouds dissipated into nothingness, leaving only 
Ukyo Kuonji, dressed in the same manner as when he last 
saw her in the underground Orochi compound. She bore 
a haunting visage to that of Seiryu, minus the 
telltale crimson scar that fell vertically over the 
left eye, yet Ukyo's left eye faintly glowed of a pale 
ki energy. Whether it was a mark of destiny, or a 
warning of what to come, Ranma didn't know, but what he 
did know for certain was that his actions did prevent 
his old friend from becoming the monstrous Seiryu. 
  "Destiny is forged by our own wills," Ukyo said in a 
calm manner. "Fate doesn't determine what will or will 
not happen. We're all responsible for our own actions." 
  Ranma nodded slowly. "I'll try to keep that in mind." 
  For the rest of the night he dreamed of nothing. 


Day 4 

  Ranma wandered the deck of the cargo ship as it 
continued up the river, eyes wandering for any sight of 
the elusive Shadow Weaver, Hokuto. When he woke up that 
morning she was nowhere to be seen. She was also 
absent from the morning meal she negotiated with the 
captain when she got passage on the ship earlier in 
the week. 
  The ship was by no means small, but since it was a 
river boat it wasn't very large, either. The martial 
artist's thoughts wandered to disaster when he spotted 
Hokuto standing at the port bow rail, staring out to 
the land across the river. 
  She had thrown her concealing cloak's folds over her 
shoulders, allowing them to flow with the wind. She 
wore the baggy pants that seemed common in China, tied 
off at the waist with a towel. An expensive-looking 
vest was worn over her shirt, partially concealing the 
bandoleer of spatulas Hokuto seemed ashamed of using, 
but used nonetheless. Her eyes seemed lost in the wind 
that brushed her. 
  For the first time Ranma realized he was looking at 
the girl as a girl, as Hokuto somewhat reminded him of 
Akane. He felt something within himself that seemed 
to long for her companionship. 
  Fortunately, the feeling was suppressed by the 
Shadow Weaver herself. She seemed to notice Ranma's 
presence, immediately startling him. "I see you've 
woken up," Hokuto said, without turning away from the 
rail. 
  "Where've you been?" the martial artist asked. "I've 
been lookin' all over for you." 
  "That won't be a first," Hokuto noted cryptically. 
  "There's something I need to ask of you, and I think 
only you can help out," he continued. "I need you to 
tell me what Fate has in store for me." 
  That seemed to catch the Shadow Weaver's attention. 
"Really? You want me to give you a reading?" 
  "If that gets me an answer, sure," Ranma answered 
quickly. 
  Nodding slowly, Hokuto walked past the martial artist 
and gestured for him to follow. She lead him down 
below the decks to the cargo hold, a dark chamber of 
numerous spires made up of wooden crates stacked here 
and there. The illuminating light was little as the 
crates cast many a shadow, seemingly adding a haunting 
air, Ranma thought. 
  She lead him to a small corner of the hold, where the 
crates were pushed aside allowing for a small room of 
sorts, which Ranma believed was specifically reserved 
for Hokuto's meager purposes, whatever they were. 
Hokuto sat down against the corner, and gestured for 
Ranma to sit as well. 
  "Are you familiar with tarot readings?" she asked, 
producing two uneven stacks of cards from the folds of 
her cloak. 
  "Yeah, kinda," the martial artist replied. "It's some 
kind of fortune-telling I heard that some guys at 
school were into." 
  "Well, that is the nature of your reading," Hokuto 
said evenly, shuffling the two decks together. "The 
first order of business is the question you have to ask 
the cards." 
  "You're kidding." 
  "Without a purpose there is no reason to continue the 
reading." 
  Ranma sighed, feeling somewhat silly. "All I want 
to know is what's gonna happen when I get to 
Jusenkyo." 
  The Shadow Weaver nodded slowly. "Very well, then, 
let's begin." 
  In the clear space between her and Ranma, Hokuto 
drew a card and placed it in the middle. The face of 
the card indicated it was the Eight of Wands. 
  "This is your primary influence," she said, beginning 
the story unfolded by the cards. "The Eight of Wands 
signifies quick action; you're going to have to make 
some quick decisions, or perhaps you're going to see 
an end of something." 
  "Please let it be the curse!" interrupted Ranma. 
  "We won't know until the cards show us," Hokuto said, 
glaring at the martial artist. She drew another card, 
and placed it at a ninety-degree angle on top of the 
first card. "This is the secondary influence, The Fool. 
It's a faith card-- probably telling you that you 
should follow your heart or something." 
  "Now let's see the root cause," she said, drawing 
the Eight of Swords and placing it below the first two 
cards. "Well, interestingly enough, this card signifies 
powerlessness. Likely you're feeling powerless in your 
situation, but let's see how it'll change, huh?" 
  Placing the fourth card to the left of the first two 
cards, Hokuto read the Five of Cups. "The past 
influence is regret." 
  "Yeah, like I should've done this sooner," Ranma 
said bitterly. 
  Hokuto nodded. "That may very well be the case. If 
I may, shall I see what it is you regret?" 
  "Knock yourself out," the martial artist replied. 
  She produced a fifth card and placed it at a ninety- 
degree angle on top of the fourth card-- the Chariot 
card. "The Chariot...." 
  "What's that mean?" 
  "The Chariot usually describes a person," Hokuto 
explained. "It's someone strong of will, who achieves 
victory on his or her own terms. I'm not sure what it 
means." 
  For a moment Ranma's thoughts drifted to Ukyo, but 
kept it to himself. Did I regret not marrying her? No, 
that can't be it.... 
  Placing the sixth card above the first two cards, she 
read, "This is the Six of Wands, signifying that you 
are seeking success in the present." The Shadow Weaver 
continued to draw the seventh card, placing it to the 
right of the first set of cards, and stopped cold. 
  "What's wrong?" asked Ranma. 
  "The Three of Swords," she explained, her face 
appearing as if it would go white in shock, "means that 
betrayal lies in your future." Seeming hesitant to 
continue, Hokuto nonetheless asked, "Shall I see what 
kind of betrayal?" 
  Nodding vigorously, Ranma refused to hide his 
curiosity. "Let's hear it!" 
  Taking a deep breath, the Shadow Weaver forced 
herself to continue, slowly drawing the next card from 
the deck. Placing it across the betrayal card, Hokuto's 
face went completely white, and she appeared ready to 
faint. 
  "The High Priestess?" Ranma read, looking confused. 
He leaned over the cards and shook Hokuto back to 
consciousness. "Hey, don't leave! What's this mean?" 
  Regaining herself, Hokuto shook her head, as if 
shaking the ghosts out of her mind. "The High Priestess 
is a card of mystery... and possibly inaction. It's 
usually qualified to a person, as the name suggests, 
and is a very powerful card." 
  "So whoever's gonna betray me is whoever's 
represented by the High Priestess card?" Ranma repeated 
to himself, a name already forming in his mind. 
  "Well, I'd better see if I can finish this," Hokuto 
said, slowly drawing another card. She placed it away 
from the first set of cards, near herself. She read, 
"You see yourself as the King of Swords-- that is, a 
bold leader. Perhaps you believe everyone should follow 
your lead?" 
  Producing the next card above the first, the Shadow 
Weaver revealed the Knight of Pentacles. "However, as 
others see you you're obsessed." The Wheel of Fortune 
card was drawn next, and placed above the Knight of 
Pentacles. "And this is your fear of Fate and Destiny. 
It's what you're trying to avoid, and may hurt you in 
the end." 
  "Why am I not surprised?" 
  Drawing the last card and placing it above the other 
three, Hokuto read, "The Three of Pentacles represents 
teamwork. Teamwork is in your future; you're likely 
going to get this as your likely outcome of going to 
Jusenkyo." 
  "What, there aren't any more success cards?" Ranma 
asked, agitated. 
  "Not really. But," she pointed out, "you have two 
success cards here in your reading-- the Chariot and 
the Six of Wands, which certainly means you've got some 
measure of success in your future. Also, from all the 
cards there are two cards from each suit except for the 
suit of Cups. This likely suggests that there's a lack 
of love in your life." 
  "Hey, leave my love life outta this!" Ranma cried 
defensively. 
  "There are also four Major Arcana cards, probably 
meaning that strong forces are at work. Fate certainly 
could be a major contributor to your future, after 
all." 
  Ranma said nothing, trying to sort out his mind. As 
the moment stood, he could think of no reason why 
someone like Shizuka Minazuki would betray him when 
she wasn't even in China. The weird priestess certainly 
did have some rattling in her head, but the martial 
artist could not think of anything that she'd gain in 
betraying him. Then again, what could she do that would 
be considered betrayal? 
  And then there was Ukyo... why was she an influence 
on him? 
  "Hey," Ranma said, "can you talk to spirits?" 
  "You want an ouja reading?" Hokuto asked. 
  "Yeah, I guess that's what it is," he replied. 
  "Well, I could...." 
  "I just wanna see if I can talk to an old friend of 
mine." 
  Hokuto seemed ready to reach for something in her 
cloak, but stopped herself. "Sorry, I can't do that." 
  "Why not?" 
  The Shadow Weaver ignored him as she collected the 
tarot cards on the floor. "I'm not properly attuned to 
the spirit realm, so I can't help you." Quickly, she 
stuffed the cards into the folds of her cloak and stood 
up. "Now, if you'll excuse me...." 
  Without another word Ranma watched Hokuto leave in a 
hurry, suddenly suspicious. 
  "Well, what was that all about?" he wondered aloud. 
"You don't even know who I wanted to talk to." 
  But, if she DID know, why wouldn't she do a reading 
for me?  

  Akane scanned the skies above through the canvas of 
trees, and waited for the rocketing warrior above to 
disappear into the distance. When she was satisfied 
that CRONOS, Taydome's flying machine, was gone, Akane 
jumped down from the trees to the ground where 
Miranda and Kodachi, lying in a makeshift stretcher, 
were waiting below. 
  Suffering multiple bruises and blows from Kanna's 
merciless attack the previous day Kodachi felt 
completely sore all over her body, and it was Miranda 
that recognized that the gymnast had been hit in very 
specific locations. Although she had little knowledge 
of the subject, Akane knew enough to realize they were 
pressure points from which to incapacitate the target, 
and neither she nor Miranda knew how to reverse them. 
  "It's gone," Akane announced. "I think we can keep 
going now." 
  "That... good to... hear," muttered Kodachi, 
struggling to speak. 
  "It'll be back," scoffed Miranda. "Between CRONOS and 
GAIA, Kanna, and Sensei, we don't have much of a 
chance to get anywhere before one of them finds us." 
  She raised her eyes to meet Akane's. "Just WHERE are 
we going, anyway?" 
  "Back to Tokyo," she answered, "unless you've got any 
better ideas. The only one I know who has knowledge of 
pressure points is Dr. Tofu." 
  "Only if you disclude Crystal Spider Rajura, that 
is," the martial artist pointed out, "provided she's 
willing to do it for us. Why don't we just ask?" 
  "We don't even know what she's after, that's true," 
Akane considered. "Back there she obviously wanted the 
Wishbringer to make a wish of some sort, but why is 
she still chasing us now?" 
  "You aren't suggesting we wait for her to come, do 
you?" Miranda guessed. She shrugged. "I guess it beats 
running away all the time." 
  "And it'll certainly beat meeting Cinder again," 
Akane added, although she knew Miranda always thought 
of it on her own. 
  At that moment the three heard a rumbling in the 
ground, along with the sound of something being crushed 
under mammoth power. Akane and Miranda looked down at 
Kodachi, then toward each other with worried 
expressions. 
  "GAIA's back," Akane realized. 
  "TARGET ACQUIRED!" the mechanical voice droned from 
the depths of the woods. 
  Grabbing the stretcher Akane and Miranda broke off 
into a sprint, leaving just in time to miss getting 
run-over by GAIA's treads. 
  The two came to a halt as fire rained from above, 
where the rocket-mounted CRONOS descended from the 
sky in front of them. The machine was already deploying 
a mancatcher weapon from its chest compartment. 
  "It went away, did it?!" Miranda snarled. 
  "How was I supposed to know what it was going to do?" 
complained Akane. 
  "Well!" Taydome's voice said, emerging from the 
GAIA behind them. "You're trapped now. Not a whole lot 
you can do to stop me now." 
  Miranda cursed. "You weenie! Hiding behind these big 
toys!" 
  "As they say in your discipline," the engineer 
replied, "one should focus on their strengths." 
  "You know NOTHING of my discipline!" cried the 
crimson-eyed girl, setting down her end of the 
stretcher on the ground. She rolled up her sleeves, 
grinding her teeth in anticipation. 
  Wheeling around her leg in a slashing arc, Miranda 
tried to attack, but GAIA jabbed the martial artist 
with its gun arm, pushing her back to the ground. 
Taking advantage of Akane's distraction, CRONOS's 
mancatcher seized her with its catching claw, forcing 
her to release her grip on the stretcher. 
  "Let go of me!" Akane shouted, pounding her fists 
down on the catcher claw. 
  From out of the woods something slashed at the 
catcher claw, severing the weapon from its base and 
dropping Akane to the ground. In an instant she saw 
the robed fire master, Cinder, dig his claws into 
CRONOS in a similar manner as he did to URANOS the 
previous day. 
  "Cinder!" Taydome cried as CRONOS rocketed upward 
into the sky, taking the fire master with it. 
  Miranda risked glancing back at her master and 
CRONOS, then narrowly avoided a wild swing from GAIA. 
She latched her legs onto the arm, and raised her arms 
up to slash at them, but the machine began to swing 
the compromised appendage about, trying to shake the 
martial artist off. 
  "Akane, get out of here!" she cried, trying her best 
to hold on. 
  "I'm through with running!" declared the other girl. 
"There's clearly no road for escape so long as this 
thing, and everybody else, is coming!" 
  She jumped as someone put their hand on her shoulder. 
"In that you may be right, but let me handle it." 
  Akane looked back at Kanna Rajura, her scythe- 
naginata in hand. "Kanna?" 
  "We'll discuss this later," the Crystal Spider 
assured her, transforming the staff into a naginata. 
  Miranda, stuck in her own little world, dug her 
hands into the steel of GAIA's arm. Hands glowing with 
surreal energies, she cried, "Shishi Senko!" 
  The resulting blast within the gun arm blast it clean 
off, sending the martial artist flying into the woods 
and smashing against a tree. 
  Kanna, taking this as her cue to attack, spun her 
naginata in one hand. "Rajura Style: Diamond Saw 
Cutter!" 
  Now using both hands to spin her weapon, Kanna 
advanced, attacking GAIA's remaining arm. Sparks flew 
in all directions as shrapnel soon followed, forcing 
Akane to shield herself and Kodachi from the danger. 
  When the girl finished GAIA's remaining arm was 
reduced to nothing up to the elbow joint, leaving it 
without its primary weapons. The red eyes set in the 
machine's death's head glowed with great intensity. 
  "Impossible!" Taydome screeched. "Disarmed!" The 
war machine ran in reverse, plowing back into the woods 
whence it came. 
  "It's getting away!" Miranda shouted, gathering 
herself from the ground. 
  "Let it," Kanna ordered. "If he wants to leave us 
be for the time being, then let's take it." 
  "I'll be back!" warned Taydome, his voice drowning 
in the distance and the rumbling of GAIA's retreat. 

  His attentions now diverted away from the second 
battle, Taydome focused on his endangered CRONOS, 
flying high in the sky with Cinder's steel claws 
buried into the machine's armor. 
  "This battle'll be different!" Taydome said into the 
speaker tuned into CRONOS's circuitry. "It's too bad 
that you can't fly." 
  Cinder snarled, looking down below and likely 
realizing he was being lead away from the other battle. 
"You're only delaying the inevitable, Section!" 
  "Perhaps," Taydome conceded, "but so long as you stay 
out of my way, the extraction can be completed without 
problems!" He punched in the commands to force CRONOS 
into a spin. 
  On the monitor Taydome saw that Cinder was losing 
his grip on the war machine, the holes he dug into the 
armor becoming scratch marks as the fire master slipped 
away. 

  Watching Taydome from the monitoring station the 
shadow was disappointed with Taydome's work. GAIA 
would have to be repaired-- when it could be sent out 
again was not a concern, but that the effectiveness of 
extracting Akane was growing smaller, what with her 
growing number of allies. The focus should have been on 
finding Ranma, but since none of the spies or agents 
managed to locate him that was out of the question. 
  The shadow said aloud, "I may have to intervene." 

  Kodachi felt like strangling Kanna after she was 
through releasing the pressure point-induced paralysis, 
but the sores and aches in her body prevented her from 
doing so. 
  The Crystal Spider stood up, leaning on her death 
scythe, weary. She rejoined Akane and Miranda, who sat 
by the fire pit they dug for the night. 
  "She'll be fine in a few hours," Kanna assured Akane. 
"Your friend has quite a temper." 
  Akane shrugged. "Kodachi's like that." 
  "You seem to attract that kind of company," Miranda 
pointed out. "Lots of people want a piece of you." 
  "Yeah," she agreed. Turning to Kanna, she asked, "And 
why are you out here?" 
  "Eh?" 
  "Yesterday you're trapping us, and today you're 
helping us," Akane clarified impatiently. "Why?" 
  Grinding the pole of the death scythe into the dirt 
lazily, Kanna sat down on a rock near the fire pit. 
"That's a crazy thing, you know? I wasn't supposed to 
go after the Wishbringer, but I couldn't resist." 
  "Just like everybody else," Miranda said. 
  "What did you want to wish for?" Akane asked. 
  "That's none of your business!" snapped the Crystal 
Spider. "It's enough to know that my dreams were 
shattered when the truth came out about the sword, to 
say the least. Dwelling on it certainly couldn't 
help." 
  "Then your mission...?" 
  "I'm supposed to find and contain Cinder," Kanna 
interrupted. Before she could be interrupted in turn 
she continued, "I got called in for a favor by an old 
friend of mine; he said he needed to do this favor for 
someone else and he wanted me to carry it out for him 
as a repayment for a favor he did me before." 
  "Anyone we know?" Miranda asked suspiciously. 
  "Not unless you know who Shion Kagami is," Kanna 
replied proudly. 
  "I see," the crimson-eyed martial artist said, 
nodding slowly. 
  "I don't know him," Akane admitted. 
  "You're from Tokyo, right?" the Crystal Spider asked. 
"He's living there with his sister-in-law, who he never 
seems to shut-up about. Anyway, we knew each other 
since we were kids, so how could I refuse?" 
  "Then you wanted to wish him to be your husband?" 
Miranda asked teasingly. 
  "NO!" denied Kanna hotly. "He's got nothing to do 
with it. What I really wanted was to get back at a 
snot-nosed little brat that beat me ten years ago!" 
  "You sure know how to carry grudges," Miranda 
commented. 
  Carrying-on in her own thoughts, Kanna continued, 
"My father and the kid's father thought it would be a 
good idea if the brat got to know how to use weapons, 
so I had to fight him. The little prick thought girls 
were weak and shouldn't fight, so how can't I hate 
him? And I lost to someone younger than me!" 
  She turned to Akane. "I was eleven back then; could 
you imagine the kind of shame of being beaten by an 
eight-year-old?" 
  "You shouldn't let that bother you," Akane suggested. 
"I mean, that was many years ago; you shouldn't let 
that kind of thing get to you." 
  "And what do you know about personal pride?" 
  "Believe me, I've known a person just like you, and 
you just have to let it go and move on." 
  "On the other hand," Miranda voiced, "if you CAN beat 
that snot-nosed brat, then more power to you!" 
  "I heard that!" they heard Kodachi shout from the 
darkness. 
  "I don't know," Kanna said with a sigh. "That kid 
could be long-gone by now; who knows if I'll ever get 
the chance to show him up." 
  "The way things work, you might," Akane replied 
neutrally. 

  On a shipping boat moving upstream in Southern China 
Ranma was dreaming of Akane being attacked by a giant 
spider. When he awoke in the middle of the night in a 
cold sweat with that thought foremost in his mind the 
martial artist glanced to where Hokuto was sleeping, 
and wondered. 
  However, she was not hanging in the hammock that was 
her designated sleeping area, so Ranma got up despite 
feeling a need to sleep. Checking all the corners of 
the room he found no trace of her; a thorough check of 
the entire ship turned up with the same results. Tired, 
the martial artist returned to his room and resumed 
his sleep, unaware that the Shadow Weaver had been 
watching him from the shadows the entire time. 


Day 5 

  Miranda marched first in line as the four girls 
trekked through the wilderness, Akane bringing up the 
rear. Kodachi insisted that she be behind Kanna in case 
the Crystal Spider proved treacherous, making her 
third in line. 
  As they planned the night before the four would head 
for Kodachi's backup, waiting at a waypoint not far 
from their present location. They roused up early that 
morning, and it was nearing afternoon now. 
  "So," Miranda said, breaking the monotony of silence 
that hung over the group, "Kanna, why is it that your 
pal Shion got you to try and catch such a big fish as 
my sensei?" 
  "He's your sensei, eh?" Kanna considered. "It's a 
wonder you could keep up with such a powerful beast." 
  "I've done greater feats than you've seen yet," the 
crimson-eyed girl snapped. 
  "Well, then," the other girl said, laughing to 
herself. "I don't know all the details myself, but it 
seems that he's of some importance to someone." 
  "Someone other than Taydome, perhaps," Akane noted. 
  "If you truly know Shion," Kodachi said, "then what 
is the name of his sister-in-law?" 
  "Chika," Kanna replied quickly. "She's gifted with an 
amazing artist's talent and is currently focusing on 
the film industry. Shall I go on?" 
  Kodachi found herself speechless. "Well, I conceed 
that you know about them, but know them is a completely 
different matter altogether!" 
  "And you're Kodachi Kuno, Chika's friend, brother of 
Shion's acquaintance, Tatewaki," Kanna continued, 
showing-off her knowledge. "Speaking of which, when can 
I meet that brother of yours?" 
  "Hey, this big coincidence is great and all," Akane 
interrupted, "but how much longer until we get to the 
waypoint?" 
  "Not far now," insisted Kodachi. 
  "You said that an hour ago," Miranda pointed out. 
  "Then keep your tongue to yourself!" the gymnast 
flared. 
  Akane shook her head, wondering how in all the luck 
in the world she got stuck in a party where Kodachi 
hated everybody else. 
  "Hold it!" demanded Kanna, the only thing keeping 
Miranda and Kodachi from coming to blows. "Do you hear 
that?" 
  Silence enveloped the girls when Kodachi and Miranda 
ceased squabbling. Akane strained her ears, trying to 
hear something that she was supposed to hear. At least, 
according to Kanna. 
  "I don't hear a thing," she said. 
  "Neither do I," added Kodachi. 
  "CRONOS is coming back," Kanna warned, pulling her 
death scythe from over her shoulder. She pointed the 
blade toward the south sky. "It's over there, and 
coming in fast!" 
  "I don't believe it," Miranda whispered. "Sensei got 
beaten?!" 
  Kodachi took off into the lead. She stopped when she 
realized the others were still standing in place. "Why 
dally here?!" she shouted. "We must summon assistance!" 
  "And how to expect to get help IN THE MIDDLE OF 
NOWHERE?!" the crimson-eyed girl shouted back. 
  Akane grabbed Miranda's arm. "Look, she's got a 
point. Anything's better than standing out here and 
waiting for it to come get us." 
  "Either way," Kanna said, "I've still got a few 
tricks up my sleeves. Let's just see what Kodachi has 
in mind." 
  The four girls made their way through the woods 
down the mountain slopes, the threatening boom of 
CRONOS looming behind them in the sky. Kodachi lead 
the others despite her distrust in both Kanna and 
Miranda, her sense of danger obviously focused on that 
of CRONOS. 
  Miranda strained her ears, and shouted, "Sounds like 
there's a battle up ahead!" 
  "And we're running to it?!" Akane cried back in 
disbelief. What was Kodachi up to? 
  When the young Kuno came to a halt, the other three 
girls gathered around her, and stared into a clearing. 
The sounds of battle came from the swings and slashes 
of two warriors already locked in combat, one being 
the familiar robed shape of Cinder, his claws aflame 
with power. The other, however, wielded a steel sword, 
of which appeared to have a fantastic ornamental hilt 
of some kind. The wielder was dressed in a traditional 
kendo training outfit with the colors of the Kuno 
School. The sword, like Cinder's claws, was lit in 
flames. 
  "I see Brother is no worse for himself," snorted 
Kodachi. 
  "Geez, he shows up now?" Miranda said in disbelief, 
watching the flaming arcs from each slash. "I thought 
he disappeared!" 
  "Apparently not," Kodachi corrected. "You see, 
Brother has an annoying habit of remembering where his 
priorities lie ten minutes after committing himself to 
an opposing task. Originally he was planning to flee 
the country, but that lasted no longer, and instead he 
trained in secret to control the Phoenix Flame." 
  "That's the Earth Dragon Sword!" the crimson-eyed 
girl shouted in recognition. "But... why?!" 
  "It turned out that the Earth Dragon Sword was indeed 
a final gift from the fallen enemy," the younger Kuno 
explained. "Using the inlaid earth elemental forces of 
the sword Brother-dear has learned to regulate his fire  
in a moderating manner." 
  "Makes sense," Kanna said, nodding. Raising her 
death scythe ready in naginata mode, she charged into 
the battle. "Here I come!" 
  "Hey, wait!" Akane shouted. "What about...?!" 
  But Kanna was already caught in the spirit of battle, 
disregarding the danger at fighting two fire-wielding 
combatants. Tatewaki noticed her joining the fray, and 
seemed to welcome it silently as the two took turns 
taking swipes at Cinder. 
  "So now you have allies," the fire master noted, 
forcing his attentions to divide between two opponents. 
"Now it should be even." 
  "Arrogance shall be your downfall, foe!" Tatewaki 
yelled, taking another swing that Cinder easily 
deflected. 
  Akane watched in dazzlement as the three fought with 
great skill, that she almost didn't notice CRONOS's 
descent into the clearing. Miranda shouted something, 
but she couldn't hear over the deafening roar of the 
war machine. 
  "MULTIPLE TARGETS ASSESSED," droned the machine as 
its death's head rotated and scanned about, coming to 
a stop facing directly at Akane. 
  "Well," Kodachi said, "it appears it wants you." 
  "Crap, here we go again," Miranda cursed. 
  Leveling its arm cannons, CRONOS fired in Akane's 
direction, forcing the three girls to dodge out of the 
way. Already Kodachi was whipping out her ribbon, 
lashing it out to wrap around one of the arm cannons. 
  Gathering herself quickly, Akane spared only a 
moment to wonder why Taydome was firing at her now. 
  Miranda ran into the clearing, throwing a discus- 
like ki bolt toward CRONOS. The bolt buried itself 
into CRONOS's free arm, but did little to stop its 
effectiveness. Angered that her attack failed to work 
as planned, she swung her arm back to throw another ki 
bolt. 
  "This isn't going well!" the crimson-eyed martial 
artist shouted. 
  Kodachi, attacking from the other end, had her ribbon 
torn loose from her hands when CRONOS jerked its arm 
away from her. Finding herself disarmed, she went for 
gymnastics clubs, one for each hand. 
  Despite being busied by two different targets, the 
machine's attention was fully on Akane. The death's 
head seemed to grin at her, despite lacking any devices 
that would give it such abilities. 
  Fuming with anger, Akane's aura exploded. Grabbing 
the closest baseball-sized rock at her feet, she wound 
up her arm and threw it. Despite her aim for the 
death's head's glowing eyes was off, she nevertheless 
hit the flying war machine, hitting it in the chest 
with such force that the rock was buried in the armor. 
  "That hurt, you know," Taydome said calmly. CRONOS 
fired quick shots in Kodachi and Miranda's directions 
with each arm, then rocketed toward Akane. 
  For her part, despite the warnings from both Miranda 
and Kodachi, Akane stood her ground defiantly. 
  Her defiance paid off, as just before CRONOS could 
deploy its mancatcher on Akane it stopped in its 
tracks. Despite rocketing at full speed the war 
machine could not advance any further, and when Taydome 
realized this CRONOS ceased its charge. 
  Despite being slightly singed, Ryoga Hibiki held 
CRONOS fast with his bare hands from the underside of 
the machine. Standing in a freshly-dug hole of his 
own creation Ryoga fell backward with CRONOS when the 
engine shut off. 
  "Ryoga Hibiki?!" Kodachi shouted in disbelief. "But 
how?" 
  "You're not the only one who planned ahead," Akane 
shouted. To Ryoga she said, "Nice timing. I'm glad the 
reversed directions I put in the letter helped out." 
  Standing himself upright, Ryoga laughed uneasily. 
"It took me a while, but I made it!" 
  The eyes of CRONOS flared brightly. "Oh no...." 
moaned Taydome. 
  Cracking his knuckles, Ryoga stared the CRONOS in 
the face. "Now it's payback for attacking Akane!" 
  Kodachi and Miranda joined in the fray as Ryoga 
systematically ripped the limbs off the war machine, 
disarming it utterly and literally. Before CRONOS could 
take off to escape Miranda wheeled her legs about in a 
circular slash, severing the machine at its waist with 
sparks flying. 
  The threat of CRONOS removed, the four turned their 
attentions back to the death match between Tatewaki 
and Kanna with Cinder. Putting much force into a big 
attack Tatewaki slashed downward, forcing Cinder to 
block the attack with both claws, leaving Kanna an 
opening. She thrust her naginata into Cinder's side. 
  No one, not even Cinder himself, had time to flinch 
or yell out in terror as the oxygen tanks slung over 
the fire master's back exploded at once. 

  Taydome had no idea what was going on, as CRONOS's 
eyes were staring up into the sky, as the unit was flat 
on its back. The confusion rose to greater levels when 
flame and debris washed over it for a moment. 
  "AAGGGHH!!" screamed the engineer. "That's the second 
one I've lost! They'll surely pay for this!" 
  He heard the door to his office hiss open, and jumped 
in surprise. 
  "I'm sorry, doctor, but things have changed," a 
woman's voice said. 
  Taydome turned slowly, a smile forming on his lips. 
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the Ferret!" 
  Ayame Mishima stepped into the dimly-lit closet of an 
office, her hands in the pockets of her clean white 
lab coat. She wore a badge on her dress shirt, just 
like all the other Mishima engineers, but Ayame was 
definitely not an engineer-- she was worse. 
  She was the niece of Mishima Heavy Industry's CEO. 
  "This private war of yours is over," Ayame said. 
"While my uncle is pleased that the field tests have 
proven the usefulness of the GAIA, CRONOS, and URANOS 
series, there is no need to lose more hardware to these 
capable people." 
  "On who's authority?!" demanded the engineer. "I've 
been sanctioned by the higher-ups to do this, and no 
snot-nosed girl is going to dictate my orders!" 
  Ayame laughed, folding her arms together. "Well, Dr. 
Taydome, I'm sorry to inform you that this 'snot-nosed 
girl' IS a higher-up." She unfolded her hand, showing 
the engineer a small golden ring, its head inlaid with 
the mark of a red zero on a blue field. In the midst of 
the eye lay a single, all-seeing eye, and suddenly 
Taydome recognized the meaning. 
  "It can't be!" he gasped. "YOU'RE Section Zero?!" 
  "You still don't get it, do you?!" the young 
Mishima shouted. "Whether you like it or not, Mishima 
Heavy Industries directly reports to Section Zero, and, 
by extension, all of the Mishima family are under its 
protection and influence. Our development facilities 
are an important part of the technological research 
process, which is why you're here. While you're here 
you don't answer to Section 14, you answer to me." 
  Realization dawned on the American engineer. "You're 
the one who allowed Gosunkugi to steal the ASP, just so 
you can give me a reason to field-test the new models. 
You didn't really want me to get Ranma Saotome, or 
Akane, or Cinder, at all." 
  "Suffice it to say that they passed, and we will need 
your services after all," Ayame said. "Now, as for 
Akane and the others, here's what I want you to do...." 

  The sudden blast had thrown both Tatewaki and Kanna 
out of the clearing completely, now covered in flame. 
Ryoga, Akane, Kodachi, and Miranda fared much better, 
having partial protection by the trees, but suffered 
no less. CRONOS ceased flailing about on the ground, 
seemingly dead and out of power. 
  A huge, smoldering crater was present where Cinder 
was once standing, still smoking and flaming. Akane 
could make out the flaming tatters of the fire master's 
robe dancing about in the sky, blown by the winds. 
  In any even the conflagration consumed all the 
nearby vegetation in fire. 
  "Eww," she said, pinching her nose. "What a way to 
go...." 
  Tatewaki sat straight up next to her, startling 
Akane. Appearing unscathed by the fire blast, he faced 
her with happiness in his eyes. "Ah, dear Akane! You 
are unharmed!" He opened his arms outward. 
  Planting her foot in his face, Akane replied, "Who 
do you think you are?!" 
  On her other side Kanna poked her head out from 
behind a tree, seeming dazed. "Well, that really hurt." 
  Gathering himself, Tatewaki stood up and faced 
Kanna with dignity. Extending a hand outward, he said, 
"I am Tatewaki Kuno, called Eternal Flame by my peers!" 
  Smiling, Kanna stepped from behind the tree with her 
own arm extended, walking toward the Kuno swordsman. 
"I'm Kanna Rajura. People call me Crystal Spider." 
  Just as they were about to shake hands, both fighters 
withdrew their hands quickly, then embraced one another 
to Akane's surprise. 
  Kodachi popped her head from a tree above, a 
surprised look on her face. "You two KNOW each other?!" 
  Releasing each other from the embrace, Kanna turned 
to the younger Kuno. "Yeah. Met him in college. He's 
a good fighter." 
  "Your wit matches your skill as well!" Tatewaki 
praised. "I trust the others are well?" 
  She nodded. "Yeah. You should come back, you know? 
Things've been too quiet on campus." 
  "Now that the formalities are out of the way," Ryoga 
said, emerging from the hole in the ground he made 
earlier, "what'll we do now?" 
  Akane's eyes turned toward the crater, where Miranda 
stood alone. Stepping over debris and burning wood, 
she carefully made her way to the martial artist's 
side, and shielded her eyes from the heat in the hole. 
  "Miranda," she said. 
  "He'll be back," Miranda said simply. "He's too 
tough to go out like this." 
  Akane shook her head slowly. "Come on, there's 
nothing you can do for him now." 
  "I guess you're right," she conceded softly. "Yeah, 
you might just be right...." 
  "Um, excuse me?" came a voice from CRONOS's severed 
body. "Hello? Hello? Anybody still alive there?" 
  Akane turned her back to the crater, and stared at 
CRONOS for a moment. "So you're still working, huh?" 
  "Oh, is that Akane I hear?" Taydome said. "Umm... we 
have some matter to discuss." 
  "No kidding," Ryoga said scornfully. "You've got a 
lot to answer for. 
  Before Akane could step any closer to CRONOS, 
Miranda held her back. "Careful, it could still move." 
  "If all he wants is to talk," Akane reasoned, "then 
there's nothing to worry about." 
  "I second Akane's words!" Tatewaki said in support. 
  "Well, if you know what you're doing," Ryoga said 
carefully. "We'll be able to take care of things if 
it gets out of hand." 
  "Alright, then," Akane said to CRONOS, "what do you 
want?" 
  "To make a sincere apology on behalf of my 
organization," Taydome said, trying to sound as sincere 
as possible. "Our Oversight department has determined 
that it was a mistake to chase after you and your 
husband in the manner we have been pursuing these past 
few days." 
  "And?" 
  "In order to make amends we are offering an alliance, 
if you will." 
  "That's silly," Miranda snorted. "We trash three of 
your guys and now you want to cut a deal?" 
  "It IS to your advantage," Taydome pointed out. "Ally 
with us, and you will no longer have to live with the 
threat of our machines again, I assure you." 
  "Why should we trust you?" demanded Kodachi. 
  "Trust begins when two sides make a leap of faith," 
Akane said. "Look, I'm willing to give your word a 
try, but what guarantees do you have?" 
  Taydome left the gang in a moment of silence. When 
he came back he said, "There is a control mechanism 
buried within the robot. That alone should protect you 
from my organization's threats." 
  "And how do we go about getting it out?" asked 
Miranda. "It could be a trap!" 
  "Shouldn't be too hard, really," Kanna said, bending 
down on one knee to look at where Akane's rock 
punctured the war machine's armor. "What's it look 
like?" 
  "It's a little black box with a big zero on it," 
Taydome explained. "Open up the chest compartment and 
follow the sound of my voice." 
  Having gone ahead in the instructions, Kanna was 
already looking at the black box. "Okay, so is there 
any special way to get it out?" 
  "You have to disconnect the green wires first," the 
engineer instructed. "Then the white wires. If you 
don't the box's internal power source will not kick in. 
Finally, disconnect the big black wire... okay, that's 
it." 
  Kanna raised the black box for all to see. No larger 
than a baseball, the box was, as labeled, an opaque 
black, with one side serving as a speaker of some 
sort, with a large zero over it. She handed it to 
Akane slowly. 
  Taydome's voice issued out of it. "Good, good. I'm 
glad you're agreeable." 
  "Wait a minute," Akane said, "why are you doing 
this?" 
  Another moment of silence passed. "My superiors 
feel that our working together will be advantageous in 
the future...." 
  "Anything coming out of the mouth of Section can 
be expected to have a hidden truth!" came a voice 
outside the group. 
  "It's coming from the crater!" Ryoga realized. 
  All eyes turned to the smoldering crater, where a 
black, bulky shape emerged. Although the smoke served 
to conceal most of the creature's features, the 
unmarred steel claws that made up the arms and legs 
strongly indicated that it was Cinder. Dragging behind 
him was a blackened tail, barbed with four steel talons 
of their own. His steel jaw grinded with the upper lip 
of what appeared to be a pronounced snout. His skin, 
while charcoal-black, seemed to pulse here and there 
with veins of fire, almost appearing as if Cinder were 
a living magma-like lizard creature. 
  His mechanical eye clashed with his reptilian good 
eye as he scanned the assembled group before him. 
"Never seen a salamander before?!" 
  Raising his claws, Cinder jetted a fan of flames 
before him, aiming for the gang. 
  Dodging out of the way, Akane fell near Miranda, and 
shouted, "Why didn't you tell us your sensei was a big 
lizard?!" 
  "You wouldn't have believed me!" Miranda shouted 
back. Ducking from more flames, she added, "Salamanders 
need lots of oxygen to survive, so it's no wonder he 
had those tanks on him!" 
  "That's just great!" Akane snorted, knowing that the 
fanned flames was keeping everybody pinned to the 
ground. She hardly felt like waiting for Cinder to use 
up all the remaining oxygen in the atmosphere, but he 
probably knew time wasn't on his side, either. 
  "Bathe in the eternal flame of vengeance!" cried the 
salamander, his skin lighting up in flames. "Miranda! 
I WANT the Shadow Weaver!" 
  But from behind Cinder Akane saw there was another 
cloaked figure, raising hands-- human hands-- to 
attack. Not knowing what to expect, steam was all that 
Akane could see as Cinder screamed in agony. 
  The heat of the steam overwhelming her, Akane risked 
getting up and ran from the clearing, away from the 
danger presented by Cinder and her unknown savior. 
Stopping a few meters away, she waited, hearing the 
tortured screams of Cinder's metallic voice amidst the 
growing cloud of steam. 
  When she thought it was over she rejoined the others 
back at the clearing. The steam still issued from the 
crater, and all the fires had been put out, but there 
was no sign of Cinder or the mysterious savior. 
  "What was that?" Akane asked, although she didn't 
expect an answer. 
  "It appears that we have many allies," Tatewaki 
guessed. "Known or unknown, they are allies still!" 
  "Not too much a surprise," Kodachi added. 
  "Where did Master Cinder go?" wondered Miranda. 
  "Whatever happened," Kanna replied, looking around, 
"he couldn't have met his end here. There's some pretty 
heavy tracks here leading off into the woods." 
  "That's for the best for now, I think," Ryoga said. 
"We need some time to catch our breath from all this 
fighting." 
  Miranda said nothing, seeming lost in thought. She 
walked toward the crater by herself, obviously wanting 
to be alone. 
  Akane looked down at the black box in her hands, then 
toward the others. None of them suffered any lasting 
injuries, and everyone was in good health. 
  "Cinder will be back," she said. "I think we should 
all go back to town and get ready for when he does 
come back, because I don't think he's going to be very 
lenient to us the next time around." 

  That night Ranma again dreamed of the giant spider 
and Akane, but this time, the spider was protecting 
Akane from a large lizard creature as black as night. 
He was suddenly reminded of the watcher lizards from 
the previous dream, and just as the martial artist 
realized this the black lizard transformed into the 
green cloud entity. The cloud advanced to consume him, 
but, as before, it dissipated by the will of Ukyo, 
still attired in her Seiryu outfit. 
  She said, "Beware the High Priestess." 
  When he awoke in the middle of the night Ranma did 
not jump up in a cold sweat as before, but with the 
same inner calm as he had when sleeping. 
  No, this time, it wasn't a nightmare, he thought. 
  Glancing toward Hokuto's hammock, he wasn't surprised 
to see that she wasn't there; the Shadow Weaver hadn't 
been seen in his eyes since yesterday. For a moment 
he wondered why the girl avoided him like the plague 
and not anybody else on the ship. 
  Sighing, Ranma focused on getting back to sleep. 
  Materializing from the shadows, Hokuto watched him 
slowly fall into deep sleep once more. She took one 
bold step in the direction of his hammock, but stopped 
suddenly, taking a few steps back instead. Shaking her 
head Hokuto melted back into the shadows whence she 
came. 


Day 6 

  Ranma stared up the river for what he hoped was the 
last time. 
  The shipping vessel would soon make it to its 
destination, leaving Ranma and Hokuto to hike the rest 
of the way to the highlands where Jusenkyo lay hidden. 
He felt a surge of excitement as he realized that the 
object of his quest was almost in reach. 
  Briefly, he thought of Akane, and wondered what she 
would have thought if she were there with him. 
  "We'll be landing soon," he heard Hokuto say behind 
him. "After that we'll immediately begin hiking up 
into the mountains, and we should be able to get there 
in a day and a half or so." 
  "That's comin' from you," Ranma snorted. "I'll be 
glad to get off this boat, in any case." 
  The Shadow Weaver joined him by the bow's rail. 
"Ranma, you miss me, don't you?" 
  "Eh?!" He jumped in surprise. 
  "Look, I know we've been apart for so long," Hokuto 
continued, "but we've got to hang on. There's no 
reason why we shouldn't enjoy our company now." 
  "What're you talking about?!" Ranma demanded, edging 
himself closer to the rail. "Don't you say anythin' 
funny on me now!" 
  She placed a hand over his heart. "Don't you feel the 
excitement? We're almost there! It certainly is a joy, 
but why don't we experience some real joy?" 
  Ranma swallowed, feeling himself leaning his back 
over the rail. "Hokuto... snap out of it!" 
  "But isn't it what you want?" she asked innocently. 
Turning away, she continued, "Am I not good enough for 
you?" 
  "N... no, I didn't say that...." 
  Without warning Hokuto punched herself on the side of 
the head. She slapped herself across the face a couple 
times, then turned around with her eyes low. "I... 
I'm sorry about that." 
  Relaxing his tension a bit, Ranma answered, "Uh... 
that's okay...." 
  "I've been trying to avoid you since the reading," 
she explained. "I... I've had foreign thoughts enter my 
mind lately, and I haven't realized it...." 
  Could it be? Ranma thought. How could one stray 
thought of mind turn into this? I mean, I only thought 
she was a cute girl.... 
  "But we can't let ourselves get distracted over 
this," Hokuto declared, seemingly taking on Akane-like 
determination. "I'll try to be careful." 
  "Look," Ranma said, "you can't ignore feelings like 
that for long; it only gets worse!" 
  "I know," she replied somberly. 
  The two looked toward the port where the boat would 
eventually dock, and nodded to each other wordlessly. 
  "Looks like this's our stop," Ranma muttered quietly. 

  The nightmares never seemed to end for Ranma Saotome. 
  The last thing he remembered was bedding down in 
the highlands near the fire pit he made for Hokuto, 
who was freezing despite her traveling cloak. The 
martial artist had no idea he was so dirt tired. 
  "This one's vivid," he said. 
  Observing from a distance he saw Akane running from 
a pack of watchers. Despite how harmless they appeared 
his wife ran nonetheless, and Ranma felt the need to 
intervene, running after Akane and the black lizards. 
  But as soon as he made his approach the watcher gang 
morphed and congealed into a larger black lizard, this 
one with two cold, reptilian eyes. The charcoal-black 
creature burst into flames, transforming into a dragon 
of fire, and stared at Ranma evilly. 
  "What the...?!" squawked the martial artist. 
  "DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?" bellowed the fire dragon 
in a deep, cavernous voice. In an instant a mechanical 
eye materialized over the creature's left eye. It 
rotated and focused slightly, on Ranma. In an instant 
the creature's flames were smothered by a heavy cloak 
of shadow that surrounded it, but Ranma knew that the 
creature was still alive. Raising a metallic claw, 
holding a trumpet-like funnel, he blew flames at him. 
  Ranma shielded himself from the flames, but it and 
the fire dragon disappeared, replaced by a black cloud 
of similar darkness to that of the fire dragon before 
its transformation. The martial artist felt himself 
transform into a girl despite himself as rain hailed 
from the cloud. She jumped up and over the cloud, and 
despite the laws of physics, landed on top of it as if 
it were solid ground. 
  Standing with her on the cloud was another girl, 
resting against a staff with bells hanging off the 
head. She wore a flashy-orange European-style dress, 
with a knee-length skirt that spread out to nearly her 
arm's length, and wore a matching colored hat. Her legs 
were covered by a sort of white frilly stockings that 
Ranma thought only little girls in storybooks wore, 
adding to the silly appearance of the girl overall. She 
stared at the girl for a moment, and realized that it 
was Shizuka she was looking at. 
  Swiftly Shizuka ran her staff around Ranma's back 
and pulled her toward her in a hold. Despite her 
comical appearance there was no doubt there was 
seriousness in her eyes. "Do you know why you're here?" 
she asked. 
  "I hope it isn't because I'm fantasizing about you," 
Ranma bit back. 
  Instead of answering, the priestess broke the staff 
against the martial artist's back, and kicked her with 
one foot. Ranma fell backward, close to the edge of the 
cloud, looking up in time to see Shizuka throwing a 
kettle of hot water at her. 
  The water spilled, transforming her back into a guy 
in a split-second, but Shizuka was gone, and so was the 
cloud. Ranma looked up, and saw Tatewaki Kuno, dressed 
in his usual kendo training outfit, sitting on a 
jewel-encrusted throne, a fancy sword resting on his 
shoulder. 
  "Was there any doubt, Saotome?" he asked. 
  Before Ranma could answer he felt the floor disappear 
beneath him, and found himself falling into an abyss. 
When he finally hit solid ground the martial artist 
realized he hit pavement. Standing up, he realized he 
was behind a wall of people-- a crowd, staring into 
the streets for a parade. 
  A myriad of servants carried treasures of untold 
value on their backs, one after another. Ranma forced 
his way through to the front of the crowd on his side 
of the street, and saw that the next procession was a 
set of servants carrying a chariot of some sort, 
protected by Roman-style guards. 
  Pushing his way into the street, Ranma ignored the 
guards, punching and kicking them away, and forced his 
way to the curtained chariot. Pulling it aside, he 
found Ukyo Kuonji, sitting as if in a meditative 
trance, dressed as Seiryu. 
  Her trance seemed to have ended, and Ukyo stared at 
him in the eyes. "I hope you know what you want, 
because if you don't, it'll only get much worse later 
on." 
  "Wait!" Ranma shouted, just as the parade and 
everything around it was about to disappear in a swirl 
of energy. The moment of the world seemed to slow down 
for his benefit. "Where are you?! How can I help?" 
  Ukyo smiled slightly. "I've always been here, but it 
is I that can help you." 
  As she disappeared in the swirl of energy Ranma 
realized, again for the first time, that she was saying 
exactly what he thought. Reaching into his pockets he 
held out the twin dragon earrings that once belonged 
to his old friend, their ruby-inlaid eyes twinkling in 
the light of darkness. 
  But the jade earrings seemed to take a life of their 
own as an unseen force yanked them from Ranma's hand. 
Growing in size, each earring uprighted itself, 
standing as if sentinel pillars to each side of Ranma. 
  Between the pillars, barely illuminated by the light 
given off by the dragon pillars' ruby eyes, a cloaked 
figure approached. She threw off her hood, revealing 
Hokuto for Ranma to see, the worried expression gone 
from her eyes, instead replaced by determination. 
  "You can't deny what Fate has in store for you," 
the Shadow Weaver said. "Choice is but an illusion 
given to us by human naivete; an illusion Destiny uses 
to cruelly smite us." 
  The dragon pillars fired an energy bolt at Ranma, 
racking him with painless light. Hokuto disappeared, 
her smile imprinted on the martial artist's mind. 
  He looked at himself, and found himself naked, and 
glad that Hokuto was gone. The dragon pillars melded 
together, transforming into a great monster of clear 
crystal, forming a shape resembling that of a silk 
spinning spider. Clutched in its claws Ranma saw Akane, 
similarly naked, but concealed in the right places by 
silk threads. 
  "Ranma!" she called. "Come back!" 
  "Akane!" he cried, wanting to save her. 

  When he woke up the sun was rising in the eastern 
sky. Ranma glanced to where Hokuto was sleeping the 
night before, and found that, unlike previous nights, 
she was still there, sound asleep. Without all the 
worry in her expression, she looked peaceful in her 
slumber. 
  Cute, even. 
  Sitting up, Ranma shook his head. "C'mon, this isn't 
the time for this kind of stuff," he reminded himself. 
  Looking around, the martial artist decided it was 
pointless to get back to sleep, so he decided to get 
started on breakfast. 


Day 7 

  "Well, there it is," Ranma said, standing atop the 
cliff overlooking the green valley below. He dropped 
his shoulder pack and looked back, to where Hokuto was 
struggling with her own pack up the hill. He was glad 
to be on dry land again, but apparently the Shadow 
Weaver liked it better when the traveling was done for 
her. 
  It took much sooner than expected to reach what the 
local tribes considered the Cistern Valley, a vast 
expanse of land hidden within the Tibetan highlands of 
Western China. Hidden among the twelve nooks in the
mountains that made up the valley were the thirteen 
tribes, plus the forbidden territory Jusenkyo. Of the 
thirteen tribes the Musk and Phoenix tribes usually 
kept to themselves, isolated as they were in their 
little valleys, but among the remaining eleven 
Joketsuzoku, the Amazons, was the most powerful. 
  At least, the last time he was here. 
  The star-shaped Cistern Valley, once lush and green, 
was torn here and there, as if fire rained from the 
Heavens above. Though the bodies were removed, Ranma 
knew enough to realize that many battles have been 
fought here, and from the looks of it, even though 
fatalities seemed rather low, casualties were high. 
  Hokuto collapsed on the ground, throwing up a cloud 
of dirt around herself as she struggled to breathe. 
  "Like I said, we're here," Ranma repeated for her 
benefit. 
  "That's... good," the Shadow Weaver huffed. 
  Ranma cast a glance in the direction of Jusenkyo. 
"Looks like the old stompin' grounds haven't been 
touched at all." 
  "We aren't going there now, are we?" hoped Hokuto. 
  The martial artist shook his head. "It looks too 
easy. There has to be a catch to it somewhere." Turning 
to Hokuto he said, "I'm gonna see if I can hook up with 
the Amazons and see what's up. Maybe Shampoo or 
Mousse can help." 
  "Only if they aren't dead or incapacitated," Hokuto 
pointed out. 
  "Nah," disagreed Ranma. "They're tough. Especially 
Mousse, even if he's no problem for me." 
  "But you must respect him," she pointed out, "if you 
regard him so highly." 
  Ranma grimaced. "Riiiiiggghhhttt...." 
  Turning back toward the Cistern Valley, he thought 
aloud, "Wonder if Pantyhose Taro is still doin' his 
thing...." 

  "Just as expected, they've arrived at the outskirts 
of the valley," a woman proclaimed, spying on Ranma 
via a crystal orb clutched in her hand. 
  Tipped off from the initial watcher at Shanghai, the 
woman and her lord watched Ranma and Hokuto gather 
themselves at the top of the cliff. While the watcher 
could not pick up sound waves, as the construct lacked 
ears, the lord and the sorcerer knew enough about lip 
reading to know what they were saying. 
  Although they were concealed in the darkness of their 
tent, the woman's voice was barely a whisper. "They 
could cause a problem." 
  "With Femme-boy," Pantyhose Taro replied, "you'd 
better count on it." He suppressed a laugh, and pointed 
to the seer. "Okay, Sypha, now's the time we're going 
to wipe out the ants. If he joins up with Joketsuzoku, 
the tide could be turned against us. If that happens, 
the tribe is finished." 
  Sypha nodded in understanding to her lord. "They are 
still no match for you even without their leaders. You, 
my lord, are infinitely superior in their ability and 
skill." 
  "That may be so," Taro conceded, "but our enemies 
should never be underestimated. I know the current 
leader of Joketsuzoku personally; they will welcome the 
advantage the hermaphrodite gives them. Fortunately, we 
know his weakness. Continue the plan exactly." 
  Bowing respectfully, Sypha replied, "At once!" 
  When the black sorcerer left the tent, leaving the 
leader of the Tunnel Tiger tribe alone, Pantyhose Taro 
chuckled to himself. "Now the games have become a 
little more interesting." 



			*  *  *  *  * 

Shampoo (VO): 

  "Times are bad now for a war that drags for months. 
Ranma, this's your fault! Formidable rivals stand in 
our way... and who is the girl next to Pantyhose, and 
what does she have to do with anything?" 
  "Next time: Dream Stalkers. I'll kill you!" 



------------------------------------------------ 
Author's Notes 

  Things get a little more interesting from here on. 


Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com) 
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 

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