Hi guys! How's it going?
Mike, I got the first part of Dillema, and I'll have some C&C for you
by tomorrow. Good luck on your Lit exam! ^_^
Raph, thanks for the C&C! ^_^ BTW, when are we going to see more of
Scoop? (not so subtle hint ^_^)
Anyway, here's more of HOI, picking up right after the Snow Woman's
sleep spell fails on Cologne.
Enjoy, and slash away.
--------------------
Yuki-onna's eyes went wide as she stared into her mirror,
her hands still pressed against the cold, flat surface as her
frost magic swirled around the image of the mortal world.
*Impossible!* she thought angrily. *No mortal has ever resisted
my sleep spell before!* Even Ranma, who had a strength of will
unlike any she had encountered in a mortal before... other than
Akane... had fallen under her magic.
She frowned, her frost blue-eyes narrowing at the stilled
image of the old Amazon crone.
No ordinary mortal, this one. Her simple spells, easily
cast through her mirror, would not work. To face the crone in
person was out of the question, since her power in the warming
season of the Chinese wilderness would be seriously dampened, and she
knew of the Amazon's physical prowess in the martial arts...
And yet she had to keep Cologne from reaching Ranma.
Yuki-onna thought furiously, biting her lower lip. There
had to be a way...
--------------------
"Mistress?"
No answer.
Frowning, Kazuo carefully balanced the tea tray on one hand
and slid open the screen door, peering tentatively into Yuki-
onna's chambers.
The Snow Woman stood, silent and unmoving before her mirror,
staring as her frost magic swirled across the reflective surface.
The mirror showed a series of images, repeating over and
over. An old mortal woman, climbing a mountain with incredible
swiftness. She pauses suddenly, sagging, as if overcome with
great weariness. She scowls fiercely, and a faint outline of
scarlet battle aura flickers about her diminutive form. After a
moment, she straightens, and her withered face splits into a
disturbing smile. Then she resumes her course with increased
speed...
The image paused, the frost swirled, and the same series of
images was repeated again.
"Mistress?" Kazuo repeated worriedly.
Yuki-onna blinked and turned to him. "Kazuo-san," she said
distractedly. "Come in."
The ice sprite entered, and closed the door behind him. "I
brought you some tea."
"Thank you. That was very considerate." Yuki-onna's eyes
strayed back to her mirror.
Kazuo cleared his throat. "Mistress... You haven't left
your chambers in almost three days."
"Yes," she acknowledged.
"Is... something wrong?"
A slight frown tugged at the Snow Woman's pale lips.
"Kazuo," she said, glancing at him suddenly. "Have I ever told
you about this mirror?"
Kazuo blinked, his bristly white brows furrowing over winter gray
eyes. "I know that it serves as both a window and a portal to the
mortal realm," he replied hesitantly, unsure about the direction the
conversation was going.
Yuki-onna nodded, and reached out a slender white arm, her
long fingers gently caressing the shimmering reflective surface. "You
are right," she said. "With my mirror, I can view the past of the
mortal realm, up to the moment of the present. Unfortunately," she
said, her frown deepening slightly, "because of the time dilation
between the planes, the present in the mortal realm passes much more
slowly than it does here. For that reason, the events I view in my
mirror have usually already happened. I can watch the past, up to the
moment of the present, and then the image freezes, for nothing more
has taken place. And then I must wait for time to pass slowly in the
mortal realm before I can view more. Unless, of course, I cross over
into the mortal realm and become a part of that time flow."
"I see." Kazuo fell silent, waiting expectantly.
"This old woman." Yuki-onna gestured to the moving image of
Cologne in her mirror. "She has ill intent towards Ranma and his
friends. I have tried to stop her from reaching them, by casting my
sleep spell through the mirror. Unfortunately, because of the
filtering of the time dilation, the warming season in that part of the
mortal realm, and her own... unexpected power, she was able to dispel
my magic."
Kazuo frowned, not liking the sound of what the Snow Woman
was saying. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "I can see by your
face that you have not given up."
A small smile tugged at her lips. "No. I haven't. And I
have an idea. But it is dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"Very." She looked down into the narrow, blue-skinned face
of the diminutive ice sprite. "So dangerous that it may put you
in harm's way. And I would not see you hurt."
Kazuo looked up into the Snow Woman's face, his eyes
widening slightly with surprise and understanding at her quiet
words. He returned her gaze, his chiseled features
expressionless.
"Are you telling me to leave?" he said.
"I am... requesting," she said softly. "I cannot require
that you stay at the risk of your life."
"Then, if you are not ordering me to leave, it is settled,"
Kazuo's winter-gray eyes gazed at her steadily. "I will stay.
My place is here."
The steel in his tone left no room for argument. Yuki-
onna's smile saddened, and she closed her eyes briefly. "As you
wish, then. So long as you know that you are free to leave,
should you desire to do so."
"I have always been free to leave, mistress," he replied.
"Yes." Gratitude flickered briefly across the Snow Woman's
cracked face. Then she turned away, and her gaze focused on the
mirror. "Is... Akane well?" she asked, her voice low.
Kazuo nodded. "Yes, she is doing much better. This morning
before breakfast, I watched her perform some very difficult- looking
katas with apparent ease." He paused hesitantly, knowing
instinctively what Yuki-onna really desired to know. "She... is
anxious to leave," he said quietly. "She will probably leave within
the next day or so."
"So." Yuki-onna nodded slightly, but did not turn to face
him. "She is able to defend herself, then, against any demons
she might face."
Kazuo frowned at the talk of demons. "Yes," he said slowly. "I
would imagine so."
The Snow Woman lifted her head, and her eyes gazed at
nothing. "Good. Then it is time to begin." She turned and
smiled gently at Kazuo. "You'll need to stand back, my friend."
Kazuo's brow furrowed, but he complied, backing up a few
measured steps away from her.
Yuki-onna turned towards her mirror and closed her eyes.
The air around her crackled with cold as the temperature in the
room dropped abruptly. Slowly, a bright pulsing aura of blue
formed around her slender form, and her mane of shimmering white
hair lifted and whipped about, as if she were caught in the
center of a whirlwind. Kazuo watched in amazement as the Snow
Woman clenched her teeth and groaned aloud as she pulled all of
the strength and power from her domain of Eternal Winter,
absorbing it into her body as it came to her in almost visible
waves.
Then, throwing back her head, her eyes flew open, blazing
with cold white light. With a loud cry, she reached out and
thrust her pulsing, shining hands *into* the mirror...
--------------------
Moments after shaking off the Snow Woman's sleep spell,
Cologne moved with swift confidence, silently gaining ground on
Ranma and the others as they hiked up the mountain.
Her concealment was perfect, her presence precisely hidden. And,
with Ranma focused so intently on reaching the mountain of the Ancient
One, he wouldn't be able to detect her. Only a matter of minutes,
now, before she would be close enough, and then...
She smiled. And then, Ranma would never know what hit him--
A fierce blast of sub-zero wind hit Cologne full in the
face, tearing at her skin, freezing the breath in her lungs. She
halted in her movement, gasping from the sudden bitter cold, her eyes
widening in alarm as a thin layer of frost began to form over her
skin, spreading over the withered surface like a fungus.
*Such power!* she thought angrily as she immediately
summoned her ki to her defense. *Where is the Snow Woman getting that
kind of energy in this temperate climate?!*
She focused her ki, her fury igniting its heat. Her ki
began to eat away at the cold that had taken hold of her.
But, to her amazement and dismay, the cold fought back with
even greater fury, extinguishing the heat of her ki, nullifying
it, dispersing it harmlessly.
"No," Cologne whispered, her breath a cloud of moisture
freezing before her eyes and falling to the ground in tiny
granules of ice. She felt her old joints stiffening with the
growing cold. She had to move, she had to get away--
She couldn't. And, looking down, she discovered the reason
why. Her feet were completely encased in several inches of ice,
frozen solid to the rock face, effectively halting her forward
movement.
The cocoon of ice began to spread quickly up her leg.
Snarling, Cologne lashed out with her staff and shattered
the ice that held her bound. She would not be stopped, not by
this impertinent Japanese Ice Sprite with delusions of nobility. With
her legs free once again, she clenched her teeth against the numbing
wind and resumed her course, her ki flaring brighter, her heated anger
fighting against the frost that continued to creep across her skin...
She slipped.
Countless decades of martial arts training would not allow
her to fall, however, and she immediately found purchase against
the slick ground, balancing on the tip of her staff, unwilling to
allow her feet to touch the ground again. Looking at the rocky trail
in front of her, and the surrounding vegetation, she saw that
everything for a good ten meters around her was covered in a thick
sheen of gleaming ice.
And already, the tip of her staff was frozen solid to the
ground, thick ice forming up its length.
*How is this possible?!* Cologne thought in amazed fury.
*The Snow Woman should not have this kind of power!* With a yank, she
tore her staff loose from the ice, yet when she tried to balance on
its tip to leap clear of the ice patch, the wind tore at her with
renewed frenzy, and she fell against the onslaught, landing lightly on
her feet...
Immediately, the ice clamped on, forming a bright cocoon up
to her knees, creeping up to her thighs.
And, in her growing rage, Cologne shouted a loud "Kyia!" as
she once again shattered the ice that bound her.
High above her on the mountain, Ranma and the others froze
as the sound of the shriek echoed off the rocky canyon walls.
"What," said Ranma, as he and the others turned to look back down
the mountain, "in the hell was that?"
--------------------
"Kazuo?"
Akane walked into the dining area. She had dressed in her
nicest clothes, which, she had discovered to her dismay, was the
outfit with the least amount of bloodstains. The plain brown
tunic, which fell to mid thigh, was sloppily hand stitched in
several places where it had been torn, slashed, or simply worn
through, and her leggings and soft leather boots weren't in much
better shape. Still, the clothes should last her another month
or so. She had long ago sacrificed vanity and style for thrift,
practicality and comfort. Both her pack and her katana were
strapped to her back.
She stopped short when she saw that, there on the dining
table, her place had been set out. A kettle of steaming green
tea sat next to her cup.
She smiled in spite of herself. Kazuo hated to be near
anything that gave off heat, since it made him extremely
uncomfortable, and yet, ever since her first rather childish
protest about the tea always being cold, he had made sure it was
hot for her.
"Kazuo?" she called again, looking around, extending her
senses and trying to feel him, but coming up blank. Where could
he be? The past few days, he had always had tea with her. And
if he didn't show up now, how could she say goodbye? How could
she thank him for taking care of her before she left?
The ice sprite still acted as if he didn't like her much.
During the few weeks she had been here recovering from her battle with
the Shadowcat, however, he had made sure her every need was taken care
of. When she was too weak and in too much pain to take care of
herself, he had tended and dressed her wounds, and had waited on her
hand and foot until she was strong enough to take care of herself.
And even then, he always had her meals ready, making sure she never
had the chance to go hungry.
He wasn't much for company, though. It seemed he never
spoke unless absolutely necessary, and she had soon learned that
it was futile trying to start a conversation with him. But that
was okay, because, after over two years of wandering through the
Kami Plane on her own, Akane was almost used to being lonely.
Still, she was grateful to the unsociable sprite. Were it
not for Kazuo's help, she wouldn't have healed so quickly. She
wouldn't have recovered so fast, and she wouldn't be ready to
leave this frozen prison, so full of painful memories and
shattered hopes...
Yes. She was leaving today.
Akane felt a frown tug at her lips as she looked around, a
swirl of convoluted emotions filling her chest.
Sometimes she couldn't help but feel that Kazuo had helped
her only so he could be rid of her sooner.
They never talked of the Snow Woman.
But that didn't keep Akane from thinking of her.
The Snow Woman had been as good as her word... this time.
>From the day Akane first regained consciousness and had yelled at her
in fury, magnified with pain, fear, and confusion at finding herself
in the enemy's domain, Akane had not even so much as sensed the Snow
Woman's presence. Where ever she was, she was staying far away.
Probably hiding out in her quarters, which Akane had intentionally
avoided.
But what was she doing?
That was the question that plagued Akane's mind. And,
during the days of her convalescence, her imagination had run
wild with speculation, fed by memories of her own betrayal --
memories of walking in and seeing the Snow Woman laugh in delight as
she looked into the mortal plane through her mirror, watching as Ranma
despairingly clung to a severed lock of hair as if his very sanity
depended on it...
But that was not all. For Susa-no-o, with his own magic,
had shown her the full extent of the Snow Woman's crimes. He had
shown her images of Yuki-onna, her former trusted friend, tormenting
Ranma... delivering him into the claws of that horrible Shadowcat
demon... the demon that went on to murder Masakazu. The demon that
had nearly killed her when she tried to free Ranma's soul...
Yes, she had nearly died. But it was worth it, she thought,
smiling grimly, because she had sent that demon's head flying with a
last, desperate flash of her katana. And in doing so, she had set
Ranma's mind and soul free once again...
Ranma was free.
Yes. It was worth it. She would do it again in a second,
if necessary.
As if protesting to the thought, a slight ache rippled
through her shoulder and thigh. Akane winced slightly, and
reached up with one hand to rub her shoulder. The wounds from
the Shadowcat's claws were healed now, but the thin pink lines of
parallel scars would be hers forever.
Akane blinked at the sudden wetness in her eyes as she
massaged her shoulder, feeling the new, fearful hope tremble in
her heart. He was free. And he would come for her. He always
came for her. It... it didn't matter that the time dilation
would make it so that the days, weeks and months would continue
to pass with agonizing slowness; that she would continue to grow
older before Ranma, still just seventeen years old in the mortal
plane, found a way to break the blood spell that kept her bound
here. She knew he wouldn't give up. And neither would she. She
would keep searching as well...
Akane sighed. She had to start searching again.
"Kazuo?!" she called, her voice tinged with impatience.
No answer.
Fine then. She'd have tea without him. And if he didn't
show up, she'd just leave him a note and then go. She'd been in
the Snow Woman's realm way too long for her liking anyway. She
would walk into the mists, and head straight for Susa-no-o realm. Then
she'd face the arrogant deity, and demand to know what the hell he was
thinking, transporting her back into the Snow Woman's domain. It had
to be his doing -- she couldn't think of any other explanation as to
how she had come to be here.
Akane scowled. It was probably his stupid idea of a
practical joke. Well, she'd tell him a thing or two when she
went back.
Kneeling at the table, she tossed her long, thick braid over her
shoulder with an unconscious flip of her head. She then slid her pack
and her katana from off her shoulders, and poured herself a cup of
tea. Taking a slow sip, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander
over the white, crystalline walls and ceiling that seemed to catch the
light at all angles and refract rainbow colors over the surface.
So beautiful. And yet so cold and empty, utterly without
warmth.
*Just like the Snow Woman,* she thought, her brown eyes
clouding as her countenance darkened.
And yet...
It had been so strange, the past few days, being back in the Snow
Woman's realm... Walking through the rooms and corridors that she had
called home during the first two and a half years of her stay in the
Kami Plane...
And, in spite of her anger, she couldn't help but remember
the beginning, when the blood spell had first torn her from the
mortal realm. She couldn't help but remember when she first
came; when the Snow Woman... Yuki-onna... had showed her kindness and
friendship in some of her loneliest, most frightened hours...
Akane's eyes flickered, and a small frown tugged at the
edges of her mouth.
They had been so close. They had laughed and talked and
shared so many things, almost like a mother and daughter, before
it all went sour...
Now the icy corridors echoed with silence of the grave.
Gone was the comforting murmur of the ice sprite servants,
talking and laughing among themselves as they went about their
duties, having all deserted after the Snow Woman summoned the
demon Shadowcat. Everything was now empty and cold in a way it
had never been before the betrayal...
And yet...
Akane's hard gaze softened slightly. There were times when,
while wandering through a familiar yet empty room, she sometimes felt
the brush of an old memory against her mind. She sometimes half
expected to feel Masakazu flitting presence as he initiated another
training session with one of his sneak attacks, or hear Yuki-onna's
warm voice; see her turn the corner, her frost blue eyes lit with
excitement as she presented Akane with yet another new outfit,
carefully sewn with motherly affection...
Yes, Akane realized with surprise. Yuki-onna's voice had
been warm once...
Akane sipped her tea, her expression troubled...
...and froze.
Akane blinked, her tea still lifted to her lips, as a slow
suffocating feeling of dread stole upon her, making her flesh
crawl.
*What the--!*
Her brown eyes widened at the horribly familiar sensation.
Her senses screamed, her muscles tensed.
Carefully, silently, she lowered her cup, placing it on the
table.
*Demon,* she thought. And, reaching down in one smooth
motion to where her pack lay, her katana was in hand, unsheathed, the
live blade flickering with blue ki.
**
Yup, I'm cutting off in mid-scene again. Sorry. So what do you
think? The next part is gonna be fun to write, I can tell. ^_^
Ja ne,
Krista