Chris Jones wrote:
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Chaos and Destiny
Part 2: Royal Vengance
by Christopher Jones
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*Ranma, wake up! Akane's in trouble!*
"nnuh?"
Ranma sat bolt upright in bed. "Wait a second... Ryouga, get
up! I think somethin's happened to Akane!"
Hmmm. Why did the voice choose to speak to Ranma and why did it single
out Akane? Curious.
"Akane!" He gaped as Ranma poked his head into each door,
swearing each time. He felt his depression and anger growing
rapidly... Whoever took Akane was going to pay dearly.
"Ucchan!" Ranma darted inside the last of the rooms, the one
Ukyou had been sharing with Kasumi.
Ryouga ran in after him to see her lying on the floor. Ranma
lifter her up, supporting her head and neck. Ryouga could see that
she had suffered a nasty blow to the forehead. She had a large,
purple bruise, and it was still swelling.
Ah, I see. They thought she was a guy so they left her behind.
"The point I'm trying to make, Garion, is that they may not
even be aware they're doing it." Belgarath sipped at his tankard and
turned toward the fire.
"Maybe, Grandfather. It seems to me, though, that even the
spontaneous sorcerers we've met, like Senji, have at least *some*
idea of what they're doing. They may just be using it in a way we've
never considered before."
Belgarath nodded. "That's entirely possible, Garion. Once we
can sit down and actually talk with them, we--"
Interesting discussion here. I'm beginning to have my doubts as to
whether *any* of the cast will be capable of true Eddings style sorcery.
Belgarath was cut off as a sudden anguished howl tore out
through the silence of the Rivan night. With an apprehensive
expression, he looked toward Garion, whose eyes had gone wide.
"That was Wolf," the king stated as he rose to his feet.
"Something's wrong!"
*Father, Garion!* Polgara's urgent thought came drifting down
to them. *I need you! Something's happened.*
Without waiting for further prompting, Garion and Belgarath
dropped their cups and ran for their private quarters.
Couldn't they just translocate there?
When they reached the hallway outside the royal apartments,
Garion saw red.
Geran had drawn his dagger and was examining the forced lock on
Garion's bedroom door. Wolf was whining and growling angrily, and His
daughters were crying, hiding behind Polgara and Durnik who were
trying to calm Ranma and his friends.
(Damnitt, I'm getting tired of calling the Nerima bunch 'Aliens'. Any
ideas?)
How about Nerimians?
Ranma smiled evilly, and cracked his knuckles. "Ucchan, stay
here," he commanded.
"No, way! Those jackasses knocked me out, and I'm *going* to
get revenge."
Ranma shook his head. "Yeah, you just took a bad head injury! I
don't want you fightin' out there when you might pass out and get
killed." He pointed the three crying red-heads. "'Sides, I think
their mom got kidnapped too, and I'm pretty sure they're royalty. One
of us is going to have to stay to protect them."
Ukyou glowered, but pulled her spatula up into a defensive
posture and stood in front of the girls.
Darnit, why does she always get left behind? :(
Not hearing, but realizing what had happened none the less,
Garion turned to his son. "I want you to stay here too, Son."
"Father--"
"No arguments, Geran." He turned back to the others. "Let's
go!" He took off running down the corridor, shifting into the form of
a wolf in mid-step.
The martial artists' eyes widened slightly, but they followed
without question. Belgarath followed close behind with Poledra. They
too went wolf before they had moved three paces.
Hmmmm. If the Eddings bunch can 'hear' it when the Nerimians do stuff,
shouldn't the Nerimians be 'hearing' something when they shapechange to
wolves?
Polgara embraced her husband. "Be careful, Durnik."
"I will, Pol. Make sure the princesses are safe."
She nodded as her husband followed the assorted
combatants. "You too, Father." She called after them.
Why is Poledra going but not Polgara?
The combatants and wolves left the citadel and plunged out into
the Rivan night.
The three wolves loped along, carefully sniffing out the trail.
Durnik, Ranma, Ryouga, Mousse and Kunou followed along, on guard for
danger from all sides.
Several times, Ranma grabbed Ryouga's arm to keep him from
losing his track of the rest of the pursuers.
Within minutes, they reached a house with two men in bearskins
standing outside trying to look inconspicuous.
Belgarath and Poledra both shifted forms, and stood back away
from the house.
"How stupid can you get?" Belgarath whispered to his wife.
She shook her head sadly.
Belgarion shifted forms in front of the two guards and glared
at them angrily.
"Where's my wife!?!" he demanded, still growling like a wolf.
The two guards gave up on acting innocent and drew their
swords.
With little more than a thought, Garion translocated Riva's
sword from its place above his throne back in the citadel, and
leveled it at the guards.
With angry bluish white fire arcing up and down it's blade,
Garion bashed one to the ground with the flat of the sword.
"One more chance. Where's my wife?"
The guard started nervously. and looked around at the buildings
around him.
He spared one more glance at the furious king. Resignedly, he
yelled out, and raised his sword against the king.
Wow, they really are stupid!
"Wrong move." Garion cleanly impaled the bearskin warrior as
about a hundred of his brethren started to pour out of nearby
buildings.
Upon seeing the bearskin clad warriors boil out of the
surrounding houses, Belgarath took his wife's arm and translocated
them both to the top of a shop across from the cultists' house.
"I think Garion, Durnik and the warriors are a little better
suited for this than we are, dear." He offered.
Poledra examined the battle quickly emerging below. "No offense
is taken. One wonders, however, why that one," she pointed at Ranma,
"is going to fight men with swords when he is without a weapon."
Belgarath swore and clenched his will in preparation for
shielding the youth. "Idiot! We've apparently got to keep him alive,
or I'd let him be skewered. It would be a service to the community."
He was about to release the shield when Ranma dove into the middle of
six broadsword wielding bear-cultists.
The first thing he noticed were the swords being knocked out of
the cultists' grips. The second thing he noticed was the cultists
themselves being knocked senseless into the air and against
surrounding buildings.
"Ah," Poledra observed. "He is not unarmed after all."
Belgarath scratched his beard in puzzlement. "Fights like a
Dagashi. Much, Much better than a Dagashi, actually." He shook his
Heh-heh.
head and turned his attention to Garion and Durnik.
Durnik had summoned his sledge and was breaking ribs, arms and
legs with impunity.
Garion and the swordsman Kunou had taken up a position back to
back with each other and were battling what cultists could reach
them. Garion was near berserk at this point and taking out his Alorn
rage against the cultists. Body parts flew like threshed wheat, and
rivulets of blood were flowing in between the cobblestones and into
the gutters.
The men Kunou was fighting were being cut more than maimed, but
Is he still using his bokken, or did he get a real sword?
He got no such hesitation from Mousse. An assortment of weapons
flew from the long haired boy's sleeves and trouser legs to pin and
pierce his enemies. Belgarath clearly heard the boy's will being
released over and over again as he translocated new weapons to use
from some unimaginable place. At one point, he swung what looked like
More like simply created them rather than translocated them.
a large wooden duck, knocking out three bear-cultists at once.
Ryouga on the other hand, fought with his wooden umbrella.
Belgarath could feel the boy reinforcing it with his will. It was so
dense as to knock the cultists several feet any time it connected.
Point. We know that the umbrella actually *is* that heavy. It weighs a
lot even when Ryouga isn't using it. So you can't say it's entirely a
result of his will.
"He must be incredibly strong..." Belgarath stated to his wife,
who only nodded in response.
He could feel the boy's will gathering. Belgarath gathered his
own again, for he appeared to be letting the cultists get closer to
him.
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Ryouga released his will. stabbing an
outstretched finger down into the cobblestones. They literally
exploded, sending a large group of cultists flying through the air in
all directions. Chest heaving, he stood unharmed in the middle of a
small crater in the street. He lifted his umbrella, and attacked
another cultist from behind.
"'Bakusai Tenketsu'. Wonder what that means? Certainly can't
fault his style."
"One thinks that they only use their will in battle, Husband."
Belgarath nodded and winced as a cultist took an umbrella
between his legs. "It could be. They're doing exactly the same thing
we do though, so..."
"Are you considering instructing them?" Poledra asked with a
mild look of amusement on her face. "It has been many seasons since
your last student matured."
Gee, for a seven thousand year old man, you'd think the two decades or
so since Garion matured wouldn't count as 'many seasons'.
"It has, hasn't it. Still, I don't know. It could cause more
problems than it solves..."
"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"
Belgarath jumped slightly as Ranma released a fireball in a
thunderous burst of will on about ten raging cultists. They were all
thrown in the blast. Those closest to the center were smoking when
they hit the ground.
"Not teaching them may be unwise, Husband. Control is as
important as power."
"I'm starting to agree with you..."
Unfair. In terms of martial arts, Ranma and Co. have perfect control
over their abilities.
* * *
Wolf sampled the air. *One cannot smell Mother over the rotting
bear and food in this place. If she is here, she hasn't been here
long enough. One thinks one can smell the shes of the other pack,
though. They are... very different.*
I really don't know what this is supposed to mean. Different how?
Geran nodded and angled his way out into the hallway beyond the
sparse kitchen. *Lead,* he insisted.
After a few seconds, the wolf led them to a row of doors. He
nosed at the crack under one. *Mother is in here!*
Geran forced the lock with his dagger and pushed the door in.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw what was inside. His
mother was gagged and bound to a chair, but unhurt. There was an
expression of inarticulate rage on her face. Geran knew that whoever
that rage was directed at would be severely inconvenienced once she
caught up to him.
Remind you of anyone?
A snapping noise, and a loud cry erupted from the room.
"HENTAI!"
Geran winced as a bear-cultist slammed head first into the wall
across from the door. The other short haired girl stepped out and
said something in her incomprehensible tongue to the cultist, and
kicked him in the head.
A little shocked, but relieved, Geran led the others into the
room. The short haired girl was already working on freeing the purple
haired girl, so Geran cut the bonds of the older longhaired girl.
"Akane, what happened?" Nabiki demanded.
Shampoo stood and angrily rubbed her wrists. "Stupid bear-man
think he can rip Shampoo favorite blouse!"
Kasumi stood, also trying to restore circulation to her hands.
"Akane was very brave. She broke her ropes and kept that nasty man
from taking Shampoo's blouse off."
I don't understand why Shampoo didn't break the ropes herself. She's
certainly strong enough. Maybe she was still dazed from being hit over
the head.
While Nabiki, Kasumi and Ce'Nedra stayed safely backed up in
one corner, Akane had all but beaten her opponent to death.
Well, we certainly know who the warriors are here.
Shampoo, finished with hers, knocked the club out of the
prince's assailant's hand.
With a clean motion borne of hours of practice, Geran whirled
and drove his knife deep into the man's chest. He pulled it free and
struck again, sending the blade up through the man's jaw into his
brain. The cultist stiffened and collapsed into a bloody heap.
"I'm going to have to learn to fight with my hands and feet
like that." He commented as he wiped his blade on the man's bearskin
coat.
* * *
The battle had moved into the front of the building. The last
few remaining bear-cultists had beat a strategic retreat into the
house when they realized over three quarters of their fellows were
unconscious or dead. The bear masked leader of the group tried to
I'm amazed they lasted this long.
"I imagine there's not a bone in his body that isn't not
broken." Belgarath speculated as he strode over to the cultist.
Wasn't he still on the roof?
Raging Belgarion, glowing bright blue with the flame of the
Orb, placed his sword next to Ranma's clenched fist.
"Where's my wife, traitor? I swear, if she's been hurt I'll
kill you so slowly and painfully that Hell will be a reprieve."
The man shuddered and lapsed into unconsciousness.
"Father!"
Garion span to see his son standing in the doorway. "I thought
I told you to stay home!"
"I rescued Mother!"
Anger raged across the king's face, but he ran to embrace
Ce'Nedra, who was standing behind her son.
Ranma and Ryouga picked the unconscious leader of the cultists
up by his arms and dragged him out of the house. As they exited, they
could see the city policemen and palace guards converging on the
house.
Sure, *now* they get here.
Akane ran past Ryouga up to Ranma, but stopped just short of
embracing him.
"Did they hurt... any of you?" he asked.
Akane shook her head. "One cretin tried to attack Shampoo while
she was tied up, but I gave him the business end of a beating."
Ranma grinned fiercely. "Good."
Shampoo glomped him at that point. "Oh, Airen! So scary! Bear-
man try to hurt Shampoo. Airen make Shampoo feel better?"
Akane rolled her eyes and stomped off in anger as Ranma tried
to dislodge himself.
You know, I'm a little disgusted with Ranma here. Given that Shampoo
was just kidnapped and attacked you'd think he could just give her a
freaking hug for once without trying to squirm away and act like she has
some sort of disease. Just give her a hug you moron! Isn't he glad to
see she's alright?
Poledra kneeled beside the injured cult leader and placed her
hand to his chest.
Garion knelt down next to her and pulled the mask off of the
cultist. "Brelmik!" he hissed. "The bear cult in my own guard! Will
he live?"
She nodded. "Barely. He will not walk or fight for several
months."
Garion grinned fiercely. "More than enough time to squeeze what
we want out of him."
After spending a few more seconds with his wife, Garion turned
back to his son. "Didn't I say to stay in the Citadel, Geran?"
With his eyes cast toward the pavement, the prince nodded.
"Yes, Father."
"Then why did you disobey my direct order?"
Geran let his jaw clench and he stared straight into his
father's eyes. "Because Mother was in danger. I couldn't just sit by
while she was hurt!"
And you didn't have the brains to assign someone else to sneak in and
rescue her.
The king let his eyes narrow. "Did it ever occur to you that
there might be another kidnapper or assassin? What about your
sisters, Geran? Would you just cast aside your own safety *and
theirs* so that you can be a hero?!?! What were you thinking,
boy?!?!"
Hey, Ce'Nedra could very well be dead if he hadn't sneaked in. I'm sure
the girls had plenty of palace guards. What could Geran do to protect
his sisters that the guards couldn't?
Finally, Garion located Nabiki. "What's she saying?" He asked,
yelling to be heard over Kodachi's voice.
Why haven't they just gone ahead and language zapped the others? I
don't understand the reason for the delay.
Leaving her conversation with Akane and Poledra, Nabiki
strolled casually over to the king and his son. "She thinks it's
wrong of you to punish your son for coming here."
Kodachi continued to rant.
"She thinks you should reward him instead."
Kodachi made one or two more points.
"With a large party, or perhaps a parade in his honor."
Garion's left eyebrow twitched. "Is she crazy?"
Nabiki nodded. "Just a little."
Heh. Perfect.
Kodachi continued on after the obviously sarcastic exchange.
Nabiki translated. "She says if you don't reward him, she
will."
"Huh?"
Then, much to the shock of those around her, Kodachi leapt into
Geran's arms and planted her lips against those of the confused young
prince. True, she didn't happen to have any of her *special*
lipstick, but one could paralyze just as well if she knew what she
was doing.
After a few seconds, the prince 'meefed' as Kodachi came up for
air. "T-tongue...," he muttered.
Kodachi inhaled sharply and put her tongue back where it had
been.
Love is most definitely in the air. Kodachi, Queen of Riva has a nice
ring to it, don't you think?
Author's notes.
First, my input on the 'Who is Capable' of sorcery debate. I've really
appreciated all the discussion on the matter, and I will tell you
that,
as a few of you noticed, Durnik missed one person when he was
counting,
because they did *not* clench their will.
The list of *Confirmed* sorcerers are so far:
Akane - Translocated the mallet in the first story
Ranma - Mouko Takibisha - this story
Ryouga - Bakusai Tenketsu - this story
Mousse - Translocates or conjures all his weapons in this story.
Kounou clenched his will for his attack, but did not actually release.
He was part of Durnik's original count, but whether or not he will
acutally
do sorcery will be decided in a future story.
Well, Ukyou can probably clench her will the same way Kunou can to aid
in spatula swings. She may also be doing something to the mini-spatulas
to make them effective weapons. Kasumi I would say definitely not.
After all, sorcery requires will above all. Outside of fanfics, she's a
pushover. I don't know about Shampoo or Kodachi.
Third, like I said in the intro, this hasn't been pre-read. Hopefully,
any
future chapters (if they happen) will go a little bit deeper into
characterization and the fine points of the Eddings' universe. Any one
Match Ranma up with somebody from the Eddings universe. I just dare
you. Maybe a young dryad...
Lastly, I've become of a similarity between the title of this story,
'Chaos and Destiny' and the title of Henry Cobb's UY/AMS! story, > 'Chaos
and Death'. Does anyone have any ideas for a new title?
As always, I hope you enjoy this story, and have somthing to say about
it.