Greetings,

Once again, it's time for another episode! My muse has been drilling me day
and night to get this done for some reason...

I can't see why? My writing is Y2K compliant...:)

Anyway, this is a dry episode, so you'll definitely need a long necked friend
with which to pass the time...

As always C&C can be sent to gargoyle@glasscity.net

My hotmail account HAS changed...To gargoyle9@hotmail.com
This is due to the odd fact that yesterday, everything was normal.
Today, I can't log on...

Well, I should be able to get it either way.

Ranma and Akane are the property (Hey, isn't that animated slavery?) of
Rumiko Takahashi. EVERYTHING else is mine...ALL MINE!!!
BWAHAHAHHAHAA...*cough, wheeze, hack*...Ahem...Anyway...

Enjoy!

***

Mythos
By
Joshua Trujillo

Chapter 3 - Awakening the Sleeper

Ranma lay back against the pillows and gazed up at the stars. She 
could make out some of the constellations that she had learned 
about back home, but as Ranma knew it, they were in the wrong 
parts of the sky. And some of the constellations that should be 
visible weren't even there, or bits of them were missing.

It was the same sky, but truly different. Everyday Ranma hoped 
the she would wake up and be staring at her own ceiling again at 
the dojo. The plain room. Come down the stairs and find Kasumi 
and Mr. Tendo waiting at the table with breakfast. Ranma closed 
her eyes.

Akane�

"What do the stars look like in your world, Ranma?" Rei asked, 
sitting next to him chewing on a bit of molin.

"Same," Ranma said flatly, "But different really. Can't explain it 
too well."

Ranma looked at the sky again. A flash of light streaked across the 
sky near the horizon. Ranma made a wish. Though not the first 
time she'd made a wish in this world, but it was the same one. It 
had always been the same one. To find her.

Ikari snorted, huffed and her snoring broke her sleep. She looked 
around, rolled over and went back to sleep. Rei smirked at her. It 
was difficult for people to get adjusted to being awake at night and 
sleeping during the day. Rei had to get used to it as part of her 
training, so the change over was minimal. Ranma would be okay, 
but Ikari was useless during the night.

Ranma closed her eyes again and tried to concentrate on the 
clickety-clack of the desert all around him. Little beetle-like 
creatures that used their bodies to communicate across the vast, 
dark distances in the badlands. Trying to find the one they love. 
Ranma heard the pecaricos up ahead, huffing away as they pulled 
the wagons across the sands and rocks. Ranma looked to the front 
of the huge wagon at the curious pervert who was their guide. 
Tsute Dokusatsu had pretty much disgusted Ranma, but after they 
had started on their journey, Ranma found him to be a wealth of 
information about this world.

The pecaricos, for instance. Huge, bipedal lizards that roamed the 
northern deserts near the sea. Kind of like camels, they could 
traverse vast distances without the need for food or water. Ranma 
was fascinated with the female, Yuubi, who was slightly larger 
than her mate. Tsute had told him that it was Jooji, the male who 
bore the offspring. Ranma chortled at this. Yuubi was a kindred 
soul then. Of course, Jooji was the male, but Yuubi couldn't bear 
children, like Ranma, and yet was trapped in a female body, also 
like Ranma.

Ranma looked at Tsute again. He seemed quite happy to sit at the 
front of the wagon, simply singing snatches of odd doggerel to 
himself while driving. A sailor on the seas of sand.

Ranma felt Rei shift next to him. After what had happened in the 
hotel three nights ago, Ranma had tried to distance herself. Tried, 
didn't succeed, but tried. Rei was just so damned nice though. She 
seemed happy to simply be with Ranma and didn't really care, so 
long as they were together. She explained that she was sorry for 
forcing the issue, but that she felt that Ranma would never find this 
other girl. And at least she could comfort her in the meantime. She 
cried in Ranma's arms begging for forgiveness and Ranma couldn't 
keep it from her. Rei was just trying to love her the only way she 
knew how, and Ranma was never one to throw stones.

But Rei asked her for a promise that Ranma was none too eager to 
give. If Akane were proven to be gone for one reason or another, 
then Ranma would give Rei a chance for love. Ranma thought on it 
for a day and reluctantly agreed. It was simple enough to come by 
as Ranma knew she would never give up looking, but something in 
the back of her mind told her it was because Rei would really love 
her.

The desert rolled past them underneath the wagon. It crunched and 
shifted along the weight of the huge wagon. Roughly rectangular, 
the wheels were imbedded near the sides of the wagon; similar to 
the way a car has wheel wells. Tsute had said that sometimes in the 
spring, he would be out and get caught in a flash flood. He had 
lifted the tarp that covered the bottom of the wagon and Ranma 
could see a black ichor covering the bottom. It was waterproof. 
Ranma wondered about the pecaricos. Tsute said they could swim 
great distances as well.

The wagon was well stocked for the ten-day trip to Kellenel. 
Certainly they wouldn't eat like kings, but at least they wouldn't die 
of hunger. Boredom, maybe, but not hunger. Tsute had also told 
them that water would be found along the way. He wouldn't say 
what it was, but just smiled in the way that told Ranma she'd have 
to hurt him for it.

They were already down to four barrels of water. Ranma could 
hear them sloshing around in the back of the wagon where they 
covered Ikari's snoring. One advantage to sleeping in the day was 
that they tended to drink less of the water. Ranma calculated that 
they would run out about three days out of Kellenel. Then Tsute's 
plan would either come about, or Ranma would have to think very 
hard about keeping Rei from killing him.

As she drifted off to sleep, many thoughts ran through Ranma's 
mind, but one remained constant. Find Akane. Find the one she 
loved.

***

The dawn shivered as it made it's way across the lonesome desert. 
It crossed the dunes and illuminated creatures as they scurried from 
view back into their burrows for the day. It knew the way across 
the desert, for it had traveled this path for millions of years in an 
unending stream of action that it knew no one could stop. On the 
other side of the desert was the sea, where happy creatures would 
play along the shore and merrily eat one another in a miasma of 
evolution.

Something new flashed across the path, but the sun didn't take time 
to find out what it had run over. Neither did the thing it ran over 
move very much away from the oncoming light. The sun gently 
caressed the bulging pectoral muscles that rose and fell in the 
unending rhythm of breath.

Today would be the day.

The massive muscles moved in a graceful motion as the huge man 
got to his feet. He looked south.

Today would be the day that he would meet the Shiro Daiou.

The man began to walk south. He would reach them by midday.

Today would be the day that Gouka Kiyomeru would kill the Shiro 
Daiou.

***

Just after sunrise, the intense heat from the desert made them stop. 
Ranma and Rei had helped Tsute put up the tarps and care for 
Yuubi and Jooji. Rei made herself comfortable on the far end of 
the tarp and was quickly asleep. Ikari huffed in frustration. She 
tried to relax and get to sleep herself, but her body told her that 
she'd have to wait until dark again. Ikari looked towards Ranma, 
who was also dozing in the late morning sun. She seemed to 
innocent, and yet, she could fight better than Ikari.

Of course, she couldn't release the binding energy of her cells 
either, but then Ikari always thought that that was a detriment. She 
wished she didn't blow up every time she got pissed. She tried not 
to get angry, but some things just pushed her too far. Like this 
Tsute guy�

He merrily sang his little songs from sun up to sun down and never 
seemed tired. He never strayed far from camp and always seemed 
to have an eye on at least one of them. Like now. He was making 
no pains to watch Ranma while she slept. But then, Ranma also 
seemed to have less modesty asleep than awake. Both Rei and 
Ranma had been asleep for several hours.

Ikari looked out across the oddly colored desert. Bits of it were the 
yellow of sand; bits of it were pure white, probably from salt. 
Other bits were red, some were black. Ikari sighed and fanned 
herself. It was all hot.

She felt a presence next to her and looked up. It was Tsute. He held 
out a section of something green to her.

"What is it?" Ikari asked.

It smelled faintly of wassard sticks.

"Kelban fruit," Tsute said, nibbling on his own section, "There's a 
big kelban plant over there."

He pointed behind him and Ikari took the section of watery plant. 
She sniffed it and sipped some of the free juice. It had a cooling 
effect as it slid down her throat.

"Good thing 'bout springtime in the badlands. Well, the first good 
thing," Tsute said as he eyed Ranma again, "Couple other good 
things too."

"Yeah, like what?" Ikari muttered, chewing down the rest of the 
plant.

It began to warm in her stomach, but made her feel oddly cool all 
over.

"One thing is gullible tourists," Tsute said, smiling his lecherous 
smile, "Like yerself. The other is kelban fruit."

Ikari shook her head to clear the fog that began to creep in on her 
vision. Suddenly, she felt terribly wrong. She scrambled heavily 
over to Ranma and saw that she had several sections of fruit strewn 
next to her. Ikari threw her head over towards Rei and noticed that 
she too had a couple pieces of fruit by her hands. Ikari began to try 
and build up her anger, but the fog kept interfering. Calming her 
and cooling her at the same time. Making her want to sleep. Ikari 
tried to get to her feet, but her knees buckled under her and she 
crumpled to the tarp.

Ikari could feel the paralysis sweep over her limbs as Tsute rolled 
her over.

"You see my dear, I'm an old bastard," Tsute crooned into her face, 
"And by the time you wake up, I'll be long enough gone that any 
journey you make to find me will kill you."

Ikari felt him undo her robes as her consciousness left her.

***

Esu looked around at the assembled sister-protectorates around the 
chamber. They had all agreed to gather after the last namagoroshi 
attack. They all knew that Mikan was the cause, but for what they 
had no idea. The other odd thing was that every one of the staffs 
had been decharged in the same instant. Almost like Mikan had 
taken all the demons and evil creatures and flung them away to 
someplace else, never to return.

Because they hadn't returned. All efforts were made that day to 
repair the section of wall that the dragon had broken through, in 
order to protect the nunnery from that night's attack. The attack 
never came. It hadn't come the night before last either. So last 
night, Esu spoke with each of the sister-protectorates and called 
together a council for the next night.

So many egos bounced around the room that Esu thought she'd 
have to duck occasionally. She sighed. Why couldn't the 
congregation ever seem to get along? Sure, bits here and bits there, 
but not all together.

"So?" Hana Son shouted at Esu, "Just because you're the chosen 
protectorate, does that mean it overrides the rest of our most 
important opinions?"

"Hana-san, we cannot and will not simply send her back into the 
wilderness," Esu calmly rose an eyebrow at her, "For she needs 
protected as much as you do and that is final. I told you all that I 
would take her to the one who is looking for her, Ranma 
Saotome."

A quick hush ran through the congregation. Esu sighed again. So 
much prejudice.

"You would go back to that little-"

"Hana-san!" a smaller sister next to Hana interrupted.

It was Sesai Son. Hana looked at her.

"-Witch," Hana continued, "You would go back to her? Forsake all 
the protectorate duties? For what?"

Esu tried to keep from smiling. Hana had never in her life been 
with a lover. She had come straight from a rich family from 
Ullenel in the south. And while her families' contribution to the 
nunnery had been most appreciated, it was almost a farce that she 
had been given sisterhood. Much less a protectorate of her own. 
Somehow, the fat little wench that had arrived six years ago turned 
into a fat little fighter that was staring up at Esu.

"And without her, without Ranma," Esu asked, "Would any of us 
have been able to use the ijutsu hoshi?"

There was a quiet muttering around the room. Esu smiled as she 
continued on towards her position at the head of the room. That 
would shut them up for a while. Reminding them of the good that 
came from Ranma's visit always offset the fact of what remained. 
It hadn't been her fault about the namagoroshi. Things like that just 
happened.

Esu brushed off the seat that was carved into the wall and sat 
down. Esu smiled again. It had been Ranma that helped her found 
this nunnery almost a year and a half ago. Since then, it had 
flourished as a center for learning and life, even under the constant 
attack of the namagoroshi. Those creatures and the nightly fights 
had turned a rough group of young women into the best kickers of 
ass this side of Akamerajh.

Even the other sister-protectorates would never think to challenge 
Esu for the right in leading the congregation. They'd have to fight 
her for it and they couldn't even defeat Ijisai, much less Esu. Esu 
smiled again. Esu wasn't all that sure that she could even defeat 
Ijisai, who would make a fine sister-protectorate someday.

"It is settled then," Esu said, "I will take a group of three with me 
along with the girl Mikan and we will find Ranma Saotome."

"Esu-san," Sesai asked, timidly, "What will become of the 
sisterhood should you not return?"

Esu lowered her head. She didn't want to think about it, but it was 
a most valid question, especially since finding and travelling with 
Ranma generally entailed getting into more fights than normal. It 
would have to be done.

"Your question in a valid one. One that I wished would not have to 
be taken into account, but we all know of our track records with 
Saotome," Esu said, loudly enough to be heard by all the sisters in 
the room, "Therefore, before I leave seven days hence I will chose 
a successor."

Hana stood and began to speak, only to be silenced by the look 
from Esu. The other sisters muttered to themselves as the unspoken 
challenge. Hana would be the one who would chose to revolt rather 
than be led by someone other than Esu. So be it. Some would 
follow her, but the rest would rise to accept the new head of the 
sisterhood. Hana sat down quietly and straightened the front of her 
robes.

Now whether or not the new head would actually accept her 
position would be another matter entirely.

***

Gouka had a problem. He looked out across the vast desert and 
scratched his head in wonder. How could the Shiro Daiou expect to 
meet her end wandering around in the desert by herself? Gouka 
had found the man that had been with them. He neither put up 
much resistance when he died, nor did he offer any assistance in 
finding the Shiro Daiou.

The two huge creatures stayed with the wagon, guarding it as they 
might have guarded a nest. The smaller one attacked Gouka and he 
was forced to kill it, which was sad. Gouka never like to kill 
anything below his level of intelligence, much less animals. But, 
he had to protect himself while he tried to get information from the 
man. After the man perished, Gouka opened two of the casks for 
the remaining animal, who seemed to be mourning the loss of its 
companion.

Gouka then started down the path that the wagon made in the sand 
behind it. He would not kill animals outright. Humans, most 
certainly, for they knew the difference between good and evil. 
Right and wrong were almost inborn. And the Shiro Daiou had 
been given life to almost solely bring down the will of his master, 
Akuji. She would have to be of the vilest evil then, wouldn't she?

So Gouka had traveled the path. Back towards the town in the 
south. But it was growing dark already and the desert at night 
would drain his abilities too much to fight. So Gouka found an out 
of the way spot in a small rock outcropping and settled in for the 
night. He could track them again tomorrow. Or, if they happened 
to pass in the night, he could track them and take them at daybreak.

Either way, he could rest before the fight. And that was good...

***

There was a thick blanket of blackness covering her mind. Ikari 
felt like she wanted to sleep further, but the disgusting heat 
penetrated through and almost made her gag. There was something 
else too. A strangled kind of noise that seemed to annoy her and 
make her want to help whoever was making that noise at the same 
time. A cry. Yes, a plea outside of the realm of darkness that 
folded gently around her mind. A cry for help.

The fog lifted from Ikari's mind as Rei shook her awake. Ikari 
looked into the tear stained face of Rei Kinkaku as she straightened 
Ikari's robes around her. Rei continued to shake her. Ikari tried to 
say something, but it only came out in a muffled growl. The last 
moments came back to Ikari in a rush and she rolled over in a fit of 
nausea. That man...He had touched her...

He had tried to...He had touched her!

Something else banged on the edges of her consciousness as the 
sound came back and caused her to retch again. Ikari wiped her 
mouth and looked over to Rei, who was holding Ranma to herself. 
Just sat there, crying and rocking back and forth. There was a buzz 
in Ikari's head as she tried to stand. Her stomach kept her 
grounded, but she crawled over to Ranma.

"She's not..." Rei began through her tears, "She's not waking up!"

Ikari reached for a pulse. Rei kept pulling at Ranma and Ikari 
pushed her back, a little rougher than she should have. She didn't 
have the time to be nice about it though, as Ikari could feel the 
poisons still working in her body, numbing any extreme motion.

With slow, careful movements, she could feel a slight pulse. There, 
along her breastbone, right where it should be. Ikari put her right 
hand on the nape of Ranma's neck and tried to concentrate on 
healing. The spells weakly pulsed back and forth between the two, 
but Ikari could tell that it would take some time. She was able to 
hold the concentration for the spell for a time, but had to break it as 
the nausea returned.

Ikari lay on her back, panting with exertion, though whether 
between healing two people at once, or that strange drug plant, she 
didn't know. Rei had stopped crying at least. Rei...?

Ikari looked around and saw that Rei had gathered her sword 
together and was looking across the desert in the late afternoon 
light. At least that bastard had left the overhead tarp. Rei came 
back and knelt to Ikari.

"I'm going to kill him now," she said quietly, "Will Ranma be all 
right?"

"Yeah," Ikari said roughly, "It'll just take some time, but she 
should be okay. She did have many pieces of that blasted fruit 
though."

"If I find him, I'll bring back the wagon and as much water as I 
can," Rei said, examining her blade before replacing it, "After I kill 
him, of course. Protect Ranma. Heal yourself and him. See if you 
can find water in any of these other plants that are non-lethal. I 
don't know, but I'll be back as quickly as I can."

Ikari nodded and hung her head as the numbness crept into her 
neck.

"Don't worry, if it comes down to it, I'll come back and you can 
use my immortal body to find out," Rei said, smiling slightly, "I'll 
be back before morning."

And with that, Rei began to run in the directions of the wagon 
tracks. Ikari crawled weakly back towards Ranma and pulled her 
limp form more towards the center of the tarp. The wind kicked up 
slightly and what small comfort Ikari could afford Ranma would 
be hers.

Ikari had a couple of ideas and she hoped that at least one of them 
would work.

***

Ijisai carried the kettle back to the table. It hissed slightly and the 
contents shifted and bubbled happily about. Ijisai set the kettle 
down onto a small pad on the table and opened the top. Wonderful 
smells drifted up to meet both of them in the tiny room. A small 
grumble issued from Mikan's stomach in response to the smells, 
and Ijisai smiled.

Mikan happily proffered her bowl to Ijisai, who took it with a 
smile. The soup was one of Ijisai's favorite recipes and it had been 
a while since she had the opportunity to cook for anyone. She 
cooked for Son-sama every now and then, but most of the sister-
protectorate's nights were taken up saving them all from the 
namagoroshi.

Mikan split the bread apart as Ijisai poured her own bowl and sat 
across from Mikan. The contents of the soup seemed a little sharp 
for Ijisai's taste, but then, she had to use what was left out of Son-
sama's trampled garden. Much of the ripe vegetables were too far 
gone. There was enough however.

Mikan certainly seemed to be enjoying her share, wolfing down 
sections of bread along with mouthfuls of soup. She enjoyed it 
when people ate her cooking. It made her happy. And happiness in 
this day and age was too few and far in between not to cherish. 
Mikan swallowed another mouthful and there was a knock at the 
door.

"I'll get it," Ijisai smiled as she opened the door.

It was Esu. She looked frayed and a little more than honked off. 
Ijisai stepped aside as Esu came in. She got another bowl and 
poured a portion for her mentor. Esu looked at it and began to 
decline. Her expression softened and she accepted it. Ijisai moved 
her place and brought Esu to the table to join herself and Mikan, 
who looked happily to Esu.

"Hmph," Esu mumbled through her soup, "As usual Ijisai, you 
astound me with your skills. This is quite good."

Ijisai happily munched away at her soup.

"I'm sorry you two, I know I'm not much company," Esu 
continued, "The council is allowing me to take you on the journey 
with me, on one condition."

"What's the condition, Son-sama?" Ijisai asked.

She was naturally curious, as this was the first thing not Ranma-
related that the council had ever agreed on. Well, as far as Ijisai 
knew.

"The condition is that I name my replacement should anything 
happen on this trip."

Ijisai stopped eating as her mentor's words struck her full on like a 
cold mountain bath. She set her spoon down in the bowl and wiped 
her mouth as she tried to force clear thought. It could be anyone. 
The leading protectorate was Hana Son, which didn't set too well 
with Ijisai. Hana didn't know the proper training methods, the 
proper spells, the incantations for proper demon removal and half a 
million other things that Ijisai knew better than her.

Ijisai wouldn't kid herself. She was not a full sister yet. It would be 
several years before that honor could be bestowed on her and Ijisai 
knew it. That was okay with her too. She had enough 
responsibilities without having to worry about being protectorate. 
So the sisterhood would wait. She had the rest of her life to worry 
about that. Ijisai was barely eighteen summers old as it was. Far 
too young to be a sister. Yes...Far too young.

"Have you decided who it will be?" Ijisai asked quietly.

"Yes."

The answer was flat. As if it were a decision that she should know 
full well, like some kind of daily ritual. Ijisai wouldn't push it 
though, as that would be highly rude, especially here, at the dinner 
table.

"Would you like to know who I chose?" Esu asked.

Ijisai thought on this for a few moments, but said nothing. She 
knew that the direct question required a direct answer, as was her 
teaching.

"No, Son-sama," Ijisai said at last, "I can wait for you to announce 
it to all."

Esu chortled slightly.

"I HAVE announced it," Esu slurped down a bit of soup, "Why do 
you think I JUST came from council chambers? Those old 
biddies...Hells, even the young biddies like Hana. They had to 
stomach my announcement when they forced the issue. Well, they 
asked for it."

"So who did you choose?" Mikan chimed in.

"No Mikan," Esu said, sounding more motherlike than she would 
have preferred, "Since Ijisai-san would have to answer directly to 
the new head of the sisterhood, it directly involves her."

"Oh."

"It's okay Mikan, I don't mind," Ijisai said happily spooning more 
soup for the girl, "Besides, I can follow anyone's directions."

"Hmm, I suppose I should be offended at that," Esu said.

She smiled at Ijisai's shocked look of concern and nudged her with 
an elbow.

"If it were to come from anyone but Ijisai-chan here," she finished.

Ijisai blushed in embarrassment at the closeness that Son-sama 
seemed to be affording her. She looked down and smiled coyly. 
Mikan began to giggle and was soon joined by Esu, who laughed 
openly as the meal continued. Ijisai began to laugh as the mood 
lightened around her.

Esu had to admit, she wasn't going to join Ijisai when she said she 
was going to make dinner for Mikan. Now that she was here, it 
was turning into the finest meal she'd had in a long time.

***

Gouka stirred in the night. Someone was coming. He rolled over to 
his stomach as his eyes adjusted to the moonlight. Big Brother was 
new and Little Brother was only half full. This left the desert quite 
dark and what little moonlight did reach the floor was swept up by 
the dust whorls that kicked up in the last couple of hours.

Gouka frowned. Soon, the dust and sand would cover the tracks 
and make tracking much more difficult. Ten'imuhou-sama wanted 
this matter taken care of. Gouka knew that. He also knew that 
Kowaku and Hisomu had most likely been placed in places in 
Shiro's route as back up. It wasn't that his lord didn't trust his 
efforts, that was just how things were done. Gouka knew that as 
well.

>From the darkness came the form. Someone who was running. 
>From something? To something? Gouka couldn't tell. He looked to 
the west at the clouds that were building on the horizon. There 
would be a storm soon. Rain? Unlikely. More like a sandstorm. 
Hurricane force winds that sandblasted entire sections of rock face. 
Gouka sneered. He would have to take shelter if he was out here in 
that. He might even lose days finding them again.

He had picked up from his earlier spot and moved back towards 
the wagon, which was most likely this person's destination. 
Someplace to ride out the storm perhaps. The figure came into 
view and Gouka snarled lightly to himself. It was her! The Shiro 
Daiou. Had to be. This girl moved with the grace and confidence 
that would make people follow her. Gouka had been given a 
description, but in the poor moonlight couldn't make her out very 
well.

Shiro was supposed to have short hair, this girl most obviously had 
long hair. That could be a ruse though. Kowaku seemed to change 
her looks daily when the mood struck her. This girl was wearing a 
jumpsuit of some fashion or other. Shiro was supposed to have the 
robes of one of the southern tribes. Again, a ruse. Lastly, this girl 
had a long scabbard nestled along the small of her back. Gouka 
smiled at the arrangement. Quite efficient that.

She's right handed. That would be important to know, especially in 
the upcoming fight. Gouka could almost hear her over the 
increasing wind. She checked the barrels and petted the large 
creature, who seemed overjoyed at meeting her again. She 
ministered to the creature that Gouka had to kill, but soon stopped 
when she realized that it was too far gone.

To the man that Gouka killed, she basically ignored until she had 
readied the wagon and the remaining creature for travel. She went 
to the man, searched about his person and took several objects 
from his body. Gouka cursed himself. He didn't check the man 
simply because he was never on the lookout for a man. He 
wouldn't make the same mistake twice. She threw the objects in 
the back of the wagon and returned to the man.

She drew her blade, which began to glow white with energy. She 
slashed in three, direct cuts, filling the night sky with a burning 
whiteness from which Gouka had to shield his eyes. It stopped and 
Gouka could see that she had sheathed her blade again. She spat 
once at the body and walked back to the wagon. She muttered 
something to the creature as she turned the wagon around. Gouka 
could see her sigh as she guided the creature back into the desert 
down the slowly fading tracks. As Gouka watched the wagon 
move slowly into the distance, he moved from his hiding spot and 
went to the body.

One slash had severed his head from his body. The second slash 
split his body in half lengthwise, laying all the organs bare. Gouka 
smiled. This little one had a dangerous fire in her that was being 
kept in check. It had to be the evil of the Shiro Daiou. Only her 
corruptive influence would give rise to this kind of power.

The third slash was not one, but hundreds...Thousands. Writing in 
the language of one of the southern tribes the ignobleness of the 
cretin before him. Gouka looked again. In detail that was 
shockingly accurate. Thousands of slashes...Thousands, all over 
what remained of his body. Gouka smiled at the disappearing 
wagon. Gouka began to follow her.

Dangerous indeed...

***

The sun had dropped about an hour ago. It was still too damned 
hot.

Her plan had worked. The evaporation properties of the poison 
fruit held some useful purpose after all. Ikari took a piece of fruit 
and rubbed it against her forehead. The liquid quickly whisked 
away in the stronger breezes that were coming from the horizon. 
This little trick had kept her and Ranma cool during the remainder 
of the day. She hoped that it would cool more during the night, 
though there were more rocks in this area and they held heat well 
in this area.

Of course, it also meant that they didn't freeze by morning either. 
Ikari had some experience with desert climates, but she had never 
been stuck out in it. Nor did she ever get the proper training for 
stuff like that. Ikari cursed herself for the hundredth time that she 
had not listened to her grandmother better.

She thought healing was a silly art. Sure, it had its uses and she had 
learned them. Her mother had said she was a natural at it, but Ikari 
didn't want to be fawned over, like the other girls in the village. 
The other, older healers weren't fawned over, but they were just 
old ladies who didn't know the first thing about fighting. They 
would always roll their eyes at her and demand that she get back to 
her studies.

She studied the healer craft, that was true. And she had it all down 
in record time, but she hungered for more. Not just more, but 
different as well. Offensive, not just defensive. So, in a fit of 
pubescent naivete, she journeyed to the outer reaches of the 
woodlands. A strange hermit lived there. Ikari never knew her 
name and only referred to her as Gaia. That wasn't her true name, 
but she seemed to like it well enough. She realized the importance 
of offense as well as defense. She was the one to give Ikari the 
curse...Or blessing, she supposed.

It depended on how one wanted to look at it. Being able to 
forcefully expel all the energy trapped in the cells of one's body 
was a tremendous weapon. Being only able to use it when someone 
really pissed her off made the weapon practically useless. Ikari had 
seen why she had been given it long ago when one of the boys 
teased her and she blew up, taking a part of the village with her.

Ikari chuckled and coughed in the sandy wind. THAT had been a 
summer...

She looked off into the distance at the vague purple clouds. Ikari 
figured that the sun was still shining off the desert in that direction. 
The clouds were building heavily and moving in fast. A storm. She 
wiped another piece of fruit across her hands and wiped down 
Ranma again. She didn't want to...But...

She placed her hand once again at the nape of Ranma's neck and 
concentrated. The healing came faster this time.

Finally, she thought.

Ikari could feel the light flowing into the smaller girl below her. 
The healing would be better this time, as Ikari didn't have to heal 
herself anymore. There was something wrong this time though.

There was a blackness in the girl's head, the likes of which Ikari 
had never seen before. It swirled around and coalesced together 
like something living. It wasn't organic, something that she could 
have removed in Kellenel. It wasn't magical, which Ikari could 
expel by herself. It was something in between and oddly tied to 
Ranma in some way. Ikari poked at it and the thing lashed out, 
attacking Ranma's body from the inside.

Ranma lashed out with her body and cried out in pain as the thing 
attacked her. Ikari stopped her prodding. She calmed Ranma and 
soothed the pain that the thing had brought on. It allowed Ikari to 
heal Ranma all she could, but it resisted being removed from 
Ranma's head. The creature, or whatever it was, seemed to be 
helping Ikari to keep the girl alive. It just slept there, feeding off of 
Ranma. 

Ikari hated parasites.

She stopped the healing and lay back on the tarp. Time always 
passed so quickly when she was healing. The clouds to the west 
were closer, but Ikari couldn't make them out very well as the sun 
had completely gone from the sky. The winds were growing, 
however and Ikari knew that she would have to do something, or 
they'd lose part of the tarp to the onrushing sand.

Ikari brushed off as much sand as she could and set down the two 
poles on the western edge. They fit together near the end and 
created a nice bivouac that, at least for now, was out of the way of 
the storm. The thirst began to set in for the first time as Ikari sat in 
the dark next to Ranma. The coolness of the kelban fruit helped, 
but she still needed a drink. Earlier on, she had tried to draw the 
poison out of the fruit itself, but it seemed somehow tied to the 
water in the fruit. Something about the evaporative properties. 
Thankfully, the bush wasn't that far off and Ikari could scramble 
out and back in a matter of seconds to get more fruit.

The sands shifted outside the tent as Ikari watched them. Churning 
against the ever-increasing wind that howled away in the night. 
Ikari touched Ranma's arm, taking a measure of the poison in her 
system. It was still there, keeping her asleep. Ikari knew that she'd 
probably have the same problems when she awoke, but the danger 
of it had now passed at least.

Something caught Ikari's attention as she watched the dancing 
sands. Something out beyond the kelban plant. Out there, where 
the winds were blowing the paths clean of those that strayed too far 
from cover. Something that hadn't been there before. It was a 
figure. It walked...

No, Ikari corrected herself, Walking probably wouldn't be the most 
correct term for it. More like lurching.

And it was coming this way. Ikari could now see that whatever the 
person was, it was wrapped in white. Ikari could see that it had a 
bundle around its shoulder and stumbled frequently under its 
burden. The person got back up and continued on, but soon 
stumbled and fell.

Ikari waited for a minute. The figure didn't rise again. Ikari waited 
another minute, eagerly wanting the person to get up slowly and 
make it's way to her shelter. The winds blurred the figure, but the 
little light that came off of Little Brother shone against the figures 
white garments, illuminating them like a lamp in the night.

Ranma began to cough and tried to roll over on her side.

Ikari wanted so badly to be able to shout out an epithet at that 
point, but knew she lacked the saliva to do it. She chuckled to 
herself at the situation. Her grandmother had said that it always 
happens at once. Ikari never really knew what she meant until that 
moment.

Well, Ikari thought, First things first.

She gently helped Ranma get close to the edge of the tarp while 
she threw up. Ikari patted her on the back and tried to help the 
healing along, but she was too weak from the last time. Too soon. 
Too soon...

Ikari got up and made her way into the storm in the general 
direction of the figure, who had almost been buried by the 
increasing storm.

The white robes, Ikari thought frantically, Got to find the robes.

She almost stumbled as she came across the person and Ikari 
rushed to dig her from beneath the swelling sands. The person was 
small, not much taller than Ranma. Ikari huffed in frustration and 
picked up the person into her arms. She looked back at the tent and 
could barely see for the sand in her face. Ikari coughed and 
stumbled slowly back to the camp. It helped knowing where she 
was from the kelban plant that was just over the small ridge next to 
them.

As she came back to the tent, she set the small person on one side 
and put a hand on Ranma's back as she vainly tried to stand, or 
even sit up. Ikari was right, she was having the same reaction. Ikari 
pulled Ranma back down and stroked her forehead to try and calm 
the girl. It helped a little when Ranma smiled back. She couldn't 
talk. Ikari knew it was kind of a combination of thirst and the fact 
that she'd already thrown up two or three times. Ikari was silently 
grateful for the sands in that respect as they covered what would 
otherwise quickly become a stinky mess.

The other person stirred at the sounds that came thickly from 
Ranma. She was still trying to speak and Ikari couldn't use her own 
voice to tell her to shut up. Ikari pulled Ranma and the new person 
towards the center. Ranma tried to gather herself together and 
rolled slowly onto her stomach, noticeably keeping herself from 
retching again.

Ikari felt good that her healing hadn't been in vain. There was a 
point that she thought she might have been too late in healing the 
girl, but she responded well to the treatment.

Probably, Ikari thought as she began to check the stranger, Because 
I've done it so many times.....Why this...

The stranger was female. Ikari pushed her outer robes aside as she 
tried to help the strange girl to be more comfortable. The girl had a 
helmet of some sort on the half hid her face. Ranma crawled 
slowly to sit on the other side of girl across from Ikari. She held up 
her hand to Ranma's forehead to steady her and to try and stop her 
from wobbling back and forth. Ranma smiled a weak smile and 
looked down at the girl. Ikari removed the helmet. The girl was 
quite pretty. Sunburned obviously and dehydrated to say the least, 
but otherwise in remarkable condition for being in the desert. Ikari 
could see that she had blonde hair that was sunbleached in 
sections.

A calm came through the storm and the winds died away. The 
silence that remained was only punctuated by a strange gurgling 
noise from Ranma as the new moonlight spread its light onto the 
stranger. Ikari looked at Ranma, fearful that the poison had taken 
hold again, but was confused at Ranma's wide-eyed expression. 
Ranma stared at the girl in a way that Ikari had never seen before. 
That fearful, hopeful, surprised expression that could only be 
expressed by Ranma in the shout that followed.

"AKANE!"

***

And another one bites the dust...Oh sorry...Bad pun...

The next might take some time...Got stuff to do for summer semester.


Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo
"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"
"Owner of The Anime Bar and Grille - The Best Ribs in the Multiverse"

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