Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 12:51:55 -0400 LSMcGill <lsmcgill@hotmail.com>
wrote:
And per request, the latest chapter. All normal disclaimers apply.
Wasn't that per whine and plead?
(will post previous chapters if requested.)
A good URL would be better.
http://rakhal.com/florestica/lsmcgill/index.html appears to be rather
out of date. It's at least missing book 2 chapters 4 and 5.
Ke Lun threw down a golden goblet in disgust. "they're not here!" Her long
black ears twitched in annoyance. "Neither of them!"
Reading the back chapters would make it clearer why Ke Lun has long
black ears.
They both looked out over the enormous piles of treasure brought back by the
freed girls. The village had rejoiced when they had returned, and had
cheered their triumphant entry. The girls had been quickly settled into a
hastily opened barracks, the old building {haveing : having} been unused in a
generation. The Elders had viewed the addition of a potential population
boost with favor, and the addition to the treasury even more so. Even as Lo
Shen and Ke Lun had scoured the recovered loot, they had been sorting and
{catagorizing : categorizing} the various items.
"I would never expect that from you for any enemy of the {Amazon's : Amazons},
Warleader. I merely am explaining why he is how he is. Whatever has been
done to him, he is still a rabid dog and will need to be put down."
Zhu Shu watched the elders walk past as she helped Kasumi make dinner. She
had helped settle in the returning fighters, doing her best to be cheerful
despite the bleak faces those who had been captured wore. She had avoided
prying as to exactly what had happened in the fortress to put such looks of
{despondancy : despondency} on the {face : faces} of her friends and loved ones, but she had watched
them worriedly all the way back to the village.
Akane currently was sitting looking out a window distractedly, not noticing
she was stroking Shan Pu's hair, the Amazon's head resting on her thigh as
she slept.{:
}
Zhu Shu smiled softly at the evidence of unconscious feelings, but the look
on everyone's faces still worried her.
Finally, {she : Zhu Shu} went and {set : sat} down near Akane. She started as she realized Zhu
Shu was there, and for just a second, fear filled her eyes. Zhu Shu's eyes
filled with confusion.
Akane took a deep shuddering breath. "I know what I saw there wasn't real,
that is was just something that thing showed us to torture us, but it was so
real."
{Akane replied back :}, also in Mandarin. Shan Pu opened a eye and gave Zhu Shu
an equally forlorn look as she curled up tighter against Akane. The
Japanese girl just continued to absently stroke her hair.
Ranma shrugged again. "I guess. I don't think I killed anyone, but things
were way to fast for me to be sure, and what happened to me when we got
{seperated : separated}, well...."
An explosion outside brought them all to the window to see the makeshift
jail collapsing and a black haired rabbit girl cussed up a storm as she
lifted herself {up off : from} the ground. Before her in the square a blur sought
vainly to escape from another rabbit eared girl who kept flickering from
spot to spot around the square. Both of the bunny girls were naked.
"Great Grandmother?" Shan Pu asked, taking in the figure hauling herself to
her feet. With a last curse, the figure lashed out with the cane she was
still clutching and pinned the blur to the ground. There was a howl of
agony as the blur resolved into Mint, now writhing around the cane that had
{peirced : pierced} his shoulder.
"Damn." Lo Shen said. "The {sorceror : sorcerer} must have felt my probes. Effective
way to ensure we ask no more questions."
Night was falling by the time Lum arrived a half hour later, and the
appearance of the tiger-striped saucer above the village cause quite a stir.
The Oni herself was almost instantly {besiged : besieged} with Amazon girls begging her
to teach them to fly, and almost universal {dissapointment : disappointment} when they found
out it wasn't a martial art's technique.
The trip back to Japan was quick, Lum chattering {aimlessly : constantly} as she filled Zhu
Shu in on everything that had happened recently, detailing a strange dream
she had {appearently : apparently} shared with Ataru and her friends, courtesy of a dream
demon.
Nurse Sakura was willing to help once Zhu Shu explained her {deliemma : dilemma : problem}, and a
short hop in the saucer later found them on the slopes of Mount Fuji by the
rock sealing Happosai's cave. Zhu Shu waited by nervously as Sakura
prepared her ritual. She had never spoken to a spirit before and her memory
called up all kinds of tales she had heard that one had to be careful
speaking to one.
Happosai popped up from the ground. "Sure {suger : , Sugar}! Just let me have a hug!"
Happosai got {cagy : cagey}. "What's in it for me?"
Lum nodded. "I wonder if my {zaks : zaps} would put any sense into him?"
The return to the village was a quiet affair, Lum realizing Zhu Shu was in
no mood to talk. Zhu Shu apologized for being in such a bad mood, and asked
if Lum could stay long enough for her to visit her home village for a short
while before dropping her off in Hong Kong. Lum was certainly happy enough
to do so. And spent the night at the village as Zhu Shu met with the elders{: .}
The tone of the elders when she informed them of Happosai's words was grim{., : ,}
and it wasn't until the next morning that Lo Shen came to appraise them of
what the elders had discussed.
"At the very least, we know the Kaisuifuu is in Japan, so Herb will have to
{come : go} there." Lo Shen told the Nerima crew after breakfast. "So we must ask
you for aid once again. We have too few trained warriors to spare to send
after Herb. The attack has left us somewhat vulnerable, and likely there
will be others once the bandit lords in the lower lands hear of our
reduction of the Musk fortress and the freeing of their slaves. So many
defenseless women in one place will likely make them forget the lessons we
taught them ten years ago. We must find Herb and {retrive : retrieve} the Chisuitton.
Only with it may we recover the Kaisuifuu and restore ourselves to
relatively normal."
Tao-Ching cracked his knuckles. "I'll find Herb, Loremaster. I... owe him
for Shan Pu's curse, and other things. I have means for finding which ship
he {may travel : is travelling} on."
"{Yes elder : Yes, Elder}."
"Amazonwiseass at Joketsuzoku dot net. I bought a domain."
It's a shame we can't get her working against spammers.
Akane looked down at the kitten, smiling at the small bells that mimicked
Shan Pu's hair ornaments. "Oh, I can see why Shan Pu loves her. She's so
cute!"
It would be so much easier if they told Akane and Ranma the truth.
But where would be the fun in that?
The kitten looked at her with big pleading eyes, blinking hopefully, and
mewed as if to ask, "Please?" Akane had to smile. The kitten was just so
cute and seemed to be trying so hard to be {likeable : likable}.
"Shan Pu hasn't named her. That was for you."
Akane smiled. "Then I'll call her China. Because she's my gift from my
Chinese fianc�e."
Not C-Chan?
Akane smiled. "I don't think Mom would have let him. She wasn't from a
rich family like the Saotomes. I gather Genma was allowed to go to save
the family from the scandals. Mom would never allow {dad : Dad} to commit a
scandal."
Akane nodded. "I owe Zhu Shu too much to do anything else, {elder : Elder}."
Zhu Shu nodded. "Yes{: ,} Grandfather. I have found a sort of peace at last
with her loss." She had known he would feel her presence and come to the
small shrine she had built to Ying Ying.
Zhu Shu nodded. "They are my students, {grandfather : Grandfather}." She looked away.
"And one seeks to see if she can be more."
"Put your dress back on, Little Mouse. I know the patterns of your tattoo
all too well." Shi turned to look back out over the cliff behind the small
shrine as Zhu
Shu redressed. "Very well. I will not push you in your quest for now. He
looked down the high cliff, his eyes focusing on a spot at its bottom as he
sighed. "But it is hard, {child : Child}. I fear there may be much heartbreak in the
path the Dragon has chosen for you."
His eyes rose from the cliff's foot as her turned to face her once more.
"Yes, {child : Child}?"
"No, Grandfather, I will not. The Skorpion have slain my Blood-{Sisters : {Sister's} kin,
cursed them to be half animal along with Akane and her sisters and Ranma's
mother, and have attempted to kidnap me! A sorcerous being of shadows
sought to deliver me like a prize to some one named Xi'an Chi, and I must
find out why!"
"Hello, {beloved : Beloved}." She held up a bouquet of wild flowers, as pale and
transparent as she was. "Thank you for the flowers." Turning towards Shi
she added. "And to you as well, Weapons Master. Please forgive me, but I
was requested to deliver a message. The Dragon's Child must face the Lord
of Shadows and free the Banshee. This is her destiny. Do not stand
against it."
Zhu Shu looked at him curiously, but decided now was not the time to pry.
She turned to Ying Ying. "What is going on, {beloved : Beloved}?"
Ying Ying turned look at her. "What must, {beloved : Beloved}. More than that I cannot
say."
Ying Ying gave her a sad look. "I am sorry, {love : Love}. I am not permitted to
say more."
"There is much I have kept from you, {child : Child}, in hopes that it would keep you
safe. I see now that that was a vain hope. The stories I have told you
about your great-great grandfather are my tales, Little Mouse. Three
hundred years ago, I was the Weapons Master of our clan, and we were strong.
I was proud of our might, and arrogant. The Princess of the Musk, Clove,
sought my hand, but I was married, and she was vain, and petty. I could
have avoided what befell had I accepted her desires and taken her as a
second wife. My refusal angered her, and Xi'an Chi used that to inflame a
war between Musk and Dragon. We believed ourselves strong enough to stand
alone. We were wrong. Xi'an Chi strengthened her troops with magick, and
as I sought to escape, the sole surviving heir, he tracked me to a place
called Jusenkyo and captured me, with Clove at his side. She learned then
that Xi'an Chi's promises were lies, that he had never intended to deliver
me to her as he had claimed, and that he planned my death. Her last words
to me were "I have always loved you." as she turned on Xi'an Chi. She gave
her life that I might escape with Mu and Su Yi. My last sight of her was
from the cliffs above the springs."
Sandal gave her a huge smile. "You bein a bunny girl now. You get hit with
curse water too?" {he said in his usual English. :}