!
Chris, along with her fellow Zexen Knights and a few low-level knights, had just marched from Brass Castle to the entrance to the Great Hollow. This is the home of Lizard Clan and where the Karayan survivors of the burned down village are staying in. The Zexen counsel had ordered the knights to destroy the Great Hollow and everyone it in. All the knights except one have prepared mentally and physically for the battle.
'We met as friends, but when we meet again we will be mortal enemies. I'm no friends with a hypocrite saying their honorable while doing something like this at the same time.'
Those words still haunted Lady Chris. It was a good thing she had managed to stop herself from crying by the time Roland and Salome came to get her and Louis. She was sure that Louis told Salome what happened in the village massacre, but Salome didn't bring up the subject yet.
"Chris, we are almost there now," Salome said breaking her train of thought.
The path to the entrance to the Great Hollow is surrounded on both sides with solid rock formations. There is a side path that leads to the entrance to the underground highway that the lizard clan uses to get to Duck Village faster. Because of the narrow pathway to the entrance of the Great Hollow made it easily defended. The knights could only enter a few at a time, destroying their numbers advantage.
The Lizard and the Karayan warriors were standing in front of the entrance waiting for them. A green scaled lizard man wearing a feather headpiece is the new chief Dupa. He held a large spear that has three blades, with two of them pointed downwards. Standing next to him is Lucia, the chief of the Karayan clan. She was still a beauty for her age and still has a fine figure even after motherhood. She held a whip and her fire rune glowed brightly, ready for battle.
Before the two sides could begin to battle each other a large energy ball slammed in between them. Huge dust clouds blew over the area, blinding both sides. When the dust clouds finally cleared away they saw what cause it, a young man standing between the two armies. He wore metal shoulder-pads and a chest plate over a red shirt with the sleeves cut off. Dark-blue pants molded his legs, showing that his limbs were well built with muscles. He wore a metal armband on his right arm and a white bandanna tied around his forehead. He also wore a steel gauntlet on his left arm. His black hair is made into a pigtail. His weapon is a broken katana, an odd thing to see in the grasslands as they weren't used often or made around here.
The female warriors of both sides could clearly see how handsome he is (Even if they are usually surrounded by finely muscled men almost 24/7 the pigtailed warrior gave the appearance of a battle hardened warrior. However, what made him different is that he has a cheerful innocence about him, which none of their fellow teammates had).
"Wow what a hunk!" more than one female fighter of both sides said out loud. Making the guys around them facefault.
"Ranma!" the six Zexen Knight gasped in shock.
They had no idea that Ranma had that kind of power. Sure, they seen that he had that "Breaking Point" move he used against the Stone Golem, but that energy ball he just used was HUGE!
"It's him! He's the one I saw in Karayan village. He was the one that killed seven knights I was with then used a blast of magic to kill about a dozen more!" This statement came from the knight that Ranma let go back awhile back.
"You're the one?" Salome heard the report that somebody fought aside with the villagers and killed over a dozen of the knights and mimed a good half a dozen as well. He fought them like they were nothing at all.
"They were weak, and if they thought they could kill unarmed villagers without any recursions in return they were wrong," Ranma said with an emotionless voice.
Every knight heard about what happened at the village and knew that Ranma was right.
"Ranma! What are you doing here?" Louis shouted out to him.
"I'm not about to let you guys make a bad situation worse than it already is," Ranma declared a he got in a ready stance. "The only way you guys are going to fight the grasslanders is to go through me."
"Gladly!" Leo shouted as he jumped off his horse and ran straight for Ranma. His ax was raised above his head, ready to split Ranma in half.
Leo brought his ax down with all his might, but was stop when Ranma caught his ax blade with just the fingers of his right hand. The ax blade almost reached his palm of his hand, but he held it without showing any strain. Leo, was using all of his strength, but couldn't break his axe free from Ranma's powerful grip. This shocked everyone. Leo is the strongest out of all of the Zexen knights and was stopped by a young man with only one hand.
"Is that all you got?" Ranma asked him.
He's used to dealing with super strong fighters all the time. Ryoga's at least four times stronger than this guy is. Using his free left hand Ranma backhanded Leo onto his chest, sending him flying through the air and landing right in front of Chris. The front of his armor now had a big dent in the shape of Ranma's hand. It's clear to everyone that Leo wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Not with that kind of damage done to him.
"He just beat Sir Leo like he was nothing," whispered one of the knights, his voice heavy with fear.
"Chris, take your knights and leave now." Ranma said coldly.
"Ranma, does this means that you have sided with the grasslanders?" Chris shouted out to him.
"No I haven't. Both sides have too much hate between them to side with yet," Ranma said to her.
"What do you mean?" This time it was Lucia who spoke out.
But Ranma remained silent.
Percival couldn't wait anymore and shouted out to Ranma. "You're not going to let us fight. Is that right Ranma?"
"There is a two ways. You can either try to kill me or if Chris can beat me in a dual one-on-one then, I will let you pass." Ranma declare, "Or, if you insist I can, "persuade" you to leave." Ranma raised his right arm and made a glowing ball of energy the size of a beach ball appeared in his hand. Then it got ten times bigger than it was before. Every knight could sense that if he threw that ball at them they would lose more than half of troops, and that is if they were lucky.
Chris could not believe what Ranma was forcing this on her. The first man she had ever taken an interest in and he opposes her now. Her life mostly consisted of only two things: training and fighting. She never really considered going out with anyone before. Sure she felt lonely sometimes, but her duty will not let her loneness control her.
A cold mask took over Chris face as duty came to mind again. "Fine, I shall fight you!" Chris called out to Ranma, getting off of her horse to face him. Ranma let go of his energy ball and it disappeared in midair.
"Wait Ranma! Let's finish the fight we started in the village!" Borus called out.
"I said I'll fight you when you act like a man. Until then you will just have to watch," Ranma said coldly.
Borus is just about to charge him and chop his head off when Chris brought her arm up to stop him. "Borus, leave this up to me."
She walked right up to Ranma until they were 6 feet apart. "Draw your sword!"
"No,” Ranma said.
"What?" Chris said shock as with everyone else there.
"I will not draw my blade to you because you haven't earned the right to fight me like an equals," Ranma said to her coldly.
"Fine then, it's your head!" Chris said.
Chris charged at Ranma, aiming her sword so she could take him down without killing him. Ranma just sidestepped out of her swing and grabbed her by her sword hand and threw her through the air. Chris managed to land on her feet.
'At least she's better skilled than Kuno is. A little slow with all that armor on, but the skill is there,’ Ranma thought to himself.
The people here unlike back in his world, the sword skills aren’t meant to show off or for torments. They either have the skills to use their weapons to kill or they die. From both the monsters and people who won’t think twice in killing them in return.
"You're going to have to do better if you even want a small chance to beat me," Ranma stated to her. Chris attacked with sword slash after sword slashes trying to hit Ranma legs to slow him down. But he was moving way too fast for her to even to get close to hitting him.
"Whoever this Ranma is he's no normal fighter, that's for sure," Dupa said to Lucia.
"Yes, and he's quite a looker too," Lucia said, 'Too bad he isn't just a bit older.'
She shook her head to get that thought quickly out of her head. He's almost as old as her own son for crying out loud!
"Take this!" Chris yelled using her Phoenix Rune. She sent out lighting fast jabs at Ranma. But Ranma just slapped her sword away from him with his gauntlet-covered hand on the flat part of the sword blade.
‘This move is just like Kuno's multi-strike technique, but she can't hold it for as long and it tires her out too fast,’ Ranma thought to himself.
"How (GASP) can you (GASP) do that!?" Chris gasped as she tried to catch her breath. Using the Phoenix Rune always left her breathless afterwards and took her awhile to recover fully. 'How in the world can Ranma move so fast like that?'
"Ranma isn't even trying to fight Chris. He's just playing around with her," Salome said to himself his skillful mind already looking for a way for Chris to beat Ranma. There has to be a way to slow Ranma down. But how is he able to move that fast? Then he remembered that when they first met Ranma he found a Gale Rune on a monster he killed. "Lady Chris Ranma is using his Gale Rune to move at that speed!"
"So you're using a speed rune to fight with are you?" She had regained her breath and is standing at the ready for Ranmas next move.
"Nope, if I had this fight would have been finished long ago," Ranma said shaking his head.
"How fast are you then?" Roland called out to him. He's already moving at the same speed as that blue haired elf with the long nose he saw running around the Elf Village the last time he had visited there.
Ranma seemed to just disappear and reappear in less than a second. In his right hand he held the scarf that Salome was wearing around his neck.
"How did you..." Salome began fingering where his red scarf used to be. 'If that's the speed he has when he uses that rune then... what kind of man IS he!?'
"I'm not even trying and you still haven't even hit me yet," Ranma taunted Chris facing her again.
Chris swung her sword at him faster than before, but again like before she couldn't even get close to even hitting him.
"This is getting old. Just give up now," Ranma said not even trying to look like he was even interest in the fight anymore.
"You'll pay for that!" Chris shouted taking a head swing at him. But using Salome's scarf like a whip he wrapped it around her sword. He snapped the 'whip' and the sword came loose from her hand. It spun around in the air then Ranma caught it on its way down and leveled her own sword right at her own throat.
"You lose," Ranma said. Then he threw her sword into the ground in front of her. "Take your knights and leave this place."
Picking up her sword she walked back to her knights. "Salome, we're going back to Brass Castle."
"Chris?" Roland began.
"No, Roland, we can't even risk it. If we fight now Ranma will fighting with the Grasslanders and I know he's more than enough to take out more than half of the troops," Chris said, her fist closed tightly as she got back on her horse.
"The council will not like this," Salome said to her.
"I know that, but I'm not about to let our troops to fight a battle that we have no chance of winning," Chris said looking at Ranma, wanting to know why things are the way they are. 'Why must we be enemies now? If I had known you would be in that village I would have stopped everything.'
Chris turned her horse back the way they came and left with a heavy heart.
"Ranma are you done?" a female voice called out causing Chris to look back.
Everyone turned to the tall woman who floated down to Ranma's side from the top of the cliff he was standing at. She stands at 6'7" with long red hair with a yellow stripe and green eyes. She wore a loose pair blue pants with a checkered light blue pattern, a tuck in purple shirt with green stripes, a red tie with white polka dots, a pair of black suspenders, and a pair of brown leather shoes. What really got her attention is the figure of the tall redhead woman, a well toned body and her huge chest, that's being only held in check by her purple shirt.
The human males are all stun at the young woman’s beauty and figure. The women on the other hand all felt their self-esteem taking a nose drive at the sight of her, her beautiful features and her incredible figure. And the ones who are near their boyfriends steamed at how their men are drooling all over her, not caring that they did the same when they first saw Ranma.
Lucia and the older women took the sight of the young beauty better. Reminding themselves that she’s younger and isn’t a mother for those who are mothers.
“Yes it’s over,” Ranma said.
“Good we have business to attend to,” the woman said walking with him to the entrance.
And Chris eye suddenly twitch seeing that stunning beauty so close to Ranma.
!
Up the side path leading to the underground highway before the fighting started -
Seven figures had just gotten out from the Underground Highway. A griffon, two Karayan youths, a duck man and three people dressed like musketeers.
Two of them were men dressed alike except for the color of their pants, one tan colored the other red. Both of them wore a brown-red vest over a white shirt and brown gloves. One is a dark skinned man with light brown hair and the other is light skin and blonde haired.
The last one was a young girl with long brownish red hair. She was dressed in a purple-blue coat with a white collar and dark brown gloves and a musketeer hat with a large red feather. She wore white almost skintight pants and boots the same color as her jacket. All three had belts over their shoulders with rapiers hanging on them.
"Who was that guy?" Lulu asked remembering the fight they had with a man dressed in a black priest outfit. He used two blades that he had hidden up his sleeves. He took them all on and won, easily. They were only alive because that woman in the blue dress saved them. They picked themselves up after the strangers left and proceeded to the Great Hollow.
"The Zexen Knights! They're getting ready to attack the Great Hollow!" Sgt. Joe shouted out drawing all of their attention.
"First the village now this!" Hugo shouted drawing his blade. Fubar let out a loud shriek.
"Wait look!" Reed shouted making Hugo stop.
A large blast had stuck between the two groups. When the dust cleared they saw it was.
"It's that guy who saved you Lulu!" Hugo shouted out.
"What a HUNK!" Lilly shouted, her hands clasped under her chin with a dreamily smile and hearts in her eyes. Fortunately only her group heard this.
"Not this again," Samus said slapping his forehead. This has got to be the twentieth time she did this.
"Well here we go again," Reed moaned.
"Let's wait here and see what will happen. I get the feeling that whoever this guy is he can handle it," Sgt. Joe said to them.
They watched as Ranma took out Leo, the strongest of all the knights with a single blow. Then they watch as Ranma and Chris had their duel, more like a one-sided battle. It was more of a game with Ranma dancing around Chris's attacks like she was just a beginner. Then after Ranma beat Chris she and the knights left to go back to Brass Castle.
And a beautiful woman floated down and talk with Ranma showing that she knows him.
“Gaaaag,” Lilly gasps at the sight of the older, stunning beauty who has a figure she would love to have when she’s older.
“She’s pretty,” Lulu said.
"Come on, let's get down there now," Hugo said running down the hill with the others right behind him.
!
At the entrants of the Great Hollow -
"You are no ordinary fighter as I first thought are you?" Martha asks coming through the pass after the knights were far enough away.
"Martha, it's been a long time," Lucia called out to her.
"Yes, it has been awhile," Piccolo said as he followed Martha.
"Mom over here!" Hugo called out to her, the rest of his party close behind.
"Hugo you're alive!" Lucia called out with great relief in her voice. She ran up to her child and gave him a hug.
"So we meet again," Ranma said walking with Martha and Piccolo up to the parent and child.
"You're quite the fighter," Dupa said, "Too bad you didn't kill off some of the iron heads."
"So Dupa you're the new chief then," Piccolo said, "I heard about Zepon."
"Yes, the iron heads killed him," Dupa growled.
"That's what we're here to talk about," Ranma said to the two chiefs.
“When Ranma got back he had the lingering effects of a spell cast on him,” Sunset said.
!
Inside the Great Hollow in the chief's room-
"So somebody cast a Rage Spell over the village, making the knights and Ranma go out of control," Lucia asks Piccolo.
"How would you know about some kind of spell that none of us ever heard about?" Dupa asks him not believing that there was that kind of spell.
"Because, young one, I learned it from my teacher. I am the third pupil of the Great Mage Crowley," Piccolo huffed out in pride.
"You mean the wizard that fought in the, 'Gate Rune Wars'?" Lucia asks wide- eyed. She knew full well that the closest person in the world who has the power that even comes close to the power of a True Rune would be Crowley, and that is because he had A LOT of runes affixed to himself over a hundred last she heard. She herself had faced the one with the power of the True Shield Rune and loss badly. 'I wonder where he is now.'
"I heard about him, he fought against one of his pupils. That battle destroyed mountains and made a desert out of a lush forest," Dupa said who heard about Crowley as well.
"Yes, Mazus was always been a stubborn one. Always wanting to be the best no matter who was in his way." Piccolo said to the group.
"Our point is that someone wants the Six Clans and the Zexens to battle with each other for some reason," said Martha with a solemn voice.
“Probably wants you and the knights fighting so that no one be in any shape to fight or as a distraction. Easier to do something big if there’s a war to keep everyone’s attention on that instead,” Sunset said.
"But the silver maiden was here when our chief was killed!" Dupa growled.
"Yes, but there are spells that can cast illusions that aren't really there or mask someone else's appearance so it would look like it was someone else," Piccolo inputted, "And, I am not one to make something like this up, I knew and fought with Zepon before you were even born Dupa."
“And it’s not that hard of a spell to use once you know how,” Sunset said casting a illusion spell that made her look just like Lucia to show it can be done before changing back.
“And you are?” Dupa ask.
“Sunset Shimmer, traveling mage,” Sunset introduces herself.
"In other words might, it might not have been Chris or her knights at all." Ranma spoke for the first time since coming in here.
Lucia was silent for a few moments, and then nodded hesitantly. "However, the Zexen's still they must still pay for what they did to my village. But you might be right about a third party that's hiding in the shadows while we fight each other. We'll not let them fool us a second time."
"Now that that is settled my group will head back to our castle," Martha said taking her leave with Piccolo and Ranma.
"Ranma, if you would please wait a moment," Dupa called out to him. Ranma signaled for, Sunset, Martha and Piccolo to wait for him outside as he faced the chief of the Lizard Clan and the chief of the Karayas.
Lucia also approached the True Rune Bearer. "Your fighting skills would be a big help to us. As chief of the Karaya Clan, I ask that you join our group."
"Sorry, but it is still too early to pick a side just now. I just help out whenever I can. For now my friends have my loyalty." Ranma said leaving the room.
"If we have to fight against him I fear that we would lose half of our troops," Dupa said to Lucia.
Lucia nodded as she watched the back of one of the most powerful warriors she has ever met. "Hopefully that never comes to pass."
The Great Hollow is a massive curved out cavern. It has two levels that are connected by two stone ramps on each side of the cave. Sunlight shined through a hole at the top of the ceiling. Two small waterfalls flowed down on a wall of the ground floor that is under the chief's room. And into a small fountain that was uses for drinking.
Once outside Ranma found himself in front of a heavy-set middle-age woman in a brown-orange dress. Next to her is the redheaded boy he saved from Chris. She is talking to Martha who looked like they haven't seen each other in ages. She turned in his direction when he approached and grabbed him in a bear hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you for saving my little Lulu!" She smiled teary eyed all awhile hugging Ranma in a rib-breaking hug.
"Ranma, this is Luce, an old friend of mine and this is her son, Lulu, who you saved during the attack on the village." Martha explains to Ranma who was just trying to catch his breath. "Luce please let go of him, I don't think killing the one who saved your son is a good idea."
Luce finally noted his blue face and that his eyes are starting to glaze over. She "eeped'" and let go of him. "I'm sorry Ranma, but I'm just so grateful to have my son still alive." She said blushing a bit.
"Yeah well I just did what I had to," Ranma said happy to breathe again.
"I saw you fight the iron heads. You were unbelievable!" Lulu said. 'He's even better than Hugo!'
"Yes, I have never seen a fighter like you." A middle age looking man dressed in Karayan garb and sported a beard and a scar over his left eye commented as he walked to them. With him are Hugo, the duck man and a redheaded girl dress like a musketeer.
"Ranma, this is Beecham. He's Lucia's lieutenant." Lulu was about to introduce the others, but Hugo beat him to it with a question.
"So where did you learn to fight?" the young lad named Hugo asked him walking up to him. He himself is pretty fast, but this Ranma character makes him look like a snail.
Before Ranma could even answer the redhead girl pushed Hugo and Lulu out of the way and practically teleported to be face to face with him. "I'm Lilly! Nice to meet you! So where're you from? What do you like to do? Do you have a girlfriend?"
She's looking at Ranma like a cat that just found a baby bird. Her look just reminded him of Shampoo whenever she wanted to do something... improper with her "Airen."
"Hi," Ranma said taken aback by Lilly's introduction. Luckily for him the duck man pulled the enthusiastic girl back away from him before she could embarrass him more. She was not happy at the treatment, but otherwise went and back down.
"I'm Sgt. Joe. Sorry about her." Lilly glared at his back, but he seemed unaffected.
"As I was saying where did you learn to fight like that?" Hugo asked him again after picking himself off the ground.
"I learned to fight to live," Ranma said his eyes look like they were seeing something else that only Ranma can see.
"So can I learn to fight like you?" Lulu asks.
"Why do you want to?" Ranma ask him looking him over.
"I want to be stronger than, I am now. Then I can go and kick some iron head butt!" Lulu said looking up to Ranma.
"What you want to fight?" Luce asks her son.
"So, I don't have to have others to fight for me anymore," Lulu said remembering the fight in the Highway Tunnel with that man dress all in black. He was the first one to be knocked down and the others had to fight the man off to protect him. "I want to be a fighter like just like you Ranma. Is there something you live by to be as strong as you are now?"
Looking into the young boy's eyes Ranma could see a little bit of himself in the young boy. As he used to be before coming to this new world, "If you want to be like me follow these words: Throw everything away that binds you to the control of others."
"What do you mean?" Beecham asks.
He remembered an anime show he saw before he left his world and decided to use some of the words that the characters used.
“If you meet god, kill god. If you meet your father, kill your father. Free from everything you are bound by nothing. Live the life that's been given to you." Ranma saw everyone was staring at him now, "I was once controlled by those I used to call friends or family. They wanted me to live my life as howthey wanted me to live it. I was never allowed to grow, so I just broke and threw away everything that bound me to them and now I live the life that's been given to me." (1)
"I can see that you didn't have a childhood or any say in what you wanted to do with your life," Piccolo said to him.
Ranma nodded. "From the day I was born my life was already chosen for me, so I threw everything away and left before they drove me insane."
"That's not very honorable Ranma," Beecham said with a slight frown. Ranm turned his sharp gaze on the scarred man and gave him a look that would have made a normal man wet his pants.
"That's because honor is just something that the weak use to control the strong. If you have to give up your life for someone else's measure of honor then forget it. The real test of honor is how you live, not what you follow." As he spoke his voice grew colder by the end even Sgt. Joe was starting to get a little creeped out.
"You mean I would have to throw everything away to be like you?" Lulu couldn't believe how cold his new hero could be. He could tell he doesn't like to be controlled, and considering the story he just told that someone must have been controlling him for years.
Ranma nodded. "To be like me you have to, but if you just want to learn just to fight then I can help you. But you're still young, you just have to keep an open mind and pick the life you want. I don't really want someone else to grow up like me."
“Ranma was basically raised to be what his parents wanted him to be with him having no choice at all,” Sunset spoke up having been looking around at the shops.
The sight of Sunset up close caused people to stare at her, both for her beauty and figure. Which many human women wish they have or glare at their boyfriends or husbands who also stared at her. The lizards and ducks on the other hand aren’t affected at all, by Sunset.
“You’re with Ranma?” Lilly ask seeing how much of a woman Sunset is compared to her.
“With the way you carry yourself you’re a noble and yes I am but not as his lover. Unlike other women, I just don’t find him attractive at all,” Sunset said.
“Really?” Martha ask looking over Ranma.
“I guess he’s good looking but I grew up in high society and surrounded by handsome young men all trying to get close to me so they get their foot in the door with the woman who raised me,” Sunset said. (2)
“You’re a noble?” Lilly ask.
“Which is why I can tell you’re one yourself. And Ranma already has plenty of girls after him already, who are all after him. And it’s sad and pathetic in how he’s clueless with them,” Sunset explains.
“Really?” Beecham ask looking to Martha and Piccolo who both nodded in agreement.
“Story of my life,” Ranma said.
"We have to go now. We'll see you later then," Martha said as she, Sunset, Piccolo, and Ranma left the Great Hollow and leaving the group to digest Ranma's words.
!
Lake Castle-
When they got back to the castle Thomas and his party were already there. With them were some new people who have come to live at the castle and setup shop. There is a small black haired boy dressed like a junior detective. That reminded Ranma of an anime of a boy detective back home.
A blonde longhaired man dressed like a musketeer with a rapier on his belt, but something seems off about him.
There is an older man with white hair and darkly tanned skin. He's dressed in a red shirt, tan color pants with a leather apron, and he wore glasses.
There's also a nurse and a doctor. The nurse remained Ranma of Kasumi with her short tan hair and her gentle face. The doctor is dressed in Chinese clothes and reminded him of Doctor Tofu.
A young man dressed in farming clothes stood near them. He had long brown hair hidden under a black bandanna, and he held a hoe in his left hand.
There is a dark haired man dressed like a gentleman.
A little apart from the group is a young girl dressed in a blue and white dress and a red bow on top of her short brown hair. The odd thing is that she had a black and white dog or a wolf hand puppet on her right arm and is talking to it.
A short brown haired young boy is writing down stuff in a notebook that reminded him of a reporter. He's dressed in white and blue clothes and wore large round glasses.
The guy he saw at Brass Castle that had a green parrot and big red hat is also with the group.
There are also two small boys who are talking to Kathy and Billy. One is a stout short blonde haired kid. He wore a yellow shirt and brown shorts held up with green suspenders. He wore glasses and a red bandanna around his neck. The other one is dressed in a light blue shirt and a dark blue vest with brown shorts. He had brown hair and a red bandanna tied around his neck and had a small sword on his back.
"So you're my little brother," Kathy said kneeling down to face him, "Names Kathy, what yours?"
"I'm Melville and my friend's name is Elliot," her little brother said a little nervously. He's not used to the idea of having a big sister.
"So you had more than one kid?" Thomas asks Billy.
"Yeah well, their mothers left me to raise them by myself when they were both young. I haven't seen either of them since then," Billy said to him.
"Hi guys. We're back," Ranma said from behind Billy. He jumped a little and turned around to face the one person who scares the living daylights off of him.
'GEEZ! How does he do that!?' Billy thought to himself.
"Oh hi guys. We found a lot of people who want to open up shops here," Thomas said.
"So who are they?" Ranma asks.
"Well, the two boys with Kathy is Melville, Billy's son, and his friend Elliot. The one dressed like a detective is Kidd. The reporter over there is Arthur. The one with the hoe is Barts he's a farmer. The old man is Dominic and with him is Gordon. They want to open a weapon and supply shop respectively. The girl with the puppet is Mel and her doll Branky. Over there is Doctor Tuta and his nurse Mio. Scott is the guy with the parrot and wants to open a trading post. Augustine's a swordsman and would make a pretty good guard. Last is... hey, where'd she go?" Thomas said looking around.
"Who..." Ranma stopped when he felt two slender arms wrap around him and a big, large pair of... a woman's front pressing on his back.
"We meet again Ranma," a voice said with a sultry purr.
He went rigid from the familiar feeling on his back. 'Sultry voice, check. Big... assets, now that's a really big check. Black sleeves which means whoever it was is wearing a black dress, check. Only one person I know in this world who wears a black dress.'
"J-J-Jeane!? What are you doing here!?" Ranma asked trying to keep his mind off of the fact that, Jeane was currently rubbing herself on his back. 'Must not nosebleed, must not nosebleed, must not nosebleed!'
He noticed two parts of a woman's assets stiffen and his brain turned to mush.
"Thomas here needed a Rune Sage for the castle. At first I was a little hesitant, but then he happened to mention that maybe someone named Ranma could find some other Rune Sage and, I just HAD to come here," Jeane said in a VERY sexy voice. She proceeded to rub her hands over his chest while continuing to rub herself on his back. None of her words, however, got through to his brain. Jeane is WAY sexier than Shampoo ever was and is totally unprepared for the assault.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kathy, Belle, Emily, and all of the girls that were already at the castle before this new group arrived screamed at the Rune Sage. The new group just looked confused.
"This is turning out to be one of those days," Martha sighed looking at the angry gazes being directed from the young girls at the much too forward Rune Sage.
“She’s interesting,” Sunset said staring at Jeane and seeing something else that others couldn’t see.
!
Later -
Dear journal,
It's been quite a week here. The new tenets have made themselves at home. Doctor Tuta and his nurse Mio have been going through the books that Ranma had with him about healing. They've set themselves up in the room that is down the hall from the meeting room. Ranma has been getting along with them well and have shown them certain herbs that could be used for healing and more of those pressure points like those he used on Muto. Doctor Tuta is simply astounded with the amount of knowledge Ranma had (especially since he told me he himself has never even heard of pressure points), while Mio on the other hand seemed to always drop things whenever Ranma is around. Ranma seems to get a strange look on his face whenever the nurse acts all funny around him, as if he was remembering something both good and missing it terribly.
Sunset also gave Doctor Tuta some notes from her books she copied. For some healing potions from her homeland he might be able to use. All of her books are written in her homeland’s alphabet and she’s the only one who can read it, so she just translate it to notes.
Mel likes to talk a lot to Ranma, asking him about things like where he's been and his attacks while Branky has been getting on people's nerves. Does she really think that Branky is really alive? Sunset said that she seen that kind of thing before, rare but it happens when magic is involved.
Barts has been busy maintaining a garden to the left of Juan's training center. And he's been asking for any seeds for him to plant. Sunset gave him some herb seeds from her homeland that she eats for snacks but they can be used for medicine and potions.
Scott has built his trading shop at the lake edge and next to the stone staircase. The trading he has been doing has brought in a lot of money in. Also his pet parrot's name is Waurenhyte. Who likes to fly up to Sunset’s tower for some reason. Sunset and Scott have been working together looking for things that Sunset wants, with Scott using his connections he has made with other traders for the items that Sunset is looking for. Sunset is also giving Scott items from her homeland she gotten to help pay for all of his work. Which are selling for high prices from what I have heard.
Melville and Katy have been bonding with each other. Also Melville and his friend Elliot have been helping out with the stables.
Dominic's armor shop is on the second floor of a building next to the training center. He has been making some new armor that he's been selling to anybody that stubble onto the castle. He is known as a fine craftsman, but he occasionally will sell his customers crap. Really, his contemptness for his customers knows few bounds. He will overcharge his customers if given the opportunity to, and will beat them with his gear if they try and steal it.
Gordon has opened his shop in the castle center, but the women don't really like him very much for some odd reason. He has been hitting on them whenever they go to his shop. He used to be a highly acclaimed actor, but quit for unknown reasons. Ever since his wife divorced him and took custody of their daughter, he relentlessly chases after women that he comes across.
Arthur and Kidd have been following Ranma around ever since they found out about his curse. Ranma usually just jumps far away from them.
That reminds me. When Doctor Tuta and Mio found out about Ranma's curse they've been asking him if they could study him for some reason. I don't get it. What would a doctor care about a magic based curse? Sunset has been trying to figure out the magic curse as well, saying that there is always a way to get rid of a curse, just needs some outside of the box thinking to do it.
Augustine thought that Ranma should start acting more like a man, so he tried to get Ranma to dress like him. And he also wanted to teach him to act just like him to be a gentleman as he calls it. But the girls quickly put a stop to that plan for some reason. I still wince whenever I look at him, walking all bowlegged with a pained expression on his face. I never knew Shizu had such strong legs.
Oh yeah, Jeane opened her shop right next to Gordons. Strangely a lot more guys are visiting the castle than before she open her shop. The girls of the castle all seem to hate her being around here. Piccolo seems to know her. He did say he knew her for a long time, years ago. She has been hanging around Ranma a lot and the girls are beginning to sound like rabid animals with all their growling. I don't know who their more mad at, Jeane for 'hanging' around Ranma or Ranma for freezing up everything she 'hangs' on him. She is also been up in Sunset’s tower saying that she’s teaching Sunset some of her magic skills.
Also Ranma has found more tenets for the castle. He found Kenji running around in the plains and invited him to stay. He likes doing gymnastics and is helping out in the training center. He's also been learning some new moves from Ranma who said he learned how to do gymnastics for a fight awhile back. His wife and son also moved to the castle with him.
Then there's Goro a young energetic craftsman that Ranma found wondering around in the nearby forest around here. He made a bath house in the old ship out back. When Ranma and Arthur who was with him at the time had found in him wondering around. He was in the forest looking for trees to make his bath house. It's been doing some great business. Ranma seems to especially like it there. Ranma said something about missing the 'furo' he used to soak in at his old home.
Sunset is also helping to make the castle into a rest stop for travelers, to rest up get supplies and spend money. Sunset has put up road signs for travelers to know which road to take to get to which place they’re heading to and where they could stop to get some rest. That is working as travelers and wagon trains have been stoping by the castle which has caused people from the surrounding villages to also open shop as well.
Also Ranma met three traveling buskers: Toppo, Nei and Shabon. They've been looking for a new place to perform at to get more business so they came here. Each of them dressed up like clowns, each with different colors. Toppo has blonde hair and a long nose. He plays the fiddle and is good at juggling, but he doesn't talk much. His outfit has red, blue and white and he wears a hat. He believes that actors should not talk, and many people think he is odd as he doesn't talk to anyone but bis collegues, and only even whispers to them.
Nei is an elf with long green hair that she put in two braids. She plays the bouzouki and she's good at hand to hand fighting. And her colors are green and white. She’s a veteran traveling bouzouki player, she tries to help her partners, as she's more experienced in the business than they are. She was raised by humans and is therefore kinder to other races than many of her elven kin can say.
Shabon is a brown haired child who plays the bodhran. She keeps her hair in two buns covered by white cloth. It's surprising to note that she's skilled in kung fu. And her outfit is yellow she also has two yellow ribbons tied around her wrist. She is considering either traveling performance or martial arts when she grows up.
She also likes spending time with Ranma, always playing around with him. He's been playing around with all the kids here a lot whenever he's not practicing or hunting monsters. He told me that he never had a real childhood, so if he ever has kids of his own he will give them the childhood he never had. Arthur, who was listening in on us, wrote it all down and put it in his paper. After that fact came out the girls around the castle have been trying to be extra nice to Ranma than they were before. When I asked Martha about it she told me that some women want someone who would be a good father for their kids. Someone that will take care of their children after they're born and not just let them take care of them.
Ranma also found five dogs running around all over the place and they followed him home. We have named them Kogoro, Koichi, Koroku, Kosanji and Connie. Each of them had set up their own area around the castle. They also serve as watch dogs for the castle since each of them have loud barks and that they're not really any good at being attack dogs. Since they're more the playful types and they like to sleep most of the day off.
It seems that some other people had heard about us. A lizard man named Peggi set up a blacksmith shop in the floor below Dominics armor shop. He use to be a fighter till an injury force him to give that up. He came after Sunset helped him replacing his worn out tools. He said he could fix Ranma's sword good as new, but he said he didn't want his sword to be fixed. A sentimental reason is the only reason he told us. A mysterious man named Mike set up a card game in the room to the right of the elevator. Ranma says he feels a rat in him.
Then there was a strange thing that happened to Ranma while he was walking through the forest. Two girls appeared right out of midair above him and then fell right on top of him. They're both dressed alike, white robe like dresses and both have long black hair and blue eyes. The two are magic users one is an adult who carried a staff while the other is a little girl who uses a wand. Both of them are named Viki. We call the child Little Viki to tell them apart. They both have Blinking runes affixed onto their foreheads. Viki seems to teleport herself all over the place. She's a ditz and when she sneezes she always teleports things around her. If she starts to act funny, you'd better run away. Little Viki acts more like an adult than the older Viki does. She gave us a mirror that when used will teleport anyone back to the castle. Jeane knows them for some reason, but Little Viki and Jeane won't say a thing about it. Viki the older one just remained clueless. Funny thing is that Ranma says that no way is she an airhead. He said he once knew someone who acted like one and she turned out to be a genius and totally aware of her surroundings.
As for Sunset besides helping out here and there she mostly remains in her tower or goes out to hunt monsters. Taking care of bandits and monsters, with her magic, and taking the loot from them. Making a name for herself as she travels around from villages and towns buying and selling things. She’s been searching for magic and been gathering all the rune orbs and knowledge that she’s able to get her hands on. The reason why is that she’s planning on becoming even more powerful, then she already is to show the woman who raised her that she is better than she will ever be.
I asks if she means her mother, but Sunset just replied that she was never a mother. She just raised her but was never a mother.
Oh yes, tomorrow a member of the council will arrive to see what I have done with the castle. I hope he likes what we have done with the place. Well, that's all for now.
Thomas
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