Suikoden Sunset 1/2

by madhat886

A New Stable for the Wild Horse

!

The Grasslands are a region of vast plains and sparse woods, where gales blow strong and nature thrives. The Six Clans, who are spread across the Grasslands, symbolize the wilderness that they reside in. To the east of the Grasslands lies the mighty Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, and to the south the Republic of Tinto. Situated to the west besides the sea is the Zexen Federation, a mercantile nation prospering remarkably from recent increases in continental trading. Military aggression by larger nations towards the Grasslands has been turned back narrowly time after time. Confrontations between the Six Clans and the Zexens have especially deep roots. The Grasslands continues to hang in a dangerous balance of war and peace.

Far away from the conflicts that plague the land there is a place that has not seen conflict in ages not since the end of the 'Flame Champion War' with Harmonia. It is just northwest of Iksay village and south of the Nameless lands. It is situated on a peninsula and is mostly surrounded by forest. It is called Budehuc Castle, also known as Lake Castle.

The remains of stone walls and the seven guard towers that surround the whole castle are in disrepair. Besides the main house there are three wooden buildings, which are left standing and unused. What was once a guardhouse is left in the main courtyard to rot away. A dried up fountain is in the middle of the yard and a bunch of trees have taken root by one of the old towers. There is a stall built right at the side of the guardhouse and a large tent to the right side of the stand. A cooking pot resting over a dead cooking fire stood in front of the tent.

What remains of a training center when there were more people around is by the stairs to the lower left side of the castle out of the main courtyard wall. Training dummies and wooden weapons stood in the center of a rickety fence, all in need of repair.

To the right is an old stable, which has been empty for years, overlooking an empty fenced in field surrounded by trees of the forest around the castle. To the side of the stable stood an old well that hasn't been used in years.

To the left is an open space at the water's edge on one side and the cliff side where the main house sat. The only things that are there is a metal door on the cliff side and a stone stairway leading up to the main house.

What really made the castle strange is that there's a three-mast ship that is stuck on a huge rock pillar right behind the main house, well above the water line and connected by planks to the house. As if a giant wave had sent it falling onto the rock pillar.

The main house is comprised of two old stone buildings on top of a cliff overlooking the lake. The one on the left is a bar and stage for people to be entertained in and also leads to the kitchen. The other is a two-story building that houses the people of the castle. Many of the rooms are unused and a fine coat of dust lined most of the furniture. The ground floor houses the meeting hall and two rooms that are also unused. The upper floor contains the sleeping quarters and a statue room that holds nothing in it. The library is also located nearby, which is filled with old books that people have left over from time to time. There are two underground levels. The first has the storage room and a small graveyard. At the end wall of the graveyard is a huge hole that opens up to the stranded ship's deck. Wooden planks connect the castle and the ship together. The last floor has the food storage area and some old jail cells and the metal door that leads to the lake shore.

!

At the entrance to Budehuc Castle -

"So is...this the place?" Ranma ask Thomas as he, Thomas and Sunset stood in front of the castle.

"Errr...yeah. This is the place," Thomas said.

"This place has seen much better days," Sunset said seeing that the castle is like the castle in Everfree Forest, old and abandon.

You can practically hear the two men sweat drop from her words.

Ranma whistled in slight disappointment at what he sees before him. He has not seen a place this badly run down in a long time. He decided not to say anything and turned to Thomas to ask him a question. "By the way. When a monster is defeated it leaves behind money and sometimes items right? Why is that?"

When he killed a gold-furred boar a while ago it contained gold coins in its belly. When it died the slash he had inflicted on its belly opened up and the coins spilled out. He was surprised to say the least. However, that did not stop him from gathering and cleaning them up. Gold coins are gold coins no matter where they came from. Those rabbits wielding axes had four small bottles with the label medicine D inside their bellies as well. Thomas had told him that those would heal you when you drink it. The bellies of monsters are very strange places to find items.

"Yes, you see the monsters pick up these things when they find them or when they steal it from those it has killed," Thomas sadly replied. (1)

On the way they had fought a group of Axe Bunnies and a Gold Boar and he got some potch from them. Sunset had lifted up the bunnies up into the air and then just drop them, letting the fall kill them. Thomas had never seen or heard of magic rune spells like that before.

There is silence between the two of them for a few seconds, as if in remembrance of the people the monsters had killed. Then Ranma asked another question. "Soooo, that means I can make money by killing off monsters right?"

He figured this might be a good way for him to make money in this world. With his skills and the monsters being so weak he will be so rich even Nabiki would wish she married him.

Thomas shook his head a bit since he had been thinking of something.

"Huh? Oh yes. There are some people who all they do is hunt monsters to make a living. You should also know that the stronger the monsters are the more gold you will get. That gold boar is one of the strongest monsters around here and you took it out with that broken sword of yours," Thomas replied in awe of his new friend. Even he with his whole sword he was not able to accomplish that. Although Ranma seemed not too used to using a sword he is a lot better than he is.

Ranma scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Well, I've been trained to be the best martial artist from where I come from. This sword is all what I have left from the life I left behind," he said, hoping Thomas would not ask where he came from. It is kind of hard to explain that you are from another world without the listener thinking you are crazy.

"That's good to know. I would be able to train with my magic more," Sunset said as the magic of this world is strange. She can sense magic and while in Equestria because of magic being everywhere, only the strong magic could stand out. But here the magic here just feels different and she can sense more then she use to be able to without her focusing her mind on it anyways.

"I never seen magic like yours before," Thomas said.

"I studied magic, all my life," Sunset said as that's the only good thing SHE had done for her.

They walked into what was once a small gatehouse with stairs leading up to the castle. As they did a young girl wearing armor came into view from behind one of the walls that are on either side of the stairs. She is wearing a suit of armor, the top half anyhow since she is wearing an orange skirt that stopped at her knees and showed her long orange socks. The helmet she is wearing has a large red-feather like thing sticking out from the top. The face guard is raised up, letting them see her face. She is armed with a large spear and a large shield that had a crest showing two stags facing each other on it. Both items are bigger than she is. Her blonde hair peeked out from underneath her helmet and her eyes are blue.

"Halt you three!" she cried, drilling her large spear firmly into the ground, giving off the appearance of someone who took her job seriously. Too bad that the image is offset by her height. "I am under orders not to let anyone pass until our new castle lord has arrived!"

She looked the three over and is surprised at what she saw. The young guy in the brown coat looked at least a year older than her. He has a gentle face and looked kind of cute. She could tell by his clothes that he is not around from here. On his belt is a sword that she could tell he did not really know how to use since he keeps fumbling with it.

His friend, on the other hand, is well built but not too bulky. His black hair is kept in a pigtail and has blue eyes like hers. The way he keeps his innocent look helped a lot in the adorable department too. However, she could not tell where he comes from. His clothes are a silk red shirt and black pants and slipper-like shoes, which she has never seen before. He looked older than his shorter friend by at least two years. He also has a sword strapped to his back, which is of a make she has never seen before. She could feel her cheeks redden as she stared at him.

'Maybe he's the new master?' she thought to herself. She blushed even harder when she thought she would not mind that he would be her master.

She turned to the tall woman who is much taller than her two friends, standing 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. She carried two large shoulder bags on both shoulders. 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. Making her wonder what she looks like naked, causing her to turn red as her mind went hentai mode.

'Must not think like that! Must not think like that!' she repeated in her mind as if a mantra.

Thomas blinked at first, not too surprised that he is not immediately recognized as the new lord of the castle. He is only 16 years old after all. It is not surprising that he is not being recognized as a lord of a castle or as a man or anything just because he is so young. She most likely thinks Ranma is the lord of the castle seeing as he is older than he is. Or Sunset seeing how she's also older and taller then both of them. Also the way she carry's herself, reminds him of the upper class and nobles.

However, this girl looks even younger than him. If anything she should understand the feeling of not being taken seriously because of your age. Thus he is not insulted.

He put on his best brave smile, hoping to make her believe that he is as confident as his smile is. "That would be me."

Her head jerked mechanically towards his direction. Her jaw dropped, making her look like a frog catching flies in its mouth. "Y-y-you?"

"Yes, I am. My name is Thomas and I was sent by the Zexen Council to be the new lord of this castle. This is my friend, Ranma and Sunset, who I met while coming here," he nodded, still smiling politely.

Making the girl calm herself down.

'Keep cool. Must not get mad at the cute girl, must not get mad,' kept repeating in his head.

Ranma is a bit surprised at being called his friend, but took it in stride. Though there is now a big smile on his face. 'Wow, I got a new friend already. I hope he won't be like Akane.'

He suppressed the emotions that came with that thought.

"Nice to meet you," Ranma said, giving the blonde girl a friendly wave.

"So, what's your name?" Sunset ask thinking that she might be a new guard or that it's been a long time since anyone has come to the castle.

The female guard successfully got her blushing under control. "Oh! I'm the captain of the guards of this castle. Cecile, at your service! Follow me! Sebastian has been waiting for you to get here!"

She ran to the main house, totally forgetting to wait for the three.

"Hey Thomas. Mind if I come? I don't really have anywhere to go anyway. I'll leave once you got your business over with," Ranma said as he hoped his new friend would not get mad at him.

Thomas nodded. At least he will not be alone when he faces these new people.

"Sure! Come on! And you too Sunset," Thomas said as he turns to Sunset.

"Thanks," Sunset said seeing how she also has no where else to go either.

Thomas is amazed as Ranma outstripped him as they ran after Cecile. Leaving Sunset behind who just walk behind them. Looking around to as she takes in what's in store for her.

!

Later -

Inside the main house's lobby a middle-aged overweight man is walking back and forth waiting for the new master to arrive. The lobby is extremely run down. A large gaping hole is on the left side of the stairs, letting one see the ship that is behind the castle. There is another hole at the end of the hallway that leads to the bar. Five large painting frames hang empty on the walls. Their pictures had long been sold off to help keep the castle running. Likewise are six stands that stood useless since there is nothing to put on them, the items that use to be on them also been sold off.

The man is wearing a suit that defined him as the only remaining butler of the castle. His dyed blonde hair is curled and set in a ponytail and his small mustache is kept trimmed. A small black notebook is in his hand. His name is Sebastian and he hopes that the new master would help to get he castle up and running again. All the previous lords did not care about the castle and let it rot before taking off. A loud, repeating, clanging sound of metal that he knew well came running through the front door along with a young man.

"The new master is here Sebastian!" Cecile shouted as she stopped to catch her breath. While she is used to running with her armor that does not mean it weights any less.

"Great! Where is he?" Sebastian asked as he looked through the door to see who it is. He only saw the young man who entered with Cecile, but assumed he must be a servant of the new master.

"He's right here!" Cecile said, pointing to the young man that came in with her.

Sebastian did a double take.

"He's Thomas, the new master!" she proclaimed proudly.

"This young man is the new master!" Sebastian said. Obviously he had expected to see someone much older. Why, he looks only a bit older than Cecile!

"Yes. I guess I am," Thomas smiled while casting his eyes downward. So what if he's young! They didn't have to make a big deal about it!

Even though he felt disappointed he is better than nothing. 'Oh well. A new master is a new master,' Sebastian thought. ''I am Sebastian, the only remaining butler of the castle. Welcome to Budehuc Castle, also known as Lake Castle."

Cecile then realized something.

"Huh? Wait a minute. Where's Ranma?" she asked to no one in particular. He vanished while they were running here. Thomas looked clueless as well as the three of them looked around for anyone else.

"Right here!" yelled a voice behind Sebastian, making them all jump. They turned to see a young man in a red shirt standing on the stairs with huge smile on his face saying that he enjoyed scaring them.

Thomas looked back and forth between his new friend and the door.

"Wait! You didn't pass us when we went through the front! How did you do that?" Thomas ask. 'Just who is this guy? He's really fast, a great fighter and now he can sneak around people without them knowing?'

"Well, now that," he waited until they are leaning in to hear the rest of his sentence. "Is a secret!" (2)

This caused them to face fault and Ranma to smirk at the faces they made.

Cecile got off the floor and approached the pigtailed man. "Ranma?"

She walked, more like stomped, up to him until they were face to face.

"Don't do that!" she shouted right in his face. He may be good looking, but his mischievous nature is a turn off to her. He should be more like nice and humble Master Thomas.

"Sorry Cecile. Couldn't help myself." Ranma chuckled and smiled at her, completely unaffected.

Sebastian just shook his head. "So, how do you know Master Thomas, Ranma?"

Ranma shrugged. "Thomas gave me and Sunset a lift to the Yaza Plains and to return the favor I went with him here to make sure he got here safely. I haven't known him for that long really."

"Sunset?" Sebastian ask.

The front door open letting in a tall redhead woman came in carrying two large shoulders bags with her. Dressed in strange clothes, and a rather lust figure.

"Sunset there you are," Thomas said.

"I just walk," Sunset said walking up to the group and looks at Sebastian. "You're the head of the castle staff right?"

"Yes, I'm the head of the castle staff," Sebastian said.

Thomas got Sebastian's attention and gave him his first order as lord of the castle. "Umm, Sebastian? Can you get the castle staff all together so that I can meet them?"

So he did not sound very confident. He's new at this kind of thing.

"Right! You should meet all the staff to introduce yourself," Sebastian said while wiping his head with a handkerchief. "Cecile, would you gather everyone to the meeting hall?"

"I'm on it!" Cecile said as she ran out the door while Ranma, Sunset and Thomas followed Sebastian.

!

Later -

The meeting hall is a large room that, unlike the others, is kept in much better shape and mostly dust free. There is a large wooden desk at the end of the room that looks like it has not been used in years. Behind it is a map of the Grasslands. Ranma, Sunset, Sebastian, and Thomas stood by the table waiting for Cecile to come back.

Cecile walked in with five other people. One is an elderly woman with a dark skin tone dressed in a purple and brown dress and a red bandana on her head. Her short gray hair spreads out from the back of her head to just above her shoulders. She has a bag slung over her shoulder.

To Ranma she looks just as smart as the old ghoul and also a bit wiser. The old ghoul is smart, but has a tendency to do stupid things (drugging him, putting spells on him, etc.).

To Sunset she has the look of HER, making her wary of her.

There is also an elderly man, also with a dark skin tone, holding a wooden staff that has a clear glass orb on the top. He is wearing an orange shirt, purple pants, and a necklace made of small skulls that has a small skeleton on the center. He is also wearing a brown cap to cover his bald head and has a full white beard.

Sunset could feel a great amount of magic coming from him. And she could sense that he's more than he lets on, like HER.

There is also a... light brown furred dog-man that is wearing a long sleeved blue shirt with a red strip going through it and pale yellow overalls and a blue hat? He has a happy go lucky look to him and is drinking out of a jug.

'Whoa! A dog man!' Ranma thought to himself.

If he had not encountered all the weird things in Nerima he would have panicked at seeing a real live dog-man. He does not even want to think of just HOW he came to be, as in who his parents are. Is it a dog and a human (shudder) or another dog-man and a dog-woman. He stopped thinking about it since it made his head hurt.

For Sunset she didn't even raised an eyebrow. She came from a world with lots of different races all living together. So seeing a dogman isn't strange to her at all. It does cause her to wonder why she changed from how she was before. No more tail, or horn and her ears are now on the sides of her head.

The next is a blonde haired man. The guy's clothes are a mix of blue and white. His pant legs are colored different from each other, one blue and the other white.

Even if he is chewing on a something and has a sleepily look to him Ranma could tell he is a fighter lazy but still a fighter.

For Sunset, she just thinks he's lazy.

The last person is a ghostly figure of a black haired man that reminded Ranma a lot of Gosunkugi. He is wearing dull colored clothes and in his gloved hand he held a small black book.

Ranma can feel that he is very, very weird. He cannot detect any ki or anything else coming from him! All living things have ki! He stopped thinking about it. There are too many weird things in this world that he will have to get used to. Not that he would go back to that hellhole called Nerima anyway.

Sunset also felt nothing from him but she has met creepy people like that before.

Sebastian pointed to the appropriate person as he made the introductions. "I would like to introduce, Martha the lottery ticket lady, Piccolo our fortuneteller, Muto the keeper of the storage room, Juan here runs the training center, and Eike is the castle librarian. Everyone, this is Thomas, the new lord of the castle."

Thomas looked through the door, expecting more people to come in. "Where are the other staff members? If there isn't enough room in here we could go outside."

"This is everyone," the man named Juan lazily replied.

"Wha... you mean this is all?" Thomas asked, his mouth hanging down. Just seven people are in this whole castle?

Sebastian looked a bit embarrassed as he explained. "Well, you see Zexen doesn't give us much and most of the others have left when we couldn't pay their salaries anymore."

"Oh. Well, I hope that we enjoy working together," Thomas smiled politely, even if it is a little forced.

"Let's hope so," Juan replied for everyone. He caught the other new guy with his eyes and he can feel that his fighting level is extremely high. From the way he moves he is extremely skilled. As for the woman, while she does have a sexy figure, he could tell she isn't one to take lightly "So, who's your friends?"

Ranma looked right back at him. "Name's Ranma. We met on the way here."

Juan felt a shiver go up his spine when Ranma stared at him intently. He felt like the pigtailed martial artist was staring right at his soul, which Ranma is actually doing. Ranma's judging how much ki control Juan has, which is not much. It is more instinctive than conscious control. Meanwhile Juan can tell when he is in the presence of a master. He is a master himself, but this guy is WAY past his level.

"Hmmm, you aren't from around here, are you? Where are you from?" Martha asked while she looked him over. 'Well now, I haven't seen someone like him in years. If only I was 40 years younger.'

Ranma felt a shiver go up his spine, as if the old ghoul is around. But he knows that is impossible so he shrugged it off. He's probably just being paranoia. He turned towards the old woman who asked him a question. He noticed the look on her face, he hates that look.

"Yeah, well, you can say that I come from a far off place," Ranma said. Now he knows where the feeling came from. It is exactly the same type of look Cologne used to give him. He never did figure out what it meant. Still, it's creepy.

Piccolo also studied the young man. While Thomas is the new lord of the castle his friend is the more intriguing one.

'There's something odd about him. He has a strange magical energy surrounding him. Too bad Master Crowley isn't here. He could tell me what it is in a heartbeat,' Piccolo thought to himself before he looks to Sunset. 'She on the other hand is powerful in magic. And it feels much different from the other kinds of magic, I have felt before.'

Sunset stares at Piccolo as she knows that look too well. The man is a master wizard, and she needs to learn about the magic of this world.

"There is a strange aura of magic around you that I have never seen before. Do you have a curse or something on you?" Piccolo asked bluntly turning his attention back to Ranma.

Ranma laughed a bit nervously as put his hand behind his neck. "How did you know that? Yeah. I do have one."

Everyone gave him an odd look while Piccolo just nodded.

"What kind of curse?" Muto asked as he walked forward. He tripped on... his feet? The jug he's drinking from went flying. As always the liquid went straight towards any Jusenkyo cursed victims nearby. Namely Ranma.

"This kind of curse," a now wet, young, short, and busty redhead said.

"A sex changing curse that works by getting wet. That's a first for me," Sunset said as she has read about different curses and how they work. There are curses that work when something happens like a curse that only works at night or day. This is the first that works with water.

"I go by Ranko in my girl form. Sorry about this," she said while tugging on the end of his, now her, wet pigtail.

Everyone else is gaping at the now very female Ranma. Some stared at her huge breast while others on her curves. Everything is stared at and noted as being female, not male. It should be known that Cecile is currently feeling VERY jealous as it was already bad enough with Sunset who is much taller and busty then her but now there's a girl who is her height and is busty.

!

Author's Note:

1 – It's the only thing I could think of to explain how the monsters of that world had gold and items on them. When they don't have anything on them or a way to carry them.

2 – Take a wild guess where I got THAT.