The village had proven to be a half day’s ride away, and it had taken tying a rope around Tao-Ching’s neck that connected him to Kirara to make sure the smilodon didn’t wander in the wrong direction to get them there. Nabiki had sighed the first time his feet had started to wander in the same direction as his eyes had when he had looked down a side path. She’d corrected him then, but had been distracted somewhat later talking to Ukyo, and had looked back forward to see they had lost the rest of the group. She’d berated him soundly, of course, as he traveled through a grove of yellow sakura, all the while wondering if they were going to find the others or be lost forever in the Sengoku era. Fortunately, he was proving that he COULD follow a scent trail, so they’d only gotten lost for ten minutes before finding the others. After that, she had made sure he couldn’t wander off again.
The village had been in a semi rundown state when they arrived, since it had been almost six months since anyone had lived in it, but the buildings were sound enough, and there had been plenty of stores of clothes and dried food for them.
Nabiki finished adjusting the skin tight body suit that was a youkai exterminator’s standard garb and looked at herself in the mirror surface of Tao-Ching’s zanbatou. Not a bad look if she did say so herself. It even looked good with the shoulder rig for Tao-Ching’s Desert Eagle strapped on.
“You could pass for one of Charlie’s Angels in that outfit.” Tao-Ching said as he ducked into the hut, wearing a simple samurai’s robe. “I decided to stick with the basics myself.”
“You still look good.” Nabiki laughed. “I just can’t stand kimonos for more than a few hours.” She nodded at the smith mark on the zanbatou, a stylized foo-lion. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, it’s a Hittori Hanzo blade, but it’s an heirloom. It was forged probably about a hundred and fifty years ago for a relative of my mother, an Amazon smith who was apprenticed to the one all the legends are about. Tarantino threw a lot of legends together into that Kill Bill movie, and I doubt he realized some of them were quite true. Pai Mei was rather annoyed at him according to Ke Lun. She still writes to him occasionally.”
Nabiki blinked, then laughed. “Why am I not surprised?” She tapped the Desert Eagle. “So I suppose I’m keeping this since it’s the only weapon I know how to use at the moment?”
“Yup. Just remember it has a hell of a kick. And I’m limited for ammo. I only have about fifty shots between all my clips. Take a few shots for practice, but after that, use it as a last resort.” He picked up the zanbatou. “I’m a master with this thing, even if I’m a little rusty compared to what I used to be. I’m going to be giving Kuno some tips on fighting with a very large sword, since that katana of his turns into that massive falchion. I’m debating about how to go about giving some lessons to Inuyasha too, since it looks like he’s relying mainly on speed, strength and durability rather than skill to wield his sword, but he seems like the type to resent the implication that he needs help if I just offer it.”
“You’re probably right. Truth to tell, I wouldn’t mind some lessons myself. I’ve been regretting that I made dad stop teaching me.”
Tao-Ching raised an eyebrow. “I hate to tell you this Nabi-chan, but that would take years. You’ve got a nice body, but no real muscle tone, and I doubt you’d retain any of the reflexes you might have had. Not to mention, I would hate to see that gorgeous body of yours with scars on it.”
She pouted. “I know, I just feel kinda useless, and I want to be able to help.”
“So grab a crossbow and practice. I saw a couple in the armory that looked like they were made for ladies.”
“You mean children.” Nabiki said with a sour grimace. “But yeah, that’s a good thought.”
“Might I also recommend you stay a bunny girl? You’ve shown a couple of times how sharp your hearing is when you’re cursed. We could use as many edges as we can get.”
Nabiki laughed. “Not to mention the fact that it will get you laid as my hormones go into overdrive.”
“Thought never crossed my mind…” Tao-Ching said in an attempted innocent tone.
Nabiki stepped over and raised herself on tip toe to kiss him. “It damn well better have, or I’m going to think I’m losing my touch,” she murmured as their lips parted.
Then she kissed him again…
“Damn,” she muttered as they parted again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Now I’m going to have to get dressed all over again,” she said as her hands sought the buckles on her harness.
* * * * *
Rei was testing the draw on a bow when Kagome entered the armory and did a double take.
“Oh my god. For a second there I thought you were Kikyou. I forgot you were a miko.”
Rei looked down at her yakuta and hakima. “Yeah, these were in the remains of the shrine. I feel more comfortable in them since your uniform doesn’t really fit too well.”
“Yeah, you’re quite a bit taller than me.”
Rei smiled. “And not quite as busty.” She sighed. “I keep hoping as I get older I’ll get more than an A cup, but I’m starting to despair.”
Kagome giggled. “I think you look quite nice actually. I love your hair.” She tugged at her tresses and rolled her eyes. “Of course, it’s hard to wash my hair properly around here. Shampoo hasn’t been invented yet, and I have to take baths in pools. That’s the one thing I always do when I stop at home, enjoy a nice hot bath in a real furo.”
Rei laughed. “Well I can certainly see that.” She held up the bow. “By the way, is there an archery target around here? I can’t decide between three of these bows, and want to test them out.”
“Yeah, around back. I can shoot decently, but I really don’t know much about bows. I kind of picked it up when I came back here.”
“I’m pretty good with one I guess. My grandfather sort of made me practice, since it’s more or less traditional.” She laughed. “A ‘Zen meditation ritual’ is how he put it, actually.”
“My grandfather spends all his time making junk to sell to tourists.” Kagome shook her head.
“Mine does his share of that too, as well as trying to flirt with every pretty girl he sees. He’s almost as bad as Miroku.”
Kagome helped her take the bows out to the target range, and Rei strung the first one.
“So, you said this Kikyou died, and was brought back?”
Kagome shrugged. “Yeah. This Mountain Witch dug up her bones and grave soil to make a body for her. Then she tried to steal my soul out of my body to animate it.”
“Ah, I see. I’ve read about such things, but I always thought it was a myth.” She released an arrow. “Humm. Pulls to the left.” She examined the arms of the bow closely. “Humm. Guess the weather got to this one. It’s warped slightly.”
Kagome nodded. “Well, Kikyou is no myth sadly. She escaped from the witch’s control, but now she has to consume souls to stay alive, since she only got a small part of my soul.”
Rei strung the second bow and examined the arms closely before nodding. “And you’re afraid that she’s the one that Inuyasha married to found the Kuno family line I take it, or you probably wouldn’t have thrown a fit.”
Kagome looked shamefaced. “Yeah. I know he likes her better.”
“Are you really so sure about that?”
“Huh?”
“Seems to me that a construct of grave soil and bones would have a really hard time getting pregnant, let alone having a child.” Rei said as she released her second arrow.
It hit the bullseye.
She looked over to Kagome, and noted with a smile that the girl looked thunderstruck.
* * * * *
“I can’t really explain how the blade changes, it just does when I want it to.”
Tatewaki held out his Tetsusaiga and tried again. But the blade remained unchanged.
Inuyasha frowned. “Have you mastered any of the attacks? The windscar? The backlash wave? The other forms are things I acquired after I had mastered those. Maybe it wants you to master those first. Don’t ask me how Totosai did it but Tetsusaiga does have a sort of will.”
Tatewaki raised an eyebrow. “Nay good Inuyasha. I have mastered many sword techniques but knowest not of these that thee speak.”
The white haired youkai grinned. “Yo, Sango!” he yelled over his shoulder. “I’m going to demonstrate a couple of attacks to Tatewaki here, so don’t panic!”
The youkai exterminator waved at him from where she was clearing the weeds off of her family’s graves. Inuyasha stood and pointed to an open field of rocks in front of a cliff. “Okay, we won’t destroy nothing over there.”
Tatewaki followed him and stood behind him as Inuyasha raised his sword. “Okay, the first attack I mastered was the windscar. There’s basically a zone of mixed up energy where the youki of two youkai meet. By cutting there, I can create a huge set of blades made out of wind.”
He demonstrated, his sword swinging down, and Tatewaki saw for a split second a shimmering in the air that the blade intersected. Then the field in front of them exploded.
He ducked, but none of the shattered rock came back at him, being propelled away by the howling winds Inuyasha had unleashed.
Inuyasha had his sword up on his shoulder again, looking at Kuno with a huge grin. “It’s pretty easy once I figured out how to do it. If you concentrate, you can smell where the intersection is, even if it’s just the boundary of my youki and nothing else.”
Tatewaki nodded. “I see.” He stepped forward, and tried, but his blade simply swished through the air. “Humm, perhaps a different test.” He took a stance, and concentrated. He had not yet tried most of his forms with the blade in this enlarged form, but it seemed to be as light as his katana. With an intake of breath and a step forward, he launched his favorite attack.
Inuyasha blinked, his cocky grin turning into a surprised look as Tatewaki’s blade blurred, seeming to strike an invisible point in the air a hundred times in an eyeblink. With a roar, the air shattered, the field disintegrating in a straight line almost three feet wide as the pressure wave of air smashed across it. The cliff on the far side of the field, already scarred from Inuyasha’s earlier assault, shattered into fine dust, the rock face gouged a good two feet deep.
Tatewaki raised an eyebrow. “Humm. T’would seem the form of the blade doth have summat to do with the power of my strikes , yet that t’was not the energy unleashed from thy sword.”
Inuyasha looked at the line of devastation and chuckled. “Still, not bad. Not bad at all.”
“T’is useful enough, though lesser than this windscar . But I am puzzled, Thou say thee can smell this scar?”
“Yeah. You should be able to as well since you have some inugami in you too. It’s a very sharp, almost shimmering kind of smell, kinda like lightning.”
“Ozone.” Tatewaki nodded. “The scent of an electric discharge. Methinks I doth comprehend. This youki thee speak of, t’is similar to ki?”
“Yeah, humans have it too, but youkai are much stronger than most humans.”
“I see.” He turned his gaze back across the field, taking a stance again as he tried to sink into a meditational trance, his sword held at ready while his eyes tried to find that shimmer he had caught a glimpse of when Inuyasha had struck. The sword in his hand almost seemed to hum as he took several deep slow breaths, and sought his center.
I am Tatewaki Kuno. Samurai of the Kuno line, defender of the innocent, and guardian of the weak. Sword of my fathers, sword of my ancestors, Tetsusaiga show me thy true power…
And as if in reply, the thought came to him… Show me yours.
And there it was, the same shimmering discontinuity he had glimpsed before.
I Strike! he thought as he slipped once again into his form, this time aiming at the discontinuity, his breath leaving him in a soft roar
And the Tetsusaiga roared with him.
* * * * *
Sango looked up as a massive shockwave rolled across the village, and the ground lurched violently. The tall lookout tower, too long untended in the empty village, collapsed as the ground rocked. Grabbing her boomerang she ran towards the source of the blast.
She was joined by Shippou and Miroku at the edge of the village, and they stopped in amazement, staring in shock.
Inuyasha was picking himself up from behind the rock he’d been knocked over and joined the rest of them looking at Kuno.
Tatewaki stood on a small spur, where previously had been a flattened expanse of rock. The cliff in front of him, an arm of the mountain on which the village nestled, had simply vanished. For almost a half mile in front of Tatewaki, the mountain sloped away in an almost perfectly conical depression, coming to a sharp edge at a drop overlooking a distant valley.
Rei and Kagome joined them next, followed by Kagura and finally Nabiki and Tao-Ching, who looked more than a little disheveled.
“Wow, Kuno-baby, what the hell did you do?”
Sango knelt to examine the new crevasse. “Is this some new attack of Tetsusaiga? One you have yet to acquire Inuyasha?”
The white haired boy shook his head. “I don’t think so. I was showing him how to use the windscar. He has some sort of rapid strike technique, and that was about eighty windscars released at once.”
Kuno sheathed his blade. “It doth seem I have broken thy mountain, Lady Sango. My apologies.”
Tao-Ching laughed. “And that is a prime example of why skill in sword work has a definite advantage over hack and slash.” He looked to where Inuyasha was giving him an evil eye. “You could do that too if you mastered Kuno’s multiple strike technique.”
“What would you know about it?” Inuyasha challenged.
Tao-Ching smiled. “I was the Amazon’s undisputed master of the zanbatou when I left the village. Even Ke Lun grudgingly admitted I could hold my own with any of the warriors.” He pulled the sword from behind his back, the seven foot weapon dwarfing even the Tetsusaiga in Inuyasha’s hand. “It’s not a magical blade, but I’d still lay odds I could out fence you in a sparring match.”
“No one can beat me!”
“Want to wager on it?” Tao-Ching held up his cummerbund and opened a pocket concealed in it. “I have thirty oban I’m willing to bet against you,” he said, letting a couple of the heavy gold ovals fall into his hand one by one.
Inyasha snorted. “Like I have that much.”
“Then I’ll take a trade. If I can disarm you and lay you flat on your back in under a minute, you’ll become my student until we’ve rescued Zhu Shu and completed our task here. If I can’t, you win the oban, and I will acknowledge you a better swordsman than you appeared to be fighting against Zhu Shu.”
“You’re on!”
Tao-Ching pointed to a still intact section of the field, and they both headed for it as Kagome looked at Nabiki. “Inuyasha’s got quite a temper you know, I hope your boyfriend doesn’t get hurt.”
Nabiki laughed. “He won’t. I was watching Inuyasha fight too, remember. Tao-Ching is basically setting him up. Inuyasha has got to learn to use that sword a lot better than he was if he wants to have a prayer of coping with Zhu Shu. Rei was right, she was moving at a fraction of her normal speed. If Kuno hadn’t been there, and taken most of the brunt of defense, he’d have been cut to ribbons. But I don’t think your boyfriend is the type to take an offer of help as anything but an insult. So Tao-Ching is making it a matter of pride. Inuyasha isn’t going to like it, but I don’t think his pride will let him back out of it when he loses.”
“He might not lose, you know.” Kagome said defensively.
Kuno, who had overheard them, shook his head. “I doth fear, Lady Kagome, he already has.” He nodded to where the two had taken up stances. “To an expert swordsman, t’is obvious who shalt be victorious .”
“Huh?”
Inuyasha charged, Tetsusaiga swinging down and across to sweep Tao-Ching’s feet out from under him.
But Tao-Ching had already side stepped, his blade blurring as it caught Tetsusaiga and sent it flying high into the air before sweeping back down and around to lift Inuyasha’s feet out from under him and flip him before he crashed down on his back, Tao-Ching’s zanbatou coming to a stop a bare inch above his neck as he caught Tetsusaiga in his other hand.
It had taken all of five seconds.
“I admit you have some amazing strength, a decent amount of speed, and guts, but you have no foot work, and pretty poor form. Tatewaki could have avoided that foot sweep with ease. If you listen to me, and practice, you could make yourself the strongest swordsman in the world, or you can keep floundering around and hope you get lucky.” Tao-Ching said as he held out Tetsusaiga. He nodded at the devastation Kuno had made of the mountain. “You can even make that look like a mosquito bite. Interested?”
Inuyasha glared. But another voice rang out across the field. “You should take him up on that offer, Inuyasha, if you ever hope to stand a chance against me.”
They all turned to the newcomer, Kagome and her crew tensing up as Inuyasha grabbed Tetsusaiga. He stepped in front of the rest to stare belligerently at the tall white haired youth who stood at the edge of the field.
“What do you want, Sesshomaru?”
“I came to see what all the noise was about, that is all.” Sesshomaru’s eyes fixed on Tao-Ching. “Your scent is familiar to me. What is your name?”
Tao-Ching shouldered his zanbatou. “Tao-Ching Hibiki.”
Sesshomaru’s eyes glittered. “Ah. Another Hibiki swords master. It is rare indeed I meet any mortal whose skill impressed me. To have met two from the same family is almost beyond belief. Teach my brother well, Hibiki. It will make his eventual demise more interesting.” He turned to go.
“Sesshomaru, wait!” Kagura called.
Sesshomaru paused. “What do you want this time, Kagura?”
“I-I… I wanted to tell you I no longer belong to Naraku. I- I have my heart back.”
His face was impassive as he met her look for a long moment, then he nodded once and turned again. “Learn well Inuyasha,” he said as he faded into the woods. “Once I have dealt with Naraku, I will be back for you.”
Kagura sighed. Sango looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “What was that about?”
Kagura shrugged. “I’ve been helping him try to find the baby too. He… he…” She looked at the woods and shook her head. “I guess I don’t really know.”
Sango blinked in surprise. Then she looked over at Rei as the miko called.
“Hey, guys? Where’s Ukyo?”
* * * * *
The village set nestled in a shallow river valley between two high hills. In times past it had probably been a simple fishing village, but the natural harbor created by the river and the commanding view that the taller hill gave over the sea had allowed the village to flourish and grow.
On that hill, a steep rocky prominence, a previous warlord had built a large castle, but it now stood empty and abandoned, the bridge that had once connected it to the town broken and burned, the walls marked by long ago battle. The sheer walls of the rock it had been built on isolated it from casual access, and it was obvious that no one had dared to brave the climb in many years. The villagers had built a new house for their lord upon the smaller hill, and left the fortress to rot.
But once more it seemed, war was coming to the town whether it wished for it or not. Outside the village walls a contingent of samurai on horses readied themselves to meet a small army bearing the flags of a rival Damiyo. Naraku looked down at the scene and smiled.
“I do not care for a war so near my lair, my pet. The fools are meaningless, but even ants can be a nuisance in large numbers. And I do not wish for that castle to be disturbed. Kill them all. It will be a lesson to the black ships not to ignore my warnings, and remove any temptation to return to this valley.”
Ukyo stared at the humans below her dispassionately, her hands reaching behind her to draw her swords. Without a word she stepped off the cliff and descended to the battlefield.
She landed behind the general of the invaders, her sword lashing out to decapitate him before he was even aware of her presence. Then her ribbon slashed the horse in half lengthwise.
Silently Ukyo screamed, horrified at what she had just done, but no sound came from her throat as her ribbons lashed out again, cutting through half a dozen of the close packed men. Time slowed as she stepped aside from a sword thrust and pursed her lips, unleashing a stream of fire that ignited the armor and clothes of everyone it touched, her ribbons and swords cutting through armor as if it didn’t exist. Bodies and parts of bodies began to fall in slow motion as she began to mechanically cut the army apart.
Ukyo tried to stop, tried to drop her swords, to force herself to stop the slaughter, but all she could do was watch in horror as men died and blood fell like rain. It was like she was a rider in her own body.
And then she realized that she was wrong. She wasn’t in her body.
“ZHU SHU!!!!!!!!” she screamed as the last warrior fell, and the little dragon girl started walking towards the village gates…
* * * * *
Ukyo’s scream drew the others to the hut where she had been napping, to find her sitting and retching in horror and shock. Rei stepped forward to put her hand on the distraught girl’s back and asked, “Ukyo? What is it, what happened?”
“Z-Zhu Shu… I-I dreamed about her slaughtering an entire army by Naraku’s command. She- she just cut them down like they were stalks of grass instead of people!”
Sango sighed. “I fear that is very possible, Ukyo. My own brother was forced to kill my friends and family, and he nearly killed me as well. If she has done this, you cannot hold her accountable for it.”
Kagura nodded. “I sense you share a link with this girl Zhu Shu. It is possible you dream the truth. Perhaps there is some clue there which may guide us to where he is.”
Ukyo looked up at her with horrified eyes. “Oh god, you mean she might actually have done that? It must have been sixty or seventy men, and when I woke she was preparing to slaughter an entire village.”
Kagura met her gaze calmly. “It is more than possible, Ukyo. Naraku views humans as little more than insects to exterminate. He would have no hesitation using your friend to kill. Your only hope of stopping her from killing again is to find her and Naraku and remove the Shikon shard by which he is controlling her,” she said coldly.
Ukyo shuddered. “I-I can only tell you it was a village by the sea, at the mouth of a river, and that the village was below an old abandoned castle that Naraku did not wish disturbed.”
Kagura shook her head. “I am afraid that does not sound familiar to me.”
Ukyo shuddered again. “I-I think Naraku also said something about the Black Ships?”
Kagura raised an eyebrow. “The Dutch traders? That might be a clue. I remember Naraku complaining at one point that the Dutch looked like they were going to need a lesson. I think they were causing a problem north of here along the coast.”
Nabiki frowned. “Not really enough to go on, though. I’d rather have something a little more solid to follow.”
Miroku sighed. “I doubt we will find much more than that. Naraku is very hard to find unless he comes to you.”
“I still want to talk to this smith, but that’s my own curiosity.” Nabiki admitted. “If this is the best lead we have…”
Tao-Ching shrugged. “My suggestion is decide in the morning. If Ukyo is dreaming about Zhu Shu, perhaps she’ll find us a further clue tonight.”
Ukyo shuddered. “That was more of a nightmare than a dream, sugar.”
* * * * *
“How can you be here, Ying-Ying?” Akane asked as the ghost girl walked home with her after a meeting with the Senshi at a local ice cream parlor. “I mean, I can understand last night since the Dragon sent you, but it was kind of a surprise to see you waiting for me outside the ice cream store.”
Ying-Ying smiled. “I am Zhu Shu’s spirit guardian. Over the last few weeks, she has been drawing on the link we share more and more often, and the other night, in order to make up with Ukyo, she drew both herself and Ukyo into the realm that I live. Once she had come there deliberately, she created a permanent bridge that I could finally follow back to the mortal realm.”
“But, I mean, Zhu Shu’s in the past now.”
Ying-Ying nodded. “But her link to you remains. I cannot travel the winds of time to be with Zhu Shu, but I could follow that to come see you. I’ve spent quite a lot of time watching you through Zhu Shu’s eyes, you know.” The Chinese ghost gave her a shy smile. “And you are the only one of Zhu Shu’s loves who has not yet visited me in the spirit realm. You never needed to.”
Akane gave her a raised eyebrow. “You mean Ukyo and Rei have both…”
“Well, Rei has. Ukyo visited there when Zhu Shu brought her. I was there, but it was a private moment and I didn’t want to interfere.”
“So why did the Dragon send Zhu Shu and the rest back in time?”
Ying-Ying frowned. “He won’t tell me. Only that it had to be done, and that it was imperative that exactly that group went.”
“I see.”
“I trust the Dragon, Akane. He is far more than you could ever imagine. He has existed since the beginning of all universes, and he is so kind and wise. I have never known him to ever do a single thing that has been unnecessary. I questioned him at first when he would not let Zhu Shu remember meeting me again in the spirit realm after her first death, but I finally realized it was because she needed to have an anchor here in the mortal realm before she could be aware of my existence in the spirit realm, or she would have abandoned her life to be with me.” She reached out to lay an immaterial hand on Akane’s arm. “And you were the first of those anchors. Without you, my love would have never been able to find her way to me again.”
“But why did she have to die at all? Why couldn’t he arrange to have her aunt be nicer to her, and let her be with you in life? Then you wouldn’t have died and driven her to suicide.”
Ying-Ying gave her a soft smile. “Because then she would have died when Xi’an Chi finally tracked her down to her home village. She would have never even known who was killing her, and I would have died in front of her, cut down as a loose end.”
Akane blinked. “Kami!”
Ying-Ying shrugged and looked off into the distance. “I do not know all the paths my life has taken across the myriad universes, but I know that it is only here, in this single thread of existence, that Zhu Shu exists. It is only in this solitary branch of the tree of time that Lin Tzu won the heart of the Dragon, and became his daughter. And it is only here that I have loved her. And because of that love, I have found in death a purpose beyond any I could have had in life.” She turned her bottomless blue eyes back to Akane. “Don’t grieve for my life, Akane. I am happier as a ghost than I ever was as mortal, because I can be with my love in ways that are impossible in life. And I have known a love beyond any measure, because the heart of a Dragon is love.”
Akane nodded, “And one Dragon loved shall never die,” she quoted. She gave the ghost a wry smile. “Who would have guessed that was so literal?”
She stopped and looked over the canal, once more at the site of so many important milestones in her own life, and smiled. “You know, this is where I first realized that maybe I did love Ranma after all.”
Ying-Ying nodded. “I know, beloved. Zhu Shu wasn’t aware of me yet, but I was still watching.”
“Beloved?”
“You are as much my Heartsmate as you are hers, Akane-chan. Just as Ukyo is, and to a different degree, Ranma, Rei, and Shan Pu.”
Akane smiled. “I wish they were here too.”
“They are doing their homework right now. Since Ke Lun has decided to manage the Club in Nabiki’s absence, to make it appear that everything is normal and hopefully lure Clove in, you all have work tonight. After I saw them, I came to find you. I wanted a chance to get to talk to you.”
“Hummm? Why?”
“Because I have a warning to deliver.”
“A warning?”
“Yes. I don’t know what’s happening right now in the past, but I know it’s something that Legend anticipated and planned for, just as is your participation with the Senshi as they are to deal with the Blackmoon. But Clove is a wild card, one Legend did not foresee. I know that Lo Shen and Ke Lun are hunting her, but she is too clever to be found easily. She will come eventually though. Hild surely plans for her to seduce Zhu Shu and lure her into a trap, and by so doing gain revenge, both for the Musk, and against Legend himself for freeing the demoness Mara from her control. She will not come in any form that will be recognized, but Legend fears she will find an irresistible lure.”
“So why warn me? Why not warn Ke Lun and Lo Shen?”
“Because Clove cannot be allowed to die again, because she is also Legend’s Daughter.”
“WHAT???”
“She is Legend’s daughter in exactly the same way that Zhu Shu is, but she has been tossed into the game without Zhu Shu’s defenses and protections. She must be stopped, but she cannot be harmed in doing so. No matter what she does, or how she finds to attack, you cannot kill her, or all may be lost. She must be rescued from the clutches of Hild. Ke Lun and Lo Shen, wise as they are, have too many memories of their animosity towards Clove. Even though Lo Shen regrets to a degree her own role in that animosity, she would still seek Clove’s life for threatening Zhu Shu. You have as yet no real experience with her, no true prejudices or hatreds. So Legend is begging you to hear his plea, and save his daughter from herself.”
“How can I even begin to do that? She’s out to kill Zhu Shu!!!”
“I know. And the elders are unlikely to listen to his plea in this matter. You are the leader of the youth, Akane. Both your fiancées and friends will follow your lead.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Ranma and Shan Pu would move Heaven and Earth for you, and the Senshi respect you as their mentor as well as their friend. Zhu Shu is unlikely to be able to see her own danger, and even though her word could be law to the Amazons, she is unlikely to go against their wishes. If needs be, you may have to defy the will of your elders. But Clove cannot not be allowed to die. She cannot be given into the hands of Chaos.”
“Why?”
“Because Chaos will soon learn the truth of the Dragon’s legacy. And once she has, both Zhu Shu and Clove will become her obsession. If she manages to succeed, there is no hope for anyone. At present Chaos simply sees Zhu Shu as a powerful tool, a weapon to use to further her ends, but she will soon learn that she is far more.”
“Who is Chaos?”
“The Abyss. Entropy. Negation. She is the ultimate destroyer, the seeker of the end of all things. She has born many names, worn many guises, but she is Oblivion. She is the ABSOLUTE.” Ying-Ying smiled. “She is the opposite of Legend, his adversary, and eternal companion.”
Akane blinked. “You mean Zhu Shu’s caught up in a war between Legend and Chaos?”
“Yes.”
“Jeezus fucking Christ, Ying-Ying! She’s just a girl! Not a damn pawn for the gods!”
“And she is the Daughter of the Dragon, and as such she is his Avatar in the mortal realm.”
“She’s a GOD???”
“In a sense, yes.”
Akane slid down the fence to sit on the ground. She shook her head. “I can’t deal with this Ying-Ying.”
In a swirl of pink hair, Ying-Ying knelt before her. “Zhu Shu is a mortal, born from the love of a mortal man for a mortal woman. She is in all ways a normal girl, but she is also more, for in her veins runs the blood of the Dragon. Because of the love he bears for her, Legend has protected her, as he has done to all her ancestors for the last thousand years. She has been as free to be as mortal as you or I. What she is has been hidden from the world as well as herself. But Legend cannot protect her for much longer. Chaos will discover what she is, and through her she will strike. As Chaos is DIVISION, Legend is UNITY. If the balance between them is destroyed, then this universe will eventually cease to exist. It may be ten billion billion years in the future, but nonetheless, it will end. This battle is meaningless to our mayfly lives compared to the eternals, yet to Zhu Shu it can mean the difference between life as herself or eternity as Chaos’s puppet. The same can be said of Clove. What Legend seeks is to stop Chaos from using his daughters as pawns against him, so that they may be free to choose their own path. He seeks to set aside destiny.”
Akane blinked. “You’re saying he’s trying to save Zhu Shu?”
Ying-Ying nodded. “Yes. Legend is trying to defy fate itself and allow his daughter the freedom to choose her own course, be that as a mortal or as a god. And now that Clove has been returned to life, he seeks to do so for her as well.”
Akane shook her head. “But-but didn’t he preordain Zhu Shu’s life? You and me and Ukyo and whoever that star represents?”
Ying-Ying shook her head. “Zhu Shu’s life has never been preordained, Akane. Her tattoo is simply a road map of the choices she has already made.”
“Huh?”
“We have all been here before, Akane. We have lived our lives time and again as the wheel of time has turned. We are all souls who have been connected for centuries. The Senshi, Ukyo, Ranma, Shan Pu, even you and I. I once was a simple physician in the Empire of the Dragon who caught an Empress’s eye, and became her first wife. We are all of us reborn into a new era to finish what was cut short by Chaos. For a thousand years, the Dragon has bided, and planned, and watched as we were spun out, waiting until the time when we were all reincarnated together. And if we can overcome fate, overcome Chaos’s chosen destiny for us, we will be free.”
“You make it sound like we’re on the verge of paying off karma and achieving Nirvana.”
“In a sense. We will have been freed from the cycle. Free to choose our own way.”
“I don’t really understand.”
“I don’t either. Legend says it’s impossible to explain fully until we have achieved it.”
“And Clove? Was she a reincarnated soul too?”
Ying-Ying shook her head. “That is why it is so important that she live, Akane. She is his newly born daughter, his youngest child.”
Akane shook her head. “This is just a lot to deal with all at once, Ying-Ying.”
“I know, Akane. But it’s something you had to know before you joined the Senshi, for as a Senshi, you will be opposing Chaos indirectly. Legend is not sure to what extent, but he believes Chaos has influenced the Blackmoon, and that you might be faced by her agent Xi’an Chi at some point in your struggle against them. You faced his creature in the Musk castle, remember?”
Akane shuddered. “I would rather forget, thank you very much.”
“I understand, but you fought against a creature from the void outside of time. What you saw that day is a potential future. It does not have to come to pass, but you cannot ignore the messages you were given either.”
Akane blinked. “Oh my god. Are you telling me that Zhu Shu WILL become the Black Dragon?”
“If she is consumed by Chaos, yes. Just as Clove could become. They are essentially mirror twins after all.”
Akane shuddered. “Alright, you’ve convinced me already. I will do my best to save Clove from herself. Anything is better than what I saw that day.”
Ying-Ying gave her a sad smile. “I thank you on Legend’s behalf Akane. And on Zhu Shu’s.”
Akane pushed herself up the fence and stood. “What else could I do? I mean really, how many people could refuse a direct plea from a god?” She took out Zhu Shu’s scepter and waved it, “And for the second time in one week?”
Ying-Ying giggled. “I’m sorry to dump so much on you all at once Akane, but Legend said it was imperative that I tell you this today.”
“Today?”
“Yes. I have no idea why, but he was most insistent. I had to tell you today immediately after you had met with the Senshi.” She shrugged. “Legend only explains things to me sometimes, Beloved. He likes for people to figure things out for themselves.”
“Sounds like most supernatural types I’ve ever heard stories of.” She smiled at the ghost girl. “Well the message has been delivered. Do you have to run off immediately?”
Ying-Ying gave her a brilliant smile. “Unless Legend calls me for something, I don’t have anything else I need to do. And while my home is lovely enough, I’ve been pretty much stuck there for four years. I was kind of hoping you would let me stay.”
“Of course you can stay. You should know you’re welcome anytime. I may not feel like Zhu Shu’s memories of you are my own anymore, but I still feel like you’re a childhood friend, too. It will be good to have you around. I’ve missed you.” Akane dusted out her bunny tail and turned towards home. “So, tell me, Ying-Ying, how long can you stay in the mortal realm?”
The pink haired ghost smiled. “I don’t know for certain. I’m guessing about as long as you can go without sleep, give or take an hour or two. After all, it’s your ki that gives me the ability to be here.”
“You mean you’re draining ki from me?” Akane asked, surprised.
Ying-Ying laughed. “I’m a ghost, not a wraith, Akane. I’m just using the ki you’re radiating to sustain my presence here. You’ll never notice what I use.”
“Oh. So you mean you can more or less be around from here on?”
“Yes. If you want me to be. The path between here and my home is fully open now. I can come and go as I wish, thanks to Zhu Shu.”
“Gods yes! Oh, I hope Zhu Shu gets back from the past soon. She’s going to be so happy that you’re here.”
“I hope she does too. I wish Legend would tell me what’s happing. This is the first time I haven’t been able to feel her in four years. It’s like she’s unconscious or something”
“Yeah. But hey, it’s just supposed to be a wish to return a sword to a samurai, right? Nothing too bad can be happening.”
“I really hope you’re right, Akane. I really do.”
They turned a corner and stopped, blinking at the unusual sight before them. A beautiful girl in a red gi was fighting with a dog over a sandwich that had apparently come out of the trashcan next to them. As the girl succeeded in getting the sandwich away from the dog, and set down to eat it, Akane finally found her voice.
“Don’t eat that!”
The girl looked at her in surprise. “But I’m hungry!”
Akane sighed. “That’s garbage. You can’t eat garbage!”
“But it’s the first thing I’ve found to eat all day!”
Akane stepped forward, and the girl withdrew, a throwing star coming to her hand. “This is my food! I won’t let you have it!”
Akane blinked at the star. “Look, you can’t eat out of the trash! You’ll get sick or something! Don’t you have any money?”
“Money? No, it all burned up with my mother and sisters.”
Akane’s hand went to her mouth as she drew a breath in sympathy. “Oh you poor girl. Why don’t you come home with me. I’m sure we can give you some food.”
The girl blinked. “You-you would give me food?” Tears started to form in her eyes. “Oh, no-one has ever made so kind a gesture to me before!”
“Yeah, well I can’t let you eat from the trash.” Akane stepped forward and gently patted the girls shoulder. “Now put that back in the garbage and let’s get you some real food.”
The girl nodded, tears of joy still streaming from her eyes as she sat the sandwich on top of the trashcan and clasped her hands in front of her, bowing. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Akane blushed. “It’s okay, really. I’m Akane Tendo. What’s your name?”
“Konatsu Kenzan of the Sexy Kunoichi Clan.”
Akane turned to Ying-Ying to introduce her, and found herself looking at a ghost who looked like she had seen a ghost. Ying-Ying was giving Konatsu a wide eyed stare. Akane snapped her fingers in front of the translucent girl. “Um… Ying-Ying? You okay?”
The pink haired ghost blinked and then looked at Akane and smiled in ecstatic joy. “Oh Akane, we found her! WE FOUND HER!!!”
Akane turned to look at back Konatsu, who was looking at the ghost and blinking in bewilderment.
“Found who, Ying-Ying?”
“Our last Heartsmate!!!”
Konatsu fell to her knees in shock, her face filled with disbelief. “How- How is this possible? You -you are only one of my dreams! How can you be here?”
Ying-Ying knelt before the wide eyed kunoichi. “Because I am no dream, my beloved.”
“But – but you are exactly as I dreamed of you! You are the sakura girl!”
Ying-Ying nodded. “I am Chinese, and Ying-Ying means cherry blossom.”
“But… if you are real, then what of the others? The Dancer and the Guardian? I have dreamed of you for so long! You have been all that has made my life bearable! The fantasy of believing that somewhere I would find you and be free!” The girl broke down in tears as Ying-Ying reached out to stroke her hair.
“We are not a fantasy, my love. And as you have been dreaming of us, we have been searching for you. And now that we have found you, you will never be lost again…”
* * * * *
Kagura stood on the sentry post near the village gate and contemplated her short life. Spawned from Naraku during one of his many reformations, her existance had been unending servitude and fear. She’d changed from what she had been when she was first born and had begun to grow. When she had first fought Inuyasha, she had blindly obeyed Naraku’s orders, had even been pleased to follow them. She’d slaughtered an entire contingent of the okami just to lure Kouga in to steal his shards. She’d even gloated about it at the time.
But she’d also begun to realize that such feelings belonged to Naraku, not her. As she had continued to exist, to become her own person, she had begun to see how little she wanted to be like her creator. She didn’t feel the same contempt for everyone, the same overwhelming desire to control.
And she was beginning to suspect that she felt things that Naraku never could feel, like compassion, or this strange yearning sensation she felt…
A noise made her start, her fan snapping open as she turned, but it was only the girl she had found that morning, Ukyo.
“You can’t sleep either?” Ukyo asked as she sat on the wall and looked out over the gouge Tatewaki had made in the mountain.
“Sleep is dangerous for a youkai.” Kagura shrugged. “I can’t feel safe enough to sleep now that Naraku knows I betrayed him. Sooner or later he will come to kill me.”
“Vindictive sort? Yeah, that figures. I’m afraid to dream of Zhu Shu again.”
“Your friend is in great danger. Naraku will only let her live so long as he has a use for her, and he will not hesitate to sacrifice her if it serves his purpose.”
“I can’t let that happen. Whether I really like the idea or not, she is my fiancée. It’s my job to save her.”
“Fiancée? I do not recognize the term.”
“We are betrothed. She has asked my father for my hand in marriage, and has been accepted as my bride to be.”
“Are you not both female?”
“Don’t remind me. It’s complicated. My father refuses to acknowledge me as his daughter, and has forced me to live as a boy all my life. It’s made my love life sheer hell.” She gave a rueful chuckle. “I doubt a pretty girl like you has ever had those kind of problems.”
“I know little of such things. I am only a year old. I have never known this thing, love.”
“You look almost twenty.”
“I am a youkai. I was created by Naraku as you see me.”
“Wow, that’s kinda creepy. This Naraku guy can do that?”
“He was created by the combining of hundreds of youkai into a single individual. When he made me, I was little more than a puppet. I have come to think for myself since then, and that is why Naraku sought to kill me.”
“I see. I can sympathize. The way my dad has treated me all these years has made me feel like a puppet too.” Ukyo smiled. “I suppose you could say that we have a lot in common.”
“Perhaps.”
Ukyo shrugged. “One thing I do know well is the feeling of being an outsider. I’ve felt that way for more years than I can count. Hiding who I was from everybody, never letting them see the real me. I get the feeling you’ve spent as much time watching Inuyasha and his friends as you’ve spent fighting them. Watching and wishing you could be their friend too.”
Kagura blinked and looked at the chef, who was looking up at the stars. “What – what do you mean?”
“I listened to Kagome’s tales at dinner rather well. And I watched you as she told them. I don’t really know why, other than just the fact that you were across the fire from me, but I could see your face as she talked about the various adventures they’ve had, especially the ones about you.”
“I see.”
“You don’t know how to hide what you’re feeling too well, Kagura. I wonder if you had as much trouble concealing your feelings from Naraku. But you weren’t happy when Kagome talked about the trouble you’ve caused them. You seemed rather sad, in fact.” Ukyo sighed. “It’s just like I used to be when I first had to pretend to be a boy. I made all kinds of goofs because I didn’t understand a lot of stuff that boys took for granted. I kind of feel like you want to try and fit in with the humans here, but you don’t know how.”
“I am a youkai, Ukyo. I will never be able to live as a human. Nor would I want to.”
Ukyo shook her head. “That isn’t true, Kagura. I think you really want to be accepted for who you are. As Kagura, not as Naraku’s minion, or as Inuyasha’s enemy, or the evil wind sorceress, but just as Kagura. I think you want to be liked, instead of being feared.”
Kagura laughed, her fan rising to cover her mouth as she chuckled briefly. “Liked?”
Ukyo nodded. “I’d even go so far as to say you want to be loved.”
“As I told you, I do not even know what this thing you call love is.”
Ukyo shrugged. “One thing I think I’m starting to figure out is that no-one does, Kagura. No-one really knows what love is until they’ve found it.”
Kagura tilted her head and thought again about the strange feeling she had been thinking about just prior to the chef’s arrival. She snorted softly. “I do not understand the human obsession with love and mating. It seems so tangled anyway. Kagome and Inuyasha seem to think of love very differently than, say Nabiki and Tao-Ching, and look at yourself, a female who is to be joined to another female.”
Ukyo nodded. “Love means different things to different people, just like sex does. Kagome is young and very insecure about Inuyasha’s love, to her way of thinking, she has to have utter security, the absolute certainty that Inuyasha loves her and her alone. She wants the Miracle Romance she’s been told about since her childhood, and she is learning that real life isn’t as smooth as the storybooks. Nabiki on the other hand is a complete and utter pervert who’s fiancé is just as much of one. To them, sex is just something to do to have fun, and the more the merrier. As for me and Zhu Shu… that’s just complicated from the word go. I know she only likes girls, and I don’t really have a problem with her wanting me as a sex partner so much as I just have always liked boys. I don’t think that her preferring females is wrong or anything like that, but I grew up listening to the same stories Kagome did, and always thought I’d find my own male hero. Instead, I’m the one rescuing the damsel in distress.” Ukyo chuckled. “I have more in common with Kagome than you might think, though. If she’s really Kikyou’s reincarnated soul, then you could say she’s destined to love Inuyasha, just as Kikyou did. That’s the way things were for me too. In a previous incarnation, I was Zhu Shu’s wife, and I died saving her from someone as vile as Naraku.”
Kagura shook her head. “That is the one thing that I could never understand about humans. This willingness to sacrifice one another or themselves for such a foolish thing. Naraku has used it many times against them.”
“Yeah. Funny though, how they seem to keep winning, isn’t it?” Ukyo seemed lost in her own thoughts for a moment. “To do anything for love…”
Kagura sat in silence with her for several minutes, her own mind going over and over her experiences with Inuyasha as well… and the tangled emotions that had caused her to throw Kohaku on her feather and send him away, knowing that it would cost her her life.
Then her stomach growled.
Ukyo looked at her and laughed. “Want a midnight snack? I’m feeling a bit hungry too, and not to be insulting, but Kagome’s cooking leaves a lot to be desired.”
Kagura chuckled, glad for the distraction. “I fear I have little to judge her by. I’ve spent most of my life scavenging. Most of my meals have been little better. Youkai are not well known for cooking their food before eating it.”
Kagura blinked in surprise as a small grill appeared from behind Ukyo’s back, and she looked on curiously as the chef attached a fresh propane bottle and lit it with her lighter. However, the smells that came from it a few minutes later made even her mouth water. She could barely contain herself when the first okonomiyaki was served and wolfed it down in just a few bites.
“I have never had anything that tastes as good as this,” she admitted as Ukyo grinned and handed her a second helping. “It’s much better tasting than raw rabbit.”
“Raw rabbit?!?”
“Well, yes. I never did develop a taste for human, and rat is so gamey. And I always seem to simply turn things to charcoal when I try to cook them. At least raw is edible”
“You poor thing. I think I’m going to volunteer to cook from now on. At least then I know you’ll eat better.”
Kagura nodded, too busy devouring her third okonomiyaki to speak. When she finished she gave a small bow. “Thank you. I am surprised that you are concerned for my well being. I mean, I could simply be a spy for Naraku, you know.”
“Yeah, I thought about that, but I really don’t think so. From what Kagome and Sango said, you were nearly killed by another of Naraku’s minions saving the life of Sango’s brother. And from what you said, only our arrival saved you from Naraku himself. It’s too complicated a plot to set you up as a spy, when a much simpler story would do. And I saw you yesterday. You were scared to death, but you went to possibly face Naraku anyway. You can’t fake that kind of fear, or the courage it took to overcome it.”
“Courage?” Kagura laughed. “I fear courageous is not a term I would use to describe myself. I want to live. Especially now that I have got my heart. The only reason I am here instead of far away is that I know Naraku could find me wherever I went. My only hope of safety is with Inuyasha and his friends. They are the only thing Naraku fears. I thought I could run and hide, but Naraku found me only moments after I had begun to flee. My only chance to survive is here.”
“Yeah, well Naraku crossed the wrong people this time when he took Zhu Shu. I’m the greatest combat okonomiyaki chef in the world, Tao-Ching is a fully trained Amazon warrior, and Rei is a Sailor Senshi. Even Kuno is pretty good with a sword.”
“It is the one you call Nabiki who I find intriguing.”
Ukyo grinned. “Humm. Well, I think she finds you intriguing too, or at least she seems to lust after you. She was trying really hard to get you to go have sex with her and Tao-Ching after dinner.”
Kagura blushed. “Is – is that what she meant when she invited me to come share a ménage a trois? I had wondered why Kagome and Rei both blushed so furiously.”
“Yeah, I doubt the term has been invented yet. I was rather surprised you didn’t react much to the innuendos she was tossing at you all night. Utter cluelessness wasn’t something I expected.”
Kagura looked down at herself. “To be honest, I have had no experience with sex either. I have never really thought of myself in the context of being a woman. Still, it is not sex that I find interesting about Nabiki. Rarely have I seen a human with the raw magical power she has. Her youki is unbelievably strong. ”
“Nabiki? She’s a wiz with finances, I admit, but I don’t think she knows magic. I had one lesson in creating a shield recently and got told I had some potential, but none of us are mages.”
“I find that hard to believe. Did you not notice her counteract Naraku’s curse on Tao-Ching earlier? When you vanished betwixt one step and the next, I felt sure you were gone for good, yet mere minutes later, she brought him back to join us.”
“Huh? We just took a wrong turn, and he followed the scent trail back.”
“Indeed he did not. You stepped through a portal that closed the instant you passed. And the one that formed to bring you back bore her signature.”
“What?”
“Yes. Naraku’s curse on the Hibiki randomly creates portals that they pass through, just like the one he placed in the priests hand. I know not what world you visited, but you were no longer in this one.”
Ukyo blinked. “That would explain the grove of yellow sakura, I guess.”
“Are you telling me that she was wholly unaware of doing this?”
“Uh, yeah. I didn’t notice it either.”
“Humm. I shall have to speak with her in the morning then. As powerful as she is, to be untrained is a danger to us all.”
Ukyo nodded. “Sounds like a plan. But if you’re going to teach her magic, will you make me a promise?”
Kagura raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”
“Please don’t teach her how to make clothes disappear or something like that, or we’re all likely to end up as naked as she was when she came to the cave this morning.”
Kagura had to laugh along with her.
* * * * *
Akane, Ying-Ying and Konatsu arrived at home to find Lo Shen and Sandal apparently collaborating on the wards being put up around the estate. Lo Shen was in bunny girl form, and if Akane didn’t know better, she’d suspect that the Loremistress was flirting with the voodoo priest with the really short cheongsam she was wearing. Sandal was in the process of painting a series of symbols along the doorframe, and surprised Akane when he looked up and greeted her in Japanese. “Hey, Miss Akane-san. You need to be waiting a few min while we finish ‘dis spell.”
“Sandal? When did you learn Japanese?”
The dark skinned man laughed. “I don’t be speakin’ Japanese, Miss Akane. The kind Lady here be givin’ me a spelled amulet. She say my accent be drivin’ her bonkers.”
Lo Shen laughed. “I never figured it would carry over. I just gave him one of our standard translation amulets. We have a few for when we have to send a young one along on a mission in which miscommunication is not allowable.” She looked the red garbed Kunoichi over with an appraising eye, noting that the ninja girl seemed in a dreamy daze as she stood arm in arm with the ghost girl. “My, my, Ying-Ying. Where did you find this beauty?”
Ying-Ying clapped her hands excitedly. “She’s our last Heartsmate!”
Akane chuckled. “We found her fighting over the garbage with a dog. The poor dear hasn’t eaten a decent meal in ages.”
Konatsu was looking wide eyed at the dojo and the bunny-eared girl. “Akane-sama? Is this where you live? It is so big! And such interesting people!”
Lo Shen chuckled. “You’ve seen nothing yet dear. Nodoka is making dinner since Kasumi is off with Tofu, but it should be ready in about a half hour or so.” She turned towards Ying-Ying. “Why don’t you show the dear boy the furo? He can take a nice warm bath before dinner and if he wants I’m sure I have a kimono he can wear.”
Akane blinked. “Him?”
Lo Shen laughed. “What, you think I can’t tell a Jusenkyo curse after so much exposure recently?” She looked back to the red garbed girl. “I’m guessing from your manner, you prefer being a girl?”
Konatsu had looked at Lo Shen in shock when she had called her a boy, and now she broke down in tears. “Oh, I am so ashamed. I had not wished to reveal my awful secret! What must you think of me! I am a failure as a Kunoichi! A shame and a burden to my entire clan!” She would have fled away crying if Akane hadn’t grabbed her in a hug and kept her from running.
“It’s okay Konatsu. My fiancée Ranma has the same curse you do. If you’d rather stay a girl full time, we understand, but you couldn’t have found a better place to be with your curse.”
“But I am not cursed! I am blessed! For sixteen years I have had to live with the shame of being a failure in the most basic of all Kunoichi arts! It is a gift of the gods! Finally, I am a woman!”
Akane blinked as Ying-Ying stroked the girl’s hair. “It’s okay beloved,” the Chinese ghost said. “Trust me. I knew Legend had something planned for you. You’re really among friends who understand completely here.”
Lo Shen nodded. “I should have seen something like this coming. Our Empress does have very definite tastes after all.”
“So, so, you’re not going to laugh at me?” Konatsu blinked through her tears.
Akane shook her head. “Heck no. It’s just like you’re a girl cursed to be a guy, except the temperature of the water is reversed for you. No big deal. I’m cursed to turn into a bunny girl like Lo Shen here myself. We know all about this particular magic.”
Konatsu looked at her wide eyed. “And- and it’s really okay?”
“Yep. You’re just like all the rest of us. And you said you’re homeless?”
“My family’s teashop burned down recently. My step mother and step sisters all died. I- I have been wandering Tokyo since last night.”
“Then you have a new home now.” Akane said firmly. “And when Zhu Shu and the rest get back, I’m sure you’ll find this will be the happiest place you’ve ever been.”
“I am curious, Miss-” Lo Shen said as Konatsu clasped her hands together and gazed at Akane is adoring gratitude. “- can you tell me when you received this ‘blessing’.”
Konatsu shrugged and shook her head. “I know only that I was standing watching the last remains of the shop burning, and then I seem to have fainted. When I awoke I was in a strange cave, and found myself naked and fully a woman. I left the cave through a mist, and I was back at the remains of the shop, but the ashes were cold and some time had passed. I can only assume a god blessed me, for I have no other explanation.”
Lo Shen raised an eyebrow. “I see. Well, I will want to talk to you later dear. Ying-Ying? Will you show Konatsu the bath? I want to make sure the wards are properly attuned to you, and I can’t do that while you’re outside of them, and I need to talk to Akane for a moment.”
The pink haired ghost nodded. “I’d be happy to, Lo Shen.” She reached out a hand for Konatsu. “Beloved?”
Konatsu blinked, but shyly reached out and took the ghosts hand, surprised when she felt her fingers actually touching the translucent girl’s. Ying-Ying smiled.
“I can become semi tangible when I want to, beloved. So if you’d like, I can even wash your back.”
Konatsu blinked, blushed brightly, but shyly nodded again. “You- you really like me?”
Ying-Ying nodded. “I do. Really.” She blushed a little herself. “I mean, you haven’t even said anything about me being a ghost.”
Konatsu blinked. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and you’ve always been a ghost in my dreams. That is why to see you for real is so wonderful! And you’ve been so kind to me, both you and Akane-sama.”
Ying-Ying blushed brighter. “You really think I’m beautiful?”
Konatsu nodded, then looked mortified when her stomach growled. Akane and Lo Shen laughed. “Take her and get her bathed, Ying-Ying,” Lo Shen chuckled. “And I’m sure if you stop along the way, Nodoka would be glad to give you a little snack to tide you over till dinner.”
The ghost girl nodded and led the kunoichi inside as Sandal waved them through the open gate, having finished his symbol painting moments prior. Lo Shen waited till they were inside before turning back to Akane. “Well, I would say that the girl is quite besotted with Ying-Ying. I imagine the same will be likely of Zhu Shu as well. The poor thing is sweet, lovely, and lonely, but not terribly bright. I have a feeling Ukyo will probably be the dominant one in that little foursome. However,” the loremistress fixed Akane with a look. “Keep an eye on her, Akane. I am dubious of this ‘blessing’. I smell Clove’s hand it that, and I’m going to be going over Konatsu with a fine toothed comb later tonight. She could be a ticking bomb just waiting for Zhu Shu’s return.”
Akane nodded. “I can see that. It did sound a little suspicious. But I’ve also seen weirder coincidences.”
“I have too. I have Urd’s number, and it’s possible that this is all part of Shan Pu’s wish, but better safe than sorry.” She shrugged. “It’s also possible the Dragon is manipulating things, just as he apparently did in sending Zhu Shu back in time. I spoke at length with Ying-Ying earlier before she went to meet you, so I know there are many oddities in Zhu Shu’s life that are apparently due to his influence. I suspect Sarhia was another such. The Dance of Shiva is a many layered art, and for Zhu Shu to have learned all of it’s aspects is a wonder. I know of no dancer who has ever mastered more than a few, and we Amazons keep track of such things.”
“Humm, really? I thought I had learned all of it too, but I’ve tried to think of how to perform the attack she used on that monster the Senshi fought, the Dance of Asura, and I don’t have a clue.”
“From what I’ve observed of your skills, Akane, I would say you have mastered the Dance of the Veils, and the Dance of Swords, and possibly the Dances of Wind and Water. The Dance of Ashura is a form that can only be used by mages.”
“How many dances are there anyway?”
“There are four elemental dances, Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth, and four non elemental, Swords, Veils, Shadows, and Ashura. They each have a combat and a non combat form. The Dance of Wind is what gives both you and Zhu Shu such incredible speed, over and above that which is part of the training of the Song school. I doubt even her grandfather could match Zhu Shu’s speed now. The Dance of Water is part of the reason you both move so gracefully as well.”
“Wow. And I know the Veils is primarily defensive.”
“It has to be. The level of lust that dance can excite would get the dancer raped if she couldn’t fend the guys off.” Lo Shen chuckled. “And swords is obvious, it is an almost totally offensive technique. You might also have mastered the Fire and Earth dances as well, but as you have not been fireballed as often as our empress, we’ve no way to know if you’re as immune to fire as she is. And neither of you as yet have caused any earthquakes so I’m not certain of Earth. Shadows and Ashura are primarily magical arts though, and you are not a mage, though I suspect your sister Nabiki has the potential to be a fairly powerful one. I had yet to test her properly before she went on this little escapade. And your eldest sister has her own talents as well. I’ve rarely met such a strong broadcast empath.”
Akane blinked. “What?”
“Surely you’ve noticed how Kasumi has a knack for making people feel better?”
Akane nodded.
“She’s quite good for a self taught talent. Her doctor is one too, though nowhere near as strong as she is, that’s part of the reason he always got so overwhelmed when she was around.” She smiled. “I imagine that he is over that now. They’ve probably forged quite the empathic bond by this time, provided he could keep up with her.” Lo Shen shook her head in amusement. “I really could not imagine a better place for Zhu Shu to have wondered to in her journeys than here. I thought this alliance to your family was primarily one of convenience when Ke Lun first described it to the council of elders, but I have changed my mind now that I have actually spent time with you all.”
“I never really thought my family was anything special.”
Sandal laughed at that. “Miss Akane, I knew your family som’tin special first day I come here. Dose two rascals dat be your fathers, dey don know what kinda blessin they have. Jamaica, she don got no-one like you guys.”
Akane blushed. “Thank you Sandal. I’m glad I can talk to you now, you know. I’ve wanted to thank you for constantly repairing things around here.”
“Taint no’tin, Miss Akane. Your house mainly paper, and I be coming to like the Japanese style. Miss Kasumi, she been talking to me bout making some additions too. Might be adding a few mo’ rooms here soon.”
Akane laughed. “Yeah, we are getting crowded. Can I ask you something personal though? I know you came looking for a cure for a curse, but I’ve never seen your cursed form.”
“Yeah you have, Miss Akane. You jus’ don know it. I be a coon.”
“A Raccoon?”
“Yup. It be handy when I be needin to get in tight places under da floors and stuff. You’ve seen me a few times when I’ve been about.”
“I just thought you were a regular raccoon. I never thought anything of it.”
Lo Shen laughed. “I used to have a raccoon familiar. That’s how I met Sandal the other night. I was rather surprised when the spell I tossed to chase him off got dispelled. I thought he was going though the wreckage of Zhu Shu’s room looking for something to eat.”
“Dat dragon made a mess alright. I was trying to get Miss Zhu Shu’s ting’s out o de rain.” He smiled. “Handy spell dat you used to fix de roof. Wouldn’t mind learning stuff like dat meself.”
Akane laughed and left the two in a heady discussion about magic and went in search of her fiancée’s to tell them the good news, and to pass on both Ying-Ying’s and Lo Shen’s warnings about Clove.
* * * * *
The village was burning still as she looked down from the castle gate, but nothing was left alive to combat the flames. She looked on dispassionately as the Lord’s house collapsed. Hunger was all that drove her now.
She turned and looked at the castle gate, noting the heavy wood scarred by fires past, and the marks of rams. The gate had held, but the wall nearby had not been so durable. She flew across the courtyard inside to the shattered doorway to the main hall, noting in passing the skeletons of both men and youkai that had lain there for long years. Inside, was no better. More skeletons lay everywhere. She paused for a moment to examine the corpse pinned to the wall behind the throne by a massive sword, but her growling stomach did not give her long before she moved on to the once proud feast hall.
The dust of years lay heavily on everything, showing no signs of disturbance, though it appeared the fighting had not made it into the hall. In the kitchen she finally found what she had sought, and ripped the trapdoor to the cellar open easily. The cavern below had fared far better than the castle, and little dust covered the barrels of dry goods and the stone walls had kept out the vermin. It was not the red meat she craved, but the dried meats had been stored well and were still edible, as were the sealed jars of pickled vegetables.
Naraku found her there, gnawing on a piece of dried jerky and chuckled. “So much effort to seek out these poor rations. Why not feast your fill on the villagers?”
She snarled at him and went back to her jerky.
Naraku reached down to pet her. “I can sense there is a mind in you, my pet. You would be so much more useful if you awoke. This bestial level of existence surely cannot be appealing to you. What are you running from, I wonder?”
She growled again, and found another piece of jerky.
“I shall leave you to your feast then, my pet. I will call you at need. Mouryoumaru has fled his cavern, and seeks a new bolt hole. When he has settled again, we will deal with him. Until then make sure no-one enters this castle.”
Her tail lashed impatiently as she nodded. Then when he had left, she hunted around the cellar until she found the storage rooms. She made a bed for herself out of dusty silk pillows, and curled up to sleep.
Just before passing out, her lips formed a single word…
“Ukyo.”
Ukyo woke with a start.
“Oh, Zhu Shu, what has happened to you?”
Back to Tears of the Dragon, Part 4: Days of Future Past Index - Back to Sailor Moon Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction