"No! I did my best to make a man of him!" Genma begged as Nodoka stood over him with the sword. He was hogtied to a chopping block. "He's everything you ever wanted him to be!" In the background, Ranma-chan pranced around in a dress, reading shoujo manga with Kasumi. How exactly she was prancing and reading at the same time, wasn't exactly clear. "Ooooh, isn't he cute?" she said, pointing to a character in the manga. Nodoka, who had apparently grown to be two hundred feet tall with a sword the size of a M-1 tank, said, "That's NOT what I wanted!" She pointed. "Look what you did to him!" "It was an accident! I thought it was just a training grounds!" "You did it deliberately! You heard the legends about how those who trained there grew in power! You didn't care what happened to him as long as he grew stronger!" Her voice was booming thunder, her glare like lighting. "No! If I'd known what would happen to him, I never would have gone! Everything I've done for the last ten years has been to make Ranma the best martial artist and the best man I could!" Some of the things hadn't quite worked out like they had been supposed to, but Genma knew that his intent had been pure. Well, some of the time. "He's my son! I never wanted to make him my daughter!" I need to learn this giant trick she's using, a tiny bit of his brain said to the rest of him. That's one move I haven't seen before...maybe it's related to the Giant Demon Head. "You failed!" "Only at the man part!" "That's the part I care about!" There was nothing Genma could say about that. He struggled to break his bonds, but they were too strong for him. "I'll do better! Give me more time!" "Ten years was too much time! Now, you DIE!" He could see the sword descending as time slowed to a crawl. It came on, inevitably but slowly, a destiny of doom. And then...it stopped. There was a woman standing under the blade, with long blonde hair bound into braids, dusky skin, and green eyes, wearing a yellow dress fringed at the bottom with interlocking bronze and black squares. "What's going on here?" "My wife is going to kill me for no good reason!" She clucked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk. That's not good. No good at all." She came over with a hacksaw and cut off the chains. "Why don't you just come with me and I'll get you some nice, relaxing tea. You'll feel better with some rest. Nearly dying is just so stressful." Her voice was soothing, and Genma found himself nodding and following her. Some nice tea and rest would be good. Once they passed into the trees, the Giant Nodoka dissolved away like the morning dew, no longer needed, along with the chopping block. ************ Parallel Lives #14: Book One: For Remembrance Lost When Forsaken Attack A Wheel of Time / Ranma 1 / 2 crossover, by John Biles Other chapters available at http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/PL/ ************ Nodoka woke up when something struck her in the face. It was Genma, flailing about. A little bit of observation showed he was apparently 'eating in his sleep'. She sighed and moved out of the range of his arms, then rolled over and tried to sleep. It didn't work. She sighed and sat up. How are we ever going to find my son, she thought. He could be anywhere. And I think the king is he flirting with me. I hope he doesn't try to do something to Genma. Ailron seemed to be a nice enough king, but kings were dangerous when thwarted, she knew. He was useful, though; from what she had learned, this world was descending into anarchy, and having his army protecting them would be a lot of help. Finally, she sank back into sleep and let dreams claim her. ************** Ranma-chan felt mildly confused. She was wearing one of her Aes Sedai dresses, the blue one with the knee- length skirt and a gold vest. It laced up the front from the waist to the high neckline, although by unlacing it, you could give yourself as low a neckline as you wanted. She had it laced up to the top today. It wasn't the dress which confused her. It was the fact that she was sitting outside Furinkan High School, eating lunch with Alyssa, Sayuri, Nabiki, and Yuka. They all wore elaborate dresses with Aes Sedai shawls, while off across the yard, she could see Akane, Daisuke, Hiroshi, and Ryouga eating lunch together, all garbed in Ash'aman costumes. Ukyou was sitting to Ranma's right, hard at work on an okonomiyaki, garbed in her warder costume. One of her masterpieces was sitting in Ranma-chan's hands, in fact. Ranma-chan munched on it while she tried to remember how got there. "So, what's the principal's plan to break out of the broom closet this time?" Sayuri asked. She was wearing a blue shawl with her orange and blue dress; it was quite modest. "We don't know. Has your other warder spotted what the Chosen Club is up to this week?" Yuka sighed and pushed up the glasses that Ranma-chan didn't remember her needing. Her shawl was brown, and her dress was sleek yellow silk. "Not that I remember," Ranma-chan said. Second warder? She looked over at the school building, which looked like the White Tower had been planted in the middle of Furinkan High School, looming over the entire grounds. A young blonde girl in novice whites walked up, curtseyed to Ranma-chan, then sat down. With Konatsu's voice, she said, "It looks like Gosseael is up to something. He's been talking to the police. Probably going to try to Compel some of them to intervene and let the Principal out." Nabiki frowned. "We can't allow that. Especially not after I spent so much time bribing and blackmailing them. They might let Ranko's father out of the zoo." She wore the dress Ranma-chan remembered her wearing on Toma's island, but with a blue shawl that clashed horribly with it. Sayuri nodded. "I don't ever want to go back to how things were before Ranko and Kaneda came back and showed us the true path. Even if I haven't been able to get three boyfriends yet like you, Ranko. And one of them the head of the Ash'aman club! Kaneda is such a stud!" She looked dreamy-eyed. Yuka snorted. "Don't let Hiroshi hear you say that. He gets jealous, you know." She turned to Ranko and Alyssa. "So why don't you two ever get jealous of each other and Kaneda?" Ukyou answered instead. "Well, all of us change sex except for Konatsu, so we just have wild orgies whenever we feel like it. Konatsu looks like a woman, but he's all man when I need one." Ranma-chan's eyes widened. We've been having wild orgies? Since when? Alyssa finally spoke up. "Ranko and I generally prefer to be girls when we have sex, unless it's with each other, Kaneda likes to be a guy, Konatsu's always a guy, and Ukyou swings both ways as needed." This has got to be a dream, Ranma-chan thought. It has to be. When the giant Ghost-cat ate the sun, her hope was confirmed. ******************** Akane couldn't sleep. She wasn't relishing the idea of a confrontation with her family. None of them were going to support her on this, although Nabiki and Kasumi wouldn't go as far in opposing it as Daddy would. Daddy and Mr. Saotome would fight tooth and nail. She wasn't sure what Mrs. Saotome would think. Only Mr. Saotome knew her well, and he was terrified of her. With my luck, she'll demand Ranma kill himself, and me marry the corpse, she thought, then shook her head. She's not that deranged. But she might disown him. Assuming she can without Genma's consent. Of course, he'll probably do whatever she demands. Even more than the marriage thing, she was afraid Ranma would either have to die or dishonor himself. He'd find a way to wiggle out if he could, but there was only so far he could wiggle. Ukyou would probably try to help him wiggle out; that would help a little. They're going to hate Alyssa, Akane thought, and frowned. If only there was some way for them to get to know her before they know about her and me, Akane thought, and began arguing with herself over whether Alyssa should come. She finally decided it was for the best; Alyssa would look like a coward if she didn't come. For a moment, she was tempted to settle the issue by just running off and getting married to Alyssa before the meeting, but she dismissed that. I need to talk to everyone, she thought. But if I wake them up in the middle of the night...well, we can have a conference before we meet with our folks. I wish Alyssa was here, she thought. I don't feel like being alone right now. The nice soft bed back in Cairhien was no longer so comforting; it was too big and felt empty. She felt empty. I need some loving, she thought, then laughed at herself. I sound like a bad shoujo manga. She finally drifted off to sleep, thrashing wildly; little rest came. ************* Ranma-chan woke from a dozen nightmares a little while later. Her brain had gone through just about every bad possible ending to this situation, from her being forced to live as a woman to committing seppuku, to her father splitting open and a thousand foot tall sinuous monstrosity erupting from his flesh and eating them all. Not that the last one was very likely. She sat up and sighed. I shouldn't be so frightened, she thought. It's just meeting my mother. Who might tell me I have to kill myself. That was enough to make it reasonable for anyone to be frightened, but Ranma-chan hated being frightened. It wasn't her style. Mom's got to understand, she thought. They need me like this. And the whole curse was an accident, anyway. Pop would have never deliberately done this to me. I've always done my best to be a man. And I can't leave anyway; I made an oath to the Hall, and Ucchan has to bust that statue, wherever it is... She turned and looked at Ukyou, who was sprawled out next to her. She idly ran a hand across his flat chest, so different from the curves of his girl body. It was mostly hairless, as was her own boy body. He had faint stubble, though; his boy body grew facial hair quickly, faster than most men Ranma-chan had known, faster than her own boy body. I wonder if somewhere, out there, there's a Ranma and Ukyou who naturally are a girl and a boy respectively...I suppose there must be with all those portal- stone worlds, she thought. I wonder what they would do in this situation...I suppose it wouldn't be so much a problem for them. As she thought, her hand roamed up Ukyou's chin and gently across his cheek, feeling the tiny hairs trying to become a beard, but doomed to die. It was strangely calming to do so, as the world faded away, and there was only her hand and a slightly prickly cheek. Finally, she had traced out all of his cheeks, and the finger slid down his neck and along his right arm, feeling the smooth faint hairs, then sliding against the hairs to ruffle them. She laughed slightly for no real reason. Her finger ran down his right side, feeling his ribs and muscles, slowly, one by one. She'd never done something like this before, and she couldn't figure out why it felt so...good. Ranma-chan wasn't the type to use a word like 'erotic', and she wouldn't have admitted that to herself either. Her body trembled in a way that would have confused her if she'd been paying enough attention to it. She'd never touched him like this before. Not in her girl body, and not even in her boy body during sex. Oh, they'd touched each other, of course, but it had usually been either fumbled or frenzied groping, a frenetic effort to bring each other to orgasm, not a slow, lingering exploration. Falling out of bed a few times hadn't helped either. She began to notice her own stimulation about the same time as she reached his belly button, just above his boxer shorts. It took her a little while to figure out that it was arousal, rather than some kind of illness or just a physical quirk; the fact that it felt good was the key. It was only mild arousal, but it shocked her right into thinking about what she was doing. She jumped back, fell out of the bed, and yelped loudly. Ukyou sat up. "Geez, I've got the most horrendous... Ranchan?" He looked around. "Why are you on the floor?" "I...uh..." She nervously put a hand behind her head. "I had a nightmare about a monster under the bed, so I was checking for Trollocs." "Ranchan, if you have to lie, at least make it plausible," Ukyou said amusedly. "Just fell off in your sleep?" "Yeah," she said quietly. This isn't supposed to happen, she thought. I was supposed to not lust after men, but the stupid Snakes ripped me off! The Foxes said I wouldn't get turned on by men! She scrambled back onto the bed. "Had some bad dreams." "Don't forget your promise, Ranchan," Ukyou said. "I'm afraid Mom's gonna argue promises to family come before promises to lovers." Ukyou smiled broadly, leaned over, and kissed Ranma-chan on the cheek. "Thank you." "Huh?" Ukyou laughed. "It's a guy thing." He winked. "Then I should have gotten it!" "Wrestle you for the secret...if I win, you have to bring me breakfast in bed." Ranma-chan started to say yes, then thought of her earlier actions, and failed to trust herself. "I wish I knew what Mom's gonna think about...everything." "After much thought, I have a clever plan." Ranma-chan listened to an imaginary thunderclap. "Which is?" "Your mom goes by the old Samurai code, right?" "More or less, yeah." Ukyou grinned. "And what's the highest fealty in that?" Ranma-chan cocked her head and thought. "To your lord. But I don't have a lord." "Yes, you do. Akane is your lord." "Mrr?" Ukyou leaned forward. "Remember how I chewed you out about taking the oath to the Hall without asking me? And remember who is the head of the Hall?" "Alyssa and Akan...HEH!" Ranma-chan grinned. "Duty to my lord comes first, over family duties." With wiggle room came confidence. "That solves that problem. The marriages will still be messy, but I don't have to worry about either dying or losing my honor. You're a genius, Ucchan." She thought for a moment. "Do you think we're gonna have any trouble with your father about this? Are you on good terms? I noticed he's never come to visit." Ukyou said, "We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. He's not likely to show up any time soon, I expect." "That's true," Ranma-chan said. Ukyou now sat up and embraced Ranma-chan from behind, kissing her cheek. Ranma-chan felt a sudden jolt through her body, accompanied by one of the purest rushes of terror of her entire life. The only thing keeping her from screaming and jumping across the room was the total paralysis of all of her voluntary muscles. Instead, she simply shivered with a mixture of desire, disgust, and terror. "U...U...U..." Ukyou blinked. "Eh? Are you cold? You're shivering." "I...yes. I'm feeling cold." "Want another blanket?" "Yeah." "Okay, I'll get you one." Ukyou jumped out of bed and went to get her one. Ranma-chan watched him walk and struggled with herself. I don't want him like that, she insisted to herself. I'm a boy. A boy! But he's really a girl so it doesn't matter...right? Her brain spun around and round. She couldn't defend her own status as a boy without Ukyou being a girl at the moment. Which made wanting her okay. But Ukyou was in a boy body, and it wasn't right to want boys like that. So, was it okay to want Ucchan? If bodies didn't matter, just the soul, then it was fine. It wouldn't really be sleeping with a boy. After all, if Ukyou is really a boy right now, then I'd be a girl, and I'm not one, she thought. And if I was a girl, and she was a boy, that would be okay. Ukyou began to root through the wardrobe. "Which blanket you want?" "Uhh, the red one," she said. She tried to go over her logic. If it WAS okay to want Ucchan, then why did she feel like it was bad? Because she couldn't just desire Ukyou. If she started to like him like that, she'd want other guys too, and that wasn't right. Not if she was really a guy. And she was, despite the amount of time she had to spend in her girl body these days. She wrapped the blanket round herself like a shield. Maybe Ukyou's too distracted to notice, she thought. The warder bond was like any other sense; unless a really strong sensation came through, you often didn't notice it if you had other things on your mind. "Nothing. Just cold." Ukyou twitched visibly, and Ranma-chan felt a jumble of emotions through their bond. One of them was a burst of desire. He does want me, she thought. "Ranchan, I can TELL something is bothering you. I can't make you tell me, but..." "I'm just spastic about tomorrow," Ranma-chan lied, fighting off a dozen urges to touch Ukyou in various ways she shouldn't. If only there was some way to just want her and not any REAL boys, she told herself. Then I'd be fine. Ukyou frowned slightly, then came over and hugged her gently, followed by collapsing onto the bed. "It's gonna be fine." Control, Ranma-chan thought. Focus. Drive these thoughts from my mind. "Yeah." She laid back, feeling a bit hot with the blanket. Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to admit that now. So she simply laid down and meditated on snow. Sleep was slow to come. ************* Abel, a tall blond Aiel now passing into middle age, was not the happiest of Aiel. While the hunting had been good in the land the Shaido now found themselves in, and the wetlanders were no threat, the tribe had been floundering about purposelessly. They had simply reacted to whatever came their way, and now they were doing it again. Things had been different when Couladin had ruled them. Even when they had lost, the rewards to be gained had been worth the risk. While he had no guilt or compunction about attacking the band of Wetlanders they were about to assault, there was no point to it. They already had more gai'shain than they knew what to do with, and they hadn't made any real progress towards settling in for the building winter. With the weather returning to normal, it was getting colder and wetter, but instead of building a proper hold, they were running off to dance the spears like children. There were rumors of tensions between Sevanna, the acting chief of the tribe, Couladin's ex-wife, and the Wise Ones as well. That could only bode ill. The same rumors said the Wise Ones had pushed her into this attack, though why they had changed their mind about aggressive actions, he did not know. It bothered him nonetheless. This would be an ill day, he felt in his heart. ************* Galad stared at the map and frowned. Valda was dead. The Seanchan had caught him and destroyed his army. Just as he'd finally located Ailron, the news had arrived that Seanchan forces had caught and destroyed 3,000 of the Children of the Light, and Valda with them. The Children of the Light were now scattered across the Mountains of Mist, Northern Amadicia, Ghealdan, and various adjacent wildernesses, not counting the forces near the White Tower, which might or might not actually still exist. To make matters worse, there were bands of Aiel everywhere. They'd fought several skirmishes, and had the worse of every encounter. He had great respect for their skill. The bands seemed to be converging between him and the rendezvous he sought to make with the other Whitecloaks heading for western Ghealdan. Assuming any Whitecloaks not under his command survived. They had contacted Ailron, who had told him to go away. He wasn't sure what to do about that. He had known there had been friction between Ailron and Lord Captain Commander Niall in the past, but he wasn't sure what had been the causes. Ailron was a bit oily, but he did seem to walk in the Light. Of course, it was possible that he feared it was a Seanchan trap. Galad hoped the man hadn't decided to reject the Light and that it was only a misunderstanding. The only good news was that the Prophet's men had fought a battle with the Seanchan and been crushed. While the Seanchan were relentless, they were, at least, not insane. The Prophet had brought only chaos and death to Ghealdan. And then, there was the mysterious Mayener army. How it had gotten to Ghealdan or what it wanted, he didn't know, only that it was heading south and that rumor claimed the Queen of Ghealdan had given it her blessing. Perhaps they had come to crush the Prophet. He could only hope. He rose and gave orders to move his army west. They would pass near, possibly even encounter Ailron today; as he gave the orders, he began to plan for that encounter. ************* Nodoka was, to say the least, tense. She hadn't seen her son in ten years, and now a sentry had arrived saying that he and some friends had just arrived. She had already thanked the king for being kind enough to provide a tent for her and her husband and Soun to meet with their children. I wonder how they found us, she thought. She glanced over, and saw Soun and Genma were tense as well. They'd been jumpy the last few days, except for when Genma had been playing with some of the children in the camp; it was almost a floating city rather than an army, since it included the wives and children who had fled Amadicia with the King's Guard. The tent flap parted, and Akane walked in, along with a skinny blonde girl in a nice dress, a dark-haired girl dressed as an okonomiyaki seller--Nodoka thought her name was Ukyou--and a dark haired boy dressed in a simple white knit shirt and black pants. His hair was tied back in a long pig-tail, and he had to be her Ranma. While Akane and the blonde looked ready to jump out of their flesh at a touch, Ukyou and Ranma both looked very confident. They were also holding hands, which surprised her; while it was manly to have a mistress, you didn't flirt with her in front of your fiancee and future wife. Given that Ranma and Akane had been engaged to each other sight unseen, she could understand if there was no love between them, but there were courtesies to be observed. Not that she had any real idea what Ranma and Akane's relationship was like; everyone she talked to told a different story. She watched Akane carefully, trying to judge her reaction to Ranma's action. Two things could be seen easily. One was that Akane was very carefully not looking over at Ranma and Ukyou. The other was that Akane was holding the blonde woman's hand tightly, their fingers intertwined. Both their arms were shaking slightly. She glanced over at Soun to judge his reaction, but he was across the room, crying up a storm and half-crushing Akane to death in the process. Glancing at Genma, she could see he wasn't entirely pleased, although it was hard to be sure, as he also looked very nervous. "My son," she said, rising, then running over to him just like Soun had, losing all sense of decorum and enfolding him with her arms. "I have missed you so much." For a time, there was naught but tearful reunions, but finally, the crying was over, and then there was a brief silence; Nodoka could feel the armies being marshaled. She decided to break the silence. "Akane, would you like to introduce us to your friend?" Akane glanced over, then nodded. She took the girl's hand again. "This is Alyssa Sedai." Genma growled faintly. "She's from Ghealdan, the country you're in right now. She's my lover and I'm going to marry her." Cuts to the chase, Nodoka thought. Here comes World War III. "WHAT?" Soun bellowed. "You are marrying Ranma and THAT IS THAT!!!" The Giant Demon Head came out to play. Alyssa screamed in horror, then fainted. Akane slid back a good three feet, dragging Alyssa along. Ranma and Ukyou were barely phased. "And I'm marrying Ucchan. So get used to it." His voice was strong and confident, though a bit rough; Nodoka judged it to be a manly voice. "You're engaged to Akane, and that's final!" Genma bellowed, striding over to him and Ukyou. "Go back to your shop, you hick!" he shouted at her. She shrugged. "Go back to the zoo, panda boy." Akane helped Alyssa up; she recovered swiftly. Akane then turned to her father and scowled. "You could have given her a heart attack or something!" "She's an Aes Sedai witch come to steal our souls!" Soun shouted. Akane flinched; this was not the place to make that sort of accusation given they were surrounded by Amadicians. "She is not a witch and she doesn't steal souls." Alyssa's soft eyes hardened. "I do not serve the Dark One! I am not Black Ajah! I walk in the Light!" "You've warped Akane's mind so that she loves you instead of Ranma like she should!" Soun shouted. Genma nodded. "And made Ranma lust after this backwoods hick," he said. Ukyou growled at him. "Stop calling me that!" "She's not a hick," Akane barked. "And none of us used any magic on anyone else." Time to step in, Nodoka thought. "Everyone calm down! We've just been reunited; this is no place for a brawl." I wish I had some way to judge if what Genma and Soun are claiming is true. Still, I think she'd control their minds if she could do that to Akane and Ranma. Probably my husband and Soun simply convinced themselves that the two loved each other. On the other hand, I can be sure they don't dislike each other...it seems pretty clear the four of them deliberately planned their entrance. "The witch has to go!" Soun shouted. "Before she does something to us!" "I am NOT a witch!" Ranma nodded. "I can tell you she sinks in water." Akane and Ukyou laughed. "She didn't turn anyone into a newt either," Ukyou said. Alyssa looked confused. "Do you have ANY proof she's evil and controls minds?" Nodoka asked Genma. "Ranma and Akane love each other!" Genma said. "EVERYONE knows that!" Ranma and Akane both blushed, especially Akane. Ukyou said, "I take it that's why she used to hit him all the time for no reason." "I did not hit him for NO reason! He only got hit when he mouthed off at me!" Akane shouted back. Alyssa blinked. "No one has done anything to our minds. We simply both have..." She paused for a moment. "Found someone else." She sounded a little uncomfortable. Willingly or unwillingly, Nodoka asked herself, trying to deduce which one had first decided to break off the engagement. "Why don't you tell us the whole story?" "This is going to take a while," Akane said. She glared at Soun and Genma. "We have time, right?" They both sat down, frowning. "It's all a trick," Soun muttered. "She'll use word magic on us!" Genma said. "Word magic?" Alyssa asked, confused. Ranma sighed. "I guess we'd better start with first things first. Shortly before we came to Nerima, Pop took me to these cursed springs..." ************* Tenobia sat and watched the young man practice. While he had swiftly demonstrated he had only the intelligence of a pea, and he still couldn't clearly explain where he had come from, he was one of the best swordsman she had ever seen. Right now, he was thrashing five men at once, two of them swordsmasters. With a wooden sword. It wasn't any sort of channeling; her Aes Sedai advisor had assured her of that. Yet, he could shatter stone with a wooden weapon. She could hardly imagine what he would do with a real one. He claimed an evil sorcerer named 'Saotome' had sent him here, apparently some sort of Dreadlord. He claimed to be questing for his true loves, one of which he referred to only as 'the pig-tailed goddess'. For now, he had sworn himself to aid her as an apology for falling from the sky on her. He had to be some sort of idiot savant, she was sure. Still, when it came to fighting, he would be useful. He had the strength and endurance of a warder, and the skill to use it. A useful champion, if nothing else. And handsome too. Not that she was watching him to see his skin gleam with sweat. No, of course not. Queen Tenobia would never stoop to that, ever. She was sitting, instead. ************* Nodoka had reached the point of hoping this was a nightmare by the time Ranma finished. In all her nightmares, she had never dreamed that Genma could fail so badly. She'd had nightmares where he did a bad enough job that she had to demand he kill himself. But the reality dwarfed her imaginings. On the other hand, it wasn't his fault directly. He'd made some stupid mistakes, but Genma had never intended for Ranma to end up in the cursed springs; he'd meant well. And this whole Aes Sedai business couldn't be blamed on Genma either. The marriage mess WAS his fault, but that was separate from the entire manliness business. She didn't want Genma and Ranma to have to kill themselves. On the other hand, she wanted to preserve her honor and theirs, and be able to defend this to her family. I need to talk to Ranma in private, she thought. To try and gauge his manliness without everyone screaming and panicking and hanging over us. Then we can see what we can work out about his marriage commitments. "Can we talk in private, son?" she asked Ranma. "Sure," he said. "We can just...step outside, I guess." He looked around at the others. "Try not to kill each other while we're gone." They stepped outside while everyone else glared at one another. Nodoka said, "Am I correct in thinking that you believe you have to mostly live as a girl for the next few years, and you want to break the engagement your father chose for you?" It sounded much worse when she put it that way. "Uh... yeah. Although he also engaged me to Ucchan, so it's really just a case of resolving conflicting claims." Ranma fidgeted, teetering back and forth between his two feet. She nodded. "There is some merit to arguing that. By arranging two engagements, your father made it impossible to keep both of them. The one he made to the Tendos came first, however. How does this square with your filial duty?" "The world is in danger of destruction, I've sworn an oath of allegiance to the Hall of Servants, and my duty to the Hall outweighs any filial duties. And I've already promised to marry someone else." "Because you couldn't have the one you wanted?" Ranma winced. "I ain't the one who found someone else first." Nodoka looked thoughtful. Alyssa seemed decent enough, not the man-stealing type, but she had stolen Akane. "I don't see how your need to stay here precludes marrying as your parents wish." It didn't, Ranma thought. It just precluded suicide for not being manly enough. "Well, that applies more to why I gotta be a girl for most of the time for a few years. I'd rather not, but I ain't got much of a choice. As to getting married, Akane doesn't want to marry me any more, so it doesn't matter what I think." "What if she said yes?" Nodoka asked. "I got a commitment to Ukyou. I can't just dump her." "You can't make that sort of commitment without our consent," Nodoka replied. "We are your parents." I should have asked Olwen to come with me, Ranma thought. She'd know what to say. "Whatever you say about that, I'll feel dishonored, and Ukyou'll get pissed. And Akane won't marry me, so it's a moot point," Ranma replied. "Even if I said yes, she says no." "And if she said yes?" "She ain't gonna say yes. Once Akane makes up her mind, all the kamis couldn't move her." Ranma sighed. A thought struck Nodoka. "What about Nabiki or Kasumi? Technically, your father promised you would marry one of Soun's daughters, not a specific one." "They don't wanna marry me, I don't wanna marry them." "I'm sure Kasumi would accept her father's decision." Ranma shifted back and forth in a manner Nodoka recognized as one of Genma's mannerisms when he was on the spot, caught out through something he hadn't anticipated. "I don't wanna marry nobody who only marries me 'cause their Pop said to. I ain't got nothing in common with Kasumi, 'cept we're both Japanese." "Ranma, if you don't marry a Tendo, our family will lose all its honor." "How about if we get married, then get a divorce? Pop didn't say nothing about 'staying married'." Nodoka frowned. I've left him in Genma's hands for too long. "The purpose of the union is to unite the families. That wouldn't unite the families. You'll need children to pass the dojo and the styles of the two families on to." Ranma kicked a clod of dirt and stared at the ground. "If I married Nabiki, I'd go mad in a year. And if I married Kasumi, I'd die of boredom." "Ranma, that's not a very nice thing to say about Tendo-san's daughters!" "Nabiki likes to sell pictures of me half-naked in girl form she takes when I'm asleep. She's blackmailed me more times than I can count. There was this one time...the engagement did get switched, so I was Nabiki's fiancee. She tried to sell me to the highest bidder! And Kasumi is very nice, but there's absolutely NOTHING for us to say to each other or do with each other. She don't do martial arts, and I ain't the happy homemaker. We ain't got NOTHING in common." Ranma stopped staring at the ground and looked up at his mother. "And you can't have no kids if you never have sex. I wouldn't sleep with Nabiki if she paid me, and I don't know if Kasumi even knows what sex is." While Nodoka was pleased that Ranma had a healthy sex drive, she wasn't happy that he was quite so blunt about it. In fact, his manners seemed to be degenerating, along with his grammar. Probably just him getting mad, but... A thought tickled her mind, then flew away without enlightening her. "Ranma, there's more to a marriage than sex." "Not if I marry either of them." They stood and stared at each other in silence, trying to figure out what to say next. "This Ukyou woman is more important to you than your honor?" "Pop promised me to her and to one of the Tendos. What's the difference?" "He promised you to Tendo-san first." Silence. Finally, Ranma said, "I can't marry Kasumi or Nabiki, and Akane won't marry me." "Have you asked her?" Ranma blinked at her. "She said she's gonna marry Alyssa! You goin' deaf, Mom?" "I am NOT going deaf," she said a little more vehemently than she had originally intended. "If you won't marry the other sisters, you'll have to marry Akane, if you want our family to not lose what little honor we have left. But I don't think the two of you have really discussed this." "We talked about it." Nodoka gave him a dubious look. "She already had a girlfriend when I got here! What else could I do? I couldn't just beat the crap out of a girl!" "Don't swear." "Dammit, if it had been a guy, I coulda done something, but what the hell could I do about a girl? Even if I got rid of Alyssa, I woulda had to give up my manhood to take her place! And...I mean, beating up Alyssa would be like beating up Kasumi. I just couldn't do it. And it was like..." Ranma tried to calm himself enough to think. I did give up pretty easily, he thought. "Whaddya want me to do? Beat the hell out of Alyssa? Oh, that'll make Akane want ta marry me!" "What if I change her mind? Would you marry her then?" "What if Kasumi was God? Ain't gonna happen." "Don't wiggle. Would you marry Akane if you had the chance?" "I can't marry Akane and keep my manhood! Where's the honor in that?" Nodoka frowned. It did seem likely that Ranma might be right. The marriage would do the family little good if their son was seen to be living as a woman, and it seemed that might be the case. "And if you could marry her and keep your manhood?" "I already promised Ucchan to marry her. Poof, there goes my honor." "And if Ukyou releases you?" "You're living in a dreamworld! Ucchan has the hots for me!" Ranma paused. "I mean, she loves me. She's wanted to marry me since the moment she learned I didn't mean to leave her behind or nothing." "Pretend it's not an issue." "Ain't we been here before? And pretending don't make it so." "Your promise to her is void; you're already engaged to someone else!" Nodoka barked out. Her patience was exhausting itself. "And if I marry Akane, I'm gonna end up having sex with a man!" He pushed aside the nagging fear that it might happen anyway with him and Ukyou. "Is that what you want your SON doing?" "She's only a man part of the time. You don't have to do it that way." "That's how she LIKES it! Ain't you seen her and Alyssa holding hands? They ain't never had sex except with Akane as a man!" As far as I know, Ranma thought. Nodoka fell silent and thought. "And if she promised she wouldn't make you?" "Look, why don't you get Akane and she can tell you you're..." He restrained himself from what he wanted to say. "Wrong." "Fine. I'll go get her." Ranma leaned against a tree, trying to calm down. I'm acting like some kind of... I haven't talked that rough in a while. Not the way an Aes Sedai should talk. The Mistress of Novices would have had me scrubbing pots for a century. Not that I got stuck with THAT often. Simply put, Ranma had been too fast and efficient. Usually in a few minutes, the pots were all clean, which had made the head cook faint the first time. Nodoka returned with Akane in tow. "Okay. Let's have it out." Akane blinked. "Huh?" "Ranma says that if you two got married, he'd have to give up his manhood," Nodoka said bluntly. Akane spent a few seconds staring at both of them in shock, then said slowly, "I'd never force Ranma to have sex with me in his girl body." Nodoka nodded. "See, Ranma?" "But I expect that I'd want to do it, even though he didn't, and that would cause all sorts of trouble. I don't know if it could work out. But I wouldn't expect him to be a girl all the time, if that's what you mean. But he'd have to accept I'm not a girl always." Ranma shifted nervously on his feet. He couldn't blurt out that the temptation would be too much to resist for two reasons. One was that it would make him look pathetic. The second was that he didn't want to admit it to himself. "I thought you and Alyssa always...did it that way." "Well, she is female. She likes it that way, and so do I. But we'll..." Akane got too embarrassed to continue. "Akane, someone from your family needs to marry Ranma, or both our families will lose honor. Do you think Kasumi or Nabiki would marry Ranma?" "Nabiki wouldn't marry Ranma if Daddy threatened to kill himself. Kasumi would do it, but it wouldn't be a love match. She likes older men." Akane sagged with relief; talking about her sexual practices in front of Ranma's mother was intensely embarrassing. "See, like I said," Ranma cut in. "So you're the only Tendo who could marry Ranma who cares about him." Akane glanced over at Ranma, then nodded. "Yeah. But I'm going to marry Alyssa." "And why did you choose her over Ranma?" Akane glanced over at Ranma again. "I didn't know if Ranma loved me, but more importantly, I didn't know if I'd ever see him again, or even if he was alive. When no one came for me for months, I assumed they must be dead or unable to come back. I couldn't wait forever, and I fell in love." She paused, finding it hard to continue with Ranma and Nodoka staring at her with disturbingly similiar gazes. "And I still love her. I can't just throw her away because Ranma came back into my life." "What about your duty to your father?" "The father who didn't lift a finger to come save me?" Nodoka winced. Akane frowned. "Daddy just wants me to be a good little housewife while Ranma runs the dojo. I can't live like that. He can get by without me, but here, I'm needed. Alyssa and I lead the Hall of the Servants, and we have to stay here and stop the Dark One. Because if he isn't stopped, ALL the worlds will die, including ours." "How do you know the Dark One even exists? Or that he really is a threat to our world?" "Everyone knows the Dark One exists," Ranma said. "He's got servants running around all over the place, and he brought down the Age of Legends." "I remain unconvinced he's necessarily a threat to OUR world." "You wanna take that chance?" Ranma said. "That we'll go home, and a few weeks from now, all of creation will be destroyed? Honor ain't much good if humanity is wiped out!" "Why'd you come home the first time, then? If you think this?" Ranma looked embarrassed, then scratched his head. "I didn't think I'd make a difference by myself, and I was tired of having to pretend to be a girl all the time." And a little lonely too, he thought. "But you will have to do that if you stay," Nodoka said. "And do you two REALLY think you're that important?" They both looked faintly embarrassed, then Akane said, "Maybe not before, but now we have the knowledge of the Aes Sedai. And even if we don't matter, I won't abandon all the people who are counting on me. What kind of Lord abandons her people?" "You're a lord now?" Nodoka asked. "Yes. Lord Kaneda, head of the Hall of the Servants. And Ranma has sworn the Oath of the Hall. Would you make an oathbreaker of him?" Akane's voice was serious, and Nodoka felt transfixed by her gaze. "And I have sworn to the Dragon. An oath to one's lord takes precedent over filial duty." Nodoka yielded that point. "Your need to stay here doesn't bar you getting married, though. Why not fulfil both?" Akane was beginning to feel like she was trying to fight an avalanche. "I can't marry both of them, and I won't abandon Alyssa." "And if you could marry both of them?" "That's bigamy! It's not exactly honorable!" "But would you, if you could?" "Well, yes, but I can't!" Ranma stared in shock. She...would marry me? Nodoka turned to Ranma. "Would you? If you could marry her and Ukyou?" "Uh...er...I...uh...wouldn't have to like...you know?" "I'm...um...sure Alyssa would be happy to take care of that." I can't believe we're having this conversation, Akane thought. "Er...well, if you got Ucchan to agree to it, and it wasn't, like...illegal and immoral and junk...then, uh, yeah, I'd marry Akane." I'm gonna die, Ranma thought. She's gonna ask Ukyou, and then we'll all get killed. "But like, a guy can't marry two women. And a woman can't marry a guy and a woman. And like...would Ukyou and Alyssa be married? Or what?" Nodoka wasn't sure herself. He's right...they can't marry two people each, but it's the only way to get them to agree. Now what do I do, she asked herself. Her main purpose had been to figure out if they would marry under any condition...she hadn't really thought this through all the way. "Umm...I don't know." "Don't know?" Akane twitched. "Were you just trying to wiggle us into admitting we..." "More or less. Hmm. If Boy-Akane married Girl- Alyssa and Girl-Akane married Boy-Ranma, while Girl- Ranma married Boy-Ukyou..." "I ain't gonna sleep with no guy!" Ranma shouted, getting some stares from the soldiers in the camp. "And Boy and Girl Ranma are the same person!" I sound like Shampoo, he thought. Nodoka tried to think. There had to be a way to exploit this. It would get them married to each other, satisfying honor. But bigamy was dishonorable. And likely Akane and Ranma's wedding would remain nominal if they had other spouses. There has to be a way to square the circle, she thought. "Ranma's right. We can't each marry two people, even if..." Akane trailed off, stopping herself from saying she'd enjoy having sex with both of them. "Even if it would solve some problems." Stymied, Nodoka thought. So close, and yet so far. There has to be a way out of this. If I could get my parents to accept Genma, I can do this. "Well, let's go back and see what the others think." ************ No one was willing to admit to endorsing polygamy. Ukyou and Alyssa both said it was wrong, Soun and Genma simply insisted Ranma and Akane marry each other and only each other. The argument began to build in intensity, and Nodoka feared violence woud soon erupt. Genma turned to Ranma. "How can you stand to see a woman steal your Akane from you? And you call yourself a man?" Ranma winced. "I ain't gonna MAKE her marry me!" "So, you're going to just sit back and let this witch turn your true love gay with evil magic? And make you marry a back woods tomboy hick?" Genma sounded outraged. "You're no real man! She'll make you sleep with men next, she will!" Nodoka looked over at Alyssa, who looked horrified. I can't believe she'd hurt a fly, she thought. Why are they so berserk over this? Alyssa suddenly howled, "I've been Shielded!" and Nodoka discovered she was unable to move. The rest of the squabblers all suddenly froze up like statues as well. Outside the tent, the sound of battle erupted. A small squadron of people appeared at the tent flap as if they had always been there. The first woman had long blonde hair bound into braids, dusky skin, and green eyes. She wore a yellow dress in a Taraboner style, made of silk and fringed at the bottom with interlocking bronze and black squares. Kodachi stood to one side of her, grinning, while to the other side, stood Ryouga, who looked ready to kill someone. The third woman was blonde as well, and lushly built, shorter than the first woman, wearing shimmering silk which was currently blue with red streaks, but constantly slowly altered its color. It was scandalously sheer, and more scandalously cut to the point where there was almost no point in bothering to wear it. The dark haired, hawknosed man next to her was dressed in black and yellow in a far more sombre and sedate fashion. Akane stared at him. "You!" The blonde in the yellow dress stared at Ukyou and her eyes narrowed. "You look like...interesting." Ryouga ran over to the paralyzed Akane. "Don't worry, Akane, we've come to free you from the spell that evil woman has put on you!" He glared at Alyssa, who was fortunate that looks cannot kill. "And we'll deal with you." "Ryouga, she is NOT evil!" "You just think that because she's put a spell on you," he said. "I'm sorry we have to do this this way, but we have no choice." Akane could see a light in his eyes; it bothered her. Kodachi, meanwhile, had bounced over to Ranma and picked him up. "Hello, my future husband." "I am NOT going to marry you!" She waved a hand in front of his face. "You are going to marry me." "I am going to marry you," he said, eyes glazed over. Kodachi cackled. "The One Power is even more fun than feeding people to Mr. Turtle." Akane said, "How did you learn so quickly?" For a moment, Kodachi looked disturbed, then brightened up. "I'm a quick learner." Demandred frowned. "Let's get going. We don't have all day." The less clad blonde gestured and dragged Ukyou over to herself with the power. "I want this one. We'll see what you can do with that spatula." She grinned. The braided blonde frowned slightly. "She looks like someone I knew long ago." You don't look familiar to me, Ukyou thought. Ryouga picked up Akane, Kodachi carried Ranma over to the group, and Demandred looked thoughtfully over at Genma and Soun. "You want them, 'Lara'?" She thought for a moment. "Not really." "You promised you'd make sure Ranma and Akane got married!" Genma shouted. "Now, now, I would never stand in the path of true love," Lara said. "I never said where that path ran, though, now did I?" She smiled. "Still, I feel generous. I will not leave you here to die when the Aiel find you." "The Aiel?" Akane asked. She took a look at her captors, then another one at the man. "Demandred." The man started. "How do you...So that was you." "I told you," Lara said. "She and the boy will merit study." She opened a small gate behind Genma and Soun and shoved them through it with the Power. "This will do for them. And as for the girl..." She turned to face Alyssa. "Ryouga, take care of her while I deal with the woman." Turning again, she now faced Nodoka. "Now, you could be useful. Perhaps as a tool to control Ailron if he survives this. Yes." Alyssa shuddered, unable to move as Ryouga advanced on her. "What are you going to do to me?" "I hate to do it, but I'm afraid you have to die to break the spell." "Ryouga! Don't you DARE!" Akane shouted angrily. "Touch one hair on her head and I will HATE YOU FOREVER!!!!" Ryouga winced at that, and hesitated. Then Lara said, "It's the spell talking, not the real Akane. Alyssa is just making her say that." He nodded grimly and turned to Alyssa, a sphere of dark energy beginning to form between his outstretched hands. Deep inside, Ranma was screaming, but he couldn't resist the compulsion he was under. Ukyou struggled desperately against her bonds, but the flows of air held her fast as she lay at the yet-unnamed blonde's feet. Akane exerted every ounce of her strength, but it was of no avail. Nodoka watched in horror. The build up of energy was slow, and it drew Alyssa's gaze, pulling her into a void of despair. She could feel Akane's horror through their bond, and somehow she could sense the growing ball of energy itself was made of despair and fear. It grew inch by inch, drawing ever closer to her, sucking the heat out of the air around her. The metal tiara on her brow grew chill as the heat left it. The tiara. I'm wearing an angreal and I forgot, she thought. The problem was that it wasn't much good AFTER one had been shielded. Still, there had to be something to be done with it. She racked her memory in the seconds she had left; there had to be some trick she could use. Akane shouted, "DAMN YOU, RYOUGA! I HOPE YOU DIE!!!!" Her face was contorted with rage beyond anything Alyssa had ever seen on it since the time she had fallen into the hands of the Whitecloaks. Her battleaura flared bright red, though few present could see it, for only those trained in the use of chi can see it, usually. Ryouga was one of those people, and he understood what that meant. He winced, and the sphere grew even larger. To her surprise, Alyssa could feel the power of his emotions, as if the ball was made of them. It was even stronger than her warder link. "This is for your own good, Akane," he whispered. "Hurry it up, boy! Just stab her or something!" Demandred said. "The fighting's getting closer." "Go ahead, Ryouga," Ukyou spat out. "Be a murderer. Show you love Akane by murdering a helpless woman. I always knew you were pathetic, but I never realized you were THAT pathetic." "I am not a murderer!" he shouted. The ball of energy swelled more; soon it would have to either be released or it would release itself. "But it's the only way to free Akane!" "I HATE YOU, RYOUGA!" Akane squirmed frenetically where Ryouga had put her down by his new associates. "DAMN YOU! I LOVE HER! DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!" Her aura flared out several inches from her body now, making her look like she was on fire to those with eyes to see her chi. "You're a coward!" Ukyou shouted. "Murdering someone helpless!" Ryouga twitched. "I'm not a coward!" "Spineless wimp. The least you could do is to untie her so she could die fighting," Ukyou said. "We do NOT have time for this!" Demandred said. "Kill her now, or I'll do it myself!" Lara gestured and Ukyou and Akane found themselves gagged as well. "Hurry, Ryouga! We have to go before the Aiel find us and kill us! They might hurt Akane if we don't hurry!" Ryouga hung on the knife edge, and as he agonized, the ball of energy grew larger. "I..." Alyssa could feel it pulling at her, as if it was trying to feed off her own fear and despair as well. "Enough!" Demandred said, forming a blade of flame and striding forward. "I will deal with her myself." The world seemed to slow with his every step. Alyssa watched Demandred raise the blade, and she scrabbled desperately at the Source through the shield, but it was too strong for her, being actively held by Demandred himself, she was sure, since she couldn't even see it. Akane howled silently, her voice cut off by the invisible gag forged of the Power that filled her mouth. And then her chi exploded, rushing in a wave through the tent. The attack could only knock people down and shake their concentration, for she lacked the proper training and control to focus it. As she crashed butt first into the ground, Lara choked out, "The True Power..." Caught by surprise, Demandred fell to the ground and smacked his head, and for a moment, he lost his concentration, just enough for Alyssa to stick a finger of Power through the shield he was holding on her. With the angreal, all she needed was a finger. Power rushed through the gap, shredding it. She destroyed the bonds on herself and grabbed his head, slamming into into the ground and howling with a rage she had rarely experienced. All that did was to stun him some more; she wasn't very strong. But that gave her enough time to shield him. By this point, however, the three female channelers present recovered from their own surprise and launched a coordinated assault on her, driving her back with fire and knives of spirit at her connection to the Source. "Ryouga, kill her before it's too late!" Lara shouted. It was too late. She sliced out with fire and destroyed the tent supports. The tent collapsed, rendering them unable to see her to shield her. The plan when awry, however, when Ryouga lost control. The Shishi Hokodan sent everyone flying, though the tent itself absorbed some of it. Alyssa sat up, and looked around desperately. The camp was a boiling sea of Aielmen and Amadicians locked in combat, a battle the Amadicians were losing. She saw Ailron fleeing on horseback; he had Nodoka with him. Kodachi had opened up a gateway; most of the Forsaken were unconscious, as were Akane and Ukyou. Ranma simply looked groggy. Ryouga had picked up Akane and was crying. "Put her down!" "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ryouga bellowed. She had had enough. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TRIED TO KIDNAP HER! AND MURDER ME! I HAVE HAD MORE THAN I CAN STAND!" Fear was gone. Despair was gone. Anger ruled. "DIE!" If he had stayed still, she would have severed all of his limbs in her berserkergang. Instead, he simply leaped back nimbly through the portal and put Akane down. Knives of fire and earth carved empty air. Meanwhile, black tendrils erupted forth at Kodachi's command and dragged her knocked out allies, Nodoka, Ranma, and Ukyou through the portal as well. "I probably should kill you, peasant, but I have a wedding to arrange." Alyssa reached out with the Power, but it was too late. The portal closed, leaving her alone in the middle of a raging battle. "KANEDA!!!!" she screamed, but there was no reply. Several arrows flew at her, but she casually knocked them aside with the Power. She focused, and created a dome of solid air to keep the fighting away from the spot. She tied off the weave, then worked the flow that could take her to where the others were by tracing back the residues from Kodachi's gate. She hesitated...the Forsaken will wake soon. I can't fight them all. I need help, and so does Ailron; he's being chopped to pieces. I ought to go get Perrin's army to help here, and then maybe he can help me rescue Kaneda and Ranko and the others. Opening her own gateway, she vanished. ********************* Demandred shook his head. "What a disaster. This is YOUR fault, Mesaana," he said, pointing at 'Lara'. "I should have gagged the girls from the start," she said. "He would have killed her and irrecoverably committed himself to us if this Akane hadn't started playing on his conscience." She frowned. "Perhaps I should have compelled him, but this way produces longer lasting results. Compelled people become stupid and make mistakes. And none of us could have guessed this girl would be able to do what she did." She pointed to Akane. "Given that you couldn't even hold a shield on a half- trained child, you're in no place to talk, Demandred. We are too old to waste time on old regrets and recriminations, anyway," Graendal said. "Perhaps if you had better explained the plan to me, I might have been able to correct the errors made." He frowned. "I want to know how she broke my shield." "An angreal," Graendal said. "I could feel it." "And how did she get to it? Her arms were bound." "Probably one made as jewelry. Perhaps they have learned how to make them." "But the talent was rare, even in our time," Mesaana said. "Ta'veren," Graendal said. "I may not have the Talent to see them, but I can recognize the effects." "Perhaps," Mesaana said. "Studying her will be interesting. I want to learn how these beings change sex." "I want to know where they got their knowledge," Demandred said. "And keep your pet in check, Mesaana, or I'll kill him myself." Graendal looked around. "Are you sure they won't be able to trace us, Demandred?" "Of course I am. We Traveled three times and cleaned the traces every time. They'll have no way to find us. And since we'll be scattering our prisoners... So are you going to go back for those two old men?" "Not unless it turns out I need them for some reason." "I suggest we interrogate our prisoners, and see what can be learned. I am curious as to how they gained the skills they possess." Graendal studied the prisoners curiously. "And then they must DIE!" Kodachi said. "Only if they are useless to us alive. Only children waste their energy in petty spite," Demandred said, smirking. They glared at each other in silence, and finally, Kodachi said, "I will not forget." Mesaana sighed. This was going to be a long day. ******************* Ailron slashed away with his sword, and to his surprise, it actually struck home and slew the Aiel. Probably because the Aiel was busy attacking someone else, but you took whatever life was willing to give you if you were wise. He was, to say the least, quite shocked when about a hundred yards away, the air ripped open in a great circle, and Mayener cavalry began to pour through the gate. The Aiel, equally surprised, fell back, more from shock than from necessity. Two more smaller gates opened in the air, and more cavalry poured from one. The smallest of the gates disgorged a force of archers, who began to pepper the Aiel with remarkable skill. Another Aiel leaped at him, knocking him off his horse and giving him other concerns. He desperately grappled with the man, but he could see the end of his life approaching; the Aiel was taller, stronger, and simply better. For seconds that dragged to eternity, he grappled with the youngster for his spear. When he spat in the Aiel's face, the momentary blink that followed almost enabled him to wrench it away. Unfortunately, the Aiel followed up with a knee to Ailron's groin. Agony made him lose his grip, though fear brought him back to his senses just in time to see the Aiel raise the spear for a killing jab to Ailron's throat. The blow didn't come; instead, the Aiel fell dead with a burly curly-haired fellow standing over him. He was not dressed for battle, though his axe showed him quite well armed for one. "King Ailron?" "I am. And who might you be?" "I'm Perrin Ayabara. We came as fast as we could." "What Lord do you serve?" Perrin laughed faintly. "I am the leader of this army." He doesn't look like a lord, Ailron thought, but I think he's saved our lives. ******************* The call to retreat had gone up. Abel obeyed and joined the stream of Aiel fleeing into the woods. The woods still stunned him; it was hard to believe that so many trees could grow in one place. They made wonderful hiding places; it was hard to imagine not having them now. But why were they retreating? While the new arrivals had tilted the odds, they could still win. Perhaps this was simply intended to lure their enemies into the woods where their packed cavalry would be of little avail. He hoped that was the case and that their leaders hadn't simply panicked. Aiel should not act from fear. There was no pursuit. Perhaps their enemies had figured out the trick, if trick it was. The orders went round to move north and rendezvous with more of the tribe which had finally been found by their scouts. He felt humiliated. Running away from Wetlanders. This was almost as bad as the shame the Wetlander, al'Thor, had brought to all the other tribes. Still, there was nothing to be done but to obey for now. ******************* Rare had been the occasions when the flags of Mayene and Amadicia had flown over the same field, whether as friends or foes. The flags stood triumphant now, though many present feared this was true only because the Aiel had done what they had come for, then left. To Perrin's surprise, Ailron knealt as Perrin approached him at the battle's end. "Stand up, your highness," he said. "I should be the one kneeling; you're a king and I'm only a lord." "You have saved me and mine from destruction," Ailron said. "I pledge my fealty to you, as Alisande has. I am only a king in name, and I know that without you, I will never regain my throne, especially not after the damage they've done to my army." He blinked, clearly not having meant to quite say so much. "You cannot possibly be worse than Pedron Niall, and you've already done more for me than he ever did." Faile smiled. "You will find him a generous lord. Too generous for his own good at times, perhaps." Alyssa watched quietly, her fears eating away at her. She could feel Kaneda had been pulled further away from her several times; they'd obviously done several Travelling leaps, and erased their traces. I guess they don't know about my warder bond to him, she thought. And that will be their downfall, she promised herself. ***************** Genma and Soun hung by their feet from a noose-trap, suspended from a tree as four Aiel stared at them. "This is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Tendo," Genma said. "You're the one who thought their dinner smelled good!" They began to fight as best they could, while the Aiel stood and watched and took bets on who would win. It was the most fun they'd had all day. ***************** Galad stared at his map. How had this Mayene army crossed hundreds of miles in a single day? It had to involve channelers. Did they work for the Tower? Al'Thor? The Shadow? They were not very far away. Soon, he would find out. The Aiel were streaming north to join with another band, possibly several. And the Prophet's men were approaching, pushed north by the Seanchan. Four armies converging in Southern Ghealdan. Five if the other major group of Whitecloaks he knew was alive were actually coming from the west as the rider had told him. This would be a battle to be remembered if he survived it. End Part Fourteen