Back in Nerima, it had been about a day since they had performed the ritual. Ukyou, Ranma, and Akane had been playing cards and wishing they could leave the magic circle, although eating Dr. Tofu's cooking wasn't too bad. "I see your fifty and raise you sixty yen," Ukyou said. She had a straight, nine high. Ranma looked at his cards and his face fell. He only had a full house. Wait, I can bluff, he thought. "I see you and raise you twenty!" The door swished open and Kasumi walked in. "I brought you all some snacks." Dr. Tofu's glasses fogged up. "Why, it's a pleasure to be seeing you, Kasumi!" He walked over and guided her over to Betty-chan, his skeleton. "Would you like a cookie, Ranma?" He asked the skeleton. "We're over here!" Ranma said. "FOOD!" Not that Dr. Tofu's cooking was bad, but Kasumi's was better. "Ranma, not while he's whacked out," Ukyou whispered. Kasumi walked over. "Oh my, the runes around the edge of the circle are glowing. Is that good?" Dr. Tofu followed her. "Now, we must dance the Jig of Dionysious along the edge of the circle!" Kasumi blinked. "Really?" Akane said, "Can Ranma and I dance it too?" "Yes! Let us sing and dance for joy!" He grabbed Kasumi and got into a dance position with her, straddling the circle. Ukyou stood up. "I really think this is a bad idea." Kasumi blushed and began to waltz with Dr. Tofu around the edge of the glowing circle, which was beginning to fill with light. "You dance very well, Dr. Tofu." Ranma somehow found himself dancing around the edge with Akane, which really hacked Ukyou off. "RANCHAN!" Akane smiled at Ranma. "Hold me tight, Ranma-kun." Ranma laughed nervously. He knew a riot was almost certainly about to ensue. The brightest flare of light struck them just as Dr. Tofu spun Kasumi around right through the middle of the circle. He stumbled and fell out of the circle, rubbing his eyes. When the light cleared, everyone was gone but him. His mind cleared. "Urk." He got up and ran over to the shelf to get the book with the ritual, then realized he'd sent it with Ukyou and Ranma. I think Mr. Tendo isn't going to be happy, he thought. ************ Parallel Lives #5: Book One: For Remembrance Lost Four Bargains A Wheel of Time / Ranma 1 / 2 crossover, by John Biles Other chapters available at http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/PL/ ************ Akane-kun had gone to find Alyssa, while Ukyou-kun and Ranma-chan talked to Mai and Tyr to try to figure out if that mountain actually existed somewhere in the area. Mai and Tyr had been surprised, but happy to see him back so soon. They had no clue where Alyssa was, though. He roamed the 'streets', looking for her, without much luck, trying to figure out what to say...what he really felt. What he felt for her seemed to be the same as before. But would it stay that way? Will I go back to only liking boys? And what about Ranma? He loved Ranma, he knew that now, but it felt...muted. Academic almost. More like a brother than a lover. Thinking about Ranma didn't arouse any desire at all, and not because he was refusing to admit it...he was TRYING to feel desire for Ranma. He ducked into an 'alley' to do an experiment. He had to know, before he found Alyssa. A little use of the Power turned some snow into hot water, although getting it onto himself was harder. Instant Akane. She tried thinking about Ranma and felt a warm, yummy feeling of the sort that she hadn't felt in hours/months. She shook her head slightly. An odd side-effect of her regeneration. Her memories before the split were pretty clear, but trying to think about the period of the split made her head hurt, because her mind was trying to believe simultaneously that it had been a week and that it had been seven months. But one thing was clear. What she felt about Ranma was far more than academic, and far more than just her mind. She tried thinking about Alyssa. Love filled her heart, but it was a sisterly love. A very intense sisterly love, but she didn't feel desire, although she did get a strong impulse to turn into her boy form. The cooling water she had used on herself easily turned her back to boy form. It was like a switch flipped in her head. His feelings about Ranma muted, while physical desire for Alyssa switched on. Akane-kun frowned slightly. It was an eerie feeling. So now what do I do? The sound of running feet shocked him out of his reverie. Alyssa stood at the edge of the 'alleyway'. "I...Corwin found me and said that you were back already." Akane-kun's heart sang to him, and he smiled, walking towards Alyssa. "We need to have a talk. I..." He gulped. "No more secrets. It's time for me to tell you everything. I need...I love you, I need your help, and you deserve to know everything." ********** Alyssa was nervous and excited and scared as Kaneda took her to their bedroom to talk. He was finally going to tell her everything. She'd wanted that for a long time, but she was afraid of what it was that he hadn't been able to tell her. She was also a little confused as to why he brought a bucket of water, a ladle, and a hot tea kettle into the room, placing the kettle over the fire. She sat down on the bed. "So tell me everything." "I'll start with the hardest part. I suggest lying down so you don't bang your head when you faint." Alyssa laughed and laid down on her stomach. "Okay." Kaneda took the kettle and poured hot water on himself. Thewater rushed over him, and to her shock, he changed. The hair on hisarms retracted, growing shorter, then vanishing. The slight scruff onhis face fell out. He shrank slightly, and his shirt was now filled, bulging with a pair of breasts. He was now a she. "I'm Kaneda, but I'malso Akane." "..." "Cold water makes me a boy; hot water makes me a girl." She demonstrated with the cold water, transforming back into a boy. Alyssa was in shock. "This..this never happened before." Kaneda walked over and sat down by Alyssa on the bed. "It all started with...Hmmm...this is going to take a while. But I guess I can start by telling you about the world I am from..." ************** Alyssa didn't know what to think. She would have thought that Kaneda had finally gone mad, but she could see the change with her own eyes, and it made sense of so much. "So Ranko is really a boy?" Kaneda nodded. "She seems to be stuck in girl form now, like I was stuck in boy form." He turned and gazed at Alyssa nervously. "Do you...do you still...want to be my...love?" Alyssa gulped. She still loved Kaneda, but now she was scared and confused and didn't know what to say. Was he going to be a girl a lot of the time now? Could I love a girl? Is he going to still love me after he's been back to normal for a while? "I...I love you, Kaneda, but I'm scared. What's going to happen to us?" "I don't know. But then, I may go mad in a few months, anyway...But I want to give you all the love I can, while I can." He took Alyssa's hands. "I love you right now, and that's all a person can really promise, anyway. I will love you as best I'm able for as long as I can." "Are you...going to be a girl sometimes now, then?" "I don't know. I think it would be better to wait to tell everyone...I think some of them would freak." He sighed. "It shouldn't be too hard to keep my secret. Even though I don't want to lie to them, but...I don't know. What do you think?" Alyssa tried to come up with an honest answer, rather than the one she wanted to give to keep Kaneda a boy as much as possible. She wasn't sure what the right idea was. "It'll come out sooner or later, I think. You don't need to tell them right away, but best to make sure it comes as you revealing it, and not them finding out by accident." Kaneda nodded. "I think part of why I love you is that you're a wise person, Alyssa." She blushed. "I'm not very wise." He leaned closer. "And modest." He pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her hesitantly, then more firmly. "And beautiful." She could feel her heart speeding up, and a wave of desire washed over her. "Do you want to..." "Yes. Just make sure the hot water doesn't get anywhere near the bed, okay?" Alyssa laughed very nervously as he leaned forward and kissed her fiercely. Nervousness gradually was replaced by excitement, and excitement by pleasure, and pleasure by joy, but she had strange dreams that night anyway. It would be a while before she would sleep entirely well again. ************* Life was not looking good for Kasumi, Ranma, and Ukyou. The fact that they were all very hungry was only a minor problem. The fact that they were dressed for summer in the middle of winter was the big problem. Luckily, the mountains were full of caves, and they found one that was apparently regularly used by someone human, since it had a stockpile of fuel and an apparently regularly used firepit in the middle. The little group huddled around the fire, shivering silently. Finally, Kasumi said, "Do you have any idea where we might be, Ranma?" He thought a minute. "Well, either this is the Mountains of Mist or the Dragonwall. If we're really lucky, it's the Mountains of Mist, since hardly anyone lives near the Dragonwall. If we're really unlucky, we're not even in the same universe we sent our other sides to." Kasumi said, "Well, if we take shifts, we can keep the fire going all night, then look for food in the morning. It'll be just like a camping trip." "Yeah, just like the Donner Expedition," Ukyou muttered to herself. "And we'll need to sleep close together for warmth," Kasumi said. That was rather more pleasing to Ukyou. ************* Another night in the 'guest house'. Ranma-chan tossed and turned all night, but Ukyou-kun slept well, then had another strange dream. He woke up, and everyone in the castle was gone. It had the same feel to it as his dream where he had visited the castle before. I wonder how I dreamed about this place before I visited it, Ukyou-kun thought. Maybe this is some kind of special power I'm getting in this world. The mountain! I should see if I can go to the mountain! Take me to the mountain! The world flickered, and he found himself standing on a mountainside, near a cave. Looking out across the mountains, he could make out the one that held Castle Mist on the horizon to the south. Tyr and Mai were right, he thought. It won't be too long a trip to this mountain. I wonder how far I can go in this dream...He thought for a moment. Take me to...Tar Valon! The world flickered again, and he found himself standing outside the White Tower. Wow, he thought. Too bad I can't do this while I'm awake. I wonder what else I can find...Take me to something that can teach me more about this place! he commanded the dream. The world flickered, and he found himself inside a huge cavern. It was pitch dark, except for a single faintly glowing light nearby. The floor was tiled in alternating blue, yellow, orange, red, green, brown, and white. Too bad I don't have a flashlight, Ukyou-kun thought, and suddenly, he had one. Hey, alright! Ukyou-kun turned the flashlight on and looked around. He seemed to be in some sort of crumbling building, buried in a cave somewhere beneath the surface. Nearby, there was a keyboard embedded in the wall, with a monitor embedded over it, and the faintly glowing light over that. Ukyou-kun idly punched a few keys, and the monitor suddenly flared to life, turning a pleasant yellow with black lettering. Unfortunately, he couldn't read it. "This isn't much use," he muttered. "I wanted something I could learn from, not a busted computer in a ruins." The light now flared to life over the monitor, and swept around, focusing on Ukyou-kun's head. He heard a faint voice in his mind. The voice was female, and a little childish sounding in tone. "Uh...hi. Who are you?" "Um, that's enough. So...uh...how am I having this dream?" What's a computer thing doing in this world anyway? Ukyou-kun wondered. This must just be a really silly dream. "Um, sure. I could stand to know what I'm doing." Ukyou-kun didn't get much sleep that night. ************* Kasumi woke up early. She could hear wolves howling off in the distance. I wish I could tell what they're saying, she thought. Wolves are so cute, just like big happy dogs. They probably know where to find food, too. Ukyou was sitting quietly by the fire, watching it. "Done sleeping already?" Kasumi nodded. "I slept pretty well. Catch some more sleep while I watch the fire." "I think I'm gonna go try and do a little hunting. That way we can have an actual breakfast." Ukyou got to her feet. "See you in a while." "Isn't it pretty cold out there?" "We can't stay in here forever." "Be careful. I can hear wolves howling." Ukyou cocked her head. "Wolves? All I hear is the wind." Kasumi frowned. I hope I'm not beginning to imagine things. ************* Dora called the other two Aes Sedai over. Dora was tall and skinny, with scraggly blond hair and a large nose. Her light blue eyes usually were bloodshot since she rarely slept well, but they saw far. "They've sent an expedition out of the castle. A wagon, two horses, four men, and three women. One of the men matches the descriptions we've had of Kaneda, and I recognize two of the women." Karla sighed. "Would you like to enlighten us as to who the women are?" She got up and peered off across the mountains at the tiny line of figures coming down out of the castle. While she knew how to do Dora's telescope trick in theory, in practice it never quite worked for her. Dora would never equal Karla's talents with water, on the other hand. "A washed out Novice who failed to try to take her Accepted test three times named Alyssa, and that runaway Accepted, Ranko." Dora said. "Didn't you have some run in with her, Karla?" Else laughed. "She put the fear of herself into Karla's cats, alright. I once saw one of them jump out a window to get away from her." Karla frowned. They'd heard rumors of an Aes Sedai lover of this false Dragon. It could be either of the women, but the presence of TWO failed trainees made her suspicious. The Tower had its share of washouts, but if Ranko was here, it was likely her partners in crime might be here as well, although if the rumors were true, one of them was now the 'Amyrlin' of the Salidar Aes Sedai. She spat at the ground. Karla was proud, but she wasn't stupid. If this Dragon really Channelled, and he had Ranko, and Ranko's friends, Elyane and Nynaeve with her, this was going to be difficult. Surely, he would have brought the other two with him if he was going somewhere, though. Unless they were doing something else for him. Well, this is our best chance, she thought. "Get ready. We're going to follow them." ************ Ukyou and Ranma tromped through the area around the cave, doing some scouting and firewood collecting. They hoped to find some signs of civilization. Ranma looked over at Ukyou again, worried she was going to go totally girly the way Akane had. Ukyou finally noticed this. "Ranchan, why do you keep giving me funny looks?" "Nuthin." He said. She frowned. "Do I have dirt on my face or something?" "Nuthin. Just looking around and your head gets in the way." If she starts worrying about chipping a nail, I'm taking her back to the cave, he thought. Ukyou laughed. "Do you think Akane got put back together?" "Yeah. If she hadn't, she shoulda showed up where we were. Unless maybe she got left behind, but I remember her starting to vanish with us." Ranma scrambled up a tree and looked out across the mountains. "Hey, I just spotted a buncha people with wagons. Let's go get Kasumi and try and catch 'em. I bet they have warm clothes and stuff." "Right." ************ Ranma-chan and Ukyou-kun took point, since Ranma-chan was champing at the bit to get to the mountain, and Ukyou-kun wanted to be with Ranma-chan. Kaneda sat next to Corwin as he drove the wagon along down the mountain paths. Alyssa was sitting in the back of the wagon with Mai, while Tyr walked alongside the wagon. It was snowing, but only very gently. "So how long do you think it'll take to reach the mountain?" Kaneda asked. Tyr grinned. "You're almost as impatient as Ranko Sedai there. I told you, it'll take us most of the day." Alyssa started. Mai said, "Is something wrong?" "I thought I felt channeling for a moment. I must have imagined it." She looked back along the path. "I guess I'm just jumpy." Kaneda looked back along the road. "Tell me if you feel it again." "I will." ************** Ukyou-kun recognized the cave entrance when they found it, a little before sunset. "This is it." Kaneda nodded. "Ranko, Alyssa, Ukyou, Mai, we're going in. Tyr, you and Corwin stay here and guard the wagons." He hopped down from the driving seat. "Mai, cover Alyssa. Ukyou, cover Ranko. Alyssa, Ranko, I suggest you two grasp the Source and link." They nodded and did so. Kaneda took the lead as they headed into the cave. He conjured up a small ball of light to enable them to see. The cave was natural, though it showed signs of workmanship that had not been completed. About three hundred feet in, there were a pair of huge stone doors made of some sort of solid royal blue stone. The doors swung open as they approached, which made Kaneda nervous. He looked for any sort of One Power traps, but couldn't see any; not that he really knew what to look for. "Look safe to you?" Ranko nodded. "Let's get a move on." They did. *************** Dora, Karla, and Else sat on a handy rock and waited for Tomas, Else's warder, to finish scouting. It wasn't really necessary, since Dora could see farther than them with the Power, but it made them feel good. Also, it lessened the risk of the renegade Accepteds realizing they were being stalked. Tomas returned just as the sun was setting. "They've entered one of the mountains. There's just two guys guarding the wagons. However, there's another group approaching the mountain as well." "Go on." Dora said. Tomas tended to pause for no apparent reason and wait for you to acknowledge he was alive. "One male, two female, around 16 to 20 in age. They're all wearing summer clothing, and I'd guess they're probably not gonna be long for this world unless one of the women is a channeler, which doesn't seem likely. They're wearing strange clothing and one of the women has a six foot long shovel with a huge squared off head. She's also wearing a bandolier with a dozen or so little spades." Karla cocked her head slightly. "Hair colors?" "The two women have dark brown hair, and the male has black hair in a braid. Kandorian possibly. He and the woman with the giant shovel carry themselves like warriors, while the other woman looks fairly helpless. The man is carrying that woman. They are moving rather quickly through the snow." "Are you sure you've never seen them before?" Dora asked. "The man bears some resemblance to the runaway Accepted Ranko Tendo. One of the members of the False Dragon's expedition also was carrying a giant shovel and bore some resemblance to this woman. The other woman is completely unfamiliar to me, except for perhaps a tiny resemblance to Lorel Sedai before she became so fat." Karla frowned. "Strange. What direction did they come from?" "The north." Not likely to be from Castle Mist. "Well, no matter. Let's move in and take them out and then we can camp for the night and wait for the False Dragon to come out of his hole." ************** Kaneda and company felt like they had been walking forever. The tunnel beyond the door spiraled ever downwards through an endless array of repetitive tunnels with rough ceilings and walls, but smooth floors. "Geez, how deep is this stuff buried?" Mai asked. "I have no idea," Ukyou-kun said. "I just know it's in the mountain." He yawned. "I need some sleep. Didn't get much sleep last night. Alyssa nodded. "Me either." She blushed a little. "Maybe we should go back and wait for tomorrow to explore." "We've been walking for three hours," Ranma-chan said. "Not much point in backtracking that much. We can sleep here. It won't be comfortable, but I'm used to sleeping on the ground." Kaneda nodded. "We should have waited for the next day, but I didn't think it would take this long." They laid down to get some rest. Mai took the first watch, watching as Alyssa curled up with Kaneda and Ranko curled up with Ukyou. She could tell Ranko didn't look too pleased. I hope the Aes Sedai don't end up having a duel in the middle of this little quest, she thought. Ukyou-kun, on the other hand, was quite pleased to have Ranma-chan curled up close with him. He drifted off to sleep and tried to put his lessons from the weird thing he had found the previous night to use. In T'A'R, he found himself in the tunnel. Take me to the treasure, he thought, and found himself in a small room with shelves with various items scattered about. There was a door, which he opened. It lead into a tunnel that curved several times and then passed into the tunnel they were going down, but way back, just inside the entrance door. Looking behind him, he could see the tunnel he had just came through, but there hadn't been any such tunnel in the real world. Or had there been? Maybe it was concealed, he realized. We walked right past it into this endless tunnel. Having found what he neededd to know, Ukyou went back toreal sleep, so he could tell the others in the morning. **************** Ranma frowned. Facing channelers when he couldn't channel was no fun at all. For once in his life, he desperately wished to be in his girl form. The three channelers had overcome him and Ukyou and Kasumi right after they had approached the two people watching the wagons, and now all five of them were hogtied with the power and tossed into the wagon. Well, four of them were. They hadn't bothered to tie up Kasumi, having correctly assessed that she was harmless. She was sleeping peacefully on the ground, wrapped in a nice warm cloak while the rest of them had to share one blanket, although their inability to move helped. He could tell the warder had taken a bit of a shine to Kasumi; it was his cloak she was sleeping under. I would meet the only women in the universe who don't find me charming at the worst possible time, he thought. ************** Kasumi slept, and in her dreams, she danced through the snow with some birds and cats, and frogs, and puppies, and bears, and tigers, and wolves. It was a wonderful frolic, especially since they all talked. She had lots of dreams like this. It was her animal friends who kept her sane in a house full of lunatics. Many evenings, she would want to rip out the throat of her own sisters with her bare hands, but then she would sleep and her friends would come and steal away all her cares and worries and make the world bright and shiny again. All her worries about the mean people who had captured her and Ranma and Ukyou were melting away as she sang a happy song. The song reached a crescendo, then finished. She hugged them all and got ready to move on to the next dream, when she realized something was watching her. It was a scruffy looking wolf with little sticks snarled in his fur like he had been running through hedges at high speed. He was staring at her with what passes for surprise among wolves. She walked over to him. "Why, hello, Mr. Wolf. Let me get those nasty sticks out of your nice shiny fur." He watched in shock as she picked out the sticks one by one, then began to brush his fur. "You're not afraid of me?" he asked. Kasumi smiled. "You're just a big sweet furry carnivore, just like me," Kasumi said. "Except my hair is longer and I eat vegetables too." She sat down and brushed him as thoroughly as she could. "Do you know the song 'Starlight Express'?" "Umm...hum a few bars and I'll try to howl it." Scruffy Cub Falls Down the Mountain and Bangs his Head on Many Rocks and Whines a Lot Afterwards, said. "It has been long since we have met a two-legs who could talk to us." Kasumi pulled out some conditioner. "Now THIS will make your fur shiny." Scruffy looked dubiously at the bottle. "I'll believe that when I see it." Kasumi went to work, having to use up most of the bottle. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find more people like me around here?" Scruffy thought a moment. "Well, Likes to Roll in Mud Until He Becomes Incredibly Disgusting, So It's No Wonder He Can't Find a Mate, says that there's a big pile of stones that the two legs use for a den near here. But aren't you with a group of two legs already?" He cocked his head. "And several of them are shes who throw fire." "They're holding us captive." She said, sighing. "Could you take a message to the other two legs?" "You're the only one I've met who can talk to us, although I've heard stories of another one in the land full of big green plants that two-legs use to light fires inside their heads." Kasumi finished with the conditioner and used a handy tea kettle to wash it off the wolf, then started up with her hairdryer. "Well, could you tell him we need help?" "I'll...uh...see what I can do." Kasumi soon finished drying him off. She held up a mirror. "There you go." Scruffy was stunned. His coat was a nice shiny black and laid flat instead of going off in twenty directions at once. All the sticks were gone, and he looked great. "Wow, I look ready to challenge the Alpha Male." She yawned. "Good luck!" He smiled. "Thank you, two-legs." "You may call me Eldest Sister Who Does All the Work and Occasionally Wishes Her Ungrateful Siblings Would Fall on a Stake and Die, but Usually Forgives Them," Kasumi said. "May you have good hunting and find a good mate, Eldest Sister. I will send your message along as best I can." *********** Later that night, Perrin woke up, trying to figure out what exactly the wolves had been trying to tell him. Clearly this was one of those times that the differences between wolf minds and human minds became truly annoying. Apparently, someone's older sister was cleaning wolves in the mountains and needed to be rescued from Aes Sedai. Luckily, the wolvish name for the Mountains of Mist was the Old Gray Mountains That are Foggy All the Time So You Bang Your Head on a Rock and the Alpha Male Laughs At You, which wasn't far removed from the human name. Well, I'll tell him in the morning, he thought. If Faile wakes up and finds I'm gone, she'll probably carry out that threat to tattoo 'Taken' on my chest in five languages. With a spoon. ************************ The next morning, Ukyou-kun reported his discovery and the group backtracked. With some effort, Alyssa and Kaneda and Ranko broke the weavings that hid the tunnel and headed down it. "This seems too easy," Mai said. Kaneda shrugged. "It's been thousands of years. Probably all the traps have broken or run out of Power." He reached the door at the end of the tunnel. It was made out of some kind of soft, white soapy substance, with a knob carved to look like a potato. He, Alyssa, and Ranko tried probing the door with everything they could think of. No traps. No apparent weaves. Just a door. He tried to open it. It was locked. "..." Ranko shrugged. "Get back. We'll level it." She was leading the link. A gout of lightning erupted from her fingertips and she pretended she was the Emperor from Return of the Jedi. The door was unharmed. They tried fire, cold, more lightning, pounding it with air and trying to shred it with earth. It just sat there and hung out. "There has to be some way to open this," Ranko said. "Why make an unopenable door?" "Maybe there's another way in," Mai said. "There has to be SOME way to open this door," Ukyou-kun said. She walked up to it. It was carved with vines and leaves and grapes and pomegranetes and figs and dates and potatoes. All apparently growing from the same vine. There were melons and cantelopes and squash down at the bottom, and corn and rice and wheat and rye and oats at the top. "Let's see...whoever made it liked vegetables..." "OPEN SESAME!" Ranko shouted. Nothing happened. "Had to try." "Friend," Ukyou said. Everyone stared at her. "Geez, didn't any of you read Tolkein?" "Read what?" Mai asked. Ukyou sighed. "I wouldn't have bothered leaving myself a note to find this place if I wouldn't be able to get in." She tugged on the door idly and it opened. Mai frowned. "It's too easy." "Let's not attract the Universe's attention to that fact, okay?" Ukyou requested. "I LIKE easy." ************** Perrin sat on a chair on the balcony and tried to figure out how to best approach Rand about this. It's all so vague and fuzzy...I'm going to sound crazier than he may become if I go up to him and...what exactly am I going to request, anyway? That he send me to the mountains? I wish the wolves gave better directions. Well, enough procrastinating. Time to go see Rand. He went and found Rand, who was practicing sword forms with the help of some cannon fodder^H^H^H^HH^H^H^H^Hexperts. Rand was humming a little tune that evoked the words 'Kung Fu Fighting' in Perrin's mind, though he didn't know why. Min was nearby, half-reading a book, and half-cheering every time Rand clobbered someone. She looked up. "Hi, Perrin." She cocked her head and stared off to one side of his head. "What the..." Shrugging, she said, "How's life?" Another poor fool went flying as Rand knocked his sword away and swept his legs in one fluid motion. Perrin dodged, then said, "I have to make a request of Rand, but I don't know how to put it." "Well, Rand's in a pretty good mood today, so I'm sure you won't have any trouble." The last sword practice living dummy went down with a thump. Rand walked over and said, "Hey, Perrin, don't suppose you'd be willing to go a few rounds? These guys were too easy." "Rand, I...need to go to the Mountains of Mist." He smiled. "Excellent. I'd been meaning to send someone to check into those reports about that Kaneda fellow. Thanks for volunteering." Perrin blinked. He needs to put up 'Ta'averen at Work' signs or something. "Good. I'm going to need help with channelers involved." "I'll drop by the farm and borrow ten Asha'man," Rand said. "And maybe a few of my sworn Aes Sedai. I don't really have a lot for them to do here." And the farther away they are, the safer I'll feel, he thought. "You can take your Two Rivers men. I'll make sure you get someone who knows traveling so you can get back." Perrin nodded. If this isn't enough to do the trick...although a False Dragon...I really don't want to meet one. One Dragon is enough for me. ************* "Who are you?" Karla demanded. "Ranma Saotome, just like the last time you asked," Ranma said, getting a whack to the head for a reply. "That hurts, you know." "We can do a lot worse," Karla said. "I've survived having hungry cats cover my entire body with scratches," Ranma said, shuddering. "But it doesn't matter, because I'm telling the truth." "What you've told us makes no sense whatsoever and sounds like a total pile of lies," Dora said. "Look, you could give me the Oath Rod if you had it, and I'll still tell you the same story." Ranma hadn't bothered lying. He couldn't think of a good lie. He stunk at it. "We're seriously supposed to believe this tale?" Else said. "He must be delirious from wandering in the cold too long." Dora said. "Surely if he was lying, it wouldn't be such a totally unbelievable story." "Unless we're supposed to believe that and not probe deeper," Karla said. "I think he's lying." "Ranma isn't lying," Kasumi said. "You can always tell when he lies because he puts his hands behind his head." Dora said, "Well, that would be hard to do with them both tied behind his back." "Oh. Well, he might be lying then," Kasumi said. Ukyou tried to will her hands free so she could crush Kasumi's head with a rock. ***************** The room was full of various nicknacks: statuettes, small bottles of liquids, a very nice sword with a name written on the blade in the Old Tongue, several books, a long blue rod, and a weird, free-standing archway which was bent and twisted, looking like MC Escher had made it. It caught Ukyou-kun's eyes as she looked around the room. Everyone else wandered around picking things up. All the writing was in the Old Tongue, which they couldn't read, except for the words 'Aes Sedai' on the cover of one book. It looked like some kind of manga collection about Aes Sedai when Ranma- chan opened it. Kaneda found himself drawn to a small figurine of a man holding up the world. There was something about it. "I wonder what all these things do?" Alyssa found a small folder. "I think this is the Inventory, but that's about all I can make out. It's full of pictures of all this stuff." Kaneda took a look at it. "Well, if we could read it, this would help." Ranma-chan took a look at the potion bottles, and the jewelry around it. For a moment, she picked up a white gold ring that caught her eye, then put it down and picked up a packet and stared at it. "Hey, there's writing in Chinese on this!" Ukyou-kun spun around. "What?" Kaneda hurried over. "Lemme take a look." It was a paper packet, blue in color. It felt like there was some kind of powder in it. Mai said, "What is Chinese and why is it so important?" "It's a language from near our homeland," Kaneda said. "But how did this get in here? This place was sealed off thousands of years ago, right?" Ukyou-kun nodded. "As far as I can tell." He turned and looked at the archway. "I wonder what this thing does." Alyssa walked over to it. "It looks sort of like the ter'angreal they use for accepted tests, but with only one arch, right, Ranko?" Ranma-chan walked over. "Right. I wonder where it goes." Ukyou-kun looked at it. "Only one way to find out." He stepped through it. "Wait, Ucchan! The one in the test..." It was too late. "...was a really horrible experience." Kaneda said, "Should we go after him?" "If it's like the one in the Tower, ya gotta make it out on your own," Ranko said. Sighing, she stared at the twisted doorway. The way back comes but once...no one even got to tell you that... ************** Ukyou-kun followed the foxy little man nervously. He kept wondering what the leather strips he wore were made out of. The hungry looks he kept giving him made his skin crawl. He was led into a room full of pillars, not quite sure why he hadn't simply turned back. Maybe it was his curiosity. Surely, my past life put this thing here for some reason. Atop each of the pillars, a foxy man or woman with red hair sat cross-legged, staring down at him. They grinned with a toothsome joy and spoke in a language he did not know. The guide translated. "They bid you welcome. What are your desires?" "Umm...where am I?" "In the realm of the Aelfinn." The name tickled faint memories in Ukyou's mind. Elves, that's it. No wonder they didn't want anyone carrying Iron. Good thing my spatulas are steel. Or maybe not such a good thing. Let's see...if you catch a leprechaun, they have to give you cereal ...umm...leave them milk...Don't cheat them...ahh, cost. "What's this gonna cost me?" The foxy man laughed a little and translated for the stylites. They replied to him. "What are you willing to pay?" "Uhh...I have about 500 yen on me." The man translated. Ukyou-kun could tell from the laughter that 500 yen wasn't gonna cut it. The man gave their reply. "Would you be willing to be a man forever?" "But I wanted to wish to get rid of my curse!" The man gave her reply. "How about your left leg?" "I need my left leg." "But you already have a spare." "How about if I cook you some okonomiyaki?" The man conferred with the other fox men and women. "We can count that for one wish. We don't get it much here, but it's not THAT valuable." "How about if I throw in my family's secret recipe?" More conferring. "Two wishes." "Well, what do you want?" They conferred back and forth. "Do you have a functional 8 track player?" "No." "Damn." The foxes yammered back and forth, and finally, the translator said, "Can we turn you into a shambling mound of vegetable matter?" "No! Ask something that isn't stupid!" Ukyou-kun shouted. "Shave you bald and spraypaint your head?" "How about if I just settle for two wishes?" "Can't do that. How about if you owe us a favor we can collect later?" "What kind of favor?" "We need a statue destroyed. We can't get to it. Deal?" "Deal." Ukyou said. "I get my wishes now?" "Yes, then you can pay us." "Okay, first wish is for me to be a girl again!" A gong sounded and suddenly, Ukyou-kun was a she. Ukyou staggered as her brain tried to integrate conflicting memories. Her brain wobbled back and forth as the square peg wouldn't fit in the round hole. "I wish I could think straight!" With a second ringing of the gong, Ukyou's mind became clearer than it ever had before. She realized first off that she had just mostly wasted a wish, although being able to think clearly wouldn't be all bad. Secondly, she realized that her female side had been being held captive by three Aes Sedai and their warder. Third, she realized that her first wish had been poorly worded and might not have cured her curse like she wanted. Fourthly, she realized that she had best wish for something besides a cure, since there were more possible cures than ways to get broad wishes like this. Fifthly, she set to work thinking of a good wish. I shouldn't get too greedy...greedy wishes backfire in stories. Ahh...if I had the gift of tongues, I could read all those labels...wait, maybe I should wish to be a really powerful channeler with my girl side...no, that's probably too greedy. "I wish to have the power to speak, read, write, and understand any language ever created by any sentient being." The gong sounded, and Ukyou understood what the fox people were saying to each other now. "Your wishes are granted. Now, someone get her a grill." She whipped out her porta-grill. "Okay, now watch closely..." ************* Karla was about to interrogate the heavily armed girl again when she vanished in a spray of light. "What the..." Else looked around and frowned. "I didn't sense any channeling." "It must have been male channeling," Dora concluded. They turned and looked at the three men present, who all began to sweatdrop in unison. ************** Ukyou walked out of the archway a few seconds after she had left. "Well, that could have gone better, but..." Ranma-chan boggled. "You're a girl!" Mai boggled more. "YOU'RE A GIRL!" She backed as far away from the arch as she could. It's all true, Alyssa thought. Then Ranko really is a...a boy. She had been able to half deny that until now. "Yeah, I was able to turn back to normal with a wish I got from the..." "A wish? COOL!" Ranma-chan sprinted into the doorway before anyone could stop her. "Foxes, but you have to pay...Oh great, Ranma left before I finished." ************ "What do you desire?" "I want to be back to normal again! I want to never have another lustful thought about boys EVER again! I want..." Ranma-chan slowed down. Okay, two problems out of the way. I could wish for martial arts skills...naah, that would be cheating. I can't waste a wish on that. I could make Akane stop liking girls. Yeah, I..wait...if I phrase that wrong, she might not be able to have any female friends. Okay, wish for Akane to not love anyone female. No, wait, that would stop her from loving her sisters. Or her Mom. Well, her mom is dead. Okay, wish for Akane to not love anyone female, unless they're a blood re...ahh! Okay, wish for Akane to not romantically love anyone female. Yeah. Wait, what if that means she can't love...no, I'm cured now, right? Wait, what if my first wish doesn't work? Ranma looked down at his body and suddenly realized he was male. It worked, he thought. I'm a boy again! Suddenly, his brain dove into chaos as it tried to reconcile two sets of memories. Ranma stuck it out, keeping his mouth shut, knowing he would say something stupid if he wasn't careful. Finally, the chaos in his mind slowed in its spinning. Wait, we still don't have a way to get back home, he realized. And I need some way to keep from going nuts if I do go home and can't channel. His memories also informed him that Kasumi was still being held captive along with two guys working for Akane. Okay, that doesn't need a wish. I shoulda been more careful about my wishes. "If I wish for something impossible, do I get another wish?" The fox nodded. "Yes. Impossible wishes don't count. Neither do ones beyond our power to grant. You can't wish the Dark One dead." "Can I wish for channeling Talents?" "If you so desire." Oh bugger, I can't channel because now I'm a boy! "Can I wish for an item?" "Yes." "I wish to have a fully charged D-hopper with an instruction manual that I can actually read and understand!" After a moment's thought, he added. "That won't explode or dump me in volcanoes or junk like that." A bell gonged. In fact, he dimly remembered it ringing before. The D-hopper and instruction manual appeared in his hands. "This is great. Thanks." The translator grinned broadly. "There remains the matter of price. Since you did not set a price, by the ancient covenant, we may set it." Urk. "Your life will be a roiling sea of chaos in which you will dance for our amusement. You will never know peace and stability, but you will never be bored. When you eliminate one problem, another shall arise to take its place. We look forward to watching you struggle. Good day, and I shall show you out now." "Hey, you didn't say nuthin' about no price!" The fox man began to hustle Ranma down the corridor. "By right, we could take your life, but this will be much more amusing. You said you knew the ancient covenant." Ranma tried to protest as he was dragged. "I thought it was one of those 'If they ask you if you're a god, say YES!' kinda things." "No." Ranma sighed. "So now that I no longer turn into a girl, I'm gonna get another problem to replace it?" "No." "But you said..." As the man booted Ranma out the door, he said, "You wished to be back to normal, and your normal state is to have one body, one mind, but to turn into a girl when wet. Good day, and feel free to recommend us to your friends." That wasn't too likely. ************* Kaneda and Alyssa listened carefully to Ukyou's account. Mai said, "No way I'm going in there. I've heard stories about those people, and they always cheat you some way. There's nothing I want that badly." Ukyou looked nervously at the door. "Shouldn't Ranma be out by now? You said I was only gone a few seconds." "Ranma-chan probably is trying to fight her way to the Aelfinn Nyanichuan," Kaneda muttered, then laughed a little. "I will take the chance. I have a heavy...need." "So will I," Alyssa said. She took Kaneda's hand. "Let's go while I still have the courage." Ukyou watched them go. "Well, I guess I'll start translating that inventory." "You can read them now?" Mai asked. Ukyou nodded. "They didn't cheat me on that, anyway." "Do you think I should go?" Ukyou shook her head. "Not unless you've got a really clear idea what you want. And something to offer them." Ranma suddenly tumbled out of the doorway. Mai looked nervously at him. "Are you sure that thing doesn't change everyone's sex automatically?" "Yes." Ranma got up. "I have a D-hopper! I think I screwed up my other wishes though." He looked around. No guys to test whether the second one worked. It HAS to have worked, he thought. "Hey, where's Kaneda and Alyssa?" "Gone to risk making wishes." Ranma shook his head. "They cheat." "I could have told you that if I'd known who lives in there," Mai said. "We gotta go rescue Kasumi," Ranma said. Ukyou started. She had forgotten. "Right. When Kaneda and Alyssa get back, we go kick Aes Sedai butt." Mai said, "WHAT?" After they explained everything, Mai wished she had been left in the dark. ************ "Name your desires." Kaneda was worried. Alyssa had vanished when they came through the portal. Were they going to use her against him somehow? Stick to the plan, he thought. I'll just revise one wish. "Should we not set the price I will pay first?" Don't forget, Kaneda, he thought. Think before you speak. The foxy man grinned. "Someone remembers the covenant in truth. Name what you will pay." "I will accept being bound to this world until the end of this age, to risk myself in Tar'mon Gaidon and what leads up to it." The foxy man's eyes widened slightly, then he grinned again, but his voice was a little less arrogant and hungry. "Add that we may observe all that you do, knowing your thoughts, feelings, sensations, pains, pleasures, and actions." "Acceptable." The thought of being spied on wasn't too pleasant, but he knew it would take a heavy price for what he wanted. "My first wish is that I want the knowledge and power necessary to move my people to safety without having to march all the way across the lands." "Done." The gong rang. Kaneda suddenly realized he had gained the knowlege of how to do Travelling, the art of opening gates between portals, and had gained knowlege of many places he could travel to. Now one for the world, he thought. "I wish for the taint to be removed from Saidin." The foxes' eyes widened. "Are you SURE?" He blinked. Why on God's green Earth would I NOT want this?" "Is there some reason I shouldn't want it?" "We don't answer questions," was the reply, but he sounded scared. Surely this can't be a bad thing, Kaneda thought. They must be trying to bluff me. "Do it." The Foxes gulped. They conversed back and forth. Finally, the translator said, "We can see no other way within our power to do this but one. We must grant your wish, so..." "What are you so worried about?" "We don't answer..." "Why are you being such IDIOTS?" Kaneda's temper flared and a mallet appeared in his hands. "FOX NO BAKA!" He whacked the fox in the head, and he fell down, assuming the standard demon ward hands position. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought. I can't afford to be violent. I haven't done anything like that in months/days. The Fox sat up. "Perhaps in your case, we can make an exception. The division of labor is not quite absolute between us and our kin. We do answer certain questions. The only way within our power to carry out your wish is to break the remaining seals on the Dark One's Prison so he can no longer touch the Source through it." Kaneda boggled. The wish he had been least worried about had nearly unleashed the Dark One. "How about if I wish for all male channelers to henceforth be protected from the Taint while retaining the ability to channel as they did before?" "We're not omnipotent. We don't even know who every channeler is. Nor are we strong enough to protect them all." "How many could you protect?" Whispered conferencing followed. "Twenty." "Alright, I wish for the power to protect twenty channelers of my choice from the Taint on Saidin, including myself, without causing them to lose the ability to channel." "Done. You can protect up to twenty men." The gong rung. Things didn't seem to have changed, but then, Kaneda wasn't channeling. He opened himself to the Source, and it was...different. Still violent. Still trying to eat him for breakfast. But no longer was there a sheen of nausea hanging over it. He couldn't feel the taint. Twenty men, he thought. But how do I pick which twenty? Twenty to be saved from going mad, while all else do...and no one else will know they're free of it...He could feel the weight settling onto his shoulders. Okay, third wish. Do I use it on Alyssa, or trust her to get out okay. Well, might as well try asking first. "Where is Alyssa?" "All must enter and face us alone. Such is the ancient covenant." "Is she safe?" "We are not holding her hostage to use against you." I wonder if they read minds, Kaneda thought. "I wish for myself, my followers, and my friends who can channel to possess permanently the full training that would have been received by an Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends." The same training that enabled someone to bore a hole in the Dark One's prison, a tiny voice in his head said. Suddenly, he didn't feel so good about this one, either. "Done." The gong rang. "Your price has begun to be paid." Knowlege flooded Kaneda's mind. The Old Tongue. Channeling methods. A lot of mostly useless history, geography, economics and politics. How to drive a Jo-car. Hundreds of facts, methods, techniques and trivia chased each other around the inside of his brain. "I can tell." They let him go without further ado. ****************** "Name your desires." Alyssa twitched. "I name a price too, right?" I hope I'm doing this in the right order, she thought. Kaneda had vanished. Was he in danger? The guide hadn't said anything when she asked him. "Indeed." "I wish...I wish...Oh yeah, price. Ummm...Do you need some channeling done?" "Yes, that would be acceptable. We have a ter'angreal that requires someone to channel into it to activate it. We do not channel and cannot turn it on. We will show you how to tie the weave in place so that it stays on." "Okay, sounds fair to me." Wishes. Okay, let's do this right. "My first wish, is that no matter what happens, even if I screw up the rest of my wishes, that Kaneda won't get hurt." "We cannot grant invulnerability to everything." "Umm...right." Alyssa tried to think clearly, but she was getting more nervous. "I wish, first of all, then, that I be changed in whatever way is necessary for me and Kaneda to be happy together. That's all I really want. Even if I have to turn into a boy or whatever." The fox cocked his head slightly, then smirked. "Done." A gong gonged. Nothing seemed to have happened. "I don't feel any different." "Were you expecting your mind to be altered?" She nodded. "Yeah." "Technically, it was not necessary for US to alter your mind to grant your wish." "What, so my wish was for nothing? I don't understand." His lips quirked. "We did change one thing. Next wish?" "This is my second one?" "Yes." She thought hard. "I wish for Kaneda to not go mad from the taint or suffer any unwanted physical effects from it, ever." The fox laughed. "Granted." "Can I wish for the Forsaken to never be released from their prison?" "Too late." Okay, last wish, she thought. This one...I gotta do it right. The way he was laughing, I must have made a mistake on my second wish, somehow. "I wish to become a strong and skillful enough Aes Sedai to beat all the Forsaken by myself without burning out in the process." "Any Aes Sedai wielding THAT MUCH power alone would burn out." The Fox said flatly. "Then I want to become a strong and skillful enough Aes Sedai to face down any one of the Forsaken and win a fight against them, without burning myself out. I know THAT has to be possible or they'd be ruling the world right now." I think. "Done." The fox smirked and Alyssa had a sinking feeling. "Now, come with us and power up this ter'angreal." ************** Ukyou, Ranma, and Mai finished sorting through the artifacts. "I wish my past self had thought to include TWO farspeakers," Ukyou said. "This is like having a ham radio in the Nara period." "In the what?" Mai asked. "It's like having a plow, but no horse for it," Ranma said. Mai nodded. "Okay." She was a little bit nervous being near them. She didn't think gender changing was infectious, and they'd tried to explain what was going on, but she couldn't quite understand how it was possible. "These shocklances might be useful, but they'd probably be more useful if we had enough of them for more than three people." The shocklances were in one corner, leaning against the wall. They were about nine foot long with crystaline tips. "This book on channeling could be useful, though," Ukyou said. "At least for those of us who channel." She saw Ranma twitch slightly, and she could feel his agitation through the warder bond. What's he so worried about? Mai nodded. "This medical book could be a lot of use once we figure it all out too. And the history book is interesting, if not very useful." Ranma looked a little hungrily at the five statuettes, two rods, and three rings. "And three angreals, a male angreal, and six ter'angreal. Including three for entering the dream world like Ucchan does." "And an Oath Rod, a ring that compels truthtelling, and a rod that makes plants grow. Not a bad haul. Whatever an Oath Rod is," Ukyou said. "Aes Sedai swear the oaths on one," Ranma said. Suddenly, he felt like his brain was going to explode, as if someone had pulled open a hatch on it and poured massive amounts of knowlege into it. He staggered, and the little bit of his brain that wasn't going into the spin cycle for the second time that day noticed that Mai was also stumbling about, looking overwhelmed. Ukyou seemed blissfully unaffected, however. She looked at the two in concern. "What's wrong?" She could feel Ranma's utter confusion through their bond. She didn't really need it to tell, however. Ranma recovered faster than Mai, who was still staggering around when Kaneda stepped out of the gate. "Ucchan, I think either Kaneda or Alyssa just made a wish...did you get a bunch of stuff about the Age of Legends in your head?" She shook her head. "Not me, Ranchan." "I did," Mai said. "All this stuff about channeling, and vehicles and history and how to find a good deal in Paaran Disen and..." She looked around as if she was trying to find something. "I feel weird. Like there's...like something is..." Her eyes widened as little tumblers fell into place in her mind. "The Source." Ukyou blinked. "You can channel now?" Ranma's mind, now clear once more, made several breakthroughs. "Oath rods were used to bind criminals?" The thought that the Aes Sedai were using a tool of punishment on themselves made him want to laugh, so he did. Serves some of them right, he thought. Kaneda stepped out of the archway a few seconds later, looking worried. He looked around, "Alyssa?" "She's not out yet," Ukyou said. "Did you like zap knowlege into Ranchan and Mai's heads?" Kaneda blinked, then laughed. "Good, it worked." He paused, and thought a moment, remembering the wording of his wish. I suppose this means Ukyou definitely can't channel. Mai said, "I...I can channel now." Her mind was still reeling. Me...an Aes Sedai. Kaneda nodded. "One of my wishes was to give all of my friends and followers with the potential to channel the full training of an Age of Legends Aes Sedai." Wait...they built these things, he thought, looking back at the Archway. Why didn't they use them to stop the Breaking of the World? Surely they knew what they do, right? He shoved his worries away for the moment. "I also wished...for the ability to protect people from the Taint so they won't go mad or die." Ranma's eyes widened. "That's great!" He felt a very large worry sprout wings and fly away to go bug someone else. "And now I know how to get e...oh blast it! I wasted a wish. My third wish covered the same ground as the first one..." Kaneda turned and punched the wall. "Damnit, damnit, damnit!!!!" The wall cracked. Mai said, "What did you wish for also?" "A way to get all of us to where Rand is without having to march all the way there. It's just a channeling weave." He sighed. "Well, two of the wishes worked." "Whaddya have to pay them?" Kaneda tried to decide whether to tell Ranma or not. I have to tell him eventually. "I must remain in the world until this age comes to its end. And they get to watch." Ranma got big eyes. "What, you mean until after Tarmon Gai'don?" "More or less. I guess," Kaneda said. "But that could be YEARS!" Ranma said. "What kinda crazy idea was that?" "Better than a lifetime of chaos." Kaneda said. "Maybe." He sighed. "That doesn't mean you have to stay, Ranma-kun." Ranma twitched. I shoulda wished for Akane to stop liking girls, he thought. That's why she's staying. I can't believe that I'm losing to a girl, damnit! A surge of anger and jealousy hit him. Alyssa stepped out, looking a bit haggard. "Well, that was harder than it looked." Why is Ranma looking at me like I'm some kind of Trolloc, she wondered when Ranma glared at her. Not being an idiot, she put two and two together and got four. Ranma wants the girl Akane, and I want my boy Kaneda, and we can't both have what we want. I'm sorry, Ranko, she thought. But I'm not going to give up my Kaneda without a fight. Kaneda turned to her. "Are you okay?" "I had to do some work for them, and now I'm too tired to channel much more than a spark or wipe the sweat off my brow." Did my wish work, she wondered. Will Kaneda and I really be able to stay together? Kaneda stepped forward and kissed her. Ranma made strangling noises until Ukyou came over and put a hand over his mouth. Mai continued to boggle over being a channeler. This went on for a while. *************** Wolves howled in the distance as Else, Dora, and Karla continued to tried to get the truth out of their prisoners, who continued to claim despite thorough beatings that they had no clue at all what happened to the missing prisoners unless maybe Kaneda had done something. One of them even claimed to not know who Kaneda was. Finally, Dora said, "This is getting us nowhere. I think they really don't know." Karla nodded reluctantly. "This annoys me." Kasumi was crying. She hadn't been beaten since she was nine and had gotten sick of housework one day and had started breaking everything so she wouldn't be able to do any more housework. Shehad gotten a thorough spanking for that, but her father had scared himself while doing it, and hadn't spanked any of his children again after that. Indeed, his efforts to discipline them had effectively ceased in the wake of that incident, not that he had tried very hard since his wife died. They had had to learn to discipline themselves. Kasumi had gone past the limits of what she could endure. She kept wobbling back and forth between impotent rage and utter terror. People didn't hit her. Ever. She'd walked through the middle of all out combats and not been touched because she had learned what part of her mind regarded as a magic formula. If you're nice to people and don't hit them, they won't hit you. She was also terrified of her own anger. She didn't get angry, and on the few occasions she did, she didn't know what to do about it. She wanted to kill them for beating her just because they didn't like the entirely truthful answers she gave them. She hadn't lied or even bothered to cover up anything at all. But they had beaten her anyway, and now she wanted to hurt them back, which scared her. Wobbling back and forth between the desire to rip out their throats and the urge to curl up into a ball and die, she compromised by crying a river like her father. Even the time an oni had possessed her, she hadn't felt this angry. Only when her mother had died had she felt so helpless and scared. And then she heard the voices in the forest. {Eldest Sister Who Does All the Work and Occasionally Wishes Her Ungrateful Siblings Would Fall on a Stake and Die, but Usually Forgives Them, why are you so unhappy?} She recognized the voice. It was the wolf from her dream. [The people who captured me that I told you about beat me! I'm going to die!] As much as a wolf's voice can sound nervous, his did. {Don't worry. Young Bull is coming. He will help you.} If he gets here in time. Scruffy was worried. {They are out to take my sister and lock her up and my friends as well. I want to chew them up and slit their throats and oh God what am I thinking?} Kasumi paused in her crying to breathe heavily and feel a wash of horror. I must be hallucinating if I'm thinking I'm talking to wolves...although that can't be any weirder than a guy who turns into a girl, I suppose. {I'm so angry and it scares me and I can't do anything and...} [We will help you.] Wolves howled in a chorus in the distance. [If Young Bull does not arrive soon, we will come and slay your enemies or die trying.] Kasumi found the thought of her enemies being eaten by wolves so appealing that she nearly threw up. ************ Perrin and his team were now in the Mountains of Mist, which were snow covered and reasonably trackless. Now we just have to wander mindlessly until we find what we're looking for. Maybe the wolves can help. [Anyone out there?] {Young Bull, Eldest Sister Who Does All the Work and Occasionally Wishes Her Ungrateful Siblings Would Fall on a Stake and Die, but Usually Forgives Them needs you! Three shes who throw fire and touch the wind have been beating her and her friends. She rages against them, but can do nothing.} She was a wolf named Glimmer of the Morning Star at the Crack of Dawn on a Clear Night Without Clouds, Seen From a Hillside as You Prepare to Sleep, more or less. The name was an image of course, and hard to put into words. {Come quickly.} [How far is it? Is there a place where two legs gather around here?] {The Two Legs have a big stone den towards where the sun rises from where you are. Come, quickly} An image of the path appeared in his mind. {We must hurry before she is eaten.} Surely they're not cannibals, he thought. [We come.] He turned to Rys, one of the strongest of the Ash'aman that Rand had sent with him. "We need to head about ten miles northwest." Rys cocked his head. "A little bird tell you that? I see smoke rising to the east. People that way, I think." Several of the Asha'man grinned, and so did several of the Two Rivers Archers. Faile said, "Do you desire that THIS little bird tell YOU something? I guarantee you won't like it." She and Rys locked gazes for a minute, then he turned away. "Whatever. As LORD Perrin Goldeneyes commands in his omniscience." He gestured and opened the gateway. Faile smiled and tweaked Perrin's arm, then whispered, "Aren't you glad I came along?" "Yes," he whispered, and meant it, even though he STILL didn't like taking her into danger. However, by now he'd learned that trying to protect her simply meant she would find a way to put herself in more danger than if he'd just given in in the first place. It was a knack she had. *********************** Ukyou slipped back to the group, still invisible and silent. They had hidden her with the Power so she could scout ahead. "Okay, there's three of them still and one warder. Kasumi and Corwin are in the wagon, and Tyr's lying up in the driving seat." "I think we ought to all just link and shield them all," Ranma said. "Well, if we can figure out some way for me to turn into a girl since we don't have any water handy. Then we can taser them with the shocklances." "I can melt snow," Kaneda said. "Getting water is easy. And they can't sense me channelling. Ukyou could bring us some snow." "You want me to do that?" The conversation continued, and suddenly Ukyou realized they couldn't see or hear her...which had been the intent, but not in this context. Ranma-chan finally sensed her through the warder link, which helped. ************** Karla, Dora, and Else were on the alert now. They had sensed quite a bit of channeling inside the mountain. It was all a fair ways away, but best to be ready for trouble. They had hidden Thomas near the entrance, both invisible and inaudible. Dora and Else were concealed as well, while Karla had volunteered to take the risk of being sacrificial victim. Things didn't go quite the way they planned. The group they planned to capture suddenly appeared in the wagon. One of them, the pole- arm carrying woman, leaped into the driver's seat and set it in motion, while the other women, linked, slammed down a shield hard before Karla could do more than blink. The man who Karla believed was probably the Dragon knelt to untie the prisoners, then stopped, staring in shock. Karla recognized two of the women. Ranko and Alyssa. A runaway and a failure. Both despicable. The third was unknown to her. A wilder, she thought. Karla had no prejudices against wilders, only against people who would not play by the rules. "So, my Lord False Dragon. Quite a collection of failures and washouts you've collected. Some of your friends seem to be missing. Did you kill them in a fit of madness, perhaps?" She was stalling to give Thomas time to get into position, and waiting for Dora and Else to do something. Then Kaneda howled like an animal and Karla felt a chill of fear. Maybe he has snapped, she thought. "WHO DID THIS?" he howled. Karla could hear the girl, Kasumi, croaking something out, but didn't hear what it was. She didn't need to. Her mental discipline cracked and a bead of sweat ran down her brow. Do something, you idiots! Kaneda was inches from Karla by the time she took three more breaths. "YOU MONSTER!" His fist slammed into her nose, and she felt it break. She toppled, cursing. "Dora, Else, do something you IDIOTS!" Suddenly, Alyssa crumpled from a blow from an invisible assailant. Ranko spun and unleashed a hail of kicks and blows on whatever had attacked her. Unfortunately, this distracted her from keeping the shield on Karla, who tried to shield Kaneda. The two of them struggled for the Source without moving. Mai, who was still linked to Ranko couldn't do much when Else shielded her, but Ranko, carrying one of the angreals like Alyssa and Mai, was able to easily shield Dora when Dora tried to shield her. She tried to tie it off, but then the still invisible Tomas unloaded on her, sending her flying. She started looking for Else, but Else was still invisible. Mai crumpled when Else cut off her air supply. However, Ranko was able to follow the flows back to Else, and with the angreal, she managed to shield Else, only to get clocked by Tomas again. A burst of wind blew Tomas away from her, but now Else was loose and then Dora burst her shield as well. Ranko began to back up, barely able to keep Else and Dora from shielding her because she had to put some of her attention into listening for Tomas, which she quickly learned didn't work when he sent her flying again. She could feel them clamping down on her, slowly cutting her off from the source. She could have fought them or Tomas and won, but not both. Karla and Kaneda glared at each other. He was substantially stronger, but she had forty years experience, and he had months. She forced him to keep on his toes, while he struggled to fend off all the assaults at once. For several minutes, they glared at each other, but Karla was beginning to suspect she was going to lose. Then she spotted the Kasumi girl charging at her with a knife. She looked entirely crazed. Karla swore mentally. She took the chance of hurling a huge chunk of snow at the oncoming girl, sending her flying. Kaneda slammed a shield into place, then suddenly realized the girl had been hurt. He lost his concentration, and turned to look at her. She managed to snag his feet with hers and trip him. He crashed into the snow, and the shield broke. She called up fire and tried to boil him with melted snow, though she ended up mainly getting hot water. The result shocked her. "Blood and ashes...he turned into a girl!" Before the girl could do anything, Karla had her tied up with flows of air. He looked up at the girl, Ranko and thought about the boy they had captured earlier. Surely not..but what if? She hurled some of the hot water at Ranko, who suddenly turned into a very surprised guy. Seconds later, he was hogtied with air. Dora and Else became visible again and sauntered over. Dora plucked the angreal out of the boy's hands. "Interesting." Else turned to Karla, looking very surprised. "Amazing. I would not have thought such a use of the Power possible." The boy, Ranma, swore. "You bastards. I can't believe you did that to Kasumi. Is everyone in the Red Ajah a torturer, or are you three just special?" "I am a Brown," Else said frostily. "And you are but a runaway Accepted." "With a cowardly warder. What kinda man beats a defenseless woman? Or lets her be beaten. Then attacks people invisibly. Chicken!" Ranma started letting out chicken cries. Dora raised an eyebrow. "You're rather obnoxious for someone who is utterly at our mercy." "Compared to that damn Accepted test, this ain't nothing. Compared to a typical day with Pop, this ain't nothing. I've survived being thrown in a pit of cats sixty times with sausages tied to me. I get woken up by having a giant panda roll over on me. I've fought maniacs who thought they were gods. I've fought dragons in human form. I've helped kill some of the Forsaken. You're NOTHING." Ranma grinned at them. "And my female form is better built than all of you put together." Dora said, "No way. My Domani beauty puts yours to shame!" Karla sighed. This is worse than novices channeling ice to put down each other's dresses. She watched Dora and Else bicker with the boy as if the three of them were fourteen year old girls. She went around to make sure each of their captives was secured, making sure to tie up the psycho girl especially securely. Half of her brain was listening as they started arguing about who was a better channeler as well. She turned Tomas visible and got him to start moving the bodies while she headed over to stop this ridiculous argument. Wolves howled in the distance, but she ignored them. Wolves rarely attacked humans unless the humans struck first or they were extremely desperate. It looked like Else and Dora were hanging colored lights all over Ranma, trying to show who had more fine control. Dora was clearly winning. Else should have known better than to compete. Of course, the boy was bragging he was better. The wolves howled again. They were closer now. "You two, why are you wasting time arguing with this idiot?" Else and Dora blushed. "Ummm..." "Our work is done here. Once we collect everything they found, we can leave mopping up the castle to the locals. Now, come with me. We need to search them." She thought a moment. "Tomas, strip the boy and see what he has in his clothing. Else, Dora, you examine the channelers. I'll see what the warrior girl can tell me." They nodded, but then a voice cried from down the slope of the mountain. "HALT! In the name of the Lord Dragon!" Karla cursed mentally. His goon boys showed up. Her goon boys...whatever he/she/it is. She turned to the others, who nodded. They began to stride forward, weaving air to block arrows and using a nice trick that made them seem to grow with each step. "LEAVE THIS PLACE. THIS IS AES SEDAI BUSINESS." Her voice bellowed. Suddenly, the illusion snapped. She now spotted the ten black clad men who stood near the small army's leader. All ten were grinning like madmen in their uniforms, and she suddenly realized what they were. Male channelers. There had been stories of Al'Thor collecting and training such...but why would he send nearly half of them into the mountains? They knew from their last report there was likely not more than twenty or thirty at most. It surprised her that he had found so mmany. One of the men crowed, "We'll make you kneel like the others! DOWN!" She could feel the weaves of air, if not see them, and she sliced them to ribbons. No one would make her kneel. The shaggy haired man on the huge horse cried out, "This is your last chance to surrender." Karla would sooner die than surrender. She unleashed a storm of shielding attacks, as did Dora and Else. She herself only shielded one. With the Angreal, Dora shielded four. Else got one as well. Unfortunately, this left four black clad men. While they couldn't find her arrow blocking weaves, which saved her from becoming a pincushion, the ground suddenly exploded under their feet, sending Karla, Dora, and Else flying. Then the pack of wolves closed in, charging up the mountainside. The last thing Karla saw before she blanked out was a very scruffy looking wolf charging her. ************** Akane shook hands with Perrin. "Nice to meet you. I'm Akane Tendo, also known as Kaneda." She noticed that the hawk-nosed woman by him was giving her a suspicious look. Must be his girlfriend, she thought. The idea of herself making someone else jealous made her grin just a tiny bit. "The...Kaneda is a girl?" Perrin boggled. Akane sighed. "This is going to shock you. I suggest you sit down." The woman gave Akane a funny look. "I think my husband," she emphasized the word, "has seen much worse than anything you might do." Akane grinned. "Ranma, Ukyou, c'mere." They did. Ranma said, "Oh no...you're NOT gonna do this." "Mai, do the honors, please." Mai flinched in advance, but did so. Turning snow to water was easy. Watching them change sex wasn't. This had better not happen to all channelers, she thought. No wonder Aes Sedai don't get married much. Perrin stared in shock. "Urk." Faile's eyes opened wide. She looked around at the snow and pulled her legs as high up on her horse as she could. The various archers stared nervously at the ground and the Asha'man suddenly were surrounded by a patch of ground clear of snow. "Ranma, Ukyou, Mai. You explain everything. I need to see to my sister." He went over to Kasumi, who was lying with her head in Alyssa's lap, crying. Alyssa had easily healed her wounds and removed the pain, but that wasn't enough. Kaneda quickly turned some snow to hot water and reverted to normal. Akane picked up Kasumi and hugged her tightly. "You're safe, sis." "I wanted to kill them...I was so angry...I wanted to rip out their throats...I think I'm going mad..." Kasumi was babbling incoherently. "But you didn't," Akane said. "I would have been mad if I was in your position too." "I called the wolves to kill them...I wanted to hurt them...to make them pay. It wasn't right. It wasn't right. Akane...I wanted them DEAD!" Kasumi banged her fist on the ground. "I feel dirty." "You're the cleanest of us all, Kasumi. I have killed people here." It was hard to admit. She'd tried to avoid it, but back when she first learned to use the Power, she'd buried a group of Whitecloaks under an avalanche. She couldn't be certain they'd died, but she never saw them again. "Compared to me, you're spotless." "It's not true. You couldn't kill anyone, Akane. You're just trying to make me feel better." Kasumi cried for a very long time, and Akane sat and held her through it all, doing her best to be soothing. Alyssa watched quietly, not knowing what to say. I feel pathetic. All this knowlege I got from the foxes, but I got knocked out before I could use it. The man...woman...I love is trying to help her poor sister and I don't know what to do. Akane seemed so natural as a girl as she comforted her sister, doing everything Alyssa would have done for her own sister. And yet...when he was a boy, he seemed natural as that as well. Alyssa didn't know what to think. ************ The victory dinner was a resounding success, although rather plain and overcrowded. Still, everyone had a good time eating and celebrating the victory, although many of the people at Castle Mist didn't quite know what they were celebrating. Afterwards, they split into various groups to discuss things. Kaneda went walking with Kasumi. They still hadn't told most of the inhabitants of the castle about his curse; he wanted to announce it properly before they left. He wanted to make plans with Perrin, but they could do it tomorrow. Ranma had gone off with Perrin to talk. Alyssa found herself with Faile and Ukyou, up on the walls, looking out across the countryside. "You remind me a bit of Min," Faile said to Ukyou. "Is that good or bad?" Ukyou asked. Faile thought a moment. "Good question." Ukyou laughed. "Dresses kinda masculine, eh?" Faile nodded. "Try pouring cold water on her and see what happens." Ukyou laughed heartily. Faile stared blankly for a moment, then began to cackle. "Rand would just DIE if something like that happened," she said. "She's his lover." Faile shook her head. "The rising ruler of the world is a shepherd and his lover a barmaid. Like father says, scratch a ruler and you'll find a farmer three generations back." She turned to Ukyou. "Do you have a lover?" Ukyou grinned. "I'm engaged to Ranma, and I'm his warder." She thought a moment. "The girl who..." "Ranchan's a guy who turns into a girl." "And you're the opposite. A ggood pair, I suppose." Faileblushed for no apparent reason. "Did he really train in the Tower?" Ukyou nodded. "How he kept his secret...I dunno." She turned to Alyssa. "You met Ranchan there, right?" Alyssa was glad to have her cycle of worries broken. "Yeah, we were novices together for a few months. I washed out, and she didn't. I've done a lot better since then." Faile started to open her mouth then shut it. She thought a moment, then said, "Are you..." She shut up again. "I'm not even an Accepted," Alyssa said. Faile yawned. "I'm getting tired. I believe I'll go sleep. Goodnight." Alyssa started to leave, but Ukyou caught her hand. "Don't go yet." They bid Faile farewell, then after she got out of earshot, Ukyou said, "You're worried about losing Kaneda, right?" Alyssa nodded. "I wanted to use one of my wishes, but I think I bollixed it up." "What, you wanted to wish he'd love only you?" "I tried to wish that I'd be able to accept all this and make it work, but as far as I can tell, nothing happened." "Nothing happened?" Alyssa nodded. Ukyou thought carefully. "Well, do you think he's going to leave you, or that you'll leave him?" "That...I mean...Ranko is so pretty, and Ranma is so handsome, and they are engaged and...I mean, like you said. Someone who changes sex...maybe they need someone who changes sex to really have a...a marriage." Ukyou laughed. "I loved Ranchan before I was ever cursed. I don't think you have to worry about YOU not being able to love Akane. And I can tell she loves you. I think nothing happened because you already had the ability to love him. I think what you're REALLY worried about is that he will leave you." Alyssa nodded quietly. "That worries me more." "You gotta fight for your love, Alyssa. You've got Akane's heart. Now you just gotta make sure you keep it. You're the one who's gonna be in bed with Akane tonight, not Ranma." Ukyou grinned. "Cause he's gonna be with ME." "But he...he..." "If I thought I didn't have a chance, I'd give up. I love Ranma and only Ranma. I know Ranchan has feelings for me." She sighed. "I know he has feelings for Akane too. But I won't give up and neither will you, right? This way, we can all win." Flashing a reassuring grin, she did a V-sign. "Victory! It WILL be ours!" "How can you be so confident?" "I'm Ranchan's warder. I can tell how he feels. He's comfortable with me, happy. And when he looks at me...I can tell he likes what he sees." She grinned. "So...is Akane good in bed?" Alyssa blushed horribly. ************* Ranma was in a real bed this night. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. I can't believe Akane's left me for some girl. I mean, Alyssa's not bad as girls go, but I'm better looking and a better channeler and probably more feminine if I really HAD to be. Introspection normally fell on Ranma's list of priorities just above "learning Sanskrit", but tonight, it had moved up the list. I can't believe I'm trying to list ways I'm more feminine than someone. Jeez, do I really...I mean..why am I throwing such a fit? I'm better off without that uncute tomboy. No wonder she likes girls. Opposites attract. The words rang hollow in his mind. What has happened to her? Was she always like this? She musta hit her head or something...At least it can't happen to me, anymore, Ranma thought. My wish took care of that. I hope. He sighed. I shoulda wished for everything to go back to being the way it was before. He rolled over onto his stomach. Ucchan was coming. He could sense her growing nearer. She was in a good mood, and it was a little infectious. As he thought about her, he started feeling better. Maybe I should just forget about Akane, he thought. I...I don't really know her anymore. Ucchan...Ucchan loves me. I...like Ucchan a lot. I think I could really love her once I got over Akane. Maybe we could really make it work. At least we get along. Actually, the new Akane and I get along pretty well, he suddenly realized. We haven't had one stupid fight this whole time. We did have a real fight, but I mean...we had good reasons to argue for once. No stupid insults. Maybe...we could make it work too. This isn't getting me anywhere. Ranma frowned. Neither his trickery nor his fighting skills could solve this problem, and it frustrated him. The door opened, and Ukyou walked in. "Hi, Ranchan. What'cha worrying about?" She dropped her mega-spatula and took off her bandolier, then walked over and sat down on the bed. "Nothing." I wish I had somebody I could talk to about this, he thought. This isn't the kinda thing you can discuss with your fiancees. "Ranchan, I can feel how you are. You're worried. Whatcha' worrying about?" "Ucchan...I just...I need to talk to a guy about this, ya know?" She grinned. "I can be a guy if you need one." Ranma groaned. "Please don't make fun of me, Ucchan." "I'm sorry. But if you won't say what's bugging ya, I can't help. Did Perrin tell you some bad news?" "Well, I'm glad Pop never met Faile to make her one of my fiancees..." They both laughed. "Man, I wish Ryouga was here...no, he'd probably freak." "You're thinking about Akane." Ukyou sighed. "It's over, Ranchan. Even if she does love you, she's made a commitment to Alyssa, I think, and she's not gonna break that. She's changed. A lot. She's not going back to Nerima, either. Not until this is all over, and that could be months or years." "I know. I just can't believe she's in love with a GIRL! It's just...It just..." It turned Ranma's stomach. He wasn't sure if it was the girl part in general or the him losing to a girl part. Do I really love her or do I just hate losing, he wondered in a burst of rationality. "I love a girl," Ukyou said quietly. Ranma froze in place. "What?" "I love you," she said, blushing horrendously. "I'm not a girl! I'm a boy! I just...get a girl body sometimes." "Ranchan, my love for you doesn't change when you do. Does the way you feel about me or Akane change when we change sex?" Ukyou couldn't quite bring herself to explicitly ask how he felt about her. She was pretty sure from the way he was acting that he must have felt something for Akane. His pride alone wouldn't make him act like this. She hoped. Ranma rolled back over and looked at Ukyou. "You're my best friend. I woulda come all the way here to save you too. I just...Alyssa is never a boy, though. It'd be different if she was really a guy who turned into a girl. I could understand that. I wouldn't like it, but I just...I mean...why'd she start liking girls? Was it 'cause she was split in two? Are we gonna start..." No. No way. My wish fixed that. It had to. "I think that was caused by us being split too," Ukyou said quietly. "I know I was starting to...you know. You really were a girl, and just a girl, and I was a boy and that was it. Or maybe we just don't spend enough time in our curse bodies for it to effect us." He said I'm his best friend. Is he just afraid to say more or is that all? I mean...we've kissed. Even if we were the wrong sex at the time. And both hid afterwards. Maybe it wasn't just being stuck in one form. Maybe it's inevitable. That scared her. The idea of being bisexual didn't bother her as much as the idea of changing sexuality without any control over it did. Not that she'd actually gotten to CHOOSE her sexuality in the first place, but if that could change...what else might the curse do to her? Ranma looked up at Ukyou. She was beautiful, though he could barely see her by the light of the guttering fire in the fireplace. She looked a little sad, and he could sense her feelings. I didn't want to drag you down, Ucchan. While Ranma was sometimes a moron, for once, his brain kicked into high gear. She said she loved me, and I didn't say I loved her. No wonder she's sad. He sat up and reached over and took her hand. "Ucchan...I...I..." Not only was he scared to say it, he wasn't quite sure what to say. The feeling that was growing in his heart was something he had rarely felt. It might have been love, though it certainly wasn't the same as his feelings for Akane. It might have been a mixture of strong friendship and desire. It might have just been his nerves on edge. Ranma had had very few romantic moments in his life to try to make any kind of comparison. "Ucchan... you're very important to me." He could say that truthfully. "And you've been more loyal to me than I could ever have expected." Ukyou blushed. Is he...Is he going to say he loves me? But with the way he was carrying on about Akane, could he really love me? The old Ukyou would have assumed it was the latter, but her mind was clearer now, though she wasn't sure why. She seemed to be picking up on subtleties she had normally ignored. My wish, she thought. To think clearly. "Ranchan, you know you're the most important person in my life." He gulped. "That sc...sc...scares me, Ucchan. How I feel scares me. I dunno nothing about love. I never had no girlfriends or nothing before I came to Nerima. When I look at you, I feel so strange. I dunno if I love you like you love me. You're very important to me, and I care a lot about you, but I just...I wanna tell you I love you, but I don't wanna lie. I think...I think I could love you...if I could just get my mind straight. I wanna be honest with you, Ucchan. No lies, no insults, no being stupid. I mean...we're engaged and stuff, and I want...I want to make it work. I screwed up bad with Akane." The words were coming out faster and faster, as Ranma talked to keep from thinking. His body was starting to become excited from her presence, which scared him more. And she was responding. He couldn't really tell from looking at her, but through the bond, he could sense her tension and the kind of tension it was. For a moment, he wondered if he had screwed up something when he made the bond. Surely most Aes Sedai didn't go through this with all their warders? Then again, maybe the Reds had the right idea not bonding any men. Probably explains why the Greens tend to shack up with their warders too, he thought. "So you...you want to try and ... make our engagement work?" Her voice was scared and hopeful at the same time. She leaned a little closer. Ranma leaned a little closer as well. "Yeah. I mean...I'll be honest. I know you love me more than I love you, but...I just...I think...I hope...we can be happy together. Cause we're good friends and I think we're compatible and I really think...I hope... Sometimes you really turn me on too, so it's not like I don't think you're pretty or some junk, cause I've always known you were cute." His blood was pounding, and he was babbling. "I just...I wanna be honest with you, Ucchan. You know...I've never kissed a girl. Not when she was a girl. My first kiss wasn't even a girl who turns into a guy." Ucchan smiled. "I think I can fix that." Eyes closed. Lips met. Bodies touched. Arms hugged. Desire rose. Clothing fell. Pleasure mounted. Release came. Sleep followed. Pleasant dreams. ************* Alyssa walked into her bedroom, wondering if Kaneda would be there. He was, still damp and drying himself off. "Hello, Alyssa-chan," he said quietly. "How was your talk with Lady Faile and Ukyou?" "It was okay. How about you and your...sister?" She began to strip for bed, fumbling with her clothing. "Kasumi's asleep now. I had to use the power on her to knock her out." He sighed. "Or I'd still be there. I hope I didn't over do it. She's hurting so bad, and I don't know what to do." Alyssa walked over and hugged Kaneda. "She'll get over it, with you to help her. Are you...going back with her?" Kaneda blinked. "Didn't I tell you? Part of my price to the Foxes is that I will stay in this world until after this age ends. I'm going to stick it through. But even if I hadn't made that bargain, I wouldn't abandon you and my...everyone here at Castle Mist. They trust me. They're depending on me. I won't let them down." His voice was firm. "And I love you, Alyssa." "I...Kaneda...I...do you love me when you're a girl?" "It's not the same as when I'm a boy, but yes, I love you. I wouldn't make love to you as a girl, though." He paused. "Do you love me when I'm a girl?" "I...I think so. But like you said." She blushed. "I don't want to make you be a boy just for me when you're really a girl." "It won't just be for you. I need to be able to channel, and only my boy body channels. And I like being a boy now. And a girl, too." He laughed faintly. A tiny switch clicked in Alyssa's mind. "I think I need a bath." Kaneda grinned. "That could be fun." Alyssa blushed. They had built a Japanese style bath on their house and the other houses, since that didn't require any running water. Kaneda liked bathing frequently. They both stripped down and headed into the bathroom, then doused themselves with some handy cold water. Kaneda also grasped the source and created a weave to heat up the bath tub at the far end of the room. Alyssa's scream threw off his chain of thought however. He looked over and saw she had turned into a guy. He blinked and Alyssa said, "Well, I see the Foxes DID do something about that one wish..." Alyssa quietly fainted. ************* Kasumi couldn't sleep. Even her dreams hadn't comforted her as they usually did. Images of revenge kept flitting through her mind. She felt wretched. Now she was up on the castle walls in the bitter cold under the stars. She looked down the slope. It would be so easy...no. I didn't do anything that bad. She could hear animal noises off in the distance and a far muttering of wolves. Somewhere in the castle, she heard the steady thump of hammering, and near her, footsteps. She spun around, then relaxed when she saw it was only the leader of the people who had saved them. His name was Perrin, and he had shaggy brown hair and a rather silly looking beard. He looked worried, and stared at her with his golden eyes. "You're thinking about jumping." It wasn't a question. She shook her head. "No. Not at all." "It's hard, isn't it. Hearing the wolves." He stepped closer. Kasumi turned and stared out across the mountains. "I didn't hear anything." "I know you did, because I hear them too," he said quietly. "They call me Young Bull, and unless I miss my guess, you're the one they call Eldest Sister Who Does All the Work and Occasionally Wishes Her Ungrateful Siblings Would Fall on a Stake and Die, but Usually Forgives Them." He took a deep breath. "Mind if I just call you Kasumi?" She laughed just a tiny bit. "Sure." Staring into his eyes, she said, "I...I'm scared. I have these...I want to...I wanted to kill them. Kill them all. I'm not a violent person, normally. I mean, I just..." He nodded. "I understand. You can lose yourself in the rage sometimes." They talked for a long time. It was not the end of Kasumi's problems, but it was a great help. ************** Ranma woke up earlier than Ukyou the next morning. She was naked in his arms with her head nestled under his chin. He ran a hand through her hair and tried to understand what he had done. I shoulda waited, he thought. Geez, what a slut I am. Get dumped by one person and leap right into someone else's arms. It had felt right, though, at least at the time. Even now, he felt a warm glow when he looked at her. It had probably been the most incompetent sex in the history of the universe, or at least Ranma felt that way. Neither of them had known more than the very basic principle of it all. He'd had nearly fired off a ki-blast in the middle of it. And he came too early and had to rely on other methods to bring her to orgasm. When she did orgasm, it nearly scared him to death. For a moment, he had thought she was going to die, that somehow he'd caused her to have a heart attack. She looked so peaceful now, and it made him smile. I'm an idiot, he thought. But right now...I don't care. *********** The sun rose over Castle Mist. The day was cold, but clear. Celice had gotten stuck with what would have been Tyr's shift, if he hadn't been busy recovering from his trip. She wasn't alone. She had Alya with her. She watched Alya pace back and forth, practicing a kata. You've changed a lot, Celice thought. Alya had gone from a nervous, terrified herbalist to a strong, confident warrior. She was one of Kaneda's best students. He's a good teacher, Celice thought. And he's willing to teach women to fight, which surprises me. It was a pleasant surprise. Her other recent surprise was...well, she wasn't sure what to make of it. She could channel. Not just channel, but her mind was stuffed full of information on how to channel. What's happened to me? Is this some side effect of the things they found? Are we all going to start channeling? What about the men? She'd seen some of the other women looking nervous around the castle. You know...I could warm the air with the power, she thought. Instead of shivering. She followed the instructions in her mind. It was easy, and wonderful. Alya started and turned around. "You too?" Celice grinned. "Maybe it's infectious." Alya laughed. "Maybe we'll have to start calling this place the Misty Tower soon." They both laughed at that. When someone shouted from just outside the castle, they both nearly fell off the wall from surprise that someone had gotten that close. "Can you tell me the way to Furinkan High School?" It was a dark haired teenager with short hair and a yellow and black bandana in his hair. He was dressed in a the Tairen style, though simply. "What's a high school?" Alya asked Celice. "Don't ask me." She leaned over the edge. "What's a high school?" Ryouga boggled. "I'm not in Japan, am I." "You're in the Mountains of Mist, at Castle Mist, home of Kaneda, the Lord Dragon," Celice said. "So which way is Japan?" "Never heard of it." Alya said. "Hold on, and we'll see if we can let you in to ask people." End Part 5