Ranma ½ is the property and invention of Rumiko Takahashi. The following story is not produced for any monetary or personal gain. Its sole purpose is to entertain using the characters and plots developed by Takahashi. ALL rights reserved

Shadows of the Land   Volume III :   The Third World

 

Chapter 1: Arrival or return

 The first thing one would have noticed about the area was the uncanny heat that seemed to radiate from the earth around them. The second thing that caught them off guard was the fierce wind that almost carried them off their feet. After a few moments of adjustment they were able to gain their footing.

"This way," she told them and they followed. The one who had skipped in undetected set out on another path: one that called to him.

They trudged after her in a group with all three girls staying around Ranma. Nabiki too also walked very close to him. It was a calculated risk in her book. On one hand, trouble would first come to Ranma before anyone else. On the other hand, he would be best able to protect her, or so she hoped.

Ryouga plodded after with Mousse while they held their tempers in check. Now wasn't exactly the time for them to be attacking Ranma. Ameena and Jham followed them. She had somehow created a finely embroidered coat against the howling wind for herself and Jham, and had forcefully grabbed his hand to pull him under the reasonably sheltered protection of the garment. To her pleasant surprise, he had not objected as she had assumed he would. In fact, he had actually pulled his arm around her. This was a first for her, did he actually care for her? It was a question that needed to be addressed.

The wind picked up considerably and soon visibility was very poor. They were only able to see a few feet in front of them and even then, they could hardly make out the shapes of the faces in front of them. This semi confusion resulted in some strange coupling. Ukyou, Nabiki and Shampoo found themselves together in a group following the girl in the lead. The boys came after them and then the two couples. Ranma and Akane had somehow managed to lose their competitors in the confusion and were helping Jham and Ameena who were not as fit for that type of terrain.

After what seemed an impossible amount of time trekking through the steadily growing wind, they came to what seemed to be a lump in the otherwise flat land. The girl in front came to the indent and reaching, pulled what seemed to be a straw mat from the side, opening a large cavernous hole. She stepping in and beckoned the others to follow.

None were hesitant in getting out of the atrocious weather. And soon they were all huddled in a small anteroom. After shaking out the dust from their clothes, the girl began to lead them further into the cave using a torch that had conveniently been left at the mouth of the hole.

They followed silently, allowing their ears to adjust to the echoing of the hollow passage that they began to take. The only sounds that could be heard were their own movements in the passage. It was a far cry from the loud howling of the wind above. The passage seemed more like a hollow tube as they wound their way with only the light of the torch in front of them for guidance against anything in the dark. Sometimes it bent upward and at other times downward. At times it became so sort that they had to stoop or fall to their hands and knees to move while at other times the passage opened into large cavernous subterranean compartments. No one really objected to the strange means of travel. Though the question had popped into their minds, especially that of Nabiki.

For Nabiki, this was a new experience. She had never been along on one of Ranma and Akane's adventures and now she remembered why. She hated manual labour, and the fact that she had to do all this walking and creeping wasn't dawning well on her. The fact that she was probably the least fit of the group and the least rained made itself known most prominently by the sheer amount of little pains that were beginning to bother her. She could also feel the burning sensation for the myriad of scrapes on the legs and arms as they salt from her perspiration caused them to sting.

Finally they seemed to stop at a large sturdy door.

 

She knocked four times in rapid succession and there was a small creak from the other side. The door creaked again and the ceiling shuddered a bit. Some of the fine dust above and attached by cobwebs to the door shifted, causing a fine mist to be sprayed into the air. Nabiki and the girl guiding them coughed slightly as the mist settled onto the ground. Suddenly there was a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot. All the martial artists readied themselves. Soon after, more loud alarming sounds came from outside the door, then the door swung open.

A lot of dust exploded into the air when the door opened and all the travelers followed their guide's lead into the hall in front of them. The dust did not affect most of the crew since the martial artists had simply held their breaths. The others though coughed for a little while.

When the dust settled, a woman saw them and one by one, she took them in arms and hugged them to death.

"You're here, you're finally here!" she shouted in glee.

Then her eyes fell on Ranma and Akane for a split second. She looked as of she was in two minds of telling them something and almost began to speak when she suddenly turned her eyes to another couple in the room.

"Where are you from?" she asked as she referred to Jam and Ameena's ancestry. "You don't look like the others..."

"We're not from that area," replied Jam. "We were just travelling through."

"Ahh... I see. Just another addition. It matters not."

Than she opened her arms wide.

"Welcome to First World!"

"Yeah...okay," was the only reply from the still stunned and slightly cautious guests.

Slightly dismayed at the lack of interest at her greeting, she shrugged at the teenagers, "follow me."

To that, they began to move.

Five minutes later they found themselves in the little room.

There were a couple more people in the room but more than enough seats for all.

"Sit! Sit!" she told them gesturing with her arms. She sat on the padded stool with a loud poof owing to her great girth.

"I guess you are all wondering why you are here?"

There were various nods around the room.

"Well that's good. Because I'd like to know as well and we won't know anything until tomorrow. Someone else is coming to pick you up tomorrow to carry you to the city. Tonight you can stay here with us in this room."

"Hai!" Nabiki who was the closest. "What about food and beds?" she asked, trying to regain her composure.

"Food? Young woman, food is as precious as life itself. I do not have the resources to feed the lot of you. I'm doing this because someone asked me to. As for beds, the ground is soft enough. Have a good night and I'll see you later," she said hastily and walked away.

"Well that's just cheesy isn't it? We come all this way to fight who knows what and we can't even get some decent hospitality."

 

"You'll have to excuse my wife," replied a booming voice from the back of the subterranean cavern. "She's not in the best of health. Something to do with her head. She's okay most of the time but under stress she sometimes loses to the demons in her head."

Ukyou held a lighted stave and plundered into the dark. As the light bounced off the wall, it finally illuminated a heavy-set man sitting on a pillar of rock.

"She's been very excited at having you here for the whole week, but she doesn't have all the supplies that she wanted to make you feel welcome. She's a bit off in the head and when she starts feeling really bad, this other person takes over in her head."

"Schizophrenia..." muttered Nabiki.

"Hmm..." wandered the old man.

"Oh nothing," replied Nabiki she didn't realize she had spoken out loud.

The huge man got up and stretched his legs a little, the cave looking like a rabbit whole when compared to his huge frame.

"You get some early sleep tonight, you'll start again early in the morning. Tis the best time to travel."

The others nodded.

That of course started a small fracas in itself.

The girls began to hound Ranma for attention, well at least Shampoo did. That of course let to Akane getting slightly miffed but she knew well within her mind that Shampoo would never steal his heart. That was probably because she would rip it out of him and put it behind a steel cage with chasing him with enough weaponry to level a city. But there was no need to tell him what she would do if she ever caught him cheating with anyone cause she knew that he would not.

As logic would work, when Shampoo glomps Ranma, Mousse would inevitably begin his plunge into jealously. Not surprisingly, chains appeared from his mode of dress, as did one of his old teddy bears. He was quick to pull that in though case someone actually saw it. It was after all his teddy bear!

Shampoo glomping Ranma was also interpreted by other Nerimians as: 'damn I should be there!' and 'there he goes cheating of Akane-san again!' This was again characteristically accompanied by 'Get off him you hussy!' and the all infamous one-liner of the Ranma universe -not including the 'Ranma Saotome, I'm your new fiancee' line- 'Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!'

 

As the yelling and shouting began, another couple was having a hard time trying to fall asleep, that being Jham and Ameena. She had knitted a lovely bed and blanket set and they were both trying to get some sleep while trying not to physically touch the other for fear of embarrassing themselves by breaking out in a rosy blush.

Jham was getting tired of it all. Not only was his close proximity to the woman he was promised to making him anxious and nervous all at the same time, but these idiots and their noise were preventing him from meditating. That was something he needed desperately in order to block out the image of him and Ameena engaging in their marital obligations. He knew what he had to do but he was more apprehensive about it than most. That was the problem with being a healer as he had been trained. Too much empathy. He had to counsel people about marriage and his many discussions had made him so anxious that he was more afraid of not meeting her expectations than anything else. That and the fact that he did not know if he was ready for this step in life so soon. After all, his father married when he was 25. Of course that was probably because he had to finish his stewardship with the temple in the mountains before he could marry. Ohhh…. All these thoughts, decisions! And these people and their noise were starting to really piss him off!

"All right, I've had just enough of this!" he shouted as he threw off the cover. He began to glow again with an eerie light and soon he was beginning to suck the aura out of the room. Nabiki was the first to drop being the non-martial artist of the group. The second to go was Ukyou and one by one the others fell, until all who remaining were Ameena, Jham and surprisingly Ranma and Akane. They were somehow unaffected by what Jham had done. Whether that was his design no one asked.

Jham had only time to register the 'swoosh' in the air before Ameena's palm found the side of his face.

"That was a mean thing to do!" she scolded as he tenderly touched where she had slapped him. "But because you did it so that we could be together, I'll forgive you this time."

'This time!' he thought. Now he remembered why he didn't want to carry her along in the first place. He had come to the conclusion long ago that he did love her, but the woman was so...so...controlling!

"Now get down here!" she shouted as she tugged on his clothes, pulling him down to their makeshift bed. As Ameena snuggled up to his warmth like she used to when they were fourteen, he began that mantra in his brain. He sincerely wished she did not know just how aroused she was making him by her antics. That and the fact that she looked even more stunning than she had when he had last seen her. Why did she torment him so? He wondered vaguely if this was some plan of hers. They had been for all intent and purposes married when they were twelve. He had left around fourteen under the blessing of his grandfather who told him to go and learn about the world before settling down to raise a family. Right now starting a family was becoming more and more appealing by the minute…if he was ready for it. Why was he so damn confused!!!

 

 

Ranma however was not going through the same problems. Ranma and Akane Saotome were quietly tucked away in the corner of the cave. Akane had found her spot on Ranma's shoulder and was comfortable enough. Ranma had been training for over ten years. This was as bad as some of the other places he'd had to sleep. Soon the pair were well into wonderland. Jham on the other hand had to settle for Ameena lightly snoring against his chest, her arms pulling his hands to places he was unfamiliar to touching on her body. His face a healthy shade of pale, he tried once again to focus on the mantra though he already knew it was a losing cause.

 

 

 

Early the next morning, Nabiki found herself the last to rise as all the martial artists were already up and preparing for the day. That meant some exercise and sparring. Mostly exercise, although Ukyou and Shampoo did decide to have a little minicontest of wills as to who would be awarded the task to feed Ranma. With Ukyou carrying her portable grill and Shampoo the new gadget that her grandmother had just bought for such an occasion, it was a just fight. At least Ranma thought so. As the two focused more on the battle than how much they were cooking, they managed to cook enough to feed everyone, much to the surprise of Padar’s daughter who entered the room with a few sweet cakes for their guests.

As the battle continued, she was handed one and was surprised at the delectable taste of both the Ramen and the okonomyaki. That was the morning battle as soon enough, Madame Padar made her appearance in the cave. Armed with a staff and her thick coat, they all knew that it was time for them to leave.

“Come children, it’s time we make a start. If we leave now we should arrive just before dark. It’s not good to get caught in the dark,” she informed them. The martial artists were ready by the time the door was open. Madame Padar led the way, and the others followed. The girl who had brought them brought up the rear with the large surly man an the rest of the smaller children waving goodbye as they left.

As they walked out of their hiding place, they could not tell if the sun was up or not due to the tough winds outside blowing the sand into their faces. Covering their faces, they followed the woman and her daughter along an unmarked route. An hour later, the winds dissipated slightly and they could finally see the uneven parched terrain that lay ahead of them.

“We are on the outskirts of the crystal,” the girl informed them as she passed bye to join her mother at the front. They surveyed the terrain and picking a spot, the woman began her trek. They followed. Another hour passed bye and the stinging of the sun became more pronounced as the cool of the night totally evaporated. For those who were accustomed to traveling, they knew that they would have to start drinking soon in order to stay hydrated. Most had done without water as part of their training, but it was always better to drink than to subject the body to that sort of treatment. Ki could not be replenished easily under those conditions and judgment was prone to fault when driven by hunger and thirst. Fortunately for them, a series of skins were passed around. Everyone took a swill except for Nabiki who took a few gulps. When she had drained the skin, she found the others glaring at her.

“What!”

“That’s supposed to last us the whole day,” growled Ukyou.

“So, it’s not my fault no one told me about that,” Nabiki fired back with her lofty attitude.

“Maybe you will think differently when you’re dying of thirst,” muttered a stoic Mousse as he moved forward from behind Shampoo for the first time.

Nabiki fumed silently, but there was nothing she could do. She was out of her element here and Akane, who was at her side, had not defended her. It was unusual of her sister but Akane and Ranma were playing those staring games again. When would those two grow up!

 

While Ameena and Jham were being helped by Ranma and Ukyou at the front, Mousse and Shampoo had been at the rear. The Indian couple, being the weakest fighters, needed to be near the strongest fighters in the group. That was how it was done in the Amazonian hunting groups. Nabiki and Akane followed with Ryouga like a lap dog behind them. The lost boy though, kept his eyes on the girls in front of him, but his mind was whirling with thoughts. Those thoughts centered on Akari and Akane. He was utterly and truly confused about this marriage thing. He knew he needed to talk to someone but the question was who? Who should he talk to?

While Ryouga’s mind was occupied with those thoughts, Mousse and Shampoo brought up the rear with the girl. After several references by Shampoo as ‘new girl’, the girl introduced herself as Akinwa. Shampoo being Shampoo, continued calling her by her nickname much to the Akinwa’s annoyance. It was an Amazon technique used to make outsiders feel inferior to the Amazons. It usually worked.

Mousse was not a female warrior however, and being put down most his life, he was more open to new thoughts and ideas than Shampoo. He addressed the girl by her name and was rewarded with a smile every time he addressed her. He was unaware of that fact due to the heavy cloth draped around the front of Akinwa’s face, allowing only her eyes to be seen. It was a very effective defense again the wind and the sand.

Mousse as always was trying to gain Shampoo’s attention but the girl’s eyes were riveted on Ranma, or more specifically, Ranma’s derriere. Mousse was basically talking to him, or so it seemed to Akinwa. Sometimes when Mousse got too close, Shampoo would notify him with a quick backhand or punch. Akinwa frowned at that but said nothing. She did not know these people and it would be improper for her to object, especially since they were important for some reason. She didn’t have to like it though. She had been happy for the boy when he walked ahead for a few minutes but then he returned to his position slightly behind Shampoo. Her dislike for the Amazon was beginning to grow the more Mousse was abused.

Mousse took it in stride, it was the norm for him anyway. That was when he felt something, the others had felt it too. They had stopped in their tracks and were looking around. Something was hunting them or at least waiting for them, like a cat stalking it prey.

Akinwa stared out, her senses shouting at her that something was wrong. She might not have been a fighter, but she had her smarts about her. Fighting with fists was not her style, but that’s why she had had a bit of training with weapons. Father did not have many, but shaping dead branches into wooden staves was a simple task. She only wished she had brought one along with her. Suddenly the sand beneath her feet gave way and she felt herself falling into a sandpool.

She screamed and tried in vain to grab onto something to slow her descent. There was nothing in the sand for her to grab onto and she could feel herself slipping further and further down the slopes of the sandpool. Then she saw them, she saw the jaws that were the mouth of the great beast underneath. As her mind froze in fear she felt something tug on her shirt and wrap around her. Was this its tongue? She tried to remove it and was surprised at the metallic cold. When she regained her senses, she recognized the metal as links of a chain and peering into the sun, she could see someone at the edge of the pool holding her with the chain, preventing her from being pulled down further.

With something to grasp, she wrapped the chain around her hands and began to climb up the swirling pool of sand using the chain like a rope. She had already moved up a few meters when she felt another tug on her foot. It was wet, slimy and burned her skin. That definitely had to be a tongue. She could here shouting from above but she could make nothing out over the fierce beating of her heart. With her hands fully entrenched in the folds of the chain, she began to feel the tug on her arms and legs as she was forcefully being pulled in opposite directions. 

As she let out a frustrated yell, she felt something very powerful pass bye her, scorching her skin slightly. Whatever it was, it passed bye her in a flash. Seconds later, she heard a loud explosion. The sand stopped moving and she scrambled out. Satisfied that she was out of immediate danger, she looked back and saw the huge mouth of the beast protruding from the sand. It stood as still as s statue. Relieved, she turned around and found the owner of the chains. She was surprised to find them disappearing into his vestments. He wasn’t looking at her though, his attention was focused on the carcass in the middle of the sandpool.

“Yo Mousse!” she shouted in his face temporarily breaking his concentration.

“What!” he asked as he defensively raised his arms in defense.

She feigned a right cross that tapped him lightly on the arm and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She giggled when his face turned a bright red shade. She winked at him. “Thanks for the save.”

“um… uh… ah no problem really,” Mousse replied as he waved her off. Off to the side you could almost see a small aura appearing around Shampoo but it disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

“Hey sugar, I wouldn’t start celebrating yet if I were you,” informed Ukyou.

“Huh? Why?” asked Akinwa.

Ukyou pointed to three other figures at the edge of the pool. Ryouga, Ranma and surprising Akane stood at the edge looking at the statue, waiting for something to happen. The others wondered what was going on though Shampoo readied her bonbori. She had an uncanny suspicion that husband was right and the battle was not finished as yet.

The pause strained their nerves for a few minutes, then they all heard it. With a loud crack, the stone statue began to shatter, leaving behind another mouth that was smaller than the first. This time they could all tell that the large mouth was attached to something else. With a roar, the sand around them exploded upwards. Everyone covered their eyes from the blast and when the dust settled, a huge long snake lay coiled, waiting to spring.

“This might take a while,” muttered Ranma. The others believed him.

Ranma stood his ground while Ryouga and Akane flanked him. Shampoo crouched next to Ryouga, her bonbori ready to strike. Ukyou’s spatula was already unslung whilst Mousse stood with his arms in his robes, ready to let loose with his assault.

The eyes of the sleeping snake opened and the sun glinted off the predator’s eyes. Using its body, it flung its head forward in an attempt to grab some food, however, the teens were ready for it. Ranma snuck under the vicious attack and used his feet in a reverse flip to slam the head towards the sky, Ryouga used his bamboo umbrella to smash its had down while Akane and Ukyou attacked the side. Shampoo used her bonbori like pins , slamming them against the side of the beast and catching them when they rebounded. Mousse though made the best of his opportunity. With the beast distracted, he looked for the weakest spot and released a barrage of weapons at the eyes of the animal. Coming out from the side of its vision, the beast was unprepared when it turned its head only to see a dozen sharp objects right in front of its face. Mousse’s aim was true.

The animal recoiled with dark green ichor dripping from its damaged eyes. Having seemingly had enough, its tail began moving and the sands began shifting once again. In a few minutes only the head was above the sand and after that, it was gone.

“Shouldn’t we go after it!” demanded Ryouga.

A bean on the head had him fuming.

“We don’t have time for that sort of thing, we need to move faster,” she informed them after moving her fist from Ryouga head.

Ryouga fumed inwardly but just growled to himself while they continued following Madame Padar. Shampoo continued to ignore Mousse who suddenly found himself getting more attention from Akinwa.

“That took less time than I thought,” supplied Ranma.

“That’s probably because you didn’t do anything,” scoffed Ryouga.

“And what did you do pigboy!” Ranma jibed, then his face was twisted out of proportion by a well placed fist.

“Ow… whaddya do that for!” complained Ranma.

“Stop picking on Ryouga,” Akane castigated. Ranma growled and rubbed the side of his face. He did catch Akane’s wink though. She would be paying for that the next time they were together.

Before anyone could begin a fight, Madame Padar began her trek at a brisk pace. Everyone just began to walk at a faster pace as the woman found some unknown source of energy to fuel her furious pace into the sand. An hour later they had lunch on the go and then the terrain began to change. The sands began to gave way to soil and with soil came foliage. Lichen could be seen in its various colors and lichen as a rule could possible grow anywhere, they were the hardiest of plants. Lichens were followed by moss and then came the brambles and bushes of the parched land.

The change of scenery was a welcome relief from the sands of a would be desert. It also meant that they had almost reached their destination. A few more minutes and they had reached the outskirts of a field of produce. Ranma and the others could also feel something different about the place. The aura was different from the sands and felt more inviting, more homely.

They found a path in the foliage and sticking to it, they found a bridge leading over a shallow moat. The water was teeming with small fish swimming in reckless abandonment. Over the bridge there were more trees but it was evident that all the trees produced fruit and food of some sort. The trees grew larger as they moved forward and soon they had come to a clearing. Within the clearing stood a large house. The house was definitely not the best kept, with windows and doors missing. They could feel the power emanating from within though. The doors were hanging off their last hinges and from afar the building looked abandoned.

Madame Padar led them past the outer overgrowth and into the building, from the footprints that were previously there, the place had seen visitors in the past but not many. The dust rose in waves as they disturbed the creaking boards causing Ranma and Ukyou to sneeze.

“This way,” Madame Padar pointed out and they followed her down a corridor. At the end of the corridor, they came to a closet. When it was opened it did indeed turn out to be a closet. Then Madame Padar swung the door out totally to meet the adjoining wall. There was an audible click and all were wondering what exactly she was doing when she opened the door. This time, instead of wall there was a dark passageway lit on the sides by some sort of fluorescent moss. She entered and they all followed. When Akinwa entered, she closed the door behind them. There was a click and then the door mysteriously faded away. No one but her noticed though. She trusted her mother but that did not stop her from walking a little closer to Mousse.

The passageway narrowed so that they had to walk single file and then began sloping downwards. They walked at a rather steep angle for a few minutes before the passageway leveled off and opened up. The soft eerie glow of the moss was joined by the light from torches lined at the sides that seemed to burn without giving off any smoke. The passageway became more hollow until it fanned out into a large auditorium. The sides were lined with other passageways and a few doors.

One of them opened and out stepped a woman in her early twenties.

“It took you long enough,” she admonished. “All he’s been talking about for the last day are these people,” she informed as se spread her arms open wide.

“Bet you’d like him to talk about other things with you,” confronted Madame Padar.

The woman growled a little but then walked into another door, beckoning them to follow. They followed her and were surprised when they entered another room. It resembled a normal sitting room they had seen in some of the foreign television except at one end there was a screen and behind the screen there was a bright blue light.

“Ah… so that’s the secret,” muttered Jham.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” asked Ameena.

“We’ll see soon enough. I think I know why I came here.”

“Oh, do you now?” she queried.

“I… ah ehehe...”

Ameena grinned evilly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right next to you to make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”

“Hey Pointy, your guests are here,” informed their guide.

“Ah Candida, show them in. I’ve been waiting for a long time for this.”

“Yes I’ve bought them,” replied Madame Padar. “We had a spot of trouble on the way but they easily took care of it.”

“I felt it through the crystal. I felt something very powerful but depressed at the same time.”

“That would be Ryouga’s Shi Shi Houdokan,” interjected Ranma, earning him a jab from both Ryouga and Akane.

“Hey, it’s the truth!” he defended.

“Bring them behind the curtain,” ordered Pointy.

Candida harrumphed but brought them behind the blind anyway.

“Just what I thought,” Jham spoke as they say what the blind hid.

Behind the blind there was a large half sphere protruding from the stone floor and through the light they could see a figure crouched over something protecting it with his hands.

“I still don’t see why they needed to see you,” voiced Candida as she made her displeasure of the situation vocal.

“Oh shush!” retorted Padar, “You sound too much like an old maid,” she quipped.

“Well I never,” defended Candida as she crossed her arms.

Breaking from the group as if compelled by some force, that being his own curiousity, Jham walked forward before Candida could give a warning and placed his hand on the glowing sphere. The sphere grew brighter as if trying to throw him off, then it began to pulse rhythmically.

“What the hell is he doing!” shouted Candida as she ran forward to pull him away. She found herself wrapped up in silk. She glared at Ameena. “Release me this instant!” she ordered, fighting back the tears in her eyes. “He’ll kill him!”

“Ramesh will do no such thing,” Ameena replied evenly. “In fact, you might even see your precious Pointy when he is finished.”

Padar frowned and the Nerimians said nothing since they did not know Jham that well. They did know however, that Tofu trusted him and if Tofu trusted him then they would trust him too. So having nothing else to do, they relaxed. Walking for the whole day tires you out especially when your name was Nabiki Tendo. Nabiki was really finding herself out of her element. Fighting and adventure were not her watchwords. She had been peeved that she knew nothing about Ranma and Akane’s previous big adventures and thought that she should be there for the next one. It wasn’t one of her best choices. She wished she was home.

 

The light from the sphere began pulsing more brightly then the sphere lost some of its intensity and began to shrink. As it shrunk it grew in brightness once again and Jham took a step forward. His eyes were shut and his teeth clenched in concentration. Slowly, his feet buckled under some unknown strain until he was down on his knees. Those who were paying attention had no idea what was going on and Candida wished she could break free of the cloth she was wrapped up in. Ameena though had a different idea. She confidently walked up to Jham and bending down, wrapped her arms under his. Slowly, while his hands were still attached to the sphere she rose, helping him up while his main focus remained on the sphere in front of him. She stood there behind him, a pillar to give him strength to stand.

Again the sphere flared and lost intensity as it shrunk. Once again Jham moved with it under the support of Ameena. They could see more clearly a figure now. A figure within the light crouched, holding something tightly in its hands. The sphere flared then contracted considerably, allowing them to see the full figure of the person called Pointy, his voice silent for now his figure now revealed. Jham followed the retreating sphere until it was confined to an area surrounding the shape of a small crystal. The light flared once again and then died. As it disappeared, Jham fell to his knees, Ameena unable to hold all his weight fell with him. Another person fell with them. With a surprising show of strength, Candida broke free of her prison and ran to the side of Pointy who had fallen from his perch. Rolling away from him was a round crystal glowing in the dim light. It rolled until it came to the feet of Ranma. He bent down and picked it up. In his hands it suddenly glowed brightly sending two tendrils of energy to the ceiling above and the stone floor below. Ranma released it and it floated in the centre of the room, seemingly held up by the two snaking tendrils of energy. The others made a wide berth around it as they ran towards the others who had fallen.

“What happened?” Akane asked him softly as he stood staring at the floating crystal.

“It took some of my ki,” he told her. Akane raised an eyebrow.

“Took some of your ki?” she repeated speculatively.

“Go ahead, try to touch it,” he told her.

She shrugged and went up to the crystal. She reached out timidly and touched it lightly. There was a sudden flash of energy and instead of two tendrils, there were now two thick columns emanating from the crystal which had expanded once again. The columns of energy disappeared into the ceiling and the floor.

“You were right,” Akane murmured as she felt Ranma’s presence behind her. The others just stared at them as if they had grown two new heads.

 

 

 

 

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