Ranma watched from the cover of the trees as Ranko picked her way steadily down the hillside towards the small town below them. They had spent a short while that morning discussing whether to go to the first place they came too, or wait until the day was well begun, and the town would be active.
In the end, they had decided to chance the first town. She would doubtless make more of an impression on the shop-keeper, but then, she was not exactly suited to blending into the crowds anyway, and hopefully they could minimize the number of people who saw her and could describe her to Genma, and thus ensure that whomever he did find to describe her would have met her, and would mention that she was a Mandarin-speaking Amazon.
Though the hour was still early, the town was beginning to stir. There were lights visible in a number of windows, and there was some movement on the streets, a few people getting an early start.
Ranko was moving stealthily, dressed in all black, having borrowed one of Ranma's black shirts. They had nothing that could conceal her hair, but she intended to get into the village without attracting undue attention in spite of it.
She slid easily from shadow to shadow, still enveloped in the embrace of the Neko-ken, depending on the stealth of the cat to guide her, for her own experience as a battle-mage had included little in the way of the hidden arts. She was a bit concerned about the possible reaction of any dogs she might come across, and was planning on dropping the Neko-ken as soon as she reached the city. That intent was as much because Ranma felt it important that Genma not know that Ranma had gained conscious control of the Neko-ken, as it was for the dogs, though she was also somewhat concerned about the possibility that ordinary people would be able to sense the Neko-ken, in spite of any attempts she might make to avoid the obvious signs, as a danger sense of sorts, subconsciously perceiving her as a dangerous predator, rather than a defenseless young girl.
She blessed the extended senses the cat gifted her with when she sensed a dog some distance away, yet still between her and the town. Focusing on where her senses told her it was, she looked for a way to pass by it without it noticing, then decided to not take the chance. Muttering under her breath, she wove a sleep spell, and cast it at the distant beast. Here again she thanked the cat spirit within her, for giving her senses that not only increased her accuracy many times, but also let her feel the dog succumb to the spell, collapsing into sleep.
She picked up her pace, not wanting the delay to worry Ranma unduly. Though she was gratified by the degree of trust he had shown in her, she did not want to chance triggering his protective instincts, sending him into the town to save her. She knew well how he had been taught, and was concerned that his trust in her might be merely intellectual, forced by his knowledge that she had been an amazon warrior, or perhaps based on the fact that she had his memories, and might be overridden by a well-programmed visceral response due to his father's training and blandishments.
Reaching the edge of the town, she looked up at the house in front of her, and without really thinking about it, leapt to the roof, as Ranma would have done. As soon as she landed, she paused, startled. What had she just done? She looked down, gauging the distance in surprise. It wasn't really something that would have been beyond her ability in her past life, but it was nonetheless something she would never have done. Her instinctual response in the past would have been to invoke a quick spell, lifting herself to the roof. After all, why risk a misjump, and a bad landing, that might result in a twisted ankle, or worse? She felt a shiver of apprehension run up her spine, as she wondered just how deeply Ranma's memories had affected her . . . or was it because this was really Ranma's body? With his muscle memory?
She shook her head, clearing her mind of the distractions, and crept across the roof. As she did so, she noted the way she was moving, and realized with a sudden sense of relief that it might well have been the influence of the cat-spirit that caused the leap, and not Ranma's memories after all. She hoped that was the case . . . after all, it was a lot easier to release the cat, than it would be to try to resist the effects of Ranma's memories.
Crouching on the edge of the roof, she looked out across the street. She could not yet see a store that might have what she needed, but she could see the business area. A strong leap took her into the shadow of a building across the street, and a second powerful jump propelled her back to the rooftops. She continued roof-hopping, and in short order she found herself in an alleyway beside a store that she hoped would have what she needed.
She was about to walk out of the shadowed alleyway and into the shop, when she realized with a start that she had not released the Neko-ken at the edge of town as she had intended to. It was so comfortable, that she had hardly realized she was employing it, but still, she had thought of the Neko-ken as the reason for her leap to the rooftop . . . so why hadn't she remembered to release it? She had been thinking of it, after all.
Slowly, and a bit regretfully, she released the cat-spirit. She checked her appearance, brushing her clothes free of the few twigs and leaves that had caught on to her as she had made her way down the hill, then sauntered out into the street, and slipped quickly into the shop.
The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man whose hair was just slightly streaked with grey, a firm build showing natural strength, but little training, a tired face that spoke of years of working long hours, and sad eyes that told of loss sustained, looked up from where he was rearranging a display of farming equipment.
He had inherited this shop from his father, and run it all his life. He mostly catered to the local farmers, but he also ran a brisk trade with the hunters that passed through. A fair number of the hunters and trappers that worked the lower ranges of the Byankala mountains passed through his town and stocked up, though the town got little or none of the return trade. By shouldering the burden of transporting the goods to the small city about seventy miles southeast, they obtained far better prices.
He was surprised, given his usual clientele, to see a beautiful redhead enter his establishment. He had no thoughts of declining to serve her, or making a pass at her, though. His village was on the path the Joketsuzoku used when heading to the coast, and he had heard many stories of the Amazons. Looking at this delicate beauty, wearing men's clothing, and walking fearlessly into his shop alone, and the way she moved with such uncanny grace, he was certain she was one of the famed Amazons.
He was about to stand and greet her, not wanting to learn what she might do if she felt she were being ignored, but she merely nodded in his direction, and slipped past a set of shelves and out of his line of sight. Well, if she did not want to be waited upon, and would rather find what she needed herself, all the better, for he knew nothing really of how such a one would desire to be treated.
When she eventually approached the counter with a backpack, and several other items appropriate to a traveler, he was unsurprised, having already decided that she was probably an Amazon heading out on a journey for some reason. Why she had chosen to stock up here, rather than somewhere earlier on the route, he was unsure, but did not question his good fortune, happily accepting her money, and silently thanking the gods that he had managed to avoid giving offense.
Ranko exited the shop, cursing silently to herself. She had hoped to have to make only the one stop, but while this store had had most of what she needed, all of the clothing was sized for men, and she was small for a girl.
She appraised the nearby shops quickly, selecting the apparel store that looked the most likely to have her needs, then strode quickly across the road. Thankfully there were few people on the street, but still, she noticed the few who were out and about taking note of her. While she found her new luxuriously red hair delightful, there was no denying that it made it difficult to blend in.
Slipping quickly into the clothing store, she noticed with a twinge of apprehension that the proprietor was a motherly figure, looking a little over thirty.
Her concern was justified when the woman bustled over, and began making comments about Ranko's beauty, and recommending dresses to bring out her eyes and hair. It took Ranko several minutes to convince the lady that she wanted more of the shirt and pants combinations like that which Fey had given her. She did eventually give in to the lady's importunings and purchase a silk sleeveless mini-dress. She did want to catch Ranma's eye, after all, she simply had to make concessions to their traveling necessities, not to mention the training they would be doing.
She paid and left the shop, feeling intensely grateful to be away from the woman's intense mothering. Unlike Ranma, Xian Tal had known her mother all her life, and she had spent fifteen hundred long years getting over the death of her family. She did not need yet more mothering.
She looked around, noting that the number of people about, while still low, was steadily climbing, and walked briskly into an alleyway. There she reached inward, finding the cat and embracing it, then leapt to the roof of the apparel store. Running across to the edge, she watched carefully until the street was clear before leaping down and back up, crossing the street in a pair of jumps. She repeated the process until she reached the edge of town where she had entered.
She smiled, noticing that the dog she'd put to sleep was still out, and made her way back up to the treeline, where Ranma stood waiting. She noticed his shiver as she approached, and the sudden shift in his stance, and realized he had just embraced the cat. He had been in the Neko-ken when she left, since she had been. Obviously he had dropped it . . . she wondered whether it made him uncomfortable.
"Any trouble?" queried Ranma, "I noticed you didn't drop the cat when you reached the town . . . I thought . . ."
"Yeah, I . . . I changed my mind, no trouble though," replied Ranko, not really wanting to admit that she hadn't even realized that she hadn't until she was well past the town's edge.
He nodded shortly, clearly out of things to say for the moment. He glanced down at the town, then turned and headed back into the forest. She followed in silence, sighing inwardly. Getting him comfortable with talking to her was definitely an uphill task. Perhaps it would become easier once they started sparring and training.
---
When the small group reached Jusenkyou, Kho Lon admonished her daughter to keep her distance from the pools of sorrow, while she verified the guide's story. The guide headed for the hut, followed by Xian Pu and Ryouga, who was still in wolf form. In the hut, the guide put water on to boil, while the wolf watched eagerly, whining softly.
Xian Pu sat on a chair, sighing heavily. She had been hoping that her great-grandmother was going to teach her a new technique as a reward for winning the tournament . . . or give her some form of reward, anyway. Instead, they were here at Jusenkyou, a place that gave her the creeps. It was, after all, used by the Amazons as a punishment worse than death . . . not the sort of thing you expect to be brought to when you have just accomplished the greatest feat of your short life.
Sure, Xian Pu knew she wasn't here to be punished . . . but the momentary excitement of the possibility of a strong outsider male, strong enough for great-grandmother to detect his presence across all the distance between the valley of Jusenkyou and Nichiezu village, had been stunted by traveling the rest of the distance with the guide, a dumpy fellow who seemed a living reminder of the danger of seeking an outsider male. After all, even such a one as he could defeat an Amazon with a stroke of luck. Imagine getting stuck with him! It fairly turned her stomach.
The wolf too, she understood, was an outsider male, who had blundered into the pools of sorrow, not even trying to train there, just an accident. Not only was he so incompetent as to get accidentally cursed at a place he had not even known existed, the guide had explained that he had a truly terrible sense of direction, and was constantly getting lost.
No, if these were the examples of the manhood she could expect from the outside world, she'd pass on them. She still held out a modicum of hope for the man her great-grandmother detected, but from the sound of the guide's story, assuming it wasn't just a drunken hallucination, the man sounded like a legendary being, an angel, or transfigured dragon, or maybe one of the Pheonix people, none of which Xian Pu really believed to exist. She didn't want to marry a myth, she wanted a man!
There was the boy that the guide had described. From the sound of the story, he would not be the one that great-grandmother had sensed, but he must have some value, if so powerful a being came down solely to cure his curse, which had never been done in all the history of Jusenkyou. The problem with that was that Xian Pu felt sure that he would have already been taken by the Amazon the guide said was resurrected from the spring. Well, the guide hadn't actually said the girl was an Amazon, but Xian Pu figured that with her luck, the girl would be, and since they had gone off together, according to the guide, well, it certainly seemed obvious enough.
She looked up as her great grandmother approached, having completed her examination of the area by the springs. Khu Lon was looking far more worried than Xian Pu had expected, and she felt a shiver of apprehension.
Khu Lon stopped by Xian Pu, looking at her great granddaughter with concern. While an excellent warrior, Xian Pu was headstrong, and inclined to take risks that a more seasoned warrior would avoid. With the destruction of the Nyannichuan, which Khu Lon had verified was no longer cursed, the Musk would be turning their eyes once again upon their ancient enemies in search of brides, and in search of revenge, and the thought of her heir on the front lines, taking risks in the face of the Musk sent shivers down her spine.
"Xian Pu," Khu Lon said, catching her heir's wandering attention. "It is time we find you a strong husband, whether this Ranma be the one, or no. We will go to Japan."
She glanced at the boy that the Guide had thought to use to lessen his own pain, and dismissed him. He was unimportant. They could not afford to simply follow the two cursed . . . or uncursed, as the case might be, children, since the Musk would likely be doing likewise, if they learned of it.
No, it was time to get her granddaughter out of danger and find her a strong husband.