Ranma blinked, not exactly expecting any response from the girl. "... What bounty?" he asked, to which his captive responded by raising an eyebrow.
"What, you don't know? Your furry little head's worth seventy-five hundred, you know," she said, cocking her head sideways while peering at him. "Wow, surprised that you didn't figure that out, yet."
Ranma growled as he turned away from the bound bounty hunter. "Dammit, I haven't done nothin'..." he muttered.
"What?" the captive explained, seriously surprised. When Ranma turned back, with a questioning look upon him, she whistled softly. "Wow, you really don't know anything," she said, with a condenscending tone in her voice.
A tone Ranma did not like. "Don't know what?" he growled, getting very fed up. What she said next really knocked him on his heels.
"That you're an evil entity, come to destroy the werecat race," she said, quite bluntly. She studied him as he opened and closed his mouth, with eyes very wide, then arched an eyebrow. "I'm guessing that wasn't your intention, eh?"
"N-n-NO!" the fighter nearly roared. "What the hell makes ya think that?" he asked angrily, advancing on the girl, as though he was going to rend her piece by piece. The act didn't fool her, however, as she began to chuckle.
"Figures. It's always the same."
Her statement had him confused, but he remained angry, as evidenced by him slamming a fist into the tree that she was leaning on. Cracks instantly erupted on the trunk, some hidden by her head, which was barely an inch from his fist. Now she was frightened.
Looking nervously at the fist, she chuckled weakly. "Yeah... well, if you'll untie me, I'll tell you what I know." Ranma's eyes narrowed as he leaned closer to her, staring at her eyes.
"Why should I?"
In her tied up position, she attempted a shrug. "Why not? You've already proven that I can't get the bounty on you," she offered. Ranma's eyes narrowed as he considered her words.
A few moments later, the archer was rubbing her freed wrists, while Ranma loomed over her. "Right, now start talkin'," he growled. The pointy eared girl merely rolled her eyes.
"Patience is a virtue, you know," she said sarcastically as she sat back down. "Well, here's the deal: the werecats are convinced that you're some soul sucking boogeyman, eater of children, or something, so they want you taken care of."
"Why would they think that?" Ranma asked, clearly upset by this revelation. The girl merely shrugged.
"Hey, I'm no historian. I guess it's cause you're just the smilodon."
"Smilodon?"
The archer stared at him for a while, then shook her head. "Damn, you're oblivious. You don't even know what-" she shook her head as she cut herself off. "Never mind. Anyways, someone then posted a bounty on you, dead or alive. Three thousand gold, twenty-five hundred if dead."
Ranma frowned as he thought about this. "Wait, you said it was higher than that..." he muttered.
"Huh, at least you're paying attention," the girl remarked sarcastically, inciting another growl from the werecat. "At first, as you know, it was just another bounty to everyone; in fact, I think that alot of people thought you were a vampiric werepanther, or something," she remarked lightly. Before he could question her, she continued, "Of course, as you know, these guys were returning with their asses kicked and all, so the bounty was raised. Eventually, people decided that taking you dead would be alot better in the long run, hence, the 'Death Squads'." With this, Ranma's frown grew worried.
"They really do want to kill me?" he asked increduously. The hunter nodded sagely.
"Pretty much; people will do alot for money, since they're greedy." Unconciously, the archer shuddered when Ranma trained a "gaze of doom" on her.
"Includin' ya," he reminded, cracking his knuckles. The girl's eyes narrowed.
"Hey, unlike those guys, I need that money!" she shouted.
"Pfeh, whateva'," Ranma grumbled, as he turned away from her. After a few moments, he sniffed the air, then looked along the road. "Dammit, didja hafta burn up the entire forest?"
THe pointy eared girl frowned right back at him. "Hey, I was trying to get the hell away from you; I didn't want to use a Fireball imbued arrow on the tree." She walked over to pick up her bow. After inspecting the bow, then unstringing the weapon, she looked up at the sky. "Too bad, doesn't look like there's much chance for-" she was saying, before she was interrupted by a sudden onslaught of rain. After a few moments, and what felt like a few hundred gallons, the rain stopped immediately. She stared increduously at the sky, which seemed as cloudless as it was seconds before. "Hell, at least it stopped the fire..." she muttered as she looked back at her former captor. And she stared.
Exactly where the large, muscular black furred werecat was standing before, in the exact same position, though now with an annoyed expression, was a top heavy female werecat, with dark, dark, red fur, but otherwise the same features as the male cat. The archer stared at the werecat, until the werecat looked over at her. "Shaddup," she mumbled, crossing her arms.
The archer did exactly that, though it looked like she was attempting to speak, thanks to her mouth opening and closing, repeatedly.
The female werecat sighed. "Yeah, it's fuckin' me, it's a curse, yadda yadda yadda." Then she glared at her. "And if ya think you're gonna tell this to ya bounty hunter pals, then think again," she threatened.
Finally, the girl was able to respond. "Yeah, well, I don't have many friends, anyways, so it makes no big deal."
Ranma blinked. "Eh? Why not?" The girl standing in front of her sighed as she reached up to tap her forehead.
"Not many people really like tieflings all that much," she explained, indicating the short horns poking out of her forehead. "Especially ones of elvish decent." She sighed, then walked up to the confused looking werecat. "By the way, my name's Lariel. Yours?" she queried, extending her hand.
It took Ranma a while to consider her hand, then she took it, in a large, furry grip. "...Ranma. Saotome Ranma."
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(Posted Sun, 18 Jul 2004 07:22)
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