Kodachi decided to explore the castle before proceeding. Akane Tendo was in no apparent immediate danger and it would be prudent to gather more information before deciding on a plan of action.
As she cautiously entered on of the doorways leading out of the courtyard, Kodachi mused how glad she was that she had decided to come to rescue Akane. Not that Kodachi thought that it would be a good idea to rescue her at this point, neither Ranma nor any of his other suitors and their hangers on had appeared yet, so it would be a waste of a good adventure to do it all alone. But she could learn the lay of the castle and gather some intelligence for later. She would find the routes where all the traps and guards were so that she could steer the group accordingly later. It would really not do to miss a good team-building exercise just because they accidentally charged down the corridor without the falling floor-tiles and moving walls.
Kodachi also wondered what she would do after Akane had been freed. The Prince did seem like a very interesting fellow and after the rescue he would be single again. He had a fantastic castle and a flair that appealed Kodachi's sense of romance. He also had a peculiar sense of humor and somehow managed to turn the boring Tendo girl into that exotic person she had seen earlier. Definitely somebody who might be boyfriend material. She wondered if she should stay behind and get captured during the rescue.
A heroic sacrifice along the lines of "go on without me, I will hold them off!" sounded dramatic and exiting and had the added bonus of the chance that somebody might mount a rescue for her later on.
On the other hand it might not be the ideal way to win the prince's heart. He lived close by and she could just as well visit the castle regularly to help him get over his loss.
But before she committed herself she had to find out more about the kind of person he was. Since her exploration of the mostly empty castle was getting her nowhere she decided to interrogate one of the guards.
Leaning out of the window she could see one of the uniformed men standing on the walkway above her. He had his back to her and was not moving at all. She would use her ribbon like a whip and wrap him up from behind. A fully grown man struggling against his sudden binding would easily serve as an anchor for the slim gymnast to swing herself up to his level.
Except that he did not. Instead of giving any resistance to being bound he let himself be dragged towards the railing toppled down over it towards a shocked and unprepared Kodachi.
Meanwhile Ranma in her disguise of Ashes the maid had just reached Akane's cell with her cargo. It had taken some time to get the handcart with Akane on it down to the dungeons, but luckily enough it had fit very neatly into the dumbwaiter so that she did not have to brave the stairs.
The tomboy did not show any signs of regaining her mobility any time soon. If anything being carted off like a piece of luggage had made her even more angry then before.
Just as Ranma was about to unload her fiancee she heard a distant female shriek followed by a pair of dull thumps. Leaving Akane on the handcart in her cell Ranma sprinted towards the origin of the noise.
What she found gave her pause. Kodachi Kuno was lying unconscious in the courtyard with one of the mannequin-guards on top of her.
They had been found! Ranma should have known that her time alone with Akane could not last. Sooner or later the others would find them and destroy everything.
After checking that Kodachi was all right and clearing away the dummy-guard. Ranma quickly searched the castle for further intruders and then in a fit of inspiration phoned the Neko-Hanten and Uc-chan's. Both times she hung up without saying anything after hearing the girl's voice.
It looked like she had been lucky and Kodachi was the only one who had come. If she could somehow send her home and keep her from spilling his secret everything would be fine.
The amazon hair washing memory erasing technique had worked fine on Akane. If Ranma could make Kodachi forget the location of the castle and send her home then everything would work out fine.
Ranma quickly carried Kodachi to the shower's in the gym. Most sources of warm water in the castle had been disabled for safety reasons, and if she did not want to wash Kodachi's hair in the kitchen the gym showers in Akane's locker room were the only place left.
Careful not to accidentally change while she still was in Ashes costume Ranma went to work on Kodachi's hair. What she was doing now was somewhat harder then the little blind spot she had given Akane's memory. She was in the process of obscuring the location of the castle from Kodachi's mind when she heard Akane enter the locker room.
Ranma had forgotten to lock Akane in her cell and her bindings had worn off after she had calmed down!
"Hello?" Akane called out, "Anybody here? Mistress?. I am sorry If I am late for my training. Ashes did not fetch me as usual and so I decided to come on my own...."
Before Ranma had time to do or think of anything Akane had entered the shower quizzically looking for the source of the noise she had just heard.
"Ashes? Kodachi!" Akane recognized, "What is Kodachi doing here?"
Akane rushed towards her and bend over the prone girl. When she saw that was not conscious and had a bump on her head she grabbed her from Ranma's hold and began shaking her in a way that was probably not good for somebody with a head injury.
"Kodachi are you okay? Say something!" Akane demanded.
But her rough treatment was showing results as Kodachi slowly came to.
"Whuh?" she muttered groggily.
"Oh I am glad that you are okay, It is so nice to finally see another familiar face" Akane exclaimed happily.
Akane must have been more lonely than Ranma had thought, if she was that happy about meeting even Kodachi.
Kodachi meanwhile was trying to get her bearing: "Akane Tendo? What happened and where are we?"
"One of the guards found her and knocked her out," Ranma put in truthfully.
"So that was why you ran off and did not fetch me for my training you were busy with helping Kodachi," Akane concluded.
This one time Akane's habit of jumping to conclusions and ignoring anything that would disprove her ideas might work out in Ranma's favor. Akane might simply accept that washing someone's hair in the gym shower was a normal way of treating a bump to the head.
Kodachi was still trying to keep up: "I came here because I had heard of Akane's kidnapping. I remember this guard and I wanted to interrogate him, but he reacted unexpectedly...."
"You came here to rescue me?" Akane asked surprised.
"Of course not!" Kodachi quickly covered herself, "I came to convince my Ranma to leave you here and come with me instead."
"Well Ranma won't come for me this time, if he knows what is good for him. I will show everybody and beat the prince myself."
"No Ranma?" Kodachi was distraught.
"No Ranma! But I don't need him I will enter that stupid bridal tournament and beat the prince myself." Akane enthused.
"A bridal tournament?" Kodachi perked up.
"Yes, a tournament Prince Wildpferd holds to select strong women who he will marry." Akane explained, "I guess if he is collecting strong and independent fighting girls, he will make you enter, too."
No he will not, Ranma wanted to say. The only girl 'Prince Wildpferd' wanted was Akane. Kodachi was free to go home.
"Are you sure you don't just want me to enter this tournament to save yourself from having to marry the prince?" Kodachi was sceptic.
"I would never do something like that." Akane defended herself, "besides the Prince is looking to collect an entire harem, so just because you are selected also would not mean I am free to go."
The harem thing had just been a throwaway comment Ranma had made to needle Akane who always accused Ranma of having one. Ranma had not expected at that time that Akane would remember it.
"A harem? Interesting." Kodachi considered the idea, "I guess that is also the reason for your strange clothing."
"It is part of my training" Akane explained.
Ranma thought that Kodachi had meant the veil.
"And I take it you exposing yourself like I have seen earlier is too part of your training to become a harem girl." Kodachi wondered.
Ranma had felt like they were being watched earlier, but had dismissed it.
Akane blushed and started to defend herself: "I am not training to become a member of his harem. I am training to defeat him. It was part of my training to control my temper...."
"Well if you insist on going though with this then you will need a chaperone. As your friend I have no choice, but to stay here with you and keep an eye on you for your own good. It could hurt you reputation if it were known that you lived here all alone with a man." Kodachi warned.
Ranma was surprised to realize that she was feeling angry on behalf of Ashes and the other non-existent servants and guards in the castle for being dismissed like that.
Kodachi turned to address Ranma who was still in her Ashes costume: "I will be staying until the tournament. I expect a room for me to be readied close to Akane Tendo's quarters."
Ranma could only nod dumbly struck speechless by the way the situation had suddenly gotten all out of control."
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(Posted Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:35)
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