Ti Xiu assumed that it was the fear of the unknown that led to her husband’s late night escape from the village—and her stepson had left with him, though that was more likely due to his respect for his father than out of any fear. However, Ti Xiu would make her husband see the light—even if she had to use the Full Body Cat Tongue to do it.
But what made Genma’s action truly irritating was the fact that is was perfectly obvious that her stepson was willing to go through with his first cycle—and considering his doubled curse, that in itself would require quite a commitment. Thankfully, her grandmother, Ku Lon, was the tribe’s matriarch, and as such had authorized her second task: to oversee her stepson’s induction into womanhood should Genma prove to be unusually stubborn in the matter. It would be difficult to accomplish outside of the isolation of Joketsuzoku, but Ranma struck her as the type who would not give up simply because a task proved difficult. Because of this, she planned to give him several options for his ordeal—all of which would be just as difficult as the Cat Tongue, if not more so, but were, for the most part, less physically uncomfortable (Genma, on the other hand, was getting the Cat Tongue, if only to punish him for trying to deprive his son of his rights as a woman).
There was one other task set before her, though she would not have learned of it had Ranma not become such good friends with her niece, Xian Pu. Apparently, Ranma had a wife waiting for him back in Japan—one that he was afraid to tell Genma about. This had several implications, the first being that Ranma was not bound to Amazon marriage rules regarding outsiders (being already wed, he had the right to refuse to marry any woman—or man, given the more or less permanent nature of his curse—who defeated him), and secondly, it meant that Ti Xiu would have to convince this woman to join the tribe. Hopefully, this would be accomplished without the use of force; Ti Xiu did not want her relationship with her daughter-in-law to start on a bad note.
All of this revolved in Ti Xiu’s mind as she prepared herself to find her husband and stepson. She had undergone an intensive two-week training course in the Japanese language under the tutelage of one of the tribe’s best teachers—though her grammar was still very rough, she’d learned enough to be able to make herself understood to a native Japanese. In addition, she also had to bottle several liters of various types of Jusenkyo cursewater for use during the training of her family—and in the process got herself temporarily cursed about seven or eight times. When she acquired the Nannichuan curse, her grandmother had ordered her to keep the curse for several days before having it cured, in order to help her empathize with her husband and stepson.
But now, all her preparations were finished, and Ti Xiu was ready to head out to the Land of the Rising Sun. She had packed relatively light for someone who would be traveling a great distance, and though for the first leg of her trip she’d she planned on hitching rides with boats traveling down the Yellow River, much of the journey would be on foot. After all, if her family could do it, why should she complain?
The sun hadn’t yet come over the horizon as she said her final goodbyes; she promised to write when she knew what the situation was, and Xian Pu volunteered to accompany her (Ti Xiu declined the offer, of course, since her niece still had to train for the upcoming tournament, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless). She cut an imposing figure as she set off; she was fairly tall compared to her female sisters, and like most Amazons, had an athletic build from her years of physical training. Her chartreuse hair, which went just past her shoulder blades, was done up in the double bun/ponytails traditional to Joketsuzoku. She also wore the traditional Amazon pantsuit; it offered her a great deal of mobility, which was always necessary when practicing the Art. Ten minutes out from the village, as the first rays of sunlight finally began peeking through the mountains, Ti Xiu turned and looked back again—she fully expected to return, of course, but fate could never be known for certain.
With the memory of Joketsuzoku firmly implanted in her mind, Ti Xiu once again turned towards the morning sun and continued heading east.
Meanwhile, back in Japan…
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(Posted Tue, 24 Jan 2006 03:15)
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