It was dark. It was pitch black, actually. Shampoo couldn't see a thing.
"Hello?" she called. "Anyone here?"
She didn't expect an answer, but was surprised when a male voice called out of the darkness: "Hello there, beautiful!"
"Who are you? Friend or enemy? Show yourself! Only cowards hide into darkness."
"Hey, no need to worry, I'm one of the good guys. I'm here, directly in front of you!"
"I can't see you!"
"Oh, yes, it is kinda dark in here, right? Just a moment..." The strange voice mumbled something, and suddenly a patch of light appeared in front of Shampoo. Together with a white cat, who was sitting very close to her. So close that he only had to reach out with a paw to touch her.
"Boo," he said. Shampoo freaked and jumped back several feet. The white cat snickered.
"D-don't DO that," Shampoo demanded.
"My apologies," the male cat said. "But you know, it was just too tempting."
Shampoo then realized something. "You're a cat!"
"Um, that's probably because my parents were cats, too?"
"But you can talk! You're a talking cat!"
"Hey, since I'm not mistaken, I'm not the only one around here, you know?"
Shampoo then realized something else? "I'm in cat form? But... but how can I talk?"
The white cat stood up and said: "Hey, it's nothing to be surprised about. All mooncats are born with the ability to speak the human language."
"I'm not a mooncat!"
"Yes you are!"
"I'm not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"And why do you think you've got this pretty little moon symbol on your forehead?"
"I don't have... wait a minute..." Shampoo held a paw up to her forehead. "Do you have a mirror?"
Under normal circumstances, this would be a stupid question, but not in this case. As soon as Shampoo asked the question, a big mirror appeared next to the two cats. Shampoo looked inside, and really, there was a golden symbol on her forehead, shaped like a crescent moon. "Where does this shiny tattoo come from?"
"It is no tattoo," said the other cat. "This symbol marks you as a mooncat - an advisor of the Sailor Senshi and the royal line of the moon!"
"I think you're nuts, Kittycat," Shampoo said. "And how did you learn to speak Chinese, anyway?"
"My name is Artemis," he said. "And I'm not speaking Chinese. I'm speaking Japanese - as are you!"
"I'm not speaking..." Shampoo interrupted herself. He was right, she thought. All the time during their conversation she was speaking Japanese. Fluently! And she didn't even realize it.
"Wha...? How...? What's happening here? Where are we anyway?"
"At the moment, you're dreaming. But I'm still real, I can assure you. I'm contacting you through your dreams, because I have something very important to tell you."
"And that is?"
"I know that you and your red-headed friend Ranma are not from this dimension. The key of time belongs to the Senshi of Time, Sailor Pluto, and can only be used by her. Amnar, who is now stranded in your home reality, is the real Sailor Pluto of this dimension. But as Ranma is herself in your reality, the key of time confused her with its Mistress and brought her back to this reality, in her place. And because it was just an accident that helped Amnar to escape her attacker, I don't really think that Ranma can use the staff to return home. At least not for now. She will have to take Amnar's place and search for the princess and the missing Senshi."
"You always say 'she'. Ranma is a man!"
"I know about Ranma's curse, but for now, she is locked in her female form, as she will soon find out."
"Why did you do that?" Shampoo hissed angrily.
"Hey, it's not my fault, really," Artemis defended himself. "The key of time did that during your transportation into this reality. Its wielder has to be female, or it cannot be properly used. Also, there are no male Senshi, so its powers locked Ranma as a female. It also locked you in your cat form, as Ranma needs a mooncat advisor. She is new to this Senshi business, so she needs help."
"That can't be happening," Shampoo mumbled. "But I'm new to all of this, too!"
"Well, because you're a mooncat now, I can contact you in your dreams and help you out however I can. And you won't be alone in your fight. As soon as Ranma finds the other Senshi, they will be able to support her. So do your best!"
"It looks like I have no other choice," Shampoo sighed. "All right! Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Yes, I'm going to tell you everything important that has happened to Amnar until now. Right now, you two are in an airplane that's on its way to Tokyo, and there, you have to find Amnars grandfather. Ranma must make everyone believe that she is really Amnar. And most important is, remember the number Thirteen! Amnar's life is strangely connected to this number by fate... I don't really know the reasons myself. But she was born on March the 13th, at 13 o' clock. She was thirteen when her mother told her of her life as a Senshi, and the row she was sitting in on the airplane has number 13."
"That's... kinda freaky!"
"Yeah, I know! But, that's not all! You know..."
----
After several hours (or so it seemed to Shampoo) Artemis was finished with his instructions. "Got everything memorized?"
"I think so..." Shampoos little head still was spinning. "You really think I can do the job?"
"Hey," Artemis grinned. "It's not that hard. You'll do fine, I'm pretty sure of it."
Shampoo nodded and was angry that the first male that made her a compliment (Mousse doesn't count) was a cat.
"And remember," Artemis said. "Only Ranma and the other Senshi are allowed to hear you talk. To everyone else, you're just a cute little kitty cat, got it?"
She nodded. "Yes, I know."
"Alright then, I... Ah, I guess you're waking up! Good luck!"
And after he spoke these words, Artemis vanished.
----
"Hey, Shampoo! You're awake!" she heard a familiar voice.
Shampoo yawned and looked up. And there she could see Ranma-chan's smiling face.
"You know, you almost got me in trouble. What am I saying, you got me in trouble. I mean, if you hadn't glomped onto me, we probably wouldn't be here."
Shampoo wanted to say something, but then she remembered Artemis' words and just made an apologetic meow.
"Nah, it's okay! Let's just hope that we can find our way back home. Ah, I think we're landing already."
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(Posted Tue, 04 Jul 2006 17:28)
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