Ranma jumped on top of a pillar and looked around the giant courtyard their stone platform was situated in. The walls were very high, but that was not the main problem. Ranma would be able to jump over them, but on the other side, there was just the endless ocean.
He jumped back down to Tidus. "Looks like the only option we have is to follow that catwalk up ahead."
Tidus sighed. "Well, let's hope that somewhere inside these ruins we'll find a boat or something."
"Then let's go!" Ranma jumped into the water, barely registering his change to a shapely girl. She turned around. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" Then she saw the shocked expression on Tidus' face. "Hey, what's the matter?"
"What's the matter? You just turned into a girl!"
"Oh, that!" She grinned. "I learned to live with it. It's an ancient Chinese curse. When I get in contact with cold water, I'll turn into a girl. Hot water, and I'm back to normal! It's really no big deal!"
"No big deal? Man, if I had to deal with it, I don't know if I would be able to accept it just like that."
Well, Ranma thought. I really didn't accept it myself. But after living with the curse for several years without any hope for a cure, I had no big choice over the matter, right?
"Um, let's just swim to the catwalk, okay?"
Tidus nodded, still a little flabbergasted while he dove into the cold water. "This... isn't contagious, isn't it?"
"No, it isn't! And now shut up, okay?" Ranma turned around and began swimming.
Tidus realized he had hit a delicate nerve, so he dropped the matter and quietly followed the girl.
----
"WHERE THE HECK AM I NOW??" Ryoga yelled to the skies.
Poor Ryoga! Under normal circumstances, he would have just gotten lost. That means, he would have just wound up somewhere in Japan or somewhere else on earth... which wasn't THAT far away!
But after all, we are dealing with inter-dimensional travel here, which means he could have ended up ANYWHERE!
But why did it have to be this place? OF ALL PLACES, WHY EXACTLY HERE?
"Kupo?" the little teddy bear with wings said. "It's really easy, kupo! You just have to press the Square button if you think that any treasure is near. The chocobo then will dig. Did you get that? By the way, do you have any Kupo Nuts? Kupo? Hello?"
While the moogle of Chocobo Forest tried to make Ryoga listen, the eternally lost boy whimpered. This was HELL!
----
Ranma took a deep breath when she broke through the surface. That was close.
Next to her, Tidus appeared. "Wow, I thought that giant fish would chow us down."
They pulled themselves out of the water. Ranma squeezed the water out of her shirt. "I could have taken him on, if we didn't fall into the water. Underwater battle isn't exactly my specialty."
Tidus shook himself. "Well, I'm a pretty good swimmer - I play blitzball, after all - and I'm pretty good with the sword, but I've never fought something THAT big before."
Ranma looked down into the water. "Hmmm... Nope! The exit is blocked! Looks like we're stuck in here!"
"Perhaps we can find another exit..." They followed the partly destroyed stairway, until they entered a big room. It was circular and had several other exits. On the other side of the room, they could see a massive double door. In the middle, there was something that looked like an old fireplace.
Tidus took a look at it. "Well, if we want to make a fire, we'll definitely need some dry wood... and some flintstones! I'll go and look if I can find some."
"Okay, meanwhile, I'll try to open those double doors. They look like they are the main entrance to this hall."
Tidus ran out of the room, in search for firewood, while Ranma walked up to the giant double doors. She pressed herself against them with all her might, but they wouldn't even dodge.
"Dammit..." she growled. Angrily, she punched against the doors, but only ended up with a hurt hand.
After a few minutes, Tidus returned. "Here, I found these plants. They're still pretty dry, so we can use them for the fire. And I also found some flintstones."
"Great," Ranma muttered while shaking her hand. "The only thing I found was great pain..."
They started the fire and let it warm them up a little. Tidus let out a sigh and let himself fall back on the ground. He looked like he was pretty beat.
He's away from his home, too, Ranma thought. But at least I made the decision myself. He didn't have a choice. And furthermore, he knows that Sin was busy destroying his hometown when he disappeared from there. That's pretty unfair...
Ranma stared into the fire. I wonder how everyone is doing, she thought. Ucchan... Shampoo... Ryoga... ... Akane...
The more she thought about her, the more she missed her. I don't understand it, she pondered. Just why is it that I care about her that much? She is uncute, she's a tomboy, she can't cook, she insults me and she never lets me explain anything.
But I like her... I like her very much...
Perhaps... it's because of her smile, Ranma thought. It's a rare occasion if she shows it, but when she does it, she seems to melt my heart. I'm also afraid of losing her... I wouldn't know what to do if I never saw that smile again...
Dammit! Do I really love her? And what about the others? Do I want to hurt them? Ucchan's my best buddy from childhood - even if I didn't know she was a girl at the time. And Shampoo... well, she's kinda crazy sometimes, but certainly not as crazy as Kodachi! I think... I like her, too... as a friend...
But... I don't want to hurt them...
She sighed and took a glance at the walls.
And looked directly into the glaring eyes of a fiend.
"Tidus," Ranma yelled. "Get up! We're in trouble!"
Tidus jumped on his feet and instantly realized their situation. "Oh, dang... Watch out, Ranma! There's one behind you as well!"
The two lizard-like fiends swiftly climbed along the walls, then jumped directly in front of them. The first one in front of Tidus, the second one in front of Ranma.
"This day just keeps getting better and better," Ranma muttered and went into her battle stance. Behind her, Tidus drew his sword.
The lizards hissed and attacked.
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:51)
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