As stealthily as possible, Ranma sneaked into the stables.
He was very careful not to wake up the horses, so they in turn wouldn't wake up the other residents of the castle.
It was two days after his first conversation with Naki... Shortly after their talk she had felt much better, they also had secretly agreed to meet in the royal stables... tonight.
Tonight was the night when they would leave for the North of the country... to start their journey to the Rainbow King.
Carefully, he approached his own horse. The black stallion woke when Ranma approached him and neighed softly. Ranma put a hand on his muzzle and whispered: "Ssshhh... It's okay, Boy... it's just me!"
But just as he was going to saddle his horse, a dark shape appeared in the entrance of the stable.
"So, you just plan to bail, do you?" a cheeky female voice asked.
Startled, Ranma turned around.
A big troll-girl stood in the entrance, carrying her massive club on her shoulder, and wearing a confident smirk.
"U... Uko?" Ranma asked.
"And Ryger," a gruff voice that came from behind her added. "You thought you were pretty clever when you decided to leave without telling us anything, right?"
"Perhaps we should just tell Kasu you're down here," Uko grinned.
Ranma sighed and came out to join them. "Quit the stupid jokes... now what are you two doing here?"
Ryger shook his head in amusement. "What does it look like? We make sure that you don't make the worst mistake of your life..."
"That's right," Uko nodded. "So we decided to join you and make sure you don't get in any trouble."
Ranma sighed. "Kasu doesn't know you two are here, right?" he guessed.
"Of course not, I invited them to come along," another voice came out of the darkness.
Ranma failed to see the third person through the darkness, but he already recognized her voice. "Naki..."
The princess of Fourincan approached them, smirking as her two companions did. "I told you we would meet here tonight, right? Now, are you ready to go?"
Ranma nodded and then looked at the figures of the troll and the bear. "You two know it's going to be pretty dangerous, do you?"
"Danger? Hah!" Ryger snorted. "If it's about Ekana's knights, I'll be glad to smash some of their helmets between my paws."
"And the rest of them will get a taste of my club," Uko added.
Naki (who was already in her leather armor) took a look at Ranma's steed. "I'm sorry, Ranma, but I'm afraid you will have to leave your friend behind..."
"Why?" Ranma asked. "He can run faster than most of the horses in this stable, I saw it."
"I suppose you're right." Naki grinned. "But I don't think he will be quite fast enough to keep up with the mount I have prepared..."
And shortly after, the four friends were sitting safely on Shamu's broad back, while the golden dragon carried them northwards, faster as any horse could've carried them.
Very soon, the castle and city of Tokoi were nothing more than a tiny little light that disappeared in the distance...
----
At the beginning of their flight, Ranma had no doubts that they would succeed in their mission... What should probably go wrong? Sitting on a dragon's back, no one would ever be able to catch up with them. And if Shamu wasn't enough, their enemies also had to deal with the power of a black bear, the might of a troll, the fighting skills of a Steppe Rider... and him.
But very soon he should realize that even the mightiest of heroes weren't invincible... Also, Shamu couldn't carry them all the time. More than often, they had to take small breaks, as the dragon wasn't used to carry that many passengers on her back... Also, Ryger and Uko weren't exactly the lightest people in Ja'an.
They spent their first night after leaving Tokoi on a desolate plateau... according to Naki, still two thirds of their journey to the Gorge of Souls was ahead of them.
After Naki, Ranma and Ryger had hopped down from Shamu's back, Uko got ready to climb down... But it seemed she was too slow for Shamu's tastes, so she shook the troll-girl off with her wing.
Uko landed on the stony ground with a heavy 'thud'.
"Hey!" she shouted angrily. "You like pushing other people around just because you're bigger?"
"Uko must climb faster," Shamu grumbled. "Having so many people sitting on her back, it makes Shamu feel like she has fleas..." And then she turned around her massive head and lay down to sleep.
"Excuse her," Naki apologized to Uko. "Dragons tend to be a little brash because of their size... Since they are the biggest beings of Ja'an, no one ever dares to teach them some manners."
"Shamu hear that," the dragon grumbled.
Meanwhile, Ryger had taken a look at the place. "Looks safe to stay for the night," he finally said. "But we should make a fire, it sure gets cold on nights like this..."
"Wouldn't the fire attract Ekana's soldiers?" Ranma wondered.
Naki shook her head. "We're on a high plateau, Ranma... they probably wouldn't even be able to see it, least of all reach us."
"Well, if you say so..."
Naki walked over to Shamu and kicked her leg... the golden dragon didn't seem to notice it.
"Hey, you sleepy lizard... we need some fire!" she shouted.
"Why not knock those two boneheads together?" Shamu grumbled. "Perhaps it makes spark..."
But then, she actually turned around her head and opened her mouth wide, as if she was going to yawn...
And then, a scorching hot jet of fire shot out of her muzzle, igniting the small pile of wood Ryger had arranged. Within seconds, a bright fire was burning.
"Sleepy lizard, huh?" Shamu grumbled. "We talk about this in the morning..." And she put her head down to sleep again.
"She's always so grumpy when she's tired..." Naki groaned.
----
That night, they were all sleeping deeply... Confidant that no one would be able to track them down up there, they had no reason to keep watch...
And while the five of them were snoring, they didn't realize the lonely figure of a winged creature that was watching them from the skies...
Tora, the winged Minotaur, chuckled as he saw the five sleeping figures. "So, trying to reach the Rainbow King, are we? Well, this surely will be of interest for that buffoon Koan and his mistress..."
Chuckling, the flying beast turned around and flew back to the forces that summoned him... pleased that he only had to answer the call of the flute one more time before he could reclaim what was rightfully his...
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(Posted Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:27)
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