Cologne had gotten up earlier than her two charges as she began to analyze the task at hand, the mission to rescue the Avatar and their new friends from this strange king. The fact that the kings behavior didn't make much sense to her as a leader of his people made her wonder what it was that was going on through the mind of this city's master. She went over the options in her head, 'On the one hand he could just be crazy with no rhyme or reason to his rules and it has been known to have rulers who have lost their minds to command powerful forces. But the people seemed to be too well off and peaceful for such destructive madness, as madness unchecked often leads to ruin.
‘I think that his madness might have much to do with the unpredictable nature of the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes School, the cunning of a kitsune rather than the madness of a man. Happosai is one of the most powerful martial artists that I know, perhaps even surpassing me, however still acts the fool for the most part even when he is anything but that, ' Cologne thought.
Somewhere in the Avatar's world a pervert sneezed.
The idea that the King of Omashu could be anything like her perverted pain in the neck had her more worried than if the king was just plain mad. Cunning people had their own agendas that could be hidden behind the front of chaos making it harder to see the goals of those kinds of people. Cologne remembered what her sensei had told her, 'A genius is a person that can see the pattern in the whirlwind and harness that power for their own’. The king might be such a genius, but whether that genius is to aid the Avatar or harm him was not clear at the moment. As such it might have been best for them to try to avoid causing any harm to the servants of the leader of Omashu.
‘After all, they might be allies that we don't know yet, but one must also be prepared if they turn out to be enemies of the deadliest type. So prepare for the worst and hope for the best must be our motto for this task, ' she decided.
'It was a good thing that Ranma seemed to hold the traditions of a martial artist in avoiding taking a life unless one was at risk, or perhaps that was the way of Happosai that had been pasted down through his student Genma. Happi hated taking lives unless absolutely needed as it was something that could not be undone, plus there was his soft spot for children that kept him from killing adults and possibly leaving the children without parents. It was one of his good points among the multitude of bad points he had let grow. Shampoo is easier as she will listen to my lead as her elder and as matriarch of the tribe. So avoiding death is possible, especially given the training that the both of them have had in martial arts.' Cologne's then looked over the plan that she had cobbled together.
'We will have to find our way to the palace and then sneak into the building without being detected. That is where Shampoo's training with earthbending might come in handy since many of the doors of the city can only be opened with that art. Then we will have to track Aang by his chi signature, but that might bring another problem given his powerful aura and the time spent in that building. Finding the current chi trail from old ones will take time, time that we might not have if these deadly tasks are truly deadly and not just something to scare the king's foes.' Cologne then noticed from her spot at the window of the room that they had rented that her great granddaughter and her beloved were raising with the rays of the sun.
"Good morning, are you two ready to go help our friends? Breakfast should be ready by now and we should only need a few minutes to get prepared, then I will explain the plan that we will need to complete our task," Cologne told then as they rose from floor where they had slept. She then jumped and headed for the pot where she had been brewing the noodles that would be making up their breakfast.
Later that day...
Ranma was holding back the urge of his muscles to twitch as he waited for their next move. It had taken no time at all to find the palace as they just followed the path of chi that was flowing out of the Avatar as he stayed in the seat of power. But making it to the palace without alerting any of the guards that they were trying to break into the building was a little bit harder than they had thought, even with the aid of Shampoo's newest combat skills. It had taken several hours and required all the tricks that each had learned as trackers or as thieves to pass the patrols, then finally pass the inner wall so that they could enter the building. Now they were in one of the many hallways that made up the home of the king.
"So what do we do now?" Ranma asked the elder Amazon as they tried to not look out of place.
"Follow me; I have a plan so that we might not be so obvious in this unknown area." Cologne said as she pogo down the hall as he and Shampoo followed with measured speed. The elder slipped into a room that turned out to look like an empty laundry room that was holding fresh clean clothes all around them. The silver haired woman then moved to pick out clothing that had been folded for pick up.
"Great Grandmother is very clever. We will pass by the guards dressed as servants of the king, people that are almost invisible in the homes of powerful rulers." Shampoo said as she pulled out a servant's dress, looked thoughtful for a minute, then moved behind a hanging sheet to change. Ranma tried to avert his eyes as he looked at the shadow that she cast on the sheet.
"Here, son-in-law, I think that this will do for you to wear." Cologne said as she took out an outfit and tossed it to Ranma. She then picked up her own pile of clothes and moved behind the sheet with Shampoo.
"I am not your son-in-law." He told her in a firm voice, as he began to get dressed in the uniform of one of the serving classes of the city. As he was finishing up, he turned and saw that the two women were similarly dressed in the green and brown clothing of the Earth Kingdom. It even had a design on it that looked like a wheel with a square hole that was common for Chinese coins in times gone by. Ranma figured out that it must be a symbol of either the nation of the earthbenders or of the city. All three of them stashed their previous clothing in the subspace that they had learned during training and their experiences with Mousse's hidden weapon style. They also pocketed a few rags as cover for their new identities.
"So we have disguises, we have an earthbender and we have the ability ta track Aang's chi, so is there any kind of troubles that we might have ta face?" Ranma asked at the three of them slipped out of room that they had just changed in. They tried to walk if they were of the lower class that they now looked like, with their heads lowered and their hands clasped in front of them. Ranma was keeping his own voice low while they spoke with each other.
"There is a chance that we could become confused by the power of the chi and the time that it has had to sink into the landscape. We might have false leads to places that he has already been, but we should be able to pick it up with enough time to study the patterns of chi," Cologne said as she walked in front of the two teens. She continued, "I think that it might be best if it was me that did the tracking as I have much more experience with the different interplay that chi can have with each other. I can also detect the variations of personal chi that overlaps itself as well as dealing with the overwhelming power of the Avatar making the trail more complex."
Ranma nodded as he let the older woman take the lead, hoping that her experience might be able to lead them to the place that held Aang and the gang. Cologne then signaled to them that a patrol was coming. Using the rags that they had bagged they began to dust the hallway as if they were keeping the passageway free of dirt and spider webs.
The soldiers passed them as they marched in formation with their only attention being to Shampoo. Of course Ranma knew why they were looking at the cute young woman, and it made him wonder if his other form might be of more use in distracting the guards. But he passed it by as he might be able discourage any attempts to pick up Shampoo or himself while they played their parts. He looked at Cologne for a hint at where to go next as they storied their rags. Cologne nodded and motioned them to follow her. They raced down the halls of the palace and began their search for the Avatar and the king that was placing him through the deadly tests they had heard about.
(Posted Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:07)
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