"This is really not the sort of honeymoon I expected," Kodachi noted to Ranma as she skittered along beside him, noting things down on the thick rolls of silk they were using for writing material.
"It ain't a honeymoon, Kodachi," Ranma said as he leaped up on top a rock and looked down into the land beyond.
The eight-legged drider climbed up behind him and leaned against his back, putting her mouth close to his ear.
"So you say before the sun goes down," she teased. "Our wives are going to want to get some extra time when we get back."
She frowned when he didn't flush cutely in response to her teasing and glanced forward to see what had attracted his attention.
There before them, lay the remains of a battlefield stretching on for long distances.
Heading down into the field of skeletons and fallen weapons, the pair were quickly all business.
"This battle is not more than a year old, perhaps two," Kodachi noted.
"An' no one came back to bury them?" Ranma asked, kicking stuff around. "Looks like both sides lo...no..." he sneered as his chi senses detected a fading taint. "Demons."
Kodachi bent down to pick up a skull and frowned.
"Human," she said.
"What?" Ranma asked, turning around.
"Or something close to it," she said.
Ranma bent down and looked over a body of his own.
"Yeah, I see it," he said, recognizing the shape and anatomy of the skeleton. "But not all of these. Looks like somethin' else to."
"How do you read the battle, darling?" Kodachi asked.
"Well, these guys and the humans were sorta fightin' together," he said. "Weren't used ta it though, didn't work well together, an' they died for it."
"Former foes turned allies against the demons," Kodachi noted. "That means they can be reasonable, but perhaps it would be best for Arachnae and humans to do most of our diplomacy in the near future."
"Well good thing we've got an arachnae with us then," Ranma said, smirking.
Kodachi stared at him for a moment.
"Perhaps we should leave such assignments to Nabiki," Kodachi corrected herself.
"What's wrong with me?" Ranma asked. "I can be diplomatic."
"Indeed," Kodachi said teasingly as she skittered to a small cliff face and started climbing upward to see what was on the other side of this old slaughter ground.
"Oh dear," she said. "Ranma-darling, we might have a situation."
****
Maraketh looked out from the windows of his keep down over the seed of what would be his domain in the world to come. Let those fools in Theramore continue to try and keep together their bickering Alliance.
He knew opportunity when he saw it.
An opportunity to have power of his own to secure a place for his research into the arcane secrets of the universe. Power enough to command...anything.
And the first thing he needed to do was to make sure that everyone knew better than to step into his realm.
Fortunately, Ogrimmar and Theramore were both far from where he'd set himself up, and that they had more immediate troubles in the forms of centaurs and other savage races.
As far out of their reach as he was, he had the call to respond to calls for reports and obediance in ways...that he preferred.
He smiled as he looked beyond the magically crafted walls of his land toward the hill where interlopers that made themselves unwelcome were left.
Proudmoore's meddlers. Horde warriors. Night Elf scouts. Savages. Whatever else might gather his ire.
****
Ranma and Kodachi, meanwhile, were looking up at the stakes, dozens of stakes holding a large variety of creatures in various states of decay.
Above and before the crucified figures was a large placard reading something that neither Ranma nor Kodachi could read on their own. A trick learned from Urd, however, had the drider reading the message fairly soon.
"'This is my land,'" she said grimmly.
"This one's still alive," Ranma said, moving to a stake and setting about taking down the...
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(Posted Sat, 16 May 2009 07:29)
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