Even though he’d already seen some evidence of Ranma’s martial prowess, he was still stunned by how quickly the scuffle had ended. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that the young man had been hiding weapons in the sleeves of his red shirt, but that was impossible, since there was no way the Archadians would let any prisoner into a place like this without a thorough search for contraband. Yet at the same time, it hardly seemed possible that mere leaps and punches and kicks and throws could level three large, aggressive seeq in a matter of seconds. That’s not to say that Vaan did nothing; it soon became obvious that Ranma was counting on him to take advantage of openings that the seeq were leaving in their misguided decisions to focus on the stronger of the two, and he actually did manage to get a decent chokehold on the smallest of the three attackers. Still, there could be no doubt that it was Ranma who was responsible for their quick victory, as was soon pointed out from an appreciative audience member.
“That was quite an impressive showing, Vaan, though you should keep in mind that you can’t always rely on the kindness of strangers.”
“Balthier!” Vaan said excitedly. “This is, uh, what did you say your name was?”
“Ranma.”
“Right. This is Ranma—he really helped me out of a jam there.”
“Indeed,” the sky pirate responded, jumping down into the pit to have a closer look at the potentially useful new ally. “I’ve been involved in bouts of fisticuffs myself, and I daresay that I’ve never seen an approach that was quite that effective.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Those are some rather interesting clothes you’re wearing—I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything like them, either... nor can I quite place your accent. Where did you say you were from?”
“Nerima,” Ranma blurted out without thinking.
Balthier arched an eyebrow, indicating his puzzlement in the understated manner typically associated with the Archadian gentry. “Nerima? Nerima….” He repeated the name to himself, rolling it over his tongue in an attempt to taste something familiar in the series of consonants and vowels. “In all the interminable hours of geographic instruction I received as a lad, and in my years spent traveling abroad, that particular location apparently slipped through the cracks, if you’ll pardon my rather clunky use of metaphor. Is it near Valendia, perhaps?”
Ranma was fairly certain that this display of inquisitiveness was rooted in some very deep suspicions. “Uh… no, not really.”
“Then what continent is it on?”
“Um, it’s on a bunch of islands. In the east.” That sounded specific-yet-vague enough to work.
“East? How far east?”
“I don’t know. Really far.”
“You don’t know? Just how did you get here?”
“Actually, I’m not all that certain about that, either.”
The sky pirate opened his mouth to continue, but his mild interrogation was suddenly interrupted by a clanking noise as the dungeon’s main doors opened and a coterie of guards entered, sending all three prisoners scurrying towards a blind spot in the pit where they could remain unseen by those on the upper level.
As the newcomers began talking, Balthier let out a small puff of exasperation. “Great… they just don’t give up, do they?” Ranma glanced upward to see exactly who the sky pirate’s nebulous “they” referred to, and caught glimpses of more lizard-people, although these had multiple piercings and carried odd yet still nasty-looking weapons with them. “Now is looking like a good time to leave.”
As if on cue, a new form appeared behind one of the pit’s closed gates—and Ranma was at a loss for words. Holy crap, it’s a bunny girl.
Carbuncle concurred: Yes, she is, though if I were you, I’d avoid saying that to her face, given the way she’s lifted up that iron gate. From what I can remember, her kind are called viera.
Indeed, the svelte creature had raised the gat approximately twenty centimeters off of the ground, and was now using what appeared to be a steel-reinforced high-heeled shoe to prop it up. All three men quickly slid under the gate, where the passageway could provide them with more cover from the guards’ prying eyes.
The rabbit-woman’s first words were to Balthier. “Through the oubliette—there’s a way out. Only…”
“Only you sense the Mist,” the pirate finished for his associate.
The viera nodded solemnly before turning her attention to the unfamiliar face. “And you are?”
Before Ranma could say anything, Vaan jumped in. “Fran, this Ranma. Ranma, Fran. Ranma just helped me out a few minutes ago,” the young Dalmascan finished with a wave towards the three still-unconscious seeq.
“I see…” Fran replied ponderously. She looked like she was about to continue, but she was interrupted by an outburst from one of the bangaa.
“Eh? What’s that you say now? Maybe I’ll whet my blade on you before I kill Balthier!”
“That’s enough, Ba’Gamnan!”
The bangaa and his hume opponent abruptly quieted as a new person entered the dungeon. Although he wore armor of the same shade of gunmetal as the guards, the similarities ended there, as this person’s armor was beaten into far more ornate shapes, with an intricately embroidered cape trailing behind, and a large, heavy-looking helmet that appeared to have metal ram’s horns bolted on the side—clearly, this was a person of stature, because if he wasn’t, Ranma was certain the guards would have broken out in laughter at his utterly absurd getup.
“A judge,” Fran stated, as if she knew that this person’s presence needed to be elucidated for the younger members of her party.
However, this wasn’t quite enough of an explanation for Vaan. “Judge?”
Balthier was barely able to contain his disgust as he expanded on his partner’s explanation: “Hmph. The self-proclaimed guardians of law and order in Archadia. They’re the Elite Guard of House Solidor, which effectively makes them the commanders of the Imperial Army.”
Ranma, however, had a different question. “There’s no way that judge’s helmet can possibly be functional. I mean, you’d need a neck the size of a tree trunk just to keep yer balance.”
“Actually, casting a weak Float magick would greatly alleviate that difficulty,” Fran replied as one of her ears suddenly twitched ever so slightly. “Wait… listen.”
The conversation amongst the Archadians had turned away from Balthier’s demise and towards more useful information. “Where is the Captain?”
“We have him in solitary, Your Honor,” the guard’s captain replied. “We’re ready to begin our interrogation.”
Balthier smirked slightly to himself. “Time for the hare to follow the fox.”
“Huh?” Ranma asked Fran, whom he assumed was the “hare.”
If Fran noticed this assumption on Ranma’s part, she didn’t show it. “The Magicks binding the door to the oubliette are quite strong. Too strong even for my talents.”
“Fortunately for us, our hosts seem willing to open it for us—they just don’t know it yet,” Balthier added. “Come, we need to keep them in sight.”
Vaan seemed skeptical, however. “Wait, how is going deeper into this place going to get us out of here?”
Balthier somehow managed to resist rolling his eyes. “What’s wrong? You don’t trust her? Vieras’ noses are sharp. If she says there’s a way out, there’s a way out.”
Fran nodded. “We must make haste. Mean you to accompany us?” she asked Ranma, if only to confirm what everyone in the party had up to this point merely assumed.
“Given that my only other option seems ta be rotting in this dungeon, sure.” With that, the four prisoners began their makeshift escape attempt, heading down the passageway in an attempt to catch up to their jailers.
They hadn’t gone very far before Ranma stalled before a room. “Hey, look.”
Balthier’s face brightened almost immediately. “Ah! The prison repository of wrested relics and raiments. Our confiscated belongings should be here—which is good, because I daresay they’ll prove quite useful.” Within a matter of seconds, he, Fran, and Balthier had found their weapons. Ranma, on the other hand, had nothing to find.
“I suggest you arm yourself,” Balthier said. “Now is hardly the time to be concerned with the property rights of others.”
“Says the infamous sky pirate,” Fran countered.
“Don’t worry. I don’t need weapons.”
“If you seriously think that your ability to knock out three dull-witted swine using only your fists is going to help against fully armed soldiers, you belong in an asylum, not a prison.”
“Oh, please. That was barely a warm-up. I’ve spent my whole life training in the Art.”
“Now is not the time to be cocky.”
“I ain’t bein’ cocky—stealth is probably the best advantage we have, and the less I take with me, the better I can make sure that stays that way. Besides, that armor is pretty poorly designed, if ya ask me. I’ve already got a good idea where its weaknesses are. I can take them out, no problem.”
“Really? And does your definition of ‘taken out’ involve anything beyond unconsciousness?”
“Huh? Whaddya mean?”
“It is highly unlikely that we’ll be getting out of here without having to resort to lethal force. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Lethal force? Ya mean killin’ people?”
“Precisely. You will have to pardon my brusqueness, but we shan’t have time for ethical dilemmas in the next few minutes.”
Ranma now had to make a very quick decision. It was patently obvious that Balthier intended to use any means necessary to get out of here—but then, given the way that bangaa had been fuming, it was hard to blame him for that. Obviously, he didn’t like unnecessary killing, and from what little he had learned about this world, it certainly seemed as though these three were good guys (or at the very least, the folks they were fighting were bad guys). What was more, if he was going to do anything, he had to get out of here, and who knew when he’d find another group of people willing to go through with an escape?
“Yeah, I’m willin’ ta do that, I guess.”
“At times, self-defense must be proactive,” Fran replied, as if to reassure the young man that he’d made an ethically sound choice.
“Then let’s be off,” Balthier said, hefting his shotgun onto his shoulder.
“Hey, Vaan… what the hell’s an oubliette?” Ranma whispered to his new companion as the four scurried down the dusty hallway.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
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(Posted Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:22)
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