Ranma and Akane looked at each other as they stepped out of Ucchan’s. “Well,” Ranma said, “that went easier than I expected.”
“Yes, it did,” Akane agreed, frowning thoughtfully. “I just hope it isn’t balanced out at the Cat Café.”
Ranma nodded agreement. “C’mon, let’s find out.”
A few minutes later, Shampoo looked up in shock as the couple walked through the front door of the Cat Café, then her eyes narrowed at their clasped hands. “Aiyah, what Kitchen Destroyer doing with Airen?” the purple-haired Amazon demanded, and Akane gave her a triumphant grin.
“No, not your Airen, not now or ever!” she asserted proudly, not noticing Ranma’s slight wince.
Xian Pu growled, stepping forward and falling into a crouch, then froze as Ranma let go of Akane’s hand and stepped between them. She wasn’t fooled by the apparent slackness of Ranma’s stance, and quickly stepped back. “Airen?”
Ranma stared at her, face expressionless, then shrugged. “I’m here ta talk,” she said casually, “but after yesterday, if you’d rather fight I’ll be happy to do that, too.”
Suddenly Ku Lon was there between the two. “No, there will be no fighting. Xian Pu, turn over the ‘Closed’ sign, once our customers have left we will talk.”
Some free ramen and an explanation later, Ku Lon leaned back and contemplated the two teenage girls sitting across the table from her, hands again clasped together between them. “So, an interesting story,” she said, “but why are you here telling it to us?”
“Because of Shampoo,” Ranma said. “I need ta know how this’ll affect those crazy laws of yours.”
Ku Lon frowned thoughtfully as Xian Pu finally shook herself free of her shock at what she’d just heard and turned her own eyes toward her great-grandmother. “Those laws have served us well for longer than your people can remember, son-in- — Ranma. Still, a very good question,” the ancient matriarch said. “First, your decision to live your life as a woman has precedent — the combination of your status as an outsider and the Jusenkyo curse means that from now on you will be considered a woman, and the Kiss of Marriage is no longer valid.
“But,” she continued as Xian Pu’s face fell and Ranma and Nabiki broke out in grins, “the Kiss of Death once again becomes valid.”
The grins vanished from Ranma’s and Akane’s faces, and Xian Pu gave her great-grandmother a horrified look. “No, must be some way to stop that!” she shouted, and Ku Lon nodded.
“Actually, child, there is. Ranma will have to become your battle sister and an ally of the tribe. Then, she will not be considered a true Outsider even if she isn’t a full member of the tribe, and the Kiss of Death will not apply.”
Ranma stared at Ku Lon for a moment, then asked, “And you didn’t mention this before because … ?”
Ku Lon shrugged. “I didn’t think you would be desperate enough to give up your manhood as a way to avoid Xian Pu’s attentions. Besides, I was looking for ways to convince you to join us, not escape your obligations.”
Akane turned red and started to rise, only to freeze then slowly sit back down, retort unsaid, when Ranma tugged on her hand and when Akane looked at her shook her head.
“Okay, so what’s a battle sister, and what would I have to do as an ally of the tribe?” the redhead asked, and Ku Lon shrugged again.
“As an ally, if we are attacked you’d be expected to help us as best you can, and provide a place to stay for any Amazons passing through,” she said. “And a battle friend is what it sounds like — in the case of battle, you will guard each other’s backs. Actually, since you already have a battle mate,” — nodding to Akane — “that would be the three of you.”
Ranma gazed thoughtfully at Ku Lon for a time, then glanced at an visibly worried Xian Pu and sighed. “All right,” she said. “How do we do this?”
Carefully allowing no sign of her relief show, Ku Lon pursed her lips in thought. “I assume you have no wish to travel to the village,” she said, then smiled at Ranma’s snort. “Right. In that case, it will be at least … three weeks. Several other elders will need to join us as witnesses, and they will need to bring a barrel of Jusenkyo water, for the Rite of Passage ceremony.”
“What!?” This time, Ranma made no effort to restrain Akane as she thrust herself to her feet. “What on earth do we need Jusenkyo water for — what kind of water?”
“Water of the Drowned Champion,” Ku Lon said calmly. “Sit, child, and I will explain.” Slowly, a glowering Akane took her seat and Ku Lon continued.
“Three centuries ago, when I was a child, an outsider named Alanya came to the tribe. While she never joined the tribe, in time it came to seem as if she had. She studied our ways, trained with us, fought at our side … in time she became our unofficial champion and when we again fought a particularly brutal war with the Musk she was ever at the forefront.”
Ku Lon voice had softened and now fell silent, as she gazed into the past. Finally, Ranma said, “Did ya actually know her?”
Ku Lon smiled wistfully and nodded. “Yes, Ranma, I am barely old enough to remember her — I was a young child at the time of that war with the Musk, not even old enough to start training for war. She was a woman of exotic beauty, and always willing to spend a few moments with a little girl that followed her everywhere she could. She had the most wonderful stories....
“At any rate,” Ku Lon continued more briskly, sitting up straighter, “she was fascinated by the cursed springs of Jusenkyo, and spent many hours studying them. And then came the day when we learned that not only was she a great warrior, but a great sorceress, the day we found her dead body floating in one of the pools. The village went into mourning, even as the elders gathered her effects, mainly books she had brought with her or found on her occasional trips away from the village into the rest of China. Among her possessions a letter was discovered, explaining what she had done.
“It turned out that in her home country she had been the next thing to a slave to an even more powerful sorceress, and had led a rebellion against the tyrant — a rebellion that failed, thanks to magical chains held by her mistress binding her and all those that sided with her and died in the doing.
“Her rebellion a failure and her friends all dead, she had fled and wandered the world seeking a way to free herself from the chains that had cost her so much. She never did find the answer she sought, but in the end found an alternative — one that would give that freedom to another along with all her power, but at the cost of her life.
“Somehow, she succeeded in altering the workings of that particular spring, so that everyone that comes into contact with that spring’s water is judged, the pool searching for the one worthy of bearing Alanya’s legacy and taking up her cause. After reading of this, and the other writings she had left for her successor, the elders chose to honor her wishes and hold those writings for whoever that successor might be.
“More, they chose to incorporate her sacrifice into our Coming of Age ceremony, so that now every girl bathes in Alanya’s pool the day she becomes a warrior, to see if perhaps she might be the one found worthy. So far, no one has, but each hopes it will be her in honor of Alanya’s faithfulness. And as well, every woman that becomes an ally of the tribe bathes in the water to see if perhaps she might be Alanya returned to us.”
Ranma was smiling softly, and even Akane’s suspicious glower had faded, and finally Ranma shook herself. “All right,” she said. “You got a deal — get the elders and yer water here, and I’ll go through the rite an’ become Shampoo’s battler sister.” Taking Akane’s hand again she said, “Well, me and Akane have gotta get going, more people ta talk to.”
“Yes, it seems you are going to have an interesting evening,” Ku Lon said with an ironic smile.
Xian Pu had been sitting quietly, a troubled look on her face, as Ku Lon had told her story, and now as her former Airen and rival got up to leave, she said, “Ranma, one thing —” then winced as Ku Lon poked her in the side with her staff.
“Carefully, child!” Ku Lon hissed, and Xian Pu hesitated, then smiled weakly as the couple turned around at the door. “Good luck,” she called, and Ranma grinned. “Hey, don’t ya know? Ranma Saotome never loses!” And with that and a jaunty wave the two girls were gone.
Xian Pu slumped, then in her native tongue said, {Great-grandmother, why didn’t you tell Ranma the full story of Champion Alanya?}
{Because if I had, she would have almost certainly refused to risk the waters. And do you really want to be forced to choose between pursuing Ranma until one of you dies or becoming a servant to the village, or to be banished forever? Those are your choices.}
Her head in her hands, Xian Pu murmured, {I suppose you are right, but I don’t like it. It feels — dirty, dishonorable.}
{Good!} Ku Lon said, and chuckled when Xian Pu looked up at her in surprise. {Xian Pu, you will find as you rise in position in the village that the more power you wield, the more necessary it is to balance honor against necessity. But you should never stop wishing it didn’t have to be so. At any rate, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about,} Ku Lon added as she rose to reopen the restaurant. {After all, Amazon maidens have been made into warriors with the pool’s waters for centuries, with not a hint that Alanya’s heritage coming to life.}
{Great-grandmother, this is Ranma,} Xian Pu chided, and Ku Lon paused as she reached for the “Closed” sign.
{That, child, is a very good point,} she conceded thoughtfully. {I believe I will ask that whatever elders come here bring with them several of the tribe’s best warriors and the copies of Alanya’s writings with them … just in case.}
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:18)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.