Hippolyta silently prayed to the gods for patience as her advisers argued back and forth. At the center of the debate, as it was in all debates these days it seemed, was Ranma of Themyscira. The five year old prince always seemed to cause problems with his presence even though he honestly wasn't trying. Even before he was born, there were questions on how having a male Amazon would work and also practical problems such as having to create maternity clothes. The current problem Hippolyta was dealing with: Ranma's training.
Philippus looked at the other members of the counsel and was currently defending Ranma's right to receive combat training. "I will admit that I am leery about teaching any man how to fight. However, the prince cannot be dependent on us to guard him for the rest of his life. We all know that Ranma was a warrior in his last lifetime even though he cannot remember all of his previous life just yet. The desire to train is carried in his soul and in his Amazonian blood. Furthermore, the gods have tasked us with bringing the prince up as an example of what a man should be. We may not want to think about such things, but men in Man's world respect might and thus will not listen to the prince or follow his example if he cannot fight."
Antiope quickly shot back, "An Amazon the prince is, but he is also a male. Men cannot be trusted with power because it corrupts them too easily. Even untrained, Ranma is already extremely powerful. His strength does the royal house credit, but he is already stronger than the princess was at his age. If we let him train as a warrior he'll undoubtedly become the strongest Amazon on the island. Placing the prince in such a position would set him up to be a disaster for our people. Was Hercules not a noble man long before he came to our shores and before his power corrupted him? I do not wish the prince to become corrupted or for our people to suffer such a disaster. It's for the best of everyone if the prince remain untrained."
Philippus quickly shot back, "Need I remind you that Hercules is supposed to have let his ego get to his head? Do you really think we would let such a thing happen with the prince? Besides, training the prince will likely help the memories of his past life return quicker. The techniques and styles he possesses are a treasure for our people. Just the Moku Takabisha, a single technique he could recall, has revolutionized our guard forces."
Antiope would have continued the debate when she and the rest of the council heard a thump on the roof. Several thumps followed in a pattern leading to the entire council leaving the room to investigate. Once everyone was outside, Queen Hippolyta rolled her eyes in frustration. Ranma, in his customary white trousers with a bag of rocks slung over his shoulder, had just leaped onto the roof of a nearby building. The guards/nannies that she had assigned to watch over Ranma today were racing after him with panic carved into their faces.
One of the council women quickly broke the ice. "That's pretty impressive for a five year old. Do you think he'll make it to the Temple of Artemis before they catch him?" The council members quickly started making bets on when the prince would be caught. Watching the chaos, Queen Hippolyta let out a groan of frustration.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by HistorianoftheKais
(Posted Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:22)
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.