Ukyo twitched. “How fast?”
Ranma grinned. “Never going to be late for school again.”
“Yeah right,” Akane laughed. “You'll just spar with your dad longer each morning.”
Ranma thought that over. “Yeah, you're probably right.”
“You can't be serious,” Ukyo said.
“You'll see,” Akane promised with a giggle.
“There are a few downsides, though,” Ranma warned. “You're going to have to get a new outfit.”
“What?” Ukyo asked.
Ranma plucked at his baggy shirt. “Your werecheetah form is probably going to be two feet taller, maybe more. You don't have all the strength training me or Akane has, so you might be a bit thinner-”
“Britanny told us that most werecheetahs looked pretty thin,” Akane explained, interpreting Ukyo's look as an insult to her figure. “We're built for speed, not strength. It's just all the werecheetahs still alive have done so much muscle training that you would never know it.”
“Wait, back up. What do you mean, still alive?” Ukyo asked. This sounded Bad.
“They were all killed off a generation ago,” Ranma said grimly. “There's only one left, she was a baby at the time. The guy who did it tried to kill her, too.”
Cologne was sitting a table away, listening discretely. Not that she was eavesdropping, exactly, they all knew she was listening, but Ukyo's questions were more important than her own, so she kept her distance. She frowned at this new information. Ranma had a talent for getting enemies. She shouldn't be surprised that his new species came with yet more. “Do you know who it was?”
“Yes and no,” Nabiki said quietly. She'd been involved in a couple of talks with Britanny as the last of the werecheetahs taught her new cousins. She'd also been the one to coax the whole painful story out of the girl. Not exactly her proudest contribution to their education, but no one could deny the necessity of the knowledge. They had enemies now. “The short version is that a werewolf went power-hungry after being manipulated by a wererat and killed half his own clan and all the werecheetahs. The werewolf responsible has been killed, and his daughter has made peace with Britanny.”
“She's the last werecheetah, right?” Ukyo asked.
“Right,” Ranma confirmed. “Well, until us anyway.”
“Er, yeah. That's going to take some getting used to.”
“Tell me about it,” Akane grumbled.
Cologne hummed to herself and digested that story. “What about the wererat you mentioned?”
“Dr. Diggers knows more,” Nabiki grumbled, “but he wouldn't tell us anything about him. His name is Gothwrain, he's a leader in the wererat clan, and he, or the entire clan, wants to kill all werecheetahs.”
“I'd rather be alive,” Ukyo said dryly.
“Not exaggerating, Ukyo,” Nabiki reminded her.
“Yeah,” Ukyo sighed. “I get it. But it's not like we're helpless.”
“Or that we're going to let our lives be ruled by fear,” Akane agreed.
Ranma nodded. “So are you going to come out of hiding now that we're done talking about enemies?”
“He got here later than I expected,” Ukyo said. Granted she didn't know for herself that he was here, but she trusted Ranma.
True to form, Konatsu appeared in his kimono only a few feet away. “I apologize, Ukyo-sama. One of the customers chose to become violent after being informed that we were to close early. Removing him in an appropriate fashion delayed me considerably.”
Ukyo looked Konatsu over and shrugged. “You seem fine, so no problem.”
“Now, I think it's time we explained the dangers of being a werecheetah,” Ranma said. “Good news first. You're gonna heal real fast, even faster than I useta. Almost anything that leaves your body whole, you'll survive and heal.”
“Anything?” Ukyo asked dubiously.
“Gina said that Britanny has survived wounds humans would find instantly fatal on many occasions,” Akane added. “We haven't exactly tested it. Pain still hurts.”
“True,” Ranma agreed with a slight smile. “Anyway. Three exceptions to that rule.”
“Silver,” Cologne said.
“That is probably the worst of the three,” Ranma agreed. “The other two are magic and other weres. Those two aren't any more dangerous to us than to most people, they just aren't less dangerous either. Silver, that's a problem. Touch it, you get burned. Literally. And if it gets in you, that's really bad. Doesn't even take that much.”
“So a silver sword would be more dangerous than a magic sword?” Ukyo asked dubiously.
“Depends on how the sword's magic, but yeah,” Ranma said seriously.
Ukyo shivered. “That's not exactly comforting.”
“Is that all the dangers Ukyo-sama now faces?” Konatsu asked.
“Pretty much,” Ranma said.
“I see. Thank you for the information. Ukyo-sama, would you please bite me?”
Silence.
"You want me to what?" Ukyo shrieked.
"I want you to turn me into a werecheetah, Ukyo-sama," Konatsu clarified. "I apologize for my imprecision."
"I knew what you meant!" Ukyo yelped. "Why are you asking?"
"Wouldn't I be of more use to Ukyo-sama if I were stronger, faster?" Konatsu asked.
"Well..."
"And if enemies do come for you, wouldn't I protect you better?"
"But..."
"And...and I want to follow Ukyo-sama!"
Ukyo sighed and hung her head. She knew that was going to be part of it. But she was in love with Ranchan, not Konatsu. She couldn't just bite him and string him along, ruin his chance with a nice human girl some day.
"Ukyo can't bite ya anyway, Konatsu," Ranma interrupted. "She can't do it in human form and we don't know how long it'll take for her ta change. An' we don't know if this is really safe." He sighed. "Sorry, Ucchan."
Ukyo waved that off. "Don't go down that route again, Ranchan. Whatever happens, it's better than dying from some crazy Kuno's poison." She smiled. "Besides, Konatsu isn't the only one that likes being closer to someone."
Cologne hopped over. "More truth in that than you know, Miss Kunonji. You realize that, from a certain perspective, you are now a family."
"What?" Akane asked flatly.
Cologne nodded. "I can't speak directly for the other groups in this part of the world, but in certain circles it is well known that werecats organized in clans. They will not see you as Saotome clan, Tendo clan, Kunonji clan, whatever your names are. They will see a single werecheetah clan, and deal with you as such."
"Is that as ominous as it sounds?" Nabiki asked.
"Probably not," Cologne allowed. "You're a small clan, far from the homes of such villages, and Ranma has enough of a personal reputation that dealing with you is more likely to involve signing treaties than fighting warriors."
"I have a reputation?" Ranma asked.
"One does not put out the flame of Saffron without gaining a reputation, Ranma," Cologne observed. "Nor best the Musk Prince. Yes, you have quite the reputation as being a generally unpleasant person to piss off."
Ranma grinned and sat up a bit straighter. "Yeah I guess I am that ow!"
Akane bonked Ranma onn the head and glared at Cologne. "You had to stroke his ego, didn't you?"
Cologne smiled wryly. "Annoying as Ranma's arrogance is, his reputation is both real and well-earned. With the proper tactics, it can be used in your favor when word of your clan does inevitably reach those groups."
"Does that include the Amazons?" Nabiki asked.
Cologne nodded. "I will advise an alliance when I return home, yes."
"And who will you want to negotiate with?"
"For myself, whomever Ranma names as his advocate," Cologne said. "For the others? The word of a human will not be seen as binding the werecats, I'm afraid."
Nabiki turned to Akane. "As soon as Dr. Diggers confirms Ukyo isn't a thrall, you're biting me."
Akane's jaw dropped. "What!?"
"Hey, I can't protect you if the people you're dealing with won't listen to me," Nabiki said. "If I need a fur coat to be taken seriously, so be it."
Ranma shook his head. “Aw man, what's going on here? First Konatsu, now Nabiki? And probably Shampoo if it wasn't for that law. Does everyone have a thing for cats I didn't know about?”
“It's connections, Ranma,” Cologne said seriously. “More than anything else, people are defined by who they are close to. You two play a prominent role in the lives of many in this neighborhood.”
Ranma sighed heavily and shook his head. “What do we do about this?” he wondered. “What do I do?”
“You use those connections,” Cologne said. “You gather allies. And you face the future.”
Ranma nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”
“I've never heard you so serious, Ranma,” Akane said.
“I've never faced a problem I couldn't fight with my fists,” Ranma said. “This isn't some magic noodles or dogi or even a secret technique. We're really, seriously figuring out the rest of our lives right here. It's...big.”
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(Posted Sun, 06 May 2012 03:40)
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