"He doesn't seem to know much other than fighting," agreed Unri to her twin.
"So what do you think? Some warrior caste out to see the world? I heard once that humans have a reverse-gender view of the world so perhaps he's out to establish his own House?" Sanri ran an appraising eye over their savior.
"I think," said Unri, "that humans are a lot cuter than I'd thought. At least he doesn't seem inclined to sacrifice us to HER."
"I've heard humans don't particularly care for spiders or their demon-goddesses," added Sanri.
"Well, it was a brief freedom, but at least we know the role and as servants of this human - we gain his protection." Unri showed she had no weapons and knelt before the boy. Minutes seemed to drag on. "What's he doing?"
"Going into an absolute panic and practically glowing, though it's hard to tell with the fire messing up my darkvision," Sanri responded. "This language barrier is going to be a problem."
Looking somewhat annoyed, Unri stood. The boy was waving his hands in front of him and obviously making denials of some sort. How could someone so skilled in battle be so clueless outside it?
Sanri tried her hand at it. Crossing to the boy, she took one of those flailing hands and caught it in between her own. Still holding his hand, she brought it to where her heart was and then touched his own chest over the heart.
The boy made some more statements in that strange language.
"Calishite you think?" Unri asked.
"Possibly." Sanri kind of doubted it. "I wonder..."
He'd been a little concerned about the fact that both were nearly naked. When that one had knelt before him, he'd been very uncertain about what to do or what she'd meant.
The other gal had at least given him a clue. That bit about the heart beats probably meant that despite their weird looks, the two were still more like him than not.
He'd been here too long though. Time to go back. It had to have been a half hour or so, therefore maybe the pursuit had ended.
One of the girls was following him, and he hadn't gotten too far when the second one caught up - sheathing some kind of knife and carrying a pair of backpack sort of things. Obviously stronger than she looked.
Well, time to make his goodbyes.
The odd human came to a scuffed cross shape in the road and began speaking in that odd language.
Unri had handed off one pack to her sister and now handed her sister one of the daggers. "You know it's odd. Maybe he's one of those 'paladin' types? I had to slit the throats of those orcs to keep them from coming after us."
"At least we reclaimed our stuff before they split it up. I take it you didn't loot the bodies?"
"No time," complained Unri.
"That's a Portable Hole? No, he wouldn't crawl through as if peeking around a corner." Sanri figured it out. "Some sort of magical gateway then."
"Good," said Unri, brightening considerably. "If we have to have a Master, best we have one who can take us to exotic locations."
"Sister dear, we've spent all our lives as slaves of Mistresses who have rarely let us leave her mansion - much less the city," said Sanri as their Master began to shimmy further into the blackness. "ANY location, save places like the Demonweb Pits, is a step up."
"Together then?" asked Unri as their Master's form quickly sank into the darkness.
With a smile and hope in their hearts, the two slaves leapt in after their Master.
Ranma was just reaching down to fold up the Hole when two girls literally leapt out of the darkness to stand before him, smiling briefly at him before staring off into the distance.
Ranma turned to see what they were gawking at but it was just the city. He tried to use sign language to indicate they should return.
"Good googly moogly," said Sanri, using the most hideous obscenity she knew.
"So many lights," said Unri. "They must have some impressive sorcerors here."
"Uhm, what's our Master want? He wants us to dance for him?" Sanri asked, befuddled by the human's gestures and movements.
"Ah, he wants us to fold up and take the gateway with us," said Unri, kneeling and doing so. She naturally put it back in the pocket she'd seen him take out of, and smiled as her hand brushed something... interesting.
"ARGHHHHHHH!" said their Master, apparently frustrated about something.
"Maybe you're right," said Unri after watching the show and failing to understand it. "Get your finger-cymbals out. I'll get the banner-drum."
Instead of going back, the one gal had folded up his Hole and put it back in his pocket. He'd felt her hand dipping in there and it had felt... strange.
"ARGHHHHHHH!" Ranma exclaimed. "That's not what I meant!"
The two girls said a few things more in their odd language, then one pulled out a sort of tambourine, the other put some of those finger cymbals on her fingers, and the two started to dance.
Ranma couldn't help but gawk at this.
The two of them danced and kicked and played their instruments in an odd melody. Naturally being Ranma he noticed they were very flexible, very lithe, and had good muscle tone.
He was also aware of the two turning bright smiles his way as they spiralled in to brush up against him.
The music stopped abruptly and the two looked off to the side. Ranma, naturally enough, looked that way himself.
(Posted Fri, 15 Aug 2003 13:21)
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