After all, he had landed on the trio of islands late last night, an hour or so before daybreak. He had a semi-night-vision thanks to his weresmilodon heritage, but there wasn’t much to see. These were, in all respect, deserted islands.
However, Ranma did see ONE structure in the distance. What could only have been described as a mountain with a series of detailed structures on it. It just had to be Sanctuary. He knew it was where he would find Weaponsmaster G’nolga.
Ranma didn’t bother getting back into his boat to cross the distance between two of the islands. He just set out on foot and low and behold, here he was! “And here I’ll find that Weaponsmaster!” Ranma thought with an almost-evil sense of glee.
However, Ranma knew they just weren’t going to let him waltz on in there. Some stupid guards would probably throw a hissy fit and get in his damned way! “Which means I’m going to have to sneak my way in,” Ranma thought in all seriousness
However, Ranma knew that he shouldn’t take an unnecessary risk. Somehow, he just knew deep down that even with HIS level of skill, something could go wrong to alert his presence to the authorities of Sanctuary, and that was just going to be more trouble than it was worth. And even if by the off-chance they subdued him, they would more than likely throw him into a prison cell as well.
And Ranma had done enough jail-time for his damned old man back when he was a kid.
Ranma knew that there was only one thing that could help him now. But it was a ‘sealed’ technique, he promised himself and Ryuu Kumon that he would never again use such dreaded techniques...
...
Wait a minute! Since when did Ranma still play by the rules!? He had gotten used to picking on the weak, he had gotten used to stealing again? Hell, what’s it to someone in another frikin’ realm that Ranma never like anyway, if he were to use techniques that were his damned BIRTHRIGHT and he really needed right now!
And so, the son of Genma, (who’s morals were really starting to mimic his old man’s) concentrated more of his internal energies into his aura than normal. The revised Shooting Star Cloth technique soon came into play as Ranma slowly slipped form view, his own aura acting as an invisible shield to reflect and redirect light. He smirked as he looked down at his hand. Not even he could see it now. “Worked like a charm,” Ranma thought to himself.
And so, without a word, Ranma walked up the large staircase, which would lead him up the mountain.
(------)
Ranma frowned as he made it to the top of the staircase. He was at the entry area to Sanctuary now, and it set him on edge. He looked over at the beautifully carved fountain which had constant flowing water, and the other architecture of raised stone pillars, which reminded him of those baby-mobile that are usually attached to cribs.
“No bars... No guards... No gates... What gives with this place?” Ranma thought seriously. Besides the outer wall at the base of the mountain, (which was not sealed off by any means) there was nothing here to indicate that Ranma was in a prison.
“Maybe I’ve got the wrong place?” Ranma thought to himself, more than a little annoyed. He had been rowing a boat all last night AND walking around all frikin’ day. He did not want to have it turn out that he had been on some wild goose chase.
Still, wouldn’t hurt to look around, to get a layout of the area. There had to be SOMETHING that could indicate to where the hell he was!
And so, staying to walls, and out of the areas with lots of room to move, Ranma made his way through the Sanctuary. After all, he didn’t want to bump into anyone or maybe even set off an alarm, (if there were any).
“Sneaky feet... Creaky feet... Ninja feet...” Ranma thought to himself with a chuckle.
(------)
Ranma groaned as he sat back at the foot of a statue. It was afternoon already, and the place was almost absolutely dead! He had found where the prisoners were staying, signifying that this WAS Sanctuary at least... And he found out just how it was that Sanctuary was run due to overhearing a few ‘doctors’ and some ‘inmates’ talking.
It’s true that there were no bars, hoards, or gates in the sense Ranma was used to, but he found out that the inmates were kept in line because of the Sanctuary Bracelets that they wore. And there were wards set up at certain places that the bracelets could not go back. “Like a dog and one of those invisible fences,” Ranma mumbled to himself. It was rather ingenious in a way, but as far as Ranma was concerned, it was too easy to try and screw with the system if one didn’t have a bracelet on them.
“They probably never thought of anyone breaking into Sanctuary before,” Ranma thought as he scratched his chin and chuckled. “Well there’s always a first time for everything.”
But still, that wasn’t the BIG problem, oh no. Ranma still had no clue as to where G’nolga was being held, even with overhearing doctors, nurses, and ‘psychiatrists’ talk and converse amongst each other. Damn it! Why couldn’t these people be more like Tofu? That guy was only useful doctor Ranma had ever known; even when he was screwing with his legs or acting like a total jackass around Kasumi.
“Damn it, it can’t be too hard to find a damned Dwarven woman with a chestnut brown mane of hair in a ponytail, can it?” Ranma mentally whined. Ah well. At least when he was in his hybrid form, his ki reserves were up higher than ever before. He could hold this damned technique all day if he had to, which seemed more than likely was the case.
Getting up form his sitting position, Ranma stretched a little. He cursed his luck when his back make a cracking noise and caused two doctors to look in his direction. Still, they didn’t see him, or anything in that direction, and just went back to what they were doing.
“Idiots,” Ranma thought irritably as he walked off to find something of use.
(------)
Stifling a yawn, Ranma laid back on top of a wall. So far, this day had been boring. Boring, boring, oh ye gods-awful boring. Ranma was genuinely thinking of kicking himself in the ass for not just going to Seer’s Hamlet and finding Lily and Karia. He might have had a whole village tracking him, but he’d have at least gotten something important done!
His eyes moved about the courtyard as he saw something different than the norm off how today’s events went. Two doctors were gathered outside in the center by that large fountain, and they form a circle with five inmates. “I wonder what they’re doing?” Ranma thought as he looked down.
The inmates ranged in species. One was a Drow with blue skin and pale white hair. Another was a green-skinned troll with blue hair. A third was a white-haired human with tattoos all over her body. Another was dark-skinned woman and with one blue right eye and one green left eye. The fifth inmate was a cat-woman, a werecat probably, with black and white fur.
However, it was the two doctors that caught his attention. While the first was a dark-skinned woman in violet robes with the hood drawn forward to hide her face the other was a dwarf in green robes, “With a long mane of chestnut hair tied in a ponytail.”
Ranma smiled and watched. This would have explained a lot of things if it seemed G’nolga was a doctor instead. Information could have gotten mangled and G’nolga could have just been moved to Sanctuary as a doctor, not a prisoner/patient.
Marigold sighed as she looked over her trouble group. “Okay, group, we’re hear for our weekly group session. So please, let’s start off with a small case of dream analysis. So tell me ladies, what have you seen in your dreams.”
“I dreamt I was in the bathroom, eating ice-cream with a sack of horse manure, and that I was using some of my fellow inmates here as toilet paper since there wasn’t any left on the roll, and then snapped their necks cause they weren’t cleaning right, ” said the troll woman. The two inmates sitting to either side of her scooted away a little bit.
The dark skinned woman with the two eye colors said, “You know me. I don’t sleep. She frowned at the dark elf. SOMEONE KEEPS WAKING ME UP WITH HER GODDAMNED LESBIAN GIRLFRIEND!”
The Drow wrapped her arm around the tattooed woman while the tattoo girl gave the dark-skinned woman the finger. “Damn girl, why don’t you just shut the fuck up or something? You’re just jealous, you know that?”
“Fuck you, bitch!”
“Don’t you go calling my girl a bitch, you bitch!”
Marigold groaned and slapped a hand on her face. She hated this group of trouble makers and just wished she could send them off to a real prison. This couldn’t get any worse...
Wait, it could. Tanya hadn’t gone yet...
“Sigh, Tanya?” Marigold asked as she looked at the Kryn.
Looking Marigold dead in the eye, Tanya answered, “Oh, not much... Just dreamt I was strangling the Armsmaster with the tail of her own daughter, after I had brutally stabbed her husband to death with the other daughter’s glasses,” Tanya said sarcastically.
Ranma’s ears perked up at that. Someone hated the Armsmaster? Hello!
(------)
Tanya sighed as she was lead back to her cell and the magical wall turned on behind her. Yes, she was resisting the help. Yes, she was purposely being stubborn. Yes, she knew she was being a bitch. Why did she do it? Simple. She didn’t want to give these people the satisfaction of helping her. She didn’t need to be under observation, she needed to be under her prince, dammit! That bitch had stolen the man who should have been her husband, and all she wanted was a little payback!
Still she had to admit, with the way she’s been acting, she wouldn’t be getting out. “Maybe I should hold back on the Armsmaster comments?” Tanya asked herself seriously. “It just seems to piss them off more than my other comments about her family. I just want to get back at Cheetah soon, and I can’t do that wile stuck in here.”
Sighing, Tanya walked over to her bed to lay down. This day just totally sucked. Hell, her lifetime totally sucked. “What I wouldn’t give to get the hell out of here,” Tanya mumbled.
“Really?” A male voice boomed from inside her room. “THAT could be arranged.”
See other episodes by Red Priest of the 17th Order
(Posted Thu, 15 Jan 2004 21:57)
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