The dragons were not the only ones that developed intelligent spells. And such a spell had been Bast's final trump in ages past as her fall came nigh and she what was planned to keep her from a deserved rest.
It had sat in wait for ages, waiting for several conditions to occur. First it had to wait for her to be thrust back into the world as a mortal.
The spell then had to find a champion. One that fell under one of her domains and was capable of doing what was needed. And one that would be saved from certain death by this spell.
Bast was a goddess of protection and such, but she wasn't above putting a person into a position in which they were obligated to return her favor.
And then came the tricky part.
The spell was only active while her mortal soul slept. There were a number of cases where it had lost a champion, or a chance to recruit one because Lydia was awake. But now, at last its purpose was fulfilled and a champion was chosen to rescue it.
That said champion was a bit of a hunk and not much younger than her mortal body did not hurt at all.
But what of Ranma's comrades in Nerima? How were they handling his disappearance, and just in what manner had he been rescued from certain death?
It had been a combination of things, of course. But it had all started with the ghost cat coming along with another plan to find itself a bride. Similar to what it had done with Shampoo before, this time it came to try and strengthen the link between the neko-ken and Ranma's soul.
What it thought to do then about the fact Ranma preferred to be a guy no one knew, least of all the ghost cat, but it didn't matter so much. Ranma entered the neko-ken, but the ghost-cat's magic was already altering it and fading it away.
The power that went with it disappeared first at a most inopportune moment. Kuno, seeing the growing feline features on Ranma declared him a demon and attacked and with neither the power of the neko-ken nor his natural state of mind, Ranma was vulnerable.
The strike itself, of course wouldn't have been a problem, if they hadn't been fighting over a swift river. Ranma had fallen in unconscious and would have drowned long before anybody could have reached him...
...if Lydia had been awake.
Instead he was teleported away for one conversation with the Bast of old before the spell settled back into the bounds of her new life.
As for the reactions.
Kuno had declared his final victory, and this was followed by a severe beating from the fiancees. As for them.
None of them believed that Ranma was truly dead. Few did in fact.
There was no body, therefore he was not dead. That was their view on the matter.
Ukyou had scoured the riverside along with Shampoo in a temporary truce to find Ranma. But, after finding nothing she had returned to her restaurant to wait for him to return, certain that he would. And if he didn't, well, she found him once, she'd find him again. Even if he had died.
Shampoo was still hunting, though she remained close because she hadn't so much as found a place to begin to track Ranma yet. Neither her nor Cologne believed in Ranma's death at all. But neither did they have much way to determine his fate one way or another.
Kodachi settled for tormenting her brother, but, aside from that and the occasional melodrama about Ranma lying in pain and needing her aid, she did nothing. But then, while she had been among the strangest of the four, she had never been the most dedicated and consistent.
Akane was in her normal frame of mind. Half the time she was biting her nails in worry that he was hurt. The other half she was raging in anger that he hadn't yet called to say where he was. She made the occasional half-hearted comment that he was probably with some other girl, but it was obvious to even Kasumi that she didn't really believe that.
No one was certain how Nabiki felt. She hadn't left her room since the news had been given.
The fathers were predictable in their denial.
As for Kasumi, she only waited for the confirmation to come.
See other episodes by Thrythlind
(Posted Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:33)
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