Ranma/ Panzer Dragoon Saga
'Avatar'
Prologue
"Thus, the Story Begins anew"
A lone figure made its track into the imperial town. She had been wandering the deserts in search of someone she knew would never be seen again; but continued to do so, for no other reason than it was something for her to do.
It had been over a year since the Sestran had fallen, and the threat of the towers appeared to be no more. The Empire had suffered greatly in its mad quest to control the fabled Tower with it's awesome might to shatter continents with it's power, and had been reduced to a slight shadow of it's former glory in the few scant weeks that a lone mercenary guard had found the legendary Dragon that had destroyed the Utopia a thousand years ago.
The young man had set out on a maddened quest for revenge upon the Empirial traitor that had attacked the post he was assigned to. Everyone had been killed, including himself, and Edge ruthlessly dogged the trail of the man named Craymen. Upon his quest, he discovered Crayman's actual intentions, and the true danger that needed to be stopped. Craymen was by far not an innocent, but he was by far the lessor of the evils that needed to be dealt with.
The Empire wanted the tower, they mighty tower that wielded might that man was not capable of holding, and had proved irresponsible to control it.
At first, the Empire was formed in order to protect the groups of people who had been terrorized by the peacekeepers of the old Utopia. Creatures of immense power that gained their might from the Tower, and were originally meant to regulate and maintain the balance of perfect civilization. After the collapse of the ancient society, they had run rampant, running amok and reaking devastation on whatever they came across. The scattered peoples of the land banded together to fend off these attacks, and eventually, the peoples in unity grew a governing authority.
For decades, the Emperor had decreed that the relics of the ancient Utopia be excavated, to find weapons that would prove useful in the repelling of the monsters of the ancient civilization. Along with the excavations came the scholarly, who studied the relics to decipher their purpose. A university was formed to educate, so that more scholars could assist with coming closer to a way of making the Empire safe for it's people. An answer was almost stumbled upon, a weapon so mighty that full nations of ancient times had fear of it, the Tower.
The legend of the Tower grew strong, its supposed might made many hungry, hungry for it's vast power. The Emperor was one that grew desire for its power, finding that it would be a magnificient weapon to instead of keep his people from harm, dominate nations so that he could rule utterly. Fortunatly, the Empire was not able to find the whereabouts of the tower, and most importantly, the key to it.
**************************
The traveler ignored the distasteful looks she recieved, as she walked her bipedal beast of burden into the town. She knew that she would not get any directions to the local shop, as every imperial town she had been through, they treated her the same. Her clothes were not of imperial garb, which meant she was a hunter, or worse yet, a seeker. She idly pulled her cowl further down her head; she would find the store eventually without their help. Their opinions of her didn't matter, as the only two people she ever cared for were gone; Crayman killed right in front of her, and Edge to dissappear to whereever unknown. If they knew what she really was in fact, they would have true reason to fear the stranger.
She came upon the store finally, and she had no worries of problems with the store owner. They may not like her, but they were usually fair, and didn't care the customer as long as they had merchandice to trade. She walked in, and removed her hood to reveal jet-black hair that sleekly jutted backwards and curled down with an organic gloss, much like the shells of the guardians that terrorised the land. She opened her cloak a bit to reveal a small, lithe, femenine body that seemed to be encased in a black and white armor that almost looked to be molded to her form. She winced in slight relief to feel circulated air caress her bared face.
"I have items I would like to sell," Azel stated plainly, pulling a satchel of items to bear. The Shop keeper knodded for her to approach, and she layed it's contents out for him to inspect.
"Hmm, we needed more fluid for our machinery. This is definatly much appreciated." The shopkeeper said with a smile. Azel mutely nodded, feeling an unusual tinge of relief. This store owner would be fair with her, and had no judgements to hold against her. He set the lycros fluid to the side, and picked up the gypson lenses. He nodded to himself as he found them satisfactory, and next came upon the ambrosia.
He raised his eyebrow to her, "Impressive find, wouldn't you like to keep this for yourself?" He shrugged at her non-responce, and set it to the side. The shop keeper handed her imperial currency, slightly more than what was the going rate for the objects he had bought from the woman.
"I could make twice as much as I'm buying the lycros fluid from you for," he said honestly, "Is that all you needed to do?"
"I need some anesthetic, and elixirs." The shop owner retrieved two boxes, and allowed her to take what she needed. Once Azel was done, she paid for her purchase, and left.
Donning her hood again, she looked around for her steed. Once she retrieved it, she started out of town, having gotten all that she needed. Not far from town, she came upon resistance.
"Hey! Hunter!" Azel kept her beast of transportation at a steady gallop, ignoring the taunters. She would had kept going, if she were not suddenly knocked from it. The woman tumbled to the ground, not even grimacing from the pain; she had gotten used to it in her travels.
"It's not nice to ignore us," The man sneered, as six other men dressed in ragged imperial uniforms surrounded her, "We would like to know why a Seeker chose our town to visit."
"I am not a seeker," Azel stated plainly, her sapphire blue eyes staring back with defiance.
"Oh! You do not look like any hunter I've ever seen!" one of the other men stated with a sneer. Azel would not bother to correct them, since it would do no good.
She had been beaten up before for visiting the wrong towns. Since the collapse of the empire, many of the imperial citizens blamed it on the Seekers. Many soldiers had lost their jobs, and were forced into mercenary work. Many others grew bitter, and lashed out at those they could. Azel herself had proven to be a viable scapegoat many times in the past, they would beat her intensely, but she would withstand their blows as she curled herself into a ball and calmly through the pain waited for them to finish. Usually they would rob her of her bounty, leaving her once again to fend for herself. Fortunatly she kept her rifle on her at all times, and would not allow them to wrestle that from her, even going as far to kill whoever attempted so.
"Not only are you a Seeker, but a liar as well," a third man barked, before swinging the butt of his long rifle into her chin, felling her to the ground. She curled into her protective shell once she hit the ground, and closed her eyes and clenched her teeth to bear against the pain. Before they could begin the beating she had prepared herself for, a light shown.
The man that struck her flew back as a sphere of light struck him squarely in the chest. Another man was suddenly yanked off his feet, and tossed into a good distance.
She heard a peculiar language that had hints of the Empirial tongue in it, but she could not place, shouting as the sounds of chaos went about her. Through all this, she dared not look up.
Azel felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, carefully shaking her. She gambled, and looked up into slate gray eyes, an unusual color for the people of the desert land. His voice was gentle, once again speaking in the strange tongue that she didn't understand, as he offered her his hand in assist.
____________________________________
"Don't worry, they ain't gonna be bother'n anyone for a while," Ranma said, taking another glance around at the jerks who were about to beat up on an innocent woman. The woman he saved looked around her and blinked in surprise.
'Avatar'
Prologue
"Thus, the Story Begins anew"
A lone figure made its track into the imperial town. She had been wandering the deserts in search of someone she knew would never be seen again; but continued to do so, for no other reason than it was something for her to do.
It had been over a year since the Sestran had fallen, and the threat of the towers appeared to be no more. The Empire had suffered greatly in its mad quest to control the fabled Tower with it's awesome might to shatter continents with it's power, and had been reduced to a slight shadow of it's former glory in the few scant weeks that a lone mercenary guard had found the legendary Dragon that had destroyed the Utopia a thousand years ago.
The young man had set out on a maddened quest for revenge upon the Empirial traitor that had attacked the post he was assigned to. Everyone had been killed, including himself, and Edge ruthlessly dogged the trail of the man named Craymen. Upon his quest, he discovered Crayman's actual intentions, and the true danger that needed to be stopped. Craymen was by far not an innocent, but he was by far the lessor of the evils that needed to be dealt with.
The Empire wanted the tower, they mighty tower that wielded might that man was not capable of holding, and had proved irresponsible to control it.
At first, the Empire was formed in order to protect the groups of people who had been terrorized by the peacekeepers of the old Utopia. Creatures of immense power that gained their might from the Tower, and were originally meant to regulate and maintain the balance of perfect civilization. After the collapse of the ancient society, they had run rampant, running amok and reaking devastation on whatever they came across. The scattered peoples of the land banded together to fend off these attacks, and eventually, the peoples in unity grew a governing authority.
For decades, the Emperor had decreed that the relics of the ancient Utopia be excavated, to find weapons that would prove useful in the repelling of the monsters of the ancient civilization. Along with the excavations came the scholarly, who studied the relics to decipher their purpose. A university was formed to educate, so that more scholars could assist with coming closer to a way of making the Empire safe for it's people. An answer was almost stumbled upon, a weapon so mighty that full nations of ancient times had fear of it, the Tower.
The legend of the Tower grew strong, its supposed might made many hungry, hungry for it's vast power. The Emperor was one that grew desire for its power, finding that it would be a magnificient weapon to instead of keep his people from harm, dominate nations so that he could rule utterly. Fortunatly, the Empire was not able to find the whereabouts of the tower, and most importantly, the key to it.
**************************
The traveler ignored the distasteful looks she recieved, as she walked her bipedal beast of burden into the town. She knew that she would not get any directions to the local shop, as every imperial town she had been through, they treated her the same. Her clothes were not of imperial garb, which meant she was a hunter, or worse yet, a seeker. She idly pulled her cowl further down her head; she would find the store eventually without their help. Their opinions of her didn't matter, as the only two people she ever cared for were gone; Crayman killed right in front of her, and Edge to dissappear to whereever unknown. If they knew what she really was in fact, they would have true reason to fear the stranger.
She came upon the store finally, and she had no worries of problems with the store owner. They may not like her, but they were usually fair, and didn't care the customer as long as they had merchandice to trade. She walked in, and removed her hood to reveal jet-black hair that sleekly jutted backwards and curled down with an organic gloss, much like the shells of the guardians that terrorised the land. She opened her cloak a bit to reveal a small, lithe, femenine body that seemed to be encased in a black and white armor that almost looked to be molded to her form. She winced in slight relief to feel circulated air caress her bared face.
"I have items I would like to sell," Azel stated plainly, pulling a satchel of items to bear. The Shop keeper knodded for her to approach, and she layed it's contents out for him to inspect.
"Hmm, we needed more fluid for our machinery. This is definatly much appreciated." The shopkeeper said with a smile. Azel mutely nodded, feeling an unusual tinge of relief. This store owner would be fair with her, and had no judgements to hold against her. He set the lycros fluid to the side, and picked up the gypson lenses. He nodded to himself as he found them satisfactory, and next came upon the ambrosia.
He raised his eyebrow to her, "Impressive find, wouldn't you like to keep this for yourself?" He shrugged at her non-responce, and set it to the side. The shop keeper handed her imperial currency, slightly more than what was the going rate for the objects he had bought from the woman.
"I could make twice as much as I'm buying the lycros fluid from you for," he said honestly, "Is that all you needed to do?"
"I need some anesthetic, and elixirs." The shop owner retrieved two boxes, and allowed her to take what she needed. Once Azel was done, she paid for her purchase, and left.
Donning her hood again, she looked around for her steed. Once she retrieved it, she started out of town, having gotten all that she needed. Not far from town, she came upon resistance.
"Hey! Hunter!" Azel kept her beast of transportation at a steady gallop, ignoring the taunters. She would had kept going, if she were not suddenly knocked from it. The woman tumbled to the ground, not even grimacing from the pain; she had gotten used to it in her travels.
"It's not nice to ignore us," The man sneered, as six other men dressed in ragged imperial uniforms surrounded her, "We would like to know why a Seeker chose our town to visit."
"I am not a seeker," Azel stated plainly, her sapphire blue eyes staring back with defiance.
"Oh! You do not look like any hunter I've ever seen!" one of the other men stated with a sneer. Azel would not bother to correct them, since it would do no good.
She had been beaten up before for visiting the wrong towns. Since the collapse of the empire, many of the imperial citizens blamed it on the Seekers. Many soldiers had lost their jobs, and were forced into mercenary work. Many others grew bitter, and lashed out at those they could. Azel herself had proven to be a viable scapegoat many times in the past, they would beat her intensely, but she would withstand their blows as she curled herself into a ball and calmly through the pain waited for them to finish. Usually they would rob her of her bounty, leaving her once again to fend for herself. Fortunatly she kept her rifle on her at all times, and would not allow them to wrestle that from her, even going as far to kill whoever attempted so.
"Not only are you a Seeker, but a liar as well," a third man barked, before swinging the butt of his long rifle into her chin, felling her to the ground. She curled into her protective shell once she hit the ground, and closed her eyes and clenched her teeth to bear against the pain. Before they could begin the beating she had prepared herself for, a light shown.
The man that struck her flew back as a sphere of light struck him squarely in the chest. Another man was suddenly yanked off his feet, and tossed into a good distance.
She heard a peculiar language that had hints of the Empirial tongue in it, but she could not place, shouting as the sounds of chaos went about her. Through all this, she dared not look up.
Azel felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, carefully shaking her. She gambled, and looked up into slate gray eyes, an unusual color for the people of the desert land. His voice was gentle, once again speaking in the strange tongue that she didn't understand, as he offered her his hand in assist.
____________________________________
"Don't worry, they ain't gonna be bother'n anyone for a while," Ranma said, taking another glance around at the jerks who were about to beat up on an innocent woman. The woman he saved looked around her and blinked in surprise.