Dragon Ranma

Chapter 5

Onwards to Adventure!

The next morning arrived with grace and dignity, a state that was not shared by the occupants of one Tendo Training Hall. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Ranma had yet to rise and as such, the furo had not been warmed up, breakfast was not being prepared, and the dirty clothes of the previous day had not been washed. While most of the world would feel that the one responsible for these tasks was simply taking a much-needed break, the normal denizens of the house thought something akin to Armageddon was knocking on their door. Soun Tendo, patriarch of the clan, was torn between several extremes, happiness that his oldest daughters were going out into the world, fear that they were going be hurt, worry that they would be doing so in the company of a man, elation that said man was, in fact, the son of his long-time training buddy Genma, and finally mortal fear for his continued good health and life as the youngest of the Daughters Tendo had decided that she'd cook breakfast for her family.

Now, it is often assumed that Akane Tendo cannot cook. This is not true, she can quite efficiently cook. However; she fails to understand that the act of preparation of the food imparts the "flavor" of the chef's mental and emotional state upon the meal being prepared. Since she gets frustrated, jealous, and angry quite often and easily, whatever she's cooking carries a defiantly unpleasant taint.

However, only Kasumi understands this facet of the culinary arts, which is why almost everyone in her family considers Akane's attempts at cooking to be something along the lines of DEFCON 4. Not quite an "Oh, crap, we're gonna Die!" but very, very close.

It has been previously mentioned that Kasumi is very "in tune" with the Wa of her house, especially her kitchen, and at that moment it was screaming at her that they needed to get up and stop something bad from happening. So, Kasumi jumped up from a dead sleep, woke both her warm cuddle-bunny and sister, and dashed downstairs, headless of her attire. She arrived on scene just in time to stop Akane from grabbing the box of baking soda and adding it to the miso soup in place of the salt and proceeded to calmly remind Akane that she needed to pay attention to the recipe and above all else, focus on the love she has for her family while she's cooking in order to have the meal turn out wonderful, and, more importantly, edible.

For once, Akane actually listened. Although, it probably had more to do with the much abbreviated chocolate-brown silk nightgown Kasumi was currently sporting and the massive hicky that bloomed upon Kasumi's formerly alabaster-hued shoulder.

Once breakfast was at a point where it couldn't be Akane'd into ruin, Kasumi decided to return to the warm embraces of her lover and sister, only to find them wearing robes and looking on at her in amusement, while Ranma held one out to her. Kasumi blushed so intensely upon realizing that she'd run off in her nightgown, that the hicky on her shoulder was momentarily lost in the redness. After a few minutes of soft giggles they decided to climb into the furo for a quick wash-down while waiting for the rest of the household to awaken.

It was a few moments after breakfast had been served and eaten when Ranma broke the silence.

"I think that we need to discuss last night."

And just like that, the peaceful morning was shattered.

Akane jumped up and demanded to know just where the thought he got off ignoring his own parents the way he did, seconded by Genma. Nodoka was looking troubled and on the verge of tears, while Soun and Rilone simply sat and watched the chaos. Ranma let it carry on for a few minutes longer before sighing and deciding to bring some order to this chaos.

"ENOUGH!" he roared. The occupants looked at him in shock. "Enough, already! Let me tell you what exactly gives me the right to treat Genma the way I do, Miss Akane. The fact that I watched him use me as a bartering chip gives me that right. He did it while I was with him, and he did it during the years I was with Glalihern. What if your father had done that? Think about it for a while, and try to imagine how you'd feel if he traded you for food, sake, money, whatever he wanted at that time, as if you were a thing and not a person." He took a breath to steady himself. "As far as you, Miss Nodoka, are concerned, I'm neither mentally nor emotionally prepared to acknowledge you as a mother-figure right now. For the entirety of the time I was with Genma, he said you were dead. I never tried to scry for you because I didn't know who you were, and as far as I could tell, you were in the great beyond. So, please forgive me for not leaping into the arms or a woman I neither know, nor have any real connection to. That doesn't mean that I don't want to get to know you, just that I'm not really ready to call you Mom just yet, see?" Nodoka nodded and seemed to firm up her resolve a little.

Genma drew himself up and got ready to launch into a trade against Ranma when Soun spoke. "I can certainly understand where you're coming from, Ranma. I agree that it's a little presumptuous of us to imagine that you'd just toss your life and all your accomplishments to the side just like that and agree to be the dutiful son again. For my part, I must apologize. The excitement of you being here overwhelmed me and I acted without regard for your feelings." Soun bowed to Ranma in apology.

Ranma bowed in return and spoke again. "I accept your apology, Mr. Tendo, and I appreciate your candor. Were it myself you your position, I likely would have reacted in the same manner. Now, dear cousin Rilone," at her name, the woman perked up a little. "I see that you've gotten quite close to Mr. Tendo there." He spoke with a lightly teasing tone. Rilone blushed, and ducked her head a little. "Now, you and I are going to need to talk about several things soon, but I need to ask you a few things first, alright?" Rilone nodded again leveled a serious gaze at Ranma.

"Of course, General. What would you like to know?" Ranma winced slightly at the title.

"First off, are you going to return to the Realms with us, or would you like to stay here and recover more? Glalihern would be more than happy to have you at the castle, you know."

Rilone adopted a thoughtful look, and glanced at Soun several times while thinking. "I'd like to stay here, by your leave. Head injuries are no laughing matter, and the peaceful atmosphere will do me a world of good, I should think."

Ranma smiled and nodded. He'd suspected as much when he caught her glancing at Soun when she didn't think anyone was looking.

"Wait one minute here!" Akane screamed, "why is she asking YOUR permission to do ANYTHING? It's not like you're her father or owner, and unless I miss my guess, she's older than you are, so what gives you that right?"

Ranma's piercing glare stopped Akane short, as the promise of pain and suffering was clear as day there.

"Miss Akane, how did Rilone address me when she spoke a moment ago?" he asked.

"Umm… she said 'General', right?" Akane gave the reply.

Ranma nodded. "That's right. She was asking me for permission in three capacities: One, being her oldest, and closest, living relative, her actions with regard to family fall under my responsibility. Two being that, as she is a member of the martial order I founded, she defers to my authority there as well. Finally, as a General I am a landed noble and she swore an oath of fealty to me in that capacity. So, she was asking my permission as her liege lord on top of everything else. Does that answer your questions, or are you going to continue to second-guess me at every turn? Because if that's your intent; then there are procedures for when someone questions the honor and intentions of a person of station. I may not have asked for the rank and responsibility, but I sure as the abyss won't let someone insult it, understood?"

Nabiki and Kasumi were trying their best not to cheer Ranma on, Akane had needed to be taken down a few pegs for a while now, and Ranma was doing that quite neatly. They just hoped that it didn't get to the point where he felt the need to draw a weapon. Soun, Genma, and Nodoka sat by and watched, wondering how this little conflict would play out.

Akane almost drew herself up to lash out, but the look in Ranma's eyes made her take a moment to reflect on what he had said. He was Rilone's only relative here and she had referred to him as a General, so maybe he had the right of it. She decided to just sniff dismissively and turn her nose up, rather than continue to push the issue. It certainly had nothing to do with the promise of swift and merciless retribution in Ranma's eyes, no sir!

"Now that that's been dealt with," Ranma began, "we need to address the topic of training for my two lovelies here. This particular power we'll be dealing with is no small threat, and I really don't want either of you getting hurt. I'd recommend going to a faster-timed plane for some training, but that's not without its own risk, either."

"What sort of risks are you referring to, Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"Well, for starters," Rilone began, "there's the fact that even though many things are similar between the various planes, there's just as much that's different. Even fundamentally so on some of them. For instance, there's a plane called Pandemonium, where these giant metal blocks float around and are constantly smashing into each other. The natives there are these mecahical beings called drons, and they rank in power and form from monodrons, which look like mechanical spheres with arms, legs, and faces, up to something called a pentadron. I have no idea what one looks like, but they're supposed to be just below gods in terms of power. That's just one example, mind you, and there are planes that are even more bizarre. Not only that, but there are a literally infinite number of them, and the possibility of getting lost in and amongst them is a constant worry."

Rilone paused for a moment before continuing.

"If the planar co-ordinates aren't exact and specific, you could end up somewhere completely different than where you intended. As an example, if you were trying to get to the plane of Valhalla, but miscalculated even the tiniest amount, you could end up in Vanohollen, which is a lesser plane of torment. You see what I mean? It's a good plan, but one with more problems than I can even imagine!"

Ranma nodded while Nabiki looked thoughtful. Kasumi looked a bit confused, but felt that Rilone might have an idea of her own.

"Well, what would you suggest, Rilone-san?" she asked.

Rilone blinked a little, and adopted a thoughtful pose with her index finger against her chin. Soun thought it made her look incredibly cute, but he paid attention to what she was about to say in spite of his decade-long celibate state.

"Weeeeellll, you could use a slow-time spell on a area to give you time for training, or you could just train as you go in the realm, but that's almost as dangerous as skipping through the planes. I'd suggest some of the quick-time training halls you had built on your lands back in Cormyr. That way, they get acclimated to the realms, you can take care of your lands, and you're right near the center of the situation."

Ranma nodded. "That's a very good idea, Magistress. I'll contact father in a bit, unless you think you'll feel up to casting a Gate later?"

Rilone gently shook her head. "No, that level of concentration and focus wouldn't be good for me right now; I'd only make my injury worse. I'm pretty sure your father has a gate to get you from here to there, though."

"Yes," Ranma nodded, "there's one that goes directly to my private study at Silver Fortress, but I'm not sure if the steward left it alone."

"What sort of perversions were you planning on doing to my sisters there, you letch?" Akane snarled. This guy, showed up out of nowhere, turned her sisters to his side, and now he wants to whisk them off to goodness-knows-where? Not on her watch!

"You'll whisk them off to your fairy-tale kingdom over my dead body, you perv! It's bad enough you just pop in our lives and turn things upside down, add to it that you've corrupted my sisters, and now you want to kidnap them?" Akane's rant drew the notice of the bystanders, and everyone present began to feel a sense of dread creeping up their spines from the ever-darkening look Ranma was directing at her.

Finally having heard enough, Ranma slammed his hands on the table and snarled at Akane.

"SILENCE!"

He took a brief moment to try and compose his self before continuing.

"Your sisters, whom I love with every fiber of my being despite having known them only a short while, made themselves perfectly clear last night. They told me, with YOU sitting RIGHT THERE that they had no intentions of being left behind and would, in fact, make me suffer greatly for so much as entertaining the thought of such an action. Second; while magic is a very real part of life in the realms, and creatures of fantasy abound, it is NO Fairy-land! As I have told you before, there are races in the realms that will kill, rape, and eat you for no other reason than being human! And, if you're very, very lucky, some of them will do it in that order. I am taking your sisters somewhere to train them so that they can survive there. I can't be everywhere, Akane, and even with as powerful as I am, I have limits."

"That having been said, I think that Kasumi, Nabiki, and I need to go over a few things and make some purchases for the upcoming journey." Ranma turned to look at Nabiki, an adoring look clear in his eyes. "Nabiki, love, I'll leave the best place to find the things we talk about in your most capable hands." Nabiki blushed and beamed at the praise. Ranma turned his look of adoration to Kasumi next. "Kasumi, we'll need to stock up the house for while we're gone and there are provisions to be obtained as well. I'll be honest; the food you make is orders of magnitude better than anything the castle kitchens turn out. But then again, we're feeding soldiers, so… yeah. Anyway, I know you're the go-to girl for logistics, so I'll leave that up to you, my lovely." Kasumi beamed at him and gave a quick nod.

With a round of farewells, the trio left to do their shopping and enjoy a bit of together-time before going off to who-knows-where.

Those remaining, however, had their attention centered firmly on the spoiled youngest Tendo.

"You know, Miss Akane," Rilone began, "Ranma didn't get to be a general because of his charming personality. He fought for his troops, earned their respect, and cared for each and every one of them. Hell, he knew them by name and would take the time to chat with everyone when he had the time. Everyone, Miss Akane, not just the officers or the veteran Sergeants, everyone, from the greenest recruit on up to the most experienced captain. For you to insinuate that he's less than an honorable, dependable, and trustworthy leader is not only to insult him, his king, and his calling, but to also dishonor the memory of the more than four thousand men and women that rallied under his banner. I, for one, won't tolerate such talk, and I firmly believe that you owe my cousin an apology when he returns."

Rilone took a steadying breath and sipped her tea, grimacing at the cold liquid.

"He was right about one other thing, though." She continued. "The Realms are a place of myth and wonder, where mages pierce the veil between worlds and priests resurrect the dead, almost on a daily basis. However, they are NO fairy tale. The village I was born in was destroyed by an army of orcs; hulking, massively strong, green-skinned, humanoid brutes. They destroyed what they couldn't carry off; took the children for slaves, killed the men, and reaped all the women of child-bearing age. Then, they ate the dead. They did it because they could and we were there. This wasn't a tragedy, or even an isolated event, and it was neither the first time such a thing happened, nor the last. This is the kind of world Lord Ranma was raised in, and that is where he is going. He's right to think to train your sisters to defend themselves, and their desire to accompany him puts him in a horrible position. "

"What kind of position, Rilone-chan?" Soun asked.

Rillone blushed at the affectionate suffix and smiled shyly.

"He has to take the two women he loves more than life it's self into danger, induct them into his order, and potentially command them into a suicidal position. He dreads that happening, but also acknowledges that it might happen. And that tears at his heart." She smirked a little and continued. "He hides it well, doesn't he?"

Akane scowled a little, and practically snarled at the beautiful woman in front of her.

"What's with this love talk? They've known each other for less than a week, for crying out loud! NOBODY could fall in love that fast!"

Rilone smiled and shook her head.

"See, that's where you're wrong. For all that he's human, he's also a dragon, and part of the nature of half-dragons like us is that once we find our soul-mate, it's instantaneous. Just we look in each other's eyes, and BAM! Pure, unadultered, true, and honest love. We can no more deny it than you can change your ancestors. Not only that, but THEY know the same way. They might not know it for what it is, and they might not even be able to give a name to what they feel, but they feel it and they can't deny it. That's why your sisters said what they did, why they are so willing to follow Ranma into danger, and why Soun-koi was so willing to… I'm gonna stop talking now…" she finished with a sheepish smile and a deep blush, suddenly finding the tea cup VERY interesting.

Soun smiled and moved to sit next to Rilone. He reached over to the deeply emberrased woman and pulled her into a tender embrace.

"I love you to, Rilone-koi. Just please be patient with me while I pick up the shattered pieces of my former life, okay?" and before Rillone could do more than turn to look at him, Soun swept her up into passionate and loving kiss.