AMAZONS

                         A Ranma1/2 Elseworlds

                           by Jeffrey Hosmer

Chapter One

     The mist rolled down off the mountains from the overcast sky.  On a
clear day, the peaks would be glowing with sunlight that would not reach
the valley floor for hours.  Some valleys did not see the sun until late
morning, so steep were the mountainsides.
     One valley in particular seemed to huddle quietly beneath the fog.
Many small springs dotted the terrain and each had one or more bamboo
poles mounted in the middle.  Nearby was a small stone hut with a thin
stream of smoke rising from its chimney.  Other than that, the valley
seemed empty.
     Then four weary travelers came up the faint path from the east.
     Leading the way was a stocky, middle-aged man with glasses.  Sweat
dampened his karate gi, though he was in good shape and the day was
cool.  He had a kerchief on his bald head and walked with the slow step
of a man approaching his doom.  Every few minutes he would gaze
nervously over his shoulder.
     Behind him walked a woman in sensible traveling clothes.  Possibly
of an age with the man, there was no sign of any gray in her reddish-
brown hair.  She had a determined look on her face and glared angrily at
the man whenever he looked at her.  His head would immediately snap to
the front and she would sigh and look down at her feet.  Something long
and thin, carefully wrapped in cloth, was strapped to her back.
     Another middle-aged man and a girl in her early twenties followed
them.  They had long black hair and had a slight resemblance to each
other.  The man wore a brown gi and had a mustache.  He also had a
determined air about him as he marched along, but in his case, it was
almost fanatical.  His eyes were set on a goal only he, apparently,
could see.
     The girl was wearing a hiking outfit and her mood was remarkably
lighter than the others.  From the way she craned her neck around to
look at everything, someone would believe she was a tourist.
     "Is this the place, Genma?" asked the determined-looking woman.
The fog cleared a bit to show the many springs dotting the valley.
     "Yes, dear," Saotome Genma told his wife, Nodoka.  "This is where I
lost Ranma."
     The black-haired man began to wail at that, and the younger woman
tried to quiet him.  His cries echoed off the mountainsides.
     "Daddy, please!  Get a hold of yourself," Tendo Akane said
exasperatedly.  I cannot believe I let them talk me into doing this, she
thought.  Because of some promise, I have to look for someone in China
when he's probably been dead for years.
     "Is somebody there?" came a quiet voice from the direction of the
hut.  The speaker was a beefy man, dressed in a Chinese uniform and a
cap with a red star on it.  He stepped out of the stone hut, smoking a
pipe and bowed to his visitors.
     "Welcome to Legendary Training Grounds of Cursed Springs,
Jusenkyou," he said.  "Sorry, training ground closed because of trouble
in area."
     Nodoka stepped forward.  "Good day, sir.  My name is Saotome
Nodoka.  My husband visited this place seven years ago...."  Her voice
began to break, but she forced herself to go on.  "He was with my son,
Ranma."
     The man, known as the Jusenkyou Guide, nodded and pulled a thin
book out of his jacket.  After flipping back several pages, he spoke.
"Yes.  He fall in Shaomoniichuan, Spring of Drowned Panda.  Very tragic
story of panda who drown--"
     "We know that!"  Akane exclaimed, exasperated.
     "Now, Akane-chan," her father remonstrated.  "There's no need to be
rude."  Tendo Soun turned to the guide.  "Sir, we were hoping you could
show us the Spring of Drowned Man, to cure our friend.  We would also
ask if you have any news of his son, lost here all those years ago."
     "It was not my fault," Genma muttered.  "How was I supposed to know
an army would be marching through when we came to train?"
     "Oh, yes.  I remember.  Man and boy come here on day Musk Dynasty
attack Amazons," the guide said.  He took a long pull on his pipe.
     "Musk Dynasty?  Amazons?  Are we talking about the same China?"
Akane asked.  She sat on a nearby rock and began to massage her left
ankle through the thick hiking sock she wore.
     "Ooh, ma'am, this very strange part of China.  Many old customs
followed here.  If like, I tell story, and explain why training ground
closed."  When his visitors nodded, the guide began to speak:

     Many, many year ago, this land ruled by very powerful, very evil
Warlord.  All the time fighting whoever come near.  People avoid area,
for it very dangerous and much tragedy happen.
     Then, one day, monks come from west.  They have vision to make
peace in land.  They spend many year, talk about path of soul and
reincarnation.  Most think them foolish, believing warriors go fight
glorious battles in afterlife.  Very tragic what happen to cowards.
     The chief monk, close to despair, began great fast.  He hope to
find way to open peoples eyes, to make them listen.  He fast many, many
days, until he receive vision.  In vision, he told to go to valley and
dig springs.  More than one hundred of them.  Then wait and watch.
     Waking from vision, chief monk take followers to valley, this
valley, and dig springs.  One day, man drown in spring.  Very tragic
story.  Many prayers said for his soul.  Then a curious thing happen.
Small animal fall in spring and turn into man!  Then, other animals
drown in spring and monks find that whoever fall in spring take body of
animal.  They find that hot water return them to normal.  Much rejoicing
over miracle.
     Chief monk call Warlord to valley.  Warlord come, bringing many
followers.  Monk say, "Look, sir, I show proof of reincarnation.
Miracle make man to become animal!"  Warlord much, much impressed, but
he had evil heart.  He only see power.  Dunk animals in Spring of
Drowned Man, get instant soldiers.  Drown woman in spring, create
instant women for soldiers.  Maybe even have strong, magical children.
He then decide to drown wife in spring and follow plan.
     Wife hear of plan and not happy.  She also warrior, lead women in
battle.  She no want to drown for husband.  She think Warlord crazy to
use power from holy place for such.  They fight and draw weapons on each
other.  Fight last many hours, with army watching.  Finally, Warlord
make killing blow.  Wife fall over and curse valley, that hot water no
longer cure curse permanently.  So now, hot and cold water cause someone
who fall in spring to change back and forth.  Warlord laugh and toss
wife into spring, where she drown, making Spring of Drowned Woman.
     Women of army very angry and fight men and warlord.  Wives turn on
husbands, sisters on brothers...   Warlord wounded, tossed in spring,
and drown, making Spring of Drowned Warrior.  Armies leave, calling
valley "Jusenkyou" or Ground of Cursed Springs.  Women make Amazon Tribe
and live in village of Nyuchezuu.  Men make Musk Dynasty, dunk animals
in Spring of Drowned Girl, make wives, have strong, magical children.
Both fight to keep other away from Jusenkyou.  Fighting continue since
that day, three thousand year ago.  Very tragic story.

     "So, that is how Jusenkyou came about?" Akane asked.  She looked at
all the calm, quiet springs and the bamboo poles standing forlornly in
them.  "What does that have to do with the springs being closed?  Or the
army that came through here seven years ago?"
     The group was now inside the Guide's stone hut and drinking the hot
tea he offered them.  He busied himself in the kitchen, not answering
Akane's question right away.  Pulling out a tin of biscuits, he offered
them around.  When no one took any, he sat back down and explained.
     "Seven year ago, Musk Dynasty try to take Jusenkyou for good, using
large army of powerful fighters.  Amazons fight back.  I was showing
honorable customer and son training ground, constructed by monks so long
ago, when attack happen."
     "It was awful," Genma stated, his voice hoarse.  He stared at the
wall over Akane's head, a distant look in his eyes.  "Men and women
fighting all around us like wild animals.  I never saw such sheer
violence in all my life.  A warrior knocked me into a spring.  Ranma
tried to help me...."  His voice trailed off into sobs and the teacup
began to shake in his trembling hands.  "He jumped away when I emerged
as a panda. The poor boy fell into another spring.  I tried to find him,
but the fighting....  I couldn't even tell what spring he fell in or
what he changed into..."
     Soun broke into tears at this recounting.  Akane looked on,
disapprovingly, and Nodoka seemed torn between sadness and the urge to
bash her husband's head in.
     "What were you thinking, bringing Ranma here?" she asked angrily.
"It's bad enough you took my baby away for seventeen years, but to lose
him and not tell me!"  She reached menacingly for the bundle strapped to
her back.
     Genma immediately prostrated himself on the ground.  "I'm sorry!
I'm sorry!  I didn't know what to do!"  He groveled abjectly, and Soun
began to wail again, tearing at his hair.
     Akane was too disgusted with the whole situation to care much.  She
and her sisters had never even heard of the Saotomes until recently,
when Genma had appeared on their doorstep.
     He had come without warning one afternoon.  Akane had just put
dinner out for her father and elder sister, Nabiki, when a haggard panda
appeared.  It had gobbled down the food as if it hadn't eaten in weeks.
They then learned, to their surprise, that this panda could write on
signs.  It did so, asking for hot water.  When Akane brought some, too
stunned to do otherwise, the panda suddenly became a middle-aged man.
     Her father had embraced the man, claiming he was a very old friend
of the family.  Furthermore, they had apparently decided that their
children should marry one day (whether the children wanted to or not).
Soun had considered Genma's arrival as a sign that the time had finally
come.  It didn't matter that he only had two eligible daughters left.
Kasumi, the eldest, had married the local chiropractor and was now
attending nursing school.  Nabiki was quick to bow out.  She did not
want to get married before she made a name for herself in the business
world.
     Akane flushed angrily.  Nabiki, who practically owned the entire
household, could talk her father out of it quickly.  But did his
youngest daughter's career, HER dreams, matter?  No, of course not.  He
just assumed she would go along with whatever he wanted.  Well, she was
sick and tired of trying to win his approval.  Studying martial arts had
not done it.  Overcoming her problems with cooking so Kasumi could marry
didn't get her more than a pat on the head.  Why should she care
anymore?
     So, Akane had been almost grateful when Genma, after weeks of
freeloading, finally admitted that Ranma was missing, possibly dead.
The man had been on the run for seven years, trying to stay one step
ahead of his wife.  Before taking his five-year-old son and
disappearing, he had promised to make Ranma a "man among men" or commit
suicide.  Nothing terrified him more than the thought of having to
fulfill that promise.
     Akane and Nabiki had taken an almost malicious glee in finding
Saotome Nodoka.  A quick phone call and the abandoned housewife came
down on Genma like an avalanche.  Only one thing kept her katana from
separating his head from his shoulders: A hastily stammered out promise
to take her back to Jusenkyou to see if any trace of Ranma could be
found.  After seven years, however, it did not seem likely.
     But! Akane thought bitterly, my father has to decide to come along
and take me with him on this cockamamie trip.  Well, at least I got to
see a bit of the world while he (or Nabiki) pays for it.
     Akane pushed these thoughts away when she saw Nodoka's grieving
face.  The woman had come into her life unexpectedly, but Akane imagined
that her own mother had probably been like Nodoka.  The pain of a parent
losing a child could hardly be easier to bear than a child losing a
parent.  Akane reached out and hugged the older woman.
     "I'm sorry, Auntie," she said.
     Nodoka returned the hug, briefly, but her features hardened with
new resolve.  "Thank you, Akane-chan, but I'm not ready to give up just
yet."  She turned to the guide, who sat up on seeing the determination
on her face.  "I want to see the spring my husband fell in, and the
springs where my son might have fallen.  I know it is asking a lot, but
I cannot give up on my son so easily."  She stared down at the Genma's
abject form.  "Get up and stop apologizing," she snapped.
     Genma leapt to his feet, wringing his hands, but grateful to have
his life still.  "Yes, dear."
     The guide stood, brushing some biscuit crumbs off his jacket.  "I
show springs, but no can use them.  Amazon womans say no one use springs
since Musk Dynasty sneak in foreign people to take water.  Very bad
thing happen if anyone try now."
     Amazons, really, snorted Akane to herself.  He must think we'll
believe any story he tells us.
     The guide led them back outside, where the sun had succeeded in
burning off most of the low-lying fog.  Akane whistled slightly at the
number of springs she could now see.  The Guide HAD said the valley had
more than a hundred, but she had thought he had been exaggerating.  Some
springs were very small, though.  Often, only a few inches of muddy
ground separated one spring from another.
     "What feeds all these springs?" she asked, curiously.  "It seems
incredible that so many are in so small a valley.  I would have thought
they would make a lake."
     "Part of the magic of Jusenkyou, Miss Customer," the Guide replied,
leading the party down the trail to the springs.  "No one know where
water come from, but dig anywhere in valley and spring will form.
Sometimes, spring dry up, but no one know why, either.  Spring of
Drowned Woman dry up many, many, many year ago.  Musk Dynasty make
Spring of Drowned Girl already, so no need it."
     "They MADE a spring?" Nodoka asked.  "You mean they took some young
girl and... ?"
     "Is very tragic story, no?"
     The group went on silently after that.  Reaching the edge of the
springs, the Guide sat on a nearby rock and began pointing.
     "That one, there, is Spring of Drowned Panda where honored customer
fall in seven year ago.  Over here is Spring of Drowned Warrior, where
Warlord drown 3,000 year ago.  There is Spring of Drowned Duck, very
tragic story that one, and over here is Spring of Drowned Octopus.  That
one--"
     "Waitasec," Akane said.  "How could an octopus get here?  We're
about a thousand miles from the sea!"
     "That seems a little far-fetched, Mr. Guide," Soun said gravely.
     "Oh, honored customers, so sorry, but is true.  Octopus brought
here by Seven Lucky Gods martial artists for Musk Dynasty.  Very tragic
what happen to poor octopus."  The Guide looked down at his feet for a
moment, then continued pointing out springs.  "That one over there is
Spring of Drowned Man--"
     "Yes!" Genma shouted, running toward the spring as fast as he
could.
     "No!  Mr. Customer, stop!  Very bad you fall in spring!" the Guide
yelled, waving his arms.  "Amazon womans no like!  Stop!"
     However, no words could stop the middle-aged martial artist.
Reaching the edge of the spring, Genma prepared to jump in and lose his
curse forever.  "Goodbye, Panda!" he yelled, leaping into the air.
     Suddenly, something moving very fast collided with Genma's airborne
form.  Thrown from the far side of the valley, it hit solidly, sending 
him sprawling on the valley floor beyond the pools.  He wheezed
painfully, all the air knocked out of his lungs.  The missile, a sphere-
headed Chinese mace known as a bonbori, lay on the ground next to him.
     Despite her feelings toward the man, Akane ran toward him, to see
if he was all right.  Behind her, Nodoka was already unlimbering her
sword.  Her father was, of course, bewailing fate and making a general
nuisance of himself.
     She was about five feet away from Genma when a sudden whistling
sound made her stop short.  A blue-fletched arrow was driven deep in the
valley floor in front of her, vibrating slightly.  Before she could say
or do anything, three more missiles shot by her.  Two of them ripped her
sleeves on both arms.  The last almost parted her hair.
     They could now see two female figures on the other side of the
valley.  One had a bow aimed at Akane.  The other held a bonbori,
identical to the one that had downed Genma.  Both wore simple Chinese
clothes and held their weapons with practiced ease.  The one with the
bow had short blonde hair and her clothes were dull green, grey, and
black.  Perfect, Akane noted, for blending in with the terrain.  The
other wore purple and pink clothes, disdaining stealth.  Her long purple
hair was hard to hide, in any event.
     Soun wailed and went to help his old friend.  He took no more than
two steps before a small cough stopped him.  Looking over his shoulder,
he saw a girl with expertly-styled short green hair wearing a sky-blue
robe with large sleeves.  A geometric pattern of colored squares and
diamonds was embroidered on her robe, but it meant nothing to him.  She
stood there, arms folded inside her sleeves and bowed.  Then she flung
her arms out.  Several weighted chains, more than it seemed her robe
could possibly hold, flew toward him.  Frozen in shock, he could only
cry as they bound him.
     Nodoka was quicker to react than Soun.  Her katana was out and
ready from the instant the attack struck down her husband.  It did her
little good.  Even as she brought the blade up, something leaped at her
from the right.  It was moving so fast, she only saw a red blur.  She
raised her blade--
     WHACKWHACKSNAP!
     It suddenly lay on the ground in two pieces.  Rubbing her numb
wrists, she studied her assailant.  She was a beautiful young girl in
her early twenties.  Her long red hair was bound in the same style as
the purple-haired woman.  She held an iron-shod staff loosely in her
hands and watched Nodoka carefully.  Strangely, she looked more
apologetic than angry and Nodoka felt a sudden need to talk to this
girl.  Turning slowly, she looked to see if the Guide could help her
speak with these strange women.
     The Guide was having his own problems, however.  Someone wearing
the garments of a female ninja held a very sharp blade to the poor man's
throat.  The guide stood very carefully and the blue-clad ninja prodded
him over to the bonbori-wielder.

     Shampoo eyed the Guide with more annoyance than anger.  Damn it,
they had warned the man time and time again.  Didn't he know the rules?
If it wasn't for his knowledge of the Springs, they would have dealt
with him harshly.
     "Guide!  We told you not to let anyone near the springs!" the
purple-haired Amazon said crossly in Mandarin.  "Why do you keep
breaking our Amazon law?"
     To his credit, the Guide met her gaze calmly.  "I told my customers
that using the springs was forbidden."  Pointing to Genma, he continued.
"They said they were looking for information on his son, who was lost in
the great battle seven years ago."
     "You should not have even shown them the sacred springs.  Now,
because the fat one tried to use them, I'll have to take them back to
the village."  Shampoo wasn't looking forward to that.  The matriarch of
the village would not look kindly on her great-granddaughter bringing
home a potential problem.  Especially when her position on the Council
was under attack.
     "I don't think the fat one is very smart," the Guide said.  "Seven
years ago, he wanted to use the springs for training and he didn't even
KNOW about the curses."
     All the Amazons burst out laughing.  Using the Springs for training
when you didn't know the dangers?  Where was the fun in that?
     "That does sound stupid.  Maybe we should simply execute him on the
spot as an example."

     "Auntie?  What do you think they're going to do to us?" Akane
asked, eyeing their captors as inconspicuously as she could.  The Amazon
with the bow was not taking part in the debate between the purple-haired
one and the Guide.  After seeing her shoot, Akane believed she could put
a shaft into them before they moved more than a step.
     "I'm not sure, Akane-chan.  They don't seem to know either," Nodoka
replied.  She only knew a smidgen of Chinese, but it seemed that the
Amazons were arguing among themselves.  The one with purple hair had
taken the lead at first.  She questioned the Guide, who had pointed to
Genma and said something.  A few more words and their captors were all
laughing as if Genma had done something foolish.  Nodoka checked, but
her spouse was still concerned with catching his breath.  She felt a
twinge of concern for him, then stomped on it.  What happened with their
marriage was a subject for later.
     The Amazons then fell into a loud debate, with the red-haired one
objecting to the purple-haired one's proposal.  Finally, with a lack of
good grace, the purple-haired Amazon backed down and turned back to the
Guide.

     "Very well, Rinse!" Shampoo spat, cutting off any further arguments
from her sister.  "We'll take them back to the village for judgment."
Grimacing, she faced the Guide.  Her sister was always so stubborn,
especially when it came to the taking of lives.  Shampoo didn't like it
either, but she had done it when it needed to be done.  Part of her
hoped that her innocent little sister would never have her hands stained
with blood.
     Rinse bowed solemnly, showing respect to the leader of their pack,
and stepped back.  Only Shampoo saw the impish grin Rinse thought was
hidden.
     "Guide, tell them we are taking them to the village for breaking
our laws.  There they can put forward their case to the Elders.  You
will come with us to translate."
     "Yes, mistress."  The Guide bowed, but that was only proper.  He
then turned to speak to the foreigners in their strangely flat tongue.
How in the world did they get anything across without all the tones of
Mandarin?  It was a mystery.
     "Is this a good idea, Shampoo?" Perm asked, folding her arms inside
her robe.  The hidden weapons mistress looked at her friend and leader
in concern.  "The old crones are sure to make a fuss over this."
     Gel leaned around her bow and spat at the ground, which meant she
agreed.  She spoke rarely but had ways of making her feelings known.
     Shampoo wanted to sigh and rub her forehead.  If it had just been
she and the pack, perhaps she would have.  Showing weakness in front of
outsiders was unforgivable, however.  Idly, she wondered if the last
pack-sister would also throw in her two yuan, but, of course, Lotion was
gone.  She was carrying a note to another pack, asking them to watch
Jusenkyou in her pack's absence
     So, the Amazon turned to her little sister instead.  "Rinse, I'd
wipe that silly grin off your face.  You better think about how you're
going to defend them before the Council."
     Rinse's smile vanished as quickly as Shampoo could have hoped.
"Me?  Why should I defend them?"
     "It was your idea to take them back.  Besides, you understand their
silly language."
     "Only a little!"
     "Oh, so what DO you do when you spend all that time with the Lost
One, hmm?" Perm teased.  "Going to give up your staff and make a happy
home for him?"
     Even Gel chuckled at how red Rinse's face got.

     Akane stumbled along the trail as best she could.  The Amazons
wasted no time once they decided something.  First, they divested their
prisoners of anything that they could use as a weapon.  The warrior
women then tied their hands together on a rope to form an impromptu
chain gang.  Through the Guide, they explained where they were going and
marched off.  They set a hard pace, one that even gave Akane trouble.
The Amazons did not tie up the Guide, but he struggled to keep up,
obviously fearing to fall behind.
     Akane put up with it as stoically as she could.  She had started to
protest, but the one with the purple hair hit her hard enough to leave
her head ringing.  Strangely enough, the redhead had smiled
sympathetically and offered her some water after that.  Akane had tried
to thank her.  However, the redhead just silenced her with a slight nod
of her head toward (as Akane thought of her) Purple Hair.
     At least they aren't all insane, Akane thought.  It made her feel a
little better.  Surely they wouldn't take them all this way just to kill
them... right?
     She had to wonder if they would make it all the way.  Both her
father and Genma were martial artists and in good shape.  Her father was
crying as they ran, but the Amazons seemed reluctant to hit him for it.
Genma merely treated it as any other hardship in his life.  He whined
and pleaded until they threatened to hurt him.
     However, Nodoka could not keep up, though Red Hair helped as much
as she could.  The middle-aged woman did not complain, however.  She
just got to her feet again, struggling onward determinedly until even
Purple Hair noticed and slowed their pace.  The Amazons seemed to view
Nodoka with some respect after that.
     They hiked the whole day, until the surrounding terrain melted into
one big blur.  Akane concentrated on her sore and aching feet, placing
one in front of the other and trying not to trip.  She didn't even
realize that they had stopped until she bumped into Genma.
     "Behold, honored customers," the Guide said, "Village of Nyuchezuu,
home of Amazon womans."

     Shampoo's nervousness returned when the village's terraced rice
fields came into sight.  What would Great-grandmother do with these
strange people?  Did she do the wrong thing, bringing them to the
village?
     The village was at the bottom of a steep, medium-sized valley, well
suited to defense.  Only three passes led into it, and the Amazons
closely guarded each.  Once inside the valley, a large system of rice
fields, hewn out of the mountainsides, formed another line of defense.
Armies would have a hard time slogging through the rice paddies while
the Amazons rained arrows on them.
     The Guide yammered to the prisoners in their flat-sounding
language.  Shampoo paid it no mind.  She would let them have this moment
to relax before their trial.
     They were such a mystery.  Oh, the men were weak, as she had
suspected.  It was disconcerting the way the black-haired one always
cried.  How could a warrior fight someone who was crying?  It was
dishonorable.  Yet the women, though weak physically, had borne the
march well.
     What did they think, when they looked down on the simple huts and
stone buildings that filled the valley floor?  Did they see what an
accomplishment it had been to make such a place in the barren mountains?
Take the Council Hall, sitting like a spider in the center of the town.
The Amazons had begun building those three stories of masonry thousands
of years ago and it still stood.  Could they see the work required to
dig out the vast Fighting Pit where the Amazons showed their courage?
Shampoo tried to think of the world from which these people had come.
     She must have frowned in thought, for Rinse stepped closer and laid
a comforting hand on Shampoo's elbow.  "Smile, Big Sister.  We're home,
right?"  The redhead's voice dropped to a whisper.  "He's waiting for
you, you know."
     Shampoo carefully did not blush, though she did glance down at Perm
and Gel.  They were keeping an eye on the prisoners.  Neither seemed to
have heard anything, but they could be putting on an act.
     Casually touching her sister's arm, she whispered back.  "Say that
aloud again, Rinse, and I'll tie you naked to a giant anthill and smear
honey over you."  She smiled as if saying something warm and sisterly.
     Rinse just smiled that cocky smile of hers.  "Promises, promises,
Big Sister."  She went back to check on the prisoners, especially the
young one.
     She had done a good job of taking responsibility for them.  One
day, she will lead her own pack, Shampoo thought proudly, a little sad
at the thought of Rinse leaving.  Then she banished her gloomy thoughts
and focused on the night after the dealings with the Council were done.
Her pulse quickened at the thought of stealing a few moments with her
man, relaxing in his arms.  Yes, that was what she wanted to do more
than anything.  First, however, they had to deal with the prisoners.
     They made a little procession down past the men working in the
fields.  The farmers bowed as they passed, carefully not looking until
Shampoo and her pack were long down the road.  They all wore simple
loincloths and woven shirts, both a dingy, grey color.  The Farmers were
the third-lowest class in the village and everyone expected humility
from them.  Some had to learn it, but they all were humbled after a
time.  None of the Amazons in Shampoo's pack deigned even to look at
them.
     The muddy paths through the rice paddies gave way to a simply paved
road.  Ignoring the looks they received, the pack marched their
prisoners past the stone houses of the Crafters.  The middle-class of
the village, the Crafters made everything the village used but tanned
and cured hides.  Those were left to the Unclean.
     The road grew smoother and more regular as they advanced, until
they stood before the doors of the Council Hall.  Soap, in the dark
robes of the Guardian of the Hall, stood alone in front of the doors.
She held her rapier lightly in her hand.  It had provoked much amusement
when she chose her weapon, but Soap had made it feared long before
Shampoo's birth.  The oldest Warrior Shampoo knew, people whispered that
Soap had turned down being an Elder.  That was unheard of in the annals
of Amazon history.  Whether it was true or not, Shampoo knew she did not
want to fight her.
     "Greetings, Warrior," Soap said as Shampoo approached.  She had a
hint of wry amusement in her voice as she observed their motley group.
     "Greetings, Guardian," Shampoo said, bowing as to a superior.  Soap
returned it with the bow of an equal, showing great courtesy although
Shampoo felt it was undeserved.  The two of them had been dancing this
dance for years, ever since Soap had taken responsibility for Shampoo's
training.  The old warrior had seen something in the purple-haired
girl's moves that showed great potential.  She had worked her hard until
she was the best of her generation.  What she could not do was conquer
Shampoo's feelings of inadequacy.
     "Do you have business for the Council, Warrior?" Soap asked,
continuing the traditional ritual.
     "I seek the Council's wisdom and experience in a matter that
affects the entire village."
     "True wisdom lies in seeking an Elder's advice.  You may enter."
     Shampoo bowed again to Soap, this time in thanks, and began to herd
her charges into the building.  As she passed the Guardian, however,
Soap whispered softly to her, her face a mask. "Be careful, Little One.
They have been arguing like hens all morning."  As far as anyone else
could tell, however, Soap's lips never moved.
     Shampoo braced herself.  If the six Elders were squabbling (no one
called it that to their faces) then her problem had become worse.  Her
great-grandmother could not help.  If she favored something, then
Perfume, the second oldest woman on the council, would immediately argue
against it.  Bucket would straddle the fence, selling her vote first one
way or another, depending on where the advantage lay.  The discussion
would degenerate into a shouting match between the factions.  Cologne
had made Shampoo sit in on too many similar discussions for her to doubt
it.
     Perm, Rinse, Lotion, and Gel prodded the prisoners forward, inside
the large stone building.  They were now in the Hall of the Ancients.
Halls and doors led to other chambers, most of them later additions.
The Hall was the oldest part of the building.  Its walls showed the
history of the Amazons, carvings depicting the events of 3,000 years.

     Akane and Nodoka looked on the Council Hall with awe, somehow
sensing its great age.  The Hall of the Ancients was even more imposing,
with its expert carvings of fierce Amazons and ancient battles.  Soun
and Genma had shivered a bit under the eyes of those carvings.   More
than one showed the Amazons killing men with savage abandon.
     The earliest carvings interested Akane.  She had taken some
Archaeology classes in college.  Her professors would have given
anything to see this.  The carvings matched the story the Guide had told
them, showing Jusenkyou in great detail.  No writing was visible, at
least none that she could identify.  The walls showed the entire story
in pictures.  They even seemed more truthful than most histories, for
the Warlord's wife was no great beauty.  The Warlord's appearance might
have been a little exaggerated, with more fat than muscle to his bulk.
His wild hair and fierce face intimidated her still.
     After the battle at Jusenkyou, the carvings showed the women coming
to a valley in the mountains.  A village was already there, far poorer
than the one she saw outside.  A Chinese dragon was slaying livestock,
tearing up fields, and cavorting above the clouds as storms ravaged the
valley.  One brave Amazon, however, climbed a mountain and lay naked on
the stone until the dragon appeared.  Akane blushed at the following
scene, but the one after that showed the Amazon chaining the dragon in
its sleep.  The Amazon left the Dragon there, raging against its
imprisonment, but it could do nothing to get free.  The villagers
accepted the Amazons into the village and everyone bowed before the one
who had chained the dragon.
     More scenes followed, most of them showing the Amazons fighting men
who resembled animals in face and body.  Sometimes, they showed the
Amazons triumphantly.  Other times, the animal-men won.  One scene near
the end puzzled her.
     "Dad?" she whispered to her father, who was studying another scene
showing what Amazons did to some of their prisoners.  Pale and trembling
he turned to his daughter.  "What's with this picture showing the funny
little man?"
     Akane hadn't thought her father could get any paler, but he did.
With a strangled cry, he lurched back from the picture, pulling her and
the rest of the prisoners with him.  One word escaped his lips,
"Happousai!"

     Everyone froze.
     Shampoo looked upon the dark-haired prisoner in surprise and shock.
He had just named the village's worst nightmare, the bogeyman who had
frightened young girls for years.  Rinse, Perm and Gel were just as
shocked as she, and Lotion had vanished from sight at the mention of
that name.
     "What do you know about that creature?" Perm growled, a steel claw
suddenly quivering next to the prisoner's skin.  Gel had already nocked
her bow with an arrow.  The older woman said something to the bald
prisoner then, and he cowered.
     The dark-haired man seemed speechless with fear under Perm's gaze.
Rinse, meanwhile, was restraining the young girl, who had tried to leap
to her father's aid.
     "Guide, ask the prisoner how he knew of that creature," Shampoo
ordered.  He did as she asked.  The dark-haired prisoner seemed
incapable of speech, but the older woman spoke for him.  Shampoo could
almost believe she had met the Lecherous One, for her voice was full of
derision.
     The Guide turned back to Shampoo.  "She says that Happousai was
master to that man," he pointed at the dark-haired man, "and her
husband."  The Amazons growled and took a step closer to the men.
     The older woman spoke up quickly, jabbering something at the Guide,
who translated.  "She also says they got him drunk and buried him in a
cave in Japan more than 17 years ago."
     Shampoo's mind reeled.  How could men, especially THESE two,
capture the worst monster the Amazons had ever faced?  The carving on
the wall showed how his last visit had gone.  He had run out of town
carrying a sack full of precious village valuables and even more
precious... things. Whole families had almost died of disgrace and
Shampoo had never met any woman that could speak of his visit.
     "It doesn't seem possible..."  Rinse stammered, speaking Shampoo's
thoughts aloud.  "Big Sister, the Council HAS to see them now."
     "What if they're... like HIM?" Perm asked, not moving her claws
from the prisoner's throat.
     Shampoo chuckled at that, though it sounded forced to her.  "After
all this time, I think we would have noticed if they were.  Or don't you
think you're beautiful enough to attract a lecher, Perm?"
     Perm's face turned bright red at that remark and she turned angrily
on Shampoo.  Shampoo simply stood there.  The remark had its desired
effect, removing their fear and replacing it with a more useful emotion:
anger.
     The hidden weapons mistress almost launched herself at her leader,
but she restrained herself.  Slowly, she began to smile.  Soon the other
Amazons joined her in laughing uproariously at their fear.
     "Come," Shampoo finally said, taking up the prisoners' rope again.
"We must take them before the Council.  The sooner we do that, the
sooner this will be over."  Shampoo looked forward to that fervently.

     "--and the drought has again reduced our crops below the safe
level.  We must again use the treasury to buy outsiders' grain if we
hope to--"
     Rinse scuffled her feet silently on the floor of the Council
Chamber.  The old biddies had barely looked up when Shampoo had led in
the prisoners.  Rinse had, however, noticed a single glance from Great-
Grandmother that did not bode well.  The matriarch's wrinkled face,
which made a prune look smooth, had shown no outward emotion.  However,
her lips tightened slightly and she had a glint in her eye that Rinse
knew too well from training.  It was the same look Cologne wore when she
thumped Rinse's head with her staff for doing something wrong.  Her head
ached in anticipation of such a blow.
     The diminutive warrior pouted.  It was as if she had done something
wrong instead of preventing needless deaths.  Still, she wasn't sure
what she could say to make the Council agree with her.  She didn't even
know why she did it herself.
     She found herself looking at the young girl they had captured.
She's about my age, she thought.  I wonder if we could be friends.  She
seems to know something about martial arts, though she's like a
beginner.  Don't they teach those outsiders anything in that strange
land of theirs?
     Rinse suddenly resolved to talk to the girl.  Maybe she could help
her think of something to prevent the Council from killing them out of
hand.  Her stomach roiled and she suddenly felt nervous.  Stupid,
there's nothing to be nervous about.  She's just a girl like you.
     The black-haired girl finally gave up on comforting the older man
with hair.  They must be father and daughter, Rinse thought, sadly.  Why
else would she put up with him?  Now, the girl was just sitting alone,
watching the Council argue with a look of frustration on her face.  She
barely noticed as the redhead walked over to her.
     "What... name?" Rinse asked, hesitantly, cursing her poor language
skills.  Still, the meaning should get across.
     The black-haired girl's head snapped up in confusion and Rinse
tried smiling.  It felt nervous and fake on her lips, but she tried.  A
faint smile and a look of relief crossed the other girl's face.
     "A-ka-ne," the girl said slowly, looking carefully at Rinse.
     "A-ka-ne," Rinse repeated carefully.  She then pointed to herself.
"Rinse.  Rin-su" she said, too quickly at first, then more slowly.
     Akane started to giggle slightly, which drew a look from Shampoo.
Rinse was quick to quiet Akane.  She didn't want one of Big Sister's
bonbori to interrupt this conversation.
     The two girls quietly conversed, haltingly, naming their
companions.  It seemed Akane found something amusing about each of the
Amazon's names, something Rinse couldn't see.  She chalked it up to more
foreign weirdness.
     The young Amazon wished the Lost One were here.  He could speak
several languages, including the village's, and was from Japan.  She
considered getting the Guide to help, but Shampoo was watching him
closely.
     "Akane... big trouble," Rinse tried to explain.
     Akane nodded.  "Jusenkyou," she said, following it with several
words in her own language.
     Rinse couldn't follow what the other girl said, but she felt better
anyway.  Akane did understand the trouble they were in, at least
slightly.
     "Akane... Rinse help," she began, watching Akane's face carefully.
When it brightened with hope, Rinse frowned, carefully shrugging her
shoulders.  She nodded toward the Council.  "Council," she said, using
her word for them, "no help?"  She shrugged again, to show she didn't
know what would happen.
     Akane's hope went out like a candle in a typhoon.  Still, she
managed a nod at Rinse.  Suddenly, the girl reached out and squeezed
Rinse's hand, saying something in her language.  Rinse thought it meant,
"Thank you."

     Nodoka watched the young girls from different cultures talk and
wished that she could join them.  Anything was better than listening to
harridans screeching in a foreign language while Genma made a fool of
himself.
     Her hand reached back reflexively for her sword as Genma sobbed.
Why couldn't he be a man for once?  She had once had such high hopes for
him, and their marriage, but it had so quickly gone wrong.  Ranma's
birth had not solved their problems.  She had made it quite clear to him
that he had to start taking some responsibility for his actions.
     So he hatched his moronic plan to take Ranma on a training trip.
She had half-expected this, as he always tried to run away from the
problems he created.  However, she had not wanted her son to leave her.
Ranma, was too young for training, she argued.
     Genma had proven more obstinate than she had thought possible.  It
was his silly pride, she thought, and maybe his love for a son he might
never see after leaving.
     They had argued back and forth for days, until finally, she tried
the most outrageous vow she could conceive: That Genma would commit
ritual suicide if he failed in his training to make Ranma a man among
men.  To her surprise, her spineless husband had agreed to it, signing a
scroll to the fact.  Little Ranma had even crawled across the inkstone
and slapped his palm print on the agreement as well.  It had seemed so
cute at the time, she thought, and the tears came.
     Seventeen years....  She had been alone for seventeen years while
her husband took Ranma around the world, training him... and then losing
him.  If it wasn't for the Tendos, she might still be pining away,
waiting for a reunion that would never come.
     Put those thoughts away!  She thought sternly.  Ranma is alive!  I
will find him again, somewhere...
     "Miss Customer?" the Jusenkyou Guide asked, breaking into her
reverie.
     She looked up.  The old women had fallen quiet and were all looking
at them now.  Some were scowling and the red-haired girl was standing
before them, beckoning to Nodoka and the others to come closer.
     "Amazon womans put you on trial now.  Very tragic," the Guide said.  
"That one help you," he said, pointing at the redhead.  "I translate for
you."
     The trial began.

     "I'm sorry, Rinse.  They tried to use the sacred springs after the
Guide warned them.  Their guilt is clear," Cologne, matriarch of the
Nyuchezuu Amazons and great-grandmother to the girl she addressed, said.
"We must make them examples, to prevent others from trying to do the
same."
     "That's going to hurt the tourist business," the Guide muttered,
earning several sharp looks.  More than one of the Council had wanted to
include him in the death sentence.  However, few possessed more
knowledge of Jusenkyou than he.  Both the Musk Dynasty and they regarded
him as a neutral party in their fights.  That made him a useful go-
between and spared his life.  Foreigners, on the other hand, were
disposable.
     The trial had been going on for some time now.  The Council had
questioned Shampoo, the Guide, and the prisoners.  Now it was Rinse's
job to defend the prisoners, no matter how hopeless the case looked.
     "Great-grandmother," Rinse began again, trying to play on the old
woman's sympathies.  "They merely came here looking for someone they
lost at the battle seven years ago.  The village lost many people in
that fight.  Can we fault these people for searching for one of their
own?"
     "No, Grand-daughter, but that is not why they're on trial.  The
Guide explained they could not use the springs and they tried to use
them.  The facts are clear."
     Cologne drew herself up to her full, unimpressive height.  She
glared around the room, especially at the equally wrinkled form of
Perfume.  For once, her old rival had no grounds on which to object, and
Cologne intended to use this opportunity.  The Council had been too
divided lately, for all the wrong reasons.  It was time to reassert her
leadership again.  Then maybe they could finally deal with the Musk
Dynasty.
     Her great-granddaughter went on blithely to upset her plans.
     "Great-grandmother, they claim to know... Happousai."
     The entire council shrank back from the prisoners, hissing curses.
Their ancient faces grew harder and even the prisoners had to know their
case had just gotten worse.  In fact, the men were already apologizing,
though they didn't know why.  Perhaps the name "Happousai" was enough.
     Oh, Happy, Cologne thought.  After all these years, you still
manage to cause trouble.  "Grand-daughter, that fact hardly helps their
case."
     Rinse pointed to the older woman among the foreigners.  "She says
that these men got the Lecherous One drunk and sealed him away in a
cave.  If this is true, we should be thanking them, not murdering them."
     Cologne sat back.  It seemed inconceivable that two such as these
could defeat Happy... but he had always had a weakness for drink.  It
MIGHT be possible.
     "I will learn the truth of this," Cologne stated.
     Perfume snorted.  "How will you decide that?"
     Cologne smiled toothily, which would make most men gag.  "I doubt
they have the backbone to lie, Perfume.  Verifying they knew Happ--the
Lecherous One should be easy."
     "Even if you prove that, it does not mean they did what they say."
     Cologne just smiled and turned toward the prisoners.  In flawless
Japanese, she asked, "You claim to know Happousai?"
     The men looked up and started wailing again.  Cologne grew
disgusted and climbed up on her walking stick, balancing easily on it.
She then hopped over to them and used it to hammer on their heads.
     "Answer the question!" she snapped.
     "Yes!" the black-haired one said.
     "To our unending shame, he was our master," said the bald one.
     "What was his most powerful technique?"
     "The H-happoudaikirin," they said together.
     More curses flew from the Council.
     "What did he want most in the world?"
     "P-panties."
     The Council was on their feet, clamoring for the prisoners' deaths.
     Cologne continued.  "You say you locked him in a cave?"
     "Yes!"
     "The master drank much sake that night.  We were desperate to get
rid of him.  Nothing else seemed to work."
     "Why should we believe you?" Cologne said, willing them to have
some proof, however small, to back up their claim.  Rinse had been
clever, not to bring up the Happousai matter until all was lost.  The
mere mention of his name was enough to break the Council's unity.  Of
course, they were all now arguing about the best way to kill the
prisoners.  Nevertheless, if, by some one-in-a-million chance they had
done what they said....
     Soun reached into his backpack and pulled out a thin, black pipe.
     Silence filled the room.

Chapter Two

     The clouds loomed over the village, hiding the mountain tops from
sight.  In the center of the square, Shampoo raised her switch over the
half-naked girl chained to a wooden pole again.  None of the villagers
passing through the square took notice, except a redhead standing
nearby.
     "You're not helping her, Rinse," Perm said as she walked up behind
the red-haired Amazon.  "You should ignore any dishonor she shows."
     The switch landed again on the black-haired girl's bare back with a
loud crack.  Another red welt was added to the already impressive
number.
     Rinse tried to watch her friend be beaten with a stoic face.  "I
feel responsible, Perm.  I was supposed to train her to avoid this."
     Another welt rose on the Japanese girl's back.
     "You should have done a better job, it seems," Perm remarked.
"Still, she's holding up quite well.  I thought she'd be screaming by
now."
     "Akane's very stubborn," Rinse replied absently.
     "That's why she still hasn't adjusted after two months!" Perm said.
"The Elders only sentenced them to a year and a day of servitude.  Why
is she carrying on like this?"
     Rinse turned to her pack-sister, trying to ignore the sound of the
switch.  "They view these things differently, that's all.  They can be
very proud of their freedom."
     Perm snorted.  "When they have something to be proud of, then I can
forgive them.  Look at that one, for instance."  She pointed to wear a
bunch of youngsters climbed all over a sleeping panda.  Nodoka hovered
nearby, keeping an eye on them.  "He should be in the fields with his
friend, not playing around with the children."
     "He seems very popular," Rinse agreed.  She chuckled as a small
girl pounced on the panda's head and began pulling on his ears.  The
panda woke up in a hurry and began desperately trying to shake the
little girl off gently.  Nodoka hurried over before things got too out
of hand and scooped up the little girl.  "Nodoka is very good with the
children."
     The sounds of the switching stopped.  "Looks like they're done.
Better collect her so she can prepare the lodge for dinner."
     "Right.  See you later, pack-sister."
     Akane was sagging against the pole, unable to stand when Rinse came
up.  Shampoo tried to greet Rinse indifferently, but Rinse knew better
than that.  Big Sister had also grown fond of Akane and disliked what
she had to do.  "Take her back to the lodge, Rinse, and make sure she
knows she can expect worse next time."
     "Yes, Big Sister," Rinse answered, lowering her head.
     Shampoo was about to say something else, but she turned and left
instead.  Rinse helped Akane to her feet.  She didn't bother fixing
Akane's top.  The girl's back would be too sore to bear the cloth
chafing against it.  Besides, the Amazons did not care much about such
things.
     "You have to be more careful, Akane," Rinse scolded
sympathetically.  "You're lucky Perfume only had you switched for
looking at her."
     "Akane... sorry, Rinse," Akane replied, gasping, in her imperfect
Mandarin.  It had improved greatly in two months.  She understood a lot
people said, but her speech still sounded childish.
     Rinse silently helped Akane into the small wood and stone building
that was the pack's communal home.  It was a one-room building, longer
than it was wide.  The pack's sleeping areas lay stretched out in a row
down the middle of the room.  On one wall, near the center of the room,
was a fireplace for cooking and heat.  Rinse helped Akane over to her
pallet.  As a servant, Akane slept closest to the door, where it was
coldest.
     "How are you feeling?" Rinse asked the girl.
     "Hurts like fire," Akane answered.  She managed a little grin.
"Rinse not worry about Akane beating her now for week."
     "Shhh!  If Big Sister knew I taught you to fight, we'd both be out
there!"
     "Akane grateful, Rinse.  You help Akane... being friend."  Akane
looked frustrated at being unable to express herself, but Rinse
understood.
     "Here, let me put some salve on those welts."  Rinse reached over
to a small pouch of foul-smelling medicine that would soothe the pain.
"We're almost out again."
     "Akane try not to get in trouble till get more," Akane said with an
impish grin.  It disappeared when Rinse started spreading the salve over
the angry red welts.  "Ow!"
     "You put up with Big Sister's switching without saying a word and
then yelp over a little sting?"
     "Medicine worse than switch," Akane grumbled.

     Somewhere, outside Nyuchezuu, a dark-haired traveler struggled
onward.  Must not give up, he thought to himself.  Must find the
village.  With that thought, he promptly turned in the opposite
direction and began walking.
     Then fate, who was having one too many laughs at the young man's
expense, decided to give him a break.  The young man came upon a patch
of shrubbery and, as was his wont, he broke right through it....
     ... into a group of Amazons bathing in a spring.  The women, all
teenagers and unclothed, stared at the young man in startled
incomprehension.
     "Uh-er-um," he stammered incoherently, one hand behind his bandana-
clad head.  His face turned very red and blood began to trickle down
from his nose.
     "Ryouga!" the Amazons exclaimed, leaping at him in joy.
     "Ahhhhhhh!" Ryouga yelled, turning to run.  Fate (or another
goddess who SHOULD be helping her sister's relationship with a mortal)
could not pass up this.  Ryouga tripped over a root and the Amazons
pounced.

     Rinse and Akane both let out a sigh when the last bandage was
firmly in place.  "Thank you, Rinse," Akane said, carefully putting her
top back on.  She wore a skimpy outfit as one of Those Who Serve.  It
was a white belted tunic, laced at the sides.  The tunic ended a bit too
high above her knees for her liking, but she had gotten used to it.
Still, she was looking forward to the colder months.  She could wear a
warmer version that covered more of her body.
     What am I thinking?  I can't stay here a whole year like this.  My
back hurts just thinking about it.
     Akane had not taken the judgment of the Elders calmly.  She didn't
know it, but when she had protested, several elders had offered to
"train" her to serve.  Rinse had saved her from that, claiming her for
the pack.  They had sent Soun and Genma to pick rice, with Genma pulling
extra duty with the children of the village.  Nodoka, because she lacked
many skills the villagers possessed, had been placed in the nursery.
She was happy there, tending the children and it helped her forget the
son she had lost.
     For the Elders had worse news for the group than simple
enslavement.  They had questioned several warriors who had fought at the
battle for Jusenkyou seven years ago.  None of them remembered anything
about a boy with a pony-tail.  The best they could find was one account
of the Musk Dynasty carrying off someone in a karate gi.  However, the
Amazons had mounted an attack on the Musk Dynasty several days after the
battle and rescued many prisoners.  No Japanese boy was among them.
     "What are you thinking about, Akane?"
     "Akane think about how she got here.  So much change."  She
followed Rinse outside to gather wood for the fire.

     Shampoo ran through the foothills surrounding the village.  After
she had switched Akane, she had quickly left the village, ostensibly to
bathe.  Now she sought to forget the welts on the young girl's back,
losing herself in the rhythm of her steps.
     Swifter than the mountain goats, she ran up into the hills, past
the rice terraces and far from anyone else.  A narrow gravel path,
hidden by rocks and brambles, led her down ways that only she and one
other knew.  At a small, spring-fed pool, she finally stopped.
     Breathing hard, the purple-haired Amazon looked at her reflection
in the pool.  The face of a warrior looked back at her, mocking her
weakness.
     "Why am I so weak?" she snarled, falling back in exhaustion.
"Akane is just one of Those Who Serve.  Why should I care about hurting
her?"
     "Perhaps," answered a deep voice, "because she's your friend?"
     Shampoo looked up.  A man with long black hair, a white embroidered
robe, and blue pants sat by a small pillar of stone.  A small smile
crossed his face as she started in surprise.
     "Mousse!"  Shampoo leaped across the pool, landing in the shallow
waters on the far side.  Mousse stood to meet her, a pair of steel claws
appearing from somewhere in his robe.  With a snarl, Shampoo smashed one
away and drove Mousse back against the stone pillar.  He tried to push
her back, but her forearm was across his throat before he could move.
     "You cannot beat me, Mousse," Shampoo gloated, her eyes sparkling
with the thrill of victory.
     "Perhaps... I wanted... you this close..." Mousse croaked.  A small
egg fell out of his sleeve and hit the ground.  A billowing cloud of
acrid smoke surrounded the two of them.
     Shampoo shut her eyes, but they were already watering from the
sting.  Stupid!  She thought.  You knew he had those things, why didn't
you just finish him off?  She kept her eyes shut and assumed a defensive
stance.  She tried to listen for Mousse, but the sounds of the spring
babbling over stone distracted her.  Some kind of pole poked her in the
chest and she fell into the spring with a splash.
     The cold water washed the sting from her eyes.  Opening them, she
saw Mousse standing over her.  "Do you yield?" he asked.
     A leg sweep answered him, sending him into the spring and knocking
his staff from his hands.  "No!" Shampoo yelled, tackling him.  Mousse
wrestled desperately with her in the water, but Shampoo locked her arms
around his neck.  "Do YOU yield?" she asked, placing her face inches
away from his.
     Mousse's eyes glinted.  "What would you claim for your victory?"
     "I'll think of something," Shampoo said, meeting his lips with her
own.  The kiss deepened as their arms relaxed into a more intimate hold.
     "You know," Mousse managed to say minutes later, "it's not a good
idea to sit around in wet clothes."
     "That's easily fixed," Shampoo purred.

     Rinse and Akane had the fire going.  They were trying to decide
what to cook.  Suddenly, the door to the hut banged open.  Both looked
up in alarm, but no one was there.
     "Wind?" Akane asked, hesitantly.
     Rinse was about to reply when a blue-clad figure dropped suddenly
from the ceiling.  The redhead jumped back.  "Lotion!  Don't DO that!
Can't you come in like anyone else?"
     The blue-haired ninja gestured frantically at Rinse, beckoning her
to come.  This surprised Akane.  In her time with the pack, she had
never seen the young ninja act so flustered.  Lotion was still the most
mysterious member of her new "family."  Akane had only seen her face
when the pack bathed together.  Even then, it was easy to overlook her.
She somehow blended into her surroundings almost perfectly.
     "What's wrong, Lotion?" Rinse asked worriedly, reaching for her
staff.  "Is it an attack?  Did something happen in the village?"
     Lotion shook her head and spoke for the first time in Akane's
presence.  "R-R-Ryouga," she said, barely audible and stuttering badly.
     Rinse's face hardened.  "Oh, that moron.  Did he wander some place
he shouldn't have again?"  Lotion nodded emphatically.  "Come on, let's
go save his sorry behind."  Rinse turned to Akane.  "Watch the fire,
Akane."
     Akane humphed as the two Amazons darted out the door.

     Ryouga evaded the naked Amazons as best he could.  That wasn't very
well, since his eyes were screwed tightly closed to avoid seeing
anything.
     "Ryouga, you look hot and sweaty, why don't you come bathe with
us?" one Amazon whispered in his ear.
     "Um, no, that's all right," he stammered.  He felt around to get
his bearing and touched some soft and fleshy objects.  The blood was
pounding in his veins now and his nose felt like it would burst.  "Um,
I'll j-just be going now...."
     "Are you refusing our hospitality?  You wouldn't want to be rude,
would you?"
     "Ah-er, no... that is, I'm not, but I want to... I mean...."
     Strong, silky arms wrapped themselves around his torso.  "That's
more like it...."
     THWACK!
     The arms fell away.  Ryouga risked opening his eyes and saw a very
familiar redhead holding a staff.  At her feet lay a lovely nude Amazon
-- he closed his eyes again.
     "Back off!" Rinse yelled.  "You KNOW how he gets around women.
He's in no condition to fight any of you!"
     "We were just hoping we could cure him of his... problem," an
Amazon said.  "Besides, he's really cute when he blushes."
     Ryouga felt his face redden.  Suddenly all the Amazons giggled.
"Um, Rinse?  Could we go now?  Please?"
     "Huh?  Oh, sure, Ryouga... here, take my hand."
     Ryouga reached out and touched someone... but not on their hand.
Suddenly, everything began to spin and he saw stars, though his eyes
were closed.  It was kind of pretty, actually.  Then he fainted.

     "Who he, Rinse?" asked a voice in Mandarin.
     Ryouga stirred slightly.  Consciousness beckoned him, but remained
slightly out of reach.  Am I in heaven?
     "Oh, he's from Japan.  He wanders into the village now and then.
His name is Hibiki Ryouga."
     He managed to pry open his eyes a bit.  At first, all he could make
out was a burst of light.  The light resolved into colors, the colors
into blurs, then shapes.  He found himself looking onto the face of an
angel.
     Long black hair surrounded the vision that looked down on him with
concern.  I am in heaven, he thought deliriously, beginning to faint
again.
     "Ryouga, you idiot!  Don't lose it again!" came a more strident
voice.  A slap followed, which he barely felt.  His angel frowned at
this, however, so he fought his way back to her.
     "Are you OK?" the angel asked in Japanese.
     "Y-yes," he croaked.  "Am I dead?"
     "You'll wish you were," someone replied sarcastically in Mandarin.
"What were you doing at the Women's Baths, Ryouga?"
     Ryouga shook his head and finally took stock of his surroundings.
He was in Rinse's house at Nyuchezuu.  Her pack's house, he corrected
himself.  Rinse herself was sitting over against the wall, watching him
sourly.  Ryouga winced, knowing she had pulled his bacon out of the fire
again.  Why did he always get lost when he went somewhere?  His angel, a
strange Japanese girl, was sitting close to him, wearing a servant's
outfit.  "I didn't mean... that is, I... I'm sorry," he stammered in
Mandarin.
     Rinse gave a long suffering sigh, then came over and placed one arm
on the lost boy's shoulder.  "It's OK, but you know how the others get
around you.  You have to be more careful."
     "What others do?" Akane asked.  She was dying to talk to this
strange boy in her own language.  Excluding Rinse from the discussion
would be rude, however.
     The Amazon gave a grin.  "Oh, Ryouga, meet Tendo Akane, she's from
your country.  Akane, this is Hibiki Ryouga, the most eligible male in
the village... when he's here."
     "Eligible?"  Akane repeated, not knowing what it meant in Mandarin.
     "Most wanted guy."  Akane and Ryouga blushed, which seemed to amuse
Rinse.  "He has one problem, though... he faints if he sees 'too much'
of a girl."  The redhead pantomimed opening her top.
     "Rinse!  It's not like that!" Ryouga protested, glancing at the
strange girl.  For some reason, he didn't want her to get the wrong
idea.
     "It's not?" Rinse teased, opening a button.  Ryouga shut his mouth
and turned away.  Akane giggled.
     The three quickly fell to talking, in both languages as necessary.
They quickly told Akane's story to the amazed Ryouga.  He then, with
much prompting, began to talk about how he found the village of the
Amazons.
     "It started in Junior High," he said, in Japanese.  Rinse already
knew the story.  "Saotome Ranma and I were classmates."  Akane looked
startled at this.  "It was an all-boys school and, um, competitive.
Ranma and I got into several arguments.  I challenged him to a duel of
honor."
     "What did he do to you, Ryouga?" the Japanese girl asked.
     "Um... well... let's just say it was extremely dishonorable and
leave it at that, okay?"  Ryouga blushed for some reason.  "Anyway, when
I arrived at the site of the duel, Ranma had left for China with his
father.  Determined not to let him flee, I followed him."
     "Maybe he would've stayed if you didn't get lost," Rinse stated in
Mandarin.
     Ryouga flushed.  "I tried my hardest to find it," he said in
Mandarin.  "Do you think I spent four days walking all over Japan for my
health?"
     "Ryouga get lost going to bath," Rinse whispered to Akane in her
accented Japanese.  Akane looked at her friend in disbelief.
     "I followed Ranma all the way here," Ryouga continued in Mandarin,
"but by the time I got to Jusenkyou, a fierce battle was raging."
     "Was this seven years ago?" Akane asked.
     "Yes, I think I saw the same battle where you said Ranma was lost.
I looked for him, but I didn't see him.  I tried to avoid the fight, but
somehow I walked into the thickest part of the fighting."
     "He get lost," Rinse commented.
     Ryouga ground his teeth together and Rinse just smiled.  Akane
noticed that Ryouga had little fangs, overgrown canines, and it startled
her.
     "I saw several men carrying a redheaded girl who wasn't putting up
much of a fight.  I think she was unconscious--"
     Rinse hit Ryouga on the head with her staff.  "Watch talk, pig-
boy."
     "Do you want a fight?" Ryouga growled in Mandarin.
     "Do you think you can beat me?" Rinse asked with a grin.
     Ryouga leapt to his feet, adopting a fighting pose.  Rinse did
likewise, her staff at ready.
     "Rinse, Ryouga, there's no need--" Akane tried to say in Japanese.
     Ryouga was beyond listening.  He attacked Rinse, unleashing blows
that were so quick, Akane could barely distinguish them.  "KACHUU
TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" he yelled.
     Rinse's staff proved faster than Ryouga's fists, however, blocking
the punches furiously.  Sweat began to form on the girl's brow after a
few minutes, however, as Ryouga showed no signs of letting up his
attack.  Akane was impressed with Ryouga's endurance.  Finally Rinse
leaped backward and away, putting some distance between her and her
opponent.
     "Aha!" Ryouga yelled triumphantly, charging Rinse.
     Rinse dropped her staff and suddenly ripped open her top, exposing
her breasts to the young fighter.  Ryouga stopped in mid-motion, blood
erupting from his nose in a stream.
     "See what I mean?" Rinse asked Akane in Mandarin as Ryouga fainted.
     "Ryouga!" The scream was the last thing Ryouga heard before the
ground rushed up to meet him.

     Somewhere, in the wilds of Japan, a strange cave exists.  Set in a
desolate and remote mountain range, few knew of its existence.  No one
went near it willingly.  A huge boulder, festooned with prayer strips
and warnings, blocks the mouth of the cave.  They informed all who could
read them that they would unleash a great evil if they disturb the
boulder.
     "Hey, what's this say?" Mint, a warrior of the Musk Dynasty, asked
his companion Lime.  He adjusted his wolf-skin slightly to alleviate an
itch.  When he spoke, one could see he had fangs, giving him a wolfish
look.
     "Do I know how to read Japanese?" Lime replied.  Bigger and
stronger than his companion, Lime wore tiger-striped clothes.  His eyes
were green and feral-looking, like those of a tiger's.
     "Do you think it's a shrine or something?"
     "Maybe... is it on our list?"
     Mint pulled a wrinkled and water-stained map from his pocket.
"Let's see.... Nope!  I don't have it marked.  It's not even on the
map."
     "Well, Prince Herb told us to check out old shrines and the like,
right?  Maybe the Kaisui-fuu is in there."
     Mint looked at the boulder.  "It's awfully heavy.  Can you move
it?"
     Lime smacked his younger comrade on the head, sending him sprawling
to the ground.  "What kind of question is that?  Of COURSE I can move
it."
     Mint got slowly to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.  "Go
ahead and move it, then."  He went down the slope and sat under a pine
tree.  Whistling nonchalantly, he picked up a twig and began whittling
it.
     With an annoyed glance at Mint, Lime began inspecting the boulder.
He found a few handholds and grabbed them, squatting by the giant rock.
He pulled, the muscles on his arms and back flexing mightily.  Slowly,
the massive stone began to move.  Lime grunted and tried harder until
the stone, with a slight pop, fell away from the mouth of the cave.
     The wolfish boy watched all this with no small amount of awe.  He
had known Lime was strong, but this was a new feat for either of them.
Hmm, shouldn't Lime be getting up now?
     Mint walked over to his friend and looked at him.  "Going to squat
there all day?" he asked.
     "I think... I hurt... my back...." Lime grated out.  His companion
went to help him when they suddenly heard a cackle from the cave.
     Two eyes looked at them from within the inky darkness of the cave.
A rusty-sounding voice, hoarse from disuse, spoke.  "Free... Free at
last!"  Another insane cackle followed.  "After being trapped in that
cave for so long, I'm FREE!"  The shout echoed off the mountainsides.
     "Mint, what is that?" Lime asked, horrified.
     "I don't know..."
     The eyes turned toward the two warriors.  "Now, it is time to move
on to important things...."  The eyes moved closer to them until....
     A little old man in an old and faded martial arts gi stepped out
into the light.  He was perhaps the oldest looking man the two had ever
seen.  His skin was pale and wrinkled and he was almost entirely bald.
A small fringe of hair ran around his head, but it was hardly
noticeable.  In his large eyes glinted the fires of madness and
obsession.
     "So boys," the old man said to them.  "Know any place where an old
man can find some... panties?"
     Happousai, dreaded master of the Anything Goes School of Martial
Arts, had been freed.

Chapter Three

     "Come on, Akane!" Rinse said, pulling her friend along.  "We'll
miss Perm's part of the festival!"
     "You wanted snacks," Akane said disgruntledly.  She was carrying
many small bags in her arms and panting from trying to keep up with the
redhead.
     "Yeah, Rinse always thinks of food," Ryouga said with a laugh.  He
was holding onto Rinse's other hand, to make sure he didn't get lost.
Since his arrival in the village, he, Rinse, and Akane had become nearly
inseparable.
     It was the Summer Solstice, a day of festivals and celebration for
the Amazon village.  No work was done, other than the preparation of
food and drink.  Instead, it was a day of competitions and games, where
craftsmen and warriors strove to prove they were the best in their area
of skill.
     Rinse led the two to the Fighting Pit.  Long ago, a sinkhole had
opened up near the village.  The Amazons had worked on that depression
over the years, making it into an arena.  Stone seats surrounded a ring
of packed dirt where the warriors fought.  The Pit was large enough to
seat the entire village, and it was filled today.
     "Great, now we not get good seat," Akane said, looking at the
crowd.
     "Don't worry, Akane," Rinse said.  "They'll make a seat for us."
     "Why they do that?"
     "Because we've got loverboy here," Rinse smiled, pulling Ryouga
closer to her.  He immediately blushed bright red.
     "Why Ryouga so... wanted?" Akane asked.
     "He's one of the best male fighters the Amazons have ever seen...
when's he not wandering around lost."
     "That's not my fault!" Ryouga protested.
     "What fighting have do with it?"
     "Simple.  There's an ancient Amazon law that says if an Amazon is
beaten by an outsider male, she has to marry him.  Great-Grandmother's
been training Ryouga, too, so that makes him even more... attractive."
Rinse hugged Ryouga's arm for emphasis, winking at Akane.
     Ryouga's face was getting redder and redder as Rinse explained, and
he suddenly put a hand to his nose.  Blood trickled out as he tried to
keep from fainting.
     "Oh, great!  Akane, don't let him fall!  Come on, Ryouga, I was
just teasing you!"

     "Are you ready, pupil?" Mousse asked as he helped Perm prepare for 
her demonstration.  Picking up a loop of chain from the Armory floor, he
handed it to her.  She took it in her hands and suddenly it vanished,
hidden on her somewhere.
     "Ready, teacher," Perm said, standing tall.  They were in a small
adobe building near the Pit were weapons were stored.  It was a largely
empty room at the moment.
     "This is the first time you're putting your skills on display, so
it's okay to be nervous," Mousse said, addressing a spear rack.
     "Teacher, your glasses!" Perm said, producing a pair from up her
sleeve.  Smiling, she turned Mousse around and set them on his face.
"There, isn't that better?" she asked, standing quite close to him.
     "Of course, thank you," Mousse said, stepping back.  He was
smiling.  Truth be told, he didn't need his glasses so much anymore.
His other senses were extraordinarily acute.  But with his pupil, he
often acted like he couldn't see, just to remember old times.
     Perm frowned.  "What's the matter, teacher?"  She took another step
forward, her eyes staring into his own.
     Mousse just looked out a small window to judge the height of the
sun.  "Perm, your display starts in a few moments.  We'd better head for
the Pit, don't you think?"  He stepped around her, heading for the door.
     Perm clenched her fists and swore silently.  What do I have to do?
she thought.  Throw myself at his feet to get him to notice me?  For a
moment, tears glistened in her eyes.
     When they were all very young, Perm had watched Mousse as he
disastrously tried to court Shampoo.  Despite the fact that he was
always beaten, she had admired the tenacity he showed.  Her heart went
out to him one day as he lay face down in the mud after one of Shampoo's
beatings.

     "Why do you always chase Shampoo like that, Mousse?" Perm asked,
helping the ten-year old boy out of the mud.  Taking off his glasses,
she polished them on the hem of her blouse and set them back on his
head.
     "Thank you, Comb, I--"
     "I'm Perm," Perm corrected, crossly.
     Mousse peered at her, adjusting his glasses slightly.  His stare
was so intense, Perm actually blushed, unable to help herself.
     "Oh, sorry, Perm.  As I was saying, I can't help myself.  Shampoo
is just so... perfect."
     What about me?  Perm thought.  Aloud, she said, "You'll never
convince her to marry you at this rate, Mousse.  You're just a man, a
boy, even.  You don't have the skill to make her like you.  And she
won't let you win like some would."  Like me!  "Why don't you try
someone else?"
     Mousse's expression turned into a smile.  "Of course!  Thank you,
Perm!" he said, hugging her suddenly.
     A minute later, Perm peeled Mousse out of the mud again.  "I'm
sorry, Mousse, you surprised me.  What were you going to say?"
     "You said it!" Mousse exclaimed eagerly.  "I need to be skilled to
win Shampoo's heart!  I'm going to go learn to fight!"
     Perm was aghast.  "Don't be silly, Mousse!  You're a boy!  Boys
can't fight!"  He's STILL stuck on Shampoo?
     Mousse got a stubborn look on his face that Perm knew well, having
seen it every time Mousse picked himself up after Shampoo pounded on
him.  "So what?  Outsider boys fight.  I can learn too!"

     That had started Mousse down his path.  He had left the village
that day to find a teacher.  He found an old man, a master of the hidden
weapons style, who agreed to pass along his knowledge to the Amazon boy.
Years later, Mousse returned a fighter.  Some in the village had
whispered that he had studied "black magic" and consorted with demons.
His ideas were strange and threatening, about "equality between the
sexes."  Yet, he still could not defeat Shampoo.
     Perm caught herself sighing again.  She had apprenticed herself to
Mousse after his return, learning his style to be near him.  She found
herself still helping him back up after his fights with Shampoo, but no
more than that.  She wasn't sure if she shared his radical ideas, but if
they were important to him, she would respect them.
     At least he hasn't challenged Shampoo lately, she thought.  Maybe
he's finally getting over her.  She snorted.  Right, and the Old Dragon
of the Mountain will come down here for tea this afternoon.
     Looking around, she saw that Mousse had gone on ahead.  She picked
up her pace, hoping to catch up with him before they had to go their
separate ways at the Pit.  Turning the corner of one deserted street,
she stopped cold.
     Mousse was there, holding Shampoo in his arms, and the two of them
were kissing!  It was a furtive kiss, obviously one they didn't want
others to see.  Perm felt like something was breaking in her chest.  No
wonder he never noticed her advances.  He already had won the girl of
his heart, even if no one else knew it.  It had to be that way, for a
relationship between the great-granddaughter of the Head Elder and the
most radical boy in the village was forbidden.  By both families, since
Perfume, Mousse's great-grandmother, loathed Cologne's entire line.
     Perm ran down the street, away from the young lovers before they
could see her.  As she ran, the despair in her heart solidified into a
cold resolve.  She may be down, but the contest wasn't over yet.  She
would get Mousse to notice her.
     Or die trying.

     "See, I told you that we'd get a seat," Rinse said, smiling.
     Akane nodded from her seat on the other side of Ryouga.  Amazons
had been extraordinarily eager to make room for Ryouga.  But when Rinse
and Akane had sat down on either side of him, they had earned more than
a few angry looks.  Rinse was unconcerned.  She could take almost any of
the fighters in the village.  Akane, on the other hand, felt the half-
healed welts on her back begin to itch.  Some of the angry looks
promised all sorts of trouble ahead.
     "Is something wrong, Akane-san?" Ryouga asked in Japanese, noticing
that the black-haired girl's head had drooped suddenly.
     "It's nothing, Ryouga-kun," Akane said, lifting her head.  She had
to be strong.  Her period of servitude was a third over now.  Some of it
had even been fun, as the whole pack now seemed to regard her as a
little sister.  All the hard work they had made her do had definitely
increased her endurance.  Rinse had showed her some new martial arts
maneuvers and Shampoo, Perm, and Gel had explained about the history and
lore of the Amazons.  They even showed her some of their magical items,
like Gel's ever-full quiver.  Lotion had silently taught her how to hide
her presence from others, "fade into the woodwork," as Uncle Saotome
would put it.
     Still, she had become closest to Rinse and Ryouga.  When Ryouga was
not lost somewhere and Akane wasn't busy with chores, the three were
nearly inseparable.  The other Amazons were often jealous of how close
she was with the "Lost One."  While he was gone, Akane found the Amazons
going out of their way to heap work or punishments on her.  Fortunately,
the pack put a stop to it whenever they noticed.
     Akane could not figure out Rinse and Ryouga's relationship,
however.  That they were good friends was obvious, even if they did
bicker all the time.  But whenever it seemed like they were getting
intimate, Rinse would freeze up.  That was a bit odd, since most Amazon
warriors were hardly celibate.  Uninhibited was one word that came to
Akane's mind.  Other words also applied, but they were unprintable.
     By Amazon law, the men of the village were at the disposal of any
Amazon, unless an Amazon claimed one as her mate.  Even then, all one
had to do was ask the Amazon in question first.  Amazons didn't like to
fight over men (it only fed male egos) and so permission was often
granted.  Ryouga was an exception, since he was an outsider, and that
was covered by another set of rules.
     Akane blushed at remembering some of the things she had seen, but
she had never seen Rinse doing anything beyond holding hands.  She had
talked to Rinse about it, but the redhead had avoided the question,
offering to bring Akane a man if she was so curious.  Akane had quickly
changed the subject after THAT.
     "Oh, here comes Perm," Rinse said, interrupting Akane's thoughts.
"I hope she does well."
     "Perm best hidden weapons master after Mousse," Akane replied.
"She do good."

     The pack lounged around their hut, talking of the day's events.
Some of them were changing clothes, so Ryouga was left outside with
strict orders to go nowhere.
     "Akane think Perm do real good," Akane offered shyly, while taking
Perm's sweaty garments from the green-haired warrior.
     "Thanks, Akane," Perm said, reaching over to ruffle the Japanese
girl's hair affectionately.  "Next year, I'll win for sure."
     "The Elders just are prejudiced against new forms," Rinse chimed
in.  "You did far better than Dowel."
     "I'll just have to show them in the fall competitions, won't I?"
Perm said with a grin.  "Besides, why would the Elders show any
prejudice toward the Hidden Weapons Style?"
     Gel frowned.  "Mousse."
     Perm's face could have been made of stone for all the feelings it
showed.  "I had ever right to choose him as a Sensei.  The Elders
themselves declared him an Outsider for his actions."
     Shampoo snorted.  "Perfume still watches over him, declaration or
not.  Ties of blood are not so easily forgotten."
     "That must make your relationship with him rather difficult," Perm
said lightly.
     Shampoo started to nod, her instincts lulled in the one place she
felt she could let down her guard.  Then her head snapped around to
glare at Perm.  "What?!"
     Rinse tensed.  Gel stared incredulously at their leader, her mouth
hanging open.  Lotion slunk back into the shadows.  Akane, who was
barely following any of this, wished she was as skilled as the ninja.
     "I saw you kissing him before my competition," Perm replied,
meeting Shampoo's glare evenly.  "May I ask, leader, what your
intentions are toward him?"
     Shampoo's world wobbled.  She had known that she could not keep her
illicit relationship a secret forever, but...  Be honest, she told
herself.  You never gave a thought to where it was going because you
knew it would end badly.
     "I should have told you all about it when it happened," was all she
could say.
     "Yes, you should have," Perm replied.  "We are supposed to be
closer than sisters.  Did you really think we would have told Perfume?"
     Gel snorted, to show what she thought of that.  Still, her eyes
were accusing as she looked at Shampoo, her body stiff and unhappy.  A
soft sigh echoed from a corner that Akane thought Lotion had been in
last, though there was no sign of the ninja, of course.
     "No... but the situation was so strange..."  Shampoo shook her head
and met Perm's gaze.  "I intend... I WANT to mate with him."  She hung
her head sadly after a moment, however.  "But I cannot.  Pack-sister,
please, look after--"
     "Big Sister!  No!" Rinse cried.  "You love him!  Don't do this."
     Shampoo launched herself at Rinse, catching the redhead in a
sleeper hold before the diminutive Amazon could react.  "Rinse, you do
not know of what you speak!" Shampoo snapped.  "Honor and obligation
come before love.  You know this... or you should.  Did you learn the
lessons I taught, or should you join Akane in Those Who Serve?"
     "B-big... sister..." Rinse tried to get out between gasping
breaths.  The other Amazons watched impassively, not interfering.  Akane
sank back against a wall, one hand clapped over her mouth as she watched
one of her new family seem to try and kill the other.
     Somehow, Rinse managed to wriggle free of Shampoo, spinning around
and bringing her foot up in a kick that would have send Shampoo
reeling... if the purple-haired Amazon had been there to receive it.
Instead, Shampoo had dropped to the floor almost as soon as Rinse had
broken the hold, ducking under the kick.  Her leg swept out to try and
knock Rinse's other leg out from under her, but the redhead was
prepared.  Her leg flexed, sending her upward with surprising force.
Flipping in the air, Rinse let out a yell and dove down on Shampoo, one
foot leading.
     Akane, even though she was upset over seeing them fight like this,
frowned.  The move Rinse was trying was familiar somehow, but it wasn't
one of the maneuvers the redhead had been teaching her.
     Shampoo crossed her arms above her head, blocking Rinse's foot with
her forearms.  The redhead used Shampoo's arms as a springboard to flip
around, landing upright a few feet away.  Neither Amazon was even
breathing hard, Akane noted.
     "I don't require any more lessons, Big Sister," Rinse said, her
cocky smile back on her face.  "Maybe you do, though?" she inquired
sweetly.
     "Are you challenging me for leadership of the pack, Rinse?" Shampoo
asked.
     That brought Rinse up short.  The cocky grin disappeared, replaced
by a look of surprise.  "No!  I would not--"
     "Then be careful what you speak of," Shampoo replied brusquely,
standing straighter.  Turning slowly, she gazed at each member of the
pack.  "I am the leader."  A statement of fact, daring any of them to
contest it.
     None did.
     "Perhaps it would help if you DID tell us what happened, Shampoo,"
Perm said, diffidently.  None could mistake the gleam in her eye as she
watched Shampoo.
     "What does it matter, Perm?" Shampoo said.  "I cannot take him as
my husband.  He is..."  She could not say it.  Her throat constricted,
unable to form a simple word: yours.
     Perm looked away, pretending not to notice her leader's distress.
The others did the same, each finding something of interest in the dirt
floor or the rafters of the hut.  Shampoo found herself grateful for
that.  Even Akane was keeping her gaze low, as proper for one of Those
Who Serve.  Perhaps that switching had done some good.
     "I would like to hear the whole story," Rinse said, after a moment.
     The rest of the pack nodded, looking at Shampoo now.  Shampoo
swallowed down her distress and forced herself to answer.  She owed them
that.

     You all know that Mousse has been chasing me almost all my life.  I
can barely remember a time when he was not.  At first, I simply beat
him, as was expected of an Amazon when a man forgot his place.  But he
never seemed to learn.  By the time we were ten, I had already lost
count of the times I had stomped him into the ground.
     After a while, he just became a part of my life.  I didn't even
have to try in order to beat him up.  It was even easier considering he
kept mistaking farm animals and bushes for me.  He was part of my daily
ritual.  Get up.  Wash.  Eat.  Beat up Mousse.  Do chores. Beat up
Mousse.  Eat.  Beat up Mousse.  I was spending more time with him than
with my family!
     After our tenth year, however, things changed.  I don't know how,
but he got it into his head to go off and learn to fight.  Of course, he
may have simply wanted to stop looking like a complete fool every time
we fought.
     I didn't see him for four years.  At first, it was a relief.  Then,
after a few weeks, I found myself wondering where he was, if he was
okay.  I didn't let myself think of what that meant.  Like I said,
Mousse had become part of my routine.  Now he wasn't there.  I adapted,
but I still felt something missing.
     I was expected to be the best warrior in the village, of course.
At least, my Great Grandmother expected that.  Her training began to
take up more of my time, so I did not think much of Mousse until he
returned.
     He was different, but some things never changed.  The first thing
he did was challenge me.  He surprised me with his chains and hooks.  I
don't know to this day how he hides all that.  Also, for the first time,
I noticed him as a man... I was that age, after all.  His muscles were
firm and well defined (necessary, with all those chains to carry).  I
always thought his eyes were his nicest feature, however.  It's a shame
those glasses have to cover them all the time.
     I won, of course.  There wasn't much chance of it turning out
differently.  He did surprise me, but I adapted.  I even tried to
compliment him on his new style.  He took it the wrong way and I had to
beat him into the ground again.
     My life settled again into a schedule of training and beating up
Mousse.  I had few friends in that time, so he was even a comfort.  I
spoke with him, sometimes, about what he saw in the outside world and I
wished I could see them for myself.
     Then the Musk attacked.  I got to see war for the first time.  I...
killed.  I remember the one I killed to this day.  I probably will never
forget him.  It was necessary, I tell myself, and I would do it again.
Ancestors be praised that it hasn't.
     I have never told anyone that.  It might surprise you, that
Shampoo, the great warrior, would be so squeamish.  It shames me to this
day.  Only two others know of my shame.  Great Grandmother and Mousse.
     Great Grandmother saw it as a personal failure, that she had made a
mistake in her training of me.  My training would redouble, she told me.
     Mousse was the other.  He would not leave me alone, not even in
battle.  He stayed hidden until it was joined, but once our forces met
the Musk, he charged into it as bravely as any woman.
     When I made my kill... I lost control of myself.  I knelt there in
his blood, vomiting, shaking, maybe even crying.  No one else saw, what
with the confusion of battle, the fog around Jusenkyo... Mousse saw.
     And he saved my life.  A Musk Warrior had thought me easy prey.  He
was probably right.  I was in no condition to defend myself.
     I was not the only one who learned to kill that day.
     I bawled like a baby on Mousse's blood-splattered robes. and he
held me gently.  He neither denounced me or shamed me, he was... there
for me.  We said nothing that day.  He returned to hiding and I returned
to the village.
     Great Grandmother was upset with me for being weak.  Because of
that, she made me volunteer for the mission that was setting out to
rescue those Amazons who were captured by the Musk.  It was a good
mission, one I was glad to accept, except for the possibility I would
have to kill again.
     A small group of Amazons penetrated the Musk stronghold.  I pray
you never see it.  It is a awe-inspiring building, built atop a cliff
beside a raging waterfall... but the beauty masks the horrors within.
What we found in their dungeons... they truly do treat ALL women as
animals, not just the ones who they make as brides.
     Mousse followed again.  He kept himself so well hidden, I didn't
even know he was there... though I hoped he was.
     In those dungeons, I found a young red-haired girl who could not
speak, who merely looked at everything in child-like awe.  She had been
beaten, quite severely, but she seemed unaware of it until I touched the
bruises with my hand.  I thought she was one of the Musk's animal-
brides, but there was SOMETHING in her eyes... I swore to rescue her.
     As we were escaping, we were attacked by a cloaked Musk Warrior.  I
could not make out anything about him, so covered in cloth was he, but
his abilities... he could fly, somehow, using his chi.  He could attack
with his chi as well.  I have never seen a warrior with so much life
energy at his disposal.
     I would not be here today, but for Mousse.  He distracted the Musk
warrior with his chains at just the right moment.  I grabbed the girl
and him and decided the waterfall was better than whatever that warrior
would do.
     Yes, I ran from battle.  Only Mousse, and now you, know that.  We
survived, of course, and made it home.  My sisters and I were lauded as
heroes, for we got so many out.  Even the red-haired girl proved worthy
of becoming an Amazon, though her memories of before her... ordeal never
returned.
     I spoke with Mousse, but he refused to talk of what happened.  He
has saved my life twice and kept my secrets, never asking anything in
return.  At first, I felt honor-bound to reward him, but he refused even
that.  We began to spend more time talking and less time fighting... one
thing led to another.
     I love him, but I cannot have him.  I deserve no less, for my
weakness and cowardice.

     The pack was silent after Shampoo's story.  The purple-haired
warrior had told it emotionlessly, with barely any emphasis.  Akane had
been able to follow along, though she had had to struggle at times.
Some things puzzled her, like why Perm looked uncomfortable when Shampoo
talked about Mousse leaving to train, but that was swallowed up by her
amazement as Shampoo told her story.  The Japanese girl felt tears
stinging her eyes and struggled not to show it, for fear of shaming
Shampoo.  Looking over at Rinse, however, showed she was not alone.  The
redhead's eyes were suspiciously moist.
     Wait a moment.  Akane looked at Rinse's red hair suspiciously, then
back at Shampoo.  She remembered something Ryouga had said, about seeing
a redhead being carried off by the Musk.  Was Rinse the redhead in
Shampoo's story?  Had the Musk...?  Akane shuddered.
     Perm let out a small sigh.  "I understand now, Shampoo, why you
never told us."  She stood and walked over to the fireplace, now banked
and waiting for Akane to be ready to cook dinner.  For a long moment,
Perm stared into the ashes, seeking answers there, then she straightened
and turned back to Shampoo, who was staring morosely at the ground.  "I
place no claim on Mousse.  He is yours.  And you are still leader of
this pack in my eyes."
     Shampoo looked up in surprise.  She opened her mouth, but before
she could say anything, Rinse spoke up.
     "You're not weak and definitely not a coward, Big Sister.  I
wouldn't be here if not for you.  You're still the leader."
     Gel nodded.  "Leader," she said.
     Lotion appeared and bowed long and low before Shampoo.
     Akane, not knowing what else to do, but wanting to show her support
as well, knelt and bowed as she had been taught, but this time she meant
it.
     Shampoo stared at them all, her mouth working like she had
forgotten how to speak.  Then, her eyes suspiciously moist like Rinse's
had been, she found her voice.  "Thank you, all of you."