"T.H. Tiger" <schell@interlog.com>

     A fan fiction based on the works of RumikoTakahashi, 
     creator of Ranma 1/2, and, Masaki Kajishima, who I've been
     told is the creator of Tenchi. Hitoshi Okuda, is the artist and
     creator of the Tenchi Manga.
     Go figure.
     I have no rights to these characters.  Which should come as no
     surprise to anyone.
    
     Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?  Chapter seven.
     China Girls , or
     Mother, Chef, and Violence.  Part one
    
     What's going on?
     This is an alternative universe story.
     Ranma was trapped as a girl from her first dip in the
     Nanniichuan.

     Why?  Read the earlier chapters of Tenchi and Ranma,
     Together Forever!?.  See below for some highlights.
    
     Unable to carry out his plan to engage Ranma to one of the
Tendo girls, Genma recalled that he had once promised Nobuyuki
Masaki that if he ever had a daughter, he would marry her to
Nobuyuki's son Tenchi.  Well, as it so happens, Genma has recently
acquired a daughter.

     Nodoka Saotome, along with Akane Tendo and Ukyou Kuonji
are on their way to Jusenkyo in hopes of finding out what has
happened to Ranma and Genma who are three months overdue.  At
least Nodoka and Ukyou are.  Akane just wants to get out of the
house for the summer before her father sinks the place with his
tears.  Not to mention escaping from the constant combat zone her
life has become due to a certain Kendoist, and her father's perverted
Master.

     Big thanks to the people who contributed C+C to this, their
     help has been greatly appreciated.
     Pieter Thomassen
     Jeffrey Hosmer
     Thiemo Gunther
     Matthew Campbell, who didn't let me get away with anything,
     and I thank him for it.
     And of course all the rest of the usual suspects.
     Jim, Eimii, and Wade, who have much to do with getting me
     to the point I am at as far as my skills as a writer go.
     Last, but not in the least, least, Green eyes, who's cheerleading
     has got me through many a dry spell.
    
     If you have not read my TARTF side story featuring Ryouga in
Space, I recommend you do so before reading this.

T.H.  Tiger
schell@interlog.com

     Space is big.  That may seem a trite statement, but the problem
is that the vocabulary of planet-born peoples simply can't cope with
the sheer scope of space.  Oh, they will spout off knowledgeably
about light years, and parsecs, but in the end, those words do not
truly convey that which is space. 

     By the time a race evolves to the point where they can truly
sum up all that is space in a few simply words, they have become so
insufferably smug that all the other people in the galaxy have long
since stopped listening to them.  As a result, there are no words
other then the mundane ones used by planet bound people to
describe how bleeding big space is.

     You would think therefore that the chances of two or more
spaceships running into each other in this massive void would be so
slim as to be not worth calculating the odds.  If you believe this you
have not often visited Jurai system 0315, or for that matter any
other area that has for any length of time been the territory a certain
Galaxy police detective has made her home.

     Currently, two small, small being a relative term of course,
space ships, were making their way toward the outskirts of said area
0315.  On board the trailing member of the small convoy, the
captain, and sole occupant was not happy.

     Agent P, special investigator for Jurai security, currently on
detached duty, looked at the blank sensor screens in front of him,
and felt like cursing.  So he did.  His carefully laid plans to catch the
kidnappers who had shanghaied his young charge looked like they
were going to come to nothing.  He had been sure that they would
try to recover him in order to cover their tracks, but such did not
look to be the case.  Which meant that he had wasted the better part
of a week on a wild goose chase.

     Having turned the small cabin of his ship blue for a length of
time sufficient to some what relieve his feelings, he pressed an
intercom button.  The central most screen in front of him came to
life with the image of a human, a young male of the species.  He
was clad in a galaxy police issue coverall, but had his black shaggy
hair held back by a non-regulation black checked, yellow bandana.
He looked startled for a second, and then smiled at the screen,
revealing canines that were in general more pronounced then was
usual for his particular species.

     "Agent P, what is it?" He asked, and then in a hopeful voice,
added, "Are we almost home?"
     "Should be there in a half a day at this rate." The captain of the
other ship assured him. The young man's face took on a relieved
look, and the sudden absence of stress lines on his face revealed just
how much strain he was under.  Agent P well understood his
feelings.  The boy was not used to space travel, and was especially
not use to being confined to a small area for such a long period.
While he had tried to put up a brave front, P was familiar enough
with primate humanoids to decipher the claustrophobia that lurked
just beneath the surface of his companions mind.  Some of P's
disappointment disappeared in the face of the boy's obvious
pleasure.  The trip had not been a total waste, not as far as the boy
was concerned anyway.

     "I'll sure be glad to see home again it's been so ---" The boy's
words were suddenly cut off as the screen his face was on dissolved
into static.  At the same time warning sirens started howling in the
captain's cabin.

     The calm and detached voice of the ship's computer began to
speak, giving details to explain the warnings.  "Caution, proximity
alert.  Ship exiting hyper space in close proximity.  Danger." 

     "Who is it?"

     "Scanning alien vessel . . . Scan complete.  Ship identified." 
    
     "Well, don't keep it to yourself."

     "Craft is that of most wanted criminal, Kagato, the Soja." 

     "Crap on a stick!"
    
     "Warning, extreme danger, automatic evasive maneuvers
begun." 
    
     "Quit stating the obvious.  Can we make it?"

     "Warning, time not sufficient.  Soja's deflector array will
impact on us in thirty three point five seconds."
    
     "Shit." 

     "Initiating emergency protocols."

     While the computer and himself had been speaking, agent P
had been doing his best to override the interference that was cutting
him off from the craft the young boy was on, to no avail.
He was still frantically working controls when several large valves
opened, and a pale blue fluid began to flow into the small cabin
with enough force to shatter the instrument screens.  Instinctively,
agent P held his breath when the liquid filled all the available space.
He ruthlessly overrode those instincts, and took a deep breath,
drawing the liquid deep into his lungs.
     A sensation of drowning filled him, and he had to fight to
control himself.  He continued to make normal breathing motions,
and eventually his body accepted that he was not drowning.  The
oxygen saturated liquid supplied all the oxygen that was necessary
to keep him alive.  It also provided a large level of protection
against sudden deceleration.  The type that happens when a small,
fast moving object, runs into a large, slow moving one.

     Agent P had time to think, 'I'm sorry boy,' and then the
emergency jump feature cut in, and the main life support module of
his ship vanished, leaving behind a gutted hulk that an instant later
shattered into atoms as the Soja's deflector screens ripped it apart.

     Several miles away, the small auto courier ship agent P had
been following, the one with the young boy on board, was struck a
glancing blow by the trailing edge of Soja's deflector screen.  It
went spinning through space, shedding bits of its superstructure as it
did so.

     Inside the ship, the lone passenger was thrown around his
room as the inertial stabilizers failed under the heavy load.  Seen
from the outside, large dents began to appear in the hull adjacent to
his cabin.  The AI in control of the ship tried to compensate, but it
was a losing battle. Power relays failed under the load.  Bus bars
glowed incandescent, before exploding into a blinding cloud of
molten metal.  The ship began to break up, and in the boys cabin,
several of the large indentations in the hull ripped, spilling the
precious air inside, out into the void.

     Ryouga Hibiki felt the air sucked from his lungs, and they
burned with the need for oxygen, but that pain was as nothing
compared to the pain that filled the rest of his body.  He felt like he
was on fire, like he was freezing, like he was about to blow up, like
he was about to be squeezed into a small lump, and all at the same
time.  His brain tried to make sense of the messages Ryouga's body
was sending him, but was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and
complexity of what was happening.  It grasped at one basic fact, at
one fundamental truth, and as the hull around him exploded
outward he screamed it at the silent star studded blackness of space.

    
     In space they say, no one can hear you scream.  This is not
entirely true.  It comes down to what you are using to scream, and
what that 'one', is using for ears.

     MIB headquarters, New York, New York.

     Agent J, a tall thin black man, dressed in a black on black suit,
turned his head to the side and looked at the six inch long quivering
shard of black crystal that had just shaved a neat furrow in his
closely cut black hair.  The part of his mind that was still rational,
idly noted that the crystal was imbedded several inches into the dura
steel bulkhead that he was currently leaning against, and that dura
steel was in general much tougher then the average human head.
The rest of his mind then went, "huma a huma a huma," and his
long legs slowly folded up till he was sitting on the floor.

     Agent J became aware of a voice speaking to him, and he
looked up to see a tall icy blond in a black suit very similar to his
standing over him.  Her mouth was moving, and from this he
assumed that the voice he was hearing was hers.  He focused.  "J! J!
Are you all right?" The woman's hands reached out and gingerly
fingered his scalp.  Something that at most any other time would
have been very welcome, but which drew no strong reaction from
him for several minutes this time.  It was only when she turned
away and spoke that he began to regain some level of concentration.
"It's all right, it only took off a bit of hair.  He's fine as far as I can
see."
     "Fine!  Fine?" Agent J shouted, springing to his feet.  "L, do
you have any idea what it takes to get this level of perfection?" He
cried, running his hand through his hair and wincing when it crossed
the furrow the piece of crystal had left behind.
     "Eight fifty?" A voice answered from behind J, and he
turned to scowl at his craggy faced partner, K, who had just walked
up.
     "I wish. This cost me fifty big ones.  Oh man," J moaned,
trying to see himself in the shiny surface of the door, "and I had a
date tonight too." His eyes suddenly fell on the cause of this whole
situation, the black crystal shard.  "Hey, what is this thing any way?
I'd sort of like to know what almost did in my Mama's favorite
boy."
     "That," growled a voice from the direction of the main floor,
as Z, the director, made his presence known  "Is the single largest
remaining piece of what used to be the most expensive
communications device in MIB central.  An instantaneous
communicator.  And what I want to know is how the bloody blue
blazes this happened."
     "It was an overload sir," L answered.  "Some sort of signal
came in that set up a dissonance in the crystal, and before we could
dampen it, it shattered."
     "What was the signal?" K inquired.
     "The twins are working on it.  We should . . . oh, looks like
this is it." L said, nodding toward a white coated tech who was
hurrying toward them, or more specifically Z, who took the sheet of
paper he was carrying.
     Z perused the message for several minutes, his heavy grey
eyebrows drawing together in a single furry line across his brow.
"What is it?" J inquired.  "It in some sort of weird alien code?"

     "No!" Z said shortly, "it's not in code, it's not even alien.  It
was originally in Japanese, but the lab boys translated." He handed
the letter to J, who read it and then looked at the other three agents
with a puzzled look on his face.

     "All right, I'll bite, who or what is this Ranma dude, and what
is all, his, her, or its, fault?"

****************************************************

     Plum, who was filling in for the Jusenkyo guide, her father,
looked over the dusty travelers standing in front of her.  An older
woman, dressed in a practical traveling kimono.  A young girl,
dressed every bit as unisex as Plum herself.  Good stout trousers,
and a heavy, long-sleeved cotton top that all but obscured her
figure.  The only concession she made to her femininity was the
long shiny black hair that was drawn back into a single heavy pony
tail that fell half way down her back.
     Last, and in Plum's opinion, definitely not least, was a very
handsome boy.  He was a little taller then the older woman, with a
build and face to die for.  His long chestnut hair was also drawn
back in a pony tail, though not quite as long as the younger girl.  He
had some sort of heavy, large-bladed weapon strapped to his back,
and a bandolier of what Plum assumed were throwing weapons
hanging diagonally across his chest.  His eyes were a lovely
sandalwood brown that a girl could easily lose herself in for days at
a time.

     While Plum was checking him out, he, and the two women
with him were in turn looking her over.  They saw a young girl,
about as old as the two younger members of their party, dressed in
an oversized, and very rumpled, Chinese Mao uniform.  Her fine
brown hair was drawn back severely in a tight braid that fell half
way down her back.  Belying the severity of her hair style, she wore
two bright red hair ornaments on either side of her head.  They
made a vivid splash of color on her otherwise drab exterior.  Her
eyes were lively and quick, and seemed to sparkle with delight and
joy.  A marked contrast to the way the three visitors were currently
feeling.

     Having looked the visitors over, Plum, for the first time by
herself, launched into the  delivery of the traditional greeting.
"Welcome to legendary training ground of Jusenkyo.  Here be many
tragic tales . . . "  Plum had said this so often in practice, she had no
need to think about it.  So while her mouth worked on autopilot, she
surreptitiously checked out the cute guy.  To think she'd been mad
at her father when he had drafted her to look after the valley while
he took some other customers around to some of the local hot
springs. On a monkey hunt of all things.  This was suppose to be
their time together.  She hardly ever got to see him as it was,
without him running off like that. How was she ever going to learn
all she needed to know if he never taught her? Well, now it looked
like an absentee father was going to turn out to be a plus, and didn't
it ever serve him right.  This would teach him to try and keep her
away from cute guys.

     "Young lady!" A firm voice said, pulling Plum back from a
just started daydream involving the handsome boy in front of her,
some moonlight, and rice wine.  Plum blushed as she realized the
older lady had been addressing her for some time, and that she
herself had long since stopped talking.

     "So sorry, what you say?" She asked politely, while inside she
writhed in embarrassment at the thought of what the cute guy must
think of her distracted air.  He must think her a little kid, to get
distracted so easily,  Plum thought to herself.  She vowed to act her
apparent age from now on.  They would have no reason to find fault
with her.

     The older woman was again the one who spoke to her.  "We
are looking for two people, a young boy and his father.  My
husband and son.  They would have been here about three and a half
months ago.  We have been tracing their journey.  We know that
they were in the village an hour north of here at that time, and that
they were coming here from there."
     "This one is so sorry.  This one was not here at that time.
Honorable father is official guide.  This one has only been here for
last two weeks."

     Plum sighed to herself. Two, long, boring, dreary, lonely, boy
deprived weeks.  Her father was going to owe her big time.  Of
course, if her father was here, the last thing on her mind would be
boys, she thought with a sigh of regret.  Either way she couldn't
seem to catch a break.  Her mother watched her like a hawk at
home, and her father was just as bad in the valley.  Now, here was a
handsome guy, and no father or mother to send her back to play
with her dolls, and he had two other women with him already.
Well, she thought with some hope, maybe her chances weren't fully
blown.  The older woman was likely his mother, or some other
female relative.  As for the black haired girl.  Well, she was hardly
what Plum would call competition.  She was almost as flat as a boy.
Once the cute guy got a load of her assets, the black haired girl
would be eating her dust.

     The older woman seemed to slump after hearing Plum had no
news of her husband and son, and that drew Plum back to her
duties.  She realized that more than the journey was responsible for
the worn look on the older woman's face.  Plum's father had always
told her to pay close attention to the people who came to the
springs.  To try and judge not only their pocketbooks, but their
emotional state.  It saved a great deal of trouble in the long run if
you could detect the ones who were likely to take a head long dive
into one of the pools as a rather round about way of ending it all.
Of course, as her father even more frequently said, there was
nothing you could do about the damn fools who were the most
frequent victims of the pools of sorrow, but at least you could try to
head off the crazy ones.
     Plum did not think this one was crazy, but she was clearly
under a great deal of strain.  Plum's lack of information had only
added to that from the looks of things. 
     Plum hastened to offer what reassurance she could. "This one
is sorry to distress you.  If you wish to wait, honorable father will be
back in a day or so.  You may ask him about the young man and his
father."

     Actually, Plum had no idea how long her father was going to
be.  How long did it take to spray a bunch of monkeys with cold
water anyway?

     "Thank you.  Is there somewhere safe we can camp while we
wait?  We have heard that this area is dangerous."

     Plum blinked in surprise.  A cautious person visiting Jusenkyo.
That was very nearly unheard of.  Except of course, for those few
magic users who came here to gather the plants that grew nowhere
else.  For a second she was uncertain of what to suggest.  She'd love
to offer the cute guy the shelter of the guide hut, but four people
would be a bit crowded in the one room shack.  Somehow, she
didn't think he'd be agreeable to sharing it with her while his
companions camped outside. 
     She could send them back to the village they had come from.
Then, she could come and get them when her father came back.  If
she did that however, one of those boy crazy girls in the village
would latch onto the cute guy.  No way could she let that happen.
Then, inspiration hit.  "At end of valley is safe area.  Many years
ago, side of mountain fall off.  Cover everything.  No springs there.
You wait for honorable father there, yes?"

     "Thank you that would be fine.  Could you show us the way
please?"
    sp;      Plum gladly escorted them down to the proposed camp site.
As she skipped along beside the older woman who said her name
was Nodoka, she delivered the standard lecture on the springs, and
the various curses of the ones they passed.  As usual, the three
people did not believe a word of it.  She sighed to herself.  She had
once asked her father why he did not do demonstrations.  Tossing a
mouse or something similar into one of the springs would save so
much time and bother.
     He had not taken the suggestion well, and she had ended up
receiving a stern, and very long, lecture on how wrong it was to
inflict a curse on an innocent animal, especially if you used one of
the human springs.  "Besides," he had finished with, "it would do
no good.  The watchers would just assume it was some sort of trick,
and would learn nothing from it.  You would have harmed the
creature for no gain." Having heard tales of the fools her father had
met over the years, Plum had to concede that he more than likely
had the right of the matter.  Fortunately, these three did not seem to
have any interest in the valley's reputation as a training ground, and
so it was unlikely she would have to deal with the consequences of
their disbelief.  Or so she tried to convince herself.

     When they reached their goal, Plum helped them to set up their
tents and gear, trying to stay as close to the good looking young boy
as she could.  She was a bit dismayed to find that he was sharing a
tent with the young girl.  However, after observing them together,
she came to the conclusion they must be brother and sister.  Which
likely made the older woman their mother.  They certainly
displayed little in the way of affection for each other.  Indeed, the
younger girl seemed to be looking at the boy with every indication
of distaste.  A feeling Plum was very familiar with.  She felt much
the same way about her male cousins.  She resumed helping with
the setup, and started to hum a happy tune as she did all she could
to attract the good looking boy's attention. Eventually however, the
camp was set up, and she could find no more excuses to stay. 
     Much to Plum's dissatisfaction, despite her every effort, she
had not succeeded in drawing more then a passing look from the
cute guy.  She decided it was all the fault of the stupid uniform her
father insisted she wear when she was here.  Bad enough that it was
so drab, but it was several sizes too big on top of that.  No wonder
the boy hadn't given her a second look.  He probably didn't even
know she was a girl. 
     Well, father might like sucking up to the local political officer,
but she had a life.  Or at least she would have, if she didn't have to
wear butt ugly outfits day in and day out.  She vowed to hunt
through her meager wardrobe for something that would knock the
cute guy's eyes out. 
     Tomorrow when she came back to take them on a tour of the
springs, he would see what a real woman looked like.  That little
silk number with the side cut to here, that she had stolen from her
mother's trunk, and kept hidden from her father, ought to do the
trick.  One look at her in that, and he'd have no doubts that she was
a full grown woman.

     "Well, that must make you feel pretty good about yourself."
Akane said sarcastically, as she watched the female guide walking
away.
     Ukyou turned to stare at Akane, a questioning look on her
face, "What?"
     "The way the little bimbo was practically  drooling over you."
     "I didn't really notice." Ukyou said, but the faint look of
discomfort on her face belied her words.
     "Oh please, she couldn't have been more obvious without
stripping down and jumping you.  Are you sure you don't like it?"
Akane asked suspiciously. 
     Ukyou sighed.  Akane was about a subtle as a brick to the
head.  She'd been trying to find out if Ukyou was gay for the last
four days.  Ukyou had been hard pressed to keep her temper. It was
all the more disturbing because of her own self-doubt on the
subject.  "No, I don't like it, but it comes with the territory.  I
sometimes think that if I did want the attention, I wouldn't get it.  I
think the fact that I don't drool, or bleed from the nose, every time a
cute girl looks at me, makes them all the more interested."
     "My, I'm glad to see you're so modest." Akane said
sarcastically. 
     Despite Akane's tone Ukyou was pleased to note there was a
very faint touch of humor present in her words.  And was that a
slight smile on her lips as she turned away?  Akane had started to
relax toward Ukyou after the first time they had used a public bath
together.  Ukyou had a hunch that Akane had not really believed her
to be female till then.  She was still prickly as hell, but at least now
she seemed to finally be coming around to regarding Ukyou as
something other then a pervert who was just waiting for a chance to
get her alone. 
     Ukyou's lips twitched toward a grin herself, as she
remembered that time in the bath.  How Akane had stared at her
suspiciously, not taking her own clothing off until Ukyou had
stripped down completely.  Anyone watching might have been
justified in thinking Akane was the pervert, considering how
intently she had checked Ukyou out.  That recollection brought
another one. 
     Ukyou wore boxers and tied her breasts down as part of her
disguise.  She wondered what Akane's excuse was?  While Akane's
bindings were not nearly  as stringent as Ukyou's, leaving the
contours of Akane's breasts visible, they had to be more
uncomfortable then a bra.  As for the boxers, well, Ukyou had to
admit that except when nature demanded otherwise, she actually
preferred boxers.  It could be that Akane just felt uncomfortable in
panties, and maybe found the breast bindings offered more support
for her martial arts training then even a sports bra could. Still,
Akane was a poor one to be casting stones, given her own
masculine attire.  Not to mention her attitude toward boys would
seem to indicate she might find girls more interesting herself.

     "Well, I think if you have no interest in girls, the least you
could do is let them know the truth before they make complete fools
of themselves." Akane said, showing she was not ready to let the
matter drop.  "That is unless there is some reason you don't want
them to stop?"
     Deciding she was not really up to another discussion of her
gender preference, Ukyou switched topics.  "Have you noticed
Saotome-san?  She looks so sad."
     Akane looked for a moment like she was going to resist
Ukyou's attempt to change the subject, but the chance to bad mouth
males proved too much for her.  "Well finding out your husband
and son are a pair of crooks would depress anyone.  We've found
three places where they either stayed or ate, and they ran out on the
bill at all three of them.  I'm thinking she's well rid of the pair of
them. Not to mention all the complaints we heard in the villages
when we asked around about them."
     Ukyou nodded, but she couldn't help but feel there was more
to it then that.  You would have thought petty thievery carried the
death penalty from the way Nodoka reacted to Genma and Ranma's
behavior.  As for herself, she had shrugged off the news.  It was
what she would have expected of the pair of them after all.
     "I'm going to go and do some practicing.  You want to come
along?" Akane asked, breaking into Ukyou's train of thought.
     "Sure.  You want to spar?" While they had trained along side
each other on several occasions, they had never sparred.  Ukyou was
feeling a bit rusty, and a good match would help that.  To her
surprise, Akane looked almost nervous at the suggestion. 
     "Ahh, no, I don't think that's a good idea right now  . . .  The
springs, we have to be careful.  If we got too caught up in our
sparring, we might lose track of just where we are, and fall in.
Wouldn't want that would you?" Akane said this in the manner of
someone searching for an excuse not to do something, rather then if
she really believed what she was saying.
     "Oh please, you don't mean to tell me you really believe in
that nonsense about them being cursed?"
     "Of course not!" Akane protested
     "Then come on." Ukyou wheedled.  She put on a smirk, and
pushed one of Akane's buttons.  "I promise I won't go too hard on
you."
     "Too hard on me!?" Akane said in outrage.  "Not on the best
day of your life!"
     "Care to prove that?" Ukyou said, her smirk growing more
insulting.  She drew her main weapon, the oversized battle spatula
she kept strapped to her back.  Looking like a metal version of a
typical baker's peel, it made a formidable weapon.  Ukyou handled
it with the competence of long familiarity, but on this occasion, she
did not mean to use it.  She leaned it against a nearby shoot of
bamboo instead.  "There, that should make things more even.  Or
would you like me to tie one hand behind my back as well?" As she
said this, Ukyou made a come-on gesture with her hand, while
falling into a defensive crouch.
     Akane glared at her.  Taking the metal baker's peel from its
position by the bamboo, she tossed it to the surprised chef.  "Fine,
but don't say I didn't warn you, and you'd better use this.  You're
going to need it."
     "Hee," Ukyou laughed.  "Now who's being modest?" Ukyou
held the baker's peel across her chest, and waited for Akane to
make the first move.
     Despite her words of confidence, Akane moved in hesitantly,
and her first few strikes were half hearted, and easily deflected by
Ukyou.  Ukyou for her part was puzzled, she had seen Akane
working out several times.  Her current effort did not even come
close to approaching the competence she had shown on those
occasions
     It was also annoying.  Akane had been bending their ears the
whole trip about how she'd been forced to fight countless duels
against boys who wanted to challenge her for a date.  Something set
up by a nut bar at her school.  Now it looked like that had been all
hot air.  Either that, or they had been total crap as fighters.  As for
the solo training katas Ukyou had seen, well,  it was easy for anyone
to look good fighting against thin air.  Now that she was facing a
true opponent, maybe Akane was showing her real skill level, or
maybe she was tanking it for some reason.  This last thought caused
Ukyou to frown in anger.  She didn't need any gifts.  She was more
then capable of holding her own in any situation.
     Ukyou decided to end this unsatisfying match early, and her
annoyance made her decide to do it in a way that would not be easy
on Akane's ego.  Moving in a smooth rhythm that could only come
from countless hours of practice, Ukyou went on the offensive.  She
lashed out with quick sudden moves of her baker's peel  while using
her legs to attack low when Akane parried high.  To her surprise, as
she began to really push the other girl, Ukyou suddenly found
Akane's style changing.  Her moves were no longer hesitant.
Indeed, Akane was almost negligently parrying Ukyou's best
efforts.  She flowed aside from the main thrust of Ukyou's attacks,
while deflecting the baker's peel with a casual brush of her hand, or
a well-placed finger.  At the same time, she used both legs to
deflect, or parry, Ukyou's kicks. 
     Ukyou's eyes opened wide as she suddenly realized how
strong the other girl must be in order to so casually deflect the
heavy weapon.  Not to mention the kicks, which Ukyou knew from
past experience were more then adequate to break down the guard
of most martial artists. 
     Now she was annoyed for another reason.  Akane did not seem
to be taking her seriously at all.  First she barely tried, now even
though she was reacting much more positively to Ukyou's attack,
she still was not giving it her all.  While she was easily deflecting
Ukyou's best efforts, she was making no effort to counter punch. 
     Annoyed, Ukyou yelled out at her.  "Come on, attack me.  I'm
not a china doll." Akane only smiled tightly, and did not change her
style.  "Fine then!" Ukyou switched to one hand usage of her main
weapon.  She locked the end of the baker's peel into the crook of
her elbow for added leverage.  Then, with her free hand, she
plucked several throwing spatulas from her bandolier.  Akane's eyes
widened, and she tried to back off to gain maneuvering room.
Before Akane could manage to foil her plan, Ukyou threw a spread
of the small weapons, designed to bracket the other girl and hold her
in place while Ukyou attacked simultaneously with her baker's peel.
     It worked; pushed by the multiple threats, unable to dodge
without taking a hit, Akane had to go on the offensive.  She  threw a
punch that caught the incoming baker's peel square in the middle.
The blow drove the weapon back toward Ukyou with a force that
was like nothing the Okinomiyaki chef had ever experienced
before.  Ukyou felt a blow to her chest, and then was only  vaguely
aware of flying through the air. 
     The strange floating sensation ended with a splash as she
landed in one of the various pools dotting the valley, some thirty
yards away from where she and Akane had been sparring.  The
shock of the cold water cleared her dazed mind.  Her hands clutched
at the ball of pain that seemed to fill her chest and made it hard to
breathe.  She gasped, and drew in a mouthful of water. Choking and
sputtering, she scrambled for the shore of the pool, and was vaguely
aware of a hand grasping her collar.  The next instant, she was
flying through the air once more, this time propelled by the grip on
her top.  She had a blurred impression of Akane's worried, fearful
face hovering over her.  The other girl's mouth moved, and as if
from a great distance, Ukyou heard her asking if Ukyou was all
right, and apologizing for not being more careful.  Ukyou barely
registered this.  Her head was spinning, and her body felt heavy and
unwieldy.  Her wet clothes binding and pressing against her inst her in
uncomfortable ways.

     "Akane, what happened?" Nodoka voice called out in concern.
Akane looked up from the dazed form of Ukyou, to see the older
woman rushing across the space between their campsite and her
present location. 
     "It's my fault." Akane said in a miserable tone of voice as
Nodoka reached them.  "I didn't pull my punch enough, and I
knocked Ukyou into a spring."
     "I thought you were going to stay clear of them?" Nodoka said
reprovingly.  "I know the guides explanation is ridiculous, but we
heard too many warnings about this place on the way here for there
not to be something wrong with them.  You were very careless.
Ukyou may have been poisoned."
     "I'm sorry, but I thought we were far enough away.  I never
meant to hit her that hard.  It's been two weeks since  . . . " Akane
trailed off, and Nodoka looked at her with a question on her face.
     "Since what?"
     Akane looked away from her, and seemed flustered.  "It's
nothing.  I just thought I had more control then that.  I guess I was
wrong.  It's just  . . . " She trailed off, and her hand went to her face,
brushing against it as if checking for something.  It had the marks of
a reflexive move, and Nodoka recalled Akane making it frequently
during moments of stress over the last few days.  However, Akane
said nothing more, and Nodoka turned her attention toward Ukyou,
who was coughing up water, and attempting to sit up. 
     "Here, let me help you," Nodoka said.  Kneeling down, she
helped Ukyou assume a sitting position, and braced her in that pose
with a hand behind her shoulder.  "Are you all right?"
     "I'm fine, I was just surprised is all." Ukyou said in a strained
voice.  She looked across at the worried looking Akane, and said
reassuringly.  "I'll be fine in a little while.  That is one hell of a
punch you have there sugar.  Remind me to be more careful the next
time we spar."  She gave a small chuckle that was interrupted by yet
another coughing fit.  "At least I landed in something soft." She
finally managed to get out.
     "At least you didn't change into some sort of animal." Akane
joked, her face showing her relief that Ukyou was all right.  "Lets
get you back to the camp." Akane helped Ukyou to her feet,
showing no strain from having to support Ukyou's weight, and
helped the dazed girl back toward their tent.

     Nodoka followed behind, a worried look on her face.  She was
still not sure Ukyou was none the worse for the experience.  She
vowed to keep an eye on the girl, to make sure the water from the
spring had not poisoned her, or caused any other effect.  Despite her
determination to watch Ukyou closely, her eyes noted, but her brain
dismissed the fact, that Ukyou's sleeves and pants legs seemed to be
riding up a bit high, showing a strip of pale skin that was usually
sheltered from the sun.

********************************************
    
     "Nihao," a cheerful voice called out, causing Nodoka to look
up from the meal she was tending over the campfire.  Walking
toward their camp was Plum, the young girl who had guided them
earlier in the day. 
     "Hello dear.  Nice to see you again." Nodoka looked the young
girl over, taking note that she was dressed in a much more feminine
manner then she had been earlier in the day.  The dress was a bit
daring for Nodoka's taste, but at least it was a dress.  She wished
Ukyou and Akane would dress a little less manly.  If they were her
daughters  . . .  But they weren't, and she was hardly a shining
example of parenthood anyway.  Banishing these thoughts, she
asked Plum, "What can I do for you dear?"
     "This one is off duty." Plum lied.  "This one dropped by to see
if you settling in, and if this one could help with anything."  "She
looked around, and asked.  "Where are the others?"
     "Ukyou and Akane are over at the tent changing.  Ukyou got
covered in mud when she had her accident, and Akane got smeared
while helping her."
     So, his name is Akane, Plum thought to herself, jumping to
conclusions, based on her knowledge that there was only one girl in
the group other then the one she was currently talking too.  "What
happened to Ukyou, is she all right?" Plum asked, as an
afterthought.
     "She and Akane were sparring, and Akane knocked her into
one of the springs.  She was a bit shaken up, but--" Nodoka was cut
off when Plum practically screamed.
     "A spring!  What spring!?"
     Nodoka was a bit taken aback by Plum's loud question, but
she remained calm.  Pointing at the spring in question, she said, "I
believe it was that one over there."
     "Oh no, how tragic," Plum said.  "To lose your womanhood so
young."  Inside, she was restraining an unworthy sense of glee.  Her
one fear concerning Akane was that despite her earlier wishful
hope, he might be involved with the rather mannish Ukyou.  If that
was the case now, and Ukyou was cursed to turn into a boy, then the
hunk would need a sympathetic, and female, shoulder to cry on.
     Nodoka was looking at her with a puzzled expression on her
face.  "What do you mean dear?  Why should falling into the spring
affect Ukyou's womanhood?" Nodoka's face brightened in
understanding.  "Oh, you mean that legend you were telling us
earlier.  You don't need to worry.  Nothing happened.  Ukyou did
not change into anything." Nodoka spoke in a light tone, almost
joking.  She expected Plum to join her in the joke, but instead she
looked very grave.
     "That spring is Nanniichuan, spring of drowned man.
Whoever fall in that spring take body of a man who drowned there
fourteen hundred and fifty-year ago.  Very tragic tale."  Plum said
this as if by rote, and in a sort of sing song voice, then her tone
changed, and she spoke in her normal cadence.  "This one does not
wish to seem rude, but Ukyou look a little like boy to this one.
Maybe you not notice.  Be very good if we tell what happened
before she find out on her own." Plum said this in a serious tone,
but inside she was wondering what sort of girl could not notice she
had turned into a boy.  Sure Ukyou was flat-chested, but not that
flat.
     Nodoka stared into Plum's face, a look of skepticism on her
face.  This was taking a joke a bit far.  Local stories were all very
well and good.  She was sure they helped the local economy a great
deal, but surely the girl could not expect Nodoka to take her
seriously.  Well, one way to settle this.  "Very well, why don't we
go and check out Ukyou, and see if she's been turned into a boy."
Nodoka could not quite keep the condescension she felt out of her
voice, but Plum did not seem to notice, instead she headed toward
the tent the two girls were sharing.  Nodoka trailing along behind
her.
     They had barely taken three steps when a scream ripped
through the still valley air.  Not a scream of pain or grief or terror,
but one of out and out rage.  A voice that Nodoka recognized as
Akane in full outrage mode, screamed, "you filthy, perverted,
degenerate!  How dare you?" 
     The last time she had heard Akane that angry, a boy in Japan
had grabbed her bottom.  Nodoka started to hurry toward the tent,
afraid one of the local men had snuck into their camp.  She just
hopped she could get there before he was hurt too badly.  She
remembered how much effort it had taken to keep Akane off of the
other boy.  This could be bad.  There wasn't a strange green haired
girl, and a ridiculously strong brunette, to help her pull Akane off of
the boy this time.
     She didn't make it.  The side of the tent suddenly ripped open
as a body came flying through the air in a high trajectory that took it
over Plum and Nodoka's head.  The glance Nodoka got as it flew
overhead told her it was Ukyou.  A second later Akane came
storming out of the tent, literally glowing blue.  "Come back here
you pig!  I haven't even started you son-of-a-bitch!"
     "Stop!" Plum shouted, placing herself between the outraged
Akane and the sprawled figure of Ukyou, who Nodoka was running
toward.  "It not his fault you not listen to this one's warning.  If you
fall into Nanniichuan, it your own fault.  Besides," Plum added,
looking at Akane's heaving chest, "you already find out hot water
fix.  This one have to warn you, you get splashed with cold water,
you turn back into a boy."
     "What the hell are you babbling about?" Akane yelled at the
girl in her way.  Sending Plum staggering with a sweep of her arm,
she marched toward Ukyou, who was presently being overseen by a
shocked Nodoka. 
     Nodoka's shock could have been because of Akane's behavior,
but it wasn't, while this was the first time Akane had lashed out at
Ukyou, her anger was never far below the surface.  What had
caused Nodoka's shock was the sight of Ukyou's chest.  When she
had reached the fallen girl, her suit jacket had been open.
Obviously because she had been about to change out of her wet
clothes, and the wrappings she wore around her chest had slipped
down around her waist, Ukyou no longer having the necessary
means of holding them in their usual place.  Nodoka stared at the
bare, and most definitely masculine chest thus revealed in stunned
surprise.

     "You bastard!" Akane yelled, reaching for Ukyou's throat,
intending to pull the stunned youth away from Nodoka. 
     "Akane!  Stop!" Nodoka said in a very sharp, no nonsense
tone.  She grasped Akane's wrist in her hand. 
     "No!  I won't!  That pervert has been laughing up his sleeve at
us all week.  He watched me change!  Hell!  He was in the
bathhouse with us.  He watched us both!  He even washed your
back!  How can you defend him?"
     Nodoka looked into the furious Akane's eyes, and saw little
sanity there, but the mere fact that she was able to restrain the angry
girl showed that somewhere, deep down, a seed of doubt must exist.
The raw power she had witnessed, and the iron hard forearm she
was currently gripping proved to her that Akane was restraining
herself.  If she wanted to, she could easily brush Nodoka's efforts to
restrain her aside.
     "Akane think!  We've seen Ukyou nude!  You know she was a
girl, is a girl."
     "It was a trick, a stupid pervert trick!  I don't know how he did
it, but he did it."
     "You're being foolish!" Nodoka snapped out.  "You know
that's not possible! Ukyou may have washed my back, but you
washed hers.  Can you honestly say that you think she was wearing
a disguise?"
     Akane flushed at the reference to washing Ukyou's back, but
the reminder was enough to break her out of her cycle of rage and
denial.  The angry look on her face did not disappear, but it grew
confused.  Akane clenched her fists, pulling her arm free of
Nodoka, and took a step backward.  She wrapped her arms around
her chest, and Nodoka saw her knuckles go white as she gripped her
forearms tightly.  It was if she was trying to hold in an explosion.
Finally, in a strangled voice she said.  "How?"

     Nodoka looked over at Plum, a sorrowful look on her face.  "It
would seem we should have taken the stories our guide told us more
seriously."
     "You can't be serious!" Akane demanded, "are you telling me
that the spring turned Ukyou into a boy!?"
     "Wait, wait, what you talk about?  You one fall in spring."
Plum's Japanese suffered as she tried to understand what was going
on.
     Akane looked at her in surprise, and repeated her earlier
comment.  "What the hell are you talking about?  Ukyou fell in the
spring, not me!"
     "As I remember it, you knocked me in." A rather weak voice
said.
     "Ukyou, you're awake!" Nodoka exclaimed, looking down at
the girl turned boy in her arms.  She helped him to sit up, and
almost his first reaction was to raise a hand to his chest, and pat it. 
     "It's true!" He said in a stunned voice, "I'm a boy."
     "Plum no understand what going on!  You always boy!"
     "No." Nodoka answered, "she merely dressed like one."
     Plum looked down at Ukyou as he lay sprawled on the ground,
a look of surprise on her face, the look that changed quickly to one
of embarrassment, and maybe a little anger and denial of her own.
She snatched the kettle from the nearby campfire, and before
anyone realized what she was doing, dumped its contents over
Ukyou, fortunately missing Nodoka.
     "Owwwww, you crazy jackass!  Are you trying to boil me?"
The now female chef demanded.
     Plum did not reply, instead, she reached forward, and
hesitantly grasped one of the most prominent proofs of Ukyou's
current status.  She quickly snatched her hand away, and said in a
dismayed voice.  "Is true.  You is girl."  Her face turned a deep
shade of red. 

     Ukyou had gone rigid when Plum had grasped her, but only for
a second, even as Plum snatched her hands away as if burned,
Ukyou was replacing it with her own.  "I'm a girl again." she said,
her expression and tone of voice still rather stunned.
     Akane's expression was equally stunned, while Nodoka had a
stricken look on her face.  Speaking to Plum, but for the benefit of
the other two girls as well, Nodoka said.  "I think maybe you should
tell us the stories of this place again, and this time I can promise
you, we will listen most carefully."

*********************************************

     Out on the very edge of the earth's atmosphere, an object
about fifty feet in length was suddenly outlined in a pale corona as
it impinged on the upper wisps of air that made up the farthest
reaches of the planet's area of dominion.  Silhouetted by the light
caused from the friction between metal and air, it was revealed as a
rather elongated egg shape.  Its matte black surface peppered with
what might have been at one time a sophisticated telemetry array,
but which now consisted of nothing more then melted stubs of
metal. 
     As the alien object bit deeper into the atmosphere, it began to
tumble, shedding sections of its outer surface until it was
surrounded by a plummeting cloud of debris.  As it fell deeper and
deeper into the atmosphere, the debris trail became attenuated, and
formed a tail behind the craft, giving the object the appearance of a
comet.  Its trajectory was shallow, and so despite its precipitous
decent, it would take some time for it to reach its ultimate
destination.

     Somewhere on a small island in the South Pacific, in a dark
room lit only by the green glow of numerous tracking stations, a
man asked a question.
     "Well gentlemen, I'm waiting.  What is our bogey?  Is it a
another Russian satellite our new allies forgot to tell us was about to
fall?" The speaker was an older air force Major, he had _not_ been
sleeping when the alarm had gone off, and as a result, was rather
grumpy to have been gotten out of bed.  He was standing in a dimly
lit room, while all around him eager young officers peered into
glowing green screens that lit their faces up like extras from a
grade-B horror movie.
     The senior scope technician answered the Major's question.  "I
believe that is a negatory sir.  The back plot for the object shows it
to be from deep space, farther out then we or anyone else has
anything.  I make it to be a meteor sir."
     "Size?" The Major asked, a hint of tension in his voice.
Congressmen had been getting a large number of inquires about
what they were doing to protect their constituents from giant
asteroids landing in their backyard swimming pools.  If something
of any size had slipped in this close on his watch without him being
aware of it till now  . . .  he shuddered slightly.  "Damn
Hollywood!" he muttered to himself. 
     After a few minutes studying his scope, the tech answered his
question regarding the size.  "It looks like a gravel pit sir.  Not solid,
just a mass of loose material.  Nothing to be worried about.  It's
already a fraction of its original size.  It's odds on whether any of it
actually reaches the ground."
     The Major heaved a sigh of relief, then asked the next
pertinent question.  "And if it does reach earth, where would that
be?"
     The senior scope man turned to one of his subordinates.
"Finey?"
     Finey replied without lifting his head from his instrument.  "I
almost have it sir.  It's a bit tricky, every time it sheds a large chunk
it alters course.  It came in on a glancing trajectory.  A few miles
more and it would have missed us altogether.  It's going to orbit at
least twice before really biting into the atmosphere and coming
down.  Best I can make it out is somewhere in northeastern China."
     "China eh," the Major rubbed his chin for a second.  "Any
chance it could change course enough to bring it into our sphere of
concern."
     "If it does sir, it won't be our problem.  If it shifts trajectories
that much the, pardon me sir, shit will hit the fan.  The only way it
could change course that radically would be if it was a lot more then
it seems."
     "Huh," the Major grunted, "see your point.  Well, I'm going
back to bed.  If it does happen to change course that much, do give
the lard butts over at Cheyenne mountain a call would you."
     "Will do sir." The lieutenant snapped off a salute as the Major
left the room, then turned back to his scope.  Unseen by anyone, he
crossed his fingers.  He might have been senior to everyone left in
the room, but he still had the same dreams that had placed him in
his present position.  He sat watching the screen, and hopping the
small blip would alter its trajectory in a way that no falling rock
ever would.

***********************************************

     Half a world away, the young lieutenant would have been in
seventh heaven if he could have seen the two creatures, who would
not have looked out of place in certain Japanese anime, and who at
that very moment were observing the self same meteor as himself.
They however were of a different impression as to it's nature. An
opinion they had shared with the stocky white haired man standing
in front of their common desk.

     "So, this originated from the same area as the disturbance that
blew our crystal radio. Do you have an I.D. on it?"
     The twins, as they were known, garbled a string of remarks at
their boss, who frowned at their reply.
     "You can't detect anything? With our equipment? Are you
sure it's not just a meteor?"
     This time the gargling had a decidedly huffy tone.
     "Very well, you're the experts, keep an eye on it, and we'll
send a team to the touchdown point. Wherever that ends up being."
The white haired man said placatingly, as he headed back to his
office.

***********************************************

     The Jusenkyo Guide made a very great production of lighting
his pipe, using his cupped hands to hide the expression of mirth on
his face.  Two weeks ago he had dropped a suggestion in Prince
Herb's ear to the effect that the monkey he and his followers had
dunked in the Nyanniichuan might not actually have been splashed
by the water from the Chiisuiton.  The guide suggested that in the
excitement of the moment, combined with the fog, they might have
missed with the ladle.  In that case, if the monkey had belonged to
one of the troops that frequented some of the local hot springs, it
might have rejoined them.  It could be the reason they could not
find it, was that it was no longer a girl.  If he had known the
outcome was going to be so humorous, he would have suggested it
ages ago.
     Of course, the real reason he had suggested it was to get Herb
away from Jusenkyo while Plum was visiting.  He had hated to
leave her alone at the spring, but she was very mature for her age.
Too mature.  That was the problem. The prince's character had
improved remarkably in the last three months, but he still was not
someone who the guide was eager to have his daughter meet.  Given
Plum's unfortunately precocious attitude toward the male sex, and
Herb and his follower's fascination with female breasts, he just had
not thought it a good combination.  He smiled a little to himself.
How Herb could remain so fascinated by female breasts when he
himself had such a spectacular set, was a continuing source of
mystery to him.
     Be that as it may, his suggestion had worked, and far better
then he had expected.  He watched as Mint and Lime cornered one
of the monkeys belonging to the current troop they were checking.
The monkey watched warily as Lime approached, a heavy canvas
drop cloth in his hands.  While his attention was distracted, Mint
moved into position.  Like Lime, Mint too had a large piece of
canvas in his hands, but his had been converted to a large bag
stuffed with clothing. 
     When Lime felt he was close enough, he tossed his drop cloth
toward the monkey, who dogged nimbly out of the way, chattering
his outrage over the tiger boy's behavior.  While the monkey was
distracted, Mint made his move.  Blurring into motion, the wolf boy
swung the large soft bundle in his hands, and belted the monkey
high into the air.  The monkey let out a shriek of fright, and clawed
futilely at nothing as he described a high arc, straight toward Lime,
who had recovered his drop cloth, and now held it out to receive his
prey.
     With a despairing wail, the monkey landed in the middle of the
cloth, and before he could scramble to freedom, Lime closed it
around his body, leaving only the monkey's woebegone face clear
of its embrace.  The monkey's cries were echoed by his brothers
and sisters who were currently penned up in a large bamboo cage
built against the side of the small valley. 
     "Herb-sama, Herb-sama, we have him, we have him." Lime
and Mint cried out in excitement.  The pair of them had grown quite
expert at catching the little creatures.  Indeed, they had grown so
obsessed with catching the monkeys, staying up late at night to
devise new methods, the Guide sometimes thought they had totally
forgotten why they were doing it in the first place. 
     Down below them, next to the hot spring, Herb stood up,
having heard their cries of triumph.  He watched as Lime and Mint
approached with their latest captive.  Hefting a large, impressive
gun in his hands, he aimed it toward Lime.  Depressing the trigger,
he sent a high pressure stream of water from the fluorescent green
water gun in his hands, and thoroughly soaked both Lime and the
monkey.
     The Guide noted that Herb seemed to be having trouble with
his aim, far more of the water landed on Lime then on the monkey,
and for that matter, he continued the spray for far longer then was
really necessary to prove that the Monkey was not the one they were
looking for. 
    
     There had originally been three of the high tech American
water guns, but after about the twentieth 'accidental' dousing in the
first three hours, Herb had 'accidentally' chi blasted Mint and
Lime's guns into tiny little plastic pieces. 

     The now sodden Lime looked down at the monkey in his arms
and stated the obvious.  <"This isn't it either Herb-sama.">
     <"So I see, put it with the rest.  How many more of them are
there at this spring?"> Herb asked Mint.
     <"Only a few more Herb-sama, no more then five or six.">
     <"Good."> He looked up at the sun, just inching up over the
mountain top.  <"We should be able to check them all in the next
hour or so.  Then we can move onto the next hot spring, and have
our camp set up by tonight.">
     Lime had by then reached the cage holding the other monkeys.
Using a double door system they had devised after one too many
prison breaks, he inserted the monkey in with his fellows. 
     They had originally simply sprayed the monkeys out in the
open.  While this was certainly much faster then catching and
caging them, it had proven almost impossibly to tell which monkeys
they had sprayed, and which they had not.  So the only way to
eliminate each troop was to methodically capture each monkey, test,
and then cage them.  Once they had tested all the monkeys at a
given spring, they would release them, and move onto the next.  The
released monkeys would not allow a strange monkey into their
territory.  So, in this manner they were slowly able to eliminate all
the various hot spring troops.  Of course matters would have been a
lot simpler if they could have remembered which troop the monkey
they had used came from in the first place.  Unfortunately Lime and
Mint had been given the job of procuring the original . . .
     As Mint started to get the evening meal ready, Herb
walked over to the Guide.  Once again the Guide took note of how
much the Prince had changed.  He had a smile on his face, and an
attitude of relaxed good cheer.  Where before he had been sour and
grumpy over his exile, he now seemed to truly enjoy being away
from the tightly controlled environment of his father's household.
The Guide thought to himself that Comb, the Amazon healer, had
done this whole region a favor when she had saved the life of young
Herb's father.  If the sickness had carried his father off, Herb would
have become ruler without the maturity the role required.  He had a
long way to go yet, but the Guide could already see signs that he
would be a good emperor when the time came.
     <"The hunt goes well."> Herb said, as he reached the Guide.
     <"That is good to hear.">
     The cheerful look suddenly departed Herb's face, and he sat
down beside the Guide with a sigh.  <"But there is only one more
spring, and I fear our luck will be little better there."> Herb shook
his head, and said in a slightly depressed voice.  <"I don't know
what we are going to do next.  The beast has vanished from the face
of the Earth.  I fear the poor creature never survived.  Trapped in a
body not its own, I grow more convinced every day that it perished.
If we are lucky, we may find its bones, but I greatly fear that is all
we will ever find.">
     The Guide was pleased to see that Herb seemed genuinely sad,
not just at his failure, but at the fate of the poor unfortunate monkey
as well.  The boy had indeed matured.  He briefly contemplated
telling Herb the truth.  That the monkey had never been cursed.
That it was a young boy from Japan who had been the girl Herb had
seen, and had assumed to be the monkey.  He sighed to himself
regretfully.  Unfortunately he had let the matter go too far.  It was
now much too late to reveal the truth to Herb.  Doing so would
likely undo all the good his exile had done the young prince.
Instead he commiserated with the young man.  <"You have tried
your best.  I'm sure your father will not hold you to your exile.">
     Herb looked over at him, a wry smile on his face, and opened
his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, a bright light
flooded the narrow valley they were in as a ball of fire flashed
across the top of it.  A second later a thunderous crash rocked their
campsite, as the sonic boom trailing the object assaulted their
eardrums, and sent all the captive monkeys into  paroxysms of
fright.  They screamed and leaped from one side of the cage to the
other, rocking the bamboo structure back and forth till the Guide
feared it would break. 
     <"What in all the heavens?"> Herb said, rising to his feet, and
staring in the direction the ball of fire had vanished.  The Guide
followed his gaze, and felt a sinking sensation as he realized the
direction the fire ball was heading in.  They were two days travel by
rough mountain trails from Jusenkyo, and his heart suddenly beat
heavily in his chest as he contemplated his daughter there by
herself. 
     Herb had also realized what direction the comet was traveling
in.  <"Mint!"> He shouted out at the top of his voice.
     <"Yes Herb-sama."> The wolf boy cried out as he rushed up
to his liege lord.  His eyes also were looking in the direction the fire
ball had disappeared to.
     <"You are to make for Jusenkyo as fast as you can.  Tell
anyone there that we are on our way.  If help is needed, give what
you can.  Now go!">
     Mint looked startled for a second, then his eyes widened as he
once again looked after the vanished fire ball.  Looking back at
Herb, he made the sketchiest of bows, turned, and made haste with
all his considerable speed toward Jusenkyo. 
     <"Lime!"> Herb yelled again.
     <"Yes Herb-Sama!"> Lime yelled back from where he was
trying to hold together the monkey cage. 
     <"Release the monkeys.  Pack our gear.  We leave for
Jusenkyo now.">
     The Guide felt emotions choke him up, <"My lord, thank
you">
     Herb brushed him off, going to help Lime with the camp gear.
Over his shoulder he called back.  <"It is nothing.  You would be
useless as a guide with this on your mind.  The sooner we can ease
your fears, the sooner you can get back to doing your duty to me.">
     The Guide could only look after him in amazement.  The
Prince had changed far more then he had suspected.  Maybe it
would not be such a bad thing if he were to meet Plum after all.
Musing on that, he made haste to pack up his own small bag.  The
comet had likely missed Jusenkyo, but his mind would not rest easy
till he knew for sure.

***********************************************

     Akane came out of the tent she shared with Ukyou, and looked
across the valley toward where a small figure could just barely be
made out in the early mountain dawn.  Ukyou had not come to bed
last night.  Had spent the whole night, as a matter of fact, sitting on
the same rock, her arms wrapped around her staring at nothing.
Nodoka had tried to get her to come in for supper, but had been
rebuffed. 
     A look of anger flickered across Akane's face, but was quickly
replaced by a look of guilt.  With a sigh, she started out toward the
distant figure.  She had been wracking her brains for a solution to
Ukyou's problem all night, and had not gotten any more sleep then
the cursed girl.  She thought she had come up with something, but
she had to confront Ukyou to tell the other girl of it, and she was not
looking forward to that.

     "Ukyou?" Akane asked in a tentative voice.
     "Go away!" Ukyou said, her voice strained with suppressed
anger.
     Akane flared up at Ukyou's tone, her hair trigger temper
reacting like always.  She hadn't always been that bad, but two
months of having her natural inclination to help someone in distress
used against her had made her overly sensitive.  She had only
recently started to realize just how bad she had become.  The looks
Nodoka and Ukyou had directed her way during this trip had not
gone unnoticed, despite what they might have thought.  The
expression on their faces when she went on one of her rants was a
painful thing to see. 
     More and more Akane was finding she didn't much like what
she had become. She had several times vowed to control herself.
Unfortunately, it had proven far more difficult then she had thought
it would be.  There was always some pervert ready to make a
comment, or to try something funny.  She gritted her teeth, and
brought her anger under control.  She would not flare up.  Ukyou
had a valid reason to be upset, she told herself.
"I only want to help.  I've been thinking and  . . . "
     "Haven't you helped enough?" Ukyou interrupted, speaking
in a bitter voice.  She turned her face toward Akane, and the other
girl was shocked by the haunted look in Ukyou's red rimmed eyes.
     A flair of guilt flashed through Akane, and as is to often the
case with people, she substituted something else for it, goaded on
by Ukyou's words. Akane's temper flared again, washing away all
her good intentions in the comfortable familiar rush of hot anger.  It
wasn't like it was all her fault, she'd tried to refuse Ukyou's
challenge, but the other girl wouldn't take no for an answer.  She
said as much to Ukyou.

     "Don't go pushing this on me.  You're the one who insisted we
spar."
     "That was before I knew you were a monster." Ukyou shot
back.
     Akane flinched back from her, her face stricken, shocked out
of her comforting anger by the voicing of a thought that had been
floating in the back of her own mind for some time now.  "A
monster?"
     "No one human could do what you did.  You knocked me
thirty yards with a single punch.  Just what the hell are you Akane?
Some sort of Oni who goes around ruining people's lives?"
     Once again the comfortable heat rose up in Akane.  Washing
away her fears and uncertainties.  "You have no idea what you're
talking about!  So I'm strong!  Does that make me a monster?  You
have no idea of what I've gone through.  Don't you dare call me a
monster!"
     "What, what have you gone through that is so awful?  What
could have made you this way?  A few challenges at school
everyday?  That's crap."
     "It was a lot more then that!"
     All the exasperation Ukyou had felt toward Akane's behavior
during the trip, combined with her feelings about her recent curse
exploded.  "So tell me, what made you into such a bitch!? Why is
every guy that looks in your direction a pervert!?  Why is every man
in the world out to get you!?  What's so _ goddam _ special _ about
you that any right minded boy would even take one look at you!?"
     Akane had been driven back several steps by the vitriol in
Ukyou's voice, but she rallied and her own voice rose in
counterpoint to Ukyou's.  "How dare you call me a bitch?  If I'm a
bitch, then you're a whining little child, who can't deal with the
consequences of her own actions.  You wanted to spar, not me.
You pushed it during the fight.  I was content to just take it easy, but
you had to force me to go all out.  You have no one to blame for
this but yourself."

     "That is enough!" An angry voice said off to the side.  Akane
and Ukyou who were glaring at each other broke off, and glanced
over to where Nodoka was standing.  The older woman had come
up on them without their realizing it.  Lost in their own world of
anger.  Her face was grim, and the expression on it was directed
toward both of the girls.  "There is only one person responsible for
Ukyou's condition."
     "That's right.  It's her!" Both girls shouted at the same time.
     "I said be quiet!" Nodoka said, in a low intense voice.  She
reached over her shoulder, and there was a hiss as a gleaming katana
was pulled into view.  Ukyou and Akane both gulped as they
realized what the long covered bundle Nodoka had been carrying
for days was.  They both edged backward nervously from the older
woman, inadvertently standing shoulder to shoulder.  This was not
the gentle Japanese housewife they had been traveling with for a
week.  This was the descendant of the Samurai, and her eyes were
ice cold.  Looking into those eyes, neither Akane nor Ukyou could
bring themselves to doubt that Nodoka would use that sword if they
gave her reason.
     Nodoka glared at both of them, then she turned her full
attention on Ukyou.  "As I said, there is only one person truly
responsible for what you have undergone.  Be quiet!" She said, in
tightly controlled, but very forceful voice, when Ukyou would have
protested.  She waited to be sure that the young girl was not going to
resume her protest.  Satisfied Ukyou was going to stay silent, she
continued.  "You each, for your various reasons, choose to
accompany me on this trip.  I did not ask you to come.  You both
knew that I was investigating the disappearance of my husband and
son.  The implication being that this could be a dangerous journey."
     Nodoka looked back and forth between Akane and Ukyou, and
while it was obvious both girls wished to say something, they did
not.  The fact that their eyes seemed unable to leave the gleaming
length of Nodoka's sword supplied an explanation for their
uncharacteristic restraint.  A talent neither one of them had shown a
great deal of during their journey.  Nodoka nodded her head in
satisfaction.  Then, with a sigh, she lowered her sword until the tip
was pointed toward the ground.
     Once more looking Ukyou in the eye, she continued.  "Having
said all that, I now must say that none of it matters.  I was the adult.
It was my choice in the end whether you came or stayed, and my
responsibility to look after your welfare once I allowed you to
come.  It was my duty to learn the truth of these springs, and not to
laugh skeptically toward the one who knew the truth.  I have failed
in all those tasks, and you have paid the price for my failure."
     "Kuonji-san." Nodoka bowed toward Ukyou.  "When the true
fate of my husband and son is determined, and my duty to them
fulfilled, I ask that you act as my second so that I may extirpate my
loss of honor." Nodoka moved her grip on the sword till she was
holding it by the blade, and held the hilt out toward Ukyou, who
took it out of reflex.  Several drops of blood fell to the ground from
the cut the razor sharp edge had left on the palm of Nodoka's hand.
     Ukyou looked at the older woman in shock, her mind trying to
process the data.  It was not till Akane reacted that her eyes showed
any comprehension. 
     "You have to be joking!" Akane shouted.  "You want Ukyou
to cut your head off after you've slit your throat?  Are you crazy?" 
     While Akane ranted, Ukyou looked in wide eyed surprise at
Nodoka, amazed at her offer.  Ukyou led her life by the code of the
Samurai, and to find that Nodoka had the honor and strength to
make such an offer was a revelation.  She suddenly realized that she
had been underrating Saotome-san.  Ukyou had felt her weak, and a
bit of a fool to have tied herself to Saotome Genma.  Now, she
understood that there was far more to this woman then was apparent
on the surface.
     With that understanding, came the knowledge that she would
gladly act as Nodoka's second.  To aid her in her search for honor,
would in turn bring honor to Ukyou.  If such a thing truly needed to
be done that is. The problem was, that in this case, Ukyou did not
think it did need to be done.  Nodoka's reasoning just didn't sound
right to her. Ukyou was an adult, she didn't need a babysitter.
She'd come on her own free will, and so had Akane.  Nodoka owed
her nothing, not for this.  Now if it was Akane making the offer, that
would be another matter.  The way she felt right now, she'd happily
swing the sword after Akane cut her own throat.  Or maybe not even
wait for Akane to make the first cut.
     While Ukyou had been experiencing her own little epiphany,
Akane had continued her rant at Nodoka's foolishness in making
such an offer.  After listening to her talk for a while, and realizing
she showed no indication of stopping, Nodoka finally interrupted
her.
     "There is no choice!" She said in a tone that brooked no
argument.  "What I have done to Ukyou is unforgivable, and
irreversible according to our guide.  There is no way I can make
recompense.  As such, I must pay what portion of the debt my life
will cover."
     Akane who was in truth more scared then outraged by
Nodoka's offer, suddenly remembered why she had come to see the
cook in the first place.  The same solution that would help Ukyou,
would also satisfy Nodoka's honor, she hoped.  After all, if Ukyou
was no longer cursed, then there would be no problem, right?
"Nyanniichuan!" She blurted out.
     Her two companions looked at her, a questioning expression
on their faces.
     "It's obvious," Akane said.  "If the spring of drowned man
cursed Ukyou, spring of drowned woman would cure her.  I saw
Plum point it out when she brought us here."
     Nodoka shook her head in regret.  "I am sorry Akane, but that
would not work.  You left before it came up, but I asked Plum about
that very thing.  Having been cursed by one spring, the others will
have no effect on Ukyou."
     Ukyou objected.  To her, Akane's suggestion made perfect
sense.  "If it won't have any effect, then what's the harm in trying?"
She said eagerly, her face glowing with the thought that there might
be a chance to end this curse.  "It's at least something.  Anyway,
Plum is not an expert, she's only an apprentice, maybe sometimes
the springs will reverse the effect.  Maybe they don't want people to
know there is an easy cure.  We have to at least try."
     Akane nodded her head, and added.  "If it won't have any
effect, then there can be no harm in trying.  It's got to be better then
. . . " She looked over at the sword in Ukyou's hand, and shuddered.

      "Show me where this spring is Akane." Ukyou demanded. 
     Nodoka objected, but the two girls would not be swayed, and
as Ukyou was currently holding Nodoka's most powerful
bargaining chip, she had little choice in the matter but to
accompany the two of them.

     Off in the distance Plum saw them making their way toward
the main body of the valley, and felt a shudder of apprehension.
She quickly snatched up a pot of hot water, and started working her
way toward the three women.  She did not run.  The first thing she
had learned from her father was that you do not run around the
pools of sorrow.  It had been a painful lesson, she had not sat down
in comfort for a week afterwards, but she also never ran around the
pools again.

************************************************

     "Well, so much for that idea," Ukyou said.  He was standing in
the middle of Nyanniichuan, his hair hanging in sodden stringers
down his back, water dripping down his face.  He had taken nothing
for granted, and submerged himself completely, but the only effect
had been that the cold water had turned him into a boy again.  He
wanted to scream out his disappointment.  He wanted to get out and
pound Akane into the ground.  He did neither.  Instead, he directed
a worried look toward Nodoka, who was standing there, her back
rigid, her face set in an expression of grim determination.  Right
there and then Ukyou vowed that Nodoka was not going to die for
Akane and his stupidity. 
     "Oh what you do?  You very foolish.  You come away careful.
Very bad you fall in."
     All three of them turned to look at Plum, who was standing
some distance back from the spring.  The guide girl was nervously
jittering from one foot to another, which did interesting things to her
upper-body under the smooth, low-cut silk dress she was wearing. 
     Ukyou flushed with embarrassment as he realized that the
changes in his body seemed to be more then skin deep.  He'd heard
enough locker room humor while posing as a boy to know exactly
what was happening to him.  Fortunately, that same rough humor
also included a possible solution.  He looked away from Plum and
hoped the cold water he was standing in would work as good as the
legendary cold shower.  To be safe, he also started going over the
multiplication tables in his mind.
     Fortunately for Ukyou's peace of mind, both Nodoka and
Akane were looking at Plum and not at him.
     "It's all right Plum-san, it's only Nyanniichuan.  I remember
you pointing it out to us earlier.  We just thought it would be worth
a try for Ukyou to see if it would help.  After all, you said the
springs could no longer affect Ukyou, so what's the harm?"
     "They no effect boy-girl, but you is other matter.  You come
away quick, quick, yes?"
     "I don't understand." Nodoka said.  "How could this spring be
dangerous?  Akane and I are already women."
     "You no understand. This one no have time to tell you all is to
know about valley, take years to learn all that.  You fall in spring, it
change you into girl who drowned there, and you act like that girl
too.  You only you, when you, you, rest of time, you she." Plum's
anxiety was making her hard to understand as she tried to make
them comprehend that they were not safe.  Fortunately, her urgency
conveyed the danger, even if her words were not easily
understandable. 
     Nodoka and Akane looked at each other, and started to inch
away from the spring.  Ukyou for his part was also moving, to exit
the spring.  Mathematics and cold water having served to quell his
body's  uprising.  He was still making every effort not to look at
Plum, however, keeping his eyes focused on the sky.  As a result, he
was the first to see the fireball as it flashed into being above the
north valley wall.
     "What  . . . " Was all Ukyou was able to get out before, the ball
of flame crossed the distance between the two sides of the valley,
and plowed into the top of the south wall.  The impact was followed
by a wave of pressure, as the air disturbed by the impact washed
over them.  Underneath their feet the ground shook, and Nodoka,
startled by the event, reflexively  took a step away from the impact
zone.  Unfortunately, that was a step toward the spring.  Everyone's
attention was on the smoking crater, high up on the valley wall, and
it was not till Nodoka cried out in shock that they turned and
witnessed her falling backward into the pool.

     Ukyou lunged forward, but while he got his arms under her, it
was too late.  The force of her fall drove Nodoka under the water
before Ukyou could stop her motion, and while he snatched her out
within a second, it was far too late.
     Plum, and Akane looked in shock at the coughing sputtering
figure laying in Ukyou's arms.  A tiny redheaded girl now virtually
swam in Nodoka's kimono, her long hair falling like a fiery
waterfall into the pool. 
     Ukyou stared down at the cute girl in his arms.  There was a
slight resemblance to Nodoka in her face, but when the girl's eyes
finally focused and stared up at him, it was not Nodoka looking out
of them. 

     Xian Pu fought to focus her mind.  Her last coherent memory
was of being in a life and death fight.  One of her enemies must
have gotten in a blow, and knocked her senses loose.  She had to
pull it together. If she faltered, her village was doomed.  She had to
regain control.  She blinked her eyes quickly trying to clear them.
Her body felt strange and heavy, and her clothing seemed to be
weighing her down.  A part of her mind deciphered the sensation.
She was wearing soaked clothing.  That was right!  She'd run into
the Nyanniichuan.  Being very careful not to slip and immerse
herself completely. She had hoped to lure her enemies into the
spring after her, and then kill them while they were disoriented. 
     Another level of awareness was reached, and she realized she
was being held in someone's arms.  She blinked her eyes some
more, and made out a vague masculine face above her.  Father? No,
father was away, would not be back for weeks.  A part of her mind
tried to decipher the mystery of a man staying a man while standing
in Nyanniichuan.  As a female she could get away with it as long as
she was not fully immersed.  Any animal, man, or pre-pubescent
girl, who got this far in, should be affected by it, drawn down by the
pools magic, and changed.  So how had this man escaped? Maybe
he hadn't.  Maybe his upper half was the only part that was still
male.  A very un-warrior like giggle threatened to escape her lips at
the picture that presented to her mind.
     She shook her head, trying to dispel the giddiness that was
clouding her thinking.  She looked around herself, trying once again
to focus on her surroundings.  She became aware of three people.
Women?  Standing on the ground beside the spring.  She didn't
recognize any of them.  That made them outsiders, and someone to
walk careful around.  On the plus side, they were not dressed like
the attackers who had raided the village, nor were they monsters
like the pair she had just buried under a mountain of rubble. 
     Xian Pu felt herself being carried out of the pool, and once
more looked up at the strange man holding her.  She could see him
clearly now, and he also did not look like anyone she knew.  She
tried to struggle, suddenly embarrassed at being held so intimately
by a strange boy, but her body betrayed her.  Try as she might, her
body did not seem to want to obey her commands.  She looked deep
into the stranger's eyes, trying to read his intentions there.  His eyes
were not hostile, they reflected only care and worry.  Trusting her
instincts, she gave up her futile efforts, confident that this stranger
meant her no harm.  She would trust him for now.  It was not like
she had any real choice in the matter after all. ter all.
     Xian Pu resumed her assessment of the surrounding area.  Her
vision was much clearer now, but what she saw made no sense. She
frowned. Where were the bushes?  There should be bushes lining
the side of the pool.  Where were they?  Her vision cleared further,
and she could see farther and more clearly.  Something was wrong,
this was the Valley of Sorrow, but it looked different, it was not the
same.  What was going on?  Where was the enemy? She suddenly
clutched a hand to her chest as a memory returned.  Her wound, the
strange living log.  It had burned her.  Lanced her through and
through, she had been dying, she had felt the taste of her own blood
on her breath.  Her lung had been pierced. 
     Xian Pu started to panic again, she thrashed in the boys arms
as this time her body responded to her wishes, or maybe to her
panic.  <"Where am I? What has happened?  Who are you
people?"> She cried out.  One of the strangers loomed over her, a
shiny pot held in her hand.  The pot tipped, warm water splashed
over her, and all faded to black.

     Nodoka woke, laying on her back and staring up at a ring of
worried faces. 
      "Are you all right Saotome-san?" Ukyou asked. 
     Nodoka noted that Ukyou seemed to be female again, but a
second ago she had been male, and standing in the pool.. Nodoka
then took in the expressions on the faces above her.  Their worried
looks gave evidence that all was not right.  Seeing as how they were
directing those worried looks her way, she had to assume whatever
was wrong, was wrong with her.  "What has happened to me?" she
asked.  She took some small pleasure in the fact that her voice did
not by the merest quiver give away the fear she was feeling.  She
had fallen into one of the springs, and after what had happened to
Ukyou, she did not even have the shield of skepticism to keep her
from fearing the worst. 
     Akane and Ukyou looked at each other, then turned and looked
at Plum, who looked at each of them in turn, then sighed and said.
"Oh, very tragic tale Mrs. Customer, you fall in Nyanniichuan.
Very tragic tale of girl who drown there 1500 year ago, now
whoever fall in spring take body of girl." As before when reciting
her lines, Plum spoke in a sing song voice.  Now she said in her
normal speaking voice.  "Unless you be girl too, then you change
into other girl all way.  Now when you splashed with cold water,
you turn into drowned girl, she live again through you.  Splash with
hot water, you be you again."
     "I see." Nodoka said, she looked at Akane and Ukyou, a
question in her eyes.  Again they looked at each other, and Akane
nodded at Ukyou, who turned back to Nodoka and spoke.
     "You did change.  You were younger and smaller, with long
red hair,  and when you looked at me, you didn't seem to know who
I was.  You don't remember any of it?"
     Nodoka shook her head.  "The last thing I recall was stepping
back after that thing hit the other side of the valley, and then falling
backward.  The next thing I remember was just now, you standing
all around me.  Did this other girl do something?"
     "She said something, but it was in Chinese." Akane said.
Again all eyes turned to Plum.
     "Girl want to know what was happening.  Who we is.  She
scared this one think, but try not to show it." Plum looked puzzled
for minute.  "This one no understand, very rare girl fall in spring,
only two records in scrolls .  Father makes this one study all old
scrolls, they tell of those two times.  Girl you was, that not girl in
scroll.  She not act like either girl in scroll.  This one no understand.
Wish father was here," Plum said in closing.  Her temporary fill in
job was proving much more eventful then she cared for.  She was
starting to appreciate the fine sensation of being bored out of your
mind, and was starting to wish she could go back to it.
     "Poor girl." Nodoka said, as she got to her feet.  She ran her
hands over her body as if checking to see that everything was as it
should be.
     "Oh this one be all right," Plum said.
     "I was not referring to you dear." Nodoka said.  She shook her
head.  "It must have been awful for her.  How much do you suppose
she remembers of her last life?" She asked Plum.
     "Little bit only.  Is more personality than memory.  One girl in
scroll not remember anything of last life, but act like drowned girl
when splashed with cold water.  That was second one who fall in.
First one have some memory, but not all, she remember husband
drowning her.  Very sad tale.  She sit and cry all time."
     Akane shook her head.  "That makes no sense, this girl spoke
Chinese, and I think she did it much better then what Saotome-san
can.  She must have more memory then that."
     Ukyou spoke up in disagreement. "Yes, but remember Akane,
she asked where she was, who we were.  Maybe if Plum hadn't
doused her with hot water, she would have asked, "Who am I?"
next.  We can't tell how much of a person is there from the little we
saw."
     "Well, there is only one way to find out," Nodoka said.
     "You can't be serious?" Akane said.  "You're going to give
somebody else your body?"
     "Better to do it now, then have it happen later when we can't
control the situation.  Anyway, we can wait till we are back to camp
and I'm out of these wet clothes.  I don't know about her, but I feel
much better when I'm dry and warm." Nodoka set out for the
campsite at a brief pace.  Once her face was turned from the other
three girls, she was free to let the control she had been using slip a
bit.  If Akane or Ukyou had been able to see her face at that
moment, they would have noted it carried an expression remarkably
close to the one she had worn after hearing tales of her husband and
son's thievery.  The expression of a person who feared the end of
their life was close at hand.

*************************************************

     Nodoka adjusted her clothing, and sat down on the ground, her
back to a small rock.  She looked up at Akane who was standing
behind her, a kettle of hot water in her hand.  "Are your ready
Akane-chan?" At the young girl's nod, she turned to Plum who was
standing in front of her with a glass of water.  Plum drew back her
hand.  Then, stopped when Ukyou placed a hand on her shoulder.
     "Wait." Ukyou had a towel in her hand, and she handed it to
Nodoka.  "Here put this around your neck.  I did a little
experimenting while you were changing.  Getting your head wet
seems to be all it takes.  No need to get your dry clothes wet as
well."
     Nodoka gave Ukyou a grateful look, and wrapped the cloth
around her neck.  Once again she nodded at Plum, and this time
there was no interruption as Plum dumped the cold water over her
head.  Behind her, Akane stiffened, and prepared to splash hot water
if it was necessary.

     Xian Pu once more awoke to find herself in a new situation.
She was sitting on the ground, her back against a rock, and the
people from before surrounding her.  She narrowed her eyes as she
took in the black-haired girl behind her.  Before they could react,
she lashed out.  She brought her leg up and over her head, and sent
the kettle in the other girl's hand flying with a powerful kick.  Then
ducking low, she leaped forward between the two people in front of
her, intending to put as much distance between her and them as she
could.  Happily, the paralyzes from before no longer seemed to be
affecting her. Before she could go far however, she fell, tangled up
in her oversized clothing, which was slipping off her body, and
tangling her limbs.
     Frantically, she rolled across the ground, slipping off the
garments as she did so.  At last, free of the confining things.  She
bounded to her feet in a defensive pose.  She relaxed a bit when she
saw the other three. . . girls?.  Xian Pu blinked, she could have
sworn that the brown haired one had been a boy, but even a blind
man could see she was a girl. 
     "Talk to her Plum!  Calm her down!  Tell her we mean her no
harm," the brown haired girl said in her father's language.
     Xian Pu straightened up, and said.  "Why not tell me yourself
outsider?" It took all her control to keep her voice calm.  She was
not about to let these people know how badly confused she was. All
three of the girls looked at her in shock, and before they could
recover, she gave them an order. "Before you do, tell your brother to
come out from wherever he is hiding." Grandmother had always
told her that in a situation like this, it was best to take a position of
command.  If you acted like you were in charge, most times people
would at the very least, take a wait and see attitude.  Act tentative,
or submissively, and you placed yourself at a disadvantage. 
     Xian Pu found some measure of comfort in remembering her
training.  It gave her an anchor to hold on to in this strange situation.
Better yet, it seemed to be working.  The people facing her looked
uncertain as to how to treat her.  She watched them carefully, trying
to pick up clues as to what was going on, while at the same time she
kept careful watch, waiting for the girl's brother to show himself
now that she had revealed that she knew he was lurking.

     The black haired girl, and the tall brown haired girl looked at
each other, then at Xian Pu.  "Brother?"
     "I'm not a fool, the boy that was holding me in the pool.  The
one that looks just  . . . like  . . .  you." Xian Pu trailed off as
realization hit home.  She suddenly realized why the boy could
stand in Nyanniichuan with impunity. "That was you wasn't it?"
She said to the tall brown haired girl, and while she phrased it that
way, it was not really a question.
     "Yes." The girl said.  Then she added, "you speak Japanese
very well."
     "It was my father's native tongue."
     The young, shorter brown haired girl protested. "No, no, no,
this not right!  Scrolls say nothing about drowned girl speaking
Japanese, this not right."
     "What do you mean?  Drowned girl?  What are you talking
about?" Xian Pu had a nauseous feeling in her stomach.  Her feeling
of sickness increased as she saw the looks the other girls were
exchanging.  A sudden realization hit her. "I drowned!" She said in
an incredulous voice.  "I'm dead." She said, more to herself then to
the outsiders, her voice as faint as her face was pale.  Her knees
went weak, and her legs folded under her.  She dropped to the
ground, and knelt there, staring at nothing.  "Mother, father," she
muttered.  The others drew near her, and she looked up at them, her
eyes stricken.  "How long?  How long since I  . . . " she couldn't say
it.
     The black haired girl said in a gentle tone.  "Fifteen hund--"
     "No!" The Chinese girl cut her off.  "That not right.  This not
girl who drown fifteen hundred year ago.  This one not know how,
or who."  The girl turned to her and said.  "You know name?  How
much you remember?" Frustrated with her look of
incomprehension, the girl switched to Chinese.  <"Do you
remember who you are?  What was your name?  How much do you
remember of your life?  I am the guide here, you can trust me.  It is
my duty to help those who run afoul of the curses.">
     Xian Pu looked at her for a minute, too numb to react.  Then,
her shoulders went back, and her chin came up.  She pulled her
dignity on like a set of armor, and said. "My name?  My name is
Xian Pu.  I am a warrior of the Nyanichiczu, from the village of
Joketsuzoku, and I remember everything." Her voice rang out,
echoing off the walls of the valley.  Then she slumped in on herself,
no longer able to keep the horror at bay.  "And I am a walking
ghost." She murmured in a quite voice, more to herself, then to her
audience.
     The Chinese girl looked  . . .  awe struck.  "You is Xian Pu?"
She seemed unable to go on.  She just stared at Xian Pu, an
expression on her face very much like the one you would expect on
a child who has just discovered a dragon in her favorite play area.
One of mingled fear and delighted awe.
     Her behavior was enough to arouse Xian Pu's curiosity.  An
emotion that her grandmother had often said would be the death of
her.  Well, too late for that now, she was already dead.  "Do you
know me?"
     The girl opened her mouth several times, and finally managed
to say.  "You is famous.  You is monster killer.  You save Amazon
village three hundred year ago.  Very famous tale.  You take last of
enemies with you when you die.  You found in Nyanniichuan, but
no girl look like you, act like you ever come out.  All figure you die
before drown.  You very, very great hero.  Name of Xian Pu, is one
of great names.  All girls, they know you."
     Xian Pu's eyes widened at that.  A great name, one of the
names that would never die.  There would always be a Xian Pu of
the Amazons.  Then she shuddered, and hugged herself tightly.
There was someone else out there with her name.  There was
another Xian Pu.  A Xian Pu who belonged to this world, this time.
A Xian Pu with a mother and a father and family.  A Xian Pu who
was not some sort of soulless body stealing spirit! 
     Suddenly it was all too much, too fast. With a cry, Xian Pu
spun to her feet.  Looking around wildly, she spotted the kettle she
had kicked out of the dark-haired girls hand, and sprinted toward it.
Picking it up, she gave a sob of relief when water sloshed.  She no
longer cared if the others thought her weak.  She just wanted to run
away from the awfulness that was her existence, and this kettle gave
her a way to run away even from herself. She let the water that had
not spilled out when she kicked the kettle run over her head.  Thank
the spirits, it's ho  . . . Was her last thought before the darkness once
again swallowed her up.
    
     Nodoka woke up, and the first thing she noticed was that she
was standing instead of sitting, and she staggered a bit as her mind
adjusted.  The second thing she noticed was that she was as naked
as a jay bird.  She gave a small shriek, and covered herself with her
hands and arms as best she could.  Then with a shudder, she
dropped her hands, and drawing her dignity around herself like a
cloak, walked over toward her clothing.  "Well, this could take
some getting use to," she said, as she dressed herself.  Her voice
was steady, but the slight red flush across her nose gave the lie to
her appearance of calm. "Any particular reason she took our clothes
off?"
     Akane and Ukyou started to respond together.  They looked at
each other, and this time it was Ukyou who deferred to Akane with
a nod of her head.  Akane said. "They were too big for her, and she
got tangled up in them.  I think she was afraid we were going to
attack her.  She kicked the kettle out of my hand before I could
move.  She's fast." Akane finished, her voice expressing a level of
amazement that told Nodoka the girl was a lot more then merely
fast.

     Something else Akane had said had drawn her attention.
"She's smaller then I.  How much smaller?"
     "She comes up to about here on me." Akane said, holding a
hand about an inch below the top of her head, "and she's pretty
lightly built."
     "Except around the chest." Ukyou added, earning a dirty look
from Akane. 
     "You would notice that."
     "Girls, please!" Nodoka said firmly.  "We have other things to
worry about.  What is she like?  Is she a blank slate like Plum
feared?"
     "Girl is all there, is very strange, Plum never hear of like
before, she great Amazon hero, very famous girl."
     "Amazon?" Nodoka questioned.
     "Yes, is village one day walk from here, very powerful female
warriors."
     Nodoka looked troubled.  "That could be a problem, I can't
see how I can avoid cold water out here in the countryside, and if I
change, she might head for her home.  Who knows how they would
react to her?  They might think her a ghost, or worse." Nodoka did
not mention her own fears, that once away from Akane and Ukyou,
the girl would have no reason to change back.  Nodoka might wake
up to find weeks, months, or even years had passed.  It was far
easier to avoid accidental dousing with hot water then the reverse.
She gave an inner shudder at the thought, but was careful not to let
her fears show on her face.  There was no need to worry the
children.
     "She seems to feel that way herself." Ukyou said, and at
Nodoka's questioning look, she explained.  "She seemed to take the
notion she had died very hard." Ukyou stopped, looking a bit
flustered as she played back her last statement in her own mind.  "I
mean, more then you would think.  Considering that as far as she
was concerned, she was perfectly healthy.  I heard her mutter about
being a walking ghost.  It was her who changed you back.  She
looked pretty broken up."
     Ukyou comments gave Nodoka something other then her own
fears to worry about.  She was not the only person with a problem
here.  The girl inside her must share her fears on the matter, and
unlike Nodoka, who had only her own carelessness to blame, the
other girl was innocent of any wrong doing.  It was wrong of
Nodoka to turn her into a monster because of her own fear.  Some
of this showed in her voice when she spoke. "The poor girl, we have
to do something to help her."
     "Help her!" Akane said incredulously. "She's a spirit that
steals your body whenever you get doused with cold water, which
could happen at anytime out here.  How can you think about
helping her?  You need to get rid of her, before she decides to get
rid of you."
     "It is not her fault we are in this situation.  She did not choose
to be what she is.  We were the ones who were careless, and we
must take responsibility for our actions." Nodoka said in a firm
voice.  While she did so, a little voice in her head asked her who she
was trying to convince. Akane, or herself?  She gave a sigh, and
turned to Ukyou.  "I am sorry Kuonji-san.  Until this can be
resolved, I'm afraid I cannot do the honorable thing.  I hope you can
forgive me, and will be willing to wait till I can settle this issue, and
I can make amends."
     Ukyou looked at Nodoka not sure what to say to that.  In truth,
she had totally forgotten Nodoka's intention to commit seppuku.
"Ahh, no problem," she finally managed, putting a hand behind her
head, while trying to gather her thoughts.  "Take as long as you
like." She directed a look at Akane, and was pleased to see in the
other girl's eyes that she was not the only one who was worried
about the direction Saotome-san's thoughts were taking.  She
vowed to have a private chat with Akane later.  The two of them
needed to bury the hatchet.  Maybe if they worked together, they
could convince Saotome-san there was no reason to commit suicide.
     As if reading her mind, Akane suddenly spoke up.  "Ukyou?"
She called out.  "Do you want to go over and check out the
meteorite with me?" Ukyou could clearly see in Akane's eyes that
the girl was also thinking they should get away from Nodoka for a
little bit to discuss the situation. Akane's words also reminded
everyone of the event that had precipitated this whole matter.  All
eyes turned toward the smoking crater high up on the valley wall.
     Nodoka looked doubtful, she'd already proven herself a very
poor guardian, but then she considered the matter.  Frankly, she'd
feel a lot better with Akane up on the side of the valley, rather then
down here, close to the springs.  It was too late for her and Ukyou.
The least she  could try to do, was to get Akane home safe.  "Very
well, you girls go and investigate.  I wish to talk with Plum, and to
begin breaking camp.  I will not spend another night in this valley.
Please be careful."
     Akane merely smiled at her.  She cocked her arm and made a
muscle, which she patted with her free hand.  "Don't worry.  If there
are any alien monsters inside it, Ukyou and I won't hurt them too
badly."  Akane turned, grabbed Ukyou by the hand, and dragged her
off at high speed toward the crater. 

     Nodoka watched them for a while, and then turned to Plum.  "I
would appreciate all you could tell me about the girl I change into  .
. . " Nodoka broke off as a thought occurred to her.  She turned a
worried look toward the now distant figures of Akane and Ukyou.
"There are no springs up on the valley wall are there?" She asked in
a worried tone.
     "No springs over that way.  Not since mountain fall down.
Only spring outside of valley, over there." Plum pointed toward the
opposite side of the valley, which was covered in heavy brush. 
     Nodoka looked in the direction Plum was gesturing, and could
just barely make out the entrance to a narrow gully.  "What spring is
that?" She asked in curiosity.
     Plum looked a bit uncertain, and to Nodoka surprise, she
started to breathe in and out deeply.  "What's wrong dear?" Nodoka
asked, but Plum only held up a finger, asking for patience. 
     After several more deep breaths, Plum finally said, That spring
is,
Weitaoyanbuhuaihaoyiduocigubanjuyouyiyanjuyouheinanmaodaitu
renwushishishengbaobeibinggebaihechuyuchuzhizianwobeituretang
yuqilingdeshijieyongjieniichuan."
     By the time Plum finished, she was turning a little blue, and
the last few syllables had been spoken in a very high wheezing
voice.  She gasped as she pulled in great lungs full of air.  Nodoka
looked on in worry till she had fully recovered.  When Plum had
finally caught her breath, she looked pleased with herself.  "That
first time this one manage whole thing, one go.  Old priest who
name spring, he very great talker, he talk and talk all time, very long
winded, this one thinking."
     "My goodness, whatever does it mean?" Nodoka asked, and at
Plum's look of dismay, she hastily added.  "You don't have to say it
all in one go dear.  Just break it up if you would."
     Plum nodded, and stood silent for a little while as she worked
out the translation.  Finally, she gave a nod, and said.  "This spring
is called.  Spring of Drowned Big, Nasty, Evil-Tempered,
Battle-Scarred, One-Eyed, Black Tomcat that Ate the Holy and
Revered Fighting Cranes of My Monastery, May He Burn in the
Seventh Ring of Hell For All Eternity . . . "
     Nodoka blinked, then said,  "I see, I imagine he was very
annoyed at the time."
     Plum just nodded solemnly, and then the two women started to
break down the camp site while Plum told all she knew of the
Demon slayer Xian Pu.  Which turned out to be heavy on stories,
and rather short on actual facts.

**********************************************

     "So what are we going to do about Saotome-san?" Ukyou
asked.  Akane had stopped her head long rush half way across the
valley, and they were now walking at a pace that made conversation
much easier.
     "I don't think there is much of a problem right now.  You
know what Plum said about the curses being permanent.  I don't
think she'll kill herself as long as she has to take someone else with
her, even if it is a body stealing spirit.  On the other hand, if she's
crazy enough to think of it in the first place, who knows."
     "I hardly call wanting to do the what you think is the right
thing crazy." Ukyou chided Akane, but then added.  "Still I suppose
you're right about her holding off as long as this Xian Pu is
around."  Ukyou rather admired Nodoka's commitment to honor.
So many people paid the concept lip service, but were not prepared
to go out of their way in actual observance of it.  Ukyou had seen
the calm acceptance in Nodoka's eyes when she had made her offer,
and had no doubt that the woman was prepared to do what she felt
was the right thing. 
     That made it all the more important that she and Akane do
everything they could to make sure she didn't.  Nodoka was not
responsible for Ukyou's condition, and Ukyou would not see
another pay the price for someone else's mistake.  She directed a
side long look at Akane as she thought this, but kept her mouth shut.
With some difficulty to be sure.  She was still more then a little
angry at the dark haired girl.  She was going to have to put that aside
if she wanted to convince Saotome-san that there was no need for
the ultimate apology.  She was going to have to pretend that her
curse was no big deal.  She gave a sigh.  Maybe it really wasn't.
After all, what would it change?  It might even be for the best.  At
least as a boy, her chest wouldn't constantly ache from the bindings
she used to tie down her breasts.  It wasn't like she was going to
have to change her behavior, or her mode of dress.
     Besides forcing Ukyou to accept her curse, one other thing
Nodoka's offer had driven home, was Ukyou's own reluctance to
take responsibility for her actions.  Akane might have been at fault,
but she was not blame free herself.  Maybe the first step in coming
to some arrangement with Akane was to admit that.  If Nodoka was
prepared to kill herself, the least Ukyou could do was to bite her
tongue, and admit her own partial blame in the matter.
     "Akane?"
     "Ukyou?"
     "Oh, you first."
     "No, you go ahead."
     "All right.  It's what Saotome-san said.  About taking
responsibility.  Not about killing herself.  I've been thinking about
it, and she's right.  I was as much to blame as you for what
happened to me.  I'm sorry I took it out on you."
     "What do you mean?  I'm not . . .!" Akane yelled, and then to
Ukyou's amazement, she blushed and broke off in mid rant.  After a
minute, she said.  "I'm sorry too.  I guess I was partly to blame.  It's
just been really hard on me the last little while, and I have a difficult
time trusting anyone in pants, even when I know in my mind they're
really a girl.  You, just look way too much like a guy.  Even when
your not, a guy that is."
     Ukyou lifted an eyebrow, and took in Akane's own apparel.
Akane caught the look, and for a moment she looked like she was
going to flare up again, but then she threw back her head and
laughed.  Ukyou watched in amazement as Akane's face seemed to
undergo a transformation. The hard lines that had given her a
continued discontented look melted, leaving her looking softer,
kinder, a very different person from the one Ukyou had grown to
know over the past week.
     "All, right." Akane said, when she stopped laughing.  She
wiped tears from her eyes, and continued.  " Point taken.  I'll try not
to judge so quickly from now on," she said.  "For what it'