Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Third Labor (Forward to the past) ❯ Time Out ( Chapter 11 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Third Labor, chapter 11
"Time out"

WHAT'S GONE BEFORE: previous chapters at http://www.fanfiction.net

DISCLAIMER: The Well of Mimir, time travel, alternate universes, and other related concepts
are the intellectual property of a bunch of people who died a really long time ago.

----------

Grey stepped through the gate and knew with absolute certainty. Something was wrong. It was a
frequent and familiar feeling. "This does NOT look like an alley in Philadelphia!"

Thick woods, conifer forest similar to up near Flagstaff. Large bugs. REALLY large bugs. Really
really LARGE bugs. The trees seemed a little small, so Grey thought it was unlikely that HIS size
had been altered to really small.

~Okay, no problem, i'll just step back through the Gate and... The Gate's gone?! No, i can still see
it, it just seems to have a phase variance. Hmmmm. Okay, NOW it's gone. Let's see. Take stock
of situation. i'm in an unknown Timeline. Equipment bag present. D-hopper is... where is it? i'm
sure i packed it! OK, no way to circumvent dimensions so...~

Grey pondered for a few moments, then tried to transform. No on the cyborg. Sexangel was
possible but felt weakened for some reason. Then dragonform. Now he could probe with senses
far more acute than human ones.

Prowling the forest showed no signs of human habitation. So... far from habitated lands or else a
world with no humans.

~As Ami once told me, 'Information is the first principle.' Therefore, first i find out where i am.
Now, how to do that?~

-----------

Akumakun/Ranma timeline:

Akane Tendo was not handling events well.

As far as she knew, she'd been having a really bad day. The Chem Club pepper-spray bomb had
given her watery eyes, a skin rash, and she'd been coughing most of the day. She'd grabbed a few
Benadryl (five should be enough, right?) and headed for the bathtub for a soak.

She'd felt so sleepy that she'd just closed her eyes for a moment. Just a moment. Then when she'd
*opened* her eyes...

Two weeks had gone by.

She was naked under some guy's shirt, had a piece of paper stuck on her forehead, and two inches
of nail inserted into her right above her breastbone. When she got over screaming about *that*
she'd found out it was just the beginning of her problems.

Kuno was blubbering about the return of Akane. Some guy she'd never seen before was claiming
that he was her fiance? As well as some *huge* gaijin type who grunted a lot but didn't really
seem to say anything. And why did Nabiki have little cat ears and a TAIL?!

And Kasumi insisted Akane take these little yellow pills with rice this morning.

Opening the door to go to school, she found that man mountain standing there, dressed fairly
nicely, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a timid looking smile on his face.

Akane took a deep breath and vented. She explained loudly and in some detail that she was not
interested in boys, much less some "gaijin freak" with a speech impediment! Then she stormed
past the (stupid perverted) boy.

Jared came out of the house, ignoring the way Ranma ran after Akane shouting for her to wait up.
This would make the third time that Akane would rebuff Ranma's attempted advances.

"There, there," he said to the sullen mountain. "That isn't the Akane you knew anyway. You're
really better off without her."

"Unnnn," said Plenty Bull.

"I'm sure you'll find someone else," Jared assured him. "There will be other possibilities."

"Unnnnn?"

"NO, I don't think Sherry or Ranko would be interested." Jared shuddered. Maybe he ought to see
if Shampoo knew an Amazon who was *really* into strength.

----------

Third Labor timeline:

Flying in dragonform was still fun, still a rush. At least for short periods.

After sixteen hours of nonstop flight, Grey wasn't having any fun.

A search pattern over the target area revealed no settlements except one that he could see from
the air. The plume of smoke had revealed a group of Native Americans, the descendents of a great
civilization that had collapsed long before the arrival of Columbus. Oddly enough, the camp had
every sign of a hasty desertion and recently, but no locals.

This had caused Grey to consider and then fly up to his "ceiling" - where the air grew too thin to
breathe and keep flight stable. The lay of the land below him matched what he could remember of
a map in his briefing. He was in the right place, which meant that it was the wrong time. So the
question had gone from "where am i?" to "when am i?" and finding *that* out was proving tricky.

The Amerind camp hadn't provided useful data. As far as Grey knew, this placed him anywhere
from 500 AD to 1400 AD - though it could be even earlier. When *had* the three supertribes
broken apart and the Anasazi vanished? The database in his laptop was mainly concerned with
divergent timelines and mechanical data. He also had a *large* medical database, including
cybernetics, because he'd been the cyborg for so long that he had had to make field repairs
regularly.

So he'd chosen to fly up through Canada, then to Greenland (which had a *lot* more green on the
land than he remembered) and from there a hop to Iceland and then to Britain. After that it
wouldn't take long to get to Europe. Once in Europe he could figure out an approximate when.
Not exact, of course, the last time he'd taken World (Eurocentric) History had been in his *first*
life - over eighty years ago now.

Silver dragons, considering their normal terrain (mountains overlooking more temperate areas),
were good flyers. *This* was pushing the limits and so Grey finally dropped to a clumsy landing
(this time the rut he tore in the snow was only eighty feet in length) and rested aching muscles for
a bit. A quick meal (three goats, two reindeer (he assumed they were reindeer), and a *very*
surprised walrus) was followed by the discovery that he'd overdone it and his wing muscles
protested any attempt at stretching them out.

~Note to self: you ain't got Ranma's recovery rate anymore. Owie.~

Lashing his tail and sighting from the sun, Grey started to run. And very quickly got disgusted
with it as his running speed in dragonform seemed to be slightly faster than a dead stop. With an
effort, he tried shifting to human.

"What the... AGGGHHHHH!" Grey looked at himself. He was back to male, but apparently one
of the transformation rules was that whatever he was wearing last when human was what he was
wearing when transforming back to human. Apparently that mess with Akane counted.

After spending a few moments standing naked in a snowfield, Grey decided to try the angelform.
While it was successful, he felt the biting cold even more than in human shape and still had no
clothing. Another attempt to shift to cyborg failed to produce anything. THAT form apparently
was not within the local possibilities.

The pack *should* have had a change of clothes in there. Unfortunately, about half of his
expected equipment was missing. So he blurred, and a dragon gave a weary sigh before turning to
trudge through the snow and slush and occasional patch of green.

He had a feeling this was going to take a *long* time.

----------

a formerly Evangelion timeline:

"Mizuno-san?"

Ami turned to see who was flagging her this time. Just the assistant vice-principal. "Sir?"

"It's about your grades, Mizuno-san."

Ami blinked. "My grades?"

Mr. Naniga nodded. "Yes, they've been slipping of late, Mizuno-san. Is there a problem?"

~Other than my fiance being killed under his father's orders, being resurrected when we used the
Silver Crystal to restructure the world, having our happy time together cut short by him vanishing,
and a pair of dimension walkers tell us that he's now a she and off on some other plane of
existence and that we'll never see him again?~ "Why, no, assistant vice-principal. I've just had a lot
on my mind."

Naniga frowned. "Is it your husband's disappearance?"

"Well..." Ami ducked her head.

Naniga frowned some more, then proceeded on his rehearsed speech. "It's very likely he dumped
you. It would be best if you forgot about him and concentrated on your schoolwork. Why, I
rememrmmmmm..."

Ami blinked. Oh dear, that was one of her medical dictionaries. Well, it had been getting worn
anyway and she certainly didn't want it back after it had been in someone's mouth. "Oh. I'm
terribly sorry, assistant vice-principal Naniga. Though I politely disagree that his disappearance
was due to his own choices." Bowing slightly, Ami continued on to her next class.

"Mmmmrrfffff?!" Naniga tried to dislodge the book. "Mrfff? Mmmmmmmffff!"

One of the teachers walked by, stared for a moment, then continued walking. "That's odd. Usually
it's his *foot* he gets stuck in his mouth."

----------

SMJ Timeline:

The big screen hanging on the outside of the Center displayed the face of Jiro Kaneda, local
newsanchor for Japonesse TV. "Today there was a small explosion at Castle Japonesse. The
explosion took out a small section of the computer lab, oddly enough, the only things that were
destroyed were a set of braintapes and a few small trinkets from experimental marionette research.
Otaru Mamiya has stated emphatically that Lime was *not* involved this time. Doctor Lorelei and
her main research were unharmed.

"The first group of cloned girl children have now reached their six month old checkups with flying
colors. Doctor Lorelei repeats her 'no comment' when asked about all the ones with dark skin and
white hair.

"In an unrelated newstory, the marionette Ginseng has abruptly vanished. New Texas is claiming
innocence." A laugh track briefly played. "Meanwhile the Shinohara Plasma Devils beat the Kyobe
Giants in overtime, 24-21..."

---------

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

"...and AFTER that idiot Black Bart goes kidnapping me, WHAT happened?!"

Ranma winced. "Well... I *tried* to rescue you."

"You were *LATE*! That freak Plenty Bull would have gotten there faster than you!"

Kasumi winced. "He seemed like a very nice boy." ~Why aren't the pills helping?~

"He grunts, Kasumi. I need to get a ladder just to look him in the eyes." Akane shook her head.
"Just one more infuriating *boy* to have to deal with."

"Well, you're safe now..." Ranma said in a small voice. ~And Plenty gave up on you already.~

"No thanks to YOU!" Akane huffed, turning away. "Hmmmph. If they hadn't cheated using that
rope trick and a smoke bomb, I'd have shown them myself! I don't need YOU to rescue me! I
took care of those thugs, didn't I?"

"Akane, they suspect you're 'Sabre Mars' now. They'll be back in numbers."

"Let them!" Akane slammed her fist into her other hand. "I can take them! None of that silly 'Old
West' stuff."

Jared sat at the Tendo table, *dearly* wishing that he could do either one of two things:
Transform this Miso soup into something that didn't cause him to wonder why he wasn't gagging
at the similarity to a bowlful of salty spit, or cause the ceaseless, *endless* stream of criticism
from the other end of the table, and which was causing Ranma to wilt ever more by the moment
as it went on, with him as it's especial target.

"...and as for people who keep thrusting babies in my face or asking me about their dead
relatives..."

Ranma had tried, on several occasions, to get that girl he'd first met riding a horse through the
streets of Nerima to return. He'd put his foot in his mouth repeatedly, and his attempts had further
aggravated and turned ever more hostile the real Akane.

"...almost as perverted as YOU Ranma, or pointy-ears over there..."

Nabiki's ears went flat and she frowned. She didn't like Akane's tendency to be loud. As a catgirl,
her hearing was fairly sensitive.

"...and turning my sister into a monster! And if it isn't Black Bart, it's those thugs looking for that
'Sabre Mars' crap, or some damn Indian weirdness, or some weird rival who wants to challenge
me to magical battle, or some extremely silly martial arts battle."

Actually, it occurred to Jared that there might be a way he could solve both of his current
difficulties in a single strategem.

"...everything was *fine* before you showed up! All I had to deal with was Kuno and..."

Jared slammed his bowl down on the table, interrupting Akane's latest tirade about all of the
wonderful qualities she failed to see in the arragement, her fiance, and anything else that came to
mind. With a face as hard as stone he said, "That's it," and leaned across the table and touched
lightly Akane's ribs.

The remains of the meal were upset as Akane kicked it into Genma's lap with the first spasms and
an odd gurgling noise emitted from the youngest Tendo's stomach area. Akane's eyes grew big
and a cold sweat formed on her as another set of gurgles erupted.

*ZZOOOMMM!*

Jared sighed contentedly at the relative quiet - though the sounds from the bathroom were
sufficiently loud that they carried through the home.

"What?!" Kasumi looked at the remains of the meal decorating the panda.

"Martial Arts Indian Wrestling shiatsu attack: The Bowels Of Hell," Jared managed to look briefly
solemn before going into a smirk. "A dreaded technique handed down by the ancient Arapahi
which inflicts the watery doom of a spastic colon attack on the victim. Very terrible tragic story of
girl who run off at the mouth, now simply has runs. Very terrible."

Jared was tsking a half hour later as Akane (pale and sweaty) rejoined them. "Really, Akane. A
*true* martial artist can fight that attack by tensing certain muscles. Even those untrained can
resist to the point where they are able to continue fighting. The attack isn't very effective at all to
those with a little discipline."

She rose at him screaming insults, which he deflected by placing his finger against her flesh once
again, this time merely causing her to slump bonelessly to the floor. Ranma looked both relieved
and guilty to be relieved, and Jared favored him pityingly. "You know, bro. I *had* warned you.
She's a catastrophe. She'll never again be that helpful, friendly, person you first knew."

Nabiki and Kasumi both slumped at that line. Seeing as how their little sister had been vocal and
nonstop in her criticism of others and complaints about how everyone treated her and how they'd
been acting since her personality was restored, more than one had guiltily wished that they had
not been successful in finding a cure.

"Nevertheless..." Mr. Tendo began pompously.

He was interrupted by a high pitched beeping. Nabiki checked her pager, then lithely rolled to her
feet.

"There's a problem on the ranch," Nabiki explained. "Shall we?"

Nabiki paused to give Ranma a quick peck on the cheek, whispering to him that he ought to
consider giving Akane more room. Maybe by switching the engagement?

Jared smirked some more, suddenly attired in serviceable Western wear. "For Justice, we ride."

Nabiki flipped a black cowboy hat onto her head, but didn't change out of her short tight halter
and short-shorts ensemble. "For Freedom, we ride!"

Ranma stood up. "For the Art, we ride!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi briefly and guiltily suppressed a desire to add some phrase of her own and go
riding off to do something besides watch Akane's mental state deteriorate.

Nabiki leapt gracefully out back onto the back of Fess. Jared summoned Wildhorn and leapt on
his back. Ranma leapt for the mare's back, but the mare wasn't cooperating again. *SPLASH!*
Ranma-chan made a remark about horsemeat as she climbed onto the "Damn Beast's" back.

"We ride!" Three riders took off into the sunset.

Akane grumbled as she came to. "Oh. RRrrrrrrrrr. Well, since everyone's been asking, I *did* get
the chance to cook up this casserole..."

---------

Third Labor Timeline:

Stealing was a sin, and therefore something that a good dragon trying to get into Heaven
shouldn't do.

The explorer he'd run across had attempted to run (screaming) off a cliff. Grey had snagged the
man after a mere ten foot drop and had taken a set of clothing as payment with a word of thanks
and a wish for the man to "live long and prosper."

That this explorer (formerly Ryud the Fearless, currently Ryud the Religious) would later go on to
become a priest and live a long life back home as opposed to freezing in a glacier (thereby
becoming Ryud the popsicle) was not foreseen by Grey. And, after all, what kind of effect could
saving one man's life in 776 AD have?

Grey waited till he was out of sight of the man, found some snowmelt, then repeatedly washed the
clothes in the stream before putting the garments (just a pair of woolen pants and a coarse
tunic-like shirt) away in his own pack. It hadn't *exactly* been theft, after all. He'd asked the
fellow for permission to take the stuff.

Twelve hours later, he'd stood on some shore, tested his wings and decided they would do for
shorter flights, and Grey shifted to humanform.

Putting the clothes *on* revealed that they were for someone who was bulkier and taller. In other
words, shaped like the person he'd gotten them from. There was also no wing room, so if he
wanted to switch to angelform, he'd have to go without the shirt. As that was the worse fitting,
that wasn't as much of a problem. The shirt went back into the pack with some reluctance.

Shifting from human to angel, and then back to dragon, Grey proceeded on his journey. Other
than the too-terrified-to-speak explorer, he still hadn't found anyone to tell him *when* he was.

He didn't realize that he had been observed and that the natives would be talking about *this* for
quite a bit of time.

---------

It was getting on a week since the disastrous brush with death in the form of one of the Greater
Demon Lords, now expired.

Things had reached a flashpoint. He was recovering quickly, and had been for two days. Chi had
brimmed up at maximum not a long while ago, meditation to refill it when it was expended was
working normally. Which thing meant that he could spend it all but the tiniest amount and refill in
a single hour. Directed use of chi in healing had brought other abilities back quickly, fixing injuries
too deep for rest to heal and restarting his regenerative processes. His innate magic was now at
full strength and magic energy for spells, the sluggard of his recovery, was burbling back at a
more normal rate. He'd be fine in a few days time.

Jared was ALSO rather gifted in his inspired use of insights gained to hide himself from searches.
His stealth techniques had grown exponentially, to where he hadn't much of a problem hiding
from Sailorjin chi senses or Silver Millennial scans. He was fairly confident that he could rejoin
the nurses now and be able to fend off their worst attempts.

Besides, he owed a duty to them. It wasn't chivalrous to hide more than absolutely required, and
they had earned a right to acompany him through their devotion.

Yes, it was definately time to show up. Well almost. There were things to be taken care of first.

"Quick! Nabiki, it's time for Sabre Mercenary!" Jared pointed to where stealthy figures continued
to look for Sabre Mars to avenge their earlier losses. Apparently the gangs had hired "talent" to
avenge themselves with.

The middle Tendo daughter was instantly shaking her head. "Sabre Mercenary? Yuck. No way.
Uh uh." She was *not* a mercenary, not the ice queen. She *could* be a nice girl!

"Okay, we'll make it Sabre Mercury instead. It's more in genre anyway." With that, Jared turned a
flip in the air and materialized a silver brooch, which he instantly clasped to the garment at
Nabiki's throat before she could object. "Now shout whatever first comes to mind! Hurry!"

The quick retort that was rising up got swallowed and she fought not to respond at all, clasping
both hands over her mouth desperately. Still, they fell clear and her entire body arced
spasmatically as she involuntarily yelled out the phrase.

"Kitty Flash!"

~Where did *THAT* come from??!?~ The amazed girl thought.

~From me, I couldn't resist.~ Thought the mindreading mage, as he watched her spin through a
very brief (comparitively) transformation sequence to find herself in a blue one piece bathing suit
with accouterments identical in style and shape to Akane's, but white instead of red. Her tail
flicking back and forth behind her didn't fit the image too well.

"Right!" He shouted, snapping into a sentai pose. "Now take out the Nabiki computer, we've got
to scan those guys!"

Sabre Mercury found herself holding a large and bulky cash register with digital screen. "What's
this?"

"Sorry, we still had all the props set up for you as Sabre Mercenary. We'll get it fixed later, I
hope. You never know with these sentai things. It might be a compact or an electric diary next
time. Very hard to read the screen."

"At least then I could put it in my pocket." Nabiki replied, struggling with he bulky plastic and
iron device.

"Quit complaining, your weapon profile is excellent. Haul out the rocket launcher and we'll show
those guys what for."

"No, not a rocket launcher." Nabiki emphatically shook her head and set the cash register down.
"Look, if I'm going to do this, and I'm still not sure I want to, I'm going to be the stealth and
speed expert. Heavy fire support just is *not* my style."

Jared reluctantly agreed, but privately thought it likely he could get Shampoo or Ukyo to go with
the role. Sabre Jupiter?

Nabiki didn't specify that her whole reason for even considering this was that she was finding her
catgirl mode addictive and comfortable. She wasn't sure at this point if she even wanted to go
back to being "normal" Nabiki Tendo.

"For that matter, I don't see the need to do a sentai theme here," Nabiki said, ignoring Jared's
stricken expression. "How about I disguise myself as a kunoichi - Ninja Kamen, mysterious and
elegant night warrior?"

Jared's disappointment was obvious. Especially when he saw her model the "costume" - what little
there was of it. "A black bodystocking with a black Zorro mask? Isn't that a little... adult?"

"Hmmm. I'll try wearing it in front of Ranma. If he faints, it's too much..." Nabiki smirked. If
Ranma fainted, then it might be possible to lure him away from Akane after all.

"Uhm well..." Jared winced. Considering how tight the bodystocking was, she was close enough
to nude as made little nevermind.

"I could get a utility belt and go as Catgirl!"

Jared was prepared to say no, but then started thinking about "Stately Tendo Manor" and "To
The Catpoles" and a faint smile appeared. No. Never work. Absolutely not.

-------

Asgard:

Apple blinked at the archway a few times. "Where did he go?"

"The Third Labor timeline. Except that he never arrived." Celeste studied the image of a
Philadelphia alleyway. "Maybe he disintegrated? Or possibly there was a warpspace intrusion and
he's out of phase? Or it could have collapsed while he was in transit and he's lost forever in
limbo."

There was many startled looks at this until Ami spoke up. "No, the corridor was momentarily
stable. When it did break up, it had held for thirty seconds - sufficient for him to have traversed
it."

Setsuna looked over the controls. "There's something else. There are disruptions in the target
timestream, revising it from its past."

"Dang it, that Pheonix Mage promised he wouldn't do this!" Celeste grumbled.

"Looks like there was a secondary ripple." Hestia noted. "A crossrip from the Universe he just
came from. One person crossed out.""

"Uh oh. Do we need a rescue team assembled?" Belle inquired, her hand posed near a button.

"No, he doesn't appear to be in danger, he isn't that important, and he gets lost anyway." Hestia
shrugged. She had bigger problems to concentrate on.

---------

Elsewhere:

The world was called, by its inhabitants, the World. The Elven name merely sounded fancier while
the Dwarven name was short and utilitarian and the Goblin term sounded like someone spitting.

The world would drive someone from a more mainstream universe, particularly if that someone
were a scientist or a skeptic, absolutely nuts. World being overall shaped like a wrinkly piece of
paper with a hole offcenter, though a piece of paper three miles thick and twenty thousand miles
long and wide. The sun rose and set through that aforementioned hole, which was surrounded by
bare rock that hissed and smouldered whenever the sun (a sphere that was 200 miles across and
cleared the surrounding "hole" by a mere 100 miles) approached it.

And on World, a tortured cry rose from the region known as Squatting Toad Mountain, one
familiar to many people.

"Where on Earth am I NOWWWWWWW?!"

What he wasn't expecting was an answer.

"This is the Elven Nudist Colony of Faeriewine."

"Well, actually I... I..." He really hadn't expected an answer. From a woman. From a beautiful
woman. From a beautiful naked woman. Backed by four OTHER beautiful naked elf women.
"Urkkk!"

"Hmmmn, that was a nosebleed, followed by a facefault? Looks painful."

--------

Asgard:

"He's in the right timeline, but the wrong time." An oriental woman in armor said, teleporting in.
She was notable in that most of the goddesses of war tended to have very ornate and gleaming
armor. Hers wasn't fancy at all, merely serviceable and looking well-used.

"I'm not familiar with you, am I?" Celeste frowned and took a quick reading looking for an ident.
She wasn't connected to Yggdrasil, which meant either a very minor goddess like a Valkyrie or
something rather more powerful.

"Hoshime. Aramarian pantheon. Wife to Etragar the Healer. Portfolio: Defense and Protection."
The oriental looked over the crowd briefly. "He's praying for spells. As he has repeatedly violated
the 'no weapons' stricture, my husband is not renewing his spells."

"Then who is?" Ami asked, who was still not entirely sure what proper etiquette was when
speaking with deities.

"That," agreed Hoshime, smoothing her eyepatch, "is a question that we'd like answered
ourselves."

------------

"JARED NO BAKA!!"

Jared heard the battlecry, idly noted Akane approaching at high speeds with a blunt trauma object
(today's choice seemed to be a fire extinguisher) and deduced that his speech to Ranma "1001
things I'd rather do with Akane than be engaged to her" had made the rounds. (1001: throw her
into Spring of Drowned Pig and sell her to the Unryuu Sumo Pig Farm as breeding stock. 1000:
trap her in the cave with Happosai so that she'd get a better idea of what consitituted a pervert.
999: Stuff her in a Pokeball and trade her off for something useful...)

Akane started wildly swinging as soon as she was in range. "How could you even suggest that I'd
be better off sold to a Bioweapons facility?!"

Dodging her swings, Jared managed to look both bored and thoughtful. "Do you remember when
Nabiki, Ranma, and I got back from stopping those cattle rustlers? The dinner you fixed? Pop
losing all body hair was no big loss, but Kasumi?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Akane's eyes teared up anyway. Why did someone put chemicals like that
under the sink in the kitchen anyway? "You..."

Jared sighed, darted in, and struck a pressure point combination, then shot back out and made a
point of turning his back on the enraged girl.

"eeeeeeEEEEEEEE?!"

"Bro, is she *supposed* to be doing that?" Ranma's feelings for Akane had evaporated, and
Nabiki had been warm and friendly, so naturally he was concerned about the display. It might
affect Nabiki's reputation by association.

"Akane?" Nabiki growled. "Get ahold of yourself. NOT THAT WAY! I didn't mean it
literrrrally."

Jared turned, saw what Akane was doing in the schoolyard, and whipped out a martial arts book
titled "Hong Kong Fu-ey."

"Aaa Aaaa aaaa AAHHH aaah aaah!"

Kuno strode to the front of the crowd, saw Akane, and fainted with a nosebleed that would have
shamed Ryouga.

Ranma tried not to look. "Uhm, and she calls *me* perverted?"

"Let's see, shiatsu attacks, page 357." Much page turning. "Shiatsu attack effects- listing, pages
125-217." Jared flipped some more pages. "Muffed attacks, here we go... oh dear."

"Ahhh Unnnn Ahhh Unnnnn!"

Hikaru Gosunkugi, still wearing casts from his exorcism attempt on Akane, went down with near
terminal nosebleed.

"WHAT?!" Nabiki asked, reaching up to shield Ranma's eyes from this.

"I hit the wrong pressure point. Hang on, I'm trying to find the correction." Jared continued
flipping pages.

Akane started barking like a dog. Three more guys in the crowd went down with nosebleeds.

"What exactly did you do?" Nabiki asked, her voice full of concern.

"Explosive orgasm shiatsu attack. She's stuck in a loop..." Jared continued to flip pages. "She's
*really* going to want to kill me after this."

"Oh my," said Ranma, though Nabiki's hand was still blocking line of sight.

Jared paused, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if I should even cure her? Or would this evening be
soon enough? Have the school send her home 'sick' or something."

"WaaaAAAAaaaaaAAAAA!"

Nabiki considered her bucking and thrashing sister, then turned a half-lidded gaze to Jared. "How
much to teach Ranma that manuever?"

Jared continued flipping through the book. "Let's see... to reset the Explosive Orgasm shiatsu...
see also Beavercleaveritis technique page 116."

"Nabiki!" Ranma yelped. "That would be, well, I mean..."

Jared turned back a wry grin to the still waiting Nabiki. "What have you got? Nah, I'll make it a
wedding gift... provided you can get him to choose you that is. Otherwise poor Kasumi may have
her consolation for her lost (and soon to be restored) hair. Ukyo may find that ten years of
searching were *well* rewarded. The Amazons get a shiatsu attack that becomes a chief form of
recreation, etc."

The redheaded Saotome began to consider what might happen if he went to Ranma when he was
sleeping that night and slipped on him the Synoptic Teacher, loaded with Grammar, Etiquette,
Wardrobe, Personal Grooming, and maybe perhaps some Diction and the typical school subjects.
Just making up for lost time, really. It ought to be as interesting an experiment as the catnip, at
least.

He privately grinned. Add Dating and Courtship to that, Manners and a few other courses. This
could be *real* interesting! Not to mention fun watching Nabiki's response to having to actually
struggle to get what she wanted.

~Hmm, when I call in the wives I've got to stick around. There's the ranching and the other things
I'm learning. I just can't pass this up. Maybe. Yeah. I should. I'll get my recharge and then cast
Body Outside Body again and send the duplicates off with task forces of wives to do vital things
elsewhere, like picking up Geltland's soon-to-be-lost plasma tech.~ He soon lost himself in
planning, leaving the thrashing body of Akane writhing on the lawn as he wandered back into
class.

Sometime later, Jared cast a glance aside at Nabiki and was suddenly grateful that he'd managed
to re-erect that Glamour of his and erase the two elder daughter's memories of its lapse.

He was about to become *very* busy here, and there, and other-wheres.

------------

776 AD:

Morning prayers completed, Grey ignored the figures watching from the treeline. They were of
little concern, and had been there sufficiently long that he was wondering if he ought to approach
them. However, the last time he'd tried that hadn't worked too well. He'd taken off, flew over a
hill, landed, transformed to human, then walked back.

Arrows had been lobbed in his direction immediately. Strangers were, apparently, persona non
grata.

So a switch to the smaller and therefore less noticeable angelform, and another comparitively
short flight, and Grey found himself gliding over sprawling villages. Odd how he hadn't seen
anything in Ireland, but he had to admit that he wasn't that familiar with the colonization of the
area. Or it could be that Ireland was sparsely populated in this timeline.

Still, cities and villages tended to form in the same rough areas no matter what the local timeline's
rules were like. Look for a river, find a village at a bend or largely flat area. Wanting to be sure
this wasn't one of the abandoned villages he'd spotted in Iceland or Greenland, Grey frowned at
the lack of cloud cover but figured that in a pre-Industrial society, this group wouldn't have a
reason to look up that much. Right?

Wheeling over, he noted a sufficiently crowded Farmer's Market, perfect. Grey landed a short
distance from the village, transformed to human, and put the itchy woolen tunic on. Now all he
needed to do was mingle with the crowd, take a few copper coins from his stash, and he could get
information!

If he hadn't been so extremely tired, no doubt he would have made fewer mistakes.

----------

Terra Two:

Craggy mountains, leftovers from one of the volcanic cataclysms that had rocked Terra Two over
the millenia before human civilization had arrived. There were the segments of what were similar
to fossilized coral reefs, but these were anchored to more typical geology.

It was mainly unexplored, due to the dangers of plasma storms, the lack of air travel or satellite
technology, and the lack of exploration desire from the vast majority of the populace. The
discovery of Ponta-kun had been deemed sufficient indication that this alien world had dangers to
further limit the desire for expansion/exploration. There was a single large city and some outlying
communities in each kingdom. Other than that, the human populace was huddled together on a
single continent. Escaping human society was simply a matter of walking a few weeks or making
a boat.

Ginseng continued to walk, glad to be out of the insufferable Japonesse court with its cliques and
intrigue. It was fine for others who thrived on such things, but not for him. With Ieyasu back and
in charge, there was every indication that the various factions jockeying for position would never
become quite the problem they'd threatened to become.

And it was *good* to be male again. The abrupt shift, as if the Binding had finally gotten around
to such an "unimportant" detail, had provided the impetus for leavetaking. However, as once
again organic and male, he was not in an ideal circumstance for taking off into the wilderness.

Especially as Mihoshi's overall build was still present. Thin and somewhat androgynous, with the
thick mane of blonde hair unchanged. Which made simply walking away a bit of a problem.
Physical strength was insufficient to even carry the camping supplies. It didn't keep a smile off his
face, even after a day of travel and sleeping under a canopy of trees because the tent had proven
balky.

There had been preparations made, after all. First odds and ends like the tent and bedroll, learning
something about the land. Then, amongst the improvements to their manufacturing process, had
been the request for test models of marionettes. He'd specified three to begin with.

A tech had thought it would be most amusing and the first marionette supplied for experimental
purposes had been an exact (as near as anyone could tell) duplicate of Doctor Lorelei. Doctor
Lorelei had *not* been amused upon first meeting her automaton duplicate.

If Doctor Lorelei had known that Ginseng had made brain tapes of HER and downloaded them
into the emotionless android copy, well, she wouldn't have seen the irony or the amusement value
most likely. Not that he didn't make alterations. Otaru had quite enough trouble without Siryn
(the name he'd given to Lorelei's copy) pursuing him.

So a minor programming alteration. It was mainly Lorelei's technical knowledge that had been
sought, anyway. A few minor cosmetic changes. Mainly so that if Lorelei suspected any of this
she couldn't simply spy upon his lab disguised as Siryn. He'd prepared a nasty if she'd ever tried,
not quite forgiving the Doctor for this cycle of resurrections as a female slave.

Maybe it was petty, but finding out that the previous versions had had protocols and overrides
hardwired in, including a destruct (NOT a self destruct)and a Slave Mode. Well, he could
understand Lorelei and Ieyasu were normally good guys. Good guys who had been scared and
thought they were in a corner facing more than merely *personal* destruction. He could
understand they were desperate. Didn't mean he liked it at all.

So he hadn't altered Siryn's appearance that much. Internally, he'd installed a number of systems
useful for a lab assistant. Things remembered from studying his own cyborg parts or the various
other marionettes. Bioscanners in her hands, an uprated battlescanner, computer jack, drug
dispenser in the left arm, motion detector, radar system, uprated dexterity, compartments
containing tools and supplies, and a cooling system that didn't involve arm vents. Musical talents
had been added, just so that he could have some tunes at need. Of course, this meant some
tradeoffs. Physical strength, speed, and endurance were about human level - or at least about
supermodel level. Actually his current form was still stronger than Siryn.

(And the Nasty little trick he'd planned had actually gone off. Lorelei had deactivated Siryn, put in some colored contacts, and had snuck into Ginseng's lab despite assurances from Ieyasu and everyone else that the lab area would remain off-limits, part of the deal that had been arranged for the development of these new improvements. Ginseng knew, but the doctor herself did not. That was when he had made those brain tapes of her, as well as putting in something for emergencies. Turnabout was fair play, after all.)

Siryn hadn't been the only marionette devised or enhanced by Ginseng, of course. Rei Ayanami as
a marionette had seemed somehow appropriate, though her enhancements were nearly identical to
Siryn's. The ersatz albino was now working at Castle Japonesse. Trading off that unit, he'd put
together a few other units - explaining that a single unified force like the Sabre Marionette O
series was good for everyday tasks but a group of diverse talents was useful for emergencies and
to have on hand. Or, as he'd later explained it, there are times for an Army and times for a Special
Forces.

Out of the units he'd upgraded for Castle Japonesse and Ieyasu, he'd kept three around. As with
Doctor Lorelei's duplicate, he hadn't had any choices as to the body styling. He had a feeling that
the same wag whose sense of humor had decided he'd get Siryn had been responsible for the
others. Well, he'd altered the appearances a bit. Besides, he was *supposed* to experiment.

As Siryn filled out the repair function, that had left combat and domestic skills. It was a pity that
not one of the three were designed to HIS specifications. He otherwise wouldn't have chosen to
have those two. Painful memories involved with both.

Installing an Ishi Kairo had been put off until that very morning, and all three were currently
drinking in the world around them with an extra spark and curiosity that hadn't been there before.

"Where?" Siryn asked, still struggling with her pack.

Ginseng smiled. Questioning was the likely next stage in the Ishi Kairo development. "Out there,
thataway!"

Siryn pouted, mirrored by her sisters. That hadn't been much of an answer at all.

---------

Akumakun/Ranma timeline:

"Okay, YOU!" Akane leaned against the doorway unsteadily. "You've had this coming!"

Nabiki fell off her chair snickering, NOT landing on her feet, hearing an unintended double
meaning. Akane, of course, missed it.

Jared rolled his eyes and continued watching the television. Akane wasn't worth his missing an
episode of "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon" that he hadn't seen before. One of the few benefits of
being in 1992 Japan, he felt, was that there was some really good anime to be perused.

"Don't you DARE ignore me!" Akane angrily strode forward, though her knees were still wobbly.
"That was a dirty rotten..."

At that point her aforementioned wobbly knees gave out, and she toppled.

Jared rescued the popcorn, but couldn't help but notice that Akane had buried her nose in the
zipper of his trousers. "Uhm, Akane, it's nice that you're trying to apologize and all, but I'm
sincerely not interested."

Akane flashed up, eyes big, but her legs still were on strike and she ended up landing on her
bottom on the floor. Legs spread in the direction of her recent landing pad.

"Pervert," summed up Jared, turning his attention back to the television. ~Hmmmm. So Sailor
Saturn is actively feared by Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune. They try to kill her and repeatedly state that Saturn needs to be eliminated, and yet Uranus and Neptune become her legal guardians?! Had the writer taken leave of her senses or was she just unable to handle any more characters being associated with the "core group?" I think she'd have done much better dumping "the Spore" and having Hotaru stay with Makoto or Rei...~

"AHHHHHH!" Rage got Akane up on her feet again.

"Oh shush!" Jared noticed Ranma coming up behind Akane.

"You watch a girl's TV series?" Ranma looked from the TV to his brother, likewise ignoring the
five foot tower of outrage glowing fitfully nearby.

"At a certain level of mastery, ANYTHING becomes martial arts practice or training," Jared
reminded Ranma. "Observe this chi attack. Aqua Rhapsody!"

Noting that Akane (now with a rather shocked expression) was abruptly contained in an icy pillar, Ranma flopped down on the couch next to his brother. "Good enough. Pass the popcorn, will ya?"

Nabiki sighed and dragged Akane outside, then went back in to cuddle her koibito.

Not that Ranma noticed. He spent most of the program trying to figure out how to do a "Mars
Flame Sniper".

Kasumi saw Akane from her window, sighed deeply, slipped a wig on and went to get an icepick.
It sounded as if her father was *still* weeping over the loss. There was, just for a moment, this intense urge from Kasumi to go in and shake her father by the collar, slapping him repeatedly in the face and declare that this was HIS fault and that he should grow up and take responsibility for it. Just for a moment.

Kasumi instead went down the stairs to chip Akane out of the ice. Akane had been trying to be
nice and helpful and fix dinner. Kasumi had even ASKED Akane to fix the dinner, noting that
Akane had enjoyed it prior to her dropping out of Martial Arts Ranching, and Akane had made
such wonderful if bizarre and nonJapanese meals. Then she'd changed again and now...

Kasumi almost wept as she caught her own reflection in the ice. She'd have to pencil her eyebrows in again...

---------

Elsewhere, same timeline:

"Boss, why aren't we going after that Akane girl anymore?" Idaho asked, eating a hot sweet
potato.

"I'm glad you asked," said Black Bart, pulling an slide projector out of nowhere and turning it on.
The image of was of Akane wearing her cowgirl outfit. "This is the Akane we knew prior to that
report about her giving up the Ranching business. A skilled rider, cook, well mannered, good
singing voice, a right fine student of the Old West Style o' Martial Arts. Just the fittin' proper
image of an Old West Cowgirl Hero."

"Yeah, boss?" Idaho didn't see the point.

The image changed to Akane at her school, in a proper school uniform, yelling at some boy in a
kendo outfit. "This is Akane now. She can't ride a horse near as well, in fact her old horse refuses
to have anything to do with her. Can't cook, spends a lot of her time yelling, says the Old West
style of Martial Arts is just silly, and refuses to dress for the range."

Oregon nodded. "Si, I think maybe Senorita Tendo practicing Three Stooges Style Of Martial
Arts now. Just from what I've seen."

It clicked for Idaho. "So... she isn't a proper hero at all, much less a proper damsel in distress."

Black Bart nodded and changed the image. There came a few whistles from his men. "Now this
here gal is a different story. Why, she be the VERY image of the feminine ingenue - a perfect
damsel in distress. Sweet, kind, a full set of domestic type skills, lovely voice too though I haven't
heard her sing."

Colorado cleared his throat. "Uhm, boss. That there Akane mixed some stuff you normally don't
mix, and that there ingenue done lost all her hair as a result!"

Black Bart smiled in a manner that suggested fangs. "We've got a solution to that. I contacted an
old buddy from Villains R Us and got a bottle of Hair Fastgro. When we capture her, we'll use it
on this Kasumi Tendo - and I'll marry her before the night is out!"

"Gee, Boss," Idaho puzzled over something else. "How come you want to marry her? What about
Sherry and Ranko and that Nabiki girl?"

Black Bart tipped his hat forward so his eyes were shaded a little more. "Y'all can decide who
marries whom out of that bunch. I hear that Kasumi's the best cook, so that's the one I'm
hankering for."

"Oh my!" Idaho flinched at everyone's stare. "Sorry, it just seemed the appro thing to say."

"Don't worry, boys," Black Bart assured his Dozen Thieves. "We've got a surprise ally right in
their camp!"

-----------

Third Labor timeline 776 AD:

Human guise in place, the dragon tried to blend in with the locals. Besides, it took a few minutes
for the dragon talent for comprehending languages cut in.

"Did you see that girl throwing herself at yon Lareth? I'm telling you, girls in my day had more
dignity!"

"It be that new dance they're doing, Edna. It's positively indecent, they dance so close and
frantically. Och, tis scandalous!"

Grey nodded at one of those walking on the street, the other glared back. Details began making
themselves known. The buildings were simple wood, nothing fancy, no glass visible. Thatch was
mainly in evidence as a roofing material.

Horses, not many though. Even so, the streetsweepers obviously didn't work the area that often.
The tracks were more revealing. Most horses lacked shoes. Everything looked rather crude and
simply made. So... prior to the Millenium?

The tavern was obvious, a drunk passed out in the street adequate sign. Wine and "small beer"
were safer than water to drink, at least until the concept of boiling caught on. Grey entered,
making mental note of the central firepit, the rough wooden stools, and that the floor was almost
as bad as the street outside.

The barkeep was probably in his mid 30s, he only looked closer to 60. One eye, scraggly beard,
looked like the last time he'd bathed was when/if he was baptized. "Here now, what'll you have?"

Five copper coins were deposited on what a generous soul might dub the counter. "Answers." He
wasn't sure what was safe to drink, even if he could always do a Cure Disease later. Or would his
being a shapeshifted dragon give him immunity to little things in the local water system?

The barkeep frowned and looked from Grey to the coins distrustfully. "Wealthy fellow, eh?
Hmmmph. What kinda answers ye wanting?"

"i've been out of touch with things of late. Spent a lot of time out in the woods. Need to hear
what's been going on."

The barkeep nodded and took one of the coins, immediately labeling the stranger as a trapper or
poacher. None of his business. "Ye heard about Offa's men?"

"Offa?" Grey considered, but the name didn't ring a bell.

"The King, man! Are ye lost? The King of Mercia! They be looking for able bodied men to build
some great dyke."

"Well, yes, i *am* a bit lost," Grey admitted.

"Thought so! HAH! Ye be in Kent. Nay, Offa calls himself the equal of Charlemagne, but that be
just a lot of hooey. Mind ye, don't say so afore any of his soldiers!"

"What about the Vikings?"

"What be a Viking?"

Grey nodded, that response helping him to pinpoint the rough date. Difficult as he'd never studied
British history, but he *did* know the Vikings were the "scourge from the sea" from around 800
AD until *much* later. "Raiders from lands north of the Picts."

The barkeep spat. On the floor, fortunately. "Picts? Them 'owling savages? Well, them raiders are
welcome to them."

Grey nodded. Next stop, the Monastery at Lindisfarne sounded like a good place for directions.

---------

Akane grumbled and looked sullen, but didn't come anywhere NEAR the evil Jared or the
ignorant obnoxious jerk Ranma. Instead she merely watched from a distance.

Much less the purple haired bimbo and weirdo with the spatula. And why was Kasumi out there?

"Now, when you chose to lose the Catfist, Ranma, you lost the technique and the phobia at once."
Jared instructed his audience. "As there were elements of a spirit possession present, that
cat-spirit was exorcised but it didn't vanish."

Nabiki looked up from licking her paws. "Uhm, is this going where I think it's going?"

Jared nodded. "Now for the good news, the cat spirit is NOT evil, merely feline. And the merger
between natures was less traumatic and more complete. Which means that instead of the
cat-phobia, Nabiki's original personality had feline qualities which were enhanced to dominance.
Yes, Kasumi?"

"Natural feline qualities?" Kasumi blinked, then adjusted her wig as an errant breeze tilted it.

"Playfulness, sneakiness, vain, confident, smug, possessive, comfort-loving," Jared started ticking
qualities off on his fingers.

Nabiki pouted and looked hurt.

"Hey," Ranma protested, "Nabiki's a nice girl!"

"That too," agreed Jared, having gotten to know the new Nabiki of late.

Nabiki purred and rubbed against Ranma, spurring protests from Shampoo and Ukyo as well as
an "oh my" from Kasumi. Akane merely rolled her eyes and thought about how weird her family
had gotten, and how to return them to normal would only require the removal of three Saotomes.

Fortunately, she knew just how to do it!

---------

Jared watched Kasumi, the lecture having broken up for the day and today's meeting wasn't for
another five minutes. Today's episode of 'Sailor Moon X' didn't seem as interesting. Besides, it
was a commercial break. He was simply glad that none of his ersatz wives could see that
'Skysaber - the anime' was playing in *this* reality. Or that the Tendos hadn't made the
connection.

There came the sound of a bicycle bell and Shampoo bounced onto his tummy. "Nihao, brother to
Ranma!" Then she'd recovered and made a glomp at her beloved, leaving Jared alone. Ukyo had
came at the same time as the Chinese girl and now Kasumi was unwittingly making peace by her
reappearance with a plate full of cookies which she offered to both guests.

Jared watched Kasumi being just darling in spite of her own personal grief (the doctor had no idea
when or even *if* the hair would grow back. He'd started comparing it to cancer patients and
now Mr. Tendo was crying out of fear as well as self-misery).

Actually the redhaired youth was feeling something of a heel. He'd done *very* little good since
his arrival here, at least by his standards. Granted he'd been near-mortally wounded and that hadn't
been any fun, nor was his recovery all that....

Several factors *clicked* for the mage all at once! His magic was no longer the simple spell point
recovery system he'd grow accustomed to since his merger with his D&D character. It had
elements of both Ygdrassil god-powers and a *BIG* chunk of Silver Millennium power thrown
in. While waiting around would recharge one it had *nothing* to do with recharging the others,
both of which had some hefty and specific demands.

In fact...

...There were SUBSTANTIAL and *BAD* repercussions if either lay unattended at low power
for too long, only ONE of which was the total loss of those powers!

That counted as an *Emergency* by any book he was willing to go by!

Fortunately, one recharged Silver Millennium powers by raw emotion. That fright was enough for
another blast of that brand of power into the tanks, and by golly he wasn't going to let the other
lie neglected a minute longer! Kissing was his recharge, kissing would be done!!

But he'd do it with those of his *own* choosing! Too many natives were embroiled in this
already.

Jared's magic items had been the worst ones to suffer in his battle with the demon lord, now
expired, and hadn't been coming back practically at *all*, which was worrisome. He'd been
planning to look into it, but now didn't spare the time.

The redhead flew to his feet, striking a dramatic stance and drawing forth a dagger which he
reanimated certain powers of by a flash of Silver Millennium power from his admittedly low
stock.

Akane was standing by glowing hatefully, but he was too disdainful of her to notice.

Holding the dagger out to one side, the recovering Pheonix Mage said the word "Thunder" and
the weapon grew to a short sword. Holding it to the other he repeated the word and it grew
again, then once more it was done to reveal a long sword.

With this elongated version, Jared held the blade above his head and shouted "Thundercats!
Ho!!!" Sending out a Silver Millennium piggyback on the signal as well.

By absurd coincidence, a certain bald panda looking a *great* deal like a giant, hairless rat had
chosen that precise moment to come walking out of the Tendo hall toting a large device he had
'appropriated' from Jared's room and was FAR too stupid to realize was a Robotechnology
repeating rocket launcher (half disassembled to correct a minor feed quirk, now reassembled and
gleaming and set out for the sealant to dry).

He'd already sold two wristwatches and a surgical kit to eager buyers, but wanted at least to
know what this *was* before he tried that, so he could set a price, and had settled on the subtle
and ingenious scheme of toting it out and shouting "Boy, what is this!" to get that information.

He was feeling a trifle sullen and angry after the youth had convinced pre-restored Akane to
'refresh' that brand once it had been disturbed by those spur marks.

Unfortunately for Genma, the bear emerged holding the device quite naturally, which happened to
be by the handles, which meant that it was to every appearance an angry, giant, mutant rat youma
pointing the Robotech weapon straight at Jared when the troops arrived.

---------

777 AD:

"Ah, young man, just the fellow I wanted to see!"

Grey set another block into place and turned to observe the priest slowly making his way down
the the trail. "Father, you shouldn't do that, you could have just sent word and i'd have come to
see you."

The priest looked over the wall being erected and tapped it with a fist as if trying to gauge its
strength. Grey continued to watch silently for a few moments, then lifted another block of stone
onto the wall.

"You came to this monastery four months ago, young man. You've given a name but admitted it
isn't your own. You've done incredible things and made many friends. You know many things, but
many things that you should know you don't." The priest seemed to be speaking to the wall. "You
certainly don't shirk hard work, but some of your daily rituals and ideas seem strange and exotic."

"I suppose," Grey admitted. Privately he was saddened, the priests here were (with few
exceptions) good people and he had rather enjoyed his time with them. There was a certain
satisfaction in hard work, especially when you could see the daily fruits of your labors. He'd miss
having to leave.

"Who are you, Mister Bond?"

"A traveler. Called Grey by some, but i've had dozens of names and don't remember my original
one any longer. Names and terms vary wildly in usage across the lands."

Father James nodded, fitting this in with the theories he'd already developed. When the boy had
shown up, he'd given the name "James Bond" but it had seemed some private joke. "What do you
seek here?"

"i sought information when i arrived. Now i'm not sure what i seek."

"You asked many questions about China." Father James considered blocks, easily weighing
seventy five pounds apiece, that the young man had been hauling about and setting into place. He
glanced out of the corner of his eye at the young man. "And about the developments of our land."

Grey shrugged. "i mean no harm to anyone here. Everyone's good people here. Well, except
maybe Brother Wolt."

Father James chuckled. "Well, Brother Wolt is quite popular in that regard. So, you are here
because you have nowhere else to go, and you are not at liberty to speak of your past. Am I right
so far?"

"You have the right of it, so far," agreed Grey.

"Boiled water poured over herbs in a wickerwork container, producing tonics for many ills."
Father James spoke quietly. "A manner of seperating out fibers so that paper may be produced
cheaply. You spoke of crop rotation before word of it reached our isolated spot. That which
you've told us intrigues me, and that which you've hinted at even more."

Grey fitted another block and slumped where he stood. "If you want me to go, i shall."

"Go?" Father James chuckled. "No. What I came to ask you of was that peasant lass who came
here yesterday. She was dying and there was little that could be done. Even with what you have
spoken of cleansing wounds of foreign influence and of exorcising the foul from the flesh, *that*
was beyond what could be accomplished easily by e'en the most accomplished of chirurgeons. For
the most part, the youngers are in awe. How did you do it?"

"i have... methods."

Father James nodded. "Well, Brother Wolt has penned a letter to complain to the Archbishop,
stating you are some foul sorcerer. As if foul sorcerers would dirty their hands with labor like this
or cry about a soul lost such as you did when that penitent died two weeks ago."

"So you came to warn me," noted Grey.

"It will take two months for the letter to reach the Archbishop." Father James sat down with a
grunt. "Will you speak plainly to me? You are not of the Devil: you take joy in hard work and the
betterment of others, you seek to heal the sick and uncover God's mysteries. I may be old but my
eyes still see and it seems to me that a seeker of truth is ill allied with the Prince of Lies."

Grey sighed. "i may not. i will tell you this though, Father, have this wall finished. Men from the
North shall come from the sea in two decades and lay waste to all you have wrought if you do
not."

Father James considered the outrageous statement, and considered the source. "From the sea?
Very well, a final question. Before you go, is it possible to pass some of these methods on?"

Grey was prepared to deny it, but saw the desire burning in Father James' eyes. The desire to help
others and spare their suffering when possible. He didn't have any equipment he didn't have
secreted in a mountain cleft, save a few changes of clothing.

It was a fourth level spell, and one he'd been considering trying anyway. "Father James, this might
not work, but i think it's worth a shot..."

The old priest cocked his head like a bird. "What do you need me to do?"

"Stay there. Pray." Grey drew in a deep breath, and shifted to angelform ignoring the sudden
intake of breath from the priest.
"From within the holy light,
spark anew and now grow bright,
if allowed by faithful heart,
imbue with spells of clerical part,
i humbly ask thy gift bestow,
that cause of Good may now grow."

"What?" Father James was rather surprised by the golden light and feeling of peace. Not to
mention what he'd seen in the glow.

"'Imbue With Spell Ability'- if it worked you'll be able to channel healing magic. Try praying for
such tomorrow. Perhaps we'll meet again, Father. Look for me in 794 or thereabouts." With that,
Grey leapt over the wall and flew again for the first time in four months.

Father James looked thoughtfully out at the glittering winged figure, then turned to trudge back
to the cloister. Brother Keian had kept a record of the many things that Mister Bond had
suggested or done. Perhaps he needed to look at them over again.

=============

Choice votes for the rewrite of "Fist Of Orion":
Akane survives, dojo doesn't - 4, No forgiveness - 14, Original - 6, Splattered Akane - 12.

Oh, and what was sang on the way home that day?

"Keep movin', movin', movin',
Though they're disapprovin',
Keep them dogies movin', rawhide.
Don't try to understand 'em,
Just rope 'em, throw, and brand 'em.
Soon we'll be livin' high and wide.
My heart's calculatin',
My true love will be waitin',
Be waitin' at the end of my ride.

"Move 'em on, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em on,
Move 'em on, head 'em up, rawhide!
Head 'em out, ride 'em in,
Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, rawhide!"

"Keep rollin', rollin', rollin',
Though the streams are swollen,
Keep them dogies rollin', rawhide.
Through rain and wind and weather,
Hell bent for leather,
Wishin' my gal was by my side.
All the things I'm missin',
Good vittles, love and kissin',
Are waiting at the end of my ride."

"Move 'em on, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em on,
Move 'em on, head 'em up, rawhide! yee-ha!
Head 'em out, ride 'em in,
Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, rawhide!
RAWHIDE!!!"

planned the scene but couldn't work it in.

===========