Standard Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this fic are the property of their respective creators. Please don't sue me, I have no money. Desert Moon A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction By Valandar the Red Chapter Six Double Life It was nearly noon when the amazons and their allies had reached Jusenkyo, and three hours had passed. The young warriors who had escorted Plum's husband, and the bodies of the two girls, back to the village, had returned. Nothing had been heard about the Guide, Plum, or the old man who sought the Spring of Drowned God. Several kettles were happily whistling away on small fires, an ironic counterpoint to the general mood at the springs. Shampoo sat close to her husband, letting him embrace her in public. Open displays of affection by elders were normally frowned upon, but none could find fault with her. The threat that faced the valley was more than a few troops, more than a few tanks. It threatened the very world, itself. She stared at Maoniichuan, which had affected her life for so long, but was now a simple pool for her. She had overcome the curse. But would the curse return if the demon god awoke? For his part, Mousse was considering their son. A quiet, bookish boy, he was proficient at the male techniques of Amazonian Wu-Shu, but just barely. He was not given the Bakusai Tenketsu training, as he likely wouldn't survive it. The half- blind martial artist thanked all the spirits he could think of that the boy was in school in America, right now, far from Jusenkyo. Ukyou had other thoughts. She had gotten over Ranma, long ago, but wouldn't let herself get close to anyone else. She just couldn't find anyone that met her expectations. Staring out at the few male amazons that had joined the war party, she realized the reason. Every single one, she was comparing to her Ranchan. This one wasn't as handsome, that one wasn't as graceful, and that one over there was too short. She sat on the ground, and wrapped her arms around her knees. She wasn't old, yet, not really...but she felt it. Especially now. Thoughts of rage and sorrow filled the mind of the eternally Lost Man. He wasn't at a dangerous level, thanks to his earlier Shi Shi Houkudan, but it was enough to get him into the mindset he needed to inflict the maximum amount of damage in the shortest amount of time. As he went through one of the Hibiki family katas, every punch and kick was directed at the unknown enemy, as visions of Plums daughters mocked him in silent agony. Ranma and Akane simply held each other. Every time they came together to China, it was either for Ranma to rescue Akane, or - well, it was for Ranma to rescue Akane, at least at one point or another. They whispered promises to each other to return, maybe with their children, during quiet times. Later. After this new enemy was beaten. "This is not the best battleground we could have chosen," muttered Khu Lon, the High Matriarch of the amazons. Her gaze swept across all the pools, seeing the phantom images of all those drowned therein. Over where Yingniichuan, Spring of Drowned Falcon, should be, was a double image - one of the falcon, and one of Ying Lu, the child she had sent to Japan to find Xian Pu, Mousse, Ryouga, and Akane. And over another...what? She saw a triple image. One was of Akane, the few wrinkles she had crinkling as she smiled, and a content look on her face. The second was that of one of the bird-women of Phoenix Mountain, the one who had recently married the rejuvenated Saffron. And the third...well, the third was of Akane, as she had ben twenty-six years ago. It was a mystery that would have to wait for another time. The ground behind the Guide's house exploded in a shower of stone and clay. A soundless, spiritual roar screamed through the minds of all those present, rendering most into quivering, terrified children. Only the bravest had the courage to turn, and see Jalamdhara, the demon god, rise from his millenia of imprisonment. Four heads, he bore, one for each direction, and six arms, two to face each of the trinity. His skin was deepest red, and each head bore three horns, the central horn spiraling twice as high as the length of the head. He stood twelve feet tall, and was built thicker than the largest bodybuilder in the human race. Around his waist, he wore a breechclout of gold, and rubies dangled from the belt that held it on. Each hand bore a thick, broad bladed tulwar, the hook-backed scimitars that could remove a man's head just by the weight of the blade, and each head bore four eyes, blazing with green flame. He stood aloft, fifty feet in the air, and simply laughed. All the rage boiling through Ryouga found release. Without his usual kiai, or incantation, he fired off a powerful burst of chi. It splashed harmlessly off Jalamdhara. "Mortal buffoon, nothing you do can harm me. I shall not tarry long, here. Allow my small...present...to entertain you for a while." One arm stretched out, as his left-hand head muttered words forgotten before the first words of Sanskrit had been uttered. The pools of Jusenkyo had long been home to his unholy magic. Now, his magic was uleashed in its full glory upon them. The ghostly forms that only Khu Lon could percieve drifted upwards, gaining substance, and alighting on the patches of ground that formed the boundaries of their watery graves. Only a few pools refused to give up their dead, among them the Spring of Drowned Falcon, and Spring of Drowned Akane. "Aiyah! Ranma, look out, you standing near Maoniichuan!" Shampoo glanced back and forth from Ranma, to the weird priest who stood before her. She dodged his first, clumsy attack, then knocked him back into his pool. He gurgled and screamed, then slowly dissolved. "Ah, that's okay, Shampoo. I've had twelve years o' therapy to get me over the fear!" He simply reached down, and grabbed the cat clawing at his leg, and tossed it in. Akane faced off against two large men. "I don't know what pool you came from, but you're going back!" Her fists blurred out, impacting with the first, as the second swung and missed. "Bweee!!!" A tiny black piglet rammed itself over and over again into Ryouga's shin. The Lost man chuckled, then raised his umbrella. "Little guy, I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" Down came the umbrella, sweeping close to the ground, before turning upwards and impacting with the piglet. One last squeal, and it plopped down in the pool it was spawned from. Mousse fired off a set of spikes, riddling the duck that was flapping around his face, and smirked. "This doesn't seem so tough!" He was interrupted by a roar behind him, so he turned, and froze. There was a huge, minotaur-like creature, with an eel's head at the end of its tail, and relatively tiny wings. "T-Taro? But y-you're dead!" A roar silenced him, as a single paw swipe sent him across the cursed training grounds. By sheer luck, he landed between two pools, and had time to regain his feet. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm coming!" shouted Ranma. He hopped over three weird creatures, likely composite drownings like the minotaur-beast, then sprinted towards Taro's old cursed form. "No, you're not," came a whisper from his left. Fire burned along his ribcage as a foot struck him with tremendous force. He rolled with the impact, coming up on his feet, and froze. Before him stood a short redhead, barely sixteen, with a fantastic figure, and fiery eyes. "You?" "Yes." She said nothing more, but lashed out with the speed of an amaguriken. His own speed was diminished with age, and his male form had never been faster than his female one. However, speed was not the only measure of a martial artist. With precision and skill he could have only dreamed of, he proceeded to simply destroy the redhead. The blows that landed on him were barely deflected to land on non-vital spots, while his every strike was delivered to the exact spot he desired. The phantom reacted by redoubling her efforts, and would occasionally land a solid hit, but the conclusion was foregone. Soon, she was flying back to her pool, and gone once more. With the distraction gone, he leapt to defend his stunned friend. Shampoo had arrived first, closely followed by Ryouga. The three were having difficulty with the beast, whose power seemed to have only grown without the presence of Taro's spirit. Mousse was down, bleeding badly from a huge gash in his lower torso, while the Lost Man was slowly being pushed to the ground by the minotaur. Shampoo was repeatedly striking it across the back with her bonbori, but seemed to have no effect. As Ranma joined them, it casually tossed Ryouga aside. He landed on the far side of the pools, flat on his back. Only the training he had recieved prevented him from breaking his back. The pigtaile martial artist leapt between his Chinese friend and the monster, yelling, "Shampoo, get away! He's mine!" "You crazy, Ranma! Beast defeating three of us, you think you beat it alone?" She didn't have much time to say more, as one hand the size of her entire torso grabbed her, and tossed her to join Ryouga. The bandanna wearing man recovered just in time to catch her, and set her down. "Akane!" yelled Ranma. "Remember what we did to Taro?" His wife had just finished knocking her two foes into their respective springs. Seeing the Taro beast, she nodded, and hopped to a position right behind the beast. Ranma shouted an incoherent battle cry, and leapt directly for the face of the monster. It reached up to grab him, right as Akane struck it in the back of his double-jointed legs. The lower right knee crumbled, and the beast went down. As it fell, Ranma twisted, rolling onto the back of the thing. As his feet touched ground, he exerted just enough pressure to put the beast into a spin, ending up face-down on the ground. He quickly grabbed an arm, and bent it backwards, and so high on the head that its knuckles touched its horns. Roaring like a dragon of old, the beast struggled against Ranma's grip. But, every time it fought against the arm bar, he would simply pull up on the arm, subjecting it to agony. "Sorry, freak, but you can't fight your own joints. Hey, guys, I've got it under control, for now. Time to toast it. And hurry up, I can't hold him for long!" By now, the rest of the amazons had managed to defeat the rest of the Jusenkyo phantasms, and one came over with a bowl she had taken from the Guide's house and carefully filled with water from the beast's own spring. She poured it on the monster's head, and it boiled away, flowing mist-like back to its pool. Shampoo ran to help her husband, while Ranma looked at Khu Lon. "Well, old Ghoul, where do you think he's gone?" "To get an army, of course. One he can use in his bid to destroy the gods. And the nearest one he can use..." "Is the invaders, back at the village!" blurted Ryouga. "No, boy. He would not use so base a force. He needs the ancient beings he knew as Garadu." She pointed to a nearby mountain peak. "He needs the inhabitants of Phoenix Mountain." Notes: The Garadu in Hindu lore were a race of bird-men, who would ferry the gods who could not fly from Heaven to Earth. Yes, Jalamdhara can fly, as was mentioned earlier, but he needs troops that can go to the place he seeks to conquer. And I always wanted a scene where Ryouga gets a chance to clobber that stupid little piglet who drowned, and was the origin of his curse!