Chapter 4: Who’s on my team?

Ranma shot up in bed, clutching his throat with both hands as he fought for breath. The night was silent around him, despite the rapid drumming of his heart and the labored working of his lungs, and only the drip-drip of the water clock at his bedside interrupted the quiet.

“What…the hell?!” He cast one wild glance around his room, still choking and coughing. He breathed deeply, struggling to being himself under control. Control was one of the first things he’d leanred under Kulloden, a lesson painfully learned. Slowly, his breathing slowed. “Oh, no! I fell asleep!” He swept aside the bedcovers hastily and got out of bed, not bothering to don a night shirt. His loose drawstring trousers would have to do.

Ranma had eaten Rouge’s food and pretended to be sick to escape her ‘ministrations’, hoping that Rouge would then focus on Akane. And if the pressure at his throat was any indication, his ploy had worked and Akane was already in a great deal of trouble.

Too bad he’d fallen asleep while waiting. Cursing, Ranma darted into the hallway where a cool breeze tickled his bare chest. He let the geas pull him in Akane’s direction. At least the damn thing was useful for SOMEthing.

 When he finally stood outside Akane’s room, the silence from within seemed ominous.

He pushed open the door to see Rouge, or a six-armed version of her, crouched over Akane in the bed, choking the life out of her.

“If only my spells would work!” Ranma muttered uselessly under his breath. He sighed. He almost missed Shampoo and their brawls. They were easy compared to THIS. He watched as Akane’s skin took on an unhealthy blue tinge, and was surprised to feel himself getting angry. Akane was his charge, not voluntarily, true, but what gave some forest demon the right to maul her as though he, Ranma, didn’t even pose a problem! 

He strode forward and grabbed Rouge by the nape of her neck.

“Aaagh! What are you doing? Let me go!!”

 The tight grip around Akane’s neck suddenly loosened. Opening her eyes, she watched dazedly as Rouge, her many arms still reaching for Akane, was somehow picked up and pulled away from her. The demoness’ yellow eyes were wide with surprise, and then they narrowed in fury.

“Who DARES…?” She began, but her words were cut off as she was flung across the room to smash into the large window, rattling its panes.

“Ranma?” Akane sat up and Rouge rolled to her side. Both stared up at the bare-chested boy standing with arms akimbo at the foot of Akane’s bed.

Akane let out a sigh of relief. Rouge let out a sigh of appreciation as she ran her topaz eyes over Ranma’s bare torso.  She knew those muscles she’d felt were real! How she wished she had time for a little hanky-panky. Yet Ranma didn’t look pleased at all, and in her demon from, she was hungrier for food than for anything else.

“How dare you interfere in my dinner?” she demanded, picking herself off the floor.

“I dare when your dinner happens to be my traveling companion,” Ranma chided, his downcast lashes hiding his anger. “Rouge, these aren’t the actions of a good hostess.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m no longer your good hostess!” Rouge champed her fangs against her lips.

“Yes, what happened to you?” Ranma had an inkling, but…

“Jusenkyou.” Ranma’s gaze shot up, fastened on Rouge like the claws of a hawk, demanding answers. One single word spoken between clenched teeth had confirmed Ranma’s worst fears and raised more questions. Jusenkyou had been lost for some time now. How had this girl had access to it? And more importantly, her very identity was now in question.

Rouge blanched at the burning demand of that gaze.  Then Ranma remembered Akane. No need for her to know more than she had to. With difficulty, he tore his gaze away and Rouge unconsciously released the breath she was holding.

“Ah,” he said. “I see.”

“What’s Jusenkyou?” Akane asked, trying to ignore Ranma’s bare, muscled chest and trim waist. Ladies didn’t notice such things.

Rouge’s attention slid back to her prey.

“I wouldn’t eat her if I were you,” Ranma murmured, forcing himself to examine his nails nonchalantly.

Rouge swung her head suspiciously.

“Why not?”

Ranma looked around for a place to buff his nails but he could hardly do it on his pants. He looked up.“She’s the crown princess.”

Rouge simply stared at him, her yellow eyes unblinking. Then she threw back her head and laughed.

“Are you trying to insult my intelligence? Despite how I look, I can still think; I have eyes, and she’s no princess! What’s a princess doing wandering around the forest anyway?”

Ranma drew breath to speak, but she continued over his head.

“Yes, the crown princess WAS kidnapped, but we heard news that she was saved right away! Those kidnappers obviously weren’t up to snuff when it came to dealing with the king’s soldiers!”

Ranma frowned at this and tossed Akane a glance, to see her holding back a smile. The princess was unaware of any tension in the room, he realized, but she’d been on the verge of being eaten just a few minutes ago. He wanted to wipe the smile off her face.

“What are YOU laughing at?” he snapped. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

The twinkle disappeared from Akane’s pretty brown eyes as she digested this statement. Her back snapped straight at the unfairness of it.

“Excuse me!” She snapped back with rare ire. “I can hardly apologize for my existence!” “Besides,” she pointed out, “I didn’t ask for you to come into my life and kidnap me from my father’s very own ship!”

“Did you notice that Rouge is about to eat you alive?” Her companion looked exasperated. At least that was better than the anger she’d seen earlier in his eyes, Akane thought.

“Yes, about that…Look…Rouge,” Akane slowly edged out of bed, keeping one eye on the predator and one on Ranma, who looked like he wanted to strange her himself. “This is all a big misunderstanding, isn’t it? I know you didn’t REALLY mean to try to kill me.”

“Then what do you think she was trying to do?” Ranma’s tone betrayed only mild curiosity.

“Obviously….” Akane paused. “Obviously, she was sleepwalking.”

“Sleepwalking?!” Was his companion blind? Ranma wondered if this was how Akane’s sheltered upbringing was going to destroy her.

“Yes!” Akane pronounced desperately. “She…obviously undergoes some sort of unfortunate transformation, and it makes her sleepwalk.”

“I was wide awake!” Anger made Rouge’s face even scarier.

“Of course!” Akane made a calming pat-pat motion in the air with her fingers. “Don’t we all think that when we sleepwalk?”

“I’m cursed, you fool!” Rouge’s twelve hands began to clench and her knuckles began to make odd crackling sounds as she flexed them. “Jusenkyou made me a demon and now I’m hungry.”

Akane began backing up.

“Doesn’t normal food help you?” she asked.

“Human flesh is the only thing that does it for me!”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough!” Ranma said sharply. He seized a carafe of water that stood on the table, warmed it with a brief spell and tossed the contents on Rouge. The demon disappeared, to be replaced by their drenched hostess. If only his magic had equal effect when it came to Akane, Ranma thought bitterly, cursing the geas that prevented it.

“What happened?” Akane was bewildered.

“Cold water triggers her curse.” Ranma studied Rouge. “Hot water changes her back.”

“Listen, Rouge,” he said. “How particular are you about what you eat?”

“It has to be freshly dead, it has to be human,” Rouge replied, ticking off on her fingers.

“Isn’t there anything that stops you from eating humans?”

Rouge paused to give that some thought.

“Well, of course, being cured would help,” she said slowly. “But Jusenkyou magic is lost and only a very strong magician can help me now.”

 “We can help you, can’t we, Ranma?” Akane said. “Lord Happosai is the court magician. My father trusts him with everything magical. He’s away right now, but he’ll be back at the palace soon, and he can help you find a cure. Ranma, let’s help her.”

Ranma sighed when he felt the weight of compulsion settle on him. Damn geas. HE had better things to do with his time than fight off a demon on their journey.

“Aren’t you afraid Rouge will transform and eat you?” he asked Akane.

“Yes, of course, but Rouge is a citizen of this kingdom. It’s my duty to help her.” Akane’s face shone with the zeal of noblesse oblige.

“Oh, thank you!” Rouge smiled, her long, sharp teeth showing. “You need not fear. I have a soap that will allay the effect of water for a few days. However, I must make it from scratch. That may take me a few days. You may travel ahead of me. I’ll catch up.”

Ranma and Akane watched Rouge leave the room, and then looked at each other.

Akane dropped her eyes.

“Thank you, Ranma, for saving my life.” She raised her eyes again. “How did you know I was in danger?”

“I heard you screaming, of course,” he replied shortly. “You’re a complete idiot, you know.”

Akane bowed her head, used to being bullied by her cousin and ladies-in-waiting who cared little about a young princess who couldn’t even inherit the throne, and fawned mostly on Kunou, the crown prince.

Ranma found the sight of her bent head paradoxically provoking. He growled, and came to stand in front of her.

“Trusting Rouge was really stupid,” he goaded. “If I hadn’t heard you, you’d be demon food by now!”

He watched as Akane clenched her small hands into fists, but she remained silent.

He grabbed her shoulders.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” he demanded, surprised to feel how fragile her bones were beneath his fingers.

She looked up, furious.

“What do you want me to say?” Her large brown eyes pinned him. “It was nice to MEET a kindly stranger at all! Heaven knows, you certainly aren’t one!”

“At least I won’t kill you!” A brief stab of guilt hit him when he remembered how he’d nearly left her for dead beneath the sea. To quiet it, and because he couldn’t help himself, he leaned down and kissed her.

Akane stood stunned, feeling as though this were just another strange occurrence in a series of strange occurrences in her life lately. She accepted it as passively as she had accepted the rest. But as Ranma continued to kiss her, enfolding her in his arms, a germ of self-assertion began to grow in her. What right did any of them have to manhandle her as they felt like it? She was a princess, and she wasn’t going to be eaten and she wasn’t going to be kissed by a cruel sorcerer’s apprentice just because he felt like it, no matter if he had beautiful grey-blue eyes and a handsome face!

She placed her hands between them and pushed. Ranma, caught off balance, stumbled and released her. Ranma blinked once, still savoring the fresh berry taste of her on his lips. His eyes focused, and he frowned. It wasn’t like him to lose his prized control, yet he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. When in doubt, leave the scene of battle.

“Be ready in an hour.” He turned his back on her. “We’re leaving.”

Akane watched him go with confused eyes, and her fingers came up to touch her bruised lips.

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

This was a shortish chapter, even though it took forever to write. I just realized halfway through the chapter that I had to set up some things here, and I was trying to figure out what they were.

Thanks, apie, for pushing me over the edge to finally get this chapter done by throwing my own words back at me!