Chapter 5: Ranma and Akane Are Fooled

"Of course I'm not a girl!" Ukyo exclaimed. "Do I LOOK like a girl? Are you TRYING to insult me?"

Ranma and Akane looked back at Tarou, who was smirking as he approached the trio.

"Why, I know a girl when I..."Tarou began, but Ukyo desperately interrupted him.

"Tarou, Prince of the Arun,” she shouted. “Why have you attacked this city in the manner of a thief?"

Ranma and Akane immediately raised their weapons. The Prince of the enemy! They rushed forward as one to attack Tarou, who immediately brought up his own sword. In the ensuing melee, Ukyo spun and ran over the fallen doors and out into the courtyard.

Night had fallen, and Ukyo saw soldiers lying on the ground. The gate guards, no doubt. How had they been vanquished? She peered through the darkness for a mount. She'd wanted to kill Tarou herself, but retaining her guise as a boy was more important.

How had he recognized her? Surely she looked quite different now from the delicate girl she used to be.

I know your face. She shivered as she remembered his words.

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Ranma jumped over a broken table to balance on an upturned brass pot. Around him lay all the items that would have been used in the engagement ceremony. Many were shattered. Powders and spilled liquid lay on the ground, a trap for the unwary.

Two soldiers had distracted him and Akane from their fight with Tarou, who was immediately distracted by a palace guard.

One of the soldiers followed Ranma, yelling and brandishing his sword. Ranma did a roundhouse kick that hooked behind the man's neck and smashed him into the ground. Ranma landed on the ground and slipped, falling on his butt beside the unconscious soldier.

A nearby unbroken pot began to tilt and fell onto Ranma, the liquid sloshing him and triggering the change.

"Damn!" Ranma fingered her wet tunic and looked around to see if anyone had caught that, just in time to see an armored body falling on her. The weight pushed her back and her head bounced off the floor, knocking her unconscious.

"Hiyah!"Akane yelled with satisfaction, staring at the fallen soldier, then twirled her pole and turned to the next soldier attacking her. She didn't notice Ranma at all.

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"Have you captured Ranma?" Mousse asked Wahid.

"No," said the old general." He...seems to have disappeared. I'm sure we'll find him."

A soldier approached and stood at attention. "My lord, the palace is captured."

”Genma?” Mousse inquired.

The solider pointed to an unconscious Genma being dragged off to the dungeons.

"Have you found the prince?" Mousse himself could feel no trace of the boy's life energy.

The soldier looked uncomfortable. "No, sir. He was nowhere to be found."

"It seems he has escaped," said Mousse, his eyes narrowing slightly, the only visible sign of rage he felt. How had it happened? "There will be a slight change of plans." Wahid glared at the smooth young man.

"Change? What change?" he asked.

"I won't be staying, after all. Give the captured women to the men. Send only the queen and the princesses on to Dara with guards. They might come in useful. I'm going out to look for the prince. He's obviously escaped your men. You can stay here and keep the palace and the king hostage."

"But..."

"Really. It's better not to question." Mousse's glasses glinted opaque, hiding his eyes. "Suffice to say that...I'll find him."

Wahid nodded. "Very well." He'd be much happier with the sorcerer far away, and Mousse's slight smile showed that he knew it.

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"Take your pick of the women!" A soldier yelled, and the men happily began to divide up their spoils. The ladies of the court began to shriek in indignation.

"Look at this beauty!" A soldier stared at the dark-haired girl lying unconscious on the ground." I'm taking her for sure!"

"No!" another soldier cried. "I'm the one who sneaked up behind her and brained her on the head. I'm taking her."

"Never mind. Keep her. I've found me a real buxom one. A redhead, no less." He grinned down at the unconscious girl in his arms.

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"Oooooooooooooooh..." Akane groaned silently. She raised a hand to her throbbing head. How could it hurt so much? Her head felt like someone had driven a spike into it.

She opened her eyes slowly and sat up, looking around. Where was she? It looked like one of the palace rooms. The last thing she remembered was hitting yet another soldier with her handy pole, and then someone had hit her head from behind.

The door opened

"Aaah, you're awake, sweet one," said a man as he closed the door behind him. Akane turned to see one of the Arun soldiers. His black garb was slightly bloody but he didn't seem to mind. He stumbled slightly as he approached her. Akane could smell fumes of wine emanating from him.

"What happened?” She asked.

"We won!" he laughed. "And you are my prize!"

She'd been afraid of that. She strongly wished she hadn’t left Jin, yet she’d been here when Ranma needed her.

"Who won? How did you enter the palace? How did you get through the desert to come here?" She knew her questions were jumbled, but her head hurt and she was wondering if Ranma was dead. As a man, he'd never let himself be taken prisoner. It was shameful.

"So many questions, pretty one." He was leaning over her now, leering. "I have questions too. You look too fine to be a palace maid. Are you a noble's daughter? A virgin? Come, open your legs for me."

With a start, Akane glanced down and realized she was naked. How on earth had she missed that?

She looked up at the man with a sweet smile. "You like my legs?" She kicked the soldier in the crotch and he doubled over in pain. Akane scrambled off the bed and swung her leg up, smashing into his torso. Her fist came up to slam into his jaw and sent him sailing to the end of the room to slam against the wall.

"Hmph!" she said, with her fists on her slender hips.

The soldier awoke after Akane had tied him up and slapped him a bit.

"I want to know- Who sent you? How did you enter the palace? How did you get through the desert to come here without being detected by our troops?"

He told her what he knew, eventually.

"Lord Mousse is the magician of the Daran king. He helped us. They want Prince Ranma." He warily watched the pointy end of the dagger Akane had found.

"Dara?" Akane was puzzled. She'd learned of the city in her geography lessons. "Why on earth would Dara war with us? Without us even knowing?"

She shook the guard again. “Don’t try to fool me! You are an Arun soldier. Those were Arun nomads who attacked us. You have nothing to do with Dara!”

“We are Aruns, true, and we wanted to win the city by stealth, but Mousse is a Daran sorcerer,” the guard said. “The Daran king is helping us.”

She shook her head.

"And Ranma? Did you find him? What of the Queen? And the King?"

"I heard that the Queen and her daughters were taken prisoner and sent to Dara. The King was taken to the dungeon. No one saw Prince Ranma. He disappeared suddenly. Lord Mousse is out searching for him."

Disappeared? Akane frowned. He was no coward, was he? No, Prince Ranma would not have run away. Some soldier must have killed him and he was no doubt buried under the bodies of the slain.

She bowed her head in grief, briefly. It was so unfair. She'd really want to get to know the young prince...something in him had called out to her. Her promise was unfulfilled. She’d failed him. And now...

She looked up in determination. She couldn't save the other women. At least she could save the Queen and her sisters. She'd find the way to Dara.

She stood and began to dress, looking around for supplies.

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Akane crept along the wall of the kitchen. Guards were posted everywhere, and she was looking for a way out. She turned a corner and bumped into a girl who also appeared to be trying to escape.

"Akane?" the girl said, surprised. She was slightly shorter than Akane, red haired and blue eyed, dressed in a tunic and flowing pants.

"Do I know you?" Akane whispered.

Ranma’s eyes widened marginally. Telling Akane about the curse to prevent their engagement had been one thing, but now for some reason she baulked at the idea. Akane knew Ranma as a tall, manly prince, not as a red-headed girl...

"Of course. Everybody here knows you, princess."

Of course. Everyone knew Akane was going to be engaged to their prince. Akane smiled.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm...Ranko," said the girl. "I escaped from..." She shuddered with rage, thinking of the dead and mangled solider she’d left behind, but Akane mistook it for fear and felt sympathetic.

"Well, I'm trying to get out of here," she said. "Any ideas?"

Ranko hesitated briefly. "Follow me." She led Akane back the way the princess had come, and led her down a hallway Akane had not explored. They turned into more hallways and down stairs that were small and wooden, until finally she and Ranko emerged near a wooden door.

"It's an, old forgotten servant's s entrance," Ranko said. "My...sister showed me." She kicked it down with little fuss.

Akane had never been happier to be outside. The night sky stretched endlessly over her head and she tilted her face to the stars that shone like sharp diamonds in the desert air.

"Good luck to you," Ranko said, moving away. Akane came back to earth with a jolt.
"Wait! Ranko! Where are you going?"

"I have my own business to take care of." Ranko scowled. "It doesn't involve playing nursemaid to a girl."

"You're a girl, too," Akane pointed out.

Ranko started. "Well, I'd rather be on my own."

Akane shrugged. She was used to independent women. "Suit yourself. I only need one more favor. Tell me how to get to Dara."

Ranko swung around sharply.

"Dara? Why are you going there?"

"I was interrogating the soldier that grabbed me. He tells me that the Daran king is behind the attack today. And Nodoka and my sisters are being taken there as well. With Ranma dead, it's up to me..."

"How do you know Ranma's dead?" asked Ranko.

"He must be," Akane said sadly. "He'd never let himself be taken prisoner. It would be shameful to his honor."

Ranko flinched though Akane didn't notice.

"Don't you want to go home to Jin and inform your father?" she asked.

Akane shook her head. "I took care of that. I sneaked up to the pigeon tower and sent off messages with birds to Jin and the other cities."

"Thank goodness for that," drawled a voice out of the darkness. "I was really torn in two until now."

Akane and Ranko had been so busy arguing that they hadn't noticed a figure approach them in the darkness. The figure stepped forward.

"Ukyo!" They stared at him.

"I thought you escaped," Akane said. "I saw you get out of the palace."

"I did," said Ukyo. "An' I was all ready to go home and inform Cantos, when some of the soldiers in there ran out and I had to hide. They surrounded my hiding place till now and I was getting ready to grab a horse when I saw you both."

He frowned. "What you said eased my mind, princess. My city will be warned. That leaves me free to ride with you."

"To Dara?" Akane asked. "Why would you possibly want to go there?"

"I heard one of the soldiers say that Prince Tarou is heading over that way." Ukyo cocked an eye at Akane and Ranko. "I take it you were not able to defeat him."

Akane flushed and even Ranko looked mad. "We were distracted," Akane replied.

Ukyo nodded his head. "Good. It leaves him for me. Where's the prince? We still got unfinished business."

Akane looked down. "I believe he's dead." She look at Ukyo again.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you have against Tarou? And Genma?" she asked.

"I'd love to stand here all night jawing with you, honey, but those guards might get a little pesky," Ukyo said, looking around. "We better find some mounts and make tracks."

Akane blushed and nodded. She looked at Ranko.

"Fine. I'll come. It's where I want to go, too. But don't get in my way," said the redhead tersely, striding towards the stables.

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Notes: Ummm, this one kinda wrote itself, so was unable to insert Ukyo-Genma interaction anywhere. Definitely the next one...:)  Anyway, people, I’d really like some c&c. i really appreciate what I’ve gotten so far...c&c really helps to improve this! Chapter 7 should be out in a couple of days.