Chapter Text
“Where the hell is he?!” The source of the snarled, furious exclamation into the canteen aboard Rhodes Island was a very angry Archosauria woman. Her amber eyes scoured the room of nervous occupants before settling on a familiar purple-haired Vulpo woman enjoying a very elaborately constructed hot dog. “Dur-nar! Where is he?”
“Not here,” Dur-nar replied, giving an annoyed look in response. “How do you keep losing your patient, Gavial?”
“He keeps getting up and leaving without permission!”
“Have you considered sedating him?”
“Yes, actually!”
“Then do so, but he’s not here,” Dur-nar said with a note of finality, taking a bite of her hot dog.
Gavial let out an irritated noise—more at the fact that she had still not found her target than at Dur-nar’s dismissal of her. The fact that her quarry was the mutual link who had established an actual friendship for her in the Vulpo instructor certainly contributed to her annoyance. She stalked angrily through the corridors of Rhodes Island to continue her search, gaining a wide berth due to her grumbling and snarling.
While she did not find the one she sought, someone else did appear in her field of view as a convenient target. “Hey! Kroos! Where is he?!” she snapped.
Kroos, a sniper of the rabbit-eared Cautus race, tilted her head curiously at Gavial. “Where is… whom, Doctor Gavial?” she asked.
“Striker! Or Ranma! Whatever you want to call him!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know where Instructor Striker is at the moment,” Kroos replied mildly. “I haven’t seen him for at least an hour when he dropped in on our lessons with Instructor Dobermann to see how we were doing and she chased him away with her whip.”
“Dammit, where is he…”
“Hasn’t he gotten a new terminal?” Kroos asked. “Why not ask PRTS to find him for you?”
There was a moment of silence in the hallway as Gavial considered the option. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” she muttered. Kroos was swiftly forgotten—and made a swift retreat—as Gavial pulled out her own terminal. “Hey, PRTS, does Ranma have his terminal?”
“Operator Striker is in possession of his PRTS terminal link,” the feminine voice of the Rhodes Island computer system responded.
“What are his vitals right now?”
“Querying remote link and diagnostic monitor. Heart rate is currently 63 beats per minute. Blood pressure is 107 over 72. Blood-oxygen level registering at 97%. Originium assimilation levels remain at 0%. Blood originium crystal density levels are 0.03 units per liter. Brain activity registering as standard for Operator Striker. He appears to be eating.”
“Eating? But he wasn’t at the canteen…”
“Correct.”
Gavial rolled her eyes. “Where is Operator Striker right now?”
“Operator Striker is outside of brig cell Bravo.”
Gavial put her terminal away, marching rapidly for the brig area. Cell Bravo was a specially reinforced one that had been made for a very special prisoner, though to be honest, Gavial wasn’t sure if that person really was a prisoner except by their own volition. The immensely powerful Draco, Talulah, former leader of the Infected movement known as Reunion, had made no attempts to escape despite the fact that she could likely tear her cell apart with her bare hands and then simply burn a path to freedom over the incinerated corpses of anyone foolish enough to try to stop her.
Gavial’s own patient, Ranma Saotome, who was apparently outside that cell, was one of the few people who might be able to stop Talulah, and even then, he was still recovering from injuries she had inflicted the last time they had fought. Those injuries included a femur that had been snapped in half as well as severe burns on his neck. Gavial wondered just what could compel him to decide to eat right outside of the woman’s very cell.
Her annoyance very nearly doubled as she entered the brig to find him standing rather than even sitting down. In his hands, he held a cardboard bowl of instant noodles that advertised itself as a spicy beef flavor, and his eyes darted over to her as she entered. Apparently, she had caught him right as he was taking a long sip of broth. Next to him, holding a similar cardboard bowl but of spicy chicken, was a black haired woman who was also, technically, Gavial’s patient. She was also, more recently, apparently Ranma’s girlfriend now. Blue eyes blinked in slight puzzlement at Gavial as the slender, pretty Liberi woman was in the middle of slurping up some noodles.
Opposite them and flanking the cell door were two other women. One was a dark-haired Lung woman wearing a black jacket and shorts and apparently enjoying “extra spicy” beef noodles. The other was another patient Gavial had assisted with, though who was not technically hers, a white-haired Cautus woman who was completely ignoring everyone else taking notice of her to continue enjoying her “extra spicy” miso noodles.
Finally, in the cell itself, and looking as though she were unsure of reality in any form or fashion anymore, was a white-haired Draco woman holding a spicy beef noodle bowl not unlike Ranma’s, as well as a pair of chopsticks that she was using to awkwardly hold a bunch of broth-dripping noodles.
“You have to be kidding,” Gavial muttered. “So you get all your girlfriends here, grab some spicy instant noodles, somehow make them, and bring them here to our prisoner, and somehow nobody thought to stop you and send you back to Medical or alert me to what you were doing?”
Cantabile, the Liberi woman, blinked as she chewed her noodles and swallowed them. “I thought you told her, Miss Ch’en,” she said to the Lung woman.
Ch’en shook her head, pointing at the Cautus woman. “Yelena was supposed to tell her.”
“None of her business,” Yelena concluded, draining her cardboard bowl of broth. “More, please,” she asked Ranma.
“You’ll have to go to the canteen for more. Or requisition the bowl packs with the supply team,” Ranma said.
“And you could at least be sitting down right now!” Gavial said, beginning to walk toward Ranma with her hands outstretched. “I’m going to kill you if you keep this up!”
“Seriously, I don’t know why you’re always yelling at me all the time lately,” Ranma muttered. “So I’m up and walking around, what’s the big deal?”
“Big deal? Big deal?!” Gavial stopped her advance to slap her forehead. “The big deal is that you shouldn’t be standing or walking without at least some kind of assistance, like a crutch or even a cane! For pity’s sake, we had to put pins in your leg to set the bone!” In the cell, Talulah flinched back at the reminder of what she had inflicted.
“Oh, that’s what those were,” Ranma mused thoughtfully, before draining the last of the broth in his bowl of noodles.
“Yes, that’s what those were,” Gavial said with a sigh. “So if you could please at least stay in bed until—wait, what do you mean ‘were?’”
Ranma apparently found the ceiling suddenly much more interesting than his conversation with Gavial. “Well, you know what, it was fun having this get together but I should get back to bed now!”
“Saotome,” Gavial growled. “If I take an X-ray of your broken leg, am I going to find out that you removed the pins from it yourself?”
“Look, the bone was basically healed and the pins were really starting to irritate me!” Ranma said, backing away rapidly in search of an exit. “Glk!”
Further protest was silenced with a growl as Gavial bodily lifted Ranma by his throat and began carrying him out that way. “We’ll just see about that,” the medic muttered under her breath.
“I told you so,” Ranma said, smirking as he reclined back in his bed. Cantabile and Yelena were also present, with Cantabile having taken a seat next to Ranma’s bed, while Yelena was happily eating another bowl of extra spicy noodles. Ch’en had apparently chosen to stay behind with Talulah.
The source of Ranma’s smugness was the X-ray photograph of his leg. True to what the martial artist had claimed, the bone was almost completely healed, with only a tiny hairline fracture still remaining. His ribs had also nearly completely mended.
“I don’t get it,” Gavial muttered as she examined the X-rays. “Humans just don’t heal this fast. We weren’t even using Arts because your injuries were too severe to risk accelerated healing.”
“I’ve always been a fast healer,” Ranma said. “Been a while since I got that messed up but usually I’m back on my feet in just a few days. But even Saffron didn’t get that bad.”
“Didn’t that ‘Saffron’ fight result in those puncture wounds on your torso you mentioned?” Gavial asked.
“Still wasn’t busted ribs and a snapped femur.” Ranma scratched at his nose in thought. “I’ve gotten a lot stronger since the last time I got that badly hurt. So stronger ki probably means faster healing.”
“‘Probably,’” Gavial said flatly.
“It’s not an exact science and the all of two grandmasters I know aren’t exactly around for me to confirm with them,” Ranma replied. “This is a good thing anyway. It means I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”
Gavial stared at the medical readout, then back at Ranma. He could see her brow furrowing in thought, before she finally sighed. “Alright. Look. I’ll make a deal with you,” she said. “I will relax our usual medical procedures regarding confinement in a special exception for you. Meaning, if you want, yes, you can get up and go visit Talulah in the cell or peek in on the trainees or whatever.”
“Well you mentioned a deal so I guess this is where I havta do something,” Ranma replied cautiously.
“You have to tell someone. You can’t just get up and leave if we’ve confined you to bed because we’ve usually done that for a reason.”
“And that reason is usually because you want to make sure I’m healing properly, right?”
“Exactly. Now, if you tell one of us, and we do an examination, and find out you’re healing faster than we expected, then maybe we can make those special exceptions I mentioned. But we still want to do so with consideration to your condition. For instance, you still have a hairline fracture in your femur. Until that completely heals, I would really appreciate it if you would at least use a cane or crutch to avoid complications with it.”
“That seems… fair enough,” Ranma conceded.
“Also, if you get this badly beaten up again, I’m finishing you off so that I don’t ever have to worry about you again,” Gavial added in a flat tone.
“I’m not agreeing to that.”
“Neither am I,” Cantabile chimed in.
“Damn, worth a shot,” Gavial grumbled. “Anyway, just please check in with us before you go wandering around the landship, at least before we officially discharge you as fully recovered.”
“Alright, Gavial, I promise I’ll check in with medical staff before I leave,” Ranma swore. “Don’t wanna worry you more than I already have.”
“Look on the bright side, Saotome, at the rate you’re healing, as long as you don’t have another huge fight with Talulah, you’ll be in tip top shape for the Obsidian Festival when we get to Siesta.”
“The what when we get where?”
“Siesta. It’s a small nation, literally just a single city-state, near Columbia. It’s a volcanic peninsula resort destination,” Gavial explained. “The Doctor apparently figured we deserved some vacation time after the incident with Chernobog and Lungmen.”
“Ah, a beach?” Ranma said, slightly annoyed. “I guess it could be worse…”
“Got a problem with beaches?”
“Besides the temperature of the water at ‘em…”
Yelena blinked, setting down her empty noodle bowl. “What about water temperatures?” she asked.
“Oh, huh, you never told her?” Gavial asked. “Well, not my place to spill your secrets.”
Ranma rolled his eyes, addressing Yelena. “Short version, I have a curse. A splash of cold water turns me into a girl, hot water turns me back to normal.”
“You’re joking,” Yelena replied, frowning.
“I’ve seen the transformation myself,” Cantabile said. “It’s a complete change. He even changes hair colors.”
“Absolutely not joking,” Ranma said with a sigh. “A beach trip means I’m stuck as a girl if I want to go to the beach at all because it’s all cold water all the time.”
“What’s wrong with being a girl?” Yelena asked.
“Nothin’ if you’re born to it. I wasn’t. Plus, it means needing a girl’s swimsuit because most places don’t like letting a girl walk around topless.”
“I don’t mind when you’re in a more feminine form,” Cantabile said. “Actually… I find your female form quite attractive.”
Ranma reddened slightly, recalling back to when Cantabile had first encountered his cursed body as well as a rather frank discussion his friend Nearl had had with him about such things. Gavial’s sudden laughter confirmed she remembered his recounting of the incident. “You don’t think I’m a weirdo freak?” he asked.
“I certainly find it novel,” Cantabile said. “Freakish? Not at all.”
“Unmanly?”
“By definition, being a woman would not be manly,” Yelena chimed in. “But by definition, being a man would not be womanly. But who defines what actions are manly and womanly? You and I fought—to the death, I had thought. I expected my name to be added to the rolls posthumously. You, clearly, had other plans—to defeat me and spare my life. Is it a manly action to not fight to the death? To spare your opponent’s life?”
“Well, uh…”
“That would suggest that Buldrokkas’tee is unmanly, as he went to battle Miss Amiya with the clear intent to kill or be killed,” Yelena continued. “Perhaps you have other concerns about being seen as womanly. There are many people who would suggest that women are the weaker sex. Are you in that number?”
Ranma scratched at his cheek nervously. “I… maybe might have used to be?” At the incredulous looks he received from all the women in the room, he held his hands up in a warding fashion. “Look, it would take way too long to explain… mostly goes back to how I was raised. I used to think I couldn’t go all out against a girl because I never met a girl who was as strong as me. The only real exception I knew, I could even make an excuse for—she was a three hundred year old grandmaster. Once I got to three hundred years old, I bet I’d be able to kick her ass.”
“What changed?” Gavial asked, crossing her arms.
“A place called Phoenix Mountain. Someone… real close to me nearly died. All because I let my guard down and took it easy on way too many people there,” Ranma replied. “At first, I went easy on Kiema, the guard captain of the Phoenix King, and she took that for what it was—weakness and giving her an opening. Round two didn’t go so well for her.”
“Good,” Yelena said firmly. “You should never underestimate an opponent based on their sex. My brothers and sisters all have their strengths and weaknesses, and it was working together that made Yeti Squadron so powerful. You certainly didn’t take me lightly.”
“Yeah, well, any half-baked ideas I still had about that went out the window sparring Nearl. That backswing of hers is pretty vicious.” Ranma grinned at Yelena. “That ice song of yours is pretty nasty, too, don’t get me wrong. Taking you lightly would have gotten me killed.”
“The point is that there’s no reason to care about manly vs. unmanly or whatever nonsense is like that,” Gavial said. “You’re a good looking man. You’re also a pretty damn good looking girl, too. Don’t let one or the other get in the way of you enjoying yourself. Besides, we’ve got months before we’ll get to Siesta—we’re taking the long way to stay away from Ursus city-states. Gives Cantabile plenty of time to pick a nice bikini for you.”
Ranma blinked, glancing over to Cantabile, who seemed just as surprised by the statement as he was. “Is that… somethin’ you’d want to do, Canta-chan?”
“Ah, well… maybe,” Cantabile admitted. “I’ve never… gone shopping for pleasure.”
Ranma made a show of heaving a mighty sigh. “Alright, we’ll go bikini shopping,” he said.
“Please, you enjoy looking good. You happily wear just that tactical shirt of yours to the canteen to trick people into letting you cut in line,” Gavial said with a laugh. “Alright, got your promise here. I’ll leave you alone for now. Call me if you want to get up again!”
Ranma “got up” a few more times before he was officially released in just under a week, but he made sure to clear it with someone in Medical first to prevent repeat incidents. It was only then that Amiya, the rabbit-eared leader of Rhodes Island, was able to finally make a real visit, though Ranma suspected the young Cautus had been avoiding him because she felt responsible for his injury. He did, however, notice something odd as she approached as he was leaving the medical room.
“You’re walking a little different, little bunny,” he said as she approached with the Doctor. As usual, the hooded man’s face was unreadable thanks to the face mask that was built into his uniform. Amiya’s expression, however, was an open book as she gave a surprised look at Ranma’s statement.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked. “I’m walking differently?”
“Yeah, it’s like you’ve been taking martial arts lessons while I was out but whoever trained you did it wrong.”
“Perhaps it’s a result of your Arts,” the Doctor suggested. “You’ve been a bit clumsy since the battle at Chernobog.”
“D-Doctor, I’m fine…”
“Your Arts?” Ranma asked.
“I have… special Arts. They allow me to see memories. You might remember I… alluded to them during the rooftop fight against Faust and Mephisto,” Amiya said in a low voice. Ranma nodded, so she continued. “I used those Arts… during the five minutes—”
“Six minutes,” Ranma corrected insistently.
Amiya smiled. “Six minutes… that you held Miss Talulah off, the reason I needed that time was… to draw on Miss Ch’en’s combat experience and the knowledge forged into her sword, Chi Xiao. For that, three minutes would have sufficed… but the extra three minutes allowed me to draw on Miss Talulah’s skill… as well as one other person who was present.”
“Who? W?” Ranma asked, tilting his head.
“No.” Amiya shook hers. “You, Ranma. I drew on your memories, your experience, your skill. Truthfully, it has disrupted my muscle memory a bit…”
“Hold up. You copied Ch’en’s, Talulah’s, and my combat skills and experience?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right… I’m sorry, I know you asked me to stay out of your memories, but it was desperate, and…”
Ranma held his hands up. “I ain’t mad, you did what you had to do. We’d probably be dead if you didn’t. But, Amiya… You need real training.”
“Eh?”
“I’m not just ‘skill,’ I’m also years and years of extreme physical fitness and conditioning to make me capable of moving and acting the way I do,” Ranma explained. “No offense, little bunny, but you’re not just younger than me, you’re weaker. If you’re gonna go around with my memories and skills, I’m gonna train you until you can actually use ‘em properly.”
“Eh?!”
Ch’en Hui-chieh, it turned out, completely agreed with this notion. In fact, she so agreed with the notion that she wanted to spar Ranma to demonstrate to Amiya exactly what he meant. They had to borrow a vehicle as Dr. Kal’tsit, the chief medical officer, had compiled a list of Operators with whom Ranma was explicitly banned from sparring aboard the landship, and Ch’en was apparently one of them.
Still, it wasn’t much longer after telling Ch’en that she, Ranma, and Amiya had found a suitably desolate waste for the exhibition match. To Ranma’s surprise, however, Ch’en was not using a practice sword nor was she carrying her more mundane blade from her time as superintendent of the Lungmen Guard. The only weapon she had was Chi Xiao.
“You’re gonna use that for a spar?” he asked.
“You might have forgotten, but I saw you fight,” Ch’en replied. “I’d like to stand a chance at least.”
Ranma grinned. “Well, alright, fair enough,” he said, beginning to limber up.
Ch’en certainly stood a chance in the spar. While she was not quite as strong nor as fast as Talulah, she had two other advantages to her favor, even discounting that Talulah may have not been fighting at her best. First, she had an uncanny knack for reading Ranma’s maneuvers in a way that Ranma himself would frequently utilize against his opponents. Second, she was good. She was damn good, despite her claim that she only wanted to “stand a chance” against Ranma by using Chi Xiao.
As he weaved and evaded around the blazing strikes of the Arts sword, and she deflected or avoided his counterattacks, he realized she was smiling. Not just smiling, in fact. She was grinning widely as she fought, and Ranma was not in the least surprised to consciously realize that he was grinning back at her. It was something he had sorely missed while laid up—fighting a skilled and powerful opponent just for the thrill of the fight.
Maybe Ch’en had had an ulterior motive in agreeing with Amiya needing training because she wanted a fight against the man who had “defeated” her sister and wanted to know how she would measure up.
The “duel” ended with the pair collapsing back-to-back, greedily drinking from canteens they had brought with them while Amiya fretted over their condition. Once reassured they were much better than alright, Amiya admitted that she had barely been able to follow their movements and gratefully accepted Ranma’s offer of training. Especially, she said, as she had tried to imitate a few of the moves she saw and ended up falling on her butt.
The return to Rhodes Island, however, was less jovial when they arrived. Some “guests” had arrived.