Chapter Seven

 

Frog Legs

It took them only a portion of the time to get to Sima Fortress as it did to travel across the lake. When they arrived at the docks on the outer, southern side of the massive, gold, pyramidal city/castle, Ryu noticed that the ferry boat that would normally have been back on the shore, awaiting passengers, was unattended, tied securely to the small dock it was beside. In fact, it looked like it had not been used in a number of days. . .

When everyone was off on the docks, Jean morphed back to his normal self, and climbed out of the lake, water streaming off his apparently water-proof clothing. He grinned broadly and ran towards the main gates, skipping and hollering for the others to hurry.

“Heh. He’s just like a little boy. . .” Nina smiled, walking beside Ryu. “He seems so innocent.”

“Yeah.” Ryu agreed. “But is that the way a prince of an entire kingdom should behave?”

“Well, I’ve heard that the Sima people are very lax, and very laid back.” She replied. “It’s like a resort year-round I hear. Friendly people, great company. . . only the food is to be desired. . .”

“So Jean is just the essence of his people. . .” He considered. After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah, I guess that works. I just wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if a real problem developed here. . .”

Soon enough, they were at the tall, twenty foot high gates to the city, with Jean practically hopping up and down in impatient anticipation.

“Come on come on come on. . .” He whined, still smiling. “You must see my city! It is tres belle! The most beautiful city in the world!”

Ryu sighed and crossed his arms as Jean pushed open the smaller gates embedded in the large gates. Then the fat frogman simply rushed in, leaving them all in the dust. “Well. . . I suppose we should follow that weirdo. ..”

So, they followed him in.

***

Jean must have moved fast, because he was already quite a ways inside when Ryu and the party got within the city walls. Around them, in the massive space created by the immeasurably tall walls, the city rose on all sides. Above them, the sun shone down from above, over the edge of the massive walls. There was no ‘roof’ over the city; it was open air. In the very center of the city, Ryu could see the castle rising up out of the buildings.

He let his eyes travel from the uppermost parapets of the castle, down to what lay just a few meters in front of him and his friends; Jean, standing in the middle of a town square prancing about in a strange, but happy fashion, while the people there stood back as far as they could, or simply fled.

“Bonjour! Bonjour! My people, I have returned!!” He was announcing, arms wide open. “Come grace your prince with your affections and kisses of welcome!. . . huh?”

Much to Jean’s confusion, and Ryu and his friends’ amusement, the square cleared itself of Sima people in seconds flat. Katt was going to make a sarcastic comment about Jean’s idea of affection, when the city guards showed up.

“What? What are you doing? . . .” Jean stuttered as the guards began to manhandle him.

“It’s OK. . .” One of the guards was saying gently and slowly, as if he were dealing with a confused and dangerous individual.

“Non non non! Why do you put a headlock on me?!” Jean cried out in surprise, struggling a bit. The guards quickly shifted position, picking him up by arms and legs. “Well, being carried like this is fun and comfortable, but everyone will laugh at me! Put me down, quickly!. . .”

One of the guards muttered. “Every Spring there’s more of them. . .”

And with that, the trio of frogmen went around the corner, and vanished into the streets. Ryu and his friends just stood there, blinking. Finally, Katt said, “Well, THAT was interesting. . .”

“Pardonez moi, travellers.” Came a voice from behind them. Turning around, they found a slim, tall frogman of regal bearing, surrounded by his entourage. “My name is Ekarru Hop Do Pe Tape. To those who know me personally, I am called Prince Jean. I am sorry you had to see that.”

“Uh. . . It wasn’t anything, really.” Ryu stumbled over his words. Behind him, Nina frowned a bit. So this is how he would speak in the prescence of royalty?. . .

“I am sorry, all the same.” Prince Jean said smoothly. He spoke with a soft, silky voice, but Ryu could sense that there was a hidden rage in it. It was almost as if this Prince Jean hated them, even though he didn’t know them. The gentle, but piercing gaze he turned on all of them was so intense it would have boiled crabs. “We are having troubles here in Sima. It is best for us if we simply shut our gates for the time being. I’m afraid, my friends, that I will have to ask you to leave until we can put these matters to rest.”

“I’m afraid we can’t leave just yet.” Ryu explained. “We are on the trail of a female thief, with bat wings. She framed a Ranger for a crime on the eastern continent, and I’ve been hunting her ever since. I can’t leave until I find her and arrest her.”

Prince Jean grinned broadly; A shark's grin. “Then you are in luck, mon ami. We recently captured that thief you spoke of, the one with the bat wings. She was trying to steal from our Royal treasury, and is now incarcerated in our castle’s . . . heh. . . stockade. If you would please leave for the next few days, or at least until we clean up our little ‘problems’, I would be more than happy to hand over this thief to your Ranger Guild. We must maintain our relations with the other nations, n’est pas?”

“Of course.” Ryu agreed. Nearby, out of sight of Prince Jean, but able to see him fully, Ray wore the expression of an undertaker. He knew something was severely wrong here in Sima Fortress, and there was only one way to find out, and it meant staying with Ryu and his party; inconspicuous.

“Thank you my friends,” Prince Jean bowed gentlemanly. “The boat awaits you at the docks, Pier number 1. For you’re gracious patience in our time of trouble, and for whatever that man put you through. . .” His dark eyes flashed. “. . .I have taken the liberty of leaving a sum of money on board, for use as you see fit. Thank you.”

The frog prince and his guard entourage watched casually, but quite alertly as Ryu and his part left the city; they were making sure they were outside. Then the great gates were locked and bolted, loudly, and with a sort of finality.

***

“That was rather . . . odd. . . wasn’t it, Ray?” Ryu asked. They were walking back to the piers, all six of them. When he didn’t get a response, he paused in his walking, letting Nina, who had been walking along side him continue on, and turned to look at the lagging Ray.

The young preist was somber, deep in thought, while a worried Sesso clung to his elbow, searching his face every few seconds for a lightening of his mood.

“Ray?” Ryu asked again. Once again, Ray was snapped out of his thoughts by Ryu.

“Oh? . . . Oh, . . . Yes, it was rather odd. . .” He mumbled. “We. . . should get to the boat. I have a strange feeling about this kingdom. . .”

He passed by Ryu, with Sesso tossing the blue-haired teen a worried look, and followed the others towards the dock. Ryu stood there for a second, scratching his head. “That was just as odd. . .”

Katt came running back to him, her face strange. “Ryu! Come quick! You have to see this!!”

As she pulled him into a run down the docks, he managed to ask. “What? What is it?”

“Someone’s trying to sink our boat back!” She threw over her shoulder.

***

Sure enough, someone was trying to sink the boat that would be carrying them, but in quite an unusual manner.

“Well, that's new . . .” Ryu crossed his arms in amusement at what he saw.

SimaFort could only be reached from either the water, or the air; there was no land route. Subsequently, defenses had been built to keep invaders out. One of the more common weapons, used for sinking ships, were catapults or cannons that fired an unbelievably large cannonball. The cannonball used would make even Rand appear minuscule. A cannonball ten feet across on all sides. . . and it was being manually lifted by one person.

She was a Sima woman, her slick frog skin a deep pink, as all female Sima women’s were. Dressed in a gold dress with tiara and long gloves, she should have been a model for the ‘delicate noblewoman’, but she had hauled the cannonball out of the launcher, down the docks, and was now pulling an Atlas and carrying it on her back. As she slowly stomped towards the boat with her load, she was muttering loudly to herself.

“Okay Patape. . .Just a little further. . . You can do it. . .” She reached the edge of the dock, beside the boat, and shifted the ball around in front of her. With an extreme show of strength, and before anyone could actually stop her, she actually hurled it up, and into the center of the boat. It didn’t stay there for long, plowing through the wooden planks and metal hull, it’s ultimate destination evident when a large splash of water erupted out of the hole, and the boat quickly began to sink. “There! Now the strangers can’t leave. . . They’ll have to help me. . .”

“HEY!” Ryu cried out, rushing up to her. “What do you think you’re doing?! We needed that boat!”

The Sima woman was huffing and puffing from her exertion, but straightened up and adjusted her tiara. She did a regal curtsey, tugging at the upper layers of her Elizabethan dress. “I’m sorry. I had to stop you from leaving. There is a very good reason if you will just hear me out. . .”

“You better have a pretty good explanation, lady,” Sten grumbled, crossing his long furry arms.

“I do, but please, you must all list-” She stopped, suddenly alert. “Someone’s coming!”

She suddenly began pushing people, one after another into the water. Ryu protested loudly, but ended up in the drink anyway. Just as the last person fell in the water, and the woman hid herself behind a large piece of dock equipment, a pair of soldiers emerged from a storage depot nearby.

As Ryu and the others floundered in the water, one of the soldiers cocked his head to one side, confused. “Hey, did you just hear something?”

The other soldier listened for a second, and then shook his head. “Nope. Maybe you’re hearing things, Tata. It could have been anything. A fish. A kid jumping into the lake for a swim. . . I dunno.”

He shrugged beneath his heavy-looking armour. “Maybe those weird-looking strangers dropped something on their way out? I can’t even see their boat anymore. . .”

“Yeah, maybe, Peh.” Tata said, unsurely. “Hey, did you hear? There’s an imposter that’s been captured. A prince imposter.”

While they were treading water below, the group could hear the entire conversation, though they were a little too busy trying to stay afloat then actually pay attention well. Katt was sputtering water, and Nina was having trouble staying up because of her wings (not built for being in the water, they got heavy fast), so Ryu and Sten moved both of them to the slimy, stone dock wall, hoping that that at least would give them some grip. Ray and Sesso were much the same, holding onto the wall for all its worth, trying not to sink below the surface. The water was winning.

“Yeah, I know. I heard about him.” Peh was saying. “You notice? Prince Jean left on a trip a little over a month ago, and then comes back weeks early, more clear-minded than ever? And then a guy resembling the old Prince Jean shows up, and is tossed in jail? What’s happening to our peaceful city?”

“I don’t know. . .” Tata mumbled. At that moment, their captain marched up from the direction of the city.

“You two. Come with me. You’re going to help guard the imposter.” He ordered them. The two soldiers looked at each other in confusion for a moment.

“Er, which imposter do you mean, sir?”

The captain didn’t seem to understand their hesitation; he hadn’t heard their conversation. “Why, I mean the imposter in the jail! Who else could I possibly mean?”

He turned on his heel and was off at a march, and Peh turned to Tata and whispered. “The captain doesn’t seem to realize which one is the imposter. . .”

“I know. . . We better go with him. Don’t wanna get tossed in jail or anything for conspiracy, eh?” Tata replied. Peh started to follow the captain, but Tata was slow in following. Suddenly he stopped, and it seemed he had reached a conclusion or, at least, an idea came to him. “I know! I’ll bring him a snack from the kitchen! Poor guy’s probably hungry.”

When the soldier, Tata, had left, the noblewoman snuck out from behind her hiding place, and rushed over to where she had pushed the group into the water. “There! Did you hear all that?!”

“Can’t. . . Keep swimming. . .” Ryu gasped, before sinking below the surface. Sten was next, with a garbled “Help!”

Katt scrabbled at the wet stone with her hands, but she was way too tired to actually climb her way out. Without a word, she dropped under the waterline, and vanished. Nina, flapping her black wings uselessly against the pull of gravity and water, and sinking, grasped uselessly, and sank like a rock. Ray had put Sesso closest to the wall, even though it caused him to be treading water, into which he descended. Sesso let out a small cry, and grabbed onto his hand with both of hers, falling away from the wall. She too, went under.

The noblewoman blinked for a second at the place in the water where the group had been, and then sighed. “Well, if you didn’t know how to swim, you should have told me. . .”

******

Blink. Blink.

Ryu groaned, and opened his eyes. He remembered drifting deeper and deeper into the lake, his breath burning in his chest, limbs too tired to propel him anymore. He remembered hoping that the girls and the others would be okay without him. Now, as he opened his eyes, four faces resolved into view.

“Ah! Good! You’re awake!” The Sima noble-woman grinned broadly and then moved out of eyeshot. “Ryu!” Katt practically cheered. She gave him a fierce hug, and then stepped back. The smile vanished, replaced with a sneer, and she hooked a thumb at the noblewoman, who was now rooting through a chest in the corner. “Can I hit her? Please? She nearly drowned us!”

A small smile crossed Nina’s face when she saw Ryu awake, but she turned away before he noticed, and whispered so softly no one else could hear. “I’m so glad you’re alright, Ryu. . .”

Ryu sat up, and shook the numbness from his mind. “Uuh. . . What the hell?. . .”

Sesso sat back, exhausted. “Whoo. . . It took all I had to transmute the water in your lungs. . .”

“We even had to perform CPR on you.”

The blue-haired dragon boy stood up, groaning. “Oh please don’t tell me Sten or Ray were involved in that...”

He looked around. “Hey, where is Ray?”

Sesso answered. “He was the first to wake up. Don’t know where he went, but he said he’d be back to join us later.” She handed him the note Ray had left. Sure enough, it said ‘Be back later. Meet you at castle gate.’

The noblewoman had finished rooting through the chest, and finding what she needed, walked up to Ryu. “You’re the leader of this group, n’est pas?”

“Uh, yeah, I suppose. . .” Ryu answered awkwardly. He hadn’t ever thought of himself as a leader. To be honest, he thought of it was an equal opportunity thing; no real leader, just a bunch of people following each other. But now, looking around at everyone’s faces, he realized he had become a leader, and not even known it. “Yeah, I’m the leader. . .”

“Please! You must help me save my kingdom from the imposter prince!” She pleaded. “Do you remember what the guards were talking about outside? Did you hear what they said?”

“Bits and pieces.” Ryu frowned, crossing his arms. “We were all trying more to stay afloat, than to pay attention to someone talking. . .”

The frog woman gave a meek smile. “Sorry about that. If you had been seen, they would have kept their mouths shut until you left, which would have crushed my plans. But do you remember what they said?”

“Sort of. . .” Ryu admitted. “Something about a false prince, and that the man we brought with us from the mainland was the real one, and is now in jail.”

“Exactly! That one is my brother, the prince!”

“Well, forgive me for asking but. . . exactly who are you?” Nina asked.

The pink-skinned frog woman did a graceful curtesy. “My name is Petape. Princess of Sima Fortress, and second in line to the Royal Throne. The heir to the throne is my brother Jean. . . At least, that’s what he likes to be called.”

“So Jean is really a prince?”

“Yes! And the Prince Jean you met at in the city is an imposter that has fooled everyone!” She grew despondant. “Everyone but me. . .”

“But. . . what can we do?” Ryu asked.

“Help me expose the imposter!” Petape pleaded. “We have to free my brother from the prison first, though. There’s a passageway underwater by the docks that leads through the catacombs, to the jail inside the castle. . .”

“Whoa whoa whoa. . .” Sten stopped her. “We can’t swim that well, let alone breathe underwater. You’re asking us to drown again.”

“Non, non. . .” She shook her head, and dug into the pouch. From there she pulled out a strange object. It looked like a mouthpiece, but it had pipe coming from the top that split into a Y or V shape. “These are rebreathers we give to non-SimaForteans. We call them ‘Gills’. I have nine here. You can keep the extra ones.”

“Gills, eh?” Sten said, taking one from the bag and hanging it by it’s string around his neck. “Are they as good as the Manillo Clan’s Gills?”

Petape was distributing the Gills among the others, and was handing Ryu the baggy of them when she answered. “No. The Manillo Clan decided to stop making the Gills a long time ago. For the last hundred or so years, we Sima have been back-engineering them. We have working Gills, but they don’t work at the deep depths that the Manillo original ones worked at. Our Gills are only good for the shallow waters of the lake. Any deeper, and they begin to clog, and get harder to breathe through.

“They are perfectly good for around the castle, and in it, so you don’t need to worry. As long as you have the Gills, you won’t drown here.”

Once all the Gills were distributed, and the spares were in a baggy on Ryu’s belt, Petape asked again. “Alright. . . Now will you help me?”

Yet again, all eyes turned to Ryu. He sighed loudly, feigned deep introspection and thought, and then shrugged. “Sure.”

“Bon! Merci!” Petape clapped her hands in joy. “No we must go to the jail, and free my brother, the true prince.”

“Lead the way. . .” Ryu indicated the door with an underhand sweep. Again, Nina frowned, even though the amphibious princess seemed not to notice. She passed quietly out the door, not even looking Ryu in the eye, annoyed. Katt, who was a step behind her, shrugged at Ryu, and winked, and was gone in a lash of a tail. Sten followed, as did Sesso, who had no where else to go.

Ryu, on his way out, spotted something interesting by the cupboard; it was a collapsable fishing rod made of metal, way stronger than the wooden one he had back in the ruined town. With a glance at the door to make sure no one would see him, he palmed the collapsed rod, and attached it to the rear, previously empty spot on his utility belt. No one would know. . .

***

Petape showed the group the stairwell that lead down to the underwater catacombs, outside on the docks. She then pointed to a small, four person boat, docked at an ‘island’ pier. “You can use that boat if you ever wish to return to the mainland for some reason.”

“I myself cannot follow you through the catacombs. Just as I cannot take you common people into the dungeon through the castle, neither must a princess of the Throne be seen coming out of the underwater tunnels with a group of, if you pardon my language, ‘untrustworthy vagrants’. . .”

Ryu stopped her. “We understand. Leave it to us. We’ll see you inside.”

“Till then.” And Petape went off at full, lady-like tilt, headed for the massive front gate.

As they began descending, Sesso mumbled. “But. .. Where could Ray be?. . .”

******

As if he had heard her words, Ray suddenly thought of Sesso; The strange, alluring water shaman was so compelling, he was almost willing to break his Holy vows as a Paladin to be with her. But while evil and corruption existed, he could not, at least for now. And corruption existed in abundance in this place populated by amphibous beings. He thrust the pleasant thought of Sesso aside for the cold, unyeilding strength of his faith and sense of duty, as he confronted the source of the corruption in this town now. For once in his life, he wished he had been just a normal, average priest. . . one who could have a girlfriend. And more.

“I suppose you are wondering why I never came back.” The figure was asked him, pouring two glasses of some dark red wine. “Why I never returned to the Saint Eva Church. . .”

Ray, though he would much rather kill the infidel where he stood, graciously, if strained, accepted the glass of wine, and took a sip as his host sat down. “Yes. . . Though I was sent to enlist new acolytes for the Church, being on this continent I took it upon myself to find out what happened.”

“Well, Father Ray, nothing happened.” The dark figure sipped its wine, and stared into the slowly swirling liquid when he was done. It stared with cold eyes into the wine, as if trying to discern some occult message in its pattern of swirls and whirls of reflected light. Then it replied. “In fact, if you check with your superiors, I am still a member of the Church, albeit, my name has been removed from all records. You’ll find not one word of me, unless it’s word-of-mouth.”

“What do you mean, you are still part of the Church?” Ray’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You abandoned the teachings of St. Eva!”

The figure was quiet, but then replied with a chuckle, “It seems you do not know as much as you think you know about the Church. I have not abandoned the teachings; far from it. I’m following them, much as you believe you’re doing by hunting me down.”

Ray was stunned. “W-what?!”

His host laughed sardonically. “The Church is trying to expand, Ray; That much I think you know. But you cannot, or will not grasp the magnitude of that expansion. . .”

There was nothing Ray could say. He just stared slack-jawed as the words began to sink in. Was the person he had been intent on bringing back as a heretic, in fact, truer to the motions of the Church than he was? The seed of doubt planted itself firmly in Ray’s heart at that moment, and quickly buried itself so deep he couldn’t extricate it. “But. . . why should I believe anything you say! You are a heretic. You would lie to save your skin. . .”

The person hidden partly in shadows leaned foreward, holding out a folded piece of paper, sealed with a magical sign. “I anticipated your arrival, in a sort. I expected a Paladin to happen upon me, but I never suspected you, Ray. Take this to the Church high priest. It’s the latest in my updates of actions to him. The seal cannot be broken by any means, or the manuscripts destroyed, until such time as the seal is broken, and only the high priest knows how to break the seal.”

“When you give this to the high priest, ask him about me, and my mission. Simply having a letter with this sign on it requires him to tell you.”

“And then. .. I shall learn the truth. . .”

“Yes.” The figure leaned back and steepled it’s fingers, eyes glittering malevolantly in the darkness. “But will it be the truth you expected?. . .”

******

Ryu quickly learned that the Gills, in addition to providing breathing underwater, also must have had some kinda minor mental-sending, as he heard Katt’s ‘voice’ in his head, muttering about how gross it was to be descending into the lake water, and whining about her fur being wet and clammy beneath her new battle costume.

Hey, I can hear that, ya know? He turned slowly to face her under the water. He could barely make her out, only her red hair showing through the gloom. In addition to the Gills, at the docks Petape had provided them with special weights to keep them from drifting or floating. They literally walked underwater, along the man-built walkways there. Do you know how much you’re whining?

Not as much as I want to. . . Nina grumbled, forcing her way through the water with definite resistance. Her wings weren’t exactly the best things for being underwater, as they were not hydro-dynamic. She could only walk as fast as the others if she pushed herself to.

They passed through an archway into the catacombs, the lowest level of the Sima fortress, entering dark, even murkier passageways. Now, instead of filtered sunlight lighting their paths, only luminescent fungi, and the light of Nina’s magical ‘orbs’ could shed half-decent illumination on the walls and floor of the passageway. It seemed like a totally unused tunnel; very empty, with no lighting, and very little in the way of the decor seen in the city above.

Imagine Ryu’s total surprise when he climbed a staircase, and found himself staring at a Sima person in a cook’s getup, and an end to the water. The frogman took one look at Ryu’s dripping clothing, drenched hair, and water-logged surprise, and asked. “Oh, are you here for the scraps?”

Before Ryu could answer, he was pushed over, and almost trampled by the rush of his friends.

“Never doing that again. . .”

“My fur is soaked!”

“At least you’re only half furry! I’m totally furry, and nothing is worse than wet monkey fur-smelling!”

“Wish I wore something a little less like a bikini. . .”

That came from Sesso. Everyone simply stopped babbling, and turned to glare at her. She visibly winced, and then shrugged.

“Can you tell us where the dungeon is?” Nina asked, with a shaking of her wings that spattered everyone but the cook with water. “There’s someone there we need to see.”

“Certainly. Just go through that door, and past the food pits. You can’t miss it.” The cook pointed down the hall to a doorway. He looked them over again, a little sadly. “So you aren’t here for the scraps. . . Pity.”

He turned, and left through another door, leaving the group to their own devices. Once everyone was ready (mostly a matter of getting Sesso to transmute the water that had soaked them into vapor, drying them quickly), they left the ‘arrival’ room, and entered the doorway the cook had indicated.

On the other side of the doorway was a large, open space, with two holes covered with meshed screens planted in the floor. As they neared one of them, Ryu could see the bottom was covered in coiling and uncoiling masses of worms, so numerous the floor could not be seen itself. He recoiled, and cursed softly, disgusted. Katt stuck her tongue out, and made disgusted noises when a cook went down into the pit and scooped several dozen into a pot, and came out.

The cook turned to them, and smiling, held up one of the worms. “They are quite delicious with a nice garlic-herb oil sauce. ..”

Everyone stepped back a bit from the edge of the pit, as well as the cook, and Ryu could hear Sten trying not to retch in disgust. What kind of clan ate bugs, for crying out loud?

Then he realized that his left foot was standing on a strange grill, and he looked down, turning around. It was another pit, like the worm-pit, only sparsely filled with large, ugly cockroaches, almost easily as large as the one Bow and him had killed. . . What? Less than a month ago? Was it really that short a time ago? Felt like years.

“Hey, there’s someone down there with those bugs!” Sesso cried, pointing. Ryu tore his eyes from the large, disgusting bugs, and found a familiar, very sought-after form.

The girl with the midnight hair, and the bat wings. Just as Ryu looked at her, she looked up, blank-eyed and frightened, and then recognized him and grinned with desperation and wild hope. “Hey! It’s you! That guy from the town in Rhalpa region! Please! Help me get outta here! Tell’em I’m sorry!”

“That’s what I intend to do; get you out of here. . .” He told her. “. . .and into the custody of the Rangers.” He flashed her his badge. “. . . For the framing of a Ranger in a crime. Do you agree with that? I’ll leave you down there, if you don’t. . .”

Deep inside, Ryu knew he wouldn’t. He had to take her back, to answer the charges against Bow. But a little intimidation might help convince her. She needed no convincing, though, already nodding rapidly. “Fine, fine whatever! I don’t care anymore! Arrest me! Just . . .” She leapt aside as a large beetle skittered past her and up the wall. “Get me the HELL outta here!!! I HATE BUGS!!!!”

Everyone laughed, except for the girl in the pit, and Ryu finally answered. “We’ll come get you after take care of our other business here.”

“Can’t I come out, and you put me in chains or something?” She pleaded, hands clasped in front of her, putting the ‘big, almond-eyes’ act on, looking innocent and hopeful. The girl didn’t kneel, because to do so would put her closer to those. . . Bugs. . . “Can’tcha? Hmm?”

“Nope. One of the agreements we made with this town was that they release you to us in a day or so, so. . . Sorry.” Ryu shrugged. “Nothing we can do. You’ll just have to tough it out.”

“And don’t eat any of the cockroaches!” A cook shouted down at her, banging the bars of the pit with his frying pan.

“Eat them?!” The girl practically shrieked in anger and disbelief. She started looking around for something to throw. . .

Ryu turned away from the pit, and led the others into a small alcove/corridor that said 'To Jail' on one wall. At the end of hall was a set of stairs that led down to. . . the holding area.

***

The Sima Captain stared in at this 'Jean' character for a last few moments, and then smirking beneath his helmet's beaver guard, lightly tossed the keys to the cells into the air, snapping his fingers closed around them in satisfaction. He turned and walked back down the line of cells, whistling a sweet, but slightly ominous tune as he walked, heavy armour clanking around him.

He turned the corner that would lead him to the stairs out of the jail, only to recoil in shock at the group of five strangers coming down the stairs.

"What the hell?!" He cried out, pulling his war club, and brandishing it. He spread himself as wide as he could, to cover the hall behind him. "Who are you people?!"

"Out of our way." The one with blue hair and the sword said, reaching back for it. "We want to talk to that guy that's in one of these cells, and we don't want trouble."

The captain shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't permit that. I've been strictly ordered not to let anyone in to see the imposter. You'll have to go through me if you want to see him."

"Buddy, we don't want to hurt you. . ." Ryu warned threateningly, pulling his katana out. Everyone behind him, on the stairs prepared to fight, drawing weapons, or summoning magical energies.

"Bring it on, blue-boy. .." The Captain taunted in a whispery rasp.

The fight sort of exploded right there; Ryu and the captain met in a clash of metal and weapons in the center of the hall, the squeal of steel against steel almost deafening in the enclosed space. But that didn't last too long; the Captain shifted his weight a little, and swung an armoured fist up and right into Ryu's exposed bread-basket.

Immediately, Ryu was brought to his knees, breath forced out of him in a rush, and gasping for breath. The frog in armour quickly brought the base of his warclub down between his shoulderblades, forcing him almost down onto his belly, before booting him off to the side with the toe of his heavy armour. Ryu smacked hard into the wall, and lay there, gasping and injured.

"Alright. . .Who's next?" The Captain challenged the rest, motioning with one hand, the other holding his readied weapon.

Katt's low growl became a feral roar as she lunged at the Sima commander, swinging her battlestaff as hard as she could; in her anger she had forgotten about her new skills and techniques. She was acting on pure aggression and adrenaline. Nobody does that to Ryu, Nobody!! She thought wildly, trying to bring her staff's end down on the frog's collarbone with the intention of snapping it.

But the Sima warrior was not unfamiliar with battle tactics; anticipating her strike, he raised his free arm, with its forearm-mounted, curving shield to block. Katt's staff hit at an odd angle, and deflected to the side, throwing her off balance. As she fell, the commander reversed his arm's direction, bringing his elbow down on the small of her back, slamming her hard against the stone floor, and knocking her out. She tried to get up for a moment, but with a sigh, slumped back to the floor.

Now only Nina, Sten, and Sesso were left. But Sesso was going to be all but useless; she was cowering in the her portion of the stairwell, hands over her head and mumbling in a quavering voice something no one could quite hear. So it was down to Sten and Nina then. . .

"Well?. . ." The captain asked impatiently, tapping his metalshod foot, and slapping the palm of his hand with the neck of his warclub. ". .. Do you wanna fight too?"

Nina's mind was working overtime. Both of the team's power hitters were flat out cold on the floor, and the bad guy was a big dude in armour that was skilled in combat. How to defeat him?. . . Inspiration struck her in seconds.

"Sten." She rasped. "Follow my lead."

He nodded, and then Nina began to move. She dashed up to commander, who had somehow managed to maintain his position blocking the hall, and tossed a sphere of magic right up against his helmet visor. The frog had begun to wind up for a strike with his club, to knock her aside as she drew close, but he cried out in surprise as the ball of magic burst into a flare-like ball of bright light, blinding him totally.

"Now!" Nina yelled, and Sten leapt into action. In an instant, he was atop and behind the frog's head, and with the handles of his new, large Zip Daggers, he smacked the sides of the frog's helmet as hard as he could, as if he were smashing cymbals together. The effect was instantaneous; as soon as Sten stopped ringing the helmet, the commander swayed a little on his feet, dizzy, blinded, head pounding.

The next thing he heard was "Clear!" and the weight vanished from his shoulders as the monkey leapt off. Then, through the haze of his vision, beyond the flashbulb effect of the magic ball's flare, he made out the windian girl, standing a few feet away, arms pointed towards him. Energy had already collected there, and before he could even move, another ball of energy, this one larger, and multi-coloured, and about the size of a basketball.

It hit him, and after that. . . blissful darkness.

***

"Uhh. . ." The frog man groaned in his unconciousness, but Nina and Sten paid it no heed. They were too busy rousing Katt and Ryu.

Sten was over at Katt, shaking her slightly, and patting her face to wake her up. Nina was kneeling by Ryu, trying to rouse him gently.

"Ryu. .." She whispered, trying to sound calm and cool, but there was a note of concern and. . . something else? in her voice. She was shaking his shoulder, watching his pained, unconcious expression. Not of her own volition, her hand began to reach to touch his cheek. . .

Before she could touch his face, he gave a groan, and then a start, and then blinked open his eyes. She quickly withdrew her hand before he saw it. His blinking, bleary green eyes found and focused on her, and he gave her a slight smile.

Nearby, Katt finally woke up under Sten's constant insistance, and glanced over to where she had seen Ryu fall before. When she saw Ryu smiling up at Nina, her heart sank. Sadness crossed her face for an instant, and then vanished, replaced with remoteness. Expressionless.

***

When everyone had recovered, they hauled the semi-conscious captain into a nearby cell, tied him up with the bedroll's cloth, and relieved him of his cell keys. As Ryu was tightening the cloth, the frog came around a bit, and asked in a slurred voice. "Why? Why d'you care about thish imposhter. . ."

Ryu didn't answer, instead closing the helmet's beaver and getting up. he closed the cell door behind him, and locked it. "We'll tell someone to let you out after we leave."

With that, the Ranger, his three companions, and the tag-along Shaman left the Sima commander, and continued down the hall. Soon enough, the began to hear Jean's own, familiar brand of singing. To say that it would have peeled paint was an understatement. Everyone winced when Jean hit a wrong note (which was most of the notes), and poor Katt had pulled her long ears down over themselves in an effort to muffle the horrid singing.

"Jeez, Jean. . ."Ryu finally said, as he unlocked the door to the strangely plush cell. "They torturing you in here or something?"

Sitting at his easel, Jean added one more brushstroke to his painting, and then turned slightly on his stool. "Ah, Monsieur Ryu. . . You have come to see my painting?"

"Uh.. ." Ryu glanced at the work-in-progress, and didn't really know what to say. He found himself saying "Yeah. .. sure. . ."

Katt pushed past him to see the painting, as did Nina. "Wow, that's. .. interesting. .. to say the least."

It was a painting of Simafort, done from the shore of the lake, only. . . the colours were all wrong. The sky was an odd shade of green, and the fort's normally golden green walls were a pale blue. The shoreline, in the foreground, was a dirty red colour. The water was brown. Apparently, Jean was colourblind.

He acted, though, as if it were perfectly normal. Studying it with an artistic eye, he said. "I'm not pleased with the water yet. Needs some more colour."

Katt and Nina looked at each other across Ryu, and both rolled their eyes. This guy is NUTS!

Then, from behind them, Petape pushed everyone aside, and ran up and hugged Jean. "Brother! You're alive!"

Jean seemed perplexed. "But of course, ma soeur, why would I not be?"

"You have no idea how good it is to see you again. . ." She sniffed, fighting back tears. Jean saw this, and reached to brush one away from his sister's big blues.

"But, why are you crying, sister? I have not been gone very long." He told her. "You should save your tears for the man you love." Suddenly, he grinned. "I know. I shall cheer you up with a song!"

"NO!!!" Everyone cried out. Jean just blinked dully, before Petape hesitantly replied. "Er. . . no Jean, that's quite alright. But do you know what has happened since you left?"

From the bovine dullness in Jean's stare, everyone knew he hadn't even clued in. Not even when he had been hauled off by the police, and imprisoned. There was a collective sigh.

"Jean. . ." Petape began, a small vein beginning to throb in her forehead as she struggled to control her temper. "You're down here because someone came in while you were away, saying they were you. The people accepted this without question. But now your back. You need to retake the throne. Do. . .you understand?"

"I think so. . ." Jean nodded. He thought for a moment, and smiled. "I have gone from being Prince Jean, to simply Jean. I see no problem with that. . ."

"Jean!!!" Petape practically shrieked, her pink face flushing more crimson. She took a deep breath, and collected herself. "You need to take the throne again. But we need to prove your the real Jean. But I don't know what to do. I need your help. What can you do to prove you're the real Jean to the people?"

"Hmm. . ." Jean thought. The others gathered there had their own doubts about what Jean would come up with, so they were surprised when he came up with something good. "What about the Royal Ring?"

"The Ring! Of course!" Petape nearly smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. Why hadn't she thought of it before. "There's only one of those, and you have it!. . . You DO have it, don't you Jean?"

Jean shook his head. "Alas, I do not. I gave it to Nimufu as a token of my affection." He sighed loudly, and seemed generally despondant. "Ahh. . . the end of an inept love. . ."

Petape grabbed him by his outfit's petal-like neck decoration. "You did what?!?! You gave away the Royal Ring. .. a symbol of our royal family, and your claim to the throne, and the only way we can dethrone the imposter, and you gave it away?! To some witch?!"

"No, no no!" Jean tried to explain. "She was lonely and sad. So I gave her the ring to cheer her up!"

Petape was visably crestfallen. With slumped shoulders, she turned to face Ryu. ". . . Can I ask you to. . ."

"Yeah, we'll do it." Ryu nodded. "We already know Nimufu. She might just give us the ring straight off or something."

"Thank you." The frog princess inclined her head a little. "There's another boat, on the fourth dock outside. You can use that to get back to the mainland; the soldiers don't care about it, and no one goes to that end of the dock anyway."

Ryu nodded, and without another word, led the others out of the cell. Because everyone thought the prisoner was secure in the jail, there wouldn't be any more guards.

Out of earshot down the hall, Katt and Nina both fell in step with Ryu, and then formed up in front of him as they walked towards the corner that would lead to the stairwell. The began to slow down, deliberately, and when the other two had turned the corner, stopped completely.

"Ryu?" One of the girls asked.

"Uh, yeah?. . ."

Both girls turned to face him. "You know what this search for the ring means, don't you?"

"Uh. . that we're gonna be looking for a royal ring?" He tried, smiling uncomfortably, but he knew exactly what they were getting at.

"It means we'll be seeing Nimufu again." Nina said flatly, keeping her voice neutral. Still, a little bit of jealousy made its way into her voice.

Ryu looked at her sternly, as well as Katt. "I told you before. There's nothing with Nimufu. She wanted me. I didn't want her. Nuff said."

Katt plucked the metal flask from her boot cuff and took a swig of liquid. She grimaced, and then glared at Ryu, cheeks flushing with the alchohol. "And let's keep it that way, shall we?" She turned to leave, pausing in her turn only to fix Nina with the same glare she fixed on Ryu.

Nina and Ryu watched her leave, and he said, still looking after Katt, "What was that about?. . ."

The windian girl shook her head slowly, and whispered. "I . . .don't know. . ."

But . . .I think I have a good guess. . . She thought sadly.

*******

It turned out that the trip to Nimufu's Tower was a wasted one for the group of four (Sesso staying behind in Simafort to look for Ray.). When they got to the witch's strangely made front door, they found a recorded message, and the door locked.

"I'm not home right now, but you can find me at the Witch Academy's fifth year reunion, at the WildCat Restaurant and Pub. See you there. . . if you dare. . . hee hee hee!"

Ryu let out a 'hmmph.' He stepped away from the door, and turned back to his friends. "Great. Now what the hell do we do? I don't know where the WildCat restaurant is. . ."

"I know where it is." Katt spoke up. All eyes turned to her. She shrugged. "I grew up there, before moving east to Coursair."

Then Ryu remembered. "Oh. .. Yeah,. . . I remember!. . You were telling Bow about that, weren't you?"

Katt nodded. Nina and Sten simply looked at them, blinking. "Bow? Who's that?"

Ryu looked uncomprehendingly, and then smacked his forehead. Of course. . .He hadn't told them why he'd been looking for Patty, that thief girl, in the first place. Very quickly he laid down what happened. ". . . and so, now we know Patty's in Simafort, so. .. "

"I see. . . " Nina replied, finger to her chin in thought. Sten had simply gone and made himself comfortable sitting against the wall. He looked asleep, but Ryu knew he was listening intently. It was Sten's style.

"Yeah, so, now that you know the whole story. .. "Ryu said, turning to Katt. With a dramatic of his arm, he indicated the road down the plateau. ". .. would you be so kind as to lead us to the restaurant, Miss Chuan?"

"I would be delighted." She answered with a smirk and a smart nod, and began a swift walk down the road.

******

Katt knew shortcuts and hidden paths that the group would never have known of otherwise. She lead them through woods and over rivers, even the big river that fed the Sima Lake, and didn't even stop to get her bearings. After all, this had been her playground; all of the land surrounding the Restaurant. She hoped her tracking skills and confident leading would impress a certain someone, but didn't really let herself think too far ahead. So to keep herself from smiling, she thought about what she had seen over the years, the loneliness. The humiliation of being a dancer, before she learned how good a fighter her kind always was.

Ryu, walking behind Katt, noticed the change in demeanor in his short, red-headed companion, but didn't know what to make of it. He knew the change had happened a little while ago, but why? No answers were coming to him.

Behind Ryu was Nina, and she watched them both. She saw how when Katt would glance back at Ryu or herself, she didn't really look at them; more like through them or past them. As if she didn't want to focus on them. Only Sten she would look at directly, when he asked her questions about the landscape. And Nina noticed that same faraway look in Katt's eyes, as if she were thinking of something immensely sad. . .

Sten was in back of the group. He wasn't noticing anything, and didn't really care. He was only thinking about ordering a steak and a beer when he got to the restaurant.

******

"Well, here we are." Katt announced, not with aplomb, but with resignation. She pointed at a large cave entrance, one with a big banner sign that Wild Cat R & P. "The Wild Cat."

Ryu blinked. "It's not what I expected. . ."

"How so?" Katt asked, heading inside.

He paused at the opening. "I expected an actual, normal restaurant, not a hole in the wall."

Inside, they followed the tunnel deep into the plateau, following arrows and signs, until they reached a pair of doors, and a very big, very tough looking bouncer. Ryu took one look at the guy and tried to hide a nervous gulp. The bouncer looked big enough to survive almost anything, including an assault by Ryu in his fully formed Dragon form. In fact, Ryu would wager that even in his Dragon body, he'd lose a fight to this guy.

Katt, however, was nonplussed. In fact, she smiled, and waved at the bouncer as she approached. "Hey Tusker. What's new?"

Tusker, He of the Bald Head, and He of the Chiseled Body, looked down, and immediately his stone-cold visage melted into a smile. "Why if it isn't little miss Kitty-Katt! How you been? It bin a long time since you bin back in this end of the woods.. ."

Katt waved his questions away with a wave and a smile. "I been around. Was working in Coursair for a while, but now I'm gonna see about getting into the Rangers Guild on the Eastern continent." She looked back over her shoulder to a very pale Ryu. ". .. Right Ryu?"

"Uh. .. " Ryu could see the big man looking him over with an analytical eye, and he paled further. Compared to this guy, Ryu felt about as muscular as a matchstick. About as strong too. "Y-yeah. The Rangers. . ."

"Hmm. .. well it sounds pretty good, Kitty." Tusker smiled, and rustled Katt's hair up a bit with his hand. "You just be careful, okay? I'd miss not having you drop by."

Katt giggled like a little girl, and shrunk a bit under his brotherly noogying, grinning. "No prob. Can you let us in?"

"For you, anything." Tusker turned and pushed one of the heavy doors open with one big, bronzed hand. "Just make sure you follow the signs and their directions. You know how strict Hachio is about his restaurant. . ."

"Aw. .. but do we have to do that last one?" Katt whined, stamping her foot. "I hate that one. It just feels wrong."

"Sorry, Tiger, but rules are rules." Tusker shook his head. "Even I have to follow that one. And just imagine how hard it is for me to do. Look at me."

Again, Katt giggled. "You know, that's one of the funniest things I've thought of? Seeing you doing that would send me into stitches. Heh."

"Ha Ha. Very funny." He gave her a gentle shove through the door. "Now get in there, and have a good time. You little troublemaker."

Katt laughed, and continued on. The rest of the group followed, but Tusker stopped Ryu at the door. "So you're her friend are you?"

Ryu heard the slightly menacing tone in his voice, and looked the towering man in the eyes. "Uh. .. yeah. Me and her are friends."

"Get this, blue-boy. . ." Tusker told him, poking him in the chest with a little more force than he should have, to make a point. "You are to let nothing happen to our darling Katt, got it? Nothing. .. "

"I got it." Ryu frowned, pushing the man's big finger out of the dent it had made in his chest. "For your personal info. . . I've already saved her life once, and she's saved mine once. I'm not gonna forget that."

"Good." Tusker said, satisfied. He crossed his arms, and sharply thumbed at the open door. "Now get in there."

"Fine." Ryu bit out, and practically shoved past him, leaving the bouncer behind.

***

Following the twisting corridors, Katt lead them to a check-in point. A very cat-like creature (very different from a Woren or Fullen) was there behind the counter, waiting.

"Welcome to the WildCat Restaurant and Pub." He said with a wide, Chesire-cat grin. "Please, leave your weapons and shields (if you have them), here. We do not promote fighting in our establishment."

Ryu thought about it, as the others did, and couldn't find a reason to argue. Katt was already handing her staff and gauntlets, and tossed over her shoulder. "C'mon, just do it. Not like we're gonna need them in a restaurant. . ."

Without a word, everyone handed in their weapons, and in exchange, got a weapons-return ticket for pick up later. They continued on through the passages, until they reached yet another check-point, with yet another Chesire-cat grinning booth operator. This one, however asked that they leave their armour behind.

"This doesn't feel right. . ." Ryu thought out loud, handing over his black armoured vest. "I can understand weapons, but armour? Why would we need to surrender our armour?"

"Because, sir, wearing armour makes it very hard to eat." The cat-thing replied, hanging the vest on a hangar, and handing him a ticket stub. It smiled an all-too-wide smile, and said. "Just follow the signs to the final area, and then have a good time."

Now he was down to what he had been when he had started his first search with Bow; white shirt and red pants. Only his old leather breastplate and sheath were missing now. He glanced over at the girls, to see what they were like without armour. Nina looked very much the same as he had first seen her, only without those black and gold gloves; still wearing her blue dress that was slit up the sides to the hip, and her knee high black boots. Katt looked odd, not wearing her trademark gauntlets or belt. Sten looked small without his armour.

Done at the armour check-in the group followed Katt through to the final area, where yet another booth was, and curiously, a series of changing room booths. Again, the booth operator met them with a unusually wide grin. "Welcome to the WildCat Restaurant and Pub." It said, following the usual spiel. "When you get to the restaurant, how would you like your meat cooked?"

"Aren't you gonna ask what kinda meat we would order?" Ryu asked suspiciously, eyebrow up.

The cat-creature shook its head. "We only use the finest quality meat in our food. Best of the best. All of it is good. All we need to know is how you like it cooked."

"Hmm. .. I dunno. . ." Ryu thought. Katt put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lemmee handle it." She said. Then she leaned in to the cat-creature, and in a very forceful and strangely indicative voice, said "RARE. Got it?. . . Or do I need to make myself clearer?. . ."

The booth operator took one look in her eyes, and his ears fell back in submission. "Y-yes. .. Rare it is then. .."

He pulled out a set of bottles from behind the counter. "J-just please, before you go through the last door, rub the contents of this over your bodies? You may use the changing rooms over there for privacy."

Sten picked up a bottle, popped the cap, and took a sniff, recoiling a bit. "What the hell? Is that pepper I smell?"

"It's a special . .. balm. .. that the cooks ask all patrons wear before entering." The booth-operator said hesitantly, eyes glancing away for a moment. "Please. .. It's nothing big. .. Just please do it, or I'll get in trouble."

Ryu gave him an unsure look, but when Katt looked him in the eyes with that Just DO IT look, he gave in. "Alright. . ."

A few minutes later, everyone was in booths, hidden behind thick doors, and covering themselves as best they could. As he rubbed the semi-liquid balm that smelled of salt and pepper (and vinegar?), Ryu couldn't help but chuckle out loud.

"What's so funny, boss?" Sten asked from next door.

"Oh, nothing. . ." Ryu replied. "I was just thinking, it would take forever for Rand to get this stuff on him, simply because he's so huge."

"Heh. Same thought occurred to me." Sten snickered. "But I'd prefer to think of something other than Rand's leathery ass."

"Like what?" Ryu asked.

"Like, say. .. Katt and Nina putting this stuff on them?" He said suggestively. "Get my drift?. . ."

Ryu got it. Almost immediately a set of unclean thoughts popped into his head, and he laughed out loud. Sten joined in the laughing, before they were interrupted by a shout from across the corridor. It was Katt.

"Hey!!!. . .. We can hear you, ya know?!" She snarled at them. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourselves, alright?"

"Oh, just let them have their fantasies." Nina said from the booth next to Katt. She was finishing up rubbing the balm into her legs and arms. "Boys will be boys, after all. .. even if one of them is an old, smelly monkey."

"Hey!" Sten cried, insulted. "I maybe old but I . .. no wait. .. *sniff* . .. Oh. .. Right. . ."

Everyone burst out laughing at that, including Sten.

***

Once everyone was ready, and properly 'embalmed', as it were, Katt lead them to the final door. The quartet wandered through the doors, and into the next room. It felt strange; the dirt floor of the previous corridors had given way to a very strange metal mesh that didn't quite reach the walls. And the walls had strange dimpled mounds in vertical rows, all down the length of room. . .

"What the hell?. . ." Ryu began, just as the big iron door slammed shut behind them, startling everyone.

"Oh. .. Crap..." Katt said slowly. "Everyone, be prepared for a hotfoot."

As she said that, the metal mesh beneath their feet began to warm up, and from the stragne dimpled mounds on the walls, long blue flames erupted. Not close enough to hurt them, but definitely enough to start heating the air in the room.

Very quickly, everyone was jumping and hopping towards the center of the mesh, trying to stay off the metal as much as possible, as it became very, very hot.

"Ow! Ow! Ouch! Hot hot hot!!!"

"Ouch! Damnit! That burns! Hey! Watch it!"

"What I (ow!) wouldn't do for my (Ahh!) Staff right about now. . ." Katt muttered, hopping from one foot to the other, with a grim look on her face. Nina was lucky; she floated up off the grill -- that's exactly what it was now-- but didn't float very high, as there were even flame jets on the ceiling.

Thankfully, the heat and the hotfoot lasted only about a minute or two. The flames shut off, and the heating element that was the floor cooled down, and everyone let out a sigh of relief, happy to be cooling off. Then, the other heavy metal door unlocked with a loud CLACK!, and swung open, revealling a tall, chubby form.

". . Let's see how the meat is doing." The figure said to someone no one could see, possibly someone else in the restaurant, and then walked in, cleaver in hand. He stopped, jaw dropping. "Hey! They're still alive!!"

Ryu was about to comment on that, but Katt interrupted with a howl of rage. "Hachio!!!!!!"

Hachio paled. "Ohno. .. I know that voice. . ."

"Ya damn right you know it!" She snarled, stomping towards him. "You remember what happened last time you tried to cook me?! When I was nine?!"

He gulped, backing away slowly. "K-Katt. . . It took me a week to get the feeling back in my fingers. . ."

"And now I'm bigger, and you'll suffer more!"

Hachio kept backing up, and started hunting through his pockets for something. Finally, he yanked out a shaker, and, filling his palm with something. "Y-you can't. . I won't. .. I gotta get away!"

He tossed the dark powder in his hand right into his own face, and, taking a deep breath in, let out a resounding sneeze that blew him back out the door, and far into the restaurant. Katt stopped, shaking her head angrily, while the others blinked in confusion.

"Uh. . ." Sten began. "What the hell was that?"

"Hachio's secret weapon, in cooking and fighting;" Katt told him, from experience. "Black, ground pepper."

She plucked the flask out of her boot, tried to take a swig, found nothing, and put it away. Then she turned to face everyone, her face tight with strain, but feigning mild amusement. "Shall we go in?"

***

It turned out the way they had come in, through the twisting, turning tunnels, lead up through the kitchen. Ryu and the rest walked through, and he had to make sure Katt walked through, practically pushing her through as she stopped to search for the now in-hiding Hachio. The other feline cooks cowered and cringed at Katt's sudden lunges and snarls, but Ryu managed to get her out into the restaurant proper.

"Da-amn. . ." Sten muttered. "This place is packed. . ."

And that it was; Almost every table and barstool was filled with . .. . witches. In every seat, except where an old crone was sitting, were girls with very familiar long pink hair, and pink eyes, only they were wearing the same, single piece clothing outfit. It was a full length, flowing purple cloak, and atop their heads were wide-brimmed conical hats, all decorated with the individual's personal designs.

"What's going on?" Ryu asked. He looked up and saw a banner, saying "Welcome Class of . .." The last part was blocked by a set of coloured balloons.

"It's the tenth year reunion of the Madam Abigail's School for Black Magesses." A crusty, scratchy sounding voice came from the seat nearest him. Turning, Ryu found an old crone of a witch, obviously a chaperone or teacher from the school, clutching a gnarled oak branch of a cane. On her cloak was a small tag saying Hi! my name is: Grizelda. "Everyone here is a witch. You. .. can't be students. Must have been invited by someone."

"Uh. .. not really. But we are looking for a particular witch. Do you know Nimufu?"

"Nimufu, eh?" The old woman thought, stroking her chin hairs, and then shook her head. "I know she was around an hour ago, but I haven't seen her since. She seemed rather quiet and reserved, though. Never seen her like that."

Ryu thanked the chaperone, and was about to suggest that they all split up and look for Nimufu, when he noticed he was alone. Katt had headed off to the bar (no doubt to order something stronger, or at least to refill her flask). Sten was nowhere in sight, but his path of insulted witchs was clearly visible. And Nina was busy conversing with a tall witch about how to enhance her black magic.

"Sure. .. leave it all to me." Ryu muttered sarcastically, and began to wander from table to table in search of the nymphomanic witch.

***

"What'll ya have?" The bartender asked, cleaning a glass with a rag and his massive, furry finger. Katt had made her way to the bar, and was slouching against it heavily. He stopped cleaning and took a better look at his new client. ". .. Katt? Is that you?"

"Yeah, yeah. .. It's me. . ." Katt grumbled. "Whaddya got to cheer a lady up?"

"Mm. .. depends on what you're looking for. . ." He leaned in, smiling a wolfish smile. That smile vanished when Katt grabbed his bow tie, and yanked his head down to the counter-top.

"Listen to me, and listen good." She said very slowly, and very quietly. The witches around her saw her sudden, violent attack on the bar keep, and edged a few feet away. With slitted eyes, and her ears tilted back in a very feline way, she rasped. "I'm not in the mood to be hit on, alright? Just give me something to make me forget . . . how I feel about someone, alright? Think you can handle that?"

"Yeahsurewhatever. .. just let go of me, 'kay Katt?" The bartender gasped and blithered, until Katt shoved him back off the counter. ". .. I'll get you a real bomb, okay?"

"Good. . ." Katt replied, and returned to glaring at nothing, at the thoughts going through her head. . . .

***

"So where's this Witch's school?" Nina was asking the tall witch she'd sat down with. "I've never heard of it."

"It's kinda secretive and preppy." the girl was saying, her voice hinting at a Highlander's accent. "Either they find you, or you're family has already been in it for many, many years. That's about all I know on how to get in."

Nina saddened a little. Certainly the witches' magic would have increased on her own, but if she couldn't find the school to study. . . "Oh. That's too bad. I go to the magic school in Rhalpa region, and I'm top of my class. wonder if they just haven't noticed me yet?"

"It's a possibility." The witch replied in all honesty, and plucked at her pile of chicken wings. ". . for a reunion, you'd think they'd come up with a better entree. .."

Nina giggled, and leaned in, intent to absorb all the tips and tricks about magic she could. . .

***

Ryu was having a better time than Katt, but not as good as Nina, in his search for Nimufu among the throngs of witches. As he wandered the tables, he quickly learned that the school was an all-girls, and that, as an all-girls school, the girls had been denied contact with boys. And he learned even faster that they were anxious for male contact.

Jeez. .. why did I have to be the only guy here? He asked himself tiredly as he yelped when another witch pinched his rear as he went by. Turning to see who pinched him, he found dyet another table of witches giggling like schoolgirls (which of course, they were) and waving at him, with a collective, flirty "Hi. . ..."

He offered them a slight wave, and a half-hearted smile, which sent them into giggles and blushes, and a secretive talking huddle, and muttered under his breath. "Ray, why couldn't you be here? You could distract them . . ."

Finally, he approached a table that had an empty seat, and asked. "Mind if I sit?"

The number of grins and devilish looks told him he could, but not with any personal confidence.

"Certainly, cutie. . ." one of them purred, patting the empty chair's seat. "Make yourself comfortable."

He sat himself down, and tried not to look nervous. "Fun party. Wish the Ranger Guild threw bashes for their members. . ."

"Mm, do tell. .. " The witch beside him, rested her chin on her upturned palm, eyes dreamy. Many of the other girls were like that too, or leaning on their elbows, intent on listening to him.

"Yeah, we don't get parties like this. Probably because. .." There was a sudden, slow tug on his pant leg, followed by a gentle brushing of it. "That is. .. some of our people never come back. . ."

"That's too bad!" Another piped up, pouting a bit. ". .. But you can celebrate here with us, as if this is a party for you. . ."

Another brushing, this time of his other leg. Now he could definitely feel a bare foot running up and down his shin. Ohboy. . . Was it really a bare foot, or was the girl still wearing her shoe? Ryu couldn't tell.

A waitress (unfortunately, not a waiter) came around, for drinks. When it was Ryu's turn, he leaned back a bit to ask for a soda, and took that opportunity to angle his vision below the tabletop. Yup. those were bare feet. The girls had been wearing low cut, laceless shoes, and when he'd sat down, a few of them must have slipped out of them.

"Tell us about yourself. .." The third one said, and he felt her bare foot run up the inside of his leg. In the back of his mind, he wondered if any of the girls had bumped legs with another girl, or if they were simply missing each other down there.

"Uh, well. .." Ryu was bright red, and was having trouble thinking clearly. Those three. . . no, four feet, touching against his legs was quite distracting. .. "I'm a Ranger from Rhalpa region . . . Live with a bunch of friends in a rebuilt ruin southwest of Mt. Fubi. . ."

"Do go on. . ." One of the feet became more insistant, starting to include the girl's lower leg, and not just the foot.

"Umm, . .. Uh. .. Well we're looking for a person . . ." He managed to get out, as the girl who was across from him leaned back in her seat, and, with a glitter in her eyes, slid a bit further down, though not enough for the other girls to realize it (or maybe they just ignored it). Ryu's throat developed a very big lump when that girl's foot travelled further up his leg, and more disturbingly, began to toe at his codpiece. Time to leave. .. his conscience screamed at him. He finally blurted out, "Do any of you know where Nimufu is? I really need to talk to her."

The caressing of the his legs paused, and then three of the legs almost despondantly retreated, except for the fourth one, of the girl across from him. She gave a little pressure, not too much to be painful, with her foot, and then slid back up to sitting. She slipped him a wink, and smiled.

"Oh. So naturally the only guy to show up wants to talk to Nimufu. . ." The witch beside him grumbled, crossing her arms angrily. "Typical."

"No, no. .. You misunderstand." Ryu said. He quickly explained the scenario, and why he needed to see the nymphomanic witch. ". . . Y'see?"

"Well. .. that is a pretty good reason. . ." One of the witches reluctantly pointed out. The others thought for a few moments, and then nodded.

"So, do any of you --" He was cut off as there was an outraged cry from near the bar, a sudden flash of red light, and the definite sound of Sten's horrified shriek, and the scent of charred monkey fur gently wafted through the restaurant. "What the hell?"

"We should have warned him. .. " The witch to his right said sadly.

"There's one among us who likes to get drunk and fight, for fun, at parties. I think that ape just tried to hit on her like he hit on us a little while ago."

Ryu laughed, and shook his head in amusement. "That Sten. . . He never knows when to quit. . ."

That point was reinforced when a severly blackened, and in someplaces sizzling, Sten stumbled up, clutching a mysteriously clean napkin. He stopped by Ryu, and then looked over, dazed, before grinning stupidly.

"Sten?" Ryu asked, unsurely. He looked his burnt-to-a-crisp friend over, and raised an eyebrow. "You. .. okay?"

"I'm great, man." Sten said, coughing a bit at the end. He held out the napkin, which Ryu could see had some writing on it. "I got her name and address. She's from Capitan."

"Uh, did she give that to you before, or after she torched you past Golden Brown?" Ryu asked, snickering.

Sten looked at him like he hadn't recognized it as a joke. "Afterward, naturally. She said she liked my tenacity."

"She'd have to. . ."

He coughed again. "I think I'm gonna go lie down, and wait for my clothes to stop smouldering. . ."

Sten teetered off, and Ryu turned back to the witches, who were watching him leave with amusement and amazement. "So, could someone tell me where Nimufu is?"

"Nimufu?" The witch to his left looked around the table, taking a consensus of opinion. "Last we heard, she was worshipping the porcelin God."

The group giggled and snickered at the pun. Ryu smiled a bit, understanding. "Thanks for the info, ladies. If there's anything I can do for you?. . ."

He ended up walking away from the table with a napkin full of names and addresses, and a bright red blush.

***

Katt was practically slouching against the counter, glass of some unidentifiable golden liquid clasped in her hand, when Nina finally broke away from talking to the black magess. She barely even raised her head off her crossed arms when Nina sat down beside her, and gave her shoulder a shake.

". .. Whaddayouwant. . ." Katt slurred heavily, sounding irritated. She took a sip of her drink, and dropped her head back to her arm, turning her head sideways so she could glare blearily at the windian girl.

"Are you . .. okay?" Nina asked hesitantly, concern in her voice. "You haven't been acting normal lately. . ."

"Like you would care." The Woren girl grumbled.

"Well, if you told me why you're like this, maybe I would?" Nina offered.

Katt thought for a moment, and slowly sat up, turning as she did. She opened her mouth to say something, but what she would have said will never be known, because it was at that time Ryu came up, and clapped a hand on both of their shoulders.

"Glad I found the two of you together." He smiled. " We found Nimufu."

"Where was she?" Nina asked, disappointed that she hadn't been able to get anything out of Katt.

Ryu smirked, and thumbed towards one of two doors across the room, behind him. "I'll show you. . ."

***

Sure enough, in the women's rest room, clutching at the bowl of a toilet in a booth whose door was open, was Nimufu. Between bouts of vomiting, and bouts of crying she stuttered out half formed thoughts and phrases. "Why can't I get a boyfriend?. ... Am I . .. that revolting?. . . I can't even keep . . . a slave. . . I'm just so pathetic. . ."

"Jeez, when you get depressed, you get depressed!. .." Came a familiar voice behind her. She turned slightly, and saw Ryu and his friends standing there. The little cat-girl seemed a little under the weather, and was weaving back and forth with a dull look in her eye. "Do you really believe all that garbage, Nimufu?"

She wiped her mouth on her glove, and glared at him, sniffling. "Why shouldn't I? . . . I can't even get a guy to like me because they're all afraid I'm gonna turn them to stone or kill them. . ."

Nimufu let out a sobbing laugh, and collapsed back against the booth wall, beside the toilet. She drew her legs and arms around her, holding herself like she was cold, and muttered sarcastically, "And the only person who said he loved me was a goddamned frog. .."

Ryu closed his eyes for a moment, debating. He could talk to Nimufu, but that would probably upset the girls. . . But if he didn't he'd feel really horrible, leaving her feeling like she wasn't attractive or that she was some horrible beast. The proverbial Rock and a Hard Place. What was he to do?

Thankfully, he was saved the decision when Katt spoke up from her drunken stupor. "Wake the F#%$ up, Witchy. . . No matter where you go, you're gonna have guys drooling over you. Just don't tell them your a witch, or try to make them your slaves."

She sneered. "And quit this 'I'm not attractive' shit. You look better than I do, and I know I have guys who want me. I don't know what gave you this inferiority complex, but drop it."

Ryu cleared his throat loudly, as if to indicate to Katt cool off. He knelt beside Nimufu, and looked her in the eye. "Nimufu, listen to me for a moment. That frog that gave you the ring. . . He's the prince of that city in the lake. And he's been arrested because an imposter has stolen his place on the throne, and no one knows, because the imposter has covered his tracks. But that ring he gave you is very important. It's his claim to the throne, the evidence he needs to dethrone the imposter."

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Now. . can we have the ring? To save our friend? Please?"

Nimufu's face became unnaturally pale, and drawn, tear-streaks standing out on her pale cheeks. "T-the ring?"

Ryu nodded, a feeling of unease rising in him as he saw how pale she was. "Yes. .. The Royal ring. . ."

She seemed to think for a moment, and then turned away slightly, not meeting his eyes. She absently rubbed the spot on her ring finger where a ring should have been. "Um. . . I don't have it anymore."

"What?" Ryu asked, hoping that his ears had played a trick on him. "Where's the ring?"

"I don't have it anymore." She spit out. She looked back at him, her expression the model of sadness and regret, and guilt. "I. .. lost it."

The Ranger fell back, hand dropping away from her shoulder, staring at nothing. "You. .. lost it. .."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose it!" Nimufu began apologizing, tears running afresh down her cheeks. "But when I got sick, and came here, well, the ring was loose on my finger, and when I was. . ."

She left it unsaid. Katt finished the thought for her. ". .. It slipped off. Perfect. All this way to find the ring and you, and you lose it down the friggin' toilet."

"I'm really, really sorry. . ." Nimufu was despondant. "I wish I could help you. . ."

"We've lost. . ." Ryu said numbly. "The imposter to the Sima Throne has won. . ."

There was a moment of despairing silence before Katt cleared her throat. "ahem. .. you know, we could go see if we can get into the plumbing, and stop the ring before it goes somewhere we can reach. . ."

Ryu stood up. "Do you know something?. . ."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying we could find Hachio, and get him to let us take a look at the plumbing. See if there's like, I dunno, a filter in the system that the ring mighta gotten hung up on, or something."

Everyone stared at her for a moment, and then suddenly began to nod and murmur amongst themselves about how plausible an idea it was. Finally, Ryu said. "Lead the way, Katt. It's your home turf."

The bathroom began to empty quickly, with Katt in the lead, but Ryu hung back at the door. He looked back at Nimufu, who was sitting in a stunned, depressed, self-pitying stupor. Then he sighed, and offered her his hand. "C'mon. .. it's not your fault. The offer for a room in our town is still open, if you want it."

"I'm . .. still thinking about it. . ." She said hesitantly, accepting his hand and lift up, but not meeting his eyes. ". . . Thanks."

Ryu smiled kindly, and left the bathroom, leaving Nimufu with her own thoughts.

*****

"Come out come out wherever you are!!" Katt shouted menacingly as the group looked through the kitchen for the head chef. "Hachio!. . ." She changed her tone, taking on a sweet, soft tone, but no less menacing. "I promise, I won't kill you. . . Pretty please, come out so we can talk?"

They had been searching for nearly fifteen minutes, when Sten suddenly hollered from the back "Found him!"

It turns out Hachio had hidden in the huge meat-freezer in the back of the kitchen. When Sten had pulled open the thick metal door, he'd found the big cook wearing a parka, looking very stunned that he'd been found out. Now that the group was gathered there, Hachio was fearing for his life. "Katt! Please! Don't hurt me!"

She cracked her knuckles loudly, an evil half grin gracing her face. "Oh, you have no idea how much I want to. . ." But she sighed, and let her shoulders slump. ". .. unfortunately, we kinda need you alive right now."

"R-really?. . ."

Ryu stepped foreward. "My name is Ryu Bateson. I'm a Ranger. I was wondering if I might take a look at the plumbing for the water lines of this restaurant? Something was flushed down a toilet that shouldn't have been, and it is quite important we get it back."

Hachio came out of the freezer slowly, keeping his eyes on a very disappointed looking Katt, before answering. " The plumbing? This place doesn't use a real plumbing system. We use all-natural sources for the water, and disposal of garbage and sewage."

"What do you mean?"

The cook explained. "We use water pumped from the lake and the waterfall on the plateau for our clean water. The dirty water, and any. .. waste. .. is flushed into a cavern below us where it decomposes while it is slowly drawn out of the cavern, and into the ocean. We like to think of it as a natural solution."

"So something flushed down the toilet. .. "

". .. will end up somewhere in the cavern." Hachio nodded. "I'll show you the entrance, so you can go look for yourself. I hope you find what you're looking for."

He led them to a small hatch set into the lower wall of the very back of the kitchen, hidden away from view behind a cupboard. "This is what the maintanence people use to go into the cavern. You can go down into it from here. And. . ." He gave them an amused grin. ". . .Don't mind the smell."

 

 

Chapter Eight: Gold Fly Pudding