Episode Oh-Point-Five: The Mating Game
Pangea05
PANGEA:
"The Land That Time Ignored"
(A side-story to "A Tale of Two Wallets," by yours truly:
Jim Robert Bader)
(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi Kosuke Fujishima, Naoko Takeuchi & Others, with characters, ideas and situations created or suggested by my fellow fanfic writers DB Sommers, Ryan Anderson, T.H. Tiger (Peter Schell), Ted Hsu, Rann Aridorn, Bill Guiroff, Wade Tritschler, Mike Koos and Steve Thesken, take a bow, people!)
HENTAI ALERT---LEMONY SCENES AHEAD! CONTAINS NAUGHTY BITS OF CONSENSUAL FUN BETWEEN SEXUALLY ACTIVE TEENAGERS RANGING IN AGES BETWEEN 16-20. NOT FOR THE PRUDISH OR EASILY OFFENDED, CONSULT LOCAL COMMUNNITY STANDARDS BEFORE ENGAGING IN READING THIS FANFIC. THERE IS REAL OVER-THE- TOP BEHAVIOR HERE, AND IF YOU FIND JUNGLE STORY SETTINGS INVOLVING PRIMITIVE LIFE FORMS NOT AT ALL TO YOUR LIKING, THEN KINDLY READ SOME OTHER FANFIC. THIS AIN'T A SPIELBERG STORY, AND YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED!
(Set within the timeframe of Chapter 101 of my fanfic series, "A Tale of Two Wallets," between the time when the gang parted from Nekonlon China and their eventual arrival one week later back in Nerima)
FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE: (With apologies to Lee Falk)
Ranma is engaged to marry both Nabiki and Shampoo; Nabiki is an Apprenticed Lore Master and Shampoo is cursed to turn into a winged cat; Akane has wings and Ukyo turns into a boy and is engaged to Makoto (Sailor Jupiter), while Happosai is a handsome swain engaged to Miss Hinako; Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) is romantically involved with Rei Hino (Sailor Mars) while Kodachi is carrying on a not-so-private affair with Kasumi, and Ryoga has just begun to get acquainted with Minako Aino. Everything else beyond that is purely coincidental.
Episode Oh-Point-Five
The Mating Game
The first thing Ryoga knew when he began to recover his wits was that he had a peculiar taste in his mouth and his head was throbbing as though he had a massive hangover. Ryoga knew what a hangover felt like on account of that "unfortunate incident" that had befallen him during one of his wandering adventures. In the countryside of some place called Boulogne he had the misfortune of stumbling into a vat of fermented wine while trapped in his pig- form. The resultant experience that had followed was a bit of a blur in his mind, other than that he had been chased by some angry Vinter and had gotten lost subsequently in some place called the "Black Forest." He had come back to his wits at the house of a nice old lady (albeit that she had strange tastes in building material, and what senior citizen chooses to live in a place made entirely of candy confections?). At any rate he knew what a hangover was, and he definitely had something like that affecting his senses at that particular moment.
He risked opening his eyes and found himself staring at a bed of luxurious straw laid out before him, only it did not smell quite like straw...in fact, it smelled rather nice on the whole, albeit just a bit on the gamy side with a perfume-like scent that tickled his nostrils and reminded him a bit of Akane.
But then he caught movement out of the corner of one eye and automatically tracked it, making out a shape that was distinctly bird-like, only larger and lacking any sort of plumage that might distinguish it from a winged iguanodon. In fact, if he did not know any better, he might almost think that it looked like those pictures in that story book that his mother had once shown him of prehistoric reptiles long extinct by the reckoning of most scientists...
With a start he sat upright, looking around wildly at the unfamiliar jungle setting, then taking notice that he was far from alone and that what had appeared to be straw at a glance was---in reality---attached to a head connected to a naked body that was long, lean and entirely feminine in contour. His eyes went wide as that latter thought penetrated the fog that surrounded his thinking, and then he want into immediate shock as he discovered that he himself was quite naked, which implied that they had been naked together, and without a chaperone about that could only mean that he...and she...
His head hit the ground as he passed out with that realization, but several minutes later he felt a stirring again that drew him back to full consciousness, and this time he managed to remain conscious long enough to sit up and take notice of his companion, belatedly recognizing her as the blonde whom he had met on board the ship named Minako.
"Ah...oh..." he said very slowly, waiting for the inevitable nosebleed that would surely send him back to dreamland.
When he did not suffer such a rupture he had another moment to ponder on what that was since he could see the texture of her body, the curvature of her hips and the gently swelling of her naked breasts. In point of fact he could even remember a bit what it felt like to lay his hands upon those globes of flesh and fondle them between his fingers, even taking them into his mouth one at a time and suckling upon her, and the sounds she made while he flicked his tongue over her nipples...the expert way in which he had gently stroked the nerves along her back and rump, the squirming noises she had made while positioning her in readiness of penetration...
Ryoga almost swallowed his tongue as the memory of the experience flooded back to him like an avalanche of images, sensations and emotions so raw and intense that it fairly stunned him to realize that it had been him in the middle of such vigorous rutting. Granted the blonde Minako was an inspirational bed-mate, but the intensity with which they had been going at it was astounding given that they were in the middle of no where and surrounded by hostile life forms.
Just then the girl beside him began to stir, and Ryoga felt an urge to panic, dreading what she would say when she found him staring at her like a pervert. He glanced wildly about in search of his clothing and found bits and pieces of it scattered everywhere, his pants and shoes were tossed off to one side while his shirt was draped over a bush some meters off in the opposite direction. There was absolutely no trace at all of any articles of clothing that might have belonged to Minako, which further added to his growing sense of desperation as he was certain that she would freak when she recovered in another few seconds.
"Mmm..." she murmured sleepily, glancing over her shoulder, "That you, Rei-chan? Oh. I'm sorry..."
"For what?" Ryoga yelped, trying not to sound too guilty.
"Eh?" the blonde turned to look up at him then said, "Oh...it's you. Ryoga, right?"
"Um...yes," he truthfully squealed, waiting for the inevitable explosion.
"Oh, that's nice," she said, and laid back down as though preparing to go back to sleep, only for her eyes to fly open in belated realization.
"It's not my fault!" Ryoga immediately blurted out, forcing himself to glance away, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look!"
Minako sat bolt upright and stared down at herself, then turned and stared at him, then turned another shocked look and took in their immediate surroundings. Her eyes were wide open and she was clearly wide awake as she absorbed the unmistakable truth of their current situation, even as memories flooded in to fill in all the necessary details.
Ryoga stood braced and waited for her to hit him, only to wonder why it was taking so long for her to go at him. When curiosity got the better of his wits he risked glancing back her way only to find her looking at him curiously and without the harsh accusation that he would have expected in her expression.
"We did this together?" she asked when she knew she once more had his attention.
"Um...yes," he said in a tiny voice that made him feel about half of his real age.
To his surprise Minako felt herself over and did a critical inspection with her fingers, then touched her hips and seemed to think something over before turning a curious look towards him again and asking, "Is there a funny taste in your mouth, and do you feel like your head's stuffed with cotton candy?"
"Ah...hah?" Ryoga wondered, still too stunned by the fact that she was not yelling and screaming her head off.
"Oh wow...my first time," she seemed to smile as she said this, then turned an apologetic look his way and said, "I...guess I owe you an explanation. You see...I don't usually do that with a boy I just met. I mean...I've never done that before...I mean, ever. I...well...you were pretty nice...and why are you looking at me that way?"
"Hah?" Ryoga asked.
Minako glanced down then belatedly moved her hands to cover her breasts while crossing her legs and blushing all over, "Oh...yeah...I get it now. Sorry about that...I'm not used to...well...I mean, with a boy that is...er, I mean, well..." and to Ryoga's complete surprise she started to chuckle in a nervous, girlish manner.
To Ryoga's surprise he found that he rather liked the sound of her laughter, but---then again---there was not much about this Minako Aino or which he did not implicitly approve. The fact that she wasn't attacking him and calling him names seemed...strange, but not something to be upset about. In fact, her futile attempt to restore some modesty to her present situation made her seem even nicer than the fact that they had both screwing each other a while ago with great abandon. Nice definitely described this Minako in a nutshell...in fact, she was arguably the most beautiful girl whom he had ever seen in his life and definitely someone whom he wanted to get to know better.
"Ah..." he said somewhat reluctantly, "I guess...um...I mean, that is...I've...well...I've never...done anything like this myself before...I mean, I've never..."
"Been with a woman?" Minako smiled, and her smile was dazzling, like gazing at the sun and going blind as Ryoga felt the world itself dissolve all around them, "Well, that makes two of us...I mean...at least I think so..." she frowned as though struggling with her memories and attempting be certain, "Ah...don't worry about it. I think you're really nice..."
"You do?" Ryoga asked in surprise.
"Of course," Minako responded, "I may have been acting...weird a little while ago...but I knew what I wanted, and you were very, very good...ah...well, not that I'm any great judge about such things, but I know that I definitely liked it."
"Oh," Ryoga relaxed and seemed to swell up with a curious sense of ride as he heard her say this, "Um...well...you were good too...I mean...you were great..."
"Really?" she said with a radiant smile that showed how much pleasure she derived from the compliment.
"Oh yeah," Ryoga nodded, finding it impossible to look away from her as she literally magnetized the whole of his attention.
"Well, then I ought to change what I said and say that you were terrific," Minako beamed with a lascivious expression.
"Really?" he asked in mild surprise.
"Really," she affirmed, "You're quite a guy, you know that?"
"Oh...um...well, thanks," Ryoga found himself rubbing the back of his head, only to belatedly notice that she was staring at his waist, which caused him to glance down and take notice of the raging hard-on he was sporting, which he hastily attempted to cover with both hands as he yelped.
"Oh my," Minako's grin got even deeper, "You ought to do something with that monster. On the other hand, why don't you let me take dare of that? You've done a lot of the work so far, now it's my turn to show you how much I appreciate your efforts."
Ryoga's monster erection got even harder as he stared at the blonde with a horrified sense that she was about to jump him all over. But then a snapping of a twig drew him around and made him aware of the fact that they were not alone and had company that was observing the both of them from the bushes.
Minako caught the shift in his attention and instantly went on full alert, curling her toes and angling to get her long legs underneath her so that she could rise to her feet in an instant. Ryoga, meanwhile, absently reached for and drew his umbrella from virtual space then stood up at the ready and waited for whoever was spying upon them to more fully reveal its presence.
To his surprise a dinosaur that stood two meters in height edged its way from behind a tree and stood there staring at them with large eyes set to either side of its massive head. It body was long, lean and sleek with oversized clawed feet that had nasty, wicked looking hooks in place of big toes, and a pair of arms with clawed hands that it extended for further balance, and a long tail that moved with a twitch from side-to-side. Ryoga saw the vicious row of teeth that lined its mouth and had occasion to wonder what it used to brush with since they gleamed like pearly spikes in the light filtering through the forest.
Yet Ryoga felt strangely calm as he studied this creature, sensing an intelligence in its eyes that were regarding him back with no less curiosity than Ryoga was feeling. Minako, on the other hand, felt anything but calm as she got to her feet and eased herself instinctively around and behind Ryoga, hovering nervously in his shadow.
"I've seen one of those before," she hissed into Ryoga's ear, "It's called a Velociraptor, and it's a deadly killer. Those claws on its feet are supposed to be able to rip a man in two with one kick."
"Oh," Ryoga remarked, filing the name for further reference even as he took stock of the creature and tried to gauge its combat potential.
Minako sensed his unusual calm and glanced at him in a sidelong manner, "Aren't you scared at all?"
"Not really," Ryoga replied, "I can tell its fast, but I'm used to fighting tough opponents. I'm more worried about you, though, so if it's going to attack I want you to take off running and leave me to do the fighting."
"You have got to be kidding me," Minako relied while her hand seemed to pull an object out of no where that resembled a pen with a round orange ball decorating one end.
"I'm serious," Ryoga, said, "You need to escape while I keep it busy..."
All at once they tracked movement from the sides, and then both teenagers turned their heads to take note of half a dozen other creatures who looked a lot like the first one, only with different body markings.
"...Or not," Ryoga lamely finished, only now starting to get worried.
Minako swallowed a large lump that was forming in her throat and then nervously said, "Momma always said that there'd be days like this..."
"Really?" Ryoga asked.
"No, not really," Minako relied with a nervous titter, "Just making conversation..."
"This...could get ugly," Ryoga murmured aloud, "I think I could handle one or two of these guys, but not this many all at once."
"So what do we do?" Minako asked as they stood back-to-back and studied the encircling band of Velociraptors.
The first raptor started to move forward and Ryoga reacted instinctively by jabbing out with the tip of his umbrella, hammering the creature on the snout, which caused it to back away with a yelp, using its forearms to rub its nose and complain in perfect Oxford English, "[OW! I say there, old Chap, was that strictly called for?]"
"HUH?" both Ryoga and Minako said together, turning equally stunned looks towards said Velociraptor...
* * *
Peorth wasted no time erecting a forcefield with a wave of both her hands and the giant Pteranadon crashed into this with the force of a small jetliner, but unlike any manmade plane the creature easily withstood this force and fought to break through the barricade in order to get at the trio of tasty snacks that its senses yet perceived was still within the reach of its enormous crane-like beak.
"Talk about persistence," Mon-Mon dryly commented as they stared up in dismay at the monster looming over the whole of their southerly horizon.
"Mom?" Akane asked, detecting a note of strain in Peorth's visage.
"Both of you...start running...very vast, ma Cheri!" Peorth grunted, "I am going to attempt something else that will restrain it."
Her hands made odd gestures with pinkies and forefingers extended as Peorth struggled to transform her spell, divine perspiration forming on her brow as the marks upon her face started glowing, then with a yell she froze the creature solid. No longer did it thrash and awful noises as it was no longer moving, instead transformed into a giant statue over twenty meters tall and twice as broad in wingspan, the color of its leathery hide alone remaining constant to suggest that it was yet flesh and blood and not stone that was hovering before them.
"Not too bad," Mon-Mon complimented as she surveyed the goddess's handiwork, "But how long can you hold the beast immobile?"
"Not long," Peorth grimaced, clearly straining to hold her spell in place, "Which is why the both of you had best get going."
"But...Mom..." Akane hesitated.
"Do as I say!" Peorth snapped, risking a glance towards her adoptive daughter before softening her tone a bit and adding in a tense hint of Kimiko's demeanor, "If you ever obeyed me as a child, Akane-chan, then heed me now. I am the Mistress of Moments and I have frozen this one in a globe of time to hold it in place...but I can only so long hold back the Chronos program, and...there is something about the way the lei lines flow here...that is diminishing my powers..."
"We understand, Goddess," Mon-Mon replied, "Come along, Akane-chan."
"But...!" Akane protested.
"Now!" Mon-Mon grabbed the other girl by the hand and started tugging her along, and Akane reluctantly began to heed her urging even while stealing glances back over her shoulder to make certain that Peorth was still maintaining her localized timefield.
Peorth felt the concern of her god-daughter as Akane fled with the Concubine towards relative safety, but then her expression firmed as she glared up at the creature, her eyes becoming almost ruby as she snarled the words, "So...you fight for the sake of your offspring and want to have us all like worms for their breakfast...but I am a mother too, ma Cheri, and I will not budge on this or allow you to have my only trueborn daughter."
She began preparing for another spell, one that would blast the creature back towards the mountains and likely peel the flesh back from its bones, but the effort weakened her grip upon the timefield and the Pteranodon mother's own eyes were gleaming, sensing a maternal cat-fight in the making.
Akane felt something cold run down her spine and broke her hold on Mon-Mon's hand, turning to glance back towards the ongoing struggle between primitive aerial life form and heavenly goddess. To her dismay she saw the creature moving, drawing back its massive wings as it snarled and brook loose of the spell that held it, and then it brought those wings forward once again in a powerful downstroke that kicked up a wind that was surely like a mini-hurricane, one that caught Peorth by surprise and picked her up off her feet before she could brace to resist it.
Peorth flew backwards over fifteen meters and lost her grip upon the spell that she was crafting. She was just about to try and get it back when reality exploded in a burst of stars and pinwheels. Without knowing it her head had just made contact with a large boulder, and while goddesses were and are notoriously hard-headed, the force of this was enough to stun her and leave her momentarily out of sorts, a helpless target upon which the creature could vent its frustration.
"MOM!" Akane cried, sensing that she would be unable to cross the distance between herself and the goddess in order to pull Peorth to safety, but even as this realization made itself known to her subconscious another force rose up inside her as she drew upon the Ki-lines which surrounded her and shaped a force that was half borne of instinct and a lot of desperation.
She had never been trained in Ki attacks until now, but her experiences on board the Nekonlon ship had shown her that there was a dormant power that lay sleeping inside her, a power that she could awaken in moments of stress when all other hope was faded. That power came in answer to her summons now and formed a ball within her solar plexus of concentrated energy, which same then flowed up from her chest into her hands and became ten times more explosive. Akane fairly glowed with outrage as her eyes gleamed with fire and she prepared to launch her attack upon her designated target.
"DON'T YOU TOUCH MY MOTHER!!!" she cried out, and the force of that cry was magnified by the power that lanced out from her fingertips and expanded into a ball that flew like a canon-shot directly at the creature.
The Pteranodon sensed its peril only instants before the ball of energy slammed into it like a wrecking ball run loose. The creature was picked up and sent crashing far away at the base of the nearest high peak, starting a mini- avalanche that half buried it beneath a rockslide.
Mon-Mon stared in amazement then glanced sidelong at the girl at her side, who was still standing in the position of attack with her arms outstretched as motionless as the Pteranodon had been, and with just as tensely focused.
"Akane-san?" the Courtesan asked, sensing what the strain of releasing so much energy might have done to her dark haired companion.
In response to the question Akane's knees began to buckle, then she started to tumble forward, only to be caught at the last second by the quick-witted Courtesan, who gathered her up into her arms with as much tenderness as a mother might have for her child, a metaphor that she herself found curious given what she had just learned about the relationship between the youngest Tendo sister and the equally motionless Peorth, which was cause for some **interesting** speculation.
"You are indeed a worthy kin to your elder sister, Tendo-san," Mon-Mon murmured, half-to-herself, as she considered her next course of action, then smiled and started moving forward, seeking to gather up both women before the next prehistoric monster decided to dine on heavenly fare, something that, as a Priestess (even of a rival pantheon), she simply could not allow. She could, however, seek suitable compensation later, and on that merry note she went to aid the stricken goddess...
* * *
Shampoo's Diary Resumes:
Looking back on that whole affair even I am forced to blush in dismay at my own conduct, treating my husband to such a vigorous massage when I should have been concerned for the welfare of our wife, to say nothing of whatever creatures might be waiting upon the fringe to attack us.
The truth is that it takes very little for me to feel the desire to be physically coupled with my two favorite Airen, for thoughts of them never stray far from my surface. Always, together or apart, I yearn for those moments when we can share intimacies and renew our vows of love through touch and sensation, but even given that it seems incomprehensible to me that I could have allowed my desires to overwhelm my logic so completely. I can only say in my own defense that the influence of those pollen spores made it possible for me to overlook and disregard the peril of our situation, though I am certain that great grandmother would be quick to criticize my complacency and accuse me of merely looking for excuses.
As if I needed any excuse for wanting to be with Nabiki and Ranma, but my actions upon that tree limb, where I turned a routine inspection of my wife's anatomy into a much more personal exploration of my favorite pleasure sites, was a needless distraction that took our minds off our danger and gave away our position to that giant lizard called a Tyrannosaurus. I compounded this error in judgement by doing the same thing again with Ranma under the guise of taking him to get cleaned up in the nearby river.
No sooner did I have him undressed and in the water then I once again was overcome by my desires, admiring the way the change turned manliness into femininity, and how sweet my Ranma is when she is fully wet and glistening in the water. Small wonder I shortly had her in my arms and squirming at my mercy.
I---fortunately---was prevented from reverting to my own curse due to a charm given me by Prince Kirin that could hold the power of Jusenkyo at bay, a gift given to me in order to assist me in my pregnancy so that my unborn daughter is not adversely affected. The Pendant of Bast is set to work only on women who are expecting and so is of no use to my husband, but it was the sole article of clothing that I permitted myself as I got down and physical with her, delighting in the fact that in her female form I have the advantage over Ranma in size and relative strength, a factor that I am all too willing to exploit when the two of us are thus together.
I was quite obsessed with seducing my lovely Airen and took no thought at all of any dangers that might lurk nearby in the water. I trusted in my Warrior's instincts to protect me, and when I sensed Nabiki and the Elder Lotion were close nearby I decided to put on a show to see how long it would take to tempt my wife into joining us. I knew that it could only have been the Elder who managed to restrain Nabiki from giving in at once to her desires, but rather than take the hint I instead looked upon it as a challenge and redoubled my attempts to lure Nabiki into my amorous clutches. Where things might have gone from there is anyone's guess, for Ranma surprised me by taking the initiative and doing unto me the very things that I was deriving so much pleasure from in rendering unto her body. As has been noted elsewhere, Ranma is a very quick study, and yet I was amazed to experience the skill of her caresses, the touch of her masterly hands bringing such intense arousal to my flesh that I became the one who was seduced and totally at her mercy.
So when the giant water lizard chose to interrupt us I was quite annoyed and vexed at the interruption, yet one look at the row of teeth it sported was enough to banish any thoughts of fighting it off from my mind. Instead Ranma and I leaped for safety and wound up dangling from the high-set branches of an overhanging tree, and what we might have done next is a subject open to speculation had Nabiki not taken the initiative by casting Lotion's staff like a spear and rendering the creature "hors de combat" (a term that I have recently learned from that annoying Frenchman who tried to claim that Nabiki was his fiancée...but than again, I am getting ahead of myself in the telling of this story).
The defeat of the first creature gave us a moment of respite, but no sooner was it down then yet another monster came to investigate our commotion, and so great was our haste to avoid this new peril that Ranma and I lacked the time that would be needed to retrieve our clothing and belongings. Instead we were left to run naked alongside Nabiki and Lotion as we tried to evade the thundering creature that came crashing through the woods in hot pursuit. I risked stealing a glance back over my shoulder and saw that the beast closely resembled another Tyrannosaurus, only different somehow, smaller and with stronger forearms. I think, from my cursory impressions of the thing, that it may have been a different variety of giant predator, something they call an Allosaurus, which in no way diminishes the extent of the peril we were in as it was not at all that discriminatory about what it wanted to have for its breakfast.
I would not be stretching the point to state what an impression the four of us must have created since Ranma and I were like two naked fawns running before the hungry gaze of a vicious tiger. It is somewhat doubtful that we could have continued to run like that since the creature was steadily gaining ground on us, but there was no place to stand and make a fight nor any convenient perches that I could spy where we might have climbed to find safety. There was not even enough time to form a Chi attack to repel the beast as Ranma had done with the other, so we were in very desperate shape and needed a way out of our dilemma.
Though I know Nabiki lacks the hardiness and endurance of a warrior she still managed to gasp out on the run without losing her breath, "Any suggestions...how to deal...with that thing...Sensei?"
"I am powerful but not all powerful," Lotion replied, "And as many beasts you kill there will always be more who are attracted by the scent of death and..."
And that was when the Elder abruptly fell silent, so suddenly that it took us several seconds to fully register the fact, at which point Nabiki was the first of us to react, turning an anxious glance over her shoulder and saying, "Old woman? Lotion? Sensei?"
"What the heck?" Ranma followed her glance, "Hell of a time for her to be pulling one of her vanishing stunts...!"
"No time to worry about this!" I said urgently, feeling the tread of the creature closing in on us through the soles of my bare feet, "Worry later!"
I saw that Nabiki was beginning to slow down, perhaps with the intent of circling around and finding the Elder, but I gave her no chance to do this as I grabbed her by the arm and drew her along again as we redoubled our efforts to escape from the creature. At length we came to a narrowing of the woods and were able to duck low under some foliage that the creature could not penetrate and by this means did escape from its appetite. At length we were able to finally slow our pace by a bit and then catch our breath as we reached a rocky prominence that heralded an abrupt change in the landscape that was so sudden that we immediately halted to take stock of the phenomenon.
I cannot quite describe it in words, I lack the poetry of a minstrel, but it was truly an amazing thing to find yourself one moment in a humid jungle and the next within a paradise, for that is the word that best describes the setting that we encountered on our arrival. Lush foliage growing out from a volcanic rockface framed around a large lake fed by adjacent hotsprings, a pleasant atmosphere that was tantalizingly mineral fed and gave an invigorating sense of calm and peace that contrasted greatly with the one we had left behind us. It was as though we had stepped onto an entirely different island and not merely a different geological location, more tropical and less deciduous, as though there had been some magical line separating the two frames that we had managed to cross without really knowing it, as though stepping around that bend had transported us to a peaceful sanctuary well beyond the reach of our reptilian pursuers.
We progressed into the grotto area with some caution at first, but no sooner did Ranma realize that hot water was near at hand then she grinned from ear to ear and said, "All right, just what I need!" and took a dive into the nearest pool before either Nabiki or I could stop her. Fortunately there proved to be nothing unusual about these natural hot springs for Ranma resurfaced again restored to his male sex and as proud of himself as always. Considering what a splendid look we both got of his manly profile we decided to hold off on criticizing his impulsive behavior and just accept the gift that we had been handed without further qualm or elaboration.
But then I felt Nabiki grab my arm and point with her other hand, and I followed her gaze to see a creature drinking from the edge of a lower spring further down in the grotto, an enormous creature with fur instead of scales covering its body which looked something like a moose (the four footed kind, not my former and unwanted suitor) but with enormous antlers that were like a forest atop its head. We stared in mutual astonishment as the creature raised its head and glanced at us, then calmly moved away and headed for the nearby woods, which represented a very different type of vegetation than the jungle behind us.
"Did you guys see that?" we hard Ranma ask us.
"Uh...yeah," Nabiki replied to this, "Looked kind of like a mammal from the Paleolithic era, not that I'm big on primitive zoology."
"Airen," I asked, "How can a big-horn creature such as this be here? It could not run very far with that tangling its way in the bushes."
"You got me there," my wife answered, "You'd think it never ran into a T-Rex before, but then again, they were supposedly separated by about sixty million years or so of evolution."
"I don't get it," Ranma admitted, "It's freaky. You'd think we were on some other different kind of island."
I saw Nabiki get that look in her eyes again, the one she gets when her Lore Master abilities are making their presence known. Indeed, her voice reflected an airy distance as she said softly, "Or maybe...there is some kind of force that is keeping the dinosaurs out of here...like this side of the island is set in an entirely different time zone."
"You mean like a date line?" I asked, then I belatedly got her meaning and said, "Oh...like magic, one part is in one era, the other is in another."
"Guess that makes sense," Ranma said as he came out of the water and exposed his genitals to our pleasure (yet curiously my desire for him remained as it always is, strong and yet easy to manage), "At least as much sense as there being dinosaurs on this island to begin with."
"You've got a point there, Ranchan," Nabiki smiled, then she noticed the way Ranma and I were looking at her and said, "What?"
"Airen," I smiled to our wife, "You are the only one here who is still wearing clothing, and is it not time you shed those tattered rags and got yourself cleaned up so you do not smell so bad that you attract more creatures?"
"I do not stink!" Nabiki protested, then paused to sniff herself before wincing, "Okay...maybe a little..."
"So what are you waiting for?" Ranma grinned as he joined me in flanking Nabiki, "Let's get wet together girls. It'll be fun, and I think we all need it."
I had absolutely no argument for that, and since there did not appear to be any danger in this particular setting, I felt no qualms about laying hands on Nabiki again and giving her a vigorous wash as we scrubbed each others bodies with Ranma in a pool of soothing warm water. Truth to tell I needed a bath every bit as much as she, and yet I was feeling something else about that time, which caused me to climb out and dry myself on the bank before we could get too far along in the course of our pleasures.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked as he continued to fondle Nabiki, who was looking at me with just as much longing as I had felt for her from the beginning.
I smiled as I stretched out on the smooth rocks set to one side of the pool, "It is nothing, Airen, but...this one is feeling rather uncomfortable at the moment. Perhaps this one just needs to rest, we have been running for our lives for quite a while ever since crashing."
"Good point," Ranma seemed disappointed all the same, but he had sense enough to add, "Keep watch for us in case something else nasty shows up to take a bite out of us. No sense in dropping our guard completely like the last time, huh?"
"You are as wise as you are handsome, my husband," I agreed with a fond smile, then turned to study what other forms of life I might observe in that odd place while stealing coy glances at what my wife and husband were vigorously doing to each other.
I did not want then to admit it, but the reason I had begged off on further pleasuring was due to some cramps that I was feeling in my stomach. Mother had often described for me that one of the symptoms of a pregnancy is the discomfort you occasionally must endure for the sake of your baby. My body was going through all sorts of complex changes and though it was yet early in my gestation of new life my child had needs that only nature could answer. Therefore I had to "take it easy" for a few moments until that bloated feeling I was enduring (so different from normal monthly cramps) had passed me by completely.
It turned out that this place that we were in was a haven of sorts for many types of animals that were drawn to the oasis that formed around the larger pool area. I was able to discern several score of unfamiliar creatures whose nature I could only hazard a guess about, wishing all the while that my mother were present since she knows a great deal more about such things and could have lectured me at great deliberation. All I know is that there were several varieties of ground creature who looked near enough to beasts that I am familiar with for me to guess at their probable ancestry and order of descent, if not their actual genus.
I found it fascinating to be surrounded by such a wide variety of creatures, yet all of them kept their distance from our location, and I suspect that---were we not downwind of the majority of these beasts---they might not have shown themselves at all if they were aware of our actual presence. This implied to me that they had seen other human beings before and were wary about coming too close, and for good reason, but never was I to imagine the cause for this until much, much later...nor did I suspect that---even as I was observing them--- something else was observing me with hungry eyes and a slavering thirst for my blood, and---even more surprising---it was definitely NOT a Tyrannosaurus.
Of course the one mystery that was on my mind at that point: where was Elder Lotion, and why had she disappeared on us so abruptly? I cannot believe that she would have abandoned us in a moment of crisis, yet what to account for her sudden disappearance, and what became of her while we were busy taking time out to relax and smell the lilacs...?
* * *
"Oh my, this is embarrassing..." Lotion mused as she stared up at the hole in the ground up above her. All around her was the darkness of the hole that she had fallen into, and so sudden had been its appearance that she had failed to even detect it before dropping through the opening without time enough to warn her companions.
Though she often affected an air of serene confidence and omniscience, Lotion well knew her shortcomings when it came to actually predicting with precision the random elements of the immediate future. She could sense an attack or a threat whenever it manifested but a passive snare could sometimes catch her unawares, especially when she was distracted by something much more threatening, such as a hungry monster seeking her destruction.
"<I must be getting old,>" she mused in her native Mandarin tongue, "<Not paying attention to where I was going at a time like this. What Nabiki would think of me if she could see me now, caught in a rabbit hole like a rank amateur, or--- even worse---like my own granddaughter. Silk would laugh herself silly to see her granny in this situation, and now I must find my way out of here to catch up with my apprentice before she and her loved ones get into even more serious trouble. I only hope nothing else bad happens before I get a fix on their position...>"
A low growl drew her attention and she cast a glance to one side in time to see a pair of glowing red eyes and gleaming teeth bared in her direction.
"<Oh my,>" she sighed, "<I really hate it when this happens...>"
* * *
Nabiki's Journal Resumes:
Lotion's abrupt disappearance rattled me and I freely admit it, but later on she told me something about it being the design of fate and my time to shine forth and other stuff of that sort. Personally I think she's just making excuses for letting me go through that ordeal, but whatever the circumstances, the fact was that I had to get along without her holding my hand and serving as backup. To put it frankly, acting on my own is a lot more glamorous on paper than it is in real life, as I shall illustrate very shortly.
Finding that oasis was like a blessing from the kami, but how little we suspected what a trap the place truly was, and what an amazing lure for the unwary it could be, not that I was paying much attention at the time since I was far more preoccupied acting like a rutting teenager in heat...which is pretty much what I am when I get it on with my fiancé. But then again, Ranma's a pretty tempting package even when I'm not under the influence of those spores, and besides, I was making up for lost time since playing voyeur earlier had gotten me hot and bothered and not much in a mood to be standing on introspection.
Or maybe I just wanted to feel Ranma's hard meat between my legs, or pillow him between my breasts, stuff I was eagerly doing when Shampoo up and quit on us in the middle of our foreplay. I sensed that she was feeling an intense discomfort and felt a sympathetic twinge in my sides that informed me that she was cramping, but other than that I had no idea what she was going through, let alone why. I mean, what do I know about the signs of pregnancy and the effects it can do to a woman's body? Not like I was planning on getting that way myself anytime in the very near future (and why do I suddenly have this very odd feeling when I write that...?).
Oh well, the point is that Shampoo got out of the water and dried herself off to the side while I was getting good and screwed by Ranma, and though I regretted not having both of my loved ones in that clench I was not at all sorry about getting my iinazuke all to myself for a chance. I contented myself with studying Shampoo's profile out of the corner of my eye while taking it in as Ranma concentrated on me with great enthusiasm, and damn if Shampoo isn't a tasty piece to look upon when she's just casually sunning herself and combing out her long hair so that it dries without tangles. She's so free and uninhibited in the way that she displays herself that I just get charged looking at her in her fully naked glory. Inspirational is the word I'd coin to describe what she was like for me at that moment, but I was still quite content to let Ranma do me while she watched us with approval.
I know that it must seem strange that our first priority in a strange place like that was to go at it like we were already on our honeymoon instead of taking precautions to see that we would not be rudely interrupted like the last time. It was almost like our actions were under the control of a separate consciousness, but that's only an excuse, I think, since it really just means that we were acting on our own subconscious impulses without rational thought interfering in the process. No doubt those pollen spores needed time to work their way out of our system since we seemed to recover well enough afterwards with only minor side-effects, like a good buzz you get with a hangover.
That being said, it's an odd thing that my rational mind was actually working at the time as I performed my half of the sex-fest, giving Ranma further incentive to stimulate me back while taking me all the way up my ass. I was churning over a lot of what Lotion had been telling me a few minutes before about how we choose our sex partners and what criteria we employ to size them up and screen out the "weenies." (By that I don't mean cock size okay? It's not cock size alone that makes Ranma appealing to me, though he's big enough where it counts by my standards) Ranma turns me on by being more than a hot stud who can become an even hotter girl whenever he's splashed, he's got technique and appetite and an ability to get spontaneous and creative. He's solid enough that I don't fear he's going to be cheating on me anytime soon, and with Shampoo in the picture our sex is never predictable or boring. He's just the most perfect specimen of a man that I can visualize myself going down with, and though he's got more than his share of personal faults, with what I'm looking for in a husband he's pretty much near perfect.
Oh, I can imagine myself going out with an ugly man or even one who has average looks, and at one time I was more concerned about the monetary factor than I am today, having realized what an asset I have with Ranma as my "business partner." Despite his cockiness and ego he's sensible enough to know where my strengths begin and his end, and in a battle of wits we both know I have a definite advantage. Pretty rare to find a guy who isn't all that threatened about being with a "smart" woman, and in a lot of ways he's smarter than me about some things. We compliment each other so well that it feels like he's a notch and I'm the grove that he fits so well into. That makes him the only real man for me, and I couldn't imagine sharing him with anyone else but Shampoo, who compliments us both and completes our three-way triangle.
Well, anyway, while stuff like this is running through my mind I notice that Shampoo is looking somewhat distracted. Considering that Ranma's pumping me up my rear at this point and I'm groaning up a storm about it, I'm rather amazed to find we're not the central focus of our amazon bride's attention. Then I see her getting up with a wary crouch and I'm instantly on guard against a possible monster attack, and I signal to Ranma that we may have to break things up sooner than either of us would like it. He's just as disappointed as me but takes the hint and pulls out from my ass to stand beside me in a protective manner. I can feel his hard-on remaining firm under the warm water but I turn my focus towards other things and immediately sense a lurking danger hovering nearby in some adjacent bushes.
I start to call a warning to Shampoo as she edges near this point, naked and weaponless but hardly seeming all that defenseless. Ranma tenses as he, too, senses immanent danger, but when it reveals itself the creature appears with such savage suddenness that the three of us are all taken off our guard, barely giving Shampoo time enough to leap back out of the way of a set of claws that attempt to rake her.
At once I realize that she's being attacked by a great cat, one so huge it would make your standard tiger seem like a harmless kitten by contrast. It snarls in frenzy showing off a pair of wicked fangs that look like eight-inch curving knives and could probably take a bite out of a T-Rex if one were present. Those claws slash air and were big enough to rip a car apart, I kid you not! It must have been more than three meters long from nose to tail and half again a meter at the shoulder, but I had no trouble instantly placing the beast as a Saber- Toothed Tiger, the kind you see in museums and hear jokes about in anime and manga.
My heart lurched up into my mouth as I saw the thing pounce at Shampoo and nearly nail her. Only by throwing herself onto her back near the edge of the water was my bride able to avoid being devoured, and with her feet thrust up to catch the thing in its stomach she was able to catapult it forward using its own momentum so that it want soaring over our head with a loud "SPLASH!" into the hot spring that soaked both me and Ranma, even while it did little to cool down the Tiger's hunger.
"RUN!" Ranma cries as he grabs me by one arm and literally propels me out of the water and onto the smooth stones along the side, where I waste no time scrambling to relative safety. Ranma is just a few centimeters behind me when the creature comes rearing up at us as mad as a wet...um...Tiger...and then we're running for it again, this time heading for the edge of the grotto without the least thought towards our lack of modesty, for which I am certain that you could hardly blame us.
But this Tiger is fast and no doubt is out for our blood, so as we turn a point among the volcanic rock formations we came skidding to a halt as we saw that a narrow path was leading down the side of the mountain. There was room enough for us to go two at a time but also room enough for that damned cat to follow after us, and as it was only meters behind our trail we had no margin for error, a wrong step could take us off the trail and over into a deep ravine that we saw off to our left vanishing far below into a steamy tropical forest.
It was looking mighty grim for us when Shampoo did something recklessly noble and foolish that I would have chewed her out for if there had been time to think about it. Seeing as the three of us could not hope to escape the creature on that trail, our Amazon wife chose to valiantly sacrifice herself by turning to face the charging cat and draw its attention away from both me and Ranma. I barely had time enough to turn and glance back as I sensed her danger when the creature lunged at Shampoo once again, who leaped back to avoid the creature...and then the two of them wound up in empty space over the ledge as gravity asserted itself and bore them both off into the ravine while Ranma and me looked on in abject horror.
"SHAMPOOO!!!" the both of us cried at once as we saw her attempt to twist her body and get out from under the big cat while it plunged right past her heading for a swan-dive in the jungle depths beneath us. I think I saw her execute an impossible maneuver to drag herself up onto the back of the Tiger, but then they went beyond my line-of-sight as darkness closed around them and the craggy surface of the rocks blocked them off from further viewing.
"Shampoo!" Ranma called again before turning to me and saying, "Stay here, and keep out of trouble! I gotta see if she's all right, Nabiki!"
And then he started off down the side of that damned mountain, jumping from branch to outcropping to tree-limb like a monkey on steroids while I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, too stunned at losing the both of them to think of anything coherent at that second.
"Ranma!" I reflexively called out several seconds beyond the point when I was certain that he was out of earshot.
I think I really must have been too far out of it to sense my actual danger, I only heard the sound of something hissing through the air a few seconds before something wrapped itself around my neck and all at once a pair of ball-shaped objects hit me around my temples. I lost consciousness at once and can't attest for anything more that happened over the course of the next few minutes, but when I did manage to come too I was to shortly discover that there were worse things than sabertooths and T-Rexes lurking on that island, and that my real ordeal was only just beginning...
Continued.
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What new danger has claimed our valiant apprenticed Lore Master and how will Nabiki get by without Shampoo and Ranma to protect her? Will Peorth finally "fess up" to Akane and reveal the whole story, and what will Mon-Mon do to collect on her "bounty?" And what of Minako and Ryoga who find themselves confronted by a tribe of talking reptiles? Be with us next time for: "Rapping with the Raptors," or, "A Star is Porn!" Be there!
