[April 24, 2016: Want to win a $50 Amazon gift card code? I am running a contest to receive criticism of my writing. See the end of chapter one for details, or my profile.]

[soundtrack for this one: Sore wa chīsana hikari no yōna (それは小さな光のような), by Sayuri (さユり)]

[I've had most of this chapter written since I started writing this story. I am very happy to finally publish it! 何を読んだかのためにそんなにありがとう！]

Cold ... I'm cold.
Danger... need get ... away.
Ranma...where Ranma?
Why am I cold?
Where am I? I was ... I was attacked! What happened?
Nabiki took stock of herself, as best she could, as she regained her senses. As far as she could tell, she was alive. That was a good start. I was in the restroom washing my hands ... and ... someone was in there with me. Didn't I try to get away? No ... we fought. No, I tried to fight, but she was too strong. She! That's right, it was a woman! Where am I? What's happening?
As she regained her full consciousness, her body told her things were very wrong. She could barely feel her legs, and the rest of her body felt chilled and numb. Drugged ... I was drugged... that bitch drugged me! She was beyond furious about that. But, one thing at a time, first she had to survive this, then she would get revenge.
She could feel herself swaying and there was a cold wind blowing on her, much stronger than was normal. Her head hurt, and she felt groggy, but she forced her eyes open a crack anyway, and looked around without moving her head. She wanted to appear like she was still asleep, in case she was being watched.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me! She thought in a sudden panic as she realized where she was. She was perched precariously on the roof of one of the taller buildings in the Chuo ward, out near the waterfront by the Sumida river. She could see the foot bridge spanning the water. The swaying she had been feeling was the building itself swaying in the wind. One could feel things like that, when one was over fifty stories up in the air.
How in the hell... ow, why did that hurt? She thought to herself as she threw caution to the wind and revealed she was awake and tried to stretch her legs. She had felt a stab of pain in her left leg when she had tried to move it. She looked under her and found a chain clamped to her ankle with some sort of cuff. Her legs were cramped and had lost all circulation from her being unceremoniously dumped where she was. That explained why she could barely feel them.
Okay, so now what? My legs are asleep, whoever grabbed me is way stronger then me, and Ranma didn't see me get grabbed. I have a feeling Shampoo or the old ghoul aren't interested in letting me go if I ask nicely. She worried. Well, maybe I can get the circulation going again, I won't be able to get away at all if my legs aren't working. She thought as she decided to try to shift her position.
She leaned against the building and stretched her back as she tried to shift her legs out from under her. The building moved. She froze. What she had thought was part of the building, had moved.
"Careful, want live...no push" A voice said from behind her. She tried to crane her neck back to see who it was. Their speech pattern was similar to Shampoo's, but it wasn't Shampoo's voice, but it definitely wasn't the old woman's voice. The speaker stepped out into her field of view. It was Shona, Shampoo's older sister, the one the old ghoul had summoned and threatened her and Ranma with. Shona was just as beautiful as Shampoo was, but the older Amazon's eyes were cold and pitiless, unlike Shampoo's. Shona trained those eyes on her and spoke in a neutral tone. "Have no fight you, weak girl. Still sit, be fine. Bait you is."
So that was it. The rest of Shampoo's tribe was starting to get involved now. The old crone hadn't been bluffing. It must have been Shona following them earlier that Ranma had spotted. She looked around carefully, while she tried to prevent her weight from shifting again. She was chained to some sort of large weight, and the Amazon obviously intended to threaten her life to get Ranma to marry Shampoo.
She knew as soon as Ranma realized she was missing, he would come for her. The problem was, it was hard to track people in a city. But, there was no way Shona could have carried her unconscious to the top of the building, without being seen. People would have seen them, and he could find her that way. Shona seemed to be counting on that as well, if the Amazon intended to use her for bait. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she was terrified, but she knew she had to ignore that and be brave at the moment. She needed to be ready to take any opportunity to get away.
She would really rather figure out a way to get away by herself. She knew damn well, if Ranma tracked her down, he would fight for her. But, against Shampoo's older sister, it would have to be a fight to the death. She eyed the older Amazon girl, and wasn't at all sure Ranma could beat her while trying to protect herself at the same time.
I DON'T want him getting hurt for me. I don't I don't I don't! She thought determinedly. I don't want him getting hurt, and I don't want him getting killed for me. I don't want anyone else to die. Nobody else! She swore to herself.
She knew that if push came to shove, he'd sacrifice himself for her. That was just the kind of person he was. His father had filled his head with ringing tales of duty, honor, sacrifice and the nobleness of saving women. And the sad thing is, unlike his scummy father, Ranma actually believes it. She thought sadly.
She had to figure out a way to end this, before Ranma caught up to her! I have to! Ranma can't win a fight to the death against this Amazon while he's trying to protect me. Even for him, that would be impossible!
She needed to stay calm and not provoke the militant Amazon. She carefully looked down at her watch and figured it had been just a bit over fifteen minutes since Shona had ambushed her. That was more than enough time for Ranma to figure out she was missing.
Despite everything, she smiled a bit as she pictured him standing outside the restroom calling for her repeatedly, then eventually marching back to those smug little salespeople and demanding that one of the women go check on her. And when they had failed to find her, she was sure he probably wrecked the place looking for her. Serves them right. She thought bitterly.
She watched the Amazon for a while. The young Chinese warrior had walked leisurely to stand a few meters in front of her. The Amazon had her back to her. Shona was standing with her hands behind her back in the same kind of military posture Doctor Tofu and Ranma often took. It had to be some sort of a Martial Artist thing. The young Chinese warrior's head never stopped moving, though. It was clear Shona was waiting for Ranma to arrive.
She ran her eyes up the Amazon's body, and cringed. The Amazon was a bit more muscular that Shampoo was. Not much, just a bit, maybe a centimeter more of muscle in the shoulders and legs, total. The older girl had slightly more height than Shampoo did as well. But ... that was ... a problem. Shampoo was already freakishly strong given the tiny frame she had. If Shona had a slightly larger frame and build, then it was possible that Shona was an order of magnitude, or maybe even several orders, stronger than Shampoo was.
She knew that Ranma could beat Shampoo easily using nothing but non-lethal controlling techniques. But, she didn't think he would be able to use non-lethal control techniques with Shona, and win. If Shona could wield the kind of power she was afraid the Amazon could wield, then Ranma was going to have to use his full strength, or at least very close to it, if he wanted to win. And even more troubling, he was going to have to actually strike to injure or kill the girl. She didn't know if he could do that, even with her life on the line.
But, if he holds back, and I am in trouble, the stupid, noble, idiot isn't going to just suddenly decide to fight to kill. He's just going to shield me, and take whatever was meant for me, and get hurt or killed. I HAVE TO STOP THIS! She thought as her panic level rose.
She tried talking to Shona to feel her out. "So... Shona, right? That's what Shampoo said you go by, right?" She asked timidly. In many of her business dealings, that timidness would have been an act. At the moment, she wasn't ashamed to admit that she genuinely felt intimidated by the Chinese warrior.
Shone turned around and eyed her dismissively. "Yes, that right." Shona confirmed as she turned around again and returned to ignoring her.
"How is Shampoo doing?" She tried again. If she could just get Shona talking, she might be able to find a way out.
"How she ... doing what?" Shona asked without turning around.
Oops, looks like her Japanese isn't as good as Shampoo's is. She tried simpler phrases. "Is Shampoo in good health?" She asked.
"Shampoo well." Shona said shortly.
Chatty thing, isn't she? She thought with annoyance. "I don't suppose I could get you to let me out of this chain? I promise I won't run." She said. She actually meant it. Running wouldn't do her any good right now, Shona would easily be able to hunt her down. But ... when Ranma showed up, if she was free, she could run for it, and Ranma could keep Shona busy. Once she was away, Ranma wouldn't have to worry about protecting her any more, and the fight would be much less dangerous for him then.
"Chain keep you from run. No need promise." Shona said simply.
Well ... damn. She thought as her panic increased. She was running out of time, and she knew it. Ranma had to be hunting for her by now. Without her holding him back, she knew he could get to where they were in about five minutes, at most, from the store they had been in. She was sure that he was on his way. At most she had a minute or so left before he showed up. It never even crossed her mind that he wouldn't come for her, or that he would give up, or wouldn't succeed in finding her. She had to figure out a way to gain an upper hand, quickly, before it was too late.
I guess I'll have to switch to Mandarin and try that. I don't have any options left. There's no witnesses anyway, so it isn't like I'll be revealing—
"NABIKI!" She jerked her head up in fear as she heard him call her name. He was on the roof! Her heart started to beat even faster in fear as her spirits dropped. She was out of time. She looked frantically for him and found him a moment later. He was running up to the highest part of the roof that Shona had setup on. It was a sort of plateau that sloped down in every direction from what she had been able to see of it anyway.
 As she watched, he reached the furthest corner of the plateau and paused. He stood there easily and without fear at the apex of the roof with the wind whipping his hair and clothing around. He looked ... livid. She saw his eyes dart to her, then they moved to Shona and stayed on the Amazon. The anger in his eyes was making even her afraid. She'd never seen him look so angry.
Shona stepped forward and called out to him while the young Chinese warrior put her hand on the large weight she was chained to. She couldn't make out what the Amazon said very well, because the wind kept carrying her words away. But she got the gist of it. As expected, it was an ultimatum — marry Shampoo, or Shona would shove her off the roof. Ranma started to walk towards them while he shook his head no as the Amazon listed her demands.
Shona held up a hand imperiously for him to stop as she flexed her other hand on the weight she was chained to. Her stomach was dropping into her toes, and her breathing was starting to reach hyperventilation levels. She knew she was panicking, but she couldn't stop it. This wasn't a business deal that was going bad. This was life or death stuff.
She was sure if it had been Akane chained to the weight, her younger sister would have just broken the weight or the chain by now, and would be helping Ranma fight the Amazon, and the situation would be far less serious. But she couldn't do what Akane could do. She couldn't free herself, and she wasn't strong enough to do anything about the weight. If she went over the edge of the roof, with or without the weight, she was dead.
Ranma was now about two meters away from her. She could see him clearly now. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes were wild with fury. He stopped in a loose fighting stance in front of the Amazon and yelled at her over the wind.
"Let her go. Let her go NOW!" Ranma ordered in a voice just short of a scream.
She was watching his hands. He was clenching and unclenching them strongly. The veins and sinews of his hands were standing out as he flexed them. She had a feeling he was wishing he had claws at the moment. She glanced at the Amazon, and could tell the young Chinese warrior was faltering a bit. Ranma was visibly furious. If the Amazon pushed her off the roof and killed her, Shona would still have him to deal with. She would have bet any amount of money, that the Amazon was trying to figure out if it was possible to survive against Ranma, if she killed her.
She could tell Shona was weighing her options, and trying to decide what to do, based on the angle of the Amazon's head, her inaction, and the subtle tells in her body language. The Chinese warrior's hand stayed flexed on the weight she was chained to, while doing so.
The situation they were in was very dangerous. She knew Ranma would fight for her. But she didn't want him to die for her. She wanted to help him. If she could just get free and get clear of the fight, Ranma wouldn't have to protect her while he fought. She could pick locks, but she didn't have her tools on her. She tried flexing her ankles and wiggling her feet around to see if there was any give in the cuff at all. There wasn't. Maybe Shona would negotiate?
"Hey, can we talk? Maybe we can make a deal?" She asked the Amazon's back. Ranma glanced at her, but didn't change his stance. The Amazon didn't even turn around or acknowledge her; Shona kept her focus on Ranma. Her breathing was starting to get more rapid as the fear started to take control of her. She decided she was worried enough to finally betray her secret in front of Ranma, so she tried again in Mandarin. "請跟我說話。我們可以做個交易嗎？"[1,2]
That got the Amazon to look back at her quickly, but it was with a face twisted in disgust. Of course, warrior cultures tend to look down on the traders and deal makers. Forgot about that. She thought to herself, chagrined.
"I ain't tellin' ya again. LET. HER. GO. NOW!" Ranma yelled as he leaned forward. She could tell he was about to launch himself at the Amazon. Unfortunately, so could the Amazon. The Chinese girl's hand tightened on the weight. She could tell the Amazon had decided to kill her and take her chances with Ranma.
She looked up at Ranma in a panic with wide eyes, and saw him realize the same thing she had. His eyes had fear in them. He flexed his muscles and tensed his body, he was about to attack! She shook her head at him as tears started to stream down her cheeks. She was almost paralyzed with fear, but she wanted to make it clear to him that she didn't want him getting killed trying futilely to save her. She shook her head sharply side to side as she screamed at him. "NO! RANMA, DON'T!"
Three things happened a split second after that. Ranma launched himself into a front flip over the Amazon; the Amazon pushed hard on the weight; and she felt herself start to slide backwards off the roof. She was about to die.
She opened her mouth in a silent scream as she watched Ranma try to reach her, and continued shaking her head. She didn't want him to die! Ranma landed on the other side of the Amazon and sprinted towards her. Shona immediately threw several knives at him. He dodged most of them. The rest he simply caught and threw away. They were the ones that could have hit her, if he hadn't stopped them. Ranma suddenly reversed his momentum and danced into Shona's stance as he backhanded the Amazon so viciously, she was sure he had killed her. Shona dropped to the roof like a puppet with its strings cut.
Had she been wrong? Was he willing to use lethal force when the situation called for it? A moment later, her backwards slide stopped. She looked up and saw Ranma pulling on the weight. He dragged it back up and set it back on the balance it had been on before. Her whole body was shaking now, she was trembling uncontrollably. But she barely noticed it, her entire focus was on him. It wasn't over.
The Amazon kicked herself back up to her feet from where she'd fallen, and charged right back at them. He had not used lethal force. As she had feared, he was holding back. Ranma had been trying to bend down and get the chain off her. But, he had to stand back up quickly and meet Shona's charge. They clashed, hard. She couldn't follow their movements, they were lightning fast. But she could hear the impacts. They were trading body blows hard enough that the shock waves from their strikes were actually carrying to where she was sitting. She couldn't seem to regain her breath. She was sucking air into lungs that didn't seem to be able to get enough oxygen at the moment. Her whole body was shaking from the fear. She tried to follow the fight with her eyes, but it was just too fast.
A moment later someone got knocked hard back away from her. A heartbeat after that Ranma darted back in front of her. He started to bend down and frantically worked on the chains to free her. She watched over his shoulder as he worked. A second later her eyes widened as she saw Shona running back towards them. Before she could even open her mouth to warn him, Ranma darted back out to fight.
Shona ran up and threw a powerful roundhouse kick to his body. Ranma stepped into the Amazon's stance and blocked with his right hand high, and his left low. Both of them had traded speed for power. She could tell both of them were trying to hit each other hard. As soon as Ranma had arrested Shona's momentum, he dropped his stance low and slammed a hammer-fist towards Shona's knees, but Shona slapped her hands down to parry, and danced back. Ranma stayed right on her and stepped forward with his left foot as he raised his right foot. She thought he was going to kick. Apparently so did Shona, as the Amazon's hands flashed low to block. As soon as they did, Ranma slammed a right cross-punch into the Amazon's jaw and knocked her back.
Shona shook her head and blinked at him, then charged back in with a right step-through punch. Ranma stepped outside Shona's stance and slammed his right fist into Shona's exposed triceps muscle as he punched at her right kidney with his left fist. As soon as his fists landed, he shifted his stance so that his right knee checked Shona's leg and took away her depth of movement. Then he snaked his left hand up and checked Shona's punching arm down as he dropped his right fist straight down into Shona's kidney again.
She winced as Shona's back arched in pain. Before Shona could move again, Ranma looped his right hand back up and chopped to her neck. Shona's head snapped forward as her back arched further back. Ranma completed the circle and closed his stance as he kneeled and chopped to the back of Shona's right knee. Then he sprang up from his crouch and kicked low with a knife-edge type of kick to Shona's left leg. The Amazon grunted in pain and started to drop down as Ranma collapsed her stance. Ranma had completed the motion from the kick so he landed with his left leg forward and continued the spin as Shona dropped. He turned the spin into a vicious hooking kick to Shona's head. She winced again as he made contact. Shona had managed to duck her head out of the way, but he had still caught her neck and part of her shoulder.
The Amazon spun backwards and landed heavily. Ranma didn't waste any time. He darted back over to her and immediately set to work trying to free her again.
"Ranma, you can't hold back. Fight to kill! You can't win if you're holding back, and protecting me!" She said to him desperately.
He glanced at her with disapproval in his eyes. She knew that the situation they were in was just another fight to him. But he was used to saving Akane from danger. But she wasn't like Akane, she was worse than useless in a fight against a trained expert like Shona. And Shona wasn't like Shampoo. The older Amazon girl wasn't holding back like Shampoo had done in the past.
He opened his mouth to argue with her, when the Amazon screamed out a challenge to him. They both looked up and saw the young warrior holding knives in each of her hands as she walked slowly towards them. Ranma stood up and went to a guard position instantly.
The Amazon looked at her and sneered, then looked back over at Ranma and spat. Ranma simply held his ground and watched her. She knew he wouldn't go chasing after the Amazon while he was standing between her and certain death. The Amazon seemed to know it too, so she took her time and walked back towards them almost leisurely. She watched the Amazon carefully and could tell Shona was injured. The young warrior was favoring her left leg, and she could tell by the shallow breaths the Amazon was taking, that her ribs were probably injured as well. Shona was also holding her neck at a slight angle, like it hurt to hold it straight up. Ranma seemed fine.
When Shona had reached a space about three meters away from them, the Amazon stopped and called out to Ranma in broken Japanese. "You good fight. Make tribe strong. Now me come. Marry sister. Weak girl live. Come now, or she die!"
Ranma shook his head and didn't move. "You'll hafta kill me before you can hurt her. And I'm losin' my patience. Get outta here before you get hurt." He growled.
In response, the Amazon threw both knives, hard. One of them was aimed right for her. The other was aimed for the weight she was chained to. She screamed in fright as she realized what was about to happen. Ranma darted into motion and knocked the knife that had been aimed at her out of the air. Then he darted back and raced for the weight as she slid backwards again over the cold, hard surface of the roof towards the edge. The Amazon charged at him while he was distracted, and he had to pause and fight with her, again.
She was sliding down the roof faster as gravity pulled her down. He wasn't going to be able to stop it in time again. She looked at him desperately, and shook her head no as fast as she could as she tried to catch his eye. She was going to die. She could accept that, she had made her peace with that a long time ago. She didn't want him to die for her though.
Ranma swore loudly and kicked Shona hard away from him. The heavy crack of his kick impacting the Amazon sounded almost like a bat hitting a baseball. Shona rocketed away from them again. As soon as his kicking foot landed, he changed direction quickly to sprint back to her. He had a determined set to his face and ignored her attempts to make him let her go. Shona was already getting back up to come after him again. There was no possible way he would be able to stop her or free her in time, and live.
"LET ME GO, RANMA! SAVE YOURSELF!" Nabiki screamed to him as the weight pulled her inexorably downward. She knew she only had seconds left, if that.
"SHUT UP, YOU'RE CRAZY!" He screamed as he dove for her and grabbed her wrist to slow her down.
"I'M NOT WORTH DYING FOR!" Nabiki screamed back as she tried to shake him off as the weight continued to pull them both downward without any noticeable slowing.
"NOBODY'S DYIN' TODAY, DON'T BE AN IDIOT!" He yelled as he pulled himself to her by essentially climbing her arm. Once he reached her body, he wrapped his legs around her waist, and bent backwards to reach down to her legs. She felt a sharp tug at her leg and heard a metallic snapping sound. She realized that he had broken the chain right as he sat back up and wrapped his arms around her and kicked the weight away from them. He had broken the chain with his bare hands. He then slapped the roof hard with his free hand, as he twisted his hips and dug in. He was trying to slow their fall. They were still sliding down the roof though. He looked at her with real worry in his eyes. She looked back at him, terrified. He nodded to himself and clutched tightly at her as he shifted her in his arms. She could feel the muscles in his shoulder and his arm tensing. He was going to throw her! He was going to throw her to safety, and use the counter-force to save her, and take her place!
"RANMA, NO! DON'T I—"
Her body was abruptly jarred sharply as Ranma was suddenly yanked away from her. Her head was spinning and she was seeing stars and her nose had that fuzzy feeling to it like she had been hit in the face with a ball. She was now tumbling down the roof in sort of a sideways shoulder roll. The hard surface of the roof impacting her shoulder and back made her almost lose consciousness. She continued to slide faster and faster down the slope of the roof. From the few glimpses she got of him, she could see Ranma fighting viciously with Shona to get to her.
She didn't think he was holding back any more. Shona's face was bloody now, and Ranma had death in his eyes. He was fighting to get to her as hard as she had ever seen him fight. He was desperately trying to get past Shona to get to her, but Shona was doing everything she could to stop him.
He finally managed to drop the young Chinese warrior to her knees as she felt herself reaching the end of the roof. She knew she was about to fall. Her breathing was rapid and panicked, but she felt at peace inside, Ranma wasn't going to die for her. Nobody else was going to die. Ranma screamed her name and sprinted down the slope after her. He was moving so fast, it looked like he was blurring, as he tried desperately to get to her.
"NO, RANMA! NO! She screamed at him. She didn't want him to die in a futile attempt to save her! A heartbeat later she was bumped up into the air as she slid over the raised trim of the edge of the roof, and then she was airborne. In her last glimpse of him, she had seen him running down the roof trying to get to her with his arms outstretched in front of him and an anguished look on his face. She clutched her hands to her chest and curled up into a ball.
I'm going to die, but that's okay, at least Ranma is sa— 
"Nabikiiiii!" She looked up, and she lost all hope.
Ranma was in the middle of a graceful dive off the roof. As she watched, he crested to the top of his dive, tucked his arms in tight against his sides, aimed himself at her, and rocketed to her. She shook her head sadly at him. The idiot. The stupid, stupid, brave, idiot. There had been no reason for him to die too! 
As he got closer to her, he reached out his right hand to her with a determined look on his face. She nodded and reached her own hand out to him. It was shaking beyond her ability to control it. Tears were streaming freely from her eyes and blurring everything as the fear took total control over her. This was it, she was going to die, and Ranma ... poor Ranma was going to die with her.
———————
1. "請跟我說話。 (Qǐng gēn wǒ shuōhuà. — Please talk to me.)"
2. "我們可以做個交易嗎？ (Wǒmen kěyǐ zuò gè jiāoyì ma? — Can we make a deal?)"