Chapter 10

 

The shadow moved swiftly and silently through the underbrush as hunger and another urge compelled it onward. Barely a sound was heard except its slow quiet breathing. Every time a sound was made that it deemed too loud to its own ears the shadow froze blending into its surroundings. Lifting its enormous black head it sniffed the air for any hint of prey in the area. Its eyes flashed red in triumph as it located the sent of human prey, baring its fangs and snarling softly, the shadow loped towards its destination.

Trees flew by as the shadow ran towards the scent. Suddenly it froze as the bushes seemingly parted in front of it to reveal a clearing with four humans standing in it. They seemed to be arguing but the shadow couldn’t understand what those sounds meant. Moving silently and sticking to the darkest patches of forest, the enormous bulk of the shadow seemingly melted into the background as it stalked around the clearing. The only thing visible were its gleaming eyes that flashed red in the moonlight.

Finally deeming itself in the right spot for a surprise attack it crouched down, watching with eyes narrowed in concentration, ears forward to catch any sound made by its prey. Then just before it burst from its cover, a strong command pushed itself into its mind freezing the shadow in its spot. “Stay! Watch! Wait,” The command screamed.

The shadow bared its fangs is silent displeasure as it tried to fight against the thing that held it still. But the shadow’s meager will was no match for the dark force in its mind. As the force pushed against its mind, the shadow twitched in pain as it fought, but soon gave in when the pain became too much to bear. When the shadow looked up again it saw that the humans had disappeared.

Growling to itself the shadow moved out into the clearing to be lit by the full moon. As the moon’s rays kissed its furry hide, it revealed a fur coat as black as a midnight sky, corded muscles rippling with strength, fangs gleaming and red eyes flashed as a black panther as big as a horse stepped into view.

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Ukyo watched as Ranma ran off into the forest and she could faintly hear him calling Akane’s name in the distance. Rolling to her feet, she pushed aside her aches and pains from the fight with Shan-Pu and decided to help him find Akane. Turning around she walked over to Mu-Tsu to see if he was awake yet. Just as she touched his shoulder, his eyes snapped open and he groaned in pain.

“Hey. Are you ok sugar?” Ukyo asked him as he slowly sat up and shook his head to clear it.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just have to wait for my headache to clear up. Don’t worry about me Ukyo. This is nothing compared to what Shan-Pu hits me with. Usually when she hits me with those bonbori of hers, I’m out for over two hours. I figure its like the breaking point technique. I’ve just developed a harder head over the years,” he said as he gave her a crooked smile.

“That smile makes him look like a rake without his glasses on,” Ukyo thought a bit dazedly. Blinking she quickly turned her head to the side so he couldn’t he her blushing. “Ahem,” Ukyo cleared her throat then continued. “Mu-Tsu Akane’s disappeared and Ranma has gone to find her but I think he’s going to need some help,” Ukyo said as she stood up and walked a few steps away.

“We need Shan-Pu and Ryoga to help search as well,” Mu-Tsu said as he stood up and shook out his robes. Then he reached up to retrieve his glasses but when he brought them down over his nose, he found that both lenses were cracked. Sighing. Mu-Tsu threw the broken eyewear over his shoulder, reaching into his right sleeve with a look of concentration on his face, he felt around for another pair but couldn’t seem to find it.

Ukyo gave him a questioning look which didn’t quite work because he couldn’t see her face that well, so she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Looking for another pair of glasses. I know I carry a few spares on me. I’m sure I packed four sets this morning,” he replied with a frown forming on his face.

“Umm…, Do you need any help? Maybe its in the other sleeve,” Ukyo suggested while she watched him pull out a yo yo, a safe, a sword, a knife, two pairs of pants, four shirts and a bicycle.

Ukyo watched, as the pile grew larger with every passing second. By the time he had emptied his right sleeve the pile reached up to her knees. She was about to lend a hand even if he didn’t ask for one when he removed his hand from his right sleeve and started searching in the left one.

“Mu-Tsu?” she said.

“Yeah?” he replied in a distracted tone of voice as he shoved his arm further up the left sleeve of his robe up to the shoulder and stretched it while sticking his head in as well.

Ukyo tried not to laugh at the sight of this, but it wasn’t every day that you saw Mu-Tsu misplace something in his robes and practically have to climb inside one sleeve to find what he was looking for.

“Let me know if you need help finding your spare set of glasses,” Ukyo said as she turned around without waiting to hear his answer and walked over to Shan-Pu.

“You ok sugar?” Ukyo asked Shan-Pu as she stood up and started brushing off imaginary dirt from her clothing.

“Shan-Pu is ok. But Airen push too too hard. Now Shan-Pu not be able to sit for week,” she said as she switched from brushing off her clothes to rubbing her bruised posterior. “Why Airen push Shan-Pu?”

“Well honey, Only one thing will get Ranma running like that. . .well maybe a few things…one of them being, Ranma getting chased by all of us and the other is when Akane is in danger. You know she’s not such a good Martial artist when compared to the rest of us. Besides she’s like a magnet for trouble just like Ran-chan. She’s always getting kidnapped, and frankly it’s kinda getting a bit annoying,” Ukyo replied as she wrinkled her nose and waved her right hand around to express how exasperated she was.

“Aieya! Spatula girl right. Kitchen destroyer always get in trouble, it like curse!” Shan-Pu exclaimed with wide eyes as she dusted herself off and walked over towards Ryoga-buta, who at the moment has a small camp stove set up heating some water to change back. “Maybe that why Akane so violent?” she murmured to herself.

“Ryoga? Do you want to use the rest of the hot water in my thermos?” Ukyo asked him as she continued on to say. “I was saving it for some tea later, but you can use it now since it will be a while for that water to be warm enough for you to change back. When your finished dressing and Mu-Tsu has found his glasses, we should go and help Ranma-honey look for Akane,” Ukyo said as she held out her thermos over the little black piglet.

Ryoga eyed the kettle then glanced over at Ukyo then back towards the kettle again before he bweed in resignation, turning around so the girls wouldn’t get an eyeful he nodded his head in agreement. He felt the water hit then the tingle that signaled the transformation. Hastily grabbing his clothes, he pulled them on and turned around. Ryoga blushed nervously while trying to think of a way to apologize to Ukyo for his recent exposure. Finally he decided for the simple approach. Clearing his throat and twiddling his thumbs he said, “T…Thanks Ukyo. It would have taken a lot longer for that water to heat up and I probably would have become food for whatever made that awful noise. Hey Shan-Pu, you have dirt on your neck.”

Ukyo glanced over at Shan-Pu and noticed that the Amazon girl had a bruise on her chest, just below her neck. The bruise was in the shape of a hand print and Ukyo thought it might have been Ranma when he had broken Shan-Pu’s hold on him to go and find Akane. She was pretty sure that was Akane who had screamed and the okonomiyaki chef was sure that this turn of events meant trouble.

“Ryoga, That’s not dirt. It’s a bruise from when Ranma pushed Shan-Pu away to go after Akane. I’m sure Ran-chan didn’t mean to hurt Shan-Pu, he was probably desperate to get to Akane’s side when he heard her scream,” Ukyo pointed out as she motioned them to follow her over to where Mu-Tsu stood beside a huge pile of things that were apparently kept in his robes.

Blinking in astonishment the three martial artists tried to keep their jaws from hitting the ground. Ryoga had an overwhelming urge to ask for a drink, just to see if Mu-Tsu could fit a refrigerator in his robes. So he did. “Hey um…Mu-Tsu, do you have any cola or juice?”

Mu-Tsu, who had half of his body inserted into one sleeve of his robe replied in a muffled voice, “Yeah I do, hold on a second Ryoga, I’m looking for my glasses but I packed so much this morning I can’t seem to find them….geez its dark in here…maybe a light….”

As the three stared at the blind martial artist they suddenly saw a light erupt from his sleeve, then they heard the sound of a door opening. A few seconds later Mu-Tsu’s hand emerged from the depths of his robe to absently hand Ryoga a coke.

“Aha! Here they are!” Mu-Tsu exclaimed and withdrew his hand to plunge it back into his robes. Then the three heard him muttering to himself. “Now why did I put them in the fridge?”

Shan-Pu moved a little bit closer to Ukyo and laid her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered in Ukyo's ear while her eyes scanned the ground, looking for the direction that Akane had gone in. "Aieya, Shan-Pu hoped duck boy not find glasses until next week. Now Shan-Pu have to find new hiding place to put duck boy's glasses," she said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Ukyo turned her head to glance at the amazon in amusement and asked, "Has he been a little bit more annoying than usual?"

"Spatula girl have no idea what Shan-Pu go through! For week Mu-Tsu keep trying to grab Shan-Pu...but that great grandmother fault when she drop love potion...stupid Mu-Tsu was one it hit and he see Shan-Pu first. It was worse than Azusa when she see new toy!" she said while giving a shudder of revulsion to illustrate her point. Shan-Pu remembered the one time that Azusa had gotten a-hold of her when she was in her cursed form and didn't want to repeat the experience. She noticed that Ukyo had the same look in her eyes as if she had had a run in with Azusa Shitori and didn't want a repeat performance.

Glancing back at both Ryoga and Mu-Tsu, Ukyo cleared her throat and announced her plan. "Ok guys, here it is, plain and simple. Apparently something happened to Akane and Ranma has gone off into the forest to save her. I'm going to help Ranma search for her. We all heard that scream and it didn't sound human. So are you going to help or not because I would really like for you to help. I have a really bad feeling about what's out there," Ukyo said as she glanced at each of her friends noting their individual expressions as they thought about what she had said.

"I'll definitely help look for Akane! She's my friend and she has been very kind to me when all of you were off chasing Ranma," Mu-Tsu said as he put on a new set of glasses and started picking up the pile of weapons at his feet and put them away.

"Shan-Pu no want to look for kitchen-destroyer. Law say that obstacle is for killing and she is obstacle!" she said as she folded her arms over her ample chest and turned her back to stare out into the woods.

"SHAMPOO! That’s not nice! You know Akane's been a good friend when you’re not trying to get Ranma for yourself! She may not be very good in certain things but she is very generous with those she cares about. You’re going to come and help us look for her and that's final!" Ukyo yelled as she made a chopping motion with her hand in a gesture that signaled the end of the conversation.

"Yeah! You should be ashamed of yourself! She helped you at Phoenix mountain and you turn your back on her! I'm sure Ku-Lon would be very disappointed in you. She would want you to help Akane if she were in trouble and believe me, I think she's in a lot of trouble," Ryoga stated as he glared at the Amazon.

Shan-Pu knew that they couldn't see the expression on her face as she worried her lower lip and felt like the lowest of the low. She hunched her shoulders and sighed. "Fine...Shan-Pu go. You is right, but when get Akane back Shan-Pu try again for Airen."

"Good lets go! We have to catch up to Ranma and help him search," Ukyo said as she raced out of the clearing in the direction that Ranma had gone, with the others not too far behind her as she muttered under her breath, "Hold on Ran-chan the calvary is coming. We're going to help you find Akane if it’s the last thing we do."

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As her words drifted off into the dark forest carried by a strong wind, to reach the ears of a being that grinned in dark delight when it heard them. "Oh it will be...it will be," it whispered to the empty air and chuckled evilly. Now was the time of his revenge and nothing, NOTHING would bar its way. Not heaven or hell would block its path. The others will die either by his servant’s claws or by his own. But killing her! It would be a great pleasure once he was done toying with her. After all, fear and terror was one of the most delicious meals that he could feed off of. And when his servant brought him the others, the boy would follow. "Only then will I release my hold on her mind and break the barrier blocking the memories. It will give me so much pleasure to watch as the memories fade and she becomes what she truly is! HaHaHahahahahahahaha!" The demon laughed in delight as it watched through its servant’s eyes.

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His breath rasped through his lungs as he ran through the forest. His legs felt like rubber, but he still ran onward. Nothing would make him give up so easily since he had fought so hard to win her back. He couldn't loose her again, if he did he had a feeling that it would kill him, kill his heart and that what he had done at Jusendo would be like a walk in the park compared to what he will do if he lost her again. Pausing for a minute, hand on his legs gasping for enough breath to call her name again Ranma contemplated a life without Akane and found that it would be a bleak one. Shaking his head to rid himself of that thought he took a deep breath and called her name again. "AKAANEEEE! WHERE ARE YOU! ANSWER ME PLEASE!"

He strained his ears to hear the faintest of sound but he couldn’t hear a reply. Not even a groaning response to answer his call. He didn't like the aurora that had surrounded her earlier in the clearing. "That shadow must have done something to her!" he exclaimed as he stood straight once again and started moving further into the forest. Ranma had no fear that he would get lost. After all the years on the road with his father, he had learned many skills and tracking was one of them. As he forged onward the night sky took on a sinister appearance as the stars seemingly vanished. Ranma stopped walking and stood still as a statue as his danger sense prickled up and down his spine. Scanning the dark forest for anything that could be a threat he searched the deepest recesses of blackness but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But that was the one thing that kept him on guard. Ranma knew that he attracted things that were far from ordinary. "Take that cursed pair of swords that I had to destroy after that stupid Kuno had gotten hold of them and then they possessed him," he muttered quietly as he continue to keep his guard up.

As he turned to the left he heard rustling in the bushes off to his right. Faster than a normal person could blink Ranma jumped straight up into the branches of a tree and crouched, waiting for whatever had made the noise to show itself. The bushes rustled faster and were pushed aside before something emerged from them, but what emerged was something that made him breathe easier as he recognized them. It was Ryoga, Mu-Tsu and Shan-Pu.

Ranma jumped down from his perch and landed lightly in front of his friends and noticed that they all jumped like scared rabbits and that they kept looking over their shoulders as if something was going to attack them. Then Ranma noticed that their clothing had tears in it. Four horizontal slashes ran along side of each other like it was made by an animal. That’s when he counted heads and realized that Ukyo was missing. "Hey where's Ukyo? What happened guys? What attacked you?" he asked them as he looked in the direction that they had come from with a worried expression on his face.

Ryoga spoke up first since he was used to this kind of thing on his travels but it didn't make it any easier to say. Gulping and taking a deep breath he began telling the events of what had happened up to the point of when they had found each other. "Ranma, we were all coming to help you look for Akane and everything was fine until we got into the darkest part of the forest when we heard Ukyo scream.”

<Flashback>

Ryoga ran to see what all the noise was about and saw Ukyo lying on the ground. She was unconscious. He looked around to see what scared her. But all he could see was a dark flash of movement, then a blur of claws inches from his chest that ripped through his shirt. Then the pain hit, he looked down and saw four slashes through the holes of his shirt. Recovering quickly, he noticed that Mu-Tsu and Shan-Pu had them as well. By the time he turned to where Ukyo had be lying on the ground... s...she was gone.”

<End Flashback>

"Yeah, but that's not all Saotome," Mu-Tsu said as he stared at a Shan-Pu. Shan-Pu grabbed his arms and turned him in the right direction all the while muttering in mandarin about how Mu-Tsu should get his eyes fixed or get stronger glasses. "After about another hour of walking, the thing came back,” Mu-Tsu said.

<Resume Flashback>

The shadow crept back towards the area that it had last seen its prey. Its master had been pleased with the first one it had brought, but had demanded another to satisfy its hunger. So she had returned intent of grabbing the other female to bring back for her master. Suddenly she stopped, crouched and observed their activity as they walked through the forest searching for something. Creeping closer, the shadow spotted the female falling behind. “Easy prey,” it thought as it inched closer while blending into the darkness and waited.

Shan-Pu paused as she thought she heard something. Slowing, she nervously glanced around herself, trying to spot what had made that noise. Turning, Shan-Pu said to the boys, “Must be careful when it come back. So keep on guard, ok?”

Mu-Tsu turned to reply and froze as he spotted a darker shape in the bushes. Shan-Pu couldn’t see it with her back turned towards it. Mu-Tsu took a deep breath and shouted, “Shan-Pu look ou…,” Then it sprang. Bursting from the bushes like lightning, intent on its target, never wavering as both Ryoga and the blind marital artist threw their weapons at it and missed.

Shan-Pu heard him shout, her warrior trained body reacted without thought as she jumped out of the shadows path and landed heavily on her side. Quickly she scrambled to her feet and searched the shadows for a hint of where the next attack would come from. Then spotting some movement to the left she barely had time to dodge before the shadow came again.

This time both Mu-Tsu and Ryoga were ready for it. Utilizing all of their skills as martial artists, they threw their weapons just as the shadow entered the clearing. Just when their weapon left their hands they were ready to throw another, but they saw it wasn’t necessary as the shadow stumbled roaring in pain.

Quickly before it could get away, Mu-Tsu and Ryoga jumped onto its back trying to pin it down. Unfortunately, they misjudged its strength as the shadow bucked to loosen their grip, then it spun hard to the left, flinging them off and into the air, to land hard against the ground. Giving them a nasty glare, the shadow hissed, then disappeared into the bushes.

<End Flashback>

“I'm telling you Ranma, it wasn't human," Mu-Tsu said as he finished his tale.

"Airen," Shan-Pu spoke up to get his attention. As Ranma looked at her he noticed that she had a scared look on her face as she spoke again. "This not normal creature. This something that grandmother say is controlled by other thing. Its eyes were red and glowed with fire of underworld."

"We gotta save both Ukyo and Akane! This thing is probably what shredded Akane's gi," he said as he reached into his shirt and pulled out the remains to show them what was left of it. “I have a feeling that if we find the thing that took Ukyo we will find Akane too. Come on lets go!"

"But Ranma we don't know where to start looking!" Ryoga said as he stared at the pigtailed boy.

"No problem man! If ya wounded it and it’s bleeding, I can track it," Ranma replied as he started walking back the way the three had come. They looked into each other’s eyes, shrugged and followed their leader because they knew that in situations like this, Ranma always came through. He never lost because he never gave up.

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As the four disappeared into the bush, a pair of glowing red eyes watched them from the tallest tree nearest to the tree that Ranma had been in moments before. It bared its fangs and hissed as it shook its head as if it fought whatever was compelling it to obey. For the briefest of an instant the eyes flickered from red to honey brown and a memory burst through the cat’s mind as it stared at the pig-tailed boy. Running after him as he ran on top of a metal thing. “A branch?” she thought puzzled. Of the pig-tailed boy, turning around and smiling in its direction. The cat remembered yelling at the boy. “Wait, how can I yell at a human? I’m not human, or was I? I’m so confused,” the cat thought to itself as it growled.

As the demon sensed its control weakening it clamped down harder and pushed the memories to a far off corner of the cat’s mind. As the memories were locked away, the cat’s eyes flickered back to red again as the demon regained control of its servant. “Follow them my pet. Lead them on a merry chase and bring them to me!” The voice boomed in the panther’s mind. The panther stretched as it stood, then jumped lithely down from the branches and followed at a leisurely pace. After all, its master was pleased that it had brought it a meal that would last for days before he consumed it in body as well as in soul.

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Ranma searched the ground in ever widening circles for any sign of blood. On his fourth pass he located a few spatters on a rock not two inches from his foot. “I found it! Now we gotta find the creature. Lets go guys, follow me but stay back a bit and don’t crowd me ok?” he said as he began to walk off to the left where he saw another drop and a broken twig that indicated that the creature passed this way.

After twenty minutes of following the trail in a straight line, it veered off in two different directions. One looked like it went towards the mountain and the other looked like it went off into the forest. Choosing the one that headed towards the mountain, Ranma forged onward. As the shrubs began to thicken and make the surrounding area under the canopy darker, Ranma began to feel like they were being watched. No more like being stalked. “Hey guys…Do you feel that?” he asked the others while letting his eyes roam for anything that seemed out of place.

“Now that you mention it…I’m a bit uneasy. It feels like we’re being followed,” Ryoga said as he joined the pigtailed boy in scanning the area.

“I’ll have to agree with you guys. But since I can’t see so well, my hearing makes up the difference. I do hear some faint rustling in the bushes and something that sound like growling,” Mu-Tsu said as he cocked his head to the side and reached into his robes for a weapon. He wanted something to keep that thing as far away from him as possible. Maybe, one of the chains with the spikes on the ends. But if it got too close, one of his spears with the blades on both ends would be a good deterrent.

As Mu-Tsu pulled out the chains, there was a brief flash of darkness, movement that shouldn’t be there. Then it was gone.

“Aieya!” Shan-Pu said as she saw the same thing that Mu-Tsu did and pointed to the spot where she saw it last. “What that?”

“Where? What did ya see Shan-Pu?” Ranma asked as his eyes followed the direction that her finger was pointing in. Squinting to get a better look, Ranma took a step forward then froze when he heard a branch snap off to the left. He knew that they hadn’t broken it, it had to be something else. “Come on guys lets go see what made that branch snap,” he said as he glanced around himself meeting everyone’s gaze.

“What! Are you crazy? You heard what Mu-Tsu said. There’s something dangerous out there!” Ryoga exclaimed as he met Ranma’s gaze while pointing towards the bushes from where the sound had come from.

“We gotta follow it in order to find Akane and Ukyo! Ya got a better idea P-chan?” Ranma asked the lost boy.

“Shut up Ranma! Don’t call me that!” Ryoga yelled as he took a threatening step closer towards his sometimes rival.

“Sorry man, force of habit. I’m just worried about Akane and Ukyo,” he said while grinning sheepishly. As he opened his mouth to continue the conversation, another twig snapped, closer this time and definitely louder. It came from behind them. It was like the thing, whatever it was, was stalking them and slowly circling around them to hit them from behind. The tiny hairs on the back of Ranma’s neck stood up. Tensing his muscles and scanning the darkness, Ranma whispered quietly to his friends. “Hey didja hear that or was it my imagination.”

“Aieya! Shan-Pu hear it,” she said while looking over her shoulder and turned around to where the noise had originated, from the darkness she could see two red eyes emerge. The rest of the body wasn’t visible due to the darkness of the forest. “Ranma! It here!” Shan-Pu said while she started to back away. Ryoga and Mu-Tsu turned their attention to where she was pointing and saw the same thing that she did. Gulping in fear they slowly began backing away from the thing.

“Huh? What? Where?” Ranma asked as he continued to look about him and then looked in the direction that Shan-Pu was pointing. The beast blended in so well he couldn’t make it out but the one thing that he was able to sense coming from it was that it exuded an aurora of fear. It pushed at his mind trying to get through and control his deepest fears. Ranma didn’t want to go cat right now, because if he did, he would never be able to look for Akane.

Ranma could feel a drop of sweat run down the back of his neck. He began to back up; step by unwilling step as the thing got closer. “Man that thing is big!” he whispered as he took another step back. Then it moved, faster than he could blink, but not as fast as he could move. Jumping clear of the shadow, Ranma turned and ran as the impulse to flee overtook him.

Ryoga, Mu-Tsu and Shan-Pu had been overpowered by the aurora that the shadow exuded and had run away just seconds before Ranma had started to run. Every time the Nerima gang tried to veer off in another direction, the shadow jumped into their path, blocking the way. This sent them off in the direction the beast wanted them to go. It wasn’t long before they emerged into a clearing that looked vaguely familiar to Ranma but he couldn’t place it.

“Where are we Saotome?” Mu-Tsu asked as he looked around the clearing.

“Yeah, I don’t recognize this place as being anywhere near your campsite Ranma,” Ryoga said while scratching the back of he head in puzzlement.

“What you taking? You always get lost so you no know where you is!” Shan-Pu yelled while she punched Ryoga in the arm.

“I don’t know, but this place looks familiar to me. I’m sure I’ve seen that cave before. But I don’t remember when,” Ranma said as he looked around the clearing.

Then spotting something that looked to him like a battle spatula lying across a body on a boulder near the cave. Ranma pointed this out to the others as took a few steps closer and yelled, “Hey there’s Ukyo!”

“Ranma look at her! There’s something wrong with her. Look how limp she is. Its like she’s been drained of all of her strength,” Ryoga said while he took a good look at the okonomiyaki chef.

“I must agree with Ryoga on this one Saotome,” Mu-Tsu said as he placed a restraining hand on Ranma’s shoulder.

“Shan-Pu think Mu-Tsu is right. Ranma no go any closer, what ever control that shadow is somewhere nearby,” she said as she backed away from the boulder where Ukyo was lying on. She only got a few steps away when a terrifying sound ripped through the clearing. “Roooaaaarrrrrr!”

Then from the shadows emerged the biggest panther that the gang had ever seen. It moved like a wraith, every step it took produced not a sound. Its eyes glowed red in the moonlight, making it seem sinister in appearance. As it stalked closer, they could see how powerful it was by the outline of its muscles through its fur. Their gaze moved towards its mouth where they knew its teeth lay. The panther opened its mouth and hissed angrily, baring its four inch long fangs for all to see as it stepped forward once again, tail lashing in anticipation of a kill.

Ranma’s whole body froze when he heard that sound. The only thing he was capable of moving was his neck as he slowly looked over his shoulder to see what he knew would be there but profusely denied that it could be there. After all cats that big don’t exist in Japan. They only had them in zoo’s

“Ack! C-C-C-CAT!” he screamed then started to back away at a faster pace, while his whole body shivered in suppressed terror. Distracted by the movement, the panther turned its hungry gaze towards the object that had caught its attention. Crouching low, it stalked towards Ranma with its feral gaze locked into his. Teeth chattering in fear, Ranma backed up a step for every step the panther took, thus maintaining a steady distance between himself and one of his deepest fears. Ranma's breathing accelerated as his fear started to slowly overtake his mind, but he struggled to maintain his sanity with an iron will not unlike Akane's stubbornness.

The panther hissed again and lunged forward with inhuman speed, this time Ranma barely managed to avoid the claws of the beast as the paw passed inches from his stomach. He didn't know how much longer he could hold out against the constant mental stress of trying to hold his slipping sanity. Ranma knew that if any more pressure were to be exerted on his mind, he would loose himself, loose Akane, and ultimately everyone would loose their lives. No one was safe if he went into the catfist because only Akane could calm him, and Akane wasn't here.

"Ranma! Look out!" Ryoga yelled as he watched the deadly dance occur in front of him not more that a few yards away. He was amazed at Ranma's strength of mind because usually all it took to send him into the cat fist would be a housecat or a kitten. But Ranma was seemingly able to keep hold of his mind if only to save Akane.

During Ranma's brief distraction, the panther saw its opportunity to pounce and tackled Ranma to the forest floor, pinning him and knocking the breath from his lungs. The panther bent its head, opening its jaws to make the killing bite. "Aaaaaaaaa...g..get offa me!" Ranma screamed, raising his arms to hold the cat away while his eyes widened to the point where Ryoga could only see the whites and hardly any pupil. The panther paused in mid-bite as a familiar scent reached its nostrils, growling low in its throat, it backed away as the Demon’s hold on its mind began to waiver. The cats will became stronger as its instinct for a mate began to make itself known. As the panther backed away, a ray of moonlight bounced off of an object on its neck causing it to reflect the light for a brief instant.

A flash of something silver caught Ranma's attention, it came from somewhere near the feline’s neck. His face drained of all color when he glanced at the object hanging around the animal’s neck. It was the pendent that he had hung around Akane’s neck just this morning. “A…A….Akane?” he whispered quietly.

Then he tried again, more confidently this time as the panther paused, and cocked its head to the side to listen better. Ranma then noticed that the eyes flickered in color so quickly that he was amazed that he’d noticed. So he cleared his throat once again and called her name again. “Akane it’s me Ranma…Ya remember me don’t you?”

“Ranma that’s not Akane!” Ryoga whispered harshly as he backed away again.

“Shut up Ryoga! That’s Akane alright,” he said while he didn’t take his eyes off of her.

“How do you know that, Saotome?” Mu-Tsu asked him as he reached into his sleeves for a bag of sleeping powder.

“Yes, how Ranma know it kitchen destroyer?” Shan-Pu asked as she shifted her gaze in Ranma’s direction and back to the cat.

“I…I know because of that pendent around its neck. I gave it to Akane this morning and she hasn’t taken it off since. She was wearing it during the fight earlier just before she ran away,” Ranma said in despair. Then he focused his full attention back to the panther as he heard the panther hiss in agitation.

The panther shook its head violently as the buzzing in its head brought forth a vague thought. It was hard to grasp but the panther reached out with mental claws and grasped at it desperately. “Familiar thing, is friend, is…Mate...Ran…ma?”

As the panther heard the name whispered so quietly, but not quiet enough so that it couldn’t hear them. Its eyes changed to a warm honey brown and it tried to talk but the only thing that came out of its throat was a rumbling growl that sounded like his name, but Ranma wasn’t sure. “RrrrrAaaaaawwwwllllmmmmmaaaaaa……”

“Akane who did this to you!” he asked her as he took a step closer only to freeze when he heard the chilling laughter echo through the forest. A voice answered him in a tone that sent extreme terror racing down his spine, but it was a voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time. “Wait a minute, how can I recognize that voice if I’ve never heard it before,” Ranma asked himself as he searched the area for the speaker.

“That is because you were with the one who helped trap me in this cave Tenma or should I call you Ranma now?” the voice growled from the shadows of the cave and as it stepped into the moonlight. All the blood in Ranma’s body seemed to freeze as he saw the thing that had transformed Akane.

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