“Hey Pop! Here’s a good spot to set
up camp,” Ranma said as he looked around. A small stream stood
off on his left side, while in the distance he could barely make out
a faint outline of a cave hidden behind the overgrown underbrush.
“Genma dear, I think I have had enough walking
for today. Its almost 3 o’clock and I think we should set up camp,”
Noduka interrupted her husbands protest even before he refused her sons
suggestion. Genma’s mouth closed with an audible click as his head
whipped around to face Noduka.
“But No-chan, we can still make good time
to the training grounds,” he said in a wheedling voice.
“Yes we could, but I’m ready for some
dinner and if we hurry with setting up camp, we can eat early and then
relax for a while,” Noduka replied.
“Hey! Has anyone seen Akane?” Ranma
asked.
“She was right behind me dear, she said
something about getting rid of a stone in her shoe, and having to sit
down to take it out. You must also remember that Akane is not used to
this kind of travel. Why don’t you go look for her while your father
sets up all of the tents,” Noduka suggested.
Grinning. “Sure mom I’ll be right back.
Have fun pop!” he yelled over his shoulder as he ran back in the
direction they came.
After fifteen minutes of backtracking Ranma
started to get worried. “Where is that tomboy anyways,” He
mumbled to himself. Just as he was about to jump into the trees to get
a better look, he spotted a foot sticking out from behind some bushes.
The foot was wearing Akane’s favorite shoes. “Oh God, she
could be hurt!” He thought to himself.
“AKANE!” He cried as he ran the rest
of the way to reach her. As he rounded the bush, he saw something that
melted his worry. It was Akane all right, but there was nothing wrong
with her. Ranma blew an exasperated breath as he saw her leaning up
against a tree fast asleep with one shoe in her hand, and the other
on her foot.
As he knelt down to wake her, a soft snore erupted
from her. It sounded so cute that he didn’t have the heart to wake
her. So Ranma gently took her shoe out of her hand, placed it back on
her foot, then very carefully lifted his sleeping fiancée. As
he gazed down onto her seeping face, he smiled. Akane mumbled something
in her sleep while wiggling a bit as she tried to get comfortable. Ranma
adjusted her in his arms, as he walked back to camp.
When he finally made it back, everything was
set up. There was a cooking fire going with something that smelled good
coming from the pot over it. The tents were set up with the futons inside.
His parents were sitting next to the fire talking softly to each other.
“Well, here goes nothin,” he muttered
to himself as he stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Akane’s
tent, only to stop short when he noticed there were only two tents.
The one on his left looked like it had his parent’s stuff in it
while the one on his right had his and Akane’s stuff inside. “Hey!
What’s the big idea pop!” he whispered rather sharply at his
father while trying not to wake Akane up.
At Ranma’s harsh whisper both of his parents
turned to face him. Ranma finally remembered that he was carrying Akane,
and what it would look like to his parents.
“Oh my son is so manly. Look dear, how gently
he carries his fiancée while trying not to wake her,” Noduka
said while winking at her son.
Ranma blushed, while stammering “It... it's not what it looks like
mom! I. . .I didn’t do nothin! I found her asleep about a mile
from here.”
Genma nodded his head and leered at his son. “That’s my boy!
Taking the initiative like that. If your wondering about the sleeping
arrangements, your mother and I had a long talk. She has decided that
she would like to spend some private time with me tonight.”
“But pop, where will I sleep? Couldn’t
Akane and mom share a tent?” Ranma asked.
"I’m sorry boy. I tried to get away,
but your mother can be quite convincing,” Genma said as he glanced
at the Katana sitting on Noduka’s lap.
“Oh, Akane really must have been tired to
fall asleep like that. Ranma, take her into the tent and let her sleep.
Dinner won’t be ready for another hour. After you settle her in,
I want you to go collect some more firewood. Oh, and I noticed some
fish in the stream, they would make a nice meal if we could catch them,”
Noduka said.
“Sure mom, I’ll get the firewood, and
you don’t have to worry about not having any fish, I can catch
them for ya,” he said.
“But son, you don’t have fishing line
or a pole,” she said.
“Heh, don’t need one, he said as he
returned from putting Akane in the tent. I can use the chestnut fist
to catch them. How many do ya want?” he asked while heading towards
the stream.
Noduka paused to calculate the amount of fish
needed and how much her son and husband ate. Then she added herself
and Akane to the calculations. “Oh, I think about twenty should
do, less if they are really big fish. But, then again with the way your
father eats you better keep it at twenty, even if they are extremely
large fish.” She said with a wicked twinkle in her eye as she patted
her husbands rounded stomach.
“No-chan! I’m not fat,” he wined
then he said in a superior tone. “I’m just big boned, and
besides I’ll need the energy in order to spar with Ranma.”
“Of course you are dear,” Noduka replied
while she leaned over and stirred the contents in the pot while winking
at her son.
Ranma saw the interaction between his parents
and tried not to laugh. But a snicker escaped. “What are you laughing
at boy!” Genma asked him as he placed a teakettle next to the fire.
“Nothin pop!” Ranma said as he knelt down next to the stream,
pulling up his sleeves while searching the turbulent water for their
dinner Ranma decided against yelling his usual battle cry. He didn’t
want to wake up Akane. “Heh, if I wake he up when she’s this
tired, she’ll be more Uncute than usual. I mean, I’ve seen
her a few times when she was this tired and she didn’t look or
act cute at all. She acted more like a rampaging gorilla than a tomboy,”
he muttered to himself.
There! movement in the water. Quicker than the eye could see, his hands
flashed out and caught a dozen fish. He managed to throw them a good
distance away from the water in order to prevent them from getting away.
After about five minutes, Ranma judged that there were enough fish for
everyone. As Ranma stood to gather up the catch, he noticed that his
balance was off. He glanced down at his/now her chest and sighed. “Great,
now I have to change again, she muttered as she walked back to camp.
“Here ya go mom. Can I have some hot water
now?” Onna-Ranma asked.
“Oh my son, You want to make your mother
proud and prove how manly you are with Akane tonight. I’m so happy.
. . Fortunately Akane is currently in her fertile cycle right now and
we can have the wedding when we get back. Oh my, I do so want a grandchild,”
Noduka said while staring at her son with an approving expression on
her face.
“Geah!” But. . . but. . . Ranma stuttered.
Then thought that he could sneak back to the stream later to change,
otherwise Akane would kill him when she saw him in the same tent as
her.
Seeing the stern expression come back into his
mother’s face, Ranma took the kettle. Sighed. Poured the hot water
on herself, changing back into his birth form. Then he noticed his mother
motioning for him to clean the fish. Ranma quickly grabbed the tools
he needed and set to work on their dinner.
Ten minutes later the fish were cooking and
Ranma was cleaning up the mess. “Hey mom, I’m going to bury
this a little ways from here and go collect some more fire wood,”
Ranma said as he stood and started walking into the bushes.
“That’s fine son, hurry up please,”
Noduka said as she stirred the contents of the pot and then gave the
spoon a tap to loosen the contents before she placed it beside the rest
of her cooking utensils.
“Ok mom, I’ll be right back,”
Ranma said as he picked up the pace and soon disappeared in the underbrush.
************************************************************
Inside the tent Akane lay tossing, turning,
and dreaming. Flashes of battles, people and places she had never seen
or done roamed through her subconscious mind. They were so strange,
and yet seemed so familiar; it was like watching a movie in a theater.
Almost like distant memories. . .
The last thing she remembered was walking behind
Noduka while looking around at the surrounding forest. She had had the
feeling that she was here before, but Akane knew that she had never
been to this forest before. Why was it making her feel uneasy? Why did
she get the feeling that she was being watched? Akane shook off her
uneasiness and continued to try to keep up with everyone.
“I’ll show him I’m not soft, That
I’m a martial artist too,” She thought to herself as she continued
walking for about five more steps when she felt a sharp pain on her
foot. Wiggling her foot, she tried to dislodge the stone that was apparently
stuck in her shoe.
When that didn’t work she called over to
Noduka, “Auntie, I have to sit down for a bit and get this stone
out of my shoe. You guys go on ahead and I’ll catch up with you.”
“All right dear, be careful and hurry up,
ok,” Noduka replied then continued on with her husband and son
in the lead.
Akane sat down and removed her shoe; turning
it upside down she held the shoe over her palm and shook it a few times.
The object fell out and landed on in her palm. When Akane got a good
look at it she realized it wasn’t a stone it was a really old pendent
without a chain. As she brought it in for a closer inspection she saw
that it had a small scarlet stone with some faded writing on the back.
The writing was so faint that it was difficult to read but she managed
to sound it out. “Hmmm. . . r . . re, no that’s not right.
Gee this is really dirty she said as she started wiping away the dirt.
Oh, it’s the kanji for an A. Now lets see. A. . .Aka, no that’s
not right, A. . . Akin. .a, Akina!”
As soon as she said that name, the stone began to glow. Akane widened
her eyes when she noticed this and tried to drop the stone but she could
not make herself let go. She began to feel really tired. Her eyes closed,
and a moment later she was asleep and dreaming. Or was she dreaming?
All of these people, they looked so familiar to her and the man on the
horse next to her. The next scene flashed. The man was kneeling next
to her holding her hand with tears in his eyes. Why did she feel sorrow,
love and regret? Akane realized that she knew him.
Akane watched as the scenes flashed faster and
faster through her minds eye. Suddenly they stopped. The image before
her was huge! It was a monster! No, a Demon! Akane felt afraid for the
first time in her life. It was a fear that came from deep within her,
from her soul. She somehow knew with a certainty that she had never
felt before, this thing, this demon was still out to get her. She didn’t
know how she knew this but she did.
The monster turned to face her grinning evilly
it screamed, “You will be mine, I will have my revenge! No one
will be able to save you! This time I will take away everything that
you value the most!” Then the Demon leapt towards her, claws outstretched,
ready to rend and tear. Akane screamed in terror, she called the only
name that she was certain would save her. “R. . .a. . .n. . m.
.a!”
*********************************
“R. . .a. . .n.. .m. . .aaaaaa!” Akane woke up screaming Ranma’s
name startling everyone.
Ranma jerked up from his kneeling position as
he dropped all of the firewood he had collected and ran back into the
clearing heading straight for the tent. All of his battle honed reflexes
screaming, he searched for anything that would signal danger. Throwing
the tent flap aside he lunged inside the tent crouching while scanning
the interior. Once he determined that there was no danger, he relaxed
his stance and glanced in Akane’s direction; she was shaking like
a leaf in a storm.
“Akane what’s wrong?” Ranma asked
her as he knelt beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Oh, Ranma!” Akane cried as she hurled
herself across the remaining distance to latch onto him. She grabbed
him with one hand and as she brought her other up to grab him she dropped
the object she had been clutching. “I had the worst dream ever,
it was more of a nightmare really!” she said as she continued to
shake uncontrollably.
“What was it about? You can tell me, it will make you feel better,”
Ranma said.
Akane tried to remember it but she couldn’t
seem to. Its just a vague feeling of evil. “I don’t remember
Ranma,” Akane replied as she squeezed him tighter.
Ranma didn’t know what to do so he just
held her and tried to calm her down. After ten minutes, he heard his
parents asking him if Akane was alright.
“Ranma! Is Akane Ok?” he heard his
mother ask.
“Yeah mom! She just had a nightmare!”
he replied.
“Boy! Bring her out here, maybe she needs
something in her stomach to chase away the bad dreams,” Genma yelled
back.
“Ok pop!” Ranma yelled. Then he turned
his attention back to Akane who was still clinging tightly to him. “Hey
Akane, lets go eat. You might feel better with something in your stomach,”
he said.
“No Ranma, I’m not hungry. I’m
too scared to eat,” she said while squeezing him tighter and practically
flattening him to the tent floor as she crawled further into his lap.
“Come on, Akane, you’ll feel better
with food in your belly and some company around you. Tell ya what, I’ll
be right next to ya and I won’t leave your side how’s that,”
he replied in a persuasive tone as he took a step towards the opening
of the tent. But as his foot came down, it landed on a hard object.
“Ow!” he yelled as he hopped around
on one foot, then bent down to pick the object up. It was a very old
pendent. “Hey Akane? Where’d ya get this?” he asked her
while turning it over to look at the front. The front of the pendent
had one large stone that looked to be amber.
The stone flashed a brilliant amber color as
a ray of sunlight filtered through the flap. Just then Ranma had an
idea to make Akane take her mind off of her bad dream. “Since the
stone matches the color of her eyes. . .,” he thought. Then grinning,
he knelt down and rummaged through his pack for a piece of string he
always carried. Finally finding what he was looking for he threaded
the string through the hole and tied it. Turning he stood up and placed
the necklace around Akane’s neck while blushing and trying to awkwardly
stammer out his reasons for giving it to her. But all he could manage
was a stammered, “H…here…matches your e. . .eyes.”
Akane stared at Ranma as his actions brought
forth a distant memory, but it quickly faded when his sudden movement
startled her. “Thank you Ranma, but I know what you’re trying
to do and it wont work,” Akane said as she examined the pendent
that she had found earlier. Shaking her head and then giving him a slight
smile she said as her voice shook with a fear that was trying to regain
control, “This won’t take my mind off of that nightmare.”
“I thought I’d give it a shot, but
I guess it didn’t work. Come on, lets go outside now,” Ranma
said as he watched Akane nervously eyeing the tent flap as if she were
afraid to go outside. And she was afraid to leave the tent even if it
gave her a false sense of security.
It took Ranma a while to convince her but he
felt the slightest nod of her head. “Ok, I’ll come and eat,”
she said as she reluctantly slid out of his arms and stood up. Akane
walked over to the entrance and glanced over her shoulder to see if
Ranma was behind her. She saw that he was two steps behind her. Sighing
in relief Akane continued towards the campfire.
“What made you scream like that,” Genma and Noduka asked at
the same time.
Ranma said, “She had a bad dream. He whispered
to his father, “I’ve never seen the tomboy scared like that
before. And that it worries me.”
Nodding his head in agreement. Genma said. “Be
on guard boy. Some dreams are actually premonitions of what is to come.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all pop
after what we’ve been through these past few years,” Ranma
replied.
“Ranma, why don’t you sit next to Akane
and feed her dinner, she still looks a bit shaken up,” Noduka suggested.
Ranma glanced at Akane, who still seemed to be shaking and was having
trouble holding her chopsticks. “Yes mom,” he agreed. Ranma
walked over towards Akane and grabbed the bowl and chopsticks out of
her hands. Placing dinner on a log he picked Akane up and sat her in
between his legs while using the log as a backrest.
“Hey! What do you think your doing?”
Akane protested weakly as she glanced at Ranma’s hands that were
just under her breasts.
“Feeding you since ya can’t seem to
hold the stuff,” he replied as he picked up the rice, and grabbed
two fish with her chopsticks. Ranma lifted them towards her mouth and
waited for her to eat it. When she didn’t open her mouth Ranma
said, “Say aahhhh.”
“I can ulp. . .” Akane tried to say,
but Ranma took advantage of her trying to talk and shoved the food in.
Akane chewed quickly and swallowed. “Ranma!” Akane tried again
to tell Ranma that she could feed herself but eventually gave up because
every time she opened her mouth, Ranma shoved more food inside.
Before she knew it the food was gone and her belly was full. Akane yawned,
wrapped her arms around Ranma’s waist and slumped against him.
The food and travel had worked its toll on her. The warmth of the fire
and Ranma’s chest combined with the soft murmurs of Ranma’s
parents as they talked about the upcoming journey soon faded as Akane
fell asleep.
Ranma noticed that Akane was done and placed
the bowl aside, Akane’s arms are wrapped around his middle. Ranma
tried to think up something to say to put her at ease. The only thing
he can think up is to remain silent. He didn’t want to get her
angry tonight.
Genma and Noduka grinned at him, but wisely decide
to not say anything because they are worried about Akane.
“Ranma, go take Akane to bed and try to
get some sleep. We have a very busy day tomorrow,” Noduka said.
“Ok mom, good night,” he said. Picking up Akane, who let go
of his waist and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ranma rolled his
eyes nervously as he glanced from her face to his parents. Noting the
approving glances, he adjusted his grip and walked back to the tent.
Upon entering he went to Akane’s futon and
tried to dislodge her, but he can’t because she is clutching him
in a vise-like grip. “Akane, let go,” he whispered.
*No response.*
Ranma tried again and again but saw that he
wasn’t getting anywhere. Akane wouldn’t let go and he was
very tired. Making a split second decision and praying that she wouldn’t
kill him in the morning he grabbed a blanket, covering them both up
and fell asleep.
*****************************************************
“Finally my prey has arrived. Now to lure her to my prison, and
get her to free me. Then, I will make her my slave!” the demon
said as his eyes glowed dark crimson in the darkness. “But which
plan of revenge should I use. . .Hmmm, so many to choose from, so much
fun to have!”
Then the Demon sent his mind questing into the
minds of the people at the camp. He sensed a young man next to the girl,
so he decided to investigate the mind of the young man. When he was
done collecting the needed information. The demon had the perfect plan
of revenge. The girl will be his, he would be patient a little bit longer,
after all what is one night compared to over 1 thousand years and compared
to his age of ten thousand years as a Demon lord. He smiled evilly,
then chuckled. Then he laughed. As the laughter echoed throughout the
cave and into the night, many of the forest animals froze in fear. Then
they ran and hid, not daring to come out even if their lives depended
on it. To them, it did depend on it.
**********************************************************