Ranma ½ is the property and invention of Rumiko Takahashi. The following story is not produced for any monetary or personal gain. Its sole purpose is to entertain using the characters and plots developed by Takahashi. ALL rights reserved
|
|
The Eye of the Storm |
The vapours dance in the sky, pitting themselves against the very sun that dared remove them from their solace.
Chapter 2: Dai Lin’s Revenge
An excited Akane woke up and characteristically found her friend in a meditative stance near the koi pod. Every day, she found Ranma welcoming both the sunrise and the sunset. She had asked her about it, but she never received a direct answer from the pigtailed girl. Akane quickly donned her gi and raced out to the yard.
Ranma saw her, or rather felt her coming...
Finally it was Saturday morning. He had promised to start teaching Akane. Now the girl was upon him eagerly, bellowing at him to get up. He only had time to grab a quick breakfast from Kasumi before he was shovelled unceremoniously into the Dojo. For the next few hours, Ranma attempted to teach Akane some of the katas he had learned. Teaching her would be a pain. That much he could see as she missed one of her kicks and fell to the floor.
"Let’s go again," he told her as he pulled her up from off the floor.
Again and again, Ranma went through the katas with Akane. A couple of times, he started taunting Akane to see what would happen. His father always taunted him when they trained. He was completely surprised when she pulled a mallet out of nowhere and hammered him. Akane had apologised profusely for it, but he had told her it was okay. Damn, she was strong and really tomboyish too.
Later, Soun had joined them in the Dojo and was eagerly watching them as they practised. Hours upon hours passed as Ranma taught Akane some of his basic moves. Of course, they were basic to him, but to anyone else, they were hard and complicated. Ranma was actually impressed with Akane’s determination.
"Lunch!" called Kasumi.
They broke for lunch and after what seemed like a three-second lunch, Akane dragged him again into the Dojo, even though he was still clinging to the table in an attempt to finish his meal.
They spent the whole day like that, until Ranma finally decided Akane had had enough when she flopped down on the floor. While Akane lay there, catching her breath, Ranma decided to do one of her more rigorous katas. She had not experienced a good workout from the ones she had been training Akane in.
Akane watched with saucers for eyes as Ranma started one of her katas. Her arms and legs in fact her whole body had just become blurs. Akane couldn’t make out kick from punch, foot from hand. She sat there mesmerised for a long time until Ranma finally decided to call it a day. Ranma walked up to Akane and closed her open mouth.
"Oh Ranma, I drew you a bath."
"Thanks Kasumi!"
Akane still lay there speechless on the floor.
************
Ranma lay in the still water allowing it to caress his body. Akane was there. Why was Akane there? Oh yeah, he was dreaming, he was dreaming about kissing her, about feeling her touch against his lips, about her shaking him, shaking him?
"Ranma, wake up you dummy, you fell asleep in the bath."
Ranma opened his eyes to see a fully unclothed Akane alone with him in the furo. He resisted the nosebleed as his blood surged. Funny that, he had never had that rush when faced with other girls. Ranma then watched as the girl nimbly started to turn around within the confines of the furo. He was saved from her seeing his intense blush as she turned her back to him and sat on his knees. Luckily the water level and the soapy suds of the bath prevented him from seeing more than he had seen before.
"Come on Ranma, I’ll wash your back if you wash mine!"
He should leave. He knew as much. For some reason though, he just couldn't. He couldn't just leave like that. She would think something of it. Why had he been dreaming of her in the first place? It was not the first time he had dreamed about a girl before but it was the first time he had ever seen one of those girls naked in front of him.
Was the water that hot? Ranma didn’t think so, but having a naked Akane in the same bath with him and having his hands roam all over her body was a massive turn on. He was glad the sun was still up. Ranma quickly turned around as he finished washing Akane’s back and allowed the girl to wash his back. He suddenly felt his hair go loose.
"Ranma, when was the last time someone washed your hair for you."
"Um...ah...I don’t know." Ranma stammered, both because Akane was behind him and because playing with his hair was a sure way of ...ohhhh; that felt good. Ranma felt Akane’s hands roam through his hair. No one had ever done that for him before. Pop never had time for things like washing hair properly, probably because the old goat didn't have any. Even in his travels, no one had ever offered to help wash his hair. He was getting to like this girl more and more every day. He let himself relax in the water and in Akane’s hands as her gentle massage soothed his mind. Akane heard a little snoring and then Ranma body fell limp in her hands. The baka was asleep again.
************
Ranma woke up feeling refreshed. He felt as if he could take on the whole world. While rising from the bed he noticed three things, there was a head on his chest, there was something constricting around his waist and he had no idea where he was. He opened his eyes and gasped. Akane’s head was snuggled to his albeit feminine chest, he was wearing a pair of pyjamas and he was pretty sure he was wearing panties. Ranma pried Akane off. There was no way in hell he was wearing panties! Unfortunately, in his rush he disturbed Akane who was, just like him, a heavy sleeper. He felt two hands slip around his waist and pull him into a crushing hug. Ranma just managed to position his arm so that it wasn’t dislocated. His hands had been pinned to his sides as he felt her breath again the sensitive skin of his neck. Damn, Akane was really strong! He sighed, well if he wasn’t going anywhere...
"Ranma, Akane, breakfast!"
Two bodies groggily disengaged from each other. In the frantic haste, Ranma ran to his room and donned his Chinese outfit while Akane slipped on her school-clothes. She grabbed Ranma as she sped outside the house.
"Sorry, Kasumi, we’re late!"
Kasumi wanted to tell the duo that it was Sunday, but they were already out the door.
Ranma and Akane sprinted all the way to school before they realised that it was Sunday.
"Saotome Ranma, prepare to meet your doom!"
Ranma hastily scooped up Akane and jumped away as the blast blew up the pavement.
Ranma smirked. He knew that voice. He only wished she had never followed him. The girl was just too stubborn.
"Well Dai Lin, still think ya can beat me!"
"You stole my destiny you thief! Face me woman to woman!"
Ranma rolled his eyes. This would be the umpteenth time he faced this girl. He didn’t like fighting girls but boy was she persistent, kinda like Shampoo. If only he hadn’t been thrown into the second spring... Dai Lin had no patience and did not wait to attack. Ranma saw the first spell coming and aptly dodged it, while throwing Akane away from the battle scene. She hoped Akane would have enough common sense not to interfere.
Ranma bounced around. Dai Lin was no match for his speed and there was no way she would be able to catch him with her spells. His dodging served its purpose. Dai was getting angry. So angry, that she started focusing on the big spells. Ranma waited to seize his opportunity.
The spell Dai released was a more direct challenge. It was one that focused a lot of energy into a wide band and was capable of a lot of damage. So Ranma didn’t dodge. Instead, he focused his ki and absorbed it, just like Master Sang had showed him. He absorbed it and redirected it back at Dai Lin. She was still recovering from using all that energy and had no way to stop the blast, as it hit her with full force. He hated beating up on girls, but the last time he took that attitude with Dai, he almost ended up as lunchmeat.
"Damn you Ranma Saotome!" she shouted as she disappeared over the horizon.
"So Ranma," scolded Akane, "Mind telling me what that was all about?"
"Do you really want ta know?"
Akane gave him the look.
"Well, it kinda goes like this..."
//////////////////////////////////
A girl and a panda were running and running for their lives too. That Amazon girl had found them everywhere they went. She meant business. Ranma knew they could easily take her on put he preferred running to taking any permanent measures. That and his father was the biggest coward he knew.
Finally they stopped as their legs gave way from hours of non-stop running. They had not seen Shampoo since they had started running. Their ears perked up to the sounds of chanting. Beckoning Ranma, Genma hid behind a tree as the procession passed. Ranma easily identified them as monks. He had seen monks on many occasions and had grown to respect them. They were chanting something in some Chinese Dialect and he had no idea what they were saying. This dialect had no resemblance to the one he had learnt at the Temple. His pop had a chance of understanding what was going on though. He could see the white pages of Genma’s dictionary. Crap! Ranma knew he should have cast some sort of spell to understand what was going on, but he wasn’t very proficient at spell-casting and most likely he wouldn’t finish the spell in time anyway.
Genma pulled out his dictionary. A tattered and badly beaten one, but one nonetheless. Monks only had a procession for special occasions, and Genma wasn’t one to miss out on a possible free meal. He could only make out a few words and his eyes widened in delight. Spring...Jusenkyou...cure. Those were the only three words that Genma made out from the chant. He missed the...beware...sacred...and a special word that would have completely changed his mind about what he was going to do.
Genma grabbed an unprepared Ranma and bolted through the surprised monks, scattering them over the forest floor. He had to reach the spring before they did. He could see the monks giving chase. He would get there first.
Ranma smashed his old man in the face with no effect. The panda-man was determined and no matter what force Ranma pounded him on the head with, Genma refused to let Ranma go. Ranma looked ahead and stared as a spring came into view. There was no way he was going anywhere near a spring again. After the last one, it would be madness to tempt fate. He realised to his horror that that was exactly where the old man was headed. His blows rained even harder.
Genma was almost there. ‘Better throw the boy in first to see if it works,' thought Genma, so with one swift throw, Ranma again found himself at the bottom of another spring.
Genma looked on expectantly.
Ranma broke the surface. "Damn you pops. Did ya hav’ ta throw me in!"
Genma stared at the redhead in front of him. The spring did not cure his son.
A monk finally reached up to the pair.
"Oh no stupid Panda-man, what you do?"
#I’m just an ordinary Panda# held up Genma on a stick. Ranma punched him as he got out.
"What’d my pops do this time!"
"That Spring of drowned Phoenix."
"So what, I’m not a Phoenix now!"
"Sir right, but now no can change back to boy during...sir come back, no chase after Panda-man!"
Oh well, the monk sat down and waited on his other friends. He hoped he could catch the girl before she killed the panda-man then he could tell her when the curse could be reversed. He doubted he would be able to though, her eyes held no mercy and suddenly the monk was glad he had not decided to chase after the pair. Among the arriving monks was one pissed off seventeen year-old girl who was glowing red.
A couple of hours later, a severely battered panda was being dragged back to the clearing around a spring by an extremely angry young girl. The panda was unconscious and sported numerous welts around its body.
Ranma returned to the spring to find it surrounded by a circle of monks. When they saw him, the person who appeared to be the leader approached him.
"Come young one, it is time for your training..."
Behind him, a wet young girl continued to glow in anger.
Ranma looked at him stupefied.
/////////////////////////////////////
"...Pops carried me to this spring see, and he kinda threw me in. There was some kind of power in the spring. The next thing I know was Dai Lin trying to kill me because I took away her heritage or something like that."
"So this girl is chasing you around the world because you took a swim in some spring."
Ranma knew there was more to it than that, but he didn’t need to bother Akane with the details at the moment.
"Yeah, that’s about it."
"That’s silly. The next time I see her, I’ll give her a piece of my mind."
Ranma stopped her.
"Are you crazy!"
"Hey I’m a martial artist too!"
Ranma held her hands. "You might be a martial artist, but fighting can do nothing compared to magic."
"Magic?"
Ranma held her close to him. So close, he that he could stare straight into her eyes so close that he could feel her breath against his skin.
"Akane you have to promise me that you won’t fight her."
Akane gave Ranma a very angry look. Ranma shook her. "Promise me, please!"
Ranma put on the best serious expression he knew and hoped that it would work. Akane withered under his gaze.
"Okay, okay, I promise."
Ranma hugged her tightly, then released her quickly when he realised what he was doing. He took to the fence.
"Come on tomboy, race ya home."
"Oh yeah," retorted Akane, "and I’m not a tomboy!"
"Says who!"
"Ooooohhhh...get back here."
"A tomboy like you could never catch me."
/////////////////////////////////
Dai Lin watched the redhead with contempt. She had stolen part of her heritage. She was supposed to be the only one baptised with the Phoenix Spring. This...this harlot now had all the power she had. She would not stand for it. The harlot would pay. Dai Lin attacked.
Ranma stood surprised as the glowing girl attacked her. She had a hairstyle very similar to Shampoo, but her hair was blue. Ranma however had no time to ponder the unnatural hair colour as he dodged the glowing orbs the blue-haired girl was throwing at him. Ranma didn’t like fighting girls and so he dodged. He nimbly dodged each and every attack the girl sent at him, leading the girl away from the monks and her father in a game of cat and mouse. He wondered just how long the girl would be able to throw those things. Suddenly, the girl stopped and Ranma grasped his advantage. Some simple pressure points and she would be out. No fight, no blemish on his honour. What he hadn’t planned on was that she was powering up for a more powerful attack. When he saw it coming, he was too close to the girl and already in the air, he had no chance. The orb impacted against his chest, which screamed in pain, as did Ranma, as he went sailing into the wind. Ranma landed roughly against the rocks, only his martial instincts saved him from the girl’s sword as she plunged it into the rock where his head had formerly been. Ranma realised that he could no longer hold back. He had to attack....
Summoning his will, and ignoring the searing pain, he continued to dodge the girl while keeping her close enough for him to attack when the opportunity showed itself. And it did. With pinpoint accuracy, he struck her with the back of his elbow against her head. Immediately, her shoulders slumped and she fell forward.
Ranma returned to the clearing, nursing his burnt chest while carrying the girl he defeated. One of the monks saw him and ran up to him.
"Because you have saved her, we will train you?"
"Who are you?" asked Ranma
"Call me Master Sang...."
////////////////////////////////////////
Ranma and Akane dashed inside the house; Ranma first followed by Akane and her mallet. He had made the mistake of calling her fat and from then she had chased him all over the place with that mallet. He had no idea where she got that mallet from, but boy was it fun running and teasing her. He had never had this much fun growing up and besides, Akane could never catch him. And even if she did, and that was a BIG if, he knew he could take any of her blows. He’d done it before and although it had hurt a bit, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He had even told her so. He told her it was good training and it was nothing compared to what his father had put him through. Akane had frowned slightly at that, but in the end she did not resist pulling out that mallet for him.
The smell of Kasumi’s cookies however, deterred Akane from keeping up the chase. Following Akane’s example, Ranma dashed in and grabbed some cookies, before Akane could get him. Only after he evaded her did he juggle contents of his hand.
"Ouch! Hot hot!"
Akane laughed at him.
"Ha baka! You should’ve asked first like I did."
Ranma made a face at her and popped a cookie into her mouth. Mmm...it was delicious. Soon all the cookies disappeared.
Dai Lin spied on the house where her nemesis stayed. The night was cold and chilly. Dai Lin wrapped herself tightly in her cloak. Her fight with Ranma had not gone as she had planned. Once again, Ranma made her get mad, and once again, the redhead had won. It had become an embarrassing string of defeats at the hands of that girl and there was no way she was going to lose the next one. She would wait and watch and find the girl’s weakness, then she would strike. Her mind wandered to other things besides revenge.
The sky was clear, giving her ample view of the stars. She had always loved the stars. Astronomy was her favourite pastime. It seemed as if the creator had spread his hands and scattered the stars all over the midnight sky. A slight rustle woke her from her dream.
It always reminded her of when she was younger, of when her father had been alive. He was dead now. He had passed away slowly in the night after he had suffered a mortal wound from a fight. She could remember it as clear as day.
//////////////////////
A pre-teenage Dai Lin was sitting on the lap of her father in her home, reading. Her mother was at the market somewhere. Suddenly there were cries from outside. Her father abruptly closed the book and quickly left her as he rushed into his room. Dai Lin saw her father emerge from his room with his sword. She did not know what that meant. As he left, she peeked outside and saw only crowds of people. She pushed her way through the crowds and finally made it to the centre. In the centre was her father, her mother and another man. Her mother stood behind her father.
Dai Lin had seen the man before he was the same one who had visited them the week before. That had ended in a heated argument between the man and her father. What it was about, she did not know. The same man was back again and she knew this meant trouble.
All she saw was the flash of a sword and then her father on the ground. What had happened? She heard her mother crying? What had happened? She asked someone near her. They did not answer. Her mother slapped the man and returned to her fallen father. What had happened? Dai Lin began to cry; she was scared. Someone picked her up and carried her inside away from her mother.
She beat against the person with her hands. She wanted to be with her mother. "Mommy!" she screamed, but no one cared to heed her.
/////////////////////////
She had found out later what had happened and she vowed then that she would become the best. She immersed herself into the magical arts and had been chosen to be dipped in the spring. The redhead girl would pay for her insolence.
Someone was entering the yard from the house. Dai Lin quietly waited on the roof as the person came out. Sure enough, it was her nemesis, Ranma. Dai Lin held her position though. Not yet, she could not attack as yet. She would just bide her time and wait. And wait she did. She focus all her energies into watching the girl before her. Instantly, Dai Lin recognised the techniques Ranma was practising. They were the same ones she had learnt though a lot simpler.
Dai Lin hurried as she focused to smother her ki. If Ranma was doing this exercise right, which was not a question in Dai’s mind, in a few seconds, Ranma would have been able to detect her. As it was, Dai Lin’s ki signature was now totally undetectable, unless you were searching specifically for her. The only problem was that bringing down her level would leave her vulnerable to the elements. She tugged the cloak tighter; boy was it cold.
She watched nonchalantly as Ranma went through the gathering exercises. The redhead had somehow pulled in an enormous amount of ki, and was trying to form it into a ball. Dai Lin wished she could stretch her senses and feel the energy of that ball, but that would give her away and with her enemy having the immediate use of that much ki, it would be suicide. She watched as Ranma’s concentration grew. The large ball, the size of a grossly oversized beach ball, was slowly decreasing in diameter. The smaller it became, the more Ranma had to concentrate. She could see the beaded perspiration begin to form on the redhead’s face. The ball got smaller and smaller. It was the size of a basketball now, and Dai Lin waited in expectation. Just how much could Ranma go? She did not have long to wait as the redhead released her will from the ball of ki. It dissipated into the cold night air.
Dai Lin gasped with relief. That finished; she could finally keep herself a bit warmer. Her limbs responded kindly to the gentle ebb she gave them, taking the chill from her extremities.
The redhead struck a pose that Dai assumed to be from some martial arts. Dai knew a good bit about the martial arts, but she had never really been one to pursue it, especially when it was magic she was interested in. Magic! Now there was power! True power. She could feel the power flow through her bones when she chanted various spells. True she had only been taught spells later on, but she preferred spells to anything else. Therein lay her problem.
This redhead was bonded to her through the spring somehow. There was no way to really tell, but the connection was undeniable. Dai Lin would have loved to use some of her more telling spells against the redhead, but she knew that if her hunch was right and they were connected somehow, the spell might come back to haunt her. That was not a risk she was willing to take. She would have to get rid of the redhead the hard way.
The redhead continued her routine and Dai Lin watched her intently. She struggled not to just try and kill the girl there and then. She had tried that approach before and it had failed miserably. It was time for surveillance and tact. She patiently lay there and watched...and was astounded.
Ranma was fast. Dai Lin had never realised just how much. Without even using her ki, Dai Lin could barely make out the girl’s hands and feet as she executed an array of forged attacks and defences to unseen attackers. The girl’s movements were smooth, soft and flowing, but behind it, Dai Lin could see and feel the strength and confidence?
Wow. Then she saw Ranma stop. Dai Lin dropped her ki levels immediately. Damn! She lay as still as possible as the redhead surveyed the area. Surely, she had not let her levels raise so high that Ranma could detect her. If the girl had the ability to detect her from so far away with so little of a ki signature to recognise, Dai Lin knew that she would never be able to pull a surprise attack on the girl.
Dai Lin waited and sighed in relief as Ranma started walking to the koi pond. Ranma had not detected her. That was a relief. She was not in any position to attack the girl. She would have friends here and Dai knew she would easily lose if out numbered.
Ranma walked over to the pond and scooped up a handful of water. Dai watched as the redhead started glowing. The air around her began sizzling and something was happening. Dai strained her neck trying to see what was happening. Indeed something was happening. The characteristic red hair had disappeared and was replaced by black Ranma had somehow also grown taller. Ranma turned around.
"It’s good to be a man again!" the figure declared as it stretched in the moonlight.
Dai Lin gasped. Ranma was a...was a MAN. She had been chasing a man all this time. She felt it now. She felt the magic within Ranma’s body. How could she have missed it? It was right there all the time, right in front of her face. But how could Ranma have been cursed. The answer popped into her mind: Jusenkyou. Her teachers had warned her of the place, but apparently Ranma’s teacher had not taken heed to the many warnings surrounding the place. Was Ranma’s teacher that dumb! Somehow she felt she didn’t need to answer that question.
Dai lay flat against the roof a watched Ranma. He was definitely one of the most handsome boys she had ever laid eyes on. And unlike that Taro guy she knew he would be more of a gentleman. She smiled. She wondered if Taro ever got rid of that itchy red patch that she had given him when she dumped him. She hadn’t really cared about the boy, but when she found out that he was only using her to get to the old freak that he was chasing, she had been furious. No, this boy, this Ranma was nothing like him. She had observed him from afar in the Temple. She knew him; she knew what he was capable of.
She watched as his movements became one with the night. As his arms played through the gentle breeze, soundlessly. Gosh, he was handsome. Wait a minute. He was handsome, he was a martial artist, he was a mage, even if he wasn’t as good as she was, and he shared the Phoenix spring with her. Her eyes opened. She thanked the kami. It was perfect. The perfect match. If she couldn’t kill Ranma, why not marry him. He would always be there for her. She knew from the temple how honourable he was. He was a dream come true and he would be hers....
She jumped down from her hidden position. She knew he had detected her. She saw him tense slightly then relax as he assumed a defensive stance.
"Relax Ranma, I’m not going to attack"
"Oh yeah, well what do you want," he demanded.
She moved in closer towards him. He did not budge. She could feel the confidence that radiated within him. She closed the distance until she was only a few centimetres away from his face. She could smell him. She could smell that intoxicating musky scent that started to wreak havoc on her hormones. She would have him.
Seizing the opportunity at his indecision, she kissed him. It was a soft kiss, a light brush on the lips, but it was a reminder of what could happen.
She looked at his shocked face.
"I will see you again Ranma Saotome. But next time, you will be my husband."
Ranma watched the receding figure of the girl as she disappeared into the night. The only words that came to his mind were Oh crap!
