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
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Shadows of the Land
Volume I : The Journey to Aina
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Chapter 10: Escaping the Lion’s Den
Ranma and Akane watched the scene before them. They were in a vast expanse in the middle of a large forested area. Ranma and Akane held each other’s hand tightly. Ranma gave a cautionary glance at the black oval behind them. It hung unnaturally in the air, in the middle of the clearing. He noted that nothing grew in the clearing, not even the toughest of grasses dared encroach on that area. There was no light escaping from the oval. It did not even give a reflection to the sunlight baring on it. In fact, it sucked in all the light around it, furthering its sinister demeanour. Ranma and Akane knew they had to find the others, but they had no idea how to do that.
They looked around. The land and vegetation around them glowed with an eerie dark aura that hung in the air. A strange mist covered the vegetation adding to the ghostly appearance of the forest. Everything seemed cold and dark, just like the eyes of the man they fought. Each direction looked the same. Where should they go? They had no idea.
Ranma was about to step forward when suddenly, in front of them a figure appeared in a flash of dazzling light. Ranma and Akane immediately prepared themselves for an attack. It never came.
"Ah my young friends, do not mind me. I have just come to give you some advice."
Whoever it was; was wearing a long brown cloak with a brown hood covering the face. Neither Ranma nor Akane could see any of the person’s features. They were then distinctly aware of two discs flying at them from the figure’s hands. Ranma and Akane each effortlessly plucked one from the air and inspected the discs. Each disc had painted on it the symbolic features of Ying and Yang.
"Remember, light cannot exist without darkness, love without hate...this is all I can say. If you find them, I will see you soon enough."
Just as it had appeared, the figure disappeared in a flash of light leaving Akane and Ranma to digest its words.
Both were amazed as to what had just happened, but a year of chaos had made them both very aware that their were some things you just didn’t want explained. This was just another of those examples. They walked silently for a while into the forest each absorbed within their own thoughts.
Akane’s face lit up.
"Ran-chan I think I’ve got it!" exclaimed Akane.
"Got what," replied Ranma.
"How to find the others!" she said excitedly.
"Well, how?"
"Remember he said something about light and darkness…"
"Yeah, so…"
"Well if this place is darkness, then the others would be light, therefore we have to look for the brightest light source," responded Akane.
Ranma hugged her.
"Acchan that’s brilliant!"
Akane radiated in the afterglow of Ranma’s praise.
"Now to find that light!"
Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated just like Cologne had taught him to. She had been teaching him how to read auras, even the dimmest ones radiated by a normal person. Ranma hadn’t reached to that level yet, but he hoped that he would be able to feel the auras of a group of people together.
He felt Akane’s strong presence behind him. Then he felt a dim warmth over the horizon. If Ranma was not mistaken that should be the others. Ranma was about to move when he felt something else behind them coming from further away. Something he had fought before, something dark and overwhelming.
"Come on Acchan it’s this way," shouted Ranma as he forcefully took her hand and began pulling her.
"What the rush Ranchan?" asked Akane as she struggled to keep up with him.
"Something’s following us, and it's not friendly."
Now Akane understood. She started running all out, amazed at what training with Ranma had done to her speed and stamina. Still, she could see Ranma was holding back so she could keep pace with him.
They ran until they came to a clearing. Then they stopped. Ranma saw the cave ahead, the cave, which held aloft the light he was looking for but the cave was blocked. Ranma looked in front of him. Forming a semi-circle around the cave was a pack of animals. All of them were cats, and all of them had glazed dark eyes. Ranma could feel himself slipping again into the darkness that was the Neko-ken.
Akane saw the cats and looked hesitantly at Ranma. She knew exactly what was going on now. She stuck herself to his side, reminding him that she was near. It had always pulled him out of the Neko-ken before, but now she hoped that it would prevent him from entering into it.
She looked at him intently, praying for him to stay normal. She needed him, needed him to be there, to hold her hand, to comfort her. She could see his body twitching, the muscles moving, shifting into an unnatural pattern.
"Mrrowww!"
Damn she hadn’t stopped it! She held Ranma’s ‘paw’ tightly and stroked his hair, trying to wake him from the Neko-ken.
**************
The shadow nonchalantly pursued its prey as they entered its domain. It was startled when it felt a surge of energy enter but that disappeared as quickly as it came. That had annoyed it. That was perhaps the first time it had felt an energy surge of such in this place. Without a human host, the shadow was limited in what it could do. Silently it chastised itself for being so arrogant with the boy. He should have been dead a long time ago. Now the boy had banished it back to this land once again. It was still at an advantage though. One it was sure to press.
The shadow played with them as they ran away from it. It knew that in it’s present position, it could do no real harm unless their minds had become weaker than the time of their first encounter with it. But there were other means of inflicting damage and pain. Other means of trapping one’s prey, and other means of killing.
**************
Akane watched helplessly at Ranma-neko, who had now begun to hiss at the other cats around him. Akane could no more feel the presence Ranma had felt than she could feel the light Ranma had seen. She didn’t have time to ponder this though as the first attack came.
Akane shrieked as she was caught unprepared and hastily tried to mount some defence, but she was lucky; there was Ranma-neko in front of her, the body of a cat degenerating in front of him from a fatal blow through its side. The other cats that had leaped gave Ranma-neko hostile feral glances as they began to slowly circle around the pair.
Akane tried to relax, but the tension in her limbs grew. She wondered just how Ranma was always able to relax himself before a fight. Then she began to feel it.
She watched in wonder as a small cat-like aura grew from Ranma-neko and started to spread, covering the ground and starting to cover her. Akane didn’t know what was going on, but she knew well enough to trust Ranma, human or cat. Only after a few seconds did she realise the implications of what Ranma-neko had done.
As the dome expanded, the shadow cats retreated further away from them. Any of them that dared to come any closer suddenly spasmed when the dome hit them. Their eyes changed from that feral evil to that of a normal cat and they ran. Away from the dark forces that had once bound them. Akane still held onto Ranma, when the purring stopped.
"Acchan, what happened?" asked Ranma as he slowly returned to his senses.
Akane was amazed, how in the world was he still able to keep the dome up while moving from the Neko-ken to his normal self. She could see the concentration on his face. Evidently, he was still focusing of on the dome.
"Well the cats attacked us and somehow you managed to put this dome around us," replied Akane, pointing to the glowing barrier around them.
Ranma grinned.
"At least now I know it works!"
"Care to explain?"
"There’s not enough time, we’ve got to get to the doorway," replied Ranma as he pointed to a door on the inside on the cave, "I can’t keep this up for very long."
Akane was now starting to feel the draining effects of the dome. No doubt Ranma was carrying the load on his shoulders as usual. She wondered if he was able to control the flow between them now.
Slowly they made their way to the cave, the dome coming along with them. Akane could see it shrinking in size as they approached the cave. Finally they made it into the cave. Outside the shrinking dome, Akane could see the dome shrinking even more. Ranma barely had his eyes open as he concentrated on maintaining the dome. Akane guided him towards the door aware that the dome was shrinking rapidly now.
She tugged at the door; it would not budge. She tried again and again but still it would not open. She felt Ranma touch her on her shoulder and felt some of the energy drain from her as he tapped her life source. Then an all too familiar ki sphere formed in his hands. Ranma threw it towards the door. Akane waited expectantly for the door to move and when it exploded, she used all her strength to haul herself and Ranma through it. She was surprised when she saw herself flying through another one of those black ovals, but soon enough, they were on the other side.
*******************
Nodoka Saotome shuddered in the kitchen. Of late she had been having very disturbing dreams involving her son, his fiancee and their friends. She only time she had even had dreams like this were inconsequential to her and did not even make sense until she had learned of her son’s curse and his attempt to learn the Neko-ken. Only then had the dreams finally made sense.
Now they had returned, haunting her every night. She knew something was happening wherever her son was and it was that feeling of anxiety that had her most worried. If she had known where he was, if she had at least heard some word from the others that they had seen him, she would have been a little more at ease. But nothing. She had heard nothing. There had been no contact, and Nodoka feared the worst.
She knew her son was a man among men. She knew he would be able to take care of himself, but the way he had disappeared and the silence. It had her anxious, it...it had her frightened. She had missed her son so much and now, he had disappeared again. Silently she allowed her self to cry. Tears that ran down her face and dropped noiselessly on her kimono. But she bore the pain and the suffering just as she had done for ten long years, stirring the miso soup before her like a good wife should.
Genma and Soun Tendo sat at the Shogi board. Neither of them had noticed that a move hadn’t been made for an hour. Neither had cheated for the whole day, nor spoke to the other. The air was silent. Not even the faint sound of a bird whistling in the distance could be heard. The koi pond was silent, the fish hiding under the summer haze. Both parents stared into space. Various thoughts entered and left their mind haphazardly as the midday sun struck them. Both hopeful that their children would return home safely, both planning another wedding.
Nabiki sat in the schoolyard alone. Without Ranma, Akane and the others, her most productive sources of income had vanished. That being Kuno. She sighed again knowing that no one would bother her for fear of extortion. She hated that anytime something happened she couldn’t be there. She hated not being there where they were, not knowing what was going on. She hated being in the dark; she hated not being in control. Ranma had forced that on her from day one. Before he arrived, she had control over anything she wanted, but after he came, she saw that control slipping through her fingers. All her carefully crafted plans had one by one been corrupted by him or by one of his merry followers. So she had had to change her plans continually and find innovative ideas to secure an income. While the challenge excited her, she had still felt cheated. Now once again, Ranma had disappeared, affecting everyone, and throwing all her plans into utter disarray. But that was not what was depressing her. They had not heard anything for so long. Uncharacteristically long.
"Saotome, I swear you had better bring back my sister or so help me I’ll..." she didn’t complete the sentence as the lunch bell rang, prompting her to return to her classes. But the thoughts still lingered in her mind.
******************
Akane and Ranma found themselves on the other side of the black oval. The cave still stretched out in front of them. Together, they stumbled to their feet and began what seemed to be a tedious walk into the cave ahead.
"Who are you?" boomed a voice from the depths of the cave.
"I am Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," announced Ranma
"And I am Tendo Akane of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," announced Akane in tandem.
"And who are you?" asked Ranma.
"You need not know my name," answered the voice. "You are not a druid, I do not see the mark. Who are you?" asked the voice again.
"We already told you who we are!" answered a flustered Ranma. He did not like how this was going. He could not get a good reading from the other side of the cave. That was both due to his weakened self and from a lack of experience. Whoever it was at the other side did not believe them.
Then Ranma felt someone trying to probe at his mind. Luckily, he had now enough experience with that to be able to combat it. They couldn’t use the same trick on him twice. He easily evaded their attempts at reading him. He could tell that their efforts were draining them and beamed a smile as he felt them recede from his mind. He looked at Akane, and the way she stared back at him confirmed his suspicions. They had also been unable to probe her.
Confidently, they strode further into the cave until before them, they were met with a throng of people brandishing archaic weapons. Ranma glanced at Akane and silently passed a message to her. He kept his gaze on her until he knew if she understood. She silently nodded her head and dropped her defensive stance.
Ranma waited until the men and women surrounded them.
"Follow us!" demanded a stocky man at the centre of the crowd.
Ranma and Akane willingly obeyed and followed the crowd into the depths of the cave. Up ahead, they saw a small dot of light, which expanded as they came closer to the end of the cave. After a brisk, wordless walk Ranma and Akane found themselves approaching the mouth of the cave. Both were eager to see what awaited them on the other side.
***************
Cologne sat silently with Hiyako, Ukyou and Shampoo at her side. Ryouga had miraculously found them and was informed of the situation by Ukyou. Mousse kept his distance from the others. After all, he had nothing really at stake here. The five kept a constant vigil at the mouth of the black oval.
Ukyou kept counting sheep, Okonomyiaki and whatever she could think of inside her head. The waiting was killing her. Each second seemed to be an hour. She didn’t even know how much time had passed. Not that she really cared. All she wanted to see was her Ran-chan make it safe out of the black oval. So she would wait for him.
Ryouga sat there with a worried look on his face, carving images on the ground with his finger. As the time went on, he seemed even more disturbed, drawing stares from the other occupants of the room. He intentionally ignored them of course, his own thoughts enveloping his time.
***************
Ranma and Akane flinched as the bright sunlight shone in their eyes. They were amazed at the sight before them. Around them were rice fields, farms and children playing merrily. Their captors did not allowed them much time to view the landscape however as they were roughly channelled to a small wooden hut. Once inside, the door slammed behind them, and a bolt locked them in from the outside.
"So Ranchan," asked Akane softly, "What have you got us into this time?"
Ranma smiled at her, "nothing I don’t think we can handle."
He lay on the dried grass that seemed to be left there as a bed and opened his arms to her. She causally accepted his offer and lay her head on his chest, using his muscles as a pillow and stared into his eyes. She could always read him by looking into his eyes.
"So I guess we just wait?"
"Yeah, They’ve got to question us sometime. Only then will we be able to convince them that we are here to help, but until then, we can keep ourselves occupied."
Akane propped her head up with her arms. "So what do you have in mind?"
"Oh a little bit of this and a little bit of that," stated Ranma as a grin appeared on his face.
This might be interesting Akane thought to herself....
***************
An old man sat in his room weaving a line of cloth. It was his pastime and his most favourite hobby. He was always excited to see what his hands could manufacture by themselves. He had always let his mind go free on his work and had found many a splendid result when he finished. He heard a knock at his door. Strange, he had already eaten and no one had asked to se him today. He shuffled to his feet and slid the cloth onto a rack at the side of his bed.
"Yes, yes, come in!"
He was surprised to say the least when one of the men whose job it was to guard the entrance of the cave entered the room.
"Honoured elder, we have visitors from the other side."
"Are they one of us?"
"No elder, they are not," stated the man.
That really attracted his attention. The last time someone like that entered, he caused a lot of havoc in the small enclave. The shadow had just flexed his muscles and showed them that they could not escape him, even if they had cornered a small part of the area for themselves. The old man knew that soon it would be his turn to take over the rigors of maintaining the barrier.
Slowly he moved from the hut into the outside world. Though his body looked frail, his mind was a keen weapon, guilded by time and sharpened by experience. Slowly he made his way over to the hut where they kept the prisoners. Then he felt it, and he quickened his step. Something was emanating from the hut. He scurried to the door as quickly as his old feet could carry him.
"Unlock it!" he ordered.
"But Elder the..."
"Don’t bother, just open it!"
The door was quickly unbolted and the old man gaped at the sight before him. There were two young people in front of him, but that wasn’t what had attracted his attention. Years of meditation had enhanced his ability to detect magic and that was exactly what he was detecting now. An unbelievably pure source of magic!
He had not startled the young ones who looked as if they had been expecting him. He shuffled his way into the hut, ignoring all the cautions of those around him and walked up to the pair. Something was different about these two. The boy definitely had an aura of magic around him, but both he and the girl had a strong powerful magical aura coming from...from...from their hands; yes, their hands. He walked up to the girl and took her hand. It seemed to glow with some magical power. She gave a quizzical glance to the boy who just nodded. The old man cried out as the ring materialised out of her finger. The guards outside rushed in at his unexpected reaction.
He held them at bay with a wave of his hand then he smiled at the boy and the girl who gave him questioning stares. He knew who they were now, and he was glad that they were finally here.
Ranma and Akane followed the old man as he led them to another hut. The other people around him seemed very confused but respected his wishes. They found themselves alone in a hut with a bed and some old chairs. He gestured them to sit as he returned to his bed.
"I know who you are now my young friends and I am glad you are here. It is time for us to leave this place, time for us to go home, back to our friends, back to the Valley."
Ranma looked up to the old man, confused.
"So who are we?"
The old man laughed, "don’t always listen to the words of an old man like myself boy, we know things, we can see things others can’t. You can’t see them now, maybe not for many, many years to come, but later, later they will reveal themselves to you."
Ranma listened attentively at the old man. Both he and Akane saved those words in their minds, neither knew what the future brought, but then again, Ranma’s curse was ‘may you live interesting times.’
Ranma then heard a knocking at the door.
"Come in," answered the old man.
A man entered carrying a tray of food with him. Akane and Ranma stared after him. His shining black hair and his facial features reminded them of someone. Ranma snapped his fingers.
"You’re Juja’s father aren’t you?" asked Ranma.
"Juja? My daughter!" exclaimed the man. "How is she?" pleaded the man.
"Oh she’s with Gora back at the castle," answered Akane.
"The castle?" replied the old man, "Ahh...then you have defeated the shadow."
"Well not really, he’s still out there somewhere..." replied Ranma
"Never mind that," said the old man, "Come now, we must gather the others, if we are to leave, it must be soon."
With that statement, Juja’s father left the hut quickly to disseminate the news to the others. Ranma and Akane could hear the commotion outside.
The old man spoke to them again, "ahh…but how rude of me. My name is Gowma, but people here just call me ‘old gee’ for short."
He picked up the trays and handed them to Ranma and Akane, "I’m sure you must be hungry. Eat, you must save your energy for tomorrow."
Ranma and Akane heartily ate under the old man’s eyes.
"Now please tell me how you got here?"
This time, Akane explained how they got there. Of course, she purposely left out the Neko-ken. She knew Ranma didn’t like people knowing about it.
The old man just nodded his head.
"We must find a way then to amplify this dome you created," commented Gowma
"If you don’t mind," asked Ranma, "how are you able to create this little haven here?"
"Oh that! Well the first batch of us banded together to form a little enclave, then as more people got here, we were able to expand against the darkness to some degree. Finally we were able to put up this barrier, that protects us from the outside. However, now we can only get through the barrier by passing through the cave."
"Do you know how the field is generated?"
"No my son, that was done a long time ago before I was born."
"Do you mind if I have a look at it?"
"No of course not, let me take you to it."
With that they all got up and headed outside. Akane glanced at Ranma. He bent down and whispered into her ear. She smiled and then grabbed his arm once again.
Ranma and Akane could once again feel the stares on their back as they made their way to the wall or mountain that surrounded the enclave. Ranma touched it and as soon as he touched it he felt the same thing he had felt a week or so ago with Hiyako. It was the same kind of barrier. That was good. Ranma knew that there had to be some way of moving the barrier. He searched his mind, but the answer would not come to him.
"Come son, let me show you to your room for the night."
Ranma and Akane followed Gowma to a small hut close to his. Apparently it had been abandoned for some time, but it was well made up. They graciously accepted his hospitality and entered the hut. He left them there, closing the door behind him.
Akane could read the tension of Ranma’s face.
"Ran-chan, what’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing," he replied, "but something...there’s something about that barrier we can use, but I just can’t figure it out yet."
Akane sat down next to him and dropped her head on his shoulder. Ranma took the hint and flopped down onto the bed, carrying Akane with him. There was something about that barrier they could use, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.
His fingers stroked Akane’s hair as she lay her head on his chest, her hand resting across his breast in a light embrace.
Ramna continued to stoke Akane’s hear, until he heard the soft regulated breathing of a sleeping Akane on his chest. He looked down at her sleeping form. He couldn’t imagine how lucky he was to have her. He traced the contours of her face with his hand, carefully brushing away the errant strand of hair. He brought his hand up to encircle her and pulled her closer to him. Her sleeping form did not object. Soon Ranma himself dozed off into the night.
*************
Cologne and Hiyako were still awake when Gora walked in to inform them that morning had broken. At their age, sleep did not mean that much and neither required much of it. Unfortunately, that could not be said about the dozing and snoring teenagers in the room. Kuno was there; he had found his way here when he awoke from his unscheduled nap. Miraculously, Ryouga had been able to anchor himself to one spot for the entire time. The girls were also there and so was Mousse, who was inching, even in his sleep, closer and closer to Shampoo.
But Cologne had other matters to focus on. Ranma and Akane had not returned as yet. Cologne was concerned. They had not been able to remove the wards from the black oval. She sighed and was glad for Hiyako’s presence in the room. Somehow, someone else just being there and being awake gave her some comfort. Hurry up Ranma...whispered Cologne
**************
The shadow waited in the depths of the darkness. It had not suspected that the boy’s fear of cats came from the dreaded Neho-ken. Even he respected that old an ancient art form. Only a select few were chosen to master the Neko-ken. The boy had not mastered the fear, but the living cat still dwelt within him.
The shadow had been surprised by the ki shield. The boy was clever he had to give him that. The shield was the only thing that protected them from the animals of the night. It was furious that they had made it to the shelter of the cave, but they would have to come out sooner or later, and not without the others. The shadow knew as well as anything that the boy would only leave with the others. It was prepared to wait.
**************
Akane woke up that morning a bit disoriented, she felt a strong arm around her and welcomed the presence of Ranma next to her. He of course was sleeping soundlessly. Carefully she picked his hand off her and stared into his face. She did not want to wake him but inevitably she would have to.
"Acchan...kawaii..." managed to escape from the sleeping boy’s lips and was not lost to Akane.
Ranma consciousness bolted awake and he felt something pressed against his lips. Thinking it was Shampoo he opened his eyes wide and tried to push whoever it was off him. He succeeded to a greater degree that he expected. He was now staring into the hurt eyes of a very confused Akane. Ranma realised how much strength he was applying to her hands to get her off him, and suddenly released her.
"I’m so sorry Akane! I thought it was Shampoo! Please forgive me?"
Akane looked at those pathetic pleading eyes, and her anger was quenched by a sudden urge to burst out laughing, but she kept her hurt outward demeanour intact.
"Ok Ran-chan, I’ll forgive on one condition..."
Ranma still pleading eyes were wearing down her resolution, when a thought sprung up in her mind.
She attacked him suddenly, pinning him arms to the side and pressing her lips firmly against his. She felt his first shock, then his lips opened.
"Ahhh...well if you two youngsters would stop romping on the bed, you might get up in time for breakfast," spoke an unknown voice.
A furiously blushing Ranma and Akane disentangled themselves and stood before Gowma. Neither had heard him enter. Still red, they followed him out of the door and into his own hut. Both watched as people started collecting their belonging and felt the eyes boring into them. These eyes however, did not sear them with suspicion and contempt instead, they viewed them in wonder and hope.
Ranma and Akane joined Gowma for breakfast. Ranma’s heart glowed at the feast before him. He drowned his primal urge to inhale his food and ate with a slightly dignified manner. Akane smiled approvingly. Ranma’s thoughts however were still on the barrier and how they could use it. He broke from his concentration when his hand slipped on a damp cup spilling its contents over himself.
Gowma stared wild-eyed at the boy now girl. Akane got the ‘here we go again’ look on her face. Neither Gowma nor Akane expected what happened next.
Ranma-chan slapped his forehead, hard. How could he be so dumb? It was all there, right it front of him and he didn’t see it. It was all there, written right in front of him and didn’t see it. Ranma grin spread right across his face, intriguing Akane and pulling Gowma from his daze.
"I think now I know how to get us out of here," replied Ranma-chan confidently, "but first..."
Ranma retrieved a cup of tea and poured it on himself. Transforming him back to his male side. Gowma just watched, amazed.
"Hey Gowma, could you show me where you control the barrier. The old man nodded and followed them to a clearing. Another person occupied the clearing; his mind deep in mediation In his hand he held a soft blue crystal. A soft glow emanated from the crystal and then dissolved into the air. It only took Ranma a while to see if his theory was correct. Now he knew it was!
"Okay Ranma, tell me what this is all about," demanded Akane
Gowma listened he too wanted an explanation.
"Well remember when I spilled the water in the cup," Akane nodded her head, "I realised that we didn’t have to know how to create a barrier, all we had to do was redirect it!"
The confused looks he got prompted him onwards.
"You know, like how you have the entrance to the cave! All we have to do it to project the barrier through the cave and to the thing that brought us here!"
Their eyes lit up with understanding.
"But how are we going to do that?" asked Gowma
"When’s the next shift to handle that thing?" asked Ranma pointing to the crystal
*************
Ranma, Gowma and Akane made their plans and everyone was told what should be done when they started. It was almost time for Ranma and Gowma to take over.
Together, Gowma and Ranma grasped each other’s hand and the blue crystal.
Ranma suddenly felt the weight of the barrier fall upon their shoulders then Gowma took the weight away from him allowing Ranma to concentrate on doing what had to be done. Slowly Ranma’s will took its toll on the barrier. The change was small at first, but then, visibly to Akane and the others and the mouth of the cave, the barrier began to bulge and push through to the other side.
Akane knew what to do. She pressed her hand against the barrier, allowing Ranma to feel her presence.
Ranma smiled as he recognised her instantly. His eyes were tightly shut in concentration. Gowma’s were also. Gowma used his will to maintain the integrity of the barrier, while Ranma manipulated the dimensions of the barrier.
Slowly, she led the expanding tube through the cave of the barrier. The others excitedly followed her, walking slowly behind her, amazed at the expanding barrier before them.
Akane made her way to the entrance of the cave, past the door they blew up. Here, she cautioned the others behind her who stopped.
Cautiously she emerged from the deep cave. She was immediately attacked by a horde of unnaturally controlled animals. She closed her eyes and flinched as she saw them fly towards her. Nothing happened! She opened her eyes and took a look around. A dozen or so bodies of haunted animals lay wasted at the periphery of the barrier. She sighed in relief. Apparently Ranma’s plan had worked. Slowly she traced the way they had come, making sure never to step out of the barrier, which hung like a light blue boundary between the two worlds. The haunted animals followed her as she encroached on their territory. After about another thirty minutes of walking, she finally made it to the clearing they had emerged from originally and found the black oval.
Her task finished, she ran back to the others. Immediately they all began running in a frenzy to the portal, Akane leading the way.
*****************
The shadow was deeply surprised. Again the boy had managed to outsmart him. He should have killed the boy when he had the chance! There was no way it could attack and penetrate the barrier in its present form, but that would not stop it from trying.
*****************
Back inside the enclave, Ranma and Gowma felt a sudden pressure descend upon them. The whole world felt as if it had come crashing in. Gowma summoned his strength to keep the barrier in place. He could feel their wills becoming strained under the pressure.
Damn! Ranma realised he had forgot to consider Gowma’s last words, "as more came, they were able to expand the barrier."
Thus as more druids left, more and more of the strain of the barrier kept falling on Ranma and Gowma.
*************
Cologne, Hiyako and the others were relieved to say the least when Akane bolted through the black oval. They were not expecting however, the deluge of people that started coming through the barrier. Gora heard the commotion and came across with the children. Immediately, she recognised her son and his wife.
Juja needed no prompted as she latched onto her parents.
Wave and wave of people emerged from the dark oval as Akane, and the other girls waited patiently for Ranma to emerge. Finally, the last person emerged form the black oval and still no Ranma. Akane waited five seconds, then decided to see what the matter was herself.
"I’m going back!"
Ryouga was about to voice his disagreement, but Akane was already through to the other side.
************
"Come on, Gowma, we’ve got to go!" urged Ranma as she slowly got to his feet from his meditative position.
The strain was starting to take its toll on him. He opened his eyes and through the stars could see a very weakened Gowma. He allowed some of his strain to go to the old man, just long enough so that he could grab him and lift him onto his back.
He could feel the strength being sapped from his body as he helped Gowma to maintain the barrier. Slowly they approached the cave. The crystal shattered in Gowma’s hands, unable to hold the strain. Ranma felt the protection of the enclave behind them collapse. Well, now there was no choice but forward.
Ranma struggled forward through the cave, the pressure of both maintaining the barrier with Gowma and scurrying to the other side falling heavily on him. Finally he spied the end of the tunnel ahead, as he reached the mouth, he saw the animals waiting for him there. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the task ahead, blocking out the images of the animals around him, some of them cats.
Then he felt her presence again and was glad. He quickened his step, his eyes shut tightly. He used Akane as a beacon to guide him to the black oval. He felt her presence drawing nearer, and finally, he heard her call his name in the distance.
**************
The shadow was livid maybe it still had a chance of destroying the boy. The barrier to the druid enclave had disintegrated, leaving only the ruins of a village as the charmed animals ravaged its remains. The boy was getting weaker, and so was the old man. He would have the last laugh!
The girl! Damn the girl! Why had she returned? She could ruin everything!
**************
Akane ran back through the oval and back into the barrier. Ranma was nowhere around. She sprinted inside the barrier and finally spied him with Gowma huddled over his back. She raced up to him to help.
Almost immediately as she touched him, she felt the drain. The energy passed through her in a flash. Only after she recovered did she realise why.
Gowma had just passed out and the whole barrier had collapsed. The only thing separating them and the evil that lurked outside was the aura shield Ranma had just generated. The animals attacked the shield one by one, weakening the shield with every attack.
Akane grabbed Gowma’s other hand and together, they hurried towards the oval. By now Akane herself could feel the pressures on them to keep up the shield. They had finally reached the clearing, but preventing them from passing was a mass of varying creatures.
Ranma glanced at Akane and then cupped his hands.
"Moko Takabisha!"
The ki blast cleared a way through the animals, and Akane wasted no time in hauling both an exhausted Ranma and an unconscious Gowma through the portal.
On the other side, a relieved group watched as the three made it back through the oval, which collapsed upon itself as they came through it. A very ragged looking Ranma got up, one of his hands still around Gowma. The other druids took Gowma from Ranma and Akane. Concerned about the welfare of the two, Cologne, aided by Hiyako, skilfully separated the weary pair from their admirers, into the depths of the castle. The Nerimians raced after them. Cologne had however mapped out the castle perfectly in her mind and managed to lose the teenagers without much effort. Opening a chamber before them she was about to order Ranma and Akane to sleep when she saw the futility of it. They both conked out on the floor as soon as they reached the room finally exhausted. Cologne left the two to recuperate after placing them on the lavish bed.
Cologne was glad this was finally over. Those two could not take much more of this long term ki depletion. This was the third time she had seen them so wasted. Hopefully this would be the final time, but the back of her mind issued a warning.
It was now time to find her great granddaughter. Shampoo would not have followed her. The girl knew better than to question her elders. However, Cologne knew that her recent actions would make her granddaughter suspicious. She hoped that the true meaning of the feline would not choose to surface in Shampoo now.
******************
Ranma woke up feeling cold. Something was missing? Slowly his eyes opened and he gagged.
"Ack...Shampoo, what are you doing in here?" asked a panicky Ranma when he saw the long flowing purple hair and the skimpy clothing that characterised the Amazon warrior.
She leant over his face from her perch on a chair next to the bed.
"Great grandmother say watch over husband in sleep, so that what Shampoo do!"
Ranma was starting to freak out. Shampoo was in his room, he only hoped that no one would see her especially a certain...
"Ran-chan! Just what are you doing with that hussy!"
"Ranma how dare you treat Akane like this!"
"Shampoo my love, I will save you!"
"Lecherous cur, feel the wrath of the Blue Thunder of Furiken High!"
The whole ring of fighting began again and lasted for a whole fifteen minutes, until Cologne used her considerable influence to send everyone into the wall, including her student. You can’t have favourites, can you?
Groggily everyone got up and saw Jensu and Cologne holding hands. Akane was also there. Fortunately for Ranma’s sake, she had only just been aroused.
"Xian Pu, Mu Tzu, it is time to go, you too son-in-law!"
The whole troupe gathered around the pair and held hands, Akane between Ryouga and Jensu, Ranma between the ghoul and Ukyou.
Jensu began his chant and in a flash of light, they disappeared from the Valley of Aina.