Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: Whatever. I don't own Ranma 1/2.

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Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 10
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He was following. Which was nice. She knew he'd follow, just like
a lamb. Leaving behind her companion was unfortunate, but
necessary. He shouldn't have gotten hit. Besides, he'd never been
that great of a working partner. He sucked at scrabble. Totally
sucked.

Oh well. Going it alone did make things harder for her, but she
could handle it. However, that wasn't the worst part.

The bandanna boy had splattered blood all over her outfit and
bloodstains were ever so hard to get out.

That bastard.

But, oh well! She would have to get a new outfit. Or make one!
Making clothes was fun! Almost as fun as making people bleed, but
then, it made such a mess too. Life was so complicated.

The bandanna boy was following. That was all that mattered. The
master would be happy. Of course, no pretty blood would be
splattered if the master was happy... unless he was REALLY happy.
Oh joy! Perhaps, things were looking up after all.

----

His hand hurt, really bad. His leg hurt. His whole damn body hurt.
Which meant someone else would have to hurt much, much, worse to
make up for it. Leaving his pack hidden in a bush had been a
necessary evil. Hell, the feeling that he got after leaving it was
worth it in itself. He would actually be able to FIND the damn
thing later. It felt wonderful, almost like being a normal person.

And then he remembered about the whole "going crazy-brain-
splitting visions-got attacked by a cult-turn into a pig-part" and
the feeling went away.

He could tell it was about midnight by the position of the moon.
Dark clouds had rolled over, obscuring bits of it. Starlight
flickered periodically through the clouds. Shadows slithered
across the trees as Ryouga jumped from branch to branch.

Branch jumping wasn't something he would normally do. It was much
easier to just walk on the ground and beat senseless whatever
animal you might accidentally step on. However, the longer he
followed the better at it he was becoming. A lot of concentration
was needed, though. Hibiki's just weren't naturally sneaky and
stealthy. There had been too many generations of ancestors who
liked to knock down trees and throw large rocks at their enemies,
he supposed.

He landed soundlessly on a branch and stopped a moment to listen
to his surroundings. A few night animals whistled and croaked into
the night, but all else was quiet. He narrowed his eyes and tried
to feel any ki in the area. All those martial artists did it in
movies right? Why couldn't he do it?

At first he felt nothing. He strained harder, trying to push his
senses to the limit. It was like the Baksai Tenketsu. The universe
was all part of a flow and you just had to see that flow. A bead
of sweat rolled down his brow. He almost gave up until finally, a
presence flickered in the distance. It was brief and shadowy, but
he had felt it.

Take that Ranma Saotome.

He was far from Nerima now. They had been traveling east and then
northwest for quite awhile. Which was so cool! East! Northwest!
Those were real directions! Not just imaginary ideas like he had
thought all along! It was amazing!

But err, that wasn't important. Back to the being stealthy, going
after evil cult thing, and uh... fighting for justice and stuff.

He jumped branches for a few more minutes, carefully making no
sound. Finally, he paused for a moment and squinted his eyes. A
row of lights was in the distance. Three small orbs of white light
pulsed like fireflies. Three dark cloaked figures stood in front
of what looked like the front of a bunker, guarding it. He
unconsciously held his breath as the crazy girl with the whip
walked up to the four. Or was it three? Huh, that was odd. His
eyes went blurry for a second. Never mind.

They seemed to talk for a moment then obediently stepped away from
the door. The girl turned and winked at the forest, then walked
through the dark recesses of the door.

Oh great. Just great. And here he thought he was being stealth
guy. Yet another short-lived ego bubble, burst all to hell.

Well he had two options. Still try to sneak in, or go through the
front, fighting his way through to the leader. The latter involved
fighting for his life, pain, destruction, and possibly dying a
horrible death... or worse. The former would most likely involve
sneakiness, stealing someone's clothes, and ingenuity.

Ryouga jumped down from his branch and landed in the clearing. He
brushed off a few stray leaves from his clothing and strode up to
the entrance.

"Hey! Stupid guards! I'm coming in!"

Ingenuity was too damn hard.

He readied himself for an attack. Who knew what these guys were
made of? They could be the cannon fodder guys from the bread
place, or the creepy Kasumi like freak from a few hours ago. But
he was ready for whatever they might throw at him. He didn't care
what he had to go through, he would make it. Hibiki's were not
taken down so easily. He was ready for anything.

"Sure! Come right in!" One of the guards chimed and stepped to the
side. The other winked and did the same. Ryouga blinked.

"Uh? Um... ok." Sure?! Damn these guys! He was all pumped to hit
something and they say "sure"?! They were just letting him in? It
had to be a trick. But what else could he do?

Ryouga kept his guard up warily as he passed the two guards,
expecting an attack, but none came and he passed through the
entrance. He paused at the beginning of what appeared to be stone
steps that extended into never ending darkness. Torches were
mounted into the sides of the cave walls. He suspected the steps
went straight down to hell. He had always thought he'd end up
there sooner or later, but he had hoped he would take Ranma down
with him. Oh well.

He took a deep breath and pushed his nervousness aside and began
to descend the steps. Slime coated the edges of some of the stone
steps, and cold water dripped down the walls occasionally, making
it impossible to grab them if he slipped. It felt like an eternity
before he reached the bottom.

But he did finally, and found something he wasn't expecting.

It was a damn nightclub.

The interior of the cave and been lined with trendy dining tables.
Light fixtures were carved into nooks and crannies, smoking
tendrils of gray snakes that slithered upward until vanishing
somewhere in the unseen ceiling. A stage to his far right held a
band playing a haunting melody. Blue lights were fixed over the
stage accenting the leading singer's curves. A bar sat next to the
far wall, with customers crowded around it.

"Welcome!"

Ryouga spun around too see a man dressed in traditional Japanese
cloths... traditional WOMAN'S clothes; lipstick, fancy hair pins,
the whole works. Great, another one of those girly men. Oh well,
the more girly men there were, the more the woman would want the
manly men like him... right?

The girly man walked up to him, his red kimono swished as he
walked in a decidedly womanly sort of way. His hands were clasped
in front of him as he approached. Still on guard, Ryouga turned to
face him, shifting his stance slightly.

"We have been expecting you. If you would please come this way Mr.
Hibiki." The girly man made a smooth motion with his right hand,
indicating for Ryouga to follow him. He then smiled in a way that
made Ryouga's skin crawl and headed off to his right.

So the guy wanted Ryouga to follow him? Follow a cross dressing
guy into some unknown dark room... yes that was every heterosexual
man's dream. But what else could he do? Ryouga gritted his teeth
and followed.

They passed through a widening array of corridors and rooms until
he had lost all track of the many turns they had taken. Each room
was different than the other, with a sort of gothic cave man feel
to them. The place was too large to be just a cannon fodder thug
operation, like he had original believed. Even more disturbing,
there seemed to be water seeping through some of the cave walls.
It was always far away from him, the rooms were big after all, but
it was THERE. When water was concerned a cursed springs victim
could never be too careful.

The girly man finally stopped in front of a large glass door. "The
Master will see you now."

"Master? He a vampire or sumthin?"

The man seemed amused by this and smiled softly. "You look more
like a vampire than my employer, sir. Don't be silly. Vampires
don't exist, Mr. Hibiki."

Ryouga scowled and then glanced at the door for a few moments. He
heard that vampire thing enough in elementary school. "So the
Master eh? You work for him or something?"

"I never said he was MY master." The girly man's yellowish eyes
brightened for a moment. "I run a Pet Shop, Mr. Hibiki. Come down
to my establishment sometime. I might have something for you."

"Ah! Listen mister! I'm not that way! Keep your presents to
yourself 'cause I don't want any!"

"I meant a pet, Mr. Hibiki."

"Oh. That's what I meant to. Heh." Ryouga rubbed the back of his
neck nervously and tried to get his skin to stop crawling. "No
thanks. You probably just sell giant snakes and man eating fish
and stuff."

The man seemed incredibly amused by this and giggled. Ryouga
winced inwardly.

"How interesting. You intrigue me. Well, I leave you to the
master. Farewell Mr. Hibiki." The man bowed slowly and walked
away, his kimono making swishing sounds as he disappeared behind a
corner.

Ryouga took a deep breath. Ok that was weird. What was with these
people? Be evil. Kill things. Fine. But don't go making people
feel uncomfortable like that! How rude.

Wait, how did that guy know his name?

Oh well. Might as well go in and kick Master 'what's his name's'
ass. Ryouga put a hand on the stained glass door and pushed.

The room smelled like burnt flowers. Wispy black curtains lined
the walls covering up the rock. In the center of the stone floor,
a large symbol of an eye in a triangle was carved into the rock
and then smoothed over. The room was vastly smaller than the
cavernous rooms he had seen before, and it only took him a moment
to reach the low Japanese table at the center of the room.

A figure languidly looked up from his position, sprawled
comfortable on a deep red cushion. Ryouga sized him up carefully.
He was in his mid thirties or a bit later. Long dark bangs covered
his eyes and his chopped hair was pulled back behind his
shoulders. Bits and pieces stuck out every which way, as if he'd
given a mentally disturbed five-year old a pair of scissors and
told him to have at it. Most noticeable though, was the extensive
network of scars crisscrossing his bare chest in... patterns.

"Like it?" The man lifted his head slightly exposing deep gray
eyes. "I did it myself."

Ryouga stood, looking at the man warily.

"Oh excuse me! I'm being rude. Please sit down." The scarred man
indicted another red cushion at the opposite side of the table.
Reluctantly, Ryouga walked over and sat on his knees.

"What do you want." Ryouga glared at the creepy man across the
table. Just because he had nothing better to do, didn't mean he
wanted to hang around and have tea with a bunch of creepy guys. If
he had a reputation, he would be worried about it. This was worst
than the time he had accidentally wandered into that gay bar.

The scarred man's split lips shifted into a smile. "Would you like
some tea?"

"No."

"Miyako. Bring our guest some tea." The man snapped his fingers.
Immediately, a female attendant emerged from behind a black velvet
drape, carrying a tray. The attendant set two cups of tea down
upon the table and then slowly poured tea into each. Ryouga
ignored her and focused on the man across the table.

"Listen Jackass--" Ack. Picking up words from Ukyou, not good. "--
what the hell do you want?"

"I was about to ask you the same question. Why is "HE" so
interested in you?" The scarred man, Ryouga refused to refer to
him as "the master", sipped his tea. "Besides, you did hospitalize
a large group of my flunkies. It's always tiresome to replace your
cannon fodder guys. Then I had to go all the way down to Tokyo
General Hospital and gut each of them myself." The man sighed. "I
missed my soap operas."

Ryouga felt his stomach drop out. G-gutted? Did he really do that?
He just killed all those people? Just because they failed? It was
his fault that all those people died? ...NO! He was NOT going to
blame this on himself! It was those guys own damn fault for
picking on an old man!

"Kinda makes you responsible eh?"

"Shut up."

"Why do you care? His own grand-daughter doesn't give a damn about
him. I don't see why you should." The guy sipped his tea again and
wrinkled his nose. "Hmm, I need some cookies to go with this tea."

"How do you know?"

The scarred man winked and went back to nursing his tea. Silence
reigned inside the room for what seemed like an eternity.

"Is that all your going to tell me?" Ryouga cracked his knuckles.
It was about time he commenced with the ass kicking. He tried to
rise and felt a wave of dizziness overcome him.

"I killed the old man."

Ryouga fell back onto the cushions. "You...you..."

"Didn't really kill him and am just messing with your mind." He
waved his right hand in the air dismissively. "Yes I know."

Must resist urge to hurl large heavy objects... "Leave the old man
alone."

"Oh and why do you care?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"I... I don't."

Ryouga seethed, his desire to know what was going on out-weighing
his need to cause bodily harm. He needed to know. He wasn't sure
why, but it was important.

"Drink your tea or it's going to get cold. I've never liked cold
tea myself."

"It's probably poisoned."

The man laughed. "Silly, we already poisoned you. Why would we do
it twice?"

Ryouga's blood froze in his veins and then instantly warmed again.
Poisoned? That's all?

The attendant walked out of the room. Wait! It was that girl from
before!

"Used a really strong poison too. Hmm, I believe I've stalled
long enough." The scarred guy glanced at a clock on the wall.
"Let's see, it should start working--"

Feh, a little poison couldn't take down Ryouga Hibiki.

"--rrrright about--

Ryouga awoke with a start.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We've got a special treat for you tonight!"

Ryouga blinked and tried to orient himself. His face hurt and he
was covered in dirt and sand. Bright lights were shining in his
eyes...

"Two martial artists duel to the death! I hope you placed your
bets!"

There were people everywhere... lined up all around him in an
arena... they were cheering...

"Souvenirs from the loser's body will be auctioned off after the
fight!"

He was on some plateau above ... water? Oh shit..

"Bring out the other contestant!"

Damn his head hurt... Wait... Contestant?

"FIGHT!

Fight?

A guttural roar split the noise of the crowd as a man ripped the
metal hinges off a nearby gate and threw them to the ground. Blood
trickled down from the man's eyes.

What the? The guy's eyes were completely black! That couldn't be
good...

"Where the hell am I now?!"

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