Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Rolling Mist, Morning Wind ❯ Darkling Wakes ( Chapter 5 )

Rolling Mist, Morning Wind A Ranma/Rayearth Fanfic by Adyen (senranda@yahoo.ca)

I knew that my previous chapter was going to raise some eyebrows, but I, being the idiot I was, didn't mention this in the previous chapter:

About the Umi/Yame-senken: I personally do NOT believe Genma would give out his real techniques to anyone, hence why Ranma *stole* the scrolls from him; whereas, if you remember the whole thing with that Umi/Yame-senken, Ryu actually HAS a scroll from Genma already.

Also, there's a duel meaning in the Japanese term 'sen-ken'. It could be explained as '1000 fists', or 'God fist'. Or, as a reviewer pointed out, it could also be an animal pun (though I didn't know that, since I only know limited about of Japanese). We also saw a lot of weird attacks in the series, so it isn't much weirder if Ranma adapted Genma's attacks to his own use and his knowledge of the Art. He kept the 'name' as Umi/Yama-'sen-ken', but he choose the other meaning for the kanji. Oddly fitting for Ranma's ego, no? ^_^

And don't you just think Asian names for attacks are cooler than English ones? Of course, understanding both Chinese and Japanese enough to actually 'hear' them, I'd have to say yes. ^_^

This is a very... weird/dark chapter in this fic, I think. Especially near the end, it shows how much certain people love their home and the people within them. The scary thing is, after writing RMMW for this long, I can start to visualize the scene and exactly what and why they say what they say.

Chapter 5: Darkling Wakes

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When Ranma regained consciousness (from 'an unexpected nap'), he looked up to find Kasumi sitting near him and a near splitting image of his girl side if she was older (he made a note to check if what he thought he saw before... napping, was real) telling her that he's awake.

Instinctively holding his head to check for lumps, he looked into Kasumi's eyes and asked, "What happened?"

A hand held Kasumi's shoulder and Ranma turned his head to find Ferio leaning towards him. "How do you feel? You suddenly fainted after releasing that large ball of energy and falling into the fountain."

Bristling at Ferio's choice of word, Ranma instinctively look at himself, double checking that he is indeed male. He made an internal check of himself, feeling his ki and finding it completely out of alignment to what it's supposed to be, he answered, "Rotten. I don't know what happened, but that was NOT what was supposed to happen."

Kasumi cut in at this point. Glancing at the redhead, she asked, "Ranma, did you eat anything on your tour with Prince Ferio?"

He was about to deny it when he suddenly remembered the little girl and her cookie. Blushing, he rubbed the back of his head as he stammered out, while trying not to get the girl in trouble, "Well... I found this cookie somewhere..." he trailed off, seeing that Kasumi had covered her eyes and was looking down at the floor.

The red-head crossed his bed and hugged Kasumi, saying reassuring things to her while Ferio looked helplessly at the scene. Ranma could hear Kasumi saying things like "I leave him for one moment and...", "I should have know better...", and "Is it so much to ask?"

Kasumi sighed and looked up at Ranma, saying, "I can't leave you a single moment alone, can I? Hikaru told me that you had the Seed within you, but I needed you to confirm it."

Ranma conjured up the plant seed image again. "Seed? What do you mean?"

Hikaru stepped in at this point. "You see, when I became Pillar, I realized that things had to change if the tragedies of the past were to not be repeated." She glanced at Ferio for a moment, but he just smiled and nodded. "So, I made it that any food created within Cephiro, using ingredients created or collected here, would carry a magical seed that would allow the people here to sustain Cephiro on their own. Though there were a few side effects, all in all, it worked out and I don't have to spend all my time praying for the safety of Cephiro." She stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. "You could say that I didn't want to spend all my time sitting in a pond of water and doing nothing else but praying."

Kasumi giggled while Ferio just grinned more, but Ranma saw that Hikaru wanted to lighten up the mood. Nodding, he asked, "So, what does it mean?"

Turning serious again, Hikaru said, "It means, you now carry a piece of Cephiro within you; a land where your Will rules Cephiro and where Cephiro owns your Will. No matter where you go, or where you live the rest of your life, Cephiro is your home now and forever. You will not age unless you wish to, nor will you die of any sickness, but if you do get sick, it will be reflected back on Cephiro. Your worse nightmares may become alive here, yet your sweetest dreams will flourish as well. And from what I heard from Kasumi, you have a very dark nightmare indeed."

Ranma instinctively flinched, just thinking about what Hikaru is talking about.

"Ranma." Kasumi said, trying to cheer him up. "For some reason, your curse has been removed. The best either I or Guru Clef could tell, your Will dictated that you are male, and so you *are* male. However, we can't be sure because neither of us has ever studied curses like that." Seeing Ranma look around, she added, "Clef is currently checking the 'viewing orb' to find out if what we fear will appear. Please, rest for a while and stay with Prince Ferio. Afterwards, you can continue your sparing if you wish. I'll contact you two if we find anything."

Seeing Kasumi about to leave, Ranma exclaimed, "Wait! What do you mean, what you fear will appear? Anything I help with?"

Kasumi was in mid-turn when she stopped, and turned back to him. Hikaru had a hand on her shoulder, giving reassuring support to the woman. Calmly, as if she was trying to hold on to something in a torrent of winds, she said, "Ranma, what is your deepest fear? One that has driven you to do the utmost you can to avoid it, even if it's next to impossible?"

Seeing Ranma flinch was enough for her. "Yes Ranma. I'm talking about the Neko-Ken. We fear that there will be a physical manifestation of the Neko-Ken out there, a manifestation of your fears and anger during training, and after. All the dark thoughts and emotions that you ever had tied to that single techniques, all unbound and roaming free in Cephiro, doing who knows what." Looking directly into the young man's eyes, she mentally tried to soften up what she is about to say, but as Wind Knight of Cephiro, it is very hard to forgive the young man who may very well cause much strife and danger to her homeland.

"We may be able to stop it for a while, maybe send it back to the dark recesses of your mind, but in the end, only you can defeat it as you both gave birth to it, and give strength to it." Kasumi said in a chilling voice, yet barely managing to keep her face calm. "I have never blamed you for anything back 'home', but if one single life is lost because of you..."

She turned and walked out of the room, keeping her composure far enough that Ranma cannot see her or hear her anymore. Hikaru turned a worried eye at the shattered young man sitting on the bed before chasing after her friend of many years, trying to reassure her that what she feared will not happen.