Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A New Future 2 - First Blood ❯ Not exactly rivals, now.... ( Chapter 14 )

This was originally published by me under the name Anduril at Anime Addventures, with the only changes being a few corrections in spelling, punctuation and the occasional word choice to make things clearer. If you like the beginning of my story but think I've gone off the rails, or have your own ideas for a great branch-off, or think I'm taking too long to update and want to continue the story yourself, come to Anime Addventures and join in the fun!

I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, or anything in the GURPS Ogre and GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol settings published by Steve Jackson Games. Everything else is mine.

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Ranma awoke to a world of pain. This wasn't exactly a new experience, of course. The ache of muscles pushed past their normal limits was long familiar. The sharp ache of cracked ribs were something she'd felt more than once (though at least the stabbing sensation of broken ribs was absent), as was the pounding headache that probably indicated a concussion. But the pain across her upper face, like molten metal spread across her eyes — that was new, and yanked a breathy shriek from her throat as she squirmed, trying to raise her hands to her face only to find them pinned to her sides by someone's arms.

“Easy, Ranma, easy,” the redhead heard Mercury say from off to the side. “Ryoga, keep her from touching her face!”

“I'm on it, just as you already told me,” came the Lost Boy's voice, as the arms holding her tightened, shifting to block Ranma's reflexive, if awkward, strike.

“Sorry, I'm just ... Ranma, listen, you can't touch your face,” Mercury said. “You were splashed by those things' blood, and it's caustic, you're hurt bad and touching it will make it worse.”

Ranma nodded, gasping at what that did to the pain bouncing around inside her head. Opening her eyes, she found herself looking out at a world of blurry shapes, one holding her, three gathered around. “That why I can't really see anything?” she asked.

 

The Senshi of Ice looked up from the Mercury Computer at Ryoga and his armful on the flat rooftop, wincing again at the sight of the blistered, reddened skin across her friend's face, the redhead's eyes shifting about sightlessly, then up at the poorly-concealed look of concern on the face of the large, grubby boy holding the redhead. “I was afraid of that ... yes, your eyes have been damaged.”

Ranma chuckled, wincing. “Looks like I get ta try out the healing trance I think I figured out, from that stuff on the Life Dancers ya let me read,” she said, her voice tight with pain. “I sure hope it works.”

Mercury froze. “You mean you don't know?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course not, how can I? I've never tried it,” Ranma replied. “I think I know how it worked, I've put myself in it a few times, but I've never had any actual injuries ta deal with.”

Mercury just stared at the younger girl for a long moment, Usagi is going to kill me! Yasuko, little one, please be okay. Finally, she shook herself free of her shock. “Okay, but not here. We need to get you to ... to where you can rest for a few hours — it will take a few hours, right?”

“Yeah, at least,” Ranma agreed.

“And Ryoga won't be able to come with us,” Mercury continued, smiling apologetically at the fanged boy. “You were a big help dealing with those things, but we Senshi have secrets.” Ryoga shrugged. “Anyway, Ranma, I know you wanted to talk to Ryoga, have been waiting for him to get back before visiting Nerima.”

“Yeah, I did,” Ranma agreed again. “But first, is everyone else all right? None of the blurs are the right colors ta be Uranus or Neptune.”

“Oh, yes, they're fine,” Mercury hastily assured her. “They'd be here, but they had things to get back to. You're lucky you don't have much of a secret identity to get in the way of protecting the world.”

“Yeah, just Akane fussin' over me,” Ranma said with a grimace.

“Don't pretend you won't enjoy it,” Mu Tse said wryly from where he stood to the side, keeping his worry out of his voice.

Mercury glanced up at the young man. She noted the way his eyes continually scanned their surroundings rather than looking at his — friend? perhaps — then gazed worriedly at the way her friend's face seemed to be tightening from pain. That must be sheer agony. “Well, why don't you have your talk with Ryoga, then after that — can your trance hold while I carry you?”

Ranma nodded. “I think so — we'll find out.”

“Then you can get in your trance, and I can take somewhere to recover and let Akane know so she can come fuss over you some more.”

“Right.”

 

For a long moment Ranma simply lay there in Ryoga's arms, stiffened from pain, eyes fixed on the blur that was all she could see of her long-time rival. Come on, Ranma, be a — suck it up, it isn't gonna be easier if ya wait. Finally, she said, “Ryoga, I need yer permission ta tell Akane about yer curse.”

Ryoga stiffened, and Ranma gasped as the arms holding her tightened. “Easy, big guy, easy, cracked ribs here!” she got out in a strangled voice.

Ryoga immediately loosened his grip. “Sorry, sorry! I'm just ... why do you want to tell her? I hardly ever see her anymore, now that I seem to end up at Akari's farm instead of wherever you two are, we're still friends, can't we just leave things the way they are?”

Ranma chuckled mirthlessly. “I said I need ta tell her, not that I want to. She isn't gonna be very happy with me, either, and I'm the one that's gonna hafta break the bad news,” she said in a thin voice. “She ... there's a big fight, comin' Ryoga, a Senshi-type, dead bodies everywhere, save-the-world fight, an' me an' her are gonna be in the middle of it. You too, if ya happen ta be here at the right time, some others from the old Crew, but especially her.”

She paused for a long moment, gritting her teeth, hands curling into fists. “Akari said ya got my letter, do ya believe me ... about emotion-powered ki?” she asked.

“I ... yes, I think I do,” Ryoga said after a moment. “I ran into Kasumi a few days ago, and she told me about your last day in Nerima, how Akane lost control — how lucky she was that Happosai was already dead before she hammered him. That's not like the sweet, loving girl I know.” He paused for a moment as Ranma repressed a derisive snort. “Is ... Kasumi said Akane's ... with you, now. Is she all right?”

“Yeah, she's doing fine,” Ranma said, smiling slightly in spite of the way it pulled at her burned skin and unaware of the way her pained expression softened.

“Good. I'm ... with Akari, now, but ... good. We're getting married soon. Anyway,” Ryoga hastily continued, “even without your letter, I wouldn't have used the Shishi Hokodan even if we'd had one of our ... spars. I'm just not depressed enough, anymore.”

“Hey great! Congratulations!” Ranma enthused, wincing even as her smile briefly grew into a grin. Sobering, she continued, “I've been working on a new way ta use ki, ta replace the ki-blasts, based on the claws I have when I go inta the neko-ken.” Holding up a hand, she tried to bring her claws to life, but failed miserably. “Damn, pain's gettin' in the way. Well, take my word for it, I did it, and I've been trainin' Akane. She's really been comin' along, too, workin' hard at it. Problem is, ta make it work ya have ta stay calm, not let yer emotions touch ya — if ya do, the claws go away. And if that happens in the middle of a fight —”

“You could get hurt, or worse,” Ryoga finished, the blob Ranma could see nodding. “So you need something to make her angry?”

“Yeah, she's been too happy lately,” Ranma agreed. “I haven't really had anything ta test her on it. Insults aren't working anymore, she just doesn't think I mean `em, even a little bit.”

“Right.” Ryoga was silent for a time, then the blob shrugged. “Sure, go ahead and tell her. I'll just have to hope she doesn't kill me the next time we meet.”

“Nah, that won't be a problem,” Ranma tried to toss off lightly, even as she felt tears of pain running from the corners of her eyes down the sides of her head. “By then, she'll know yer gettin' married, and she'll want ta know all the details. Ya know how girls get all gushy over that sorta thing.”

The redhead felt Ryoga's chuckle rumble through his chest. “Yeah, Akari goes all starry-eyed whenever she thinks of it,” he said. “But from the glare your friend, here, is giving me, I think she wants to get you out of here.”

Ranma glanced toward the blur that Mercury's voice had come from earlier. “Right!” Mercury said firmly. “I think it's time you try out that healing trance and we get you to a bed. I can call Akane and let her know what happened as soon as she gets out of school.”

“Sounds good, thanks,” Ranma said, “Hey, Ryoga, I doubt I can train ya, not the way ya wander, but next time we talk I'll give ya some pointers on the claws, maybe you can make it work from that.”

“I'd like that, now get in that trance,” Ryoga said.

Ranma nodded, then gasped as more pain shot through her head, seeming to ricochet around inside her skull. Drawing a deep shuddering breath and closing her eyes, she slowly forced her muscles to relax, her fists to uncurl, as she let it out. Come on, genius, the Life Dancers learned this before they learned how ta heal people, it's the easy part. Block out the world, ignore it, not important, remember what it feels like ta be whole.... Her awareness of the world faded as she concentrated, sounds becoming meaningless, the feel of Ryoga's arms holding her becoming unreal, the pain she'd been fighting a losing battle to control slowly fading. She pulled up the memory of the time at the ice cream parlor, sitting in the booth, grimacing at the impish smile on Akane's face as Hotaru and Chibi-Usa enthused about designing a costume. Yes, like that, I want to be like that, she thought as she wrapped the memory about her like a warm blanket, and the pain vanished along with all awareness of the world around her.