Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Thirst for Blood ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: Neither Ranma 1/2 nor Sailormoon are mine. I ain't that brilliant, wish I was though, it make a life a lot easier.

Thirst for Blood

By: Dusk

Wind. It howled and bit at the flesh. It robbed the body of warmth and battered the senses. Sensible, fearful people stayed indoors on such a night but there were always some that braved the outdoors no matter the conditions, even on a night like this. Coal black clouds obscured the stars and moon. But that made little difference in a place like Tokyo. Street lights, neon signs, shop windows and hundreds of vehicle lights lit the night in harsh tones. Streets were nearly as bright as day, alleys shrouded in darkness so thick one could barely see their hands in front of their face. Few of the brave souls out at night dared to enter the alleys and other dark secrets of the city. Those that did were often predators, mundane, supernatural or bestial.

In one such alley a predator stirred. It had being sleeping nearly the entire day, only now under the cover of darkness coming out. The wind had woken it like the smell of blood waked a wolf. The figured raised it self into a standing position, than looked upwards towards a nearby roof. With a brief tensing and an almost casual movement it leapt up onto the roof, landing with barely a whisper. The whisper was completely drowned out by the wind. A short run along the roof and another nearly soundless leap and the figure was moving at moving at speeds that defied what was humanly possible. Winds that would have slowed many walking the streets were ignored as if they were nothing. The figured moved faster yet, speeding into a blur as moved it towards the brightly lit streets of the shopping district.

Arriving at its destination it slowed down, moving at a casual pace, compared to what it had shown earlier but still faster than most athletes were capable of. It moved in the shadows, unseen by any that would seek it out. But none sought it out, for none in the city new it was there. If one had observed the figure they would have noted that it was moving as if hunting. And indeed the figure was hunting. It searched the malls, the theatres and the bars and dark areas that most would rather be left unnamed. It sought areas that were well populated even on a night like this. Its prey would gather into such places.

A distant bolt lightening illuminated the sky causing light to briefly fall on the hidden figure. The flash was brief enough that no real detail could be seen, but if any had even noticed the figure they would have seen a red, chinese shirt on the figure and they might have even noticed the hair done in an unusual pigtail. One thing that they would have seen and remembered for the rest of their life were the figures eyes. They gleamed with a cold, hard and unforgiving light.

Ranma hunted the night.

In other parts of Tokyo, in a district called Juuban people who were not predators slept and dreamed, even through a night like the one outside their thin windows. Or maybe it was because of the night that they dreamed. The howling and primal feel stirring old instinctual memories in those that slept. Whether those dreams were of fear or hunger varied from individual to individual.

One girl in specific had vivid dreams, dreams of fear, pain, and hate. Vengeance, despair, and loss also made themselves known. Near the end of one such dream Rei Hino woke bathed in sweat, her heart pounding and her lungs gasping for breath. She knew beyond doubt that Tokyo was in danger. Usagi would and the rest of the scouts would have to be told immediately. Rei stumbled out of her bed still clumsy from having just woken up. The clock showed that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning, too early to wake her friends. But not too early to talk to Setsuna, she would know what was going on she always did.

Setsuna herself was gazing at the time gates. Images were swirling chaotically around her. The future was in very real danger but there was nothing that she could do about it. She had known that was coming for some time now, but there was nothing that she could do about it. It was beyond even her control. With a last forlorn look at the gates that had been her closest friends for millennia she turned her back on them and teleported to her home in Juuban.

In both Setsuna's visions and Rei's dreams one figured featured prominently. A figure in a red chinese shirt, black kung fu pants and wearing it's hair in a pigtail. Sometimes the person was female, sometimes male but always it was the same person. How Rei or Setsuna knew that it was the same person they couldn't say. They didn't know how they knew, only that they knew. Both dreaded telling the rest of the scouts, both knew that they would leave many questions unanswered but they had no choice. They didn't know the answers themselves.

Authors Note: Yes it's short, but that's all I want for now. It'll have longer chapters, this is only a prologue.