Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows are Stirring ❯ Ryoga no Shisokonau/Akane no Risshiden ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five: Ryoga's Mistake and Akane's Success

"When?" Akane asked as the two of them packed the tent into Ranma's larger bag. They had already done their morning katas, and she was feeling quite a bit more refreshed than she had in a long time. He looked over to her. "When should we get married, Ranma?" she asked. She had taken off the ring because she didn't want to lose it. Ranma didn't know where she had put it, but she had decided that looping one of her bra straps through it was probably safest. Especially given that no one would see it there. They had both decided to keep the information a secret for as long as possible.

He shrugged and looked up to the edge of the foliage above them, looking for some sign of the morning sun. "Never thought about it, really. Didn't know if you'd say yes, or send me into orbit..." he grinned. "How bout you?"

"I don't know either. I was thinking after we were both out of school would be best, right?" she asked as he shouldered his pack and tested its weight. "Or would you prefer something else?"

"Probably for the best to wait." Akane took a deep breath to calm herself as she looked at him. By the way he was dressed, it was obvious that they would be doing a lot today. Rather than have his red Chinese shirt on, he just had his tank top and blue pants. She tore her eyes away from the muscles in his arms and moved over to her own pack to pick it up. She was borrowing a pair of his smaller pants and, although they were a little too small for her, they would work better than skirts or dresses. She promised him that she would get a few pairs of pants to train in when they returned home.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" a loud cry shouted from above. Akane looked up in surprise to see Ryoga leaping down towards the clearing, his red bamboo umbrella held above him like a sword. Ranma leapt aside and stood next to Akane.

"Hey, Ryoga, long time, no see. What's eating you this time?" Ranma asked cheerfully. She couldn't help but grin at the pleasantries that Ranma greeted his rival with, especially considering the death threat that had been issued - not like he wasn't used to those by now.

"You dare to take Akane out into these woods alone?" he demanded, levelling his weapon at Ranma's chest. "Animal!"

"What's wrong, pork butt?" Ranma taunted, moving away from Akane as he tossed his pack to the ground next to her. "She is my fiancée, you know..."

Ryoga didn't reply, but rather, he leapt at Ranma with lightning speed, jabbing with his umbrella all over the place. Ranma simply dodged the attacks and then kicked upwards. Ryoga's umbrella flew into the air and embedded itself into a tree. Ryoga seemed a bit sloppy, and it was then that Akane could see that he, too, fought with anger sometimes. A dangerous trait indeed, now that she could sit back and watch another use it. He wasn't nearly as successful in this assault thus far as he normally was - he hadn't managed to hit her fiancé even once.

Rather than be phased, Ryoga pulled at his bandana until he had three or four in his hand, and hurtled them at Ranma. Ranma leapt over the bandanas, and landed next to his pack. Akane took a step back to stay out of the way. She hadn't involved herself in the fights between Ryoga and Ranma for quite some time.

"You have other fiancées, Ranma! Did you bring them along too? How dare you?" Ryoga demanded. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he cried, diving at the ground at Ranma's feet. Ranma grabbed his pack and leapt over to Akane, where he set the pack down again and turned back to the lost boy. They didn't need to lose the only tent that they had with them.

"Surprised ya found us, actually. Didn't think anyone knew where we were going. Or did that fact help? If ya knew, ya wouldn't be here by now, would ya?" Ranma joked. "Besides, Akane is my only real fiancée. I do intend to marry her, ya know?"

A dark cloud surrounded Ryoga at Ranma's words. Ranma leapt back and stood next to Akane. "Uhoh," he whispered.

"He wouldn't..." Akane trailed off as Ryoga put his hands together.

"Shishi..." Ryoga started as a ball of energy appeared in his hands.

"Akane!" Ranma cried, grabbing his pack and lifting her into his arms. Knowing he didn't have time to actually run, he pushed out with his ki, trying his best to shield the both of them from the powerful attack of misery.

"Houkou Dan!" Ryoga's finished cry echoed through the woods. A massive explosion of ki energy erupted from Ryoga and blasted Ranma fully.

Ranma gritted his teeth against the strain, and suddenly found himself flying through the air, still holding Akane. The pain was incredible, more than he remembered feeling in a long time. He could hear Akane calling to him, trying to get his attention, but his head was swimming too fast to focus.

When they landed on the ground, Ranma set Akane down carefully, and then collapsed. Akane cried out and set a hand on his chest to try to determine the damage. Immediately, she felt a drain in her energy, and before she knew what was going on, she had lost consciousness as well.

Ryoga took several deep breaths, and then looked around. "Akane?" he stopped when he saw a sock on the ground that they had left behind. "Akane? No!" he cried into the air. "What have I done?" He collapsed to the ground and stayed there for a long time.

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Akane awoke feeling strangely refreshed, but not really sure what was going on. Sitting up, she found herself in a rather comfortable bed in a large room that had several other beds. The bed next to hers happened to have...

"Ranma!" Akane cried, throwing aside the covers to her own bed and moving next to Ranma quickly. He looked terrible, with burns down his left side and along most of his back. He had protected her from the Shishi Houkou Dan attack. "You shielded me..." Tears were starting to run down her face suddenly. She knew that he was not in very good condition. "I didn't ask you to do that, you baka," she whispered, stroking the side of his face with her hand. He felt desperately cold, like he had no energy in him at all.

"So, you are awake, young one," a voice called to her from the other side of the room. Akane stood up quickly, assessing the new threat. The man was quite old, and was leaning heavily on a walking stick, but that didn't really put her at ease. Visions of Cologne danced through her mind, and she steeled herself.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Tzusu, and I am the village elder."

Akane looked down to Ranma, satisfied that they weren't facing a threat just yet. "What happened?" she asked the old man, not taking her eyes of the injured Ranma.

"I don't know," he said softly. "A child of the village was playing in the fields and found the two of you. He was covering you, as though trying to protect you," he explained. "I'm sorry, miss, but I don't think your husband is going to make it..."

Akane stared down at Ranma as tears came to her eyes. He wasn't even her husband yet, and now he wasn't going to make it... She leaned down and kissing him gently on the forehead. She was surprised when she felt his ki flare up in response to her own, but more so when she felt a dark presence forcing the ki down again.

"What did you just do?" the old man demanded.

"I don't know... I just leaned in. That was his ki, though," she tried to explain.

"You two can ki transfer?" the man asked, surprised.

"Ki transfer?"

"Share energy... it can help with the healing process," the man explained.

Akane thought back, and remembered Ranma's attempts to save her. She felt his warmth then, and realized that it must have been his ki that she felt. It had been that feeling that had dragged her back from the edge of death, there was no question about it. Now hers was trying to reach him so she could help him, but something was in the way!

"Why isn't it working, though?" she asked. "I know that we have done it before. He would know more about it, though. He is sort of my master as well. My sensei."

"Him?" the man asked, incredulous. "But he's so young!"

Akane grinned. "Yeah, but I haven't seen anyone beat him yet. Even when things look bad, he usually comes back and saves the day."

The man walked over a stood next to Akane. "Ki can not be used here, child. Not safely. We need a stone from the mountain to shield us from the shadow. With the shadow watching, all ki is absorbed through it."

"Where is the mountain?" Akane demanded instantly.

"Oh, I wouldn't suggest going, child. It is far too dangerous. You may be a trained martial artist, but can you fight off daemons and shadows?" he asked.

"I would do anything for Ranma," she replied cooly. "He would do the same for me if our roles were reversed. I'll ask once more before I get angry. Where is the mountain?"

The man pointed to the right of the room. "Leave this building, and it is to the right. The stone is near the top of the mountain, and is a dark blue. It will not be easy to find in amongst the purple stones, though."

Akane didn't even hear the last part about purple stones. She was already out the door, running as fast as she could... as fast as Ranma had taught her to run. The thought of Ranma brought tears to her eyes. "I will not fail you, Ranma. This time, I'll protect you."

The old man looked after Akane for a moment, and then looked down at the injured Ranma. "She called you Ranma, I believe... Could you two be the ones?" he asked. He did not, as he expected, get a reply.

Outside, Akane found the mountain easily. It would not be a simple climb, although there did appear to be a rough path cut out to follow. Rather than wait for other options, she continued to run, and started the long climb. She couldn't even see the peak from the bottom.

As she rounded a bend, she heard a howl above her, and dove to the side as a large creature leapt down at her. Rolling back to her feet, she stared in surprise. This was no creature she had ever encountered before. It reared back and she leapt back in surprise as flames leapt from its mouth.

"A drake, here?" she wondered aloud. As she circled the drake, looking for an opening, it reared back to breathe fire again. "Now!" she cried, charging and striking hard with her fists as fast as she could at the exposed neck. She was suddenly very glad that Ranma had started teaching her the Chestnut Roasting in an Open Fire technique.

The beast slumped backwards, and withdrew. Rather than take the time to follow it, Akane turned and continued to run up the path. She dodge nimbly aside of the next, larger drake, and came upon a small plateau a few minutes later. Looking back, she found that she was quite high up already, but she still couldn't' even see the peak.

As she took a moment to look around, she was startled to see shadows starting to surround her. Looking up, she saw nothing that could be casting such shadows. Suddenly she remembered the old man's warning about shadows. Leaping upwards, she found that she couldn't call on her ki energy to propel her forwards. She cried out as she landed in one of the shadows completely, and her world collapsed around her.

Through the window, Akane could see Ukyo sitting at the foot of the bed, Ranma still under the covers. "Come back, Ucchan," Ranma said with a laugh. "You can get to work later. For now, we still have work here!"

Ukyo smiled back to him, but shook her head. "And just what kind of example would that be for our kids, huh, Ran-chan?" she replied with a grin. Standing, she moved up to the head of the bed and gave Ranma a deep kiss. "Now you get up and open the Dojo. Classes should be started soon, shouldn't they?"

Ranma smiled. "Of course, honey."

Akane pulled back from the window and fought back the tears. What was going on? Ranma with Ukyo? But Ranma was badly injured... what if Ukyo had found out first and decided to try and help? What if she was already with him now? "Kids?" Akane's mind spun suddenly. "How would they have kids already? This must just be a trick in my mind. I've got to get out of these shadows!" she cried. As her world once again shattered around her, she found herself lying on the ground, shadows swarming all around her. They seemed startled when she stood.

She cried out and she ran and jumped, pushing off the ground with all her might. She landed on one hand in a small free space and flipped forward, landing this time on her feet just beyond the furthest shadow. Without waiting to see if they were following her, she started running again, very pleased suddenly that Ranma had given her a pair of his pants. That jump would have been much harder in a skirt.

Continuing on her way up the mountain, she suddenly found her path blocked by a large, scaly skinned creature. It was standing before an archway, which was the only way along the path. It didn't move, although it was obvious that it saw her. It was just waiting for her to make the first move.

Ranma needs me now! she thought urgently. I don't have time for this!

Abandoning all reason, Akane charged at the ogre as fast as her legs would carry her without being pushed by her ki energy. The beast lifted its arms to club her, and she dove through the opening that she suddenly saw. Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Ultimate Technique! she thought with a grin. Can't defeat it now... run away until you can!

Coming out on the other side of the ogre's legs, she heard it bellow and saw it start to move. Scrambling to her feet, she tore off up the mountain. When she reached the next plateau, she stopped before entering it. Instead of just running in, she peering around a boulder to try and see what was waiting for her.

On this plateau, it looked like there was a small family of drakes. There were two very large, deadly looking drakes, a few that she had seen earlier, and a couple that were no bigger than she was. She figured those drakes must have been children, still.

There was no way she could beat them, but there had to be a way to pass them. She crawled to the edge of the path and swung her legs out over the side. Deftly, she caught the ledge with both hands and started to move hand over hand until she reached the other side of the plateau. She pulled herself up just enough to see that the drakes were looking in generally the other direction. She pulled herself up the rest of the way quickly and ran beyond the flat to the mountain path again.

As she ran, something sparkled near her feet. Bending down to examine, she found a small purple stone. It seemed to be shimmering slightly at her touch. Shrugging, she held onto the rock and continued on the way up. As she looked up, getting a bit winded by this time, she saw that she was almost at the top. She decided very easily that she did not want to look down at this point.

As she rounded the bend, expecting to find something horrible, she saw a large pool of water. Confused, she walked a little closer to the water's edge and looked in. Although she could barely see the bottom, there was no mistaking the gleam of the stones found there. There were dozens of purple stones like the one she held, and a couple of blue stones here and there. She could feel the energy of the blue stones from where she was.

"Damn it!" Akane shouted at the top of her lungs. "Why the hell didn't I ever learn how to swim?!" Several images of her attempts to learn flashed through her mind quickly before she forced them down again. She had tried to learn, but nothing had been effective thus far.

As she dropped to her knees in defeat, she closed her eyes, and all she could see was Ranma lying on the bed, burned badly. She heard the old man's voice in her mind again suddenly. 'I'm sorry miss, but I don't think your husband is going to make it...'

"I didn't even have the chance to make him my husband, yet!" Akane cursed, punching the ground, cracking the rocks she was kneeling on. She stood slowly, filling with a false confidence that she in no way really felt. She dropped the purple stone on the ground, and it clattered loudly on the other rocks. "I'll get that blue stone, even if it kills me!" she said fiercely. Without another thought, she leapt into the pool of water and started to sink right away.

Before she could panic, she had reached the bottom of the pool. Reaching down, she tried to feel for the right rock, but couldn't. She opened her eyes to try and see, but the water stun badly. Ignoring the pain, she spotted the closest blue stone and picked it up quickly. She could feel herself getting lightheaded from the lack of air. She should have taken a bigger breath before leaping in.

Now that she had the stone, she had to figure out how to get to the surface again. She pushed off the ground as she tried to jump, and rose a bit. Grabbing the wall with her free hand, she pulled herself up a little higher, floating upwards slowly in the water. The idea then hit her. Grabbing at the wall with her free hand, she put both feet against the wall as well and pushed as hard as she could. She shot up to the surface quickly.

Just before she broke the surface, she ran out of air and tried to catch a breath. Instead, she got a lung full of water. Gasping for a real breath when she was finally free of the water, she coughed violently and pulled herself out slowly. She then laid down on the rock and tried to catch her breath. Rolling onto her side, she spit up a lot of water, and then started to breath normally again.

She had done it! She had actually swam to the bottom and back up. Sort of, anyway. Standing slowly, Akane steadied herself against the rock of the mountain. She bent down again slowly to retrieve the purple stone she had found earlier, and pocketed it along with the blue stone.

She flexed her muscles experimentally, and found her ki flowing through her again. Whatever had had a hold on her energy was gone in the face of the stone. She had to get it to Ranma as soon as possible. He wouldn't hold on much longer.

Running to the edge of the plateau, she looked down, and immediately wished that she hadn't. She couldn't even see the base. Ranma's quiet words of encouragement came to her suddenly. When in doubt, just do it. Don't think. You have the skills. Taking a deep breath, she ran at the ledge and jumped.

She bounced off the plateau beneath her, and pushed off to aim at the next ledge she saw. Two more ledges and she could see the bottom of the mountain. She stopped at the next ledge as she saw that she couldn't reach the lower ledge without moving over. As she turned to walk across the plateau, she found herself face to face with the family of drakes.

"Genko Fenikkusu!" Akane didn't know where she came up with the right words, but suddenly a ball of ki erupted from her form and burst into flames as it attacked the drakes that were in her path. The flames suddenly had what looked like wings and the ki took shape. With a blinding flash of energy, the flames were gone, but the drakes had been hammered into the rock wall behind them. The larger drakes were trying to stand, while the other drakes didn't look like they'd be moving any time soon. Akane balked and fell to one knee. That had taken a lot more energy than she had expected. "I'll have to get Ranma to show me what I'm doing sometime..." she groaned. "After I save him, of course!" she leapt up again, her energy coming back to her as she remembered Ranma's battered form waiting for her at the bottom.

Running along the edge, she leapt down again and bounced off the remaining ledges until she came to a halt at the bottom of the cliffs. Looking back briefly, she could barely believe that she did it. Without taking any more time, she ran back to the small hut she had left and burst into the door.

Before the old man could say anything to her, she ran over to the still fallen Ranma and put the stone in his right hand and wrapped hers around it. "Come on, Ranma, don't leave me now! Please, don't leave me yet!" she cried when she saw no response. She started when she felt his warm ki suddenly flare to life, and lost consciousness the next moment.

The old man moved to catch her before she fell. He could see the ki energy of the two combining in the air. There was a soft red mixing with a pale blue. It was simply more than he had expected. She had returned successful from the mountain. He lifted her carefully without breaking the contact between the two and laid her down next to the boy she had called Ranma.

He frowned when he sensed something strange about the girl. Reaching into her pockets quickly at the thought, he withdrew a purple stone. It was no longer shining purple, but had a black malevolence surrounding it. "What have you done, girl?" he asked quietly. He did not expect an answer yet, but when they awoke, he had to hope that they were ready. They would not have much time before it arrived.

The old man suddenly found himself wishing that the girl had died on the mountain before finding the purple stone. It would have been much easier, though it would not have changed anything. Maybe... just maybe the two before him really could bring a change. Maybe the shadows really were about to leave the valley.

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Genko Fenikkusu: Phoenix Fist. Akane's power move equalling Ranma's Hiryu Shoten Ha, it is a move that funnels her burning ki into a mass of energy that slams into the enemy like a flaming bird.