Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows are Stirring ❯ Okui Mokuhyou ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Sixteen: The True Target

As she opened her eyes slowly, all she could really make out was the bright red hair that was dangling in front of her face. Her hair. She could tell that. After a moment when her head became a bit more clear, she could also tell something else. Her hands were in shackles and her feet bound together.

She tried to cough, but found her throat almost too dry to manage. Looking up from her position on the ground, Ranma-chan found herself looking into the eyes of a tall man wearing a black mask to cover his face.

"Bout time you woke up. The boss would've had our heads if we'd killed you," he grunted, poking her with the butt of his spear.

Ranma-chan groaned in the pain that was running through her body as she tried to grasp what was going on around her. She knew that she was a prisoner somewhere... that much was pretty obvious. 'Akane...' Her fiancée's name flashed through her mind and she knew that she didn't really have the time to lie on the ground in pain. But how was she going to get out of this one?

"I..." she managed through her dry throat, and the guard leaned down a bit. "I have to use the bathroom," she managed. At least that would get her feet free, even if her hands were still bound. It would be better than nothing.

The guard grunted and leaned down. She watched as he pulled out a knife and cut the ropes on her feet. As soon as the bonds were cut, she spun around on the floor with all the strength she could muster and kicked him hard in the side of the head. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, and Ranma-chan groaned as she worked on standing up. It was one thing entirely to get up while in pain... another thing entirely to do so without using our hands.

She looked around quickly. She had to find a key or something for her metal shackles. There had to be something in her holding cell that would help... That thought went right out the window as she looked around the small room. There were the bodies of quite a few girls that she recognized lying about, still unconscious, or at least, her mind was hoping that's all they were. She spotted the figure of the okonomoyaki chef a few feet away from her, and the crazed gymnast a little further away. Shampoo was leaning against the wall, but her eyes were at least open.

"Nihao... Ranma..." she whispered to her. She made her way over to the sitting girl quickly to see if she could help. It was obvious that the amazon woman was in pain as well.

"Shampoo," Ranma-chan whispered. "You alright? Any idea where we are?" she asked as she looked around the dark room. "And any idea where Akane is?"

"Violent pervert girl no brought here," Shampoo replied. "Looks like they just got the pretty ones..."

Ranma-chan kept her lips sealed as she looked over the girl, but could find no serious injuries. "I'm going to take a look around," Ranma-chan said softly as she stood up again. "If anyone else wakes up, see if you can sort out some way to escape."

The red head made her way to the door, stepping over a few girls that she didn't recognize at all, and leaned against it, listening for any sounds at all. There were at least two people outside the door talking, but she couldn't tell if it was any more than that. Hopefully one of them would have keys to her shackles... she was not used to using only her feet. Her hands were by far her choice of weapons, and she knew it would not be an easy escape if she couldn't fight. 'But Akane could be in trouble...'

With a leap, she kicked the door off its hinges and spun around to continue the kick at once, striking one of the guards in the side of the head as she had done to the other one earlier. The last guard looked surprised, but recovered quickly enough to swing his spear at her. She landed on the ground and ducked as low as she could, and then flipped backwards to avoid the next swing.

When the sharp blade of the spear came at her again, she caught it with the metal bindings clamped to her wrists and pulled. As the man stumbled forward, she kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying backwards against the wall, where he stayed unmoving.

Breathing heavily by now, she stepped out from the small room and found herself in the middle of a small island. The only thing present that she could see was the small shack that they had been put in. In the distance, however, was a boat that looked like it was coming their way.

It wasn't that difficult for Ranma-chan to find the dock where the boat would undoubtedly be pulling up to if it was, in fact, coming to the small island. It was a little more difficult for her to hide beneath the dock out of sight when she was still unable to use her hands. The metal shackles were too much for her female form to break free from... what she wouldn't give for a pot of boiling water - even if it meant being burned.

Luck was not of her side in that case, however. Patience wasn't on her side either, but she managed to hold out until the hull of the ship was pulled up alongside her. Peering out from under the dock carefully, she could see several more masked men carrying more girls over their shoulders to deposit them in the small shack.

Deciding that she really didn't have much time if she was going to get onto the ship before they discovered the guards she had taken out, she dropped to the ground and ran around and up the port. To her relief, it didn't look like they had left any guards on the ship. She ran along the deck and darted down the stairs to the cabins. It was only once she was beneath the deck that she heard the commotion start outside, and she knew she had to find a hiding place fast.

She found one of the cabin doors partially open, to her relief, and slipped inside, making sure to push the door closed to the same position again once she was inside. Looking around quickly as footsteps were heard above, she saw a bed in one corner and a desk in the other that was covered with papers.

She knew that she didn't really have the time to look through the papers, but she couldn't help but glance at them quickly. There might be a clue as to what was going on. The top sheet told her all she really needed to know before she heard the boots on the steps warning of someone's approach.

"Saotome should have come by now. He would not have allowed this many kidnappings. We may need to develop a new plan." There was a large H sighed on the bottom of the page, but Ranma left the note where it was and rolled under the bed just as the door swung open and a guard stuck his head in.

Thinking about how obvious it would be to simply look under the bed, she deftly caught a corner with either foot and lifted both her hands up to press against the wall, lifting her body off the ground to be hidden by the wooden frame of the bed.

When the guard finally left the room, she relaxed. That thought went right out the window when the door banged open again. "Could this be the work of Saotome?" a man demanded angrily.

"I don't know, sir," another man replied. "How would he have found the island?"

"He's got resources now, Jilon," the first man said angrily. "But he only seemed to rescue one of the girls. Why? If he really made it this far out to sea, why didn't he rescue more than one?"

"Perhaps his ship was too small, sir," the man called Jilon said.

"Hmm..." The first man was obviously pacing back and forth in the room. "I think the girl might have escaped on her own, but I'm not sure how she made it off the island. The boss'll be mad if we tell him, but he wanted us to kill them all anyway, not just kidnap them."

"If the girl simply escaped, how can we find her? If she makes it to land, she could spoil everything."

"What kind of girl do you know that could swim over a hundred miles?" the first man laughed. "No, she'll drown, and that'll be that. I wish it hadn't come to that, though," he added, slamming his fist on the table. "If only Saotome had acted before now... if only he had shown himself. No one had to die..."

"Maybe he's not as honourable as he claimed, sir," Jilon pointed out. "I mean, he did sort of steal from us, remember? Perhaps he was lying about more than one thing."

"The thought has gone through my mind as well, but Harito gave his orders. He figured that, even if he wasn't honourable enough not to steal, he might be honourable enough to protect a few girls as they were being kidnapped."

"What do you suggest we do, sir?"

The first man sighed and sank into his chair. "I don't know, Jilon. I have a few men in Nermia still searching for him. That was his last known whereabouts, after all. Maybe if they can find him before Harito finds out that he hasn't shown up yet, we can return the girls and no harm will have come from it."

"Very good, sir. I will inform the crew to make for Nermia at top speed."

Ranma-chan released the breath she barely realized that she had been holding as Jilon slipped from the room and shut the door. Easing herself to the ground, she peered out from under the bed and found the other man sitting in his chair, looking over the papers on the desk. He looked quite tired.

In an instant, Ranma-chan had rolled out from under the bed and had the man held tightly by the head using both hands. Even if she was in shackles, she could still hold him firmly. "What's goin on here?" she demanded. "Who are ya, and why are ya lookin fer Saotome?" She had to know if it was all her fault or not, but from what had been said, it sounded like it probably all lead back to her father.

The man seemed almost pleased by her sudden appearance, despite being held in a death grip. "I see you survived after all, miss," he said gruffly before Ranma-chan tightened the pressure and he grunted. "Alright, alright, relax," he said quickly. "What do you want to know?"

"I thought I made myself clear bout that, didn't I?" Ranma-chan asked, increasing the pressure just a little more. "Which Saotome are ya lookin for, and who are ya ta be tryin ta find him? And just who is this Harito and what's he got against em?"

"You should know that I can't answer all of that. You should also know that I can call the guards at any minute, and they would kill you on the spot."

"And you should know that I could kill ya before ya had a chance ta yell," Ranma-chan replied. She hated to think that that was her only option, but if it was going to be another kill or be killed situation with no other options, she knew which path she would be forced on again. "I don't wanna turn this into another Saffron, got it?"

The man shook his head slightly. "I don't understand," he replied. He grunted again as the pressure increased once more. "Alright, I'll tell you what I can. My name is Frilanas, and I am a servant in the house of Harito. He is after Genma Saotome for crimes against his court. Harito wants the full Saotome clan kidnapped, but said he'd be happy even if he just got Genma."

Ranma-chan growled despite herself and tightened her grip a little more. "What did he do ta Harito?"

"I can't tell you that!" Frilanas said desperately. "Please believe me! I just don't know! I wasn't working for him back then!"

"Why's he only started lookin now?"

"We received word that he had finally settled down with a wife and child, and thought it an excellent time when he would be caught off guard to capture him."

Ranma-chan shook her head. She wished she knew how close they were to shore by now. If she knew, then she might fill in a couple of the man's blanks. After all, he did decide to keep everyone alive, rather than kill them. He wasn't a horrible man, after all. "Ya've got honour, I can respect that," she said gruffly. "If I let ya go, are ya gonna try anything?"

"I will not call for guards, but if one comes, then I can not be held responsible for that."

Ranma-chan nodded and took a deep breath before releasing the man and leaping backwards, bringing her bound hands up to a ready position just in case. Although she rarely used a fighting stance, without her hands, she knew she could be in trouble.

The man turned and saw Ranma-chan standing prepared, and smiled, but did no get up. "You have great honour as well, miss. Would you be willing to tell me your name, to put us on a more level field?"

Ranma-chan thought quickly. "I suppose that couldn't hurt much. Ya gave yer word not ta call the guards, after all. I'm Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," she said. "Genma's my pop."

"You're the child?" the man demanded, standing quickly. He didn't look threatening, however. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Almost eighteen," Ranma-chan replied. "I'd say yer sources are a little behind, Frilanas."

The man nodded. "I suppose so. I must admit, though, you don't seem as upset as I thought you would be at the news of us hunting for your father."

Ranma-chan shrugged. "Doesn't surprise me. Ya should hear of some of de things he's done ta me over the years. I think I've got probably twenty or more fiancees out there somewhere."

"That matches the Genma that we knew - anything for money and food." The man then gave Ranma-chan a quick look over. "How is it that you managed to escape, and for that matter, if you are the child of Genma, how did you manage to maintain any honour?"

Ranma-chan shook her head. "I told ya, I'm trained in the School of Anything Goes. Like a couple of guards and a splitting headache's gonna keep me from gettin home." She then sighed. "That, and I've got a special someone waitin for me at home. As for the honour, I'm just bein me. Couldn't be the heir to the school without honour. It's about time someone put some into it, after all."

She froze as she heard a loud commotion on the deck. The sound of fighting was breaking out above. That could only mean one of two things - someone else had snuck on board earlier and had been found, or they had made it to a dock and someone was fighting their way on. Either way, it sounded a lot better than being cooped up with Frilanas.

With a curt nod to the black haired man, she turned and kicked the door down. Looking quickly up and down the corridor, she saw that the coast was clear and the path to the steps leading up was empty. She ran upstairs and slowed as she stepped out onto the deck. There were over a dozen guards all knocked out, and a few more trying to regroup.

It didn't take long to find the source of the trouble. They had made it to dock, and a girl she recognized instantly, as she had a special place in her heart, was intent on taking the ship. "'kane!" she shouted.

"Ranma?" Akane called back, surprised by her sudden appearance. With a flying kick, she took out the closest guard and ran over to Ranma, throwing her arms around him. "Thank kami, I thought you were a goner!"

"It'll take more than this riffraff to take out me," Ranma-chan said with a grin as Akane let go. "Think ya can break these bindings?" she added, holding up her hands.

"I think it is time to put an end to this farce, Ranma," a voice called from behind him.

Ranma-chan turned instantly to find Frilanas coming up the stairs. "We're leaving, Frilanas!" Ranma-chan replied. "Don't try ta stop us."

"I'm afraid you are wrong there, Ranma. You see, you can lead us to him. Or, if you somehow managed to escape, then you would be able to put a stop to our plans and warn him to go into hiding."

"He doesn't seem to need help to hide from the likes of you."

"Ranma, what's going on?" Akane asked.

"I'll tell ya later," she promised.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, Ranma," Frilanas declared as he took off the brown coat that he was wearing and tossed it to the side. "Because now, you don't stand a chance."

Akane leapt in the opposite direction of Ranma-chan as the man shot forward so quickly he almost became invisible. She was pleased that the two still seemed to be working in tandem.

"You don't stand the chance, Frilanas," Ranma-chan retorted.

"You're fast," the man said, turning to find both fighters standing together in front of the steps leading down to the cabins. "But it won't do you any good." He suddenly put his hands together and his battle aura flared to life around him.

"Get down!" Ranma-chan shouted to Akane, pushing her to the side as she dove in the opposite direction. Moments later, a jet of energy pulsed from the man, decimating the cabins behind the two. "He's got ki the likes of which I've never seen."

"I can see that, Ranma!" Akane shouted back as she leapt to her feet. "But that's not going to help him!"

"That's my girl," Ranma-chan replied, leaping to her feet and darting forward. She flipped forward as she ran, knowing how useless her hands were at the moment, and pushed off her hands to try and kick the man hard in the chest. She was surprised by the lack of resistance, however, which told her that her attack had missed entirely. She grunted as she felt a foot connect with her back, and she crashed to the deck and rolled instantly to avoid the follow up attack.

As she rolled, she saw Akane coming in for an attack of her own. With her hands free, she stood a better chance than Ranma, and she knew it. Using everything that Ranma had been teaching her and moving as fast as she possibly could, she came in strong and caught the man in the gut. She followed the attack with a block as the man kicked to her side, and she spun aside, using the force of his kick to propel her own. The man rolled backwards to avoid her attack, and then stood ready for the next.

Ranma-chan had to admit that she was impressed. Akane had really improved. Something behind the two fighters caught her eye, though. When Frilanas had destroyed the cabins, he had revealed the gallows of the ship. Normally her mind wouldn't have been on food just then, but the sight of the pot of soup had never been more welcoming.

"Hold him off, 'kane!" she shouted, flipping to her feet and starting forward.

"Like she can!" their enemy replied fiercely, striking the air in front of him with a hard, flat palm. His ki caused the attack to ripple through the air and knock both fighters backwards hard. Ranma-chan turned when he heard Akane's cry of pain, and saw she had struck the side of the ship hard.

"Damn you!" she said angrily, abandoning the idea of the soup and standing ready before the man. "No one hits Akane but me, got it? And I'd only do it during training!" She felt her own battle aura flare up around her, but then forced her emotions down. The thought had just come to her. Fighting at a disadvantage was something she had done before... something she had succeeded at before.

The Hiryu Shoten Ha. Dragon's Heaven Blast. Ranma-chan made it look like she was coming in for the attack, and the man countered like she had hoped. She could see his battle aura flaring even brighter, but refused to let her own out. Stepping deftly to the side, she avoided his first attack and started to work on the spiral.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Akane get to her feet. It couldn't concern her right then. She had to trust that Akane could see what was going on and would stay out of the way. She was halfway through the spiral when the first attack landed.

Gritting her teeth, she dug a foot into the deck to avoid losing the spiral and took the next step, deftly dodging a roundhouse kick in the process. The centre of the spiral was coming closer... just two more steps... one more step...

"There!" Ranma-chan shouted, flipping one her bound hands and kicking the man hard in the gut, using the force of the spiral and the conflicting auras. "Hiryu Shoten Ha revised! Dragon Heaven's Kick!" The rush of energy around her nearly deafened her, and the man flew upwards into the spiral of energy that had erupted from the attack.

Panting heavily, Ranma-chan knelt to one knee, and found Akane at her side in an instant. "You alright, 'kane?" she asked.

"Of course, Ranma," she replied. "Nice shot, by the way."

"Yes... it was fairly good. Not good enough to defeat me by any stretch, but good just the same." Both turned quickly to find Frilanas landing behind them on his feet. He looked a little worse for the wear, but over all not as harmed as he should have been after taking the full force of the Hiryu Shoten Ha.

Ranma-chan wasted no time before attacking again, hoping to catch the man off guard. "Rising Dragon Strike!" she shouted as she spun into the air and kicked at him hard, hoping to catch him in the chin to send him flying. Instead, she met a barrier of ki and was thrown backwards hard, high over Akane's head.

"No one is taking my Ranma away from me!" Akane shouted as she attacked in his place. She met the same barrier that he had run into, and brought her own ki shield forth to try and neutralize it. She stood rooted to the spot for a moment until she noticed the man was advancing towards her. She brought her arms up to block the strike, and was flung backwards for her efforts.

She landed at the feet of Ranma as he was standing. He was dripping in day old soup, and he wrinkled his nose at the smell. It wasn't something he could worry about right then, though. "That's it," Ranma said coldly to Frilanas. "This ends now." Holding up his bound hands, he flexed the muscles that his male body had and snapped the chain. "We will not be defeated by you."

He was aware of Akane standing next to him suddenly, and subconsciously the two took up their fighting stances that would start their kata. No words were spoken between the two martial artists as they started forward in their attack. Ranma punched at the barrier as they came upon it, putting the full force of his ki behind it, and felt it shatter beneath the blow.

"Ifuriito Butsu!" Akane shouted as she attacked moments before Ranma. A ball of fire surrounded her hands as she struck the man hard, sending him flying backwards. He turned as he flew, and found himself face to face with Ranma's foot. And he crashed to the ground, Ranma hauled him to his feet.

"Haku Dato Shin Sho!" Ranma's fists became blurs as he released the man and struck him again and again in as many vulnerable spots as he could manage. When the attack finished, Frilanas sunk to the ground, resting on one knee.

"I... admit defeat..." he said hoarsely, coughing violently once the words escaped his mouth.

"Right," Ranma said coldly to him as Akane came up beside him. Putting an arm around her, he looked back to the man. "Ya're a man of yer word, right?"

"I am, Saotome Ranma," Frilanas replied. "A man of honour... like you."

"Fine." Ranma turned away from him with Akane. "Go rescue the others and bring 'em home. I do not expect to see yer face again... got it?"

As the two walked off the ship, Akane turned and hugged Ranma. "Thank kami..." she whispered to him. He wrapped his arms around her, too.

"Good to be back, 'kane..."

She then separated and looked up at him, wrinkling her nose. "You smell."

Ranma grinned and shook his head. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"But I don't care," she added, hugging him again. When they again pulled apart, she looked into his brown eyes with her own green ones. She then stood up a little higher to give him a gentle kiss before leaning into him. "What happened to you, anyway?"

"Long story short, I escaped. How bout you? How come they didn't getcha, too? I heard ya try to help in the fight..."

Akane shook her head. "Dad and Mr. Saotome joined in. So did Ryoga. They didn't really stand a chance against all four of us. By the time we had fought them off, though, it was too late to catch you."

"Everything worked out, so it doesn't matter," Ranma said with a shrug. "Everything alright at home?"

Akane looked to him. "I'm not sure. I've been waiting at the docks for the ship to return."

Ranma's face seemed to pale at that news, and then he looked towards the heart of town, to where the Dojo would be. "C'mon. We've gotta get home now." She didn't need any encouragement as they leapt to the nearest rooftop and started running.

They arrived to find the Dojo under repairs. "Dad? Kasumi? Nabiki?" Akane called out as they landed in the yard. Mr. Tendo appeared almost instantly, and started wailing at the sight of his daughter returned with Ranma.

Kasumi was infinitely more helpful when she came out of the house. "Oh, you're back," she said with a smile. "I knew that you'd be alright, Ranma. Akane found you, right?"

"Of course," Ranma said, giving Akane a little squeeze before separating. They couldn't reveal anything in front of everyone yet. Had to be careful. "Not like I needed help from an uncute tomboy like that, though."

"I only helped you because they forced me to. Not like I wanted you to come back," Akane growled, turning away from him.

"Did Mr. Saotome find you, too?" Kasumi asked, snapping Ranma's attention back to her.

"Whadda ya mean?"

"Well, he went off looking for you, too. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"I doubt it," Nodoka said from the entrance to the Dojo, which still hadn't been repaired. The outer wall had seen quite a bit of action over the years, but it still took time to repair. "They got him."

"What?" Ranma demanded, turning to his mother.

"He brought me back to my house, as act that surprised me coming from him. Just as he was leaving, they attacked me again. He tried to rescue me, but when they saw him, they turned on him, got him, and ran."

"Pops protected ya, mom?" Ranma asked in surprise.

"Not what I expected either, Nodoka admitted. "But he did. And now they have him."

"Who have him?" Akane asked.

"Harito," Ranma said coldly, sitting down in the middle of the grass near the koi pond. Once everyone else had gathered round, he explained what he had learned on the ship.

"So, what now, then, Ranma?" Ryoga asked. "Are we going after them?"

Ranma shook his head. "He didn't tell me where they were from, Ryoga," Ranma said with a shrug. "We'll hafta wait for them ta make the next move." He then turned to Mr. Tendo again. "Do ya mind if Mom and me stay here for a while, until we figure out the next move?"

"Ryoga and Akari are staying in the Dojo already," Tendo replied with a nod. "If you two can share the guest room, then it is not a problem. You are always welcome in this home, Ranma," he said. "You are Akane's fiancee, after all."

"Great... more time with the uncute tomboy," he muttered under his breath. "Just what I always wanted.

"Baka!" Akane replied, hitting him in the shoulder. Mr. Tendo broke into tears again at the sight of them fighting, but he seemed to be the only one who didn't expect it. Ranma wasn't sure why, but something about the way Nabiki was looking at them told him that she might have figure something out.

"Yeah, well, I'm goin ta the Dojo ta train a bit. Found out I gotta work on my legs a bit more," he said calmly. Once he was inside the Dojo, he found the Ryoga and Akane had followed him, and he turned to both.

"Can ya keep a look out, Ryoga?" Ranma asked, turning to his once rival.

"What for, Ranma?"

"I want to thank Akane properly for coming ta help me."

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Ifuriito Butsu: Ifrit's Punishment. One of Akane's ki charged attacks, her hand is coated in her aura, and she uses a flat palm to strike the enemy in the centre of the chest. When observed, it looks like she is directing flames rather than punching.