Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ So Cold ❯ Messages ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: xzero 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Martial Arts | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 611 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Martial Arts | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 611 | Status: Work In Progress
Ranma would come here; he would return to the Tendo Dojo and with his arrival would come evil.
She wished she could tell them more, tell them what was to come, but she had learned that forewarning of things to come would only make things worse. With a sigh she began again.
So Cold
By: XZero
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 4 - Messages
Phoenix Mountain - Royal Gardens
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she gazed out over the horizon. The sunset from this point atop the mountain was the most beautiful; the lake within the crater at the center of the summit was glistening wondrously in the fading light of day. It would grow cold soon, and her vision was poor at best when night came. Her ability to augment her physical abilities was not restrained to just her muscles, but when marveling in the beauty of nature there was no need to enhance her vision to observe the magnificence of the land and sky. Her thoughts of late settled more and more on the youngish Saotome whom she had spent the majority of her time with since his awakening. She could feel the effects of his charismatic personality even when she was reminding herself how she had become two decades his elder since their last meeting. He was probably still in love with the girl he'd originally come to the lands of phoenix for.
"Y'know, this is what kept me goin' a lot of times." A male voice came from behind her; she'd not sensed him she was so deep in thought. A light blush tinged her features. Her normal alertness should've given her forewarning of his approach. As it was she had been taken entirely off guard and was more than a little startled by his presence. She fought momentarily to regain her composure again before speaking.
"What do you mean Ranma?" She had taken to calling him by name since his emergence from the ice. The level of intimacy in her tone had only seemed to increase. She suddenly was hit with a rush of shame. What was going on? Why was she becoming so close to him? She could only drop into her own thoughts again as she recalled his presence. He hadn't begun speaking again or had finished. She turned her face in his direction, and as usual could see only the corona of power that surrounded him. His aura licked around him, and was strangely radiating warmth. She almost remarked on it, but decided to remain silent as he began speaking, inching closer to the gentle heat that emanated from him.
"I traveled with Pops for ten years, learning the Art. We never really stayed in one place too long, mostly we'd stop every couple years for about two months, just long enough for me to catch up in school.
"At first, I remember missing my mom, wondering how she was. But, over time I forgot things, like what she looked like, her voice. It was when I couldn't remember her was when I missed her the most, missed having a home. I looked at the stars a lot, watched sunsets and sunrises before and after warming up or cooling down from training for the day. Sometime, I was about seven, I think, Pops saw me looking at them, and he taught me what the constellations were, what they represented, and the stories. I remember, cause it was one of the few times me and pops did something together that didn't involve fighting." He got quiet midway through, and she could sense the sorrow that welled up in him even without being able to see the depression take hold in his aura. Without thought she spun and wrapped him in an embrace, feeling his power roll over her. So intense, but it did not expel or harm her, instead she felt the power melt around her, accommodating her strong but feminine frame.
She didn't know why she felt compelled to hold him, but she reveled in the contact, and for that matter, so did the scion of Saotome house. She wondered at his features, wondered at the look on his face, she knew his surprise by the stiffness in frame she felt at first, but as he relaxed into her hug she wished she could see him truly.
"I'm sorry, so very sorry." She spoke softly into his shoulder as she held him. Slowly she felt his arms rise to circle her torso, and with mild surprise she felt him pull her closer. Pressed against him she could feel the cold of his body, which contrasted with the warmth of his aura. She understood now what Saffron had meant, his body was insulated from hypothermia by the aura, but instead of keeping him warm it kept him cold but not freezing. His hard muscles were surrounded by velvety flesh that only served to heighten her blush. She realized with faint surprise that he was wearing only a pair of pants, gathered messily at the waist.
"It's fine really." He said comfortingly. Her face burned in both frustration and anger. Her thoughts were tumultuous and wild as she stayed comfortably in their shared embrace.
Why? Why doesn't he blame me, Lord Saffron, the Phoenix? What makes you so special, and what makes me want to hold you? She wished desperately that she knew what it was that he did to her, what made her want to be at his side so strongly. Why all he needed to do was look at her to arouse such feeling.
"Really Saotome, only you would be frozen for twenty years and emerge still stronger than us all." That voice, Kiima and Ranma both spun from their embrace, putting distance between themselves swiftly as they turned to face the owner of the voice. It was familiar, but neither had the presence of mind to place it as they took their stances immediately. Kiima's body tensed and she scanned the new arrival.
Ranma's eyes widened as the trance the gentle embrace Kiima had wrapped him in was broken. That voice, his body went into motion without thought. He took an offensive stance and paused only to appraise the newcomer.
"Wha... Herb?" Ranma exclaimed, taking in the dragon prince. "What're you...?" Trailing off as he realized that he'd not yet relaxed his stance. Kiima, however, didn't share his reaction. The relations between the Phoenix and the Musk were tenuous at best, and for him to appear in the Royal Gardens meant that he had either led an assault, or come as an ambassador. The former was far more likely in her mind than the latter.
"I was wondering whether or not it was true, but I see you here before my eyes, living, breathing, if a little more, luminous, than I remembered." He smiled warmly, striding quickly toward the aurulent fighter. He watched as the presumably pigtailed man relaxed his stance. A pulse in his aura was the equivalent to a smile.
"Good to see you Herb, it's been a long time." Leave it to Saotome to make an understatement beyond measure. The recently defrosted artist clasped forearms with the not so young prince, happy to see another friend from the past. Herb for his part seemed to take it in stride that for all intents and purposes he was looking at a ghost, albeit a ghost sheathed in golden light.
"Indeed Saotome, indeed." Herb was unsure of the proper course of action, it seemed to him as if he had interrupted a tender moment between his friend and rival and Saffron's caretaker. Hastily coming to a decision he falsified a yawn.
"I'm a bit tired from my journey here, so I think I'll get some sleep. Interested in a bit of sparring tomorrow, I didn't find out about what happened until I went to Japan for a rematch." He knew he'd made a blunder then, but he could only be amazed that the silver haired woman stepped closer to Ranma, laying a petite hand on his shoulder from behind. The touch of depression visible in his aura vanished as she lent him her support, and Herb could only be glad for it. He'd seen the looks exchanged between Hibiki and the Tendo girl, Akane. He hoped that his friend's heart was prepared for the day he again saw them.
Jusenkyo Valley - Amazon/Phoenix Border
Mu Tzu leapt nimbly and silently from tree to tree, careful to avoid Amazon patrols in the area, the canopy of twisted greenery gave him sufficient cover from the Phoenix aerial patrols, he hoped. A sound in the distance caught his attention.
"What the?" He trailed off and changed his course. That had been a woman's scream. He forgot his mission, stealth abandoned as he increased his pace toward the point of origin for the distressed cry. His hands, heavily calloused from the various weapons he wielded receded into the volumous sleeves of his gold trimmed white robes, finding the throwing knives concealed within. They marked the specialty of the Hidden Weapons Style, accuracy.
Ironic, given that he was blind.
The deterioration of his sight was gradual, but he'd long seen it coming. Now though, his skill in the art was such that he no longer needed the luxury of his eyes. Sight was something he'd long ago learned to fight without, and now, that lack of dependence was strength. He could see clearer now than ever before. With each day his ability to distinguish chi patterns in the air grew sharper. He could distinguish most anything, and never worry about an error. Seeing inanimate objects was harder, but his other senses had long since carried the slack of his faulty vision.
Ordinarily, a male child born with such a weakness did not survive childhood, he, however, had persevered, never allowing his handicap to restrain him. He'd taken to learning the art of hidden weapons, one of the few allowed to the males among the Joketsuzoku. Upon learning the benefit of the style he eagerly pursued mastery, creating a number of original techniques, such as the distraction tactic of the blow of the swan-fist.
"Pervert! Get away!" The woman continued to scream. He redoubled speed and was there, bursting into the clearing just in time to feel an aura soaring away, presumably from a heavy-handed blow on the woman's part.
"Miss, is everything okay?" That was when he noticed it, her body's shape, it was not completely human. Her energy flowed exactly like that of a human's, but she had wings. He sighed, hoping she would not take his appearance in the wrong way.
"Landling!" The woman explained, jumping back on guard all too readily. This was going to present a problem he just knew.
"I seek audience with Lord Saffron. I am Mu Tzu, of the Joketsuzoku. I once accompanied Saotome Ranma, and have a message for his majesty concerning a decision made by the council of elders." He knew by the disbelief in her in her energy and the loud silence that this wasn't going to be a good day.
Near Okayama - Japan
Nearly three weeks from their set out they had finally arrived, traveling on foot was arduous, though not as much so as swimming the distance between Korea and Japan, or from Shanghai to Korea for that matter. They were outside Nagoya and were nearly at their goal. It would take another two days at most for their journey to be complete. Mint could only hope that the return wouldn't be as arduous.
Steadily Lime had been grating on his nerves, he'd been friends with the man for as long as he could remember, and likely longer, but for the life of him he didn't understand how he used to deal with the simplistic tiger descendent consistently as he had for years. Perhaps marriage had changed him, or maybe it was time, but nonetheless the lupine man was losing patience with his muscle-bound compatriot.
"Mint?" The taller man asked with a bit of nervousness in his tone.
"What Lime? I'm trying to read the map." To say the wolf descendant was irritated by his companion was a gross understatement.
"Uh, I'm hungry." Mint could only sigh, exasperated by the behavior of his long-time friend.
This is turning out to be more trouble than I thought it would be. I'll have to tell Herb how much I appreciate him when we return.
Tendo Dojo
Ryouga stood in shock, watching his daughter as she dedicated more and more time to her martial studies, for her age she was incredibly powerful, possessing as much skill as could be condensed into only a few years time, though now she seemed beyond that. She spent all her free time of late in the dojo, running endlessly through kata that he didn't recognize. No, to say he didn't recognize them would be a lie, but there was no way a girl her age could know them. He'd seen this style before, and it had been practiced by only one martial artist, created by one of the former Nerima Wrecking Crew.
His shock at seeing the style practiced by another beside its master was beyond measure, and as such, he forgot to mask his presence. Already she had undoubtedly felt him, though her senses were not yet fine-tuned enough to feel who he was, consciously. She slowed in her practice, subtly shifting away from the distinct style that a man dead before her time with no students had created. Almost imperceptible were the slight changes of motion that took her back into the Tendo Ryuu, almost.
Should he say something about it? Should he question her about her knowledge of a style that no human could possibly know? He'd only seen him practice the kata once, but he recognized some of the striking zones that she had been focused on, they were meant to overwhelm an enemy with a storm of strikes that flowed from vital to vital in a chaotic deluge of fists and feet, elbows and knees.
"Excellent form Rei-Chan." His voice broke the silence, and her concentration. With a heavy sigh she slowed her kata, bringing it to an impromptu close. She spent several moments with her eyes kept closed, presumably cooling down, refocusing her energies. Another trait that she couldn't have learned, it was a Ranma specialty. Akane kept her eyes open when she practiced her forms, as did he, and even during the brief stint he'd taken her to train with other masters; he'd never seen her close her eyes as his rival once did.
Something had changed in her since her dream. She, a popular child had not once left her home in the weeks since her dream. She'd go to school and returned immediately thereafter. Often her friends would visit only to be turned away almost immediately. He wondered what had driven her to this training spree, perhaps she was reacting to that dream. He was sure it was just that, but he supposed that she could only benefit from this, though isolation would do her no good in the long term. He'd have to talk about that with her.
"You saw." The preteen stated more than asked, apprehensions clear in her tone.
"Saw what?" The fanged man replied, turning on his heel and leaving the dojo and his sag-shouldered daughter behind.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Sorry about the delay, a lot of things have interrupted me, work mostly. I hope that this installment is satisfactory, and I appreciate whatever comments or criticisms you may offer. Until next time.
She wished she could tell them more, tell them what was to come, but she had learned that forewarning of things to come would only make things worse. With a sigh she began again.
So Cold
By: XZero
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 4 - Messages
Phoenix Mountain - Royal Gardens
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she gazed out over the horizon. The sunset from this point atop the mountain was the most beautiful; the lake within the crater at the center of the summit was glistening wondrously in the fading light of day. It would grow cold soon, and her vision was poor at best when night came. Her ability to augment her physical abilities was not restrained to just her muscles, but when marveling in the beauty of nature there was no need to enhance her vision to observe the magnificence of the land and sky. Her thoughts of late settled more and more on the youngish Saotome whom she had spent the majority of her time with since his awakening. She could feel the effects of his charismatic personality even when she was reminding herself how she had become two decades his elder since their last meeting. He was probably still in love with the girl he'd originally come to the lands of phoenix for.
"Y'know, this is what kept me goin' a lot of times." A male voice came from behind her; she'd not sensed him she was so deep in thought. A light blush tinged her features. Her normal alertness should've given her forewarning of his approach. As it was she had been taken entirely off guard and was more than a little startled by his presence. She fought momentarily to regain her composure again before speaking.
"What do you mean Ranma?" She had taken to calling him by name since his emergence from the ice. The level of intimacy in her tone had only seemed to increase. She suddenly was hit with a rush of shame. What was going on? Why was she becoming so close to him? She could only drop into her own thoughts again as she recalled his presence. He hadn't begun speaking again or had finished. She turned her face in his direction, and as usual could see only the corona of power that surrounded him. His aura licked around him, and was strangely radiating warmth. She almost remarked on it, but decided to remain silent as he began speaking, inching closer to the gentle heat that emanated from him.
"I traveled with Pops for ten years, learning the Art. We never really stayed in one place too long, mostly we'd stop every couple years for about two months, just long enough for me to catch up in school.
"At first, I remember missing my mom, wondering how she was. But, over time I forgot things, like what she looked like, her voice. It was when I couldn't remember her was when I missed her the most, missed having a home. I looked at the stars a lot, watched sunsets and sunrises before and after warming up or cooling down from training for the day. Sometime, I was about seven, I think, Pops saw me looking at them, and he taught me what the constellations were, what they represented, and the stories. I remember, cause it was one of the few times me and pops did something together that didn't involve fighting." He got quiet midway through, and she could sense the sorrow that welled up in him even without being able to see the depression take hold in his aura. Without thought she spun and wrapped him in an embrace, feeling his power roll over her. So intense, but it did not expel or harm her, instead she felt the power melt around her, accommodating her strong but feminine frame.
She didn't know why she felt compelled to hold him, but she reveled in the contact, and for that matter, so did the scion of Saotome house. She wondered at his features, wondered at the look on his face, she knew his surprise by the stiffness in frame she felt at first, but as he relaxed into her hug she wished she could see him truly.
"I'm sorry, so very sorry." She spoke softly into his shoulder as she held him. Slowly she felt his arms rise to circle her torso, and with mild surprise she felt him pull her closer. Pressed against him she could feel the cold of his body, which contrasted with the warmth of his aura. She understood now what Saffron had meant, his body was insulated from hypothermia by the aura, but instead of keeping him warm it kept him cold but not freezing. His hard muscles were surrounded by velvety flesh that only served to heighten her blush. She realized with faint surprise that he was wearing only a pair of pants, gathered messily at the waist.
"It's fine really." He said comfortingly. Her face burned in both frustration and anger. Her thoughts were tumultuous and wild as she stayed comfortably in their shared embrace.
Why? Why doesn't he blame me, Lord Saffron, the Phoenix? What makes you so special, and what makes me want to hold you? She wished desperately that she knew what it was that he did to her, what made her want to be at his side so strongly. Why all he needed to do was look at her to arouse such feeling.
"Really Saotome, only you would be frozen for twenty years and emerge still stronger than us all." That voice, Kiima and Ranma both spun from their embrace, putting distance between themselves swiftly as they turned to face the owner of the voice. It was familiar, but neither had the presence of mind to place it as they took their stances immediately. Kiima's body tensed and she scanned the new arrival.
Ranma's eyes widened as the trance the gentle embrace Kiima had wrapped him in was broken. That voice, his body went into motion without thought. He took an offensive stance and paused only to appraise the newcomer.
"Wha... Herb?" Ranma exclaimed, taking in the dragon prince. "What're you...?" Trailing off as he realized that he'd not yet relaxed his stance. Kiima, however, didn't share his reaction. The relations between the Phoenix and the Musk were tenuous at best, and for him to appear in the Royal Gardens meant that he had either led an assault, or come as an ambassador. The former was far more likely in her mind than the latter.
"I was wondering whether or not it was true, but I see you here before my eyes, living, breathing, if a little more, luminous, than I remembered." He smiled warmly, striding quickly toward the aurulent fighter. He watched as the presumably pigtailed man relaxed his stance. A pulse in his aura was the equivalent to a smile.
"Good to see you Herb, it's been a long time." Leave it to Saotome to make an understatement beyond measure. The recently defrosted artist clasped forearms with the not so young prince, happy to see another friend from the past. Herb for his part seemed to take it in stride that for all intents and purposes he was looking at a ghost, albeit a ghost sheathed in golden light.
"Indeed Saotome, indeed." Herb was unsure of the proper course of action, it seemed to him as if he had interrupted a tender moment between his friend and rival and Saffron's caretaker. Hastily coming to a decision he falsified a yawn.
"I'm a bit tired from my journey here, so I think I'll get some sleep. Interested in a bit of sparring tomorrow, I didn't find out about what happened until I went to Japan for a rematch." He knew he'd made a blunder then, but he could only be amazed that the silver haired woman stepped closer to Ranma, laying a petite hand on his shoulder from behind. The touch of depression visible in his aura vanished as she lent him her support, and Herb could only be glad for it. He'd seen the looks exchanged between Hibiki and the Tendo girl, Akane. He hoped that his friend's heart was prepared for the day he again saw them.
Jusenkyo Valley - Amazon/Phoenix Border
Mu Tzu leapt nimbly and silently from tree to tree, careful to avoid Amazon patrols in the area, the canopy of twisted greenery gave him sufficient cover from the Phoenix aerial patrols, he hoped. A sound in the distance caught his attention.
"What the?" He trailed off and changed his course. That had been a woman's scream. He forgot his mission, stealth abandoned as he increased his pace toward the point of origin for the distressed cry. His hands, heavily calloused from the various weapons he wielded receded into the volumous sleeves of his gold trimmed white robes, finding the throwing knives concealed within. They marked the specialty of the Hidden Weapons Style, accuracy.
Ironic, given that he was blind.
The deterioration of his sight was gradual, but he'd long seen it coming. Now though, his skill in the art was such that he no longer needed the luxury of his eyes. Sight was something he'd long ago learned to fight without, and now, that lack of dependence was strength. He could see clearer now than ever before. With each day his ability to distinguish chi patterns in the air grew sharper. He could distinguish most anything, and never worry about an error. Seeing inanimate objects was harder, but his other senses had long since carried the slack of his faulty vision.
Ordinarily, a male child born with such a weakness did not survive childhood, he, however, had persevered, never allowing his handicap to restrain him. He'd taken to learning the art of hidden weapons, one of the few allowed to the males among the Joketsuzoku. Upon learning the benefit of the style he eagerly pursued mastery, creating a number of original techniques, such as the distraction tactic of the blow of the swan-fist.
"Pervert! Get away!" The woman continued to scream. He redoubled speed and was there, bursting into the clearing just in time to feel an aura soaring away, presumably from a heavy-handed blow on the woman's part.
"Miss, is everything okay?" That was when he noticed it, her body's shape, it was not completely human. Her energy flowed exactly like that of a human's, but she had wings. He sighed, hoping she would not take his appearance in the wrong way.
"Landling!" The woman explained, jumping back on guard all too readily. This was going to present a problem he just knew.
"I seek audience with Lord Saffron. I am Mu Tzu, of the Joketsuzoku. I once accompanied Saotome Ranma, and have a message for his majesty concerning a decision made by the council of elders." He knew by the disbelief in her in her energy and the loud silence that this wasn't going to be a good day.
Near Okayama - Japan
Nearly three weeks from their set out they had finally arrived, traveling on foot was arduous, though not as much so as swimming the distance between Korea and Japan, or from Shanghai to Korea for that matter. They were outside Nagoya and were nearly at their goal. It would take another two days at most for their journey to be complete. Mint could only hope that the return wouldn't be as arduous.
Steadily Lime had been grating on his nerves, he'd been friends with the man for as long as he could remember, and likely longer, but for the life of him he didn't understand how he used to deal with the simplistic tiger descendent consistently as he had for years. Perhaps marriage had changed him, or maybe it was time, but nonetheless the lupine man was losing patience with his muscle-bound compatriot.
"Mint?" The taller man asked with a bit of nervousness in his tone.
"What Lime? I'm trying to read the map." To say the wolf descendant was irritated by his companion was a gross understatement.
"Uh, I'm hungry." Mint could only sigh, exasperated by the behavior of his long-time friend.
This is turning out to be more trouble than I thought it would be. I'll have to tell Herb how much I appreciate him when we return.
Tendo Dojo
Ryouga stood in shock, watching his daughter as she dedicated more and more time to her martial studies, for her age she was incredibly powerful, possessing as much skill as could be condensed into only a few years time, though now she seemed beyond that. She spent all her free time of late in the dojo, running endlessly through kata that he didn't recognize. No, to say he didn't recognize them would be a lie, but there was no way a girl her age could know them. He'd seen this style before, and it had been practiced by only one martial artist, created by one of the former Nerima Wrecking Crew.
His shock at seeing the style practiced by another beside its master was beyond measure, and as such, he forgot to mask his presence. Already she had undoubtedly felt him, though her senses were not yet fine-tuned enough to feel who he was, consciously. She slowed in her practice, subtly shifting away from the distinct style that a man dead before her time with no students had created. Almost imperceptible were the slight changes of motion that took her back into the Tendo Ryuu, almost.
Should he say something about it? Should he question her about her knowledge of a style that no human could possibly know? He'd only seen him practice the kata once, but he recognized some of the striking zones that she had been focused on, they were meant to overwhelm an enemy with a storm of strikes that flowed from vital to vital in a chaotic deluge of fists and feet, elbows and knees.
"Excellent form Rei-Chan." His voice broke the silence, and her concentration. With a heavy sigh she slowed her kata, bringing it to an impromptu close. She spent several moments with her eyes kept closed, presumably cooling down, refocusing her energies. Another trait that she couldn't have learned, it was a Ranma specialty. Akane kept her eyes open when she practiced her forms, as did he, and even during the brief stint he'd taken her to train with other masters; he'd never seen her close her eyes as his rival once did.
Something had changed in her since her dream. She, a popular child had not once left her home in the weeks since her dream. She'd go to school and returned immediately thereafter. Often her friends would visit only to be turned away almost immediately. He wondered what had driven her to this training spree, perhaps she was reacting to that dream. He was sure it was just that, but he supposed that she could only benefit from this, though isolation would do her no good in the long term. He'd have to talk about that with her.
"You saw." The preteen stated more than asked, apprehensions clear in her tone.
"Saw what?" The fanged man replied, turning on his heel and leaving the dojo and his sag-shouldered daughter behind.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Sorry about the delay, a lot of things have interrupted me, work mostly. I hope that this installment is satisfactory, and I appreciate whatever comments or criticisms you may offer. Until next time.