Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen One: Sidestories ❯ Side Story 1: The Man behind the Shadows ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Chosen One: Side stories

By- Water Soul (Formerly known as Angel Princess of Heavens)

Disclaimers: Ranma and its characters don't belong to me...
^___________^

Author's Ramblings: Konnichiwa, minna-san~ These are the side stories
for The Chosen One. They will give you more information... so
basically it's the unspoken stories of The Chosen One. So far, I have
about... six stories planned out. They're probably going to be
uploaded in a chronological order, and as the story moves on, I'll
probably update these stories... I hope you guys enjoy them and don't
forget to review~ ^-^

Oh, I have a favor to ask... I happened to watch the Angel Sanctuary
OVA series, and I've been dying to get my hands on the mangas. I was
wondering if anybody knows approximately when the English version of
the mangas are coming out. Or the Korean-translated version. Please
respond to my e-mail, [1]Babyblue100479@go.com, if you happen to
know... Now on with the story~

Side Story One: Tendo Soun: The man behind the shadows

"Otou-san~"

At his daughter's soft call, he stopped polishing the silver dagger
and set it down on a table next to the bed. The sunlight glinted off
the beautiful yet deadly family heirloom. Soun turned around and
opened his arms out to the toddling girl.

"Ahh... Kasumi-chan."

The pretty toddler giggled as she wound her tiny arms around her
father.

"Why okaa-san so fat?

"Because she's going to bring a gift to our house."

"Ohh... I like this gift?"

"I think you will."

"Honey."

A very pregnant-looking woman walked through the door, holding a
one-year old girl in her arms. Soun rushed toward her, concerned.

"Is anything wrong, Kimiko-chan?"

"Iie. I just wanted to tell you that Cologne is here."

"What does that old ghoul want?"

"Soun!"

At her husband's scowl, Kimiko admonished him.

"That witch doesn't like me... She's always scolding me."

Stifling a giggle, Kimiko reached out and patted her husband's
shoulder.

"Now, dearest. You know that Cologne is truly an enlightened crone.
That is why even though she is a mortal, she could visit our realms."

"Hmph. We should have never made those special exceptions for her. Now
she drops by every day to the Kami world. Just to bug me. I swear she
thinks I'm still the sixteen year old apprentice under her. Oh, how I
regret the day my father sent me to the Amazon camp! A Kami doing
common labor... how demeaning."

Kimiko pinched Soun and smiled sweetly at him.

"Don't get too cocky, my dear husband."

"Oh, never. I have my wife to keep me in line."

Noticing a silver dagger next to the bed, Kimiko scowled.

"Soun, what did I tell you about leaving weapons around?"

"Hai, hai. I'll put it away later. I have to go meet Cologne. You know
how she gets impatient."

After tenderly kissing his wife's cheek, Soun left for the room.

~*~

"Cologne, Konnichiwa."

Cologne gave a curt nod in reply.

"What is wrong"

Soun worriedly asked. The aura surrounding Cologne was ancient, wise
and agitated. Usually, she was calm and collected as a smooth lake.
But, today, her gray aura was jumbled and chaotic.

"You have something worrying you."

Cologne nodded. In a hoarse voice, she replied.

"Soun, you will be having the twins."

Soun raised his eyebrows, surprised.

"Well... Thank you for ruining the surprise. But I don't see why this
is so special."

"I mean THE twins."

"Huh?"
At Soun's bewildered look, Cologne sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Goddess, Child. You haven't studied properly. If you only followed my
orders instead of chasing girls..."

"Ahem~ I will love to hear your lecture AGAIN about how I'm so lazy
and incompetent. But we seem to have a bigger issue to deal with."

"Yes. Soun, do you remember the Legend?"

"Which one? We have so many."

"The one about the end of the human world."

Soun's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"That one?" He whispered softly. That legend was considered a taboo
among the Kami realms. For some reason he couldn't understand, that
legend was never to be spoken of.

"Yes. Do you recall the wordings?"

"Hai."

On the Dawning of the Kami realm,

Two beings of the celestial world will be born.

One of Light, the other of the Gray,

Bonded by love and birth.

The Light shall be protected by the Water,

The Gray by the Moon.

A Prince of the dark shall appear,

His warrior, one with the metal.

These three will be the Life of mankind,

And its Death.

Light will be loved by Dark,

And the Ending shall be near.

And the two worlds shall fall into eternal silence.

"Why are you suddenly mentioning the Legend?"

"Your yet-to-be born children are the mentioned twins."

The room was silent. Soun swallowed difficultly, and whispered
hoarsely.

"How can that be? Are you sure?"

His eyes were wild as he stared at his mentor. Cologne looked away
from his desperate, pleading eyes.

"The stars called to me."

Soun shut his eyes. Cologne had the ability to read destinies and the
past, present and future in the stars. If the stars told her this,
then it was true.

"The version we all know is nothing but a sketchy outline. The only
one who truly knows this Legend is the God of Fate."

Soun was quiet, locked in a deep thought. At the mention of the God of
Fate, he looked up. Soun was the God of Medicine and Healing. His wife
was the Flower Nymph; a blessed angel with the power to find and grow
herbs and plants. Together, they were able to save many humans and
Kami alike. And their descendants will have the power to heal, as
well. The God of Fate was in charge of carrying out destiny. He
oversaw the chart of fortune and had everything go in correct order.
Because of his time-consuming task, he was a loner by nature. An
opposite from Soun, who was compassionate and friendly to just about
anyone. His best friend was the Lord of Darkness, for Goddess's sake!
At the thought of his best friend, he focused on one line of the
Legend.

A Prince of the dark shall appear...

He stared into Cologne's eyes. Genma had recently gotten a heir. A son
by his wife, Nodoka.

"This can't be true..."

"You mustn't deny it. It is true. The stars never lie."

"No. No. NO!"

Soun's eyes filled with tears. Cologne placed a hand on his shoulder,
trying to comfort her gentle-hearted pupil. Her heart was filled with
sorrow, for Soun was always too emotional and kind to be a ruthless
Kami. He was her favorite apprentice, and he was like a son to the old
crone.

"Soun..."

"Get out."

Cologne's heart flinched at the harsh tone. But outwardly, she kept a
cool exterior.

"GET OUT!!! You're just telling lies... lies..."

"I will go. But remember, you cannot change the Legend."

Cologne left softly. Soun didn't see the lone tear falling down her
wrinkled face. He sat in the chair, shocked and denying. He sat there
for hours until his wife came in and concernedly touched his hand.

"Soun, darling, what's wrong? Why were you screaming at Cologne?"

At his wife's question, Soun looked up. Staring into his beloved's
eyes, Soun's denial increased. He smiled at her.

"Nothing's wrong, dearest. Nothing."

He embraced his wife tightly, and Kimiko was struck by how desperately
he hugged her. As if he wanted to forget something... As if he wanted
to protect his family from something... But she kept quiet, just
tenderly stroking his hair. Soun kept whispering,

"Nothing... Nothing is going to ever hurt my family... Nothing..."

~*~

"SOUN!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kimiko howled again. Soun gripped her hand, anxious and worried.

"Breathe, Kimiko. You have to breathe slowly and push."

Kimiko cursed and screamed on top of her lungs.

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO GIVE BIRTH?!!! HUH??!!! YOU THINK THIS IS EASY,
MR. BREATHE-SLOWLY??!!"

Soun winced and soothingly wiped Kimiko's sweaty face.

"Honey, you could do it. Just push."

His two young daughters were staring round-eyed at their cursing
mother. Their mother was always calm, tranquil, elegant and loving.
She NEVER screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

With a final scream, she pushed the baby out of her womb. A
magnificent wail followed the baby. Soun stared into the squalling
baby's eyes. It was a brilliant shade of dark brown, and for a moment
he was struck by something that felt sacred. Father and son looked
into each other.

"I'm not DONE YET!"

Kimiko grasped Soun's hand in a crushing grip. Soon, another baby
followed her brother. She lazily opened her eyes and gave a mewling
sob. A contrast from the loud cry of her twin. Soun picked her up as
well and stared into a pair of bright and warm golden-brown eyes.
Kimiko's breath decelerated and she lifted up her arms.

"Let me see my two babies."

Soun carefully placed the two babies next to her.

"They're so beautiful."

Kimiko, contently, stroked the two child's face. Kasumi and Nabiki
crawled next to their mother and stared at the two intruders.
Stroking, Kasumi's head, Soun whispered, "Surprise."

Kasumi gleefully squealed.

"They KAWAII~ Otou-san, they are present?"

"You could say that."

Soun chuckled. At this happy, precious moment where his whole family
was together, the Legend was the farthest thing from his mind. He will
be cruelly reminded when minutes later, someone knocked on the door.
With a grin on his face, he greeted the person. It was the God of
Fate, better known as Taka. Soun's expression clouded for a second. He
recovered quickly.

"Is something wrong, Taka?"

"You know why I came."

Soun narrowed his eyes.

"No. I don't know. And I will appreciate it if you leave, now."

"Gomen nasai, Soun. Please forgive me."

And Soun felt a sharp pain in his head. The last thing he thought of
before he fell into the darkness was his family... Please...

~*~

Soun groggily woke up at the sound of his crying daughters. He
staggered... the last thing he remembered was Taka at his door.
Taka... my children? He rushed into the room. There were his two
oldest children crying on the floor, huddled together. His wife...
Kimiko was lying peacefully on the bed. He checked her motionless body
frantically, sighing with relief when he found her heartbeat. But...
where were the twins? He turned to Kasumi and crouched in front of
her. He hugged his daughters, trying to give them comfort and
protection.

"Shhh... my little daughters... Shhh... Kasumi, can I ask you what
happened?"

Kasumi, soothed by her father's familiar embrace, stopped crying and
nodded.

"Strange man came and put mommy to sleep. He-he took my present away.
I try to stop him, but I can't hurt him. He-he said sorry, little
one..."

Soun closed his eyes. So Taka took away his children... the reality of
the situation struck him. Hard. If only he trusted Cologne... If only
he had done something... But Cologne's parting words rang inside his
head.

"But remember, you cannot change the Legend."

"S-Soun..?"

"Oh, Kimiko."

"Soun, what happened? Where are the twins? What's wrong?"

Kimiko started to panic. Something was wrong... Very wrong.

"Kimiko... beloved, Taka took our children. Oh goddess, I should have
believed Cologne. I could have done something."

"What do you mean, Soun? You're scaring me."

"Kimiko-chan. The twins... Our twins are part of the Dark Legend."

Kimiko froze. Her lips started to tremble. She shook her head wildly.

"NO!!! It can't be true. Why them? Why us?"

She struggled to get up from bed. Soun held her down, concerned.
Kimiko's face was stained with tears as she sobbed.

"They're my children.... I didn't even get to name them..."

Soun wrapped his arms around her, restraining her and calming her.
Kimiko began to show signs of calming down, and Soun relaxed his hold.
Before he realized what was happening, Kimiko knocked him down to the
floor and wobbled to the table next to the bed. She grabbed the dagger
off the table. Her lips twisted into a mad grin, and her eyes were
wild and crazy. Soun reached for her hand. Kimiko plunged the dagger
into her chest. She laughed psychotically as the blood ran down her
body. Soun rushed to her body, and held her tightly.

"Oh, Goddess... Kimiko, how can you? How can you?"

As he rocked her back and forth, Kimiko giggled softly.

"Pretty... Golden...My little babies!"

As her eyes clouded and turned flat, some sanity crept back to her
mind. She smiled peacefully.

"It was to be done."

With that comment, all life seeped out of Tendo Kimiko.

Kasumi's piercing scream filled the night.

(Okay, so that seemed a little sudden. But I've heard of
post-pregnancy depression. Right after giving birth, the mother is
supposed to be really sensitive and basically all emotions should be
jumpy. With the crushing fact of having her babies taken away from
her, Kimiko was prone to do anything. And she chose death. It was just
the shock of having her babies being lost to her that finally snapped
her emotional mind. She saw the dagger as an escape from pain.)

~*~

"Taka, are you there?"

Soun was beyond sanity. After leaving his daughters alone in the house
with his dead wife, Soun felt that nothing could surprise him. All he
wanted to do was to inflict pain. Especially toward a certain Kami.
Taka emerged from the shadows.

"Give them back."

Taka was silent.

"Give my children back. Give my wife back. GIVE THEM BACK, GODDAMNIT!"

Taka finally opened his mouth.

"You know that is not possible."

"I know nothing like that. Give them back, or I'll kill you."

"It's my job as a Kami. I can't give them back. I already sent them
toward their destinies. Attack me if you must. I need to carry out the
fate."

Soun choked on a sob. He withdrew the silver dagger from his clothes.
The blood from the dagger had stained his tunic. His Kimiko-chan's
blood. Red splashed in his vision. He didn't notice the acceptance or
the sorrow in Taka's eyes as Soun ran toward the silent Kami. Before
Soun realized what had happened, the blade was already deeply imbedded
inside the God of Destiny. Then the Kami whispered two words.

"My Successor"

Taka closed his eyes. Soun trembled. He didn't dodge. Why didn't he
dodge? He could have defended himself but Taka chose to die. Why? Soun
stumbled to the ground, despair and helplessness filling his soul. And
the last two words... The meaning finally dawned inside Soun's mind.
This meant that Soun was now the God of Destiny. How? Why? Tears
escaped Soun's eyes as he held his head in his hands.

"WHY??!!!"

The cry shook the dark cave.

~*~

Soun listlessly stared at the scrolls. He had finished reading the
destiny of his twins. The Legend. Everything was planned to the
detail. The twin's births, Kimiko's death, and Taka's death in Soun's
hands. There was already so much sorrow and sorrow to come. Soun
didn't understand this. If Taka knew he was going to die, why did he
execute the destiny? There was so much confusion. Soun couldn't be the
new God of Destiny. He couldn't change anything. Then a faint figure
appeared before him.

"My Goddess... Kimiko-chan?"

"Dearest."

"You're- you're alive?!"

"Iie. I am not. I'm nothing but an illusion. A mere image."

"Why? How? I don't understand anything."

"Soun, I died today because it was essential. I, myself, don't
understand this Legend. All I know is that it brings great sorrow, yet
it is paramount to the existence of the Kami. And humans alike."

"That doesn't make your death easier."

"It doesn't. I don't want to leave you, Nabiki, and Kasumi. But I
still get to watch over you all. Soun, you have to continue the tasks
of the God of Destiny."

"Goddess."

"You have to... it's for the greater good."

"Is that why the legend will bring so much death and pain? I see
nothing good. We could change this!"

"We cannot. This legend is too important. In the longer run, it will
bring life and joy. A period of pain is nothing compared to the
future."

Soun silently stared at the flickering image of his wife... his dead
wife.

"Please."

At her plea, Soun closed his eyes.

"Is this the only way?"

Kimiko nodded softly.

"The Legend will be fulfilled no matter what happens. It is just the
question of resistance and acceptance."

"I accept."

Kimiko sadly smiled.

"Sayonara, my Love."

And from that moment on, Soun was alone in that dark cave. He
meticulously carried out the task of the Destiny. The kind and
compassionate father was gone. In his place was a cold-hearted,
unfeeling Kami. Sometimes his gentle side fought among the shadows of
his soul and emerged to the light. Sometimes.

And that is the story of Tendo Soun, the Kami of Destiny and the
eternal loner of the shadows.

~*~

You like? You hate? This is only the first story of many side-stories.
The next one is going to focus on the young Nabiki. Well~ PLEASE
REVIEW!!! So I'll be motivated to write more~



References

1. mailto:Babyblue100479@go.com