Disclaimer: All characters depicted in this fan fiction are the property of their respective creators, Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Ranma 1/2, and Yoshitoshi ABe, of the crew for Haibane Renmei. These characters are used without permission and the story written here is for the enjoyment of all, and not to be used for obtaining monetary gain or other illegal uses. I hope it is enjoyed, and please do not try to sue me. I have to write this at a public computer anyway.
"..." speech
Thoughts
This is my first post, so please feel free to send comments. I had noticed that there were few stories here, so I felt it would be nice to cross these two very different Anime together. That and with the titles of the Anime, how could I resist this mix? b
Haibane Ranma
The excitement was becoming too much for them, as they gathered in the courtyard of Old Home. It was quite a congregation. Nearly all of them young girls, no more than maybe eighteen, with a few younger children, and on woman who by appearance could be considered either the leader, or perhaps the landlady. The greatest difference between her and the others present though, was not her age. She was the only one there lacking a halo and a set of wings.
"It's been so long since it first appeared, I can't believe it has taken so long," one of the girls said, breaking a long silence. "Do they all take so much time?"
"I don't know, Rakka, remember you only arrived two weeks ago, and we didn't know yours was there until an hour or two before you hatched." This voice came from a younger girl than the first. This girl was dressed in a white shirt with green sleeves and a pair of blue shorts. She had blonde hair cut neatly above her shoulders, squarely framing her face. She looked to be about 12 years old. By far, she was the most energetic of the crowd, bouncing around happily, as though without care. "Think this one will join with the Young Feathers? It is a lot smaller than yours was, Rakka."
The girl, Rakka, was a bit more mature in appearance than the bouncy one, with light brown hair that seemed hard to control. She wore a clean, sailor-style dress with cream colored orange trim and neckerchief.
"It does look pretty small, Kuu. Mine felt very large from the inside."
Rakka looked around the courtyard. It was a nice place, Old Home. The courtyard was about as large as most houses, and was paved with cobblestone. As befitting the name, the plastered walls of the buildings were cracked with age, and here and there a chunk of the white-wash was missing altogether. In the southwestern area of the property was an old clock tower. The clock didn't work, but the whole seen gave off the appearance that Old Home was once a small college campus, though no one alive knew for sure what it once was. Now though, it was once again occupied. The main exit from the courtyard to the street lay in the southeast corner. There stood a table and a corkboard for announcements with many papers tacked to it. Beside the board was a long set of hooks with many name tags hanging from them. The focus of all the excitement, however, stood next to the large fountain at the center of the courtyard.
Resting next to the currently dry fountain was a cocoon about four feet tall, and nearly the same in diameter. The cocoon was rooted in the cobblestone, the roots wrapping up to about the middle as if it were an eyeball looking up to the sky. The cocoon itself had turned charcoal grey.
"Well, it won't be long now. Look, its getting hard and looks ready to break at any time." This came from a girl with a very serious look on her face. Her black hair hung loosely just past her shoulders and framed her face in the front. The cigarette in her mouth wiggled as she spoke.
Crack!
All went quiet and the attentions of everyone present quickly moved to the source of the slight sound - a small fracture appearing on the shell of the cocoon. Everyone looked expectantly for the inevitable pouring of liquid from the cocoon. When none came, Rakka and Kuu stepped forward curiously. The uncommon had always brought out the curiosity in these two.
His head swam as he tried to regain his bearings. 'So much pain...' he thought. 'What the hell hit me? I'm not sure, but I think this is a common thing in my life' As his world slowly stopped spinning, the young man gazed about him. He was in a large field with softly rolling hills. A horse pranced about gaily, not to far from him on one of the hilltops. The horse was stallion, and paint horse, brown and white, and moved about gracefully, but with a wildness that showed he'd never been nor would be tamed. It was hypnotic, the way this stallion moved. It was almost as though it was a well rehearsed dance. After watching the horse for what seemed like hours, the scenery faded and vanished. Across the young man's eyes flashed many images, so suddenly he was startled. A large house... a room where people fought... images of people too. Three girls, one with a long ponytail and a gentle face, one with a page-boy haircut who looked both bored and thoughtful, and one with a short bob, scowling at him. Many more places and people flashed before his eyes, faster and faster until his vision went white. He closed his eyes and shook his head to try to regain his senses and banish the light from invading his senses too much. When he reopened his eyes, he found himself facing a grey-green wall.
'What the...? Where am I now? What is this place?' Thought the boy. He was curled up and floating within an odorless clear liquid. All around him he could see only the grey-green walls. He strained his ears and could hear muffled voices coming from the other side of his prison. It sounded like a large group of people. The fact that he was completely submerged, yet still able to breathe, either didn't concern him, or it just hadn't registered in his head. Seeing no point in staying within his confines, he moved his hand to check the walls and found them hard, but seemingly brittle.
'Hmm...' he thought as he pressed against it. 'It cracked a bit. I think with a good, hard push I can get out of here.' He pushed again and fractured his cage a little more. Pulling his right fist back as much as his confines could allow, he thrust his arm forward and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as a chunk of the wall flew out. Unfortunately, this combination of the sudden bright light, the rush of liquid pouring out, and his position proved too much and threw him off-balance. He crumpled out of the cocoon, exhausted. Striking his head against some rough stones below him one though shot through his head before sweet unconsciousness took him. 'Why me?'
Crack Crack! Fwoom!
Fracturing even more, Kuu and Rakka stepped back from the cocoon just before a small chunk of it shattered outward, nearly hitting them. That side of the cocoon crumbled away as the weight of a boy fell through it and onto the cobblestones below. The boy struck hard on his head and fell instantly into unconsciousness.
The gathering was shocked for certain to see a young man fall out of the cocoon of his apparent age. By the looks of it, he seemed about seventeen years old, and well toned. His hair was black, and very unruly, though the dampness of it from the cocoon gave it some semblance of control. It was thick hair, and fell to his shoulder blades. A damp robe done up in the back was worn by him. Gathering him up, four of the girls started to carry him indoors before one of the little boys they referred to as Young Feathers ran up to them.
"There's another one! It's on the other side of the building over there!" The boy shouted. He pointed to the dorm to the north side of Old Home.
"We'll get the second one later," the girl with the cigarette said annoyed. "We have to get this on inside since he's hatched already."
"This one has already hatched too! She is lying on the ground!" The cigarette fell from the girl's mouth. "What should we do, Reki?"
Reki thought fast. "Nemuu, Hikari, you and Kuu get the boy. Rakka and I will go get the girl. Kana, go ahead of us and prepare the guest room for two."
Hearing positive responses from the others, Reki and Rakka followed the Young Feather named Shorta to the second cocoon.
"Ooookaay... How am I going to prepare a room with one bed for both a boy and a girl to sleep in?" Kana stood looking frustrated at the single bed. She wore a dark green shirt. The color was fading, and there was a little fraying at the cuffs of the sleeves, showing that the shirt had seen many days. It was in a style that resembled a Chinese shirt. She also wore a pair of casual dark slacks, also showing signs of wear.
"Its strange enough that a boy would hatch here anyway," Kana sighed. "I guess I can get the cot from the unused room next door." With that, Kana left to grab and setup a cot in the guest room.
Not long after she left, the door opened again, allowing a sleepy-eyed Nemuu, a sharp looking Hikari, and Kuu, all carrying the new boy into the room. Nemuu wore a light brown sweater and darker skirt that reached her ankles. Hikari wore a nice white blouse and knee length skirt that wouldn't look out of place in an office setting. Her hair was in a ponytail set high on the back of her head. Seeing only the one bed prepared, they carefully laid him down in it and pulled the covers up. The door opened again to reveal Rakka, Reki and Shorta helping to carry a girl about the same apparent age as the boy into the room.
"Where is Kana? I don't have a place to put this girl yet and my arms are really starting to ache." Reki sighed with an underlying annoyance.
As if on cue, Kana returned with a bundle of wood and linen. At the glare from Reki, she moved more earnestly to the far side of the room from the bed and setup the cot. Rakka sighed too.
"Sorry guys, it was harder than I thought it would be to get the cot loose from the clutter next door," said Kana as she finished setting up the makeshift bed. Covering the lightly robed girl with a blanket, Kana turned back to the others and sat down hard into a chair. "So, how are we going to do this? We've never had two at a time before. What if their wings come in at the same time too?"
"What about the Halo Mold? The Haibane Renmei only has one that we know of," added Hikari.
"People! People!" Calmly called Reki aloud. "What is important now is to make sure everything is done for them. This is a new situation for all of us, and we need to be calm. Let's pull together and divide up the tasks. Kuu, I need you and Rakka to watch over these two. Nemuu, please prepare for when they awaken by gathering some snacks and make sure the first-aid kit is properly stocked. We want to be sure they will have what they need in case their wings break before we return. Hikari and Kana will go to the Temple to get the Halo Mold. Don't forget we need two."
"What are you going to do, Reki," asked the soft-spoken Nemuu.
"I need to go into town to see if we can get a real bed for the girl. It isn't as urgent as the other tasks, so if I can get one I'll be back to get some help bringing it here."
"Okay, Reki, we'll see you when you get back," Rakka assured the older girl.
"Yeah! You can count on us to take good care of them!" Kuu piped in.
With the other Haibane gone, Kuu and Rakka each took a chair and picked a person to watch over. Kuu sat excitedly, rocking in her chair as she watched over the boy. Rakka rested nervously on her seat beside the sleeping girl. The girl was pretty, about the same age as the boy, maybe a little older. Her chocolate brown hair shown silky smooth and still wet from the cocoon while Rakka used a nearby towel to dry it. 'Wow,' thought Rakka, 'she is very pretty. And older than me. Her hair is very soft. I wonder if it was like this for Reki when she took care of me right after I hatched. I remember that she spent a lot of time cleaning my wings when they broke. I wonder just how much time that took.'
After more than an hour of reminiscing about the past, the girl stirred before her. Seeing as the others had not yet returned, Rakka started to feel a bit panicky. 'Oh my goodness! What do I do? What do I say!' Looking to her experience from when she had hatched, she calmed herself down and began to speak to the new girl.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Uughh... I feel terrible, like my head will explode if I talk too loud."
"I see. You hit your head when you came out of the cocoon. Reki and I found you on the ground in the northern garden of Old Home."
"Old Home? Cocoon? What are you talking about," the girl said drowsily. She looked up at Rakka with bleary eyes. "Who are you, and who is Reki?" Her eyes cleared up fast as she got a good look at Rakka. "What are you!" Poor Rakka was being pummeled with questions, the last one with a voice near shrieking. 'I really hope the others get back soon!' Rakka's fingers began to fidget nervously. About to explain, she opened her mouth but was relieved when Kuu provided a welcome distraction.
"Hey Rakka! I think the new girl woke up the new boy!"
"Oh good! Um, can the new boy walk?"
"Lemme ask," Kuu replied.
"So, wait, I'm not the only 'new kid' on this block?" the new girl asked.
"No, actually," Rakka answered, feeling a little more relieved, "We found the new boy's cocoon about a week ago, but we didn't even know about your cocoon until after you had already hatched."
"What do you mean, 'hatched'? And you could call me by my name you know, it's..." the new girl trailed off, confused. "My name is... wha? What is my name? I don't remember it..."
"No one does. No one remembers you, and you don't remember any of your past. It's normal. As for you being hatched, that is how all the Haibane are born," Rakka said cheerfully, wondering how the new girl would react.
"Well, what am I going to be called then? I can't keep being called 'the new girl' all the time."
"Well," Rakka started, a trace of nervousness returning to her voice, "it is tradition among the Haibane to be named according to the dream we had while in the cocoon. My name is Rakka, which means 'falling', because in my cocoon dream I was falling through the sky. The girl over there is Kuu. In her cocoon dream she was floating through the air, so she was named Kuu because Kuu means 'air'."
"Aaahhh, they're awake," Reki said as she entered the room. "How are they doing?"
"Hey Reki! I'm glad you are back! The new girl has a lot of questions," Kuu said with her never-ending excitement. "The new boy though is getting really hot!"
"Oh no! Has Nemuu returned with the first-aid kit?"
"Not yet, Reki," Rakka supplied. "She should be ba-"
The door slammed open, interrupting her as Nemuu rushed in with the first-aid kit, two brushes, and two empty washbasins. Without saying anything, she dropped her armful on the large table in the middle of the room and tossed the first-aid kit to Reki.
Had it not been for the sudden wordless yell of pain from the new boy, Reki would have caught it without a problem. Instead, her finger caught on the latch, opening the kit in mid-air and spilling the contents all over the floor. Cursing her luck mentally, she stooped down to grab a roll of medical tape. Reki dashed over to the boy's bedside and checked his back.
"Reki!" Rakka called out, starting to panic again.
Having seen the lumps on the boy's back swelling almost to bursting, she shot a glance to Rakka and Nemuu. "This one is ready to break too, Reki," Nemuu said, seemingly unconcerned. "I think we'll need to split this up." The new girl let out a shriek of pain.
Wrapping several layers of medical tape around her thumb, Reki tossed the remaining roll to Nemuu. "Here, your turn."
Nemuu caught the tape and wrapped her thumb as well, knowing exactly what Reki was meaning for her to do with it. 'Well, first time for everything. I don't know how much to use, but better safe than sorry. It wouldn't do to go back to work with one less finger to use.' Satisfied with the amount of protection on her thumb, she moved to the new girl.
"Here, bite on this, so you don't bite your tongue."
"Here! Bite on this, so you don't bite your tongue!" Reki and Nemuu said at the same time to their respective patients; Reki to the boy and Nemuu the girl. The boy, though not very vocal about his pain, bit down hard on Reki's bandaged thumb. The new girl's bite caused Nemuu to yelp.
Reki looked again to the boy's back. The lumps were swollen larger than she had seen before, and the wing tips had broken through. Reki watched in morbid fascination as the wings began their exodus out of his body, covered with thick layers of blood and grease. Fascination turned frozen into shock as the wings continued growing, and extended out of his back far beyond the normal forearm length that is usual among the Haibane. More and more it grew, until finally the folded wings snapped open, fully extended to a length that almost matched the boy's height. The snapping motion knocked Kuu and several items from the table onto the floor. The boy and girl both shrieked in pain in the early evening as the sun set. The four Haibane present also shrieked, not in anguish or pain, but in combined shock and fear.
Dawn came slowly the next day. The entire night had been a tiring affair for the Haibane of Old Home. Surrounding the new boy was Rakka, Hikari, Kuu, Nemuu and Kana. All were busy brushing and cleaning the boy's very large wings. Their fright had nearly been abated, but every time they looked toward Reki, their smiles slipped and nervousness came again into the room.
Reki sat with the new girl, gently brushing the very last of the grease and blood from her wings. It seemed as though her past had returned to haunt her some more, and she worked silently, her mind a great tempest of thoughts unbidden, and unwelcome. Reki chanced a glance at the new boy's wings. They also were nearly cleaned, having had the other five girls all working on them. The wings shone a fine, glossy charcoal grey color in the sunlight. The sheer size of them still amazed them all.
Reki sighed to herself as she went back to cleaning the girl's wings. While normal in size, the caused great fear in those who had seen them so far. Instead of the beautiful grey that many of the Haibane had enjoyed, this girl's wings were a shiny, raven black.
"Ugh... what's going on? Where am I?" The boy had finally stirred. As her charge was still sleeping, Reki moved to the boy, having just finished cleaning the girl's wings.
"You are in Old Home, a nest of the Haibane," Reki said.
"Old Home... I don't know any place named that."
I guess he wasn't really awake when Rakka was explaining to the girl,' Reki thought to herself. "No one really knows where we are in the world, or what the Haibane are, but as you are here, you are one of us now."
"Don't move much, your wings are not clean yet, and as new as they are, you wouldn't want to injure them more while they heal," Rakka added.
"Wings?" the boy asked. His wings suddenly and violently twitched, causing a small yelp from the five Haibane girls attempting to clean them. "What is going on?"
"Hmm. Let's start at the beginning. Do you mind if I smoke?" Reki asked him.
"Just don't blow it in my face and I don't care." This comment caused a giggle from the girls, relieving some of the tension in the room. Reki stared at her cigarette pack for a few seconds before putting it away. I can have one later.
"Okay then, tell us about the dream you had in the cocoon."
Seeing no reason to withhold from the strange girl, the boy began in detail to discuss his dream, including as many of the flashing images that he could remember. At the flashing images, many surprised faces greeted his eyes, coming from the girls. When he had finished, Reki looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. 'A horse, prancing about free and wild. A Wild Horse...'
"Ranma."
The girls turned to Reki as she spoke. "Ranma is another name for a wild horse. We shall call you 'Ranma'."
"Feather Ranma," Hikari started, "that sounds very nice. Feather Ranma, to help guide your future, as a fellow Haibane, I give you this Halo."
As Hikari spoke, she opened a container that resembled a rod with a circular head. The head of the mold was round and had a hole in the center. Inside was a brightly glowing yellow halo. The halo was flat, as if it had been tempered that way with a blacksmith's hammer. Hikari pulled it out with a pair of tongs and set it lightly upon Ranma's head.
"Be careful, it's still hot," Kuu warned him. Ranma was sure he didn't want to touch it, since steam had poured out from the halo mold when Hikari had opened it. The halo wobbled a little on his head before settling in place. Ranma, who had sat up during the telling of his dream - inadvertently knocking Rakka and Nemuu off the bed with his large wings - tried to look up to see his halo. A soft, golden glow was all he found when he tried.
"Oh, so he gets a halo and a name and I don't," came an irate voice from the other side of the room. The new girl was sitting up on her cot.
"As we said earlier, it is tradition to name the Haibane after the dream they had while in the cocoon," Kana said matter-of-factly. "Though most of the Young feathers don't respect the tradition."
At this, the new girl's demeanor changed. She now looked to them with more than a little apprehension before replying, "Oh. So, you are going to name me after my cocoon dream?"
"Yes, that's right. Now, tell us about your dream. Was it a bad dream?"
"Kana! No need to assume the worst. I'm sure her dream was fine." Nemuu gave Kana a disapproving look as she said this.
"You... want to know my dream?"
"Well, yes. You don't want us to call you new girl forever," Reki said sympathetically, joining in the conversation.
"No, I don't like that," the girl said slowly with a bit of a pout.
"Okay then, tell us all about it!" Kuu beamed, her previous fear gone at the prospect of hearing a new story.
"Well, um, you see..."
"Nabiki."
All turned to look at Ranma. He however was looking at the raven winged girl. "Nabiki," he said again. "Her name is Nabiki." Staring at Ranma dumbfounded, it was Kana who first found her voice.
"What do you mean, 'her name is Nabiki'? She hasn't said anything about her dream yet. How would you know her name?"
"I'm not sure how I know, I just know. When I saw her just now, I started seeing flashes of things, events... Images from the past I guess. I don't remember much at all about my past, but I remember her name is Nabiki."
With the others still dumbstruck, Kana pressed on. "So you're telling us that you remember things from your past?"
"Not much. An image here, a word there... What little I remember is all jumbled up. The only thing I'm sure on is her name is Nabiki, and I am, or was, my Pop's only kid."
"Ranma, that's more than any Haibane remembers about what they were or where they came from. No Haibane is supposed to remember their past lives, not one thing! It's just not done! Her name will be according to her dream, as it SHOULD BE!" Kana was nearly screaming by the end, causing tensions to rise. She was justified in her attitude though. This whole ordeal was very stressful and unheard of, so such reactions were not within Kana alone; she was just the first to say something. Kana turned to the raven winged girl and demanded hotly, "Now, tell us your dream!"
"Kana! No need to make such a fuss! There have been many new things today that we've never seen before, so it IS possible!" Reki was getting more and more irritated as she spoke to Kana. In such unknown waters, they needed to keep things quiet and calm.
"I DON'T REMEMBER, OKAY? I didn't have any dreams! I don't know what happened, I don't know why I'm here or where here is, and I don't know what is going on! I don't know my name, but I will not be called 'new girl' or Rei, or Zero!" If the raven winged girl looked scared or angry before, she seemed nearly hysterical now, with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
The outburst was all that was needed. The room fell silent once more. Only Reki truly understood how this girl was feeling, being a Haibane struggling to remember her own dream. Before anymore argument could be made, Hikari stepped forward and opened the halo mold again, taking the initiative.
"Feather Nabiki, to help guide your future, as a fellow Haibane, I give you this halo." With tongs in hand, Hikari pulled out another halo from the mold and set it on Nabiki's head. A collective gasp from the four other Haibane girls, (Reki giving her the benefit of the doubt) showed their belief that the halo wouldn't stick. Nabiki was perturbed at this, since the halo stuck with no problem.
"What? Surprised that a Haibane with black wings can wear a halo on her head?"
A great deal of head shaking told her they'd rather not argue again. After a moment in which Ranma moved to sit next to Nabiki, the other Haibane lined up and bowed to the new pair.
"Welcome to Old Home."
Authors Notes:
It may easily seem that Ranma and Nabiki are both out of character. That may well be true, but look at it this way. Ranma spent 10 years training, and learning to adapt to odd situations. Therefore I believe that while possibly irritated that something like this could happen to him, he isn't really all that fazed by it and is trying to adapt quickly. As for Nabiki, before Ranma arrived in her life in the Ranmaverse, she always had a cool head because she had a strong control and understanding of things that were going on. In most situations where she was caught off-guard she sometimes would appear shocked and her mask would crack, but in general she'd do her best and make do with the changes unless she could do something about it. I'm assuming that in a situation where not only has she lost both control and understanding, but also her past memories, that she would react with a much greater amount of emotion, including fear.
Also, for those who may be wondering what happened to bring these two into the Haibane Realm, I might write that story as a later chapter from Ranma's memories as they slowly stick together. Ranma will never have total memory returned to him, just a few things that will be important. As for his curse, I haven't yet decided, but many of his other personality quirks will present themselves.