Oni Hunter Ranma
Ch. 1 Easy Life
Hey everyone! I decided to start work on another story. I will still work on A Second Chance, but I'm having problems figuring out some stuff in the next chapter. But don't worry, my support team and I will figure it out. Anyway, enjoy.
The late summer sun was casting long shadows as it sank into the west. Just like every other day when the harvest is done and it isn't yet time for planting I was practicing. The dust picked up by the dry wind made the world hazy, like a picture painted without the artist's glasses. I had already finished training with my fists and feet and currently was watching the trails of swirling dust following my boken. As much as I loved martial arts something more was necessary. After all, killing an oni with your fists, while not impossible, was most certainly a one time feat, after all the dead don't care for battle.
There was a slight chill in the air as one of the smaller oni that infested the forest near my village drifted towards the field towards me. Say what you want about them, but one thing is certain: the oni that lived on human territory were stupid. This one was trying to sneak up behind me in broad daylight. And if that wasn't bad enough it wasn't even low to the ground. Instead he was headed toward me at shoulder height. His arms, which were short to the point of ridiculousness compared to the rest of its body, where held up and bent slightly inward, his hands almost meeting in front of his roughly spherical body. The lack of any legs, or even threatening arms was even more pathetic when you considered that his mouth wasn't large enough to do much but gnaw on the edge of a hand. I couldn't help but wonder if I had ever considered these sad little monsters as anything but a nuisance.
When it was close enough to me it uttered its most threatening roar and lunged forward. I turned and, with a slight sigh, brought my weapon down on the creature. Most of its mass dissolved with a single downward swing, and what was left quickly melted into two small pools of black liquid that almost instantly vanished into the earth. Leaning down I picked a small crystalline shard off the now dead earth. I held it up to the sun, which also seemed to be sinking into the earth and for the thousandth time, wondered how something so worthless as a minor oni could still produce something so valuable. Sighing again I headed towards the L shaped group of buildings that I had called home for all my life and wondered once more if I would ever get out of here and make my own life, make something valuable myself. Oh by the way, my name is Ranma, Ranma Saotome.
The lazy summer moon drifted above the village, almost seeming to say "At the very least I'm free." Well, that how it seemed to Ranma anyway. As he walked slowly, as it's hard to walk fast while looking up, across the yard that separated his bedroom from the long dining hall where his family, and most of the others in the village, ate every night he couldn't help but feel resentment towards the pale orb.
His resentment shifted towards a more reachable target, one of the pebbles that made walking to the outhouse at night bothersome. His kick sent it flying towards one of the small houses that lined the area. He sighed again and chided himself for being childish. Neither of the rocks were the cause of his mood. It was his father, Genma, a bear of a man with once jet black hair that was, much to his chagrin, turning white in patches.
Once again he had made it clear that he had no intention of letting his son make something of his life. It seemed Ranma was destined to watch over this farming village for the rest of his life. At his first request to be allowed to go to one of the big cities and become a real oni hunter his father just laughed. But that was three years ago. Now he had a flurry of reasons Ranma couldn't leave; everything from he was needed to protect the town, to the value of the oni crystals he could get. But what irritated Ranma even more than all that was the fact that he was right, at least about a few things. There was no one else in the village with the ability to fight the monsters, and the money he made from the jewels had helped to pull the community through lean times more than once.
Despite all that Ranma felt he couldn't last much longer here. It was like there was a voice, calling him to the outside world. It was not as loud as the voice of his father, or as persuasive as that of his mother, but what it lacked it more than made up for in persistence.
He swore then and there he would not be stopped. Regardless of the time or cost he would make it out of here. Ranma Saotome would make a name for himself. He would be somebody!
With that thought he slid open the door to his room, climbed into his futon, which he nearly always left on the floor, and drifted into a deep sleep, a determined grin on his face.
Ranma walked back towards the group of huts after another practice session. On his way he looked out to his right. The last rays of the sun were hitting the forest. Despite the warmth of the sun the area surrounding the trees seemed cold and dark. The small oni that Ranma fought all came from the forest. They were born somewhere in the darkness of the woods and invariably they stumbled out to be dispatched. There were rumors that a fearsome oni lived in the center of the forest, one that might give Ranma a challenge. And if the oni was powerful the crystal from it would probably be pretty valuable, maybe enough for his father to see the worth in letting him become a real hunter.
Maybe tomorrow he would go and see what was really in that forest.
The slanting rays of sun didn't get a chance to wake Ranma from his rest, a loud knock and then the sound of the door opening beat them to it.
"Wake up Ranma! We have visitors!"
Ranma reluctantly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The only people who ever came to his village were tax collectors and the occasional traveling merchant. Once or twice a lost traveler had dropped by, but that was about it. Ranma's process of waking up was quickened considerably when he heard what the boy, who, despite the earliness, had streaks of dirt on both cheeks, said next.
"Come on, Wake up. These people are Oni Hunters!"
Almost as soon as the child was done speaking Ranma was up and headed towards the group of villagers who were making a semi-circle around the village gate. The women made up the outside of the circle with the children who were too small to force their way forward and too big to squeeze between the legs of adults to get to the front.
Ranma on the other hand was plenty big enough to get to the front. The first person who caught his eye was his father who, being more or less the leader of the village, was speaking to the new arrivals. Then there was a tall man with long hair and a moustache, both the same dark black. On either side of him were two fairly attractive girls, both probably a bit older than Ranma. One of them had long brown hair and looked gentle and kind, the other was also a brunette, but wore her hair short and had an expression that said she would gladly sell her fingers for the right price. Among them the only weapons Ranma saw were the swords at the hip of the man and a spear slung across the back of one of the girls.
Ranma blinked for a moment. The spear was too far behind the girl to be on her back. After a moment the floating weapon moved forward and Ranma was stunned. In front of him was the most beautiful girl he had seen in his life. She had long black hair and dark eyes that moved restlessly from one person to the next. Her frame was fairly muscular, but not in the same way as the farm workers that Ranma was used to. Instead of being short and stocky with thick arms and legs she was lean, with long muscles used to swinging weapons.
Genma noticed his son and gestured toward him. "This is the one I mentioned. Ranma these people are a family of Oni hunters."
Ranma wasn't usually good with words by any measure, and being in the presence of his idols didn't do anything to improve his ability.
"Quite the eloquent one isn't he?" muttered the girl with short brown hair.
The tallest girl started scolding her and Ranma managed to catch that the girl's name was Nabiki before he managed to speak.
"Hello, I'm Ranma. It's an honor to meet you." Ranma added in a small formal bow and was quite proud of his greeting.
"Greetings Ranma. My name is Soun, and these are my daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. I have been told that you are quite an Oni hunter yourself."
It was all Ranma could do to nod and smile, trying t his best to hide the slight blush across his cheeks.
It was then that Soun made the best suggestion Ranma could remember him making. "Say, since you are going into the forest anyway, why don't you take Ranma with you, after all he has always wanted to see a real oni hunter in action.
Soun seemed to consider the suggestion for a moment, but it was Akane who answered. "No way! We can't take an inexperienced fighter with us. This isn't a tour, it's serious and if you mess up we could all get hurt."
If a negative answer came from Soun it would have been all right, he was a hunter, and an adult. Even if one of the other girls had said something Ranma would have taken it, but this girl wasn't even older that he was. There was no way he would be dissuaded by her.
"What do you mean 'inexperienced? I've fought plenty of oni, and I practice every day. Besides if a little girl like you is going why can't I?" Ranma put the emphasis on the word girl. Now the townsfolk were used to his occasional anger fueled lapses into chauvinism, but the expressions on the visitor's faces told a different story.
The girl who had been identified as Nabiki kept her cool, almost bored demeanor, while her older sister looked a bit disturbed by this whole event and kept saying 'Oh my' quietly to herself. Soun on the other hand seemed about to laugh at the entire situation. The youngest girl was a whole other story. Ranma couldn't decide if she looked like she wanted to break every bone in his body, or set him on fire, or some combination of the two.
"What was that?" She said in a voice that would make most intelligent forms of life quickly vacate the area, as demonstrated by the people of the village. Ranma, however wasn't about to move. He was looking at his one real chance to become an Oni hunter and, somewhat more importantly, to him, his honor (read: pride) was involved.
Before Ranma could respond, however Soun chose to interject. "Actually Ranma, Akane's right. Involving an unproven hunter could be disastrous, one mistake and we could all be severely injured, or worse." Ranma felt his last chance slipping away; it was like his body turned to ice. The smug grin he was getting from Akane wasn't helping matters. And he thought she was cute, Feh. "However," Soun continued, "it might be helpful to have another hunter around. So I'll tell you what, you and Akane will spar, if I'm satisfied with your abilities, you can come to the forest with us, alright?"
Ranma's frown immediately went into reverse. "Sure, but I would rather fight you." At Soun's puzzled expression he added, "I don't fight girls."
At this point Ranma started wondering, some would say worrying, about the old expression about looks killing. He was pretty sure Akane would have wiped out the town and the forest beyond with the one he was receiving now.
"You Jerk!" Akane yelled as she removed her weapon from her back. "I'll show you!" With that she slashed in a wide downward arc at Ranma's head.
Ranma managed to hop out of the way, but just barely. The sheer speed at which she had struck was amazing. Ranma was stunned again when she stopped her weapon's decent and changed the attack into a horizontal strike. Ranma had his boken out of his belt and up to block the strike in time, but only just. The weapon the girl was using was about six feet long, with a foot and a half curved blade, fortunately Ranma's boken had met with the handle rather than the blade, it was a naginata rather than the spear he had taken it for.
Ranma pushed back against the weapon, and found that it he could shove it away. It seemed he had the advantage of strength. But she had range, and among the three S's he had been taught strength was last, beaten by both speed and skill. He would have to be more skilled, or else finish this match fast, if he were to have any chance of winning.
The next blow was a high slash. Ranma blocked and shoved her weapon again, but this time he dashed forward while she was recovering and tried for a strike at the sternum. He had planned on stopping just before he hit her, but it looked like he had no choice. She slapped his wooden sword aside and used her now free hand to strike at his face. Now Ranma was pretty good at armed combat, but at hand to hand, well there was no comparison. He dodged the strike and shot a hand forward to try and catch a hold of her naginata. If he could get this battle to be a contest of strength he was sure to win.
He was watching her free hand when he felt his come into contact with something. He grabbed it and was about to try and pull it out of her grasp when he realized something. Naginata's weren't squishy.
His eyes whipped around to where his hand was and then grew two or three times their normal size. What he had a hold of wasn't a weapon, Akane had moved her naginata up to strike again, but it did belong to Akane, and was quite attached to her.
Ranma let go and moved back faster than he had ever moved in his life. The stunned expression on his face was met with the top of Akane's head as she stared downward. "Uh, I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry." Ranma shouted, and silently pleaded with the powers that be to save him, or at least his reputation. After his hand had only been there for a second, there was no way the other had seen it, right? But the gasp from the crowd behind him dashed that hope.
"Did you see that?"
"He was always rambunctious, but I didn't expect anything like that."
"No fair Oniichan."
During all this the focus of Ranma's attention was the girl he inadvertently groped. She still had her head hung and wasn't moving. Ranma took a step forward, not sure of what to do when she spoke.
"Ranma Saotome…" she said quietly. Ranma was afraid she was going to cry when her head shot up. "I'll kill you Pervert!"
Ranma went from half bowing to his ready stance in half an instant, and it still almost wasn't enough. All he could see was a streak of silver rushing toward him. He managed to dodge it by rolling to the side, but by the time he finished his roll another strike was headed after him. Ranma bobbed and weaved through a flurry of thrusts; some so quick he could only see the blade the split second before impact. He hadn't really been hit, but the arms of his coat were thoroughly shredded. And he couldn't keep dodging forever. Her attack had pressed him back and he was now almost against the wall of the dining hall. With a shout Akane thrust one last time, a hit aimed squarely at Ranma's midsection, she wouldn't kill him, just teach him a lesson. But for some reason he wasn't there, then she felt a slight shadow go over her and something resting against the spot where her neck met her shoulder.
Now conditioned reflex kicked in. She spun and slashed with all her might, only to find her blade stopped by Ranma's boken a few hairs away from his head. She didn't know which surprised her more. That the wooden sword had managed to stop her blade, in fact it didn't even look damaged, or that Ranma had, after all this time she hadn't held back.
And then the fight was over and Soun patted Ranma on the shoulder and told him to be ready to leave at sunrise tomorrow. Kasumi, meanwhile scolded Ranma and told him 'how to a lady,' while Nabiki looked mildly amused. The townsfolk gathered around and everyone congratulated them both on a good fight and more than a few made off color remarks to Ranma about his new technique.
Ranma sank into his futon that night and sighed happily. Finally he would get a chance to see real Oni hunters in action, and he would fight with them. Sure one of them was rather cold to him at dinner, but he was sure she would gradually see that it was all a big mistake and forgive him (Somewhere far, far away a boy in Nerima laughed uncontrollably and without reason. He was sent out in the hall to hold buckets of water.)
Now all he had to do was make a good showing of himself tomorrow and he would be set. Ranma slept with a smile on his face that entire night.