Disclaimer: I don't own anything, especially Ranma ½, I mean it, don't laugh. Locust decended on my home. I am currently typing on a computer at the library, ass to the wind naked, with a stolen library card.
This is my second fic, the other one, if you've read it, is very different. But I didn't like the way it came out. If you didn't either despair not! I'll make it funnier. I have some ideas to make it wacked out crazy.
Well send any C&C to:
guy_daigoji@hotmail.com
Todays theme is: Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down... Trust me it fits pretty good with the ch. Tell me if you can think of a better one.
By: Guy Jin
Savior's Blood
A hunter's dilema
"Stop theif!" yelled the police officer chasing the dining deviant known as Genma Saotome. Genma ran as fast as he could, which was quite fast despite his large frame.
He felt confident enough to spare a short glance back and saw that he was a good thirty feet ahead of the officer. Now's my chance to duck him, he thought with a chuckle. Thinking quickly he made an abrupt turn around a corner. Once out of the officer's line of sight Genma dashed into the nearest shop.
William was quietly reading the evening paper, on a stool behind the counter of the book store he owned. He lazily took a sip of the tea in front of him, inhaling the aromatic vapors to further soothe his frazzled nerves. Usually business was pretty good, but today had been an especially slow day. Not that he minded, his store was very specially oriented, and the kinds of books he sold here were quite rare. So as far as money went he was pretty well off. No, the reason he was uptight was his mule of a wife and her nagging. Why the hell her sister was visiting was beyond him.
Just as he was about to go back to reading the paper, a large man in a stained white dogi ran into the shop. Before he could ask any questions the man jumped over the counter and cowered behind a large stack of books. William started to ask questions but the man interupted.
"Please," asked the man, "I was just hungry, and my son needed food too!" Before the shopkeep could inquire as to what he was talking about, a red-faced policeman ran in. "Have you seen a large man in a dogi go by here?" he asked in between gasps for air.
William put it together and realized that this man must have stolen something. He toyed with the idea of turning him in, but the mention of a son made him think twice. No kid should be without a father. And judging from the guys clothes he wasn't exactly wealthy. "No," he replied after a moment of introspection, "I haven't." The cop seeing that he would get nothing from the shopkeep, left without a word.
William stared at the entrance for a few moments, before deciding that the officer was a sufficiant distance away. "You can come out now fella." Genma slowly peered his head out from behind his hiding place, before he bolted up and threw back his head in triumphant laughter.
"Dumb copper! They'll never pin it on me! Never!" William sweated at the man's tirade and had some second thoughts about helping the theif out. Genma abruptly calmed down and explained to the man, "Sorry, always wanted to say that." William shrugged and replied with a curt smile, "Don't be, I have too."
"None the less, thank you for the help, Mr...?"
"The name's Johanson, William Johanson." He extended a hand in friendship, "And yourself?"
Genma reached out and briskly shook the man's hand. "The name's Genma Saotome, Master of the Saotome School Anything Goes Martial Arts," he replied with as much gusto as a salesman.
With introductions made, they had no real idea where to take the conversation. Each man stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before William broke the quiet with a question. "Sooo, been stealing long?" The husky martial artist shifted uncomfortably on his feet, "Well just enough to feed me and the boy, his name's Ranma."
The older man nodded and gently smoothed the knots out of his long mustache. "Indeed, where is your son, Ranma was it, now if you don't mind me asking?" Genma began to sweat a little. "Well uh, he's at his auntie's house visiting," he lied, he had wisely decided not to tell William that he left a six year old boy alone in the woods so close to the evening. I sure as hell don't need the child welfare bastards after me again, he thought to himself.
William didn't really buy it, he even began to doubt Genma really had a son. "Got any pictures?" he asked in a some what suspicious tone. Genma calmed a bit. "Sure do!" He reached into his gi, withdrew a dirty brown wallet, and took out the pictures of Ranma he kept for, er... bartering.
William looked at them with a scrupulious gaze, "Don't look like you," he calmly stated. Genma took out another picture and showed it, "Takes after his mother." William smiled appreciatively and handed back the snapshots, "That he does."
Genma replaced all the pictures, "Yeah me and the boy are traveling all over, he has to learn the family style so he can take over when I retire." William sighed at the comment, "Sounds nice, my wife and I were never blessed with children. I would have liked to have left my store and knowledge to someone family."
Genma for once felt genuinely bad, "Sorry to hear that." The older man waved it off. "S'okay, it's just the way the cards get played. Maybe I can help you though." Ranma Saotome's father raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Oh, how so?"
William's mood suddenly brightened he reached under the counter and felt around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled up a small wooden chest with iron trimming, it looked heavy, but the old man seemed to lift it with ease. Genma lifted the eyebrow a little higher at that.
"This box is full of texts on martial arts, maybe something in here could help you and your boy out." Genma's eyes shinned at the mention of martial arts manuals. He viciously dug into the box and began flipping through the pages of the books. William smiled at that and remembered back to when he had been training in martial arts, but that was years ago, he had forgotten most of it by now anyway. Besides, when his friend Viktor died he had no real reason to keep up his training. He sighed and put those thoughts away to the place in his mind, where they were far enough away for him to ignore the pain, and close enough to remember the joy.
"I'll be back Genma, I need some more tea. You want any?" Genma shook his head absently and continued to peruse the manuals. The former martial artist left with his cup to get a refill.
Genma searched for anything that might be pertinent to the boy's training. Most of it was in languages he couldn't read though, and much of what he could read didn't have much to do with martial arts. Pressure points, joint locks, stretching exercises, a couple of books on styles he already knows. Aha! he thought to himself as he pulled out a plain blue covered manual. On the cover was the title: Dangerous Unbeatable Super Secret Ultimate Techniques for Dummies, Edition III.
Genma wiped the bit of drool from his mouth and turned it over to read the synopsis to himself. "Do not buy this book. Seriously, I wrote it, and even I wouldn't buy it. The techniques herein are too dangerous for anyone, repeat anyone to use. Attempting to do so would likely leave you a withered husk of a man, physically and mentally. If you do try to learn them, prepare yourself for a life of sitting alone inside a dumpster behind a 7-Eleven, quietly mumbling to yourself, and scaring small children for their Lunchables to survive."
Genma thought about the words of the author, and came to a decision. "The boy could use a challenge," he commented with a smile. Just as he was about to close the strong box, he saw 'it'. It was a plain looking book. No title, just a dirty, worn, leather cover. Normally he wouldn't have paid attention to it, he had even passed it over in his initial search. But... something... some... force... caught his attention at that exact moment. If he had been looking away, he probably would have missed it.
Quickly he picked it out of the box, noting it's considerable heft, and stored it in his gi with the other book. William entered the room just as Genma was closing the lid. "Find anything interesting?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"A few things, nothing really spectacular, but every little bit helps. I have to go get my boy now if you'll excuse me. I thank you for your great kindness," he answered with a deep bow. William returned the bow, "It was a pleasure. And I hope to see you again soon."
With goodbyes said, Genma left the store with a wave. William waved back and smiled to himself. "He seemed nice." He then returned to his paper.
"Hey Pop. Got some food?" Genma pounded his big ham of a fist into his open palm, "Knew I forgot something." Ranma could only facefault, and listen to his stomach protesting his fathers idiocy.
"Cheer up boy, a little hunger never hurt anyone. Besides I got something better than food."
The young martial artist in training could only look at the older man with a skeptical gaze, "Better than food? Listen to yourself, who are you and why do you look like my pop?"
Genma just about giggled a reply, "You'll see soon boy, first we have to find a base of operations. In other words a place to crash. We'll look in the next town, we're leaving in the morning, get some sleep." Ranma's stomach growled again, "After breakfast." The boys eyes lit up and he quickly ran into the tent, he fell asleep only seconds later.
The next day, William was hoping it would be a good day. Yesterday his wife had chewed him out good for helping a theif. How the hell she found out he still didn't know. He also caught hell for hanging up on her and disconnecting the phone so she'd leave him alone. He just wasn't in the mood.
Despite that business had been alright that day. He had sold a few pricey volumes after that nice Genma fella left. Mostly stuff about magic, and it was to punk high school kids. He wasn't worried though, none of it was dangerous stuff. He kept that locked up under the counter in his private collections.
He unlocked the front door of his shop and stepped inside. The place was in the same shape he had left it the night before. "Oh man, musta've forgot to put away my strong box." He grabbed the box that he kept all his private martial arts texts in, and placed it back under the counter with his other strong boxes. Then he pulled it back out, deciding to look through it for old times sake.
As he dug through it he noticed something strange. "Oh shit! This is the wrong box!" He frantically began to check the other books in the chest, indeed it wasn't his box of martial arts books, but his chest of forbidden texts! Inside he kept many of his dangerous magic texts, and assorted volumes of volatile information.
"Oh no. Genma! What have I done!" William ran to the phone, plugged it back in, and made a call to his wife to tell her that she'd better prepare a pack for him. He had to find the wandering martial artist and his son, before they got hurt. Or worse.
Genma was rather pleased with himself. Not only had he found a suitable place for the two of them to stay, but he had also found out about a new technique, one that would give his school strength greater than all others. It was in the blue book that William had given him the day before. "Soon my boy will posses the Cat Fist!" he proclaimed in a triumphant roar.
Outside the abandoned home Ranma could hear his father laughing to himself. His father did that often, Ranma just tended to ignore him. He sat atop the mail box in the front, and thought about how great it was going to be to have a roof over his head. His father had explained to him that it had apparently been a dojo, but the master must have been weak, and lost their sign so it was abandoned. Ranma still didn't like the idea of people losing their school because of a piece of wood. But his father had also explained that it was a symbol of pride. And Ranma understood pride.
In the distance he could hear voices, voices that sounded like they belonged to kids his age. He had never really been around kids his own age, and excitedly ran towards them, hoping to make a friend or two. He followed the voices and found they belonged to a group of boys, four of them. Just as he was about to go over to them to introduce himself, the oldest looking boy started talking again.
"We told you we didn't want you around here, you funny talking weirdo!" yelled the boy. Ranma then saw that three of them, including the larger boy, were surrounding the smallest of the four.
"I'm not a weirdo, just cause I have an accent! Take it back or I'll pound you!" screamed the samll one. The others all chuckled at the decleration, "Pound us how, there's only one of you and three of us."
Ranma had heard enough. "Make it two and you're ass is grass!" Ranma stated as he stepped forward.
The others all looked perplexed,"And who the hell are you kid? We'll stomp you good!"
The pony tailed youth adjusted his gi and took a lazy stance. "I'm Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts! And as a martial artist, it is my duty to protect the weak!"
The boy being picked on fumed a bit, "I'm not weak! I'm a martial artist too!" Ranma smiled at that, "Cool, we can have a spar after we beat these guys down."
The other boy calmed visibly and even tempted a smirk. "Deal, but I want first blood."
"Deal."
The bullies didn't stand a chance.
A few minutes later the two stood in triumph over their fallen adversaries. "You fight good Saotome."
"You too, what's your name any way?"
"Ukyo Kuonji, of the Kuonji school of Martial Arts Okonomiyaki Preparation."
"Ranma, where you been boy?" inquired Genma as his son walk in the front door. His gi was torn and he looked somewhat bedraggeled. "Sorry Pop. Me and Ukyo were sparring, and it took me a while to figure out his style."
Genma cocked his head in confusion, "Ukyo?" Ranma nodded excitedly, "Yeah I met him today in the park. There were these guys picking on him, and and we kicked their butts! He knows martial arts too."
Genma nodded, "Well I don't like the idea of you having friends your own age, it could distract from your training. But if this Ukyo kid can give you a good spar, then I'm okay with it." Ranma's grin was ear to ear, "Thanks Pop!" He quickly ran over and gave his controlling father a hug. Not without a bit of discomfort from Genma. He usually tried not to be too 'sentimental' with the boy, after all, that's why they had to leave the house. He would never have gotten stronger with his mother always babying him.
"That's enough of that," stated the older man as he pushed the boy away, to look him in the eyes. "You can spend some time with your friend for the next week or two. I'd however prefer that you spend a deal of that time sparring, as I will need some time to prepare your next training exercise."
Ranma's smile became even more pronounced, "A new technique!? What is it?" Genma wagged his finger at the boy, "Now, now, that's a secret. You'll find out when it's ready. All I'll tell you is that it will make you one of the strongest, if not the strongest, fighter in the world." Ranma's eyes turned on the high beams, he always loved new techniques.
"Now then, did you eat?" asked Genma.
Ranma nodded vigorously in reply, "Yup, sure did! Ukyo's pop is a chef. He owns a stand and makes REALLY good okonomiyaki!" He reached into his gi and pulled out a small brown sack, "I still got one, want some?" he asked with a kind hearted smile. Genma grunted and took the bag. He removed the okonomiyaki and tore it in two. Of course his piece had been a 'bit' bigger, he was after all an adult, and the boy had already eaten who knows how many. He went at his half with the ferocity of a man who had never eaten, while Ranma made a good show of it trying in vain to emulate his father's dining etiquette.
The bald man belched loud and took out a pick to clean his teeth. "You're right, that was good. You should try to get some more for tommorow."
"Sure thing. Mr. Kuonji's a real nice guy, I'm sure he won't mind."
"Alright, time for bed."
Ranma wasn't sure exactly what time it was. But he was fairly certain it was quite late, and that the sun wouldn't be up for a few more hours. He also wasn't sure why he had woken up. Usually he could sleep through a tsunami on a boat house, but something was tugging at the back of his mind.
They had been in this town for a good while now, almost two weeks, and he was starting to think about how nice it would be to stay here and go to school with his buddy, Ucchan. Ranma realized that to most people two weeks didn't seem like a long time, especially when you're talking about living in a single place. But it was like an eternity to a wanderer like Ranma.
He got up and slowly walked over to the side of the room his father was sleeping, mindful of the place in the floor where he had heard the noises. Ranma wasn't sure if they were ghost or what, but ever since they had moved in he had heard them. It had started a few nights after they first arrived, but they seemed to be getting louder and more in number. His father had just told him that it would concern his training later, and left it at that. Ranma didn't like that one bit, but saw no reason to disbelieve the man. He'd never let anything happen to his only son right?
As he got closer to his father, the 'pull' became greater. Finally he saw what it was. A small brown book he had seen his father carrying. His pop had tried to open it every few days but to no avail. Something was keeping it closed, when Ranma had suggested that maybe it was glued shut, his father had laughed and said that it was "big people problems."
But now the young fighter could sense that the book wanted something. He reached out and took it in his hands. It was suprisingly light, his father had dropped it on the ground in frustration nearly every time he had tried to open it, and the resounding thud made it sound like the book weighed at least ten kilos.
Ranma traced the stress lines in the leather cover, it was nothing special, just something old. And yet... His tiny fingers gripped the edge while the other hand balanced the book against his body. It opened with suprisingly little effort. Inside a dull amber glow was emitted. The pony tailed boy almost dropped the thing on the ground. The feelings! The pull was now a steady throbbing in his head, not painful, but not pleasant.
When his eyes adjusted to the light he could see inside. The inside was hollowed out, making the 'book' into a sort of box. There was an object in it, apparently that was what was emitting the light. It was a large cross. Ranma recognized it after a moment, to be the kind that christians carried. He knew little of the religion, other than what he had found out from meeting them in his travels.
It was a strange shape, with what Ranma guessed as spikes, all over it. The color was a dulled amber like the light, and in the center was a crystal that glowed different colors. One second the crystal was blue, then red, next orange. Yet despite the color changes, the light was always brown, the light of the cystal never left it.
Just as he was about to touch it his father woke up. "Boy! What's going on!" His jaw dropped as he saw what his son was holding. "How'd you get it open!!!" He quickly got up and looked into the book. What he saw made the cash register in his brain chime, with the yen signs in his eyes popping out for safe measure. "This could be worth a fourtune!" he reached out to grasp the object, but just as Ranma had been, he too was interrupted.
Crash!
A giant form broke down the entire wall on the side of the room Ranma had been on. Dust and debries clouded their vision, obscuring their view of the intruder. All they could make out was a tall, wide frame, with long thin arms dangling down it's side. If he had not been so shocked, Ranma would have heard the things under the floor screaching in terror as they sensed the beast.
"Give me the relic," it commanded in a tired raspy voice. Genma sensing his loot, er, his son, was in trouble, quickly ran at the thing. "Run boy, save the booty!" The young man however was frozen to the floor. He stared at the thing as it came into view. It's size reminded him of a bear he'd seen at a zoo a few years ago, but it's shape was more or less human. Long clawed fingers tensed and relaxed with it's breathing. The eyes were a dark, filthy yellow that seemed to reflect a light that was not present. The skin was a sickly looking color, and seemed to be ready to fall off it's body.
Genma met the thing with a flying kick that landed square in it's face. He felt cartilage and bone crack beneath his foot, as the blow connected. Quickly he landed in crouch and rolled between the monsters legs. He jumped up and kneed the thing in the back of the neck. It leant forward from the blow, allowing Genma to use it's back as a springboard. The fighter deftly spun in the air and landed in front of Ranma in a defensive stance.
Ranma gulped and looked at his father. "I thought I told you to go?! I'll take care of this thing! It is a martial artist's duty to protect the weak and rid the world of monsters, remember that always, and you will find the strength to prevail!" shouted Genma in a startilingly insightful burst of wisdom. As if... as if he were a dying man giving the wisdom of his life, to his only descendant...
The creature stood back up to it's full height, apparently regaining it's balance. Genma's eyes widened as he saw the thing's face twist and contort itself back into it's original shape. It reminded him somewhat of a movie he'd once seen, but the effect had much more impact in person. He spared one last glance at the boy. "Run damn it!"
Ranma was shocked out of his stupor by the abruptness of his father's words, and ran quickly towards the door. He looked over his shoulder at the confrontation, and saw the demon lurching along towards him. He also saw his father seem to melt from thin air like a mirage, and reappear only to attack, effectively blocking it's path. With a loud battle cry he jumped up and threw his arms out, creating distortions in the air Ranma could barely make out in the darkness. "Kiyaaaahhhhhh!!!" That was the last thing Ranma saw as he escaped the building.
A small elderely man found himself walking through a rough neighborhood in the middle of the night. From his appearence and dress, it was apparent he was a foreigner. He wore a long grey trench coat that was wrapped around him tightly, covering his entire body. On his back was a backpack that was notably larger than himself, but not suspiciously so. He had a frame which stated that he had at one time very well built. His face was weathered and tanned from years of work outside. Stress lines and wrinkles adorned his face like badges of honor, won through years of toil. But by far his most distinguishing feature was his eyes, which shone like orbs of moonlight. In the eyes one could see his mind contained decades of knowledge and experiences.
The stranger continued his walk a few more blocks and came to a bus stop. Deciding it was a good place to take a resthe sat down on the wooden bench, and listened to the sounds of the night. For the first time in days he took the time to smell the roses, and he admitantly felt a little guilty for it. After a few minutes he decided to get back on the road. Just as he was picking up his pack he heard a battle cry only blocks away, normally he would have ignored it as just someone in a fight. But he soon after heard an inhuman roar. Quickly he ran towards the disturbance, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.
Ranma stood outside the abandoned dojo, confidently awaiting his father's victorious return. He had no doubts his father would win this battle. If manga was any indication, good always won out over evil. He could hear small explosions and his fathers battle cries as the fight progressed. After a while he heard a cry from his father, and then one from the monster. And just as suddenly as the whole thing started, it was over.
Ranma could hear light footsteps and the slight shuffling of feet, drawing near. He had to contain his joy at the sight of the mighty warrior he called his pop. But as the shadows took shape he saw the shape was too large to be his father. "No," he whimpered in a barely audible whisper. "Pop can't have lost... He was a master... My sensei... My family..." The young boy could stand it no longer, a bright light erupted from around him.
It was a dark red aura that seemed to erupt from within his very soul. The pull of the book called to him again, the two powers were attracting each other, try to feed on one another. On instinct he reopened the book and grasped the crucifix, quickly tossing the case aside. The small curved spikes stabbed deeply into his hand, causing a large amount of blood to flow freely from the wounds.
But just before the stream of blood touched the ground, it froze, as if time had stopped for it. The warm liquid flowed in the opposite direction, being drawn into the artifact in the child's tiny grasp. The spikes shrank into the cross, and the top began to elongate, like a sword... No, he realized, not like a sword, it grew and began to droop limply to the ground. It was a whip.
He had been trained to use many different kinds of weapons during his training journey. But he was not very experienced with many, and on top of that he knew next to nothing about this particular implement. But he had to avenge his father, whatever the cost. And he could feel the power it had, he would use that power to ensure victory.
The thing slunk into full view, and Ranma could see it had taken a good beating, Genma hadn't gone down easy. But just as it had earlier, it was quickly regenerating. Even more so now that he was in direct contact with the ground outside the dojo.
Ranma could care less though, no matter how strong it was, no matter how inexperienced he was, the thing that had hurt his only family would not live the night.
Inside the dojo Genma Saotome was bleeding to death. The artery on his right leg had been gashed, and the other leg was broken. At least it looked broken, he couldn't actually feel anything below his waist. Back's probably snapped, he tried to say to himself, but it only came out in his thoughts. None the less, he had to save the boy.
The dying fighter made his way slowly to the entrance the demon had left through. But it was at least a good twenty feet away, and it was slow going clawing himself along with his one good arm, the other being no where near the rest of his body. He could see it twitching slightly in the corner it had landed in. He idly wondered how the creature could put on so much speed so suddenly. The fight had been going his way
His injuries were going to do him in, and he knew it. But if he could save his son, at least the school would be secure. He may not be there to see the joining of the schools, but at least his legacy would live on. Hell, maybe the boy'd make him a monument or some such thing at the family shrine. Of course he was going to miss him, just as much as he would miss his wife. But when a man is at death's door, he doesn't regrett what he can't change, but celebrates what he can. He was begining to feel bad about most of the stuff he'd done over the years. Taking the boy from his mother, teaching him criminal acts and calling them games, and even more recently preparing his son for cat fist training. Man, what the hell was I thinking, he chuckled to himself. He may have been an asshole, but he was still human, and a father, albeit a lousy one.
He could hear the boy in the yard cry out, and the beast roaring in reply. Oh no, he thought, Ranma's going to try to avenge my death, I have to stop him! But it was too late, he heard a sickening smack, and the slick sound of something wet sliding down the outside of the thin wooden walls. Genma feared the worse, and rolled over to die, quietly weeping, for he would never see his 'boy' a man. He lay there, and repent all his evil.
Ranma stood before the towering behemoth, whip in hand, panting to catch his breath. During the fight he realized that the whip felt natural to him, and he could wield it as if he had trained all his life to do so. The thing had tried to lunge at him and end the fight quickly, but Ranma was too fast for him. They continued to play their game of cat and mouse until the boy decided to end it. He dove between the demon's legs, just as his pop had. But unlike Genma, Ranma had a weapon, he lashed out with the whip and wrapped it around his opponent's neck. As soon as it had pulled tight, the spikes protruded along the length of it. Ranma pulled with all the might his tiny body contained, the curved blades slicing into his adversary's neck like a chainsaw. The head poped off and flew across the yard, where it landed against the wall, sticky side down, and slowly slid along to the ground.
He had won.
Stifling the urge to cry out in victory, he dashed towards the entrance of the home. Only to have his legs fail him. The stress of his battle, and the amount of blood he lost to form his weapon, took it's toll as the arenaline in his body began to wear thin. "Pop," he said as he slowly slipped into unconciousness. The whip fell from his grip, and returned to it's crucifix form. The crystal in it's center glowed red briefly, and blinked out.
The small old man jumped over the wall surrounding the complex, and drew a sharp breath at what he found. The home was completely demolished, the walls were torn down and the roof looked ready to collapse. He tentativly made his way through the rubble.
It was dark inside but he could make out a form sprawled on the ground a few yards away. He dashed over and squinted in the darkness, it was indeed the man who had come into the shop only weeks before. William rubbed his face and suppresed the urge to scream. He looked down and saw that there was a trail of blood behind the man, along with scratches in the floor. He realized that he must have tried to escape but died before he could get help. Thinking for a second he realized that there had to be more to it.
Where was the thing that had done this? And the boy! He ran out only to stumble across a body lying on the ground. He stood quickly and inspected it. It was a servant. A lesser demon that was something like a zombie, but much stronger. Except, he noted, unlike most servants this one was missing it's head. The odd thing was however, was that decapitation wasn't the best way to kill a servant. Especially outdoors, being earth element based, any contact with soil would cause it to simply regenerate a new one. Most perplexing indeed.
William was then startled by a moan behind him. Spinning around he reached a hand into his coat, and prepared to remove his weapon. But relaxed as he saw it was a child. A child! He ran over and checked for vital signs, he was alive, just exhausted. He then realized it was the boy he had seen in the pictures, Genma's son. But who had saved him?
Just as he was about to pick the young man up he felt something behind him, something familiar. He turned his head and saw it. "The Thorn Whip," he whispered in reverence. A million questions flooded his mind. Who had opened the seal? Who had killed the demon? Had they used the whip? If they did, why did they leave it behind?
Suddenly the relic's gem glowed a bright red, and at the same time an aura of the same color sprang forth from the boy. A realization overcame the man as the sun rose, he looked down at the child's hand, the boy had a tattoo just below the wrist on the left hand, it was a small crucifix with vines of thorns wrapping around it. It flashed once and the Thorn Whip faded into thin air. William had no doubt, the child had used one of the ancient hunter's tools.
Ranma awoke in a strange place some days later. The room smelled slightly of incents and cookies. He lifted the covers off himself and stepped off the soft comfy bed. In the corner he could see a wash basin and his backpack, and some clothes were set out for him. He had never seen the clothes before, though he could tell that the shirt was chinese. He washed up quietly and put on the strange clothes, deciding that it would be best to find out where he was before he tried to escape, he left the pack behind.
He crept along the hallway, clinging tightly to the wall to make as little noise as possible. As he turned the corner he ran into a thin elderly woman, she was tall and moved gracefully. "Oh, hello young man. Good to see you're awake, we were begining to worry," she said in a soothing voice that Ranma guessed as having chinese accent, at least a slight one. "My name is May Johanson. My husband found you, he is in the kitchen. Would you like to meet him? You could have something to eat while you talk." Ranma's stomach growled, betraying his hunger. She smiled gently and led him down the stairs. He absently scratched the back of his left hand, just below the wrist, it itched for some reason.
As they made their way into the kitchen, Ranma saw an elderly man sitting at the table reading his newspaper, idly sipping his coffee. Ranma guessed he was european or maybe american. He neatly folded his paper as he sensed them enter, Ranma assumed. He smiled brightly, "Hello there, Ranma my boy, my name is William Johanson. I see you met my wife May. I was a friend of your father's," William was abruptly cut short as the young martial artist remembered the events of the previous night.
"Where is Pop?" he asked. William shook his head sadly, "We have much to talk about my boy, first of all I found you over a week ago, as for your father..."
Ranma had taken the news better than William had thought. And that scared him. Maybe the boy took solice in the fact that he'd avenged his father. He seemed the type to hold honor in high regard. Now the Johanson's were faced with a dilema. What next? The boy had used a hunter's sacred tool. Only those destined for greatness could wield them, and one had apperantly chosen him as it's master. With that kind of power, he would become a magnet of supernatural activity, and if he was not trained to use it properly... Also, something big must be in the works, someone had to send that servant after the cross.
That decided it. He would raise the boy as his own, in order to try and repay Genma for what was obviously his fault. He would train the boy in the ways of the hunter, and make him a man amongst men. And when the boy was old enough, and properly trained, they could go in search of his mother. Although no idea of where she lived, he was sure that they could find her with a reasonable amount of ease.
As soon as the boy was feeling better they could begin training. "He will make a grand hunter." He thought to himself. He then realized something, he had an heir, officially he was Genma's heir, but now he had someone to pass his skills to. He would have to call the other hunters to tell them. The Belmonts, Van Helsings, Baldwins, Grants, and Graves would surely be glad to hear that the Johansons would once again have a representative in the hunting community.
Notes:
Okay guys, tell me what's up. Bump it or dump it. If I get good responses I'll do more. I might get to like this.
This fic was inspired by too much time on my hands, and the Mars+Thunderbird DSS combo from Cicle of the Moon on GBA. Martial arts always gets me thinking about Ranma.
Tell me if I should change the name. Gimme suggestions
Tszietzen
-Guy
P.S. I used to have trouble getting my comp to put in proper filenames. Because I'd get a window that says it doesn't recognize the "/" in 1/2. If you have this problem press alt+0189 and you'll get this; ½. Just like the one in my disclaimer. It's valid for filenames, and it looks better too! Cool huh. Check, C:windows,charmap for more cool things! Like this; ¥. Look! A yen sign!!!
