End of Jusenkyo
Episode 1.1 –Omens
It was a seemingly peaceful morning.
There was no noise but the settling of the house. The air still held the faint whisps of dust and inactivity. Though this place was usually a maelstrom of chaos, only peace remained now.
Outside, dew hung to every object in sight, the recently risen sun had not yet evaporated it.
Moments later, the sounds of hurried combat began, the sounds of fists swinging through the air and fewer still catching their target ended the short peace of the house.
"You're getting sloppy boy"
"You're one to talk about sloppy ya fat panda!"
Kasumi could only sigh as she watched Ranma and his father spar in the back yard through the kitchen window. She remembered doing such things at a much younger age before duty obligated her to much more domestic affairs. She kept a happy demeanor about it and tried to hold onto the bright side of things, such thoughts were best kept to the past.
She may not have practiced in a long time, but her skills were by no means rusty, she knew this house like the back of her hand. The light tapping behind her could only be footprints, and at this time of the morning, the only people awake were either Ranma, Genma, herself, or…
"Good morning Nabiki, I was just getting breakfast started"
"Take your time sis, hope you don't mind me taking over the coffee pot for a moment"
"Go ahead Nabiki, but I haven't changed the filter yet"
How Nabiki could drink that stuff still amazed her. The middle sister drank the most bitter and dark coffee imaginable. Kasumi could swear it was several shades darker than a black hole and probably just as dangerous. Nonetheless, her younger sister poured herself a fresh cup and began sipping it as if it were some delicacy and carefully peered out the window from behind her.
"Kasumi?"
"Yes"
"It seems kinda weird, especially coming from me, can you even imagine a life without him?"
"What do you mean? Don't tell me you want to become his fiancé again"
"No. No. Nothing like that, I mean yeah, he's pretty well built, but a little thick. Not to mention a huge pain in the ass, an enormous expense, and more trouble than a fistful of yen."
"I suppose things have been a bit more exciting lately, but I'd hardly call him trouble…" Kasumi trailed off as she began to set the table.
The door almost flew open and a cheerful, if not slightly damp, redhead walked into the room with a badly bruised panda following behind her.
"Mornin' Kasumi, Nabiki." the diminutive girl chimed as she made her way towards the table. "What's for breakfast"
"What's got you so cheerful today Saotome?" Nabiki asked before taking another sip of coffee.
"I dunno, I just got this great feeling about today" Ranma replied
"Ranma-kun, could you wake Akane for me while I finish setting the table?" Kasumi asked
With a nod Ranma bounded across the room and towards the stairs
"…and Ranma-kun, please mind bouncing around in a wet tee before the coffee completely wakes my other sister and she gets her camera"
Ranma processed this very un-Kasumi-like statement before deciding that it must have been all in her imagination and she continued her way up the stairs.
Meanwhile a wet panda bear was staining the couch while flipping through the channels on tv. Kasumi made a mental note to clean the couch after breakfast before resuming her work.
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Akane stood in a terrain that was unnervingly familiar though she'd never been there a day in her life. The terrain was slightly hilly, with much larger mountains in the distance. Some distance ahead of her stood a large and oddly frightening lake, while behind her what seemed to be a small army.
In less time than it took for her to register, the crowd behind her rushed towards the lake, shoving her around and forcing her to the ground. She could hear something rising from the lake, though it wasn't large, in her gut it felt as if it were an avalanche headed towards her. There was some splashing, more things emerging from the lake. The sounds of combat followed, some with swords, knives, axes, and a huge array of blunt objects, though the majority seemed to be unarmed blows.
Upon spotting a large enough rock, she climbed higher to get a better vantage point high enough to survey the scene. Many of the faces in the crowd were familiar to her and many still were complete strangers. They seemed to be fighting some sort of ill-defined creatures and barely holding their own. She looked through the crowd towards the lake, every instinct in her body shouting at her to flee.
She looked towards the center of the lake, and what she saw made her lose her grip.