Trust
Ch1: Disappearances and possibilities
Rand stared at the portal stone that would take him to Toman Head, to the horn of Valere and the dagger of Shadar Logoth for Mat. Ignoring the presence of Verin and the others he embraced the void and reached for Saidin revelling in the way it brought him and his surroundings to life. The taint as always was there, like a thick film of sludge on top of an otherwise pristine body of Saidin. He couldn't allow his concentration to stray to the feeling of filth that accompanied reaching through that layer or on the life enhancing sensations that lay beyond for fear of losing himself in the on going struggle for control that always accompanied the embracing of Saidin. It required all his focus to dominate the flood of molten metal and funnel it through the symbol on the portal stone, the symbol that would take them away from Cairhien.
"Something is happening," Verin said "something…"
The world flickered.
Rand struggled for control as he watched himself die upon tying to help his father against some trollocs.
"is not…"
The world flickered
The power raged as he watched the world become blanketed with ranks of trollocs and armies of Fades. Once again he died with the words "I have won again Lews Therin," echoing in his ears.
"Right. Something…" Verin screamed
The world flickered and Rand experienced thousands of possible lives, most ending in his death as he struggled for control and always the terrible words "I have won again Lews Therin," filled his soul with dread.
Flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker.
Just before he lost control of the raging river of Saiden shattering the void he came across a possibility that didn't belong to his life. He stood in a hall that could only have been destroyed by the power, yet there were no Aes sedai in sight. Only two girls a little younger than he fighting with a skill and ferocity that he had only ever seen in Lan.
His eyes were drawn to a young man sitting in what once must have been his best clothes. The young man that drew his attention looked neither surprised nor awed at the skill the girls were displaying and judging from the unconscious bodies around him it wasn't hard to see why.
Although he was unable to hear on interact like the other lives he had lived he was able to tell that like him the young man sitting before him was struggling for control. He seemed a kindred spirit, someone who could relate to his fear of being manipulated and controlled.
That's when the young man turned around and made eye contact. The pigtailed youths burning blue eyes seemed to latch onto his own putting pressure on the void. Combined with his own struggle to control the torrent of power now flooding through him the pressure was too great and the void shattered, his contact with Saidin fled.
Rand looked around at the men he had brought to Toman Head shakily, he had lived and died a thousand times but despite that he had managed to bring everyone to Toman Head alive without Aes sadai help. Still he couldn't help but be haunted by the burning blue eyes of that young man in the shattered hall.
*****
Ranma sat and stared unblinkingly at Shampoo and Ukyo fighting in the shattered remains of the Tendo dojo. He had long since disposed of the Kuno's and Mousse himself even if it had wrecked the tuxedo he had been wearing. To think that he had misjudged everyone so much, he felt like screaming and crying but he just stared and for once his face gave away none of his thoughts or emotions.
When the two old men had chained him up, dressed him in a tuxedo and put him in front of the alter he had at first been very upset. Seeing Akane dressed like she had been though had him quickly rethinking his position. They had been getting along better lately, certainly a lot better than when he had first arrived at the Tendo dojo and he didn't think spending his life with the tomboy would be the worst thing in the world.
He didn't know if he loved her or not, hell he didn't even know what love was but at that moment he didn't care. How his other fiancées would take it he didn't know, but he hadn't thought they would blow up his wedding. Not even his dishonourable panda of a father would blow up a wedding and there wasn't much he wouldn't do.
Once the wedding had started he had felt a great relief that the fighting between his friends would stop. The wedding had started and there wasn't anything they could do, had he been wrong. Tatewaki had brought steel, Kadachi had come wearing a wedding dress and Ukyo and Shampoo came bearing bombs. Naturally Mousse followed Shampoo and Happosai followed the free sake.
He had well and truly misjudged everybody, well not quite, the fact that they all blamed him was nothing new. Akane's comment about 'ruining her wedding' had been a revelation though, he had always thought weddings were between two people. Maybe choosing Akane over Shampoo wouldn't have been so different after all. For two years he had struggled to obtain some measure of control over his life, today it had flooded out of his control.
He had always trusted that his fiancées, no matter how badly their fights became, would not involve any bystanders. Always the safety of bystanders though not necessarily property came first and foremost above pride and rivalry. It was a trust which had been broken today, his trust in Akane had been broken and his fathers' unwillingness to defend the sanctity of a marriage ceremony against intrusion broke Ranma's trust in his fathers humanity.
Not that it had required much, he had become reluctant in trusting his father's morals and judgement for years, but today… no more. As for the rest of them, not once had any of them given him any reason to trust them although he had trusted that their humanity and human decency would prevent them from going too far, sadly it had not been enough. All except Kasumi, she was someone that had no shortage of humanity. Kasumi was only one person and against all those he knew… it would not, could not restore the faith that until today he had held in the humanity of people.
Ranma saw a flicker in the corner of his eye, there was a boy standing to the side of the dojo watching the fight. Ranma hadn't seen him around Nerima before, he was a few years older than he and stood like a fighter. The young fighter had the look of someone struggling for control against something that was too big for him. Like Ranma though he didn't seem to be giving up even with incredibly short odds. It was something that the two seemed to share, those short odds made them strive harder.
Ranma tried to probe his aura to see if he meant any harm, he had learnt that strangers were not to be trusted around Nerima especially fighters. The fact that he hadn't immediately jumped in and attacked was in the mans favour but it didn't decrease Ranma's suspicions any. It was healthy to be suspicious around here since often people you knew were to be trusted the least, they could and sometimes would stab you in the back as fast as any stranger would.
Ranma raised his eyebrows in surprise there seemed to be something strange about his aura something…
The world flickered.
*****
Shampoo grinned, Ukyo had improved and was giving her a decent workout for a change. It was a shame that none of her bombs had hit there mark but they had achieved their purpose by stopping the wedding. She was a little sorry that some bystanders had gotten caught up in their little mess but she had faith that Ranma would save them from getting too hurt. He was like that.
Shampoo frowned as Ukyo's guard suddenly dropped leaving her wide open. Not that she was complaining, she proceeded to punt Ukyo into what was left of the dojo's walls taking full advantage of whatever had distracted her.
"What wrong spatula girl, Shampoo too too much for you." She taunted as she turned around to where she knew Ranma was sitting to do a little gloating. He wasn't there, where had he gone?
"Where Ranma Spatula girl," she demanded turning her attention back to Ukyo. Ukyo must have had a clear view of where he had vanished to, maybe that was what had distracted her.
Ukyo crawled out of the indent she had created in the wall and tersely replied, "I don't know, I blinked and he was gone." If that were true then she needed to get great grandmother. Shampoo suddenly had a very bad felling about this. Another truce needed to be called until Ranma was found and the status quo restored.
*****
Ranma opened his eyes slightly disorientated. He was lying on a dry grassy plain, a hard dry grassy plain. Ranma wondered where he was, it had been years since Genma had beaten him to unconsciousness and left him somewhere on the pretence of survival training. Not since he had become good enough to stop him besides he didn't have the injuries that he usually awakened to when he was unceremoniously dumped in the wild.
The last thing he remembered was the attempted wedding and his overwhelming disappointment and anger at his fiancées. There was something about a stranger but the memory slipped away before he could grasp it. Ranma shrugged, it was just a matter of time before he remembered or shit hit the fan and from experience shit would hit the fan first.
It hardly mattered though, first he needed to orient himself and make a count of his possessions. Survival as always came first, and then he would worry about what happened and how to get back. Ranma quickly suppressed the small voice asking why he would want to go back, survival first questions later. A quick look established what he had already suspected, apart from the clothes on his back, a thermos of hot water and some martial art and shiatsu scrolls that he hadn't had a chance to look at yet he had nothing. No cooking gear, no tents or blankets and none of the things that would have made catching some food in the form of game all the easier.
Ranma wasn't worried though, he had been in worse situations before and survived them. He had no doubt that he would survive this one to and like the other times the challenge would make him stronger and maybe teach him some important lesson. A cursory look at his surroundings told him little more about his situation than he had already surmised when he had first awakened.
To his south and east stretched what seemed to be two great mountain ranges and to the north and west the grasslands seemed to extend forever without any sign of human habitation. After his recent experience at the attempted wedding he was inclined to think that was a good thing. Still with no food, shelter or camping gear it was probably a good idea to look for some sort of settlement even if he wasn't going to stay.
Ranma's stomach growled reminding him that at the worst possible moment that it was meal time and that he had had nothing to eat at the reception. With a sigh Ranma picked a direction and started walking, keeping a careful eye out for game. North, he would travel north.
From the geography he could be anywhere, but he was certain that as soon as he found someone to tell him where he was he would be half way home. No one would ever mistake him for Ryoga. Ranma growled remembering Ryoga's contribution to the mess back at the Tendo's, no he was certain no one would ever mistake him for that pig.
With another cursory glance at his surroundings Ranma set off. He would never get any where standing around and his softly growling stomach was telling him that it would be a long couple of days. Too long had he relied on Kasumi's sweet nature and her ever lasting supply of wonderful food, he had almost forgotten what travelling was like. Well there was nothing like the present to remind him.
Ranma started running at a steady energy conserving pace north not even notice the columnar stone that was half buried and overgrown, lying just south of his position. Nor did he notice the array of symbols that covered it, even if he had it was doubtful that he would have known their significance.
*****
This was serious, when she had told her great grandmother of Ranma's disappearance in the aftermath of the wedding she had assumed that he had just run away temporarily to blow off some steam. Shampoo knew that he had his own hiding places in and around the ward for just those purposes and while she respected his privacy while in those places she still reported them to her great grandmother. After all she knew how important to his sanity they were, she herself sometimes needed the same in this backward country.
When she returned after the afternoon delivery though she knew something was wrong. Mousse was gleeful, for a while, he was soon … sleeping and her great grandmother was serious. Cologne had always told her that at her age if she couldn't look at life with a laugh then she might as well be dead. Cologne was frequently stirring up trouble, plotting and playing practical jokes all for a laugh and who could tell her too stop, she was the matriarch of the Amazons for many reasons the least of which was her age.
"Come Shampoo, it seems son in law has gotten himself in trouble again. We will know more once we get to the dojo," Cologne left her to lock the café and catch up. "Ranma still hasn't returned despite missing some meals and no one has seen him. Ranma never misses a free meal and there is something about his disappearance that has me worried." Shampoo just nodded in agreement she herself had discretely checked all his hiding spots and still hadn't seen him.
The site of Tofu and Happosai sitting at the table along with Genma, Ukyo, Suon and his two youngest daughters raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Everyone only gathered and was this calm when something was very wrong. "Cologne," Happosai nodded in her direction inviting her to take a seat. "Ukyo was just telling us what she saw."
Ukyo cleared her throat obviously uncomfortable being seated between Happosai and Akane, even if they were behaving themselves. "Shampoo and I had just finished throwing all our bombs," she shifted nervously in her seat. No worse than she herself was, that little insanity had cost the Tendo's a dojo after all and some bystanders had nearly been injured, her great grandmother had not been pleased.
"Go on," for once Happosai's grandfatherly appearance seemed to work and Ukyo continued.
"We were sparing in what was left of the dojo, everyone else had either been knocked out or had left, only Ranma stayed. He seemed to be watching our fight even more intensely than he usually does, as if he were judging us. That's when he suddenly disappeared, one moment he was watching us fight and then he was gone. I was so shocked that I lowered my guard and Shampoo smacked me into the wall." Ukyo rubbed her shoulder at the remembered pain.
Happosai looked meaningfully at Cologne and Tofu, it seemed he as master of the anything goes had taken control of the situation. As one they all stood up and proceeded to the smashed dojo.
"What's going on too too violent girl? What too too crazy doctor doing here and why pervert panty man behaving so…." Shampoo struggled for the word "not perverted."
"Yeah Akane spill, what's going on."
Akane who had up until this time kept to her self answered before Nabiki could cut in and ask for money. "Ranma's gone, all his stuff is still here but he…" Akane turned away to hide her worried frown "has vanished."
"Don't worry Akane, I'm sure that grandfather Happosai, elder Cologne and nice Dr. Tofu will find him." Kasumi consoled, effectively turning Akane's worried expression into one of anger.
"Who said I was worried about that jerk any way," she muttered.
Nabiki just stayed out of the argument that was bound to erupt between the fiancées now that the only people capable of stopping one had left and hoped that her redundancy recording equipment in the dojo had escaped destruction.
*****
Tofu was the first to break the silence after they arrived in the wrecked dojo, "what will we tell the children, no matter what they thought of him it was Ranma who held them together."
"We can tell them the truth, or part of it. Ranma has survived and even thrived in worse situations than he now no doubt finds himself in. What we should be asking ourselves is, is there any way to get him back or go after him." Happosai sat smoking his pipe as he watched Cologne probe the residue that still lingered in the area Ranma disappeared from.
"Yes, quite interesting. In all our 3000 year history it has occurred no more than a handful of times. It is quite remarkable that son in law managed quite a feat. Usually travelling dimensions requires the aid of an artefact similar to the Nanban mirror. It would be best if we could find a way to retrieve him, if son in law masters the ability to travel between dimensions at will it would cause all kinds of problems."
"Like not being able to snatch him for your tribe Cologne," interjected Happosai.
Tofu cleared his throat forestalling any conflict, "the story we should tell the children?"
"Just tell them that he got sucked into another dimension and that were looking for a way to get him back, that is if he doesn't find a way back himself first, its no less believable than some of the other things that has happened to my heir. They'll believe it."
"Yes," Cologne added having finished studying the remaining residue "Shampoo and I will travel back to China. All my records are kept there, besides MY heir has been getting lax lately. I'll leave that fool Mousse in case you need to get hold of me."
Cologne paused and gave the two men opposite her a hard stare, "I trust you'll keep me informed of any developments."
As Tofu followed the two grandmasters from the dojo he couldn't help but feel some foreboding. Not just for Ranma but for Nerima and the children. Had he noticed the soft red blinking under a snapped floorboard his feeling of foreboding would only have become worse.
*****
The sight of trees had come first, a sure sign that water wasn't far away. Not even he could go far without water and Ranma had been pushing his limit. Game had been scarce this near the mountains but he had been wary of changing direction lest he become disorientated and even more lost, something that had become increasingly more likely with lack of food and no water. 'Keep the mountains to my left and keep going' had become Ranmas catch cry as the days wore on and the nights got colder.
By the time the mountain range started to curve away from true north, Ranma could clearly see a body of trees on the horizon. The trees in the distance clearly represented a body of water while the mountain range was his only definable landmark. Still it was an easy choice to make and so he had headed for the trees rather than curving of with the mountains.
The river provided water to slack his thirst and fish to sate his hunger but it was a temporary solution since he still had not found any signs of habitation. He needed some supplies if he was going to camp out any longer, that need over rode any reluctance Ranma might've had for approaching a settlement.
Now he had found a water source though he felt that it was only a matter of time before he found someone. Even in the most remote regions that he and Genma had been to there had always been someone camped close to a river. The world had become too crowded for it to be otherwise.
The trees provided more shelter than he had enjoyed for days and having a campfire after spending so long tired, cold and hungry was bliss. After recovering his strength a little he would travel north another day. If he still hadn't found anyone he could always retreat and follow the river to wherever it led.
Some supplies and no responsibilities to hold him back from doing what he enjoyed most – perfecting the art and developing new techniques. It was freedom but Ranma wasn't sure how long it would last and it was only a matter of time before someone found him. Besides, now that his hunger was sated his conscience had started reminding him that he still had some distasteful responsibilities back in Nerima. One thing was sure though, something would happen soon to make his life more complicated and even harder than it was now.
A/N: - The first little bit is almost straight from the great hunt Ch 37: What might be.
- This isn't at much more than a concept stage but it was an idea that was keeping me awake at night. I'm still a live but I won't be writing much for the next few weeks – exams, thesis work.
- For those that hadn't guessed Ranma was deposited just north of the Kinslayer dagger. Verin mentioned there was a portal stone there but didn't elaborate so I used it for my purpose though I she did imply that it was on the cairhein side, oh well.
Ch1: Disappearances and possibilities
Rand stared at the portal stone that would take him to Toman Head, to the horn of Valere and the dagger of Shadar Logoth for Mat. Ignoring the presence of Verin and the others he embraced the void and reached for Saidin revelling in the way it brought him and his surroundings to life. The taint as always was there, like a thick film of sludge on top of an otherwise pristine body of Saidin. He couldn't allow his concentration to stray to the feeling of filth that accompanied reaching through that layer or on the life enhancing sensations that lay beyond for fear of losing himself in the on going struggle for control that always accompanied the embracing of Saidin. It required all his focus to dominate the flood of molten metal and funnel it through the symbol on the portal stone, the symbol that would take them away from Cairhien.
"Something is happening," Verin said "something…"
The world flickered.
Rand struggled for control as he watched himself die upon tying to help his father against some trollocs.
"is not…"
The world flickered
The power raged as he watched the world become blanketed with ranks of trollocs and armies of Fades. Once again he died with the words "I have won again Lews Therin," echoing in his ears.
"Right. Something…" Verin screamed
The world flickered and Rand experienced thousands of possible lives, most ending in his death as he struggled for control and always the terrible words "I have won again Lews Therin," filled his soul with dread.
Flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker.
Just before he lost control of the raging river of Saiden shattering the void he came across a possibility that didn't belong to his life. He stood in a hall that could only have been destroyed by the power, yet there were no Aes sedai in sight. Only two girls a little younger than he fighting with a skill and ferocity that he had only ever seen in Lan.
His eyes were drawn to a young man sitting in what once must have been his best clothes. The young man that drew his attention looked neither surprised nor awed at the skill the girls were displaying and judging from the unconscious bodies around him it wasn't hard to see why.
Although he was unable to hear on interact like the other lives he had lived he was able to tell that like him the young man sitting before him was struggling for control. He seemed a kindred spirit, someone who could relate to his fear of being manipulated and controlled.
That's when the young man turned around and made eye contact. The pigtailed youths burning blue eyes seemed to latch onto his own putting pressure on the void. Combined with his own struggle to control the torrent of power now flooding through him the pressure was too great and the void shattered, his contact with Saidin fled.
Rand looked around at the men he had brought to Toman Head shakily, he had lived and died a thousand times but despite that he had managed to bring everyone to Toman Head alive without Aes sadai help. Still he couldn't help but be haunted by the burning blue eyes of that young man in the shattered hall.
*****
Ranma sat and stared unblinkingly at Shampoo and Ukyo fighting in the shattered remains of the Tendo dojo. He had long since disposed of the Kuno's and Mousse himself even if it had wrecked the tuxedo he had been wearing. To think that he had misjudged everyone so much, he felt like screaming and crying but he just stared and for once his face gave away none of his thoughts or emotions.
When the two old men had chained him up, dressed him in a tuxedo and put him in front of the alter he had at first been very upset. Seeing Akane dressed like she had been though had him quickly rethinking his position. They had been getting along better lately, certainly a lot better than when he had first arrived at the Tendo dojo and he didn't think spending his life with the tomboy would be the worst thing in the world.
He didn't know if he loved her or not, hell he didn't even know what love was but at that moment he didn't care. How his other fiancées would take it he didn't know, but he hadn't thought they would blow up his wedding. Not even his dishonourable panda of a father would blow up a wedding and there wasn't much he wouldn't do.
Once the wedding had started he had felt a great relief that the fighting between his friends would stop. The wedding had started and there wasn't anything they could do, had he been wrong. Tatewaki had brought steel, Kadachi had come wearing a wedding dress and Ukyo and Shampoo came bearing bombs. Naturally Mousse followed Shampoo and Happosai followed the free sake.
He had well and truly misjudged everybody, well not quite, the fact that they all blamed him was nothing new. Akane's comment about 'ruining her wedding' had been a revelation though, he had always thought weddings were between two people. Maybe choosing Akane over Shampoo wouldn't have been so different after all. For two years he had struggled to obtain some measure of control over his life, today it had flooded out of his control.
He had always trusted that his fiancées, no matter how badly their fights became, would not involve any bystanders. Always the safety of bystanders though not necessarily property came first and foremost above pride and rivalry. It was a trust which had been broken today, his trust in Akane had been broken and his fathers' unwillingness to defend the sanctity of a marriage ceremony against intrusion broke Ranma's trust in his fathers humanity.
Not that it had required much, he had become reluctant in trusting his father's morals and judgement for years, but today… no more. As for the rest of them, not once had any of them given him any reason to trust them although he had trusted that their humanity and human decency would prevent them from going too far, sadly it had not been enough. All except Kasumi, she was someone that had no shortage of humanity. Kasumi was only one person and against all those he knew… it would not, could not restore the faith that until today he had held in the humanity of people.
Ranma saw a flicker in the corner of his eye, there was a boy standing to the side of the dojo watching the fight. Ranma hadn't seen him around Nerima before, he was a few years older than he and stood like a fighter. The young fighter had the look of someone struggling for control against something that was too big for him. Like Ranma though he didn't seem to be giving up even with incredibly short odds. It was something that the two seemed to share, those short odds made them strive harder.
Ranma tried to probe his aura to see if he meant any harm, he had learnt that strangers were not to be trusted around Nerima especially fighters. The fact that he hadn't immediately jumped in and attacked was in the mans favour but it didn't decrease Ranma's suspicions any. It was healthy to be suspicious around here since often people you knew were to be trusted the least, they could and sometimes would stab you in the back as fast as any stranger would.
Ranma raised his eyebrows in surprise there seemed to be something strange about his aura something…
The world flickered.
*****
Shampoo grinned, Ukyo had improved and was giving her a decent workout for a change. It was a shame that none of her bombs had hit there mark but they had achieved their purpose by stopping the wedding. She was a little sorry that some bystanders had gotten caught up in their little mess but she had faith that Ranma would save them from getting too hurt. He was like that.
Shampoo frowned as Ukyo's guard suddenly dropped leaving her wide open. Not that she was complaining, she proceeded to punt Ukyo into what was left of the dojo's walls taking full advantage of whatever had distracted her.
"What wrong spatula girl, Shampoo too too much for you." She taunted as she turned around to where she knew Ranma was sitting to do a little gloating. He wasn't there, where had he gone?
"Where Ranma Spatula girl," she demanded turning her attention back to Ukyo. Ukyo must have had a clear view of where he had vanished to, maybe that was what had distracted her.
Ukyo crawled out of the indent she had created in the wall and tersely replied, "I don't know, I blinked and he was gone." If that were true then she needed to get great grandmother. Shampoo suddenly had a very bad felling about this. Another truce needed to be called until Ranma was found and the status quo restored.
*****
Ranma opened his eyes slightly disorientated. He was lying on a dry grassy plain, a hard dry grassy plain. Ranma wondered where he was, it had been years since Genma had beaten him to unconsciousness and left him somewhere on the pretence of survival training. Not since he had become good enough to stop him besides he didn't have the injuries that he usually awakened to when he was unceremoniously dumped in the wild.
The last thing he remembered was the attempted wedding and his overwhelming disappointment and anger at his fiancées. There was something about a stranger but the memory slipped away before he could grasp it. Ranma shrugged, it was just a matter of time before he remembered or shit hit the fan and from experience shit would hit the fan first.
It hardly mattered though, first he needed to orient himself and make a count of his possessions. Survival as always came first, and then he would worry about what happened and how to get back. Ranma quickly suppressed the small voice asking why he would want to go back, survival first questions later. A quick look established what he had already suspected, apart from the clothes on his back, a thermos of hot water and some martial art and shiatsu scrolls that he hadn't had a chance to look at yet he had nothing. No cooking gear, no tents or blankets and none of the things that would have made catching some food in the form of game all the easier.
Ranma wasn't worried though, he had been in worse situations before and survived them. He had no doubt that he would survive this one to and like the other times the challenge would make him stronger and maybe teach him some important lesson. A cursory look at his surroundings told him little more about his situation than he had already surmised when he had first awakened.
To his south and east stretched what seemed to be two great mountain ranges and to the north and west the grasslands seemed to extend forever without any sign of human habitation. After his recent experience at the attempted wedding he was inclined to think that was a good thing. Still with no food, shelter or camping gear it was probably a good idea to look for some sort of settlement even if he wasn't going to stay.
Ranma's stomach growled reminding him that at the worst possible moment that it was meal time and that he had had nothing to eat at the reception. With a sigh Ranma picked a direction and started walking, keeping a careful eye out for game. North, he would travel north.
From the geography he could be anywhere, but he was certain that as soon as he found someone to tell him where he was he would be half way home. No one would ever mistake him for Ryoga. Ranma growled remembering Ryoga's contribution to the mess back at the Tendo's, no he was certain no one would ever mistake him for that pig.
With another cursory glance at his surroundings Ranma set off. He would never get any where standing around and his softly growling stomach was telling him that it would be a long couple of days. Too long had he relied on Kasumi's sweet nature and her ever lasting supply of wonderful food, he had almost forgotten what travelling was like. Well there was nothing like the present to remind him.
Ranma started running at a steady energy conserving pace north not even notice the columnar stone that was half buried and overgrown, lying just south of his position. Nor did he notice the array of symbols that covered it, even if he had it was doubtful that he would have known their significance.
*****
This was serious, when she had told her great grandmother of Ranma's disappearance in the aftermath of the wedding she had assumed that he had just run away temporarily to blow off some steam. Shampoo knew that he had his own hiding places in and around the ward for just those purposes and while she respected his privacy while in those places she still reported them to her great grandmother. After all she knew how important to his sanity they were, she herself sometimes needed the same in this backward country.
When she returned after the afternoon delivery though she knew something was wrong. Mousse was gleeful, for a while, he was soon … sleeping and her great grandmother was serious. Cologne had always told her that at her age if she couldn't look at life with a laugh then she might as well be dead. Cologne was frequently stirring up trouble, plotting and playing practical jokes all for a laugh and who could tell her too stop, she was the matriarch of the Amazons for many reasons the least of which was her age.
"Come Shampoo, it seems son in law has gotten himself in trouble again. We will know more once we get to the dojo," Cologne left her to lock the café and catch up. "Ranma still hasn't returned despite missing some meals and no one has seen him. Ranma never misses a free meal and there is something about his disappearance that has me worried." Shampoo just nodded in agreement she herself had discretely checked all his hiding spots and still hadn't seen him.
The site of Tofu and Happosai sitting at the table along with Genma, Ukyo, Suon and his two youngest daughters raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Everyone only gathered and was this calm when something was very wrong. "Cologne," Happosai nodded in her direction inviting her to take a seat. "Ukyo was just telling us what she saw."
Ukyo cleared her throat obviously uncomfortable being seated between Happosai and Akane, even if they were behaving themselves. "Shampoo and I had just finished throwing all our bombs," she shifted nervously in her seat. No worse than she herself was, that little insanity had cost the Tendo's a dojo after all and some bystanders had nearly been injured, her great grandmother had not been pleased.
"Go on," for once Happosai's grandfatherly appearance seemed to work and Ukyo continued.
"We were sparing in what was left of the dojo, everyone else had either been knocked out or had left, only Ranma stayed. He seemed to be watching our fight even more intensely than he usually does, as if he were judging us. That's when he suddenly disappeared, one moment he was watching us fight and then he was gone. I was so shocked that I lowered my guard and Shampoo smacked me into the wall." Ukyo rubbed her shoulder at the remembered pain.
Happosai looked meaningfully at Cologne and Tofu, it seemed he as master of the anything goes had taken control of the situation. As one they all stood up and proceeded to the smashed dojo.
"What's going on too too violent girl? What too too crazy doctor doing here and why pervert panty man behaving so…." Shampoo struggled for the word "not perverted."
"Yeah Akane spill, what's going on."
Akane who had up until this time kept to her self answered before Nabiki could cut in and ask for money. "Ranma's gone, all his stuff is still here but he…" Akane turned away to hide her worried frown "has vanished."
"Don't worry Akane, I'm sure that grandfather Happosai, elder Cologne and nice Dr. Tofu will find him." Kasumi consoled, effectively turning Akane's worried expression into one of anger.
"Who said I was worried about that jerk any way," she muttered.
Nabiki just stayed out of the argument that was bound to erupt between the fiancées now that the only people capable of stopping one had left and hoped that her redundancy recording equipment in the dojo had escaped destruction.
*****
Tofu was the first to break the silence after they arrived in the wrecked dojo, "what will we tell the children, no matter what they thought of him it was Ranma who held them together."
"We can tell them the truth, or part of it. Ranma has survived and even thrived in worse situations than he now no doubt finds himself in. What we should be asking ourselves is, is there any way to get him back or go after him." Happosai sat smoking his pipe as he watched Cologne probe the residue that still lingered in the area Ranma disappeared from.
"Yes, quite interesting. In all our 3000 year history it has occurred no more than a handful of times. It is quite remarkable that son in law managed quite a feat. Usually travelling dimensions requires the aid of an artefact similar to the Nanban mirror. It would be best if we could find a way to retrieve him, if son in law masters the ability to travel between dimensions at will it would cause all kinds of problems."
"Like not being able to snatch him for your tribe Cologne," interjected Happosai.
Tofu cleared his throat forestalling any conflict, "the story we should tell the children?"
"Just tell them that he got sucked into another dimension and that were looking for a way to get him back, that is if he doesn't find a way back himself first, its no less believable than some of the other things that has happened to my heir. They'll believe it."
"Yes," Cologne added having finished studying the remaining residue "Shampoo and I will travel back to China. All my records are kept there, besides MY heir has been getting lax lately. I'll leave that fool Mousse in case you need to get hold of me."
Cologne paused and gave the two men opposite her a hard stare, "I trust you'll keep me informed of any developments."
As Tofu followed the two grandmasters from the dojo he couldn't help but feel some foreboding. Not just for Ranma but for Nerima and the children. Had he noticed the soft red blinking under a snapped floorboard his feeling of foreboding would only have become worse.
*****
The sight of trees had come first, a sure sign that water wasn't far away. Not even he could go far without water and Ranma had been pushing his limit. Game had been scarce this near the mountains but he had been wary of changing direction lest he become disorientated and even more lost, something that had become increasingly more likely with lack of food and no water. 'Keep the mountains to my left and keep going' had become Ranmas catch cry as the days wore on and the nights got colder.
By the time the mountain range started to curve away from true north, Ranma could clearly see a body of trees on the horizon. The trees in the distance clearly represented a body of water while the mountain range was his only definable landmark. Still it was an easy choice to make and so he had headed for the trees rather than curving of with the mountains.
The river provided water to slack his thirst and fish to sate his hunger but it was a temporary solution since he still had not found any signs of habitation. He needed some supplies if he was going to camp out any longer, that need over rode any reluctance Ranma might've had for approaching a settlement.
Now he had found a water source though he felt that it was only a matter of time before he found someone. Even in the most remote regions that he and Genma had been to there had always been someone camped close to a river. The world had become too crowded for it to be otherwise.
The trees provided more shelter than he had enjoyed for days and having a campfire after spending so long tired, cold and hungry was bliss. After recovering his strength a little he would travel north another day. If he still hadn't found anyone he could always retreat and follow the river to wherever it led.
Some supplies and no responsibilities to hold him back from doing what he enjoyed most – perfecting the art and developing new techniques. It was freedom but Ranma wasn't sure how long it would last and it was only a matter of time before someone found him. Besides, now that his hunger was sated his conscience had started reminding him that he still had some distasteful responsibilities back in Nerima. One thing was sure though, something would happen soon to make his life more complicated and even harder than it was now.
A/N: - The first little bit is almost straight from the great hunt Ch 37: What might be.
- This isn't at much more than a concept stage but it was an idea that was keeping me awake at night. I'm still a live but I won't be writing much for the next few weeks – exams, thesis work.
- For those that hadn't guessed Ranma was deposited just north of the Kinslayer dagger. Verin mentioned there was a portal stone there but didn't elaborate so I used it for my purpose though I she did imply that it was on the cairhein side, oh well.