Well. Welcome to chapter 1. For the record, this is a Ranma 1/2 and Claymore crossover, to whom the majority of the main characters and world used in this fanfiction belong. I can't guarantee that this will be 100% canon, but I'll do my best. The largest alteration I currently intend is simply to slightly up the seriousness of Ryoga and Ranma to fit the darker atmosphere of the world of Claymore. Let's see... what else... Rating will be set to Mature unless someone persuades me otherwise, but I expect that 95% or more of the upcoming chapters will have nothing higher than T-rating material. Now let's get to the story!
Chapter 1: A Hard Landing
"Ranma!" shouted Ryoga. "How could you disrespect Akane like this."
Ranma sighed. An uncharacteristic lethargy had overcome him of late. Maybe this was what it felt like to finally grow up. "Don't you ever get tired of this charade, Ryoga?"
"What?" The weighted umbrella paused halfway through its downwards swing. Ryoga Hibiki's battle aura churned as he squinted, expecting some new trick from his long-time rival.
"Every time you manage to find your way back here you fill yourself with fury over some injustice I've done Akane, real or imagined, only to grudgingly realize that either no real harm was ever done or the root cause was someone else."
"But-" Ranma held up his hand slowly but firmly. The strangely calm behavior threw Ryoga off balance even further. "But nothing," said Ranma. "In all the years you've known me can you recall me ever hurting someone intentionally? It's an odd statement for a martial artist to make, I know, but I think you understand what I mean by it. O, I'll admit that I've been naive at times and allowed things to pass that shouldn't have, but I've also helped Akane and many others who were in need. For that matter, I've even kept your secret from Akane, P-chan, though I wonder at times whether that's truly the honorable thing to do. So tell me P-chan, do you really want to continue this fight?
He already knew what was coming. Ryoga's battle aura exploded outwards. Ranma could see the currents of ki traveling within his opponents arms, empowering Ryoga's already powerful strike to monstrous proportions. Oddly, Ranma still couldn't summon the urge to really care. He wondered if Cologne had drugged him again as part of some plot to drag him off to China to marry Shampoo. He didn't even feel depressed exactly, just drained. Using ki attacks versus Ryoga while in this state would be futile, and chi blasts unpowered by emotion would be worse than useless. As Ryoga continued to shout incoherent accusations Ranma began to almost lazily start the Hiryu Shoten Ha. Dodging with the absolute minimum force required Ranma's footsteps slowly drew a spiral in the dirt even as Ryoga's strikes snapped trees and park benches like toothpicks. "Hir..." Ranma gave the final uppercut without the traditional shout. 'It's not as if Ryoga doesn't already know its name and I don't really need it to focus the technique anymore.'
There was just enough time to realize that something was drastically wrong. The wind was unnoticeable for a moment. Hibiki laughed at the feeble uppercut and grabbed Ranma's shirt, lifting him into the air. Had he walked too slowly after all? He hadn't thought that the technique necessarily required speed, provided the spiral was done correctly. A differential between hot and cold was all that was needed, between the violent rage of Ryoga and his own perfect calm. So why then-. He chopped frantically at Ryoga's wrist and elbow, the void of calm that had enveloped him the past several days finally collapsing. Wind rose around them and rose further, stretching like a sinuous dragon, twirling higher and higher. "We need to run Ryoga! Put me down!" A flicker of uncertainty passed through Ryoga's eyes but another moment of uncertainty was all it took to condemn them to the fury of the whirlwind.
Ryoga had been fairly uncertain of his location even before the sudden takeoff but every rotation confused his cursed sense of direction still further. His hand continued to grip Ranma's shirt as tornado pushed them higher and higher. Convinced that the worst thing to do was wait and journey any higher into the air he began to use Ranma's struggling body as a sail to propel them both outwards. All of his attention focused on finding the direction outwards when suddenly something snapped. A ripple of nausea ran through him as the sun vanished, his ki contorting wildly. Finally releasing Ranma's red silk shirt his eyes widened at the fast approaching forest below. His body was strong but without reinforcement... He closed his eyes, blocking out the sound of the wind in his ears and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. At the last second his ki reformed into a paper thin shield across his skin that was even stronger than diamond. "Ah... Ranma. Where are we?"
A sucking gasp came from his right. "Ranma!" How? Ranma was nearly as indestructible as himself, how could a little fall have hurt him so? For all that he hated cats he had always been good at landing like one. A jagged stump pierced clear through his abdomen, blood trailing down the back of his legs before escaping his sight in the massive growth of ferns. "Ra..." he was tempted to jeer, to egg his rival to stop playing around like a weakling and pull himself together. Instead he stopped and opened his eyes wide. The previously apathetic martial artist now seemed to be doing everything he could just o draw breath. Ki flowed chaotically through his system, accomplishing nothing. There did however appear to be a general slow flow towards the wound, but rather than stitching tissue and mending bone it simply flared briefly before disappearing. Tricklets of blackness seemed to wind through the wound. Were they splinters or - no. It couldn't be. It almost looked as if they were growing bigger, devouring flesh and ki as they went. A hiss came from the blackness below Ranma. The light of the crescent moon above did nothing to light the shadows beneath the ferns.
'What's wrong with me? Move Ryoga, move. Just think what Akane would say if she saw me hesitating like this.' Batting the ferns away with his umbrella he squinted into the shadow. Whatever it was that lay there began to glare back, eyes brightening even as Ryoga's own eyes adjusted to the darkness. What he saw then was a thing of horror. A clawed hand glinted in the moonlight and without conscious thought he swept his umbrella into its path, blocking it solidly. With a flick of his wrist he opened the umbrella and swept it across the creatures neck, half separating its head. One more pass completed the deed and knocked Ryoga into a state of stunned silence. The stench of the creature enveloped him and it was all he could do not to vomit. Another soft gasp from Saotome refocused him and with gentle pressure he lifted his friend and rival off the tree-trunk and away from the kami-damned creature beneath him.
"W-water." The voice was devoid of Ranma's normal smugness and thinly veiled strength. Too dark to see clearly Ryoga clumsily opened his ki-sight once more. It had always been Ranma's trick, not his own. Still, it served him well enough to see that while the hungry rivulets of black across his friend's stomach were no longer growing, they weren't going away either. He considered his friends request. A stream lay a short distance away, but for him even a short distance could prove impassable. Making a decision he picked up Ranma once more, ignoring his feeble protests. With Ranma occasionally turning his head back towards the stream they made the trip without complications only to have Ryoga slip and plant them both within icy water.
"So, Ryoga..." said the now red-headed Saotome in a high-pitched voice, "why didn't you tell me you'd cured your curse!" Ranma hit him with enough force to snap small tree. Ryoga didn't feel a thing.
"Are you alright?" asked Ryoga, trying to keep his frustration in check.
"I dunno, probably. My ki's under control and healing me now, even if it's a bit weaker than usual. What just happened anyways? I felt like something was eating me from the inside out." "Ah..." mumbled Ryoga. "Whatever. Just tell me how you got rid of the curse!" "Umm..." "Damnit Ryoga, don't you know anything?"
"Well... I don't think we're in Nerima anymore."
End chapter 1
Don't forget to leave reviews or I'll be tempted to write some crazy Bleach fanfic with a large number of strawberry puns to make the kami cry.
