Chaos Bender
A Ranma ½ and Avatar: The Last Air Bender Crossover
Written by: Konsaki
Ranma inhaled, breathing in the cool air, before letting it out slowly. Shivers ran down her spine as she curled up under the sheets, fending off the annoyance. It was too late though, as the images in her mind faded in the chill of the morning.
A moan escaped her as she slowly opened her eyes, flinching back under the covers at the room full of light. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma-chan. I really am, but I need to check you over again", came Hikaru's apologetic voice, only slightly muffled through the layers of sheets. The response was an incomprehensible mumbling from the girl under the sheets.
Seconds later, footsteps could be heard as the woman walked closer to the bed. Hearing the girl's mumblings the healer put her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed. "Why must my patients be this way?" Hikaru asked to no one in general, expecting no answer in return. Looking down at the bundle under the covers on the bed, she spoke up again in a warning tone, "Last chance, young lady. Either you get up or else..."
Hearing another grumbling that held the tone of a negative response, the woman in blue robes let out a sigh. "Alright, girly, but don't say I didn't warn you...", she replied regretfully as she reached towards the stand that stood near the bed. Her face changed from regretful to malicious though as she grinned slyly and poured the pitcher of water onto the lump of cloth.
What was a once an inactive lump of bed sheets quickly changed as the cold water hit. A shriek filled the air, as the figure in the sheets was thrown aside as Ranma twisted into a roll that took her across to fall off the other side of the bed. The redhead quickly landed and jumped into a standing position holding the bed sheets around her form, screaming, "What'd you do that for, ya freaking panda!"
The brown haired woman blinked and raised an eyebrow at hearing that, setting the now empty pitcher back on the nightstand. "I've been called many things, but that's a first...", she commented. She just watched the girl on the other side of the bed shake her head to get the water out of it, grumbling while doing so.
"Now, lay down so I can examine your injuries", the woman ordered, still with hands on her hips.
"What?" Ranma responded, looking from the azure clad woman to the futon she was verbally indicating. She jerked a finger down at it, "No way! You just soaked it!"
"Why are you being this difficult? Your friend wasn't this bad..." Hikaru commented, pinching the ridge of her nose between her index and thumb. Opening her eyes back up with a sigh, she saw the indignant look Ranma was giving her. "Alright... Fine! Whiney brat..." she muttered, clearly annoyed by the younger's antics.
Ranma's visage changed instantly from annoyed to interested as she saw what the long haired woman did next. Fluid movements in a graceful stance betrayed itself almost instantly to the learned martial artist. 'Why's she practicing Tai Chi?', she asked herself, eyeing the woman like she was going crazy.
Her eyes went wide a moment later, though, as she saw the unbelievable. "Wha... how..,", the red haired girl stammered as she saw streamlets of water snaking their way out of the mattress and sheets. Ranma couldn't help herself gasp as she something tickled her vision, causing her to see the tendrils snaking their way out of the sheets gathered around her as she looked down.
With one quick movement, Hikaru twisted her arms around, shifting her stance with the grace of a flowing river. In response, the tendrils shot out into the middle of the air over the bed, splashing together to form a billowing sphere of translucent blue.
With graceful movements, she watched the blue eyed healer seemingly guide the blob through the air. It was pure awe, to watch the water elongate into a snake like being as it wrapped and warped around the flowing woman's limbs and torso. After a show that seemed like forever, the snake dove into the water urn where it had started before the entire event happened.
"Amazing..." was all that escaped the nearly slack-jawed youth, her own blue eyes returning towards her saviors own orbs that shown the same color as the water she controlled a second ago.
The eyes which gazed back held a different emotion than the awe the girl held, as the older woman pointed back towards the mattress. "Bed... Now!" she commanded, clear annoyance in her voice as she expected no backtalk this time. Seeing that performance, Ranma followed the command quickly, still running the scene through her mind, trying to analyze and memorize it.
The redhead was done with the first analytical look in her own mind within seconds, mentally nodding at her first guess. With that, she looked down towards the healer, intent on asking the woman, but was sidetracked once her eyes found herself looking over her bound breasts. At that moment, her body fully recognized the fact that the covers weren't there and felt the ministrations of the woman's hands on her bare mid drift.
She felt warmth in her face, as blood rushed there, realizing the position she was in. Sure Ranma had been healed by Tofu before, back in Norima, but he always changed back to male form before getting aid... or at least was unconscious at the time. Not that she had a problem being nude, hell, she'd bared her female form more than her fiancées really wanted, especially Akane.
It was the touching that set her feeling uncomfortable. With all the perverted males running around Norima, from Happosai and Kuno to any other crazy martial artist who showed up to challenge or woo Ranma, she had had enough with the touching and groping. With male gropers, she pounded the shit out of them, taking after Akane on that, but with the females who invaded Ranma's privacy she couldn't do anything other feel uncomfortable, like now.
Noticing her arms were at her sides while the blue robed woman concentrated, the petite girl moved one of them to her thigh. She let out a breath in relief as her hand rubbed over soft bindings, which she felt up to her waist. 'Thank the gods for small graces...', she sighed accepting she wasn't completely naked, just mostly so.
"Don't worry, it's not something I haven't seen before", a deadpan statement flushed Ranma's face even more. She sent a glare at the auburn haired woman, who had her hair up in a loose bun at the moment, when Ranma saw the edges of her mouth quirked up in a noticeable grin. The girl lying on the bed recognized the woman was teasing her, but it still didn't make the flush any less.
--
"Alright, I'm done." Hikaru announced as she stood from the stool she had sat on during the exam. Reaching behind her, she pulled lose the clip in her hair, letting it fall back down to hang to her mid back. "I'm surprised at how fast you've recovered, even with my help."
"How long have me and Ryoga been here?" Ranma asked the woman who had started to walk across the room towards a small cabinet.
"Let's see..." the woman started, putting a finger to her lips for a second, rounding the bed. "You both have been under my care for five days, though Ryoga only took three days before she was up and walking."
Opening the twin doors to the wooden compartment, she continued, "Like I said, I was quite surprised when you woke up last evening. The last person I treated with wounds not even as serious as yours took more than twice as long to regain consciousness, let alone heal as much as you have."
"Yeah..." the redhead only responded distantly, running a hand through her loose hair. 'If you only knew...' she silently added.
"Hmm..." Hikaru mused to herself as she pulled something out, looking it over, "I hope this isn't too big for you. I haven't worn it in ages but it'll have to do for now." With that, she closed the doors to the cabinet and walked back to her patient.
Ranma just gave a confused her a confused look as the healer handed the girl a light blue fold over gi-like top. "Um... why are you giving me this? What happened to my shirt?" she questioned the taller woman, looking up from the cloth in her hands.
"Sorry, but I had to cut it off to examine you when you were brought in. I didn't want to risk any more damage pulling it off you and, at the time, I was more worried about you than your shirt." Hikaru replied before indicating something dark hanging on a wall hook nearby. "I did save your pants, though you're, er, underclothing was beyond my willingness to help", she continued, coughing slightly as she looked away from the girl at one part.
"Umm... Thanks, ah..." Ranma said, bashfully. 'I don't even know her name... I've been an ass too...', the martial artist mentally kicked herself.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Hikaru, one of the healers here in Gyon, though I'm probably the youngest. I was the closest to the gate you and your friend came to", she explained, answering questions before they were asked. She saw the girl putting on the blue top carefully, testing her range of movement while she did so.
"Thank you, Hikaru-sensei", Ranma replied more formally, as she finished tying the top flap down at her side. She moved her arms some, feeling the room she had in the top that was around three sizes too big for her. 'I should be fine if I go male in this and it's light enough to not hamper me in this form...', she appraised it, feeling the cloth slide over her form as she moved, the short sleeves billowing in their overly wide diameter.
"Um... Thanks for the shirt. It's real nice."
"It's no problem. It's a little too plain and traditional for my tastes, but I wore it when I was younger and just kept it when I moved here", the elder female said, smiling brightly. If Ranma had to guess, which she did on this, she would have placed Hikaru in her mid to late twenties. "You can keep it. I don't really know why I hung onto it for so long", the lady continued with a slight shrug.
"By the way, you're friend's shirt was ruined too. She got cut up pretty bad and ripped the wounds farther when she carried you here, from what I can make out." Hikaru explained, with a frown as she crossed her arms when talking about the wounds.
"Where is Ryoga?" Ranma asked as she slid towards the edge of the bed and put her feet to the floor. "Er... also, can I put on some pants, Hikaru-sensei?" she asked with a nervous chuckle. Tofu-sensei had a habit of hitting Ranma's pressure points if he tried to overexert himself, so the martial artist quickly learned to ask around the doctor.
"Oh, sorry, Ranma. Yes, here you go." the healer replied, slightly embarrassed at keeping her patient in the state of undress that long. "Just take it easy for the next day or so. You can go walking, but nothing strenuous. You aren't completely healed from your internal injuries yet", Hikaru ordered and explained as she handed the redhead her pants back, watching the girl's movements as she slid them on.
"As for Ryoga, she's been helping me out by heading down to the market and doing other small errands for me. Oh, that reminds me, since things have been rather light recently; you both can share the room here for a couple of days while I watch over you."
Ranma nodded, though something was on her mind after hearing Hikaru's last statement. "Uh, thank you again, Hikaru-sensei..." she said slowly. "So... Ryoga's been running errands for you?"
"Yes... is there a problem, Ranma?" the blue robed woman replied, raising an eyebrow.
"And... she's come back since then, right?" the redhead continued carefully.
"... Yes..." the reply came slowly, asking what the girl was getting at without actually saying it.
"Uh... Ryoga usually has the... ah, ability... to get lost... easily." Ranma explained, trying to not sound crazy.
"We'll, she needed help getting to the market the first time, but she's been good since then. I still don't see what you're getting at, Ranma."
"We are talking about the same Ryoga here, right?" Ranma questioned the woman in disbelief.
"Oh, come on. Green hair, yellow shirt... or used to wear one. Black pants like yours. Sound about right?" Hikaru asked, starting to get a little irritated at the situation. "Now, again, what's going on?"
"Ok, ok." Ranma said as she held up her hands. "I'm not joking around, but Ryoga usually gets lost, real lost, trying to find easy to find places or following easy directions." As she said this, she saw the healer's reaction and continued before anything was said.
"Alright, for example, h... She got lost trying to meet with me in the empty lot right behind her house. It took her a week to find it..."
"Oh come on! That's ridiculous and rude to talk about your friend like that!" Hikaru replied in a disapproving voice, not believing the redhead in the slightest.
"I'm serious!" Ranma cried out, before continuing, "Ask Ryoga yourself. She got lost in a room with one door once!"
"Now I know you're making this up! You should be ashamed of yourself!" the older woman exclaimed, reprimanding the younger female. "Making up stories and talking about your friend like that!" she continued with a frown and glare.
"Actually... she's telling the truth."
Hearing that, both Hikaru and Ranma jerked their eyes over towards the door. Ryoga stood there in a light tan shirt, which loosely resembled her old yellow one. Blinking at the gaze Hikaru was giving her, she blinked. "What? Ranma doesn't usually lie."
"I don't think I saw any head injuries... are you two sure you didn't hit them or something? People don't get lost in a room with one door..." the healer continued in disbelief, switching her gaze from Ranma to Ryoga.
"Hey, I'm not proud of it, Hikaru-sensei, but I usually have a really bad sense of direction", the green haired girl replied, rubbing the back of her neck.
Ranma snorted, "That's like saying Akane's cooking only tastes bad, instead of being life threatening bio-waste."
There was a flash of anger in Ryoga's green eyes as she jerked her hand around and made a threatening fist at the redhead. "Hey, don't talk about Akane-san's cooking like that, Saotome!"
"GIRLS!" came the interrupting yell, squashing the squabble before it started. "There will be no fighting in my house, is that understood!"
Two defeated teenagers replied in unison, "Sorry, Hikaru-sensei."
The woman just let out a sigh as she put two fingers around the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Now... Ryoga, I have some things to do. Now that Ranma's awake, you are free to talk with her", she said, with emphasis on 'talk'. "Just remember that now that you're both awake, Lieutenant Gau needs to speak with you soon. I'm going to send a messenger for him in just a second."
Seeing the look on Ranma's face, she reassured the girl, "Don't worry. He's a good man and just wants to know what happened. I mean, you did show up at his gate in the pouring rain almost dead..." She just left that line of talk as she took a few steps towards the door.
"Remember, Ranma. Take it easy", she reiterated to the redhead as she walked out the door, which Ryoga just moved away from, and closed it.
--
The room was silent, save for the sounds of Ryoga moving to a chair and sitting down, along with the voice of the city stirring in the morning air through the window. It stayed this way for a minute or so, the martial artists trying to think of a way to break the silence without inciting a fight between the two or sounding out of character.
"So... you carried me here, huh? Hikaru-sensei says if you hadn't I'd have died... thanks", Ranma finally said in a low voice.
"It was nothing... You'd have done the same", the green haired girl replied in the same tone before letting out a groan. "Damn, Saotome! You scared the shit out of me! We've both been beat to hell before, but neither of us has been that bad off..." she continued with more emotion, a grimace marring her face.
"I don't remember much after the fight, Ryoga. I just know whatever that rock bastard did hurt... bad", the redhead replied, putting a hand to her stomach and flinching. "What happened?"
"You mean after we searched the bodies?" Ryoga asked, with the bad taste in her mouth evident in her tone. Seeing Ranma ignore it, she shook her head and answered, "We continued down the road. Then, you said 'It won't stop' and 'I can't make it stop'. I didn't understand till you collapsed and I felt your chi fading. You don't know how helpless I felt when I couldn't do anything, not a damn thing, but pick up your lifeless body and run as fast as I could!" the girl yelled out, the helplessness clear as the cloudless sky outside in her voice.
"Ryoga... are you... crying?" Ranma tentatively asked after a few seconds.
"Damn it!" the girl swore under her breath as she wiped her eyes. "It's this stupid body! It's doing this on its own!" she said as she continued to wipe at the tears in her eyes. "Damn it!" she swore again.
Ranma didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned. Nothing seemed to make much sense since the spell misfire. She chose to take the latter route, trying to avoid a fight for Hikaru-sensei's sake. "How come you didn't change back?" she asked, making sure not to use an inciting tone.
"Cause I didn't want to get chased out of town like last time we changed!" Ryoga screamed out. "Running from a paranoid and armed mob isn't my idea of a freaking fun night! Remember, they thought we were demon spirits when we tried to explain and showed the change back!" she continued, speaking in a loud voice but not yelling. The tone shifted again, more of a low challenging one, when she finished with, "Or were you too drunk to remember, Saotome?"
"Hey, you weren't turning down those drinks either, Ryoga!" came the defending reply, with a slight bite to it, eyes narrowing.
"So?! You were the one who saw fit to spray me down, for no reason! What was up with that?!" the fanged girl showed her namesake in a growl. The dam was busted and grievances were flowing out like water.
"That girl was rubbin' all up all over me! Damn it, I got nervous! At least I have an excuse, you flung your drink in my face! We could have explained it easy if ya hadn't!" came the heated retort.
The tense situation hung in the air as the males turned female glared at each other; one from the chair, the other sitting on the side of the bed. Their breaths ragged from the heated exchange, as they both tried to catch their breath and take hold of their wild emotions.
Finally breaking the stalemate, Ranma let out a shaky sigh, looking towards her feet. "I'm sorry... Happy?" she said in volume just above a whisper. "I'm sorry for messing up that spell. I'm sorry for your curse. I'm sorry for messing up the festival. I'm sorry for... almost dying..." she spilled out, in a torrent of unusual action for the Saotome. "Are you happy now?", she asked, somehow lowering her voice even more while still having it audible.
Ryoga was too stunned to respond, looking on at the redhead in awe. She had known and fought Ranma for most of her life and knew it was a very rare situation which caused Ranma Saotome to actually apologize for something. Especially with so much emotion behind it... Ryoga was silent still as she saw the shorter female raise a hand to her face.
Ranma's eyes were wide as her head hung, touching her face with her hand. Pulling it away, it glistened with wetness. "What's going on?" she asked in the same above whisper tone. "What the hell is going on?" she asked again, in a higher volume, looking up towards Ryoga, who saw the lines of tears on the redhead's cheeks.
"Nothing's made sense since we woke in the woods... I can't find any familiar stars, we keep seeing freak animals and now, to make it worse, I can't control my emotions in girl form!? What god's sick joke is this!?" the redhead asked.
"I don't know, Saotome..." Ryoga answered in a sober voice.
"Also, what about these weird techniques? That bandit was using the ground as a weapon! The freaking rock beneath our feet! I ain't seen anything like it before!" Ranma exclaimed, tirade in full force. "And Hikaru-sensei can do the same thing with water? Tai Chi can't do that but it did!"
"Actually", Ryoga started, breaking the redhead out of her rut, "I already asked Hikaru-sensei about that." Looking at Ranma, the girl found herself the target of complete attention. "She said it was something called, Waterbending. From what happened in the fight, it sounds like he used Earthbending to do that, from what she explained."
Ranma just cocked her head to the side and let out a confused, "You're crazy... I ain't heard of anything like that or else Pop would have ran straight for it during my training."
Ryoga just threw her hands in the air, saying, "Hey, I'm just telling you what she said. There's also Firebending and Airbending, though apparently no one's seen an Airbender for a long time." This time, she put a hand up in a 'stop' motion as she continued, "Before you ask, I already tried copying some of her moves. There's got to be a hidden trick or something, cause nothing happened when I did it."
"I guess I'll ask Hikaru-sensei later" Ranma replied, chin in hand. Her voice was full of thoughts as she wondered, "Why haven't I heard of this before?" Looking up, she saw Ryoga shrug, completely at loss.
The redhead shook her head, dropping that line of thought for now, changing back to an earlier topic, "So, you have a sense of direction now? When'd that happen?"
"Don't know... She asked me to help her out once I was healed and I agreed. Didn't have anything better to do while waiting on you and I wanted to pay her back for helping us out", the green haired girl replied with a shrug.
"What'd you do?" came the simple question, which was replied with, "Just going to the market for small things and delivering herbs to other patients. She said I was bothering her after a while and doing this kept me out of her hair and freed up her time for other things." Ryoga blushed a bit in embarrassment after saying that.
Ranma still didn't quite believe it, as she looked at her friend. 'The lost boy not lost... nah', she thought with a shake of her head. "Ok", she said out loud, pointing towards the window, "what direction is the window pointing?"
Ryoga groaned, knowing she was being tested, but looked at the window and the light that shone through it. "North", came the simple answer.
"And if I told you to head east?" the redhead continued, eyebrow raised.
"I'd walk through the door..." the reply came, though she stopped when she saw Ranma's face. "What? You expect me to walk into the wall?" she continued incredulously as she tapped the wall at her back.
A snort came from the direction of the bed as Ranma found humor in the question. "No, I'd expect you to use Bakusai Tenketsu to blow a hole in the wall and walk through that!"
Ryoga thought about it for a second before chuckling, "Yeah... Kinda sad, wasn't it... Hope I never have that problem again..."
"So, how'd you get cured of that, Ryoga?"
She thought about the question for a second, putting her chin into her hand. "Guess the same answer for everything else that's happened to us... A wizard did it", she finished with a wide grin which was followed by a rather loud snort of mirth from the other teenager.
A moment later, both girls were chuckling under their breaths. That lasted long enough for it to evolve into full out laughter, something both girls needed at the moment.
--
Hikaru smiled to herself as she finished walking down the stairs. "They needed that", she said to herself, thinking about the much needed relief from the stress Ryoga was showing. She saw it in the other girl too, while neither would ever admit it.
While she knew they weren't sisters, the woman couldn't help but think about how they made her think of her own sibling. She and her sister acted the same way... to a point. The water bender just shook her head, smile never fading as her long hair waved with the action.
"Anyways, if Ranma is anything like her friend, she's going to be ready for a good meal soon", she mused to herself as she thought about the green haired girl. The day she awoke, she had eaten in one sitting far more than Hikaru would eat in a day. At the time, the healer was flabbergasted, but now she just shrugged her shoulders at the thought, as she wiped her hands on a towel in the kitchen.
Then, picking up a ladle off the counter and moved over the large pot on the simple stove. Leaning over it, she took a good whiff and closed her eyes at the smell. A content sound escaped her throat as she smelled the contents of the stew working in concert. Smiling, she stirred the contents of the pot, slowly, with the ladle.
It wasn't too long later, she was reminiscing over how her mother taught her this recipe, how it was easy on healing bodies but supplied a lot of needed nutrients, when she heard the door upstairs open finally. 'Guess they're done up there...' Hikaru figured as she reached for three bowls off a nearby shelf. 'Bet they're ready for food, too.'
The healer smiled as she saw her thoughts were correct. As she poured the bowls full, Ranma had walked around the corner and was practically drooling. The woman could barely contain a chuckle at the sight. "My, my. It almost looks like you haven't eaten in days, Ranma-chan!"
While she grinned though it, Ranma flashed a frown at the water bender, though it only lasted as long as it took the girl to smell the fresh stew. Then she was back to almost drooling. "That smells good..." she managed to eke out as she sat at the table with a motion from the healer.
From there, she saw Ryoga help Hikaru bring the food over to the small table. Hikaru brought a bowl and fresh loaf of bread while the green haired teenager brought the other two bowls. "Thanks, Hikaru-sensei!" the redhead said with gratitude in her voice.
With a blur, Ranma had barely said that before she had picked up the spoon off the table, ready to shovel the hot soup into her waiting mouth. Before she had been able to dip the wooden utensil into the vegetable stew before she was stopped by a hand on her arm. "I made plenty, Ranma. There's no need to rush", came the reassuring voice of the healer, who had a doctor's look on her face.
Ranma nodded and through the next two bowls, she took it slow... for her, but Hikaru recognized the effort she was putting forth and accepted it. By the time she was on her third bowl, most of her hunger lust was sedated, replaced by a slower leisurely pace where she could taste the flavors of the food. Ryoga was on her second, while Hikaru just watched the growing girls.
The older female looked over as she heard the sound of a spoon clunk into another empty wooden bowl. Seeing the girl rubbing her stomach, she figured Ranma was done for a while. In her head, she chuckled, 'Good thing too, I don't think we have another bowl full left...'
Her eyes changed to an expectant look once she heard the girl speak up. "Thanks again for the food." There was a slight break as the redhead looked inward on how to say the next thing, "Um... do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure, but I already have someone, so; no, I can't be your wife" she replied teasingly. She almost fell over laughing at the look the younger girl gave back, flushing beet red. Ryoga, across the table from her friend, almost choked on the spoon full of stew she had been swallowing, quickly coughing before laughing herself.
"I'm joking, Ranma-chan. Calm down..." she said, trying to calm the flow of sputtered denials. With a deep breath, the girl did finally slow down, but her face was still a little flushed as she actually let lose her question.
"Sensei, how did you do that with the water? Tai Chi can't do that", showing an odd combination of fading flush and stern attention to the waterbender.
The brown haired woman just raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Tai Chi? I don't understand..."
"Tai Chi... you were using it upstairs when you dried the bed out..." Ranma replied, trying to get Hikaru to figure it out.
Shaking her head, the healer answered with a still confused tone, "I still don't know what 'Tai Chi' is, but that was Waterbending."
Hikaru watched as the frustrated redhead looked over towards her friend, who just gave a 'told you so' shrug back. "Ok, then... How do you do it?"
The waterbender let out a sigh, putting the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb. "I assume Ryoga already told you some things? Maybe like how she tried copying me outside already?"
It was Ryoga's turn to blush and stammer out incomprehensible words before settling down and bashfully saying, "Sorry..."
"No, it's no problem, Ryoga-chan", Hikaru replied, patting the air to placate the girl. "It just gets a little discouraging when every youth that I meet wants to try and copy me, thinking they can just learn waterbending that easily. Though, I'll admit that you were almost perfect in your form when you tried it."
Ryoga's face just continued to flush as she held a bashful grin at the praise, while the woman continued, "I'll tell you right now, it's unheard of to find a waterbender that was born outside of either the North or South Waterbender tribes, unless one or both of the parents was one. Just by looking at you girls, neither of you looks to be from either, so it's almost impossible for either of you to be able to waterbend."
Seeing the downtrodden look on both their faces, Hikaru continued on, with a slightly more upbeat tone, "As long as you understand that, and accept it, I see no problem explaining some of what I understand."
Seeing the nods from the girls, she started to explain in generic terms, "The original waterbenders learned waterbending from the moon's influence on the tides. I guess you could say the moon is our source of power for waterbending."
She received another set of nods at that, the teenagers soaking in the knowledge but wanting more, "As for the act of waterbending, it's hard to really explain... Yes, the moves of your body have something to do with it, but you have to will the water to flow with you. Not everyone in the Watertribes has the ability. The same could be said for all the other benders too, except for the Airbenders... All of their people have the ability to bend, but they were wiped out around a century ago."
Both Ranma and Ryoga heard the healer let out a sigh at that point. "Apparently, from what the elders told me, the Avatar was supposed to be from the Airbender tribes. Most people think he or she died with the other Airbenders, but if that's so, the Avatar should have been reborn into the Watertribes..."
She let out another sigh, as her words died out. After a few seconds she looked between the teenagers, noticing them look at each other for a second. "Avatar?", Ryoga asked, confused.
Hikaru giggled a little, though it was a little melancholy, "I don't blame you for not knowing. It's been almost four times my lifetime when the Avatar disappeared. The Avatar is supposed to bring balance to the world. He or she is the only one that's able to bend all four elements through a single body. As for who he or she is, no one knows, other than the reincarnation line has been broken, so most people guess the Airbender Avatar is still alive."
Finishing that, the waterbender laughed lightly, "Well, for all I know, one of you two could be the avatar and I'd never know it." Seeing the looks on their faces, she sighed again, "I'm joking, girls... sheesh."
The pair just giggled some at Hikaru's reaction. "We know. Just giving you a hard time, Hikaru-sensei", Ryoga said with a smile.
--
"Well, that's not very nice... teasing the woman who saved you both, that is", a voice came from the open front door.
All three females looked in that direction, but once Hikaru saw who it was, she stood up while smiling. "Ah, Lieutenant Gau! Welcome."
"Thank you, Hikaru-chan. I hope I'm not interrupting...", the gate officer replied, a smile shining above a trim black goatee.
"Oh, not at all. We were just finishing our meal and chatting a bit", she voiced, indicating the dishes with a hand. "Would you like some? I have a little left."
The uniformed man just raised up a hand, with a smile, "Thank you, but I'm here cause I heard there were two pretty girls that are finally awake."
A moment later, Gau was wondering what he had said wrong as one of the girls dropped her forehead into one of her palms and the other just glared at him. "Um... what'd I say?"
Hikaru shrugged as Ryoga let out a sigh. Looking at the man, the green haired girl answered, "We're fighters and martial artists, not 'pretty girls'."
"Doesn't help that the last guy in a green uniform like that was an ass...", Ranma added with a little bite, crossing her arms.
"Uh... ok. Sorry about that, you two", the lieutenant apologized, still more than a little confused. He quickly shook it off though, as he continued, "I still need to talk with you both... hopefully without the dagger eyes?"
Ranma looked from Hikaru to Ryoga before throwing her hands in the air, saying "Fine..." She chose to rest her elbow on the table, with her chin in the palm of her hand, giving the officer a disinterested look for now.
Letting out a cough, Gau started with a simple question, "For starters, How'd you two get hurt so badly?"
"We were in a fight... next question..." Ranma replied quick and deadpanned.
Hikaru was taken aback by her patient's attitude, "Ranma! There's no need to be rude! Gau-san hasn't done anything to deserve that!"
The redhead winced, and dropped her arm from the table, lowering her head as she apologized, "Sorry..."
"It's ok, Hikaru-chan. And Ranma, I'm just trying to find out what happened. You aren't in any trouble. In fact, you both might be minor heroines depending on what happened", Gau said, trying to grab the girl's attention.
"What are you talking about?" Ryoga cut in, slightly confused.
"Well, I need to know what happened before I can say anything else. Sorry. Now, who were you fighting that got you two almost killed?"
The male saw the two teenagers look at each other, almost like they were having a nonverbal conversation. After a few seconds, the green haired one shrugged and Ranma replied, in a less hostile tone, "We were attacked by six bandits. Four men and two women..."
At that point, Ranma's eidetic memory for fights stunned both Hikaru and Gau, as she detailed her side of the fight to the moves used. Ryoga showed that she was no slouch either, describing her side in detail, too.
Gau just sat back in his chair, stroking his goatee as he sorted through the info the pair of martial artists had given him. He was like that for a couple of minutes, while Hikaru looked at the two in disbelief. "Are you serious?", she asked the two.
"Yeah... that's what happened", Ryoga replied, Ranma nodding in agreement.
"It also matches the report we received the day after", Gau mentioned. Seeing the three sets of eyes turn towards him, he explained, "We had a merchant caravan show up the next morning. They had found four bodies, well three on the road and one that was drug off the side and half eaten. I sent some men to inspect it, and they found marks where two others would have been, but they survived it seems."
He paused a moment as he saw both girls look at each other again before looking down. Both looked a little uneasy about something. It didn't take him long to realize what was the cause, saying "Don't think about it. They would have killed you, or worse..."
Not seeing a change in the faces of the two, he coughed and thought for a second, looking over to Hikaru. She just looked to the side, silent. Slightly defeated, Gau let out a sigh, "Uh... Hey, that Ma... Moto... er..." He seemed at a loss, trying to pronounce the odd name for an attack the redhead had said.
"Moko Takabisha..."
"Yeah, that... What exactly is it?" he asked. He grinned internally as he saw both girls look up at him, 'Ok, something to keep their minds off their first kills...'
"Well, easiest way to explain it is I channel my Ki or Chi, depending on how you say it, into a ball and then shoot it at the target. It's a lot easier to show than explain, really", the martial artist explained. Near the end, she raised her right hand and focused. It took her a few seconds, but in the middle of her open palm a small ball of light formed, around three centimeters in diameter, but it glowed a bright golden hue.
Gau and Hikaru looked in awe at the spectacle, never seeing anything like it in their lives. They gawked at it up until Ranma absorbed it back into herself, breathing deeply. Sweat was forming on her brow from the effort. "Damn... I'm tired...", she complained.
"And I'm assuming that's not the full attack, right?", Gau asked tentatively.
"Yeah, that was real weak, cause we're still injured", Ryoga replied, letting the redhead catch her breath.
"Wow...", was all the lieutenant could respond with as he sat back in his chair again. Hikaru just mutely nodded in agreement.
A minute of silence happened, as the adults processed the information, but it was broken by an impatient teenager who had caught her breath. "So... now what?"
Shaking his head, Gau apologized, "Oh, sorry. Well, since the story matches the report, I'm happy to inform you of the bounty you two have earned. See, those bandits have been attacking our traders and random travelers for months now and with them gone, life will be a little easier."
With that, he pulled a small sack out of an inner pocket and placed it on the table, an audible clinking sound coming from it. "Here you go, girls. Thank you from the city of Gyon and I hope you make a full recovery. With that, I'll get out of your hair. Ranma... Ryoga... Hikaru-san...", he finished, bowing to each one, receiving a nod or bow in return.
With that, he walked out of the house, leaving two teenagers looking at the bag on the table and a more than slightly confused and cautious waterbender. The two girls seemed to have another unspoken talk as Hikaru watched them, before Ryoga picked up the bag and held it out to her.
"You saved our lives, you deserve this more than us", the green haired girl said with gratitude in her voice.
Hikaru quickly waved it away, "Oh, no! That's your money! I, uh, already... That is, that's what's left after they already paid me for my services..." The older woman blushed a bit in embarrassment, but smiled at the girls. "Like I said, I want you to rest here until you're fully healed and I won't take no for an answer."
Ranma watched her friend retract the bag and put it in the pouch on the inside of her shirt. Around that time, she let out a yawn, feeling the huge drain the ki technique had put on her body. "I'm tired... I'm gonna head back upstairs for a nap...", her voice gave her energy level away.
The two other females watched the redhead go around the corner and heard her go up the stairs. After a second, Ryoga turned towards the waterbender and locked her gaze into the older female's eyes. "What can you tell me about your healing techniques?"
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End of Chapter 5
