Of Wind and Darkness
Chapter 11 : Nerima
Ranma's stomach turned itself into a squirming mess of nervousness as he looked across the open landscape of what once use to be a peaceful town. Clouds blotted out the night sky, buildings looked broken down and abandoned, any greenery had rotted away leaving a horrible mess. Though he had only lived here for about a year, he had come to call this place home and it pained him to see it in such condition.
"What a dump," Maris groaned, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she looked down at the streets. "Looks like most of the town's people left, so I wonder if any are here to be saved?"
"Nonetheless," Yuzuru cut in. "We have to find and close that portal. So lets get this job done quickly so that the town can recover." He turned to lean into the team's van, pulling out his trusty bow and strapped it to his shoulders. He pulled out a long case and tossed it to Ranma, who caught it easily.
"What's this?" Ranma asked, look at the case.
"From what Ryu has told me, you fight only hand to hand," Yuzuru stated simply. "Alone, that wont be very effective against any demons we may cross. Use that sword when fighting."
"Sword?" Ranma queried as he opened the case, revealing a katana's handle. "I don't fight with weapons," he grumbled, a scowl deeply set in his face.
"You will if you're wanting to save this place," Maris snapped at him, her arms crossed as she glared at him. "What do you plan to do? Beat the monsters then ask them nicely to leave? Get real."
"Enough Maris," Angela chided as she stepped out of the van. "You agreed that you wouldn't argue any more."
"Fine, fine," mumbled the red head. "But lets get going already, I don't want to stay here to long."
The team abandoned the van at the edge of town, carrying needed supplies with them as they walked down the empty streets of Nerima. They followed the river that cut through the town, the fence that use to line the side walk had become rusted and bent in various places. Flashbacks raced in Ranma's mind, remembering when he and Akane would race to school along this fence.
"That's surprising," muttered Ryu, who walked beside Ranma. He had a look of concern as he kept a sharp eye on the empty street behind them.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.
"There is suppose to be monsters right? I mean, I'm not complaining but usually when a portal tears, the place is flooded with lower level demons and such," the other teen said sternly.
"He's right," Yuzuru responded, cutting in to their conversation. "This calmness makes me think that there is something bigger going on then a mere tear in the portal."
"Bigger?" Ranma queried. "Like what?"
"Who knows," sighed Yuzuru, shifting his heavy quiver on his back. "Perhaps a take over? If the portal opens where one of the Netherworld's Lords can access it, they could send an army."
A sudden explosion lit up the dark town, pillows of smoke with fire could be seen rising from across town.
"There's some noise!" shouted Maris, almost gleefully. "Let's get to work!" The red head began to sprint forwards, pulling out her gun as she went.
"Always heads first," grumbled an irritated Yuzuru who followed her.
The sound of fighting could be heard as the team got closer to the still rising smoke. A loud roar and an occasional crunching sound would reverberate through the empty streets. Another small series of explosions were set off, bright lights flashing like fireworks.
"Happosai Fire!" yelled a loud voice as another loud explosion went off.
A large wall of smoke filled the streets, impairing the team's vision. Sounds of thundering feet echoed through the smoke. Suddenly a fairly large demon came charging through the smoky wall, catching the team by surprise. The monster was the size of a large truck, but resembled a red bull, sharp teeth could be seen lining its maw as it bellowed in rage from the smoke and fire.
"Come back here you!" yelled the voice again as another bomb went off, shortly behind the fleeing monster. "Hey what do we have here?" came a cheery mumble as a sudden shriek was heard.
"Happosai..." Ranma mumbled in agitation as he covered his face from the smoke.
Placing a firm hand on the wind stone, that still hung from his neck, Ranma tried to will the wind to wipe away the harmful smoke. It took a long moment before Ranma had his desired result, since he still wasn't familiar with how to use the soul stone.
As the smoke cleared, Ranma spotted the elder martial artist, clinging his grubby little hands onto Angela's white dress.
"Well hello there missy," Happosai cooed, smiling happily up at the Sister. "I haven't seen you around here before. Wanna hang out with me?"
"Ah...eh, sorry sir, but could you let go?" Angela asked meekly, trying to be polite to the elder.
"Oh but missy! We just met!" Happosai whined, his eyes seeming to grow large with wet tears. "You're not going to leave a poor defenseless old man here alone are you?"
"Defenseless my foot!" shouted Ranma as he snatched the elder off of Angela's dress by the back of his shirt. "You haven't changed one bit you old man!"
"What the? Who's got me?" Happosai snarled, trying to look around. "Oh! Ranma my boy! So nice to see you!" the elder chirped happily, any anger that was there seemingly dissipated.
"It figures the first thing I see when I get back is you being your lecherous self," grumbled Ranma, still gripping on to the back of Happosai's shirt.
"So you know this man?" Angela asked, straightening her skirt.
"You could say that," mumbled Ranma.
"Sir, why are you still here in the town?" Yuzuru asked, drawing Happosai's attention to him. "Most of the townspeople have left already."
"I'm not scared of any demons," the elder huffed. "I can take them on easily. You saw it right, Ranma? My Happosai fire really does them in!"
"Yeah, and much of the city block too," mumbled Maris as she looked at the fire damage to the nearby houses that lined the street.
"Its not like the people are there, so what does it matter?" Happosai responded.
"Because I'm sure that when the people return, they'd like to return to an intact home," Angela chided.
"Still doesn't explain why you're still here," Ranma asked sternly.
"Huh? Why else not?" Happosai queried. "This is home, right?" The question took Ranma by surprise, he'd never really considered that the old pervert would see Nerima as his home. But he also couldn't see Happosai defending it for anything less then a selfish reason.
"Is it just you then?" Ryu piped up. "So you're the last that's left of this town?"
"Oh heavens no," Happosai chuckled. "There are others besides me here."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ranma asked, a sense of dread crawled up his spine, knowing who else might have stayed.
"Why everyone's at the Tendo Dojo of course!" Happosai chirped.
Well of course no one would have left! Ranma scolded himself as finally let go of Happosai. Though he couldn't discern who might have actually stayed. Just his family and the Tendos? Or did the Amazons stay too? In any case, it was going to be a difficult meeting for Ranma.
"So anyways," Happosai spoke up, breaking Ranma's thoughts. "Where have you been anyways? I find it strange that you disappear for almost two months with out even a single word." The elder, drew out his long pipe, busying himself trying to light it.
"Um, it's a long story," he said, trying to divert anything that may lead to mentioning his new 'condition'. Though Ranma could tell that Happosai was asking seriously, all joking aside. The teen always felt unnerved when the elder became serious.
"Hmm," is all Happosai said before he drew in a deep breath from the pipe. Slowly exhaling it while he gave Ranma a hard glare. "Don't think me a fool boy," he said sharply. "Don't you think I have a bit of an understanding of what's going on?"
"You do?" Ranma asked, a little bit surprised.
"Then tell us what you know," Yuzuru cut in, drawing Happosai's attention. "We are from the Order, we need to close the portal from the Netherworld."
"Hmm, from the Order huh?" Happosai mumbled, drawing another breath of smoke. "That super factious religious group has their nose into this? What's the world coming to when it has to depend on church lackeys to save it."
"Excuse me?" snapped Maris, growing angry at the old man.
"Sorry, nothing against you I assure you," Happosai replied casually. "The Order's methods are not as 'holier then thou' as one would hope. At least not all the time."
"What do you know about the Order?" Ranma asked, curious of what Happosai might know.
"I've dealt with them on occasion. Sometimes even helped out," he drew another breath of smoke. "But like all religious based organizations, its sometimes not always about the good of all. I've seen them use people to the extent of break them."
"That's enough out of you!" Maris chided. "I wont stand for any more of this crap about the Order!"
"Enough Maris," Yuzuru scolded her, stepping in between her and the elder. "I know how you feel about the Order, but what he says isn't completely off either."
"Yuzuru!" Maris gasped, surprised.
"Should we really be discussing this here?" Angela piped in.
"The Sister is right," Ryu said. "All of this shouting may draw in more monsters. Not that we couldn't handle them. But isn't best to leave arguments for later?"
"Fine," Maris huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from the group.
"I also agree with the missy," Happosai replied, tapping out the remaining hot ash from his pipe onto the ground. "We can head to the dojo, and that way, Ranma can tell everybody what he's been up to for the last two months. Hmm?" Happosai threw a cheeky smile at Ranma before he started to walk down the street.
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"So any ideas of what you're going to say?" Ryu whispered to Ranma, who merely shrugged his shoulders. They were still walking through the empty streets of Nerima, following a skipping Happosai.
The team knew of Ranma's desire to keep his new vamperic nature a secret from his friends and family, which is why they kept quiet when Happosai pressured them. Ranma was grateful to them, he wasn't sure how the others would react. Though he could sense that Happosai had a feeling that something was off. Otherwise, the question wouldn't have been asked.
"In any case," Ryu continued. "When was the last time you actually fed?" Ranma gave Ryu a sharp look, then quickly looking forward to look at Happosai. Though the two were far enough away from the skipping old man, Ranma wouldn't put it past him to over hear any conversation.
"Before we left the Tokyo branch," Ranma mumbled softly, just enough for Ryu to hear.
"Really? I don't remember," Ryu queried, looking up at the night sky, trying to think back.
"It was only a little though," Ranma sighed, not like thinking about his 'eating' habits. "From one of the donor bags."
"Hmm," Ryu responded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Also, just to let you know," the teen whispered again. "Yuzuru doesn't plan on sticking around these people."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"He only had a short time to tell me, but the plan is to get these people to leave as quickly as possible. We can't protect them at the same time we're trying to seal the portal," Ryu explained the best he could in the hushed voice.
Ranma felt a little relieved that the hunters' plan was to try and remove his family and friends. The last thing Ranma needed was to see any of them get hurt. But he also knew the frustration that will follow of trying to get them to leave. So he still had to prepare himself with the possibility of revealing his 'secret' to them.
Suddenly, a large explosion set off in the distance. Ranma looked to Happosai, who still stood in front of the group. The elder had a serious look to his face as he looked back to Ranma.
"That's near the Tendo Dojo..." Ranma realized as a sudden chill went down his spine.
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Helen's Notes –
Okay, yeah. Its been awhile, ne?
Sorry for such a long delay for a 'not to active' chapter. But I've been on other projects that have required my attention.
Like reading books. I like books. Other people's books. Takes out all the work for me. Heh
But seriously, I hope to still continue this. Its just getting to the good part. The meat of the story, if you will.
Please check out my live journal if you have any worry of what I've gotten my self into. I post all my current story status there. Even the ones I haven't written up yet. Heh
Had to repost this. Didn't know why I replaced Yuzuru with Yuta. Completely different characters! I hope I didn't cause much confusion.
Updated for gsteemso who pointed out a single word misuse, changed it to right word. Thanks for keeping an eye out for me for this novice fiction.
