Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters don't and never will belong to me.
No more pussyfooting around: a Ranma ½ fanfic
By Indygodusk
Chapter 38: Fog & Old Friends
Akane woke with the sun, feeling flushed with energy. She hadn't felt this good in weeks. Her 19th birthday was coming up in just a few weeks. Maybe this was a good omen.
Looking over, she saw Nabiki hiding her face beneath a blanket. Ranko, who'd thrown an ankle over Akane's during the night, lay on her back snoring like a trucker. Strands of red hair fluttered up and down with each noisy breath. Smiling fondly, Akane slid her foot free and tiptoed out.
At the door she laced up her running shoes. Closing the door as silently as possible, Akane took off. Unsure if she'd feel this good again any time soon, she eschewed her usual gentle trail, instead heading uphill on a path that overlooked the cabin and valley below. Her calves burned as she pounded up the trail. Even with the extra energy, she felt herself start to tire sooner than she'd like. Sweat plastered Akane's shirt to her back, beneath her arms, and under her breasts. When she reached the lightning-split tree at the top of the trail, she took a second to unstick the fabric from her skin, flapping it to encourage a bit of drying and send a few gusts of cool air onto her damp skin before turning to go back. Despite the temptation to keep running until she dropped, to just revel in the feeling of being alive, she didn't want the embarrassment of running out of energy miles away from the cabin. Instead of having hours to slowly drag herself home, she'd get tracked down by a worried and disapproving Ranma and have to endure a scolding.
As Akane made her way back down the trail with the occasional spray of rocks and dirt when she stepped too hard on loose ground, she looked out on the vista spread out below and noticed something curious. The small airport in the valley below had an unusual visitor. A modern-looking cargo plane with black, purple, and gold striping had taken over the airstrip. Usually she only saw smaller, vintage planes. The cargo plane looked very out of place, almost menacing. She didn't like it.
Shaking it off, Akane focused on placing her feet carefully as she descended the rocky trail. The last thing she needed was a rolled ankle. At the next opening in the leafy trees, she looked downslope for the cabin, hoping to see Ranma practicing kata outside. Even in the early days when she wanted to bash his face in for being a jerk, she'd always appreciated the way his body moved through kata. Unfortunately a dark and gloomy fog bank covered the clearing, hiding the cabin from view. Sighing, she continued her run. She'd see Ranma soon enough.
Sweat dripped down her forehead and stung her eyes as the bright sun rose higher in the sky, warming the clear mountain air. Wiping her face on her shoulder, she realized that she hadn't seen anymore fog as she descended. Akane slowed. In fact, not only was it too warm for fog this morning, but the cloud around the cabin had looked more lavender than white. Akane stumbled to a stop in the middle of the trail as her breathing went erratic.
A purple cloud… what if the rat demon's men had found her cabin?
Adrenalin surging, Akane took off like a lit rocket, abandoning the trail for the direct route down the side of the mountain. Skidding sideways in a cloud of debris, she reached flatter ground and bounced off a tree hard. Akane stumbled, but ignored the pain radiating from her shoulder as she raced for the cabin.
Maybe they'd had a cooking accident and burned something. The smoke could be from that. It could!
Bursting into the clearing, she found the cabin surrounded by a faint purple haze that finished dissipating even as she neared. Jagged shards filled the broken windows and the open door hung open crookedly on a single hinge. The rental car in the driveway sat lopsided with three slashed tires. Someone had also busted in the windows and headlights, leaving a dent the size of a man's foot in the driverside door.
In the distance, an engine growled. Akane pushed her body hard, racing around the side of the cabin. A truck fishtailed around the bend of the small road leading to the valley in a cloud of dust and disappeared. They had to be heading for the airstrip, the one with the sinister cargo plane.
Heart galloping in her chest, Akane pivoted and ran back into the cabin. "Ranma! Nabiki!" A metal cannister lay on its side in the livingroom, surrounded by broken glass from the front window. "Ranma! Nabiki!" Her desperate search of the cabin proved futile. They were gone. The demon's men had come looking for Akane and taken them.
Snatching up an empty mug, Akane threw it against the wall. It shattered in a cloud of white shards, joining the jagged pile of clear glass scattered across the floor. Unfortunately, it didn't help.
Suppressing a scream, Akane closed her eyes, fisted her hands in her hair, and throttled back on her panic and rage. She had to focus. She had to save Ranma and Nabiki.
Eyes popping open, she ran to the garage and ripped open the door. Dust motes sparkled in the beam of light from the open door, highlighting the tarp-covered mound in the center. Panting, Akane heaved the tarp off the motorbike and flung it aside. The gas gauge read empty. Snarling, she cast her eyes around the small room, landing on a shelf full of bottles, boxes, and cans. On the far end she found the gasoline. The container barely sloshed as she snatched it up and frantically emptied it into the dirt bike's tank, splashing gasoline all over the floor and wheel in her haste. Akane didn't care about the mess. She just needed the bike to start. Tossing the empty can to the side, she screwed the cap back on the tank and wheeled the bike outside.
Throwing her leg over the motorbike, Akane kickstarted the engine. It came to life with a growl that built into a roar that rattled her teeth. Slamming on the accelerator, the bike jolted forward and she shot off down the road. Akane hugged her body low to the seat and handlebars and maxed out the engine as she zipped down the mountain. The trees to either side became a solid blur of green as she focused on the keeping the bike centered on the road. If she crashed at this speed, she wouldn't be getting up again, but Akane couldn't think about that. Slowing down meant losing Ranma and Nabiki.
However, no matter how fast she went, the truck's taillights didn't reappear. It had too much of a lead. Had she lost before she'd even left the cabin? Akane wasn't going to catch the kidnappers, not before they reached the airfield in the valley and their plane.
At least, not if she stayed on the road.
Clenching her jaw stubbornly, Akane wrenched the handlebars sideways, sending the motorbike careening down the steep forested slope. She learned almost immediately that running down a mountainside was much easier than rolling down one. Tree limbs scratched at her limbs and ripped out her hair, slapping her across the face in punishment for her arrogance. Shadows made it hard to see obstacles. Akane held on grimly and did her best not to smash into a tree, flip the bike, or gouge out an eye. She prayed frantically to every kami she could think of that she'd survive this. A particularly hard jolt made her bite her tongue, flooding her dry mouth with copper.
Momentarily distracted by pain, she didn't see the ledge up ahead until it was too late to turn the bike. Akane screamed as she flew out into the open air. Then terror clamped down on her throat, rendering her mute. Time slowed. She hung suspended in the clear blue sky next to a trio of startled birds. Sunlight glinted off the iridescent patches on their wings and warmed her bloodless cheeks. She might stay like this forever, memorizing the strands of each individual feather as she floated with the clouds... but gravity cared not a whit for her plans.
Akane plummeted. The air rushed past her eardrums like river rapids, rendering her deaf to the frightened calls of the birds as they flapped away. She fully expected to die.
Her motorbike landed in a pit of spongy needles and decaying leaves, plunging deep until it hit solid ground with a bone-rattling jolt. The impact flung Akane's body sideways. Only the detritus packed around her legs kept her from flying headfirst into a tree stump. She barely managed to hang onto the bike with one elbow and a knee as the spinning wheels sent old foliage and muck spraying into the air. Skidding forward, the bike began tipping. Akane threw herself to the opposite side, righting the bike just in time for the tires to find their grip and heave up out of the pit and into open ground. It jolted through a clearing and over a small prickle bush as Akane scrambled to center herself on the seat. Right before the bike slammed into a rock, she regained control, wrenching the handlebars left to go around and then back to center. Dodging one more tree, she abruptly found herself on the open road leading into the valley.
Letting out a whoop, Akane fistpumped the air. I survived! Then she bent down over the handlebars and zoomed towards the airstrip. Coming around a curve, she finally saw the truck up ahead. It entered the gates of the air field, pulled up next to the cargo plane on the far side, and parked. A faded logo on the side read, "Saito's Sweet Melons."
As Akane zipped through the gate after it, the motorbike's engine began going put-put-put in warning. "No, not now. We're almost there!" she cried. "Come on!" Insensitive to her pleas, the engine gave one last sputter and died. The bike coasted forward slower and slower. Cursing, Akane jumped off, abandoning the dirt bike to skid onto its side and spin to a stop.
Sprinting around a hanger, Akane turned the corner and slammed into a broad chest. She bounced off the man and hit the ground hard, knocking the breath from her already abused body.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright, Miss?" a familiar voice asked. She didn't even have the energy to feel surprised.
Tossing the hair out of her face, Akane pushed herself back to her feet. She had to keep going. There wasn't any other choice.
"Akane?" Ryoga asked in surprise and delight. "What are you doing in Sapporo? Or is this Kyoto? It doesn't look like Tokyo." He tilted his head to the side. "Is everything alright?"
Akane had no breath to reply. Just standing was taking all her energy.
Abruptly the lost boy shrank back and hung his head. "Nevermind, it's none of my business. Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to talk to me. I'll just get out of your way." He turned to go.
"Stop," Akane gasped, hands on her knees. She didn't have time to care about their last argument right now. She was going to forgive him anyways, or at least try to. "Ranma and Nabiki... kidnapped. Cargo plane. Help!"
Swinging back around, Ryoga shed his shame for alarm. "What? Where?"
"Truck," Akane pointed, breaking into a clumsy jog.
"Right." Ryoga growled and followed. "You can count on me, Akane. I won't let you down again. Not like before." Dark emotion pooled around Ryoga as he ran, coalescing in his hands and shooting out from his palms in a massive energy blast as he screamed, "Shishi Hōkōdan!"
The blast exploded on the ground next to the plane, rocking the wings and making the whirling engines sputter, but not go out. The melon truck wasn't so lucky. It flipped over onto its side with a bang! Akane stumbled in fear. What if he'd just hurt Nabiki and Ranma? Stupid, thoughtless Ryoga!
Men in black and purple uniforms came swarming out like bees from a kicked-over hive. At the back, Akane saw two soldiers pop up and race over to the ramp leading into the cargo plane. Each man carried a limp female over one shoulder. The gleam of red hair disappearing into the shadows of the plane sent a wash of relief through Akane. An anxious minute of waiting later, the soldiers came running back out empty-handed and joined the fight.
Ryoga burst into the soldiers like a bowling ball into pins, easily holding his own against the crowd. Crates of sweet melons stacked on the runway became weapons in Ryoga's hands. They flew through the air, exploding on the ground and sending slippery orange and yellow flesh everywhere. Those melons that didn't break into pieces scattered like marbles, tripping the charging soldiers and sending them crashing into each other and slipping into the sticky mess all over the runway. Smiling grimly, Akane avoided the commotion and snuck towards the open hatch of the plane. With Ryoga's help, she might just pull this rescue off after all.
Creeping forward, she hurried up the ramp of the cargo plane. The inside was crowded with boxes and equipment. Metal benches lined the curved walls on both sides, but all of soldiers were outside fighting Ryoga. The cockpit had a curtain pulled mostly shut to separate it from the main cabin. She could see the pilot's feet and one arm around the edges of the curtain as he prepared for takeoff. Even though the engines were loud, she'd still have to take care to be quiet.
Coming around a crate, she found Ranko and Nabiki. The soldiers had flung their limp bodies carelessly onto one of the benches, leaving their limbs twisted at uncomfortable looking angles. They'd handcuffed the two women together. The center of the cuffs threaded through a ring secured about a foot above the bench, wrenching their arms above their unconscious bodies. Unfortunately, Akane didn't see keys anywhere and hadn't paid attention to the faces of the soldiers that had brought them in here. Glancing out into the chaos of men covered in slimy melon, she wasn't confident she could find them even if she did remember their faces.
At least no one looked hurt, though Nabiki's breathing sounded labored and raspy. Akane quickly straightened her sister's body to try and ease her breathing and then adjusted Ranko, smoothing clumps of red hair off her face and tucking them behind her ears. Akane did a quick search of the cabin for spare keys, but didn't turn up anything. She was running out of time. The soldiers could return at any moment. Returning to the cuffs, she tried to pry them off first Nabiki's wrist and then Ranko's, but they wouldn't budge and she feared that the metal would start to gouge the skin if she kept pulling. Akane planted her feet, grabbed the ring threaded through the wall, and heaved backwards. The metal in the wall shifted and deformed. A crack formed in the metal, giving her hope, but it wasn't big enough. "Wake... up," Akane panted as she pulled and twisted to no avail. She couldn't make the crack wide enough to slip the ring through. She wasn't strong enough.
Turning to Ranko, Akane placed her mouth against the redhead's ear. "Please. Open your eyes, Ranma. I don't want to be useless here, but I need your help to break this chain." The skin against her lips tingled, but the body beneath her hands stayed lax.
Akane pushed herself up and stubbornly searched the cargo hold again for the keys or bolt-cutters, something, anything to break through the handcuffs or the ring in the wall.
Outside, a huge crash shook the plane. Men screamed. Startled, Akane looked out and saw water flooding across the tarmac to the foot of the ramp, sending melons skittering around like pool balls.
"He's toppled the water tank! We've got to get out of here and away from this maniac!" With each word, the voice came closer. A soldier appeared, walking backward up the ramp with water dripping from his clothes and plastering his hair to his skull.
Ducking behind a crate, Akane swore silently and wiggled into the gap between the bottom of the bench and a bulky box. Hopefully they would hide her. Getting caught right now would definitely make everything worse.
"We have the chosen one for the prophet. This fight is pointless. Everybody, retreat!" the dripping soldier shouted, swinging his arm in a gathering motion. Soldiers raced up the ramp into the cargo hold, limping and shellshocked. The last few stragglers dragged their unconscious teammates.
"How can just one man do so much damage?" a bewildered voice asked. "He's not even part of the Prophet's crazy cat guard and they're the best fighters most of us have ever seen."
A soldier plopped down onto the bench at an angle to Akane's hiding place, his head craned sideways to look fearfully down the ramp. "Where'd he go? I can't see him. Can you see him?"
"I don't care, let's just get out of here before he comes back!" cried another soldier, hitting a lever on the wall. Clang! The hatch closed, making Akane's hiding spot even more shadowed. The plane began to bounce along the runway, sending uncomfortable vibrations through the metal pressing against her limbs. As the plane took off, Akane felt her ears pop painfully.
Once safe in the air, the soldiers perked up. In the enclosed space, the combined scents of blood, moist fabric, sweet melon, and male sweat became almost unbearably foul. Akane swallowed hard and tried to breathe shallowly.
As the minutes ticked past, fear of discovery faded beneath thoughts of discomfort and boredom. Across the cabin, she noticed the gleam of eyes under the opposite bench. Heart jolting, she jumped, knocking her head hard against the metal. *Ouch* she mouthed silently. Luckily none of the soldiers seemed to notice.
Looking back, she realized that the eyes, too small to be human, weren't focused on in the dim light, she managed to make out a pattern of yellow splotches on black. The head moved and ,for a second, the light fell on a snout. P-chan!
No… Ryoga.
Despite her decision to forgive him, Akane felt an ugly flash of shame, anger, and resentment. Just as well that they couldn't speak right now without being discovered. With no fight to distract her, she might say something she would regret. Earlier she'd been too caught up in the chase to really think about their last meeting. It took most of the flight for her to push down the desire to pick the pig up and punt him out the hatch at 30,000 feet. Slowly she managed to push down her unhappiness and focus on Ryoga's letter, his attempt to help, her need for an ally to rescue Ranma and Nabiki, and the peace she'd felt when deciding to do her best to forgive him anyways. By the time the plane landed, Akane once more felt mature about the Ryoga situation.
The plane taxied to a stop and the back hatch opened, flooding the cargo bay with harsh yellow light. Akane's stomach dropped at the sight of the familiar jungle canopy outside. She'd had too many nightmares about Iriomote Island not to recognize it instantly. Inside her soul, she could feel her passengers stirring: an awful mix of feline terror and rodent triumph. She had to fight against a surge of despair.
By sneaking on this plane, she may have just hastened her death. However, Akane couldn't trade her life for Ranma's and Nabiki's. She would save them or die trying. Literally, in this case.
Noticing the parallel to Ranma, she couldn't help but smile wryly. Being useful was also an integral part of her identity. She couldn't just sit by and do nothing. Neither of them could.
"This one's not doing too well," a soldier said over the idling of the plane's engines, breaking Akane from her thoughts. The box in front of her bench not only hid her, but also blocked her view of Nabiki and Ranma.
"Aw man, she's having a bad reaction to the gas," another soldier griped. "There's not much antidote left in the kit, but I'll give her what we have and see if it helps. Despite her sharp features, she's got a hot bod beneath those tight little pjs. It'd be a waste if she died now."
"At least she's not the Prophet's chosen one. The redhead still looks healthy," said a third soldier. "He'd kill us if we brought that one back dead."
Stomach clenching, Akane watched as soldiers carried Ranma and Nabiki down the ramp on stretchers. Nabiki's breathing looked labored and her face splotchy, with a blue tinge to her lips. Akane wanted to jump out and save them, but there were too many men for her to take on by herself and a quick glance showed that P-cha—Ryoga had disappeared.
"You sure the redhead's the One? The amulet barely lit up. The Prophet said it would shine like a tv screen for anyone touched by his power," questioned the soldier carrying the bottom of Ranma's stretcher.
"Why not a star or sun or at least a fire?" asked his partner. "Something poetic?"
"Shut up. Who cares?" scolded the soldier who seemed in charge. "Maybe he meant a crappy tv screen so idiots like you would understand. The brunette didn't even make it flicker and the redhead did. When I pulled it out on the plane earlier, it looked even brighter. We found the woman where the Prophet said she'd be. That's good enough for me and for you. Do you want to fly back to the airfield with that maniac to double-check?" At their frantic headshakes, he nodded. "Load up the trucks and let's get out of here."
"Yes, Sir," the men chorused.
Two rickety farm trucks with delusions of military life backed up to the base of the ramp. The soldiers loaded them up with the boxes from the cargo hold. Akane held her breath as a man picked up the box next to her hiding place without a stutter and trotted out towards the trucks. She'd gotten lucky, but it wouldn't take much more for her to be discovered. Luckily they seemed done with unloading.
The pilot came out, had a quick word with the captain, and then disappeared into the small building next to the airstrip. The soldiers loaded the stretchers into the back of one of the trucks. The soldiers then distributed themselves wherever they could, barely fitting everyone on both trucks. The engines sputtered to life, releasing a belch of black smoke from their tailpipes.
Akane's mind spun uselessly. She needed to do something to save Ranma and Nabiki, but what? She couldn't afford to be stupid about this. She was their only hope. Getting caught would just make things worse.
In her panic, Akane had forgotten Ryoga. The little black pig raced down the plane's ramp and leapt, soaring through the air to land next to the truck holding Nabiki and Ranma. He skidded forward, reached up with his strong jaws and clamped down. Head jerking to the side, he ripped something loose on the undercarriage of the truck.
Damage done, he turned and trotted for the other truck. It started moving. He bounded forward and lunged, grabbing onto the other truck. However, before he could get a good grip with his teeth, the truck went over a series of bumps. Contorting his body, Ryoga tried to hang on, but the truck gained speed and turned. The momentum flung his little black body loose. The small pig hit the spinning wheel of the truck hard and got pulled beneath it. The truck jolted over his body without pause and sped off down a dirt track into the jungle.
Akane cried out in denial. Scrambling out of her hiding place, she ran down the ramp. Her frantic search finally found the pig lying insensate in the grass of the field. Ryoga was breathing, but his leg splayed out at an unnatural angle and seemed shorter than it should. Scooping him up in her arms, Akane raced into the nearby jungle, not stopping until she was sure they were far enough away not to be seen or heard.
Gently feeling along the pig's leg, she winced. The hip felt out of joint and the flesh around it was rapidly swelling. She'd seen something similar a few times at Dr. Tofu's. Despite his practice focusing on humans, people occasionally brought in injured pets and begged for his help. Dr. Tofu would do what he could and then send them along to a veterinarian for a follow-up.
A dislocated hip really should be seen by a specialist, but that wasn't an option in the middle of a jungle ruled by an evil prophet who worshipped a demon rat. Blowing out a big breath, Akane decided to do what she could before he woke up. This sort of thing hurt a LOT. Better to be unconscious for that much pain.
Placing one hand firmly on the pig's hip, Akane took his leg and steadily rotated it back into place. The joint popped back in with a gruesome snap. Poor P-cha—Ryoga whimpered, but thankfully didn't wake up. He'd still need to get his hip looked at by a professional, but at least this would make him a little more mobile before the swelling made popping it back in almost impossible.
Akane carefully lifted the black pig into the cradle of her arms, supporting his legs against her forearm, and turned to go back. She could take on one pilot by herself, no problem. In the process, she'd ask him what they had planned for Ranma and Nabiki and get some insight on possible weaknesses. She desperately needed some sort of advantage right now.
As she ducked beneath a large frond, Ryoga snorted awake in her arms. He snuggled his snout into her cleavage with a happy sigh and then froze at her sharp intake of breath. Akane twitched.
Squealing an apology, the pig sprang from her arms, only to stagger and drop onto his rump when his leg folded. Pain and confusion swept through his eyes. A whine escaped his snout.
Reminding herself that Ryoga was hurt and had stopped as soon as she'd stiffened up, Akane tried to focus on how pitiful he looked. She had to control her temper. She needed him. "You dislocated your leg. I did my best to put in back into place, but you're probably going to need a doctor... or a vet. You know what I mean. Anyways, I'm going to go beat up that pilot. We'll find you some hot water after that and then go rescue Ranma and Nabiki." She turned to leave, but Ryoga heaved himself up onto three legs and limped after her with a series of piggy snorts. She'd always had a weakness for pig sounds.
Throwing her head back in a gusty sigh, Akane gave in. "Fine." Sweeping Ryoga up, she plopped him over her shoulder, "we'll beat him up together."
As she broke through the trees, she saw the plane moving away down the runway. "No!" she cried. It built up speed and then lifted into the air. "Burnt rice! There goes our source of information." Casting her eyes around, she broke into a jog. "Hopefully there's at least something helpful in that building."
The pilot hadn't bothered to lock the door of the little building, so it opened easily at the turn of the nob. Akane gave a disgruntled frown. Secretly she'd been looking forward to breaking it down. Right now, she really wanted to break something. Ryoga was off-limits.
After setting Ryoga down, she searched around. The open shelves held bottled water, cans of food, batteries, and a few pots, pans, cups, and plates. Akane dumped half a bottle of water into a pot and set it on the battery-powered camp stove to boil. She gulped down the rest of the bottle, tossed it aside, and then opened a second. Sipping more slowly, she followed Ryoga's piggy snorts to a pile of spare clothing and a large first aid kit on the other side of the room. Akane pulled out everything she thought might possibly help Nabiki and repackaged it into a smaller bag. She didn't have the stamina to carry the entire kit around anymore.
When she checked the water on the stove, she saw small bubbles rising around the sides of the pot. She considered waiting for a roiling boil, but mature Akane won the argument in her head. Picking up the pan, she turned and splashed the pig.
Naked Ryoga appeared with a yelp. "Hot!"
What a baby. Even Mature Akane agreed with that. The lost boy fidgeted in place, searching her face for something and biting his lip. Akane gave him a raised brow and deliberately turned to look up at the ceiling.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Ryoga look down and finally remember that he was naked. "Sorry!" he squeaked, scooping up the clothes and disappearing out the door.
A minute later he returned in a pair of black pants and a purple tunic. Somehow he'd also found his yellow leg ties and old shoes. "Sorry," Ryoga repeated, face red and head hanging low. He limped over and dropped heavily onto a seat at the table. Too heavily for just shame and depression.
Worried, Akane frowned. "It's okay," she finally said with simplicity. She wanted to be mature about this. Turning, she pushed the first aid kit closer to Ryoga. Gesturing at his leg, she asked, "Will you be okay? I thought you were built like a tank."
Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "I got a little hurt wrestling with Akari's sumo pigs recently. It's just bad luck that the truck hit me in the same place and made the leg pop out of joint again. You did a good job pushing it back in so quickly. Thanks. The longer you wait, the harder it is." Opening the first aid kit, he looked up at her and blushed. "Um, do you mind turning around while I check my hip?" He rushed to add, "Just for a minute. This'll only slow me down a little. Don't worry. Here, take some things for you too. You're covered in scratches. Are you okay?" His brow creased with concern.
"I'm fine, don't worry. Take as much time as you need." Turning, she ducked out of the hut and began sticking bandaids on the worst of her cuts. She didn't want to rush him, but at the same time, Ranma and Nabiki were getting farther and farther away every minute. As a girl, she'd agreed automatically to be polite without thinking it through. Manners could be so frustrating.
Thankfully, Ryoga appeared only a couple of minutes later. Meeting her eyes, his walk smoothed out as he exited the door. "Let's go. I'm pretty sure I did some damage with my teeth. At least one of the trucks has to have broken down by now."
Akane had a bad feeling that Ryoga was underplaying his injury, but she couldn't call him on it because she still needed him to help rescue Ranma and Nabiki. Maybe it was selfish, but she didn't want to have to do this on her own. Bad things had happened the last time she came to Iriomote island.
As Ryoga came abreast of her, he gestured with his chin, "Nice earring. Is that new?"
"Yeah," Akane wasn't interested in explaining more.
The two set off at a steady jog down the dirt track after their friends. Ryoga's face looked tight and pale, but he kept up with her pace. Akane wanted to run, but perhaps luckily for Ryoga, she didn't have the stamina anymore. This morning's exertions had already taxed her. For a second she thought longingly of stealing a little energy from the tie around her fingertip linking her to Ranko, but she refrained. Just because she could, didn't mean she should. Interestingly, the tie to Ranma's male side had become as diaphanous as spider's silk. She thought she could still take energy from it, but it would move at a trickle instead of a torrent.
After about an hour, Ryoga gestured sharply to stop. When Akane obeyed, she heard a male voice cursing vociferously and creatively up ahead. Another voice laughed and then cut off abruptly as the voice of the squad leader drifted back through the trees.
"Try and figure it out. I'm leaving her here with you to make room for more men. If you fix the truck, bring her with you. If she dies of a little gas, the prophet wouldn't have wanted a weakling like her anyways. Let the jungle have her body and go the rest of the way on foot. One way or another, I want you back by sundown. You know the consequences if you aren't." The response was too hard to understand as Ryoga and Akane crept closer. Then the leader's voice called, "I don't care, just remember, if anyone asks, we were attacked by at least twenty men at the airport, alright?"
Any reply was lost beneath the sound of the truck's engine coughing back to life. Akane and Ryoga broke into a run, trying to stay on the edges of the jungle beneath the shadows of the large fronds bristling overhead. Instead of bursting out to find the soldiers, they found themselves at the top of a steep cliff overlooking the men down below clustered around the broken-down truck. There wasn't a way down. The two were forced to follow the road for several frustrating minutes as it slanted down before coming back around in a hairpin turn.
Finally they came around a gigantic tree and saw the back of a truck parked crookedly at the bottom of the slope. Akane looked in vain for the second vehicle, but it was already long gone. No one noticed them as they approached.
Several men clustered around the open hood of the truck, trying to diagnose the problem. "What about the gas, could it be out of gas?" asked a soldier with a big nose. His left eye was swollen shut and strings of melon seeds tangled in his hair.
"No, we already checked that," snapped the man leaning over the engine.
"The tires aren't flat." the first man said helpfully.
The mechanic leaned back to shoot him a glare. "A flat tire wouldn't make the truck stop working, genius."
Mr. black eye shrugged. "I'm not a genius. That's just all I know about fixing cars: tires and fluids."
"Then go be useful somewhere else! Try to keep the girl alive or eat a coconut or something. If we don't get to the compound soon, we're going to get in trouble."
"But coconuts are rare around here. It's because we're subtropical, not tropical. I learned that on tv," he confided proudly.
"I don't care!" growled the cranky mechanic.
Akane and Ryoga didn't care either. Giving each other a nod, they charged the rest of the way down the dirt road, screaming savage battle cries. As they reached the bottom of the hill, Ryoga stumbled, allowing Akane to surge ahead.
The soldiers whirled around at the noise. "It's that maniac again!" the mechanic cried. "And he's got a sidekick this time!"
Akane bared her teeth. Who were they calling a sidekick? She was going to knock their teeth in.
"Let's get out of here!" a soldier screamed.
And just like that, the soldiers dropped what they were doing and hightailed it down the road. In less than a minute, the area was deserted. "Are you kidding me? I wanna punch somebody!" Akane shouted angrily, whirling around in a circle as she looked for an opponent.
A flash of a bare foot low to the ground immediately changed her focus. Rushing over, Akane found Nabiki lying abandoned on a stretcher next to a spindly tree. But it looked more like a stranger than Akane's cunning older sister. Her blue veins contrasted starkly with her bone white skin, her lips looked swollen, and her pulse fluttered wildly in her neck. Each wheezing breath barely moved the wrinkled brown leaves that had fallen onto her chest.
Akane remembered Miaka's prophecy, the words writing across the mirror of Akane's thoughts with a tortured shriek of metal scraping over glass. "Someone you love will die."
Not Nabiki, please, no.
But wait, didn't Akane have to die first in the prophecy? Wasn't she supposed to have a choice about coming back or not? That hadn't happened yet, so this didn't count. Nabiki couldn't die because this didn't count! Maybe someday, but not now.
Fingers trembling, Akane yanked open her bag and rummaged through the contents. The vial of epinephrine she'd grabbed had a smudged date, so she couldn't be sure if it had expired. However, it was the only one in the med kit. Mentally crossing her fingers, she pulled the cap off the needle and inserted the needle into the rubber stopper of the jar, pulling the medicine up into the syringe. She took it out and flicked it a few times to remove air bubbles before turning and pushing it into her sister's thigh. Depressing the plunger, she removed the needle and rubbed hard at the site, trying to encourage the drug to absorb through the muscle and into the bloodstream. Did epinephrine work for slow allergic reactions as well as acute ones? Akane didn't know.
"Come on, Nabiki," Akane begged. Turning back to her bag, she rummaged for more ideas. She didn't know if it would help, but she broke open two antihistamine capsules with her fingers and poured them on Nabiki's swollen tongue. Akane splashed a little water into Nabiki's mouth and massaged her throat to try and get her to swallow. About half the water trickled out the sides of her mouth, but some managed to go down her throat with only a slight cough. Hopefully it'd gone into her belly and not her lungs.
"You'd never live down the shame of dying like this, big sis. Fight back for me. Fight!" Was Akane imagining it, or was color returning to Nabiki's cheeks? Her breathing did sound slightly less labored. Akane picked up her sister's hand and rested it palm up on her thigh. Nabiki's fingers splayed out like the seeds of the half-blown dandelions they used to share as children, pressing their cheeks together to make a wish before blowing the last of the seeds. The memory made Akane's lips tremble. Placing her fingers on Nabiki's wrist, Akane counted the beats of her sister's heart. Gradually, blessedly, they slowed from a gallop to a trot.
"How is she?" Ryoga asked, limping over.
"I don't know," Akane said, dashing water from her eyes. She sounded like a helpless little girl, but she wasn't. She wasn't! Forcing herself to blow out a breath, she tried again. "I gave Nabiki a shot of epinephrine and an antihistamine. I think a little of the color is coming back to her cheeks and her breathing sounds less labored. Her heartbeat's slowing down, so... that's good? That's good," she corrected herself more confidently.
"Great," Ryoga grunted, putting a hand on the tree to steady himself. "I didn't see any sign of Ranma. They must have taken the idiot in the other truck."
"Yeah," Akane said, discouraged all over again. Her legs hurt and she was tired, just physically and mentally exhausted. Turning to her sister, she coaxed a little bit more water down her throat to buy herself some time to think. Luckily for Akane, something finally seemed to be going right. Nabiki was recovering rapidly. Her breathing had become barely audible and her swelling had gone down.
"What do you want to do next?" Ryoga asked.
Looking up, Akane saw lines of pain bracketing his mouth. "That depends on you," she said slowly. Her mind darted over several possibilities. "Can you even walk?"
Ryoga let go of the tree and puffed out his chest. "I'm fine. I can do whatever needs doing."
At Akane's withering look, he deflated. He looked away for a second and then met her eyes steadily. "My hip's swollen and stiff. I came down on it too hard coming down the hill. I can't move fast, but I can and will move through it. I'm the master of my pain, it doesn't master me."
"Okay, thank you for being honest." Looking down, Akane smoothed back Nabiki's sweat-dampened hair. "We have two problems: Nabiki needs to get to a doctor and Ranko needs to be rescued. There's a chance Nabiki will recover on her own or that Ranko will rescue herself. However, neither is guaranteed. In this place, it's not wise to merely hope for the best…" Akane trailed off.
"Where are we exactly?" Ryoga looked around. "Strangely, I don't think I've ever been here before and I've been most places in my wanderings."
"Iriomote Island in Okinawa," Akane answered steadily. "There's a rat demon who's taken over the leader of a local militia, making him into a self-styled prophet who promises to restore Okinawa to its former glory for the small price of the occasional soul in tribute. He's the one who's taken Ranko. Who knows what evil thing they have planned."
"Nothing good," Ryoga scowled. Leaning against the tree, he peeled off bits of bark in his agitation.
"No," Akane agreed. She hadn't even told him the half of it. But knowing wouldn't help him agree to her plan. Smoothing back her sister's hair one more time, she stood up. "We need to split up. I'll go after Ranma and you either carry or pull Nabiki on her stretcher back down the road until you find a town or a way to get her off this island to safety. I'll send the medicines with you."
"But what if you get captured too?" Ryoga asked, speaking to her deepest fear.
It made her respond more harshly than she'd intended. "Then I get captured. In the meantime, Nabiki could die or an unconscious Ranko could be raped or sacrificed to feed a demon. We have to save them both and this is the best I've got! Do you have a better plan? Because you and Nabiki are both a liability at this point."
Ryoga's face had gone pale and the corners of his lips tugged down, but he didn't argue. "You're right. I'm sorry. If that's what you want, I'll go." Looking down, he tugged at the hem of his purple tunic. "I don't know if you got my letter or not, but I'm also sorry for what I did. Before. If this is how you want me to help, I'll get Nabiki to safety. Then I'll come back with help. I'd do anything for you, Akane."
Wind rustled the green fronds overhead, swaying the trunks of the smallest trees. It dried the sweat on Akane's face and cooled her thoughts. "What you did was wrong, but I'm doing my best to forgive you. Getting my sister to safety will go a long way to help with that. If you can, contact the monks at the Martial Arts Geometry Temple. They've fought these guys before. I have to get going if I'm going to catch up with Ranma, but thank you, Ryoga, and good luck."
Although she sounded strong and confident, Akane secretly felt terrified of going back to the demon's fortress alone. But what other choice did she have? Ranma needed her. Before she could second-guess herself, Akane reached out through their spiritual ties. They led up the road where the soldiers had disappeared. From what she could tell, Ranma still slept, but didn't seem harmed considering the deep well of energy she still sensed.
As soon as her attention turned to Ranma's energy, it started flowing into Akane. Her trembling muscles sucked it in like drought-parched earth. Guiltily she slammed closed the ties, but even a brief gulp made her feel like she'd just woken from a decadent sleep.
"Good luck," Ryoga said, breaking her from her thoughts.
Akane forced herself to give him a smile and nod. They'd all need luck if to get out of this mess alive, but at least those two had a better chance than her and Ranma.
Turning, Akane jogged away up the rough dirt road twisting through the jungle. A yellow-banded black lizard scurried away from her pounding feet. Shafts of sunlight broke through the canopy, looking like golden tentpoles holding up a pavilion of green leaves. Akane could either run away into the shadows with her belly to the ground like the lizard, or stand tall and shine bright like the sunlight forcing its way through the trees.
Akane would be the sun.
I'm coming, Ranma. Just hold on.