The Scarlet Trail
Chapter 1, When The Odds Are Uneven...
Author's Notes: Wow! Here's the next chapter to this fanfic. Oh yeah, things may seem confusing at first, but pay attention and I'm pretty sure you'll understand. Hope you enjoy this. Thanx to my pre-readers. If it wasn't for them, ya wouldn't be able to read this and would have to try and decipher it. Thanx ya. Oh and thanx to negai for the name. -_- Send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the Immortal stared tenderly down at the girl, something glinted in his steel eyes. If one did not know better, they would have mistaken it for...adoration? No, that was not possible, not for him...not anymore. He could not believe his eyes, she was there, and this was not a dream. Akane looked up at Ranma...no not Ranma...he looked like Ranma, except for very subtle differences. He was taller then Ranma, though he had his face and pigtail. The man wore only a pair of silk black pants and shoes, his tan muscular chest and arms visible. Akane looked up at his face and saw faint white scars on his forehead, behind his bangs and one at the corner of his left cheek. Looking at his eyes, Akane gave an involuntary shiver...they were so cold...so merciless.
"Your not Ranma, are you." she stated, not asked.
The Immortal narrowed his dark, turbulent eyes before saying softly, "Wild horse? What a peculiar name. No, little one, my name is not Ranma. My name is Kama Saotome."
The first name had gotten to Akane before the last, "Kama? Doesn't that mean Fire horse? Wait, you said your name was Saotome, are you any way related to Ranma Saotome?"
"What is your fascination with this Ranma, little one?" he asked her.
Akane blushed, but she felt she could not tear her eyes away from his. Something about them, they were so tempting, so warm...so dangerous. *Play with fire and you get burnt...*
"It's just that, you have the same last name as him and you look almost exactly like him. I-I t-thought-" Akane stammered helplessly as Kama lifted her chin up gently. She knew she shouldn't stay here with him, with this stranger, with...Kama, but she couldn't help it. Was
this what hypnotism felt like? To feel as if someone else controlled your body? Yet, when she looked into those eyes, she could only think of one person, *...Ranma...* The Immortal felt it; he knew her heart was calling out for someone else, and he felt an unspeakable pain that he had forgotten. A pain that he had made those that dared to fall in love with him feel. It was sounbearable. It threatened to tear him limb-by-limb, piece-by-piece.
"You call for another now, little one, but you love me. Sooner or later you will have to face that fact," Kama said gently, but with cold determination in his tone. The water from the ocean rushed to freeze around him and Akane, creating a small, ice, dome cage.
"No..." Akane whispered, not knowing why she did not just run from him. Maybe it was the iron grip on her arms, or the cold menace in his face. Whatever it was that had actually scared Akane Tendo to a state ofhelplessness, it was too late, anyhow, for Kama had already bent down and kissed her. *My first kiss...no, Ranma's kiss...* she remembered the kiss Ranma gave her while in the Neko-ken. Even though that kiss was brief and the person
kissing her believed he was a feline, it was warm and comforting.
This kiss was cold, freezing, merciless...just like the giver of the kiss. Akane closed her eyes and in her mind two faces appeared...Ranma and Kama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma stomped across the beach, obviously annoyed. In his mind, he tried to
figure out why Akane got so mad, all he did was discover the pictures that Nabiki took of her. What was she being so modest about? After all, his girl form walked around without a top half of the time and he couldn't see what the big deal was. Now, he had to go and find that kawaiikune tomboy of a fiancée of his in the middle of the night, just because she couldn't deal
with her anger.
Ranma, suddenly, felt a dangerously low cold chi near-by and he ran to see what could be the cause of it. *Oh man, not another de-* his thoughts stopped at the sight in front of him. Standing in the middle of the beach was Akane...and another guy...kissing. His mind didn't register the cage of ice surrounding them, or Akane trapped in the guy's arms. He didn't
bother to notice the man's pigtail or his experienced Martial Arts stance. All that registered at that moment was Akane...and another guy...kissing.
Acting on instinct, Ranma ran and shot a chi blast at the ice dome, shattering it. The blast surprised Kama and he let Akane go, turning to look at the angry Martial Artist attacking him. He dodged every move expertly and with such confident ease that Akane became worried for Ranma's safety.
"Ranma, stop it!" Akane yelled, but Ranma ignored her. Finally, the man had enough and hit Ranma square in the chest, letting him fall back onto the sand, spitting blood.
"Ranma!" Akane screamed, running to the side of her fiancé, not bothering
to see the hurt look that passed through Kama's eyes.
"Leave me alone, Akane," Ranma said viciously as he glared eyes filled with
hatred at Kama, "Go take care of your boyfriend, just forget your fiancé!"
Akane looked puzzled at Ranma, "What are you talking about? Oh! You mean
the kiss. Ranma, listen! He kissed me! I didn't want it, he trapped me!"
Ranma turned his face towards Akane, searching her eyes to see if they would give him any indication that she lied. They didn't. That only made his anger burn brighter as he stood up to face Kama.
"In case you didn't know, Akane is my fiancée. You want to live, you accept that fact, got it?!" Ranma said neutrally.
"I do not believe you are in a situation to bargain with me, Ranma," Kama said with more ice. Akane flinched; she knew that one thing that Ranma valued more then his honor and manhood was his pride and Kama had just scored a big blow to his ego.
"Ranma, let's go, please. I think I'm hurt, you can deal with this jerk later, please?" as much as Akane hated begging anyone for anything, she knew this time it was needed.
Ranma gave one last dagger-filled look at Kama before letting Akane lead
him away.
As soon as they were out of sight, Kama's black wings grew once again from
his back and his face hardened, his mask back into place. Kama gave a shout, "Tenoku!" An old man appeared, his beard and hair white.
"What is it, Kama?" he asked bored, obviously not impressed by Kama's
anger.
"Who is this Ranma Saotome?" Kama asked, His voice oozed with venom.
Tenoku laughed, "Why Kama? I could almost swear you were going to ask
about the girl."
"I already know who the girl is,Tenoku. She is my Akane, remember?"
"Correction, Kama, she was your Akane. She is different now and she loves
someone else."
"Leave the lectures at home, Tenoku and tell me everything you know of
Ranma Saotome," Kama growled.
"Well, I believe Ranma Saotome was born to..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane and Ranma arrived at home, neither mentioning what happened on the
beach or why Ranma had blood on his mouth. They went into the house and straight to their seprate rooms in the living cottage. That night, as everyone laid asleep, they laid in bed awake.
Akane stared at the ceiling, two faces dancing in her mind and when she drifted off to sleep, two names sung her to sleep: Ranma, Kama, Ranma, Kama...
Ranma laid in bed, contemplating the day's events. He was seething. There was something about this guy, this rival, this enemy. His chi level was past the extreme and there was something unsettling about him.
Genma lay fast asleep until he heard a voice say in his ear, "Gen-chan, Gen-chan, get up and light the day..." Surprisingly, this soft chant woke up the sleeping man and he sat up, smiling and walking out of the house.
Nodoka heard a soft chant in her ear, "No-chan, No-chan, get up and light
the day..." She stood up and walked out of the house, a large smile adorning her face.
Outside in the front yard of the inn stood Genma and Nodoka, side-by-side as
Kama walked out from the shadows.
"Hello No-chan, Gen-chan." Kama said at them.
"Hello, Kama-sensei," they responded.
"Now, children, I happen to feel the need for a rest from my travels and wish to live with you two," Kama stated matter-a-factly. Nodoka and Genma beamed with the honor of being the ones chosen to offer him their hospitality.
"Great-great, great, great, great, great-"
"Just call me Great-grandfather,"
"Yes, great-grandfather," Genma said.
"Now, I wish to move in tonight, is that possible?" Kama asked.
"Of course," Nodoka readily agreed, *...even if I have to sleep on the floor to
make it possible...*
"Good," Kama smiled triumphantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep In the middle of the night, Kama appeared in Akane's room as she slept. He moved a wisp of hair from her delicate face. She gave a sigh and his heart constricted.
"Soon, my little one, you will be mine again," and with that he disappeared.
He left before Akane could mutter three words, "Kama, my lord..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: All comments and criticism to
silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.
Chapter 1, When The Odds Are Uneven...
Author's Notes: Wow! Here's the next chapter to this fanfic. Oh yeah, things may seem confusing at first, but pay attention and I'm pretty sure you'll understand. Hope you enjoy this. Thanx to my pre-readers. If it wasn't for them, ya wouldn't be able to read this and would have to try and decipher it. Thanx ya. Oh and thanx to negai for the name. -_- Send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the Immortal stared tenderly down at the girl, something glinted in his steel eyes. If one did not know better, they would have mistaken it for...adoration? No, that was not possible, not for him...not anymore. He could not believe his eyes, she was there, and this was not a dream. Akane looked up at Ranma...no not Ranma...he looked like Ranma, except for very subtle differences. He was taller then Ranma, though he had his face and pigtail. The man wore only a pair of silk black pants and shoes, his tan muscular chest and arms visible. Akane looked up at his face and saw faint white scars on his forehead, behind his bangs and one at the corner of his left cheek. Looking at his eyes, Akane gave an involuntary shiver...they were so cold...so merciless.
"Your not Ranma, are you." she stated, not asked.
The Immortal narrowed his dark, turbulent eyes before saying softly, "Wild horse? What a peculiar name. No, little one, my name is not Ranma. My name is Kama Saotome."
The first name had gotten to Akane before the last, "Kama? Doesn't that mean Fire horse? Wait, you said your name was Saotome, are you any way related to Ranma Saotome?"
"What is your fascination with this Ranma, little one?" he asked her.
Akane blushed, but she felt she could not tear her eyes away from his. Something about them, they were so tempting, so warm...so dangerous. *Play with fire and you get burnt...*
"It's just that, you have the same last name as him and you look almost exactly like him. I-I t-thought-" Akane stammered helplessly as Kama lifted her chin up gently. She knew she shouldn't stay here with him, with this stranger, with...Kama, but she couldn't help it. Was
this what hypnotism felt like? To feel as if someone else controlled your body? Yet, when she looked into those eyes, she could only think of one person, *...Ranma...* The Immortal felt it; he knew her heart was calling out for someone else, and he felt an unspeakable pain that he had forgotten. A pain that he had made those that dared to fall in love with him feel. It was sounbearable. It threatened to tear him limb-by-limb, piece-by-piece.
"You call for another now, little one, but you love me. Sooner or later you will have to face that fact," Kama said gently, but with cold determination in his tone. The water from the ocean rushed to freeze around him and Akane, creating a small, ice, dome cage.
"No..." Akane whispered, not knowing why she did not just run from him. Maybe it was the iron grip on her arms, or the cold menace in his face. Whatever it was that had actually scared Akane Tendo to a state ofhelplessness, it was too late, anyhow, for Kama had already bent down and kissed her. *My first kiss...no, Ranma's kiss...* she remembered the kiss Ranma gave her while in the Neko-ken. Even though that kiss was brief and the person
kissing her believed he was a feline, it was warm and comforting.
This kiss was cold, freezing, merciless...just like the giver of the kiss. Akane closed her eyes and in her mind two faces appeared...Ranma and Kama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma stomped across the beach, obviously annoyed. In his mind, he tried to
figure out why Akane got so mad, all he did was discover the pictures that Nabiki took of her. What was she being so modest about? After all, his girl form walked around without a top half of the time and he couldn't see what the big deal was. Now, he had to go and find that kawaiikune tomboy of a fiancée of his in the middle of the night, just because she couldn't deal
with her anger.
Ranma, suddenly, felt a dangerously low cold chi near-by and he ran to see what could be the cause of it. *Oh man, not another de-* his thoughts stopped at the sight in front of him. Standing in the middle of the beach was Akane...and another guy...kissing. His mind didn't register the cage of ice surrounding them, or Akane trapped in the guy's arms. He didn't
bother to notice the man's pigtail or his experienced Martial Arts stance. All that registered at that moment was Akane...and another guy...kissing.
Acting on instinct, Ranma ran and shot a chi blast at the ice dome, shattering it. The blast surprised Kama and he let Akane go, turning to look at the angry Martial Artist attacking him. He dodged every move expertly and with such confident ease that Akane became worried for Ranma's safety.
"Ranma, stop it!" Akane yelled, but Ranma ignored her. Finally, the man had enough and hit Ranma square in the chest, letting him fall back onto the sand, spitting blood.
"Ranma!" Akane screamed, running to the side of her fiancé, not bothering
to see the hurt look that passed through Kama's eyes.
"Leave me alone, Akane," Ranma said viciously as he glared eyes filled with
hatred at Kama, "Go take care of your boyfriend, just forget your fiancé!"
Akane looked puzzled at Ranma, "What are you talking about? Oh! You mean
the kiss. Ranma, listen! He kissed me! I didn't want it, he trapped me!"
Ranma turned his face towards Akane, searching her eyes to see if they would give him any indication that she lied. They didn't. That only made his anger burn brighter as he stood up to face Kama.
"In case you didn't know, Akane is my fiancée. You want to live, you accept that fact, got it?!" Ranma said neutrally.
"I do not believe you are in a situation to bargain with me, Ranma," Kama said with more ice. Akane flinched; she knew that one thing that Ranma valued more then his honor and manhood was his pride and Kama had just scored a big blow to his ego.
"Ranma, let's go, please. I think I'm hurt, you can deal with this jerk later, please?" as much as Akane hated begging anyone for anything, she knew this time it was needed.
Ranma gave one last dagger-filled look at Kama before letting Akane lead
him away.
As soon as they were out of sight, Kama's black wings grew once again from
his back and his face hardened, his mask back into place. Kama gave a shout, "Tenoku!" An old man appeared, his beard and hair white.
"What is it, Kama?" he asked bored, obviously not impressed by Kama's
anger.
"Who is this Ranma Saotome?" Kama asked, His voice oozed with venom.
Tenoku laughed, "Why Kama? I could almost swear you were going to ask
about the girl."
"I already know who the girl is,Tenoku. She is my Akane, remember?"
"Correction, Kama, she was your Akane. She is different now and she loves
someone else."
"Leave the lectures at home, Tenoku and tell me everything you know of
Ranma Saotome," Kama growled.
"Well, I believe Ranma Saotome was born to..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane and Ranma arrived at home, neither mentioning what happened on the
beach or why Ranma had blood on his mouth. They went into the house and straight to their seprate rooms in the living cottage. That night, as everyone laid asleep, they laid in bed awake.
Akane stared at the ceiling, two faces dancing in her mind and when she drifted off to sleep, two names sung her to sleep: Ranma, Kama, Ranma, Kama...
Ranma laid in bed, contemplating the day's events. He was seething. There was something about this guy, this rival, this enemy. His chi level was past the extreme and there was something unsettling about him.
Genma lay fast asleep until he heard a voice say in his ear, "Gen-chan, Gen-chan, get up and light the day..." Surprisingly, this soft chant woke up the sleeping man and he sat up, smiling and walking out of the house.
Nodoka heard a soft chant in her ear, "No-chan, No-chan, get up and light
the day..." She stood up and walked out of the house, a large smile adorning her face.
Outside in the front yard of the inn stood Genma and Nodoka, side-by-side as
Kama walked out from the shadows.
"Hello No-chan, Gen-chan." Kama said at them.
"Hello, Kama-sensei," they responded.
"Now, children, I happen to feel the need for a rest from my travels and wish to live with you two," Kama stated matter-a-factly. Nodoka and Genma beamed with the honor of being the ones chosen to offer him their hospitality.
"Great-great, great, great, great, great-"
"Just call me Great-grandfather,"
"Yes, great-grandfather," Genma said.
"Now, I wish to move in tonight, is that possible?" Kama asked.
"Of course," Nodoka readily agreed, *...even if I have to sleep on the floor to
make it possible...*
"Good," Kama smiled triumphantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep In the middle of the night, Kama appeared in Akane's room as she slept. He moved a wisp of hair from her delicate face. She gave a sigh and his heart constricted.
"Soon, my little one, you will be mine again," and with that he disappeared.
He left before Akane could mutter three words, "Kama, my lord..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: All comments and criticism to
silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.