Author Notes:
This chapter took me much longer than I thought it was going to. I haven't
actually done a (very)thorough editing of it, but im posting it anyways.
A Murder of Two Chapter 1, The Start of a New Story. Jusendo, Bayankala, China. *** "Has there been any sign of Lord Saffron since the battle, Captain Kima?" The old man forced his question out before succumbing to a coughing fit. His robes were dripping wet. So were Kima's. "No sire, nor has there been any sign of the particular landling he did battle with." She had been forced to stay in her cursed form. There wasn't a dry place in all of phoenix mountain, the entire place had been deluged with ice water from deep within the mountain. She had changed back into her natural shape several times, only to be quickly drenched by a new leak. "That is most disturbing, he should have been reborn some time ago." This time the coughing fit doubled him over for several minutes. Kima desperately hoped the smudge of red on his hand wasn't what she thought it was. *** Koruma and Masara were on patrol. Which wasn't a lot of fun, but that was all right, because nobody was having much fun with Mt. Phoenix currently being so unliveable. Flying in search patterns until there wings ached, beat walking up and down huge flights of stairs, since they couldn't fly with their curses. "Kikiki, this really sucks, Koruma." "Kakaka, No argument from me, Masara. I'm starting to wonder if we will ever find Lord Saffron." His partner stated, before going back to peering at the ground as it passed below. A phoenix egg was vibrantly colored, and they had been told they couldn't miss it. So they completely overlooked the pair of mottled blue-green shapes tucked into a rocky depression. Surrounded by rubble, speckles of grey broke up their smooth outline and made them fade into the barren stone. *** It had been dark. The warmth that had been pleasant until that moment had suddenly become stifling. The comforting closeness had twisted into a clinging grasp that pulled at her. She had fought. She could barely move, her surroundings conspiring to hold her motionless. Striking out as hard as she could with what little leverage she had, to feel something give. It had been only a crack, at first. Blessed light had come pouring into her dark little world. Frantic with desperation and the beginnings of hope she had continued struggling. Finally she came back to herself, exhausted and breathless. She had found herself to be sprawled on hands and knees amidst a gallery of pale white shards. Then she had turned to see Ranma sprawled out in his own pile of goo and debris. Eggshards, what they were came to her like a stunning blow. They had just hatched from giant eggs. Which made a twisted kind of sense, because now they both had wings, just like birds. *** "Ouch!" The stinging slap served to get his attention. "What the hell are you staring at, pervert!" He had never thought a scathing rebuke could make him feel so happy. The only thing that bothered him was that he didn't have a clue what she was pissed about this time. Normally when she started in on him she made it quite clear what he had done wrong. He looked around, hoping to find a clue, but the only things he saw were countryside and oddly shaped shards of rock. Akane was covered from head to toe in shiny goo that clung to her form, dripping off in some places. Ranma did a double take. Aside from the clear gel, she was completely naked. He felt faint, the sight of her nude body so close quickly crowded out rational thought and stole his breath away. Ranma suddenly realized that he was in the same unclothed state as she was. Unfortunately, Akane chose that same moment to glance down. He tried to say something, but his tongue was even more confused than his mind. His sputtered denials didn't help his situation at all. Considering the circumstances, calling her unsexy seemed stupid, even to him. Her full body blush was promptly followed by a swift right hook smashing into his face. "Ranma no Baka!" It took him a few moments to shake of the effects of her punch. He could not summon the effort to stand, and instead lay flat with his cheek pressed against the cool stone. Either Akane had been training when he wasn't looking or he was weaker than he had felt after taking out Saffron. When he tried to sit back up, the world seemed to tilt and sway. "Ranma? Are you ok?" He knew that voice, but it seemed so very far away at the moment. Whoever it was must surely be distant enough for him to rest a short while. If they wanted to talk to him badly enough, they would come closer. He could talk to them then. "Damnit Ranma, wake up!" Akane was upset about something. Her shouts were too far removed for her to be shouting at him, though. She always made sure to get in real close so she could scream in his face. Because of that, the pain that normally followed such confrontations was always bound up in his mind with other thoughts. She was beautiful when she was angry. In her fury she always cast aside her mask of a demure young girl. She would throw her whole body into her movements. It made her short hair fly around like it was whipped by some fierce wind. The way her face flushed when she shouted... The way her feathery black wings smote at the air around her... Wait a minute, Wings?! Akane was worried. Ranma wasn't bouncing back like he always had before. Instead he was laid out on his stomach. The left side of his face was becoming swollen, and instead of telling her what the hell was going on, he was staring at the wings on her back, as if he didn't suddenly have a pair of his own. "Ranma, what the hell is going on!? The last thing I remember is... um" The last thing she remembered was being cradled in his arms while he sobbed. She had tried so hard to reach out to him, but she couldn't fight past the iron grip of paralysis. Thinking about being held like that, with neither of them having clothes on at the moment sent her thoughts skittering away. Ranma struggled to his feet. He swayed on his feet for a moment before saggering towards her on unsteady legs. She matched his movement with a few hesitant steps away from him. His eyes were wild, and the side of his head was now an ugly purple color. He was covered in the same goo as she was, and the way it matted his hair and dripped off his face temporarily lent him a monstrous aspect. "Akane!" The pain rang in his voice and trembled across the space between them. It was the same tone of desperation he had used before at Jusendo, what seemed only moments ago. This time she embraced him, and he fell into her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. He clutched at her as if she would disappear in the next instant, and this time, she could hug him back, and mumble a few comforting words to make the pain go away. So she did. *** A cold breeze broke the mood. The wind seemed to cut through whatever protection the goop was supposed to offer. Goosebumps broke out over both their flesh. What really broke the mood was the way twin shivers reminded them of their intimate proximity. They both leapt back with a blush and a small 'Eep'. The wind lead her to look up, to find the clear blue sky quickly filling with ugly looking storm clouds. Unfortunately, the sudden motion almost caused Ranma to fall down. As it was, he clutched at his head in agony. Seeing him wrapped up in his own agony, Akane grabbed his elbow and carefully walked over to the treeline downslope, hoping to find some shelter from the increasingly inclement weather. So they stumbled through chinese forest, avoiding the frequent thickets of bamboo too thick to go through. Ranma might have known what to do, but he wasn't in any condition to help. He could barely stand and walk, with a great deal of help from Akane. They wandered through the woods aimlessly. Akane had spent most of her life in one of the worlds largest cities. Even with the rare training trip, and the isolated camping excursion with friends, she was far from accomplished in woodscraft. Now she was completely naked in the middle of one of the most vast wildernesses in china. Whatever help Ranma could have offered was negated by his continued disorientation and frequent bouts of nausea. She was feeling guilty. The bruise on his face had faded only slightly, most of his face was still swollen and discolored. Every time she looked at it, every stumble and each of his dry heaves stabbed icy finger of remorse and concern into her heart. So with Ranma dealing with a concussion, and Akane caught up in her own thoughts, they moved off into the woods. Perhaps getting completely lost shouldn't have been such a surprise. ***