"To Live in Darkness"

"To Live in Darkness"

by SaOtOmE AP

a Ranma ½ fanfic!

Disclaimer: (not that anyone bothers to read them) IF I owned ANY characters from Ranma ½ or from Tenchu, I would be rich, and I wouldn't be writing fan fiction. Anyone who wants to sue me for this is wasting his/her time… I sure as hell don't make money off of this. Any characters I create, I own. That's it.

Author's Notes:

Chapter 2 is finally up. I didn't get many reviews, but then again, for those who wanted more: here it is! My only series to date, and hopefully, the first of many more. I crave some C&C here, it is very important for a writer to know how he is doing in the eyes of others. Well, at least for me it is.

* thoughts*

"speech"

foreign languages

Chapter 2

"The Shifting Sands"

Nerima district, Japan

Present day

Kuno Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, was vexed. Once again, foul sorcerer Saotome had escaped his wrath. How could anyone defeat his invincible skills? No base martial art surpassed kendo. The only conceivable explanation was that Saotome Ranma was incurring in the aid of dark magic in his attempt to thwart the Blue Thunder. *The vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure! Saotome Ranma, your final hour is nigh… this I swear!*

With all the dignity he could muster, Kuno extracted himself from the pile of garbage he had been smashed into. The fight had been short, as usual. Kuno's divine task of freeing Akane Tendo and the pigtailed girl was proving more difficult in every step of the way. *Curses! I shall find a way to vanquish the dark sorcerer, but…* The feverish mind of Furinkan's kendo master struck upon an idea. *Saotome is a sorcerer. That fool, Gosunkugi deals with the dark arts as well. I shall enlist his aid, as his dislike of Saotome is a well known fact.* With that, Kuno Tatewaki walked away from the dumpster smelling most foul, but as Nabiki would put it, feeling like a million yen.

……….

*Oh Akane, if only you were not engaged to Saotome. You and I could be married and would be a perfect couple…* Gosunkugi Hikaru finished making his trademark voodoo doll, with pigtail and all and placed a nail on its "chest". *Saotome! You will pay!!!* He then swung his mallet… "YAAAAAAHHHRRRRRGH!!!", and his wail of agony was heard all around Furinkan High as the thumb holding the nail was punished in lieu of the straw doll. Life sucked.

"Greetings friend!", came an all too familiar voice from behind him, "I, Tatewaki Kuno have come to your aid in order to eradicate the demon known as Saotome Ranma!" *GROAN* "Upperclassman Kuno." "No need to express your joy at having my magnificent self aid you in the endeavor of defeating Saotome Ranma. I do this for selfless reasons, I assure you! For what is to be of Akane Tendo and the pigtailed girl…. Blah blah blah…" Gos ignored the rest of Kuno's righteous ranting, and waited for him to get to the point (if there was any point in listening to Kuno).

Finally, said point was reached. "…and I need for you to summon the greatest assassin of all time, a ninja by the name of Rikimaru, of the most prestigious Azuma clan." "Why would you do that?" "Because, my boorish friend, for a creature as base as Saotome, what better fate than to die by the hand of one who was known to have defeated the king of hell himself!", Kuno exclaimed. Hikaru's eyes widened in disbelief, "This ninja, Rikimaru, defeated Meioh!? I thought that was just a legend!" Kuno's demeanor turned serious, "No, it is no mere legend. I am well versed in the history of ninja clans, as my family has employed them as retainers for ages. Among the clans of the ninja, there shines one clan above all others. That is the Azuma ninja clan, known for being the most thorough and effective assassins and servants. Their loyalty was without peer and they would employ any means necessary to protect their lord." Kuno paused for effect, "Should you be able to summon the ninja Rikimaru and bring him to our time, we may be able to strike a bargain with him as he should willingly assist us in eliminating a being of evil in exchange of his passage to the period from whence he came."

For once, Gosunkugi Hikaru was impressed. He could not fault Kuno's logic, or assume the plan was doomed to failure. Now the question was: Was he capable of performing such a spell? *Time to prove myself.* "Upperclassman Kuno, I'll be glad to help you get rid of Saotome." Kuno nodded, "As well you should, for you could not hope to defeat Saotome on your own. I myself am puzzled as to how the cur is able to best me in combat. I shall tolerate his trickery no longer!"

Gosunkugi agreed with Kuno, although how one could be so deluded was beyond him. Akane would never date a pompous ass like Kuno, though he wasn't about to say anything of the matter. *Let Kuno think what he wants, once Saotome is gone, I will have Akane all to myself. I'll comfort her in her time of need, and what can she do, but fall madly in love with me! Besides, if Kuno doesn't like it, Akane can protect us both, should he try anything.* "Let us be off! I am sure you require a number of things to cast such a spell." "Yes, that's right. I saw a tome on summoning spells, I believe I'll need that as well." Kuno nodded and spoke, "I shall spare no expense to be rid of the wretch! Just do what you need to do, and I shall provide the moneys necessary for our divine task!" So, they left to find the means for their purpose. To say Saotome Ranma was in trouble, was an understatement.

Gohda Castle

Japan, 16th Century

"Well done, Rikimaru. This message from our borders seems quite urgent." Lord Gohda Matsunoshin turned away from his ninja to address his most trusted and loyal advisor, Naotada Sekiya. "Ready our troops. It seems our neighbor looks upon us as though we were naught but another conquest. It falls upon us to quell his ambition and end the threat he represents to my people." Toda Yoshisada had left an heir to follow in his footsteps. Another bloodthirsty tyrant, whose ambition was rumored to surpass even his father's. Sekiya readily acknowledged his lord's order with a deep bow and left to bring together the war council. Strategy would be instrumental in repelling the enemy with as little losses as possible.

The ninja Rikimaru was now alone with his lord, ready for further instructions. Lord Gohda then spoke to him, "Rikimaru… I grow tired of the constant bloodshed. It seems it has always been so, and yet, there is no choice but to fight if we are to protect those who would come to harm." Rikimaru looked on waiting for his lord to continue. "… Even my own finance minister, and several corrupt merchants cause conflict within our lands. At least minister Kataoka chose an honorable death, rather than bring shame upon his family." "Yes Lord, I myself served as his second. He died a honorable death." Gohda nodded slightly and clasped his hands behind his back. He then turned to look through an open window of the 4th story floor they were in. A complex of several buildings was visible in the distance, well beyond the forest to the west of the border with hostile territories. "Rikimaru, as you may already know, there have been several… incidents, in which the Manji cult is involved. Innocent villagers and several people have gone missing, and I fear for their fate. Rumor has it the leader of that cult is in possession of a stone with the power to twist peoples' minds and bodies." He paused for a moment, "It is imperative we recover such a stone, lest it remains with those who would use it for their own twisted purposes." Gohda then turned to face Rikimaru once again. "I have sent Ayame to eliminate the foreign barbarians who were terrorizing our coastal villages. She will have her hands full for the time being. I need you to recover that stone… use any means necessary."

The ninja Rikimaru nodded once and voiced his acquiescence, "I shall infiltrate their temple at dusk, milord. It is best if I make ready for such a mission." "Very well, Rikimaru. You may want to go to our armory, I had our weapon smith put together a special ninja armor. It would prove quite useful, should you need added protection." "Thank you milord, I am most grateful." With that, the ninja left his lord and pondered his choice of equipment for the assigned mission. The Manji were well known for being a particularly violent cult. Some of the villagers in the area claimed that the cultists themselves had demonic minions and the likes. So, Rikimaru hurried to retrieve his weapons, and the armor. He wasn't about to take unnecessary chances.

…..

*Damn that Onikage… he dares to threaten Lord Gohda!* Rikimaru warily watched the demon Onikage leap away, his peals of laughter trailing after him. *At least I captured the stone. It will no longer serve evil purposes.* The corpse of the cultist leader lay behind Rikimaru in a pool of blood. Gutting someone to extract a magical stone usually tends to result in that. The fight was hopelessly one-sided and the ninja armor was simply extra weight. In the fight with Onikage though, it saved Rikimaru from some possibly fatal injuries. Onikage was very highly skilled. Though he usually fought barehanded, he often used concealed weapons to strike at unwary opponents. Even though the demon had clearly been overconfident, and had underestimated Rikimaru's abilities, he did have some right to brag about his abilities. Rikimaru had found himself hard pressed to keep himself alive during their brief fight. He was able to attack the demon though, even if he didn't do any significant damage.

Rikimaru headed back to Gohda Castle at a brisk pace. There was no real hurry, but given the ongoing conflicts all around their territory, it was best to be available on short notice. One could never be too cautious when danger lurked nearby. Onikage's threat on Lord Gohda was left hanging, and he seemed the type to enjoy following through with such threats. Pondering such thoughts, Rikimaru increased his pace toward the castle.

Upon his arrival at the gates, relief was evident on his features. No one had attacked the castle in his absence, and Lord Gohda was conducting a meeting with his armies' officers. It seemed that all was going as planned concerning the defense against the invading armies from Toda's lands. That was a relief. Rikimaru wasn't looking forward to another infiltration into enemy territories. Though he would lay his life for his lord without question, he still didn't look forward to highly suicidal missions. Not that he would never admit that to anyone. Specially not to Ayame, who wouldn't quit nagging him if he ever opened up about something like that.

What Rikimaru was really looking forward to was sparring with the wandering martial artist who claimed he wanted to learn as many existing styles as possible. He was particularly curious about ninjitsu, for some unknown reason. The little runt was pretty good in his own right, but couldn't beat the grandmaster of the Azuma Ninja Ryu. Rikimaru obviously used a wooden sword during their sparring; otherwise, his now regular sparring partner would have been long since dead. They had not sparred in about four days. All the latest missions had kept him quite occupied. Today they would spar once again. Some relaxation was in order after such toilsome missions. The lone figure of Rikimaru stood in the middle of the soldiers' training grounds, in wait.

The Azuma ninja warrior pondered the whereabouts of his "rival", wondering if he was ever going to show. *What would keep him this long? This is most unusual. Happi should show on time, he knows I cannot spare much of it… * Rikimaru was aching for a fight in which his life or his opponent's wasn't on the line.

Elsewhere in the castle grounds Screams and crashes were heard as most of the female inhabitants of Gohda Castle embarked on a quest for the retrieval of their undergarments. A quest with the promise of violence for whoever had dared perpetrate the ladies' bath chambers. Justice would be swift!

Just as the grandmaster of the Azuma ninja gave up and was about to leave, he was encompassed by an unearthly glow. It seemed to come out of nowhere, as though the very earth beneath his feet were illuminating him. The trace of a complex diagram was clearly visible all around the ninja. Rikimaru franticly tried to leap away from his current position, but found he could not. He could not move at all. His eyes widened as he realized dark magic was upon him. Could it be that Onikage was trying to eliminate him in such a cowardly manner? Highly doubtful, but if not him, then who? Rikimaru had no time to ponder anymore thoughts on the one responsible for his current situation. The glowing patterns closed in on him and he was hidden from view, had anyone been watching. Unconsciousness claimed the ninja as he was transported to destinations unknown.

……..

Author's notes:

I know this is a short chapter, but bear with me! I am in need of C&C to know how I'm doing… Are the chapters too short? I know they could be longer, but I promise they will be if I can sense some interest on the readers' part. Otherwise, why bother? I love writing, but I also like to know how I'm doing. So c'mon, drop me a line or take the time to review! This story will be finished, but that'll happen a lot sooner if I have the readers' help. There, all done for chapter 2. Until next time then!