**Important**: For those of you reading my series, its ESSENTIAL that you
read this new version. It went from 7 to 10 pages and the changes are
mostly in the middle somewhere, plus an added scene so just read from the
beginning to the end, and its fine if you skim it.
If you read this, you DON'T need to read the original part 2 (obviously).
Thanks to Therm for helpin' me revise it. I'll see if I can finish Part Three soon.
So enjoy ^_^
= = = = =
Vampires, the creatures that rule the night. By day they lose their powers and remain as humans, but when the sun goes down and the last rays of the saving light disappears, they reign supreme in the mortal world. Ranma Saotome, one such creature of the night, only hours past the moment he was turned into what he was, is one of the few exceptions.
He was dangerous in the sunlight as well as in darkness. Even without his vampiric powers he held much strength in his hands. The sunlight glinted off the surface of Ranma's dark-blue eyes as he stood in front of the gates of a familiar restaurant. A Chinese restaurant owned by certain ancient cultures deep in the mountains of the Bankalaya regions, to be precise. The bond had lead to here. The magical bond between a servant and his vampiric master. Ranma smiled and he pushed open the door and went inside.
= = = = =
Midnight Eternal Part 2
By eyk003
= = = = =
Shampoo hummed softly as she cleaned her room, upstairs in the Nekohanten. Her humming followed the tunes of the song playing on her Walkman; a gift from her great-grandmother. The sing-songy sound made from her throat filled the silence of the small room as she stacked her small collection of books. Having finished dusting the shelves and setting the books straight, the Chinese amazon happily took out her collection of weapons from a large drawer, and began polishing, and checking for any flaws in the weapon. A flawed weapon could mean defeat or death in battle, after all.
Her humming faltered a bit as the thoughts of combat eventually and rather quickly lead to thoughts about her airen. She was obliged by honor and duty to be wedded to one Ranma Saotome who had beaten her in combat. At first, the shock of finding out that she was obliged to both kill and marry Ranma had overwhelmed her at first, causing her to run away in tears. As she considered the options though, taking Ranma as her husband seemed more and more attractive. Ranma was a great fighter, and as she got to know him, found that he had a more or less noble heart. That was all she really needed in a husband, as she had been raised in a culture of warriors. Shampoo was lonely in the village, and had wanted a friend, a companion, someone to walk with her through life. And finally she had been given a chance.
With Ranma, as her airen. Shampoo froze, paralyzed from some unknown fear when she thought of her airen. She shook it off. A warrior of the Joketsuzoku did not feel fear. She continued with polishing her sword, the Walkman impeding her from hearing the crash downstairs. After a particularly large sound of something being ripped accompanied by a mild vibration of the Nekohanten building, Shampoo finally noticed the crashing coming from downstairs. The young amazon sighed. Mousse must have done something wrong again. Another bump and something crashed.
Shampoo sighed once again, and carefully laid the sword down on the ground. Time to go help that blind idiot. She nudged opened the door to her room and entered the hallway, her footsteps light and confident. She made her way down the stairs somewhat slowly, and turned the corner to the main dining area.
= = = = =
Ranma grinned as the deadly chain whizzed by his face. Mousse. He would never have guessed. But then again he never did fight Mousse in the middle of the night before, had he? Several chains shot out, knocking down tables and chains, splitting the counter almost in half.
"So Master has turned you, has he, Saotome? He has done so against my warnings not to do so, and see how it turns out." Mousse showed more skill than Ranma had seen him displayed before, and the chains now wove patterns more difficult to predict than a straight line, trying to get at the pig- tailed vampire and rip him to shreds. Ranma felt the tingling; there was no doubt, Mousse was using little bits of magic to guide the chains.
He smiled as he dodged a set of throwing knives followed by chains snaking their way to his back. The restaurant was in shambles now, and the two had been fighting for less than three minutes. The Chinese boy had been ordered by his master to 'act as he always has been acting', but now he had no need to disguise his true nature as his usual clumsy style of fighting would lead to death. His thick glasses had been knocked off his head at the start of the fight, but the flailing chains flew toward their target with deadly accuracy.
The grin never left Ranma's face; rather, it got bigger when Ranma finally figured out the workings of Mousse's clumsy control of dark magic, its effect lessened in the daylight. Before when he had attempted to grab the chains, he found that while he could overpower the magic and grab it, the chain was beyond his control. Ranma now clearly saw the links of magic around the chains. "Die!" another set of chains shot out towards the pig- tailed boy. He relaxed his body and stood in a relaxed stance, neither foot ahead of the other, his shoulders lax. Mousse grinned. Had the bastard unworthy of his master finally given up?
To his surprise, the chains changed their course split seconds before they would have impacted Ranma, Curbing slightly, almost as if avoiding Ranma's body. Mousse eyes widened. Something was contaminating the magic energy he had placed on his chains. Ranma's arm shot out to grab one of the chains, and using the momentum, threw it backwards, straight into a wall, and the pig-tailed vampire jumped on top of the chain and ran straight toward Mousse.
Mousse hastily tried to send more chains, but to his surprise the chains rose, a bit clumsily at first, and then gained speed, shooting towards the surprised Chinese boy. The chains wrapped around Mousse, immobilizing him. Ranma was almost upon Mousse now, still dashing across the chain stuck to the back wall. Mousse had a grim smile on his face. Mustering all his strength, physical and spiritual, the Chinese boy pulled the only chain still somewhat under his command; the one Ranma was running on. The section of the wall came off with a crack, fast flying towards the pig- tailed vampire. Mousse's smile became wider. It had worked.
Ranma leapt forward, bashing Mousse's still smiling face in with his knee. Several more chains shot out, now without a hint of clumsiness in its movements, and wrapped around the large slag of concrete, crushing it to rubble. Ranma's knee was still embedded in Mousse's face as he carried the limp form of the robe-clad boy with his knee and slammed it right into the wall directly behind them. Ranma stood on his right left, left leg folded and raised up, blood on the mid-section of his pant leg. He pulled his left leg back, and repeatedly slammed the knee into Mousse's body. Sounds of bones breaking echoed out the now broken down Nekohanten.
"H. . .how?" Mousse groaned out. How had he? The bastard was a good fighter, but he couldn't have been turned for more than a day at most. Had he somehow found another source of knowledge of dark magic? Mousse had more than a few months to practice and study the manipulation spell that his master had shown him, yet the pig-tailed vampire had done it almost as well as he had.
Ranma beared his fangs in an unpleasant fashion. He knew what Mousse was asking. "We are connected by a bond. Its almost invisible even with a strong second sight, and you've always been a bit blind." he had studied the patterns of Mousse's magic while idly dodging the chains through the bond they had. Ranma figured out a way to use the Chinese boy's magic against him. While Ranma couldn't directly copy the spell itself, once the chain was charged with the spell casting, he still had a very slight bond to it. "The connection was small enough not to be noticed and strong enough so that we had dual control of the energy. I was just stronger than you."
Ranma's fingers grabbed Mousse's neck and held the body up. He felt his fingers tighten, and his neck began to creak under the pressure. Ranma's eyes narrowed. He commanded his body to completely pop the neck of the male Chinese amazon, but it hesitated. Ranma's eyes narrowed as he met Mousse's. It was full of hate and seemed to mock Ranma's hesitation. The young vampire growled. His body refused to listen to him, but his mind slowly overpowered his body, the pressure increasing slowly. Suddenly, the resistance stopped, and the sudden force of his hand completely crushed Mousse's neck, and blood sprayed out in gallons to splash Ranma's face. He let the body drop from his grasp and stood, shaking. The blood called out to him, and Ranma's tongue snaked out to lick the parts around his lips that was smudged with blood.
The pig-tailed vampire moved toward Mousse, his mouth open and approaching Mousse's neck. His body froze again, and Ranma cursed inwardly. What the hell was happening? It seemed like his body refused to listen to him. Ranma let out another low growl, and struggled with his physical body. The smell of blood, only inches away from his face was maddening. Finally, the resistance collapsed once again, giving way for a bestial thirst. He dove in toward Mousse and bit hard in the already mutilated flesh and drank, and drank and drank.
Lost in his bloodlust, he almost missed the frightened voice to his left.
= = = = =
"A. . .airen?" Shampoo stood, speechless, her mouth agape. She had figured Mousse would get himself killed one day, and that Ranma would lose his patience with the idiot, but this. . . .
Ranma, his white T-shirt covered with blood, raised his head up to stare deeply into Shampoo's eyes. One of his hand held Mousse's robes by the front sleeve, and he raised his other to give Shampoo a wave. Blood dripped down the raised hand to paint Ranma's entire arm in scarlet. His eyes were wild, and his mouth was wide open in a frightening grin, Mousse's blood seeming almost like lipstick around the pig-tailed vampire's mouth. "Yo, good of you to join us, Shampoo."
Shampoo attempted to scream but no sound came out, her body paralyzed for some reason. That one look at her airen's eyes had been enough for her to almost piss in her pants. Ranma loosened his grip on Mousse's robes, letting his body fall lifelessly on to the ground. He stood up slowly, methodically. His entire body felt as if it was on fire; the young vampire could almost feel Mousse's blood flowing within his veins, mixing and mingling with his own. The sensation tickled his entire body and Ranma gave a short, involuntary chuckle. Ranma could feel it, the power he had felt at night; it was back in his body.
Shampoo, who was still screaming silently, saw Ranma literally fade from sight, and a hand tightly squeezed her throat. Ranma's hand was cold and sticky, and even the still warm blood cooled in less than seconds under Ranma's touch. The vampire smiled, as he opened his mouth, revealing a pair of gleaming fangs.
He felt it, weaker than before but there. His body refused to listen to his commands again. His mouth was still open, ready to close in on the soft flesh of Shampoo's neck. But the resistance was definitely weaker and his still open mouth twisted into a frightening smile as he felt his body able to move again. Finally, he could satiate the new found need.
"Son-in-law?"
= = = = =
The smooth black stone, no bigger than a foot, gleamed when no light landed on it. It was black, missing any irregularities in its surface that normally would have adorned a stone, and if one listened carefully, they would hear a faint hum coming from it. Nodoka Saotome stood over the stone, set in the dining room table, her eyes closed. A few feet away from her stood Sakura Hirayuji, Nodoka's apprentice, 16 years of age. On her face was a grim expression. In all seven years of her training, never had her sensei used the sensory stone. An artifact passed down through-out the ages, the sensory stone could attune with a person and give that person enhanced Second Senses; the ability to see, hear, feel, even taste the supernatural.
It was hard to find a vampire in daylight; they were too close to the regular humans in daylight. Only at night or when they fed could one really sense vampires, even through the assistance of a Sensory Stone. Few more awkward minutes later, the humming became louder, and the Sensory Stone seemed to get lighter in color.
The next moment, it exploded in light, turning completely white. Nodoka broke her attunement with a gasp, her eyes wide. Sakura, who was attuned to Nodoka's feed off, broke off with a gasp also, surprised by the suddenness of the breaking. Nodoka's brows furrowed. Something was awfully familiar about this. . .
"I'll go on ahead, sensei!" Sakura shouted out before running to the yard and then jumping over the fence. A vampire was stealing people's lives in broad daylight and she just couldn't allow that to continue even a second more. Deep in thought, Nodoka merely looked at the direction her student had run off to, when her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. Her eyes set suddenly, and her body turned a bit rigid. The Saotome matriarch ran to the living room, and opened the silver safe, with the same respect as before but with obvious haste, and took out the katana, wrapped in silk.
Taking a few more items necessary for the job, Nodoka walked out the front door, and then suddenly disappeared. A closer look would reveal Nodoka, taking to the rooftops with almost inhuman grace and speed, toward the direction of the Nekohanten.
= = = = =
Ryouga woke up with a growl, pushing his body up to a sitting position. He ignored the pains shooting in his chest, now a lot better than at sunrise, as he felt the fool feed in broad daylight. He almost howled in pain and anger as he felt one of his bonds fail and wisp away into nothing, but contained himself. So Mousse was no more. Ryouga fell down on to the futon with a growl, his eyes almost burning with rage. He was still too weak to fight.
His whole body froze as he felt the familiar chill of terror he had been distracted by just the night before. A terrifying power that Ryouga could not comprehend was moving. The four-hundred-years-old vampire shuddered. He needed to move, and quick.
"Ryouga, are you ok?"
Perfect.
= = = = =
The Nekohanten, a fairly successful Chinese restaurant in the ward of Nerima, stood smoking, with a side of its walls crumbled and its insides a total rubble. In the middle of all this stood Cologne, her robes a bit frayed and a bit of blood smudged on her wrinkled face. She was lightly sweating and her breath was ragged, though quickly gaining equilibrium. The Amazon Elder was about to bounce away in chase when she felt an aura behind her. A stranger, yet not a complete stranger.
"Ho, honored hunter." Nodoka's form emerged from the hole into the Nekohanten, behind Cologne.
"Greetings. How did you know I was a hunter?" she inquired. For having roof-hopped a fairly long distance, Nodoka Saotome looked no worse than she had when she was in her living room.
"Your pendant has a certain aura that classifies you so, as well as the amateur hunter who was here earlier who hints at your status." said the Elder, before turning around to face the hunter. There indeed was a pendant hanging from her neck, purple and green with intricate design cut into it, and in its center a smooth round pearl.
"And by any chance could you be a member of the Joketsuzoku?" Cologne was mildly surprised, but had expected a hunter to guess such things. The Joketsuzoku were once a powerful and stubborn clan of slayers, who had a disagreement with the rest of the slayers population after the First Conflict and isolated themselves, removing themselves from the slayers community. They assisted their former brethens in the Second Conflict, to seclude themselves once again. They still kept in contact once in a while however, and Amazon lore told much history and stories of slayers, those who hunt the creatures of the night.
"Correct. I am Elder Cologne of the Joketsuzoku Amazons. I apologize but my great-granddaughter has been kidnapped by a vampire, and I believe it is my duty to go bring her back. I believe you should go check up on your apprentice also, for she gave chase to the night-stalker." Nodoka nodded, then turned her head toward a pile of ash on the floor. She raised and eyebrow and Cologne explained before being asked. "A subordinate of mine. I had to burn his body, since the vampire kept using it as a battery."
Again, Nodoka nodded her understanding. A vampire gained its powers, even in daylight, when it drank the blood of others, for around twenty to thirty seconds. "We should go, Honored-Elder." Cologne nodded and she took off to the air with Nodoka behind her.
= = = = =
In the shady part of Nerima, in an even shadier looking alleyway, Ranma held the limp form of Shampoo against the wall. His cold-blue eyes were still wild, frenzied with the pleasure of feeding. He could hear the blood roaring as it ran its circulation within Shampoo's body. He could smell it, the bitter taste of human blood, fresh and delicious, and the tired worn out blood of vampires could not compare to it. He opened his mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs, glistening with saliva.
In his bloodlust he did not notice that his body was sluggish, moving centimeter by centimeter, resisting his mental desire to sink his fangs deep into the Chinese amazon's neck, and drink her life up. His eyes were wild, and was focused on the amazon's face. So close now, only one more inch forward. . .
Ranma was caught in surprise once again as he felt something sink into his right shoulder. With a hiss, he turned his head, and saw the annoying girl that had bumped into him in the streets earlier. He jumped back to dodge another volley of knives, carefully aimed as to not put the Chinese Amazon in any danger. Ranma landed, crouched vertically against the alley walls, and then jumped to the top of the roof. Sakura's eyes widened.
The vampiric power he had gained should have faded by now, and Shampoo wasn't injured anywhere. Which meant that the vampire had just jumped two stories up with the strength of his human body. Sakura grimaced. What the hell was he? She threw a healing ward on the unconscious girl before gathering her hands in front of her and muttering a quick spell. She crouched, than uncoiled her legs, and rose up after the pig-tailed blood- sucker with the assistance of her spell.
"Stop, vampire!" Ranma, already almost three rooftops away, turned around and spared his pursuer a glance. After the chase had gone on for a minute or so, Ranma suddenly turned about and coiling up, launched himself directly at Sakura. Surprised, Sakura did not have time to erect a barrier mid-leap. Ranma's outstretched fingers tore away a part of the flesh on her arm, splashing blood all over Ranma's right arm. The apprentice hunter landed on the rooftop and quickly took out a healing ward.
"It won't work," Ranma said, his voice relatively calm, as he threw the knife that had embedded itself in his right shoulder at the hunter. Sakura was caught by surprise and the knife grazed her cheek and went on to tear through the ward. Ranma followed immediately behind the knife and with a grin, and would have put his entire arm's length completely through the hunter, if not for having to twist out of the way of a glowing wooden cane. "Cologne!" the vampire snarled.
"Well, Son-in-law, looks like you've gotten over your head and messed with a vampire this time. Let me end your pain for you, you deserve a better fate than to be bound to a bloodsucker body and mind." There was actual pity in her tone, as Cologne swung her cane too fast for Ranma to dodge, instead forcing the young vampire to block it with his arm. With a small flash of light, Ranma was thrown back, eyes wide with the sudden pain rushing through his body. "This cane is has been through a major blessing, Son-in-law. You won't get off lightly, even just being touched by it."
Ranma landed on his feet heavily, but got up quickly and growled. "I am bound to no one." He whispered, but loud enough for Cologne to hear. Her eyes narrowed. There had to be a master, unless Ranma had been a vampire for a while now, which she doubted. Ranma lunged again, but his eyes widened the fraction of an inch and once again he was forced to twist out of the way. Where his neck would be was a neon blue trail of light, and the air itself was almost rendered in half by the power of the katana blade which was held in a ready position once again, by a Japanese woman seemingly in her mid to late thirties.
"Hello, Son." Nodoka's voice was calm, and her stance was solid. Ranma's eyes narrowed and he hesitated for less than a second at the news. The pig- tailed vampire barely saw his newfound mother move when he howled with pain at the burning sensation on the left side of his torso. As it was, if Ranma's training had not kicked in he would have been sliced in half. Nodoka's eyes were set, and their icy-cold gaze bore into the young vampire's. All parties froze at Nodoka's exceptional skill and her statement.
The young vampire tensed his body and got ready to spring at the new-found mother. Yet his body would not uncoil, and it felt sluggish and out of his control. This again, it had happened back with Mousse, a second and third time with Shampoo, and it was beginning to be a big nuisance.
"Hello, Mother. Its been a while. Now, die," Ranma hissed and jumped forward, ignoring the large gash on the side of his body. Yet his movements were still sluggish and when he raised his arm to attack, it felt as if all his strength was gone from it, his body hesitating yet again. Nodoka's eyes narrowed she was adept at reading people in battle, and she could see that Ranma was fighting something within himself. It only proved what she had guessed at earlier, and Nodoka's eyes flashed dangerously with stronger resolve and she seemed to blur out of existence. She reappeared behind Ranma, and the pig-tailed vampire fell on his knees, eyes wide. The katana was spotless, even after having run through Ranma's arm. The eerie blue glow enveloping the blade was flashing brighter now, having had a sizable amount of the vampire's blood and thirsty for more. The pig-tailed boy coughed blood and beared his fangs, trying to stand up. He staggered to his right side, and fell on one knee, only his left leg managing to keep standing up. His entire left arm was cut off cleanly, leaving not even a stump. Blood soaked Ranma's sides and his vision blurred.
"I'm sorry our first meeting had to be like this, Ranma. But it has to be done." Sakura watched her sensei, eyes wide, mouth agape in awe. This was the fist time she had actually seen her teacher in action, and it was nothing comparable to what the young girl had seen when Nodoka was training her. And the boy, had she heard Nodoka-sensei call him her son? Or was she just mistaken? Through her musings, Sakura missed the high-pitched and constant whine in the air. Nodoka didn't, however, and she was ready for the large boom from the sky above and she sliced up, the blue light trailing behind the blade. The invisible wave in the air was sliced in two, and slammed on two sides of the rooftop. Debris kicked up and obscured everyone's vision. Nodoka moved quickly, jumping to grab her apprentice and then jumping once again on to a nearby roof.
Cologne did likewise, but her eyes were narrowed. She could feel an ominous demonic aura, but from where she could not pin-point. It was almost as if the aura wasn't really there, but she could feel it, a distinct and powerful aura. Her cane glowed brightly as some residue energy bounced off of it.
Nodoka gently set down Sakura and readied her sword. The debris cleared, revealing a tall man floating a good five meters off the rooftops. He wore a long white coat, buttoned up to the waist, with black embroidered designs on both shoulders, sleeves, and the torso of the coat. His eyes were a frigid shade of red and his dark black hair, tied in a long pony tail at the nape of his neck, was carried gently by the wind. "Yuuji. . .." Nodoka whispered, her stance tightening. The man spoke, and his voice rang out, yet his mouth did not move. The voice was cold, emotionless, yet demanding.
"I've come for my master."
= = = = =
Ranma ran, holding the shoulder where his left arm used to be attached. He stuck near the ground, and even took the precaution to initiate the Umisenken. Ranma cursed and the cursed again. He had originally intended to kill Ryouga's servant and leave quickly, but holding Mousse's throat, blood oozing from his wounds, the craving had been to much to him and the young vampire gave into the thirst, and from there things had gone horribly wrong. The new sensations of feeding had made Ranma lose his control. He gave into his immediate needs, wants, and fought with rage, lost in the unholy high of blood-sucking.
Another thing that bothered him was his body's resistance to his commands. Ranma's head had been cleared, and his thinking had became without regrets and doubts since the 'turning'. Yet his body still refused to move as he told it.
He cursed himself again. What had he learned in his life of battle? Control, he had to have control. The pig-tailed vampire vowed never to lose control like that again. As the result he had lost an arm. It should grow back though, but he was losing strength and blood quickly. Groaning, Ranma fell down on his stomach and crawled on to a sitting position in a dark narrow alley, as far away from the battle as he could manage, and closed his eyes.
He would sleep it off, until he could recover at night.
-=End Part 2 Revised+Extended=-
Part Three comin' soon.
If you read this, you DON'T need to read the original part 2 (obviously).
Thanks to Therm for helpin' me revise it. I'll see if I can finish Part Three soon.
So enjoy ^_^
= = = = =
Vampires, the creatures that rule the night. By day they lose their powers and remain as humans, but when the sun goes down and the last rays of the saving light disappears, they reign supreme in the mortal world. Ranma Saotome, one such creature of the night, only hours past the moment he was turned into what he was, is one of the few exceptions.
He was dangerous in the sunlight as well as in darkness. Even without his vampiric powers he held much strength in his hands. The sunlight glinted off the surface of Ranma's dark-blue eyes as he stood in front of the gates of a familiar restaurant. A Chinese restaurant owned by certain ancient cultures deep in the mountains of the Bankalaya regions, to be precise. The bond had lead to here. The magical bond between a servant and his vampiric master. Ranma smiled and he pushed open the door and went inside.
= = = = =
Midnight Eternal Part 2
By eyk003
= = = = =
Shampoo hummed softly as she cleaned her room, upstairs in the Nekohanten. Her humming followed the tunes of the song playing on her Walkman; a gift from her great-grandmother. The sing-songy sound made from her throat filled the silence of the small room as she stacked her small collection of books. Having finished dusting the shelves and setting the books straight, the Chinese amazon happily took out her collection of weapons from a large drawer, and began polishing, and checking for any flaws in the weapon. A flawed weapon could mean defeat or death in battle, after all.
Her humming faltered a bit as the thoughts of combat eventually and rather quickly lead to thoughts about her airen. She was obliged by honor and duty to be wedded to one Ranma Saotome who had beaten her in combat. At first, the shock of finding out that she was obliged to both kill and marry Ranma had overwhelmed her at first, causing her to run away in tears. As she considered the options though, taking Ranma as her husband seemed more and more attractive. Ranma was a great fighter, and as she got to know him, found that he had a more or less noble heart. That was all she really needed in a husband, as she had been raised in a culture of warriors. Shampoo was lonely in the village, and had wanted a friend, a companion, someone to walk with her through life. And finally she had been given a chance.
With Ranma, as her airen. Shampoo froze, paralyzed from some unknown fear when she thought of her airen. She shook it off. A warrior of the Joketsuzoku did not feel fear. She continued with polishing her sword, the Walkman impeding her from hearing the crash downstairs. After a particularly large sound of something being ripped accompanied by a mild vibration of the Nekohanten building, Shampoo finally noticed the crashing coming from downstairs. The young amazon sighed. Mousse must have done something wrong again. Another bump and something crashed.
Shampoo sighed once again, and carefully laid the sword down on the ground. Time to go help that blind idiot. She nudged opened the door to her room and entered the hallway, her footsteps light and confident. She made her way down the stairs somewhat slowly, and turned the corner to the main dining area.
= = = = =
Ranma grinned as the deadly chain whizzed by his face. Mousse. He would never have guessed. But then again he never did fight Mousse in the middle of the night before, had he? Several chains shot out, knocking down tables and chains, splitting the counter almost in half.
"So Master has turned you, has he, Saotome? He has done so against my warnings not to do so, and see how it turns out." Mousse showed more skill than Ranma had seen him displayed before, and the chains now wove patterns more difficult to predict than a straight line, trying to get at the pig- tailed vampire and rip him to shreds. Ranma felt the tingling; there was no doubt, Mousse was using little bits of magic to guide the chains.
He smiled as he dodged a set of throwing knives followed by chains snaking their way to his back. The restaurant was in shambles now, and the two had been fighting for less than three minutes. The Chinese boy had been ordered by his master to 'act as he always has been acting', but now he had no need to disguise his true nature as his usual clumsy style of fighting would lead to death. His thick glasses had been knocked off his head at the start of the fight, but the flailing chains flew toward their target with deadly accuracy.
The grin never left Ranma's face; rather, it got bigger when Ranma finally figured out the workings of Mousse's clumsy control of dark magic, its effect lessened in the daylight. Before when he had attempted to grab the chains, he found that while he could overpower the magic and grab it, the chain was beyond his control. Ranma now clearly saw the links of magic around the chains. "Die!" another set of chains shot out towards the pig- tailed boy. He relaxed his body and stood in a relaxed stance, neither foot ahead of the other, his shoulders lax. Mousse grinned. Had the bastard unworthy of his master finally given up?
To his surprise, the chains changed their course split seconds before they would have impacted Ranma, Curbing slightly, almost as if avoiding Ranma's body. Mousse eyes widened. Something was contaminating the magic energy he had placed on his chains. Ranma's arm shot out to grab one of the chains, and using the momentum, threw it backwards, straight into a wall, and the pig-tailed vampire jumped on top of the chain and ran straight toward Mousse.
Mousse hastily tried to send more chains, but to his surprise the chains rose, a bit clumsily at first, and then gained speed, shooting towards the surprised Chinese boy. The chains wrapped around Mousse, immobilizing him. Ranma was almost upon Mousse now, still dashing across the chain stuck to the back wall. Mousse had a grim smile on his face. Mustering all his strength, physical and spiritual, the Chinese boy pulled the only chain still somewhat under his command; the one Ranma was running on. The section of the wall came off with a crack, fast flying towards the pig- tailed vampire. Mousse's smile became wider. It had worked.
Ranma leapt forward, bashing Mousse's still smiling face in with his knee. Several more chains shot out, now without a hint of clumsiness in its movements, and wrapped around the large slag of concrete, crushing it to rubble. Ranma's knee was still embedded in Mousse's face as he carried the limp form of the robe-clad boy with his knee and slammed it right into the wall directly behind them. Ranma stood on his right left, left leg folded and raised up, blood on the mid-section of his pant leg. He pulled his left leg back, and repeatedly slammed the knee into Mousse's body. Sounds of bones breaking echoed out the now broken down Nekohanten.
"H. . .how?" Mousse groaned out. How had he? The bastard was a good fighter, but he couldn't have been turned for more than a day at most. Had he somehow found another source of knowledge of dark magic? Mousse had more than a few months to practice and study the manipulation spell that his master had shown him, yet the pig-tailed vampire had done it almost as well as he had.
Ranma beared his fangs in an unpleasant fashion. He knew what Mousse was asking. "We are connected by a bond. Its almost invisible even with a strong second sight, and you've always been a bit blind." he had studied the patterns of Mousse's magic while idly dodging the chains through the bond they had. Ranma figured out a way to use the Chinese boy's magic against him. While Ranma couldn't directly copy the spell itself, once the chain was charged with the spell casting, he still had a very slight bond to it. "The connection was small enough not to be noticed and strong enough so that we had dual control of the energy. I was just stronger than you."
Ranma's fingers grabbed Mousse's neck and held the body up. He felt his fingers tighten, and his neck began to creak under the pressure. Ranma's eyes narrowed. He commanded his body to completely pop the neck of the male Chinese amazon, but it hesitated. Ranma's eyes narrowed as he met Mousse's. It was full of hate and seemed to mock Ranma's hesitation. The young vampire growled. His body refused to listen to him, but his mind slowly overpowered his body, the pressure increasing slowly. Suddenly, the resistance stopped, and the sudden force of his hand completely crushed Mousse's neck, and blood sprayed out in gallons to splash Ranma's face. He let the body drop from his grasp and stood, shaking. The blood called out to him, and Ranma's tongue snaked out to lick the parts around his lips that was smudged with blood.
The pig-tailed vampire moved toward Mousse, his mouth open and approaching Mousse's neck. His body froze again, and Ranma cursed inwardly. What the hell was happening? It seemed like his body refused to listen to him. Ranma let out another low growl, and struggled with his physical body. The smell of blood, only inches away from his face was maddening. Finally, the resistance collapsed once again, giving way for a bestial thirst. He dove in toward Mousse and bit hard in the already mutilated flesh and drank, and drank and drank.
Lost in his bloodlust, he almost missed the frightened voice to his left.
= = = = =
"A. . .airen?" Shampoo stood, speechless, her mouth agape. She had figured Mousse would get himself killed one day, and that Ranma would lose his patience with the idiot, but this. . . .
Ranma, his white T-shirt covered with blood, raised his head up to stare deeply into Shampoo's eyes. One of his hand held Mousse's robes by the front sleeve, and he raised his other to give Shampoo a wave. Blood dripped down the raised hand to paint Ranma's entire arm in scarlet. His eyes were wild, and his mouth was wide open in a frightening grin, Mousse's blood seeming almost like lipstick around the pig-tailed vampire's mouth. "Yo, good of you to join us, Shampoo."
Shampoo attempted to scream but no sound came out, her body paralyzed for some reason. That one look at her airen's eyes had been enough for her to almost piss in her pants. Ranma loosened his grip on Mousse's robes, letting his body fall lifelessly on to the ground. He stood up slowly, methodically. His entire body felt as if it was on fire; the young vampire could almost feel Mousse's blood flowing within his veins, mixing and mingling with his own. The sensation tickled his entire body and Ranma gave a short, involuntary chuckle. Ranma could feel it, the power he had felt at night; it was back in his body.
Shampoo, who was still screaming silently, saw Ranma literally fade from sight, and a hand tightly squeezed her throat. Ranma's hand was cold and sticky, and even the still warm blood cooled in less than seconds under Ranma's touch. The vampire smiled, as he opened his mouth, revealing a pair of gleaming fangs.
He felt it, weaker than before but there. His body refused to listen to his commands again. His mouth was still open, ready to close in on the soft flesh of Shampoo's neck. But the resistance was definitely weaker and his still open mouth twisted into a frightening smile as he felt his body able to move again. Finally, he could satiate the new found need.
"Son-in-law?"
= = = = =
The smooth black stone, no bigger than a foot, gleamed when no light landed on it. It was black, missing any irregularities in its surface that normally would have adorned a stone, and if one listened carefully, they would hear a faint hum coming from it. Nodoka Saotome stood over the stone, set in the dining room table, her eyes closed. A few feet away from her stood Sakura Hirayuji, Nodoka's apprentice, 16 years of age. On her face was a grim expression. In all seven years of her training, never had her sensei used the sensory stone. An artifact passed down through-out the ages, the sensory stone could attune with a person and give that person enhanced Second Senses; the ability to see, hear, feel, even taste the supernatural.
It was hard to find a vampire in daylight; they were too close to the regular humans in daylight. Only at night or when they fed could one really sense vampires, even through the assistance of a Sensory Stone. Few more awkward minutes later, the humming became louder, and the Sensory Stone seemed to get lighter in color.
The next moment, it exploded in light, turning completely white. Nodoka broke her attunement with a gasp, her eyes wide. Sakura, who was attuned to Nodoka's feed off, broke off with a gasp also, surprised by the suddenness of the breaking. Nodoka's brows furrowed. Something was awfully familiar about this. . .
"I'll go on ahead, sensei!" Sakura shouted out before running to the yard and then jumping over the fence. A vampire was stealing people's lives in broad daylight and she just couldn't allow that to continue even a second more. Deep in thought, Nodoka merely looked at the direction her student had run off to, when her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. Her eyes set suddenly, and her body turned a bit rigid. The Saotome matriarch ran to the living room, and opened the silver safe, with the same respect as before but with obvious haste, and took out the katana, wrapped in silk.
Taking a few more items necessary for the job, Nodoka walked out the front door, and then suddenly disappeared. A closer look would reveal Nodoka, taking to the rooftops with almost inhuman grace and speed, toward the direction of the Nekohanten.
= = = = =
Ryouga woke up with a growl, pushing his body up to a sitting position. He ignored the pains shooting in his chest, now a lot better than at sunrise, as he felt the fool feed in broad daylight. He almost howled in pain and anger as he felt one of his bonds fail and wisp away into nothing, but contained himself. So Mousse was no more. Ryouga fell down on to the futon with a growl, his eyes almost burning with rage. He was still too weak to fight.
His whole body froze as he felt the familiar chill of terror he had been distracted by just the night before. A terrifying power that Ryouga could not comprehend was moving. The four-hundred-years-old vampire shuddered. He needed to move, and quick.
"Ryouga, are you ok?"
Perfect.
= = = = =
The Nekohanten, a fairly successful Chinese restaurant in the ward of Nerima, stood smoking, with a side of its walls crumbled and its insides a total rubble. In the middle of all this stood Cologne, her robes a bit frayed and a bit of blood smudged on her wrinkled face. She was lightly sweating and her breath was ragged, though quickly gaining equilibrium. The Amazon Elder was about to bounce away in chase when she felt an aura behind her. A stranger, yet not a complete stranger.
"Ho, honored hunter." Nodoka's form emerged from the hole into the Nekohanten, behind Cologne.
"Greetings. How did you know I was a hunter?" she inquired. For having roof-hopped a fairly long distance, Nodoka Saotome looked no worse than she had when she was in her living room.
"Your pendant has a certain aura that classifies you so, as well as the amateur hunter who was here earlier who hints at your status." said the Elder, before turning around to face the hunter. There indeed was a pendant hanging from her neck, purple and green with intricate design cut into it, and in its center a smooth round pearl.
"And by any chance could you be a member of the Joketsuzoku?" Cologne was mildly surprised, but had expected a hunter to guess such things. The Joketsuzoku were once a powerful and stubborn clan of slayers, who had a disagreement with the rest of the slayers population after the First Conflict and isolated themselves, removing themselves from the slayers community. They assisted their former brethens in the Second Conflict, to seclude themselves once again. They still kept in contact once in a while however, and Amazon lore told much history and stories of slayers, those who hunt the creatures of the night.
"Correct. I am Elder Cologne of the Joketsuzoku Amazons. I apologize but my great-granddaughter has been kidnapped by a vampire, and I believe it is my duty to go bring her back. I believe you should go check up on your apprentice also, for she gave chase to the night-stalker." Nodoka nodded, then turned her head toward a pile of ash on the floor. She raised and eyebrow and Cologne explained before being asked. "A subordinate of mine. I had to burn his body, since the vampire kept using it as a battery."
Again, Nodoka nodded her understanding. A vampire gained its powers, even in daylight, when it drank the blood of others, for around twenty to thirty seconds. "We should go, Honored-Elder." Cologne nodded and she took off to the air with Nodoka behind her.
= = = = =
In the shady part of Nerima, in an even shadier looking alleyway, Ranma held the limp form of Shampoo against the wall. His cold-blue eyes were still wild, frenzied with the pleasure of feeding. He could hear the blood roaring as it ran its circulation within Shampoo's body. He could smell it, the bitter taste of human blood, fresh and delicious, and the tired worn out blood of vampires could not compare to it. He opened his mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs, glistening with saliva.
In his bloodlust he did not notice that his body was sluggish, moving centimeter by centimeter, resisting his mental desire to sink his fangs deep into the Chinese amazon's neck, and drink her life up. His eyes were wild, and was focused on the amazon's face. So close now, only one more inch forward. . .
Ranma was caught in surprise once again as he felt something sink into his right shoulder. With a hiss, he turned his head, and saw the annoying girl that had bumped into him in the streets earlier. He jumped back to dodge another volley of knives, carefully aimed as to not put the Chinese Amazon in any danger. Ranma landed, crouched vertically against the alley walls, and then jumped to the top of the roof. Sakura's eyes widened.
The vampiric power he had gained should have faded by now, and Shampoo wasn't injured anywhere. Which meant that the vampire had just jumped two stories up with the strength of his human body. Sakura grimaced. What the hell was he? She threw a healing ward on the unconscious girl before gathering her hands in front of her and muttering a quick spell. She crouched, than uncoiled her legs, and rose up after the pig-tailed blood- sucker with the assistance of her spell.
"Stop, vampire!" Ranma, already almost three rooftops away, turned around and spared his pursuer a glance. After the chase had gone on for a minute or so, Ranma suddenly turned about and coiling up, launched himself directly at Sakura. Surprised, Sakura did not have time to erect a barrier mid-leap. Ranma's outstretched fingers tore away a part of the flesh on her arm, splashing blood all over Ranma's right arm. The apprentice hunter landed on the rooftop and quickly took out a healing ward.
"It won't work," Ranma said, his voice relatively calm, as he threw the knife that had embedded itself in his right shoulder at the hunter. Sakura was caught by surprise and the knife grazed her cheek and went on to tear through the ward. Ranma followed immediately behind the knife and with a grin, and would have put his entire arm's length completely through the hunter, if not for having to twist out of the way of a glowing wooden cane. "Cologne!" the vampire snarled.
"Well, Son-in-law, looks like you've gotten over your head and messed with a vampire this time. Let me end your pain for you, you deserve a better fate than to be bound to a bloodsucker body and mind." There was actual pity in her tone, as Cologne swung her cane too fast for Ranma to dodge, instead forcing the young vampire to block it with his arm. With a small flash of light, Ranma was thrown back, eyes wide with the sudden pain rushing through his body. "This cane is has been through a major blessing, Son-in-law. You won't get off lightly, even just being touched by it."
Ranma landed on his feet heavily, but got up quickly and growled. "I am bound to no one." He whispered, but loud enough for Cologne to hear. Her eyes narrowed. There had to be a master, unless Ranma had been a vampire for a while now, which she doubted. Ranma lunged again, but his eyes widened the fraction of an inch and once again he was forced to twist out of the way. Where his neck would be was a neon blue trail of light, and the air itself was almost rendered in half by the power of the katana blade which was held in a ready position once again, by a Japanese woman seemingly in her mid to late thirties.
"Hello, Son." Nodoka's voice was calm, and her stance was solid. Ranma's eyes narrowed and he hesitated for less than a second at the news. The pig- tailed vampire barely saw his newfound mother move when he howled with pain at the burning sensation on the left side of his torso. As it was, if Ranma's training had not kicked in he would have been sliced in half. Nodoka's eyes were set, and their icy-cold gaze bore into the young vampire's. All parties froze at Nodoka's exceptional skill and her statement.
The young vampire tensed his body and got ready to spring at the new-found mother. Yet his body would not uncoil, and it felt sluggish and out of his control. This again, it had happened back with Mousse, a second and third time with Shampoo, and it was beginning to be a big nuisance.
"Hello, Mother. Its been a while. Now, die," Ranma hissed and jumped forward, ignoring the large gash on the side of his body. Yet his movements were still sluggish and when he raised his arm to attack, it felt as if all his strength was gone from it, his body hesitating yet again. Nodoka's eyes narrowed she was adept at reading people in battle, and she could see that Ranma was fighting something within himself. It only proved what she had guessed at earlier, and Nodoka's eyes flashed dangerously with stronger resolve and she seemed to blur out of existence. She reappeared behind Ranma, and the pig-tailed vampire fell on his knees, eyes wide. The katana was spotless, even after having run through Ranma's arm. The eerie blue glow enveloping the blade was flashing brighter now, having had a sizable amount of the vampire's blood and thirsty for more. The pig-tailed boy coughed blood and beared his fangs, trying to stand up. He staggered to his right side, and fell on one knee, only his left leg managing to keep standing up. His entire left arm was cut off cleanly, leaving not even a stump. Blood soaked Ranma's sides and his vision blurred.
"I'm sorry our first meeting had to be like this, Ranma. But it has to be done." Sakura watched her sensei, eyes wide, mouth agape in awe. This was the fist time she had actually seen her teacher in action, and it was nothing comparable to what the young girl had seen when Nodoka was training her. And the boy, had she heard Nodoka-sensei call him her son? Or was she just mistaken? Through her musings, Sakura missed the high-pitched and constant whine in the air. Nodoka didn't, however, and she was ready for the large boom from the sky above and she sliced up, the blue light trailing behind the blade. The invisible wave in the air was sliced in two, and slammed on two sides of the rooftop. Debris kicked up and obscured everyone's vision. Nodoka moved quickly, jumping to grab her apprentice and then jumping once again on to a nearby roof.
Cologne did likewise, but her eyes were narrowed. She could feel an ominous demonic aura, but from where she could not pin-point. It was almost as if the aura wasn't really there, but she could feel it, a distinct and powerful aura. Her cane glowed brightly as some residue energy bounced off of it.
Nodoka gently set down Sakura and readied her sword. The debris cleared, revealing a tall man floating a good five meters off the rooftops. He wore a long white coat, buttoned up to the waist, with black embroidered designs on both shoulders, sleeves, and the torso of the coat. His eyes were a frigid shade of red and his dark black hair, tied in a long pony tail at the nape of his neck, was carried gently by the wind. "Yuuji. . .." Nodoka whispered, her stance tightening. The man spoke, and his voice rang out, yet his mouth did not move. The voice was cold, emotionless, yet demanding.
"I've come for my master."
= = = = =
Ranma ran, holding the shoulder where his left arm used to be attached. He stuck near the ground, and even took the precaution to initiate the Umisenken. Ranma cursed and the cursed again. He had originally intended to kill Ryouga's servant and leave quickly, but holding Mousse's throat, blood oozing from his wounds, the craving had been to much to him and the young vampire gave into the thirst, and from there things had gone horribly wrong. The new sensations of feeding had made Ranma lose his control. He gave into his immediate needs, wants, and fought with rage, lost in the unholy high of blood-sucking.
Another thing that bothered him was his body's resistance to his commands. Ranma's head had been cleared, and his thinking had became without regrets and doubts since the 'turning'. Yet his body still refused to move as he told it.
He cursed himself again. What had he learned in his life of battle? Control, he had to have control. The pig-tailed vampire vowed never to lose control like that again. As the result he had lost an arm. It should grow back though, but he was losing strength and blood quickly. Groaning, Ranma fell down on his stomach and crawled on to a sitting position in a dark narrow alley, as far away from the battle as he could manage, and closed his eyes.
He would sleep it off, until he could recover at night.
-=End Part 2 Revised+Extended=-
Part Three comin' soon.