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Ch. 1 Lost Souls
Two men can be seen sitting at a campfire on a mountainside. One appears to be older, balding and is wearing a worn white gi. The other is but a teenager and is sporting black kung-fu pants and a Chinese style red silk shirt. Not far from where they sit is a cave entrance, which the younger of the two is eyeing with distrust.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at his father. He'd built up a heavy skepticism for any of his father's ideas over the years. It was based on trial and error. Ranma's trials due to Genma's errors. His latest was a "brilliant" new idea about how to get rid of Ranma's fear of cats. "How do you know this is goin' t'work Old Man."
"Oh how could I have raised such an unworthy son, who can't even trust his father to . . ." Wham. Genma's rant was interrupted by Ranma's dinner tin thrown in his face.
"Yeah, right. Like this whole stupid thing isn't your fault in the first place."
"Listen Ranma," Genma stated, pushing his glasses back up his nose, giving Ranma his "serious" face. "The old priest said that your fear of cats and consequent loss of control" (Ranma winces) "are possibly due to a partial demon possession that comes with the cat-fist. In order to have true mastery of the Neko-ken you must first drive the demon's influence from your soul."
"Feh," Ranma responded, leaning back. Despite his outward show of nonchalance, he threw a rather nervous glance at the cave entrance. - I can fight my own inner demons! - This thought did not stop a shiver from going down his spine.
* * * *
The next morning Genma found his son wide awake and cooking breakfast over the fire. He frowned at the missed opportunity of waking Ranma up by throwing him into the creek nearby, but his stomach grumbled and he decided that food was more important right now. "Better build up your strength boy," Genma stated, while trying to snatch some tofu from Ranma's bowl. Ramna grunted in reply. Genma took a closer look at him and noticed dark circles under Ranma's eyes. "What? Didn't get much sleep? You scared boy? Oh, what a failure my son is, to be afraid of such a simple task."
Ranma kicked dirt into the fire without looking at his father. "Let's just get this over with."
After cleaning up camp, the two walked towards the cave entrance, Genma positioning Ranma in front of him. As they stepped into the cave Genma proceeded to give Ranma a push forward, then hastily took a few steps back till he was clear of the opening. "You can do it boy!" Genma shouted, further retreating from the cave.
Ranma looked back at his father in resignation, then continued a few steps further into the cave. "Don't look like much to me," he murmured. - Just walls of bluish stone and dirt. - The priest they had talked to had been insistent though, talking long and fervently about "freeing one's soul from the chains of hell" and "excising ones inner demons". The priest had assured his father that this meant literally as well as figuratively and should a demon possession be in evidence, the cave would surely help. Of course, the little bit of money and the not so little bit of sake Genma had given the man had helped to loosen his tongue.
- I'll never hear the end of that, - thought Ranma dolefully. - He'll be telling me for the next ten years how he spent a fortune to help me with my "problem". -
Sitting down in a rounded depression of what appeared to be the center of the cave, Ranma began to feel a little drowsy. "Baka" he said to himself. - Should've gotten more sleep. -
Dreams are funny things. People and places mingling in ways that would seem nonsensical in life. Ranma stood before an old style, beat-up looking Japanese village that appeared to be partially intersected by a busy Tokyo city street. He watched villagers in drab, out-of-date clothing cross his vision only to become busy businessman swiftly walking downtown. As his gaze followed their passage he suddenly froze, his hair nearly standing on end. There, on the sidewalk, was a large panther, seemingly going unnoticed by the Tokyo passers by. A low yowl came from the beast and Ranma immediately tried to back away - and found he couldn't move. It was as if Kodatchi had thrown some of her paralysis powder on him. He couldn't even twitch. Slowly the large cat began to slink forward towards him. Ranma was now sweating profusely.
As the feline crossed the parameter between the city and the village, Ranma felt a strange tingling sensation shoot through his body. Finding some energy, he was able to turn his head to the right. "Whoah." Dog demon. Nothing else could describe the ten foot long, snow white creature as it flicked its tail and lay back its ears. It threw a disgusted look at him before turning its attention back to the cat demon.
"How humiliating. To actually be afraid of something so pathetic and stupid as a cat." It took Ranma a minute to place why the voice sounded so familiar. It was like listening to your answering machine or a tape recorder. The voice was his.
The panther had now noticed the dog demon and wasn't looking nearly so confident. The golden-eyed dog continued to pace towards him. The cat hissed and threw a look at Ranma that seemed to penetrate through his skin. Ranma gasped as he felt some of his energy leave him. The cat grinned evilly. "Fight it," growled the large dog. Ranma whipped his eyes back towards the other animal. The cat hissed again in anger. "If you can't control yourself," the dog barked, "then at least keep your eyes on me!"
- Control. Since when have I ever been in control, - Ranma thought, gritting his teeth and fixing his eyes on the dog demon. "I will have control!" With a snarl and a leap the dog demon was on the panther, clawing and biting. The cat demon responded in turn and it appeared for a while that they were equal in combat. Then Ranma began to shake and the cat demon yowled in triumph as new energy gave it the upper hand.
"You imbecile! Don't you even know your own heart?"
- My heart? - thought Ranma. Staring at the village, he began to see pictures/images/memories. A girl in a school uniform carrying an overloaded backpack, then she was in a forest pushing a bicycle/ leaning up against a large rock on a trail while laughing at the antics of a small boy with a large fury fox tail. "Ka" her face above his, looking down in concern "go" her warmth wrapped in his arms - she was sobbing. Her smell. "me." "Kagome. I remember. I promised. KAGOME!"
With Ranma's shriek the dog demon grew in size and seemed to solidify. With a triumphant howl it tore out the cat's throat. The cat demon then dissipated into nothingness. Ranma fell to the ground, free of his paralysis, gasping and drenched with sweat. He looked up to see the dog demon grinning - only a few feet away from him and closing the distance. "Maybe you're not so weak after all."
Ranma began to shake his head and then stopped at a look from the beast.
"You can't escape me. I am the other half of your soul."
Ranma stood on his feet and nodded his understanding as the dog demon stepped up to him and phased into his body. "I am Inu-Yasha."
Two men can be seen sitting at a campfire on a mountainside. One appears to be older, balding and is wearing a worn white gi. The other is but a teenager and is sporting black kung-fu pants and a Chinese style red silk shirt. Not far from where they sit is a cave entrance, which the younger of the two is eyeing with distrust.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at his father. He'd built up a heavy skepticism for any of his father's ideas over the years. It was based on trial and error. Ranma's trials due to Genma's errors. His latest was a "brilliant" new idea about how to get rid of Ranma's fear of cats. "How do you know this is goin' t'work Old Man."
"Oh how could I have raised such an unworthy son, who can't even trust his father to . . ." Wham. Genma's rant was interrupted by Ranma's dinner tin thrown in his face.
"Yeah, right. Like this whole stupid thing isn't your fault in the first place."
"Listen Ranma," Genma stated, pushing his glasses back up his nose, giving Ranma his "serious" face. "The old priest said that your fear of cats and consequent loss of control" (Ranma winces) "are possibly due to a partial demon possession that comes with the cat-fist. In order to have true mastery of the Neko-ken you must first drive the demon's influence from your soul."
"Feh," Ranma responded, leaning back. Despite his outward show of nonchalance, he threw a rather nervous glance at the cave entrance. - I can fight my own inner demons! - This thought did not stop a shiver from going down his spine.
* * * *
The next morning Genma found his son wide awake and cooking breakfast over the fire. He frowned at the missed opportunity of waking Ranma up by throwing him into the creek nearby, but his stomach grumbled and he decided that food was more important right now. "Better build up your strength boy," Genma stated, while trying to snatch some tofu from Ranma's bowl. Ramna grunted in reply. Genma took a closer look at him and noticed dark circles under Ranma's eyes. "What? Didn't get much sleep? You scared boy? Oh, what a failure my son is, to be afraid of such a simple task."
Ranma kicked dirt into the fire without looking at his father. "Let's just get this over with."
After cleaning up camp, the two walked towards the cave entrance, Genma positioning Ranma in front of him. As they stepped into the cave Genma proceeded to give Ranma a push forward, then hastily took a few steps back till he was clear of the opening. "You can do it boy!" Genma shouted, further retreating from the cave.
Ranma looked back at his father in resignation, then continued a few steps further into the cave. "Don't look like much to me," he murmured. - Just walls of bluish stone and dirt. - The priest they had talked to had been insistent though, talking long and fervently about "freeing one's soul from the chains of hell" and "excising ones inner demons". The priest had assured his father that this meant literally as well as figuratively and should a demon possession be in evidence, the cave would surely help. Of course, the little bit of money and the not so little bit of sake Genma had given the man had helped to loosen his tongue.
- I'll never hear the end of that, - thought Ranma dolefully. - He'll be telling me for the next ten years how he spent a fortune to help me with my "problem". -
Sitting down in a rounded depression of what appeared to be the center of the cave, Ranma began to feel a little drowsy. "Baka" he said to himself. - Should've gotten more sleep. -
Dreams are funny things. People and places mingling in ways that would seem nonsensical in life. Ranma stood before an old style, beat-up looking Japanese village that appeared to be partially intersected by a busy Tokyo city street. He watched villagers in drab, out-of-date clothing cross his vision only to become busy businessman swiftly walking downtown. As his gaze followed their passage he suddenly froze, his hair nearly standing on end. There, on the sidewalk, was a large panther, seemingly going unnoticed by the Tokyo passers by. A low yowl came from the beast and Ranma immediately tried to back away - and found he couldn't move. It was as if Kodatchi had thrown some of her paralysis powder on him. He couldn't even twitch. Slowly the large cat began to slink forward towards him. Ranma was now sweating profusely.
As the feline crossed the parameter between the city and the village, Ranma felt a strange tingling sensation shoot through his body. Finding some energy, he was able to turn his head to the right. "Whoah." Dog demon. Nothing else could describe the ten foot long, snow white creature as it flicked its tail and lay back its ears. It threw a disgusted look at him before turning its attention back to the cat demon.
"How humiliating. To actually be afraid of something so pathetic and stupid as a cat." It took Ranma a minute to place why the voice sounded so familiar. It was like listening to your answering machine or a tape recorder. The voice was his.
The panther had now noticed the dog demon and wasn't looking nearly so confident. The golden-eyed dog continued to pace towards him. The cat hissed and threw a look at Ranma that seemed to penetrate through his skin. Ranma gasped as he felt some of his energy leave him. The cat grinned evilly. "Fight it," growled the large dog. Ranma whipped his eyes back towards the other animal. The cat hissed again in anger. "If you can't control yourself," the dog barked, "then at least keep your eyes on me!"
- Control. Since when have I ever been in control, - Ranma thought, gritting his teeth and fixing his eyes on the dog demon. "I will have control!" With a snarl and a leap the dog demon was on the panther, clawing and biting. The cat demon responded in turn and it appeared for a while that they were equal in combat. Then Ranma began to shake and the cat demon yowled in triumph as new energy gave it the upper hand.
"You imbecile! Don't you even know your own heart?"
- My heart? - thought Ranma. Staring at the village, he began to see pictures/images/memories. A girl in a school uniform carrying an overloaded backpack, then she was in a forest pushing a bicycle/ leaning up against a large rock on a trail while laughing at the antics of a small boy with a large fury fox tail. "Ka" her face above his, looking down in concern "go" her warmth wrapped in his arms - she was sobbing. Her smell. "me." "Kagome. I remember. I promised. KAGOME!"
With Ranma's shriek the dog demon grew in size and seemed to solidify. With a triumphant howl it tore out the cat's throat. The cat demon then dissipated into nothingness. Ranma fell to the ground, free of his paralysis, gasping and drenched with sweat. He looked up to see the dog demon grinning - only a few feet away from him and closing the distance. "Maybe you're not so weak after all."
Ranma began to shake his head and then stopped at a look from the beast.
"You can't escape me. I am the other half of your soul."
Ranma stood on his feet and nodded his understanding as the dog demon stepped up to him and phased into his body. "I am Inu-Yasha."