SANCTUARY
chapter 3
______________________
Crawling in my skin
Consuming all I feel
Fear is how I feel
Confusing what is real
There's something in me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming Confusing
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending
Controlling
I can't seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
Without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced
That there's just too much pressure to take
I've felt this way before
So insecure
Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting, Reacting
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It's haunting how I can't seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
Without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced
That there's just too much pressure to take
I've felt this way before
So insecure
Ranma was sitting in a tree. Not any tree, no, had to be the biggest cherry blossom tree in the whole of Nerima. And as Ryoga looked at his old friend, he knew that Ranma could demolish it with a single, feather-light touch. He had to be careful.
"Hey Ryoga." Ranma looked down, seeing the Eternal Lost Boy scratching his head as he tried to figure out how to get up.
Should I tell him there's a ladder on the other side? Nah... Ranma watched as Ryoga began the long, tedious climb, hanging dangerously from branches.
Oh well. Good training. He's let himself become slack since we parted.
Nonetheless, as Ryoga neared the top he was still not breathing heavily.
"Come sit here." Ranma motioned towards a parallel branch.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Ranma sighed. The view was unrivalled. Sitting on top of a hill in the park, the tree towered over Nerima, giving a view of everything from miles around. Including the ladder, but oh well.
"Who?"
"The tree."
"Oh." Ryoga facefaulted.
"What, did you want me to say Akane?" Ranma turned to look at him.
"I was kinda expecting it, yeah." Ryoga admitted.
"Yeah, she's beautiful too." Ranma shrugged.
"So, what do you think?" He gazed at Ryoga, who began to fidget and feel extremely uncomfortable.
"About what?"
"You KNOW what. Don't play Ryoga. I'm kinda depressed."
"Well...I thought you had control?"
"So did I. I thought that after that...accident...with Pop, Neko had learnt to control herself."
"But she didn't, did she? And J-Jusenkyo just made it worse...now she has a body to emerge into."
A few metres away, Akane and Nabiki craned to hear what they were saying.
"Who would've thought that bugging this tree would actually have some uses?" Nabiki smiled to herself.
"Sssh! What do they mean, Neko? And what's Jusenkyo?"
"Shut up and we might actually find out!"
"Ranma...I haven't actually seen Neko's...physical form yet...may I?"
"I don't know Ryoga...it might not be safe. She might go looking for my Dad again."
"Well...I could hold you back, couldn't I?" Ryoga's voice betrayed his doubt.
"I'm not sure...even though she's weaker coz she's a girl, Neko's still pretty strong...and although you were almost a match for me when we left, I've kept training and you haven't, Ryoga."
"Right...Right...so what do we do? Do you have any pictures, just so I know what to look out for?"
"No...she has an aversion to cameras. She shredded the last one into 24 000 pieces, I think. It's just too hard. Look out for a shortish girl that looks like me with red hair."
"Will do."
There was a pregnant silence.
"So where do we go from here?"
"I can't go back to school."
"Why?"
"You know damn well why! I might just go to Uncle's, maybe get a job there. That's one thing Neko and I agree on, motorbikes. She hates cars though."
"I...see..."
"So did you clear the thing up with Ucchan?"
"Um...no...I kinda...ran away..." Ryoga looked away and mumbled.
"You're crap, you know that. She'll hunt you down."
"What about Shampoo?"
"Her? Got rid of her. Sat her down, hired a translator, explained that I couldn't marry her but that I'd be honoured to be part of the clan if she'd adopt me as her brother."
"True? That's a good idea. Did it work?"
"Yeah, but now Mousse keeps trying to be nice to me so that I'll give him permission to marry Shampoo. I keep saying yes, but Shampoo keeps saying no. And you know, the woman's word over the man's."
"Yeah.." there was a chuckle between the two.
Down on the ground, Akane and Nabiki sat listening.
"Marriage? This gets more and more interesting."
"Excuse me? Have you seen Shampoo's- I mean, my brother, Ranma Saotome?" A pretty, purple-haired girl that looked about their age asked them.
"This day just gets better and better." Nabiki muttered.
Coincidence...maybe? (And above the Discworld, Fate lifted his hand...JJ)
"Um no..would you like me to take a message?"Akane elbowed her sister as she opened her mouth.
"Oh no, I'll just wander around, thank you! I'm Xian Pu of Joketsuzoku."
"Akane Tendo of Tendo Anything Goes. Nice to meet you. This is my sister Nabiki."
"Tendo? Mr Genma Panda talk about that name alot...oh dear, sorry, I keep falling back into my old habits. Well I might see you around! Bye!" She smiled and was gone in the blink of an eye.
"That was uniquely interesting."
"She was so pretty...what chance do I have?"
Unbeknownst to the two pairs, someone else watched, and waited.
"Well at least, let's go find Akane. I...uh...kinda need you to take me home."
"Still got that sense of direction, Ryoga?"
"Shut up, bakayarou."
Ranma leapt from the branch, leaving Ryoga up the top. Landing softly on his feet with a slight *pfff* of dust clouds rising from his feet. He motioned to the other side, where Ryoga found a ladder.
"Bastard." Ryoga muttered as he began his long descent down the tree.
chapter 3
______________________
Crawling in my skin
Consuming all I feel
Fear is how I feel
Confusing what is real
There's something in me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming Confusing
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending
Controlling
I can't seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
Without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced
That there's just too much pressure to take
I've felt this way before
So insecure
Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting, Reacting
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It's haunting how I can't seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
Without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced
That there's just too much pressure to take
I've felt this way before
So insecure
Ranma was sitting in a tree. Not any tree, no, had to be the biggest cherry blossom tree in the whole of Nerima. And as Ryoga looked at his old friend, he knew that Ranma could demolish it with a single, feather-light touch. He had to be careful.
"Hey Ryoga." Ranma looked down, seeing the Eternal Lost Boy scratching his head as he tried to figure out how to get up.
Should I tell him there's a ladder on the other side? Nah... Ranma watched as Ryoga began the long, tedious climb, hanging dangerously from branches.
Oh well. Good training. He's let himself become slack since we parted.
Nonetheless, as Ryoga neared the top he was still not breathing heavily.
"Come sit here." Ranma motioned towards a parallel branch.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Ranma sighed. The view was unrivalled. Sitting on top of a hill in the park, the tree towered over Nerima, giving a view of everything from miles around. Including the ladder, but oh well.
"Who?"
"The tree."
"Oh." Ryoga facefaulted.
"What, did you want me to say Akane?" Ranma turned to look at him.
"I was kinda expecting it, yeah." Ryoga admitted.
"Yeah, she's beautiful too." Ranma shrugged.
"So, what do you think?" He gazed at Ryoga, who began to fidget and feel extremely uncomfortable.
"About what?"
"You KNOW what. Don't play Ryoga. I'm kinda depressed."
"Well...I thought you had control?"
"So did I. I thought that after that...accident...with Pop, Neko had learnt to control herself."
"But she didn't, did she? And J-Jusenkyo just made it worse...now she has a body to emerge into."
A few metres away, Akane and Nabiki craned to hear what they were saying.
"Who would've thought that bugging this tree would actually have some uses?" Nabiki smiled to herself.
"Sssh! What do they mean, Neko? And what's Jusenkyo?"
"Shut up and we might actually find out!"
"Ranma...I haven't actually seen Neko's...physical form yet...may I?"
"I don't know Ryoga...it might not be safe. She might go looking for my Dad again."
"Well...I could hold you back, couldn't I?" Ryoga's voice betrayed his doubt.
"I'm not sure...even though she's weaker coz she's a girl, Neko's still pretty strong...and although you were almost a match for me when we left, I've kept training and you haven't, Ryoga."
"Right...Right...so what do we do? Do you have any pictures, just so I know what to look out for?"
"No...she has an aversion to cameras. She shredded the last one into 24 000 pieces, I think. It's just too hard. Look out for a shortish girl that looks like me with red hair."
"Will do."
There was a pregnant silence.
"So where do we go from here?"
"I can't go back to school."
"Why?"
"You know damn well why! I might just go to Uncle's, maybe get a job there. That's one thing Neko and I agree on, motorbikes. She hates cars though."
"I...see..."
"So did you clear the thing up with Ucchan?"
"Um...no...I kinda...ran away..." Ryoga looked away and mumbled.
"You're crap, you know that. She'll hunt you down."
"What about Shampoo?"
"Her? Got rid of her. Sat her down, hired a translator, explained that I couldn't marry her but that I'd be honoured to be part of the clan if she'd adopt me as her brother."
"True? That's a good idea. Did it work?"
"Yeah, but now Mousse keeps trying to be nice to me so that I'll give him permission to marry Shampoo. I keep saying yes, but Shampoo keeps saying no. And you know, the woman's word over the man's."
"Yeah.." there was a chuckle between the two.
Down on the ground, Akane and Nabiki sat listening.
"Marriage? This gets more and more interesting."
"Excuse me? Have you seen Shampoo's- I mean, my brother, Ranma Saotome?" A pretty, purple-haired girl that looked about their age asked them.
"This day just gets better and better." Nabiki muttered.
Coincidence...maybe? (And above the Discworld, Fate lifted his hand...JJ)
"Um no..would you like me to take a message?"Akane elbowed her sister as she opened her mouth.
"Oh no, I'll just wander around, thank you! I'm Xian Pu of Joketsuzoku."
"Akane Tendo of Tendo Anything Goes. Nice to meet you. This is my sister Nabiki."
"Tendo? Mr Genma Panda talk about that name alot...oh dear, sorry, I keep falling back into my old habits. Well I might see you around! Bye!" She smiled and was gone in the blink of an eye.
"That was uniquely interesting."
"She was so pretty...what chance do I have?"
Unbeknownst to the two pairs, someone else watched, and waited.
"Well at least, let's go find Akane. I...uh...kinda need you to take me home."
"Still got that sense of direction, Ryoga?"
"Shut up, bakayarou."
Ranma leapt from the branch, leaving Ryoga up the top. Landing softly on his feet with a slight *pfff* of dust clouds rising from his feet. He motioned to the other side, where Ryoga found a ladder.
"Bastard." Ryoga muttered as he began his long descent down the tree.