Starry Night
Chapter 10
Ranma awoke with a start and looked around. He was laying on the ground by a warm, glowing campfire on the edge of a wood. Off in the distance he could see a fog start to swirl its way around the bottom of the trees in an ominous fashion. That was one place he did not want to go into. The campfire drew his attention again as its flames started to flicker and dance, for the first time he noticed that he was alone in this eerie land. The fog around the trees started to rise higher as if they were trying to form a barrier of some kind, trying to keep him away from something. As he watched he was so mesmerized by the fog seeming to interlock with itself that he didn't notice the tendrils that reached out in an attempt to grab his leg. He felt something cold and damp attach to his ankle, working its way up his pant leg, trying to permeate his skin. From the amount of suppressed hostility the thing was emanating he could easily guess at its intent and quickly tried to pull his leg back, but the grasp the fog had on him was very strong. Several more attempts to free his leg from the fog proved futile, as the fog seemed to easily be able to increase its strength. Ranma looked towards the wall of fog in a vain attempt to find a means of escape only to notice that the tendril of fog he was attached to was slowly being brought back into the fold, and he was obviously meant to go along for the ride.
Frantically he tried to pull his leg lose as he noticed the slack between him and the newly formed wall lessening, but then he heard a cry for help. There was something very familiar about the cry, something that seemed to draw him to it; he couldn't put his finger on it. The wall of fog obviously didn't want him getting close to the person that called out though; it was starting to weave itself even thicker. Watching the fog form the wall and watching the rate that the tendril was being recoiled gave Ranma an idea. The wall was reinforcing itself from the outer edges in leaving a thin window in the middle that he figured he could break though if he was going fast enough. There was the small problem of his leg though, he really would like to take it with him but how could he break free. He stood for a minute just watching the window get smaller when an idea came to him. Faster than most people could move, Ranma was running towards the wall increasing his speed as he ran. As he neared the wall he started to focus his ki like he was preparing to send blast at the wall so he could blow his way through. Just as Ranma had hoped for, the wall seemed to sense him focusing his ki and loosened its hold on his leg so it could send that energy into finishing the outer layer of the wall, but that never happened. Just as the fog started to weave itself faster Ranma reached it and jumped through the hole in the middle. He was filled with a sense of victory as he felt his head penetrate the barrier, he had been right. He didn't have long to celebrate though, he was to busy channeling his ki into his leg. The fog recoiled a little bit at the feel of a small ki blast coming out of Ranma's ankle that was enough for him to break free.
Turning, Ranma stared in wonder at the obstacle that he had just overcome with a feeling of pride. He noticed that the fog was fixing the whole that he had just created at an alarming pace. Either it didn't want someone to get in or it was desperately trying to keep something in, whichever it was he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Another cry for help brought him to his senses as he remembered exactly why he had decided to break through the wall in the first place. Something in here needed him. He couldn't make out the words that were being spoken and he wasn't sure who was speaking them, but he had a feeling that the person was reaching for him. He turned away from the wall and focused on the direction the cry had come from, the forest. Moving as fast as he could he headed for the only foot path he could see that would take him into the overgrown woods, and would hopefully take him to the person who needed him before it was too late.
A chilled wind touched Akane's skin and woke her from her slumber. When she opened her eyes she saw that the familiar woods of her dream once again surrounded her. The path that she always walked lay in front of her, beckoning her to walk down its dim corridor. Behind her lay the other path that was brightly lit and welcoming making her choice seem easy. She knew what would happen though, the same thing that always seemed to happen. No matter which path she would choose, she always ended up in the same place. The small clearing with the rotting log that she would sit on and the creature that would appear, it was always the same. She had to admit that she was getting better at fighting the creature though; at least there was one good thing about this place.
"Oh Ranma, where are you? I wish you could come into this dream and help me!" Akane said as she started on the sunny path. Just as she had predicted the path did not stay sunny for long. A misty fog started to swirl on the forest floor; twinning its way through the trees and making them disappear in the distance. Maybe she should just stop walking and wait here on this part of the path and force the creature to come to her. That would never do, there just wasn't enough room here for her to defend herself. She would have to proceed to the clearing whether she like it or not, there was no other way.
When she reached the clearing she sat on the log to think while she waited for the creature to appear. She didn't bother to try to meditate while she waited anymore; it was just a waste of time. Instead she tried to remember all the different moves that she had ever seen Ranma, Mousse, Ryoga, Shampoo and Ukyou use. She tried to remember everything she could about the moves so she could try to duplicate them while she fought the creature. If there was one thing these dreams were good for it was training. The creature struck her often during these sessions and they always ended with her being knocked out, but when she woke-up the worse she ever felt was a few sore muscles. Since she was never hurt in these woods the last thing she should probably be feeling was fear, but she felt it. The feeling was so overwhelming at times that she just wanted to find a hole and hide. There was definitely something sinister about these woods, something evil lurking about. She didn't think that it was necessarily a creature made of flesh, but it was an entity of some sort. Hopefully she would be able to figure out what it was before it could get to her.
She closed her eyes and focused solely on Ranma and his various techniques. Mastering some of his would probably be the smart thing to do; after all he was the best martial artist she knew. She could picture his lithe form in her mind, he was running through his katas, but they were not ones she had ever been taught. These were ones that she was certain he had come up with on his own, she couldn't be sure though. All the times she had ever watched him she had never gotten the courage to ask him about them, nor had she ever asked him to teach them to her. She was regretting that decision now. Some of those katas might be very handy to her in the next few minutes. The forms in some of the katas were easy enough to follow, easy enough that she should be able to learn the rhythm if she were to try. Block high, hammer fist, pivot right, block low, drop, sweep kick, roll left, side block, low block, crescent kick, turn to the rear, take two steps, jumping high kick. She kept repeating this pattern over and over as she pictured herself going through the motions. With any luck, she would have the routine down by the time the creature appeared.
"Ranma, I wish you were here to help me. I need you by my side." Akane said as she took a deep, calming breath. She could sense the creatures presence now, he would be in the clearing soon and she needed to be focused.
The path that Ranma was walking down seemed to only go around the perimeter of the wood. After he had counted his fourth left turn he had started to look for a different path, but the wood was so overgrown that there seemed to be no way in. There had to be something that he was missing, some kind of a nook or cranny that was tucked away in the shadows, maybe just a small part in the brambles that grew along the ground. He continued to follow the path noting along the way all the marks he had left so he could find his way back, something definitely was not right. The person that was calling to him was somewhere in the middle of the wood, while he was contained on the outside, behind the bramble barrier.
Frustration swept over his body when he felt the tension level of the person inside the barrier start to rise. Whoever was in there was mentally preparing for a fight, and he needed to be there. He didn't know why, all he knew was that he had to be there; he was needed there. Suddenly he felt rising ki levels, the battle had begun and he was still trapped on the outside. His heart started to pound in his chest with an anxiety that he could not explain and worry began to cloud his judgment. Without planning to do so, Ranma started to focus his ki between his hands and released a blast with more intensity than he was usually able to achieve. The blast tore through the undergrowth leaving nothing in its wake but the jagged torn edges of the bramble bushes and a few decimated tree trunks. Without a second thought, he ran down the newly created path in the hopes that this would get him closer where he needed to be. He never once noticed that the path had already started to fix itself.
A brightly lit path greeted him as he emerged from the one he was on; he turned onto it and continued towards his destination. He could sense a person not to far from him, the ki felt familiar somehow almost as if it was a part of him but he couldn't figure out why. Every person he was close to he had left in relative safety back in Nerima except for Ryoga, he was back at the hotel. Ranma came to a dead stop as he began to fully understand the situation, he was supposed to be at the hotel with Ryoga, he must be dreaming. He started to walk down the path again while extending his senses to examine the ki he was feeling. Just as every object on the planet has its own unique properties, each person's ki was different, no two would elicit your senses in the same way. The ki he was sensing had been growing closer and closer to him since, Jusendo. Akane was near!
Ranma's memories of that fateful day came crashing over him in an intense wave of emotions. Distaste for his girl side, a yearning for a cure to his curse. Pride and dismay mixed as he watched Akane grabbed the staff that was the key for the hot water tap. The disbelief he felt that turned into a raw, hollow pain as he watched her disappear. The death of his soul when he thought she was dead. The brief tendril of hope that he grasped when he realized that she had only been dehydrated and could be saved with the cold waters of Jusendo. The burning hatred and animosity he felt for Saffron as he stood between him and Akane's lifeline. The intense regret mixed with an odd sense of satisfaction as he delivered the final deathblow to his adversary. The soul wrenching pain he felt when the cold waters restored Akane's size, but not her life. Then there was the desperation of what he thought was going to be his final act for her. As he had held Akane in his arms he had focused all of his ki into them and willingly let his life force flow into her, exchanging his life for hers. The love that he felt for her then was so intense it brought tears to his eyes, but he didn't care. All that mattered was saving the girl in his arms. He yelled her name as he felt his life force start to wane hoping to revive her before he was gone. Then something truly amazing happen, he felt her life force start to travel into him. They had formed a revitalizing flow through their ki; they had saved each other.
A few feet ahead of him the path opened up into a clearing in which he could see Akane and a smile of happiness crossed his face, he had found her if only in a dream. The happiness was short lived though as he noticed the determination on her face and the fighting stance she assumed. He followed her gaze to an area of the clearing that he had not been able to see earlier, and saw the creature for the first time. It was Akane, or at least a version of Akane, a very grotesque version. There were burns all over her body; some of the burns were so deep they exposed her bones. Parts of her head were charred and missing hair, and half of it was crushed in like she had received a deadly blow. Her face was nauseating to look at as most of her nose had been burned off, and enough flesh was missing from under her right eye to make it look as if it would fall out at any minute. Ranma was thankful that clothes covered the rest of her body as he felt his stomach start to churn.
He stood back for a while just watching the fight progress, amazed at how much Akane's skill had improved over such a short period of time. The pattern of moves she was attempting to use started to look familiar to him, she was going through the forms of one of his katas. He had developed that particular one after he had fought Shampoo just in case he had to face another opponent that utilized bonbori. The movements seemed awkward to Akane at first, but after she went through a section of them a few times they seemed to come easily to her. Ranma was amazed at how rapidly she seemed to be learning the kata, even though there were a few holes in her defense she was moving fluidly with the forms now. They fell into an attack and retreat pattern now, each of them trying to gain an opening from the other. Through each attack Ranma began to see Akane commit the same error more than once, almost every time she would attack high she would forget to guard low. After the third time she had made the same mistake he was sure that the creature had noticed it too. He wanted to warn her to keep her from getting hurt, but he didn't want to distract her from the battle. The debate raged in him until he saw her start to begin the pattern again, he had to try to help her.
"Akane! While your attacking high, don't forget the creature can attack low!" Ranma said loudly, waiting to see if she would lower her blocking arm just a little bit. To his consternation she not only lowered her arm, but also turned her head and looked at him in wonder. There was nothing he could do except watch as the creature took advantage of the situation and sent a powerful right hook to the side of Akane's head, then everything went black.
He woke up with a start expecting to still be in the woods; instead he was in his bed in the hotel room. Ryoga was standing next to the bed looking at him with a funny look on his face.
"What are you looking at, Pig boy?" Ranma asked while he was standing up.
"Nothing, just wondering why you were talking to Akane in your sleep," Ryoga replied with a smirk on his face.
Akane woke from the darkness of her dream and stretched her back. The dreams didn't bother her anymore, she had gotten used to them after the third or fourth one, this one was different though. She had felt that comforting presence again, the same one she had felt in the hotel before she had left Japan. To make things even more odd she had seen Ranma in the dream, he had tried to coach her from the sidelines. She smiled as she remembered how wonderful it felt to see his face again. Her fingers unconsciously sought out the wedding band that she now wore and started to twist it on her finger. There had to be a reason he was in her dream, she remembered wishing he were there; maybe that was what had brought him. One thing was for sure now, she felt more secure knowing that she would be able to see him every night. Getting over him was going to be harder than she thought.
The soft call of a morning dove could be heard lilting through the dew-laden air, several chirps answered in response, as the woods seemed to come to life, the dark haired one was awake. The guard watched with only a passing interest as the girl went through her morning routine. Watching a person cook and bathe might be captivating to some people, but not them. They were warriors sent out to protect their village; they were only interested in stopping all threats to their village, and as far as they could tell this girl was no threat.
Soon the girl started to stretch her muscles in a fashion that was familiar to them. They looked at each other with knowing glances, if they were right she would soon start a simple kata to help limber her up. They patiently waited and were soon rewarded with a beginner's kata. This girl might be more of a threat than they had initially thought she was, she obviously practiced the art. After she had finished her first kata, she moved into a more difficult one. Her moves were mesmerizing as she gracefully moved in and out of stances, utilizing several different styles of attack. She was very good. They had never heard of a school of the art that combined so many different styles together, but now they were witnessing it. The whole thing gave them a fright as they realized that if they were to fight this girl once they adjusted to one style of the art she could easily move to the next, always keeping them off balance. This was not good.
After a few hours the girl stopped practicing kata and headed for the brook. The guard didn't think much of this, they figured she was just going to either relieve herself or refresh herself, possibly both. Normally they would have only sent one of their number to follow a person in these cases, but after the workout they had just witnessed the leader decided it would be wise to send two. She made several motions to the girl with the bonbori and the girl with the morning star and then sat down to wait their return.
"What do you think of her skill, Yang Yang?" the leader of the group as the girl with the short sword.
"She is just as good as many of the warriors in our village, if not better." Yang Yang replied matter of factly.
"Let me guess, you don't think she is a threat to the village do you?"
"I'm not sure, but I am hoping that she is just on a training trip,"
The call of a mourning dove could be heard coming from the direction of the brook cutting the conversation short. The two girls looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. The dark haired girl must be training by the brook now; they hurried to rejoin their friends. Silently they took places by their friends and looked to see what the girl was doing. There she was on the bank of the brook, sitting on her knees, starring into the water. The leader of the guard looked reproachfully at the two younger girls she had sent to follow the dark haired one. If this is what they had called her to see then she really needed to talk to them about what was considered suspicious activity. She was about to signal that she was leaving when Mai Tsu, the girl with the morning star, motioned for her to watch the dark haired girl.
The hairs on her neck stood on end when she heard the dark haired girl say 'chestnut fist'. That was a secret Amazon technique, surely the girl could not know of it! If she did know it then she would have to get their group leader and fast, but she was sure she had just heard the girl wrong. After a few seconds the dark haired girls hands started to fly in and out of the water. Sometimes she would come up with a fish, but mostly she just managed to grab stones. There was no doubt about it. Even though the speed wasn't quite what it was suppose to be the technique was definitely the chestnut fist. She motioned to Xian Nam, the girl with the bonbori, and sent her to find the rest of their group. Their leader would need to see this and then they would have to determine what they were going to do about this girl, until then she would continue to watch.
The twinge in the demons side had grown stronger with each different cave it had explored. The environment of the earth was idea for his survival, but it was the closest one he could find after being cast out of his plane of existance. This world would do though, there were plenty of bodies for his minions to inhabit until they could change the environment and make them all slaves. He started to salivate as he thought about the different punishments he could have carried out on slaves that did not obey him, how he enjoyed to see others in pain. These humans were so weak that they were easy to control. He remembered his life on this planet before he was imprisoned; it was a glorious time in his life. He had found immense pleasure in making these people scream for mercy; the experience use to send ripples of pleasure throughout his body. He would have to see if that was still possible just as soon as he found his pet, he needed stimulation.
Another twinge passed through him and almost brought him to his knees, but that didn't matter, he had found what he was looking for. A stone statue of a dragon was placed in this cave, a very fierce looking dragon. Lovingly the demon ran his hand over the statue; stopping to stroke it's long neck. The magic skills of the hags who had imprisoned him were pretty basic for the most part, and this was a beginner's spell. He walked towards the front of the dragon and looked into its eyes. He had to make sure that the hags had not harmed his pet before they petrified him, his pet was, after all, the one thing he did not want to see suffer. After he had assured himself that everything was as it should be, he began to chant words in his native tongue. A slight wind began to blow in the cave, swirling around the dragon. Soon it looked like there was a tornado surrounding the creature as the demons voice rose to a fevered pitch. Suddenly the demon stopped his incantation, and the wind slowly stopped blowing. When the dust had settled back onto the ground a green dragon was left standing in the space the statue had occupied for so long.
"My pet," the demon said with an evil glint in his eye, "lets go have some fun."
Choon Li had quickly figured out what he had felt earlier in the week, the demon had escaped its prison. This fact did not bother him very much. The demon was a very weak creature when it did not inhabit a human body. That was why the honored elders had chosen to imprison him in this valley so long ago no one ever came here. They would be safe as long as the demon couldn't reverse the petrification spell that the elders had placed on his dragon. If he released his dragon then he could leave the valley, and if can get out of the valley, then he can destroy the world as the know it.
He continued to meditate, letting his soul travel though the foliage that surrounded the valley even though the process caused him extreme discomfort. Every time the demon would move to a new cave, he would follow. Finally the demon came to the cave of the dragon. Sweat started to roll down Choon Li's face as he followed him in; he was worried the dragon would be released. There was no way to know for sure, but Choon Li was fairly certain that the demon knew spells, and if so then he could probably counteract this one. Hoping against all odds, Choon Li watched in horror as the demon began his incantation. He watched as the dust rose and waited for it to settle back down so he could see the outcome, and there he stood, the bane of the earth.
Quickly he traveled back through the trees to his body and opened his eyes. His wife was sitting in a chair watching him with a worried look on her face and knew she would want to know what was wrong. He didn't have time to explain things to her right now she would have to wait. The world needed to be saved, and if he could make his way back to the village in time maybe the elders could save them. He had to hurry though, before the demon found a body to inhabit. They needed to stop the demon while he was still weak. Grabbing his wife by the hand he ran for the horses that were tethered outside. He knew that he would be in trouble with her for his behavior, but he didn't care, that wasn't important any more. If he was lucky he could make it to the village before the dragon had regained enough strength to fly. Placing his wife on the smaller horse, he took the other one and led the way down the trail. After they had been traveling for a few minutes he heard his wife's angry voice ask the question he knew was coming.
"What do you think you are doing?"
He turned to look at her without stopping and quickly said, "We must hurry, the dragon is awake."
No other explanation was needed as they rode off down the trail that would take them to the village.
Chapter 10
Ranma awoke with a start and looked around. He was laying on the ground by a warm, glowing campfire on the edge of a wood. Off in the distance he could see a fog start to swirl its way around the bottom of the trees in an ominous fashion. That was one place he did not want to go into. The campfire drew his attention again as its flames started to flicker and dance, for the first time he noticed that he was alone in this eerie land. The fog around the trees started to rise higher as if they were trying to form a barrier of some kind, trying to keep him away from something. As he watched he was so mesmerized by the fog seeming to interlock with itself that he didn't notice the tendrils that reached out in an attempt to grab his leg. He felt something cold and damp attach to his ankle, working its way up his pant leg, trying to permeate his skin. From the amount of suppressed hostility the thing was emanating he could easily guess at its intent and quickly tried to pull his leg back, but the grasp the fog had on him was very strong. Several more attempts to free his leg from the fog proved futile, as the fog seemed to easily be able to increase its strength. Ranma looked towards the wall of fog in a vain attempt to find a means of escape only to notice that the tendril of fog he was attached to was slowly being brought back into the fold, and he was obviously meant to go along for the ride.
Frantically he tried to pull his leg lose as he noticed the slack between him and the newly formed wall lessening, but then he heard a cry for help. There was something very familiar about the cry, something that seemed to draw him to it; he couldn't put his finger on it. The wall of fog obviously didn't want him getting close to the person that called out though; it was starting to weave itself even thicker. Watching the fog form the wall and watching the rate that the tendril was being recoiled gave Ranma an idea. The wall was reinforcing itself from the outer edges in leaving a thin window in the middle that he figured he could break though if he was going fast enough. There was the small problem of his leg though, he really would like to take it with him but how could he break free. He stood for a minute just watching the window get smaller when an idea came to him. Faster than most people could move, Ranma was running towards the wall increasing his speed as he ran. As he neared the wall he started to focus his ki like he was preparing to send blast at the wall so he could blow his way through. Just as Ranma had hoped for, the wall seemed to sense him focusing his ki and loosened its hold on his leg so it could send that energy into finishing the outer layer of the wall, but that never happened. Just as the fog started to weave itself faster Ranma reached it and jumped through the hole in the middle. He was filled with a sense of victory as he felt his head penetrate the barrier, he had been right. He didn't have long to celebrate though, he was to busy channeling his ki into his leg. The fog recoiled a little bit at the feel of a small ki blast coming out of Ranma's ankle that was enough for him to break free.
Turning, Ranma stared in wonder at the obstacle that he had just overcome with a feeling of pride. He noticed that the fog was fixing the whole that he had just created at an alarming pace. Either it didn't want someone to get in or it was desperately trying to keep something in, whichever it was he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Another cry for help brought him to his senses as he remembered exactly why he had decided to break through the wall in the first place. Something in here needed him. He couldn't make out the words that were being spoken and he wasn't sure who was speaking them, but he had a feeling that the person was reaching for him. He turned away from the wall and focused on the direction the cry had come from, the forest. Moving as fast as he could he headed for the only foot path he could see that would take him into the overgrown woods, and would hopefully take him to the person who needed him before it was too late.
A chilled wind touched Akane's skin and woke her from her slumber. When she opened her eyes she saw that the familiar woods of her dream once again surrounded her. The path that she always walked lay in front of her, beckoning her to walk down its dim corridor. Behind her lay the other path that was brightly lit and welcoming making her choice seem easy. She knew what would happen though, the same thing that always seemed to happen. No matter which path she would choose, she always ended up in the same place. The small clearing with the rotting log that she would sit on and the creature that would appear, it was always the same. She had to admit that she was getting better at fighting the creature though; at least there was one good thing about this place.
"Oh Ranma, where are you? I wish you could come into this dream and help me!" Akane said as she started on the sunny path. Just as she had predicted the path did not stay sunny for long. A misty fog started to swirl on the forest floor; twinning its way through the trees and making them disappear in the distance. Maybe she should just stop walking and wait here on this part of the path and force the creature to come to her. That would never do, there just wasn't enough room here for her to defend herself. She would have to proceed to the clearing whether she like it or not, there was no other way.
When she reached the clearing she sat on the log to think while she waited for the creature to appear. She didn't bother to try to meditate while she waited anymore; it was just a waste of time. Instead she tried to remember all the different moves that she had ever seen Ranma, Mousse, Ryoga, Shampoo and Ukyou use. She tried to remember everything she could about the moves so she could try to duplicate them while she fought the creature. If there was one thing these dreams were good for it was training. The creature struck her often during these sessions and they always ended with her being knocked out, but when she woke-up the worse she ever felt was a few sore muscles. Since she was never hurt in these woods the last thing she should probably be feeling was fear, but she felt it. The feeling was so overwhelming at times that she just wanted to find a hole and hide. There was definitely something sinister about these woods, something evil lurking about. She didn't think that it was necessarily a creature made of flesh, but it was an entity of some sort. Hopefully she would be able to figure out what it was before it could get to her.
She closed her eyes and focused solely on Ranma and his various techniques. Mastering some of his would probably be the smart thing to do; after all he was the best martial artist she knew. She could picture his lithe form in her mind, he was running through his katas, but they were not ones she had ever been taught. These were ones that she was certain he had come up with on his own, she couldn't be sure though. All the times she had ever watched him she had never gotten the courage to ask him about them, nor had she ever asked him to teach them to her. She was regretting that decision now. Some of those katas might be very handy to her in the next few minutes. The forms in some of the katas were easy enough to follow, easy enough that she should be able to learn the rhythm if she were to try. Block high, hammer fist, pivot right, block low, drop, sweep kick, roll left, side block, low block, crescent kick, turn to the rear, take two steps, jumping high kick. She kept repeating this pattern over and over as she pictured herself going through the motions. With any luck, she would have the routine down by the time the creature appeared.
"Ranma, I wish you were here to help me. I need you by my side." Akane said as she took a deep, calming breath. She could sense the creatures presence now, he would be in the clearing soon and she needed to be focused.
The path that Ranma was walking down seemed to only go around the perimeter of the wood. After he had counted his fourth left turn he had started to look for a different path, but the wood was so overgrown that there seemed to be no way in. There had to be something that he was missing, some kind of a nook or cranny that was tucked away in the shadows, maybe just a small part in the brambles that grew along the ground. He continued to follow the path noting along the way all the marks he had left so he could find his way back, something definitely was not right. The person that was calling to him was somewhere in the middle of the wood, while he was contained on the outside, behind the bramble barrier.
Frustration swept over his body when he felt the tension level of the person inside the barrier start to rise. Whoever was in there was mentally preparing for a fight, and he needed to be there. He didn't know why, all he knew was that he had to be there; he was needed there. Suddenly he felt rising ki levels, the battle had begun and he was still trapped on the outside. His heart started to pound in his chest with an anxiety that he could not explain and worry began to cloud his judgment. Without planning to do so, Ranma started to focus his ki between his hands and released a blast with more intensity than he was usually able to achieve. The blast tore through the undergrowth leaving nothing in its wake but the jagged torn edges of the bramble bushes and a few decimated tree trunks. Without a second thought, he ran down the newly created path in the hopes that this would get him closer where he needed to be. He never once noticed that the path had already started to fix itself.
A brightly lit path greeted him as he emerged from the one he was on; he turned onto it and continued towards his destination. He could sense a person not to far from him, the ki felt familiar somehow almost as if it was a part of him but he couldn't figure out why. Every person he was close to he had left in relative safety back in Nerima except for Ryoga, he was back at the hotel. Ranma came to a dead stop as he began to fully understand the situation, he was supposed to be at the hotel with Ryoga, he must be dreaming. He started to walk down the path again while extending his senses to examine the ki he was feeling. Just as every object on the planet has its own unique properties, each person's ki was different, no two would elicit your senses in the same way. The ki he was sensing had been growing closer and closer to him since, Jusendo. Akane was near!
Ranma's memories of that fateful day came crashing over him in an intense wave of emotions. Distaste for his girl side, a yearning for a cure to his curse. Pride and dismay mixed as he watched Akane grabbed the staff that was the key for the hot water tap. The disbelief he felt that turned into a raw, hollow pain as he watched her disappear. The death of his soul when he thought she was dead. The brief tendril of hope that he grasped when he realized that she had only been dehydrated and could be saved with the cold waters of Jusendo. The burning hatred and animosity he felt for Saffron as he stood between him and Akane's lifeline. The intense regret mixed with an odd sense of satisfaction as he delivered the final deathblow to his adversary. The soul wrenching pain he felt when the cold waters restored Akane's size, but not her life. Then there was the desperation of what he thought was going to be his final act for her. As he had held Akane in his arms he had focused all of his ki into them and willingly let his life force flow into her, exchanging his life for hers. The love that he felt for her then was so intense it brought tears to his eyes, but he didn't care. All that mattered was saving the girl in his arms. He yelled her name as he felt his life force start to wane hoping to revive her before he was gone. Then something truly amazing happen, he felt her life force start to travel into him. They had formed a revitalizing flow through their ki; they had saved each other.
A few feet ahead of him the path opened up into a clearing in which he could see Akane and a smile of happiness crossed his face, he had found her if only in a dream. The happiness was short lived though as he noticed the determination on her face and the fighting stance she assumed. He followed her gaze to an area of the clearing that he had not been able to see earlier, and saw the creature for the first time. It was Akane, or at least a version of Akane, a very grotesque version. There were burns all over her body; some of the burns were so deep they exposed her bones. Parts of her head were charred and missing hair, and half of it was crushed in like she had received a deadly blow. Her face was nauseating to look at as most of her nose had been burned off, and enough flesh was missing from under her right eye to make it look as if it would fall out at any minute. Ranma was thankful that clothes covered the rest of her body as he felt his stomach start to churn.
He stood back for a while just watching the fight progress, amazed at how much Akane's skill had improved over such a short period of time. The pattern of moves she was attempting to use started to look familiar to him, she was going through the forms of one of his katas. He had developed that particular one after he had fought Shampoo just in case he had to face another opponent that utilized bonbori. The movements seemed awkward to Akane at first, but after she went through a section of them a few times they seemed to come easily to her. Ranma was amazed at how rapidly she seemed to be learning the kata, even though there were a few holes in her defense she was moving fluidly with the forms now. They fell into an attack and retreat pattern now, each of them trying to gain an opening from the other. Through each attack Ranma began to see Akane commit the same error more than once, almost every time she would attack high she would forget to guard low. After the third time she had made the same mistake he was sure that the creature had noticed it too. He wanted to warn her to keep her from getting hurt, but he didn't want to distract her from the battle. The debate raged in him until he saw her start to begin the pattern again, he had to try to help her.
"Akane! While your attacking high, don't forget the creature can attack low!" Ranma said loudly, waiting to see if she would lower her blocking arm just a little bit. To his consternation she not only lowered her arm, but also turned her head and looked at him in wonder. There was nothing he could do except watch as the creature took advantage of the situation and sent a powerful right hook to the side of Akane's head, then everything went black.
He woke up with a start expecting to still be in the woods; instead he was in his bed in the hotel room. Ryoga was standing next to the bed looking at him with a funny look on his face.
"What are you looking at, Pig boy?" Ranma asked while he was standing up.
"Nothing, just wondering why you were talking to Akane in your sleep," Ryoga replied with a smirk on his face.
Akane woke from the darkness of her dream and stretched her back. The dreams didn't bother her anymore, she had gotten used to them after the third or fourth one, this one was different though. She had felt that comforting presence again, the same one she had felt in the hotel before she had left Japan. To make things even more odd she had seen Ranma in the dream, he had tried to coach her from the sidelines. She smiled as she remembered how wonderful it felt to see his face again. Her fingers unconsciously sought out the wedding band that she now wore and started to twist it on her finger. There had to be a reason he was in her dream, she remembered wishing he were there; maybe that was what had brought him. One thing was for sure now, she felt more secure knowing that she would be able to see him every night. Getting over him was going to be harder than she thought.
The soft call of a morning dove could be heard lilting through the dew-laden air, several chirps answered in response, as the woods seemed to come to life, the dark haired one was awake. The guard watched with only a passing interest as the girl went through her morning routine. Watching a person cook and bathe might be captivating to some people, but not them. They were warriors sent out to protect their village; they were only interested in stopping all threats to their village, and as far as they could tell this girl was no threat.
Soon the girl started to stretch her muscles in a fashion that was familiar to them. They looked at each other with knowing glances, if they were right she would soon start a simple kata to help limber her up. They patiently waited and were soon rewarded with a beginner's kata. This girl might be more of a threat than they had initially thought she was, she obviously practiced the art. After she had finished her first kata, she moved into a more difficult one. Her moves were mesmerizing as she gracefully moved in and out of stances, utilizing several different styles of attack. She was very good. They had never heard of a school of the art that combined so many different styles together, but now they were witnessing it. The whole thing gave them a fright as they realized that if they were to fight this girl once they adjusted to one style of the art she could easily move to the next, always keeping them off balance. This was not good.
After a few hours the girl stopped practicing kata and headed for the brook. The guard didn't think much of this, they figured she was just going to either relieve herself or refresh herself, possibly both. Normally they would have only sent one of their number to follow a person in these cases, but after the workout they had just witnessed the leader decided it would be wise to send two. She made several motions to the girl with the bonbori and the girl with the morning star and then sat down to wait their return.
"What do you think of her skill, Yang Yang?" the leader of the group as the girl with the short sword.
"She is just as good as many of the warriors in our village, if not better." Yang Yang replied matter of factly.
"Let me guess, you don't think she is a threat to the village do you?"
"I'm not sure, but I am hoping that she is just on a training trip,"
The call of a mourning dove could be heard coming from the direction of the brook cutting the conversation short. The two girls looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. The dark haired girl must be training by the brook now; they hurried to rejoin their friends. Silently they took places by their friends and looked to see what the girl was doing. There she was on the bank of the brook, sitting on her knees, starring into the water. The leader of the guard looked reproachfully at the two younger girls she had sent to follow the dark haired one. If this is what they had called her to see then she really needed to talk to them about what was considered suspicious activity. She was about to signal that she was leaving when Mai Tsu, the girl with the morning star, motioned for her to watch the dark haired girl.
The hairs on her neck stood on end when she heard the dark haired girl say 'chestnut fist'. That was a secret Amazon technique, surely the girl could not know of it! If she did know it then she would have to get their group leader and fast, but she was sure she had just heard the girl wrong. After a few seconds the dark haired girls hands started to fly in and out of the water. Sometimes she would come up with a fish, but mostly she just managed to grab stones. There was no doubt about it. Even though the speed wasn't quite what it was suppose to be the technique was definitely the chestnut fist. She motioned to Xian Nam, the girl with the bonbori, and sent her to find the rest of their group. Their leader would need to see this and then they would have to determine what they were going to do about this girl, until then she would continue to watch.
The twinge in the demons side had grown stronger with each different cave it had explored. The environment of the earth was idea for his survival, but it was the closest one he could find after being cast out of his plane of existance. This world would do though, there were plenty of bodies for his minions to inhabit until they could change the environment and make them all slaves. He started to salivate as he thought about the different punishments he could have carried out on slaves that did not obey him, how he enjoyed to see others in pain. These humans were so weak that they were easy to control. He remembered his life on this planet before he was imprisoned; it was a glorious time in his life. He had found immense pleasure in making these people scream for mercy; the experience use to send ripples of pleasure throughout his body. He would have to see if that was still possible just as soon as he found his pet, he needed stimulation.
Another twinge passed through him and almost brought him to his knees, but that didn't matter, he had found what he was looking for. A stone statue of a dragon was placed in this cave, a very fierce looking dragon. Lovingly the demon ran his hand over the statue; stopping to stroke it's long neck. The magic skills of the hags who had imprisoned him were pretty basic for the most part, and this was a beginner's spell. He walked towards the front of the dragon and looked into its eyes. He had to make sure that the hags had not harmed his pet before they petrified him, his pet was, after all, the one thing he did not want to see suffer. After he had assured himself that everything was as it should be, he began to chant words in his native tongue. A slight wind began to blow in the cave, swirling around the dragon. Soon it looked like there was a tornado surrounding the creature as the demons voice rose to a fevered pitch. Suddenly the demon stopped his incantation, and the wind slowly stopped blowing. When the dust had settled back onto the ground a green dragon was left standing in the space the statue had occupied for so long.
"My pet," the demon said with an evil glint in his eye, "lets go have some fun."
Choon Li had quickly figured out what he had felt earlier in the week, the demon had escaped its prison. This fact did not bother him very much. The demon was a very weak creature when it did not inhabit a human body. That was why the honored elders had chosen to imprison him in this valley so long ago no one ever came here. They would be safe as long as the demon couldn't reverse the petrification spell that the elders had placed on his dragon. If he released his dragon then he could leave the valley, and if can get out of the valley, then he can destroy the world as the know it.
He continued to meditate, letting his soul travel though the foliage that surrounded the valley even though the process caused him extreme discomfort. Every time the demon would move to a new cave, he would follow. Finally the demon came to the cave of the dragon. Sweat started to roll down Choon Li's face as he followed him in; he was worried the dragon would be released. There was no way to know for sure, but Choon Li was fairly certain that the demon knew spells, and if so then he could probably counteract this one. Hoping against all odds, Choon Li watched in horror as the demon began his incantation. He watched as the dust rose and waited for it to settle back down so he could see the outcome, and there he stood, the bane of the earth.
Quickly he traveled back through the trees to his body and opened his eyes. His wife was sitting in a chair watching him with a worried look on her face and knew she would want to know what was wrong. He didn't have time to explain things to her right now she would have to wait. The world needed to be saved, and if he could make his way back to the village in time maybe the elders could save them. He had to hurry though, before the demon found a body to inhabit. They needed to stop the demon while he was still weak. Grabbing his wife by the hand he ran for the horses that were tethered outside. He knew that he would be in trouble with her for his behavior, but he didn't care, that wasn't important any more. If he was lucky he could make it to the village before the dragon had regained enough strength to fly. Placing his wife on the smaller horse, he took the other one and led the way down the trail. After they had been traveling for a few minutes he heard his wife's angry voice ask the question he knew was coming.
"What do you think you are doing?"
He turned to look at her without stopping and quickly said, "We must hurry, the dragon is awake."
No other explanation was needed as they rode off down the trail that would take them to the village.