Chapter 16
After the old Amazon's statement, the courtyard erupted with a lot of noise. Soun and Genma were cheering as they danced and waved fans in the air while Ryoga, Ukyo and the sight challenged Mu-Tsu screamed,
It is as I saiddragons mate for life. None of you would be suitors
are going to get what you want. Ranma and Akane have already chosen,
Ku-Lon replied as she pointed her staff in the direction where the two dragons
stood, lost in their own world. Now, enough of this foolishness! Ranma's
mother has something important to say and you better listen!
Ranma and Akane were chosen to perform a special task. This has been
foretold since the beginning of our family's friendship. In an age where
dragons roamed freely, our ancestors came upon an injured dragon and nursed
it back to health. The dragon told them of how it came to be injured by the
Dark God, Noduka paused while gathering her thoughts. Then she glanced
around, noting everyone's attention had become fixed on her tale before
taking a deep breath and continued, To make a long story shortthe
dragon granted our families a special gift.
You mean that? Ukyo yelled questioningly as she pointed towards the two changed martial artist dragons.
Yeah, what's the deal with them becoming dragons? Ryoga asked curiously while glancing warily towards his rival, Ranma.
I too am curious as to why this has happened, Mu-Tsu chimed in as he adjusted his glasses on his nose to peer curiously at Ranma and Akane.
Soun frowned at the brief interruption but decided to explain, In order
to defeat the Dark God, our families were given the gift of strong ki. The
amount of ki that was givenenabled our ancestors to change their bodies.
He pointed towards his youngest daughter, As you see with Ranma and
Akane, but this was only accomplished through a special ceremony.
Noduka waited for Soun to finish her explination before she said, Thank you, Soun. Turning back towards the group she continued, Our ancestors joined the dragon in the battle to defeat the Dark God. In that battle, many were injured and countless thousands were killed. Noduka stopped the tale briefly as she let her words sink in. She noticed that her son and Akane were now listening as well. They had somehow managed to make their way over towards the edge of the courtyard to listen. How they had managed to be so silent when they were so large, she would never know. Smiling inwardly, she nodded her head and started once more. They were able to weaken it and then lock it away in the deepest and strongest tomb that was known to our ancestors.
If I may interrupt for a minutehow was it kept there? As you said, it is a god so it must have special powers, Mu-Tsu said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Even though it was imprisoned, they were unable to kill it. They were able to heavily ward the prison so that it wouldn't escape. It still lives butsomehow it has escaped,Noduka replied.
Nabiki cleared her throat while taking a step forward and said, I heard that it decimated a village not to far from here and is heading towards Ryogonzawa.
Yes. Now, it is coming here to kill our families to make sure its opposition is eliminated before it can do what it had first tried to do. That is one of the reasons why we had to come here. Noduka finished her explanation she glanced around, noticing the slight confusion on their visitor's faces. She knew that the questions would be coming fast and furious, so she waited. She didn't have long to wait since Ku-Lon spoke.
Ku-Lon balanced on her staff deep in thought as she tried to remember where she had heard the tale from before. I seem to remember an old tale I read about when I was in our library back home. The scroll was so old that most of the story was lost. But, I do remember that it vaguely told of this Dark God. Lifting her head, the elder briefly glanced towards Ranma and Akane absently noticing that Akane had unconsciously pressed herself closer to Ranma's side before she continued, I was in the great hall with Soun and Genma when they, she pointed towards Kasumi, Noduka and Nabiki. Burst in yelling that it's coming. I'm assuming that they meant the Dark God?
Noduka whispered extreme worry now visible on her face.
Then we must prepare! Ku-Lon stated her face a mask of granite, showing everyone how grave the situation was.
How are we going to be able to help them? Ukyo asked as she glanced towards her friends.
We will Ku-Lon started to say when suddenly a large shadow blocked the sunlight followed by a loud roar that shook the forest.
Oh, No! It's here! Nabiki yelled, glancing towards the darkness and saw two bright red eyes glaring back.
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The dark cloud hovered at the gates to the estate and as it tried to breach the magical barrier but it received a nasty surprise. When the cloud touched the barrier, a magical surge of energy repelled the shadow, painfully. The Dark God roared loudly as it vented its rage. Now the element of surprise was gone, it tripled its efforts on breaking through the weakening shield.
As it finally breached the barrier, two blurs of red and gold flew past, attacking with ten-foot wide streams of flame, striking the Dark God dead center. The cloud whirrled, launching itself at its attackers with claws extened, heading straight towards its prey, "It's them! The ones that imprisioned me! I will kill them!"
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Ranma and Akane stiffened as the first roar of the Dark God shook the forest.
Their heads snapped around so fast that everyone in the courtyard heard the
crack of displaced air. Their wings flared outwards in agitation as both hissed
loudly in anger. Noduka felt an overwhelming fear flood her system as she
beheld the frightening sight of the red eyes. Suddenly, realizing the danger,
she yelled, Quickly, everyoneget to cover!
Ku-Lon blanched as she experienced the sensation of her heart stopping before it resumed its proper beat. The elder knew on some deep inner lever that this thing was something to be feared. Heedless of her great-granddaughter's plight, she wasted no time in trying to get to the safety of the building while yelling, "RUN!"
The young martial artists might have stayed to fight but it was quickly forgotten
when they noticed that even Ku-Lon ran for her life. Come on let's
go! Ukyo yelled, grabbing Ryoga's hand and pulling him into a doorway.
Mu-Tsu cursed fluently in manderin as he grabbed Shan-Pu and ran towards the
safty of the building. Once inside, everyone glanced worriedly at Ranma and
Akane. They blinked in surprise as they beheld the awsome site of the battle
that was occuring just overhead. Now, the Nerimians were finally able to see
for themselves that it was no longer safe to anger their friends. Silently
they gave up on winning the hand of the ones they wanted and admitted, Ranma
and Akane had become something to be feared.
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Akane crouched low to the ground, feet shifting back and forth, her neck undulating as she hissed loudly. Anger ran hot through her veins trying to blot out all reason. She fought to keep her humanity intact and barely managed to bring herself under control. Instincts known and unknown, ones that had been locked away for over a millenium surged to the fore. It beat in a rhythm that echoed in her brain, lungs and heart. As Akane stared at the darkness, her mind merged with Ranma's so that they could fight as one. It's the Dark God! Akane's mind screamed her thoughts to Ranma.
We have to defeat it or everyone will die! his powerful thought surged through their link as Ranma emphasized the thought with a screaming roar of challenge.
Yes, we have to protect everyone. Come on, Ranma let's go! Akane roared, echoing Ranma's challenge, the ground shook as both of their tails lashed at the flagstones.
Suddenly, Ranma and Akane launched themselves at the oncoming threat. Their bodies blurring from the rate of speed in which they had moved. They flew by instinct alone, firing their flaming breaths towards the Dark God. Both, knew the consequenses should they fail to get as far away from the estate as possible.
This is what I was born to do, Akane thought briefly before glancing towards her companion after they had passed their target and continued gaining altitude. Akane glanced over her shoulder as her wings beat furiously. That was when she saw the Dark God gaining on them.
no this is what...we...were been born to do, Ranma's brief thought echoed through her mind. Then, the golden dragon caught the image of the oncoming threat from Akane's mind. Heeding some inner voice, both inhaled deeply stoking the fire deep in their bellies. Whirling, they dove at breakneck speed toward the rising cloud. Once into position, Ranma and Akane let loose a ten-foot wide swath of fiery breath along each of the dark cloud's mysty sides. Without pausing when they heard the dark god's roar of fury, the two martial artists wheeled, catching a rising warm current of air and began beating their wings, gaining the precious altitude that they desired.
As the strange vapor that surrounded their enemy disappeared, Ranma and Akane
were able to get a good look at its true form. The bright sun revealed a black
dragon that was bigger in size and breadth than herself and Ranma put together.
Their opponent was about the size of a nine-story building and about as long
as a football field. It had talons as long as a mid sized car and six foot
long teeth. Its wingspan measured to about twice its body size in length and
were somewhat bat like in appearance but they were covered with a slimy substance
that gave off a foul odor.
"Oh Kami, that's what it really looks like?" Ranma thought as he beheld the huge creature.
"Hey! It looks just like the picture on my covers!" Akane thought absently as she strained to maintain the grueling pace they had set when launching themselves from the courtyard.
"You're kidding right?" Ranma replied as he tried to sense any on-coming attacks. He was distracted briefly by the feeling of irritation that flooded through their link when he asked that question. In that moment of distraction, the dark god attacked.
Suddenly, they felt an enormous heat licking at their tails, Ranma glanced over his shoulder to see a giant fireball heading straight for them. Akane! Roll! he mentally screamed as he suited action to words by folding one wing and rolling out of the flaming ball's path. Akane, he noted did the same, but she had hesitated for a brief moment. It was a moment to late when the flames singed her back.
Akane heard Ranma's cry and it took a moment to comprehend what the heck he was screaming about. It was then that she caught the flickering image from his mind, felt the scorching heat licking the bottom of her tail, she knew she wasn't going to make it in time. Franticly, she tried to roll as Ranma had suggested but it was too late. The fireball slammed into her back, the intense heat, ripping through her tough scales and to the tender skin and muscle beneath, blood splattered through the air as Akane convulsed in mid air. Aaaaaaaaaaa! Akane mentally screamed, roaring loudly at the intense pain, she fell swiftly towards the hard unforgiving earth.
Ranma screamed as she fell. Without
a seconds thought to the oncoming threat, Ranma dove after her.
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Intense pain flooded her system, blocking out every thought, closer and closer she fell towards the rocky earth. Martialing her will, Akane blocked out her pain while struggling to right herself in mid air. Her back screaming in protest, Akane flared her wings, and scramed in pain as she felt something tear deep in her back. Ignored the pain, she extened her wings to their full length and sighed in releaf as precious air filled them, stopping her fall.
Rumbling in releaf, the scarlet dragon glanced down and almost fainted at the sight that met her eyes. There, just below her, were the jagged rocks at the bottom of a waterfall. Akane gulped down the rising bile when noticing that she had only one hundred feet left before she would have died a horrible death. "Oh God! I almost died!" she thought as she stared in horror at the pointy tiped rocks. "GrrrrrrRooaaaarrrr!" she growled low in anger. Then, the growling turned into a screaming roar of fury as she launched herself once more into the sky.
"This time I won't be take by suprise so easily!" she thought as she closed on the duling pair. Akane knew that she had to help Ranma and quickly because this opponent would kill them easily if they didn't work together. "Besides," she reasoned, "He can't do it alone and....I won't let him!"
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The Dark God paused briefly before he dove to intercept the foolish golden's
plight to save the scarlet one. The scarlet one had long since disappeared
below the clouds. "Perfect!" it hissed,
watching patiently for the golden dragon to come within range. Judging that
Ranma was close enough; the Dark God inhaled and let loose the largest swath
of flames that the pigtailed boy had ever seen produced.
"Whoa!" Ranma yelled mentally, franticly pumping his wings, Ranma tried to get himself out of range. He could feel the flames gaining on him. He strained to work them harder, but an intense heat singed his left flank. "Ooowww!" he screamed. Ignoring the pain he rolled out of the path of another fireball. Out form the corner of his eye, Ranma saw Akane recover from her fall and was releaved. Then, wasting no more time, he quickly circled around in a tight turn that would bring him as close to his target as possible. Ranma dove at the black dragon, picking up a tremendous amount of speed and flexing his claw like hands, he attacked. Slamming into the massive body,Ranma sunk his claws deep into the flesh and clung like a barnacle.
"Roooowwwwrrrrrrr," the dark god screamed, thrashing in mid air as it tried to dislodge the unwanted weight on its back. But, Ranma only dug his claws in deeper, opening his mouth, he blasted the dark god with another fire ball and screamed, "Akane! Go! I'll distract it while you do a sneak attack from above!
"BUT..." Akane tried to protest but Ranma was having none of it.
"GO!" He screamed harshly while trying to stay attached to the Dark God's back. He could feel himself slipping with each violent movment of the evil beings body.
"Ok, but...be careful, Ranma!" Akane replied as she quickly gained altitude and disappeared into the thick cloud cover. As soon as Akane was out of site, Ranma breathed a mental sigh of releaf. But, it was quickly obliterated from his mind as the razor sharp tail of the dark god swung around, knocking him off the Dark God's back and flinging him into the air.
Roaring in uncontrolled fury, the Dark God dove after Ranma. Raising a forearm
as large as a tree trunk, the Dark God swiftly brough its talons to bear.
Ranma saw the on coming blow and contorted his body, the strike missed his
head. But, Ranma wasn't fast enough to get completely out of the way
as the other forearm swung around and caught him on his thigh, opening a gaping
wound that bled furiously. Ranma roared in pain,
but he ignored it and managed to stay in the air.
Suddenly, Ranma heard a whistling noise and was knocked backwards by a vicious tail blow to the head, knocking him unconcous for a breif second. Before the gold dragon had recovered, the Dark God attaked again, raking another of its claws across Ranma's chest, opening five large gashes.
"Arrgh!" Ranma screamed, the pain was so intense that he couldn't bare it, faultering for a moment, Ranma managed to block out the pain and stay airborn. "I have to keep it distracted or Akane wont be able to get her attack in." Ranma rolled when he sensed a presence from above him, it was just in time too, because the Dark God's massive jaws snapped shut in the spot where he had just been. "Oh, Kami! I hope she gets here soon! I don't know how much longer I can do this!"
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Akane hovered, hidden from view while Ranma kept the Dark God busy with his continuous attacks. Spotting a brief opening, she folded her wings tightly to her back dropped like a stone. Just as she was about to rip open a large tear in one of the Dark God's wings, it somehow sensed the oncoming attack, whipped its long neck around, jaws agape, it lunged.
Spotting the oncoming attack, Akane painfully folded one wing, her injured back muscles screaming a protest she instinctivly barrel-rolled to avoid being impaled between the Dark God's jaws. While she was occupied with regaining control, The Dark God's razor sharp tail cracked through the air, slamming into Akane's left foreleg, a loud snapping sound rang through the sky. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Akane's screaming roar of shock, pain and surprise echoed throughout the heavens as she dropped like a stone in an uncontrolled fall.
"Akane!" Ranma roared her name through their link as he frantically dove to help her regain control. He dodged another firestorm strike from the Dark God while sending a retaliating gout of flame directly into its eyes, blinding it briefly. As he managed to palace himself in the trajectory of her fall, he was able to get a good look at the gaping wound. It was deep and looked to be as painful as his own. Reaching out, he was able to grasp her about the back, stopping her spin.
"You alright Akane?" he asked as he straigned to keep them both in the air while at the same time avoid the numerous fireballs that were wizzing past.
"It hurts....Ranma. I think that blow broke my left arm. But....I'll live," she gasped, Akane quickly managed to shake off the pain, "Thank you, Ranma....for catching me."
Ranma glanced towards her arm and noticed a piece of bone that was sticking through the skin. He swallowed the rising bile and angrilly growled,"That was a stupid thing to do Akene! You could have been killed!"
"I was worried about you and I had to do something!" Akane yelled weakly, she was angry at what he just said but she was glad to hear a hint of worry lacing through his rough words and repeated her earlier words. "...thank you anyway...for saving me."
"Hey, it was nothin..." he started to say but was suddenly cut off as a vicious blow slammed into both of them.
Ranma went tumbling through the air while Akane struggled through her pain to keep herself airborn. Each beat of her wings or twitch of her muscles brough excruciating pain. When she managed to control her shaky flight, Akane glanced in the direction that Ranma had fallen. What she saw horrified her. Ranma was caught in the dark god's grip and was struggling to break free and the Dark God was slowly crushing him as it tightened its massive hands.
"AKANE HEL...P! AAAAAAAA!" Ranma screamed in agony as he flet the constricter like grip tightening further, crushing his ribs and putting a massive strane on the bones in his wings. The massive claws from the Dark God penetrated further into his skin with each squeeze. Ranma didn't know how much longer he would be able to bear the pain.
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"RANMA!" Akane roared as she heard his agonized scream. Swiftly, Akane dove, heading directly for the dark god's hands as she intended to get it to realease him but she veered up, changing her trajectory. Extending her claws, Akane aimed them for the Dark God's eyes and struck. Tearing at the vulnerable eyes with both sets of talons, Akane raked her hind claws across its snout in a desprate bid to get the Dark God to realease Ranma.
The Dark God roared in pain, releasing the golden dragon as it reached up with two massive hands tipped with extremely large talons and knocked the annoying offendor off and into the air. Then Dark God hissed, "Now, you die!" before shooting a fifty foot wide blast of fire directly at Akane as she fell. Akane franticly beat her wings and managed to raise herself above the searing heat. She passed directly above its head, once more, raking her tallons acrosse the black dragon's neck while she barely managed to avoid its teeth.
Ranma noticed that Akane was keeping the Dark God busy for the moment so he decided to try to get in another shot. The pain coming from his thigh and chest was excruciating, but he ignored it. Tucking his legs tight to his belly, he climbed from below, aiming for the vulnerable part of the Dark God...the underbelly.
As Akane kept the enemy distracted she felt his pain and winced. She was very worried for him but she knew that they had to defeat their opponent so she pushed her worry to the side and linked her mind to her partner's, Ranma! We have to do the Kami no Seppa! Keep distracting him so I can get a good shot in!
Ok! But ya better hurrycause this thing is tougher than I thought!
he yelled through their mind link. Turning his attention back towards his
massive opponent, Ranma stopped heading for the Dark God's belly and hovered
in mid air while shooting off multiple fireballs. Gathering some of his reserves,
he steadily channeled some of his power towards Akane while at the same time
dodging a thirty-mile wide gout of flame.
Gathering their combined power she channelled it into herself to perform the Kami no Seppa technique. Noticing that she was close enough to the Dark God without being seen, Akane concentrated on focusing the power through their link. Suddenly, she started pulsing with the massive amout of energy. Straigning, Akane tried to hold it until it was completed, but it was so difficult, "Ranma...I...I can't...help me," she unconcously called out to him. Warmth flooded her system and the slipping control was regained once more, somehow Akane knew that Ranma was lending her his streagth.
Grinning ferealy, Akane dove, streaking through the darkening sky, she shown so brightly that it could be compared to a shooting star. Nearing her target, Akane flew faster as something told her that she must get closer. Once within range, she opened her jaws and prepared to let it go. Streames of light flew towards her mouth to form a shape of a ball, one that grew to the size of a small boulder. Ranma's eyes widened as he realized that she wasn't going to fire a small shot, she was going to give it everything she had. "No...," he whispered. "No don't hold it any longer....if you do you'll blast yourself apart....AKANE! Fire it now!"
Suddenly, the world was covered in white for a brief instant as Akane released
the bomb. Spreding outward, the concussive force of their combined strenght
engulfed the Dark God and then silently rippled outward. Akane had a split
second to realize the danger before it hit. * BOOOOOOMMMMMMM! *
"Ranmaaaaa!"Akane screamed as she was thrown tail over snout, tumbling backwards throught he sky. Contorting her body, Akane tried to right herself before she slammed into the mountainside. Nothing she did worked, panic began flooding her system. Then, just as suddenly as she was spinning, she slammed into a hard object that grunted upon impact, "Ooof!"
Glancing over her shoulder she noticed that Ranma had caught her, stopping her fall and saving her from breaking her wings. "Are you ok, Akane?"
Akane knew that her attack had weakened her but, she was able to recover quickly.
Don't worry Ranma, I'm ok! she replied. Breaking
away from each other, they flew towards the Dragon God in zigzagging pattern
while avoiding its flaming breath and lashing claws and tail. A few beats
of its large bat like wings produced gale force winds that made it difficult
to fly in.
Both were knocked off course repeatedly but managed to regain their origional flight path while avoiding teeth, claws, flame and tail swipes that could kill them. After multiple repeated attacks of using their flaming breath, teeth and claws they finally manage to weaken the Dragon God by opening multiple gaping wounds all over it's body. They noticed its wings faltering for a brief instant and knew that this is what they had been waiting for. "Ranma...." Akane thought towards her companion.
"Now! Akane! We must perform the Jiro jen Kenshumi technique!" Ranma screamed.
"Right, let's do it!" Akane replied before they began glowing bright white. Reaching out instinctively they held their claws out over a space of thirty feet apart and streams of energy flew back and forth between them, gathering in strenght.
* Lighning flashed... *
* Thunder rumbled... *
* The sky's darkened to the blackness of night... *
The two glowing dragons started spinning, faster and faster, until the two were no longer distinguishable. As they spun, they maintained their positions while the great ball of magical fire engulfed them. Ranma and Akane were no longer conscious of the outside world, they were completely focused on their enemy as they speed directly towards him.
The Dragon God regained enough energy to martial one more attack, "I
will not be defeated! If I die...then, I will take you with me!" it
roared! The black dragon gave one strong beat of his massive wings while gathering
all of his magical energy as he shot towards his enemies. When the power was
at maximum, the Dark God started to glow a sickly green color. Positioning
its foreclaws infront of its body, the energy pulsed between its clawed hands
as the Dark God prepared to release its attack.
Unfortuately, the Dark God wasn't fast enough to avoid being swallowed by Ranma and Akane's combined attack. As the two chosen whirrled around the Dark God, the energy from the Jiro jen Kenshumi crackled with electricity, flaring brighter than the sun. In the center of the ball, an intense heat erupted, the heat was the kind that created universes, obliterating the Dark God before it had a change to attack.
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Ranma and Akane's spin slowed, then stopped. "We....we did it!" they thought panting. Every wound received during the battle bled profusely, maing themselves known with the slightest hint of movement. Their blood was indistinguishable from the blackend skin of their charred flesh. As they finaly managed to muster enough stength to continue towards home, the two staggered through the air determined to reach home.
As they landed unsteadily in the courtyard, Akane's right foreleg collapsed under her weight. "Owwwwwrrrrr,"Akane screaming roar echoed through the courtyard.
Noduka, Soun and the rest of the gang ran swiftly to her side. Noduka was the first to her side and gasped in horror at the extent of inuries that covered Akane's body. "Oh my god!"
Soun ran faster at Noduka's exclamation of horror. "What is it?" he asked just before he glanced towards Akane. When he saw the amount of damage covering his youngest daughters body, he screamed, "My baby!" Shakily reaching out a hand, Soun gently touched her broken forearm,"Are you alright?"
Akane lowered her massive head and smiled toothily at her father, "I'm fine daddy," she thought at him before remembering that her father couldn't hear her. As she realized this she werily noded her head and hummed a responce. She was startled when her father started wailing, "Waaaaaa! That nasty monster hurt my little girl!"
Ku-lon hoped over to see the damage and pointed at the injury,
"We must get the bone back in proper alighnment or it will become seriously
infected." She frowned while glancing over the rest of Akane's draconic
form and shighed werily, "The problem is how do we do it with her being
this way?"
Genma came forward and inspected the break with a worried frown before an
idea struck. "Ranma, come here," Genma called to his son.
As Ranma made his way toward Akane, he favored his left back leg but no one noticed since their attentions were focused on Akane. Ranma knew what his father wanted so he didn't need to be told to set Akene's arm. He was tired but thoughts of taking care of Akane overrode his weriness. Quickly, before anyone suspected what he was about, Ranma grabbed Akane's arm and pushed the bone inside while pulling at the same time.
"AAAAAAAAAAA," Akane roared as the bone snapped back into place, blacking out for a brief second as the pain became too intense. She almost fell to the flagstones but Ranma suppored her and waitied for her to recover. When Akane came too, Ranma asked, "Akane, do you need any help?"
Blinking, Akane focused her attention on him. Akane was confident that she was going to be able to suport herself. But, when she tried to put some weight on it, she almost fell from the amount of pain that shot through her forearm. "Yes, I'm so tired, Ranma. I want to sleep...but, I don't think I can make it to the chamber. I think I'm going to need help walking."
Ranma turned his shoulder towards her, so she could lean against him. With each step, he staggered, his unsteady gate slowing them down. But, he was determined to help her even if it hurt him to do so. Ranma knew that he was badly hurt but, his first thought was to ingore his injures and help Akane. Slowly, Ranma helped Akane to walk. Both, knew they were seriously wounded and instinctively headed towards the one place that would help them recover.
"Ranma? Naduka called out to her son as she kept pace with him. When he didn't bother turning his attention towards her but continued heading towards the stone wall, she hurred her steps so that she was directly in front of him. It was then that she saw the seriousness of their injuries. "Oh my God!" Noduka gasped, raising her hand she pointed it directly towards Ranma's chest and screamed, "Genma! Come Quick!"
Genma ran to his wife's side faster than anyone though the fat martial artist could move and glanced towards his transformed son. When he saw the severity of damage, he almost fainted on the spot. The wounds were so deep that he could see the bones of Ranma's ribcage. "Oh god..." he gasped before he quickly ran towards the wall in which the lever had been cleverly hidden.
"Saotome?" Soun said as he quickly hurried towards the pale faced martial artist. "Do you think it wise to show our guests the chamber?"
"We cant worry about that now Tendo...the amount of damage that Ranma and Akane have sustained will kill them if they don't reach the room soon," Genma repled as he depressed the panel. The door slid open with a loud grating sound, then two shadows covered the fathers. Genma and Soun quickly got out of the way, since they didn't want to be crushed beneith the combined weight of thier draconic children.
As Ranma and Akane passed through the portal, the stones pulsed as the magic of the long dormant chamber came to life. Between one breath and the next, the soot and blood that covered their bodies was magically whipped away. Once in the center of the room, Ranma and Akane stopped, panting for breath, they lowered themselves to the stone floor, groaning in pain as their injures protested the movement. "Ranma?" Akane called to him.
"Yeah, 'kane...what is it?" he asked her, as he glanced in her direction from the corner of his eye.
"I don't think I can stay awake any longer," Akane replied sleepily while yawning.
"Me too, Akane..." Ranma replied as he shifted to find a more confortable postion without agrivating his injuries. "for some reason I'm aufully tired." He yawned before continueing, "I think that's what we're supposed to do in here." He lifted his head and pointed with his chin, "look at those stones on the walls. I think they will make us sleep until our injures are healed." Just as their eyes were closing they heard a scuffling sound that instantly snapped them awake. Glancing in the direction that it had come from they saw that the Nerima gang had followed them.
Ukyo walked into the chamber and her eyes almost poped out of her head as
she was the glowing stones that covered the walls. "Oh my god! What the
hell is this place?"
Ryoga walked into the room and gaped at the site. He unconcously seconded Ukyo's question as he nodded his head. Shan-Pu, Mu-Tsu and Ku-Lon followed right behind him. The anchint amazon almost had heart failure when she felt the massive amounts of magical energy flooding the room. "By all of my ancestors...I heard of a place like this...but I never knew that it really existed!" she whispered in shock.
"What is this place great-grandmother?" Shan-Pu asked, she truned her head to and froe, taking in the huge chamber and the bright pulsing lights.
"Yes, I'm curious as well," Mu-Tsu interjected doing much the same as his companions.
"This," Noduka said as she stepped forward. "Is the healing chamber and it has been in our families since after the first battle with the Dark God. It was unfortunate that the first chosen died of multiple injuries just after they had won the battle. This chamber was constructed in the event that if the Dark God escaped, it could be used to heal the people of our families and the future chosen."
Genma stpped forward and replied seriously, "We ask that you not mention this place to anyone. If they were to find out and steal just one of the jewels...the magic of this chamber would be forever lost."
"How come they haven't changed back?" Ukyo asked curiously.
Noduka glanced over towards her son and said, "Ranma
and Akane need the chamber to heal their injures. This chamber induces a kind
of healing sleep, so we should let them rest."
"Yeah, they should have changed back by now," Ryoga said as he glanced
towards the two dragons lying in the middle of the chamber.
"I think their injuries are too extensive...and in their weakened condition they won't be able to change back," Kasumi replied as she soothingly rubbed her youngest sisters neck. Akane was enjoying the attention of her oldest sister and hummed in pleasure. The eldest Tendo had entered the chamber so quietly that no one had noticed she was there. In the brief time that the others had been talking, she had decided to check on her sister and Ranma to see if they had needed anything. When she had asked them they had replied with brief negitive shakes of their heads.
"Come on people, we need to leave them alone. Their
falling asleep already," Nabiki said as she pointed towards her sister.
As one, the group glanced towards the two changed martial artists and were
rewarded with a brief toothy grin. Then, their eyes slowly drifted closed.
Just before they fell asleep they placed their heads down on the floor so
that their faces rested close together, then unconcousness took them. Their
gins were interpreted by everyone and they knew Ranma and Akane were saying,
we did it!.
Kulon grinned at their peaceful expression before turning, "Let's let
them sleep," she said. Then she exited the room as she followed the Tendo's
and Saotome's to wait for the two to wake.
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A few days have passed with no movement from either Ranma or Akane. Everyone
was starting to get worried about them. The waiting was finally broken when
on the fourteenth day as the Saotome's and Tendo's sat in the great
hall along with their guests while Noduka paced like a caged tiger. Ranma
and Akane should have awoken by now, Noduka said worriedly.
Sometimes dragons go into a form of hibernation. The body shuts down and time looses all meaning to them. It is only when they need to heal the gravest of life threatening injuries, Ku-Lon said thoughtfully as she gazed into the crackling fire.
What you mean, great-grandmother? Shan-Pu asked curiously.
Yeah, you mean to say that since Ran-chan and Akane are now dragonsthat they're affected by this type of healing sleep? Ukyo said.
How much longer do you think it will last? Ryoga asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.
Ku-Lon sighed sadly; she missed the two boisterous martial artists already.
Since their forced slumber the days had been dragging on slowly, it had become
boring and very depressing watching the two families waiting for them to awaken.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her great-granddaughter moping in one
corner of the room tracing invisible figures on the stone floor. Ku-Lon decided
that they should know that it could be a long time before the two woke up.
Frowning, the elder decided to give them the bad news first. You must
forget about Ranma and Akane. It could be days, months or years before they
wake or they may never awaken again in our life times.
"You can't be serious!" Ukyo yelled in shock.
"Oh, but I am, child," Ku-Lon replied as she rose to her feet and made her way out the door. All who were gathered in the chamber could hear her as she yelled over her shoulder, "Shan-Pu! Mu-Tsu! Gather your things...we leave in an hour!"
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Later that day:
"We will be going home, back to China, just as soon as we finish selling
the restraunt. I will explain the situation to the council and I'm sure that
Shan-Pu's honor will be restored. She will have to find another fighter for
her husband," Ku-Lon said werily as they exited the courtyard.
Turning towards the others, the Saotome matriarch glanced back at the main
part of the house before releasing a weary sigh. "I agree with the elder,"
Noduka replied, feeling all the weight of her fears weigh hevily on her shoulders.
She knew that they couldn't stay much longer since they had duties to perform.
"Yes," Soun whispered as he thought about his youngest. "It is time to go back to Nerima. We will wait for them there." With those last words said, the two families gathered their belongings with heavy hearts and left the estate in the gathering twightlight. No one looked back because they knew that if they did, they would break down and cry. They were heading home and would await the return of their loved ones from there.
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