To Fly Away
By: Abby Kitty Disclaimer: All characters of Ranma ½ are the property of none other then Rumiko Takahashi.
Well, here it is, the long awaited meeting! So I hope you enjoy it! That's all I need to say!
On with the story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 3
Angel
A Blue Jay, whom we've met previously, silently followed a crimson and gold carriage. It's wings beat silently as it followed the carriage closely, the princess needed to be protected at all costs and the closer she got to the dark castle of terra, the greater at risk she became. You see this Blue Jay was no ordinary bird; this Blue Jay was actually the fabled blue phoenix that had come back to life after millions of years for reasons as yet unknown. A smile adorned its eyes as he watched the princess gaze up at him and wave. The girl was very perceptive and she had his own blood within her, he would make sure that she stay safe and found the prince of Terra. As the carriage approached the castle the Jay nodded to itself and flew into a tree close to the castle to wait until the time presented itself.
Akane stepped out of the coach, brushed off her dress and looked up at the black castle in awe. It's walls were black marble with silver veins. Its roof was made out of black diamond and they seemed to suck up any light that was available! Seeing the magnificent castle made one wonder about the death toll that went into building the structure! It was said that the castle had been created from the tears of the Great War and that if you were not strong enough in heart, then your mind would become corrupted. Scholars do not believe this to be true, however, they think that the castle had stood far beyond the time of war and that it once was the capital of some ancient kingdom. It wasn't uncommon to find deserted castles out in the world, for after the Great War, much of the world had been lost to memory.
To Akane, words her sister had told her about the castle were more frightening then the thought of becoming corrupted. Nabiki had told her once that there were ghosts in the castle that liked to prey on little girls souls for a heartfelt meal of great proportions. Remembering that Nabiki had said they howl in the night in order to frighten their "Prey" and then the child would be so frightened that they couldn't move and that was when the ghosts would dive in for the kill. Remembering how Nabiki had described how the ghosts were deceptively beautiful and how the only way you knew they were what they were was by looking to their blood colored drool. Akane quickly clutched at her mothers robes and buried her head in the long-billowing fabric.
Kimiko smiled at her daughter, the first meeting of strangers was always a bit frightening. Especially if it was a meeting between two different races. Yes, Kimiko knew about Nodoka. To Kimiko, it was that one should never judge another unless that person gave reason to be judged. So as long as Nodoka was civil towards Kimiko and her family then Kimiko would be just as civil toward Nodoka and hers. Of course Kimiko knew it was hard to find a Cantos who wasn't really predidguce toward her people, and she doubted the woman now approaching them knew anything about who Kimiko truly was. After all, few knew that Kimiko was the princess of the Callimarii people.
Nodoka greeted the Tendos at the entrance to the castle with a smile, "Welcome to our home."
Nodoka's eyes traveled to the child destined to be married to her son and smiled at the beautiful girl, "Wow," The child in question breathed, she slowly walk to Nodoka in awe, "Your pretty!"
Nodoka grinned down at the small Tendo, she definitely liked her. The adults laughed at Akane's blunt but kind compliment. The small tension that had been growing between the adults had quickly been dashed away by the innocent five year old.
"Well," Nodoka said cheerfully, "You must be famished from your journey, please come in and have some tea. My husband should be here shortly." Her smile momentarily faltered at the mention of her husband but no one noticed.
As the adults talked, Akane decided that this was as good a time as any to sneak away unnoticed to explore the ominous castle. Of course Akane was frightened of the place but her curiosity overrid that fear. By the time that Akane had left the room, Genma Saotome had come into the room, kissed his worried wife and sat down to catch up with his old friend.
The halls in the castle were absolutely huge. They were black marble just like the rest of the castle but the ceilings extended 40 feet above Akane's head and there were huge pillars every so often that had beautiful carvings of dragons twirling op the pillars. The carvings weren't just on the pillars but on the walls as well. The dragons on the walls were flying in the clouds , and with the silver veins in the marble, the allusion of flying with dragons on a starry night was all too real for the five year old wondering the high arched halls. Every window on the walls had silver- silk curtains. There were no tapestries hanging on the walls for that would only cover up the beautiful carvings on the walls. Akane skipped and laughed down the halls pretending to be one of the dragons in the marble. She was tempted to bring her own wings but that was when she heard some horribly heart-wrenching sobs.
Akane stopped for a minute to listen the sad sound and decided to follow it. If it were a ghost, she reasoned, then she would simply fly away. Akane flowed the sound up a long dark stairway that had no light except the strange glow that came from the silver veins in the marble walls. She followed the sound to the front of a ten-foot door that was carved to show one giant black dragon fighting a giant white phoenix. Around the fighting pair were hundreds on dragons fighting phoenixes in a bloody battle. Akane took a step back for the doors gave off an ominous aura of dark power and pain. That was when the haunting sobs stopped. Akane's fear for what is happening to whomever was sobbing grew to the amount that she decided to just push the door open and run through intent on helping whomever was hurt.
Akane quickly found herself in a huge circular room with a ceiling that seemed ten-feet higher then the ceilings in the hall. The roof was also made of black diamond making the sun look like a black hole in the sky. The room was virtually empty accept the huge bed with silk black covers and a dresser and a few weapons used for training. In the middle of the floor was a huge tile collage with an intricate design of a phoenix and a black dragon dancing in some stars. The giant pillars holding up the ceiling had the intertwining figures of white marble phoenixes with gold veins dancing with more black marble dragons with silver veins. It was so dark in the room that Akane could barely see this. She quickly ran over to one of the windows and opened the huge black curtains. Sunlight flooded into the room causing Akane to gasp as she noticed the artsmanship in the room. There were several windows the same size of the door open between each pillar. Akane walked to the middle of the room noticing a strange red stain leading from the middle of the collage to the bed.
Akane followed the stain and noticed a lump in the middle of the bed. Curious, she crawled onto the bed and crawled toward the lump that on closer inspection was shaking. Akane knew that whoever was under those blankets was the one who had produced those sobs. Akane's eyes softened as her fear completely left her systems. She reached out her hand and gently put her hand on the frightened lump. It flinched away from her causing her to giggle.
"Why you 'fraid of Ne-ne?" She asked the lump, "Ne-ne no like to hurt anyone."
At the sound of her voice the lump completely stiffened, as if it were afraid to move. Akane made a quick decision and crawled up to the top of the bed. She lifted the covers and peered into the silky black depths. She smiled when her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she was greeted by what looked to be the tattered face of a young boy. His whole body was covered in cuts and bruises and he was huddled in a pool of his own blood and tears. A single tear fell out of the most beautiful blue eyes Akane had ever seen. His Shirt which probably once was a beautiful royal blue color was nothing but a few rags that clung to his skin and his long ebony hair was now drenched in his own blood. Akane held out her hand and smiled gently.
"C'mon," she said quietly, "Ne-ne' not gonna hurt you. Ne-ne want to help you!"
Slowly the boy inched his way out of the covers and took her hand. Warmth flooded through his cold hand and he looked into the Akane's chocolate eyes in wonder.
"Are you an angel?" He asked in awe.
Akane giggled, "No silly," She grinned, "I'm Akane! My mommy's Callimarii though!"
His hand retracted from her as if he had been bitten by a snake, "Cal- Callimarii?!" He asked scared all over again.
Akane's eyes began to water and she looked at the boy in front of her hurt, "What's wrong with Callimarrii?"
"I'm cantos!" He said as if that solved everything.
Akane's eyes turned from sad to confused, "So?"
Ranma couldn't believe it, why didn't she understand? "But aren't all Callimarii monsters who want nothing more then to destroy the Cantos race?!"
Now she looked at him as though he had grown a second head, "No! Why would anyone want to hurt anyone?"
Ranma stared at her amazed, "so you don't want to hurt me?"
Akane put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes cutely, "Well duh! Ne- ne wanted to heeeellllppp you."
The boy looked at her sheepishly, "Oh. I guess the stories aren't true then."
Akane looked at him confused but didn't say anything as he grimaced and fell to the bed. She quickly crawled over to him and took of the rest of his shirt.
"What're you doing?" He asked weakly.
"I'm trying to help Cantos boy." She said a bit panicked, she was worried that he was near death.
"My names Ranma." He struggled out.
Akane put her finger on his mouth trying to keep him quiet as tears began to fall down her cheeks. She gently wrapped her arms around him and began to sing. Her song flowed through his broken soul taking the broken strands and tying them back together as her tears mended his wounds. When he was as healed as she could get him to be she laid him down and pulled the now clean covers over his sleeping form and lay her head down on his chest. His arms instinctively wrapped around her small form and she borrowed in his warmth. Soon Akane was asleep as well and the moonlight fell over them in a creamy caress.
~*#!#*~
Two sapphire eyes opened to the sunlight pouring through the spacious round room. Ranma Saotome squinted his eyes from the sunlight and looked down at the beautiful little girl sleeping peacefully in his arms. A small wind blew through an open window and tasseled a few stray strands of her slightly messy raven hair into her face causing Ranma to tuck them away on impulse. His intense eyes softened as he watched her sleep and the corners of his lips quirked up in what could be mistaken as a smile as he noticed her amazingly red lips were parted slightly in a smile of their own. There was no pain from the previous night and there was no sign of blood of any kind on the sheets. If healing and purifying was the power of the Callimarii then he didn't see any reason to fear the race let alone kill them. After all hadn't this small Callimarii child saved his life? No, they were far to gentle and kind to hate or fear.
Ranma's eyes shifted to the door and he sat up abruptly but he was careful to not wake the sleeping angel beside him. There in the doorway stood his mother. Her black Kimono flowed to the floor like lava and she walked toward him with a lithe agility not born to humans. Her usually blue eyes glowed silver and her claws slowly retracted in time with her wings. Ranma's eyes showed fear but his face showed determination and confidence as he clutched the sheets and laid one hand on Akane's hand.
Nodoka's eyes shifted to their hands and she visibly relaxed, "So you have met your fiancé."
Ranma's eyes widened and he turned his face to Akane stunned, "My...?"
Nodoka's eyes softened, "Yes. I am glad that you had found her, her parents have been worried."
Ranma looked at his lap sheepishly, "Um... Actually, she found me."
Nodoka nodded to her son, "I see." She paused and decided to pick her words carefully as she studied the children, "Ranma, the Cantos assassins have informed me of some sort of Callimarii activity coming from this room." Ranma stiffened and his hold on Akane's hand tightened a bit, "You wouldn't know anything would you?"
Her eyes bore into Ranma's and left no room for lies or defiance and with a courage Ranma didn't know he was capable of feeling Ranma looked Nodoka in the eyes and said bluntly, "No."
The two held each others gazes for a few minutes before Nodoka tuned to walk out of the room, "Very well."
As she exited the room Ranma looked at the girl that he now knew was his fiancée. If she stayed in Terra she would be in grave trouble. The cantos assassins were a group of Cantos solders who could sense callimarii within a hundred mile radius. They used those senses to track down and kill the Callimarii people. An elite few of them were his mother's personal guards and these few lived in the Palace itself in secret. The only reason Ranma knew about it was because he had befriended an assassin in training. Ukyo didn't know that maybe she shouldn't kill the Callimarii people because she had never met one before. Ranma was beginning to realize how misplaced all of this hope and fear was, and how dumb it was to start a war between two races whose hate was built on rumor and lies.
Ranma buried his face in Akane's hair breathing in the sent of the air and of wind. He wrapped his eyes around his fiancée and knew what had to be done. A single tear fell from his eye as she brought her arms around his as well. It felt so good to feel loved and maybe needed. She was so fragile in his arms and his decision was set in stone. He breathed in her scent one last time before adorning a determined look, He'd have to get her and her family out by tonight.
Yes! Next chapter done!!!!!!!!! The next one might be a while because I have a huge assighnment that I'm going to be working on for school! Damn finals. Well how'd you like it? Tell me and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ja Ne!!!!
Abby Kitty!
By: Abby Kitty Disclaimer: All characters of Ranma ½ are the property of none other then Rumiko Takahashi.
Well, here it is, the long awaited meeting! So I hope you enjoy it! That's all I need to say!
On with the story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 3
Angel
A Blue Jay, whom we've met previously, silently followed a crimson and gold carriage. It's wings beat silently as it followed the carriage closely, the princess needed to be protected at all costs and the closer she got to the dark castle of terra, the greater at risk she became. You see this Blue Jay was no ordinary bird; this Blue Jay was actually the fabled blue phoenix that had come back to life after millions of years for reasons as yet unknown. A smile adorned its eyes as he watched the princess gaze up at him and wave. The girl was very perceptive and she had his own blood within her, he would make sure that she stay safe and found the prince of Terra. As the carriage approached the castle the Jay nodded to itself and flew into a tree close to the castle to wait until the time presented itself.
Akane stepped out of the coach, brushed off her dress and looked up at the black castle in awe. It's walls were black marble with silver veins. Its roof was made out of black diamond and they seemed to suck up any light that was available! Seeing the magnificent castle made one wonder about the death toll that went into building the structure! It was said that the castle had been created from the tears of the Great War and that if you were not strong enough in heart, then your mind would become corrupted. Scholars do not believe this to be true, however, they think that the castle had stood far beyond the time of war and that it once was the capital of some ancient kingdom. It wasn't uncommon to find deserted castles out in the world, for after the Great War, much of the world had been lost to memory.
To Akane, words her sister had told her about the castle were more frightening then the thought of becoming corrupted. Nabiki had told her once that there were ghosts in the castle that liked to prey on little girls souls for a heartfelt meal of great proportions. Remembering that Nabiki had said they howl in the night in order to frighten their "Prey" and then the child would be so frightened that they couldn't move and that was when the ghosts would dive in for the kill. Remembering how Nabiki had described how the ghosts were deceptively beautiful and how the only way you knew they were what they were was by looking to their blood colored drool. Akane quickly clutched at her mothers robes and buried her head in the long-billowing fabric.
Kimiko smiled at her daughter, the first meeting of strangers was always a bit frightening. Especially if it was a meeting between two different races. Yes, Kimiko knew about Nodoka. To Kimiko, it was that one should never judge another unless that person gave reason to be judged. So as long as Nodoka was civil towards Kimiko and her family then Kimiko would be just as civil toward Nodoka and hers. Of course Kimiko knew it was hard to find a Cantos who wasn't really predidguce toward her people, and she doubted the woman now approaching them knew anything about who Kimiko truly was. After all, few knew that Kimiko was the princess of the Callimarii people.
Nodoka greeted the Tendos at the entrance to the castle with a smile, "Welcome to our home."
Nodoka's eyes traveled to the child destined to be married to her son and smiled at the beautiful girl, "Wow," The child in question breathed, she slowly walk to Nodoka in awe, "Your pretty!"
Nodoka grinned down at the small Tendo, she definitely liked her. The adults laughed at Akane's blunt but kind compliment. The small tension that had been growing between the adults had quickly been dashed away by the innocent five year old.
"Well," Nodoka said cheerfully, "You must be famished from your journey, please come in and have some tea. My husband should be here shortly." Her smile momentarily faltered at the mention of her husband but no one noticed.
As the adults talked, Akane decided that this was as good a time as any to sneak away unnoticed to explore the ominous castle. Of course Akane was frightened of the place but her curiosity overrid that fear. By the time that Akane had left the room, Genma Saotome had come into the room, kissed his worried wife and sat down to catch up with his old friend.
The halls in the castle were absolutely huge. They were black marble just like the rest of the castle but the ceilings extended 40 feet above Akane's head and there were huge pillars every so often that had beautiful carvings of dragons twirling op the pillars. The carvings weren't just on the pillars but on the walls as well. The dragons on the walls were flying in the clouds , and with the silver veins in the marble, the allusion of flying with dragons on a starry night was all too real for the five year old wondering the high arched halls. Every window on the walls had silver- silk curtains. There were no tapestries hanging on the walls for that would only cover up the beautiful carvings on the walls. Akane skipped and laughed down the halls pretending to be one of the dragons in the marble. She was tempted to bring her own wings but that was when she heard some horribly heart-wrenching sobs.
Akane stopped for a minute to listen the sad sound and decided to follow it. If it were a ghost, she reasoned, then she would simply fly away. Akane flowed the sound up a long dark stairway that had no light except the strange glow that came from the silver veins in the marble walls. She followed the sound to the front of a ten-foot door that was carved to show one giant black dragon fighting a giant white phoenix. Around the fighting pair were hundreds on dragons fighting phoenixes in a bloody battle. Akane took a step back for the doors gave off an ominous aura of dark power and pain. That was when the haunting sobs stopped. Akane's fear for what is happening to whomever was sobbing grew to the amount that she decided to just push the door open and run through intent on helping whomever was hurt.
Akane quickly found herself in a huge circular room with a ceiling that seemed ten-feet higher then the ceilings in the hall. The roof was also made of black diamond making the sun look like a black hole in the sky. The room was virtually empty accept the huge bed with silk black covers and a dresser and a few weapons used for training. In the middle of the floor was a huge tile collage with an intricate design of a phoenix and a black dragon dancing in some stars. The giant pillars holding up the ceiling had the intertwining figures of white marble phoenixes with gold veins dancing with more black marble dragons with silver veins. It was so dark in the room that Akane could barely see this. She quickly ran over to one of the windows and opened the huge black curtains. Sunlight flooded into the room causing Akane to gasp as she noticed the artsmanship in the room. There were several windows the same size of the door open between each pillar. Akane walked to the middle of the room noticing a strange red stain leading from the middle of the collage to the bed.
Akane followed the stain and noticed a lump in the middle of the bed. Curious, she crawled onto the bed and crawled toward the lump that on closer inspection was shaking. Akane knew that whoever was under those blankets was the one who had produced those sobs. Akane's eyes softened as her fear completely left her systems. She reached out her hand and gently put her hand on the frightened lump. It flinched away from her causing her to giggle.
"Why you 'fraid of Ne-ne?" She asked the lump, "Ne-ne no like to hurt anyone."
At the sound of her voice the lump completely stiffened, as if it were afraid to move. Akane made a quick decision and crawled up to the top of the bed. She lifted the covers and peered into the silky black depths. She smiled when her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she was greeted by what looked to be the tattered face of a young boy. His whole body was covered in cuts and bruises and he was huddled in a pool of his own blood and tears. A single tear fell out of the most beautiful blue eyes Akane had ever seen. His Shirt which probably once was a beautiful royal blue color was nothing but a few rags that clung to his skin and his long ebony hair was now drenched in his own blood. Akane held out her hand and smiled gently.
"C'mon," she said quietly, "Ne-ne' not gonna hurt you. Ne-ne want to help you!"
Slowly the boy inched his way out of the covers and took her hand. Warmth flooded through his cold hand and he looked into the Akane's chocolate eyes in wonder.
"Are you an angel?" He asked in awe.
Akane giggled, "No silly," She grinned, "I'm Akane! My mommy's Callimarii though!"
His hand retracted from her as if he had been bitten by a snake, "Cal- Callimarii?!" He asked scared all over again.
Akane's eyes began to water and she looked at the boy in front of her hurt, "What's wrong with Callimarrii?"
"I'm cantos!" He said as if that solved everything.
Akane's eyes turned from sad to confused, "So?"
Ranma couldn't believe it, why didn't she understand? "But aren't all Callimarii monsters who want nothing more then to destroy the Cantos race?!"
Now she looked at him as though he had grown a second head, "No! Why would anyone want to hurt anyone?"
Ranma stared at her amazed, "so you don't want to hurt me?"
Akane put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes cutely, "Well duh! Ne- ne wanted to heeeellllppp you."
The boy looked at her sheepishly, "Oh. I guess the stories aren't true then."
Akane looked at him confused but didn't say anything as he grimaced and fell to the bed. She quickly crawled over to him and took of the rest of his shirt.
"What're you doing?" He asked weakly.
"I'm trying to help Cantos boy." She said a bit panicked, she was worried that he was near death.
"My names Ranma." He struggled out.
Akane put her finger on his mouth trying to keep him quiet as tears began to fall down her cheeks. She gently wrapped her arms around him and began to sing. Her song flowed through his broken soul taking the broken strands and tying them back together as her tears mended his wounds. When he was as healed as she could get him to be she laid him down and pulled the now clean covers over his sleeping form and lay her head down on his chest. His arms instinctively wrapped around her small form and she borrowed in his warmth. Soon Akane was asleep as well and the moonlight fell over them in a creamy caress.
~*#!#*~
Two sapphire eyes opened to the sunlight pouring through the spacious round room. Ranma Saotome squinted his eyes from the sunlight and looked down at the beautiful little girl sleeping peacefully in his arms. A small wind blew through an open window and tasseled a few stray strands of her slightly messy raven hair into her face causing Ranma to tuck them away on impulse. His intense eyes softened as he watched her sleep and the corners of his lips quirked up in what could be mistaken as a smile as he noticed her amazingly red lips were parted slightly in a smile of their own. There was no pain from the previous night and there was no sign of blood of any kind on the sheets. If healing and purifying was the power of the Callimarii then he didn't see any reason to fear the race let alone kill them. After all hadn't this small Callimarii child saved his life? No, they were far to gentle and kind to hate or fear.
Ranma's eyes shifted to the door and he sat up abruptly but he was careful to not wake the sleeping angel beside him. There in the doorway stood his mother. Her black Kimono flowed to the floor like lava and she walked toward him with a lithe agility not born to humans. Her usually blue eyes glowed silver and her claws slowly retracted in time with her wings. Ranma's eyes showed fear but his face showed determination and confidence as he clutched the sheets and laid one hand on Akane's hand.
Nodoka's eyes shifted to their hands and she visibly relaxed, "So you have met your fiancé."
Ranma's eyes widened and he turned his face to Akane stunned, "My...?"
Nodoka's eyes softened, "Yes. I am glad that you had found her, her parents have been worried."
Ranma looked at his lap sheepishly, "Um... Actually, she found me."
Nodoka nodded to her son, "I see." She paused and decided to pick her words carefully as she studied the children, "Ranma, the Cantos assassins have informed me of some sort of Callimarii activity coming from this room." Ranma stiffened and his hold on Akane's hand tightened a bit, "You wouldn't know anything would you?"
Her eyes bore into Ranma's and left no room for lies or defiance and with a courage Ranma didn't know he was capable of feeling Ranma looked Nodoka in the eyes and said bluntly, "No."
The two held each others gazes for a few minutes before Nodoka tuned to walk out of the room, "Very well."
As she exited the room Ranma looked at the girl that he now knew was his fiancée. If she stayed in Terra she would be in grave trouble. The cantos assassins were a group of Cantos solders who could sense callimarii within a hundred mile radius. They used those senses to track down and kill the Callimarii people. An elite few of them were his mother's personal guards and these few lived in the Palace itself in secret. The only reason Ranma knew about it was because he had befriended an assassin in training. Ukyo didn't know that maybe she shouldn't kill the Callimarii people because she had never met one before. Ranma was beginning to realize how misplaced all of this hope and fear was, and how dumb it was to start a war between two races whose hate was built on rumor and lies.
Ranma buried his face in Akane's hair breathing in the sent of the air and of wind. He wrapped his eyes around his fiancée and knew what had to be done. A single tear fell from his eye as she brought her arms around his as well. It felt so good to feel loved and maybe needed. She was so fragile in his arms and his decision was set in stone. He breathed in her scent one last time before adorning a determined look, He'd have to get her and her family out by tonight.
Yes! Next chapter done!!!!!!!!! The next one might be a while because I have a huge assighnment that I'm going to be working on for school! Damn finals. Well how'd you like it? Tell me and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ja Ne!!!!
Abby Kitty!