(Thoughts)

"Speech"

Ryoga Hibiki was lost, which wasn't anything new to him. What was new was that he was lost in thought. He was currently inside his house, his dog having found him and led him home. He had been wondering around looking for the farm of Akari Unnryu when his dog found him. The current thoughts plaguing him were because of a set of bracers sitting on his dresser. He had been on a training trip, which he was truly always on since he was usually wondering around lost. He was going through some katas when he noticed an old lady watching him.

FLASHBACK

"Well, well, you are very skilled for one so young. So young warrior what is it you train for?"

At the time he could have answered that he wanted to kill Ranma, but he knew that wasn't really true. He could have killed Ranma dozens of times, but he never did. He didn't really want to kill the pigtailed martial artist, but he did love their battles. So he answered something he always heard Ranma say, "To protect…"

He trailed off as he realized that was about to repeat something that had been drilled into his head since he was little 'A martial artist's duty is to protect those who can't protect themselves.' Ryoga could actually count on one hand the number of times he helped others with the Art instead of using it to kill Ranma. He knew he had reason to be angry at Ranma especially since he got Ryoga cursed but the lost boy found ways to deal with being a pig half the time.

The old lady sat there and stared at Ryoga as he contemplated his answer. She nodded her head as if she was reading his thoughts and placed a set of arm bracers on top of his pack along with a note and walked off. The Hibiki family dog showed up after a short time and barked at the youngest member until he was pulled out of thought.

PRESENT

Ryoga got off his bed and walked to his window. He picked up the arm bracers along the way and gazed at them from the window. They were rough, the metal on them were segmented and reminded the lost boy of reptilian scales. There was an intricate design of a dragon on each of them. He ran a finger along the design of the dragon and noticed that it seemed to flow like water around his fingers. The bracers were yellow with specs of black in it here there. He grinned as he realized it was similar to his bandanna. Finally, he noticed the note inside one of the bracers:

Young One,

If you hold this letter then that means that I have decided that you are worthy. You see, these arm bracers have been in my family for generations. But I have not seen my daughter or grandson in years as my family is constantly forced to be, simply put, lost. I wish you well young warrior.

Moribishi Megumi

As the Lost boy read the letter, tears began to fall from his eyes. That old woman may have been his grandmother and he didn't even realize it. He took a few minutes to try and memorize the features of the old woman so he could try and talk to his mom about her if he ever got the chance.

He gazed at the bracers once more before putting them on. As soon as the second bracer was clasped on, Ryoga started to shake. Then, his mouth opened in a wordless scream before the sound of an animalistic roar that shook the entire room. A large yellow and black aura erupted around him. As sudden as everything started it all ended. The roaring stopped and the aura sunk into Ryoga.

Ryoga stood up shaking and held on to the railing along his window to keep balance. He stood gazing out the city when a large golden bird erupted into the sky. The bird rose up and blocked the sun but the large city looked even brighter than a sunny day with no clouds. Then it let loose a piercing cry before just disappearing.

Ryoga looked at the display with a small smile then muttered, "The Phoenix has returned." The bandanna clad boy then faded away.

I am currently looking for a few pre readers who hopefully know more about the SM universe. I had one but my email closed down and I lost the address so I need more.