Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½
Cure Lost, Love Found:
A Tale of Ranma
They arrived in China as scheduled and landed near the mountain that the map said held Su-Lin's cave. Genma was leading the party with Cologne at his side. They were followed but Ranma, who was slowed down by doubt. And leading up the rear was Mousse and Shampoo, who were whispering to one another. They were both trying to think of a way to help Ranma out. Shampoo had already written a note in her diary to stay away from Ranma. Mousse and Shampoo had decided that they'd let Cologne think that they were going along with her plan.
The group came up to the mouth of the cave. The most beautiful scent was wafting through the air. It seemed to calm everyone down. As they were entering the cave Ranma caught a glimpse of the springs. When Ranma looked back into the cave and saw the woman he was surprised. For some reason he was expecting an old bitty, like Cologne. This woman was the exact opposite.
She reminded Ranma in Akane a little bit. She had her hair was about as long as Shampoo's and done in a similar fashion but the color was a midnight blue, like Akane's. Her eyes were the most entrancing part. All Ranma could see in the deep blue orbs that match her hair, was sorrow. She was wearing a dark blue silk robe. It was the way she was looking at the guests that reminded Ranma of Akane the most. It looked as though they weren't welcome.
"What are you doing here?" The woman spoke very calmly and in perfect Japanese.
"We are here for your cure." Genma was trying to hold his excitement down, but all the pots lining the wall, knowing that they held his freedom, it was rather difficult.
"All of you are cursed?" Cologne came forward.
"I am not cursed. I'm just escorting them so they are all able to get home safely. My name is Cologne. The young man with the glasses is Mousse, the old man with the glasses is Genma, the boy in the pig-tail is Ranma, and the young lady is my great granddaughter Shampoo." They all bowed to the young woman, who could have been no older then 25. She bowed back.
"I am Su-Lin. Maker of the cure for all those who fell into the spring. I want to warn you that you will lose all memories of all events that happened after your curse. As the curse goes, so does your cursed life. Are all of you ready for this?" Mousse spoke up.
"What exactly is this cure? What are the ingredients, I mean?" Su-Lin looked at the boy. She was about to answer when Ranma interjected.
"Wait? If we're here then why don't we just jump into the spring of drowned man and keep our memories." Ranma was about to put his plan into action when he heard something all to familiar.
"Idiot! Life isn't that easy! If you do that the only thing you will accomplish is changing your cursed form from whatever it is now to that of the fat, old Chinese man who drowned in that spring 1,400 years ago. It is futile. I'm sorry, but this is the only way." Ranma turned back to the woman.
"Why did you make the stuff? I mean, you don't want us to pay for it, so why are you doing it?" The woman looked at Ranma in the eyes. She hadn't made direct eye contact with any of the group until this moment. The she stood up and walked over to Ranma. She was no more then a foot in front of him when she began telling her story.
"Last year, my fiancé and I were hiking in these mountains. We were trying to get away from our families, who wanted to rush us into marriage. We loved each other dearly, but neither of us was ready for marriage. I was only 19 at the time and he was 22, we were both like little kids though. All we ever did was tease each other. Either way, we couldn't stand our parents forcing us to grow up, so we ran into these mountains. We were just going to be here for a month or so, just to show our parents that we could do things on our own. We had been in the mountains for a week and a half when I had gotten sick. My fiancé found this cave and he decided that I should stay in the cave until I got better." At this point in the story, Su-Lin looked away from Ranma and went to the cave's mouth. The light falling on her made her look almost angelic, but the tear streaming down her cheek made her look utterly human.
"We had been in the cave for a week and I was starting to feel much better. When we woke up on our 8th day of being in the cave I told him that I was feeling much better. He said that he was very glad and to celebrate, he was going to make me breakfast. Well he left the cave and turned right. Everything was quiet and I just watched the sun rise, but after a few moments I heard some rocks give way and him screaming. I ran out of the cave and looked over to where the rockslide happened. I couldn't see him. I figured the rocks had buried him, but then I noticed the little pools of water and hoped he had fallen in one of those. I would have been better if the rocks crushed him. I ran down the slope and looked for him. All I found was his clothes. After an hour of searching, the spring guide told me of the magical springs and that maybe he was one of the creatures." Su-Lin began to giggle a little.
"I was pouring water on every animate object I could find. I poured the water on dogs, cats, lizards, and even insects, but I couldn't find him." The giggling had stopped.
"I thought it was hopeless. So I went back to the cave and hoped that he would come back." She looked towards the group and then past them at the pots containing the cure.
"Days later, when he still hadn't returned I became really hungry. So I went hunting. I couldn't actually kill anything so I thought that I'd find some injured animal and put it out of its misery. Well I was walking around and I noticed something interesting. There was a chicken on the ground. His neck was snapped and I figured that a traveler had dropped it. I came back to the cave, de-feathered the chicken and boiled water. When I put the chicken in the water he… he changed into my fiancé." Sadly, Ranma figured the story would end that way.
"So you made this so no one would have to go through what you did." Su-Lin nodded.
"Did you ever go home and see family." Shampoo didn't want to say anything offensive to the girl, but she also needed to buy time.
"No. I couldn't go home and tell his family that story. Both of our families were very honorable, they never would have accepted me." Su-Lin, once again, looked at Ranma. You would think that Ranma was used to getting attention from the ladies, but she was really scaring him.
"Um, why do you keep looking at me like that?" There seemed to be some longing among the sorrow.
"It's just that you look so much like him. The likeness is uncanny. Only he had his hair in a pony-tail, not a braid." Mousse wanted to know the answer to his earlier question, so he asked it again.
"Excuse me miss, but what is your cure made of?" Su-Lin looked at Mousse and then at the massive rows of pots.
"It's very simple really. It consists of four ingredients. The spring of drowned man or woman, a few drops of blood from the one who is about to be cured and an herb that I grow in the depths of the cave. You probably noticed the aroma when you came in." Genma counted the ingredients on his fingers.
"Isn't that only 3?"
"You noticed. The last ingredient is the catalyst. With out it, my cure would do nothing more then change your curse."
"What other ingredient?" Shampoo wanted to know what could be so powerful as to cure the curse.
"It's called the water of life." If Ranma was drinking something, he would have done a spit take.
"The water of life! How are you getting the water of life…the spring is in Japan!"
"I am aware of that. Somehow there is an ore in the back of the cave, I use it in the vats and to grow the herbs so they are more potent. I have to be careful though, too much of the water can make you very weak, ironically. How do you know about the water?" Ranma looked at the ground. Of the members in the group, only his father knew his reasons.
"Let's just say I came across it in my travels." Su-Lin nodded her head, then asked the question that all of them wanted to hear until she said it.
"So, who's first?"
AN: Noooooooooo! Why are you ending it now!!!! (says the reader)
Because I'm evil!!!!! (replies the author.)
Lol. So that is the story of Su-Lin…very sad, ne? lol I had to turn him into a chicken, it's so Ranma. And can't you see Su running around pouring water on things…speaking of which, can you see Su (her new nick name) at all. I'm not really good at describing people because I normally do Ranma fiction and you all know what the main characters look like. Anyway…I'm almost positive that the next chapter will have the group making their decisions, but I might also go and see what the Tendo's and Ukyo are up to. I may even bring my little Ryoga back into the story (he was bound to show up again sometime right…cute little lost boy…um…sorry, fantasy moment). Either way, I'm really liking this story and I have all of the endings written (in my head). I also want to tell you guys something. I've started a website and it's a little poopy right now, but I think that in time it will get better. I'd really like it if you guys just looked at it and maybe signed the G-Book with ideas or just telling me what you thought. Thanks. So…I think I'm done with my chapterly rant. The next chapter will be up as soon as I post it, but it's raining here in southern Ca and I might just have to take this opportunity to run around out side in shorts, barefoot. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review. See you soon. Bye!