Rolling Mist, Morning Wind
A Ranma/Rayearth Fanfic by Adyen (senrandayahoo.ca)
Wow. I'm actually continuing this immediately. I must be sick. :-P
There was one comment that I went back and realized I haven't answered yet. I'm assuming that normally (pre-series), only places like the Forest of Silence has monsters, while the rest of Cephiro is basically calm. Otherwise, we'd see militias around to protect the towns and such. Sure there were the occasional hunter, but they don't stay in one place to defend it, rather they go out and find monsters.
And much thanks to Ian for prereading the chapter. I hope you're still reading this so I can send more chapters to you for prereading! :-P
Chapter 8: Rune God
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Ranma didn't get into any particular stance as he analyzed the opponent. First off, it seemd it was made completely from water, including the weapon; but he wasn't about to make any bets with his own body. Secondly, as the Water Dragon shrunk, it seemed to take on the form of a female, but he didn't look too closely as it was possible that it was a distraction, one that would work quite well with pig-boy.
"You know, maybe we shouldn't fight." Ranma said in a conversational tone. "I don't want to hurt ya, you know."
The water figure didn't reply verbally, but lunged forward with its weapon. Ranma quickly moved off to the side, but the figure compensated and continued its attack, forcing him to dodge with a back-flip. The water figure narrowly avoided a kick in its sword-arm before releasing a stream of water at Ranma, who had recovered by that time and quickly dodged out of the way.
"Well, if you want to play it THAT way..." He muttered as he continued to dodge a second stream of water coming from Selece that nearly hit him. Seeing that it was about to fire yet another stream, Ranma preformed a flying kick to get closer, but it forced him to quickly dodge away upon landing.
Not losing his cool, Ranma continued to attack, but each time, just as he was about to get close enough inside its reach, he was forced back by a rapier strike or some random bit of magic. He soon found out that even though the rapier was made from water, it had the ability to cut him as he once tried to knock the rapier out of the way. Finally, Selece constructed a wall of water to trap Ranma, and perhaps submerge him in it as well. But before it could, Ranma dredged up another technique he learned from his father's scrolls, this time, from the Umi-Sen Ken.
"Kijin Raishu Dan!"
Multiple vacuum blades shot out from his twirling arms and pierced through the wall of water to the other side. Selece managed to jump and avoid most of them, however one of the blades nicked it on the left leg.
Selece suddenly dissolved back into water and Ranma found himself standing in front of Umi and Ferio, holding the bracelet with one hand and the other hand clenched into a fist.
"What. Was THAT?!" Ranma exclaimed as he let go of the bracelet, realizing that it did, indeed, stay on his arm without additional support. Umi was looking at him appraisingly while Ferio was just grinning.
"That, was Selece, one of the Rune Gods. Just think of them as the Guardian Spirits of Cephiro." Umi replied, leaning forwards and positing her left hand to shake Ranma's. "Congratulation, you've passed. Welcome to the Guard."
Ranma numbly shook her hand. Guardian Spirits? If so, why don't they stop the monsters? He was so busy thinking about Selece that he didn't notice Umi wincing and putting more weight on her right side.
"So, where are you going to head first?" Umi asked, sitting back down comfortably in her chair.
Shrugging, Ranma said, "I don't know. I guess I'll just head out and move towards where ever I feel like it. It's supposed to be part of me, right? I should be able to tell roughly where it is." Seeing Umi purse her lips, Ranma added, "Hey, I've done and see some weirder things, so this shouldn't be new."
Umi just leaned back and said, "Well, try to return in a month. If you do, you can leave with the rest of us back to Tokyo, a few seconds after you entered the portal. Otherwise, it'll be a day by day count." Ranma nodded and was about to leave before Umi added, "Oh, don't forget to head to Presia's workshop. She might not be there, but I'm sure there's a few spare packs of the Guard's equipment laying around."
Ferio nodded and lead Ranma out, nodding at the two guards outside the door. Once the door was closed, Umi sighed painfully and brought her left leg up to see a glaring red mark where Ranma's last attack had hit. "Damn... he can sure pack a punch..."
"Only because you wanted to test him yourself." Came the voice of Selece in the back of her mind.
"Oh quiet you."
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When they reached Persia's workshop, they were somewhat surprised to see Kasumi sitting in a chair waiting with a small package beside her.
"Ferio? May I speak with Ranma... alone?" She asked politely, keeping her voice down. Ferio nodded and went off a certain distance so he wouldn't hear what they were saying.
"Kasumi..." Ranma started, but was interrupted by the Wind Knight.
"Ranma." She said in a tone that brooked no arguments. "I'm truly sorry about my earlier outburst, but I hope you understand that it's not really YOU that I'm angry about, but rather how all your problems seem to be connected by your father."
Stunned, Ranma could only nod numbly as Kasumi continued.
"For the last year or so, I've watched you grow from that lonely and desolate person into whom you are today. I know my sisters like you; yes even Nabiki, and I know you return Akane's feelings at least slightly; and frankly, so do I. You're kind, honorable, and reliable when it comes to protecting what's important to you. I should have warned you earlier, but I wasn't sure what would happen if you gained a Seed., and didn't want to try it to find out. So this is partially my fault as well."
Ranma stood stunned at what Kasumi was telling him. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe protest his feelings about Akane, but nothing came out and she continued on, head bowed down slightly.
"As such... I hope to make it up to you by traveling with you. Now, I know it might not be much, but you at least need a guide to tell you about Cephiro and where things are. And no, I understand this is your battle, so I won't interfere. In fact, we can travel by land if you wish."
"Wait a second, Kasumi!" He blurted out. "You don't have to do all that! I'll be fine!"
Shaking her head empathically, Kasumi said, "I have to go out anyways for my rounds, so we can just travel around Cephiro together."
Sighing, Ranma was about to argue against her following him around for his own problem when he heard a slight ripping sound above him, showering him with a torrent of cold water. Having just opened his mouth, he turned and spitted out the water that had ran inside, running his hand up his forehead to push the soaking wet hair away from his eyes and turned back to Kasumi, who was staring at him in amusement.
"It seems like you're still a water magnet!" Kasumi said, chuckling. This time, it was Ranma's turn to stare as he's never seen her chuckle like that.
"I'm so glad I amuse you." Ranma said sarcastically.
"Yes you do, and there's no way you can talk me out of not traveling with you." Kasumi responded with a smile in her eyes, reaching over to one of the shelves to borrow a towel. Ranma merely sighed as he took the towel from her and started wiping himself dry.
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Somewhere, a figure slowly opened her eyes and stretched. She yawned slowly and glanced at the sky, admiring the scenery before looking at herself. She then slowly walked towards a directly, whistling a light tune and imagining how to kill a certain pigtailed boy.
Wow. I'm actually continuing this immediately. I must be sick. :-P
There was one comment that I went back and realized I haven't answered yet. I'm assuming that normally (pre-series), only places like the Forest of Silence has monsters, while the rest of Cephiro is basically calm. Otherwise, we'd see militias around to protect the towns and such. Sure there were the occasional hunter, but they don't stay in one place to defend it, rather they go out and find monsters.
And much thanks to Ian for prereading the chapter. I hope you're still reading this so I can send more chapters to you for prereading! :-P
Chapter 8: Rune God
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Ranma didn't get into any particular stance as he analyzed the opponent. First off, it seemd it was made completely from water, including the weapon; but he wasn't about to make any bets with his own body. Secondly, as the Water Dragon shrunk, it seemed to take on the form of a female, but he didn't look too closely as it was possible that it was a distraction, one that would work quite well with pig-boy.
"You know, maybe we shouldn't fight." Ranma said in a conversational tone. "I don't want to hurt ya, you know."
The water figure didn't reply verbally, but lunged forward with its weapon. Ranma quickly moved off to the side, but the figure compensated and continued its attack, forcing him to dodge with a back-flip. The water figure narrowly avoided a kick in its sword-arm before releasing a stream of water at Ranma, who had recovered by that time and quickly dodged out of the way.
"Well, if you want to play it THAT way..." He muttered as he continued to dodge a second stream of water coming from Selece that nearly hit him. Seeing that it was about to fire yet another stream, Ranma preformed a flying kick to get closer, but it forced him to quickly dodge away upon landing.
Not losing his cool, Ranma continued to attack, but each time, just as he was about to get close enough inside its reach, he was forced back by a rapier strike or some random bit of magic. He soon found out that even though the rapier was made from water, it had the ability to cut him as he once tried to knock the rapier out of the way. Finally, Selece constructed a wall of water to trap Ranma, and perhaps submerge him in it as well. But before it could, Ranma dredged up another technique he learned from his father's scrolls, this time, from the Umi-Sen Ken.
"Kijin Raishu Dan!"
Multiple vacuum blades shot out from his twirling arms and pierced through the wall of water to the other side. Selece managed to jump and avoid most of them, however one of the blades nicked it on the left leg.
Selece suddenly dissolved back into water and Ranma found himself standing in front of Umi and Ferio, holding the bracelet with one hand and the other hand clenched into a fist.
"What. Was THAT?!" Ranma exclaimed as he let go of the bracelet, realizing that it did, indeed, stay on his arm without additional support. Umi was looking at him appraisingly while Ferio was just grinning.
"That, was Selece, one of the Rune Gods. Just think of them as the Guardian Spirits of Cephiro." Umi replied, leaning forwards and positing her left hand to shake Ranma's. "Congratulation, you've passed. Welcome to the Guard."
Ranma numbly shook her hand. Guardian Spirits? If so, why don't they stop the monsters? He was so busy thinking about Selece that he didn't notice Umi wincing and putting more weight on her right side.
"So, where are you going to head first?" Umi asked, sitting back down comfortably in her chair.
Shrugging, Ranma said, "I don't know. I guess I'll just head out and move towards where ever I feel like it. It's supposed to be part of me, right? I should be able to tell roughly where it is." Seeing Umi purse her lips, Ranma added, "Hey, I've done and see some weirder things, so this shouldn't be new."
Umi just leaned back and said, "Well, try to return in a month. If you do, you can leave with the rest of us back to Tokyo, a few seconds after you entered the portal. Otherwise, it'll be a day by day count." Ranma nodded and was about to leave before Umi added, "Oh, don't forget to head to Presia's workshop. She might not be there, but I'm sure there's a few spare packs of the Guard's equipment laying around."
Ferio nodded and lead Ranma out, nodding at the two guards outside the door. Once the door was closed, Umi sighed painfully and brought her left leg up to see a glaring red mark where Ranma's last attack had hit. "Damn... he can sure pack a punch..."
"Only because you wanted to test him yourself." Came the voice of Selece in the back of her mind.
"Oh quiet you."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
When they reached Persia's workshop, they were somewhat surprised to see Kasumi sitting in a chair waiting with a small package beside her.
"Ferio? May I speak with Ranma... alone?" She asked politely, keeping her voice down. Ferio nodded and went off a certain distance so he wouldn't hear what they were saying.
"Kasumi..." Ranma started, but was interrupted by the Wind Knight.
"Ranma." She said in a tone that brooked no arguments. "I'm truly sorry about my earlier outburst, but I hope you understand that it's not really YOU that I'm angry about, but rather how all your problems seem to be connected by your father."
Stunned, Ranma could only nod numbly as Kasumi continued.
"For the last year or so, I've watched you grow from that lonely and desolate person into whom you are today. I know my sisters like you; yes even Nabiki, and I know you return Akane's feelings at least slightly; and frankly, so do I. You're kind, honorable, and reliable when it comes to protecting what's important to you. I should have warned you earlier, but I wasn't sure what would happen if you gained a Seed., and didn't want to try it to find out. So this is partially my fault as well."
Ranma stood stunned at what Kasumi was telling him. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe protest his feelings about Akane, but nothing came out and she continued on, head bowed down slightly.
"As such... I hope to make it up to you by traveling with you. Now, I know it might not be much, but you at least need a guide to tell you about Cephiro and where things are. And no, I understand this is your battle, so I won't interfere. In fact, we can travel by land if you wish."
"Wait a second, Kasumi!" He blurted out. "You don't have to do all that! I'll be fine!"
Shaking her head empathically, Kasumi said, "I have to go out anyways for my rounds, so we can just travel around Cephiro together."
Sighing, Ranma was about to argue against her following him around for his own problem when he heard a slight ripping sound above him, showering him with a torrent of cold water. Having just opened his mouth, he turned and spitted out the water that had ran inside, running his hand up his forehead to push the soaking wet hair away from his eyes and turned back to Kasumi, who was staring at him in amusement.
"It seems like you're still a water magnet!" Kasumi said, chuckling. This time, it was Ranma's turn to stare as he's never seen her chuckle like that.
"I'm so glad I amuse you." Ranma said sarcastically.
"Yes you do, and there's no way you can talk me out of not traveling with you." Kasumi responded with a smile in her eyes, reaching over to one of the shelves to borrow a towel. Ranma merely sighed as he took the towel from her and started wiping himself dry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Somewhere, a figure slowly opened her eyes and stretched. She yawned slowly and glanced at the sky, admiring the scenery before looking at herself. She then slowly walked towards a directly, whistling a light tune and imagining how to kill a certain pigtailed boy.