Hehe, I have something for you, my loyal readers. Catch it at the end of today's chapter.
For now, I really have nothing to say other than check it out.
So, up with chapter 15!
~~~~~~*** THOUGHTS ***~~~~~~
Sigh. Flying is boring. At least in a plane it is. And it seemed as if it was taking forever to get there.
The view out the window wasn't great. I saw clouds. Lots of em. And below that was blue ocean. We might as well have been on top of that water, except for the clouds.
Pulling out my wooden ball, the one infused with my blood, I began to look at it, inspecting it.
Inspection over, since I didn't know what I was looking for, I began concentrating.
Of course, my mind as active as it is... my thoughts began to wander.
~~
She had no real identity. But really, that wasn't all that uncommon around here.
But she had to have a believable past, or else an identity couldn't be made for her.
So, they got together to make one.
~~
So long ago, an American pair of Japanese descent gave birth to a baby girl. They never registered her, though, because they had planned to raise her as Japanese, and take her back to Japan. They lived in a very remote region of the state of Washington and grew their own food, so they never had much contact with the English part of civilization.
When she was fairly grown, sometime between thirteen and fifteen, they got on an uncharted boat with a number of supplies and headed out for Japan.
When they landed, they headed for downtown, blending in rather well with the rest of the population.
That is, until they met a demon on the streets of Juuban, probably a Youma or some other type. The Youma turned on them and killed both of her parents, but avoided the child until the Sailor Senshi took care of the problem. The supposed reason for this was that she resembled one of the Senshi themselves, mostly because of her bright blue hair.
The event was so traumatizing that all memory of it was forgotten, lost forever to recollection. The Tendos claimed that they had gotten this part from her under hypnosis.
She then wandered the streets of Tokyo for some time, unknowing of where to go or what to do.
She then ran across the Tendo's and Saotome's and was taken in there at the age of sixteen, where she now resides and takes lessons in self-defense and also attends school. It is presumed that she had been home-schooled as she seemed to have been at the appropriate educational level for her age, even despite having been on the street alone for some time.
~~
Allowing the energy to pass back out of the ball, I put it away, into the bag I had as carry-on.
Sleep sounded good right about then.
Resting my head on a pillow that I had been provided, I closed my eyes.
~~
The dream came. She hated that dream, and the fact that Mr. Saotome had put it there. The Dream was only an unfortunate side effect, but playing with memories usually has side-effects.
She was there, in the unfamiliar streets of Juuban. And before her stood two people.
She had long ago resigned to watching the events of the dream. But it always disturbed her. Even if the events in it weren't real.
They walked the streets for a while until they heard screaming. In the confusion, they decided to hold together to keep from getting lost.
They held her to keep her there. She was confused and scared, who wouldn't be? Explosions were rising over the screaming, and the shouts of some kind of monster could also be heard.
When the people had thinned out, they were there and were ready to run.
But there it was. A giant black bug-like thing. Words could barely describe it, but it was definitely intimidating.
It approached them, intent on getting them.
She didn't understand, but she obeyed when she was told to run.
But it was to no avail. No matter how hard she ran, the creature was faster than her. And when she stopped to look at it, she saw something she didn't want to see.
Impaled by each of its pincers were the dead forms of each of her parents.
She didn't see her real parents, from the world before. Nor did she see the people she was supposed to have been with.
When their shocked, and very dead, faces were exposed to the sky, she saw them.
Ranma and Akane.
As she cried uncontrollably (as she could tell that she had cried, and probably would again) the demon approached her. Slowly, menacingly, he made his approach.
In a deep, reverberating voice, he spoke to her in nearly-perfect Japanese. "Are you the Sailor known as Mercury?" Venom was pouring from his voice, and his voice-box as well, as he neared her.
She could smell the rancid smell of his voice.
When she didn't answer right away, he became impatient. "ARE YOU SAILOR MERCURY!?" The booming of his voice could still be heard in her mind.
"AAHH!!" She cringed and rolled up into a ball as she began to cry more forcefully now. She wanted to leave, to be gone from here. She wanted to go back home!
"MERCURY BUBBLES!" The demon's arm froze just as he was about to strike her, this distracted him enough for one of the other senshi's to get the girl away from him.
All they had seen was a demon that had cornered a young girl.
One of them had taken her from where they were fighting the demon. A calm, yet commanding voice broke through to her ears. "Run, we'll take care of this, get away from here now."
That was just what she wanted to do. She ran. She ran for days.
But now she was scared, and alone.
~~
"Aaah!" A quiet gasp escaped my lips as I darted awake. I was in a cold sweat and breathing hard. My heart was racing and beating so hard I was afraid it might burst out of my chest.
Realizing that it was only a dream, I laid back down.
'Damn. Hypnosis is really effective.' It was supposed to be a fail-safe, in case the government wanted to check me under hypnosis to confirm the story. But that was the problem with memories.
Once it's there, it never leaves.
'Mr. Saotome is going to pay for that one!'
A smile crossed my lips as I went back to my sleepy state. 'Panda-skin rugs...'
~~
Another dream came to her now. For some reason, they didn't want to leave her alone.
This one was different. She was there, with Ranma and the others, and they were walking the streets of Nerima toward their school.
It seemed slightly off right then, as it wasn't just her, Akane, and Ranma. Ukyo, Shampoo, Ryoga, even the Kuno pair were there as well.
They walked the empty streets until they came upon a dark form.
Not dark as if shadowed, but it was actually black!
Slowly, it turned around to greet them.
When its face was exposed, Lila gasped. This... demon? Whatever he was, he looked just like Ranma!
A crude smile crossed that face that seemed rather out of place on the familiar features of perhaps her closest friend. Looking straight at her, it charged.
~~
I awoke with a start, yet again breathing hard and in a cold sweat.
Falling back on the pillow, I sighed. 'Maybe sleep isn't the greatest thing for me right now.'
I didn't really have much choice in the matter. As five minutes later, I was breathing softly again.
I slept calmly for the rest of the trip.
~~
I awoke this time to Akane's gentle prodding. "Hey, wake up. It's time to go."
A voice came over the intercom. "Please buckle your seat-belts for landing."
The attendees were going down the aisles waking people from their slumber, seeming to have just waken up themselves. Either that or they were rather close to falling asleep.
I did as instructed and waited for landing.
It was rather uneventful from there on. We landed, got our stuff, gathered the class, and made our way to the hotel that was sponsoring us.
Shampoo was there, dragging her packs of who-knows-what with her. There were a number of other people there that I recognized, even Kodachi Kuno, who came of her own volition. Her brother had apparently wanted to go, but seeing as how I broke his sword on his forehead, and he really needed to catch up in his work, he decided not to come.
I almost wondered which of those was the deciding factor. 'Probably the schoolwork...' My sigh turned to a yawn barely before I managed to start it.
The class was separated into boys and girls, Ranma being classified as a boy (of course), and were separated into rooms.
Of course, the line was there, but it was like the border to Canada from the US. There was a lot of 'Free Immigration' both ways.
I ended up in a room with Akane and two other girls I wasn't especially familiar with.
Not one to ask questions when tired, I placed my stuff in a corner, and crawled into the bed Akane had decided we would share.
~~
"Handosai, I have done what was required of me." Looking at the map that had led him there, he looked up at the old man. "Should I give this to you now? Or how does this work?"
At the old man's silence, he got suspicious. He searched for clues.
'Bag? No. Color of choice? Blue, not black. Hair? None. Waitaminute, they're both bald.'
"Ah! The map confirms it! Come here."
His suspicion gone, he approached the man.
Before he could say anything or react in any way, the man took out a fan and swung it before his face, sending a rather violent wave of air to knock him down.
As he climbed his way out of a tree, he yelled at the old man. "Hey! What was that for!?" Noticing something was amiss, he searched his person for clues.
He found nothing. Which was the problem.
"AAAHHH!! WHERE'D THE MAP GO!?" He looked around the tree to see if maybe it fell from his grip there. Not finding it there, he wondered if the old man had it.
Looking in the direction of the old man, he saw it there, fluttering in the air, not landing, but still falling just the same.
Running quickly, he snatched it up, getting lost NOW definitely wouldn't help his situation.
"Congratulations! You're free of the curse!"
Blinking cluelessly, Ryoga looked at the old man. What did he mean?
'All I did was get the map back... that's not...' That's when he realized it.
He had gotten somewhere WITHOUT the map!!
Standing tall and proud, a tear came to his eye. He was free of the curse! But how?
His questioning glance was answered in a rather odd manner.
Smiling, the old man covered half his face with the fan he had used to knock him down. Across the front of it was a Chinese symbol.
By itself it looked mysterious, or it would have had Ryoga not known what that symbol meant.
In literal terms, that symbol translated to one simple word. 'Defogger'
"Heehee! I blew away the fog that clouds your vision! And it carries across to the rest of your family as well!"
Had he energy enough left, he probably would have face faulted. But right then, he opted to sit down and enjoy the feeling of not being totally lost. Even though he wasn't really sure of where he was, at least he knew where he was in relation to the trees and building around him.
Looking gratefully, but curiously, to the ancient man, Ryoga voiced a question he had been meaning to ask the master. "Excuse me, but might I ask a question?" Seeing a ready expression, he continued. "You said that you raised that dragon-egg. But what happened to him? He isn't here, is he dead?"
"Ah yes. A good question. Well, in a way, yes and no." If he could, Ryoga would have made question marks appear over his head. Instead, he opted for looking confused. "I realized that he was truly the only dragon left in the world. The life of the last dragon is lonely, and I often wondered if there was something better I could do for him.
"One day, the Musk prince, what's-his-name came up to me. He inquired about the dragon, to see if he might be allowed to perform their ceremony on him." Crossing his arms, he indicated that he had thought hard about it. "I gave it much thought, and in the end I agreed. I can't remember what name they gave the new Queen, but I did manage to catch the name of her son. Herb, I believe it was."
"WHAT!?!? Herb is...?"
"You know Herb?"
"Uh, yeah, we met, once. Tough girl, tougher guy." He snickered a bit as he recalled the odd dragon-born prince/princess. "But wait a minute. You know the Musk?"
"You don't?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, to answer your first question, yes. Yes I know the Musk. We formed an estranged alliance some time ago when I rescued a number of their warriors from a dragon-herd." He looked at Ryoga with an odd expression that could have been seen as un-connected disbelief. "And I suppose you wouldn't know this. But you should know this as well. The first, and so far only favor I asked in return was to be provided with heirs to my school."
Taking one hand, he moved Ryoga's lower jaw down as he used his index and middle finger to touch the tips of each of his fangs. "Your grandfather was a wolven Musk warrior that took his place as my student after he saw me in action against those dragons that day."
Ryoga's eyes went wide as he jumped away and clamped his mouth shut in disbelief. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT I'M A MUSK!?!?"
"Well, not fully, but yes. The blood did thin some in the two generations that passed, I can tell. But those fangs are a bit of a reminder. I've also seen your grandfather's eyes in you."
Ryoga was beginning to hyperventilate as he tried to take it all in. "They... and me... and I... but... how? ...wolf?" As he calmed down, he thought about it. "Yeah, I guess I am a bit like a wolf. A lone wolf."
"Hehe, that's the spirit! So how about we get rid of the pig?"
"Oh yeah! I nearly forgot about that! How do I do it again!?"
~~
Go to the Jusenkyo springs valley.
He did that already.
Ask the guide about a similarly named mountain.
He was climbing the mountain now.
Atop the mountain there lies a beast by the name of 'Arashi'.
He could see the cave already.
Whatever you do, you must not fight him, or be threatening in any way.
He sat in a meditative position just outside the cave. It was cold and he shivered lightly. But he stayed calm as he performed the next step.
On the ground outside his cave, draw this set of symbols.
Three symbols now lay drawn in the snow, and refused to disappear no matter how much the snow wanted to blow them away. One for Jusenkyo. One for honesty. And one for freedom.
They will react to the mountain, and call forth Arashi.
The three symbols began to glow with a soft golden glow.
With time, the rumblings of a large creature coming out of its cave came closer, closer, and closer. Until finally, Arashi emerged.
He was like a large hairy ape with white fur covering him from head to large toe. 'The Yeti?'
From there, it is up to you. Do as asked when asked, and be sure you have an answer when he is ready to ask.
The Yeti that went by the name Arashi looked down at the boy. A calm, intelligent voice came from him as he regarded the human. "So you have a Jusenkyo curse?"
Ryoga nodded. "Yes."
Keep in mind. He is not more powerful than the Jusenkyo springs. He is only *as* powerful. So he cannot simply remove the curse.
"So you wish to have your curse changed by me."
Again, a nod. "Yes, please."
Nodding, the white giant walked slowly back into his cave, and then came back out carrying a strange golden pan.
"What is your choice for an alternative curse?"
Ryoga had given it much thought. And he was ready to respond. "The white wolf."
Smiling as he did so, the gentle giant stuck one finger into the water that sloshed gently to his touch.
A slight glow emanated from the pan and then faded away.
The yeti handed him the pail, which gave off an odd warmth. "The water will cool soon, and will no longer have its effect. Now is the time for you to make your final decision. Once changed, I cannot change your curse again. If you wish to change your mind, that can also be done now."
Ryoga looked into the water. There was steam coming off of it, and he could tell that it was hot.
Closing his eyes, he poured the water over himself, reveling in the warmth, but not particularly comforted by the cold wind that cooled it against his skin.
Once done, he will take the pan back into the cave with him. You should leave then. If you returned, or performed any of these again, he would not appear for you.
Offering a thank you as he handed the pan back to the gentle beast, he watched him retreat back into the cave with a smile on his face.
As he left, he wondered what it was going to be like for him from now on. True, in most of the places he went, white was not the color of wolves in the area, but that seemed most appropriate to him somehow.
When you have finished, I would like for you to come back here. If you wish, you may receive training from me, just as your grandfather did. Although he never finished, I have higher hopes for you.
'I do too, old man...
'Ryoga Hibiki of the Wandering Dragon School of Martial Arts. That has a nice ring to it.'
Continuing on, Ryoga made his way to his future master's dojo in the middle of China.
~~~~~~*** End of Chapter 15 ***~~~~~~
~ Special Bonus ~
"She is coming."
"Who?"
"She is coming."
As waves of power radiated off of him, his thoughts wandered back to his mother. What would she think of him now?
"Sir. It's not just in Tokyo. There are reports of it coming in from news reports all over the world. China, France, all the Americas, even Russia and Africa. This can't be a coincidence."
"My master doesn't like when naughty people stand against her."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~ End of Previews ~
Hehe, what did you think of that? High quality stuff, huh? ^.^ I think so! But maybe I'm just a little vain.
But I wonder why no one new is reading this? O.o I thought it was pretty good. [Taps index fingers together] I don't know.
Geeze! All the other stories all have LOTS more reviews than me! And some of those are SHORTER!
I wonder if it's something I'm doing wrong... [mumbles to self]
Oh well, whatever. I'm proud of it regardless!
And special thanks goes to Kurai, who has been my most constant reviewer thus far. Gracias! O.o I can't remember the Japanese word for it. Or else I woulda put that here.
Okay! I'm done!
Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm
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