Chapter 1: In the Enchanted Forest
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This is just a romantic fanfic about Ranma and Akane that has nothing to do with the series. The main people that show up are Ranma and Akane, maybe Ryouga at the end. I don't know yet. It's my first fanfic so I hope that it turns out okay. The names of plants and plants themselves are all made up. I hope you can put up with my strange story. Also, I don't own Ranma or anyone else. This story will most likely turn lemon towards the end, though it's not finished yet. Here goes:
Notes:
--- change of setting or point of view
""dialogue
Thank you also for all the reviews! I thought it would be best to edit this chapter first, before I add another. I'm going to fix any small details in this one, and probably make it longer as well, with more suspense at the end Thank you The Shadows, I am going to change around Dr. Tofu's part a little bit and see how that goes (I think I'll take Kasumi out for now), as well as make the thoughts that I had, as you pointed out, initially put in italics, so that they will be noticed ) Thanks to Nikka as well!
I added more of what I'd written to this chapter instead of putting it in the next one, so hopefully it has more suspense and excitement now
Sorry it's taken me so long to get this up and running! I've been busy and moving around, but I'm back, and I hope to finish this story and add a couple others that I've had in my head soon! Any comments or criticisms welcome, but please, be gentle XD
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In a distant forest of Japan:
"They must be around here somewhere... let's see. They're supposed to have long, star-shaped leaves, and little white flowers, and they grow in the shade of oaks and the tallest trees of the forest.... hmm..." Akane mumbled to herself as she sorted through the greenery on the forest floor.
"Ahh here's some!"
Her face lit up as she picked the plants up by their roots, careful to keep every part of the plant intact.
"They're so pretty too!" She admired the little flowers dancing in the wind as the sun fought its way through the trees, leaving spotted areas of light and dark far below.
"And Dr. Tofu said they're perfect for healing! I don't see why it was such a problem for me to come all the way up here...It's not like I can't take care of myself on my own..."
She continued making her way through the forest floor, humming to herself in tune with the birds overhead. She felt so relaxed and at peace. It was so nice to be here... without Ranma who kept getting in her way...
That jerk... thinks I can't even take care of myself...who needs him anyways?
Akane tried to lead her thoughts away from him, but they invariably kept returning to him.
Why can't I get him out of my head? It's his fault! It must be because he isn't here... A sad look fell upon her face, quickly replaced by anger. If he was here I bet he'd be complaining right now...it's so much quieter without him around...
Her heart whispered to her: "and lonelier..."
"That's enough for today I think," Akane exclaimed as she looked down at her basket. It was overflowing with the plant's distinguishable white blossoms and thick roots. She didn't want to take too many from the forest floor, or there wouldn't be any left next year. And besides, in the last two days she'd been here, trekking through the forest, she had gathered at least four basketfuls of "Adonis healers," which was enough to last Dr. Tofu until at least next summer.
Still, I hope he won't have to use them too soon...
Akane remembered what Dr. Tofu had told her about the plants that were so rarely found anywhere but in the mystical Byakkuya Mori. The place had earned its name "Forest of the white night" because of the incredible number of fireflies that lit up the rivers and trees at night, making the forest glow with a mystical light. The white flowers, that only grew in this region for some obscure reason, possessed extraordinary healing powers.
If you ground up the roots and leaves and mixed them with a little water, then applied them to open wounds, they would heal incredibly fast, and more often than not left no scar. The sorts of wounds it treated though were near deadly: deep cuts and gashes in the skin that oftentimes needed stitching alongside the plant formula. Rumors of the flower petals containing anesthetic made the plants even more valuable and hard to find.
This forest spread across several mountains of the countryside, but these flowers only grew in the dark valleys under much shade, which was why Akane had camped beside the riverbank at the very bottom of the valley. She headed over to her tent and quickly deposited the plants, then got her pack of food.
Thank goodness Kasumi packed so much food for me... I'm starving! She withdrew several rice balls and ate heartily as she stared at the magnificent view her temporary residence gave her.
A small waterfall further upstream filled the air with dew that made the entire surrounding green look fresh and full of life. The leaves were very dense and the weather was quite cold so deep in the shade, but the sunlight still poked through random areas, dotting across the river and making the water sparkle. Occasionally, small fish could be seen playing under the water, and when Akane dipped her hand in, the water was refreshingly cool to the touch, and yet surprisingly not freezing.
This forest isn't that dangerous...I don't know why everyone thought it would be so bad. I haven't seen a single animal since I came here, other than the fish... Akane remembered the week before she had left on her hike:
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"Byakkuya mori? Isn't that the place where several people mysteriously disappeared last week?" Nabiki chimed in.
"It is, but I need to get those herbs soon because I'm really running out. I don't know anywhere else to find them," Dr. Tofu remarked.
"Why don't you send Ranma? It would be good training for him!" Genma suggested.
"Forget it, I'm not going to some lousy old fore- Alright alright! I'll go." Ranma reluctantly gave in to Genma and Soun's stern stares.
"Don't you have that martial arts competition next week Ranma?" Nabiki reminded him.
"Oh no! I almost forgot about that! Can it wait a week Dr. Tofu?"
"Well-"
"-Don't worry about it Dr. Tofu. I'll go," Akane stated.
Everyone stared at Akane. Soun was the first to speak:
"Why don't we have a family trip there? With all of us going it will be safer, and it will be a nice vacation."
"No, it's fine dad. I'll go by myself. Now that Kasumi's helping at Dr. Tofu's clinic she's too busy to go, Nabiki's always busy somewhere and she doesn't like hiking very much, so it would be much faster if you let me go alone. It's good exercise, and I heard that place is so beautiful!"
"NO WAY!"
"WHY NOT Ranma?" Akane angrily stared back at Ranma, her brow creasing in frustration.
"There's no way you could take care of yourself alone without getting lost is all."
"Oh yeah?"
"I don't really think it's safe to trust this forest," her father added.
"And how do you plan on getting there?" Ranma asked.
"I'll hike there."
"You're too weak for tha-" SMACK! Akane's fist hit Ranma's stomach causing him to double over as she stormed out of the room. I'll show you that I can take care of myself. Just you wait Ranma...
"Well I think we should wait a bit and sort this out sweat drop," Nabiki suggested.
"Good idea Nabiki. I'll just be going now. I have more patients to attend to."
"I'll be right over Dr. Tofu!" Kasumi called after him, poking her face out of the kitchen she'd been working in.
"Huh? What? Oh, yes Kasumi, of course," Tofu began to apologize to the wall for bumping into it before heading out of the door.
"Oh dear, I hope he's alright," Kasumi worried. "Maybe I should go check that's he's okay..." She hurried off after him towards his office, forgetting the meal she'd been cooking in the kitchen.
"I better go too to make sure Dr. Tofu doesn't break anything," Nabiki followed him.
-----1 week later, at Dr. Tofu's:
"Are you sure you want to do this Akane? It is dangerous. I heard lots of stories of wild animals, even tigers, in that forest. Several people have disappeared in there and never returned."
"Don't worry about me Dr. Tofu. You know I can protect myself, right?"
"That's true. Just be careful okay?"
"Of course."
"Do you have everything you need? Maybe we should wait until your father, Genma and Ranma get back from the competition."
"No, no it's fine. I'll be back before then anyways... and my sisters understand. Kasumi made me lots and lots of food to bring on the trip."
"Good. Well last thing then. Take this. It has any first aid stuff you might need, just in case."
Dr. Tofu handed Akane a small package full of ointments, creams and bandages. Several pills were inside it too.
"Thank you very much! I promise I'll be back soon!" Akane waved back at the doctor as she left his office, and headed on her way.
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Perhaps father might not like my being here, but I'll get back before he does anyways, Akane smiled to herself. I'll be back by tomorrow! And I didn't have a single problem! It had been 4 days since she'd left, and everything had gone smoothly according to plan. She was even able to get some training in between meals and searching for the plants.
"One last walk around this beautiful forest won't hurt," she exclaimed. "I'm going to miss this peace and quiet when I get back."
Quickly finishing her meal, she skipped along the riverbank and waded through it playfully to reach the other side. The water reached barely above her knees, and felt soothing against her legs. A splash that was not her own was heard in the distance, but she paid no attention to it as she continued on her way. On the other side, hanging from the branches of some of the lower trees, grew big and exotic purple flowers. She stood on her tiptoes to take in their beguiling scent. They smell so wonderful!
She gathered a small bouquet of the vivid purple flowers and climbed up the tree with the help of several vines, lying back against the trunk. Small bits of sunlight poked at her face, as she closed her eyes to relax and slowly drifted off to sleep with the bouquet resting in her lap.
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Nobu focused on every individual plant with his camera as he traveled through the forest. No other reporter had dared come into this forest, let alone with only one other person. Come to think of it, few people ever came here any more, because of the rumors of disappearances.
Nobu and his fellow reporter Natsuki had decided to enter the forest following some rumors that a girl had come by a couple days ago. They had indeed found tracks, and some people they had asked on their way had wondered if she was going to disappear inside the forest too, taken away by some monster... I bet it's all made up...I'll get the best footage of this place, and uncover the truth!
He slowly advanced through the forest, making sure to catch every different variety of plant with his camera. Natsuki carefully reported everything she saw. Yes, it's the first time I get to do some live filming! Suddenly, his and Natsuki's attention was caught by an abandoned camp close to the river. Someone else is in the forest?
"It appears that someone besides us has come to admire the view," Natsuki exclaimed sweetly while looking at the camp, still in view of the camera. She held up the microphone close to her lips as she reappeared in the frame.
"Oh look, I see someone over there!" She pointed to the shadow of a person across the river, up in the trees.
"Is it really a person?" Natsuki continued to interest the viewers with her live reporting, "or perhaps a ghost or monster of some kind... "
As they got closer they noticed the distant shape of a girl.
"It appears to be a young woman, alone in the woods. Perhaps she is a lost spirit."
Just then the sound of crackling branches made Natsuki start.
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"Eh Ranma, come look at this! They're reporting about some girl in the forest you were supposed to go to. Maybe she's an evil spirit. Good job you didn't go this week eh my boy?" Genma called Ranma over to the television in their little hotel room. The competition had been going smoothly, with Ranma's continuous wins. Genma and Soun in the meantime just ate as much food as they could find.
"I bet it's all made up," Ranma remarked, but came over to see the television anyway.
"It appears the young girl has short, dark blue hair.... And she's resting in a tree... wait! What is this?"
The sound of crackling branches continued to increase, as it slowly approached Natsuki.
"That poor reporter," Soun exclaimed as he watched the events unfold at the edge of his seat.
Some sort of shadow is coming towards us... it looks like a cat. No, a tiger!! Oh, it looks like it's going to attack the young woman in the tree! Quickly, we have to warn her!" The reporter Natsuki grew frantic. Nobu the cameraman focused in on the girl, just as Ranma began drinking his tea.
"Oh my, that girl looks like..." Genma began.
"It does, it does.... Can it be?" Soun added.
The two grown men leaned towards the television, then gasped as they exclaimed at the same time: "It's Akane!"
"Pffffhhtt!" Ranma's tea came back out of his mouth. "What the hell is Akane doing there?"
"I have no idea..." Genma began.
"My poor little girl is going to be attacked! What can we do? I talked to her before I left. I told her not to go..."
They were all suddenly drawn back to the television by the reporter's words:
"This animal is like nothing I've ever seen before. It looks like a tiger, but its eyes are purple and...it's climbing that tree!"
All three men's eyes were riveted on the screen as they started at Akane's shape in the trees. The strange animal advanced towards the reporters, and the cameraman suddenly turned and ran. A loud roar came from the television, but only the ground could be seen because the camera had been dropped. It was soon picked up, and instead of where Akane's shape had been, Ranma glimpsed a flurry of violet flowers flying in the air, then slowly falling to the ground. Several terrified screams were heard, before the reporter could be seen running ahead of the cameraman.
AKANE! Was that really her? Is it possible?
Genma and Soun had obviously been thinking the same thing. Genma rapidly picked up the phone and called the Tendo residence.
"Moshi moshi?" came Kasumi's cool voice.
"Is Akane there??" Genma asked, dearly hoping that the answer was yes.
"Umm... yes, well...let's see-"
Kasumi's voice was cut short and replaced by Nabiki's, "-who's this?"
"It's Genma Saotome."
"Akane went out today, but don't worry she'll be home by tomorrow. She went to spend the night at a friend's house."
"What's the phone number?"
"Well, you see her friend lives in a new apartment and they don't have phones installed yet..."
"Tell me, is my little girl in the Byakkuya mori?" Soun took the phone and asked, nearly in tears.
"Dad? I... how did you know? Wait, did something happen to her?"
Soun broke into tears that overflowed down his face, and this was all the confirmation that Ranma needed. He violently punched the wall, sending splinters flying. DAMNIT!! That stupid girl!! Why did she have to go off by herself? Ranma was so furious, but more even than that was the fear that she was hurt, somewhere alone in the forest. He quickly threw most of his belongings together and dashed off, knowing what he had to do.
"I'm going to bring her back!" he exclaimed right before leaving. "Don't worry about the competition, just enjoy the food!" then ran out the door.
Once outside, Ranma ran as fast as his legs could carry him, through the city in direction of the dense forest far ahead. He had no idea where to look, or where exactly he should be going, but he knew he would not stop until he found her, and hoped that it would not be too late.
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Akane lazily stretched and smiled as she drifted out of sleep and sat up. She had dreamed of Ranma again, which was becoming more and more frequent these days. Of course, in the dreams he was nice, and he liked her cooking, he had no other fiancees, and he was so sweet... A faint blush crept up her cheeks...
Akane turned her head and gazed through the leaves in the trees to see a reporter and cameraman standing on the opposite bank. They appeared to be looking at her. Whatever for? I wish they would just go away so everything can be quiet and peaceful again. But the reporter would not be quiet. Suddenly, Akane heard large branches cracking in the distance. Had even more people ventured into the forest when they realized it wasn't dangerous? Then she looked to her right across the trees and realized she was dead wrong.
Some strange beast with glowing purple eyes was perched up high in a tree and stared straight at her cruelly, then began advancing. Akane panicked, and didn't know what to do.
Just stay calm, stay calm... But the reporter was already making lots of noise, which visibly angered the tiger-like monster even more. It began jumping through the trees, and Akane tried to move but realized in a panic that there was no where else she could go. The cameraman was still there, but the camera had fallen to the ground and he was desperately trying to rescue it. Akane shielded her body with her hands as the monster jumped her way, and suddenly, it was on the same tree as her.
She stood up on the branch, and all the beautiful violet flowers fell to the ground. Grabbing a wayward branch she prepared to swing at the monster, she returned its angry gaze with one of her own, thought she was trembling inside.
It roared fiercely and jumped towards Akane. She swung the branch, but it only hit the side of the monster before it pounced on her and tore a gash in her side with its razor-sharp claws.
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!!" Her blood-curdling scream of pain and fear resonated through the forest as the claws pulled through the thin skin tissue of Akane's side. The reporters then screamed as soon as they realized what was going on, and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. Akane was losing blood steadily, and feared that she would die then and there. She tried to prepare herself as best as she could for the next blow the monster would deliver, only to be viciously knocked off the branch as the monster ran after the reporters. Clearly it liked wounding its targets before finishing them. And it liked running after its prey.
Akane fell to the ground with a hard thud, and the world turned black around her as she thought: Ranma... I'm sorry... I love... the world rapidly disappearing before her as she fell unconscious.
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Thanks for the reviews! I'm having trouble getting the spacing to come out on here correctly, even though it looks fine when I have it in Word. Anyways, I hope that this is better. I actually have more written but I don't want to put it all up at once because then when people want more they'll have to wait for longer.. I thought it would be better this way. Any reviews welcome!
