Void Contract

Chapter One: Ice-cream Diaries

obsidianfox

Started: June 26, 2004

Last Update: July 01, 2004

Some people drink deeply from the fountain of knowledge. Others only gargle.

-- Grant M. Bright

(ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo)

I'm Ranma. The slob sitting across from me, wiping a little ice cream off his chin, is Baka Oyaji, although his given name is Genma. We are Saotome. He is a master of the Masubetsu Kakuto Ryuu, and I am his student... and, as much as I sometimes hate to admit it, his son.

Now is one of those times.

"Baka Oyaji! You didn't need to steal the ice-cream cart!"

We are currently in a small park; a small ice-cream trolley sits next to us.

"Have you no sense of adventure, boy?" Genma asks; his eyes narrow and he glowers at me. "Besides, I didn't steal it. He gave it to me."

I snort. "Yeah, right pops. Then why did he and that girl chase us halfway across Hong Kong?"

"I think she just wanted to know your name, son." He grins, proudly. "I remembered to not tell, this time!"

I groan. This situation feels oddly familiar, but I cannot remember why. Finally, I shrug and ask, "So, is there any strawberry flavored left?"

Genma grins widely, grabs a cone and scoops a large portion of strawberry ice-cream for me. He passes it to me, eyeing the portion as though giving up that much reluctantly. As I begin to take a few licks, the grin disappears and he sits back, looking serious.

"We need to talk, son. Yesterday I encountered a -"

"Yeah! We do need to talk!" I break in. "What was that blue aura thing, and when are you going to teach me!"

A large dollop of strawberry ice-cream slides off my cone and onto my wrist. I raise my wrist to my mouth and start licking it off.

Genma grins a little; "I've already started teaching you, boy. As for what it is, an aura is a projection of oneself – it is born of spirit, mind, and body; it is as real as your arms and legs. Everybody has an aura, but most people cannot use it conciously. My master could read and detect auras to determine who was near, their position, and their basic state of mind, even if they aren't martial artists.

"He told me that much, boy, but never told me how to do it. I hear that a skilled person can hide his or her aura while not actively using it, but I haven't learned that either."

I frown a bit. "If everyone has an aura, why could I only see yours, old man?"

"Umm..." Genma scratches his head and thinks a bit. "The word is manifest. An aura manifests, or becomes visible, when the aura is powered by ki energy, or is acting as a conduit for it; I think." He grins stupidly, then lowers his hand from his head. "Err... maybe some physics or thaumaturgy classes would help? That isn't really my area of knowledge, son."

I eye my old man warily. It looks as though he is trying to speak seariously with me... he's watching his words... he's THINKING before he speaks, which is something I've rarely seen him do. Is he trying to avoid agitating me into another fight? I'll let it slide for now.

"Ki? You always talk about it. What the heck is that? Is ki different from an aura?"

"I'm not exactly sure what ki is, boy. I only know that it is your life energy; you use ki to move about, to think, to do just about anything, just like a robot would use electricity. Of course the body of a real man is much more complex; ki allows our cells to heal faster, and toughens every part of our bodies, where too much electricity would just fry a robot."

Genma pauses and frowns a bit, thinking.

"It might be possible to harm yourself if you channel ki or other energies from an outside source, as my master could do. Anyhow, boy, everything living has ki. The more ki you have, the tougher and stronger you are. Ki lets us do things like jump from rooftop to rooftop, or drop from the hospital window without breaking our legs. If you ever use ALL your ki, you will die, boy, so be sure to always have some in reserve... but your body should normally prevent this from happening by knocking you unconcious.

"My master was over three hundred years old, and got that way mostly by growing his ki."

My eyes widen at this; I always wondered why Oyaji and I could do that. I'd been thinking it was just training, but how could training alone make the bones strong enough? Besides! Three hundred! Wow, I could really become a great martial artist with that much time! Just look how far I've gotten in almost sixteen years! "How do I grow my ki?" I ask, enthusiastically.

"Like you grow any other muscle, boy! You eat a lot of food, you push yourself to near your limits, you rest, and then you repeat. Go for faster, higher, harder, tougher, stronger... push your body. You've been growing your ki for nine years, now, and have way more than most people. Of course, pushing your ki use to your limits becomes easier if you are consuming ki conciously. There are many ki-based techniques that aren't aura-based at all... they grant speed, strength, or stamina. However, some auras and aura techniques allow massive use of ki in a small amount of time, thus allowing you to push your ki muscle very easily, and thus grow your ki even faster. Energy blasts are a good example."

I ponder this for a moment. "So, if ki powers the rest of the body, and since my aura is like an extension of my body, I can use ki to power my aura?"

Genma smiles proudly. "You got it, son! You can use ki to power your aura. Then you use your aura to do things that just can't be done with your arms and legs. Of course, not only can you empower your aura, but as I mentioned before you can use it as a conduit to channel your ki, and learn new ways to apply your life energy. The difference is like that between strengthening your body and learning a new martial arts technique. Since your aura is formed from your body, mind, and spirit, it is potentially considerably more versatile than things formed from your body alone... but only if your mind and spirit are as flexible as your body."

"Okay! Now teach me how to use auras!"

"Well, you already know how to use your aura subconciously. I just need to teach you to manifest one conciously... sorta like potty training, as little as I want to do that again, boy. You manifested an aura during our combat earlier."

Eww. Potty training? Baka Oyaji needs some work on his analogies. Did he say I manifested an aura? "I manifested an aura?"

"Yes, boy. Yours was red, likely reflecting the anger inside of you for being beaten to a pulp a dozen times. Heh."

"I was NOT beaten to a pulp!"

Oyaji raises an eyebrow and smirks, then continues. "An anger aura grants a great deal of physical strength and endurance, but hinders your perception and thought, so it isn't something a true martial artist should depend upon. It makes you too vulnerable. That's how we finally beat the master."

My shoulders slump a bit. "What is blue?"

"Confidence mixed with a little pride, in my case, boy. However, the color of an aura hardly tells everything about it... blue also manifests for water and cold based auras, for example. Don't depend on your eyes too much."

"There are auras based on cold and water?"

"Yes. Auras are based on the motion and position of your body, the state of your mind and thoughts, and your spirit. It is possible to create an aura based on about anything you can... 'be', at least to some degree, in mind, body, and spirit. You can be angry, you can be confident, you can be hot or cold. I know for a fact that some auras are based on animal spirits, such as the preying mantis or the cat."

"C-c-cats?" My face is ashen.

Genma flinches a moment, and looks away from my eyes before continuing. "Animal based auras are quite complex, but are powerful at enhancing one's perception, skills, and weaponry. Some auras are based on elements, such as fire, water, metal, plant, and air. I've heard of auras based on professions, like loud thieves and quiet thieves." He grins a bit.

"You would!" I grimace.

"If you're upset with that, you can figure out auras based on police officers and detectives." Genma grins wider. "And then create a set of martial arts techniques that utilize the auras; auras are often useless without techniques. You can do that when you're more skilled. Anyhow, I've heard there are also aura-based techniques based on Zen, the void, the absence of thought or emotion. However, most auras people use are based on emotions. Faith, rage, righteous anger, greed, pride, lust, confidence, shame, envy, guilt, love, happiness, contentment, excitement... any of them and more can be used to create an aura. I think."

"You think?"

"I was never formally taught about this boy. My master," Genma shudders, "may he rest in many pieces forever, taught me much the same way I'm going to be teaching you... by using aura powers against me. The rest is speculation and experience. I'm... sorry, son. I'm not really licensed or qualified to teach this."

My eyes widened. Baka Oyaji... apologized? In fact, he's been talking way above my head for a while now. And he actually sounds as though he knows what he's been talking about.

"Who are you and what did you do with the real Genma Saotome?"

Genma grins widely and proudly at me. He then ruffles my hair a bit with sticky ice-cream fingers, and shoves my bandanna around a bit. I reach up and shift the red bandanna back into place over the tattoo.

"I spent some time thinking about stuff yesterday, while you were running around drinking sake and getting a tattoo. Your actions shame me, boy."

"HEY! It wasn't MY idea to get a stupid tattoo!"

"Are you sure? I mean, you were in the intensive care ward; you probably had so much alcohol they had to pump your stomach, boy!"

"YEAH! I'm sure! And I didn't drink nothin!" I snort, indignant. Did I really drink? I can't remember. But if I drank THAT much, I'm sure I'd have woken with a hangover. Or something.

"Whatever. Anyhow, our school is all about adaptation and improvisation. I'm sure you'll do as well as I did on my own. You are already a master of your body. If you master your mind and spirit, including your own emotions, you'll be learning powerful mystical arts in no time at all. What was it those oracles said? Know thyself."

"Are you ever going to master YOUR emotions, old man?"

Genma's eyes narrow a bit, but a twinkle of pride remains in them. "Respect your elders, boy!"

"What about sloth and gluttony?" I ask with a mischevious twinkle in my eyes.

"What about them?"

"Well, you mentioned rage, envy, lust, greed, and pride as something auras can be based off of. I figure sloth and gluttony should be on that list too... and I figured YOU would be a natural." I grin widely.

Genma's eyes narrow a bit more, then they widen and he looks contemplative for a moment, and finally he grins. "Ha ha, you may be onto something, boy. I'd better start training!" He grabs an ice-cream scoop, swipes up a huge lump of the stuff, and sticks the whole scoop into his mouth.

I grimace. The slob is at it again. I prepare myself another cone, this time with mint flavor... using a different scoop.

"What all can empowering auras and channeling with them do?" I ask, after a few minutes of eating.

Genma doesn't answer immediately, as he is currently trying to swallow a lump of ice-cream larger than his mouth is wide, and is somehow succeeding... slowly. Did he just dislocate his jaw?

Then he answers.

"Empowering auras has widely varied effects based on the nature of the aura; I've personally seen an aura which give a person razor ki claws which can slice through just about anything, and enhanced perception and agility... based on an animal that shall not be named. I've also seen an aura that turns the user invisible to the naked eye and normal cameras. Note that no two auras can be maintained at the exact same time by most people, although if you had schizophrenia it might be possible. So you won't see any invisible cat people. Err... well, I guess an invisible prowling cat might be a compatible aura."

I look around frantically for the invisible things that are definitely worse than giant frog demons. "Invisible prowling c-c-cats! Don't say that!" I shudder at the idea, and continue to look around.

Genma drops his head onto a flat surface on the ice-cream cart. Thunk. He then slowly raises his head, and repeats. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Eventually I ask, "How would I see one if it was invisible?" I shudder again, but am moderately calm at least.

"Oops. Err... you know what I mean, boy. Anyway, many auras, especially those emotion and element based ones, will strengthen the body when empowered... granting strength, speed, or endurance. However, without aura-based techniques these often aren't worth much more than straight ki based techniques to improve the same things. Anyhow, a great deal of power can be gained by mastering some of the more complex auras, such as those based on animals and human occupations. I'm sure Martial Arts Psychotherapy is perfectly doable if you can master the right aura, boy. Then you can get rid of your damn phobia, son.

"However, as I've said before, changing your aura just changes who or what you are 'being' at the moment. If you can't master that being, you won't master your potential with that aura. To do so, you can learn or create techniques associated with your aura. Now, here's the kicker... most aura-based techniques can only be performed with compatible auras. For example, anger based techniques cannot be performed with a happiness aura, period, and if you were somewhere between truly angry and content, then your anger-based techniques would be proportionately weaker than they could be. Similarly, cat techniques can't be performed with a human aura."

"CAT! WHY DO YOU KEEP BRINGING UP C-C-CATS?"

Genma flinches briefly, then turns an angry glare on his boy. "A true man has no fears, boy! You had damn well better get over it before Nodoka learns about it."

"Who's Nodoka!? And what is this thing with auras about! Are you telling me real life is like one of those Final Fantasy job systems? Samurai one minute, click, click, click, now I'm an Alchemist? Bull shit!"

"Nodoka's your mother! How could you forget? And when did you play Final Fantasy, boy? If you had time to play games, you should have been training!"

I played a few hours of that boring game with a couple kids during my brief year in junior high... my one year of schooling.

My anger fades, replaced with happiness. "I have a mom? She's alive?"

Genma has his hands in the air, about to shout out and continue his tirade, but his anger fades immediately, replaced with guilt. His hands drop. His voice softens. "You... didn't know?"

"I can't remember her. I can't remember her face, pop. You haven't said a thing about her in over nine years!" Tears well up in my eyes, but I hold them back. Real men don't cry.

"I'll... take you to her after we return to Japan. We should be done here before the year is out, likely earlier."

"Ok." I say it softly. I almost can't hear it myself. At most half a year more, then. It will probably be the longest months of my life.

We both pause. Birds twitter. A small boy walks up to us and asked for some ice-cream, then runs away screaming after Genma gives him a sharp glare. The pause continues.

"So what's this about auras?" I ask, pushing away the uncomfortable silence.

"I was getting around to saying that a great deal of strength in auras comes from being flexible with them, just like being able to move from one martial arts form to another in our school of martial arts. To be truly flexible, you need to find or invent useful auras, then create or learn techniques that complement these auras, and finally make them your own by learning how to slip between them at the drop of a hat. Emotion based auras are too volatile for that... or maybe not volatile enough; in any case, it is hard to change your emotional state that easily, voluntarily. I'd recommend animal and profession based auras instead. Elemental auras are probably okay too.

"But I'm not sure what effects that will have on you, boy. I'm a little scared. I learned during that... training accident... that auras aren't something to be messed with arbitrarily, boy. Your aura isn't just an extension of your spirit, in many ways it IS your spirit. To change or twist your aura, you change or twist yourself. If your spirit is flexible, it should snap back like a rubber band when the need is over. But, I want you to be careful. I don't want to hurt you that way... not again.

"I've never mastered the degree of flexibility necessary, son. Heck, I haven't even tried. I can only create a few auras, and cannot switch between them with any degree of speed at all. Nobody in the Masubetsu Kakuto Ryuu has mastered spiritual flexibility; the grandmaster and founder was a creature of his own emotions, which wavered between lechery and anger.

"But, I want you to try. I want you to be a whole martial artist. I want you to bring the true strength of Masubetsu Kakuto Ryuu to both halves of martial arts."

"Me?" I somehow feel a little honored.

Genma nods, solemnly. He is looking at an empty bin in the ice-cream trolley, rather than at me, and his hands are in his lap rather than feeding his face. "I've always wanted you to become a greater man than myself. What more can a father ask for? I might not always follow my own teachings, but often those teachings are still basically right. If I'm a hypocrite, that is my own failing... my own weakness. Don't let yourself use it as an excuse to be weaker than you could be. I want you to be better than me."

Silence reigns again, as I ponder what my father has told me.

He's right, I realize. He's instilled honor in me, when he has little of his own. He teaches, and I learn well... even if he's not completely sure of the method. I know he wants me educated as well as strong, despite the spotty education I've received; we've stopped roaming up to a few months at a time so I could take classes, not that I was given time to complete my homework. There is only one time he went terribly wrong... one time that leaves its scars, shame and guilt on both of us. That is the Neko-ken. That is the 'training accident.'

And, now he is trying to teach me a set of skills potentially more dangerous to others, more dangerous to my own personality than the Neko-ken... based on twisting my own mind and spirit into new shapes in order to fashion different auras. And he's taking small steps. He wants to do it right. But he doesn't even know where to start.

He looks up at me, and I see tears welled up in his eyes, much as they are in my own. No tears have fallen. Real men don't cry. My father sometimes bawls his eyes out, but only as a manipulation, never real tears. Those tears in his eyes now... those are real. He opens his mouth to speak, then closes it and pauses for a bit before opening his mouth once more.

"Ranma, I created two different auras, and two schools of techniques to go along with them. One school, the yama-sen-ken, is based on the loud thief. The other school, the umi-sen-ken, is based on the quiet thief. I created them as an experiment on my theories about the nature of aura. These theories on aura are my own, for the most part, although bits and pieces are borrowed from all over. My experiments were both incredible successes, and up until yesterday, I had them sealed. I sealed the yama-sen-ken because it is too dangerous; it could easily take dozens of human lives, or collapse buildings, by accident. I sealed the umi-sen-ken because the idea of my lecherous master, the grandmaster of our school, learning how to turn invisible was too evil to bear."

"The invisibility technique... is YOURS?" I was incredulous.

He nods, slowly.

"Show me!" I demand.

He grins a little against his tears, then lifts a hand and slowly waves at me as he fades out of sight right in front of me. Wow. A few seconds later, I'm still staring at the chair when I feel a calloused hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I see Genma's smiling face. It looks like he wiped his tears away while invisible.

How convenient.

"Cool. You'll teach me that." It was not a question.

Genma nods. "I plan to." He lifts his hand off my shoulder, then continues. "Later, when we're both ready for you to know it. Ask me again in a year if you feel you are ready for it. I don't like the idea of you turning invisible on me at the moment, especially since last time you disappeared on me, you ran off, got drunk, and got a tattoo on your forehead. Also, at the moment you lack the skill to learn the technique. However, this techniques is something I created on my own. I'm quite sure you'll be able to come up with many auras and techniques on your own, in time."

I nodded. Wait! Shouldn't I be yelling? He insulted my skill. Wow. Somehow my pops is regaining a little of my respect. Who is this person and what did he do with the real Genma Saotome?

Another moment of silence passes ever so slowly. I watch as the last solid bit of mint ice-cream melts into the green sludge in its bin. Am I thinking? I can't remember. A total moment of Zen. Cool; I'll be mastering that aura in no time at all. I'm the best.

Eventually, I speak up again. "What else can aura powers do? Telekinesis? Flight? Mind control? Illusion? You've already mentioned energy blasts. What about healing others? Weather control?" I squint a bit trying to think of categories I haven't yet hit, but come up blank.

"I'm not completely sure, son. I think telekinesis, flight, and illusion are possible, but I've never seen them in use excepting my invisibility technique. Related to flight and transport, it is almost certainly possible to use your aura to breathe underwater, or at least hold your breath for a very long time. I know for certain that it is possible to walk on water, or walk up vertical surfaces, or even on the ceiling, though I never mastered it. I know that a certain degree of mind control is possible... I've been hit with techniques that affect the emotions before. I know you can heal yourself, but I've never seen a martial artist heal another... but it sounds possible... I've seen much stranger things. However, as far as weather control goes... well, you might be able to start a tornado, throw lightning, or raise a fog if the conditions were already right, but I think full scale weather control would require more ki than you'll ever have. Ha. What would you want to control the weather for?"

"I haven't a clue. I'm just getting used to the idea of mystical ki techniques."

"Well, the physical arts are only half of martial arts, and the mystical stuff is the other half. Hmmm. The third half is probably pressure points, but I don't know anything about those."

"Third half?" I ask.

"Did I say something wrong, boy?" Genma looks at me curiously.

I roll my eyes and shrug.

"So, when are you going to teach me? I wanna learn!"

"Weren't you listening, boy! I've already started. You already use ki subconsciously. You've already manifested an aura. And what do you think I've been teaching you for the last hour!"

I think about this for a moment. I've spent nine years of my life learning physical art, and my father never once mentioned something about ki techniques or auras. Also, until today, he's never shown me a technique OR how to manifest an aura for speed and strength. That is quite a rabbit to be hiding under one's hat for nine years.

"Why now? Why only for this last hour, pop? Why didn't you start teaching me years ago?"

Genma sits silent for a moment, then says, "I don't really have a good answer for why I didn't start earlier, son. When I first started training you, you definitely weren't ready. About four years ago you were ready for training, but I felt that I'm not very qualified to teach you... especially after the Neko-ken. I think that for your initial training, we're going to go find ourselves a temple priest willing to help us out.

"Now, as to why I had a sudden change of heart? Well, it happened yesterday, at about the same time I unsealed my forbidden techniques. I fought something inhuman... something against which my fists did no significant or lasting harm, even with my confidence aura. It was raging through the city, chasing someone or something, and harming everyone in its way.

"I found it when I was looking for you, boy. I was scared for you. A real man can be scared for those he loves. It might have attacked you, and nothing in your training could have stopped it. And, after my confidence fled... all I was left with..." Genma pauses for a moment, catching his breath, calming down. "All I had left that could hurt it was the yama-sen-ken. And if I didn't use it, then it would have killed me... and your training would never be completed.

"Yesterday I encountered a -." Genma is interrupted by a shrill scream penetrating through the park.

"DEMON!" More screams float over to Genma and I. I look in the direction of the screams, somewhat dazed, thinking of dreams and giant demon frogs.

"Yeah. One of those," finishes Genma. He grabs and shoves a final scoop of melted ice-cream sludge into his mouth, then stands up. "Well, what are you waiting for, boy! You've gotta protect the weak!"