Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ nor do I own the Legacy of Kain series but that will change after I built my own Chronoplast room and travel back in time.
((Thoughts))
"Dialogue"
/Telepathy/
'Panda signs'
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The next morning…
Ranma was sitting with crossed legs in the dojo; he decided to skip school for today and stay home trying to figure out how to reach the man he talked to and how to summon that sword he used against Kuno. His mother wouldn't agree at first but with the help of Nabiki he could convince her otherwise.
Ranma was only wearing his usual black pants and slippers; his shirt was placed near the entrance of the dojo. He was beginning with a meditation exercise he learned in his ten year long training trip. The monks he learned it from told him that he could reach deep within his soul with this technique.
Five minutes later…
"God damn it!" exclaimed Ranma as he remembered something, "That technique can be only used to reach into ones own soul! I can't reach something that's not in my soul!"
"Maybe I should try something easier…" Ranma thought back to yesterday when he fought Kuno, ((How did that sword appear… it had something to do with Nabiki being in danger or was it what I felt at the moment? Time for a little test…))
Ranma held his right hand in front of him, palm upwards and started concentrating,
"Moko Takabisha!"
A ball of pure yellow light appeared some inches above Ranma's palm; he was strained to keep it in place so that he wouldn't destroy the roof of the dojo. After some seconds he got the hang on it and relaxed a bit, he examined the glowing sphere, touching it with his other hand and feeling it with his other senses, ((That's not like the energy I felt when the blade appeared… Maybe if I try this…))
Ranma tried to feed the ki with different emotions and always got different results, mostly changes in color or size of the ball.
((Not one of them feels similar… … maybe if I use no emotions at all?))
Ranma started using the Soul of Ice now, making himself completely devoid of any emotions and supplying the ki with pure coldness. It became white and grew a bit but nothing else changed.
"Damn!" shouted Ranma and crushed the ki ball in his hand, "What am I doing wrong?!"
"Ranma, are you okay?" asked a voice from the side
Ranma turned his head towards the sound, seeing his mother standing at the entrance of the dojo, she was dressed, as usual, in a formal kimono, "I'm fine, mom. I only try to figure something out."
"Why don't you ask your father, if it has anything to do with martial arts?"
"Errr… Mom, I surpassed Oyaji over two years ago, there's nothing left that he could teach me."
"Tell me what your problem is, maybe I can help you."
"Well, I told you yesterday that I fought against this guy Kuno with a sword."
"Yes."
"See, I'm trying to figure out where this sword came from, it suddenly appeared in my hand."
Nodoka sat down next to her son and rested her chin on her palms, "What exactly is the problem?"
Ranma thought a little and replied, "Hmmm… It's like this, before the sword appeared I felt a strange kind of energy, it gathered in my hand and then formed the blade. Now I'm trying to recreate the energy…"
"How?"
"Huh?"
"How are you trying to recreate the energy?"
"That's how… Moko Takabisha."
Like before he held his right palm upward and again a yellow colored ball of light appeared. Nodoka's eyes widened at the sight, she reached out with her hand and gave Ranma a quick look, he nodded and she touched the ki, as her fingers came into contact with the energy she suddenly felt unbelievably confident. She pulled her hand away again and said,
"What is this?"
"That is a ki technique I learned some time ago, I use my confidence to make it stronger."
"But if you have used it so often why did the sword never appear before?"
"That's because it's not the energy I felt when the sword appeared. I tried to fuel the ki with different emotions but not one felt quite like the one back then."
Nodoka looked thoughtful at this; she really wanted to help her son since she couldn't do anything for him for over ten years. She thought back to the time when she trained together with her great-grandfather who was a master swordsman but she was always a little clumsy with the blade.
Flashback…
A thirteen year old Nodoka sat on the ground of a dojo, she was dressed in a hakama, the top was white and her pants were red. Her hair was bound in a short ponytail. Across of her sat an old man, he had long gray hair that reached down his back, on his right cheek was a cross-shaped scar and his eyes had a vibrant violet color.
"Nodoka-chan, I know you mean well with all the training you do but you don't concentrate enough, you always do the physical exercises but your mind is not with you, that's why you broke your knee last year. Before you can become a master your spirit and your body must be balanced!"
That was when Nodoka's great-grandmother called, "Nodo-chan, Kens…"
End Flashback…
"Mom, are you okay?" asked Ranma a bit worried, "You spaced out a little."
She blinked at her son's words and shook her head clear from those past memories, "I'm fine, don't worry. I only thought back to the time when my great-grandfather was still alive, I trained under him."
"Was he a martial artist?" asked Ranma curiously, ((I don't know anything about mom's family.))
"No, he was a swordsman and even fought during the time of the Meiji-War… He was a great warrior and I always wanted to be like him but I was never all that good with the sword…"
"D-during the Meiji-War?!" exclaimed Ranma, "That was over a century ago!"
"Why are you so surprised? It's not like you don't know people who are several centuries old."
"Who… …? Oh… those two… … I never thought of the ghoul and the pervert as humans…"
Nodoka giggled at this and replied, "Ranma, you should respect your elders."
He didn't believe her one word though since he noticed that his mother was trying not to laugh out loud, "They look more like small monkeys; I mean the only thing that is missing is the fur…"
This time Nodoka did broke out into mad laughter and alongside her Ranma, they rolled on the floor and if anyone came in seeing them like this, they would have thought they went insane. After a few minutes both of them calmed down again, they were breathing hard and clutched their sides with tears running out of their eyes.
"Oh man… I needed that…" said Ranma first
Nodoka nodded, "I don't know when the last time was I laughed like this…"
"So… What did you remember exactly about great-grandfather?"
"He always said to me that to become a great fighter someone must find a balance between the soul and body… I never quite understood what he meant since I wasn't very much on the spiritual side of things."
Ranma's eyes widened at this though, "A balance… …? A balance!! That's it!"
Nodoka was surprised at her son's outburst, "What?"
"Thanks mom!!" responded Ranma and his mother a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll have to try this!"
"Ranma, what is it?"
"You'll see I'm certain it will work!"
Ranma stood up and took a stance, his aura started to appear around him and it illuminated the whole room in blue light. He held his right hand out and started his experiment.
"HAAAA!!!!!!!!"
Nodoka watched with wide eyes as her son's aura blinked out of existence and was replaced with black-red lightning that arched around his body, more and more of the energy appeared shrouding Ranma almost completely from view. There was a quick flash of bright red light and Nodoka had to shield her eyes, as the glow slowly faded away she looked back to her son and gasped in shock.
Ranma was dressed in a black armor, with a red piece of clothing that that seemed to cover his whole body except his head like a second skin. The armor consisted of a black breastplate that also covered his back, black shoulder guards, black bracers on his forearms and black leg guards, all the pieces were rimmed by gold. Ranma also wore brown leather boots. In his right hand he held the Iron Sword. His pigtail also seemed longer than before, reaching now almost his hips.
Ranma looked down at himself, stunned at what he was wearing; he never expected such a reaction when he tried his experiment. He examined the finely crafted sword in his hands, which was followed by a few practice swings. When he was finished he brought the blade over his shoulder as if he was sheathing it and the sword stayed there like it was attached to the armor. Now he took his time to take a closer look at the armor, he noticed that its weight was almost nonexistent and he almost couldn't feel that red stuff that was attached to his skin. That was also when he remembered something important, his mother. He turned his head towards her and saw that her mouth was moving but nothing came out. Ranma walked towards her and shook her slightly by the shoulders,
"Mom, snap out of it!"
It worked and she regained her composure, to bad for Ranma that one of his visions started in that moment,
>>>>>>>>>>>>Vision>>>>>>>>>>>>
He was sitting on a throne in a gigantic palace, ruins of what once seemed pillars behind him. There where five other people in the room with him, two on his left and three on his right, they all looked almost human but they had talons and claws instead of hands and feet. They were also very pale and had black hair.
Suddenly a man entered the throne room and walked up to the middle standing before the throne, he strode into through the room like a predator, full of grace and hidden strength. He too, like the others, had black hair and these strange hands and feet. He wore black leather pants and his chest was free except something like a red cape hanging over his right shoulder. As the man reached his destination, he kneeled down and started to unfold wings that were till now hidden away from the view of the man sitting on the throne. As the kneeling man finished unfolding his bat-like wings he stretched them fully, showing everyone their true size.
The man on the throne stood up and strolled towards his kneeling general. Shortly before he reached the one on the ground, the black-haired man stood up again. The other man wasn't bothered by it in the least and started to touch the wings lightly, the black-haired all the while following his movements with his head, as the other man had each of his claws on one of the wings, he pulled… hard… and the man screamed,
"AAAARRRRGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
His shouts of pain echoed through the hall as he fell to ground and blood splattered everywhere. The other man threw the wing bones he ripped out to the ground and motioned for two of the other men to pick the wounded one up.
Later…
They walk up the side of a cliff, dragging the wounded vampire with them, under them the abyss, where weaklings and traitors met their punishment. The man from the throne was there too, he looked a last time at his first general turned his head away and said,
"Cast him in."
And they followed his order, they threw their brother over the side and they all could hear his screams of fear, betrayal and hatred as he fell towards his damnation and as he was swallowed by the swirling water, the burning began and it would last for the next thousand years nurturing his hatred towards his creator.
>>>>>>>>>>>>End Vision>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Raziel!" shouted Ranma
"Ranma?! Ranma, are you alright?!" said Nodoka concerned
Ranma shook his head clear and his eyes focused on his mother again, "Y-yes, I'm okay… What happened?"
"Your eyes glazed over and it looked like you weren't conscious at all." replied Nodoka still worried about her son, "Are you sure that everything is right?"
"Yes… it was just a… …"
"A what?"
"A vision." responded Ranma, sighing heavily, he couldn't lie to his mother… or anyone else for that matter, "I've been having them for some months now… or something similar anyway."
"Visions? What about?" asked Nodoka apprehensively
"Take a seat, it's going to be a long story…" with this said Ranma sat down on the dojo floor himself and was quickly followed by his mother who was anxious to her son's story.
After two and a half hours Ranma finished telling his story and his eyes widened as Nodoka hugged him with a strength that surpassed his father's 'Cradle of Hell' technique.
"My son, I won't let anything happen to you!"
"A- air… … … p-please… … n-n-need… to… … breathe…" brought Ranma out as he slowly turned blue
Nodoka noticed this and quickly let go of him, Ranma collapsed to the ground and coughed several times, breathing heavily, "Thanks…"
"Sorry…" replied his mother looking sheepishly but then got serious again, "But what are you going to do? Do you trust this man?"
"Yes, I do. I don't know why but I do." responded Ranma sitting up again, "I already told it Nabiki, I could feel an unbelievable sense of honor from him."
"Are you really sure?"
"Yes, I am." said Ranma and stood up, "Mom, I made my decision. I'm going on a training trip to try to figure out how to contact that man. I can't do that here, I need peace to do this and I won't find that in Nerima."
Nodoka rose too and looked her son straight into the eyes and after a short time she gave in, "I'll allow it. I hope you come back soon."
"Thanks mom." responded Ranma hugging her, "I'll go and pack my things now."
"Ranma, aren't you forgetting something?"
"What is it?" asked Ranma curiously
"The armor…"
He looked down at himself and started to scratch the base of his pigtail, "Oops…"
"Do you know how to make it disappear?"
"Errr… … No but maybe…" he closed his eyes and concentrated, after a few seconds the armor and the sword started to glow and with a flash they disappeared again. Ranma was now dressed in what he wore before he summoned the armor and his pigtail was shorter again.
"What did you do?"
"Well, I used all my emotions at once again together with my ki and tried to will the armor away. It worked obviously."
"Good that it worked, I don't know how your father would have reacted if he saw you in an armor."
"Thanks for reminding me, bye mom."
He walked towards the exit of the dojo but stopped shortly to pick his shirt up; he threw it over his shoulder and left the room. Nodoka stayed alone in the training hall watching as her son disappeared into the house, "Please be careful… I don't want to lose you again."
Some hours later…
After a long day of school Nabiki and Akane entered their house,
"Hello, we're home!" said both girls in unison as they put on their slippers
They walked to the living room and were surprised to see their father and Genma unconscious on the floor with several bandages covering their beaten bodies. Nodoka and Kasumi were both sitting on the couch drinking tea and chatting a little.
"What happened here?" asked Nabiki, "Did Happosai come back from one of his 'errands'?"
"Hello you two." greeted Nodoka as she looked at the girls, "Those two idiots there were beaten by Ranma as he said that he was going to leave for a training trip."
Nabiki's eyes widened at what Nodoka said, "A training trip?! When did he leave?!"
"Four hours ago." responded Nodoka, sipping on her tea, "Where he went I don't know."
"Baka!" exclaimed Akane angrily, "Why didn't he take me with him? I'm a martial artist too!"
As Akane stomped of to her room Nodoka said to Nabiki, "I need to talk to you about Ranma."
"Really? What is it?" asked Nabiki
"Kasumi-chan, would you excuse us?"
"Don't bother; I'll have to prepare dinner anyway. You two can talk here." this said Kasumi stood up and left the room in direction of the kitchen
"Nabiki-chan, please sit next to me."
She complied and sat down next to Nodoka, leaning her schoolbag against the table in front of her, "So, you want me to figure out where Ranma went?"
"No, he told me today what happened to him."
"H-he told you? E-everything?" asked Nabiki surprised
"Everything." stated Nodoka
"E-even that he c-could…"
"Even that he could die…" replied Ranma's mother
"Aren't you worried about him?"
"Of course I'm worried about my son! But I also trust him that he can come out of this situation."
Suddenly both of them heard a gasp; they turned their heads to the sound to see Kasumi standing in the doorway leaning against the frame, "D-die…?"
Both of them jumped up from the couch and ran to the girl as she collapsed to the floor in shock, "Kasumi!"
A forest near Nerima…
Ranma reached the woods an hour ago and now searched for a place where he could camp without being discovered by one of his rivals or fiancées. He wasn't doing a good job at it though since he was lost in thoughts.
((Damn, I still have no idea how to reach that man… Well, at least I can summon that sword… and the armor.))
Still walking around without paying attention to his surroundings, Ranma didn't see the log of an old tree lying on the ground in front of him.
CRASH
"Argh!!!" shouted Ranma as he rubbed his head, "Damn, why does that always happen to me?"
Ranma stood up and for the first time he looked where exactly he was, it was an empty site with an old fireplace in the middle and other logs like the one he stumbled upon around it.
"Well, I'll be… Now I found a place where I can stay."
He spent the next hour with putting up his tent and searching for firewood, he also found a rather big clearing where he could practice later on. After he brought the wood to his camp, he went back to his new training spot.
"Time to test out my new weapon." he said to himself
Ranma used his 'balance ki' to summon his armor and sword and started a complicated kata that came to his mind. As he progressed he was more and more astonished how easily he could move in the armor, it was almost like he wasn't wearing it at all.
All of a sudden a strong wind blew across the clearing and Ranma got a new idea to train with his sword as he saw the leaves that fell off the trees floating in his direction. He got into a new stance with his blade and started with a deadly dance. Leaf after leaf was cut in half before they could even reach the ground, he got faster and faster and the pieces of the leaves were getting smaller and smaller since he started to cut them several times over.
Three hours later he was finished with his training session, the sun already started setting and pearls of sweat were dripping down Ranma's face.
Suddenly Ranma heard rustling in a bush nearby, he quickly turned around and pointed the Iron Sword at it,
"Come out!"
Nothing.
"I said COME OUT!"
An evil cackle was heard from the bush and a small form jumped out of it, Ranma recognized it instantly and said with a disgusted whisper,
"Happosai…"
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