Reclamation
Ryoga huffed as he carried Ranma up the steep hill. Upon reaching the top, he set him in a sitting position against a dead tree. Ranma had not made a single responsive move since the beginning of the journey, two days ago. All he did was open his eyes partially, blink, and close his eyes again. "Why can't I release his depression now?" asked Ryoga, exhausted and doubled over.
"Because," said Mousse, pushing his glasses up on his nose, "according to this map Mortimer provided us, we will face, in less than a day, a three hundred foot tall, fifty foot thick steel wall blocking our way to wherever we're going." Ryoga shook his head and swore. He stood up straight and winced with pain as he stretched. "Let's get going then," he sighed, and picked up Ranma.
"That's it?" Mousse looked at Ryoga, who stared up at the giant wall that loomed in front of them. "I'm afraid so," he said gloomily. "How did we miss that?" asked Shinnosuke from the rear. Herb held up a torch they had lit at the onset of night and walked towards it. He examined its surface closely. "It's painted black," he said. They had practically smacked into it before they noticed it was there. "Not only that," Herb added, "it's painted the exact shade of the night sky, tinged brown to simulate clouds and pollution." Kuno tilted his head and stared at it. "That's pretty clever," he said. Everyone looked at him. He felt a sweat break on his brow. "Sorry," he said, feeling rather foolish for having complimented the enemy. Well, it was! he thought.
"Ok, Ryoga, do your thing," said Ukyo, placing her hand on his shoulder. Ryoga looked at her face. There was something about her expression he could not figure out. It tickled the back of his mind, but he didn't have time to figure out what it meant. "Everyone, get to a safe distance," said Ryoga as he picked up Ranma. "This thing is gonna come down hard."
He approached it and set down Ranma in a sitting position. He kneeled next to him. He had made sure Akane had said nothing and stayed out of sight, or else this would not work. "Ranma," he said slowly, forcing a choke into his voice. "I think it's time you know something." He paused for effect. "Akane, passed away, just a few minutes before you awoke. The last thing she said was to tell you she loved you, and to be strong. She said she wished she could have seen you one last time." He stood up. Ranma's eyes did not open, but his mouth twisted and tears came out of his eyes. I got to him, thought Ryoga. Sorry, but I have to do this.
He stood behind Ranma and placed his hands on Ranma's shoulders. Ryoga drew in a deep breath, and searched his memory. The futility of this mission, the times Akane rejected him, the time she said she hated him, all these things Ryoga called to mind. Finally he pretended Akane really was dead. Tears flowed from his eyes. He felt his depression fill his body. He felt Ranma's depression fill his body.
He gathered their combined ki and crushed it, crushed it into a tiny core. He continued to crush it, until it could not stand the pressure any more. He let the core explode. "Release it, Ranma!" he screamed.
"SHISHI HOKODAN!"
The intense ki rushed out of their bodies in a pillar of pure energy. Ranma gasped in surprise and his eyes flew open with the rush of the ki. It gouged a huge gash in the side of the wall as it went up, and fell back down. Ryoga saw it coming and hung his head. "Hollow, Ranma," he whispered. "You're hollow." The massive glowing sphere of power descended like a crashing wave upon them. It detonated, sending out an explosion that completely destroyed a section of the wall, and a shockwave that shook the ground and flattened the dead forests for a mile. "Come on!" shouted Ryoga above the din and yanking Ranma to his feet. They ran as fast as they could, covering their heads from the falling debris that pelted them as it fell from the sky. They dove under a boulder that protruded from the ground at a low angle. There they caught their breaths, lost from the exertion of the shishi hokodan and the run to shelter.
After he caught his breath, Ryoga turned and looked at Ranma, who looked back. Ryoga cleared his throat. "Um, Ranma, about what I said earlier," he began. Ranma's eyes narrowed. "I just wanted to say it wasn't true." Ranma looked at Ryoga questioningly. Ryoga looked at the ground between his legs. He picked up a twig and twirled it his hands, set it down, and looked back up at Ranma. "I'm sorry, but I had to. I needed your your body to completely full of ki to destroy the wall." Ranma blinked. "What wall?" he asked. It was Ryoga's turn to blink. "What do you mean, what wall?!" he exclaimed.
He dragged Ranma out from under the boulder and pointed at the sky. "That wall!" he said. "The wall we've been talking about for a day now!" Ranma peered into the darkness. He continued to stare and said to Ryoga, "Well, I don't remember much from before just now, and I don't see anything..." Ryoga dragged him up ten feet in front of it. "Oh, now I see it!" Ranma said excitedly. Ryoga shook his head and muttered to himself. He sighed, and caught Ranma by the shoulder. "Come on," he said. "We've got some people who'd like to see you."
The party rushed up to the hillside to greet their triumphant men. Akane ran forward, tears in her eyes. "Ranma!" she called. Ranma ran to her and threw his arms around her. "Akane!" sighed Ranma. "I'm sorry for making you worry. " He hugged her tightly, then seperated from her, their arms on each other's shoulders, and looked at her face lovingly. Ryoga watched them, surprisingly, not jealous at all. At last he had come to accept fate. But he continued to watch their faces. Where have I seen that look before? he wondered. He thought about the previous events of the day. What had he done? There was blowing up the wall, there was talking to Ranma, there was the group finding the wall...He froze. It was there. Sometime then, someone had that look on their face, but who? Mousse, no. Shampoo, no. Akane, no. Ukyo... Ryoga gasped mentally. Ukyo had had that look on her face when she had encouraged him. It couldn't be... He looked at the others, who were all exchanged greetings with the now-completely revived Ranma. Ryoga looked particularly at Ukyo. Although...although in retrospect it makes perfect sense. All the time we spent together, all the times she chose me, all the times she looked so happy to see me, were all signs of her affection. I must admit, we have kind of grown on each other, haven't we? Now that I think about it...
Ryoga found himself being more and more attracted to Ukyo. I'd better talk to her soon, he thought, or else there may not be enough time before, well, something happens.
"Hey Ryoga!"
Ryoga shook his head, pulled away from his thoughts. The others were leaving, and Shinnosuke waved for him to come along. Ryoga hurried to catch up with them.
After walking across the plain that lay inside the walls for a few minutes, Ryoga began to worry. "Listen to me, but don't stop walking," he said. The group glanced at him and kept on walking ahead. "There is no way that someone will not have noticed that. We've already wasted a lot of time back there. So I was thinking, perhaps we should pick up the pace a little?" As if to confirm his fears, an inhuman, piercing shriek sounded in the distance. The group froze, chilled by the cry and the sudden, icy wind that ensued. Another cry answered the first. It was disturbingly close, and Akane could feel the hairs stand up on the back of her neck and the flesh of her ears frost over. "Yeah," said Mousse, who was leading the group. "Yeah I think you're right."
They all stood for a moment, before breaking into a sprint. They dashed across the empty field. Another shriek sliced through the air but the party dared not slow their pace. "There!" shouted Mousse, pointing ahead and to the right. There was a sharp line of trees slowly approaching them. "I think we can hide in there!" They ran like mad for the shelter of the trees, and a another bloodcurdling scream ripped the sky, so close it shook the ground and hurt their ears. Ryoga knew they would not escape. The only chance they stood was to fight. Just then he saw a boulder off to his left. Yes, that might work! he thought. He split off to the left and ran straight to the boulder. He tore it from the ground and hefted it onto his shoulders. The shadow was right there. Ryoga did not think, but only acted. He tossed the boulder in the air between him and the thing. "Bakusai tenketsu!" he shouted and stabbed at the rock. It burst and showered the enemy with shrapnel. It screamed in anger and pain, and turned to flee.
But Ryoga did not let it escape. Leaping onto its back, he slid a knife out of a sheath on his thigh and plunged it into the nameless terror. It fell to the ground, as apparently it could fly, although Ryoga was not even of that while on its back. It let out a hiss, and then disintegrated right before his eyes. Ryoga looked at where it had lain. Ranma came up behind him. "They won't learn anything now," said Ryoga, a bit wistfully, "but then, neither will we." He sheathed his knife, and walked away.
After a debate, the group hesitantly set up camp once they had gone deep into the dark forest. They warmed themselves around the fire, still chilled from the icy wind. Mousse suddenly rose. He rummaged through his pack and brought out something long, wrapped in a wool blanket. "I have something for you, Ranma," he said, walking up to Ranma and placing it in his hands. "What is it?" he asked as he unwrapped it. "Two of the best swords in the world," replied Mousse with pride. "They are from the Shang dynasty. Take out the orange handled one first." Ranma did so. There arose a gasp of surprise from the entire group. "Whoa," said Ranma in awe.
"It is quite impressive, is it not?" said Mousse. "You can say that again!" said Akane with a grin. There was nothing unusal about the shape of the scimitar. It was only the fact that it glowed with fluorescent blue power that threw everyone off. "It is infused with a great energy that obeys its wielders thoughts," said Mousse. "It has even been known to change shapes. However, not many can wield it without being damaged by its immense strength. You, though, Ranma, are one who can, due to your own great power. It is called Xiao Lian." Ranma played with it for a moment, then sheathed it and pulled out the blue-handled sword. "Um, there's nothing here," said Ranma. All that was visible was a handle. Mousse smiled even broader. "Touch it," he said. Ranma passed his hand over the handle. Or tried to, anyways. His hand bumped something invisible. "Not much is known of Cheng Ying, but it is constructed of a strange material, in such a way that its saw-toothed double edges are only visible at dawn and dusk, pointed to the north. It's structure is what causes the invisibility. It is this structure that makes the sword hard to defend against, but also hard to defend with."
Ranma brought out his swords and swung them around. After nearly beheading some of his friends, Ranma put them away. Mousse said, wiping the sweat off his brow, "Tomorrow I'll teach you how to handle those things. I shall use Han Guang." He took out the last sword from his bundle. It too, had no visible blade. "Watch," he said, and gently extended it, point first, at Ranma, who stood six feet away. An indentation appeared on his shirt. Ryoga whistled. "That is one long sword," he said in amazement. "How can you handle it?" Mousse wrapped the sword up. "It's blade, unlike Cheng Ying's, does not entirely exist in this dimension," he explained. "This makes it incredibly light, but a challenge to wield, as you can imagine."
Shampoo chuckled. "Any others packing heat?" she asked. Mousse considered this thoughtfully. "That's a good question," he said. "I only joking!" she said. "No, really," said Mousse. "It is good to know how our friends will be fighting so that we may better know how to fight with, so we know what to expect and can play off them well." The others glanced at each other and nodded in agreement.
So they each took turns explaining what weapons they were skilled in: Ryoga and his rod, Shinnosuke and his deck brush, Shampoo and her oversized maces, Kodachi and her whip, Akane and her throwing shuriken, Kuno and his katana, Mint and his clawed gauntlets, Lime and his short sword, Ukyo and her enormous razor-sharp spatula, Taro and his nunchaku, and Hinako and her multiple chains. Herb did not deign to use a weapon but instead fought with his body and his ki alone. Afterwards, noting the party's exhaustion, Ranma suggested they all get some sleep. On this they agreed as well. And so they each set up their own shelters, or just plain sleeping bags, and went to sleep.
They had agreed to take turns at being watchmen, and Ranma offered to go first this night. Although he felt not at all tired, he soon could not stand the boredom and slowly drifted off to sleep. He dreamt there was a faucet of water, dripping, dripping drops of water. Annoyed, he went under it to try to turn it off. A drop of water hit his head. The dream dissolved, but Ranma did not know he had awakened, for another drop hit his head. It was then he noticed the water was unnaturally warm.
He opened his eyes. In the darkness he could not see anything
but the face in front of him. He began to shout but a hand clamped over his mouth. Another drop hit his head. He realized it was blood. "Shh!" said the figure. "Don't startle your friends. But I need your help." Ranma nodded slowly, and the person released the grip on his face. She, for the voice was female, extended her hand and helped him to his feet. "You supposed to be the night watchmen?" she asked, and although Ranma couldn't see the girl he knew she was smiling. He blushed, embarassed at being caught like this. "Uh, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "It's alright, but your friends might not appreciate it if they got eaten or robbed," she said. Ranma just grinned sheepishly.
"Anyways," she said, her voice sobering instantly, "listen. Wake your leader and then come back here. We need to talk. And hurry!" Ranma walked over to the camp, a little caught off guard. Who was this chick? What did she want? And who's our leader? He supposed that would be Mousse. After all, it seemed he was taking charge in this expedition. He wondered if Mortimer had anything to do with it. Ranma bent down and shook Mousse gently. "Mousse," he said softly. He woke up instantly. Mousse's hand reached for his sword. "It's okay, Mousse," he whispered. "It's me, Ranma." Mousse's hand stopped, then changed directions and got his glasses. He put them on, stood up and followed Ranma to the side of the camp opposite the stranger. "You'd better get dressed," said Ranma, handing Mousse his bag. "Okay, Ranma, but what's going on?" he asked as he began to change. Ranma explained what happened, except he replaced the part about being "woken up by a stranger" to "caught off guard by stranger who snuck up on me from behind." Mousse listened to this and nodded. "Then let's go talk to her," he said.
They walked quietly past their sleeping group and over to the woman. "Draw Xiao," whispered Mousse. When Ranma looked at him, he added, "For light." Ranma eased the sword out of its scabbard and held it up. As they approached the girl, they could now get a good look at her. She appeared to be in her late teens. She had dark purple hair that was partially tied back in a loose, messy ponytail with a pink ribbon. Her shirt and arm-gloves were purple as well. Her shirt had a huge v-neck, and she wore a short lavender undershirt underneath it. Her pants were deep violet, and she had a large pink ribbon tied in a bow around her midsection. A cut ran across her right cheek, and every so often she would dab it with a cloth to catch the blood. They could not help but notice her incredible figure, but they did not let her cleavage distract them. Ranma wondered absently if it caught enemies off guard in battle.
The girl glanced at the sword, but did not say anything. "So," said Mousse, "you say you need our help. Is it your wound?" She snorted. "This thing is nothing compared to what happened to my group," she scoffed. "That's what I need your help with." "What happened to them?" Ranma inquired. "We were attacked," she said grimly. "We had just arrived here when this thing came out of nowhere and nearly killed me and my friends. Everyone's hurt but me. They need help, or they will die." Mousse raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'here'?" he asked. She pointed to the north. "Only about two miles from here," she said. "How did you get through the wall?" he asked. She froze. "What wall?" she asked. Ranma and Mousse looked at each other. "The three hundred foot high one blocking all entrance to this region," Ranma said slowly. She did not say anything. "How did you get here?" asked Mousse. She sighed. "I don't know," she said finally. "Neither does anyone else in our group. We don't even know where we are." Ranma asked her if they came from China. Her reply threw them completely off. "What's China?" she asked. "Ummmm," said Ranma. "How about this," said Mousse, "Where do you come from?" She kicked a rock at her feet. "It's called Mizuho," she said. "I'm going to be it's next leader. It's in Tethe'alla. Are we in Sylvarant? I'm not so familiar with this side." Mousse rubbed his head. Ranma's mind swam. What the hell was going on with this hot girl? "Okay," said Mousse finally. "Alright. Fine. Whatever. Let's go get your friends first, and then we'll have a good, long, talk." "Sounds good to me," she said. "By the way, my name's Sheena. Sheena Fujibayashi." She held out her hand and Ranma shook it. "Well, at least your name sounds normal," he said. "I'm Ranma, and this is Mousse." Sheena shook Mousse's hand. "Mousse, hmm?" she said. "Is that moose like the animal, like the hair stuff, or like chocolate mousse?" Ranma laughed. "Whew, at least you know something like Earth!" he exclaimed, relieved. "What's Earth?" she asked, and Ranma moaned and proceeded to hit his head on a nearby tree. Mousse replied his name was like the hair product, and then they dragged Ranma off so they could go save Sheena's friends.
Akane awoke early in the morning, long before the sun was to come up. The glow of dawn had not even begun to appear on the horizon. She stretched and yawned. She didn't know what had woken her; she never got up this early. She looked down and noticed a piece of paper next to her on the ground, stuck there with a small knife. She tore it off and peered at it. She could just make out the words. It said:
Akane,
Ranma and I have left on an errand. Please continue as watchman until we return. Assemble who and what you need to give first aid to eight people. Do not wake the others who you do not need. We shall be back shortly.
-Mousse
She stared at the note, a little angry, and a little afraid. What were they thinking, leaving like that? Another thought came to mind; what was so important and urgent they had to leave like that? And why did they need first aid? Who was hurt? She decided that Mousse would not have left like this without a good reason and that she would go ahead and comply. Sighing, she rose, and prepared for the worst.
Ranma and Mousse kept up with Sheena as she sprinted through the forest and across the open plains. "Almost there!" she panted. Abruptly she stopped. She held her finger up to her mouth. "Listen," she whispered. Ranma barely caught it, a voice hardly above the wind. "Sheena....." it whispered. Sheena scanned the surroundings. Then she saw it. A dark shape lay ahead and to their left. The voice seemed to be coming from it. As they approached it, Sheena gasped. "Presea!" she exclaimed, helping the small girl up. The pink-haired girl could barely stand, and so Sheena cradled her in her arms instead. Presea's hair, which normally stuck out straight and bright, now was limp and dull. Her gray dress was torn in several places, and her young pink skin was now gray with weakness. "What happened?" asked Sheena. "Why did you come out here?" "Sheena," she whispered. "Don't go back there." "But I have to save the others!" said Sheena. "You know that!" Presea shook her head and coughed. She pointed to the forest they were about to enter. She took a deep breath. "Not yet," she said at last. "Another one is in there. It'll kill you if it finds you. As they are, the others are nearly dead, so it will likely pay no heed and leave them. You must wait until it leaves."
"That may take too much time," said Mousse, worriedly. "They may not survive that long. No, we have to get them now." Ranma nodded. "It's the only way," he said. "We can take care of it. We'll lure it out here and fight it, while you get them somewhere else, and when we're done we'll help you take them back." Sheena nodded. "I guess you're right," she said reluctantly. "Alright, I'm counting on you. Come on, Presea." She could easily carry the small girl, and Presea rested her head on Sheena's shoulder and closed her eyes. Sheena had an almost motherly air about her. "Don't screw this up," she warned. "The less there are of these guys, the easier for both of us," said Ranma. "We'll take care of it." "Good luck," she whispered.
Sheena took a roundabout way to get to the clearing in the forest where she had said the others were, and Ranma and Mousse headed directly in. They drew their swords. They came upon it. It just sat there, ghostlike, moving but not going anywhere. "Hey you!" they shouted. It was like their words stung it. It turned towards them and shrieked. "Catch us if you can, slowpoke!" shouted Ranma. They took off running back out to the field. Sheena made sure it had left before she came in and began to move her friends out.
Ranma and Mousse dashed for the field and burst into open space. It followed them all the way. In the dim light from the sky and Xiao Lian they could see it. A humanoid rode upon a fell beast, one nearly impossible to describe, except to say it was alive when by all logic it should be dead. Imagine a dragon, any kind of dragon. Next imagine an elephant next to it. Also imagine a cockroach, a vulture, a Rottweiler, and a slug-infested cypress tree. If you took all those and literally put them in a blender, then you might begin to get some idea of the monster upon which the relievingly plain green-skinned man-zombie rode.
Sufficive to say, Ranma and Mousse wanted to kill the beast, and the one that rode upon it. "Come and get some!" yelled Mousse. The two things screeched, and the Zeit Moerder (such as they are called; time murderer) leapt off his beast, and brought out his weapon. The infernal edge looked fiendish, but Ranma did not care. Leaping forward, he brought the blades out in front of him and swept them outward in a huge arc, tearing through the inhuman being. It howled in rage and pain, and swung its sword madly about itself. Ranma blocked it easily and landed behind the Zeit Moerder. It turned around just in time to see the blue blade smash into its own skull.
Ranma turned around to face the beast. Mousse had already been at it a bit; there were huge gashes in the monstrosity spilling gallons of dark red blood onto the dirt, and more cuts were made as Mousse passed his long sword through its flesh with apparent ease. Ranma thought Mousse could take care of it. A hidden appendage suddenly burst out of the abomination's grotesque hide and kocked Mousse to the ground.
Ranma raced across the bloody field and jumped onto the monster's back. With its attention focused on Mousse, it did not notice Ranma until he had made it to the other side and amputated the limb that was preparing to turn Mousse into a human shish kabob.
Wasting no time, Mousse got to his feet and helped Ranma turn the beast back into blender slush. The monster defeated, Ranma bent over double and panted. So, close to the ground, he noticed the unholy, putrid smell of the monster's blood and flesh. He stood straight up, slightly sick. "I need some fresh air," he announced, "and a change of clothes." Mousse looked in disdain at his own soiled garments. "Me too," he said glumly. They began to walk off the field into the forest. Sheena came up to meet them. "There'll be time to congratulate you later," she said, evidently reading Ranma's mind (or face). "Come on. We've got to hurry." "What about our clothes?" asked Mousse. "They're horrible," she replied, leading them into the forest, "but I don't think they'll mind under the circumstances."
They came upon a cave. "I brought them in here," she explained. They entered, and for a moment were plunged into darkness until Sheena brought out a flashlight-like device. She pointed at a woman and a young man with her flashlight. "Mousse, you take these two," she said, and pointing her flashlight at another young man and a teenage girl, "Ranma, you take those two. I'll get the other three." They hefted the people into somewhat comfortable conditions and took off running, just as the first rays of sunlight began to peer over the horizon.