Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any associated copyright material. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, and are distributed in America by Viz. Any other similarity between characters in the story and other copyright material is purely coincidential.
Okay guys, you were right, the name Ronin kinda sounds funny, and unnamelike. I'll change all the old ones and these to Ronan, it's similar but sounds better.
The Kami Blade
Chapter 4: The truth
As soon as Ronan had disappeared, the group were wondering what had happened when he suddenly reappeared before them leaving no time between his disappearance and his reappearance.
"Ronan, What was that?" said Jade as he reappeared. "Well I'm not really sure myself, but I think I can explain to you what happened" Answered Ronan
And so he told them all about the spirits and the "test" and how the spirit had made some mysterious remarks about Dark Energy or something like that.
"So, I take it you are going to try and discover more about this thing?" said Wren, "It sounds cool!"
"I will see about it." Said Ronan
Meanwhile, Tara had left the room…
'OK, let's see if meditating will get me a connection with that Gorai-whatever guy' and he/she adopted a meditative posture to release his consciousness to the spirit plane.
'Hey spirit! You there?' Called Ranma, 'I need to know something.'
You called, what do you need?
'Well, I dunno how to explain it, but It's like as if "Tara" is battling my mind for power. It's freaky. I'm starting to do things I never did before and I guess that's cuz' it's stuff she does. Do you have something I could use to, like, ward her off or something?'
I will create a base for you spirit, so that Tara's does not override it.
'Thanks!'
Ranma, you are nearing the finishing stage in your journey through this time, I will soon release you from this time to bring you forward back to your own, make sure you see what you must, for it will be critical in the times to come. I will tell you more later. Do not forget Ranma…
And on this, Ranma got out of his trance-like state and went back to see the others.
"Hey, Tara! We're going on a trip; we need to find someone wise that could tell me more about this mysterious pendant." Said Ronan
"Ok then, I'm coming" said Ranma. 'Man, am I glad for the barrier thing, now I fell a lot less pressured.'
So they left the house after making some preparations, and they headed towards the Port to get into china, for they needed less-civilized areas to look for people who might know about the mysterious amulet.
Two days later…
"Guys, I'm tired of walking around in this forest, why couldn't we have just followed the path?" complained Wren. "Well, Wren, I don't know about you, but this feels familiar somehow." Said Ronan
"That MIGHT be because we passed here ten times already!" exclaimed Jade. "Oh really?" said Ronan, "that would explain some…"
"Man you guys are hopeless." Said Tara. "There's no way well get anywhere with you two leading us. Now, follow the real leader!" "Hey! I don't like the insinuation. Just because I have a little trouble getting around doesn't mean that-" "That you have absolutely no sense of direction? Face it you're lost. Do you want to find your way again?" "Well, yeah?" "then just follow ME, I'll get us back on track.
And at that, they finally realized that they were walking in circles. 'I should of notched the trees, then we wouldn't have wasted so much time.' Thought Tara
Two hours later, the group came upon a clearing.
"Finally, something other than trees for a change!" said Wren
"Hey! Guys look at this!" said Tara. "What do you suppose it is?" "Huh? It looks like a tree. What else?" said Ronan "Not there! This stake in the ground. There also seems to be a kind of notch in the stake, as if to place some type of jewel or something." Said Tara
"Hey! Look here. Come quick, I found out something strange." Said Jade. "What is it?" said Wren.
"Look at the map, do you see something strange?" "Nope! Tell me." "Oh god, HERE look, this is where we are OK! Look, do you see any clearing?" "Uhh, no?" "THAT'S IT!" Yelled Jade. "The clearing we are currently in, isn't supposed to be here!"
"Hey Ronan! Try placing your amulet in the stake." Said Tara. "Alright, here we go." Said Ronan, as he placed the amulet in the notch.
As soon as It was in place, the air started to waver, and slowly, a village started to form. The group was stunned, until a person walked up to them and said: "Strangers! What is your name and how come you to find this place?"
A few hours later, the group had been brought before the matriarch of the community, and had told her their story."So, if I understand correctly, you received a magical artifact and are looking for someone who could explain what it does?" asked the matriarch.
"That is correct." Said Ronan
"Well, if you would allow me to see this artifact which you speak of, then perhaps I could help you…"
"Oh…right! How stupid of me. Here it is!" and Ronan took out the amulet from his pack.
The matriarch took it and examined it for a moment before asking, "How did you get this young man?"
"I won a contest back in my home town and my opponent presented me with this amulet." Said Ronan 'No use telling her right away about the spirit. I don't even know if we can trust them fully.' "Does it have any value?"
"This artifact has a long story, it is said that long ago, before the creation of men, there was a battle between the light and the dark. The light was outnumbered and so they allowed the dark to overrun the planet. However, the light did not really wish to hand over the world to the dark, so they created a magical artifact that would allow the bearer to defeat beings as powerful as gods themselves. All that was left was to find a living being that could wield such power, so they created humans, an adaptable species, that were to live on the earth. Once they became strong, the artifact would come to the hands of the chosen one and he would rid the world of the foulness of dark." Said the matriarch.
"So that would explain Hikaru Seikon…" said Ronan
"What did you say child?" asked the Amazon. 'This cannot be, not now…'
"Young one, this is serious, how do you know of this?"
'I suppose I might as well tell her, it can't do much harm.' "Hikaru Seikon, the deciding factor in a battle between chaos and order. The chosen one has come, I have seen the spirit." Said Ronan, in a tone that was not quite his own.
"Then you must tell us, will they come again? We will help you as we can, but you must make sure they do not return." Said the matriarch. "By the way, my name is Khandi shuhn uhr, I am the eldest of the community."
"Conditioner? What the…!" exclaimed Wren. "This is getting absurd, I haven't a clue what your guys are saying, but I guess I could come along and help as I am needed."
"Do not worry young one, we will train you as we can to help in the defence of the planet." Said the matriarch to Wren.
"Hey elder! Does this mean anything to you?" said Tara, and she splintered a tree calling out "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
When the shavings had cleared, the matriarch said, " young one, how do you know this, it is a technique passed down to amazons only and I am under the impression that you are not of Amazon descent. Am I wrong?" "No, elder you are correct, this however is something that my friends cannot hear." Said Tara. "Guys, can I speak to conditioner alone for a bit?" "Sure, go ahead!" 'She was getting annoying with her "young one".'
And so as Tara and the elder went away, the rest followed an Amazon to a place where they could sleep. And then they would start training the day after.
"So young one, tell me how you know this technique." asked the matriarch.
"Well, I am not really this person which you see before you, I am in soul and spirit, using this body because a spirit in my own time called me to the task. My true name is Ranma, but before I say anymore, you must agree that you cannot tell anyone what I am about to tell you, because it could affect the very fabric of time."
"Agreed. I will not divulge these secrets to anyone."
And so Ranma proceeded to tell the matriarch his story.
"Incredible! So you say in a few centuries, there will be a group called the Joketsuzoku amazons that will settle in china?" said the matriarch, "I just hope I will be around to see."
"Yeah well, that's my story. Please don't tell any of my friends about it. They must believe that I'm the Tara that they have always known." Said Ranma.
"Yes child, worry not. But now, we must go to sleep.
And the two set off in different directions, the elder having told Ranma where to go.
That night, Ranma dreamt that he and his friends would go by the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. "A horror that must be stopped at once! I cannot let this happen." And he spent the rest of the night planning subconsciously how he would go about preventing the group from ending up there.
I'm not quite done this chapter yet, but I thought I'd let you guys check it out.
Seeya soon!
