Panzer Dragoon ORTA no come in until 15th. Me feel sad :(
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'Over the Clouds'
"But daddy!" Akane pleaded, trying desperately to get her father to at least acknowledge her concerns. She knew it wouldn't be easy, once he had set his mind on something, he was near impossible to get to budge on a subject. It was an uphill battle the youngest Tendou daughter was compelled and determined to win, and her will was just as steeled as her father's.
"Absolutely not, Akane," Soun replied, as he sat across from his daughter inside his bedroom. His daughter had quickly moved to talk to him in private, just as he entered his home from the grocery shopping his eldest sent him on. With her urgency, he suggested his bedroom, since it was well removed from the rest of the house.
"But she threatened me!" Akane argued once again, "Ask Kasumi! And we can't keep someone like Ranma here!"
Soun arched his eyebrow at the last part, "Oh? Why is that?"
Akane's expression darkened, "He doesn't belong here, daddy! He isn't normal!"
Soun's own expression darkened, "Akane, what have I told you about such descriminations? Mindsets like that are not those of a martial artist."
"Dad.." Akane made one last plea, before relenting on that front, "I'm sorry." Internally, she was angry for allowing herself to give so much ground.
Soun interpreted her bowed head as shame, and his own expression softened, "I will talk with Shampoo about her conduct within this house, but I will not agree to removing them from our home, especially without their defense." In a chiding tone, he continued, "You should put forth more effort to get along with Ranma-kun. It would be best for us all, as you are the heir to our fighting style."
Akane blinked, and looked back at her father with a confused expression, "What's that have to do with anything?"
Soun waved the question off, "We best return to the others before they begin to concern themselves." Soun stood up, and left his room, leaving Akane to sit there by her lonesome, pondering the cryptic request her father had made.
_________________________________
Nodoka had no idea where to start. She knew if she openly made a search for them, and Genma got wind of it, he would ensure that he would *never* be found.
Her first, and possibly only, option was to contact any old friends. There was one problem in that plan, as most of them had either drifted away due to Genma's prior... inhibitions, or chose to no longer consort with Nodoka for her now freely admitted heatless actions.
She felt defeated before she had begun, the bed of soil below her, the heavy and packed earth above her sufficating her. A fragment of her strong will surfaced after being allowed to rust for so many years. Her mother was right, things needed to be finished. If she was to have a life of her own, or to accept death with peace, a resolution would be made.
Nodoka Soh went to work on recalling old associates and friends, praying perhaps one of them would know the whereabouts of her ex-husband.
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Kasumi carefully used the chopsticks to lower the egg-battered shrimp into the hot oil, careful not to allow the morsel to slip from her grasp. To properly prepare tempura was a tedious task, but it was one she didn't mind. It was Ranma's first evening meal, and she felt the obligation to make it one of the finest she had prepared in a while.
She looked down to find the tail of the shrimp was properly pink, and removed it from the oil to lay it on the draincloth to remove the access oil, before picking up another peeled and carefully devained shrimp to lower into the batter. She looked out the kitchen window, to find Ranma out in the yard, practicing with the last rays of the setting sun glistening just above the walls of the Tendou home.
She didn't even notice the breath she was holding, as she observed him in his movements. As amazingly graceful and skilled she could see he was, it seemed more like a child playing than one engrossed in self-dicipline. She pondered what such a difference would make in the way anyone else would learn martial arts. If it were treated more as a pleasantry than an obligatory duty, would they be happier with themselves in the long run? How much would that affect their potential; would it dwindle with the loss of seriousness, or would it open the veritable ocean of ability that rigidness would sink the most dicipline in?
She knew these questions would be obvious to answer for Ranma, just from observing him. The innocent joy that was expressed through out every movement put to shame any well practiced ballet she had ever seen on TV, and the expression that could be faintly made out on his face told of a pure happiness that even the wizened have journeyed lifetimes for. If Ranma was capable of reciting the secrets of his contentment to others; to tell them what it was that they did not quite grasp that would allow them to grow beyond their current barriers...
But she knew that the pigtailed boy did not even comprehend what he had before others. It was a shame that such great knowledge would be kept within him, locked away only for unconcious use.
Kasumi sighed, shifting the now well battered shrimp into the fryer. She normally wasn't much for such reverie, prefering that things happen as they do.
Outside the window, as the deep navy blue curtain pierced with ever so slight pinpoints of radiance slowly drew to claim the purple horizon, Ranma continued to play his games.
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Akane avoided the Saotomes, as she went up to her room. This was a disaster she could feel coming, allowing them to stay at their house. She wanted to throw something in fustration; why wouldn't her father believe her? Why was Kasumi siding with them? Didn't she care about what would happen to her family if they stayed? That... that barbarian already threatened her! What if she did the same to Kasumi, or Nabiki? If she carried out on such, she knew her sisters would not be able to defend themselves.
The fustration over the situation was welling up in her like a stopped river; the Ejyptian Nile being held at bay by a flimsy sand wall. It seemed to her that life insisted on being unfair for her; her mother's death, boys, Dr. Tofu, and now being the sole witness to the destruction of the remaining Tendous. Akane was very much on the verge of demolition, before a much needed distraction presented itself, or rather, 'herself'.
"Hey, sis, you seemed a little upset about something."
Akane's head snapped up towards her door, and she sighed when she realized it was locked, "It's nothing. Nothing I can do anything about, anyway."
Nabiki opened the door, and locked it behind her, not paying attention to Akane's shocked expression, "Oh? Sounds like you got quite a bit on your mind. Lemme guess, does it have something to do with our current houseguests?" The middle Tendou sister leaned back in Akane's desk chair, and crossed her legs while sucking on her blackcurrent sucker.
Akane's eyes flashed a bit, just perhaps...
"It's Ranma and Shampoo," the youngest Tendou started, immidiately feeling a relent in the pressure of her emotions with her confiding, "I just know that something's going to happen, and it's going to be their fault. They're going to be the cause of it!"
Nabiki tilted her head to the side, "What makes you say that?"
"I..." Akane didn't want to admit to any moment of weakness, like the momentary one she felt when Shampoo confronted her, "I just know, alright?"
Nabiki rolled her eyes, as she rolled the lollipop around on her tongue. She removed the candy from her mouth before giving her sister her trademark smirk, "Well, whatever your reasons, I'll trust them. What do you want to do about them?"
"I want them gone!" Akane answered quickly. In the back of her head, she rationalized that it was the oncoming danger they represented, and not the overwhelming feeling of discomfort with Ranma around, that made her answer so vehemently.
Nabiki nodded, "Your call, Sis."
Just perhaps, she wasn't the sole witness, after all....
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Just on the outskirts of a forest, Ryoga Hibiki stood on a small cliff that overlooked the town before him. How peaceful it looked; the sea of lights fending off the darkness that lay above them. He could hear the faintly some of the louder bustle of the evening's events going on down there, down in the District of Nerima.
The note in his right hand crumpled in his grip, telling him the whereabouts of Ranma and Genma. Just as he was instructed to, he concentrated on where he was going, finding his way, and never letting his focus run too far.
He had been instructed to train as hard as he did in martial arts to find his way, and that advise had assisted him a great deal.
The bandanna-clad boy opted to set up camp for the night, deciding it would be best if he were prime before his confrontation. He knew that attempting to find this 'Tendou Dojo' could be done that night, but it would most likely take until the small morning hours to arrive.
"Tomorrow, Ranma," Ryoga said in a low, gruff voice, as he rolled out his tent.
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'Over the Clouds'
"But daddy!" Akane pleaded, trying desperately to get her father to at least acknowledge her concerns. She knew it wouldn't be easy, once he had set his mind on something, he was near impossible to get to budge on a subject. It was an uphill battle the youngest Tendou daughter was compelled and determined to win, and her will was just as steeled as her father's.
"Absolutely not, Akane," Soun replied, as he sat across from his daughter inside his bedroom. His daughter had quickly moved to talk to him in private, just as he entered his home from the grocery shopping his eldest sent him on. With her urgency, he suggested his bedroom, since it was well removed from the rest of the house.
"But she threatened me!" Akane argued once again, "Ask Kasumi! And we can't keep someone like Ranma here!"
Soun arched his eyebrow at the last part, "Oh? Why is that?"
Akane's expression darkened, "He doesn't belong here, daddy! He isn't normal!"
Soun's own expression darkened, "Akane, what have I told you about such descriminations? Mindsets like that are not those of a martial artist."
"Dad.." Akane made one last plea, before relenting on that front, "I'm sorry." Internally, she was angry for allowing herself to give so much ground.
Soun interpreted her bowed head as shame, and his own expression softened, "I will talk with Shampoo about her conduct within this house, but I will not agree to removing them from our home, especially without their defense." In a chiding tone, he continued, "You should put forth more effort to get along with Ranma-kun. It would be best for us all, as you are the heir to our fighting style."
Akane blinked, and looked back at her father with a confused expression, "What's that have to do with anything?"
Soun waved the question off, "We best return to the others before they begin to concern themselves." Soun stood up, and left his room, leaving Akane to sit there by her lonesome, pondering the cryptic request her father had made.
_________________________________
Nodoka had no idea where to start. She knew if she openly made a search for them, and Genma got wind of it, he would ensure that he would *never* be found.
Her first, and possibly only, option was to contact any old friends. There was one problem in that plan, as most of them had either drifted away due to Genma's prior... inhibitions, or chose to no longer consort with Nodoka for her now freely admitted heatless actions.
She felt defeated before she had begun, the bed of soil below her, the heavy and packed earth above her sufficating her. A fragment of her strong will surfaced after being allowed to rust for so many years. Her mother was right, things needed to be finished. If she was to have a life of her own, or to accept death with peace, a resolution would be made.
Nodoka Soh went to work on recalling old associates and friends, praying perhaps one of them would know the whereabouts of her ex-husband.
_________________________________
Kasumi carefully used the chopsticks to lower the egg-battered shrimp into the hot oil, careful not to allow the morsel to slip from her grasp. To properly prepare tempura was a tedious task, but it was one she didn't mind. It was Ranma's first evening meal, and she felt the obligation to make it one of the finest she had prepared in a while.
She looked down to find the tail of the shrimp was properly pink, and removed it from the oil to lay it on the draincloth to remove the access oil, before picking up another peeled and carefully devained shrimp to lower into the batter. She looked out the kitchen window, to find Ranma out in the yard, practicing with the last rays of the setting sun glistening just above the walls of the Tendou home.
She didn't even notice the breath she was holding, as she observed him in his movements. As amazingly graceful and skilled she could see he was, it seemed more like a child playing than one engrossed in self-dicipline. She pondered what such a difference would make in the way anyone else would learn martial arts. If it were treated more as a pleasantry than an obligatory duty, would they be happier with themselves in the long run? How much would that affect their potential; would it dwindle with the loss of seriousness, or would it open the veritable ocean of ability that rigidness would sink the most dicipline in?
She knew these questions would be obvious to answer for Ranma, just from observing him. The innocent joy that was expressed through out every movement put to shame any well practiced ballet she had ever seen on TV, and the expression that could be faintly made out on his face told of a pure happiness that even the wizened have journeyed lifetimes for. If Ranma was capable of reciting the secrets of his contentment to others; to tell them what it was that they did not quite grasp that would allow them to grow beyond their current barriers...
But she knew that the pigtailed boy did not even comprehend what he had before others. It was a shame that such great knowledge would be kept within him, locked away only for unconcious use.
Kasumi sighed, shifting the now well battered shrimp into the fryer. She normally wasn't much for such reverie, prefering that things happen as they do.
Outside the window, as the deep navy blue curtain pierced with ever so slight pinpoints of radiance slowly drew to claim the purple horizon, Ranma continued to play his games.
_________________________________
Akane avoided the Saotomes, as she went up to her room. This was a disaster she could feel coming, allowing them to stay at their house. She wanted to throw something in fustration; why wouldn't her father believe her? Why was Kasumi siding with them? Didn't she care about what would happen to her family if they stayed? That... that barbarian already threatened her! What if she did the same to Kasumi, or Nabiki? If she carried out on such, she knew her sisters would not be able to defend themselves.
The fustration over the situation was welling up in her like a stopped river; the Ejyptian Nile being held at bay by a flimsy sand wall. It seemed to her that life insisted on being unfair for her; her mother's death, boys, Dr. Tofu, and now being the sole witness to the destruction of the remaining Tendous. Akane was very much on the verge of demolition, before a much needed distraction presented itself, or rather, 'herself'.
"Hey, sis, you seemed a little upset about something."
Akane's head snapped up towards her door, and she sighed when she realized it was locked, "It's nothing. Nothing I can do anything about, anyway."
Nabiki opened the door, and locked it behind her, not paying attention to Akane's shocked expression, "Oh? Sounds like you got quite a bit on your mind. Lemme guess, does it have something to do with our current houseguests?" The middle Tendou sister leaned back in Akane's desk chair, and crossed her legs while sucking on her blackcurrent sucker.
Akane's eyes flashed a bit, just perhaps...
"It's Ranma and Shampoo," the youngest Tendou started, immidiately feeling a relent in the pressure of her emotions with her confiding, "I just know that something's going to happen, and it's going to be their fault. They're going to be the cause of it!"
Nabiki tilted her head to the side, "What makes you say that?"
"I..." Akane didn't want to admit to any moment of weakness, like the momentary one she felt when Shampoo confronted her, "I just know, alright?"
Nabiki rolled her eyes, as she rolled the lollipop around on her tongue. She removed the candy from her mouth before giving her sister her trademark smirk, "Well, whatever your reasons, I'll trust them. What do you want to do about them?"
"I want them gone!" Akane answered quickly. In the back of her head, she rationalized that it was the oncoming danger they represented, and not the overwhelming feeling of discomfort with Ranma around, that made her answer so vehemently.
Nabiki nodded, "Your call, Sis."
Just perhaps, she wasn't the sole witness, after all....
_________________________________
Just on the outskirts of a forest, Ryoga Hibiki stood on a small cliff that overlooked the town before him. How peaceful it looked; the sea of lights fending off the darkness that lay above them. He could hear the faintly some of the louder bustle of the evening's events going on down there, down in the District of Nerima.
The note in his right hand crumpled in his grip, telling him the whereabouts of Ranma and Genma. Just as he was instructed to, he concentrated on where he was going, finding his way, and never letting his focus run too far.
He had been instructed to train as hard as he did in martial arts to find his way, and that advise had assisted him a great deal.
The bandanna-clad boy opted to set up camp for the night, deciding it would be best if he were prime before his confrontation. He knew that attempting to find this 'Tendou Dojo' could be done that night, but it would most likely take until the small morning hours to arrive.
"Tomorrow, Ranma," Ryoga said in a low, gruff voice, as he rolled out his tent.