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Chapter 6
Changing Places
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The predetermined track was wildly scattered through the woods. The basic idea behind the cross country race being held there was that each runner would have their own choice of which paths to take.
There were beginner, intermediate, expert, and unusable trails that lined one end of the large scale wooded area to the other. The entire plotted territory was massive and used strictly for training purposes. The wildlife and the trees were somewhat unpredictable so Furinkan High was unable to have it sanctioned for tournament use.
It was true that the majority of the runners stuck somewhere between beginner to intermediate, with small exceptions by some of the more veteran runners. Most of these young teen girls didn't fail to notice how tranquil the woods actually were.
Several different types of vegetation lined the path and the hills, allowing a nice invigorating scent of wildflowers and cherry blossoms to fill their senses. Several small animals watched the girls running through, stopping their feeding to send small squeaks to their fellow kind.
The sounds of the wind blew around the runners in a way that was both warm and lifting all at the same time.
It was just a really relaxing run… for almost everyone. It seemed as if the only two people who failed to notice how lovely and cooperative Mother Earth was being were ironically the only two that took the unusable paths.
Akane Tendo's entire body felt electrified with limitless bounds of kinetic energy. The greenery around her was barely a blur as she bounded gracefully across stray rivers and large decrepit trees. Her spirit soared with her as she jumped high into the air to run and flip into the trees.
Her laughter filled the area as she landed with a soft crunch on the ground, only to continue her tremendous speed shortly after. Her blue hair whipped around her, encouraging her to fun faster, even as the whir in the back of her head picked up decibels.
She idly noticed it was the same sound that had caused her so much pain earlier that day. However the thought shortly faded into the back of her mind as a cracking of a branch behind her caught her attention.
The great competitive nature of the girl smiled aggressively as she saw her fiancé in female form catching up to her. She slowed down long enough to match pace with the redhead.
"What's up Ranma? Anything I can help you with today?" She asked the shorter girl next to her, secretly checking to see if she was out of breath or not.
"Yeah, quit pretending and get ready to lose Akane. I know you know about the coach's bet and I intend to win!" Both girls jumped over a log at the same time. Ranma was further agitated to notice that Akane was able to pull off the maneuver without breaking eye contact.
"I don't know what you are talking about but if you think you can take me Ranko, let's go. Nothing like a friendly competition between us girls right?" Akane proceeded to blow a kiss at her fiancé, which as she had hoped, thoroughly agitated him to no end.
"I am a guy damn it! Don't forget this when it's over Akane—you are going to lose to me," an audible click resounded loudly through both their heads and the young girls stopped dead in their tracks.
In this place in the woods there were no animals or beautiful flowers to lighten the mood. The sun was mostly blocked by the branches of wicked dark arms of dead trees. It was surreal how heavy the air had turned and just how thick and difficult it had become to breathe.
Both girls stared at each other fully expecting something to happen. Soft as a whisper the buzzing sound that had so easily brought Akane to her knees began to lull and bounce around the forest. Slightly discolored fog rolled around the young couple, calming them into an expressionless trance. They were locked into each other's eyes.
Ranma watched completely motionless as Akane's eye color changed and rolled smoothly into hundreds of different hues. All at once she aggressively stepped back at her own viewing of what was happening to her fiancé. Her irises stopping frequently on the reddish hues they manifested.
Ranma's once vibrant blue had shifted into only one color. A sick color of green shone and pulsated from her eyes. Red hair unbidden blew softly around her wickedly bright jade orbs. "Don't forget this when it's over Kalian—you are going to lose to me… when that happens you will surrender your power and your lands to me." Ranma's voice was layered with ice as she began circling the Tendo girl.
The blue-haired girl's hair crackled in a nimbus of electricity around her. Vibrant purple shot and glowed from her as her own low voice matched Ranma's in deadly monotone, "you will never take Cleyra's Soul demon! I would die before I let her fall into your hands Malamarie."
The forest bowed towards the awesome power displayed before it. A ring of dead life encased the young girls as they circled nearer to each other. Inches apart their ki battle had turned outward as bright green and purple thumped from both parties.
Ranma spoke with her face inches from Akane's, "Perhaps you shall. But I would much rather keep you as a pet." Her voice faltered none as the redhead closed the distance and seared her lips against Akane's.
With that contact the entire forest had changed back to the way it was. With a snap the eerie atmosphere was shattered and the woods sprouted life back into the forest.
The teenagers hadn't realized they were kissing until they had both begun to enjoy it.
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The entire Earth rumbled under the onslaught of the masses congregated. Countless dark shapes moved faster and roared louder with each passing moment. Blood poured in steady streams down the massive hill and pooled at the bottom.
The air was full of the vile stench of death. Screams full of pain assaulted the ears with vicious intensity. The sky was black and charred from the fires covering the region.
The entire army of death was assembled to obliterate the glowing star that lit the top of the hill. As the masses continued to march on the light, it became obvious that they were merely fighting a girl.
Their demented glee held no bounds.
The beautiful girl moved rhythmically in patterns that closely resembled dance. But no matter how many demons attacked at once, it seemed as if the star would only move faster in her dance.
Hordes of black bombarded the girl and as she moved gracefully around her circle, the blood rivers only continued to run thicker with each demon slaughtered by the most beautiful of killers.
Eventually there were no more movements from the mass. Soon the beautiful girl slowed her steps and glanced around. Blood smeared on both cheeks and hands; she flicked the blood from her blades and rubbed her soft pink eyes.
After a calming breath her eyes fluidly changed into brown. Satisfied that her job was complete, she turned on her heel towards the horizon and smiled at the sunshine.
Her long blue hair fluttered in the new wind.
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Ranma woke with a start. His entire body was covered in sweat and he could still taste blood from his dream. Ranma sat up and rubbed his head. He was surprisingly pleased to find himself in his own bed. For some reason he expected to wake… someplace else.
'Oh shit! This means that Akane brought me here after that damn forest run!' His thoughts of how he woke up in the forest were removed from his mind as a haphazard analysis of the house proved to show that there was something horribly wrong.
Ranma sensed powerful magic nearby. Every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A battle aura so violent that it shook his soul was close.
He could feel the familiarity of it, the sense that this person was close to him. This chi was something he came into contact with everyday… but right now it was unreal how much was being bombarded into his senses.
Closer than everything else-- It was Akane; something like this could only be Akane.
Ranma couldn't remember a time when he had gotten to a destination faster. A slight hesitation at the door was put aside as the chi pulsed like a heartbeat and nearly knocked him over.
Upon entering, the martial artist's entire mouth went completely dry.
Akane was floating in mid air. Her body was limp and Ranma was unable to see clearly due to the bright light cascading from her. The beautiful body of Akane formed a limp cross and blood dripped down her arms and spilled onto the bed in rivers.
Ranma stared in sick fascination, far too scared to move. The light faded and eventually went away.
The blood had smeared her face and formed patterns down her arms. Blood continued to roll onto the wooden floor making soft beading noises. Her hair was wrapped around her waist as Ranma approached the bed. His entire body shook with fear at the changes in his fiancée and how much blood was pooling around them.
Finally his dream came back to him. This is exactly what the girl in his dream had looked like. 'Was the girl in my dream Akane?' The stench hit Ranma next. It was the same from the blood drenched hill. He could never forget that smell.
In a flash the entire room was different. The blood was gone and Akane was resting on her side. Ranma looked frantically around to see if anything was out of place but found that the entire room was in normal condition again. No smell, no blood, and her hair was back behind her ears.
It was his Akane again. Soon Ranma would chalk what just happened to that of hallucination and try to go back to sleep.
But what little rest he did get wasn't really worth the effort.
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Sorry to everyone for not updating in so long, college is stressful and a giant pain.
Please forgive me.
Ja Ne – Lady Mokodane