Hello! Its time for me to fill out some more apartment paper work, so what better way to procrastinate than to update and prevent my imminent death from all my annoyed reviewers?
Hmmm….. The opening scene has some pretty disturbing things… well one thing. It just happened when I started writing… I swear its mostly implied… well maybe not.
I love all my reviewers!
Cynical Chaos, inheyl and Father Malvado- hello and long time no see! Miss ya!
Okay everyone, get ready for the late and overdue installment of "Choices Not Given" – the fallen love story.
Chapter 7
Rivers of Adaptation
Within the shadowed eclipse of the earth's heart is the darkness that threatened once to gobble the existence of eternity. It is a dimension that thrives on pain, sorrow, and screams from the breath of the pure.
Those spiritually enlightened believe this wretched and torn place is but a stone's throw from our reality and shall once again rise to power with its vanity. Once before it attempted to inhale our world but failed.
The time is at hand for the armies of the damned to surge a second time. However the odds are not sorted as they were before. This dark hell has evolved into a beast most unstoppable. An entire organism devoted to destruction resides within this plane.
Those wise call it Morgaku; "the plane of Nothing."
Deep in the black heart of this massive continent is the capital. It is a grand obtuse obstacle where the blood of the dark flows freely. It is here that the fallen experiment just encountered his death.
"A shame really," drawled a honey-flavored voice from the window, "maybe you weren't strong enough after all. But you were ugly, no fun for someone as purrr-fect as me," the voice cooed from the sill.
Cackles of laughter filled the cold room as a girl with waste-length wavy orange locks sauntered across the laboratory. Her whiskers twitched as her demented yellow eyes examined the corpse of the earth warrior.
The barely recognizable carcass's ivory hair stiffly lay beside him on the counter. The minx-woman thought busily to herself about the perplexing gender of the man. 'I could have sworn you were a female. But you are most definitely a man.'
"No bother. Silly mortal shouldn't have come across the spring if he wasn't strong enough to handle the consequences."
The thin layer of fur that covered most of her body stood on end as the temperature of the room dropped in degrees. The presence of her master could be felt. On instinct she immediately turned and bowed to her superior.
"So the prince was a failure." His voice boomed in the ears of the cat girl. She nodded in response, but never raised her head to face him- she knew better.
"This will be your fault, Janeko. You will fix this. If another candidate is not found it will be your head lying next to the Musk ruler on that table." Even as she heard him turn on his heel and leave the room the chill stayed with her.
She would be damned before she would fail her leader. She casually swept her tabby-orange hair over her shoulder and returned to the table where the body had already begun to break apart.
She had to find another descendent of Malamarie. Honestly she wasn't sure how the Prince was even a relation… but she did suspect it had something to do with the curse that he bore.
With but a rumble of the feline's stomach a Cheshire grin manifested on Janeko's face. "My, we mustn't let good food go to waste!"
So the cat began to feed. The sounds of cracking bone were only masked by the purrs and the slurps of one happy kitty.
The Cat Café was in rare shape today. Due to the track meet at the school today, students were practically lined around the block to get some good food.
Cologne could not be happier. "Sure the business is merely a front to cover our stay Shampoo, but you know what they say dear. A little profit never hurt anyone." The old woman was cooking at a phenomenal rate and handling the large quantity of orders with ease. She was having no trouble bouncing around the kitchen on her staff.
"Yes grandmother. We make lots money and Shampoo take Ranma out on fancy date, yes?" The young warrior was waiting tables and making a fair amount of tip money. Of course it never hurt that she flirted with almost every customer, male or female.
It took a moment for the elder to respond. "Of course dear," was her reply as four more bowls of ramen noodles flew from the kitchen towards Shampoo.
Just as Shampoo laid all the plates balanced on her arms down on one table she quickly jumped towards the ceiling and managed to catch every bowl thrown her way from the kitchen.
She couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on next to her, "Yeah, the bimbo is good, but today you should have been there for Akane! At the track meet, you know the pole vault bar?" Shampoo cursed at having to leave ear shot and proceeded to deliver the orders of ramen noodles tossed to her from Cologne.
However the next table she approached was fortunately having a similar conversation, "She was so cool! I wish I looked like her when I do stuff like that!" The girl's voice annoyed Shampoo, "she was running, not breaking a sweat and she outran none other than…"
'Damn!' the Amazon was out of earshot again. Deftly catching more bowls from the kitchen she chastised herself for missing one. It slammed against the wall- splattering on a customer.
"Oh! Shampoo so sorry, you get free food, yes? Make better?" With her best smile she couldn't stop the entire table from leaving. They muttered words about the "damn clumsy waitress" all the way to the door.
A chipper voice wedged its way back to the Amazon's ears. "She had to have! He was passed out when they exited the woods by the school." Shampoo refused to let gossip about the "violent tomboy" affect her anymore. Shampoo solidified herself and blocked out anymore conversation about that subject.
The day passed by quickly from there. Raw curiosity plagued Shampoo until she couldn't stand it anymore. Right before the gates were going to be locked to the Cat Café, she got the attention of a departing customer.
"Hi, you may no know me, but I am a dear dear friend of Akane's... what happened while Shampoo stay home today?" She tried to sound as sincere as possible.
The girl started smiling and talking about how great Akane was at the track meet, but the part that got Shampoo's anger boiling was when the ditzy girl finally convinced her that a passed out redheaded Ranma Saotome had been what Akane had carried from the woods.
By the time Cologne exited the kitchen, the gate was not locked and Shampoo was most noticeably, not present.
"Oh, dear."
The wind blew Sakura Blossoms around the cemetery where Hitomi Tendo was buried. Akane couldn't help but notice, as she made her journey towards the grave, how well manicured the grass was here.
Nabiki and Kasumi walked side by side, there were no tears shared between the two, just comfortable silence. Earlier today they had both been suffering from severe headaches and were now recovering.
Soun and Genma walked together, stiff and distant from what was happening in the real world. Soun wasn't entirely paying attention to what was going on. Despite his stone façade, it was clear he was breaking apart on the inside.
Ranma trailed behind everyone. His gaze was primarily focused on the sky. Every now and then he would take a glance in a glance of the Tendo family and let it linger on Akane. A possessive feeling overtook him and he took strides to catch up to her.
The entire family was adorned in silky black fabric. It was the consensus of the group that they cleaned up rather nice.
"What the hell do you mean I am not in Nerima? I think I know how to get there, I don't need your damn help!" Angry shouts filled the foreign village as its members sought to calm the rampaging boy in the center of their marketplace.
"Yes good sir, please believe us. This is not the Nerima that you speak of… please calm down," the elder man of the area pleaded with the bandana-clad boy to stop smashing their homes apart. "Perhaps if you remove the cloth from your eyes you could see better and find your way home."
Tears ran down the boys hidden eyes as his fingers grabbed the bandanna and yanked it fiercely from his head.
The villagers gasped at what they saw. "Your eyes… they…," the old man found it hard to finish his sentences.
Ryouga Hibiki stood tall and his tears ceased, "I woke up this morning and my eyes would not work. Please, tell me what's wrong with them!" His anger had temporarily subsided.
The village elder was quiet. It was a young girl who spoke next. "Hi, my name is Annika, pleased to meet you." Ryouga felt her hands on his knees and he bent down where he assumed she was.
Her hands touched his nose and then she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. "Your eyes are gone, mister. Don't be afraid. I promise I will take care of you. I will be your eyes from now on."
He wrapped his arms around the little girl, and the grown man started to cry into her shoulder. "What's wrong with me? Please, tell me. Why can't I see you?"
"They all pity you Ryouga, but I don't. This happened for a reason so I will take you to Nerima." Just as the young girl backed away from him she whispered once more to him, before he fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Be strong hero."
"Do you see anyone? Who is that boy talking to? I suppose it doesn't matter, poor blind kid. Take him to the hospice tent to recover. We will figure this out tomorrow."
The young girl known as Annika watched them handle her friend with care. 'Oh Ryouga, my blind seer, how angry will you be with me once you realize what I had to do?'
Her eyes softened around him as the villagers started to walk through the silhouette of her body. Soon she disappeared altogether.
The Tendo procession was on its way back to the Tendo Dojo when Ranma decided that he had some "unfinished business" over at the Cat Café.
His body was bouncing roof to roof and out of sight before Akane could even find her voice of jealousy to protest. She looked towards her family for sympathy but was almost surprised they didn't care.
Anger swelled from her chest and she started to feel the need for justification from her fiancée for leaving her like that. "I need to take care of some things with Ranma, alright father?" she looked to her dad but oddly he said nothing.
Nabiki and Kasumi watched Akane walk towards town with similar lidded expressions. They had decided some time ago that there was something wrong in the house. "Today is not a day for investigation, Nabiki." Kasumi's voice was calm and monotone as she walked in the side entrance of the dojo.
"I reluctantly agree." The sisters made it to the medicine cabinet to escape their headache. They both headed to Kasumi's room to sleep for the night.
"You know what they say, Kasumi?" Nabiki lifted her head from the pillows long enough to finish, "misery favors company."
She was almost asleep when Kasumi responded, "In both our case and Ranma and Akane's it seems…" Both sisters drifted into restless dreams soon after.
"Old Ghoul!" Cologne was on her way out of the kitchen to great Ranma before he had even entered the Café. 'His presence is stronger today…'
"You should be more respectful of your elders, sonnyboy. Your fiancé is not here at the moment. She left shortly after work." She hopped onto the countertop and began sipping on a nearby cup of hot tea.
Ranma was hesitant to enter the room at first, but eventually made it to a table close to where Cologne sat, balanced on her cane. "I came here to ask ya a question. Now don't go getting any funny ideas or nuthin', but there is no one else that can help me."
The Amazon eyes squinted before arching a curious eyebrow. "Is that right, son-in-law and I'll see what I can do." She casually tipped the tea cup and drank the steaming nectar.
The boy began to play with his ponytail before continuing. "Akane she… she beat me today--," he was halted by Cologne spitting out the tea into the air.
"You let the Tendo girl beat you? What were you thinking? You are lucky this won't jeopardize the Amazon rules regarding you and Shampoo!" Her anger was evident.
"Look Old Ghoul, I don't give a rat's ass about your bimbo of a granddaughter. Akane beat me, isn't that strange to you?" Ranma stood so fast his chair skidded across the floor.
Cologne lit her pipe from her robes and upon inhaling the drug, "yes. No way she did it naturally, I'd say. You sense any potions?" she puffed her pipe.
Ranma shook his head while waving away the smoke that had chosen to accumulate around him. "It was a race," he was weary to tell the Amazon too much, "and I kept up with her, but even if we didn't finish… she beat me."
"There is something that you are not telling me, son-in-law, I need to hear your entire story." Her voice was notably calmer as she put her cigar out on the heel of her palm.
He hesitated for a moment, but his will resolved. "Promise me Ghoul, that you will not use this in any way against me?"
"That I promise, my boy, now on with it!" Her agitation evident.
Ranma breathed deeply, "Her eyes kept changing color, and I have been having weird dreams about her being this ruthless killer… she's having these mood swings… and I guess I am too… I think I may sound dumb to you. I think I will go now." He made his way hastily to the door.
"Ranma! You must stay away from the girl!" He looked over his shoulder at the old woman. She was deathly pale and from his view, she appeared horrified.
Greetings and Salutations!
Hooray, another chapter down, I would say thirty to go. I have decided to add a small spoiler to this area, so if you do read this, you're one up on everybody else.
A preview, of Chapter 8!
Looking around for the first time in a while, Akane was sure she was lost. But that didn't change the fact that there was a parked bike lying next to the only light pole in the nearby vicinity.
"Akane must think she big brave now she make Ranma pass out," the clearly Chinese voice echoed around the street, "he probably saw how ugly you is Akane! That why he out cold." High pitched laughter bounced in a way that left Akane blind to her location.
"I hear you, Shampoo… unfortunately. What do you want, come out so I can see you!" The youngest heir to the Tendo name looked frantically around the area, still unable to locate her adversary.
"Shampoo tired of the Violent One always hurting my Airen! You will be defeated today and you will quit claiming him as your fiancé. Do you accept challenge?" The Amazon dropped from above, intent on landing on Akane.
It isn't much, but it's the only part I already have written. I do believe writing with colloquialism in regards to both Shampoo and Ranma is quite annoying.
Can't the ditz just learn Japanese already?
Anywho, sorry it has been so long, so I hope you enjoy it!
Love, Lady M