Chapter 2: Realization of Loss
Ranma shoved the spring water into Ryoga's hands, knowing that the Lost Boy would take care of Akane. Ranma wondered as he sped across the clearing to confront his opponent.
A desperate battle ensued as Ranma dodged increasingly powerful attacks while trying to keep Saffron's attention away from Akane and Ryoga.
Ranma thought.
Suddenly, Saffron's barrage ebbed. The Phoenix King stood perfectly still in the middle of the scorched wasteland that had once been a beautiful clearing in a pristine mountain forest.
Ranma realized his mistake too late. It was far too late for him to dodge the immense blast Saffron was readying. The last thing Ranma Saotome felt as he flew toward the Lord of Phoenix Mountain was the kiss of fire spreading over his skin.
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Ryoga could sense the pure power emanating from Ranma's opponent, who was doing an effective job of keeping Ranma completely on the defensive; something no one, not even Ryoga, had ever done before. Ryoga's thought trailed off as something finally penetrated his thick head, causing him to gasp. "He's guiding him away from US!" This realization, of course, was in direct conflict with Ryoga's basic life principle (ie - everything Ranma did was a direct attack on him or Akane). Memories long surpressed during his campaign to defeat Ranma flooded Ryoga's mind.
Ranma leading Ryoga to school every day when they were young, even as Ryoga cursed the very name of Ranma Saotome.
Ranma promising not to tell Akane about P-chan.
Ranma dragging him from a stream after their first fight since being trained in the Bakusai Tenketsu, saving the life of the unconscious piglet.
Ranma helping to rid him of the silly-looking "Mark of the Gods."
Reality finally collapsed Ryoga's fantasy world. Ryoga thought, in shock. Ryoga started, sensing something terribly wrong in the fight before him as Ranma sailed through the air toward the unmoving demi- god. Before Ryoga could react, Ranma's fist connected with Saffron's jaw and all hell broke loose.
Ryoga looked on in horror as a raging inferno replaced the area surrounding the combatants. Even 150 meters away, the temperature was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"Ranma..." Akane said weakly, tears forming in her dark eyes.
When the blaze subsided seconds later, Akane just buried her face against Ryoga's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ryoga helped Akane to her feet and the pair walked over to the newly made crater, hoping that, by some freak chance, Ranma had survived. What they found was an egg. A little bigger than the average infant, a perfect egg lay in the center of the charred, black hole as if in a nest. An all-too-familiar voice stopped Akane's hand as she reached out to touch it.
"Touch that, human, and you will die. Painfully."
"Kiima!?" Akane shrieked, than promptly passed out from stress.
"What do you want?" Ryoga asked, readying himself for battle. I don't care if I die right now, he thought to himself,
"If you must know, human," Kiima said disdainfully, "I am retrieving my King." Without another word, she carefully hoisted the egg and took to the air, heading home, and leaving Ryoga to tend to Akane.
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Four long, tense hours later, Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief as Akane finally stirred, sitting up groggily, still holding her head in one hand. Akane looked up at Ryoga with questioning eyes. "Ryoga? Where's Ranma?"
Ryoga dropped his eyes, suddenly unable to look Akane in the face. "Akane, I-," he began, "I don't know how to tell you this... Ranma's... not here anymore."
Akane's features immediately contorted in anger. "Just like that jerk! He finally tells me he loves me, then runs away. That JERK!"
Ryoga's face twisted in pain at those words. "Akane, Ranma didn't run away. He's dead." Silent tears welled in Ryoga's eyes as memories of Ranma raced through his head. A single bead of moisture ran down his chin as he found a new meaning for his life.
"NO!" Akane screamed, finally coming out of the shock caused by Ryoga's last statement. "You're lying! Ranma can't be dead! He finally told me he loves me, and I love him. I have to find him!"
Surprisingly, hearing this didn't hurt as much as Ryoga had expected. As he followed Akane, who had run off into the woods, calling Ranma's name, Ryoga thought to himself, I guess I knew that all along. I wonder why none of us could admit it? Ryoga sighed as Akane continued screaming Ranma's name, being answered only by the birds and insects just now settling down again after the apocalyptic battle. he thought. Then, as he pulled out his umbrella to protect himself from the rain that was just starting, another thought hit him. Ryoga began trying to figure out just how to tell Akane about his secret as he followed her (very closely, for obvious reasons) as she continued her ill-fated search.
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Hours later, Ryoga and Akane sat by the fire Ryoga had made. Akane was huddled in a blanket, staring blankly into the fire, tears still silently running down both cheeks. Ryoga was absently poking at the fire with a stick, still trying to figure out how to tell Akane about P-chan without risking severe bodily harm. He was thouroughly worried about Akane as she hadn't spoken since just before nightfall, she'd fallen to her knees on the ground where she now sat.
"Ryoga?" Akane said softly, causing Ryoga to jump. "Ryoga, is it true?" Akane asked, still staring at the fire. "Is he really dead?"
"He died protecting us from that fiery-winged- thing. His last words were for me to protect you," Ryoga answered, feeling pain deep in his heart. I should have been fighting beside him, he thought to himself. his new-found reasonable side countered, .
"Oh, Ranma!" Akane cried, jumping up and running off into the night, easily losing Ryoga, even though she was running blindly in a straight line.
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Minutes later, Ryoga stared blankly at the campsite he could have sworn he just left behind and cursed his sense of direction. Again.
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Author's note: Sorry this took so long.... blah, blah..... finals..... blah, blah...... writer's block........ blah, blah.......characters not mine.......... blah, blah........
Author's note revised: Ok, I did some editing and tried to alleviate any confusion... did I spell alleviate right?... Oh, well, thank you for reading! I can't tell you how much I love writing this, but I'm not getting any reader feedback and that makes me sad...
Ranma shoved the spring water into Ryoga's hands, knowing that the Lost Boy would take care of Akane. Ranma wondered as he sped across the clearing to confront his opponent.
A desperate battle ensued as Ranma dodged increasingly powerful attacks while trying to keep Saffron's attention away from Akane and Ryoga.
Ranma thought.
Suddenly, Saffron's barrage ebbed. The Phoenix King stood perfectly still in the middle of the scorched wasteland that had once been a beautiful clearing in a pristine mountain forest.
Ranma realized his mistake too late. It was far too late for him to dodge the immense blast Saffron was readying. The last thing Ranma Saotome felt as he flew toward the Lord of Phoenix Mountain was the kiss of fire spreading over his skin.
------------
Ryoga could sense the pure power emanating from Ranma's opponent, who was doing an effective job of keeping Ranma completely on the defensive; something no one, not even Ryoga, had ever done before. Ryoga's thought trailed off as something finally penetrated his thick head, causing him to gasp. "He's guiding him away from US!" This realization, of course, was in direct conflict with Ryoga's basic life principle (ie - everything Ranma did was a direct attack on him or Akane). Memories long surpressed during his campaign to defeat Ranma flooded Ryoga's mind.
Ranma leading Ryoga to school every day when they were young, even as Ryoga cursed the very name of Ranma Saotome.
Ranma promising not to tell Akane about P-chan.
Ranma dragging him from a stream after their first fight since being trained in the Bakusai Tenketsu, saving the life of the unconscious piglet.
Ranma helping to rid him of the silly-looking "Mark of the Gods."
Reality finally collapsed Ryoga's fantasy world. Ryoga thought, in shock. Ryoga started, sensing something terribly wrong in the fight before him as Ranma sailed through the air toward the unmoving demi- god. Before Ryoga could react, Ranma's fist connected with Saffron's jaw and all hell broke loose.
Ryoga looked on in horror as a raging inferno replaced the area surrounding the combatants. Even 150 meters away, the temperature was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"Ranma..." Akane said weakly, tears forming in her dark eyes.
When the blaze subsided seconds later, Akane just buried her face against Ryoga's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ryoga helped Akane to her feet and the pair walked over to the newly made crater, hoping that, by some freak chance, Ranma had survived. What they found was an egg. A little bigger than the average infant, a perfect egg lay in the center of the charred, black hole as if in a nest. An all-too-familiar voice stopped Akane's hand as she reached out to touch it.
"Touch that, human, and you will die. Painfully."
"Kiima!?" Akane shrieked, than promptly passed out from stress.
"What do you want?" Ryoga asked, readying himself for battle. I don't care if I die right now, he thought to himself,
"If you must know, human," Kiima said disdainfully, "I am retrieving my King." Without another word, she carefully hoisted the egg and took to the air, heading home, and leaving Ryoga to tend to Akane.
------------
Four long, tense hours later, Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief as Akane finally stirred, sitting up groggily, still holding her head in one hand. Akane looked up at Ryoga with questioning eyes. "Ryoga? Where's Ranma?"
Ryoga dropped his eyes, suddenly unable to look Akane in the face. "Akane, I-," he began, "I don't know how to tell you this... Ranma's... not here anymore."
Akane's features immediately contorted in anger. "Just like that jerk! He finally tells me he loves me, then runs away. That JERK!"
Ryoga's face twisted in pain at those words. "Akane, Ranma didn't run away. He's dead." Silent tears welled in Ryoga's eyes as memories of Ranma raced through his head. A single bead of moisture ran down his chin as he found a new meaning for his life.
"NO!" Akane screamed, finally coming out of the shock caused by Ryoga's last statement. "You're lying! Ranma can't be dead! He finally told me he loves me, and I love him. I have to find him!"
Surprisingly, hearing this didn't hurt as much as Ryoga had expected. As he followed Akane, who had run off into the woods, calling Ranma's name, Ryoga thought to himself, I guess I knew that all along. I wonder why none of us could admit it? Ryoga sighed as Akane continued screaming Ranma's name, being answered only by the birds and insects just now settling down again after the apocalyptic battle. he thought. Then, as he pulled out his umbrella to protect himself from the rain that was just starting, another thought hit him. Ryoga began trying to figure out just how to tell Akane about his secret as he followed her (very closely, for obvious reasons) as she continued her ill-fated search.
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Hours later, Ryoga and Akane sat by the fire Ryoga had made. Akane was huddled in a blanket, staring blankly into the fire, tears still silently running down both cheeks. Ryoga was absently poking at the fire with a stick, still trying to figure out how to tell Akane about P-chan without risking severe bodily harm. He was thouroughly worried about Akane as she hadn't spoken since just before nightfall, she'd fallen to her knees on the ground where she now sat.
"Ryoga?" Akane said softly, causing Ryoga to jump. "Ryoga, is it true?" Akane asked, still staring at the fire. "Is he really dead?"
"He died protecting us from that fiery-winged- thing. His last words were for me to protect you," Ryoga answered, feeling pain deep in his heart. I should have been fighting beside him, he thought to himself. his new-found reasonable side countered, .
"Oh, Ranma!" Akane cried, jumping up and running off into the night, easily losing Ryoga, even though she was running blindly in a straight line.
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Minutes later, Ryoga stared blankly at the campsite he could have sworn he just left behind and cursed his sense of direction. Again.
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Author's note: Sorry this took so long.... blah, blah..... finals..... blah, blah...... writer's block........ blah, blah.......characters not mine.......... blah, blah........
Author's note revised: Ok, I did some editing and tried to alleviate any confusion... did I spell alleviate right?... Oh, well, thank you for reading! I can't tell you how much I love writing this, but I'm not getting any reader feedback and that makes me sad...