Dragon Exile
Italics are thoughts
Bold is Japanese
I do not own Ranma ½. I write this for entertainment only. But if you copy what I wrote, shame on you!
Chapter the First: Found Heirs and Found Enemies
Perfume vaulted over a boulder, huffing slightly as she ran on. Nothing was notable about this, except that the boulder was the size of a house. But the Joketsuzoku wasn't really concerned about her skills. Compared to the one she was seeking, they were nothing.
Stupid Guardian! Why does he insist on coming to these remote places? Can't he practice in town like the rest of us!
Grimacing, she came to a halt to catch her breath, trying to decide where to look. The Guardian of the Dragon Lands was a formidable man, especially when he did not wish to be found. And he rarely wanted to be found when in training. Not that the pink-haired Amazon understood his obsession. He had destroyed a god, for the love of her ancestors! Wasn't that power enough?
No sound betrayed the presence of another to the panting Amazon. No wind change or movement. Just as suddenly as she had been all alone in the wild garden north of the palace, so she was now standing in a clearing, the one she'd been seeking watching her.
"Where were you?" she demanded, straightening, "I've looked everywhere!"
A light frown crossed his brow, "obviously, not everywhere," he said sullenly, pacing by as silently as if his feet never touched the ground.
Perfume followed him, falling back slightly to admire the play of muscle beneath his skin. He wasn't wearing a shirt today, a rare sight that she planned to enjoy to the fullest.
And the Guardian was a magnificent specimen of a man, in Perfume's opinion. Muscle enough for strength and grace, but enough smoothness to keep it from looking icky. An almost unnaturally handsome face was accented by black within black hair and fierce, piercing blue eyes.
Something's wrong, Perfume guessed as she caught him watching the sky with an almost yearning expression. The Guardian looks deep in thought from time to time. He has always looked forced, like whatever emotion he displays is not how he truly feels. Now…he looks truly unhappy.
And he did. There was a decided droop to him, from his hair to his hands and down to his toes. He walked like one defeated, like a broken man. Perfume didn't like that. She had been trying to make him hers for years, without success. If he was broken, then she doubted he would let her fix it.
"So…why were ya lookin' everywhere?" he asked at last, that forced look returning, wavering, only just holding in place. His droop didn't go away, however.
"Lord Herb has managed to find his heirs…they didn't come quietly."
"So, he wants me around to keep them here?" the Guardian growled, picking up the pace, "why did he bring 'em if they didn't wanna come!"
"According to General Ryu-shen, they were under poor influences and wouldn't know better."
The Guardian glanced at his companion, then let out a loud, derisive snort as he sped up yet again, "more like they didn't wanna leave an' he didn't wanna argue." Trees blurred by as he pulled ahead of Perfume, who was struggling in vain to keep up with his godly speed.
"Slow down!" she gasped at last, her Amazon pride crumbling beneath her disinterest in being left behind.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," the Godslayer slowed a bit, enough for her to just barely keep up, "so, why do they need me?"
"Herb's son is…more powerful than anticipated. And he was brought here drugged, so he isn't making a lot of sense."
"What about the daughter?"
"A weakling," Perfume sniffed as they reached the outer limits of the capital city of the Dragon lands, "who spends her time wailing something in Japanese."
"Japanese?"
"They were found in Japan."
"Do ya know what she was sayin'?" it was obvious that the Guardian wasn't truly interested, but Perfume answered anyway.
"My Japanese is not good, but I believe she kept saying something about a fire and a horse."
"Huh…" slowing, the Guardian entered the normal way, through the front door of the palace, for all he almost never did. So unusual was this that servants and guards all stopped to stare as he strode by, hurrying up the steps.
Down the third floor hallway, Perfume and the Guardian could already hear angry yelling in Chinese and Japanese, along with incessant wailing, "sounds like he's less drugged," the Guardian observed before throwing open the door to the Musk Dynasty ruler's living quarters. And then found himself in complete chaos.
Herb was currently having a heated argument with a teenager who could have been his double, albeit younger. Mei Ying, Herb's small but ferocious wife, was trying to comfort a girl with Herb's color patterning, except that her hair was black instead of white and she was the same height as Mei Ying. The girl kept right on wailing.
"I wonder how long she'll keep that up," Perfume sniffed, her tone one of disdain.
Her words drew the attention of the wailing girl and everyone in the room jumped as she let out a shriek and lunged at the Guardian, "KAMA!" she cried, "KAMA!"
"H-Hey…" the Guardian stammered, backing up a step, "that ain't my name."
"No?" the girl stopped in front of him, studying him closely, "I could have sworn…" then her face fell, "I WANT MY KAMA!" she wailed.
"Suzuma! Get a hold of yourself!" snarled the younger version of Herb, turning to reveal that he had Mei Ying's lavender eyes instead of their father's yellow-green.
"But Kama…"
"You'll see your love soon enough," the teen sighed, "I'm more worried about Akima-san. Her leg has been bothering her more of late."
"But…okay. I hope Kama roasts them!" the girl snarled, violet eyes flashing angrily.
"And I hope Akima-san is up to a Dual Standing," the boy sighed wistfully.
The Guardian frowned as he listened to them speak, knowing that it was not their intention to conceal their words, "I think this was a mistake," he said to Herb and Mei Ying, "they obviously have friends and lives elsewhere."
"But they're our children!" Herb protested harshly.
A sudden gasp drew their attention as Herb's heir keeled over, crouching on the floor and clutching his head in great pain. His twin sister stood over him, shaking him and calling his name.
"Brother!" she yelled at him, "you need to stop trying to fight! It will only make you sick."
"I have to fight," he snarled, shaking his head as if trying to clear it, "we have school tomorrow."
"Its okay, Brother. I don't think Mom would hold it against us and – " the girl began, trying to calm her voice, "do you think they're worried?"
"But…" Herb's son groaned and dropped to the floor, lying there with his eyes tightly shut.
"Help us!" the girl screamed at the Guardian directly, "he'll hurt himself!"
"I can't do nothing!"
Sobbing, she clasped her brother's shoulders, "then at least tell me your name," she requested unhappily.
"Ranma."
"Please. You shouldn't have taken us away!" she yelled at Herb, "we have a life back home! Our family will miss us!"
"What was done was done so for your safe return. According to my General, the girl with my son was disfigured and foul-tempered."
CRASH!
A body came flying through the broken window, twisting to land on legs that almost gave out upon landing. Everyone in the room stared at this newcomer, especially since there was not a scratch on her. Long blue hair flowed with a subtle wind, nasty looking scars crossing a face that would have been stunning. She was the same age as the two heirs and boy, oh boy, did she ever look mad.
"YOU!" she screamed, launching herself at Ryu-shen.
The startled General tried to dodge, not expecting the cane that sent him flying into a wall. The girl landed with one foot and pushed off to shoot after him, not quite touching the floor. Herb would have intervened on behalf of his man, in fact, had a white blur not tripped him.
"AKIMA-SAN!"
"Huh?" the new girl looked up in time to get bowled over by Herb's son, "Yu!" she cried happily, hugging him in return, "are you okay?" she gasped as he pulled back, more or less regaining his composure as he did.
"Where is Kama?" Herb's daughter asked, rushing over. Or at least she tried to, but Herb grabbed her.
"OLD MAN!"
Perfume gaped at the teen who landed squarely on Herb's head, driving the startled monarch into the ground. Odd blue hair tied back in a ponytail, blue eyes flashing, the boy who had landed there looked strangely familiar; and not just the resemblance to the girl laughing at Herb's heir, either. Pretty much the only difference, in fact, (aside from the genders and height) was that his hair was pulled into a ponytail, tied off four or five times along its length.
"Suzuma? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" the newcomer demanded, still standing on Herb as he closely inspected the now-blushing daughter of Herb.
"I'm fine, Kama. Don't you think you should have tried to get Akima to stay home?" she asked worriedly as the blue-haired girl proceeded to chew Herb's heir out, "she's very pale."
"Since when can I get my sister to listen to anything I say?" Kama demanded in exasperation, "all I could do was talk her out of mother's favorite spear."
"What is going on here!" the blue-haired girl thundered, "Kama! We got your love. Now let's get out of here!"
Before she could move, however, Ryu-shen lashed out with a foot, throwing her into a wall. She didn't move after that. Then again, she didn't have to, really. Herb's heir lunged with a roar like a wild animal, ramming Ryu-shen into the floor before rushing to his fallen companion.
"Yukima! Grab my sister and let's go!" Kama yelled, leaping out the window after Suzuma.
"Get them!" Mei-Ying cried, lunging to the window's edge, staring down three stories at the fleeing teenagers, "my son! My daughter!"
Perfume leapt out the window, followed closely by the Guardian and Herb. The teens were fast, obviously well-trained, and the Amazon was struggling to keep up with them. So was Herb. The only one who could catch them was the Guardian, and he was obviously in no hurry to do so.
"Guardian!" Herb yelled, "catch them!"
Ranma sighed but sped up, frowning when the group abruptly stopped in a clearing. He didn't understand the significance of it until something came out of nowhere, knocking him end over end.
"Guardian!" Herb gasped, stopping at his side, "what happened?"
Ranma groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head, "there's someone else here," he groaned just before another person stepped into view.
"She knocked you back?" Perfume sputtered, pointing an accusing finger at the woman, who smirked back. The woman was beautiful, so beautiful that she seemed almost like a goddess more than a mortal maid. She moved solidly, every step seeming as if she would be rooted in place, her hands up in a stance vaguely similar to the Guardian's. And her eyes, large and deep brown, were focused solely on them, a scowl only making her lovelier.
"What the hell are you doing with MY children?" she snarled, her short blue hair rippling from the wind generated by a battle aura swarming outwards, engulfing the entire clearing, "Yukima? How is Akima?"
"Fine. She's waking."
Herb took a step forward, "the ones you call 'Yukima' and 'Suzuma' are my heirs. They were merely returned to me."
The woman spat out a curse, "they are yours only if they say they are. And I don't see Kama putting Suzuma in a headlock to bring them here!" she yelled, taking a threatening step forward.
"Do not be foolish," Herb cautioned, then flinched as her expression turned murderous, "you can't win."
"Only one person ever bested me in a fight," she growled, "and you're not him, Herb!"
"Truly? You have heard of me?" Herb was surprised, "I am flattered."
"Run!" the woman yelled over her shoulder before launching herself at Herb, "your fight is with me!" she roared, coming at him like a charging bull.
Herb sighed and sidestepped, only to be flung aside by her rampant battle aura. Ranma dodged while Perfume chased after the fleeing teens, determined to bring them back if she had to knock them out to do it.
"You are skilled," Herb mused, wiping at a trickle of blood, "but if you can't even hit me…"
The woman planted herself firmly for a moment, then launched herself into the air, coming at him with a foot out. Herb smirked, till suddenly flames roared around her, taking on the glowing form of a bird.
"Anything goes secret technique: FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX!"
The resulting explosion could not be dodged, at least not by Herb. The crater it left was enormous, spanning a good half a mile. Herb groaned as he lay among the rubble, staring at the woman approaching with fire dancing in her eyes. Then, before she could reach him, she looked up and shot backwards in time to avoid Ranma's landing.
"Yer good," he mused.
"So are you," she said, noting the fact that his clothes weren't even singed, "I don't want to fight. I just want to make you leave my children alone."
"Sorry," Ranma apologized, "but their real Mom will kill me if we come back without them cause I let ya go."
She sighed, taking up a lighter stance, "very well. Come at me."
Ranma lunged in, surprised to find her moving around him, evading him with slight movements. He picked up the pace and so did she. Finally, he cut loose a blast of chi, waiting for it to hit.
"CHI DRAIN!" she roared, the Mokutakabisha being absorbed with a huff.
But the Guardian moved in, attacking as he began the spiral. It was one of the many dragon attacks he knew, but he doubted that she could simply absorb it. He was almost to the point where he could let fly when suddenly, she lashed out at him.
"I haven't seen Ryuu Shoten Ha in years!" she laughed, then grinned at him and he realized that he'd been caught, even as she raised both hands, "SKY FIRE!" she roared as electricity, generated by the friction of the winds, struck, blasting Ranma backwards. He only just avoided being smashed against the sides of the crater they were fighting in and watched in amazement as she charged him with a battle cry.
Suddenly, his memory jolted, back almost twenty years. Back to the only time he had been happy. Back to fiancées and suitors and Nerima. Blue hair, brown eyes…a battle cry that sounded more like an angry hawk than a person…
"Akane…" Ranma gasped.