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 Fourth: Dragons and Cats
Ranma stood with Herb and Mei Ying while Yukima said his goodbyes. Akane wished him luck and ordered him to stay out of trouble. Suzuma sobbed that she would never forget this, while Kama and Yukima just smiled and clapped each other on the shoulder.
"Are you sure this is right?" Ranma asked, "breaking them up just so you can marry them to people they've never met?"
"It's perfect," Herb insisted, "I doubt your woman would have allowed it any other way," he added when Akane shot a nasty scowl their way before shouldering her backpack.
Finally, it was only Yukima and Akima. And they just stood there, not exactly looking at one another till Perfume cleared her throat at them to get on with it.
"I'm sorry, Akima-san," Yukima said, the first expression of regret he'd shown since this whole thing began, "I…it was fun."
SMACK!
Akima glowered up at him, "you're a fool!" she spat and then turned and marched off without so much as a backward glance.
Suddenly, Kama turned and jogged up to them, a grim look on his face as he stopped and spoke, "breaking those two up was the epitome of bad ideas. But I guess sooner or later, you'll find that out for yourself. Enjoy!" he added maliciously, hurrying to catch up with his family.
"What do you think he meant by that?" Mei Ying asked.
"Just trying to scare us," Perfume dismissed, "come on, that kid has a lot to learn."
Ranma stared at Yukima, standing numbly in place, a hand pressed over the spot where he'd been struck. The kid was a rock, as chilly as his name, but it was obvious to the pigtailed martial artist that he was in pain that ran far deeper than the slap could possibly reach.
Ranma found Yukima easily enough, perched on the lookout tower of the palace. He sat on the shingled roof over the stairwell, knees drawn up against his chest as he stared morosely eastward.
It had been almost a week since the kid's family headed home and he'd made it more and more difficult to be located. In the end, Ranma found that Yukima had an odd but familiar tendency to seek out high places when he was upset. Hence why it was Ranma who usually did the finding, now.
"Hey, kid…"
"I speak Chinese. I may as well get practice," Yukima responded numbly.
"Okay…you gonna be all right with this?"
Yukima snorted, "how do you think? I'm stuck in this place, surrounded by people I never met before today and…now Akima-san hates me," he added, dropping his face into his crossed arms.
"Why 'Akima-san'? Ya call the others by their names."
"When we were nine, I lost my favorite ball over the fence of a neighbor's house. He never likes children, so I couldn't ask to retrieve it. So, Akima-san told me that she would go get it. This was…before her injury."
"What happened?" Ranma asked, settling in next to the younger male.
"The neighbor had a big dog, an imported monster called a 'Pit Bull'. I heard her screaming, but I couldn't go. I was frightened," Yukima ground out, his eyes alight with self-loathing, "she has scars all along the leg that is injured now and she got away only because of our training. For three months, she was in the hospital, doped on pain medications and jumping at shadows. Because I left my best friend to that, I can never bear the honor of familiarity."
"You were a kid."
"I still should have done something," Yukima responded coldly, "while Suzuma and Kama were always off in their own little world, Akima-san and I were friends. We were always in the same homeroom, the same grade, the same study groups. I abandoned her and for that I can never be forgiven."
Ranma stared at him, then turned to stare out across the sky, "ya can't blame yourself forever. If ya do, it just drives you mad."
"Speaking from personal experience?" Yukima asked.
"Yeah. Way back when…Akane and I were fighting this bird-god. She nearly died in my arms. And I could never forgive myself for coming so close, for not protecting her as I should have."
"And so, you left?"
"Yes. Akane deserves someone special, you know. Someone who can give her everything she ever wanted. Someone who isn't a stupid baka and always making her cry."
"What made you decide to leave?" Yukima asked suddenly, his purple eyes oddly intent.
Ranma eyed him a moment, then sighed and lay back against the roof, "Akane was a wreak after the failed wedding. She wouldn't talk to anyone, she wouldn't even look at me. And then, like a bakabakashii, I picked a fight."
"That was stupid. Mom is like a fire demon when she's mad."
"Yeah, well…it wasn't all that bad till she told me to find someone better than her, because…she called herself everything I'd ever called her. And she was real upset, not like normal. She didn't even hit me, just kept cryin' and cryin' and finally, she fainted."
"I don't get it."
"It was my fault. I was hurting her and I made her think she's…I left that night. I couldn't do that to her."
"That didn't help. Mom still has issues about certain name-calling. She flipped out completely when she caught Kama calling his sister uncute once."
Ranma sighed, "enough about this. So, let's go inside, ne? Ya look like you'll fall asleep any minute."
The woman Herb had chosen as Yukima's betrothed was a tiny, demure little thing named Jing Mei, an Amazon from Perfume's tribe. She had long blue hair, gray eyes, and Yukima looked like he was about to be ill.
"I am pleased to meet my future husband," Jing Mei told him, "you're quite handsome."
A muscle jumped on Yukima's face before he forced a smile, "and you are very pretty, Jing Mei."
She giggled behind her hand, "you're sweet. Do you have any women?"
"Pardon?"
"No, he doesn't," Mei Ying put in hastily, "Jing Mei, perhaps we should leave you two to get to know one another better."
Jing Mei's expression turned predatory, "I would love to," she crooned, her eyes speaking louder than words what she wanted.
"Mrowr?"
"YAAAAAAAAH!" Ranma yelled, jumping till he could hang from the ceiling lamps, "CAAAAT!"
"What's wrong with you?" Jing Mei demanded, picking up the kitten, "it's only my kitty, Lo Long."
"I'm sorry. Our Godslayer has a strong fear of cats," Herb apologized.
"Oh. Well, that's silly," Jing Mei chided, dumping the cat in a very quiet Yukima's lap.
"Mrow…"
"Huh?" the group turned to look at Yukima, whose head was bent, "my son, are you all right?" Mei Ying asked, touching his shoulder.
"FFSSSST!" Yukima was on his feet and moving, landing nimbly on the back of the chair furthest from them, his gaze no longer human but still frighteningly intelligent.
"Cat fu!" Mei Ying shrieked, "that witch taught my son Cat fu!"
Yukima's eyes narrowed and he let out a low, rumbling growl, "rrrrowrrrr…"
Ranma, meanwhile, was holding onto the lamp for dear life, his petrified gaze switching between Yukima and the kitten on the couch. He was also too frightened to notice the ceiling giving way under the weight.
CRASH!
"Great!" Perfume snorted, trying to corner a feral-eyed Godslayer, "now they're both in the state!"
"What can we do?" Jing Mei demanded, clutching her cat to her while watching Yukima warily, " I can't marry a cat!"
"Unfortunately, they only come to those whom they have complete and utter trust for. And none of us apply," Mei Ying sighed.
"Perfume! Fetch my son's family!" Herb ordered, "he seemed to trust that girl with the limp!"
"Yes, My Lord!"
"Will they snap out of it any other way?"
"None that you want to try," Mei Ying assured the younger Amazon.