Ranma/ Hannibal
'Mind Games'
They were out there. The yellow, callow-like eyes of what seemed like hundreds of the yowling, menacing beasts. The young child couldn't make them out in the dark, but he could hear their scurrying, sense their silent suffles, and their not so silent pleas for sustenance that were low but deafening to his youthful and frightened ears. They were hungry, he could smell their desperation in the black, stilled air, mingled with their unsanitary spore. The torturous smell tore at him just as sharply as their claws intended, following their wielder's demanding orders to rip apart the only source of food within their grasp, the only nourishment enclosed within the pit of feral desperation.
As strong as the urge to relieve the agonizing pits within their stomach, the sense of dread, of something far worse than their paltry hunger, kept them at bay. The four year old boy dare not sob, he dare not cry, all he could do was clutch tighter to the chest of the only thing that was more terrifying, and ironically less menacing than the drooling, mewing, mangy creatures that had been stripped down to their essential instincts.
The pair of strong arms encircling the young boy, as he peaked behind him to ensure that the creatures had not bound upon him. The owner of these arms looked down at the boy being held. The expression could not be seen, yet what little light that managed to find its way into the dank pit had discovered the eyes.
Ice cold slate gray eyes that held a morbid satisfaction at the events their owner orchestrated. It was impossible to tell if the deadly mirthful twinkle they held was from the dozens of desperate beasts being kept at bay with but a presence, or the child growing dependence upon his capture and savior.
In a calm, articulate, nerve shattering voice, the yowls and mews and hisses had been cut through like a blade through soft, delicate flesh...
"Nice kitty..."
___________________________
"That should be the old man, now," Ranma griped out loud, as he intercepted Kasumi to open the door, "I'll get it, while you continue to work on that delicious breakfast of yours!"
"But it's not proper for guests to an-"
"Ah, don't worry about it," Ranma interrupted, "It's the least I can do around here!" Kasumi nodded, and walked back into the kitchen.
Ranma opened the door, to find a bald man in a travel-worn gi and round-rim spectacles upon his nose. "What took ya, Pops? Ya said you would be here by last night!"
Ranma's father's expression grew stern, "Learn some respect, boy! I thought it was best if I waited until morning so... ah... I didn't waste the extra night on the room you would have paid for, anyhow!" The elder man looked up, clutching his fist at chest height, "I was only thinking of the value, Ranma! I would never allow your hard-earned money to be so precariously wasted!"
Ranma gave his father a half lidded stare, "The room service bill on my card is going to be high, ain't it, Pop?"
"Um..." the older started, "Say, where's that old pal of mine, Tendou? Hadn't seen him since just a time after the... ah... nevermind that!"
Ranma shrugged, and let his father in, "Probably still preparing for the morning. Think he was the last one to use the tub today."
"I see," the stout man replied, while adjusting his glasses. Without warning, his hand shot out, and grabbed his son's shirt, before tossing him out the door.
Ranma easily recovered, inverting himself rightside-up before landing on his feet, "Whaddya do that for?"
"You shoulda seen that com'n, boy!" The elder Saotome leapt to press the offensive, "Always remember the code, Ranma! A martial artist should ALWAYS be prepared for an attack at any moment!"
Ranma internally growled at his father's impudence, but followed the pursuit of combat, thus beginning the morning spar of the Saotomes.
___________________________
Nabiki had been the last one up, feeling no obligation to waking up early on a non-school day. Even now, waking up wasn't by her choice, as that had been taken away from her by the sounds of intense combat going on outside her home.
True, living at a dojo, such sounds shouldn't be all that uncommon, nonetheless...
"I swear, if this is another challenger that couldn't wait for a decent hour..." The middle Tendou sister pulled herself out of bed, and headed out to check on the commotion. She came next to Kasumi, and found the source. "Geez, Ranma really *was* holding back against Akane..."
That much was obvious, as Ranma traded intensive, high speed blows against the newcomer in mid-air. Eventually, the two would come back to earth, before retreating to the air to renew battle. Akane had by this time, finished her morning jog, and had not missed the sounds, herself.
She came around to the front, freezing with shock at the spectacle before her. With a slight emphisizing of will to bring her out of her awe, her expression darkened; coming to the same conclusion her middle sister did.
It didn't escape the younger Saotome's attention that he currently had an audience, and decided that it was time that he was 'humbled'.
"Sloppy, boy!" was the call that preceeded Ranma's descent into the fish pond. The elder Saotome landed on the side, as a redhead rose out of the water, "With a mistake like that, I shall have to retrain you from the beginning!"
"Oh, shove it, Pop," the redheaded girl commented, while pulling herself from the small body of water, "Now I'm gonna have to go bathe again!" Akane deserved immidiate attention, because it was likely she was feeling like she had been patronized. "Hey, Akane, you wanna spar, before breakfast?"
"You were holding back on me!" She accused, finding herself building a familiar anger at the slight sense of betrayal.
Ranma easily returned an answer, "No, I didn't!" The guileless, blank and slightly confused expression across the redhead's face threw Akane, as well as Kasumi. Nabiki, however...
"Then what was all that you were just doing?" Akane retorted, attempting not to allow herself to be derailed.
Ranma scratched her head, sheepishly, "Well, I can't use all that in a straight kempo match, can I?"
"What do you mean?" Akane asked, finding it difficult to maintain her anger at Ranma's consoling voice.
"How about we have ourselves an anything-goes match, and I'll show you what I mean."
Akane's nose scrunched up at the thought, realizing what Ranma was alluding to, "Sure, lemme go get my gi, first." With that, Akane rushed into the dojo.
"That your fiancee, boy?" Genma demanded, crossing his arms and staring after Akane contemplatively.
Ah, shove it, Pops," Ranma-chan replied, evading an answer that would put the situation back directly in the spotlight. As she was talking, she also removed her top, and began to wring it out, 'seemingly' unaware of the Tendou Patriarch arriving with a toothbrush still in his mouth. An act that kept his side of the argument quiet. "Geez, these things get in the way, dunno how you girls handle them so well!" The 'unintentional' jiggle would keep Soun in a catatonic state for the time being, at least until the discussion was forgotten.
It hadn't taken long for Akane to change, as she rushed back out to meet her soon to be opponent, "Okay, let's head back to the dojo so we can start!"
"Um, why not out in the open here?" Ranma-chan asked with a confused expression that all but one bought.
Akane thought for a moment, before nodding, and moving out into the open to take stance.
"Go easy on her, boy," the elder Saotome commanded.
"Ain't gonna," Ranma replied, taking her own aggressive stance against Akane, earning an almost incredulous glare from her father, "She ain't gonna appreciate me babying her like that."
Akane threw a quick look to the older man, but said nothing about his comment, "Let's begin!"
Ranma matched Akane's forward charge, while deciding on a course of action. Akane needed to be humored, while not tipping her own father off. The redhead brought her right knee up to catch the other girl in the gut, forcing Akane to panic, and bring both arms down for a low cross guard.
Ranma knew she would overlay her right arm on top of the left arm for the guard, and quickly brought her right arm across, and towards Akane's left side. Akane almost brought her right arm up, believing Ranma was going to strike to her right, but quickly changed guards to her left arm to block.
The raven-haired girl was staggered, not even realizing that Ranma had then leapt into the air. Once she regained her balance, she felt the world fuzz over. Ranma rolled to her feet, after landing from her headward dive to the back of Akane, turned, and caught the other girl as she was collapsing backwards.
To everyone but the elder Saotome, the two had disappeared into a blur that streaked back into the house.
"Oh dear, I hope Akane is alright," Kasumi voiced in concern, looking towards the door they had entered in.
"She better be," Nabiki whispered, deciding to follow them inside.
Genma scoffed at the ease in which Soun's heir had been defeated, and turned to his still catatonic former training partner, "Tendou! It's been too long...!"
___________________________
Akane awoke to find a wetcloth on her forehead, while laying on the guestrooom floor. "What...?"
"I'm really sorry!" Ranma apologise, fretting over the other girl, "I got carried away. You're okay, right?"
Akane sat up, removing the wetcloth from her forehead, "I feel okay, what happened?"
"Well, I used something I guess you weren't ready for, but I didn't realize you may not have seen it before. It was a pretty dangerous thing for me to do.." Ranma-chan wrung her hands together, looking away, "and I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Akane replied, feeling her own hubris kick in, "I guess I have a long way to go before I match you, huh?"
Ranma's expression grew serious, as she started to open up her shirt, and turned away from Akane.
"Wha, what are you doing?"
"hopefully you never have to go the same route I did, Akane," Ranma replied, sternly, "See that scar on my shoulderblade?"
The other girl appeared closely, then nodded, "Yeah..."
"Got it when I was five, from some extremely dangerous training. I used to have lots of them all over, but they faded away over time." Ranma turned back to her, while closing her shirt, "I wouldn't want any friend of mine to go through what I had to for the art. I wish I didn't have to go through everything I did..."
Akane felt like a heel, as she saw the girl's now somber expression. Outside the door, Nabiki silently applauded Ranma's stellar performance.
'Mind Games'
They were out there. The yellow, callow-like eyes of what seemed like hundreds of the yowling, menacing beasts. The young child couldn't make them out in the dark, but he could hear their scurrying, sense their silent suffles, and their not so silent pleas for sustenance that were low but deafening to his youthful and frightened ears. They were hungry, he could smell their desperation in the black, stilled air, mingled with their unsanitary spore. The torturous smell tore at him just as sharply as their claws intended, following their wielder's demanding orders to rip apart the only source of food within their grasp, the only nourishment enclosed within the pit of feral desperation.
As strong as the urge to relieve the agonizing pits within their stomach, the sense of dread, of something far worse than their paltry hunger, kept them at bay. The four year old boy dare not sob, he dare not cry, all he could do was clutch tighter to the chest of the only thing that was more terrifying, and ironically less menacing than the drooling, mewing, mangy creatures that had been stripped down to their essential instincts.
The pair of strong arms encircling the young boy, as he peaked behind him to ensure that the creatures had not bound upon him. The owner of these arms looked down at the boy being held. The expression could not be seen, yet what little light that managed to find its way into the dank pit had discovered the eyes.
Ice cold slate gray eyes that held a morbid satisfaction at the events their owner orchestrated. It was impossible to tell if the deadly mirthful twinkle they held was from the dozens of desperate beasts being kept at bay with but a presence, or the child growing dependence upon his capture and savior.
In a calm, articulate, nerve shattering voice, the yowls and mews and hisses had been cut through like a blade through soft, delicate flesh...
"Nice kitty..."
___________________________
"That should be the old man, now," Ranma griped out loud, as he intercepted Kasumi to open the door, "I'll get it, while you continue to work on that delicious breakfast of yours!"
"But it's not proper for guests to an-"
"Ah, don't worry about it," Ranma interrupted, "It's the least I can do around here!" Kasumi nodded, and walked back into the kitchen.
Ranma opened the door, to find a bald man in a travel-worn gi and round-rim spectacles upon his nose. "What took ya, Pops? Ya said you would be here by last night!"
Ranma's father's expression grew stern, "Learn some respect, boy! I thought it was best if I waited until morning so... ah... I didn't waste the extra night on the room you would have paid for, anyhow!" The elder man looked up, clutching his fist at chest height, "I was only thinking of the value, Ranma! I would never allow your hard-earned money to be so precariously wasted!"
Ranma gave his father a half lidded stare, "The room service bill on my card is going to be high, ain't it, Pop?"
"Um..." the older started, "Say, where's that old pal of mine, Tendou? Hadn't seen him since just a time after the... ah... nevermind that!"
Ranma shrugged, and let his father in, "Probably still preparing for the morning. Think he was the last one to use the tub today."
"I see," the stout man replied, while adjusting his glasses. Without warning, his hand shot out, and grabbed his son's shirt, before tossing him out the door.
Ranma easily recovered, inverting himself rightside-up before landing on his feet, "Whaddya do that for?"
"You shoulda seen that com'n, boy!" The elder Saotome leapt to press the offensive, "Always remember the code, Ranma! A martial artist should ALWAYS be prepared for an attack at any moment!"
Ranma internally growled at his father's impudence, but followed the pursuit of combat, thus beginning the morning spar of the Saotomes.
___________________________
Nabiki had been the last one up, feeling no obligation to waking up early on a non-school day. Even now, waking up wasn't by her choice, as that had been taken away from her by the sounds of intense combat going on outside her home.
True, living at a dojo, such sounds shouldn't be all that uncommon, nonetheless...
"I swear, if this is another challenger that couldn't wait for a decent hour..." The middle Tendou sister pulled herself out of bed, and headed out to check on the commotion. She came next to Kasumi, and found the source. "Geez, Ranma really *was* holding back against Akane..."
That much was obvious, as Ranma traded intensive, high speed blows against the newcomer in mid-air. Eventually, the two would come back to earth, before retreating to the air to renew battle. Akane had by this time, finished her morning jog, and had not missed the sounds, herself.
She came around to the front, freezing with shock at the spectacle before her. With a slight emphisizing of will to bring her out of her awe, her expression darkened; coming to the same conclusion her middle sister did.
It didn't escape the younger Saotome's attention that he currently had an audience, and decided that it was time that he was 'humbled'.
"Sloppy, boy!" was the call that preceeded Ranma's descent into the fish pond. The elder Saotome landed on the side, as a redhead rose out of the water, "With a mistake like that, I shall have to retrain you from the beginning!"
"Oh, shove it, Pop," the redheaded girl commented, while pulling herself from the small body of water, "Now I'm gonna have to go bathe again!" Akane deserved immidiate attention, because it was likely she was feeling like she had been patronized. "Hey, Akane, you wanna spar, before breakfast?"
"You were holding back on me!" She accused, finding herself building a familiar anger at the slight sense of betrayal.
Ranma easily returned an answer, "No, I didn't!" The guileless, blank and slightly confused expression across the redhead's face threw Akane, as well as Kasumi. Nabiki, however...
"Then what was all that you were just doing?" Akane retorted, attempting not to allow herself to be derailed.
Ranma scratched her head, sheepishly, "Well, I can't use all that in a straight kempo match, can I?"
"What do you mean?" Akane asked, finding it difficult to maintain her anger at Ranma's consoling voice.
"How about we have ourselves an anything-goes match, and I'll show you what I mean."
Akane's nose scrunched up at the thought, realizing what Ranma was alluding to, "Sure, lemme go get my gi, first." With that, Akane rushed into the dojo.
"That your fiancee, boy?" Genma demanded, crossing his arms and staring after Akane contemplatively.
Ah, shove it, Pops," Ranma-chan replied, evading an answer that would put the situation back directly in the spotlight. As she was talking, she also removed her top, and began to wring it out, 'seemingly' unaware of the Tendou Patriarch arriving with a toothbrush still in his mouth. An act that kept his side of the argument quiet. "Geez, these things get in the way, dunno how you girls handle them so well!" The 'unintentional' jiggle would keep Soun in a catatonic state for the time being, at least until the discussion was forgotten.
It hadn't taken long for Akane to change, as she rushed back out to meet her soon to be opponent, "Okay, let's head back to the dojo so we can start!"
"Um, why not out in the open here?" Ranma-chan asked with a confused expression that all but one bought.
Akane thought for a moment, before nodding, and moving out into the open to take stance.
"Go easy on her, boy," the elder Saotome commanded.
"Ain't gonna," Ranma replied, taking her own aggressive stance against Akane, earning an almost incredulous glare from her father, "She ain't gonna appreciate me babying her like that."
Akane threw a quick look to the older man, but said nothing about his comment, "Let's begin!"
Ranma matched Akane's forward charge, while deciding on a course of action. Akane needed to be humored, while not tipping her own father off. The redhead brought her right knee up to catch the other girl in the gut, forcing Akane to panic, and bring both arms down for a low cross guard.
Ranma knew she would overlay her right arm on top of the left arm for the guard, and quickly brought her right arm across, and towards Akane's left side. Akane almost brought her right arm up, believing Ranma was going to strike to her right, but quickly changed guards to her left arm to block.
The raven-haired girl was staggered, not even realizing that Ranma had then leapt into the air. Once she regained her balance, she felt the world fuzz over. Ranma rolled to her feet, after landing from her headward dive to the back of Akane, turned, and caught the other girl as she was collapsing backwards.
To everyone but the elder Saotome, the two had disappeared into a blur that streaked back into the house.
"Oh dear, I hope Akane is alright," Kasumi voiced in concern, looking towards the door they had entered in.
"She better be," Nabiki whispered, deciding to follow them inside.
Genma scoffed at the ease in which Soun's heir had been defeated, and turned to his still catatonic former training partner, "Tendou! It's been too long...!"
___________________________
Akane awoke to find a wetcloth on her forehead, while laying on the guestrooom floor. "What...?"
"I'm really sorry!" Ranma apologise, fretting over the other girl, "I got carried away. You're okay, right?"
Akane sat up, removing the wetcloth from her forehead, "I feel okay, what happened?"
"Well, I used something I guess you weren't ready for, but I didn't realize you may not have seen it before. It was a pretty dangerous thing for me to do.." Ranma-chan wrung her hands together, looking away, "and I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Akane replied, feeling her own hubris kick in, "I guess I have a long way to go before I match you, huh?"
Ranma's expression grew serious, as she started to open up her shirt, and turned away from Akane.
"Wha, what are you doing?"
"hopefully you never have to go the same route I did, Akane," Ranma replied, sternly, "See that scar on my shoulderblade?"
The other girl appeared closely, then nodded, "Yeah..."
"Got it when I was five, from some extremely dangerous training. I used to have lots of them all over, but they faded away over time." Ranma turned back to her, while closing her shirt, "I wouldn't want any friend of mine to go through what I had to for the art. I wish I didn't have to go through everything I did..."
Akane felt like a heel, as she saw the girl's now somber expression. Outside the door, Nabiki silently applauded Ranma's stellar performance.