Chapter 6: Playing with fire, Part 2
One of the most difficult trials of my life was mastering the 'Soul of Ice' battle meditation technique. It became easier when I realized the man I loved had rediscovered its potency, potency then lost to our tribe.
-Honored Matriarch Xian Pu, during her third century birthday speech.
- - -
"RANMA!!"
Akane Tendo was furious. She was also confused, never expecting such a bold action from her unwilling fiancé. A tiny voice inside her told her it was no big deal, a perfectly acceptable 'Anything Goes' trick for him to use in the name of the art. Another part of her mind was berating her for falling for it. What would she do if a real opponent tried that or something less mild? He could have actually groped you, her mind noted. And yet, that same simple action had reinforced a need she had been trying really hard to ignore. It had felt nice. She wanted him, she realized and that was why she was so angry. Could that action mean he also felt something, even something purely physical for her. Or was it merely a tease, all in the sake of training. Her own insecurities came crashing in her thoughts and that confused and depressed her more. She could not deal with that so she did the usual. She became angry; or rather stark raving mad.
The pig-tailed martial artist cringed as the first punch came. It was slow, sloppy, overextended and unbalanced. It also reduced the floor he had been standing on to wooden cinders. The kick that followed was equally wild. It missed by a British mile, of course, and caused the ceiling planks to clatter by means of air pressure. Ranma let a deep sigh as he continued evading his fiancée's charge, frowning at her really hot, dark red battle aura. Even though he was deep in the Soul of Ice and even though he had expected and provoked the reaction, it pained him to see the progress of almost two years vanishing in a fit of rage. A smaller part of him was awed by the sheer uncuteness and beauty of his fiancé's crazy dance. Such a display of raw strength chi and untapped potential actually turned him on. Or maybe it was the fact her gi top was becoming a bit looser every minute, revealing another millimeter of creamy desirable flesh and... Soul of Ice, Soul of Ice, he chanted in his mind driving back that particular line of thought.
She soon brought her trusty mallet into the fight. It was both a legal weapon and inevitable, even though she would not normally use the chi manifestation weapon in normal combat. In fact, most of the time she barely acknowledged its presence. It was usually formed out of anger chi and would dissipate in seconds, just after the righteous pounding. This time, however, her assault was evaded again and again. The still sane part of her mind reminded her this was a sparring match, or rather used to be, and dodging was to be expected. She proceeded to drown that part into a sea of anger, flailing her weapon wildly again and again. Ranma never got close to being hit.
-
She could not tell how much time had elapsed. All she could see was red, a harsh, darkish red that clouded her vision. Slowly, it came back to her. The sparring match, the challenge not to get angry, Ranma's rather effective methods. Suddenly, she could see movement below her. She first saw Ranma, fighting a mallet-wielding opponent. With morbid fascination she realized she could see herself fighting from a different perspective. At first she shuddered at how similar this was to her out-of-body experience in Jusendo, but then calmed down when she realized there was no danger here. She then felt shame. Sheer, unbridled shame for her anger that could not be contained. She watched with horror as her body attacked with a form that hardly resembled martial arts. She was a berserker and she hated herself for it. How could she hope for Ranma to even like her when she was not even a worthy student?
Ranma she thought bitterly. She mentally slapped herself. Ranma Saotome never loses. He always says that. He might stay beaten for a while, but he never gives up. And I will prove, if only to myself, that I can measure up to that. How can I ask myself to settle for anything less?
Akane focused on the battle below her, cringing as she saw herself being drawn to a spiral and unable to stop. She pushed shame away and tried to concentrate. She was beyond anger at that point. She could still feel it, dominating her body, but her mind was past angry. She looked into her own being, her own self and saw her center, ravaged in a sea of crimson fury. She collected the rage, the feelings that caused her to lose control. She collected them and condensed them and tried to keep them at the figurative arm's length. Still a part of her but far enough not to let them control her. It was hard and harsh and painful in a way she never expected but she managed, detaching herself from the flames.
Reality rushed back and she was once again in control, yet something was different. The anger was still there, though, she realized, easily disposable. Everything else was different. All her senses were clearer and the world around her possessed a crystalline sharpness. She felt as if her mind was unshackled for the first time, free from bonds she did not know existed. She threw an experimental punch to her fiancé and she marveled at how slow she moved and how slow he dodged. She kept attacking and she noted everything was moving in slow motion, as if the universe was giving her time to think. She mentally frowned as she saw the tiny errors in her form and did her best to correct them. She then recalled her displaced anger and knew she could use it to fuel her power. She felt a soothing coolness filling her being, unexpected yet not unwelcome.
-
Ranma Saotome noticed the change immediately. He had just finished leading his fiancée into their sixth spiral and she was nowhere near touching him. Then her aura simply vanished and her brown eyes started shinning with a faint amber light. If that was not enough indication, the barely visible, ice blue chi around her was. Akane stopped her wild stampede and attacked with clear, carefully calculated moves instead. He smirked and, uncharacteristically, she mirrored his expression. Moments later he felt her anger chi returning. This time, though, her attacks were balanced, faster and much more controlled. There were still holes in her form, but he remained purely defensive in his moves, always dodging or blocking. Then a single attack, coming after an ingenious triple feint, managed to pierce his guard, launching him off the ground. He still landed on his feet, now visibly impressed.
Akane froze as soon as she managed to land a hit. She felt satisfied, yet something was wrong. Something about her new perception felt wrong. In desperation, she tried to disengage her new state of mind. Her previous anger vanished and she started feeling a growing sense of dread. Ranma approached her, his face visibly concerned. He then frowned for a while, observing her. She tried to ask for help, but her lips did not move. He came even closer, saying something she could not hear. His hand touched her head and she shivered. He then leaned forward and planted a brief kiss on her left cheek.
Her new perspective shattered.
"What happened?" she asked weakly as her knees gave up on her and she fell to the floor.
Ranma eased her fall, kneeling just next to her, a happy smile on his face. "Nothing much. You just entered the Soul of Ice for the first time." His casual answer caused her eyes to grow the size of dinner plates...
- - -
Warrior maiden Xian Pu of the Jocketsuzoku felt many things, though content was not one of them. As soon as she managed to escape from the canal she found herself, courtesy of Akane's mallet, and as soon as she got off her screaming airen, she slowly made her way back to the Nekohanten, wet, miserable and a cat.
"How went the hunt today, granddaughter?" asked Cologne, somehow keeping a straight face while giving her heir a plastic cup full of hot water. The white and purple cat simply hissed in irritation, taking the container between her jaws and rushing to her room to avoid giving the restaurant's patrons a free show. "Hurry up or you'll miss the rush hours" continued the Elder, causing her to sigh.
Hurrying upstairs, she entered her room via the tiny pet hatch she had placed on her door for exactly that purpose. Cat claws and doorknobs never mixed nicely after all. Dousing herself with the warm water, she transformed to her true form, taking some time to regard herself on the large vanity mirror decorating her room. She stood there frowning, her eyes following her nude curves. While Xian was not really a narcissist, she was aware of her own beauty and how to use it. Most men in her village hesitated to even look her in the eyes. Most men everywhere would give everything to have her. And yet the one she wanted, her perfect match was beyond her reach.
#"Damn you, Ranma. Why did I have to fall for someone like you. Why did you have to be so strong yet so nice."# she cursed in mandarin, charging her hand with sickly green depression chi and driving her palm through the mirror, knifing it cleanly in half. She watched dispassionately as the upper half crashed to the floor and shattered.
She had tried many ways to sway her 'airen' during the last one and a half years. Seduction, threats, bribes, blackmail, magic, lies. She laughed bitterly at how futile everything had been, how her plans would backfire and grow the chasm between her and Ranma. She had briefly considered the possibility that Ranma may simply not like girls, but had dismissed it very fast after using a certain scrying artifact. Ranma Saotome had a very healthy libido. He also had enough control to resist her even when she would rub herself all over him, something that made him even more desirable to her eyes.
#"And I can't even talk to him properly. He subconsciously thinks I'm an idiot!"# she lamented, closing her eyes and fighting back tears. It was not dignified for Amazon warriors to cry, unless it served to further their purposes, she reminded herself.
Then her eyes went wide as an idea crossed her mind. Perhaps if she could communicate with Ranma better, he would learn to love her. She always had difficulty with languages but there were other ways. Now she only had to find where her grandmother had hidden her potion recipe books and scrolls. Elder Khu Lon had forbidden the use of any more mind-altering concoctions, making it very clear that trying to tamper with the brain of somebody who possessed so much power and potential was ludicrously idiotic, if not suicidal. Training baggage like the nekoken and the Jusenkyo curse made mind-tampering even more dangerous.
Xian Pu frowned. It was a good thing she had 'neglected' to mention most of the events that had happened in Jusendo and had roped Mu Tsu to keep his mouth shut unless questioned. If her grandmother learned who had killed the Phoenix god-king she might even annul the kiss of marriage that bound her to her life's love by Amazon law.
Feeling a lot better, she quickly donned one of her waitress uniforms and left her room before her grandmother could start nagging. She decided to put her new plan to motion as soon as everybody else went to sleep. Magic might work wrong around the atrocious chaos aura surrounding her airen, but a simple, harmless thought-exchanging potion couldn't really go wrong.
Right?
- - -
"The 'Soul of Ice'?" she repeated incredulously, searching Ranma's face for any indication of mirth.
Said martial artist was completely serious. "A feeling of cool clarity and time moving slowly" he stated and Akane nodded dumbly. "Yep, that's it."
"But... but I never tried to learn it. You never even told me what I had to do!"
Ranma smirked. "It was really a long shot but I figured a tomboy like you would have enough spank to pull it off" he answered, dodging a half-hearted swing from a frowning fiancée. "I hoped that if I made you mad enough, your body would imitate my 'Soul of Ice' and I was, as usual, correct."
Akane frowned some more. "I thought you had to be embarrassed to learn it" she went on, eliciting a sigh from her fiancé.
"I could have asked Kasumi and Nabiki for embarrassing photos" he started, causing Akane's face to go green as she thought the implications. "But that worked better for you because it's you temper that's getting in your way. And you did not learn the technique, you just used it once without knowing it"
"What temper?" she demanded reflexively, regretting it instantly as Ranma handed her the digital camera. She had the good grace to slightly blush before continuing. "And why did we go in so much trouble if I did not learn it?" she asked, a bit puzzled.
"This" he started, pointing at the camera "is the first reason. You got to know yourself to improve. We will make it a habit to monitor our spars. The second reason is to give you an idea of how much power you can get from the 'Soul of Ice'. At first I thought it was kinda silly myself, but now I know better. And the third reason is" he added, pausing for effect while scowling. "The third reason is that you needed to get rid of excess anger chi because you have been very very irresponsible."
Akane employed her most innocent poker face, impressive even for a theater lover such as she. "Anger chi?" she asked blankly.
Ranma grinned, rubbing his chin with a finger. "Let's see. At least three nights ago you started trying to project a chi-ball without telling anyone. You first tried to use depression chi. What did you learn?"
Akane sighed. There was no hiding anymore. "It felt awful. I can't believe you and Ryouga were dabbling with something so... wrong."
"Yeah, yeah, I realized it soon enough. Pig-boy is still heading for suicide though. Incidentally, the next day after your little experiment you looked like death warmed over. Everybody was asking what I did to you."
His fiancée raised a brow. "I didn't notice, although I guess I was feeling a bit down."
Ranma sighed and went on. "Two night ago, you tried confidence."
Akane blushed a bit more. "I now know why your head has trouble fitting through the dojo door. It felt nice using that emotion though."
"The fact the next day you tried to leap from the fourth floor while your running record is two floors is totally unrelated then."
The dark-haired martial artist looked sheepish. "I did overestimate myself a bit. Did I thank you for catching me?"
Ranma sighed once more. This was going to be difficult. The girl was denser than he thought. "And yesterday you tried anger chi. You actually managed to wake me up and you even manifested a true ball for a second."
"What that has to do with anything?" she asked a bit annoyed. She had wanted to first learn the attack then show it off to Ranma. She had hoped he might be appreciative of her efforts for once.
Ranma slapped a hand on his forehead. "Come on, 'Kane. Even you can figure that out. Tell me I don't have to spell it."
Akane fumed. "What do you mean even I can figure it..." she started but stopped cold as reality crashed around her. "You mean I have been feeling a bit edgy today because I used anger chi the night before?" she asked meekly.
Ranma stood up and started pacing back and forth irritated. " 'A bit edgy' ain't the word! Really 'Kane what were you thinking. I thought you would know the consequences after that fiasco with Ryouga's 'Lion Roar'. If you try to project anger chi you get angrier and angrier. It's not rocket science."
By that point Akane felt like ten yen. Stupid stupid stupid stupid... she berated herself. "Um... sorry?"
Ranma shook his head. "Look, I know anger chi works well for you and I know you want to learn how to do the fancy stuff, but unless you want to become a berserker in every fight I suggest you try another emotion until you have learned the 'Soul of Ice'. If and when you master your anger and learn to let it go when you not need it, you can knock yourself out. In fact, try to forget chi blasts for now. You need more training before that."
Akane sighed heavily but nodded. She reminded herself that Ranma was now training her more seriously than ever before. The least she could do was try not to turn into a homicidal, anger-powered bitch. Even if Ranma had never called her that, the truth behind the thought almost reduced her to tears.
Almost. The youngest Tendo gathered her resolve, accepted her error and decide to remain strong. Plus, another thought entered her mind. "What about the..." she started, stopping Ranma as he was walking to exit the dojo. She was blushing and touching her cheek where Ranma had kissed her.
The pig-tailed martial artist also blushed. "Well, you had no control over the 'Soul of Ice' and in the beginning it's dangerous to stay in it for long. Cologne would rap me on the head to drop me out of it, but anything unexpected, annoying or repulsive would do" he answered, walking away.
Akane, still on the floor, blinked at the comment. "Repulsive?" she asked incredulously. "Why would he think I'd found that repulsive?" she asked the bare dojo walls, sighing contently as she recalled the soft touch of his lips on her cheek.
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11-03-07: And this concludes chapter six. I bet nobody expected Akane of all people to dabble with the soul of ice, but let's face it, it would help her a lot. And while Shampoo and potions are not really unusual, this time it's not a malevolent scheme entailing love or hypnotic draughts but an 'innocent' attempt at communication. Expect non-typical results, of course... Stay tuned for the next chapter that will most likely feature Taro again.
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