Chaos Bender
A Ranma ½ and Avatar: The Last Air Bender Crossover
Written by: Konsaki
With a grunt, a blue and black blur shot over the downed tree in a hurdling leap. After more than a few meters of hang time, Ranma's feet touched down and continued speeding along like he hadn't left the ground. A few seconds later the fallen wood behind him exploded in shrapnel. Through the flittering remains, a flash of yellow broke through before clearing into the rest of the tan clad youth wearing the bandana.
"It's been two days...", Ryoga started up after a while, knowing his cohort could hear him even with the wind, "you think he might have been wrong?"
Rolling under a low hanging branch, which his rival just ran through, the agile martial artist let out a grunt, "Nah! If there's one thing I've learned about old geezers, it's that when they warn you of something, they're usually right. Plus, Iroh sounded just like Cologne when she wasn't trying some crazy new plan to make me marry Shampoo."
Spitting a leaf out of his face and brushing twigs off his body, Ryoga asked back, "What are you talking about, Saotome?"
"Shit, Ryoga! You've dealt with the old ghoul before!" he replied back, turning around while keeping up the same pace. Seeing the fanged fighter behind him gesture with his head, he twisted around a tree he was coming across as he continued. "She's a great teacher and... I don't know... someone I can respect, when she's not doing crazy stuff..."
Finishing that, the blue shirted male turned back around to face the way he was moving. To his side, Ryoga had moved forward, catching up and moving even to his rival. "So, what do you think is ahead, then... All we've seen is more forest!"
Ranma just shrugged, "I have no idea, but I'm going to keep a lookout..."
"Fine, but there's something about how he snuck up on us...", Ryoga conceded while voicing his own thoughts. "I still want to know why we didn't notice him while we felt that Zuko guy. It's..."
"I know, I still don't know how... but still seems like I can trust him. That jerk can jump in the river, though", the blue eyed youth snarled out as he ran between two trees. "Punk thinks he can get the fish I caught just cause he demands it? Freaking..."
"Hey, you weren't that much better", came the chiding remark from his side, though when Ranma looked over he saw a grinning Ryoga running there. "You were itching for a fight... and that's before he opened his mouth."
"Ryoga..."
"Yeah", he answered, an eyebrow raised.
"Shut up..."
"Bite me, Ranma! You're just as much a jerk as him", Ryoga shot back, glaring at the target of his ire.
"No, you idiot", came back a hissing insult from the bandana clad teen's left. Then, with eyes widening, Ryoga saw his companion had slid to a stop as the words entered his ears, "You don't hear that?"
"What...", Ryoga started, but quickly silenced as his hearing finally picked up something, causing him to slide to a stop. Turning his head to get a better bead on the direction, he quickly found it. Letting out a small snort, the boy set off towards it, Ranma not far behind.
They moved almost as quickly through the woods as before, but this time the pair made almost no sound as they speed through the underbrush. The noise which set off Ranma from a distance gained in volume as the martial artists moved closer to the source. As they came closer to their unknown target, the tension they both felt was thick in the air. Finally, they slid to a stop, kneeling behind some bushes as they came to the tree line... "Shit..."
"You got that right, Saotome...", came the almost silent reply, mirroring the curse's volume as they both surveyed the scene before them. A moving sea of red flowed like a river ahead, thought both knew it was no bloody river. The dust kicked up from the pounding on the gravel and dirt road might have obscured the flowing red in the far distance, but both martial artists could see well enough to figure out what lay before them.
"A Fire Nation army...", it was both a question and a statement at the same time from the blue eyed fighter. Both the color of the armor the marching soldiers wore along with the odd banner flowing along above them at random seemed to show just that, the red flame flapping as the barer moved with the flow.
"Looks like it...", the brown eyed brawler quietly replied. Squinting into the distance, Ryoga strained to identify something odd that caught his eye. Large... things, seemed to move with the flow of soldiers, but the billowing dust kept them obscured. Finally giving up, he looked in the direction of their travel and shot his eyes wide before mastering them back to a narrow leer. "This isn't good..."
"You think?" came the snarky comeback, as Ranma continued to size up the foot soldiers, who carried weapons depending on their group. "The old man was right... but how'd he know", he asked, not expecting an answer from his companion, but asking it anyways.
"I don't think it matters right now", Ryoga stated, nudging the blue clad fighter to gain his attention. "Look at where they're headed! If that's what I think it is, we need to get there first!"
Looking at the direction his rival was indicating with an extended arm, Ranma cursed under his breath, "Shit..." Off in the far distance, peaking over the hills dotted with vegetation stood the tips of civilization. He then flicked his gaze back to the road, noticing how far ahead the lead units of the army were compared to the pair of martial artists. While still in a crouch, Ranma waved his companion forward as he took off, "Hurry up!"
Grumbling under his breath, Ryoga took off after the fleeing form of his rival. Compared to the slow march of the red army to their side; both of the martial artists made good time. Their progress skidded to a halt though just after they passed on the lead units, finding the trees and brush they were using to hide their movements came to an abrupt stop. Taking a quick glance back at the slowly encroaching army, Ryoga let out a quick shout, "Let's go!"
Ranma was only allowed time to utter a startled, "Wha...", before he felt a rough grip on one of his arms. A second later, he was being thrown forward, causing him to let out a startled cry as he tried to regain his balance in mid air. He was only allowed a quick flash of Ryoga sprinting after him before he growled and righted himself, feet moving before he even touched the ground below him.
Ignoring the growing sounds of alarm behind him, Ranma focused on the growing footsteps to his side. "Why the hell'd you do that?!" he demanded to know, yelling loudly at the one who threw him; stealth was out the window now. "I can move fine on my own!"
"Yeah", Ryoga agreed before his mouth grew into a wicked grin, "but it was more fun that way." Hearing Ranma continuing to grumble over the growing yells behind the pair, Ryoga leered over at the running teen, "Quit whining, Saotome... You sound like a g-AH!" His comment was cut short into a small cry of panic as jets of flame shot past the running pair. Most missed by a wide margin, but a couple were uncomfortably close, impacting the ground in small explosions which shot shards of rock and dust up.
"Yeah...", a growling tone came from Ranma, who kicked up his pace, "pretty sure it's Fire Nation."
Looking at the blue shirted back of his rival speeding ahead of him, Ryoga yelled out, "You think?!"
--
After what seemed like forever of 'balls to the wall' running, the pair stumbled to a halt at the tall walls of their destination. The men who guarded the walls eyed the duo suspiciously, a couple resting their hands on the weapons they wore. Such was the case of the two green clad men who stood at the base of the wall on the bridge leading to it.
Tapping the hilt of his saber, the larger of the two glanced at his partner, furrowing his bushy brow. Seeing the rookie to his left gripping his pole arm in a ready stance, the man let out a deep growling sigh. 'This is just my luck...', he lamented. 'Any time I'm stuck with a newbie, there's always trouble...', the green clad veteran continued, shaking his head a bit.
His gaze swung back to the right towards the two teenagers gulping for air, though. Looking over the blue and tan shirted males, his eye twitched as he thought about the speed the pair seemed to be going up the road. When they were first spotted they were at least a kilometer away, easily seen on the barren road. Not a few minutes later, they were almost collapsed into the road before him. "What are you about...", his voice growled out, off ease with after the display.
For a long while, only the sounds of two teenagers gasping for breath and the nervous shifting of the rookie guard were heard. This passed, though, with a struggled voice, "Coming..."
"Wha...", the younger guard started, lowering the tip of his bladed shaft towards the ground as his mind grew confused. He lacked the time to ask more of his question before the tanned teen took a quick intake and exclaimed, "Fire army!"
Blinking, but taking firm grip of his sheathed blade's hilt, the bearded guardsman looked down at the still bent over youth. After a second, what was gasped out finally registered, "What?!"
This time, the one in blue pushed himself out of his bent over position to look directly at the man. As his blue eyes bore into the dark brown, he spoke in loud urgency. "Freaking Fire army back there... headed this way!" Finishing that, he dropped the arm pointed behind him and resumed his deep breathing, but at a greatly reduced volume from before. The one in the yellow bandana to his side assumed a similar state as well.
A low rumble came from the swordsman's throat as he looked over both teens and let what they said churn through his mind. A large crease appeared on his forehead as he bunched his eyebrows together. "How far?"
The guardsman to his side jerked to stare at him, the look on his face was one of incredulity mixed with fear. "B-Batoo! Y-you can't be serious! Y-you believe them?!"
Hearing that, Batoo snapped his head around, yelling, "Idiot!" Waving his right hand towards the two teens, he continued loudly, "No one runs that fast for the hell of it!" Flicking his gaze back towards the one in blue, he demanded again, "How far, boy?!"
Ranma's eye twitched minutely, but he answered back after a deep breath, "Not long..."
Both guards' eyes flew wide, though Batoo mastered his quickly, narrowing them as he looked over the pair one more time. An instant later, he swung his head up and around to shout up towards the top of the wall, "Taiko! Open the gate! Cho! Get the Commander!"
Before the gate had even finished closing behind the four males, Batoo was barking orders left and right at any soldier he could see. Ranma could only stare in minor awe at the commanding presence he exerted, while the two teens sat down drinking heavily from their canteens. His legs were wore out from that running and though he wouldn't say it out loud, he needed rest. Looking over at the small box across from him, he saw Ryoga in a similar state.
All around the martial artists, men and women in green were practically flying around on their feet. More than a few of the younger ones were doing so like the end of the world was upon them. Ranma and Ryoga couldn't blame them... What they had seen on the road had unnerved them. Even with all the crazy things that had happened in Ranma's life, he'd never seen such as a full army on the move.
The same could be said for Ryoga, but he couldn't help but look at the moving figures in green on the walls and the trickle of soldiers reinforcing them. The previously lost boy then looked towards the buildings that lay away from the walls. Ranma heard him sigh, shoulders dropping with the force. Curious, he quirked his brow and asked, "What's up, Ryoga?"
Ryoga just let out a low rumbling breath through his nose as he continued to look into the city. "I was just thinking about how the coming battle was going to destroy all this..."
"Yeah", the blue eyed fighter agreed, "This is going to be bad... real bad..." Just then, a shiver ran through his spine, like death had run its scythe along it. For the first time in a while, he felt the chill of fear. Even so... there was a sliver of excitement in there.
"Enemy sighted! Enemy sighted!"
Both their heads jerked up as the call went out from the wall above. The sounds of gongs rang out a second later, quickly spreading across the entire wall. The reverberations echoed off the buildings, creating a cacophony of ringing noise, causing the teens to wince. The effect of the warning gongs had a quite different effect on the civilian population.
For the first long while, everyone the two could see in the distance were looking around in confusion. Then, after a bit, someone yelled out. It was utter chaos after that, with people dropping everything and running around in a panic. Screams of terror and confusion permeated the air, battling the gongs for supremacy. Ryoga could only look on at the chaos, before turning his gaze to his companion. It was then that it ran though his head, 'So it starts...'
"What are you two doing!?" The rough voice yelling down from overhead jerked their heads in its direction. "Get yourselves to the shelter!"
Ranma just growled up at the man, "I ain't running away!"
Hearing this, Batoo jerked his head back for a second, as if something had hit his forehead. It didn't last, as he viciously jabbed a finger down at the long haired youth, "You fool! This isn't a game!"
"I know that, you old geezer! I ain't gonna do nothing though!" Ranma barked back, throwing a threatening fist up at the veteran.
A twitch formed in one of Batoo's brown eyes as he looked down at the boy. A moment later, he raised his hand to indicate the city behind the pair, yelling down, "Fine! You want to play hero?! Help the civilians get to the damn shelter! Follow the guides at the end of the roads!"
Before Ranma could send another insult up at the brown haired man; Ryoga called over, "Alright!"
This shook the long haired fighter from his roll, causing him to look over at his rival with a twitching frown. A jerk of the bandana adorned head caused Ranma to look over to the side. The scene made him sigh, 'A martial artist's duty...'
Stuffing the canteen back in his backpack, he stood along with Ryoga. With a nod to each other, they ran into the city, towards the panicking civilians. Batoo only nodded at the sight before letting out a sigh and turning towards the long road leading away. The sea of red, which closed by the second, left a knot in his gut causing him to swallow as he wondered if he would survive the day.
--
"Bakusai Tenketsu!"
The explosion of rock and dust that rang out seconds later caused the crowd to stop for an instant. Taking advantage of the situation, Ranma yelled out as loud as he can, "Run to the shelter!" He followed by flinging an arm towards the center of the city, "That way!"
The blue eyed teen's face turned slightly confused though as a girl pointed behind him and shrieked, setting everything into motion. As if a light switch was thrown, the stampede started just as Ranma and Ryoga flung their bodies around to look in the direction of the pointing shrieking female. Both pairs of eyes flew wide as Ryoga shouted, "Look out!"
An explosion cratered the street where the young woman stood a second ago. Shards of rock and debris showered over the form of Ranma as he covered the other teenager from the shrapnel. The ringing in their ears had only begun to fade before more loud fiery blooms burst forth all around. Jerking his head around to view the destruction the raining fireballs were wrecking on the landscape, Ryoga yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Run, you idiots! Get to the shelter!"
Shaking the blur from his sight, Ranma barely heard his companion, and totally failed to comprehend anything he might have said, as he rolled off the prone girl. He had barely gotten to her in time, but she still had scrapes and cuts from the explosion on her exposed limbs. Pulling her up to her feet, the martial artist shook her slightly, gaining her attention if barely, as he pointed away from the wall and yelled, "Go!" The shell-shocked girl just numbly nodded and somehow got her feet to work, taking her in the right direction.
Groaning, Ranma took his own staggered step, putting a hand to his head. Letting out a growl, he forced the ringing from his ears by giving his head a shake. /he cursed under his breath as he finally looked around at the damage. Smoke rose from a couple of nearby buildings and the crater in the road, but columns also rose elsewhere in the city as more shockwaves announced more impacts.
Something tickled the edge of his senses, but he couldn't place it. A moment later, the long haired fighter found himself being shaken, not unlike the woman he just sent off. "Saotome! You there?!", Ryoga's voice burst through, though it seemed muddled like his head was underwater. Seeing his rival nod while brushing off the offending hand, Ryoga nodded himself while yelling, "Fine, then hurry up!"
With a growl, Ranma gave chase as his rival ran down the street. By the time they had caught up with the fleeing mass of panic in front of them, Ranma's ears had finally settled on just ringing loudly instead of feeling like someone had done their best to shove whole onigiri into them. He winced as he could now, once more, hear the constant explosions and impacts, instead of only feeling the shockwaves and vibrations. The screams of panic weren't helping his senses either, making his stomach feel like a rotten twisted mass of... well, he couldn't really begin to describe it.
Pushing the feelings he held inside down, Ryoga saw the people ahead merging into another stream of rushing bodies at the end of the street. A lone figure that stood taller than everyone else, probably on a stand, kept yelling and waving with the stream. Looking at the figure in green and a wide circular hat of some kind, he let out a breath, thankful that there was someone to guide them.
As he took his next few steps, he turned his eyes to the right a bit, noticing movement. Two children were rushing from a house with, what seemed now standard, fear across their faces. A moment later, a woman appeared... that's when time seemed to slow to a crawl for the martial artist as his eyes flew wide. The feelings that washed over him at that instant, he knew... Reaching outward, he tried to yell out but before he even said anything, he saw the look on her face. 'She knows...'
His lungs thrust out everything they contained as he tried to yell at her. To warn her, but even as it came out, she never heard it as the fireball that was her house drowned out any and all the fanged martial artist might have let loose. By the time he had even set the next foot down on the ground, he watched, in painful slow motion, as the building shuddered, flexed and flew out into the street. As he thrust himself forward, pushing his body onward with everything he could... he could only look on and the woman disappear, covered from view by wood and rock, even as debris still flew in the air. Gritting his teeth, so hard he swore he felt them cracking under the pressure, he jetted forward once more.
Somehow, he found himself ten meters from where he once was only a fraction of a second before. Behind him were twin shrieks and before him were flying parts of ruin. Ranma could only watch from the quickly closing distance as his blue eyes viewed the spectacle of Ryoga yelling at the top of his lungs. If Ranma had blinked at that instant, he would have missed the sight of pure focus from Ryoga as his fists almost blurred. Like a second hand ticking to the next position, it was over and everything in the air before the fanged, screaming being on the street turned to dust where it hung.
At the same moment, time ramped forward of its own accord, thrusting both martial artists back into the normal time stream. Behind the bandana clad teen, the single toned cries of fear and panic quickly shifted to screams of, "Mama!" Ryoga twisted his body around just enough to swing his hard eyes to the boy and girl behind him. As Ranma reached the three, he heard Ryoga say something that broke through the chaos around them, as clear as if he had said it directly into his ear in a silent room, "Take them and go."
The next instant, where the two screaming children were... they weren't. Under the increased load of their combined weight, with them screaming over his shoulder for their mother, Ranma tore up the street. Before he even made it to the corner, not a few buildings away, he felt a flash of ki and heard another explosion, but ignored it as he jumped up out of the streets and onto the buildings that ran along them. From his new height, he quickly located his destination and made impossible distances as he covered ground like a madman.
In minutes, he was setting the bawling children on the ground as they grabbed onto his shirt. He could feel their tears soaking through it as they still cried out and his heart wrenched in his chest. Instinctively he kneeled down, wrapping his arms around the boy and girl, holding them close in an effort to comfort the two. He didn't know how long he was there holding the distraught pair before Ranma heard a familiar voice behind him amidst the nearby chaos of people retreating to the shelter.
What was said, it didn't matter as he swung his gaze around to see Ryoga, cradling a broken woman in his arms. Their eyes met, steel on steel, for a split second before the long haired martial artist visually examined the person carried in his friend's arms. Her face, along with hers and the fanged fighters shirts were covered in fresh blood and a mangled arm seemed to hang... dangling at an odd angle with drops of blood hitting the ground beneath it.
The next events blurred together for the fighters, as people finally rushed over with a litter and took the woman from Ryoga, rushing the broken body away. At the same time, another person came and took the children out of Ranma's grasp, which were trying to keep them from running over an interfering with the efforts to place their mother on the cloth carry. As the boy and girl were taken with their mother, Ranma looked up at Ryoga. The look fanged fighter saw in his rivals eyes made him swallow as she bore into him with icy cold blue eyes filled with wetness.
"They will pay."
As the words entered his skull, Ryoga felt the contradiction held within them. There was no emotion held in those words, but at the same time he couldn't think of another time he had heard so much emotion come from Ranma's mouth. He found himself locked into those hard piercing eyes; he saw in them the promise of pain. With a quick nod, the spaces they once occupied were empty.
--
The Earth guard before him bore the face of one who knew he was dead. The person before him could see it... feel it. It sickened him but he fought on, caught up in the moment. He was fighting for his own survival now, in the midst of the grand melee, not longer for just the glory of his nation and the Fire Lord. With one last battle yell, he thrust his sword one more time... and heard a crack as his vision shifted to the side, laterally. Then... he saw no more.
Even as Ranma retracted her bo from its thrust, she was moving in a new direction. All around her, the screams of the injured and dying rang throughout the dins of combat. Weapons clashed against another, men and women yelled, fire and rocks flew... each causing their own unique explosive sounds. She heard none of it.
Ryoga only saw flashes of the blue and red blur in the mass of bodies, fighting or downed. He, himself, was engrossed in his own private vengeance as he swung his parasol in a wide arc, blowing through the defense the figure in red before him held. The rag doll that was once a human being was thrown into the air, flying end over end into another mass of blood red. He never saw the effects his impromptu projectile had on his secondary victims, as he turned and thrust forward on his chi powered legs, parasol leading the demon of fangs' yells.
A blue blur shot up into the air, jerking her head around, red mane flying with the movement. Another body flew through the space she had just vacated, his cry following his flight until the sickening crunch of body against wall stopped it. She didn't care; Ranma had found her next target, her next victim of her rage. It was almost if gravity had waited for her finish her search, as it was only then that she fell downward.
Bringing her bo with her in an overhead smash, she brought it down onto the shoulder of an unsuspecting soldier. The crunch of bones breaking could be heard for feet, over the omnipresent din of combat, as the entire left side of his body, from shoulder to foot, started collapsing without anything to support it. At the same instant, a distinctive snapping sound could be heard as the wooden rod, a foot taller than she was, broke in twain. Her feet had only tapped the ground before she hopped into the air again, snapping a roundhouse into the man's head, snapping it, even as he fell to the ground.
The sea of red parted for the madman, with those who didn't finding themselves out of the way out of their own accord. Their ranks were in disarray at seeing the ferocity the teenager held in his face and moves, but steeled themselves as soldiers of the Fire Nation. Within seconds, they had closed their gaps and surrounded the bloodied tan clad warrior. As they crowded him, he grinned in grim satisfaction. 'I have them right where I want them...'
Dodging a few weapons from the eager, he growled. Those that heard it gave pause, if only for a split instant, but that was enough. Within that hair of time, Ryoga focused all his ki into his already chi enhanced weapon. With a loud roar, he flipped his grip on it and jammed it straight down into the solid rock at their feet. In the second that passed, nothing happened as grins grew on the soldier's faces. Then confusion set in, but only those who were close enough to see the boy's own face; his grin still held and was wider than before.
Batoo spared a glance down the wall, along with the opponent he was currently occupied with. They didn't know what was happening, but... something demanded their attention. They saw the figure in the midst of the red. Batoo's eyes became somber as he knew the boy was dead, whether he was at this second or not. Knowing that, he turned back a second before the soldier before him. With a quick thrust, he drove his sword past his unwary opponent's guard. There was a gasp following the sound of metal on flesh.
With a grim look on his face, of one who had done this too many times that any human should, Batoo started to pull his sword from the body. He never got that far, though, as an explosion ripped through the air from down below. Jerking his eyes over the side of the wall again, he stared, along with many others both above on the wall and down below in the midst of it, as bodies of red were flung dozens of meters into the air. Rock and dust flew with them, causing everyone around to dodge the falling artillery or be crushed by it.
If he had bothered to look about, instead of at the massive cloud of dust, the veteran would have sworn that the battle had paused, if only for a few moments in respect to how grand the blast was. His eyes grew wide, threatening to pop out of his head, though, when he saw the dust start to clear. There, in the middle of a giant crater, easily able to hold a house in its area, stood a lone figure.
Ryoga slowly stood up, feeling the tattered remains of his bloody cloths fluttering in the slight breeze. He felt the stings of the scrapes and cuts across his body, but he paid them no heed. His brown eyes surveyed the empty area around him, noticing he was a good three meters below where he was a moment before. Those same eyes twitched, though, as he saw red encroaching from the edges. As they observed the teenager though, the soldiers gave him the respect one would for a known poisonous snake.
"Retreat! Fall back!"
Ranma finally felt something break her consciousness as she jerked her head towards the command. She never saw the individual, but suddenly, she knew the tide of the fight had changed drastically as horns filled the air. Bouts of flame jet through the air as Fire took the initiative. Those around the girl, who had been screaming in hellish rage seconds before, suddenly found an eerie clam fall over her. Those who looked into her face found nothing, no emotion, no thoughts, just the cold hard look of a veteran fighter.
Then she wasn't there. Flashes of blue could be seen around the immediate area, but no one really saw her. The only way you knew of her passing was the chill wind that seemed to follow in her wake as she made laps in a quickly closing spiral. Then, as quick as it started, she reappeared, right in the middle of a small company of red armor. They just only had enough time to realize and start to twist around before it happened. With a jerk, her eyes flashed open, revealing those icy blue orbs which glowed with inner strength. Crying out, she thrust her right fist into the air, screaming words that caused Ryoga to jerk his head towards it, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
Those closest to the girl dropped their weapons, looking into the cold eyes she held, they swore they were looking at the avatar of death. Beauty was just a disguised exterior of the deadly... being, it held within. Had they the time to say such things, she would have agreed, but before they could utter a single word...
It started as a slight breeze, but before anyone felt that, the breeze became a roaring torrent of wind and slicing currents. Within seconds, she stood in the center of a spiraling vortex of winds, dust and bodies. Those on the outside of the vortex stared in awe at the female in the center, stalk still in calm almost disinterest, ignoring the bodies being ripped and torn above her... like she was unaware of the blood and gore which flew all around, staining her blue a sickly dark color.
Eyes flew wide, though, when another teen entered the vortex, his torn and tattered clothes fluttering in the center's breeze. She never gave an indication that she knew or cared that he was there. The male, though, looked out into the faces that stared inward and he cast about a grim visage to those who saw it. Then, as one, they moved. Those who were slow in getting out of their way found themselves wishing they weren't once they woke... if they ever did.
--
The tunnel which the entered was light by what looked like glowing crystal, casting dim light which was barely usable. The teenagers had no problem though, as they walked down the long stretch with the tail end of the green clad guards who made it. They gave the pair a respectful distance, knowing their efforts in the battle first hand, but any time one looked at either, there was a tinge of fear in their eyes as they regarded the male and female combo. If either one noticed, they didn't show it, though.
When they finally reached the end of the long tunnel, the martial artists looked around. They found themselves in the 'shelter' but found out that just meant they were in a network of underground caves. One that was relatively well dug out but a cave network none the less. There were more of the glowing crystals scattered around, giving the area enough light to work by, but barely. Without another glance, the blood splattered girl strode out into the network. The tattered clothed male followed, just as wordlessly.
The sounds of crying could be heard throughout the network of tunnels as the pair made their way deeper. Every once in a while, a guard or civilian would look at the pair; emotions of confusion, pity, knowing, sorrow or fear... sometimes a mixture, could be seen from their eyes. Slowly, both of them started to respond back to the looks, flicking their gaze back. The usual result was the person dropping their eyes at being caught, but on the rare chance, the person would hold their gaze at the pair past.
Finally, Ranma stopped and ducked into a small alcove. A few seconds later, she was sitting down against a wall, having shucked her pack beside her. Ryoga entered a second later and did the same. Then... they just stared into the darkness. Neither felt there was anything worth talking about at the moment and neither wanted to say anything even if there was. It stayed like that for a long while.
"I'm sorry."
Both looked up and over to the entrance at hearing the tired voice. Ryoga quirked an eyebrow at the person and statement he had heard. "Sorry?"
Batoo looked down on the two fighters before him and sighed a long and old sounding sigh. Looking at them with old and tired eyes, he sat down along a wall where he could face them. "I'm sorry you two got involved. It's not something I would wish on anyone."
He looked at them as they both did the same to him. He could see in their eyes what he saw in any veteran's eyes... and it both saddened and scared him to see that look on their faces. "You shouldn't have been caught up in that... you should have gone to the shelters with..."
"Stop..."
The word caused the man to look at the red haired girl who had uttered it. She saw him direct his gaze to her and saw the confused look in his eye without him saying anything. "Stop saying you're sorry. I... we did what we did cause we wanted to."
"Why... why would", Batoo started, but never got to finish his question as another male voice cut him off. "Because... because it felt... right."
The guard before them let out another long tired sigh and ran a hand through his brown hair. After a second, he looked over at the teen and nodded slightly for him to continue. Ryoga flashed a glance over at his red haired companion but started up again, "We... I lost it." He took a deep breath and let it out. "A lady and her children almost died in front of me. I saved the children, I don't know how, but..." His voice failed Ryoga at that moment, his throat felling like the Sahara desert.
"She...", Ranma picked up, her voice still almost emotionless but barely contained, "I took her children to the shelter while Ryoga tried to save her..." Her gaze dropped to the floor, red bangs covering her face. "She... She didn't look good..."
The green clad man just sat there, soaking it in, knowing what was coming but knowing they needed to talk. He had seen it enough... and experienced it to know. "Her... the-they kept screaming 'Mama' over and over. I didn't know if sh... Ryoga could...", she stuttered but stopped to take a ragged breath. As she started back up, the air seemed to chill as she looked up at Batoo. He couldn't help but shiver at the cold cutting edge in her voice, "'They will pay...' That's all I could think of."
"Same here...", Ryoga agreed, finding his voice once more with a nod. His tone was even but lacked the bite the girl's did as he continued, "The next thing I know, I'm wading through red. I-I felt the impacts... I saw the damage, but... I didn't care. No... I was..." As he finished, he put his head into his hands as what he did hit in full force.
"It felt good." Ranma drew the older man's gaze as she said that, in the cold voice. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, which she took advantage of, "I made them pay..."
Batoo just shook his head and sighed. "Still... I'm sorry." Seeing the glare she flashed at him, he coughed and started again, "Alright... Thank you, then." This statement caused Ryoga to raise his head and look at the older male in confusion. "You saved lives... like those of my men."
"No..." Both sets of brown eyes looked over into blue ones. There was a lack of ice in her voice as she spoke again, "We... we didn't save lives... we took them." There was still a lack of emotion in it, though.
Batoo looked at her for a bit and then sagely nodded, knowing what she meant. It still didn't comfort the old feeling man. Running a hand down his beard, he let out a low hum as he pondered something. Finally, he stood slowly, looking at both of the teens one more time. "True, but you did save some of my men and civilians in the process." Saying that, he put his hands in front of him in a salute and bowed slightly, "For that, I thank you both." Rising to full height again, he put up a grim grin, "I hope you can get some rest soon."
--
Ranma let out a light moan as she cracked her eyes open and then fluttered them to see Akane and Kasumi looking down at her. Letting out another moan, she flicked her eyes from Kasumi's happy smile to Akane's concerned look. Weakly, she asked, "What happened?"
Akane wiped a tear from and eye. "Baka... You and Ryoga had another fight."
Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Ranma looked around at the interior of the Tendo's living room. Finally, Ranma's sight settled back between the two girls looking at her. Raising her hands before her face, she flexed them, "It was all a dream..."
Hearing a knock at the front door, Kasumi called out, "Hai!" A second later, she stood and made her way towards the entrance.
"All a dream?" Akane gave the redhead a curious look before it turned dark.
Seeing her fiancée's face like that, Ranma let out a nervous laugh, "Nothing... Never mind..." Seeing Akane calm down, just a bit, a curious grin sported Ranma's face. "So..." She never got any farther as an explosion rocked the house, dust flying from the hallway towards the entrance.
"Kasumi!"
Like a rocket, the redhead shot off the bedroll she had woken up on and ran towards the entrance to the household... only to screech to a halt. At the end of the small hallway, instead of the front door and Kasumi, her blue eyes only saw a pile of rubble filling the entirety of the hallway. She stalled...
'I have to help Kasumi... why can't I move...'
Finally, the redhead's body did move, but it was because of a sound behind her. A sickening sound that made her spine freeze colder than if someone had ripped it out and dumped liquid nitrogen on it. It was a sound she hoped she would never hear again, "R-Ran...ma..."
When she finally turned around, she saw Akane standing there, eyes wide and pupils almost nonexistent. Her mouth was partly open as her lips twitched along with her eyes. A weak and shaky hand reached out towards the redhead, but jerked as the sword was pulled from her body. The sounds of metal scraping out of flesh were slow and gut wrenching, but Ranma couldn't move. Even as the dark haired girl reached forward one more time, weakly taking an unsteady step to fall against the smaller girl, all the redhead could do was follow her travel with her eyes.
Her gaze stayed on the crumpled form on the floor, as a pool of blood formed underneath her. 'Move! Move, damn you!', Ranma screamed in her head but nothing happened. Slowly, her gaze rose, seeing the dark red boots and traveling the blood red armor all the way up till she was facing the maniacal grin the man wore. She watched helplessly as he raised his sword up and licked off the thick staining liquid, all the while never losing that grin, or the piercing crazed eyes he wore. Then, with a quick laugh, his eyes started to burn and he thrust forward... The air was pierced with a girl's scream of pure terror.
Ranma jerked and waited, breathing hard. The strike never came. Suddenly, there was the sound of movement and a grunt. Hearing that, Ranma flung her eyes open and spun her head towards it... and saw Ryoga in a battle stance, looking around wildly. After a moment, Ryoga relaxed his arms a bit and finally saw the redhead, as if for the first time.
As Ryoga looked at her, his hands slowly fell limply to his sides. A shiver ran up his spine as he adjusted his feet to a normal stance. He saw in her eyes something he hadn't seen ever... pure unfiltered fear. He didn't like it, not one bit.
After a few seconds of watching the girl, he noticed she wasn't looking at him anymore. Well, her eyes were pointed at him, but he could see a distant look in those azure orbs. Ranma was looking through him, at something only she could see and the sight continued to disturb the fanged fighter. "Ranma?" When his companion didn't respond, he waved a hand in front of her face while repeating her name once more.
"Is there something wrong? Is she alright?"
Ryoga turned his head towards the voice and saw an older woman standing there in a plain tan dress. "I-I...", he tan clad youth stuttered as he slowly sat down. Putting a hand to his forehead he looked over to Ranma once more, "I don't... know."
Nodding slightly at the reaction she got from Ryoga, the long haired woman moved over towards the spaced out teenager and sat down beside her. She noticed that the girl didn't react to her being so close and it made her concerned. "Honey?", she lightly called out, but got no response.
"Her name is Ranma..."
Glancing at the boy across the alcove, she nodded a quick thanks to him and tried again. "Ranma-chan?" Still not receiving a response, the woman softly placed a hand on the redhead's. She saw and felt Ranma tense up and draw a quick breath before slowly turning her head and eyes towards the woman. Looking into those blue eyes, she asked in a motherly tone, "What's wrong, dear?"
The woman looking into Ranma's eyes finally saw them focus and she finally saw the full emotion in them, other than the overwhelming fear. She saw pain and worry in the undercurrents, even before the redhead spoke out, "I-I..." She closed her mouth and swallowed. "I was home... Akane and Kasumi were there..."
Ryoga raised his head up to stare at the redhead through wide brown eyes. 'Akane...' He swallowed hard and listened intently.
"T-There... there was someone at the door", she continued as she looked into the woman's face. Her voice dropped to a whisper, though, "K-Kasumi..." Tears filled her eyes and started to roll down her cheeks as she struggled to continue, "S-she... answered and... and..."
Seeing the girl choke up, the woman squeezed her hand and nodded somberly. Barely whispering, the blue eyed teenager tried to go on, "T-there was a... an explosion..." Ryoga took a sharp intake at that, while Ranma continued, "I-I ran, but... I-I couldn't... couldn't find her..."
The woman put an arm around the girl and felt Ranma fall into her embrace. She still held onto the girl's smaller hand with the other, giving it another squeeze. "It's alright, dear..."
"N-No... A-Akane...", the redhead tried to start before she had to take a shuddering breath. Ryoga looked on with rapt attention, his mouth dry. The woman heard him whisper, "Akane...", from across the room.
Rubbing her back a little with her hand, the older woman tried to calm the girl some while trying to get her to let it, whatever it was, out, "What happened, dear?"
"S-she... she...", tried to start before letting out a sob, "She... he... he killed her!" With that, Ranma started sobbing in earnest and the woman quickly wrapped both arms around the distraught girl as the redhead did the same, clinging for dear life. Across the room, Ryoga had stopped breathing all together and was ramrod straight as he sat against the wall. It was many moments before his body demanded air, forcing him to breathe or pass out.
The woman just kept trying to comfort the short teenager in her arms, softly repeating, "It's ok... you're safe now..." It was all for naught as the girl cried out through her sobs, "S-she... she reached out... I-I couldn't... I couldn't do anything!" She continued sobbing into the woman's shoulder, repeating those last four words over and over.
Reaching up to stroke the girl's hair, the woman noticed the mess it was. It was tangled and matted... along with something she rather not think about at the moment. She lowered her hand to resume rubbing the girl's back while looking over pointedly towards Ryoga. He saw the movement and then saw her mouth, "Nightmare?" He numbly nodded, though everything Ranma let loose affected him the same as if it were real.
Nodding to herself, the woman slowly rocked the girl in her embrace while continuing her comforting. It was a long while before the blue eyed girl had calmed down and stopped sobbing but even then, she still shuttered as she breathed. While she never let go of the woman, Ranma loosened her grip on her. The woman noticed this and looked down to ask, "Are you feeling better?"
All she received back was a silent nod, but it was enough to make the woman smile slightly. She could tell the girl in her arms was emotionally drained at the moment and she couldn't fault her one bit. Glancing over at the boy across the room, she saw his head back in his hands once again. "Um..."
"Ryoga"
Nodding, she continued, "Ryoga-kun... We'll be right back. Is that ok?" Seeing his silent nod, she tried standing up while assisting Ranma, "Come on, dear... let's clean you up some." The teen in question just nodded numbly and stood with the help. Looking down, at the floor, she opened the small pack and grabbed the only spare set of cloths, folding them under an arm.
Looking over to Ryoga, she stated, "Maybe you should do the same, Ryoga-kun..." She grinned slightly as she guessed he hadn't realized his condition until just that moment, but it was a nervous one. With that, she led the girl out of the cubby.
--
It was a while later before Ranma returned with the woman. Ryoga had had more than enough time to change cloths, though he decided against actually washing due to the presumed lack of hot water due to the situation. He was back, sitting where he was before, when he looked up to see his friend come in. She had cleaned up well, wearing clean clothes and... Ryoga noticed her hair was tied back into a ponytail at her neck.
Looking beyond the redhead, he saw the woman smiling slightly as she looked over them both, though her eyes lingered on him a few moments longer. Her attention was wrenched away, though, as Ranma turned to her and bowed slightly, saying, "Thank you, Laika-san."
"It's alright, dear. I'll be around if you need a shoulder", the woman, now known to Ryoga as Laika, said with a motherly smile. She watched as Ranma moved over to the spot she started from and sat down once more. Laika's smile dropped a bit at the sight of her still acting numb like that, but chalked it up to just being emotionally tired.
She did turn towards Ryoga as she saw him stand and bow to her. Her smile returned slightly when he also thanked her, but she could tell he wasn't alright, either. She let out a sigh, 'He's a boy...' Seeing him sit back down, she shook her head and mentioned she'd be around one more time before she left the two alone. Laika nodded one last time when she heard two echoing, "Thanks".
Watching the woman leave, Ryoga looked over to his redheaded sometimes friend and let out a deep sigh. She was staring off into space, but this time, at least, it was in thought and not in stark terror. The silence was thick between the two as he finally rested his head in his hands once more. After a long while, he got tired of it, though, and spoke up, "Hey, Saotome..."
She continued to stare off into space, but she did respond with a, "Mmm..."
"Are you ok?"
Silence reined once more in the small area as she performed more of the same. A few moments later, she responded in an even voice, "I don't know..."
Ryoga raised his head and blinked a couple of times. 'You don't know?', he repeated in his head, confused and a little worried. "What happened?"
More silence followed until she once more said, "I don't know..."
"What?" Ryoga had his brow creased in confusion, out and plain in the open now. He kept his eye on the blue eyed martial artist as he continued his questioning. "What do you mean, you don't know?"
He jerked his head back as she swung her own around to glare at him, "It means 'I don't know', damn it!"
The fanged victim of the abrupt verbal assault blinked a few times in response. Eventually, he made a face as he raised an eyebrow at her, all the while not making a sound. She kept her eyes trained on him the entire time. Finally, she blew a long sigh before putting her fingers to her forehead and closing her eyes.
She spoke in a measured voice to the boy, "Look, Ryoga... I'm sorry. I really don't know what happened." Letting out another sigh, she dropped her hand and turned her gaze away, "All I know is that was the worst dream I've ever had in a long... long time. It scared the shit out of me."
She glanced back with her eyes and saw Ryoga nod, still listening. "In it, I woke up back home, in the Tendo's. It felt... real. Akane and Kasumi were there. Then Kasumi answered the door... then...", she stopped at that, and took a breath. "It reminded me of that woman... Just... boom and then..."
She turned her head back to Ryoga but put her hands in her lap, gripping her shirt. "Then... I heard Akane behind me... I..." Ranma closed her eyes for another breath before opening them again. The room had chilled a few degrees in that timeframe. When she continued, it was cold and almost emotionless, "I saw the scariest thing I could... even scarier than cats."
Ryoga blinked again and slowly nodded, recognizing Ranma's lack of stutter even saying the word. The blood faded from his face, though, as the redhead described what she saw in a cold and measured voice, "Akane was dying right in front of me. A blade stuck out through her chest as she reached out with a weak hand... Then, the blade jerked out and she fell against me only to fall slowly to the floor."
She saw his reaction and held back for a bit, knowing even the 'Soul of Ice' wasn't going to hold up if she didn't give herself some downtime. After she felt in more control she continued, "The worst part... was the fact that I couldn't do anything..." She unconsciously shivered, despite the Amazonian technique. "I couldn't do a damn thing for either of them... or stop the bastard from trying to kill me either...", she finished, voice and eyes lowering to a whisper at the end.
"Who...", Ryoga finally asked, gaining her gaze once more after a few moments of silence. "Who was it?"
"A Fire Nation soldier..."
Ryoga let out a loud long sigh as he slumped against the wall. A long while of nothing transferred between the two until Ryoga spoke up again, "It was just a dream... a nightmare... A really, really scary one..." He let out a nervous laugh, "Hell, Saotome, it wasn't even my dream and it scared me." He looked up at his rival with a ghost of a wry grin on his face.
Ranma just looked at the fanged male and let out a sigh. She then rolled over and pulled her pack up as a pillow. "Wake me if something happens..."
Ryoga just turned his head towards the opening to their shared area, hearing the starts of a crying child echoing from far in the distance. "Yeah... sure thing, Saotome..."
--
"Ranma", the low call went out to the redhead. The only response was a low moan of discontent. "Saotome, wake up", another call went out, slightly louder. This time the sleeping girl repositioned herself and moaned in sleepy annoyance.
Ryoga grinned and finally said, "Fine, if you don't want your food, I'll eat it."
That rammed into her head with the force of Akane's mallet attack, shooting her eyes wide open as she jerked into a sitting position. "Wha...", she started up before stalling. Across from her was a green haired girl in tan clothing holding out a bowl of... something.
Nodding in thanks, Ranma accepted the bowl while noticing the bowl on the floor near Ryoga along with a chunk of bread. After her hands were empty, Ryoga tore the bread in half, or as close as she could get it, and handed half over as well. The... soup... was bad, but it was something, as they ate it without... too much complaint.
"So... What happened to you?"
Ryoga just rolled her eyes at hearing that, "What do you think happened? Turned the corner and collided with someone carrying a basin of water..." The green haired girl just let out a sigh and a shrug, "Whatever... I planned on cleaning up anyways and there's pretty much no hot water here."
Ranma just groaned at hearing the last bit. 'Great... more time in this body...', she thought, leaving it off with a small snort. Shaking her head, Ranma just pulled another spoonful of soup to her mouth and tried to remember that it was better than Akane's food. "So, what now", she asked rhetorically.
"Well, that depends on you two..."
Both girls jerked their eyes towards the entrance and saw the slightly less tired figure of Batoo. "What do you mean?" the redhead asked with an eyebrow raised.
Grinning slightly, the old veteran replied, "I saw how fast you moved and your friend..." He stopped as he turned his gaze to the green haired girl on the other side and blinked. 'Same clothes... Definately not a guy though...', ran though his head. Scratching the back of his neck, he looked confused, "Uh... who's she and where's the Earthbender that was with you?"
Both girls shot looks at each other and after a split second of mind numbing work, Ryoga spoke up, "I... I'm his sister... Ryo... Ryoko."
Ranma just looked at the green haired girl for a second, processing the info in her head. "Yeah, Ryoko and I were here to meet up with our brothers. I'm Ranko, by the way", she finished with a small wave.
"Uh... right", Batoo just said, as he finished rubbing his neck and dropped his hand. Taking another look between the two, he just shrugged, "Ok, do you know where your brother is?"
"Umm...", Ryoga let out while biting her lip slightly. Ranma jumped to the rescue though, saying, "He's somewhere around here with my brother. What do you need though? Ryoko's just as good as Ryoga."
Looking from the redhead to the girl crowned with the jade main, he shrugged. "It's no business of mine what you're brothers are doing, as long as they keep out of trouble. Anyways, what I came here for is to ask a favor of, well, you two, now."
The two girls looked at each other for a second, confusion on their face. Turning back to Batoo, Ryoga asked, "What kind of favor?"
"Well...", he replied, raising a hand, "I can't say. My commander wishes to ask you himself after hearing of you and your brother's abilities." He finished by pointing at Ranma and then Ryoga. "I'll tell you two now that we can't force you, her brother and her have already done a lot, as it is. I figure you might get a little bored down here, though."
The girls sent another glance at each other, with Ryoga shrugging. Ranma looked back up at Batoo and grinned, "Alright, we can talk. Just let us finish... this, first." She made a face while indicating the half gone soup.
Batoo couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Of course, of course. Just look ask any guard to lead you to the commander. I'll be there waiting with him." With that, he stood and gave a quick salute, grinning when they raised their hands in a quick wave as he left.
After a few moments, Ryoga spoke up, "So... what do you think?"
Making a sour look before draining the last of her soup, she replied, "The soup is terrible." Hearing the snort from across the small area, she grinned, "I don't know... but it should be interesting."
Ryoga could only shake her head.
--
After talking with the commander, Ranma and Ryoga became smugglers for the resistance that formed after the king was captured. Things were hectic starting out, with the Fire Nation soldiers on full alert and a lot of civilians in the shelter, but the civilians were soon released outside with the ones who didn't make it in time once the guards found out that the Fire Nation was just taking over and not slaughtering them. The resistance still needed food runs, though, which the pair could perform easier than the regular guards, while the guards caused general problems for the Fire Nation.
It was on one of these runs that a pair of teenagers stopped in a cluttered alleyway, waiting out a patrol. "Why are we still here, Saotome", Ryoga asked in a hushed whisper. "What about the Avatar?"
The redhead frowned as she thought about it. She agreed that they were stuck in a rut, but what else were they going to do? "You know where to go next?"
"No... but why stay here?", Ryoga asked back. Ranma just shrugged thought about it for a second. Then, she tried to fight back a laugh that came out a muffled snort, before showing a wide grin, "Call it... woman's intuition!" She received a slap to the back of the head, kept light only to keep from making too much sound.
The grin faded away instantly from the redhead as she and her companion crouched down at the sound of approaching footsteps in the street. From behind the rubble, they heard the footsteps fade away into the distance. With a quick nod, they shot across in silence under the light moonlight. In the next alleyway, Ranma got a much harder smack upside the head, to which she hissed back, "Hey!" Ranma knew she deserved it, but still...
As they reached the edge of the next street, Ryoga glanced around the corner after listening for a second. Nodding, she was about to step out when she jumped back and they both ducked down, peering over some boxes. A manhole cover in the street made a quick racket before moving to the side. Wary, the martial artists observed a boy in yellow and orange climb out after he scanned the area. He was quickly followed by a girl in a dark cloak, but flashes of sky blue could be seen underneath.
While curious of the pair, both hiding girls jerked their sight to a human sized blob of green sludge that also climbed out. The cloaked girl stepped back, face looking disgusted before glancing around quickly. Finding a nearby rain barrel, she sprayed down the goop, which turned into a very wet male. A second later, the yellow bald boy slashed with his staff and a gust of air practically blew the older male dry.
Ranma's eyes went wide at that, and after a quick glance at Ryoga, she saw the fangs showing through a grinning face. While they observed a slightly entertaining and embarrassing reaction from the older male with some small pintapus stuck to his face, Ryoga leaned over to Ranma and whispered, "Woman's intuition, huh?"
Ranma's face flushed as she dropped her eyes to the ground, "You're not going to let that go, huh?"
The grin on the fanged girls face could be seen from a mile away, "No way!"
Their antics were quickly silenced though as a patrol challenged the three youths in the street. After some quick thinking by using the marks left by the pintapus, they convinced the patrol to leave them alone. After a few moments, Ryoga and Ranma quickly nodded to each other and jumped out of the alley. Moving quickly and silently, they caught up to the three ahead of them.
"That was some quick thinking, back there", Ranma spoke up from one side of the trio.
The boy in yellow and orange grinned and replied, "Yeah! It was great, Katara!" They walked for a few more steps before his brain finally realized something. 'Katara's on my right and...' Slowly, he turned his head to the left, noticing a girl there beside him who was defiantly not Katara.
"Yo", she said with a grin. With a quick, "Gah!", all three of the trio were in battle stances. Seeing this, the redhead sighed, "Oh, come on... We don't want to fight you..."
Katara quirked an eyebrow and asked, "We?" Ranma just pointed behind them, which caused them to turn their heads... to see a green haired girl around the same height as Sokka behind them. Ryoga just waved nervously, saying, "Uh... nice to meet you?"
Quickly, they shifted their formation to keep an eye on both of them. "What do you want", the tall male asked suspiciously eyeing the Ryoga. He seemed to have a... club or something in his hand in a defensive stance.
"Uh... well, we need the Avatar's help", Ranma replied, "and you want to see the king, right?"
"How'd you know I'm the Avatar", Aang asked in shock. He quickly checked his head and felt the makeshift headgear still on.
Ranma looked sheepish as she replied, "Umm... I didn't? Well... not totally. It was sort of a guess after seeing you Airbend..." Shaking her head, she continued, "Either way, can we get off the streets before another patrol comes around?" Still seeing the distrust in their faces, she let out a sigh before she turned on the puppy dog eyes, "Please?"
Behind the trio, Ryoga just put a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh. 'It's going to be a long night... I know it...'
--
A few minutes later, all five of them were a couple blocks away in an alleyway which opened into a small open area behind a couple of shops. Ranma and Ryoga were sitting on a couple of empty boxes while the other three stood eyeing them, Sokka the most suspiciously.
"Okay... now let's start from the beginning... Who are you two?" He asked, starting the interrogation.
"I'm Ryoga and she's Ranma", the green haired girl replied nodding towards the redhead. "What's your name?"
"Oh, it's Sokka...", he replied without thinking, then stopped and complained, "Hey! I'm asking the questions here!"
"Keep it down!", Ranma hissed at him after he raised his voice and octave. The girl from their own group nodded at that, giving the boy a look.
"Um... why do you need my help?"
Ranma shifted her gaze to Aang, "Well... This is going to sound crazy..." She could see Ryoga nodding out of the corner of her eye, "but we need your help to get home."
Immediately, all three of them were back in a defensive stances; Aang with staff, Katara with a snake of water and Sokka with his club. Ranma just blinked and nervously asked, "Uh... did I say something wrong?"
"Probably, knowing our luck", Ryoga replied from beside her.
After a few seconds, Aang slowly dropped his staff and just looked at the older teenagers before him. "Guys, I think it's ok..."
"How can you be sure, Aang", Katara asked, not dropping her stance.
"I don't know, it's just a feeling", he replied with a shrug. "Plus, they didn't attack us first when they snuck up on us."
The waterbender looked at the boy beside her and after a few more seconds, willed the water back into the water skin on her hip. Sokka, though, kept his weapon out, eyeing the martial artists. "Why do you need Aang's help to get home?"
"Okay, like Ranma said, this is going to sound crazy. Hell, I didn't believe it myself when we found out...", the trio looked oddly at the green haired girl as she admitted her own disbelief. "We arnt from this world", Ryoga finally said, baring it out in the open.
The three before the martial artists look like they had just said the sky was green with orange polka dots or that one plus one equaled three. "You aren't what?!", Sokka blurted out.
Ranma just pinched the bridge of her nose, "We are from another world... Long story short, Ryoga was casting a spell and I caused... her to goof it up. Poof, here we are in your world."
"Yeah, right! And I'm Fire Lord Ozai! Ow!" Sokka quickly reached up and rubbed the back of his head, where Katara had smacked it.
"Sorry about my brother, but it is hard to believe. Do you have any proof", the brown haired girl asked the two others.
Ryoga pointed to her head, "Uh... I'm betting you don't see green or red hair every day, right?" Ranma nodded in agreement.
"Easy! You dye it. Unless you can prove that you don't", Sokka said with a smug grin on his face. The two martial artists' faces quickly flushed and Sokka got another hand to the back of his head via his sister. "Hey, what was that one for!?", asked, but seeing the death glare he got from her, he quickly stepped back. A second later, ralization flashed across his face and had the decency to look sheepish as he uttered, "Oh... Oh! Uh... sorry."
Aang drew center as he asked, "Do you have anything else?"
"Uh... well, there's one thing, but we can't show at the moment", Ryoga said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Yeah... but how about this?", Ranma said as she held up a palm and a glowing sphere the size of her head appeared in it.
"Whoa... What's that...", the young avatar asked in amazement. The two siblings could only nod in agreement. 'Thank Kami-sama!', she thought as she smiled. "This is Ki... or life energy." She let the tree look at it for a while longer before reabsorbing it into her body. "Ryoga can do the same thing", she continued, as it was shown by the girl beside her. After a few moments, she, too, reabsorbed the ki.
"Okay, fine", Sokka started again, waving his hands around a little before pointing at Aang, "Even if you are from another world, why do you think Aang can send you back?"
"Well...", Ranma started up, scratching the base of her ponytail, "we were just hoping he could, since he's supposed to be the most powerful person in the world... and if he couldn't, he might know someone who could..." The next bit, she said in a lower voice, "I just didn't expect the Avatar to be a kid..."
Aang looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's a long story..." He sighed then, "I'm also not the most powerful person... I've only learned Air and Water Bending. I still need to learn Earth and Fire Bending..." Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder at that.
Ryoga looked crestfallen at hearing and seeing that, biting her lip some. "H-how... How about we help you for now..." Katara looked at the two, seeing the looks in their faces. "Please..."
Both the yellow clad boy and brown haired girl looked at each other and then finally to the taller male of their group. He looked over them and then over two the two sitting martial artists. After a few seconds, he sighed and looked back to Aang. With a shrug he admitted, "It's your decision, Aang."
The young Avatar nodded and looked over to the two older girls, who looked on at him with their undivided attention. Then, a smile appeared as he announced, "You can never have too many friends!" Ranma let out a breath of relief she had been unconsciously holding. Aang then let out a light laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Guess now the girls outnumber us, huh, Sokka?"
No one saw the flash of nervousness that flew across the two eldest girls' faces.
--
End of Chapter 7
--
Author's Notes
Wow... I finally did it. I broke my goal of writing a chapter of 10,000 words... and blew past it by a full 2000 extra! Yeah, go me! Whew, feels like I've run a marathon over the past three days... – Kon looks to the side at the mound of rewrites and sighs-
Anyways, I'm really writing this to hopefully answer some questions before they're asked and answer a few things from the reviews.
I know there's going to be some questions as to why Ranma and Ryoga turned into killing machines in the battle by the gate... along with why they were so strong. Well, they lost themselves to the rage, for different reasons but that doesn't matter. Once lost in it, they honed it down to a razor's edge, like a martial artist or any good fighter does to an emotion. At that point, they didn't think, they just acted.
So... are their Ki attacks going to be that strong in the future? Maybe... but like little old grannies lifting cars with their bare hands, what happened with their Ki attacks are the same thing. Plus... I used a little artistic license in the scene. I think it works fine. –breaks into a smile-
Why didn't I write out Iroh and Zuko's scene... well, one reason is I couldn't. I tried many... many times and each one looked and felt like crap. The other reason is... a secret. So, I decided to just have them talk about it after the fact. Take your own guess at what happened, but no, they didn't fight. –grin-
So... am I going to saddle up the two Nerima boys with girls... Depends on how sadistic I am with regards to Ranma... probably gonna have to say, yeah. –evil smile while tapping fingers together- Still, I have a lot of thinking to do, and while you guys are welcome to send your suggestions, –laughs at the Azula one- I'll be pairing them up... if that even happens. Got to remember that the only unclaimed girls are Ty Lee and Azula, who are the enemy in the series, and Toph... No, just no... –Wry grin while rolling eyes-
Saddle them up with boys... I don't do Yaoi. Ranma and Ryoga are guys, even if their bodies aren't at times, so... No. If anything, it would be something similar to Kuno... used for laughs or because Ranma is the universes 'chew toy'. –bursts out laughing-
Sets see... –Starts counting off on fingers- I think I've got it all... –takes another look at the reviews- Hmm...Ranma n' Ryoga Bending... –Looks for something else- Ah! Ok, Hikaru was from the Northern Water tribe. She's one of the few that decided to leave on wanderlust. Just a minor character, but figured I'd put it out there.
Oh, as for the timeframe in the Avatar series... that should be pretty obvious now.
As always, I hope you guys like my story. I know I'm having fun writing it. –wide grin-