Escaping the Inescapable

by Studdevil

Please enjoy the re-write of this chapter, I hope you like it much better.

Ranma's eyes open to darkness that seems to go on forever. He can't see anything. Feel anything. His head feels fine, but he doesn't notice yet. As the darkness boars into his senses he takes a harsh breath. He looks down and feels the ground he is sitting on. It isn't his bed as he would come to expect after waking up.

His thoughts catch up with him as he wonders where he is. He feels his ripped shirt, and wonders why it is ripped. His body feels achy and he shivers in the cold while he sits up. "Was.. that a dream..? Did I dream that..?"

Ranma takes a long breath in and releases it slowly. "What's that smell? Oil or somethin'? The salty strong smell has a horrible taste and makes the young boy feel like gagging.

Ranma opened his eyes all the way to see where he was. He didn't believe it at first and felt himself going into shock, wondering how any of what he was seeing was possible. He pinched himself once. "Yeah, it's real..." He whispers, his voice course from not speaking in a while.

He was in a small barred chamber that couldn't be much bigger then a bathroom or large closet. Dust covers everything Ranma touches, even himself. He feels the urge to sneeze but then it disappears.

There is one oil lamp in the middle of the room that revealed other barred cages circling around the walls of the room. Wooden crates are stacked in the center of the room, there contents unknown.

"Where… Am… I…?" Ranma asks to no one in particular. After a moment of silence, someone stirs in front of him.

"Ranma?" Asked a quiet voice. It belonged to the youngest Tendo daughter, and Ranma's fiancé, Akane.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted. "Where the hell are we!" Ranma was frightened.

"Shh! Don't yell. We don't want the Surota to come back." Akane said in a strained whisper.

"Akane. What happened… " Ranma asked in a serious tone. "Who are the…?" The boy lost his words.

Ranma could see her face now. The bars were casting stripes on her face as she spoke quietly in a tired voice.

"You hit your head when you fell, and I'm sorry. That's my fault. But this whole mess is your father's fault. You've been knocked out for days. I started to think you were…dead"

Ranma stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

He noticed a few lone tears were sliding down her cheek which all the more made him want to know what had happened.

"Akane… Why are you…" Ranma was cut off by Akane.

"When you and your dad were traveling after you went to Jusenkyo, you went to a village of natives named the baraiddo, right?" She said, trying not to cry in front of Ranma.

Ranma didn't understand why she was crying but responded, "We went to a lot of places but I… Y-yeah… I think it was that one… They made us a feast the night we stayed there, why…?"

Ranma could tell this was extremely serious and listened intently hoping what she was about to say would shed light on where they were.

"Please tell me everything that happened there ,Ranma. I… We, need to know.

Ranma shifted to get closer to her. The boy's head was wandering and still didn't know where he was. It was so quiet that even whispers echoed in the tiny cavern-like room.

"We visited the village while pops was lost trying to read the Chinese map he had. The people there were really scrawny. Not 'cuz they didn't eat or nothin', but because of some problem, er… I don't know. They had really tasty food though. They all were into the whole water curse thing and were, err… Asking questions about it and Jusenkyo. Me and pop left really quickly because they were always dumping water on us and asking about our curses. We simply gave them the map that showed Jusenkyo so they wouldn't follow us, and left."

"They were being attacked by another village right?" Akane asked.

"Um… I don't know if they were attacked but they were being bullied by another tribe. They were much stronger but we never saw them. We only heard about them from one of the elders that could speak some Japanese. Why…?"

"That's it…"

"What…? Akane… I'm really confused."

"They found the cursed spring of Bisutto and changed into beasts to fight the other village..."

"THEY WHAT!" Ranma exclaimed. Akane grabbed him and shook him.

"Shut up!" She said in a harsh whisper. "They'll hear you! For the past year after you left them they made… This place." Akane motioned around herself at the structure they were in.

Akane was beginning to tear up again. "Akane… What happened? Why are you crying?" Ranma grabbed Akane by her shoulders, trying to comfort her a little. It wasn't helping.

"Ranma… While you were knocked out they… They invaded our whole town… All of Nerima… Maybe other places and…"

"And what!" Ranma whispered back. 'Why is she crying over this?' Akane was full on crying now into Ranma's chest, soaking his red Chinese shirt.

"They killed everyone." Akane gagged out. There was silence. Ranma was too shocked to say anything. His mind swirled and dived into desperation as he wondered how it was all possible. Akane was grabbing his shirt and clenching it hard now, almost ripping it.

"They've taken everyone out of these," Akane was at a loss of words, "Cages! And…They never… Come… Back…" She cried into into his chest.

Ranma was far too stunned to even comfort her now as his life twisted into a hell hole with no escape. He stood up, emotionless. An emtpy shell of a person. A mouse that just realized he's part of an elaborate maze, testing him, and forcing him to run through it with no end.

"So… Everybody we know is… Dead…?" Ranma asked, not understanding.

Then after a moment, his emotions hit him and the realization of the enormity of what he just said was clear. He started to cry as well, not caring if Akane was there to see him. He cried with Akane in his arms.

That's the re-write! I just can't believe I wrote like that before! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and make sure to read the rest!

Studddevil