Piglet Brought Troubles
Disclaimer: Ranma ½ does not belong to me.
…
True to their words, the elder Tendo sisters managed to convince the two Amazons to stay in the temple for the next several days. How they managed it Ranma was never quite sure, but he decided he really didn't want to dwell on it after seeing the classic scheming glint in Nabiki's eye. Akane's sisters only managed to slip their father's notice and help search for spells twice in the past four days, but in that time they had already made far more progress than either of the shisa had. The sisters explained their presence in the library as searching for ways to ensure their dead relatives peace in the afterlife. As a result the Servers opened the entire scroll collection to their access.
While the Tendo sisters were making such progress, Ranma was left feeling more and more useless as he and Akane sat guard in front of the temple. True, they had two more "lessons" with the Godling, explaining ogres and oni, but they couldn't search with the puppet watching them. They had each made more attempts to search the manuscripts during the night but their progress each time was blocked.
Ranma currently sat in front of the temple watching the idle movements of the passing breeze. Akane dozed in the afternoon sun next to him, her mouth firmly closed for when visitors pasted by. Luckily there weren't many guests to freeze for on this day, so Ranma's jaws were not forced open for uncomfortably long. The elder Tendo sisters were currently rifling through pages of manuscripts in the back as the general occupants of the compound were engaged in quiet afternoon activities.
In contrast to everyone else's lassitude, Ranma felt restless and on edge. He glanced for the hundredth time at Akane, wishing she was awake to distract him. He would not wake her, though. All the recent stress and worry had come crashing down on her preventing her from sleeping. This was the first time in days she had slept soundly.
He was diverted soon enough when a high pitched squeal was heard outside the compound. A very familiar black piglet with a worn bandana around its neck ran inside the gate before turning around and growling at his pursuer.
The sight brought memories crashing back to Ranma's mind. The day before the eleventh sacrifice, Ryoga had finally returned. In fact it was only a few hours before Ranma was to be escorted to the nearest Temple of The Great One where the possession would finish. Ranma, at that time, already had at least one if not two Servers following him everywhere.
Akane had walked into the common area and Ranma, seated at the table, had noted with astonishment that she was holding Pchan. When his eyes reached her face, Ranma was even more startled at the unreadable glance she gave him. Ranma had expected her look to be of relief at having found her pet after so long, but Akane's countenance took a somber tone as it had so often recently. He distinctly remembered wishing he knew what was running through her mind at that moment. Akane silently placed Pchan down before giving the two Servers bordering Ranma a weary look and leaving to get herself a cup of tea.
Ryoga, having missed the past year, stared confused at the high priests flanking Ranma.
The pigtailed boy tried to warn his rival, whispering, "You should not have come back, Ryoga."
Ryoga, misinterpreted his warning as his usual insults, growled in response to the pigtailed boy. The Godling in Ranma ignored the piglet and raised his cup of tea to drink.
The Servers, however, did not ignore the actions of Ryoga. One of them uttered, "How dare you disrespect The Great One so! You're lucky we sacrificed a boar last full moon, else this month could be your turn!"
Ryoga, quite understandable, bristled in response as the other Server reprimanded his companion, "Hush, the piglet is by far too small to serve as a sacrifice. Besides, it does not have the correct quality about it to be a proper offering to help The Great One."
Akane reentered the room then with her own cup of tea.
"Also," the Godling, through Ranma's mouth, added with a monotonous, bored tone, "That is not his true form. He could never be a proper sacrifice."
Ranma, stuck once again as a spectator, watched in panic as the Godling, right in front of Akane, lifted his teacup and splashed some of the warm liquid on the black piglet.
Stunned silence filled the room; everyone staring at the paralyzed, naked Ryoga huddled in front of the table.
Akane dropped her teacup and it shattered as it hit the floor. No one reacted. The youngest Tendo's eyes finally dragged themselves away from the horrified Ryoga to stare Ranma in the eye.
At the shock and pain in her eyes Ranma wanted to apologize or explain, but the Godling held him immotile. So he sat, terrified, waiting for the inevitable yelling and the tears.
Akane's gaze held his for an agonizing eternity. Finally, she, in a remarkably calm voice, spoke, "You knew." With that the blue haired young woman turned around and marched right out the front door.
Ranma felt as if he had just been stabbed in the chest. He longed to reach out for her, chase her down even if it would only result in her screaming at him. Any reaction other than the silent hurt. Despite his wishes the puppet master held is body rooted to the floor.
It was then after she left his sight that Ranma realized how deeply he cared for her. He loved her. And now, due to these bizarre circumstances, he was losing her and there was nothing he could do about it.
Ryoga eventually scampered away in shame, as the Servers began to assist Ranma in the move. It was lucky the Godling was controlling his movements then, for as the numbness from Akane leaving wore off Ranma wanted nothing more that to punch someone in the face.
That was the last time Ranma saw Akane until Shampoo brought her unconscious form to the Servers two months later.
…..
Now, Ryoga was back again.
Ranma's first thought was that he didn't want his old rival anywhere near Akane; if she woke up and saw him…. Ranma had no idea what Akane would think of seeing the piglet, but the male shisa had no desire to relive painful memories either.
Thus Ranma sprang to his feet fully intent on chasing the cursed martial artist out. As he sprinted toward the piglet, Ryoga's pursuer entered the Temple-Palace gate.
A body-less head with flashing eyes and gnashing teeth spat acid at the black pig. Ryoga dodged, jumping back, as Ranma re-assessed the situation.
He had no idea what type of spirit the disembodied head was, but judging from its foul stench and hostile behavior it was no less evil than the shadow sprites. Growling, Ranma quickly realized the most effective way to get Ryoga to leave would be to get rid of the creepy thing stalking him. Not to mention Ranma really didn't want that thing coming any closer. He would have to do this fast if he didn't want to wake Akane or draw other unwanted attention this way.
Luckily the head and Ryoga had their attention on each other as they made their way snarling and dodging onto the temple grounds. Seizing the opportunity Ranma leapt over the pig, his claws reaching out for the spirit. At the last second the head swiftly moved to the side forcing the male shisa to land and rapidly turn around.
The body-less spirit turned its attention on the bigger threat and spat acid at Ranma. As he dodged backwards Ranma was pleased to note that the head moved towards him, its grimy hair moving as tendrils around the face. If he kept the thing following him then he could use it to his advantage and turn the battle in his favor.
Ranma noted that while the evil spirit didn't have a battle aura precisely it did still emit a heavy presence. It would be difficult in his current form but perhaps he could modify the Dragon's Heaven Blast and use it on this horror. Another part of Ranma vindictively thought that if he found a way to complete his attack he could prevent the Godling from stealing another of his signature moves.
His mind whirling as he began to lead the spitting grotesque head in a circle, Ranma failed to notice the other supernatural guests enter the gate. That is until he heard Ryoga's squeal.
His attention diverted Ranma swore when he saw the two shadow sprites on the temple grounds. He recognized them as the two dark spirits that had been chased out before. It had been a trap! In his eagerness to lead the head in a spiral Ranma had unfortunately positioned the acid spitting horror between himself and the gate on the left side of the yard. With Akane positioned closer to the temple, but still on the left side of the yard this allowed the sprites a clear path through the right. Ryoga, the snarling black piglet, despite standing under the tree on the right side was no obstacle to the demon or corpse sprites. Ranma growled as he realized that he needed to finish his current opponent even faster.
Ranma, concentrating on the acid drooling spirit in front of him, finished the spiral with artificial calm. As the head descended on him in the center the male shisa sprang up on his hind paws, his front claws meeting and carving into the evil spirit. He felt the wind pick up and blow the howling head away. Except, as he looked around with his tornado still billowing around him, he noticed that the temple wall, the grass, the tree, all physical objects stood paradoxically still.
The shadow sprites were still affected, luckily. Ranma's Dragon's Heaven Blast had smashed the corpse into the tree and the demon against the far right wall. However, even as Ranma turned toward them they were recovering and standing up.
Shouting Akane's name to wake her up as he raced after them, Ranma knew he wouldn't be fast enough. The demon sprite was already almost to the right side of the temple.
From under the temple porch a small creature emerged in front of the shadow sprite. In the light the creature resolved itself into a calico cat. The feline hissed and yowled, arching her back at the figures in front of her. Immediately the two spirits and Ranma skidded to a halt where they were.
….
Happy (late) Halloween. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. The next chapter is written, but it needs lots of editing.