SIGNIFICANT CHANGES MADE. From now on, ill try not to do that but I pained over it and ultimately decided that I wanted to explore different concepts which required a change. My first ever attempt at creative writing of any sort and it's not beta read; I have no idea what I am doing, so your brutal honesty is much appreciated. Bear with the shitty poems, they are my sorry attempt at foreshadowing. WARNING: for readers not familiar with canon Ranma 1/2, Genma is extremely sexist. But this is a story of growth for everyone involved. :)
Chapter 3: Edge of enchantment
Ranma groaned, a throb piercing her temples sitting up. Cracking one eye open, there existed only darkness. Ranma patted around blindly, feeling the earth before she smelt it. Uff! The distinct aroma of mildew paired with other unpalatable earthy smells was particularly potent. Standing up and wiping her hands off her pants, Ranma continued blindly. A step back and her foot intercepted an object, jostling it in a familiar manner.
Ah-ha! She grinned victoriously. Too bad her bag didn't have a flashlight. Regardless, it didn't take long to realize that the walls surrounding her were continuous and circular, crumbling at the touch. That was when all came back to her.
"Arrgghhh! That damn cat" Ranma growled, rubbing away goosebumps.
It wasn't until her hand happened upon what felt like a rope that she located the way out. Ranma gave an experimental tug before beginning an ascent of unknown length. Ranma was relieved to find that it was only a few tugs before the wooden ledge came into reach and she could hoist over over it. Her eyes were still pretty useless, taking an extended time to adjust to the darkness. The rain had thankfully stopped, Ranma considered on a positive note. At least.
Kneading her neck, Ranma recovered from her awkward landing with a hiss. Looking down at her feet, she blinked at the grass poking up and between them. As the cogs began to turn in her head, it snapped upward and swiveled in every direction.
"EHHH?!" Ranma squeaked and a faint echo resounded back to her across the expanse far larger than before. When she looked upward, before her breath caught in her throat, mouth agape with her eyes in awe. The sight was the magnitude of the brightest star seen from Nerima dialed up by a thousand times and then exploded into equivalent twinkling gems.
"Where the hell am I?" Ranma asked in wonder.
Scanning the hilly scape, magically alit with a nighttime haze, Ranma plopped down on the well edge, the only thing that remained the same, to process. A treeline could be seen from all directions from her position, except the more important details, such as landmarks which might help were lacking in the dim lighting. These moments of dumbly taking in the scenery brought her no closer to an answer.
"Ow!" Ranma hissed, expecting it not to hurt when she pinched her arm. Ranma may not be a genius, but this clearly didn't make sense. Ranma thought about what to do next by scanning around.
There! That one should work. Ranma concluded, heading towards the most prominent tree with a steady confident pace. In the moonlight, Ranma could barely make out the silhouettes of the shorter trees until about 20 feet off the treeline. Then the pace slowed, eventually stopping just short of it where the trees as they faded into an ominous inky darkness. The forest floor was enchantingly decorated with patches of fallen moonlight. Peering into the recesses of the otherworldly wood, a shudder ran its course down Ranma's spine and the faintest jingle of alarm bells became increasingly hard to ignore.
GAHHH! Ranma huffed, scowling in frustration. Ranma resented this roadblock more than she would have before. It was a bitter reminder of how sensitive she had been these days, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ranma was a wilderness veteran! Her whole life was a delicate balance of close calls with angry wildlife and near starvation. So now, Ranma stood paralyzed by what exactly? Perhaps her move of solidarity in avoiding her male form for this long was making her soft. Ranma didn't want to think about it.
For reasons she couldn't explain, Ranma felt her eyes drawn upward to the second tree past the forest line. While it was not the original goal, it would be a sufficient scoping perch even though it required quite a significant leap. The problem was that when Ranma went to approach, her feet still would not budge, like some instinct compelled her to remain. She could only stare into the leaves at the middle branches, gnawing at her bottom lip.
It felt like—it was absurd—but it felt like Ranma was being…watched.
Mulling over this eerie feeling, it was no surprise how a quiet rustle in the trees made her flinch. The small reaction, not something new to her, but it felt condemning in some way. Ranma could almost hear her fathers mocking laugh in her ears, shame and scorn warring in her chest for dominance. Coward. Ranma shook her head, holding it up strong at the same time her throat was rapidly closing.
God dammit.
She wanted to punch something, to destroy something beyond recognition—but all her energy was drained from her and swallowed up by the earth. Ranma brought her sleeve up to wipe the evidence of her weakness away, but it made it unbelievably worse.
"Some a man I am, '' Ranma whispered to herself. The despair was like a tsunami crashing down on her at the most random times. It happened weeks ago, but the pain remains just as raw and suffocating as the day she uncovered the truth. Since then Ranma couldn't trust herself with anything when even small hiccups threatened waterworks. All of it made her wonder if Pops-no, Genma-had been right, all along.
Sliding down the closest tree, Ranma tucked her face into her arm. She gained no relief, even as the sobs gave way to whimpers and sniffles. Ranma guessed it was probably dangerous how the alarm bells still rung in the recesses of her mind yet she felt no urge to obey it. It was ironic that it soothed away the remains of tension in her face and made her muscles relax. It helped to give it substance in her mind, and when she focused, it materialized in her mind-space enough that could almost hear it. Its soft sounds made her teeter on the border of consciousness, fading with her into the low hum of the forest. There she was, on the edge of enchantment, weeks of sleeplessness sweeping her away, pulling her mind from her body until there was nothing. No pandas. No brides and obligations. No lies or pain.
Jingle. jingle. Jingle.
Jingle. Jingle.
Jingle.
….
Golden moonlit bells
on the edge of enchantment.
Jingle-jingle bells sing
Blinking from leaves above.