From: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com on behalf of Hallstrom Consultants [hallcon@mindspring.com] Sent: Saturday, December 19, 1998 12:57 PM To: ffml@fanfic.com; Alex Archon; lappenc@ix.netcom.com; Christopher Gilbert; David Stanley Subject: [FFML] [R1/2] [Revised] R&A:ALS Chpt. 3 First Part [A,B] Sorry for the wait. Real Life(tm) is pressing again. Revised and concatenated with part B. C&C on any errors remaining, please. Disclaimer: The playground is by Rumiko Takahashi, I'm only swinging on the monkey bars. Remember to leave the grounds cleaner than you found them and please don't feed the Troll. /The Hunter and the Bear/ was picked up from Alan Cole and Chris Bunch, and extensively filled out by me. If it originated with them, they own whatever copyright exists. If it didn't, they don't. It was originally told by Wee Alex, Laird Kilgour of Kilgour, who _may_ have Ranma beat in cool, but who is nowhere near as cute. Jei-san, on the other hand (look that's his name, okay?) is the exclusive property of Stan Sakai, who is welcome to him. I am merely borrowing his likeness, and will return it as soon as I am done with it. And not before time too, I don't want it sticking around in my head. *This is a sound.* 'This is a thought.' _This is emphasis._ {This is a sign.} ----------------------------------------------------------------------- She could barely believe her luck. It had already been a day to cherish forever in memory. First, she had been brave. Ranma-sempai herself had said so. Not that she really believed that she had been brave, as such. She had simply felt that something needed to be done, and then she had done it. Still, it had gotten her praise and admiration, and Ranma-sempai had even thanked her for it, so .... She had, however, discovered that it was far preferable to feel that one had been brave than to feel brave in the current moment. The reason being, being brave _now_ meant that something deeply unpleasant must, by definition, be happening; whereas, on the other hand, _having been_ brave meant that the unpleasant thing must have been faced. And, of course, overcome. (The narrator would like to note at this time that the subject is, after all, only 17.) Second, her newfound notoriety had gotten her a date! Which she was just now returning from. And which had been really fun, too. Not as good as it could have been, true, but the cute guy from class 3-C had been able to afford a trip to a _good_ restaurant - a good _expens- ive_ restaurant - and had spent most of the evening paying attention to her. Even if it had only been so he could ask about Ranma. So, she felt, the gates had been opened, and it was now possible that she might achieve the lofty heights of Going Steady. Just as soon as she found one of the boys at Furinkan who wasn't a jerk. She was sure there must be _one_. But third, ahh _third_, now there was the thing. The great thing. The unalloyedly wonderful thing. For, walking home from her date, she had passed a park. And her attention had been drawn to an area just inside a screen of bush, where she had made A Find. A wonderful find. She, Asano Sayuri, Furinkan High Class 2-F, had found ... a puppy! Stop snickering. Right now. It was weak and half-starved, and very ragged looking, but she knew that it would grow up fine and strong. It had weakly snapped at her hand, but she knew that she would soon win its heart, and that it would be loyal and true. Best of all, it was in the park unhelped by any but herself, which meant it must be free for any who could aid and protect it. And since it was obviously Greatly In Need, her parents would have, could have, no objection to her keeping it. Asano Sayuri, at heart, was a great romantic, who frequently viewed the world through glasses not merely rose-colored, but actively rose- projecting, and so she smiled and skipped slightly as she carried home the wolf cub she had found. It would, she knew, be grand. And, invisible to her view (since it was turned away from her), a tiny fleck of green light flickered in one of the wolf cub's eyes, and then went out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- And Kuno Kodachi sat quietly and watched her brother with what passed, for her, as concern. He had been very different since yesterday, and no previous simple beating had ever engendered such a result. Also, she noticed, his sword was now securely locked in its sheath, instead of displayed on its stand, as was proper. Perhaps some spell had been cast on her idiotic older brother. Or perhaps something else odd had occurred. In any case, she supposed, she would have to check herself. Furinkan, bah! She had visited before, and in the whole school there was no person of merit or spirit. No person at all. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- And across Nerima a number of phone conversations burned late into the night. They had been beaten. They had been disgraced and dishonored. Moreover, some felt, they had deserved it. First, they had failed to adequately take into account the proper considerations of a challenge, and second, they had attempted to attack by surprise. A direct frontal confrontation, it was agreed, would certainly lead to a restoration of honor. In one sense or another. And in a maison apartment on the outskirts of the district liquified moonlight dripped, over a jade ring, into a silver pan. And the night rolled on. And morning came. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranma & Akane: A Love Story. Chapter 3: The Third Day Part A: Point of Contact: The Hunter and the Bear ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bushiko Ranma exited her apartment as the the sun rose above her windowsill. Behind her she left her apartments just as she had the day before; ahead of her she had a wait of at least 30 minutes before Akane would conceivably leave the Tendo Dojo for school. A half-hour of which she intended to make full use. The basic problem, she reflected, was that she had very little experience in dealing with the emotion of great happiness. The only means of easily dealing with _any_ great emotion she had was to work off the energy. Therefore ... She leapt, touched one toe to the nearest roof and leapt again. Spun in mid-air, turned a somersault, bounced off an air molecule, touched a foot to a passing water-tower, backflipped 30 yards of warehouse, touched down in a cartwheel, leapt again. Flickering from foothold to toetouch, flashing from tower to wall, dancing across the Neriman skyline, her only accompaniment the musical chiming of her own delighted laughter, filling the air behind her progress with a chorus as of golden bells. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranma came down on Akane from out of the rising sun. Akane determined that Ranma's attack was not serious by the simple fact that it was neither unblockable nor sufficiently forceful to break through the defense she raised against it. Indeed Ranma neatly bounced off her raised arm, transferring no force but achieving enough velocity to bounce off a nearby fence in another attack. This sequence continued with Akane blocking and Ranma delivering increasingly complex and more difficult attacks, each coming increasingly closer to breaking past her guard. Akane's defensive maneuvers had drawn her farther and farther from her beginning position next to Nabiki, to the point where her back was almost against the fence by the side of the road. Then a sneaky rebound off the fence behind her left her nowhere to go but up. She snap-jumped to the top of the fence and was then forced repeatedly back, unable to spare the attention needed to discover where she was but happy just to have no more than one direction from which to expect attacks. Akane was driven back more than sixty yards along the fence before Ranma took pity and ceased her attacks. Akane stayed in a defensive stance for another few seconds as Nabiki came running up with her mouth open. "Akane! That was great! I didn't think anyone could move along the top of a fence like that!" Akane looked down, wavered, and wildly waved her arms in an attempt to keep her balance, but succeeded only in falling off the inside of the fence, onto the sidewalk, instead of the outside, into the stream. Looking up from her position flat on her rump on the ground, Akane observed Ranma covering her eyes and shaking her head, and Nabiki shaking her whole body with barely restrained mirth. "And so gracefully done, too", Ranma observed mildly. "If you'd _told_ me I was on a fence _earlier_...." "You'd have fallen off earlier, ne? It's often the case that the body unconscious of its circumstances can do things it never could by the will of the mind alone, but you don't often see it that clearly", Ranma replied, still calmly. "And now, for your next trick, get back on the fence." "But, but, but ...." "_Up_!" Wobbling frantically, Akane attempted to keep her balance on the fencetop. Then she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, steadying her balance. Ranma turned to Nabiki, "Please excuse us, Nabiki-san, and continue on to school. I see that I have some training to accomplish, but we'll be along shortly." Akane gulped, and commended herself to the protection of the Kamis. "Now, Akane, first we walk", beginning to do so, "and then we run." Accelerating along the top of the fence, Ranma took a corner and left Nabiki behind, pushing Akane along before her. Akane observed the sharp-looking top of the fence vanishing beneath her and quavered, "Wh-what happens if I lose my balance?" "You get to drop your groin onto a sharp surface and hurt. A lot," Ranma replied calmly. "I don't recommend it." "Oh, fine!" Akane mumbled. "And now we go faster." "Help." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Returning to the straight track to Furinkan as they neared the school, Ranma and Akane caught up to Nabiki just before they reached the outer wall of the courtyard. Akane, Nabiki noted, was looking somewhat frazzled but bore no evidence of injury. Returning to the sidewalk, the two walked alongside Nabiki as they entered the school- yard, only to run into a wall of semi-determined male silliness. Perhaps a dozen Furinkan students were lined up in the center of the yard, each bearing some form of combat implement. The leader bowed to Ranma and began to speak. Ranma raised an eyebrow and interrupted. "Let me guess. You lads have decided to go the formal challenge route." "Err ... yes," the leader said uncertainly. "Ah. Tell me," Ranma said, "have any of you gentlemen heard the story of the Hunter and the Bear?" General negation was expressed. Ahh. So. It seems that once there was a man who was success- ful in all his business and in all his life. And he attributed his success to the fact that he treated his life and his business struggles as though they were hunts. And he proved his point by referring to the trophies that he had accumulated down the years he had hunted the valiant tiger, and the noble elephant, and the ferocious cow. Yet, alas, his life was incomplete, and he suffered sorely for the lack: for all the beasts he had hunted, and all the trophies he had taken, he had never hunted _Bear_. And so, one year in the summer of his life, when he had grown weary of the games he played, he summoned his managers and accountants and bade them take over all his enterprises and companies and investments, and to keep them safe and prosperous until it should again please him to exhibit his acumen, and skill. And he gathered to himself, from the reserves of all his possessions, a great store of treasure, and he set himself to hunt the _Bear_ and to gain himself a rug. Or, as it might be, a coat. And he bought himself a most excellent rifle, such as he was wont to use to take his prey. And he hired a famous hunting guide to teach him of all the _Bear's_ habits and customs. And he spent gold with a free hand to seek out all the information and rumors that could be found concerning his victim-to-be. And then he took ship for the far-away land where, it was said, _Bear_ was to be found. On arriving in that place he indulged in another week of riotous living, such as he had done on shipboard: drinking fine wines and liquors, romancing pretty, admiring, girls, eating gourmet meals, and boasting to all and sundry of the glory he was soon to win. Then he went into seclusion for a week, to listen to the efforts of the priests he had paid to pray for his success, and to watch the smoke rising from the sacrifices of the costly treasures he had purchased specifically to win the favor of the gods. And to drink only the finest of teas, made only from the purest of water hand carried from the mountain springs of its birth. And to eat only the newest and purest of rice, prepared by the finest of chefs, and topped only by the choicest of salted bream, and fugu, and squid from the deepest part of the ocean. And to spend much time in the hottest saunas, thinking pure thoughts, while pretty, naked, girls attended him, striking him on the back with birch branches to drive all im- purities and poisons from his pores. And in various other such manners to strengthen his body, and to focus his mind, and to commend his success to all the relevant gods. And then, one morning, he picked up his weapon, and had a fine hunting lunch packed, and traveled forth into the wide world beyond the hunting lodge. He traveled to a secluded hide, above a descending slope which overlooked a brushy expanse of valley, where there were bushes of berries, and a swift flowing stream filled with fish. And where there was known to be _Bear_. And after he had waited for an hour or two, drinking the nourishing drink with which he was equipped and nibbling on the many snacks which had been provided in his bento, along the open space in the vale below him came that which he had jour- neyed so far and through such hardships to match himself against: a _Bear_. It was plodding unconcernedly along, eating berries from the bushes and considering, perhaps, a main course of fish. He observed it through the excellent telescopic sight on his rifle, sniffling a little at the sad fate that awaited such a magnificent specimen. Almost, almost, he abandoned his sniper's rest and descended to meet the great beast, to face it in hand- to-claw combat from a short distance, say 100 yards or so, to be more sporting. But no, he hardened himself to pity and thought that if the beast had desired a sporting chance, it should have worked to make one, as he had. And he settled the sights on the broad shoulder displayed before him, and he nestled the stock gently into his shoulder, and he stroked the trigger, and the rifle barked its song of death. And below him, in the valley, the great _Bear_ shook its head, and stumbled, and fell, very slowly, to its side, and lay still ... dead. And he rose from the blind where he had waited, and observed the trophy below him, and saw in it all that he had worked for. And descended the slope before him, to claim it. Down he went, planning in his mind what he would do with the trophy so dearly won, and how it would be displayed. And he reached the bottom of the ridge, and broke through the brushy screen, and found there bushes full of berries, and a stream full of fish, but no _Bear_, nor corpse of _Bear_, and no sign that ever there had been one. Frantically now he cast about, searching for any clue as to where his trophy had gone, or who had taken it. And he strode forward into the middle of the vale, running to where he had seen the great carcass fall, but no carcass, nor sign of such, nor footprint, nor mark, nor any other clue at all did he find. And then something tapped him on the shoulder. And then he turned around. And there before him, rising up in majesty and wrath, with fur stained by the blood of its victims, with rolling eye and roaring growl, stood _Bear_. And its terrible claws were long and crusted with red. And its awful teeth were sharp and keen. And it towered over him like a cliff above a shaking mouse. And then his courage failed him, and he dropped his rifle, and waited tremblingly to die. And then he heard a voice, a terrible and growling voice, the voice of _Bear_! And it said, "Now lad, if y' want tae live, ye'll be droppin yer trousies and turnin aroun', an' I'll be performin' a disgustin' sexual act upon yer trembling bod!" And the man winced, and *yerked* and *yaaghed*, but the _Bear_ was terrible, and its claws were sharp, and so.... And so he dropped his trousers, and turned around ... and that's it, that's all, but later, dragging back to the lodge, he resolved that he should leave his properties and investments in the hands of his managers and retire to a monastery, to mortify his flesh, and apologize to the gods for his pollution. But first, _first_ he would return to this place and destroy the _Bear_, and use its skin for a rug to sit on in the monast- ery, and to warm his backside as he begged for alms. And he would spend all his wealth and treasure, if necessary, to attain that end. After all, what use would it now be to him? And so he returned to his homeland by the fastest jet avail- able, and threw all the resources of his great empire into his one overriding goal. And he caused to be designed a rifle, a weapon so advanced that it could have destroyed a squadron of tanks in one burst, whose merest glancing blow would blow a hole three feet wide through battleship armor, which was so accurate that the veriest novice could use it to blow in half a fly three miles off, and hit both halves as they fell. And he trained with it, and hired the world's greatest marksman, and its most accomplished tracker, and its foremost animal scientist, all to explain to him, and to design a plan to bring the fearful beast to its end. And he gave them all they required, and built and strove all as they said. And then, again in spring, he again traveled to that far- away land, and prayed and sacrificed, and took his weapon, and all his devices and schemes, and went forth to the ridge above the valley, to meet his nemesis again. And he set all his traps and devices in the valley below, disguising all his scent and sign, that the beast might not be disturbed in its progress. And again he took up a position in a hide on the ridge, and again he waited for the _Bear_. And again time passed, and again the _Bear_ came along the stream in the valley below. And again he sighted his weapon, but no pity or moment of grace stayed his hand this time! And again he stroked the trigger, and again the rifle roared. And all the traps, and nets, and devices activated, blew up or fired at once. And when the smoke had cleared the bruin lay, not merely killed, but torn into a thousand pieces, pierced, burned, strewn about the ground. And again he raced down the slope, and took his weapon with him. And he anticipated, as he ran, how he would dance upon the _Bear's_ carcass when he reached it, how he would make a common pillow from the largest scrap of its hide, how he would piss on the barren place where he would burn the rest of its rotten, stinking corpse. And again he reached the bottom of the ridge, and broke the line of the brush before the valley floor. And again he found there bushes full of berries, and a stream full of fish, but again he found no _Bear_. And again he searched the little valley, weapon held low and fierce before him, ready for any movement. And again something tapped him on the shoulder. And again he turned around. And again before him, rising up in terrible, monstrous form, with blood-stained fur, and flashing eye and thunderous growl, stood _Bear_. And its claws were long and sharp, and dripped with clotted gore. And its teeth were keen and clouded with the red tinged saliva that its twisting neck scattered near and far. And it towered above him and its dark shadow blinded him. And again his courage failed him, and again he dropped his weapon, and prayed for the death he once had feared. And again he heard the voice, a terrible voice of his shame, the voice of _Bear_! And it said, "Now lad, if it's tae live y' want, ye'll be bendin' doon, and openin' yer maw, and ye'll be performin' a disgustin' sexual act upon me!" And again he wailed, and prayed that the test might pass, but the _Bear_ was strong, and its terrible fangs dripped blood- tinged drool. And he wished for death, but not like that. And so, finally, he bent down, and ... and that's all, but later, again returning weeping to the lodge, he decided. Corrupt he was, and impure, and damned for a coward. He would endow monasteries and temples, he would give all his wealth to charity and good works, and then he would find some active volcano, and throw himself in, and remove his pollution from the circles of the world. But first, _first_, FIRST! Without fear, without possibility of failure, without reprieve. The. _Bear_. _Must_. _Die!_ And so he again returned to his homeland, and spent gold like water in his quest. He acquired the perfect rifle, the highest product of the world's best gunsmith's art. He went alone into the wilderness with his weapon and the collected wisdom of the world in regard to _Bears_, their habits, and all that related, or had ever related to them. And in the wilderness, in practice with the rifle, and the bear-spear, and in communion with all that the world knew of _Bear_, he planned and plotted and grew in skill, until he was, without question, the very best, most knowledgable and most skillful hunter of _Bear_ that there had ever been. And then, in fall, when _Bears_ are fat and somnolent, _again_ he traveled to that land, and _again_ he prayed and sacrificed. And _again_ he took his rifle, and added to it his spear, and _again_ he went forth to the ridge above the valley. And _again_ he took up a position in a blind on the ridge, and _again_ he waited for the _Bear_. And _again_ time passed, and _again_ the _Bear_ came along the stream in the valley below. And _again_ he sighted his weapon, and _again_ he stroked the trigger, and _again_ the rifle sang. And again the missile flew straight, and struck its target directly on. And _again_ the great head shook, and _again_ the great legs stumbled, and _again_ the great beast fell. And _again_ he raced down the slope, and _again_ he took his his rifle, and also he took his spear. And _again_ he reached the bottom of the ridge, and broke the line of the brush before the valley floor. And _again_ he found there bushes full of berries, and a stream full of fish, but _again_ he found no _Bear_. And _again_ he searched the valley. And _again_ something tapped him on the shoulder. And _again_ he turned around. And _again_ before him, stood the _Bear_. And _again_ its claws were long and sharp, and _again_ its teeth were keen, and _again_ its mouth dripped bloody drool. And _again_ it towered above him and _again_ its dark shadow blinded him. And _again_ his courage failed him, and _again_ he dropped his weapons, and _again_ he prayed for the death knew he would not find. And _again_ he heard the voice, the terrible voice of _Bear_! And it said, "Now lad, ye did nae come here frae the huntin', did ye?" Ranma's voice on the last question had become soft and gentle. And she looked upon the white-faced boys huddling before her, and bestowed on them a smile. A gentle smile. A kind and sweet smile. An angelic smile. And the last remnant of the Fight at Furinkan, pale and shaking, turned away from the terrible figure they had sought to challenge, and stumbled weeping up the steps. And divided themselves among their several classes, where they sat huddled and still all the rest of the day. And where no-one spoke of the story, or of the Fight. Not that day, nor for a long time to come. And Ranma and Akane, arms linked, and voices rising to the brilliant cerulean sky, walked up the stairs behind them, singing. When he was fast asleep, hey do me harity When he was fast asleep, me being young, When he was fast asleep, I from his side did creep, Into the arms of a handsome young man! Now he's got Faloorum, Faleerum, Fallorum, Now he's got Fallorum, Faleerum, Falaay! Now he's got Fallorum, he's got a Ding-Doorum, Maids, when you're young, never wed an old man! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- She had woken with the new day and prepared for school. Then she had gone to the room where the puppy had slept, to see its progress for herself. Now she knew, she had made a mistake, a dreadful mistake, the previous day. Now, she knew, she must be brave, and even bravery would do no good for her. But it still might serve another. And so she clutched the twisted, claw-like hand that held her throat with both her own. And so she looked up into the eyes, burning with a green internal fire, of the 7 foot, near skeletal, black-robed figure that held her fast. And so she saw the twisted, part wolf, part fox, part feline, all terrible face of the being before her, and recognized in it the remnant of the puppy she had found. And so she heard it ask, in a horrible, pain-wracked voice, as twisted as itself, for information about _Ranma_. And so she was brave, and made no sound. And she heard the horrified shriek, and saw, through a sudden twilight, her mother standing in the doorway, aghast. And then the night came down. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Next: Who is the wolf-demon? What is he doing in Nerima? Why is he looking for Ranma? Will they fight? (Alright, so that last was a stupid question.) Join us next time for a fight to the finish, and the fate of Asano Sayuri, when the FFML hosts Ranma and Akane: A Love Story. Chapter 3: The Third Day. Part B: Breaching the Wall: A Game of Wolf and Dragon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranma & Akane: A Love Story. Chapter 3: The Third Day Part B: Storming the Wall: A Game of Wolf and Dragon Koriko Nagao was having what he could unqualifiedly describe as the worst day of his life. He had been humiliated and dishonored and dis- graced, he thought grayly. It had been bad enough before, when that horrible barbarian had terrified all the males of Furinkan on the first day. It had been unendurable when he had been seduced by his own rage into joining the attempted attack that had ended so humiliatingly on the second. Or he had thought it had been unendurable anyway. Now he knew better what 'unendurable' meant. Then they had only laughed at him to his face. Only snickered at him behind his back. Only looked with disgust at a stalwart of the Kendo Club. Only tittered at the distress of a champion of the school. Only sniggered at the nakedness and humiliation of a descendant of samurai. Only that, then. And so he had called together the other stalwarts, the only remaining bastions of Furinkan tradition. Even their leader had deserted them, the noble Kuno Tatewaki injured in spirit and plunged into depression by the beating administered by That Horrible Girl. They were alone now, but they would uphold tradition and honor as they saw it. And so they had analyzed. Dissected available data. Consulted the authorities. And realized, to their horror and shame, that they, _they_ _themselves_ had largely been to blame. Error had crept in to the ways of Furinkan. They had turned from the path of honor, and they had rightly suffered for it. Engaging in mass attacks on a single warrior in a matter of honor. Attempting an ambush. Hiding like cowards. Following a mongrel dog to avenge themselves on one who had merely acted in defense of another. Finally they had turned to look at them- selves and seen what they had become. Worse, they realized, they had led others into error, as well. All of the male students of Furinkan had eventually joined in the Fight For Akane's Heart. All were now tarred with the same brush, with the same stain, as they. They must atone, they realized. They must immediately place their straying feet back on the path of honor. But how to do so? There was only one choice, he had argued. They had begun as warriors, as samurai in a sense, albeit, he now realized, badly misguided ones. They must mend their honor the same way. Yet simple seppuku would not do, for the old ways were no longer honored as once they had been. They would not be seen, many said, as cleansing themselves from stain; but rather as overly-emotional children, even as misguided fools. And what else were they, some wag had remarked, bitterly. Some, another said, would even believe that they were running, unwilling to face up to their shame. No, he had argued persuasively, they must seek a confrontation instead. They must challenge Ranma-san directly, one by one; in the broad light of day, and not hiding behind walls. And only after they recovered from the destruction she would surely and deservedly work upon them would their honor be capable of being restored. 'And,' he thought, 'in such a combat, with weapon in hand, it would surely not be difficult to require Ranma-san to use lethal force in her own defense.' Thus ending the life he now felt too dishonored to endure, without drawing down censure on anyone. So he had thought, but he had been wrong. They had challenged, or attempted to challenge, at least, but she had not responded with blows but rather with words. With a story. 'A morality tale,' he winced mentally. And with that story she had not merely defeated them; she had destroyed them. He had returned to his classroom dreading the looks of anger and disgust he knew he would see on the inhabitants thereof. But instead he had seen something worse. Much worse. He had looked sideways at their dutiful faces as the Sensei called the roll, and there he had surprised an emotion more terrible than anything he had ever seen, even in his darkest nightmare: the emotion of pity. Pity and condescension, as though his humiliation was only to be expected. Worse even than this, _un_concern, as though his shame was not even worthy of consideration. As though _he_ was not worthy of consideration. As though he were nothing. He had answered the roll without conscious thought, hearing without observing the information that one of his female classmembers was unexpectedly absent. He had not even dared to look at Ranma, where she sat midway back in the class; he did not wish to see what expression she wore. He had excused himself immediately, pleading a call of nature; they would surely snicker, but he could not bring himself to care. He had almost fled the building, and now huddled in dread by the outer wall, just by the gates. Huddled there in dread, for he knew he could not evade classes, and those dreadful, pitying, unconcerned faces forever. And observed the approach to the school gates of what seemed, to his inlooking eyes, to be one of Furinkan's schoolgirls. Perhaps it was Asano-san he mused, dully. He must pull himself together in front of his classmate. She had not heard of his humiliation yet; he must put off that hearing, for a moment at least. Almost restoring his features to normalcy he turned to face her and welcome her to school. And heard her ask him a question, a question which he did not register. That voice! That pain-wracked, twisted, voice never belonged to Asano-san! What? And he observed a fog clear from his sight. And he saw the towering, black-robed, demonic figure replace his classmate as if by magic, still clutching her briefcase in one twisted claw, but bearing a great, cruel bladed Yari in the other. And he saw the bestial wolf-like figure snarl at him. And raise its spear as he seemed to freeze, mired in some clinging substance that weighed down his limbs. And then the twilight fell, and Koriko Nagao saw through dimming vision the spear-shaft extending from his chest retract, its broad head's bright sheen dimmed by scarlet lifeblood. And realized that he had been granted the escape from shame that he had sought, before the night claimed him utterly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranma and Akane had been slightly concerned for Sayuri when it was discovered that she was not in school that day. Yuka, however, had volunteered the information that she had gotten home from her date somewhat late last night, and furthermore that she had found a puppy. So it was decided that she must simply have overslept, or possibly caught some type of bug, and would be teased about it when she finally dragged in. Then the studious peace of Furinkan was broken by a scream. A pierc- ing, terrible scream. It came from one of the classrooms on the front side of the first floor , and was followed by a muffled shout that brought Ranma out of her startlement, with a shocked oath that split plaster at 30 feet, and out the door in a dead run. Akane followed after her, dreading whatever had disturbed her sensei, and reached the bottom of the stairs in time to see Ranma wave her hand in a complex pattern -- outer fingers veed and inners curling -- at the wall of one classroom, which promptly exploded into dust. Akane gasped and choked on the swirling dust, straining to see into the opened room. Ranma, however, suffered no such difficulty, snap- drawing Tenchuu in a classic Iado cut at the dark-robed bulk that suddenly lunged at her, trailing a scarlet stream of blood drops from its outstretched spearblade. Ranma pivoted like a matador, sending the lunging demon-wolf past her with a tortured, wordless howl. Tenchuu blurred as it passed, striking deep more than a hundred times with a sound like a deep-tolling bell, and Ranma snarled a name: "Jei!". Akane gasped in shock as the hurtling spearblade bore down on her, and saved herself from impalement only by a desperate sideways twist propelled by the impetus of a side snap-kick. The kick slammed into the injured side, spraying blood and fur from the cuts Ranma's attack had left. Akane saw with a strange, singing clarity as she shoulder-rolled off the floor; everything seemed to be outlined, thrown into sharp relief so that her racing mind could clearly distinguish between what was important, and what was not. Important, for example, were the injuries to the wolf-demon's side, healing as she watched, the flesh flowing and squirming back into proper shape. Also important was the howling ki aura building up around Ranma and flowing down her sword, and Akane abandoned reflection and achieved the state of avoidance. Ranma held on to the howling, snarling ki-force with a leash of sheer willpower, quickly enjoining it to build in a circling tubular onion- like structure, each thin inner layer of force spinning in counter- rotation to the next, burning lightning and destructive wind vortices building rapidly to an uncontainable level from the internal dissonance and friction of the whole structure. The task, for her, was strenuous but not especially challenging; she was much stronger then the last time she had called the Dragon Wind in earnest, and farther advanced down the paths of breath and spirit as well. Now, calling on her full power, Ranma held what she knew was the most powerful attack she had ever performed until Jei had stabilized himself enough to be rooted. Until he had placed himself fully in the path of destruction, yet removed his ability to dodge it. Then she released its bonds, and called it to battle by name. "Ryuukaze!" A corona of blue-white lightning struck inward toward Ranma's aura, crackling towards her body and hands like a berserk, inverted Van de Graaf generator. St. Elmo's fire in red and blue neon played all about her, illuminating the swirling storm wind that gathered about her hands where they clenched around Tenchuu's hilt, swept down Tenchuu's blade and launched itself as a horizontal tornado that sped irresistibly across the twenty foot space to Jei's back. A flaming, crackling tide of lightning rode the wind, outlining its passage with crackling, neon light. At its head a vortex of the storm-wind powerful enough to crumble diamond, or shred titanium alloy like wet cardboard, formed a dragon's head; filled with the heart of the lightning and drawing the tornado behind it as the head draws the body, wings and claws following after. As it passed it drew up debris and shredded floor-tiles into itself, their component particles joining its destructive force; and on Ranma's chest, underneath her shirt and wrap, the dragon threw back her head -- and roared. And Ranma watched with fleeting satisfaction as an unstoppable tide of pure destruction hit Jei squarely in the back -- and accomplished precisely nothing. 'Oh, _shit_! He learned to shield!' She hurled herself across the separating space between them, shifting her sight to the mode she used to analyze a structure of magic, and slipped fully into zanshin mind-no-mind. Jei spun towards his attacker, keeping his attention focused on her ki-force, and beginning a triumphant snarl. Ranma sliced past him in a rush, Tenchuu burning through his stomach and out his back, severing his spine. Ranma spun around Jei, hand, feet and sword flickering, testing his defenses and ki in a whirlwind too fast for even Jei's boosted senses to track, but also too fast to do any lasting damage, the minor wounds healing even as they were made. At last, having dis- covered as much as she could, Ranma flashed to a position straddling Jei's neck, one foot bracing against his back as the other leg curled around his throat. A convulsive twist of Ranma's body broke even Jei's inhumanly strong neck; and sent her off his shoulders to bounce off the wall behind him, curling her legs against her chest and storing power in them. Then she exploded away from the wall, into his back; her sword flashed around to sever his head entirely as she built a tornado-strength shield of wind behind and around her body and uncurled into Jei's back. The force of her ki-charged shove shattered every bone in his spine and propelled him violently across forty yards of open air, through and out of the classroom he had been destroying originally, and into Furinkan's yard. A lash of green energy erupted from his severed neck as he passed, joining neck-stump to head, and drawing the latter after it with a shriek of rage and pain that would have shattered all the windows on Furinkan's front side, had there been any undestroyed to that point. Which there weren't. Impacting the ground violently and being propelled into a tumbling roll, Jei progressed down the yard with a series of cracking and ripping noises, landing on his feet and healing all his wounds with a sustained wet crackle that ended as his head slammed home atop his neck and knit together again with a squelch that would probably have been exceedingly disgusting had anyone been paying attention to it. Ranma leaped through the destroyed classroom, absently noting the carnage within, and landed just outside what had been Furinkan's outer wall. "Jei-san. I see you have gained in prowess since the last time I killed you." The storm-loud cackle of mad laughter that erupted from Jei seemed to provide any answer that might be necessary, but he continued anyway. "Fool, I cannot be killed! I am the champion of the Gods, and they have given me new power for the holy task of destroying you and all your works, utterly!" A green ball of fire suddenly filled his hand. "Now, prepare to die!" he screamed as he threw it at Ranma. She batted it aside without expression, unmoving as it spattered twenty feet of Furin- kan's front wall with a clinging emerald flame that corroded stone, glass and wood alike. Ranma again drew in her power and answered Jei's challenge with a bolt of lightning. "Gekirin no Ryuu!" The thunderclap that followed the lightning's ineffectual explosion off Jei's shield fixed his attent- ion firmly on Ranma herself, and allowed Akane to shoo several panicking students up the stairs to (presumed) safety, while she herself ran to the destroyed classroom to see what help she might give. Upon jumping the low sill left by the destroyed wall, she landed in a warm, sticky pool and went to one knee, looking around in disbelieving horror to find that the answer was: none. At least a dozen bodies littered the floor and desks of the violated room. Most were in pieces no larger than half a torso, but all were clearly dead, and the still, brooding air hung heavy with the iron tang of fresh blood, and the sewer stench of released bowels, overlain by the visceral, sour-sweet smell of human death. The combination went straight to her hindbrain and forced her, gagging, to her hands and knees. Her eyes widened in shock, and she scrambled to her feet, frantically wiping her hands on her pants as she realized what she had landed _in_. She gasped and then determinedly looked away from the carnage around her, out across the field to, and then past, the looming figure of the seven-foot tall wolf demon, to where several panicked students, nearly mindless with fear, huddled against the outside wall of the schoolyard. Akane lunged out of the destroyed wall section, snatching at the central pillar of an overturned desk in passing, and ran across the field, yelling desperately for the students to run behind her, and away from the demonic spear-wolf. As she passed directly in line with Jei, she hurled the desk across the separating distance, smashing him dead on and hurling him into the wall. Unfortunately for him, however, one of the students, who had heard her call, and started to run across to her, was on the wrong side. Thus, when Jei smashed into the wall, said student was less than 3 feet from the impact and, startled and unable to stop, ran directly into the towering figure as he clawed his way from the rubble of the wall. Jei's hand lashed out and closed on the hapless student's neck even as Ranma and Akane both lunged towards the tableaux, and the terrible, bloodied spear flashed back for a death- stroke. Akane, however, was close enough to arrive in time and simply shoulder-smashed into Jei, breaking his hold on the student, and driving them both apart and into the wall. Jei rebounded with a snarl, driving his spear at Akane's unprotected back as she turned and sent the boy she had protected to her off side. Then Ranma flashed into range, sending Tenchuu smashing into the shaft of the spear. But the shaft rebounded the swordstrike, to her distant shock, and Jei's instant counter flung Ranma back a dozen yards, rotat- ing in mid-air and looking for a landing place. Akane sent her charge toward safety with a massive shove and began to turn at bay. Too late: the spearhead would pierce her before she could evade, she saw dis- tantly. Which was why the black, metallic ribbon that flashed out of nowhere and tugged the spearshaft far enough aside to miss and plow into the wall, instead of Akane, came as a complete shock to everyone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuno Kodachi had hidden in the shadows beside the wall of Furinkan and observed the events of the morning. She was especially concerned with finding out who had so injured her brother, but since he had told her none of the details, she kept a look-out for anything unusual. The shortish redhead with the aura of power almost visible to the naked eye was certainly unusual, she felt. Furthermore, her brother had not mentioned her even in passing, as he surely would have under normal circumstances, and she was in the company of another girl, whom Kodachi recognized as the "Beauteous Tiger" of her brother's fevered rantings, Tendo Akane, albeit much altered from the frumpy girl she had remembered from the last time she had seen her. This was, she thought, suggestive, and she had been engaged in attempting to locate the girl within the building when the screams and explosions had informed her that matters were becoming very odd and dangerous indeed. She had left the building by a convenient window and jumped into the trees, through which she had moved to a position just over the confrontation by the wall, observing the battle in awe. Seeing Akane's peril, she saw also an opportunity to intervene -- and prove her own battle-worth in a theater of the utmost truth -- and had intercepted the demon's spear with her ribbon. Jei's counter pull of the shaft had ripped her from the tree and several yards further into the schoolyard, but she had anticipated this, and landed with all the grace of her gymnastic art, then turned and began to unleash a peroration that would surely stop the monster in its tracks and lead directly to its defeat. "Hold, monster! For now ..." Ranma rebounded in mid-air and turned to the attack as Jei took the opportunity to dispose of at least one opponent and struck directly for Akane's heart. "... you face the wrath ..." Akane declined to be spitted and counterattacked before Jei could drive home his spear, catching the spear-shaft just behind the head with the odd speed she suddenly seemed to have acquired, and putting a circle kick from the hip into Jei's midsection. "... of the Black Rose ..." Jei was driven back by the kick, and Ranma altered her trajectory to track him as he stumbled into range of Kodachi, and felt that one foe was as good as another. " ...Ugghkk." Kodachi gasped, as her speech was rudely interrupted by the butt of Jei's spear driving past her defense to slam into her midriff, tearing her leotard and breaking several ribs. The but was followed by the spearhead, rotating like a fan blade as Jei drove it in an arc that would have torn through her heart, while gathering balefire to his off hand. Would have, except for Ranma's fall from the heavens, to cut through Jei's arm, severing it briefly and reducing the wound to a 3 inch deep cut across and through several ribs and deeply into the muscle of her left arm. The fireball that followed as Jei fell away from Ranma's strike spattered across Kodachi regardless of Ranma's swatting, ki-charged hand, and she fell backwards, crippled, bleeding and aflame. Some distance away, a young man who had been engaged in the occupa- tion of shepherding students away from the fight looked up, and ran to her side with a shriek of rage and pain, "Sister, no!" Jei regained his feet with a snarl, but Ranma had seen enough. She had the measure of his defense now, and it only remained to accomplish the attack that would destroy him. She kept him on the defensive with a barrage of mini-lightning bolts as she closed, followed by a blister- ing exchange of fists, feet, spear strokes and sword blows that maneuvered Jei into the position she wanted. Tatewaki reached his sister's side just as Ranma put Jei in the posi- tion she wanted him in. "_NOW_ Akane," she roared. And Akane, seeing her chance, snatched up the central pillar, now detached, of the desk she had previously used, and charged into Jei's back, using the pillar as an improvised club. An attack that was fully successful in all ways except one: she got the angle to hit him at slightly wrong. Jei did not fly in the direction Ranma had wanted, nor did he go as far, and Ranma altered direction again, on the ground this time, as Tatewaki reacted to the presence of the beast that had wounded his sister with the beginnings of the best attack he could muster, his bokken blurring in the air. "Strikestrikestrikestrike...". Jei, of course, ignored the attack, bringing the shaft of his spear over his head and down onto Tatewaki, sending the bokken from his hand and dropping him, stunned, across his sister's body. And Akane followed up her original attack before he could reverse and use the blade, shoving him forcefully a couple of feet away, and following up to grab the fallen bokken as she sprawled across the pile of Kunos. She turned over desperately, bringing the bokken around to block the descending spear-point away so that it thudded into the dirt beside her, and then continuing with the only attack she could muster from her position flat on her back on the ground. An attack that she knew was inadequate, possessing as she did only the mediocre skill gained by her desultory studies previously and one day of Ranma's instruction. An attack that was, nonetheless, the only thing she had. A kick straight up, with all the force that was in her, past Jei's defense and into his groin. It lifted him up 6 inches, to a roar of shock and hate, forced his hands up, locked around the spearshaft for the downward, unstoppable strike that would skewer her, Tatewaki and Kodachi all three, and gave Ranma one single, unobserved, unoccupied second. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- It was enough. A roaring wind blew Jei away from the sprawled pile, as Ranma smashed into him. A hail of sword blows from all angles taxed his regenerative capabilities and eroded the defense of his ki-shield. A simultaneous flurry of ki-charged one-finger strikes pelted him, whirling him around and around and setting his ki to boiling heat. And Ranma followed him in the circle, countering his spin and dropping her ki to freezing before she called the wind again. "Hiryuu Shouten Haaa!" The Rising Dragon Ascension Strike flamed inward from a circle ten yards across and lifted Jei in a roaring cyclone into the sky. Ranma followed after, riding the wind that was Jei's enemy, returning Tenchuu to her jacket with a snap and drawing a phurba of meteoric iron. This she threw straight upward, through Jei's abdomen, and sent the lightning of the storm after it, upward from the ground to the dagger's place at the apex of the cyclone, damaging Jei past the momentary limits of his regeneration and removing half of his remaining shield. Ranma herself rode the lightning upward, catching the dagger at its apex above Jei's form, momentarily held in equilibrium between wind and gravity. And then Ranma called the wind up into a vortex just above the previous apex of the storm and let Jei fall. She followed his descent with another throw of the phurba, again striking through Jei's body, to thud into the ground far below, again followed by the fury of the storm, shredding the rest of Jei's shield and wounding him deeply. Jei snarled hatred and snapped his spear around to guard. Ranma could not now put another missile past his guard, and to injure him again she must go down, and into his range. And then Ranma played her trump card, pulling from Jacket-space a weapon that Jei could only vaguely place. Some kind of one-hand arquebus, he thought, but surely too small to .... The Desert Eagle roared, and attempted to buck in Ranma's solid grip. Eight times it spoke and eight bullets flew; each jacketed, solid core hollow point missile carrying, locked to the iron spike at the core of its leaden mass, as much of Ranma's ki as she could shove into it while pulling the trigger. Each packet of ki dedicated to the goal of expand- ing its bullet explosively just before it entered Jei's body and then holding the lead and iron in a specific shape during its passage, regardless of the impedance of flesh or bone. A goal each packet achieved exactly, punching eight holes in the spearwolf's body; each in the shape of an ideograph in a scholar's shorthand of ancient China. Eight ideographs relating a saying about men, and butterflies, and the difficulty of telling the difference. Eight ideographs arranged on Jei's torso in a pattern tracing out another ideograph in that same ancient hand. The ideograph called 'Final Emptiness'. The whole assemblage of ideographs forming a spell of dispersal, scattering Jei's energy, dispersing his shield, and damaging his soul. Ranma allowed Jei to fall almost to the ground before using the iron dagger half-buried in the ground below him to anchor the remaining energy of her storm in one titanic bolt of fury, earthing itself through Jei's fatally wounded body and knocking the spear sprawling from his hand at last. She landed, herself, about ten feet away from, and behind, Jei -- now standing in a wide crater and frantically reaching for enough power to regenerate his broken body -- and snapped Tenchuu from its resting place again, sending power through it and waking it to furious, burning life. Then Ranma jumped backwards, past Jei again, Tenchuu flashing. She carved another ideogram through his entire body with her sword: two inward curving lines, each continuing from its bottom up into a crossing loop, forming a symbol not unlike a "W" with a loop extending above the middle point. Then continuing in a single motion over the top of the outer points, closing the curve and leaving only the central loop above it. Ranma landed in front of Jei at a distance of no more than three feet; and Jei, incapable of movement and with all his defenses down, could only watch Ranma's cool emotionless face as she drew back her sword. And then struck straight through the center of the ideogram she had cut into his flesh. And also straight through his heart. Jei exploded into a towering pillar of flame, and Ranma withdrew her sword and resheathed it, waiting. The flame burned itself out in moments, revealing the various limbs and pieces of his torso falling to earth, smeared with an odd, green, burnt looking ichor; and a wide- winged butterfly of an evil green hue, hanging where the ideogram had been, sending up a high pitched, wailing keen, and burning. Ranma swatted it from the air with a ki-sheathed hand, and ground it underfoot. Then Ranma returned from zanshin, and called a slow, pulsing fire to her hand. "Come back from _that_, you pustule on the backside of divinity", she snarled bitterly, using pulses of the flame to burn the corpse of the butterfly to ash, and set the remaining pieces of Jei's corpse afire. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Akane was just struggling to her feet again as Ranma turned from the evilly smoking fires. She was aching, burnt, scratched in several places, bore more bruises, scrapes and minor cuts than she could bear to think about, and the only thing she wanted was for Ranma to tell her that it was over. Ranma pulled her into a brief, hard hug and whispered, "You did great, Akane-chan!" Ranma thumped her briefly on the shoulder and let her go, grinning at her widely for a moment. Then Ranma turned to the gate of Furinkan, walking over to check on the body there, and Akane bent down again to help Kodachi and Tatewaki. Ranma strode over to Nagao's body, and knelt down. She could easily see that he was dead, but she used ki-sight anyway, to make sure. Then she gently closed his staring eyes, and stood up looking over at the gate to see what she had noticed from the corner of her eye. It was a briefcase, which she picked up, examined, and then quickly brought over to Akane, who was standing next to the Kunos and talking to Nabiki, who had summoned medical and police units to the school. "What's wrong, Ranma?" Akane noted her friend's grim expression. Ranma held up the case, so Akane could see what was written there: Asano, S., and an address. Akane's eyes went wide in horror. "Do you know where this is, Akane-chan?" And at her nod, "Then I think, Nabiki, that you should call aid to that address, too. And I think that Akane and I should go there now, as well. And I think that we should run." Akane nodded jerkily and ran toward the gate, waving her hand toward Sayuri's distant house. "She's over that way, Ranma. But the fastest way there is...." She was interrupted by the feeling of arms around her waist, and jerked into the sky. Landing on the roof in the appropriate direction Ranma flowed into a smooth run, leaping gaps in the roof line with focused unconcern. Akane followed, gulping in trepidation at the gaps she would have to jump, but making no protest. Across Nerima they traveled in leaps and bounds, Akane leading Ranma across roof lines in as straight a line as she could, bypassing the traffic on the crowded streets below. Shortly, they heard the rising wail of sirens, and Ranma suddenly snarled an oath. "I can feel it now unblocked, Akane-chan, I've gotta hurry," she snapped out, before blurring into a red and black streak. Akane followed as quickly as she could and reached the roof line over Sayuri's house to find Ranma picking herself up from the ground, smoking slightly, and a dozen paramedics charging the door. "Wait," Ranma roared uselessly, "the bloody thing's ...." The paramedics hit the door and were thrown back, with casualties, by a burst of green fire. "... warded. Damn!" Ranma snapped back to her feet and stalked forward, as Akane jumped down. "Get _back_ you fools, there's magic here." Ranma jogged up to the door and raised her hand, ki coalescing around it in an in-drawing vortex. She thrust her hand forward in the same gesture she had used earlier, outer fingers veed and inners curling, and burned a circle of green fire into the air before the doorway. The door collapsed into dust as the circle of fire exploded around the house, blowing everyone in a block's radius except those behind Ranma flat to the ground. The door vanished, and Ranma strode forward, hand at her side, ki still gathered. Akane followed after, as did those paramedics and police still on their feet. The darkness within shifted like a living thing, snarling and drawing down, choking. Ranma pulsed ki to her hand, drawing the dark close about it, and then shifted polarity, and expressed the ki of the vortex she had generated as sunlight. A brilliant flash of light destroyed the darkness, burning down its resistance and banishing it with a fading wail. Ranma glided into the house; glancing at the older woman laying in the doorway with a broad spear mark through her outer chest she left the body to others and strode to the small body laying nearly hidden in another room. Kneeling down, she checked Sayuri's ki with a sinking heart, but then snapped her head upward to Akane with burning but worried eyes. "She's still alive! But she's not breathing, and she's fading fast! Get help, and I'll try to call her back." Akane spun and went rapidly back to the other part of the house, to fetch a medic, and Ranma gathered all the ki she could at short notice, then struck one hand downward toward Sayuri's chest, flaming into new life as it went, ki curling about it ready to call the body beneath her back to life .... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nyahhahahahahaha!!!! Another cliffhanger! Evil, I'm so evil! Some people commented that last episode seemed a little slow, and didn't have much action. That's because I was saving the action for this one. Was, ahh, that more what you had in mind? Next: Well, did she live or didn't she? The aftermath at Furinkan. Counting up the cost. Ranma and Akane take a bath! More training! And at dinner, Ranma tells a story. Who? What? When? Where? Why? Questions answered, and background explicated, next time on: Ranma and Akane: A Love Story Chapter 3: The Third Day Part C: Exploiting the Breach: Telling Stories Eric Hallstrom hallcon@mindspring.com