Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful
Romiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America).
This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright
infringement is intended.
WARNING: I DO NOT PROMISE I WILL EVERY CONTINUE THIS STORY. THIS IS
STRICTLY FOR THOSE WHO WHICH TO SEE WHAT I MIGHT WRITE NEXT.
Untitled
story fragment
(not even a whole chapter)
==========================
Ranma sighed and leaned back against his backpack. It had been a long day
of training and he was ready to take a break. He looked up and watched the
stars slowly apear in the evening sky.
The sound of his dinner boiling over caught his attention and he quickly
moved it to the edge of the fire to keep warm. He stired it a bit to make
sure he hadn't let it burn, then sat back to look at the stars again.
Despite a full day of training he wasn't really hungry, there was just
too much to think about and get used to. Besides, his stew was hardly up
Kasumi's standards.
Ranma shuttered a bit at that thought and pushed it asside. He just
wasn't ready to think about that mess right now. Later, when the problems
were farther behind him. He kept watching the night sky and let his mind
empty.
Ranma's highly trained senses caught the small noise far off in the
forest that was approaching him in an erratic pattern. He knew that
sound, it could only be Ryoga wandering around. He'd been expecting the
lost boy to show up, Ryoga's lack of directional sense never seemed to
keep him from finding someone once he started looking, though it often
took him a long time.
Ranma closed his eyes and tried to relax. Talking to Ryoga might be okay,
if he didn't attack first and ask questions later. As he heard the sound
near his camp he called out without opening his eyes.
"Yo, Ryoga. About time you found me."
"Hi Ranma." Ryoga's voice came.
Ranma opened his eyes and stared at the night sky again. He didn't bother
looking at Ryoga, he knew where he was. "I suppose you want to know why I
left." Ranma said.
"No, I think I understand. It was... explained to me." Ryoga said. He
sounded a bit sad.
"You understand?" Ranma asked. "Well, I think you're the only one who
does. No one else bothered to think about how I felt about everything."
Ranma looked at Ryoga and froze in surprise. There was someone standing
behind Ryoga. Someone he hadn't expected to see again. It was Akane,
wearing stained travel cloths and a large backpack.
Akane gave Ranma a weak smile. "Hello, Ranma. Hold on a minute, okay>? I
have to take care of something." She turned to Ryoga.
"All right Ryoga." Akane's voice was no longer soft, but firm, almost
angry. "You brought me to Ranma, now you have one more task before your
debt is paid."
Ryoga bowed stiffly to Akane and turned and walked out of the clearing
without a word.
Akane watched Ryoga until he was out of sight, then walked over to Ranma.
She slid off the backpack and kneeled in front of him. Having finally
recovered somewhat from the shock of seeing her again, he noticed that
she walked with a slight limp. As she sat he also noticed that her face
was haggard and drawn. As near as he could tell in the flickering
firelight, her color didn't look good either, closer to gray that her
usual healthy bronze color.
"Ranma..." Akane began in that soft voice again. Then she stopped and
sniffed the air. "Umm.. is that food?" She asked.
"Stew." Ranma answered. "I was going to dump it, I'm not really hungry
tonight."
"Would you mind?"
"No problem." Ranma handed her some chopsticks and pointed at the tin can
he was using as a pot. She attacked the food like someone was trying to
take it away.
he though. He dug around in his pack and came out with a couple rice
cakes. He started eating one and handed the other to Akane after she
finished the stew.
Akane ate the rice cake almost as fast as the stew, then sat back with a
sigh of contentment. "Thanks, Ranma." she said. "You wouldn't believe
what Ryoga lives on when he's traveling, and you know what my cooking is
like."
"I know." He said with a slight smile. He was suprised to find that he
was happy she was here. Now he just had to find out *why*. If it was to
try and talk him into going back, it was going to be a short conversation.
"Ranma, I need to talk to you. It's going to have to wait though, I
haven't slept in three days, and I would just mess it up right now."
Akane said. "Please promise me you'll stick around long enough to hear me
out?"
Ranma heard the pleading in her voice, and the exaustion. "All right
Akane. I was planning on staying here a few more days anyway."
"Thanks." Akane said. Then she fell over.
"Silly tomboy." Ranma muttered. She dug her sleeping bag out of her
backpack, spread it out, and lifted her onto it. He carefully zipped it
up so she would stay warm - the nights got cold in the mountains. He dug
around in her backpack again to see if she had a small blanket or
something to keep her head off the ground when he noticed that a good
chunk of the backpack was filled by a large wooden sign. He pulled it up
and held it up to the firelight. What he saw made him freeze in shock for
the second time that evening.
It was the Tendo Dojo sign. Why would Akane be carrying it around the
wilderness? A dojo's sign was *important*, in a sense the sign *was* the
dojo. He decided that whatever it was Akane wanted to talk to him about,
it was going to be interesting. He slid the sign back into Akane's pack
and layed down in his own sleeping bag.
Normally Ranma fell asleep almost instantly. Tonight he spent some time
listening to Akane's soft snores. Somehow, he found them oddly comforting
after months of being alone.
* * *
Ranma woke the next moring to Akane's groans.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked.
Akane looked up from where she was trying to get out of her sleeping bag.
She looked at him for a moment as if trying to decide how to answer.
Finally she shook her head.
"I feel like crap" she admitted.
"Well, I hate to say this, but that's about how you look too."
"You really know how to cheer a girl up."
Ranma slid out of his bag. Ignoring the cold morning air he kneeled next
to Akane. He felt her forehead and wrists, took a good look at her drawn
face.
"How's your stomach." he asked. "Any nausea?"
"It's fine. The *rest* of me isn't doing to well."
"Tired?" he asked.
"Yea, and a nasty headache."
Ranma sat back on his heals. "I'd say you're dehydrated, malnorished, and
exausted."
"And what's your treatment doctor?" Akane said dryly.
Ranma handed her his canteen. "You can start by drinking all of this,
slowly. Then you're going to eat every last bit of breakfast that I give
you. Finally you're going to stay in that sleeping bag for the rest of
the day."
Ranma got dressed and started breakfast. He'd been doing some practice
before eating in the morning, but right now it was more important to get
a decent meal into Akane. He gave her three-fourths of the food and they
settled down to eat. Akane attacked the food with almost as much
enthusiasm as dinner the night before.
"Thanks Ranma. I feel much better."
"Well enough to talk?"
Akane sighed. "I guess." She was silent a moment. "I have a question to
ask, but first I've got to tell you some things."
"Okay."
"I'm not sure where to start..." Akane said, sounding very unsure.
"How about telling me what happened after I disowned my family and left?"
Ranma suggested.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/Dojo/5201) (
geocities.com/tokyo/Dojo) (
geocities.com/tokyo)