Past Life, Present Death, Painful Future. - Chapter One. Written by: Matdeception ************************************************************************ Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the intellectual rights of Ranma ½ or any of the characters found within, this wonderful series belonging to Rumiko Takahashi, and in know way is this meant to be taken seriously from a literary point of view. I write this for fun and to pay homage in my own way to the original author. Thank you. Authors Notes: Have fun; next chapter will show one of the three series that will eventually crossover into this story. Hope you enjoyed it. Please send any comments and or criticisms (so long as they are constructive) to narkanarka@hotmail.com. Flames to my dumpster pls, kk thanks. Check out my website: www.matdeception.9cy.com for future updates! ************************************************************************ The time for Ranma's triumphant return came but sadly it also left with no passing sign of the pigtailed martial artist. The denizens of Nerima were, for the most part, worried when the boy failed to return. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks to months, their worry changed from worried despair to guilty joy; joy that he had not returned there by bringing ruin to the peace they had oh so rarely gotten to enjoy. While the denizen's raised their toasts to a saner world, reactions from those more closely involved with the boy varied, but were nonetheless significant to all involved. Genma Saotome, father and sensei to the boy, and Soun Tendo, Master of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial arts, at first cursed the boy for his obvious lack of honor in fleeing from his obligation to marry Akane, thereby combining the schools. They continued to curse his existence, until the day local tourists had stumbled upon Ranma's pack on the outer fringes of Ryugensawa. Ranma's pack had been caked in mud, a testament to the elements it had endured before being recovered from the wild. Its innards mostly a watery mess, aside from a single schoolbook that had the boy's name written upon the cover. When the mud and grime had been peeled away, the tell tale signs of blood were discovered, which served to Rally Genma and Soun to perform 'Operation: Find Ranma!', and cast a growing shroud of fear over the youngest Tendo's heart. A month into Ranma's disappearance had shown much change in the neighborhood, in comparison to the perpetual chaos that tended to saturate the area. The battles had tapered off, with Ranma absent the purpose of those battles seemed to have withered away, gone as quickly as the boy himself had vanished. With the discovery of his bag, and the evidence of foul play, many who yearned for the chaotic disorder to return began to lose hope. Genma and Soun departed shortly after the bag had been found, swearing to themselves and others with such passion and determination in their eyes, that none could disbelieve their fanatical obsession in finding the boy, at the very least making sure he was alive and well. If you were to look in the eyes of Genma Saotome just as he left to search for his son, gone would be the glint of mischievous greed, of his cowardly soul. Left in the wake of Ranma's disappearance would be a glimmer of steel, outlined with determination and an iron will to see this harrowing event to its end. Perhaps you might even see a father's love for his son, but who is to say for certain. Happosai's response to the disappearance had, at least at first, been about expected of the ancient letch. No Ranma around to get in the way of his plans? To foul yet another panty raid? It was heaven on earth for the diminutive Grandmaster Two months into Ranma's disappearance however, Happosai left in search of the missing youth. No one knew where he had vanished off too for certain, but many suspected he went to aid the fathers in their search for the boy. The more skeptical, such as Nabiki and Cologne, hazard to guess it was simple to nuzzle, or fondle the orbs of his precious 'Ranma-chan' again. Neither cared however, aside from the general disgust and malaise one would feel about such a being, but if the letch managed to find Ranma and bring him home to them safely, the two were more than willing to ignore such despicable actions. Ukyo, when Ranma had first vanished, left in search of her errant fiancée, fully convinced he was laying some where hurt, and in desperate need of his cute fiancée's gentle touch. During her search, when news of Ranma's pack being found caked with small amounts of blood reached her ears, it took all of her traveling companion's, Konatsu, considerable talents to keep her from charging off into the night, going god knows where to do only kami knows what. Till this day, the kunochi had yet to determine where Ukyo had intended to go that night, but such a matter wasn't important. Two and a half months into Ranma's disappearance, Ukyo finally decided her blind searching wasn't producing any results, and only hurting her on the general whole. Returning to Nerima, Ukyo set about burying herself in her studies and her struggling business. Her future was very important to her, and though she loved the boy with all her heart she knew is she didn't continue her studies, or keep her business running, then even if she could find the boy she could possibly be homeless, but who's to say with certainty. She did, however, keep her doors open late at night, holding strong onto that dim hope he would appear there, his goofy yet charming grin plastered across his face. The Kuno's, Kodachi, Tatewaki, and the nut of a principal weren't suddenly out to reap the rewards of Ranma's disappearance. Perhaps their family were more empathic than they let on, or perhaps not. Whatever the reason however, things changed. Tatewaki left shortly after Ranma's disappearance, stating in a serious, level tone that the demon must have fled, stolen his pig-tailed goddess in the night, and that he must be stopped once and for all. No one has heard from him since his departure. Kodachi's departure from Nerima went in a similar vein, only instead of swearing to destroy the male Ranma, she swore to obliterate the red headed witch with her darling's name, there by breaking the despicable enchantment that truffle had obviously cast over him in an attempt to make him abandon the epitome of perfection that she is. She also went in the opposite direction Tatewaki had traveled too, but this was inconsequential. The principal didn't care overly much, but he had learned something pivotal when the boy had disappeared. Even with out the bad kiekies presence, the students still rebelled against his hair cut plan. It was a bit of an eye opener for the aging educator, when he realized that while Ranma was the key figure in the rebellion against his perfect ordered school, he had simply started the process. Now with his absence, others took up the call whenever he tried to institute a new rule. In a bout of irrational logic, this led him to begin development of the worlds first time traveling device of non-magical means, fully planning on returning to the past and stopping Ranma Saotome's birth, there by granting him full control over the school and its pathetic residents in the future. If Ranma hadn't been there to throw off the shackles of his tyranny... eer... managerial enforcement, the students wouldn't be able to resist him as they were now. It almost worked in those gaijin movies right? So why not now? Rumor's speculated that the principal had indeed succeeded in this endeavor, but sadly he hasn't been heard from in some time. Where he could be, or more importantly, when, is anyone's guess at this point. The school would have acquired a new principal by now, but according to a rule the principal had instated right before he vanished, they wouldn't be able to until he had been missing for ten years. Oh how they were counting the days down with excitement! The Amazon's, Shampoo, Cologne, and of course the loveable but pathological Moose had used many a artifact in their search for the pigtailed one. They all failed, however, for one reason or another. The only time they seemingly got one to work it had led them to Ryugensawa, and after many many months of fruitless searching, they reached the conclusion that their artifact had lied to them, or was in some way dysfunctional. Rather sad, since on more than one occasion the trio had been within shouting distance of his burial spot. When they finally gave up and returned to their home in Nerima, the trip adopted a very Ukyo like stance to the situation, deciding to simply wait for him to eventually return, as they hoped he eventually would. All, they believed at least, it would take is time. Patience was a virtue of grace after all. Aside from Genma, Soun, and Happosai, the rest of the Tendo residents behaved about as expected of them when one of there loved ones, even if it was harder for a certain young Tendo to admit, disappeared. Nabiki, using her spy network, sent the word out far and wide concerning the missing youth in an attempt to track him down. Sure, at first she was angry at the jock for simply vanishing as he did, but as time wore on that anger dissipated to frenzied worry, then to overwhelming fear for his safety. Though she would be loath to admit it publicly, she did care for the boy as any sister could. It came as a blow to her pride when her network failed time and time again to dig up any substantial leads as to his whereabouts, eventually becoming a blow to her heart as she wept silent tears when the months carried on with no more than whispers of his presence, all of which turned out to be false leads. Kasumi didn't change as much as one would expect, outwardly in either case. She was still the glue that held the family together, doing her level best to keep Akane from worrying herself to death, and though she had been sworn to secrecy, she did much the same for Nabiki on those off occasions she couldn't keep her worry about the situation contained anymore. Akane dealt, at least at the beginning, with the situation in the typical way. Beat things until she cooled off, or Ranma returned, and then beat him for worrying her so. She felt for certain he was off galloping around with those hussies. However, eventually she accepted the fact he wasn't off doing perverted things, but was missing as everyone else believed. Anger was replaced by worry, and on many occasions Kasumi had to convince her that they were doing everything in their power to find him, and that if she went out to for him she wouldn't be doing anyone any good, least of all herself. For a time she had fallen into a great depression over his disappearance, her grades had slipped and it appeared to all the fire that made Akane Tendo the special person that she was had gone out, or withered to the barest of embers. Perhaps it was the heartache of a missing loved one, or the guilt she faced when thinking about possible reasons he wouldn't return, whatever it was in the end didn't matter. Akane suffered a break down, one she didn't recover from for many months. Until.. Ben. Ben Kanobi (1), a transfer student from the states studying business ethics within Tokyo University, had taken notice of the young girl on one of his many trips to Nerima, the only place to get good booze for some reason he had yet to discover. The relationship started off pretty rocky, as is Akane's usual with any relationship, but eventually blossomed into something more as she eventually recovered from her shell of depression, cast over her by Ranma's disappearance. *** One morning, five months into the disappearance of Ranma, and a month since Akane and Ben got together Kasumi sighed as she exited the Kitchen, all her worked finished in record time. Since Ranma's disappearance she had begun to realize how much that one person had meant to this house. Since he left, she could literally feel the lifeblood of the house drain bit by bit, as if it was slowly dying with out his presence. Her chores had certainly been light as of late, she didn't know whether to be sad or happy considering that fact. Stepping into the living room, she gave a small wave to the only other occupant in the room, her sister Nabiki. Akane had gone out with Ben tonight. Kasumi was happy for her sister, the emotionless shell she had wrapped over her self with Ranma's disappearance had been disconcerting, and she feared Akane would one day snap. Kasumi might have felt a tab bit angry over the fact, seeing it as a personally betrayal to Ranma, but she was hardly one to lecture on the feelings of the heart, her dismal failure in snaring Tofuu Ono being a perfect example. Sitting down on the couch, Kasumi tilted her head towards her sister. Maybe Nabiki had heard something recently? How to broach the subject with her though. "Nabiki?" "Yeah sis?" Nabiki answered while chewing on the end of her pencil, her eyes never leaving the ledgers or acubus she was currently working on. 'Maybe it would be best if I got to the point...' Kasumi thought, before putting thoughts to action. "How long has Ranma been missing?" Nabiki sighed, lowering her head on top of the ledgers as she groaned out from where she laid, "Five months too long." Kasumi fretting, her dainty hands playing with the hem of her apron, "I do hope he's alright." Her voice full of concern and worry. Nabiki's sigh deepened. The two had had this conversation many times in the passing months, and it always brought up the feeling of uselessness on her part. If only she could do something more than placate her sister. "Yeah sis, me too." "What about Ryoga? Could he know anything about it?" Kasumi asked hopefully. She knew he hadn't been seen either, but there was always hope he had turned up recently and could perhaps shed some light on the situation. "He's been missing just as long sis." Came Nabiki's reply, and Kasumi's dim hope faded just a little more. "Do you think Akane misses him?" "No... yes." Nabiki seemed to stutter here for a second, her voice full of venom for a moment before gradually fading away to something more gentle. Though she seemed uncertain, which piqued Kasumi's interest even more. "Nabiki?" Kasumi asked worriedly. "She misses him, and we both know how much she was hurting when he didn't come back.. but I think she's put him behind her.." Kasumi sighed, truly disappointed. "Oh, how sad. I always thought those two would make a good couple." "Maybe." Nabiki allowed. "Where ever he is, I hope he's all right. I don't think daddy or Uncle Saotome will be the same again." Kasumi pointed out. True the two men hadn't returned from their search, but in the letters they received from time to time the Tendo girls knew the search wasn't going well. Thankfully Nodoka had yet to learn of Ranma's disappearance, even after all this time. The training trip excuse was getting old, and they both knew she would figure something was wrong sooner or later. "We can only hope." Nabiki rolled her eyes. Hope, it hadn't gotten them anywhere so far. "Here's to hoping." Kasumi agreed as she laid her head back, eyes closing as she sent a silent prayer to whatever god would listen. *** "Don't think we in Tokyo no more, Todo!" exclaimed the Nacadaminun nut. All around him lush vegetation of species he never knew existed spouted tall and proud, so full of life and flourish, a setting completely at odds with the fifty foot tall lizard currently chasing after said Nacadaminun nut. Todo had seen better days too. Where once stood a proud pineapple with a red handprint smeared over its surface to give it a face, only half its body remained. (2) If one looked closely, one could see that some one, or something, had taken a large bite out of the inanimate fruit. Not that Kuno cared any, currently engrossed with trying to save his life. He would have return to the future the moment he realized he had gone too far back in time to be of any use, but when you appear in the middle of a stamped of huge lizards with long necks, bronto something Kuno thought, one doesn't take the time to move their only means of returning home from the path of destruction, but rather saves themselves like any normal person would. Now here he was, stuck some where in the ancient past where Dinosaurs still walked the earth, stranded until he could some how, some way, find the materials needed to get home. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The T-Rex was getting closer. Running as fast as he could, Kuno lost all track of time as he focused on the task at hand. His lungs were burning, his muscles screaming at the continued exertion he had been force to exude. Even with all his efforts the T-Rex easily kept up with the man. The T-Rex wasn't hungry actually; it was more curios in what the hell this thing was. It looked like a 'spiked tail' treat, but with out the tail and not as fat. It was slower than most of its chosen food, that was for sure, but it seemed more agile. Panting, tired, and damn near death from the exertion, Kuno broke through the foliage and found himself in a quandary of sorts. Sliding to a halt mere inches from a cliff face, the desperate principal of Furikan high peered over the edge. The walls of the cliff were jagged and intimidating, the fall being around one hundred, to two hundred feet in length, ending in what appeared to be a river filled with sharp pointy rocks. BOOM! BOOM! Kuno gulped, turning around slowly to face the monstrous lizard that had harried and tracked him for all these weeks (Actually it was only a few minutes, but in Kuno's mind the delusions of him being the best at everything reared it's ugly head, thus it had to take weeks for the stupid lizard to catch him like this). The creature opened its maw in preparation for its grisly feast, its teeth gleaming in the light as saliva dripped uncontrollably from its sharp fangs. Looking at the maw that promised certain doomed, and then back to the cliff, then back to the maw, then back to the cliff. Kuno came to a decision. "You'll never eat me alive!" and then jumped of the cliff. The T-Rex blinked as he watched the curios critter jump over the cliff, which of course meant certain death. What ever could have caused to it react in such a way, it wondered. Peering over the edge, it watched as the screaming.. thing.. descended to what would be a grisly death. Just as Kuno was about to hit the water, and the deadly sharp rocks beneath the surface, a screeching KAW echoed along the cavern walls. Pausing in his screaming the plump principal twisted as best he could in mid air to see what on earth was making that racket. The T-Rex groaned as a Pterodactyl swooped in and pinched the little thing before it could hit the bottom. The little thing hadn't stopped screaming, but at least it was alive... until it got back to the Pterodactyl's nest that is. Oh well *** Darkness gave way to more darkness. His eyes hurt, feeling as if sand had gotten in them. This normally wouldn't have bothered him, had he been able to move his arms much more than an inch, with even that taking a monumental effort on his part. He tried to open his mouth again, remembering to late that it was filled with 'sand' as well. 'Was it even sand?' he often wondered before the darkness claimed him again. Darkness gave way to more darkness. Push, he had to keep pushing. Was he on his back? Was he on his front? If pushing on his front, he could very well end up in America.. no, such a silly thought. Gravity didn't work that way; he knew he was on his back. He had to be. 'How long have I been here?' he wondered often as his strength left him again, darkness claiming him soon after that. Darkness gave way to more darkness. Rage poured through his veins as he pushed, and pushed, and pushed. 'What am I angry at?' he had asked himself. Before he knew the answer, but now in the darkness his memories had begun to fade with every passing moment. 'I know what I'm angry at.' He swore inwardly, 'This damn sand wasn't moving fast enough! God damnit! LET ME O...' Darkness gave way to more darkness. He never did have much time. Wherever he was, he couldn't breath, and the pain of asphyxiation had long since been tuned out and ignored over the many times darkness had claimed him. 'I can't be dead, this can't be the afterlife.. it just can't' he repeated in his mind as the strength in his arms gave out again, when the darkness consumed him once more. Darkness gave way to more darkness. Will dinner be ready when he gets out? If he hurried.. maybe. Kasumi wouldn't be happy with him if he were late. 'Who's Kasumi?' he asked himself again. Names were becoming harder and harder to remember of late. They just seemed unimportant... his strength was failing him again, and the darkness would soon come for him. 'What's this?' he could feel something other than dirt at the tips of his fingers.. it was cold, it moved, it was.. Darkness gave way to more darkness. 'What was I doing?' he wondered. Oh yes, the feeling at the end of his fingers... it wasn't cold anymore. Strange, it was actually heated.. 'Push, Dig faster.. I'm almost free'. Was he really free? He hoped. With a final push the darkness was banished, the light of the sun filling his vision briefly, skewed greatly by the dirt that had managed to gather in his eyes. The warmth of the sun hitting his skin filled him with a sense of anxiousness, an almost overwhelming joy to be free of the confined earth. Lost on these feelings, he turned and opened his mouth to take a breath of fresh air, his first in who knew how long. Predictably however, he instead promptly turned to the side and puked all the creepy crawly things that had crawled inside his body during.. however long he was down there. 'Extremely painful sensation.' he noted as a bout of dry heaves hit him. Rubbing his eyes, he strained to finally see.. to finally cast away the darkness completely that had encompassed his life for so long. When his vision finally returned, and he beheld exactly what had 'wormed' its way inside, he had to force away the desire to puke again, or dry heave as it were Before him laid a lump of festering mucus, maggots, dirt and a strange colored fungus. He nearly fainted at the sight... he made one finally note to himself, before the darkness claimed him again, 'Must remember to breath.' Ranma Saotome died yet again *** Shinnosuke carefully set down a tarp constructed of dead branches and leaves held together by a hemp rope. He took expert care to hide the trap beneath, leaving no obvious signs that the area had been touched in any way except by nature itself. He sighed in contentment when the job was done, a small smile lighting his features as he turned about, lazily reaching out for his staff. 'Or was it a mop? I always forget' he thought curiously as he began trekking back home. Not even twenty steps were taken before the boy snapped his fingers, exclaiming, "That's it! Grandpa told me to set a few traps!" Now where would be the perfect place for the traps? He turned around and eyed the area. "No.. not here, there's a few traps already..." he sighed. Looked like it was going to take a bit of time to find just the right place. 'Maybe I should set some up closer to the fringes.. help deter people from going too deep into the forest." Shinnosuke thought as he began moving out and away from the deeper forest. *** Darkness gave way to the light. "Ugggh." Ranma groaned, his head swimming and causing a sense of vertigo to settle over him. 'Remember to breath this time damnit!' he mentally berated himself. As the now cool air entered his lungs, Ranma felt a sense of euphoria settle over him. The constant pain he had learned to ignore began fading from his mind as oxygen hit the blood stream, spreading about the particles of H2O his body needed to survive. He stared at the crystal blue sky for a very long time, simply breathing and enjoying the sights he had thought forever lost to his senses, the prison of cursed earth lack greatly in the interior-decorating department. The sensation of the wind against his dirty stinky skin, the feel of his eyes no longer caked in dirt. 'Yeah, that's what it was.. dirt.. no wonder it took so long to get out of that hole.' Something sounded off to his right, and for a moment Ranma adopted an extreme confused look, as if he had never heard sound before. Too tired from his efforts to move much more than his head, he let his head roll to the side, his strength still sapped from lack of food and water. A familiar looking man came through the foliage. Taller than himself, Ranma admired the clean cloths he wore. A dark blue vest like shirt, with matching blue trousers and what appeared to be a stick of some short held aloft over his shoulder. 'Where have I seen this guy before?' he wondered as he tried to raise his voice, hopefully to catch the man's attention, "Gggagckk." That was weird. Why wasn't his voice working? He opened his mouth to speak again, but again he failed to make anything more than a strangled noise. *** Shinnosuke whistled a pleasant little tune he had heard from somewhere, he couldn't remember exactly but it always brought pleasant feelings to him. When he heard the strangled sound, like one of the giant raccoons was choking on a rock again, his head whipped around, the bo staff/mop hanging on his shoulder twirling into action as he prepare for yet another dangerous encounter with the local wild life. 'Where the hell is it?' he wondered when he failed to spot the animal. Getting control of his breathing, he patiently waited for the noise to sound off again. "Ggchacccgh" came the strangled voice yet again. Shinnosuke whipped around, his eyes tracing the noise to where his culprit lied. A familiar looking man was laying near by an open hole in the ground, his skin caked with dirt and grime, his cloths having been torn up and in some place he could clearly see dried blood, especially around the chest. It was hard to pin point considering the dirt, but as the warden of this mystical forest he was much more observant to such things. "Holy Orochi!" Shinnosuke exclaimed as he ran towards the man, coming to a sliding stop next to the unknown. "Are you okay?" he asked out of surprise and concern, immediately groaning inwardly a how stupid such a question would seem to the hurt man. "Gaacckkkk" the man repeated before seeming to pass out. Shinnosuke frowned deeply. He wasn't a paramedic by any means, but even he knew if some one was hurt, bleeding as it were, and they passed out it wasn't a good thing. Not a good thing at all. Dropping his staff, he picked up the man in an shoulder hold - where the man's stomach was pressing into the back of his head, and took off into the forest following a path so ingrained into his psyche that even he couldn't forget it. *** Gramps grumbled about idiot boys with a horrible short-term memory problem. He had sent that boy out to set a few traps over twelve hours ago! Even that blasted grandson of his should have been back by now. Peering off into the forest, Gramps brought his hands to his mouth in an attempt to amplify his voice, "SHINNOSUKE! WHERE ARE YOU YOU BLASTED IDIOT!" he yelled. Receiving no immediate response, Gramps turned around to enter the house. 'Poor boy will just have to suffer tonight. Can't keep the door unlocked forever, who knows what type of creatures would be tempted to get in there otherwise. As he was about to shut and lock the door, he heard a far off scream sound. One full of desperation and concern. Curios as to what could cause such a noise, Gramps stepped back outside and stared off in the direction the voice had come from. When Shinnosuke broke through the foliage into the clearing of their forest home, carrying what looked like a rotting carcass on his back Gramps immediate set into action. Though he would sometimes question the boy's intelligence, even he didn't think he was stupid enough to bring a corpse back here, less the carnivores of the forest detected the scent of a free meal. "Hurry up boy! Bring him inside!" Gramps called out as he rushed inside, in search of the first aid materials. Shinnosuke did as he was told, coming in and kicking the door shut behind him. Looking to and fro in search of a place to put the dying man, Shinnosuke quickly decided the bed would be the proper place. "Hurry grandfather! I think he's been stabbed!" Gramps hurried into the room, tossing the first aid kit down beside the wounded individual were he quickly went to work checking for vital statistics. When his hands came into contact with the boys skin, he immediately notice the clammy feeling of the skin, as well as the fact he was almost as cold as ice. Not good signs under any circumstance. Ripping open the young man's already worn and torn shirt were the boy had been supposedly stabbed, Gramps frown turn to a look of confusion when he found unblemished skin beneath. 'Something really strange is going on here.' He mused as he leaned forward, applying his first and fore finger against the artery of the boy's neck in search of a pulse. Finding none, Gramps turned a sorrowful look at his grand son, who had a look of dread anticipation, "He's dead son.." Shinnosuke signed, his head sinking in defeat, "If.. if only I had been faster!" Gramps shook his head sadly at the display. He couldn't let his son blame himself for this young man's death. He reached out and touched his shoulder, "Shinnosuke, it wasn't your fault.." Shinnosuke sniffled some, his breath coming in pants. He looked up, tear-stained eyes staring at the corpse in dread. For a moment everything seemed normal to gramps considering the situation, but when Shinnosuke eyes widened in surprise Gramps began to worry that his grandson had finally snapped. "Gramps! Look! He's alive! He's breathing!" Shinnosuke exclaimed in excitement, his mood immediately shifting. Gramps sighed again. 'Yes, the poor boy has lost his mind.' Well, he knew one way to get it back under control. With a shout of "MEGATON PUNCH!" Gramps decked the excited Shinnosuke through the wall and out into the great blue yonder. He shook his head when the moan of pain reverberated from outside, 'Poor kid.'. Turning around to the corpse Gramps nearly went into hysterics himself. Were just a moment ago the corpse of the young man had laid, now laid the body of a young man blinking at him curiously. 'Oi.. shit.. I've seen some weird things.." "Gccckkk" the young man tried to sound again, lifting his arm ever so weakly towards a water bottle. "Your Thirsty?" Gramps asked, to which the boy nodded feebly, "YOU'RE THIRSTY!" he exclaimed as he made a lunge for the water bottle. Ranma took the offered bottle of water and drank greedily. A curious sensation began to spread across his chest, shortly before spreading out to his limbs. It was as if new strength was flooding his body, invigorating the atrophied muscles and healing wounds he didn't even know he had sustained. But as quickly as the renewed strength came, it ended when the bottle's water emptied. He looked at the bottle skeptically for a moment, before turning his attention back to gramps and motioning for more. It took Gramps a few moments to realize what the boy wanted, but when he did he eagerly supplied the boy with what he wanted. As the boy chugged gallon after gallon of water, Gramps sat back and marveled at the young man. He was looking infinitely better than he had been, each gulp of water returning shades of health to his body. Marveling at this mystery, he almost missed Shinnosuke coming back into the hut and yelling at him. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE!?! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Shinnosuke screamed, brandishing a broken stick he had picked up outside when he couldn't find his trusty mop. "MEGATON PUNCH!" *** Ranma gulped the offered food down greedily, marveling at the taste. The fluid of the stew was hot and thick, greasy while leaving him feeling full. The meat was chewy, juice escaping its soft tender surface as he chewed quickly. He would notice a distinct feeling of loss as he finished each bowl, as if he could never regain the joy his body felt as it took into itself the food he had long since grown accustomed to not receiving. A wellspring of joy would swell up in his heart when the old man, Gramps, refilled his deep bowl with the bounty of the boiling pot hanging over the blistering angry fire within the cobblestone fireplace. Soon he would again feel the thick liquid trailing down his throat, reaching his stomach where the warmth of its substance would spread over his body, a feeling he dimly remembered was similar to being wrapped up from head to toe in a security blanket. Gramps watched the boy with a quizzical eye; his wrinkled brow creasing like putty would if it was folding upon itself numerous times. His thoughts were of the boy before him, concern for his well being and amazement for the surreal way he swallowed gulp after gulp of his rather terrible stew. He found himself comparing the way Ranma ate the food, the quickness of his movements, the control he manage to exude as he dipped his spoon beneath the hot watery surface of the soup to find the meat and vegetables that had been added to the broth. He thought back, marveling at what had taken place in the short few hours it had been since they discovered the boy. In that time the boy had hardly said more than a few words, and only those being of gratitude for their hospitality. It was an improvement in any case, since he couldn't speak more than a guttural groan when he had first arrived here. As the boy finished yet another bowl of stew, taking it upon himself to refill and begin eating again, Gramps thoughts focused on the boy's features themselves, now clearly visible with the dirt and grime washed way. It had been a battle of epic proportions to even get the boy away from their food and water supply to bath, and fit him into a change of clothes, but now that he knew whom the boy was, his curiosity increased tenfold. (3) Ranma Saotome was suppose to be missing, his pack had been found near the outer fringes of the forest, caked in mud and stained with blood in a few places. Gramps had suspected foul play when he alerted the authorities, but being a hermit within this ancient forest left little courses of action he could have taken to find out the truth. When Cologne of the Amazon's had arrived, requesting permission to search the forest for their missing comrade, Gramps remembered quickly agreeing with the woman, enthusiastically in fact. He owed much to the boy, for putting the Orochi back into their slumber, while also saving his grand son's life using the source of the spring a life, fungus that had grown upon the Orochi themselves. His hope that the boy was still alive, some where in the forest had died months down the road, when Cologne sadly informed that she, nor her two companions, could find hide nor hair of his presence remaining within the forest. 'What happened to him?' was a question he had asked himself many times, only in recent days had he begun to forget about the boy. Now here he was, turning up while on deaths doorstep, eating hungrily and drinking with little thought to anything else around his persona. Ranma burped loudly, placing the bowl and utensil down to his side, signifying he had indeed finally finished. Gramps shook himself free of his thoughts, "Finished?" he asked. Ranma smiled brightly, his head bobbing up in down like a child's would when they had done something exciting but weren't willing to tell you what that was. "Good.. it's late, and I'm going to bed." Gramps struggled to stand up as he spoke, "You can sleep by the fire tonight, and we'll talk more in the morning." He stated before disappearing into his room. Ranma watched the old man go with a curious glint shining like a sliver of silver in his eye, when the door to the old man's door clicked shut, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground, dead asleep, a sense of relief spreading across his face and body as he descended into the darkness, this time at his own choosing. *** The next day Ranma stared at the body of water, its surface unmoving and docile in the crisp morning atmosphere. He watched his reflection stare back up at him with the same expression of lost wonder. He raised a hand slowly to his cheek, brushing the pink sensitive skin beneath as he watched his reflection do the same. A moment passed, him simple watching himself reflected in the waters below before he reached out slowly, his hand quivering as it came into contact with the cool waters below. His eyes widened, the water's serene surface spoiled as his hand came into contact, ripples spreading out from the point of contact. Touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell.. his senses were working in perfect order, yet his mind struggled to grasp onto this fact. He couldn't stop the fear in his heart that all of this, the wonderful food, the clear refreshing drinks, the crisp clean air.. all of it had been a dream. He was slowly beginning to accept the truth however, the truth that he was no longer bound within the cursed earth. He was free... tears, crystalline slivers of water and salt began escaping his eyes, the liquid cooling and stinging his cheeks as the restless wind swayed across his face. "I'm.. free." His voice delirious, yet calming on the same note. "I'm free.." he sounded again, calmer than before. His feelings were ignited, euphoria present and rampant throughout his consciousness. It was a wonderful dream, to be free again. A dream he realized with belated breath... That was reality. *** The morning sunlight filtered through the blinds of his room, the old faded blinds doing little to block the morning luminous bands of light. Gramps grumbled, his old wrinkled eyelids doing little to shield from the invading markers of the day. Eyes opening slowly, he remained in his bed, protected by the soft old sewn quilts as the lethargy or waking up so early began to clear from his mind. Events of the passing day slowly trickled in, and excitement he hadn't felt in many years came to him, remembrance of days when you never knew what life would bring you easing the feeling of growing to old for the world off his mind slightly. Leaning up slowly, his old bones protesting the movement, Gramps winced as a subtle and all too familiar pain shot up his side, causing quivering pains in his joints. 'Blasted arthritis.' He swore mentally, the words feeling comforting in his defiance to lie down and let these painful reminders of his age control his life. He couldn't let them control his life today like he might have on some other days, his curiosity over where Ranma had been, and what he had been through pushing him onward. *** Shinnosuke had watched Ranma stumble out of the house when dawn first crept over the horizon; his curiosity grew when the boy stopped before a puddle of water that had formed some time during the night's brief shower. He was about to call out when the boy dropped to his knees, his eyes of gray blue locked on the puddle of water with an intensity Shinnosuke had rarely ever experienced for himself. He berated himself for staring, ripping his eyes away from their guest and back to the task of cutting firewood. He brought his hands up, eyeing the callous and scared tissue for a brief second. Gathering saliva, he spitted into his hands, quickly rubbing them together before picking up the well-worn axe. He had just been about to break the first log, when an old and strangely familiar voice sounded from behind, "How long has he been out here?" Biting back a barb of, "Who the hell are you!" Shinnosuke forced himself to shrug slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to draw up from his memory just who this old codger was. "A little while.. why?" "Curious.. just curious." the old man answered, his wizened eyes detaching from Shinnosuke, trailing after the boy who was even now reaching out to disturb the cool reflective surface of the water before him. Shinnosuke was about to tell the codger to get off his property, when the subtle noise of crying reached his senses. He turned towards the boy he now hovered of the water, confidant that the source of the noise came from him. *** Ranma sniffled, leaning back and away from the puddle of water, his gaze leaving the agitated surface of water and falling on the varying shades of green, gray, and brown the forest around him had to offer. The colors, to him they seemed magical. He felt as if he were seeing them for the first time, so new and full of life. His euphoria was replaced by elation, the wonders of nature calming him down and covering him in a veil of peaceful feelings. Sounds echoed off to his side, serving to tear his eyes from the colors all around him. Eyes alighting on the two people he knew had found him, had fed, bathed, and cleaned him. They felt familiar to him, like he knew them from somewhere or some time in the distant past, but the knowledge just wouldn't come forward. He realized then, he had forgotten much about himself, and much about the world at large. "Hey.." "Morning, Ranma.. how do you feel?" the old man he had come to know as Gramps asked, his brow creased in a way that told Ranma he cared enough to worry. "Lost.. yet not.. do you know me?" He asked, voice laced with a subtle hope, reverberating with a sense of profound loss. Gramps nodded slowly, his friendly smile sliding down into a deeply concerned one, "Yes I do.. do you know yourself?" he had to know the scope of damage the boy's recent injuries had caused. "I do kinda.. and I don't." Ranma confessed with a sigh, "Its like a dream.. far away, details impossible to see.. but I know its there. Images some times clear up, but they fade to fast to make sense of em.. does this make any sense to you?" "Some what, come inside before you catch cold. We'll talk some more inside." Gramps motioned towards the house. Shinnosuke wouldn't have it, "Look old man, I want you to stay out of my house! Kind of nerve do you have, walking in where you don't belong?" Gramps was tempted to perform the megaton punch on his idiotic grand son, but early morning laziness won this round, "Just.. shut up." Shinnosuke grumbled, "Stupid old man." To be continued... (1) Shameless Star Wars reference (2) Cast Away reference. (3) Nothing happened? Imagine that! And for all you Ranko lovers out there.. just wait and see.