Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Trials Chapter 5 "He's gone again," Yuri remarked. "Big surprise," Kenji replied dryly. "It's impossible for him to stick around for more than ten minutes." Konatsu said nothing, but instead surveyed the area around him as they walked along, as if he was looking for something. "You won't find him if he doesn't want to be found, Konatsu- kun," Yuri said, when she noticed him looking around. She was referring to Satsu, who walked with them occaisonally, but also disappeared at times for unknown reasons. "That's not what worries me, Yuri-sama," he replied. "I just get the feeling... that we're being watched." Her brother shook his head. "You're just being paraniod. No one knows where we are." He laughed. "At least I was able to get Selah to stay at the Tendos." "But she did agree rather easily, niichan." Kenji shrugged. "At least she did." "Kurumi-chan, have you seen Selah around anywhere?" Kurumi looked up from her manga and shook her head. "Sorry, Kasumi-oneechan. I haven't seen her since yesterday." "Oh dear, I do hope she's all right." "If you want, I can go look for her," Natsume offered as she entered the living room., her rugbeater staff in hand. "I was just about to do some training around the neighborhood." Kasumi smiled. "That would be so nice of you, Natsume-chan." Natsume bowed to Kasumi, then turned to her younger sister. "Come on, Kurumi. You could use some extra training as well, before our next self-defense class in the dojo." The younger girl glanced back and forth between her older sister and her manga. "But, Naaatsuuumee! Mystical Girl Yoko is about to enter the evil queen's lair!" "No buts!" Kurumi huffed once, then slowly stood up, making sure her ribbon was in place on her head. "Oh, all right." For the past month, the two girls held a basic self-defense course twice a week. While technically it was being run by Soun, the girls did most of the teaching after he verified that they were competent. He still helped out from time to time, but it was mostly the girls that ran it. It was a small class, but it did help by bringing extra income into the home to pay for the extra food that was consumed, especially by the ravenous Kurumi, who was able to hold her own against Ranma and Genma in the table wars. Increasingly, Akane became active in those fights as well, since she had developed more of an appetite thanks to the increased training by her iinazuke. Ranma thought since it was one of the few training techniques that Genma used that was actually useful. In her spare time, Natsume, and sometimes Kurumi as well, also went out on `patrol'. It was mainly a training run, coupled with a desire to see how she could help. Whether it was stopping a mugger or assisting a passerby with packages, it seemed Natsume had a strong desire to prove herself worthy of her new family, by making herself as useful as possible. Today's run was mostly uneventful, but both girls did get a good workout. Interestingly enough, it was what waiting for them when they got home that was the most eventful. As they entered the front gate, they could hear Kasumi's voice carry from the rear one. "...sorry, neither Ranma nor Akane are here at the moment," she was saying. "And I'm afraid my father is out for the day with Saotome- san. If you would like to wait, I'm sure one of them will be along shortly to answer your challenge." Natsume stopped, causing her younger sister to bump into her. "Oneechan! what's the big deal?" "The Tendo dojo has a challenger!" she said exitedly. Kurumi couldn't see what the fuss was about. "Yeah, but you heard Kasumi-oneechan, no one's here to answer it." "But we're Tendos now," Natsume explained. "We're honor-bound to defend the family dojo and home. Come on!" With that, she leapt to the top of the house, and from there, down to the other side. Kurumi landed by her side a second later and they both approached the rear gate. Kasumi was blocking the view so they couldn't see the challenger, but to Natsume, it didn't matter. She would defeat whoever it was. An audible sigh could be heard from the other side, as well as a male voice. "So, how long would I have to wait, then?" "Pardon me, Kasumi-oneechan," Natsume interrupted. "But I would like to accept the challenge." Kasumi turned around, but Natsume still couldn't see who the challenger was, since the eldest Tendo sister was still blocking the view. "Oh my, that's awefully brave of you," Kasumi said. "Are you sure?" Natsume confidently nodded. "Yes." With the next line, her voice became louder. "I, Tendo Natsume, accept your challenge on behalf of the Tendo dojo! State your name!" The man's voice sounded unsure. "I, Kumon Ryu, am the challenger of this dojo!" Kasumi chose that moment to move out of the way, giving both the challenger and the accepter of that challenge, their first glimpses of each other. Both sets of eyes widened when they beheld the other. "YOU!" Akane had realized her mistake awhile ago, and could almost hear Ranma berating her about it in her mind. `It looks like you've done it again. Akane no baka. You and your temper.' "Shut up, Ranma," she said tiredly. She had lost track of the two men she had been pursuing and had managed to get lost in the darkened tunnels. Now she would just be happy to get out this place, find Ranma, and go home. That wasn't to say she wouldn't enjoy a little payback if she found one of those two men again, but it was no longer a priority on her list. "Why does this stuff always happen to me?" she asked no one in particular. She sat down against the wall and let the aura she had been using to light her way, fade away. Even though she didn't have a watch, she knew at least a couple of hours had passed since she was abducted and she was starting to feel tired and hungry. She could almost see the family sitting down to wonderfully tasty dinner made by her older sister. Visions of steamed rice, hot miso soup, exquisitely prepared sushi, and mouth-watering ten-don fill her head. "Stop that, Akane!" she told herself. "That's only going to make the situation worse!" She struggled back to her feet. "And if I don't get moving, I'll never get out of here." Concentrating, she slowly formed a white aura to light up the area and continued down the tunnel. She had taken no more than a few steps when a dull roar began to make it's way to her ears. Curious, she continued on, her pace picking up slightly. she wondered. Another minute of travel, and she finally formed a guess as to what it was. She began to jog down the tunnel, for the sound of the rushing water became louder as she did. Her fatigue and hunger pushed aside in the light of new hope, she failed to realize exactly where the sound was coming from; which was right underneath her. Akane gave a startled cry as the ground under her feet suddenly gave way. She plummeted about six feet, before splashing into the river she was trying to find. As she flailed about in the raging waters, she remembered there was still one thing she had been meaning to learn. She still didn't know how to swim. "Are we almost there?" she asked. Satsu chuckled. "Almost. Conditions permitting, we should be there by late this evening." "This evening?" Selah glanced up at the noonday sun and exhaled loudly. "Why couldn't we just take a car or train or something?" "You're the one who wanted to come on this trip, and this is how we do things," Satsu replied as he watched the young girl from his perch on a branch. She trekked on the ground, stopping every once in awhile to adjust her backpack, while he preferred tree-hopping. He had discovered her following them shortly after they left and confronted her about it. Naturally, he had wanted her to turn around and go back, but she was adamant and he wasn't about to use force to stop her. So, he checked up on her occaisonally to see if she was ready to give up. Amazingly, she seemed pretty used to travel and was showing no real signs of quitting. Of course, this left Satsu with something of a dilemma. Outsiders weren't allowed on the Garou clan grounds, so her trip would be useless. On the other hand, she seemed to show a strong spirit. And most importantly, she was a water mage. The clan had long ago lost contact with with the other groups it had been allied with after the great war as each one went off to do their own thing, not caring about the other groups. Despite their recent near-destruction, the mage clans still existed, though scattered and few in number. Satsu was beginning to think this girl could be the key to reforging a link with the mage clans, and to help bring them back together. There was more gut feeling than actual evidence to suggest this, however, so it was more than likely the rest of clan Garou would not agree with him. But in the meantime, he could at least help guide her and make sure she was alright. "Uncle Yoshiro!" "Ukyo-chan!" The big man swept the young girl into a hug. Despite having been gone for six years, Ukyo still recognized her father's brother and, apparently, he recognized her. She could feel the quiet strength behind those arms, that spoke of many years on the road pulling his own yatai. And his graying mustache scratched at her head and made her want to pull away, but she held the hug a few more moments. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet you at the train station," Yoshiro said when he released Ukyo. "But your father has requested I stay here at the house with him." The young chef stepped back to gaze at the house her father had eventually been able to buy. It was white and large, not quite a mansion in size, but close. She had heard rumors through some of the friends and family members she kept in contact with, that her father was able to turn his luck around when Ukyo left and make some real money. For her part, Ukyo didn't know how she felt about it. "Well, you're probably exhausted from your trip," her uncle said, while guiding her into the house. "Why don't you take bath and relax now, hmmm?" Ukyo's face hardened, even while she removed her shoes. "I'd rather see my father now, if you don't mind." Yoshiro tried to laugh it off. "Oh, come now. You want to look the best for your father, don't you? He'll wait an hour for you to freshen up." "No!" Ukyo's command was forceful. "My father's never thought much of before, why should now matter? I haven't seen or heard from him for eight years and now he `summons' me all of a sudden?" She shook her head. "No, I want to see him now." Her uncle sighed heavily, and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Very well. But, please, go easy on him, he doesn't have long." They walked in silence as he lead her down the hall. On the walls, many pictures hung, portraits of past family members long dead. Ukyo wondered where they had come from, then the answer came to her; they were her grandfather's. Her father must have inherited them when his own father passed away. She suddenly realized her uncle had stopped, so she fell in place beside him at the bedroom door. He turned to her then, nodded slowly once, and walked away. Ukyo understood; this was the room her father was in. Taking a deep breath, Ukyo slowly slid open the shoji panel and stepped inside. It had taken Ranma longer than he thought to break through the one ton boulder and chase after Akane. He was almost regretting the choice not to learn the Bakusai Tenketsu, as it would have taken a single finger tap and he would have been through. Instead, it had taken almost ten minutes. Now, he was worridly jogging down the tunnel, looking for his wayward iinazuke. The more he devled into the tunnel depths of the cave, the bigger his worry had grown, because the path split several times. He could only hope he was going the right way. Like a mantra, a single phrase repeated itself over and over again in his head. His pace continued to increase as he moved in the direction he hoped Akane was in, and it wasn't long before his fast walk became a full-out sprint. And it wasn't long after that before he too began to hear the dull roar of the underground river, but he didn't pay any real attention to it. "Akane, when I catch up to you, I-" That's when he heard the scream, and it came from a voice he would recognize anywhere. And the splash. "Akane!" But he received no answer to his call. Ranma let his aura flow out ahead of him, and he could almost feel Akane's brush with it for a split second. Then it was gone, and Ranma's worry only grew. When he reached hole in the ground that led to the underground river, there was no hesitation; he knew Akane was down there. Taking a short breath, he jumped. The water was colder than he, now she, expected, but onna-Ranma was used to it. One good thing about her father's training, it included all types of terrain and conditions, something she had been hesitant about doing to Akane. Breaking the surface of the fast moving river, Ranma called out for Akane again, and was rewarded with a frightened cry from the dark- haired girl. That meant her head was still above water, but Ranma knew that wouldn't last long. Taking another free breath as the river dragged her along, Ranma began to swim with powerful strokes downstream, and silently began to curse her curse. Her shorter arms and legs were making it harder to control her swimming, and she wasn't moving as fast as she would've liked. She could only hope she caught up to Akane in time. She broke the surface of the water once again, her aura lighting up the darkness and stretching out, in an attempt to locate Akane. She couldn't see her, but her aura did detect Akane's, though it was weak. She didn't have much time. All this took a split second, then Ranma dove back into the muddy waters and began to swim with all her might. A few more strokes, and she was rewarded with body contact. But as Ranma grabbed her iinazuke, she realized Akane wasn't moving. Shifting Akane's body on top of hers, Ranma began to backfloat in an effort to keep Akane's head above water. "Akane!" her feminine voice called. "Wake up!" Then Ranma recalled something in one of his classes at school. Something called CPR, and giving mouth-to-mouth to unconcious people. He hadn't paid much attention to it, because one of his classmates had suggested Ranma try it out on Akane, which of course had been countered by fierce denial. But floating in this cold, muddy river, and with her strength dwindling, Ranma couldn't think of any other options. Taking another deep breath, Ranma placed his mouth over Akane's and exhaled. When he got no response, he tried it again. On the third try, she was reward when Akane began to cough up water. "Ra-Ranma?" she croaked. "How-?" Ranma once again lit up the pitch blackness with his aura and spied a suitable shore, but despaired when she realized she wouldn't be able to reach it. "Get out of here, Akane!" Akane was confused. "What-?" "No time to explain!" Akane suddenly found herself flying through the air with a hard toss from Ranma. Dry ground was fast approaching and, despite being weak, her instincts kicked in enough to tuck and roll as she landed. Immediately she turned back to the river, where a red-headed girl was still lighting up the area with her aura. "Ranma, look out!" she cried weakly, but it was too late. Still too weak to move, Akane was helpless to watch as the back of Ranma's head collided with a low hanging stalagtite. Then she continued to watch, horrified, as the red-head dropped beneath the waters and the aura winked out, returning the scene to darkness. The room was dark, but there was enough light from the two candles at the opposite corners to see. Her father lay in a futon on the floor. At first, Ukyo thought he was already dead, but then she realxed when she saw the rythmic rise and fall of his chest. For several minutes, she just stood there and watched. There was a whole list of things she had planned to say to her father, but now that she was actually here, the words wouldn't come to her. All she could was watch. she said to herself. "Daughter..." came the low, almost raspy voice from the man in the futon. Ukyo started, since she couldn't remember her father ever calling her that. "Father?" "Come here." It was more like a command than a request, but Ukyo went along with it and knelt by her father's bed. His head turned to look at her, and the Ukyo felt the familiar feeling of being studied and found wanting. "You came." Ukyo bit back the anger. "Of course I came at your summons. I am your daughter!" "Of course." He turned his head back to gaze at the ceiling and his eyes closed. "I did not have a son." The fury came back again, but Ukyo once again got control of it before it could get out. she told herself. The Kuonji patriarch's eyes opened again. "I will be... gone, soon. You will have to take over the family business here. I have arranged everything. My assistant, Kanzaka, will help you. I-" Ukyo couldn't take it anymore. "Enough! You, you, you! It's always been about you!" She shot to her feet, while her father stared wide-eyed at her. "I am your father, you will do as I wish." "No!" Ukyo retorted. "Not anymore! You all but abandoned me ten years ago! Face it, you never wanted a daughter, you wanted a son. When mom..." She paused, then continued in a softer voice. "When mom died during my birth, you blamed me for it." "That's not true," her father countered. "Then why did you try to get rid of me!? Almost like you were ashamed of me. Well, I'd got news for you `Dad', I've started my own life, and I'm not giving it up!" His eyes almost become pleading. "Ukyo..." "No, I'm doing what I want!" She began to back up. "Get someone else!" And with that she ran out of the room, never looking back. It was several hours later when the exhausted trio finally entered the clan encampment. "It's so good to see you again, Neko-chan," Yuri said as she embraced her friend. "We've missed you, too, Yuri-chan," Neko replied. She released Yuri and gave a short bow to her brother. "It is also good to see you again, Kenji-san." "Likewise," Kenji said, returing the bow. "Though we have still yet to be told why we were summoned back." He was still uneasy about the whole thing, but he kept it inside. Truth be told, though, he'd rather be back in Nerima. "You can rest assured Oka-sensei will explain everything." Finally, Neko turned to the last member. "Greetings. I am Neko of Garou clan." "Kenzen Konatsu," he replied, giving a generous bow. "And I, as yet, belong to no clan." "For the moment, but hopefully that will change," Oka stated as she approached the small group. Then she took the effeminate manner Konatsu was standing, as well as his pony tail tied with a pink ribbon, hint of mascara, and added under her breath, "Among other things." Kenji let loose an exasperated exhale. "So, are you going to tell us what this is all about now?" A full day of travel had shortened his patience and energy, and left him cranky. Oka eyed him critically. "Impatient young man, just like Satsu said." She sighed. "Very well, if you must know, then come with me. We'll talk on the way." "Where are we going?" Yuri asked as the quintet began to walk. Oka's face hardened, betraying no details. "You'll see soon enough. It's only a short distance away. We will be holding a general meeting about it tomorrow night, as you are not the only ones we were waiting for. There a quite a few ninja on assignment at the moment." Kenji inwardly shivered, whether from the cold breeze that had just made itself known, or from Oka's casual statement. He knew, from hearing his sister talk, what those missions were. Basically, they were hired to perform various tasks, from sabotage and espionage, to assassinations. Of course, he didn't take Yuri's word that the clan never kills someone without a group consultation to see if the subject's death is warranted. He had been confronted with his own death and been forced to kill once already. After his memories had returned, the nightmares had started as well. In it, he relieved the battle with Garon, the Fire Lord, and the final act that ended that battle. At first he couldn't believe that's what actually happened, that the nightmares were just some sort of last minute spell cast by Garon. But as they continued, he was forced to accept the horrible truth that he had killed. How or why it had happened, he didn't know, but somehow it had happened. It was something he had never shared with anyone, preferring to deal with it himself. "Here it is." Oka's voice broke Kenji out of his introspection. Three people blinked in unison. "It's a cave," Yuri observed. "It's a dirt mound with a hole in it," Kenji said dryly. "It's a perfectly fine underground entrance, Oka-sama," Konatsu offered. Oka sighed and Neko shook her head. "Use your senses," Oka suggested. "What do you hear?" "Nothing," Kenji replied, not impressed. Actually, the truth was he thought he did hear something, but when it seemed no one else did, he decided it must have been his imagination. "So what?" Konatsu was the first to realize it. "But, Kenji-sama, where are the animals?" It was true, they all realized. The forest surrounding the dirt mound was deathly quiet. Not even the chirp of a cricket, or the call of a bird. Not only that, but the entire area just seemed darker than normal and there was a scattering of mist in the air, limiting visibility. Yuri was perplexed. "When did this happen? And what does it mean?" For several minutes, there was silence. Then, when Oka spoke, her tone was very solemn, her eyes locked on the mound. "It is a portent of things to come, other than that, we don't know." She sighed heavily. "Much of our knowledge has been lost over the years, as the books and manuscripts we owned began to fall apart and fade. The few we were able to save told us that the earth would open, and one of the ancient ones would ascend to walk among us once more. That is all we know at the moment." She turned to face the quartet behind her. Yuri cocked her head. "So that's why you called us here? To discuss this?" Oka nodded, but it was Neko who spoke next. "Yes. Some in the clan say we should just cover it up, and some say we shouldn't because it might bring even worse things upon us." She smirked. "And then there are the few who just want to go down and explore it." The sound repeated itself in Kenji's ear, and again he shook it off. But his curiosity grew. "Well why don't you? Doesn't look like much to be scared of." He suddenly found Oka's walking stick pointed straight at him. "Don't be so impetuous, boy." Her voice was suddenly cold. "There are more things involved here then you can possibly understand." A small hand rested on his shoulder. "Yeah, niichan. There's no need to rush, is there?" Despite being somewhat shaken by her comments, Kenji yawned. "Whatever. I'm feeling tired anyway, so if it's alright with you guys, I'm gonna go back and take a nap." "A most wise idea, Kenji-sama," Konatsu added, trying to stifle a yawn in a feminine manner. Yuri smiled and grabbed Konatsu's arm. "Come on, `Natsu-chan." As the quintet walked away, Kenji spared a short glance over his shoulder. The noise had sounded a third time, and now he knew what it was, though he didn't want to believe it. It was a voice. --------------------------------------- Author's notes: Much is made of Genma's side of the engagement of Ranma to Ukyo, and his subsequent theft of the yatai. I took a look at it from the other side, however. Ukyo's father seemed overly casual about engaging the two kids, despite it seeming that he didn't know Genma all that well(or if he knew Genma well, he should have known what kind of man he was). Engagements are also rare at that age. Also, when Genma revealed that Ranma was already promised to another, Mister Kuonji should have stopped the idea right there. Instead, he offered the yatai and made no move to stop Genma from taking both it and his daughter. He also seemingly made no move to get revenge on on Genma's betrayal, leading to the conclusion that he wanted to get rid of his daughter. However bad you must think of Genma for his part, Mister Kuonji should share equal blame. If Ukyo was mad at Ranma's father and carried that anger for ten years, she should also hold SOME of that for her own father as well. It's also worth noting that Ukyo held that anger for ten years, far longer than Ryoga held his and we see how he angry and unrational he tends to be. That sort of hate and malice does NOT go away in the blink of an eye when Ranma called her `cute.' She still has plenty of anger simmering underneath that cute, peaceful facade she displays, and it emerges from time to time with disastrous results.