Dark Calling
A Ranma Crossover Story
By Bob Lobster


Disclaimer: Anyone who thinks these characters belong to me, I have
this great real estate deal to tell you about...

Prologue

    Alone. I'm starting to get used to being alone, though I'm not
sure it's something I'll ever truly be used to. I don't have much of a
choice at the moment though, so I suppose that's neither here, nor
there. Sometimes I think I was born to be alone. My father always
frowned disapprovingly whenever I said things like that and patiently
(or as patiently as he could) explained that nobody deserved to be
alone, least of all me. On nights when the urges got to be too much,
when the self-pity and self-loathing became overwhelming, he'd sit me
down and tell me how he'd always be there for me, how I was a good
person, someone worthy of respect and love, and how I shouldn't let
anyone tell me otherwise. He would tell me that it didn't matter what
urges I had, because I never gave into them, and that made me strong
and honourable and someone he was proud to call his son. Mistakes
aside, everyone made mistakes after all, let it never be said that my
father wasn't a great man, in his own way. He was never the most
honourable, nor the most honest man, but he was truly a loving father.

    He was true to his word, too. No matter how tempting it must have
been at times, when the things he had to do for me got to him, as I'm
sure they did, he never left me. He raised me as well as he could,
shaping me into a warrior to surpass even his vast skills. I sometimes
wonder if I would have been so strong as I am if not for my 'gifts'.
Certainly I wouldn't be physically as strong, or as fast, but I like
to think that my skill is mine alone, built through trial after trial,
harsh training after harsh training, until it reached a level that I
didn't even believe possible. The fact that my father could still keep
up with me, even with all my skill and my 'gifts' raised my level of
respect for him higher every year we were together.

    It wasn't until my sixteenth year that I began to see some of his
mistakes come back to haunt me. Yet, I managed to take most of it in
stride. I acted angry, to be sure, but that's mostly what it was: an
act. I couldn't very well tell the people around me, after all, why it
was that I stayed loyal to my father despite all that happened because
of him. As I said, everyone makes mistakes, my father just made more
than most people. What can I say; his intelligence was never something
he was known for. He must have known what would happen when we settled
down for a time, though, because before we arrived at what would
become our home for just over a year he explained a few things to me.
How the people we would be with knew nothing of what I was and how it
would be best if it stayed that way for the time being. I was
disappointed that I had to hide, but we'd been driven out of more than
one town due to my 'condition' so I knew that this was for the best.
Part of this plan was my apparent disrespect for him. I knew, of
course, that most people who had lived my life would no doubt be
resentful of him. Living on the road, never staying anywhere long,
always undergoing the harshest training imaginable. For most people it
would be considered hellish. For me, just the fact that he stayed with
me, that he still cared about me regardless of what he knew about me
and what I was, that was enough to allow me to ignore any mistakes he
made and simply appreciate the time he spent with me. I knew, as well,
that though my training seemed hellish, it was all intended to be for
my own good, to keep me alive through the trials that I would no doubt
have to face in my life.

    His plan worked rather well, too. Whenever one of his little
mistakes caught up with us, I acted sufficiently upset. When we
sparred, I kept the insults coming. My special 'needs' we took care of
under cover of darkness, without anyone, even the ever-vigilant Nabiki
noticing. Over a year, we managed to keep it a secret; a blessed year
of attending school, and hanging out with friends, and just being a
relatively normal teen for a change. Well, I suppose normal is a
matter of viewpoint in this case, as most would say my life was
anything but normal. Several girls vying for my affection in
rather...extreme ways; rivals out for my blood, or the love of the
girls; magical curses, princes and martial arts of the most unique
varieties. None of that mattered to me, though. People may have seen
me as strange, but at least they saw me as human, not the monster I
was used to being seen as, not the monster I knew I was. It wasn't
until I faced an opponent so relentless and so horribly powerful, that
I had to pull out all the stops to win that my true nature was finally
revealed.

    I can still see the look of disgust on the Godling's face when he
realized what he was fighting. I can hear the condescending tone of
voice as he proclaimed that no beast such as me could beat him, that I
should return to the darkness that spawned me. I can feel the sadness
that consumed me as I saw Elder Cologne put together what I truly was,
finally connecting the multitude of oddities she had noticed about me
over the year we had known each other. I knew that trying to hide it
further at that point was senseless, so I threw everything I had into
the fight, using all my gifts to their fullest, mixing them seamlessly
with the skills I had built up over the years. I laughed out loud at
the look of surprise on Saffron's face when a mere 'creature' like me
began to overpower him. I finally allowed my urges full reign and tore
him apart with my bare hands, relishing in his blood as it splashed
over my face and hands.

    It took all my willpower to pull myself back from the abyss at
that point, but pull myself back I did. I still had a person's life to
save after all. Akane lived, just barely, and I knew that I should be
thrilled. A part of me was. Most of me simply mourned the life I knew
I had lost when the Phoenix God had opened his mouth. I was suddenly
very happy that my father had accompanied us to China as I took
strength from his sad, but still strong visage. I wouldn't break down,
not with him there to support me. Even with Shampoo demanding to know
what 'Stupid Bird-man' had meant; even with Mousse looking at me in
shock and disgust; even as Ryoga stared at me in a mixture of surprise
and (most surprising to me) pity; even as Elder Cologne looked away in
sadness and resignation. I wouldn't make excuses and I wouldn't lie.
My father had done his job well; I may not have liked what I was, but
I was proud of who I was.

I was Ranma Saotome.

I was Dampyr.

**********************************************************************

    The trip home (There's a strange word: home. I wonder sometimes if
there's such a thing as home, or is it just a pretty word for the
place you sleep nights.) was tense, to say the least. Nobody had
bothered to really explain much to the uninformed, leading to their
frustration, and those who either knew, or had figured out, what was
going on had their own thoughts to dwell on. I had fully expected the
Amazons to stay in China, forsaking whatever claim they had on me.
Cologne knew what I was, after all, or at least that was the
impression I got, how could she be anything but disgusted by the
prospect of bringing me into her village? They stayed with us, though,
with Cologne brooding and Mousse practically celebrating the whole
way. Shampoo still didn't understand what was happening and I could
tell it was starting to get to her by the end of the trip. I had
wondered why Mousse hadn't filled her in his exuberance, but felt that
Cologne probably wanted to do it herself for whatever reason.

    Ryoga kept mostly to himself for most of the trip home. It was
obvious to me that he knew what was happening; the look of
comprehension on his face when Saffron wagged his tongue was too much
to be confused for anything else. What surprised me was that he didn't
seem upset over it. In fact, while deep in thought for most of the
time, those few moments he spoke, or even really looked in my
direction, there was friendliness, and a look of saddened
understanding that I hadn't seen in all the time I'd known him. I
never did get a chance to ask him about it though as he became lost
shortly before we reached the boat back to Japan and I haven't seen
him since. Somehow, I still hope he'll show up around a corner in some
distant town. He was always a good friend when we weren't fighting and
a great challenge when we were. He was one of the few people I knew
that I could let all my gifts out on and still have a good brawl. I
hope I can fight him again sometime.

    I could tell that father was worried about the reactions when we
returned, though I couldn't really blame him. The few times people had
figured things out in towns we'd stayed in on the road had not ended
well in the least. If we were lucky, we were merely asked to leave.
Usually, we were asked to leave amidst flying rocks and curses. I
hoped that Mr. Tendo wouldn't react badly to this. He was my father's
only real friend and I didn't want to be the cause of a rift between
them. I was also worried that if I were forced to go on the road
again, it would force father to come with me. I knew that he would
never abandon me to a lonely road without any companionship, and I was
thankful for it. It was always nice to know that he cared enough to
give up the amenities of modern life and return to the road, merely so
that I wouldn't be alone. As thankful as I knew I would be for the
company, however, I couldn't drag him through that again. He loved
Nodoka, I knew that he did, and he hated to be apart from her any more
than he had to be. I had already separated him from his beloved wife
for ten years, I couldn't bare to do so any longer.

    I cared for her as well, of course, but only because she was such
an important part of my father's life. Anyone who could make my father
as happy as she did deserved my affection. As a mother, however? Well,
I didn't really remember her from the short period of time she had
helped raise me, and she certainly wasn't my real mother, so it wasn't
really possible for me to feel anything special about her. She was a
wonderful woman, without a doubt, but she wasn't my mother and I knew
it all too well.

    Akane, thankfully, spent most of the trip back resting in an
attempt to recover the strength lost during her brush with death. I
really didn't relish the thought of explaining the current situation
to her and hoped that she stayed in her less than inquisitive mood for
the remainder of the trip home. Thankfully, that was one wish that was
fulfilled.

    When we finally reached Nerima, Akane was more or less recovered
from her ordeal. It had helped a great deal that we took the train
across Japan rather than walking as we normally would have done, both
physically in Akane's recovery and mentally in that the trip was
shorter, sparing further frayed nerves due to the tenseness. Arriving
at the dojo, we were instantly barraged with questions about our trip,
the battles, and our apparent lack of souvenirs. It always surprised
me how lightly Kasumi could take matters of life and death but I
suppose I had never given her reason to worry. Ranma Saotome never
lost after all. After answering as many questions as we could - mostly
by my father and I as Akane was out of it for most of the fighting and
the Amazons had returned to the restaurant to unpack - we all sat down
to a welcome back dinner, cooked by Kasumi and Nodoka. Father and I
even managed to begin to relax, thinking that perhaps, with Akane
unaware of most of what happened between the Phoenix god and I, my
secret would be maintained. We were just finishing dinner, however, as
the Amazons came over to visit, knocking on the door for a change
instead of just barging in by whatever entrance they could find or
make. When Kasumi brought them to the dinning room, Cologne looking
even more stoic than I'd ever seen her and even Mousse and Shampoo
looking serious for a change, though Shampoo still looked confused and
Mousse had a ecstatic aura about him that was impossible to miss, we
knew that things were about to fall apart. The previous tension
returned instantly and even those in the room who knew nothing of the
situation knew something big was about to happen.

    "Hello, Ranma. I believe we need to talk." Cologne began the
conversation and I felt my heart fall into my stomach. It had been
obvious since the start that she knew the truth, but until then I
hadn't been entirely sure what she had planned to do with that
information. Her use of my real name was enough to tip me off that at
the very least I wouldn't be joining her tribe any time soon. Judging
from the look of shock on Shampoo's face she still hadn't been told
what her great-grandmother knew but she too recognized the
significance of the usage of my name. "Of course, you know why we're
here."

    "I can guess." I answered, obviously not happy to be having that
particular conversation. Despite my sadness, I was also a little
angry, and even somewhat disappointed in Cologne. Somehow, I expected
better in her than the usual reactions I got from people, but she
obviously intended to break off ties with me, otherwise she wouldn't
be using the formality of my name and the courtesy she was showing the
household. I was surprised, though, when the small amount of anger
that entered my voice was met with a look of sadness and sympathy from
the elder. The unfamiliar response robbed me of most of my anger,
leaving merely sad resignation in its place. "Have a seat, we might as
well get this over with."

    Cologne sat down at the table across from me, followed immediately
by Mousse and Shampoo on either side of her. She looked around at all
the other people in the room quietly before addressing me once more,
and surprising me as well. "Perhaps we should speak in a more private
setting. It is a rather personal matter."

    Before I had a chance to answer, and agree with her as I had
planned, Nabiki managed to respond first. She spoke in a jesting
manner, but I could tell the effects of her words were well planned
out. "What, is Shampoo pregnant or something?"

    Predictably, at Nabiki's words Akane insisted on staying,
prompting Soun to follow suit. Nabiki was smirking slightly, knowing
that there was no real way to keep them out at that point and I sighed
sadly, knowing she was right. I glanced at my father next to me and
saw the same look of resignation that was no doubt on my face.
Catching my glance, he put a fatherly hand on my shoulder, surprising
several of the room's occupants at his show of support. Turning away
from my father, my gaze fell on Nodoka and I saw a look of dawning
comprehension, followed by slight horror as she realized what the
conversation was going to be about. It wasn't the horror-filled gaze I
was used to, however, as I could tell that she was merely saddened
that I would soon lose all that I had gained over the past year. For a
moment I felt true regret that the woman sitting next to my father
wasn't my real mother, as she would have made a truly good one.

    Looking back to Cologne, I avoided everyone else's gaze and
decided that the sooner we began the sooner the conversation would be
done with. As much as I wasn't looking forward to everyone's reaction,
at that moment I just wanted it over with. I began simply enough, not
wanting to give anything away on the off chance she didn't know.
"Since it don't look like we'll be getting privacy, why don't ya tell
me what you know."

    Cologne did start then, though she didn't get directly to the
point right away. "Though I must admit, it did surprise me to find out
the truth, I always suspected there was more to you than showed,
Ranma. In the end, I guess it doesn't surprise me that Genma's not
your real father, though..." She cut off then when I laughed out loud.
The thought that Genma wasn't my father was absolutely ridiculous to
me. I couldn't imagine anyone who more deserved the title of "Father"
than mine. Looking a little startled, Cologne backtracked slightly.
"Obviously I was mistaken about something. Perhaps you would care to
correct me, Ranma."

    I smiled at her, somewhat satisfied to know that I had gotten one
up on the old woman, even if I knew that the conversation would still
go where she wanted it to. "Genma's definitely my father, Cologne,
even if lots of people seem ta think he's not." I glanced over at him
and could see the pride he had for me shinning in his eyes, as well as
the sadness that I had to deal with the same situation once more.
"Frankly, I couldn't think of a better father than him." I finished
smiling at his happy look, before turning back towards Cologne. More
than a few people looked shocked at my words, not surprising
considering the disdain I usually showed towards the man.

    After taking a short moment to regain her bearing, Cologne
continued the conversation. "I see." She said, stopping a moment to
accept the tea Kasumi offered her with a smile of thanks, before
looking at my father and me once more and continuing. "I was under the
impression that your kind was usually passed from the father's side."

    It was obvious she was choosing her words carefully, making sure
not to give too much away, on the chance that she had something else
wrong. I was about to answer, when my father beat me to it. I let him
take the question, since he was a good deal more knowledgeable on the
matter of my heritage than I was. He had spent a good deal of time
studying the subject before we left on our trip. The thought of my
father tucked away in a stuffy little library, studying old books for
hours still makes me laugh - no one ever mistook him for a scholar,
after all - but that's exactly what he did.

    "Normally, that is the way that people such as my son come about."
He smiled a bit at that point before continuing. "Ranma has never been
mistaken for normal, however." Cologne chuckled a bit at his words,
though the sound was almost frightening coming from her.

    "Perhaps you could fill me in on Ranma's situation then." The
elder began. It was obvious that she was intrigued by my unique
situation and I found myself somewhat pleasantly surprised by the
direction the conversation was going. I had expected a cold dismissal;
the Amazon's treating me like an animal before going back to China.
Cologne actually seemed to be treating me with more respect now that
she knew the truth than she did before. "I can logically assume that
your wife is not Ranma's true mother than?"

    The Tendo daughters and Shampoo gasped at that bit of information,
especially when Genma nodded in response, having expected him to deny
it. Mousse stayed silent so I assume he had already come to the same
conclusion and Soun merely nodded to himself. Having been my father's
friend for longer than I've been alive, I knew that he must have known
at least a small part of the truth, though he obviously didn't know
what I was. After the gasps had subsided, my father elaborated. "No,
Nodoka and I married after Ranma's mother died. She is actually
Ranma's aunt, his mother's sister."

    "I see, perhaps you could tell me exactly how Ranma came to be
what he is then, since you are obviously not of the Dark." Cologne
obviously had a good idea of how I came about, but she probably wanted
not only to be clear on everything, but for the story behind it all.
My story is unusual, after all, even for my kind. It was at this
point, however, that various people's curiosities got the best of them
and Akane, always having had the smallest amount of patience of those
present, spoke for all those not of the know.

    "Wait, wait. What the hell are you guys talking about?" Her
frustration at not knowing what was going on was apparent as her
temper flared. "Why do you keep talking about Ranma like he's not
human or something?"

    I flinched a little at her question, knowing that she had hit it
so close to the mark. I managed to reign in my emotions, however, and
answered her question. I know that I probably should have held off the
truth as long as I could, but I knew it would come out eventually so I
was determined that it would be from my own lips. "They're talking
about me that way cause I'm not human, not completely." My voice was
quiet, but I had everyone's attention. I noticed that that statement
surprised even Soun, proving to me that while he knew Nodoka wasn't my
mother, that was all he knew. "I'm Dampyr."

    Everyone sat in silence for a few moments, and I could tell that
those who didn't already know the truth were somewhat confused by the
strange term. Not many people know what a Dampyr is, so I wasn't too
surprised by this. What did surprise me, however, was that Kasumi of
all people seemed to know instantly what I was referring to. I looked
at her strangely for a moment as she smoothed her expression to her
regular calm one, though there was a hint of sadness in it. It was
Shampoo who broke the silence. "Shampoo no understand. What Dampyr?"

    It was my father that once more picked up the question though he
didn't actually answer it. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
What we are referring to will become obvious as I give Elder Cologne
her explanation." Seeing everyone nod, though in Akane and Shampoo's
cases, somewhat reluctantly, he began to tell his story. "I was only
eighteen years old when I first came into contact with Nodoka's
family. Me and Soun had just come back from a training trip with the
Master when I met Nodoka for the first time. It was love at first
sight for me, and even then I knew I'd love her the rest of my life."
He glanced at his wife then and she gave him a small smile, taking his
hand in hers. Looking back at the group, he chuckled a bit before
continuing. "It took a bit more convincing on my part to get her to
see it though. I was young and arrogant and completely lacking in
anything resembling charm." He smiled in an embarrassed sort of way at
his own remarks, while Nodoka and Soun both chuckled, no doubt
remembering some past foolishness he had committed. "I was, however,
very persistent and I eventually convinced her that I was worthy of
dating. The two of us became a couple at that point, though we kept it
secret from everyone but Soun.

    "Part of our secrecy, I'll admit, came from the thrill of having a
hidden romance. I wonder sometimes how differently things would have
turned out if we'd been open about our relationship, but I guess I'll
never know." He became quite for a few moments then, lost in thought,
and it wasn't until Nodoka gently placed her hand on his shoulder that
he came back to the present. He stumbled with his words a bit before
managing to pick up where he left off. "The only other person who knew
of our relationship was Nodoka's elder sister, though she found out on
her own, not from us."

    Father glanced at his side at that moment, looking into the sad
eyes of his wife. We both knew that her sister's fate was, and would
always be a sore point for her, but she held up well under the
retelling, even taking over the story for a few moments. "My sister
was only a year older than me and was fiercely jealous of the
affection our parents game me. As much as I hate to admit it, I never
did much to stop those feelings in her, enjoying the attention that
Mother and Father gave me and never stopping to think of Midori's
feelings. I was somewhat...spoiled at the time, and I'm not surprised
that she hated me as much as she did though I never realized it at the
time. Suffice it to say, when she saw Genma and I together, she became
enraged at what she saw as something else I had that she didn't:
Love."

    At this point, Father once more picked up the story where Nodoka
left off. I had, of course, heard the story plenty of times in the
past but I found myself drawn in along with everyone else to the tale.
It was hard not to be when the storytellers spoke with such emotion as
my Father and Nodoka did. Even Cologne was practically sitting on the
edge of her seat. "What neither Nodoka nor myself knew at the time was
that our families had had close ties for generations. It seemed that
our generation was when the families planned to join together and an
arranged marriage between myself and either Nodoka or Midori had been
set up. Somehow, Midori found out about the arrangement and decided to
take it upon herself to make sure that me and Nodoka didn't end up
together. I guess she thought it would be revenge for all the years
she had been overshadowed by Nodoka."

    "She must have talked to Father," Nodoka began again, "and
convinced him that she should be the one to fulfill the family honour.
In the end, he was most likely happy that she was finally taking an
interest in matters of honour. Combined with the fact that he was
loath to force anything on me, he was probably quick to jump on the
opportunity and allow Midori her way." She sighed deeply then, old
pain flashing in her eyes before she continued. "He was so happy that
she was getting married, and she seemed so happy as well that I
couldn't bring myself to tell Father the truth. Instead, I sat back
and acted as the dutiful daughter and watched the proceedings, even as
my heart broke."

    Father squeezed Nodoka's hand lightly, taking strength from her
and offering his own in return before continuing where she left off.
"When I first found out about the engagement, I fought it tooth and
nail. I was already in love with Nodoka, and was determined to get out
of the arrangement and back to her. My Mother quickly reminded me of
the importance of family honour, however, and I was forced to relent.
Nothing was more important to me than honour and I had to give up my
happiness with Nodoka to appease it."

    He grimaced then, and I couldn't help but come to a startling
realization. It was something I'd never really understood, how much my
father talked about the importance of honour and how much he
disregarded his own teachings. Watching him tell his tale, however, I
realized that it was this incident that killed my father's respect for
honour. He still tried to teach me of honour and make sure I followed
the martial artist's code, but he himself could no longer follow a
code of honour that had caused him so much pain. "Two months later,
the arrangements were fully completed and I found myself married to
Midori. She acted happy to be with me at first, but things quickly
went downhill the longer we were together. It was three months into
our marriage that she discovered she was pregnant and all pretenses
were finally dropped.

    "I suppose that with a child on the way, she considered her
obligation to her family complete and no longer needed to pretend she
cared about me at all. She began flirting with other men right in
front of me, openly displaying her lack of respect to me. She soon
moved out of our room as well, stating that she would rather sleep
alone than with me from then on. Though I suspected that she wasn't
sleeping alone anyway, there was never really any evidence to the
contrary. This went on for nearly a month before she disappeared
completely." Father sighed to himself once more and a sadness settled
on him as he was once more lost in thought for a few moments. As badly
as she treated him, I think he truly did care about my mother, at
least a little bit. Thought of her disappearance always seemed to
weigh heavily on him, too much so for him not to care at all. "One
night, she went out as she usually did, only that time she never came
back."

    Nodoka looked like the old memories were beginning to get the
better of her but she managed to keep a steady voice as she picked up
the story. "Father was heartbroken, of course. For all that they
tended to ignore her, my parents loved Midori dearly. He spent a great
deal of money and time trying to locate her, but nothing ever came of
it, she simply wasn't to be found."

    "Nodoka spent a great deal of time with me during this period,
though we kept our relationship on a friendly level, I was still
married to her sister after all. It was while she was visiting that
Midori came by the house. We never saw her and in fact I can only
assume that she came herself, but it was about seven months after she
disappeared that the knock came to my door. When I got to the door,
whoever had knocked was gone leaving only a basket and a note." Father
glanced at me with a smile at that point and I could almost feel the
pride he had at that moment, when he realized he was looking at his
son. "In the basket was, of course, Ranma and the note included
instructions on how to take care of him. I like to think that it was
Midori's last truly human act, giving Ranma up. She must have known
that he never could have lived the life she had, that he would be
hated and probably killed by her people. Giving him up was something
she did for his own good more than her own. Ranma probably took her
last shred of human goodness with him though as the next time we met,
some five years later in Kyoto, there was nothing human left about
her."

    For the first time since he began his story, someone other than my
father and Nodoka spoke up. Unable to contain her curiosity any
longer, Nabiki asked the question that was on several of their minds.
"What...what was she?"

    Father looked at her for a long moment before answering in a
roundabout way. "It's kind of funny. The note with Ranma's basket told
us how to care for him, but it never actually told us why he needed
the care he did. I didn't really believe the note anyway until he
began getting weaker and I was forced to try following the
instructions. It wasn't until Midori told me what had happened during
the months she was missing that I finally understood why Ranma was
different from other children. It still sickens me to think of her,
standing there with Ranma's neck held tightly in her hand, bragging
about how much better she was than other people. Threatening to kill
her own child as she told me how wonderful she had become, how the man
she met in some seedy bar the night she disappeared, some blonde
foreigner named Spike, had liberated her." He shuddered a bit and I
placed a supporting hand on his arm, even as Nodoka squeezed his hand
gently. I barely remembered the incident, having only been five at the
time, but I knew how hard it was on him, if only by the way his eyes
darkened whenever he thought about it. "She told me how he had taken
her back to his lair and turned her, even as our son grew in her
womb."

    "Tu-turned her?" Nabiki asked in a quiet, almost frightened voice.
I'd never heard her sound so much like a child as she did at that
moment and I realized that my Father's story was getting to her more
than I thought it would have. "Turned her to what?"

    Father looked around the room for a few moments before answering
in an almost eerily calm voice. "Into a vampire, like him." The
silence in the room at his words was so complete that I could have
almost thought I had gone deaf, if I couldn't have heard each of their
heartbeats. It took several moments for this latest bit of information
to be processed by those present before anyone could say anything,
though Shampoo still continued to look confused until her great-
grandmother whispered something into her ear in Cantonese, at which
point her eyes widened considerably. I suppose that she didn't know
what the word vampire meant any more that she did Dampyr, though
whatever Cologne said got the point across.

    It was Soun who broke the silence that time, asking a question
that I don't think my father truly wanted to answer. "How did you get
the lad away from her, Saotome?" His voice was quiet, the atmosphere
of the room enough to make it seem like anything louder than a whisper
was deafening.

    My Father's voice was grim when he answered. "That, Tendo, was the
last time I ever used the Saotome Forbidden Techniques," His eyes
lowered to the table for a moment before he continued in a quieter
voice. "and the only time I've ever taken a life." Several soft gasps
were heard around the table and I saw Soun shudder slightly, probably
thinking about the vicious lethality of my Father's techniques.

    For several minutes, everyone around the table sat in silence,
absorbing everything that was said, before anyone broke the silence
that had fallen since my Father's last remark. Unsurprisingly, it was
then that Cologne finally spoke up. "I see. Thank you for your honesty
in this matter, Saotome-san, I can see how much telling it affects
you." I was surprised at the level of honest respect Cologne showed
for my Father at that point but realized that she must have seen that
there was more honour and integrity to him than most people ever
noticed. "Now that I know the details of Ranma's past, it's time we
discussed what this means to his obligation to Shampoo."

    Most of the people in the room came back to full attention at her
words, though I noticed that Akane still seemed to be having trouble
wrapping her mind around all that had been said. Part of me hoped that
she would be able to adjust, but a much larger part realized that no
one else ever had. I also noticed that Kasumi still looked unphased by
any of what had transpired and I realized that she never really looked
very surprised by the major revelations my Father had put forth. It
became obvious to me that she knew what a Dampyr was, and therefore
knew what my mother and I were, even before my Father's story. I made
a note to ask her later if I got the chance.

    After taking a moment to pull her thoughts together, Cologne began
again. "As much as I would like to say that this changes nothing, we
all know that I would be lying." She took a deep breath, risking a
glance to see how Shampoo was taking everything in. Seeing her great-
granddaughter still hanging off her every word, Cologne continued.
"The fact is, there have only been two other recorded Dampyrs in our
villages history, but the laws built from those experiences are very
specific. Due to the...instincts inherited from a Dampyr's demonic
parent, and the bloodlust involved, our laws forbid allowing any
contact between village members and any of your kind." Cologne sighed
sadly and I could tell that she actually felt bad about what she had
to do. It a way, it made me feel a bit better, but at the same time I
felt worse. Just once, I wished she would forget her stupid laws. "As
such, I'm forced to cancel the kiss of marriage that Shampoo gave to
you. Shampoo and I will be returning to China as soon as we're able to
put all our affairs here in order. Should we meet you again after
today, we'll be forced to treat you as a stranger."

    "Great-grandmother, no!" Shampoo had jumped to her feet at this
point, viciously denying Cologne's words, though I could see the
desperation in her eyes. Despite her denials, she knew that this was
one law she couldn't fight. She was quickly quelled when Cologne
turned a silent glare to her, standing up as well.

    "You know the laws as well as I do, child." She said sharply, far
more sharply than I had ever heard her speak to her heir. "And you
know why they were put in place." Shampoo looked down, seemingly
ashamed at her outburst and I knew that she wouldn't speak up against
this decision again. I'll admit, I felt a brief moment of relief at
the thought of some peace and quiet without the Amazons around, though
I immediately felt guilty about those feelings and depressed that I
was losing more people I thought of as friends. Cologne turned to face
me once more and in the time she had been staring at Shampoo she had
put an emotionless mask on her face. "Well, I suppose since there is
nothing more to discuss, we will be on our way." She bowed formally to
me before straightening and addressing in once more. "Goodbye Saotome-
san, it has been a pleasure to teach you. I hope you do well in your
life." Then she turned, glancing once at both Shampoo and Mousse
before walking out of the room without another word.

    Mousse looked at me for a moment then, a strangely subdued
expression on his face, before standing up and walking up to me,
stopping a short distance away. He stared at me for a few more moments
before bowing slightly and addressing me. "Goodbye Saotome. Good
luck." And with those words, he too left the room, leaving only
Shampoo behind.

    Shampoo watched me for a long moment, her eyes clouded with
sadness, as she no doubt contemplated all that had happened in the
last little while. I could see the indecision in her eyes before her
resolve firmed and she walked up to me calmly. She only hesitated
briefly as she stepped up to me before pulling me into a warm embrace
and I hesitated even less before returning it. We both knew this was
goodbye and though I may never have loved her the way she wanted me
to, I would miss her. I could feel soft tears hit my shoulder as she
whispered a quiet "Bie liao, Airen." into my ear and though I would
never admit it to anyone, I felt my eyes well up as well. It was
Shampoo who broke the embrace, pulling back from me slightly, a small,
sad smile on her tear streaked face before leaning in once more and
kissing me lightly.

    Though I wasn't terribly surprised she had kissed me, never having
been shy about showing affection, the kiss itself was a surprise.
Rather than her usual passionate, slightly dominating kisses, this one
was soft and gentle and yet it seemed immensely more powerful. Despite
how vigorously she had chased after me for all the time I'd known her,
I always felt like it was done more out of respect for her laws and
want of a strong husband than any real affection for me. As she
pressed her lips tenderly to mine though, I could feel her love for me
and it left me breathless. After a moment, she broke apart from me
again and this time stepped completely away. Turning without another
word she walked from the room and I haven't seen her again to this
day.

    Suddenly remembering the others in the room, I turned quickly,
half expecting to see the business end of a mallet screaming towards
me and half wondering why it hadn't already flattened me. When I
turned towards the table, however, it was to the sight of everyone
still sitting in the same positions, though I noticed that the mood
was rather somber. Soun seemed lost in thought and probably had barely
noticed the last few minutes. Father was looking at me with sympathy,
though I noticed he had a level of dread in his eyes and I knew it was
fear of what the Tendos would do with this new information. Nodoka,
Kasumi and Nabiki all seemed rather affected by the scene that had
just played out before them and I noticed, with a small amount of
surprise, that Nabiki was wiping a small amount of moisture from her
eyes. It was Akane's expression, though, that disturbed me. She looked
dazed, like she didn't really know where she was and I knew that she
was still in shock over my father's story. This scared me slightly,
I'll admit, because I realized that it was not only likely, but
extremely probable that she would quickly go from dazed to angry.
People had a tendency to lash out when confused and I knew Akane was
no different - quite the contrary, she was more likely to lash out
than most.

    I was actually slightly grateful when it was Kasumi who broke the
silence in the room, standing up and beginning to gather the dishes
while addressing the room as a whole. "Well, that was quite a lot to
take in. I think it may be best if we all retire to think things
through." Her words were met with very little response, though it did
get most people moving again. Soun voiced his need of a bath, and
quickly moved off toward the furo, while Nabiki silently left to her
room. Nodoka and my Father both left the table as well, quietly
conversing as they headed outside, no doubt to discuss the situation
and what would happen next. Akane, however, just sat at her spot at
the table, staring out into space. She glanced at me from time to
time, but for the most part she just seemed lost in thought. Unable to
take her vacant look any longer, I finally simply began to help Kasumi
clear the table. I still remembered her recognition of my condition
and felt that this was the best time to find out how she knew about
it.

    Wandering into the kitchen with the last of the dishes, I saw her
beginning to wash the ones she had already brought in. Wordlessly I
stepped up beside her, lifting a dishtowel in hand and began to dry
the ones she had washed. We worked in silence for a fair amount of
time this way, her washing dishes and handing them to me to dry. After
she had handed me the last dish, and I had finished drying it, Kasumi
pulled the plug on the drain and we merely stood for a moment, waiting
for the water to finish running out of the sink. As we stood, my mind
wandered over what I knew of the woman next to me, and what,
apparently, I had no idea about. I'd always known Kasumi to be a very
traditional girl but for her to actually know anything about Dampyrs
would require an extremely in-depth knowledge of the occult. It took
my Father months of searching libraries to find anything about my kind
and, although he's never been the best researcher in the world, he was
very dedicated. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I
resolved to ask her about it. "Kasumi?"

    She glanced over at me with a smile, though tinged be a bit of
sadness that I hadn't seen there before. "Yes, Ranma?"

    "You, umm..." Suddenly I was at a loss for words. In all the time
I'd been in the Tendo home, one of the rules of the house was that
Kasumi was never questioned. Nobody said the rule out loud, of course,
but it was well understood that she gave so much to everyone in the
household, that questioning her on just about anything simply wasn't
done. It was a hard habit to break. I was determined to get my
questions answered, however, and decided to just get straight to the
point of the matter. "You knew what a Dampyr was...what I am, before
my Father told his story. I was just...umm, that is I was kinda
wondering, ya know...how?" My voice trailed off as I realized I was
babbling. I was a little surprised to see Kasumi's eyes take on
something of a nostalgic look to them as she seemed to consider my
question, as if she were thinking about some welcomed memories.

    "We never told you much about Mother, did we Ranma?" Her voice was
soft as she said this, and full of reverence. I could feel the love
and respect she had for her mother and it awed me slightly. I'd never
heard such a tone from anyone before. "No, of course not." She
continued, her voice becoming slightly sad. "We don't talk about her
much anymore. Nabiki and Akane don't like to think about it and Father
becomes far too emotional."

    By this point I was, naturally, somewhat confused. How our
conversation went from her knowledge of my condition to her mother was
simply beyond me, and, though I didn't want to interrupt her reverie,
I was incredibly curious. "Umm, no you didn't, Kasumi, but what, uh,
what does that have to do with..." I trailed off once more as she
looked towards me and smiled at my obvious impatience.

    "The reason I bring her up, Ranma, is because Mother was the
reason for my initial interest in the occult." My face must have shown
my shock fairly well, which didn't exactly surprise me since I was
never good at covering things like that, because she laughed lightly
at my look. When she finished laughing, she smiled to reassure me and
continued to explain. "I know we've spoken of Mother as a very
traditional woman and she was, in her own way, but that is mostly
because Father doesn't like to remember the other things about her."
For the first time since I'd met her I heard a small amount of
bitterness in Kasumi's tone, directed at her Father's selective
memories. I got the feeling that this was an old point of contention
between the two, but decided to let the matter drop and instead asked
the main question on my mind.

    "What types of other things?" The wistful look enters her eyes
again and I realize this time that her mind is being occupied with
thoughts of a mother, long lost to her. It's a feeling I can relate
to, having always wondered slightly what it would have been like to
grow up with a mother, so I let her gather her thoughts without any
pressure.

    "Mother was a Wiccan, Ranma." Once again, my emotion must have
been pretty clear on my face because Kasumi smiles at my confusion
before clarifying. "A Wiccan is an Earth Witch. Mother was a very
powerful Witch."

My eyes widened appreciatively at that and once again Kasumi laughed
lightly at what was, no doubt, a very comical look on my face. Dozens
of questions swooped through my head, each trying to make itself
known, before I finally settled on the one that came back most
insistently. "So, umm, can you...?" Not really sure how to ask if the
girl in front of me was a Witch as well, I merely left the question
open, knowing she would understand anyway. The look of sadness in her
eyes was answer enough but I waited for her to speak anyway.

    "No." She sighed a bit before continuing on and I got the feeling
that this was something she was very disappointed about in her life.
"Unfortunately, I never inherited any of Mother's ability. I can mix a
few small potions, but only because they require no real magical
ability, simply the correct ingredients. In fact, of the three of us,
only Akane ever showed any aptitude towards magic. Mother may have
even taught her, when she got older, but after she passed on Father
discouraged it as much as he could, even going so far as to blame
Mother's death on the magic in her, instead of the tumor we know
killed her." I could see the sadness creep over her again and I wanted
to comfort her in some way, but I've never been very good at conveying
that sort of thing, so I merely waited for her to continue. After a
moment, she did continue. "I probably should have taken it upon myself
to teach Akane in our Mother's ways - despite my lack of ability, I
had been taught a great deal of knowledge by Mother before she died -
but I could already see that Akane had inherited
Father's...temperament."

    She must have seen the questioning look in my eyes, because she
elaborated moments later. "Magic isn't like Martial Arts, you see.
Whereas, Father and Akane can be quite good at Martial Arts, despite
their quick tempers and...unstable emotions, magic requires a degree
of control, of balance, that Akane lacked. Akane is too quick to lose
her temper, to quick to grab at the easiest answer. I was always
afraid that if I taught her magic, she would quickly fall into the
Darker Arts, and it would corrupt her." My face took on a slightly
disbelieving look, and I knew she could read it easily. We both knew
Akane was generally a nice person and I was surprised that Kasumi
would even suggest that she would be evil. She smiled at my defense,
even silent as it was, of her sister and clarified. "A person doesn't
have to be evil for the magic to corrupt them, it's merely about the
way it's used. Darker magic tends to give the user a feeling of power
that leaves them craving more. The more one uses it, the more they
crave it and eventually they have more dark magic in their system than
they can control. When Mother died, Akane threw herself into Martial
Arts because she needed to feel strong, feel in control. Had I taught
her magic, the same need would have transferred over. It wouldn't have
been a matter of if she was corrupted, but a matter of when."

    Understanding came to me quickly. I'd seen Akane's craving for
power enough times to realize that this was true. I marveled for a
moment on just how alike Akane and I were in some respects; both of us
struggling to gain some control over a life we felt lost in. I shook
my head of that thought and tried to bring the conversation back to
its original focus. "So it was your Mother who taught you about
Dampyrs?"

    "No, Mother, for all her power, was only beginning to learn about
magic when she died. She had only learned about her power from a
cousin of hers about two years before, after all." I was suitably
confused at this point, of course, because I still didn't know where
she had learned what she knew, but Kasumi continued quickly,
enlightening me. "After Mother died, Father tried to stop us from
learning anything about magic. As I said, he blamed it for her death,
despite that we knew different. He quickly gathered up anything magic-
related he could find of hers and set about destroying it. I was lucky
to have saved some of her books, but most of it was lost. Despite his
insistence, however, I knew that I had to learn what I could about
Mother's Art. I knew that none of the three of us would ever be able
to use it like Mother could, but I hoped that perhaps one of our
children would be able to, so I studied anything on the occult I could
find. At first, it was mostly the books of Mother's that I had managed
to save and the few I could find at the libraries around the area, but
that all changed when a new doctor moved into town to open a clinic."

    I was somewhat surprised again, but after the other shocks of our
conversation the fact that Dr. Tofu helped her learn of the occult
didn't exactly surprise me much. I merely nodded to show I understood
and waited for her to continue. "When Dr Tofu first arrived in town to
set up his clinic, I did the proper thing and brought over some
cookies to welcome him to the area. I put a mild wellness potion in
them, as I do with many of my meals, in order to promote health. It's
just a small thing and one of the few I could do well but he
immediately recognized the taste and looked at me with surprise." She
laughed lightly once more before continuing with a great deal of
fondness in her voice. "You can't imagine my surprise when instead of
commenting on how good my cookies taste, as most people do, he asked
me how long I'd been doing magic. We quickly began to talk and I
discovered that Tofu was extremely knowledgeable on the subject, much
more so than my Mother ever was. Apparently he was part of some sort
of society that studies the occult and supernatural phenomenon. He
never said much about it and I never really pushed seeing how he never
really wanted to get into it, but I quickly became very well
acquainted with his library of books."

    I smiled at the wonder in her voice as Kasumi describes the stacks
upon stacks of books that Dr Tofu kept on all the different subjects
she could have ever wanted to study. "Of course, I had to pretend that
they were all medical books when I brought them home as Father was
still very much against Witchcraft, but that was easy enough to do. It
was actually shortly before you arrived that I borrowed a book from
him that detailed the life of a vampire hunter who called himself
simply 'D'. D was a Dampyr, like yourself, though he got his blood
from his father's side. It was said that his father was Dracula
himself, though I don't know if that was true. In the book, he was
always very sad, he always seemed so out of place." She looked up at
me sadly and I knew she was thinking about my place in things. "You
don't feel that way here do you, Ranma?"

    I smiled for a moment at the concern she was showing me but I
couldn't keep the smile on my face for long. It was hard to smile when
I knew that she had hit exactly on what I usually felt, on the reason
I often thought of leaving. I wanted to lie to her and tell her that
she always made me feel welcome, but I knew she would see through it
in a heartbeat. "Sometimes." I said, knowing that even then I was
stretching the truth. 'Most times' would have been a much more
accurate statement. "It's hard to feel like you belong when ya know
that yer different from everyone else. 'Specially when you have ta
keep it secret all the time." I think my answer saddened her even
more, but I knew she was happy that I was truthful with her at least.
She must have felt something in the way I said it though, because
after a moment she looked sharply at me. She stood there for a moment,
merely reading my face and I began to get a little nervous at what she
might have found there, but after a moment her look turned sad again
and I knew what she had seen. Resignation.

    "You're leaving, aren't you?" She asked quietly. Though it was a
question, she asked it as if she already knew the answer so I saw no
point in trying to deny it. Instead I merely nodded slightly and
awaited her response. She looked at me for another long moment before
speaking up again. "She'll get over it, you know. She's simply shocked
right now. Her entire world has been turned upside-down again. Give
her a little time and she will get over it." I didn't have to ask
about whom she was talking, as it was fairly obvious. Even as she said
it though, I could see the small flickers of doubt in her eyes. She
knew the same things I did, after all.

    "I don't think she ever truly got over my curse, how will she get
over this?" I could see her getting ready to argue some more, but I
beat her to it this time. "Well, I guess we'll see how things turn
out, but I ain't holding my breath."

    Resignation came over her face as she realized that this was
something I simply didn't want to discuss and she turns away to put on
a kettle of water. Turning back towards me, she addresses me once more
as we both realize that our conversation is more or less over. "Would
you like some tea, Ranma? I was going to bring some out for everyone."

    I smiled a bit at her before declining, stating that I was tired
and was going to turn in early that night. She smiled softly at me
before turning away to busy herself getting the tea ready. I moved
towards the door but stopped before going through and turned back
towards her. "Kasumi?" I called softly, waiting for her to turn to
face me.

    "Yes, Ranma?" She turned towards me with a small smile on her
face.

    "I, umm...thanks...for, ya know, talking to me about this."
Thanking people never was one of my strong suits.

    "You're welcome, Ranma. I'm always here to talk." I turned and
headed out the door, back into the living room, a small smile on my
face. Talking to Kasumi had always made me feel a little better about
myself, but I knew there was someone else I needed to talk to. Someone
who could basically decide whether or not I was going to stay in
Nerima. Someone who was walking out of the room towards the upstairs
even as I walked out of the kitchen. I quickly changed directions,
headed over to intercept Akane before she reached the stairs. Walking
up to her, I called her name to get her attention. She turned towards
me as I stopped in front of her and waited for me to speak. Her face
was a mix of emotions and I was having a good deal of trouble figuring
out what she was thinking so I simply asked her if I could talk to
her.

     "Umm, can we talk later, Ranma?" She asked quietly, and I knew
that she was having trouble dealing with all the new revelations of
the evening. I took another moment to watch her expressions as I tried
to figure out what she was feeling. I had always been good at reading
peoples emotions from their faces, it was a talent I picked up from
trying to read people in a fight, I simply didn't use this talent very
often. It probably would have saved me a great deal of trouble over
the years if I had, but I wasn't really used to thinking about things
like that outside of a fight. I put all that talent to use then,
although it was difficult to see. Her face was a mix of contradicting
emotions, all flying in for a moment before zooming off to make room
for another. Her mind must have been in a fair amount of turmoil to
produce that type of confusion. As I watched though, several different
things came to her face that I immediately recognized. It started with
confusion, which immediately moved to anger, then skipped merrily to
hurt and betrayal. These looks hurt me a great deal to see, because I
knew I was the cause of them but it was the look that came after that
destroyed me. Fear. It was only there for a moment before she went
back to confusion, gone so quickly she probably hadn't even noticed it
herself, but it was there all the same. She was afraid of me.

    I schooled my features before answering her. "Umm, sure thing
Akane. I was just gonna head off to bed anyway." I looked at her for
another moment, hoping, despite myself, that she would stop me from
leaving and open up what she was feeling. Instead she gained a very
noticeable look of relief on her face before quickly responding.

    "Okay, well, I'll...unn, see you in the morning then, Ranma." Then
she turned around and walked quickly up the stairs. I heard her door
open and close a moment later and knew that my time in Nerima was
done.

**********************************************************************

    That night, I packed up my backpack and stored it in my bedroom
closet before turning in for the night. I didn't sleep though, merely
lay on my side, facing the wall opposite the door, and thought about
my life and what I planned to do next. Father came in sometime after
ten, but I pretended to be asleep when he tried to talk to me. I knew
that he was trying to cheer me up and I was thankful for the effort,
but all I really wanted was for him to fall asleep so I could get out
unnoticed. I knew that if I talked to him he would instantly sense
what I was planning to do. He had raised me alone all of my life,
after all, there was no one who knew me better than he did. After a
few moments of unsuccessfully attempting to talk to me, he gave up
with a sigh and laid himself down in the futon next to me to sleep.
I'm sure he knew I was still awake, but he probably also knew that I
didn't want to talk to anyone at that moment.

    I waited a few hours, until I was sure that everyone was asleep,
before making my move. Silently raising myself from my bedroll, I
looked over to see my Father sleeping loudly next to me, his snores a
comfort I found I would strangely miss. Rolling up my bedroll, I
slipped it into my backpack before silently moving from the room. I
thought about going out the window, but as it was closed I didn't want
to attempt to quietly open it. The thing squeaked like you wouldn't
believe. Instead I left by the door, opening it and closing it as
silently as I could before making my way down the stairs and towards
the back door, stopping only briefly to drop a note one the table. The
note was simple enough, just a quick thank you for their hospitality
and an apology for not being able to live up to the promise between
families. As well, I had written a short PS to Nabiki saying I would
mail the money I owed her as soon as I was able. The note was short
and too the point, but then, I was never known for my way with words.

    I quietly made my way out the back door, closing and locking it
behind me and was about to walk over to the wall when I was startled
by a gruff voice I knew better than my own. "Taking off without me,
Son?"

    I turned around to face my Father and watched as he melted out of
the shadows from below our window, which I noticed was now opened. I
regarded him sadly for a moment as he walked up to me, a sad but
determined look on his face. "We've been through a lot together,
Ranma, if you think I'm going to let you wander off by yourself now,
you're wrong."

    I smiled a bit at that, a happiness entering me at knowing that
even to the cost of having to leave his wife and best friend once
more, he would still go with me. It always made me happy to know he
cared about me so much. I knew, though, that I couldn't let him leave
with me this time. "Father," I began, and I saw him smile a bit at the
obvious affection I put in the word. "I'd love more than anything to
have you come with me, but I can't let you. Not this time."

    His face fell into a frown and he began to argue, though he kept
it quiet so as not to wake up the sleeping household. "Son, I'm not
going to let you..."

    "I know, Father. You don't want me ta be alone and I'm glad you
don't." My face dropped a bit, because I knew that after this I
wouldn't see him again for a long time. "What you don't see is that I
don't want you ta be alone either."

    "Son, I'm not..." He began, but I cut him off once more.

    "No. You can't lie ta me, Father. Even when I was little, I could
see how much ya missed Nodoka." His eyes fell a little and I know he
wouldn't deny what I was saying so I continued onward. "You've been
away from her fer ten years 'cause of me, I ain't gonna let you stay
away longer."

    "I won't leave you to live alone, Son. Even if it means leaving my
wife again." He looked up into my eyes and I could see the pride and
love he had for me there. It only served to strengthen my resolve. He
deserved his happiness.

    "Please, Father." I looked at him imploringly as I spoke. "Please,
do this one thing for me. It tears me up that you've been apart for so
long 'cause of me. I couldn't stand the thought of you leavin' her
again. Please. You deserve to be happy." I couldn't stop the tears
from welling up in my eyes, but I held them in, glad for the cover of
darkness as it hid my watery eyes from his view.

    "What about you? Where will you go?" He asked finally. His voice
was more gruff than usual and I knew that this talk of me leaving was
having as much affect on him as it was on me.

    "I don't know yet." I said softly, and I really didn't. My first
thought was to visit Dr Tofu, as I knew where his new clinic was set
up, but I had yet to fully decide. Right then I knew I just had to
leave. "I've got a few ideas, but I'm not really sure yet." Looking at
him, seeing the look he was giving me, the 'that's not good enough'
look that all parents seem to know, I quickly tacked on, "But I'll let
you know as soon as I figure it out."

    He nodded slightly in answer and I knew then that he was letting
me go. I could see the sadness on his face, but I think he could see
the resolve on mine. Instead of saying anything else he merely walked
up to me and pulled me into a fatherly hug. I hugged him back for a
moment before we let go and he stepped back, leaving one hand on my
shoulder. He stood there for a moment, just looking at me before he
spoke up again. "You will write me." He said with conviction, more of
a statement than a request. "And tell me where you are and if you
settle down."

    I smiled at him, glad he wasn't planning to argue anymore, yet sad
that I would be leaving him behind. "Of course, Father. I'll write
whenever I can." He smiled a little as well, though I could tell it
was more for me than for himself. He stepped back then, allowing his
hand to fall back to his side and I swung my pack back on. Turning
around I walked over to the wall and quickly leapt to the top before
looking back at my Father. I stood there for a moment, just watching
the man who raised me alone for ten years. "Take care, Father. I will
see you again."

    "Take care, Son. Be careful." And then I turned away and began
hopping from roof to roof on my way out of town.

**********************************************************************

    I had one more stop to make before I left town, and it wasn't one
I had any intention of missing. I'd already left Ucchan behind once
without word, I wasn't going to do it again. Making my way across the
rooftops of Nerima I wondered if I was doing the right thing by going
at all. I knew I had to, of course, but that didn't make it any
easier. I knew I had to tell her the truth, if only because she would
find out eventually anyway and as my oldest friend, she had the right
to hear it from me personally. I really didn't relish the idea of
losing my oldest friend though and more than once on the way I almost
chickened out. It didn't take long, however, before I was standing on
the roof of the Ucchan's and debating how to wake her up. Finally
deciding to use the window method, I dropped my bag on her roof and
leaned over the sided, catching the edge with my feet. Hanging upside-
down outside her window, I tapped on it, hoping to wake her quickly as
it wasn't the most comfortable of positions. After a few moments of
waiting, the curtains swung aside and a very confused, and somewhat
sleepy Ukyo opened up the window.

    "Ranchan?" She said my name with a stifled yawn, looking at me
quizzically. I had obviously awaken her and I felt a bit bad for it,
but I knew she would feel worse if I left without telling her. She
stood there for a moment, trying to grapple with the fact that I was
upside-down outside of her window, before she seemed to wake up
completely and her eyes widened considerably. Quickly, she got out of
the way so I could enter and than she latched on to me excitedly once
I had. "You're back! When did you get back?"

    It was only then that I remembered that I had only just returned
from China. After everything that had happened today, it felt like
ages ago that we returned. Suddenly I felt even worse about what I had
to tell her. As if it wasn't bad enough I was leaving, but after only
just returning. "Hey Ucchan, I just got back earlier today." Belatedly
I thought to add, "Sorry about coming so late, but it's kinda
important."

    She calmed down considerably at that remark and I realized that my
face must have been showing my emotions again because she almost
seemed to become worried. She pulled me across the room and sat me
down on the bed before sitting next to me and putting her hand on
mine. Looking at me with concerned eyes, she quietly asks if I'm
alright.

    "Yeah...no...I don't know, things are just changing fast right now
and I guess I'm still a bit lost." I sighed a bit and she rubbed my
hand gently with hers, telling me that it was okay, and that I could
tell her anything. I felt a little guilty when she said that, as I'd
been keeping my true nature a secret from her for so long, but I was
still worried about telling her. "That's just it though, Ucchan, I
haven't told you everything. There's something that I've kept secret
from everyone, and now that it's come out, things are gonna be very
different. I figure yer gonna find out the truth anyway, so it'd be
better if I tell you myself."

    She definitely looked worried after I said that, but she put on a
brave face, smiling that cute smile of hers, and I did feel a little
better. Not much, mind you, but a little. "Why don't you start from
the beginning, Ranchan?"

    I chuckled a bit morosely at that before answering her. "The
beginning. The beginning is a long time ago, Ucchan." I thought
quietly for a few moments, trying to decide where I truly should
start. Ukyo just watched patiently, allowing me to gather my thoughts.
"I guess it all really starts with my Mother." I could see her about
to interrupt, probably wondering what Nodoka had to do with it, so I
beat her to it. "Not Nodoka, though, my real Mother."

    This statement garnered a shocked gasp, though I completely
expected that. She recovered quickly, however, and motioned for me to
continue. Having decided to tell her everything, I started from the
very beginning, telling her of my Father's ill-fated arranged
marriage, of my Mother's turning and my subsequent arrival on their
doorstop. I told her of our meeting with my Mother years down the
line, and of what we discovered I truly was. I told her about my
nature, stuff we never told the Tendos during our talk with them. I
told her of the urges that kept me awake some nights, the occasional
need for blood that ended with us being driven out of more towns than
I could remember. I told her everything, and in the end I told her
that I was leaving. Her response surprised me, though I suppose it
shouldn't have. I expected scorn, I've received it all my life.
Instead I got an offer of company.

    "If you're leaving, I'm coming with you." Well, not so much an
offer as a demand. I stared at her wide-eyed, considering what she
said. A part of me wanted her to come, craved the company on the long
open road, but I knew it wasn't a life she wanted, anymore than my
Father really did. She only made the offer because she wanted to be
around me. As happy as that made me, I couldn't accept, especially
since I couldn't love her the way she wanted me to. I'd always seen
her as a sister (well, a brother originally) and I didn't think I'd
ever see her any other way. I looked down for a moment, gathering my
thoughts once more, before looking back at her, my eyes sad, but
resigned.

    "No." Was all I said at first. With Ucchan, simple denials were
always the best as she had a tendency to try and twist what you said
to agree with what she wanted. I don't think she did it on purpose, at
least not always, but she did it none-the-less. When she was about to
start arguing, I spoke up again, trying to explain why I had said no.
"Now don't get me wrong, Ucchan, I'd love the company on the road, but
I can't let you come along. First of all, the trip will probably be
dangerous. Father always managed to hide me from the local demons and
stuff, in order to protect me, but I won't have that luxury anymore.
In fact, I probably won't even want ta hide. Secondly, you've never
actually lived on the road before, not the way I have. I know you
trained for ten years, same as me, but you spent most of that time
going to school and stuff, living near cities. When I travel, I spend
lots of time away from cities. It's rough and it sucks and not long
into it, you'll wish you'd stayed home. Trust me, so will I."

    She merely looked at me evenly for a few moments and I knew she
was planning to pull out the big guns at any moment. The 'I'm your
fiancee and I love you' approach. She always used that method when she
was getting desperate, because she knew it usually succeeded. Mostly
because if I still said no, she would begin to get misty-eyed and I'd
do just about anything to cheer her up. I'm a sucker, I know. This
time however, I wasn't about to let it get that far, so I beat her to
it. "I know what yer gonna say, Ucchan. Yer gonna say that we're
fiancees, and that we should be together." Her face firmed up and she
nodded carefully, knowing I was going somewhere she wouldn't like.
"The thing is Ucchan...well, ummm." It definitely wasn't easy saying
something like this to my friend, but I'd always known I would have to
eventually. I knew it would hurt her no matter when I said it, and I
guess that's why I ended up just blurting it out. "I'm not gonna marry
you Ucchan." After a moment to let that settle in, for both of us, I
added. "Probably ever."

    I could see the emotions running across her face as she considered
what I said, especially now that I was actively looking for them. The
emotions were varied, but all expected. Surprise. Anger. Hurt.
Betrayal. Sadness. They finally settled in the same place I expected
them to: Denial. "But Ranchan, I'm..." Knowing what she was going to
say, I cut her off once more. It was beginning to become a trend that
night.

    "You've been my best friend for a long time, Ucchan, and I care
about you very much..." Her face lit up a bit at that. I rarely ever
said anything of the sort, so it probably made her feel a little
better to hear it, but I knew it would be short lived. I just hoped
that I would make it out of this conversation still having a friend.
"but I don't love you, not the way you want me to. You've been like
the sister I always wanted, and I just can't see you any other way." I
sighed briefly before continuing, looking down at my hands and letting
my tone drop, as my desperation entered my voice. It was a dirty
trick, one I don't normally like to use, but I really was desperate to
keep at least one friend. "I just hope you can understand, cause I
really don't want to lose you as a friend."

    I left it at that and just sat for a while, staring at my hands
and waiting for Ukyo to think about what I had said. I was sitting at
a breaking moment and I knew it too well. If she chose to continue
pursuing me, I would have to leave anyway, and may irreparably damage
our friendship. When she finally answered, it was all I could do to
keep my nervousness from my face. "It's three months till the end of
the school year." I looked up at her, confusion very evident on my
face at the sudden change of topics. She wasn't looking at me, but at
feeling my gaze, she turned towards me as well, meeting my eyes. She
smiled sadly before continuing. "I'd like to finish the school year
before I up and moved again, so I guess you'll have to go alone."

    I shared her sad smile for a few moments, realizing how much it
probably hurt her to say that. After a moment, though, her face
hardened noticeably and I knew there was a condition coming. "You
will, however, write me." I nodded quickly, hoping to placate her and
avoid too many conditions. She quickly continued, however. "At least
once a month. To tell me both how you're doing and where you are." I
must have looked like I was about to protest, because this time she
beat me to it. "And if you don't, I'll be hunting you again in a
heartbeat. I've got lots of practice now, so don't think I couldn't
find you again."

    We shared another smile, and I nodded once more to reassure her
that I would do as she asked. I had no doubt I could get away from her
if I tried, but I really had no desire to, especially now that I knew
she wouldn't chase me down again. "I also expect you to tell me if you
settle down somewhere, cause I would like to be able to visit you at
some point. Just cause I'm not following you right away, don't expect
me to stay away forever. I'm not giving up on you, Ranchan,
just...postponing it a bit." I laughed out loud when she said that,
but it was more from relief than humour and I was sure she could see
that, as her smile instantly widened. It was nice to know I would
still have a friend when word finished spreading around Nerima.

    I glanced at the clock then and realized that we had been talking
for quite a long time. I had to go very soon or people would be waking
up. Ukyo must have realized this too because she stood up then and
walked towards her dresser, opening it up and rooting around for a
moment. Pulling something out, she fiddled with it for a moment before
turning back towards me where I was now standing beside her bed.
Walking up to me, she held out her hands to offer me what she was
holding - one of her throwing spatulas with a white ribbon wrapped
around it. I recognized the ribbon immediately, it was one of her
favourites, one I had called cute a number of times. I took it from
her and looked up at her questioningly. "For good luck," She smiled.
"and so you think of me from time to time while you're gone."

    She then motioned me towards the window and I walked over to it. I
turned back once more and she pulled me into a quick hug, whispering a
'see you soon' into my ear before letting go. Somehow, I actually felt
better knowing that after everything said tonight she was still
planning to come after me eventually. I knew that I'd end up alone in
the end, I always did, but it was nice to know that someone was
thinking of me at least.

    Stepping up to the window, I flipped out of it and jumped back up
to the roof of her building to retrieve my pack. Throwing it up on my
back, I pulled the worn leather straps tight and turned towards the
south. Feeling a cool breeze on my face I smiled slightly before
running to the end of the roof and heading off into the night, towards
the edge of Nerima.

**********************************************************************

    I didn't stop running until early in the morning when I reached
the train station in the next district over. While I usually used the
slower, but much cheaper method of walking where I wanted to go, I
felt that it wouldn't be necessary to cover my tracks too badly this
time, and I wanted to make it to Tofu's tonight, rather than in a week
or so. Walking up to the ticket window I purchased the first available
ticket to Yokohama and was pleased to see that it left in a little
under an hour. Just enough time to get a bite to eat.

    Haven eaten at a small ramen shop next door to the station, I sat
down and waited a short time before boarding the train when it
arrived. Finding a seat, I sat my pack next to me and was very quickly
lulled into a deep sleep, despite the old lady attempting to talk with
me from the next seat. It had been a rather long night, after all. I
don't remember much of what I dreamt during the ride, but I remember
my dreams being very disjointed and disturbing, no doubt due to my
stressful night, and not being terribly rested when I was jolted awake
upon reaching my stop. Grumbling slightly about rides not being long
enough to get decent rest, I grabbed my pack and, excusing myself from
the lady still sitting next to me, I walked off the train and out of
the station. Heading out to the street, I quickly oriented myself and
began walking in the direction of Tofu's clinic.

    Though it was in a different city from where I lived, I had been
to his new clinic two or three times since he had moved there three
months before. Despite the distance, he was still the only doctor I
really trusted to deal with my cursed form. Most of the doctors I had
seen treated me as a freak or a guinea pig as soon as they saw my
curse; Dr Tofu always managed to see me as just Ranma. I respected and
appreciated that a lot, so I always went out of my way to go to him
for physicals and problems, even after he moved.

    It helped that I was the only one who knew where he moved, so I
was able to go unaccosted, but I probably would have gone regardless.

    After a half hour of walking I came upon the front of his clinic
(though the word 'his' wasn't quite appropriate since he shared it
with another doctor. I guess the cost of the building was higher here
than in Nerima) and entered the building. Wandering over to the front
desk, I greeted the young secretary, Eiko, who smiled and blushed
prettily at seeing me. She'd done that ever since I came the first
time and commented that Tofu finally got a cute secretary. One of
these days you would think I would learn. At least she never pushed
it, simply flirted with me when I came in and blushed a lot. Besides,
she was cute.

    After talking to her for a few moments about inconsequential
things, she pressed the intercom for Dr Tofu's office and told him I
was there. It being a relatively slow day, he told her to let me right
in. Smiling at Eiko, I walked past her and opened the door I knew led
into Tofu's office and found the man in question walking over to greet
me.

    "Ranma, it's good to see you." He smiled genially at me and
clapped me gently on the shoulder. I could tell he was a little
confused to see me, as I didn't come very often, generally only when I
had my checkups. He probably would have been worried if I hadn't left
my pack behind Eiko's desk. "What can I do for you? Your next
checkup's not for another three weeks."

    He ushered me into the seat in front of his desk and went back to
his seat behind it. As I sat down, I thought about how to approach
this. I knew that in order to find out anything from him, I would have
to tell him about myself, especially once I told him I'd left the
Tendo place. Sighing to myself, I realized I was in for another long
conversation like I seemed to be having all of yesterday. I was just
far too tired to try and lie my way out of it. Besides, I respected Dr
Tofu too much to even try. Sitting back, I looked at him for a moment
before I started talking. "Well, it's...kinda complicated, but...umm,
I kinda moved out of the Tendo place." Even knowing I had to tell him
didn't make it any easier and I still hummed and hawed as I talked.
Upon saying I moved out, though, Dr Tofu's face immediately became
concerned and he urged me to continue. "The thing is,
something...important happened and, uh, after talking to...the
Tendo's," He was better, but I was still leery of using Kasumi's name
in conversation. "I figured that you may be able to, ahh, help me with
something."

    Tofu could tell that I was nervous about what I was trying to say,
of course - A blind and deaf three year old could have told I was
nervous at that point - so he simply sat quietly and allowed me
whatever time I needed to decide how to say it. Finally, after a few
moments of simply staring at my hands, I decided that blurting it out
had worked pretty well for me so far today (or was it yesterday) so I
continued the trend. "I'm, ahh, well, I'm...I'm not human, Doc. Not
completely, anyway."

    He sat there for another long moment as I waited nervously for him
to respond. I thought it was because I had stunned him to silence, but
he proved me wrong a moment later. "I know." Was all he said.

    To say I was stunned would be a vast understatement. I sat there
gaping at him for a few moments before I finally voiced my confusion.
"Whadda ya mean, 'I know'? How could you know?"

    Tofu chuckled lightly at my obvious agitation before answering me
as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've been working
in this profession long enough to recognize the difference between
human and non-human auras, Ranma. Your aura has never looked entirely
human, though it does look partially. I never really figured out what
you were exactly, but I could easily tell you weren't human." I stared
at him for a long moment as he allowed me to absorb what he had said.
Once he was sure I got everything in my slightly tired and confused
state, he continued. "I figured you would tell me about it once you
felt ready. Let me hazard a guess: the Tendo's found out the truth and
Ka-Kasumi told you about my extensive library?"

    Once more I found myself gaping at the man, for more than one
reason. Aside from the obvious, that he had managed to bring Kasumi
into a conversation without freaking out, he had also managed to put
together pretty much my entire situation. In fact, the only thing he
didn't know was what I actually was. I figured I might as well fill
him in on that much. "Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what happened.
As for what I am," I waited a moment for dramatic tension. I figured I
owed him for shocking me like that, though judging from his smile he
knew what I was doing. "I'm Dampyr."

    I have to admit, it was rather satisfying to see him nearly fall
out of his chair. I had to hold back a slight snicker as he struggled
to regain his balance. Not that I blamed him for being surprised. As I
said before, Dampyrs are rare; the chances of one showing up in your
office are so slim that he never would have expected it. It took Tofu
a few moments to pull himself back together before he was nearly
demanding to know the details. I'd never seen him so excited and it
amused me greatly to see him nearly stumbling to get a notebook so he
could write my story out. When he finally calmed down enough to write,
I began my story once more, severely hoping I didn't have to go
through it again any time soon.

    It took a fair amount longer to tell the story this time than it
did with either the Tendos or Ukyo as Tofu was constantly asking
questions to clarify things. He even cancelled his appointments for
the rest of the morning in order to get the full story out of me. Eiko
was a little concerned when he did that, but she shifted his schedule
as best she could for him. We spent the rest of the morning talking
about my past as he recorded anything relevant. Though it bothered me
a little to have my life written down for others to read, I let it go.
There really was very little written on Dampyrs anywhere, so I figured
this may help any future children like myself get by a little more
easily. Besides, he promised to leave my name out unless I ever told
him otherwise.

    When we finally finished, he took me out for a late lunch at a
small restaurant nearby and we discussed what I was planning to do now
that I was homeless. I admitted that I was basically without a plan
and Tofu was quick to offer me a place to stay. Though I was grateful
for the offer, I was a little reluctant to accept. The man had been
very good to me over the time I had known him and the last thing I
wanted to do was take advantage of him. He quickly convinced me to
accept though with the offer of not only knowledge on the subject of
my Mother's people, which he claimed to have a great deal of, but also
some training as well. It turned out the good doctor was quite
accomplished at swordplay and was willing to teach me proper use of
the Katana as well as several other models.

    Having decided my immediate future at least, we headed back to the
clinic where I grabbed my backpack and Dr Tofu showed me the living
section upstairs. Setting up a futon in the spare room, he left me to
take his afternoon patients and I laid down to take a nap, the stress
and lack of sleep finally hitting me and leaving me exhausted. I was
asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

**********************************************************************

    The next two months were a blessing for me, though I knew it
wouldn't last long. For once, I wasn't being forced to hide what I
was, though I didn't exactly advertise it either. My days would
generally consist of getting up early for my Anything Goes training,
which I was adamant to keep up, despite my lack of a good sparing
partner. Tofu was a good martial artist, don't get me wrong, but he
was nowhere near my Father or my level. He did manage to find me a few
local masters to spar with sometimes and, though they were for the
most part of a lower level as well, I did learn a few things about
different styles during that time. After practice, I would help Dr
Tofu around his clinic, cleaning up or helping with patients. For a
time he had me helping Eiko with the office work, but he discovered
quickly that whenever I was around her productivity went down the
tubes, so that came to a quick end.

    During lunch, Tofu's colleague, an English man named Dr Martin,
would help me brush up on my English skills. At first I was confused
as to why this was necessary but Tofu quickly explained that most of
the information on my kind and my Mother's kind was either written in
English or one of the other western languages, and though my spoken
English was passable, my written English was more or less non-
existent. Though most of the work was done on my written English, we
managed to increase my spoken ability to the point where I could carry
conversations entirely in English without terrible difficulty. At
first, Tofu was surprised that I could speak as well as I could, but I
quickly explained that during our travels, my Father and I were forced
to pick up English as a second language in order to get by in some
areas. While finding someone who could speak Japanese in another
country was sometimes a challenge, chances were that someone would
speak English.

    After lunch I would help out as much as was needed, but generally
the clinic wasn't nearly as busy, leaving me time to delve into Tofu's
rather impressive library. Though I found very little about my kind
that I didn't already know, I did get to read about the Dampyr Kasumi
had mentioned, D, as well as two or three others. I found it
interesting that all recorded Dampyrs had become Vampire Hunters at
some point in their lives, making me wonder whether it was instinctual
or something. A built in hatred of the creatures that spawned us,
perhaps, or simply the desire to take vengeance on the demons who had
made our lives so difficult. I found it difficult to feel vengeful,
however, though I did think the idea had merit. My Father always told
me that I was given a gift, rather than a curse, and that I should
treat it as such, so why not use that gift to protect others from
turning out as my Mother did. Though I never knew her, I always felt a
certain pang when I thought about her and what she had become, I
always wished things could have turned out differently from how they
did. If my 'gifts' could be used to keep others from feeling the same
way, than wasn't it my duty to use them as such.

    When I brought the idea towards Tofu, he was very quick to warn me
of the dangers of the path I was thinking of embarking on. Vampire
Hunters don't tend to live long, he warned, and the lives they have
are often filled with sadness and death more than anything. When he
saw that my mind wouldn't be changed, though, he rapidly changed my
afternoon practice to something more appropriate to my chosen calling.
Before then, my afternoon, after he had closed the clinic, consisted
of him teaching me both pressure points and swordplay, two areas he
was very skilled in. After I had decided on a path, however, he more
or less dropped the pressure point training from my schedule, though
he still taught me bits now and again, and focused on teaching me
weapon fighting and demon slaying. The man had a surprisingly large
knowledge of the art of Vampire and Demon Hunting, though when I asked
him about it, he merely replied that it was a hobby of his. I guessed
it had something to do with the society that Kasumi told me he was a
part of, but he seemed reluctant to speak of it, so I didn't push. He
was being very kind to me at that moment and so I wasn't going to
bother him about details.

    After the first week of sword practice, we decided to focus my
training on specific sword styles. Though I showed a decent
proficiency for the Japanese Katana, I was reluctant to learn to use
it. I wasn't even really sure where my reluctance came from; it was as
if I had an instinctive dislike of the weapon. The only thing I could
really credit it to, was that one too many fights with that idiot Kuno
had killed my appreciation for what would otherwise have been a noble
and elegant weapon. Surprisingly, the sword I showed the most affinity
for was a Chinese double-edged blade similar to what Shampoo used when
she first arrived in Nerima. Tofu postulated that it was due to the
fluid nature of my style, which matched the more fluid Chinese arts,
such as Tai chi and Gung-Fu as opposed to the stricter, more form-
oriented Japanese arts. Whatever the reason, most of my sword practice
was concentrated on a Tai-chi style blade and by the end of the two
months I was quite proficient in it's use.

    During that time, I was also taught a great deal about the
weaknesses of my Mother's people and some other common demons, though
Tofu was sure to stress that not all demons were evil and required
killing. I accepted this quickly though as, technically, I was part
demon and was fairly sure I didn't require slaying. Unfortunately,
there were very few Vampires in the local area for me to practice my
technique on, something Tofu had assured me was normal for that
particular area of Japan, though he admitted that Japan in general had
been surprisingly quiet in Vampire activity for the past several
years. In fact, the last major Vampire infestation was about the time
of my Mother's turning lead by non other than my Mother's Sire,
William The Bloody, commonly known by his nickname Spike. Something
had happened, however, shortly after my birth which drove most of the
Vampire community out of the area, and not long thereafter, out of
Japan altogether. I couldn't find any real mention of what it was,
however, and if Tofu knew than he was keeping it quiet, something he
did from time to time though, again, I didn't push him.

    By the time I had spent two months with Tofu at his clinic, I
decided that I had learned all I could through study and needed some
actual experience in order to learn more. I always had been a hands on
kind of guy and that hadn't changed much despite all the study the
Doctor had put me through. Leaving, however, wasn't a decision that
came easily to me. I was fairly happy living with Dr Tofu and working
with him and his colleague. I knew I had to put my gift to good use,
however, or I would feel guilty about wasting it, so I told Tofu that
I would be leaving and asked him for advise on where to go. I still
didn't really have a plan in mind, aside form finding William The
Bloody, and I had no real idea of how to go about that. Tofu was quick
to warn me about the hazards of vengeance trips, but I had seen the
way Ryoga acted so he had no real need to worry about that. I merely
felt that in order for my Mother to properly rest, her killer had to
be punished, and so I was set on seeing him punished. My primary goal
in my new mission, however, would always remain protecting people and
Tofu understood that.

    Properly convinced that I wouldn't rush off and do something
stupid, Dr Tofu gave me the name of a small town in California where
Vampires seemed more drawn to than other areas. If I wanted to hunt
them, he told me, that would be the place to go. The day I left, Tofu
and Dr Martin closed down the clinic in order to take me to the train
station where I would catch a train to the closest port. Tofu had
given me enough money to buy a ticket to the port at Los Angeles, and
though I insisted I had enough to pay myself, he felt that he had to
help as much as he could. I was thankful for the help as, although I
did have an inheritance from my Mother, most of it was inaccessible
until I turned eighteen so I was going to have to live off of very
little money for a time. Not that I wasn't used to that, of course,
but it was never fun, so any help I could receive was appreciated.

    Eiko joined us as well at the train station and though I could
tell she was unhappy that I was leaving, she smiled when I promised to
write the clinic from time to time to tell them how I was doing. I
made Tofu promise to help me keep in contact with Ucchan as well since
I knew that the trip across the Pacific would take long enough that
she would begin hunting before I was able to write her. When my train
arrived, Tofu gave me one last gift and though I adamantly tried to
refuse his endless generosity stating that he had already done more
than enough for me, he wouldn't hear of it. Between a combination of
his persistence and my need to get on the train before it left without
me, I was forced to accept the sword he offered me. It was a beautiful
Tai-chi blade that he had seen me admire in his collection more than
once. It had a handle inlaid with jade and a black and dark green
sheath. I knew the piece had to be expensive, but he insisted that it
was worth far more helping me save people than sitting on his shelf
collecting dust.

    Finally, getting a warm hug from Eiko and a firm handshake from
both men, I entered the train and was on my way to begin my quest.

**********************************************************************

    As I expected, the ship took a long time to finally reach it's
destination in Los Angeles and it was a month and a half after leaving
Japanese soil that I finally set foot on the coast of California. I
spent several weeks hunting the night in LA, finding that although I
was good, I had to be very careful when fighting the creatures of the
dark. I had found myself injured several times during those two weeks
and it was only my phenomenal healing rate that kept me going at
times, but I finally decided that it was time to head towards my
destination.

    That's how I got to where I am now, walking silently down a dusty
highway, my pack riding high on my back as I pass by the beat up
'Welcome To Sunnydale' sign. Stopping for a moment, I look towards the
town I'm entering and think about how I got here, and where I'm going.
I realize that though I may be alone now, perhaps, if this town really
is as strange as Tofu made it out to be, I'll be able to find my place
here. Perhaps I can actually have a home where I'll be accepted.
Readjusting my pack, I begin walking once more and can't help but
notice that my step seems to be just a little bit lighter than I can
ever remember it before.

To Be Continued...


Authors Notes: Well, that certainly turned out a lot longer than I
thought it would. I know I've been kinda lax on my stories of late, so
I'm gonna apologize for that now, but I've been hit with major amounts
of writer's block that I'm just now breaking out of. This story came
up as an attempt to get myself out of it and it seems to have worked
for the most part. By now it should be obvious where the crossover
lies, though my plans for the future of this story are pretty limited
at the moment. I'm probably gonna head over to some of my other
stories for a while before getting back to this one anyway, so expect
to see some of my others continued before this one.
As usual, this will be stored at my site www.geocities.com/ranikkoku
and all C&C is not only welcomed but heavily encouraged. Send it all
to ranikkoku@hotmail.com
Hope you enjoyed it
Bob Lobster