Hiya,
Ok, here is the first chapter of a fic i've been working on for a while now,
I thought i'd post the first chapter just to see what kind of reaction I'd
get ;)
Note: This fic isn't zany like your usual Ranma 1/2 fics. It is set with a
'serious' tone and fight scenes actually portray serious damage unlike your
usual Ranma battles. Granted, there are a lot of fics like this out there
but i'd just point it out first so ppl who don't like this kind of fic can
stay away :)
C&C as usual, appreciated. Any flames, dont even bother.
*Insert Standard Disclaimer here. I don't have any money and arent trying to
make any so dont waste time suing me*
"" = speech
<> = thought
** = action
------------------------------
Ranma 1/2 - Jusenkyo's Curse
a fanfic by Kyo Kusanagi
------------------------------
Chapter 1: The Awakening
Night had fallen over the Jusenkyo springs. Through the waning light, one
could clearly seen the soft breeze gently rippling the surface of the pools.
Above the springs, long bamboo poles, some worn and broken by the power of
the elements and the passing of time, stand proudly. The skies above the
tranquil scene do not do justice to the beauty of the surrounding area, lush
green vegetation almost completely obscuring the little training ground
from view. Near the edge of the grounds, a small thatched roof hut can be
seen, a soft glowing light emanating from within as a long, tired sigh
issued from the hut.
"Those fool tourists, I damn well told them *NOT* to stray too close to the
springs, I told them over and over, and what do I get? *PSSSHHH* First idiot
that wanders too close falls in."
Another sigh, this time one that was longer and with a touch of annoyance in it.
"Pity, that guy looked quite a businessman really, all that suit, coat and
tie crap. Never really understood why people go in for such silly things
when simple…" he gestures to his well-worn threadbare robes "…stuff like
this will do. Ah well, his fault, wonder which pool he fell into, have to
check up on that sometime." The guide mumbles as he recollects the day’s
events. Showing some rich bastard around was bad enough, what was worse when
he decided to jump into one of the pools.
The guide, also the guide for anyone visiting the springs, has been here for
longer than anyone can remember, probably the only living person to know
almost every detail about the Jusenkyo springs, but even then there are
things that he doesn’t know.
"Ahhhhh, time to turn it in I guess." He says as he blows out the candle and
drifts off to sleep, a final, fleeting thought entering his mind.
<Hmm, I wonder what that glow was AFTER that fool fell into the pool. First
time I’ve ever seen the waters light up like that. Ah well, I’ll find out
soon enough. Hmm, I wonder how many people actually know that the curse
actually infuses your spirit with that of the one who originally drowned?
Hah, with the number of fools out there these days, not many I’d wager.>
Outside the hut, the pool near the middle that the rich tourist fell in this
morning, unknown to the guide, was emitting a soft blue glow. Borne on the
wind came an extremely faint, but definite, sound of laughter. An
evil-sounding laugh...
***************
Morning has broken above Nerima, the warm glow of the morning sun turning
everything a rich, golden hue. Around town people were already showing signs
of activity. Outside the Nekohanten came sounds of the early morning crowd
that usually stopped by for a bite before going off to work. Ranma and Akane
were on their way to school, Ranma taking his usual pace along the top of
the fence while Akane, ignoring Ranma as usual, chats to Sayuri and Yuka
about common, everyday stuff. Then the all-too familiar ‘chrrriiinnngggg’ of
a certain bicycle bell, piloted by a certain lavender-haired cutie…Followed
by an all-too familiar crash of the bicycle on Ranma.
"Shampoo!!! Get off me!!! What do you think you were doing anyway, riding
your bike on the fence?!? Uhffff, get off me, you’re making me late
again!!!" an extremely ticked-off Ranma yelled.
Shampoo was on top of Ranma, hugging him like some sort of teddy bear.
"Ranma happy to see Shampoo hmm?" Shampoo asked, still smiling and playfully
pulling at the sides of Ranma’s mouth into a semblance of a smile, if you
can call it that. Her bike lies nearby, along with the container of ramen
that she has totally forgotten about. The passers-by pay no attention to the
scene, after all it happens *ALMOST* every day.
"Ranma no go school, Ranma take Shampoo to date!!?" Shampoo blurted out,
more of a statement than a question.
"You have GOT to be kidding!" Ranma frantically looked around, hoping Akane
had gone on to school with her friends and forgotten about him. Yeah right,
fat chance of that, as if on cue, Ranma’s face suddenly appeared to grow a
footprint, that’s with the foot still attached to it. Shampoo looks up and
sees a slightly ticked-off Akane standing on Ranma’s face for a moment
longer before stepping off with a ‘Hmmph’. Shampoo looks up at an
angry-looking Akane.
"Akane always such a violent girl..." Shampoo says as Akane, standing on
Ranma’s face, grinds her heel for a moment before walking off.
"Ranma! I’m going on ahead, PLEASE enjoy yourself!"
"Uhhhhh...Ak.....Akane, wh....what didja do that for!?!? Wouldja just listen
to MY side for once damnit?!" Ranma groans from being used as a doormat.
"YOUR side?! Oh ok, so I’m going to listen to you carry on about why you’ve
got Shampoo in your arms like some kind of overstuffed teddy bear!?"
"It isn’t MY fault, she just jumped onto me first! I was just going about
minding my own business when I get floored!"
"Yeah right, sure, and I bet you really enjoyed getting ‘floored’ huh?!"
"Well anything would be more enjoyable than being with you, come on, just
look, I mean, who would go out with someone as uncute as you?!"
"What was that!?!?! Would you care to repeat that Ranma!?!?"
"You’re uncute, unsexy, built like a brick, violent as a gorilla and..."
That was as far as Ranma could get before Akane magically conjured her
trademark mallet out of thin air and began chasing him around Nerima yelling
and trying to turn his head into something resembling roadkill. Shampoo,
left behind simply sighs and picks up her bike before leaving.
"Shampoo never understand why Ranma like Akane, always so violent girl."
Shampoo mumbles to herself.
**************
Below on the streets of Nerima, Ryoga is on his way to the Tendo Dojo (he
actually passed it 4 blocks back) when a small commotion made him look up
and see the 2 figures chasing each other across the rooftops.
"That was Akane and Ranma. He must have done something to her, that cad!
I’ll show him! The coward will finally have to face the might of Ryoga
Hibiki!" Ryoga belts out, striking a ‘hero’ pose as a passing truck
accidentally splashes a puddle over Ryoga, where he was last standing now
stands a little black pig.
P-Chan ‘Bweees’ in anger at his moment of grandeur (?) being interrupted and
at the fact that he was practically helpless in this state.
Ryoga/P-Chan runs off toward the Tendo Dojo in the hopes of finding some hot
water and about 2 hours later winds up at the exact same place that he
started from…
******************
The guide awoke with a start, something was definitely wrong. He could feel
it in the air, a stirring in the ki surrounding the pools. Like there was
another presence there. He tried to ignore it, but try as he might he could
not shake the feeling that something was amiss. The disturbances in the
etheric waves surrounding the pools were much too great to ignore. He throws
on his cloak while sweating heavily
"Uhhh, Shimata!! What can it be? Why do I feel this stirring all of a sudden?"
Knowing that he would never be able to get to sleep again tonight, he got up
and wandered outside to sit by the pools. The moment he stepped outside
however, he was greeted with a shocking scene. The pools were glowing
brightly with an aqua light, each one stirred into a swirling vortex that
was slowly sucking the etheric barrier surrounding the pools into itself.
The middle pool, the one that was originally glowing, was now pulsing with a
bright white light. The entire area was now encased in an invisible vortex
of pure energy.
"Uhh? Nani?? Oh no, It can’t be, not so soon, NO No no no no no, that fool,
curse that fool!!! Why of all pools to fall in WHY THIS ONE???!?!?!?!" he
yelled.
His fears are well founded, the pool now pulsing with pure white energy was
the one in which Kasunama Seijiiku, the warrior-demon who was killed when he
was drowned by a human who managed to use his power against him. Given the
nature of the curse, which causes the spirit of the victim to ‘fuse’ with
the spirit of the person who drowned in the pool, the victim also inherits,
to a certain degree and depending on certain conditions, the abilities and
powers that the drowned spirit may possess. The person who fell into a pool
this morning had to pick this one, of all pools.
Even now as the guide watches on in fright, the swirling vortex of energy
around the area begins to increase in tempo, drawing more energy as it
starts to suck in the essences of the lost souls drowned in the other pools.
The guide huddles into a frightened ball and clamps his hands over his ears
as the wailing of the lost souls, drawn from their resting places within the
pools, are forcibly torn from their earthly constraint and assimilated into
the now-blinding column of light that has erupted from the main pool.
Visibly shaking from fear, the guide whispers "Oh no, this can’t be
happening, that fool, his idiotic accident will doom us all...Curse him!" as
he silently curses the tourist who fell into the pool as the column of light
begins to change color, from white, to red, to blue, to yellow, then purple.
The light then begins to fade slightly, as a horrifying visage of Kasunama
Seijiiku appears in the middle of the column, sneering.
"Muahahahaha!!! I am free!! I am FREE!!! Now the world will feel the unholy
vengeance of Kasunama Seijiiku!!! The darkness lives on...NONE CAN STOP
ME!!!" The spirit bellows, then stops as if waiting for applause. Getting
none, it continues "You old fool" he sneers as he points a clawed finger at
the frightened guide "did you truly think you could keep me from being free
did you!? NO ONE, stops a GOD!!!" The terrifying visage of Kasunama Seijiiku
appears to grow as the guide shrinks back further.
"S...someone w...w...will stop you....Y...you’ll see. Y...you w...will be
defeated like last time." The guide stammers out, silently cursing himself
at his pathetic show of fear.
"Muahahaha!!! You fool! What pathetic mortal can you name with even the
slightest hope...of stopping a GOD!?" The spirit then goes on to blab about
his most evil deeds over time, the souls he has stolen etc.
"Someone will, you’ll see, someone will stop you!! Your evil will be put to
an end like that last time!" The guide snaps back, regaining some semblance
of confidence.
The spirit of Seijiiku howls with rage at the defiance of the guide before
him. The guide shakes with fright as Seijiiku shakes the ground with an
uncontrollable laughter that causes the light from the pools to flare up.
"You fool! You FOOL!!! I will have NO MORE of your foolish banter. I shall
begin my unholy quest for vengeance with YOU!!" The spirit bellows as
tendrils of pure energy snake toward the guide who jumps in fright and
attempts to run. However, an unseen force slams him to the ground and he is
snared by the tendrils which drag him slowly toward the sneering visage of
Seijiiku. Now babbling in utter fear, the guide is barely coherent and is
having trouble stringing two words together. His babble is abruptly ended as
Seijiiku forcefully rips his soul from his body and assimilates it to be a
part of his own. The howling spirit slowly fades from existence as
Seijiiku’s evil laughter once more rings out. "Pathetic mortals! How can
they ever hope to beat ME!? The entire world shall feel my awesome power
once more! *pauses for a moment* Wait!! I sense there are few who hold the
essence of the pools, MY essence and MY powers!! I cannot allow this!! I
WILL NOT allow these mere mortals to hinder my rebirth!! This sacrilege must
end!!" It pauses to consider this, whoever has fallen into the pools before
possess a portion of the essence which hover around the area. As long as the
victims of the pools have a portion of the essence, the spirit cannot be
reborn.
As it ponders, the glowing purple light seems to fade slightly, tendrils of
pure energy snake out, coiling around the shrivelled corpse of the guide
and lifting it bodily into the air. It then proceeds to rip it apart,
wringing it like a wet dishcloth, as blood sprays and the insides of the
corpse fall with a sickening splat onto the rocky ground, breaking open on
impact, spilling blood and viscera which begin to soak into the rocks,
staining them.
"Wait!! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?! Mortals are extremely warlike,
maybe I can turn these aggressive feelings to my advantage." Dropping the
mangled corpse, the spirit suddenly exclaims to no one in particular. As a
formless spirit, it cannot directly harm a mortal, but it also cannot
recover any essence within a mortal unless it is killed. That is if the
spirit is in its current incorporeal state. Seijiiku stops as if to think
about what to do, then it is as if the light itself appears to elongate and
lengthen. It breaks free from the pool that seemingly bound it and streaks
upward into the night sky. As it escapes the magical restraints that were
weakened when the tourist fell into the pool, it laughs maniacally at the
thought of how it is going to recover the essence. The spirit’s essence
glows brightly for a moment then shoots off in the direction of Japan...
Down below, the pools are still once more, the only remaining evidence of
the frightful events that have occurred this night are the gristly remains
of the former guide, quietly staining the rocks
****************
It was your average day at the Tendo Dojo, Soun and Genma(in panda form) are
sitting on the porch playing shogi, Kasumi is drying the laundry on the line
and Happosai is off on his usual panty raid.
"Ahh, such a peaceful day, eh Saotome?" Soun muses, putting a shogi piece on
the board. Genma, moving the pieces around as Soun stares out into space,
holds up a sign saying "Yep, a peaceful day".
Nabiki, quietly reading a manga nearby, looks at her watch and counts off on
her fingers as she walks to a possibly ‘safe’ area of the dojo.
"Hmm, ok, 5...4...3...2...1...." she states as right on cue, the wall behind
Soun and Genma explodes and Ranma comes flying out, knocking Genma into the
pond. Moments later a spluttering Ranma-chan and a very annoyed-looking
panda emerge from the pond. Akane steps out onto the porch through the
Ranma-shaped hole in the wall holding a huge mallet.
"Blah, hey, what didja do that for??! I told you it isn’t my damn fault that
Shampoo makes it a hobby to hug me to death every time she sees me!"
Ranma-chan yells from the pool to Akane who is still holding her mallet. On
the side is written the words ‘100 Tons: Do Not Drop’.
"Oh yeah!?! Well the least you could do is the quit encouraging her! Sheesh,
really." Akane says in a ticked-off voice as she turns on her heel and walks
back into the dojo, leaving an irate panda and Soun to berate the hapless
Ranma-chan.
"Ranma!! What have you done to Akane this time?!?". Soun proceeds to
admonish Ranma with tears flowing down his face. Genma always thinking Ranma
is the one to pick on Akane, holds up a sign saying "When are you ever going
to learn to treat her right? She IS your fiancee after all!".
"ME!?! HEY! She just happened to walk by when Shampoo was trying to squeeze
me half to death! That isn’t MY fault now is it!?" Ranma-chan yells in
exasperation.
A crying Soun and red-faced panda reply "Yes it is!" (Panda holding up
another sign). "WHAT WAS THAT!!!!?!!!?!" Ranma-chan yells, shaking her head.
"You have a responsibility to Akane, how could you just blatantly in her
face go off chasing other women?!?!? Are you a man or aren’t you?!" Soun,
still crying, yells back at Ranma-chan. Kind of a silly statement really,
considering Ranma’s current form.
"NOW WAIT A MOMENT HERE!!! I SAID IT WASN’T MY FAU...." Before Ranma-chan
could finish, an extremely red-faced panda smacks her out of the pond into a
nearby wall with his sign that says "Don’t yell at your father!!"
Ranma-chan turns to face the two parents, now glowing with a blue
battle-aura. Soun and Genma note this and shrink back slightly.
"That’s IT!! I’ve had all I can take from you two jerks!!" she intones in a
low, dangerous voice as she strides forward slowly, fists clenched, Soun
hastily backs off while Genma tries to hold him back, displaying a sign
saying "Don’t leave me here."
****************
Later we hear Nabiki moaning about more repairs that need to be done and
what it’s going to cost her. Kasumi, as usual with that innocent look on her
face, hasn’t got a clue about what her sister is on about.
"Take a look at that why dontcha?" she whines as she gestures to the new
Soun and panda shaped holes in the garden wall.
"Those look kind of cute" Kasumi smiles and says innocently to Nabiki, who
face-faults as a large sweatdrop trickles down the back of her head. In the
meantime, upstairs in the bath, Akane, while silently cursing Ranma is
relaxing, or trying to in a hot bath. Reaching over, she takes the soap off
its holder and begins to soap herself, delicately tracing lines with the
soap over her body. As she does so, her mind begins to wander. As the hot
water and steam slowly relax her tense muscles, images from her memory begin
to spring forth. Images, from a certain time on the island on Togenkyo…
***********
"Akane! Is that the spring?!?" Ranma asks as they fall toward a pool shining
with lights that look like stars. "Now you can be cured, Ranma!" Akane says
back, almost feeling happy for Ranma that he can finally become a normal guy
again.
"No way Akane, I gotta blow it up!!"
"WHAT!?! But then…"
Hey, didn’t you say you liked me the way I am?"
"I do…B"
"Well the way *YOU* are is…I ..I gotta destroy it!!"
Akane sighs as she hears Ranma almost admit his feelings for her, she stops
arguing and simply buries her face into his back as they fall further toward
the spring.
"This is it Akane, all my remaining strength into one all-or-nothing
blast!!" Ranma, sensing that time was running out concentrates and a glowing
yellow aura encompasses him as he concentrates his remaining ki, then
focuses it into his hands to power a ki blast.
"MOKOU-TAKIBISHA!!!!!"
An immense blast of energy erupts from Ranma’s cupped hands into the spring
and burrowing through the bottom into the sea beyond. The spring drains out
like water emptying from a bathtub with the plug pulled. Then suddenly a
geyser of sea water explodes upwards, sending them both back upward and
through the top of the mountain which erupts like a volcano, spewing forth
sea water.
*************
Later, along the beach of Togenkyo, Toma and his followers apologise to the
group for the trouble they put the group through the past few days. Ranma,
now back in his boy-form, is standing next to Akane as the early morning
sunrise bathes the area in a rich, golden glow.
"I-I’m sorry Akane, I’ve learned something this time, you can’t have a
relationship if only one person wants it right? Next time, I-I’ll do it
right!" Toma says to Akane, something he never thought he ever had to say.
"So does this mean you're givin’ up on marryin’ Akane?" Ranma says, butting
in. Toma smiles at him.
"Absolutely, I’ve no chance against someone like you." At this Ranma crosses
his arms behind his head.
"Ahh, you're better off without her anyway, she’s more like a boy than a
girl anyway, she’s go no figure and OOF!!" Ranma says in his usual annoying
tone before his sentence is cut short by an elbow to the stomach by Akane,
who then steps up and holds Toma’s hands. "Toma, you're still young. You’ll
find a bride…"
"T-Thank you…" Toma blushes at Akane’s kind attitude toward him.
Akane then draws his head in and kisses him on the forehead, to Toma’s
surprise who blushes and emits a soft "Ohhh", the color of his cheeks
matching the color of the sunrise. Ranma meanwhile is standing with both
hands behind his head and a jealous look on his face.
"Hmmph, what’s his problem anyway? Getting a crush on Akane like that?!" he
mutters under his breath as he tries to ignore the scene in front of him.
*************
A sudden commotion outside snaps Akane to reality. She wonders why she began
thinking of Toma in the first place. But as she recalls the events, a smile
appears on her face as she remembers what Ranma said to her when they were
falling into the spring. She thinks "I wonder if he really meant what he
said back then" as she quickly dresses and exits the bath to see what is
making all the noise.
Outside, Ranma and Ryoga were locked in a violent fight that had begun in
the kitchen and due to an accident with a pot of soup, Ryoga had managed to
change back into his normal form and was out for Ranma’s blood for treating
him like dirt when he found a hopelessly lost P-Chan wandering the streets
of Nerima as he was on his way to Ucchan’s Okonomiyaki-Ya for his usual free
snack.
"Man…will you *duck* quit it already?" Ranma managed to get out while
dodging a flurry of blows from an enraged Ryoga who appeared deaf to his
pleas to stop as there were ‘women and children nearby’.
"RANMAAAAA! I’m going to teach you a lesson once and for all!!!" Ryoga, his
face red with anger yells, as he aims a roundhouse kick that smashed into a
wall where Ranma was standing a few moments ago. "…Today you shall face me!"
"Look you idiot!!!" Ranma yelled back as he caught Ryoga’s extended leg. "If
you really do want to kill me, then damn you, let’s take this outside, you
may hurt someone in here!!!". Ryoga, pausing to think about Ranma’s words
(well more of thinking about the fact that Akane might be hurt), made a
fatal mistake as Ranma, seizing the opportunity, broke Ryoga’s guard and
smashed him through the roof with an uppercut.
"Damn, this time he’s serious, he isn’t going to let this go, considering I
used him as a football back there" Ranma mused as he dropped his guard for a
moment too long. Long enough for Akane to deliver one hell of a bitch slap.
"RANMA!!! What do you think you were doing!? Beating up on poor Ryoga like
that?"
"Hey!! *HE* attacked me first!" Ranma retorted, not noticing that Akane was
half-naked with only a flimsy towel around her.
"It doesn’t matter, you shouldn’t have fought back like that!!"
"WHAT! He was going to kill me if you don’t mind!!"
"Hmmph, in this case he’d be doing us all a favor!…Be nice to get rid of…"
Akane stopped, the gravity of her statement sinking in. Even she’d never
gone that far before as to imply that Ranma would be better off dead.
Nabiki, who was inside her room, heard the statement and gasped. Ranma
winced at that last retort, it had hurt, a LOT!
<Did she really mean that!?!> Ranma thought as he turned a pained gaze
toward Akane before gritting his teeth and leaping out through the
Ryoga-shaped hole in the roof. For a moment, Akane was taken aback at the
look he just gave her.
<Oh no, I must have really hurt him.> She thought as she slowly walked back
to her room. Along the way, Nabiki who had been listening to the heated
exchange a few moments ago from her room, looked up from her homework.
"Ummm Akane…What you said back there, it wasn’t a good thing" Akane looked
at her older sister.
"I know, I shouldn’t have said it. But what should I do now?" Nabiki thought
for a moment, as if considering the possible ways to blackmail/bribe/con etc
Akane in this situation.
"*sigh* I know it’s unlike you but I think you should go apologise. What you
said back there was a bit much, even for the two of you…" Nabiki says,
sighing. Akane nodded, she knew she overstepped the boundary with that last
crack but at the time she couldn’t think of anything better to say, it had
just slipped out.
"Ok Nabiki, I’ll do it" she sighed as she walked off to find Ranma. Kasumi
walked past Akane and, noticing the look on her younger sister’s face, asked
Nabiki as she passed her room.
"Nabiki, what’s wrong with Akane?"
"Oh nothing, she just had another argument with Ranma, though this time it
kinda went too far".
"Oh my! I hope it wasn’t anything serious!" Kasumi says, a hand on her
mouth. Nabiki turned around to look at her older sister.
"Nah, they’ll make up soon enough" However, the look on Nabiki’s face did
not agree with what she’d just said.
*************
Continued in Part 2
K u s a n a g i K y o
--|---|-- --|---|-- ----+----
+-----+ /-, +-+- +-----+
|-----| | |-|- | |
+-----+ -|- |-|- +-----+
----|---- / \ +-+- / J \
-----------------------------------------------
"Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"