Ranma Vs. The world. 6

Fortunes told, reunited Rivals and the tigers breath.

	Ryoga woke early and began to gather his things. He was somewhere
in the wilderness of China and he had a long way to go. He began walking
and frowned at the sky. "Its going to rain soon." he commented as he
began walking. "Damn you Ranma. I don't need this." 
	
	Ranma woke from her sleep and stood stiffly. She walked over to a
nearby stream and looked into the water. Her face was still badly bruised
and she could feel every joint in her body. She staggered for a  moment
before collapsing to the ground again. "Damn." she said as she felt her
body give out from the strain of the past few days. She simply sat and
rested on the ground. Then a rustling came from the nearby bushes.

	Ryoga pressed on through the woods and growled in anger as he
came upon his camp again. "I'll never find Ryu at this rate." he muttered
as he walked. Then he heard it. A voice came from nearby and screamed, it
was very familiar. What it screamed sent chills down Ryoga's spine. "No!
Ranma!!" he thought as he began to run.

	Ranma stared in disbelief as the bushes parted. A smile crossed
her lips and she began to laugh slightly. "So this is how it ends?" she
thought to herself. Standing in front of her was a huge Bengal tiger. "I
didn't think there were any of those this far east." she thought mildly
as the beast closed in on her. A familiar fear began to creep down her
spine as it stalked towards her. She could see its breath in the cool
morning air as it breathed. Some how in the midst of all her terror,
Ranma had a thought. It was the breath of the animal that set it off. She
didn't quite know why gut it made her think of her fight with Ryu. Her
mind went spinning, happy to any distraction at the moment. Something
about his hands and the way the animals breath looked. A dark smile
crossed her lips as the beast came within seven feet of her. She stood
and glared at it, almost freezing in the fear her father had forced on
her many years ago. "I've got it." she said to it. 

	Ryoga burst through the bushes and stared at Ranma as she lay on
the ground unconscious. The tiger sat motionless several yards away and
Ryoga gave it a passing glance as he walked over to Ranma's side. He saw
the smoke rising from the animal and frowned. He looked at Ranma for a
moment more before lifting her and walking away from the tiger. He had
his doubts before, but now he was sure. He thought back to the scream, it
had sent chills down his spine. "Damn you Ranma." he said bitterly. Ranma
done it. He had mastered the Hado ken. 
	"Wait!" cried a voice from behind him.

	Two days later Ranma woke up. He looked around and saw that he
was in the back of some sort of wagon. His vision cleared up and he stood
stiffly. The first thing he noticed was that all his wounds were dressed
and cleaned. He stretched and his back popped, he grunted in satisfaction
as the tension left it. "So your finally awake my friend." said a voice.
	"Huh?" said Ranma as he turned to see an elderly man standing in
the doorway to the cart. 
	"So your the one who almost killed my tiger. Come along, Your
friend is waiting." said the man. Ranma shrugged and followed.
	
	Ranma was lead through a busy camp and looked around in wonder.
He smiled as a group of women walked by and giggled at him. "What is this
place?" he asked the man leading him.
	"This is our camp. We are a band of Gypsies. One of the last in
the world who still live by the old ways. I must apologize for my pet,
she is quite dangerous if she doesn't know you. We try to keep her locked
up, but you know how animals are sometimes." said the man apologetically.
Ranma nodded and followed silently to a large group of men sitting around
a campfire eating breakfast. 
	Ryoga stood and glared at Ranma as he walked up the men. "Ranma."
he said angrily.
	"Hey Ryoga. How did you find me?" asked Ranma in suprise. "I
didn't think I'd see you again until I got back to Japan." 
	"Ranma...How dare you learn the Hado ken before me?!" yelled
Ryoga as he walked over to him.
	"You jerk. Is that all you can say? I was in prison!" retorted
Ranma.
	"You finally got what you deserve if you ask me!" said Ryoga
bitterly as he grabbed Ranma and reared back for a punch.
	"Stop this foolishness." said a calm voice. Ranma and Ryoga
turned to see a purple haired woman watching them coolly. "Come with me."
she said.

	Inside a large cart the woman motioned for them to sit at a small
cramped table. "I am called Rose. I understand you seek the one called
Ryu." said the woman.
	"Yes, do you know where he is!?" cried Ranma and Ryoga in almost
perfect unison. They glared at each other and turned way.
	"No, all I can do is help you understand your fate." said the
woman as she pulled out a deck of cards. 
	Ranma looked at her in suprise. "Aw man. No one believes in that
junk." he snorted.
	Rose smiled. "I do. Humor me." she said.
	"Perhaps but we really have to get going. We have a long way to
travel." said Ryoga as he got up.
	"You have time for this. Russia is a big place and it will take
many days to reach your destination." said Rose.
	"Ryoga, why are we in Russia?" asked Ranma as he gave Ryoga a
glare.
	"Uhh, I knew where we were. I got a tip he was coming here." said
Ryoga nervously.
	"Yea right." muttered Ranma.
	"It is possible your friend speaks the truth. The man known as
Ryu has been known to travel as far as Moscow." said Rose coolly.
	"I guess we got time then." said Ranma. Ryoga growled and sat
down again.
	"That is good." said the woman as she placed the cards down. In
the center she placed two and then she placed four other cards around
them. One of the center cards had a two faced woman. "This represents
you, both of you have more than one face." Ranma and Ryoga said nothing.
She then indicated the one above it. Nobility representing honor and
courage. This is how you see one another." she said.
	"Pure crap." muttered Ryoga.
	"It does not mean you like each other. It simply means you know
you can count on each other when the need arises. It is a very strong
bond, often only the greatest of enemies or the best of friends come to
this level." said Rose with a knowing smile.
	 She reached and flipped one of the cards over. "Chaos. This card
represents your past." she said to them.
	"I'll say." muttered Ryoga.
	"Ah, the traveler. You are on a journey. This is the present."
she said ignoring Ryoga.
	"Pretty good." said Ranma coolly.
	"The tower. Stability and strength, but also change. This is your
fate." said the woman with a smile.
	Ranma and Ryoga looked at her calmly and said nothing.
	"The devil. Evil, this represents your destiny. You must face a
great power, a very strong dark force." said Rose with a frown.
	Ranma and Ryoga paled when she turned the next card. "Death." she
said with a look of suprise. She smiled when she saw their faces. "Fear
not, although it may well represent the end of your lives. It can also
mean a great change. It is not necessarily a bad card." she said as she
placed another card across the top. "The arch angel. Through sacrifice a
great evil will be destroyed." said Rose.
	"Sacrifice?" asked Ryoga uncomfortably.
	"Not necessarily by the two of you. It could be another, how ever
it may be your sacrifice. The cards never lie, but they can be vague."
said the woman to him. "The last card. The ring. A complete circle of
events. A new beginning so to speak, or the revival of an old one." said
Rose as she looked at them. "You two have an interesting future. I wish
you luck on your journey." she said to them as they walked way. 
	"Thanks, for all your help." said Ryoga as he walked out.
	She watched them leave and looked at the card in her hand. 'The
devil.' "They are young to face such a destiny. I hope they will be
ready, I fear it has already found them." she said to herself.
	"Indeed." said a voice on the wind. Rose felt a wave of fear
course through her. She turned and felt a powerful presence move past a
few miles away. 
	"God protect them." she said in fear and wonder as she fell to
the ground clutching her chest.

	One week later...

	Ranma stood in the center of the lot. Various scattered
construction tools lay on the ground around the ring and men watched from
an unfinished building nearby as they drunk and shouted. "What the hell
is this?" he said looking around for his opponent. "Are we gonna get
started or not?" said Ranma in frustration. Then a long shadow loomed
over him from above. "Oh, shit." he said as he turned.
	Ryoga watched from a nearby fence and smiled. Around him cheers
for the muscular man were being shouted by the drunken Russians.
"Zangief!" they cried.
	"Well Ranma lets see how well you handle this." said Ryoga with a
smile. 

	Ranma jumped at the much larger man and punched him in the face.
Zangief merely swatted him out of the air to the ground. Ranma hit the
ground rolling and stood shakily. "Damn he's strong." he said to himself.
The large wrestler charged at Ranma and spun around in an attempt to
clothesline the smaller martial artist. "But he moves like a tank."
thought Ranma with a smile. Zangief smiled and dove at Ranma with his
arms spread. Ranma jumped away and the wrestler landed leaving an impact
crater.
	"You not stay away forever little man." said the brute in
passable Japanese.
	Ranma lifted his fist and smiled. "I don't have to." he said and
charged. The wrestler grabbed for Ranma and he ducked under his massive
arms. Ranma swung at his gut once and rolled out of range of the larger
fighters grasp and waited for a moment. Zangief rubbed his side and fell
to one knee. "You punch hard little one." he said with a laugh.
	 Ryoga stood and gasped as he realized what Ranma was doing.
"That's  the same trick he used when I trained for the breaking point!"
he thought. Ranma was using his Chestnut fist trained reflexes to hit the
same spot hundreds of times. It was so fast that it looked like a single
attack.
	Ranma charged again, this time he was grabbed by the wrestler.
"Oh shit!" thought Ranma as he was suplexed onto the pavement hard.
Zangief laughed and lifted Ranma by his legs. The wrestler jumped into
the air and came down with Ranma in a pile driver. Ranma fell to the
ground limply.
	Ryoga gasped as the wrestler began to walk away. "Ranma get up!"
he cried angrily. Ranma stayed down as the wrestler walked away.
	"How dare you lose like that?! �cried Ryoga angrily.
	"Ryoga you jerk. You think that would take me out?" said Ranma as
he stood and wavered for a moment on his feet.
	Zangief turned slowly." As I thought, Pile driver still needs
work." he snorted. "Come boy, you good fight I give you that." 
	Ranma jumped into the air and kicked at Zangief�s head. The
wrestler tried to grab him again and frowned when Ranma snaked just out
of his grasp in the air. "I can't let him get his hands on me again."
Thought Ranma as he backed away.
	Zangief smiled. "You see? Not beat Russian strength." he said
smugly to Ranma.
	"Oh Yea?! Hado ken!" cried Ranma as he shot a fireball at the
wrestler.
	"That's it!" cried Ryoga as he stood and watched Ranma's ki
blast. "How dare you flaunt that at me Saotome!"
	The wrestler smiled as the blast neared him. His hand glowed and
he swatted the fireball out of the air. It spun out of control before
coming down hard in a pile of barrels sending them flying. "You no beat
Zangief that easy. I banish fire attack with my fist." said the wrestler
as he allowed his hand to glow again.
	"I'm in trouble." thought Ranma as Zangief charged him.
	He ducked out of the wrestlers way and frowned as he tried to
think of a way to get through his massive defenses. He could not take
another of the man's throws. "I've got it!" he cried as Zangief charged
again.
	Ryoga smiled as Ranma began to form the spiral that was so
chillingly familiar to him. "So its come to that?" he said calmly.
	"What do you mean? He's running away!" cried one of the men near
him in frustration.
	"You think so?" asked Ryoga.
	
	"Stop running little chicken!" roared Zangief in frustration as
he chased Ranma around the ring.
	"Who is running?" retorted Ranma as he stopped.
	"I have you!" cried Zangief as he lept into the air at Ranma.
	"No, I have you!" cried Ranma as he punched into the air. "Hiryu
shouten ha!"
	Zangief was consumed by the tornado and shot into the air. Ranma
watched as the wrestler was thrown high into the air and then spun to the
ground hard head first. Zangief stayed standing on his head for a moment
and then groaned and fell over unconscious. All around him men cried in
anger and joy as they collected or lost money.
	"You were right buddy! I tripled my money!" said the man next to
Ryoga as he kissed his ticket.
	"Whatever." snorted Ryoga as he walked over to Ranma.
	"You knew about him didn't you." growled Ranma as he walked up to
his companion. He was rubbing his shoulders and frowning as he popped his
neck. "That hurt."
	"So? You won didn't you?" said Ryoga coolly.
	"Look jerk..." said Ranma but he was cut off by laughter.
	Zangief was almost rolling on the floor. "I think he lost it."
said Ryoga. The larger man walked over and grabbed Ranma's hand.
	"I thank you little man. I found inspiration! Now I can perfect
pile driver!" said Zangief with a smile.
	"Uh, your welcome?" said Ranma in confusion.
	"Is good fight. I hope to face again when I perfected my move."
said the wrestler as he walked off chuckling to himself. "Oh, yes. I hear
you looking for Ryu." he said as he turned to face the pair.
	"You know where he is?" asked Ryoga.
	"I never meet before but word underground say he go to India,
near Calcutta for meditation. Is just rumor but hey." said the man
shrugging his shoulders.
	"Thanks." said Ranma looking bewildered.
	"Is OK now we even." said the wrestler as he walked away.
	"Well lets get going." said Ryoga.
	"What? Ryoga do you have any Idea how far away India is?" said
Ranma angrily.
	"A few days walk?" said Ryoga obliviously.
	"Arrrggghh!" cried Ranma in frustration.
	TBC....

	Next time. Ryoga masters Hado ken and the pair gains some insight
on Sho ryu ken. 

C&C to Catbert25@juno.com


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