Waters Under Earth

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum - harnums@hotmail.com

All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first
published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North
America by Viz Communications.

All commentary, public or private, is welcomed.

Homepage at:  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/9758

Chapter 30 : The Figure In the Shadows [4 of 4]

     Genma settled to the ground.  Happosai crossed his legs and
sat a moment later.  "Long flight, eh boy?"

     Tarou glared.  "What?"
     
     "You look dead on your feet," Happosai said, gesturing
vaguely with his hand in Tarou's direction.  "Where were you
before this?"

     Tarou kept silent for a moment.  "Japan," he said finally.
     
     "Stop by the Tendo place?" Happosai asked.  He fixed Tarou
with a probing look, as if he would know if he lied.  There was,
Tarou decided, the distinct possibility that he could.

     "Yeah," he said.  He tried to calm down, to focus away from
the rage and the weariness.  Cologne and Samofere had been very
specific; none of them were to know from him.

     "Do you know the situation?"
     
     He hesitated.  "I culled some of the details from that
mercenary sister of Akane's."  He looked to the silent Genma, and
a sudden cruel impulse seized him.  "Met your wife, too.  You 
don't deserve her."

     The man winced.  "No, I don't," he said quietly.  Tarou
almost regretted it - Genma looked unusually pained - but it was
only the truth, after all.

     "How are they all doing?" Happosai asked.
     
     "They seem alright," Tarou said.  "I nearly had to beat the
crap out of that schizoid doctor with the fetish for Kasumi,
though."

     "Tofu?" Genma asked.  "He's harmless.  A little crazy around
Kasumi, but..."     
     
     "Harmless," Tarou muttered derisively.  
     
     "So why are you here now?" Happosai asked.
     
     Dangerous question.  He'd have to be careful; he knew well
enough what some of the true masters were capable of.  
Thankfully, he was very good at deception.  "I heard Akane was
here, and I had to come back to China anyway.  Thought I'd say
hello."

     Happosai's eyes flicked to Genma.  "Genma, do you know why
Ukyou stayed behind?"

     Tarou watched Genma look confused for a moment, then shake
his head.  "No, I don't.  I suppose I had presumed that she
didn't want to come after everything that happened..."

     "That friend of hers, the kunoichi, was in a lot of
trouble," Happosai explained to Genma.  "She was going after him
on her own.  I tried to talk her out of it, but..."  If it had
been anyone but Happosai, Tarou would have called his expression
regretful.  "She's in trouble herself, now.  I said I would help
her if I could."

     "How do you know?" Genma asked.
     
     "I know," Happosai said, absolute conviction in the words.
He sighed and shifted, resting his hands on his knees.  "I'm
sorry to leave in the middle of everything, but..."

     "What the hell are you talking about?" Tarou demanded.  He
hated being the ignorant one in a conversation.  "Who's Ukyou?"

     Happosai glanced to him.  "A friend of Ranma's.  Sweet 
girl.  One of his fiancees."  He paused for a moment.  "How fast
can you fly, boy?"

     "I can get from Jusenkyou to Tokyo in a day or so," Tarou
said, not without some pride.  "Faster, if I push myself."

     "Stay here," Happosai said, rising to his feet.  "Genma,
come with me."

     "Why should I do what you say?" Tarou demanded.
     
     Happosai smirked at him.  "You want that new name, or don't
you?"

     Tarou couldn't say anything in response.  Only nod.
     
**********

     Genma followed the master uncertainly, not saying anything.
Some distance away from the forest, they paused.  Happosai leaned
back against a flat-topped boulder that perched on the trail, and 
stared out across the landscape.  The village of the Joketsuzoku 
was visible, and the bowl of mountains that cradled Jusenkyou.  
So many mountains; struggling upwards through the clouds, titanic 
against the backdrop of the sky.

     "Master, what are you going to do?"
     
     Happosai stared at his feet.  He kicked a pebble, and his
eyes tracked it as it skittered down the slope until it was out
of sight.  "I need to go to Okinawa, and fast.  The boy can do
that for me."

     "You trust him?"
     
     Happosai snorted.  "Of course not.  But he doesn't trust me
either, so we're on equal footing."

     "Strange reasoning," Genma commented.
     
     Happosai only shrugged.  "It isn't as if I can go back
anyway."

     "Why not?"
     
     Happosai sighed.  "My cover's blown.  Even if only a few of
the Joketsuzoku heard Tarou call me that name, it's sure to go
back to someone who knows the story..."  He sighed again.  "It
was all sort of a misunderstanding.  I just wanted some 
souvenirs, and didn't have time to ask permission."

     "Well, you have to do what you have to do," Genma pronounced
sagely.  The master had been surprisingly tolerable recently.  
Useful, even.  He would almost be sorry to see him go.

     "Now listen carefully," Happosai said.  "There are some
things you need to do.  I need you to tell the others that 
someone's been following us.  You saw him, didn't you?"

     Genma nodded.
     
     "Make sure they know what he looks like.  The eyes 
especially, they're very distinctive.  Be very careful.  He's
either an extremely powerful martial artist or he's not human.
Tell Lang Bei as well, I trust her."

     Genma nodded again.  He licked his lips and felt scared.
Responsibility he had to bear alone was not his forte.  "Are you 
sure you can't come down and explain it yourself?"

     Happosai looked pained.  "Not enough time.  I... every
minute counts right now.  I have to get to Ukyou."  He pushed 
himself off the rock.  "Watch out for Fang Shi.  Someone gave 
that weapon to that woman on the mountain, and the book I had 
said it was an item restricted to Council members.  I don't trust 
that woman one inch."

     Genma nodded a third time.  "Okay."
     
     Happosai clapped him on the shoulder.  "Good man.  Be
careful, Genma; you're the adult among them now.  Try to act it."
He smiled.  "I'm not going to be here to keep you kids out of
trouble for a while."

     "I'll do my best, master," Genma muttered.
     
     "And find your son," Happosai said softly, his hand still on     
Genma's shoulder.  "Get him back to Akane.  Get your wife back.
Change what you are before it's too late."  He paused, smiled
vaguely, almost regretfully.  "Few of us get all the chances we
would like to atone in our life."

     Genma sighed.  "Yes, master."
     
     Happosai took his hand away.  "You and Soun were the best
students I ever had, you know that?"

     Genma blinked.  "Really?"
     
     "All the other ones ran away.  You two outsmarted me.  I was
proud of you."

     "Really?"
     
     "After about eight years, when I stopped being mad about
being trapped in a cave, yes.  You finally did exactly as I
taught; you defeated a stronger foe by using his weaknesses
against him."  He turned and started heading back up towards 
where they'd left Tarou.  "Go on, Genma.  I'll see you later."

     Genma nodded and turned away from the master, going in the
opposite direction, down the mountain.  "Goodbye, master."     
     
     Neither of them realized as they walked away that it would 
be the last time either of them spoke to the other.
    
**********
     
     Tarou traced circles in the forest dirt with his finger.  He 
had been silently thinking for the last few minutes.  Considering 
the Name.  

     He thought he had left it behind, in part, in the place of
pain under Jusendo.  He had not realized it was still there,
behind everything, waiting for him.  He wanted the Name so badly
still, he saw that now.  It would not make everything alright; it
would, however, make things better.

     A sigh escaped him.  He needed to rid himself of the Name; 
it was almost the last remnant of what he had been.  The way
things were going, this might be his only chance.  

     But there was Akane.  There was everything else; the dragon
lying broken and bound, the fire leaping from the water.  Kima.
Cologne.  Ranma.  Allies, united in a common cause; friends, 
even.  Not Saotome, really, but...

     He shook his head.  Too much to think about.  He was, for
the first time, caught up in something so much bigger than he 
was.  What, precisely, was his role - wild card, random chance, 
thrown from situation to situation without ever fully 
understanding?

     Perhaps, he contemplated silently, that was precisely it.
     
     A twig snapped underfoot, some distance away.  He looked up,
and saw Happosai coming up the slope through the cover of the
trees.  Tarou hopped to his feet and leaned back against the 
tree, folding his arms across his chest.

     "Ah, good, you're still here," Happosai observed.  
     
     "For one reason and one reason only," Tarou lied.  "What's
this about getting my new name?"

     "I need assistance," Happosai said shortly.  "Quick
transportation, and quite likely some added muscle.  You fit the
bill."

     "You'll never get me to help," Tarou said.  A bluff, but a
good opening to negotiations.

     "Not for me.  For Ukyou."
     
     Tarou laughed sharply.  "For a girl I don't even know.  
Another shallow bimbo obsessed with fem-boy like that 
Joketsuzoku.  No deal."

     To his surprise, Happosai laughed in response.  "You're not
fooling me, boy.  Let's dispense with the pretences, shall we?"

     "Let's dispense with this whole conversation altogether,"
Tarou replied icily.  "I'm bored by it, and I have things to do."

     "I can read you like a book, boy," Happosai said, as if 
Tarou had not spoken at all.  "I can see your aura, you know.  
You're not strong enough to hide it from me."  He smiled, his
eyes focusing intently on Tarou.  "You used to be all twisted up
inside, bitter.  You were like a bruise when I looked at you, 
all pain and the causing of pain."

     Tarou stood silently.  No words to say.
     
     "Now, though... oh, what a sight you are, boy.  You don't
know where to turn to, what to do.  I don't know what happened to
you; we've all got our secrets.  But don't pretend you are what
you were simply because of who you're speaking to."

     Right hand balled into a fist, Tarou took a step forward.
"Don't preach to me, you old bastard.  You're the source of all
the pain I've had to live through, all the rejection that I've
been forced to swallow."

     Happosai arched an eyebrow.  "Was I?"
     
     The question, perfectly pointed, collapsed the argument upon
itself.  "No," Tarou begrudged.  "No, you weren't.  But the name
certainly didn't help things any."

     "No, I doubt it did," Happosai agreed.  "I thought it was a
good name at the time.  But if you hate it so much..."

     Tarou's lips curled into a lopsided sneer.  "Don't taunt me,
old man.  Maybe I've changed.  You haven't; you enjoy the torment
the name gives me."

     Happosai spread his arms wide.  "Can a man not change?" he
asked softly.  "It is hard, yes.  Harder to break a habit the
longer you have had it... but if the chance is given, can you not
take it?"

     "Only if you want to," Tarou shot back.  "You enjoyed what
you did, Happosai.  You loved it."

     One of Happosai's hands drew back until it touched his
chest, over his heart.  "A man can enjoy what he does without
truly liking what he is."  He was silent for a moment.  "A new
name, and the chance to help those who need it.  Think of it."

     Tarou looked at his feet, scuffed his slippers in the dirt.
"But..."

     "Ryoga is with Akane," Happosai said quietly, as if guessing
the direction of Tarou's thoughts.  "He will die before he allows 
harm to come to her.  She is among friends."

     Tarou said nothing.  He watched a cloud drift lazily across
the sky.

     Happosai looked up, traced the same cloud with his eyes.  "I
can't help them without you.  Time's too short to risk it.  
Please."

     Perhaps that was what did it, the simple plea.  Or perhaps 
it was something else; even if Happosai lied, even if he was
simply holding out false hope again, could the risk be taken?
If he refused, and for that refusal good people died, could he 
live with that upon himself?  

     "Come on," Tarou said at last.  "Let's find some cold 
water."

**********

     Genma made his way down the mountain trail, thinking as he 
went.  Not thinking entirely - memories came as well, the 
fragments of the past flowing up for some reason to his mind, 
remembrances unthought of for years.

     Meeting Nodoka.  How beautiful she had been; the taste of
her lips on his, the fragrance of her hair, the curve and arch of
her body under his hands.

     The slow swell of her belly as the life within her grew.
Feeling his son kick against his hand, callused palm laid across
her stomach.  His son; tiny, red-faced, screaming, swaddled in
blankets and cradled to his mother's breast.

     Ranma and Nodoka - images intertwined, memories 
interlocking - together, apart.  The child's first steps, the
first clumsy imitations of his father's Art.  

     Making the engagement pact with Soun; they hadn't been
drinking that much, really, and were still quite sober.  It had
been a good idea.  

     Leaving his wife behind.  His son waving goodbye.  Nodoka
with tears in her eyes.  A man among men; he would make his son
great, greater than he.

     All the wrongs; the Neko-ken, the engagement to Ukyou, the
other sins he had commited upon his son, laying the foundations
for the young man Ranma had become.

     So much guilt, so much regret.  His son going up the
mountain, and leaving him behind, the disgust on his face livid.  
The last time he'd seen him.  

     Nodoka, rain spattering her shoulders, glistening in her
hair.  His hand; rough, callused, touching her cheek in the
kitchen of her new house hours before he'd left for China.

     Two themes, intertwined - images of wife and son.  
     
     Happosai's words:  Find your son.  Get your wife back.  
     
     The synthesis - change what you are before it's too late.
     
     There would never be a chance to fulfill it, because about 
then, as Genma Saotome stepped around a curve in the trail, he 
saw that a single figure was blocking the path.  The blue eyes,
even from here, were sharp as blades, steel-hard.  Genma edged 
back into a defensive position, eyeing the old man warily.  
"You..."

     "I am afraid," the old man said, "that I cannot allow
anything to interfere at this time.  Even a small disruption
might be too much."

     With a sudden burst of speed, Genma rushed the old man, his
left foot flying out in a high, sweeping arc, point first.  He 
saw the cold blue eyes widen slightly - as if he had surprised 
one not easily surprised.

     It connected with a sickening crack.  The old man staggered
to the side, teetering upon the edge of the narrow pathway along
the mountainside for a moment.  Beyond him, a drop of a hundred
feet onto sharp rocks awaited.

     Genma considered his options for a split second, and then
remembered what the master had said.  He kicked out again, and
knocked the blue-eyed old man off the edge with a solid blow to
the chest.

     He turned away.  He did not want to see the fall, or the
results.  It had happened very quickly.  He was only just
beginning to fully realize all that he'd done when the pain of
the first arrow tore through his shoulder.

     He opened his mouth to scream, and a second took him through
the back of the neck.  The third pierced his heart from behind,
and he collapsed facefirst onto the trail.

     As all sense of consciousness and self began to fade, he
discovered that along with it went all the sorrow and guilt.  A
kind of peace at the end, then, and two voices, speaking.

     "You are supposed to be somewhere else, are you not?"  The
old man.  The world seemed to be moving with incredibly slowness.  
There was surprisingly little pain; a throbbing in his neck and 
shoulder and chest, and a cold seeping through him like frost.

     "I was hungry."  The voice was like a death-rattle, a hollow
whisper from a ruined throat.  He heard a flapping, as of great
wings.

     "There is no time for your hunger right now."
     
     "I am hungry."
     
     "You and your kin will feed soon, fear not."
     
     "My kin are hungry."
     
     "Discipline is of the utmost."
     
     "Why?"
     
     "We are going to start a war."
     
     Laughter, hideous, bemused.  "A war?"
     
     "Have you never done it before?  It's surprisingly easy."
     
     "I am hungry."
     
     "Take him, then.  What's left of him."
     
     A hand, not entirely human, caressed his head almost 
tenderly.  "He'll do."

     O my wife - the first thought.
     
     O my son - the second.
     
     Forgive me - the third.
     
     Then darkness, falling, sweeping down over him, numbing and
welcoming, taking away everything, covering it all.

-End of Chapter 30

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