Orlando Pedrajas wrote:

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is Copyright (c) by Rumiko Takahashi,
Shougakukan Inc., Kitty, and Fuji TV. Exclusively licensed throughout
the United States and Canada by Viz Communications Inc.  All Rights
Reserved.

Blood Feud

Chapter 1. And She Stole My Heart of Hearts With a Smile

Ranma Saotome, Grand Master, and Chief  of all the Saotome Clan, stood
on the
terrace above the training grounds.  His face was marked by lines of
age and the sparkle in his gray-blue eyes were dimmed by the
experience accumulated from decades of war. His shoulders were
squared, and he stood straight and tall like all born warriors should.

  For the past 30 years, his clan, had been at war with the Hibikis.
A war
that started with a feud between best-friends.  Nobody remembers what
the feud was, nor do they care.  each day, young recruits are trained

Don't be silly.  It will be the next generation that will forget.  
Ranma and Ryoga would still remember what their feud was.  "Each"

in the Arts for future uses in the war, and each day, old veterans die
because of that war.

  Ranma took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His left hand moved
instinctively to tug fiercely at his pigtail. He would give his soul
if he could somehow end this war and bring back peace, but he knew it
was already too late.  Throughout the years too many clan members on
both sides had been killed; too many wrongs committed that can only be
righted with bloodshed.  Alas, the Hibikis and Saotomes, once great
allies against the forces of evil, had somehow succumb to evil itself;

"succumbed"

this war would continue, and neither clan would surrender until the
other was destroyed.

  A deep voice from behind broke the chain of his thoughts, "Master,
your spies inform me that the Hibikis have attacked the village
Nerima.  They plan to make their camp there to prepare for a strike at

"the village of Nerima"

our Temple."

  Ranma turned to look at his old friend. Craven stood a full foot
shorter than him, but what Craven lacked in height, he more than made
up with his skills in battle.  Ranma let out a small sigh and balled
his right hand into a tight fist.  "So, Ryouga wants to go another
round," he turned to look at the training grounds once again.  "then
so be it.  Tell the others to prepare for battle, we will leave for
Nerima in one hour."

  Craven bowed and without a word; he left to do his task.

  "Ryouga, for good or for ill, this will be our final battle." Ranma
said under his breath.

----

In one hour, the Saotomes were assembled and dressed in light leather
armor; armed with razor sharp, curved swords.  Ranma mounted a
powerfully built black stallion and addressed his warriors.  All eyes
turned upon him, and he could see the fierceness of their spirits.
"Today, we march against our mortal enemies, the Hibikis.  The have

"They"

taken the village of Nerima, and are now preparing to attack our
temple."  He paused to allow his words to be absorbed.

  "But," and here he paused. "but we will not let this happen.  We
ride to Nerima to bring this fight to them and away from our families.
We will destroy the Hibikis and show them once and for all that the
Saotomes are a force to be feared!"  With the utterance of his last
words, Ranma roared a fierce battle cry and urge his mount on a fast
gallop eastward, towards Nerima.

  Standing upon the terrace overlooking the training grounds, Akane
watched her husband ride off, tears rolling silently down her face.
She had heard his silent oath and new what they meant. "Oh, Ranma..."

"knew".  And if it was silent, no she didn't.  

----

Nerima was once a peaceful and prosperous village.  People from all
over the known world  would come to its marketplace to exchange goods
and trade tales of adventures with its people.  

That's not a village.  That's a city.  Anything with trade so far-reaching
would have a substantial population.  

Its tall marble

buildings were built by the science of a long dead civilization.

  No other village or city could compare to its beauty and the good
ways of its people.  But that all ended, when the jealous feud between
the Saotomes and Hibikis erupted and turned into a full scale war.
Nerima was caught in the middle; its people terrorized by both
factions.

  Suddenly, the tourists and traders stopped coming; Nerima was closed
off from the rest of the world.  The first, among many of the
casualties of the Hibiki and Saotome war.  Within a year, the once
prosperous people of Nerima were reduced to scavengers.  Their fields
would no longer grow crops because it was polluted by the blood of the
fallen.

Actually blood makes marvelous fertilizer.  Giving the land a rest for
while and fighting wars over it would make it more fertile than ever.  

  Throughout the years, the people of Nerima have tried to rebuild and
re-plow their lands, in the hopes that their village could once again
be a wondrous place, and for a time it was working.  The fields were
slowly recovering, and their crops were beginning to grow tall and
healthy.

  But one ironically beautiful day, the villagers saw death itself
come; all hopes for a better tomorrow was instantly destroyed, and the
people fell to their knees and prayed to whatever god may be
listening.  They prayed for mercy, and if they must die, they prayed
for a swift and painless death.

  Over the eastern horizon the Hibiki clan came, riding their powerful
mounts, sending dust-devils behind their passage.  They rode into
Nerima and immediately started killing man, woman, and child.  They

Strikes me as a bit much.  Why are the Hibiki doing it, when they have
no grudge against the Nerimans and the Nerimans are offering no resistance?  
Are both sides total scum or just the Hibiki?  

trampled over people and chopped heads off with their shining curved
blades.  Homes were burnt to the ground and the villagers ran in all
directions. Fear consuming them to a point where all reason was
destroyed.

  The day grew older; the death and screams of the villagers became
less and less.  By night fall, nothing was left but the bodies and
ashes of the dead.  The once proud people of Nerima was no more.

  The Hibikis put away their bloodstained swords and dismounted.  The
fire of their berserker rage slowly ebbing away.

  Ryouga Hibiki, Grand Masters and Lord of the Hibikis looked at the
handiwork of his men and smiled in approvement.  This village was now
theirs and soon, so will Saotome's Temple.  He raised his right fist

"will be"

and shouted a chant.  "Victory! Victory!"  Soon all the others joined
him. Their chants and laughter could be heard for miles.

----

Hours later, when the Hibikis settled themselves around a blazing
fire, Ryouga watched his men from afar.  His stance was honorable,
almost regal.  He had a large scar running from the tip of his chin to
the top of his forehead, running over his nose and between two
narrowed brown eyes.

  He touched the scar on his face and frowned slightly, he remembered
who had given it to him, and his voice was filled with hatred when he
uttered the name.  "Ranma, you will die for humiliating me.  You and
all your kin.  This I swear...."  His oath was disturbed by the sound
of hooves.  Before Ryouga knew what was happening, the Saotomes came
down upon him and his men with the vengeance of titans.

  Ryouga screamed for his men to arm themselves even as a sword was
thrust deep into his chest. The pain was unbearable and his eyes began
to lose its focus.  He stared at the sword and up to the face of the
man wielding it, before his body collapsed and all life left his eyes.

  Ranma withdrew his sword and stared down at the body of his enemy.
All around him, Saotomes and Hibikis fought with the ferociousness of
rabid animals, and the fields were once again bathed in the blood of
fallen warriors.

  The battle lasted throughout the night and the Hibikis fought
bravely and well, but they were simply no match for the shear numbers

"sheer"  Incidentally, these long term feuds happen because both sides
are smart enough to retreat from losing battles.  Why were the Hibiki
on the attack when they were the weaker side?  

of the Saotome warriors.  After the battle, Ranma ordered the bodies
of both clans to be piled at the center of the village.  He looked
once more at the body of Ryouga, and somehow he was not gratified.
His archenemy was dead; the leader of the Hibikis was killed by his
own sword.  He should have been happy, but instead, all he felt was
guilt.

  He remembered the happier times of his youth, times when he would
spar playfully with a certain bandanna clad, lost boy.........

  He knelt down onto one knee and began a pray for the dead, the
others did the same, as the pile of bodies were lit on fire.

  The stench of burning flesh filled the air and entered Ranma's
nostrils, almost making him sick.  With his head bowed, his warriors
did not see a small tear escape his eyes and run down his cheek.  'Was
all these deaths necessary? Was Shampoo's?  Was Ukyou's? Was
Ryouga's?' he asked himself, momentarily letting go of his emotions as
his body was racked with grief.

  Everyone stood up and gazed at the huge bonfire of bodies, each of
them wrestling with inner demons of their own.  Wishing that this war
would end with the death of Ryouga, but knowing that the only end will
be in their deaths.

  Ranma remained kneeling.  His strength had left him, and he would
have stayed kneeling if not for the voice calling him.  "Master.
Master, are you all right?"  Craven asked as he put his hand gently
upon Ranma's shoulder.

  Ranma rose slowly, and addressed his friend, his tears and grief
hidden behind a mask of confidence.  "I am all right, Craven."  he
looked once more at the bonfire.  "When the fire dies, order everyone
to spread the ashes in all directions.  Let the evil of this night be
abolished by the wind."

  "Yes, Master." Craven bowed respectfully and left his master alone.

  Ranma turned away form the fire and walked away, deep in thought.
He thought about the war between his clan and the Hibikis.  Were all
these deaths worth it?  Was there a way to end this needless bloodshed
and somehow reunite the clans?  But deep inside him, he new there was
none.  In fact, with the death of Ryouga, the Hibikis would have just
one more reason for war.

  His thought wondered back to a time before all this. A time before
the bloodshed and war...

----

"Ranma! I'll never forgive you for this! Give me back my bread!"
Ryouga screamed, as he chased a pig-tailed youth through the streets
of Nerima.

Hah!  I told you they remembered.