Hello. Here is my story, please tell me what you think. C&C is incouraged,
flames are not. MSTings are welcome.
King of Ducks Publishers Proudly Present,
In association with Seven Drunken Albino Dwarves Ltd.,
Funding Provided by Nabiki Tendo Investment Firm (NTIF),
Blood of Heroes
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
Written By: The King of Ducks.
Chapter 1:
<Insert standard disclaimer here. For more information check out
"Disclaimer" by the Offspring on Ixnay on the Hombre.>
Time does not flow like a river like some would have you to believe, no,
instead it is a maelstrom moving only to the whims of Chance and Fortune.
Some say the past is unchangeable and even if you write history differently
than it happened that which really happened is unchanged and the truth will
come out once more. This is true if you only rewrite history in the literal
sense, but what if you were to go back and change it?
Time sweeps backwards and forth according the will of the dice of fate
and thus can someone from one age find himself or herself thrown into another
age, either in the past or more strangely, the future. Sometimes something
other than fate changes things; spirits have great power over the mortal
world, though they can rarely or will rarely use it. Sages differ greatly on
this subject, but it assumed that the more important the spirit was the
greater power the spirit has over the world of the living. Some can even be
reborn in it. Assuming that they wanted to, of course. But sometimes even
what a spirit wants doesn't matter . . .
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The old man whirled and danced around a burning fire within a forest
clearing. As he spun his chants seemed to stretch into the heavens
themselves and into the eternal blackness of the night sky. With each step
the forest around him grew darker and darker as the power stretched into
Emania. With each passing moment the echo of the spirits grew more and more
powerful until the old man stopped. Now the land beyond his fire was
indescribably dark and the icy presence of the spirits beyond set the wind
colder than it should have been on a summer night. The old man slowly sat
down and started chanting words of power to ward off evil spirits and to bind
the summoned spirits until he was finished or until dawn, whichever came
first. After a few moments he stopped and looked into the darkness.
"Hound of Culan step forth from the darkness that blinds you," the old
man cried into the night wind.
Within the passing of a few minutes a groaning could be heard as a
translucent figure stepped into the light. The figure stood, clad
resplendently in age-worn battle armor, and slowly he solidified. He stood
taller than the old man and his long black hair hung down past his shoulders.
Looking down he stared at the old man with eyes of ice that were filled with
anger.
"Shaman, why in the name of all the gods did you bring me here? Is it
time for my
rebirth," the Hound of Culan asked the shaman.
"That is up to you great warrior."
"What do you mean it is up too me?"
"That star which fell and slept when ere the earth was full formed is
soon to awaken and rise. Then shall it's light battle a darkness which is
soon freed from it's sleep. With the light may ride a host of the past and
with the darkness a similar host. Then shall the blood begin and the star
and the shadow truly fight. Three outcomes are possible and as in all things
three is the number of Fate, Fortune, and Chance. The first is that the
light rises and shines through the darkness and from him springs forth a new
generation of man whose bri and bua shall achieve great wonders. The second
is if the shadow smothers the star then all shall perish in it's night. The
final outcome should either one not come to pass, is that both star and
shadow being weakened shall sleep once more and gather their strength for
another battle on another day," the old man's eyes had the look of one
speaking to the fey as he related the message.
"The truth shaman and speak not in riddles."
"In no other way shall we speak Hound of Culan. In other way shall we
speak and in no other way shall we live."
"Which outcome will happen?"
"Chance, Fate, and Fortune have decided to leave this destiny in the
hands of man and the spirits of man. We are required to summon the spirits
of both sides; light and dark, to rebirth and arraign them in rebirth. Now
stand to the side as we summon the second upon this blackest night, Great
Bear appear."
A huge bear of a man loped forward from the tree-line, solidifying
instantly he stepped up to the fire. He stood in every way a contrast to the
other; the first was tall and the second not. The first's eyes were as cold
as ice and the second's burned with a fire. The first's bearing was that of
a soldier and the second's was that of a king. The Bear sat in front of the
shaman and stared lazily at him.
"Why have ye called my soul from Avalon? The fey mists were comfort
enough for me," the Great Bear plainly stated.
The faeries related the same tale to the Bear as they did to the Hound.
The Bear sat for a minute thinking before he asked the faeries, "And you wish
for me and my cousin to return to the world of life before our true time of
rebirth and fight this shadow?"
"Yes Great Bear, that is our wish. Chance, Fate, and Fortune require
that we ask."
"I don't like it," the Hound snorted with derision.
"Yes cousin, but you didn't like much of anything," the Bear replied
without looking from the shaman. "If we return, which outcome will happen?"
"That is blocked by mists even we cannot penetrate. Not even the three
know that
destiny. Son of the Lake, come forth from your watery sleep."
A third figure emerged and solidified upon the ground as soon as one
ghostly foot touched it. He strode forward without care and the fire danced
upon his fair features. He stood proud and confidant behind the Bear and
looked down upon the shaman with disgust.
"Thou foul and dirty peasant! Why have you awakened the Son of the Lake
from his deserved rest? Speak now or I shall smite thee," the Son of the
Lake's voice sounded as thunder.
Once again the message was told and the Son of the Lake beamed. His
smile grew as he pulled the sword which hung at his side from it's scabbard.
Holding it above his head he Son of the Lake shouted out in a thunderous
voice, "A quest in which I, the Son of the Lake, greatest warrior of the
Bear's court can truly shine. Surely I, the Son of the Lake, am this star of
which thou hast spoke."
The shaman lifted his head and stared into the Son of the Lake's eyes,
"No you are not the StarSworn who will rise and shine above the earth."
"Then I shall fight with him to ensure victory once more. The shadow
shall rightly fear my prowess as I..." the Son of the Lake was cut off by the
Hound's fist punching into the Son of the Lake's solar plexus. The Son of
the Lake fell over in a gasping heap.
"Fool," was the Hound's only reply. "I agree shaman, faeries, or
whatever you are. But I have one question before I return to my slumber."
"Which is, oh Hound of Culan," the faeries-speaking-through-the-shaman
asked.
"What of my descendants? Have the kept the way that Merlyn, the druids,
and I taught them?"
"Yes Hound of Culan, the next to be born will be the greatest master of
your way that this world has seen for over a thousand years."
"Then he must be the StarSworn of whom you spoke."
"We do not know that. Now Great Bear, the Hound and the Son of the Lake
have
agreed, do you?"
The Great Bear sighed, he didn't like to have to make decisions of this
magnitude without ample time to think. But then again, thinking wasn't his
strong point. "Alright shaman. You have a deal."
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Akane Tendo stood within the strange building and looked around at the
decrepit state it was in. Vines covered some sections of the walls, piles of
rubble where the walls had fallen, and spider webs with dust covered
everything. Everything but the strange crystal statue along the far wall of
the room. The statue, she noted, was in the shape of a man. A bishonen
looking man who held a long and thin sword. The statue looked as if it had
been carved just that day and was shaped by the greatest artists alive. The
statue did look alive in fact.
/This is weird,/ Akane thought.
/Is it so unusual daughter of the faeries,/ a strange voice asked as it
filled Akane's mind.
/Who's there? Who are you? What are you doing in my head,/ Akane
screamed mentally.
/I am the granter of desires, all desires. It is I who seek to fulfill
all of your deepest wants and needs. It is I who brought life into this
world and gave mankind it's start. To some I am known as Prometheus. To
others I am called Raven, Coyote, the Great Manitou. I am the master of
magic, the holder of wisdom, the granter of strength. I am Djinn greater
than that which Aladdin held within a his ring. I gave Rama the powers
necessary to finish his quest and I inspired Heracles throughout his Twelve
Labors. I led the way for Jason and made sure Ulysses found his way home to
Ithaca. Then I made sure all of the suitors were slain by he, the old man,
and his son. I protected Hiawatha until he could take care of himself and
brought safety to Lief Erikson. It was I who made sure Arthur of Camelot
held Excalibur and Lancelot got his queen. Throughout history I have been
the friend of mankind. Now I come to you./
/What do you want from me?/
/No, it is not what I want from you? What do you want from me Tendo
Akane?/
/What... do I want... from you?/
/Yes. What do you desire? Tell me what you need and I shall provide.
Within my grasp are your dreams, within my hand I hold your fondest wishes.
Everything you ask, I can provide./
/You could give me anything?/
/Everything./
Images flew across Akane's mind as the crystalline figure told her of
it's promises. Ranma and Akane holding hands; Shampoo/Kodachi/Ukyou fighting
and Akane defeating each of them; Akane being Ranma's equal in single combat;
Akane cooking and it turning out better than Kasumi's; Akane swimming; Akane
watching her children running free in the sunlight.
/Is that what you want?/
/Ye... yes. More than anything,/ Akane felt like something was breaking
down inside of her. She felt like crying.
/There there, do not be ashamed of your desires. They are among the
noblest I have ever heard./
/They are? You mean it isn't wrong for me to have them?/
/No. It is never wrong to wish for love. You are a warrior, never be
ashamed of that. You are a girl, never be ashamed of that. You love this
Ranma, never be ashamed of that. These are the things that give you the
strength you need. Truly I have chosen well in decided to grant your desires
Tendo Akane./
/Then you can help?/
/Yes. Tomorrow I want you to take a hike into a small forest right
outside of Tokyo. Head southeast into for 2.5 hours and you will reach my
temple. Tell know one of this. Tomorrow one of your desires shall be
granted./
/Thank you,/ Akane said as she nearly choked on tears of happiness.
/No, thank you Tendo Akane. Now awaken.../
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Akane awoke with a start and looked over at her clock. The red digital
display read 4:30 A.M. Slowly she shook her head as she tried to banish the
strange dream from her mind. /That is what it was, wasn't it?/ She had no
answer, but something kept telling her that it was true. Akane struggled
with the thought for a few minutes until her eyes got heavy and she fell into
deepest slumber once more.
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Cedric departed the plane with a yawn, he was tired and hungry after his
18 hour plane ride. /But still,/ he thought, /Here I am, Japan. Land of the
Rising Sun and makers of video games./
He headed to the baggage claim to wait for his luggage and held opened
up the envelope his grandfather had given him. Looking around for an empty
chair he saw a very strange man looking at him intently. The man made no
move however, so Cedric paid him no heed.
"Ah, here's a chair," Cedric mumbled as he sat down and read the letter
his grandfather had written him...
Dear Cedric,
I hope your plane ride was without incident and if you followed my
instructions, which I know you did, you are sitting in the baggage claim
reading
this. Well I'll cut through the crap and get to the point, you are in
danger. It
pains me to tell you that I am either dead, dying, or soon to die. The
soulless
who killed your girlfriend are after you and they are after me. Luckily,
they'll
underestimate you this time. I on the other hand, shall not be so lucky.
They
know me and my past efforts against them. I do take pride in knowing
that our
school will live on with the strength of the greatest master in over a
thousand
years, you. But then I also take pride in knowing that I am going to a
few of the
bastards with me.
Cedric, go find my old friend Soun Tendo and have him take you to the
1st Tokyo Bank of Nerima and open the safety deposit box in Soun's name.
He
has the key. Take the old parchment scrolls you find there to a man named
Happosai who can translate them for you. Then you can learn our school's
greatest techniques. These techniques are not to be taken lightly, each
one has
more power than you can imagine. With them you will be one of the most
powerful beings in the world, so please remember what I have taught you
about
power. Finally, you are to stay in Tokyo and train under Soun at his
school. I
know you think you already know enough but there will come a time when you
are deprived your ability to know an opponent's moves ahead of time. I'd
like
you to be able to fight effectively without the Wiseman Sees All skill.
This is an
open ended ticket which means you stay over there until Soun feels you are
ready. Try to train under Master Happosai if you can. Be warned that his
methods are a little unusual, well, very unusual, but he is one of the
greatest
martial artists in the world.
Sincerely ,
Daffyd
ApTristan
Cedric sat there for a long period of time, first Eowyn and now Daffyd?
/And then me. /Well I hope the bastard gets here soon, I am going to have to
discuss something with him,/ Cedric thought bitterly.
The sounds of people screaming broke Cedric out of his reverie and he
looked up. About twenty yards the strange man was going on a rampage and
throwing people around. Cedric's face grew angry and fierce, here was the
fight he had been looking for.
"Hey asshole. Come over here and fight," Cedric screamed as the man
looked up. A brave and foolish security guard took this time to bash the man
over the head with his club. The man went down, hard.
"Thanks kid," the security guard said as he pulled out a pair of
handcuffs. Quickly he brought one of the man's hands behind the jerk's back
and slapped one side of the metal beauties on. The man turned and pulled the
cuffs out of the guards hands.
"You are a very stupid young man. Now you die, Blackblade Beam," the
handcuffed man said as he shot a beam of dark chi into the guard's chest.
The guard crumbled over. "Idiot. Now you there, yes you boy," the man said
evilly as he pointed at Cedric, "Are next. Blackblade Beam!" A beam of dark
chi flew forward at Cedric and Cedric rolled to the ground and avoided it.
The beam travelled forward and blasted the chair to pieces.
Cedric was now angrier than he had been in a long time, no, ever.
Without a thought he jumped forward and the man stood there laughing at his
aerial attack. The man grinned evilly and his hand was surrounded by the
dark aura again. This time Cedric met the smile with an evil one his own.
"Silent Mists," Cedric screamed as he used his chi to drop the surrounding
temperature to the point where thick fog rolled over. Then from there he
concentrated his chi on silencing all noise.
"..." the man said. /What the hell? I can't talk,/ the man thought
before Cedric's foot swung and struck him in the head. The man immediately
attempted a counter kick but found no one.
Cedric grinned, he didn't need to see or hear to fight. The asshole
fighting him seemed to need to though. Cedric shook his head ruefully. Then
he closed his eyes and concentrated on the silence, the mist, and where his
opponent was. Then, without even opening his eyes Cedric jumped up and
performed a perfect jump spinning back kick to his opponent's chest. His
opponent fell back a few feet. The Cedric rolled away, moments before a beam
of dark chi struck upwards through the mist. /Shit,/ Cedric thought. /He
doesn't know where to shoot that, he's
likely to kill more people. Got end this quickly./ Cedric forward and
struck his opponent repeatedly and then rolled away before his enemy
recovered. Cedric then leisurely walked behind the man and aimed for the top
of the spine and base of the neck. This would be it, the killing blow. Then
his conscience hit him, /Kill him? You don't even know him. You know the
way: avoid rather check, check rather than block, block rather than strike,
strike rather than maim, and maim rather than kill. You can avoid killing
him./
/But at what cost? At least one innocent is dead because of this man.
His life is forfeit./ Cedric then dissipated the mist by dropping
concentration and focused all his strength on his open palm. "Rain of
Blood," Cedric screamed as his hand lashed out between the base of the neck
and the top of the spine. It severed instantly. The man crumpled, his neck
broken and his brain hemorrhaging from the technique.
"Take that fragger. Last time you run these shadows," Cedric said with
an air of
superiority.
"It's not quite finished. Witness the power of..." the dying man began
to cough up blood. Then he regained himself, "The power of the Profound
Darkness. Daemon Form," within moments the man was no longer human. Instead
he transformed himself into a very large and angry daemon.
"Now my young friend, prepare to burn," the daemon said as it rose to a
full seven feet. Then it started floating a few inches above the ground.
Cedric's hands lashed out in a series of strikes, each strong enough to
shatter solid concrete. The daemon just laughed. Cedric howled in fury and
struck out again with a mighty kiai, this time the daemon looked annoyed.
"Foolish mortal," it said as it backfisted Cedric to the ground.
Slowly Cedric rose and wiped a thin trickle of blood away from his
mouth. Then he
briefly took in the condition of his surroundings, the baggage claim was
deserted save him and the daemon. Then Cedric smiled. "Well drek-head,
prepare to be fragged," Cedric screamed with a mighty leap into the air. His
foot lashed out and smashed the daemon thrice. Then it sent him hurtling
through the air into the conveyor belt.
"Mwahahahaha, you really think you can defeat me, Blackblade? I am many
centuries your senior boy. It's too bad for you that you didn't kill this
pathetic mortal host quickly. Otherwise you would have won. Oh well, live
and learn I guess, well not in you case..."
"Shut-up before I shove my foot so far up your ass that you'll need a
neurologist to
remove it," Cedric screamed as he rose to his feet and wiped more blood.
"Ah... your anger is delicious."
"Like it huh? Well then drink deep my wrath," Cedric said as he focused
his energy into the greatest technique he knew. The one his grandfather had
told him had not been mastered for more than a thousand years. A silver glow
filled Cedric's hands and spread over his entire body as Cedric began to
focus his chi and his anger into one silver-hot point.
The daemon saw this and looked confused. There was something familiar
about that attack, it just couldn't place it. It had been to long since it
had last been used...
"StarFire Burst," Cedric screamed as the silver-hot energy flew forward
and struck the daemon head on, point blank range. The daemon screamed and
was absorbed by the energy within the attack. Cedric slumped over, drained.
He had won, but just barely.
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Please respond, I'd like to continue this.