Hi minna,
Kalil posted the original idea that this fic is based
on QUITE some time ago, so some may not remember it. I
chose not to post it until I had more than the first
chapter nutted out. It started life as a fusion
between Ranma and the SF movie "Soldier", but turned
out a fair bit differently - blame me, not Kalil,
please!
And please enjoy.
Raye
=====
raye_j@yahoo.com
http://members.xoom.com/Raye01
Everyone is a philosopher.
Some people just get paid.
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: Ranma1.txt
-- Desc: Ranma1.txt
All The Difference
By Raye Johnsen (raye_j@yahoo.com)
based on an idea by Kalil Noreiga (becknkal@addax.bc.ca)
and used with permission
######
Ranma � is copyright Rumiko Takahashi, Shokakukan and
Kitty Film. I have no rights and make no claim to any.
######
The girl smiled as she left the small cottage on the outskirts
of the village.
"I'm going herb-hunting, Father!" she called.
"Be careful, Akane! Find good ones!" Tendou Soun called
back. He looked up at his eldest daughter, standing beside him
about to begin to pour him tea. It had taken Kasumi a long time
to convince her father that the youngest member of their family,
although sometimes heedless, could run with the best sprinters
in the village if she had to and would perceive danger if she
encountered it; so neither exhortations against peril nor tears
would be welcome. Kasumi, although gentle and seemingly
ineffective, ruled her small home more thoroughly than a drill
sergeant does a squad of recruits, and Soun lived in terror of
her displeasure.
However, it appeared that he'd done well this time, because
Kasumi smiled, sat down, and began serving the tea.
##########
Akane swung her basket from hand to hand as she wandered
deeper into the forest.
She'd always loved trees. They held within them the serenity
she so admired in her eldest sister, strong and true. Trees
countered sweeping tempests and withstood the shaking of the
earth. In winter, they sheltered you from the bitter wind and let
you warm yourself with their discarded limbs, while in summer,
they gave cool shade. In spring they gave beautiful flowers and
their delicious fruits were the gift of autumn. They were
steadfast and unselfish, traits that Akane felt Kasumi had in
abundance and that she herself was lacking.
Fording a wide brook, a tributary of the river that ran
through the village, Akane was inevitably reminded of her older
twin, Akari. The way the water tumbled ever on, bright and
bubbly, exuberant and chuckling over the rocks in the stream-bed,
carving its own path through the world yet staying within the
path it had chosen, was just like her. Akari had reached that
happy medium that always seemed to elude Akane.
In their youth, both girls had been wild, scornful of custom
and disliking the trappings that confined female children who
were neither warriors nor of noble descent. While still above
males, it wasn't by much. The Tendou family were simple farmers,
only Akane had ever felt inclined to join the warriors, and she
simply wasn't skilled enough to compete with the girls born to
the warrior caste. Both Akari and Akane had hated the belittling
role those facts forced them into.
As they had grown older, though, Akari had channelled her
wildness into her pig-breeding programme. She had singlehandedly
caught and tamed a wild boar from the forest ("He wasn't more
than six months old, so it wasn't that hard," she would say,
self-depreciating, whenever she was asked about it), then used
him as a stud. Her pigs, when fully grown, were perfectly tame,
ridable, *and* battletrained. Those warriors who had ridden them
in battle had spoken of them highly.
With her pig-breeding, Akari had gained the same serenity
that Kasumi had. When Akane had asked her about it, Akari had
shrugged and said, "When I accepted that I was different as part
of me, I was able to use my difference to find and do something
I liked. I wasn't limited to 'the same as everybody else'
anymore."
Akane sighed. She wanted that calm acceptance too. /It is
achievable for me, it has to be. I can't accept that it isn't./
She looked around the natural clearing for the herbs she was
searching for.
/Hmm, wild onion and carrots over there, strawberry flowers
there, must come back later for them, three dead men-/
/THREE DEAD MEN?!!/
"DAAAD!!!"
###########
Ryouga felt the press of a hand against his bruised flesh.
He hissed involuntarily as whoever-it-was managed to touch the
exact spot his upper arm had been broken. However, they didn't
continue to press there, which his pain-fogged mind was startled
by for some reason that he couldn't quite remember.
"They aren't dead, Akane. Don't worry."
The gentle voice, softly now, murmured quietly, too low for
ayone else to hear, "So who are you, my friend? Whoever took you
down did a very good job. You shouldn't even be alive right now."
Ryouga managed to force his eyes open a crack. Bent over him
was a girl, her brown eyes concerned. Her robe was embroidered
with a pattern of pigs around hem and collar and her soft hair
fell forward over her shoulder.
His eyes closed again, but not before he had received a
gentle smile, turning a sturdily pretty face to a delicately
beautiful one, to carry with him down into the dark.
##########
Ranma dreamed...
"So these are the men."
The lieutenant walked into the training room where Tactical
Assault Group 01 spent much of their free time. Ranma, Ryouga and
Mousse all stood at attention as the superior officer strolled
around them. The gaze the lieutenant turned onto Ranma was both
lecherous and predatory, and it was only because of years of
training that Ranma had the ability to repress the shudders it
evoked.
"Bring them in," the officer commanded.
Three young men, younger than the team, strolled into the
room. Ranma knew them well from multi-team training, and despised
them. Tarou, the leader, was a sadistic bastard who would turn
on his own underlings if there were no POWs to serve his...
tastes. There were also rumours about what he did to his portion
of the street-whores brought to serve them. While TAG-01 didn't
use theirs, the ones brought to Tarou didn't get to claim their
payment either, but for an entirely different - and far more
gruesome - reason.
Tatewaki was that most dangerous of foes - a hypocrite. He
would cry the deathless words of poets, praising honour above all
and vowing an honest fight, then attempt to strike with hidden
weaponry and pre-laid traps, as well as his own sword.
Gosunkugi simply stood at the back of the group. An
accomplished illusionist, his favourite playground was the mind
of some helpless victim. He could reduce the most courageous
opponent to quivering fear, and as a master strategist he could
easily pick out the places where his psychological attacks would
be most effective.
"TAG-01, you are officially obsolete. Soldiers, dispose of
the dross."
Ranma turned - to find Tarou behind him, striking. He
dodged, and began throwing his own attacks. Honour, however, is
its own pitfall as much as reward, and Ranma simply did not have
the sheer number of dirty tricks up his sleeve as Tarou did. He
fought hard, but with the combination of the betrayal and a
superior opponent was simply overwhelmed.
Before he went down to Tarou's combined groinal kick,
headbutt and kneecap blow, he saw Mousse fall to an eye strike,
while Ryouga's ribs were audibly broken by Tatewaki's sword...
He was lying on someting soft. Something else, also soft,
was covering him. He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Oh! You're awake!"
The light was suddenly obscured as a figure bent over him.
A girl, he realized, with short dark hair. She held a tray that
was holding various items. Setting the tray down, she picked up
something white and brought it towards his face.
Ranma flinched away. The girl hesitated, then brought the
white towellette closer. Gently she brushed it over his face and
neck, cleaning him softly with the warmed cloth.
"My name's Akane," the girl said softly as she cleaned him.
"I found you and your two friends in the forest nearby. The
healer says that the three of you really should have died from
your injuries, but all of you are recovering now. What's your
name?"
"Ranma," he grated. "Where are Ryouga and Mousse?"
"Ranma?" Akane smiled. Her warm brown eyes glowed softly.
"That's a nice name. Are Mousse and Ryoga your friends? They're
in the rooms next door to this one."
"Teammates."
"You must be relieved to know they're all right, then. Are
you hungry?"
"No."
"Do you need to use the necessary?"
"The... necessary?"
"Um... where you do private, necessary things, like in the
morning," Akane said, looking down and blushing.
"Oh. Yes."
"I'll just go get my father, then."
##########
Tendou Soun was receiving a visit from the village elders
when Akane arrived at the door.
"These three strange men, we know nothing of them!" Elder
Kon Long said sharply, thumping her staff for emphasis. "I do
*not* approve of your actions!"
"It was most unwise of you to take them into your home,"
Shan Pu, the Elder's heir and the Council representative of the
Warriors, added.
Akane frowned. She did not like Shan Pu at all. Though they
were the same age, the two had never been friends. Shan Pu had
always been very aware that she would be the Senior Elder of the
village one day, and when Akane had applied for training to be
considered as a candidate for the Warriors, had taken care that
Akane would not pass the test.
"Sugar, we are for it now," Ukyou whispered behind her.
"That Shan Pu's got her 'I'm more important than you are'
expression on, and she sounds like she's determined to have her
way."
Akane smiled at her best friend. Kuoniji Ukyou's family had
run the local inn until a fire had burnt through it, killing her
parents and leaving Ukyou an orphan. She had set up the inn
again, but lived with the Tendous and had become a close friend
of the twins. Ukyou had not applied for membership with the
Warriors; she had said that if Shan Pu was prepared to block
Akane, she, Ukyou, had no chance. She still wielded a mean battle
spatula, membership notwithstanding.
"Back me up, all right?" Akane hissed back. "I have a plan."
"I'll always back you up, my friend."
Akane straightened her back, walked into the room, and said
to her father, "Leave us, please, Father, and attend to the boy
I was looking after. He needs a male attendant now."
Soun was only too happy to escape.
Akane took her father's seat opposite Elder Kon Long.
"Honoured Elder, I am surprised at you. Discussing business with
a male when there are women of an age to make decisions within
the family." She shook her head. "I suppose it is easy for you
to forget that I am of an age with Lady Shan Pu. Please, continue
with your words, now that I may respond."
"This is an outrage!" the Elder declared. "Bringing
outsiders into the village! You, that Ukyou creature and your
twin with her *pigs* are delinquent in your responsibilities!"
"Delinquent in our responsibilities? Honoured Elder, we
*have* no responsibilities," Akane replied, feeling Ukyou stiffen
behind her at the epithet attached to her name. "Lady Shan Pu
will tell you that we are unable to pass the tests she set for
our consideration for Warrior testing. We were none of us
selected by the scholars for more than basic education, and the
Healer has enough apprentices that expending the effort to take
on any of us, who are *not* gifted in her Art, would be a
nuisance and a chore. We maintain ourselves and contribute to the
village, and that's all we were ever asked to do."
"You have a responsibility to protect us from enemies!" Shan
Pu snapped.
"I believe I also have the responsibility to protect life,"
Akane replied softly. "The three are none of them able to move
from their beds without help; they were all unconscious as they
were brought here. They have no idea where they are, and we have
taken care to remove their clothing and artifacts, so they cannot
signal anyone. The village is safe."
"I cannot believe that! As a Warrior, I must insist that the
three outsiders be placed under constant guard."
"They aren't worth a full Warrior's time, Lady Shan Pu,"
Ukyou replied. "They're not even conscious."
The Elder grinned nastily. "I agree. They are not."
At that point, Akari entered the room, carrying a tray with
teacups and kettle upon it.
"Kasumi gave me this just outside," she whispered to her
twin as she set the tray down. "What's going on?"
"We are discussing the guarding of the three males," Kon
Long, who had very sharp ears, replied. "It is decided. You three
shall guard your husbands."
"HUSBANDS?!?" Four voices shouted.
"With all due respect, Honoured Elder," Akari began shakily,
"we don't HAVE husbands."
"You do now. I declare Tendou Akane married to the male with
the plait, Tendou Akari married to the male with the short hair
and Kuoniji Ukyou married to the male with the long unbound
hair."
Shan Pu smiled. /So pretty!/ Akane thought suddenly. /But
she only smiles like that when she's about to be a total
bitch.../ "They are good matches," she purred. "The village
delinquents to the trash males!"
Akane stood. "I believe we must attend to our husbands.
Please excuse us." She left before she gave that stuck-up Warrior
a good slap to her face.
Kasumi was standing just outside the door. "What are we
going to do, Kasumi?" Akari moaned. "I can't believe this..."
Kasumi smiled sweetly. "Why, Akari," she replied, "we throw
a wedding celebration!"
The three new brides stared at Kasumi's back as she left for
the kitchen. Ukyou whispered, "Um, your sister... Is she really
okay?"
"I guess she agrees with the Elder," Akari murmured.
"Does anybody else get the feeling that we're in big
trouble, or is it just me?" Akane asked.
"We're in trouble, sugar."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Mousse lay still with his eyes shut. He didn't recognise
this environment. Until something happened to tell him whether or
not it was hostile, he was staying put.
A door nearby opened and then shut. Footsteps drew near, and
the soft material he was lying on dipped beneath him.
He must be on a bed of some kind, and someone had just come
in and sat down on the edge beside him.
A soft hand brushed across his forehead, and a young woman's
voice murmured, "So you're my husband? I wish you'd wake up so I
could see you, Sleeping Beauty."
The woman stood and left the room. No sooner had the door
shut behind her than Mousse's eyes snapped open.
HUSBAND? What the *hell* was going *on*? Where were Ranma
and Ryouga?!
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Ryouga lay back on the pallet. The room around him was...
interesting. A kind person would say it had a predominating motif
of pigs. An unkind person would say the owner had pigs on the
brain.
A prudent person, however, would say nothing at all. At
least until the hulking great boar, which lay less than two
metres away with its little piggy eyes and extremely sharp tusks
focused on him, left the room.
Ryouga liked pigs. They were clean, intelligent, and damn
good fighters when they had to be. He just hoped that the
specimen in question didn't decide this was a time when it would
have to be.
"Oh, Katsunishi! Such a good boy, watching him for me.
You're *so* smart!"
Ryouga turned his head painfully, to see the girl who he'd
seen in the forest enter the room. /Pretty,/ he thought vaguely,
as she moved past the boar to kneel beside the pallet.
"Are you feeling better? The healer says your arm is broken,
and your leg, and your ribs. You're bruised all over and you have
internal injuries as well. You could've died."
"They wanted us to," Ryouga muttered. "You should've left
us." He looked up at the girl - she looked shocked. "If they
learn I'm alive and here, you'll be in danger."
"You're safe now! So relax!" Akari picked up a soft cloth
from a shelf above the futon, dabbing at Ryouga's forehead. "I
swear, you're an uncooperative husband, alright!"
Ryouga sat up, repressing a groan of pain as his ribs
protested. "*HUSBAND*?? Uhh..."
Gently gripping his shoulders and pushing him back down on
the pallet, Akari nodded. "Yes, the village Elders have declared
you my husband. What's your name?"
"I'm Ryouga. Husband? How?" She had nice hands, Ryouga
noted. Strong and well-muscled. She'd definitely controlled that
pig. Pretty hands, too. *Really* pretty.
Akari shrugged with a smile. "This is the village of the
Amazons. You're safe, nobody can get past our Warriors. And what
the Elders say is, is so. Elder Kon Lon said you were my husband,
so you're my husband. Now lie down and REST!"
Ryouga could barely think. The pain of the broken ribs had
flared after he had thoughtlessly sat up. His body ached, his
bones were afire, and he could no more follow the argument than
he could flap his arms and fly to the moon.
Lieutenant Ranma was fond of saying that Ryouga was a deep
thinker, not a quick one. When confronted with sudden changes, he
had no idea what to do. In response, he had developed the habit
of following someone - anyone - else. Usually it was the
Lieutenant, but if the Lieutenant wasn't available - like now -
it was whoever gave him a clear direction in a firm voice. Like
the girl who said she was his wife.
She wasn't attacking him, he couldn't think to argue, and
she told him to rest. So he did. Closing his eyes, he made a
deliberate effort to breathe evenly.
He had not been well rested and, now that the pain was no
longer sharp spikes of agony, but instead the dull ache he was
unfortunately all-too-used to experiencing in training, it took
no more than ten breaths for him to fall asleep.
/Ryouga,/ Akari thought as she stood up. /He's handsome.
Well-muscled. And he wasn't afraid of Katsunishi. I like him./
She pushed open the door, stepping through. /Yes. I think I like
him very much./
########
Akane didn't go to see the young man who she'd
suddenly found herself married to. Instead, she re-entered the
room where her father had received Lady Ko Lon. She stood in
the centre of the room, facing the door the Elder had exited from,
taking deep breaths until the rage had run its course.
If she'd lived in a different place, in a different time, she
might have been allowed to rage. She might have been
permitted the solace of destruction. She might have been given
the right to act upon her pain.
The arts of fighting, though, beyond the children's self
defence exercises, were the province of the Warriors and Lady
Shan Pu had closed them to her. Destruction was not
acceptable, because there was no way to replace what she
broke. And a scream, even here in her own home, would not be
allowed to pass unnoticed. She could not react to her anger.
She could *not*.
When she felt that she could handle herself, she turned to
leave. She had a husband to see to.
#####
TBC