Here's the beginning of my first major series people. Let me know
what you think. It is a new charachter fic so please go easy on me.
The first four chapters (the ones I'll be posting today) are mainly set
up chapters so don't complain about the lack of conflict and plot, it's
coming with chapter 5.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I make no claim or
money in the writing of this story.
This fanfic is archived at
http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/THOTW.html
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Two Halves of the Whole
Chapter 1
It was a cool, crisp morning in the mountains of Japan. The birds sang
without a care in the world and a small breeze gently flowed over the
dew laden grass. Few people would have been able to resist the charms
of this morning. Then again, few people were like Ranma Saotome
either. Ranma was focusing his attention on his training and not the
tranquillity around him.
Ranma practiced aerial katas over a river that flowed between the
mountains. The only time spent on the ground was when he landed on the
moss covered rocks that jutted out of the water and even that time was
brief. He knew that one slip would mean instant girl but that had been
the point of the exercise. It was an old kata that the old man taught
him when he was ten in order to work on agility and balance. Ranma
performed several modified versions for an hour before jumping to shore
to rest and plan the next exercise.
The camp itself was small and took up very little space in the clearing
it was found in. It was composed of little more than a small one man
tent, a tree stump to sit on, and a ring of rocks around a campfire.
All of which were found in a corner of the clearing next to the river.
The rest of the area was cluttered with various broken objects. Broken
practice dummies, little more than branches and small logs formed to
look somewhat human, boulders in various states of ruin, and craters
were scattered throughout the fairly large space.
Ranma gathered up some of the wood from the dummies and carried it over
to the fire pit. The dying fire was stirred up and brought back to life
in order to heat up a kettle of water. With that, Ranma sat down on the
stump and started brooding.
"I wonder how the others are doin' back home. I'm sure Shampoo's
searching all over Japan for her 'airen.' Wouldn't be surprised if
Ryoga wandered in though, that boy could end up anywhere if he got lost
enough. And Akane's probably poisoning everyone back home with her
cookin." Ranma shuddered at that thought, "I'm glad I'm not eating it
but knowing my luck she'll save me some anyway."
Ranma then started thinking about the various training techniques he
was going to try today while waiting for the water to boil. Suddenly,
he heard weird sounds coming from the east. It sounded like several
trees falling. Ranma went to investigate and hoped that whatever it
was, it wasn't going to disturb his training camp. He knew it couldn't
have been any of his rivals or fiancees because Kasumi was the only one
who knew where he was and she wouldn't have told anyone unless there was
an emergency.
Ranma quietly walked in the direction the noise had come from. It
wasn't close but it didn't appear to be that far either. When he
approached a clearing, Ranma saw a young man performing a kata with a
sword. Ranma jumped up onto a high tree branch in order to get a good
view of the swordsman and the kata he was performing without disturbing
him.
The young man appeared to be in his late teens to early twenties with
thick black hair hanging freely down to mid back. He was tall and
muscular but not bulky. He was clearly of European descent but was
also, at least in part, of Asian origin. The fluid grace of his
movements belied a mastery of sword play as did the two fallen trees
that had been cut as cleanly as scissors through paper. Ranma noted
that the kata itself was simple and the moves basic but the swordsman
performed them flawlessly. It reminded Ranma of himself when he did his
aerial kata over the stream that morning.
The swordsman finished his kata and bowed to nothing in particular
before sheathing his sword. Without looking he spoke quietly but loud
enough for Ranma to hear. "You know, spying on people is considered
rude by most. If you wanted to watch, you could have made yourself
plain. Since you're here, you may at least have a seat.
Ranma was taken aback. Few people could have detected his presence if
he chose to hide it. Since he couldn't hide any longer, Ranma jumped
down into the small clearing to where the man was standing.
"Um, sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to spy on ya but I heard some
noises back at my camp and came here to check it out. I'm Ranma Saotome
of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. And you are?"
If the young man was impressed, he didn't show it. "I'm Jay Scott but
my style doesn't really have a name, though. Here, have a seat and I
will fix us some tea." Jay gestured over to a fallen tree next to the
remnants of a campfire.
Ranma walked over to the tree and sat down, waiting for Jay to talk
again. He didn't have to wait long.
"Sorry, I just haven't had anyone to talk to for several months. If
you need to go, I won't hold you here but it gets pretty boring when the
only things you have to talk to are your sword and the local animals."
Ranma knew what that boredom was like. "Don't worry 'bout it. I know
plenty 'bout what it's like. So, how did you know I was there? I
thought I was hiding pretty good."
Jay chuckled at that. "Oh, that's easy. I saw you. When I was
facing, somewhat, towards your direction I caught you in the corner of
my eye, red does not go well with green. Other than that, I did not
know you were there."
Ranma relaxed a bit, as this Jay guy seemed nice enough and it had been
a while since he could talk to anyone without causing serious property
damage beforehand. The two of them starting talking about martial
arts. At first it was pretty general but the conversation gradually
turned towards each others respective talents. Jay was at first
reluctanct to talk about any of his skills, but relented after Ranma
told about his own. Jay it seemed, had been taught a variant of Kendo
when he was four by his maternal grandfather. His grandmother and
mother were not to be ignored though. They had trained him in some from
of unarmed martial art since he was seven.
Jay was amused by the amount of confidence that Ranma had in himself.
It wasn't quite arrogance but it was damn close. He did have the
feeling, however, that Ranma would be able to back up his boasts if it
came down to it. After nearly an hour and a half of talking about
martial arts and various other topics, Ranma decided to head back to
camp but only after the two agreed to have a brief sparring match the
next day.
After Ranma returned to camp, the two went about their business as they
did before. Jay went back to practicing his sword techniques while
Ranma worked on speed and control exercises. Ranma was able to catch
his night's dinner quite easily from the river just because of his
training.
The next day came early for both parties. Both had spent a good
portion of the previous day training in their respective arts. Ranma
woke up first about an hour and a half after sunrise. It may have had
something to do with 'those damn birds' singing on the tree by his tent
but then again, it may not have. A quick breakfast and a cup of tea
went a long way into helping him feel human again. It was shortly after
breakfast that he remembered that Jay was going to come over for the
sparring match around lunch time. Not wanting to wear himself out too
much, Ranma went through some basic stretches and drills for the rest of
the morning. It should be noted, however, that Ranma's basic stretches
and drills will wear out an American drill sergeant in a matter of
minutes.
Jay arrived at Ranma's camp around one that afternoon as promised. He
wore a dark green sleeveless tunic and matching pants tied bound at the
ankle, which showed off his muscle tone and broad shoulders. His hair
was pulled back into a loose ponytail and held back by a clip in the
shape of a dragon. He carried with him the same sword he used the
previous day, and a simple wooden bokken.
"Mind if I sit down for a bit and stretch out first? My legs are a bit
on the stiff side today." Ranma nodded the affirmative and gestured
over to a place suitable for stretching. "Thanks man, they do not warm
up very easily and I was afraid I would be late if I stretched them out
back at camp."
"No prob. I finished my warm up exercises just a little while ago.
Say, what's with the sword? I thought you were only gonna use the
bokken."
Jay looked at his blade for a second before replying. "Well, I always
carry that sword with me where ever I go. It's too valuable to me to
leave it out of my sight. Anyway, who knows who I might run into around
here." That last statement was said with a wry smile towards Ranma.
Ranma shrugged, as if it didn't matter to him either way, and waited
calmly for Jay to finish up his stretching and warm up. Again, Ranma
didn't have to wait long because Jay was quicker about getting the kinks
out of his system and getting limbered up than what was inferred. Ranma
gestured over to where they were going to spar and the two of them
walked over wordlessly. Ranma asked a quick question before they
began. "Do you want half contact or no contact?"
"Umm, make it half contact. Just enough to hurt when you get hit but
not so much that it would do any damage. That work for you?" Ranma
nodded the affirmative and the two went to their respective places.
The two stood several feet apart and went into fighting stances. Jay
went into a defensive stance with the bokken drawn high and parallel to
the gound while Ranma went into a stance that was neither offensive nor
defensive but could be used as either quite easily. The two stood there
for a moment sizing each other up before Ranma made his move. It was a
simple two punch combination followed by a snap kick to the torso that
was easily sidestepped and blocked by Jay. A pair of counter slashes to
Ranma's open side were easily dodged as Ranma closed the distance
between the two fighters. Jay, who had anticipated the move, simply
took one step back and to the side to increase the distance between the
two while still remaining in striking distance.
The two traded shots for a few minutes with neither side gaining any
advantage before Ranma decided to up the speed. Ranma began to analyze
his opponent as he continued the sparring. 'Jay has a solid defence
that is hard to break through without using the amiguriken. His sword
instincts are very high against unarmed fighters, I wonder how good he
is without that sword of his?' With that thought, Ranma intentionally
left his right side wide open after a quick succession of punches to
draw in a side strike. He was not disappointed for Jay quickly went
after what he thought was an undefended flank. Within seconds, Ranma
captured Jay's weapon, sent Jay flying with a simply Judo throw, and
still maintained a hold on the bokken.
Jay landed about a dozen feet away momentarily stunned. He gave Ranma
a brief salute as he spoke to him. "Not bad. There aren't many people
around who are able to disarm me like that, I tip my hat to you. Shall
we continue?" With that, Jay moved into a slightly different stance and
awaited Ranma's next move.
Jay did not have to wait long before Ranma began his attack. Ranma
briefly tested Jay's hand to hand skill before going just one level
above it. As he was doing this, he compared Jay's skill with the
fighters he knew back at home. 'He still fights as if he had a sword in
his hands. He doesn't have the instincts for it. Ryouga would make
short work of him as would Mousse and Shampoo. If Ucchan were without
her spatula the fight would be a little longer but she would still win.
I'd say he is a little stronger and faster than Akane but they should be
about even. That's it, at hand to hand, he should be at Akane's
level.' With that thought in mind, Ranma simply sped up his techniques
to about a quarter of the amiguriken and finished the match easily after
capturing Jay's arms and holding him in a tight lock.
"Uncle! I give in, Ranma. Damn man, I wouldn't have had a chance even
if you let me keep the sword." Jay said as Ranma let go. "I have never
seen anyone move that fast before in my life. What kind of training
makes a person that fast?"
That question quickly hit Ranma's ego and a nice grin appeared on his
face. "I think bein' told to pull chestnuts out of an open fire helps
with a person's speed a little. That or pulling piranhas out of a fish
tank by the tail without getting bit."
Jay was shocked at that remark. He could not imagine doing any of
those things himself but did realize how they could be effective. [I
can imagine the old lady havin' me do somethin' like that. She was
always havin' me do some weird thing or another while trainin' me.] Jay
muttered in English while pondering Ranma's training techniques.
"What did you say?" asked Ranma, who caught only a few of the words
that Jay spoke.
"Nothing important. Just talking to myself about something."
"Oh, ok. So, what are you gonna do now?" Ranma asked as Jay prepared
to leave.
Jay looked at the ground for a time while he pondered the question.
Jay really didn't know what he was going to do before he headed off
towards his next destination. "Well, I'm going to head back to camp and
pack up. I'm probably going to visit a few training grounds that my
grandfather told me about before going to a dojo in Tokyo that one of my
old masters recommended. He said that a former student of his runs it
and is supposed to have a good reputation. Other than that, I might
wander around for a while or something. Well, I did enjoy sparring and
talking with you. You are definitely one of the best martial artists
that I have come across, including my masters. Perhaps we will meet
again and have a rematch."
"You can count on it. You know, you're the first martial artist I've
met in a long time that hasn't come after my neck. Sometimes it's good
to spar with someone just for the sake of sparring, you don't get to do
that very often when you get to my level."
"Yeah, it's been a while since I've had a sparring partner too. Too
bad I couldn't be more of a challenge though. A longer match would have
been more fun. Oh well, either way it doesn't matter now. I'll be
seeing you." With that, Jay walked off with a quick wave and a nod.
Shortly after Jay left, Ranma went back to his training. He genuinely
enjoyed Jay's company and liked the idea of a martial artist out there
that did not have a score to settle with him after they meet. With that
thought, Ranma put his meeting with Jay aside and prepared for the
inevitable meeting with those that did have a score to settle. Ranma
still had a few days left before he had to go back and he intended to
use that time as best as he could.
Author's notes and ramblings:
Normal speech (In this case, Japanese) will be in normal quotes " ".
Thoughts will be in single quotes ' '.
Words spoken in English are in brackets [ ].
Chinese will be spoken later with curly braces { }.
I hope you liked this first chapter. Like I said before, these
first few chapters are mainly set up chapters, there is no real action
or conflict.
Much thanks to my prereaders. You really helped me out with these
chapters.
--
Tomorrow sees undone, what happens not today. Indecision brings delays,
days lost lamenting lost days -Ryoga Hibiki
Email me at LightHawk@nc.rr.com
or
visit my web site at http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/Index.html