DISCLAIMER: Ranma and the other characters belonging Rumiko

Takahashi are used without permission.



As always, previous chapters and fanart are available at:

http://www.furinkan.net/fanfic/



----------------------------------------

THE CLAN



Chapter 22 - What History Teaches Us

----------------------------------------



    By the time the Akane, Ukyou, Kasumi and Nabiki reached the

Tendou house, Ryouga and Dr. Tofu as well as Nodoka, Athia, Soun

and Genma were already there. Nabiki was the first in the door.

Red-faced, she walked past the rest of the group and made her way

upstairs.



    Ryouga, a hurt expression on his face, ran after her. At

least he *tried* to run after her. He started up the stairs on

his second try at finding them.



    Kasumi, Akane, and Ukyou were in just behind her. While the

wound on Akane's wing had healed considerably, it was still open.

Worse, at least to everybody else, was the matted hair around the

wound and the long trail of dried blood running down her wing.

Akane also had managed to transfer a long smear of blood from the

injured wing to the side of her face.



    Making matters worse, Ukyou's face was black and blue with

puffy bruises. Her eye was already swelled completely shut, and

she also had been smeared by Akane's bloody wing.



    "What on earth happened?" Soun demanded angrily. "Who did

this to you, Akane?!"



    "It's not as bad as it looks, Father," Akane explained

weakly. "Ukyou already apologized, and I think it's going to heal

by its--"



    "UKYOU DID THIS?!" Soun bellowed.



    Ukyou just glared at the man.



    "Calm down, Father," Kasumi suggested in her normal, light

tone. "It's nothing serious, and Ukyou saved Akane's life."



    "What did happen, here?" Athia asked. "Did you run into a

ravener?"



    Kasumi shook her head. "I'm afraid we came across Shampoo.

It seems that Shampoo's tribe has some very bad history with

vampires. They were very upset with us."



    Soun blinked in astonishment at the straightforward tone of

his daughter's voice.



    While Tofu examined Akane's injured wing, Kasumi continued,

explaining the run-in they had had with the amazons and its

outcome. She explained how Ukyou had come to help them and what

she said to Cologne and Shampoo before they left.



    "What about you?" Akane asked in a sleepy voice as Tofu

gently bathed the cut on her wing. "Did the ravener attack?"



    The rest of the group was silent. Most of them turned to

look at Nodoka. She met their gazes with firm silence.



    "She doesn't know," Kasumi said. "I haven't had a chance to

tell her yet. Akane," she said, turning to her sister, "the

ravener didn't attack us. Instead, Ranma fought the Ravener King

in a warehouse downtown. He was on television."



    "WHAT?" Akane and Ukyou shouted in shock.



    "Ranma?" Akane cried.



    "My Ran-chan?" Ukyou wondered out-loud. "Is he okay?"



    "He looked okay on television," Genma said. "But the boy

has an amazing capacity for damage. They interviewed him in the

hospital where he was taken after the fight."



    Genma and Soun quickly recounted what they saw of the fight

from television, and what Ranma had said afterwards. Akane and

Ukyou looked on in shock and surprise. Nodoka was silent the

whole time.



    "We should find him," Nodoka said after a few minutes.

"It's more important to destroy the raveners than to squabble

among ourselves. Currently, Ranma seems to have the luck of the

gods when dealing with them. If necessary... I can convince him

to come back," she said, a look of sadness and disappointment on

her face. "If he is manly as I think he is, he will come back

anyway."



    There were a few seconds of silence in the room. Ukyou

stared in horror at the Saotome matriarch, realizing for the

first time all the possible meanings 'convince' had in this new,

entirely sinister situation. Angrily, she opened her mouth to

speak.



    "I don't think that's a good idea, Aunty," Kasumi

countered.



    Ukyou blinked in surprise. Nodoka looked as if someone had

slapped her.



    Smiling, Kasumi glanced at Akane, who looked every bit as

shocked and surprised as Ukyou.



    "What do you mean, Kasumi?" Nodoka asked.



    "I think we should support Ranma," Kasumi said, "instead of

trying to force him to support us. In the end, what really

matters is keeping the raveners from hurting more people, right?"



    Nodoka nodded, and glanced at Athia for support. The

blonde-haired woman's eyes were fixed firmly on Kasumi.



    "Ranma has had the best luck fighting against them. I think

he's the best hope we have of defeating the Ravener King. I think

we should go apologize to Ranma and see if he will consent to let

us help him."



    "And if he's not willing?" Genma asked. "My son can be very

stubborn."



    "Then I think we should work behind the scenes to help

him," Kasumi said. "And offer him what information about the

enemy that we can find. We were very badly mistaken about what

was supposed to happen this evening. If we try to force Ranma to

work with us, we may be hurting ourselves even worse."



    There was no accusation in Kasumi's voice. There was no

reproach. She wasn't even looking at Nodoka as she delivered the

last of her speech, but the woman felt like she had been slapped

in the face nonetheless. She looked first at Genma and then at

Athia again, hoping to find some support in their faces, but they

both appeared to be considering Kasumi's words.



    "Don't you think, Aunty?" Kasumi asked.



    "I... I suppose so," Nodoka said.



    "He'll probably be at school tomorrow," Kasumi said,

fleshing out her plan. "Nabiki can go to him then, and see if

he's willing to meet with any of us. Until we find out, I think

all of us, especially Akane, need to rest after such a harrowing

night."



    Tofu nodded his head in agreement, looking up from Akane's

wound. "That's probably the best thing. Normally, I'd like to put

a few sutures in a a cut this bad, but the wound is closing so

rapidly that-- Akane?"



    Akane looked around, wondering how she had gotten so

drowsy. She staggered against the doctor, who was now carefully

supporting her.

    

    "Oh! I'm sorry. Just... tired, I guess. It has been a long

night."



    "You need to drink blood," Athia noted. "Your powers are

working overtime to heal your injuries and replenish your body

after so much exertion."



    Akane snapped instantly awaked, the horror suggested by

Athia's words raining down on her like a ton of bricks.



    "Maybe your friend would be interested in helping you?"

Athia suggested. "What blood type are you, dear?" she asked

Ukyou.



    Akane and Ukyou's eyes met in horrified realization.



    "I-I-I..." Ukyou stammered in fright.



    "No." Akane said, her fists balling up. "I can't."



    "Akane?" Kasumi asked in concern.



    "I won't," Akane declared. "I already broke one promise..."

she trailed off, not able to meet anyone's eyes.



    "Akane, you don't have to if you don't want to," Kasumi

assured her.



    "Either way, you really should get some sleep," Tofu said.

"I'm not sure yet how your modified metabolism works, but you

need rest."



    "Do you want to sleep in Akane's room?" Kasumi asked Ukyou.



    Cold lightning running up and down her spine, Ukyou was

about to protest when Akane fell against her.



    "Oh, sorry," Akane mumbled. "I do need to sleep."



    Catching the girl before she staggered again, Tofu picked

her up and started leading her towards the hallway. "You should

probably bathe first," he suggested. "You're covered in blood."



    "I'll help her," Athia volunteered.



    "Would you stay with her tonight?" Kasumi asked Ukyou after

they had disappeared around the corner. "I think Akane really

needs some company."



    With more than a little bit of trepidation, Ukyou looked in

the direction they had gone. "I... guess I can."



    Kasumi smiled at Ukyou. "You're such a good friend, Ukyou-

chan."  She led the nervous chef over to the stairs. "I'll get

out a spare futon for you."



    Soun went after Tofu and Athia, intent on making sure his

daughter were okay.



    Nodoka turned to Genma. "Did I really lead us that far

astray?"



    Genma shrugged, his eyes not quite meeting hers. "It

doesn't matter."



    "Doesn't it?" Nodoka asked.



    "It's too late to worry about it," Genma said, gently

taking his wife by the arm.



    Nodoka wasn't going to get a lot of sleep. For the rest of

the night, Kasumi's confident eyes and calm words haunted her.



* * *



    "I saw everything on television," Sasuke said as he opened

the door to a limousine. "How are your injuries, Ranma-san?



    Ranma, who was sporting gauze pads in various locations,

stared in surprise at the car. "What's this?"



    "We don't use it very often, but I am the Kunou family's

unofficial chauffeur," Sasuke explained in a humble tone. "I came

over to get you as soon as I found out what hospital you were

being treated at."



    Ranma shrugged and got into the limousine. "Saves me a walk

back. You seen the other girl anywhere?"



    Sasuke shook his head and climbed into the drivers seat.

"Not since the two of you left. What will you do next, Ranma-

san?"

    

    Ranma hunched over in the plush seat, his elbows resting on

his knees and his hands folded just under his nose. In the rear-

view mirror, Sasuke could see the look of intense concentration

on the young man's face.



    Ranma was ill at ease. Even in the ultra-comfortable car,

he felt restless and distracted.



    "It was a close thing tonight," Ranma said out loud. "One

girl died, and another got hurt bad. I was that close to dyin'

myself."



    "Ranma-san?"



    "Man, I *really* hate guys who regenerate. There's gotta be

some way... Hey, Sasuke. Y'all have a big library, right?"



    Sasuke nodded.



    "Well, if they really did play what I said on T.V., then I

got the whole town on its toes. That's good, but doesn't really

stop this Akuji guy. He's gonna have to work harder, but I bet

he's still out there looking for girls."



    "I thought you injured him in your fight," Sasuke said.



    Ranma rolled his eyes. "You should seen the way this guy

regenerated. I almost tore him to pieces, and he still got up and

ran away. That's the real problem here. I gotta find some better

way to fight guys like this. Do you think there might be anything

like that in your library?"



    "It's possible," Sasuke admitted. "Master Kunou's

grandfather was quite a student of the martial arts, even if he

did have that unfortunate problem with fuzzy animals... Hmmm...

At any rate, it's very possible that you may find some helpful

knowledge in the scrolls of house Kunou."



    "Man... it's gonna be a long night."



* * *



    It was after one by the time Athia led Akane out of the

bath. She was wearing a clean leotard, and her wings and hair

were clean of the blood that had caked them earlier.



    Ukyou, clad in a spare pair of pajamas, met her and Athia

in the main room, where Genma had turned on the television.

Guiltily, Ukyou noted that the wound on Akane's wing was now

little more than a deep, white scar.



    "You okay, Sugar?" Ukyou asked.



    Akane was barely conscious. She blinked and looked

curiously at Ukyou. "Hmm?" The chef couldn't help but feel that

the girl's eyes were focusing too low... on her neck?



    "Sleepy," Akane murmured.



    Ukyou shivered. *Akane is not going to drink my blood.

Akane is not going to drink my blood,* she assured herself. *I

hope.*



    "Could you help her up the stairs?" Athia asked.



    Ukyou nodded and put her arm around Akane's shoulders,

careful not to touch the girl's wings.



    "Ranma!" Akane suddenly cried out. She whirled around,

looking around desperately.



    "What? Where?" Ukyou asked in surprise.



    "Again, our overnight top story is the presence of

apparently supernatural serial killers in Tokyo," an announcer's

voice on the television echoed.



    Akane turned to stare at the television in the corner of

the room. She dropped to her knees as dark, blurry footage began

to play.



    "This video was shot earlier by one of our reporters,

Chioki Tanaka and her cameraman. Chioki was seriously injured

while covering this incident, so viewer discretion is advised."



    There was a dark figure in the middle of the video.

Occasionally, a flash of red whizzed by, attacking the dark

shape.



    "The Ravener King," Athia noted coldly.



    "I'm Chioki Tanaka with Channel Fifteen," a woman's voice

called out on the video. "Can you confirm that you are indeed the

Tokyo Slasher?"



    There was a flash, and then the video went shaky. Suddenly,

it focused on Chioki, who was grasping her stomach. She had just

been stabbed.



    "Chioki!" a man's voice called out.



    "Keep... r-rolling, damn itt! *URRGH*" The girl coughed,

spraying blood all over her own face. She fell over onto her

side, still clutching at her stomach.



    "Shit. At least it didn't go all the way through," another,

more familiar voice shouted. The camera shook again. There was a

flash of red in front of it, and a pigtail was visible for just a

second.



    "Ranma," Akane whispered.



    "Go see if there's an ambulance!" the martial artist

commanded on the tape.



    "If you *haarrk* turn off the... the... camera..." Chioki

gurgled, "I'll haunt you forever."



    A few seconds later, the video switched to the inside of a

hospital emergency room. Ranma was facing directly into the

camera. He gulped and began to speak.



    "It was a couple weeks ago when my family noticed a pattern

to the killings of the Tokyo Slasher. My mom called the cops, but

they wouldn't listen. Damn, bloody damn useless. So anyway, we

went and talked to the girls who were next on the list. That was

the first time I saw the raveners."



    Tears running freely down her face, Akane reached out for

the screen as if she could touch the martial artist. Her long

fingernails hit the glass with a 'clink'.



    Ukyou winced, and grimaced at the sight. "It's just the

television, Sugar," she said quietly.



    "Ranma," Akane choked out. She sat in front of the

television until Ranma's face had disappeared. Ukyou was torn

between trying to get Akane up and listening with rapt attention

to what Ranma was saying in the video herself.



    Eventually, she pulled Akane to her feet, and led the dazed

girl up the stairs. She helped Akane into her bed and carefully

pulled the blanket up over her body and her wings.



    Before laying down on the futon Kasumi laid out for her,

Ukyou touched Akane's shoulder.



    "Sugar?"



    "Ukyou?" Akane answered in a sleepy, confused sounding

mumble.



    "You ain't gonna get up in the middle of the night and

drink my blood, are you?"



    "No!" Akane answered resolutely. Her eyes closed and her

breathing evened out. "I can't. I promised him. I won't... I

won't break another promise," Akane pledged.



    As far as Ukyou could tell, Akane had already fallen

asleep.



    "A promise is a promise," Ukyou whispered. "But a spatula a

day keeps the vampires away. Sorry, Akane-chan."



    Akane started to snore lightly.



    Sighing, Ukyou pulled out her giant combat spatula and laid

it next to the futon where it would be in easy reach... just in

case.



    "G'night, Akane."



    "...promise..." Akane mumbled in her sleep. "I...

promise..."



    "Akane?"



    "...blood..."



    Another chill went down Ukyou's spine. "Akane-chan?" she

whispered.



    "...no," Akane moaned. "For... Ranma..." Akane turned

slightly and started to snore.



    If she hadn't been so exhausted, Akane's mumbling would

have had Ukyou up all night long.



* * *



    "Blood," Akuji stated. Indeed, there was blood all over the

tiny hotel room. He had decapitated the girl inside with almost

no ceremony. The blood was what was needed to fuel his power. It

was the second death in as many hours.



    It was risky. By acting so quickly, he was almost certainly

limiting the power that he could draw through the gate, but the

forces against him were just growing too powerful. If one

completely ignored the fact that there was a brood of vampires

looking for him, the Saotome boy had very nearly done him in.

With the power he had released, he had almost fully healed from

the damage inflicted upon him.



    At any rate, it was too late to stop now. He had to finish

the circle by the next sundown. He had to find another victim.

More blood to fuel the fire.



    "This whole city will burn," he vowed.



* * *



    The nameless girl found Ranma asleep in a chair at the

Kunou mansion. There was a pile of books nearby, and Ranma had

apparently fallen asleep while reading over an old, dog-eared

scroll.



    She reached out and turned off the lamp next to him. Ranma

mumbled in his sleep.



    Outside, the wind picked up. Far up above, the clouds were

moving so quickly, it seemed as if the moonlight were flickering

inside the darkened room. The girl leaned over and gently

caressed the line of Ranma's jaw. She placed a light kiss just

beside his mouth.



    "You're looking for answers," she said, whispering quietly

into his ear. "Looking for a way to defeat the evil."



    Ranma began to snore lightly as the moonlight washed over

his face.



    "I want to help you," she said, gently sitting in the

sleeping boy's lap. She reached up, running her fingers through

Ranma's hair. "But I don't know the answers you're looking for. I

met someone tonight who might."



    "Mmph..."



    "Come with me," she urged, turning her face up to meet his.

She began to place playful bites on the tender skin just below

his chin.



    Ranma moaned and twitched slightly.



    "Here, let me show you," she said.



    Ranma woke in a wooded clearing. He blinked in confusion.

There was evidence of a fire all around him. Partially burned

trees and bushes were much in evidence, along with a thin coating

of ash



    "Damn it, Happi. Where are you?"



    "Happi?" Ranma mumbled to himself. "Happousai?" It was then

that he realized there was something wrong with his voice. Ranma

staggered to his feet, but something felt off. His body felt

strange. It was too short. His arms and legs were too stubby.

When he stood, his head wasn't much higher than when he was

sitting.



    Another man burst into the clearing. He was dressed

archaically in an odd-looking robe. He had a fine, patchy growth

of stubble on his face, and also a fine layer of soot. He also

had dark rings under his eyes.



    "Gos?" Ranma asked. It certainly looked like Gosunkugi.

"What are you doing here?



    "By the gods, Happi!" the man said. "I thought one of them

got you."



    Ranma looked around but the man was staring right at him.



    "Oh," Ranma noted with some distaste. "No. Oh no. No

nonononononono... I'm *not* stuck in Happousai's body. I'm

*not*!"



    The man grabbed Ranma's hand and dragged him away from the

clearing.



    "What's going on here?" Ranma demanded.



    "The beasts are going down," The Gosunkugi look-alike

stated, "but the firestorm spell consumed my father."



    Ranma was shocked speechless.



    "It's up to me and you to cast the other spell. Unless the

vampires arrive in time, we're done for if we don't cast this

spell."   



    The two burst into a much larger clearing. Ranma looked

around wildly in horror. The sky above was black and orange with

smoke and the glow of rising flames. The village below was an

inferno. All the thatched roofs were blazing and the air

shimmered in front of them. Black smoke poured up into the sky.

Ranma choked back a cough, and half-closed his eyes against the

glare.



    The people of the village were running around screaming.

Rather than fighting the fire, however, all the people were

scattered around, using rudimentary weapons to hack at dark,

burning shapes that were shambling around or already on the

ground. The rotten stink of ravener was all around them.

Somewhere behind him, Ranma could hear the cries of the wounded

and the bereaved. For a second, his stomach heaved at the

devastation.



    "If you hadn't found out that fire immobilizes them, we'd

be lost," the sorcerer's son continued. "You may be a pervert,

but you're a hero, Happi."



    Happousai? A hero? "Uhh... sure," Ranma answered. He

remembered Happousai's words when they had fought the ravener at

the post office. 'Unless they kill themselves, they'll regenerate

from anything you do to them. I burnt one to ash when I was a

lad, and it came back out of the fire pit after the next rain got

it wet again.'

    

    "It's going to rain again soon, so we have to hurry with

the spell," the sorcerer's son said. "We can still beat them even

if our allies don't arrive in time! Are you ready to take

vengeance for all they've done to us?"



    "What do we need to do?" Ranma asked.



    "I'll start the spell," the sorcerer's son said. He began

to chant.



    Fire roared up, obscuring the dream.



    Ranma started in the darkness and fell forward out of the

chair he had been sleeping in. The stack of books beside him fell

and crashed to the floor. He bumped his already-sore elbow on the

hard floor of the library.



    "Damn it!"



    "Ranma-san?" Sasuke asked as he rushed into the room,

flicking on a lightswitch as he entered.



    "Son-of-a-bitch!" Ranma swore. "I was so close!"



    "What ever is the matter, Ranma-san?" Sasuke asked, leaning

over to help Ranma back to his feet. "Did you find something that

will help you against the monsters."



    Wearily, Ranma scrubbed at his weary eyes, doing his best

to fix the images from the dream in his memory. "Maybe. I dunno.

I dreamed I was Happousai."



    Sasuke shuddered. "Eww..."



    "But it wasn't a bad dream... well, it *was* a bad dream,

but he wasn't bein' perverted in the dream. He was younger,

fighting the raveners. There was a spell... damn it! I can't

remember!"



    "Maybe it was just a dream," Sasuke suggested.



    "Maybe," Ranma admitted, "but the old fart told me he

fought the raveners when he was younger. Maybe he *does* know

some way to beat them. I gotta find him. What time is it?"



    "It's a little after four in the morning."



    "Old goat's probably holed up somewhere, then." Ranma

guessed. "Maybe at the Tendous. He likes to sleep in. I'll

approach him tomorrow."



    "Are you sure that's wise?" Sasuke asked.



    "I'd go sooner if I thought I could wake him up without

pissing him off. I've already got that Akuji bastard against me.

I sure as hell don't need on Happousai's bad side right now.

Besides, I still need some rest."



    Sasuke nodded. "You can sleep in one of the guest

bedrooms."



    Ranma nodded, still sleepily scratching his scalp. There

was something else. Something was missing... He was forgetting

something.



    Still sitting in the chair and smiling enigmatically, the

nameless girl watched him go.



    "Sleep well, my master," she whispered.



------------------------------



...to be continued.



Authors notes:



    I'd like to thank my pre-readers, Vincent, Rick, and Steven for sending in
their comments. As usual, Vince absolutely *shredded* my grammar.



    Chapter 23 will probably be posted on Sunday or Monday evening. It's
complete, but still awaiting revisions. It will probably move quite a bit
quicker than this chapter. Keep an eye out.



* * *



C. Jones - guilty@furinkan.net

http://www.furinkan.net



Watashi ha ultra-relakusu!