[FFML] [TEASER][R.5/MARVEL] Mousse: No Fear

Okay, I've been wanting to write a Mousse fic for a long time, one that doesn't have him as a half-blind lovesick idiot. This is just a teaser, I don't know if I'll write this one out or not. Any C&C on this will be appreciated. <hint, hint> ;-)

Ranma 1/2 and all Marvel properties are used without permission or profit.

Mousse: No Fear

My given name is Mu Tsu, mispronounce that as you will. I'm used to it. You might have guessed that I'm Chinese. I was born to the Joketsuzoku, an amazon tribe in the back woods of China in the Bayankala Mountain Range. Never heard of the village? I'm not surprised. We don't get a lot of tourists. The ones we do get often come through Jusenkyo, a place you REALLY don't want to have on your list of vacation spots.
In Joketsuzoku, men are second class citizens. Disabled men even worse. Why do I mention that? Simple.
Because I am blind. Not by birth, even then my sight was horrible, but by the hand of another. According to the laws of the village, I was ineligible to marry. I was considered a burden on my family, and honorable suicide was expected. Not by the law, of course, but by unspoken rule. I even wanted to die, once. That was before I found that I COULD see, in fact better than anyone else.
I know, I know. I just said that I'm blind. It's true that my eyes no longer function, but that doesn't mean I can no longer see.
Let's start from the beginning. Maybe it'll make more sense.

-----

Qing-Hai Village
June 10, 1986

Mu Tsu knew he shouldn't wander off away from his elder brother, especially while in town, but he did anyway. He had never been to Qing-Hai before, and the sight and smell of everything seemed to flood his senses with new and exciting things. His brother had told him about the fishing village many times when he had returned from buying fish for the inland village of the amazons, but to actually SEE it! Mu Tsu peered through the impossibly thick glasses he had to wear at the merry chaos of Qing-Hai's marketplace with wonder. The amazon village had nothing like this! How could Quan speak of it so blandly?
Just a few more minutes, the ten-year-old Mu Tsu thought. He's probably still haggling with the fishermen. Mu Tsu walked through the throng of shouting, chattering people. He wanted to take in every detail of this place, since he doubted his parents would let him come again. Just getting them to agree this time had had been a shock, and Quan hadn't looked too happy about it.
"Hey, watch it!" cried a man on a bicycle as it raced past, nearly knocking Mu Tsu over and was gone before the boy could reply.
"Careless jerk," he muttered as he picked up his pace again. Maybe it was time to find Quan before...
"Wow," Mu Tsu gasped as he beheld the sleek black machine which was parked on the side of the narrow street. He had heard about cars before, but hadn't seen one for himself. In China, bicycles were the main form of transportation for the people. Usually, cars so beautiful were reserved for people highly placed in the Party. The communist government normally left the amazon village alone, so long as they all read Mao's Little Red Book and paid lip service to the regime. The tiny, isolated village near the mountains was hardly a source of concern for them.
But, there was one detail that the young boy did not know. Members of the Party weren't the only ones affluent enough to afford personal cars and of them, not all were nice upstanding citizens.
"Huh?" Mousse heard the dull thud from the side street next to the car. His hearing, perversely, was excellent though his sight was not.
He knew he shouldn't, but he decided to check it out anyway...

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

I recall that moment ten years ago as if it were yesterday. Every detail of every minute is permanently etched in my mind. The sound which drew me into that side street was a fist smacking into the head of Qing-Hai's mayor, for lack of a better word. I didn't know it then, but I had just run into the Triad.
There had been three of them, the leader holding the bloody, battered form of the mayor - I don't recall his name, strangely enough - and saying that he had known this day was coming. I was shocked at the sight. Then, one of the other thugs had chosen that moment to turn around.
I don't know what made me do it. I had only had a few years of training in Hidden Weapons - a form of martial arts that men are allowed to practice in Joketsuzoku - but I thought I was a match for three grown men. For a second, I thought I was going to pull it off when the darts I had hidden slammed true into one of the men. I had thought it was going well, about how Quan would have been proud of me for winning!
That was when the kick caught me in the back and I was down. I heard my glasses break somewhere, and the world was blurry again, as if a madman had painted it with watercolor.
I remember the leader standing over me, his foot pressing down into my chest, and I recall the blurred form of the vial in his gloved hand.
That was when Quan showed up, alongside two constables of the village, and the men ran away. Nearsighted as I was, the vial of clear liquid grew more and more defined as it spiralled down to shatter on the wall behind my head. And then there was the pain. Agony as if liquid fire had been poured on my face, melting and twisting the skin and a scream from my lips that seemed would never end...

----

Joketsuzoku Village
June 13, 1986

Mu Tsu felt consciousness creeping in on him, distorted noises resolving themselves into twisted voices, then into words.
"Why didn't you watch over him, Quan?!" screamed the frantic voice of his mother.
"Look what they did to him!" his father added.
"I only took my eyes off him for a moment... I told him not to run off on his own!"
Quan? Mu Tsu thought. More details came into focus in the dark, the feel of the straw-weave bed beneath him, the blanket which covered him to his chin, and the fabric over his eyes. Why was he wearing that?
"Where is he?" came an ancient, scratchy voice from the perpetual night, one that made his blood run cold with fright. He knew that voice as Elder Khu Lon. Was Quan in trouble with the elders because of him? The very thought filled him with shame.
"Honored Elder," the three voices of his family said as one.
"He is in bed," his mother replied. Mu Tsu couldn't stop his shaking as he heard the cane clacking on the wood floor of the cottage.
"Ah. I see you're awake," the matriarch said. "How do you feel?"
"Not well, Honored Elder," Mu Tsu managed with a steady voice. "Is Quan in trouble?"
"Not with me, child."
Mu Tsu felt a great swell of relief.
"I am going to take the poultice from your head, Mu Tsu," Khu Lon said. "I will not harm you."
"O... Okay." He felt the small hands of the ancient elder gently remove the cloth, and heard the gasps of horror.
"Gods..."
"Those bastards!"
"What is it? What's wrong?" Mu Tsu asked as he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with the same blackness. He blinked, the darkness remained. He shook his head, and it still refused to go away. Panic began to bloom in his chest as he tried to rub his eyes, and found the skin scarred and twisted.
"I... I can't see!" he wailed. "Why can't I see?!"
"Calm down, child!" he heard the voice of Khu Lon command.
"What happened to me?" he asked as the hand of the elder pushed him back down onto the bed.
"Just rest, Mu Tsu," Khu Lon said gently. I need to speak with your family for a moment."

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

I heard them whispering that evening. I remember how my heart sank when she told them that I would never see again, the terror that I would be trapped in a world of darkness for the rest of my life. Then came the worst of all, though at the time I didn't know what it meant.
Khu Lon had asked my parents how they would deal with me...

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Joketsuzoku Village
June 13, 1986

Mu Tsu heard the whisper.
"He will never see again."
"Elder, is there anything..."
"If I had the power to heal his eyes, I would."
"I see."
"How will you deal with him, now?"
What does she mean? Mu Tsu thought to himself.
"Elder..."
"As you know, he will never be allowed to marry. He will be regarded only with pity or indifference by others in the village. Do you want your son to live that kind of life?"
"Honored Elder," Mu Tsu heard his brother say. "I accept full responsibility for this. If anyone deserves to be..."
"Silence, boy!" she snapped. "You may not be in trouble with the Elders, but that does not mean your carelessness will be forgotten!"
"Honored Elder," Mu Tsu's mother said, "I simply cannot bring myself to... he's only a boy!"
"I understand. No mother would ever wish for this. Very well, but he is your responsibility and yours alone."
"What about Jusenkyo?" his father asked. "Perhaps the pools can give him a form with working eyes?"
"Pao Tsu, I will pretend I did not hear that," Khu Lon replied, her tone dripping with venom. "The magic of that cursed place does not work that way. I forbid you to even try it."
"Yes, Honored Elder..."
"I have done all I can here. If it is any consolation, I am truly saddened by this turn of events."
"Thank you, Honored Elder."

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

I guess you could say that the deck was stacked against me. Everything Khu Lon had said came to pass. I was met with only pity from other villagers, and disgust when anyone saw the hideous scars on my face. I was just thankful that I didn't have to see them. As for Quan, he left the village one night, and never returned. I often wonder where he is, what he's doing with himself. I still feel bad about it all, but I can't change it.
Life was terrible for me, but there was one bright spot in it all. Her name was Shan Pu.
I had fallen hard for her from the first moment I saw her, back when we were small children. I would follow her like a lost puppy, and she would usually ignore me. I never gave up, though, at least until I had been struck blind.
Maybe it was just pity, but one time she had stopped by to see me. I still remember how my heart had soared, only to be crushed by the realization that any chance I'd ever had of making her mine was gone. I guess that's why I finally gave up on marrying her.
I had never expected her to visit me again, but she did. Talking to her became the only thing which sustained me, and between us grew friendship. The great-granddaughter of the most powerful voice on the Council of Elders, friends with a blind boy whom no one else wanted and whose parents refused to euthanise him. When I would venture out of my house - which was rare - I would hear the whispers about it. They brought the bottled-up rage within me close to the surface, and each time it was harder to keep from lashing out. For a man to attack a woman in Joketsuzoku was to invite the wrath of the Elders, and I knew that I would lose Shan Pu forever...

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Joketsuzoku Village
April 9, 1988

Mu Tsu knew it was her the moment the door to the cottage opened.
"Hi, Shan."
"How did you know it was me?" she asked as she shut the door behind her, muting the sound of the rainstorm outside.
"Did you train hard?"
"Yes... how did you know?"
"I can smell the sweat and mud on you," he replied as he heard Shan Pu pull a chair over in front of him. "You're still breathing a little heavy, and your heart is beating faster than normal."
"You can hear my heart?" she asked with slight wonder.
"Your step was a little off. I guess the elder really nailed you. Right leg, upper thigh, I think."
"Mu Tsu, I am impressed," Shan Pu said with a giggle. "With your hearing, you don't need..." She stopped suddenly, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mu Tsu. I didn't mean..."
"It's okay, I'm used to it," he replied. He breathed deeply, taking in the scent of her. He never said that it was how he always knew she was around. Her scent was his own little treasure. "I was just listening to the rain."
"We really need it," Shan Pu replied. To Mu Tsu, every tone was clear, almost musical. "It's been dry for too long."
"Have you ever listened to the rain? Really listened?"
"No, not really."
"You should sometime. Just close your eyes and listen."
"All I hear is the rain," she said after a few minutes of silence between them.
"Do you want to know what I hear?"
"Sure."
"I can hear every raindrop on the ground, on the roof. The rhythm of it is incredible, like a thousand tiny drums all playing the same beat."
"Really?"
"I hear the wind, too."
"What does that sound like?"
"Like the voice of Heaven, singing to the earth below."
"It must be beautiful."
"It is." Mu Tsu heard the door open, and the scent of Khu Lon filled his nostrils.
"Great-Grandmother?"
"So this is where you ran off to. Come, Shan Pu. It is time to leave."
"Good-bye, Mu Tsu."

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

I had thought that was the end, but Shan Pu continued to visit me. Khu Lon had to have given her blessing to do so. No one in the village was dumb enough to defy an elder, especially not that one. As time went by, I began to notice something odd about myself.
I often excersized in my family's cottage, though I could not continue my training in Hidden Weapons. My old teacher refused to train me further, but I would work out a lot. Mainly, it kept my mind off of my situation for a while between Shan Pu's visits.
Anyway, back to what I was saying. One morning, I had left the window open. The heat of the summer had been oppressive, yet that day a slight breeze was blowing. As I did my push-ups, I felt the wind cool the sweat on my skin. That's when I first noticed it. I felt the wind moving around other things in the room as well. The table at which we all ate. The bed in which I slept. The small vase by the window. At first I thought I was imagining things. How could I tell all that, anyway?
Then, it became clearer. I could hear the nearly silent wind, could actually hear it moving around everything. As I did my two hundredth push-up - I excersized a lot - an image formed in my mind. Perhaps it was mostly from memory, but I noticed a few things were different. Especially off to my left...
I knew it was crazy at the time, but I rose to my feet and walked to that part of the room, my muscles burning pleasantly. When I reached out my hands, I felt it. There was a new axe in the corner, its handle smooth and cool against my sweaty palms. As I stood there, studying the axe my father had never owned before, other things came to my attention.
Through the open window, I felt the wind constantly shift and I thought I could actually SEE it! When I spun around, the image in my mind changed, showing forms moving along outside. No details, but still I was stunned. I heard their heartbeats, their breathing, I even knew who they were! And beyond them were more...
I could always hear them, and could tell in which direction they were moving, but now I could imagine it with crystal clarity. I could see them moving around, shadows in the dark - if that makes any sense - but it refused to go away. I even knew about a group of children playing behind the cottage!
I never told Shan about any of this, but I began to walk around the village more. The whispers no longer bothered me. Believe it or not, I actually knew what was happening all around me as if I had perfect vision. I knew the exact position of every cottage, every person, every chicken! I knew when someone was moving even behind buildings. I could almost see the wind moving, even though my eyes were still dead and useless. I knew that, when blinded, a person's other senses became sharper to compensate for it, but to this degree? It was like I had a radar in my head, composed of my other four senses, which enhanced all the information around them into a cohesive image in my brain.
I didn't know how useful it would become until a small child from the village went missing.

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Joketsuzoku Village
September 25, 1991

"I've seen you walking around more, Mu Tsu," he heard Shan Pu say. "Good for you!"
"Thanks," he said, revelling in her scent, her nearness. "I thought to stretch my legs a bit more." He didn't mention the radar-like images in his head that were always there when he was awake. He stared ahead, and could see the form of Shan Pu almost as clearly as if he had eyes. The air moved all about her, showing him her mane of luxurious hair, the shape of her face, the curves of her body. As always, she smelled of a day's hard training with Khu Lon, yet beneath that was the natural scent of her. "I heard you're up to compete in this year's tournament."
"Yes. Great-grandmother has been training me harder than ever."
"I noticed. The last few times, you had a slight wheeze. She's really pushing you."
"So I can win," Shan Pu replied.
"Good luck, Shan," Mu Tsu said with a smile. "I know you'll kick ass."
"You know it!"
Mu Tsu almost replied when he felt Khu Lon draw up outside the open window. Her heart was beating quickly, the quickened pulse screaming stress.
"Shan Pu!" she exclaimed. "Come quick. Lei has gone missing!"
"Yes, elder!"
Mu Tsu also rose from his chair when Khu Lon commanded him to sit.
"Remain here, Mu Tsu," she snarled. "You cannot help!"
"Yes, elder."
However, the young man could not sit by. He heard all the shouts of villagers calling Lei's name in the woods, could hear the anxiety in their voices. Lei, how old was she? Five? Now he remembered. She had given him a flower one time, saying that he always looked so sad. She was a sweet kid.
Mu Tsu walked out of the cottage, and froze. No, that couldn't have been...
"owwww! help me....!"
Mu Tsu instantly knew it was indeed her. Lei's voice was faint, from the southwest, yet the villagers were north toward Jusenkyo. Lei was curious child. Maybe they thought she had gone to the cursed springs to see them for herself?
"... it hurts... help me..."
The others were too far away, and the decision was made. Mu Tsu charged toward the forest at a full run, praying that his radar-like senses would let him reach her in time. He hadn't left the village since that fateful trip to Qing-Hai with his now-gone brother, and remembered nothing about the woods surrounding Joketsuzoku, but he knew that he was now Lei's only chance.
He charged into the brush, and everything changed. He knew every tree, every branch, every exposed root as he leapt around the obstacles in his path and Lei's voice drew rapidly closer. She was crying, hurt. He had to reach her!
A clearing! Mu Tsu thought as he leapt down a steep incline and onto the soft leaf-strewn soil. He turned his head to the right, where his senses pointed out Lei on the ground, holding her ankle.
"Lei!" he shouted, sprinting over to the injured little girl.
"Mu Tsu?" she asked, astonished. "How did you find me?"
"I heard you," he said as he reached to pick her up.
"I fell down," Lei sniffled, "my ankle really hurts!"
"Sprained," he said as he passed his fingers over it. He could feel the stressed tendon. "It's not bad. I'll carry you back."
"But, you're blind!"
"Well, then," he said with a smile. He couldn't be mad at her. "You'll be my eyes, okay?"
"Okay."
Mu Tsu scooped the sniffling child into his arms, and froze. Oh, no...
"What is it, Mu Tsu?"
Please, let me be wrong about this, he thought as the shape moved into the clearing. The air moved about the sleek frame, the sound of four paws on the earth mingling with the throaty growl, and he knew they were in trouble. Lei began to scream as Mu Tsu held her tighter and faced the tiger which had found its dinner.
"It's okay, Lei," he whispered into her ear. Like hell it was! He could never out run a freakin' tiger! He felt the beast's muscles tense, the heart beating faster, and the air shifted violently. Mu Tsu leapt to the left just as he felt the enormous feline sail past and spun to face it again. In his mind, he saw it turning to face them again, its mouth open and ready for the fresh meat in front of it.
He commanded his heart to slow, his breathing to even. He had to save the trembling child in his arms. Nothing else mattered. It pounced, and Mu Tsu dodged again. He suddenly knew, the rocks by his feet! Quickly, he knelt down and grabbed one, setting Lei down and moving in between her and the hungry feline.
"You want us? Come and get us!" he roared as he let fly with a stone that smacked true on the tiger's nose, followed by three more that all hit home. The beast roared, pissed off, and Mousse was out of rocks. He reached out and grabbed a handy stick on the ground. It wasn't much, but it was all he had and he would fight, damnit! He was done being a helpless cripple! The beast leapt once more, and Mu Tsu prepared to strike, only to find that the tiger had been knocked away by a blast of energy.
"Mu Tsu!" he heard Khu Lon yell. "What the hell were you doing?"
"Protecting this child, honored elder," he replied, knowing that he was in deep trouble. "I heard her while everyone was running in the wrong direction."
"I told you to remain in the village."
"If I had, then Lei would have been killed by that tiger!" There was silence for a few moments, broken only by Lei's voice.
"He saved me, elder," she said. "I hurt my ankle. I couldn't run!"
Mu Tsu knew Khu Lon was eyeing him curiously. This was it, he was going to be banished for disobeying an elder, but he didn't care. Lei was alive. That was all that mattered.
"I know, young Lei," Khu Lon said softly, and then to Mu Tsu, "I am truly impressed. It seems your other senses are just as abnormally acute as I had guessed. Mu Tsu, you are quite the daredevil."
"What?"
"Come, children. It is best we return to the village."

-----------

Though I had disobeyed an order from an elder, I wasn't punished. I had saved Lei's life, much to the gratitude and confusion of the rest of the village.Turns out that Khu Lon would not have gotten there in time, and my little scrap with the hungry tiger had bought her the time to save both of our necks. And then, the unthinkable happened. Khu Lon began to train me.
She explained to me that she knew how sharp my other senses were, and had since I had first taken a walk unaided around the village as if I still had my sight. Go figure, huh?
She also told me of how she had allowed Shan Pu to keep visiting me, and that it wasn't out of pity. Shan Pu had been keeping me alive. I learned in those days that the chief elder wasn't as heartless and frightening as I'd thought. She trained me separate from Shan Pu, completing my Hidden Weapons training as well as instructing me in hand-to-hand.

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Joketsuzoku Training Ground
March 18, 1993

"Mu Tsu," Khu Lon said as they crested the hill where they trained every day. "What is it you truly want out of life?"
"Pardon me?" he asked, puzzled.
"There is great anger within you, Mu Tsu," she said calmly. "I know that you were blinded by the malice of others."
"It is true."
"Do you hate them?"
"Yes." It was true. If that man had never thrown the vial of acid, Mu Tsu would never have been blinded.
"Even though it was you who had tried to fight them?"
"Well..."
"I know the mayor of Qing-Hai," Khu Lon said. "He is a weak man. You were trying to aid him."
"Elder..."
"And if you had not been blinded, you would have had a small chance to marry Shan Pu."
"She is my friend. I am happy with that, Elder."
"You still love her, Mu Tsu. Do not think that this old woman cannot see it."
"I... do. She is the only reason I am still alive now."
"I know that. You have the heart of a warrior, Mu Tsu. Despite your blindness, you have fought a silent struggle. You risked your life to save Lei two years ago. She still thinks of you very fondly, as does Shan Pu."
"I am glad, but Shan will never be mine. I know that."
"The men who blinded you were Triad. Do you wish to make them pay for what they have done?"
"Yes, elder. They denied me the chance to properly love Shan Pu, to truly see the world. Though I can see in ways that other cannot, I haven't seen the true beauty of the world in seven years. I will never again look at Shan Pu's face and see the beauty of it."
"She has become a lovely young woman."
"I do not doubt that."
"Mu Tsu, I have trained you for one reason. I knew that one day, you would leave to find justice for what was done to you. Perhaps you inhumanly acute senses were given just for that reason. Now is the time, Mu Tsu. Do you want to make them pay?"
"Yes, Elder."
"Once you leave this village, I will no longer be able to train you. Are you certain you are ready."
"Yes."

----------

That had been the hardest answer of my life. I recall how Khu Lon had walked me to the edge of Joketsuzoku territory. Until the men who had blinded me were brought to justice, I could not live in peace. Shan Pu had not come, resting from the last arduous training session before the year's tournament.
And so I left, the satchel they had packed for me heavy on my shoulder. In the bottom, Khu Lon had told me in private, was something special, that I would know what it was for when the time was right.
I stand up, seeing the entire area of Tokyo in my mind as I run my hands over the suit which she had given me. I now know what it was for, how it allows me to stalk the night for my prey. I also took a new name for myself, one which the elder had given me long ago.
I am Mu Tsu. I am the man without fear.
I am the Daredevil!

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And that's that. Ideas? Comments? Love to hear them!

Thanks for reading!

Knight Writer.