========================= RELENTLESS A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction By Grayson Towler ========================= ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Miscalculation ----------------------------------------------------------- "It's there," Ryouga gasped as they stared out over the valley. "It's really there." "Don't get too worked up," Ukyou warned. "We don't know what that place is. Maybe it hasn't got anything to do with this temple thing." But her own heart was fluttering in her chest with excitement. It would have been a hard place to spot if you didn't know to look for it, built into the side of a stony hill and surrounded by thick evergreens, but the two martial artists could definitely make out the contours of some kind of structure hidden in the shadows of the forest. Ukyou could see what she was certain was a tiled roof, sloping gently up the natural curvature of the hillside. There was a power in this valley, that much she could sense. It felt very much like the holy shrines she had visited in the countryside as she had wandered the highways of Japan with her father when she was a little girl. This place was more remote than any of the shrines she had ever visited in her travels, but the subtle energy in the valley was the strongest she had ever felt. This had to be the place. It had to be. "I think I see a path," Ukyou said, squinting into the growing gloom of the late afternoon. "C'mon, let's hurry up. We'll lose our daylight pretty soon." She picked a course through the trees and set off at a brisk pace. By now, keeping tabs on her apt-to-wander companion had become second nature. "Happosai said that it was some kind of women's temple," Ryouga said as they pushed their way through the underbrush. "Yeah." "So... do you think I should change?" he asked. "I mean, it might make it easier." The young chef paused for a moment, considering this. They had no idea what they were in for here, and they could use every advantage they could get. If it was a temple for women only, then they might not allow a man anywhere near it, much less do anything to help him. But a nagging voice spoke up in her head as she considered this option. the voice said, She sighed. "It's not a bad idea, sugar, but I think we'd better play this straight. That sort of thing can backfire." Ryouga nodded. "Yeah." Nobody had explained to him how much trouble his gender-changing had caused with the Amazon healers, but he was enough of a natural pessimist to accept Ukyou's assessment at face value. It took longer than Ukyou would have predicted to find the path in the forest - the woods were thick and confusing, with bends and shadows to lead the unwary astray. It was no wonder these people had picked such a spot for their secret temple. Ukyou suspected that if they had approached from any other direction than the one Happosai had given them, they never would have suspected there was anything but wilderness out here. Ukyou thought. They had not been on the path for more than a few minutes before they both felt it. All of Ukyou's training to develop her dairokkan, her sixth sense to danger, had made her far more aware than she'd ever thought she could be. she thought ruefully. "How many do you think?" she whispered to Ryouga. "Two behind us," he replied, in a voice that barely rose above his breath. "Three more in front." "Yeah," she agreed. "Just play it cool, okay? They'll show themselves when they feel like it." "They're pretty good," Ryouga whispered. She nodded - the figures in the forest barely made a noise as they crept through the undergrowth, and would have been practically invisible to any normal traveler. "Keep going," she replied in a hushed voice. They didn't have to wait very long. The first one who approached them was dressed as a fellow traveler, complete with dusty clothes and bulging backpack. She greeted them with well-feigned surprise, brushing her graying hair back from her eyes and favoring them with a disarming smile. "Oh! Fancy running into other hikers way out here," she said. "Are you lost?" "Yes," Ryouga answered reflexively. Ukyou shot him a glare. "Er... I mean, no." "Well, there's nothing back that way," the woman dressed as a hiker told them. "The trails get pretty confusing around here. If you like, I can show you the way out." Ukyou figured they might as well lay their cards on the table at the outset here. "Actually, if you could lead us to the temple, that would be even better." The stranger's friendly smile vanished in an instant. She dropped the backpack, uncoiling a chain whip from the satchel as it fell. Her companions joined her on the road. They melted out from the shadows, materializing on the path in front and behind Ryouga and Ukyou, naginata spears in their hands. The four warrior women were younger than the first had been, probably in their early twenties, and moved with the practiced grace of lifelong martial artists. One of them let out a short whistle, which was echoed almost immediately by corresponding whistles from farther down the path. Ukyou thought. "We don't want any trouble," she said, raising her hands placatingly. "Then it would be wise for you to take your companion," said the woman with the chain whip, "and go back the way you came." "We're here because of Happosai," Ryouga said. This drew a blank with the temple women. Ukyou remembered. "He busted into your temple a while back. Called himself the Master of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. That ring a bell?" It clearly did. The women tightened their grips on their spears and advanced a threatening step. The spokeswoman crouched, readying herself to cast her chain. "What do you know about him? Are you here for revenge?" "We're here because the monster you sent after the old man is chasing US now!" Ryouga snarled. The women looked at each other, startled. The leader spun her chain whip faster, and Ukyou heard the shuffling of more figures approaching through the forest. "If that's so," the middle-aged fighter told them, "then you two must be allies of the old villain. Otherwise, why would you have gotten involved to save him?" "A...Allies?" Ryouga spluttered in fury. "Never! Because of that old man, we've seen Hell!" "Because of him," Ukyou agreed, "and because of you people, sister. You messed up your little spell, and that old pervert managed to get off scot-free while WE ended up with that thing on our tails!" The woman in charge ground her teeth. "That's not true. That's impossible." She signaled to her fighters, who moved in another step. More women emerged from the shadows of the forest. "Get ready," Ukyou whispered to Ryouga. The Lost Boy unslung the giant spatula that was once hers and held it ready, while Ukyou readied a handful of throwing spatulas. She'd had a feeling that they might not get into this place without a fight. Given all the trouble these people had caused for her and her friends, Ukyou was actually looking forward to getting a little payback. "Wait... I know you!" The voice came from one of the figures who had come as backup. The front line of fighting women stood aside to admit two girls from back rank. Ukyou and Ryouga blinked in surprise as the newcomers came into the light. The foremost one was tall, lithe, and was carrying a rugbeater. "Hey!" Ryouga exclaimed. "You're those girls! The ones... you thought you were Akane's sisters. I remember you!" "Akane's sisters in truth, now," the tall martial artist said. "Tendou Natsume and Kurumi of the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts. Also," she gestured to the other women around them, "Guardians of the Temple of Three." "Hi!" Kurumi waved. Ryouga gave a somewhat confused wave in return. "You're the food thieves!" Ukyou said, recalling the first trip the sisters had made to Nerima. "You never did pay me for the okonomiyaki you stole." Kurumi fidgeted. "You still remember that?" she whimpered. Her elder sister ignored this exchange entirely. "Fellow Guardians," Natsume addressed the other women, "I think I understand what this is about. If I'm correct, our Temple has committed a terrible wrong - not just to these two, but to my adopted family as well." She turned back to Ukyou. "The monster you spoke of... is it the Reikoku?" "Yes," Ukyou replied. Natsume sighed and rubbed her brow. "Now it makes sense. Come - follow me. You'll need to talk to the High Priestess. Perhaps she will know what can be done." "He cannot come," the woman with the chain whip interjected, pointing at Ryouga. "It is forbidden for a man to enter the sacred grounds of the temple." Ukyou sighed, then drew out her canteen. "Ready, sugar?" she said, then poured the cool water over her friend's head. Several of the Temple Guardians gasped as the change took hold of Hibiki Ryouga, transforming him from male to female as the Jusenkyou curse took effect. While they were more versed in the occult than the average layman, few had ever seen a thing like that in person. Ryouga-chan brushed damp strands of hair out of her eyes and surveyed the surprised warriors arrayed around her, baring a fang. "Now," she growled, "if you ladies are done jerking us around, maybe you can clean up this mess you caused!" - - - - - Akane knew he was gone the moment she woke up. Even though Ranma slept in his own tent, she could always feel his presence. Her training as a martial artist had advanced to the point where she had a strong sense of the ki of another warrior, especially one as emotionally tied to her as Ranma. Last night, when they'd kissed, she had felt that tie grow even stronger. She could feel him like a beacon even between their tents, and she had gone to sleep warmed by the glow of his aura. But sometime in the night, he'd gotten away. she thought, waves of fear and anger buoying her to full alertness. "Shampoo!" she called. "Get up!" The Amazon girl sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What?" "Ranma's gone!" Akane threw aside her sleeping bag and began to yank on her clothes. The "Quiet Thief" techniques devised by Saotome Genma were supposed to have been sealed away, but she knew Ranma wouldn't be above using the ki- masking stealth that he'd learned in a pinch. He was probably even better at it now that he'd integrated the catlike powers of the Neko-ken. She burst from the tent, with Shampoo just behind her. Sure enough, he'd managed to pack up his own belongings and tent with perfect stealth. Shampoo stared, aghast. "How he manage doing all this with us not noticing?" She seemed almost as appalled by her own failure at awareness as she was at Ranma's disappearance. "He knows some very sneaky techniques," Akane said through gritted teeth. Only the Umisen-ken could've allowed him to pull this off. "He left a note." She snatched the slip of paper off the bare patch of ground where Ranma's tent had been, and unfolded it. The message itself had been written in two parts. The first read: Shampoo - Thanks for everything. Your training was terrific. I can take it from here. - Ranma The second was addressed to her. Akane - I'm not great with words, but I think you know how I feel now. Thank you for coming after me. You saved my life. I'm really happy I could see you again. Now, I have to go on alone. Don't worry... I'm going to win. I'll see you again when I get back to Japan. - Yours, Ranma A red haze threatened to drown out her vision, accompanied by hot tears around her eyes. The note crunched into a tight ball as she clenched her fist. Her whole body quivered as her muscles tensed, her heart thundering in her ribcage. She stamped a foot with force enough to shake the snow out of the nearby trees. "Ranma... you... YOU IDIOT!!!" Tendou Akane screamed into the frozen morning. She smashed the ground with her feet, then her fists, shouting in utter rage at the overcast sky. "YOU MORON! Do you think I came all this way just to TURN AROUND and GO HOME? Are you INSANE?! DAMN it ALL!" "Akane-san!" Shampoo called. She whirled to face the Amazon. "Get your things together, Shampoo!" she commanded, only to see that her companion was already packing. "No waste time shouting," the violet-eyed girl insisted, folding the tent up with astonishing speed. "We know what he doing." "Yeah," she agreed, snatching up her own pack and shoveling her possessions into it. "All we have to do to find him is follow our backtrail. That IDIOT is going after the Reikoku." "Should be not hard to find." "Right," she said, her teeth clenched. "It's just a matter of how much lead he got on us. AARGH!" Akane lashed out with an extended finger on each hand and set off a breaking point to each side. The pointless noise of the explosions reflected her own inner rage. "SHAMPOO! You're the lucky one, you know?" The Amazon girl paused a moment, looking confused. "What?" "You're rid of him," Akane seethed, tears burning hot on her cheeks. "It may hurt now, but how much of this am I going to have to put up with in my WHOLE LIFE?" "Akane-san... he run off to protect you," Shampoo whispered. "I KNOW!" she all but screamed. "Just when I think he respects me... just when I think he TRUSTS me... he runs off and pulls something like this. DAMN that STUPID RANMA! Why did I have to be engaged to him? Why do I... WHY do I have to LOVE him?" She slammed the ground and ignited a huge Bakusai Ten-ketsu blast. Snow sprayed in every direction along with the shrapnel of her attack. Shampoo looked flustered, not sure how to act in the face of such raw emotion. "We... we got to go, Akane-san..." The young Tendou snatched up her pack and jammed her arms through the straps. "I know, I know! Come on, Shampoo. I swear to all the gods, if that monster doesn't kill him, I think I will." - - - - - The High Priestess Aoki Nariko shuddered, barely able to meet the gaze of the two young warriors before her. "I have committed a terrible blunder," she whispered. "You got that right, sister," Ukyou agreed. Some of the attendants of the Temple of Three around them twitched at the young chef's disrespectful tone, but she was past caring about such things. The High Priestess showed no reproach - only remorse. "My first act in my new office, succeeding my mother. To have made such an error in my anger..." She trailed off, closing her eyes in shame. Ryouga-chan fidgeted uncomfortably, reflexively feeling sympathetic towards a woman in distress. Ukyou was not moved. She'd done most of the talking in relating the tale of how Ranma and the rest of them became the targets of the Reikoku, and was not in a forgiving mood. "Look, lady," she said, "we didn't come here just to watch you take a guilt trip. What we want is that monster off our butts, understand? Since you accept that it's your fault that we're in this mess, what are you going to do about it?" A lesser priestess stirred. "You have no right to speak to her like that!" "She has every right," Nariko corrected quietly. She favored the two young fighters with a weary smile. "However, Ukyou-san, if you are to become a member of our order, you may eventually be required to speak to me with respect." Ukyou and Ryouga-chan drew back in surprise. "What?" Some of the surrounding women seemed equally taken aback. "But... Priestess! You can't mean..." The leader of the Temple of Three raised a hand. "I know of only one ritual to stop the Reikoku from hunting its quarry. It came to the Temple of Three countless centuries ago, when we were granted the power to summon the Relentless One for our purposes. When a woman is taken into the Temple as a new member, she is reborn into the service of the Three." "Who are the Three?" asked Ryouga-chan. "The first goddesses," the High Priestess explained. "The final goddesses. They are past, present, and future - daughter, mother, and crone. The Three have appeared in different forms, by different names, in every culture on the Earth. They are the Norns and the Fates, the Wyrd Sisters and the Kindly Ones. Their names are Callieach and Brigit, Elaine and Morrigan, Saravasti and Lakshmi and Kali, Urd and Skuld and Verthandi..." "Er... Bell-dan-dy?" Ryouga-chan repeated falteringly, her tongue stumbling over the foreign syllables. "Well," Priestess Nariko said, "never mind. Suffice it to say they have made themselves known to the people of the world in some form or another all throughout history. This temple is but one branch of a much greater order, whose responsibility it is to act in secrecy in the service of these three who are one. We have been given many powers over the ages to aid us - powers to heal, powers to build, and, when necessary, powers to destroy." "By 'power to destroy,' you mean calling the Reikoku," Ukyou noted. "So, let me get this straight. When someone becomes a member of this outfit, you do some sort of spell or something that wipes your karmic slate clean. Something like that?" "Well, not precisely," the High Priestess said, "but that's close enough." "And when you do that," Ukyou continued, "the Reikoku stops chasing us." "Yes." "Mistress!" piped up one of the lesser priestesses. The woman gestured at Ryouga-chan. "This one isn't a proper woman at all! We can't possibly admit a man into our order..." "So you're just going to let him die, then?" Ukyou snapped back before Ryouga-chan could reply. "Do I need to remind you this is YOUR fault?" "...our traditions are centuries old..." "...we didn't force him to get involved..." "...there must be some other way..." "There IS no other way!" the High Priestess snapped, her sharp voice cutting through the babble of her subordinates. "This is our responsibility, and we must make amends. To deny it only compounds our shame." "But he's really a man..." the one who'd spoken up earlier protested. Priestess Nariko pointed a finger at Ryouga-chan. "I see a woman before me, sisters. What's more, I see an innocent we have wronged. Hibiki Ryouga," she addressed the bandana-clad martial artist, "if we are to proceed with this, you must agree to certain terms. When you perform your duties for the Temple of Three, you must do so as a woman. Further, you must never seek a cure for your condition. Do you accept?" Ryouga-chan closed her eyes and sniffed disdainfully. "Feh. You have no idea of the hell I've lived already. Being a girl is nothing. I have no intention of risking Jusenkyou again just to try to get a better cure." Some of the lesser priestesses still grumbled. "This is still stretching the rules, Mistress. And will we make the same offer to this other one, this Saotome Ranma?" "We will," the High Priestess insisted. "The least we can do is to bend our own rules to make up for our own mistakes. Especially considering what these two are going to have to endure." Ukyou and Ryouga-chan looked at each other with apprehension. "What's that supposed to mean?" the okonomiyaki chef asked suspiciously. Priestess Nariko turned to face one of the figures kneeling off to the side. "Guardian Natsume, if you could please come forward and explain." The adopted Tendou sister rose and advanced, then took a place kneeling below the dais upon which the temple priestesses were arrayed. She faced Ukyou and Ryouga-chan with cool composure, but Ukyou could see the strain in her face. She only remembered the girl vaguely from the first time she had visited Nerima, when she and her little sister had come to try to lay claim to the Tendou dojo. It seemed like something that had happened in another world, another lifetime. Natsume gave a slight shake of her head to settle her long ponytail into place, then spoke. "The two of you are martial artists. This means that the duties you would be qualified for in the service of the Temple of Three would be the same as mine. You would be Guardians, fighting for the sake of the temple when the need arises. Do you have any other skills of note?" "I can cook," Ukyou said. A small smile played on Natsume's lips. "I remember well, Kuonji-san. It's a pity the temple has no order of dedicated cooks, or you would be well suited. You are fighters, the both of you, and that is the only way you could serve." "So..." Ryouga-chan asked warily, "what's so wrong with that? You act like it's a problem." Natsume sighed. "The trials to enter the order of the Guardians are many and grueling. I only attained full membership recently, and my sister will merely have provisional status for several years until she matures to readiness. While it will be acceptable to skip most of the trials for the sake of expediency, in light of the level of attainment both of you have achieved... the final rite of initiation is compulsory if you are to become a member of the Guardians of the Temple." "And what's that, sugar?" Ukyou asked. "It is a trial by combat," Natsume said, her voice quiet and grave. "And your opponent is the Reikoku." The two warriors sat in stunned silence for a very long moment. Then Ryouga-chan's fist hit the tiles of the temple floor, shattering stone and sending fragments of shrapnel flying in all directions. "DAMN!" "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!" Ukyou screamed, rising to her feet. She trembled with rage, reflexively reaching for a battle spatula that was no longer there. She wanted to pound somebody. "We CAME here so we wouldn't HAVE to fight that goddamned thing again, you stupid jackasses!" Most of the priestesses recoiled from the outbursts of fury from the two fighters. Tendou Natsume held her position and her composure. A fleck of stone from Ryouga-chan's assault on the floor had raked across the cheek of High Priestess Aoki Nariko. The woman did not flinch, but merely bowed her head in sorrow and shame, as a trickle of blood ran down her face like a tear. Ukyou rounded on Natsume. "You fought that thing? You had to, since you're a Guardian. But it's not pursing YOU, is it?" Natsume nodded. "That's correct. This is the reason why the initiation into the Temple of Three renders a woman free from pursuit by the Reikoku. If it didn't, it would be impossible to use the creature for the initiation rite." "It's still an insane test," Ukyou snapped. The Tendou girl shrugged. "In its first stage, the Reikoku is a dangerous foe, but manageable for a warrior with sufficient skill. It is only in its later incarnations, when it adapts and grows stronger, that it becomes truly terrifying." "But we've both fought it in its first form," Ryouga-chan snarled. "I've fought it TWICE!" The High Priestess spoke up. "Yes. I know. Kuonji Ukyou will have to face the creature in its second stage, and you, Hibiki Ryouga, must defeat it in its third incarnation. If you succeed, then you will become part of our sisterhood, and the Reikoku will no longer hound you." "And if we fail?" Ryouga-chan asked. Aoki Nariko's eyes were full of sympathy, but she did not flinch from the truth. "Then you will die. I am sorry, both of you. But there is no other way." - - - - - Ranma looked around the little valley and nodded to himself. This was a good place for a fight. Not much snow had accumulated here, so he could count on decent footing. There was enough open space to move around, but also patches of trees that he could use for cover if he needed to. It was as good a spot as he could hope for. He certainly didn't think he had time to keep pressing on to find a better location - the Reikoku would be here soon. He was certain of it. he thought. This was going to be a tricky battle. He felt confident that he could win - he had an arsenal of new techniques to use, had logged untold hours training hard with Ryouga and Ukyou, and had gained full access to the power of the Neko- ken. Even facing the Reikoku at its third stage, he would have more than enough to defeat it. How MUCH more, though, was the real question. Ranma planned to walk a very dangerous line in this fight. He wanted to defeat the Reikoku, but he also wanted to use as few of his new techniques as he possibly could. It was risky as hell to fight like that - holding back against a horror like the Reikoku might cost you your head - but he didn't see much of a choice. He couldn't play his strongest cards this time, in this third fight, and hope to survive the final confrontation. Part of his decision was about running out of time, about the coming danger of winter, about wanting to be free after spending so long on the run. But mostly, it was because of Akane. She'd come here to help him... to save him. Her skills had improved to a level he never would've dreamed she could achieve. He knew without a doubt that if she had to fight the Reikoku herself, she could defeat it in its first stage. That was the problem. She knew that as well as he did. And knowing that she could win, Akane was sure to attack the creature eventually. She'd do it to protect him, to save him... and then, she would be in just as much trouble as he was now. he told himself. He had no illusions that she would really just go back home and wait in Japan. She would follow him, and she had Shampoo as her guide. He would have to get this done quickly - fight the Reikoku, continue along their backtrail where the recently- traveled path was familiar to him, and then engage it in the last battle as soon as his strength was recovered. he thought. He heard the keening screech of a terrified hawk. he thought. He shrugged out of his backpack and set it next to a boulder at the entrance to the canyon, then cast off his bulky jacket and boots. His aura control had advanced to the point where he could easily ignore the cold for a limited period of time. The thin veil of frost that coated the scrub-covered earth crackled under his feet as he strode into the valley. A flock of small black birds erupted from the trees, chittering madly. A family of deer bolted from the cover of the undergrowth, silent in their panic as they streaked past. A grim smile fixed itself on Ranma's face. The terror aura of the Reikoku, saturated with its feline aspect, raked over him. He could feel the phantom claws plucking at his skin, smell the illusion of fish, but this time he withstood it. He didn't have to disappear into a fugue of cat impersonation to access the power of the Neko- ken. Saotome Ranma flexed his ki-claws, his mind fully human and aware. As if in response to his thoughts, the Reikoku emerged from the shadows of the trees. Ranma's heartbeat quickened as he watched the black-robed thing shambling towards him, its three inhuman eyes burning with laser-red light from the void beneath its hood. It advanced, its pace not wavering, moving with the same relentless gait that had carried it across rivers and mountains towards him, towards its prey. Fear poured forth from it like an invisible miasma, sending all living things fleeing before it as it came. All things, except for Saotome Ranma. The young warrior let out a battle cry and charged headlong into the fight. he thought. The first thing he wanted to achieve in this fight was to feel out what kind of special adaptations the Reikoku had devised, other than the general increases in its strength, speed, and durability. Since it had been trying to force him into the Neko-ken state, Ranma knew its style on this third incarnation would be devised to defeat him while he fighting as a cat. Perhaps it wouldn't have needed any special new abilities - perhaps his own mindless predictability in the Neko-ken would have been enough to cost him his life in the fight - but he wanted to be sure. he thought.