========================= RELENTLESS A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction By Grayson Towler ========================= ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Living Scroll ----------------------------------------------------------- Akane would remember the days they spent waiting for the Reikoku to come as some of the best time she ever shared with Ranma. In spite of the impending dread of the fight that was to come, of knowing that soon he might be taken from her, the days they shared in that quiet valley felt almost enchanted. They made their camp next to a silvery stream of crystalline water, so cold and clear that it took the breath away to sip from it. Though the air brought a chill in the morning that froze the dew on the leaves, the sun turned the forest into a charmed wonderland when it rose. Food was plentiful for the three warriors. Birds of all sorts flitted between the trees, from tiny sparrows to golden-winged pheasants, while deer, rabbits, and other game populated the forest floor. It was the calm before. A storm was coming soon that would bury the little valley in snow. And something worse would be here soon as well. Akane was glad they had things to do in preparation. She and Ranma, as close as they had gotten, still didn't quite know how to act around each other. They both tried so hard not to fall back into the familiar patterns of bickering and sniping at one another that they ended up feeling awkward and shy. Perhaps it would've been easier if they had been alone, but it felt very strange to show too much affection in front of Shampoo. Although Shampoo didn't seem to mind. In fact, she kept trying to nudge them together. It seemed to be some point of pride with her. Still, even if her former rival hadn't been there, she and Ranma probably would have been just as clumsy around each other. And there were other reasons that it was good to have Shampoo along. The Amazon girl showed them a talent for healing that neither of them had realized she possessed. It only made sense - she had studied the Amazon arts under Elder Cologne, knew acupressure and herbology, and had been good enough to be Dr. Tofu's assistant for a while - but Akane had never seen Shampoo use her skills for anything other than mischief. It hadn't occurred to her that the girl might be a healer. It was good that she was, since Ranma needed all the help he could get. A martial artist learns a certain level of first-aid as a matter of survival, but he needed to be completely recovered from the wounds he'd taken in his last battle with the Reikoku if he was going to be in top form to fight it again. Shampoo's treatment sped up his recovery time significantly. Even more importantly, she knew ways to help him revitalize the ki-energy he'd spent in that fight. Ranma's natural inclination was to simply eat like a steamshovel until he felt strong again, but the Amazon girl knew other things to help him. When she began to teach them ki-replenishing exercises, Akane was just as interested as Ranma. "What do you call this?" Akane asked as Shampoo demonstrated a stance. "Is Chinese medicine practice. Called 'Chi-Kung.'" She shifted slowly from one pose to the next, then waited for Ranma and Akane to follow suit. "Huh," Ranma said. Akane knew that he usually didn't have a lot of patience for the meditative side of martial arts, but when his survival depended on him being in top form, it seemed to have a remarkable effect on his concentration. "So this is s'posed to help my body make more energy?" "Not just that," Shampoo explained. "Chi-Kung really made to be practiced in places like this." She gestured at the forest around them. "Outdoor, in nature, you can draw in the energy of world around you." "Hey, yeah?" the young Saotome asked. "So then it's kind of like that ki-draining stuff that Happosai taught to Miss Hinako?" It was barely noticeable, but Akane saw Shampoo's left eye twitch at the mention of the Furinkan teacher's name. She recovered her composure almost instantly. "Is not so powerful," the Amazon admitted grudgingly. "Her techniques is more advanced... but is also dangerous to self. Look at what happen to her body. You think that good for you?" "I was just askin'!" Ranma raised his hands defensively. "I teach better method," Shampoo said. "Is not about drain some other person, like you is mosquito." She made a disgusted face. "Energy of natural world is... clean. That what you need to heal." Whatever the reason, Shampoo's treatments and exercises worked wonders. Ranma's recovery was remarkable, even for him. His strength returned as they spent the days together, and his internal energy even seemed to be increasing. Akane thought as she watched him work his way through a series of intricate martial arts forms. They sparred a bit, but not seriously. They didn't want to exert Ranma too much before his final battle with the Reikoku, or risk that he might injure himself in some way during the training. Apart from their times of exercising and stretching, they mostly just spent the time talking. Not about their feelings or emotions - they still lacked the words for that - but about martial arts. Akane took distinct pleasure in the fact that she finally had something to teach Ranma about martial arts... and that he wanted to listen to her. She talked about her training with the Bakusai Ten-Ketsu, and how Dr. Tofu had helped her understand what was really going on when you set off the Breaking Point. She told him about her training with Natsume and Kurumi, and the Elements of the Soul school that they practiced. They had a good time trying to figure out which element best matched Ranma's skills and personality. "The adaptability of water!" Ranma proclaimed in his best Kunou voice, shaking his fist in one direction. "The free- spiritedness of air!" He shook his fist the other way. "How can I choose between them? I... must have them both!" Shampoo had plenty to add to their conversations as well. The Amazon tribe had a tradition of martial arts mastery that went back thousands of years, and even Ranma and Akane's interactions with an elder like Cologne had only shown them a fraction of what Shampoo's people knew. She confirmed some of what Dr. Tofu had speculated about how the Bakusai Ten-ketsu was a foundational technique, which could be expanded upon for the more refined feats of environmental control that they'd seen out of her great- grandmother. "Most Amazon techniques like that," Shampoo explained. She held up a single finger: "First there is basic application," she then opened both her hands to spread the rest of her fingers wide, "then you learn much more from there." "Like I've done from the Hiryuu Shoten-ha," Ranma said. "My One-Man Dragon arts." The young Amazon frowned. "Shampoo not so sure she likes that name." "What's wrong with it?" She crossed her arms. "What if woman want to use those skills?" "What, you mean if I'm in my girl form?" Ranma scratched his head. "I'm still a guy." "Yeah," Akane cut in. "But what if you have to teach those skills to an Amazon?" Ranma blinked. "Why would I do that?" That was when Akane remembered that nobody had ever explained the obligation that an outsider incurred when learning the secret techniques of the Amazons. She figured it was about time that somebody cleared that up for them. After all, if Amazon girls started showing up at the Tendou Dojo someday, it wouldn't do to have Ranma jump to the wrong conclusions. If he survived that long, of course... she told herself. And so they passed the days and nights, preparing for the most dangerous foe Ranma had ever faced, watching the clouds gathering to the north that heralded the coming of the first great storm of winter. Akane tried to capture each moment in perfect clarity in her mind, hoarding them like jewels in the treasure vaults of memory. The training, the healing... the talks with Ranma and Shampoo, the crackling of dinner cooking over an open fire... the touch of Ranma's hand as it brushed hers, the furtive kisses stolen as night fell. She cherished every second, holding them in her heart, ever-conscious of how each moment spent took them closer to the terrible time of reckoning that loomed before them. She had one more task to complete before the last battle. She had gone over it a hundred times in her mind - visualizing, practicing, planning out exactly what she intended to do. If Elder Cologne was right, she could make the difference for Ranma between life and death. Tendou Akane would not allow herself to fail in this. Just before dawn, on the day the Reikoku would arrive, she went to him in his tent. She needed to have time before the fight to achieve what Cologne had instructed her to do, but it was critical not to have TOO much time. She felt nervous, but refused to let it slow her down. She wasn't surprised to find him awake, even though sunrise was still almost an hour off. "Hey, Akane," he greeted her quietly. "Hi, Ranma." He peered at the bundle she had tucked under one arm. "What's all that stuff?" She took a deep breath, then let it out, steadying her nerves. "I told you that Elder Cologne gave me something to help you with your last fight, right? Well... it's time." He leaned forward, interested. "Yeah? The old ghoul gave you some kinda special Amazon artifact or somethin'?" Akane shook her head, settling down so she was facing him as she knelt. "No. She said that such things wouldn't be any help against the Reikoku, especially at this final stage. This is... it's a technique she taught me." She pulled out a little three-legged brass stand, then set a candle on top of it. "What kind of technique?" "Have you ever heard of Martial Arts Calligraphy?" she asked. Ranma grimaced. "Ugh. Yeah. You paint some stupid drawing on your abdomen, and it pumps up your power levels." He flinched, giving her a sort of worried look that she didn't understand. "Not that I've seen it in person or anything. Anyway, it has a fatal weakness. I don't know if it's gonna work for this..." "This isn't the same thing," she said. It was good he'd heard of Martial Arts Calligraphy - that would make this a little easier. "This is a secret Amazon version that works on the same principle. They call it 'Living Scroll of the Legendary Warrior.'" "Yeah?" His eyes lit up. "So what do you do?" She swallowed. "Um... take off your shirt." Ranma fidgeted a little bit. "Oh... okay." He pulled his sleeping shirt up over his head. It was odd, thought Akane, how often he'd gone around their home back in Nerima half- dressed. Now that they were alone together, in the cocoon of warmth formed by the tent, she felt butterflies in her stomach as she looked at his bare chest. "Right," she said, keeping her voice even. "Now... um, you're going to look into the candle, and just try to keep your mind clear. And I'm going to start writing the characters on your... your body." She withdrew a brush and a pot of ink. "What's gonna happen?" "I'll explain as I work," she told him. "Just hold still. If you flinch around, I'm going to mess up." She heated the pot a little bit over the candle, so the mixture would be warm when it touched his skin. "That candle," Ranma said. "It smells kinda... like incense or somethin'." "It's like that," Akane told him. "The Amazons get them from the Yakusai village. You know, where Pink and Link came from? Don't worry... it's not poisonous. It just helps with the ritual." "Got it." She withdrew a night-black feather and showed it to Ranma. "A crow's feather," she told him, holding it behind the candle so he could see it without losing his focus on the flame. "This is what I use to stir the ink. It represents the link between this world and the spiritual realm. The Amazons use this to empower the ritual." She dipped the quill of the crow's feather into the ink and slowly swished it around. The subtle shades of the different ingredients blended, merging into a single, rich hue, like the darkest of chocolates. She dipped her brush into the warm, dark solution in the little clay pot, swirling it gently to soak the fibers. "This ink comes from the herbalist's village, too," she said. "Elder Cologne says it takes years to get the mixture just right, so it'll contain the magical power necessary for the Living Scroll ritual." Ranma's eyebrow raised, and he turned to get a better look. "Really?" "Hold still." She chose a spot on his arm first. The brush glided across his skin, leaving a dark, glistening trail in its wake. She followed the contours of Ranma's muscles, relaxed but still hard as rock, and slowly traced the first calligraphy on his body. "The idea," she said quietly, "to bring out your full potential as a martial artist." "What if I've already reached my full potential?" "Nobody has," Akane told him. "Even Elder Cologne says that she is still far below her greatest potential. You've grown so much stronger since you left home. What if you trained for years at the same pace? How much better would you be?" Ranma blinked, then settled his gaze back on the candle. "Just think about that," she whispered. Her brush dipped back into the ink. She kept it steady as she chose a spot on Ranma's back, guiding it across the strong lines of his shoulderblades, then his spine. She felt herself breathing in time with Ranma, felt herself falling into the rhythms of his body as she painted the characters along his warm skin. "Think about how good you can be." Her voice came almost as a sigh. "The flame from the candle will guide you. The potion on your skin will bring out your inner strength. Your body itself will become the Living Scroll, telling the story of the Legendary Warrior. That's you, Ranma... that's you..." "That's... me." Akane kept speaking quietly as she covered his upper body with her calligraphy - characters of power, sigils of hope and glory, all drawn with loving perfection on the canvas of Saotome Ranma's skin. She stroked her brush across his chest, his belly, then onto his bare thighs. She traced delicate words onto the soft skin of his neck, feeling his pulse through her brush as she painted. Sunrise came. Dawn broke across the valley as the hours crept by, and still Akane drew her marks upon Ranma. She knew that time was short, but she did not rush. She made each calligraphy as perfect as she could manage, losing herself in the flow of her words to Ranma as she drew, caressing his body with her brush, feeling the power of his aura rising as she painted each symbol. And with each passing moment, the Reikoku drew closer. - - - - - The pickup truck rocked and bounced as it careened down the dirt road, kicking up plumes of dust in its wake. The driver was a Chinese woman whose name Ukyou had never even caught. She and Ryouga, along with Natsume and Kurumi, had piled into the back of the truck mere minutes after the plane had touched down, heading towards the location that Ranma had told Kasumi he was heading for when they spoke last. All in all, it had only taken about three days for the crew of young martial artists to get to the remote part of China from where Ranma had last contacted them. The speed with which the Temple of Three had managed to secure air passage and a driver for them had gotten Ukyou thinking. "They could help Ranma travel," she explained as she held onto the side of the pickup's bed for balance. "Get him flights, hire cars and boats and stuff. He could go wherever he needed." "He couldn't run forever," Ryouga said. "He wouldn't want to." She shook her head vigorously. "Not forever, no. Just long enough to train. They could get him teachers, fly him around to find martial arts masters. The Temple has to know all sorts of people." Natsume nodded. "We do," she said. "Our resources aren't infinite, though." "But we'd help him," Kurumi insisted. "Priestess Nariko said we would." Her elder sister looked concerned. "But... defeating the Reikoku at the fourth stage. Is it possible, even? How much training would he need?" "He can do it!" Ukyou asserted, turning to Ryouga. "Right?" The Lost Boy frowned, clearly thinking of the struggle he'd endured with the creature during his initiation trial. "If anyone can... it would be Ranma," he said. It wasn't the ringing affirmation that Ukyou would have liked to hear, but it was good enough. "If we find people like old Cologne to train him," she continued, "he could do it. Maybe it would take a while. He could fly over to America... it'd take that thing forever to cross the ocean at the rate it goes. They could get a car... everyone drives around at a hundred miles an hour in America, right? Then when he's done there, you just fly him somewhere else. It can work! I know it can work..." "No," Ryouga said gravely. "It can't." She rounded on him, her voice rising almost to a scream. "Why NOT? Damn it, WHY do you always have to be such a FATALIST? He..." Ryouga grabbed her hand, looking into her eyes with a mixture of dread and sorrow. "Look," he said. "Look around." They had crested a hill and were looking down into a valley, rugged and stony with a silvery trickle of a river running through thick patches of heavy forest. Ukyou stood up in the pickup bed to get a good look, and saw the birds. They rose from every copse of trees, every patch of high grass, from the surface of the river and the small lake farther off. Great golden-feathered pheasants, tiny swarms of sparrows, silent-winged owls roused from their slumber, cranes and hawks and ducks... as far as the eye could see, they watched the birds rise. From horizon to horizon they took to the sky, filling the air with the sounds of terror and flight. The grasses rustled as mice and rabbits fled. Leaves sprayed from the bushes as families of deer bounded past on long, nimble legs. The high-pitched squeal of a wild boar in flight reached their ears. All were running or taking wing, all the animals for miles and miles... "No..." Ukyou whispered. She could feel it too now. The truck had stopped, the driver suddenly overcome with terror and unable to continue. Ryouga clenched his fists as the shadows of fleeing birds darted across his face. "Only one thing could cause such horror," he said. "The Reikoku in its final incarnation." "Then... we're too late..." He nodded, leaping out of the truck. "Come on!" he shouted. "We'll have to go the rest of the way on foot!" She followed, heading into the aura with Natsume and Kurumi in tow, but her heart told her the truth. All they could do now was witness. Saotome Ranma was beyond their help now, if the Reikoku had entered its fourth stage. The battle was already underway. - - - - - The Reikoku's aura didn't just increase as it closed the distance - it exploded like a psychic bomb. Ranma heard Akane let out an involuntary shriek as it hit her, accompanied by a cry of shock from Shampoo. The wide valley came alive with terror as all living things recoiled from the approach of the Reikoku. The black-robed thing seemed to grow as it approached him, swelling with darkness, its robes thrashing about it as if caught in the grips of some chaotic wind. The three crimson eyes burned with the fury of hellfire, zeroing in on Saotome Ranma with their hideous glare. The sheer power that pulsed from the monster beggared the imagination. Ranma braced himself and prepared his first attack.