Right, time to get this turkey on the road. The first chapter of that fic I
promised. Read, enjoy, flame at will. :)
------------------------------ CUT HERE ------------------------------
wyrm@mail.utexas.edu JEFFERYSTR@rascal.guilford.edu
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
PROLOGUE
NERIMA DISTRICT, 2011 AD
------------------------
It was raining in Nerima. Not an uncommon occurrence, as this place
gets more rainfall in a day than the Amazon Basin does in a week. The
Jyusenkyo cursed stayed inside, not wishing to incur the enchantment's
wrath.
The past twenty years had brought many changes to this town, not
the least of which was the calming of the hottest couple in Nerima, Saotome
Ranma and Tendou Akane. In fact, they had cooled just enough to forge the
link of marriage.
This wasn't to say that their marriage was easy; it wasn't, not by
a long shot. Fights between the spouses erupted every day, sometimes every
hour. They had regular appointments with marriage counselors, but it didn't
seem to get any better. For the first five years, all of the couple's
rivals waited patiently for the eventual breakup which they "knew" would
happen. Ryouga, Ukyou and the Kunous egged them constantly, continually
challenging the marriage just as they had done the engagement.
The fated day never came, and eventually the rivals realized how
hopeless the breakup was. For better or worse, Ranma and Akane were bound
very tightly. How else could they stay together so long? Even Kodachi
realized this (after starting on a course of Prozac), and began her search
for a new love like the others.
One rival had not not participated in this war of love; Shampoo, to
the utter shock of all, had wished the couple the best of luck on their
marriage via letter, shortly after her disappearance.
Cologne closed the Nekohanten and moved back to China. Mousse
vanished about the same time as Shampoo. Everyone assumed they eloped;
Cologne was strangely silent about the details.
The Saotomes now have three children. Ryouga married Unryuu Akari
and moved onto the pig farm, and they have one child and are expecting
another. Ukyou fell for a hunk she met at college, and -- surprise,
surprise! -- it turned out to be none other than Gosunkugi Hikaru. After
High School, he started working out, which gave him confidence (and bulk)
when he entered college, making him big man on campus. There he met Ukyou
again for the first time, and the rest was history.
Kunou was nabbed by Mariko; Kunou found her to be quite likable,
especially since she liked repeating some of his pontifications. Nabiki
hooked a shady character calling himself by an English flower.
Kasumi's a no-brainer.
Now back to the present, the dark and stormy night. It's a cliche
that's so bad, it's good...and appropriate. Everyone was safely indoors on
this night, save one.
A pair of boots splashed in the rain as their owner scuffled along.
She was dressed head to toe in black leather studded with pins, chains and
patches of many kinds. Her tee said, "JO' MAMA!" which plastered to her
bosom. She stopped before the gate to the Saotome Dojo, pushing a lock of
her very dark (almost black) purple hair out of her face.
The woman stared longingly at the house beyond the gate,
remembering happier times. She shuttered as she remembered that those times
were long over. "Ranma..." the woman whispered, and the rain under her eyes
suddenly turned red for a second before being washed away...
Tj/Wyrm presents
A GAC Production
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
H U N T R E S S
By Thomas R Jefferys
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
Ranma 1/2 and associated characters created by Takahashi Rumiko.
Vampire: the Masquerade and associated terms created by White Wolf Game
Studios, HOWEVER....
I don't feel compelled to confine myself to a strictly canon World of
Darkness with strictly canon WoD critters. This is MY goddamn fic! Mark?
Phil? If you have a problem with this, bite me! On second thought... ;)
<Just kidding, guys!>
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
CHAPTER 1: Room and...
*DINGDONG*
"I'll get it!" came a well-used voice from the interior of the
house. A few footfalls later, a man wearing a white sleeveless Chinese
shirt and black pants combination stepped into the foyer. His black hair
was lightly dusted with the gray of age, but still braided into a pigtail.
"Who could it possibly be at _this_ unseemly hour?" Saotome Ranma mumbled.
The door slid open with a push and a squeak. /*Oil the door,*/ his
mind noted before turning attention to his visitor. "Come on in," he told
the figure. It stepped into the light, revealing itself to be female. She
was dressed in a pseudo-punk style, right down to the dark purple hair. At
least the style was normal; a simple ponytail running down her back. Her
skin was a little pale, he noted. Ranma remembered his manners and said,
"Good evening."
The guest smiled gently and returned the greeting noise, "Hello, Ranma."
Ranma blinked. That voice seemed eerily familiar. "Do I know you?"
he asked, tentative.
"Yes," she answered simply, unshouldering her blue and ridiculously
damp knapsack. "At least, you should."
/*Uh oh, not another fiancee. That's the third one this month! I'm
gonna kill Pop!*/ He checked that thought as he appraised her, /*Not that I
would mind if I didn't already have Akane; she is kinda cute...purple
hair...cutesy voice...wait, purple hair?*/ His mind groused over that
particular fact. Then it clicked. "Shampoo?" he hazarded.
The smile cracked into a full grin. "Nihao!" she greeted again in
that perfectly preserved and cheerful voice, and promptly glomped him.
"AHH!!!! Get offa me!" Ranma yelped, squirming in her hug.
A slightly gray woman chose this moment to peek around the corner.
"Ranma, who is i--" Saotome Akane's question stopped dead, was buried, and
was survived by another, more angered question, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!
RANMA NO..." She pulled a well-worn mallet with the elvish runes
"Bakadring: the Fool Hammer" and charged. "...BAKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
"*geep!* Shampoo, leggo a' me!" Ranma screeched, not realizing that
he had been soaked enough from Shampoo's damp clothes to trigger his
change. His (now her) eyes bugged out comically as she watched the mallet
descend like bug approaches an oncoming windshield.
Suddenly, Shampoo switched the target of her glomp from Ranma to
Akane. "Nihao to you too!"
This completely interrupted the carnage about to take place. Akane
dropped the mallet...onto Ranma's foot. *MASH* "ITETETE!!!" howled
onna-Ranma, clutching at her wounded extremity, hopping all over the foyer.
Meanwhile, Akane's eyes grew as wide as saucers in shock at this woman
glomping her.
Shampoo drew back from Akane. "It's good to see you again. The
marriage going well?" she asked in coherent Japanese.
Ranma blinked out the tear in her eye, then answered as best she
could with a mashed foot, "As well as our engagement."
"Oh dear!" Shampoo giggled.
Akane shook herself out of her daze and turned to her husband/wife,
a very baffled look on her face. "Ranma, _who_ is this?"
"Forgot me already, Violent Pervert Girl?" Shampoo asked with a
beaming grin, making Akane's eyebrows shoot to the top of her forehead in
recognition.
"Shampoo?! Is that you?" Akane stammered, eyes sweeping up and down
over the Amazon beauty's form. "You're...You're...You're..."
"...using personal pronouns?" suggested Shampoo.
That abruptly interrupted Akane's train of thought, but it got her
out of her rut. "...young! Goodness, you haven't aged a day!" Shampoo
inwardly winced at that, but didn't let it show.
"You, on the other hand..." prodded the Amazon. Akane blushed,
grimacing with indignation. Three births had left her with a little more
fat than in her teens, but Mother Nature had partially compensated by
giving her some extra height. It was enough to almost hide the evidence of
motherhood. Almost. "Don't worry, Akane! It improves your looks!"
"Thanks. I think."
"So what brings you here?" Ranma asked.
"Um..." Shampoo shifted nervously. "I just arrived in town and I
don't have a place to stay. Would you mind...?" Her voice trailed off,
leaving her question unfinished but understood.
Ranma and Akane glanced at each other.
"She can take the guest room," Ranma suggested.
Akane scowled. "Ranma, this IS Shampoo we're talking about," she
said icily. "How can we be sure that she won't take another crack at you?
I'm still not completely convinced by that goodwill letter she sent us."
"That was twenty years ago, you jealous woman!" snipped the "man"
(so to speak) of the house.
"Who are you calling JEALOUS?!" Akane growled back, and drove Ranma
through the floorboards with Bakadring. Shampoo winced in sympathy of the
impact.
Ranma twitched, hands in the Takahashi Position #4. "Ow!" came the
murmur, then the confirmation that she was going to be all right,
"Kawaikune..."
/*And Andrew wonders why I'm tough enough to 'rough it' every
day...*/ Shampoo thought wryly. "Akane-san?"
Akane started at the honorific, and looked surprised at Shampoo
(and thus was distracted from tooling over Ranma again). "Akane-san, you
have my solemn word, as a Joketsuzoku Amazon, that I am not here to break
up your marriage or to steal Ranma-san. I will not attempt such a breakup,
nor will I take advantage of one, should it arise," she pledged, and bowed
to Akane to seal the pact.
Akane's jaw dropped. "You're serious, aren't you!" she blurted,
"You've really given up on Ranma!"
Shampoo returned to her locked and upright position. "My marriage
to Ranma wasn't in the cards." /*Hoboy, was it ever NOT in the cards!*/ "My
letter to you was sincere; I do hope that your marriage continues to be..."
Shampoo cast a sidelong glance at Ranma-chan, only now extracting herself
from the remains of the floor. "...stable."
Akane was impressed by Shampoo's maturity. "I'm impressed by your
maturity, Shampoo!" See? ;) "We'll let you stay on condition that you don't
go after Ranma. If you do, this mallet slams _your_ head. Got it?" Akane
stressed, hefting Bakadring for emphasis.
Shampoo gave her a sloppy salute. "Yes, ma'am!"
Akane sighed and nodded. "Alright...Welcome to our home, and such,"
she relented and shuffled out of the foyer and back into the kitchen.
"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I didn't plan on having a guest for
dinner, so we might have to split Ranma's portion."
"ahhh, no thanks, Akane! I already...ate on my way over," Shampoo
politely turned down Akane's offer. Not that she would touch Akane's food
under _any_ circumstances.
A blue aura started glowing from the kitchen.
Seeing her error, Shampoo quickly amended, "I knew you weren't
expecting me, so I didn't take any chances in case I missed it." With a
grin, she added, "And, I _know_ how Airen eats!"
Ranma-chan *gack*ed. Akane screeched from the kitchen as the glow
flared and started making heat distortions, "'AIREN'?!"
"Psyche!" Shampoo chortled. "Don't be so gullible, Akane!"
Akane only grumbled in response, something about sixteen-ton
weights. The glow started to dissipate, slowly.
Ranma noticed that Shampoo no longer was speaking in those
'Shampooisms' of hers. "Hey, Shampoo. How the heck did you get so good at
Japanese?" the man/woman asked.
"Silly Ranma! I _have_ had twenty years to practice!"
-=<oo>=-
She ran.
She didn't know where to run to, but she knew she couldn't stay.
Why? Why did this happen to her? Her husband would never have her
now. Who would anyone want _her_ for a wife?
She wanted to have children; now she never will.
She was a danger to him. She might actually KILL him. She couldn't
stay here.
It was all her master's fault. If he didn't do...that to her, she
would never have been a danger to her husband. She would still be fertile,
and desirable.
The thought gave her strength; it gave her resolve. Her master was
as good as dead, like he should have been long ago...
-=<oo>=-
Hot water doused onto Ranma's head, drenching her and triggering
the reversal of the Jyusenkyo curse back to his normal masculine self. Once
he did that, something occurred to him.
"Shampoo, you're cured!"
"uh, yeah..." Shampoo mumbled, "I guess you can say that..."
"That's great! Howdja do it? Did you jump in the Nyanniichuan?"
Akane stuck her head out of the kitchen doorway and snapped at her
husband, "Ranma, she just came in out of a rainstorm, soaked to the bone,
and what's the first thing you do? You ask her how she got cured of her
curse! Let her get settled first; the cure's not going anywhere."
"Uh, right..."
They stepped into the main room. Not much had changed in the past
two decades. Some things merely showed signs of wear. Other items were
completely new. One of them was sitting at the table, waiting patiently for
dinner, a teenaged girl with blue-black hair. It wasn't a hairstyle that
Shampoo had seen before, but it was the hairstyle Akane had when Ranma
first came to the dojo. She turned around and saw their guest. "Oh, hello."
"Shampoo, this is my daughter--"
"Saotome Tashimi, fifteen. Nice ta meecha," said the girl, offering
her hand.
Shampoo took it, then introduced herself, "Hi. I'm Shampoo, one of
Ranma's...old friends."
"So _you're_ Shampoo, eh?" the girl grinned. "Hey, otousan! Wasn't
she the one who had lots of real estate?"
Ranma and Shampoo looked at her oddly. "What are you talking about,
Tashimi-chan?"
"Well, you said she had 'huge tracks of land'."
"He. Said. What?" came a demonic growl from the kitchen, the aura
flaring again. Ranma laughed nervously as Shampoo gave him a wry look.
As if prearranged to interrupt the imminent violence, the thumping
of little feet came down the hall. Suddenly, two black-haired bundles of
energy came bursting into the room. A preteen girl was in hot pursuit of a
carbon-copy of herself, save clothing, hairstyle and degree of dampness,
and she held a green squirtgun. "I'll get you, Maka-chan!!"
The other girl, 'Maka-chan', giggling merrily, hurdled the table
and ducked behind Tashimi. The pursuing girl drew bead on Maka-chan.
Tashimi went sheet white. "Mizaki, don't you--"
*squirt*
"--dare!! Dammit, and this was silk, too!" Tashimi growled. Shampoo
blinked a few times to confirm that she had indeed seen what she thought
she had just seen. Tashimi's hair had seemed to subtly shifted color,
gaining red highlights. Also, her figure seemed to have shifted; Shampoo
could have sworn that Tashimi's chest size expanded slightly.
Mizaki rounded the table to confront 'Maka-chan'. 'Maka-chan'
rushed back out of the room, squirting backwards with her own blue
squirtgun, with Mizaki hot on her heels.
Tashimi sat for a moment, staring hard at the portal that her
sisters had fled down. Then she stood up with a grim look on her face.
"Excuse me, I got two sisters to kill..." she said with extreme frankness,
then suddenly tore out of the room after the twins.
Shampoo blinked again. Did she...Yes, she did. Whatever bust size
Tashimi had previously, it was clear that her hair had shifted color. She
turned to Ranma and quipped deadpan, "Jyusenkyo, I presume..." Ranma
shrugged.
"GET BACK HERE!" screamed Tashimi, chasing after the two girls.
Ranma smiled. "The two scamps were our twin daughters, Masako and
Mizaki, aged seven," Ranma introduced the twins, non habeus corpus.
"Nyah-nyah! Can't catch us, Tachi-chan!" teased Mizaki...or was it
Masako? One of them, anyway.
"Don't call me 'Tachi-chan'!" shouted the older sister.
Shampoo watched the children play (or try to kill each other; take
your pick), a sad smile on her face.
"Um...Ranma, I would like to change into something more
comfortable..." Shampoo said abruptly, indicating her drenched clothes.
"Of course. I think we may still have one of your old outfits lying
around. Kami-sama knows you certainly left a lot of 'em here," Ranma said,
leading a giggling Shampoo to the bathroom.
-====||====-
The family were seated around the table for dinner, plus their
guest. Apparently, Akane was now a competent cook, judging from the lack of
choking noises and unusual skin colors and patterns, Shampoo noted.
Ranma was also eating couthly. Probably because of the absence of
his father, or maybe Akane's conditioning with Bakadring.
"Are you sure you won't have some, Shampoo?" Akane asked.
Shampoo waved her off. "I'm completely full. Can't hold any more."
/*Not exactly a lie...*/ thought Shampoo. "It smells delicious, though..."
/*Okay, that WAS a lie!*/ she grinned internally, however wry it may have
been.
"So, Shampoo..." Ranma asked finally, "...where have you been
hiding yourself for the last twenty years?"
Shampoo sighed. "Around. I've been all over the world, and I go
wherever fate takes me. Sorta like ol' Lost Boy without the destination."
"How's Mousse?" Akane asked abruptly.
Shampoo froze. "What?"
"Didn't you cave in to Mousse's wooings and marry him?" Akane
grinned slyly. It very Nabiki-like, making it especially scary.
"What do you mean?"
"Well...he disappeared around the same time you did," Akane
elaborated, grin still on her face, "so everyone assumed that you had
eloped. Cologne wouldn't say for sure...She only told us that she disowned
you."
"She did?"
"She kept telling us, 'Shampoo is dead...'," Akane explained before
stuffing another piece of fish into her mouth. Shampoo shuddered visibly.
"Hey, it's okay...If Cologne had a problem with your marriage, then you
obviously didn't let that stop you, right? I mean...you and Mousse _did_
elope...didn't you?"
-=<oo>=-
Mousse's eyes were blank. He lay limp in Shampoo's arms with a
bloodied wound on his neck. Shampoo propped him up in her lap, staring at
his lifeless face. "Mousse...no..." she whispered.
"Mousse, wake up!" Shampoo commanded, shaking him for all she was
worth, "Wake up! Is Shampoo!"
Nothing.
"Mousse, is no funny," baded Shampoo, fear rising within her soul,
"Wake up! Please be alright!"
Mousse had nothing to say.
Her fingers went to the unbloodied side of his neck, trying to find
the telltale throb of his carotid artery. After a few seconds of fruitless
searching, she put her ear to his chest.
Silence.
Shampoo lifted her head from Mousse's still chest, hugging the
corpse to herself. "Mousse..." she choked, feeling tears welling in her
eyes.
She heard a fit of laughter that sent chills up her spine. Shampoo
turned to face its owner, leaning against the wall. He was grinning, his
canines pronounced, almost like...fangs.
-=<oo>=-
"No," Shampoo whispered. "We didn't elope."
Akane's eyes widened with curiosity. "Then what--?" she began.
"Mousse..." Shampoo started to say. She was about to say "is dead",
but remembered the twins. They were so young, so full of vitality, it would
be a pity if they knew of death at such an early age. "...passed on."
Both Ranma and Akane froze. Tashimi tried her best to ignore the
conversation. One of the twins -- Mizaki, Shampoo guessed -- turned to
Ranma and asked, "Otousan, what does 'passed on' mean?"
Ranma shook himself out of his daze. "I'll tell you when you're
older, Mizaki-chan."
Akane sensed a need to change the subject, fast. "So,
Shampoo...you're free of your curse?"
"You saw me soaked head to toe and still *hem* human," she said. No
one noticed the slight cough.
Suddenly curious, Ranma leaned in and asked, "What _is_ the cure?"
Shampoo sighed. Her cure for the Maoniichuan was one of the only
good things about that experience, and there were very few good things
about it. "Believe me, it's NOT worth it. Take it from someone who's been
through it."
That only strengthened Ranma's curiosity. "Why? What is this cure?"
"Let's just say that it cures all that ails you..." Shampoo said in
a low voice, growing slightly annoyed with Ranma. Unfortunately, the cure
has a rather enormous drawback...
Ranma was actually frowning. Shampoo had a cure and she wasn't
willing to share? /*Selfish little--! Stay calm...*/ he thought. "Listen,
Shampoo. You've found a cure, something that Ryouga 'n me never found. If
you tell us, we might be able to find--"
"Will you drop it?!" Shampoo exploded, locking eyes with Ranma and
glaring challengingly at him. "I'm not going to tell you, so just *forget*
it, Ranma!"
And Ranma did.
"Um, you okay, Shampoo-obasan?" Mizaki asked after a stunned pause.
Shampoo deflated when she saw the staring and slightly frightened
faces of the twins. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up just then,
but..." Shampoo sighed, "You must understand, I've regretted my cure ever
since I got it. The cure is much, much worse than the curse, Ranma. Trust
me on this."
"Um...okay..." Ranma murmured. "What were we talking about?"
Everyone at the table erupted into giggles, except Ranma, who blinked in
confusion, as he had asked in all seriousness.
A couple of seconds later, Tashimi moved the conversation over to a
less controversial subject. "Well, I had to kick Hentarou's butt again
today," she mumbled.
"Him again..." Ranma grumbled. Hentarou was a lecherous little spaz
in Tashimi's grade. Ranma remembered Parents' Day two years ago during
Toshiro first year in junior high school. The pervert glomped Tashimi right
in the middle of class. His daughter kicked him into LEO. Letting out a
sigh, Ranma asked wearily, "What did lecher-boy do this time?"
Tashimi stuffed another morsel in her mouth and chewed angrily.
"Same thing he does every day, try to cop a feel," she mumbled, none too
happy. Then her frown turned into a self-satisfied smirk. "I kicked him
into orbit, though."
"Good to know you're getting your exercise..." Akane smiled.
Masako winked at Mizaki. "May we be excused, please?" they asked in
perfect synch. Shampoo smiled unconsciously; it was so kawaii.
"Of course. Just remember to wash off your plates, okay?" Akane
instructed.
"Okay!" they replied, still in synch. They stood, then shouted
together, "FIRE ONE!"
*squirt* *squirt*
In the split second after the order to fire, the twins fast-drew
their squirtguns and gave Tashimi a double-barreled squirt in the face. Her
hair turned reddish again. "Why you little...!" she growled, bolting to her
feet.
"SAOTOME SECRET TECHNIQUE!" the twins chanted, and took off with
Tashimi on their tails.
Shampoo collapsed in a fit of laughter. She had almost forgotten
what it felt like to experience a full belly-laugh. It felt good.
-====||====-
Shampoo sat crosslegged on the floor, watching the rain run down
the window. The light of the moon cast shadows of the drops on her face as
they made their way down. She was in the guest room, the space-heater still
drying out her leathers.
"<Why did you do this to me, Calvin?>" Shampoo asked the rain in
Chinese. The rain didn't answer her.
She smiled wryly. "<You never could give me a straight answer.>"
"<Dammit! I had so much to live for!>" she growled. "<I wanted to
marry Ranma! I wanted to have children! I wanted a normal Amazonian life!>"
The Amazon shuttered. "<And you took that away from me.>"
"<At least your soul, if you ever had one, is in hell, you bastard!>"
The rain wept for her...
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
---------------------
## ## ## ## ####### ## ## AKA Tom Jefferys, Time Lord for Hire
## ## # # ## ## ### ### "Have TARDIS; Will Travel."
## # ## ### ##### ## # ## Weilder of ANVIL and SPAM! Breaker of
### ### # ## ## ## ## <wyrm@mail.utexas.edu> the Mold!
## ## ### ### ## ## ## <JEFFERYSTR@rascal.guilford.edu>
Spring of Drowned Cannon-Fodder "You'd better find a cure quick!"
Darwin was wrong: Man is still an ape!