This was my most recent fic from a month or so ago... It's been
reworked since then...
Millennia Gone
By Valandar the Red
Tokyo sat alone and unremembered in the countryside.
Pillars of concrete that once supported freeways, walkways,
and even buildings lay toppled against each other,
supported by collapsed and rusting steel beams. The glass
had long ago evaporated in the conflagration that had ended
the lives of countless millions. Here, Man no longer ruled;
instead, Nature had taken over.
Through this maze of ghosts, two figures trudged
through what had once been Shinjuku. The first traveler was
a man of perhaps twenty, were one to judge by appearances,
wearing a homespun red tunic, black breeches, and calf-high
boots. His jet black hair hung down in bands in front that
covered his brilliant blue eyes, and in back was pulled
back into a braid that he had draped over the heavy pack he
wore. No weapons adorned his hip, nor did any armor drape
over his shoulders. Behind him came a young lady, who had
seen only a little over eighteen summers, with black hair
that shone almost blue, and dark eyes that lit up whenever
she gazed at her more stoic companion. She wore a white
tunic over dark blue breeches, and she carried both a sword
on her hip, and an old daikyu on her back. Her own pack was
not as massive as the young man's, but still demonstrated
her own prodigious strength.
"Hey, Wild Horse?" she asked.
"Hm?"
"When we get to the next village, will you marry me?"
Her voice carried a lilt in it as if she was trying to
pretend the question was just a joke, but couldn't quite
pull it off.
"No."
"Oh." Eyes cast down on the ground, she asked under
her breath, "Why?"
"Look, Karenna, I've told you why. I can't love
anyone else, ever again. Not after... her..." The young
man, Wild Horse, began watching their surroundings, not so
much looking at the ruined buildings, as looking through
them. "We... we're approaching an area that was known as
Nerima-ku, way back then."
"Nerima-ku? What did that mean on Old Japanese ?"
"Horse-training grounds. I lived here for five
years... before the Cataclysm."
Karenna whistled. "Wow, I knew you were old... but
before the cataclysm? That was, what, a thousand years
ago?"
"One thousand, thirty two years," he answered
mechanically. He paused, as the ruins became fainter, and
they reached the epicenter of the Doom of Tokyo. Standing
there, his thoughts drifted back more than ten centuries.
"Aishiteru, Akane..."
"What?" asked the girl.
"N-nothing. It was something in Old Japanese." A peal
of thunder rang out overhead. "Great. Rain. And there's
nowhere for several miles for cover."
"Um... yeah." She started ahead of him, and waited for
a moment so that he could catch up. "Did... did you have
your curse back then?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
Drip, drip, drip. Patter, patter, patter.
"H... how did you.. er, how did you become, um,
undying?" The rain slicked her hair down, and streamed down
her face. Unconsciously, she licked her lips, and tasted
the tang of the tainted water. Realizing what he had done,
she spat it out almost immediately.
"It was an attempt to cure my curse. I wanted to do it
for her, because I really didn't care anymore. Not much,
anyway." At some point in the past few minutes, Wild Horse
had crossed the threshold from damp to wet, and a familiar
change had taken place. Where a young man stood, now stood
a young lady. She was considerably shorter, with red hair,
and a figure that most women would kill for. The expression
on her face had not changed, however.
"Oh. How did it happen?"
"The curse? Or the immortality?" countered Wild Horse.
"Um... the immortality?"
"Karenna, you've been following me for four years.
This is the first time you've ever asked me about my past.
Why?"
The dark-haired girl waved her finger at him. "Oh, no.
Don't you go changing the subject on me! Er, that is... I
understand it's probably hard to talk about back then, but
I want to know! I want to know everything about you."
"Because you love me?"
"..."
"Sometimes I wish you didn't. Those two girders - we
can
stretch our cloaks between them, and get some shelter from
this
rain."
"Then you'll tell me?" asked Karenna.
"Yes, then I'll tell you."
******************
Above them, thunder rolled, and the gentle spring rain
became a heavy downpour. "Well," said Wild Horse, "we got
undercover just in time. Too bad we can't start a fire and
dry ourselves out, but that can wait."
"Um, what if you catch cold?" asked Karenna.
"I can't. I can't get any disease."
"Oh, yeah. Right. Um, what if I catch cold?"
"You won't. Your chi is too healthy... at least, it
has been since you've been training under me."
The dark-haired girl thought for a moment. "Y'know,
you're right! I haven't been sick since about three months
after I started tagging alo... er, training under you. Wait
a minute - you promised you'd tell me how you became
immortal!"
Wild Horse sighed. "Yes, immortal. The worst of all my
curses."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Anyway, I had the water curse, to become
female. It was horrible. Because of a suicide pact my
father had made, along with a promise to make me a 'man-
among-men', I had to hide from my own mother for my first
six months in Nerima. She eventually found out, and
understood, but it didn't make those first six months any
easier. Then, also... there was her.
"We fought all the time, and I thought for the longest
time that she hated me. Slowly, we started to warm up to
each other... until the day I almost lost her."
"To another guy?" asked Karenna.
"To death."
"Oh."
"Look, just get your bedroll out of your pack. It's
getting dark, and this rain doesn't look like it's going to
let up any time soon."
******************
Two days later, the ancient young man and his teenaged
companion walked into a small village. About fourteen or
fifteen huts of cane and rice paper huddled around a
central hut, slightly larger than the rest. Perhaps ten
women, and half again as many children, wandered between
the huts, going about their own business or playing
impromptu games. None of the men seemed to be present, but
they could perhaps be at work in the fields with the older
children.
"So, these are the guys who sent you the message?"
asked Karenna.
"Yep."
"Have you ever been here before?"
"No."
"Oh." She watched her feet for a moment. "Um... have
you ever thought of settling down with, um, someone? Just
resting in a village until your family is bigger than one
of those old cities?"
"No."
"... not even with me?"
"Please, Karenna, we've been over this. I can't love
anyone, ever again. All it'll bring me is pain."
"So you want me to drop the subject?"
"Yes. Let's go to the central hut, and see if the
mayor, or hetman, or whatever the top guy's calling
himself, is there." Nodding to the inhabitants, who cast
them wary glances, they approached the larger hut.
Opening the door, Wild Horse and Karenna saw four men
engrossed in a low-voiced debate. "I tell you, I've heard
of this Wild Horse. They say he saved the village forty
miles up the coast when the Blackskulls attacked! And all
he asks is food," said a man of thirty, dressed in muted
grays.
"Food, yes! All the food of the village," grumbled a
portly, middle-aged man in dark blue. "They say he eats as
much, no, more than his namesake!"
"Now, now," interrupted the young traveler, "I don't
eat that much."
"Huh?" The four men stood, and bowed slightly. "Well,"
said a tall elderly man in dark green, "since he's here, it
would seem impertinent to ask him to leave." A secret smile
crossed his face.
"What?" How do you know that's really him?" asked the
man in blue.
"Because I have met him once," answered the ancient
man. "Yes, Wild Horse. I still remember when I lived back
near the mountains, and you stopped those Garan-lok. Your
face has been burned into my memory all these years."
"Feh," said the fourth man, a sallow-faced man in his
sixties. "This stripling could not be the same as the one
you encountered. A grandson, perhaps, but not the same
man."
Karenna started to argue, but Wild Horse raised his
hand. "If it pleases you to think so. But, remember, truth
is subjective in this world. Now, what is the problem?"
The man in gray motioned for the rest to sit, and
coughed. "It's the Blackskulls. They've moved down this
way, and have attacked twice last season alone. We've heard
about how you train people to defend themselves, and help
them against bandits, and we need your help."
"How long ago was the last attack?" asked the black-
haired girl.
"I can agree to Wild Horse aiding us," groused the
sallow-faced man, "but who is this impertinent girl?"
"She's my partner, and student," said Wild Horse. "If
you question her abilities or judgement, then you question
my teaching. If you question my teaching, then you don't
need me." He started to stand up, and leave.
"Oh, Wild Horse, sit down. We both know you won't
leave unless Morran there gets downright offensive, and
he's too smart to do that." Glancing at the sallow-faced
man, Atana continued, "At least, I hope he is."
Before they could continue, however, a scream rose up
outside. "Dammit, they're here already?" asked the man in
gray. "It's only been two weeks since the last time!"
Wild Horse shrugged as he sprang to his feet. "That's
the way these people do things, completely unpredictable.
Karenna, come on, we've got work to do!" Before he had
fully finished the last word, he was out of the hut,
sprinting in the direction of the scream, the black haired
girl only half a step behind.
In the distance, they could see a dust cloud, a banner
of a black goat skull painted on a red background clearly
visible. Wild Horse grabbed his charge's shoulder. "You
start picking them off, I'm gonna round up the villagers!"
Nodding, Karenna unlimbered her bow, and began to
draw arrows from one tunic sleeve. "Gotcha! Sure glad you
taught me those hidden weapons techniques!" With a half-
breath pause, a clothyard shaft covered the two hundred
yards to the cloud, and the faint sound of a scream carried
back to her the news that her arrow had hit its mark. In
one smooth motion, another arrow appeared, and sped on its
way.
Behind her, Wild Horse was grabbing women and children
at random, and practically shoving them into the central
hut. It was too late for any men in fields to the north, if
there were any, but the children were the future of the
village. Glancing back, he nodded approvingly, as many of
the Blackskulls would raid no more. He turned back to his
own task, and shut the door behind the last group of
children.
"Hey, Wild Horse," Thunk! "we don't have much time
before they close! Got," Thunk! "enough time for one of
your magic blasts?"
Her answer was a burst of yellow energy, burying into
the ground just ahead of the horde. At the close range the
horde was at now, she could see several horses stumble on
the crater, or rear, throwing their riders in panic. But,
it wasn't enough, and the banner of the leader was in the
rear. "This is gonna be a tough one," said the immortal.
Minutes later, the bandits had reached the village.
Karenna had dropped her bow, and drawn her sword. Shoulder-
to-shoulder with the man she loved, she grinned fiercely.
"I always enjoy this part!"
The first horse to reach them lost its front leg to
her sword, even as Wild Horse leapt over her head to catch
the man on the chin with a flying kick. The immortal pushed
off from the falling man directly to the nearest opponent,
even as the black-haired girl snatched a man out of his
saddle, and took his place.
The battle raged for at least fifteen minutes, with
heavy fighting the entire time. More than forty bandits
would not walk away from the fight, while both Karenna and
Wild Horse were bleeding from several small wounds. Soon,
only a handful of bandits, including their leader,
remained.
The bandit leader stared at the carnage before him.
"What are you?" he rasped, fear in his eyes.
"We're two concerned citizens, that is all," said the
ancient young man.
"I'll be back... just you wait!" Motioning to the
remains of his gang, he wheeled his horse around, and rode
away. Soon, though, he turned back, to give one last look
at the village. He reached into his sash, and withdrew
something over a thousand years old.
Wild Horse saw it, and, for a moment, wondered if it
would even work. Then, he saw the muzzle flash, and
realized that it did. Before he could take two steps,
Karenna flew backwards like a rag doll, and lay still,
bleeding from just below her right breast.
Then, everything went red.
******************
Memories...
"Shang Ti, whatever he's being tormented for, he's
probably paid for!"
The Ruler of the Pantheon of China looked at him, with
the weight of countless eons behind it. "But, his torment
cannot be stopped. It is a part of him, even more than his
immortality is."
"P...please... Father...," gasped the god. "G-grant
him... a... boon..."
The deity's gaze never wavered. "Well, child of Man?
What boon would you ask of me?"
Ranma thought, unable to tear his own eyes away from
the majesty before him. Compared to the two in this cave,
at this moment, Saffron had been little more than a sparrow
before dragons. "So... I could ask that my Jusenkyou curse
was cured, or somethin', right?"
"If that is what you ask."
Seeing the torment of a god before his own eyes, he
knew what he had to do. "Nope, it ain't. A martial artist
is supposed ta help the weak, or those who need it. An' he
needs help more than I need a cure. An' I only know one way
ta help him."
"Are you certain?" asked Shang Ti. "I know what you
intend to ask, and you must be warned of the consequences."
"I unnerstan'. An' I know it means I'll outlive Akane,
an' Ryouga, an' Ucchan, an' stuff." He took a deep breath.
"But it's the only way ta stop his pain. I ask fer his
immortality."
Memories shift...
A wedding, to the joy of two celebrating fathers...
The day he found out. He held her close, relishing her
presence, and the subtle echo of chi that belonged to the
new life within her. Holding her like that as a hydrogen
bomb, hotter than a thousand suns, evaporated them all.
The pain of reforming, years later, and the hellish
screams of rage and grief that filled the air for over a
week.
A vibrant echo of that grief rekindled just moments
ago.
******************
Even years later, no one of the village would talk
about what they had seen once the bandit leader had used
his 'thunder wand'. But whispers followed, of a man so lost
to rage, that he barely noticed when a lucky sword blow
removed his head from his shoulders. Tales emerged of the
horror of watching the headless corpse devastate the last
living bandits. And rumors of that dancing body bending
over, and placing its head back on its neck, where it
joined as surely as if it had never been severed.
Wild Horse slowly walked back to the North side of
town, where his companion lay, surrounded by many of the
female villagers. They saw him approach, and parted in
shock. Ignoring them completely, he knelt by her side. "K-
Karenna...I should have been faster. I shouldn't have
assumed it wouldn't work.. I..."
"R...Ranma?" came her weak voice.
"Wha? No... it can't be!"
"H...have you... seen... P-chan?"
Hot tears raced down his cheeks as he recognized the
voice that spoke through his partner's body. "N-no, Akane.
Not for a long time."
"I... s-swear, Ranma... he gets lost... almost as
much... as... Ryou... ga..."
Silence.
There were no screams of grief, no cries of rage.
Instead, he bent down, and gently, reverently, lifted her
from the earth that had been her deathbed. Grim-faced, he
walked away, carrying her, the streams of tears the only
outward sign of emotion.
******************
Ranma knelt by a fresh grave. On the grave was only a
simple stone, into which he had carved the simple name,
Karenna. His tears wet the earth, and his hands smoothed
the earth over the grave.
"You returned to me once, and I kept you at arm's
length," he whispered. "Perhaps you will return to me again.
This time, I promise, I won't turn you away."
Author's notes:
Well, numerous people gave me some C&C on this one,
and I took some of their advice. Gary Kleppe gave me the
best advice, namely advice on the construction of the
story. So, here it is!
=====
- Valandar the Red of the Empty Tankard
Captain of the Guard of the Barony of the Far Woods
Empire of the Iron Mountains
and Ruler of the Spammish Main
http://Valandar.tripod.com/Hello.html
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send instant messages with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com/