RaeMowse@aol.com wrote:
"Sister" is a bit too . . .cliched, IMO.
I think it's a little overused, too. If someone counted the number of
sisters Ranma has ever had in fanfic-dom (minusing the extras that share the
name, e.g. Ranko), there probably would be enough to start their own Amazon
nation.
Kitsune
This one's been kicked around a bit. I'd take this idea and run with it, really,
but I've already got too dang much to work on at the moment. That being said, I
still _do_ have a contribution to this thread. In chibi-fic format, so it's
(hopefully) not considered spam.
Kamoku-Kitsune watched her toys idly. A young boy, about fifteen years old, and
his father, an older, rounder, and balding man.
The fox yawned, from her hidey-hole under a log. The pair of martial artists were
shoveling food into their mouths and glancing around warily.
Smirking to herself, as much as a fox-spirit can smirk, she ran through the plan
for the day's mischief. She had followed the pair across the sea from Japan, to
their current location. She didn't keep up with geography very much, but was
certain that they were reasonably close to Korea. Which suited her just fine.
A group of thugs with some weapons she couldn't identify were a few miles away,
and she planned on having the two groups meet. The young boy's tongue was easily
manipulated, and she could certainly convince them to get into a fight. She was
reasonably sure that no permanent injuries would be incurred. She was into
mischief, and maybe she'd trick the two into picking up a few curses before they
got out of China, and returned to Japan... but she didn't want to hurt them.
After grooming her eight tails, she curled into a ball, and dozed off. A fine
plan indeed.
***
Still in fox guise, though no longer visible, Kamoku-Kitsune followed Ranma and
Genma down the path. The thugs were approaching, though she still couldn't
identify the weapons they were carrying. They were cold-iron, and the fox spirit
sometimes had trouble with things like that. Probably a sword or some such. Maybe
a knife. Certainly not a huge danger to the martial artists.
Grinning happily at the thought of impending mischief, she padded along near the
pair, until they stumbled into the trio of ruffians.
The fox-spirit made one of the men stumble, and bump into the boy. From there, a
little manipulation on the boy's tongue, and she sat back to watch her handiwork.
The larger man stepped to one side, confident in his son's abilities, while the
boy waved a fist at the men. The men grumbled, and one of them threw a punch at
the boy.
For all of his smaller size, the boy easily caught the punch, twisted, and threw
his assailant over his head. The other two angrily advanced, and Ranma easily
knocked them down as well.
Not satisfied yet, the boy berated them, until one got angry, and withdrew his
weapon from inside his jacket. The fox-spirit was shaken in terror as the
apparatus spat fire and cold-iron through the air, even faster than she could
move. He eyes widened in terror as the metal slugs tore into the boy's body,
piercing him and sending blood spurting from the wounds.
She dimly registered the older man screaming something about 'mad gods dancing,'
as his martial arts attack reduced the untrained men to a bloody paste. But
Kamoku-Kitsune didn't care about the thugs, at the moment. Her eyes were firmly
fixed on the boy that lay in the road before her, blood slowly pooling around
him.
He twitched fitfully, as his life ebbed away, and Kamoku-Kitsune realized that it
was, in fact, her fault. Both parties involved were agents of some destiny or
another. The boy had been meant for greatness. The thugs had been meant to
destroy a political figure. By crossing their paths, she had removed two
potentially important destinies from the world.
She assumed human guise hesitantly, remaining invisible while the older man
clutched his dying son to his chest and bawled openly.
Swallowing nervously, she took one of her tails in one hand. Destiny shouldn't be
averted... while the thugs were beyond her power to help, the boy wasn't dead...
yet.
No hospital or healer on earth could save him now. She had to take him Underhill.
Taking the boy from his father, she crossed over quickly, despite the pain that
the presence of cold-iron and the absence of a proper fairie-ring caused her.
Some things were more important.
Once Underhill, the boy could be saved. But his survival... that was another
matter. Wincing at the additional pain, Kamoku-Onna tore one of her tails off. A
prize, hard won, and not to be given up lightly. But she had never meant to harm
them, really. Merely cause mischief.
***
Genma's reddened eyes widened, as his son disolved in his arms, leaving nothing
behind but bloody smears. Lowering his head, he wept openly, not caring about the
outside world for the moment. The few travelers that passed by gave him a wide
berth, because of the bloodstains, and the aura of sheer depression radiating
from the man.
He jerked his head up when a hand touched his shoulder, just as the sun set. He
looked up, startled, into the amber-colored eyes of a young woman. Her dress was
wispy silk, fluttering about her like a halo. The woman smiled at him weakly,
though he could see grief to rival his own reflected in her expression. He
blinked, and scrubbed at his face with his hands, "I'm sorry miss. I must be
causing a scene... I'll be on my way."
He lurched to his feet unsteadily, and turned towards the packs lying on the side
of the road. Miraculously untouched by thieves the entire time, Genma burst into
tears anew at the realization that his journey was now alone.
The young woman sighed, and touched him on the shoulder again. Genma turned to
face her, his expression somber, and flinched when she kissed him gently on the
forehead. His eyes turned blank for a long moment, then he stood slowly, and
dusted his hands together. She smiled weakly again, and her clothing shifted from
the wispy silk, to more familiar Chinese clothing. Clearing her throat, she
shouldered Ranma's discarded pack, "Father... where are we going now?"
Genma sighed, "Since your brother's gone now... we're going to Jusenkyou,
Kitsune... in his honor." He burst into another bout of tears, "We don't even
have a proper body to bury!"
Kitsune winced slightly. Still the trip to Jusenkyou would be vital. The waters
wouldn't affect her, but if Genma was cursed, no one would think much of her
turning into a fox. With only six tails remaining, and the spells she was
maintaining on Genma, and the protections she would need from cold-iron...
assuming fox form would be a necessity, on occasion. She had traded another tail
off to an associate, to see that Ranma was taken care of, and returned
eventually... but that might be months, possibly even a year or more from now.
Until then, she would pose as his sister. She wasn't certain how his miraculous
resurrection would occur, but she had a lot of time to plan.
----------
Durandall: That's what I was inspired to write. Well, more of it actually. It has
some potential, especcialy since Ranma's now got a tail, and is thus _partially_
kitsune himself. Time passes differently Underhill, so who's to say how much he
changes when he returns? Maybe not at all, and his hosts simply kick him out (and
steal his tail!) when he's healthy. Maybe they'll take a shine to him, and he'll
steal a tail or two more himself. I myself thought it would be a bit darker...
Akane and Kamoku-Kitsune could become friends, and Akane could slowly fall in
love with the ideal of Ranma... maybe then, Kamoku would reveal the truth, and
they would have to save Ranma from something in the fairie realm. Maybe
time-compression will work well for Ranma, and he'll have to return to China
while Genma and Kamoku are in Japan, since the thug's destiny has to be fulfilled
before he can have his mortality back. Maybe Ranma would return, and want to
attack Kamoku for the deception. Maybe he'll prefer to stay Underhill! Who knows?
If anyone wants this idea, take it! All I ask is that you let me read it. ^_^
--
Forgive my spelling,
my U.S. education,
is the thing to blame.