literature

P.o.D: F.N: -22- Strange Happenings

Deviation Actions

Ranmano1fan's avatar
By
Published:
703 Views

Literature Text

Chapter 22: Strange Happenings

-----------

Being woken up in the early hours of the morning before sunrise wasn't anything new to Ranma. Ever since he moved in with Akane's family, he has been startled awake countless times in the middle of the night. Right away he knew something was wrong, due to the eerie feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. Sitting straight up, he looked around the campsite. Genma's loud snoring wasn't bothering anyone; at least not in any way Ranma could tell. He glanced over and saw that Kuno was still there, tied up and fast asleep.

With nothing looking out of the ordinary, the boy let out a long yawn while he stretched his arms. Ranma laid back down, ready to go back to sleep. As he stared at the fire, his mind began to drift back to slumber. But just as quickly, the boy snapped his attention back to the fire. The flames weren't dancing as high as they were hours ago, as the pieces of wood crackled softly in the night. He waited, keeping his sight on the tips of flames.

The teenager gave a small gasp and he sat up again. Just beyond the campsite, near the edge of the forest, Ranma saw a small yellow light that he didn't notice the first time he sat up. He watched as the light moved from tree to tree. After he removed himself from his sleeping bag and slipped on his shoes, he decided to investigate. Quietly he walked around the fire and where the others were sleeping and slowly he made his way over to where the light was.

Even though he was going towards the light, he wasn't getting any closer. Ranma stopped for a second and wondered what had originally woke up as he watched the light dance in place for a little bit. He couldn't quite place it, but he thought he felt something brush across his face seconds before he awoke.

A soft voice in the direction the light was coming from got his attention, "Come here."

"Who's there?" he asked, quietly calling out into the darkness.

"Come here," replied the voice again.

The voice was soft and feminine in nature, but also had a slight hard edge to it as well. For a moment the voice almost sounded familiar to him, but it couldn't have been who he thought it sounded like.

"Ak-" he started. 'No, it can't be,' he thought, ending his spoken sentence before it started.

"Come here," said the voice once more with a begging tone.

"Who's out there? Please answer me," called Ranma.

"Come here, please," repeated the voice as it grew faint.

He didn't want to give up his pursuit, so he pressed on and followed the light as it weaved it's way through the trees. And every so often the voice would call out, "Hurry, please." or "This way."

Ranma looked around him and noticed a light fog had started to settle making it a little harder to follow the glowing light. As he tracked the light the boy made a lot of noise, snapping fallen tree branches and pushing aside bushes. When the light had stopped, it had reached another clearing.

The morning mist was heavier here than in the woods. When the teenager reached the clearing he not only saw the light, but saw a faint image to go along with it. The boy's jaw dropped when he saw the image, it's shape was of the last thing he ever thought he would see: Akane. She was standing there in her white bed skirt, looking better than ever.

He took a few steps forward and asked, "Akane, is it really you?"

"Yes," she replied.

"But how can it be possible?" he wondered. In his mind's eye he could see her laying in bed the same way he left her.

"It doesn't matter now," she answered.

He knew she couldn't be there, the Prince said that she couldn't be revived without the Phoenix Tears potion, but Ranma didn't know what to believe anymore. The heavy mist that surrounded him only got thicker and all he could see of her was a glowing outline thanks to the little ball of light that brought him there.

"Come to me," she called longingly.

The boy racked his brain, but he couldn't put a logical understanding on the moment, instead he tried listening to his heart.

"Please, come here," she requested.

Ranma wanted to oblige and went to move forward, hopeful he had made the right choice, but something stopped him. An unseen force kept him firmly planted in the spot he was currently at and it wasn't giving way. A sudden and sharp jolt to his heart made him stop.

It was as if he heard a different voice and this one told him, "No."

He tried to lift his foot, but even though the ground and his entire body was soaked; due to the heavy mist; his feet would not budge an inch. Off in the distance a yellow glow on the horizon meant the sun was rising.

"Come to me, please," said the first voice, growing ever more faint.

"No, don't," said the second, "Stay put."

An image of Akane's stern looking face flashed inside his mind. Ranma was overcome with emotions and fell to his knees.

The boy took his eyes off the glowing silhouette in front of him, put his hands on the ground and began to cry, "I know this can't be real, but I want it to be so much, it's almost too much that I can hardly take it. Maybe I should just give up and go home?"

As the world around him grew brighter, Ranma could hear a faint rumbling sound that he couldn't identify.

"No. I can't give in," said the boy with growing confidence, "A lot of people are depending on me to bring Akane home and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I won't let them down. I've come too far to give up now. I love her and I promised her that we will be together in the end."

Ranma wiped his face with his damp shirt, he wanted to take one last look at the image before he left. The full circle of the sun just broke on the horizon by the time the boy went to look up again. To his amazement, the golden silhouette before him had almost completely disappeared.

Before it was totally gone, it spoke, but in a different voice, "That's all I wanted to hear you say. I'll be waiting for you."

"Where are you going? What do you mean 'I'll be waiting'?" asked the teen.

The voice echoed, "I'll be waiting."

Then the glowing light that had brought him to the clearing was gone. He blinked twice and he searched all around him for the light, but couldn't find it anywhere in the mist. The faint rumbling sound he heard earlier was now louder and more identifiable than before. It sounded like rushing water coming in the direction not too far off from where he was sitting. Unable to see through the heavy fog, Ranma figured that he must be near the river. The damp teen stood up and began his long trek back to the campsite.

The boy's visibility was near zero as he kept an eye out for the traveled path he took earlier. Though he tripped over a root or a rock now and then, the boy made his way back to the others. By the time he had gotten to the campsite, he still couldn't understand what it was he saw earlier.

Upon reaching the site, he saw the fire had been stoked recently and he noticed someone sitting near the fire. The boy came out from behind the trees and made his way to the fire in a nonchalant kind of way. When Ranma sat down near the flames he made a squishing sound before he said hello to Captain Johza.

"Hello to you too, kid. Tell me, where have you been off to?" asked the man.

"I don't know for sure," replied the boy.

Johza looked over the wetness of his friend's clothes and took a guess, "Found the waterfall, did you?"

"Waterfall?" repeated Ranma.

"Yeah. There's a waterfall about a half of a mile that way," answered the man and he pointed in the direction the teenager had come from.

"I couldn't tell if I did or not. A heavy fog made it damn near impossible to see anything really," the confused youth told him as the boy took off his shirt.

"You'll get that sometimes thanks to all the boulders at the bottom of the falls. They kick up a lot of the water when it crashes down on them, particularly when you get closer to the cliff's edge," explained Johza.

"Really? And just how far a drop are we talking about here?" asked Ranma while he tried to wring his shirt dry.

"Not too far. Maybe two, three hundred feet," replied the Captain.

"Thanks, that really makes me feel better," said the damp teen.

"Why is that?" wondered Johza.

"Because I might've fallen to my death and no one would have realized it," answered the boy before he put the shirt back on.

"You didn't and that's a good thing, because how would we look if you didn't return with us to the castle when this is all over with? It wouldn't look good, I can tell you that right now," said Johza after he stood up. He added, "Care to go fishing with me?"

"No thanks, I've had my fill of wet clothes for the day," responded Ranma as he scooted closer to the fire.

"Okay have it your way," said the Captain before he walked away.

The moment Johza was gone, Ranma took off his pants and wrung them dry as well, all the while he thought, 'Just how close did I get to the cliff's edge?'

Unable to think of a good enough answer before the Captain returned with his catch, the boy decided to let it go.

A few minutes later, thanks to some help from Ranma, the two of them had cleaned the fish and now they were cooking over the burning fire. The smell of food in close proximity to him, woke Genma up really easy. The other three took a little more coaxing to get them to rise and shine with the new day. Before they ate and before Kuno was really awake, Genma tied him to a tree, but kept his arms free so he could eat with everyone else.

"This wasn't necessary," said the older teen.

"No chances, remember," replied the old man.

After breakfast was finished the gang cleaned the campsite and put out the fire before they headed off again. The two old men put into action the plan they had thought of: before they untied Kuno from his tree, Soun took possession of the boy's bokken.

"That is mine. Put it down," threatened the older teen.

"I'll keep hold of this for the time being," answered Akane's father.

Then Genma took the rope and tied it around his waist so the teenager couldn't go far.

"Now let us see you get out of this without your sword," said Genma.

"No need. I see now that you are determined to keep me from leaving this group," replied the upperclassman.

"Oh, you think," responded Ranma's father sarcastically.

Not too long after they started on their way, they had reached a clearing near the top of the waterfall. Though it wasn't really necessary, Ranma felt the need to stop. Johza suspected the boy wanted to find out how close he had gotten to the edge of the cliff and decided that it might be for the best if he saw for himself as well.

"Why are we stopping now?" wondered Ryoga, "We just got started."

Neither the Captain or Ranma had told the others about the boy's near death experience, both of them believed that something's are best left unsaid.

"I thought it be best if we took this time to clean ourselves up using the waterfall," replied Johza.

The others couldn't find a reason in which to argue, so they agreed with the Captain and made their way down to the bottom of the falls. None of them had noticed Ranma had stayed behind.

The boy walked slowly and looked around for the spot where he had gotten on his knees. The mist wasn't as thick as it was during the night or it might've been because the sun was up, but it didn't seem to be as thick. Whatever the reason, visibility was a lot better than last night and Ranma was able to find the spot. When he found it, he had to swallow a big lump that had formed in his throat. If he had been able to move last night, he would have tried to walk towards the silhouette of light that had brought him there. The only problem was that the ground ended almost three feet in front of him, he would have fallen to his death.

"Quite a drop, isn't it?" said a voice.

The sound of someone's voice made Ranma jump slightly. A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, helping the boy keep his balance.

"Don't worry, I got you," the voice told him.

The teen looked behind him to find Johza standing there with a grim look on his face.

"Thanks," replied the teen as the Captain let go of his wrist.

"How long were you standing there?" asked the boy.

"Only a few minutes," responded Johza.

"Where are the others?" wondered Ranma.

"They're still at the bottom of the falls," grinned the man, "Looking for you."

"I guess I shouldn't disappoint them, huh?" said the boy as he walked away from the cliff.

"Guess not," answered Johza and he followed the teen down.

"Where did you two go to anyway?" asked Genma, when his son and the Captain arrived at the bottom of the falls.

Johza pointed up at the cliff and said, "Up there."

"Why?" wondered Soun.

"Just to talk," replied the Captain.

"About what?" asked the boy's father.

"About whether or not we should leave you guys here," answered Ranma, a little angry.

"Sorry I said anything," said his father.

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" replied the teen.

"Well, maybe you'll feel differently after a dip in the river," said Ryoga, who had snuck up on the boy and grabbed him around the waist.

"I'm not going!" he shouted.

"Yes you are!" replied his friend.

While the two of them argued, Genma and Soun walked over to them. The two old men pushed them into the water before the boys had noticed them.

"Hey, that wasn't fair!" said the two wet teenagers, "Yeah, we weren't ready!"

"Oh well," shrugged Genma, reaching out to give his son a hand.

Soun reached out to give Ryoga a hand, but instead, the boys pull the two old men into the water as well.

Genma shoved his son's head underwater and said, "Thanks a lot, we just got finished drying off."

The boy pulled his head out of the water and answered, "Well you had to push us in, didn't you?"

"Yes I did, because you were the only one of us that wasn't clean," replied his father.

"Enough fighting you two," said Soun.

Father and son replied by pushing the other old man's head underwater.

During the altercation, Johza stood back and laughed as he watched the antics before him, but even he had enough, "Okay everyone, I think we wasted enough time already, remember we still have a mission to complete."

Ryoga glanced around and asked, "Speaking of remembering, where's Kuno?"

Everyone looked around them, but didn't see him anywhere.

"I thought you were keeping an eye on him," said Genma to his friend.

"Well, I thought you tied him to a tree," replied Soun.

"Oops, I forgot to," answered Ranma's father.

"Great," said the boy as he shoved and held his father's head underwater, "Just great."
The long awaited next chapter in my Path of Destiny Storyarc. This time Ranma's resolve waivers and he doubts himself, only to make himself more determined to bring Akane home. Little does he know at that same time he has a near death experience!

Previous Chapter: [link]

----------
Next Chapter: [link]

Please leave any comments, be they good or bad. Or if you wish you can donate :points: I accept those too. Thank you.
© 2012 - 2024 Ranmano1fan
Comments2
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
shinjiasuka4ever's avatar
Another great chapter, love it!