Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ One-Half a Wing and a Prayer ❯ War of the Wings ( Chapter 32 )

Author’s Note: The cast of Ranma ½ are the work of Rumiko Takahashi, and were distributed by Kitty and Viz. I am not Takahashi sensei and claim no IP rights. Personally I’m glad because the crew of OHWP thinks she’s twisted. As always, a warning for naughty bits ahead, sex, violence and the like. No minors or easily offended people allowed.
P.S.: Janice is still the driving force behind this, but now I write for the fans of the story as well.


Despair looked out over the school yard, smirking at the potential for corruption that always lurked in places like this. Cheating, abuse, lust, and even jealousy were always in abundance when a large group of teenagers were gathered in one place. Were it not for one thing these buildings seemed to have, they would be perfect feeding grounds for entire communities of demons.

Hope.

Hope for romance, hope for making parents and loved ones proud, and most of all, hope for the future. In most places it wasn’t enough to overpower the shadows, but it was always there.

She wondered silently if there was hidden meaning in this battle taking place here, but in the end she chalked it up to paranoia that came with her position. By the dawn, there would be no hope left in this place, she would see to that as she ripped out the still beating heart of her so called sister.

Her musing halted as a whisper in the wind announced an arrival, and she looked up to see a figure glide down into the field across from her. Stepping out of the shadows to meet the newcomer, she saw a curvy redhead in skimpy leather. She easily recognized the young woman, even though it had been over five hundred years.

You do not forget your own sister easily.

Quickly glancing up and surveying the area, she also spotted seven figures on the roof of the school building. They were poised to strike, but remained where they were, as if waiting for something. She also saw that one of them sported wings like the redhead before her, and knew that Alexis had been serious about choosing to defy her.

Softly she called out over the field, “I see that you decided not to do this one on one. Good, it would have been boring to kill you so easily.”

“They’re here to keep this honest,” the redhead chided, “it’s still going down as just you and me. Besides, with all your talk and bluster, you still have no idea what you’re up against. Ranma Saotome never loses.”

Despair gave an evil chuckle and snapped her fingers. At the sound, shapes began emerging from behind trees and bleachers and from shadows in the night. In moments twenty monstrous forms came into view, ranging from almost human demons to one hulking brute that stood well over the heads of everyone present.

“Kill her,” Despair commanded simply.


One Half a Wing and a Prayer
By Seth

Chapter 32
War of the Wings


The demons were not the only ones to jump into action as Despair’s command, and the martial artists on the High School roof leapt down, charging into battle. The odds were stacked against them, but they didn’t care. In fact, Akane could only smile as she felt her body shift into riot control mode, instincts used after fighting off Kuno’s group ambushes coming into play once again.

Flowing into the charging group, Akane spun, dodging a bladed arm and shot her fist upwards as she moved in close. Her knuckles connected with the humanoid’s jaw, and she spun around him, avoiding a sword swing from another supernatural killer as she kicked high, catching the second target in the stomach. She knew that her initial blows wouldn’t stop the charge, but that wasn’t on her shoulders alone. She felt none of her old anger, as she was truly part of a team tonight.

She spun again and delivered a snap kick to her original target as he recovered. She was also a true expression of the Tendo School tonight, and the anger was replaced by determination to do her father’s teachings proud.

Kodachi announced her entrance into the battle with a razor edged hoop that almost took the head off her first opponent. Where Akane was a whirlwind of punches and kicks, Kodachi showed her own style as she leapt into the air and threw dozens of spiked clubs into the attacking horde. She saw the youngest Tendo shoot a high kick under the already damaged jaw of her first opponent, and with a snap of her wrist the gymnast let loose her ribbon to wrap around the demon’s neck. Using the momentum from her charge, she swung around on the ribbon as it tightened on the neck and solidly planted her knee in the back of the demon’s spine. Akane’s own punch to his knees while dropping into a sweep kick ended the first of the assailants and the two girls stood.

“This is going to be a busy night,” Akane quipped to her sister’s lover as Kodachi pulled a spiked club out of the ground and threw it at her. She dodged slightly and the silvery partitions imbedded into another demon as it got ready to attack from behind.

Kodachi grinned, “Indeed.” With that the two girls moved into action again, choosing new targets.

Not far away, Ryoga cracked his knuckles as the largest of the combatants approached him. It was his silent request to the others that he challenge this one, not only to test his abilities against the muscular beast, but to vent frustration with his talk with Akane.

He slid into a ready stance, and almost had his head taken off by a waving blade that lashed out from behind him. Spinning in place, he drew his umbrella and blocked the backhand strike that followed, but was unable to move as the fist of his original opponent descended on him. He was spared the crushing of his bones however, as the fist stopped short and a wave of force pushed it back and was followed by gashes along the brute’s stomach made by an unseen force.

Pushing forward, Hibiki knocked the sword wielder off balance and spun, delivering a roundhouse strike with the weighted bamboo as he spotted his rescuer.

Nabiki ran in and pushed her hands forward, making more distortions in the air that traveled like needles into the back of the giant, striking along the spine.

“Keep your head on a swivel, Ryoga,” Nabiki shouted as she ran past him to draw another enemy.

Bringing his foot down, Ryoga solidly kicked his opponent in the head and called out, “This is madness! What kind of fight is this?!”

“This is war,” Called Nabiki as she met up with her older sister who held a pair of female twins at bay with spinning rods.

The identical red skinned girls seemed as acrobatic as Kasumi, but the gymnastic mistress held her own as they spun, flipped and rolled around each other. The twins wielded sharp nails that looked as if they were edged in metal, and Kasumi used all her flexibility to keep out of reach. She was even able to go on the offensive as she back flipped away at one point and spun on her hands to deliver a split legged kick to one twin as she leapt after the tumbling Tendo.

Nabiki joined the fray by vaulting over her limber sister and delivering a hard jump kick to the face of the second twin. The two pairs of sisters recovered quickly and faced off. Kasumi started the next exchange by kicking up her apprentice’s discarded hoop and throwing it hard between the red duo. The demon girls sprung away to either side, and the Tendos moved to follow.

Kasumi cart wheeled after one, and in the middle of her upside down arc, pitched her rods at her adversary. The metal projectiles caught the demon in the shoulders, and threw her off balance long enough for the one time home maker to close in for a club strike to either side of the red girl’s head.

Nabiki however had simply turned to face the opposite twin and gestured towards her in a come hither fashion. The demon girl took this as an invite to attack with her edged fingers and charged. She was jolted out of her attack, however, when Kasumi’s hoop, which had followed Nabiki’s fingers as she guided the modified gymnastic tool straight into the attacking girl’s neck.

The Tendo sisters nodded to each other, and Kasumi flipped away to check on her apprentice as Nabiki looked over to see how her Amazon co-wife was fairing.

Shampoo had her claws out and was in a high speed battle with a skeletally thin demon that moved almost blindingly fast. She used her curse granted agility to keep one step ahead of the creature’s attacks and her Amazon trained skill to counter as often as she could. Dropping to all fours, she jumped high into the air, drawing from some of her husband’s teachings, and sprung over her foe. As the demon whipped around, she landed hands first and pushed both her legs out in a claw first mule kick that caught him in the stomach.

The creature stumbled back and Shampoo turned to face him, letting out a feline hiss of anger as she jumped again. Her pounce landed on his shoulders, and the purple haired cat girl attempted to claw at his eyes. The demon had other ideas, however, and fell forward, smacking Shampoo back first into the ground.

Shampoo scrambled out from under the thin attacker before he could bring his daggers into play and rolled to safety. Her hand scraped along the ground, claws digging into the schoolyard, and with a flick of her wrist a spray of dirt was sent into the face of her enemy, blinding him momentarily.

She rolled forward again and grabbed both sides of the skull like head of her opponent, and yanked hard to one side. Others in the group may have had reservations of such a final attack, but she understood what was at stake, and her wife and husband knew that as well.

The Amazon stood, flexed her claws, and went in search of new prey.

Another warrior knew how deadly this fight would get, and she was starting to wonder if it was worth it. Alexis fired another blast at a horned demon with spikes instead of hands and it dodged quickly.

“Damn it,” she growled, “hold still!”

Thinking back, she realized that she had fallen into a pattern, just as she had done against Ranma. It had been her undoing then, and she found that the horned demon was reacting just as well as her half human sister.

Shifting her aim, Alexis launched another fire blast not at the lesser demon, but at the ground where he was moving. The shock from the eruption knocked him over, and Alexis moved in quickly to finish it off.

As she closed, she drew her silver switchblade to plunge into its heart, but her strike was blocked by the demon’s pointed limbs. She looked into his face, and saw a warning smirk as a mystically charged bolt of electricity arced between the spikes, catching her metal blade and blowing her back.

She shook her head, trying to clear it and get back into the fight, but her arms were slow in moving, and unable to push her off the ground. She watched as her foe stood and walked to her, raising its arm up to finish her with a dark smile on his face.

His smile changed to a look of surprise as his body went stiff and toppled over. Alexis blinked and saw a dozen needles imbedded in the horned demon’s back, and past him she saw Kasumi, hand outstretched from a throw.

The eldest Tendo sister walked up and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Sure,” Alexis replied. “What did you hit him with?”

Kasumi smiled, “A paralytic poison my apprentice whipped up for this fight. We better get back to work. After all, Ranma is counting on us.”

And as the gymnast ran back into the fray, Alexis realized that this is why the battle was worth it. Her family was counting on her, and she would never let them down.

In all the chaos, an island of calm existed. As the outnumbered martial artists faced off against a group of underestimating demons, Ranma stood facing Despair. Only a short distance seemed to separate the two, but as Ranma looked into the eyes of the older demon, she saw an almost wistful glance that also separated them by five hundred years.

“She forgave you, you know,” Ranma said softly. Even over the cacophony around them, Despair heard her clearly, and her face hardened for a moment.

She managed to get out, “There was no wrong on my part. She stood against her people, even her own family. I may have forgiven her lapse in judgment once, but she abandoned us when she disappeared into the east. To be betrayed twice is too much to bear.”

Ranma shook her head, “It was never about you. She wanted what all of us want, what all of us fight for. She wanted to be free. Can you tell me that at the time, you weren’t tempted to go with her? To be free like her?”

Despair’s voice caught in her throat as memories of the days on the road with her sister flooded back. Yes, she had been jealous of her sister’s care free attitude, but she had never wanted to drop her responsibilities to chase after a dream.

Had she?

Forsaking words, Despair tugged at one of the white strips of leather that made up her outfit. Ranma watched her carefully, and felt a surge of dark energy from the older succubus as the white haired demon flicked her wrist. In a flash of red light, the white leather was now held straight out and stiff in Despair’s hand. She shifted her grip slightly, and Ranma saw that the once loose strap was held like a sword, and her experience with Ryoga’s ki hardened bandanas made her believe that this was very similar to the Iron Cloth technique.

The redhead shifted her stance, and tentatively reached for her whip. In an armed melee battle, Despair would have the edge in attacking power with her blade and Ranma decided that the range advantage of Kasumi’s gift would not be enough to counter it. Instead she slid into a closed defensive stance and waited for Despair to make the first move.

She did not have long as the white haired woman slashed her charged leather sword downward and an arc of red energy shot out at Ranma. The martial artist dodged wildly out of the way and saw the red arc blow past her, digging into the ground at its bottom edge. The blast continued onward, slamming into the elevated edge of the yard with an explosive spray of dirt and grass.

“Holy crap,” Ranma muttered. With that one blast, Despair had showed her reincarnated sister what five hundred years of accumulating power could do. Now as Ranma kicked back upright, the redhead’s mind was spinning, looking for advantages as she ran forward before her opponent finished her backswing.

Jumping the last few meters, Ranma threw a mid air snap kick that sailed by Despair as the stronger demoness turned. But before the woman could bring her sword to bear on the fast moving girl Ranma was in her face, unleashing a series of backhand and palm strikes along her chest, pushing her back and knocking some of her breath away.

A two fingered strike to the inside of Despair’s elbow gave Ranma more breathing room as that arm numbed slightly, and the demon girl pressed her momentary advantage, spinning into a high kick.

Despair ducked under the kick, and shot out her own boot clad leg, sweeping Ranma who kicked again with her off foot and swept Despair off her feet to join her on the ground.

Both leather bound demons kicked up into each other’s crossed arms, pushing hard to knock the other off balance. Finding no advantage, they moved away from each other and Ranma’s hand went to her hip, tugging her whip free as Despair recovered her sword from where it fell at her feet.

Kicking the blade up, she reached for it with her right hand as it flew up, but Ranma snapped her whip, stinging the outstretched hand. Letting the whip spin around once, Ranma brought it in again and lashed at Despair’s neck, but again the older demoness ducked, her left hand reaching behind her back as she faced the ground to catch her blade as it arced back downward.

Coming back up, Despair pulled her blade around her, launching a slash that almost took Ranma’s head off, but the nimble girl fell backwards, flipping low and pushing off the ground with her hands. As she was upside down, Ranma flicked her wrist, sending the whip to strike at Despair’s feet as another red arc of power passed over her own.

Despair jumped up, avoiding the strike, and kicked forward, attempting to catch Ranma with her spiked heel, but the redhead rolled forward again, under her foe. Both succubi finished their moves, and standing once more found they were back to back.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Ranma snorted.

Despair chuckled, “True. It seems you still have skill, little sister.”

Ranma smirked as well, “It took a whole new lifetime to get this good. From what Amnara remembered, you got a little better as well.”

“I had no choice. After you ran, someone had to stand and protect our family.”

Ranma looked over her shoulder, and her blue eyes met Despair’s glowing red ones, “Like I said, I’m just Amnara’s heir. But as for you stepping up, he’s not worth it. As soon as he doesn’t have a use for you, he’ll kill you. I saw how Amnara felt about you and Alexis cares about you too, so I’d hate to see that happen to you. Especially before I have a chance to get to know my new sister.”

“Such is my fate,” Despair said softly.

Ranma countered with a hard voice, “I’ll never believe that. In the end, the only one responsible for your death by his hands is you. Let me help you.”

Despair didn’t answer her in words. Instead she spun in place, her blade at neck height, but Ranma was already gone. Leaping into the air, the redhead had taken flight, her wings spread wide and a charged fireball streaking towards her white haired opponent’s face.

Going airborne as well to avoid the blast, Despair rapidly flexed her wings to get an altitude advantage over Ranma, but the younger demoness was charging in. Ranma mixed all she had learned about flying with the mid-air aspect of the Anything Goes School and executed a two kick combo that ended with her flipping off Despair and gaining a little boost in height.

Working her wings hard, Ranma sped away, gaining distance for the next exchange, but she was followed closely by the more experienced flyer and found herself struggling for more speed as Despair closed.

The elder succubus was impressed by her adversary’s ability to adapt. In a heartbeat the battle had gone from a ground fight, where the redhead was her equal, to an air battle, where she thought she would have an advantage. However she found that Ranma had learned this form of combat as well, and after the kicks she had took, Despair wondered how the little demoness had gotten to be as good as she was.

Closing rapidly, Despair threw her blade at Ranma, aiming for the wing roots, but the redhead dove out of the way and rolled onto her back, palms aimed back and ablaze with red light. Quickly the white haired flyer rolled away as well, and the two of them danced in the night air like a pair of leaves.

Ranma saw Despair closing again, and figured the demon behind her was at least twice as fast as she was in the air, and even disarmed, she knew that Despair would be a threat close in.

Must go faster, Ranma thought. Need more speed. Faster then a bat or bird. Like a plane, or even a rocket…

Suddenly, Ranma’s usual smirk was back in place as she focused on shifting her powers about her body. Drawing from her hands and wings, she slowed for a moment into a glide. Despair was almost on top of her, outreached hand burning with bale fire.

Suddenly, Ranma’s body went stiff, her wings folding in close and the redhead shouted, “HELLBOOSTERS!”

A streak of compressed hellfire shot out Ranma’s feet, and the bottoms of her half melted boots shot backwards, almost hitting Despair in her surprised face as the redhead that was a handbreadth in front of her suddenly surged forward and up on a column of otherworldly power.

Ranma didn’t scream, she didn’t want to accidentally swallow a bug or something as she found herself moving faster then she ever had before. She almost closed her eyes, but she knew that would be fatal.

Arching her back slightly and allowing her wings the barest hint of surface area, she began to attempt to control her screaming flight as the town whizzed by beneath her. With the slightest tug of drag, Ranma found she was spinning back towards Furinkan, and took in every ounce of her reflexes to control herself and aim at her target.

With only a moment to impact, Ranma killed all her demonic power and switched her concentration to the white light of her soul that she had only begun to understand. It almost didn’t work, but she felt the support of those bound to her, and three voices echoed in her heart.

Ranma Saotome never loses.

The white comet that streaked into the sky above the high school was met by a red sphere of dark power wielded by Despair, and the results of the impact stopped all combat on the ground far below.

The detonation of energy was massive, and while Ranma had not contributed much power to the explosion, the nature of the power she used was almost a catalyst that reacted to the demon energy Despair wielded.

It was as simple and deadly as matter and anti-matter combining to ensure mutual annihilation.

Two smoke shrouded forms dropped from the sky, landing, or crashing rather, into the ground and for a moment, there was stillness.

The Nerimians, shocked by the eruption, gaped at the spectacle. They were tired, battered and worn out, but they were warriors and stood their ground, encouraged by loyalty to each other and the drive to see the fight through.

The demons, those that remained alive and coherent, also gaped at the display. Such power was seldom tossed about freely, even by the strongest of their ranks. They were killers, not warriors, and the only thing that kept them from breaking ranks right then was fear that if Despair had survived she would turn on any who ran.

This battle could now be won or lost in a heartbeat.

Slowly, a figure arose and stumbled out of the dust kicked up by the impact of the two succubi. She was bleeding, and bruised. Her hair a mess and her leather outfit in shambles. Her right arm was limp, and her steps were unsure.

But Ranma Saotome stood once more, glowing red eyes locked on the remaining demons.

“WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME!!!”

The wave of power, laced with killing intent, which followed Ranma’s shout, was almost as large as the explosion that had just occurred moments ago, and in a matter of seconds, the demons had scattered to the four winds in an attempt to flee the enraged greater demoness. For a moment, Ranma held her position, maintaining her menacing air.

Then, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the demonic aura snuffed out, and Ranma collapsed to the ground.

With shouts of worry, Nabiki and Shampoo sprinted to Ranma’s side and were checking on the downed redhead. The others were close on their heels, and looked down as Nabiki checked Ranma over for injury.

“This is pretty bad,” the middle Tendo said, forcing her voice to be calm. “Her arm is broken, and I can’t tell how many more bones are broke. She shouldn’t have been able to stand.”

Akane replied, “Too damn stubborn to die…”

Nabiki looked up at her sister, an angry retort ready. But she stopped when she saw the genuine concern in her younger sibling, and knew then that Akane had not spoken as an insult to Ranma, but a simple statement of truth.

“We had best get a litter together to take Ranma to Doctor Tofu,” Kasumi spoke.

Nabiki nodded and looked over at Shampoo, who nodded in agreement, “Yeah. There should be one in the nurse’s office. I’ll go…”

“No,” Kodachi said, placing a hand on Nabiki’s shoulder to keep her from standing. “Stay with Lady Ranma. We will get it.” With that both leotard wearing girls turned towards the school building and launched into a run.

As Ranma was cared for, Ryoga moved over to the other form that had crashed to the ground. The white haired woman was in as bad a condition as Ranma, if not worse. He moved cautiously over to her, wary that this was a demon that had pushed Ranma past all reasonable limits and knelt down to check her.

“How is she?”

Ryoga looked back up as saw the pink haired girl Ranma had introduced as his sister and saw her own expression of worry. Silently he turned back to the downed woman and checked her vital signs. After a moment, he nodded to himself and stood again.

“She’s still alive, but I doubt she’ll be getting up anytime soon,” he said simply. “What are we going to do with her?”

“We take with us,” he heard Shampoo said over her shoulder. “She prisoner now and only Husband can decide her fate.”

Ryoga blanched at the cold tone of the Amazon’s voice, but nodded his understanding. He then watched as Alexis knelt beside the downed demoness and saw her expression turn sad.

“Damn you Dizzy,” she whispered. Only Ryoga was close enough to hear her as she continued, “Why do you have to be so stubborn? I finally get one sister back that you have been going on about all my life and you’re too wrapped up in Father’s plans to see how happy I was. Then he sends you to get petty revenge on something that happened half an age ago, and there you go like a happy little pawn. I wanted you to be happy she was back. She was your sister and your best friend. Why?”

Ryoga thought for a moment, then softly answered, “I may not know everything that’s going on here, but I do know that Ranma felt the same as you. Ranma loves his Art, but hates these battles that no one wins. Every time I’ve seen him fight it’s been to protect the ones he cares for, or to defend something he believes in. I think tonight was about his belief in you, and maybe your sister. He believes that you both deserve a chance to be free, and he’s going to put everything on the line to see it through.” He paused for a moment, and then added, “Just like he believes that I needed to fix my own problems.”

“Sound’s like you have a lot of respect for my big sister,” Alexis said back.

Ryoga winced, “Don’t push it.” With that he stood, leaving the two sisters and turning to look out over the damaged yard. He stepped over to where Ranma lay, and had to avert his eyes as Shampoo was in a rather intense lip lock with the redhead.

He found himself looking into Akane’s eyes, and found his own feelings towards the sight reflected in her eyes.

“Um,” he managed, “what is she doing?”

Akane snorted, “Trying to revive Ranma.”

“With CPR?”

“No,” Akane sighed, “by giving the little…her some of their energy. Nabiki and Shampoo said they were going to take turns until Ranma wakes up.”

Ryoga looked puzzled, “so…um…why are they kissing her?”

Akane blinked and muttered to herself, “Was I as bad as this?” Then in a louder voice continued, “You remember that Ranma’s demon form feeds off of sex, right?” Ryoga turned bright red, and blinked hard as what Akane said impacted his mind. After a long pause, Akane found herself quoting her therapist from her first session, “Oh boy.”

Later, Ranma found herself drifting upward out of the dark, her senses slowly returning. As she came too, she found slowly that her body was not responding as fast as it should, and that there was numbness in several places.

Opening her eyes she felt…

Oh shit, Ranma thought, that was a mistake…

“Easy, lover girl,” said a soothing voice, and a damp cloth was placed on her forehead as the redhead moaned in discomfort.

She asked with a dry voice, “What happened?”

“You won, you knucklehead. But you almost killed yourself again. Stop doing that, OK.”

“I’ll try,” Ranma promised. She didn’t what to feel like this again anyway.

“She’s awake, Doc.”

Ranma tried opening her eyes again, and was able to focus on Nabiki’s face above her as Doctor Tofu came into view and seemed to be checking something on her right side.

“How do you feel, Ranma?” the Doctor asked calmly.

Ranma winced, “Like I just pissed of the entire cast of Dragonball. How bad is it?”

Tofu grinned, “About as bad as it feels. I’ve given you something for the pain, but you’re in bad shape right now. If it were anyone else but you I’d have sent them to the hospital.” At Ranma’s wince Tofu continued, “You’re right arm is broken, but I’ve already set it and put it into a cast. One rib was cracked, and I had to deal with a number of bruises and burns. It was a lot worse when you were brought in however.”

At Ranma’s curious glance, Nabiki spoke, “Shampoo and I have been force feeding you since after the fight. She’s sleeping right now, resting after her last go, and I was about to start when you woke up.”

“Thanks,” Ranma whispered quietly. “How long have I been out?”

Tofu and Nabiki shared a glance, and the Doctor finally spoke up, “About a day.”

Ranma nodded, and then asked, “Alexis and Despair?”

Nabiki tilted her head to one side, indicating the bed next to Ranma. Turning her head slowly to avoid any more pain, Ranma took in the form of the elder demoness lying on the bed. Over her stood Alexis with a guarded look on her face as she stood vigil over her sister.

“Is she out too?”

“No,” came Despair’s voice, “but I awoke to find myself a prisoner. I’ve had little to say since then.”

Alexis gave a heavy sigh, “There’s just no talking to some people.”

Nabiki gave a small laugh at that, but saw the look of sadness ghost across Ranma’s face.

“Are you sure,” she started to ask Ranma. But with out even using her powers, she could tell what was on the redhead’s mind. Turning, she began pushing the doctor out of the room. “Come on. Let’s let the family get reacquainted, shall we?”

Tofu attempted to protest, “Ranma’s in no condition to…”

“Don’t worry, doc,” Ranma smiled. “I promise, no roughhousing in the invalid ward.”

Nabiki continued guiding the doctor out, and found her job suddenly easier when he turned around and saw Kasumi waiting down the hall.

“My K K Kasumi, what a surprise it is to see you here today! Have you met Betty, my assistant?!”

Nabiki let out a pained sigh as she closed the door on her way out. The crashing noise that followed could only be described as the sound of a skeleton going through a window in a merry dance into town.

Ranma chuckled lightly for a moment, then collected herself and looked over at Despair. In the eyes of the older demoness she saw many things, not the least of which was confusion, not at the antics of the doctor, but at her current situation. The redhead also noted a mote of worry, and could not discern the cause.

“So,” Ranma began, “how have you been, Dizzy?”

Alexis snorted as Despair’s expression darkened further for a moment and the demoness looked like she was about to snap off her usual rebuff about her name. But then the fire went out of her eyes and a resigned sigh escaped her lips.

There was silence for a moment, and Ranma started again, “And the girls think I’m stubborn. All right, you sit over there and mope, I’ll do the talking.” Despair still had nothing to add to the conversation. Ranma continued, “A lot of things change a person. Death, life, curses, especially of the Jusenkyo variety, and even a shocking revelation or two. Do you want to know what changed Amnara from devout follower of the Guild into a rebel that ran? Nothing.”

Ranma looked over again, and saw that she had the white haired woman’s attention, as well as Alexis’, “From what little I’ve been able to put together from her life, she never liked the way things were. She didn’t give a crap about all the doom and gloom like your old man, and she didn’t like using people just for the sake of using them. Sure, she wanted more, but not more power and control. She loved just being herself. And you know it.”

Despair sat in silence, and Alexis spoke instead, “Ever since I was little, you told me how skilled our sister was, not only as a fighter, but at whatever she put her mind to. A few times you even admitted you were jealous of her knack for picking up skills. You always spoke of her fondly. You even once, when you were very drunk, admitted you missed her.”

Still Despair said nothing, but Ranma saw her eyes soften a little at that and pressed on, “You always put barriers up to keep emotions like this out, but it always wound up hurting you. In my dreams I see times when you let the walls down and you’d smile. It was rare, but it made you seem so alive. Amnara wanted you to smile more often, I feel it.”

“But you are not Amnara,” Despair whispered.

“No,” Ranma answered, “but it really doesn’t matter to me. I got her form, her power, and a little piece of her soul. And the only reason that happened is because me and her are so alike. I may not have been as…um, active as she was. But I spent the last ten years wandering around, learning all I could about Martial Arts. My old man was controlling, and tried to kill me for defying him. And I have a strong will, just like your sister did.”

Ranma saw that Despair was not looking directly at her and took a deep breath, “I can also feel the connection between the three of us. I can feel Alexis bursting at the seams from standing still too long. I’m guessing she’s always been a tornado?”

“In and out of the sack,” the pink haired girl smiled.

Ranma winced and looked back at the oldest sister, “And I can feel your pain. Not just from my Soul Buster, but deeper. And older. Please, tell us.”

For a long time, there was silence. But Despair finally spoke, oh so softly, “I guess it does not matter now, I’ll be dead soon enough.”

“Stop!” At Ranma’s shout Despair’s eye widened and she stared at the redhead, “I swear to you, on my oath as a Martial Artist, that the Guild will not kill you. If I have to beat that into you, again, I will. There’s been enough death and doom. Now you get the chance to live.”

Despair looked up, “How can you be so confident? Surly the old gnome, Happosai, has told you what the Guild is capable of. Are you not afraid of them?”

“Old gnome,” Ranma mused, “I like it. I’ll call him that next time I see him.” She then turned serious, “Yeah, I know that the Guild could come for blood, and if your father is anything like I remember him then he will, eventually. But I don’t care. For ten years I’ve only had Genma Saotome as family, and if my transformation lost him for me, I think getting Alexis and you is more then a fair trade. So I consider myself lucky, and that kind of luck extends to you as well. Alexis gets a friend, and you…well if you want, I may not be Amnara, but I am Ranma. I’d be glad to call you family.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Ranma countered and sat up with a wince, “the Guild can come after me if they want. I won’t let them dictate my future, or yours. Humans have changed since she left, and now we have a fighting chance. Look at what my friends did to your soldiers. Eventually, we will win.”

Alexis smirked and took Despair’s hand, “May as well give up, Sis. Ranma never gives up. Trust me, it’s best to just go along for the ride and enjoy it. Besides, her friends are more fun as allies then enemies. And Kasumi’s cooking will make you so cream your panties.”

“Not the words I would use,” Ranma grunted.

There was a long pause. Despair looked deep into the blue eyes of the girl in the bed across from her, and found her heart aching as the memory of Amnara’s eyes almost seemed to layer itself over her sight. She looked up into Alexis’ face, and remembered a time, years ago when she held the young demoness in her arms and whispered stories about the redhead hellion that had made her life so good.

Sisters, she pondered to herself, do I even have the right?

Long ago she thought it wouldn’t matter to her. After Amnara left she had closed herself off, told herself that the only things that did matter were her duty. She let herself be swept away by the plotting and scheming of the Guild, and had convinced herself that it made her happy. But when Alexis came along, she had been forcibly reminded of what it was like to have a friend and sister close to her.

The young demoness had shown the energy and love of life that Amnara had once had, and when Happosai had begun his time with the Guild it had been almost impossible to restrain her.

But Despair had forced the walls to stay up. Only in the most guarded moments did she let her feelings show. But that was the crack in the wall.

When she had heard about Amnara’s return she found herself longing and dreading it at the same time. Losing the redhead had torn part of her away, and she had tried to stop the pain with the idea that Amanra was the one that had walked away. But the lie had only covered the fact that she had loved her sister.

But Amnara was gone. In her place was this Ranma, a stubborn, hot headed redhead that defied the odds and stood up for her beliefs.

Was she any different then Amnara had been?

She looked back at Ranma, and saw the girl smile. A wide, welcoming smile that held the promise of companionship and warmth. It was something she had not experienced in five hundreds years.

Amnara had smiled at her that way.

Deep within her, the walls finally began to crack, and tears started in her eyes as she finally mourned the loss of her sister, and rejoiced at the finding of a new one.


To be continued.

Endnote: It’s been over a year since I started this story, and it’s changed a lot since my original idea. I thought it would be a short dirty story, and now it is turning into an epic drama of family, friends and finding of self. How the hell did that happen? Anyway, I plan on the next chapter concluding this story, but fear not, devoted readers. The saga will continue. OHWP: Book 2 will follow shortly thereafter. Until then, good friends, long live the dreamers, and may you all find happiness.