Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Ryoga 1/2 Chronicles ❯ Ryoga 1/2 ( Chapter 1 )

The Ryoga 1/2 Chronicles

[1]: Ryoga 1/2

"Ranma Soatome, today you die." Words Ryoga had spoken so often, they had become ritual but now as he held the boys body limp in his arms the very syllables burned his mind. He'd not expected the punch to connect mealy knock Ranma off balance long enough to distract him but something had distracted Ranma's attention just long enough and his fist had connected with a sickening crunch.

Ryoga could feel the bile rising in his throat as he desperately searched for any sign of life but he could find none and he could contain himself no longer. He screamed forth his rage and despair in one long breath shaking the ground beneath him till he could scream no longer, his throat sore and voice gone. Then the tears began to flow and Ryoga buried his face in Ranma's chest praying silently to wake up from the horrible nightmare that would never end till he finally the exhaustion over took him and he collapsed unconscious beside the cooling body of Ranma Soatome.

Ryoga looked round the white emptiness of nothing, so bright it was almost blinding yet there seemed to be no source for the light. He whorled round as he heard a soft sigh behind him. Ranma stood resolutely before him a sad smile on his face.

"Ranma! But I…" Ryoga stared at the apparition.

"Killed me? Yes you did." Ranma's voice was calm as he spoke and almost peaceful, a voice Ryoga had heard very few times in his dealings with Ranma.

"Then you're."

"Dead. I'm afraid so." Ranma shrugged. Ryoga dropped to his knees again and began sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to, it was an accident, I never wanted to kill you, not really."

"Oh Ryoga, what did you expect would happen. You always fought with such strength and such abandon just as I fought to defend my self. It was only a matter of time before one us made a mistake."

"But you're dead. I can never forgive myself." Ryoga thought for a second. "And Akane and the others, what will I tell them?" Ranma sighed.

"You'll tell them the truth, that I couldn't take the arguing and fighting any longer. That I chose the cowards way out, that I gave you my life of my own free will, as the last decent thing I could do to make up for all the hurt I've caused." Ryoga looked at Ranma as he spoke, trying not to believe what he was hearing.

"You gave me you life? Why?"

"Because I have hurt you and everyone else and only by going where they can not follow can they get on with their lives but you could not. You would have still held you grudge, this way you are as free as they are."

"Ranma you fool." Ryoga spoke with sadness in his voice and his heart. "The must have been another way."

"No, this was the only way, you know it really and so will the others." Ranma looked over his shoulder into the nothing. "I have to go now, my time here is over."

"Wait, don't go!"

"I have to man but a peace of me will always be with you, in here." Ranma placed a finger over Ryoga's hart, the chill of his fingers a reminder that the boy was only a spirit though he felt a strange warmness wheal in his soul. "Tell Akane, I'm sorry and look after her, ok?"

"You know I will." Ryoga forced a smile on to his face as Ranma turned and walked slowly away slowly fading with each step he took. "Good bye my friend. Till we meet again."

The whiteness of nothing seemed to grow brighter and for an instance Ryoga was blinded in brilliance then it was black and he realised he was staring at the back of his own eyelids as he lay on the ground the soft massage of rain on his face. He felt strangely at peace as he opened his eyes to the night, yet something else felt different to. He looked across to see Ranma's body lying innocently beside him. A thought struck Ryoga, if it was raining, why wasn't he a, a piglet.

He looked down at his arms and legs, they seemed oddly slimmer than before, the skin smoother and all together more feminine. He scrabbled for his pack and rummaged through looking for the mirror he knew was there and when he found it he took a breath and brought it to his face. It was not his face looking back though it had some similar features and the yellow and black bandana was clearly his. For a moment, Ryoga wondered if this was a last joke by Ranma but then he remembered his words and the feeling in his soul when he'd touched his chest. "a peace of me will always be with you." He studied the face again, it certainly shared some similarities with Ranma's female counterpart as well as his own.

"So I am finally rid of the pig and my debt with Ranma is settled. He was right, I am free now." He listened to the strange voice that was his own and smiled then he looked round the lonely hilltop that overlooked the Nerima district of Tokyo. Somewhere below him was the Tendo dojo and to his surprise, he found he knew where. In his mind he could clearly see the route, the directions clear and precise. He took a deep breath and picked up the Ranma then began the journey he so dreaded taking, towards the dojo, where the others would find out the tragic events that had taken place.