Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Carmina Nox Noctis ❯ Prologue: Something for Nothing ( Prologue )

Carmina Nox Noctis
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
by Mika The Raven
Disclaimer: I didn't build the jungle gym I'm just playing on it. Don't sue me.
Prologue: Something For Nothing
It was going to rain soon, everyone knew it. The sky had been threatening to relieve itself upon the world for a little over a week, a rare occurence in a district with a history of freak thunderstorms. The people who lived there had long since become accustomed to it even though the weather patterns over Nerima had been pretty predictable up until a few years back. Like everything else that had happened in recent years, the residents had learned to take in stride. Besides, a little extra rain here and there couldn’t possibly be any worse than random and rampant proprty destruction… Could it?
Swish!
Ranma Saotome was once again dodging the inevitable morning bokken strike administered by one Tatewaki Kuno. This being a somewhat common occurence, his classmates had long since become disinterested. Especially since they were both seniors, Kuno not having been nearly as studious since his arrival three years ago.
"Stand fast and I shall smite thee churlish cretin!" Kuno bellowed as he tried again unsuccessfully to make skull and bokken connect. "How thy dark magics hath stood before the vengeful wrath of heaven is beyond mortal ken, but thou shalt be felled this day, So doth the Blue Thunder command! Prepare yourself!
“Strike-Strike-Strike-Strike-Strike!"
Ranma barely flinched as the immense air pressure caused by Kuno's "ultimate" attack washed over him. Years ago when they had started this daily dance it might have fazed him, but the main tenet of his particular school of martial arts had always been adapt and overcome, and he had figured this move out years ago. He didn't even bother dodging, deciding instead to merely swat aside each blow as though he were walking through a swarm of gnats. At this point he had had quite enough and was probably going to be late for class yet again. Not that it really mattered.
"This move again Kuno? Seriously, aren't you tired of being a one trick pony?" Ranma smirked as he waited for his opponents attack to fizzle out. He was purposely drawing this encounter out trying to see once and for all if Kuno had anything more whatsoever to offer as an opponent. Like everything else in his life, he knew that he was destined to be disappointed.
Without waiting for Kuno to catch his breath, he stepped into a very basic Shotokan stance emphasizing offense, and threw a half-hearted chop at the wrist of Kuno's drawing hand. Kuno, seeing the lazy attempt at a disarming blow coming a mile away, and lanced a high speed counter-swing across Ranma's chest, but it was not to be. Ranma stepped around the strike with a twist and caught both his wrists with his arm before yanking the bokken free with his free hand.
POW!
Ranma drove the back of his head into Kuno's face, dropping him like a sack of potatoes, and proving to everyone but the recipient who the superior combatant was. Snorting disgustedly at the fallen kendoist, he turned and walked towards the school doors. He didn't even bother to make a parting shot, his attention already focused on the entryway before him. He sighed in dismay as the sky chose the exact moment his hand touched the doorknob to bestow its watery blessing upon the world. He, now a she, silently cursed every last one of the kami that had decided her life was some sort of spectacle and growled.
"Why do I even bother coming here?"
She had never really aspired to much except the Art, and she had already spent far too much of her life in pursuit of it to even begin to consider anything else. She didn't really have any hobbies or interests, and her social life was laughable at best. Ten years on the road can do much to hamper your ability to interact with normal people.
Then there was "The Curse", and it was that in every feasible way. She hated it every time she changed. Every time she felt a little more of her manhood wash away, felt more and more confused every time whatever chemicals that flooded the brains and bodies of females addled her senses. Finally there was Akane. She didn't know what she felt about her except that her safety was paramount. They weren't even friends. The only shared interest they had was the art, and she treated her passion more like a hobby than a career path, and still had the unmitigated gall to proudly proclaim "I'm a martial artist too!" every time she told her to stay out of a situation that was clearly too dangerous for her.
He arrived at the class room just as the last bell rang.
"Late again, Mr. Saotome? " Ms. Hinako said as she marked her tardy for the umpteenth time, not even bothering to notice Ranma was currently female.
"Honestly Mr. Saotome. Do you wake every morning and think about just how much of a delinquent you are going to be?"
She didn't even bother with an answer because they seemed to work for everybody but her, and raised her hands in a silent display of exasperation.
"Stand in the hall until you feel you can make it here on time."
"Yeah, Whatever." she said as she slowly walked back out the door.
To everybody else she was either The Womanizing Jerk, The Vile Sorceror, An Airen, a Source of cash, or The Baka, but never Saotome Ranma. If she was of a like mind she would level the school with a perfect Shi Shi Hokodan. Thinking of Ryouga's ultimate skill make her grind her teeth in frustration. There was another thing that weighed heavily on her mind. Hibiki Ryouga, her one-time friend now apparently her all the time nemesis. She knew it was her fault Ryouga was cursed but so was she. She had at one time felt a sort of kinship with the lost boy, but those feelings had long been destroyed by mistrust and abuse.
"Stupid pig."
Ranma walked down the hall to the stairwell and made her way to the roof. She laid down atop the clocktower.
There were also the fiancées to consider. The only one who had an even remotely valid claim was Akane, Ukyo having conveniently forgotten that she had gambled away the yattai before Genma had ever struck that fateful deal. She didn't even want to think about Kodachi and what that would entail. If she were to pick Shampoo she would die a broken man forced to adhere to laws that were not her own. The same thing went for Ukyo. If she chose her, she would end up a stay at home husband slowly wasting away while she waited for her to allow her to go on an occasional training trip.
She had been thinking about her situation more and more as of late and it both unnerved and depressed her immensely. As he saw she had three choices. One, Marry one of them and stain the other girl's honor as well as her own. Two, Run away with her tail between her legs like an honorless dog and live the rest of her days a ronin and an outcast. Then there was the third and final option, Seppuku, which had been becoming steadily more appealing as she merely existed from day to day.
WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL THEM ALL, IT’S WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO ANYWAY. JUST GIVE IN TO THE URGE. LET’S PAINT THE TOWN RED!
She squeezed her eyes shut as pain lanced through her skull, and knew it was the cat talking. This was another recent development that worried her immensely. She had been hearing its voice for weeks now, and there was something sickeningly satisfying about the images her tormentors voice railed against her psyche.
The thought of the hunt, the catch and rending the tender flesh of a helpless victim asunder and watching as the light left their eyes. She also knew that if she stayed here she would lose her fragile grip on her already fractured sanity. She needed help and she had no one to turn to; she had fallen into a deep crevice with no hope of rescue.
YOU DO NOT REQUIRE AID, BUT YOU NEED ONLY ASK, AND REST ASSURED I WILL ENDEAVOR TO ASSIST YOU. The cat said smugly.
“Why would I ask for help from something that obviously means I’ve gone insane?" was Ranma's biting reply.
NO YOU HAVEN’T. AS A MATTER OF FACT YOU’RE PROBABLY ONE OF THE SANEST PEOPLE ON THAT DISGUSTING LITTLE BALL OF MUD YOU CALL HOME. CRAZY PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THEY’RE CRAZY.
"Then why am I hearing your voice?" Ranma said incredulously.
BECAUSE YOU WANT TO.
That statement held a truth that Ranma couldn’t find any ground from which to launch a statement to the contrary.
“Why should I ask for your help? What would it solve?” She said almost softly enough to be a whisper.
YOUR PROBLEMS.
"How could you possibly know so much about me? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH
The voice of the cat faded into his mind with a lingering chuckle.
End of prologue
A.N.
Hey people mika here Carmina is undergoing an extensive revision and in some parts a total rewrite. let me know what you think.
When ranma is in boy form he will be refered to as he, and when in girl form she.
FLAMES WILL BE USED TO FUEL THE OROCHI FIRE!