Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Stigmata ❯ Jagged ends part 02 ( Chapter 2 )

by ufomanne 05/01/07

 

Disclaimer: I have written this story, but I do not own the characters or anything of the work they originate from. Fanfiction, yes...

 

I I I

 

STIGMATA

 

Chapter 01 Jagged ends

 

Part 02

 

trust is such a fragile thing

 

the human heart is fickle...

 

I I I

 

With a hoarse scream of denial ripping though his throat Ranma awoke as he jerked upright on his futon. Drenched with sweat and panting he stared blankly at the darkness around him, the horrors of his dreams slowly fading, replaced by the more subtle terror of the waking world. `Same dream again' he thought as he rubbed his eyes free from sleep. He drew the part of the covers that had not been thrown off already to the side, making a disgusted grunt at their sweat-damp state as he rose, stretched slightly and went over to the table with the food.

A rattle was heard as a rat fled from the table as he came up to it, Ranma fumbled with the food in the dark, finding the one that the rat had half eaten, he picked it up but did not sample it, he found an untouched bun and took a bite. Walking slowly in the pitch black Ranma left the dark and cold room and carelessly bumped the door open which led to the room to the right of him in the corridor.

This room was just as barren and much dirtier, under his bare feet broken glass crunched unnoticed as he headed up to the windows, the empty gaping holes only had jagged edges of glass left. He felt the slight wind on his skin as he looked out on the part of the city he could see.

 

Throwing the rat-gnawed bun out the window with an absentminded flick of his arm he chewed slowly on the other piece of bread, noticing it had dried up over the night. He stood there slowly eating while he greeted the dawn as the sweat dried on his bare frame. The sun glimpsed over the horizon and its light swept over the land, caressing it awake. Ranma drew a deep breath that hitched slightly, coming close to a sob, and then closed his eyes for a moment feeling the warmth on his face, a slight smile grew almost unnoticed on his lips and shortly died again, he then turned around and walked into the dark once more.

 

After a cold shower and a futile try to wash the blood out of his ruined shirt he stepped outside his home and began the trek into the more bustling parts of the city to find a new shirt, and sustenance for the day.

 

I I I

 

A muted echo of thunder could be heard from far away as Ranma sat crouched on the edge of a tall office house. He looked up from the food in his hands and studied the heavy clouds above suspiciously, but when no rain came his way he turned his attention back to the noodles he was previously wolfing down.

Finishing the rest of the half eaten meal in a few minutes he then set down the plastic foam cup to the side on the grimy concrete. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand with a satisfied sigh, it was long since he hadn't been at least a little hungry. He had managed to get two hours work lugging boxes at the back of a warehouse and for once had some money to eat a warm meal.

 

While wiping his mouth his eyes caught the unfamiliar muted blue of his shirt and studied it for a moment. He had seen several of the silk shirts he preferred in the shops he had been walking past, but the best he could find that he could afford in the second-hand store he did enter was the dark blue linen shirt he was now wearing. It had a rather deep V neck with a string to keep it closed and strings around the wrists to keep the slightly oversized arms closed around his wrists. He wasn't sure if he liked it, but the design made it easy to move in, and other things were unimportant next to that.

 

He sat there resting his forearms on his knees, idly watching the bustling street eight stories below. Cars went by in tight procession, and the broad walkway was stuffed with people clad in different business suits and other random clothing, walking close but never touching, busy with their errands and single-mindedly rushing towards their goals. Many of them talked in cell phones, a few talking to a companion beside them. The loud rumble of all the activity washed over him as he sat there with an almost vacant expression on his face as minutes ticked away unnoticed, first contemplating the mass of humanity, then drifting slowly away into numbness.

 

Bloody knife raised high, hand tainted by red holding the handle so tight it looked bloodless, the tip of the knife quivering, then flashing down-

 

Ranma started as he was slowly teetering over the edge of the building and about to fall, his cold skin and bloodless face feeling clammy. He quickly aborted the fall by springing up from his crouch, launching himself over the wide gap in an arching leap. The riot that was his feelings tore at him, trying to pull him down, to crush him, his heart racing so fast it was about to burst. On the top of his trajectory he felt darkness creep into the periphery of his vision threatening to black him out, he fought it, landing on the roof of the opposite building in a stumble and almost fell.

Panting while leaning on his knees the darkness slowly receded, he then rose up and shook his head. Bringing up one hand to cover his eyes he drew deep breaths, then pulled his hand over his face, he wanted to question what the hell was going on, but the memories were too sharp, he could not focus past them. Instead he tried to bottle up the tumultuous feelings inside of him and decided to move to a park in the vicinity to train, so he could stop thinking, if just for a moment.

 

Starting to roof hop towards his destination he remembered the girl he met before, Usagi. Absentmindedly continuing on his path he pondered the happenings of the day before, it had started just like so many others, just going through the motions of survival. When he was on his way home it had changed, he had met that monster. He fought it, but not with the usual fire, he had admitted himself to death, to flee from those eyes.

But he had been saved. The mix of feelings that flooded his mind when he thought about Usagi almost overwhelmed him, suspicion warred with awe as he thought about her strange powers and her beauty. Only thing that was sure was that she had seemed as confused about the whole deal as he had been, if not more. Her help had not been welcome, but he could not help but feeling grateful at the same time.

 

Brooding over his angelic saviour as he hopped along the roofs to his destination he almost missed it when he soundlessly touched down on a gently slated roof of corrugated metal, but as he made his touchdown he heard a crystalline clear “No!” come to him, and he recognized that voice with a brutal certainty. The voice was filled with pleading fear - the spring in his step was gone and he rolled softly two times to get rid of his momentum. Once on his feet, crouched low, he looked around him quickly. That voice had come right in front of him, but there was no one there, he relaxed from combat readiness and listened closer.

 

 

Faintly from below him he could hear arguing, and the voices tugged at him in a peculiar way. He was normally not in the least inclined to intervene or even pay attention to unknown people fighting unless someone was in danger of dying or receiving permanent harm. However he was unable to deny the urge to investigate this particular incident and slipped quietly to the edge of the roof.

Glancing over the edge revealed a slightly open window where the sounds were coming from. It was on the top floor to his right, he crept over and gracefully swung down, hanging by his feet. The distance between the window and his perch was such that he could only see a part of the room inside - a bedroom apparently - he almost didn't reach the top of the window with his head as he was hanging upside down.

 

“Please, I'm telling you the truth, nothing happened!” came her pleading voice, with a shrill overtone of fright. “Please believe me, Mammoru!” his name came out as a desperate cry. Ranma saw her now, how she backed into his field of vision, close to the bed, her arms up in a defensive position but holding out her palms in a pleading gesture. Suddenly he could feel his heartbeat thundering through his head, and time seemed to slow down to a viscous pace.

He immediately recognized her golden hair and beautiful face, streaked with tears as her lips trembled when she whispered the name again. Up from the corner came a man halfway into view, clad in dark slacks and a gray shirt he reached forward with his left arm and took Usagi's left hand in a firm grip at the wrist, pushing her back and forcing her to stumble into the end of the bed, bending back with her balance broken, only held up by the solid grip of the man's hand.

“Please, it hurts” she begged the man in front of her with a cowed voice. Ranma heard the man make a disdainful grunt.

 

“You promised you'd never look at anyone else, you promised! How can I trust you when you so blatantly flirt with other men?” His voice was concerned, betrayed, but also threatening and promising violence. Ranma was mesmerised by what he could see of him, that half body without a head that held Usagi captive, he saw the fist of the man slowly whiten around her delicate wrist and Usagi whimpered. “It's for your own good, can't you see? We'd be so happy together if you could just listen to me for once.” The man continued with an urgent tone to his deep voice.

 

“Please, I didn't look at him, I just tried to help-” she begged desperately but was interrupted.

 

“No! Don't try to lie to me, I know you all too well!” his voice was shuddering with rage. Ranma was totally surprised and almost fell from his perch when the Man's flat hand came up and slapped Usagi hard over her right cheek with a sharp crack that cut into Ranma. His sight went red, and the beating of his heart reached a crescendo like a huge wave breaking on the cliffs of a jagged shore. Something clicked and he came out on the other side of the storm of breaking emotions, and on the other side he found an empty void made of focus, he became a part of the emptiness. His cringe relaxed and his eyes cleared of emotion, all he knew was -movement-.

 

Usagi's head jerked to the side at the sharp blow and her eyes unfocused for a second, then she looked up at the man with panicked eyes, tears forgotten, and tried to shield herself as he raised his hand again, he slapped away her arm disdainfully and readied another blow while Usagi cried for forgiveness.

 

The hand came down with blinding speed and Usagi could not close her eyes, she watched with morbid fascination as the hand came down to bruise her, to slice into her wounded heart. Something dark blocked out the light outside the window, and suddenly the window exploded with the force of a grenade, she was blown back and out of Mammoru's grip and everything went black.

 

Ranma slipped into the room feet first and let go of the upper remains of the window with graceful ease, the last of the momentum brought him standing upright and flowing forward. The man had staggered back but hadn't fallen, he just shook his head bringing down his hands from protecting his face, he saw Ranma's empty face coming closer and he started talking “wha-” then Ranma was up close, Ranma bent his knees and landed a dual palm strike on the man's torso with the full force of his body from his feet to his palms. The man lifted into the air and shot like from a cannon, he hit the wall with a loud thud and slid down until he was sitting, and then slowly fell to the side, unconscious.

 

Ranma stood there watching him for a few seconds, feeling nothing, and then he turned to Usagi that was draped over the bed. She moved slightly and mumbled, seemingly stunned by his entry, he flicked his gaze over her form quickly to check for any wounds, and found only the red mark on her cheek that was slowly swelling and a few small marks from broken glass. He bent down and scooped her up, made sure she was safely within his arms, and then climbed out of the window and up on the roof.

Once out of the bedroom the void drained out of him and he found himself standing there confused, not certain of what he would do with the girl in his arms, or with himself for that matter. An uncomfortable moan from Usagi and he forced himself into motion and jumped two times as gently as he could, to a flat office roof close by, and carefully set her down by a humming air exchanger.

 

He held her up as she came to, she gave a pained sigh as she brought her hand up to her face to cover her nose and forehead to support herself. Ranma watched helplessly as her hand touched her bruised cheek and jerked back when it stung her. She looked surprised, as if she could not understand why, she touched the tip of her tongue to the tip of her fingers and watched the red mark her saliva left there. She looked into his eyes then as if realizing his presence for the first time, the first wracking sob bloomed from within her, seemingly taking her by surprise. It burst the dam, as she broke down she reached out and grabbed his shirt, pressing her face into his chest letting the river of sorrow and fear stream out of her.

Ranma sat crouched in front of her, with her leaned into him wailing out her sadness, and he was lost. His first impulse had been to run away, her outburst of emotion scaring him and making the hair on his body stand up in a strange resonance with her feelings. That subtle kind of fear had made him run so many times before, but this time he stayed. Even if sitting there was all he was capable of doing, no sound came out of his mouth, no soothing movement from his paralyzed body. Silently witnessing Uasgi's emotion flow, trying to cope with the surge of mixed feelings they invoked in him.

 

Called by the tears that soaked up in Ranma's shirt the clouds answered in kind, first with a slow pitter-patter, soon thereafter with a soft, steady rain. It hid their feelings and concealed her tears, soaking slowly through their clothes and intensifying the mood of the moment. It also heralded the inevitable change in Ranma, silently changing him to his female form. Minutes went and slowly Usagi calmed down, still sobbing quietly she finally took notice of the fact that the chest the pressed her face into had changed. She looked into Ranma's stormy blue eyes not far from her own, and recoiled in surprise.

 

“Who are you?” She asked in alarm, her voice hitching slightly by residual sobs and her lower lip still trembling faintly. Ranma just gaped at her for a moment unable to comprehend the quick turn in attitude, but the answer was obvious in the reflection in Usagi's beautiful and scared eyes, the curse. Ranma opened her mouth but first nothing came out, her voice getting stuck in her throat. She coughed once, and shook her head to clear it and then looked at Uasgi with a quiet plea for understanding.

 

“I'm Ranma, I'm cursed to become a girl when I get wet” Ranma stated it short in a matter of fact voice, emotion slowly draining out of her face as she tried to brace for the reaction. Usagi stared at the face before her, how the rain matted her fiery red hair to her head making it closer to blood red, droplets slowly trailing down her face. Usagi opened her mouth, water dripping from her face and from her bottom lip.

 

“A, curse? As in magic? That's not possible” She finally stuttered out, rising up slowly, still leaning on the ventilator. Ranma rose as well, crossing her arms under her breasts and a slight frown marked her delicate features.

 

“Impossible how? Didn't you throw bolts of light around you and healed my wounds, how is that not magic?” She threw back, the emotional moment making her voice more sharp than she intended. Usagi frowned and looked down, unable to give an answer.

 

“I don't understand. Why are you cursed? Why did I... change into that thing” she said quietly, the steady rain almost draining out her voice. She shook her head and brought her head up to gaze at Ranma. Ranma looked back, and felt her face heat up at the vulnerable look on Usagi's face, greatly emphasized by the red welt growing on her cheek, if his blush was born from anger or embarrassment of the sight Ranma was not sure of herself.

 

“What I would like to know is what was happening back there, who was that guy anyway?” Ranma asked while frowning at Usagi, finally getting to the question that bothered him about this peculiar meeting. Usagi's looked startled and clasped a hand over her mouth.

 

“Mammoru! What happened back there... I have to get back” Her voice was fretful and she looked around her on the empty roof desperately trying to find a way down, Ranma gaped at her for a few seconds.

 

“You're actually going back to that guy? He hit you!” Ranmas disbelief was evident in her voice. Usagi turned back to Ranma and a shadow passed over her face.

 

“He didn't mean it, I just made a mistake. He'll forgive me if I just talk to him again” Usagi bit her lip and nodded to herself. Ranma shook her head

 

“But he -hit- you, he can't do that! How can you forgive him just like that?” Ranma asked with an angry tone. Usagi glared back, suddenly looking angry herself.

 

“Because I love him! Because it was my fault he hit me, leave him alone! You don't know anything!” she yelled back at Ranma, who recoiled from the outburst. Ranma stared at Usagi for a short moment, and then turned away and shrugged.

 

“Fine, see if I care, do whatever you want” she muttered sourly, put her hands in her pockets and started slowly walking towards the edge of the roof. Once at the edge Ranma stared down at the dark alleyway and she was just about to drop down when Usagi calling out made her freeze up and turn around. Usagi shut her mouth and lowered the hand she had reached out with and looked embarrassed.

 

“Please help me down?” She asked in a small voice. Ranma just stared at her for a moment with a blank face, inside her emotions warred among themselves, too chaotic to tell apart. Finally Ranma walked up to Usagi with deft steps and swept her up drawing an embarrassed eep from Usagi. Ranma didn't look at the girl in her arms as she walked up to the edge and dropped down without a word. Usagi hid her face against Ranma's neck as they fell down to avoid screaming at the butterflies in her stomach as she became weightless for a second.

 

A rushing wind came to meet them and scattered the raindrops with a shockwave as Ranma landed with a muted grunt, she rose up from her crouch and put Usagi down on her own feet again. Usagi stumbled and then turned around to say something, but Ranma was already gone. She gazed up at the gray weeping sky that was visible overhead, between the tall buildings where Ranma must have disappeared.

 

Then turned around and hurried away.

 

I I I

 

Her breath rasped painfully through her dry throat as she desperately tried to draw oxygen for her aching muscles, her long black hair plastered to her sweaty face. She cast around her for an escape as she huddled behind the corner that she had thrown herself behind, the adrenaline coursing through her body giving her focus through the panic that permeated her mind.

 

Her thoughts momentarily touched the ironic fact that her desperate struggle for survival felt so natural when someone else threatened her, giving up was far from her mind unlike the many times she had contemplated suicide herself.

 

Suddenly she could hear the hoarse breath of the thing that was hunting her, and she ran again, the agonizing pain in her legs making tears fall down her pale cheeks as she pushed her fragile body as fast as she could. Throwing herself inside an open and rusted gate she left the road she had been fleeing down along behind her, hoping to find shelter in the houses ahead of her.

She looked up toward the buildings, her vision wavering slightly as her fatigue bordered on total exhaustion. Her eyes flicked over the dilapidated buildings, belatedly noticing their ruined and abandoned state. A sob welled up inside as her heart sank, and she whirled around covering her trembling lips with a likewise shaking hand as the clatter of the gate announced her hunter's arrival.

 

She had been out walking, as she usually did to get out of her home. Tonight her fancy had steered toward a part of the area where she hadn't visited before. She had been walking down the sidewalk of a road caught up in her own thoughts and not noticing much of her surroundings when it had appeared.

 

At first she didn't notice it as the frayed suit it wore made it look rather human. It had its back to her and was swaying back and forth and grunting quietly, seemingly looking for something. The sour smell surrounding it had made her hesitate, and it had turned around. Those wide, gleaming eyes had frozen her heart with the hate contained within them. The twisted parody of a human face had scrunched up even more as if annoyed at seeing her, and then it started to limp slowly towards her, and she ran.

 

As she desperately panted for air she looked at the shrunken twisted frame of the thing, still in shock over the speed the creature was capable of. The chase here was just a cruel game, it nipping at her heels as she tried to flee from it. To no avail, she was cornered.

 

She turned around to run again, but she stumbled and fell after just a few steps and the thing was upon her as the ground came up to meet her. It did not bother with hitting her, it simply stood over her whimpering and prone form, letting out a few wheezing breaths before it roughly picked her up by the throat. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as it gripped hard, she slowly brought up a hand to weakly claw at the hand slowly suffocating her.

Her vision begun to swim and the corners of her sight gradually turned dark. Finally only its face was left, those burning eyes made of dead anger, and its lips moved. Her body was numb and she was slowly fading, her thoughts moved sluggishly and the panic was gone `Ran... what?' she slowly thought as she tried to understand what the creatures voice had rasped out.

 

I I I

 

Worms crawled under his skin, or at least that was how it felt. Something was wrong with the taste of the wind as Ranma hurried along to his residence. He had felt this sour taste before but he could not remember when. Not even the evening fires in the sky settled his heart as it used to do. So many strange things had happened these two last days and one thing he didn't believe in anymore was coincidence. He couldn't get a grip around it, and a frown developed on his brow as he wondered if something was truly wrong with him.

 

Any such thoughts were cut short as he absentmindedly jumped over the wooden wall surrounding the buildings that housed his so-called home, he froze. The reflection of the sunset made the dull gray of the decaying buildings turn into an almost gentle peach, and in the gleaming eyes staring at him the reflection looked more like a torch suffocating in the abyss. The girl limply dangling in one of its hand slipped out of it, now forgotten entirely. She fell to the ground in a boneless heap, weakly coughing for air. Gratefulness that she was still alive skittered over the bubble Ranma resided in, and his stomach felt like it wanted to turn itself inside out from the tension as he stared into the eyes of the thing. The urge to vomit slowly grew stronger, his heart rushed in his chest and sweat broke out over his body, and then his eyes narrowed.

 

If he died here, so would the girl on the ground. He could not care less really, but giving up was tantamount to murder at this rate, and that would not do. No, that would not do at all.

 

Broken asphalt crunched below his feet and sprayed up behind him as he dashed forward in a blur. His powerful kick hit home in its ribcage, a wet wheeze and a marked crunch marked a punctured lung, and threw the creature back and away from the girl. The open-handed jab he got in return to his jaw drew blood and made his vision water up, reminding Ranma of the speed and strength of the last creature he met. Shaking his head to clear it and staggering upright again Ranma threw himself at the creature hoping to catch it before it regained its footing.

 

The fight was not a graceful dance or an honourable battle, blows were traded in fast succession as the two silent forms twirling around each other displayed their skill at simple mauling. Ranma dodged clawing sweeps and sharp kicks skilfully, mostly saving his attacks until he had enough of an opening to land an attempt on a crippling blow. Like before the creature hardly slowed down at broken ribs or any other damage that would usually fell a human being. They clawed and punched at each other with blinding speed, at first taking and giving equal damage, Ranma suffering far more.

Suddenly a momentary opening gave Ranma enough room, managing to crush its knee with a brutal kick its maneuverability certainly slowed down. It lost some of its speed, even if it only was because of the mechanical penalty of a shattered knee rather than the creature's acknowledgement of being hurt. Just a few seconds later its right shoulder and upper arm was turned into jelly with a sickening crunch from Ranma's almost supersonic palm strike. The creature staggered helplessly, a following slap on an arm from Ranma made it twirl around and a hard jab crushed its spine close to the neck, it shuddered once and fell limply to the ground.

 

Ranma fell to his knees in the dirt, panting for breath as adrenaline pumping in his veins made his whole body shake. He looked at the still twitching corpse before him and his throat clenched. It was not the first time he killed, but he had been so sure he would never do it again, but here he was. He tried to calm down his frantic breath and his wildly beating heart, and covered his closed eyes with a hand. Using killing moves like that was something he had trained only to try to understand his art, not to outright practice. Only a few times had he been tempted to use them, and fewer still he had fallen for the need of the situation. But every time, every single time he used them they felt so natural, so pure. A sob climbed in his throat as he wondered why, when it was wrong to kill, did it feel so exhilarating to use those moves?

 

Forcefully pushing the thoughts to the side he finally managed to calm down a bit, his shoulders sank and his breathing slowed. He dropped his hand and opened his eyes again, and stared silently, unable to react as the withered body in front of him slowly fell to flakes of black ash, dirty clothing and all. The meat and tissue sloughed of its bones and quietly rustled to the ground and disintegrated all together in the span of a few moments. The now white skeleton, bones flayed and teeth shattered, cracked and withered to white dust with a slight crackling whisper. The dust glittered in the sunset flames, and crumbled to nothing with a gentle sigh of revenge.

 

Nothing was left of the abomination he had fought and killed, Ranma staggered to his feet his adrenaline high body still not aware of the pain he was in, feeling his overloaded mind slipping into an almost pleasant numbness he turned around. His eyes found hers and he stilled as they held each other's gaze he remembered the girl. She lay on her stomach where it had dropped her, and she had lifted her smudged face to look at him, her purple eyes shimmering with fear, relief and other feelings too mixed and fragile to classify. A few strands of her dishevelled black hair stuck to her damp forehead, her eyes drooped and she nodded once but fought the tide of darkness. She looked at him helplessly and then her head fell as unconsciousness claimed her.

 

I I I

 

Notes

Clumsy, but we are moving forward.

Remember, nothing has been added without good reason.

 

I'm trying to understand how to write, so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Also, no proofreaders were used, so all mistakes are solely my fault. If you want to discuss anything, feel free to mail me and I will gladly answer.