Cursed

CHAPTER 11


Ranma stood helpless and horrified, his stomach knotted in fury as he watched the monster carry off Akane. The young demon hissed angrily, gathering himself into a crouch as he prepared to spring after them. He would pursue. There was no way in hell he’d abandon Akane.

Something brilliant flared overhead, drawing his eyes. A shining missile was streaking across the dark sky, leaving a bright l ofl of energy in its wake. The sacred arrow split the air, glowing intensely as it sought out its target. The winged demon shrieked as the tip of the arrow found its mark and the monster burst into a thousand radiant pieces, showering the forest with light. Ranma didn’t hesitate, racing high into the air to meet the girl’s falling body. He caught her neatly in his arms and dropped back to the ground.

Akane’s arms went around his neck and she was shaking so hard she couldn’t speak. The girl burst into tears and buried her face in his neck, sobbing helplessly. His hands stroked her soft hair. “It’s over,” he murmured gently. “Akane, don’t cry, you’re safe now.”

“What the hell is happening here?” Miroku burst out of the forest at a run, a makeshift torch held high in his hand. Sango was just behind him, Shippo on her shoulder and both their faces were tight with concern. “Is Akane okay?” the kitsune asked anxiously. “We heard her screaming.”

The girl shuddered violently andma hma held her tighter. “I think so,” he told the fox. “It just happened so fast.”

“Damn lucky shot,” a voice rang out over their heads.

“It was not lucky! It was skill, I’ve been practicing.”

“Skill my ass, you were just lucky.”

“Damn it, Inuyasha, can’t you just admit it was a good shot? You were right there, don’t you tell it was just luck!”

The hanyou jumped into their midst, Kagome clinging to his back with her bow slung over her shoulder. Inuyasha hitched his hands under the girl’s knees and looked over his shoulder. “Feh, okay it was a nice shot. But it’s just pure dumb luck that you didn’t hit Akane by mistake.”

She whacked him on the back of the head with her hand. “Why do you have to be such a jerk, put me down already!”

“Not until you admit you were lucky.”

Kagome pulled at his hair. “Don’t make me say it!” Inuyasha grabbed the back of her legs and held on tight. “You do and you’re going down with me, bitch.”

Miroku scratched the top of his head and grinned sheepishly. “This could take all night. Can’t you two just call a truce for now, I’ve never met two more stubborn…”

“Shut up,” Inuyasha and Kagome said at the same time. The girl slithered off the hanyou’s back when he grudgingly let go of her legs. Kagome’s face instantly fell when she saw Akane still shivering with fear at her close call. “Oh my god, please say you’re not hurt. I didn’t scare you with my arrow, did I?”

Akane pulled herself together, stilling holding fast to Ranma. She didn’t want him to put her down. “I’m fine,” she said, trying to reassure her friend. “It was just freaky gng yng yanked into the sky. It was a great shot, Kagome.”

Inuyasha snorted but didn’t say anything further, ignoring Kagome’s glare. He wandered over to the corpse of the snake demon and whistled softly. Blood was everywhere, glistening wetly all over the grass and brush. The serpent’s back was completely torn away, bits of flesh and tissue hung in grisly streamers from the lower branches of trees. “Hot damn, guess it’s not going to get any deader, is it?”

Ranma didn’t want to look at the snake, the rank smell of the monster’s blood was thick in his nose. If he closed his eyes he could feel the delicious sensation of the snake’s meat oozing between his claws. Only his horror at seeing Akane snatched skyward had stopped his rampage. “It just came out of nowhere,” he muttered, gently letting Akane to the ground now that she could stand on her own. “I didn’t have a choice.”

The hanyou looked over at him with a satisfied grin. “Shit, I’m not complaining. I knew you’d turn into a real demon sooner or later.”

Ranma looked like he’d been slapped in the face. He turned pale and backed away from Inuyasha as if the hanyou had threatened to attack him. “I…” he said, feeling so sick and so miserable it was unbearable. Akane reached for his arm. “Ranma, are you okay?”

Ranma shook his head, wordless and mute. His head was throbbing and the smell of blood on his hands was overwhelming. The sensationre rre rushing over him, his blood was pounding in his temples. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard someone screaming. “Stop it,” he said, gripping the sides of his head. He fell over on the ground and heard Akane say something to him but it wasn’t clear. “Just leave me alone, goddamnit!” He wasn’t shouting at the girl, he was shouting at the voices pounding away in his mind, he couldn’t see, couldn’t hardly breathe and didn’t realize he was shaking and thrashing wildly on the forest floor.

*****

Six year old Ranma Saotome was running away gleefully, a stolen okonomiaki clutched tight in his hands. “Come back here, you little thief!” He giggled at the sound of Ucchan’s anger, skipping away merrily down a deserted alleyhe she stuffed the hot treat in his mouth. Stolen food always tasted better on the run and it lessened the chances of being caught with the evidence, so his father had told him.

The little boy darted around the corner and made for the playground, knowing it was probably deserted as most kids his age and older would be in school. Suckers, he thought, planting himself down on a swing and gobbling up his prize. The hot okonomiaki burnt his tongue and Ranma winced but didn’t stop chewing. It tasted so much better when it was still hot.

Ranma looked around the quiet playground. The little hairs on the back of his neck were standing up and the boy wasn’t sure why. It felt like someone was watching him and the feeling made him uncomfortable. He could see no sign of the angry okonomiaki vendor. Somewhat wistful, he returned to his stolen lunch and that’s when he saw the dog.

It was beautiful, a great shaggy snow-white dog, coming slowly towards him. Ranma stared, he’d never seen a dog quite that big before, it was more like the size of a small pony. He watched it thoughtfully, quite unafraid of the large animal. “Here puppy!”

The dog’s eyes were a pale golden shade and when he was close enough to get a good look at the boy, he sat down and regarded the child curiou Ra Ranma grinned and held out a piece of food to the elegant creature. “Want some?”

The dog’s ears perked up and his nose twitched hopefully. The child got up from his swing and went to stand next to him, still holding out the piece of okonomiaki. “It’s really good,” the boy assured the dog.

Delicately for such a large animal, the dog took the offered treat, tasting it thoughtfully. Ranma chuckled happily at his new friend, his small hands getting lost in the great dog’s soft fur. “You’re a nice boy,” Ranma told the dog, rubbing the silky ears. The dog’s eyes closed and a soft rumble of bliss escaped from his deep chest. Ranma laughed again as the dog leaned against his legs, it was taller than he was, even sitting down. “What kind of doggie are you?” the boy asked, obviously expecting an answer.

The white dog gave him a somewhat ironic look, almost as if he understood the boy’s remark. The dog stood up again and shook out his long white fur. Grinning, the boy reached over to pet the long plume of a tail, the hairs sliding through his fingers like rough silk. Ranma sighed happily. “I wish I knew your name, boy. I bet you’re a good friend.” The dogit tit the air with a sharp bark, answering him. The child stared at him and the dog bounced on his front legs, tail wagging furiously as the little boy watched him.

“Do you want me to follow you?” Ranma asked incredulously. The dog rolled his eyes and knelt his front half in an elegant bow, his eyes flicking meaningfully at the child. Get on my back, kid, he seemed to say.

Ranma was delighted. The little boy took a fistful of hair in each hand and hauled himself up, struggling a bit as he finally managed to get his leg over the dog’s tall back. The ears flicked back at Ranma as he settled himself. Ready, kid? they seemed to ask.

The dog took off like a shot and ran so fast that the streets became a blur. Ranma buried his face in the long white fur and held on for dear life. This is so great, he thought, loving the speed and power of the animal underneath him. He could feel the shock of each footfall in his body as the dog thundered down the streets and up a wide, grassy hill. “Hey,” Ranma shouted, suddenly alarmed. “Slow down, dog!”

Ranma held on as tight as he could, his mind reeling from the fast pace and the breakneck turns the dog was inflicting on him. “I’m gonna fall off,” he wailed. His eyes widened as he saw the dog was heading straight for a bridge that spanned a deep looking river. Where the hell did that come from? Ranma howled as the dog launched them over the side of the bridge, his hands coming loose with fur still clenched in his grasp and the boy hit the cold water, his arms flailing helplessly as he was sucked under the surface. Am I still dreaming, he wondered, the water going dark around him.

*****

Ranma found himself running across a wide courtyard, deep gray stones surrounded him on all sides and the sky was a brilliant clear shade of perfect blue. His breath came hard and fast in his throat as he ran, hoping to outpace his cousins. Their longer legs gave them a decided advantage, but no one would ever accuse this hanyou of being slow. They’d catch up with him eventually, and he was almost certain he deserved the beating he was going to receive. Could he help it if he thought it would be funny to douse his cousin that morning? So what if the water had just been used to wash down the stable floors, no one was going to die, Sho-kun was overreacting as usual. And he’s not going to catch me today, Ranma thought, grinning as he spotted the outer courtyard gate beginning to open. He could hide all day in the orchards, even Sho-kun wouldn’t find him in the branches of the tall apple trees.

The gate opened as the hanyou boy sped past, he was busy watching to make sure his angry cousin didn’t catch sight of him. Wouldn’t do to ruin the escape plan. As he was so busy making sure that he wasn’t followed, he managed to forget to look where he was going and ran smack into Ari-san’s legs and bounced hard onto the ground and whacked his head against the unforgiving stone.

Ranma saw stars dancing before his eyes and a pair of hands reached down to set him back on his wobbling legs. Ari-san brushed him off, the bodyguard’s dark face crinkled in amusement. “Naota, you are going to kill yourself if you don’t start looking where you’re going.”

“Uh,” Ranma said thickly, wondering why his tongue didn’t work. He’d bitten it rather hard when he went down. His eyes focused on the man walking up behind the bodyguard. The Daimyo himself.

“Uncle!” he shrieked joyfully, launching himself at the armor clad figure. His uncle laughed loudly at the enthusiastic greeting and tossed his young nephew high in the air. Ranma giggled wildly, throwing his arms around the Daimyo’s neck in a hug. He adored, no, he worshipped his uncle. “You were gone so long!”

The Daimyo’s golden eyes lit up with affection. “Not so long, Naota. What mischief have you been up to this time? Not harassing your cousin again, I hope.”

Ranma blinked at him. “Who me?” he said with the flawlessly innocent expression he’d mastered before he could even talk. The Daimyo chuckled, amused again by his nephew’s ability to charm or joke his way out of any situation. “What am I going to do with you, Naota?”

Ranma hugged his uncle again, feeling the wisps of the man’s long white hair against his face. Who the hell is Naota, he thought suddenly, feeling his body go cold and stiff. He fell, through a long darkness, he was falling suddenly. He screamed for his uncle to save him, but the youkai lord was long since gone.

*****

A heavy blow caught Ranma full in the face and sent him flying painfully against a table. He pulled himself up, tasting blood in his mouth only to be hit again even before he could focus his eyes. This time the boy fell hard on the floor, his cheek pressed against the cold stone. Maybe this will be the time he kile, Re, Ranma thought wearily. It would so good not to hurt anymore.

A sharp kick to the ribs caught him by surprise and stole the breath out of his body. “Get up,” the harsh, demanding voice said. “You weak piece of shit, I’ll have no son of mine cowering like a beast on the floor.” Ranma winced, unable to move, he was so, so scared. If he got up, the demon would just crush him again. If he lay still, he might just get bored and leave him for dead. It was the best he could hope for under the circumstances.

“Father, stop it! You’re going to kill him!” A new voice invaded Ranma’s fading consciousness. No, Inu, he thought, desperately trying to push himself up. His brother was standing over him, facing down the monster that had sired them both. Ranma weakly opened his swollen eyes to watch as his father grabbed his older brother by the hair, twisting it brutally. Inu wouldn’t cry out, you could tear his skin off, you could set him on fire, his brother didn’t know how to relent, not even to save his own life.

Father’s voice was hard and deadly, mocking and horrible. Ranma flinched, just the sound of his father’s laugh was enough to make him cringe inside. “Protecting your brother again? Sickening, haven’t I taught you not to feel pity yet?”

Inu stared at his father, the brutal demon loved nothing as much as torturing his own sons. “You want to hurt someone, hurt me,” the boy ground out, his young voice hoarse and thick with hate. “I’m stronger than Inoki, you can hurt me a lot more before my body gives out. Go on, you bastard. I want you to do it. Hurt me!”

Their father swore and Ranma felt hot tears leak out of his eyes at what his brother was trying to do. Father saw them and sneered at him. “Crying now, you useless half-breed? I regret the day I ever laid my seed in either one of your whore ers.ers. I should have twisted your heads off when you were born. Watch me, little Inoki, while your big brother takes the beating for you once again.”

His heavy fist smashed down on Inu’s defenseless face, blood poured from his brother’s nose and splattered him. The demon lord held the boy by his hair as he hammered him over and over, beating him savagely even after the boy had already lost consciousness. Ranma felt hatred welling up in his body and crying incoherently he flung himself at the monster even though he knew he was going to die, at least he and Inu could die together and be free of the bastard at last.

*****

“No! Stop it, father, don’t kill my brother!” Ranma sobbed and thrashed, held in the iron grip of his dream. Akane’s face was white as sheet, she was gnawing her fingernails off. Miroku looked at her, his face tense and sweating as he sat on Ranma’s legs, trying to keep the unconscious demon from hurting himself. “Talk to him, Akane,” the monk urged. “He seems to hear your voice sometimes.”

She bent over Ranma’s face, her heart shaking inside her chest. His face was slick with sweat and his hair was matted. “Ranma,” she said loudly, right in his face. “Ranma, wake up!” She looked up and met Inuyasha’s eyes. “He doesn’t hear me.”

Inuyasha was trying to keep the damn fool pinned down but it was getting difficult. He sat on Ranma’s chest, his hands pinning the demon’s shoulders to the ground. Ranma lurched and snarled and he slammed the youkai down again. It had been almost two hours since the punk collapsed and the screaming was going to bring every predator in the forest. “He’s getting weaker, but so am I. I don’t know how much longer we can keep him down. What’s he screaming about his brother for?”

Akane groaned and covered her face. “He doesn’t have a brother.”

“Great,” the hanyou muttered. He leaned over Ranma’s face. “Wake up, you stupid FUCK!”

Kagome was boiling herbs in a small metal pot. She hoped they’d steeped long enough. It was all she could think of to try. Kaede gave her this herbal recipe months ago. She said it would quiet disturbed minds and that description fit Ranma very well. He was out of his mind, screaming, hallucinating and thrashing wildly. Foam dribbled from his mouth and it had a bloody tinge. Any more of this and she thought he might chew his own tongue off. “It’s ready,” she called out, burning her fingers on the pot when she grabbed it.

Sango knelt down next to Akane and tried to unlock the demon’s jaws. She had to be careful because she’d really rather not lose her fingers at this point. Miroku and Inuyasha had enough to do just keeping Ranma still. Akane put her hands on either side of Ranma’s face and whispered something intelligible. Sango tried to not pay attention to whatever private prayers the girl wanted to offer, concentrating on the grim task of keeping her hands away from the demon’s fangs long enough to pry his mouth open. Kagome got the small container as close to the young youkai’s lips as she could and dumped the steaming contents inside.

“Shit, he’s choking,” Inuyasha cursed. He flipped the youkai onto his stomach and found it was easier to control him. Shoulda done this earlier, he had bite marks on his fingers from trying to help and if he hadn’t been scared half shitless by the stupid punk’s wild fit, he’d have happily smacked the living hell out of him. Ranma gagged messily, herbs bubbling out of his mouth. His muscles unlocked bit by bit and Miroku cautiously released his feet. “Is it working?”

“Fuck if I know,” Inuyasha muttered. They all kept looking at him like he was some kind of expert. He did not have fits. Temper tantrums, yes. Wild angry rages, yes. He did not drop to the ground for no apparent reason and start foaming at the mouth and screaming from some uncontrollable nightmare. What he wasn’t about to any any of the humans was that he could sense Ranma’s youki building to a feverish pitch inside the punk’s body. The power he felt coursing under his hands was unreal. There was still something holding it back, maybe even sealing it. Damned if he knew what it was or what it meant, but if that seal broke, they were going to have a full blown monster on their hands.

Ranma’s breathing grew deep and even, he even started to snore a bit. Cautiously, he let up on the pressure and was relieved that Ranma didn’t start thrashing and bucking wildly again. Akane edged closer so she could take Ranma’s head in her lap, stroking back the sweaty dark hair that clung to his face. She kissed his forehead and murmured softly. “Hold on, Ranma. I’m here, come back to me.”

The girl whispered it over and over, hoping some part of Ranma could hear her voice.

I love you.

Ranma heard those words from across a deep distance. His body was aching, the pain was dragging him back to himself.

I love you.

Akane, he tried to call for her, but she was lost in the darkness. He wandered aimlessly, his hands held blindly in front of him. Where am I, he thought, panic starting to rise in his chest. His mind was full of memories, none of them his own. Ranma felt lost, drowning in unfamiliar visions. He fell on his knees in the darkness, unable to fight any longer.

“I’m not sending you away because I don’t care about you.”

Ranma’s head came up. He knew that voice. Desperately, he projected his mind to follow that thread of memory. That voice was soothing, comforting. In a tiny corner of his mind, he could see it n A t A teenage boy with long black hair was standing, staring at his feet with a sullen, unhappy expression. Ranma edged closer, trying to get a better look at the boy’s face. Something about the set of his shoulders, stubborn and angry, was so familiar.

The boy looked up, his cheeks were flushed. “Why, Uncle? Why do you want to send me away?”

Ranma watched as a tall man came into focus, imposing, authoritive. The man laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder, his eyes were kind as he regarded his nephew. “I’m sending you away for your own good, Naota. You’ll never have a life of your own if you stay here. You need to be with people who are more like you.”

“Humans?” the boy asked bitterly. “I’m not human, I’m hanyou.”

The Daimyo smiled. “I know that. You’re my brother’s only son, I owe it to him not to let you suffer the same kind of fate he did. You’re not a child anymore, Naota. The demon blood you carry will sooner or later start to tear you apart. If I don’t seal it, you’ll lose your mind, your soul, and eventually you’ll be doyedoyed by the youki inside you.”

Ranma watched as the young man turned away, his face burning shamefully. “You’re saying I can’t control it. That I’m weak like a human so I should go live with them. That’s what Sesshomaru has always said too.”

“This has nothing to do with Sessh,” the Daimyo said sternly. “I want a better life for you and the family you will someday have. You can’t have this if you live among youkai. Humans will accept you, you don’t look like a demon and you don’t think like one. You never did, Naota. My decision is final.”

Naota bowed his head, sighing heavily. “Yes, my lord Daimyo.”

Ranma? Come back to me, Ranma. Please fight it!”

Her voice was dragging him back again. Ranma let the memory go, watching it spin away in a storm of colors and light. Akane, he thought, following her voice.

Come back to me!

I love you.

He smiled, feeling his body returning and the darkness receding. He knew who he was now. I love you too, Akane.

END CHAPTER 11