Warring Fates 2

[LawOhki]

Ranma’s blue eyes fluttered open, to stare into the small fire warming her face. Slowly rising to a sitting position, so that she didn’t aggravate her stab wounds, she let the rough blanket fall down from her shoulders. ‘Still here, huh?’ She had half hoped this was some messed up dream but, like Jusenkyo, the morning after brought no reprieve.

Still inside Kaede’s small hut, a pleasant little fire burning in a recessed fire pit was keeping the morning chill away. The old woman was kneeling across the fire preparing something in a small metal pot.

Feeling something cool in her hands, Ranma looked down enough to confirm the small sphere from the night before was still in her possession. ‘Jewel of four souls-- what does that even mean?’ She turned it side to side, appraising the soft pink and purple colors swirling within. ‘How was this thing inside me?’

Noticing that Kaede was watching her with her one remaining eye, Ranma twisted around to sit before the fire and groaned loudly as she tried to stretch her arms. Yawning, she let her arms drop down and scratched at where Mistress Centipede had impaled her. Her entire torso, from stomach to the top of her breasts, were wrapped in constricting cloth bandage. She had removed her pants, as they were covered in dried blood, leaving her in nothing but her boxers and the wrap.

“Ugh, what time is it?” Ranma rubbed some of the gunk from her eyes.

Kaede took a moment to think through her question before answering. “It is nearly midday. You lost a great deal of blood; you’ll need rest and something to eat in order to regain your strength.”

‘No panda snoring to keep me up? I could almost get used to that.’ Her stomach rumbled at the smell of whatever it was that Kaede was mixing. It didn’t matter if what she was making was as bad as that dish from last night because she was starving. “So is that edible? Heh heh.” She laughed nervously.

“I’ve mixed in several herbs that should help with healing.” Kaede continued, pouring some of the now thick brown stew into a bowl.

“Thanks.” Ranma gingerly accepted the prepared concoction, mentally preparing herself for the horror her stomach would soon be experiencing. “That spiritual stuff you mentioned, what’s that all about?” Too hungry to wait for a better option, she said a small prayer to ward off food poisoning, and gave it a try. “This is pretty good!” She exclaimed in relief.

“Are there no priests where you come from?” Kaede asked, clearly pleased by the small compliment to her cooking.

Ranma finished her bowl of stew before answering. “Just old guys waving around bits of paper or selling cheap junk to tourists.” She had always been more useful dealing with the spirits that she had come across.

“I’ve met my share of charlatans in my travels.” The elderly woman nodded. “But you shouldn’t be so dismissive merely because you’ve encountered poor examples.”

“Maybe.” She conceded half-heartedly and slid over to pick up her discarded shirt. “I need to get out of this hut.” Ranma winced as she moved muscles that have been ravaged by huge fangs less than twelve hours ago.

‘Yuck. Nothings going to get this out.’ Her face soured at the torn fabric and stains mixed with gore before noticing that all but a few strips of material remained of the back. Whatever had sprayed out of Mistress Centipedes when being cut to pieces by Inuyasha had been corrosive.

“This was my favorite shirt!” She snarled, gripping what little remained of her red shirt so tightly that it nearly tore.

“Where are your traveling supplies? Are they nearby, child?” Kaede asked, watching her with great interest.

“A few hundred years in the future.” Ranma simmered over the loss of her shirt. “My pants!” She hastily checked and found them only crusted brown with her own blood but otherwise intact.

“The well-- you said yesterday that you had fallen in, and upon leaving you were in a different place?” The elderly woman asked for confirmation and Ranma nodded in response. “Mayhaps you are from a different world. Brought here through a demons gateway.”

“Eh?” Ranma stared doubtfully at the priestess and slid her stained pants on. “Gateway?”

“A link between two worlds.” Kaede explained the term like Ranma had misunderstood her. “I’ve heard of powerful demons being able to do so.”

“Makes about as much sense as time travel.” Struggling up to her feet, she’d start by heading back to the well, and trying to find a way back from there. Running her fingers over the Shikon no Tama one last time, she deposited the jewel in her pant pocket.

“Do you intend to leave wearing only that?” The aged priestess asked in disapproval at Ranma’s lack of clothes.

“Not a problem. Thanks for the food and stuff but I need to start getting back.” She winced as the muscles in her back protested when she bent over to pick up her ruined shirt. “Oh, and I’m really a guy.” It was high time that she quit playing at being a girl, so it didn’t matter if anyone saw her chest like this. “See ya.” Ranma waved absently to the stunned elderly woman as she left through the curtain.

zx

“Hrrm.” Inuyasha sat on the highest branch of a tree near the village, watching as the Kikyo look alike left the old priestess’ hut. ‘Why is she half naked?’ He wondered absently as he tried to figure out where she was keeping the jewel. The smell of her blood hung heavy in the air and with how similar it was, he found it impossible to keep his mind away from thoughts of Kikyo. ‘Where is she? Is she scared to show her face?’

His eyes never moved off the strange girl as she left stunned villagers in her wake. Most were shocked at her state of undress, some began to pray to her, and a few braver humans approached to give her gifts. But she didn’t waste much time, hurrying to leave the village, and head back towards the forest where he had been sealed.

“This’ll be my chance.” He smiled maliciously and moved into a crouch on the branch, eagerly waiting for her to enter the forest so he could get the jewel without any humans getting in the way.

Somehow his small amount of movement alerted his target and her head turned to look right at his position, even though he was hidden behind a wall of leaves. ‘How? I blend in perfectly!’ He growled, furious that this look-a-like had the same uncanny ability as Kikyo to locate him. Just as quickly as she had found him, she looked away with clear dismissal at his presence. 1

‘How dare she not take me seriously!?’ Launching himself through the foliage, he cleared a fourth of the distance between them. “I’ll show her!” Another jump and she hadn’t even stopped to prepare for him; continuing to walk like she didn’t have a care in the world. Running along the grass, he slid to stop on the dirt blocking her path. “Give me the Shikon no Tama!” He demanded as she blinked at him several times.

“Why?” She asked like the clueless human that she was.

“Because I want it! It’s useless to a weak pathetic human like you.” He answered and held up his hands to show off his claws for emphasis.

The black haired girl made a show of inspecting his claws that could tear her apart before moving up to the top of his head. “So you’re some kind of wolf demon?”

“Wha-- what does that have to do with anything? And I’m a dog demon not some mangy wolf.” He crossed his arms and looked away.

“Alright.” The girl said as she passed him at a leisurely pace to enter the path through the forest.

“Huh? Where are you going?” He asked in confusion, following at her heel.

“Back to that well, it’s around here somewhere.” She answered his question without even looking at him.

“Stop.” He stomped his way to be in front of her again. “Give me the jewel!” He demanded again.

“No.” She stepped around him without pausing at all, reaching out to break a stick off a branch.

“Listen bitch, it’s worthless to a human like you, so give it to me and I won’t hurt you.” Inuyasha snarled and reach out to grab her by the shoulder only to have the stick get pointed right towards his nose. “Are you threatening me with a stick?” He laughed loudly at how ridiculous that was.

“No, I want you to go get it.” She waved it back and forth and threw it back the way she had come with surprising force for a human.

Inuyasha leapt after it without a second thought, pouncing on the stick down on all fours the instant it hit the ground. “Ha! I got it, now give me the Shikon no Tama!” He waved it above his head in victory, before noticing that she wasn’t anywhere nearby. “Damn it!”

-----

1 - Dogs seeing colors differently joke

[Suryn]

Fetch boy!

[LawOhki]

Fetch boy!

http://youtu.be/i68e4p32eaQ?t=41s

Yea I stole it, I don't care.

[Dumbledork]

Very entertaining, but I have a hard time figuring out how the team between Ranma and Inuyasha will work. There's probabl a lot of strangeness about to happen.

[Suryn]

Point, in canon KAgome was a squishy support, here both of them are tough front liners. Though Inuyasha is a bit tougher

[Vahn]

There is no such thing as stealing not in fanfic , you are just using a known canonical quirk and incorporating it into your story I see nothing wrong with that

[Spica75]

Point, in canon KAgome was a squishy support, here both of them are tough front liners. Though Inuyasha is a bit tougher

She does get to show off as more than "squishy support" a few times so it´s not exactly contrary to canon, more of a using just one edge of it.
I find that way of doing it an interesting way to twist characters, ie you can take a 2ndary character that never really shows off much from a series, and by focusing on what little the character DID do, twist it into a main character or whatever you want/need.

For example, i do that with Suzuka from the Nanoha series in my cross with BtVS, by using the fact that the series is connected with a bunch of games and other anime, and in at least some of those continuities, Suzuka and family are vampires...

For another crossover that i haven´t posted anything of, i do something similar with Anri from Durarara, drawing totally from the times she´s impressive and draw a new baseline for her based on that. And it´s a method that i feel generally works well.

[LawOhki]

Kaede hurried with several men from the village down the path to the bone eaters well. Occasionally she had to use her bow as a walking stick and it made her curse how old she had gotten. ‘I’m an old woman, I shouldn’t be running around the country side after delusional young ladies who pick fist fights with hanyou.’ The men before her cleared a path through some thick brush that created a shortcut towards where the angry shouting was originating.

“Kaede-sama, what are we going to do about Inuyasha and that girl?” A villager named Shinichi asked.

“We must ensure that the Shikon no Tama does not fall into the hands of a demon.” She answered evasively. Inuyasha was a powerful hanyou and would be difficult to restrain by himself.

Reaching the clearing that surrounded the bone eaters well, she was prepared to find Ranma fleeing from Inuyasha. Instead the pair were wrestling on the ground near the edge of the forest. The girl held Inuyasha’s wrists as he tried to overpower her and was kicking him repeatedly in the side, eliciting a pained grunt with every blow.

“Leave me alone already!” Ranma shouted and kicked him so hard that he shot backwards to crash into a tree.

Inuyasha launched himself at the girl, knocking her down to slide across the grass together. “Did you hide it here?”

“Don’t touch me there!” Ranma’s voice screeched as the hanyou dug his hand between her breasts.

“I’m not trying to touch your disgusting body!” Inuyasha answered the exclamation before Ranma staggered him with a headbutt. “Ow!” The hanyou fell backwards to sit on the grass at her feet clutching his forehead while Ranma laid back down to do the same.

“Shouldn’t have done that.” She whimpered and kicked at the ground in pain.

“Um-- Kaede-sama, what should we do?” Another of the villagers asked her in confusion.

“Wait here.” She instructed and approached the pair during the brief lull in activity. “Child, why haven’t you spoken the word of subjugation?” She asked calmly, believing that it would be easier to convince Ranma to listen to reason than the enraged hanyou.

“Eh?” Ranma blinked up at her then sat up clutching her injured side to narrow her eyes sinisterly at the silver haired boy who suddenly realized his peril. “Heel.” She commanded, the beads around Inuyasha’s neck glowed brightly before slamming him face first into the ground. “Aww! That’s satisfying.”

“Bitch.” Inuyasha groaned into the dirt.

“Your wounds have reopened.” Kaede tiredly noted as she knelt down to inspect the bandages that was quickly gaining a crimson stain.

“It’s just a little blood, my old man would throw a fit if I let that keep me down.” The overly violent girl waved off her concern and moved with incredible quickness to pick Inuyasha up off the ground, and stand him up.

“Huh?” The hanyou asked intelligently, face covered in blades of grass, and little green stains.

“Listen.” Ranma instructed in an overly happy voice, brushing off dust and debris that clung to the red clothing Inuyasha wore. “I’m impressed by how tough you are and I know that you’re holding back.”

“Uh--.” Inuyasha just stared at the girl in confusion.

“But I just wanted you to know--.” The black haired girl reared back with her right hand in a tight fist and buried it into the hanyou’s stomach. He collapsed over her gasping for air before being roughly pushed to the side so he could fall to the ground. “I don’t appreciate being underestimated by some dog.”

‘She’s nothing like my sister at all.’ Kaede looked back and forth between the two, remembering how poised and calm Kikyo had been. ‘Hmm? Where’s she going now?’ Ranma ignored a wheezed insult from Inuyasha to head for the bone eaters well while putting pressure on her wound.

“You’re in no condition to be defending the Shikon no Tama.” Kaede decided to be more forceful in dealing with the child. Surely her parents had at least instilled some manner of respect for elders into the unruly and slightly mentally deranged girl. “You should return to the village with us to recover.”

“If this doesn’t work. Not like I’d have anywhere else to go.” Ranma shrugged and leaned over the edge to look down into the well.

‘She did say that she came through the well.’ Kaede realized, noting that Inuyasha had already recovered and had decided to remain silent for the moment. The hanyou was sitting in a crosslegged position with his arms crossed to glare irritably at Ranma.

“Do you plan to enter?” She asked worriedly, about to advise against it while carrying the jewel. It had already revived Mistress Centipede, and there were far more demon remains contained within.

“Can’t hurt.” With casual ease, the black haired girl hopped over the wall to plunge into the darkness below.

“Old hag.” Inuyasha appeared next to her with only the rustle of his clothing to mark his movement.

“My name is Kaede, Inuyasha.” She tiredly sighed and tried to see Ranma but it was too dark. “It has been fifty years so I have aged some, but you knew me when I was a small child assisting my elder sister Kikyo.”

“You got old.” The boy remarked crassly. “So where’s Kikyo hiding at? She must be ancient by now.”

Kaede allowed the corners of her mouth to quirk upwards into a smirk. “You’ve been fighting with her reincarnation, have you not figured it out yet? My sister died on the day that she sealed you to the sacred tree.”

Inuyasha stared sternly down into the well and quickly changed the subject. “She’s gone.”

[Wharpt]

So... What inducement will you give Ranma to return through the Bone-Eaters well to the past? And will he always be a girl in the presence of Inuyasha?

OT Note: I like the GIF of the Senshi jumping. Do you know what episode that was in?

[Suryn]

In an earlier thread Law mentioned that it was from Sailor Stars

[LawOhki]

So... What inducement will you give Ranma to return through the Bone-Eaters well to the past? And will he always be a girl in the presence of Inuyasha?

OT Note: I like the GIF of the Senshi jumping. Do you know what episode that was in?

Episode 173 I believe.

[Vahn]

And yet the artwork look better then the current Sailor anime out, that being said... So you just let Ranma left like that? Hmmm now I am really curious as to how or why Ranma would get back, are we doing the tampering of time stuff or will Inuyasha be there for the next couple of hundred years?

[Wharpt]

Episode 173 I believe.

Bingo. Thanks.

[LawOhki]

Ranma blinked, unable to see anything in the pitch black well. “I’m back.” She smirked, having traveled through a very brief light show of little purple balls of light. Up above there was no view up into the sky, and as her eyes slowly adjusted to the low light, she could barely make out the underside of a roof. Leaping up to the wooden ledge defining the bone eaters well, she heard the sounds of a city muffled by the small building around her.

Remembering what had happened the last time she was here, Ranma double checked to make sure the Shikon no Tama was still in her pocket. “All that trouble over this thing.” She snorted dismissively, glad to see that it hadn’t resurrected anymore of the demons buried below.

“Meow.”

She never saw the feline, but she had the good sense to escape out the doorway and not fall back into the well again. Ranma slammed the door behind her, and kicked up a cloud of dirt as she took off around the main shrine building. While she hoped that she had trapped the vile creature, she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the cat as possible.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she raced around the corner of the main shrine building and had to jump upwards over a startled girl walking in the opposite direction, and face first into a heavy wooden beam. Falling to the ground flat on her back, Ranma groaned in pain.

“Are you alright?!” The girl asked in concern and alarm, quickly kneeling at Ranma’s side.

“I’ve been better.” Ranma rose up to a sitting position with a sigh before getting back up to her feet with a tiny hop.

“But you’re bleeding.” The other girl noted in a casual tone of voice.

“Ya--.” She grumbled, considering stitching up the punctures, and unsure of how that would work with how much her size could change with the curse. “You haven’t seen a panda around here have you?” Ranma asked, trying to shift the subject away from herself.

“Well yes, but he’s actually this bald man with a magic curse. Isn’t that really weird?”

“That’s my stupid old man and try growing up with him. Is he still around here or did he run off to pawn all my stuff?” Ranma asked, knowing that Genma could not be trusted around anything of value.

“He’s in our house talking with grandpa right now. Are you sure you’re okay? That looks really bad.”

“Just an annoying scratch.” She waved her hand dismissively and chuckled to herself. Pausing, Ranma took a moment to stare at the girl. “Have we met before?”

“Maybe-- you seem really familiar. I’m Kagome.” The girl introduced with a little bow of her head.

“Ranma.” She answered, feeling unnerved by how familiar Kagome looked, and how she was unable to place where they had met before.

“At least let me redo your bandage, I have big new first aid kit that I’m dying to use something from!” Kagome excitedly offered and got behind Ranma to usher her towards the home on the temple grounds.

‘Huh?’ Ranma wasn’t sure if she should be concerned over Kagome’s enthusiasm but she had said that Genma was at her house so went along with the girl.

"Gee Pop, not out selling all my stuff?" Ranma asked snidely upon finding her father eating lunch with the old priest from before, a motherly looking woman, and a young boy.

"You're alive, boy!" Genma laughed loudly and jumped up to slap her on the back. "Where'd you run off to anyways?"

"I fell down a well to feudal Japan, where did you think I went?" She answered in a mocking tone while being completely serious. "Hmm? What are you all staring at?" Ranma asked, noticing that the other occupants to the room minus Kagome were quickly looking between her and the other teenager.

"Sis, she looks just like you!" The young boy announced first.

“Really?” Ranma asked at the same time as Kagome, both turning to look at the other. “Maybe a little.” They admitted together doubtfully.

“You’re right, Sota. They’re almost twins.” The woman gasped.

“Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve dealt with in the past couple days.” She sighed in defeat, not wanting to have to deal with anymore surprises for the week. “Ack!” Ranma windmilled her free arm as Kagome roughly pulled her back out of the room.

“There’s a mirror in the bathroom, let’s go look!”

zx

Genma watched impassively as his gender cursed child was pulled from the room by a girl who looked eerily similar to Ranma’s cursed form. ‘Is this a problem? I feel like this could be an issue.’ He had been worried about his son, not that he would ever show it. But since it had all worked out in the end, clearly blind trust and doing nothing was the best solution.

‘I’m such a good father.’ He proudly smirked at his unparalleled ability to raise a self sufficient and amazing child.

“Um-- Saotome-san, didn’t you say you had a son?” Mrs. Higurashi asked absently.

“I did.” Genma nodded.

“He’s very--.” The woman struggled to find a descriptive word.

“He’s a girl! What are you two talking about?” Sota, the young boy stared at them like they were both idiots.

“It’s just a Jusenkyo curse.” Genma shrugged, having explained the panda curse to them before.

“And I have just the thing to remove that curse!” Grandpa Higurashi announced grandly and held out a crimson omamori decorated with stylized chrysanthemum flowers.

[kazenoryu]

“It’s just a Jusenkyo curse.” Genma shrugged, having explained the panda curse to them before.

“And I have just the thing to remove that curse!” Grandpa Higurashi announced grandly and held out a crimson omamori decorated with stylized chrysanthemum flowers.

Huh, that probably won't go well...

Either it wouldn't work or it could fail spectacularly and end up locking Ranma in girl form.

What would be the relationship between Ranma and Kagome though? Since you've made it so that the two of them are similar in appearance, maybe they are related?

Who knows, they could even be long lost twins?