Standard Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this fic are the property of their respective creators. Please don't sue me, I have no money. Desert Moon A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction By Valandar the Red Chapter One Haven't We been Here Before? Akemi ducked under the first punch, and swiftly dropped her left forearm to deflect the one aimed at her midsection. Her foot lashed out for her opponant's feet, but they weren't there. She instinctively dove forward as a high roundhouse kick passed through where her head would have been. Spinning, she used the mom- entum of her turn to add a little extra force to a block, and flickered out with a swift jab to her opponant's face. Of course it wasn't there, the other person was simply too fast for her to touch. Before she could withdraw the offending limb, it was snared, and she found herself flying through the air, landing in the koi pond behind the dojo. Pulling herself out of the water, she just looked at the winner of the match. "So, Mom, when am I going to be ready for Chestnut Fist training? You and Dad have been putting me off for a while, now." Akane laughed. "You're just about ready. Remember, you've got more power than your brother, which is why we started you with Kyokushinkai, and taught him Kempo. Now, go get cleaned up for breakfast, and I'll have it ready by the time you come down." Ranma and Ryouga clapped. "Wow, Akane, you've gotten even faster since the last time I saw you fight," said the Lost Man. "Maybe," she said, "but I'm still nowhere near Ranma was back in High School. At least I can do the Chestnut Fist, though. It took me until ten years after we graduated to finally get it." "But you got it," added Ranma. "Okay, piggy, time for _our_ match." He grinned evilly, and began to crack his knuckles. "Let's do it." This poor author has not the words to describe the bout that followed. It was simply an explosion of sheer skill between two great martial artists. Time may have sapped some small amount of speed and strength from the height of their youth, but the precision and focus they displayed overcame that drawback. Each maneuver was flawless, and the countermove perfection. Akemi had returned from her bath, and Akane had already started cooking breakfast, before Ranma even scored the first touch, let alone struck with enough force to affect his stocky partner. By unspoken agreement, they did not use any special maneuvers, as their power had grown to the point where they could easily destroy a large section of the city if the fight grew out of hand. "Breakfast is ready!" came the cry that interrupted this epic sparring session. Both froze, each others' fists inches aray from the other's face. They broke into grins, clapped each other on the shoulder, and walked in to eat. Mousse, Shampoo, Akari, and Ryouga had spent the night at the Tendo Dojo. Now, the table held not only them, but also the regular inhabitants. Kasumi sat next to her husband Tofu, with Soun on the other side of her. Ranma sat at the head of the table, Akane next to him, and their daughter, Akemi, and son, Kenchiro, next to her. The visitors filled in the remaining seats, making for a crowded table. The chatter that morning was quite different from the discussion the previous night. They discussed the future, including Akemi's decision to attend Kobe University, and what some of their classmates might be doing now. Soun, however, was quiet, and, towards the end of the meal, drifted off to sleep, chopsticks still in his mouth. Ranma laughed, and woke him up, then led him over to the couch, where he could nap in peace in front of the television. ******************** Elsewhere in Japan, several other individuals gathered for breakfast, but the topic of their conver- sation was not as light hearted. Each one was powerful in his or her own way, and sought to further that power for their own ends. "At this point, I ask if anyone has anything new to bring before me. Katsuni?" The speaker was old, well past eighty, dressed in a western cut business suit, and white hair combed over a bald spot. He was rather heavy, and had an air of absolute confidence, while his voice had the strident tones of absolute authority. The man indicated bowed, before speaking. "Sir, we have discovered the whereabouts of that which you seek." Murmurs erupted at this, ending when the old man raised his left hand. "Well, Katsuni? I am waiting for you to continue." Bowing again, slightly, the younger man continued. "It is found in a small valley, in the Bayankala range. There is a single member of the PRC assigned to a post there, more as a guide than a guard. However, three different indigenous tribes stake various claims to the area." One of the other individuals at the table snorted. "As if primitive savages could ever be a credible threat to our security forces." A woman just to his left sneered at him. "Shiro, do not be so quick to discount primitives. If the power of the region is true, perhaps other powers exist in the area, as well." "Bah. Such things are stories, at best. The springs exist, but work through scientific principles." The man was thin, and short. He wore thick, wireframed glasses, and had loose skin that drooped from his neck, both of which added to the man's resemblance to an overdressed turkey. The old man spoke again, ending the discussion. "Shiro, you are here, not for your opinions on the capabilities of aboriginal natives, but for your company's technical resources. Do not dare to think that you understand, or can understand, everything that occurs in this world." He raised his hand, and a faint glow covered it. The old man's face was shaking from the effort of concentration, and beads of sweat sprung forth on his forehead. Relaxing, the glow faded, and he allowed his hand to drop into his lap. Noting that Shiro was silent, and slightly dis- comfited, Kenchiro continued with a full discussion of the Jokusetsu Amazons, the Musk Dynasty, and the inhab- itants of Phoenix mountain. They had plenty of information about their numbers, and obvious prowess in the arts of combat, but almost no information about the unusual powers they may or may not possess, save for tiny bits of rumor and hearsay. Finally, the old man had decided that he had heard enough. The man stood. "I am Tokugawa Akahito. I am now, and forever, Daimyo to you all, in spirit, if not name. We shall go to Jusenkyo, and, there, I shall achieve immortality. Now, begone with you, and speak of this to no one." They stood, as well, and bowed, then filed out the door of the spacious office. "Kyoko - you shall stay." The woman, quite attractive, and barely thirty, waited at the doorway until the others had left, then walked back into the office. "Yes, Tokugawa-sempai?" "Sit." She did as she was told, and he looked at her. "You are the one who brought the tale of these... cursed springs. In the seven years we have searched, you never mentioned any of these natives. Why?" "I... I am sorry. I am forbidden to speak of such things." She dropped her face, eyes boring holes into the carpet, and cheeks flushed with shame. He reached out, and roughly gripped her chin. "Now, Kyoko. Is the command of whoever forbade to to speak really that much more fearsome than my own wishes?" His voice was arctic chill, and he stared into her eyes like the serpent stares at a hare. She looked up, not afraid, but frustrated. "That is not what I mean, Sempai. It is a Forbidding- a compulsion, placed in my own mind. I cannot break it, anymore than I can call fire to my hand, as you do. I simply cannot speak about...about them." He moved his hand, so it no longer wrenched at her chin, but, rather, cupped it. "Ah, I see. So they _do_, in fact, have some measure of power as you have insinuated." He released her chin, and strode towards the door to his private office. "Leave. There is nothing more you can do for me, and therefore no valid reason for you to remain." Grateful, she stood, bowed, and hurried through the outer door, into the hallway beyond. ******************** "My classes aren't scheduled to begin until two in the afternoon, so what do you guys want to do until then?" Ranma was seated on the rock beside the pond, balancing a bokken on one finger. Ukyou had "Why not spar some more?" suggested Ryouga. "And why doesn't that answer surprise me?" asked Ukyou. "It seems like the two of you spend most of your time together fighting." "Hey, it's how we show we're still friends," said the Lost Man. "We beat each other up, but we don't kill each other. If one of us kills the other, then we aren't friends anymore." Akari just elbowed him in the side. "Now, P-chan, be nice." "So she calls you P-chan, too, huh? Wow, I bet you never thought you'd get that much mileage out of that nickname, eh, piggy?" "Ah, be quiet, Ranko." The pig snipe didn't get the reaction Ranma had expected; in fact, Ryouga got him back, and left him speechless for all of thirty seconds. "Yeah, well. Anyway, you guys wanna go check out good ol' Furinkan? Miss Hinako's principal now, by the way." "Principal? The little girl teacher?" asked an incredulous Shampoo. "The one who drained ki ?" "Yup, that's the one. In fact, she... nah, you can find out for yourself. Let's go." Ryouga agreed. "Yeah, come on," he said, as he immediately bounded out of the yard. Ranma leapt out right behind, and caught him. "Sorry, but, first of all, Furinkan is the other way. Second, I was gonna drive us there in the minivan. If you remember, that's how I took Akemi and Kenchiro this morning." "Um, right. Er, can you lead me to the van?" Laughing, Ranma put his hand on his friend's shoulder, and walked around the other side of the building, where the vehicle was waiting. The school was just like the Wrecking Crew remembered it, but with a better coat of paint on the walls. Evidently, it didn't have to put up with the kind of abuse they used to give it. There weren't that many students walking around in the grounds, but, then again, it was ten in the morning. Most of them were in class. "Look, Ranma, it's still here!" called Akane, from across the school yard. "What is ?" asked a confused Mousse. "Well, whaddya know," breathed Ranma. "It's part of that big hot plate Ucchan and I fought on when she first came to Nerima. We stuck it in the ground by this one tree as sort of a landmark, to remember it." "Oh, sure, remind me about that little incident," muttered Ukyou. "Not that I miss how I acted for a year and a half after that, either." "Anyway, let's go inside. Shampoo, I am about to show you part of Furinkan you never saw before." Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "What?" Ranma grinned from ear to ear. "The door." Seconds later, the crew walked inside, as Mousse helped Ranma out of his crater. "Sorry, Ranma. She never could take a joke like that." Walking down the halls of their alma mater brought back memories to the three who actually graduated from there, as well as a few for Shampoo and Ryouga. They could still make out the scars in the wall where the purple- haired amazon would burst through, and from the occasional imbedding of Kuno into the cinderblock. They wound their way towards the Principal's office, approaching the secretary when they reached it. "Pardon me," began Ranma, "Is Hinako-sensei in her office right now?" The man behind the desk glanced up. "Actually, she is. If you could wait here a second, I'll see if she's available." "Thanks." After a moment of consultation on an intercom, the man looked up at the seven of them. "She'll see you, go on in." They walked past the only remaining plastic potted palm, a holdover from Headmaster Kuno's tenure, and into the office. Inside, a fourteen-year-old girl sat behind a desk, signing a stack of papers in front of her. "Oh, Ranma, Akane, hello ! Um... did I call you about Akemi or Kenchiro? And Ukyou, you don't have a child here, do you ?" "No, ma'am. We're here to say hello. After all, our twenty-fifth reunion is tomorrow." Ukyou smiled at the child-like teacher. "Also, our friends here never went to Furinkan, but were kinda friends with the crowd here, and we would like to know if it would be okay for them to come to the reunion." Miss Hinako stood. "Well...I seem to remember you, young lady," she said, pointing at Shampoo, "and you," she added, referring to Ryouga, "but I don't seem to be able to remember the two of you very well." This last was directed at Mousse and Akari. She squinted at them, and grinned. "You two aren't delinquints, are you?" Mousse and Akari had heard the stories about this young ( or not-so-young) lady, and immediately began holding their hands in front of them, and denying being a delinquent, ever having been a delinquent, or even considering ever being one. She laughed, "No, don't worry. I don't do that much, any more. Since I only age one year in four right now, I still look young. Maybe in another forty or fifty years, I'll look like I did after draining, but if I drained right now, I'd look well over fifty. Not exactly great for the ego. "As for the reunion, I don't have a problem with it. Just promise that you'll keep things quiet...and keep me away from some of the cuter seniors. If I don't keep my concentration, I'm just like the typical teenager." Ryouga raised his hand. "We promise." She winked at him, then began to giggle. "Good." She blinked up at him. "You're not married, are you?" Ryouga just stood there, stunned, and let Akari lift his hand with hers, to show the ring. "Oh, well, you're too old for me, anyway," pouted Miss Hinako. Ranma chuckled. "Please, it's not like it's our fiftieth class reunion. And, weird stuff or no weird stuff, you're still older than all of us. Anyways, we gotta go. By the time we get back to the dojo, it'll be time for my first class of the day. We'll see you at the reunion tomorrow." "Goodbye!" she said, beaming a smile that almost advertised to the world that her brains were on hold until she drained chi. The crew thanked her, and left the office, to continue the day back at the dojo. ******************** The shades to Tokugawa Akihito's office were closed, and the lights were off. He was far more comfortable in the darkness, where the light of day could not summon the memories of a brighter past. In one hand, he held a small, framed photograph, while the other simply rested on his desk. "They found it, my love. If it works, then we will be reunited in this world. Then, we shall attain total control over Japan, as my ancestor did." He placed the photo back on the desk, and stood, slowly. He walked out into the middle of the floor of his office, and sat down in the lotus position. Hands folded, he began to slowly work them through a pattern of mudras, sacred hand positions. When he first began his search into esoterica, he had dismissed it all as superstition hiding a reason- able truth. That is, until he beheld a certain monk performing the mudras. The monk workd his way through a pattern, ending in the Second Mudra of Unmoving. To Akihito's surprise, the monk actually transformed, though temporarily, into an unmoving, stone statue. When the monk reverted, Akihito had begun to beg him to teach him the mudras. The monk refused, at first, but relented after a year of the younger man pestering him about it. It turned out that the corporate manager had little talent for things mystical, but enough to eventually enable him to render his chi visible. With the glowing hand as a threat, though none ever learned it did little more than glow, he rapidly moved up the heirarchy, eventually to President of a certain zaibatsu. Then, he began to gather around him those who had resources, or talents, he could draw upon. Shortly after he began this proccess, he beheld a duel between two powerful martial artists, several of which were said to dwell within Nerima prefecture. A water main was burst, spraying the two. One transformed into a smaller, red- headed version of himself, while the other transformed into some sort of tentacled, winged oni. No one he consulted knew anything about trans- formations by water. Finally, seven years ago, a young woman named Kyoko informed him about certain legendary springs. Called Jusenkyo, they could bring about the changes he had beheld. What is more, one spring was said to have been where an Asura had drowned, and a vague hint suggested that Jalamdhara, a demon who once threatened even the hindu gods, themselves, may have fallen into one of the pools at his death. Going to the library, Akihito was amazed at what this demon was said to have done. It was born of Siva's anger, made manifest, to take vengeance on Indra and the other gods for a presumptuous wish. He could fly on the winds, float on the oceans, and command the fiercest of beasts. What really caught the businessman's attention was the statement that Jalamdhara was said to be able to raise the dead. He skipped over how the demon was defeated, and realized that he had to find Jusenkyo. With Jusenkyo, his beloved wife could return. With Jusenkyo, he could conquer the world. With Jusenkyo, he could even conquer the gods.