Disclaimers: I do not own Ranma ½
Chapter Five: Ryouga! Leader of the B.B.W
Akane struggled in the grasp of her attacker as he pulled her away. She thought back to Ranma when he yelled out her name, remembering how her eyes widened watching him being jumped and attacked by those men.
'Ranma needs me.'
She thought frantically.Just thinking of him getting hurt gave her such a surge of power and she bit hard down on the hand clamped over her mouth and dug her hell into the ground.
"Ow!" A low male voice shouted out. "Still as violent as ever, eh Akane?" As his hold on her loosened and he dropped her.
"Still as tactless as ever, eh Ryouga?" Akane spat out, glaring up at him.
A tall, muscular man walked towards her as he gave a nervous laugh. His yellow sleeveless shirt was both loose and tight on him, showing off his well-toned chest. He wore really loose black pants to have plenty of moving room. But what really stood out were his claws on his hands and feet, his rich brown eyes that seemed to miss nothing at all, his ears which were long and went to a point, but lastly, was his toothy grin that showed his pointed canines. A yellow, black spotted bandanna held his boyish black hair back somewhat.
"You know, for a wolf gang, you sure do like the color of cheetahs, which I believe are cats," Akane said, her tone full of sarcasm.
"Shut up," Ryouga growled. "I save your life and here you are being sassy with me."
"Save me," Akane repeated with disbelief. "SAVE ME! You jerk, those are your men that attacked us!"
"No, you brought it on yourself. I warned the towns people that any who entered our woods would be attacked!" Ryouga shouted, getting angry.
"Your woods! Well you can't go attacking innocent people!" Akane's own anger was flaring.
"What the hell are you taking about woman?! This is our woods and any who enter without permission are trespassing!" Ryouga stepped close to her, a little too close for Akane's liking.
"Yeah right you own these lands Ryouga! If I remember correctly, the last I saw of your butt, you were a loner living down near the ocean and the only things you owned were a slice of bread and the clothes on your back!" Akane shouted emphasizing each word with a poke in the chest.
"Last time I saw you, you were heading home because you failed your mission!"
"You were traveling because your wife just died!" Akane silently cursed herself, she knew she said the wrong but she wasn't about to back down.
"Well you've never been good at helping your charges bitch!" Ryouga sneered, his face was moved so close to her that their noses were centimeters apart. Ryouga was hurt by her last comment.
"That's enough!" An angry voice roared.
Akane and Ryouga's head snapped in the direction the voice originated to see a furious Ranma emerge from the trees. Akane was shocked to see him unhurt and Ryouga was shocked to see that his men failed.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ranma shot glares between Ryouga and Akane.
"Ranma…" Akane started, but stopped as she realized that she didn't have a good explanation.
"Well Ryouga… your men suck at fighting, maybe I could say the same about you," Ranma sneered, ignoring Akane. He was angry… angry with himself for letting her get captured, him getting jumped, at Ryouga for grabbing Akane, and at Akane; for it was obvious that she lied to him.
"Why you… how do you know my name… no forget that, who are you?" Ryouga asked, clenching his fist to help keep his anger under control. After his little quarrel with Akane his anger was barely under check, and with Ranma's appearance… well clenching his fist was the only thing keeping him from embedding it in Ranma's face.
"I'm Ranma Saotome form the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma said with pride, jerking his thumb at himself.
"Well I'm Ryouga Hibiki, leader of The Bad Boy Wolves," Ryouga grounded out, eyeing Ranma carefully.
"And I'm Akane Tendo, guide of life… now what should we talk about?" Akane tried to joke. Both boys just answered her with glares. "Guess not," Akane said with a weak laugh.
"Akane, what are you doing with him?" Ranma asked, nodding his head at Ryouga.
"Akane, how do you know him?" Ryouga questioned at the same time, tilting his head to the side curiously.
"Well… let's answer the easier question first… I know Ranma because he's my new charge…" Akane answered in a meek voice, giving Ryouga a weak smile.
"Really?" Ryouga's brows shot up, suddenly interested in knowing more about Ranma."Yes really," Akane said, finding her feet interesting at the moment.
"No, I'm her brother," Ranma sarcastically snapped.
"You have a brother Akane?" Ryouga's brow furrowed in confusion.
"No Ryouga, you silly, he was kidding," Akane laughed, clapping his shoulder. "You're so gullible."
"So he is your new charge?"
"Yes I am, so why did you kidnap Akane?" Ranma crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Because I know Akane and sooner or later she would have bogged you down with her… er… less experienced fighting skills. I mean Akane's great with magic, but her fighting skills need some work," Ryouga explained.
"I hear you," Ranma laughed. Akane just threw them indignant looks.
"I refuse to believe that," she snapped.
"I'm sure," Ranma said, rolling his eyes.
"Listen, I need to speak with Ranma, so let's go back to the den," Ryouga said in a commanding tone.
"Whatever," Ranma muttered, walking to them.
"You won't be setting the 'gang' on us again will you Ryouga?" Akane kid, elbowing him. Again, her attempt was met by silence.
"Let's go," Ryouga said in a far off voice, walking off. Ranma and Akane just nodded as they followed, walking through bushes and thickets, once in a while getting caught in the occasional loose twig.
"Ranma…" Akane whispered after a while.
"Don't talk to me Akane," Ranma growled.
The tone of Ranma's voice surprised Akane. She could tell he was mad, but wasn't sure why. He seemed fine a few moments ago, laughing and joking with Ryouga like they were old friends.
'What'd I do Ranma to make you mad at me?'
Akane thought, giving him a questioning look. 'And why does it hurt that you're mad at me?'"Here we are?" Ryouga exclaimed, spreading his arms wide as he stepped into a clearing.
Ranma and Akane stepped after him, glad to finally make it to a place to sit. It took all of Ranma's will power not to let his jaw drop from the sight before him. Though Akane herself fell face first to the ground.
"This isn't your den!" Akane shouted, as she jumped to her feet, with closed fist at her side and her upper body leaning forward.
"What do you mean?" Ryouga asked, finally looking at h is surroundings to see un-conscience men lying around, this was the clearing where Ranma punched out the gang. "Oh, it isn't is it?"
"Still directionally challenged I see," Ranma muttered under his breath rolling his eyes.
"What was that Ranma?" Ryouga narrowed his eye sat Ranma's direction.
"Oh, nothing," Ranma rushing out. 'How did he hear me?'
"I'm sure you didn't," Ryouga sneered as he bent down to examine the nearest guy. "Man, you hit them pretty hard there Ranma," he commented. He whistled as he picked up one guy's limp arm that appeared now to be broken.
"Nah, not really… he's probably one of the stupid ones that tried to keep me away from Akane," Ranma said non-chantey, kicking a random guy in the ribs.
"Ryouga, what happened to the whole, let's go to my den idea, I like that idea," Akane said din a soft tone, giving wary looks all around.
"Yeah, yeah… keep our robes on Akane, I'm going to wake these lazy bums up so we can get there," Ryouga snapped with a gruff tone. He went over to a tall lump under a tree and lightly shook him. "Oi! Jukane!" He said, shaking harder. "Jukane, wake up you lazy ass!" Ryouga shouted, finally giving into his temptations on kicking him in the stomach.
Ryouga's response was a groan as Jukane rolled over so that he was now on his back. He blinked his coal black eyes a couple of times to get adjusted to the lighting. After the process, Jukane set his eyes on Ryouga, then trailed them over to Akane and they finally settled on Ranma… that was a wake up call.
"You!" Jukane shouted angrily. He jumped to his feet, fire filling his eyes. "I'm going to kill you!" He shouted as he lunged forward. Jukane was met wiht6 a swift kick to the gut and his back becoming reacquainted with the tree's trunk.
"Careful Jukane…" Ryouga said in a warning tone as he lowered his leg. He gave Ranma an apologetic look first before setting anger filled eyes back on Jukane's gasping form. "Ranma and Akane are my guests now… they will be treated with respect and are welcomed in these lands," Ryouga said in a stern tone.
"But boss…" Jukane began, giving him an incredulous look.
"No Jukane, you will listen to me!" Ryouga's voice boomed throughout the forest. The sudden outburst brought more members to wake up. "If anyone lays even a hair on Ranma in a wrong way, then they will answer to me personally!" Ryouga took glance all around at his groggy looking men before speaking again. "Is that understood?!" His voice boomed loudly, making birds in nearby trees fly away.
"Yes sir!" All men replied obediently, saluting him.
"Jukane," Ryouga eyed him carefully.
"Understood boss," Jukane said reluctantly, before giving Ranma one last hard glare. "Should we gather up the men and head back home sir?"
"Yeah, and the ones who can't walk… drag them," Ryouga smirked, giving Ranma and Akane a toothy grin. "Give the word Jukane."
"Yes sir!" Jukane shouted, then he turned to his comrades. "Let's move 'em out guys!" Jukane commanded, before walking into the shadows of the trees.
Ryouga just nodded his head at the men before gesturing for Ranma and Akane to follow him. Ranma just moved right after him, ignoring Akane's pleading look at him. Akane, herself, just hung her head, and walked sadly behind; trying to suppress her tears. For some reason, Ranma giving her the cold shoulder hurt.
The den of The Bad Boy Wolves was basically a cave that consisted of three main tunnels. The farthest on the right was the tunnel that led to he sleeping den. The middle tunnel led to Ryouga's private quarters. Lastly, the one farthest on the left led to the feeding den, which is where everyone resided in at the moment, eating heartily and making lots of noise.
"Men!" Ryouga's commanding voice boomed throughout the hall. He smiled as all noise began to cease. He looked around at his men, the ones who were shunned by society. All their faces peering admirably at him. "Tonight men, we have special guests with us! Sister Akane, who has been a dear friend to me," Ryouga announced, waving over at Akane's blushing form, as all eyes set on her. "And also Brother Ranma, who is the one that kicked all your sorry butts!" Ryouga proclaimed, moving everyone's attention to Ranma, whose face held a cocky grin.
"Ah boss, that's no fair!" One voice yelled out.
"We weren't ready, that's all!" Another shouted.
"Yeah! What he said!"
"Don't hold it against us!" Soon the room was filled with chatter and comments thrown at Ryouga.
"Enough!" Ryouga's voice rose above the rest. "I said to welcome guests, no complain as to why my trained men lost a fight! Maybe you guys are slacking off… I think some Bloody Rums will whip you back into shape," Ryouga mused, giving his men a promising look. He gave a full tooth grin as he was met with groans. "That's what I thought… now Ranma and Akane are welcomed in our woods at all times and are considered family!" Ryouga spread his arms wide.
"Yeah!" All the men cheered, punching a fist into the air.
"now let's finish the feast!" Ryouga boomed, sitting down and grabbing some roast to eat.
"Yeah!" The men shouted enthusiastically, them all grabbing random food to stuff in their mouth.
"Wolves sure know how to throw a feast," Akane tried to joke with Ranma.
"Whatever," Ranma said rather coldly, diverting his attention elsewhere."O… okay," Akane murmured, bowing her gaze down to her plate.
Ryouga looked between Akane's sad form and Ranma's angered one and shook his head. He did not like the tension the two were stirring.
"Hey you two, you're ruining the mood, lighten up a little," Ryouga kid, elbowing Ranma a little. He was met with dead stares. "O-Kay… listen you two, we need to talk… when can you?"
"Now is fine," Akane's dead voice met him.
"Whatever," Ranma droned, keeping his attention away from them.
"Great, let's go," Ryouga said, getting up. "Men, Jukane is in charge now, so listen to him for the time being!" Ryouga announced. He nodded his head when he was met with 'yes sir.' "Follow me," Ryouga gestured to the two, walking around the outskirts of the room. Ranma and Akane rose from their seats also and followed close behind.
Jukane's coal eyes followed the three closely, once he was sure they were a good ways into the tunnel he turned his attention to a guy nearby. The young man gave him an inquisitive look that Jukane just nodded his head in response. The man got the message and left the room himself.
"Have a seat," Ryouga commented, waving his hand at the pillows scattered across the floor. The room itself was fairly large, with a patch of hay in one corner, a low table in another, candles placed thoroughly around the room, and pillows everywhere for seating. Ranma sat on a dark blue pillow that allowed him to lean against the wall, while Akane took an orange one fairly close to him.
"Nice room," Akane said, looking around. Ryouga just nodded, taking a seat on a yellow pillow in front of Ranma.
"I want to know why you two were in the forest earlier," Ryouga went straight to the point.
"Well you see…" Akane began, but Ranma interrupted her.
"We don't need to explain anything to you," Ranma snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Ryouga a stern look.
"Well, I would like to help in any way… in fact I can help you if you help me first," Ryouga explained, crossing his own arms.
"How can you help us?" Ranma asked in disbelief, he eyed Ryouga carefully.
"Well I'm not sure yet… I need to know why you were here in the first place."
"Let's just ell him Ranma it… wouldn't… hurt," Akane's voice trailed off as Ranma shot her a cold glare.
"You want to tell him, fine! I'm not gonna tell him anything!" Ranma shouted at her. Akane cringed from the sudden outburst, but tried to hide it as she turned her attention to Ryouga.
"You see, we were searching for shard holders when se came across a burning house. We saved the children… but one was harmed badly. To wake him, we needed to get this medicine from the town doctor, but the doctor was missing an ingredient. A flower called Ukyo's Tear. We came in here looking for it, and we found it… but then we got ambushed," Akane explained shyly, worrying that Ranma might explode at any moment.
"I see… well there is no reason that I can see as to why you can't have the flower… in fact I say we go to that clearing and get it," Ryouga said, stroking his chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Really?!" Akane asked eagerly, leaning forward on her pillow.
"Sure," Ryouga said.
"Do you hear that Ranma?" Akane turned a bright smile at Ranma. Her smile faded as she saw him staring at the door. "Ranma…" Akane placed a tentative hand on his shoulder.
"What Akane?" Ranma turned to face her and for the first time that night, Ranma looked her in the eye.
Akane's breath caught in her throat as she saw many emotions filling his eyes. Anger, sadness, hurt… and betrayal. They say the eyes are the windows to people's souls and Akane believed that at the moment.
"Is something wrong Ranma?" Akane asked, gazing deeply into his eyes.
"No… I just thought I heard something…" He threw another glance at the door.
If the three had paid closer attention, they would've seen a figure nodding their head before creeping back down the hall.
"Well… now to other things!" Ryouga announced. "I believe you are here to have a fight with me Ranma."
"What?" Ranma's head snapped in Ryouga's direction.
"As a charge for a guide of life, it is your duty to collect spirit shards…. Correct?" Ryouga asked, taking on a serious look.
"What's it to ya?" Ranma was getting more and more suspicious of Ryouga by the minute.
"I, Ryouga Hibiki, keeper of the Forest Spirit Shard hereby challenge you!" Ryouga declared, standing up and pulling a chain from around his neck. He dangled it in front of himself, and upon a closer look, Ranma saw a piece of broken glass tinted a light forest green hanging from it.
"Things just keep getting interesting," Ranma muttered, looking up from the pendant to Ryouga's face.
"If you accept or decline the challenge is up to you. I shall await you in the battle arena… to locate it, leave the den and follow the lights," with that brief explanation, Ryouga turned on his heels and left the room.
"Ranma… I don't think you should fight Ryouga," Akane said in a nervous voice, eyeing the door Ryouga left through warily.
"Why should I listen to you?" Ranma's cold voice met her ears.
"Why shouldn't you listen to me? It's your duty as my charge to listen to my advice!" Akane exclaimed, standing up.
"I don't listen to LIARS!" Ranma shouted, standing up himself. His cold angry blue eyes met Akane's now frightened sad brown ones.
"I am not a liar!" Akane refused to back down.
"Really Akane?!" Ranma's voice was full of disbelief. "You knew who these people were all along… you knew about Ryouga… about this gang! You just played stupid! God, I should've known you were up to something or hiding something from the way you reacted every time their name was brought up!" Ranma shouted. His face was mere inches from her own.
"I'm sorry," Akane choked out, tears welling in her eyes. She felt awful at the moment. Ranma was right, she should've told him… instead she acted sneaky and hid everything form him.
"You're sorry… you're sorry," Ranma repeated with an incredulous look. "Akane, sometimes sorry doesn't cut it. What? You think that saying sorry will change what you did?"
"N-no… but …" Akane started, but was cut off.
"No Akane, it won't, we're suppose to be partners… we're not suppose to hide things form each other."
"I know, and I'm truly sorry, but you should listen to me and not fight him," she started again.
"Akane, I need to get home, and to do that I need that shard!"
"I know that… but…"
"No Akane, I don't want to hear it! Don't talk to me ever! I'm going to fight Ryouga no matter what you say!" Ranma shouted, pointing a finger at her and giving her a cold glare. 'I'm sorry, but I will fight Ryouga and win so I can get home to my Akane.' Ranma thought, inwardly sad that he treated Akane so badly.
"Fine! But don't expect me to cheer you on!" Akane shouted, beginning to walk to the door. "Oh, and to prove it, I'm going to look for Ukyo's Tear right now!" She shouted, and left the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Fine, you do that!" Ranma shouted at the closed door. He turned his back to the door, and faced the wall.
"Oh, and Ranma,' Akane's voice called, reopening that door, far enough to stick her head through.
"What, come to apologize?" Ranma asked in a sarcastic tone.
"No, I wanted to warn you that Ryouga is a wolf demon."
"A wolf demon?" Ranma mused as he followed the lights to where Ryouga awaited. "Well… it's not like I haven't seen weirder things," Ranma said, thinking of gods, and ghost cats, and three-hundred-year old Chinese ghouls that he's seen.
"So you've decided to fight, good choice!" Ryouga called out as he watched Ranma enter the arena.
"I never back down from a fight," Ranma said, rolling his neck side to side.
"Good, hope you're prepared to lose," Ryouga said, getting into a fighting stance.
"Hope you're talking about yourself!" Ranma shouted as he jumped towards Ryouga.
Ranma threw his fist back, ready to throw it at Ryouga. But as his arm extended, Ryouga was gone. Ranma blinked in confusion as he looked around.
"Looking for me?" A voice whispered behind Ranma. Ranma whirled around just in time to have his cheek meet Ryouga's fist. Ranma flew backwards and he groaned in pain as he hit a tree.
"That's going to leave a mark," he muttered as he rubbed his jaw.
"Didn't Akane warn you?" Ryouga asked, as he once again disappeared and then landed a quick kick on Ranma's gut, having Ranma double over in pain.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a wolf demon… so what?!" Ranma shouted, throwing punches at Ryouga, who was enjoying himself in dodging.
"Well… wolves have great senses," Ryouga commented, bending low to avoid a kick. He then kicked upwards himself, making contact with Ranma's chin.
"This is getting me no where," Ranma muttered softly, wiping some blood from his mouth. "Time for a different strategy," Ranma said.
Ranma crouched on the ground, watching Ryouga's moves carefully as he went throughout the arena. He launched once more at Ryouga, this time more for planning then blunt hitting.
'Got it!'
Ranma thought. He jumped backwards, confusing Ryouga. Ryouga cocked his head to the side in confusion, before grinning madly, showing off his fangs."Giving up?" He smiled widely.
"Nope, just getting started," Ranma said, smiling himself.
Ryouga just shook his head before running forward. Ranma grinned, anticipating this. He kicked his leg up, and his grin widened as Ryouga fell forward.
Before Ryouga could recuperate from it, Ranma gave him swifts kick in the gut, having him fly though several trees. Before Ryouga could respond or even touch the ground Ranma drop kicked him.
"That was interesting," Ryouga said, getting up and rubbing his sore jaw. "But you got lucky!" Ryouga shouted as he ran forward again.
Once again, Ranma kicked up and Ryouga fell. Ranma took his chance and began to drive his fist downward. He was about to land a hit on Ryouga's face for a finishing blow, but stopped short as a scream broke the silence.
"Ah! No!" A loud scream echoed throughout the forest. Ranma looked up in time to see birds flying. "NO! STOP! HELP!"
"Akane," Ranma breathed, finally recognizing the voice. "AKANE!" He shouted, taking off for where he saw the birds. Ryouga was right behind him.
They ran between trees, Ranma praying that nothing bad had happened. They leapt over a row of boulders and ran into the clearing form earlier that day. Ranma and Ryouga took frantic glances around, looking for any sign of Akane.
"Looking for this?" A cool voice sounded from the shadows.
A/N: Thank you all reviewers. I was so glad to hear that you guys liked my story, because I was worried about how strange it might have sounded. Oh, well, I'm just glad that people want more. It was fun reading those reviews and I want to thank all the reviewers, because that was the most reviews I ever got on the first chapter. Well, I'll try to update faster now that I know the story is liked. Sayonara. Oh and thanks for telling me what author alert is!