[X] Lost and Seeking
You roamed the wilderness, lost once again with no idea where you were heading save for what you could see. Hell, you wondered if you were actually spirited away to; well, hell - it certainly felt like it, and knowing that it was Happosai's fault that you were stuck in this forsaken world really didn't prove the idea
wrong in this case. After getting the hell out of the city after Ranma and that blonde chick started getting serious and trying to find the little girl Ranma threw at you, you got lost...again. Only this time; you ended up in the wilderness surrounded by demons.
Well, they seemed like demons; what with them dissolving into shadows after dying, the demonic bone masks and bone spikes all over, and especially since they seemed to home in on you constantly unless you unloaded a massive Shishi Hokodan to blow them away. Even then, you're pretty sure they still swarmed the crater of the aftermath of the ki blast. Now, though you hate to admit it; you were kinda-sorta...a
little slow, but even you got the picture here: negative ki was to these monsters like fresh blood was to piranhas and sharks.
And again, though you hate to admit it, you weren't exactly someone who was happy-go-lucky or even just simply content with your life. Too much shit was simply piled onto your shoulders to simply ignore, it's why your Shishi Hokodan put Ranma's dinky little Moko Takabisha to shame; hell, why your ki in general put his to shame. Yours was simply heavier and denser with the years of pent-up negativity that he simply lacked. Too bad that was the whole reason you were being hounded by the literal beasts of hell now.
Dammit; the fact that this was just another factor of the chaotic hell that was your rival's life just pissed you off, and it was really only because it wasn't his fault in the first place that you weren't going to vent by pounding his face in. No, that was all the old fart's fault, and...maybe your's-but only a little, and it didn't count! Also because the whole reason you were trying to get to Nerima in the first place was...was...was because you needed his help.
Crap, now you've started thinking about
that again, which was the last thing you needed in the middle of nowhere infested with angst-seeking monsters. Sighing, you shift through your pack and pull out what made you seek Ranma out in the first place; a letter from your parents, one you found after managing to get back home after the failed wedding - though the letter itself was written months before that. What was written on it, was probably the last thing you ever expected...
Ryoga,
Your father and I hope this letter finds you in good health, and that you manage to get it soon. Though what 'soon' is for our family is...relative; we hope that it's not worse than usual. The reason for that...is because of what your father managed to tell me when we managed to find each other again. About...Yoiko.
Now before you say anything; I know, I know: boys will be boys and your friend Ranma meant nothing by it except as a prank of some sort. Don't hold it against him, especially since...since we never told you. We were too scared to and...and it still hurt thinking about it; even to this day.
Ryoga, the truth is...you
did have a little sister, and her name
was Yoiko; she was just-just taken from us before her time.
It was two years or so after you were born; your father and I had managed to run into each other in Las Vegas after a particularly long time apart. Being gone for so long and getting together again, especially in the city of sin - we ended up...
celebrating. Hired a guide to make sure we didn't get lost and everything. One thing led to another, and the next I knew the doctor said I was pregnant with a girl and shouldn't be traveling until after she was born.
We were so...so happy, your father and I; happy and afraid. Happy that we'd be able to give you a little sister, someone who could be beside you through thick and thin; someone you'd be able to protect and help, family who'd be there more than we could. But we were also scared, scared of what she'd think - of having a family she'd be lucky to see more than twice a year, a family who's blood carried this horrible, horrible curse. We saw how much it affected you, and we were afraid of making another suffer like you did.
That all changed when she was finally born, when she looked at me with your father's striking emerald eyes and smiled at me. Smiled with an innocent, carefree smile that only a child could; and right then and there I threw away all those regrets and cherished my little Yoiko. I swore that I'd never let her go. That she'd always know the love of her family; because she'd have me, your father, and you. So no matter what happened or how far we were, there'd always be someone around for her.
That was when...when...
...
...
Hello son; it's your father writing, your mother...she always took Yoiko's loss hard, and remembering it always hurts. While she's grieving, I'll be writing.
What happened was that the 'guide' we hired wasn't a guide; they were a cultist. Worshipped some freaky calamari god or whatever and were planning on sacrificing Yoiko over a-what was it- a hellgate? Doomgate? It was 'something-gate'; doesn't matter, what was important was that they took Yoiko from us, and we were gonna take her back.
For once in our lives we didn't get lost; we chased those bastards right to their lair and their stupid gate, and fought off as many as we could; even stopping the bastard with the knife aimed at your sister's throat. We though we won...
...Unfortunately, the fucker still drew squiggles on Yoiko with his blood and managed to wheeze out some sort of incantation. I managed to stop him mid-way, but the damage was done- Yoiko was gone. The last I saw of my darling baby girl, your little sister, was her peaceful sleeping face and the tuft of hair that was just like your mother's. You know; that lovely shade of crimson that'd look like blood and gore on so may other people...but your mother, she made it look like roses and love given color.
Son; I don't expect anything to come of this, save for the bitter realization of what could have been, but dammit I still have to do this. Even after visiting every occultist and paranormal expert we could and being told it's a lost cause, we still looked for her- are still looking for her, at some level. All I ask, all I beg of you, is that if you can find
anyone or anything that can help; please, tell us. If somehow, you manage to find out where she is; go and find her.
Please...if you can; please find Yoiko. Find her, and bring her home...
Love,
Mother and Father
You felt all the sadness, all the grief and sorrow and pushed it upward; a surging column of blood-red ki that was almost black coming forth from your body. Easily the size of a small mountain, you flung it up with a loud roar, "SHISHI HOKODAN!"
The ki flew up into the sky, then descended down like a meteor; smashing into you and bathing the world into a bloody haze as far as you could see. When the ki finally dissipated, you were spent emotionally and all around you was a crater easily ten times the size of any you made back home. You know that this latest blast took care of the black beasts for now and bought you more time to think and rest.
You took off the bandanna wrapped around your head, yellow with black stripes and spots; just like an oni's would be. Looking at it, you can see where the stripes and spots in one of the corners of the cloth made out your name in kanji. Everyone in your famliy had one, even Yoiko would have one; wherever she may be.
"Yoiko..." you whispered, "I swear, I
will find you; I will find you and bring you home, for mother and father. For our family; for
you, wherever you may be and whatever may happen- it doesn't matter!
Because I'm your big brother! And as your big brother I'm here to protect you! To keep you safe! To make you happy; to make you smile when you frown, to bring you joy when you're drowning in sorrow! And most of all...to stand by you no matter what happens, as family!
So no matter where you may be, and no matter what may try and stop me; I
will be there for you-as your big brother, when I find you, I will never let you down..."
Exausted both physically and emotionally, you laid down on the earth; letting your ki recover a bit before you went on the move again. As you relaxed on the earth, you felt...something nagging at you; as if it were pushing against you and trying to get inside you. And it
never stopped!
Whatever it was, it never let up; and only added fuel to the massive fire of bullshit you found yourself in: searching for Yoiko, lost and surrounded by monsters, stranded in another world, and to top it all off now you couldn't even rest without something happening! Fed up with this stupid pushing-twitching feeling, you lashed out at it with whatever ki you had left in you to make it go away. Instead, it did the exact opposite; it latched
onto your ki and was dragged
in. You frantically tried to get this...whatever out of you, pushing it out like you pushed out your ki for the Shishi Hokodan.
What happened was...surprising; instead of a ki-or whatever this was-blast, there was a surge in the ground in front of you. Spikes of earth erupted and rushed forward, following where the energy would've gone had it come out in the Shishi Hokodan you were trying to make. And to top it off, the feeling was
still there.
You repeated this several times; push ki out, get
whatever in, then push that out and make earth do stuff. You found that the more ki you emptied out of you, the more this...power rushed into your body; as if it was trying to
replace your ki or something. To check if this was true, you drew your ki in while you had this energy inside of you. Thankfully, it didn't go away and your ki wasn't kept out of you; it just...overlaid over the new power. Like it was there, but not there. Whatever it was; it also seemed to energize you like ki did, so that was sorta helpful.
As you felt this newfound energy flowing into your body, you started to look around; trying to find the source, seeing nothing but the crater you made. Trying to get a better view around you; you leapt to the skies and tried to get a bird's eye view. The moment your feet left the ground, you felt all the new energy inside of you leave your body; shocking you and almost messing up your landing because of it. It took you a while to think about what happened but then, you had an idea: you jumped up into the air and the energy left you again. And when you landed...the energy returned.
Then, you slammed your foot into the earth so hard your leg was covered in dirt up to the knee; and the energy surged into you even faster and harder. So that was it, huh? You could draw...
something from the earth, but only when you were touching it...
Immediately, your mind went into a frenzy; working out possible techniques and strategies for your next fight, plans on how to incorporate this into your style. Sure, it was just a distraction from what was bothering you; but you needed something to take your mind off of that, for a while at least. And hey, you always enjoyed putting Ranma in his place with a new technique to kick his ass...
Author's Note: Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? Prepare for Earthbender Ryoga the next time you meet him, because I needed to give him something to match PSoI. Also, next time; figuring out just what the Dirt Mafia has in mind for you.
You ready to meet 'Big V' Vinnie and Jack the Ripper?
