"Okay Mom!" Ranko's voice rang out from behind the closed door. "I'll be out soon."
"All right." Nodoka said. "Do you want any help?"
There was silence for a few moments. "No thank you, mom." Ranko finally answered.
"Well all right. But call me up if you need anything!" Nodoka said, before leaving the area to go back downstairs.
Ranko Saotome let out a sigh of relief as she heard her mother leave. She wasn't finished yet. She still had a lot of fur to clean.
Yes. Ranko Saotome was no longer human. After falling into Warufuniichuan, 'Spring of Drowned Weretiger', Ranko had been cursed to become a weretiger forever more. Her curse did not effect her like the others. The water temperatures played no part, and she could change forms at will.
It had proved to be more of a blessing for Ranko than a curse, at least for a little while. It gave her strength, speed, and healing abilities. It gave her an edge over the competition.
Of course, Ranko had kept the truth about her abilities a secret. She didn't want people to know she wasn't human anymore. People might see her as a monster and try to kill her. So she made sure to act as thought she were just cursed to turn into a tiger.
The ploy had worked, and all the while in Nerima, Ranko survived all the insanity that was going on all around the city. The Amazons that followed her from China, her pal, the Eternal Lost Boy who had a short temper, her sometimes friend/rival Ucchan, the Tendo family, the old pervert, and then all sorts of craziness.
But somehow... One of them found out about her true nature. One of her female rivals planned to kill her with silver. The fight had become extended because of that, and Ranko did not hold back at all, using her hybrid form for the first time in battle.
In the end Ranko had won, and the girl was still in a coma at the hospital at the moment... But the damage to Ranko had been done. The silver poisoning she had recieved from all the stab wounds, especially her legs, had messed with both her body and soul, and Ranko willed herself to shift back into human form, before Ranko herself had gone into a coma.
Ranko had awoken at Tokyo General Hospital a week later. Her mother was hugging her greatly. The prognonosises of a few doctors had not been good, and they all expected her to be dead some time after she had been recieved and taken to the ICU. But Ranko had survived and had awoken, while Ranko's assailant had not.
However, Ranko did not get a full victory. Her leg muscles were weakened considerably, and she was now confined to a wheel-chair. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. Ranko knew it was because of the silver, but she couldn't say anything. Everyone would know the truth, and Ranko wasn't ready for how they would react.
That was two months ago. For a month after she had awoken, Ranko was accosted by police asking her questions about an animal attack, as Ranko's assilant seemed to have been mauled by some sort of cat. They thought Ranko had done it, but ruled it out as her animal form's claws and teeth did not fit the marks all over the girl in the coma. (And they would not, as Ranko was in hybrid form when she fought, meaning different shaped claws and teeth).
And worse, for that first month, Ranko was having a hard time adapting to the wheel-chair. She felt useless, and couldn't practice her family's art any more. It was focused on mid-air combat, and she couldn't walk, let alone jump!
Still, her internet friend, and author of many fantasy novels, Ranma J. Diggers, had given her confidence. He'd send e-mails and they talked in chat-rooms on many occassions to talk. He'd give her praises and wishes of good health, and overall helped her feel better about her situation.
And today, finally, after a long while, Ranko was going to meet Ranma. He wrote that he was going to meet her sometime soon, and the fact she'd get to meet a 'hero' of her's made her more excited than anything. He siad he was an actual mage, and maybe, JUST maybe, she could get his help... He might have the power to help her walk again.
Finally, Ranko felt she had taken care of her fur well enoguh and shifted back to human form. She used her arms to lift her up onto the edge of the furo to sit. She moved her legs out from the furo and over the side, and began drying off with a conveniuently placed towel.
As Ranko was drying off, she couldn't help but think about her assailant, the girl that had been in a coma for two months now. She couldn't help but think of...
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(Posted Mon, 04 Aug 2003 03:20)
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