"Well, I'm not sure," Kagome told him. "When Sango woke up later than usual this morning she seemed a little out of it. Then when Miroku came in here acting like usual well... see for yourself."
In the corner of the small hut, while Kagome and Inuyasha were checking over the monk to see that his was pretty much okay, if a little bruised, Shippo just nodded to himself. "Guess this means it's 'that time of the month' for Sango, huh?"
Miroku only groaned in reply.
Meanwhile outside the village, in the clearing that Inuyasha had been practicing with his sword only moments before, Ranma was pacing back and forth. Right now she didn't know weather to be freaking out with the fact that she was currently... wherever the hell she-no wait, scratch that, Ranma was at some tiny village in middle Japan, three days travel away from the tiny village of Edo.
"Wait Edo?" Ranma mumbled to herself before leaning on a nearby tree. However, before more of those strange memories could assault her, she decided to focus on something else. "Oh great, now I'm talking to myself."
Maybe she was going crazy? It was the simplest explanation after all. Maybe this was just all some stupid dream or something, and she was really in an asylum or something.
No, that didn't make any sense. The last thing she remembered was just laying on the roof while thinking about her life and... had she fallen asleep? It wouldn't of been the first time after all. But the theory this was all some stupid dream was quickly thrown aside when she pinched her cheek and felt pain.
Besides, if this really was a dream, then it wouldn't explain how she knew what she knew. Oh great, I just had to bring that up again Ranma scolded herself. The strange memories were creepy enough on their own, even without the strange body switch.
Maybe it was some kind of stupid plot by someone like Ryoga, or maybe the old ghoul; although the later wasn't very likely seeing as how she had no idea how this could lead to her marrying Shampoo. Although off hand Ranma had no idea how anyone could have done something like this. Sure, there were plenty of demons out there that could rip a soul from a body and use it for their host, but none of that involved... oh great, she was doing it again.
Damn other girl's memories just seemed to creep up on her without warning, like when she ran into Inuyasha and the others. Ranma hadn't even known their names until about half a second after she had said them. Then, there was also the question of just what kind of girl knew about demons that could take over bodies?
That's when a flood gate in her mind seemed to open.
-Meanwhile back at the hut-
"You know, it's getting pretty late," Kagome spoke up while looking out the window and seeing it was already past noon. "Shouldn't of Sango of come back by now?" They really did need to get back on the road to find some more jewel shards if she was going to make it back to school in time for her test later this week.
"Don't worry about it Kagome, she's fine," Inuyasha told her. "If anything would of happened, I would of smelled the blood from either one of them by now." Besides, no way Kagome was going to get him to go drag Sango back to the hut, Inuyasha knew very well what irate women were like during this time of the month. The less contact he had with her, the better.
"I'll go get her," Shippo spoke up before quickly rushing out the door while wisely avoiding Inuyasha. While Shippo was pretty young, he was hardly stupid. Inuyasha had been in a foul mood all morning since Sango took off and was complaining about how she was sowing them all down, but whenever someone just told him to go get her then, he quickly looked at them as if they were asking him to go jump off the nearest cliff before quickly finding an excuse to take off in another direction. Unless Shippo was the one asking of course, then instead of walking off, he kicked the little fox kit off in another direction.
-The Forest-
Ranma didn't know how long she had been sitting there, four or five hours at the least. But, after she had wondered just what kind of person whose body she was in, all the information just seemed to be hammered into her skull too fast for her brain to sort through it all.
The body she was currently in belonged to Sango -she didn't have a last name or anything since she wasn't of noble birth and the time period she was in still operated on the cast system- of a village of demon slayers. She was the only real survivor, there was that other boy, but from what Ranma could figure he was little more than a walking zombie that was only alive thanks to a magic jewel in his back. After a few moments of her thoughts dwelling on her younger-on Kohaku Ranma quickly tried to think of something else before the tears in her eyes could form. Damn other woman's memories were starting to mess with her emotions too.
But still, Ranma did feel sorry for the kid Naraku had... wait a second.
Naraku... could he be behind this? Ranma knew from Sango's memories that he was supposedly made up of thousands of demons. Who knew how much information all their combined knowledge could give him. So, if he really was the one who put Ranma in this body, could he reverse it too?
Well, it was a long shot at best, but at the moment Ranma didn't exactly have much else to go on. At the very least, if she found Naraku she could carry out Sango's vengeance for her. After feeling all the pain and loss of her losing her family, Ranma was more than happy to fulfill that part of her goals.
But the question of how entered her mind once again. From the memories of Sango's first encounter with the demon, Ranma knew the guy was at about Saffron's level of power; or worse as Naraku's miasma was much more deadly than Saffron's flames.
Plus, although Sango had been the best fighter in her village, her body was far below the level Ranma usually operated at. A few months of intense training would be able to solve that, but did she have time for something like that? Did Ranma even want to stay in this body for that long? The thought of being a girl for months did annoy her some, but not as much as going off to fight a battle she couldn't win and dying because of it.
Ranma supposed her lack of power could be made up by staying with Inuyasha and the others. She knew they were pretty capable fighters. But it wasn't as if she could just go up and tell them what was going on. Kagome would think she was crazy, and the others would think she was possessed. Which, I guess Sango kind of is Ranma thought after a moment.
However, before Ranma could come to a decision, a rustling of some grass caught her attention and caused her to look up. The lack of her danger sense ringing in the back of her head told her it wasn't some roaming demon or anything, so she just sat back and waited till Shippo finally made his way into the clearing.
"Oh there you are Sango," Shippo said before flicking a small bug that crawled onto his shoulder while he had been tracking Sango's scent. "We've been looking all over for you." Okay, so it wasn't exactly true, but best to let the girl feel like everyone missed her. "come on, we're all ready to go, and you know Kirara isn't going to let us leave without you."
"Hey Shippo," Ranma muttered.
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(Posted Wed, 11 Feb 2004 18:23)
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