Grave's New Life

Chapter Ten

By Philip Weigel

Disclaimer: I own everything here! *Sees lawyers heading my way.* FINAL ATTACK!!! *Generates massive aura and makes the ground around myself break apart.* Retreat! *Runs away.* I own everything that isn't owned by Rumiko Takahashi-sama and High Lord Fred Perry. Which means I do not own the characters of Ranma 1/2 or Gold Digger.

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Grave sighed as she sat on the bench that Ranma had been laying on when she was allowed into his cell. Right now the pigtailed martial artist was working out a bit. "Ranma?"

"Yeah Grave?"

Grave shook her head and smiled. "Why are you working out right now?"

"Ta clear my head a bit. I always think better when I'm doing a kata, rather than sittin' down."

Grave nodded. As she watched Ranma work out, she thought about a few things that just came to mind. The first thing that came to her mind was her life, or rather, lack of it. Oh, she had memories alright, just that those memories were of Britanny and Gina's life before her. 'Yeah, I'm the one without a life, I keep forgetting that.' Sighing she shook her head. 'How can Brianna be happy and want to protect them? We're just a shadow of Britanny and Gina, so why does she keep insisting that she has a life of her own?'

Grave sighed and blinked when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking up, she smiled a bit at Ranma. "Is something wrong, Ranma?"

"You okay, Grave? You were looking depressed."

She smiled, albeit a bit meloncholy, at his worry. "Just thinking a bit."

The black haired youth sat down next to her. "About what?" He was a bit curious.

The smaller Werecheetah sighed and looked down. "About my past... Or rather, LACK of a past."

He blinked. Not getting what she was getting at.

"I'm just a stupid accident! I would never had come to be if it hadn't been for fate and a stupid curse!" She would've continued, but Ranma put a hand on her mouth.

"Grave? You listening?" The Lycanthropoid nodded and Ranma continued. "First off, you're no accident." Grave Digger looked at him, her eyes showing her confusion. Fortunately, Ranma was able to actually read that. "Sure, maybe you came to be because of something that was really weird. But, if you were an accident, everyone would try their hardest to get rid of you."

Grave moved his hand off of her mouth. "But everyone IS trying to get rid of me. First there was Britanny, Gina and their father. Then it was Brianna, Sheila, Gar, Genn, those old mages and others."

"What about me?"

Grave blinked.

"Am I trying to get rid of you?"

"Well, no."

Ranma nodded and looked up a bit with a distant look in his eyes. "I had a few training accidents when I was younger. Most of them because of my no-good pops, but still; when I had them, I tried my hardest to get rid of the reason for those accidents. Even pops helped out sometimes." He sighed. "Even though pops was hard on me when we trained and did stuff that wasn't nice, he was still there for me. He never really tried to hurt me. Jus' some of his stuff didn't turn out good." He chuckled humorlessly. "Well, sometimes. There were times when I just wanted to kill him for some of the stuff he pulled."

Grave nodded. Wondering a bit what this had to do with her problem.

Ranma laughed a bit. "There was this one time, about a year ago, when pops decided ta go and get somethin' ta drink. Well, he showed up the next morning smelly, stinky, and covered in mollases, chocolate, tar and feathers."

Grave giggled at that imagery.

"Ha ha. Yeah, it was funny. What was even funnier was what he said next. 'No dad. I no wanna get up today. Those bullies in the third grade keep picking on me.'"

Grave was clutching her sides and kicking her legs up and down as she laughed hysterically. True, it wasn't all that funny, but, considering the images in her head at the moment, it turned out to be exceptionally funny.

Ranma chuckled as well. "Yeah. I nearly passed out from the laughing. After he sobered up a bit he said this. 'Boy! Don't just stand there. Help your old man out of these feathers!'" He then smirked. "Guess what I did?"

"What?"

"Threw him in a lake."

Grave giggled. "Thank you."

Ranma blinked. "For what? I jus' told ya somethin' funny because you looked down. When I get depressed that's what I do, think of something funny."

She smiled lightly. "Still, for what it's worth. Thank you." Feeling impish, she leaned in and quickly kissed him on the lips.

Ranma blinked a bit as Grave pulled her head away. "Ah, heh heh." He was blushing a bit, though he wasn't really sure why.

After a few moments of silence between the two, Ranma suddenly spoke up. "I wonder what's going on out of here?"

Grave rolled her eyes. "Nothing much. Just that those people holding us are making some big plans to take over Jade, Earth, someplace called the Retreat and someplace called the Undead Realm."

Ranma blinked a few times. "How'd you find this out?"

Grave smiled cattily. "Simple. That bald guy, who's name is Tirant, told me."

Ranma blinked. "He just told you?" He thought that the people keeping them around would be more tight-lipped about things like that.

Grave shrugged. "Apparently he doesn't think that we're a danger to his plan. All he told me was that he and his friends were planning to take over Jade, Earth, the Retreat and the Undead Realm. Whereever those last two places are."

********

Rook was chuckling like a maniac. "Heh heh heh. Get 'em! Maul 'em! Tear 'em apart!"

"We will return to Sleeping Beauty after these messages."

If Rook had lips, he would've frowned. "Shoot. It was just getting to the best part. Oh well. What else is on?" [1, 2]

********

Ranma suddenly chuckled. Grave looked at him. "What?"

"Heh, the Retreat? Undead Realm? I've heard of the Retreat before, can't remember where, but I know I heard of it somewhere. But both sound rather funny. I mean, c'mon, the Retreat? It sounds like an order you give to someone in a fight when you can't win."

Grave blinked a bit. "You know, you're right."

"Undead? So they're living right?"

"Actually, they're living dead."

"They're still living though."

Grave thought about it for a moment. "I guess, in a way, they are."

"I wonder what the place is like."

Grave shrugged. "If grandpa's any indication, I don't want to go there."

Blinking, he looked at her, confused. "Grandpa?"

Grave winced. "Sorry. I mean Gina and Britanny's grandpa, not mine. Anyway, when those two were young, grandpa died."

Ranma shrugged. "People die all the time. Not that anyone WANTS to die, but they do all the time."

Grave nodded. "Well, grandpa was a really powerful magic user, and for some reason, when he died, he came back as this skeleton with a LOT of power." [3]

Ranma nodded.

"I wish I had a home to go to."

"Huh? What makes you say that you don't have one?"

Grave sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin. "Remember how we first met? And I said that everyone I ever met had tried to kill me?"

Ranma nodded, truthfully, he had almost forgotten about it until she brought it up.

"Well, the only home I know is back in Atlanta where Brianna, Gina, Britanny, their friends and family live. Me? The only place I ever lived has been inside Brianna's head. And," Grave started to shake a bit, "I don't want to go back into her head. Back to those cold shadows where I would just freeze and die. I don't want to be so cold any more. I want my own light, my own warmth, my own life. But no one understands it. They all take for granted what I don't have."

Ranma frowned as he watched Grave placed her head on her legs. The small Lycanthropoid started sobbing lightly. "What's that?"

"Memories, a life, they all have these things, and I, I don't."

Ranma frowned a bit as Grave started crying. He didn't know why he couldn't stand to see a girl upset and cry, but he knew that it bothered him greatly, it was doubly so because it was his friend Grave. So thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, hoping to calm her down. 'It seems to work when she's having those nightmares.'

Ranma didn't need to dwell on it any longer for Grave let her legs fall to the floor and she hugged him back. The pigtailed martial artist held Grave to him as her body shook and tears fell from her eyes onto his shirt. "Grave?"

"Hm?"

"Remember what I said when we first met? That you aren't a shadow of someone because you care whether or not you are one?"

Grave nodded against his chest.

"Well, I have to say that you have a life and memories of your own." He smiled a bit, although Grave couldn't see it. "I mean, you traveled with me for the last month, and I've never met Britanny, Brianna, or Gina, so I can't comment on them, but you know someone that they don't. And well, I honestly don't think of you as someone else. You're just Grave, no one else. Grave is Grave and no one else."

Grave blinked and looked up at him. "You mean it? I'm my own person after all?"

Ranma nodded. "I always thought you were. How can you be someone other than yourself?"

Grave blinked a few times. "Wow. For someone without a lot of schooling, that's pretty deep."

"I know... HEY!"

The small Werecheetah giggled at him. Ranma mock-glared at her but soon joined her. "Actually, I heard that from a monk who told me this, 'If you ever question who are, remember this, you are you and no one else.'" [4]

Grave nodded, feeling better. "Thank you."

Ranma nodded at her and the younger girl, being, technically, only two months old at the most, closed her eyes, cuddled up closer to him and tried to relax enough to get some sleep. [5, 6]

********

Inside Grave Digger's mind there was the chaotic scene once again, however, this time, there was less color, though it still moved as erratically as before. Now it was blue, black, red and green, just with motes of white and purple. In the middle of this was Grave, shivering like she was cold, but not curled up like the last time she was here. Instead the Lycanthropoid was glaring at the colors and taunting voices, if they were coming from a single direction. "I am not afraid of you!"

Similar to last time, the colors merged together, to form people that she knew from before she met Ranma, only this time, they didn't look as scary as last time.

The form of Gina Diggers smirked cruelly at her. "Oh really? Do you HONESTLY believe that you're not afraid of this? Come on, you know you don't have a life of your own. Who in their right mind would care for a freak, no abomination like you? Huh? Name one person."

Grave clenched her fist and glared at the form. "I know one person who cares for me. He even told me I had a life of my own." As one, the figures in front of her started laughing. "It's true! Oh, it's damn true!" [7]

'Britanny' stopped laughing, narrowed her eyes at Grave and spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Oh really? I bet the only reason he's even hanging out with you is because he doesn't have many friends. He said it himself that he didn't have many friends in life. So he's only with you because there wasn't anyone else around for him to be with."

Grave winced a bit. "Maybe. But still, he told me that I'm my own person! That I have my own life!" Tears were streaming down her face now. "I no longer need to live in fear of you!" Glaring at all the figures, even as tears fell down her face she continued. "I am no longer afraid of you! Any of you! No matter what you say, it isn't real! I have a life of my own now! So... JUST GO AWAY!!!"

Suddenly the figures vanished, the wild colors disappeared and golden light filled the area.

Grave hugged herself and rolled her shoulders a bit. "Warm. It's so warm." [8]

********

Ranma blinked as Grave's body finally started to relax and her muscles weren't so tense. 'What happened?' He shook his head, he didn't know, probably better not to know either. But he still wanted to practice a bit, so he layed Grave down so she was resting comfortably on the bed and pulled the blanket, one that he had been given so that he didn't freeze at night, over her so she could sleep more comfortably.

Standing up, he moved away from Grave so he could work out a bit without bothering her. As he worked out, Ranma frowned as he thought up a little tid-bit of information. In the last several fights that he had been in, he hadn't done so well, even if he had gotten better. 'But why? Damn it! If only I had some way of getting better faster, then I could've won some of those fights, or had an easier time with them.'

As he continued to work out, Ranma's eyes glinted a bit and he started to reach into the depths of his mind, where a black spot was. He didn't like using it, but he figured that if he had used it during his last fight he wouldn't be in here... Or at least it wouldn't be so easy for him to be in the situation that he was in. [9]

A low growl uttered from his throat as he picked up the pace, moving faster and stronger than he could move before, as well as an uncanny animalistic grace in his movements that was normally not present. Glancing at Grave, Ranma made a promise that he would find SOME way to get them both out of this, even if he could only get her out, he would do so. Being partially submerged into the Neko-Ken allowed him some greater physical attributes, but for some reason, when he tried to unsheath his claws, they weren't coming out. 'But why? My claws should come out when I want them to, so why aren't they?' [10]

Shelving those thoughts away for later, Ranma continued to workout while his mind was partially under the influence of the Neko-Ken. As he continued to work out, a faint glow started to envelope his body as he pushed himself to go harder and faster than he had ever gone before. The scrolls said to push physical limits so that his body could handle gathering larger amounts of Ki and Chi without harm.

As he worked out, he pondered what he was going to do about getting out of here, and more importantly, how to get Grave out of here. There was something funny going on. 'After all, why are they keeping both me and Grave here? It just doesn't make much sense to me.'

Preview of next chapter: "Zzzzzzzzz."

"Sorry, Grave's asleep. And Rookie has the script for the next chapter, so I can't tell you what's going to happen."

"DON'T CALL ME ROOKIE! Just for that... I won't tell ANYONE what the next chapter is about."

".... Dang."

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[1] Someone said that Rook should get more channels. So, he does. Heh, Disney channel.

[2] Rook was watching the part just before the witch, who placed the curse on Sleeping Beauty, turned into a Dragon. I can't spell the witch's name, and it's been awhile since I've seen the movie. Just a minor tidbit of information to pass on.

[3] Grave was making a reference to the Lich King. For those who don't know who the Lich King is, I'll try to explain it to you. Theo had a father named Jonathan Diggers, an Arch Aura Mage. Anyway, one day, when Gina and Britanny were really young, an experiment of his went wrong and killed him. Unfortunately, Jonathan's magic didn't die with him and he turned into a Lich, or Undead Magic user. Because of the SHEER amount of magic power that he had, Jonathan took over the Undead Realm for roughly 20 years, and during this time, called himself the Lich King.

His reign of terror ended, in the Gold Digger universe, about a year or two ago at this time, when he ran out of power. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well you see, Undead Aura Mages are twice as powerful as living Aura Mages. HOWEVER... Any power that they use, they can't recover. So basically, it's like this... If you're an Undead Aura Mage and you have 1,000,000 Magic Points, and you use 300,000 Magic Points to cast a spell, well, you can't get those 300,000 Magic Points back, no matter what. (For those who play Final Fantasy, even Ethers, Hi-Ethers, Full-Ethers, Elixers, ETC, can't replenish a Lich's lost Magic Points.)

One more thing, if you're confused about the fact that Jonathan's magic didn't die with him, well, I'm not sure about this myself, but somehow, when an Aura Mage dies and his or her magic doesn't die with them, the magic Aura that surrounds them corrupts their soul.

[4] I figure Ranma would hear SOMETHING bordering on Zen principles while on his training trip. It's probably the only thing that kept him from going insane during the Manga and Anime while he was in Nerima. I know I couldn't handle even half the crap he did while in Nerima.

[5] One question: Was this a bit too WAFFy?

[6] Technically, Brianna's only about three years old right now. Just a tidbit of information to pass on... Just like note two.

[7] With all appologies to Kurt Angle of the former WWF. (Yes, I watch pro wrestling on occassion.)

[8] Wow. Grave finally battled back against her fears and won. The biggest fear that she ever had, and even Brianna had this fear, was the fact that she was only a clone of Britanny and Gina, a shadow that didn't have her own life. Well, what does this mean for the future of Grave Digger and Ranma? Wait and see.

[9] Influenced by Cory D. Rose's fanfiction: Golden Opportunity. Find it at shihana.tripod.com

[10] Influenced by Grum's fanfiction: Neko Senshi. Find it at grum.anifics.com

[11] I'll put numbers in brackets in the chapters if I have a lot of notes to make. One question... Is it better to have brackets in the chapter telling you about a note on that particular subject or no numbers so you people don't get curious about what the note is about and jump to the end? Let me know about it.