Grave's New Life

Chapter 15

By Philip Weigel

Disclaimer: Shoot the moon! Shoot the moon! Shoot the moon! What? You never played Pinochle before? Okay, okay. Standard disclaimer applies here. Rumiko Takahashi-Sama owns Ranma 1/2, High Lord Fred Perry owns Gold Digger. All other series and references that may or may not show up belong to their respective owners. If I'm making money off of this, it's news to me. Cuz I'm broke right now and I haven't received any word about getting paid.

Special thanks go out to John Colandrea for his help on this chapter with various paragraphs that were giving me some trouble.

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Four days later...

Sitting on a chair that was on the porch to the back yard, Grave Digger, dressed in a loose red t-shirt and tight blue shorts, thankfully positioned so she didn't have to worry about her tail getting crimped on her, looked out blankly into the yard as Ranma did some low-level katas. Not that she really knew what his high-level katas were, but she figured that the basic movements that he was doing wasn't considered high level martial arts. She was thankful, to say the very least, that the nice woman, Nodoka she reminded herself, decided to let her stay. 'That's... Putting it mildly.' She thought to herself.

Flashback to two days ago...

"Nonsense, Neko-tama.” The redheaded woman, in a light green kimono said slightly flippantly. The two were in Nodoka’s bedroom, with the Catgirl in nothing but her white underwear, standing in front of a full-body mirror. “Why, I can’t let the one person who brought my son back to me after so many years wear just one thing while she stays here.” Even lucky Neko-Tamas needed different things to wear every day. Nodoka then smiled at her guest slightly. “Besides, my son told me how you were with him for the past couple of months.” Well, Ranma hadn’t said specifically how long Grave had traveled with him, but had merely said that it was at least a month. Nodoka naturally assumed that it was around a couple of months.

Grave Digger sighed. One thing that she had learned during the last couple of days was that this woman’s personality was quite domineering, even if she really didn’t try to be, well, that and the fact that the woman seemed to have nothing BUT Kimonos to wear. “Sure thing.” She said finally. It was just easier to agree with the woman than to waste time arguing. At least Grave could use this as an excuse to get free clothing.

Nodoka smiled even brighter at that. “Well then,” she started before holding up a measuring tape, “let’s get your measurements so I know exactly what to buy.”

Grave rolled her eyes, but held up her arms and let Nodoka wrap the measuring tape around her body in various places to figure out the size of clothing that she would need to wear.

End Flashback…

The small Werecheetah-girl shook her head, idly pushing her long hair over her shoulders to cascade down her back. She never would have guessed that the woman knew stylish clothing when she saw it. ‘I would have thought that she would have bought nothing but Kimonos for me.’ The girl idly thought to herself. Instead, Ranma’s mother had come back with enough clothing to rival anything that Britanny had ever bought at a sale in the mall. Where the older woman had found pants and underwear with tail holes, Grave would never figure out. At least it was more comfortable that way. The Werecheetah Lycanthropoid figured that there was more to Nodoka getting her so much clothing than just the fact that she happened to be Ranma’s friend. When Grave asked the woman, she just smiled and said something about knowing why Grave had been wearing the extremely tight mage suit and winked at her.

Mentally, the furry girl shook her head. Ranma’s mom was weird. She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard a snapping noise right in front of her. She blinked a couple of times, before focusing on a couple of fingers in front of her eyes, she looked beyond them to the arm that they were connected to, to the face and relaxed slightly. “Hi, Ranma. What’s wrong?” He was looking at her slightly nervously for some odd reason. Weird.

Ranma smiled and shook his head, before sitting down in a chair across from Grave. “Nothing much, you just looked out of it.” He said, leaning back slightly. “Um, thanks for healing me up the other day.” He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t healed him up the morning after they had arrived. Her answer though disturbed him for some reason.

Flashback again…

Ranma, wearing some black pants and a black tank-top, let out a breath as he felt the discomfort in his chest disappear. “Um, so why didn’t you heal me up like that sooner?” Not that he held it against her. Especially with the way she was looking around nervously as she healed him up. Maybe she just didn’t want his mom to know that she knew magic?

The long-haired short Werecheetah, now back in her purple mage suit, sighed and looked down at her clasped hands. After a few moments, she looked up at him. “I… Just didn’t want my “father”,” she said in extreme disgust, “to find me any time soon.”

Ranma blinked, remembering something about Grave saying how she really didn’t have a family, but couldn’t remember it too well. His memory just plain sucked at times. “Um, not that I should say much, but why not?” He nearly fell onto his back from the glare she shot at him, before her face softened slightly.

"Sorry," Grave muttered to him, feeling ashamed for reacting like that. "But you have to understand, I don't have a father... Not a real one anyway..." The little Lycanthropoid shook her head. "The only father I have are my sisters' father," She said her voice laced with venom. "As long as he's their father, he'll never be mine." She said vehemently. Accepting that the arch mage was her father would mean she was still in Britanny and Gina's shadow; still in the darkness. And if there was one place she refused to go back to, that was it.

The pigtailed martial artist didn't question that last bit his one friend had said there. He knew about Grave's feelings towards her sisters weren't exactly the best. He sighed at seeing Grave so upset. Leaning forward, he grabbed the Werecheetah Lycanthropoid by the shoulders, before pulling her close to him. When her head was on his chest, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, before resting his head on top of hers. He smiled slightly as Grave wrapped her arms about his torso. He then frowned as he felt her body shaking slightly. “Grave,” he started to say, tightening his hug on her slightly, “I promise that I’d protect you, and I mean it.”

Resting her cheek on Ranma’s chest, the little Catgirl nodded. “Thank you.” She said, smiling. [1]

The teenager nodded. Grave was his friend, probably his only friend, he wouldn’t let anything back happen to her.

End Flashback...

Grave shook her head. “It’s okay.” She said smiling at him. “But what about your mom and how she reacted the first morning here?” She giggled at him.

Ranma groaned at the memory. “Do you HAVE to remind me?” He said sighing. “I felt she was going to break my ribs with her hugging.” He grimaced. He sighed as Grave started laughing at him, giggling so hard that she actually fell out of her chair and onto the wooden surface of the porch, her hands clenching her sides and her legs kicking up and down in the air.

Rolling his eyes, Ranma stood up and prepared to go into the house, when his mother, in a light green kimono, opened it and blinked as she looked down at the laughing Lycanthropoid. “Ranma, why is Neko-tama laughing the way she is?” Not that it was a bad thing, but it was hardly seemly for a young lady to be laughing her tail off. Quite literally in this case. [2]

“She was thinking of something that happened a couple days ago.” He said quite frankly. It was true after all, she was laughing at how his mother had reacted to him being back and the look on his face while she was hugging him. The worst part was Ranma couldn’t even blame her for laughing the way she was.

“I see.” Nodoka said slowly. She then shook her head. Neko-tamas could do what they darn well pleased. And if this one wanted to stick around and laugh her tail off, far be it from Nodoka to stop her. “I was just curious. I was wondering where your father is.”

Ranma blinked a couple of times, ignoring Grave as she started to calm down from her laughing. “It took you four days to ask that question?” He didn’t have much room to talk, but four days to remember to ask about that? That was a little long in his opinion.

The redheaded woman sighed. “Forgive me. But in the excitement of having you back after ten years, I guess I forgot.” Her son hadn’t turned out to be perfect, but he was back in her life, so she’d take the good with the bad in this case.

Her son shrugged. He couldn’t say much to that. He forgot stuff all the time, if it wasn’t too important, then he forgot about it. “Nope. Don’t know where Oyaji is.”

Nodoka tapped her chin. She had a far-off look in her eyes for a few moments, until she snapped her fingers and her eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s right!” She ignored the confused looks from both Grave and Ranma. “Your father had a friend he used to train with when he was younger. Soun Tendo.”

Ranma blinked, and shrugged helplessly. “I guess. Maybe he’s with his old friend right now?” His father still had a friend that would let him stay? With the petty thefts and the people that chased them out of towns when he was younger, the pigtailed martial artist thought that Genma didn’t have any friends left.

Nodoka nodded and headed back into the house. “I think I’ll give them a call up and see if he’s there.” She smiled and then walked back into the house.

Behind her, Ranma blinked and shrugged. So his old man would be back in his life again. No big deal to him. He was surprised as Grave pushed her way past him and into the house. “What the?” He sighed and threw his hands into the air. He couldn’t figure out why people did stuff without telling him. He figured people just needed their privacy, plus it didn’t seem THAT important to him. “So how come Grave took off like that?” He asked himself.

Inside the house, Grave ran up to Nodoka just as the woman had picked up the phone. "Mrs. Saotome," The Lycanthropoid started to speak, only to blink her eyes as Nodoka frowned at her. "I mean, Auntie," She corrected herself, "Can you please not tell who you're calling that Ranma's here?" Left unsaid was that she didn't want anyone to take her friend away from her and have her be left alone again.

Nodoka frowned at that. However, seeing the slightly pleading look in Neko-tama’s light green eyes made her finally relent. “Sure thing.” She said, smiling as the Catgirl nearly jumped for joy.

(----)

Kasumi, who had gotten in after getting the mail, blinked as she heard the phone ringing. Shrugging, she went over to small desk and picked up the phone. “Moshi, moshi?” She blinked as she heard a woman, one whom she had never heard before, ask for Uncle Genma. “Hmm... Will you please hold on for a moment, um...?” She blinked at the name. “Yes, hold please, Mrs. Saotome.” There was something odd about having a woman call for her “uncle”, what it was, the eldest Tendo wasn’t TOO sure of just yet. ‘Hmm, maybe it’s his sister or something?’ It was possible; they did have the same last name. Incidentally, the possibility that Genma had a wife didn’t register on her mind, even if he had a son. “Uncle Genma, you have a phone call.” She said as she came onto the porch, smiling at her father’s friend. Genma and her father were sitting on the porch, talking about old times and discussing several different ways to get Ranma back, neither of them were able to come up with anything solid just yet.

The slightly portly man looked up and nodded. “Um, who is it?” He asked her. Idly, he wondered how she could afford to cook such tasty meals and still study for medical school like she was doing right now. If he had his son with him, he’d risk calling his wife, if only to give Kasumi a break of some sort. [3]

“Someone named Nodoka Saotome.” She answered, blinking as the portly martial artist paled considerably.

Genma shuddered. It was JUST his luck that No-chan would call when he was here and Ranma was missing. “Tell her that I’m not here. I went on a training trip or something. Tell her anything, but do NOT tell her that I’m here!” He whispered sharply.

Kasumi blinked a couple of times, before nodding. Why Genma was so afraid of the woman wasn’t any of her concern, though, she made a note to find out what the heck was wrong with Genma right now.

(----)

Nodoka sighed as the woman that had picked up the phone in the first place had come back with her answer. “I see, thank you very much, miss...” She trailed off, not knowing who she was really talking to, “Kasumi.” She said, nodding, she then blinked as she realized that the woman on the other side wouldn’t be able to see her nod. “Very well, thank you for telling me; you too, have a good day.” She sighed and hung up the phone. If Genma wasn’t at his friend’s house, then where was her lovable, if slightly idiotic at times, husband?

“Auntie?” Nodoka looked at Grave, who had a slightly hopeful look in her eyes. “What did you find out?” If Ranma’s father wasn’t there, then she could be with her friend longer?

The redhead sighed and shook her head. “Apparently my husband isn’t there.” Though where he could be, she wasn’t sure. Though, she wondered about the hopeful look in the Neko-tama’s eyes. Perhaps she was hoping that Genma was there and Ranma could be reunited with his father, and she could finally have him back in her bed again.

Grave smiled to herself. Without Ranma’s father there to take him away, she’d get to have him stay with her for awhile longer. ‘If he does show up though...” She thought to herself, shuddering.

(----)

In the Japanese wilderness, a force was coming. It was strong, it was powerful, it was tough, it was stubborn, it was...

Totally and utterly lost.

“Dammit!” A youth with green eyes, short dark hair, muttered as he looked around him. “Where the HELL am I now?!” He cried out looking around him, growling and showing that his teeth were rather sharp, similar to a Vampire’s fangs. He was about five-foot-eight to five-foot-nine, with a very solid build, one that hinted at extreme physical strength. He wore brown pants that were wrapped up tightly at the ankles, a green shirt that hung loosely on his body, with a large back-pack on his shoulders and a red fold-up umbrella on said backpack. On his forehead was a tiger-striped bandana, meant to keep the bangs of his hair out of his eyes and to keep the sweat from getting into his eyes should he sweat at all.

Looking around the forest, he sighed, before growling as he continued on his way. “Ranma Saotome, when I catch up with you, I promise to make your life hell for what you did to me.” He frowned, clenching his left fist so hard that he started to draw a little bit of blood. [4]

****

Back on Jade...

Brianna sighed, it was the final few minutes before her mom fought against that bitch G’nolga and tried to win her title back as Armsmaster. She, Gina, Luan, Carla, her grandmother, and father were all standing in an outdoor amphitheatre, similar to the ones in ancient Rome. She blinked as she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder lightly. “Brianna, it’ll be okay. She seemed different from what you told me about her, and from what I can remember how you acted before.”

The taller blonde nodded and sighed slightly. “Yeah, I know. But... I wonder... Why did she save me?” It didn’t make much sense to her, why would her dark side save her and risk being killed in the process? “And... Who was that guy?”

Gina shook her head. She had no idea either. “I wish I knew, Brianna, I wish I knew.” She then blink-blinked as a thought came to her. “You know, Grave Digger seemed really worried for that guy when he got hurt like he did.”

“Um, yeah, so?” After a few moments, Brianna blinked. “Wait, you mean that that guy might be her friend or something?”

Gina nodded. “If you think about it.” And they had nearly a week to think about what had happened. “It makes sense, in a bizarre, weird sort of way.”

“So, in other words, ‘same old, same old, but in a different way’ for our lives.” The blonde Lycanthropoid said in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice. Now that she thought back on it, the look on Grave Digger’s face was one that mirrored what Britanny looked like when she thought Stryyp was dead back on Aebra.

Preview of next chapter: “Where the HECK am I *NOW*!? Sheesh! First Jusenkyo and now here? Anyway, next time on Grave’s New Life. There’s going to be some action finally. School? What school? No one told me that there was going to be a school! ARRGH! Ranma! This is all your fault!”

[1] What’s this? Ranma showing such kindness to someone? Check back to the previous chapters. This will make sense then.

[2] Does Nodoka wear ANYTHING besides Kimonos? In either the Manga or the Anime?

[3] The same reason I can write this chapter and still have college homework to do. *Chuckles* It’s called cramming. But that isn’t real note here... Nope, the real note is that while I may not have an air-headed Kasumi, I still realize that she’s important to keeping the Tendos fed at the very least. I may have to go back and change some stuff. I don’t know. What do you all think? And, yes, Genma IS a decent person in the Manga; at least, he’s not total scum.

[4] Heh, I wanna give Ryoga a different curse here. I’m SURE you all figured out who THAT was. I’m not sure what to do with him yet. Ideas? Suggestions? Let me know what you think would be a good curse. Either for comedic reasons, or to give Ranma a better challenge.

Any ideas on where Ranma should go to school? Should it be Furinkan or somewhere else? As for the curse? It hasn’t activated much lately. Hmm... Maybe I should remedy that soon?