Pale Hues

Written by Shaun Garin

Disclaimer : Ranma 1/2 is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Lord of the Rings is
owned by JRR Tolkein. Anything else is property of their own creations.

Chapter 1 : The Legacy

===================

The streets of Nerima were painted in dark hues as night fell over its
denizins. Lights appeared from the overhead lamps as people closed up shop,
some opening for the night. Rain fell from the skies as thunder threatened
to roar overhead in a cacaphony of cannon shot echoes.

Then, softly, there was a tapping of boots on the pavement. People, despite
their hurry, paused to look at the stranger who had entered the ward of
Japan.

He was dressed head to toe in black, a long ragged looking cloak covering
his face, the darkness illuminating nothing of his features beneath the dark
hood. Fingers covered in metal jointed gloves were seen as he strode through
the darkness without heeding the light or anything around him. The few who
stared felt a chill rush down their spines before returning home.

Pausing for a moment at a crossroad, he turned towards the left, seemingly
uncaring. No sooner than he had moved into the alley, the darkness had
seemed to swallow him up.

===================

Yuka looked up at her assailants in fear. There were five of them, possibly
Furinkian students from their uniforms. The animal masks hid their lecherous
leers but not their intent. Backing into a wall, one of the boys, obviously
the leader, leaned in with a smirk. "You know what we want," he whispered
with an edge of husky lust within his voice.

Yuka whimpered but began to remove her dress, knowing that she couldn't
possibly fight off five burly guys.

An odd scraping was heard. The boys sprung up, upset that they had been
found. Whirling, they found a dark stranger in the shadows. The leader
sneered. "Look boys, a hero."

The stranger said nothing as the boys encirled him, butterfly knives and
other assorted weapons emerging from their pockets. They circled, taking
jabs at him, laughing and jeering as he did not deem to flinch or move.

Soon, the boys found him tiresome as the leader sneered. "You're no fun." He
turned to Yuka who tried to run, but was caught by another boy.

"What should we do with her, boss?" one asked.

"We take care of her. This looser won't stop us." He turned towards the
frightened girl with a sinister grin.

"Let her go." The stranger had finally spoke, and his voice sounded like a
cold chill. It almost sounded inhuman with the strange rasp to it.

Despite the chills running down their spines, the leader pointed as he
thumbed his nose. "Feh. Get him guys!"

The boys rushed him. There was a flicker of movement and the boys collapsed
to the ground, unconcious.

In the strangers hand was a long blade, old and weathered grey with time.
The pummel was pitch black with grey metal and it was long, at least four
and a half feet long and wickedly sharp, much larger than anything they had
seen. The grey metal seemed to gleam wickedly, as some unseen power
glittered, revelling in the fight. The leader swallowed hard as the stranger
stared at him. And for the instant, he could see his death within it. "What
the hell are you?!" he exclaimed as the stranger never let his gaze stray
from the pair.

He made no reply as the stranger leapt at the boy. The boy screamed as the
robes engulphed him and Yuka in a flash of movement.

And then there was silence, and nothing left but a pile of bruised bodies
laying on the ground, one atop another.

==================

"You're kidding, right?" Sayuri asked skeptically, picking up an octopus
with her chopsticks.

"No, I'm serious!" Yuka defended hotly. "The next thing I knew, I was
standing in front of my house. And I have no idea how I got there."

Akane stuffed her mouth with rice as she scowled. "Big deal. It's just some
random loony who's trying to be a hero."

"But what I don't get is that he didn't say a word during the exchange save
for three words. Let her go." Yuka sighed. "If he wasn't all covered up with
those black robes..."

"Hold on here!" Sayuri exclaimed in shock. "Did you say black robes?" Yuka
nodded. "And you didn't see his face, right?"

"Yeah. What's the problem?"

Sayuri and Akane exchanged glances. "Is it possible...?" Akane asked,
looking at both girls, "That... that was the Witch-king?"

A strangled gasp was heard from Yuka as she clapped her hands to Akane's
mouth. "What are you talking about HIM for?" she demanded.

"Look," Sayuri said in a hushed tone. "The Witch-king, from reports, was
dressed like that and barely says a word. Some say he's an assasian, some
say he's a hero. No one knows what he is, but the Japanese Police, the
American Police and almost the entire world have been after him."

"He's mysterious and has the sword people are calling the Pale Blade. Some
say he's the real Witch-king from the Tokein books, others say he's just a
ninja who took on the guise. Over the years, there has been Witch-king
sightings, some hoaxes or other people impersonating him in a spree of
murders. But every time they find the Witch-king, it turns out to be some
random criminal who made a passable sword." Akane shoved a fish into her
mouth. "I don't want to meet him in a dark alley."

"But I'm SURE it was him!" Yuka protested. "You want proof?"

The girls looked at each other as Sayuri nodded. "All right. What do you
have in mind?"

Yuka blinked at Sayuri and Akane's quick agreement. "Then we'll go out
tonight, and search for a mugging. Then we should find the Witch-king,
okay?"

Sayuri paled as Akane shook for a moment. But regaining their composure,
they nodded. A cleared throat behind them made them startle. "Nabiki!" Akane
exclaimed. "Don't sneak up on us like that!"

Nabiki displayed a slight interest. "I've heard you talking," she said,
sitting down. "And this is most interesting indeed."

"Please Nabiki," Yuka breathed, "If someone finds out the Witch-king could
be here, the police could be swarming all over this place."

"I have no intention to expose you, Yuka," Nabiki said, waving it off.
"Instead, I want to join you, to get photographs of the Witch-king."

Akane blinked. "Nabiki, why?"

"Because dear sister, it could be worth thousand or millions of yen. If this
so called Witch-king is real, his picture alone will give us lots of money."
Nabiki answered.

Sayuri sighed. "I suppose Akane could protect three of us," she said,
looking at the dark haired girl.

"All right," Akane said with a sigh. "Yuka, we'll meet you tonight at
eight."

=====================

"It's dark." Sayuri wished she carried a weapon like a blunt instrument like
Akane periodically did, but Akane should be good enough to defend all three
of them. Nabiki strode behind them, camera in hand and Yuka lead the way
with a flashlight illuminating the dark alley ways.

"There should be a mugging somewhere," Yuka said, the light bobbing in the
dark. "This is Nerima and there does seem to be a few thugs here."

Akane cracked her knuckles. "We'll find something eventually."

Yuka stopped abruptly, the girls bumping into her. "Did you hear that?" she
asked.

"What?" The girls paused to listen. An odd metallic scraping was heard as
Yuka exclaimed, "That's the same sound! It's him!"

Nabiki frowned. "It's close. Maybe around the corner."

"You check it out," Sayuri said, pushing Akane forwards.

Akane scowled but did so. Cautiously, she peered around the corner and
sighed in relief. "It's only a cat," she said, turning back and stiffling a
shriek of terror.

Standing behind them, was a dark, looming form in black robes.

"The the the..." Nabiki stuttered, staring into the depths of the hood,
finding nothing.

"The Witch-king!" Sayuri shrieked as the girls ran away.

Yuka turned but suddenly, slipped in a puddle left over by the brief
rainstorm. She landed heavily with a thud as Akane turned towards her. She
paled as the Witch-king stooped down, one long metal covered hand reaching
for her. "Yuka!"

Yuka waited for the cold grip to encircle her throat. But it never came.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at the hand outstretched in wait. It was
then that Akane barreled into the Witch-king.

It reeled and stumbled back with an audible thud, it's head crashing against
the pavement, bouncing once and coming to a rest.

Akane was pale as Sayuri and Nabiki ran up. "I... I killed him," Akane said,
wide eyed in horror.

Yuka sat up, looking at the fallen form. She closed her eyes, breathed and
then crawled over towards the Witch-king, laying a hand on his chest.

"Yuka, get away from him!" Sayuri exclaimed in shock.

Yuka blinked. "He's... he's not dead," she said, laying her ear to his
chest. "He's still breathing, but barely."
She looked up. "We need to get him to a doctor, right away!"

"Are you crazy?!" Sayuri cried but was stopped by Nabiki.

"Sayuri, this could make our families famous," she said seriously. "The
first to take down the Witch-king and survive doing so."

"We can't bring him to the hospital," Akane said, grasping one of his arms.
"Lets take him to Dr. Tofu's place."

Yuka slung his arm around her shoulder as she grunted. "He's heavy."

Sayuri shook her head. "This is so nuts."

======================

Dr. Tofu Ono had seen a lot of things in his lifetime. Nothing prepared him
for the events tonight. Checking the pacient once again, making sure the
restaining straps were firmly around his arms and legs and the ancient sword
out of reach, he sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

Emerging from the examination room, Yuka and the other girls sat, waiting.
"He'll be fine," he said. "A bit of a head injury but nothing serious."

Yuka sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Ono sat down, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes from his abrupt
awakening. "This is quite a find you girls have," he said. "If this really
is the Witch-king, then what are you planning to do with him?"

"Not sure really," Sayuri answered.

"We were planning on getting a true picture of him," Nabiki said, gesturing
to what had been a camera, now a rain soaked camera due to falling from her
hands into a puddle. "But..."

Akane sighed. "I shouldn't have pushed him. It's my fault he's injured."

A low groan came from the other room as Ono stood up. "We should check on
him."

=====================

The Witch-king turned towards Ono and the girls who entered. "Why..." he
rasped, "am I tied down?"

"We couldn't take a chance," Ono replied, surprised at the calm voice of the
figure. The ones who met him found his voice to be deadly calm, icy and
evil.

"I see..." He looked over to see his sword leaning on the side of the wall.
"You have disarmed me."

"We couldn't take the chance of you trying to kill us either," Ono replied,
a bit nervously.

He chuckled. "I never kill my oponents. I merely... incapacitate them." He
squirmed. "May I be set free?"

"Are you going to kill us?" Sayuri asked fearfully.

"I never kill." There was a note of sincerity in his voice. "Please."

Yuka walked over and released his arms. He sat up and released his feet.
"Thank you." He then took up his sword and placed it within his dark robes.
"I must leave now, for daylight is coming, and I must rest."

"Wait!" The Witch-king turned at the voice of Yuka. "Will we see you again?"

"One who dwels in the shadows is frivilous, carefree. I will be back when
you call." And with that, he vanished into the shadows.

======================

The bell rang as Akane finished up her early morning fights with both the
hentai horde and Kuno. Walking into the room as the second bell rang, she
sat down. "Morning."

Yuka smiled. "Morning Akane."

"Morning Akane," Sayuri replied, looking like she hadn't slept well.

"What's wrong with you?" Akane asked.

"I didn't sleep well," Sayuri said. "Kept thinking about you know who."

"Besides you know who, did you hear? We're getting a new student today!"
Yuka exclaimed.

"In the middle of the semester?" Akane asked. "Odd time."

The door opened as the young disiplinary and teacher, Hinako Ninomiya strode
in. "We have a new student today. He has just transfered from England."

A low mummur went up as a tall japanese boy with black hair in a ponytail
walked in. He was dressed in the regulation Furinkian male uniform. On one
of his hands was a curious black glove and the other was a elaborate ring.
"This is Ranma Tokien from England," Hinako said, earning curious mummurs
from the group. "Introduce yourself please."

"I'm Ranma Tolkien, no relation to JRR Tolkien save for a distant uncle. I
was adopted by an English family who is the 122nd in line to the England
throne. I've decided to study abroad and return to my home of birth."

"Thank you. There is a seat next to Miss Yuka Yagami."

Ranma sat down as he nodded. "Hello."

Yuka smiled. "Hello. That's a nice ring."

"Thank you."

=================

Experimental Fanfiction. My first crack at a Ranma fusion with Lord of the
Rings. Feedback is always appreciated.