DISCLAIMER: Um, Ryuu's an OC of mine and Ryo's an OC that belongs to my friend Melissa. Ranma and crew belong to Takahashi-dono. So yeah, don't sue me, kay? (And if you'd like to use either character for any reason, ask me first please.)

The 3 Rs of Martial Arts Remix
Prologue - Breath In

"We're almost there, boy, pick up the pace," The balding man known as Genma Saotome spoke as he followed the dirt path.

"Feh, if you carried some of this crap I'd be able to move faster, old man," Ranma said as he walked with two packs on his back, both looked to be bulging with miscellaneous items and clothing.

"Suck it up, boy! A martial artist's life is-"

"Fraught with peril. I know. You've only told me about a million times..." Ranma grumbled.

"Hmph!" Genma grumped at his son as he continued walking. It wasn't long before they arrived at a break in the foliage that surrounded the path. They were on a high path that overlooked a valley almost completely covered in small springs, each with a bamboo pole sticking out from its depths.

Once Genma caught sight of the valley he quickened his pace. Ranma stopped before the break and peered down at the ground below him, watched his father for a moment, and then shrugged as he hopped down several small ledges to the bottom of the cliff. He arrived a good 3 minutes before Genma and he smirked at him.

"Seems you're getting dumber every day, Pops."

Genma hit Ranma over the head with his fist while he growled his response, "Show your elder some respect, boy!" He didn't wait for an answer as he proceeded towards the hut by the edge of the springs. Ranma rubbed his head and gurmbled as he hefted the packs over his back once more and followed behind him.

A man in a blue jumpsuit type outfit walked out of the hut and greeted them, "Ah, honored sirs!You come to view beautiful Jusenkyo valley, yes?"

Genma ignored the man and looked over the springs for a moment before jumping up onto a bamboo pole. The pole seemed a bit strained under the sudden weight, he looked over to his son, "Well, boy, are you going to get up here so we can spar?"

"Aiya! Honored sirs no spar over cursed springs!"

Ranma dropped the packs heavily onto the ground and rotated his arms to stretch out the kinks, "Huh, this training ground don't seem like much..." He said, only half listening to the guide.

"No matter," Genma said, jumping to another pole further towards the center of the valley, "We came all this way to train. And I'll be damned if we don't train."

Ranma rolled his eyes, "You're damned anyway," he replied shaking his head and stretching for another moment before jumping onto a bamboo pole and then going towards his father.

"Aiya...why no honored sirs listen?" The guide said to himself, "Honored sirs get cursed and then guide must explain everything. Why foriegners no as smart as they seem? Though old honored sir not look very smart in first place..."

The sparring started light, as a warm up, and slowly got more intense as time passed. Genma jumped at Ranma with a flying kick that was blocked by Ranma's forearms and then counterattacked with a thrust kick that shot him backwards to a pole further away. Ranma jumped after him and, while Genma was busy regaining his equilibrium, hit him with a crescent kick to the shoulder, sending him into a spring several yards away.

There was a large sploosh as Genma hit the water's surface and disappeared beneath it.

Ranma blinked, "Woah, those springs are deeper than they look..."

The guide rushed as close to the springs as he dared at the moment, "Old honored sir fall into spring of Drowned Panda. Tragic story of Panda who fall there-"

"Wait, these springs are cursed!" Ranma exclaimed.

The guide nodded slowly, "Springs of Jusenkyo are Springs of Sorrow. Honored sir not listen to guide?"

"No, I wasn't-" Ranma never finished his sentence as a giant panda jumped from the spring his father had fallen into and landed on a pole in a familiar stance, "Woah!"

The panda saw Ranma was distracted by something and attacked him with a flying kick. The kick caught Ranma in the chest, sending him into a pool on the opposite side of the valley.

"Boy, you should be ashamed of yourself!" Or at least that's what Genma had tried to say. All that came out was a bunch of grunts, growls, and growfs.

"Honored sir fall in spring of Drowned Elementalist Brothers! Tragic story of brothers who fall in spring 159 years ago. Both very talented in controlling elements," The guide said sagely while nodding.

The panda growfed as he stared at his paws. He fainted and unfortunately, or fortunately if you hate Genma as much as I, landed in another spring.

"Aiya!" The guide exclaimed, "Honored Panda sir fall in spring of drowned donkey!" The guide blinked, "I still wonder often how donkey come to China, but I not question things like Jusenkyo magic."

A donkey crawled out of the spring...somehow, and made a beeline towards the guide, careful not to fall in anymore springs. It hee-hawed at the guide and the guide poured hot water on the animal while explaining, "Hot water is temporary cure for Jusenkyo curse. If splashed with cold water honored sir turn back into donkey. Honored sir understand, yes?"

Meanwhile, back with Ranma, a strange occurance was happening. When Ranma fell into the spring he'd lost consicousness for a moment and his body didn't change, but two lights, one red and one blue, swirled around his body for a minute before entering his body. When the lights faded Ranma regained consciousness and swam to the surface, having noticed the lack of oxygen.

When he broke the surface and gasped for air he climbed from the spring, his clothes sticking to his body like a second skin. He collapsed on the embankment of the spring for a moment before slowly sitting up. He turned back towards the water and noticed his looks had changed.

He was still a guy, but he was taller. His build was denser and his shoulders broader. His face had lost all baby fat, his features now sharper, a small, and strange, tattoo appeared on his left cheek just below his eye. His bangs were now bright red and the rest of his hair had gained a flame-like look to it with red high-lights. And his left eye was a molten amber color.

"What the hell happened to me?" He held his hands up to look at them, "And why do I feel so powerful...?"

Because you now have- Hush! Not yet!

Ranma jumped to his feet and his eyes went wide. He'd just heard two voices from within his head. That was not normal, even by his standards. He looked around and then waited in silence for a moment, not having heard the voices again, he chalked it up to the magic in the area playing tricks with his mind.

As he walked away from the spring and towards his father and the guide it never occured to him to wonder how the hell he knew there was magic in the area.

The guide smiled at Ranma as he approached, "Honored sir fall in special, yet cursed, spring."

Ranma blinked, "Wasn't I cursed?"

"Yes, but honored sir was cursed with special body. Body of very honored male from local Amazon tribe, Joketsozuko. Cursed body, and brother of honored male, was special man from Musk tribe," The guide explained.

Ranma scratched his head, "Um...?"

The guide shook his head, "Honored sir not worry. Guide bring you and old honored sir to Joketsozuko and let elders explain."

Ranma nodded, "Sure, why not."

"Will they feed us?" Genma asked, speaking up for the first time since Ranma joined them.

"Amazons will feed honored sirs when explaining is done. But for now, honored sirs follow guide, yes?"

(-)

Ranma looked around at the scenary as they walked and he couldn't help getting the feeling that he knew these lands just as well as the back of his hand. He passed a particular piece of foliage and paused. The guide and Genma noticed.

"Honored sir see something?"

Ranma shook his head, "I don't see anything. But...I, I can't describe why, but I just know that if we went this way we'd get to the village faster..."

The guide shook his head, "There no other path but this one to village."

Genma scoffed, "Let the boy go his own way, he can get lost if he wants, we'll just have to find him later."

The guide seemed hesitant, but, seeing as Ranma wasn't going to follow the dirt path, continued leading Genma down the path. Ranma watched them go for a minute before taking a step into the bamboo thicket, his sight went blank for a moment before he witnessed a scene play out through his own eyes.

There was a young woman with long emerald green hair tugging on his arm, her bright green eyes shining with the joy and playfulness she was exuding at that same moment. As he stared deeper into her eyes, he could see the love she held for him, and that filled him with a pleasant warmth.

"C'mon, ----, Grandmother will be mad if we don't get back to the village on time!" She said with a smile.

He could feel himself return the smile, "Relax, Jade. If we're late your grandmother will know why."

She stopped tugging on his arm and put her hands on her hips, "Oh yeah, and why's that, ----?"

He growled playfully as he lost himself in the scene, "Because she wants babies almost as much as we enjoy trying to make one."

Jade laughed as he lunged at her in a playful manner and she dodged, this continued all the way through the bamboo thicket. Her laughter echoing around them and making him smile as he chased her. They arrived at the tall walls that barricaded the village from wild animals and kept their children safe at night.

She slowed down as they approached and smiled at him as she turned around and offered him her hand. He smiled and moved to take her hand, but when he went to grip her hand it faded from view, then the rest of her faded.

Ranma rubbed his eyes and looked around for Jade. Where'd she go? Was...was she even real? He thought to himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and moved the incident to the back of his mind. He could sort the incident out better when he had more time to think over everything, like at night when Genma was asleep.

He walked over to the main gates and arrived in time to meet up with the guide and his father. He waved to them with a smirk, "How was the walk?"

"Forget the walk, let's just get this explanation over with so I can get some grub," Genma scowled.

Ranma waved off his father's words with a casual wave of his hand, "Yeah, yeah. Always thinking with your stomach, as usual, Pops," He turned to the guide, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

The guide nodded and walked up to the guards in front of the main gates and spoke with them in mandarin. If Ranma hadn't already been freaked out three times that day in the last hour and a half he'd have found it extremely strange that he understood what they were saying perfectly. As it was he chalked it up, again, to the magic of Jusenkyo.

After a minute or two of speaking with the guards, the guide appraoched them again and told them to follow him and the guards towards the elders' hut.

As Ranma stepped foot inside the Amazon village he suddenly felt very dizzy and couldn't tell up from left, or right from down. As he lost consciousness for the second time that day he wondered if maybe karma hadn't decided to rear its ugly head and make his life hell for that lollipop he'd stolen from that li'l girl three weeks ago...

To Be Continued...

Reviews welcome. Flames will be used to fight off any lawyers.

-Lov3the3vil