It was late at night at the Tendo Dojo. Everyone was sound asleep. Everyone, that is, except Ranma. He was packing up all of his stuff into his backpack. He was getting ready to leave, to leave for good.
He had grown weary of the chaos that had plagued his life since his father had dragged him to Nerima. Thinking more about it, he realized that the chaos had started earlier than that. It had started the day Genma had taken him from his mother's arms, and started out on the training journey that was supposed to make him the greatest martial artist in the world.
(The greatest, huh? Hmph! That's a laugh!) Ranma thought to himself as he continued to pack. (Pop couldn't teach a fish how to swim! There's nothing I learned from him that I couldn't have learned on my own. After all that he's pulled, I can't take any more. I'm out of here.)
With this thought, he shouldered his bag, and prepared to leave. Before leaving, he took one last look around, seeing if there was anything worthwhile to keep him here. Finally, his gaze fell on Genma. The slovenly panda was snoring, absently holding up a sign that said, Foolish boy! As your father I decide what's best for you...
(Hmph! more like what's in your own best interest!) Coming to a fateful decision, he reached back into his bag, and pulled out a long bladed knife, which had the name Saotome inscribed into its blade. This was the symbol of his family, and of his heritage. The one thing that well and truly marked him as the son of Genma Saotome.
Taking the knife in his hand, he threw it with all his might at the sign. The blade whistled as it flew through the air, and hit the sign with enough force to pull it out of Genma's paw. Genma merely snuffled and rolled over, as deep in sleep as ever. When the sign and knife rolled to a stop, it could be seen that the knife was well and truly embedded in the word 'father'.
With this final gesture of contempt, Ranma left the dojo for good. He walked out into the night, not really caring where he was going, and soon found himself at the city limits. He kept walking, not even turning back for a final glance.
As he walked out into the countryside, a storm started to pick up. Not wanting to be caught out in the wet, Ranma looked around for shelter. He quickly spotted a cave nearby and ducked into it, with only a passing thought about not thinking there had been any caves this near the city.
Once he was in the cave, he began to notice something unusual. Although it had been nearly pitch black outside the cave, inside it was not nearly as dark. He could see perfectly well, but he could not see any light source to explain this.
(Oh no! I've had my fill of crazy weird stuff! I'm not about to go exploring an uncharted, glowing cave in the middle of the night!) Thinking this, Ranma turned to leave the cave...only to be blinded by the sudden flash of lightning, striking a foot in front of the cave entrance, just barely missing him as he was stepping out.
"Yikes!" he said, jumping back into the cave. That was when the storm picked up in earnest. Rain came pouring down in a torrent, quickly drenching everything outside the cave. Lightning continued to flash, striking every few seconds. It was clearly not safe to go out in the storm.
"...whew, that was a close one." As Ranma crept closer to the edge of the cave, he noticed a few other things. Near the edge of the cave, the chill wind of the storm froze him to the bone. But the moment he retreated back into the cave, he warmed back up. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if he had sworn off the weirdness, Ranma decided to go deeper into the cave, see if there was anything else that would make the night more comfortable. Besides, the roof near the cave mouth didn't look all that sturdy.
He continued walking for about a hundred feet before stopping. He stopped because he sensed something in the depths of the cave. He didn't know what it was he was sensing, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Taking a defensive stance, he continued inward.
He soon reached a large, open space that, although still containing the same light ambience as the rest of the cave, was not bright enough to allow him to see the center. He advanced cautiously towards the center, as whatever it was that he still couldn't see was also the source of whatever energy it was that he had sensed earlier on. That was when the voice spoke.
"[B]DO YOU SEEK TO CHANGE YOUR FATE?[/B]"
Ranma recoiled from the voice, which seemed to echo more in the vaults of his mind then in the passageways of his ears. After calming down a bit, he responded with the usual Saotome ingenuity. "Huh?"
"[B]DO YOU SEEK TO CHANGE YOUR FATE?[/B]"
Ranma thought about this for a bit before replying. "I don't understand."
"[B]THIS IS THE HALL OF DESTINY. HERE IS WHERE THE BOOK OF FATE MAY BE REWRITTEN, AND A NEW DESTINY CHOSEN, A NEW LIFE BEGUN. DO YOU COME HERE TO CHANGE YOUR FATE, TO WALK A NEW PATH, FREE FROM THE PERILS OF YOUR PAST?[/B]"
Ranma thought about this for awhile before finally replying, "Yeah, I guess I do."
"[B]THEN APPROACH THE CENTER, THAT YOU MAY BE FREED FROM THE INFLUENCE OF YOUR FORMER PATH, AND SET OUT UPON YOUR NEW DESTINY![/B]"
Ranma, strangely devoid of any fear, calmly walked into the darkness at the center of the room. As all light faded from his eyes, his mind slipped peacefully into slumber, and he fell into the arms of the creature within the darkness.
In a place between places...
A demonic entity stood in a formless place of light, waiting for someone. Lying in the air before him was Ranma Saotome, still peacefully asleep, completely unaware of what was going on around him. Though this place was filled with light, the demonic entity seemed to exude an aura of darkness. From behind him, someone approached and spoke.
"[I]Is this the best you can come up with?[/I]"
Turning his head, the demonic entity looked to the source of the voice, a decidedly feminine angelic entity with two pure white wings.
"[B]YOU KNOW I DON'T PICK THEM, HIKARI. ONLY THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LEAVE THEIR LIVES FIND THEIR WAY TO ME.[/B]"
Hikari (for that was the angelic entity's name) sighed. "[I]I know you don't, Noir. I'm just...frustrated with the quality of individual we wind up having to place. This new NEED will require a certain caliber of individual, and I don't know if we'll be able to find a seeker who can handle it.[/I]"
Noir shook his head sadly. "[B]YOU KNOW WE DO NOT FIND THEM. THEY MUST FIND US. IT IS THEIR CHOICE WHETHER TO FOLLOW THEIR PATH, OR SEEK A NEW ONE.[/B]"
Hikari shook her head in frustration. "[I]Free will is wasted on these...people![/I]" she practically spat. As she spoke, her wings began to darken and lose their luster.
Seeing this, Noir cautioned, "[B]CAREFUL, YOUR HUMANITY'S SHOWING.[/B]"
Hikari quickly calmed and composed herself, and the light returned to her wings. Returning to the task at hand, she stepped over next to Ranma and said, "[I]So this is the seeker?[/I]"
Noir nodded. "[B]WILL HE DO?[/B]"
Hikari leaned over Ranma, and placed her index and middle finger of each hand on each of his temples, as she initiated contact with his inner mind. This would be the difficult part. In order to adjust a seeker into a new life situation, a bridge had to be established between their inner and outer mind, allowing them to gain the skills they needed to fit in without learning them. Normally, this process was difficult, sometimes even painful for the individual experiencing it. This time, however, Hikari was shocked to find that the connection was already there, and well used at that.
Unknown to many, Ranma was almost always in contact with his inner mind. It was this connection that had allowed him to master any technique with ease. The full implications of this, however, were far more complex than this, but it meant that Ranma was a very unique individual.
As Hikari made such easy contact with Ranma's inner mind, Ranma's eyes opened. Looking into Hikari's face, he did not wonder or startle, because it was his inner mind that looked out through his eyes. Knowing that he was safe, he closed his eyes, sighed, and returned to his slumber.
Hikari smiled broadly. "[I]Yes, this one will do quite nicely.[/I]" And with that, she gave Ranma's inner mind the skills it would need to get him through the trials and tribulations ahead.