Legend of the White Lion

by Kyu No Ken

Tired of the chaos his life contained by choices unmade by him, a wish was made in order to escape it and start anew as he becomes a legend in all of china.

1. Chapter 1

I know that the beginning of this story was used in a previous story of mine, but it didn't quite work out, so I'm going to use it again for this one. A Ranma/Kung Fu Panda where Po is being replaced by Ranma as the dragon warrior but still serves noodles (those wonderful noodles!), anyway, it still follows the same story line of Kung Fu Panda with a twist, enjoy.

( # ) – A/N will be explained at the end of each chapter.

.

. .

. . .

. . . .

. . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. .

.

Starting Over;

Start of a New Beginning

. . .

. .

.

A dark weather hovered on the outskirts of Nerima ward Tokyo, Japan as it rained and poured. Our story begins on a mysterious shop, far from the rest of the business stands. Inside, a young man was about to change his life forever, for once by his own decision instead of someone else's.

"This, young sir, is the Mirror of Chaos," the old man said to the young man. The old man is the owner of the magic shop where Kuno bought the Phoenix Egg a while back. He held up a large mirror to the young customer in front of him. The mirror is shaped like an eye with a dark metal rim. The glass gleamed as it reflected the image of the youth before it. "I don't really believe it, but the story says that whoever holds the mirror can be sent to another world. However, it works only for those who have earned it."

The young man touched the glass so gingerly that you would think he is afraid it would break if he put too much pressure on it. "So this has the power to give me a new life, right?" he softly asked the proprietor as he gazed at the mirror with a slight light of hope in his eyes. He looks to be about eighteen years old and is dressed in a red silk shirt and dark, loose pants and Kung Fu shoes. His black hair is tied in a pigtail and his deep blue eyes spoke of a deep sadness just barely hidden. A large cut a little over an hour old is on his left palm and is covered by some cloth wrappings to stop it from bleeding. In his other hand he grasped the hilt of a broken katana, the blade having been snapped off a little over halfway to the tip. It is a sword of exquisite quality and there are few things in the world that could have broken it, but break it had. The deep crimson of dried blood marred its silver sheen.

The old storeowner is a little unsettled with the young man. Usually in his dealings with this young man he is full of adventure. He has always been a happy go lucky guy. Sure the young man has hit him a couple of times, but those were forgivable since he has caused a lot of problems for him. The proprietor looked at the cut hand first before staring into his eyes, just daring him to lie. "You cut yourself with that sword, didn't you," the old man stated instead of asked.

The young man's eyes looked down at the blade, remembering the events that led to him being here.

-)Flashbacks(-

It began one night after the usual chaos in his life occurred, a very tired and very hurt Ranma arrived at the Tendou dojo. His fight with Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse hadn't gone very well. They seemed to be getting better and better and he seemed to be losing his edge. He knew the real reason he was losing his fighting instinct was because he was tired of it all. Tired of the never-ending battles, tired of the challenges he was constantly receiving from people who wanting to fight the best, tired of all the women who seemed to think he belonged to them. Not caring what he feels about it. He just wanted to get away from everything.

He stumbled through the door and the first thing he got was a mad Akane in his face. "Where have you been Ranma?" she demanded.

"Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse jumped me," he explained. "I had to dunk them in a stream before they finally gave up." Feeling he had fully explained his tardiness, Ranma moved to go around Akane. He stopped when he noticed she had the 'I'm going to hit Ranma' look in her eyes. He wondered what he had done this time.

"So you were out fighting huh? Then what's that on your cheek Ranma?"

Ranma groaned. He had completely forgotten about Shampoo's kiss and apparently the lipstick hadn't come off during the fight. "I can explain that. You see Shampoo—"

"So it was Shampoo huh!" shouted Akane, cutting him off. "One of your cute fiancées! Why didn't you go to her with your injuries and story of being picked on by big bad Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse you hentai?"

Normally Ranma would have hit back with something sarcastic and rude, but tonight he just wasn't in the mood for the bickering he and Akane were constantly engaged in. Looking down at her, he wondered if she truly thought so little of him. It wasn't like he had gone out of his way to attract fiancées and enemies, and he certainly hadn't encouraged any of them once they had shown up. Without saying a word, Ranma simply limped past Akane.

"Where are you going now?" Akane's tone had lost a bit of its edge and was now tinged with confusion. It wasn't like Ranma to simply ignore her barbs.

"To take a bath," he responded in a weary tone. "I'm tired and I hurt, so I'm going to take a bath and go to bed. Good night."

He was heading to the bath when he heard Nabiki talking to his mom who came to visit. He followed the voices to Nabiki's room and stood outside the door as they continued to talk.

"Auntie, shouldn't you just pick a girl for Ranma to marry to end all of this craziness?" Ranma's interest grew and he pressed his ear to the door.

"Yes, maybe I should. I was hoping that he would just pick a girl of his own so that I can finally have some grandkids."

"So you just want some grandkids out of him?"

"Yes. I gave up mothering Ranma so that the family name would have great honor to it after Genma trains him. But I never got to mother him the way I wanted to. So by getting grandkids I get to mother them all I want and then give them back to Ranma and his wife without really doing any work. If they act up it must be because Ranma is such a poor father. My son is useless except as a fighter and baby-maker anyway. As long as he gives me grandchildren I don't really care what happens to him anymore. Oh, if only I didn't have such a dishonorable son!" Ranma's anger grew at his moth...Genma's wife's words. This is woman that gave birth to him? "So which one do you think would mother the most kids for me?"

Ranma left for the bath to do some heavy thinking. He knows now that even his mother didn't care for him at all. All she saw in him her own son was a tool to use. It was no wonder Genma didn't want to stay with her! She's just as bad as he is! He feared this would happen, he just knew the two had to be alike! It's the only reason that made sense for the two to marry!

In the bath Ranma could finally think to himself. He began thinking about his life and what it was leading to. Everyone wanted something from him and no one cared about him. The only ones that ever treated him like a person were Tofu, Kasumi and Ms. Hinako, even if she does drains him. They were the only ones that cared about HIM.

He helped Tofu to stop acting crazy every time Kasumi was near him a few weeks ago. It took a good while, but now Kasumi and Tofu are dating. He also helped Hinako stop turning into a little girl. He found a scroll in the old pervert's room that had a counter move to stop her from turning into a little girl. He had to disable her again since she didn't trust him, but now Hinako is now a full time adult. She has been treating him like a good friend since then. The two of them even meet in private to just talk! No fighting, no ultimatums, just the two of them talking and acting like they've been friends for years. No one has ever done that with him before.

Ranma then went back thinking about himself. Despite what many people believed about him Ranma was not stupid. He was simply ignorant of a lot of things. Since the day he was born his life had been laid out before him by his parents. He was to become a man among men, a warrior whose skills and abilities would be unrivaled by anyone. He would marry the daughter of his father's good friend Soun and carry on the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. He would bring great honor to both families. He would be everybody's escape goat. He would be everybody's punching bag. He would be the one working while everyone lazed around eating the food HE bought with his money, sitting on the couch HE paid for, watching the TV HE saved up to buy, while everyone treated him like they treat Kasumi, like a slave. They may not beat her, but she's a slave just like he is. But no one had ever bothered to ask him if this was what he wanted or her for that matter. Nabiki would sell his pictures, and eventually his body, to make money while he never got any of it. Genma and Soun would keep on drinking sake and using up all the hard-earned money he made. His mother would mother his children while ignoring him. If they got too rough she would send them to him and probably say he's a bad father when he would barely even see them! Akane would continue to beat him until one day she kills him. Probably would beat his corpse too. And that's just if he stayed with the Tendos! The others are even worse.

An even more chilling thought came to him. They would probably do this to his children as well!

Ranma is a fighter but only because he had never been given the chance to be anything else but a fighter. Fighting and the martial arts didn't necessarily disagree with him; it was just the constant fighting that he disliked so much. Sure he likes fighting but that was only because he never had the chance to do anything else but to fight. His knowledge of things other than fighting was limited due to the nomadic lifestyle he had lived for a good ten years of his life. Being dragged from place to place and being enrolled in a ton of different schools had done very little to help his education or social skills.

And now he's here in Nerima, considered by many to be either an enemy or the love of their life. This was where he was supposed to spend the rest of his life, happily married to Akane.

Yeah, right.

This wasn't what he wanted out of his life. Because he never had any control of it to begin with. Because his life was already planned out for him before he was even born.

Then he thought about his parents. They are the cause of all of his heartaches. Genma the fat panda is why he's the way he is now. He cared more about himself than anything else. Selling him just to feed his fat belly, not caring about what would happen later to his own son. Many of the people are after him because of something HE did. Hell, whenever Genma gets challenged he would tell the challenger to take it out on HIM! Then there was his mother, if he could call her that. She wanted the family name to have great honor to it. But couldn't she see that the Saotome name no longer had any honor to its name anymore, thanks to the man she married. And she always threatens him with that sword of hers. She cared more about honor to her family's name than her child. And now he knows that all she wants out of him is grandkids to mother the way she had wanted to do with him, as long as they don't act up. Then it would be his fault for raising such bad children! She was never a mother to beginning with the bitch!

Then Ranma remembered what he had read a day before about the magic shop where Kuno got that phoenix egg awhile back. A magic item that could give anyone one wish is there now. The shop owner sent him a letter telling him about it since he had heard of the various troubles he has. The others have already tried to use it, but it didn't work for them because the owner of the store said only those who have earned a wish could make the mirror work. If you made a wish and it didn't work for you the mirror would wipe your memory of the whole thing. Even the knowledge of the mirror's existence would be wiped out. It's one of the safeguards of the mirror so the failed wish maker wouldn't destroy the mirror in a fit of rage. According to the owner everyone from Akane to Cologne has tried their luck with the mirror, with no results except for a memory wipe.

Ranma couldn't think of anyone besides himself that has earned a wish. He could wish for a new life so that he could leave this one. It wasn't his to begin with. If nothing else it would just erase a bit of his memory anyway.

All he had to do is break all of his bonds to this life. This is it. Even if the mirror didn't work there's no turning back. 'Well, there's no reason to wait for it. I should do what I have to do. What I want to do,' thought Ranma as he got out of the bath with a grim yet determined expression on his face.

- 0 -

Downstairs the Tendo family is having dinner. Nodoka is sitting next to her husband talking about their son. They were about to dig in when Ranma walk downstairs. He looked at them until he had everyone's attention.

"I want you to all know that I'm leaving this house for good. I'm abandoning the Saotome name and all the honor debts that go with it." He's fully dressed and his things are all in a subspace pocket he learned from Mousse, the only good thing that ever came out of the stupid duck. Of course Mousse didn't know that Ranma had copied his technique.

"Now see here boy!" Genma shouted in his face pointing his finger at him. He let out a scream when Ranma grabbed his finger and snap it. A brutal kick on the face made a deep cut in its wake. Genma fell to the ground lying like a broken doll with its strings cut off. Then Ranma threw an energy ball at Mr. Tendo as he was getting up. The ball of energy sent the Tendo human waterworks flying into the pond.

"RANMA YOU JERK!" Akane shouted bringing out her hammer. She was about to bash in his head, but she felt a deep pain and saw Ranma's fist punching her HARD into her gut. She spat out blood before falling to the ground unconscious.

Nabiki stood up and glared at him. "Ranma! How dare you!" She was about to slap him when Ranma grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. He squeezed as she looked into his eyes. His eyes are cold, frigid. It put to shame her own expressionless mask and it made her scared.

His voice matched his eyes. "Now you will listen to me. I will not tolerate you ruining my life. Got that!" Before she could reply he slammed her to the ground. Hard! It wasn't enough to kill her, but she will be sore for weeks.

Nodoka pulled out her sword as she advanced on him. "Now see here son! How could you do this to our family name?" Looking at the sword Ranma felt anger, intense, raging 'I will kill you now!' anger. She cared more about her own honor than her child's welfare!

Grabbing her sword Ranma held it up to let her see it; "You cared nothing about me. You only saw me as a tool to use then throw away after its usefulness has run out. You were never fit to be a mother at all. I consider myself UN-lucky to have been born to you and your husband. You are just the woman who donated half of her genes to make me. I'm glad I have no siblings. They would have been ashamed as well to have you as their mother. Your ancestor would be ashamed to know you. You gave me nothing but pain, so I'm throwing everything you and your family has done to me!" In front of Nodoka's frightened eyes he snapped the blade in two. Then he drew its broken blade along his left palm, leaving a streak of his own blood from the hilt to its now jagged tip. "Take my blood as well! It has been nothing but a pain to me since your blood runs in mine!" He splashed her face with the blood dripping from the gaping wound. By doing this he has effectively declared that he refuses to acknowledge her as family. The breaking of the blade and the throwing of blood has made him a ronin. A wanderer. One with no family. Good!

Looking down at her now pale face he scowled. "You never cared for me but as a way to have honor and have grandkids to mother the way you never did for me! It YOUR fault since you were never was there for me! YOU are the one who let Genma take me away! YOU are the one to ruin this family! Genma may have been the one to make those deals and make those thefts and such, but he wouldn't have made even half of them if YOU hadn't let him take me away! You say you want grandchildren? I will NEVER let you touch my children you bi from hell!"

He turned towards the front door and walked away, leaving a gaping and frozen woman in his wake. He still held onto the broken sword as a reminder of why he left this life for good. As he got to the door separating him from the outside world he saw Kasumi waiting for him.

-)End of Flashback(-

Then he looked at the old man's eyes; "Yes. I left my old life behind. I had to leave behind my blood as well to do it," The grief his eyes conveyed is enough to melt even the most cold-hearted man.

The old man did not stand a chance. He is greedy, not heartless. "Well, here is something to keep that sword from rusting." The old man pulled out a green colored sheath from behind the counter. "This should do it." He hesitated for a second before adding, "Free of charge." It is the least he could do. Never in his whole life has he met a person so deeply distraught. Having traveled around the world before settling down he had met a lot of people. None of them carried the sadness the young man before him did. It looks like his very soul is dying. Only the stubbornness to keep on living is keeping his very spirit alive.

The young man is a bit surprised, but after a moment he takes it in stride. "Thank you very much sir," the young man said as he bowed deeply from the waist. The old man became intrigued as the words and the action is foreign to the young man. In fact, from his previous encounters with the young man he was expecting him to have poor grammar and horrible manners, not the young man who speaks very well and shows respect to is elders. He watched as the young man first cleaned off the blood, then sheathed the broken sword and strapped it to his back. "So, how do I use this mirror anyway sir?" Weird as it sounds the young man seemed to be switching personalities, as if revealing a side of him the public doesn't know about. The old man brushed it off though and proceeded to tell the young man how to use the mirror.

"Hold it up to your face and ask the mirror to take you somewhere else. However, it only works for the ones that it picks to work for. I do not know how it chooses or where it would send you."

"That's good enough for me." The young man held the mirror to his face for a long time, caressing the glass and trying to steel himself for what he is about to do. There is no turning back if this does work. He closed his eyes and though about what he would be leaving behind. He thought about what has happened to him today, what he has gone through for so long. He thought about the people he would be leaving behind. Finally, he spoke.

"I wish to start my life over, where I can be the master of my own destiny. One where no one can choose my path for me and where I can finally find . . . happiness." He spoke from the heart, and the mirror responded.

A bright light beamed out from the glass, hitting him and making his whole body glow brightly. "Thank you," he said as a lone tear made its way down his face.

That's the last thing the old man heard before the pigtailed man vanished in the light and the mirror dropped to the floor, miraculously not breaking. Picking up the mirror the old shopkeeper looked at it as if seeing something besides the mirror. "Well my boy, I hope your new life will be better than this one." He went to put the mirror back in storage.

-) Somewhere in the middle of a forest (-

A humanoid wearing traditional shaolin monk attire with a straw hat covering his face was sitting on top of a rock, meditating as he sat in a lotus position like a Buddhist as his paw like hands were placed in front of him. The humanoid keep breathing slowly in and out while he muttered;

"Inner peace . . . "

However, his meditation was suddenly interrupted as a light appeared in the sky, shining brightly as a star. Quickly rising to his feet, the humanoid looked up to the sky only to see the star glow brighter as it caused him to shield his eyesight with his hat while the star came down and crashed landed a couple of feet away from his position. After the light had receded the humanoid barely lifted his hat to see the smoke that was coming from the crash site and without second thought he ran to investigate as to what could have caused that light.

It didn't take him long to reach the site as he jumped out of the bushes and gasped when his eyes landed on the site before him. In front of him was a small crater that looked like the size of a rhinoceros and wondered what could have made such an imprint as he slowly walked towards the crater with caution, but then he noticed a figure at the bottom of the crater and curiously, the monk leaned forward into the crater to get a better view. The monk raised an opened his eyes in surprise when he noted a white lion cub with, no older than 5 wearing a tattered red Chinese shirt and kung fu pants, laying down at the heart of the crater, with his hand wrapped in a bloodied cloth and a sheathed katana laying close to him.

"Where did you come from little guy?" mused the monk as he took off his hat, revealing the face of a white wolf, - wrinkles around his eyes signifying that he was quite old - as he climbed down the crater to kneel beside the boy and inspect the boy for any signs of life as he checked his pulse. Letting out a relief sigh when he felt a strong pulse, but quickly frowned when he saw the cub's hand had deep cut on his right hand; "Looks like you're going to coming with me young one, since I can't leave you out here by yourself," muttered the wolf monk as he placed his hat on his head and picked up the sword to strap it around his back. Then as carefully as he could, the monk lifted the cub up in his arms and began his trek back towards the village he resided.

Upon arriving at his village, many of the villagers stopped their daily activity to bow at the monk with respect while some stared at the young cub in his arms with curiosity. The monk returned the gestures of the villagers and continued to walk within the village till he reached his home on top of a small hill. Once he stepped inside his home, the wolf monk had the local village doctor come take a look at his young charge, glad to hear that the kid just needed to rest and that his wound on his hand would heal without much of a scar. Once the doctor had left the monk's hut, the wolf made sure that Ranma got plenty of rest and clean bandages on his hand. A day has passed by after the monk had found the kid in that crater and began taking care of him, waiting for him to wake up while the monk meditated on the floor of his hut but the monk didn't had to wait long for he heard small groans as his guest began stir and slowly opened his eyes, deep blue staring right at the monk with grogginess as he stood on his feet and slowly approached Ranma.

"Well now, glad to have you back in the world of living, young one," said the monk with a bit of humor as he placed his hands inside the sleeves of his robe, observing the cub as he stared at him with dumbfounded look on his face. The wolf monk just raised an eyebrow at Ranma; "You do know that it is impolite to stare, right?"

Ranma stupidly blink his eyes a couple of times before he let out a scream and backed to the wall behind him while pointing at the monk;

"A talking wolf!"

The monk just stared at the youth with raised eyebrows; "Of course I'm a talking wolf, what the hell did you expect me to do, howl?"

"You're damn straight that's what you're supposed to do! Animals can't talk!" shouted Ranma with a pointing finger . . . until he finally took notice of the appearance of his hand;

"What the hell . . . ? White fur and a paw like hand with sharp claws . . . ?" thought Ranma as he examined his hands and the rest of his body, not noticing the elder wolf watching him with extreme caution and curiosity. His curiosity grew when Ranma looked to the left, where he had a mirror mounted on the wall and quickly noticed his body going rigid and shaking fearfully when Ranma saw a white lion cub staring back at him. He was truly unprepared on to what was about to occur next;

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO ME!" shouted Ranma on top of his lungs franticly as he jumped to his feet on top of the bed and inspected himself, "How did this happen?" shouted the former pigtailed martial artist as he touched his face, ripped his shirt open only to see white fur trailing down the rest of his body but what really got his eyes glued to the mirror was the extra appendage that was happily wagging behind him; a white long tail with a patch of black hair at the tip of the tail.

Ranma was in shock. He looked like a cat and he wasn't freaking out . . . . Then another thought occurred to him; He was cured! Not only cured of the neko-ken but had a second chance to live his life! He could not believe that he was a kid again as he examined his body again, although a bit physically different and calmly this time and looked again around his surroundings and noted that he was in a different place from where he made his wish.

"I'm cured of the neko-ken . . . My wish came true . . ." whispered Ranma in some profound happiness as he sat down on his bed and hugged himself with his eyes closed and tail wrapped around him protectively. Sadly, he forgot that there was someone in the room as he freaked out and began muttering to himself.

Hearing what the kid said, the monk got even more curious as the youngster's claim. Making sure not to startle the young cub, the monk gently coughed in his hand, gaining Ranma's attention, as he was reminded that he wasn't alone in the room. Silently cursing his slip up, Ranma figured that now he had to tell the ma-errr wolf in front of him the truth, hoping not to scare the old monk;

"Can't do much 'bout it now. He already heard what I said," thought the former pig-tailed martial artist.

"What wish is that you speak of child?" asked the wolf monk with a soft gaze as he sat down on the floor in a lotus position; "And do not be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you. I just simply wish to know of you".

Feeling the sincerity in his words, Ranma gave a heavy sigh before he introduced himself, "Thank you for your hospitality. My name is Ranma, I don't have a last name anymore for I left it along with my past in order to start a new life, and if you want, I'll tell you 'bout it if you kindly can tell me where am I?"

Before the old monk could reply, someone had walked in unexpectedly, causing both of them to turn at the entrance of the hut. A female Chinese mountain cat dressed in a light blue traditional Chinese female clothing that showed a body of a fighter, (A/N: pants and shirt) carrying a tray of tea cups and tea pot, -freshly made for the pot was steaming still from its top- had walked in and bowed to the old monk before she took another step;

"My apologies master Shamon, I didn't mean to barge in unannounced," apologized the girl with a voice that Ranma deduced she was close to her late teens and in a way reminded him of Kasumi, but he was ignored for the moment as the old monk known as Shamon simply raised his hand;

"You're fine young one. Now, let me introduce to you our sleeping guest," said Shamon as he gestured towards Ranma, "Ranma this is Shun Rei, my daughter. Shun Rei this is Ranma," The girl known as Shun Rei smiled kindly and bowed as Ranma returned the gesture in respect, "And as Shun Rei said, my name is Shamon, and as to where we are, we are in a local panda village, a day away from Gongmen City."

"Gongmen City? Wasn't that a city that fell in ancient China?" thought Ranma, "So that means that I'm China, correct?" asked the former pig-tailed martial artist

Shamon nodded an affirmative in response while Shun Rei sat on her knees next to her father and began to pour tea for the three of them; Shamon noticed that Ranma was struggling to keep his mouth shut; "Is there a another question you would like to ask, Ranma?"

Ranma nodded, "I apologize if my question sounds offensive, but how is possible for you to be her father?" asked Ranma, really hoping to not have offended the two of them, but Shamon just chuckled as he accepted the cup of tea that Shun Rei gave to him and took a small sip of his tea before answering;

"She may not be my daughter by blood, but I love her as she were," taking another sip of his tea while Shun Rei gave Ranma his own cup of tea, the monk continued, "Now, before my daughter came in, you were about to tell me about this life you left it along when you made your wish to start a new life."

Not having taken a drink from his cup, Ranma kept staring at his reflection on the tea and silently he closed his eyes, beginning to speak, "Originally, my full name was Ranma Saotome. I come from a different world where I used to have different appearance and animals didn't talk or act civilized, but I'm getting out of topic. In my previous life, I used to practice the Anything Goes Martial Arts since it was part of my former family's style of fighting and was taught the style since the time I could walk by my father as he took in a 10 year training trip . . . . . "and continued to tell he did, telling Shamon and Shun Rei everything that happened throughout his life. All the chaos, the pain he endured, the abuse his father put him through in his so called 'sake for the art' as he explained in explicit detail the kinds of exercises he was put through, including the neko0ken training which gained him gasps of horror and shock from the girl and a stern look on the wolf's face. But Ranma didn't stop there, he continued to tell his tale from all the betrayals he had suffered by those he called friends, how he fought for the girl he loved and only to be treated as a prize to be won, how everything in his life was chosen for him with his consent, not caring for his opinions or his happiness. However, all the atrocities he had gone through it didn't compare to the pain and betrayal he felt when he discovered how his own mother willingly gave his former father the permission to do those horrid ordeals and when he reached the breaking point when he found out what Genma's wife thought of him as nothing but a tool to give her grandkids and thought of disowning him after his usefulness had ended, to the point of he when denounced his name in blood.

"That's the gist of it," finished Ranma as he looked out the window with a dead look in his eyes.

After listening to his story, Shun Rei wasn't able to hold back the tears anymore as she got up and reached out for Ranma to wrap him in a tight, protective hug, sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder. Shamon, however, he silently raged on the inside after having listened to Ranma's story, being unable to stomach the monstrosities that that sorry slob that was his former father did without much of a guilty conscious. And to a child no less! But what really got his blood boiling was how his own mother allowed such bestiality to occur so she could just throw her son away as if he were yesterday's trash in the end.

Controlling his anger as did a couple of breathing exercises, the old monk closed his eyes pensive on the situation at hand. The kid . . . . No, the man in front of him had gone through hell and back and managed to barely keep his sanity with all the hardships he went through, and he couldn't just abandon him either. Opening his eyes, he saw how his daughter hugged the lion cub protectively in her arms while rubbing gently his back, frowning at the confused yet lifeless look in his eyes;

"From the look he has in his eyes, I can easily tell that he has never encounter this kind of affection before," thought the monk as he let out a sigh, "But as farfetched his story sounds, I cannot detect nothing but pain in his words," to watch Ranma, thinking of a way to help him out, then suddenly an idea popped into mind, and a grin appeared in his face.

"Ranma," started Shamon as he got the former pig tailed's and his daughter's attention as he stood up to his feet, placing his arms behind him, "it's a lot to take in, with your claim of coming from another world, but I can tell the truthfulness of your words and if you allow me, I would like to help you."

"Help him how father?" asked Shun Rei as she shifted her position, sitting behind Ranma as she wrapped her arms around his small waist.

"For one, he needs to know the terrain so he won't get lost, along with learning the history and rules of our lands, but also what I want to offer –which the decision is entirely up to you- is training."

At this, both (Shun Rei's and Ranma's) eyes widen in surprise, but the young martial artist eyed the old wolf cautiously;

"What's the catch old man?" asked Ranma with suspicion while hope shone through his eyes, but Shamon shook his head;

"There's no catch, I just simply wish to train you and if you allow me, pass on my teachings to you," replied Shamon with no hint of deception, "Making you my heir to my style."

"But what makes you think that I'm worthy enough to learn from you or not abuse your teachings?" asked Ranma with surprise clearly written on his face.

"I listened to your story and I could feel every emotion you held within you as you spoke, but when you spoke of the art, I could feel the pride, the hardship, the struggle you went through to be the fighter you had become," replied the monk looking directly into Ranma's eyes, "And I know you won't abuse what I plan to teach you, for you're a man of honor despite of despicable parents that gave you life."

Ranma's eyes began to tear up in happiness. For he now had a choice on how to live his life without others having to choose from him. Feeling a squeeze on his abdomen, he turned back to Shun Rei, seeing her nod in encouragement. Making his decision, he turned towards Shamon as he waited for an answer;

"I accept . . . Master," replied Ranma with a bow of respect. Then he raised his head to look at his master; "Master . . . I wish to be called by a different name instead of my birth name."

Shamon slowly got up from his kneeling position, feeling his old joints pop as he stood on his feet and placed his hands behind his back, his attention still on the young lion;

"So my young pupil, what is it that you wish to be called?"asked Shamon (3)

"Leonidas(1)," replied the former pigtailed fighter, gaining a nod of approval from his master;

"A strong name," commented Shamon. Wordlessly, he turned around and walked towards the exit of his home, but stopping before he walked out as he turned towards Leonidas, "Now yu should rest, for tomorrow we shall begin your training on Eijuuken(2)" and with that, he walked out of their home, leaving Shun Rei and Leonidas alone.

"You should listen to Master Shamon, he is very strict when it comes to training," said Shun Rei as she let go of Leo's waist and scooted to the edge of the bed, but Leo gently grabbed her by the forearm, causing her to look at him in confusion;

"Shun Rei . . . could you please stay with me?" asked Leo with a hint of fear on his voice. Shun Rei's eyes soften when he asked her to stay with him while in the back of her mind, she cursed those who hurt him in his previous life;

"Yes, Leonidas, I'll stay with you," answered Shun Rei softly as she again sat behind him and wrapped her around his waist, pulling him against her chest as she rest her chin on top of his head and began to sing a lullaby;

Ahummmmm

Ahummmmm

Ahummmmm

In the jungle, the mighty jungle

The lion sleeps tonight

In the jungle, the mighty jungle

The lion sleeps tonight

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh

Leonidas's eyes began to feel heavy as he listened to Shun Rei's singing;

Near the village, the peaceful village

The lion sleeps tonight

Near the village, the peaceful village

The lion sleeps tonight

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh

Shun Rei slowly got out of her position and slowly laid Leonidas down, but the young lion didn't want to depart from her embrace as he tried to reach out with a hug. However, Shun Rei gently pushed him down and softly placed one of her fingers on his lips;

Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling

The lion sleeps tonight

Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling

The lion sleeps tonight

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh

Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh . . . . . (4)

Shun Rei just watched as the young lion finally fell asleep as he soundly snored. Shamon sat right outside his home in a lotus position, listening to Shun Rei's song as he thought of the young man that had suddenly appear in his life;

"After many years of searching for a worthy pupil, I have finally found one to carry on the legacy of Eijuuken, this young man named Ran - . . . No Leonidas is destined for great things and something tells me that you will go far, my boy," thought the old master Shamon with a smile as he looked across the village at the setting sun behind the mountains. . . .

.

. .

. . .

. .

.

Annnnndd, Cut!

I would like to thank madhat886 in letting me use some paragraphs from his work in order to help me get started on this fic.

A/N:

Leonaidas means lion's strength in Greek (or so says the google, lol) and two, I like the name, sounds bad ass.

Eijuuken is a style of fighting from the anime Shaman King

Shamon is a character from Shaman King as well, which is the practitioner of Eijuuken.

And lastly, the song has a small role later on the story and the idea came to me when I was watching Lion King with my baby cousin.