Finding Home

Make sure to read to author's notes at the end, it is very important.

Summary: After losing her memory as a child, a young red head seeks answers to who she is, answers best left alone as she learns she might just be a boy!

I don't own Ranma or anything else so please don't sue me. All I have is this old, barely working computer.

Another clap of thunder overhead startled the three travelers as they made there way through the mountains, the paths a little smaller than was comfortable but the larger man in the dirty gi knew it was something that had to be done. It was his mistake that he brought his seven year old son to China after only two years on this training trip. He knew he should have waited much longer but thanks to the whole neko-ken incident he was forced to skip ahead in the agenda and come here to look for all the supposedly magical training grounds he remembered his old master talking about long ago.

He was so excited when he did actually find one, so much so that he ignored all the warnings posted and the verbal ones their guide kept spouting off. Now thanks to that stupidity, one in what the older man admitted in a long lone of stupid decisions, he was cursed to become a large panda with cold water though warm water reversed it. His son wasn't so lucky, there was apparently several springs of drowned girl and Ranma had landed in the one that the guide said a large male dominated tribe used often to make wives for themselves. It was treated by some magical water from some enchanted ladle according to the guide making the curse permanent with the exception of the possibility of gaining some water from another artifact the tribe had. Some sort of magic kettle was supposedly able to unlock the curse and hopefully at least restore the young red haired girl with the two older men to male, even if only half of the time.

The guide had explained that it would be a very bad idea to just use the spring of drowned boy because it would only mix the curses which would only make things worse. It was disheartening that there was no true cure according the guide but there was still a small hope in Genma's mind that somewhere, someway they would find a cure.

"We on border of Musk territory now, be very quiet." The guide said, "If we run into someone let me do the talking. Very, very bad if Musk is angered, even the weakest of Musk is very strong compared to normal human. Most Musk have very powerful ki attacks."

The mention of ki attacks perked Genma up a bit, if they could get in good with these Musk then perhaps they could teach them some of these ki attacks. And if not, there were always scrolls he could steal when they left.

"Is young Mister customer doing okay?" the guide asked looking worriedly at the young redhead. Since the curses the redhead barely talked, the only times of showing any real life was when they sparred. It worried the older Saotome but he was sure after they got the water from the kettle all would be fine.

Sighing when Ranma didn't answer back Genma looked over the edge of the path and shuddered a bit. They were so high already that either clouds were all he could see or maybe fog but either way it was a long drop.

"Stay quiet sirs, is Musk border guard." The guide said drawing Genma's attention. Up ahead were two very muscular men in animal skins. One was wearing what looked like a tiger's skin but thankfully no headwear like his partner made out of the animal the skin once belonged to. The other had the skins of a wolf and he had a wild, feral look to him, even more so than the tiger one. Genma watched as the guide moved forward and greeted the two in Chinese though it was too hard for the Japanese man to follow. The conversation quickly grew heated as it sped up and became increasingly louder.

"You, outsider, how dare you come to steal water from the kasifuu!" The wolf man snarled as he shoved the guide up against the rocky wall. (Is kasifuu right?)

"We didn't." Genma said, denying any intentions of stealing. He was thankful the man knew Japanese. "My son, he fell into your spring and we need…"

"You need to die for trespassing on Musk lands outsider." The wolf growled launching forward and attacking Genma. His punches were powerful, more powerful than Genma thought possible but the bald man wasn't a slouch when it came to martial arts. Pumping ki into his arms to block the man's punches he fought back keeping barely evenly matched with the large man.

"Mister Customer, watch out!" The guide cried just as the wolf man pulled back, jumping up into the air just as a large ball of ki flew right through where the man was just moments ago. Genma barely dodged it as it slammed into the mountain behind him shaking the whole area.

"POP!" A feminine shriek cried out catching Genma's attention. The blast must have knocked Ranma off the cliff as she was hanging on to the side as rocks and dirt feel around her making it hard for the redhead to hold on.

"Hold on boy, I'm coming." Genma called out moving to grab his child but the tiger man blindsided him. "RANMA!"

"POP!" Ranma cried as her grip slipped little by little as Genma fought to make it past the tiger man but it was useless. With cry of terror the redhead's grip slipped and her voice slowly faded as she plummeted to what could only be her doom.

"NO!" Genma screamed in outrage and hopelessness. Instead of giving up though a bright red battle aura surrounded the dirty Japanese man as all thoughts of keeping his two most dangerous techniques forbidden fled his mind. He swore he would get revenge for his son on the two freaks before him.

333

"What was that?" Lo Xian asked herself, a little fear seeping into her voice as she looked up at the loud explosion way up in the mountain. It was her day off from the inn and she usually enjoyed coming to the large, deep lake that the waterfall created before the water joined the stream. The mists created for the water falling usually created tons of beautiful rainbows and the young woman loved to watch them as she relaxed and swam.

A few moments later a small body crashed into the water which looked to belong to a young child. After a few moments with no sign of the child surfacing the woman swam over and dived under the water and quickly found the girl slowly sinking to the bottom after apparently hitting her head on one of the large rocks and bouncing off of it as she was leaving a trail of blood in the water like a crimson mist.

The sound of Musk horns sounding off as she surfaced with the girl worried Lo Xian, there was no way she was letting those filthy monsters get there hands on this girl. She was only a child, what on earth could she have done to deserve being thrown off the mountain like that? Taking the shallowly breathing girl she grabbed her things and hurried back to the village to get help from the healer and hopefully hide the child until the Musk passed by.

333

This was just the prologue but the next chapter will be a lot longer. I desperately need HELP though to continue this store. I need good suggestions for both men and women names for the people from a neutral village that is made up mostly by exiled Amazons, Musk warriors who wasn't satisfied with their lives and some normal people just wanting peace. There may even be a phoenix or two.

The next chapter will most likely skip ahead 9 years with the first part Ranma thinking over her life in the village up until the present. After that, the next few chapters may be in the village but Ranma will be heading to Japan soon when she finds a lead to who she might be.

The first part will be a Ranma-chan fic but as for the future of the story anything can happen.

P.S. PLEASE SEND ME NAMES, I REALLY NEED THEM!

P.S.S. And to prove that I am working on the next chapter already here is a sneak peek though the bold spots is names I haven't decided and will be replaced by names you give me. Cookie tto who figures out who Rin is. (Full name will be Rin Sense or Rinse, but am open to beter suggestions on how to make it but I want to kep it at least Rin.)

"Stupid, filthy perverts." A cute, busty redhaired girl grumbled as she walked away from the table of drunken old men after dropping off the last rounds of ale to them. She was wearing a plain dress though it was cut to show plenty of cleavage as the bodice she was forced to wear only enhanced her generous endowments. She was only sixteen, she thought, but after she started developing early on and grew into her figure somewhat she had been promoted from dish washer to barmaid. If she had her choice she's be by the fire playing her violin or flute but she didn't. She sighed as she thought that kitchen duty was a lot beter than dealing with old, dirty PERVERTS!

"Hey honey, how about another round?" A man asked from another table as he grabbed her around the waist pulling her close to the table. There was a loud, rowdy group of five men at this table who all were ogling her chest much to her discomfort.

If only Lo Xian was still alive she was sure this wouldn't be happening. It was though and since the older woman died almost seven years ago the redhead's life had went down the drain. Forced to move out witth the only place tthat would offer her a place to stay and work was the only inn in the village.

At first she was forced to sleep out in the barn with the horses, a pile of hay her bed. It provides little protection form the elements though as wind easily slipped through the cracks and every time it rained it leaked badly. And if that wasn't bad enough the smell of the place disgusted her but it was something she grew used to.

At least being a barmaid had some advantages to being stuck in the kitchen. The inn keeper didn't want what he said was his best looking server getting sick so he had gotten an old pallet with a thin, hardly comfortable cushion serving as a mattress as well as a ratty old blanket. It wasn't a whole lot and many would turn up there noses at it but tafter spending so much time in the barn it was a luxury she was happy to get. The attic that served as a storage room for the inn had a small corner in it where her pallet was and it stayed warm and dry which made it even beter.

"Of course, gentlemen, right away." Rin said as she expertly maunuvered out of the man's grasp heading to the bar where (Inn Keeper's Name) was. He was an older man with a rag tied on his head and wearing brown trousers and a white tunic. The man was overweight though he was still very strong. He had a black beard though it was graying and cold, blue eyes that always made Rin nervous. She could take care of herself, she was a great fighter, but tthis was the only place she had to go. "I need five more ales."

"This is the last round, I'm closing up early." (Inn Keeper's Name) said as he got the mugs Rin requested. "The kitchen and bar is closing up early tonight. After you serve them come to my office I have something I want to talk about with you. The others will worry about the cleanup tonight."

"Of course Sir." Rin said as a cold feeling swept over her. She hardly ever went to the mans office and when she did he always had something to complain about. She carried the tray of mugs to the table and exchanged the fresh ones with the empty ones while trying not to look angry as the men stared down her top at her cleavage as she bent forward to exchange the mugs.

"Here beautiful." One of the men said as he shoved some money into her top getting a feel as he did. It took every ounce of strength she had not to shudder at he touch or slam the man's head into the table for daring to touch her like that but she was already on tthin ice as she was she felt.

"Thank you very much Sir." Rin said through grited teeth, the men too drunk to notice thankfully. She turned and walked back towards the bar where one of the other servers took the tray while they shared look with each other that clearly said men were disgusting.