Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or Ranma ½ if I did why would I be spending the time to write fan fiction for no monetary reward. Yeah, that's right all you lawyer folk I am poor suing me will get you nothing. So sit back and just read for your own enjoyment.
Chapter 1: Wellspring
A teenage boy was hefting a large travel pack on his back, distributing its weight. The slightly used gi shirt and pants he dressed in marked him as a martial artist. The back of his black hair fell nearly to the middle of his back bound only by a simple white cloth into a ponytail. His sapphire eyes looked towards the forest lying to his right and then straight to the horizon, his face neutral of expression, and his feet churned bits of dirt and gravel as he moved slowly down the road. The sky above him was clear and fresh, the sun hanging lazily behind him. Often these natural settings were the boy's only constant companions.
"Blasted Chinese, can't even make a simple map for a man to follow", an older voice grumbled behind the boy. The boy turned around to look at the source. It was a large man with a portly belly dressed in a gi shirt and pants in a similar style to the boy. In his hands he holding a map and turning it over, around, and upside-down trying to make sense of it. He wore a bandanna over his head though no hair poked out of the cloth. He wore an old pair of wire framed glasses that clung to his face, which seemed to be perpetually scowling at the map. And there, the boy thought, was the sound of his pop's constant whining. Yes, today was going to be another great day in the training journey of Ranma Saotome.
"So what's the verdict pop? We lost?" Ranma asked as he slowed his pace to get side by side his father Genma. Genma gave Ranma a quick glance and went back to trying to figure out the map. "Of course not boy I know exactly where we are." The older man stated with authority.
Ranma waited for his father to continue as the old man looked at the map, when Genma said nothing after a minute he spoke up, "And that is?"
Genma continued to walk down the path, looked at Ranma with an annoyed look, and then pointed to a spot on the map, "Right here of course." Ranma leaned in to take a closer look and saw where his fathers forefinger lay.
"So were in the middle of a lake huh?" Ranma started as he gave his father a hooded look as the two came to a fork in the road with a signpost right in the middle pointing in each direction.
"Well boy if you can do better," Genma began angrily as he shoved the map into Ranma's hands, "Go ahead and do so!"
Ranma looked at the map in his hands, turned it around, glanced at the signpost, then back at the map, and then looked at the road to the right. "This way." He stated simply as he began to walk briskly down that direction. Ranma tossed the map over his shoulder causing Genma to scramble a bit to catch it. The older man looked at the map, then the signpost, and scratched his bandanna covered head in confusion. Then he started to run to catch up to Ranma. "And what boy," he began in a mocking tone, "makes you think that this is the right direction?"
"Zhuwei." Ranma answered simply keeping his eyes on the path ahead. Genma blinked a few times, "What?" he responded. Ranma just sighed and used his left hand to point at a spot on the map as he explained, "Remember what the guy who made you this map said: the guide lives in Zhuwei."
"Ranma when did you learn Chinese? And how can you know about this information?" Genma asked suspiciously scowling at Ranma. Ranma stared contemptuously at his father but kept on walking, "Well gee let me think, could it be because the guy kept on repeating the words 'guide' and 'Zhuwei' over and over again in stilted Japanese?" Ranma then flipped the backpack to his left shoulder to open a small flap and pulled out a book he held in his right hand. "And could it be that I have a Japanese-to-Chinese dictionary right here in my pack, which allowed me to know what Zhuwei was in Chinese characters?" Ranma replied sarcastically, then put the book back in the flap, reseated the backpack, and shook his head at his father's ramblings as he pulled ahead of the old man. "Seriously, oyaji you gotta pay more attention when people are trying to tell you something useful."
Genma gaped his mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. He then decided to start crying as he held his head down. "Oh the shame! To have such a sharp tongued child for a son!" He bellowed but was cut off by a quick back kick from Ranma to his stomach causing Genma to loss his breath for a moment. Ranma stared at his father furiously, "Enough of the crocodile tears, oyaji we got a good ways to go before we get to Zhuwei."
Sure enough as the sun plodded its way across the sky it grew into midday and then into late afternoon when the two travelers came upon the town they sought. Well, town wasn't quite the right term, while there was a large amount of buildings they seemed to be clustered together around a meeting hall. The streets were paved with stones, the buildings made of wood and bricks rather than concrete, and no sign of electric wires or lights could be seen though some houses had antennae on their roofs. By the sheer number of people Zhuwei was larger then a village but the population was too dispersed to be considered a town.
The two wandering martial artist approached the settlement and proceeded to a small square centered around an old well. As they approached the well, Genma turned and faced Ranma. "Boy, go find us some lodgings for the night." He instructed as the older man pressed a wad of cash in Ranma's left hand. Ranma looked at the cash and then back to his old man with a suspicious eye, "Where did you get this?" he started as his father was leaving the square at a rather quick pace. "Saved it by swimming to the continent boy! See you in a couple of hours!" he shouted as his pace quickened into a full out run as he went further into Zhuwei.
Must…not kill…oyaji, Ranma repeated in his head like a mantra as he crushed the cash in his hand with his head bowed low in anger. He looked back up in the direction his father fled and vowed he'd get even with his pops, one way or another. With one final glare Ranma turned right and began looking for an inn or hostel where he could rent a room for the evening.
With a bit of luck and a lot of polite Chinese conversation Ranma was able to find a place willing to put him and his pop up for the night. The room was a spartan one, colored a drab blue, with two small beds and an oil lamp affixed to the wall between them; no paintings, mirrors, or other wall decorations were present save for a window on the far wall. This suited the younger Saotome just fine as he put his pack near the left side of the bed farthest from the door and sifted through it. A moment later he pulled out the dictionary from before and a curious red colored brochure. Remembering his fathers previous antics with other brochures and manuals advertising 'ultimate' training sites or 'unbeatable' techniques Ranma had decided to get a leg up on his pops latest crazy scheme; hence why he had purloined the brochure from his old man. Maybe I can avoid it this time and let oyaji take all the heat, the young martial artist thought as he opened the dictionary and began slowly reading the brochure.
Several hours later
The oil lamp was burning brightly, shedding its illumination on the room allowing the pigtailed youth to continue his work. From the scribbles and jotting notes on the margins and spaces of the brochure Ranma seemed to have translated over half the brochure; what he found therein alarmed him. What could be mistaken as large bold text grabbing a reader's attention to procure the slip of paper was actually a cautionary notice. Text that followed below it seemed to indicate that the training site was to be avoided at all costs lest some terrible curse or doom fall on the seeker. The specifics of this doom was ambiguous, the only terms he could translate were 'pools of sorrow', 'punishment for failure', and 'chaos magic'. As Ranma began trying to piece together this puzzle his stomach decided to loudly announce its need for sustenance. Ranma glanced out the window and saw it was almost pitch black with only a bit of moonlight shining down. Might as well stop to eat something, the young man thought as he stowed the brochure and dictionary back in his pack.
A moment later the door flung open revealing Genma who quickly ducked into the room and closed the door. Genma's gi shirt appeared to have become covered is dirt and dust, his pants soaking wet and dripping on the floor as he walked to the unoccupied bed, but all the while the older man patted his belly and smiled like a fox that had just finished raiding a hen house. "Ah nothing like a good meal in your belly after a long day's work." The older man started as he moved toward the empty bed, picked up the pillow, pulled up the sheets, and stuffed the pillow underneath. Carefully fluffing the pillow here and there, he then looked over his handwork and nodded. "Night boy, well head over to the guides place in the morning," Genma exclaimed as he sat near the far corner and began to drift off to sleep.
Ranma blinked once and then twice before smacking the palm of his right hand to his face. Taking in his father's actions, state of dress, and his current sleeping arrangement meant only one thing: His old man had decided to get dinner in his traditional manner of eat and run. Probably put my name down on the tab as well, Ranma thought with disgust. His stomach growled once again to show its displeasure at being denied. Hmm go downstairs and face an angry mob or eat trail rations? The boy asked himself and then soon afterwards his hand moved to grab the rations contained in his backpack. If his pops was going to avoid the problem he caused, why should he get it dumped in his lap? After quickly ingesting several dried fruits and nuts his stomach quieted down, the younger Saotome got into bed, and turned out the light.
The next morning had Ranma and his father up and about sneaking through back alleys and taking side streets. Sometimes Genma even took to the rooftops to avoid large numbers of people. Naturally when Ranma questioned his father about this his parent brushed him off or nonchalantly claimed it was good stealth practice. Great how much trouble did the old man get into yesterday? the ponytailed youth pondered. Eventually the duo reached a medium sized home with a small stone steps leading to a dark wooden door, a brick chimney churning out smoke, and several sills for wild flowers. From the looks of the condition of the door the two were going in through the back. Genma knocked on the door and waited a few minutes. Slowly at the sound of locks opening the door creaked open a sliver.
Later Mount Quanjing, Bayan Har Range, Qinghai Province
"And here sirs, is legendary training ground of accursed springs." The guide gestured sweeping his left hand to the small valley vista ahead. He was a pudgy man of Chinese decent with a patriotic Maoist shirt, pants, and hat that seemed to have popped out of a 1950's communist propaganda movie. He spoke passable Japanese, English, Turkish, Tibetan, and surprisingly Spanish when Ranma asked him about his background. Genma just dismissed those skills out of hand wanting to get to the training site as quickly as possible. Immediately upon cresting the hill Genma turned to Ranma, "Alright boy, are you prepared?"
Ranma looked at his old man with a glare of disbelief and turned to the guide instead. "Excuse me sir," He started to ask in Mandarin. "But what exactly is dangerous about these springs? The brochure wasn't exactly explicit."
The guide blinked, pinched his cheek, and put his right hand to his forehead. After a few minutes, he looked at Ranma and smiled but before he could reply though Genma bellowed, "Oh woe is me my own son is afraid of some bamboo sticks and pools of water." he put up his glasses and rubbed the crocodile tears from his eyes before glancing back at his son. Ranma just glared back and decided to ignore his old man. In that instant of looking away, Genma moved quickly and snatched Ranma's backpack.
"What the hell oyaji?" Ranma replied as he started chasing Genma. The duo were running around on the edge of the pools until Genma jumped on one of the poles with his son's backpack hung loosely at his side. "Now boy unless you want you precious pack to take a dunk, I suggest you take this training seriously!"
Ranma grit his teeth, jumped up, grabbed the strap of the backpack with his right hand while planting his left knee deep in his father's fat gut. To add insult to injury he used his father's crotch as a spring board to land on the poles in the next pool over. This caused Genma to plunge into the pool he was just balancing above, "Ha! Serves you right you old cot!" Ranma replied as he waited for his father to resurface. A few minutes passed as the bubbles coming from Genma's crash into the spring slowed. "Pops, you okay? Are we done?" Ranma asked as he glanced away for a split second to toss his backpack closer to the guide. Abruptly a large furry form burst out of the spring and leaped up to a pole adjacent to Ranma. It was a giant panda wearing a gi that was way too small for it bulky frame with a pair of spectacles hanging off its left ear. "What the hell is going on?" Ranma gasped as he pointed toward the panda.
"Oh, tragic tale of panda drowned in spring 2000 years ago," the guide started to explain, "Now whoever fall in turns to panda!"
Before Ranma could respond the panda lunged at him trying to kick and punch him. Ranma dodged as best as he could but a few of those strikes were close calls. Unfortunately the boy's luck ran out as the last strike, a right cross, connected home and sent the teen tumbling into a nearby pool.
"Dammit oyaji! AHHH!" Ranma yelled indignantly as he fell into the pool and sank. As several minutes passed, the ripple on the surface of the spring that noted Ranma's entry stilled. Genma panda slowly approached the pool with a worried expression. Suddenly a form burst from the bubbling waters and dragged itself out of the water. The figure looked heatedly at Genma. "You kalnorf! I'm going to put the hurt on you so much you won't be able to genuflect, much less sit down!"
The form was humanoid having two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. However, beyond that it was easy to see the being as anything but human in origin. His skin was orange, not pink, tan, or dark brown but actually a citrus orange color. His eyes and hair were radically different too. Where there was once a black haired blue eyed youth now stood a young man with fiery red hair and blazing green eyes, even the whites of his eyes were a light green. And those enraged looking orbs hinted to some righteous butt whooping about to be unleashed as they bore into the panda.
Sufficed to say, Genma almost emptied his bladder upon seeing that look. Quickly looking left and right he pointed behind the boy and tried to mouth a fake warning that came out as a series of growls. Ranma didn't bother looking behind him and cocked his right hand back as if to punch the panda, were he not several feet out of range. The hand began glowing green, causing the panda's eyes to bulge. Ranma then quickly thrust the hand forward and a bright green ball of energy slammed into the panda's torso, knocking him several feet back as his bulk carved a ditch through the loose soil.
The last thing Genma thought before he blacked out was, When the heck did the boy learn to throw ki blasts?
Ranma looked at his singed father, closed his eyes momentarily, and smiled. "Yeah, serves you right oyaji." The youth happily pumped his arm into the air as he said this. When he opened his eyes to look back at his father Ranma noticed something odd. "What the heck?" The boy exclaimed as he saw his father was actually several feet below him. Ranma then looked down and saw his feet were no longer touching the ground, but he didn't feel the familiar pull of gravity. Flaying his arms and legs on instinct Ranma yelled "How the heck am I doing this?!" As he continued to look down at himself, Ranma took in another detail, and he slowly brought his right hand closer to his face to examine it. "Why am I orange?" he asked in disbelief.
Ranma saw motion to his left. Looking in that direction, he saw that the guide was waving and calling for him to come closer. Slowly and a bit unsteadily Ranma moved toward the guide and landed awkwardly before him.
End Chapter 1.
Author's Quick Notes
oyaji – Old man (A term Ranma uses for his father which is disrespectful)
kalnorf – Made up Tamaranian insult