Tales of the BalanceKeeper: Planetouched ½

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, places, etc., mentioned herein, the only exception being the character known as the BalanceKeeper (hey, it's my self-insertion! I'm allowed to own myself!). Ranma and associated are property of Rumiko Takahashi.

A/N: If you're familiar with Dungeons & Dragons, you might recognise some of the references. If you find any errors in that regard, the standard response will be this: "leave me alone! I do Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition, not 3.5! And besides, I don't have a handbook!". Ok? Ok? Good. To the fiction!

' ' – thoughts (primary mind for BalanceKeeper)

" " – words spoken in a language the BalanceKeeper can understand

[ ] – thoughts from the BalanceKeeper's alternate minds

PROLOGUE: Odd Arrival

Ryoga was lost. 'Nothing new there' he thought to himself. 'Now let's see, I went north a bit....or was it south? Doesn't matter, I was headed for Furinkan High…and I passed that old lady with the water bucket....and then....', "AND THEN I FIND MYSELF OUT HERE!!"

Birds and small animals scattered as Ryoga's shout broke the tranquillity of the small wooded area near Nerima. Even worse (for Ryoga) was that his intended destination was no more than a 15-minute walk away, provided he went in the right direction. Having worked out his frustrations, Ryoga pulled out his compass and other navigational equipment, and tried to figure out where to go next, the wooded area regaining the tranquil feel it had prior to Ryoga's outburst.

The tranquillity was shattered again, but by a wholly different way: Ryoga looked up from his map (upside down, of course) in shock as a flat disc of bluish-white swirling light appeared in the center of the clearing. A pulse of emotion poured out of it, scattering animal and Ryoga alike (who wisely decided that for once, it would be better to appraise the situation, from a distance, before charging in) as it slowly widened. It grew until it was the size of a large human.

Ryoga watched in amazement as someone actually stepped out of the light. The creature stumbled a bit, gained its footing, and was looking around at its new surroundings by the time the light faded. From his hiding spot, Ryoga was able to make out some details of this .... arrival.

'Human, male. Early 20s. Tall....hmm, can't make any comparisons from this far away...' Ryoga thought as he continued his observation, 'brown hair....are those sunglasses he's wear-...' Ryoga's thoughts cut off as he abruptly fell unconscious.

'Well, that wasn't too difficult' [Good, some privacy] ['Bout time] [Yeah, took long enough to realise he was there] 'Shut up! I was still getting over the planejump's effects' [Fine, fine]. The BalanceKeeper (or Chris, as he still called himself, despite having given up his name when he took his title) shook his head as his minds' internal chatter died down. 'Ok, time to do this properly'.

First, he checked himself: Everything seemed alright – he was still wearing his grey, sleeveless gi, his grey cloak was still on, his shoes were still done up, and his sunnies were still on. Second, he checked his environment – wooded, slightly hilly, firm ground. Third, he checked his senses – the five mundane, and the three not-so-mundane. 'Hmm, air's good'. He smiled as he threw a few experimental punches and kicks 'Wow....gravity's a lot like the Prime Material'. Looking around, and noticing just how familiar the trees and animals that dared to approach were to him, he realised something 'Odd, this is almost exactly like the Prime Material'. Not to be deterred, he continued to check his surroundings like he'd been taught to – stretching out with his will, he searched for familiar minds, aware the whole time of how futile this method had been previously in tracking his quarry – it had, after all, had several lifetimes in order to learn how to shield its mind from this kind of probing. Finding none, he moved on, 'scanning', as his master had called it, with his Balance-sense. 'Nothing out of the ordinary....a few spikes here and there, but nothing that requires my attention' he thought with relief – it was good to be able to relax for once.

Finally, he 'scanned' with his ki-sense, honed from constant training in the martial arts, and realised that perhaps he wouldn't be able to relax after all. 'Whoa....those are some strong signatures I'm picking up – this bears looking into'.

He stopped, noticing something that _did_ require immediate attention. 'Ah damn....well, might as well see what kinda food they eat on this plane'. He stood up, intent on finding food, when he realised his attire may not be suitable. "Well, everything else is like the Prime, so might as well wear some of my Prime clothes." Concentrating intensely, he pulled out what was his usual outfit when he was a Prime-bound – dark jeans, olive-grey button-up shirt and heavy jacket. And, as it did whenever he tried this trick, they seemed to automatically appear on him. 'Never will get over that, but I'm still damn glad I put them in there before I got jumped off of the Prime' he thought as he closed the gap to the small extra-planar pocket. Standing up once more, and straightening his jacket as he did so, the BalanceKeeper started wandering off in Nerima's general direction.

Ryoga chose this time to wander back to consciousness, just in time to notice one more detail about the odd stranger. "Hey, he's wearing basketball shoes....ugh, Ranma, this is all your fau-..". The shock of the recent events finally overwhelmed Ryoga, sending him back to blissful embrace of unconsciousness.

A/N: Well, that's the first chapter. Please review – the reviews will decide if I continue with the next chapter or not.