SPARKS FLY WITH LOVE

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2, nor any other anime that's gonna appear here.

This fanfic is actually connected to Path of Chaos. I was planning on using it as a sidestory, but circumstances had it that I decide to make an individual fic out of it. It would become too long to be a sidestory, so I made it a some sort of break away fic.

Take note, though, that this IS a sidestory to Path of Chaos. Just a big sidestory.

This isn't connected to the Ranma of PoC directly. The Ranma in this fanfic is one of the many universes that the PoC Ranma would pop into. Meaning, this Ranma is an analogue of our hero.

I just thought it would be fun to make it into an individual fic, since people might be interested how it happened.

This won't be a spoiler to PoC, since this is a whole new different timeline by itself.

Thanks to C. Rose for prereading this one.

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PROLOGUE: CONTINUING THE LEGACY

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Sengoku Jidai, ten years after the defeat of Naraku...

A trio of travelers trudged across the forest that led to the Western Lands. It was snowing all over Japan during that time.

The one leading the small group was a tall individual. It was definitely male, and he wore no cloak that should protect him from the cold. The reason was fairly obvious, since he was wrapped by some sort of white furry thing across his shoulder. The said 'thing' was connected to his backside. His face was impassive and indifferent of the cold, and his cold golden eyes scanned the surroundings for anything suspicious. His platinum silver hair billowed against the strong gusts of wind, exposing pointed ears at the sides of his head. His cheeks were decorated by two pairs of parallel red slash marks, and his forehead had the symbol of a black crecent moon on it. He had pale skin, and his fingernails were long and menacing. He wore a white kimono, which matches the color of his hair very well. Two swords were strapped around his waist.

Following him was a young woman with dark hair that reached up to her waist, tied in a low ponytail. The young woman was clothed in a heavy cloak to protect her from the cloak, and a hood covered her head as well. Her face was pale from the cold, and her dark eyes were wild and uncertain. She clung to his arm with one arm since her other arm was clutching at a small bundle that was wrapped in thick clothing.

The third person was small, and if the situation was more endearing it would've been a comical sight seeing such a small 'person' trudging into the snow that was reaching half his size. He carried a wooden staff, that was decorated by skulls at the top. He had a face similar to that of a toad's, and he wore some sort of priest clothes.

The leader of the group suddenly stopped moving, and his elfin like ears twitched in agitation. He turned to his companions and addressed the smallest of them, "Jaken, take my mate and hide."

The smallish figure, Jaken, just nodded and pulled at the lapels of the cloak the taller girl wore.

The young woman stood steadfast, however, as she said, "Sesshoumaru-sama, I will not leave you."

The taller figure, Sesshoumaru, shook his head gravely and gestured to the bundle in the woman's arms, "Rin, I know you want to stay with me. Believe me, I'd rather have you by my side. But the life of our child is my, our, top priority. Now please, run now while I hold off the incoming demons."

The woman, Rin, was about to protest, but the resolution in Sesshoumaru's eyes made her back down. She started to cry softly, clutching at the sleeping child in her arms. She knew her mate was right, that their child needed to be taken away from the battle. Hesitantly, she turned and started to back away.

Jaken was about to follow her, but Sesshoumaru caught him at the collar of his robes. The tall youkai said in low tones, "Jaken, I may not survive this encounter. Just in case, I would like you to keep the Tenseiga in your possession, and keep my mate and pup safe. Now go!" He threw one of the swords strapped around his waist into the surprised minion's arm. Jaken quickly nodded and fled, catching Rin's clothes in his small hands and dragged the girl away.

Sesshoumaru's eyes tracked his only family as they fled with his yellow orbs, until their forms finally disappeared into the horizon. "May my father's spirit protect you, my mate and offspring." he whispered. Weirdly enough, he started a small flashback to ten years ago, when his brother had finally come with the reincarnation of that miko that Inuyasha had been enamored with. Sesshoumaru still somewhat despises his half-brother, but that had already dwindled to meer irritation.

Eventually, Sesshoumaru finally fell in love with Rin, and understood why his father chose a human mate. It was their flair for human life that seemed to draw youkai into them, whether with good or bad intentions. And a year ago, his beloved Rin finally bore him his first child. A male pup, or boy, whatever the humans call them. Eventhough his child was hanyou, he felt the joy and pride of being a father. He mused that the emotions he felt were the same ones his father would've felt when he and his half-brother were born.

From time to time, Sesshoumaru wondered how Inuyasha's life had been in the future, with that girl Kagome.

Shaking his head, he turned as a loud roar emanated from the other side of the field. Thousands of demons appeared from the snowy mist, all prepped and ready to tear him apart. Steeling himself, Sesshoumaru allowed one last smirk to grace his face and unsheathed his sword. With a loud cry he charged at the demons, knowing that his wife and child are safe.

After a few hours, the whole field exploded in green light.

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Fast forward, approximately four to five hundred years into the future...

A man with beady eyes wearing roundish eyeglasses, a scarf over his balding head, and a dirty white gi around his body stared at the small booklet in his hands. It described an invincible technique known as the Neko-ken. Looking over to where his six year old son was playing with those cats he stole all over the neighborhood in the nearby city, he almost cackled with glee.

"Soon, I will make the boy the greatest martial artist on Earth. After that I can finally retire while the boy teach in Soun's dojo." The man, Saotome Genma, muttered to himself. Nothing can get any better than that. I can achieve my dream of grandeur until the day I die. he thought to himself.

Closing the small booklet with a snap, he tossed the old book aside without reading everything in it, and grabbed the boy by the collar of his gi. Turning the boy's face to his, Genma said, "Ranma my boy, I found this invincible technique for you! When you master it, you will become unbeatable!"

The boy, whose name was Ranma, eyed his father warily. He had intense blue-gray eyes and raven-black hair that was tied in a small ponytail. He wore an equally smudged gi that was almost half destroyed by some nasty looking holes and such. He hadn't responded as his father rambled about the stupid technique he found in some booklet. Ranma, for his young age, had been quite abused since the whole training voyage started. He knew that it was supposed to be part of his training, but should his father be so stupid most of the times?

His father had been throwing him into inhumane training methods, that even some of the grandmasters they had come across while in their path seemed to be against of. He'd been forced to steal under the guise of the Art, and somehow the things Genma made him do soured him of the old man. Ranma also felt there's something significant as to why those other people they had stayed with gave them free reign. His father had been signing some pieces of paper, and the recipients were eyeing him like a piece of meat. Since that last debacle with that training method where he carried his father on his back while being chased by wild wolves really put the old man into his bad side even more.

Because of the situations he was in most of the time, Ranma was forced to grow up quicker than normal boys around him. He was also isolated from friendship and society, degrading more of his emotional and how he interacted with other people. Ranma winced in sympathy as the old fool took the cats he was playing with a while ago and shoved them into that pit Genma had him dig yesterday. Somehow, Ranma felt something really bad was going to happen to him after Genma was done. How right he was.

In a few minutes, Ranma found himself tied securely with extra heavy duty ropes, dangling over that dank pit where he could hear the pitiful meowing of the cats. He had fish sausages and other fish stuff wrapped around him as well, inducing a bad smell all over the area. Ranma conveyed his feelings on the matter by glaring at his stupid father, who was again glancing at that stupid booklet he was holding.

After nodding to himself a few times, Genma closed the book and threw it aside again, looking towards his son. Ignoring the scathing look directed to him, Genma declared, "Now, boy, learn the Neko-ken!" He then removed the knot keeping the rope holding Ranma steady, causing the boy to fall into the pit. Genma quickly lumbered to the self-made wooden door over the pit and closed it, securing it firmly with a large rock. He stepped back and listened as the cats hissed from inside the pit merging with the boy's cries. Sounds of clothes and flesh tearing was heard from the hole as well. Satisfied with his work, Genma walked towards his makeshift picnic ground and munched on some food he kept from his son.

Inside the pit, Ranma's bindings were already cut by the combined attacks of all the hungry cats in the pit. But the boy was already too weak physically to defend himself, since he lost a lot of blood form the wounds inflicted on him. He was slowly losing consciousness, and he's starting to feel the numbing cold from his feet. He tried moving his arms, but all he got was a nice twitch for the trouble. The cats were now gnawing at the fish stuff they had gotten from him, and some were also lapping the blood pooling around him. He even saw a few eating some of the teared flesh from his own body. His vision suddenly blurred, causing him to furiously blink his eyes into focus. He failed, and he felt that his life was slowly ebbing away. Sighing, Ranma accepted his fate and slowly lapsed into the cold sleep...

As Ranma's life force slowly faded, his body glowed in a soft blue aura. The cats in the pit must've felt the massive energy discharge, since they hissed angrily at the still and glowing figure of the boy.

This was unknown to the boy, but the history of his family was a most colorful one at best. His father's side of the family were midlevel clans that managed to survive the Meiji Era. His real mother's side of the family however, there lies the great story in itself. For his mother's side, if traced back to the past, would've revealed something spectacular and downright scary.

Genma had been unfaithful to his fiancee apparently, taking on a mistress before running off and marrying the one arranged for him. The short trysts bore fruit though, and Ranma was conceived. Ranma's mother was understanding though, and she just took the burden to raise him all alone. But the life their clan lived had never been easy, for they have a lot of enemies, and most of them non-humans.

A year of hard life later, Ranma witnessed his mother receive a mortal wound from an ambush attack by an over eager youkai. His mother was successful in killing the foul beast, but she was already dying. He was taken by his mother to the house of his father, but Genma wasn't present. They were informed that Genma was on a training trip with his master. Instead, they met his wife, Masaki Nodoka.

The auburn haired woman was surprisingly nonchalant about his husband's cheating habits, and was rather a bit proud of his 'manliness'. Ranma's mother had begged Nodoka to take care of him. The Saotome matriarch was more than happy to take him, and Ranma's mother died the next day. Her body was cremated under the woman's final instructions, and the urn was to be given to her son when Ranma's age turns sixteen. Ranma's real mother also left an old sword in Nodoka's possession, but the blade remained untarnished and well-maintained. It was to be given to Ranma as well in his sixteenth summer. At this time, Nodoka was seven months pregnant of Genma's child. For a short respite, Ranma lived a normal happy life under Nodoka's care. After two months, Nodoka finally bore a girl, whom she affectionately named Natsumi.

Genma finally returned from his trip, unusually giddy about something. He was momentarily surprised at Ranma's appearance, and was quite downcast when he learned Nodoka bore him a daughter. After a few minutes, he was happy again, grabbing Ranma in a hug and declaring him an heir of some martial art form. The boy disliked the man, but he didn't show it. Ranma however adores Nodoka like his real mother, and made sure his adoptive sister was safe from all harm, meaning, away from Genma's influence.

There was a great myth about a full blooded proud youkai that hated the humans initially, but in the end he loved a human female and sired a son himself. Due to the change of heart, he took it upon himself to keep the balance between the forces of demons and humans. In the end, he had gathered to many enemies, and at the eve of his death in battle, he managed to take down half of the youkai army sent to kill him before he flooded himself with his youki. The flood caused his energy to swell outwards and explode, taking with him the other half of the invading force.

News of his bravery was spread all over, and also news of the survival of his mate was confirmed. His son grew to be a powerful hanyou, and took upon his father's footsteps of becoming a demon hunter. Like his youkai father, the hanyou loved and married a human mate as well, continuing the cycle. He died in the heat of battle as well.

As time went on, there had been stories of great demon hunters originating from that clan, but their youkai heritage has been kept secret amongst the clan members only. They took no last name as a tradition, but they still had become one of the most prominent clans in Japan. The youkai blood in the descendants' veins became fainter as generations passed by, but the members still had their mostly inhuman strength and some other abilities that were dwindled down because of the loss of youkai power.

However, youkai genetics was never stable to begin with. In some unfounded theories, even the most dense of all youkai descendants still achieve youkai blood resurrection due to abnormal circumstances.

Saotome Genma's side of the family, his mother actually, married into the Saotome clan. But she was part of the Higurashi blood initially, where dormant blood of powerful miko still resides within the members. Of course, Genma knew nothing of that.

Miko and youkai blood swirled into Ranma's veins, no matter how faint they may be. The boy was dying, but his body refused to give up the will to survive. Combined with the holy power of the miko blood, the youkai blood suddenly lurched forward, vehemently regenerating Ranma's body. There was too much blood loss that occured, so the regeneration stepped up the process. Youkai blood replaced most of the lost blood, causing Ranma's body to change.

First, Ranma's pupils were round initially, but now they slowly elongated into slits. The boy's ears shriveled up and was absorbed into the sides of his head, and a new pair of dog ears popped out on top of his head, snow white and fluffy with short fur. The darkness of his hair slowly melted away, changing into a shiny platinum white color. His dainty hands slowly cracked and twitched, until the fingers elongated a bit and sprouted wicked nails to replace his human ones.

The same thing happened to his feet and toes. His spine shifted to accomodate a new addition, which started to wiggle its way out of the backside of his pants. It was pink and hairless at first, still fresh with droplets of blood from being newly released. But after a few moments, it sprouted a massive overdose of white fur that matched the color of his hair. His canines visibly grew longer and much more menacing-looking. The last changes that took place were on his face, where two pairs of parallel slash marks carved themselves across the sides of his cheeks. His forehead burned black fire, as it formed the image of a black crecent moon on it.

The youkai blood was supposed to transform the boy into a full blooded youkai, but because of the miko blood factor, Ranma became a half-breed, a hanyou. The change brought the cats into a mad frenzy, as they tried to get away from this newly reformed individual that felt like a huge dog to them. They meowed frantically as they tried to claw their way out of the pit.

As the final changes finally settled themselves, the glowing energies swirling around the boy grew into intensity, causing it to push everything into a slight gust inside the pit. The heavy wooden lid of the pit rattled angrily as the energy winds battered against it, which combined with the loud yowls of the cats.

Genma was startled out of his nap when loud sounds escaped the pit. Curious as to what made them, he crept slowly towards the rattling lid. The stone he put over the lid was starting to roll away. All of the sudden, the pit exploded fantastically, causing the stone AND the lid to hurl towards the surprised form of Genma. With a loud bang, the balding man was hit squarely to the face by two heavy objects, both in a way was his own doing. He slid down to the ground, clearly unconscious. Most of the cats that managed to survive the energy surge were hurled away, while the unfortunate ones were shredded into unrecognizable dark pink smears that spread around the pit's mouth.

When Ranma opened his eyes after an hour of resting in the pit, he was quite surprised to see he was still alive. He saw that the pit was a mess, and it was rather disturbing for him that he can actually smell the stench of iron in the air, since he was new to it. Crinkling his nose, he quickly stood up and stared at his supposed to be deformed skin. Instead of the massive wounds he expected, he fingered the rapidly healing wounds on his arms. He finally realized that it was nighttime, but his eyesight remained as if it was day. Confused as to why his senses were out of whack, he decided to jump outside and ask that idiot of a father he had what happened to him. He gazed up and dismissed as to why the pit was already opened, and jumped.

Ranma later goggled when he overshot the edge of the pit, and was now way high up in the air. His eyes flickered to his side, where he saw something white fluttering against the wind. He quickly held it and found that it was his hair, already transformed and was now glittering against the glow of the moon. He could hear the wind whistling loudly against his ear, so he tried to cover them. He quickly found out that his ears were not supposed to be where it was. Instead, he found a pair of soft and furry dog ears on top of his head.

Finally, he had reached the apex of his jump, but something smacked against his back. Sighing at the complexities of his situation, he carefully turned as he descended back down to the ground and saw something white furred sticking out of his backside. He felt new muscles extending from his backside that he didn't remember having, and forced them to work. Following his commands, the appendage connected to his tailbone started to wave.

Ranma absently landed on his feet beside the pit, still shocked at the changes that ravaged his body. Taking note that he was already on the ground, he took a good look around him. He saw blood and various cat entrails lying on the ground. He winced when the strong smell of blood wafted into his nose, almost burning his nassal cavity with it. He then spied his unconscious father near the mouth of the pit, and instinctively growled. He blinked, and felt for his mouth. He found his canines to be a lot bigger than this morning. Looking at his father again, he continued his growling.

"I bet, this was all his fault." Ranma muttered angrily, strutting up to the insensate man's inert body. The newly transformed boy gave the body a well placed kick, causing Genma's body to fly into the air, and was ironically shot into the pit where Ranma was thrown earlier. Ranma shook his head as he flexed his hands, seeing his sharp nails for the first time.

Tearing his eyes away from his hands, Ranma sniffed and sat on a log, waiting for his father to awaken. He quickly got into his pack and took out a new set of clothes, carefully boring a big hole into his pants' backside to accomodate the tail he has. Suddenly perking as he heard a wild warthog from afar, he grinned and licked his lips. His stomach growled in agreement.

"Food now, worry later." Ranma said to himself. He could even hear the warthog's heartbeat! He also finally got used to the scent of blood around him, and found them quite satisfying.

"I could get used to this." Ranma smiled as he shot off into the night, in order to hunt. He marveled on his enhanced reflexes for a moment, before deciding to train on them after a while. His stomach quickly made its presence known once again, causing the small boy to chuckle at the strange things happening to him. He turned to run once more, but not before shooting a final glance at the pit where his father was.

"Feh." Ranma scoffed, scurrying to his hunt once more.

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To be continued...

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Author Rants:

Yo, I'm almost done revising the new Chapter 7e of PoC. I had a new idea that I just have to incorporate in the fic, so it took so long. I'm 90% done with the revision, and would probably check a few spelling errors before submitting it to the prereaders.

This was supposed to be a very short sidestory in PoC, but I got real interested and made it longer. As it got longer, I found that it would get rather too long to be called a sidestory, so I made this into a new fic, but it would still appear in PoC, only a lot shorter. Something like a cameo or something.

This is an AU, where PoC Ranma will meet an analogue of his in one of the universes he gets lost into. Its spoiler value is up to that point only, so too too bad.

Anyway. Back to working on PoC.

I'll finish this, so don't worry.

Also gonna release Matantei Ranma Ragnarok's complete prologue soon.

Whew. No vacations for me.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordranceyahoo.com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear!! This ain't what it looks like!!!" - Ranma Saotome