"Speech"
'Thought'
#Panda sign#
Spell
(Low Speak – Draconic way of communicating that is spoken at levels too low for most creatures to hear)
X x x x x x
"So Akane, how do you like your new boyfriend?" Nabiki snickered at her.
"Leave me alone Nabiki." She responded, dragging her feet on the way back home.
"Look on the bright side. If you have a boyfriend, then you don't have to fight every morning."
"I am NOT going to go out with some boy because of that stupid challenge Kuno set up." She answered with a growl.
"I'm just saying." Nabiki seemed unconcerned that Akane had just had one of the worst days of her life. Between Kuno hounding her, that boy who had pinned her to the ground, she didn't even want to know his name, and Ranma leaving her to collect his book bag, it was a day that she just wanted to forget. It also didn't look like it would be getting any better, now she would have to deal with that smug lizard at home. 'I should make him into a purse, or a jacket.'
Coming into view of their home, a bright flash of light happened behind the wall. Turning to her sister, Nabiki shared a similar look of worry. Hastening their pace, they caught sight of a brightly glowing orange sphere of magic that shot up into the sky to detonate like it was a firework. Hurrying through the gate, they found Genma and Ranma, in dragon form, squaring off next to the koi pond.
"What are you two doing?" Akane demanded angrily.
"Sparring." Genma answered, breathing heavily.
"You're tearing up the yard!" She pointed out all the damage being done. Several spots of grass were wilted and dead, a tree was toppled over, and there were scorch marks on the outside wall.
"It'll grow back." Ranma said dismissively, changing back into a human, his blue hair now only down to his jaw, wearing a white gi, and attacking his father with a flurry of quick blows.
Genma evaded, attacking with a kick that Ranma avoided by jumping back and landed next to the koi pond. The elder martial artist was on his son in an instant, going low to trip Ranma into the water, which Ranma evaded by leaping several meters upwards. Genma followed, exchanging several punches, the older man locked up Ranma's hands, and they finally started their descent into the water. Ranma quickly changed into his dragon form, and while his hands were still tied up, he struck Genma in the ribs with his tail. Released, Ranma rocketed off to the safety of the grass, and Genma hit the water.
"Ha!" Ranma laughed, breathing heavily.
"They're very skilled aren't they?" Soun suddenly broke in, standing a step to her right, and Akane briefly looked at her father with surprise.
"I guess." She admitted, they were certainly very acrobatic and quick. Ranma's sudden shifting back and forth would be very distracting, she would have to remember to watch out for that if she ever sparred with the dragon.
"You guess?" Ranma spun around to face her. "A clumsy human like you couldn't hope to be half as good." He said haughtily.
"That's it!" Rearing back with Ranma's bookbag in her hand, she prepared to throw it at the dragon's head, and then beat the uppity boy into the ground. When a small wave of water splashed over Ranma, and in the dragon's place, now stood a naked well built blue haired girl, with hair now down to her neck, fanning out and curling upwards at the ends.
"You dirty old man!" Ranma turned back to the panda-man, giving all three of them a view of her backside. "I was talking to that tomboy." The cursed girl grabbed Genma by the fur on his chest and hit him repeatedly over the head.
#You let your guard down# A dazed Genma held up a sign.
"What are you doing?" Akane panicked. "Cover up you idiot!"
"Cover what up?" Ranma craned her neck to look at her, a clueless expression on her face.
"Hey Akane." Yuka spoke, her and Sayuri stepping through the front gate. "We came to see if－." Her friend trailed off.
"Akane there's a naked girl beating up a giant panda." Sayuri pointed out.
"Oh I so need to get my camera for this." Nabiki excitedly ran off into the house.
Akane paled, envisioning all the gossip that would start up if the students at school ever found out that she had a nudist living at her home. Grabbing a distracted Ranma around the false girl's thin waist, she hauled her into the home, and deposited her in the change room of the furo.
"What are you doing?" Ranma demanded angrily, placing both hands on her hips.
"Put on some clothes you idiot." Akane grabbed the handle of the outside door to prevent Nabiki from finding them. "You know, 'form them' or whatever you do."
"I－ don't feel like it." Ranma attempted to cross her arms over her breasts like a man would, but found her arms blocked, so she lowered them, and crossed them underneath.
"Then change back you idiot."
"I'm going to." Ranma huffed, spinning on her heel and entering the bath area.
Opening the outside door, she yelled back. "And don't come out naked as a male." Akane could see Ranma doing just that.
Stomping back through the house to the front door, she met with her friends who were nervously inspecting Genma still in panda form, the man playing the part of a panda. Akane frowned at her own father, who was frozen in the spot he had been in earlier, a slight trickle of drool coming down from one corner of his mouth.
"Could you come back later maybe?" She asked. "We're－ kind of busy with something."
"With the naked girl?" Sayuri asked.
"And when did you get a panda." Yuka tentatively poked the big animal in the side of his arm.
"Akane, where's." Nabiki stopped dead in the door, a camera in one hand. "You didn't."
"I did." She answered, smiling at her sisters anger.
"I'm very disappointed in you." Nabiki admonished, shaking a finger.
"Real big loss for me then." Akane ignored her elder sister, turning back to her friends. "I'll tell you all about it at school tomorrow." She bargained.
"Alright, but we want details, not just a summary." Yuka shot back.
"Yes yes." She placated, and waved good bye to her two friends as they reluctantly
X x x x x x
Years ago on Jade
"This is Seer's Hamlet." Nod'ka in human form explained to him. She was dressed in a tight sleeveless silver dress down to her knee's, a wide blue belt bound it at her waist. Her blue hair was swept back from her forehead, ending where her neck did, and fanning out slightly into six spikes, mimicking her head crest in her real form.
"Ooh." Ra'ma looked upwards into the trees, where walkways, and circular buildings were constructed up into the sky. Having entered into the rift pocket, and going up the small set of steps, he stood on a platform that extended out, before changing into a cobblestone path that weaved through the tree trunks. Dozens of shops lined the path, each with interesting, and up till now unknown objects on them. This was his first time being allowed to come with his mother on her trips out of the lair to the human world, his father being left behind due to being 'naughty' as his mother put it.
Usually his mother spent all her time in the library, reading through books and scrolls that were brought to her, and he was stuck alone with nothing but books to read. Though she did often give him a magic scroll to look at, and many of the books also contained spells. So he knew far more spells than he should have at his age, even if he couldn't do most of them.
"Excuse me Ma'am." Walking up to them was a muscular human wearing a dark green tunic, and black pants. Ra'ma shifted himself slightly closer to his mother's legs. "But even dragons are required to pay the toll to enter."
"Toll?" Nod'ka looked confused for a moment. "Oh yes, it's so hard to remember, even though I come here once a year." She said casually, pulling out two gold coins, and throwing them back at the entrance where they vanished.
"Thank you very much." The man bowed his head slightly forward, before turning and heading back to a small building to the right.
"Let's go Ra'ma." Nod'ka took off walking purposely for the closet walkway that lead up into the trees.
Trotting after her on all fours, his head swung side to side as he constantly changed his attention. Crossing over a walkway that dropped close to twenty meters down to the forest floor, Ra'ma paused to peak his head through the railing, looking down, he watched the humanoids busily going about their business.
"Come along son, this isn't the time for sight seeing." His mother drew his attention, and he quickly ran up to her side.
"There's so many Momma." He commented, being overwhelmed by the amount of sentients in this one area.
"Yes there are." She answered, entering into a tree building named the 'Brass Bone Inn'. Inside were a couple dozen humanoids seated at tables around a circular bar at the center, or booths that lined the walls. Lighting the bar, were small three clawed shaped magical light poles placed on the walls. Immediately he noticed a wonderful, delicious, almost intoxicating smell filling the inside.
"Lady Nod'ka." Appearing before them was a tall humanoid with golden skin, large draconic wings jutted from his back, and he had a silver blue unicorn horn coming from his forehead. His darker gold hair was split in the middle, with the bangs hanging down to his chin. Ra'ma immediately noticed that this was who was giving off such a delicious scent.
"Agen, its been some time has it not?" His mother greeted warmly. "Is D'bra here yet?"
"No, she sent me a message that she was being delayed at work. If you want to take a seat, I'll have a waiter bring you some food."
"That would be fine." Nod'ka agreed.
"So who's this little guy?" Agen knelt down to look him in the eye. Ra'ma briefly backed away, unsure on how to act around the strange humanoid. He wasn't even sure the man was a humanoid. "Is this Ra'ma?" The man asked smiling pleasantly.
"Yes, this is my little boy, and it's is his first time visiting a humanoid city." Nod'ka explained.
"It's nice to meet you." Agen held out a hand to be shook. "I'm Agen."
Smiling brightly, happy to make a new friend, he reached his forepaw forward to shake the man's hand. "Ra'ma."
"How about you have a seat, and I'll send something special over to you?" Agen suggested.
"Will it smell as good as you do?" He asked, this man's smell was one of the most delicious things that he had ever encountered, and he wondered if he tasted as good. But his mother had said that it was not alright to eat anything sentient, no matter how good they smelled.
"Ah, heh heh, no it probably won't." Agen chuckled nervously. "But you go have a seat, and I'll get you something you've never had before." Rapidly nodding his head, he took off in a random direction, before realizing that he didn't know where to sit, there were so many options.
"This way Ra'ma." Nod'ka laughed at him with her voice, his mother taking a seat in one of the booths. Hopping up on to the plush leather half circle seat next to his mother, he practically bounced on the seat waiting for whatever special treat the good smelling man brought him. "Patience." She instructed, running a hand along the top of his head.
"Here you go." Agen returned carried a small mug in one hand, and a long stemmed wine glass with a red liquid in it. "Ambrosia for Milady, and some root beer for the young man."
"You aren't trying to serve my child alcohol are you?" Nod'ka asked, grabbing the mug that had been placed in front of him, and gave it several brief sniffs. She pursed her lips, finding fault with the small bubbles that were popping out of the top of the liquid. Ra'ma watched it eagerly, entranced by the strange dark brown beverage.
"It's an Earth drink, it's carbonated, which means it fizzes, and it's non-alcoholic." Agen explained. "I'm considering bringing in some more goods cross realms. There's a wide variety in food and drink in that realm, and anything to beat the competition."
"Indeed, if there is no monopoly then you aren't trying hard enough." Nod'ka slid the drink back over in front of him. Standing up, he leaned forward, and nearly put his nose in the cup to take a sniff of the drink. Immediately some small bubbles seemed to hang in his nostrils, and he sneezed causing the drink to splash up into his face.
X x x x x x
Nabiki was unhappy about not being able to take some nude photographs of Ranma's female form. It was criminal how cute Ranma was as a girl, and it would be even worse if she didn't use that beauty to full effect. There simply didn't seem to be anyway to force Ranma into letting her take advantage of him. He seemed just as intelligent as any human, perhaps even more so, and he had magic that she had no clue on the limit of.
Glancing across the table at the dragon in human form, she wondered what other secrets she could learn about Jade, and the other beings that lived there. Knowledge was power after all. Another issue in her mind was that they had two people living in their home, for no real reason. Ranma wasn't about to marry Akane, Nabiki didn't really want to do the same, and Kasumi was more interested in the cute dragon than the human version.
"Why are they even staying here?" Akane asked angrily, voicing Nabiki's own concern.
"Indeed Daddy, it's fairly obvious that this farce of an engagement isn't going to happen." She added, not that she was adverse to having a dragon living in her home, what with all the financial possibilities. But if Ranma wasn't going to play ball, then why bother having him around?
"Saotome-kun is an old friend, he and his son, can stay as long as they please." Soun explained, and she rolled her eyes. "So Akane, how was school today?" The Tendo patriarch changed the subject.
"I don't want to talk about it." The youngest Tendo replied through gritted teeth, and with enough venom in her voice that Soun quickly changed his attention.
"How about you Ranma? How was your first day at Furinkan?"
"Boring." The half dragon answered.
"Guess you are a bit normal then." The corner of Nabiki's mouth curved up into a smirk.
"You mean you don't find that interesting either?" Ranma asked incredulously.
"It's something you do so you can get a good job, you don't have to like it." Akane explained.
"Why do I have to go to school again Father?" Ranma suddenly asked Genma.
"For an education." The bald martial artist answered through a mouthful of food.
"Mom didn't need an－ education." The boy grumbled, bringing up an interesting question.
"What does－ a dragon do anyways?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity piqued.
Ranma gave her a suspicious look before answering. "She's a librarian."
"That sounds like a nice profession." Kasumi added sweetly.
"Sounds really." Nabiki paused, searching for a word. "Boring, aren't dragons supposed to hoard treasure, kidnap virgin maidens, slay some samurai or should that be knights? Since it appears that European legends were right on what dragons look like."
"Sheesh, where are you getting your information? Only thing you got right was when you said hoard." Ranma gave a short sarcastic laugh.
"You－ collect treasure then?" Nabiki couldn't believe it, she hadn't thought about this. Ranma didn't even carry around a pack, so if he collected treasure, then he must have a safehouse somewhere filled with shiny trinkets, rubies, gold, jewels, and other priceless artifacts. 'What have I done?' She mentally screamed.
"What kind of dragon would I be if I didn't?" Ranma puffed up with pride.
"Ranma." Nabiki started, adding a little quiver to her voice. "I'm sorry for－ not being as friendly, and accommodating to you as a guest in our home."
"You're kidding right?" Ranma laughed at her, and Nabiki blinked several times, wondering if he had saw through her act, or if he was just being rhetorical. "This morning you were trying to blackmail me, and now you're sucking up and apologizing after finding out that I hoard treasure. I mean－ wow, you must really think I'm stupid or something."
'Well that answers that.' Nabiki kept up the charade, even throwing in some tears. "I really am, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you."
"I can't believe you Nabiki." Akane glared at her. "Do you have to take advantage of everyone?"
"You're so mean Akane." Nabiki added a sniffle. "Poor Ranma, separated from his mother, cursed to become something he's not, how could I not feel for his plight?" At her last word, she noticed that everyone else, except for Kasumi, was staring at her like she had grown three heads, a tail, and possibly some tentacles.
X x x x x x
"See boy, just be nice, and there's no problem."
Ranma's answer to his father's boast was a snort, while laying half on his stuff dragon, in dragon form himself. He always slept like this, his plush dragon calmed him down, the scent of his mother still lingering on it, which was likely due to it being created from her aura. He didn't lock Genma out of the room again, even though he viewed it as his own temporary lair.
"And stay the whole day at school tomorrow." Genma dropped on to his futon and spread himself out. "I didn't pay all that money for you to skip out."
"How much did you pay anyways?" Ranma asked, knowing that he could have gotten tutored on Jade by a dragon for a reasonable amount. His mother had brought it up a couple times half heartedly over the years, and the prospect was looking more and more appealing.
"Enough that you shouldn't be skipping." Genma answered. "So, what did happen at school today?"
"Just some idiot trying to attack me with a wooden sword." Ranma fought down the urge to laugh at the notion. What kind of idiot attacks a dragon with wood? Slinking off of his plush dragon, he sat down next to it, and pulled out several small fully articulated figurines from his rift pocket. The wonderful thing about his mother's job, was that he had learned a few more advanced spells for holding vast amounts on his person like a bag of holding.
One was a fully grown platinum dragon, standing thirty centimeters tall. The other figures were a human, a werelion, an abyssalisk slightly bigger than the dragon, and a few kobolds. The abyssalisk, a creature Ranma never wanted to encounter, was vaguely draconic from head till their shoulders, and then they had a long wyrm like body. Kobolds were dragon-like humanoids, they were taller than normal humans, and even had wings. The humanoid figures were the smallest, standing only fifteen centimeters tall.
"Do you have to play with those?" Genma asked, and Ranma narrowed his eyes at the man. Mage toys were one step down from weapons. With the proper control, they could be an incredibly effective distraction. "Just asking."
"Ranma." Akane slid the door open. "I forgot to give you this." She dropped his bookbag to the left of the door. "Wow, that's a big plush dragon." The youngest Tendo commented.
"It is, isn't it." Ranma smiled proudly, while not the biggest of his collection, it was his obvious favorite.
"Wait, why do you have a big plush animal?" Akane asked.
"Should I not?" He asked angrily. Why was it that everyone always thought he was funny for collecting plush animals? Of course he had his fair share of valuable objects, what dragon didn't?
"Well－ nothing I guess." Akane said timidly, taken back but his sudden anger.
"You want to see some more that I have?" He asked excitedly, it was so rare that he actually got to show off his hoard.
"Uh, okay."
"Alright." Raising his right hand, he pulled out a small goofy faced blue eastern dragon. "I got this one in Osaka soon after I first came to Earth realm." Placing it on the floor, he pulled out a brown dog. "This one was from a shop in Miyazu." Next he pulled out a big bear. "I think this was from Hanyu."
Five minutes later, he was still excitedly pulling out various sized plush creatures from storage. "Then this black pig caught my eye in Changsha, China." By now there were a little over a hundred plush animals of various sizes, shapes, and species forming a pile around him.
"Ranma." Akane interrupted him before he could pull out another.
"What? Am I going too fast?" He asked.
"Uh no, it's just, I'm not that interested."
"Oh." Ranma pouted, dismissing everything but the mage figures he had out before. 'As usual.'
"Anyways, I was just dropping off your books, no homework, otherwise I would have remembered sooner." Akane seemed to be expecting something.
"I wouldn't have done any homework anyways." Ranma ignored Akane in favor of animating his action figures. All of them immediately bowed to him, and then the humanoids started to do battle with the abyssalisk, the dragon sat off to the side watching. While controlling so many figures at once in such a complicated series of movements would be near impossible for a human, as a dragon he had been able to freely move all the figures he had since the start.
"You're welcome." Akane said snidely, turning to storm off down the hall.
"What's her problem?" He asked his father, who was purposely laying on his futon while looking in the other direction. Without his concentration, the figures dropped to the floor lifelessly.
"You think you're so smart, figure it out." Genma said dismissively.
"So you do know." Bored with his figures, he dismissed them, and ran around to Genma's front. "Tell me." He demanded.
"Go to bed." Genma flipped himself.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me." He repeated, bouncing on Genma's side with his front legs.
"Alright alright." His father pushed him away, and sat up. "I'll explain it to you." Genma beckoned him closer with a finger, a conspiratorial look on his face. Ranma leaned in to listen. "Women you see－ are strange creatures. Well, you should know, you turn into one."
"Hey!" He protested.
"Just listen, being the unexplainable creatures that they are, women can expect things that us men won't ever think to do. The key, and I can't stress this enough, is to master this one phrase." Genma paused dramatically. "I'm sorry."
"That's it?" Ranma gave his father a withering gaze.
"It's that simple." Genma crossed his arms and nodded solemnly. "It doesn't matter if you haven't done anything. Just keep apologizing, no matter what she says."
"I wish I hadn't asked." Ranma shook his head sadly at his father's words of wisdom. "And you didn't even tell me what I wanted to know."
"Sure I did, it doesn't matter, if a woman's angry with you, apologize, odds are it will even work pretty good if you're not even sure that they're angry at you."
"Stupid old man." Ranma snorted.
X x x x x x
The next morning, Ranma was greeted at the gates of Furinkan by the wannabe samurai, he couldn't be bothered to remember the name. The boy was dressed in blue kendo garb, the color of which Ranma appreciated, and was wielding a real katana. With this delusional kendoist, was a group of ten other boys, all dressed in the same way, though they all carried wooden swords instead.
"Halt!" The leader shouted, pointing the steel blade at him. "You are Saotome Ranma are you not?"
"I am." Ranma answered, curious over the group's intention.
"Rumors around the school indicate that you employ that foul dragon who ran from my might yesterday. I will give you one chance to plead your innocence." The leader demanded.
"No, I am the dragon." Ranma pointed to himself, choosing to ignore the 'foul' comment, to let this idiot dig himself a deeper grave.
"You think to mock me? I see now that you are the true source of the beasts power. Then you shalt not pass, this hall of learning and instruction is for only the finest examples of humanity! And I, Kuno Tatewaki, shall not suffer the presence of you, or your beast at this institution! Have at thee!" The boy shifted his sword into an attack position, and charged forward, the group behind him following a moment later.
"10 Minute Group Amnesia! " Ranma shouted, raising both hands in front of him with his palms facing down, and wiggling his fingers. Immediately the group of charging boys tripped over themselves, and fell to the ground. Smirking, he shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked past the dazed group. "I'm going to have some fun with you." He laughed cruelly.
X x x x x x
With his hands clasped behind his head, Ranma had his feet up on the desk, and his chair leaning up on its back legs. He was relaxing between classes, not that he didn't relax during them, but he had to look like he was paying some attention. The only good thing about being forced to sit in one spot for so long, was that he had plenty of time to think.
The curse he had, eluded his ability to understand, he could see it's workings, knew what it did. But that allowed him to get no closer to solving how to get rid of it, or at least modify it so that he didn't turn into a human. So far all the anti curse magic that he knew had been shrugged off, like he had been throwing a punch into a tsunami. Even when he had gotten bored and tried one on Genma, the result was the same, so it must be a safe guard to prevent all but the exact counter spell. The stupid thing even used up his own ether to force the change, in an overly efficient and impossible way.
Deflecting a request to turn into his true form so a student could take some pictures, he agreed to do it later though, to reward the human for wanting to see his superior form. He frowned when the delusional boy from earlier stormed into the room, still dressed the same garb, and carrying the sword.
"I have come for the foul magician Saotome Ranma, I know that it was he who placed this mental affliction upon my person earlier this morning. Tell me, where is the one in league with the monstrous dragon."
"10 Minute Amnesia ." Ranma commanded, lazily pointing at the older boy, who instantly froze up.
"What am I doing here?" Kuno asked, blinking several times, and glancing around.
"You were just leaving." Ranma pointed out.
"I was?" Kuno frowned. "Why was I doing that?"
"This isn't your class?" Ranma guessed.
"So it isn't." Kuno nodded and rubbed his chin. "Good day then." Turning, the human headed off down the hall.
"Well that sucks, I'm already bored with that." He sighed, before noticing that the rest of the class was perfectly silent.
"Could you do that more often?" Akane asked seriously. "Like, erase his memory back till he was in diapers?"
"That'd be boring." He answered. "I'll have to come up with something else." Tapping a finger to his lips he pondered the dilemma.
X x x x x x
"I got it." Ranma snickered while padding along the roadway back to the Tendo home. If this Kuno wanted to be a nuisance to him, then he would give the human what annoyed him the most. Passing through the open gate, he headed for the koi pond. Dropping off his book bag on the side, he stared at the water.
'I'll need a lot of ether for this. Too bad I don't have a mymior I could store it in. But I think I can do it if I save up.' Closing his eyes, he brought up both of his heads, and pointed them palm first at the water. "First a test." As he gathered the needed energy, a ring of light half a meter across appeared below his hands. It took him five minutes to gather the needed ether, and as soon as he had it, he cast the spell. With a flash of golden light, the ring vanished, and a soft white glow settled over the water. Ranma smiled at seeing the first ring of the spell sitting firmly in place, without wavering or falling apart.
"I was right." He frowned, knowing that combining magic was supposed to be next to impossible, even for a dragon. Yet if what he thought was correct, there were three spells that combined seamlessly, and they were self sustaining, from some out of the way place in China. They even appeared to be part of a Draconian spell circle.
"What are you up to boy?" Genma asked from behind him.
Jerking in shock, he regained his composure and turned to his old man. "Just working on curing the curse." He answered, giving his father a half truth. Genma wouldn't be able to understand that he's trying to do impossible magic. 'I bet if I can master combining magic, someday I'll be the leader of all dragons. No one will dare call me a half breed then!'
"Boy, stop laughing maniacally." Genma commanded.
"Eh?" Ranma paused, realizing that he had indeed started to laugh. "I'll laugh maniacally if I want." He shot back, feeling the small ether pulse of his palantir. "This can't be good." Drawing out the black sphere, he allowed the connection, and found himself face to face with his mother in human form standing in her library. "Um, hello Mother." He greeted hesitantly, this being the most contact that he had shared with her for years, and it was making him nervous.
"Well that's just unacceptable." She huffed. "My own child acting like I am a stranger." The connection between the two magical devices suddenly caught off, leaving Ranma blinking several times.
"What do you think that means?" He asked Genma, who was looking around nervously.
The air a meter in front of him suddenly rippled, and with a soft whirring noise, a three meter wide circular portal expanded into existence. On the other side of the realm spanning doorway was his mother's library, and walking through to step out on to the grass was a pair of zori clad feet, was his mother. She scrunched up her face, and glanced around the yard, inspecting everything with her eyes.
"I forgot how pungent the Earth realm can be." She remarked in Basic, her voice being translated by a spell.
"Mo-Mom, what are you doing here?" He panicked. 'Oh no! She'll find out about the curse!'
"I felt like taking a break, so I shifted some appointments around, and decided to drop in." Nod'ka answered, tugging at the obi holding her silver kimono together, with small almost transparent dragons flying up from the bottom to the shoulder on the right side. "I feel a bit overdressed, perhaps a formal kimono was not the best choice." Her clothes quickly changed into a white loose dress down to mid calf, short sleeves, and a deep V neckline. "That's better."
"Hello dear." Genma slid up next to Nod'ka, who turned to look directly at the human without recognition.
"Oh, hello husband." She answered belatedly, finally recognizing him. "How have you been?"
"We just talked the other night." Genma pointed out.
"Did we?" Nod'ka asked looking away and putting a finger to her lips. "Oh well, it's good to see that you haven't hurt yourself. Now how's my little boy?" She gushed, running up and hugging him.
"Aw Mom." He whined, feeling vaguely uncomfortable about being around his mother after so long. The last time would have to have been on his last birthday, and he just knew this would be embarrassing.
X x x x x x
"That jerk skipped out on cleaning duty again." Akane snarled, walking home with Nabiki once again. "I can't believe him."
"Are you really surprised?" Nabiki countered.
"He could at least stick around and look like he's involved. But no, he runs off as soon as the last class is done."
"Careful sis, people might think you like him." Nabiki teased.
"I don't like him, I just want him to do his part. You're lucky Nabiki, you don't have to be in the same class. He's so arrogant about every little thing." Akane tried to imitate Ranma's voice and smug attitude. "You want me to do that? Ask somebody else. I'm a dragon, you do it." Finished, she dropped the voice. "Teachers don't even ask him questions anymore."
Walking through the gate, she caught sight of Ranma with some woman hugging him, and Genma looking dejected off to the side next to the koi pond. "There you are." She stormed over to the trio, focusing on the cause of her annoyance. "You skipped out on cleaning again."
"Genma, who is this girl, and why is she expecting my son to do servant's work?" The foreign woman asked, letting Ranma go to look at Genma.
"Your son?" Akane asked, glancing between the tall woman and the unwanted house guest. She was tall, easily the same height as Soun, with long feathered blue hair swept back and reaching down to her shoulder blades. The silver dress she wore looked painted on for the top, while the bottom was loose. Appearing in her mid twenties at best, she looked like some kind of model. She had a Caucasian cast to her features, with an oval face, and strikingly beautiful blue eyes.
"Yes, my son." The woman scoffed. "Who are you to think you can demand him to do servants work?" She demanded, suddenly seeming more intimidating than overly beautiful.
"This is Akane." Genma suddenly interrupted, appearing at her side, and grabbing both of her shoulders. "She's Ranma's－ possible fiancée."
"I'm not his anything." Akane corrected, brushing the bald man's hands from her shoulders.
"This girl is the one you tried to choose?" Ranma's mother approached her, the blue eyes seeming to pick her apart. "Not much to look at, no magical ability what so ever, and she expects him to do servant's work? Husband are you getting senile in your old age?"
"I'm not that old." Genma corrected.
"So I take it you're a dragon then?" Nabiki finally joined the conversation.
"Of course, what else would I be?" The woman answered casually, turning her eyes to Nabiki.
"Then why don't you look at all like him? Other than the hair color." Nabiki continued.
"What an inquisitive little human you are. To answer your question, I don't look at all like this, neither does Ra'ma look like his human form does. It's a disguise spell, surely your education should have informed you of a disguise spell." The woman look pensive for a moment.
"Their schools don't cover magic." Ranma answered.
" Oh, oh yes, this realm lacks magic, and the other sentient species all left for Jade. So there are a great many things you are ignorant about. Well I suppose I can't hold that against you."
"Do you mind at least introducing yourself?" Nabiki countered. "I like to know who's insulting me."
"You caught that did you?" The woman laughed lightly to herself. "My name is Nod'ka, and your's human?"
"Tendo Nabiki." The middle sister bowed politely.
"Genma dear, if you wanted to joke about an engagement, you should have done it with this one." Nod'ka joked. "Would this be the home you're staying at?" She directed her question at Ranma, turning her back to Akane and her sister.
"This is it." Ranma responded.
"Are you going to show me around? Or I should I just do as I please?" Nod'ka asked Ranma again.
"I can show you around." Nabiki offered and Akane immediately grabbed her sister and whispered in her ear.
"What are you doing? Do you want two Ranma's around?" She hissed.
"Little sister you're not thinking are you?" Nabiki whispered back, hiding her mouth with her hand. "She's a dragon, they hoard things, expensive things, and I'm planning for early retirement, as in never have to work a day in my life retirement."
"Fine, suck up, see if I care." Shaking her head in disgust, Akane noticed that both Ranma and his mother were looking at them, looking as though they heard every word. 'Wait, Ranma doesn't have that good of hearing, does he?'
"Such a greedy little human." Nod'ka giggled again. "That's good, if my little boy is going to be staying here, he needs someone to keep him on his toes." Clapping her hands, she smiled pleasantly. "Lead the way."
X x x x x x
" I suppose there are worse places to live. Why I remember that last hovel that you tried to pass off as a－ what did you call it again?" Nod'ka asked Genma, the tour of the home having ended in the living room. Ranma sat close to his mother at the table, almost basking in the power the humans couldn't sense. While he would prefer her to be in her real form, she was far to large to fit in the yard without crushing everything.
"It was a short stay apartment." Genma answered and Ranma snickered at his father's bowed head, and kowtowed responses. It was always interesting to watch his father deal with his mother. Usually he couldn't inspire the same level of respect that Nod'ka did, at best he could get his father acting defeated. Which worked far too well, since Ranma would usually calm down before anything was accomplished.
'Sneaky old man.' He glowered.
"Ra'ma, why are you using your disguise spell to look older?" His mother finally asked him, he had been expecting it since the moment she had shown up. "I thought you looked different when we talked the other day."
"Older?" The three Tendo sisters asked.
"Mom." He started only to be interrupted.
"Oh yes, even though my little boy is part human, he is only five years old." Nod'ka explained.
"You're just a little kid!" Akane shrieked. "Daddy you tried to engage me to some little boy?"
"I didn't know!" Soun protested.
"Mom!" Ranma whined. "A year for Jade is different than on Earth."
"Really?" The blue haired woman asked.
"Yes, a year on Jade, is three on Earth. So I'm fifteen here."
"I see, it's been so long since I lived in this realm. But dragons and humans age differently anyways, so I suppose in Earth years you'd be closer to ten." Nod'ka supplied.
Ranma shrunk into himself, he was right, his mother did embarrass him. He had always kept his human age to close to those the same chronological age as himself. Humans simply didn't take him seriously if he looked like a child. Forgetting the problem he had of people treating him like a pet in his real form. Although he did enjoy getting free food.
"Is that why he's so cute in his dragon form?" Kasumi asked sweetly.
"Isn't he though?" Nod'ka answered girlishly. "Ra'ma, drop your disguise?"
"Alright." He agreed and assumed his real form, immediately Nod'ka started to appraise his form.
"You're definitely starting your growth spurt." She commented, pulling him close, and stroking the top of his head. "Seems like you've doubled your size since I last saw you."
"You don't shed your skin like a snake do you?" Akane asked and both Ranma and Nod'ka turned to look at the human.
"Do we look like snakes to you?" Nod'ka asked rhetorically.
"You look like a human to me." Akane answered.
"Akane be nice to our guest." Soun warned his daughter.
"I appear as a lower form of life because I did not think it proper for me to crush your home." Nod'ka told the girl.
"How big are you?" Nabiki asked curiously. "Ranma is pretty small, just how big is a full grown dragon?"
"Let's just say, one room in my lair is the size of your entire property." Nod'ka answered casually, pulling him partially up to lay on her lap. Folding his wings tight up against his back, and made himself comfortable, up until the point where Kasumi started to pet him.
"Awww, he looks so cute!" She gushed.
(This human amuses me.) Nod'ka low speaked to him, while making no move to stop Kasumi.
(She makes good food.) He pointed out, content to be with his mother, and not wanting to ruin it by pushing away the human.
(Should learn her place though. Petting a dragon? Who does this human think she is?)
(Akane needs that more.)
(The youngest? Perhaps, but I think if you were going to put a human in her place, start with the middle one.)
(She has already tried to blackmail me once.) He added.
(Ambitious.) Nod'ka seemed amused by the added information. (A shame she's just a human though.)
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Kasumi asked his mother.
"No, I must be returning to Jade." Nod'ka answered simply. "I just wanted to make sure my little boy was in a good place for the next year."
"About that." Nabiki started. "The original deal was that Ranma stays with us because he was going to marry one of us. Are you expecting him to simply stay here for free?"
"There's no need for that Nabiki." Soun interjected. "Genma is my oldest friend and he and Ranma can stay as long as they like."
"You should feel honored that a dragon finds your abode acceptable to reside in." Nod'ka answered Nabiki's question.
"Honor doesn't exactly put food on the table does it?" Nabiki shot back.
"So what do you propose?" Nod'ka seemed to be humoring the request. Ranma knew that his mother understood that to get along with humans one had to make certain exceptions, such as paying for things occasionally. But he didn't understand why she was bartering with Nabiki, when Soun was the owner of the home, and had given him free reign to stay as long as he wished.
"Rent for one, food costs, utilities, and he has caused a significant amount of damage to the yard." Nabiki explained.
"Yes, such things can be expensive in an area like this." Nod'ka waved a hand and a piece of paper popped into existence on the table. "So I suppose I'll just cut through all of the details and purchase the home from you." The Tendo family all froze at the pronouncement.
"You can't possible expect us to just－ sell our home." Soun finally answered.
"That would be exactly what I'm proposing. Now I can't very well expect you to come up with an accurate price for the property, so it will have to be appraised. So this is just a formal declaration of my intent to buy." Nod'ka summoned up a pen, and wrote down her name in basic letters. "I've been looking for another summer home for some time."
"But－ but－ where will we live?" Soun asked, grabbing the paper to read it, his hands shaking as he slowly went through it.
"Live here, it would save me on hiring servants to keep the place livable." Nod'ka gave an uncaring shrug, and Ranma realized that his mother had been planning this from the start.
"We can't accept this." Nabiki took the paper from her father.
"And here I thought this was was a good deal for your family. You'll have a home to live in for the rest of your lives, I suppose I could also pay for all your dietary needs as well. I wouldn't want to show up and suddenly find the home without food. At most you'll need to find currency to buy other needs. Some would call that an early retirement." Nod'ka finished, smiling directly at Nabiki.
(I think you broke her.) Ranma told his mother, looking at Nabiki with almost visible yen signs in her eyes.
(Greedy humans are easy to manipulate.) She said back to him.
"I don't like this." Akane added her opinion. "Why would she just want to buy our house?"
"Seems like a good deal to me." Nabiki said while trying to quickly read through the contract. "Permanent free housing, free food, and she can't make us leave. All that seems to change is that there's a different name on who owns the property."
"But what does she get out of this?" Kasumi asked.
"I've grown interested in real estate of late, and this seems like a good opportunity." Nod'ka explained.
"I still don't like this." Akane added again.
"Sounds good to me." Soun grabbed the contract and signed his name. "So when will all this go through?"
"I'll have the proper offices contacted tomorrow." Nod'ka cast a spell to duplicate the contract, and made her copy vanish. Lightly, she pushed him off her lap, and rose to her feet. "I must be going now, I have a pair of elves who want me to archive a spell for them, and I shouldn't keep them waiting." Without waiting, Nod'ka headed out of the door in the hall to the outside.
"Can I come with?" He asked, following her out.
"No you cannot." Nod'ka switched to Draconic, and stopped her progress into an open space to look directly at him. "I've given you over two hours to tell me about this curse you have, and you have not said a word. I am very disappointed in you, since you seem to think you're so grown up, you can be grown up, and remain on your own."
"But." He protested. "Momma."
"No buts." She knelt down and grabbed both sides of his head. "When you're ready to quit this human nonsense, you can come home." Standing, she pointed her hand out into the yard and cast the gate spell. A circle with a triangle of equal size in the center appeared in mid air, and then the gate expanded so that it was tall enough for Nod'ka to walk through. "Keep my new home clean." She said in parting as the gate closed behind her.
"I knew it was good to have you around." Nabiki chuckled from his right.
Sniffling, he wiped at a tear that was falling from his eye, and turned to glare at Nabiki. 'Start with the middle one.' He thought, a plan already formulating in his mind. "Congratulations Nabiki, you'll make an excellent test subject." He announced in Draconic before trotting off into the home, chuckling to himself, and leaving the middle Tendo sister confused in his wake.
X x x x x x
Hair up in a towel and wearing a fluffy white bathrobe, Akane reached the top of the steps on her way back to her room. She was not at all happy about this deal her father and sister had made. Everything about it screamed that it was a bad deal. Showing up through a magical doorway was a dragon disguised as a human, who had a contract written out, and was prepared to pay what the house was worth, and keep Akane's family housed there permanently. No matter how good that sounded, there had to be a catch of some sort.
"The bath is open." She said while passing the room shared by the two unwanted house guests, but she froze mid step. "Ranma, is that you?" Sitting with Genma in the middle of the room was a young boy of about ten years old. He had the distinctive blue hair and eyes, and wore silver pants and sleeveless shirt.
"Who else would it be?" The boy asked with the same condescending tone that she had come to expect from Ranma.
"I'll go first boy, you always make it too hot." Genma rose to his feet.
"I don't need one." Ranma said as Genma past by Akane.
"So you are a little kid." She summarized.
"So you are an old lady." He shot back.
"I'm not old." She growled, her left eye violently twitching.
"Sure you are, I bet your body is already failing. I'll give you about eighty more years at best before you're done. Me? I won't even be fully grown." Ranma hopped to his feet, his head now only coming up to Akane's elbows. "Don't think to talk down to me because I chose to appear my real age." He instructed her seriously, a soft red glow surrounding the whites of his eyes.
"Well isn't that cute." Akane told Ranma with as much condescending attitude as she could muster. "The little boy is trying to act all grown up. But seriously, if you weren't such a jerk we wouldn't fight all the time." Patting Ranma on the top of his head, she headed off for her own room, ignoring his angry retort.
X x x x x x
Bookbag slung over his shoulder, Ranma's shoes tapped along the top of the fence bordering the canal. The sun was shining brightly with not a cloud in the sky, and he had to spend this glorious day sitting through human school. Turning his head to the human on the ground, he regarded Akane with a cool detachment.
"Why are you following me?" He asked.
"I'm not, I'm going to school." She answered, twisting her head in the opposite direction haughtily.
"You didn't have to leave at the same time."
"I just wanted to make sure that if some stranger kidnapped you that I'd get to see it."
"A long time ago, humans were part of every dragon's balanced diet." Ranma gave Akane a toothy smile. "So keep talking."
"You're not exactly threatening when you look like you should be in diapers." Akane teased.
"Not my fault humans are so stupid." He said with a shrug. "Poor blind hairless apes that you are."
"Who's your father again?"
"Dragon genes are dominant over all other species. I'm about as much a human, as you are, as laughable as it sounds, a dragon."
"Sure they are." Akane giggled.
Writing Akane off as a lost cause for the moment, he finished his walk to school, and passed easily by the group of boys from the day before trying to challenge him. While his change in age kept him from coming to their notice, Akane was badgered by the lead boy, ending with her punching him out. However, he did not escape notice of Akane's two friends.
"Ranma is that you?" Sayuri gasped. "What happened?"
"You're so tiny!" Yuka added.
"Just didn't feel like disguising myself to be older than I am." He said and crossed his arms.
"So you're just a baby dragon?" Yuka gushed, clasping her hands together.
"Wouldn't a baby dragon be called a hatchling?" Sayuri asked.
"I'm not a hatchling." He protested. "I just age differently." Grumbling, he knew this day would be a chore.
X x x x x x
"I hate human schools." Ranma snarled, purposely kicking a can he had found on the ground too hard, it was crushed instantly from the force, before skittering down the street. Half his class wouldn't stop badgering him with various inane questions. Most of the teachers hadn't cared in the least, if they noticed at all the change in his visible age. It did seem that Furinkan accepted new things rather quickly. No one had even seemed interested that he was a dragon anymore.
Pausing just outside the gate of his mother's new home, he finally noticed a familiar presence that should not have been there. In his disgust at humans he had missed sensing her earlier, but now she was impossible to miss. Dismissing his shoes as he entered the home, he padded through the hall, and into the living room to see a wyrm in human form kneeling attentively next to a wall. Genma and Soun were at the entrance to the room playing shogi. As soon as the golden haired woman noticed him, she immediately stood up, but kept her head bowed.
"Son, why is she here?" Genma asked him. "Your mother just sent her through a portal without a word."
"It's nice to see you Sire." She greeted in Draconic, ignoring Genma's question because she didn't know the language. Two was dressed in a simple orange skirt to her knees, and a short sleeved conservative lighter orange blouse. Her long golden blonde hair fell down to her waist, and was pushed to the back.
"Two, what are you doing here?" He asked switching as well to Draconic, and ignoring his father. Even though he had similar questions.
"Lady Nod'ka sent me to come and ensure that you are comfortable in this human domicile until you return to Jade." Two answered while he took a seat at the table, immediately she took a seat close to, but a respectable distance from him. "I am sorry Sire, I have not been able to communicate my duties to the humans living here, as I am not fluent in their language, and Lady Nod'ka did not see fit to cast a translation spell upon me."
"Spell of True Hearing." He cast the appropriate spell.
"Young Sire is most gracious."
"Uh huh, now go tell Kasumi what you're here for, and then get me some tea."
"Right away Sire." Bowing, Two headed off to do the assigned task.
"Boy." Genma drew his attention.
"Mom sent her to take care of the house." He answered.
"Who is she son?" Soun asked, using an annoying and overly familiar name for him.
"A wyrm." He answered simply.
"A－ wyrm?" Soun asked slowly.
"Pop, you mind explaining for him?" Ranma asked, finding that Two had returned with his tea.
"Tendo, a wyrm is a dragon who was born without magic, they look like a big snake." Genma explained. "She's a servant."
"Sire, why is it that you allowed that human to call you son?" Two asked, giving a dark glare at Soun.
"I think it's more of just him being friendly." He guessed. "Don't get too worked up over it."
"Yes Sire."
"I'm home!" Akane's voice echoed through the home.
(There are more?) Two asked, speaking too low for the human inhabitants to hear.
(Four humans live here, and you can ignore them all, but no physical attacks if insulted.) He answered, if Two knew magic he wouldn't have added that limitation. But a four meter long wyrm attacking a human would kill them, and Two was kind of high strung as it was. Obviously since his mother had decided to let the humans stay, she had some kind of interest in them being alive. Two nodded her head in agreement.
"There you are." Akane turned the corner and entered the room, her gaze falling on him. "You didn't stay behind to help clean again."
"You're kidding right?" He took another sip of tea. "Good job Two, this is really good."
"Thank you Sire." The wyrmling replied happily.
"Who's she?" Akane switched targets.
"Two, this is Akane, Akane this is Two." Ranma introduced.
"Thank you very much for seeing fit to introduce me Sire."
"Two? You mean like the English number?" Akane asked, giving Two an annoyed look.
"Yes, she's one of the five wyrm's and drakes who serve my family." He explained.
"Serve? You mean like servants?" Akane took a seat at the side of the table to his right, putting her across from Two. When she reached to pour herself a glass of tea, Two's hand snapped out and took the kettle away.
"How dare you touch Sire's tea with your grubby human hands!" Two snapped, and Akane blinked repeatedly, unsure how to act.
"Two." Ranma said harshly, knowing that the wyrm had never really been around humans outside of Genma before. She was going to cause a lot of problems if she went around like she was.
"But Sire, I retrieved this beverage for you. Not this human." Two spat.
"Practice being humble." He informed the wyrm.
"She's even more arrogant than you are Ranma." Akane joked.
"Ya know Akane, probably the only reason you aren't dead right now is because I told her no physical attacks." Ranma gave Two a cross look. He had never had to worry about the wyrms or drakes getting out of line when he was little, and he couldn't risk having Two start tearing up the populace at every slight. His mother would probably hold him responsible. Which suddenly seemed to be the true reason for the wyrm's presence. Nod'ka was testing him to see if he was being an adult or not.
Deciding to adjust his orders to avoid any unneeded attention he added. "Two, no attacking any humans unless they attack you, and you have to be nice to everyone." The wyrmlings face was a look of horror before she reluctantly slid the kettle over to Akane.
"Is she a dragon too?" Akane asked, pouring herself a glass slowly.
"No." He said a bit loudly. "No, she's just a wyrm." Ranma explained. "Still above a human though." He complimented Two, who lost some of her depressed look. There was a certain satisfaction in appearing humble to humanoids, but he took another satisfaction in putting Two in her place as the slave she was.
"What's a wyrm?" Akane asked.
"Think a big snake." He really didn't think the house could support Two's weight, if she changed into her true form.
"So who's this?" Nabiki finally returned to the home.
"Ugh." Ranma groaned.
X x x x x x
Kasumi pursed her lips as she looked at the newest house guest, or if what had happened with Ranma's mother was true, then the newest resident while she was a guest. But this new girl, or woman was more appropriate considering her apparent age, was intruding upon her territory. Slowly drying some dishes, she turned to look at Two, who was cleaning the floor to a mirror shine.
Two had said with complete finality that she would take up all the duties of cleaning, as well as cooking. Kasumi did not like this announcement one bit. She enjoyed her free time as much as anyone, but she enjoyed cooking and even cleaning to an extent. To have someone arrive and take her job away was just insulting. What could she do though? A man had come earlier in the day to appraise their home, with another coming just before school was out to have her father sign another paper to accept payment. So it was technically now Ranma's home more than her own, even though she and her sisters would be able to live here free of charge for the rest of their lives.
With nothing better to do, she decided to try and get to know the newcomer. "Two." She said sweetly, gaining the woman's attention. "How did come to work for Nod'ka."
"I do not－ work, for Lady Nod'ka." The golden haired woman answered. "She is a dragon and I am her wyrm slave."
"A slave?" She asked hoping for some clarification, earning a serious look from the woman.
"I suppose you wouldn't know. Wyrms do not have any rights, along with drakes we are slaves to true dragons."
"Oh my, what is the reason for that?" She was shocked by the idea.
"We are but lowly creatures undeserving of rights, children, or even names." Two answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"That sounds very harsh."
"We're defects, unable to do magic, I'm eternally grateful for Lady Nod'ka and Lord Ra'ma's kind treatment. I know that not all dragons are as wonderful as they are. I do not expect a human such as yourself to understand the intricacies of dragons."
"Oh my." She whispered.
"Are you done with drying those dishes yet?" Two stood up from the floor.
"I will be in a minute."
"If I am needed, I will be cleaning your bathing area." Without another word, Two exited the kitchen.
X x x x x x
"You like having her around, don't you?" Nabiki turned the television to another channel. The new house guest wasn't even the room, having excused herself to wait for orders in the kitchen. Ranma was stretched out on his side next to the table in dragon form, while lazily watching the television. "Even though you treat her like dirt."
"She's a wyrm." He answered, hitting the floor once with his tail. "She's lucky I'm letting her sleep inside."
"And you don't think that's treating her like dirt?" Ever since the woman had shown up after school yesterday, all Ranma had done was boss her around. Two wasn't even allowed in the room when he was eating.
"Oh you oh so ignorant human."
"Ignorant, that's a big word isn't it?" She teased, finding great amusement in the fact that Ranma should be in elementary school.
"You'll understand sometime." Ranma raised his head to smirk at her.
"What? You're actually going to explain the great and glorious dragon culture to me?" Snickering, she looked back at the television.
"I had something else in mind." He answered cryptically.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, turning to look at Ranma, and seeing only the tip of his tail as he left the room. 'Dragons have some weird mental processes.' She thought, dismissing the boy.
X x x x x x
Finishing up with the third and final spell ring of a Jusenkyo curse, Ranma took a minute to recover from the effort. Nabiki was sitting with her legs hanging off the side of the raised hallway, through the large open doorway in the side of the house. He had gotten her to wait patiently with the promise that Nod'ka had told him to give her a present. Two was in her true form, just over seven meters long, and shaped like a giant golden snake with a pointed snout. She was curled around the pond, ready for any instruction.
"Alright Two, put some of yourself in the water." He instructed in Draconic, having to keep the spell from locking on to the fish currently in the water. Two lowered the tip of her tail into the water, and Ranma drew up the necessary ether. Three gold rings formed around his right hand, and he pushed it towards the water, which glowed white for a moment. Now that the imprint spell was in place, he could test to see if they combined properly.
"Good, now don't touch the water again." Taking a step back, he had no desire to see if the curses mixed, especially not if it made him part wyrm.
"So now that I've seen you cast a few sparkly spells, can I get what you were talking about?" Nabiki asked.
"Two, would you mind throwing Nabiki in the pond?" He asked, switching to Japanese.
"Of course Sire." Two answered happily, having disliked Nabiki from the start.
"Wait what?" Nabiki nervously took a step back but was stopped when Two rocketed across the short distance, and wrapped the human up with her tail. With a flick of the wyrm's tail, Nabiki was sent flying directly into the pond. A second later, the water exploded, sending up a fine mist of water to blanket the area. Which thankfully was now harmless water, what with the curse magic being used up without anything to continue powering it.
Ranma shielded himself from the mist with a spell, nearly depleting the last of his ether with the simple magic. Blinking several times, he looked at the now changed Nabiki, her form partially in the remaining water, and partially hanging over the rocks around the edge.
"Maybe I should have thought this out a bit more." He nodded to himself. Nabiki hadn't become a full grown wyrm like Two. Which meant she was now about six meters long, and weighed in around eight metric tons.
"Wha- what happened to me?" Nabiki questioned, clumsily raising her head up off the ground to take in her new form. Like Two, she was a gold wyrm, and had a pattern of snake like brown spots running along her back. "Why am I seeing－ weird colored things."
"Congratulations Nabiki, you've moved up the food chain just a bit." Ranma exclaimed, happy over now knowing that he could create Jusenkyo curses so long as he had a template to work off of. "Actually, you're rather lucky, since you never have to return to being a human, so long as you stay away from hot water that is."
"You－ cursed me?" Nabiki's pointed head swung to face him, her eyes already glowing a soft red, became two bright angry rubies. "You bastard!"
"I think I'll call you Six when you're like that." He mused. "Wyrms can't really have names." Nabiki's angry hiss was her answer to that, and she snapped forward in an uncoordinated attempt to grab him with her jaws. Just as her four fangs were about to pierce into his flesh, Two slammed into Nabiki, pinning the new wyrm to the ground, her own fangs digging deep into the former human's side.
"Thank you Two." Ranma had panicked for a brief instant, Nabiki seemed to have gained a large amount of speed, and likely strength from the transformation. Watching Nabiki cry out in pain, and struggle against the naturally born wyrm, he felt slightly bad for her current predicament. Turned into a lowly wyrm, it was as bad as becoming a human.
"Nabiki, if you quit trying to attack me, I'll show you how to change forms." He bargained with the new wyrm, who's weak struggles turned into pained whimpers, and her long body made weak attempts to move, or at least alleviate the pain.
"O- okay." Nabiki agreed, tears falling from her eyes, and Two released her to slither over, and wrap protectively around him.
"Sire allow me." Two offered.
"Sure." He shrugged. "Watch Two, Nabiki." Two's change to human took only an instant, and Nabiki's eyes widened, before a look of intense concentration crossed over her face. A moment later, she had resumed a human form, only now her hair was a golden color.
"That was magic." The now human shaped Nabiki said in awe. "I just used a magic spell, and I have hands! Oh hands! What would I ever do without you?" She cried happily, hugging her currently nude self.
Crouching down in front of Nabiki, Ranma studied the curse as it took a moment to establish its link to her aura. Unlike his, and Genma's, the curse seemed to be having trouble, looking like it would fall apart. All the magic he had spent to create it was threatening to vanish like it never existed. "Stay away from hot water until I say so." He told the new wyrm, who instantly looked up at him with anger in her eyes.
"No way, I'm changing back right now!" She quickly ran past him into the house, knocking him over on the way.
"Two stop her!" He told the wyrm, who had already been after Nabiki for touching him, and dashing after the girl himself.
Neither of them were able to reach Nabiki before she had turned on the hot water faucet in the bathroom, and splashed herself. "My spell!" He bemoaned dramatically, seeing the magic completely vanish.
"Ha servers you right!" Nabiki laughed to herself. "Think you can curse me, why does my voice sound so funny?" The middle Tendo sister finally bothered to look down at herself, and found that she was now just a little older than Ranma was, perhaps about eleven in human years. "You turned me into a loli!" She screeched.
"How dare you touch Sire!" Two snarled, smashing Nabiki face first into the tiled floor.
"She still a wyrm." Ranma got over his disappointment enough to notice that her aura had remained a wyrm, even though she should have been a human. Which was a good thing for Nabiki because Two would probably have killed her. "Two." He called the wyrm off.
"I'll get you for this!" Nabiki yelled, suddenly jumping up without injury, and running towards him.
"I'm sure you will." He replied haughtily just before Nabiki started hitting him. "Ouch! Hey! Ack! Two!" Trying to grab Nabiki by the wrists, he found that she was far stronger than he was, and she easily broke his hold before Two picked the girl up by the back of the neck. Nabiki continued to flail around ineffectually, being unable to free herself from Two's grasp.
"That's not fair at all." Ranma pouted. "Not only did my magic fall apart, but she's stronger than me." Not for the first time he cursed his human heritage.
Nabiki realized this a second after he said it, and a malicious smile spread across her face. "Make me a human again." She demanded.
"Or else what?" He regained as much dignity as he could. "If you think to hit me again, I'll just have Two return the favor." At his answer, Nabiki had another realization of just what the other wyrm could do to her. "Now I'm sure we'll need a suitable cover story, say you being greedy, and wanting the obvious advantages that dragons have over humans. Seeing as I would never consider making you one of us, I turned you into a wyrm."
"I'd never agree to something like that." Nabiki protested.
"You did." He corrected. "And it's in your best interest to say you belong to me. There aren't many dragons in the Earth realm, but you probably wouldn't want to know how the average wyrm is treated. If I decide to turn you back into a human, it won't be for a while, even I have to store of the ether required for the spell. So just sit tight and enjoy being less crippled than you were. Agreed?"
"What other choice do I have?" Nabiki glowered.
"You can let her go Two." In response to his command, the elder wyrm dropped the new to land awkwardly on her backside. "Well this has been a productive day." He clapped his hands and strolled casually out of the furo. "Two, I'm hungry, why don't you make me a sandwich."
"Right away Sire."
X x x x x x
Author Notes:
None actually.