Disclaimer: *rips disclaimer off the page* Here boy! Fetch!

AN: Sorry the delays... Anyways, this chapter didn't exactly shape up as well as I had hoped. Not saying it is bad so much as the fact I am finding I might have some trouble writing this one up ahead. Especially since I have totally derailed and trashed the cannon for this series beyond season 1. So yeah, hopefully I can think up of something for that since I like a number of the later characters, but it will be hard considering what I have in mind... ARGH!

Anyways, have fun reading!

Silence had fallen over the commentators' box as the three within stared on in disbelief. Charley was the first out of them to break it.

"Ahem, well- uh, I have no idea what's going on out there, what is this mysterious hero doing!?" The professional commentator from Galette asked his guests. Ms. Violet, her majesty's personal attendant, looked on speculatively.

"I'm not sure either. I'd say it was almost as if she were terrified at first when she met our forces… Now however?" She just shook her head and shrugged. All the while, General Bernard still remained silent. His expression was unreadable.

"Hmmm, so we're agreed on the initial response, but what is this? Whatever she's doing, I'm not even really seeing an attack. Can we get a slow motion replay for this?" Charley called out. Bernard still wasn't responding or moving. It was as if he were a statue. In short order, all the displays not just in the room but the battle displays themselves cut the live feeds and began replaying the insane heroine's actions in slow motion. Her posture was a perfect mimicry of a cat's as she came bounding forth on all fours. The look on her face seemed unnatural. Her eyes were devoid of any humanity. Bernard jerked a little at this. The fact was he had been angered until now and was trying his best to regain composure before talking. He had thought the strange girl had been mocking them for some unknown reason. Now he knew better. She had truly gone mad. With this in mind, his anger fled him as he focused on the question at hand. What kind of attack was she using?

The feral hero continued to bound forth, and as she passed various soldiers, her hands would blur into action to make a passing swipe. However just as before, she never made contact, but they did see the armor shred and tear with the motion.

"Umm, I think I'm missing something here. Those swipes still aren't connecting," Charley commented.

"No, I think there's something there, but I'm not sure," Violet added with a lost look.

"Prince Gaul… She's using an invisible variation of the Prince's Lion King Paws," Bernard finally spoke up," Look at her feet, she's leaving claw marks behind on the ground."

In response to this statement, the staff refocused on the girl's feet. She was leaving claw like rents in the ground.

"Wow, that's kind of scary. I wonder how the prince is going to take this when he finds out," Charley responded after confirming it himself.

Lorrain found himself staring at the display as did many others who weren't currently fleeing Biscotti's hero. He still couldn't understand what was going on with the girl. The look in her eyes all but confirmed something was wrong. He sighed as he hefted his weapon. There was still a battle to be fought. Hopefully they can clean up this mess afterwards. Soon enough, more enemy soldiers came. Not that many however. I guess these were the ones that played it smart and kept their distance.

Millhi was shocked at just about how bad things were going. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was something clearly wrong with Ranma. Besides what was currently going on, her thoughts were focused on the look of unfathomable terror on her face as she fled. Then she remembered earlier when they took flight. Ranma had not been afraid of heights. She was afraid of what she saw. She needed to do something.

"My Princess, what troubles you?" Rizel asked with concern clear on her face.

"It's Ranma…"

"Yes, I must admit her actions are crossing the line," Rizel began only to be cut short.

"No, that's just it. I don't think that's Ranma!" Millhi blurted out," She's odd, I'll admit, but it was clear she is afraid of something about the Galette forces."

"What? She doesn't look afraid to me-" Rizel began until she remembered Ranma's initial response as well.

All the while, Ricotta Elmar, the thirteen year old chief researcher of Biscotti, stood near her dear friend and listened to her worries. She thought about it. The girl clearly had not shown signs of cowardice until she met the enemy. It wasn't conflict the girl had feared. Then it had to be something else entirely as she would have shown signs prior to meeting them. Wait, she had shown a prior reaction when she saw the enemy from the air.

"Princess! Did Ranma know she was going to be fighting before she saw the battlefield?" She questioned immediately with anxiety clear in her body language.

"Of course I did. She had a bit of a misunderstanding, but was ok with it once she was told there would be know death involved," Millhi answered as she turned to look at her friend curiously.

"She's afraid of dying?" Rizel asked perplexed," That shouldn't be an issue here though."

The princess quickly shook her head," No, when she got here she thought she had already died and seemed fine… er- well, for the most part. There was some annoyance over something I couldn't quite get. No, she vehemently refused to kill others."

Rizel sighed at this," I must say that she gave me that kind of impression before this," she added with a gesture at the display.

Rico considered this. So clearly it wasn't a fear of fighting. Then it came down to the soldiers she was fleeing. She showed no issue until she saw them. She seemed fine with everyone else however. There was only one difference between those soldiers and most people from Biscotti.

"I'm not sure, but I think she might be afraid of cats," Rico theorized," Though I can't be sure as psychology isn't really one of my fields. Still doesn't really explain her current actions. Maybe she snapped?"

Éclair Martinozzi, the young captain of the imperial guard, had been angrily holding her position. She never cared for the idea of calling on a hero in the first place and had her opposition back when her dear Princess had announced her intentions. It felt like an insult to the knights as if to say they weren't fit to carry out their duty. The idea that they had failed so badly in the wars against Galette that the princess believed she had to call on the help of some stranger did not sit well with her. She wasn't angry with the Princess. No, she was angry with herself and at whoever the hero would be as that hero would represent the knights' failures… Her failures. It was only made worst when the hero took the field and mage her anger justified. The girl's action were further demoralizing as she fled them. Now she's actively mocking them as she decimates them. This form of mockery was even less heroic as it almost bordered maliciousness the way she went on.

As she continued using her seal cannons and skill to hold off the enemy soldiers, she heard the sounds of a cat hissing and yowling from behind. She then saw the closing soldiers actually turn and flee. She turned about to find the source of all her anger now sitting before her staring at her intently. She tilted her head to the side curiously. Her eyes seemed wrong somehow. The girl then stood on all fours once more and slowly approached the knight while sniffing the air. What is she doing!? Is she mocking me too!?

At this thought, Éclair clenched her twin blades angrily. She was about to verbally bite the so called hero's head off when said girl made her move. She wasn't even able to guard before the girl's pounce brought her tumbling back with the red head now on top of her. She froze in shock as the girl stared her in the eyes for a moment before it happened. All at once her armor and more shredded as the girl licked her cheek.

Silence once again fell on the commentator's box as Charley tried to get his senses back. Violet just looked down and shook her head at what she had seen. Bernard then broke it with a chuckle.

"Uh, what is going on," Charley demanded as he turned to the General.

"She didn't fully retract her claws; she's in a playful mood and his chosen the droopy eared knight of Biscotti as her playmate," Bernard explained before letting loose another chuckle at the scene as said knight had found a towel that she was holding wrapped about her while brandishing one of her blades in what could only be rage as she pursued her own hero.

"You're talking like she's actually a cat," Charley commented.

"She is one at the moment, isn't she," Ms. Violet asked her fellow guest.

"I think so, whatever is wrong with her, she's not just acting like one, I'd say she is one," Bernard answered as he nodded his head and crossed his arms. Her actions had been quite familiar to him as it would to most Galeteans.

Éclair could only see red. She didn't care what it took. She was going to make the hero pay. It was while she was in this rage that the catty girl stopped and her hands blurred into motion. The next thing she knew, she was blind by some dust and hacking some up. It was then that a familiar voice called out from a ways away.

"Well well, so this is the hero who's been causing so much trouble for my people today!" called out the unmistakable voice of the current ruler of Galette. Éclair finally cleared her eyes to see Leonmitchelli sitting upon her cercle and holding a long bow," I must say I'm not disappointed!"

All the while, Ranma had stayed put and stared at the woman. The next thing anyone knew she began bounding forth on all fours once more. The ruler of Galette notched an arrow and fired. Right when the arrow would have hit dead on, it turned to dust. This didn't even seem to phase the Biscotti hero as she charged forth with amazing speed and agility. Éclair simply dropped to the ground in shock of the display that was to come.

She had been keeping herself informed and watching the commentary as she closed in on her target. She had not been happy at first when she found out of the hero's behavior. In fact, she was planning to give a lesson in humility until Bernard spoke up. The very idea this girl was a cat in mind was improbable, but she had to agree with her general's conclusion on seeing the girl herself playing with the poor knight. She had decided to put an end to the scene with a warning shot. A shot that was reduced to nothing in an instant. Even as the girl charged at her now, she sought to slow her down with another arrow. However she found it was useless. Seeing this, she willed the bow in her hand to take the form of an axe.

She tried to fend off the charge with her Axe, Granveil, only to find she could barely keep her balance on her mount as the girl cheerfully mewled and spring-boarded off her weapon to land a short distance away. The girl seemed to be wait for something as she stared happily at Leo. The woman knew it was unlikely she could change avenues for this battle as she had originally intended. As such she took this opportunity to dismount Daumas. The whole time the girl simply waited and stared at her. She did not care for that look one bit. It wasn't that it angered her or annoyed her. No, it was the fact that there was something there that bothered her on an instinctual level. As they stared down each, Leonmitchelli found herself wondering what it was that disturbed her.

Then as if a switch had been flipped, she went all in as if something was driving her to do so. She started off with the "Lion King Round Seal". The hero simply dodged everything from the erupting columns of flame to the falling meteors of her seal. The redhead simply picked its way through as she approached. All the while that look in her eye disturbed Leo.

"Tremendous Explosion!" She cried as she unleashed a massive explosion. However in her haste, she had forgotten where she was. She had only been focused on that girl and her eyes. As such, she had forgotten they were near a cliff. The ground gave out far more quickly than she was expecting.

Éclair watched as the hero made easy work of the seal. Then she heard Leonmitchelli's second cry. Her wits came back to her as she desperately scrambled to get as much distance as possible from ground zero of that seal. In the end, she still found herself too close and tried to use her own attack with her only sword on hand. Soon she found herself sprawled out on the ground. The towel from before was completely destroyed. It was then that she felt something new covering her. She opened her eyes to find her brother's relieved smile as he set a change of clothes next to her.

"Éclair!" called two voices in unison. Éclair sat up while holding the new towel in place as she turned to find Millhi and Rico rushing toward her. Rico tackled her to the ground with a hug. The princess watched from nearby with a relieved smile. She was also wearing her full armor.

"My princess, what is going on and why are you out here?" Éclair asked as she rubbed Rico's back reassuringly.

"They came to try and retrieve our wayward hero," Lorrain, her brother, answered instead.

"She's not in her right mind… I made a terrible mistake," Millhi added. At this, Rico let Éclair go and turned the princess.

"No you didn't, this is Ranma's fault for not being honest to you!" Rico declared adamantly.

"… So this hero not only makes a mockery of me but lied to you!?" Éclair screamed angrily. Millhi looked to her in worry.

"Well, she did lie, but she never meant for any of this to happen, at least I hope not. We believe she might have lost herself in fear," Millhi answered nervously as she scratched her cheek and ended with an equally nervous chuckle. Éclair looked a bit confused at this.

"At any rate, we need to get going if we're to head off any further trouble, you can catch up sister," her brother cut in as he got the others back on track with the task on hand. Éclair quickly went about getting dressed and ran after them.

Millhi was not sure what to expect when she found Ranma again, but she was fairly sure it wasn't this. There she was sitting comfortably in her old friend's lap sleeping very much like a cat. Leo seemed stunned and unaware of her surroundings. She just sat there staring straight forward. Millhi found herself curious at this scene as she and the others approached carefully.

Suddenly Ranma seemed to stir as he opened his eyes and looked about confused. She seemed to be back to normal somehow. Then her face paled as she slowly looked up and began screaming as she ran away and took shelter behind Millhi.

"C-c-c-cat! Keep it away!" Ranma finaly spoke from behind her. Millhi turned around and tried to console her strange hero as she brought out a blindfold Rizel had suggested to bring and secured it on Ranma.

"There, now you shouldn't see them anymore," Millhi said as she tried to soothe the girl with a hug.

Meanwhile, Leo seemed to finally recollect herself after the screaming and was now staring at the hero and Millhi. She stared for several long seconds before giving a sigh of relief. She quickly regained her usual demeanor and called out," So, this is the hero you chose?"

"Not quite, I had sought another, but she was who I got- er," Millhi started before quickly backing away from Ranma and flailing her hands about," Not that that's a bad thing. You seem like an interesting person, but I really wish you had spoken to us about your uh, condition."

"Condition?" Leo demanded upon hearing the word. At this Ranma sighed as if deciding something and faced Leo fairly accurately considering she couldn't see at the moment.

"She means I'm… afraid of c-ca-… Felines," She answered before releasing another sigh," If it gets too bad, I either blackout or become what you saw earlier."

"I see…" Leo said thoughtfully before quickly turning about and collecting her axe she had dropped earlier," Well if you'll excuse me. I must be going-" She started before pausing as grin took her face," It's too bad about your condition, I hear I'm quite the sight," she called back with a mischievous grin. She shamelessly left the scene carrying her axe in nothing but her underwear.

"Well, now that it seems like things are sorted out… You can enjoy some of the celebration before we send you home?" Millhi spoke cheerfully with a clap of her hands.

"What?" Rico spoke up," A hero cannot return once summoned," Millhi began to visibly seat at this statement," That is why hero summoning occurs only rarely," Rico continued before pausing," Wait, you didn't know this, Princess!?"

Ranma went stock still at this statement. Millhi quickly sought to regain her composure with a cheerful façade and turned away from Rico and clapped her hands together almost as if in prayer," Well, even still, there must be some way."

"There aren't any!" Rico screamed in aggravation at her princess's oversight to which she gained a nervous laugh from said princess in response. That was when everyone felt the air turn cold.

"So I am stuck here in a world where at any moment I can be reduced to THAT again," spoke the eerily calm Ranma," And not only didya do so without asking me, but ya did it without even making sure there wasn't a catch."

"It was all an accident. I assure you our princess would never mean anyone any harm," Lorrain answered. His words seemed to cause the air to grow even colder.

"An accident that still took me away from my home and loved ones against my will," came the calm voice devoid of all emotion. Millhi looked at the still blindfolded Ranma as she seemed to be able to quite accurately face each person she spoke to. She also realized that somehow the hero was producing the cold air.

"Wait, you were the one that stepped into the summoning circle, so what's this about you not having a choice?!" Éclair demanded angrily as she now stood at Millhi's side.

"What are you talking about? I never saw such a thing. One moment I'm falling from pretty high up on a collision course with some blonde haired kid and the next thing I know I'm even higher in a now purple sky," Ranma stated while "looking" straight at Éclair. This statement shocked Millhi. This girl had accidently taken her chosen one's place. It also sounded like the girl was likely to die if she had fallen from that high up. She resolved to try and act responsibly on the matter. The first course of action was to try and help her new hero. She embraced the cold and emotionless girl before her and ran her hand through her hair to pet her. The girl seemed to tense up at the contact, but it had completely shattered her emotionless mask and the warmth returned.

"I am sorry for my thoughtlessness," Millhi began," We'll do whatever it takes to help you."

"Yes, even if there is no way, I'll search for one for you," Rico added.

"I guess…" Ranma finally spoke up with a sad tone before suddenly jumping away from the Princess," But none of this touchy feely stuff, ya got that? All it ever does is cause me trouble!"

Charley looked to Ms. Violet who had turned off the mic with a smile when the Biscotti group with both the hero and Princess began talking. They hadn't been able to see much when her Excellency's explosion went off. It also took some time for the all the dust to settle from it. When things had finally cleared up, they found the same strange scene as everyone else had. However, Charley had to wonder about Ms. Violet's actions in stopping them from intruding on whatever was going on. Apparently it must have been an important or very personal matter.

"Why are we cutting the coverage on this?" He found himself asking anyways.

"Let's just call it woman's intuition for now and agree not to intrude on whatever is going on. After all, you missing a lot of the action right now and the fact that Biscotti has now taken the lead for the day with her Excellency's defeat," She answered thoughtfully. Charley relented on the matter and soon continued their coverage of the rest of the battlefield.

The battle was over now. It had been close in the end since their hero left the field, but Ranma had done quite a bit already. Biscotti had won. Now Lorrain found himself being put on the spot by reporters seeking an interview with the strange hero.

"I am sorry, but she has already left the battlefield," He tried to ward them off.

"Well then, any statements on what happened?" One reporter called out. Anumber of others did much the same. The Biscotti General found himself sighing.

"The circumstances surrounding her are complicated and even now not fully known," He began. He had been given permission to reveal the following," As we understand it, the hero Ranma wasn't even the target of the summons so nothing was known of her at the time. However, we are thankful at this time as we believe her life was at risk. As for earlier today, I am not at liberty to say much. Even then I admittedly know next to nothing other than what the commentators said may have been true."

The response wasn't entirely happy, but they did seem a bit understanding on the matter. Biscotti was going to be in for some hard times as they dealt with another issue.

Ranma and Éclair walked around the market place in the capital city. She had been given a reward for her part in the battle. Ranma happily accepted the money. Éclair seemed to not like being around her and it was starting to get to her.

"So, why ya following me anyways. You obviously hate me for some reason," Ranma asked as she looked at the coins in the pouch and tried to discern the different types to fish out. She couldn't read the values, but she could get some help on that. Meanwhile Éclair scowled at the question.

"It's my duty for the time being to watch over you, and unlike someone I take such things seriously!" the knight girl spat out.

"Dunno what you're talking about. I do take my duty seriously," Ranma replied with a shrug as she fished out the last of the different types of coins in the pouch and pocketed them.

"You're a hero and it's your job to inspire our people and bring them hope! Instead you hide important information and while bringing us a victory have only managed to make things more problematic!" Éclair snapped back.

"One, I'm a martial artist. I never asked to be a hero. And two as a martial artist, my overwriting duty is to protect the weak," Ranma answered with a slight bit of annoyance," I have had few things in life and my honor is the most important of them."

"And what is honorable about hiding your fear from us and causing so much trouble," the green haired dog girl demanded.

"Look, I hate that weakness of mine. Heck, I hate talking about it since all I ever seem to get for it is humiliation. Seriously, you tell me you would tell people if that's what was waiting for you," Ranma shot back.

"The Princess is not like that! She would never laugh at something like that!" Éclair yelled back, drawing attention from some of crowd. She tried to grab Ranma and lead her away only to be found in Ranma's arms and up in the air and soon on a roof top. She began screaming in outrage as Ranma roof hopped and dropped down into an alley away from the crowd," How dare you! That wasn't necessary!"

"Well gee, I'm sorry, but I could have sworn I'd been told to keep a low profile for now. Also, I'll admit that your princess is the first…" Ranma sniped back before admitting the second in a more thoughtful tone. Éclair growled at the obvious jab. She seemed ready to start a fight until she noticed the look on Ranma's face.

"Are you telling me you have shared this before," She asked in a guarded tone," Surely your own family wouldn't laugh or did you never tell them?"

Ranma snorted at this," Yeah right, My father is the one that caused it and my mother would likely have me and him dead if she found out."

Éclair just stared at her before asking," What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simple, my dad is an idiot who got his hands on a training manual and didn't read the whole thing before-," She cut off and began to tremble. She shook it off," Best not to talk about it… I don't like remembering. As for my mother… It's complicated. Short of it though, she has a contract that should I fail to uphold, my life is forfeit."

Éclair stood silently. What kind of barbaric nonsense is this!? A father who traumatizes his own daughter and a mother who would actually take their child's life!? She wasn't sure if she could even believe what she had heard. She would have to report this. Maybe the princess could find out.

"Anyways since we got a moment, ya mind explaining the value of each of these?" Ranma broke her out of her thoughts as she showed her the coins she had pocketed earlier.

After that, Ranma was able to get the basic run down of what she needed to know about this world. Things like how the war games worked, monster and such on the road and how the locals seemed to be protected by the weird energy the seemed to saturate the place. The knight tried to get her to meet with the research people, but Ranma declined and instead asked for a place to train. Sow now here they were back at the castle at the training yard. Ranma began going through katas.

Meanwhile Éclair watched this strange dance and seemed confused with the practice. She had to admit that whatever the hero was doing seemed to hold a strange grace to it, but she couldn't quite understand it. She wasn't the only one taken in by the strange dance either. A number of the other knights that had showed up for some extra training had stopped to watch it as well.

Ranma soon wound down and came to a stop. Upon completion, she found herself broken out of her centered state by loud applause. She smirked at them.

Éclair walked up to here with a fixed gaze," So, what was all that about, I thought you wanted to train in combat?"

"That was, their called katas. What, you guys don't practice martial arts around here?" Ranma shot back with a curious grin. She was starting to like this back and forth with the girl. Not that she liked her. She seemed to be holding something against her, but that was not Ranma's problem.

"No, we do practice the art of combat," Éclair snapped back," I still don't see what that dancing has to do with it. I mean, sure it could be used for balance and athletics, but there are better ways, like actually working with the weapon."

Ranma made a derisive snort," What we're talking about ain't the same. My body is my weapon and a dependence on anything else is a liability."

"Really? I let's this then. No seals," Éclair demanded as she went and got her twin blades for the duel. Ranma just smirked all the while.

Later a very sore Éclair stood before her Princess as she was on a break in her schedule for the concert to be held that night. She still was not pleased with how easily Ranma had taken her out. Seriously once Ranma got in close; it was all over almost instant.

"So how is Ranma doing?" Millhi asked as she sat down and to a drink of water.

"She's doing fine. Rico came by to see why we hadn't dropped by yet. They were on their way to the kitchen last I saw," Éclair began," However, I have a few things about her I feel needs to be brought up. I'm not sure if what was said is true, but I feel if anyone can find out. It might be you, Princess."

Elsewhere in the kitchen, Rico marveled as she watched Ranma make short work of the "snack" the kitchen had given her. She was astonished by the girl's lack of manners and the sheer speed of her movements. She didn't know what to think about the strange girl. When she conferred with her colleagues about Ranma's symptoms, they had suggested that Ranma had suffered a traumatic experience. Since Ranma was already going to be here a while, she had decided to assign some of her people on looking into something to help the poor girl. It would slow the research down a little, but that was now a mute point since Ranma had just confirmed that there was no real deadline so long as it wasn't too long. She seemed a little melancholic at something but had brightened up when the food arrived. Now that they were done eating, she might as well broach the topic of helping her with her condition.