Pools of Sorrow
The Jusenkyo guide looked up in surprise at the brilliant flash of white
light outside his hut. A young man stood there, clothed in a tight
fitting black shirt that highlighted his strong musculature, and loose
pants. He was tall, six foot at least. His hair was black, and his
eyes a deep blue. He was staring at the pools. "Honored Customer
understands Mandarin, yes?" asked the guide.
The young man turned to him, "Very well, thank you, Honored Guide. Tell
me please, which pool is the Nyannichuan?" The guide turned almost
purple. Customers NEVER listened to him, never heard him until AFTER
they had fallen in.
"No, no, Honored Customer, you must not go to that pool. Is very tragic
story," he said quickly.
Ranma interjected, "Yes, yes, I know. Very tragic story. Now which one
is it?"
The Guide sighed. Even when they listened, it did no good. He said,
"Very well, Honored Customer, I see you will not listen, like all the
others. Nyannichuan is this way." He led the boy on a careful path
through the pools, before finally pointing to one.
He sighed, and watched, as the young man set down his pack, then waded
in and dunked his head. She broke the surface, brilliant red hair
glistening in the sun. The Guide gulped, and quickly turned away, as she
rose. The shirt that had been tight on the young man was looser on her
waist, but threatening to burst under the pressure from her chest. She
looked down. "Wow," she said, then quickly stripped off the shirt. The
Guide fainted. She climbed out of the pool. She rummaged in her pack for
a minute or two, then found a looser shirt, and put it on. Looking over
at the Guide, laying in a pool of blood that seemed to have leaked from
his nose, she lifted him easily to her shoulders, then tromped back the
way she had come, focusing the Juushin Jisei ito keep from accidentally
falling into any of the other pools.
When the Guide came to, he was lying in his own bed, a cool cloth on his
forehead, being watched by the beautiful redhead. She was nearly a foot
shorter than her male side, built smaller, but still well muscled.
"Sorry to put you through that," she said, her voice softer and
richer than it had been as a man. He gulped again in surprise. A
customer apologizing to him? That had never happened before. They were
always furious with him, even though he tried as hard as he could to
stop them.
"You... you knew what would happen?" he asked, his fear clear in his
voice.
She laughed, a delightful sound. "Yes, I knew. Now, you just lie here.
I've got to do something. Don't interfere, please. It would be very
bad, if you did." She stood up, and he noticed that she had drawn on the
wood floor of his hut a circle in chalk, with strange symbols around it,
and was standing in it. She reached behind her, and pulled off the
small band that held her pigtail, and shook her head, freeing her
glorious fiery hair, which fell in soft curves over her shoulders,
spilling down her strong back.
She started chanting something, in a strange language, and he realized
she had produced a scroll from somewhere and was reading it. How strange
today was. First that crying man had come and turned into a panda, now
this young man comes and turns himself into a girl and starts chanting
strange things in his hut.
She seemed to suddenly have come to the conclusion of her chant. She
slumped bonelessly to the ground. He got quickly out of his bed, and
felt her neck. Her pulse was steady and strong. He lifted her, and
placed her on his bed, watching worriedly. How strange this was.
After several hours, he heard movement outside. Leaving her, he found
that the crying man had returned. He was jabbering excitedly about
having finally 'felt his ki again!' and asking about a man named Ranma.
When the Guide finally understood that the man was asking whether a
young man had been by, he became nervous. This man was a martial artist,
and the young man was now an unconscious young woman. If this crying man
decided to kill or take advantage of the young lady, there would be
little the Guide could do to help. He too was a martial artist, but he
did not feel he was in this crying man's league.
He tried to draw the man out, slowly. He got enough of a physical
description to think that this might indeed be the young man the crying
man wanted... hair color and eye color were right, and he did indeed
look Japanese, like the crying man. What finally convinced him was when
the crying man explained that he was looking for his son, that he had
been looking for him for eight years, and that he had just felt the
touch of his son's ki.
He led the man into the hut, and pointed to the young girl. In broken
Japanese, he said, "Young man come, ask for Nyannichuan. I try to warn,
but very insistent. Finally show him, he go in, she come out."
The crying man broke down, wailing his anguish. The promise was broken,
he would have to commit seppeku. The Guide had considerable difficulty
understanding him, as he was wailing in Japanese, and too fast, and so
assumed that the man's anguish was a natural thing for a father to feel
about a son who had just been cursed. He did have to convince the man
not to throw the boiling water for tea onto the young woman. "Much
better when awake, you see, you see."
---
Ranma found himself sitting on a hill, looking over a valley. A stream
ran down the hill from somewhere behind him, and babbled happily as it
gurgled across the stony bed, before falling in a spray of color down
the hill. All about, the land was green and bright. He noticed that he
was male again, and wearing his tight black shirt. From behind him, he
heard a tentative voice say, "Ranma?"
He spun around, coming immediately to a defensive posture, before
relaxing. She was standing there, looking demure and frightened, yet
truly beautiful, hair like a glorious nimbus of fire around her exotic
face, with delicate features and wide slightly upturned almond shaped
eyes, that sparkled a brilliant blue. She had a marvelous figure, and
she was wearing a short yellow sundress.
She took a hesitant step toward him, and asked again, "Ranma, is that
really you?" When he nodded, her face lit up in joy, and he felt his
heart hammering in his chest. She leapt forward, wrapping her arms
around him. He responded slowly, then hugged her tightly as he felt her
sob into his chest. "Oh, Ranma, I've been so lonely waiting for you."
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You weren't supposed to have awakened
until just now."
"No, no," she said, "I've been awake ever since that terrible pit with
the cats. After... after you became the cat... the first time you woke
up, the cat came here, and woke me up."
"Neko-Ranma is in here?" he asked, incredulous.
"Yes, he's ever so much fun."
"I... I... I'm sorry. I wish I had known. I've kept you caged in here
for so long. I wish I could make it up to you."
"Don't feel bad, Ranma. You couldn't have known. Come with me, I want to
show you my house."
He followed her down the slope of the hill, and saw a beautiful one
story house of stone thatched with straw.
"Wow. You made this?"
"Oh yes. Neko! Neko, come here." She called out to the house, and the
front door swung wide, and Neko-Ranma came running out, on all fours,
and loped up to them, then sat and looked at them inscrutably for a
moment, before starting to wind himself between their legs, rubbing up
against them both, and purring.
"So that's how you recognized me. He looks just like me."
"He is you, Ranma. So am I. Come inside, please." She led him
inside, and sat him down on a couch. Neko-Ranma jumped up and curled up
on Ranma's lap, purring softly. Ranma petted his hair, and scratched
behind his ears. She sat down beside him, and scratched Neko-Ranma's
back lightly. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. I know
what Alana told you."
"You know about Alana?," he asked in surprise.
"Yes, Ranma. I know that when Neko gets out, you don't remember. But I
can see what you see, and I see what he sees. I watched him kill that
man," and she saw the color drain from his face. "Ranma," she said
sharply, "It wasn't his fault. That man tried to force him to kill
someone else. He deserved it. Alana was right. And before you ask, no
she didn't know I was awake either." Ranma sighed, and went back to
petting Neko-Ranma's soft hair. Ranko considered for a moment whether to
tell him that the Lady Sylia had known, but decided that he would feel
less guilty if he didn't know.
"Maybe now, when you let Neko or me out, you can come here, and watch
us, if you want to."
"What do you mean, let Neko out? He only comes out when I've been driven
mad by cats. And that won't happen anymore. I've gotten over the fear."
"I know you have Ranma. But he's still a part of you, or he wouldn't be
here. Surely you don't intend to keep him locked up in here forever, do
you?" She looked at him with pleading eyes, big and blue, and glistening
with tears, and he felt himself melt inside.
"No, I can't do that, can I. But I've got to be able to keep him from
killing."
"But Ranma, if you let him out, then you aren't hiding... so you can be
here watching, and take over if he goes too far."
"Hey, you're right! That's wonderful! And.. and that must mean that you
know what I've just done," and his voice was suddenly small and scared.
Here, inside his mind, he couldn't hide behind his barriers of ice, and
his emotions were constantly visible on his face.
"Yes, Ranma, I know." She threw her arms about him, and hugged him
fiercely. Neko-Ranma meowed piteously, trapped between them, and leapt
to escape. "And I love you for it. Its more than I ever dared hope for.
More than I deserve."
"No," he said sharply, "It isn't more than you deserve. You deserve so
much more,... Oh dear. I just realized I don't know what to call you,
Red."
"Red will do nicely, Ranma. But maybe, outside, I can be Ranko?" and she
looked up at him with those glorious deep blue eyes, light glinting off
a hint of moisture, and he lost himself in their swirling depths.
"Of course you can," he replied then he realized something was missing.
"Where'd Neko-Ranma disappear to?"
"He went out," she said, quietly, silently pleading for him to not be
angry, "do you want to go watch him?"
"Yes, please," he replied, trying to hold on to his sudden fear. That
poor Guide, surely Neko wouldn't hurt him.
Red held him, and the scene changed around them, and they were sitting
on a large rock, and before them was a pool, still and crystal clear,
and as he looked at the pool, it suddenly clouded, and then he saw what
Neko-Ranma was seeing... a panda, running away very fast, then Ranko's
hand, as she licked it.
---
The Guide was still struggling with Genma about the hot water, when they
both heard a low rumbling growl behind them. They turned slowly, and
looked, and saw Neko-Ranko, crouching on the bed, growling. "Oh dear,"
the Guide said, "This never never happen before." Genma jerked away,
spilling the kettle, which by this time had grown cold, and turned into
a panda. For a split second, the two stared at each other, then the
panda turned and fled through the open door, not daring to look behind
him.
The Guide watched in stunned surprise, as the strangely behaving girl
proceeded to lick her hand and use it to rub behind her ear, smoothing
the hair back. She settled down, and purred at him. "Heh, heh. Nice
kitty," he said, nervously, "that's a good kitty." He wanted to leap for
the door as well, but he knew a sudden movement could well elicit a
sudden reaction.
He didn't know about the cat's claws, but he could well imagine the
father's reaction, if he came back, and found the Guide pinned under his
son/daughter. He doubted any amount of explaining would save him then,
especially since he had not the foggiest clue how to explain this
peculiar behavior. So he did not move an inch, not even when Neko-Ranko
leapt lightly down, and brushed up against his leg, purring. When no
caresses were forthcoming, she loped off in the direction Genma had
gone.
Genma, meanwhile, had run for several minutes, before glancing back, and
realizing that he could see no signs of pursuit. The heavyset panda sat
in a clearing, wondering what on earth had gone wrong with the boy. The
Guide's explanation still ran through his head. Genma's form was an
accident. But the boy had come and bathed in the Nyannichuan
deliberately. Was it a ploy? Had the boy somehow found out about the
seppeku pledge he had signed with Nodoka, forfeiting his life if he
returned and Ranma was not a man among men? Could he possibly have
learned of it and yet been unaware that Ranma would also have to commit
seppeku? Who could have told him? Why else would he do it?
Genma was still pondering this, when he noticed the forest around him
had gone eerily silent. He was wondering what it meant up to the very
moment that Neko-Ranko landed on top of him, knocking him to his back.
He instantly went rigid, terribly afraid, remembering what those claws
could do, and realizing that there was no way he could get away from
Ranma before Ranma could slice him open. If Ranma really wanted him
dead, then Genma was dead.
But Neko-Ranko just stood there on top of Genma, then curled up on his
chest, purring, and went to sleep. Ranma let Genma lie stiff with terror
for nearly twenty minutes before asking Ranko if she wanted him to deal
with Genma before she had to meet him. She nodded. "He deserves whatever
you give him for what he did. But I never got a chance to know him, to
have a father. I'd like to. Don't kill him if you don't have to. But
make sure he understands I'm not you. I mean, I am, but not the way he
would think it."
After twenty minutes, Onna-Ranma's head lifted. "Hey, Oyaji. Long time,
no see." he shifted, so that he was kneeling on his father's chest.
Genma sat, stiff and scared. He could tell that Ranma had continued
training... even his female body was lean and strong.
"Why, boy. Why'd you do it?" Genma was terribly frightened of the
answer, but he had to ask.
"For Ranko." Genma just gaped. "For Ranko, Oyaji. You locked her in my
mind, trapped her there with your training. Because of you, I can't free
the Lady Alana." Genma gaped some more. Who the hell was Ranko, how had
Genma's training had anything to do with her, and who the devil was Lady
Alana? "I know you aren't capapable of really understanding this. Just
look at it this way. You had a daughter." Genma shook his head
frantically.
"Don't shake your head at me old man. You are going to ACCEPT her as
your daughter, got that?" He held out his hand and flicked his
fingers out, and summoned Neko's chi claws, letting them hang there,
visible. "I control the Nekoken now, Oyaji. I mastered it. Deny me this,
and I'll flay you! Believe me, Ranko means far more to me than my
worthless father, who drove his son mad." Genma nodded nervously. He had
thought, for just a moment, to lapse back into the old ways of dealing
with his son... but was stilled by the coldness he saw in his son's
eyes. He looked in his son's eyes, and saw death, and at the same time,
he was overwhelmed by a flood of pride. His biggest mistake, the stupid
Neko-ken training, and his son had mastered it!
"Ranko is your daughter. She's trapped in my mind. She ain't talking to
you right now, understand. This is still me, Ranma. I went and got this
body, so she could be comfortable when I let her out. You make her
uncomfortable about it, and I'm gonna make me some panda sausage. You
got that?" Genma nodded vociferously, fear lurking in his dark eyes.
"Alright, I'm gonna get up now. You run, and I'll hunt you down. You
stand up, and wait right here. I'm gonna get Ranko, and let her talk to
you. I say again, you hurt her, and you're sausage meat."
Onna-Ranma stood up slowly and stepped back. Panda-Genma stood equally
slowly. Onna-Ranma said, "You can't meet her like that." He pointed his
arm at Genma, and a thin stream of hot water sprayed out of a previously
invisible opening in his sleeve, hitting the old man in the chest,
returning him to his human form.
"Hey, if you can do that, why aren't you turning back," Genma demanded.
He didn't really understand what Ranma was going on about, and wasn't
sure whether to believe his son, and now that he was human, and
standing, he felt much more comfortable, ready to defend himself. He
might have to unseal the forbidden techniques, but he could tame his
wild son again.
"I told you old man," Onna-Ranma replied, popping her chi claws out
again, and slicing the air with them, "You're here to meet her. You
think she wants to meet you wearing my skin? Now shut up and wait." Her
claws disappeared, and her eyes turned blank, then sparkled again.
Genma stared, as the solid fury of Onna-Ranma seemed to melt into
diffidence. Ranko dug her foot into the ground, looking down. "Uhm....
Its nice to meet you, Genma-san." She looked up at him with kawaii
eyes, big and blue and glistening with tears. "I never had a father.
Will you be my father, Genma-san?" Genma nodded slowly, wonder and awe
in his eyes. What was going on here? Ranko smiled suddenly, and Genma
felt as if the whole clearing had been lit up, and then it didn't matter
what was wrong with Ranma. He had a little girl, and she was hugging
him, him, her father. He slowly hugged her back, wondering what on earth
he was doing. Then again, as he thought further on it... Ranko might
well be his key to controlling the strong and independent young man his
son had become. Maybe he could extract some information from her, start
planning his next move...
"R-R... Ranko, dear," he began, looking down at her, "Ranma said he
mastered the cat-fist." She nodded happily, grinning up at him. "But,
but... in the hut... You were acting like a cat."
"No Papa-san," she said, and he felt his heart swell again, to hear this
beautiful little girl call him Papa, "That wasn't me, that was Neko.
Ranma has mastered the cat-fist, and because he has, I have." She
stepped back, and waggled her fingers, chi-claws playfully slashing the
air before vanishing, "but Neko's still in there, and he wants to come
out and play sometimes. You will let me keep him, won't you Papa-san?"
She begged him, eyes huge and glistening, just as if she was talking
about an adorable little kitten. Genma melted again. He could never
refuse a kawaii little girl such a simple thing... especially if keeping
her happy could restore his control over Ranma. Heh.
"Of course, Ranko, of course," he reassured her, patting her shoulder
akwardly. She could display affection so easily, but it had never been
easy for Genma, nor was it easy for Ranma.
"Papa-san?" she asked, looking up to him.
"Yes, Ranko-chan?"
"I know why Ranma came here, to this place. He came for me. But why are
you here?"
"Oh, Ranko," and tears started trickling down his face, "I waited and
searched for him for so long. But I never found him. I wanted to go home
and face your mother, but I was afraid. So I kept on going with the
trip. I tried to go to all the places I would have taken Ranma,
pretending he was still with me. I had to send postcards to your mother,
you see, or she would have been suspicious. This would have been the
last training ground, the last place we would have come, before
returning to Japan. Now I see that it would have been a huge mistake.
But not as big as my trying to teach Ranma the Neko-ken in the first
place. I thought I had lost him." He broke down sobbing, and collapsed
to the ground. Ranko held him, soothing him, rocking him back and forth,
until the tears finally stopped. "And now... and now I've got him
back.... and I've got you... and Neko, I guess... but I can't go
home again. Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry."
Ranko looked down at him. "Why, Papa-san? I want to meet my mother. I
know Ranma misses her, too. Why can't we go back?"
"Oh, Ranma, Ranko, how I've failed you. When we left, I had to sign a
pledge, before Nodoka would let me take you. It said that if when we
returned, Ranma was not a man among men, we would both commit seppeku.
So you see, we cannot go home."
"But Ranma is a man among men. Not only that, he is the Lord of Fey
Castle," Ranko replied. She was confused... why was her father assuming
that Ranma was not a man?
"The what? The Lord? My son's a Lord of a castle? Where? Where is the
castle?" Genma asked, excitedly.
"Its back on the world we went to, the world we were summoned to."
Genma's face twitched. His eyes betrayed his utter confusion.
"Look Papa-san, the reason you couldn't find
Ranma was that he wasn't in Japan anymore. He was on a different world.
He was summoned there by a powerful sorcerer." Genma twitched again.
"He defeated the sorcerer, and so he owns all the
lands and power the sorcerer had, and the heart of Lady Alana." Genma
fell over, twitching.
"The Lady? He's married?"
"No, no, Papa-san. He's not married. But I guess you might call her his
fiancee, maybe. Certainly she loves him. But he is doing all he can to
set her free. That's why he's here." Genma fainted. Ranko sighed, then
hefted Genma across her shoulders, and trotted back to the Guide's hut.
When she got there, she found the Guide in a heated discussion in
Mandarin with a little old crone with a staff as tall as she was... all
of three feet. The crone turned as Ranko emerged from the brush. trotted
up to them. The crone's eyes sparkled as she watched Ranko carefully
set Genma on the ground.
Kho Lon watched the girl. She was quite strong, that was clear. She
had no difficulty swinging the man down, so her strength was not just in
her legs and back, but in her arms as well. She had a relatively low ki
level compared to the norm for warriors in the village, but her corded
muscles showed promise. She moved easily and lithely, with a fluid
grace.
Kho Lon found it difficult to credit the Guide's story. A young man
dunked into the Nyannichuan should not move so much like a girl.
Especially this early after the change, he should not be so completely
at ease in that body. This girl had apparently had no difficulty with
her change in height, her differing distance from the ground as she
slung the old man down, nor the difference in how her hips moved and
where her center of gravity was as she had trotted across the field.
This girl was definitely a girl... which meant the Nannichuan, and a
lying Guide. Yet Kho Lon would have sworn that the Guide believed his
words. This meant that the girl must have done something to the Guide,
which was extremely disturbing. Kho Lon had fallen silent as the strange
girl approached, not sure whether to credit the Guide's claim that the
young man had spoken perfect Mandarin, given the girl's clearly Japanese
features. Red hair was certainly uncommon for the Japanese, but her face
was clearly Japanese.
"Greetings, Honored Elder," Ranko said in perfect Mandarin,
turning to face Kho Lon, and bowing deeply to the old woman, then
turned back to the guide, "Greetings, Honored Guide. May I have my
pack?"
The Guide turned nervously towards the old lady, who nodded
imperceptibly, then nodded and went into the hut, returning in a moment
with Ranma's pack. "Here you are, young man," he said, handing it to
her.
She looked at him strangely for a moment, then a light of realization
went off in her eyes. "Oh, no sir, I am not a young man." She bowed
again to both, "I am Saotome Ranko." Kho Lon gave the Guide a sharp
glance, and he blanched. Ranko giggled as she turned to the Guide.
"Ranma is sleeping with the cat."
I must know more about this, Kho Lon thought, I must get her to stay
with us for a while. "Child, you must be tired after your journey.
Please come with me, and accept my hospitality."
Ranko looked at her for a moment, then looked at her sleeping father,
"Can I bring Papa-san?"
"Yes, of course, child."
"Um...," she paused, as a memory of the Lady's description of the area,
and its dangers, came back to her, "are you Joketsuzoku, Honored
Elder?"
"Yes, child. You have heard of us?" she asked, and glared again at the
Guide, who shook his head desperately, trying to convey that he had said
nothing. Kho Lon knew well enough what he intended, but held him pierced
by the gaze for a moment longer, to remind him of his place.
"Yes, Honored Elder. I have heard of the laws regarding combat and
outsiders. I am too young to marry, Honored Elder, and I do not wish to
die, and Ranma, well, he sort of already has a fiancee."
By this point, Ranma had awoken, and retorted [I do not have a fiancee,
Red.]
[But Ranma, surely you cannot become involved with another woman until
you have freed Lady Alana? Until you do that, you are tied as tightly as
if betrothed, are you not?]
[...sigh... yes, Red, you're right. Of course. Thanks. I definitely
don't need Amazon trouble.]
Kho Lon was very surprised that this young sprout knew of the Amazon
laws, and bitterly disappointed. She would have made such a perfect
Amazon. Perhaps it was still not too late? "Very well then, child. I
will take you under my protection. As long as you stay with me, you will
be an honorary Amazon, and if a challenge comes, it shall be under the
same laws that govern any challenge between Amazons. If you win a
marriage challenge, then it will be your choice to marry or not."
"Oh, then I'd love to come, Honored Elder. But will my brother be under
your protection, too?"
"Your brother," she asked, looking around, "of course, but where is he?"
"And my cat, will he be under your protection too?" she persisted.
"Yes, yes." I can't believe I'm promising to protect a cat.
"And my Papa-san?"
Kho Lon sighed. "Yes, child."
"Oh, goody," she giggled, before bending over, grabbing Genma, and
slinging him across her backpack. "Lead on, Honored Elder."
Kho Lon watched her sling the heavyset older man lightly on her
shoulders, and recognizing that both the pack and the man must each by
themselves weigh more than she did, decided that she was indeed worth
the trouble.
The Jusenkyo guide looked up in surprise at the brilliant flash of white
light outside his hut. A young man stood there, clothed in a tight
fitting black shirt that highlighted his strong musculature, and loose
pants. He was tall, six foot at least. His hair was black, and his
eyes a deep blue. He was staring at the pools. "Honored Customer
understands Mandarin, yes?" asked the guide.
The young man turned to him, "Very well, thank you, Honored Guide. Tell
me please, which pool is the Nyannichuan?" The guide turned almost
purple. Customers NEVER listened to him, never heard him until AFTER
they had fallen in.
"No, no, Honored Customer, you must not go to that pool. Is very tragic
story," he said quickly.
Ranma interjected, "Yes, yes, I know. Very tragic story. Now which one
is it?"
The Guide sighed. Even when they listened, it did no good. He said,
"Very well, Honored Customer, I see you will not listen, like all the
others. Nyannichuan is this way." He led the boy on a careful path
through the pools, before finally pointing to one.
He sighed, and watched, as the young man set down his pack, then waded
in and dunked his head. She broke the surface, brilliant red hair
glistening in the sun. The Guide gulped, and quickly turned away, as she
rose. The shirt that had been tight on the young man was looser on her
waist, but threatening to burst under the pressure from her chest. She
looked down. "Wow," she said, then quickly stripped off the shirt. The
Guide fainted. She climbed out of the pool. She rummaged in her pack for
a minute or two, then found a looser shirt, and put it on. Looking over
at the Guide, laying in a pool of blood that seemed to have leaked from
his nose, she lifted him easily to her shoulders, then tromped back the
way she had come, focusing the Juushin Jisei ito keep from accidentally
falling into any of the other pools.
When the Guide came to, he was lying in his own bed, a cool cloth on his
forehead, being watched by the beautiful redhead. She was nearly a foot
shorter than her male side, built smaller, but still well muscled.
"Sorry to put you through that," she said, her voice softer and
richer than it had been as a man. He gulped again in surprise. A
customer apologizing to him? That had never happened before. They were
always furious with him, even though he tried as hard as he could to
stop them.
"You... you knew what would happen?" he asked, his fear clear in his
voice.
She laughed, a delightful sound. "Yes, I knew. Now, you just lie here.
I've got to do something. Don't interfere, please. It would be very
bad, if you did." She stood up, and he noticed that she had drawn on the
wood floor of his hut a circle in chalk, with strange symbols around it,
and was standing in it. She reached behind her, and pulled off the
small band that held her pigtail, and shook her head, freeing her
glorious fiery hair, which fell in soft curves over her shoulders,
spilling down her strong back.
She started chanting something, in a strange language, and he realized
she had produced a scroll from somewhere and was reading it. How strange
today was. First that crying man had come and turned into a panda, now
this young man comes and turns himself into a girl and starts chanting
strange things in his hut.
She seemed to suddenly have come to the conclusion of her chant. She
slumped bonelessly to the ground. He got quickly out of his bed, and
felt her neck. Her pulse was steady and strong. He lifted her, and
placed her on his bed, watching worriedly. How strange this was.
After several hours, he heard movement outside. Leaving her, he found
that the crying man had returned. He was jabbering excitedly about
having finally 'felt his ki again!' and asking about a man named Ranma.
When the Guide finally understood that the man was asking whether a
young man had been by, he became nervous. This man was a martial artist,
and the young man was now an unconscious young woman. If this crying man
decided to kill or take advantage of the young lady, there would be
little the Guide could do to help. He too was a martial artist, but he
did not feel he was in this crying man's league.
He tried to draw the man out, slowly. He got enough of a physical
description to think that this might indeed be the young man the crying
man wanted... hair color and eye color were right, and he did indeed
look Japanese, like the crying man. What finally convinced him was when
the crying man explained that he was looking for his son, that he had
been looking for him for eight years, and that he had just felt the
touch of his son's ki.
He led the man into the hut, and pointed to the young girl. In broken
Japanese, he said, "Young man come, ask for Nyannichuan. I try to warn,
but very insistent. Finally show him, he go in, she come out."
The crying man broke down, wailing his anguish. The promise was broken,
he would have to commit seppeku. The Guide had considerable difficulty
understanding him, as he was wailing in Japanese, and too fast, and so
assumed that the man's anguish was a natural thing for a father to feel
about a son who had just been cursed. He did have to convince the man
not to throw the boiling water for tea onto the young woman. "Much
better when awake, you see, you see."
---
Ranma found himself sitting on a hill, looking over a valley. A stream
ran down the hill from somewhere behind him, and babbled happily as it
gurgled across the stony bed, before falling in a spray of color down
the hill. All about, the land was green and bright. He noticed that he
was male again, and wearing his tight black shirt. From behind him, he
heard a tentative voice say, "Ranma?"
He spun around, coming immediately to a defensive posture, before
relaxing. She was standing there, looking demure and frightened, yet
truly beautiful, hair like a glorious nimbus of fire around her exotic
face, with delicate features and wide slightly upturned almond shaped
eyes, that sparkled a brilliant blue. She had a marvelous figure, and
she was wearing a short yellow sundress.
She took a hesitant step toward him, and asked again, "Ranma, is that
really you?" When he nodded, her face lit up in joy, and he felt his
heart hammering in his chest. She leapt forward, wrapping her arms
around him. He responded slowly, then hugged her tightly as he felt her
sob into his chest. "Oh, Ranma, I've been so lonely waiting for you."
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You weren't supposed to have awakened
until just now."
"No, no," she said, "I've been awake ever since that terrible pit with
the cats. After... after you became the cat... the first time you woke
up, the cat came here, and woke me up."
"Neko-Ranma is in here?" he asked, incredulous.
"Yes, he's ever so much fun."
"I... I... I'm sorry. I wish I had known. I've kept you caged in here
for so long. I wish I could make it up to you."
"Don't feel bad, Ranma. You couldn't have known. Come with me, I want to
show you my house."
He followed her down the slope of the hill, and saw a beautiful one
story house of stone thatched with straw.
"Wow. You made this?"
"Oh yes. Neko! Neko, come here." She called out to the house, and the
front door swung wide, and Neko-Ranma came running out, on all fours,
and loped up to them, then sat and looked at them inscrutably for a
moment, before starting to wind himself between their legs, rubbing up
against them both, and purring.
"So that's how you recognized me. He looks just like me."
"He is you, Ranma. So am I. Come inside, please." She led him
inside, and sat him down on a couch. Neko-Ranma jumped up and curled up
on Ranma's lap, purring softly. Ranma petted his hair, and scratched
behind his ears. She sat down beside him, and scratched Neko-Ranma's
back lightly. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. I know
what Alana told you."
"You know about Alana?," he asked in surprise.
"Yes, Ranma. I know that when Neko gets out, you don't remember. But I
can see what you see, and I see what he sees. I watched him kill that
man," and she saw the color drain from his face. "Ranma," she said
sharply, "It wasn't his fault. That man tried to force him to kill
someone else. He deserved it. Alana was right. And before you ask, no
she didn't know I was awake either." Ranma sighed, and went back to
petting Neko-Ranma's soft hair. Ranko considered for a moment whether to
tell him that the Lady Sylia had known, but decided that he would feel
less guilty if he didn't know.
"Maybe now, when you let Neko or me out, you can come here, and watch
us, if you want to."
"What do you mean, let Neko out? He only comes out when I've been driven
mad by cats. And that won't happen anymore. I've gotten over the fear."
"I know you have Ranma. But he's still a part of you, or he wouldn't be
here. Surely you don't intend to keep him locked up in here forever, do
you?" She looked at him with pleading eyes, big and blue, and glistening
with tears, and he felt himself melt inside.
"No, I can't do that, can I. But I've got to be able to keep him from
killing."
"But Ranma, if you let him out, then you aren't hiding... so you can be
here watching, and take over if he goes too far."
"Hey, you're right! That's wonderful! And.. and that must mean that you
know what I've just done," and his voice was suddenly small and scared.
Here, inside his mind, he couldn't hide behind his barriers of ice, and
his emotions were constantly visible on his face.
"Yes, Ranma, I know." She threw her arms about him, and hugged him
fiercely. Neko-Ranma meowed piteously, trapped between them, and leapt
to escape. "And I love you for it. Its more than I ever dared hope for.
More than I deserve."
"No," he said sharply, "It isn't more than you deserve. You deserve so
much more,... Oh dear. I just realized I don't know what to call you,
Red."
"Red will do nicely, Ranma. But maybe, outside, I can be Ranko?" and she
looked up at him with those glorious deep blue eyes, light glinting off
a hint of moisture, and he lost himself in their swirling depths.
"Of course you can," he replied then he realized something was missing.
"Where'd Neko-Ranma disappear to?"
"He went out," she said, quietly, silently pleading for him to not be
angry, "do you want to go watch him?"
"Yes, please," he replied, trying to hold on to his sudden fear. That
poor Guide, surely Neko wouldn't hurt him.
Red held him, and the scene changed around them, and they were sitting
on a large rock, and before them was a pool, still and crystal clear,
and as he looked at the pool, it suddenly clouded, and then he saw what
Neko-Ranma was seeing... a panda, running away very fast, then Ranko's
hand, as she licked it.
---
The Guide was still struggling with Genma about the hot water, when they
both heard a low rumbling growl behind them. They turned slowly, and
looked, and saw Neko-Ranko, crouching on the bed, growling. "Oh dear,"
the Guide said, "This never never happen before." Genma jerked away,
spilling the kettle, which by this time had grown cold, and turned into
a panda. For a split second, the two stared at each other, then the
panda turned and fled through the open door, not daring to look behind
him.
The Guide watched in stunned surprise, as the strangely behaving girl
proceeded to lick her hand and use it to rub behind her ear, smoothing
the hair back. She settled down, and purred at him. "Heh, heh. Nice
kitty," he said, nervously, "that's a good kitty." He wanted to leap for
the door as well, but he knew a sudden movement could well elicit a
sudden reaction.
He didn't know about the cat's claws, but he could well imagine the
father's reaction, if he came back, and found the Guide pinned under his
son/daughter. He doubted any amount of explaining would save him then,
especially since he had not the foggiest clue how to explain this
peculiar behavior. So he did not move an inch, not even when Neko-Ranko
leapt lightly down, and brushed up against his leg, purring. When no
caresses were forthcoming, she loped off in the direction Genma had
gone.
Genma, meanwhile, had run for several minutes, before glancing back, and
realizing that he could see no signs of pursuit. The heavyset panda sat
in a clearing, wondering what on earth had gone wrong with the boy. The
Guide's explanation still ran through his head. Genma's form was an
accident. But the boy had come and bathed in the Nyannichuan
deliberately. Was it a ploy? Had the boy somehow found out about the
seppeku pledge he had signed with Nodoka, forfeiting his life if he
returned and Ranma was not a man among men? Could he possibly have
learned of it and yet been unaware that Ranma would also have to commit
seppeku? Who could have told him? Why else would he do it?
Genma was still pondering this, when he noticed the forest around him
had gone eerily silent. He was wondering what it meant up to the very
moment that Neko-Ranko landed on top of him, knocking him to his back.
He instantly went rigid, terribly afraid, remembering what those claws
could do, and realizing that there was no way he could get away from
Ranma before Ranma could slice him open. If Ranma really wanted him
dead, then Genma was dead.
But Neko-Ranko just stood there on top of Genma, then curled up on his
chest, purring, and went to sleep. Ranma let Genma lie stiff with terror
for nearly twenty minutes before asking Ranko if she wanted him to deal
with Genma before she had to meet him. She nodded. "He deserves whatever
you give him for what he did. But I never got a chance to know him, to
have a father. I'd like to. Don't kill him if you don't have to. But
make sure he understands I'm not you. I mean, I am, but not the way he
would think it."
After twenty minutes, Onna-Ranma's head lifted. "Hey, Oyaji. Long time,
no see." he shifted, so that he was kneeling on his father's chest.
Genma sat, stiff and scared. He could tell that Ranma had continued
training... even his female body was lean and strong.
"Why, boy. Why'd you do it?" Genma was terribly frightened of the
answer, but he had to ask.
"For Ranko." Genma just gaped. "For Ranko, Oyaji. You locked her in my
mind, trapped her there with your training. Because of you, I can't free
the Lady Alana." Genma gaped some more. Who the hell was Ranko, how had
Genma's training had anything to do with her, and who the devil was Lady
Alana? "I know you aren't capapable of really understanding this. Just
look at it this way. You had a daughter." Genma shook his head
frantically.
"Don't shake your head at me old man. You are going to ACCEPT her as
your daughter, got that?" He held out his hand and flicked his
fingers out, and summoned Neko's chi claws, letting them hang there,
visible. "I control the Nekoken now, Oyaji. I mastered it. Deny me this,
and I'll flay you! Believe me, Ranko means far more to me than my
worthless father, who drove his son mad." Genma nodded nervously. He had
thought, for just a moment, to lapse back into the old ways of dealing
with his son... but was stilled by the coldness he saw in his son's
eyes. He looked in his son's eyes, and saw death, and at the same time,
he was overwhelmed by a flood of pride. His biggest mistake, the stupid
Neko-ken training, and his son had mastered it!
"Ranko is your daughter. She's trapped in my mind. She ain't talking to
you right now, understand. This is still me, Ranma. I went and got this
body, so she could be comfortable when I let her out. You make her
uncomfortable about it, and I'm gonna make me some panda sausage. You
got that?" Genma nodded vociferously, fear lurking in his dark eyes.
"Alright, I'm gonna get up now. You run, and I'll hunt you down. You
stand up, and wait right here. I'm gonna get Ranko, and let her talk to
you. I say again, you hurt her, and you're sausage meat."
Onna-Ranma stood up slowly and stepped back. Panda-Genma stood equally
slowly. Onna-Ranma said, "You can't meet her like that." He pointed his
arm at Genma, and a thin stream of hot water sprayed out of a previously
invisible opening in his sleeve, hitting the old man in the chest,
returning him to his human form.
"Hey, if you can do that, why aren't you turning back," Genma demanded.
He didn't really understand what Ranma was going on about, and wasn't
sure whether to believe his son, and now that he was human, and
standing, he felt much more comfortable, ready to defend himself. He
might have to unseal the forbidden techniques, but he could tame his
wild son again.
"I told you old man," Onna-Ranma replied, popping her chi claws out
again, and slicing the air with them, "You're here to meet her. You
think she wants to meet you wearing my skin? Now shut up and wait." Her
claws disappeared, and her eyes turned blank, then sparkled again.
Genma stared, as the solid fury of Onna-Ranma seemed to melt into
diffidence. Ranko dug her foot into the ground, looking down. "Uhm....
Its nice to meet you, Genma-san." She looked up at him with kawaii
eyes, big and blue and glistening with tears. "I never had a father.
Will you be my father, Genma-san?" Genma nodded slowly, wonder and awe
in his eyes. What was going on here? Ranko smiled suddenly, and Genma
felt as if the whole clearing had been lit up, and then it didn't matter
what was wrong with Ranma. He had a little girl, and she was hugging
him, him, her father. He slowly hugged her back, wondering what on earth
he was doing. Then again, as he thought further on it... Ranko might
well be his key to controlling the strong and independent young man his
son had become. Maybe he could extract some information from her, start
planning his next move...
"R-R... Ranko, dear," he began, looking down at her, "Ranma said he
mastered the cat-fist." She nodded happily, grinning up at him. "But,
but... in the hut... You were acting like a cat."
"No Papa-san," she said, and he felt his heart swell again, to hear this
beautiful little girl call him Papa, "That wasn't me, that was Neko.
Ranma has mastered the cat-fist, and because he has, I have." She
stepped back, and waggled her fingers, chi-claws playfully slashing the
air before vanishing, "but Neko's still in there, and he wants to come
out and play sometimes. You will let me keep him, won't you Papa-san?"
She begged him, eyes huge and glistening, just as if she was talking
about an adorable little kitten. Genma melted again. He could never
refuse a kawaii little girl such a simple thing... especially if keeping
her happy could restore his control over Ranma. Heh.
"Of course, Ranko, of course," he reassured her, patting her shoulder
akwardly. She could display affection so easily, but it had never been
easy for Genma, nor was it easy for Ranma.
"Papa-san?" she asked, looking up to him.
"Yes, Ranko-chan?"
"I know why Ranma came here, to this place. He came for me. But why are
you here?"
"Oh, Ranko," and tears started trickling down his face, "I waited and
searched for him for so long. But I never found him. I wanted to go home
and face your mother, but I was afraid. So I kept on going with the
trip. I tried to go to all the places I would have taken Ranma,
pretending he was still with me. I had to send postcards to your mother,
you see, or she would have been suspicious. This would have been the
last training ground, the last place we would have come, before
returning to Japan. Now I see that it would have been a huge mistake.
But not as big as my trying to teach Ranma the Neko-ken in the first
place. I thought I had lost him." He broke down sobbing, and collapsed
to the ground. Ranko held him, soothing him, rocking him back and forth,
until the tears finally stopped. "And now... and now I've got him
back.... and I've got you... and Neko, I guess... but I can't go
home again. Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry."
Ranko looked down at him. "Why, Papa-san? I want to meet my mother. I
know Ranma misses her, too. Why can't we go back?"
"Oh, Ranma, Ranko, how I've failed you. When we left, I had to sign a
pledge, before Nodoka would let me take you. It said that if when we
returned, Ranma was not a man among men, we would both commit seppeku.
So you see, we cannot go home."
"But Ranma is a man among men. Not only that, he is the Lord of Fey
Castle," Ranko replied. She was confused... why was her father assuming
that Ranma was not a man?
"The what? The Lord? My son's a Lord of a castle? Where? Where is the
castle?" Genma asked, excitedly.
"Its back on the world we went to, the world we were summoned to."
Genma's face twitched. His eyes betrayed his utter confusion.
"Look Papa-san, the reason you couldn't find
Ranma was that he wasn't in Japan anymore. He was on a different world.
He was summoned there by a powerful sorcerer." Genma twitched again.
"He defeated the sorcerer, and so he owns all the
lands and power the sorcerer had, and the heart of Lady Alana." Genma
fell over, twitching.
"The Lady? He's married?"
"No, no, Papa-san. He's not married. But I guess you might call her his
fiancee, maybe. Certainly she loves him. But he is doing all he can to
set her free. That's why he's here." Genma fainted. Ranko sighed, then
hefted Genma across her shoulders, and trotted back to the Guide's hut.
When she got there, she found the Guide in a heated discussion in
Mandarin with a little old crone with a staff as tall as she was... all
of three feet. The crone turned as Ranko emerged from the brush. trotted
up to them. The crone's eyes sparkled as she watched Ranko carefully
set Genma on the ground.
Kho Lon watched the girl. She was quite strong, that was clear. She
had no difficulty swinging the man down, so her strength was not just in
her legs and back, but in her arms as well. She had a relatively low ki
level compared to the norm for warriors in the village, but her corded
muscles showed promise. She moved easily and lithely, with a fluid
grace.
Kho Lon found it difficult to credit the Guide's story. A young man
dunked into the Nyannichuan should not move so much like a girl.
Especially this early after the change, he should not be so completely
at ease in that body. This girl had apparently had no difficulty with
her change in height, her differing distance from the ground as she
slung the old man down, nor the difference in how her hips moved and
where her center of gravity was as she had trotted across the field.
This girl was definitely a girl... which meant the Nannichuan, and a
lying Guide. Yet Kho Lon would have sworn that the Guide believed his
words. This meant that the girl must have done something to the Guide,
which was extremely disturbing. Kho Lon had fallen silent as the strange
girl approached, not sure whether to credit the Guide's claim that the
young man had spoken perfect Mandarin, given the girl's clearly Japanese
features. Red hair was certainly uncommon for the Japanese, but her face
was clearly Japanese.
"Greetings, Honored Elder," Ranko said in perfect Mandarin,
turning to face Kho Lon, and bowing deeply to the old woman, then
turned back to the guide, "Greetings, Honored Guide. May I have my
pack?"
The Guide turned nervously towards the old lady, who nodded
imperceptibly, then nodded and went into the hut, returning in a moment
with Ranma's pack. "Here you are, young man," he said, handing it to
her.
She looked at him strangely for a moment, then a light of realization
went off in her eyes. "Oh, no sir, I am not a young man." She bowed
again to both, "I am Saotome Ranko." Kho Lon gave the Guide a sharp
glance, and he blanched. Ranko giggled as she turned to the Guide.
"Ranma is sleeping with the cat."
I must know more about this, Kho Lon thought, I must get her to stay
with us for a while. "Child, you must be tired after your journey.
Please come with me, and accept my hospitality."
Ranko looked at her for a moment, then looked at her sleeping father,
"Can I bring Papa-san?"
"Yes, of course, child."
"Um...," she paused, as a memory of the Lady's description of the area,
and its dangers, came back to her, "are you Joketsuzoku, Honored
Elder?"
"Yes, child. You have heard of us?" she asked, and glared again at the
Guide, who shook his head desperately, trying to convey that he had said
nothing. Kho Lon knew well enough what he intended, but held him pierced
by the gaze for a moment longer, to remind him of his place.
"Yes, Honored Elder. I have heard of the laws regarding combat and
outsiders. I am too young to marry, Honored Elder, and I do not wish to
die, and Ranma, well, he sort of already has a fiancee."
By this point, Ranma had awoken, and retorted [I do not have a fiancee,
Red.]
[But Ranma, surely you cannot become involved with another woman until
you have freed Lady Alana? Until you do that, you are tied as tightly as
if betrothed, are you not?]
[...sigh... yes, Red, you're right. Of course. Thanks. I definitely
don't need Amazon trouble.]
Kho Lon was very surprised that this young sprout knew of the Amazon
laws, and bitterly disappointed. She would have made such a perfect
Amazon. Perhaps it was still not too late? "Very well then, child. I
will take you under my protection. As long as you stay with me, you will
be an honorary Amazon, and if a challenge comes, it shall be under the
same laws that govern any challenge between Amazons. If you win a
marriage challenge, then it will be your choice to marry or not."
"Oh, then I'd love to come, Honored Elder. But will my brother be under
your protection, too?"
"Your brother," she asked, looking around, "of course, but where is he?"
"And my cat, will he be under your protection too?" she persisted.
"Yes, yes." I can't believe I'm promising to protect a cat.
"And my Papa-san?"
Kho Lon sighed. "Yes, child."
"Oh, goody," she giggled, before bending over, grabbing Genma, and
slinging him across her backpack. "Lead on, Honored Elder."
Kho Lon watched her sling the heavyset older man lightly on her
shoulders, and recognizing that both the pack and the man must each by
themselves weigh more than she did, decided that she was indeed worth
the trouble.