X X X X X X - Scene perspective shift
"speech"
'thought'
#panda sign#
(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)
the DragonBard – OAV timeline Sasami is supposed to be 708 and physically 8, in the manga, which I am not going to reference as canon, but even that says 9 year old. Could you cite where it is said that she different from those ages?
Sorry it took so long to write this. I really don't have a set plan or even an outline when I write something. I have an end so to speak or at least an event that I want to happen and I try to write it so that it can happen. This one went through about 4 complete rewrites and numerous minor ones since I kept writing myself into dead ends. And I'm still not really happy with it.
I'm really considering going out and getting an account on deviantart or something so I can just post pictures of certain areas. It would do a far better job than my descriptions.
X X X X X X
In the main atrium of her subspace lab Washu sitting on a cushion in mid air rapidly typing on her computer. The area was modeled after her favorite area from the Jurai Royal Academy. The plant life was Juraian in nature, featuring large trees that looked similar to the deciduous trees of Earth. The entrance to the lab was on a large rectangular platform, a half circle projection came out from the middle of a longer side and overlooked a garden that was recessed down into the ground.
Washu had long since completed the connection to her subspace laboratory. It was childs play for a genius like her. But she had sensed her daughter and Ayeka standing outside the door so she had decided on a little show. She had called up a small sound machine that was playing welding noises at a very high volume. Pointed at the door was a strobe light that was flickering at random intervals. All the confusion she was getting through the link with Ryoko was worth the 5.34 seconds of her time to set it up.
Dimly in the back of her mind she could feel Ryoto floating between anger and depression. Which is understandable in the position he now found himself. Except that she had designed them both for extreme adaptability which should have allowed him or rather her at the moment to simply accept the situation and move on.
It could very well be a side effect of the genetic modifications that allowed him to live among humans undetected. She wasn't an expert on humans, yet, so she would have to gather more information. Tenchi looked like the stereotypical humanoid. And if interbreeding between the Jurai and Earth was possible without any genetic modifications then they would have to be closely related or even one in the same. She'd have to look into that later.
Ryoko having never gone through the process was a happy accident. Every good experiment used a control and now she could test the two against each other. The flip side was true as well, Ryoto would provide data on being withheld from the gems and act as the control against Ryoko. Even without trying her children were being such good little guinea pigs.
This 'curse' was also interesting, shapeshifters were a rarity and even fewer had no control over it. Perhaps a trip to gather a sample from Jusenkyo would prove useful. His change looked from the outside to be very efficient, something most shapeshifters could not claim. The cabbit transformation between companion and ship mode was incredibly inefficient, requiring huge amounts of energy and stored mass to complete.
Though she didn't plan to produce any more, Ryoko had Ryo-ohki, and Ryoto would have his. 'I wonder what I should call her, how bout Rin-ohki, in honor of Ryoto exposing me to a nice little discovery.' Tapping a few keys, the incubation unit holding Rin-ohki's egg appeared to her left. Made of a glass cylinder atop a wider tan cylinder base it had a small rectangular display stating that she would be ready in a little less than 12 hours. It wasn't ideal since Ryoto was still about 68 human and he would have to be at most 50 in order to communicate freely with her.
Frowning she rapidly typed on her keyboard, quickly enough the display brought up all her known information on the genetic modification process. Finding the needed information she was able to create an enzyme that would speed up the process to the needed amount. A small round hole opened up and the vial of clear fluid dropped into her hand. A moment later she reconsidered forcing it on him, it wasn't that important that he communicate with his computer unit at such a level yet. Oh well she would observe him some more and make a decision later on.
Pocketing the device she started to implement several early warning sensors for the surrounding area. It did not take a genius to know that with two princesses and a prince of Jurai, her children, and a Kuramitsu all in such a localized place would attract attention. Dropping from her mid air cushion she walked over to the exit and as it materialized into view she willed the sound and light effects to shut off before opening it to the outside. Perhaps Ryoko would be interested in coming inside for some tests, willingly that was. If not, well she had a lot of other projects that had suffered from 2000 years of neglect that would have to be inspected.
X X X X X X
"Your mother is very eccentric, Ryoko-san."
"Shut up princess."
Princess of Jurai and previously most wanted criminal in the galaxy were watching the small door that lead into a storage closet underneath the steps at the front entrance. A flashing bright light and welding noises had been going non stop for half an hour from inside.
"What do you think she is doing in there?" The pair moved back around to the base of the steps in an instant as the door suddenly opened.
"So what seems to be the commotion out here?" The short red head looked both ways before heading over in their direction. "In a hurry to see your mother, Ryoko-chan?" Washu has taken off her academy robe and now wore a black t-shirt with a red triangle pendant holding the front closed. Large gray bands were at the ends of the upper arms and more form fitting white sleeves came down to her wrists. Short khaki shorts and rust colored leggings completed her ensemble.
"Don't call me Ryoko-chan! Only Tenchi can do that."
"Um." All eyes turned to Sasami who was worriedly petting Ryo-ohki. "Is Ranma-niichan back yet?"
"We couldn't find him Sasami." Ayeka overcame her embarrassment over being caught snooping to give her little sister a reassuring hug. "Don't worry, I'm sure Ranma-san will be back soon."
"Ryoto will be just fine Sasami-chan, in fact he'll probably be back in a little bit."
"Really Washu-neechan?"
"Yes really, now Ryoko-chan I was wondering, if would you come to my lab?" The only response was a growl from the space pirate. "Well just knock if you need me."
"If you're really sure Ranma-niichan will be alright I guess I'll go start dinner." Washu grinned at the thought of food, it had been a long time since her last meal. She had originally planned to go find her wayward child, but her proximity sensor was going off and that took priority.
X X X X X X
Ranma sniffled a small amount before wiping her nose against the back of her sleeve. Resting against the trunk of the tree she shifted around and tried to find a comfortable position. The ones who had come out looking for her had gone in, except for Tenchi who she had seen head up to the shrine. With the days getting shorter the sun was already starting it's descent behind the mountains. The temperature was also dropping rapidly, something that didn't agree at all with her smaller body.
Even though it was already getting dark she could tell that it was around dinner time as her stomach started to growl. The last thing she had eaten for the day had been after being turned into a child. It had been the reason her and Ryoko had been separated. Sasami had brought out some snacks instead of a lunch and they had started a small fight over it. Hence why they were in 'time out' for the remainder of their surreal adventure as children.
She would endure, at least until any lingering evidence of earlier was gone. She hated to cry, it was a sign of weakness, and it was always so much easier to start when a girl. Other than the glaring height difference it was what she noticed most. When a guy, shutting off her emotions was easy, like hitting a light switch.
But no not this body, it wanted to feel things right then, right now, and to hell with anything else. Dealing with the curse would be easy if it was just a change in body. While there was no mental change that she could pinpoint, all the delicate control that she had built up after years just came crumbling down if she didn't exercise every ounce of control that she had sometimes.
She wondered if this is what Ryoko had to put up with all the time. She was crazy like that, going from happy to angry in an instant and then a billion other emotions that she had no clue about. Ayeka was similar but less vocal, Mihoshi was perpetually happy but she wasn't about to base anyone else off the blonde, Sasami even as a little kid did a bunch of weird stuff. 'Man even when I'm one, girls are still a mystery.'
Turning towards the lake she noticed someone walking around the other side of the lake. Visitors during the day weren't common, let alone ones who came from the opposite side of the road. Glancing at the steps to see if Tenchi would take care of it she snorted. 'Whatever he can do I can do better, even as a girl, I'm the best after all.' Checking to make sure no one was around she dropped to the ground and quickly made her way to meet him as he walked around towards the house opposite the road.
X X X X X X
Tenchi was sitting at the top of the steps overlooking the valley. He was taking a break, hours spent wandering through the shrine area looking for the elusive Ranma had turned up nothing. He wasn't sure if he would be putting forth so much effort if Ranma had been male at the time. But knowing that the girl was out there probably wallowing in her problems, it made him want to do anything to stop it. Shaking himself from thoughts that were totally unneeded in this situation he wondered what he should do now.
"Good afternoon Tenchi." Katsuhito's voice broke into his thoughts as the old priest sat down next to him.
"Jiichan, afternoon, you haven't seen Ranma have you?"
"Can't say I have. But I did get a call from his mother earlier, she's looking to visit and would like a call back."
"Oh, Ranma's mother." Tenchi trailed off unsure of how to get into the subject.
"Something wrong?"
"Yea I guess there is. Ranma and Ryoko broke into the other cave and freed this girl named Washu. Hey don't look at me like that! I was out in the field when they did it!" The old priest glared a moment longer before motioning him to continue. "Well, she looks like a 12 year old but is really over 2000 years old."
"You were always smart enough to stay away from THAT cave. Too bad about that other one though."
"Hey I apologized for that already. Uh well, as I was saying, Washu then went into this big explanation about how both Ranma and Ryoko are really her kids. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details but that's basically what she was getting at. Once she was done with that she just left to 'setup her lab', whatever that means. Once she left, we were discussing whether or not we could believe it. We weren't really watching Ranma and she disappeared. I've been looking for her since. "
"The house gets more and more interesting." Katsuhito adjusted his glasses and looked stoically out at the lake. "Why I remember a time when this place was quiet and serene."
"Sorry."
"No reason to apologize, it was boring."
"Boring? I don't see it getting boring round here for a long time."
"Maybe, or perhaps the abnormal will become normal. Why the concern over Ranma? He seems capable of taking care of himself."
"He's my friend, I just want to help." While that was true he really should stop, it was likely that Ranma was sitting in a tree somewhere thinking over everything and would show back up at the house like nothing was wrong.
"Jiichan, I got a question."
"What is it Tenchi?"
"What do you think Ranma is? I mean like is Ranma a boy or girl?"
"An interesting question Tenchi. Jusenkyo is like that, creating questions and hiding answers."
"Just like you huh? I just have a hard time seeing Ranma as male sometimes."
"Tenchi when you reach my age you need to find amusement when you can. But in answer to your question I would have to say male, or female, depending the temperature of water of course."
"Jiichan!" Tenchi groaned, why couldn't the old priest just give a straight answer for once.
"Tenchi people can be many things. Ranma just has the added choice of male or female. It's fully up to him to decide and nothing you or I could say would change who he is. It's good that he has an environment where he is not ridiculed for his choice in form."
"Choice? Ranma always complains when she's a girl though? And he always gets splashed at weird times, how does he have any choice?"
"You are right about that, but tell me do we you have hot and cold running water?"
"Well yea."
"So what stops Ranma from changing back at first opportunity?"
"Oh...I hadn't thought about it like that."
"So you see it is Ranma's choice on whether or not to stay as one or the other."
"But why would he do that? Ranma says he hates his female form?"
"I believe Ranma has deeply ingrained beliefs from years with Genma about how men and women should behave. So Ranma uses it to escape those beliefs and act as he wishes. As for you seeing Ranma as a girl. Jusenkyo is a perversion of nature, so while both of Ranma's forms are completely normal, changing between the two is not. You are probably struggling because you can see Ranma as a girl, met her first, but in reality he was born male."
"That makes sense, I guess. Hey wait a second! How did you know his dads name?"
"Well I've met him before that's why."
"You met Ranma before? Why didn't you say anything?!"
"No reason really, it seemed as if Ranma had forgotten so I chose not to bring it up. He was after all only 6 at the time."
"I don't remember ever meeting him."
"They didn't stay long and you were with your parents in the city at the time."
"So what was Ranma like then?"
"Hrmm, My memory isn't what is used to be, but my first impression was that he was a very timid boy. Of course that changed when he was away from his father, when that happened he became a smart if overly energetic little boy. The lack of confidence I feel came from his father, who seemed to berate him for any action that he didn't deem manly. He asked for me to train Ranma saying they were on a martial arts training trip and he had heard of our families style. I didn't immediately accept until I saw the training he put Ranma through."
"You see I had allowed him to setup camp near the lake because I was curious to see Ranma's skill. I wasn't against taking up a pupil outside the family but they would have to be something special for me to do so. The first day he trained Ranma to exhaustion and each day afterwards, using training methods designed for adults and risking great injury to Ranma. I finally decided that I would take Ranma from him and try to find his mother. Under the guise of training I was able to get Genma agree to leave the valley for the duration."
"So Ranma was abused as a child?"
"More through Genma's lack of common sense rather than a desire for him to be cruel. Which is the worst kind, he wasn't fit to raise a child alone, let alone to do so on the road. He didn't abide by the deal and I found him one night trying to force Ranma to show him what I had taught him. We had a confrontation where I defeated him and he left. Several days later he had recovered enough to return and he took Ranma back."
"Why did you let him take him if he was abusing him?"
"Who said I let him?" Katsuhito said sharply and adjusted his glasses. "Genma used a technique I had never seen before and was able to take him. I did not ever find his mother, though I had long suspected that Nodoka was. But that was long after the fact and I had no clue to Ranma's whereabouts." (3)
"Something you didn't know?"
"There's always something you don't know Tenchi. You and I are gifted with physical abilities above that of normal humans due to our heritage. Don't start to rely upon your natural gift and forsake your training."
"I won't."
"Good because I must admit that Ranma held a potential that surpasses your own. But he was even more reluctant to use that knowledge than you. I still see that today, he choses to fight at the level of his opponent and not cause injury. Honestly I thought he would be even better than he is."
"Better than now?!"
"Of course, he naturally understands the mechanics of any technique. He could easily learn our entire style in a few weeks time if I was dedicated in teaching him. It was the reason I was hesitant to let him view or participate in your training. I knew that he would learn it just by watching and I had no clue what kind of person he had become under Genma."
"Well that explains why you were so angry at Ranma. Uh do you want me to keep this from Ranma?"
"Not if you want to tell him."
"I'm not sure, I guess there's no reason to tell him. Ranma has enough going on right now, he doesn't need more."
"You're a good grandson Tenchi."
"Huh?"
"Worrying about your friends as much as you do. I'm sure you two would have been great friends if you had met then."
"Oh, heh heh thanks."
"But I wonder who that is."
"Who?"
"It looks like a boy is on the opposite side of the lake, and it appears Ranma is going to speak with him now." Tenchi wasn't listening as he took off down the steps. "Wonder if he'll remember to tell Ranma about the phone call, probably not, guess I'll just call her back myself and extend and open invitation. After all the more pretty young women around the better." Adjusting his glasses he stood to return to his living quarters. "This getting old thing is no fun at all."
X X X X X X
Ryoga was not having a good day, good month, good year, good life, pick your poison and he wasn't having anything good from it. It also didn't help that he had no clue where he was. He had exited the forest and nearly walked into a lake, which would have made his day that much more perfect by activating the curse. Instead of looking around and getting his bearings he instead chose to turn left and head off.
Two trips around the lake later and he was really starting to wonder how big this lake was. It hadn't looked that big when he first saw it but now he surely must be in Tokyo with as long as it took him to get around it. It was almost to the point where he would setup camp and prepare himself some dinner.
Another trip around the lake and that was exactly what he decided to do. Depositing his pack on the ground he started to unpack his tent. He groaned when he found that the cord used to tie down the tarp was in a large knot. He never slept without the waterproof material over his head. Every time he had, the curse had activated without fail. Growling in frustration at his bad luck he sat down to start untangling it.
"What are you doing?" A lilting feminine voice asked from behind him. Startled he jumped around and tripped over his pack causing him to tumble to the ground. "You alright?"
Ryoga looked up at the girl who was grinning down at him. He gulped when his eyes roamed over her form and noted that she was an incredibly cute girl, with bright red hair and large blue eyes. She was smiling down at him looking amused at his reaction. Chuckling nervously he untangled himself from the cord he was now tangled with..
"Uh heh heh heh I'm just fine miss. Thank you so much for asking." Suddenly he found that pushing his index fingers together was the most interesting thing in the world. And why was his face so hot all of a sudden?
"Uh huh, so what brings you to the Masaki shrine?"
"Is that where I am? Is that anywhere near Tokyo?"
"Tokyo? You're a long way off from there. You're closer to Okayama right now."
"Really? I must have read my map wrong." Digging in his pocket he found the folded piece of paper showing where he should be. "Let's see, if that is there, and I'm here, that means I should be..." He trailed off noticing the short red head was now peering at the paper from his side. And she was very close to him.
"That's a real bad map you got there."
"Wha wha what? But my maps are perfect." He edged away from the girl and held his map protectively.
"But all you have on there is a Y shaped road pointing to France and China, a red car, a picture of some 'bad mens', and a cafe." (1)
"Isn't that what a map should look like?"
"No..."
"Oh."
"Well if you need directions I guess I can help ya out with that."
"Really?! Um I mean, really? Thank you very much."
"Um no problem, not that I care or nothin but I don't know how the old man would feel about someone camping on the grounds. Ya know since it is a shrine and being a holy place and all."
"Ah, heh heh, I guess you're right. I'm sorry, I'll go." He didn't want to grumble but he did give off a sigh before turning away from the girl to pack his equipment.
"Nah you don't have ta leave, if ya want you can sleep at the house then leave tomorrow."
"What house?"
"Uh that one right there." The girl jerked a thumb behind her and he blinked a few times at the large three story home that was on the side of the lake.
"Now when did that get put up?" He scratched the side of his head. That house hadn't been there when he had first walked into the area. Must be really fast carpenters to make a house that fast.
"Two weeks ago actually." The girl answered and gave off a few lighthearted laughs. His face was hot again for some reason as he watched the pretty red head laugh. Though he hoped she wasn't laughing at him. "Come on grab your stuff I think Sasami will be making dinner right about now."
"I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Sheesh just get your stuff, Sasami makes a lot so it won't matter if someone else comes." He quickly did as the girl asked and returned his camping equipment to his pack. Shouldering it he turned to head off in the direction of the house.
"Hey why are you going that way?" Stopping he turned to find the girl staring at him, behind her he noticed the house.
"Um does your house move?"
"No..."
"Sorry." Keeping his eyes firmly on the ground he tried another direction.
"Sheesh." Ryoga nearly went catatonic when the girl grabbed his wrist and started to lead him to the house, she was holding his hand! No one had actually lead him anywhere other than his nemesis back when they went to school together. Actually this whole thing sort of reminded him of the first time Ranma had done it.
"Um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um miss?" It would only be proper to know this wonderful girls name.
"Hmm?"
"Um, can I ask what your name is?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm Saotome Ranma."
"Saotome Ranma?! Uh sorry, but how do you spell that?"
"Heh heh, well 'Ran' as in disorder and 'Ma' as in evil spirit. Stupid Oyaji told me it was so people would fear my name. Why ya ask?"
"It's uh nothing." He gave off a nervous chuckles and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. No way could this girl be Ranma, just more of his bad luck. Of course the first girl to be nice to him would turn out to have the exact same name as his most hated enemy. They even looked similar enough to where they could be twins. But what parents would name both their kids the same name? "It's nice to meet you Ranma-san, my name is Hibiki Ryoga."
"Ryoga? Hmm, where have I've heard that name before." The girl seemed deep in thought as he was dragged along. He just chuckled inanely, trying not to turn into a tomato when he thought about how a cute girl was actually holding his hand and being nice to him. Who was he supposed to be again? Cause this kind of thing never happened to Hibiki Ryoga.
X X X X X X
Back in Nerima the two patriarchs of the Saotome and Tendo families were battling each other at shogi. Tricks were encouraged and in between drawing attention away from the board to move pieces they were discussing the problem of Ranma.
"Saotome-kun, do you have any idea on how to get Ranma back?"
"I do Tendo-kun. Is that a crane?"
"Where? Nope that's a pigeon."
"Well there is one thing that will get my boy to fall in line."
"Is that the Hindu epic hero Rama?" (2)
"Where where?! Nope just a squirrel. Well you see Ranma has only one weakness, it's the only thing that you could call a failure for him. When we first set out he had some trouble adjusting to life on the road. In order to toughen him up I used a training technique I had found in an old booklet."
"Training technique you say? Which one?"
"The dreaded, unbeatable, unstoppable Neko-ken!"
"Never heard of it."
"It's a surprisingly easy technique to teach, all you need is a pit, as many cats as you can, and some fish sausages. Then all you do is starve the cats, tie the trainee up in the fish sausage, then throw him in the pit of cats."
"How, how rigorous." Soun wanted to go further and say that it was something only the dreaded master would do, but he dare no speak his name.
"Indeed. But I was tricked you see, hidden on the last page of the booklet it explained how it wasn't a real technique."
"So he didn't learn it?"
"Actually he did, but not at first. After fish sausages I used dried sardines, then salted sardines, and even fish cakes till finally he did."
"So what kind of technique is it?"
"Well when Ranma's fear of cats becomes too much, how should I put this, he yowls."
"Yowls?"
"Yes yowls, he becomes in mind like a cat. It's a testament to Ranma's prowess in the art, even a fake training technique allowed him to come up with an unbeatable technique."
"But how would that make him unbeatable?"
"I don't know how the boy does it, but when he's in that state he can create these red ki claws, all his abilities increase, and he becomes simply incredible. He's an unstoppable force and the only thing you can do is get out of his way. But it does make him a little difficult to control."
Scratching at his left side, Genma remembered the large slashes that had put him in the hospital the last time Ranma had went into the neko-ken. Young Ranma-neko had been like a scared kitten, older Ranma-neko had not been happy to see him at all. It was still the mentality of a kitten and easily distracted but instead of running away, he attacked.
"Luckily it takes a lot of exposure to cats before Ranma gets put into that state. But before he'll agree to anything to get a cat away from him."
"So you want to intimidate him with a cat?"
"Yup, Ranma may not be agreeable now, but if he gives his word to something he'll do anything to keep it." Genma didn't add that they had to do only enough to intimidate Ranma. Actually causing the neko-ken would only end badly. Especially with the boy becoming rebellious.
"So he wouldn't fight the engagement if he agreed to it, even if forced?"
"He'd willingly go along with it. We could have the wedding as soon as we got back even!"
"You're brilliant Saotome-kun!"
"Aren't I Tendo-kun?"
X X X X X X
Kasumi hummed happily to herself as she put the finishing touches on tonights meal. Ever since Genma had started to live in her home she had been asked to make meals almost double the size of previous. Not tonight though, tonight she was going to start him on a diet. It was her new project, along with getting Akane to be less violent and Nabiki to be less greedy. Though it was too bad that she was having little success on either front. Hearing the phone ring she wiped off her hands on her apron and answered.
"Hello Tendo Residence, how may I help you?"
"Hello this is Nodoka I was calling for Nabiki. Is she available?"
"I'm afraid she's been up in her room all day."
"Oh that's too bad, I hope nothing is wrong. We had a talk earlier and she seemed happy when she left."
"I didn't notice anything like that, but is there anything I could help you with?"
"Actually yes, Nabiki asked where my son was staying and I invited her, you, and Akane to go visit with me."
"Oh my a trip that would be wonderful! I'm surprised Nabiki didn't mention it to me earlier. I'll tell Akane after dinner I'm sure she would love to go as well. But where is Ranma staying if I may ask?"
"Of course you can, he's staying at a shrine outside of Okayama. It's a beautiful area, you'll love it. But if it's not too much trouble would going tomorrow evening be alright? They have a large home and we're invited to spend the night."
"It should be alright, I suppose I can get my chores done early. Oh but father and Saotome-san will be left all alone."
"I'm sure the men folk can survive a night by themselves."
"That is true... I'll tell my sisters and give you a call back after dinner."
"Wonderful, I look forward to hearing from you."
"Thank you, have a nice evening."
"You too dear."
Putting down the receiver she smiled happily. The previous trip to Okayama had been fun but they hadn't had any time to enjoy the sights. She would also get to see Ryo-ohki, Sasami, and the other nice people from there. Yes she would definitely be going on this trip. Father and Saotome-san could be trusted by themselves for one night.
Hearing her sisters heavy footsteps as she came into the house from the dojo she entered the hall. "Akane?"
"Yes Kasumi?"
"Could you go get Nabiki for dinner?"
"Sure." Akane was in no real mood to deal with her money hungry sister after the day she just had. Everyone had wanted information on Ranma at school. What was she supposed to say? Ranma flew away in his space ship last night. Even when he left Ranma was causing her problems. But she might just have to thank him if she did see him again. After all he had taken the engagement in his hands and told the parents to shove it.
Quickly up the steps she knocked several times on her sisters door. She was tempted to just say that Nabiki had declined dinner. After all she had skipped school like a delinquent and spent the entire day in her room. Cracking the door open she peaked inside.
"Nabiki? Didn't you hear me?" Her sister was just sitting at her desk staring into a drawer. Walking up she poked her sister. "Hey, Kasumi said dinner is ready." Getting no response she gave her a bit harder of a poke.
She was expecting an angry retort for the poke but what she got was her sister letting off an ear splitting cry of anguish.
X X X X X X
"You have a nice house Ranma-san."
"Just Ranma, and it's not my place, I'm just staying here." The guy was grating on Ranma's nerves with how overly nice he was. It wasn't that far of a walk back to the house but she could tell he was one of those terminally shy types would follow her around like a puppy. 'Ah man this means I gotta be a girl longer, what am I thinkin bringin home strays?'
"I'm back!" She called out and slid open the patio door. Kicking off her shoes, Ryoga did the same as well as propping his pack up against the wall. The wood creaked as the heavy traveling gear was put down. 'This guy must be pretty strong, maybe he's a martial artist and I can get a good spar in.'
Any further thoughts were cut off when she was bowled over by Sasami. "Ranma-neechan where have you been! We were so worried! Why did you go away? But you're back now right?! You won't go away will you?" Ranma looked down in horror at the girl who was on top of her. Ryo-ohki was perched on her head and they were both giving the puppy dog attack from hell as those large pink and gold eyes stared up at her, lower lips quivering, and just a hint of a tear about to roll down their cheeks. Blubbering incoherently she tried to pacify that girl and cabbit.
"Ok." The girl chirped and was off of Ranma as quickly as she had appeared. Satisfied with her, Sasami now examined a nervous Ryoga. "Who's this?"
"I'm Hibiki Ryoga, what's your name little girl?"
"I'm Masaki Sasami Jurai, it's nice to meet you Ryoga-niichan!" A beeping from the kitchen called and Sasami excused herself. Ranma had just stood up and was about to explain the situation when she was bowled over once again except this time by the far larger Mihoshi. A bit dazed Ranma groaned under the weight of the blonde as she was nuzzled happily.
"Ranma I missed you! Here look look!" A manga was shoved in her face. "I found one of your ancestors! See theres this guy who's part doggy and he had this big sword." Mihoshi grabbed her hair at the top of her head and pulled some of it up mimicking ears. "Oh perfect he's gotta be an ancestor! Doesn't your mom carry around a sword? I bet that's the one! You should get it so you can do all these cool things with it!"
"MIHOSHI!"
"Uh wha?"
"That's a manga, it's not real." Struggling she desperately tried to crawl out from under the girl who seemed to have landed in a perfect position to cut off any chance of getting enough leverage to escape.
"Really? I thought they were true stories."
"Uh Mihoshi?"
"Huh?"
"Get off!"
"Oh, right." Looking around for any more excitable women that might slam into her Ranma found Ayeka sitting calmly on a couch, hand raised to hide her smile. Above in the rafters was Ryoko who wasn't be as discrete. Tenchi chose this moment to come in through the door leading to the main entrance. The other pigtailed boy's eyes looked around wildly before finding her and the look of worry softened.
"Ranma, are you alright?"
"Yea I'm fine Tenchi, It's no big deal." Chuckling she scratched the back of her head, letting her emotions get the better of her was embarrassing.
"That's good, that your fine and all. We were all pretty worried." Ranma found it weird how Tenchi was stammering. Why was Tenchi so worried about her? "Um who's he?"
"Oh this is Ryoga, I offered him a place to stay so he didn't have to camp outside. Is that alright?"
"Yea that's fine, I'll go grab him one of the spare futons. It's nice to meet you Ryoga, I'm Masaki Tenchi and this is my home."
"Thank you for your generosity Tenchi-san." Ranma rolled her eyes at Ryoga's overly polite bow. What she did find very interesting was the food that Sasami was now bringing out. Both her and Ryoko seemed to materialize at the table. In Ryoko's case that was what she had done, for Ranma she had just moved really fast.
"Would you like to join us for dinner Ryoga-sama?" Ayeka ignored the antics of the two siblings and spoke to Ryoga who was still shuffling his feet at the doorway. "I'm sorry where are my manners I am Masaki Ayeka Jurai, Sasami's sister."
"I really don't want to intrude."
"Nonsense, please have a seat." Ayeka ushered the lost boy to the table and he sat down on the empty side off to the left of Ranma who was glaring at Ryoko who returned it with equal force. "What's bothering you two?" Ranma and Ryoko broke their staring contest to look away quickly.
"Nothing!" They chorused.
X X X X X X
Tenchi came back with a rolled up futon that he put against a couch. Noticing that there were two spots he could choose to sit at. Ryoga occupied a shorter side with Mihoshi who for once was being quiet, Ranma and Ryoko were on a longer side leaving an open spot. Ayeka was sitting on the other shorter side by herself and positioned so that if he sat down next to Ryoko he would also be next to her. That left the opposite side open and Sasami as well as Washu still needed to be seated. Which closed off two thirds of the other long side.
"Tenchi, I saved you a seat." Ryoko purred and patted the area next to her.
"Tenchi-sama I also have a seat saved for you." Ayeka as well seemed expectant of him choosing her. Chuckling nervously he was contemplating if taking the spot next to Ryoko would be best since he would be next to both, hopefully avoiding a fight while they had a guest in the house.
"Tenchi-dono so nice of you to wait for little ol me." The choice was made for him as Washu grabbed his arm and dragged him to the free side and sat down so he was in the middle. Ryoko visibly bristled and Ayeka while more subdued did her level best to kill Washu with her glare. They would have moved to take his other flank if Sasami hadn't sat down. Though this did put him in the awkward position of being between two underage girls. One of which was acting in a suggestive way as they ate.
"You two, stop eating like animals." Washu's command cut into the small talk causing Ranma and Ryoko to pause in their mad grab for more food. "I didn't raise you to be barbarians."
"You didn't raise us at all, mom." Ryoko sneered and snatched some more food. Ranma nodded her affirmative and took more herself.
"Mom?"
"Hmm? And who might you be?" Washu curious gaze eyed the clueless Ryoga.
"I'm a Hibiki Ryoga miss."
"Tell me Ryoga-dono, would you be adverse to becoming my guinea pig?"
"Wha What?!"
"Nothing nothing nothing!" If it wasn't the beginning of the meal Tenchi would have dragged Ryoga away. The last thing they needed was advertising about all the oddity that went on around his house.
"Spoilsport, but in answer to your question I am Ryoko and Ranma's mother."
"Mother?! But you're, you, you're so young!"
"Aren't I though?" Washu batted her eyelashes and put on a cute act.
"So where are you traveling to Ryoga?" Tenchi would really have to have a talk with the girls about not broadcasting the weirdness to other peoples.
"Me? Uh no place in particular, I just travel all the time."
"Why would you do that?"
"Uh well I just like it, yea that's it. I love to travel so that's all I do."
"Do you get to see a lot of cool places, Ryoga-niichan?"
"I think so, it starts to blur together after awhile. Um if you don't mind me asking, what kind of pet is that?"
"This is Ryo-ohki-chan, she's a cabbit." Said cabbit approached Ryoga who held out his hand for Ryo-ohki to sniff.
"Miyah!" The now happy cabbit jumped up into his lap to receive her over due petting.
"I've never heard of a cabbit before."
"Probably because I made her." Washu cut in taking a bite of food and Tenchi spit out his.
"Washu!"
"Huh? What is it Tenchi-dono?"
"I need to see you, Ryoko, and Ranma in the hall for a second."
"Oh Tenchi! Let's just go by ourselves and leave Washu and Ranma here." Tenchi ignored Ryoko's pleas for attention and left the room with the trio. Suitably happy that Ryoga couldn't hear he addressed them. "Listen, you can't just go advertising things like that Washu, if you want to live here you have to keep a low profile."
"I understand Tenchi-dono, sorry I forgot. This is a developing world after all and I wouldn't want to anger the authorities so soon after my early release. But..."
"But what?"
"I'm just so proud of my children!" Ranma and Ryoko found themselves wrapped up by the shorter girl's arms in a hug.
"Hey lemme go!" "Got off me you midget!"
"That's great, uh Washu. But could you please tone it down?"
"Affirmative."
"Alright, Ryoko, no doing any of the things you do while people are around right?"
"You're such a stick in the mud Tenchi."
"Ryoko-chan, if Tenchi-dono wants secrecy then I could come up with a limiter for you."
"Yea right pipsqueak like you can do anything like that."
"I could turn you into a 3 year old as well."
"No no no no no no, don't worry, I'll be good! No need to do that!"
"Good girl."
"Ranma, are you planning on changing back?"
"I was, why ya saying I can't be a guy cause people will think I'm weird?" The sometimes girl growled and stepped towards him.
"No no no." Tenchi backed away from the angry red head and waved his hands in warding. "I just wanted to know. So we could maybe come up with a cover story or something."
"Yea well if I wanna change back I'm gonna. Got it?" Ranma punctuated the last part by poking him in the chest, hard. Gulping he nodded rapidly. For someone who was a guy, Ranma could sure do feminine fury.
"Ranma-chan."
"What?" The girl snapped and turned to face Washu.
"Tenchi-dono is right. While your 'curse' is Earth based as far as we know, this planet falls under the developing planet policy. We shouldn't even be here as it's highly illegal if we should alter the course of development."
"So you're sayin I gotta try and hide my curse? Feh good luck with that, water finds me at the worst time. I aint gonna go around and tell everyone but I'm not gonna hide because of it."
"I'm with Ranma, why do we gotta do anything? If Earthlings can't handle it, too bad. It's not like some insignificant little planet matters." Both siblings received a smack on the backs of their heads from Washu.
"Shut it you two! You will keep a low profile or else you'll be spending the rest of your life as kappas! Do you understand me?!" Both were now cowering behind Tenchi as the small red head glared at them. "Good, now get back in that room and eat like civilized sentients." Both nodded and quickly disappeared.
"Thank you Washu."
"My pleasure Tenchi-dono. But could you maybe do something for me?"
"Sure what is it?"
"Call me Washu-chan!"
X X X X X X
Ayeka wasn't sure what had been said outside but the newly found out Hakubi twins had been far more civilized. Raising a hand to covered the smile that she involuntarily developed at the terrified looks they would give Washu when they thought she wasn't looking. Seeing Ryoko sweat under just the gaze of a small girl was simply wonderful. Maybe she could manipulate it so that Washu took Ryoko away forever. Washu was a citizen of Jurai after all and she was part of it's ruling family. Her mood was dampened by remembering that she was also an exiled criminal who wasn't even supposed to be free. 'Maybe I could offer a pardon in exchange for her cooperation.'
Dinner ended peacefully and everyone went off to do their respective after dinner activities. Sasami and Mihoshi were cleaning up in the kitchen, with the occasional loud noise caused by Mihoshi. Ryoko was loitering up in the rafters again, obviously viewing it as a safe spot from Washu with it's height. Ranma had gone off to take a bath. Ayeka fully agreed that the boy turned girl needed it.
Though the small hint of plant life that hung around her caused Ayeka to be reminded of Jurai. She smiled sadly at the memory of her home world. 700 years in stasis chasing after Yosho and now she was stranded here on the same planet as him. Time was of the essence, if Ryo-oh took root she would be stuck here as well. Along with the horrible prospect of the shortened life span that would come with it. Funaho was the first time she could recall a tree of Jurai surviving this long away from it's native soil.
'But if Ranma was able to do the same as Ryoko soon, perhaps I could ask him to go get Ryo-oh's seed. No way would I ever ask that, that, that filthy Ryoko to go inside Ryo-oh. Once was enough, she should feel honored and thank her ancestors for the opportunity.' Coming back to the real world she watched Ryoga as he nervously sat on the other couch. Perhaps he could give her some entertainment.
"Ryoga-sama?"
"Huh oh yes Ayeka-san?" Ayeka smiled, unlike the other denizens of the house this boy was properly polite. She couldn't expect him to know of her royal status so the small concession could be made.
"Tell me, do you have any interesting stories from your travels?"
X X X X X X
Drying his hair as best he could with a towel Ranma watched himself in the mirror that hung next to the furo. While sitting in the hot water he had figured out why Ryoga felt so familiar. It was his old friend from middle school. Which presented a problem for him. He really wanted to walk out as is and try and catch up. But then he would have to explain the curse. Ryoga wasn't really that smart from what he could remember but even he would catch on something was wrong when there were two Saotome Ranma's with the same odd spelling of their name living in the same house.
'Stupid Tenchi, what is he thinking? I'm surprised I wasn't splashed with tea while eating dinner. All the curse does is try and make my life miserable.'
Resigning himself to a night of being female he partially filled a bucket with cold water and poured it into his lap. The few seconds is compression and expansion were quickly over and she dried off the water. Slipping on some boxers and her red pajamas she exited the dressing area to go grab some socks. The temperature had dropped off since the sun had set and the hardwood floors were doing their best to develop frost.
Entering the living room she spotted Ryoko at her usual place among the rafters wrapped up in a big fluffy blanket. "Hey! I thought you said you were gonna fix the heater!" Ryoko leaned over and studied her for a moment then broke into a grin.
"Is poor Ranma-chan cold?"
"Says the one wrapped up in a blanket." Ryoko snorted and turned to lay looking away from her. Mimicking the snort she went to go find Washu.
"Hey Ayeka do you know where Washu is?"
"I believe she is in the utility closet under the stairs."
"Weird."
When she came on the door it looked different from before. A large white circle was now in the middle near the top with two smaller green ones on either side. Knocking on it she was startled when Washu's face appeared in the large circle.
"Oh come in Ranma-chan." Washu's face dissolved and Ranma hesitantly opened the door to find nothing but black. 'Weird.' Stepping into the blackness she suddenly found herself inside a huge room.
"What the hell?!" Washu was sitting on a cushion in mid air, her long ponytail hanging down so that a portion was laying on the ground. The girl swiveled around and sat cross legged on her cushion to smile at Ranma.
"Welcome to my lab Ranma-chan. So what can your mother do for you?"
"What, what, what is this place?"
"It's my lab."
"But it's, it's so big!"
"Oh you must be wondering how I fit such a large space underneath some steps?" Ranma nodded and continued to stare. "Well technically speaking we aren't in the house anymore. This is my subspace laboratory. Subspace exists apart from normal space and the door outside is simply connected to the area of subspace that encompasses my lab. And if you must know it covers the space about of about 5 planets."
"5 planets!"
"Yup! This is just the main entrance that allows passage to all the other parts of my lab. So what is it that I can do for you? I know! You thought about what I said earlier." Trying to block out the information overload Ranma walked closer to Washu.
"Wait what did you talk about earlier?"
"Well whether or not you want me to unlock your real body or if you wanted to wait."
"Oh that, well I hadn't really thought about it."
"So what have you been thinking about?"
"Well nothing really."
"Don't lie to your mother."
"I aint lying."
"Did you forget that I have a mental link with you and your sister? You were depressed about something earlier."
"I really don't know what you're talkin bout."
"Fine fine, if you don't want to talk about it it's your problem. But you have time to think about what I said now, so have a seat, I have some experiments that I'm trying to recover." Washu smiled then turned around to start typing on her mid air laptop.
Plopping herself down on one of the cushions that were strewn about a red carpet Ranma gazed around at the large space. She might just have to spend more time here if it got much colder in the house since the temperature felt perfect. She frowned and noticed that her eyes kept being drawn to a glass cylinder stationed next to Washu. Nothing else in the room really seemed as important. Standing, she walked over to examine it. Inside was a large egg similar to the one she had seen Ryo-ohki come out of.
"I see Rin-ohki is drawing your eye." Startled she jumped around to the other side of the cylinder from Washu. Calming down she tried to act nonchalant of it. "I'm not surprised you find her interesting."
"Rin-ohki? Ohki, you mean like Ryo-ohki?"
"Very much so, they are sisters you could say."
"So is she going to hatched in the time on it?"
"Give or take several minutes."
"So is she someone's ship like Ryo-ohki then?"
"Yup."
"Whose?"
"Yours of course."
"MINE!?"
"Yup, she's your partner."
"My partner?" Poking the glass she watched as tiny bubbles came up from around the egg and to fizzle at the surface. "That means she's gonna be a spaceship like Ryo-ohki right?" Washu nodded and Ranma's eyes started to sparkle as she laid her hand against the glass. 'My own spaceship!' She was almost ready to start jumping around and chanting 'I got my own spaceship!' when Washu stopped her.
"Don't get too excited, she's going to be a new born cabbit and won't be able to take ship form for at least a couple of months and that's if. And do I mean a big if, she is able to collect the right materials."
"Materials?"
"Yup, she needs to assimilate many main materials to build up the ship form, as well as electronics and metal elements in order form the complex computer units required for flight and other functions."
"Oh." That put a damper on her good mood, where was she gonna get that stuff from? Only job she had was working at the shrine, which was mainly paid in stuff she needed.
"Not to worry, I have many of the materials stored in my lab, but you're going to have to be a good parent to her before I give her them."
"Are you sure you're a good judge of good parenting?" Not receiving any response she looked up from the egg to find Washu with her back turned. "Huh, you alright?"
"What was your Earth mothers name?"
"Mom? Uh her name is Nodoka."
"Is she a good mother?" Ranma didn't immediately answer, something in Washu's voice told him this was important.
"I don't really remember her, Oyaji took me away when I was 6 and I kinda forgot until when she came by a couple weeks ago."
"You forgot? But how you two would have been bonded, you should have been near inseparable until your 10th birthday at least."
"Don't know what ta tell ya, I don't remember anything before the neko-ken training." Immediately she clapped her hands over her mouth. Now Washu did turn back to her and walked up to stand too close for comfort. Washu wasn't much shorter than her current form and could if she stood on her toes look her in the eye.
"What is the 'neko-ken'?" Ranma hadn't seen Washu be serious before but the intensity of those green eyes made her take a step back. "I'm not angry with you, but I need to know."
"I think I hear Tenchi calling my name I'll just go see what he wants." Smiling she tried to walk by Washu who grabbed her by the back of her shirt.
"If you want me to take a look at your 'curse', you better own up right now missy."
"Missy?!"
"If you don't want me to get creative with the things I could do to you, you're going to sit down and tell me every part of the neko-ken and if I want the rest of your life, got it?" Nodding quickly she was released to sit down on a cushion. Washu grabbed a cushion and sat down next to her. "I'm waiting."
X X X X X X
Several hours later Ranma trudged out of Washu's lab. After explaining the neko-ken training she had been ordered to explain everything she could remember. She just couldn't help herself around Washu, who was actually a little kid, she just became one herself. It was frustrating, losing all control to someone else. But Washu did seem concerned for her, something that seemed to disarm her defenses. So she would just have to make sure it never happened again, and no one else EVER, ever ever ever, saw her acting like that.
Stepping into the living room she found it empty except for Ryoko who was sleeping soundly up in the rafters. Grumbling over the injustice of having to relive all the more 'fun' points of her life she grabbed a jacket of Tenchi's and threw on her shoes to go up and look at the stars.
The clay tiles of the roof were positively freezing even through her shoes. Walking silently up the tiles she sat down at the crest of the roof. Hugging herself and wrapping the jacket around her form a bit tighter she stared up at the stars. But they weren't there, covered by thick clouds. Sighing she continued to shiver as she stopped looking at the clouds to view the shrine. The glow from a single light was visible but it turned off as soon as she saw it.
'What am I gonna do? Do I even trust Washu? Maybe she just has some mind control powers that make me listen to whatever she says? Why would I even listen to someone that comes in, out of no where, and tries to change everything in my life? But she does seem to know a lot, and does she have a reason to lie about everything? It does make a strange amount of sense. And I get my own ship out of the deal! I thought I would have to tag along when Ayeka or Sasami left, but no I get my own real live space ship! I'll be able to explore space, learn all the martial arts I can, I won't just be the best in the world, I'll be the best in the Universe!'
It was a full five minutes before she stopped laughing madly. 'Oh great I'm even more awake than I was before. Stupid Washu getting me all worked up. Can't look at the stars, stupid clouds. Can't even be male, stupid Oyaji, Tenchi and Washu.' Finding no comfort being exposed to the elements, she moved to head back inside. At least in her room she wouldn't be shivering. 'Stupid girl body being so cold.'
"Achoo!"
X X X X X X
Ryoga was already up and out of the house the next morning before anyone else was awake. Not by choice, he had just gotten lost. Luckily he had been smart enough to grab his pack before trying to find the toilet and the next thing he knew he had been in town some how. Sighing in frustration at his poor luck he found a good place to do his business.
Once done he took time to examine where he was. Pulling out his map and a pen he started to draw a simple house in the lower right hand corner. Underneath he wrote down 'Ranma-san.' and a smiling face next to it. Carefully folding it up he picked a direction and started walking.
X X X X X X
Author Notes:
Yosho has actually grown old, the gems keep him alive but he is not a young man still like in the OVA. It's weird how everyone stays young in the OVA so I'm going to have them at least be older, especially for Seto considering she's one of the oldest characters. Only the Hakubi's will have the near infinite life span and to a far lesser extent the descendants of Washu's first child, who will live to about 2000 years with the body modification. Bonded Jurians about 3000 years.
Ranma and Ryoko are almost clones of a goddess, if that doesn't equal the longest lives in existence I don't know what does.
(1) – Ryoga's map to the mushroom forest. Chapter 348 page 9 or Volume 33 – chapter 4, except it's lacking the Tendo Dojo and the Mushroom forest which was 30m off the road with the red car that goes to China or France.
(2) – English manga reference Chapter 34 page 5 volume 2 or 3 not that it really matters.
(3) – I hope this finally explains to everyone's liking why Yosho was as angry as he was way back chapter 3.
Rin-ohki – Rin which the kanji for can mean "Long rainy spell", do I have to explain more? I was tempted to use Ran for chaos but it's been done before. And I'm going to end up with enough parallels to "Process of Elimination" that I don't need much more. (Loved the story but hated the ending)
Canon Ranma uses the "wild horse" version of the name, mine uses "chaos demon/evil spirit" version. Just another little mindless connection to Ryoko (thought of as a demon and can summon spirits) since I'm trying to throw in a lot of worthless coincidences in. I'm not sure how long I want it to go on but having Ryoga turn up while searching for Ranma-kun and only ever finding Ranma-chan isn't something that I see happen often or ever.
Sasami introduces herself the same way the Jurains introduce themselves in OVA 3 episode 2 (surname, first name, Jurai). For those who aren't fully up to date with the crazy OVA family tree, the 4 royal houses of Jurai are Tatsuki, Masaki, Amaki, and Kimiki. Only Masaki and Kimiki have any known members at the time and I am not going to have the earthly contingent to the Masaki house in the hopes of simplifying what is one of the most convoluted family trees in history. This also gets rid of Yosho being Tenchi's grandfather on both sides, yikes. Which means Nobuyuki is just a normal human.
As for the GXP crew, Kiriko will still be in her place but as a close relative to Tenchi. Seina will come in soon since he does live in the nearest town but another will come in as well during Ranma's first trip out into space. Cookie for whoever can guess who since I'm not giving any hints.
If you are interested in seeing the family tree check my profile as I have a link to one for this fic as well as an accurate OVA one.
