I do not own Ranma or any of the characters, places, intellectual properties etc therein, they are in the sole ownership of one Rumiko Takahashi. I made a promise to myself today, just thought I would let you guys know.
Both Ranma and Xian-Pu awoke bright-eyed and ready for the day ahead of them, despite their slow progress yesterday the two were determined to put their all into whatever came next in their training. After a breakfast of fish caught from the river using Ranma's Amaguriken and some wild mushrooms which Ku-Lon assured them were safe, they all sat around the fire letting their meal go down.
"Now that you two have picked a key emotion to focus on, we need to discuss exactly what you will do with that feeling to make it tangible." Ranma squinted at the old woman.
"I've been thinking about this, what exactly do you mean tangible? What actually happens when you use one of these Ki blasts?" Ku-Lon had predicted the question and had come prepared. She stood up and walked away from them, a good distance away from them in fact. She stood on her staff at the far side of the clearing facing at ninety degrees to the two teens.
The old woman closed her eyes for a moment with her arms outstretched either side of her. Her index finger and thumb on each hand formed a circle and Ranma could actually see a slight haze around them before each hand erupted into a blaze of white light. She threw each hand forward and the blazing light elongated into two white tendrils. These rope-like Ki manifestations snaked themselves around a nearby tree, wrapping it up in loop after loop of the same energy.
The glow from Ku-Lon's hands faded but the tree remained tied up in Ki that didn't dissipate as one might expect. She hopped back to the two awe struck teenagers who stared at the still-bound tree with open mouths. Ranma was the first to recover.
"What emotion was that?!" Ku-Lon chuckled quietly.
"Wouldn't you like to know Son-in-law. Now every Ki manifestation is different depending on the emotion. If I take yesterday's example of the Shishi Hokoudan then it appears as a sphere that remains in the users hands which expands rapidly when struck to blast back ones opponent. That being said, I am almost as interested as you are to see how your respective emotions with represent themselves." Both teens nodded agreeing completely with the woman.
"Now comes the truly difficult part, you must envision your chosen emotion as an entity which best suits it and then project that image in whatever way you can. Many people choose animals that embody the feeling; others choose objects if they think it is better suited. I'll give you a few moments to try and think of something, I recommend you do not do what you did yesterday, the envisionment must be the practitioners own, or the image will not be strong enough to focus the Ki."
She left to go get some water from the river and the two teens started to ponder her words in silence. This was very strange for Ranma, not at all how he imagined the training trip would be. He wasn't used to so much thinking over his techniques; it was always just a case of learning them, doing them, and perfecting them. It annoyed him but he put those thoughts aside to concentrate on the task at hand.
His mind stuck on her mentions of animals as prompts for the techniques, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which animal best represented confidence. It would obviously have to be a predator, but nothing that preyed on the weak, and no carrion eaters either. He tried to think of an animal that attacked something better than itself in one aspect or another, as that was true confidence, starting a fight against the odds.
It struck him instantly; it was much easier than actually figuring out the emotion involved. He looked over at Xian-Pu and smiled, she didn't return the gesture. In fact she seemed a lot more troubled by the task at hand. He could understand why, one particular animal didn't really stand out for him as being 'determined', but perhaps she was taking a different route. He got up to give her some space, after all that helped her last time. He went over to where Ku-Lon was having a drink of tea next to the stream.
"I think I have my focus." Ku-Lon chuckled at the remark. "What's so funny? I did as you asked."
"It's merely ironic that the way you said it wasn't all that confident, you will have to change that if you are to master this technique boy." Ranma's blood boiled as it did when somebody inferred he couldn't learn any technique, if it was martial arts then he could learn and master it!
"It's a tiger, my focus is a tiger!" Ku-Lon looked genuinely thoughtful.
"Interesting, a creature that hunts a variety of animals, each with characteristics that make it superior to the tiger in one way, but none of them overcoming it. The deer that is faster, the monkey that is more agile, and the boar that is more resilient. It seems you have actually chosen wisely boy, this may work."
"Of course it will work." The older woman smiled.
"That's the right idea. How is Xian-Pu finding it?" They both looked in the girl's direction; she was still deep in thought.
"I don't know but I don't think very well, determination sounds like a hard one." Ku-Lon looked pensive.
"A shame too, it fits her so perfectly." Ranma could only agree. They were both surprised by the sudden movement in front of them as Xian-Pu jumped up in joy.
"Aiyah, Ranma, Great Grandmother, Xian-Pu have it!" They both walked over, highly intrigued. "At first Xian-Pu could no think of any one thing to represent determination, so she think harder. What behind determination? Refusal to quit or stubbornness!" Ranma and Ku-Lon nodded along to the logic. "So then Xian-Pu realise answer is easy. What more stubborn than Rock?!" Ku-Lon once again assessed the answer thoroughly.
"Yes, that could definitely work, stubborn as a rock is a common enough expression after all." She smiled, looking pleased at the two young martial artists who both looked very satisfied with themselves. "Now normally I would ask of my student to try and focus their Ki in their own way but as I fear this may take you both some time to get used to I will help get your mindsets in the right place." She took a step toward Ranma.
"Right boy, for your technique you must first build your confidence, feel it swirling around you, silent and unnoticed like the Tiger stalking its prey. Then you must release it all when it reaches a critical point straight forward, this will be the sudden attacking force that the Tiger employs." Ranma seemed unsure on how exactly to put that into effect but he nodded and wandered across the clearing to try it out.
"Now Great-Granddaughter I believe you should focus on the density of the Rock, draw in as much of that stubbornness as you can into a single concentrated point before releasing it outwards as a wave, as opposed to Ranma's I am not entirely sure how yours will manifest. I suspect it will be a safe bet to draw the Ki into your core, the centre of your body as Rocks aren't all that picky about their parts."
Like Ranma before her Xian-Pu wandered into an area of the clearing, struggling with what exactly she had to do. Ku-Lon watched with some amusement as the two teens wandered rather aimlessly struggling with concepts way out of their individual comfort zones.
It was almost lunch and the only one of the two who had made any amount of progress with their technique was Ranma who had finally figured out how to direct the energy he gathered around himself but he had been so worried when doing so that his confidence faltered and all that emerged from his hands was a pitiful ball of sickly yellow energy that popped pathetically after one or two seconds of strained life.
Xian-Pu on the other hand wasn't getting anywhere with her technique, she felt like giving up which definitely wasn't helping her determination at all. Ranma had tried to help her after he screwed up his own technique but she shot him down with a ferocity that was the result of frustration. Ku-Lon was tempted to let them go at it a little longer but Ki manipulation was tiring and energy consuming, they would need to eat soon anyway, not to mention they had to get on with the rest of the day's training.
The two teens were both frustrated by the time they sat down to eat and their moods only worsened as they realised what the now had to do. Once refuelled they once again set out to try and rid Ranma of his fear. They tried the same tactic as they had before; he had made progress with it so they saw no reason why not.
By the end of it all they had Ranma at the point where he could actually stroke Xian-Pu on his lap without running way and even better, without turning Neko. Unfortunately the only way he could do even that was to have a perfect image of Xian-Pu in his mind that not only compensated for her image, but for her sounds as well, something that was incredibly difficult and tiring for the boy.
Ku-Lon hoped that with more time he would need the illusion less and less rather than more but one thing could be said, after it all Xian-Pu's mood had improved greatly from the repeated pettings from Ranma. When she finally turned back into her human form she had a look of utter bliss on her face and an empty, trance-like mind that was completely free from thought. Ranma could only just snap her out of it when they went for their nightly talk up in the tree.
"Shampoo, what was that all about with the look and being so non-responsive?" She still had some of that haze over her eyes but at least she was actually listening to what he was saying.
"Sorry Ranma, you've never been scratched behind the ears as a cat, there's no real way to compare it to anything." Actually there was one thing the Amazon could definitely compare it to but she thought that would only make Ranma uncomfortable.
"Whatever." Ranma was sure it couldn't have been that good but when he looked over at the look of utter peace in Xian-Pu's face he reconsidered. "So Xian-Pu, what's it actually like, you know, being a cat?" He was proud that he had managed to stop stuttering when he said the word.
"It amazing, nothing like it in world. When Xian-Pu a cat, she have no responsibility. Xian-Pu no know if it because of curse but something in Xian-Pu change when she is cat, Xian-Pu more carefree. Is true embodiment of freedom made flesh." Her words startled him; he still just couldn't wrap his head around what Xian-Pu was talking about, to accept her curse so readily was almost unthinkable.
"But isn't it a weakness? In a fight one splash from cold water and your defenceless?" Xian-Pu looked at Ranma oddly.
"Airen, you think Xian-Pu want to be warrior forever? Xian-Pu want to be good wife for husband, is it so bad if Xian-Pu enjoy being cat in free time?"
"I thought all Amazons were warriors? Also you live in a dangerous area, what if bandits or something attack?" Xian-Pu smiled and nuzzled in closer to Ranma, something he hadn't been expecting as a reaction.
"Xian-Pu know Airen would never let her get hurt, even as cat." She looked down for a moment. "Ranma, Xian-Pu want to say sorry for way she talk yesterday, Xian-Pu should have understood what Ranma felt and why he want to be cured." He too looked away.
"Yeah and I guess I shouldn't have assumed you'd want to get rid of the curse just because I do. Maybe we were both in the wrong." Xian-Pu giggled.
"Ranma so noble, even when Xian-Pu apologise Ranma still make it his fault." He smiled at her, her good mood now infectious.
"I can't help it I guess, is it really that obvious?"
"Xian-Pu no mind." She snuggled in closer once more as Ranma started to think to himself. After a while he noticed she had actually drifted off to sleep, forgetting where exactly they were. He laughed and picked her up, while she may have been comfortable he certainly wasn't. His back practically hurt as he remembered the last time he slept propped up against a tree.
The next day went much the same way as the previous. Ranma steadily improved his technique to the point he overcame his worries about doing it. In fact he realised that simply believing he could do it actually made it more possible. Exactly the opposite Xian-Pu continued to struggle with the first step of her technique, frustration winning out over determination. Not knowing exactly how her Ki should be manifesting in the first place wasn't helping.
Likewise, in the afternoon Ranma continued to develop his resistance to cats. He could now stand holding Xian-Pu but his feet remained firmly rooted to the ground, unwilling to move. And exactly how Ku-Lon had hoped he would slowly need the illusion less as time passed he only seemed more reliant on it. He needed a push, something that would finally get him to see the cat as Xian-Pu and nothing else.
It was something for her to ponder on as they all ate dinner. It was always the quietest part of the day with each member of the group having their own worries to think about. However today the teens altered their routine by taking a long bath in the hot-spring instead of their usual spot up on the tree. They came back more relaxed but no less concerned about the days ahead. Both needed to make serious progress if the trip was to be a success on both fronts.