Ranma and his friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi. This is fan fiction created for fun.
Author's Note: This fic also owes some inspiration to Matron Draconus a short, incomplete story by DirectorJuno which can also be found on this site. I liked the concept behind that story to try my own hand at it. I haven't made any attempt to keep things the same other than the most basic premise which is that Ranma adopts a baby dragon after helping its dying mother fight off some Musk not long after getting cursed at Jusenkyo.
Ranma tromped angrily through the underbrush in the hills near Jusenkyo. Her father had taken her to this awful place and gotten them both cursed—himself as a panda and her as a girl. She had lost 10 centimeters in height and jiggled in places she should not. Her hips moved strangely when she walked and her balance was off because her center of gravity was lower. Her hair had also turned red, but in comparison to the other things that hardly registered. Her only consolation was that, unlike her father, she could still talk.
A woman's voice yelled something in Mandarin that Ranma did not understand. The voice sounded angry and desperate at the same time. Taunting male voices could be heard competing with the female voice.
Ranma scowled. She was not at peak performance because of her new body, but if there was one thing her father had drilled into her that she had internalized and made her own, it was the Code of the Martial Artist. The most basic principle of the Code was: A Martial Artist protects those who cannot protect themselves. She ran toward the voices
Three men in animal-themed clothing stood outside a cave jeering. At least two male voices and the female voice sounded from within the cave. She shuddered at what they might be doing to the woman. She had always detested rapists and those who beat on women, but now her feelings were a lot more personal.
"It takes real brave men to gang up on a helpless woman," she taunted in Japanese. The Jusenkyo Guide had spoken Japanese, so there was a chance these would as well.
The men turned around. One of them responded in Japanese, "Get her. She looks healthy enough to make a good breeder."
She knew he had said that to freak her out or he would have said it in Mandarin. Her distaste at the situation turned into a raw, focused anger. The anger motivated her to forget the oddness of her new body and ignore the dissonance it caused. She leapt toward the speaker, planted her left foot, and used the momentum to slam a spin kick into the speaker's crotch. He would not be using any "breeders" anytime soon. She pivoted and slammed a side kick into one of the other men's knee. She ducked a swing from a spiked club held by the last man outside the cave.
Both of the foes she had struck were on the ground howling. She needed to move quickly before those in the cave came out to see what was happening. She leapt into the air and rebounded off the hillside next to the cave and came at the last villain from above. He raised his arm to protect himself, but it did little good as she landed on it feet first, slamming him into the ground and knocking him unconscious from the impact with the earth.
"Come out, cowards!" she yelled.
Two more figures emerged from the cave. One of them she dismissed as being no more skilled than the other three, but the other was better equipped. He had the same bearing as a yakuza neighborhood boss, even if he was dressed in bristle-covered leather with boar tusks mounted on a leather helmet. He carried a spear.
"Who dares call warriors of the Musk Dynasty cowards?" the leader said.
"What else do you call someone who picks on defenseless women?" Ranma said.
"I do not answer to you, female," he sneered. "Females exist to serve the Musk. You will serve too."
"Not hardly," Ranma snarled.
She sprang at him, and then ducked under his spear thrust. She struck at the hand holding the spear, but he dodged. She revised her assessment of his skill up slightly, but not enough to be able to give her trouble. She stayed within his guard so that he could not leverage his spear against her. She launched a series of quick strikes. On the third she succeed in disarming him. A follow up dislocated his shoulder.
The last of the animal men watched her warily.
"Are you going to take your buddies and leave or am I going to have to put you all down permanently?" she asked.
She really hoped they did not call her bluff. She did not want blood on her hands—not even that of rapist scum. She was a Martial Artist, not an executioner. She disliked the need to use crippling strikes, but it had been necessary to take care of them as soon as possible.
"You will not escape the Musk, female, and you are too late to save the one inside," the leader growled, clenching his teeth in pain. "Prince Herb will make quick work of you."
"I do not fear the Prince of Rapists," Ranma snarled. She began to count slowly down from ten. By the time she got to five, they had fled, carrying or dragging their incapacitated friends.
She entered the cave, nervous about what she would find. If the woman had truly been raped, she was not sure what to do.
"Hello," she called. "Are you alright? I drove off those rapists."
"Thank you, young lady," the voice from before called. "Please approach."
Ranma frowned at being called a lady, but shrugged it off. There was no way the woman could know she had just been cursed and protesting her manhood to a rape victim would be tasteless. The cave was deeper than she had thought from the outside. A torch lay on the floor not too far in. She paused to allow her eyes to adjust and then continued. There was a wide passage that lead from the entrance cavern. She proceeded into it and was surprised to see a dim light. The light was steady, as if from an electric light, but was an unusual color for any standard type of light bulb. After a couple of meters the passage opened up into a larger cavern. The light came from crystals imbedded in the walls rather than electric light bulbs. Various works of art of all type filled the walls of the cavern. There were paintings and tapestries; gold, silver, and crystal figurines; beautiful boxes of wood and metal; and sculptures of stone and clay. Most surprising, however, was the cave's occupant: a four-meter-long (not including the tail), silver-colored, Western-style dragon.
Ranma could only stare.
"You are not an Amazon," the dragon said.
"Amazon?" Ranma asked, confused.
"Regardless, you have my sincere gratitude, young lady," she said. "May I know my savior's name?"
Ranma startled and bowed politely. "I'm Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling."
The dragon inclined her head. "My name is Mithril. Will you hear a dying mother's wish, Saotome Ranma?"
Ranma nodded carefully. She could see now that the dragon was curled protectively around something small.
"Two weeks ago, Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty fatally wounded me with an enchanted blade. I managed to drive him off, but he has sent his men to harry me since then. It has taken all my strength to drive them off and keep my daughter alive. I will die soon, but I refuse to let my daughter fall into their hands to be kept as a slave and breeding stock. Before you came, I had just about given up hope."
Ranma did not know exactly what the dragon wanted, but she decided she would help. If nothing else, she could take the baby dragon to these Amazons.
"Sure, I'll help if I can," she said. "What do you need?"
"Come here, please, Ranma," Mithril said.
Ranma approached. She could see the deep wound in the dragon's chest. Blood glistened in the wound, but did not flow out of it. The dragon shifted its tail, allowing him to see a small, silver dragon gently sleeping. It was about three feet long including its tail.
"This is Luna," Mithril said. Ranma could hear the love and the pride in the dragon's voice.
"Please pick her up," the dragon asked.
"I don't know if I should," Ranma said hesitantly. "I don't know anything about babies—much less dragon babies."
"I'm sure you'll do fine," Mithril said gently. "She's sturdy enough that you won't hurt her unless you drop her."
"Okay," Ranma said with trepidation. She gently scooped up the baby dragon. Luna's tail wrapped around her waist and she opened her eyes. The baby dragon had bright blue, curious eyes. She snuggled into Ranma's chest. The dragon felt pleasantly warm in her arms.
"She likes you, Ranma," Mithril said, pleased.
"I guess she does," Ranma said, not able to keep a bit of wonder out of her voice.
"I want you to raise her as your own," Mithril said suddenly.
"What!?" exclaimed Ranma. "I thought you just wanted me to take her to those Amazons you mentioned."
Luna stirred in her arms.
The great dragon shook her head. "There is no time. I sent to them after I was injured, but the messenger serpent I sent must have been intercepted by the Musk. If you don't do this for her, Ranma, Luna will be unable to grow into a healthy adult dragon."
"But. . ." Ranma protested.
"There is a ritual that I can perform to help Luna's foster mother protect and care for her. Without this ritual, she will not be linked to anyone after I die. This link is essential for a dragon to develop the intelligence to grow beyond being a dumb animal. The ritual I propose will make you dragon-blooded and able to form the link with Luna. Unfortunately, my strength ebbs and within the hour I will not have enough to perform the ritual."
"I'm not really a girl," Ranma protested. "Or at least I wasn't until a couple of hours ago."
Mithril nodded. "I can see Jusenkyo's touch upon you. Unfortunately, the benefits of being dragon-blooded will not carry over to your other form."
"Other form?" Ranma asked.
"You have not heard how the magic of Jusenkyo works?" the dragon asked.
Ranma shook her head. "I started chasing Pop the moment I got cursed and after he evaded me is when I ran into those Musk creeps."
"Cold water activates the magic and warm water deactivates it," Mithril said. "You were originally a man?"
Ranma nodded.
"You can turn back with warm water, but when you get wet with cold water you will change into what you are now again."
Ranma sighed in relief. "Can you perform the ritual when I'm back to normal?"
The dragon shook her head. "Dragons are only linked this deeply to their mothers or mates."
The redhead looked down at the baby dragon that had fallen asleep again. She wanted to say no. If she said yes, that would mean spending a substantial amount of time as a girl. Her honor would require her to actually be her mother in more than name. She opened her mouth to say no, but could not make the words come out.
"I want you to teach her your Art," the dragon said as she hesitated. "Your skill and your honor have impressed me. Not many would be willing or able to fight off five Musk warriors. I want my daughter to be courageous and skilled like you."
"I am the best," Ranma boasted, "but I'm not sure that I can teach my Art to a dragon."
"Dragons are natural shapeshifters," Mithril said. "Normally a hatchling Luna's age could not shift, but in addition to you becoming dragon-blooded, she will become human-blooded. This will enable her to assume a human shape at a young age, instead of waiting the normal centuries."
"What will it mean for me to be dragon-blooded?" Ranma asked.
"Dragon-blooded are members of other races who have a small amount of a dragon's power gifted to them in exchange for companionship. We dragons are rare and we sometimes take others, such as humans, as companions, siblings, or lovers. I personally have made several humans dragon-blooded because they were like sisters to me. The last being about three hundred years ago. Unfortunately, she was captured by the Musk not long after. They hid her from me and she died in childbirth. Her descendants are part of the ruling line of the Musk, but have been twisted by the Musk's despicable culture."
"So the man who did this to you. . ."
"Was my sister's grandson," she said sadly. "That is one of the reasons he succeeded. I saw her face in him and could not make myself strike him down."
After a moment of silence, Mithril continued, "Dragon-blooded are stronger both physically and in their life force. Usually their hair changes color and they grow taller. If you do this for us, your hair will likely become silver. Often their eyes change, but usually only when emotional. Many dragon-blooded are able to manifest wings that enable them to fly and they can use magic. Very rarely, a dragon-blooded is able to change into a true dragon. However, these gifts all manifest over time. The hair change and your link to Luna will likely be the only immediate changes. Since we will be using both mine and Luna's blood in the ritual, you will probably manifest the gifts more strongly than most."
All of that sounded fine to Ranma. She was not attached to her red hair at all. Taller was also good. Being able to actually fly. . . She grinned. The only issue was the mother part of it. Her grin faded.
"This won't trap me as a woman, will it?" she asked.
The dragon shook her head. "It will not," she assured the cursed boy. "However, for the link to work, you will need to spend a lot of time as a woman. Will you do this for us, Saotome Ranma? Will you save my daughter?"
She looked down again at the sleeping baby. Her movement woke the dragon up. She looked up at her again with her bright eyes. Ranma could not say no.
"I'll do it," she said with some amount of trepidation.
The dragon sighed in relief. "You have my deepest thanks, Saotome Ranma. You have no idea right now what this means to me, sister, but I think you will learn." She stood up gingerly onto all fours. "Follow me. I prepared for the ritual in case the Amazons came in time."
The older dragon hobbled over to a flat place in the cavern. Symbols and shapes had been scratched carefully into the floor. The main designs were three circles—one large and two small. They were arranged in a line. Curved lines ran between the large circle and the farther of the smaller circles and between the two smaller circles. Mithril sank to the ground inside the larger circle.
"I need blood from all three of us," Mithril said. She took a claw and pierced her front foreleg and allowed it to drip into a silver bowl. "Hold Luna still, please."
Ranma nodded and the dragon gently pierced baby's foreleg. Ranma gently pressed the small wound to allow a few drops of the baby's blood to fall into the bowl. Luna squawked in protest, but settled down quickly after a blue glow from her mother closed the wound.
Ranma presented her forearm and Mithril gently pressed a claw into it. The wound stung, but Ranma paid it no attention as she dripped blood into the bowl.
"Please place Luna in the middle circle and then go sit in the far circle, please, Ranma," the dragon asked. She scooted the bowl so that it was at the edge of her circle near where the lines departed from it.
Ranma did as she asked. She had a little bit of a hard time disentangling Luna from her. The baby dragon did not want to let go.
"Before we begin," Mithril said. "I want to answer any questions you might have. It is likely that I will only live for a few minutes after I complete the ritual, since it will use up the rest of my magic."
"What about Luna's father?" Ranma asked nervously.
"Dragon eggs gestate within us for many centuries, Ranma," she said. "I last saw her father four hundred years ago. I don't know what happened to him and have no way to get in touch with him anyway."
"Is there anything you want me to do special with Luna?" Ranma asked.
"Treat her like your own," the dragon said. "Teach her what you know—your Art and your honor." She hesitated. "I want you to give her a new name."
"What?" Ranma exclaimed. "But. . ."
"She will be your daughter as much as mine," the dragon said firmly. "I want you to give her a name."
"What does the name Luna mean?" the human asked.
"It means 'moon' in the first human language I learned," the dragon said.
"I will name her Saotome Tsukiko then," Ranma stated. It meant 'moon child' in Japanese.
The dragon bowed to her. "Thank you Ranma," she said quietly. "Two more things before we begin, sister. First, you can help Tsukiko change from human to dragon and back by giving her nudges over your connection. She's too young to do more than send you feelings and vice versa, but over time more complex messages will be able to be sent. Second, seek out the Amazons and ask for Cologne. She is of my sister's family. She can help you. The Jusenkyo Guide can show you where the Amazons live. Bear the title of Mater Draconis proudly, Saotome Ranma."
"Mater Draconis?" Ranma asked awkwardly. Stumbling over the foreign words.
"It means Ryuu no Haha or perhaps Doragon no Haha since the Romans did not know of any Japanese dragons." Dragon Mother. Doragon was the usual Japanese word for European dragons, while native dragons were called ryuu.
"Are you ready?" the dragon asked.
"Yes," Ranma said, with a small squeak in her voice. She flushed and then repeated, "Yes, I'm ready.
The dragon began chanting in a language that Ranma did not recognize. She tried to pay attention to see if she could feel any changes in her, but as the chanting continued, she drifted into a trance and close her eyes.
She felt bloated and tight in her abdomen. She tried to feel it to see what was wrong, she felt detached; her body would not move. A sudden pressure squeezed her insides for a few seconds before releasing. It felt like a muscle she did not recognize contracting. She drifted again. The squeezing returned. This repeated itself over and over again—the squeezing came and went. Strictly speaking it did not hurt, but it was quite uncomfortable. Between the tightness and the squeezing inside her, she was starting to get irritated. She wanted it to be over. The squeezing pressures started to become more and more frequent until the tightness no longer completely relaxed. The pressure mounted against her bottom, but from the inside. Her instincts caused her to push with the strange muscle whenever the squeezing came. Finally, the tightness reached a peak, and with a burst of pain she felt something moving through her nether regions. It paused and then with another squeeze it was out. Her entire middle felt soar and she was exhausted. A human baby filled her vision. It had fuzzy silver hair and deep blue, eyes with a slitted pupil. Overlaid with the human baby was an image of Tsukiko. She knew they were the same thing. Tsukiko cried and her heart went out to her. She opened her eyes and was again in the cavern. In the circle where the baby dragon had lain was the human baby she had seen in her vision. She was crying. Ranma looked over to where Mithril was. The adult dragon looked exhausted.
"You can leave your circle and pick her up, sister," Mithril said. "It's over."
"What in the world happened, Mithril?" Ranma asked as she went over and picked up the crying baby. The soreness and exhaustion she had felt in the trance or vision faded. The baby calmed down.
"You are now, or will be, Tsukiko's mother in all ways that matter," Mithril said tiredly. "In order for it to be so, the magic made you feel like you gave birth to her."
"But she's a dragon and I thought you came from eggs!" Ranma exclaimed.
"We do," Mithril said, "but you are a human and you have live births."
Ranma started to hyperventilate. "I can't have given birth. I'm really a man!"
"Calm down, Ranma," the dragon said. "You didn't really give birth. In fact, since you've only been a woman for a few hours, I assume you're still a virgin. The magic just made you feel like you did."
"That was what giving birth feels like?" Ranma asked. "I've heard it was supposed to be more painful than that was."
"From the human women I've talked to," Mithril said, "it varies depending on the woman and the birth. The magic gave you both 'easy births.'"
"Tsukiko felt that too?" Ranma asked. "From the other side?"
The dragon nodded. "It helps her imprint on you." She sighed. "I can feel myself fade." The dragon lowered her head until it rested on the ground. "I can't thank you enough for doing this for my daughter, Saotome Ranma. While we have only known each other for a short time, you are worthy to be called my sister and Mater Draconis. Have a long and happy life. Take care of each other."
The dragon seemed to melt into sparkles. The sparkles swirled around Ranma and her new charge before sinking into their skin. It left a warm, pleasant feeling. Ranma noticed that her hair had indeed turned silver. It had an almost metallic sheen.
She looked around until she found a soft blanket and wrapped her newly adopted daughter in it. She would have to return with the Amazons to get the rest of this. There was no way she was leaving it for the Musk.
Ranma sighed. "Well, Tsukiko. Let's go see if we can find Pop or the Guide."
They left the cave.