Permanent 5: A China tale


Ranma Saotome followed the guide with a dead look
on her face, "Here sirs we find village of Amazon," said
the guide as he pointed at village they were
about to enter.

"Amazons?" said Genma's sign. Ranma stood staring
at nothing; Sitting on her
pack was Mr.P he looked at the village and squealed
approvingly. The group
walked on and into the village.

"Very lucky today sirs! They show their strength
today," said the guide.

Ranma snorted as they sat by a
large table with a sign on it, she pulled out one of the
many books she had 'borrowed' from the guide's home and
began reading. He
watched her nervously; he did not ever read them himself
but felt very
uncomfortable with her taking them like she did. There were
thousands of them,
collected over the centuries by former guides and
unfortunate visitors. The
girl had only taken about fifty volumes on specific topics,
so he let it go.

She had emptied her pack of all but the most essential
items to make room and
had around fifteen books strapped on the outside of her
bag. "Very strange
young one," he muttered as she ignored the show.

Genma happily chowed down on the food on the table.
Until a bonbori smashed it into splinters. Ranma looked up
from her reading and frowned as a young Chinese girl yelled
angrily at them in Chinese. "'You there panda girl. Why you
steal my prize?' she say," said the guide translating the
girls ranting.

Ranma looked at the panda and sighed, she calmly
placed her book back into the
bag and lifted it over her shoulder. "Keep him," she said
to the girl, with
that she began to walk away.

"Son?" said the panda with a sign.

The girl called after him and followed Ranma with
an angry stare. "'Where you think you going?' she say,"
translated the guide again.

"Tell her the animal is not mine," said Ranma. "I'm
not responsible for him."

The guide did as he was asked and Shampoo stared at the
girl hard for a moment before saying something in
Chinese. "Only if you give pig as well," said the guide.

"No," Replied Ranma never breaking stride as she
walked out of the village.

Shampoo growled and charged at Ranma, the redhead
ducked under the blow and rolled away removing her bag as
she went. She stood facing Shampoo with a neutral
expression on her face. Shampoo charged again and Ranma
sidestepped and kicked under the Amazon's arms catching her
in the chin; Shampoo fell back and landed on the ground
hard.

Ranma stood ready for another attack. Shampoo
slowly got to her feet and shook her head; She stared at
Ranma for a moment and smiled. The red head watched as the
villagers gasped and the guide looked at him in terror. "He
is won!"

Shampoo walked over to Ranma and kissed her on the
cheek. The guide grabbed Ranma's arm and ran from the
village.

+++++++++++

Cologne looked at her Great granddaughter and
sighed. "So a foreign girl
defeated you and you gave her the kiss of death," she
looked at the young
girl in an almost pitious gaze.

Shampoo simply nodded in reply.

"Go then and be quick in your return," said the
elder; Shampoo bowed and turned away.

As she emerged from her Great Grandmother's home
Mousse ran up to her.
"Shampoo promise you'll marry me when you return!" he cried
hugging a nearby
bush.

"Stupid Mousse, I'll never marry you. Not until you
defeat me." Shampoo gave him a halfhearted blow to the head
and the boy slumped to the ground instantly.

"That wasn't near as hard as she used to hit...I
think I'm wearing her down!" he thought happily half way to
unconsiousness.

"Maybe marrying him wouldn't be so bad," thought
Shampoo as she walked away. She turned and watched him
grinning and drooling in his fantasies on the
ground. "Right, it would be worse," she muttered as she
walked on.

+++++++++

Ranma entered a village after a long day of hiking
and was attracted to a
large gathering of people. She walked up to a home where
most of the village waited outside. "What going on?" she
asked one of the young men in broken Chinese.

The boy blushed at the attention she had placed on
him, he winced as his
splint hit the wall jarring his broken arm. "A birth," he
said with a dumb looking grin.

Ranma smiled at the boy and he sighed. "What a
loser, I hope it isn't his," she thought amused. Cries of
pain floated over the crowd from the hut and then the cry
of a baby. She started to walk away when one of the men
cried out in anguish. She turned to see a man was being
carried out of the hut. She turned back to the boy again.
"What happen?" she asked. The boy who was now pale turned
to her.

"She will not live," he said sadly, now oblivious
to her charms. Ranma frowned and pushed her way into the hut.

"You can't go in there!" called the boy chasing
after her.

"Let her go boy, and forget any ideas you had about
her," said one of the
elders standing at the door.

"She spoke to you?" asked the boy.

"No, but I recognize some of the books she has on
that bag of hers; you do not want to anger someone like
her. She will not harm anyone, quite the opposite."

"What?" said the confused boy, just then a bright
pink light emanated from the hut. The woman inside began
screaming again in pain, only this time it was far worse
than before. A few moments past and some of the men ran
from the hut in terror. The boy looked to see the old man
was laughing heartily.

The girl emerged from the hut and started to walk away. "My
village is
grateful to you great mage," said the old man placidly.

"Not great...not yet," said Ranma without turning
as she walked away calmly towards the edge of the tiny
village.

"What did you do to my sister?" said the boy
angrily as he walked over to
Ranma.

The elder stiffened and sucked in a quick breath, "Quiet
boy! Show some respect, she is the reason your sister lives
now!" he snapped. "Do you wish to anger her?"

Ranma turned and stared at the boy with her
piercing blue eyes, after a moment he
faltered.
"Is okay. I show," she turned to the boy and
smiled "This really hurt."

She grabbed his arm with
blinding speed and he yelped in surprise and pain as her hands glowed pink again. He felt his arm burn
in pain as if his bones were on fire inside. He began to
scream in agony and
fell to his knees as she let go; he clutched his arm and
rocked back and fourth slowly. He stayed that way for a
moment and tried to catch his breath as the pain died down.

"That what do to sister," she said with a smile. The boy
didn't know what to say he simply stared at his arm in
disbelief, it was no longer broken. Ranma walked out of the
village with her animals following close behind her.

+++++++++

Ryoga sat in the corner of the abandoned hut. He glared as
Ranma sat sleeping into a corner. Genma watched her with an
angry stare. He was still quite upset about what Ranma
had done at the amazon village. The guide had abandoned
them a few days ago because of the so-called 'Kiss of
death'. Ranma had neither seen nor heard anything about the
amazons since; that had been a week ago.

Ryoga walked over to the pack and rummaged around for a
moment; a few seconds later he emerged with a small curved
knife in his teeth.

"Ranma, girl or not, you die for what you've done to me!"
thought the piglet angrily; that was when he saw a shadow
loom over him, he turned and saw a small delicate looking
foot come towards his face. He squealed in fear and pain as
it landed on his head squashing him flat.

+++++++++++

Shampoo cursed as she felt her foot hit something soft and
round, it squealed loudly and scampered away. Ranma woke
with a start and charged at the Amazon. Shampoo jumped up
barely avoiding Ranma. She flipped over her and came down
slashing at Ranma's back with her sword.

Ranma screamed as the Amazon made a long shallow cut along her back. The pigtailed girl rolled and scooped up the pig and her bag
before leaping out the window and disappearing into the
night. The panda watched this wide-eyed from the corner and
did not move; Shampoo snorted and walked out angrily
chasing after Ranma.

+++++++++++

It was almost five a.m. before Ranma finally lost her. He
had retreated into the woods and found refuge in a tree.
Her clothes were slashed and she bled
from several small wounds. She held the pig in her arms and
drifted off into sleep.

Ryoga squirmed out of Ranma's arms and glared at her. He
had not liked the
ride she had given him last night. Snorting angrily he
moved into the small
space between her and the tree. He began to push her as
hard as he could off
the branch.

After a few moments she budged, Ryoga snorted
and moved over to her
side. He put his head against her belly and shoved as hard
as he could. Ranma's eyes shot open and she scooped him up.
He squealed in terror as she jumped up to the next branch.
He looked down to see that the space he had been in was
covered in shruken. He shook in fright as the adrenaline
rushed through his veins. Ranma
dropped through the branches occasionally dodging another
projectile from the
ground.

Finally she landed on the ground facing a furious
Shampoo; the girl decided she had enough of the Amazon.

"Ranma I kill!" Shampoo spat holding a spear against her
side. She pointed it at Ranma and stabbed, Ranma dodged and
did a hooking crescent kick at the young Amazons head,
Shampoo blocked and slashed Ranma across the stomach
ripping a long gash across it and tearing her shirt. Ranma
fell to her knees and rolled
as Shampoo attempted to stab her while she was down. Ranma
took the
opportunity to uppercut her and send her flying into a
nearby tree. The girl
cried out as she felt her back slam into the tree. She
slumped unconscious.

Ranma looked at her for a moment before walking away.

+++++++++++

A few minutes later Shampoo woke with a start. "Why didn't
she kill me?" she wondered as she inspected herself. "Maybe
she can't." she smiled at her opponent's weakness.

+++++++++

Ranma walked on and met her father on the outside of the
town they had stayed in before Shampoo had attacked. Genma
ran up to her with a sign that said. "Son I'm so glad your
safe!"

Ranma glared at him and turned her back. She walked away
with Genma following; she neither acknowledged his presence
or tried to turn him away. She just walked on. She had a
long way to go to reach the pacific, and it would be almost
three days before Shampoo attacked again.

++++++++++

The next day Ranma found herself in a pitiful looking
village where people sat and watched her and her companions
go by. Children scurried away from her as she passed
through. They watched her as she walked by from around
corners and hidden in shadows. One boy just sat in the
middle of the street and stared off into the distance. She
walked up to him and looked down; he was pitiful, he just
sat and stared at nothing.

"Hey boy, you get hurt you stay
in road," she said in bad broken Mandarin. The boy was
startled and cowered in fear; a woman in one of the homes
started to move towards Ranma but was stopped by someone
inside. She let out a soft pained cry. She was obviously
this child's mother and the boy was blind.

Ranma felt her chest become tight. "Stand boy be man," she
pulled the boy to his feet and wiped his face; he placed
his hands on her face, and gently rubbed her features in
confusion. "Not how see, I show." Ranma clutched the boy's
head and closed her eyes; The boy cried out again in
surprise
and fear, he twisted in a vain attempt to break Ranma's
firm grip on his head.

The mother finally freed herself from the home and ran
towards the girl. Ranma's
hands glowed bright blue and the boy fell to the ground
unconscious.

"You killed my baby!" cried the woman as she held the
seemingly deceased boy in her arms. "I curse you traveler."

"I simply gave him what he deserved," said the sorceress as
she walked out of the village with a wry smile on her
face. "Now I know that spell works," she
thought. Genma and Ryoga just followed blindly, they had
seen this many times
before in other villages.

"You're going soft boy," said Genma's sign.

"Kindness is not a weakness," was her reply.

++++++++

The boy woke in his mother's arms as the woman wept
clutching him tightly. The village looked on in anger.
"Mom, there is something wrong with my eyes," the boy
sounded frightened and weak.

"Yes I know." The woman pulled away. "What?"

"She did something to my eyes mom!" he said as tears
streamed his eyes, he was crying in fear.

"You are alive!" cried the woman and she bent down to kiss
her son in joy. He pulled away reflexively. The woman
stopped and stared at him.
One of the villagers waved his
hand in front of the boy's face and he shied away. They all
looked at the figures that were disappearing over the
horizon.

+++++++++++

Shampoo stood and watched her prey for a moment as she
bought a small meal
from a local restaurant. She smiled as Ranma began to
eat. "I won't give you
the pleasure of a meal," she sneered and charged at her.

Ranma looked up from her beef fried rice as the wall of the
small restaurant crashed in revealing an angry
Shampoo. "Ranma I kill!" cried the Amazon.

Ranma uttered a single curse in frustration at the surprise
attack; She quickly back flipped over the counter and
landed next to the grill as Shampoo dove after her. Ranma
ducked causing the bonbori to slam into the grill
completely demolishing it. She rolled between the Amazon's
legs and kicked her in the back as she flipped back to her
feet. Shampoo was thrown against the hot grill; she
screamed and jumped off with a new rage etched into her
features. She dropped the bonbori and pulled out a nasty
looking sword and turned slashing at Ranma; the pigtailed
girl ducked and rolled away again causing Shampoo to take a
large section of the counter off. Ranma leapt over the
remains of the counter and rolled yet again barely avoiding
an attempt to catch her in mid-air. She
dashed out of the restaurant's front door. Once outside and
a fair distance away Ranma turned toward the restaurant
only to see it explode in a ball of fire.

++++++++++

She found herself poking around the remains of the business
an hour later. None of the customers had survived the
attack. She looked at the remains of the grill again. When
Shampoo had hit it with her bonbori she had damaged the
tank which held the fuel. The owner had been using one much
too large for the grill and it had exploded the moment the
gas came in contact with the pilot flame.

"She isn't here," muttered Ranma after searching the rubble and turning a few bodies; Shampoo had escaped.

Ranma took her things and walked towards where she had left
Mr.P and he father on the outskirts of town. She had learned the other
day that bringing animals into villages where people were starving was
dangerous, especially for the animals.

Shampoo smiled as she watched Ranma walk on from her perch
in the trees. She would kill her yet. She knew where she
was going and that was enough for now.

++++++++++

About a day later Ranma walked along a path that led
through some woods. She walked silently with the pig on her
back who secretly plotted her death, and a panda behind her
who sulked from being ignored. Ryoga had managed to get a
good-sized rock onto the top of the bag. He laughed his
little pig laugh as he pushed it towards the edge towards
Ranma's head. The top of the bag was about two feet above
Ranma's head and she would definitely feel the blow. Ranma
stopped and ducked suddenly and Ryoga looked over the edge
of the stone to see a branch swinging towards him. He
squealed and jumped into the air leaping over it. It
knocked the rock neatly off the pack and it rolled into the
bush. He landed back on the pack and looked at the branch
in terror as it swayed from its momentum.

++++++++++++++

Ranma walked until she felt something against her shin. She
looked down and saw a thin line that stretched across the
path. She ducked and felt something go over her head. She
also felt something fall of her back. "Mr.P!" she cried and
turned to see the branch swinging in the air. It was
covered in spikes. She tensed up and looked to the ground
and hoped she didn't see what she thought was there. She
heard a soft squeal from behind her and saw the pig
hyperventilating on her back as he stared at the spiked
branch. She sighed in
relief and cautiously continued on her path. She considered
going back but she
couldn't be sure how many traps she had missed, so she
pressed on and uncovered
several other lethal traps including one who had caught an
unfortunate traveler. She looked down the pit and saw a bag
that had red spikes protruding from it with arms and legs
also impaled on spikes jutting from the sides. A few
minutes later Ranma nearly killed herself by walking into
some nearly transparent wire that cut her cheek and arms
when she walked into it.

A few hours later Shampoo attacked again. Ranma narrowly
escaped again barely avoiding the girls blades by getting
on a small boat and floating away in
piranha ridden waters, and so it went for seven months.
Shampoo setting traps
when she could and ambushing Ranma at every turn, night and
day. Ranma resting
only when she had to and most of the time only barely
surviving the attacks and
traps.

Until one day...

++++++++++

Ranma desperately ran up the side of the mountain and
weaved around the
trees, she didn't know how far the Amazon was behind
her.

"Doesn't she ever give up?" she thought as she ran. She felt something in the air around her and
jumped straight up in the air. As soon as she was clear two
logs slammed into each other beneath her. She landed on them as they collided and jumped off to the side as a third log came down from above. She continued running until she
reached the top, when she reached it she could only stop
and stare at her precarious situation; She had come to a
cliff looking down Ranma saw fog below her about four
hundred feet down.

The ground was who knows how far below
that. She turned to see a battle scarred and tired looking
Shampoo standing below her about twenty yards away.
Shampoo's body was covered in almost as many scars as
Ranma's was, she looked crazed and angry as ever.

"Why you no die?!!!" she screamed as she charged Ranma.
The girl dodged and weaved from Shampoo's blows trying
desperately to find a way to escape. Ranma realized that
she was trapped, there was no where for her to run to this
time; she had to fight or die. Glancing around desperately
she hoped she missed something, any escape she might try;
unfortunately, there was none. She turned and stared down
the Amazon who stalked at her with cold, crazed,
determination; She glared at Ranma with the vacant
eyes that only the insane could posses.

It was obvious that Shampoo could see
the fear in Ranma's eyes. "No where run now coward, I kill
now." said Shampoo with and evil grin.

Ranma punched at the Amazon who grunted and slammed her in
the face with her bonbori. Ranma fell to her knees, and
something happened to her. She felt something snap.

She yelled in an inhuman battle cry and tuned on Shampoo; the
Amazon didn't even get a chance to react. She fought as
best she could but was easily over come by the enraged
Ranma. Shampoo fell to her knees after a devastating blow
to her face. She felt the bonbori slip from her hands.
Ranma looked at her and turned away she began walking along
the edge of the cliff towards the river where Shampoo had
ambushed her and her animal companions.

Shampoo looked at her hands and watched them shake in
terror and shocked rage; finally she screamed, she had
lost. She rose to her feet and pulled a small knife from
her robes. She looked at it and then Ranma, finally she
screamed again and charged at Ranma; She would win or die.

The pig tailed girl turned towards Shampoo's anguished yell
and sidestepped as the young girl charged her. She suddenly
remembered where she was and grabbed Shampoo's arm as the
Amazon tumbled off the edge of the cliff.

Ranma clung to Shampoo and felt herself being drug off the
edge as well. She looked into Shampoo's eyes and saw fear.
Shampoo's nails dug into Ranma's arm as she clung
desperately to her arm with her hand; her other arm flailed
about trying to find some purchase in the rocky cliff side;
Tears fell from her eyes as she looked down and felt the
hand of death in her heart.

"Give me your other hand!" said Ranma as she reached for
the other arm. Shampoo's expression changed in a split
second, she smiled evilly as Ranma reached lower in order
to save the young Amazon; just low enough.

"Die!!!" screamed Shampoo as she slashed at Ranma's throat
with the knife she had in her other arm. Ranma backed her
head away and Shampoo's slash missed by a hair. Shampoo
flailed and stabbed Ranma's arm angrily. Ranma cried out and
felt her hand go. Shampoo fell from her grip. "Dieeeeeee!"
screamed Shampoo as she fell; the look of rage never left her face.

"Noooooooo!" screamed Ranma as she reached for the Amazon's
fading figure.

Shampoo's last words were a curse to Ranma; she watched as
the Amazon fell seemingly hanging in the air for hours
before she finally vanished into the fog below.

Exhausted the sorceress lay on the ground and wept for a
moment. She looked at the knife in her arm for a moment
before she pulled it out slowly and screamed in pain. She
flipped it over in her hands and looked at it before
placing it in her shirt and standing shakily peering over
the cliff in silent mourning.

++++++++++

Ranma staggered into the small makeshift camp. The animals
looked at her as she walked up and sat down tired and
weak. "Its over...she is gone." That was all she told them;
with that she collapsed against he father's fur coat in
tears. Ryoga walked over and sat on her lap, he looked into
her eyes and sighed as best as he could. She settled and
went to sleep there.

Ryoga never tried to kill Ranma again after that day.

++++++++++++

"...and that is the story of Shampoo," finished Ranma as
she sighed deeply in an effort to control her
emotions. "After that I found my way back to Japan
without much incident." Ranma flipped the knife over in
her hands playing with it idly as she spoke.

Akane stared at Ranma with tears in her eyes. She said
nothing.

"Ya, know it's funny, even after every thing she
did to me I still felt terrible about her death. I never knew how hard it was to kill someone." Ranma lay back in her chair and closed her
eyes.

"You didn't kill her; she died because she stabbed you."
Dr. Tofu was still a bit shocked about the whole thing.

Ranma rubbed the scar on her arm absently. "No...I could
have held on to her and pulled her up, the reflex I got
from the stab was to squeeze tighter. Sure my arm would
have been cut a little from that Psycho. I made a conscious
decision to let her go," Ranma looked reflective, "I
remember that decision more clearly than anything else."

"Ranma...If it helps...you did the right thing." said Akane
quietly as she grabbed her around the neck, Ranma was
flustered for a moment and recovered when she was released
before the girl noticed.

"I admire your strength to keep from doing it for so long."
Tofu frowned and looked away from the two girls for a
moment, "Even if I don't agree with your decision."

"Dr. Tofu?" Akane was shocked.

"I am a doctor Akane. I value all life. Even though I admit
I would not have been that strong myself." said Dr. Tofu
deep in his own thoughts.

"What am I going to do about Mousse?" thought Ranma as she
drifted off to sleep again.