The Three Saotomes
Part 8
Two Tales from China; part one.
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Ranma sat across from Soun and Genma and sighed. "It all started when I entered a small fishing village on the northern coast of China. It was called Xianshin.
Genma frowned; he remembered the village well. "Son, I don't think..."
"Shut up old man, he needs to know this," replied the boy firmly.
Genma paused when the boy's hair started to rise slightly. He had been about to scold him on respecting his elders and start a fight in order to distract him. His skin went white at the boy's reaction and he shut up immediately.
"Please, continue," prodded Soun.
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"Where the heck am I?" said Ranma as he stood outside the small village. He had heard rumors of an unusual style of kung fu that was famous in the region. He wandered into the street along a small but crowded market and glanced around a bit. After a moment he stopped one of the villagers and spoke to him. "You speak Japanese?"
The older man paled at the phrase and backed away in terror screaming something the boy didn't recognize. He paused after a moment and realized that everyone was looking at him with mixed emotions of fear and anger.
After several moments of backing away nervously he started to edge his way back out of the village. "Uh oh."
"Who are you? What do you want here?" said a young voice from behind him. He slowly turned and faced a pair of teens around his own age. A girl who looked slightly older than him with blond hair and a green silk kung fu uniform was standing next to a black haired boy dressed in brown pants with a bare chest.
"Uh, look I don't want any trouble. I'm kind of lost, I'm Ranma Saotome, and I'm told there is a village near here that practices a rare form of kung fu. I was hoping for directions."
Both teens relaxed slightly and stared at him a little less hatefully. "Well, you've found it. Now leave," said the girl.
"Huh? But I..."
"Look pal, we don't take too kindly to your kind around here. Now get out," said the boy with a smirk appearing on his face.
"I came an awful long way, is there someone else I can talk too?" said Ranma with a small frown on his face.
"No," was the unanimous reply.
"All right, fine," Ranma turned away from the pair and started his way out of the village. There were a few farms outside of town. Perhaps he could find someone to teach him there? He wasn't in the mood for a confrontation.
"Coward," muttered the boy as he watched he foreigner leave.
"Come now brother, he is a foreigner, but I doubt if he was a coward. The village must be protected from their kind, but I doubt if he was as bad as our visitors a few generations back." The girl tossed her hair over her shoulder and snorted.
"You're going soft," commented the boy snidely. "Come on, let's go home. Grandfather is waiting."
"I'll show you soft!" replied the girl as she followed behind him.
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"Please leave this place. Go to the west if you must seek out training. There are many schools of kung fu in China," said the old man.
Ranma had found him training on the side of the road on top of a large rock. He was a tough looking old man, muscular and dressed in a rather expensive looking purple robe. "But why? I've come such a long way!"
"Just to learn our style?" the man had a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Well, no," admitted the boy. "But I've heard a lot about this region since I came to China."
"Boy, this land is under a curse, no one of your land will ever be welcome here," said the old man finally.
"Curse?" Ranma was interested in this development. He had met with some hostility in China due to his native land, but had yet to come across it on this scale. He knew something was up.
"Yes, there is an old legend in this village concerning a Japanese man. You will not find a hospitable home for many miles. I'm sorry, but you must leave."
"I'm not that easy to get rid of," replied Ranma simply. "If you'll tell me where I can find someone else who can teach me away from here, I'll be glad to go there instead."
"There is no one," said the man simply.
"Then there's only one way for me to learn, isn't there?" Ranma raised his fists up and smirked at the old man. "Old man, I challenge you!"
"Amusing," replied the man as he stroked his long white beard and jumped down to the road.
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The blonde haired girl walked along side her brother with a pack full of supplies from the village. "So, Fei Wu, who is going soft now?"
The boy grumbled to himself and hung his head. He had a large shiner on his right eye. "Shut up Xianghua! You know grandpa would kill me if I hurt you!"
"Yeah right, a lame excuse," replied the girl with a distasteful snort.
The boy paused and shifted the weight of his own pack. "Hey, you hear something?"
"Yeah, it sounds like fighting!" said the girl as she instantly became alert.
The pair looked at each other and frowned. "Grandpa!"
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"Not bad old man!" said Ranma with a smirk as he wiped his chin with the back of his hand.
The man was silent as he stared the boy down and clutched his side. "That was one of my own techniques! This boy is more than he seems!" he thought in amazement. "How could he have learned it so fast? I only used it against him once!"
A fierce war cry cut the air around them. Ranma reacted instantly as a shadow formed over his head.
"Fierce Phoenix Claws From The Sky!"
The Japanese boy spun around and sent his fist forward while leaning back on his back leg super extending his front appendage as he raised fist above his head. "Dragon Defends From Mountain!"
Fei Wu's attack was from the air. He had his legs spread wide and his arm pointed downward with his hand in the shape of a claw. His attack missed completely as Ranma's counter slammed into his solar plexus.
The Chinese boy coughed as his eyes went wide in surprise. He fell over and landed on the dirt unceremoniously.
"No! Fei Wu!" screamed the blonde girl as she charged forward with her arms tucked at her sides.
Ranma turned in a defensive stance and frowned.
"STOP!" both teens froze at the commanding voice.
The old man glared at both of them. "Xianghua! How dare you interrupt my challenge!"
"What? Me? What about him?" screamed the girl as she pointed at her brother.
"I will scold him when he recovers!" snapped the man.
"Grandpa!"
"Grandpa?" repeated Ranma in confusion.
"He was gonna kill you!" snapped the girl.
"I was not! I wasn't even gonna hurt him much," snapped Ranma in defense. He blinked when he realized that he had understood the whole conversation. Hey, you're those two jerks from the village."
"Much?" the old man looked at him for a moment and then sighed. "I am impressed my boy. You only saw both those attacks for a moment, and you realized that one was the counter for the other."
"Grandpa?" the girl squeaked in surprise.
"I will teach you this style if you wish, however;" the old man was cut off by his granddaughter again.
"You can't!"
The man continued in a more firm voice ignoring her protests. "You must remain on this farm! You may not leave this place until your training is finished, no matter what! And then you will leave this place and head towards the west. Do I have your word on this boy?"
"Of course," replied Ranma. "From this day forward I will not leave here until our time is finished. After that I will travel to the west, I was planning on it anyway."
"Grandpa?" murmured the girl in shock.
"The training will be difficult, and it won't be free. You will work for your training."
"I am your humble servant Sifu," Ranma raised his hands and put his fist in his palm before giving the man a respectful bow. The old man noticed that he never took his eyes off of him.
"My name is Harowang Kun, you will continue to refer to me as Sifu."
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Time passed quickly on the farm. As it turned out, the grounds also housed a temple of some kind. Several of the villagers traveled to the small stone structure to speak with the old man over the course of the weeks. Ranma didn't find much of interest there and mostly worked in the fields during the day, in exchange for his nightly training. Harowang's grandchildren ran on a similar schedule and he found himself spending a lot of time with them. Weeks quickly turned into months and despite his initial meeting with them he found himself becoming fast friends with the pair.
Ranma had changed from his dogi to the more traditional clothes of the region. His simple shirt and loose brown pants made him almost look like a poor villager. He probably could have moved through the village freely now if he wished, that is if he didn't try to speak with anyone. He had been taught a few phrases and words just from constant contact with the Chinese family, but they hadn't even tried to teach him the language.
It was late one evening while he was sitting atop a large rock that rested near the edge of the fields that he found himself stargazing. He raised his fist and looked at it for a moment with a small frown. "I'll have to leave in just a few months, Pop and Genryu will be here soon."
"Missing home?" said a familiar voice from behind him.
"No, just family. I'll see them soon enough. They're coming to this country at the end of the year."
"Moving?" the voice sounded surprised. Xianghua sat down next to him on the large stone and pulled her knees up to her chest.
"Nothing like that, we're going to do a bit of traveling, and then return home again to Japan."
"Oh, I see," a small amount of disappointment was evident in her voice.
"How about you Little Mountain Girl? I hear there's a tournament in town in a few weeks." The name was something he had started to tease her with soon after his arrival. He had learned that Xian meant mountain and amused himself with her reaction. She had been more embarrassed than anything else.
"Actually, its tomorrow night," said the girl with a smirk.
"Hmm, time flies," said the boy with a small shrug.
"Ranma, do you think I'm pretty?"
The boy froze immediately. "What?" A cold nervous sweat started to form on his body as he lay and his gaze was becoming unfocused.
"Oh, sorry. It's not what it sounds like," said the girl with a small laugh. "You've always been nice to me. I didn't think about how that came out."
"Why do you ask?" replied the boy as he relaxed a great deal.
"Just some of the guys in the village. They think I'm a tomboy, I've been trained to fight, and I don't like prissing about like a lot of girls do. I'm just not into village life I guess."
"Someone caught your eye down there?"
"Sort of, there are a lot of cute boys really. I just don't seem to interest them much. I'm kind of worried about my future ya know? What if I can't find a husband or something like that?"
"Believe me, you'll have no problem with that," snorted Ranma with a smirk on his face.
"Well, aside from trying to kill me a few times after I first showed up, you haven't tried to hurt me. You're cute enough, and you've got all that training to keep you fit and attractive. I wouldn't worry myself too much in your position."
Xianghua hugged her knees closer to her chest with a pleasant murmur. "You're right I suppose."
"I like tomboys, normal girls are too soft for my taste really," Ranma continued to speak not quite realizing he could stop now.
Xianghua laughed at this. "I suppose I am asking the wrong guy about this kind of thing."
"Boy, ain't that the truth," muttered Ranma without even trying to defend his position. "I don't got much in the way of social interaction. "Maybe the girls in the village will help you out? If you want to be more feminine for somebody, they'd be the best people to ask really."
"Nah, I like who I am," said the girl with a small shrug.
"That's a good attitude to have."
The pair sat in silence for several moments just watching the stars.
"Ranma?"
"Yeah?"
"I lied," said the girl with a small frown on her face.
"About what?" said the boy in surprise.
"It was what it sounded like." She leaned on top of him and kissed him.
Ranma's nervous system went into complete shock, and he slid off the top of the boulder dragging her down with him into the dirt.
She laughed out loud and rolled over on top of him cuddling into his arms. He just lay where he was with a confused look on his face and continued to stare at the stars.
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Harowang fell to his knees hidden in the fields about a hundred yards away. "Xianghua?"
"Damn, who could have known she'd be that aggressive?" commented Fei Wu from beside him.
Harowang sobbed into his hands.
"Come on old man. He'll be gone soon enough. She'll be back to normal before we know it!" The boy tried to comfort his grandfather as best he could. "I'm sure Ranma won't do anything stupid. Besides, it's just the first date, my sister's aggressive, but not that aggressive!"
Harowang had not paid any attention to his grandson. "My little granddaughter! I never thought I'd see the day! My darling little Xianghua is becoming a woman! I'm so pleased!"
Fei Wu fell over into the dirt and pulled himself up. "Uh, grandpa, listen. There's this girl in the village I know. Her name is..."
"No! Absolutely not! You must keep your honor and purity until you are married! I won't allow such dishonor to soil our family!"
It was now Fei Wu's turn to cry. "But Grandpa!"
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The next morning Ranma woke up a little slower than normal, but managed to keep it within normal standards for him. He entered the small kitchen and smiled as he greeted the family within. "Mornin."
"Good morning Ranma," said Fei Wu with a slight scowl on his face.
"Something wrong buddy?" said the Japanese boy with a slightly nervous twitch in his eye.
Xianghua was busy cooking breakfast at the stove cheerfully.
Harowang smiled at him and leaned forward. "So, when are you planning to ask my permission to marry my granddaughter?"
Ranma saw Xianghua grow rigid suddenly. He felt the blood drain from his face and almost passed out in his chair.
"Grandpa! You were spying on us?" cried the girl in shock.
"But, it was just one little kiss!" screamed Ranma.
"Oh?" Harowang blinked in surprise. "You two seemed pretty busy after you fell behind that rock."
"Okay, so it was more than one kiss, but that's all!" snorted the boy with a blush on his face. He looked towards Fei Wu and noticed that the boy seemed pretty cheerful for someone who found out his sister had been molested by a foreigner.
"Tell me what it was like!" he mouthed to him from behind the old man's back.
"Oh man," grumbled Ranma as he hung his head. He turned to see that Xianghua had crushed the iron pan's handle in her hand and had yet to move or face them. Thinking quickly he blurted it out. "So? Can I marry her?"
"Of course! We'll set up the temple at once!" cried the old man cheerfully.
Xianghua turned to face him with an unreadable gaze on her face.
"I didn't mean right now!"
The girl relaxed again and both men seemed slightly disappointed at this, but they relented.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief at this and quickly vacated the home. He immediately went to work in the field and grabbed a hoe before going to work between the crops hacking and digging up weeds.
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Xianghua met him after several moments. "So, what are we going to do?"
"I'm not sure, what do you want?"
"I wouldn't mind it, I showed that much last night I thought. We don't exactly have real long courtship out here in the boonies kid."
Ranma rolled his eyes at this. "You're willing to marry someone you can still call 'kid'?"
"You're not willing to marry someone older?" retorted the girl lazily.
"I didn't say that! I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that!" he snapped.
"Think you ever will be?" she replied simply.
"Y-you're trying to talk me into this?" Ranma stared at her in surprise.
"Remember when I told you that there were a lot of cute boys in the village?"
The boy nodded dumbly.
"Well it was a lie. Someone like you only comes around once in a lifetime in a place like this Ranma. I'm not willing to pass that up for a little uncertainty."
"Just cause I'm cute huh?" snorted the boy with a humorous look in his eyes.
"And smart, and strong, and brave, and..." Xianghua began to tick off her fingers as she began to point out what she thought where his merits.
"All right, you're gonna make my ego explode. Keep talking like that and it'll go to my head," he replied with a smirk. "I'll do it just cause it'll piss my old man off, although I'll admit I've got other motivations."
"Like what?" said the girl with a twinkle in her eye.
Ranma briefly wondered if he should spoil the moment or not. "Cause I want to know what you've been hiding under all those baggy clothes!" He was off like a shot laughing his head off as the girl picked up the hoe he had dropped and chased him across the farm.
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Fei Wu smiled when he found Ranma on the boulder again that night. "I see you worked it out with my sister?"
"She was never really mad at me. I was just teasing her and she knows it."
"I wouldn't be too sure," replied the Chinese boy with a smirk.
Ranma sat up on a rock and stared into the distance. Several large mountains could be seen a day or two's walk away. Nestled between two of them in the east, was a large temple of some sort. "Say, I've wondered about that for a while. What is it anyway?"
"The reason you aren't welcome in the village. The final resting place of Wai Mei Kai."
Ranma felt a chill run down his spine at the sound of his friend's voice. "Sorry, I didn't know it was unpleasant."
"You'll hear the story soon enough. It's pretty famous around here."
"So it seems," commented Ranma. He had heard some mention of an evil place that rested in the mountains from the surrounding area, but tales of it were vague at best.
"Grandpa's got the temple set up for the wedding tomorrow you know," said the boy after a moment. "Just thought I'd warn you."
"He's awful gung-ho about this isn't he? I didn't expect him to be pleased that his granddaughter was in love with a foreigner, especially one from Japan."
"You're the first man she's ever shown any real interest in, and most of the village men are afraid of her. Grandpa was getting a little nervous about her preferences, if you catch my drift."
"Oh, I see," muttered Ranma lazily. "She's a little rough with them?"
"Someone grabbed her ass once, she broke his arm in three places and tried to rip his balls off; with her bare hands. He's lucky I was there."
"Ouch," commented Ranma a little nervously.
"Ah, don't worry about it, she likes yours a little too much to try that," replied the boy with a chuckle.
"That's not funny you pervert," snorted Ranma.
"Me and Xianghua are going into the village tonight for the tournament. It starts in a few hours. Wanna come?"
"I gave your grandfather my word of honor not to leave this place," replied Ranma simply.
"He asked me to ask you actually."
"I gave my word. I won't leave, even with his permission. When I do, I'll be heading west."
Fei Wu smiled at this and nodded. "I understand, I'll let them know."
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Ranma woke up the next morning and blinked as he realized that the two men were standing over his bed. "Huh? Wha?" he muttered as he rubbed at his eyes.
"Come on boy, its time to get married."
"Sifu? What time is it?"
"Why it's four a.m.! The love is filling the air as we speak!"
He was unceremoniously dragged from his bed and thrown onto the floor. They forced him to dress in an unfamiliar dark blue shirt and pants. They were made from silk and had a black dragon and phoenix patter woven onto the breast. After a moment he stumbled out into the kitchen and found an equally confused and tired Xianghua sitting at the table in a white uniform of the same design with gold embroidering instead of black.
"Gramps, what's goin on? It's early!"
"No time for breakfast! Hurry up children!" cried the old man as he and his son pushed them out the front door.
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Ranma woke up several hours late and jumped in surprise as he realized that the sun was already high into the sky. "Oh shit! I've got chores to do!" He bounded from the bed and removed his bedclothes quickly dressing in his work uniform. After a moment he rushed out the door to the small room and found himself disorientated for a moment. Finally he found himself out in the kitchen again and stopped when he noticed Fei Wu and Harowang sitting at the table.
"Mornin bro," said the Chinese boy as he sipped lazily at his tea.
"My, I wasn't expecting you up so early!" commented the old man as he did the same.
"Early? Sifu, what the heck are you talking about? I'm late as hell!" exclaimed the boy. He looked at Fei Wu and suddenly had the urge to slap him for some reason. He lifted his hand to his cheek subconsciously and shook the feeling off.
A bloodcurdling scream came from the back of the house catching everyone's attention for a moment.
Fei Wu and Harowang merely raised their eyebrows for a moment and looked at each other.
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Xianghua woke up from a rather pleasant dream. It involved Ranma and her in a beautiful wedding ceremony. For some odd reason, in the dream, her brother kept smacking him. In the end it went beautifully and they kissed.
Then a sudden movement woke her up. She sat up in bed and blinked. Ranma was standing on the end of her bed and quickly dressing himself with a panicked look on his face. "What are you doing in here?" she felt herself whisper groggily. He didn't seem to notice as he rushed out the door and looked around in confusion for a moment before vanishing down the hall.
She stood up and shook her head off. On her dresser was the first prize trophy of the tournament. Master Harowang's students always won, so it was no surprise that she and her brother had won their respective divisions. She had some good competition this year though. She stood up and scratched her head lazily as she suddenly remembered that she didn't know why Ranma was in her room. She hadn't been drunk last night, so she would have remembered if they had slept together. She paused and opened her dresser pulling out her clothes for the day. That was when she looked down.
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Ranma rushed in and jumped back in shock. "Hey! You were wearing that in that weird dream I had last night." A realization came to him and he looked at the floor. There in a pile, was the blue silk outfit that he had been wearing when he woke up.
Xianghua stared at him and smiled for a moment, then her face turned into pure rage. "Grandpa! I'm gonna kill you!"
"I'm sorry honey bunch! I just wanted to see my grandchildren before I died! You understand don't you?"
The girl rushed by Ranma and charged, chasing the unusually happy old man out of the house.
"Well, bro. I guess I'll see you later, got chores and all. You two just relax and have fun for the next couple of days." Fei Wu winked at him and turned away.
Ranma found himself staring at the floor in embarrassment. "Pervert."
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Another month came and went; all was peaceful with his life once again. Ranma Saotome had no idea how much that would change. Two familiar figures were making their way across China along a road that led north.
"Where the heck are we goin pop?"
"Come on boy, we have to meet your brother. He wrote me and told me where he was staying."
"That's great! Can't wait to see him again!"
"Genryu, don't act like such a girl!"
"Come on pop, he's much more fun to fight than a slow old man like you! Besides, I want to know if he's learned anything!"
"You'll learn respect soon enough boy!" cried Genma as he charged his son and engaged a lighthearted sparring match.
TBC...
Next Time: What the heck is Wai Mei Kai? Find out!
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
