Chapter 6: That which does not kill me, hurts like heck.

Somewhere in China:
Plum was, in most respects, an ordinary young girl. She had a small collection
of dolls and loved her father very much. Her father's choice of living places
was not that ordinary however, for they lived in one of the most dangerous
places on the face of the earth.
The danger wasn't physical like say, in a mine field, but more elusive.
Her father was the guide to the pools of sorrow, a most dangerous place unless
the pools gave you their blessing. Plum had received that blessing in the first
year of her life and so was not troubled by the pools anymore.
Anyone who looked at the smiling nine year old wouldn't be able to find
anything different between her and most other nine year olds around the globe.
If by some chance they had caught her after her bath they might be surprised.
None of these matters where on Plums mind today however, today was a day
of fun, her father had been called away to the Amazon village and so she had
free run the cursed valley. At the moment she was chasing a butterfly, not a
care in the world, until she tripped and fell. Getting up and brushing her self
off she took a moment to try and figure out where she had wound up.
It seemed that she was near some of the older pools, a place she hadn't
visited much in her young life. With the curiosity of all young children she
edged closer to the pools.


Tendo Dojo:

It was perhaps an act of fate that the two cabs pulled up to the Tendo
home at the same time. Nodaka's cab had been held up because of construction
while Setsuna's cab had broken several speed laws to arrive in time.
Both women ignored the other cab and raced for the main door, reaching it
at the same time. The both only noticed each other when they both reached for
the handle at the same time. Startled they both cast a quick glance at each
other before a scream from inside reminded them of their mutual destinations.
With out another glace they both hurried inside, both concerned for the same
person.

Inside it was like a scene from the bombing, the ground was scorched black
and radiated heat. The house looked undamaged, but the creaking and groaning of
stressed timbers reassured no one.
"They must be in the back." Nodaka stated, speaking for the first time.
"Lead the way."

The damage in the rear of the property was much worse, the Dojo had been reduced
to ashes and all the water in the small pond had boiled away. It looked like a
firestorm had washed over the place, but strangely it hadn't touched the house.
"Ranma! Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" Nodaka franticly yelled, hopping to find
some survivor of whatever had occurred.
"Auntie…?" the voice was faint but it was defiantly Kasumi's. Both women
quickly moved towards the origin of the voice. They found Kasumi huddled up
against one of the walls of the house, her expression a mixture of shock and
sadness.
"Kasumi! Where are the others? Where is Ranma?" Nodaka was worried about
the other Tendo girls and most especially her son. Kasumi just collapsed into
Nodaka's arms, weeping.

It had taken nearly two hours but they had finally they had finally
managed to calm Kasumi down, during that time Setsuna had found the other
members of the Tendo Dojo, all unconscious. Setsuna was more worried about
Kasumi, from Ranko's tales she could gleam that Kasumi was the only person to
care about her. Seeing someone who had befriend her sister in such a state was
tearing Setsuna up inside but it was nothing compared to what Nodaka was going
through, after she was a mother who's only child was missing.
Nabiki and Akane would be sleeping for a while yet, Genma and the others
weren't expected to awaken for at least a day. Nodaka had called Dr. Tofu and
he was hurrying over.
Once the immediate crisis was passed Nodaka turned to Setsuna.
"What's your relation to my son?"
Setsuna sighed as she contemplated how to answer.
"I have never met your son. I have on one occasion met your daughter."
"You must be mistaken, I have no daughter."
"We have more important things to worry about right now, such as, what
happened here?"
Both women turned Kasumi, expectant looks on their faces. Kasumi just
stared into her tea cup, not meeting their looks.
"It was Ranma. Something happened and it was just too much, Ranma
snapped." Both Setsuna and Nodaka shared a look of disbelief. Neither could
think of their Son/Sister doing such a thing.
"Kasumi dear I don't understand, Ranma would never do such a thing to any
of you."
"I know auntie but I don't think she knew quite what she was doing. Their
was so much pain in her eyes
"Why do you call Ranma a she?" Nodaka was trying, desperately, to make
some sense of the whole situation.
Kasumi seemed to shrink in on herself. "Taro came by, he had this magic
ladle that caused people to be stuck in their cursed forms. He and Ranma fought,
Ranma won but Ryouga grabbed the ladle and splashed Ranma-kun with it."
"Ranma has been locked in his cursed form before. Nothing like this has
happened before."
"Ranma had never been betrayed like this before, add that to everything
else and Ranma just snapped."
"What could have driven my child to this extreme, I thought things had
settled down a bit."
"Wha…?" All three women glanced at Nabiki as she struggled to sit up.
Kasumi rushed to help her sister. Nodaka turned her attention to Setsuna.
"I don't think we have been introduced, I'm Satome Nodaka. Ranma's
mother."
"I am Meio Setsuna, a friend of Ranko Satome."
"Looks like the Baka has found himself another slut."

Authors End Notes: Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter but I have been
busy. I would just like to go on record as being Anti-Akane, I guess you could
blame the arch-angel Zen for that. I would also like to say that I enjoy stories
where Ranma either becomes VERY powerful or just goes through hell and learns
some manners.
Look for my other story Ranma: The Immortal coming soon.
C&C Can be sent to me at big_scary_guy@hotmail.com