Ch4: Untamed Neko

A big thanks to my pre-reader WarpWizard, he is doing a great job and everyone

should know it.

Welcome Neko-Shampoo

Soun sat outside the Tendo dojo on his lanai facing the koi pond, his back to

the house. In his hands he held a letter that he had been expecting for over a

year. He had been both dreading and hoping for the arrival of this very letter.

From the address he could tell that it had come from his old training partner

Genma, which meant that he had finally finished his training journey with his

son and was on his way to visit.

At least that was what he assumed; Soun didn't know anyone else who lived in

China and no one had addressed him as a master of the Tendo School of Anything

Goes since shortly after his wife had died. It shamed him to admit it, but he

had lost a lot of drive and focus after she had died. Without that drive and

focus, his school and family had fallen into disarray as he retreated from the

world in grief.

Soun tried to remember back to the last time he had seen Genma, eleven years

ago, right after they had sealed away their horrid Master and Genma left with

his son on their training journey. Ranma, when he returned, Genma vowed would be

a master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes. They would then join their

schools and families in marriage. Between his Tendo school and Genma's Saotome

school theirs would be the most deadly martial art in the world. Soun knew that

Genma would have raised his son to be a man among men so there would be no

question of their children not getting along.

From what he could remember of his friend Genma he had been the most honorable

and driven martial artist that Soun had known at the time, one that put the art

and the school in which he belonged before everything except for his family; as

it should be. In most cases though he tried to involve his family with his

school so priorities was a moot point.

Genma had been much like he himself had been in those days, which combined by

the harrowing training by their most unspeakable master, was why they had made

such an agreement. An arranged marriage would bring their families closer much

like the accursed master's training trips brought he and Genma closer together.

The benefits to their respective schools though could not be ignored.

So when Genma had finished training his son in his own family art, Genma had

promised Soun that he would bring his son to his dojo to fulfill their pledge.

There, Genma's son would meet and hopefully marry one of the Tendo daughters

uniting both families and schools. It had been a grand scheme and one that still

held appeal to him though not as much as it once did.

Only a year after Genma had taken his son on his training trip his wife had

tragically died. Soun wept at the memory, which was still fresh in his mind. The

aggressive tumor lodged in her brain had quickly stolen her life, leaving him

bereft of a wife and his three daughters bereft of a mother.

Over the years he had watched his three daughters close down as they coped on

their own in their own way, while he had closed himself off with grief. His

eldest Kasumi had taken over the household in an attempt to replace the vacuum

that they had and still all felt with the loss of Kamiko. His middle daughter

grabbed hold of the finances for the household and dojo since after his wife had

died Soun could not bear to do much of anything including continue teaching in

his dojo.

Finally his youngest daughter Akane found release in martial arts, something

that would have thrilled him just weeks before his wife's death. Now though it

left the taste of ashes in his mouth. What she practiced was not so much martial

arts but controlled violence and that Soun thought sadly to himself was his

fault. As the resident master of his dojo and the grandmaster over the style

that his youngest was supposedly learning it was shameful that he had let it

continue.

It was this reason that Soun had dreaded this very letter, the feeling of shame

that filled him whenever he thought of his actions over the years and the state

of his family. The fact that he had done nothing over the years but be content

to watch it all go on only made it worse. Soun had no doubt in his mind that

Genma would not have done such a poor job in his place. He would not have let

both his school and his family fall into such a pit of disrepair.

Soun without even reading the letter in his hands suddenly felt inspired to fix

his mistakes. To rebuild his school and his family, with Genma's help he would

not have to do it alone. Genma would help his old friend and training partner

rebuild his school and family, he would provide the necessary backbone and

encouragement needed to move on and finally live life again. Soun stopped his

reminiscing and plan making in wonder, was this what he had been waiting for all

along, the return of his old friend and training partner to help him pick up the

pieces. Was he that dependant on others after his wife's death?

Soun sighed and opened the letter. Immediately he knew that something was wrong,

the friend that he remembered was more likely to write just enough to make

himself understood even if it meant leaving most of the letter blank. Something

along the lines of 'bringing my son to visit - Genma' or even 'bringing Ranma -

Genma', the letter from China was a fairly lengthy in comparison. His stomach

churning in trepidation Soun started to read the letter.

His shoulders slumped as he read of his friend's death but picked up again at

the news of his son still visiting. Ranma was still coming despite his father's

death, Soun shook his head, he should never have doubted the boy after all he

was his father's son. Soun had no doubt that he had grown up to be as honorable

as his father- perhaps even more so if that was possible.

Soun's frown turned into a grin of anticipation, after such a lengthy training

trip Ranma must be quite skilled. Despite mourning his friend's passing Soun was

still a martial artist at heart and nothing stirred his blood more than a

healthy display of skill, something that his youngest daughter lacked. She

instead preferred relying on her almost inhuman strength and brawn.

It was the end of an era in some respects; he and Genma would never again have

the grand adventures or go on the grueling training trips that they once did.

Genma's death and the master's imprisonment made sure of that. 'Still', he

thought, 'It's for the best, leaving such things to the younger generation -

life was supposed to go on after all and people did tend to grow old.' Soun

thought while easing his aching back.

It was past time for him to fix some of his mistakes and once again become the

master that he had once been. He couldn't bear for Genma's only son to see what

he had become after the years since his wife had died. While as a fellow master

of Anything Goes he could rely on Ranma to help him in school matters, the rest

required his own attention.

Well, the first mistake he needed to rectify was to inform his daughters of the

arranged marriage. Soun braced himself: this would not be pretty.

"Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane. Kasumi!!"

"Yes daddy?"

"Nabiki!!"

"Mmm?"

"Akane!! Where is that girl? I've an important announcement to make." 'Nabiki

will get her', he thought as he made his way to the table waiting for the rest

of his family. They were good girls he decided; maybe they wouldn't baulk as

much as he thought.

"The son of a very good friend of mine and a master of the Saotome school of

Anything Goes will be arriving soon," Soun started as his family gathered around

him. "I received word today that his father died in some sort of a training

accident on their 11 year training trip, so he is coming to visit. "If one of

you girls were to marry him and carry on the dojo then the Tendo and Saotome

family legacy would be secure."

"Wait a minute, don't we have a choice about who we marry!!" interrupted Akane.

'mmm' thought Soun as his daughters baulked 'Maybe I was mistaken. Well, it's no

more than I deserved for letting such matters slide.'

"Akane's right daddy, we haven't even met him," stated Nabiki as she joined the

argument. "Do you know anything else about him other than he is the son of your

dear departed friend and a master of our sister school?" 'Maybe Nabiki can be

turned around with some persuading,' Soun thought as he considered his middle

daughters response.

"Well actually, his letter was a little short and lacking in detail, but since

he is coming to visit there will be plenty of time to become acquainted. From

what he mentioned in his letter his training trip took him all around the world.

As soon as he gets back from China, you can ask him to fill in some missing

details." 'Hook, line and sinker, well that's definitely got Nabiki interested

but Kasumi's been awfully quiet and I don't think I'll ever be able to persuade

Akane.'

"Wow!" 'Maybe he's rich,' thought Nabiki 'If he spent ten years tripping around

he has to have some resources I can use.'

"Yeah right a master, I bet I could beat him in a fight," 'Stupid father and his stupid ideas,

just another pervert boy to deal with,' Akane thought, remembering the Hentai

brigade that she dealt with every morning. 'What's worse is he's going to be

living here.'

"How old is he? Younger men bore me." Kasumi was a little annoyed at her father

for engaging one of them like this, on such short notice too. She was a little

hopeful that she would have someone her own age to talk to, with all the chores

she had little time to devote to herself or to a social life, still, she had

hoped for a little romance before marriage.

Thankfully he was saved from any further protests from his three daughters by

knocking at the door. "Ah, we have visitors." 'Can that be him already?' "Kasumi

could you kindly escort our guests to the table."

________________________________________________________________________

Ranma absorbed the atmosphere of the surrounding district as he headed to the

Tendo dojo; it had become a habit for him. Not only did it highlight any trouble

spots and potential meals but it also gave him an idea of the area's layout in

case he was attacked unexpectedly.

He could feel all the chi signatures that marked the populace, with the stronger

ones marking the martial artists. There were a few darker signatures that

represented his usual menu of drug lords, crime bosses and mass murderers, which

bore looking into. Though only the darkest of them would find themselves on his

list and only then if there were no other available food, a doubtful scenario in

civilization but it had happened.

Apart from the darkest of the auras, which he always took a note of when

entering a new area, they're only a few others worth noticing. These were the

unusually large or focused ones that represented skilled martial artists or

other professional athletes, Ranma hoped that among those few was Soun Tendo -

the master of the sister school to his own.

It would be a big disappointment if Soun proved to be a whole lot less skilled

than he himself was. His school had a reputation as being the best to maintain

after all. His school, now that he had completed his training trip and fully

mastered his fathers techniques he considered himself a master of his own

school. Certainly no one had questioned his skill in years.

At his side strode his constant companion over the last six years. Tef mery Bast

had been someone whom he could always rely on. She was someone that he could

always talk to and someone who understood him, at least as much as he let anyone

understand him. He was a little disappointed when she declined his offer of

learning martial arts but then he didn't blame her. The harshness of the

training regime he put himself through would he supposed seem a little insane to

a someone who wasn't serious about practicing the martial arts and her ordeal as

a child made her shy away from any violent confrontations.

That's not to say that she had been idle over the last six years. Once she

became used to the constant traveling she had turned her mind on the burning

question of why. Why had those people been so willing to try and kill her back

then? It didn't matter to him, he just accepted that it did happen and moved on.

Tef though was almost as driven as he himself was when it came to martial arts.

Ranma shrugged, she had needed something to occupy her mind while he focused on

his martial arts and so he had supported her as much as she did him. It wasn't a

totally wasted effort either, Tef had become just as good at judging and dealing

with non-combat situations as he had at combat ones. She had helped avoid more

than one stupid confrontation though that's not to say he shied from conflicts,

just that he disliked pointless ones.

Ranma grimaced; on the first half of his training trip it was always a dream to

become the best martial artist in the world though now he no longer claimed to

be a martial artist of any kind. Shampoo claimed that title and seeing her act

like she did in the name of martial arts still soured his stomach remembering

her actions, but at least he had been able to place a limit on her actions.

A savage smile lit up his face; a nice friendly threat to wipe out her village

if she continued to involve bystanders in her attempt to kill him had been

enough to curb her more excessive behavior. Not even Tef was truly aware of what

he was capable of these days and shampoo had bought his bluff. Shampoo had long

since focused her attempts in trying to kill him; the beatings that he gave her

were more severe if she went after Tef or involved bystanders.

"Are you sure we have the right place Ranma?" Tef asked quietly at his side. He

looked down at his traveling companion and smiled. Tef had grown to be quite

beautiful over the years, not that she would show the world - she had learnt

that lesson when she was ten.

Instead she dressed in a heavy coat that hid a lot of her features, enough of a

disguise to pass all but the closest scrutiny. "In all of our travels we have

only found one other school of Anything Goes, and it is too big a coincidence

that it is the Tendo school." He replied to her question still remembering his

fathers last words "I'm sorry Tend...".

Ranma sighed, it was a wonder that Tef had stayed with him all these years - he

still didn't know why she did. He didn't think that it was because she had

nowhere else to go; Tef was smart enough to be able to make something of herself

without him. Still they had spent all of the previous year trying to track down

her family and the rest of her people albeit unsuccessfully. Not that he

complained, Tef was like a sister that he had never had.

Ranma noticed Tef eyeing the crowds nervously as they walked along and stepped

closer to reassure her. "There is no one around that can harm you Tef,"

reminding her of his chi blanketing technique. While he could detect a few

larger and more focused than normal Ki signatures, none of them were in his

league or directed towards them.

Tef just looked up at Ranma and mumbled, "That's what you said last time, just

before Shampoo attacked us." It was perhaps to be expected that others would

find counters to his techniques eventually, he found counters to other people's

techniques easily enough. It was also a casual reminder not to become dependant

on the one technique, which was incidentally what his school tried to teach.

It was also dangerous to assume that any opponent was stupid, which is an easy

way to get killed. Shampoo had been his sparring partner for six years and even

though she was trying to kill him and her actions sometimes he found

reprehensible Ranma had to respect her fighting ability. Those abilities kept

him from becoming too complacent and also gave him an opportunity to try out

some of his less lethal styles.

"I'm pretty sure we left her in China Tef, we have a couple of weeks at least

before we should start expecting an attack." Ranma wasn't worried, even though

Shampoo had improved greatly over the years and sometimes had him worried by

some of the techniques she picked up, their fights weren't as close as she

sometimes liked to think. His control over the Neko-ken was always improving and

he had not been idle in his training over the years either.

For most of his training journey, Ranma had been pondering what he would do once

he had finished. When his father died, he had been driven to learn and master

his father's school. He would he decided continue on as a master where his

father would have before him, being the best martial artist in the world his

school would flourish under him.

Once he met Tef and Shampoo, his plans for the future changed. He still wanted

to become a master of his school but the first meeting between himself and

Shampoo had him rethinking his future. He was still determined to take control

of his father's school but was it even possible with who he was? Did he want to

be associated with martial artists when here was an example of a master martial

artist that behaved against the ideals he himself held dear?

It was then that he had discarded the vague title of martial artist. Shampoo he

considered a martial arts master and he didn't want to be placed in the same

category as her. That one bad impression had ruined it for him; all the other

good impressions he had seen over the many years and would continue seeing would

not change his view. Since Shampoo was always there to remind him why it was

that he had discarded the title of martial artist.

Once ten years was finally up, marking the end of his training journey and his

ascension to master of the Anything Goes school of martial arts he had turned to

his traveling companion. She had been there for half of his journey, sharing the

hardships and adventures and he wanted to try to give back some of the support

that she had given him.

So for the next year they once again scoured the world, starting in Israel they

searched for her family and people. They had been unsuccessful in finding anyone

but they had heard some rumors. Rumors of slavers, slave traders and slavery

rings. Were her people were bought and sold, often for cheap labor. It was this

life that she had been saved from by an odd coincidence.

Still at the end of that year with no reliable leads he had wanted to find what

was left of his own family, his mother. Tef had been grateful for his help in

searching for her family, but with no reliable leads and plenty of dead ends she

had encouraged him to go find his mother. The search for her people could be

postponed temporarily. 'Who knows' she had said to him 'we may stumble across a

lead in Tokyo while trying to find your mother.'

That is how the two of them came to be standing in front of the Tendo complex.

Ranma looked sideways at Tef, "Well I guess there's nothing to it but to knock,

I hope he received my letter."

________________________________________________________________________

Shampoo knelt in supplication before three old women. It was an effort, to kneel

- for two reasons. Firstly it meant that she had failed, an admittance of the

need for help. Shampoo had been on the road since she was ten, she had

constantly battled both the cat demon and the obstacle demon and while she had

never won convincingly, she had was not dead, which meant she had never

completely lost either.

Throughout those six years on the road, Shampoo had learnt things she doubted

the women in front of her with the exception of her great grandmother had even

dreamed of. She had gained power enough to match any one of these women, though

not all three of them. Not once had she needed to ask for help of any kind. That

she needed to now was a failure on her behalf.

Secondly kneeling before these women, all three matriarchs of the Amazon nation

only meant one thing. Judgment and punishment was about to metered out. No, she

was not enjoying this experience at all. The fact that there was a body of

people that held ultimate power over her did not sit well with Shampoo. She had

spent far too long living an independent life. She followed them though, since

this was her home and despite being a match for anyone of these women in power,

skill-wise she still had a lot to learn from them.

"We have been expecting you to return for a while now, Shampoo. Six years is a

long time for a hunt. You have failed in your vengeance quest and what is your

excuse, 'the demon has gained a formidable ally'." Cologne looked at the women

on either side of her before continuing, "We have decided that I will accompany

you as you continue your quest, offering what aid I can. While you have become

powerful don't think that you can match 3000 years of Amazon tradition. We hold

some unbeatable techniques that are the province of we three alone.

Before we continue on your vengeance quest, it only remains to declare your

punishment for failing so miserably. It has been discovered that this 'demon'

ally is nothing but a mere male who has been trained in the Neko-ken. Pitiful

that you've been on the run from a male, for six years." The last was said in

disgust. "Your punishment is somewhat appropriate then, and may even aid you in

some small way." With a cackle and a splash of water were once stood Shampoo in

supplication now lay a small purple haired cat.

"So the boy has shown that he can stand up to a warrior, that's noteworthy, he

would have provided a good husband for her. It's a pity that he has allied

himself to demon spawn and therefore must be crushed. He may have thwarted

shampoo's attempts at vengeance but he will wilt before a true matriarch bearing

the power of 3000 years of Amazon tradition." The sound of three ancient women

cackling echoed across the village drowning out the pitiful meowing of a

confused kitten.

A/N - It should be noted that Ranma makes a firm distinction between

belonging to or mastering a school of martial arts and being a martial artist.

In his mind he belongs to and is the master of the Saotome School of Anything

Goes while Shampoo is a martial artist.

- If Genma is an honorable man despite the Happosai's training then chances are

Soun is too.



-Soun would assume that Genma only died recently if he only just got news that

he had died. He would have no reason to believe otherwise.

- You may ask why Shampoo even bothered returning to the Amazon village? Well it

should be obvious that it is her home, and the home of some very techniques that

cannot be found anywhere else.