Disclaimer: MWUHAHAHA!!! I DO OWN IT, I DO! But, as per my world-domination-management-plan, you just don't realise it - you think I don't own it! I own EVERYTHING! [Excuse the rants - he's completely delusional] SHUT UP!
A/N: Just so you know, I didn't include the Kempo references because (in the anime) Ranma mentions going to China to learn Kempo - I included Kempo because I do actually learn Kempo. However, I'm going to refrain from actually using the names of the techniques (particularly the soft techniques) and instead just describe them in detail. Thank you in advance for your patience.
" " - speech
' ' - thoughts
[ ] - BalanceKeeper's alternate thoughts
* * - mental suggestions
Tales of the BalanceKeeper: Planetouched 1/2
Chapter 2 - Of Explanations and Form-Alteration
"I guess I owe you an explanation...."
Ranma nodded dumbly, and Akane glared at the .... person, in front of them. Said person smiled sheepishly, the elongated canines stealing the intended effect.
"Ok, I make you a deal - I give you my explanation, and you," Chris pointed at Ranma-chan, "give me yours. Deal?"
Again, Ranma nodded dumbly. Akane switched her glare to her fiance. 'Say something idiot!'
Chris gave no indication he could pick up that stray thought, so instead he asked, "Ok, but can we go somewhere we can get a drink, as well? This could take a while."
For the third time, Ranma just nodded. Dumbly. Akane felt her battle aura rising.
"Ok, let's go then." Chris started off in the other direction, hoping to distract the increasingly-annoyed Akane with some physical activity.
Ranma finally broke her silence, "Wait."
"Hmm?" Chris looked over his shoulder. {A/N: Think Wanderer from Seiken Densetsu 3, minus the hat and dagger}
"You can't walk around like that."
"Hmm, indeed not. If you'll just give me a minute, I'll be presentable."
Akane took this opportunity to check on Kuno - after all, it would be annoyingly troublesome if Kuno was dead. Ranma was still curious about the strange entity before her though.
"Why do you need a minute?" She honestly couldn't understand the need for a minute.
Chris considered what answers he could give, ranging from plucking something out of the air to the truth, and decided the truth would be more believable than anything else.
"Well Ranma, I've got a few options available to me. First, I could manipulate all the minds around me into believing that I look completely normal. This is rather tiring though, and has other complications - everyone's got a different view of what's normal, and I could accidentally screw up their perception of reality permanently. Worse, I could end up doing the same to myself. And it's not really the sort of thing I feel comfortable with doing." [Of course, not the sort of behaviour an upstanding Lightsider like yourself should engage in] 'Exactly, now shut up', "Like I said though, I have another option." [Two, actually] 'Fine, two, but they don't need to know the last one' [What happened to _the truth_?] 'Oh shut up. Let me do the thinking!' [Of course, I'm overqualified for that job.] 'You are so lucky you're a necessary part of my being'.
Ranma's eyes were beginning to glaze over by now. Akane, who had returned from her Kuno examination, elbowed Ranma in the ribs. The glazed look disappeared, replaced by a betrayed look which she shot at Akane. Akane was blissfully unaware. Miffed, Ranma returned her attention to the BalanceKeeper, who had started speaking again.
"My other option is to force-grow - well, force-regress, as this hybrid form is my body's true form - my body back into my human form. This is not difficult to do, nor especially dangerous, but it's damn bloody painful if I do it too quickly - that's what the minute's for. Ok?"
"Yeah, ok then."
"Good stuff."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five minutes later, Ranma-chan, Akane and a now-fully-human-looking BalanceKeeper were walking towards one of the non-martial-artist-owned resturants in the area. Ranma and Akane both had decided that going to Ucchan's or the Cat Cafe would be more trouble than it's worth. Chris, still unfamiliar with the situation Ranma was stuck in, decided not to argue - he was the tourist of the party, after all, and it's rude for a tourist to disagree with their local guides.
They found one to their liking, and ordered their drinks.
"A kettle of hot water please." This drew a puzzled look from Chris.
"Peach water, please." Akane's order was a bit more standard.
Chris decided to try a long shot, "Ginger Ale, if you've got it."
The waitress (not unattractive, a fact lost on Ranma but which earn't him a glare from Akane anyway) confirmed their orders, "A kettle of hot water, a peach water and a ginger ale? Ok, be right back."
She left, and Chris turned his attention from her back to his tablemates. "Ok, where should I start....."
Ranma spoke up abruptly, "You're a martial artist, right? Kempo, if I'm not mistaken...but you've also done Karate, and that makes some of your movements a bit more blocky than they should be...." Ranma demonstrated surprising eloquence, as she often did when discussing martial arts seriously.
It was a good thing their drinks hadn't arrived yet, because Chris would have choked in surprise. As it was, he did a double-take.
"Yeah, that's right, on both counts...but, how did you know the styles? Are they practiced here?"
Ranma nodded, and Akane elaborated, "Kempo's pretty widely practiced here."
"So you two have trained in Kempo?"
Ranma shook her head, "No, we both train in the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts. It's a freeform style that uses bits from other styles."
Chris nodded sagely, "Sounds a lot like Kempo."
"It is, but it's more too...." Ranma trailed off as she considered that.
"We've both been training pretty much our entire lives, but Ranma's father is a bit more intense in his training of Ranma than my dad was." Akane said to fill the silence.
"Yeah, pop's idea of a trainin trip is what got me this curse." Ranma fumed, her eloquence stolen by the thought of her father-turned-panda.
"Curse?"
The drinks had arrived by now, so Ranma picked up the kettle. "Let me show you." and dumped it over her head. Which shortly became _his_ head. Chris did choke this time.
When he got control of his breathing again, he asked, "Curse eh? Water-based curse....interesting...."
"Yeah, Pop and me were wanderin through China," [CHINA! It exists here?!] 'Would seem. Now shut up, I'm listening to Ranma.'. "when we reached this dreaded training ground called Jusenkyo....or at least, that's what we would've known if Pop could speak Chinese! Anyway, we get up on the poles there - Juseknyo's made up of cursed springs - and start sparrin. I get a good hit in, and send Pop flyin into one of them. Next thing I know, this panda flys out and knocks me into one of the springs. The guide we had explained that each spring carries a curse, and that whoever falls in will take the shape of whatever drowned in it. Pop fell into a Spring of Drowned Panda, and I fell into a Spring of Drowned Girl. So now, whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl, and hot water turns me into a guy again."
[I think he means Spring of Drowned Large-Busted Red-Headed Girl, eh?], 'How about we leave it at just Girl for now.', "You mentioned that your father turns into a panda - how many others have got this curse?" [You're thinking about that panda earlier?] 'Yeah....but I'll wait a bit for that.'
Ranma thought for a second, "Well, there's me, an Pop. And there's Pantyhose Tauro..." Chris sweatdropped at the name, [What kind of parent calls their kid Pantyhose?!], 'A parent I'm intensely glad is not mine.', "and there's Ryogaaaa, uh, uh..." at this point Ranma suddently remembered Akane was right next to him.
Akane just waved it off, "I've known for a while Ranma - I'm just waiting for him to admit it himself."
'Wow, she's pretty calm about it' Ranma thought - and it must've shown on his face, because she suddenly smiled sweetly, saying "_Then_ I will beat the daylights out of the pigboy."
Ranma snickered as the image of Akane belting Ryoga half to death came to mind. Sobering a bit, he continued, "And Shampoo. And Mousse too. Yeah, that's all of them."
Chris was shocked - that gorgeous young woman he'd met earlier carried a curse similar to Ranma? Potentially kinky, especially if she had the female equivalent of Ranma's curse.. [No, that's not kinky, that's TWISTED!!], 'True, true...hopefully though, she changes into something else.' He snapped out of his musing as he noticed a familiar young man enter the resturant.
"Mousse? Tallish lad, long black hair, thick glasses, truly odd outfit that allows him to hide his hands up his sleeves?" Chris asked mildly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because he just walked in."
Ranma spun around and almost fell out of his seat when he saw Mousse right behind him. Mousse smiled humourlessly at his reaction. His voice was low, even and menacing. It seemed to have lost its occasional high-pitch lately.
"Don't worry Saotome, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him." he pointed at the still-drinking BalanceKeeper.
Finishing his drink, Chris regarded the outwardly-calm young man before him. [Yeah, he's calm on the outside, but he could flash boil water with that anger inside] 'You think I don't know that? Just gotta try to calm him down', [Good luck].
"Why me?"
"Because I will not allow you to take Shampoo away from me!" Mousse suddenly exploded, jumping back from the table, his hands disappearing into the folds of his robes. Chris decided to be reasonable.
"Shampoo? Oh yes, Xian Pu. Lovely girl. But Mousse, I wouldn't take anyone away from anyone - it's her choice after all, isn't it?" He paused here, but when he saw the looks on both Ranma and Akane's faces, he realised that it might not be the case. Resolutely, he continued onward, "Besides, I only just arrived here - how was I to know she's taken?" He let an edge bleed into his voice now, "And if you think that attacking me will change things in your favour, boy...you're sadly mistaken."
Ranma whispered across the table, "Careful - Mousse is a lot more dangerous than Kuno. He's a Master of Hidden Weapons."
"Ah. Doesn't make a difference though," he turned his attention back to Mousse, "if you attack me Mousse, you won't like the results - I assure you of this." For good effect (and because he didn't have his sunglasses on) Chris let his eyes flash completely red for a moment, before resuming their usual grey colour.
Mousse faltered at this, and Chris grinned - he knew he'd won this one. *Go on - back down*
Finally, Mousse removed his hands from his robes, empty, and muttered, "Fine, I'll let it go for now."
"Good choice human. You may leave now." Chris affected an imperious tone.
Mousse walked out, managing to salvage some of his dignity in the process. Of course, he didn't have his glasses on, so any dignity salvaged was promptly lost as he managed to walk into the sliding glass doors. Chris shook his head and turned his gaze back to his tablemates. Both were, once again, staring at him.
[Duh...I would too, if I didn't know any better.], 'Oh yeah, the eyes thing - I haven't told them yet', "Hmm, something more for me to explain, eh?"
Ranma nodded dumbly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: ARGH! I have now gotten Writer's Block! How do I explain this without it being entirely cliched! I have no idea. I'll think of something. Please Review! Or flame, if you really feel the need to. Constructive criticism would be better though. [Stop rambling already!], 'Shut up!'
A/N: Just so you know, I didn't include the Kempo references because (in the anime) Ranma mentions going to China to learn Kempo - I included Kempo because I do actually learn Kempo. However, I'm going to refrain from actually using the names of the techniques (particularly the soft techniques) and instead just describe them in detail. Thank you in advance for your patience.
" " - speech
' ' - thoughts
[ ] - BalanceKeeper's alternate thoughts
* * - mental suggestions
Tales of the BalanceKeeper: Planetouched 1/2
Chapter 2 - Of Explanations and Form-Alteration
"I guess I owe you an explanation...."
Ranma nodded dumbly, and Akane glared at the .... person, in front of them. Said person smiled sheepishly, the elongated canines stealing the intended effect.
"Ok, I make you a deal - I give you my explanation, and you," Chris pointed at Ranma-chan, "give me yours. Deal?"
Again, Ranma nodded dumbly. Akane switched her glare to her fiance. 'Say something idiot!'
Chris gave no indication he could pick up that stray thought, so instead he asked, "Ok, but can we go somewhere we can get a drink, as well? This could take a while."
For the third time, Ranma just nodded. Dumbly. Akane felt her battle aura rising.
"Ok, let's go then." Chris started off in the other direction, hoping to distract the increasingly-annoyed Akane with some physical activity.
Ranma finally broke her silence, "Wait."
"Hmm?" Chris looked over his shoulder. {A/N: Think Wanderer from Seiken Densetsu 3, minus the hat and dagger}
"You can't walk around like that."
"Hmm, indeed not. If you'll just give me a minute, I'll be presentable."
Akane took this opportunity to check on Kuno - after all, it would be annoyingly troublesome if Kuno was dead. Ranma was still curious about the strange entity before her though.
"Why do you need a minute?" She honestly couldn't understand the need for a minute.
Chris considered what answers he could give, ranging from plucking something out of the air to the truth, and decided the truth would be more believable than anything else.
"Well Ranma, I've got a few options available to me. First, I could manipulate all the minds around me into believing that I look completely normal. This is rather tiring though, and has other complications - everyone's got a different view of what's normal, and I could accidentally screw up their perception of reality permanently. Worse, I could end up doing the same to myself. And it's not really the sort of thing I feel comfortable with doing." [Of course, not the sort of behaviour an upstanding Lightsider like yourself should engage in] 'Exactly, now shut up', "Like I said though, I have another option." [Two, actually] 'Fine, two, but they don't need to know the last one' [What happened to _the truth_?] 'Oh shut up. Let me do the thinking!' [Of course, I'm overqualified for that job.] 'You are so lucky you're a necessary part of my being'.
Ranma's eyes were beginning to glaze over by now. Akane, who had returned from her Kuno examination, elbowed Ranma in the ribs. The glazed look disappeared, replaced by a betrayed look which she shot at Akane. Akane was blissfully unaware. Miffed, Ranma returned her attention to the BalanceKeeper, who had started speaking again.
"My other option is to force-grow - well, force-regress, as this hybrid form is my body's true form - my body back into my human form. This is not difficult to do, nor especially dangerous, but it's damn bloody painful if I do it too quickly - that's what the minute's for. Ok?"
"Yeah, ok then."
"Good stuff."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five minutes later, Ranma-chan, Akane and a now-fully-human-looking BalanceKeeper were walking towards one of the non-martial-artist-owned resturants in the area. Ranma and Akane both had decided that going to Ucchan's or the Cat Cafe would be more trouble than it's worth. Chris, still unfamiliar with the situation Ranma was stuck in, decided not to argue - he was the tourist of the party, after all, and it's rude for a tourist to disagree with their local guides.
They found one to their liking, and ordered their drinks.
"A kettle of hot water please." This drew a puzzled look from Chris.
"Peach water, please." Akane's order was a bit more standard.
Chris decided to try a long shot, "Ginger Ale, if you've got it."
The waitress (not unattractive, a fact lost on Ranma but which earn't him a glare from Akane anyway) confirmed their orders, "A kettle of hot water, a peach water and a ginger ale? Ok, be right back."
She left, and Chris turned his attention from her back to his tablemates. "Ok, where should I start....."
Ranma spoke up abruptly, "You're a martial artist, right? Kempo, if I'm not mistaken...but you've also done Karate, and that makes some of your movements a bit more blocky than they should be...." Ranma demonstrated surprising eloquence, as she often did when discussing martial arts seriously.
It was a good thing their drinks hadn't arrived yet, because Chris would have choked in surprise. As it was, he did a double-take.
"Yeah, that's right, on both counts...but, how did you know the styles? Are they practiced here?"
Ranma nodded, and Akane elaborated, "Kempo's pretty widely practiced here."
"So you two have trained in Kempo?"
Ranma shook her head, "No, we both train in the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts. It's a freeform style that uses bits from other styles."
Chris nodded sagely, "Sounds a lot like Kempo."
"It is, but it's more too...." Ranma trailed off as she considered that.
"We've both been training pretty much our entire lives, but Ranma's father is a bit more intense in his training of Ranma than my dad was." Akane said to fill the silence.
"Yeah, pop's idea of a trainin trip is what got me this curse." Ranma fumed, her eloquence stolen by the thought of her father-turned-panda.
"Curse?"
The drinks had arrived by now, so Ranma picked up the kettle. "Let me show you." and dumped it over her head. Which shortly became _his_ head. Chris did choke this time.
When he got control of his breathing again, he asked, "Curse eh? Water-based curse....interesting...."
"Yeah, Pop and me were wanderin through China," [CHINA! It exists here?!] 'Would seem. Now shut up, I'm listening to Ranma.'. "when we reached this dreaded training ground called Jusenkyo....or at least, that's what we would've known if Pop could speak Chinese! Anyway, we get up on the poles there - Juseknyo's made up of cursed springs - and start sparrin. I get a good hit in, and send Pop flyin into one of them. Next thing I know, this panda flys out and knocks me into one of the springs. The guide we had explained that each spring carries a curse, and that whoever falls in will take the shape of whatever drowned in it. Pop fell into a Spring of Drowned Panda, and I fell into a Spring of Drowned Girl. So now, whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl, and hot water turns me into a guy again."
[I think he means Spring of Drowned Large-Busted Red-Headed Girl, eh?], 'How about we leave it at just Girl for now.', "You mentioned that your father turns into a panda - how many others have got this curse?" [You're thinking about that panda earlier?] 'Yeah....but I'll wait a bit for that.'
Ranma thought for a second, "Well, there's me, an Pop. And there's Pantyhose Tauro..." Chris sweatdropped at the name, [What kind of parent calls their kid Pantyhose?!], 'A parent I'm intensely glad is not mine.', "and there's Ryogaaaa, uh, uh..." at this point Ranma suddently remembered Akane was right next to him.
Akane just waved it off, "I've known for a while Ranma - I'm just waiting for him to admit it himself."
'Wow, she's pretty calm about it' Ranma thought - and it must've shown on his face, because she suddenly smiled sweetly, saying "_Then_ I will beat the daylights out of the pigboy."
Ranma snickered as the image of Akane belting Ryoga half to death came to mind. Sobering a bit, he continued, "And Shampoo. And Mousse too. Yeah, that's all of them."
Chris was shocked - that gorgeous young woman he'd met earlier carried a curse similar to Ranma? Potentially kinky, especially if she had the female equivalent of Ranma's curse.. [No, that's not kinky, that's TWISTED!!], 'True, true...hopefully though, she changes into something else.' He snapped out of his musing as he noticed a familiar young man enter the resturant.
"Mousse? Tallish lad, long black hair, thick glasses, truly odd outfit that allows him to hide his hands up his sleeves?" Chris asked mildly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because he just walked in."
Ranma spun around and almost fell out of his seat when he saw Mousse right behind him. Mousse smiled humourlessly at his reaction. His voice was low, even and menacing. It seemed to have lost its occasional high-pitch lately.
"Don't worry Saotome, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him." he pointed at the still-drinking BalanceKeeper.
Finishing his drink, Chris regarded the outwardly-calm young man before him. [Yeah, he's calm on the outside, but he could flash boil water with that anger inside] 'You think I don't know that? Just gotta try to calm him down', [Good luck].
"Why me?"
"Because I will not allow you to take Shampoo away from me!" Mousse suddenly exploded, jumping back from the table, his hands disappearing into the folds of his robes. Chris decided to be reasonable.
"Shampoo? Oh yes, Xian Pu. Lovely girl. But Mousse, I wouldn't take anyone away from anyone - it's her choice after all, isn't it?" He paused here, but when he saw the looks on both Ranma and Akane's faces, he realised that it might not be the case. Resolutely, he continued onward, "Besides, I only just arrived here - how was I to know she's taken?" He let an edge bleed into his voice now, "And if you think that attacking me will change things in your favour, boy...you're sadly mistaken."
Ranma whispered across the table, "Careful - Mousse is a lot more dangerous than Kuno. He's a Master of Hidden Weapons."
"Ah. Doesn't make a difference though," he turned his attention back to Mousse, "if you attack me Mousse, you won't like the results - I assure you of this." For good effect (and because he didn't have his sunglasses on) Chris let his eyes flash completely red for a moment, before resuming their usual grey colour.
Mousse faltered at this, and Chris grinned - he knew he'd won this one. *Go on - back down*
Finally, Mousse removed his hands from his robes, empty, and muttered, "Fine, I'll let it go for now."
"Good choice human. You may leave now." Chris affected an imperious tone.
Mousse walked out, managing to salvage some of his dignity in the process. Of course, he didn't have his glasses on, so any dignity salvaged was promptly lost as he managed to walk into the sliding glass doors. Chris shook his head and turned his gaze back to his tablemates. Both were, once again, staring at him.
[Duh...I would too, if I didn't know any better.], 'Oh yeah, the eyes thing - I haven't told them yet', "Hmm, something more for me to explain, eh?"
Ranma nodded dumbly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: ARGH! I have now gotten Writer's Block! How do I explain this without it being entirely cliched! I have no idea. I'll think of something. Please Review! Or flame, if you really feel the need to. Constructive criticism would be better though. [Stop rambling already!], 'Shut up!'
