Disclaimer: Don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon, and this is for my own entertainment. If one character vaguely resembles a pokemon, please don't shoot.

This is an alternate universe story with a Shampoo emphasis on interaction, initially. Ranma will show some dazzling responsibility to help a lonely lost person. I intended for it to be a one shot of 25 to 30k words, but I've gotten impatient, its about three quarters done.

Twelve Totems of the Stone Clan One Half:

Ifor's story


It was Ifor's third week of waiting tables and Ranma was off shift, elsewhere, training. She noticed a familiar girl enter the restaurant and head for a booth in the darker back corner of the dining room. 'She's never seen me as a girl, maybe I can figure out what is up with her without being on the run,' thought Ifor. She approached the table, signaling the other waitress that she wanted that table. Getting agreement, she spoke in her much improved mandarin, "Greetings how may I serve you this evening."

"Is there any food on the menu that is worthy of an Amazon?" Ifor responded, "The orange chicken and seasoned rice is my favorite, though I have tasted better." "Very well, bring me that and tea."

When Ifor brought the meal out, the Amazon girl deigned to look at her waitress. A chill passed through her, as something looked familiar about the foreign girl's round, hazel green eyes. She was a couple inches shorter than her with auburn, not red, hair and appeared to be just turning into a woman. Something about the girl, though, just set her on edge. "What are you, a foreigner, doing here?"

"I'm trying to get enough money to head home, to America. I was separated from my family a few months ago and wish to earn enough money to get back. I'll be awful glad to quit this job and get away from these groping perverts that come in here." "Aiyah! I understand what you mean. All of these weak men around here don't bother me! I just pound them with these." Two brightly colored, mace-like weapons appeared in her hands and then disappeared to the same place that they had come from. "Well, you're trying to get home and I am trying to find my husband that another girl carried off. You haven't seen a red headed Japanese girl with a panda and a round eyed foreign boy about your age, have you?"

A drawn out, "Nooo…not that I know of. What's the story?" "Well, I am the best warrior of my generation of the Nyannichicsu and had won our annual tournament. Then these outsiders came in and were eating my prize. The red headed girl challenged me. But, before we could start, the outsider boy came flying up and defeated both of us. Our law says that if an outsider male should defeat an Amazon, she must marry that outsider to improve the tribe's bloodline. If I fail to find my airen and consummate my marriage, I might be killed, or worse for my shame."

"If he was my age, isn't he a little young for marrying?" "Oh no! A strong warrior is old enough, if he can defeat a champion. Besides, a young one can be more easily controlled and make good babies for a longer time," was her perky response. Ifor's face reddened in response. "Do his feelings matter in this?" "If I want to live, I can't think about that. My great grandmother insisted that I follow the law and I must succeed in this test, if I am ever to be a matriarch."

"Well, I sincerely hope that you don't have to suffer, though, why should your laws apply to a citizen of another country?" "That's just the way it is. I am honor bound to take my husband, though I might agree with you about the boy. I can't risk my future or my people's future by failing to follow our laws that have protected our tribe for over three thousand years."

"I have enjoyed our conversation and must now continue my search. My name is Xian Pu." She bowed. "And my name is Ifor ap Rhys, thank you for honoring this establishment with your presence."

Ifor watched Xian Pu leave the restaurant and let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She thought 'I'd better follow her and make sure that we can avoid her.' She begged to be let out early and the other waitress agreed to cover since closing time was near. A quick friendly hug and Ifor shot out the door to find an alley to change in. 'Ranma isn't around and my tiger form can track her more easily and hide better.' She had long since figured out how to avoid destroying her clothes by concentrating on the tattoo in the right way. Her clothes vanished as she fell forward onto her front feet. She ran back to the restaurant and picked up the Amazon girl's scent and began to track, while trying to keep to the shadows.

Xian Pu had found a good place to spend the night. There was a small wooded area in a triangle shaped drainage area that opened out onto a canal. A line of bushes blocked anyone's view of the spot from the water. She built a small fire of wood scraps taken from a nearby construction site and spread out a blanket to lay upon. Though she wouldn't admit it, the girl was intimidated by the crowded city and wished fervently that she was back home and could forget about this foolish chase. As she was about to fall asleep, she felt a presence nearby, one that almost felt familiar to her ki sense. It reminded her of that waitress and her airen as well, from her momentary contact with him on the village tournament ground. It also had some wild overtones, as if it weren't fully human.

"Who is out there," she spoke. There was no immediate response. Her weapons came to her hands in response to her nervousness and after a few seconds she heard a throaty meow. She jerked her head and saw green cat eyes reflecting the flames of her fire. This was no domesticated cat. The tiger slowly left the shadows and sat on it's haunches and meowed again. She shuddered at the knifelike fangs extending well past the bottom of the jaw. Xian Pu spoke, unable to keep out a quaver, "Are you a cat spirit?" The young sabertooth began to purr loudly and nodded slightly in a manner that was eerily human. Ifor thought, 'Maybe I am, now, I don't know what that amulet really did to me. I'll try to get a feel for just who is chasing me and maybe figure a way out of this.'

Xian Pu could feel no hostility from the big cat. The predator seemed to want companionship and maybe she could get some help from this spirit.

The cat padded up to her and licked her hand that held her mace with its large, rough tongue. The sabertooth watched intently as she made her weapons vanish. The girl slowly reached out with a slightly unsteady hand and began to scratch the big cat behind the ears. The purring increased in volume to fill the campsite, audible, even, over the city noises. "You're just like a big kitty. Will you be my friend?" A nodding head was her response. She lay on her bedroll and Ifor came over and lay beside her where she could watch her face.

The young Amazon began to tell her life story to the cat 'spirit', getting nods, meows and the occasional growl as commentary. When she began to talk about her current situation, She finally broke down and wept. The cat nudged her and licked the tears from her cheeks in sympathy. Xian Pu held the tiger by the neck and gradually sobbed herself to sleep. After a bit, Ifor felt that she had learned much more than she wanted to know and prepared to get up.

A noise caught her attention and she untangled herself and slipped into the shadows. Some voices came from the direction of the ladder leading up to the street above. Her enhanced hearing caught the conversation as if she were standing next to them in human form. "I tell you, she's down there, they said that she was an Amazon. The boss said that they bring a fortune when they're broken right." Another voice spoke, "Okay, okay, lets get Lo Mei's new bitch and get out of here. Something doesn't feel right here, like a demon is walking on my grave."

Two men quietly came down the ladder and looked around. One took out a bottle and opened it, pouring the liquid onto a folded hand towel. The pungent smell of ether and something else assailed Ifor's sensitive nose and she had to fight to keep from sneezing. Not knowing how competent the two kidnappers were, she just watched for her chance, maybe Xian Pu would wake up and take them out. Her hopes were dashed when the two spotted the girl on the ground. One jumped her, wrapping her arms in the blanket to delay escape while the other jammed the towel over the girl's mouth and nose.

Xian Pu awoke to the acrid smell of the drug and ether in the towel and realized her situation, but she was trapped and unable to get away from the towel. As her vision began to fog, she heard a deep-throated roar and the hand flew off of her face taking the towel with it. As she began to gasp for fresh air she realized that the hand had been disconnected from its arm and the man was running away trying to stop the blood flow from the stump. The other man was wrestling with her friend, the cat spirit, and had attempted to stab the cat repeatedly, until the knife broke against its hide, just cutting a little fur. The sabertooth leapt back and growled, six-inch fangs dripping blood, ready to spring again. The bleeding thug decided to run, following his now one armed partner into the night.

The big cat turned to the girl who stood on shaky legs and padded up to her. "Thank you cat spirit, I owe you my life." Ifor saw that the older girl was too out of it to take care of herself and knew that she couldn't get her somewhere safe in this form. As Xian Pu sat back down and stared at the severed hand a few feet away, Ifor padded down to the canal and quickly washed the blood from her muzzle and claws. Coming back through the bushes, she nudged Xian Pu to get her to follow to safety. "I am unable to move, friend and you're not big enough to ride. They 'will' bring their friends back, maybe you should leave."

Ifor shook her head and came to a decision. Xian Pu's eyes widened as the cat's form began to flow and shrink, leaving the waitress in her uniform on her hands and knees. "Aiyah! That's why I felt you were familiar!" "Just try to stay calm Xian, I'll carry you somewhere safe, please, trust me, I mean you no harm. We can talk in the morning." The older girl held on weakly as the other carried her and her possessions up the ladder and out to the street. Xian Pu was asleep when they got to the abandoned building where Ranma and his father were already asleep. She laid the Amazon onto her own bedroll and covered her with the roll from the campsite. Xian Pu was shivering in a bad reaction to the drug and Ifor decided, again, to lie beside the other girl, but remaining human because of Ranma's presence. She enfolded the other girl to provide warmth and Xian Pu's shivering gradually eased as her body gradually entered normal sleep.

Ifor thought, 'I don't know what I'm going to do. I feel responsible for her situation, even though I know it was an accident. I've gotta straighten this out. Maybe Momma and Dad can help, if I can contact them. I think I'll lay it all out for Xian Pu in the morning. Ranma might know of something to do. Genma will probably just run. Oh well, I need to sleep.' Whispered, "Xian, please understand."