AN Sorry for the long update time! Not quite dead yet!
"Time to get up." Someone said. The voice had an aged quality to it. Ranma was sleeping however and ignored it. "Come on boy, wake up." The voice spoke again. Ranma grumbled in his sleep and rolled over. "Stubborn I see. Well, I know how to deal with your type." He continued to ignore the voice.
Ranma's ears registered the sound of clanking pots and pans, and then the voices return. "Hmmm Mmmm, does that smell good!" Ranma rolled over again, and started to sniff the air unconsciously. "I hope I didn't make to much." Ranma's sleep started to look troubled. "Well, since no one is awake and around to share it with me, I guess I'm going to have to eat it all…" This was the final straw for Ranma's subconscious as he bolted upright into a sitting position.
"I'm Up!" Ranma said before his mind was fully awake. He then promptly yelped. The sudden move to sit up had shifted most of his weight onto one of his tails that was trapped underneath him. Jumping up and out of the tent that he found himself in he grabbed his injured tail and grumbled. Taking a moment to take stock of his surroundings he noticed that he was in a small clearing with a couple of tents set up around a fire pit. Rubbing his injured tail, something occurred to Ranma's conscious mind. He had a tail. Checking, he found that not only did he have one tail… he had three. Crossing his eyes he looked at his elongated nose and sighed. Nope, wasn't a dream. This is way too messed up.
Ranma abruptly sat down, carefully avoiding sitting on his tails, and started to lose himself in a vacant stare. He really couldn't deal with this. He didn't want to either. Before his downward spiral could progress to far his danger sense spiked and he rolled from his sitting position to the left. Just as he moved a rock flew where he was sitting.
"Well, glad to see at least some of your mind is awake. I said good morning." Someone said. Looking, Ranma saw a familiar looking prune perched on top of a staff. Gaping, Ranma was unable to formulate a reply. He was caught completely off-guard as the mummy picked up another rock and beamed him in the head with it.
"Wha'd Ya do that For!" He said as he reached up and rubbed his furry forehead.
"That was for calling me a 'Mummy on a stick' yesterday, child. Although I suppose I owe you something of an apology." The old woman said.
Ranma, completely out of his depth, asked the obvious question. "Apology for what?"
"It is my job as one of the Elders of my tribe to properly educate the young ones about the different kinds of creatures. They mistook you for the beastial Musk and reacting like any good Amazon, attacked. For reference child, you are not a Musk." The elder said.
"Ah… Oh." Was Ranma's reply. "So, Um, I'm Ranma Saotome, and, err… well sorry about the, um, mummy comment." He was getting some weird vibes from the old woman, but nothing malicious.
"Apology accepted Ranma. I am Cologne, Matriarch of the Jusenkyo Amazon tribe. I believe we have much to talk about, I'm sure you have questions." Cologne said, waving her hand at Ranma's body. "Why don't you tell me what's happened from your point of view and I'll see what I can do about filling in the blanks."
Weary of the stresses of so much happening to him in such a short time, Ranma decided to take a leap and trust the old woman a little. She seemed to be kind enough, even with that calculating glint in her eye, and if his senses were telling him right, she had a large amount of power, both chi and … something else. He related what had happened to him since the fight at Jusenkyo, excluding goddesses, memory blocks, long-lost soul-sisters, and other unconscious happenings. The elder sat back and took it all in, occasionally prompting for more details.
"And then I looked down and I had… well I had these." Ranma gestured at his furry chest. He wasn't wearing anything, but the fur covered anything indecent. "I don't really remember anything after that."
Cologne had a thoughtful look on her face after hearing they boys story. She could tell he was leaving things out, but Cologne knew it would probably be a bad idea to press the matter with the poor boy. He had indeed been though a lot and if the signs she was picking up from the child were correct, then his father was a less then stellar parent even by the cruelest of standards. She also had no doubt now that this female Kitsune was the Panther-boy that had broken out of her village the day before.
"I'm sorry child, I fear I have some bad news for you." Cologne started. "As far as I can tell, both the Were-cat form and the Kitsune form seem completely natural to you the way your Ki flows. You also seem to have a Jusenkyo curse or two thrown into the mix, I have an idea what one would be, but any others you may have I'm at a loss." She carefully gauged the young kits reaction. Three hundred years of reading people allowed for a little cross-species reading. Surprisingly the lad seemed more resigned then suppressed by the news. Hmm, seems like he already knew that. Wonder if it had anything to do with that sleeplike trance he was in last night. The child would come forward with the information when he felt comfortable with telling other. And if not, there were always ways to convince one to tell secretes. "I'm sure I can come up with some more things that you don't already know later."
That sure got the reaction she was expecting. Ranma hiccupped and coughed at the same time, causing him to give a quite humorous expression. "W-What do you mean? You didn't tell- I mean, I Didn't know what- I haven't-" Ranma was at a loss as to how the old woman knew he had already heard that. How much did she know?
"Tut-tut." Cologne shushed the Kitsune. "You don't live to be 300 years old without picking some things up. I'm sure you'll tell me once your comfortable. But first, lets get you back to your original form."
At mention of getting Ranma back to his original body, all thought of discovering how Cologne knew what she knew fled his mind. "You mean I can change back? I'm not stuck like this?"
"I believe so" Cologne said and was treated to the sight of a giddy Kitsune dancing around the little clearing. It was quite an amusing sight, especially since the child hadn't managed to find her center of balance yet and kept stumbling. Cologne smiled to herself and stirred the ashes of the campfire. Savor the small happiness's, I suppose. There are too few of them in life I fear. Seeing that the fire had gotten back to a respectable level, she perched a kettle on a stick over the fire to heat.
Ranma winding down from her dance and seeing what the Elder was doing went over and sat across the flame. "So uh, when am I going to be able to change back?" He asked.
"As soon as the water gets hot enough." Cologne said.
Ranma was about to say something, but his stomach beat him to the punch and growled. Cologne gave him an amused look. "A-heh. You don't got anything to eat do ya? I though I heard something about food when I was waking up."
"Sorry, theres nothing to eat. And what you heard was the dreaded ancient Amazon technique 'Wakening-sleeping-Martial Artist'." She gave a small chuckle. " The girls should be back in a little bit with something to eat."
"Girls?" Ranma enquired.
"Yes, my great-granddaughter Shampoo and her friend Dowel. I sent them off earlier this morning to catch something to eat while you slept."
"Err, does your great granddaughter by chance have purple hair and carry a couple of maces?" Ranma asked apprehensively. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stick around…
"Yes, that's her. Don't worry, I'll be around to reign her in. I know you're not a threat, and that's really the only reason she attacked in the first place. You aren't a threat, right?" Cologne asked with a raised eyebrow. She already knew the boy/were-panther/Kitsune didn't have any evil intentions towards her or her great-granddaughter, it was just fun to watch younglings sputter trying to come up with an answer.
"No!" Ranma said, and sputtered trying to come up with a better rejoinder. He finally settled on a second "No!"
"Hmm, that's good. Looks like the water is ready. Here catch." Cologne said as she threw the steaming kettle at Ranma. Startled, Ranma fumbled the kettle and ended up drenching himself with the hot water.
As soon as the water hit, Ranma felt himself shift, although much more discrete then the first time. Like a slight tingling across his skin. He felt his center of balance shift, and a large amount of weight disappear off his backside. It was a wholly different experience for him.
Where before a Three tailed female Kitsune stood there was now a well built, black furred, one tailed, were-panther. Said were-panther had a slightly shell shocked expression. "A little warrrning next time please. What just happened? Why did I change?" The were-panther asked, confused.
"Ah, it's as I thought. Your forms seem to be separated based on a Jusenkyo curse. The curse uses water as a trigger. Hot water usually returns a victim to their birth form while cold water enacts the curse. In your case it seems that hot triggers your panther side while cold triggers your Kitsune side."
"I thought you said I would be changing back to my birth form!" Ranma said, and was swiftly whacked on the head with the Elders staff.
"Patience boy! This is merely the first step. And as far as the rest of the world is concerned this is your birth form now. The next part won't be so easy." Cologne said. "Have you ever mediated before boy?"
"A little."
Thank the gods for small favors. Cologne thought. "Assume a meditative position and find your center." She watched as he did. When she had judged Ranma was far enough into his meditation she continued. "Now, imagine three candles. They are simple, normal candles. Do you see these candles Ranma?"
"Yes." Ranma said. Cologne could hear the strain in his voice. She had read that the first time was always the hardest for weres, and that many didn't learn how to transform until their adolescents. She had learned this technique for transformation from the same book, she just hoped it worked. It would be bad to have an angry were-panther/Kitsune prowling around.
"Good. Now the first two should be lit. Are they lit Ranma?"
"Yes."
"I want you to go to the second candle Ranma, when you get there, you are going to reach out and-" cologne started to say, but whatever else she was going to say was lost in a startled exclamation from the edge of the clearing.
"Aiya! What is that cat-monster doing here!" Ranma was startled out of his trance by the Chinese voice. Damn, I was so close, I could feel it. Grumbling he stood back up and looked who had interrupted him changing back. It was that purple haired girl again. The one that Elder Cologne said was her great-granddaughter. What was her name again? Shampoo?
"Xian Pu, I see your sence of timeing is as good as ever. Put your weapons away, Ranma here isn't a threat." The Elder spoke. Ranma could tell they were talking Chinese, but couldn't understand a word they were saying.
"But that is the cat-monster we chased from the village yesterday! The one that ate the boy you brought home!" Shampoo said.
"Xian pu… you can be so dense sometime. Where is that intelligence I know you have? That so-called 'cat-monster' IS the boy I brought home.' Cologne said.
"Um… Oops?" Shampoo said, starting to realize her mistake.
"And Speak in a language our guest can understand!" Cologne said.
"Yes Great-Grandmother!" Shampoo said.
Ranma started to tune out of the conversation at this point. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he had caught the majority of the meaning. Shampoo was getting chewed out by her great-grandmother, and if Ranma didn't miss his guess, that would take a while. Sighing, Ranma settled down and started meditating again. He was so close last time, he figured he would be able to finish on his own. Ranma was able to bring up the three candles again. It seemed a little easier this time, but it was probably just his imagination. Again, two were lit, and one wasn't. Before they were interrupted by Shampoo, Cologne was telling him to do something with the middle candle… but he didn't have a clue what to do with it. Moving up towards it he examine it. It seemed like a normal, every-day candle to him. He really didn't see what significance it had. Tuning back into the outside world enough to hear that Shampoo was still getting dressed down by the Elder, Ranma realized that there wouldn't be much help coming from them any time soon. Ranma mentally shrugged. So he was supposed to take the second candle and do something with it… well one thing was as good as another he guessed. So, Lets take the second candle and…. Light the third with it? sounds good to me. This is probably just a bunch of jibberish anyway. Ranma slowly moved the second candle over to the first, tilted the flame so that it came in contact with the third candles wick, and stepped back quickly as the third candle caught with a whoosh. Ranma felt a tingling sensation pass through his body that he was now associating with a transformation. Wow, it worked! That was simple. So thinking, Ranma brought himself out of his trance.
Something is not right. Was Ranma's first thought after opening his eyes. First off, his senses had gone even more haywire then they had when he first changed. His vision suddenly seemed to lack color. His hearing went to astronomical heights. He could hear a bug crawling across the dirt several feet away. He could swear he could count every single leaf that was moving in the slight breeze. He could hear several animals moving around in the distance as well as many birds overhead. The cacophony of sounds almost overwhelmed him. He instinctually pinned his ears to his head without realizing it. He sense of smell was on a completely different level as well. He could actually smell the emotion coming of the two auguring Amazons. The elder smelled of annoyance while the younger smelled of mostly of apprehension and a collection of other emotions. He even smelled a third person approaching from the north side of the clearing, carrying a dead rabbit. Ranma's mouth started to water like Niagara-falls as soon as he smelled the rabbit. Something is defiantly not right. Really not right. Ranma feared he knew what happened. It was his worst nightmare.
"AYIA! Where Too-Too big kitty Come from!" He heard Shampoo exclaim and could swear he heard every single rock grind under Colognes staff as she turned. He could almost tell what the Elder had for breakfast as she exhaled in a sigh. Ranma was frozen in shock. What had gone wrong? He had done what the elder told him to do right? He should be back to normal, right? Did this mean he was going to be stuck this way forever? No! He couldn't be! Not like this!
Standing around watching a Six-hundred pound panther the size of a small horse panicking was not high on Colognes to-do list. Darting in quickly while the boy wasn't paying attention Cologne hit a pressure-point on the back of the big cats head. Ranma immediately calmed down.
"Let me guess. You lit the third candle?" There was no real question in the Elders voice. Ranma nodded tiredly. He just felt weary after all that had happened to him in the past couple of days. He was thankful for whatever pressure-point the Elder had used on him, it was enough to calm him down, but now all he felt like was going to sleep, even though he had gotten up a little while ago. "What are we going to do with you child?" the Elder asked, shaking her head ruefully. In actuality Cologne already knew what she wanted to do with him.
There was no real doubt in Colognes mind. The boy would make a fine addition to the tribe. Now the real problem was figuring out how to get him in. He doubted he would join willingly, the tribe still had problems with seeing men as more then second class citizens, and he didn't think he would obey the kiss of marriage if she could get her great-granddaughter to give it. Hmm, I'll just have to use some of my potions on him while he sleeps. Cologne thought. Yes, the boy would produce good, strong offspring.
Ranma really didn't like the smell he was getting of the Elder right now, it smelled devious, but he was feeling to drained to do anything about it. Shampoo and her friend Dowel, who had just emerged from the woods, could only gape at the large cat lounging in the middle of their camp while the Elder cackled softly to herself off to the side.
Ranma was fading fast. He knew he was about to fall asleep in a few seconds, and didn't want that to happen without finding out what the smell he was getting from Cologne meant. Mustering all his remaining strength, Ranma managed to shift himself to the side a little. It wasn't much. It was enough however.
Ranma's tail knocked over a bucket of water when he shifted, and managed to get himself wet enough to trigger his curse. His form suddenly shrunk from the horse-sized panther to a normal sized three-tailed fox. Unfortunately for Cologne the pressure point she pressed was different on a Kitsune then it was on a panther. Ranma promptly went back to panicking.
AAAHHH! IM GONNA BE STUCK AS A FOX FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! AAAHHH! Were among Ranma's more coherent thoughts at that moment. In his core being, Ranma fervently wished for one thing; to be some-place safe. With his entire being he wanted this. The magic that accompanies all Kitsune felt its masters need and responded.
Before Cologne could think of how to react to the latest transformation, the three-tailed fox went POP!
When she looked around, it only confimed her suspicions. The fox-boy-were-panther-girl-kitsune-whateverelse was gone.
"That could have gone better, I suppose." Cologne said to herself.
Somewhere Else
Ranma fell to the hard ground with a grunt. He was no-longer in the forest, but he felt completely and utterly drained in ways he never knew he could feal drained in. He was in some sort of alleyway. He didn't know where he was, couldn't tell if there were any threats around, and it was in another form. Ranma didn't faint this time, but his mind more or less shut down as he sat there among the litter and discarded news-papers in the alley.
"Oh My! You poor thing." Ranma regested a voice, but before he could muster the effort to look he was scooped up into the arms of someone. "You look completely starved and exhausted! Your coming home with me and getting some rest." Ranma wouldn't have disagreed with the voice even if he had the cognizant ability to do so. He was cradled to the chest of the person and carried off. Ranma couldn't care less. The person who had found him sounded nice and smelled of kindness and safety. For the first time in what seemed like a while, Ranma fell into a natural sleep.
AN watcha think? Betcha ya can guess who the one with the nice voice and kind smell is.
