I don't own any of Rumiko Takahashi's or Jack Chalker's works. They are just borrowed.

Ranma of the Dancing Gods

Chapter 1: One step forward two steps back.

Ranma awoke on her own to see the sun just beginning to cast its warmth across the sky outside the window of the Tendo's guestroom. Her father, the panda was still sleeping soundly. She stretched. 'Man! What a dream. Sure wish me and Akane had gotten married that day. Whoa!' She felt a warmth, like an itch that needed to be scratched, and applied action to thought. She ran her hands up and down her body, luxuriating in the feeling of bare skin… 'Bare skin?' She leapt up, finding her boxer shorts and tank top lying beside the futon as a piece of paper fluttered down in front of her. She quickly dressed, verifying that oyaji was still sound asleep, and picked up the paper. It was addressed to her and, after reading a couple lines of the neat kanji, she jumped through the window and bounced silently to the roof. She sat with her back to a chimney out of sight from the yard and read, hands shaking.

Ranma,

I want to apologize for what I have inadvertently done to you. Last night was not a dream, though it was not your fiancée with you on your futon. I was a kauri at the time. You will likely become very familiar with what it means to be one tonight or tomorrow after moonrise. I am sorry that I won't be there to guide you, so I'll try to leave some advice to help you cope. When you changed into a girl last night, I was surprised and accidentally bit you enough to draw blood. You will now have the same condition that I have, in addition to any others that you already have. You are now a were. Your default shape change will be to a kauri, but if you are touching any living thing when moonlight hits you, you will take that form until daybreak touches you. For your own sanity, don't deny the urges of your kauri form. It is not evil and does much good in the world. It is impervious to age and disease and you can jump into lava and not be harmed. Consider yourself a fairy goddess of sex who feeds on sexual energy and the burdens that weigh on the minds of men. No one has to know what or who you are because you have powers of illusion over men. You can make them think that you are a lost love or the person of their desire. Try to find your world's earth spirit to get cleansed in her fires every so often. In our world she lives in a great caldera filled with lava. She will also give you some good advice. It will make your problems weigh less on your spirit. I myself was born male and have been a long time accepting this, but in accepting my condition have found healing. May you find healing as well. By the way, sorry about taking your male virginity. A last warning, avoid biting anyone, the were virus is passed through biting and there is only one cure and it isn't in your world.

Good luck and good wishes,

Joe the Barbarian

Ranma rolled the paper up and placed it into stuff space.

"Who is the kami that hates me so?" He angrily jumped to the wall of the Tendo compound and watched Akane run out the gate for her morning jog. "I gotta keep this hidden and be careful. Don't want anyone's life to suck like mine." The boy took a few meditative breaths and, when his shuddering eased up, went to the kitchen to see if Kasumi needed any help before he went to the furo.

"Morning Kasumi. Can I help with anything before I clean up?" "Well, if you set the table, I would appreciate it…and thank you Ranma." She smiled a genuine smile that shook the boy out of his depressed state. He gathered dishes, napkins and silverware and went to the dining room with a contemplative smile on his face.

'Poor Ranma, something's bothering him and he's trying to hide it.' Kasumi went about finishing breakfast and the bentos for school lunches. The food for breakfast was placed in the oven to keep it warm. She put the dirty dishes into the sink to soak and wiped down the countertops while humming a half-melancholy half-happy tune she'd heard in a romantic movie. She didn't see the young man watching her at the foot of the stairs. He turned toward the furo with his bathing supplies, shoulders slumped and head down.

Ranma was soaking in the mineral enriched water of the furoba when he heard the outer door open and the sound of someone entering the dressing room caught his ear. "I'm about done in here, give me a couple of minutes!" "Well, hurry up you pervert. I need to get cleaned up and can't wait all day!" He had learned in the most painful way to remain aware of his surroundings after two or three episodes of Akane walking in, even when the 'occupied' sign was up to give a loud verbal warning the instant anyone entered. One time he had installed a bell that would ring when anyone entered, but someone (Nabiki, Soun or Happosai, it didn't matter who) had disabled it several times. This had brought out several malletings and lost weekend training time fixing Ranma shaped holes in floors, walls or ceilings.

A dressed Ranma exited the dressing room to be greeted by an angry Akane. "Well, pervert. What took you so long? Were you staring at your girl side in the mirror? Freak!" She rushed past him as he could only stare, dumbfounded at the door as it slammed shut.

'That's it. I ain't marryin her. I ain't marryin Shampoo, Ukyo or Kodachi and 'tater wacky can go straight to hell. I'm human. When I get cut, I bleed. I'll go crazy and hurt someone if I don't get some relief!' At the entrance to the kitchen, Kasumi watched the one-sided exchange of venom between Ranma and Akane and felt her heart break. It was time to do something and she wouldn't put it off any longer.

Breakfast went as usual, with one exception. Ranma seemed rather introspective, giving only yes, no and non-committal answers to the family members present. Akane went at Ranma with shrewish intensity and stormed out when she was unable to get any answer that she wanted to hear from her fiance. Nabiki watched it all with her studied detachment and casually gathered her and Akane's bentos and walked by Kasumi at the entrance of the kitchen. Nabiki whispered to Kasumi, "You're right, let's fix the mistake we made when he came to us." "I'll talk to father this morning", replied Kasumi, 'I hope its not too late' was her following thought.

Ranma left and the house was quiet, except for the sound of newspaper shuffling and Kasumi cleaning up the remains of breakfast.

Genma and Nodoka were at their rebuilt home. Nodoka's insurance had finally come through and the rebuilt home allowed her to remove Genma's influence on her son. Last night's stay was the result of late night shogi and sake. Nodoka had come by and with some hot water, had removed the martial artist before breakfast. She had decided that Genma deserved punishment for what he had done to her and Ranma's life, but decided to post pone it until she could give Ranma a sibling. She had been plying him with just enough sake to get him to do the act, though he finished far too quickly to make the pleasure mutual. She was only thirty-seven and she'd heard that twins were more likely past thirty. 'Children!' became a thought competing with 'grandchildren'. Another fertile period was here and her doctor had complimented her on her excellent condition. She might already be expecting and Genma's fall would soon follow.

When Ranma left the house, he took to the rooftops, leaping house to house with some jumps spanning intersections. He passed above Nabiki quickly and left Akane behind shortly after. He entered an open third floor window and bumped into Ms. Hinako in the hallway. The child-like teacher stood in front of him and gave him a brief scan. "Ranma, I see that you are early today. I'd like to compliment you on how hard you've been working since your absence two months ago. I talked to your other teachers and it looks like you will be in the top quarter of your class going into the summer break. I'm proud of you."

Ranma's spirits lifted a bit. It seemed that all the yen he gave Nabiki for tutoring was paying off. He had had to work as a waitress at a steak house in Juuban Saturday and Sunday nights to pay her. It was worth it, even if he usually got malleted after coming home late. Akane would accuse him of going out to date his 'floozies', even though Nabiki backed him up. Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi had given him a couple weeks of respite after the wedding disaster but had started screwing his life up a couple weeks later after paying for their share of damages. Kuno had paid an extreme price for bringing a steel blade to the wedding. The next day Ranma, in girl form, had broken his blade, arms and fingers and hit the ultimate weakness moxibustion point. She told Kuno that Ranma was her brother. If Kuno was a good boy, he might cure the weakness…some day. Ranma shook his head to clear out his rambling thoughts and went into the classroom.

Kasumi cleared up the dishes and cleaned the mornings mess downstairs, thinking about what she and Nabiki were about to do. Akane's room was the usual untidiness that was quickly taken care of. Nabiki's room was spotless and merely took grabbing the pajamas from the hook for the laundry. Ranma and Genma's room was clean as well. Ranma used a vacuum to keep the black and white fur to a minimum. After starting the morning wash, Kasumi sought out her father who had moved to the garden with his newspaper.

"Father, we need to speak, so please put away your newspaper." "Yes, daughter, is something broken?"

"You could say that, father. I have been watching Akane and how she has been treating Ranma. It has gone far enough. I fear for Ranma's life and fear Akane's anger may spill over against one of us if it goes any longer. Nabiki and I want you to end Akane's engagement and make it a choice between the three of us. In three months, if Ranma and none of us are compatible, then we can dissolve all engagements, with giri being satisfied."

Soun began to sputter, "But what about joining the schools? No I won't countenance anything but what Genma and I have laid out."

"Very well…father. Nabiki graduates in two weeks and the two of us will be moving out to go to college. We have both been accepted to several schools, including Tokyo University and Texas A&M in the United States. Akane can take over your meals and maintaining the house. I will speak to auntie about letting Ranma move in with her to reduce the burden on you and Akane. Also, I recommend getting some students for the dojo since money will be tight for Nabiki and myself, even with our scholarships. I don't think that mother would have approved of what you have allowed to happen and I am doing what I think she would have done in my place."

Soun just stared at Kasumi. After a few minutes his hands began to tremble but only a few tears ran down his cheek. His glazed eyes closed and his brow furrowed as he thought at a furious pace. Kasumi got up and went about cleaning the house. That done, she went to the dojo to practice her adaptation of tai chi. She would give her father a little while to decide.

That afternoon after school, Soun went around to his daughters and Ranma to ensure that everyone would be present before supper for an important announcement.

Kasumi and Ranma had the dishes and food laid out and everyone was watching a nervous Soun prepare to speak. "Akane, how do you really feel about your engagement to Ranma?"

"I wish that I'd never met the pervert and can never forgive his cheating ways with the fiancée brigade." "Well, if that is truly how you feel, then I absolve you of responsibility to the agreement to the same extent that Nabiki and Kasumi are engaged to Ranma now. Ranma, I spoke with Nodoka-san and we agreed that you have three months to decide who you marry." Kasumi frowned. "…Errr, or if no one wants it, it can be ended with no loss of giri and you will be free to marry whom you wish."

Ranma face faulted so hard that it left a hole in the floor. Akane just stared with a small smile on her face.

A small white cat with bells tied into the hair under its pink ears slunk out of the door to the garden.

Under the house, a short, buck toothed ninja crept away through the shadows.

Ranma woke to see Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi kneeling beside him. Soun had gone to sit in the garden by the koi pond. Akane spoke first.

"Ranma, I want to apologize for the way I have treated you. I truly did not wish to marry you. The chaos had just become too much and if you could find it in your heart to forgive me…could we start over as just friends? I promise not to mallet you any more, unless you really deserve it. I like the idea of a brother better than a husband."

Ranma reached over and took the glass of water and drank some. He stared at the glass for a moment, lost in thought, and poured it on himself. She then looked at Akane and said, "I can understand ya not wantin ta marry a freak like me, but yeah, I'll be your friend."

All three Tendo girls took Ranma into a light hug as tears ran down four faces. Kasumi spoke softly, "Ranma-kun, when we first met, I am shamed to admit that I was frightened by proof that magic and curses exist. The demands that our fathers made also led me to make a great mistake. We could have done this long ago, avoiding many of our problems. Ranma. If at the end of three months you decide that you want me for your wife, I would be honored to accept. This is not because of honor, but because I love you. And if you don't choose me, I'll always support you as befits a sister of the heart. This, even if you choose none of us." Ranma's tears began to flow in earnest and she could only nod in acceptance.

"What she said," from Nabiki, "I am truly sorry about my part in that screwed up wedding, though I think that it really was for the best that you didn't get married to Akane, no offense little sister. Neither Kasumi nor I see your condition as a curse anymore, you are yourself. By the way, half of what you paid for tutoring and half of the money from the wedding gifts has been put away in a college trust fund for you. All four of us have almost enough for a four-year degree each, if we are careful about where we go and how we spend it. Kasumi will likely need the most, since she wants to be a medical doctor."

"…"

Nabiki looked down at her feet and said, softly, "Ranma, in a few days, you will be moving back in with your Mother. On the weekends would you be willing to date Kasumi and me by turns? You can also date Ukyo and Shampoo. I think that we can get her and the Amazons to agree to your mother's terms. If you wish, you could be free of all of us in three months."

Kasumi was finishing up with getting the house ready for the next day. Everyone seemed to be asleep, but she felt something disturbing the wa of the house with her own finely honed ki senses. She began to glide silently through the house. All seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough, except for Ranma. His futon was still made up just as she had left it the previous morning and she couldn't sense his presence anywhere in the house. The girl felt an overwhelming sadness and depression in a presence on the roof. It reminded her of Ranma's girl side, but with a roiling complexity that she normally didn't associate with the young Saotome. She silently opened the roof access and heard a sobbing noise on the other side of the chimney. Quietly, "Ranma? Is that you?"

In a voice that was higher in pitch than usual for Ranma's girl side, "S-stay back. Y-y-you don' wanna s-s-ee. I-I-I'm even more a freak now. You'll t-t-think I'm a demon or somethin'."

Kasumi saw that she was making ready to spring away, "Wait Ranma. I'll just stay here. Can we just talk quietly? No one's awake and it's just us, please, tell me what happened and maybe we can deal with it together."

"I-I-I…just thought it was a dream. Last night I thought that Akane had finally declared that she cared about me and we…well, we…we did something that I think may have been perverted. Something that I never done before or thought about. It was the best feelin I ever had. Then I got splashed and Akane bit my ear. Th' next thing I knew was wakin' up in girl form with a letter on my chest and no clothes on."

"The letter was from someone named 'Joe the Barbarian' who said that he had a were curse that had turned him into a kauri. He said that's a sex goddess fairy with powers over men. He…she bit me when I got splashed as we were doin…ya know…it…andIwoundupwithanothercurseandIdon'tknowwhattado."

Kasumi slowly worked out what Ranma had said in the rush of words and said, "Oh my…Ranma. I want you to know that what I said earlier is still true. I love you, no matter what form you take. You also need to remember that I'll listen to you no matter what and help all I can."

Ranma's voice took on a hopeful tone, "Thanks Kas-chan." 'Where did that come from?' "Somethin' else, the letter said somethin' that makes me think I can control what I change inta by touchin' anything living when the moonlight hits me at night. I'd rather turn inta you or a pet or near anything but this! This form has 'urges' that are hard ta ignore an I wanna put off doin that with guys all I can." Kasumi was glad of the dark because she knew that she was having a full body blush. Ranma's kauri sight didn't miss it though, as she peeked around the corner.

Kasumi saw Ranma's bright red skin and glimpsed something strange behind her and momentarily forgot her promise and stepped to the roof. Her foot slid on a loose tile and she fell-ran toward the edge of the second story roof. As she left the edge, she closed her eyes in expectation of the pain at the fall's end. To her amazement she felt herself caught and actually rising. She looked at her savior and looked down and eeped at the dojo's roof over a hundred feet below. "Ranma, thanks for saving me, but please don't overload yourself and drop me." She firmly gripped the smaller girl around the neck while trying not to interfere with the furiously flapping wings.

"Nah. Ya know I won't let ya get hurt if I can help it."

Ranma began to glide toward the roof of the school for some quiet privacy. After landing with a surge of flapping and some stirred up dust, she set Kasumi down and held her steady until her balance returned. The bigger girl looked at Ranma in wonder and let out a heartfelt "Oh my. Ranma, you're beautiful, like one of those western fairies. Can…can I touch your wings?" Ranma's blush couldn't show because of her skin color, but she nodded and kept her eyes downcast. "They are so soft, finer than the best velvet smoother than chamois cloth. Any one that saw you would never call you a demon." Kasumi stood back and took in Ranma's complete appearance. She had lost even more height at about four foot and her body was automatically sexy. Her wings sprang from her back and were settling about her shoulders and body in the fashion of a cloak. Though they were articulated similar to bat wings they actually gave the impression of butterfly wings to the observer because of the design of the dark red and lighter red markings. Ranma-chan's skin was the same color as her hair, fire engine red and covered with the same short, downy hair as was on her wings. Her eyes were the same intense blue as her other forms. (She wasn't an exact copy of Joe's Kauri form, perhaps because of Jusenkyo.) She had a soft red leather bikini top and loin cloth bottom that was almost indistinguishable from her skin.

"But what will Mom say when she finds out? Jeeze, I'm even less a man like this, Kas-chan!"

"Now Ranma. You know that auntie has accepted your transformations. This will just be more of the same, however I agree that hiding it for now might be a good idea, especially with your kauri body's feeding 'requirements'." 'I wonder if she can only feed on men?' Ranma was puzzled at Kasumi's blush. "Let us see what we can find out about this new 'curse' first. If we don't have any luck, we can bring in Nabiki. My sister has always been good at ferreting out little known information, don't you think."

Over the next month and a half Ranma was on a voyage of self-discovery with the help of Kasumi and, later, Nabiki. Her facefault registered a four point five on the Richter scale at Tokyo U when she saw her identical twin holding her hand one evening. Ranma's comment was, "She took that pretty well." An early discovery was that Jusenkyo wouldn't be denied. Hot and cold water still worked on what ever form Ranma happened to be in. Nabiki was amazed when Ranma used hot water and showed her what she would have looked like if born male. The kauri male form was a five foot one incubus that had any women in the same room swooning and had Ranma almost drunk from feeding on the ambient sexual arousal his form inspired. This one development made a HUGE difference in reducing his depression. He wouldn't have to flit around from male to male for energy and whomever he married could supply his basic needs. Joe would be surprised if they ever met again.

During this time, the Kunos, Ukyo and Shampoo stepped up their own campaigns to marry/kill him. Tatewaki was a particular pest for Akane and very irritating to Ranma because, now that Akane was freed, he only needed to kill Saotome to free the pigtailed goddess.

A trip to the animal shelter resulted in acquiring a loveable medium sized dog that Ranma took an immediate liking to. Yoshi 'hated' cats and pigs. Ranma took to spending evenings with Yoshi in his lap, petting the dog who adored his new master and sometimes playmate. Ranma kept his dog tags and collar under his shirt collar. He carefully avoided biting anything while a dog. Once, though, he made a point of licking himself in front of Akane and immediately jumped up and licked her face. Yoshi took the heat because he was a pervert dog as well as a cat and pig hater. 'Bwah ha hahaha' "Bark bark howl!" as Ranma-dog ran off, remembering how Yoshi became enamored of Akane's leg. Yes, such a good dog.

Nabiki had enlisted the aid of a nerd by the name Miroki from the science club by discussing 'hypothetical' reasons for night time moonlight to cause changes in a biological organism that reversed with daylight. He suggested that the polarized light might do it in the relative absence of daylight and that the ultraviolet light of daylight would be the trigger to reverse it. Nabiki's instincts screamed that he had hit the nail on the head and rewarded him by forgiving his debt and said that his next loan would be interest free. A little experimentation with a polarized light source and a plant-growing lamp then gave Ranma a small degree of control indoors. Plants were placed strategically in the house and dojo with conveniently placed lamps to protect Ranma from unplanned changes indoors. She was getting the engineering class to design portable polarized and uv light sources to let Ranma use the were changes any time it was dark. Nabiki saw the potential and would talk to Ranma when the devices were perfected.

Things were going well. The NWC was less of a headache, Cologne hadn't been around, Shampoo was more insistent but was afraid of Yoshi, Ukyo was satisfied with the new circumstances and both Kunos were beaten soundly when Ranma saw them. He had come to the decision that Kodachi was no lady and preemptive strikes were needed to prevent drugging. Ryoga hadn't been back since Yoshi had scared P-chan so bad he peed himself. Akane was visiting some girl friends at the time. Ranma wondered how a black pig could turn white with fear, but just shrugged his shoulders. The pigtailed martial artist had successfully dated Nabiki, Kasumi, Ukyo and even Shampoo with no party crashers. All of the girls acted with civility. Nodoka had spoken to Ukyo and Shampoo before their dates and Ranma was amazed at how demure and non-aggressive the two were. Then disaster struck…and its name was Happosai.

Ranma was in the dojo practicing a particularly difficult advanced kata when the plant light popped and went out. He felt the change and spread his wings. Damn damn damnit all to hell! I guess I better go in." As he went into the yard, he glared up at the half crescent moon. "Just a couple more days and I'll be free of 'this' curse for a bit"

At that moment he heard a sound that he did NOT want to hear. "SWEETO! Baby. Come to pappa!" Happosai leapt from the wall, dropping a huge bag full of lingerie to the ground, and clamped onto kauri Ranma's breasts. To Ranma's kauri sight it was as if a black featureless miasma had come to rest on her chest. She started screaming as the blackness streamed into her body. A maelstrom formed around the two as Nabiki, Kasumi and Akane came out and watched. They clamped their hands over their ears as Ranma's screams became more strident and the vortex slowly narrowed. It ended when the last of the blackness was sucked into her body and the two fell apart. Happosai was laying peacefully on the ground and his appearance had taken on a translucent quality. Ranma lay in a fetal position, her wings wrapped tightly around her body as she twitched spasmodically. Black lightning would occasionally pass across her skin in time to the spasms.

"Is that some oni?" queried Akane, her mallet coming and going from existence in her indecision. "No Akane! Get rid of that damn mallet and help get these two into the house." Said Nabiki with worry on her normally calm face.

Ranma was gently laid on the couch. Happosai was thrown into the corner and forgotten. "She's…she's beautiful." Whispered Akane. Kasumi responded, "We know, Akane. And now you will have to help keep her secret. We're lucky Father and uncle are out drinking. Oh my!" She pointed at the plant light, shining brightly, inches from Ranma's unconscious and still winged form.

Updated 6-8-05