Prince Lost, Knight Found
A Ranma Nibunoichi x-over
by Matthew Talbain

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma Nibunoichi, nor do I own Sailor Moon. Pyra (Flame), Glacia (Ice), Alundra (Lightning), Erosa (Love), Tecta (Earth), Ocea (Water), Thanata (Death), Krona (Time), and Faytha (Healing) ARE mine, though I got the idea for 'em from Jade Hunter's "Love For All Time".

--------------Chapter One: Phoenix Fire--------------

Saffron hovered above the mortal wielding the Gekkaja, his wings beating ceaselessly against the Hiryu Shoten Ha's fierce winds. Saffron thought back on the beginning of the fight. This mortal was truly resourceful, as resourceful as the Phoenix Tribe. Indeed, infusing the doll with moisture ki to restore its humanity was sheer genius. Saffron could have let them go and used the hot tap to complete his transformation. But why didn't he?

Even he didn't know. Something about this landling, something in his eyes, felt familiar. It almost reminded him of...no, it couldn't be possible. And those other two, the blind one and the one with the bandannas...they, too, felt strangely familiar. The blind one's hair seemed so...and those bandannas and fangs seemed so....but they couldn't be. They'd died forty thousand millenia ago. Koga, Fox, and Ravyn...all of them, dead. But...those eyes....those blue eyes...so reminiscent of his younger brother...

Saffron hurled his Emperor's Blast at the landling, expecting to kill him. Oh well. He is just a landling, after all. Only one with Phoenix spirit could stand up to the Emperor's Blast unaided. Saffron dropped the Kinjakan, getting an idea. If the landling could use cold moisture ki instead of the Dragon Tap, why couldn't he do the same to complete his transformation ahead of time with hot moisture ki? He charged his fires around him, pouring his energy into his being, feeling locks and tumblers within his own spirit fall into place. In mere moments, he was complete. The human was dead, and he was complete. He could go-what?!

The mortal hovered in midair, both the Gekkaja and the Kinjakan held in his hands. At this, Saffron's eyebrows shot up. He'd survived! He'd used the Gekkaja to freeze half of his body, catching the dropped Kinjakan in his free hand an unfreezing it when the Emperor's Bast dissipated. Such ingenuity...Saffron was struck by a pang of grief at the loss of his brother. Such ingenuity was his forte. He could use anything to survive, and his resourcefulness and intelligence were often called upon by their father's sister, Serenity.

Another pang struck Saffron as he remembered the day he had found Phoenix, his brother's weapon, and the nine gemstones on the empty Sea of Serenity. Phoenix had been split into two different weapons, one of fire and one of ice. The Kinjakan and the Gekkaja. Saffron had flown to Earth with the eleven items and set up the remainder of the Solar Tribe under his command on a lonely mountain in the valley, using the name of the former weapon for the new tribe and their home, the Phoenix Tribe and Phoenix Mountain. He'd used the two weapons in the Jusendo taps, but he'd lost the nine gems around a hundred or so years back...

Ranma was hurting. He was hurting badly. That last attack, that All-Mortal Annihilating Emperor's Blast or whatever had drained a great deal of his ki. At least he'd gotten the Kinjakan away from Saffron. Ranma's grip wouldn't slacken on the burning weapon. In fact, for some reason, he felt it belonged in his hands. What was it about these two weapons....Ranma's eyes caught the little prongs at the bottom of the Gekkaja. That was to be expected, they were probably needed to turn the Dragon Tap on. But the Kinjakan...it had none! Ranma flipped it, idly noting that Saffron looked really depressed and wasn't attacking.

The Kinjakan had three holes in its bottom, in the exact shape of the Gekkaja's prongs. Ranma fitted the two together, expecting some explosion or steam. He hadn't expected a glowing light show. Ranma's hand remained glued on the weapons hafts, and he nearly screamed as a burning heat enveloped him.

Images flashed through his mind. A ballroom at night, the Earth hanging in the sky like a benign blessing. A training room, his big brother teaching him the martial arts. Creating nine gemstones and gasping when they spoke up and named themselves. Looking in a mirror in his chambers and finding a man in black armor with an emerald cape, the nine gems in a V-pattern on his chest, a curious double-bladed staff on his back. Grasping the amethyst gem and changing the staff into a pair of tonfa. Grasping the ruby and changing the staff into a spear with a fiery tassel under the head. Grasping the garnet and changing the staff into a pair of talon claws, lightning arcing on the handguards.

Ranma's screams echoed across Jusendo and the valley, the images causing a pain in his aura even he couldn't take. He threw his head back and screamed louder, more images pouring into his mind. Finally, the influx of memories, of images ceased, and Ranma held onto the curiously blades staff that he now knew was called a swallow. The handle was approximately three feet long, and each of the blades was a foot long. Idly, Ranma thought it should be a bit bigger, but he stood and looked up at Saffron, wonder in his eyes.

"B...Brother?"

Saffron's eyes threatened to overwhelm the rest of his face. Even he had never been able to recombine the Gekkaja and Kinjakan into Phoenix, and this mortal had done it with no prior knowledge of the artifacts. How could this be? His eyes widened even further when the human looked up at him, those crystalline blue eyes clearer, and yet more clouded, but they were Ravyn's eyes looking up at him.

"B...Brother?"

Saffron's heart caught. It had to be him! It had to be Ravyn! Those eyes, Phoenix returning at his touch, and he'd called him brother! It had to be Ravyn! Serenity's magic must have brought him forward, too! If he was back...then those two! They had to be Koga and Fox! The bandannas had been Koga's favorite thing to wear, and that hair was so like Fox's! Saffron's heart soared. His brother and his friends were alive again! Saffron flew down and hugged Ranma tight, tears falling like rain. "Oh, Ravyn...gods, I've missed you, little brother."

Ranma hugged Saffron back, idly thinking that Saffron wasn't a good name for him even as he wondered how he felt that the man hugging him was his brother. He couldn't be! He was a Phoenix, and Ranma was....he furrowed his brow. His mental voice was screaming that he was a human, but a voice inside his soul was telling him he was Ravyn Sol, the man from those images he'd seen, the memories he'd felt. Since his mind had gotten him into trouble by never responding before, he obeyed his soul for the moment and whispered the name he felt belonged with the man hugging him. "Helios...I've missed you, too, big brother."

That did it. This man knew his real name. He was, without a doubt, Ravyn. He had his brother back. Saffron sighed and released him. "We've much to catch up on, Ravyn. But you go home for now."

Ranma thought about resisting, about asking to stay with the Phoenix, but he remembered Akane, Ryouga, and the others. He nodded, his throat dry. He didn't want to let go, not again. Again!?! Ranma shook his head and tried to clear it. It was his first meeting with Helios, he hadn't let him go before. What the hell was going on?!?! Ranma sighed and headed back to the ruined source of Jusenkyo.

--------------Jusenkyo valley, two days later---------------

"I DIDN'T NEED SAVING, RANMA!!!"

Helios grimaced as he watched Rav-...Ranma deflect an incoming ki mallet and slam Akane in the stomach with his elbow. He winced as he watched Ryouga and Mousse, the two reminiscent of his former best friends, kind of torn between smiling and grimacing. The panda servant of the purple-haired Amazon stared, and the whiny old man cried about how Ranma was beating his fiance.

Helios almost laughed at that. The amazon kept calling him husband, and he had a fiance who wanted to beat him down. If Setsuna were here, he'd be paying for a helluva show.

He sighed and took Ranma by the shoulder, leading him away from the group. "Brother, I will visit you in Japan as soon as I may. I've got to repair the taps and try to get that 'Pepco' place you told me about to start some heating program at Phoenix Mountain. Once I've started these projects, I'll come visit you and we'll discuss everything."

Ranma lowered his head and saw Phoenix, the swallow, in Helios' hands. He looked up into the eyes of the older man.

"Ravyn, I've missed you so badly. There's so much I want to talk to you about. What's happened in the last few millenia, everything. I'm sorry you don't have all your memories, but I'll find a way to help you recover what was once yours. I love you, brother."

Ranma nodded and hefted Phoenix onto his back. He quickly hugged Helios, tears in his eyes, as he left behind the only real family he felt he had.

"I love you, too, Helios. If only I knew why...."

For some reason, unfeasible to the whole party leaving Jusenkyo, Ranma, Ryouga, and Mousse never left each other's sides.

---------Tendo Dojo, some time later---------

"Quickly, Tendo! While he's out of it!"

"Right, Saotome! Put that here, and put this there!"

"Finally!"

Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of the Anythign Goes Martial arts, opened his eyes slowly. He looked around his room, finding a mirror,a nd gasped. He clutched the tuxedo in his hands, growling in the back of his throat.

"POPS!!! What the hell am I doing in this thing?!?!"

Genma recognized the tone of his son's voice easily. He searched for a glass of cold water frantically, but found none. it was too late. his son tore through the doorway, ignoring his mother and Kasumi, and grabbed the fat martial artist by the shirt.

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?!?!"

Soun stepped forward, smiling obliviously.

"Why, Ranma, Akane has finally agreed to marry you."

Ranma didn't waste any time in letting Genma go and rushing for the stairs. At the top, he tore into Akane's room. He didn't blink once at the sight of her in a wedding gown.

"What the hell's up with this? Why'd you agree?"

Akane growled. She threw her bouquet down and grabbed Ranma around the lapels of his tuxedo.

"I did it because you belong to ME!! That emotional thing with you calling Saffron your brother made me afraid he'd steal MY property away from ME! So I'm making you MINE once and for ALL!!!"

Ranma's blue eyes turned into a flat icy stare as he grabbed Akane's hands and squeezed her wrists, forcing her to release him. He turned and exited the room, slowly walking downstairs. He saw Genma about to steal a casket, marked "Nanni Chuan", and slammed his foot down on the bald man's head. He glared at Soun for keeping what was rightfully his from him. He prepared to bring his fist down when his mother put her hand on his shoulder.

"Ranma, why do you put up such a resistance? You should marry Akane, or else the family honor shall be forever stained!"

Ranma let loose a low, wry laugh as he allowed his fist to crash into his father's back. "Mother, our family name has no honor anymore. Just ask pops."

Nodoka narrowed her eyes, clenching her katana and Ranma's shoulder. "Explain. Now."

Ranma let his foot crash onto his father's back this time. "You, shut up old man. I'm sicka yer lies." He turned to his mother, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Pops has probably told you all about our training trip, including Jusenkyo, ne?"

Nodoka nodded, releasing her grip on the katana.

"Forget what he told ya. It's all a big fat lie he made up to cover his own ass. Here's what really happened. When I was two, pops met some takeout vendor named Daijkoku. Engaged me to his daughter for a fish, some rice, and two pickles. He stole me back from the man that night. Then , during the training trip, he engaged me to a girl named Ukyou Kuonji, whom I thought was a boy at the time, for her father's yattai. Pops stole the yattai, left Ukyou behind, and when she showed up made up some lie about me choosing okonomiyaki over Ukyou. THEN, a while later, he started training me in something called the Neko-ken."

Nodoka, seething, tightened her grip on her katana. She noticed Genma sweating profusely and remembered he always used to sweat whenever she'd caught him in a lie. "Cat-fist doesn't sound so bad." Genma started sweating even more. Uh-oh.

"The name isn't all that bad. The training is. You wrap the trainee in fish sausages and toss him into a pit of three-day starved alley cats. You repeat until the trainee learns the Neko-ken. I was tossed in countless times, each time growing afraid of cats. Pops eventually stopped tossing me in to teach me the technique, and did it to cure my fear of cats. I eventually snapped, my fear of cats so great I lapsed into a catlike state to relieve the fear. At that point, I black out and start tearing apart anything I perceive is a threat and nuzzling anything that I have feelings for. I'd made friends with an old lady. Pops found me in her lap. If it weren't for her, you'd have a cat-boy for a son."

Nodoka gasped and glared at Genma, her grip tightening on the katana. So far, what she'd been told was enough to divorce Genma for child-abuse and broken honor. But Ranma looked as though he had more to tell.

"Aside from the countless fiances, and yeah, I know Pops engaged me more times than I can count, kept me outta school for nearly a decade, and all for the sake of his training. His training, by the way, was nothing of the sort. He taught me that stealing was a game, grab something and if you get away with it, it's yours. Then, to strengthen me, he made me carry boulders through a stream, with him perched on top. To make me faster, he tied me to the back of a train while he rode on the rails of the last car. Finally, to teach me to speed myself up and strengthen myself at the same time, he made me carry boulders, all of our supplies, AND him while running from a pack of wolves. Of course, I was fed only rice, while Pops ate steaks, fish, and soups. Said it was good for my digestion."

Nodoka nearly dropped her katana in shock, Kasumi yelped as she heard the real story behind Ranma's childhood, and Nabiki quickly decided not to fuck with anyone who'd put up with that kind of crap and lived. Mousse and Ryouga outside paled considerably. They'd had extremely comfortable childhoods, indeed, they'd lived in luxury compared to Ranma. And they'd been saying THEY'D lived through Hell. Genma had to pay!

"Anywho, I spent a year in school, a YEAR. During that year, I made a friend named Ryouga. We'd spar in the afternoons, then I'd lead him home. See, he has a shitty sense of direction. Anywho, at the end of the year, Ryouga challenged me to a match in the lot behind his house. He was three days late, but I knew his sense of direction, so I waited a bit more. But Pops said we had to go to China. I fought him so I could have that match with Ryouga, one last match, but Pops beat me unconscious. Then, Pops took us to a Chinese training ground when he couldn't speak a WORD of Mandarin. He didn't know it was cursed. So I end up cursed to become a girl, he ends up turning into a panda. So he starts running and knocks....a friend of mine over a cliff."

So it's Genma's fault Ryouga got cursed, and that Ranma didn't show up for the duel. The fanged martial artist began cracking his knuckles.

"After that, we went to a village of Amazons, where Pops saw a table full of food. he sat down and started eating. This pissed off the village champion, whose prize was the food, so she challenged me, thinking I was the owner of the panda. I beat her, she gave me the Kiss of Death, and I ended up having to run as she hunted me down. Finally, we get to Nerima, where, a mere block away from the dojo, I'm told I have a fiance. Pops' jackass stunts continued, with him about to nullify the "honorable agreement" by engaging me to an insane gymnast named Kodachi for a buncha crap in front of the Tendos!"

Nodoka narrowed her eyes and reached into the folds of Genma's gi, shuddering at the touch of this foul man. She should have listened to her sisters, she should have listened to her father. But no, she just had to marry Genma. What a fool she'd been. She withdrew Genma's family tanto and dropped hers beside it, taking Ranma's and doing the same.

"Genma Saotome, I am divorcing you and taking our son into my family name. You deal with the responsibility of your name's promises now. I had hoped to give Mako-chan an honorable father and brother, but I guess she'll just have to live without the father."

A loud yell behind them distracted them as Genma stood, shivering in fear at the bare katana in his now-former wife's hands. Akane was glowing with a fierce, radiant energy in her eyes. She charged forward, a mallet in her hands.

"DAMNIT, RANMA, YOU BELONG TO ME!!!"

Ranma didn't have time to erect a defense, his mind on his mother's "Mako-chan" comment. He had a sister? He didn't have time to continue the thought as he found himself flying through the dojo walls, past Kodachi in a black wedding dress, past Ukyou and Shampoo, both bearing food, and past Ryouga and Mousse, both glaring at the shivering Genma.

A loud cracking sound caught everyone's attention. A branch on the tree had broken and fallen, but the cause was not forthcoming. Until everyone looked down. The branch was embedded in Ranma's left side, piercing a lung. In desperation, he'd summoned Phoenix and slashed at the base of the branch, napping himself loose. The last thing he saw was his mother's worried face.

"Somebody get help! Get him to a hospital!"

He blacked out.

------------------------------------Author's Corner------------------------------------

Tell me what you all think, and what y'all think needs work. I'm open to suggestions on how to reintroduce Ryouga and Mousse with their old selves, though I have an idea on Ranma getting his nine gems back.

R&R!