neko butsu cat swipe physical claw strike

shogal tsume barrier claws claws will deflect attacks

hono'o neko flame cat increases power and heat

kaze kizuato wind scar 'ki claws' destroy everything

Nuku Nuku Bell

James Moore

Ranma wasn't happy. He was tired of the fiancées and challengers. He wanted to live by himself, more than anything. To be rid of them, he'd have to move away and make sure no one knows where he's gone. He was packed and ready to go. He decided to at least tell everyone that he was moving away. He got everyone together under one roof (amazingly), and explained that he was leaving, but when he told them, everyone blew up at her.

His mom and dad yelled to him about family honor, Soun began crying, saying, "The schools will never be joined." Nabiki just looked a little angry, but Kasumi held her friendly smile in place. Moouse gloomed onto Shampoo saying, "marry me". Cologne bopped him on the head, "you will marry Shampoo." Ukyo and Shampoo yelled at him for leaving them behind. He never saw Akane until it was too late. "RANMA, YOU JERK!"

Well, that's one more trip via Akane Airlines. At least I have my stuff. All he had to was wait until he lands, and then he's gone. He'd find a place to live and get a job to sustain him. Maybe he could try the hotel in that hot springs village. What was it….the Hinata house? Well, it sounded right. Now, all he had to do was land.

"Of course, Akane hit him just right, so that he'd land in some body of water. He sighed, as he accepted his fate and dragged himself out of the little pond. Now a girl, he got his bearings, swung his pack onto his back, and headed in the direction that he knew the village was in. After a couple of hours of walking, he determined he wouldn't get there tonight. He saw a cave that he could camp in a little over a half a mile away. Seeing as how his luck never changes, even when he's female, he wasn't surprised that it started to rain quite hard.

He sped up to try and keep as much of his stuff dry. He was almost to the cave, when he spotted a person lying on the ground. By the looks of it, it was a little girl less than 10 years old, wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt with a hood and carrying a backpack on. She was unconscious, and her clothes were soaking, so Ranma carried her to the cave. After dropping her, after taking her pack off and his pack off in the cave, he went to collect some wood for a fire. Returning 5 minutes later, he put the wood in a pile, and went about starting a fire. Putting his cooking pot out side to collect water, he looked over at the girl. All he could see was her face, but she looked pretty normal, so he was curious as to why she was out in the rain.

His eyes slid onto the backpack she had. He opened it, hoping to find a clue as to who she was, but the only thing inside was a pink book. It was glowing. He took it out and looked at it. Seeing nothing of importance outside, he opened it. It was all written in a language he couldn't read. Suddenly, some of the words glowed pink, and he could somehow read them. The girl woke up then, saw a boy with her book, looking inside at pink glowing letters. "No. Don't read that!" She could tell she couldn't stop him in time; she turned her head to face the exit to the tunnel.

"Neko butsu?" He looked at the girl, about to ask what the book was, when he saw it happen. The girl's eyes became lifeless for a second. Her right arm coming back, her hand became claws, and her arm slashed in front of her. Ranma saw 3 white energy blades appear form the girl's hand, and watched it continue outside the cave and he could hear a lot of trees falling. The girl's eyes showed life again and, after blinking a few times, looked at girl-Ranma and said, "Umm…..I can explain."

"Could you hold that thought for a sec?" She nodded, so he got up, retrieved his pot, now full of water, and brought it back in. After suspending the water above the fire, he turned to the girl. Putting on a warm smile, he said, "Hi. My name is Ranma Saotome. What's yours? Could you please explain what just happened?" The girl looked sad as she answered, "My name is Natsume Atsuko. My friends call me Nuku Nuku……at least, when they were still my friend." She looked like she was about to cry. "I don't know what I am or anything else about this stuff (she gestured to the book), all I know is that I am called a mamodo, I am now bound to you, because you were able to read it and that saying what's in the book, causes that attack to happen."

"Umm…ok. Could you hold onto that thought again?" She nodded, again. The water was warm enough to activate the change. Ranma dumped half of the water on his, and heard the girl gasp. Fearing the worst, he braced himself for the hatred and fear he was sure to come. Instead, he heard, "You've been to Jusenkyo, too?" He nodded. "I thought I was the only one on Japan with a Jusenkyo curse. You fell in the spring of drowned girl, right?" He nodded again. "I fell into a recently made spring, the guide said it was made about 8 months ago. The spring I fell into was the spring of drowned mamodo. I think I should tell you about myself before I was cursed. I was killed in my original body, which was that of a cat. My owner's father made an android and put my brain in there. He made the android with cat ears, and fangs. that body was what I was cursed in."

She saw Ranma backing up away from her, and thought he was afraid of or disgusted with her. She began crying. "you hate me don't you?" With that, she fell on her knees and began sobbing. Ranma immediately tried to comfort her. "No. Please don't cry. I don't hate you. I just have a bad fear of cats. I'm sorry." Nuku Nuku looked surprised. "Your afraid of cats?" Ranma nodded, and said, "Yes, and I don't want to hurt you. Maybe…..maybe you could help me overcome my fear. If what you said was true and we're were bound by fate, I'll have to get over my fear some time. Will you help me?"

Nuku Nuku was ecstatic that he'd put so much trust in her. She ran up to him, jumped on him, and hugged him as best she could. "I'd be happy to help you Ranma," She purred. She felt Ranma get stiff, and realized what she accidentally did. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma." He still didn't move. "Ranma? Ranma, please talk to me." She waved her small hand in front of his face. Ranma came out of his temporary paralysis and looked at Nuku. Handing her the pot and the warm water, he asked, "Can I see both your forms? I want to know how cat like you look in both forms."

Smiling, She said "Sure, Ranma."