Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ use it merely for entertainment purposes.
It was three days before the full moon. In Mongolia Aishia was coming back from a hunt when she returned and noticed that the camp was empty. After a brief search Aishia noticed that the stake in the ground that held Ryouga from going to far from the camp had been dislodged. Over the past few days Ryouga had been complaining about being tied down and trying to assure Aishia that he would not get lost. Aishia did not believe him so she kept the cord on him. Every time Ryouga would try and convince her he would not go anywhere Aishia would remind his average for getting lost was only about five steps. Each time this happened Ryouga would get more depressed and then become madder. The worst thing to Aishia was that the more depressed he got Ryouga's Ki would actually spike. This was a result of all the times Ryouga used the Shi Shi Houkoudan. The continued use of the depression powered Ki blast had combining effects that would deteriorate one's mental strength given enough time.
After Aishia scanned and understood the length of he damage to Ryouga's mind caused by the technique she started training him to either use pure Ki or use a positive emotion to counteract the Shi Shi Houkoudan. Unfortunately Ryouga could not find a strong enough positive emotion, or had the patience for a pure Ki blast to counteract the damage. He, predictably, blamed Ranma vowing revenge for keeping him from learning a new Ki technique. The more Aishia observed Ryouga the more dangerous she realized he was. The first transformation for a new Lycanthrope always puts the person off balance mentally. The sudden rise in bestial instincts and emotions causes the person to loose control for several hours, which is why she brought Ryouga out here to the middle of Mongolia so that no one was around to get hurt. She could handle Ryouga just fine her heritage ensured that, as she was one of the strongest lines of Lycanthrope in existence. The real danger was that Ryouga already had low control over his emotions so the transformation would have even more severe consequences.
"Damn Kid," Aishia cursed, "He doesn't seem to grasp the concept that other people could get hurt or killed from his normal fights. If he transforms…" she stopped remembering the last time an out of control Lycanthrope was unleashed in a populated area. The crazed Lycanthrope attacked a small town and killed a few of the locals. The person in charge of overseeing the transformation had to kill his own charge to keep him from doing any more damage. And all though she was really staring to get annoyed with Ryouga blaming others for his own faults she certainly did not want to kill him. "At least I know where he'll end up. Even if he does transform he seek out that Saotome Kid. One thing is certain is his obsession with beating his rival is engrained into his mind so even transformed he'll seek him out." She then started to clean up the campsite thinking, "I need to head to Nerima and warn Cologne's student. Hopefully he's as good as she and the Pervert say he is, if so he might just survive if I don't find Ryouga in time."
At the same time in Japan Mousse was currently flying over some hills looking for a place with warm water to change back. He had finished his training when a car splashed him turning him into a duck. Normally he would have just flown straight back to Nerima but because all his silver weapons were on him at the time he needed to change and head back to where his clothes were. Fortunately for him he knew there was a hotel with an outdoor Onsen close to where he was training so all he had to do was wait until the male side was empty drop in take a robe hotels like that always provided and sneak out. When he spotted the hotel he flapped his way down to the ground to wait for an opportunity. As he landed however he heard several cries of, "PERVERT!" then saw a familiar diminutive figure running out of the hotel.
Mousse watched as Happosai ran by chanting, "What a haul! What a haul!" Followed by several women with several blunt objects chasing after him.
As Mousse observed he thought, "I wonder what he's doing out here?" Shrugging his wings and flying into the hotel, figuring he would never have a better opportunity to go unseen Mousse went and changed back into a human. As he came out he was wearing some clothes he barrowed from a guest room silently vowing to return them after he got his own clothes back. "I've only got a couple of days to find and defeat Ranma so Shampoo will see I'm meant to be her husband."
In Nerima it was the day of before the night of the full moon and everyone in the Ward were on edge. There were explosion, kidnappings, demons or panty raids for almost two weeks. That could only mean one thing, a irruption of trouble and destruction was going to occur and anyone close to the center, Ranma, would be caught in the blast. Ranma for his part was unaware that he was being avoided by the normal populace like the plague because he was still coming to terms with the fact that Saotome Genma was not his real Father.
On one hand he was absolutely thrilled. He was no longer under any obligation to honor any of Genma's stupid promises or engagements. All he had to do was remove himself from the Saotome Register and take up his real Father's name and he would be free. Nodoka even said that if he so decided she would file for divorce and join him taking up her departed love's name with him. If he did that all engagements would be off with no loss of honor, well except the Amazons but he had a feeling that Cologne may be open to discussion and compromise now for some reason. The problem was Ranma did not want to see the look on the girls' faces he cared about when he said the engagement had no merit any longer. It had seemed over the many months he had known his fiancés they seemed to put all their hopes onto him and he really did not want to see their reactions. So as a result for now he was at an impasse.
Ranma was currently on his way to school very deep in thought. So deep in thought that he was not even aware that he had been hit by cold water and was currently a she. As Ranma-chan entered Furinkan High School Grounds she totally missed Akane working her way through the returned Hentai Horde. She did not even register the fact that she punched out Kuno or that she was about to enter the building until Nabiki stopped her. "Hey Ranma what's wrong? You're really out of it this morning."
"Huh?" Ranma-chan asked coming out of her daze, "Oh hi Nabiki what'd you saw?"
"I asked what's wrong?" Nabiki repeated.
"Oh…um…ah nothing's wrong," Ranma lied.
Nabiki being able to detect even good lies was not convinced, "You know you're a bad liar so why do you even try?"
Ranma sighed knowing Nabiki would find out one way or another. "Look I'll tell you later. I've just got a lot on my mind and I really don't want to talk about it right now."
Nabiki nodded, "When you do tell me I'll keep it myself, free of charge." Ranma smiled in return knowing the charge was a moot point anymore. Nabiki had become a close confidant over the weeks and now he trusted her with a lot, not everything but a lot nonetheless. "Well you better change back, class is about to start."
In the middle of several broken bodies Akane watched the exchange was well and not so silently fumed, "That pervert's flirting with my Sister again! I'll make him pay for cheating on me!"
Across the yard Ukyou also watched but had different thoughts, "Ranchan has been down for days now. I wonder what's wrong. Maybe I can talk to him at lunch."
At the Tendo Dojo the Fathers were playing and cheating at Go and were also discussing how to get Ranma back. "I tell you the woman is making him weak Tendo," Genma said. "It's because of her he's losing his dedication to the Art. We must get him married to Akane so he can take over the Dojo and forget about School."
"Agreed Old Friend," Soun nodded taking the opportunity to take more pieces while Genma was talking. "Akane is just distraught ever since Ranma moved out. It's a sign that they're truly made for each other! But how do we get him back here?"
"I'll follow him after school," Genma begins. "He hasn't practiced in a few days and is week. Once he's alone I'll grab him and bring him here. While I'm doing that you will get the Priest and bring him here. Once the Boy sees Akane he'll ask her to marry him and the Schools will be united." Genma stands up and says, "It'll be Genma…"
"And Soun's…" Soun joined his best friend.
"Shot Gun Wedding!" the chorused.
In the kitchen Kasumi only heard the last part of what the Fathers had said but that was enough for her to frown. "Don't they realize that they need Auntie's approval for any marriage arrangement now? Not to mention that fact I don't think Ranma wants to marry Akane anymore." Her frown increased somewhat when she thought about the talk she had with Nabiki the other day. Nabiki had said that Ranma came to School and seemed on edge about something. She could not tell what because he avoided just about everyone the whole day. And then repeated the process the next day.
Kasumi wanted to try and meet up with Ranma because she was worried about him. She was torn between staying here and looking after her Father and Genma and going to see the person that had become to mean a great deal to her over the many months of knowing him. The idea of just waiting here for Genma to bring his Son was out of the question simply because she knew Genma had not been able to force Ranma to do anything for several months now. Even if Ranma had been inactive in his training he was still more skilled than both Fathers were even in their prime, she had heard Happosai say as much on several occasions. Then there was the idea that if Genma did attack Ranma it would only drive him away even more and she would see him less. With that thought Kasumi decided to go and see Ranma on the chance that he would be driven away from the Dojo even more.
Coming out of the kitchen just as the Fathers were sitting down Kasumi announced, "Father I am going out for a little bit. I need to pick up some groceries for lunch."
"Ok Kasumi," Soun responded. "But hurry back, we are going to celebrate the joining of the Schools."
"I'll come back as I can," Kasumi replied. Even if Soun had been acting foolish Kasumi did not like being dishonest with him. But because she did need to pick a few things up for lunch it was not a lie. Even if it was tomorrow's lunch she needed to shop for.
At the Neko Haten Shampoo was busy preparing some ramen for Ranma. She had not seen him all that much for a couple of days and it was easy to seen that she really missed seeing him. She blamed Mousse not being able to see Ranma for those days because he had disappeared and the restaurant could not afford to have her leave to visit Ranma, "Stupid Duck Boy, even gone he cause Shampoo problem with Airen," Shampoo muttered. "When Shampoo see Duck Boy again, Shampoo make duck roast."
"Heading out to see Son-in-Law?" Cologne said bouncing into the room.
"Yes Great Grandmother," Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo miss Airen, want to see him."
"Very well Child," Cologne replied, "Just be careful something seems to be bothering Son-in-Law."
"What wrong with Airen?" Shampoo asked.
"I don't know Child but I have a feeling it is rather important," Cologne said. "He has been acting odd for a few days now."
"Full Moon tonight," Shampoo suggested.
"I doubt it, I haven't seen Aishia for a couple of weeks now," Cologne said. "I think she found who she was looking for it and it wasn't Son-in-Law."
"Shampoo glad," Shampoo admitted. "Shampoo no want to loose Airen." She then took the ramen and left the Neko Haten.
Hours later Ranma was walking home again with some of his feelings a bit more clear. Just about everyone that he cared about showed up at lunch and wondered what was bothering him and for once none fought for his attention. They were simply concerned with his well-being. And though it did not help his decision whether to be a Saotome anymore but it did kind of reassure him they cared because of who he was not what he was.
Feeling better and his mind a little clearer caused his danger sense to go off in time to avoid the attack from behind him. When he turned around to see who attacked him he was somewhat surprised to see Genma standing there. "What do you want Old Man?"
"Ungrateful Boy!" Genma responded, "You must come back and fulfill your duty as my Son and marry Akane!" Genma became utterly confused when Ranma just looked at him and started laughing. His confusion soon turned to anger as Ranma kept laughing and showed no signs of stopping. "What's so damn funny about being a man and fulfilling the Saotome Family Honor?"
After a few more minutes of laughing Ranma calmed down and asked, "What honor?" Genma had been thrown for a loop at that question and could not answer. "After everything you did there is no honor left to the Saotome name. If I were to marry Akane it would dishonor the other girls should I ignore their honor just so you can try and leach off my hard work?"
Genma now became enraged at Ranma's defiance, "You will marry Akane! Tonight!"
"No," came Ranma's calm reply. Genma seeing no way to convince Ranma to obey did the only thing left to him. He attacked, it was too bad for him he was too stupid to remember that Ranma far surpassed him months ago and Ranma quickly beat Genma into unconsciousness and continued his way home. The problem was the even though the current threat had passed his danger sense was still on high alter.
After he left Genma he finally noticed that it was nearly dark and cursed that Fat Panda for making him so late getting home. Going from a walk to a run Ranma only went a few meters before he dodged another attack. This time when he turned to his attacker he noticed it was one of his rivals, or more specific Mousse, "What do you want Mousse I'm running late so let's make this quick."
"Ha I know your secret Saotome," Mousse said talking to a street light. "I now have the weapons you won't be able to withstand." Mousse then let loose a barrage of several throwing knives which Ranma dodged rather easily.
"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked. "The only difference in these weapons and your old ones is they look a bit more shiny. They'll still be just a useless as before!" Ranma taunted Mousse as he began to move in a spiral pattern and used the Soul of Ice. He was not lying when he said he wanted to make it quick.
Mousse continued to attack using his silver weapons. The fact that he still could not hit Ranma and the fact Ranma did not even flinch at the sight of silver made him very confused and angry at the same time. "What's going of he should be weakening at the presence of silver?" Mousse thought. "I know silver makes Lycanthropes weaker just by being in the vicinity I've seen it myself!" Unknown to Mousse it takes enchanted silver to affect a Lycanthrope without direct contract. What he saw a young age was his Hidden Weapon's Master using enchanted weapons against an insane Lycanthrope that was a threat to the locals. His Master defeated the Lycanthrope and told Mousse their weakness to silver. His Master had neglected to mention that his enchanted weapons were the only reason he was able to match the Lycanthrope because of his age. Mousse had been very impressionable at the time and needed to be taught not to rely on magic to do the work for him. So his Master never told him the real cause for the weakening of the Lycanthrope at a distance.
Ranma mean while completed the spiral and then called out, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!" The cyclone then shot up into the air carrying Mousse with it. Ranma knew Mousse would be alright just knocked out for a few hours after he landed. Ranma did not put much Ki into the technique and Mousse was not really all that mad. So the effect was greatly lessoned. After the cyclone ended Ranma continued on his way and by now the sun was beginning to set and his danger sense was going through the roof.
At the Neko Haten Cologne and Shampoo were closing up for the night when the door burst open and a woman that looked like she had been on the road for a few days came in. Cologne recognized the woman at once and asked, "Aishia what's wrong?"
Aishia looked at the Amazon Matriarch with worry clearly on her face. "Do you know where Saotome Ranma is? We must get to him very quickly!"
"Airen at his Mother's," Shampoo answered. "Airen leave Kitchen Destroyer."
"Aishia what's wrong?" Cologne did not like the look on Aishia's face. It was similar to one she saw a few years ago, before it was reported that Mousse's Master killed a Lycanthrope that had been attacking local villages. Aishia had come to warn the Amazons and had a similar look she has now.
"The boy I was looking for was the Hibiki Boy!" Aishia answered causing both Amazon's to gasp. "Tonight I his first transformation and I fear that Saotome will be his target! We must find him!" Without another word cologne and Shampoo left the restaurant and guided Aishia in the direction of Ranma's Mother's home as the sun began to set and Aishia began her transformation into a large bipedal black wolf.
Soon after they left Aishia took the lead no longer needing a guide. Knowing the question her companions were about to ask Aishia said, "I can already smell another Lupine." This caused the trio to increase their pace to the fastest they could run and still remain as a group knowing they would need to work together to stop Ryouga and save Ranma.
At another part of the city Happosai had just returned from his training trip. He had a bad feeling about tonight and felt he should be here incase he was needed. The moment he entered Nerima Ward he scanned with his Ki scenes to see who was in the area. He was shocked when he felt what was happening. According to his scans Cologne and her Great Granddaughter were moving very fast with Aishia toward another familiar Ki signature that was close to a foreign yet familiar extremely powerful Ki signature. It did not take a genius to know that his Heir was in danger. Without another moments hesitation he leapt to the roofs and made his way to where he felt Ranma was.
Back with Ranma he was having a fight for his life, literally. He was fighting the largest wolf he had ever laid eyes on. The monster of a wolf was the size of a small truck, had gray fir and golden furry filed eyes. For the past ten minutes Ranma had tried just about every technique he had to try and stop this wolf but nothing worked. In fact when ever he hit the damn thing he would not even flinch and just try to bite him in response. "Shit doesn't this thing feel pain, even Ryouga can't take this kind of punishment. I would try the Hiryu Shoten Ha but I don't have enough time to form the spiral." He then just barely avoided another bit causing his shirt to be torn completely off his body. He did not avoid all of the bit however and more cuts appeared on his chest joining the several dozen others already there.
Up on the roof the Amazons and Aishia arrived at the same time Happosai did. No greetings were given because of they all knew why they were there. When they looked down at the street they saw a Ranma fending off the transformed Ryouga. His shirt was gone his body a mess and he was breathing with great difficulty. Shampoo seeing Ranma was in trouble acted on impulse and called out a battle charge and jumped down to the street. Unfortunately that was not what she should have done as it caused Ranma to be distracted and suffered a massive bite to the shoulder. The result was unbearable amounts of pain being sent through his body causing he to scream at the top of his lungs, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHGGGGG!"
By shear Neriman coincidence several other people arrived just as Ranma was bitten by Ryouga. First was Nodoka, she was worried because her Son was so late and decided to go search for him. The second was Ukyou, she was making a late delivery to a local resident when she heard Shampoo's battle call and went to see what was wrong, only to see Ranma being bitten. The third and fourth were Kasumi and Nabiki coming to try and warn Ranma and Nodoka about what Genma was planning on doing after they cornered their Father when he came home with a Priest, they too arrived just in time to see Ranma take the savage bit to the shoulder. Needless to say the five screamed in fight and worry as soon as it happened. This caused the wolf to turn his attention away from Ranma and too the sources of the sound.
Back on the roof top Aishia cursed, "Shit! I was afraid of this! He's in a furry state, he can't recognized the difference between friend or foe! We have to get those girls out of there!" The three people were about to move when a froze at the sudden surge in Ki coming from the street below. What they saw surprised all three of them, but none more than Aishia, for she never thought she would see what she was seeing right now.
In Ranma's pain filled mind he could barely hear five distinct screams of people he had come to care for more than anything in the world. Forcing his eyes open he saw his Mother, Ukyou, Shampoo, Kasumi and Nabiki standing in the middle of the street starting in his direction with fear, shock and sadness. He knew the cause of these emotions, they saw that huge wolf bite into him and heard his scream of pain. He used all his strength to turn his head just a few centimeters to look at his attacker and what he saw made him freeze in terror. The huge wolf was staring in the direction of his Mother and the Girls the same way a predator stares at its prey.
"I have to stop this thing!" was the barely conscious thought running through Ranma's head. Forcing himself to search for a way to defeat this wolf Ranma came to the part that he tried to break weeks ago. The power that he knew he had but seemed to be locked away. He desperately tried to break through but the mental barrier was too strong, he could not access what was beyond. He tried again and failed again. He pushed with all his mental might but could not reach it. He tried once more and this time broke a little of the barrier but that was when he heard the sound that haunted his dreams for years.
"Meow!" the image of a cat appeared in Ranma's mind and clawed at him keeping him away from what he needed.
"Of all the times why now?" Ranma cursed. The Cat swiped again and Ranma was about to flee when he thought of the screams from his Mother and the Girls. "NO! Not this time! I'm not running away! SO GET OUT OF MY WAY!" With that mental shout the image of the cat faded and the barrier shattered causing the power beyond to rush at Ranma completely enveloping him.
On the outside world Ranma's eyes snapped open and his mouth looked like he was about to scream, only instead of a scream a loud howl and tremendous surge of Ki came instead, "AAAAAWWWWOOOO!"
Everyone froze at the howl, even Ryouga who had taken a few steps away from Ranma's bleeding form just seconds prior. When they all turned to look at Ranma they saw the last of his clothes getting ripped off him as he changed right in front of their eyes. Ranma changed into a large pure white wolf even bigger than Ryouga. If it were not for the blood and rage filled blue eyes everyone there would have agreed this wolf that Ranma transformed into would have been the most beautiful sight they had ever seen.
"Aishia, I've never seen a Lupine like that," Cologne said. "Just what kind is it?"
"You haven't seen it before because it has been extinct for over five thousand years," Aishia answered with clear awe in her voice. "And as to the kind, he's a of the Great White Hunters of the Northern Lands, and the most powerful of all the Lupine tribes."