The Dragon Within
Ranma Fanfic By Seras4545
A/N: Holy Hell! That is a lot of reviews for just one chapter! At least it is for me. Keep reviewing like this and I'll have no end to inspiration and motivation to add chapters. Thanks to all you readers who deemed this lowly story was worth your time! Anyway, I have decided on who will carry the soul of Garyx and kudos to any who can guess the character. Just a hint. The character doesn't have to be evil or even close. Also, who said that they had to hate Ranma or want to kill him? That's just Garyx, not the character.
Chapter 3: Jusenkyo, Fiances, and Dragons
Ranma and his father sat next to each other facing a very curious and, in Akane's case, angry Tendo Family.
Geez, this is gonna be harder to explain than most things that have happened. Ranma thought as he flashed an apologetic smile at Akane, who just seemed to get angrier. Ranma frowned, then shrugged. Her loss, another's gain. He thought as he looked at the other two, ignoring Akane and tossing her aside as a choice for a fiance. She just has too much anger. She would probably take it out on me nearly all the time and I would let her get away with it, being who I am. It would help channel her anger away from those weaker than her though.
Soun cleared his throat for his family's attention. "Let me explain. This is my dear old friend, Genma Saotome, and this is his son, Ranma Saotome." Genma and Ranma bowed.
"This is getting more interesting by the minute." Nabiki muttered, though Ranma could still hear her.
"Are you really her? The same girl we saw before?" Kasumi asked, looking more confused than anything.
"I am." Ranma said simply, not wanting to be the one to explain it, as it raised many angry memories.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Nabiki shifted into a more comfortable position and Ranma couldn't help but notice that she had endowments equal to his girl side's.
Genma readjusted his glasses. "It's such a long story, I just don't know where to begin..."
He stood up and Ranma knew where he saw it was easiest to begin. He decided to let it happen as there was no reason for Ranma to start a fight with his father right now. Genma had kept his word as far as Ranma could tell, 'cause if he hadn't then Ranma would be getting a lot more questions and stares.
"Well then! Let's start with this." Genma grabbed Ranma by the shirt and lifted him off his feet and then proceeded to throw him in the koi pond.
Ranma came out spitting water, annoyed that her father hadn't just gotten some cold water and thrown it at her. " What'd you do that for!" Ranma noticed that the Tendos had come to take a closer look.
"Oh my." Was Nabiki's only comment, though she didn't seem as surprised as her two siblings.
"Ranma's... a girl now." Kasumi was only slightly shocked in truth, but she wanted to keep up the facade that she wasn't all that bright for her own reasons.
Ranma grew more irritated as Genma walked up and put out a dramatic air as his voice took on the cadence of a shamed father. "I am so ashamed, I cannot bear to see my son like this." He started crying, and for a moment Ranma thought it was real, but then decided form experience that Genma wasn't that emotional or sensitive of a guy. "Ranma Saotome, you break your father's heart!"
Now Ranma was pissed. Alright. enough of the sentimental bullshit act, old man. You had this comin'. Ranma jumped out of the pool and over her fathers head and delivered a swift kick to the back of his skull, knocking him into the pond.
When he came out of the pond as a great panda the Tendos did a double take, finally figuring out where Genma had come from.
"Who are you to talk, huh fur brain? Your curse isn't even human! I'm the one who should be ashamed of a father who actually acts more like an animal than most people!" This angered Genma and they began fighting with each other.
"Father, you certainly have some unusual friends." Kasumi said after a moment of watching the two.
Soun nodded. "They didn't use to be like this though. It was training in China that did this to them. Something terrible happened during a dangerous training exercise. Let's wait until they come back to themselves."
After a little more fighting they proceeded into the kitchen and soon came back out in their original forms though steam was rolling off them now. They sat back down again.
Ranma decided to let the old fool tell the story for now. Besides, he was actually good at telling stories and getting around delicate details without ever indicating that there was something more. Yes... No one better in the art of deceit than one Genma Saotome.
"Ah yes, it all started one fateful month ago"
He continued in his epic storyteller voice. "Ranma and I were voyaging across the ocean to China. We journeyed for many days, and many nights..."
Genma's voice eventually became background noise to Ranma as he drowned in his memory, though not before he heard Nabiki's low comment on how they hadn't much money but she would settle for the great martial art skill...
Flashback - Sea Between Japan and Korea - Actually Over 7 Months Ago...
Ranma and Genma swam against the powerful tides and high waves toward South Korea and their ultimate goal, China. It took them several painful and tiring days to reach the mainland and begin their cross country journey toward the Qinhai Province and the legendary training grounds on the Mt. Quanxing said to be found in the Bayankala mountain ranges there.
When they had reached the shore, tired and beat up, Ranma collapsed on the beach. "Hey pops. Tell me again why we didn't take a boat or somethin' instead of swimming across an entire damn sea!"
His father hit him over the head. "Because boy, we don't have that kind of money! Besides it is useful endurance and strength training. Remember, always turn every experience into training."
"Yeah yeah." Ranma couldn't argue that. They were low on cash currently and it was true that the journey had turned out to be a great test and training device for their endurance and strength and it did keep he and his father from fighting all the time. Guess the old man does have some good ideas ever once in a while. Doesn't mean I have to like it though.
Soon they stopped resting and continued their journey.
Somewhere Around Two Weeks Later...
They crested the last rise and the valley opened up in front of them, filled with thick fog. They descended into the valley by a well trodden path. As they walked, Ranma felt an uneasy feeling that grew as they got closer to their goal.
They eventually broke through the dense fog and came upon a large area that was filled with hundreds of springs, each with a few bamboo poles sticking out of them reaching anywhere between twenty and forty feet high. There was a well kept hut off to the side from where a portly Chinaman come walking out and greeted them in mangled but understandable Japanese.
"Here sirs, we come to famous training ground of cursed springs, Jusenkyo."
Finally, took us long enough. Ranma stretched his shoulders and laid his pack on the ground next to his father's who had already done the same.
"Are you prepared Ranma?" Genma asked while looking the area over.
"Ah man, this place isn't near so bad as I thought it'd be." Ranma shook off the uneasy feeling he had. After all, what could happen in such a peaceful place as this? The pools didn't even seem to be very deep, just a couple of feet deep, though it bothered him that there didn't seem to be any life in them except for the bamboo shoots.
The guide looked at the two visitors with slight anxiety. "Ooh, sirs, you very strange ones no? This place is very dangerous! Nobody uses it now cause over one hundred spring here and each on have own tragedy happen there."
Ignoring the guide, Genma finished his warmup stretches. Ranma felt a surge in his uneasiness however. "Umm... Pops I'm not so sure this is a good idea."
Genma gave him a condescending look. "What are you talking about? It's just some water! What afraid of getting wet? C'mon, follow me!" So saying, he jumped up to one of the higher poles.
Angry at his fathers words and not to be outdone by the fat bastard, Ranma jumped up to one nearby that topped his by a couple of feet. "Right behind ya, old man!"
Ranma ignored the huge surge of warning in his mind and the verbal warnings of the guide.
"Hey sirs! What are you doing! I have not finished tragic story yet! Very bad if you fall in spring!"
Ranma and Genma faced off. "I won't go easy on you Ranma!" he shouted.
"That's just the way I like it!" Ranma shouted back, ready for Genma's attack.
They soon got absorbed in the fight and it seemed they were evenly matched. They rapidly traded blows in midair and gained considerable and unbelievable hangtime. Suddenly Ranma got the upper hand and drop kicked Genma into the pool below. Expecting his father to come out attacking, Ranma jumped back a few poles.
Ranma suddenly clutched his head in pain as memories flooded his mind, memories that informed him of the nature of this place. He fell, unable to keep his balance under the barrage of memories that flooded his vision. Luckily he fell upon dry land and he sat up, still trying to sort out the images.
His father finally surfaced and, unaware of his change, spotted his son sitting on the ground paying no attention to him. Deciding this was a point of weakness he attacked him and knocked him into a pool on the far end of the training grounds.
As Ranma flew toward the pool he finally got the gist of what was about to happen to him. He screamed as he came closer and as he fell in the pool he cursed his idiot of a father. Pops, when I get out of here I'm gonna kill you!
Ranma felt the change take place and when it finished he stood up. He noticed that his balance was slightly off and that he was a little shorter than he remembered being. Then he noticed that something was missing... The implications of these combined facts finally hit him and his mind froze.
Oh kami, please no. Not that, anything but that! Ranma looked down at his, now her, chest and noticed the protrusions. He swallowed what courage he had left and opened his gi and looked down. There lay two perfect examples of womanhood, both perfectly shaped with slightly upturned nipples, which Ranma was soon learning, to his dismay, were very sensitive.
Finally, the full knowledge of this place hit her and she knew that there was no cure to this malady. No magic potent enough to control it, no curse strong enough to override it. It was a permanent mark on her soul.
Ranma did the only thing that she could think of doing, she screamed, and blamed her father who was currently looking at her with shock on his panda face...
End Flashback
Ranma snapped out of his reverie as Genma stopped speaking, obviously having already told what he felt needed to be said. Ranma had gotten over his anger long ago during his months of training as a woman, against his fathers wishes that he not act like a girl and that they hurry to the Tendo dojo. He observed the reactions of the girls as they heard the tale. Kasumi seemed only slightly shocked while Akane was openly furious, though with who he couldn't tell. Nabiki showed little emotion and seemed to be keeping her opinions to herself.
"The legendary cursed springs of Jusenkyo, it's true horror has been shrouded in mystery, until now." Soun finished the dramatic story for Genma.
Ranma still had a problem over Genma's stupidity however. "What do you mean 'concealed in mystery'? If pops had been able to understand Chinese then he would have known not to go to a place that was called the 'springs of sorrow' and also had a reputation for being cursed!"
Genma, aware that it had not been the smartest thing to do yet not wanting to admit it, turned on his son. "Ranma! You sound like a girl!"
Ranma dodged this time and grabbed his father's arm and threw him out into the pond. The resulting splash still managed to get him wet, however, and the redhead charged at the man turned panda.
Akane, having heard enough to come to her own conclusions on who was truly in the wrong and feeling sympathetic for the boy turned girl, she charged into the fray as well. "Panda no BAKA!" she screamed as she slammed him into unconsciousness with her mallet. Ranma stared at her and the mallet for awhile.
That's strange. Haven't seen that before, not even in dragon memories. It looks like it is a construct made of pure ki energy, without using any magic at all. Amazing. Aloud she said. "Wow, that's a pretty nifty trick. Think you could show me again sometime so I could learn how to use it too?"
Akane beamed at finding that she knew a technique that she didn't. Then she remembered the air technique she had used earlier. "Sure, if you teach me how to use that air control technique you used earlier. Deal?"
Ranma hated keeping the front that it was a martial arts technique but knew it was necessary for now. She smiled at the blue haired girl. "Deal. Oh, and sorry 'bout earlier. I should have at least put the sign up. If it's okay, could we still be friends?"
Akane froze for a moment, thinking. Well, guess it is mostly my fault. I should have at least knocked when I saw the clothes in the hamper. Why not? Ranma isn't like the 'others'. Finally she smiled at her. "Of course! I did mean it when I said I wanted to be your friend!"
Ranma smiled in relief, glad she would have someone she could count as a friend here. Akane wouldn't be a choice for a fiance though, there was still too much anger in the girl for them to get along that well. The best they could ever be is friends, or maybe siblings through marriage if it ever happened.
Soun had left a little bit earlier and now came back with a steaming kettle. "So when doused with cold water, Genma here turns into a panda. But when doused with hot water he turns back." With this he poured the boiling water on the prone panda, shocking Genma awake when the transformation and pain hit him at the same time. "Ahhhh! It needn't be quite that hot Tendo!"
Now Soun walked over to Ranma. "When hit by cold water, you turn into a girl. But hot changes you back!" He attempted to pour the water on Ranma, who dodged the boiling hot liquid with a speed that amazed the onlookers. "Hot! Not boiling!"
Soun merely shrugged his shoulders in apology. Then he clapped Ranma's shoulder and turned her toward his daughters, chuckling heartily as he did so. "Well now, your problem isn't so bad after all!"
"Look! My oldest daughter, Kasumi. She's nineteen." Kasumi had a slightly worried look on her face and Ranma knew she didn't like the idea of this at all.
Soun turned her to Nabiki. "My middle daughter, Nabiki. She's seventeen." Nabiki had a thoughtful look on her face and seemed slightly expectant of something. Ranma could feel that she looked on this with some trepidation, but wanted it badly too. She seemed to have a lonely feel to Ranma and her heart went out to her.
".. and my youngest daughter, Akane. She's sixteen." Akane seemed slightly surprised by her father and hadn't yet reacted to this turn of events, though Ranma was sure that she would be very angry and violent.
"Pick any one you want and she'll be your new fiance." Kasumi and Nabiki immediately nominated Akane, though Ranma sensed a slight hesitation on Nabiki's part.
"Akane seems the wisest choice." Kasumi stated.
"Couldn't agree more." Nabiki said with what Ranma could tell was false cheer.
Akane was now growing angrier by the second. "What! You must be joking"
Ranma saw Nabiki hesitate for a second and she could tell this was causing her some pain to do this. Seems that she wants me for herself, but for some reason is giving me to Akane. Why is that? Deciding to take this into her own hands she stepped up and Nabiki stopped what she was about to say.
Ranma looked at them all and finally decided to use her true sight to look at their auras. She saw that Kasumi dreaded being chosen and had a love interest with someone else. Akane was hurt and confused and extremely angry at her two sisters. She wanted nothing to do with an arranged marriage and seemed to have deep problems that she needed to resolve.
Nabiki was a like one of those 3D puzzles to her. Her feelings twisted this way and that, though she could feel that she wanted to be with her more than anything else right now. She felt she was doing the right thing by handing her over to her younger sister bit it hurt her very badly. She was extremely lonely and unhappy. Ranma could also feel, much to her embarrassment, that Nabiki was very attracted to both her male and female sides without discrimination.
She decided to use the authority that Soun had accidentally given her. "Enough of this. Your father said I may pick any one of you, correct?" The girls all nodded, and so she continued. "Well then, I will make my choice and I will tell you why I did not choose the others. I choose Nabiki Tendo, if she so chooses me. If she does not feel the same way, then we may all go our separate ways, our honor intact , for it would be dishonorable to force someone to be engaged to one they have no wish to be engaged to."
She looked at the two fathers, daring them to say otherwise. "Besides, wasn't the agreement to join the two schools?" Seeing their confused nods, she smiled wickedly. "Well, then the engagement isn't exactly necessary, though it would be more effective than the alternative. Technically I could just teach one of the girls our Ten style of the Anything Goes school and one of them could teach me the Chi style. Then the schools would be twice joined and twice ensured. But I'll leave the decision up to Nabiki."
Nabiki was delighted at the thought of being able to take something for herself. She was also glad that Ranma had chosen her not because of honor, for she proved adept at finding a way around the agreement, but because she truly wanted to give her the chance to have her as a fiance of her own free will. But why did Ranma choose me?
"What is wrong with my sisters Ranma? Why did you choose me over them?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity overpowering her caution that she might change her mind when given more time.
Ranma smiled at her, glad she did not rush in blindly. "Well, for Kasumi, she doesn't seem to enjoy the idea of me as her fiance very much and it seems she has her sights set on someone else."
Soun immediately ran over to Kasumi and began asking who she wanted and crying that his eldest daughter was finally growing up. Ranma shook her head as Kasumi tried to stammer out an answer and flushed a deep crimson as she did.
"What about me?" Akane asked. As Ranma looked at her she was surprised to see pain, anger, and possibly regret on her face. Maybe I misjudged her a bit. Got to go carefully with her.
Ranma scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, mostly because I don't think I could see you as anything more than a friend, maybe a close sibling. Sort of the same as with Kasumi. I can also tell that you have a personality too close to my own and you have some problems that you need to resolve."
Nabiki blinked in surprise. Wow. I think I may have struck gold here. Not only buff, polite, kind, handsome, and a great martial artist but also very intelligent and observant. She found out thing's about my sisters in less than a day that took most months or even years to find out. Just wanna make sure though. "And me? What makes me a better choice?"
Ranma turned her gaze to her and she looked into her eyes, noticing that they were a color blue she had never seen before. Then she smiled at her and she just about melted right then and there. She's got beautiful eyes and a great smile too. Oh Kami, what have you dumped into my lap? She is too good to be true.
"Well, some are things I would rather not state here but most are okay I guess. First of all, you seem to be the only one here not bothered even in the slightest by my curse. I can also feel that you really looked forward to the engagement, unlike your sisters. I feel that we would be a good match for each other and that we would complement each other in ways that most could not. There are other reasons but I would rather not discuss them with others listening."
Nabiki nodded, still captivated by Ranma's eyes.
Ranma was glad that she understood, not realizing her effect on her. "So? Do you want to give this a try? Or would you rather just learn my style and teach me yours?" Ranma hoped that she would choose the former and not the latter.
Nabiki thought it over one more time, finally allowing her business sense to take over, comparing the pros to the cons. She found eventually that the pros far out weighed the cons in this particular matter, that she was getting more than she lost. There was just one thing that bothered her. Now she looked at her father and Genma, noting their hopeful and expectant expressions.
"On one condition Ranma."
"Which is...?" Ranma raised an eyebrow to punctuate his question.
Nabiki smiled. Glad to find someone who would probably understand me and what I do. Possibly even a partner... "That we write up a contract, making this a legally binding. This means that there is no backing out. Also that we agree not to marry till at least after highschool and not until we are ready. Is this alright?"
Ranma grinned. Smart girl, I may have to watch myself around her. I don't want to give up my greatest secret before I'm ready. Though I'm sure she could keep a secret. I have the feeling that she hides many secrets, her own and those of others... "Perfectly fine, Nabiki-chan."
Nabiki blushed slightly. Nabiki-chan, eh? I could get used to it I guess. "Good. Well, now that that is settled, Ranchan, lets get the papers written up shall we?"
Ranma was startled by her use of her nickname, stirring up old memories that were just out of her reach.
Shaking the feeling off, she nodded at Nabiki. "First though, I have something to give to you." Ranma left. Curious at what she would have to give to her, Nabiki followed. Ranma went into her room and started rummaging in her pack.
Very curious now, as she had already looked through the pack and had found nothing, Nabiki watched in silence.
Finally finding what she was looking for she pulled out what looked like a solid gold ring. Nabiki gasped, thinking of what such a thing could be worth.
Feeling the shock and greed from Nabiki, Ranma frowned. She could tell that the greed wasn't deep set, it wasn't something that was natural to her. "Whatever problems you're having with money, this is not the solution. You could never get it's true worth here anyways."
Hearing this, Nabiki frowned. "What do you mean, true worth? It is just gold isn't it?"
Ranma shook her head. "No. It isn't 'just gold'. What I'm about to tell you stays between us, got it?"
Seeing how serious the redhead was, Nabiki nodded. Ranma stared at her for a moment longer, as if confirming something, then smiled at her. She did something strange, a motion that Nabiki couldn't follow, and the ring changed.
Runes that had not been there before suddenly appeared, as if engraving themselves on the surface of the once smooth ring. She looked on in wonder as the runes completed themselves and started to glow an incandescent blue.
"What is it? How... Where did you get this from?" Nabiki asked, never once taking her eyes from the ring.
Ranma chuckled. "It's a ring of course. Just magically enchanted for several reasons. As to where I got it from... Did you mean how did I get it from a pack empty of anything other than clothes?"
As Nabiki's jaw dropped she started laughing. The laughter was very infectious and Nabiki soon found herself laughing along with her.
Finally getting herself back under control, with only the occasional chuckle, Ranma explained. "I got the ring from an old friend. As for how I got it from an apparently empty pack, father is notorious for stealing, so I developed ways to keep things hidden."
Nabiki instantly knew what she was talking about. "Magic you mean?" She barely caught the flicker of surprise on Ranma's face, but it was there.
"What do you mean? I don't know any m-magic." Ranma started chuckling nervously.
Nabiki sighed. She's good at observing things but horrible at hiding them. Oh well, not everyone is perfect I guess. "Ranma, first of all you have to know at least a little magic if you are carrying that ring around. Second, I know martial arts and ki manipulation and I know there isn't a way to hide dead objects like that without you being next to them constantly. Third, I was watching your little match with Akane and while she didn't notice your little bit of magic, I did. Fourth of all, how did you know that I had gone through your things when you were in the furo, other than by magic?"
Ranma stopped protesting, realizing that she had found part of her secret already. Damn! She's sharp! Gotta spin this in a way that I don't let her know about the rest. Not sure how she would take it. She started chuckling. "All right, so you caught me. Yes, I can do magic. Just keep this to yourself for now though."
Nabiki agreed, knowing that magic isn't something widely known about and isn't accepted as easily as supernatural martial arts. There would be lots of problems if the wrong person found out about it.
She remembered something then. "What about your promise to teach Akane to do that air control thing? What are you going to do about that?"
Ranma chuckled. "Well, I'm going to teach it to her. If you want, I can teach you too, though you'll know what I'm really teaching you. I can't teach Kasumi though, she doesn't use magic per se, it's more like the power of faith, a cleric if you will."
Nabiki stopped to think this over a bit. She thought of the implications of being able to learn magic and thought it was a good thing overall, though it might isolate her a bit more than usual. She looked at the redhead who was currently rummaging around in her pack again. Though if I have Ranma, then I don't care. So long as she is with me, I'll be fine.
Ranma found what she was looking for and pulled out a small bag. She turned to Nabiki and offered it to her, smiling.
Nabiki took it and opened the drawstrings and upended the contents of the bag and gasped once again. Out fell three perfect diamonds, along with an assorted mix of Jades, Emeralds, Pearls, and a lone tiny Sapphire with such a deep blue that she was sure it would fetch more than the rest of the jewels.
"They're yours for whatever you want to use them for. Except for the Sapphire that is." So saying Ranma took the Sapphire and touched it to the ring and they both pulsed with an inner light that nearly blinded Nabiki. When she could see again, Ranma now held a ring that held the sapphire in an intricate and complex cage of gold, the runes reformed and dancing around the sapphire, pulsing with an even greater light.
Ranma smiled at her. "The sapphire is still yours, but in a different way. It is an exceptionally rare gem that amplifies magic, called an Angel Tear. This ring will be what signifies our engagement." Ranma grabbed her arm and placed the ring in her palm and put the jewels back in their bag. "Go ahead, put it on."
Nabiki looked at the ring for a bit, admiring the patterns and the blue jewel that matched the color in Ranma's eyes. Then she slowly slipped it on her ring finger. As she did the glow in the runes and the jewel intensified and she felt some kind of power flood her body and run like fire in her blood. Then the jewel flashed brightly and then stopped glowing, and the runes faded away until she was wearing only a gold ring with the sapphire trapped within.
"What happened? Why did the sapphire flash like that?"
Ranma smiled at her and she was surprised to find much more feeling in her smile than before. "It means that I chose one who could accept me for who I am and not condemn me for what I am."
Nabiki was confused. "What do you mean 'what you are'? You're human aren't you?"
Ranma sighed. "Well, for the most part, yes I am human. However, I carry the soul and memories of a dragon."
Normally Nabiki would have laughed at such a preposterous idea. But she looked into Ranma's eyes and saw no mirth, no laughter. Only pain, loneliness, grief, and over all an intensity that told her she wouldn't make something like this up.
Between the long day, learning of a Fiance, then learning that said fiance isn't even exactly human, and the magical shock from the ring her mind and body couldn't handle it and so she promptly fainted.
Ranma caught her before she hit the floor and gently placed her on a nearby futon. Sge watched her patiently with love in her eyes, waiting for her to wake. She had expected such a reaction, yet it still slightly hurt her. Still.. The ring never lies. If she wasn't someone who could love her despite her many differences and couldn't be trusted with her secret then she wouldn't have been able to bear the touch of the ring, let alone be able to put it on. Well... She did endure a lot today, so maybe it was just all the stress.
So Ranma waited for Nabiki to wake, not even taking the time to go and change back, not wanting to leave Nabiki's side for even a moment...
A/N: Sorry bout the cut off, but the chapter was getting a little long. So tell me what you think and don't hesitate to flame me, so long as it's constructive.
Till Next Time!