WARNING: While there will be no actual 'Lemon' content contained herein, adult situations, language, violence, and acts of a sexual nature are strongly implied.
Disclaimer: The rights to 'Ranma 1/2' are owned by its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. The rights to 'Gold Digger' are owned by its creator, Fred Perry. The rights to characters from other sources, which are likely to make cameo appearances, are retained by their respective creators. This story is for entertainment purposes only and written without expectation of monetary or material profit.
Notes: While drawing primarily from the original 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series, some elements and characters from the 'Ranma 1/2' Anime series may also be utilized. This is BOTH a 'Continuation' and an 'Alternate Universe' fan-fiction in regards to the characters and events of 'Ranma 1/2' and 'Gold Digger', meaning: the characters WILL be 'Out-of-Character' to one extent or another and that canon events the reader is familiar with may or may not have been altered to a greater or lesser degree. This fan-fiction is also a 'Crossover', combining elements from the two aforementioned sources. For most of the story, we will attempt to adhere closely to canon, in regards to Fred Perry's 'Gold Digger' series, but at some point, events will diverge from canon, and concessions will have to be made for the intermingling of the two base series.
Furthermore, it is 'presumed' that the events of the 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series take place over a span of less than one year, as there is little if any, real indication of the passage of time in canon. Therefore, Ranma and Akane are still freshmen at the time this story begins, while Nabiki and Kunou are juniors.
Timeframe: Right after Battlemage Book 1, Ranma arrives in Paris, France, as he was invited to the wedding of Lisette and Jean-Paul. (Gold Diggers referenced will become apparent when shown.)
WARNING: This is self-beta'd if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please PM me with the paragraph and fix.
BATTLE MAGE
By
Ryan Slicer
(original story concept, writing, and guidance)
Book Two: Journey
Part Five: A Change for Good
Ranma sat in the middle of a spell circle looking at Charon with a bland expression before a meow escaped his lips. He began to look around the circle and saw the other mages chanting and muttering quietly with their hands out in front of them. Charon also had his hands out and was chanting, but his eyes were glowing to show he was using Mage Sight. While the other mages could also use Mage Sight, they found that Ranma, in his cat persona, didn't like the other mages looking at him, but Charon was the exception. Whether Ranma trusted Charon outside of being a cat was up for debate. But they were here to help Ranma get that aura down to a manageable level so he wouldn't be a danger to anyone else. And so far it was working. Slowly, but it was working to his benefit. Ranma then began to curl up as if he was going to sleep, and the mages worked extra hard to push the aura down further, shrinking it even more before they stopped. The spell circle collapsed and they sat down in chairs next to them to rest after such an ordeal.
"This aura is fighting, to put it bluntly, tooth and nail." One of the mages remarked, taking a drink of water from a waterskin next to him.
"At least we're making progress," Charon remarked, "It's gotten down about twenty-five centimeters and it's just a few heads taller than Ranma's male form aura."
"It's good that we don't have to blindfold him to get him to the spell circle." Another mage remarked. "He's progressing very well at that."
"That's true. He's not as frightened of the cubs or adults in their animal forms, but our hybrid forms still require more progress." This caused the mages to laugh slightly at the fact that their were-cheetah forms still scared Ranma. While there was immense progress over the last few weeks since Ranma arrived, it still wasn't enough for the mages. They wanted to make sure that Ranma wouldn't slip into the Neko-ken, as Ranma put it, no matter how many cats or were-cats were around him.
"You would think that someone with such a fear of cats that it would take months to get past their fear, but it seems like he's progressing at such a rapid rate." The other mages nodded at that remark from Charon, "He's said that this is the main purpose of his trip, to help get this fear controllable."
"What else has he told you, Charon?" One of the mages closer to him asked. She stretched her arms up and looked at the young man in the middle of their circle. "He seems to trust you a lot."
"I think he trusts me because he trusts Xeris." Charon chuckled at that before responding, "He's had a rough life, taken from his mother at a young age to be trained in martial arts. His father, a deadbeat in my book, began training him in absurd ways to make him stronger and faster."
"You've seen his moves when he's practicing. It's almost like he's floating in mid-air." The female mage said, focusing on the young man sleeping like a cat, "It's almost like he's a mage as well as a martial artist."
"He's asking a lot of questions about being a mage when we have our discussions about his life." Charon mentioned, "If I thought he had the ability, I'd be training him." Charon smiled at the young man, "Still, he might possess some ability with his Jusenkyo curse."
"That is true. We certainly don't know much about how his Jusenkyo curse affects him." Another mage responded, "He might even be an aura mage based on the size of his auras."
"Until he's cured of his phobia, we'll need to keep his abilities as a mage to a minimum. We don't know if that'll affect the work we're doing to keep this cat aura at bay." One of the older mages responded to the group as Ranma woke up.
Ranma yawned as he sat up from his position, stretching slightly to get the kinks out. "How far did we get this time, Charon?" Ranma asked before standing up and walking towards the man.
"About twenty-five centimeters." Charon responded, "I know it's not a lot, but it's still progress."
"I still can't believe we've gotten it down from 9 meters down to 6 meters." Ranma smiled at the fact. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the lack of progress right now."
"Ranma, this progress is also yours as well. You've come such a long way." The female mage stood beside him and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "You should be proud of that progress."
"Thanks, Amara." He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment at the praise. He was not used to getting such praise from many people during his life on the road.
"We should rest for a bit, take lunch, and maybe see what we can do about your martial arts skills," Omari said as he walked up to the group. "Maybe get Cyan's husband, Xeres, to do a mock battle with you."
"That would be great." Ranma grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. This caused the group to smile at his enthusiasm for learning, or being in a mock battle.
"Let's head back, I'm sure Xeris has something made for lunch," Charon said, patting the young man on the shoulder. "
-LINE BREAK-
Xeris placed the plates of food on the small table in front of Charon and Ranma before picking up her plate and grabbing some food for herself. She sat down next to her husband and looked over at Ranma. "So, how was this morning's session?" She asked the two of them.
"Successful this time." Charon said, "That aura is just above 6 meters tall."
"And I'm doing better around your village." Ranma smiled, having gotten used to Charon's and Xeris's hybrid form. "As long as no one sneaks up on me."
Charon and Xeris nodded at that. "You are progressing very well," Xeris said, "I would be amazed that in the next few months, you'd be ready to go back home."
Ranma nodded. Though his journey had only been a few months, he was grateful to his new friends for helping him get to this point. "I just hope this is enough to help get my life back on track."
"You never really told us, aside from your reason for this journey, why it's so important," Charon said, taking a bite from his plate. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it now, but maybe it is something we can help you with."
"Well, I don't know everything, and I only know what I do because of Nabiki," Ranma said, taking another bite of his meal. "I'm still piecing it all together myself, but I kinda know what Nabiki doesn't want to have happen."
"And what does Nabiki think will happen?" Xeris said, concern flowing from her voice as she raised the question.
"My ol' man will consider me insane and cause me to lose whatever inheritance I get from being married to Akane," Ranma said with a frown on his face.
"Do you know about this inheritance?" Charon asked, both he and Xeris stopped eating to focus more on the young man in front of them.
"That's the thing. I don't." Ranma said, looking at the two of them. "If I knew about this inheritance, I would have left the dojo much earlier."
"I see," Charon said, leaning back from the table. "We'll do everything within our power to keep helping you with this phobia."
"And if you need anything from us in the future, we'll be glad to help you. And whoever it is that you marry." Xeris smiled at Ranma, who nodded and took a few more bites of his meal before Xeris spoke up again. "Now, tell us more about Nabiki, it sounds like you're a better match with her than with Akane, from how well you talk about her."
"Well, I would have said that Nabiki was a pain in my ass sometimes," Ranma said, "Not that she didn't have her reasons," Ranma said, waving his hands in front of him. "Though some of what she did was for her benefit, while others were towards her family."
"Oh?" Xeris questioned, "And what did she do to earn this trust with you?"
"Right after the wedding disaster, she told me about what might have been, had I married Akane." He said, "After that, we started hanging out some more. I started trusting her more and more as she got to know more about me before I settled down on their doorstep."
"And do you think Nabiki trusts you?" Xeris asked.
"Just before I left, she had a party she wanted to attend, and she was told to take me instead of one of her friends. It must have made a better impression than I think because she didn't argue too much with her father about it." Ranma said, taking a sip of water from his cup. "Because, as soon as she was drugged, she came searching for me before some creeps decided to use her." Ranma slightly growls out the last sentence, very upset about that.
"Sounds like she trusts you to search you out when something is wrong," Charon mentioned to him as he looked at the young man, "Even if she was drugged up." Charon frowned at that, knowing that there were a lot of men out there who would do something like that.
"Yeah, I'm just glad that nothing happened to her." Ranma nodded.
"But what about the other girls? Would you do the same thing for them?"
"I mean, I would do the same thing and help them home if they were drugged like Nabiki. Or intoxicated." Ranma mentioned, "Though I don't think I'd do the same thing I did with Nabiki."
"Oh?" Charon and Xeris said, causing the young man in front of them to blush. "So what did happen with Nabiki that makes you as red as a tomato?" Xeris playfully responded.
"Now don't get any wrong ideas, we were both willing and consented to it, even if she was under the drug." Ranma waved his hands in front of him, "But we may have played around a bit to get her satisfied before the drug wore off." Ranma looked down at his food, still blushing across his face and neck.
"I see." Xeris said as she reached over and gently squeezed one of Ranma's hands, "Is that all you did?"
"We did have a morning romp and discussed the option of getting married if she became pregnant." As he looked at both of them, Ranma said, "I told her that I could start looking for a job and graduate from high school within a few months of studying after we find out if she's pregnant."
"Will she become pregnant?" Xeris asked, a little concerned that he left Nabiki in a possible state of pregnancy.
"No, she said she's on the pill, but still we want to be cautious," Ranma said as he took another bite of his meal.
"That's good," Charon piped in, "At least you want to be cautious about it. I'm surprised at both of you being mature about it."
"I just hope that it doesn't come back and bite us in the ass." Ranma responded, "But if push comes to shove I'll do what I can to provide for my family."
"And what about the other girls?" Xeris asked, "You have to deal with them at some point."
"I know. I know." Ranma frowned, "Just not sure the best way to deal with them is all."
"How about you explain what happened before you left? Starting with Shampoo?" Charon asked, hoping he got the girl's name right.
"Shampoo, I took her out on one date to make sure that she knew where we stood, and I think it went well until Mousse decided to show up and ruined the date"
"How did that happen?"
"I'm not sure how Mousse got into the club, but as soon as he saw us, he wanted to start a fight with me."
"I hope nothing bad happened to either of you," Xeris remarked.
"Thankfully no, Shampoo told Mousse off and the bouncers got involved before we left," Ranma responded.
"That's a relief. And what about Ukyo?" This question caused Ranma to frown.
"That's a bit of a sore topic," Ranma said, looking at Xeris before he replied. "She's been pulling the friend card out when there's a problem, but otherwise she's acting like a fiancée the rest of the time." Ranma sighed at his last discussion with Ukyo. "I sorta blew up on her as she tried to explain that I was her friend, but I yelled back at her asking if she was my friend or fiancée." Ranma looked down for a moment before raising his head to look at both of his new friends, "Not my best day, but then she was pushing the wrong buttons that I just ranted on her." He frowned slightly, "I was also on my period but that's no excuse to fight her like that."
"At least you acknowledged that you shouldn't have fought her, but she also was not helping matters either," Charon said, looking at the young man before him. "Still, that issue should be resolved by your father."
Ranma snorted, "Not to say that you're right, but getting my ol' man to acknowledge that it was his fault is like pulling out panda teeth." Ranma said in response to Charon's remark. "I've even told Ukyo and Pops about it and Pop still wouldn't fix it."
"Sounds like you need to figure something out with her," Xeris said, "Maybe figure out how much the cart cost and maybe help repay it with interest."
"I'll ask Nabiki about that and see what she says."
"That sounds like a good idea," Charon said, "I'm sure that she might be able to help." Charon grinned slightly, "Especially since you now trust her more."
"Yeah, I don't have to worry about her doing anything like she did at the wedding," Ranma said finishing up the last of his meal. "I mean, I'm glad I didn't get married right then and there, it almost felt like a shotgun wedding you hear in the States."
After finishing their meal, Ranma helped Xeris pick up the plates and walked to the kitchen to help her out. "What about the eldest daughter, Kasumi?" Xeris asked as they started washing the dishes.
"Kasumi is nice, she helped me out a lot, especially when I was a girl half the time." Ranma said, "But she's got her eyes set on someone else." Ranma stated with a smile. "When I get back I've got to visit him and tell him to return to Nerima."
"Though you wouldn't mind if she spent some time with you?" Xeris jested to the young man.
"I wouldn't say no if she does want to spend some time with me. I feel like I can only tell her about some of my fears being what I am."
"Because of the curse?" Xeris asked, confirming what Ranma was talking about with his hesitant nod.
"Yeah, I mean, I have the same body parts as a normal girl and I do get periods." Ranma spoke quietly, "I'm just a bit scared that I could become pregnant and what would that do to me if that does happen."
Xeris placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder, gently squeezing in a comforting grip. "You would take it one day at a time. There's nothing wrong if that's something you want to have."
Ranma shook his head before turning towards Xeris, "But that isn't normal, at least for me." Ranma stated, "I'm a guy, at least mentally, it would just be weird if that happened."
"And it is something to worry about, but at least you know how you feel about it." Ranma looked into Xeris' eyes and saw the compassion that she held for him, knowing that she could be trusted with his fear of what could happen to him in his female form.
"I would just feel weirded out. I mean..." Ranma paused as he frowned slightly, "Just having a period makes me feel gross and ill-tempered. Even as a guy if I change right after my period starts."
"So you do get cramps and the usual feelings even as a guy."
"Well, sort of. I just get more irritated and angry as a guy. It's not like I feel the same thing as a girl when I'm on my period if I change." Ranma finished up the dishes with Xeris and set them aside to dry. "But I wouldn't wish that on my worst male enemy."
"Just out of curiosity, when do you get your periods? Are they regular?" Xeris asked, drying her hands on a hand towel before handing it over to Ranma to dry his hands.
"I'm completely off schedule. It usually happens, maybe once every three or four months. It just depends upon how long I'm in my female form." Ranma stated, setting the towel down on the counter. "I've stopped trying to figure out when it happens, but I've learned to deal with it myself before Nabiki helped me out and taught me what to do."
"That's good. But if you need more help, you can always come to me without any hesitation." Xeris said, gently taking Ranma into her arms and hugging him.
Ranma returned the hug, getting used to them with Xeris after one of their long discussions about anything on his mind, or even discussing any plans of how to help him out with his troubles. They broke apart and Ranma gave her a genuine smile. "Thanks, Xeris."
"Of course Ranma," Xeris said as they returned to the main room where Charon was reading a book.
Charon stopped reading as they both came in and stood up. "Ready to head back?"
"Sure," Ranma stated as they headed towards the door.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma, Charon, and Xeris stepped out of the house and walked towards the practice arena where they would meet up with Xerses and Cyan. As they passed through the village to get to the arena, Ranma waved to some of the locals, who responded with smiles and waves of their own. This was some great progress as Ranma was able to enjoy walking through the village without going into the Neko-ken. They finally made it out of the village and into a large open area where they saw Cyan and Xerses standing there. Cyan's pregnancy showed she was about to give birth, while Xerses started stretching to loosen up his muscles for the upcoming spar. As they got closer, Ranma noticed that Xerses was in his human form before he stopped in front of him and began stretching himself. "You know, I can handle your hybrid form," Ranma stated, as he raised his arms above his head before bending to the left and then the right to stretch out his sides.
"Of course, you can, but this is also a spar for me," Xerses said, standing up straight and nodding toward Ranma. I want to see how well I fare against you in my human form." This caused Ranma to stop stretching before he nodded in agreement.
"Alright, just don't expect me to go easy on ya." Ranma smiled his confident smile before they both walked into the ring.
"I wouldn't expect you to do anything of the sort." Xerses smiled, getting into his starting form, with Ranma standing still across from him.
Omari stood between them before looking at the two. "This is a sparring match between Ranma and Xerses. Anything goes until the fighter taps out or is thrown out of the ring." He looked at the two. "Just no killing moves." This caused both fighters to nod in acknowledgment, not looking away from each other. "Ready?" Omari asked, raising his hand above his head.
"Ready." Ranma and Xerses replied.
"Begin!" Omari dropped his hand and moved to be outside of the ring.
Ranma and Xerses stood there for a moment as if waiting for another call for them to start the fight. After a few seconds, Xerses began to move, running up to Ranma with a fist cocked back to strike. As he got closer, Ranma smiled and stepped to the side as Xerses threw the punch, Xerses stopped and turned towards Ranma with a backhand strike, which Ranma stepped back away from and kicked his feet out to trip Xerses.
Xerses saw the kick and rolled forward and back onto his feet before dashing once more toward Ranma before dropping low and starting to deliver a low kick to Ranma's own feet. Ranma leaped up to dodge the kick and flipped over Xerses, gently touching his head with his forefinger and thumb to get over him without too much effort. As Ranma came down from his jump, Xerses completed his low kick and spun around with a high kick at Ranma's chest.
This knocked Ranma back as the kick connected, which he recovered and landed lightly on his feet. Xerses looked back at Ranma, straightened out his arm, and held his hand up, then he slowly pulled all his fingers back towards him a few times before waiting for Ranma to make his move.
Ranma saw the opportunity and rushed towards the man in front of him, jumping up as he neared Xerses and flipped to deliver an axe kick from above. Xerses brought his arms up to block the attack before Ranma twisted in the air and brought his other foot up in a spin, kicking Xerses in the side and knocking him down. Ranma landed lightly on his foot before positioning himself back into his opening stance.
Xerses rolled with the kick and slid across the ring before stopping at the edge. He rubbed his side where the kick connected and smiled at Ranma. "Nice hit," Xerses said to Ranma.
"It is anything goes." Ranma grinned before watching Xerses run at him again with his fist pulled back. But before Ranma could sidestep, the fist dropped and Xeris' other hand came up and hit him in the stomach, pushing Ranma back a bit before a kick slammed into Ranma's side. Ranma brought his arms up as if to grab Xerses' leg, but the older man pulled his foot back and kicked out again with the same foot. Ranma's arm blocked the second hit to his side but Xerses took the momentum of the kick and pushed off with his leg still on the ground for a roundhouse kick towards Ranma's head. Ranma's free hand reached over and caught the kick before it connected as Xerses' upper body came down.
Xerses put his hands to the ground as his upper body started to fall back to the earth, a quick push from the ground caused him to come back up and over Ranma before the young man could grab his leg, he landed on both feet before backflipping once to slow his momentum down.
Ranma turned around to face Xerses, keeping his opponent in sight before rushing in himself, going on the offensive this time. A few kicks connected to Xerses' arms as he blocked the oncoming attack before moving to the side after the last kick, Xerses' own feet kicked out to push Ranma back and away from him, only for Xerses to miss him as Ranma swayed to the side. Ranma then retaliated with several punches to Xerses' stomach and chest, but a few blocks and a quick step back from Xerses caused most of the punches to miss or be pushed aside by the blocks Xerses had made.
Xerses then switched gears and went on the offensive, using several jabs to try and get Ranma. Once again, those punches missed Ranma or were turned away before one of those punches was caught by Ranma in his hand.
Ranma pulled on the arm he caught and kicked Xerses in the stomach, which looked like once or twice before Xerses fell back onto the ground.
Omari looked at the two fighters with Xerses on the ground and Ranma standing over him. "The spar is over. Ranma is the winner." Omari said, his arm coming down to stop the fight.
Ranma then extended his hand to Xerses, who gratefully took it and was pulled back onto his feet. "You alright? I know I kicked you about twenty times with that last move."
"Twenty times?" Cyan asked as she walked to her husband. "I only saw one or two strikes."
"I'm pretty fast with my kicks and punches." Ranma smiled before turning towards Cyan after confirming that Xerses was all right. "I did the same thing with Kuno when I first met him. Though it was only about eight kicks."
"I need to spar with you again with my hybrid form." Xerses smiled back at Ranma, rubbing his stomach before transforming into his hybrid form. Ranma shivered slightly but didn't jump away like he would have weeks ago.
"I'm up for any match at any time." Ranma nodded toward Xerses, "This was fun." his smile grew as he helped the older man off the arena. Ranma began to look around and saw most of the village had arrived and watched the spar with Xerses and himself. Ranma blushed at the praise the villagers gave him. 'It's not often that I get praised for my skills and abilities,' Ranma thought as he stopped next to Xeris, Charon, and Cyan.
"Great spar, to the both of you," Cyan said, coming up to her husband and kissing him on the cheek. "Though I wish I was able to spar with you, Ranma." She turned to the young man and smiled, "It'll have to be after I've given birth." She rubbed her large belly.
"Cyan is even better than I am," Xerses said to Ranma as he sat down in a chair given to him. He was almost feeling better now that he was in his hybrid form and his body was healing him very quickly.
"That would be great, how long until the baby is born?" Ranma asked Cyan, having only spoken with her a few times since he was here.
"In a couple of weeks," Cyan responded.
"I think I'll stay longer if we're able to get the Neko-ken and my fear down to where it's manageable."
"I'll look forward to that day." Xerses said, "Then we can let loose."
Ranma smiled as he thought about going all out. Ryoga hadn't shown up to attack him as usual during this trip, which was a godsend as he didn't want to damage the village with his abilities, and Ryoga's sense of direction caused more damage than usual.
"Well, now that you have had your spar together, let's start on the next session here. I think we've all rested well enough to try again." Charon said, walking up to the trio.
"Alright," Ranma said as he turned to Cyan and Xerses, "We'll have to do this again sometime." Ranma held his hand out towards Xerses, who reached out to shake his hand.
"Of course, Ranma," Xerses said, shaking the outstretched hand.
–LINE BREAK–
Ranma was once again in his cat persona looking at all the mages as they tried to shrink down the cat's aura after the spar between Xerses and Ranma. He then looked over at Charon and Xeris before laying back down again. Ranma looked bored as he watched the two before yawning, laying his head down, and resting it on his hands that seemed curled up like paws.
While Ranma was resting, the rest of the mages kept pouring their aura magic to shrink down the cat's aura. It slowly went down some more as Charon watched Ranma through his mage sight.
"It's shrinking some more. Keep it up and we might get it down to only being slightly taller than Ranma," Charon said as he kept up his ability to help shrink down the aura.
The other mages nodded in acknowledgment and tried their hardest to keep the pressure on the aura affecting Ranma. Slowly it went down some more but the cat aura started growling at the other mages before they stopped trying to force the aura down even further. "Alright, it looks like the aura isn't going any further," Charon said, lowering his hands. The other mages followed suit and sat down in chairs provided for them.
"How much did we drop the aura to?" Amara asked as she walked over to Charon and Xeris.
"About eighty centimeters, roughly four heads shorter," Charon responded.
"That doesn't seem like much," Omari said, walking over towards the three of them. "I would have assumed we got more down this time."
"Well, considering that we went from nine to six meters in just a few weeks, I think we expected it to keep up its pace, but then it started fighting us as if it knew what we were doing."
"I guess we'll keep going until we can get that aura down so he has more control of it," Omari remarked, looking over at Ranma still curled up on the ground.
"Of course we will," Amara said.
Omari nodded and patted Charon on the shoulder, "He'll need all the help he can get to get past this."
Charon nodded as well, watching the young man as he slept. "Someone grab a glass of water for him so he isn't on the ground for so long."
One of the children ran towards the closest well and gathered some water into a small bowl before going back to the arena. The child handed the bowl to Charon, who got up from his chair and went to Ranma. Pouring the water onto Ranma, he changed from a young man to a young girl.
Ranma opened her eyes and looked up at Charon from the floor before pushing herself up into a sitting position. "How did we do?"
"A little better than this morning. It's still a few meters taller than your male form." Charon said, holding his hand out to help Ranma stand. Ranma accepted the hand and pulled slightly on it to get herself off the ground.
"That sounds good," Ranma remarked as she brushed off the dirt from her arms and legs before looking at Charon, "I'm guessing we're done for the day?"
"Yes, Ranma," Charon said as they walked to Xeris, Amara, and Omari. "We'll pick this up tomorrow."
Ranma nodded as they all went back to the village proper.
-LINE BREAK-
Xeris sat on the chair next to her husband while watching Ranma once more, curled up as his cat persona took control of his body. She didn't like that he had to be forced into this persona every time they wanted to shrink down the cat aura that plagued him. It had been weeks since the last time she had been out to the mage arena. A round bump around her stomach showed that she was pregnant, as she rubbed it gently as if she could feel the baby move inside her. It has been three months since Ranma arrived in the village, and he had gotten along better with the village population in their various forms. He would often spar with several of the warriors, including Xerses. 'The last time he sparred with Xerses, he was in his hybrid form, the fight ended in a draw between them.' Xeris thought to herself with a smile. 'Though both of them enjoyed the fight, the number of people gathered to see the fight was almost the entire village.' Xeris watched as the young man lay sleeping in the middle of the arena before all the mages stopped what they were doing and took a few minutes to catch their breath from the ether exhaustion. "Any more luck this time?" Xeris asked her husband.
"Yes, the cat's aura is almost a head shorter than Ranma's male form aura," Charon responded.
"That's good indeed," Omari said, having watched the progress periodically. He looked at Charon and nodded. "Great work, all of you. I think Ranma will be pleased that the aura is finally in a controllable state."
"I'd like to get it below his female form's aura before we pat ourselves on the back," Charon said, his eyes still glowing from mage sight. He closed and reopened them, the spell fading to reveal the emerald green of his irises. "Once that's done, I'm sure Ranma will feel more comfortable around cats in general."
"I see," Omari replied. He glanced at Ranma, noticing him stirring from his nap with actions that seemed more human. Charon walked towards Ranma, just as he had many times over the past three months.
"Is that it for today, Charon?" Ranma asked, looking up at the man. He was getting more accustomed to curling up or lying like a cat. It wouldn't surprise him if, once free of the Neko-ken, he began to lay down like that instinctively one day.
"Yes, Ranma," Charon said, extending his hand. Ranma grasped it with his own before standing up, brushing himself off as he walked with Charon to the edge of the arena. Charon also helped Xeris stand, and they all began to walk back towards the hut they shared, with Ranma following closely behind them.
"Ranma," Xeris said as they entered the hut, "I think we need to discuss your fiancée issues and who might be the best bet." She turned to him as they sat on the floor beside a small table.
Ranma sighed as he joined them, facing Xeris, who offered him a concerned look. "You're right. I need to figure this out before I go back to Japan." He nodded, "But which one do I pick? I'm not happy with Ukyo right now, and Shampoo has decided to back off after our date." He began listing the two fiancées he didn't want to be with. "That leaves Akane."
"What about Nabiki and Kasumi?" Charon suggested, hoping to provide some wisdom. "You mentioned getting close to Nabiki, and Kasumi seemed interested."
"I'm not so sure about Kasumi. She might have just been flirting with me," Ranma replied, recalling the last week before he left with Kasumi and the pinch she had given him. "As for Nabiki, I know we talked about marriage, but that would be if she were pregnant."
"Well, you'll find out when you get back," Xeris said as she stood up to start dinner.
Ranma acknowledged her response with a nod. "I know. I mean, I'm not ready to be a parent right now."
"What about this Kodachi Kuno?"
"That crazy woman thinks she's the only one who should marry me, and I can't get through to her that I don't want to marry her." Ranma grumbled, "And her brother feels the same way about my cursed form."
"I thought so," Charon said, taking a sip of the drink Xeris had put in front of him. "Still, the only ones with a legitimate shot are Shampoo and the Tendo agreement," he concluded.
"You're right," Ranma sighed. "And from what I've said to you both, Shampoo might be out of the running since she understood that I don't like her behavior."
"That just means Shampoo will stop antagonizing you like before," Charon remarked. "But she might still ask for dates."
Ranma frowned and nodded. "Yes, I think you're right. But it doesn't mean I have to go on dates with her."
"That's true, but she could be your friend," Xeris suggested. "And friendship strengthens over time."
Ranma thought about that for a moment and nodded again. "I don't want to hurt any of them, but this fiancée business makes it hard to see them as just friends."
"Except for Nabiki and Kasumi, right?" Xeris smiled at him.
"Well, yeah. They are different because they never really wanted to be my fiancées; they pushed that onto Akane when we first met."
"But now?" Xeris asked, probing about the two older Tendo sisters.
"Now I'm not so sure." Ranma looked down for a moment before looking back at the couple. "They both helped me out, often without me asking." He paused, recalling something about Nabiki. "Except there were times Nabiki asked for compensation for her services." He chuckled, "It was usually monetary or helping her out."
"It sounds like Nabiki changed a lot while she got to know you," Charon observed.
"Yeah, she did," Ranma agreed. "But that was only for a week. I'm not sure if she means that much to me."
"And Kasumi?" Xeris inquired.
"Kasumi has been like an older sibling I never realized I needed," Ranma replied. "She was there during some rough spots with Akane and helped me understand what I needed to do." He smiled at the thought of Kasumi assisting him in improving his cooking in his male form. "She helped me get used to some domestic chores in case she was out."
"Those are good skills to have," Charon said.
Ranma nodded in acknowledgment, feeling grateful for his friends' support. 'I think I know what to do now,' he thought to himself as Charon and Xeris began discussing their plans for when the baby arrived.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma stood in the village square with the rest of the were-cheetahs, some in their human form around him and some in their hybrid forms. Ranma wasn't shaking as much as he used to when he first entered the village. He was doing better than he was when he arrived.
"We've seen the lake and wells we get water from and they are drying out." The village elder spoke, this caused some gasps and frustrations from all the adults in the square. Ranma looked at the village elder and frowned slightly as he thought about why they would be in a drought. He didn't study the ecosystem of Africa and didn't know if this was normal or not. "We will get through this and survive like we've always done."
"How are we going to get more water?" One of the adults said, "Couldn't we trade with some of the other towns around the Serengeti?"
"We're sending traders to Isenye village to see if they're having the same difficulty." The elder responded, "But, from the looks of it, the whole Serengeti is affected and it would take days by foot to get to a populated city and get liters of water."
"Can't we just ask the rangers for a pickup and help with the travel?" Ranma asked Charon, who was standing next to him with Xeris on the other side. "I would think that the rangers would be helping the other villages."
"Unfortunately they have to make sure the other animals are safe in this drought," Charon said. "They would be using all of their resources to keep poachers from using this time to get animal trophies."
"So no help there," Ranma said.
"They'll check-in on us but that's all they can do," Xeris interjected, "But it will be fine." Xeris said softly, "We just need to be sure our enemies don't take advantage of us."
"What enemies? I thought only the Werewolves were your enemies." Ranma asked.
"There are others, like Were-rats and so on," Cyan said, looking at Ranma with concern in her eyes.
"Of course, if there are Queens of the dead, then there are other weres out there," Ranma muttered.
"Queen of the dead?" Xeris exclaimed, "You can't be serious."
"Yep, I met her in London before coming to Africa."
"Why am I not surprised?" Charon chuckled at the thought of Ranma encountering the vampire queen of the dead realm.
"After everything I've told you, you'd think I haven't seen anything. Almost like I'm a main character in a manga or anime." Ranma grinned at Charon. "But seriously, she approached me after dealing with a few of her underlings. Not that I'd want to see her again."
Charon and Xeris shook their heads at what Ranma said. "We believe you. You seem to have an interesting life." Charon said as he patted Ranma's shoulder. Xeris nodded in acknowledgment of her husband's thoughts.
"We'll get through this. It isn't our first drought that we've been in." Cyan replied, rubbing her swollen belly, "I'm just worried about the newborns and children."
Ranma frowned at the thought that the children would be the worst affected by this drought, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"We'll take the same precautions that we did last year, but this drought may be worse than the last one. Make sure you have enough water for two days or more for yourself and any children." Omari finished speaking before getting down off the box he was on. Murmurs and discussions were taking place between the adults as they started making plans to grab as much water as they could before the scouts reached the other villages.
Charon waited until the crowd thinned and escorted Ranma, Xeris, and Cyan back to their home with Cyan waving goodbye to the three as she met with her husband Xerses. The three stepped into the hut, Xeris headed towards the kitchen while Charon and Ranma sat on the floor of the main living space.
"How long did the last drought take to get over?" Ranma asked, curious about the weather patterns of the Serengeti.
"Usually we have it later in the year, but for some reason, it came early." Charon said, "Something seems off with this one."
"I'm willing to help out in any way that I can." Ranma said, "I can help dig new wells if need be."
"How would you do that?" Xeris asked from the kitchen, "It's not like you have a drill in that pack you carry."
"No, but I can shoot my ki into an area and that'll blow up like a piece of dynamite."
"There may be a better way to do that than making a new lake." Charon chuckled at the thought of Ranma blowing up the ground near them. Ranma brought his hand up and a small ball of blue ki expanded until it was the size of a baseball.
"I should be able to make a precision hole instead of making that new lake just outside of town." Ranma grinned as he closed his hand to make the ball of ki disappear. The whole act shocked Charon before Xeris came into the main room with some food for the three of them.
"What happened here?" Xeris said as she sat two plates down in front of them, looking at her husband with a questioning look.
"You're a Ki master?!" Charon asked as he blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Ranma rubbed the back of his head and grinned slightly, "Well I wouldn't call me a master, but I can manipulate my ki if that's what you are askin'."
"Ranma, being able to manipulate your inner energy as a physical manifestation without years of practice is practically impossible." Charon sat back a bit as he put his hand to his forehead, "You must be the youngest ki master that I know of."
"I know a few people who can do that, but two of them are over 300 years old." Ranma explained, "But the third one is my age and can do it too."
"Another Ki master at your age. You two must be prodigies." Charon looked at the young man in front of him. "You must be channeling pure ki at that age..." Charon started before being stopped by Ranma.
"I don't think it's pure ki. I use my confidence in my abilities to power my ki." Ranma said as he held up his hand once more, showing the blue ball once more in his hand. "It's not pure white as I know I get cocky with my abilities."
Charon nodded as he looked at the ball with mage sight and saw that his aura was mostly blue with that confidence spilling out across his hand and into the ball, "But when we're helping you with your phobia, your aura is pure white. It's like you might be channeling ether to power your ki."
"That's the magic you were talking about right?" Ranma's brows peaked in interest. "So you think I might be a mage as well?"
Charon held out his hand and chanted so that Ranma could hear him. "Glow." And in the palm of his hand sat a white orb. "This is magic, or as we call it Ether. It's the mana that we mages use to create 'spells' like Glow here to be used with other types of spells." Charon explained. "The types of spells are based on classifications of what the spell does."
"What do you do when you cast that spell? It kind of sounds like you're chanting something."
"Glow is the most basic spell of magic, it is used to determine how much ether you can utilize. But considering that you also have ki, the spell might have some of your ki imbued into it."
"So how do I use it?" Ranma asked as he sat there watching the ball of light rise from Charon's hand for a bit before Charon dismissed the ball of ether.
"How do you channel your ki?" Charon asked as he was interested in how Ranma used his ki.
"Well," Ranma started, "I start by imagining the energy within me and focus on getting that energy into a ball."
"Alright, then what do you do?" Charon focused on what Ranma was saying, as he described exactly what he did to make a ki ball or attack.
"Then I expand that outside my body into the ball and shout my attack at the individual or thing I'm attacking." Ranma finished off as he held both his arms out, acting like he was about to fire the projectile at Charon.
"That sounds on par with what I know of ki users. All of their focus is within the body." Charon said as he nodded at what Ranma was saying. "Magic, at least aura magic, is pulled from everywhere and is then condensed into the spell that is being cast," Charon explained. "So it sounds like you're doing the same thing, except you're pulling from your inner energy and not from the ether."
Ranma looked at Charon and closed his eyes for a moment, he held his hand out and reached out with his senses, hoping to get what Charon was trying to explain to him. He felt the energy around him, and he tried to pull that energy to him into the ball that he usually made with his Moko Takabisha attack. He opened his eyes to see the results and frowned as he saw the same blue glowing ball that was associated with his infamous attack. A quick clasping of his hand into a fist made the ball disappear in an angry and frustrated growl that came out of Ranma.
Charon viewed the attempt with his mage sight on and watched the process that Ranma was working towards making the spell "Glow." As soon as he thought Ranma might have had it, he saw that Ranma's ki took over and made a ball of it instead of ether. He shook his head at that and felt the frustration that Ranma expressed in his growl. "Be at ease Ranma. I wouldn't expect you to get it on your first try." Charon said to the young man.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ranma said as he brought his hand down and started eating the food Xeris brought out to them. Xeris was looking at them both with a frown on her face before either of them noticed.
"Well if you two are done trying to do magic," She huffed at them, which caused both of them to chuckle softly, "Maybe one of you could explain the ki master bit."
This caused Ranma to blush with Charon giving his wife a nod. "Ranma, and possibly a few others he knows, have developed their ki, or inner spirit, to be used as projectiles." Charon briefly explained. "I see that he has a strong aura and his chakra points are good." Charon rubbed his chin in thought, "I wouldn't expect you to use the glow spell right off the bat. But I did feel that you were pulling ether from the air around you before your body tried to substitute ether with ki." Charon got up and walked over to the small bookshelf that contained scrolls and books on. He looked at the books before pulling one off the shelf and looked it over, "This book is one I put together as I was learning to be an Aura mage." He said as he walked back to Ranma and placed the book in front of the young man, "I have no use for it now, but it does contain all my notes on spells and uses."
Ranma looked at the book before picking it up and opening its cover to the first few pages. He noted that the same spell that Charon showed him was the first spell and shows how to cast the spell from the ether. "This is amazing," Ranma said as he continued to look over the pages. "Normally I'm looking at scrolls that only tell you or give hints about what to do, but this explains how it works."
"Thank you for the compliment, Ranma," Charon said, sitting back down across from him and watching the martial artist flip through some of the pages before setting it aside to eat the meal put in front of him.
"I wonder if I do have the ability to be a mage." Ranma said, taking a bite of his meal while looking at Xeris, "Might scare the ol' Ghoul into leaving me alone now."
"Now Ranma, Cologne is a respected member of her society. You need to start treating her better, or at least stop calling her by the nickname you gave her," Xeris pointed out as she chastised him for calling Ku Lon an old Ghoul. This caused Ranma to blush before nodding in acknowledgment that he should be better than that.
"I'll keep that in mind next time I see her," Ranma said, taking another bite of his food. "Just when I first met her, she looked like a ghoul. For her being three hundred years old kind of makes you all wrinkled and pruny." Ranma chuckled softly.
"She's the one that tested you when she got there, right?" Charon asked as he took a bite of his meal.
"Yeah, and I beat her with a chicken drumstick." The three of them chuckled softly at that. "She was a bit hungry after her flight."
"Well, after everything you told me and what happened at the village and what you did with Shampoo to 'win' her back, Shampoo does have a valid excuse to continue to pursue you." Xeris said, pointing her fork at the young man, "So you dug yourself into a hole with her."
Ranma bowed his head and nodded silently, knowing that would cause issues in the long run. "I was told that a while back with the same explanation." He took the last few bites of his meal before pushing the plate a bit in front of him, "I guess I'll have to figure out a way to get out of that marriage with her."
"How did that date go with her? You mentioned that you finally took her out to see if you were compatible, right?" Xeris asked.
"The date went okay, until Mousse decided to crash the party." Ranma said, "But I don't think one date will fix everything that she's done over the last year."
"That's understandable, Ranma," Xeris stated, "But she is trying right?"
"Well she didn't bother me at all before I left after the date." Ranma mentioned as he slid the book in front of him, "Just not sure if I should even assume that she's changed."
"I wouldn't give her the benefit of the doubt, but if she hasn't attempted to do anything that she normally would do, then she must respect your decisions now," Charon said. Ranma nodded at that and thought about the change in Shampoo.
"I just don't know." Ranma finally spoke after a few minutes of silence, "Kinda hard to trust someone when they've been doing the same thing for over a year. Especially when she found out I was male." Ranma sighed. Both Charon and Xeris nodded at that. Ranma got up and helped clear the table with Xeris while Charon got up and grabbed another book from the bookshelf.
When Ranma and Xeris were done with the dishes, Xeris went and sat down on a chair while Charon and Ranma sat on the rugs in the main room. They started their discussion on magic, while Xeris listened politely to her husband teaching Ranma about the fine arts of aura magic.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma looked at the pile of boulders that Omari asked him to help move out of the way and looked to figure out the best place to put them. He was sure Omari wanted them out of the village's way so that they could use the space for another hut. As he looked at the boulder for a moment, he turned his head to where he was thinking of putting the boulders when he saw a European man with a young woman following him. The man had short brown hair with a brown goatee coming off of his chin. His body was chiseled as if he worked out every day, based upon his tank top and shorts he was wearing. The younger woman next to him had short, blond hair with a feminine body underneath the same clothes as the man next to her. Ranma ignored those two, as he was sure that they were probably investigating the plains of the Serengeti's drought. He looked at the cubs around him and their parents before grabbing one of the bigger boulders and lifting it over his head.
What Ranma didn't see after he picked up the boulder, was the young woman glancing in his direction. She gently tapped the man on the shoulder and pointed to the young man. The older gentleman looked over at where she was pointing to and saw that Ranma had already set the boulder down. He scoffed at the fact that the young man was trying to move it after Ranma had already set it down where it was supposed to be, and continued on his way, "Jetta, we'll be discussing peace between us, I don't want you to engage in any fighting with the were-cheetahs."
"But father, he lifted that huge boulder and moved it to where he's standing now. Without any help." Jetta said to her father.
"I doubt that he did it with his human form." The older man said before continuing to walk towards Omari's home.
Jetta frowned at her father. She knew exactly why they were here. But she didn't believe they could broker peace between the were-cheetahs and the werewolves. "Fine. Don't believe me, but I swear he moved that boulder out of the way."
"Jetta, I know you're smarter than this. That were-cheetah couldn't have moved that boulder by himself in his human form, it's almost as big as he is."
"Alright, but I want to see how strong he really is," Jetta grumbled before walking off towards Ranma and the cubs.
"Do as you wish, but if they say no don't antagonize them any further. We're trying to end this war, not start it up again."
"Yes, father." Jetta acknowledged. While she was upset that her older sister was dead, killed by the hands of one of these were-cheetahs, she had to admit that she wanted to end this war too. But not like how her father wanted it to be. As she got closer, she morphed into her hybrid form and spoke up. "Hey you." She started to speak up.
"Me?" Ranma said as he turned around towards the voice. He saw the werewolf coming towards him, her brown fur covering her entire body with a spot of white in her bangs and her mouth covered in white fur.
"Yes, you." As she stepped closer to him, she was a head taller than he was. She looked down at him and gave him a small grin, "I want to spar with you."
"That's fine with me." Ranma said, "Let's head to the arena and away from the village proper to have a good spar." Ranma then beckoned her to follow him.
Jetta grinned, knowing she was getting a taste of battle from a were-cheetah. Oh, she might accidentally break something, but with their healing factor on both sites, he'll be laid out for a few days and that would make her day.
'So this is a werewolf.' Ranma thought as he guided the girl towards the physical arena, 'Not much to look at, she seems pretty strong. Maybe even stronger than Ryoga.' Once they arrived, Ranma and Jetta stepped into the circle before standing opposite each other. A few of the villagers followed them, knowing that the werewolves were there to help create peace between them. This would be an interesting fight, as they've all seen how Ranma fights and can hold his own against their hybrid forms. "Ready when you are," Ranma stated.
"Aren't you going to change?" Jetta said, looking at Ranma in disbelief.
"I can, but I would need a glass of water."
"Water? What does that have to do with you changing? Just change into your hybrid form."
Ranma sighed, 'This is going to be one of those matches.' Ranma thought as he stood there, waiting for her to attack first. "I don't have a hybrid form, or anything else like what you can do," Ranma stated.
Jetta growled before deciding that if he wanted to be hurt that badly then that was fine with her. "I want to fight you with your full strength." She said, rushing towards him, as she wanted to hit his legs first.
"Well, you asked for it," Ranma stated, jumping over her with a slight flip to stand lightly again on his feet behind her.
Jetta scowled and turned around, staying up to get him before he jumped over her again. She punched out with her left arm, only to see him dodge it at the last minute. She spun around in place and let loose a kick towards his side, which he jumped over, keeping his hands in his pockets as he stood there with a smirk on his face.
"You're a little slow for that to work on me." Ranma teased, jumping back as she reached out to grab him, "Come on, I know an old lady who is faster than you." This caused Jetta to growl and try to kick his legs out from underneath him. Ranma jumped back and stopped near the edge of the ring before letting his arms hang loose for a moment before he brought them up in a kung fu stance, one arm behind him and the other out in front. "Do you really want me to go all out?" Ranma stated as Jetta stepped back.
"I want you to show me that full strength you have. I want to fight you on equal terms." Jetta said, getting into a stance Ranma didn't recognize.
"Interesting stance," Ranma said before rushing forward towards the werewolf. "Show me what you got."
Jetta growled again as she backed up, with Ranma striking out with his fists to test her defences. She blocked or pushed away his attacks as he went faster and faster on the offense. "Change your form, damn it!" Jetta yelled at the young man in front of her as she continued to block his fast attacks, 'Is he getting faster or is it just me?' Jetta thought to herself before she grabbed one of his arms in a strong grip.
"Naughty doggie," Ranma said before kicking out at her stomach, which caused her to let go of his arm. He then twirled around and kicked her in the side, which pushed her close to the ring's edge. 'Damn, almost had her.' Ranma thought before jumping back when she started attacking.
Jetta's anger took over, she wanted to show this smug were-cheetah her strength could beat out his speed, 'Even if he's in his human form, I'll show him what true strength is all about.' She thought, keeping up the advantage she had.
Ranma weaved in and out of her attacks, blocking some and redirecting others so they wouldn't hit him. Then she kicked out at his side, and he jumped over her once again. He gently tapped her head as he jumped over her and swept her legs out from under her. As Jetta fell to the ground, he grabbed her arm and twisted it around to her back before straddling her as she lay on the ground. "Give up?"
Jetta tried to push up on her other arm, but she couldn't move it very much as it was trapped underneath her body. Just as she was about to snarl out her answer, a booming voice crossed the field.
"JETTA! What did I just say to you about antagonizing the were-cheetahs?" The girl's father said, standing next to another were-cheetah in his hybrid form.
"But father, I asked for a spar." She said, almost whining at the pain she was feeling at the moment with her arm behind her back.
"It doesn't look like one to me." The older man stated, "I'm so sorry Omari, my daughter seems to think that she could best one from your clan."
Omari chuckled as he shook his head, "No Brendan, you don't need to apologize. That young man is not from this village." He looked at Ranma and Jetta, still locked in their position. "Alright, Ranma, you can get off of her," Omari said to the two. "No more sparing with the young woman."
"Yes sir," Ranma stated as he got up off of the werewolf. She turned around and laid on her back before seeing the offered hand to help her up.
"So you're not a were-cheetah?" She asked, almost quietly with some reserve.
"Nope. Just a plain ol' human with a unique curse." Ranma smiled as Jetta gently grabbed his hand and he helped her up. "I hope I didn't hurt you or anything," Ranma stated once she was up on her feet.
"If anything I should be asking you the same question," Jetta said, "You don't look like you have any scratches or bruises."
"I'm okay. A few of your punches did hurt my arms, but I'll be fine." Ranma said, showing her the light bruising from a few of her punches that did connect as he blocked them.
"I'm surprised that young man could withstand a were's attacks like that," Brendan said, looking over at the two as they started to talk calmly to each other as equals.
"He's been sparing with several of our warriors, especially Xerses."
"Xerses huh." Brendan nodded, "What about your best fighter, Cyan?"
"She just gave birth a few days ago and isn't ready for a full out sparring quite yet," Omari said, watching the two youngsters as they shook hands and walked up to the pair.
Jetta looked at her father and bowed her head in shame, "I'm sorry I got out of hand, Father." She said quietly, "I shouldn't have let my anger get to me."
"My teasing didn't help matters either there, Jetta," Ranma said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. The two looked at each other with respect now.
"Well, my daughter," Brendan said, "I expect you to at least attempt to get to know Ranma a bit more before..." Brendan started to talk before Ranma got wet with some water as one of the children who were watching was trying to give him a drink. "What is this?" He turned to Omari and then back to Ranma, who tightened her belt as she felt the change occur.
"Jusenkyo curse." Ranma said, "Long story short, cursed springs with different curses in each one. I landed in the spring, of drowned young girl, cold water makes me look like this and hot water turns me back."
"Sorry Mister Ranma." The young girl said as she picked up the cup she was bringing to her.
"It's alright," Ranma said as she knelt to the eye level of the girl in question. "I figured this would happen. Always does when I meet new people." She gave the girl a cute grin and patted her on the head. "Thanks for the water, if you can get me another one that would be great."
The little girl nodded excitedly and ran back towards the well faucet to grab more water. Ranma then stood up and looked at Jetta and Brendan once more.
"This is what I meant by I needed water to change my form." Ranma smiled at Jetta as she now finally got what she meant.
"Where does it all go? The height, the mass." Brendan said, looking up and down the short girl that originally was a few inches taller.
"I'm not sure, I just chalk it up to the curse having a way to shrink the mass and height down, without killing me in the process." Ranma smiled, "Kind of like magic."
"Well that does answer a lot of questions." Brendan said, "Magic does work in mysterious ways that we can't scientifically answer at this time."
Ranma nodded in understanding and looked at Jetta, "I enjoyed our match, maybe next time we meet we can both go full out." Ranma smiled, hold her hand out once more to her.
"Maybe we can." Jetta smiled, blushing a bit at the fact that Ranma was cute in that form. She shook the smaller girl's hand before changing into her human form, "It was a good match, wasn't it?"
Ranma smiled and nodded before looking at Omari and nodding to him. "I'll be off, gotta get those boulders out of the way."
"Let me help you," Jetta said, walking with the young girl towards the boulders that Ranma was trying to move.
"Well, it seems like they hit it off well," Omari said, "But come, let's finish our discussion and we'll figure out something to bring us both together in peace. And maybe be allowed to the Enchanted Realm."
"Of course," Brendan said, as they walked to the elder's home to finish their discussion.
-LINE BREAK-
Days later, after the were-cheetah's discussion with the werewolves, Ranma sat in the middle of the mage circle. This time, not in his cat persona, as he had been over their last few sessions, but in his normal form. "Alright, I'm ready," Ranma said as he closed his eyes. He moved his right arm up with his hand open before closing it. He did that a few times before purple claws manifested at the tips of his fingers. They weren't long, but he could feel that they were there. He opened his eyes and saw the faint claws before they shuttered and disappeared once he lost concentration.
"Very good, Ranma," Charon said, with Amara standing next to him. "I know it's a rough start, but it's good that you can manifest them without the stress it takes to put you into your cat persona."
Ranma nodded, with Amara adding to the conversation, "It does look like your progress is getting better and better by the day. I've never seen anyone do something like that in the amount of time you're displaying."
"If it's martial arts, I can pretty much learn anything." He grinned, "That's why my family style is called 'Anything Goes'," Ranma chuckled softly, "What's next?" He looked at Charon and Amara.
"Next we have you try aura magic," Charon said, handing Ranma the spell book he brought with him. "Just remember, you're attempting to conjure a light in the palm of your hand."
"Right, don't let my ki interrupt it." Ranma took the book and flipped it open to the page where the glow spell was. He had read through the spell book during his off times after being cured of his aloraphobia. Charon did mention that the cat persona was still there, but only half as tall as he was in his physical form. While both his male and female auras were more dominant. Ranma sat there, letting the book rest in his lap while he held his arm out again with his palm up. He felt the ether fight against his ki, but it only did so for a moment as he found the way to guide the ether down his arm and into his hand. "Glow," Ranma stated once he felt the ether was in the correct place. Spots of pure white light collapsed into his hand and he felt the ether joining at that moment before he completed the spell. He opened his eyes and the ball of light stayed active. "I did it!" Ranma exclaimed, smiling at the fact that he could do magic.
"Yes you did," Charon said, before looking at the ball of light hovering over Ranma's hand. "Mage Sight," Charon said, watching the aura of the ball before he dispelled his mage sight. "That's a mighty strong glow spell."
"Really?" Ranma asked as he stood up. The ball seemed to follow him as he stood up from the ground, before Ranma looked at Charon, "How can you tell?"
"Mage sight allows me to look at the auras around me. This includes spells after they've been cast." He focused on Ranma as he continued, "You might become a powerful aura mage in your own time."
"Does that mean I can control my curse if I wanted to?"
"I'm not so sure about that, Ranma. Your curse is a bit different than other curses." Charon said, "But who knows, if you study and practice you just might be able to control it."
Ranma nodded before closing his hand around the ball of light. The spell collapsed in on itself and disappeared once he was done. "I mean, I'm used to the changes now, it's been about a year and a half since I've been cursed." He said, looking at his hand, "But if you're right, I'll have to study curses and see what can be done."
"I don't have many books about curses, so I can't help you there," Charon said before looking at Amara, who shook her head.
"I don't have any books either on curses," She said, placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder, "But I'm sure in your travels you've experienced or seen other curses."
"I've got a few people that are cursed like I am, but nothing that can be found about the curse itself," Ranma remarked.
"Well you're one step closer, and that's what matters right now," Charon said before the three of them left the mage's circle and headed back into town.
"How's the discussion between the werewolves and you guys?" Ranma asked, knowing it had been a few days since Brendan and Jetta left the were-cheetahs with a place to go to once they hashed out what they wanted to accomplish.
"It's getting harder to convince people to go to Germany. Some don't want to leave at all, saying they'd be able to survive this drought."
"What about sending those who want to go ahead of the rest of them, and if they want to join later, leave some instructions for them in Germany to enter this Enchanted Realm you're talking about." Ranma thought, before gently getting patted on the back.
"I'll bring it up to Omari and we'll see what he says. I know he wanted everyone to go, but I think your idea has some merit." Charon smiled at Ranma.
-LINE BREAK-
"Alright." Omari started as the rest of the village gathered together. "We know many of you want to have peace with the werewolves, while others want to stay here and survive the drought." He looked out over the crowd, "So we've agreed to split the village," He gestured to Xerses, who was standing next to him, with Cyan and their newborn. "Xerses and Cyan will lead those who want to go to Brendan's lair, while the rest of us will stay here and get through this drought."
This caused an applause within the crowd, as many of them did want to go to the werewolves' lair, as they had seen Brendan and Jetta helping them out the day they were here.
"The others will stay with me and we will continue to live here until we hear back from the departing group that everything is good and they will leave a few of their people with the werewolves. Xerses will bring it up to Brendan and ask if that's possible so we can all go to the Enchanted Realm."
Ranma stood there with the rest of the crowd before Omari asked the group who wanted to leave to pack their bags and get ready for a flight out of the closest airport. "Will you be staying, Charon?"
"We'll be staying until Xeris gives birth." Charon said, looking at his wife, "We don't want to have any complications just in case."
Ranma nodded, and looked at Xeris. "When is the baby due?"
"Three more months, Ranma." Xeris smiled, rubbing her now full belly, "I wish that you would be here to greet our newborn like you did with Cyan's child."
Ranma frowned at that, he knew he had to get back to Nerima soon, school was already in session and he didn't want to miss too much school before they kicked him out. "Yeah, if it wasn't for everything happening back home, and the last two months of school I missed I would have stayed."
"Well, we will be able to chat and I have a scroll made for you to come back to the village. But you'd have to finish the scroll back to Nerima, since I haven't been there myself." Charon said, smiling at Ranma, "It'll give me a chance to give you all my books on aura magic."
"Same with me," Amara said, walking towards the group. "We want to help you develop your magic abilities now that you can't go into your cat persona anymore."
"Oh?" Ranma questioned.
"We were worried that you would become a magic cat that we wouldn't be able to control if that personality took over." Amara said, patting him on his shoulder, "But now that the cats don't bother you, we all decided to see if you could do magic."
Ranma nodded and smiled before bowing to the three of them, "Thank you very much, I can't wait to let Nabiki know this." His smile was infectious, especially between Xeris and Charon as they knew now how much Ranma trusted Nabiki.
"Well, once you're back, finish up that scroll and we'll meet Nabiki, Kasumi, and Akane," Charon said with a smile.
"I will. But I want to stay until the group leaves. Can't believe that Cyan named me an honorary uncle to their baby."
The group smiled once more before heading back to Charon and Xeris' home, where the two women helped make a nice lunch for the four of them.