Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma and Akane - A Saiyan Story ❯ The Training Trip ( Chapter 2 )

Ranma and Akane - A Saiyan Story

A Ranma/DBZ Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael Ivins

 

I don't own Ranma or DBZ. I wish I did.

 

This takes place before the start of either anime or manga for Ranma and DBZ before the destruction of planet Vegeta. To be truthful you won't see any of the DBZ cast, I just want to make Ranma and Akane both Saiyans. The characters will speak of the DBZ anime and Manga.

 

Chapter 2

The Training Trip

 

Time had passed and it was the sixth anniversary of the day Genma had first brought Ranma home. Genma and Nodoka had agreed to call it Ranma's birthday even though they knew the boy was likely about two months old at the time he had been placed in the stasis capsule (their best guess.)

 

Two months ago Soun and Genma had successfully executed a plan to get rid of the Master. Now the old pervert was sealed in a cave and hopefully dead. They still took precautions so that if he survived the dynamite, he would still be stuck inside the cave because of the spirit wards they had placed on the bolder that blocked the cave entrance. The two men had been desperate because Happosai had expressed an interest in personally taking over the training of Ranma and Akane.

 

The mostly bald martial artist had taken to wearing a bandana on his head to hide his scalp. He said to his wife, “No-Chan, the boy is a martial arts prodigy. He learns whatever I teach him and he learns so fast that I'm running out of new things for him to learn. I need to take the boy on a training trip to meet with other masters of the Art.”

 

Nodoka frowned. “Soun will be staying at his dojo and will invite other masters to come and teach Akane there. Why can't you take Ranma over to train there with her under those masters?”

 

Sighing deeply the martial artist said, “That was part of the agreement. We agreed that the two children would be raised separately. They haven't seen each other since the day Soun and Kimiko took Akane home with them. You do remember that we were trying to avoid them falling into a brother/sister kind of relationship. If that happened they would never want to get married like their parents wished them to.”

 

The red haired mother glared at her husband for a moment before she relaxed. “I recognize the necessity. However you must promise that the two of you will not just disappear from my life. You must write to me and Ranma must do so as well as he can. You must promise that at least once a year you will come back here for a visit. During that visit you must stay for no less than two days. I won't demand you stay more than a week for any of those visits.”

 

Genma bowed and said, “I can agree to that. I promise that I will turn Ranma into a man among men. I will even sign a contract to that effect.”

 

The Saotome matriarch held up a hand to cut off her husband's words. “With Ranma's unique heritage and high intelligence, you don't need to make such a promise. No contract will be needed. I know he will be a man among men regardless. When he and Akane meet he is sure to fall in love with her and in time give us many grandchildren. When he can read and write better I think it would be a good idea for him to write to Akane. If they exchange regular correspondence it will help them build a relationship.”

 

Genma agreed.

 

A few months later Genma and his son camped at a location outside of the city of Osaka. Not far from their campsite another man was also camped with his child. These other campers had with them a yattai that they used to prepare and cook okonomiyaki.

 

Ranma got into a friendship with Kuonji Ukyo by getting into fights with the child he believed to be a boy. The deal was that if Ranma won the fight, Ukyo would make him at least one okonomiyaki for free. The Kuonji child was strong and skilled but no match for Ranma. Thus it was that every day Ranma got a free meal out of his friend.

 

In the weeks they knew each other Ukyo's skills improved. The child was still unable to defeat the young Saotome.

 

Unknown to the children Genma was talking to Ukyo's father. The elder Kuonji looked the picture of health. He was a tall, barrel chested man with a full beard. He knew, though that his family carried an inherited illness that struck the men of the family every other generation. By family history he knew that he would likely not live more than four or five more years. He wanted to provide for his child.

 

In spite of the arrangement with Tendo Soun for Ranma, Genma was not against a few deals on the side. When Kuonji offered his daughter to Genma as Ranma's wife and threw in the yattai as a dowry, Genma didn't think he could refuse. There were food supplies on the cart that would keep him and the boy fed for weeks and he would just leave the girl where she could make her way back to her father. It seemed like a perfect deal.

 

With the deal struck, Kuonji left the camp with his daughter in the company of the Saotomes. Genma closed up the yattai and started to pull it away with Ranma riding on the top. Ukyo had been told of the deal and that she would be staying with the Saotomes from now on.

 

When Genma began to leave Ukyo ran after, vigorously waving her arms. Ranma had thought his friend had been waving goodbye when his inhumanly sharp hearing picked up the shout, “Ranma, you jackass! You're supposed to take me with you!”

 

Ranma may just have been a kid at the time, but he was not stupid. He was after all the child of one of the Saiyan elite. One does not get into that class by being just a grunt soldier, you had to be smart in things other than just fighting. Ranma noticed that Ukyo's father wasn't anywhere to be seen. That lent credence to the child's claim.

 

Not waiting for an explanation, the boy leapt off the top of the yattai and ran at top speed back to where Ukyo running. He scooped her up in his arms and ran back, leaping onto the top of the cart and setting his friend down next to him.

 

The other child was out of breath and it took a while to recover. Finally she said, “What was the big idea of running off and leaving me?”

 

Ranma shook his head. “Pop said you were just there to say goodbye. I heard you say we were supposed to take you with us so I came and got you. I'm sorry, but Pop can be kind of an idiot sometimes.”

 

Ukyo directed a glare at Genma's back. The mostly bald martial artist hadn't yet noticed that his son had fetched the girl yet. He was concentrating on pulling the cart. The man wished he had a car or even a horse to pull the thing. It was sort of heavy.

 

On the roof of the cart, Ranma enthused, “I glad I can still hang out with my best friend. You're a great guy and I was sad at the thought of leaving you.”

 

The Kuonji child gave Ranma an “are you kidding me?” look and slapped him on the back of his head.

 

“Ow!” The boy demanded, “Ucchan, what did you do that for?”

 

“You know you can be an idiot too?” Ukyo glared at her clueless friend. “We've been hanging out together for a month and you haven't figured out yet that I'm a girl?”

 

“You are?” The boy scratched the back of his neck as he looked his friend up and down. “I'm sorry. I guess I can be an idiot.”

 

The girl shrugged and said, “I guess I can forgive you. I do come off kind of boyish the way I dress and act. My dad and yours agreed that we were going to get married.”

 

“What's `married?'”

 

Genma had really been neglecting some areas of this boy's education. She told him, “Your mom and dad are married. My mom was married to my dad before she died.”

 

“Oh.” Ranma thought about it. “Does that mean we can't be friends?”

 

“Heck no!” Smiling, Ukyo told Ranma, “Pop always used to tell me how my Mom wasn't just his wife, she was his best friend and his lover. He didn't really explain what that last word meant. He said he'd tell me about it when I got older.”

 

“Cool!” Ranma enthused. “I want us to be friends forever.”

 

Ukyo hugged Ranma and said, “Friends forever! I like the sound of that.”

 

Needless to say when Genma finally did look back and saw two children seated on the top of the cart instead of just one, he wasn't happy. He considered going back to get rid of the girl but decided it would be less effort to take her along than to take her back.

 

Having Ukyo along did change some plans. Genma had thought that he would keep the cart until the supplies were used up then ditch it. With the girl along he found that he liked her cooking so he kept the cart. Pulling the Yattai was good exercise.

 

As it happened they kept the cart with them for a little over two years. One day during their travels the hose from the propane tank developed a leak and they had an explosion that destroyed the cart. Nobody was hurt, but Ukyo was sad at the loss for some time. They continued on with their journey.

 

As promised they did go back to the Saotome home in Juuban once a year. Ukyo met Nodoka and they hit it off right away. The Saotome matriarch was less pleased about the idea of the children getting married, since the boy was supposed to be promised to Akane. However, she could see that the relationship between the boy and the girl was more like friends or even siblings than potential mates. She would bide her time and broach the subject of adoption when the girl was a little older.

 

One day after Ranma was eight years old Genma just found a book in his pack. He didn't remember putting it there nor did he did he remember ever buying or stealing it. The title looked promising - “Ancient and Forbidden Martial Arts Techniques.”

 

He glanced at the table of contents and saw the names of some techniques that he had heard of before. He saw many more that he wanted to try. Ranma was already one of the strongest martial artists of his age and possibly the strongest. The boy would only get stronger as he grew older. With some of the techniques in the book Ranma would become truly invincible.

 

A short distance away, a goddess stood and frowned. She knew her father had ordered her to plant the book in the man's pack but she didn't like it. Ranma was a good kid and she didn't like the idea of those training techniques being used on him. A goddess on an assignment was supposed to have a professional detachment, but Urd had to admit that she was becoming fond of Ranma and Ukyo.

 

Urd shook her head and headed away from the father and his children.

 

With a little searching around Genma was able to find an old mineshaft that would work very nicely for a pit. He did have to go down into it and close off the entrances to tunnels. He didn't realize that the amount of work that he put into doing that was actually more than if he had just dug a new pit.

 

While he was doing that work he left the kids at a dojo where the boy and Ukyo were learning from the sensei there. The school there was using a variation on karate that was quite interesting. The next thing Genma did was to gather cats. He was not a good enough hunter to capture feral cats, so he stole house pets from homes in the area around the mine.

 

When the requisite time had passed for the cats to get good and hungry, Genma fetched his son, leaving Ukyo at the dojo. The boy asked, “What's up Pop?”

 

“Son, I've found a training manual that has amazing techniques in it,” The man explained to the boy. “The first one we are going to try is called the Neko-ken.”

 

The boy's expression grew puzzled. “Cat-fist? But cats don't use fists. Their paws can't clench right and are too soft anyway.”

 

Genma frowned. “Boy, you're being too literal. The goal of the cat-fist is for you to learn how to mimic the ferocity of a cat. It has nothing to do with actual fists.”

 

The boy shrugged. “If you say so. How does this training work?”

 

The bald martial artist reached into a bag and pulled out some jars. “First we smear your clothes with this fish paste. Next we tie fish sausages to your body. When we've done all of that I tie a rope around your waist and lower you into that pit over there.”

 

Glancing over at the opening in the ground with its framing of wooden timbers, Ranma asked, “Isn't that a mine?”

 

Sighing, the older Saotome said, “Yes it is, but we're going to call it a pit for now.”

 

Ranma shrugged again. His father had some really strange ideas for training. Most of them worked out well enough and he did end up getting stronger because of them. Some of his training ideas just plain didn't work. He hoped that this was not another one like that.

 

Ranma submitted to having fish paste smeared on his clothing. He hoped the training technique didn't take long because the smell from the paste was starting to make him hungry. It was even worse with the sausage.

 

When Ranma went to opening of the mine shaft the smell coming off of it killed any appetite created by the smell of the fish products. From out of the pit there came the nauseatingly strong scent of animal excrement and what also smelled like rotting meat. He really didn't want to go in there, but Pop had said he must do this for the purpose of training.

 

The ropes that tied the fish sausages to his body also restrained his arms. How was he supposed to fight if he couldn't use his arms? Was he supposed to kick as part of this technique?

 

Gagging from the smell as he was lowered, he could now hear the sounds of cats yowling, and growling. They weren't big cats, they had to be domestic cats, but they didn't sound very domestic now.

 

Ranma loved cats and cats loved him. At the very least any cat that was nearby would come by and rub against his legs. He almost felt a connection to them. That was true even of wild big cats. If you had thrown Ranma into the lion's cage in the zoo in fairly short order he would be sitting on the ground with one lion's head in his lap while the rest rubbed against his body, purring loudly.

 

From the cats in the pit there was only the sensation of hunger and rage. He could already feel that some of the weaker cats in the pit had been killed and eaten by stronger ones. This wasn't right. How did so many cats get into the pit? How long had they been there?

 

When he finally reached the bottom of the pit, small furry bodies launched themselves at him. In Asgard Urd was at her computer, watching. She was ready to intervene if she had to, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't need to.

 

The goddess looked at her screen and said in an almost pleading tone, “Alright Ranma, you can do this. Fear is not an appropriate response for the son of a Saiyan elite warrior. Get angry.”

 

The goddess needn't have said anything. Ranma could feel the hunger of the cats and knew that the fish products on his body were the first food the creatures had seen in a while other than turning cannibal on some of their own number. He could also tell that these were house pets that hunger had reduced to feral beasts.

 

It wasn't too hard for him to make the connections in his mind between the training technique and the fish products on his body. It seemed unlikely that his father was just taking advantage of a pit full of starving cats that he had simply chanced upon. That meant that Pop had to have been the one to trap the cats in the pit and leave them without food.

 

Anger soon developed into rage. As rage built up, so too did his power increase. Before long he snapped the ropes that had been used to bind him. He may have loved cats but he wasn't going to let them claw him in their efforts to eat the food that he was festooned with. He knocked the cats off of himself and so forceful were his strikes that the cats died from his blows. Before long all of the cats were dead.

 

Contemplating the broken, bleeding bodies of the cats which had been attacking him, Ranma knew where to place the blame for this. His rage built even higher and something within him just snapped. His hair began to move and the pigtail came undone as the hair on his head stood up in spikes. The black hair turned blonde and he was surrounded by a golden aura that gave forth an audible pulsation.

 

Genma had his invincible warrior, but not in the way he had planned. The boy with the glowing aura levitated from the pit. When he saw the glow coming from the pit, the bald martial artist didn't know what to make of it. Fans of the anime “Dragonball Z” would recognize it instantly. Ranma had gone Super Saiyan.

 

The older Saotome didn't know what to think when he saw his glowing son rise up out of the pit, apparently flying under his own power. According to the book a warrior in the Neko-ken state was supposed to be acting like a cat. Ranma hadn't leapt out of the pit, he wasn't moving around on all fours.

 

The boy spoke in cold tones that were frightening, his blue-green eyes were like the cold of the arctic. “Pop, those cats are dead. Because you starved them they were nothing but wild beasts and I had to kill them. They would have hurt me and with the state they were in killing them was a mercy. Because of you, loving house cats are dead. I don't know what this technique of yours was supposed to teach me but the cost is too high. I'm going to punish you now.”

 

Ukyo had become worried when she hadn't heard from either Ranma or Genma for a few days. When she could bear it no longer she went looking for her best friend and his father. She had a feeling that something was terribly wrong and thought maybe her best friend was in danger. When she found them, both were unconscious. Ranma's clothes reeked of old fish paste. Genma's clothing looked slightly singed as if someone had held them over a fire for a few moments.

 

After checking them over as best she could, the girl satisfied that both man and boy were breathing, so she could be sure they weren't dead. She went over to the edge of the pit but shied back as the nauseating smell drove her away.

 

Oh, well. She'd find out about it from one of the “boys” when they woke up. Genma was definitely too heavy for the girl to carry, even with all of her martial arts strength training. At least she could pick Ranma up and carry him. He was heavy enough, being solid muscle and not a gram of fat.

 

When she got Ranma back to the dojo where they were staying, she told the sensei about Genma. Four of the dojo's students went to the described location and gathered up the man's belongings and brought him and his pack back to the dojo.

 

When Ranma woke up he told Ukyo about the training technique and how he had changed into some strange powered up state. “I don't think I want to do that again, even if I could. Because I was so mad at Pops I zapped him with some kind of energy blast that knocked him out. Doing that so badly drained me that I passed out.”

 

Giving the matter further thought he said, “I'm guessing that super duper, powered up state is something I wasn't really ready for yet. Maybe someday after I've trained more and got stronger, I can do it again. On purpose, I mean.”

 

Some time later Genma regained consciousness. He couldn't understand how his son was able to inflict so much pain without killing or maiming him. It had appeared to be some kind of ki attack that had had every nerve in his body sending messages of pain at the same time. He had passed out from the overload.

 

He noticed that he was not out in the woods anymore. This looked like a room in the home attached to the dojo where he and the children had been staying to study.

 

When he saw Ranma, the older Saotome cringed back from him. The boy's hair was black again and the pigtail re-braided. The boy said, “I don't think you should use techniques from that training manual again. I didn't like killing those cats and I didn't like the way I got after I did that. It might be better if we just stick with traveling around to visit as many martial arts masters as we can find.”

 

Another voice spoke up. “I agree with Ranchan. Every time you come up with an `advanced' training technique it turns out to be something stupid. We're both lucky you haven't killed either of us by now.”

 

Genma looked at Ukyo and then looked around the room. He asked, “How did I get here?”

 

The girl frowned and answered, “I got worried about you two, so I went looking. I found both of you passed out. I carried Ranchan back and some of the students from the dojo carried you here. Now that he's told me what the training was, I'm glad you didn't take me with you for that cat-fist stupidity.”

 

After that Genma did try to use training methods from the book but every time he did that one or both of the kids would figure it out and warn him to remember what had happened to him last time. He decided that he didn't care to experience that kind of pain again.

 

Time passed and Ranma and Ukyo were 10 years old. They were visiting Juuban and the Saotome home. When everyone was in the living room, Nodoka began to speak. “Ranma, Ukyo, I've watched you two during the times you've come to visit. I know Genma promised Ukyo's father that you two would be married, but you never acted like fiancés. You act like best friends. In fact you act like brother and sister.”

 

Ranma and Ukyo shared a look, then nodded emphatically. Yeah, that sounded about right.

 

The redheaded mother went on, “I started to look for the Kuonji family to see if they would be willing to let Genma and I adopt Ukyo to be our daughter. That was when I was contacted by a lawyer and no, Genma, it wasn't about a bill you skipped out on.

The bald martial artist breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Nodoka took a deep breath. She had been dreading this. “Ukyo, dear, I have some bad news for you.”

 

The young brunette's face fell. She said, “Pop's dead, isn't he?”

 

“How... how did you know?” Nodoka asked in a gentle tone.

 

The girl explained, “In his letters Pop told me that he had a condition that would make him die young. He didn't go into details, but he said that was why he arranged the marriage with Ranchan. He said he wanted to be sure that I had someone to take care of me after he was gone. After his letters stopped coming six months ago, I thought it might have happened.”

 

“Ukyo, I'm so sorry.”

 

“Don't be sorry, Nodoka,” the girl said. “Pop prepared me for this.”

 

The redhead said, “The lawyer I spoke to agreed that you are too young to be married. Would you like to be my daughter? How would you feel about being Ranma's sister?”

 

The young girl thought about it seriously and said, “Mama No-Chan, I think I would like that a lot. You are such a nice lady, and I don't think I could ask for a better brother than Ranma. I guess Genma won't be too bad as a father.”

 

The Saotome matriarch breathed a deep sigh. “I am so relieved. You weren't where I could ask you so I went ahead and agreed to adopt you. The papers were delivered two days ago. You are my daughter and Ranma's sister now. You are officially Saotome Ukyo.”

 

Ukyo frowned then said, “After being a Kuonji for so long, that's going to take a little getting used to.”

 

Nodoka took Ukyo's hand and said, “I would feel honored if you would call me `Mom' now.”

 

The brunette nodded. “My real mom died when I was only two. I don't think I would mind calling you Mom like Ranchan does. I just wish we had more time with you than just a few days a year.”

 

“I wish that too, dear. Genma has promised that the training journey will end when you are both sixteen.”

 

“I'll look forward to it.”

 

Ranma and Ukyo were 12. It was Ukyo's turn to cook. Genma told her, “I picked up some spices at that last house. They're in my pack near the top. Why don't you look and see if there's anything you could use with tonight's dinner.

 

“Sure thing, Pop,” Ukyo answered. She went to her adopted father's pack and quickly found the paper wrapped packets. The girl wondered if Genma had asked permission to pick the fresh spices from the homeowner's garden or if he stole them. She snorted and decided that it was more likely that he stole them.

 

Just below the spices she felt the outline of a book. Curious, she pulled out the book and recognized the title as being the training manual where Genma had got the Neko-Ken technique. She glanced over at her adopted father - he was too busy setting up the campfire to notice what the girl was doing.

 

Ukyo opened the book to its introduction and read. After reading just a paragraph she scowled in anger and looked over at Genma. She went back to reading for a moment then tucked the book into her shirt.

 

The young girl went over to start mixing her ingredients. When she glanced over to her brother she motioned him to come over. She handed him the book and whispered, “Read the introduction.”

 

“Isn't this…?”

 

She nodded. “It's the book Genma got the Neko-Ken training technique out of. But it's not a training manual.”

 

Ranma took the book and went off to the side. It was not unusual for him to go apart from the others to read, so Genma didn't think anything of it. He didn't notice what book it was the boy had with him.

 

Opening the book to the introduction, Ranma could see that it began with a paragraph that was printed in large, bold characters. “WARNING: The techniques described in this book are forbidden for good reasons. Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to use any of them!”

 

After reading that, Ranma looked up at his father and just shook his head. Here was more evidence that the man was an idiot. As if he already didn't have ample proof of that.

 

The book went on to say, “What you hold in your hands now is a thoroughly researched history of failed martial arts techniques and training methods. This author's purpose in committing these things to paper is to give illustration to the depths that human stupidity can sink to.”

 

That described Genma, alright. He flipped to the section on the Neko-Ken. The description of the technique that Pop had tried was there. After that there was a section that the older Saotome must have skipped.

 

The book said, “While it is almost certain that there were people who attempted the training for this technique that were not recorded in history, this author was only able to find recorded instances of 240 attempts at the technique. Of those attempts 200 of the subjects died either from wounds received during the training or infections or other complications resulting from such wounds. Of the remaining 40 most were rendered permanently insane. While they acted like cats as is the goal of the training, they acted like house pets and not warriors. Only one of the recorded cases acted like the berserk warrior that is the goal. However that warrior was uncontrollable and had to be killed.

 

“In all of that there is only one recorded case of a warrior who could be brought out of the Neko-ken state to relative sanity but could be put into the state by exposure to cats.”

 

“Where did this idea come from? In the mythology of ancient Egypt it is said that Bast, the goddess of cats recruited warriors from both mortal and divine realms to be her bodyguards and personal army. The myth says that these warriors were trained using magic in a technique that turned them into catlike creatures with the ferocity of cats, the acute senses, speed and reflexes of cats. It was said they were also able to manifest magical claws that were capable of shredding any substance no matter how hard or resilient.”

 

“Obviously mortals would not have access to the same magic as gods. There is a rumor that this author has not been able to confirm of a `true cat-fist.' According to the rumor the training for this includes rigorous physical conditioning along with in-depth study of cats and their characteristics. The subjects of that training must engage in deep meditation that will unlock their potential. A master of the technique is said to be able to summon at will the feline characteristics and claws and to dismiss them when not needed. To fully master the technique could take as long as a decade or more.”

 

“The technique described in this chapter is said to have come about by accident. A warrior is said to have fallen into a pit of starving cats and come out of it in a state that resembled what was attributed to those warriors chosen by the gods. The technique described was created as a shortcut.”

 

“It was said that the reason that the technique was used on children rather than adults was because they would more readily give into fear and be less likely to fight back against the attacks of the hungry cats. It is the opinion of this author that the technique is nothing better than physical and psychological torture. Anyone who would consider subjecting a child to this training is in serious need of therapy. Anyone who would actually do this to a child to this deserves to be locked away where they wouldn't be any further threat to society.”

 

Ranma closed the book and looked over at his father. He thought to himself, “I don't believe Pop is evil. I'm pretty sure he's just an idiot.” He frowned as he thought about that. That might make him even more dangerous than someone who would use the technique with true evil intent. His father would torture a child under the belief that what he was doing was justified in the name of the Art and for the child's own good.

 

With a sigh the boy decided that he didn't want to confront his father over this right now. He would hang onto the book and put it in his own pack. If Pop asked for it, Ranma would tell him what he had learned from reading the introduction and other things.

 

A few months later Ranma and Ukyo were 12 years old. Both woke abruptly when they became aware of an intruder in their camp. There was only dim light from the rising sun to show that true morning was almost upon them. The two children leapt from their tents to confront the person who stood next to the dying embers of the previous night's campfire.

 

What they found waiting for them was no wild animal or attacking martial artist. They found a tall woman with deeply tanned skin and platinum blonde hair. They could be sure of the bronzed tan because the outfit the woman wore showed off rather a lot of her skin.

 

Ranma didn't relax his stance. He had noticed that his father was still asleep in his tent. Even a lazy man like Genma, was sufficiently alert to his surroundings that he should have been confronting the intruder just like the kids.

 

The boy demanded, “Who are you? What have you done with my father?”

 

The woman smiled. Ranma thought, “Wow! She's really pretty.”

 

The smile got bigger as if she could hear the boy's thoughts. The woman said, “Hello Ranma, Ukyo. I didn't hurt Genma, I just cast a sleeping spell on him. I wanted to talk to the two of you privately. I'm sure you'll understand that we can talk more easily without him able to butt in.”

 

Both of the children shared a look and nodded. The magic lady did have a point. Ranma did point out, “You know, it's not really fair that you know our names and we don't know yours.”

 

“Oh, I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my manners,” apologized the woman. She said, “I'm Urd, Norn goddess of the past and cupid of love.”

 

That sounded impressive. Ranma said, “Wow, I never met a goddess before.”

 

The goddess leaned down and looked the boy in the eyes. “Actually you and I have met before. You don't remember it because you were a baby at the time.”

 

The boy's eyes went wide and then narrowed in thought. Finally he said, “I think I do remember your face. I don't remember anything else about the meeting, but I do remember that.”

 

“I'm impressed,” The goddess said. She really was impressed too.

 

The boy looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you do make an impression.”

 

The goddess of the past let out a musical sounding laugh. “What a nice child you are. I've been assigned to help you and watch over you. I won't say that I'm supposed to protect you. The two of you will need to learn all of the fighting arts you can and get really strong. There will come a time when the two of you and friends you will meet in the future will need to defend the earth.”

 

Ukyo eyes went really wide. “Defend the Earth? That sounds important."

 

“Oh yes, it's very important,” the goddess answered.

 

Ranma looked confused. “What are will be defending the Earth against?”

 

Urd shook her head and got a sad expression. “I can't tell you that now. But don't worry about it too much. You'll have plenty of time to get ready.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

The platinum blonde goddess smiled again. “You will need to start doing some special training to get ready for your duties. For that I have brought you some gifts.”

 

Ranma and Ukyo were serious martial artists but they were also kids. They both perked up at the mention of gifts. Among his other faults, Genma was very stingy. The kids never even got gifts on their birthdays. In fact the only way they even knew either of them had had a birthday was when Genma would announce, “You are now twelve years old,” or however old the child was at the time.

 

The tall woman produced a pair of brass looking metal bracers from out of nowhere and handed them to Ranma. She said, “These are magic. When you put them on and activate them they will increase the pull of gravity on you. It will do that all of the time meaning you will have to work harder to do simple things like walk and all of your training.”

 

Ranma frowned as he considered that. “So these make me heavier?”

 

“That's right,” agreed the goddess. “This pair will only work for you. You turn it on by touching these two metal studs at the same time and think your name and the word `activate.' You turn it off by touching the same rivet heads and thinking your name and the word `deactivate.' You would want to turn it off if you were going to do something like go swimming.”

 

The boy nodded and asked, “Does it matter which one I wear on which wrist? And does the control work the same either way?”

 

“Yes it works the same way.” She was pleased that the boy was asking such intelligent questions. “When you first turn it on the gravity will be twice normal. When you are comfortable with that you can touch the two studs and think your name and the command `three times gravity' or four times or however much you feel ready for.”

 

When he nodded to acknowledge that he understood, the goddess told him, “Now some pieces of advice. I already told you that you should turn off the extra gravity if you are going to be in water. If you have the gravity more than ten times normal then you should be careful not to be on soft dirt.”

 

The boy nodded. “Because I'd sink into the dirt, right?”

 

The goddess smiled. “That's exactly right. If you ever get the gravity up to more than fifty times you would be better off doing that only if you are standing and exercising on stone. After you have had the bracers for a while you will be able to command them without touching the studs. That will be important for situations like if you find yourself falling off a cliff and you don't want to hit the ground at 20 times gravity.”

 

“How do I do that?”

 

She told him, “I will come to both of you in your dreams and will teach you things that Genma doesn't know. One of those will include how to project your thoughts so you can control the bracers without having to touch the control studs. Another thing is the technique of subspace storage. Did you wonder about how I seemed to pull the bracers out of nowhere?”

 

Both children nodded.

 

“You will learn to control your ki,” the goddess explained. “Ranma has already done that a little bit but I will teach you more. One of the tricks with that is using it to fold space to create an invisible pocket that you can carry with you wherever you go. There are different names for it but one common one is the `hidden weapons' technique. Some people call the pocket weapons space while others call it `stuff space' because you keep stuff in it. You may call it what you want.”

 

Knowing the kids would like hearing this, she grinned before telling them, “When you get a little stronger with your ki I will teach you to fly.”

 

Two pairs of eyes got big. “We can do that?”

 

The platinum blonde goddess nodded. “Right now Ranma has much bigger ki reserves than you do, Ukyo. I will teach you exercises to build yours up. In all of this there is one thing that is very important. You are going to be learning things that Genma doesn't know. You must hide your knowledge and skills from him. Don't let him see you fly. After you learn to fire off ki blasts, you should only practice that when Genma can't see you.”

 

They both nodded. The goddess then produced a second pair of bracers and handed them to Ukyo. The girl had heard all of the instructions that Ranma had been given so she pretty much understood how to use them.

 

“I'm going to cast a little spell on Genma,” the goddess continued. “The effect of that is that he will see the bracers but he won't notice them. He will act as if you always had them and that it's nothing strange see you wearing them. The spell won't allow him to be curious about them. That will save you from having to explain how you got them.”

 

Both kids looked over at their adoptive father asleep in his tent and agreed that this sounded like a very good idea.

 

The goddess noticed the look. She said, “When you have mastered the Hidden Weapons technique I will have other gifts for you that are a bit larger than the bracers.”

 

Suddenly the platinum blonde produced another pair of bracers and handed them to Ranma. She explained, “These are not for you. For the present I want you to hold onto them. There will come a time when you will meet someone who you will know can use them. It will be years before you meet that person but I think you can keep these safe in the mean time.”

 

Ranma promised, “I will keep them safe.” He stuffed them into his own pack.

 

The tall woman bowed to the children and said, “I need to leave now. I will be visiting you in your dreams to help train you. I do need to tell you that not all of the disciplines are things that I'm trained in myself. I will always visit but sometimes I will be bringing other teachers.”

 

Casting a disgusted look at the elder Saotome, the goddess said, “I know your formal education has suffered because that fool doesn't see the value in it. Your dream lessons will include matters such as science, math, history and other subjects. When you do get to a regular school you will have to take placement tests. Those should put you into classes appropriate for your age.”

 

Ranma and Ukyo exchanged a look. The prospect of regular schooling wasn't as pleasant as the martial arts training, but they recognized the necessity. They did think school would be more fun if there were other kids to interact with.

 

The goddess then vanished. Shortly Genma stirred and woke. When he saw the position of the sun he was alarmed. He never slept late. He got up and they broke camp to head on to their next destination.

 

Author's Note: I've tried to hit the highlights of the training journey here as well as eliminate the problem that Ukyo has with Ranma and Genma in canon. I felt that turning Super Saiyan was a suitable substitute for the Nekoken. If there are events in the training journey that any readers feel I should have covered but didn't, let me know. I can write a revision.

 

Coming up next chapter is Jusenkyo.