Gold Digger Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Grave's New Life ❯ Chapter 29

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 29: 27

Grave’s New Life

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I wish I owned the series involved. Really, I do. Ranma, Gold Digger, and Steamhead are owned by their respective owners.
Sighing and panting slightly as she practically drug her best friend down the street. ‘Thank god I can use magic to boost my strength.’ She thought, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to carry the dead weight the way she was. Even so, she was glad that she hadn’t run into anyone else that might have been a problem, the looks she was getting from people was starting to worry her. ‘This really sucks.’ She thought to herself with a sigh, while Ranma wasn’t exactly very heavy, he was hardly awake, and a bit bigger than she was, making it even harder for her to help him down the street and away from the recent destruction site.

“Huh?” Ranma said groggily as he raised his head up and looked around. “Whaaa?” He slurred out as he looked around, his eyes only partly open.

“You fell asleep on your feet.” Was the whispered reply. Such a reply seemed to wake him up in an instant.

“Huh?” He looked around, blinking in surprise as people looked at him and Grave Digger weirdly. “Whoops.” He chuckled in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head.

Giving him a flat look, Grave shook her head and sighed. “How the heck can you fall asleep while walking?” Seriously, wasn’t that stupid or something? “What if that idiot came back while you were asleep?” She asked worriedly.

Ranma scratched the back of his head and grinned slightly at her flustered look. “Not sure. Usually I don’t fall asleep like that.” The last time he fell asleep on his feet was about four years ago after that six-hour spar he had with his old man. Now that he thought about it, he was kind of missing his old man, not by much, but it was still there. Having someone around for ten years in a row suddenly gone for around six to eight months was quite different than he was used to.

Shaking her head, the Lycanthropoid wondered if he could have made it to his mother’s home before falling asleep somewhere. Hopefully he could, but considering that he drifted off to sleep, or close to it, for a few minutes, she had her doubts. “Well, shall we go?” Getting a nod from Ranma, the two continued on, unknowing of the people up above paying attention to the both of them.

(---)

Growling, Britanny's tail lashed from side to side as she prowled the lot. "We should have gone with him!" She cried out in despair as she threw her hands up into the air in frustration.

Brianna and Genn sighed as they sat on the ground and continued thier card game. While they agreed, on some levels, they really didn't want to start a fight where there were a lot of people. They both jumped when a golden-furred leg stomped the ground between them. Looking up, they sweat-dropped as Britanny glared at them. "Yeah?" Brianna asked as Britanny grabbed her shoulder and yanked her to her feet. "Oww! What the hell?! Brit! Calm the hell down!" Brianna yelped as she glared at her sister while trying to get her balance back.

The Werecheetah in question took a deep breath, closed her eyes, before turning around and walking away. "Brianna... We're going to follow them now."

"But..."

"No time, now hurry up!" She yelled as she jogged off. Behind her, both Genn and Brianna sighed, but followed. It would be better to go with her. Maybe Brit could smell out where Grave Digger, Stryyp and that other guy went off to, doubtful, but possible.

Brianna shivered, something felt like death crawled down her back, kicked her in the hips, then proceeded to gut her. 'What the hell was that?' She wondered to herself.

(---)

Grave looked at Ranma, smiling slightly. The two had walked in comfortable silence for the past hour or so. Smirking slightly, she waited till Ranma looked at her in confusion, before she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't anything special, just a quick kiss on the lips, but it still managed to make Ranma stiffen up slightly. Breaking the kiss, she giggled as she looked at his face. The silly look definately was worth that.

Ranma blushed slightly and chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, he didn't mind it, he just wished that Grave would've given him some more warning than what she had. Honestly, it was slightly embarrassing to him.

Grave smiled and ran ahead of him, giggling as she told him to catch up. With a smirk on his face, Ranma ran after her. It wasn't like he had much else to do and this would be a good way to pass some time.

Grave smiled as she saw Ranma coming to her. "So Ranma..." she started to say in a teasing voice. "Think you can keep up with me?"

Raising an eyebrow to that, Ranma asked, "You challenging me?"

A small grin spread across the shorter Lycanthropoid's face. "Mmmmaybe..." her answer was laced with a tone of playfulness.

"You're on!" Ranma declared and lunged at her, only to nearly trip as she jumped out of the way at the last second. "Okay, I'll get you!" He declared, chuckling as she shrieked and giggled.

"Oh? Get me, will you?" Grave asked as she came floating down to stand atop of a mailbox. She was flexing her leg muscles, as if ready to jump once more.

Ranma narrowed his eyes slightly. Oh, he wasn't upset, her ability to use magic might just make this game more fun. Not to mention more challenging. "Yep." He said as he ran at her quickly.

Grinning, Grave waited for Ranma to be right up to her...

Before she literally rocketed up into the sky, in a straight line... as Ranma crashed into the Mailbox, Grave pouted lightly. "You okay? She asked as she came down for a landing...

...right atop his head.

Ranma looked up at Grave as she looked down at him, the angle of the sun and the way she was standing on his head gave him a good view of the curvature of her front. "Uh... Yeah." He said, before reaching up and tagging her lightly. "You're it." He said as he rolled out from under her.

Of course, with Ranma's luck, he had tagged Grave on her butt, leaving her slightly blushing as people looked at them. "Ooooh!" She said in mock-annoyance. Taking to the air lightly, Grave grinned. She saw the pigtailed teenager running and shouted after him. "You can't run away, Ranma!"

"Well, catch me then!" He yelled back as he ran and laughed at her while she chased after him. Honestly, this was probably the most fun he had outside of a good fight.

Grave smirked and came down divebombing at Ranma, arms stretched out. "Gonna get YOU!" She shouted out with glee as she sped up towards the pigtailed teen. Thank goodness for magic! Still, it was a risk. Hopefully that jerk of a so-called father of hers wasn't scanning for active magic users. There couldn't be that many on Earth.

"Yeah right!" Ranma yelled back, smirking at her as he ran faster... Straight into a telephone pole.

At least this time, he had enough sense to twist to the side to avoid running THROUGH the telephone pole. 'Once is more than enough, thank you.' Ranma thought to himself.

"GOT'CHA!" Grave shouted. Having to stop and turn was more than enough of a pause for the flying Lycanthropoid to latch onto him in a hug.

Ranma stiffened slightly as she grinned at him. "Uhh... Grave..." Really, he would've said more, but it was kind of hard to do that when his mouth was otherwise occupied by hers. Not that it was a bad kiss, honestly. He rather liked them, and the hugs, it was very nice.

After a moment or so, Grave broke the kiss. "Caught you!" She stuck her tongue out cutely at him.

Ranma blushed and nodded. "uh huh..." He said, rather lamely. Honestly, her body felt really nice against his. He really didn't like the looks that everyone was giving him, but that didn't really matter. Idly, he wondered if she was going to let go of him at all with the way she was hugging him tightly.

The Lycanthropoid continued to smile happily. "Ranma...?" She asked softly.

"Yeah?" He asked, wondering if her hands were on his butt or that was just something he was imagining.

"Thank you for being my friend..." she said softly, hugging him tighter. "I really appreciate it."

Ranma blinked even as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back. "Hey... You're my friend too." He said, smiling at her.

Grave smiled brightly. "I love hearing that..." she told him honestly.

Ranma chuckled slightly before noticing that a lot of people were looking at them. "uhh... Grave... Maybe we should leave now?"

Looking around, Grave nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah... it's getting too crowded anyway..." she said, verbally pointing out the crowd they were getting.

Ranma nodded as they seperated from their hug and quickly slipped away. He didn't mind the hug, he just hated the way people were looking at them.

(---)

Stryyp had watched the two chase each other and was quite honestly surprised with what he had seen. Honestly, he had been surprised to see them, both, acting like a couple of teenagers having fun, which, they were, but it was surprising to see someone who was supposed to be a killer be so carefree. "Maybe... It's not as bad as they thought?" He wondered to himself aloud. Hopefully she wouldn't react to horribly with Brianna and Britanny around.

Following them silently as they moved down the street, he watched, and wondered.

Rubbing his head as he felt a rock hit it, he glanced around him, then upwards. Was someone trying to get his attention or was it from a passing car? He shrugged it off and followed the pair.

High above where the Kryn had been standing, Xian Pu cursed herself silently as she backed away from the edge. If that tiger-like man had been more battle-savvy, she would've been in trouble, especially considering that the building, while tall to the Amazon, was only four stories high, short for the city that she was in.

Next to her, her great-grandmother shook her head but ignored the mistake. They weren't there for war, merely scouting and searching, but what she had seen... 'So that's it, is it?' She didn't know what to think of this. It had been over fifty years since her tribe had dealt with a Lycanthrope in any measure of the word. That one had been crazy with bloodlust, this one though... 'What to do?' It was possible that the girl was a Musk child, but she doubted that. She narrowed her eyes, with that tiger-looking man and that possible Lycanthrope... No, they weren't Musk, she was sure of it. Even the Dragon-spawn Leaders of the Musk looked vaguely human, barring the eyes and ears. "Come, Xian Pu." She said as they raced off, keeping their new targets in sight.

"You think that maybe Tiger-man knows where that redhead is?" Xian Pu asked as they ran.

"Maybe. I'm more interested in that girl." Ku Lon said and motioned towards Grave Digger.

"Why?"

"Were you not paying attention, child?" Ku Lon said harshly, causing the girl to flinch slightly. "She was able to levetate and fly for short moments."

"Maybe she good with Ki control?"

Ku Lon thought about that and nodded. "Possibly." It was, really. But the thought of someone so young having such Ki mastery was beyond anything she had heard of. Being a master of martial arts and incredibly skilled, sure, but having that level of Ki control was beyond what most masters were capable of. Heck, only the Musk royalty had any sort of abilities like that, that she knew of anyway, and they had the advantage of having dragon blood and ki flowing through their bodies. "But, it's more likely magic. Either way, I would like to know what it is."

"Yes, Great-grandmother." Xian Pu said as she followed, sighing slightly. This trip was seeming to be more and more of a disappointment to her. She hadn't had a good fight in a while. It was annoying.

(----)

Awhile later, Grave and Ranma finally came to the front gate of Ranma's house. Grave was slightly put off though. It meant that their fun was coming to an end. Oh well, she could get caught up on some reading. Who knew Nodoka had all those interesting books on hand?

It wasn't like she had a computer after all. Though, if Grave could get some money, she'd quickly change that.

Computers were a wondrous source of information. Books, news, a way to talk to people across the world... not to mention pornography.

Bringing her hand to her chin, Grave thought about that for a moment. Perhaps a computer might be an interesting tool to help Ranma open up to her a little more. She could get him stated slowly, showing him martial arts techniques that had been posted online...

...And then possibly start to look up to see if she could find these same exercises performed in the nude, preferably with naked women.

Hey! It was the internet! The internet had everything!

Ranma looked at her as she started giggling to herself wildly. "Uhh... You okay?"

Blinking her eyes as Ranma took her off her train of thought, Grave asked, "Wuh...?" She blinked her eyes again, quickly shaking her head to clear it. "Sorry abotu that. Was just thinking." A small smile came to her face. "We need to get you or at least your mother a computer."

"Why?" He wondered aloud. He hadn't ever had a computer, then again, when he had been on that training trip they were large, bulky, expensive and not good for traveling around for days on end. He hadn't seen any new computers in a long while. "I mean, I don't own a dojo yet, so I can't use a computer to keep track of anything." He did spend time learning a little at that all-boys school and computers could hold lots of information after all.

"Because you can check online," Grave told him. A smile came to her face as she explained, "There's all sorts of stuff online for information... you could see how people describe teaching classes, or even performing their martial arts." Her tail flicked behind her a bit. "It's a learning tool you could use in the meantime until you get your own dojo."

Ranma blinked and nodded. That sounded pretty good to him. Although... "Hey, aren't computers pretty expensive though?"

Grave held out her hand and waved it in a 'so-so' motion. "Somewhat. The really good ones cost major money." A small smile came to her face. "But I already have ideas of what to do to make money."

"You aren't going to try selling me or someone for money then steal that person back, are you?" Ranma said, sweat-dropping as he recalled what his father had done that one time. It was only once and they were starving for food!

Blinking her eyes, Grave shook her head. "Of course not!" She stared at Ranma with wide eyes. "What would even make you suggest such a horrid thing?"

Blinking a couple times, Ranma chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "eh heh heh... no real reason."

Her eyebrows narrowing, Grave looked Ranma in the eyes. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"Whaa?" Ranma asked, slightly dumbfounded. Was she upset with him for some reason? What did he do wrong now?

The little lycanthropoid look into her eyes. "Ranma..." she said softly. "Please... you can tell me..."

"What?" He shrugged. "Look, it was a few years ago, we needed money, so pops had me work for this guy, got money for it... Then he came and got me later and took off. Always did wonder why that guy was chasing us though." He had always assumed that Genma had kidnapped him back or something.

Grave's tail swayed back and forth erratically. "I ever tell you how much I don't like your father?" She asked him seriously. Honestly the more she heard about that man, the more she wanted to kick him square in the behind.

"Not since you tried to start a fight at that tournament?" Well, actually, he was just guessing there.

"Are you two going to stand outside talking all day, or do you want some tea?" Nodoka asked from the door, smiling at them. Really, she liked the little neko-tama, but talking bad about her husband, no matter how true it might have been... Well, she was a dutiful wife after all.

"Oh, hello auntie Nodoka," Grave replied as she stopped in place and bowed to the matron of the Saotome home. "How was your day?"

Smiling, the redhead nodded to Grave. "Very good, actually. A little slow, but that's alright. Come on in, the tea will get cold."

Grave smiled. "Thank you, auntie. I like the tea you make." And she did. The Lycanthropoid wasn't normally one for tea, but she liked it when Nodoka made it.

"Sure mom." Ranma liked her tea. Was a lot better than most of the stuff you could buy at the stores.

Nodoka smiled and went back in. "Just a moment." Well, she had to carry out the rest of it to the table.

Watching the woman move back inside the house, the cheetah-pelted girl turned to Ranma. "Should we offer your mother some assistance?"

"Think she needs it?" Honestly, his mom was pretty dammed strong. Seeing Grave look at him funny, he chuckled nervously as he took off his shoes. "But, uh... Maybe she wants you to help her?"

The little semi-Werecheetah smiled. "A big strapping young boy should help his mother. I'm sure she would appreciate it." She held out her hands in a shooing motion. "Off with you. Help your mother."

"Uh... sure, sure." He muttered as he semi stumbled towards the kitchen.

Reaching up to take a series of cups off from a cupboard shelf, Nodoka blinked her eyes as she heard someone walk into the room. She turned to see her son there. "Ranma! What are you doing? I was going to bring the tea things out to you and Grave."

"Uh... Grave wanted me to help out here." He shrugged and moved over to pick up the tea set.

The woman managed to smile softly. "That was very thoughtful of the dear."

Ranma nodded, though he still felt she was a bit too forceful in that.

(---)

Placing down her empty tea-cup, Grave smiled. "Thank you for the tea and snacks, Nodoka." She licked her lips. "Those little cakes you made were delicious."

"Thank you." She smiled at Grave as she stood up.

Looking at the woman, the Lycanthropoid asked her, "can I help you with the dishes or anything?"

"Sure." Nodoka smiled as she picked up the dishes.

Smiling Grave happily picked up the tray for Nodoka and followed the older woman, intent on helping her clean the dishes and tea-things.

Outside, Stryyp looked the house over intently. 'So this is where Grave Digger was staying at?' He thought to himself. Well, he needed to get back to Britanny. Now if she was...

"Muffin!" His wife suddenly cried out. Turning, he barely had time to brace himself before she ran into, and over, him.

Stryyp let out a breath of air as he collided with the ground under an enthusiastic Werecheetah. "Ow..." Was all that was said as his wife fussed over him.

"Oops! Sorry muffin." Britanny apologized as she got up. "I was just so worried about you that I couldn't wait."

Chuckling, the tiger-stripped man nodded and sat up, rubbing his head from the slight pain he felt. "Well, I was going to come back and..." Trailing off, he sighed. "Britanny... Did you run at top speed to find me, leaving Genn and Brianna behind?"

"Well, not top speed..." She said a bit nervously as she chuckled.

"Britanny... How... Dare... You!?" Brianna gasped out as she ran in, Genn on her shoulder, panting and practically falling over from running so fast and carrying her friend.

"Sorry. But it's not my fault you're so slow." Both Stryyp and Genn sweat-dropped. Only Britanny could call running at those kinds of speeds slow.

Stryyp cleared his throat, catching the sisters' attention before they could start really fighting. "It seems that she's staying at that house there." He said, pointing across the street. He didn't even bother asking how his wife could find him in a city. He'd probably get an answer that had to do with the power of love, sensitivity of her nose and plain dumb luck.

"So, how should we do this? Drag her out and play "cat-pile-on-the-evil-clone"?" Britanny asked, causing Genn and Stryyp to sweat-drop, the amount of sweat-drops on their head increased as Brianna actually seemed to think it was actually a good idea.

Nodding her head, Brianna told her, "Sounds good to me!" She bit her lip as she smiled, her pupils dilating. "Can we sneak an explosion in that plan somewhere?"

"I have a better idea." Stryyp started as the other three looked at him curiously.

(---)

"You sure this will work?" Britanny whispered to Genn as they and Brianna stood off to the side and just out of sight while Stryyp knocked on the door.

"Nope." Genn replied, though she thought it would be better than them all attacking Grave Digger. They tried that back on Jade, and it sure didn't work. Besides, she needed to get close for her psychic powers to work properly.

"Shhh!" Brianna hushed them as the door opened. The others quieted down as they waited.

"Hello?" There was a silence, before a loud gasp. "Y...Y...Y...Y...You f-f-f-found meee..." A female voice exclaimed in a soft, trembling tone.

Stryyp blinked as he watched the small Werecheetah tremble and back up. "Grave Digger." He said softly, cautiously. He really didn't want to scare her.

"Don't... No... Won't..." Stryyp took a step back as Grave Digger glowed red, her eyes flared a similar color as energy surrounded her half-closed fist. "NO!"

The next thing that she knew was a furred hand gripping, hard, on her glowing wrist. A pair of angry, narrowed green eyes glared while a deep growl erupted from her throat. "Don't... Even... Think... About... It." Britanny managed to growl out.

Grave Digger's eyes widened, her aura spluttering out in shock. Sadly, that only lasted for a moment before her aura bloomed back, even stronger than before. "YOU!" She hissed, her hair actually floating up into the air.

"Don't try it!" Brianna yelled as she pulled out a hand blaster and aimed at Grave Digger.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Ranma yelled as he and Nodoka came out from aruond the corner. Nodoka frowned at the language, but didn't bother to rebuke his statement as she took stalk of the situation.

Britanny and Brianna look at the newcomers with a hint of malice in their eyes. "You two stay out of this" Brianna almost snarled, "She's not what you think she is!"

"She's not what? Someone who saved my life? Who's had my back for a less time than my Pop but with far better intentions? C'mon, what?!?!" Ranma himself growled out as he got into a his no-stance-stance, "I ain't lettin' her go without either a fight or an explanation. Preferably an explanation as Mom prob'bly wants to keep her house..."

All Genn could do was groan and mutter, "I knew this wouldn't go well, I just knew it..."

Stryyp sighed and squeezed Britanny's shoulder. "Dear, let her go."

"But..." She protested

"Dear..."

Britanny looked into her husband's eyes and groaned in defeat, "Oh...alright, muffin...but if she turns out to be bad news, you're sleepin' on the couch!"

"Right." Stryyp breathed out in relief as Britanny let go of Grave Digger, the new guy grabbing Grave and pulling her away from the others. The Werecheetah was trembling from the confrontation as she turned around and pressed herself against him.

"Perhaps, we could all adjourn to the dining room and enjoy a nice cup of tea and rice balls while we talk about what's going on?" Nodoka asked thoughtfully as she carefully kept her hands away from the family blade.

Ranma nodded as he pulled the trembling girl out of the room. "Sure, just give us a moment, mom." Nodoka nodded as she turned to the others.

"Grrr..." Brianna was still unconvinced. Seriously, it could easily be a trick to get them into a smaller area with their guard relaxed just moments before blowing them up!

Hey! It's what she would've done!

Heck, she wasn't sure she would be able to wait for everyone to get into one place.

"C'mon, Brianna, a nice cup of tea, some sweets, it'll all be fine." Genn asked as she put her hand on Brianna's arm.

Stryyp squeezed Britanny's shoulder again. "Come on." He said softly, having her follow the red-haired woman.

(---)

Grave hugged Ranma tightly, trembling heavily. "Can't... Can't face them..." She whimpered, her arms squeezing him tightly out of sheer terror. "Don't... Don't ever want them to kill me!"

Ranma blinked in shock. "Kill you?!" He asked incredulously, his arms reaching around her back, squeezing back, trying to get her to calm down, but wasn't sure just how to do that.

Grave nodded, tears leaking out of her eyes as she buried her face against his chest. "I... I saw them... I saw Stryyp and I... I panicked!" Her eyes squeezed shut tightly as she hiccuped softly. "Why... Why can't... WHY?!" She bawled, her tears drenching his shirt.

Ranma wasn't sure just what to do as Grave Digger cried. He was actually glad that her tears didn't get through his shirt and trigger his curse, but he really wished he knew what he could do to make her stop crying.

(---)

"Will one of you please explain to me just what is going on now?" Nodoka said after she and her guests had sat down for a few moments.

Seeing her family turn to her, Brianna frowned slightly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's your story to tell." Genn said.

Brianna sighed while leaning back and rubbing her eyes. "It's complicated, to be honest." She looked at Nodoka seriously. "Do you believe in magic? Curses?"

Nodoka blinked, after meeting Genma, his master and seeing the Neko-tama, how could she not?

"A couple of years ago, my two sisters were in the Middle East exploring an old cavern. During the exploration, they happened to come across a cursed chamber."

"So, what was this curse?"

"Extreme bad luck." Britanny replied, that was a time in her life that she could've done without. "It wasn't bad at first, but it got worse and worse." Honestly, mooning all those men hadn't been a highlight of her day.

"To make a long story short, my other sister, who isn't here, made up a gelatinous mix of hers and Britanny DNA. The curse fixated on it and well..." Brianna trailed off, seeing Nodoka blinking in confusion. "Are you okay?"

"So... Your sister used Jell-o made of blood?"

Genn quickly covered her mouth to hold back her giggling. Brianna strained a smile and nodded. "Yes, not that simple, but pretty close."

Nodoka frowned, mulling it over. Something was wrong here. What did... Her eyes widened as she looked at Brianna. "You... And Neko-tama-chan... You two... Were created from that, weren't you?"

Brianna blinked in surprise. "Close... You're sharp, aren't you?"

Nodoka just smiled and motioned for her to continue. Sighing, Brianna shook her head and grimaced.

"Do you mind, Bri?" Genn asked, causing the Lycanthropoid to look at her and nod in relief. Turning to Nodoka, Genn picked up the tale. "Both were created, but they shared one body at the time. What happened next was Brianna here was a little crazy and tried to kill her sisters."

Nodoka blinked and nodded. To be honest, she had heard of crazier reasons for trying to kill someone.

(---)

"ACHOO! DAMMIT!" A certain someone bellowed as he was tackled.

"Oooh! A man!"

"Hey! It's that hottie from before."

"It's my turn!"

Ryoga's eyes widened as he tried to escape the clutches of the women. "RAAAANMMMAAA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

It wouldn't be so bad... But these women were UUUUUGLY!

Seriously, they killed normal animals and most men from just being within fifteen feet of them. (1)

(---)

"I see..." Nodoka said after Genn had finished explaining about that day. "I guess something happened if both of them are running around at the same time then?" To be honest, it did give her a reason why the Neko-tama had reacted so violently towards her husband. Really, Genma was a bit of an idiot, but that was no reason to blow him across town.

"Yeah..." Brianna drawled out slowly. "Let's just say that chance, a solar eclipse, fist to the head and some mages being slightly idiotic managed to cause mass destruction to a small town, land me in jail, Grave Digger went off on her own, and a few of my friends nearly got fried in some cross-fire." Granted, Gaja wasn't an idiot, but he really should've thought that plan through a bit more.

Nodoka nodded, she wouldn't want to talk about something that got her arrested. "Very well, but what are your plans now?"

"To be honest, we mostly came here to see her." Stryyp explained before closing his eyes. "But... I'm not sure anymore." If she was unstable, it wouldn't be a good idea to let her run free.

(---)

Cologne frowned as she looked at the house.

"Great grandmother?"

"Come child. We have to prepare." Honestly, a mage, an alien, a good fighter and a Werecheetah in one area?! Well, two Werecheetahs, but one was a bit shrimpy and she was the mage in that house. And who knew what else was in there? Finding that redheaded female was getting less and less likely. Still... Cologne chuckled, this could be most interesting indeed.

Besides, she had been looking for an excuse to get out of the village for awhile.

Testing that boy could prove most... Entertaining.
Preview of Next Chapter:

"Huh?! Who's this old ghoul?!"

"Why are you calling someone as pretty as me a ghoul?"

"Ugh... Right... I think I'm gunna be sick."

(1) Check back to when Ryoga was mentioning about Hell being ugly. Hey! I got around to it eventually.

Anyway, here's some notes on this chapter...

Some of you may be disappointed in the non-fight scene that happened there.

Stryyp is of the mind set to talk first and fight last. Unless someone is trying to hurt his wife. That's a different story.

Ranma, typically in the manga, never really starts fights. He's willing to fight, but he typically doesn't start them. (Save for arguements.) Doesn't hurt that Britanny and Grave calm down around Stryyp and Ranma, respectively.

Don't expect the Amazons to stick around too long... Or maybe they will stick around. I'm not sure.

As for the reason why this chapter took so dammed long... Well... I have another project I'm working on in fanfiction. When it's ready, I'll post it.

As for the Amazons being nosey... Well, their first priority is going to be Ranma's female form. One thing that's a constant with fighters... They tend to seek each other out. (For the most part.) Anyway, they figure that since Ranma is a good fighter, eventually the redhead will show up and they can get her.