Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny

By arun

Chapter#01
Completed on 06/18/2001

This is a Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover with certain aspects of
Ramayana.

Disclaimers:
Ranma and the cast members of Ranma 1/2 are owned by Rumiko
Takahashi and Shogukkan. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most brilliant
people to walk on the face of this earth. We the fans of the anime world
are forever indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you Rumiko
Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our lives.

Sailor Moon and its characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Toei
animation and KODANSHA.

I do not own the characters of both these shows, nor do I even
pretend to own them. This work of fiction is but a tribute to the above
anime shows.

Guys:
*....* indicate thoughts.
In the first and second chapters indicates Japanese and "..."
indicates Chinese. In all the other chapters the reciprocal is true.


******************************************************* ****************
Honshu Island: Near the river Agano, over a decade ago...

A pit of twenty feet length, fifteen feet width and sixteen feet
deep stood by the side of a rather large bamboo groove. There was a
stench about the pit and yowling and screeching can be heard quite
clearly fifty yards from the pit. Upon closer examination, one can see
around thirty something cats at the bottom of the pit. All the cats are
feral animals as is evident from their build and coats.

A few hundred yards to the left of the pit stood a man, sturdily
built with a potbelly and a balding head. The man's head is covered by a
scarf and by him stood a little boy with blue eyes and a pigtail dressed
in a training gi. The man is busy blabbering something about cowardly
son's as he ties fish and sausages around the boy. The boy is trying to
put on a brave face but it is very clear that he is afraid of what is
about to happen to him.

"Pop! I don't want to go in there again." said the boy in a
timid and trembling voice.

The man glared at the boy. "No son of mine is going to be afraid
of a pit of cats. Are you man or not, Ranma?"

The boy's face stiffened and he assumed an emotionless look. "I
am a man and I am afraid of no cat." replied the boy though his fear
showed clearly when he mentioned the word cat.

Genma smiled to himself. The boy was coming along nicely and by
the time he was sixteen or seventeen; he would be ready to face his
mother as a man among men. Genma patted his son on his back.

"That's my boy, now go in there and learn the Nekoken."

Genma picked up his tied up son and carried him towards the pit.
He could have made Ranma learn the technique at Niigata where they had
last stopped and where Ranma would have had emergency medical care
within a safe distance for learning the technique. However, the
situation there had worsened due to his thieving and he had to run away
to this forest. He had not wanted to postpone the training though;
therefore, he had gotten some feral cats with the intention of using
them to teach the boy the invincible Nekoken.

The boy had become afraid of cats after the first session and he
had taken it upon himself to rid his son of his stupid fears and to
teach him the damn technique.

As he approached the pit the stench grew and by the time he
reached the pit it was nauseating. Genma pinched his nose and dropped
his son into the pit.

Scarcely had the boy touched the ground the hungry felines were
all over him. *Maybe this time the boy would learn the technique.*
Thought Genma as he retreated from the pit.

Inside the pit, Ranma screamed in agony as yet another cat
scratched him with its claw. The cats were in mad frenzy as they tried
to get the most fish and Ranma found himself fought over, bitten,
scratched and subjected to psychological stresses that would drive a
normal man insane. Then suddenly, he felt warmth coming from his side
and the cats became quiet. He opened his eyes and saw...

*********************************************************** ************

It had waited for so long admist the budding human population of
this planet for eons. It belonged to a race of spirits the ancient
Amazons called the guide. Sure the Amazons knew of it. Some of their
greatest warriors had united with other members of its race. Throughout
human history unions with members of its species had created those stray
spots of light that shown amongst the human population. Occasionally
these spots would turn dark as in the case of Adolf Hitler or Joseph
Stalin but mostly the spots would shine like a beacon for humanity to
follow.

It was the most powerful and most proficient of the ki
manipulators in its race and it had watched and waited patiently as the
humans as a species slowly budded and became the dominant one on the
planet. It had waited and watched as fellow members of its race united
with human hosts and completed the cycle. Union was what all members of
its race yearned for. As they were immortals by birth, they had been
given a choice for mortality. If they were ever bored of their existence
then they would have to _unite_ with a human deemed worthy and would
transfer all their skills and powers to the human. All that was
transferred would remain latent until the human trained and gained
control over those powers.

It had been bored of its existence for the last three thousand
years and it had waited patiently for a human worthy of its gifts. It
had traversed the continents and had found everyone lacking. Once in
awhile a human would stand out among the cloud like a beacon but it had
found these specimens wanting in one thing or the other. By the terms of
the contract made with Kami-sama, it would have to wait until the
perfect candidate was found and as such, it had waited for three
thousand years. In addition, those three thousand years had been boring
beyond belief. Sure, it would meet with one of the stronger surviving
members of its race and it would fight with them in a battle of wills to
temporarily rid itself of its loneliness. It would soon lose its
interest in the fights as it was the champion amongst its race and noone
could beat it. These battles of the mind would often last decades and
both the contestants would come out of the battle looking refreshed Dan
stronger than ever. It had met its greatest match some three hundred
years ago. It had met another powerful guide like itself who had given
up the will to live in this plane of existence and had been wandering
across the continents for tens of thousands of years. It's opponent was
the most proficient mana manipulator of its race and they had both
battled for the better part of a century before parting ways.

Now after three thousand years of waiting it had found the
perfect candidate. Sure the candidate was young even by human standards
but he was overflowing with raw potential and talent. He was more than
worthy to bear its gift and become its host. With this in mind, it
approached him to unite with him. Being one with nature due to its ki
skills it sensed what the boy was feeling and what its father was
thinking. Its mind reeled from the information that the pile of garbage
the boys father called his brain. It had witnessed several Nekoken
training sessions since it had attained self-awareness in its life and
yet of all the sensei's it had witnessed this man stood out as the
worst. The others had been for the most part been unaware of what the
technique could do to their students and can therefore be forgiven for
their mistakes. But, this man not only knew of the powers of the
technique but also seemed quite aware of what the technique would do to
his son. It could also sense the greed that wafted in huge waves from
his aura. It shook its head and concentrated on the boy. The boys aura
was bluish white and it would sense some arrogance from him. Surely if
the boy was left with his father all of its gifts would go to waste and
he would most probably become one of the best martial artists in his
generation. A waste of potential if one may say for the boy had the
potential to become one of the true masters of the art with just a
little nudge in the right direction. It was also surprised to find that
the child had been submitted to only ten of these training sessions he
was very close to mastering the Nekoken. It shook its head again in
wonder and manifested itself by his side. It didn't think that the boy
would be able to sense its presence and yet it was wrong. The boy could
not only sense its presence but he also knew exactly where it was
judging by the fact that he was looking at it right in the eye.

It moved closer to the boy and for the first time visually
manifested itself. The boys eyes widened in surprise but he did not
object as the pulsing energy that was the guide engulfed him. He felt
strangely peaceful as it initiated the union. The air around the two
began to hum as the ceremony continued. The cats stood silent by the
wall with their hairs on end. Halfway through the ceremony the guide
sensed the arrival of another of its race. It slowed the process and
concentrated on finding to the identity of the new arrival. It was
surprised to sense the arrival of its friend and fellow wanderer, the
one who had given it its toughest match in all its life. It welcomed the
newcomer and the second guide made it clear that it too was planning to
unite with the boy. The guide agreed as it would provide its host with
both ki and mana manipulation skills beyond par. When the second guide
initiated the process the boys body became transparent and the ki and
mana lines flowing through him pulsed in sync with the humming of the
air around him. The humming grew in frequency and so did the pulsing
until the pit was lit up with a brilliant light display involving all
the colours in the visible spectrum and some beyond that.

************************************************************ ***********

Genma hid behind a boulder a couple of hundred yards downwind
from the pit. He had retreated to this place due to the stench from the
pit but mainly because he feared the Nekoken. He knew what the technique
would do to his son and yet was determined to make his son learn it in
his quest to make his son a man among men. He was afraid at the same
time because the training manual had also said something about the life
of the sensei being in extreme danger once the technique manifested
itself. He did not want to die if he could help it. Learning under the
master had imbued in him a strong instinct for self-preservation and had
helped him become a master of self-preservation techniques.

He knew that his son would learn the technique in another two or
three training _sessions_ instead of the fifty or so sessions quoted by
the manual. He also knew that his son would most probably maul him
seriously if he happened to find him while he was in the clutches of the
Nekoken.

He was therefore slightly surprised when the yowling and the
screeching from the pit stopped a few minutes after he had dropped his
son into the pit. He had not taught that the boy would learn the
technique so soon. Not wanting to risk his life, he remained where he
was hidden until he heard a humming sound from the pit. He looked out
from his hiding place and saw the pit glowing. For once, his concern for
his son overrode his self-preservation instincts and Genma ran towards
the pit. The humming and the pulsing rapidly grew in frequency until he
could feel his stomach moving in rhythm with the humming. When he
reached the pit, he peeked in to see what was happening to his son. What
he saw frightened the living daylights out of him. His son was
transparent and he could clearly see pulses of energy flowing through
his son. The humming had reached a crescendo by then and Genma watched
helplessly as the humming ceased all of a sudden and his son disappeared
with a flash of light that blinded him temporarily.

When his eyesight returned he looked around the groove hoping
beyond hope that his son would be somewhere near. He searched for two
whole hours before he decided that his son was lost to him. His stomach
chose that moment to show and displeasure at being deprived of food for
four hours and began to growl in protest. He cursed the kami for giving
him such a wayward son and settled down to eat. After the meal he
brooded over how he would tell is wife Nodoka about the untimely death
of her son. After a couple of hours of thinking he decided that he would
tell his wife a version of events that portrayed Ranma as a martyr and
he himself as a dutiful sensei and a loving father to save his neck.
Having decided on this course of action Genma packed up his belongings,
left the forest without his son, and began his journey to the Juuban
ward of Tokyo where his wife awaited him. Unknown to Genma Nodoka had
been pregnant with his second child when he left with Ranma on his
training trip three years ago and he thus had a new guinea pig to
subject to his _training_.

****************************************************** *****************

The pools of sorrow: 156 BC...

It was a beautiful day and the guide was enjoying every minute
of it. There had been no victims of the pools... ahem, customers for the
past six months and he thanked the Kami for this unexpected streak of
good fortune. As much as his livelihood depended on the springs he had a
good heart and it pained him everytime someone got cursed in the
springs. He loved people and the thought of the anguish they went
through whenever they got cursed pained him a lot.

He sighed and shook his head before turning his attention back
to the task before him. He had to prepare the ground for the seedlings
or he and his son would die of starvation before the year was out. His
friends had said that he was mad and they still insisted that he was mad
for taking the position of the guide but he knew that he had the better
end of the deal. The Amazons had refused to treat him as their equal
although he had become one of the premier fighters in the village. He
thus had little reason to remain at the village and when the guardian to
the pools had died, he had replaced him as the new guardian of the
pools.

His wife had been distraught at his behaviour and had begged and
implored him but he had refused to stay in the village any longer. He
had told her that he would always be a male member of the Amazon tribe
in his heart though he found it difficult to lead their way of life. The
farewells had been gut wrenching but he had refused to give into mere
emotions and lose his pride. With a heavy heart, he had left the
village. It had been three years since then and he had not regretted a
single moment of his newfound freedom. As the guardian of the pools,
even the all-powerful matriarch of the village and the Musk emperor had
to address him with respect and he found himself loving every moment of
his new job.

The guide hummed to himself a little ditty he remembered his
mother singing, when he had been just a little child to pass the time.
Suddenly his ki sense flared and he stopped the plough and looked
towards the pools. His trained sense told him the alteration in the ki
flow over one of the pools and then suddenly with a flash of light a
strange looking young boy appeared above the pool. The guides amazement
grew as the boy hung in midair for the tiniest fraction of a second
before gravity decided that it was time to prove who was the master.

With a yelp that the guide could hear clearly, the boy fell face
first into the spring of the drowned dragon. *Spring of the drowned
dragon, why did I realize just now that the pool was imprinted. Heck, I
didn't even know that there was a pool over there.* The guardian
thought. Then suddenly the memory came to him. The Amazon elders had
always said that the springs were created by gods to guide people to
their destinies and he now realized that the elders had been correct all
along for there was no way that he could remember all about a pool he
had not known to exist till a couple of moments ago. He shook his head
to clear it of his memories and thoughts. He left his plough and ran
towards the pools to help the boy while making an unconscious note to
himself to record the details about the new pool when he had time on his
hands. He also had to inform the Amazon elders and the Musk emperor
about this new pool as early as possible.

******************************************************** ***************

Ranma floated horizontally two feet above the ground pulsing
with live energy. He could sense everything and nothing at the same
time. His could not hear anything and he could not speak nor smell but
his eyes worked perfectly and he felt senses that he had not known he
had. These new senses worked in complete unison with nature. He could
feel a soft breeze coming in from the south rustling the bamboo leaves
as it blew gently over the bamboo shoots. He could feel the greed and
the foolishness that rolled in thick layers around his father. He could
sense his fathers concern when he saw him floating up in the air. He
tried to open his mouth to say something but found himself unable to do
so. Genma, too, seemed to be in shock, as he looked at him with his eyes
the size of saucers. Then all of a sudden he lost his senses and yet
regained them. His voice returned and he could hear the sweet sound of
silence all around him. His father seemed a little relieved when the
thumping went away but he didn't get to say anything to Genma as there
was a bright flash of light the very next instant itself and Ranma found
himself a few yards above a small pool in a valley he didn't recognize.
The entire valley was filled with pools of varying sizes and shapes.
Then suddenly he felt gravity return and he began to fall. Something
inside him warned him to do something - anything to avoid falling into
the water. Try as he might he could not do anything and with a yelp, he
fell face first into the water.

He tried not to breathe inside the pool and felt yet another
change happening to him. He felt his body shift and the same glow came
into existence around him. Not wanting to stay underwater any longer for
fear of drowning he kicked with his legs and rushed towards the surface.

However, he miscalculated his own power as he shot out of the
water and a good thirty yards into the air. Not wanting to fall down
again he used his _wings_ to hover in the air. *Wings, since when did I
have wings! Thought Ranma as he hurriedly commenced an examination of
himself. He found himself in the body of a two-foot dragon. This new
revelation proved too much of a shock and Ranma Saotome, heir to the
Saotome school of Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu lost his already fragile grip on
consciousness and much to his good fortune fell down to the ground, for
near the dragon pool was the pool of the raging Hentai. Behind the
senseless young dragon the pool dried up and disappeared from existence.

******************************************************* ****************

The guide realized that the boy maybe drowning and in need of
help as he rushed towards the pools. A part of him was afraid that the
child had drowned as it had been nearly a minute and the child had not
yet surfaced from the pool. He thought about using the Kacchu Tenshin
Amaguriken but decided against it, as he would need almost all of his ki
reserves if the boy had drowned before he got to him. In such a case, he
would need all the ki he could get his hands on to bring the boy back
from the dead. His train of thoughts was interrupted as the boy launched
himself some thirty feet into the air and hovered there in his cursed
form. The dragon examined itself and then fell to the ground
unconscious.

*Poor kid, must be a horrifying experience for him.* The
guardian rushed towards the fallen dragon taking extra care himself so
as not to fall into one of the pools. He almost fell into the pool of
the drowned chicken when he saw the newly revealed pool of the drowned
dragon dry up and disappear. Shaking his head at the strange happening
he made his way to the dragon, lifted it up, and carried it to his hut.
Afterall-stranger things had happened at Jusenkyo.

Inside the hut he created a fire and laid the dragon near it.
Then he heated some water, poured some water over the dragon, and waited
for the now normal boy to wake up.

Presently the boy woke up with a start. He examined himself and
finding himself in his human form let out a sigh of relief and shook his
head obviously dismissing the whole incident as a nightmare.



Ranma looked strangely at the guardian and tried to speak with
him in Japanese. Though the guide was speaking in a language he had
never heard he found himself understanding some words, which greatly
disturbed him! "Ummmmm, where am I?"

The guardian knew Japanese fluently and thus was able to
understand a little of the modern Japanese that Ranma was speaking. "You
are in my hut, young one. You fell into the pool of the drowned dragon,
sad story of the dragon, which fell into the spring ten thousand years
ago. Now whomever falls into the spring takes the body of the drowned
dragon. You will turn into a dragon when you are splashed with cold
water and into your non cursed form when splashed with warm water."

The child seemed to understand what had happened to him and he
remained silent for sometime and the guardian decided to give him some
room to clear his thoughts. "Thank you for helping me out and all. I had
better be going now in search of my father." said Ranma though he knew
instinctively that he had no hope his father.

The guardian looked at the boy quizzically and spoke at length.
"Young one, you are now at the cursed pools of sorrow. If you can tell
me where your father might be and what he looks like perhaps I can help
you to locate him as it is dangerous for you to be out there by yourself
anywhere near the pools."

"Sure thing mister. My father was training me in the Nekoken by
the shores of the Agano River." The boy shuddered involuntarily when he
said the word neko.

"Agano river... I have never heard of such a river in my life
child. You must be mistaken." said the guardian wondering at the new
piece of information. A child who had survived even a part of the
dreaded Nekoken was an exceptional soul and a child who had survived the
Nekoken training and had such huge levels of ki was worth many times his
weight in gold.

"Maybe you hadn't heard of the river mister but I have and I
trained in the Nekoken near that very river." replied the child.

"Son, I am telling you the truth. I can tell that you are from
the land of the Wa though your speech is very different from the
Japanese that I know. You are currently in the pools of sorrow on the
border between the three great kingdoms. I can also tell you for sure
that the land of the Wa is separated from here by many months of walking
distance and there is also a sea between the two lands."

As soon as he realized what the guide was trying to say, tears
began to form in Ranma's eyes. The guardian looked uncomfortable when
faced with the tears of the child but he understood the situation that
the child was in and tried to comfort the child by hugging him.

"Don't worry child, I will send you to someone who will take
care of you." repeated the guardian in a bid to comfort Ranma.

Ranma did not stop crying for several hours and when he stopped,
it was because he was exhausted. His energy reserves had been depleted
by the emotional stress he was under and he went to sleep on the
guardians shoulder. The guide patted the sleeping child and decided to
stay with him though he had much work to do. He realized that the child
needed someone closeby as comfort and as such opted to stay where he was
until the boy woke up. He too was finding the situation very soothing as
he didn't get to see his son a lot for the boy's mother often took him
on extended training missions.

******************************************************** ***************


The next morning Li Jiang, the guardian and Ranma set out to see
the king of the Musk dynasty as Ranma was now part dragon and as such
must be handed over to the Musk. The journey was silent as Ranma was
embarrassed at his unmanly behaviour the day before. Moreover, traveling
with Genma on the road training day and night was a sure-fire way to
shall we shall being naive and shy to the outside world. A few hours of
walking saw them in front of the Musk king's palace. The guardian was
treated with the utmost respect and the two of them were ushered into
the council chambers.

"Ranma, I am going to leave you with the person we are going to
meet till you are ready for the outside world and can take care of
yourself."

The boy nodded and the two waited for his majesty's arrival.
They didn't have to wait for long as the emperor came into see them soon
after they had been seated. The two rose in homage to the emperor and
bowed before him.

The emperor was a tall man by Chinese standards. He stood at
just over six feet. His body was built with bulges in all the right
places. He had brownish hair on his head. the hair was braided together
in a ponytail and his red eyes were silted as visible proof of his
dragon lineage. The emperor motioned them to get up and showed them
their seats. Contrary to beliefs of many other kingdoms of the period
the Musk rulers viewed all as equals and didn't think of themselves as
divine representatives. They were the followers of confucius and as
such, they seldom demanded respect from their citizens though they never
hesitated to enforce it when the situation demanded that they do so.

"What brings you here Li Jiang?" asked the emperor after the
initial round of greetings and pleasantries had been exchanged.

"Honourable emperor, yesterday a new spring was discovered in
the pools of sorrow. I am here to inform you of the springs discovery
and destruction as well as to ask a favour from your majesty." replied
the guardian in humble tones.

The emperor nodded. He laid back in his chair and motioned the
guide to continue his tale. "Proceed guardian. I am very interested in
what you have to say!"

The guardian cleared his throat before continuing. "Yesterday,
Honoured Emperor, I was ploughing the fields when...."

Li Jiang told his story for the better part of the hour and the
emperor interrupted him whenever he was uncertain about some fact. By
the time the guardian of the cursed pools of sorrow was done, the
emperor was literally on the edge of his seat.

"Most interesting, guardian. This is the boy I suppose."

"Yes honourable emperor. This is Ranma and Ranma, this is the
emperor of the Musk dynasty. He is similar to you in some respects. You
see Ranma, the emperor has a dragon as his ancestor."

Ranma's eyes widened when he heard the word dragon. He shook his
head to clear it.

The emperor laughed. "Yes, young Ranma, I am part dragon and I
can see that you are also part dragon."

The boy nodded shyly. Just then the crown prince of the Musk, a
boy aged about eight came running into the room. Seeing the visitors he
excused himself and was withdrawing from the room when the emperor
beckoned him to come near him.

"Ranma, this is my only son Liu Chi'n. Liu Chi'n this is Ranma.
He is part dragon like you. Will you take him out and play with him
while I discuss some matters with the guardian of the pools?"

Liu Chi'n nodded and grabbing Ranma's hands ran out of the room.
Soon the sound of the two boys having the time of their lives could be
heard throughout the fortress.

"Now, guardian, what favour did you require of me?"

"It pertains to Ranma, honourable emperor. I beseech you to
raise Ranma as your own son till the time comes when he is ready to face
the outside world." replied Li Jiang.

"I wouldn't have it another way guardian. With his phenomenal ki
levels, he will be a menace to society and to himself if he doesnot have
control over his ki. Furthermore, he is a dragon and as such, he is my
brother. I will be damned if I let him be raised as a commoner though I
am afraid I do not understand why you would ask this of me?" said the
emperor.

"My liege, what I am about to tell you must be kept only to
yourself. I am pretty sure that the boy is from the future and that the
kami have something important for him to perform. The boy knows that he
is from the future and he himself is finding it hard to believe. The boy
has had too much happen to him in too short a time and he will need all
the love and affection that you can provide if he is to get through this
with a bit of sanity in him." replied the guardian.

The emperor nodded in understanding. "I will do as you have
asked guardian. As of now Ranma is my adopted son and Liu Chi'n's blood
brother. As such he will have all the comforts and privileges as a
member of the royal family and I will see to it that he gets plenty of
love as well as training."

The guide allowed himself to smile at the last part of the sentence.
"Thank you, your majesty. I will take my leave now so that I will reach
the Joketsuzoku village before nightfall."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to him guardian?"

"No, your highness. I must be leaving now. I thank you for granting me
this favour. I am forever in your debt." Thus saying the guardian
withdrew and went on his way.

Outside by the trees...

"Come-on Liu, you are cheated." shouted an exasperated Ranma. He
didn't mean it of course as he had planned on saying something like
'come-on Liu, you cheated.'

"Nyahhh!" replied Liu and sticked out this tongue from behind
one of the trees. Liu had used his rudimentary mastery of ki to defeat
Ranma with his very own version of the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken. Though
the technique was nowhere near as powerful as the Amazon version of the
technique it was still much faster then Ranma could counter. Ranma was
fuming at having been beaten so easily in the fight. Only his father had
defeated him so easily and Genma was many times older than Liu or
himself. Therefore, he was shocked that a little boy like Liu could beat
him so easily and move at speeds that Genma must have found impossible
to dodge. He wasn't so steamed at being beaten so easily as his father
did that once or twice everyday to _train_ him of course. What bothered
him was the way in which he had been beaten and the dull sensation he
had felt all over his body when Liu had moved that fast.

Besides that, he was finding out that he was having more success
with the Chinese that Liu was speaking than he had had with the
guardian. His knowledge of Chinese was rapidly improving. It was as
though his mind knew the meaning of words he had never heard before in
his life. Ranma found this disconcerting but he supposed that it was
normal compared to what had happened in the past day or two. His spoken
Chinese had also improved though he still had months to go before he
could call himself proficient in Chinese.

Putting a smirk on his face Ranma ran after the crown prince in
the hope of catching him though he knew that it was a lost cause if Liu
moved with the same speed. From one of the palace windows the emperor
watched the boys play and smiled to himself. He remembered the days when
he too had his brother to play with before he died of dysentery. Thus
lost in his dreams he almost failed to notice a ki signal so familiar
that he could identify the person in the middle of the night.
"Enter, Yuan."

The former sensei and mentor to the emperor entered. His ears
were pointed and his eyes were silted like those of a tiger. This was a
reminder of his tiger blood and the warrior moved with a grace that
rivaled that of a tiger in its prime though he was well over a hundred
years old. The old man bowed to his emperor.

"You may rise Yuan," said the emperor, his face showing the
slightest hint of a smile as he looked with respect at his old sensei.

"What is it you need of me, my emperor?" asked the old warrior.

"You can address me as your student master for I will always be
your student first and then your emperor."

The oldman nodded. Yuan Puyi was one of the greatest warriors
that the Musk dynasty had ever produced in its seven hundred-year-old
reign and as such he was treated with respect accorded to one of his
stature.

"Very well, Qin Shi." Yuan had not been called to the palace for
three years and if he had been called, it must mean that something
important had happened. He had already sensed what he thought was the
cause for the summoning but he wanted to confirm it first.
The emperor's smile grew in strength. "Master, don't tell me that you
have grown weak in your ears. You know as well as I do why you have been
summoned. Surely you can sense the new dragon in the palace grounds."

Yuan nodded. "Yes I can sense him and I surmised that much when
I entered the palace. Surely the dragon cannot be your son for his
signature is too strong to be a small child's."

"Master, I repent my earlier comments. You are still as healthy
and observant as ever." replied the pupil with a glint of mischief
showing in his eyes.

The master grinned at his pupil. "So who is the new dragon Qin
Shi?" If anyone else had behaved, so familiar with the emperor his
tongue would have been cut as tradition demanded but Yuan Puyi was no
simple man and he was allowed to get away with anything.

The glint in the emperor's eyes increased and he allowed himself
to laugh, just a little mind you as it would be ill fitting an emperor
if he laughed in the presence of a commoner for Yuan with all his skills
didn't have dragon blood flowing in his veins.

"His name is Ranma Saotome and he fell into the pool of the
drowned dragon a little over a day ago. The guardian brought him here as
we were the most capable of raising dragons." said the emperor solemnly.

Now Yuan Puyi had lived for hundred and thirty odd years and
there had been many instances in his childhood when he had been
surprised. However, as he had aged the youthful brashness had been
replaced with wisdom and experience and he had seldom been surprised or
even shocked as he had grown older. When Qin Shi mentioned the fact
about the pool of the drowned dragon so off-handily Yuan was inclined to
think that the emperor was joking but upon seeing the smile on his
students face he realized that it was true and his shock grew by leaps
and bounds. He was roughly shaken out of his stupor by the sounds of the
emperor laughing and rolling on the floor clutching his stomach. Several
guards entered the room to check out the nature of the commotion but
quickly retreated when they saw the emperor rolling on the floor.

Yuan waited patiently for his wayward student to stop laughing
and then cleared his throat.

"Master, forgive me for my impertinence but I couldnot help it.
The look of surprise and shock on your face was one I never thought I
would see." said the emperor as he rose from the floor gasping for
breath all the while. He used the silken sleeves of his cloth to wipe
away the tears that were flowing from him eyes.

"And what is it about my expression that you found so amusing
Qin Shi?" asked Yuan in an exasperated tone.

"Nothing master, nothing at all. I cannot even begin to describe
the beauty that your face displayed." replied the pupil. Several
snickers could be heard from outside the room.

Yuan let out a sigh. "I can understand that you are jealous of
my beauty." More snickers could now be heard and they were growing
louder in volume.

"True master. Now master shall we get down to business?" The
question was a little blunt but Yuan took no offense. He held these
manners of the court in utter contempt and he would have been
disappointed if his student had become the model for etiquette.

"Yes, Qin Shi lets get down to business." replied the master as
he took the seat that Qin Shi had reserved for him. He let out a
contented sigh as the silken quilts soothed his aching muscles.
The emperor smiled at the master and assumed a seat of his own.

"Master, I called you here because I want to you to train
personally both Ranma and Liu Chi'n. I can sense the greatest potential
with Ranma and Liu too is not far behind. Liu has some training in ki
manipulation but Ranma does not have conscious control of his ki though
I am fairly certain that he would learn it easily enough."

The master nodded in acceptance and the talk drifted onto less
serious subjects.

******************************************************** ***************

The next day...

The emperor's chambers were large with silken sheets draped all
over the room. There were oil lamps here and there and these lamps
together with the open window by the side of the bed provided more than
enough lighting to the room. The emperor was sleeping with his arms and
legs sprawled in weird directions. He was too busy snoring to notice the
two boys sneaking up on him.

The boys edged closer and closer until they were within a few
feet of his majesty, the emperor Qin Shi. Qin Shi had long sensed their
presence and had decided to play with them. He lay there as still as he
could to catch the boys off guard. Ranma however sensed the slightest
tensing of the emperor's body and motioned to Liu that the jig was up
and they would have to move in now. Immediately both the boys jumped
into the bed and the emperor evaded their strikes with ease. The fight
drifted outside the bedroom and soon they were in the middle of the
courtyard, duking it out with the emperor.

The three moved with grace that anyone would have found poetic.
Qin Shi smiled to himself as he evaded and blocked and parried the
strikes and counter strikes his two sons were launching at him. He
noticed that though Liu's movements were faster and had more strength
Ranma's movements were slightly more efficient and he couldnot quite
place his fingers on the style that Ranma was using. All at once, the
boy seemed to be switching styles and adapting to his fighting. His
smile grew in intensity. Obviously, he and master Yuan Puyi had been
right in their judgment of Ranma. It was evident to him that Ranma was
destined to be one of the greatest warriors in the tribe when he grew
up. The boys speed had also increased slightly and on careful
examination he could see that the boy was unconsciously directing ki to
boost his moves. This little bit of information caused him to lose his
concentration and Liu got a hit in his stomach. Accepting that he had
been defeated, the emperor led the two boys inside the palace.

"You boys fought very well today."

Liu grinned like an imp and Ranma thanked the emperor for the
complement. As Ranma had not been on the road with Genma for very long
his manners were still somewhat intact and he thanked the emperor.

"Ranma, try as I might I couldnot recognize the style you were
fighting in. What was the name of the style?"

Ranma's right hand went to the back of his head and he began
scratching. "It is called the Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu. I was the heir to
the school until the accident."

Qin Shi nodded. "Well you two are going to meet your sensei for
the first time today."

"Who is it father?" asked Liu joyously.

Ranma too had the joyous glint in his eyes.

"Well you know the teacher I studied with when I was your age."

Liu nodded his head and Ranma looked questioningly at Liu.

"His name is Master Yuan Puyi, Ranma, and he is one of the
greatest warriors that this tribe had ever produced. Come-on let's eat
and I will be tell you all about him then."

*********************************************************** ************

After the breakfast, Qin Shi led the two boys out of the palace
and into the forests surrounding the capital. There in the middle of a
clearing stood an old man over a hundred-years-old with a solemn air
about him. The emperor advanced towards this individual and instructed
the boys to bow to the old man. They did so and when they bent the old
man hit them both on their behinds with the staff he had with him.

The boys yelped and jumped into the air holding their stinging
behinds. The emperor laughed but the old man looked disgusted.

"Boys, I am master Yuan Puyi and that will be your first lesson.
Never relax. Your enemy is always waiting and watching behind you for
you to relax and when you do, he will strike at you. Only one strike is
needed and you will be dead before you know it."

Ranma and Liu nodded while rubbing their behinds.

"Ranma and Liu, introduce yourselves." said the emperor.

"I am Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu." said
Ranma haltingly in the Musk dialect.

Yuan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Anything Goes School of
Martial arts, hmmm... I have never heard of such a school. Have to test
you then Ranma. Care for a spar." droned the old man.

"Sure!"

The two contestants went to the middle of the clearing while the
other two withdrew to the sidelines. Sure enough, the fight didn't last
long and Ranma was sprawled on the floor clutching his stomach and
groaning. Yuan simply smiled at the boy and turned towards the emperor.

"The boy has got a lot of potential I'll give him that and his
fighting style is one of the best I have ever seen though it does not
seem to actively use ki. Anyway, Liu do you care for a sparring
session." Liu nodded and took a defensive stance at the center of the
clearing.

Like before the fight did not last long and Liu too ended up
sprawled on the floor groaning like Ranma.

"Liu, your mastery of ki at this young age is commendable but
the concentration is just not there. You could have done better if you
had concentrated a little more."

"Yes, master." replied Liu after getting onto his legs again. It
was a painful experience as was evident by the grimace on his face.
The emperor acted his part as a passive observer during the fight and
remained passive. Soon after the first training session began the
emperor left the clearing and went to the palace.

********************************************************** *************

Five years later...

Ranma and Liu stood in the middle of the clearing their aura's
blazing like a wildfire around them. At Yuan's signal, they leapt
towards each other. Both pulled in their aura's during the course of the
leap and began to exchange blows at a furious pace. Ranma had grown into
a cute boy of eleven with his pigtail dancing in the air behind him. He
was sturdily built due to extensive training in various forms of kung fu
and regular training sessions with Yuan Puyi, Qin Shi and Liu had
increased his speed, stamina and endurance manifold. As of now, his was
skillful enough to best almost all the warriors in the village.
The beginning of puberty is also evident.

Likewise Liu had also grown up to be a cute young man with a
green pony tail and a green silted pupils.

The two exchanged blows that would have easily pulverized a wall
of concrete and both shrugged the blows off as though they were nothing.
The sparring continued for a long time without utilizing ki projection
attacks until Yuan gave them the command to stop. The two pupils all but
dropped to the floor in exhaustion.

"Nice challenge Liu but you are too young to beat me." said
Ranma between gasps.

Liu hmphed in mock disgust. "You are speaking brother as though
you were about to beat me. Aren't we a little too positive today?"

Ranma laughed. "Admit it Liu-chan you couldnot beat me even if
your life depended on it."

"Arghhh! How many times have I told you not to call me by that
name, Ranma? Now you will pay for your mistake." Shouted Liu as he
launched himself at Ranma. However, before he reached him he was stopped
by a wooden staff that bonked him nicely on the head.

"Haha... Ouch! Hey, sensei I can understand why you would hit
the crybaby over there but why did you hit me for?" shouted Ranma
indignantly.

Yuan shook his head and muttered something about wiseguy
students. Then he cleared his throat and addressed his students.

"Ranma and Liu, you have both mastered various combat styles. I
am proud of the distance you have traveled so far and from tomorrow
onwards I am going to start teaching you advanced ki techniques. That is
all for today."

********************************************************** *************

Ranma and Liu sat in the lotus position infront of their master.
Yuan, too, was squatting on the forest floor.

"Shall we get on with today's lessons?" asked the aging master.

"Yes, sensei." replied the twosome in unison.

Yuan handed both of them a wooden staff. His students were about
to set them aside when Yuan motioned them to keep it in their hands.

"I want both of you to relax and tap into your ki as I taught
have you." said Yuan.

Both of them looked straight ahead and without much of an
effort, their bodies began to glow white.

Yuan nodded his approval. Their ki tapping time was much faster
than anyother warrior he had encountered if you took into account that
both were just approaching their puberty. He smiled inwardly to himself.
He viewed his students as the kami's gift to him in his last years. The
amount of skill and determination as well as the macho bravado both of
them displayed never failed to remind him of his younger years. Both
were always pushing the other past their limits and thus into new levels
of mastery. True they had nearly a decade to go before they could give
him a run for their money but the day was definitely getting closer than
ever. He mused that as of now both of them would give Qin Shi a fair
fight if they went all out in a battle. Wiping away the grin on his
aging face, the four-foot high grandmaster looked solemnly at his two
pupils.

"Now, focus the ki onto your hands. do not use emotions. They
will reduce the power of your ki by disturbing its balance with nature.
Ranma, what did I tell you about using your confidence as focus?"
Thwack!

"Ouch! Sensei, you do not have to hit me that hard you know!"
grumbled Ranma rubbing the sore spot on his head. Amazingly, his aura
didn't flicker out of existence at this charade. Yuan shook his head in
amazement. The boy never ceased to amaze him.

"Good, Ranma. I see you have got the knack of keeping your aura
even when you are concentrating on other things." spoke Yuan his pride
for his student clearly showing in his voice.

Ranma's hand went to his neck and still the aura refused to
flicker out of existence. "Geeez! Thanks I guess, Sensei." replied
Ranma.

"Show off!" muttered Liu.

"You two, stop your bickering and start doing what I told you to
do." sighed Yuan. The two were always at each other's throats. Some sort
of weird filial bonding ritual he supposed. *Well they can have their
blood for all I care as long as they surpass me in the art!
The two nodded and followed his instruction. The glow faded from their
bodies but grew in intensity around their palms. Though they were
holding the stick in their hand, it was clear that they were not
focusing the ki into the wood.

"Now, focus the ki into the wood."

Both tried for a minute or two and Yuan could see that they were
going about it the wrong way. *Well, you can't expect them to be
perfect! He certainly hadnot expected them to succeed in their first
attempt. He, himself had taken nearly five attempts before he got it
right when he was learning the technique.

"You are going about it the wrong way. I said focus it into the
wood and I definitely, do not remember saying force it into the wood.
Relax and feel the ki flowing through the wood. Now, focus your ki and
direct it towards the ki lines."

Both tried again and pretty soon, Ranma's began to glow while
Liu's began to flicker in and out of existence.

*I'll be damned! I never expected them to learn this fast.*
"Good Ranma, it seems that you have got the hang of this technique. Liu
try again. I am sure that you will get it right next time."

Ranma snickered at having won this round. "Ha, shutup Ranma."
said Liu before hitting Ranma on the head with his knuckles. Ranma
grumbled to himself and muttered about hell to pay for the offense.
Yuan laughed at the childish behaviour and nudged Liu to try again.

This time Liu succeeded.

"Ranma, now that you have got the hang of the technique I want
you to imagine your ki to be a sharp edged sword. Focus it onto the
staff and hit that rock over there. You too, Liu. You can hit that rock
over there." said Yuan.

Ranma walked over to the rock, raised his staff high over his
head and in one chopping motion hit it at high speed. There was a boom
and the rock exploded into a million pieces.

Yuan shook his head. "Ranma, I told you to focus it as a sharp
edged instrument. Try it again at the rock over there."

There was another boom. Liu had managed to break the rock he was
practicing in into three separate pieces. "Liu, imagine your ki to be
sharp not hard."

"Yes master!" Liu had the commonsense to look embarrassed.

"Try it again at the rock over there Liu."

The rest of the morning was spent in perfecting the technique
and lots of rocks in the area were reduced to sand.

************************************************************ ***********

Fifteen years later...

"Honourable emperor, the princes' have arrived as you had
beckoned." said a guard while bowing to the ground.

"Good! Send them in and get the ministers." Qin Shi coughed into
his hands.

Liu and Ranma entered into the room. The guard exited after
showing them in. Ranma looked like a boy around eighteen years of age
though he was really twenty-seven. He had grown into a handsome young
man and the way he stood with his pigtail over his right shoulder
indicated that he was still young and brash at heart. Liu on the other
hand looked his age, which was twenty-eight and he too had an air of
macho bravado about him.

"Father did you call for us." asked Ranma after he had risen.

"Yes, I called you here because I have something important to
tell you. I..." he was interrupted from his speech by the arrival of the
guard informing them that the ministers had arrived.

Qin Shi paused in his speech until all the ministers were in the
room. "Boys, you know that I have been ill for quite sometime now and
the doctor has said that I do not have many days to live." All the
people in the room nodded. It was common knowledge that the emperor was
ill and was dying.

"We are aware of that father." said Ranma. He glanced at Liu and
the look on his face mirrored his own. He began to have a haunting
suspicion of what the matter was all about.

"Good, I called the two of you here because I wanted to give the
throne to one of you." said Qin Shi.

"Father, I..." began Ranma.

Qin Shi interrupted him. "I have already called the ministers to
witness the fight for the throne. The fight between you and Liu will
begin in half an hour in the clearing by the forest to the north of this
palace."

"Father, I do not wish to fight elder brother for the throne."
said Ranma.

Qin Shi looked strangely at his second son. "I will not hear any
of that nonsense Ranma. Is that understood?" ordered Qin Shi.

"I understand father, that the law says that I fight with
brother for my right to become the emperor. However, I refuse to fight
elder brother for my right to the throne." replied Ranma.

There was a stunned silence. Qin Shi looked aghast at this
development.

"Ranma, I order you to fight your brother as per the laws." said
Qin Shi.

"I have no intention to fight my brother, father. I refuse to
spill dragon blood."

Qin Shi looked hard at his youngest boy. "Ranma, you realize
that I am left with no choice but to banish you if you fail to fight
against Liu."

"Yes, father, I understand fully the repercussions that my
actions will have." replied Ranma.

"Then I have no other choice. I, Qin Shi, fourteenth emperor of
the Musk empire, hereby declare that Ranma Saotome Qin, my adopted son
and till today an heir to the throne is banished from the Musk lands. I
order him to leave the empire within twelve days. Failure will do so
will be taken as treason and he will be hunted down to the ends of the
earth. I also acknowledge my first son, Liu Chi'n as the heir apparent
to the throne, which I am abdicating. I recognize him as the heir
apparent because of my second son's refusal to duel with Liu on grounds
on brotherly love." pronounced the emperor.

Ranma hung his head and left the room with tears in his eyes.
Liu ran after him to comfort him.

As soon as he was outside the palace Ranma jumped onto one of
the trees and bounded off into the distance. Liu, followed close behind
him. Eventually after half an hour of bounding from one tree to another
Ranma reached the base of a hill and sat on a rock at its base. His
cheeks were wet from tears but he made no motion to wipe them off his
face. He sat there looking into the distance with the tears falling
freely.

Liu, found him a short while later on top of the rock. He didn't
know what to say therefore, he sat himself by Ranma's side.

Ranma sat there without acknowledging him long after the tears
had dried up. "Brother..."

"Yes, Liu." murmured Ranma.

"Ranma, I am sorry."

"It's all right Liu. I didn't want to fight you and the laws are
there to be followed. I could see that it hurt father as much as it hurt
me. If he was willing to go through the pain in his last days then I am
willing to go through it for the rest of my life. Come on, father must
be worried."

******************************************************** ***************

Eleven days later...

Qin Shi, Liu, Yuan and Ranma stood outside the palace. Qin Shi
looked definitely weaker than before and if the lines on his eyes were
any indication, he had not slept for sometime. The scene in which he had
banished his son still replayed itself in his mind everytime he closed
his eyes to sleep.

"Goodbye father. I will miss you." said Ranma.

"Goodbye Ranma. I will miss you too." the two men hugged each
other.

Next in the line was Yuan Puyi. The old man had definitely seen
better days as he too was ragged looking. Apparently, he had taken the
news of his heir's banishment to heart. Though he was emotionally
distressed, he refused to cry infront of his students. He would cry
later when he was all alone in his house.

"Master, I am sorry for bringing dishonour to you." said Ranma
to the four-foot high troll.

Yuan shook his head. "You have not disgraced me, child. Your
actions have brought pride and honour to me."

"Thank you, master. I will try to practice what you have taught
me."

"I know you will child. You and Liu are the best students that I
have ever had and I am very proud of all that you have achieved. It is
the dream of every teacher to mould his students in such a way that they
are his betters. I have succeeded twice in that and I am grateful to the
kami for giving me such wonderful students."

"Thank you master, for everything you have taught me." Ranma
bowed to the Musk warrior and moved to Liu.

They hugged each other and patted each others backs. Both their
eyes were glinting with tears that threatened to break the feeble
control they had over themselves. A minute passed before they released
their hold on each other.

"Well, this is it, brother. I guess it's time to say goodbye
then. I..."

"do not say it brother. I will see you again." interrupted Liu.

"Me too brother. I will see you again. Well I'll be on my way
then."

"Where are you going, Ranma?"

"I am going to the village of our allies, the Joketsuzoku
Amazons. I hope to learn the arts from them before moving on." replied
Ranma.

Liu nodded in approval of Ranma's choice. Though the Amazons and
the Musk had basic ideological differences, they got along just fine.
The threat posed by the phoenix and their god-king was great enough for
the two kingdoms to forget their differences and become allies. As a
result the relations between the two kingdoms was cordial and even
friendly at times, though they still kept their techniques secret. The
Amazons had a thousand years of history and experience behind them. This
experience had proven to be the ace in the hole against the god-king
Saffron. With their extensive knowledge of ancient arts and magic, the
Amazons in tandem with the Musk had proven to be a little too big for
Saffron's appetite. The god-king had realized that he had bitten off
more than he could possibly chew and had left them alone. Thus after the
last great battle between the phoenix and the Amazons and their allies
the Musk, there had been a hundred years of peace in the valley of the
pools. Now, with Ranma going to the Amazons for shelter this
relationship would blossom and perhaps end in smoother relations between
the two kingdoms.

"A wise choice brother. Send my greetings to Xiao Lui and the
other Amazonian elders." said Liu.

Ranma bid his farewells and left the capital. Banished from his
family and his land, he set out on his journey to the village of the
Amazons.

************************************************* **********************

The journey to the Amazon village took two days as Ranma walked
the distance preferring to conserve his phenomenal ki stores. The
decision was partly based on the fact that though his father, the
emperor had banished him he had given him several hundred kilos of gold
and several thousand carrots of diamonds. His master, Yuan had also
handed over to him almost all his scrolls containing the guides to
secret and powerful techniques. Together with these and the other
accessories as well as his own personal possessions, Ranma was carrying
almost six hundred kilos of stuff on his huge backpack. It was noon by
the time he reached the outskirts of the Amazon village.

Pink and Leather stood outside the village by the outpost
standing guard against intruders, though there was as big a chance of
that happening as a meteor hitting them right on top of their head.
Still guarding the village was their duty and true Amazon warriors never
shirked their duty. They were both formidable ki adepts though they were
no where close to the mastery that the elders of the village had
attained. Both felt that they could be of better use in the fields or in
the patrols or hunting expeditions but the matriarch had ordered them to
stand guard at the outpost, which was boring even in the most
interesting of times.

"Pink, I am bored." said the raven-haired beauty whose name was
Leather.

"Shutup, Leather! If you hadnot played that prank with Elder Kho
Om we would not be here standing guard while our other sisters are on
hunting expeditions." snarled the blonde in reply. She was seething at
Pink for true to what she had said Pink had been the one who had
suggested that they make Kho Om the ultimate sand pudding. Of course she
had forgotten the fact that she had been the one who had made the
pudding in record time since such minor details like these never stayed
for very long in the hearts of high powered Amazon warriors like
herself. The elder had not been amused after having taken a bite and had
ordered that they both be given guard duty in the outpost for two whole
months.

Now they stood by the outpost half a kilometer from the nearest
house in the village swatting flies and generally looking miserable.
Pink was the one who first sensed the stranger approach. He seemed to
have very low levels of ki though his huge backpack hinted at his
enormous strength. He was dressed in the finest silk clothes and looked
about eighteen years of age with a staff in his hand. He was handsome,
Pink gave him that she also reasoned that it was just another weakling
man.

As Ranma approached the village, he sensed two women whose ki
flare like the flames of a bonfire standing a hundred meters from him.
He realized that they were guards and not wanting to provoke them, he
drew in his ki into himself. The technique he was employing could not be
detected by warriors of their skill level and he thought that it was
enough for now.

As he closed the distance between them, he sensed himself being
probed by the blonde one to his right. Being a Musk warrior he had had
little contact with members of the opposite sex and the sight of two
voluptuous and richly endowed women in their prime who were flaunting
their assets nearly caused a nosebleed. He knew from stories he had
heard about the Amazons that they would take offense if he developed a
nosebleed and he therefore looked away from them. _Big mistake_ whatever
you do you never look away from an Amazon warrior. It is supposed to be
a sign of weakness on the observers part.

Pink and Leather true to their upbringing made the conclusion
that this stranger was weak and therefore he could be picked on. Leather
always the first one in line when it came to mischief began to taunt
him.

"What are you doing here, stranger?" barked Leather.

"I am a Musk warrior and I have come here to ask for shelter in
your village." replied Ranma as humbly as he could.

*If all the Musk are as weak as this one then we are better of
without them as their allies! "Warrior! Don't make me laugh. You are
nothing but a weakling male." responded Leather.

Ranma began to lose his cool. Belittling a member of the Musk
royal family was not to be taken easily. Realizing that he had made a
big mistake by showing so little of his ki he released just a little of
it.

Leather sensed the increased ki level but was too far into her
taunting to realize what it meant. "Weakling male, should go away from
Amazon village. The elders won't shelter a coward such as you." said
Leather. Pink began to watch with concern. The ease with which the
stranger had lifted the backpack and placed it on the ground behind him
hinted at enormous strength. She doubted that she herself with her
Bakusai training would be able to lift that bag. Now, the stranger was
visibly fuming and she realized that Leather had gotten them into
another mess.

"Leather, stop it." nudged Pink but Leather did not listen and
continued her taunting.

Ranma waited for a few minutes for the blonde haired bimbo to
stop her haranguing. When she showed no sign of stopping and hinted at
something degrading towards the Musk royal family his fuse blew with a
loud bang. All of a sudden, his aura burst into life around him like a
raging inferno. Pink _knew_ that they were in serious trouble.

"What did you say just now?" threatened Ranma. "Foolish woman,
are you not aware that you are speaking to your better and former heir
to the Musk throne?" shouted Ranma. His speech finished he burst into
action. Moving forward at near his full speed he kicked her in her chin
and then turned his attention towards the raven haired one.

"You made a huge mistake, girl, by not stopping your companion
when you should have. I really hate bullies and it appears that you and
your unconscious friend over there are no better then them." snarled
Ranma as he drew in his aura and walked threateningly towards Pink.

"That's enough young man. July, take Lavender and report to the
village healer. Pink explain what is going on?" said a new voice.

Ranma had sensed the others approach but had decided to go
through with his threat just to show these Amazons where they stood in
the food chain. He turned towards the voice to see a two-foot woman with
a face of wrinkles and sparkling white hair on her head. She was dressed
in the robe of the matriarch and carried herself with dignity and grace.
He also sensed the power she had within her and bowed in respect.

"Matriarch Xiao Lui, I bring greetings from the new emperor of
the Musk empire, my brother Liu Chi'n." said Ranma in formal tones his
anger gone from his voice.

Xiao Lui surveyed the fine specimen before her. she could sense
that his mind-boggling reserves of ki were tightly focused and well
directed. The grace and speed with which he had moved also hinted at his
skill in the art.

"Yuan Puyi has trained you well, prince of the Musk." said the
aged Matriarch at length.

"Thank you matriarch. I am sorry for the trouble that I had
caused you upon my arrival but that girl belittled the Musk royal family
and I lost my temper."

"It's all right, young prince. Leather had been in need of a
lesson in manners for quite sometime now." replied the matriarch. "So
what brings you here, prince?"

"I have come here to beg shelter amongst the Amazons." replied
Ranma.

"And why would a Musk prince require the Amazons shelter,
prince?"

"I am no longer a Musk prince elder. I was banished by the
emperor for refusing to fight against my elder brother for my right to
the throne."

"Hmmm! You stood upto the Musk emperor did you? Well then I
guess I have no other choice but to offer you shelter, do I?"

"Thank you, matriarch."

"Now, young man, you have to earn your stay with us. What are
you going to do?"

"Master Yuan always said that I could earn my living as a
teacher as I had most of the right qualities. I will teach the art in
the village if you will teach me and shelter me in return." replied
Ranma.

"Young man, you cannot teach us any techniques that the Yuan
taught you as it would be treason. Therefore it will be us that will be
losing our knowledge while you will be getting the better end of the
deal."

"The Musk cannot forbid me from teaching the techniques that I
had developed to our allies though they can forbid me from teaching
techniques developed by the other masters."

"And how powerful are these techniques of yours?" asked the old
woman.

"I am willing to fight against the most powerful warrior of your
village with only the techniques that I had developed to prove their
strength." replied Ranma evenly.

Xiao Lui snickered. The boy did not lack in self-confidence. She
had to give him that. Though the Musk princes had always been able to
speeds faster than their own they had only a small number of techniques
which were potentially dangerous to the Amazons. "As matriarch I am the
premier warrior in the village and I accept your challenge. If you can
prove that your techniques are as powerful as they claim to be you have
earned yourself your stay in the village."

Without bothering to give Ranma the time to assume his stance,
she leapt in for the kill. His skills would be of no use to the village
if he couldnot respond to sudden attacks. Ranma easily evaded her blows
and jumped into the air. Xiao Lui did not follow him as she would have a
severe disadvantage in mid-air fights against a Musk prince.

Ranma did not stay there for long and came down. Xiao was there
exchanging blows with him even before he had reached the ground. Ranma
easily evaded her Amaguriken and retreated from her. Xiao shook her
head. Perhaps the boy had been kidding all along. By this time, the
entire village had gathered to watch the fight between the matriarch and
the stranger.

Ranma began to move around the matriarch in a spiral carefully
evading all the blows that she was throwing at him. The entire village
watched with interest as they had never seen a move that required the
user to run in a tightening spiral.

Just before he reached the matriarch Ranma allowed himself to
smile. "You lose, Matriarch.", shouted Ranma, "HIRYUUUUU SHOTENNNN
HAAAAA!"

The wings picked up and blossomed into a full-blown tornado. The
Amazons watched in utter amazement as their matriarch was picked up by
the tornado. Minutes later the tornado died down and the matriarch fell
to the ground her reserves of ki severely stretched to their limits.

The entire village was stunned. Noone had imagined in their
wildest dreams that the matriarch could be beaten and yet there she was
beaten unconscious at the hands of a boy. Kho Om was the first to come
out of the shock and she ordered some of the warriors to carry the
matriarch to the village healer.

Half an hour later. By the healers house...

The elders were murmuring among themselves at this new
development. The boy had proven himself more than a match for the
matriarch and thus earned his shelter in the village. Ranma was inside
the healer's house having a discussion with her.

"How is she doing?" asked Ranma.

"She will be fine though I don't know about the village."
replied Pher Fom, the village healer. She was a woman well past her
hundred's just like his master had been. Like Yuan, she was around four-
foot tall with a well maintained mane of silver white hair. Like all the
other crones in the village, she too had a staff made of silverwood,
which pulsed with ki energy too his trained eyes.

"Hmmmmm!" Ranma did not get it of course. Twenty years of living
in the Musk palace with its intrigues still hadnot given him that sine
qua non of a ruler - social quotient.

"As Xiao Lui said before she is the premier warrior in the
village and knows more secrets about the arts then any of us. It is nigh
impossible for anyone in the village to defeat her but here you are. Not
only did you survive the fight without a scratch but you also defeated
her in record time. So the others are shocked."

The light appeared at the end of the tunnel for the socially
dimwitted martial artist. "Well, I suppose that its reasonable."

"How did you create that tornado?" asked the healer, her
curiosity getting the better of her.

Ranma smiled. "Well, do you practice the fighting arts?"

"Yes, though I am not be as good as the others at it. I do know
the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken and the splitting cat hair technique."
replied the healer. Ranma nodded. He had surmised as much. Though her ki
was tightly focused, he couldnot sense the massive amounts of ki that a
warrior generated.

"I'll teach you what I know in the arts if you will teach me the
healing arts."

It sounded like a good proposition and Pher Fom decided to go
through with it. "It's a deal. I'll teach you what I know and you teach
me what you know."

Ranma smiled to himself. Things were going along nicely.
Unfortunately for him, he did not know that the elders had placed their
sights on him as potential husband material and things were going to get
a little too hot for him.

The matriarch chose that moment to come-out back from lala land. "Ohhhh!
My head!" moaned Xiao Lui.

"do not try to get up so soon, Xiao. Remember you are not as
strong as you used to be." advised the doctor. This was of course the
wrong thing to say to the matriarch. Xiao snorted in disgust at the
thought of her growing weak and tried again to rise up.

Pher Fom shook her head. This was not going the way she had
hoped it would. If Xiao Lui tried to get up now her ki reserves would
not have recovered and she would be susceptible to disease and what not.


"Anything I can do to help?" inquired Ranma. He sensed Pher
Fom's distress and wanted to help his teacher as best as he could.

"I don't know what you can do to help, Ranma. The matriarch's ki
reserves are severely depleted. That Hiryuu Shoten Ha of yours drained
almost all her ki and I am afraid that she needs that ki to survive. If
her ki reserves are to be replenished then she stay in bed for another
two or three days but it appears she is against that notion." replied
the healer.

"Well, I can help if that's the case." announced Ranma and he
moved towards Xiao Lui. Pher Fom watched in astonishment as the boy
before her loosened his hold on his ki. A white glow formed around him
and occupied an area over five feet thick on all sides of his body. He
knelt by the matriarch and touched her forehead with his right arm. She
felt the ki as it flowed from his body into the matriarch's. No wonder
the boy had defeated her great grandmother so easily. The ease with
which he was accomplishing the technique was astounding. Xiao Lui had
said that of all the ki techniques, ki transfer was perhaps the most
difficult to learn and it took great skill. To master it at such an age
said a lot of the boys skill and potential. *Perhaps the time had come
for me to choose Xas Min's husband!

Within minutes, Ranma had restored the matriarch's ki infront of
all the elders. There were indistinct murmurs when the elders saw what
the boy was doing. The boy was prime breeding material and Ranma had
unwittingly opened the Ranma hunting season with this second feat of
martial arts.

Xiao sat up in the bed, her ki reserves replenished. "Thank you
child." said she, her gratitude evident in her voice.

Ranma looked slightly annoyed. "I am not a child you know. I am
twenty seven. It's just that I stopped growing seven years back."
muttered Ranma.

Xiao's eyes widened in surprise. This boy had come that close to
true mastery of the art. If that was the case as she suspected than the
boy must be kept within the village at all costs. She looked at the
other elders. They were eyeing the boy as though he were a tool on
display at the merchants. With a glare, she showed them exactly what she
thought of their idea. Turning towards Ranma, she softened her look.
"Then how do we address you sensei?"

Ranma tried to hide his smile but his sense of modesty betrayed
him. The chestshire cat grin on his face bloomed into a full smile. His
teeth sparkling on the reflected sunlight he replied, "Call me Ranma,
Matriarch."

Xiao nodded and smiled. The boy was growing on her she realized.
"Very well Ranma, You will begin teaching me and the other elders from
tomorrow onwards and we will teach you what we know."

Ranma bowed to the matriarch. "It will be my pleasure to teach
you and the elders, matriarch. I also wish to treat Pher Fom if you do
not object."

Xiao Lui glanced at her great granddaughter. Perhaps there was
still the slightest chance of her becoming a matriarch under Ranma's
tutelage. "Accepted, Ranma."

"Thank you elder." replied Ranma and stepped outside the
healer's house.

Xiao Lui turned towards the elders. "Ranma appears to be close
to attaining true mastery of the art. I will not have anyone of you
driving him out of the village by sending your granddaughters after him.
He is too good a catch to be driven away by _inept_ handling of the
situation. My advice to you ladies is to take it slow and let Ranma's
hormones do the rest."

The others nodded in acceptance. They were sure that with a
little nudge in the right direction the new teacher would greatly enrich
their family's gene pool. The nudge would be in classic Amazonian style
of course and boys throughout the village are gonna go mad with lust.

************************************************************ ***********

Long before the sun dawned over the horizon, Ranma was up and
practicing a kata that he had developed soon after he had defeated
master Yuan. Pher Fom had graciously offered her abode for his over
night stay and he had accepted. He had ordered the building of a house
towards the center of the village from land he had bought from one of
the merchants for several ounces of gold. The building would take nearly
a year to build and Pher Fom had extended her offer for the whole year.
He had replied that he would give it some thought though he was glad
that he had gotten a roof over his head so soon.

By the time the sun was up the whole village was buzzing with
activity. Some of the men and women left to take care of the fields
whilst the warriors were getting ready to go on their patrols.

Ranma finished his breakfast at breakneck speed and he and the
others left for training. The youngsters trained within the village as
their techniques mostly involved Shiastsu and the Amazonian version of
Wu Shu. Those who had perfected the beginners training regimen and
wanted to learn more or become warriors went to a clearing near the
northern edge of the village. Those that trained in ki projection and
techniques that are more dangerous went farther inside the forest to a
glade to train. It was to this location that the matriarch took Ranma
and the others.

The journey took about two-thirds of an hour by foot and they
arrived there by mid morning. Ranma began to teach the Hiryuu Shoten Ha.

"No, you are going at it the wrong way, Pher Fom. do not use
your emotions. Remain calm and tap into your ki." A pause. "Yes, that's
more like it. Remember, the Hiryuu Shoten Ha can be executed easily only
if you use cold ki against your opponents hot ki. The reverse can be
done but it takes too long a time to execute in the battlefield.
Therefore I advice you to practice and perfect the cold Hiryuu Shoten Ha
without worrying about the hot version." addressed Ranma. He had taught
the basic theory behind the technique and the elders had grasped onto
it. Now all that was required was to teach them the soul of ice
technique, which was the easiest part as all his students had tightly
focused ki.

The training continued on through the morning and in the
afternoon the roles were reversed. This cycle would continue for many
years to come. When the sun began to set, the matriarch called off that
days training and the group began their march back to the village.

Ranma entered Pher Fom's house to be greeted by a sweet smell
that wafted through the air. Pher Fom had been called to attend to some
injuries attained during the day's training and she had sent him house
before her.

His senses picked up a ki signal totally unfamiliar to him. It
was sweet as though it was made of honey and radiated love, gentleness
and compassion. It was tightly focus like the other warriors in the
village. His curiosity kindled Ranma slowly made his way to the top
first floor of the building. When he reached the first floor he heard a
female voice humming a tune that, he could place not identify though it
felt strangely familiar to him.

He crossed the hallway and without knocking opened the door to
the room in which he sensed the girl. The door opened without a sound
and Ranma on seeing the sight before him developed a nosebleed and
fainted.

************************************************* **********************

People who knew Xas Min called her the sweetest and cutest
little thing in the world. She had opted to follow her grandmother's
example and become a village healer much to her great great grandmother,
Xiao Lui's, displeasure.

True to her choice, she had had some training in Wu Shu and with
her grandmother's help she had learnt to focus her ki, an essential
requirement for becoming a healer in the village. Her training in the
healing arts had been quite extensive and at the tender age of fourteen
she was already an accomplished healer. By the time she had become
sixteen her great grandmother, Pher Fom had accepted the fact that her
great granddaughter was her better in the healing arts. Xiao Lui often
lamented that Xas Min had thrown away her chances to become a matriarch
by becoming a healer.

She was often sent to the permanently manned outposts at the
edge of the Amazon territory. Being the best healer in the village she
was expected to check on the health of the warriors there atleast once
every six months. She would be escorted on these expeditions by two
dozen of the village's finest ki adepts barring the elders. These
expeditions scarcely lasted more than fifteen days and she found them
refreshing compared to the tedious rigors of the village.

Her skills as a healer and her sweet nature had made a
substantial percentage of the men in her village fall in love with her.
She tolerated her admirers who often went out of their way to do things
that they thought would cause her to choose them. Marriages to healers
in the village were often love matches as the law exempted the healers
from 'the beat 'em if you want to marry 'em' rule. The rest of the
marriages were political in nature aimed to strengthen the ties between
two families. Too bad for the men as Xas Min was not interested in them.
In her heart, the art had always come first and she had decided at an
young age that she would marry once she became the mistress healer in
the village. This goal was within her sights on her eighteenth birthday
when she had left the village on her latest expedition to gather rare
herbs and to make her twice a year medical examination.

When she had returned her friends in the village, who was also
the local gossip machine had made her upto date on the latest news and
gossip in the village. The hottest news was Ranma and she had heard
quite a bit about the hunk from the Musk kingdom that had created a
tornado and defeated the matriarch. Almost all the girls in the village
were drooling over him and she found herself curious about a member of
the opposite sex for the first time in her life. She has secretly
rejoiced when she heard that _the_ Ranma was staying in her house. She
had waited impatiently to see the face of the man who had defeated her
great great grandmother. After spending the whole day in a state of
nervousness, she had decided to take a bath and freshen herself. She had
finished the bath half an hour later. She had been drying herself inside
her room when she heard a thud behind her.

She turned around and saw a boy about her age on the floor
unconscious. She did not recognize him but she realized what had
happened. Chuckling to herself she donned a silk robe and moved towards
him. The boy woke up after she pressed a pressure point on his forehead
but fainted again when he saw her.

Ranma would always say in the years to come that he had not
eaten in the afternoon and this had caused him to have those fainting
spells. He was lying of course. All his life he had been secluded from
members of the opposite sex. For most of his adult life, he had been
kept in the dark about the members of the opposite sex. He knew about
the facts of life from rumours in the palace and from Kre Ame and Goe
Soot, his bodyguards but had never given the subject much thought.

Now within two days of his arrival in the Amazon village, he had
been presented with one of the most beautiful sights in the universe.
Two days was definitely not enough time to adjust to a life surrounded
by females in all walks of life. The shock of seeing one of the most
beautiful women in the village in all her glory (she had a lot of
healthy genes in her) had driven him to the brink of consciousness and
then some more.

Slap! Slap!

"What hit me?" moaned Ranma. He did not open his eyes and thus
imagined himself to be in his bed from the feel of the soft object that
supported him.

Xas Min snickered.

Slowly Ranma opened his eyes afraid of what he might see. He was
sure that the girl was going to pound him to within an inch of his life
once he was up. The moment he saw her face he fell in love with her. He
began to close his eyes as unconsciousness began to creep in on him
again.

"do not faint. I will not harm you." said a sweet voice. It was
the sweetest voice he had heard in his life.

He opened his eyes again and fought the fainting spell that
threatened to deliver him once more into the clutches of
unconsciousness.

"Who are you?" she asked. His heart skipped several beats when
he saw her lips move.

"I... I... I am..." he shook his head to clear it. His mind was
hazy and he couldnot remember anything. "I do..." again he caught sight
of her eyes and again he felt forgetting himself. "I am... er... I do
not know who I am!"

She snickered again. This proved too much for him and he gladly
welcomed the sweet call of unconsciousness as it welcomed him.

Xas Min smiled to herself. She was beginning to feel comfortable
with this stranger in a weird sort of way. She felt herself getting
depressed as he fainted once more. *Does he find me despicable? Am I
ugly?* As soon as these thoughts found their way into her head, she
began to cry. A single tear slid from her eyes flowed across her cheeks
and fell on his nose.

Ranma was happily enjoying his life in lala land when it started
to rain. Not wanting to change into a dragon he woke up and saw _HER_
once again. She was crying and he did not know why. He wanted to do
nothing but help her. If only he knew what was the reason for her
distress. Building up his courage he looked at her and opened his mouth
to speak but no words came out.

He closed his mouth and then opened it to try again. "Why are
you crying?" It came out in the form of a squeak.

The sound of his voice made her forget her worries. She smiled
inspite of herself. This time she clearly heard the pounding of his
heart inside his ribcage. *He likes me! she realized with a start. She
blushed and he panicked.

When she smiled at him he felt his worries go away in a flash.
His heart began to pound in his chest. Then he saw her cheeks redden.
She looked absolutely adoring like that. His eyes began to cloud once
more. He shook his head and cleared it. He did not want to stop seeing
her till he died. The blush grew in strength. *Maybe I am doing
something that is making her angry! he thought mistaking her blush for
anger.

Panicking he removed himself from her lap and retreated to the
edge of the room. He began to apologize profusely for whatever wrong he
had done. "I am sorry. I won't do it again I swear..." he found himself
blabbering on and on.

She found his blabbering the most adorable thing she had ever
witnessed. He looked so cuddly and cute waving his arms around like
that. Her blush subsided and her tongue unraveled itself. *You are so
cute!

"Am I really?" he asked. Now it was his turn to blush.

Her blush returned with a vengeance. "Did I say it aloud?" the
question was directed more to herself than to him.

He nodded.

"I am sorry." she whispered.

"Don't be." he whispered back. "Ummm... You are not mad at me or
anything are you?"

She shook her head. He let out a breath he had not known that he
had been holding. He removed himself from the wall and moved just a
little closer. He found that he could think better now. His heart was
still pounding but it was not as bad as before. He remembered his name
once more.

"Ummm... I am Ranma." he muttered.

She looked shocked for a moment before bursting out into a
laugh. "You... You... are... Ranma." She found herself unable to stop
laughing.

Ranma felt depression creeping into his being. *She thinks that
I am nothing more than a big joke! He turned away to hide the tears that
were creeping into his eyes.

She saw him turning away and caught the glint of tears on his
cheeks. Her laughter died away. She rose up and went upto him. She
turned him around by his shoulders. "Don't cry, I am not laughing
because I think that you are a joke."

His expression brightened. "You swear."

She laughed. His heart began to beat wildly once more. The way
her lips curled up was beautiful beyond description. He thought that his
heart would break out the ribcage if this kept on any longer.

"Yes, I swear. I heard all about how you defeated great great
grandmother. I was expecting you to be rugged like the others."

"Rugged... what others?" *She loves someone else. That is why
she is playing with me.* His shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I meant rugged like the warriors that I take care of." she
replied.

His shoulders rose up again. *Thank the kami.* "What is your
name?" he asked. It wouldn't do to not know her name with him being in
love with her and all.

She blushed and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my! I
forgot that, didn't I?" she asked embarrassed.

"Yes, you did." replied he.

"My name is Xas Min."

He bowed to her. As much as he wanted to be near her he knew
that he'd go mad if he stayed anywhere near her a minute longer. He
straightened from his bow and his hands went to his pigtail.

*He looks absolutely cute like this! she swooned.

"Ummm... Nice meeting you Xas Min. I... I apologize for um...
you know um..." he pointed towards the towel she had used to dry
herself.

She blushed, her cheeks became as red as coal embers. Too
embarrassed to open her mouth she nodded.

"Ummm... Thank you, Xas Min-chan for taking care of me." he
shouted before bounding out of the room.

*He thinks that I am cute.* Her hand automatically went upto her
cheek.

"Nice to see that you have acquainted yourselves quite well."
said a old and very familiar voice. Startled out of her reverie Xas Min
turned and saw her great great grandmother perched on the tree outside
her room.

"Great great grandmother, what are you doing?" asked Xas Min.

Xiao Lui grinned mischievously. "Nothing. I just wanted to see
how my great great granddaughter and her _LOVER_ were getting along."
replied the three hundred plus woman as she hopped into the room.

Xas Min blushed. "He's not my lover, great great grandmother."
she muttered. *Atleast not yet and not for very long if I can help it!

"Child, you do not live for three hundred years without
recognizing the signs of love.", replied Xiao Lui. "I saw the way he
looked at you. He is head over heels in love with you."

"He is?" she blurted out not realizing that she had said it
aloud.

"Oh yes, child. And by the looks of it so are you!"

Xas Min blushed once again. *My cheeks are going to turn red
permanently if I keep on blushing like this!

Xiao Lui continued. "He is definitely a good match for you. Both
your Yin and Yang's perfectly complement each other. Infact I have never
seen anyone else whose Yin and Yang matched perfectly."

Xas Min's eyes widened. She had heard about the legends. When
two people with complementary Yin and Yang meet, they will fall in love.
Their union would result in the strengthening of their ki. They would
also become soul bonded for all of eternity.

"Child, you have my approval to go ahead with this relationship.
Your marriage would greatly strengthen the families genes."

Xas Min nodded mutely he heart fluttering like a butterfly in
the wind.

************************************************************ ***********

Ranma ran out of the house. His heart was as light as a feather
and he realized that he was in love. His steps had an unnatural spring
in them as he walked aimlessly through the village.

Everywhere he went he saw skimpily dressed girls. All the men
and boys had drool running all over their faces and the married women
had a dreamy look in their eyes. The married men too had goofy grins on
their faces. The men all seemed to be quite friendly towards him and
Ranma wondered why they were so.

*Must be some sort of Amazon festival or something!

"Hold on there sonny?"

Ranma turned around and looked right into the face of one of the
younger elders. Her four foot tall body was right on top of one of those
staffs and she was starring right into his face.

"Yikes!" shouted Ranma and jumped high into the air.

The elder snorted in disgust. She was at the age where her looks
were the worst assets in her closet and to have it pointed out to her so
rudely just made her want to die in disgust at his lack of etiquette.

"Its little old beautiful me and not some demon in disguise.
Come down for I have a proposition for you."

Ranma released his hold on his ki and landed softly on the
ground. "Elder forgive my insolence but in my humble view you are as
ugly as they come and..." Bonk! "Whaddya do that for?" shouted Ranma
indignantly. He had hoped to avoid getting bonked on the head when he
had come to the Amazon village but as it had turned out one couldnot
avoid one's destiny.

The elder waved her staff around and brought it to rest with a
flourish. Ranma raised an eyebrow at this display.

"Sonny, I want you to consider what I am about to tell you very
carefully." said the crone.

Ranma felt the alarm bells going on in his brain but decided to
ignore it. "Go on, elder."

"Sonny, I have been observing you since you came to this village
and I feel that a lad such as you should not be without a girlfriend.
Therefore, I am graciously offering my granddaughter to be your wife..."
Boom (sound of Ranma going supersonic) "Looks like son-in-law is
uncooperative. If he is reluctant then a more direct approach must be
taken." Thunder struck in the background to signify the firing of the
first shot in the 'Ranma be my airen contest.'

******************************************************** ***************

Ranma's life took a turn towards the dumpster from that day on.
For the next three weeks, he was chased by all the girls in the village.
The boys in the village grew insanely jealous of him and the girls were
too forthcoming for his tastes. Several times during the course of the
first week, huge brawls had developed between different girls trying to
seduce Ranma at the same time. Soon these brawls would become huge free
for all hit-fests and several girls were actually missing all their
teeth due to the intensity of ahem... contests.

Eventually the married men and the women in the village had
enough and they refused to work in the fields until some sort of peace
agreement was reached between the various maidens. Sure, their nights
were memorable but the damage done in the daytime was getting harder and
harder to repair by the day.

An emergency council meeting was called and it was decreed that
none should try and seduce Ranma or drug him or force him. From that,
day on the village returned to normal though tension was high among the
would-be suitors.

The boys in the village had rejoiced at the fact that Xas Min
hadnot joined in the contest until the day their hearts were shattered
by a chance happening.

******************************************************* ****************

Xas Min walked towards the house of Sien Mae, one of her
patients. A group of boys were following her as usual and leading them
was the village bully, Goe Su. Goe Su, was a seven foot tall mammoth
with little brain. His only area of expertise was martial arts and he
was one of the best male warriors in the village. Instead of quietly
following Xas Min through the village, Goe Su was making an ass of
himself teasing her. The other boys in the village resented him and all
that he stood for but being the spineless cowards they were, they
allowed him to get away with anything.

That particular day, Goe Su and his lackeys had become bold
enough to rub themselves against Xas Min's body. Xas Min kept quiet as
her code of ethics prevented her from er... accidentally removing some
of their ahem... more essential body parts.

The possession continued as it was until Ranma chanced upon
them. Seeing the irritated look on Xas Min's face Ranma had told the
bullies to get lost. Having said that he had turned towards Xas Min and
had seen her blush. Sure enough, he had fainted on the spot.

Goe Su decided that it was time to teach the unconscious
outsider a lesson or two about who the boss was. Having decided on that
course of action he had pulled back his leg and delivered a kick to
Ranma's midsection that would have done a professional football player
proud. Ranma flew as swift as a arrow and his head made contact with a
tree. The tree trunk cracked under the force of the impact and had
collapsed. Goe turned towards his lackeys and began to show off his
strength.

Unfortunately for him, Xas Min had watched the entire event.
When she heard the cracking sound produced by the tree, her normally
sweet face assumed an angry look. Steam began to rush out of her ears
and for the first time in her life, her aura flickered into existence.
The lackeys who were not so interested in Goe Su's show saw this new Xas
Min and ran away or tried to run away. "What did you do to _MY_
Ranmachan." was the last thing they heard before 'hurricane' Xas Min hit
them.

The healers who examined their beatup bodies announced that all
the boys had lost something _very important_ to all of them and could
never father their own children.

******************************************************** ***************

Two months after the incident...

Xiao Lui sat facing Ranma in the middle of the glade. Ranma was
listening attentively to whatever she was saying.

"No, Ranma, Yuan Puyi was wrong. You see Ranma, throughout the
human body flow two types of energy. They are the ki and the mana. Ki is
like the Yang, it is easily accessible and it is because of its nature
that users are ki grow stronger than before. Mana is like the Yin, it is
dark, mysterious and not easily accessible. It is also vastly more
powerful than ki if you learn how to use it. The body cannot survive
without both of these forces. As the body ages it uses more ki and mana
and death comes, when it's rate of consumption exceeds its rate of
production. Masters of the art have found a way to circumvent this
process. You see, Ranma, with enough ki the body can live for far longer
than normal. This is what masters of the art hope to achieve. They train
in their youth to increase their ki potential so that they may live for
a long time.

However, this extensive use of ki does have its drawbacks. With
so much ki in the body, there is not enough mana to properly balance it.
This causes the body to adapt itself such that its very nature turns
towards the Yin aspect. That is why I am two foot tall. As the body
turns towards the Yin, it needs more and more ki to balance this new yin
aspect. This goes on till the day when the Yin aspect becomes more
powerful than the Yang aspect and the person dies."

Ranma nodded. "This would explain the fact why I am not able to
reverse my curse even though master Yuan told me that is a change in the
flow of my ki that triggers it."

Flashback to the Musk palace...

"Ranma, your curse is caused by the change in flow patterns in
your body. Cold and hot water activate and deactivate it because their
ki patterns somehow are in harmony with the curse ki patterns. In
theory, you should be able to change back from your cursed form to your
original form without using hot water. Now, concentrate and feel the ki
patterns in your body. There should be a slight imbalance wherever the
ki patterns change when your curse becomes deactivated. Search for it.
When you find it set it right and you will deactivate your curse."

End of flashback.

"Elder..."

"Yes, Ranma." Xiao Lui hopped towards her student as she had
gotten up in the course of her speech.

"Then master was right. I will be able to get rid of my curse."
asked Ranma.

Xiao Lui nodded. "Yes, Ranma. You are close to becoming one of
the true masters of the art. Somehow, your body has learned to not only
generate huge amounts of mana but also to manipulate it. That is why
your aging process has slowed considerably in the last eleven years.
When you reach perfect mastery you will stop aging altogether. In
effect, you would become immortal. Once you attained that point it will
also become very easy for you to overcome your curse."

"Thank you elder."

Xiao Lui smiled. The boy had adapted admirably to living in a
village surrounded by women when one took into account the fact that he
had been raised by the gynophobic Musk. His fainting and nose bleeding
episodes on seeing her great great granddaughter had stopped and the
romance that was blossoming between the two was a pleasure to watch. He
was still clueless about the opposite sex and unless Xas Min made direct
approaches, he would be oblivious of intentions. Even when she was using
the direct methods, he still was oblivious for most of the time.

"Ranma, I wanted to ask you a personal question." said she.

"You are free to do so, elder." replied Ranma lost in his
thoughts.

Xiao Lui decided to pose the question when he was unaware of her
intention and thus completely off-guard.

"How far have you taken your physical relationship with my great
great granddaughter?" Several times in the past month Ranma had gone
missing for hours on end and when he had returned he always had a goofy
grin plastered all over his face. She suspected that he was getting some
from Xas Min but did not know how far they had gone. The boy was too
good a warrior to not notice when someone was scanning him and hide
himself and her great great granddaughter too could become quite elusive
if she wanted too.

Now, Ranma's brain was a strange thing. It was probably the
fastest in the world when it came to analyzing tactical situations. Ask
it a question on any other subject and a strange phenomenon takes place.
Ranma's mouth actually works several thousand times faster than his
mouth. This time it worked no differently and long before his brain
realized what the hell was going on his mouth blabbered the following
words: We have gone as far as anyone can. Your great great granddaughter
is absolutely wonderful in the bed, I might add.

Seconds passed. The staff shook and for the first time in three
hundred and fifty years, Xiao Lui lost her balance after having learned
the arts. Ranma's brain took more seconds to realize what had happened.
Then he developed a nosebleed and promptly fainted.

********************************************************* **************

Two years after Ranma's arrival in the village...

"Michan, I am home." shouted Ranma returning home from his
advanced classes in the art. Usually his wife would have completed her
appointments and would be home to serve him his meal.

Xas Min walked out of the kitchen, her face shining as bright as
the moon. When she saw him, she ran forward and gave him a bear hug.
"Long time no see Ranmachan." she whispered into his ears.

Ranma eyed her amusedly. "And may I know why my Michan is so
happy today."

Xas Min's smile grew tenfold. She threw her arms around him and
gave him a tender kiss on his lips. "Ranmachan, I have got wonderful
news for us."

"Ummm...", replied Ranma as he gently brushed his lips against
her neck. "What is it, my dearest Michan?"

"I am pregnant with our child."

Seconds ticked by. Ranma stood silent, then with a hooray that
was heard throughout the village he picked up Xas Min and whirled her
around and around. Needless to say they both did not get much sleep that
night and neither did their neighbours.

****************************************************** *****************

Eight months after _the revelation_...

The room was dark but the outlines of two bodies sleeping,
huddled against each is visible against the moonlight that shone through
the window.

One of the shapes woke up and by its outline, one can discern
the fact that it is a very pregnant woman. She sat up and roused her
partner. "Ranma... Ranma... get up baka..."

Ranma groaned. "Wake me up when I am seventy." he murmured and
went back to sleep.

Thwap! "Wake up baka."

Ranma opened his eyes and looked at his wife through the
darkness. "What is it now?" he muttered cranky due to the early
departure from his beauty sleep.

"I am having your baby and you are here sleeping like a hog."
replied Xas Min.

"So what? You have had our child in you for the last nine
months." countered Ranma.

Thwap! "I am having your baby right now, baka." shouted Xas Min.

"You are!!!!!!" All trace of sleep was gone from his voice. He
stood up and formed his ki torch. He lifted her easily and walked
towards the door. The ki torch floated infront of them. He had long
since perfected ki manipulation outside his body. The couple made their
way to Pher Fom's house. Though he was an acknowledged healer,
considered second only to Xas Min and Pher Fom village rules did not
allow husbands to treat wives or wives to treat husbands.

Six hours later...

The whole village was up and Ranma stood outside the delivery
room walking to and fro in anxiety. The elders had to restrain him
several times during the course of the night from making his way into
the room. Though they had no knowledge of parasitic bacteria they did
know about the existence of microbes thanks to their ki enhanced vision
and thus kept the delivery room as clean as possible.

Ranma had been almost beyond himself with grief at hearing his
wife's screams, but to go into the room might endanger the lives of both
his child and his wife. Therefore he had let himself be restrained by
the elders whenever Xas Min's pain seemed to be too much for her to
bear. Finally, after six hours of waiting he felt a new ki signature and
realized that his child's umbilical cord had been cut. A new life, which
was testament to his and his wife's love had been brought into the
world.

He named his daughter Higashikaze, the east wind.

************************************************************ ***********

Author's rants:

well that's the end of the first chapter.

I have read a lot of fics in which the writers have taken the
Amazon's words at face value. We know that only a few of the Musk
warriors survive in the original Ranma universe. For the sake of this
storyline I am saying that the Musk were more powerful than the Amazons
in their hayday. You like. You no like.

I would like to take this time to prostrate myself on the ground
and grovel to my Pre-readers.

Thank you guys very much. I couldn't have done it without you.
Jang
Philip Penty
Brain McCullough

Hints for you readers from the author:
Hint #1: Arun doesnot write to a schedule, he really has to spend a lot
of time with his psychiatrist.
Hint #2: (for those outstanding critics out there[;)])Call Arun anything
you want in your mail provided (though he won't) he has the right to
call you by these same names. Arun appreciates constructive negative
comments and he really loves the positive comments. Its the 'Go to hell
you mother F***ing Freak of nature' and such that he hates. Please send
me your negative comments though I would be most grateful if you would
tone down the I hate you part a little.
Hint #3: The truth is out there, hey, don't ask me where but is out
there since Fox 'spooky' Mulder says so.
Hint #4: There is no hint #4.
Hint #5: Read the author's rants section if there is one. It would clear
some of yer questions as well as create some totally unrelated ones.