Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Horse Avatar ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Wild Horse Avatar

 

Author's notes:

Welcome to the start of my first fanfiction. This story is supposed to be a blend of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Black Cat, and Ranma 1/2. This is mainly a Ranma story, based in the world of Ranma 1/2 with a few elements of Black Cat and Avatar tied in. Hopefully you will enjoy this story, just don't expect regular updates from me. You will be sorely disappointed and frustrated if you do. As usual, I don't own any character from Ranma 1/2, Black Cat, or Avatar and I use the characters from these shows without permission from the authors. I'm writing simply for my own amusement, and for people who will, hopefully, enjoy this story. I welcome any comments, criticisms, or suggestions, but at the end of the day this is my story and I will write this story the way I want to. If you have problem with this, then I'm sorry, but you should probably look elsewhere. One last thing, if my details are a little off in Ranma please just ignore it and go along with it. It's been a long time since I watched or read anything canon from Ranma. Anyway, thanks for sticking through my long-winded into. On with the story.

 

Chapter 1

 

 

It was an ordinary day in the otherwise unordinary neighborhood of the Nerima district in Tokyo that the Tendo family lived in. It has been two years since one Ranma Saotome came to live with Soun Tendo and his three daughters. It has been one year since Ranma killed the god-king Saffron and the valley of jusenkyo became flooded. Ranma and Akane are now seventeen years old and entering into their final year of high school.

 

On this particular day we join Ranma and Genma Saotome and the Tendo family gathered around the dinner table. This particular day is quieter than most. Genma and Soun are too focused on eating to notice anything. Kasumi was absorbed in her duties as a hostess and server, and Akane was oblivious to anything but the little, black piglet in her arms. Both Nabiki and Ranma were silent as they mulled whatever issues consumed their attention. Ranma was the first to break the silence. He set down his bowl and chopsticks, took a deep breath, and settled his eyes everyone else sitting at the table.

 

“I'm leaving” Ranma stated with unusual seriousness “I'm going on a training trip.”

 

“That's nice.” Kasumi said, with a touch of un-Kasumi like irritation in her voice. “I suppose I'll need to make some food for you to take. How long will you be gone?”

 

“One year” Ranma stated flatly.

 

Sound slammed down his teacup, causing the tea within to spill on the tabletop and make a mess. This earned him a glare from Kasumi, or at least a slight stiffening of her smile and an aura of unease that Sound had come to know and understand as a Kasumi-glare. Before the past year or so Soun couldn't remember seeing a glare from Kasumi ever before. It seemed like in the past year, and especially after the wedding fiasco, that everyone's nerves had slowly become more and more frayed and everyone's patience with each other became shorter and shorter.

 

“Did you have something to say Father, or did you just want to slam your cup and spill the nice tea?” The casual listener would not have noticed the slight undercurrent of venom in Kasumi's voice, but to those that knew her well it was all too apparent. This venom in Kasumi's voice startled Soun out of his thoughts and back to the matter at hand.

 

“Err…yes” He started “What about your fiancé Ranma? What is Akane supposed to do for a year?

 

Akane nodded emphatically at this and looked at her father as if he could do no wrong.

 

“My fiancés” Ranma said, stressing the plural “Are part of the reason I'm leaving.”

 

This statement seemed to grab everyone's attention, including Genma who actually looked at his son while stuffing his face with food. Ranma waited to make sure he had everyone's attention.

 

“Your fiancés?” Soun said, motioning for Ranma to continue on.

 

“The way I look at it, Ukyo and Shampoo have as much claim as fiancés as Akane.”

Akane scowled at this, but said nothing.

 

“Pop already took the dowry that Ukyo's Pop promised to my Pop if Ukyo and me got married. That okonomiyaki cart was his only way of making a living. It's Pop's fault, and a kinda my fault too, that Ukyo's had the crap life she's had. And as for Shampoo, I beat her in a challenge match in her village. According to the rules of her village that means we're married. And Pop scarfed down the prize for the match. According to her honor, Shampoo can either kill my girl half or marry my boy half. And I don't feel much like dyin'”

 

Genma, who had just finished his dinner and was starting in on Soun's since he wasn't paying attention, chose this moment to jump in. “What about your family honor boy?” He asked. “It is a matter of family honor that you marry a Tendo.”

 

Ranma turned to look at his father, the angry look on his face surprising everyone at the table. “That's a load of bull old man! Don't pull that “family honor” crap on me anymore. You've been claiming family honor for far too long. If you had any honor at all, you wouldn't have sold me out as a fiancé to everyone you met, you wouldn't have forced me to go through the neko-ken training, and you wouldn't have made your five-year old son sign a suicide pact with his mother.”

 

Everyone at the table was taken aback at the anger that Ranma directed Genma's way. Nobody felt like being Genma Saotome at that particular moment. Not that anybody really wanted to be Genma Saotome at any time.

 

Ranma's face and voice softened as he continued on with what he wanted to say. “My honor demands that I marry someone I love, and Ukyo, Shampoo, and Akane are the girls I feel the strongest about. I don't know who I love, but I will make up my mind in one year.”

 

There was quiet for a few moments, and then Ranma spoke again. This time he looked directly at Akane. “Train and grow stronger Akane. In one year I'll be back. I want to see how far you can go in one year.” Ranma returned his attention to Genma and spoke again. “I want you to make a list of everybody you ever engaged me to. I'm going to find these people and break off the engagement. Leave it on the table here in three days time. I'll pick it up then.” Ranma took one last look around the table and used the umisenken to disappear from the table and the Tendo household. Only a disembodied “See ya” traveled in his wake.

 

Nabiki cleared her throat to gain her family's attention as she started in on what she wanted to announce. “Ranma kinda stole my thunder back there, but he's not the only one who's leaving.”

 

“What are you trying to say Nabiki?” a still shaken Soun asked with confusion and concern.

 

“I'm going to college in the fall. I decided to apply to Yale, and they accepted me on a business scholarship. I've put off going to college for a while because I was worried about the family's finances.”

 

Soun looked genuinely confused. “Don't be ridiculous honey. The family has always had plenty of money.”

 

Nabiki turned to look her father in the eye. “Yes, we have always had plenty of money because I have always been providing it.”

 

“I don't understand” Sound said, clearly very concerned “What about the money I brought in when I was teaching classes in the dojo?”

 

Nabiki dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. “Daddy, you haven't taught a class since Mom got sick. That money ran out years ago. It's all through my various businesses that we even have enough money for Kasumi to put food on our table.”

 

“She has a point Father” Kasumi chimed in with a touch of irritation in her voice “My weekly grocery budget has been coming from Nabiki for years. And it's true that you haven't taught any classes in years. All of your former students either quit martial arts or moved to a different dojo.”

 

“I don't understand” Akane said “Why are you bringing this up now and why are you so worried about us? I'll be sorry to see you move so far away but we'll find a way to make ends meet”

 

“Man you're dense Akane! It's because of you that I'm so worried about the family's finances. You cost us the most money out of anybody.”

 

“Me? I barely buy anything.” Akane tightened her grip on the piglet in her lap. “Sure I buy some new clothes every now and then because of that creep Happosai, but never anything really expensive.”

 

Nabiki sighed and handed Akane a sheet of paper. “Take a look at this.”

 

Akane took a few moments to carefully read over the piece of paper and the make sure of the rather large number at the bottom of the page.

 

After a few tense minutes of silence Nabiki spoke up again. “That number at the bottom of the page is the total amount of money we spend every month on bricks. You break dozens of bricks every week and you never even stop to consider where the money for these bricks is coming from. And that's just the money for the bricks, it doesn't take into account the repair costs for our walls and roof every time you pound Ranma with that blasted mallet of yours. You know that martial arts carpentry company isn't cheap.”

 

Nabiki wasn't sure how well her family would take the news of her leaving for college. She had no idea how Akane would react to the news. Since the failed marriage almost a year ago the girl's temper had steadily grown, and she was likely to fly into a rage at any time.

 

Akane's temper started to flare as she tightened her grip on P-chan more until she was practically choking the cursed pig. Akane's anger was nearly blinding at this point. “I can't believe that you're making these wild accusations about me Nabiki! I'm your sister! And it's all Ranma's fault, that pervert deserves everything I do to him!”

 

“I'm just telling the truth. As far as Ranma is concerned most of the stuff you accuse him of is just an accident or a misunderstanding.” Nabiki looked quite frustrated at this point.

 

Nabiki steeled herself and hoped against hope that the throbbing vein in Akane's forehead would disappear. She was determined to go on, she had to do this now or never. “I've made up my mind. I'm going to Yale starting this fall. I've already recruited someone who can help with the family's finances. He should be here any minute now. He's agreed to teach classes in the dojo in exchange for room and board.”

 

At this point Akane was close to strangling the piglet held in her names. Nabiki could see that her anger had been slowly building up and this announcement set her dangerously close to losing what little control of her temper she possessed. Akane looked at her father who had been sitting in stunned silence ever since Kasumi joined in the conversation.

“Say something Daddy! Are you just going to let her go?!? Are you going to let her bring some random stranger into this house?!?”

 

Akane's yells snapped Soun out of his stunned silence. He looked solemnly at his middle daughter, cleared his throat, and then burst into tears. “WAAAHHH!!! Nabiki you can't leave your poor father alone! You can't leave your family for some college in America!”

 

Nabiki sighed, rolled her eyes, and looked down on her father. “Daddy, it's just college. I'll come back during the summer. And I've already worked things out so classes can continue at the dojo. The family will be fine, and you will be fine. Besides, it's about time I left this nut house anyway.”

 

The sight of her father in tears and Nabiki's announcement that some stranger…no…some PERVERT would be teaching HER family style in HER dojo and would stay in HER house sent Akane's temper flying over the edge. Blazing with rage Akane hurled the little black pig away and pulled her mallet from thin air.

 

“STOP IT THIS INSTANT!” a firm voice commanded.

 

Akane frozen in mid-swing, her mallet only a few inches away from Nabiki's head. Nabkiki was frozen in horror at the realization that her little sister was actually going to hit her, and probably kill her. Slowly every head at the table, and even the little black pig on the floor, turned to face the person who had spoken out.

 

In the doorway stood a tall man wearing traditional clothes. His hair was dark with signs of graying at his temples. He had an air of confidence around him everyone of Nabiki's own confident nature. He walked slowly into the room moving with a confidence and grace that could only come from years of studying martial arts. Every eye in the room turned towards the man. There was a multitude of different reactions from everyone in the room except P-chan. The pig was simply too busy recovering from being strangled to react to the man's presence.

 

The cries around the room were diverse ranging from Akane's indignant “Who the hell are you?” to Soun Tendo's “Mr. Tendo!” to Kasumi's surprised cries of “Grandfather!” The most startling cry came from a diminutive, old man that had been attempting to surprise his favorite targets for a little snuggling and groping.

 

Bouncing out of his hiding place Happosai cried “Sensei!” and bowed formally to the strange man who had entered into the Tendo home.

 

END CHAPTER 1

 

Endnotes: This was a very long first chapter. The rest of my chapters will probably not be this long. Thanks again for reading.