Subject: [FFML] [Ranma-SM X-over] Destiny-prolouge, ch#1,ch#2
From: arun prabhu
Date: 10/25/2001, 9:21 PM
To: ffml@anifics.com

Read and enjoy!

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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: destiny00.txt
-- Desc: destiny00.txt

SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny

By arun<arundude1@yahoo.com>
       <arun2110@sancharnet.in> 

Prolouge <Originally completed on 06/14/2001> <REVISION #1>

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

Disclaimers:

            Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and the cast
members of Ranma 1/2. 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.

            Naoko Takeuchi, Toei animation and KODANSHA, owns sailor
Moon and its characters.

            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.

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

The Silver millennium...

            In one of many tropical forests of earth, an area that
would later be known to humans as the Gangetic plain millennia into the
future, a termite mound stood tall and proud with its spires reaching
to the star studded evening skies above. The mound stood surrounded by
lush green trees in all their glory. If one focused his attention on
his senses, he could hear the roar of the Ganges the background. Even
then, the river would be barely audible over the soft, persistent hum
that seemed to permeate the air. The hum was as unnatural as anything
ever could be and yet at the same time it seemed to be the most natural
thing in the world. It brought peace and a sense of longing to one's
heart. The flora seemed to revel in the clearing sprouting shoots and
growing denser than anywhere else in the forest. The fauna too seemed
to be possessed by the unnatural peace. A peace, which made their
genetically imprinted fear of predators and the like to disappear into
thin air.

            Birds with feathers of every hue hid from the relentless
fury of the sun on the branches of the trees that littered the edges of
the clearing. They sang and made merry with their mating calls and
beautiful songs. Yet, their voices never drowned out the hum.

            A monkey suckled its young while sitting on a branch. It
had a vacant dreamy expression on its face. Another member of the clan
was grooming a male who seemed to be the ruler of the troop. More
prowled the grounds pausing infrequently to pick a fruit or two that
had fallen from the tree and ate it. Still others ate mud from a corner
of the clearing to satisfy their body's salt requirement.

            Presently a sambar with its kid walked into the clearing.
It bleated once in a while as it continued its search for its clan. A
tigress had stalked them the other day and had singled out its kid for
a meal. The others had fled and yet she had remained. Her maternal
instincts had been too strong and she had given in to them. Putting
herself between the young tigress and her kid she had faced off with
the mistress of the jungle. The tigress was a tad young and
inexperienced. After a standoff that lasted all through the morning the
tigress had finally abandoned the hunt and had went off in search of
greener pastures. During the course of initial stalk and the subsequent
standoff the clan had disappeared and mother and child were left to
fend for themselves. Now they stood their survival dependent upon
nature's mercy, which was miserly at the best of times.

            The kid was tired from the long march across the grasslands
and the forest and it bleated in a tone that any mother would have
recognized at once. Immediately the sambar halted its march and the kid
headed towards her udder. Dinner served!

            The flow of adrenalin decreased and the sambar relaxed. The
clearing seemed so peaceful to her primitive mind that she dropped all
pretences of being on the guard. She settled down and ruminated whilst
her kid tugged heartily at her udder.

            A tigress and its three cubs marched into the clearing
through one of the footpaths that the animals had created. The great
predator of the forests yawned and stretched her back before she rested
her body on the soft grass covered ground. The kittens immediately
began fooling around. The tigress swatted gently with her massive paws
when one of her kitten tried to get her into the game. With her head
neatly tucked, away between her legs she eyed the sambar speculatively.

            The sambar too locked eyes with the meat-eater. Normally
her self-preservation instincts would have kicked in and she and her
kid could have made fast tracks but something the likes of which her
primitive mind could not comprehend prevented her. A sense of peace and
love permeated the air and quenched the raging fire that was her fear.
Still wary of the newcomer she refused to let her eyes wander away from
the predator. There was more at stake than just her life for her to
carelessly ignore the predator. The tiger too seemed content to remain
as she was with her eyes locked on the young ruminant mother. It too
was concerned about its kittens. The maternal instincts of a mother
could not be over ridden even by the sanctity of the clearing.

            Presently the hum whose pitch had been rising slowly but
steadily for the past decade or two began to reach a crescendo. The
whole clearing glowed and a small breeze picked up. The monkeys became
agitated and began to chatter as they jumped up and down at their
positions. The tigress stood up and the kittens duly stopped playing
and took their positions behind her. Mother would protect them from
whatever was happening. The sambar for her part stopped her mastication
and stood up. Her kid bleated confusedly while trying to reach for her
udder. She nudged the kid to her side and they stood staring at the
shadows under a tree.

            The pebbles that rested under the tree began to rise into
the air. A sphere of pure energy flickered in the midst of the floating
pebbles. The sphere began to throb and ballooned before exploding in a
burst of light. When the blinding light finally died away it revealed a
man and a woman of ordinary appearance with an air of sanctity about
them.

            The man had the tan of one who wandered frequently into the
sun. His brownish complexion was what one would expect of an inhabitant
of the topics. He carried himself with an air of purity about him. The
man was dressed in the hide of a tiger, which covered just so that his
modesty did not suffer. His face was handsome to look at though it was
marred by a thin scar that ran from near his right ear to just an inch
above his lips. The scar was almost invisible, as age had done a good
job of covering it. In his hand, he clasped a Trident made of gold. The
weapon glowed with an aura of white as though it was a living being by
itself.

            The man had unbraided hair and a moustache that made his
face look all the more handsome in a rugged kind of way. A snake, a
member of the king cobra species was coiled around his neck. Its head
stood tall and proud with its hood proudly stretched out. The man did
not seem to mind it nor did the woman who stood by him.

            The woman for her part was dressed in a piece of silk that
covered her nether regions. The silk was so thin that it was
effectively transparent. As a result any observer could get a glimpse
of her nether regions if he so desired though the act would have been
'injurious to his health' if one took into account the not so pleasant
looking obsidian crystal in one of her arms. She remained uncaring with
a detached look on her face as to the well being of her partner. The
snake, worshipped in that part of the world remained erect, tasting the
air once in a while. The hisses that it made went unnoticed by both the
man and the woman.

            A parrot stood perched on the woman's right shoulder. It
would tilt its head once every couple of seconds or so and examine the
termite mound. To any observer the bird would have seemed almost human
when one took into account its unnatural curiosity. The woman had an
earring on her left ear. A diamond of the first water hung precariously
from the earring seemingly floating in mid-air though it was connected
by very thin lines of gold that were strengthened with lines of power.
A necklace of sorts nestled on her breasts with beautifully carved
pieces of jade of the type they called the imperial jade ornamenting
it. Her nipples, which would have been visible to the naked eye, was
hidden behind two star shaped pieces of jade that protruded from the
aforementioned necklace. Similarly, her nether region was covered by a
belt of gold studded with diamonds and jades of the finest quality.

            Even without her expensive ornaments, the woman would have
looked as pure and beautiful to the naked eye as a clear sky is at
night. Anyone who observed her in her present condition would have
thought that she was devoid of ornaments of any sort for such was the
effect of her persona on one's senses. Her body was lithe and had fat
in all the right places. She was sensuous with a vaguely oriental look
about her.

            The woman looked at her husband and looked at him with love
written all over her face. At some unspoken signal, they both turned
towards the termite mound and addressed it.

            "Raja Chola, thine penance has been heard in the astral
plane and it has not been found wanting. I have come here to grant thee
three boons as a gift for thy penance. Extricate thyself from the mound
and claim thine reward."

            The man spoke softly without rushing through any part of
his speech. All external sounds seemed to fade away when he spoke and
an unfelt breeze carried it so that it was clearly audible to anyone
within the clearing. Having spoken thus the man waited while Raja Chola
extricated himself from the termite mound.

            A soft hum, different in tone from the one before emanated
from the mound. Cracks appeared on it and it glowed golden as Raja
Chola used his ki to destroy the mound that had protected him from the
elements for so long. The cracks widened and pieces of the mound fell
off.

            Raja Chola arose from the ruins of the mound with naught a
cloth on him. Dust covered his body from head to toe providing a small
measure of modesty to the yogi. If looks ever were deceiving, Raja
Chola's certainly did. Though he looked like a man in his mid-twenties,
he was much older than that. In fact, he had been doing his penance for
the past three hundred years if his knowledge of math served him right.
Raja Chola smiled in spite of himself. *I have done it. We will have
our revenge Anita.*

            Raja Chola allowed a small smile to form on his lips. Even
though his very being screamed at him to tear them apart as revenge for
the sin their kind had committed against him, he was indeed glad to see
them. He had always respected Shiva though he hated their kind.

            Chola knelt and bowed until his beard touched the ground.
"Oh most sweet, kind and wonderful Lord of destruction hast thou
finally found my unworthy being worthy enough to bear witness to thy
majesty as well as thine lady's." he said humbly.

            The man smiled. Shiva, for that was the God's name raised
his hands in blessing and spoke. "Arise, O Phoenix! Thine prayers had
indeed been found worthy as thine self."

            Chola smiled. "Praise to thee lord of destruction."

            Chola began to sing in praise of Shiva and Meenakshi. Both
listened captivated by the melodious song until it ended. Shiva smiled
at Raja Chola.

            "Thine meditation has been the most powerful ever Raja
Chola and it had been felt by all in Heaven. We are very pleased to
have a devotee like thee and have thus decided to grant thee three
boons. Ask and all will be given to thee."

            Raja Chola raised his head and looked into Shiva's eyes.
Hiding his joy under the veil of sanctity that he wore, Raja Chola
spoke.

            "My first wish is that I be made an immortal, O sweet Lord
of destruction!"

            Shiva did not seem surprised by the wish. In fact almost
everyone he had granted boons to had asked for the same. A glint of a
smile came to his face. "Ye know very well that immortality cannot be
bestowed on a mortal as a boon unless he had a trace of godliness in
him." he said trying to hide his mirth.

            If Chola was disappointed his face did not betray him.

            "Then my Lord, I ask that I cannot die unless I am killed
by someone else."

            Shiva looked at his wife and she squeezed his hands in
support. He gave her a loving look and turned towards the yogi. "Very
well, Raja Chola. I grant thee the first boon."

            Raja Chola smiled inwardly. He would not be able to ask for
the third boon he had planned on asking but it did not matter as long
as he got this one straight. No one would be able to kill him and as
long as he lived he would seek vengeance for the sins they had
committed against him.

            *Soon my love I will send all those who destroyed our
happiness to hell and may they rot there for all of eternity.* Memories
of what had happened brought back his unquenchable anger and his
muscles rippled as his body tensed as it drove back the tidal wave that
was his anger.

            "As my second boon O sweet Lord of destruction, I ask that
no one, he or she be a God or a Goddess or an Ashura or a mortal or an
animal or a spirit be able to kill me."

            Shiva nodded and granted the second wish though it meant
that Chola was pretty much immortal in the eyes of the world from then
on. He had been close to reaching that goal on his own before but then
he would have been killable. Now that was not possible in the normal
sense.

            *Just one more and we will have our revenge, Anita.*

            "As my third boon, O sweet Lord of destruction, I ask that
I be granted power over all that lives and that I made king to the
Ashura's." asked Chola silently praying that he be granted that wish.

            "Thine third wish is unique Chola," said Shiva not taking
his eyes of him.

            "It is, O sweet Lord of destruction."

            "Is that what ye wish for Chola?" asked Shiva hoping that
he had misheard or even misinterpreted it.

            "Yes O sweet Lord of destruction." replied Chola.

            Shiva nodded and raised his arms in blessing. Power flowed
from the palm of his hands into Chola who received it. The power sent
white-hot tendrils of pain shooting through his body. Chola bore it
joyously for it signified that the long awaited time for revenge was at
hand.

            In the palace of Queen Serenity, the sleeping queen shifted
in her bed as the same nightmare played itself repeatedly in her mind.
Throughout the moon kingdom, every magician who had sufficient power
had the same nightmare, a nightmare in which the kingdom was destroyed
and the people slaughtered as though they were pack animals.

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

            Two years later...

            In the plains of Mars...

            Queen Serenity looked at the battle from her command post.
She chided herself for having been a fool and for having let the plague
of destruction come upon her people. She shuddered unconsciously as
images from the outer planets played themselves in her mind over and
over again. Scenes of wanton destruction, rivers flowing crimson with
the blood of innocents and people slaughtered by the thousands. The
luckiest ones had only their guts ripped out while the others were torn
apart and left to scavengers. In the worst scenarios, they had been
skinned alive and then parts of their body eaten as they watched with
their very own eyes. Most of them died of shock alone. The ones that
opposed the hordes and the ones that surrendered the meted out the same
treatment. She suppressed another shudder as the death of Sailor Mars
replayed itself once more in her mind. Her close friend and advisor had
been raped, sodomized and then skinned before being devoured alive by
one of the raiding monsters. She and the other Sailors had watched her
suffer from less then a few hundred yards away. She had never felt more
helpless in her life. Helpless because she herself had been engaged in
a battle to the death with another one of the monsters so that she
might be spared from the same fate. By pure luck, they had managed to
force the monsters into a retreat on that terrible day in the plains of
Saturn. And it was by that very same luck that they remained alive.
Whatever those monsters were they were phenomenal fighters the likes of
which no one had ever laid eyes upon.

            She clutched her fists in anger. She had failed her people.
Her kingdom was supposed to be one of peace and love but scarcely two
decades had passed since she had founded the kingdom and the rivers ran
crimson throughout the kingdom. She knew as well as all the other weary
souls that defended the citadel that they were fighting a lost cause.
The kingdom was done for she had realized that much when Saturn had
fallen. If the enemy had shown the tiniest shred of humanity, she would
have been content to give up her kingdom so that her people may live
but the enemy had not. Day and night they killed and pillaged
destroying everything and everyone in their path as they followed the
commands of their leader assuming that they had one. Even though the
war about to end she still did not know anything about the enemy. Like
the plague they had emerged one day at the borders of her kingdom and
like the plague they had spread far and wide spreading death and
destruction everywhere they went. In fact, she had never seen the face
of the enemy leader. All that her forces had faced where those six-
handed, human look-alike monsters that ripped everything in their paths
to shreds moving at speeds that even the sailors found impossible to
maintain for long.

            *Kami, What will happen to my people? Why didn't I realize
the serious nature of the threat when I first heard of it a year and a
half back?* As much as she wished that all would have been well if she
had responded correctly twenty months ago, a part of her mind knew that
it would not have had the least effect on the outcome. She wiped out
the lone tear that had somehow found its way into her right cheek. She
would not cry... She could not cry... For the sake of her people, she
had to put on that strong act for that was one of the few things that
her people now clung onto.

            She pulled herself together and looked again at the scenes
of battle that was raging on a thousand yards from where she stood. She
could hear the chanting and could feel the huge collection of magical
energies that was taking place in the background. *This gamble must
work or...* She found herself unable to think clearly through the haze
of fear that clouded her mind. There were so many people who had yet to
live their life to the fullest. So many people who did not know what it
feels to hold the warm flesh of one's child in their arms or to be in
love. For their sake, she would make this gamble work.

            Serenity, Queen of the newly found Silver Millennium,
solemnly swore to herself that she would defeat the hordes for the sake
of the children and tightened her fists until she heard her knuckles
pop. Then she took a deep breath to clear her mind and walked into the
clearing where the mages were preparing for what she hoped would be
their first blow against the enemy. If things worked out as had been
planned, the blow would also be the coup de grace. If not humans would
become the latest addition to the extinct species list.

            She reached the site within a few minutes. *It will not be
long now. I can feel the energies gathering and soon we will be rid of
this threat and peace will reign once more.* Thought she as she looked
about the site. A hundred of the empire's strongest surviving magicians
including her had gathered there to cast a spell that would send the
enemy and his army into limbo. She sat down and the others shifted
their positions to accommodate her into the circle. They never stopped
their chanting and energy levels began to increase more rapidly than
before. A few minutes passed and everyone stood up to cast the spell.
*Just two or three more minutes and the decisive moment will upon all
of ...*

            Her thoughts were interrupted by a shriek to her left. She
would feel some of the magic going away and she realized that one of
the monsters was upon them. She focused on the Ginzishou and
concentrated a little bit harder to neutralize the loss. Shrieks began
to increase in frequency as one after another the magicians fell to the
monster. Soon she heard of the clashing of weapons and the ear-
splitting bangs of explosions as the lunar guard came to the rescue.
However, the damage had been done by then. Her last gamble had failed
and her people would perish.

            Just when she had all but given into despair, she felt a
presence. A being of pure love entered her mind.

            *Who are you?*

            *I am everything and nothing child. I am here to comfort
you. Do not despair child there is a way to defeat your enemy for now
though he will return in the future.*

            *He will comeback and kill us all in the future then.*
Replied Serenity choking back the emotions that threatened to break
through the calm mask that she wore over her face.

            *No child, when the evil comes again we will be ready and
it will be defeated forever.*

            *Then tell me what I must do to defeat him now?*

            *You will be able to defeat him child but there will be
price to pay, you will die if you what I ask you to do.*

            Serenity hesitated but for a moment. There was too much at
stake for her to refuse the boon. If she must die so that her son,
Freon, may live than so be it.

            *I will do whatever is necessary to save my people.* She
replied mentally to the being. Though she could not see her inside her
mind she realized that the being had nodded.

            *Concentrate child, concentrate on yourself. Look deep
inside of you and tell me what you find.*

            Serenity concentrated and looked into herself. She found a
throbbing mass of yellowish blue light. She realized it for what I was.
*I can see my soul.* Replied Serenity in awe. She had never realized
that she could one could see their own soul.

            She again felt the being nod. *Good, now focus yourself
onto the Ginzishou and let the magic from all of nature flow through
you.*

            Serenity complied and immediately felt phenomenal amounts
of power coursing through the Ginzishou. She realized that her body was
being used as the channel while her soul was the focusing lens. She
realized too that she would not survive the process. She also realized
that the Ginzishou was acting as a reservoir until she demanded that
all the energy be released. She felt everything and nothing around her.
She felt the fear and the pain from her soldiers and those who where
dying or fighting for their lives. She felt the hate and the thirst for
destruction that clouded the mind of the monsters whom she realized
where Ashura's, the anti-Gods. She felt the love and peace and the
power that was the being and realized that it was God. Though she felt
her body weaken from being subjected to the huge amounts of energy, she
felt strangely happy and content for the first time in her life.

            The power grew until the Ginzishou was having trouble
containing it and then she willed it to do its job. The ground shook
and hurricane force winds rose as the mana and the ki that had been
stored were released. She was at the epicenter of the explosion of
energy and with her as the center, the energy spread across the cosmos
sending into limbo all the Ashura's as well as their king. Her ki and
mana spent in trying to control the power and her body near death due
to channeling so much energy she collapsed in a heap onto the floor.
She could hear faint voices, which she deduced, were from members of
the lunar guard. She did not care what they said for she was happy as
long as God was by her side. She felt his soothing touch on her mind
ridding her body of its pain and she heard him whispering into her ear.

            *Sleep child, I will take care of you.*

            And she slept.

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

Author's notes:

            This is going to be a long story and it might even a year
or more to complete. I got this idea while I was reading Alan Harnum's
'Waters Under Earth', which is one of the finest pieces of fan fiction
writing you will find on the net. I thought why not combine certain
aspects of Ramayana (the Indian epic, literally meaning the story of
Rama) and combine it with a not so usual Ranma and Sailor moon
crossover. For the record Ashura means Anti-God. You like? You no like?
Tell me.

            The story is hosted at the following sites:
1. Mine (http://samrtaleck.anifics.com)
2. Lady cosmos (http://www.crosswinds.net/~ladycosmos/)
3. Rakhal's Penultimate Ranma Fanfic index
       (http://www.rakhal.com/FFIndex/lstmain.html)
4. FFML archives 
       (http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:123/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe)
5. Mediaminer fanfic archives (www.mediaminer.org/fanfic)

            I would like to take this oppurtunity to
prostrate myself in front of my pre-readers. Thank you, guys! This
couldn't have been possible without all of you:
 jakub [jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl]
 Kaz [kazblah945@aol.com]
 Madcat [madcat08@hotmail.com]
 Brain [bmccullough@nucles.com]
 James Merritt [j.merritt1@home.com]
 Philip Penty [plainswaker@hotmail.com]
 Nathan Shuker [rezantis@hotmail.com]
 Zero [shinzero@home.com]

            Hints for you readers from the author:

            Hint #1: Arun does not write to a schedule, he really has to spend a lot of time with his psychiatrist.

            Hint #2: (for those out standing 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.



-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: destiny01.txt
-- Desc: destiny01.txt

SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny

By arun<arundude1@yahoo.com>
       <arun2110@sancharnet.in>

Chapter#01 Completed on 06/18/2001

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

Disclaimers:

            Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and the cast
members of Ranma 1/2. 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.

            Naoko Takeuchi, Toei animation and KODANSHA, owns sailor
Moon and its characters.

            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 was audible 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 and had not been cared for for quite sometime as is
evident from their build and coats, which lacked the lustre that wild
animals and healthy domestic ones do.

            A few hundred yards to the left of the pit stood a man,
sturdily built with the beginnings of 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 scawny little cats. Are you a 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. Then they'd be off to the Tendo's and
he'd live a life of luxury after that. 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. The situation would have quieted down in a few months.
But 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. Never let it be said that Genma
Saotome's son was a snivelling coward.

            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 a 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 have
driven a normal man into the clutches of insanity many times over. 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 thirty
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
thirty thousand years. In addition, those thirty 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 no one could beat it. These battles of the mind would often last
decades and both the contestants would come out of the battle looking
refreshed and stronger than ever before. 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. Of course, 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. However, 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 did not 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 boy's 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 boy's body became transparent
and the ki and mana lines flowing through him pulsed in harmony 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 colors 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 its 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
premature death of her son for he was sure that he'd never be able to
find Ranma again. 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 every time 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 behavior, 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 guide's
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 did not 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. They would arrange
themselves in a little while. 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.
He had expected it actually. After all 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.

            <Customer err... young one very unlucky to have fallen into
the pool of the drowned dragon just before it disappeared. Did no one
ever tell you that it very dangerous to play anywhere around the pools
of sorrow?>

            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 whoever 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, 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 in locating 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.

            "Do not 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 even though he had much work to do. He realized that
the child needed someone close by 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 did not 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 behavior 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 did not 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 did not 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.

            "Honorable 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 favor 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, Honored 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 honorable 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 favor did you require of me?"

            "It pertains to Ranma, honorable 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 does not 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 favor. 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 did not mean it of course as he had planned to say something
like 'come-on Liu, you cheated.'

            "Nyahhh!" replied Liu and stuck 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 was not 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 old man 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 years. 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 surprised, 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 could not
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 inacceptance 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 hear the
sound of 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, dukeing 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 could not 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 boy's 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 could not 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
did not 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 auras 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 ponytail 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 could not 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 wise guy
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 in front 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 any other 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 did not 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 cannot expect them to be
perfect! He certainly had not 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 will 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, shut up
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 behavior 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...

            "Honorable 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
did not 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 did not 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 every time 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 in front of his students. He
would cry later when he was all-alone in his house.

            "Master, I am sorry for bringing dishonor 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 honor 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 other's 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 is 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 were
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 nowhere 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.

            "Shut up, Leather! If you had not 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-haired woman 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 observer's 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! Do not 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 up to 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 could not 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. No one had imagined in his
or her 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 silver
wood, 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 had not 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 it's
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 could not 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 la la
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 in
front 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 going to
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 Shiatsu 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 at least
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 up to 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 rumors 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 could not remember anything. "I do..." again he caught
sight of her eyes and again he felt forgetting himself. " I am...
err... 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 la la 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 in spite 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 will not 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 up to 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 would not 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 up
to 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. *At least 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. In fact 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 could not
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 had not 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 was 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 err... 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_ Ranma-chan." was the last thing they heard before 'hurricane' Xas
Min hit them.

            The healers who examined their beat up 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...

            "Mi-chan, 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 Ranma-chan." she whispered into his ears.

            Ranma eyed her amusedly. "And may I know why my Mi-chan 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. "Ranma-chan, I have got
wonderful news for us."

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

            "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 neighbors.

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

            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 in front 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 heyday. You like. You no like.

            Oh almost forgot! C&C would be most welcome.

            The story is hosted at the following sites:
1. Mine (http://samrtaleck.anifics.com)
2. Lady cosmos (http://www.crosswinds.net/~ladycosmos/)
3. Rakhal's Penultimate Ranma Fanfic index
       (http://www.rakhal.com/FFIndex/lstmain.html)
4. FFML archives 
       (http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:123/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe)
5. Mediaminer fanfic archives (www.mediaminer.org/fanfic)

            I would like to take this oppurtunity to
prostrate myself in front of my pre-readers. Thank you, guys! This
couldn't have been possible without all of you:
 jakub [jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl]
 Kaz [kazblah945@aol.com]
 Madcat [madcat08@hotmail.com]
 Brain [bmccullough@nucles.com]
 James Merritt [j.merritt1@home.com]
 Philip Penty [plainswaker@hotmail.com]
 Nathan Shuker [rezantis@hotmail.com]
 Zero [shinzero@home.com]

            Hints for you readers from the author:

            Hint #1: Arun does not write to a schedule, he really has to spend a lot of time with his psychiatrist.

            Hint #2: (for those out standing 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.



-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: destiny02.txt
-- Desc: destiny02.txt

SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny

By arun<arundude1@yahoo.com>
       <arun2110@sancharnet.in>

Chapter#02 <Completed on 06/25/2001> <Revision#2>

            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.

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

"She is beautiful." said Ranma. Xas Min smiled at the compliment.
Higashikaze was at the moment breast-feeding and Ranma was starring
star struck at his child and her antics with er... the feeding
instrument. He brought his forefinger to his daughters cheek and
caressed it gently. He looked up at her mother and looked lovingly at
her.

            "She looks just like you." he whispered. Taking Xas Min's
head in his arms, he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

            "I love you too." Xas Min whispered back.

            Little Higashi gurgled and snuggled closer to her mothers
warm body. Ranma just shook his head in wonder.

            "I have got to go now and take my classes. I be back when I
done."

            "Be back as soon as you can." said Xas Min as he left the
room with a parting kiss to his wife and child.

            Outside the house...

            "So, Son-in-law, how is my great great great grandchild
coming along." asked Xiao poggoing towards him on her staff.

            "She is doing just fine." replied Ranma. He paused for a
moment and looked at his _mother_. He had started calling her and Pher
Fom mother after he had married Xas Min. She understood his need for a
mother as he had never had one and did not object to the title.
"Mother, may I... I want to speak with you in private."

            Xiao Lui nodded. She had an idea of what he wanted to talk
to her about. "Come with me then. I think that my little east wind can
wait a little longer."

            She led to her house and seated him on a wooden chair.

            "What is bothering you son-in-law?"

            "I... I realized just yesterday that I am a father. I don't
know if I am ready for that role and...", he paused.

            The nearly four hundred year old matriarch laughed. "What
happened to your confidence, son-in-law?"

            "I... It is not easy for me, mother, to ask for help." he
paused wanting her to understand that he did not want to be teased.
"There is so much for me to do and think about now that I am a father.
I do not know whether I am upto the job."

            Xiao Lui frowned. This was a facet of Ranma she had never
seen before. The Ranma she knew did not _fear_ even the mightiest of
enemies. This new Ranma was the socially insecure one who had grown
through his childhood without friends. As a member of the royal family
he was respected and obeyed but had no friends except his brother.

            "You will do fine, son-in-law. I saw the way you looked at
my newest granddaughter when you first saw her. I saw the love and the
care in your eyes. It is enough to make all the difference."

            Ranma rose. "Thank you mother, for your words of wisdom. I
feel much better now."

            Xiao Lui smiled. The old Ranma had returned. "Won't you
stay and have some tea, son-in-law?"

            Ranma shook his head. "No, mother, I do not have the time.
As it stands I am a good half an hour late for my beginners class."
Ranma had begun to take beginners class soon after he had married. He
said that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and the elders had
agreed. Spending time with his wife was okay with them, they too wanted
a progeny from their union to enhance the gene pool. He still taught
several warriors advanced ki techniques once or twice a week though the
classes lasted more than three or four hours at a stretch. He chose his
own students and with the elder's approval was grooming them for seats
in the council. Xiao Lui still was his best student and the matriarch
had learned some of the more complex techniques in his arsenal.

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

            Xiao Lui proved to be right. Ranma turned out to a doting
parent who loved his daughter very much. He, Xas Min and little
Higashikaze turned out to be the most popular family in the village.
Ranma would skip classes just so that he could play and cuddle with his
daughter. Sometimes, he would take her to the mountains and show her
around while soaring across the treetops. Higashi loved these sessions
and everytime Ranma came home from his classes she would pester him for
the piggy-ride.

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

            Inside the Phoenix mountain...

            Pei Pei commander of the Phoenix forces and a concubine of
the God-king Saffron snuggled closer to her majesty. They had just
spent two hours 'discussing' the feasibility of their plan to attack
the Amazons and the Musk and bring the entire valley under Phoenix
control.

            The thoughts of the battle plans had taken a less priority
after Saffron had invited her to his bedroom to continue the
'discussion' in private.

            "My lord..." Pei Pei murmured dreamily.

            Saffron raised his eyebrow. What would be more important
than the 'discussion' they were having?

            "I am sure that we can defeat the Amazons but the attack
must be executed in secret. We cannot have them prepare for our attack.
If they had prepared than the chances of our victory are not so...
Ohhhh!"

            Apparently annoyed with her interruption Saffron had
decided to continue the 'discussion', which she had so rudely
interrupted.

            Pei Pei cursed herself. Tactics and strategies needed to be
discussed with her Lord but the 'things' he was proposing in their
'discussion' were so wonderful. She had never before felt so good in
her life. *I will wait until this discussion is over and then we can
continue with the war strategy.* "Ohhhhhh God!" moaned Pei Pei once
more as her Lord proceeded to the next step of their very private
'discussion'. She would wait for another time when he wasn't so busy so
that they may discuss the plans in detail.

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

            People who knew Pei Fao said he was the shrewdest and most
successful businessman in the entire Amazon nation. He loved his wife
and kids but to him his business always took priority over these petty
concerns. He certainly was one of the richest men in the village and
perhaps in the entire world. His business dealings extended everywhere
beyond the boundaries of the Amazon nation. His contacts in Tibet and
India provided the spice and salts that were important for the survival
of the Amazon nation.

            If anyone in the village wanted something that couldnot be
obtained within the Amazon nation they would go to Pei Fao and he would
arrange it for them. The commission he charged for these special cases
where very high but people came to him because he made sure that they
got what they wanted and his goods had good quality.

            He did not have extensive training in martial arts and even
a ten-year-old in the village could have easily taken him on. However,
his status in the village and in the lands that surrounded it
guaranteed that he was one of the most powerful people in the village.
The matriarch of his family, Kho Om had spotted the boys unwillingness
to fight and the exceptional skill he demonstrated in business.
Therefore, she had apprenticed him to one of the village's premier
businesswoman. Pei Fao had started his own business after he had learnt
everything he could and then had promptly run all the other businesses
in the village to the ground.

            By the time he was nearing his thirties he had amassed
quite a fortune by himself and married one of the most promising
warriors in the village. The marriage was not a match made in heaven as
proven by the frequent disputes between the both of them.

            Like all businessmen, he had enemies and he plotted
endlessly to bring about their death or destruction. The topmost
candidate in the list was the village sweetheart Xas Min and her
husband Ranma. His son Goe Su had been the only joy and pride in his
life outside his business and that bitch had destroyed it. She had made
certain that his precious son could never father a child in his life.
He still fumed at the thought of what she had done to his son. Goe Su
had followed his father's example and had become quite the bully like
his father in the outside world. However, not everyone is cowed down by
huge body's and Goe Su had lost that essential psychological advantage
on that fateful day. Consequently, he had lost quite easily to the
healer bitch that day.

            On this particular evening, he stood outside the village
waiting for a special parcel that he had ordered from one of his
contacts in India. The parcel contained an undetectable poison that
would kill whoever ingested it slowly. *The bitch will pay for what she
did to my son.* These were the dark thoughts that ran through Pei Fao's
mind.

            There was a slight commotion in the bushes to his left.
Thinking that his parcel had arrived Pei Fao walked towards the bush
whistling to himself. He gave the signal for the messenger to come out
but none did.

            Pei Fao's shrewd brain realized that something was wrong.
He went a little into the bush and found a badly mangled Amazon warrior
clinging to her life. He hollered for help and carried the woman into
the village. The village buzzed with activity as warriors ran hither
and thither and prepared to defend the village against an attack.

            Inside Pher Fom's house, the elders interrogated the dying
warrior. The elder's had recognized the woman as a member of an outpost
that stood in the border between the Amazons and the Phoenix lands.

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

            The Phoenix warriors discussed amongst themselves. They had
been ordered by the second in command, Mascara to chase and kill the
few Amazonian scum before they reached the village. They had succeeded
in killing all but one of them. The last one had burnt her own hands to
seal her blood vessels and had successfully eluded them for a whole
day. Just when they had been about to catch up with her some man had
rescued her and sealed their fates. They knew the punishment for
failure. They would be skinned alive and impaled on stakes if Pei Pei
felt lenient towards them.

            "We cannot tell the commander, You know that any failure on
our part will lead to execution." murmured the Phoenix in command of
the chase.

            His colleagues nodded. They in addition, did not want to
suffer such horrible punishments and die so young.

            "Very well, then, we will tell Mascara that we have killed
the Amazonian scum of a warrior." spat the commanding officer. Their
little discussion finished the three Phoenix took to the sky.

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

            "Tell me child, who attacked the outpost?" asked Xiao Lui
for the tenth time. The escaped Amazon was delirious and her wounds
were gangrenous. She would not live for more than a few hours.

            The warrior was too lost in her own nightmares to answer
the question.

            Slap!

            Slap!

            "I repeat again child, tell me who attacked the outpost?"
asked the matriarch. Xiao Lui knew that it was cruel and inhuman to hit
the dying woman. However, it had too be done if they were to have any
chance of winning the war that was about to erupt. She knew that it was
the Phoenix but without the woman's testimony, the elders as usual
would debate for hours and they may not have that much time on their
hands.

            The warriors delirious ranting did not diminish but they
became more coherent.

            "No! do not die on me! I love youuuuuu and you promised
that you wouldnot leave me." the warrior screamed, obviously she was
reliving the death of her lover.

            The ranting kept on and on until her lover died, again, in
her mind. The woman let out an anguished scream that echoed through the
village. "I will have your head, Phoenix scum!!!!"

            The matriarch nodded. She had all the information she
needed. She motioned Pher Fom to render the woman unconscious. They
would not kill the woman out of pity. The tribes laws were very
stringent on that one. Anyone who killed an Amazon would be subject to
immediate banishment from the tribe followed by a death hunt. With a
heavy heart, she asked one of the warriors to call Ranma.

            Presently, Ranma arrived dressed entirely in black. He knew
that as the most proficient warrior in the village he would be chosen
for the intelligence-gathering mission. As Ranma entered the council
hall the bickering elders quieted and looked at him.

            "Ranma, we have a mission of the utmost importance for
you." began Kho Om.

            Ranma remained silent.

            "We have discovered the identity of the attackers. They are
the Phoenix." Ranma raised an eyebrow at the name. The elders have been
receiving reports of Phoenix incursions into Amazon territories for the
past seven or eight months. The Amazon nation had been preparing for a
war for as long. He had suspected as much when he had first heard of
the attack.

            "It seems that Saffron, has decided that he had waited long
enough and is now pushing to extend the frontiers of his people. We
have already sent the village's best runner to the Musk to inform them
of the attack. We need intelligence on the strength of the Musk and
since you are the most accomplished fighter in the village you have
been chosen for the mission."

            Ranma bowed and left the room. Time was of the utmost
importance if they were to win the war.

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

            Ranma gently probed the area with his ki. There were two
Phoenix warriors guarding the area. He could sense that they were both
inexperienced and had very loosely focused ki. He shook his head in
disapproval. It seemed that the Phoenix was not expecting incursions by
the Amazons. *Oh well, it makes my job that much easier! He thought as
he cloaked his ki and approached the two. Both were standing a little
distance away from each other as though they disliked the idea of
working together.

            Without a sound, Ranma dropped in front of the nearest one
and pressed several pressure points on his head and shoulders. The move
was executed at Amaguriken speed and the Phoenix warrior did not even
open get over his surprise before all the voluntary muscles in his body
froze up. One of the pressure points he had pressed also stole the
guard's voice and it would be a matter of hours before all his muscles
tightened so much that his bones would break. The other guard who had
been looking away all along turned Ranma's way and Ranma was at his
side in a flash. He paralyzed the guards voice box and then moved onto
his voluntary muscles. One by one within a second, all the voluntary
muscle groups froze and Ranma gently applied his fingers to the guards
jugular vein until he lost consciousness. Having rendered the soldier
unconscious he tied his prisoner and hefted him onto a tree. The
pressure points he had used to paralyze the boy's voluntary muscles
would wear off in a few hours and he hoped to have finished his job by
then.

            He reconnoitered around the destroyed outpost and saw
several hundred Phoenix soldiers resting at different points around the
outpost. He noted their positions and made his way to the area from
where the Amazons would most likely attack.

            What he saw made his blood run cold with fury. Throughout
the terrain were crosses onto which the beheaded bodies of the Amazon
defenders had been mounted. That fact by itself was not sickening. What
was sickening was that several Phoenix were playing some kind of game
with one of the heads kicking it hither and thither. He masked his
anger and left to retrieve his prisoner. The boy would provide all
information that he knew about Phoenix troop movements and all that.
The elders would see to that.

            His mission done he made his way to the Amazon village as
fast as he could.

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

            Ranma stood infront of the captured Phoenix. The boy had
come to his senses halfway through the return trip and had struggled.
Not wanting to be slowed down Ranma had again rendered him unconscious
and had reached the village.

            The elders had decided that Ranma would have a
psychological advantage over the prisoner and had entrusted him with
the not so pleasant job of interrogation. By his side stood two vases
and a dozen torture instruments. Behind the prisoner sat the elders
presiding over the interrogation. They would communicate with him
through hand signals in the dim light. The windows of the room, which
had not so long ago delivered Higashi into the world had been barred
and was lit by only a few animal fat lamps.

            Ranma had protested upon being entrusted the distasteful
task. He was a warrior, not a sadist. He took a deep breath and sat
himself infront of the boy. The boy looked defiantly at him through his
horror filled eyes. He knew what was about to happen to him.

            Ranma gritted his teeth. No matter how much he hated what
he had to do, it had to be done if innocent lives were to be saved. As
much as, he hated killing someone he would gladly do it if many may
live because of it.

            With a emotionless gaze, Ranma asked the first question.
"What is your name and rank?"

            The question was highly irrelevant, but the way the boy
answered the question would indicate his attitude towards the
interrogation.

            The boy kept quiet. Ranma almost frowned. There was nothing
they could gain from learning his name and position. *Young and
foolish.*

            "Listen very carefully. You have been captured and is now a
prisoner of the Joketsuzoku Amazons." The boys eyes widened. Since when
did the Amazons began using men in important roles. "I am going to ask
you some questions and you will answer them. If you don't you will be
tortured until you answer."

            The boy spat at Ranma's face. Ranma swiped away the spit
from his face and allowed himself to frown.

            "This is going to be painful."

            Ranma bent forward and pressed a hidden pressure point in
the boys chest. *That will increase his sensitivity to pain.*

            Without blinking Ranma took some chilli powder and rubbed
it against the boys wrists. The skin had been scraped there and the boy
screamed in agony. Taking a thorn Ranma rubbed it with chilli and then
inserted the thorn inside the boys forefinger. He left it there and
looked at his charge.

            "Tell me what is your name and rank?" The voice was devoid
of emotions. It might have as well come from a dead body. This time the
boy complied.

            The session continued on. Screams punctuated the calm air
in the village with growing frequency as question after question was
asked and answered.

            "Tell me how many soldiers are there in you army?"

            Silence.

            "I repeat tell me how many soldiers are there in your
army?"

            Silence.

            Ranma called upon one of his assistants and together they
laid the boy on the floor. A gag was inserted into his mouth and
watered was poured over it. This went on until the boy nearly
suffocated.

            "I repeat, tell me how many soldiers are there in your
army?"

            The boy replied.

            The next question was put before him and the torture
session continued.

            "Tell me when and where your army plans to attack?" The
question was pointless as the soldier wouldnot have known the plans for
the attacks. The elders were rather insistent with their hand signals
that they ask and Ranma had complied with their request.

            The boy did not reply. It seemed that he would break down
whenever he was tortured but defiance would creep into his soul when it
was stopped.

            Ranma sighed. He hated what he was about to do. He pressed
a combination of pressure points and waited for a full minute. The
combination was a forbidden technique among the Amazons and only four
in the village knew it at any time. The combination made the victim
extremely susceptible to suggestions.

            "Listen to me very carefully. You see that flame over
there?" Ranma pointed to a lamp mounted on the wall. The boy nodded. He
could see it though his eyes were almost swollen shut from the many
punches he had suffered.

            "Good, that flame is a huge fire. You are very near to it.
You could feel the heat and it is barely bearable." The boy moved as
far as he could in his chair. "Now, the flame is growing and the heat
is becoming more intense. It licks your fingers and scorches it. The
pain is unbearable."

            The boy screamed louder than he had ever before and the
skin in his arms boiled and blackened.

            "I can put that fire out for you. Do you want me to put it
out for you?"

            The boy nodded and continued to scream.

            "I will put it out for you if you will tell me when and
where the Phoenix army plans to attack!"

            The screaming ceased. "On the night with the full moon. I
don't know where."

            "Good. See that fire. It's just a little flame. I put it
out for you."

            The boy almost sighed in relief. Ranma shook his head. The
second combination he had used was irreversible and the boy would be
susceptible to suggestions throughout his life. It would be better if
he ended it now.

            He looked at the elders. They motioned him to carry it out.
The boy maybe an enemy but none deserved such a life.

            Ranma nodded. He took out his knife and the boys eyes
glistened with gratitude. The pain he was in made death seem like a
wonderful alternative to living. The knife touched the boys neck and
pressed on. The soft brown skin split under the cold, hard knife-edge
and blood seeped through. The knife continued on until the jugular was
severed.

            Without so much as a gasp the boys eyes glazed over and he
left this world.

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

            Based on information gathered from the now dead Phoenix
warrior an ambush was planned. The Phoenix had planned to travel by
land as that would reduce the risk of their detection at night. They
would have to walk through a mile long canyon to reach their goal. It
was here that the ambush was planned.

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

            Li Chan walked at the head of the Phoenix forces. Behind
him followed just over six thousand warriors, nearly two-thirds of the
Phoenix army. Saffron himself followed at the rear of the army. With
him were Pei Pei and Mascara the supreme generals of the Phoenix
forces.

            His lordship, the emperor had realized his mistake when he
had confronted the Amazons and their damned allies, the Musk a century
before. Though their enemy's numbers were smaller than their own, the
fools had won because of their martial art prowess. Thus, generation
after generation of Phoenix had been dumped at night into the cursed
springs away from the eyes of the accursed guardian of the pools. These
cursed Phoenix warriors had set out to the outside world and had become
formidable warriors with control over their chi.

            That is why a small party of two hundred had been able to
easily overcome the fifty Amazons at the outpost. Their opponents too
were fairly good chi users and they had fallen under the attack.

            Now the rest of the Amazon nation would fall under the
might of the now powerful Phoenix army. He had wanted his forces to be
the first to go into the Amazon village. As such he had volunteered his
forces, the finest five hundred in the army and the emperor had
accepted. After the Amazons had fallen the Musk would too and then the
entire valley would be under their control.

            The army paused as the canyon loomed into view before them.
The forces reassembled and stepped into the canyon. He could feel the
other commanders carefully probing the canyon with their chi for signs
of intruders. The techniques they were using were taxing and depleting
on their ki reserves. They would have to rest a little boy when they
emerged out of the canyon.

            At the very edge of his chi senses, he felt four large and
unfocused ki flows, two on either side of the canyon. There was no
emotion in them and the masters he had studied under had said that
emotion was the only way of controlling and focusing ki. Since he was
certain that the masters assumptions were true he relaxed and ordered
his forces to march at full speed. He did not like the idea of being
caught in a weak position. His forces were vulnerable to surprise
attacks and he knew it. They maybe powerful warriors with phenomenal
reserves of ki but they certainly couldn't sense arrows and such.

            The army marched at full speed and the ki flows followed
them from the top of the canyon. Amazon spies, he guessed. As long as
they did not leave for their village they would be tolerated. He walked
back and consulted another commander and both agreed that nothing
needed to be done until the spies tried to make a run for their
village. That done he returned to his post.

            Soon the entire Phoenix army was within the canyon.

            *Just a few more minutes and we will be out of this hell
hole.* Thought Li Chan. His eyes would make out the trees that stood
several hundred meters from him. Suddenly his chi senses flared. There
were a lot of ki being drawn on top of the canyon walls. His eyes
widened in realization. They had made a bad mistake and were about to
pay for it. He looked up and saw two bright balls of ki the size of a
small rock glowing above. He turned towards the other side of the
canyon wall and saw two more balls of ki being formed. How they focused
their ki without their emotions was beyond his understanding.

            All around him, the men formed tight groups to repel
attackers.

            His surprise grew as more ki signals propped out of nowhere
all along the canyon walls. They had been led into a trap. He opened
his mouth to give the order to his troops to take to the air. It was
too late he realized as the four blazing balls of ki flew towards the
largest concentrations of men. He was amazed at the power he would feel
from those balls. With blinding flashes the four exploded on their mark
and a few moments later bones and flesh rained all over the canyon. A
thousand ki adepts he guessed. *A thousand dead in the first attack!
His mind couldnot comprehend the tragedy. All over the canyon walls ki,
balls began to flicker into existence and began to rain down on the
Phoenix army. Hell broke loose.

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

            Ranma had been surprised to sense fairly strong and focused
ki signals emanating from the Phoenix army below when they had come
into view. He had signaled as much to Xiao Lui.  She had consulted with
Liu Chi'n on the other side of the canyon through complex hand signals.
They had decided to follow the original plan and whilst the others
masked their ki, he, Xiao, Liu and master Yuan had all prepared a blast
and stored the ki in the air around them.

            His surprise grew when he felt no less than twelve chi
signals from the path below probing him. He had not been alarmed as
much of the outside world had yet to learn that ki could be controlled
without emotions. Sure enough, the Phoenix army had walked straight
into the trap.

            They had waited until all the Phoenix were within the
canyon. Not all of them could take into the air when they were attacked
as the air would become congested and they would be massacred. Those
who took to the air were in for a surprise. Behind him stood three
hundred highly skilled archers and a similar number stood on the Musk
side of the canyon.

            Then at Xiao's signal, all four of them unleashed their ki
blasts at the largest concentrations of the Phoenix warriors. The
others followed their example and unleashed their very own ki blasts
into the canyon. For a whole minute huge explosions rocked the canyon
drowning out the screams of the Phoenix who were wounded by the blasts.
Xiao ordered the blasts to cease and the second round commenced.

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

            Li Chan raised his head from the ground and with a shout
threw off the caved in head that had come to rest before his face. Who
would have thought that the Amazons wielded so much firepower. He now
realized that his entire company would have been slaughtered in a
matter of minutes if they had stepped into the Amazon village. *We
never had a chance against them.* He realized. Then he felt it. More ki
was being pumped into weapons for some purpose he would not guess at.

            There was the whoosh of an arrow shaft through the air.
However, this arrow seemed to be alive.

            Bang!

            The chest of the man who had been hit by an arrow exploded.
He closed in eyes just in time to stop of a piece of heart from hitting
his eyes.

            *We have to get out of here or we are all dead.* He looked
around and saw the horrified faces of the few dozen men who were still
alive around him.

            "Take to the sky. We have to take the battle to the
Amazons." He shouted as loud as he could. The others seemed to realize
that their lives depended on it and took to the air where another
volley of arrows assaulted them. This time the volley was not ki
enhanced and those that survived the hit fell down to the grounds
below. The horrible cries they made when they fell to their death
sickened him. He looked about and estimated that around three thousand
had survived the initial attack.

            With a cry, he dived into the ground below and into battle.
The others followed behind him.

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

            Ranma cracked his knuckles and ran towards the nearest
Phoenix. He brought out his staff from beneath his robe and let his ki
flow through it. He had learnt a technique called the hidden weapons,
which allowed one to hide many things inside ones robe. The Phoenix
soldier's eyes widened in shock when he saw Ranma pull a six-foot staff
out of his robe.

            The soldier left his defenses wide open and Ranma beheaded
him with a nice clean swipe of his staff. He was using the technique
that master Yuan had taught him. His ki senses picked up three trying
to outflank him. He pulled out shuriken from his robe, charged them
with ki and let them fly at his opponents. The shurikens exploded on
contact and the Phoenix fell with huge holes in their body.

            He sidestepped a spear thrust and let the Phoenix have it
with a ki enhanced punch. The warriors facial structure collapsed under
the force of the blow and he heard the bones break. Without so much a
look he moved onto the nearest Phoenix and let him have it with a spin
kick to his head. The man's neck snapped and he fell to the ground dead
before he hit the ground.

            His rapid kills attracted even more Phoenix towards him.
Ranma used his staff as a swatting instrument cleaving in half anyone
who came near him.

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

            A few hundred feet from Ranma, Xiao Lui, three hundred-
year-old matriarch of the Amazons danced through the Phoenix spears and
swords as they were swung at her. She used her extensive knowledge of
Shaitsu to paralyze opponents and then kill them.

            She jumped high over the Phoenix and from within her robes
extracted shuriken. She let them fly at Amaguriken speed and many of
her opponents fell their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. She
landed softly on the ground behind her attackers and then ran forward
to help an archer who seemed to be having a hard time with his
attacker.

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

            Liu Chi'n smiled to himself and let loose yet another ki
charged vacuum blade at the Phoenix on the ground below. Bodies were
cleaved in half as the blade passed through them as though they were
butter. Then with a deafening explosion it blew several Phoenix to
kingdom come.

            He landed onto the ground below and burst into a sprint
with his hands blurring whenever he neared a Phoenix warrior. He smiled
grimly to himself. From today on the Phoenix would cease to be a major
power in the valley forever. He Liu Chi'n, emperor of the Phoenix would
make sure of that.

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

            Master Yuan used his superior speed to full advantage as he
weaved through the Phoenix bringing death and destruction wherever he
went. His hands and legs glowed white with ki as blow after blow rained
upon his opponents. Blows strong enough to crush rock met soft flesh
and the result was indescribable. The flesh turned into something the
mush and his opponents fell unconscious and death soon laid its hold on
them.

            He saw a Phoenix woman of high ranking and considerable
skill mowing through the archers. Without the help of the archers the
Phoenix would reign in the sky and would have a definite advantage.
Realizing her plan he leapt towards her and blocked her killing blow to
the man's neck with his staff.

            The archer retreated to the back where he could be of use
and Yuan Puyi, warrior and advisor to the emperor of the Musk dynasty
faced off against his opponent.

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

            Pei Pei had realized that the archers must be dealt with if
they were to have any hopes of winning the battle. She had ordered
Mascara to take care of the Amazonian archers while she would take care
of the Musk archers.

            The plan had gone wonderfully and the Musk archers found
themselves confronted by a highly skilled chi adept. She began mowing
through their ranks and was about to strike down her thirtieth victim
when her sword was blocked by a wooden staff of all things.

            She looked at the man who had dared to get between her and
her quarry and saw a four-foot high oldman. His ki was powerful and
tightly focused.

            "Get out of my way oldman if you value your life." she
warned.

            The oldman smiled and relaxed his stance. "Hmmm... Tightly
focused ki, considerable skill in combat with some experience. Child,
you are a hundred years too young to defeat me." he replied and smiled
at her.

            Pei Pei lost her control at that instant. *How dare that
insolent troll think that I cannot beat him?* "I, Pei Pei, commander in
chief of the Phoenix army will have your head for your insolence,
stupid old man." she shouted as she charged at him at her top speed.

            "Allow me to introduce myself then, Pei Pei, commander in
chief of the Phoenix army," replied the old man mockingly. "I am Yuan
Puyi, advisor to emperor Liu Chi'n of the Musk dynasty. I am here to
kick your ass." The old man weaved in and out of her blows not caring
to even block them.

            *He is teasing me.* She realized. "Argh! Fight me old man!"
shouted Pei Pei as she pumped ki into her hands and feet.

            Yuan Puyi just shook his head. "I don't hit pregnant
women." he replied.

            Pei Pei stopped in mid thrust. How had he known that she
was pregnant?

            Yuan Puyi took that moment to strike at her sleep pressure
point. He pressed another that prevented her from accessing her ki and
then tied her up.

            "She wasn't much of a challenge." he grumbled as he rubbed
his hands together. "Oh well! Back into the battle, I suppose."

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

            Mascara, found herself faced with an archer with
considerable skill in Wu Shu. The woman just about weaved in and out of
almost all her thrusts. Growing weary of her opponent Mascara enhanced
her speed with her ki and thrust at her opponent. The sword buried
itself into the chest of the opponent. The light in the woman's eyes
faded and went out. Smiling at her latest victory, she was about to
remove her sword when it broke with a clang into three separate pieces.

            She looked at the two-foot old woman who had just broken
her family sword with her bare fists. "Curse you old woman. I am going
to have your blood for breaking my family sword." spat Mascara.

            The old woman did not even reply. Instead she jumped
forward and landed less than a foot away from Mascara.

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

            Xiao Lui ran forward to help the archer. She knew that she
would never reach her in time to save the archer's life. She would
however personally see to it that her killer never saw the light of
another day.

            The Phoenix woman sank her sword into the archers chest and
was about to pull it out when she reached them. Grabbing hold of the
sword with one hand she released her staff and struck at the sword with
a ki enhanced blow. The sword split into three pieces under the force
of the blow.

            Her opponents face became a mask of anger and a red aura
blazed around her. "Curse you old woman. I am going to have your blood
for breaking my family sword." the Phoenix spat.

            Not even bothering to reply Xiao Lui jumped into her
opponents defenses and shouted "Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken". Her fists
briefly disappeared and the Phoenix flew some twenty yards before
landing on her back.

            Mascara got up and spat blood. She summoned her aura again
and formed a red ball of ki in her palms. "IKIDOORU RYUU" shouted
Mascara and released her most powerful attack.

            Xiao Lui simply jumped over the blast. She landed on a tree
branch, leapt from it and brought her ki-enhanced punch to bear on
Mascara's head. Mascara tilted her head to the side and just escaped
from being hit. However, she couldnot maneuver out of the follow-up ki-
enhanced kick aimed at her skull and the blow connected with a
resounding crack. Mascara's skull exploded under the force of the blow
and her headless body fell lifeless to the ground.

            "Phoenix scum!" spat Xiao Lui as she turned her attention
to the battle once more.

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

            Most of the Amazons, Li chan found were more skilled than
the commanders of the Phoenix army themselves. He thus chose to attack
the archers as the archers were giving the Amazons a significant
advantage over the Phoenix forces. With the archers around they,
couldnot take to the air and this robbed them of their most important
ace in the hole.

            He was busy fighting with two archers who in their
desperation had ganged up on him. They were no match for him in any of
the departments and he was about to slit one of their necks with his
sword when his ki senses flared. He quickly slit the throat and took to
the air.

            His opponent followed his every move and threw a vacuum
powered blade at him. Li Chan tried to twist of the way and failed
miserably. the blade cut through the base of his right wing and
cauterized it. He fell down to the ground, his body making a dull thud
as it made contact with the soft earth.

            Cursing to himself, Li Chan looked at his severed wing that
had fallen near him. His adrenaline drove him now and he spat blood
covered spit onto the ground and took his stance.

            Ranma stood watching as his opponent picked himself of the
floor. Amazingly enough the man took a stance and glared hatefully at
him.

            With a yell, the man threw himself at Ranma and his fists
blurred as he tried to tag Ranma with a hit. The loss of his wing had
played havoc with his balance and he struggled to maintain the balance
so essential for winning a fight.

            As he staggered after one particularly strong swipe Ranma
went into the offensive. Blocking a fist aimed at his solar plexus,
Ranma grabbed it at just above the elbow with his other hand and
twisted. The bones broke and Li Chan howled in pain. Without pausing
Ranma raised his right hand and crushed his opponent's windpipe.

            Li Chan heard the sound of his windpipe being crushed and
struggled to get a breath of fresh air into his lungs. Nothing happened
and he felt the blackness of unconsciousness lay its hold on him.

            Ranma looked on at the death throes of the Phoenix warrior.
It had become clear that the Phoenix were loosing horribly. As Victory
was in their grasp now he paused to see the results of his handiwork.
He made no efforts to help the Phoenix as the man grasped his neck with
his working hand as he struggled to hold onto dear life. Ranma knew
that he was dead and turned away from his as the sight became
unbearable.

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

            Saffron God-king of he Phoenix hovered in the air above the
Amazons and fired his blasts indiscriminately. Amazon warrior and
Phoenix fell to the heat from the resulting explosions if they were not
blown apart outright from the explosions.

            An arrow embedded itself in his right wing and exploded.
The explosion blew away a significant part of his wing but he remained
hovering in the air. He let out a howl of fury and turned towards the
source of the arrow. His wing healed itself as he turned. His fury grew
rapidly as he saw Li Chin, the son of one of his concubines, in his
death throes with an Amazon warrior looking on.

            The insult to his persona forgotten in the face of this new
information, Saffron let his full power blossom into existence. He
would wipe out the damned Amazons and their damned allied the Musk
before this day was out for the crime committed against his son.

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

            Ranma turned around when he sensed the huge power that
emanated from the Phoenix he realized was Saffron. The Phoenix God
looked just about ready to explode, his face a mask of indescribable
fury.

            Ranma assumed a stance and curbed all controls on his aura.
An aura of white bloomed around him and grew to about eight feet thick
in all directions. His dress fluttered in the wind that came into
existence around him.

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

            Saffron saw the enormous amount of ki that surrounded the
landling and realized that the battle would take a little while.

            "For killing my son in cold blood, I, Saffron, God-king of
the Phoenix sentence you and your nation with its allies to death."
boomed Saffron in a voice that was audible for miles around.

            Ranma simply stood there and shifted his legs. Then he
burst into action and drew back his arms at hypersonic speeds. A five-
foot long ki charged vacuum blade sped towards Saffron. Saffron did not
even bother to move. He released two balls of fire and watched as the
two met. There was a blinding explosion of light when the two blasts
collided.

            Ranma leapt out of the way, as the second ball of fire tore
into the ground. The blast left a huge crater and smoke and dust hung
in the air. Ranma twisted in midair, bounced off a tree trunk and leapt
high into the air towards Saffron.

            As he passed by the God, he swung back his legs and gave a
kick to Saffron's chin that would have sent a ten ton rock into LEO.
Saffron flew through the air and impacted with a huge boom into the
canyon wall. The wall exploded on impact and huge cracks appeared. With
a rumbling, noise the whole section of the wall collapsed onto the
ground below.

            Ranma landed on the Musk side of the canyon and took to the
air once again. He knew that Saffron couldnot be defeated by a single
blow.

            The rocks down below began to glow red and then exploded
outwards. When the dust cleared, in the middle stood Saffron looking
none the worse form the damage he had sustained. The God took into the
air again and Ranma met his charge head on. He slid under Saffron's
talon swipe and kicked him in his guts. The air was knocked out of
Saffron's chest and Ranma pressed his advantage. Closing in for the
kill, he did a number on Saffron's thorax with a superfast Amaguriken.
The punches were ki enhanced and Saffron's fire blinked out of
existence for a moment before coming back.

            The wounded God fell to the ground below but righted
himself halfway down. With a scream of righteous fury he powered up a
huge fireball and threw it at Ranma. Ranma brought his shield up and
tried to evade all the same. He was partially successful. the blast hit
one side of his shield and exploded in a huge ball of plasma. Lightning
from the clear blue skies above struck the expanding ball of highly
ionized gas repeatedly before it flickered out of existence.

            When it did, Ranma stood in the middle with a sneer on his
face. "Is that all you can do, O mighty God of the Phoenix?" taunted
Ranma.

            Saffron's flames grew in intensity around him and Saffron
howled before going berserk. Mindless with rage he tapped into the mana
lines in the area and the flames increased several fold.

            Ranma did not even look intimidated as the God-king began
to throw huge balls of fire at him. Running at his top speed, he evaded
each and everyone of them and then replied with his own salvo of ki
charged vacuum blades. Several hit the fireballs and lit up the evening
sky in a dazzling display of light while one hit Saffron on his chest
and exploded. Saffron staggered under the force of the explosion.

            Using the cover given to him by the explosions in the air,
Ranma again leapt into the air and delivered a spin kick to Saffron's
mid-section. Saffron returned the favour at the same instant and both
the opponents flew away. Ranma hit the canyon wall below. The rock
beneath exploded in protest and he shook his head to clear it.

            Saffron righted himself with his wings in mid-air and leapt
for a showdown with Ranma. Ranma extricated himself from the rock and
collecting his ki punched into the air towards Saffron and shouted
"HIRYUU SHOTEN HA KAIHAN: KEN JOUKAI" a huge tornado blew into
existence. The heat that Saffron had released during the course of the
battle was absorbed and an inclined tornado headed towards Saffron. The
tornado cut off Saffron's wings and when it died out, he fell down to
the ground. This time however, Saffron's flames went out for several
seconds before coming back on. Saffron got up unsteadily and shook his
head. His wings grew back on their own accord and he flew up to meet
Ranma's latest charge. Both let loose energy blasts which collided
midway and exploded in a flash of light. Knowing that Ranma would try
to use the blinding light and stage another attack Saffron shifted
slightly and flew towards the explosion at even higher speed. Ranma
emerged from the explosion and was promptly kicked into the hard canyon
walls from behind.

            The canyon wall once again exploded on impact and before
Ranma could reorient himself Saffron launched another attack. He
shouted "MIZUCHOUSENZHANYOKU" and brought his wing together at high
speed and infused the pressure wave that resulted with a huge amount of
mana. The X-shaped wave of high-pressure, mana charged air headed
towards Ranma and boom the entire section of the wall exploded in a
huge explosion. The dirt settled and showed Ranma standing on top of a
rock at the bottom of the canyon. There blood in his lips and he swiped
it away. He staggered a little and coughed up some blood. Then he
glared defiantly at Saffron.

            His aura had protected him from the explosion and had saved
his life.

            Saffron looked at the landling who had proved to be quite a
challenge and frowned. The wounds the landling had inflicted were quite
powerful and he would lose if he let the battle rage on. He again
tapped in to the mana flows and boosted his powers. He could also feel
the landling tap into the ki flows. Saffron was awed by the landling.
To stand alone against a God and give him a fair fight was beyond
compare. None except the Ashura's could stand up against them and fight
for this long.

            *Too bad you have to die landling.* Thought Saffron as he
fired off his most powerful attack, a continuous beam of mana.

            Ranma felt the God powering for an attack ad drew all the
ki he could into himself and brought forth his shields.

            He tensed as the God let loose what he realized was the
God's final attack. *If I last out this attack then I will win.*
thought Ranma as he began pumping all the ki he had drawn in and still
some more into the shield.

            The beam of pure mana hit the shield with a huge boom and
huge waves of plasma expanded outward from the point of collision. The
interaction between the two energies created an extremely powerful
tornado and rocks, several hundred feet long were picked up by the
supersonic winds.

            Saffron forced himself to the brink as he channeled as much
mana as he possibly could without destroying himself in the process.
Even Gods have their limits. *I will not lose to a landling and a
mortal.*

            Ranma felt the slightest increase in Saffron's beam but
couldnot find the ki to counter it. Slowly but surely the shield began
to buckle and when it was gone, altogether he would be vaporized, he
realized. However, there was nothing he could do that would stop the
beam in its tracks.

            *Wait a minute. There is something that I CAN do.* He
realized. His thoughts drifted back to that day when Xiao Lui had
taught him about mana and ki. '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.'

            He had been never been able to tap into mana but it was
worth a try. The fate of his wife and child depended on him and he
would not fail them. Ranma allowed himself to relax an looked into
himself. He clearly saw in his mind the ki flowing through his body. He
concentrated a little more.

            The shield diminished in strength. He looked into himself
once again. There flowing side by side were two different veins of
energy. One he recognized as his ki. The other was soft and yet strong
in its own way. This was the power that he had felt inside the pit on
the day when he had lost his father and gained another. He embraced it.
The power that flowed through him was unbelievable. He felt it flowing
everywhere just like ki. He concentrated some more and tapped into it.

            The shield that protected Ranma flickered out much to the
horror of Xiao Lui, Liu Chi'n and Yuan Puyi. The rest of the Phoenix
had been defeated and the Amazons and the Musk had been watching the
fight between Ranma and Saffron with interest. Each prepared to fire ki
bolts at Saffron.

            Saffron felt the shield weaken and then remain so for a
couple of seconds before buckling completely. *Victory is mine.* He
rejoiced. His celebration turned out to be a little too early as he
felt the Shield come back up unbelievably more powerful than before.

            Liu had formed a sizable ki ball when he felt the shield
come back up more powerful than ever before. He looked questioningly at
the Amazon matriarch and his master but both were dancing around in
each others arms in pure ecstasy in the midst of the chaos that the
tornado was creating. He shook his head to rid it of the horrifying
experience. The sight of a three hundred-year-old matriarch and his
hundred-year old master necking was definitely the ugliest and most
revolting sight in the universe. Then it dawned to him. Inorder to
defeat Saffron, Ranma had become a true master of the art. The ki ball
popped out of existence and he too began to dance. *My brother is a
true master of the art.*

            Saffron felt fear seep into the core of his being. The
landlings mastery of ki was commendable. Even the most powerful of the
Ashura's wouldnot be able to last that long against his beam attack.
Now, he had somehow mastered mana manipulation. *What is he? Is he a
demon of some kind or is he a God?*

            The new shield grew in strength at an incredible rate and
the tornado was simply absorbed by it. The winds became less powerful
and finally went away. The beam of mana now had no effect at all
against the shield as it was like throwing a pebble against a mountain.

            Ranma smiled at the newfound power. Saffron would never
threaten the lives of Amazons and Musk alike. He concentrated and let
loose a hybrid blast of energy, made of both ki and mana at Saffron.
The blast shook the land in a cacophony boom and lit up the sky in a
brilliant display of colours. Saffron's beam spluttered out of
existence and the God fell down to the ground.

            Ranma released his shield and jumped to land on one of the
rocks so that he may look at Saffron from above. The defeated God stood
admist the ruins that the battle had wrought.

            "Saffron, you will never again threaten the Musk nor the
Amazons for they are my family." shouted Ranma. His voice was amplified
greatly by his aura that glowed yellow around him.

            Saffron looked at the face of his enemy. He, a God, had
been defeated by a mere mortal and a landling at that. *No, I will
fight on. I will not lose to a landling.* "I fight on, landling. I will
not lose to the likes of you." shouted back Saffron in defiance.

            Ranma's expression darkened. "Then prepare to end this
cycle of your life, Saffron." spat Ranma.

            Saffron glared defiantly and his flames fluttered into
existence around him. His flames were the physical manifestation of his
mana and it changed with each God varying according to their
personalities. He was quick tempered and his flames reflected this
character. He tapped into the mana around him, formed a powerful ball
of fire and released it at Ranma.

            Ranma did not even move. Just before the ball made contact
with his body he waved his hands and the mana in the ball dispersed.

            Ranma smiled evilly. "Now its my turn." Ranma concentrated
and formed a wall of ki and mana and sent it towards Saffron. The wall
of energy hit Saffron and threw him against the canyon wall. Then it
slammed into him. Saffron found himself literally between a rock and a
hard place.

            Saffron staggered to his feet and lost his balance. He got
up again unsteadily.

            "It's over Saffron. Hurt my family ever again and I will
kill you in such a way that you will stay dead and not be reborn."
warned Ranma. "Oh! Did I not say that this is the end of your cycle.
Goodbye. HIRYUU SHOTEN HA KAIHAN: GENKAN JOUKAI KIRITE" shouted Ranma
and thrust his hand into the air at Saffron. A huge and extremely cold
tornado howled into existence around Saffron. When it died down a few
minutes later, the entire canyon was covered with a thick layer of ice
and Saffron's body stood in the middle frozen solid at a relatively
cool -153 degree centigrade. Ranma walked towards the God unharmed by
the tornado and pushed Saffron's frozen form. The frozen body of the
God shattered into many pieces as soon as it touched the ground.

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

            Three years after Higashi's birth Xas Min became pregnant
with their second child. There were certain complications and Xas Min
had to stay in bed for the last five months of the pregnancy.

            Ranma walked back and forth in the same room once again.
His wife was having their second child and as before he was having an
attack of the nerves. The screams of pain were more soul wrenching than
the first time and he had a hard time not running into the room.
Higashi was asleep in a neighbors house and Xiao Lui sat on a chair in
the corner.

            Pher Fom came out of the room several times during the
course of the third hour and consulted with Xiao Lui. When he had asked
the matriarch about the conversation, she had been evasive.

            Ranma paused as perhaps the weakest of the screams came
from the room. The back of his neck tickled and he felt his wife's ki
weakening. Sick realization came to him and he looked horror stricken
towards tear-faced matriarch.

            "Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he shouted and collapsed to his
knees clutching his chest in pain.

            "I am sorry Ranma." a voice said. He looked up and saw Pher
Fom. She too had tears on her face.

            Ranma shook his head in denial. It couldn't be. She
couldn't have left him without saying goodbye.

            "I am so sorry. There were complications and both your wife
and your son are dead."

            He wished he died immediately but destiny had plans for him
and wasn't about to let him out of its grasp. He couldnot think of a
life without his beloved wife and yet here he was faced with exactly
that life. He let out a gut wrenching, heartfelt scream.

            "It's going to be all right." It was Xiao Lui who had said
those words. He turned towards her and glared.

            "No, it's not going to be all right. She's dead and I
killed her." shouted Ranma and bounded off into the night.

            The trees blurred around him as he ran in to the forest,
tears flowing freely. They glittered under the full moon that shone in
the clear sky up above. *Why does this happen to me? Why do I lose the
people I love most? Why... Why... Whyyyyyyyyyy?*

            He wandered for hours running from himself and reality
through the forest. Finally, near dawn he came to rest at the glade in
which he had first started training Xiao, Pher Fom and... later her.
His aura flickered into existence and glowed green. The clearing lit up
under the glow and took on a greenish tinge. The aura grew and grew as
he continued to draw in the ki around himself. He lashed out his hands
and a small of ki perhaps three centimeters in diameter formed between
his outstretched palms. The aura around him diminished and the sphere's
glow intensified. Soon, it was like looking at the sun. Trees thirty
yards from him began to smoke and spontaneously combust. Winds buffeted
his body as it rose several hundred yards into the air. With an
agonized scream, he released the ki ball.

            The ball flew through the air and crashed into the land a
hundred meters from the glade. As it approached the ground it cut a
clean swath though it and tore up trees and rocks alike. With a whoosh,
it impacted and all hell broke loose. There was a bright flash of light
and the air was torn away from the impact sight. The blast expanded
outwards and the hot air ignited trees as though they were fodder. An
area shaped like a butterfly was completely obliterated and a huge
crater lay near to one of its edges.

            Ranma glowed and became transparent before landing softly
on the shattered landscape below. His body became opaque again. He fell
down to his knees and cried his heart out.

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

            In the village, everyone woke up as they sensed a huge
disturbance in the ki flows. Inside Pher Fom's house, Xiao Lui gazed
strangely at the forest and told everyone to get down. She ran towards
the neighbours house and carried Higashi to Pher Fom's house. Then she
too lay over the now awake child and waited for the inevitable. It came
with a blinding flash of light. the air was deadly silent for nearly
twenty seconds. Then a boom, followed nearly a minute later by strong
winds. The winds buffeted the village and then died down.

            She stood up and Pher Fom gathered little Higashi and
cradled her. Xiao Lui shook her head in wonder.

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

            Eleven days passed...

            Ranma broke down at the sight of his little Higashi or at
anything, that reminded him of Xas Min. He barely slept and would
wander aimlessly through the streets at night. He glowed green most of
the time and almost everyone was afraid to go near him lest he blew up.

            On the twelfth day, Xiao Lui confronted him.

            "Ranma, you have to stop acting like this. Xas Min's death
was unfortunate and we all mourn her passing. But life must go on."

            Ranma did not reply though his green glow began to
intensify.

            "Stop this foolishness Ranma. You still have Higashi to
live for." shouted the matriarch into Ranma's face.

            Ranma barely moved. "How can you say that? Am I foolish to
mourn my wife's death? She is dead and gone and I did not get a chance
to even say goodbye to her." The reply began as a whisper and gradually
grew into a full-blown yell.

            Xiao Lui sighed. Why was so hard headed? Could he not see
that they were also hurting? "Ranma..."

            He looked up.

            "Please Ranma, you have to let go of the past." pleaded the
matriarch. It hurt her to see the child suffer by herself while her
father was still alive.

            "I can't mother. I just can't." replied Ranma as quietly as
he could.

            She found herself wanting to weep. "You have to, Ranma. For
the sake of your child you must." The matriarch's voice broke several
times during the speech.

            Ranma looked away. "You don't realize mother. Everytime I
look at Higashi, my heart breaks. I was her husband. I was the one who
was supposed to protect her from all danger. Yet I was the one who
ended up killing her." he whispered. Tears flowing freely now. The
macho I can take on the world persona had died when Xas Min had.

            "Ranma, you werenot responsible for her death. You couldnot
have known that she would die at childbirth." replied the matriarch.

            "You don't get it mother. She did not want another child. I
did. I pressured her for the second one and in the end I lost both her
and my child."

            "Ranma, let it go or it will kill you and Higashi."

            Ranma looked at her when she mentioned Higashi. His face
became emotionless. "I cannot let it go and I will not let anything
harm my child," he paused, "Mother, I am leaving the village tomorrow.
See to it that my child grows up just like her mother. I want you to
make her the matriarch that her mother never wanted to be." The voice
was entirely devoid of emotion. He stood up and walked away into the
forest.

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

            That night...

            Ranma sat on a rock on the outskirts of the village. His
face had a vacant expression and he stared aimlessly at the stars that
lay across the clear sky above. There was a half-moon and soon he found
himself staring at it. The air was bitterly cold but his training in
the art had made his body resistant to huge variations in temperatures.

            There was the slightest rustle as pebbles on the ground
behind him was disturbed. He tensed and probed the air around him with
his ki. It was Xiao Lui.

            The matriarch poggoed onto the rock and sat by his side.
Tracks of tears on her cheeks glittered under the reflected light from
the half-moon. Like Ranma, she too had taken Xas Min's death badly. She
maybe the matriarch of the village but nothing could stop her from
mourning the death of her great great granddaughter. She tried to put
on a normal face during the day but allowed herself to mourn at night.

            The two Amazons, one over three hundred years old and the
other barely over thirty years sat together in utter silence. The
chirping of a bird or the rustling of the leaves in the wind that blew
softly were the only sounds in the air for the better part of an hour.

            "Mother!" Ranma whispered and broke the melancholic and
introspective atmosphere. A wolf pack howled in the distance.

            Silence.

            Ranma waited for a whole minute before calling to the
matriarch once again. "Mother!"

            "Yes, Ranma." It was clear from the tone of the matriarch's
voice that she hadnot ceased crying.

            "I... I will be leaving tomorrow early in the morning.
I...", he paused. "I will never again return to this village. It
reminds me too much of her and the time I spent with her." he broke at
the last part of the sentence and shuddered as he tried to control his
sorrow. Tears flowed freely across his cheeks.

            Xiao Lui did not speak. She did not need to for Ranma
needed but a listener.

            "I... I love Higashi very much. I want you to let her know
that she had a father who loved her very much. You must raise her to
become all that her mother was and more. I also want you to tell her
that her father had died soon after her mother did." The words were
barely a whisper. Yet, in the silent night air it was clearly audible.

            "Ranma, I..." began the matriarch but was cutoff.

            "Sshhh!" he said and laid a finger across her shriveled
lips. "Mother, you have to do it for me. I do not want her to think
that I was a coward eventhough I am."

            "You are not a coward, Ranma." replied Xiao Lui.

            Ranma laughed. It was a hollow laugh almost entirely devoid
of emotion. What little emotion showed itself immediately disappeared
and the laugh died as soon as it began. The cold emotionless mask
reasserted itself. "I am abandoning my family and friends because they
remind me too much of my dead wife! Do you not think that such an act
shows cowardice on my part?"

            "Ranma, you are the bravest man I have ever laid my eyes
upon. You faced a God without a trace of fear in your heart. Your
actions had proved to the women in the village that men are not the
weakling creatures that we thought they were. Because of you, relations
between the Musk and the Amazons had improved dramatically. You have
brought peace to our people and to all the others in the valley. No,
Ranma, you are definitely not a coward." replied the matriarch in a
tone that excluded all rebuttals.

            A look of surprise came to Ranma's face at this passionate
speech. "Thank you, mother. I'd better go now and prepare for
tomorrow." Ranma got up and prepared to leap of the Rock and onto the
hard ground below.

            "Ranma, wait!"

            Ranma turned towards the matriarch and sat by her side
again.

            "I spoke with the elders about your decision to leave the
village and..." Xiao Lui paused.

            "And..."

            "They will not stop you though they say that you will
always be an Amazon and that the village will be always open to you."
Finished the matriarch.

            Ranma nodded. "Is that all mother?"

            Xiao nodded. "Yes, Ranma, that is all."

            "Goodnight mother!"

            "Goodnight Ranma!"

            Ranma hopped off the rock and walked slowly towards the
village. Xiao Lui watched him until his outline disappeared and then
went to her house.

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

            The next morning...

            Ranma lifted Higashi onto his shoulders and kissed her on
her forehead and her cheeks. "Goodbye Higashichan." said Ranma to his
daughter. He put her down on the ground below but seemed reluctant to
let her go. He lifted her again and then kissed all over her face
before handing her over to Pher Fom.

            He bid his farewells to the rest of his friends in the
village and left without looking back. He had nothing but two pairs of
clothes on him as he began his wanderings.

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

            For the next three years, he wandered across the mountains
but his mind never ceased thinking about his beloved wife Xas Min. It
was through sheer coincidence that he chanced upon a monastery while
roaming across the mountains. He stayed there and helped the monks at
the head monk's urging. A couple of years later, he himself became a
monk in training at the monastery. His mastery of the art amazed
everyone in the monastery and many asked him to train them in the art.
He refused and politely turned down their offers. His wife's death had
robbed him of his love for the art.

            Twenty years later he became a junior monk. His heart
finally found its center and he found his interest in the art once
again. He decided to leave the monastery as the world seemed to call to
him and on the thirty-fifth year of his life in the monastery, he left
the monks to begin his life anew as a wanderer. The life of a monk was
definitely not, what he wanted out of his life.

            During his time at the monastery, he had mastered the monks
version of the Wu Shu which was very powerful indeed. Far more so than
the Amazonian version that a skilled novice in the monks techniques
would be able to beat an experienced veteran if the battle was fought
without ki attacks. Now, he wandered across mainland China learning
different styles from their masters. Over the course of several decades
he witnessed many styles disappear and he found himself the only
surviving practitioner of many powerful and dangerous styles. As time
passed his martial arts became an amalgam of all these styles and he
became a true practitioner of 'Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu' the school of his
origin.

            During the course of his studies he was drafted into the
Emperor of China's troubleshooting force, er mercenaries. He served the
emperors of the Han dynasty with zeal and soon found himself a wealthy
man. He accumulated several tons of gold and thousands of karats of
diamonds and other precious stones. He always carried all his
belongings within his cloths by means of his 'Hidden weapons'
technique. For five decades he performed his job troubleshooting in
bandit infested areas. During this time, he brought hundreds of
bandits, thieves and murderers to justice. He learnt everything he
could about the healing and the fighting arts. He also learnt from the
few magicians that he chanced upon.

            Finally, he grew tired of his life as a mercenary and thus
left China. He crossed the mountains of Tibet and stepped onto India or
Hindustan as it was called then.

            His thirst for travel and learning did not leave him and he
found himself wandering across the country's huge expanse. He learnt
from Indian masters techniques, that were on the verge of becoming
extinct but were also the most powerful martial art forms he had ever
seen. Though the masters of the art were few in India, they had in-
depth knowledge of ki and mana manipulation techniques and he learned
from them. He was astounded at their mastery of Shiastsu. It was such
that they could do things that even the Amazons with their extensive
knowledge of the style could only dream about.

            He loved the country in which martial arts was born and
spread to the rest of the world. His accumulated wealth grew through
his travels throughout India. During his six centuries of stay, he
witnessed the 'golden period' under the Gupta's and then their
subsequent fall. He witnessed the destruction of their cities and the
massacre of innocent civilians by the invaders as the wheels of time
slowly turned on.

            When he left India he once again crossed the Himalayas and
settled along the silk route. His stay lasted two hundred years and
during those two hundred years he developed and perfected many new ki
and mana attacks. He also traded in silk and his wealth multiplied
manifold. It was in the middle of the ninth century AD that he grew
bored of the silk trade and decided to visit the country of his birth.
There he found the country under the rule of an emperor whose influence
was declining by the day. He witnessed history as the feudal lords
exerted their control the emperor and the country headed towards civil
war. He wandered across the country for a century learning the arts
from the masters there. He finally returned to China and commenced his
wanderings once again.

            For the next five centuries, he perfected all he had
learned and developed still more techniques. He shied away from human
contact preferring the solitude of the forests to human company. When
he had attained even greater levels of skill, he once again mingled
with humans. He now followed the silk route and ended up in Europe. He
stayed in one of the monasteries there though he hated the entire
period of his stay. He wanted to improve his patience and what better
way to do that than by leading the way of life he had come to hate
most.

            In the beginning of the sixteenth century he left for the
America's and stayed there until the end of the eighteenth century. He
landed in England and invested heavily there. Having done so he
returned to China to find its monarchy under decline and the country
under siege by the European nations and the Americans.

            Disillusioned with the state of affairs there he made his
way to Japan and again invested a considerable portion of his wealth in
Japanese businesses. His eyes drifted to the western world once more
and his investments in both the Americas and in Europe grew.

            Weary of the wars and petty feuds that plagued the western
hemisphere he traveled to India and found the nation under bonds and
the people a shadow of their former proud selves.

            Disgusted he retreated once more into the forests of India
where he found peace and solitude. The peace was broken by the start of
the second world war. He refused to take sides in the conflict, as he
witnessed the cruel treatment of man and a general disregard for the
lives of the civilians by both the sides. During these years, he
wandered across the neutral countries until the war was brought to the
end by an act that he considered the epitome of the cruel nature of
war.

            After the war he again invested heavily in huge
corporations in Japan and in the US and settled in rural Japan. Having
seen most of the world more than once he decided to visit the Amazon
village once more.

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

            Present time...

            A lone pathway across the Bayankala mountain ranges in the
Qinghai province of China...

            Ranma walked briskly whistling to himself. It had been over
two thousand years since he had last been in the village and he
couldnot wait to see the village again. For the past, thousand years he
had been able to think of Xas Min without crying. He had prepared
himself for the day when he would be able to visit the village without
breaking down. Even now he knew in his heart that he hadnot gotten over
her loss and probably never would. He had put off visiting the village
for so long that visiting it had almost become an obsession for him.

            He recognized the familiar magic of the pools as he
approached it. *Two thousand years have gone by and the pools are as
strong as ever before.* However, something felt amiss. He walked into
the valley and saw that all the pools were nearly dried up. He peered
into one of the pools out of curiosity, to see how deep it was.

            "Mr. Customer, do not go near the cursed springs. You will
be cursed if you fall in!" shouted someone. Ranma turned towards the
sound and saw a potbellied man. *So, this man is the guide!

            The guide ran forward carefully placing his steps so that
he may not accidentally fall into one of the springs. It had been a
very bad month and he did not want it to get any worse. The customer
must have been a very wise man because he retreated from the pools.

            "Mr. Customer, you should never go near the cursed pools.
You would have turned into a mouse if you had fallen into that pool."

            Again, the customer showed his wisdom by listening to what
he was saying, which in itself meant. Visitors to the pools seldom paid
attention to what he had to say before they got cursed.

            "I was passing by the pools and I had heard of their
powers. I wanted to know why the pools had dried up?" explained Ranma
to the guide.

            "Mr. Customer, birdpeople from Phoenix mountain came here
and drained the pools." replied the guide.

            Ranma became angry. "What? Why would they do that?" he
shouted.

            *Why me? Do the kami hate me that much?* Thought the guide
as the customer was obviously insane.

            Ranma waited for an answer but when no answer was
forthcoming, he asked another question. The Amazons had learnt soon
after the defeat of the Phoenix forces the reason for the Phoenix
army's skill.

            "Did you not inform the Amazons?" he asked as calmly as he
could given the circumstances.

            The guide nodded. "Yes, Mr. Customer, I have already
informed the Amazons. I have also sent my daughter to get help from
some of the cursed ones in Japan."

            Ranma stomped on the ground. "This is stupid. They haven't
seen you and left for the Phoenix mountain, have they?"

            The guide nodded. Obviously, Mr. Customer was completely
insane and it would be wise to answer all his questions.

            "When did they leave?"

            "About a day ago, they ought to have reached the mountain
by now, Mr. Customer." replied the guide.

            Ranma was worried. They couldnot defeat the God. He,
himself had been able to defeat the God-king only because he used his
mana. *Have to reach them, before Saffron slaughters them all!

            Having decided on his course of action, Ranma focused his
ki and flew in the direction of Phoenix mountain. The guide just
shrugged and went to his hut. *Just my luck. Of all the accursed jobs
in the world, I had to get this one.* He was especially getting tired
of super powerful martial artists.

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

            Ranma arrived at the mountain half an hour later. He
entered the mountain and followed the sound of battle. Saffron's signal
was weaker somehow and huge explosions were audible as he ran through
the maze of tunnels that covered the inside of the mountain.

            Atlast he reached the battle scene. Glancing around, he saw
the reason for Saffron's weak signature. Someone had disrupted his
rebirth process and damaged the cocoon. Saffron seemed to be pretty mad
and threw fireballs in all directions. His attention seemed to be
focused on a brown haired boy who was taunting him. Blast after blast
flew from Saffron's hands and exploded within the cavern. The boy would
evade the blasts and then move in on Saffron. He would do a quick
number on Saffron's person and then retreat out of the God's reach. The
boys ki seemed familiar but he shrugged it off.

            Ranma smiled. *I needn't have worried. At this rate,
Saffron would tire himself out before the end of the hour.* Ranma
leaned on the rock and looked amusedly around. Whilst the brown haired
boy took care of Saffron another boy with a yellow bandanna on his head
was busy kicking Phoenix warrior ass. From the way this new boy
shrugged of blows that would have done anyone in, Ranma realized that
this boy knew the Bakusai Tenketsu. The boy was definitely not an
Amazon and it was a surprise to him that the Amazons would teach the
technique to an outsider.

            *A lot has changed since I left the village! Ranma
shrugged. He would worry about those changes later. Now, he wanted to
watch the brawl for that was what he considered the fight to be. He
noticed a two-foot woman with reasonably focused ki mowing through the
Phoenix line and leaving battered, bruised and generally unconscious
warriors in her wake. *Must be the matriarch of the village. Hmmmm! Her
ki seems similar... of course its my great great great something
granddaughter. Hmmm! She and that brown haired boy have a lot of
potential. Maybe I can train them both.* He resumed his scanning and
sensed the signatures of two men - one greedy and the other emotional.
Both were in their middle ages and both were not bad when it came to
fighting. He also detected a faint ki signature of a girl who was
dying. Her ki reserves, which were very small were the only thing
sustaining the husk that had become her body.

            *This is as good a time as any to have a conversation with
the matriarch. Let's see, she should be able to sense this.* Ranma
probed the matriarch with one of the easiest ki probes that he
remembered from his days at the village. The matriarch stopped in her
tracks and nearly got cleaved in half by a high-pressure wave of air.
She jumped over the attack just in time. She took care of her
assailant, turned and looked at Ranma with a strange expression on her
face.

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

            Cologne, three hundred-year-old matriarch of the Amazons
was having a jolly good time. The Phoenix warriors with their mediocre
skill may as well have been totally unskilled to her. Even though all
of them seemed to have some training in the art, their skills were far
below her own. The fight was completely one-sided all around her as she
ploughed through their ranks with the ferocity of a hurricane.

            She was about to launch her staff at an airborne Phoenix
warrior who was preparing to deliver the pressure wave attack when she
felt someone probing her. The technique used for the probe was of
Amazonian origin. The user performed it flawlessly and skillfully.
Whoever he was (she sensed his ki), he was very skilled to have
mastered even that simple technique. The user was also a stranger. She
had never sensed the user at the village or among the few Musk who had
been taught the technique. She was shocked at the revelation that
people other than the allies of the village knew of this technique. She
stopped in her tracks and barely managed to save herself from the
attack. She took care of the Phoenix warrior and leveled her gaze at
the outsider who had mastered the technique.

            The user was a young man of about twenty. What was amazing
about him was the fact that he was leaning against the rocky walls and
looking at the fight between Ryuuken and Saffron. He had a recognizable
smile upon his face, the same smile one had when they were having the
time of their life. Cologne attempted to probe him with her ki but he
momentarily turned his attention from the fight, smiled at her and
blocked her attempts with one of the most advanced Musk techniques. *He
knows Musk techniques too.* Thought the matriarch. The Musk generally
did not teach their techniques to outsiders unlike the Amazons.

            Cologne retrieved her staff and moved towards the boy. His
smile had increased and his attention was firmly focused on her.

            "Hello there, matriarch!" said the boy as she neared him.

            Cologne looked at him strangely. "Who are you?" she asked.
the boys face struck a chord in her memory. However, she couldnot
remember when or where she had definitely seen it before. *I know his
face but from where.*

            The boy evaded the question. "Nice brawl you have going on
here. By the looks of it you are winning." said he.

            Cologne smiled. "Can you tell me who are you and how do you
know both Amazonian and Musk techniques?"

            The boy laughed. "I learned my Amazonian techniques from
the matriarch of course. As for the Musk techniques, I learned them
from the advisor to the Musk emperor."

            "Do not play with me child. I have been the matriarch for
over a hundred years and I have never seen you before in all my three
hundred years." replied the matriarch. She lied for it wouldnot do to
accept that she had seen him before. Her body tensed and she pulled in
her ki for a fight.

            "Hey, Will you stop that. I am not here to fight you."
Ranma replied while waving his arms. He wanted her to know that she had
misinterpreted the situation.

            "Then stop lying and start telling me the truth child."
replied Cologne. Her gaze never wavered and she did not relax her
guard. Her right foot was infront of her left one and she grasped her
staff lightly. Her stance would enable her to easily shift into any of
a number of offensive or defensive stances.

            Ranma shook his head. *Some things never change.* "Surely,
matriarch, you must have seen me before since you appear to be a
descendant of the dragon." he said referring to his title in the
village.

            Cologne almost fell off her staff at the word. Only the
Musk emperor and his council as well as the Amazonian elders knew of
her families origin and ties with the dragon. "How did you know that?"
The boy knew one of the most guarded secrets of the Amazons and she was
going to find out the leaks and plug them. You just cannot have the
truth about some of the legends getting around. If the communist
government heard the truth about them then the Amazons would become the
latest addition to the endangered species list.

            "Ah! Come-on now, do I have to spell everything out for
you, matriarch or should I call you my great great granddaughter."
replied Ranma.

            The images came flashing back to her. She remembered the
day some fifty years ago when she had last seen the statue of the
_dragon_ himself. The boy's face was hauntingly similar to the statue's
and the dragon _was_ supposed to be an ageless immortal.

            *It couldn't be. Why would the dragon return now? The boy
had obviously seen the statue with the help of his collaborator in the
village and had undergone plastic surgery to fool the elders.* She
concluded. Being a matriarch meant knowing about the outside world and
she knew a lot about it. It was her job to keep the tribe's archives
upto date with news of the outside world and did a pretty good job with
some help from her contacts in the outside world. "You could have
undergone facial reconstruction surgery to fool us." she replied.

            Ranma banged his head up the wall. The rock face developed
cracks. "What would I have to do to convince you?" moaned Ranma.

            Cologne smiled. She had him now. He was obviously an
impersonator and only the real dragon would be able to beat Saffron.
"Why don't you defeat Saffron? If you can do it I will accept you as
the dragon."

            Ranma groaned. "Anyone with skill can beat him now. Can't
you see that his blasts are weak." He pointed to the latest blast. The
whole area was charred and some parts of the mountain had melted under
the heat.

            "Liar!" replied Cologne.

            "He's weak. Someone, presumably the boy who is fighting him
now, must have disrupted the cycle. Saffron will probably die in a few
days from now." said Ranma. He was getting annoyed at her refusal to
believe him and his patience was wearing thin, his fifty years of
patience training be damned.

            "Look, will you believe me if I stop the fight right now
and make Saffron listen to me." If she did not believe him then he
would have to return to Japan.

            Cologne nodded. Saffron couldnot be in cahoots with the
boy. She was sure of it. What would a God gain by cheating them?

            Ranma turned towards the fight once more. The bandanna clad
boy and the two middle-aged men were done with the Phoenix warriors and
were standing at the sidelines near the girl's body. The girls body had
been restored but she was going to die if something was not done to
save her.

            Saffron was looking more steamed by the minute as the
relentless taunting continued. *The boy definitely does not lack skills
in that department! Ranma thought with a smile. Ranma had never seen
Saffron so worked up. Even during their battle two thousand-year back
the God had maintained his cool to a reasonable extent most of the
time. Now he just about looked ready to explode and take the entire
mountain and all those in it with him.

            Saffron howled in fury as he launched yet another huge ball
of fire at the taunting martial artist. Ranma smiled and sent a ki
charged vacuum blade at the fireball. The boy could have easily evaded
the fireball but Ranma wanted to have Saffron's attention all to
himself.

            The blade covered the distance between the fireball and
itself in the wink of an eye and exploded. Saffron seemed to be in
shock and the others turned towards Ranma and Cologne.

            "Hello, Saffron. Long time no see." shouted Ranma. His ki
amplified his voice so that it was heard throughout the cavern.

            Saffron's expression turned deathly pale. He knew whose
voice it was. He slowly turned towards Ranma and his expression
deepened. He could never stand upto the landling in his weak condition.

            Ranma cleared his throat. "I remember saying that the
Phoenix would never hurt Amazons ever again."

            Saffron landed on the ground and approached Ranma. He was
trying to look as haughty and uncaring as possible. He was scared to
death but he had to keep appearances for the sake of his image.

            "They disrupted my rebirth cycle and because of them my
people will starve to death. I think that gives me the right to
revenge." replied the God, growing more and more confident. He was
right and the mortal dare not behave dishonourably though he did not
know what he would do if the mortal did so.

            Ranma looked at the brown haired boy and his companions
with an annoyed expression on his face. <And why did you do that?> he
asked. He remembered the guide telling him that these others were from
Japan.

            The boy and his companion did not pay attention to him. The
boy's friend with the yellow bandanna had a dark green aura of
depression about him. He was mourning the girl's apparent death it
seemed. One of the men was also weeping uncontrollably whilst the other
two watched from the sidelines. Ranma turned to Saffron. "Wait, we will
resume this conversation as soon as I have helped that girl."

            Ranma moved towards the bandanna boy and pressed a pressure
point that dispersed his heavy chi into the air. Then he pressed
another pressure point that made him unconscious. The other boy and the
man with the mustache tried to protest but Cologne bade them to stop
their interference. She was convinced of Ranma's identity after seeing
Saffron's reaction in the middle of the fight.

            Ranma knelt by the girl and sensed her ki and mana lines.
*A ki transfer should do the trick.* He decided. Cupping his hands over
her chest, he began to gather a small amount of ki in his arms. The
others watched in amazement as the ki flowed into her body from his
hands. When the transfer was complete he pressed his hands over her
chest and focused his ki once more. The girl was a tomboy and he had
lost most of his nervousness around women during his stay at the
village. Concentrating hard, he released the exact amount of ki needed
to jump-start her heart. The girl's body shuddered. She moaned in a
little voice and her hands began to move.

            Ranma got up and moved towards Saffron again. The man with
the mustache prostrated himself on Ranma's legs and raved about his
undying gratitude.

            "I apologize for their behaviour, Saffron." said Ranma.

            "Your apology will not say me people from starving to
death." spat the God of the Phoenix.

            "All you had to do is ask the Amazons or the Musk for help
and they would give it to you, wouldn't you matriarch?"

            Cologne nodded. "We have had a bountiful harvest but there
won't be enough for the Phoenix to survive through the winter. But we
will gladly share what we have with them."

            Saffron looked at the two-foot matriarch and scowled. "If
the food won't last through the winter, what good will it be of to my
people? They will still starve to death."

            Ranma looked at Saffron and then turned towards Cologne.
"The surplus will be provided to the Phoenix as soon as possible,
matriarch." He turned towards Saffron. "I will provide you with the
rest. Give your shopping list to the matriarch here or any of the
elders in the village and I will see to it that you get everything you
asked for within three weeks."

            Saffron nodded.

            "Good. Nice seeing you after all these years, Saffron. Now,
we have to go. Send your army's commander with the list to the
village." said Ranma and motioned for the others to move out of the
mountain.

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

            Ryuuken Saotome was curious... no, curious did not even
begin to describe what he was feeling now. Not only had the stranger
come and stopped the fight but he had also gotten Saffron off their
back. He had saved Akane's life and Ryuuken had seen the look on
Saffron's face when the God-king had first seen the stranger. It was a
look he recognized easily enough. He had seen the look quite a lot on
his friend Ryouga's face. Ryouga would assume that 'I am so dead'
expression just after something he did pissed his girlfriend royally.

            Thinking about the pig-headed moron, he turned around and
looked for him. It wouldn't do for poor Ryouga's health to get lost
while carrying Akane. The girl would probably bash his head right in
with that stupid mallet of hers for getting them lost in China. Ryuuken
shook his head. He would never understand women. The girl loved Ryouga
and treated him like scum from the lowest pit of hell.

            He turned his eyes towards the stranger. The man was
walking in the front talking quietly with Cologne. Ryuuken decided to
have a talk with him and walked to the front. His moronic father and
his friend would probably take care of Ryouga and Akane.

            <Hello!> spoke Ryuuken as he approached the stranger.

            Ranma turned around and acknowledged the greeting. <Hello,
Ryuuken.>

            <Ugh! How did you know my name?> asked Ryuuken. His brain
failing make the obvious connection.

            Ranma shook his head. The boy was definitely lacking in the
social department. <The matriarch said it to me.> replied he.

            Ranma had asked his great great granddaughter to not reveal
his identity to none save the elders and the Musk emperor. Cologne had
accepted and had made him upto date on the political situation in the
valley of the cursed springs. Over the centuries, the relationship
between the two tribes had improved and the Amazons had gotten along
much better with the Musk. Even intertribal marriages between the two
tribes had become common in the last thirty years. The two tribes had
abandoned many of their idiosyncrasies such as the "beat 'em up to a
pulp, if you wanna marry 'em" rule and "dump a pig into the spring of
the drowned girl and get a woman free for life." The two tribes had
become the strongest of allies through the centuries.

            <Oh!> Ryuuken kicked himself mentally for not having made
the connection. <Ummm! What is your name?>

            Ranma's hand went to his pigtail. <I am Ranma Qin. My
friends just call me Ranma.>

            <Okay!> replied Ryuuken, unsure as to how he should proceed
with the conversation. Cologne excused herself and dropped to the back.

            <So, Ryuuken, Cologne here tells me that you are a martial
artist.> said Ranma trying to keep the conversation going.

            <Yeah! I have been training in the arts ever since I was a
little kid. Elder Cologne taught me for three years after father got
cursed at Jusenkyo.>

            This bit of information got Ranma's interest. <Your father
is cursed!>

            Ryuuken nodded. <I am also cursed. Stupid pops kicked me
into the spring of the drowned wolf after he got cursed.> said Ryuuken.

            <Interesting.> replied Ranma. He did not know what to say
about a moron who would kick his son into the pools of sorrow. <Why did
you go to the springs?>

            <We were on the road training somewhere near Kyoto when a
traveling salesman sold him a brochure. The brochure was a guide to
training grounds all around the world. The fool of my father couldnot
read Chinese. However, he did not let such a vital detail bother him
and off we went to China.

            <When we arrived there the guide tried to warn us. We
couldnot understand what he was saying and we jumped onto the bamboo
sticks to practice. Pops tried to go easy on me since I was only ten at
that time. I kicked him into the spring of the drowned panda and when
he got out, he kicked me into the spring of the drowned wolf. I got mad
at him and was busy trying to tear his throat when the Amazons arrived.
They decided that it was better if I stayed away from my father for a
year or two.

            <The oldman objected saying that my training would suffer
but elder Cologne 'convinced' him and I spent the next three years
learning the arts in the village. About two years ago, pops came for
me. We spent another year training me and then he decides it is time
for us to return to Japan. When we arrived in Tokyo he took me to his
friend Soun Tendo's house, that's the guy with the mustache in the back
and they announce that I and one of his daughters are to be married to
unite the schools.

            <Akane, the youngest one already had Ryouga as her
boyfriend. Therefore, I had to choose between Kasumi, that's the oldest
one and Nabiki, the middle daughter. I said that I would choose when I
became eighteen. Later, the Phoenix kidnapped Akane and I came here
after Ryouga asked for help in her rescue. We did not where the Phoenix
lived until the guide's daughter came to Japan and asked for help. Pops
and Mr. Tendo naturally came along as well. We stopped by the village
and asked for elder Cologne's help and she came with us. The rest is
history.>

            Ranma nodded. A summary was enough as far as he was
concerned. <What techniques did the Amazons teach you?> asked Ranma.

            <Ummm! Let's see the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken, Hiryuu
Shoten Ha and the Bakusai Tenketsu. I asked them to teach me the
splitting cats hairs and stuff like that but they refused saying that
they would teach me those if I ever decided to marry an Amazon.>

            <You know three advanced techniques at your age. Pretty
impressive.> Ranma was impressed. Most of the martial artists he had
encountered in the last fifty of so years did not even have rudimentary
control over their ki or chi. To know three techniques at such an young
age showed the boys skill.

            <Those were the ki techniques that the elder taught me. I
learned some from my father and I created the Moko Takabisha.> Ryuuken
said proud of his achievements.

            <And what is the Moko Takabisha?> asked Ranma, his
curiosity piqued.

            <It is a chi projection attack like Ryouga's Shi Shi
Hokudan. His is based on depression and mine is based on confidence. I
think Cologne knows them but she had never used her chi projection
attack before.>

            Ranma smiled. The Amazons had not taught the boy about ki.
He too would have done exactly the same. The tribe's and the Musk's
mastery of ki reigned supreme in the planet. There had been other
techniques that he had learnt and that were superior to the Amazons and
the Musk's mastery of ki. These techniques had all but died and he was
the only user of many of them. <Ryuuken, believe me Cologne doesnot
know any chi attacks.>

            <Huh!> Now Ryuuken was confused. If Cologne did not know
chi attacks what were the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken and the rest
called.

            <Tell me Ryuu, may I call you that?... What is the
difference between ki and chi?> asked Ranma.

            <Ki is the energy of all living things while chi is the
emotion.> replied Ryuuken.

            <Good. Now when you use the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken do
you use any emotion to channel and focus the energy?>

            Ryuuken shook his head. He had no idea where this
conversation was leading.

            <You see Ryuu, when you use the Amaguriken you do not use
your emotions to channel the energy and it becomes a ki technique. Now,
consider your Moko Takabisha or your friends Shi Shi Hokudan. They use
your emotions to focus your ki. Thus they are called chi techniques.>
explained Ranma.

            <So, what's the difference?> All these attacks used the
same energy source, so what's the big deal.

            <Ryuu, if I gave you a bokken and a katana to choose
between in a war, what would you choose?> asked Ranma.

            <The katana of course.> replied Ryuuken.

            <Good choice. That is the same with ki and chi. Ki is more
efficient and beneficial to the user. Chi attacks create imbalance in
the users ki and weakens it everytime you use them.>

            <So, my Moko Takabisha is essentially harmful to me.> asked
Ryuuken. He had spent nearly a whole week coming up with the attack
after Ryouga had easily beaten him in their usual sparring match with
his Shi Shi Hokudan. It was the first technique he had created on his
own and he did not want to give it up.

            <Yes, it is harmful to you much like smoking is.> replied
Ranma.

            <I must give it up then.>

            <Yes, you must stop using it and develop a ki projection
attack.>

            Ryuuken thought for a while. <Do you know any ki projection
attacks?> He asked Ranma.

            <Yes, I do.>

            <Can you teach me or atleast guide me?>

            <No, Ryuu, you are not an Amazon. Therefore I cannot teach
you any technique without the approval of the Amazon council or the
matriarch.>

            <Oh!>

            <I can give you advice on how to focus ki.>

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

            Ryouga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy, carried his precious
Akane-chan in his arms. His life had been devoid of friends and family
until he had met her five years ago. His family had the same
directional difficulties as him and he scarcely saw his father or
mother. In the last four years he had seen his father once and had
never laid eyes on his mother. His directional sense had been the cause
of many of his problems. The most important one being his trouble with
bullies at school when he had been a pre-schooler. He had trained very
hard to be able to defend himself and soon found himself one of the
best in his generation.

            The worst effect of growing up without his family to
support and to teach him in a hostile world had been on his psyche. His
chronic depression had led to more than three suicide attempts (none
knew about them of course) and he had a psychotic and a slightly
sadistic streak in him. As a result, when he had broken the jaw of one
of the bullies soon after he started taking classes in martial arts the
bullies had decided to leave him alone. Moreover, he had enjoyed the
sensations that he had felt on breaking the boy's jaw very much.

            Ryouga was rather proud of having broken the bully's jaw
and he taken to his new found passion like fish to water. He had
increased increased his training regimen and stretched his limits just
a little day after day, week after week.

            He had been attending some school in Juuban when he had
been twelve. During the lunch interval, he had went to the bathroom and
got lost as usual. A month and a half later, he had somehow ended up in
the hallways of Furinkan high where he met his beloved Akane. She had
been the only one to show pity on him and he had fallen in love with
her. Akane loved him too, but after she had discovered that he
surpassed her in martial arts, she had become a _little_ violent. Now,
whenever he did something wrong she would give him a blow on his head
with that mallet of hers. After four years of beatings he still did not
know what it was that he did wrong. Ryuu had been of great help when he
had secretly taught him the Bakusai Tenketsu. He had become Ryuu's
friend after the kid helped him out and he had discovered that the
little kid was his equal in the arts. He would leave once or twice a
month with the GPS that Nabiki had bought him (The commission he had
given her had him bankrupt for a whole year.) and he would train in
some new technique and try to beat Ryuu. Mr. Saotome also taught him
and sparred with him daily. Therefore, his martial arts had not
suffered because of his stay at the Tendo's.

            Akane did not beat him that often, he knew. It was only
when she got jealous that she vent her frustrations and anger on him.
As a result, he would get hit once or twice a month at the most. Then
those damned Phoenix had come and had kidnapped her for a reason that
only the kami knew. He had asked Ryuu's help and his friend had
consented. They had come to China with Akane's and Ryuu's fathers and
had tried to rescue Akane with the help of the Amazonian elder. Akane's
body fluids had been drained by accident and though he had restored her
body, her heart wouldn't resume beating. It was at that time that the
stranger had come. He had caught a glimpse or two of the new arrival
and had thought lillt of him until the man had made Saffron see sense
and brought Akane back from the dead. *Who is that man?* Lost in his
thoughts Ryouga shifted Akane's body in his arms and the inevitable
happened. His arm found something soft and before he realized what it
was, Akane woke up from her beauty sleep.

            He knew from experience that a cranky Akane meant a trip
sooner than later via the infamous Akane express. Now, he had
compounded his situation by grasping her breasts accidentally. In
Akane's view that amounted to groping and groping was definitely a
hentai act demanding a swift retribute with the mallet. Ryouga's nose
began to bleed as his imagination took over and as his fate would have
it, Akane saw that too.

            "Yeeewwww! Ryouga you pervert!" she shouted. She took his
nosebleed as evidence that he had touched her 'there' with some
perverted intention.

            His love for her be damned Ryouga let go of her and tried
to run away. Unfortunately, his sense of direction made him step over
Akane, who was rubbing her sore butt after hitting the dirt and he fell
to the ground.

            "RYOUGA YOU STUPID JERKKKK!" she shouted as she raised her
mallet to the heavens above.

            Wham! Bonk! Kaboom!

            The beating of the century went on infront of everyone.
Ranma was shocked at the girls behaviour and Cologne fell down from her
staff and rolled on the floor laughing hysterically.

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

            Soun Tendo followed behind his daughter with his friend
Genma Saotome. Their friendship was formed during the days of their
training under the lecherous grandmaster of Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu, the
infamous women's underwear thief, the one and only Happousai. Soon
after their marriage they had been inebriated after several hours of
drinking sake in the company of their master when they had made taken a
vow. Soun had never been so squiffed in his entire life as he had been
that day. They would unite the two schools together with their
children's marriages, they had promised each other and they intended to
keep it too.

            Several years after Genma took his son, Ranma on a training
trip Genma came to the Tendo dojo one day. Soun's wife had died a month
ago and Soun had been mourning the loss of his wife. He had abandoned
his children in his despair and stayed in his room uncaring as to the
affairs of the house. When Genma arrived with the news of Ranma's death
Soun had sunk deeper into the pit of despair. Genma had stayed with him
for two months and had brought him out of his despair with his jokes or
so Genma believed. More than anything else Genma's mere presence had
been the only thing that brought Soun out of the throes of despair.
Genma had left after those two months and a letter had arrived from him
telling him about Ryuuken Saotome.

            Soun had rejoiced at the news. He still kept that letter
carefully tucked away in his room. Soun had stopped taking classes
after all his students abandoned him. They refused to study under him
and it had been his second daughter, Nabiki, who had kept the family
about with her shady dealings. Soun's honour, as it was, found no wrong
in that and Nabiki had grown and blossomed into a full-time mercenary.
Even if his honour had found his daughter's behaviour wrong, he
wouldnot, have done anything. He was afraid of her as it was. The girl
even blackmailed her own father.

            His eldest daughter, Kasumi, was the one who had kept his
family together and she had grown up to be a woman as kind and gentle
as a soft breeze. Kasumi was one of the best cooks in the world and
would one day become a wonderful mother and a loving wife.

            His youngest daughter, Akane, had been the youngest and
most unprepared of his daughters when her mother had died. She had
retreated into herself and the arts. Since none guided her in the art,
she was shabby at best and horrendous at worst. Her temper tantrums
were unbelievable in their intensity and she had become every bit the
spoiled brat. He knew in the pits of his soul that he was responsible
for his daughter's personality and therefore he tolerated it. He did
not know what that Ryouga boy found in her but given his psychotic
tendencies, he really did not want to know. He did not want to see his
youngest daughter married to that freak but he couldnot find it in his
heart and tell her to stop seeing him. The joy that reflected in her
face when she was with him and when she thought none was looking
ensured that things stayed the way they did.

            When his dear friend Genma arrived with his son in their
cursed forms, he had fainted at first sight. Genma had been the first
to transform and after restraining the wolf, he had commenced his
woeful story of curses, hardship and magic. Soun's heart had been
touched at the troubles and triumphs that the father and son had
undergone. Finally, when the well-spun tale was finished Soun had
poured hot water over the boy and had offered the naked boy the first
two daughters to choose as his fiancee. The boy had beaten them up
after he had gotten dressed and had proclaimed that he would choose his
fiancee after he was eighteen and that too out of honour as he had no
intention of marrying girls older than himself.

            He had sunk in to the deepest pits of depression when Akane
had been kidnapped. Ryouga had shouted something about hell to pay and
prepare to die or something in that context. He had not been listening
to the psychotic freak and thus remembered little of his lamentations.
Then the freak had gone and asked Ryuu for help. They did not know
where Akane's kidnappers where and this put a huge dent in their plans
for a rescue mission. Thankfully, the guide's daughter had arrived and
after hearing about the Phoenix, they had all left for China. Ryuu had
recruited an Amazon elder whose skills reminded them of their master.
They had went to the mountain and found out that they were facing a God
of all things.

            During the fight Akane had become a dried up mummy and they
had given up all hope of seeing her alive when the stranger arrived and
rescued her from the dead.

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

            Genma walked by Soun's side with his usual greed and
foolishness. Yes, Genma had changed some over the decade after he had
lost his first born. The few things that he had learned after Ranma had
presumably died were: a) Soun's wife had died. b) He had a second son
and a stupid wife who believed every damned lie he said. c) do not mess
around with the catfist. He had learned it from Ranma's presumed death,
of course. d) Happousai never dies. His lecherous traits only increase
at a rate that is directly proportional to the fourth power of his age.
e) Never mess around with Amazons. It would result in a lot of pain. f)
A healthy boy on the road meant a healthy diet as you can barter him
for pickles, rice and whatnot. If you do not have a boy with you, you
are not worth S*** in the eyes of the people you are planning to
freeload on. i) His second born, Ryuu, had lost all respect for him. He
had tried to gain his son's respect numerous times but he had failed
miserably.

            After he had searched for Ranma, he had left for Tokyo with
a heavy stomach and a not so heavy heart. While on his way to Juuban
where his wife awaited him he stopped by his dear friends house. There
he had found Soun in the midst of a terrible depression. Soun's wife
had apparently died and he had stayed there for two months freeloading
on Soun's meager financial savings. He had somehow gotten his friend
out of the depression. He went home to find his wife with little
Ryuuken Saotome in her hands. His joy had known no bounds and he had
spun a really tale about monsters and such. He had told her about his
valiant yet futile struggle to save their son. In addition, Nodoka had
believed him. After all these years he still found it hard to believe
that his wife was as dumb as a rock who lived in her own little world
with her stupid and completely perverted notions of manhood.

            He had badly wanted to train Ryuuken and make him succeed
where his first born had failed. He had easily persuaded Nodoka after
he had given the customary 'it was a samurai wife's duty' speech. He
had traveled throughout Japan using his innocent son as a bartering
card and a handy fiancee. *Thank God, those fools who engaged their
daughters to my son have not caught up with me. If they did, Ryuuken
would skin me alive.*

            He still cursed the day that he had fallen into Jusenkyo.
He did not give a damn about whatever happened to his son but he too
had been cursed on that occasion. It was in anger more than anything
else at the thought of his newfound curse and how his own son had
caused it that he had kicked his son into one of the pools. The boy
must have known the truth behind the kick at some unconscious level.
His son had gotten angry, gone berserk and had tried to wring his
throat out but the Amazons had arrived just in time.

            Their matriarch had insisted that the boy stay with them
and he had attacked her thinking that she would be easy to beat. That
had proved to be one of the worst mistakes of his life. She had given
him a thorough beating and had done things that made the sadistic
master look like a barbie doll with cute blonde hair. The pain he had
endured while she was busy with him had made the master's tortures seem
like the happiest moments of his life. He had spent the next one-month
recovering from the incredible beating that he had received.

            He had wisely decided to stay out of their way for the next
three years. When the three years were finished, he had returned to the
village to claim his son from the Amazons. His son had become his equal
in those three years and with their advanced techniques easily beat
him. He had decided to teach his son the forbidden techniques to gain
his son's respect. He had squandered the final opportunity to gain the
boy's respect of course. The boy learned the techniques but now loathed
him and took every opportunity to beat the stuffing out of him.

            He knew that he was not the greatest father in the world or
even one of the bad ones. Infact he knew very well that he was probably
the worst father in the world. In his mind, he had caused the death of
his first born and then lied to his very own wife to save his ass.
Father's did not get any worse then that. He only wished that things
had gone differently though he knew in his mind that he would have done
the same mistakes all over again if he got the chance to go into the
past and change it, for such was his personality.

            When his friends youngest daughter, Akane had been
kidnapped he had wanted no part in the rescue effort. He had come
anyway as Soun was his only friend in the world and he did owe it to
Soun. Also, he thought that it might be another chance to gain his
son's respect, which it hadn't. Contrary to what people might think
Genma did have a sense of honour though it was perverted beyond
imagination. They had traveled to China after they had learnt the
location of the kidnapper's kingdom. Only when the Amazon elder had
joined them did he learn that they were about to face a God. His
cowardice had got the better of him after that and he had plotted. He
had thought that Soun would run off and he would use that as an excuse
to run away himself but Soun had been hell bent on saving his daughter.
During the fight he had taken care of the weakest of the Phoenix,
fighters letting the others do all the hard work.

            Halfway into the fight, Akane had been changed into a
living mummy and he had thought that she would die. A part of him had
grieved for the child but another part of him was happy as they would
not have to confront Saffron to save her. It was then that the strange
yet somehow familiar boy had come and stopped the fight. He was
grateful, for the kid had saved their lives. A part of him was even now
telling him something that the pile of garbage he called his brain
could not even comprehend.

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

            The group arrived at Jusenkyo the day after the battle with
Saffron. It was time for them to bid their farewells to one another.

            "Cologne, you have great potential. I want to teach you
some of the things that I had learned in my wanderings." said Ranma.
Both of them stood under the shadows of a tree. It was midday and one
wanted to avoid the sun as much possible, though the temperature beyond
the shadows was tolerable.

            The matriarch looked at her ancestor from atop her staff
and smiled. No matter how old you were, being praised always brought
joy. "You have finally decided to return to the village after two
thousand years?"

            Ranma shook his head. "No, seeing you has brought back the
memories. I still cannot find the strength in my heart to enter the
village. I thought that I was ready but it seems that I was wrong. I
will visit the village someday in the future but for now I want you to
come to Japan with me and learn from me there, great great
granddaughter." said Ranma and smiled at the matriarch. They were alone
and none was in hearing distance.

            Cologne found it amazing that he still loved his wife after
she had been dead for more than two thousand years. "You still haven't
forgotten her or stopped loving her, have you great grandfather?" It
was more of a statement than of a question. She smiled at the
grandfather part. It was nice to see someone who was her elder after
nearly seven decades.

            Ranma returned the smile ruefully. He was never at ease
when he discussed about his wife or about the time at the Amazon
village. It brought too much memories to him.

            "Can I bring along my great great granddaughter, Shampoo
along?" she asked.

            "I don't see why not. Is she any good at the arts?" he
asked. He wanted to teach the Amazons some of the easier and less
dangerous things that he had learnt.

            "She is good taking if you take into account the times in
which she lives but she is not even a match for Ryuuken. That boy is
the most skillful in this generation, I think!"

            Ranma nodded. *You can't have them all.* "Fine then. I will
stay at the guides hut waiting for you and your granddaughter"

            Cologne left the pools and hurried towards the village. It
wouldn't do to have her honourable ancestor waiting for long.

            Ranma returned to the guide's house and found Ryuuken and
the others preparing to leave. Ryuuken walked upto Ranma.

            <We are going now and I wanted to thank you for helping me
and saving Akane's life.> he said. His three years in the Amazon
village had taught him some modesty.

            <It was nothing.>

            <Bye!>

            Ranma waited for three hours after Ryuuken and the others
had gone. Cologne and Shampoo arrived and they began their journey to
Tokyo.

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

            In Japan...

            Fuji or Fuji-san as it is respectfully called is a volcano
of indescribable grace and beauty that evokes awe and wonder in the
hearts of those who lay their eyes upon it. The mountain is located in
the Honshu island in mainland Japan. To the vacationing tourist Fuji's
beauty lies in its massive yet isolated elegance. Countless pictures
have been drawn of this venerated mountain, which has come to symbolize
Japan in so many ways.

            On the summit of Fuji are 'the eight petals of Fuji', the
eight peaks that adorn the summit. Between these peaks lies the Nai-in,
the sanctuary. Fuji is also thought to be the home of Amatersu Omikami,
the Goddess of the Sun. It was true that the Kami herself resided in
the mountain. Lines of mana from all over the world converged on the
mountain. Though there were similar convergence sites in all the
planets, this was the most powerful of them all.

            Fuji with all its beauty and glory hid a terrible secret.
It's Nai-in was the doorway to a prison. A prison created by the Gods
themselves to seal away an evil that threatened all of existence. The
evil had been battering the door for countless millennia. Though the
door had nearly broken on several occasions, it would mend itself as
the force that had been applied was not enough to completely shatter
it. The door had weakened through the millennia and now it was about to
break releasing the ancient evil upon the world.

            The door was pushed slowly towards its breaking point and
finally it broke and shattered. The Gods had known that this would
happen and had created eight seals to give the world the time to
prepare for this menace. Now with the doorway broken beyond repair the
hordes of Ashura's rushed out into reality. Their leader a middle-aged
man with a brownish complexion came out and was confronted by Amatersu
Omikami.

            "You cannot kill me, God." said the man contemptuously.

            "That maybe so Raja Chola but one can always try." replied
the kami glaring at him.

            Raja Chola laughed. "Begone God. I have better things to
worry about."

            Amatersu did not move. "Be warned Raja Chola. do not harm
the humans. If you do, you will be destroyed." she replied.

            "None can kill me. My boon will prevent them from killing
me. Now move out of the way or should I kill you now?" warned the king
of the Ashura's.

            Amatersu moved out of the way and retreated to her home.
Some fights are won by not fighting them at all.

            Raja Chola watched her leave, his contempt for her kind
showing clearly in his face for all his minions to see. He glanced
towards the eight seals and shook his head. *Fools, do they think that
they can stop me with these seals.* "Indra!" he shouted.

            The Ashura of that name appeared before him. "I can sense
those sailor scouts. They are weak but they are a threat to the
invasion. I want you to send two of your best warriors to kill them."
His previous experience with the sailor scouts had made him wary of
them and he wanted them out of the way as soon as possible. He would
have sent more to take care of them but though the doorway had been
broken, the tear was small allowing only one or two to pass through. It
would remain that way as long as the seals were in place. When they
broke, all his army would be free to invade the world and when they had
destroyed it they would go after the Gods and he would have avenged
dear Anita's death. Until then, he would send his best troops in little
groups to take care of the scouts and other threats.

            Indra nodded. "Yes, My king. I will do as you please."

            Hell was about to break loose on the streets on Juuban...

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

Author's rants:

            That's the end of the second chapter.

            The attacks used:

            Ikidooru Ryuu - Angry Gragon. A chi based attack which uses
the users anger as a focus to channel ki.

            Hiryuu Shoten Ha Kaihan: Ken Joukai - Flying dragon ascend
to heaven strike revision: Fist of Heaven. A variation of the normal
Hiryuu Shoten Ha. It is a tornado punch.

            Hiryuu Shoten Ha Kaihan: Genkan Joukai Kirite - Flying
dragon ascend to heaven strike revision: Heaven's doorway cleaver.

            I would like to take this free space and prostate myself
infront of my pre-readers and grovel on the ground.

            The story is hosted at the following sites:
1. Mine (http://samrtaleck.anifics.com)
2. Lady cosmos (http://www.crosswinds.net/~ladycosmos/)
3. Rakhal's Penultimate Ranma Fanfic index
       (http://www.rakhal.com/FFIndex/lstmain.html)
4. FFML archives
       (http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:123/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe)
5. Mediaminer fanfic archives (www.mediaminer.org/fanfic)

            I would like to take this oppurtunity to
prostrate myself in front of my pre-readers. Thank you, guys! This
couldn't have been possible without all of you:
 jakub [jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl]
 Kaz [kazblah945@aol.com]
 Madcat [madcat08@hotmail.com]
 Brain [bmccullough@nucles.com]
 James Merritt [j.merritt1@home.com]
 Philip Penty [plainswaker@hotmail.com]
 Nathan Shuker [rezantis@hotmail.com]
 Zero [shinzero@home.com]

            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 out standing 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.




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