Subject: [FFML] [Fic][Dark][Drama][Ranma 1/2] The Tale of Zhenmaoh, part 1.
From: Chad Hutchings
Date: 8/13/2002, 5:02 AM
To: ffml@anifics.com


I hope you enjoy it! I'm sorry I took so long!

The Tale of Zhenmaoh. Chapter 1: Death of a King;
Birth of a Warrior.

Zhenmaoh: King of warriors, Son of Tragedy.
Saotome: Heir to a curse. Father to a plague.
Blindness is truth. Darkness is all. Tragedy is
eternal. The great doubt takes all.
Pride is Death. Death is Love. Love is Life.
Life is Death.
The Great Dying is eternal.

***

This is the story of a man. More accurately, this is a
story of a man among men.
Zhenmaoh.
More or less, Cat Fist in Chinese.
This was not his given name, though. Oh no! The
accursed king of warriors gained his name through much
more extravagant means than simply being named. For
often, Legends are created, not born. Such was the
case with the Lord of fighters, Zhenmaoh.
Our tale begins with the birth of a small boy: One
Ranma Saotome...

***

"Genma, darling." The soft, mezzo alto voice was
strained so much more than normal. Genma barely
noticed, because his wife was going to have a child,
and a boy, on top of that!
"Yes, No-chan?" Genma Saotome's voice was that of a
powerful man, exuding the confidence of a truly
seasoned martial artist, one of the Emperor's own
Chosen.
"I think my water just broke." And then the confidence
was gone, the seasoned martial artist began to sweat
the cold sweat of a father-to-be.
"W-w-what could that mean? It's nearly two weeks
premature and-" Genma's stammering was cut off as
Nodoka grabbed him by the collar. "Just call the
ambulance, darling!" The strain in her voice was
nothing less than obvious as the not-quite-water
substance trickled down her legs, foretelling that The
Child was to be born.
The Father, Genma, nodded dumbly and rushed to the
phone, dialing the emergency number as quickly as he
could.

***

Legend has it that at the time of the birth of The
Child, The Cursed to be, the masters of Nerima gave up
their lives in order to lend their souls to the new
master of The Art.
In truth, only one master died, and he was an
overweight, lazy American practitioner of Tae-Kwon-Do.
He died of cholesterol poisoning.
There was, though, the largest burst of Ki seen to
date in Nerima. It was not from the son, though. It
was from the father.

***

Genma was crying. Nodoka should have brought a camera!
The last time she had seen him cry was when he had
been forced to develop the Yamasenken and the
Umisenken in order to defeat the old master. Genma had
cried then, saying only that he had released a great
evil on this world with those techniques. Regardless,
he said, he would still pass them on if his son was
worthy.
Nodoka gave her husband's hand a loving squeeze.
Everything was going to be okay.
These errant thoughts quickly left Nodoka's mind as
her face contorted once again in pain and the final
throes of birth.

***

"Miss Saotome." The young doctor walked in with a
smile on his face as Nodoka woke up, wondering first
where she was, then why she felt so strange, and then
how she could have possibly forgotten that she had
just given birth.
"Yes, Dr. Ono?" Kensuke Ono had been the family doctor
for all of Nodoka's life. A combination Gynecologist,
pediatrician, physician, masseuse, and surgeon was
very hard to find these days.
"I'm happy to say that your son is in perfect health.
Better, in fact. he nearly knocked Kimiko Tendo's
teeth out as she placed him in his crib.
Nodoka flashed a genuine smile on her still-young
face. "Thank you, doctor. How is Kin?"
"She's fine, thank you. She's having a handful with
young Tofu at the Moxa rocks. She insists teaching him
all of the odd rural techniques if I wish to put him
into the family trade. I have no idea what she sees in
those backwater traditions."
"Hello, Kensuke." Genma's gruff voice was filled with
stress, but relieved, just the same as he pushed past
some orderlies into the now-cramped room.
"Good morning, Genma. I trust that you are well?"
"I'm fine. I could have used some of those anesthetics
as well, though, old friend." Genma drew close to his
wife and took her small, delicate hands in his huge,
calloused palm. "And how are you, wife?" The lovers
took no notice as Dr. Ono withdrew to check on his
other patients.
Nodoka smiled, showing that she was every bit as full
of the pride and joy that her husband felt at this
time as he was. "Have you gotten to see our son, yet?
How fares he?"
"Our son is beautiful, Nodoka. I truly believe that he
shall be the martial artist that he is fated to be. He
shall be the strongest, the fastest, and eventually
even one of the Emperor's Chosen, just as I have been.
Nodoka's smile heightened. "This gladdens my heart,
husband. I rejoice-." She slumped as consciousness
left her, and Genma Saotome cried for the second time
that night, screaming for help, until Kensuke Ono came
rushing to his aid, and, seeing Nodoka in the state
that she was in, immediately began to test her to find
out what was wrong.

***

Nodoka Saotome slept for a week, as her son as fed and
taken care of by whatever midwife was handy. It was
not until Kin Ono returned from her trip with her son
that Nodoka's illness was found out
It seemed like hours as the young Ono matriarch pored
over Nodoka's inert body, sometimes feeling a pressure
point, sometimes just sitting and staring. Finally,
after what seemed like aeons, Kin turned around and
gave Genma a neutral look.
Genma bowed his head and took his wife's hand. "What
will happen to her, Kin-san?"
"I don't know, Genma. She will lead a normal,
productive life, or she will end up in a possibly
endless sleep. She can do anything that any normal
woman can do, but she is under no circumstance ever to
practice the art ever again. She's in an incredibly
fragile state, and will definitely never give birth to
another child." Kin shot a fiery glare into Genma's
eyes. "She is in great danger, Genma. You must be
careful. If she uses too much energy, she will die."
"That's not so bad, Gen-chan..." Nodoka had awoken,
and was smiling weakly. "I'll get to stay home and
watch our son grow up, now." She managed a weak laugh.
Kin Ono smiled sympathetically. "I don't envy your
fate, Nodoka-san. Don't worry, though. Anything short
of a battle or having another child should be easily
manageable. Enjoy your life, and your dear son."
As Kin spoke, Kensuke Ono walked in with the child.
Ranma, as he was named, was dead silent, oddly enough
for a week-old child. He glanced around the room with
dark blue eyes that were so rare for his age and a
gentle, slight smile.
As Nodoka looked at him she caught her breath in
wonder.
"He's so beautiful. Our child will be a man among men,
Genma. You make sure of that."

***

Almost Five years later...

***

"Come on, Son! The Umisenken is an art of subtlety!
Subtlety!"
A small ball of white gi, black belt, and black
pigtail went flying into a rock.
"M'sorry, pop! I just can't seem to-"
A rather larger ball of white gi, black belt, and bald
head came and crushed the rock only moments after the
smaller one got out of the way.
"That's it! Now, attack!" Genma, phasing into view
slightly so as to give his son an even chance at
hitting him, allowed elation to show on his face.
Ranma had it. He had almost mastered the Umisenken,
and at only age five! Genma had been hard on Ranma the
past few years, but the boy had never let up. First he
had taught him the Yamasenken, for the ability to
concentrate one's Ki was priceless, then he had gone
through the more advanced things of the Anything-Goes
school, making sure to pace the boy, but never to give
him a chance for rest.
It was paying off. At age five, going to Kindergarten
during the day and learning his rudimentary speech
skills and addition, Ranma was going dojo to dojo in
the evenings, after his homework, and one by one,
trouncing the masters at each dojo.
"Here I come, Pop!" Forty or Fifty small pinches told
genma that he had left an opening. He would have to
school the boy out of being so soft. "Hit me, boy! You
never have to show any opponent mercy! You won't be
able to take me out in your lifetime if you keep up
these feminine tactics! What are you, a little girl!?"
A fist came flying at Genma's face and knocked him
back at the rocks.
"Dinner-time, boys!" Genma hopped up and made it into
the dining room just as Ranma was beginning to shovel
a heavy chopstick-load of Ramen into his mouth.
Nodoka sat down gingerly after Genma took his place at
the head of the table. "How does our son, husband? Is
there progress?"
"He is severely lacking in common sense, wife," Genma
completely ignored the silent Ranma, talking only to
his wife, as was their custom at the table. "Ranma
lets his pride get the better of him until it is time
for the killing blow, then he shirks off the blow. If
he doesn't begin to take his opponents seriously, he
will fail against any true master."
Nodoka noted with pride for her son that Genma's
tirade as to Ranma's utter lack of skill was
relatively short this time. This was good news indeed.
The rest of the meal was relatively uneventful, aside
from Ranma managing to exhibit the table manners of a
true martial artist by snatching a decent load of
noodles from Genma's bowl more often than usual.

***

The next day, the master arrived.
"Hello, Genma." The grizzled old man, so withered with
age that he has shrunk to a mere shadow of the
powerful body he must have once had to become such an
artist.
"Hello, Master Happosai" The monster of a man, Genma
Saotome, bowed to the aged one who stood before him in
a gesture that would have made Ranma laugh if he had
not realized the gravity of the situation.
"Don't call me that anymore, Genma. You defeated me
nearly a decade ago. You are the pride of my school,
so much more than that fool Tendo will ever be. My
heart is full of pride in the way you managed to get
your wife not only to bare you a son but also to fully
support his training. Tendo's daughters all have
potential of some skill, but they will not be able to
serve our nation in any capacity."
"They may someday serve as good fiancees for my son,
perhaps."
Happosai showed signs of hesitation that Genma has
ever seen.
"The Emperor's seers have given me some bad news,
Genma." Happosai gave Ranma a glance and Genma nodded,
sending the boy into the dojo to do a few Katas.
"I won't lie to you, Genma. He's going to be the most
skilled warrior that Japan has ever seen-"
"That's wonderful!" Genma was about to get up and
whoop for joy.
"Sit down, boy. We're not done." There was pain in
Happosai's voice.
Genma's smile fell to a worried frown.
"The boy is prophesied to kill you. You need to get
rid of him now, or it's going to be too late."
Genma was on his feet with his hands at Happosai's
throat.
"You lie! He's my son! He won't kill me! He has my
honor!"
Happosai only looked on into Genma's frightened eyes
and frowned.
"He will not kill me, old man."
Happosai smiled, then began to hysterically laugh.
"You fool! The seers said something I didn't
understand. They said that 'The father will be as
blind as his son shall become.' Now I see what they
mean! You're too hopelessly in love with the boy! What
a shame. You're not who I thought you were. You're no
use to us in the coming war, anyway! Fine then,
pathetic fool! Die!" The master relented a bit. "I'm
sorry, Genma...Here I have an alternative for you so
that you can go about this honorably."
"I told you, Happosai, I will not kill him."
The old man shrugged out of Genma's grip, leaving Clan
Saotome's head to collapse to the ground and dropped a
scroll at Genma's feet.
"You have one year to leave for China, Genma. Your boy
will not survive this training. This is as far as we
were able to interpret the vision. This is an order
from the emperor. The boy must die. That is all."
The old man then left as suddenly as he came.
Genma got to his feet, lifting the scroll up as if it
was a ten ton weight.
"Nodoka!"
His wife came in. A rag was on her head, as she had
just been doing dishes, but she still as beautiful as
the day they had married.
"I have received an order from the emperor" The
sadness in Genma's eyes shown openly, flanked by
disbelief at the whole scenario.
"What is it, husband?"
"I have been ordered to train Ranma in the art of..."
Genma's eyes scanned over the seal on the scroll,
searching for a clue as to what Ranma was to learn.
When he found what he was looking for he had to put a
hand on Nodoka's shoulder. 
"Oh...gods. What am I going to do?"
Nodoka looked into her husband's eyes. "About what,
Genma?"
"We are to prepare Ranma for training in the Neko-ken
within a year."
Nodoka's view descended into blackness as she fainted,
and the last thing she heard was faint sounds of Genma
calling the doctor.

***

"She's in a coma."
"Why?"
"I have no idea."
"What happened to mom?"
"Quiet, boy. Your mother's sick."
Ranma carefully stepped up to his mother.
"Why is mom sick?"
"Kensuke, where's Kin?"
The obviously fatigued doctor looked up from Nodoka's
inert body.
"It's Kimiko, Genma. She caught some sort of advanced
form of Pneumonia. She has less than a week. Kin's
been driven nearly to exhaustion simply trying to buy
her time. On top of that she's had to deal with Soun
and their girls."
Genma looked around the room helplessly, clutching his
wife's hand as if it was his last hope on life. Then
his eyes locked with Ranma's.
"Where's mommy, Daddy? Why isn't she in that body?
Tell me!"
As the tears made their ways down the faces of both of
the Saotome men, Genma recognized the anger in Ranma's
eyes.
::He will kill you, Genma.::
"Kensuke. Give Tendo my regards. Ranma and I are
leaving for China within a fortnight."
The young doctor looked up in surprise. "B-but Genma!
Kimiko-"
The bearish Saotome clan head grabbed the relatively
diminutive doctor by the neck. "Have her looked after,
Kensuke. If I come back to find my wife dead I will
find you accountable."
Genma dropped Kensuke Ono to the ground and turned to
the door.
"How long..." Kensuke managed to croak out.
"As long as it takes, old friend. As Long as it
takes."

***

As Ranma and Genma rushed to gather up the Clan's
belongings for their pilgrimage, Ranma's eyes caught
upon a picture of his mother and father smiling, a
young couple in Love.
The small boy gently placed his index and middle
fingers on his lips, then on the forehead of his
mother's photo. "Perhaps you're lifeless in there,
too, Mom. But you're happy too. I hope that smile
waits for me. I'm sure it will. Pop and I are going on
a journey. Wish us luck"
A gruff voice pulled him out of his childhood reverie.
"We leave."
Ranma took one more moment to securely tie the
family's blades to his pack with a leather thong and
then followed his father out of their home, not
looking back.

***

Two figures approached the raging cliffs, one dwarfing
the other.
"Where are we going, pop?"
"To Hell." The quiet reply was echoed by a crash of
thunder as the two figures dove into the raging sea,
one after the other, each beginning the journey to his
own personal hell.

***

The waves of the dark sea of Eastern China gently
prodded the two inert forms, goading them awake to
survey the land to which they had come.
Ranma, the first to rise, quickly split his so-solemn
face in a wide grin as he saw what to him seemed to be
exactly the opposite of crowded Nerima Ward. "Look at
this, Pop! This place is amazing! Can we stay?"
The sullen bulk of Genma seemed to be in shadows as he
drew up to his full height behind Ranma. "By the time
we're done, my boy, it will seem as if we were here
for an eternity."
The young boy shot his father a bemused look before
darting towards the small cabin that sat atop a nearby
cliff. "Ah, you're just an old grouch, Mommy says!
That's the place, right? Betcha I can beat you there!"
Despite his mood, Genma let out a short laugh and
broke into a run, following his son up to the cabin
where he new a long period of pain would begin for the
both of them, but much more-so for the child.

***

Ranma looked on in wonder as his father pulled out the
long chains of fish-sausage.
"Um...Pop? Isn't it early for a meal?"
Genma silently directed Ranma to hold his hands out,
and bound them with thin twine.
"What's this for, Pop?"
"So you can fight back when you....er....it snaps."
The elder Saotome still avoided eye-contact with his
son.
Finally, Genma wrapped Ranma in the sausage and placed
him into a bucket above an oddly-shaped dark hole in
the floor of the cabin. Upon looking at it Ranma
realized why.
The edges of the hole were serrated. This thing was
designed to keep whatever was put in that hole, in.
As Ranma stood up to test the durability of the twine
and the mobility of his curious trapping, he surveyed
a few buckets alongside the walls of the cabin, and
nothing else. 
That was Ranma's last coherent thought before he was
hefted up and pitched head-first into the dangerous,
fuzzily-textured hole.

***

It must not have been very long before Ranma came to,
as he was not hurting in many places and he indeed
felt the bump from where he hit his head on the floor
just barely welling up.
Standing up carefully, Ranma surveyed his surroundings
to find himself to be surrounded by piles of
glittering, incandescent marbles. He reached out a
meat-bedecked palm to grab one and felt a small
stinging pain.
Confused, He withdrew his hand into the faint light
from the entrance to the hole to find that his hand
was bleeding.
It was then that he noticed that the marbles were
getting closer.
As a matter of fact...since when did marbles glow, and
blink, and....
Were those teeth!?

***

The elder sat silently, reading old texts and watching
the usual duels in a spell of idleness that the
Joketsuzoku had not seen in years.
This evening was just wonderful. The air was sweet and
clean; The new children, especially the promised Xian
Pu and Muu Su, already promised to each other, were
doing quite well on this day in their training, and
the Amazons were having a grand feast, celebrating the
coming of another war in the outside world, and
another threat to the Amazons leaving for good.
"The world could not get any better." Ko Lon shouldn't
have said that. She knew she shouldn't have said that.
Of course, she said it anyway, and now she was about
to pay the consequences.
"3....2....1" Ko Lon counted down half-jokingly and
half-afraid of what was about to happen. Then it did.
The screams began as a wail first, sounding perhaps
like the pup of some wounded dog being stuck by a
cactus perhaps, but they quickly escalated, carrying
tangible waves of pain, fear, betrayal, and alarm, but
never hate in them.
Ko Lon did not sleep that night, and the blood curling
screams did not die out until late in the morning.

***

Genma sat in Seiza in front of the pit for hours,
though it seemed like decades. He was waiting for the
inevitable, and it came at about 5 O'clock at night,
when the serrated edge but the small hand and the body
attached to the hand was immediately covered in fish
paste and shoved back into the pit. Genma calmly
replaced his earplugs and waited once more.

***

The screams went on for four more nights, getting more
fearsome and more animalistic with each passing
moment. Ko Lon knew that at the end of the next night,
they would be screams of hate and rage, and the
process would be complete, and the victim would be
lost to the ancient curse. Zhenmaoh. The Cat-Boxer.
She had to go to the council of matriarchs. They would
do something, for certain!

***

"We must help him!"
"We can not, Ko Lon! It is dangerous!"
"If the curse completes, it will be loose in our land,
and then what happens to us? What happens to your
precious peace!?
The head matriarch mumbled something incoherently as
the two lesser women backed off and her assistant
spoke.
"She says that the elder Ko Lon may take two warriors
to liberate the victim, and that the fate if said
victim is in her hands, but also that the actions of
the victim will be on her head from that point."

***

Genma casually looked in the mirror to notice the deep
cycles under his eyes and how thin he had become.
It would be mere moments until the last step of
Ranma's training was to begin, and then he would die.
"I have to do this, No-chan." Genma looked in the
mirror to see his wife looking back at him, pain in
her eyes, and began to well up in tears himself. "It
was the emperor's orders! He said he'd kill me!! The
master made me do it! I had too!"
"Poor man" Nodoka's pain shown through the mirror as
if she had been standing right in front of him, and
then suddenly she was. "I pity you for your dishonor.
Our family's blade has been spit upon by your likes,
and you will never regain our honor. Our son will be
the one to do that, when beasts plague Nerima and the
war is set upon us. Then shall you die and then shall
I return. But your dishonor will not even leave us
then, for that which you have set in motion will live
in our families for generations to come, and
generations past will feel this as well, in an
infinite wheel of torment. It all boils down to your
folly, Genma. I guess I should just kill you now.
The apparition put her hands around Genma's throat
with a grip like a vice, and then the burning began.
As Genma became thinner and thinner, and the fire
seared his flesh more and more suddenly-!!

Genma woke up on the floor of the bare cabin with his
own arms around his throat.
"A dream. It must have been" The old man let out a
laugh and regained his position, counting the small
fangs that serrated the edge of the holes for hours.
Soon enough...
Then, as if to shun Genma's thoughts, the small,
bloodied hand appeared again, and Genma readied the
final blow. One bucket of glue and another of catnip
covered Ranma as his deep, sad eyes beseeched his
father for helped. Unfortunately, the only think his
father allowed him was a leather-soled foot to the
face, and oblivion.
Unfortunately, that oblivion did not come, and Ranma
faced his assailants once more.

***

"We're ready, Honored Elder," the soft feminine voice
lilted like that of a mountain bird, ready to pick off
a moist caterpillar.
"Have we seen the victim? Are we sure of what's going
on? Is this the place?"
As if in answer, the cabin began to vibrate with the
furious yowls that filled the air, and the warriors
gave Ko Lon a curt nod and edged closer to the target.
The Matriarch sighed plaintively and gave the signal
to begin the rescue.

***

Genma listened to the screams of the creature that
used to be his son in fascination. Not even upon being
boiled alive had prisoners of the emperor given such
distinctly odd reactions. Any who was such a coward
deserved not to be among the saotome clan anyway.
"Pull him out" Genma shot a look at the mirror, and,
instead of seeing Nodoka's apparition again, as he had
expected, he saw a tall Chinese woman looming over his
own sitting figure. No woman was going to beat Genma
Saotome, Emperor's own. Genma turned around to fight,
and then noticed the savage joy as the second Amazon
entered the cabin. This was trouble.

***

Ko Lon could not help but be satisfied to see the huge
bear of a man trussed up on the ground like a calf,
and the whimpering boy-child wrapped up in a blanket
to conceal and protect his wounds. It seemed that
young Muu su's mother had already taken to the boy.
Perhaps this was a good idea after all.
"I will take care of the old one, children. Return to
the village and see to the child." Ko lon roughly
grabbed the binds held Genma and drug him out to the
top of the cliff, jarring him awake in the process.
"I have taken all of your possessions, beast. There is
a boat waiting at the bottom of this cliff. Leave
China and never, upon pain of torture, return to us. I
will not forget you and your family's sword shall
never return to Japan under the name," Ko Lon took a
good look at the Hirigana adorning the scabbard,
"Saotome." With that Ko Lon cut the man loose and
knocked him off of the high cliff in a direction from
whence he would surely be able to swim to the boat.
"Now to see to the child..."

***

Ko Lon carefully examined the boy's wounds and
determined that all of his scars, great though they
were, would be mental except for two. Firstly,
unmistakable, was the three-clawed swipe across his
cheek. Secondly was the teeth-mark in his right hand.
Those would mark the boy forever.
She had to reconcile, though, that all was well and
good. Despite the boy's condition, it was obvious that
he was a peak martial artist, and more-so, considering
his age. The problems now were in allowing him to live
a normal life in the village, for he surely would not
lose a duel to any of Ko Lon's girls, and none of the
Joketsuzo would ever forget the bowel-shaking screams
of the past fortnight. They would never forget the
curse of Zhenmaoh. The cat fist.
"Zhenmaoh. How does that sound as a use-name, child?"
The boy stared at her blankly, and, surprisingly,
churned out some semi-functional Chinese.
"I....Wild-horse. Not Cat-boxer."
"You are Zhenmaoh." Ko Lon gave him a stern gaze that
promised further explanation.

***

The warrior who was born in his own pyre.
The warrior who's father's son, of whom the mother
desired.
Fate was not done with him yet.
For there was still the matter of debt.
Revenge comes smoothly in fate's own way.
The Warrior Zhenmaoh had just begun his day.


For critique and comments and criticisms please E-mail
Inu_Ranma@yahoo.com or post the usual Re:...here on
FFML. Please tell me if you liked it!


-Inu

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