Anyway, here's another installment of my cat-related fanfic. ^_^  It's a
rough draft (although it's been through one round of pre-reading -- many
thanks to my pre-readers!) so I'd appreciate any C&C (public and/or private).
 
The rest of Part 1 will hopefully be up sometime this weekend but no
promises.

If any of you are interested, I'm still looking for a few more pre-readers
for upcoming sections.  

====================== 
  TIGER CLAW 
====================== 
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic 

	All rights and privileges to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi or her
licensees.  The characters of her series are used without her permission for
the purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for
sale or profit.                
	All original characters are the creation of the author.  All copyright
privileges to these characters are reserved for the author.  


		 		
Text Conventions
	*  *  -> thoughts and quotations
	_ _   -> stressed words
	> <   -> sound fx
	>" "< -> animal speech

	words in all capitals are also stressed

	Curse forms are denoted by suffixes such as -chan or -neko

===================================
Part 1: No More Pussyfooting Around
===================================

--------------------
Part 1a:  Cat's-Paws
--------------------

	After arriving in Nerima, Yonoko spent three days carefully finalizing her
arrangements.  Once the plan was put in motion, there would be no going back
and no time to fix stupid mistakes.  She was playing a deadly, high-stakes
game and the slightest error could be catastrophic.  Despite what she told
the Funadas, Yonoko had absolutely no intention of merely testing Saotome.
 He knew the Neko-ken; that fact has been convincingly established early on.
 No, if all went according to plan tomorrow, she was going to rip a hole
right into Ranma Saotome's innermost self.  

	But that would be just the first blow, one of many to follow.  A blow like
that would normally be more than enough to finish off most people, but Yonoko
knew that it would take much more to bring Saotome down.  He was a fighter
and he would never give up or surrender so easily.

	Ebon had set forth a very simple strategy.  "Wound the prey.  Wear it down.
 And when it's too weak to struggle, move in for the kill."  And once the
'kill' was completed, the person known as Ranma Saotome would no longer
exist....

	Yonoko checked through her operatives' reports, verifying that the each of
the four women had actually received her message.  *The Tendo girl should be
sufficient motivation, but I suppose Ebon has a point.  It can't hurt to give
Saotome a little more incentive to perform to his real limits.*

	"And now for the male players."  She opened up a small wooden chest and
removed three fur-wrapped bundles.  After a moment's consideration, she
returned the third one to the chest.  Yonoko carefully untied each bundle to
reveal a hand-sized, clay figurine made wrapped in a fur skin belt.  She
checked the animal-shaped figurines for damage and placed them aside.

	Under Ebon's guidance, she had worked on those figurines for days, carefully
weaving together a complicated assortment of shapeshifting and control
spells, and then linking those spells to the fur belts.  The figurines were
essential because they would allow her to maintain several different spells
at once while also allowing Yonoko to concentrate her powers on more
important matters.

	Looking down on the figurines, Yonoko paused, strangely moved by this
moment.  Decades...no, centuries of waiting were finally over.  All those
years spent tracking down even the vaguest rumors of the Neko-ken, searching
for the smallest clue....  She could remember her joy when she had finally
heard about Saotome.  But she could also recall her furious disappointment
when Ebon had insisted on waiting nearly two more years for the boy to
'ripen' a bit.  She had questioned Ebon's decision to wait, strongly
questioned it.  Given Saotome's lifestyle, he could have been crippled or
killed at any time.  All her effort and those years of planning would have
been totally wasted.  

	But now ... now she could fully understand Ebon's reasons because the
results were well worth the wait.  At sixteen, Ranma Saotome had been a mere
boy, an excellent martial artist but brash, inexperienced, and immature in so
many ways.  At nearly eighteen, he had grown into a young _man_, and with all
the training and experiences that he had been through, a truly formidable
martial artist.  He had grown in other ways, too, but those were of only
minor importance to her or Ebon.

	Yonoko pulled out a recent photo of Ranma Saotome, taken just a few days ago
by her source inside the Tendo Dojo, and smiled appreciatively.  The picture
showed Saotome standing in the courtyard, one arm up thrown up in a blocking
position, his body perfectly poised to either defend or attack.  Even with
just a profile view of his face, she could sense the intense focus, the
unusual strength of both mind and body.  Her fingers slowly trailed over the
photo, tracing the strong, sleek lines of the chest and arm muscles left
exposed by the young man's white tanktop.  Saotome had definitely moved out
of the category of 'merely good-looking' and into 'seriously handsome'.  

	She delicately licked her lips in anticipation.  "And once Ebon is
comfortably ensconced in Saotome's body, the two of us will finally be
together....  Enjoy him while you can, girls.  You won't have him for long."

	Yonoko sighed and shook her head to clear the fantasies from her brain.  She
sorted through a few more photos and pulled out two special ones.  She
grinned dangerously as she picked up the two fur belts.  "Well, boys.  The
Tiger Lily is coming to visit."

----------------

	It was midnight in a forested mountain area not too far from Nerima.  Ryoga
Hibiki stared into his campfire and pondered about the overwhelming injustice
of the world.  In the wake of the first wedding fiasco, Ryoga had given up on
Akane and had chosen to devote his attentions to Akari.  But as weeks and
months passed, it hadn't been enough for him.  Oh, Akari was pleasant,
understanding, and affectionate.  More importantly, she knew about his curse
and didn't mind at all.  He liked her a good deal, but his 'liking' for Akari
was only a pale shadow compared to his burning passion for Akane Tendo.
 Despite his firm intention to leave Nerima and the people there far behind
him, he had ended up spending more and more time back at the Tendo dojo in
Akane's arms.  Even sweet-tempered Akari had had her limits.  Faced with
Akari's tearful demand that he pick either her or Akane Tendo, he had chosen
Akane and fled Akari's farm.
	
	Ryoga muttered, "And when I finally get back to Nerima, who should run me
over and grind my face into the dirt, but Ranma Saotome!"  He had naturally
attacked Saotome for that insult but as usual, Ranma had used his speed,
agility, and that all-too-sneaky mind of his to transform Ryoga into harmless
little P-chan.  What made that particular incident even more infuriating was
Ranma's rather absent-minded attitude during the fight.  He had acted as if
Ryoga wasn't worthy of his full attention.  

	"How dare he ignore me!  When I get back to Nerima, I'll show him that he
just can't brush me off like that!"

	 But for now, Ryoga sat, somewhere in the wilderness, hunched over a lonely
campfire.  He brooded about every single insult and indignity, real or
imagined, inflicted by Ranma.  It didn't help Ryoga's state of mind at all to
know that Akane was starting to act as if she actually liked Ranma.  He could
see it in her face and hear it in her voice.  Ryoga could only hope that it
was a temporary phase that would soon wear off.  After all, there was no way
that a girl like Akane could really lov... _like_ a rude, thoughtless,
insensitive jerk like Ranma, right?

	A soft, sultry woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Ryoga Hibiki."

	He stiffened in surprise. "Huh!?  How did she sneak up on me?"  He looked
around, then saw a flicker of motion above his head in a nearby tree.
 Leaping back from his campfire and his simmering meal, he saw the shadowy
form of a woman perched on a low branch.  He couldn't make out her face but
saw that she was on the small side and had a very nice figure.  A stray wind
gust sent long strands of red hair floating in the breeze.

	"Who are you?"

	"Perhaps a friend....  You have an opponent called Ranma Saotome?"

	"What do you know about Ranma?"

	"Enough.  I know that he's a formidable fighter, that he has the woman you
want, and that you're at his mercy regarding a secret and a little black
pig." She seemed to float, not jump, down from the branch and landed a few
steps away from him.

	Ryoga's eyes bulged in surprise.  "You ... you know about that?  How...?" 

	She chuckled softly.  "I have my sources.  You've had precious little
success against Ranma, haven't you?  Oh, you've occasionally come close to
beating him in combat.  You may have actually won once or twice.  But that
really doesn't matter, does it?  No matter what you do, he still ends up with
the real prize, every time. Isn't that right?"

	"Grrrr."  No matter how much Ryoga wanted to deny it, Ranma always ended up
with Akane.  

	The fluttering of the woman's long red hair suddenly caused an angry
suspicion to flood through Ryoga's usually dense brain.  Red hair, short, big
breasts...surely it could only be.... 

	"RANMA!  I've had enough of your STUPID disguises!"  He grabbed his
ever-present kettle of hot water and dumped it all over the woman.

	Who stayed a woman.  A very wet, very ANGRY woman.

	< WHACK!!! >

	"You fool!  What was that for!?"  She slapped him again for good measure.

	Faced with the prospect of a beautiful, enraged woman clad in a wet and now
nearly transparent gown, Ryoga could feel a definite trickle of blood
steeping down his nose.  "Uhhh.... uhhhh....  It was a honest mistake!
 Ranma's always trying to trick me by disguising himself....  It's all his
fault!"

	"Isn't it always?"  The woman glared at Ryoga and waved off his babbled
apologies.   She suddenly shed her 'mysterious seductress' pose and gave him
a cold, hard stare. "That's not important now.  Let's get down to business."

	Ryoga shivered a bit.  Now she reminded him unpleasantly of Nabiki Tendo on
the prowl for a _really_ big deal....

	"You want to defeat Ranma Saotome, once and for all, and you want Akane
Tendo for yourself, correct?"

	Ryoga mutely nodded.
	
	"I want Ranma Saotome punished for his crimes against me."

	He blinked and asked, "What did he do to you?"

	"That's none of your business.  Suffice it to say that I want him to suffer,
all right?  I want to see him humbled and broken!  And the best way to do
that is to make sure he's thoroughly humiliated in combat _and_ also loses
his precious fiancee."

	"I...I...see."

	"There's no way that I can do either of those things myself.  However, I can
help _you_ to do them."

	"How?"

	"With this."  She held up a wide belt in her hands.

	"It looks like...."

	"....tiger skin, yes.  Ranma's strong points is his speed and agility.  With
this belt, the grace and speed of the tiger can be yours.  Combine those with
your superior strength, and you won't have a problem defeating him."  

	She smiled wickedly at Ryoga and added, "The belt will also help you in
another way.  You know about Ranma's _little_ cat problem?"

	Ryoga thought a bit.  "Oh yeah, Ranma's always freaking out when he sees a
cat.  He either freezes or runs off screaming."

	The woman gave him a sinister smile.  "This belt will give you the aura of a
cat.  Ranma will be absolutely terrified of you.  An easy target."

	Ryoga hesitated briefly, then suddenly grinned as he imagined Ranma
grovelling in abject terror while Akane looked on in complete disgust.  *Oh,
Akane, I'll be able to show you what a pathetic coward Ranma is.  You'll see
for yourself how unworthy he is of being your fiancee.*  He then pictured
Akane booting Ranma far, far, far away and then moving to embrace Ryoga.

	He eagerly grabbed the tiger skin belt and asked, "How does it work?".

	"All you have to do is wear this in your next battle with him.  Tomorrow
morning at 9 AM."

	Ryoga blinked.  "Tomorrow?  Why tomorrow morning?"

	The red-haired woman smiled grimly.  "Oh, didn't you know?  Ranma is
planning to secretly marry Akane tomorrow morning at the Tendo home."

	"HE'S WHAT!?!?!?!  Why...why that miserable bastard!"  Ryoga smashed an
innocent nearby tree into splinters. "He probably forced her into this
wedding, too, with the help of those two old goats they call 'fathers'!"  He
then turned in the direction directly opposite of Nerima and prepared to
march off that instant in the true 'victory or death' spirit.

	The woman whipped out a pail of cold water and dumped it over Ryoga's head.
 Digging out P-chan from the pile of loose clothes, she held him up and shook
him hard.  "Where do you think you're going?  If you try to get to Nerima by
yourself, you won't arrive until after the honeymoon's over and your precious
Akane's two months pregnant!"

	P-chan went rigid, his eyes bulged, and blood gushed from his nose as images
of a naked Ranma and Akane cavorting in a gaudy honeymoon suite bounced
wildly around in his brain.  

	*NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!* he silently screamed, then immediately fainted.

	The woman stared at the limp piglet in mild disgust.  "Hmmm.  I think I
overdid it.  Who would think that a dolt like him could be so damn
high-strung?"

	P-chan slowly revived after being repeatedly dunked in cold water and
groggily muttered, >"Bwaiiii?"<
	In a daze, he though, *What...what was it...about Akane?  Pregnant?  That
means, she...she and Ranma...they had to...they were....oh, nooooo....*
	
	When the woman saw P-chan fainting again, she slapped him none too lightly
across the muzzle.  "It hasn't happened YET!  Get a grip on yourself!  How
are you going to help Akane if you keep fainting like that?"

	P-chan blinked at her with tears pouring down his face and uttered a
pathetic little squeal. 

	The woman sighed.  "Now listen to me.  It hasn't happened yet and it won't
happen _if_ you do what I say!  I can make sure that you get to Nerima in
time to stop the wedding."  She held a braided black and red cord in front of
his face. "See this?  Tie this around your wrist and it will guide you to
wherever Ranma Saotome is.  Now, are you prepared to sit still and listen to
me?"

	The little piglet slowly nodded his head.    >"Bweeeee..."<

----------------

	That same night at the Kuno family mansion....

	Kuno awoke to the sound of a soft rustle in his room.  He grabbed the bokken
lying beside him, then suddenly sprang from his bed and bellowed, "Who dares
invade the chambers of Tatewaki Kuno, he who is known as Blue Thunder!"  A
distant rumble echoed in the night.

	There was a soft, frightened yelp, followed by a long silence.  Then a meek
yet sultry woman's voice whispered, "Just a woman in desperate need of help."

	In the moonlight from the open window, Kuno could see the shadowy form of a
young woman.  She was petite and undeniably gorgeous, with long red tresses
falling to her waist.  He blinked and whispered hopefully, "Pig-tailed girl?"

	His mysterious visitor sadly shook her head.  "No, I am not the woman you
love.  But I _am_ trying to help her and others win their freedom."

	"Freedom?  You...you don't mean...from that foul sorcerer and enslaver of
women, Ranma Saotome!?"

	The woman nodded and sniffled pathetically.  "Just so.  I've come to beg
your aid to help these women!  You're my only hope!  All others have turned
away from their plight, content to allow your beloved pig-tailed girl to lie
in vile slavery to the dark Saotome.  To be so enchanted that she's deprived
of her very own identity and name!"  

	She sagged to her knees and uttered a heartbreaking sob.  "And what of the
brave Akane Tendo, who hates him and curses him for the foul villain he is,
yet still cannot free herself from his evil grasp?"  
	
	Kuno dropped his bokken and grabbed her hands.  "Speak on, fair maiden.
 Please, how may I help my two loves!  I implore you!"

	"Saotome..." she shuddered before continuing in a faint whisper.  "... is
planning to secretly wed Akane Tendo tomorrow morning...."

	Kuno froze in shock.  The woman eyed him and hastily tried to finish
speaking before he exploded.

	"... and intends to use both Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl immediately
thereafter in foul acts beyond description to satisfy his vile lusts...."

	"WHAT!?!?!?"  Slight flickers of reddish energy began to drift off Kuno's
body.  "Saotome!  You fiend!  Not just one but both.  And at the same time! I
would rend your curst heart from your breast before I would allow my loves to
suffer such lecherous and lascivious acts!  Saotome, prepare to DIIEEEE!!!"
 He swept up his bokken and leapt for the window.

	The young woman grabbed Kuno with amazing strength and hauled him back into
the room. "NO!  You mustn't do it that way, noble sir!  Don't you understand?
 He's the only one who knows where the pig-tailed girl is!  If you kill
Saotome now, before the wedding, you will NEVER SEE YOUR BELOVED PIG-TAILED
GIRL AGAIN!  The horrible spell binding her to Saotome will never be broken!"

	Kuno stared at her for a long moment before her words slowly oozed into his
brain.  "Say ... again...."

	Satisfied that Kuno was actually listening to her, the woman relaxed her
grip slightly.  However, taking no chances, she poked him on a pressure point
which left him paralyzed on his feet.  "You must challenge the evil Saotome
_at_ the wedding ceremony, not before!  For only then will he summon the
pig-tailed girl from her imprisonment so he may gloat and taunt her with the
terrible torments that await her."

	Kuno gurgled in incoherent rage.

	"And for all your great skill, you cannot defeat him unaided!"  She held up
a tiger skin belt and shoved it into his hands.  "The evil Saotome fears cats
beyond all reason and this belt will evoke that terrible fear in him. Wear it
into battle and he _shall_ crouch down before you like a mindless beast."

	Even in his seething fury, Kuno hesitated.  He frowned at the belt in his
hands and in low, strangled tones, he whispered, "But...but a true warrior
does not rely on arcane trickery to overcome his opponents...."

	The woman slowly recoiled from him and sobbed, "So...you _are_ no better
than any of the others!  I thought you were strong enough to do whatever was
necessary to save your loves but I was WRONG!  Your pride is more important
to you than the women you claim to love so much!"  She slapped him hard.
 "Yes, let them suffer degradation and unspeakable misery at Saotome's hands,
what do you care?  Well, I hope that you survive your encounter with him so
that you can see for yourself what you've...you've...."

	She broke off with a heart-wrenching cry, grabbed the belt from Kuno's hands
and turned to leave.  A step away from the window, she heard Kuno's anguished
voice shout, "No!  Forgive my momentary weakness!  Please, I beg you!  You
are quite right, Saotome must die by fair means or foul!  Nothing else
matters!"

	As she stood with her back to the still paralyzed Kuno, a bone-chilling grin
of satisfaction momentarily touched the woman's lips.  The faint grin was
instantly replaced by a timid smile as she turned around to face him.

	She gently touched his reddened cheek where she had slapped him and
murmured, "Please...please forgive me.  It's been such a struggle....
 Saotome is so powerful, so vicious....  You _were_ my last hope and when I
thought you didn't care...."  She sniffled and awkwardly wiped at her nose
with the back of her hand.

	Placing the tiger skin belt back into Kuno's hands, she moved toward the
window.  "I'm very sorry about your current immobility but I was desperate to
keep you from premature action.  You will recover full motion in a few hours,
my hero, in ample time to prepare for your duel.  Remember, noble Kuno.  At
the wedding ceremony at 9 AM and not before.  Otherwise, both Akane Tendo and
the pig-tailed girl will be lost to you _forever_!"  She then slipped out the
window and disappeared like a wisp of mist.

	Kuno forced his fingers to close around the furred belt.
 "Yes...yes...tomorrow.... Tomorrow morning, Ranma Saotome!  I shall SMITE
your filthy presence from this earth!  DEATH!  DEATH to Ranma Saotome!!!"

----------------

	In the Tendo house, Ranma sneezed loudly in his sleep.

----------------

(to be continued) 

---------------------------------------
  madamhydra@aol.com    /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E