In wasn't satisfied with this so I updated it a little. I guess it seemed
bigger when I wrote it before. I also added a few scenes and cleared up a few
things a little.

Permanent 5: A China tale
V1.1

	Ranma Saotome followed the guide with a dead look on her face. "Here sirs we
find village of Amazon." said the guide as he pointed at village they were
about to enter. 
	"Amazons?" said Genma's sign. Ranma stood staring at nothing. Sitting on her
pack was Mr.P he looked at the village and squealed approvingly. The group
walked on and into the village.

	"Very lucky today sirs They show their strength today." said the guide. Ranma
snorted as they sat by a large table with a sign on it, she pulled out one of
the many books she had 'borrowed' from the guides home and began reading. He
watched her nervously. He did not ever read them himself but felt very
uncomfortable with her taking them like she did. There were thousands of them,
collected over the centuries by former guides and unfortunate visitors. The
girl had only taken about fifty volumes on specific topics, so he let it go.
She had emptied her pack of all but the most essential items to make room and
had around fifteen books strapped on the outside of her bag. "Very strange
young one." he muttered as she ignored the show.
	Genma happily chowed down on the food on the table. Until a bonbori smashed
it into splinters. Ranma looked up from her reading and frowned as a young
Chinese girl yelled angrily at them in Chinese. "You there panda girl. Why you
steal my prize she say." said the guide translating the girls ranting. 
	Ranma looked at the panda and sighed. She calmly placed her book back into
the bag and lifted it over her shoulder. "Keep him." she said to the girl,
with that she began to walk away.
	"Son?" said the panda with a sign.
	The girl called after him and followed Ranma with an angry stare. "Where you
think you going? she say" translated the guide.
	"Tell her the animal is not mine." said Ranma. "I'm not responsible for him."
The guide did. Shampoo stared at the girl hard. She said something in Chinese.
	"Only if you give pig as well." said the guide.
	"No." Replied Ranma never even breaking stride as she walked out of the
village.
	Shampoo growled and charged at Ranma. Ranma ducked under the blow and rolled
away removing her bag as she went. She stood facing Shampoo with a neutral
expression. Shampoo charged again. Ranma sidestepped and kicked under her arms
catching her in the chin. Shampoo fell back and landed on the ground hard.
Ranma stood ready for another attack. Shampoo slowly got to her feet and shook
her head. She stared at Ranma hard. Ranma watched as the villagers gasped and
the guide looked at him in terror. "He is won!" he cried. Shampoo walked over
to Ranma and kissed her on the cheek. The guide grabbed Ranma's arm and ran
from the village.

	Cologne looked at her Great grand daughter and sighed. "So a foreign girl
defeated you and you gave her the kiss of death." she said looking at the
young girl. Shampoo nodded. "Go then and be quick in your return." she said to
her. Shampoo bowed and turned away. 
	As she emerged from her Great Grandmother's home Mousse ran up to her.
"Shampoo promise you'll marry me when you return." he cried hugging a nearby
bush.
	 "Stupid Mousse, I'll never marry you. Not until you defeat me." Said Shampoo
giving him a half hearted blow to the head. Mousse slumped to the ground. 
	"That wasn't near as hard as she used to hit...I think I'm wearing her down!"
he thought happily.
	"Maybe marrying him wouldn't be so bad." thought Shampoo as she walked away.
She turned and watched him grinning and drooling in his fantasies on the
ground. "Right, it would be worse." she muttered as she walked on.

	Ranma entered a village after a long day of hiking and  was attracted to a
large gathering of people. She entered a home where most of the village waited
outside. <What going on?> she asked one of the young men.
	The boy blushed at the attention she had placed on him, he winced as his
splint hit the wall jarring his broken arm. <A birth.> he said. 
	Ranma smiled at the boy and he sighed. "What a loser." she thought amused.
	Ranma heard cries of pain from the hut and then the cry of a baby. She
started to walk away when one of the men cried out in anguish. She turned to
see a man was being carried out of the hut. She turned back to the boy again.
<What happen?" she asked. The boy who was now pale turned to her. <She will
not live.> he said sadly, now oblivious to her charms.
Ranma frowned and pushed her way into the hut. <You can't go in there!> called
the boy chasing after her.
	<Let her go boy, and forget any ideas you had about her.> said one of the
elders standing at the door. 
	<She spoke to you?> asked the boy.
	<No but I recognize some of the books she has on that bag of hers. You do not
want to anger someone like her. She will not harm anyone, quite the opposite.>
said the elder.
	<What?> said the confused boy, just then a bright pink light emanated from
the hut. The woman inside began screaming again in pain, only this time it was
far worse than before. A few moments past and some of the men ran from the hut
in terror. The boy looked to see the old man was laughing heartily.
	The girl emerged from the hut and started to walk away. <My village is
grateful to you great mage.> said the elder to her.
	<Not great...not yet.> said Ranma without turning.
	<What did you do to my sister?> said the boy angrily as he walked over to
Ranma. The elder stiffened. 
	<Quiet boy! Show some respect, she is the reason your sister lives now!> he
snapped. <Do you wish to anger her?> 
	Ranma turned and stared at the boy with her piercing blue eyes. The boy
faltered. <Is OK. I Show.> she said to the elder. She turned to the boy and
smiled <This really hurt.> she said and grabbed his arm with blinding speed.
He yelped in suprise and pain as her hands glowed pink again. He felt his arm
burn in pain as if his bones were on fire inside. He began to scream in agony
and fell to his knees as she let go clutching his arm. He stayed that way for
a moment and tried to catch his breath. <That what do to sister.> she said
with a smile. The boy didn't know what to say he simply stared at his arm in
disbelief. Ranma walked out of the village with her animals following.

	Ryoga sat in the corner of the abandoned hut. He glared as Ranma sat sleeping
into a corner. Genma watched her with an angry stare. He was still quite upset
about what Ranma had done at the amazon village. The guide had abandoned them
a few days ago because of the so called 'Kiss of death'. Ranma had neither
seen nor heard anything about the amazons since. That had been a week ago.
Ryoga walked over to the pack and rummaged around for a moment. He emerged
with a small curved knife in his teeth. 
	"Ranma, girl or not you die for what you've done to me!" he thought angrily.
Then he saw a shadow loom over him, he turned to see a small delicate looking
foot come towards his face. He squealed in fear and pain as it stepped on him.

	Shampoo cursed as she felt her foot hit something soft and round. It squealed
loudly. Ranma woke with a start and charged at her. Shampoo jumped up barely
avoiding Ranma. She flipped over her and came down slashing at Ranma's back
with her sword. Ranma cried out as made a long shallow cut along her back. She
rolled and scooped up the pig and her bag before leaping out the window and
disappearing into the night. The panda watched this wide eyed from the corner
and did not move. Shampoo snorted and walked out angrily chasing after Ranma.

	It was almost five a.m. before Ranma finally lost her. He had retreated into
the woods and found refuge in a tree. Her clothes were slashed and she bled
from several small wounds. She held the pig in her arms and drifted off into
sleep. 
	Ryoga squirmed out of Ranma's arms and glared at her. He had not liked the
ride she had given him last night. Snorting angrily he moved into the small
space between her and the tree. He began to push her as hard as he could off
the branch. After a few moments she budged. Ryoga snorted and moved over to
her side. He put his head against her and shoved as hard. Ranma's eyes shot
open and she scooped him up. He squealed in terror as she jumped up to the
next branch. He looked down to see that the space he had been in was covered
in shruken. He shook in fright as the adrenaline rushed through his veins.
Ranma dropped through the branches occasionally dodging another projectile
from the ground. Finally she landed on the ground facing a furious Shampoo.
Ranma decided she had enough of the amazon. 
	"Ranma I kill." Shampoo spat holding a spear against her side. She pointed it
at Ranma and stabbed, Ranma dodged and did a hooking crescent kick at the
young amazons head, Shampoo blocked and slashed Ranma across the stomach
ripping a long gash across it and tearing her shirt. Ranma fell to her knees
and rolled as Shampoo attempted to stab her while she was down.  Ranma took
the opportunity to uppercut her and send her flying into a nearby tree.
Shampoo cried out as she felt her back slam into the tree. She slumped
unconscious. Ranma looked at her a moment and walked away.

	A few minutes later Shampoo woke with a start. "Why didn't she kill me?" she
wondered as she inspected herself. A smile formed on her lips, "Maybe she
can't." she thought with a smile.
	Ranma walked on and met her father on the outside of the town they had stayed
in before Shampoo had attacked. Genma ran up to her with a sign that said.
"Son I'm so glad your safe." 
	Ranma glared at him and turned her back. She walked away with Genma
following. She neither acknowledged his presence or tried to turn him away.
She just walked on. She had a long way to go to reach the pacific. 
	It would be almost three days before Shampoo attacked again.

	Ranma walked into a pitiful looking village where people sat and watched her
and her companions go by. Children scurried away from her as she passed
through. They watched her as she walked by from around corners and hidden in
shadows. One boy just sat in the middle of the street and stared off into the
distance. She walked up to him and looked down. He was pitiful, he just sat
and stared at nothing. <Hey boy, you get hurt you stay in road.> she said in
bad Mandarin. The boy was startled and cowered in fear. A woman in one of the
homes started to move towards Ranma but was stopped by someone inside. She let
out a soft pained cry. She was obviously this child�s mother. The boy was
blind. Ranma felt her chest become tight.
	<Stand boy be man.> she said pulling the boy to his feet. She wiped his face
and he placed his hands on her face, memorizing it.  <Not how see, I show.>
said Ranma and she clutched the boy's head. The boy cried out again in suprise
and fear, he twisted in a vain attempt to break Ranma�s firm grip on his head.
The mother finally freed herself from the home and ran towards Ranma. Ranma's
hands glowed bright blue and the boy fell to the ground unconscious.
	<You killed my baby!> cried the woman as she held the seemingly deceased boy
in her arms. <I curse you traveler.> she cried.
	<I simply gave him what he deserved.> said Ranma as she walked out of the
village with a wry smile on her face. "Now I know that spell works." she
thought. Genma and Ryoga just followed blindly, they had seen this many times
before in other villages.
	"Your going soft boy." said Genma's sign.
	"Kindness is not a weakness." said Ranma.

	The boy woke in her arms as the woman wept clutching him tightly. The village
looked on in anger. <Mom, there is something wrong with my eyes.> said the
boy.
	<Yes I know.> The woman pulled away. <What?> she said.
	The boy began crying. <She did something to my eyes mom!> he said with tears
in his eyes, he was crying in fear.
	<You are alive!> cried the woman and she bent down to kiss her son in joy. He
pulled away reflexively.
	The woman stopped and stared at him. One of the villagers waved his hand in
front of the boy's face and he shied away. The villagers all looked at the
figures that were disappearing over the horizon.

	Shampoo stood and watched her prey for a moment as she bought a small meal
from a local restaurant. She smiled as Ranma began to eat. "I won't give you
the pleasure of a meal." she sneered and charged at her.
	Ranma looked up from her beef fried rice as the wall of the small restaurant
crashed in revealing an angry Shampoo. "Ranma I kill!" cried the Amazon. Ranma
uttered a single curse in frustration at the suprise attack. She quickly
backflipped over the counter and landed next to the grill as Shampoo dove
after her. Ranma ducked causing the bonbori to slam into the grill completely
demolishing it. She rolled between the Amazon's legs and kicked her in the
back as she flipped back to her feet. Shampoo was thrown against the hot grill
and she screamed and jumped off. She dropped the bonbori and pulled out a
nasty looking sword. She slashed at Ranma who ducked and rolled  away again
causing Shampoo to take a large section of the counter off. Ranma lept over
the counter and rolled yet again barely avoiding an attempt to catch her in
mid air. She dashed out of the restaurant�s front door. Ranma turned toward
the restaurant only to see it explode in a ball of fire. 
	Ranma looked around the remains of the restaurant an hour later.  None of the
customers had survived the attack. She looked at the remains of the grill
again. When Shampoo had hit it with her bonbori she had damaged the tank which
held the fuel. The owner had been using one much to large for the grill and it
had exploded the moment the gas came in contact with the pilot flame. "She
isn't here." muttered Ranma after searching the rubble. Shampoo had escaped.

	Ranma took her things and walked towards where she had left Mr.P and her
father on the outskirts of town. She had learned the other day that bringing
animals into villages where people were starving was dangerous, especially for
the animals.	
	Shampoo smiled as she watched Ranma walk on from her perch in the tree's. She
would kill her yet. She knew where she was going and that was enough for now.
	About a day later Ranma walked along a path that led through some woods. She
walked silently with the pig on her back who secretly plotted her death, and a
panda behind her who sulked from being ignored. 
	Ryoga had managed to get a good sized rock onto the top of the bag. He
laughed his little pig laugh as he pushed it towards the edge towards Ranma's
head. The top of the bag was about two feet above Ranma's head and she would
definitely feel the blow. Ranma stopped and ducked suddenly and Ryoga looked
over the edge of the stone to see a branch swinging towards him. He squealed
and jumped into the air leaping over it. It knocked the rock neatly off the
pack and it rolled into the bush.  He landed back on the pack. and looked at
the branch as it swayed from its momentum.

	Ranma walked until she felt something against her shin. She looked down and
saw a thin line that stretched across the path. She ducked and felt something
go over her head. She also felt something fall of her back. "Mr.P!" she cried
and turned to see the branch swinging in the air. It was covered in spikes.
She tensed up and looked to the ground and hoped she didn't see what she
thought was there. She heard a soft squeal from behind her and saw the pig
hyperventilating on her back as he stared at the spiked branch. She sighed in
relief and cautiously continued on her path. She considered going back but she
couldn't be sure how many traps she had missed. She pressed on and uncovered
several other lethal traps including one who had caught an unfortunate
traveler. She looked down the pit and saw a bag that had red spikes protruding
from it with arms and legs also impaled on spikes jutting from the sides. A
few minutes later Ranma nearly killed herself by walking into some nearly
transparent wire that cut her cheek and arms when she walked into it.
	A few hours later Shampoo attacked again. Ranma narrowly escaped again barely
avoiding the girls blades by getting on a small boat and floating away in
piranha ridden waters. And so it went for seven months. Shampoo setting traps
when she could and ambushing Ranma at every turn, night and day. Ranma resting
only when she had to and most of the time only barely surviving the attacks
and traps. Until one day...
	
	Ranma desperately ran up the side of the mountain and weaved between the
tree's. She didn't know how far the Amazon was behind her. "Doesn't she ever
give up?" she thought as she ran. She felt something in the air around her and
jumped straight up in the air. As soon as she was clear two logs slammed into
each other beneath her. She landed on them as they collided and jumped off to
the side as a third log came down from above. She continued running until she
reached the top. She stopped and stared at her precarious situation.  She had
come to a cliff. She looked down and saw fog below her about four hundred feet
down. The ground was who knows how far below that. She turned to see a battle
scarred and tired looking Shampoo standing below her about twenty yards away.
Shampoo's body was covered in almost as many scars as Ranma's was, she looked
crazed and angry as ever.
	"Why you no die?!!!" she cried as she charged Ranma.
	Ranma dodged and weaved from Shampoo's blows. She tried desperately to find a
way to escape.  Ranma realized that she was trapped, there was no where for
her to run to this time. She had to fight or die. She glanced around
desperately hoping she missed something any escape she might try, there was
none. She turned and stared down the Amazon who stared at her with cold eyes,
the vacant eyes that only the insane could posses. It was obvious that Shampoo
could see the fear in Ranma's eyes. "No where run now coward, I kill now."
said Shampoo with and evil grin.  Ranma punched at the Amazon who grunted and
slammed her in the face with her bonbori.  
	Ranma fell to her knees...and something happened to her. She felt something
snap. She cried out an inhuman battle cry and tuned on Shampoo. 
	Shampoo didn't even get a chance to react. She fought as best she could but
was easily over come by the enraged Ranma. Shampoo fell to her knees after a
devastating blow to her face. She felt the bonbori slip from her hands. Ranma
looked at her and turned away she began walking along the edge of the cliff
towards the river where Shampoo had ambushed her and her animal companions.
Shampoo looked at her hands and screamed, she had lost. She rose to her feet
and pulled a small knife from her robes. She looked at it and then Ranma. She
cried out and charged at Ranma. She would win or die.
	Ranma turned towards Shampoo's anguished yell and sidestepped as the young
girl charged her. She suddenly remembered where she was and grabbed Shampoo's
arm as the Amazon tumbled off the edge of the cliff.
	Ranma clung to Shampoo and felt herself being drug off the edge as well. She
looked into Shampoo's eyes and saw fear. Shampoo's nails dug into Ranma's arm
as she clung desperately to her arm with her hand. The other arm flailed about
trying to find some perchase. Tears fell from her eyes. "Give me your other
hand." said Ranma as she reached for the other arm. Shampoo's expression
changed in a matter of a second. She smiled evilly as Ranma reached lower in
order to save the young Amazon. Just low enough.
	"Die!!!" screamed Shampoo as she slashed at Ranma's throat with the knife she
had in her other arm. Ranma backed her head away and Shampoo's slash missed by
a hair. Shampoo flailed and stabbed Ranma's arm angrily. Ranma cried out and
felt her hand go. Shampoo fell from her grip. "Dieeeeeee!" screamed Shampoo as
she fell. The look of rage never leaving her face.
	"Noooooooo!" cried Ranma. As she reached for the amazon's fading figure.
Shampoo's last words were a curse to Ranma. Ranma watched as she fell
seemingly hanging in the air for hours before she finally vanished into the
fog below. Ranma lay on the ground and wept for a moment. She looked at the
knife in her arm for a moment before she pulled it out slowly and screamed in
pain. She flipped it over in her hands and looked at it before placing it in
her shirt and standing shakily.
	
	Ranma staggered into the small makeshift camp. The animals looked at her as
she walked up and sat down tired and weak. "Its over...she is gone." said
Ranma. With that she collapsed against he father's fur coat in tears. Ryoga
walked over and sat on her lap, he looked into her eyes and sighed as best as
he could. She settled and went to sleep there.
	Ryoga never tried to kill Ranma again after that day.

	"...and that is the story of Shampoo." finished Ranma as she sighed deeply in
an effort to control her emotions. "After that I found my way back to Japan
without much incident."  Ranma flipped the knife over in her hands playing
with it idly as she spoke.
	Akane stared at Ranma with tears in her eyes. She said nothing.
	"Ya, know it's funny.  Even after every thing she did to me I still felt
terrible about her death. I never knew how hard it was to kill someone." said
Ranma as she lay back in her chair and closed her eyes.
	"You didn't kill her. She died because she stabbed you." said Dr. Tofu still
a bit shocked about the whole thing.
	Ranma rubbed the scar on her arm absently. "No...I could have held on to her
and pulled her up, the reflex I got from the stab was to squeeze tighter. Sure
my arm would have been cut a little from that Psycho. I made a conscious
decision to let her go." said Ranma reflectively. "I remember that decision
more clearly than anything else." she finished.
	"Ranma...If it helps...you did the right thing." said Akane. 
	"I admire your strength to keep from doing it for so long." said Dr. Tofu,
"Even if I don't agree with your decision." 
	"Dr. Tofu?" said Akane shocked.
	"I am a doctor Akane. I value all life. Even though I admit I would not have
been that strong myself." said Dr. Tofu deep in his own thoughts.
	"What am I going to do about Mousse?" thought Ranma as she drifted off into
sleep.

   Well, that�s chapter 5.  I hope it shed some light on Ranma�s trip and why
she is the way she is now. 
Please send C&C.
Send to Catbert25@aol.com

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