Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. revised version
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
Metroanime@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html
1a: A Nervous Child (ANC)
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	A yattai sat in a forest clearing, with two small tents
nearby. Titania walked into the clearing, the Queen of Faerie 
inspecting the area where a change was to be made.

	She'd won the Bet, and while many of those present
had cried "cheat" (especially Loki, but he'd always been a poor
sport), Titania was not one that even the Norse god of mischief
wanted to cross without a lot better payback.

	Titania smiled and watched invisibly as Ranma stirred,
then got up to go relieve himself. The child was feeling particularly
lonely and unhappy, having just left his best friend Ucchan behind.

	Now other bets were being exchanged. Who would 
Ranma end up with? Nabiki? Ukyou? Akane? Kasumi? Shampoo?
Oberon? Vladimir? Madame Lao? Kodachi? There were even a few
bets being made on a Ryouga-Ranko match, which amused Titania
no end. Of course, you got excellent odds that way.

	Oh, and one of the planar Nabikis from a timeline that
was to end soon, had lost her wager. Titania suppressed a laugh
at that. The dangers of hubris and now Toltiir was trying to 
convince the God of Moments to take an "apprentice demon" in.
What do you expect from Toltiir, a primal force of mischief? She
personally had thought that turning Nabiki into a tooth fairy was one
of the little cat's better ideas.

	Titania watched Ranma move off, and clicked the timeline
into a permanent mode. Now it was time to sit back and watch to
see what developed.
--------------------------------------------------------
	Ranma wandered from the camp. He wanted to
go back and visit Ucchan. Why had the other boy been
running after him? Pops said to forget about him, but he
was Ucchan's buddy! It really hurt to leave another friend
behind.

	Still, for whatever reason, they had the okonomiyaki
cart, so at least they were still eating well.

	The tinkling of bells caught Ranma's attention.
A tiny pink glow, visible inside an enormous spider's web.

	Ranma saw the huge and hideously black 
spider, and seemed to split. One image was of a Ranma who
ran back to his camp, to later awaken and think it was all a
nightmare. That Ranma faded.

	The other Ranma solidified and threw rocks at
the big hairy spider until it fell. A tree branch impacted the
thing three times until it was reduced to splattered bug bits.
Ranma had absolutely no idea what kind of spider it was,
but anything bigger than his head was not something he
wanted crawling around while he was asleep.

	"Thank you," came a voice like chiming bells.
"Could you please free me, little boy?"

	Ranma turned and stared at the butterfly caught
there in the web. Carefully he freed it, using another tree
branch push the sticky webs away from the creature. "What
are you, anyway?" It kinda looked like that pixie on the 
"Aura Battler Dunbine" ads he'd seen. 

	"You call my kind yousei here, though my kind
are called faerie elsewhere. Thank you, son of Adam, my 
name in your reckoning is Featherbrite."

	"My pop's Genma." Ranma wasn't
too sure what he was looking at. Pink pastel wings that
seemed a cross between a butterfly and a dragonfly,
the figure looked mainly like a human woman, nude,
with long pointed ears. There were other differences,
particularly with enormous (comparitively) long eyes.

	"Well, then, son of Genma. You have freed
me, so ask me a wish, and if it is within my power, I 
shall grant it."

	"You must not be very strong if a 
spider was gonna eat you. What kinda wish?" Ranma
sniffled. He still missed his buddy Ucchan.

	"True. My personal power rating is not
impressive in the manner of my kind." The six inch
tall figure glided closer, examining the child. "Wow,
you've been through some serious problems." There
were aberrations in the child's aura she had trouble
interpreting.

	"Can you grant a wish that I'm back home
with my mother?"

	"If I knew where your mother was, I might
be able to take you there." Featherbrite paused. "Uhm,
why exactly are you here, and not with your mother?"

	Ranma gave his muddled explanation of
why they were travelling, that he was to learn and
devote himself to the martial arts.

	"Isn't that...kinda limiting?" Featherbrite
had no idea about normal human childhoods, despite
the number of centuries she had been alive. It all
just didn't seem right. "If you focus only on martial
arts, won't you be kind of stuck for the times you're
not fighting?"

	"Dunno."

	"Well, then, have you decided what you
want to wish for?"

	"How about I wish you could be my friend?"
Ranma held his pinky up.

	"You wish for me to be your friend?" The
faerie blinked. Well, certainly the child seemed to need
one. It was an unusual wish. Seeing the child nod in 
response, Featherbrite smiled. "Deal."

	"Umf," Ranma nodded once, solemnly,
just like he'd seen his father do.
-----------------------------------------------
	Ranma had just turned seven, and
Featherbrite was miffed at Ranma's father. This
was something that occurred on a regular basis.

	"I can't believe that man, honestly,"
she huffed, her little bell-like voice breaking off
into the same monologue she usually had 
regarding the youth's father.

	"Oh, come on, Brite. He just wants
me to focus on the Art." Ranma looked a little
sadly at his present, though. The wooden
flute the diminuitive fairy had made for him was
smashed beyond even Featherbrite's ability to
put it back together.

	"Ranma, I want to start teaching you
some things beyond the Art. Things that may
not help you in a fight, but that will help your
life outside the match." Featherbrite didn't add
that this was also to take a large stick and 
forcibly insert it in Genma's eye. While most
faerie couldn't even begin to understand moral
behavior, they tended to tone some of it down 
around human children.

	She'd been able to observe a lot 
more human behavior back when Ranma had
started attending school and thought she had
the basics down. Leaving Ranma for brief 
periods to spend a lot of time in a human library
had helped enormously, though using faerie
magic to decipher the text had been a bit draining.

	"Okay, I guess. Like a new game?"

	"Yes," Featherbrite nodded happily.
"A new game entirely. If you stand in the middle
of this ring, I will take you to someplace new,
where a second here is an hour there."
----------------------------------------
	"Ranma, I don't like this place," said
Featherbrite unhappily.

	"It doesn't look that bad," said Ranma.
"Just a balancing exercise, nothing more. Combat
on top of bamboo poles. The only thing different
is the pools of water." His eyes didn't look towards
Featherbrite, he just seemed to talk out loud a lot.

	"C'mon boy, follow me," Genma leapt
for the top of one of the poles, balancing himself
quite easily.

	"Right behind you," Ranma also found
balancing on the bamboo quite easy.

	"Don't fall in the springs," Featherbrite
floated above Ranma's head. "I see some things
here that are bad. Very powerful raw faerie magic,
beyond anything I can handle."

	Ranma leapt into battle with his father,
ignoring his friend for the moment. Featherbrite
watched as Genma fell into one of the pools and
a panda emerged.

	The Jusenkyo Guide was rattling off
something about curses which got Ranma's 
attention. Unfortunately he should have been
paying attention to the panda.

	"Ranma!" Featherbrite extended as
much of her magic as she could, trying to shield
him from the effects of the curse.

	She felt the more powerful magic of
the spring warping her own magic, overwhelming
the shield she'd hastily placed over Ranma. All
the time that she'd brought Ranma over to the
faerie realm had left some residual magic within
him too.

	Ranma looked down at herself and
screamed. Featherbrite merely groaned and they
both listened to the Guide going on about how
a girl had drowned in the spring and now whoever
had fallen in the spring took the body of a young
girl. Though he'd never seen one with pointed ears 
like that before.

	Ranma's attention went from her 
breasts to her back, and if anything the shock
level was increasing.

	Featherbrite apologized and was
explaining that her shield had been absorbed
and twisted by the magic of the spring. That
it looked like it wasn't permanent, but that
there was probably a trigger that would allow
a person in cursed form to return to normal.

	Ranma removed the top of her gi
as she stepped out of the pool, dimly hearing
the Jusenkyo Guide stutter and stop. Ranma
reached over her shoulder, feeling the thin
surface behind her, then pulling it forward to
where she could see.

	Ranma glared, first at Featherbrite,
then sought out the panda. Wings snapping
wide and to the sides, Ranma got really angry
and launched herself at the startled panda.

	Featherbrite flew along as best she
could, but she was tired from the attempted 
shield, and the other two had strong emotions
driving them on. Rescuing the Hibiki boy from
a fall took most of her remaining energy, and
she floated back towards Ranma's backpack
and some rest.
---------------------------------
	"Don't eat that, Ranma." Featherbrite
had a feeling about this. Besides, if Ranma ate
faerie food while he was in the Realm, it would
be very bad. She tended to think in terms of
that nature.

	"But I'm so hungry," Ranma replied,
practically salivating at the feast before them.

	"Uh oh, Ranma," Featherbrite clung
to the girl's shoulder. "Remember when I told you
that only the 'pure of heart' could see me?"

	"Yeah, go figure that oyaji can't see
or hear you." Genma still thought that Ranma
was talking to an imaginary friend.

	"Well, there are others who can. A
magic wielder, or a psychic, or someone with ties
to the supernatural can see me. There's an old
woman over there who's staring at me."

	"You sure she's not looking at me?
Are those damn wings showing again?"
---------------------------------
	Cologne couldn't help but staring.
An Old One. She hadn't seen one of those in
years. It was associating with that outsider
woman. Now, did that mean the outsider was
a mage, with the Old One a familiar? No, the
relationship was clearly more friendly than a
master-slave one.

	Shampoo had defeated her opponent
and was yelling at the girl about controlling her
panda. Cologne settled back to watch the fight,
as the little Old One pointed towards a nearby
kettle. The girl splashed herself, straightening
up as...

	Cologne blinked. Shampoo had 
challenged a man? This could be interesting.
A Jusenkyo-cursed man who associated with 
an Old One, no less.

	The fight was brief, and once again,
Cologne was annoyed that Shampoo had never
managed to learn subtlety nor patience.

	"<Shampoo,>" Cologne hopped
up to her Heir as she was picking herself off
the ground.

	"<What is it, Great-Grandmother?>"

	"<Give this one the Kiss Of Marriage,
then go with them, I will contact you shortly.>"

	Puzzled, Shampoo complied.
----------------------------------
	Genma waited until the amazon girl's
back was turned, then struck as hard as he could
manage, using one of her own bonbori.

	Nothing would be allowed to interfere
in the plan to unite the two schools of Anything
Goes martial arts.

	She hadn't explained that Amazon Law
stuff to Ranma yet, as something had seemed to
spook her about him. Genma knew that every so
often Ranma would be talking to something that
wasn't there. That sort of thing _would_ throw a
few people off.

	Since it had occurred after leaving Ukyou,
and after the cat-fist, Genma had realized what it was.
Ranma was talking to that cat part of him - more insanity
left from the catfist, and leaving his friend Ukyou. The
shame of it, having a son that was so weak that little
things like that could leave scars.  

	Genma wiped the smirk off his face, then 
went to check out of the inn. With any luck, nobody
would check that old steamer trunk until long after 
they were gone.
----------------------------------------
	Featherbrite didn't buy it for a moment.
The way that girl had been looking at Ranma, there
was no way she'd just been following them to make
sure they left the amazon lands. She wasn't entirely
sure what, but that hadn't been the whole story.

	She knew Ranma agreed. Probably that
baka Genma had done something to drive her off.
Just like him, the old panda!

	Featherbrite sighed and continued to
search, knowing she'd be able to track Ranma by
the bond they shared. This girl, though. Frankly,
she'd been hoping that Ranma would get mated
soon. Past time he had a mate, or two, or three.
Why humans had to be so uptight about these
things...

	There were still questions Featherbrite
had that needed answers, and she hoped that by
observing Shampoo she could figure them out.

	Except that the amazon seemed to be
able to sense her presence. Featherbrite had seen
the amazon get more and more nervous the longer
she was around Featherbrite. Hmmm. Well, she'd
see what she could do.
----------------------------------------
	The panda tried to drag the girl
to the house, but she wasn't having anything
to do with it. Finally, Genma managed to splash
the darting winged girl with hot water after the
rains stopped.

	After that, the panda was able
to stun Ranma with a street sign and drag
his unconcious body into the Tendo household.

	Ranma woke up slowly, finding 
himself surrounded by three girls and a man
of about his father's age. Moaning at the pain
at the back of his head, he took in the auras of
those present in the manner that Featherbrite
had taught him.

	The man was a complicated blur,
always shifting from one extreme to another.
He had a bright glow that spoke of much
experience, but the strength was "off" and
Ranma didn't have enough experience to
tell what was wrong with this picture.

	The oldest looking one was
radiating niceness. Beneath that there was
a great sadness, and personal self-sacrifice.
Ranma decided to be this girl's friend, to
try to break down the shell and see if she
could be healed.

	The other two also showed
signs of that underlying sadness. The
second one had just erected wall after
wall around herself, while the younger
fairly burned with anger that was ready
to be unleashed as soon as she could
find something to focus it on.

	Everyone in this family, Ranma
decided, really needed some help. They'd
all faced tragedy of some sort, and none of
them had coped that well with it.

	"You wouldn't be..."

	Ranma winced again as his
head began to throb. "I'm Ranma Saotome.
Sorry to trouble you."

	"No trouble!" Soun gestured.
"My eldest daughter, Kasumi, she's 19.
My eldest daughter, Nabiki, she's 17. My
youngest daughter, Akane, she's 16. Pick
any one you want, she'll be your new bride."

	"I told you, father, I HATE boys."

	Nabiki speculated. The boy had
a thoughtful look to him, and he was kind of
cute. Maybe...

	Kasumi observed carefully. He
didn't look THAT young. Something about
the way his eyes looked at her sent an odd
feeling along her spine.

	Ranma decided. The angry one
didn't require additional pressure, the eldest
needed a friend, and the middle one had a
large loneliness in her aura.

	"Nabiki. No offense to you
other two." Ranma smiled at both, noting
the stunned expression on the youngest
and the faint disappointment in the eldest.

	"Interesting. Why me?" Nabiki
felt uncomfortable.

	"Well, er, it's that kimono of yours.
Er, combined with your hairstyle, it just tells
me how complicated your personality really is."
Saotome special technique: verbal dodge.

	Ranma thought for a moment then
sighed. They may throw everything out now,
but they'd find out sooner or later. "You may 
not want this, though. When I was in China,
something terrible happened."
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	<splice here to chapter 1b>

ja ne,
gregg