For awhile I was going to tweak this a little and submit it as part of the
bet. I had a sudden burst of sanity and changed my mind.

I watch the Viz dubs <<hey! stop throwing things at me!>> anyway, Nodoka
called her Lanko, and that kind of stuck with me. The japanse would
pronounce it lanko (and Lanma) so I doent see this as a huge stretch.
************************
Lanko of the Amazons
By Douglas Whiddon



	You know the story.
	Ranma and his father fell into cursed springs.
	Furious over his loss of manhood Ranma
chased his father around the springs.
	This is where it starts to deviate.
	In this universe a rock the size of your fist
was positioned just a little more to the left than in
the universe we�re used to.
	Ranma tripped over this rock and went
screaming head first into another pool.
	He emerged male again. Realizing his son
was cured; Genma prepared to cannonball into the
spring with him. Unfortunately he collided with
Ranma�s fist and entered LEO.
	Ranma climbed out of the spring and
wandered off to find the guide.
	Had he waited around a few more minutes
he would have seen a red headed girl emerge;
sputtering and coughing; from the pool
	�What the hell happened to my clothes?�
	The girl looked around.
	�Pop?�
	She called again, louder. �POP!�
	The girl decided to find the guide; and her
clothes.
	She turned around; tripped over the same
rock, rolled down the hillside, hit her head rather
soundly against a tree, and lost consciousness.
	It grew cold that night.

	The next morning a convoy of Amazons
returning from a trading trip decided to take a
shortcut through Jusenkyo.
	Jusenkyo is only dangerous to the foolish or
the unwary. But only a fool would always travel this
route, eventually; the law of averages would catch
up with you. Then your never going swimming
again.
	The amazons took the shortcut this time in
hopes that they would get home in time to enjoy at
least part of the tournament.
	The Amazons (as they where called by
outsiders) traveled according to their hierarchy.
Cologne, the matriarch, traveled first. Next to her
rode her lieutenants, then the seasoned warriors.
Next came the older men, followed by the young
warriors and young men both on foot leading horses
laden with supplies.
	It was Ling-ling who noticed the body. Not
completely sure what she was seeing, she brought it
to the attention of Loa-shun. Loa-shun rode up
closer to the hillside to investigate. She called to
Cologne.
	�What should we do?�
	�Collect the body. Everyone deserves a
proper burial.�
	Loa-shun nodded and dismounted. She
called two of the young warriors to her. They
climbed the side of the hill.
	Ling-ling got to her first. �Loa-shun! She�s
still alive!�
	Loa-shun hurried to catch up with Ling-ling.
Confirming that the girl was alive she called to
Cologne. �Should we take her to the village or try to
find out how she got here?�
	Cologne thought for a moment. �Young girls
don�t wind up naked and half-dead on hillsides by
accident. Build a litter, take her to the village. I will
go talk to the guide, maybe he will know what
happened.�
	Cologne hopped up the hill. Loa-shun
carefully picked up the girl.

	Cologne found the guide by his hut. He was
sitting outside, one foot bandaged and propped up.
	�What happened to you?�
	�I tripped on a rock two days ago.�
	Cologne searched her bag and produced a
bottle of salve. �This will help.�
	�Is this a social visit, or did you want
something?�
	�We found a young girl lying naked on a
hillside. She has red hair, do you know her?�
	�A foreigner? No I only had two visitors in
the past month, a man and his son. They where
martial artists from Japan.� The guide grinned.
�because of my foot I couldn�t give them the tour,
they went off alone.  The father is now a Panda.�
	�This girl is Asian. Despite her hair. Did you
tell this man that he could lift his curse by going
back into the same spring?�
	�He never asked. They never do.�
	�If anyone comes looking for a girl with red
hair let me know, but tell them nothing.�

	Cologne arrived at the village by nightfall.
The tournament was long over, the feast was in full
swing. Shampoo sat in her deserved place as village
champion.
	Shampoo saw Cologne and ran out to meet
her. �Great-Grandmother! I won!�
	�Congratulations! I knew you would.�
	Cologne joined the feast, her mind on the
young girl they had brought back.

	After the feast Cologne went to see the
village healer.
	�She hasn�t regained consciousness, she
might never wake up.�
	�What happened to her?�
	�I�m not completely sure. I know she
received a strong blow to the back of the head from
a blunt instrument. Then she was thrown down the
hill. She was out there for at least a night. If you
hadn�t come by when you did she would have died
from exposure. That�s probably why whoever did
this to her took her clothes. She wasn�t violated, her
maidenhead is intact and there are no bruises to
indicate she was bound or hurt beforehand. She
probably knew and trusted whoever did this.�
	�Then she will probably need help getting
revenge. What else can you tell me?�
	�She�s very fit, almost like an one of us. Her
hands indicate extensive martial arts practice.
	�So we have a fifteen-or-so girl, stripped
naked, rendered unconscious and thrown down a
hill. Who could do such a thing?�
	�I suppose we will have to ask her. If she�s
going to awaken it will probably be in the next few
days.

3 Days Later.

	"Great-grandmother ! Wake up."
	Cologne was shaken out of a sound sleep by
Shampoo.
	"What is it What's wrong?" Cologne feared
the worst.
	"The healer sent for you, the wild girl is
awake."
	Relieved, Cologne hopped out of bed. "Well,
lets go see her."

	"Well?" Cologne asked.
	"She's awake, but she only speaks Japanese,
so I sent for you."
	Cologne nodded and went into the next
room. The 'wild girl', as Shampoo had called her,
was huddled in the corner. Her face full of
confusion.
	Cologne spoke to her in Japanese. <Hello,
my name is Cologne. You don't need to be afraid, no
one here will harm you.>
	The girl stared at Cologne.
	<Do you understand?>
	The girl nodded.
	<Can you tell me your name?>
	The girl  looked more confused. <I...don't
know.>

	"Who is she Great-grandmother?"
	"I don't know child, and neither does she.
She says she cant remember anything."
	"I not surprised. Given the damage it's a
wonder she's alive at all. It's a miracle she survived
the night alone in the forest."
	"So what do we do with her?"
	"Loa-shun and I both speak Japanese and
Shampoo is learning. We will take care of her; and if
her memory ever returns, help her get revenge on
whoever did this to her."
	"We need something to call her."
	"you called her 'wild girl' earlier. We'll call
her 'Lanko', it means 'wild child' in Japanese."


One month later.

	"In bed he...avoids...lying in the position of a
...?" Lanko looked up at Loa-shun and pointed at
the unfamiliar character.
	"Corpse."
	Lanko picked up her brush and dipping it in
the ink well, wrote the character in her notebook.
She did not write the equivalent Japanese character.
She was learning to think in Chinese.
	With Cologne and Loa-shun helping her she
was rapidly picking up the language. Cologne had
used a trick similar to hypnosis to enable Lanko to
absorb the language more rapidly than she would
have been able to with practice alone.
	"In bed he avoids lying in the position of a
corpse." Lanko wrinkled her nose as if smelling
something fowl. "Lanko think writer stink."
	Loa-shun laughed. "If the works of more
writers had survived the Chin Dynasty it is likely that
the works of Kung Chiu-Tzu would be forgotten."
	"What you mean?"
	Loa-shun took the book from Lanko and
replaced it on her shelf. "During the Chin Dynasty all
books that didn't concern science, magic or farming
where burned and anyone who quoted them was
killed. Over 400 scholars where buried alive."
	"It sound bad."
	"Not according to the current government.
The communists see attempts to control knowledge
as positive. That's enough for today. Shampoo will
meet you on the practice field. It's time for you to
start working on martial arts."
	Lanko closed her book. "Thank you for
helping me." Lanko bowed to Loa-shun. and left.
	Loa-shun's home was located on the
southern edge of the Joketsuku village. Lanko
walked slowly down the dirt road. In the fields the
young men where busy tending to crops and
animals. The older men where likely off hunting or
training. the tribe was always preparing for war,
even though there hadn't been an attack in nearly
seventy years. 
	If the communists where to attack it would
likely be with guns and tanks. The communists
would have a nasty surprise waiting for them if they
did attack. The area of China containing the
Joketsuku village and the Jusenkyo valley was so
imbued with magic that any technology more
advanced than a mechanical pencil simply would not
work properly, including firearms.
	Lanko reached the practice field. The field
was dotted with practice dummies, archery lanes,
and various pieces of martial arts equipment.
	Shampoo and Cologne stood next to a
weapons rack on which sat Shampoo's Bonbori and
a long curved sword.
	"Lanko, starting today Shampoo and I will
be teaching you martial arts"

	For the next four hours Shampoo showed
Lanko basic martial arts forms. Lanko only needed
to be shown each once, after that she could repeat it
perfectly. Cologne watched carefully. Cologne was
sure that Lanko had martial arts before, she was
picking up the basics to quickly for a novice.
	Towards the end of their sparring session
Shampoo slightly misjudged Lanko position and was
about put her elbow firmly into Lanko's eye when,
to her surprise, Lanko caught her elbow in tight
grip, twisted her arm behind her back and sent
Shampoo tumbling to the ground.
	The whole thing happened so quickly
Shampoo was caught completely off guard.
Embarrassment and rage vied for the top spot in
Shampoo's heart. Regaining her feet Shampoo
approached Lanko, her eyes burned with anger.
	Lanko was terrified. "I ... I'm sorry, I didn't
mean it, please don't hurt me." Lanko cringed in
terror.
	Shampoo put her hand under Lanko's chin
and raised her head, about to kiss her cheek. A sharp
pain in her butt stopped her, she looked back.
Cologne had her stick firmly pressed against
Shampoo's tail bone.
	"What did you do that for!?"
	"You can't give her the kiss of death."
	"She's an outsider! She defeated me!"
	"She'e one of us. We took her in, that makes
her our responsability.�
	Lanko stood silently watching the two
women argue. She wasn�t sure what she had done
wrong but, whatever it was, she wanted to make it
up to Shampoo.
	Cologne called Lanko back over and the two
girls where again pitted against each other. This time
Shampoo didn�t underestamate Lanko. Lanko barely
kept up her defenses; whatever martail arts her body
remembered wheren�t enough to beat a determined
Amazon.
	Finally Cologne called for them to halt.
Colgen gave Shampoo instructions that Lanko
couldn�t hear and then left.
	For the next two hours Shampoo instructed
Lanko in intermediate and some advanced blocks
and attacks. Then the two went back home for
dinner.


[something else to be worked on later]