Tendo Dojo and Petting Zoo
M A Davis / Miko


        Soun sat at the table, with his three daughters seated in a
row opposite him.  Beside him were the two strangers that had
arrived only a few minutes ago, weary and covered with dust
from their travels.

        "Allow me to make proper introductions," Soun said.  "This
is my good friend, Genma Saotome."  He indicated the large man
in the greying gi and glasses.

        "And this," Genma said, indicating the boy in the red silk
shirt, "is my son, Ranma."

        "My name is Soun Tendo," Soun said, turning to the boy,
"and these are my three daughters, Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi.
Choose any one, and she will be your bride...."

        "Ahem," Ranma said, clearing his throat.  He glared at his
father.

        "Ah, yes," Genma said.  "There's something more you need
to know, friend Tendo.  It happened a month ago, while we were
travelling in the Bayankala Range, in the Qinghau Province of
western China...."

        Soun's eyes went wide.  "No!  Friend Saotome, don't tell me
that you've been to that horrible place!"

        Genma blinked in confusion.  "What horrible place is that,
friend Tendo?"

        "Jusenkyo, the training ground of accursed springs!"

        Genma looked even more confused.  "How do you know
about...."

        Soun quickly snatched up a glass of water and tossed it at
his old friend.  Instantly, the large man transformed into an even
larger furry panda.  "Growf?" the panda asked, startled.

        Tears flowed down Soun's cheeks.  "Oh, friend Genma, I
had hoped you would be spared the horror!  And what of you,
Ranma?  Do you transform too?"

        "Listen, Mr. Tendo, I...."

        *SPLASH*  Soun hit Ranma with another glass of water,
and where the boy had been sitting, there was now a small animal
with floppy ears and brown fur.

        "Miyaaa?" Ranma the cabbit said.

        "Growf!" his father replied.  Quickly he held up a sign that
said, "HOW DID YOU KNOW, TENDO?  DON'T TELL ME
THAT YOU...."

        Soun nodded his head sadly.  "I regret to say that, four
months ago, our dojo received as a gift an all-expenses-paid trip
to an exotic training ground in China.  I took Akane and Nabiki
with me...."

        Soun tossed a glass of water at his daughter Akane, who
instantly became a strange, round creature with long ears, white
fur, and a round red gem in her forehead.

        "Pu!" Akane yelled.  "Pu!  Pu!"

        "Growf?" Genma asked.

        Soun splashed Nabiki next.  She transformed into another
strange round creature, this one yellow with brown stripes on it's
back and a kinked tail.

        "PIKAAAA!" the creature exclaimed angrily.  "Piii ka pika
ka pika chu!"

        Soun upended a final glass of water on himself.  Moments
later, a small, gray creature sat there.  It looked like a cross
between a monkey and a mouse, and it sported a striped tie.

        "Chu!" Soun cried.

        "Growf?" Genma asked.

        "Pu!" cried Akane.

        "Miyaa!"

        "Pii ka!  Pika chu!"

        "Chu!"

        "Pu!"

        "Oh my," Kasumi said, "breakfast conversations are
certainly going to be confusing!"


FINI


Notes:  I'm posting this (and the previous story) from Norwescon 22.  I WAS
going to try for one a day, but I didn't manage to write anything yesterday.
Maybe I'll manage something new tonight.  ^_^  Meanwhile, work on Muyami
chapter 5 is proceeding slowly....

Miko