Subject: [FFML] Permanent[pt5][finalver]
From: Ryoga P Hibiki
Date: 1/11/2000, 12:42 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Permanent 5: A China tale


	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 guide's 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 again.
	"Tell her the animal is not mine," said Ranma. "I'm not responsible for
him."
The guide did as he was asked and Shampoo stared at the girl hard for a
moment before saying something in Chinese. "Only if you give pig as
well," said the guide.
	"No," Replied Ranma never breaking stride as she walked out of the
village.
	Shampoo growled and charged at Ranma, the red head ducked under the blow
and rolled away removing her bag as she went. She stood facing Shampoo
with a neutral expression on her face. Shampoo charged again and Ranma
sidestepped and kicked under the Amazon's 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 for a moment and smiled. The red head
watched as the villagers gasped and the guide looked at him in terror.
"He is won!" 
	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 granddaughter and sighed. "So a foreign girl
defeated you and you gave her the kiss of death," she looked at the young
girl in an almost pitious gaze. 
	Shampoo simply nodded in reply. 
	"Go then and be quick in your return," said the elder; 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." Shampoo
gave him a halfhearted blow to the head and the boy slumped to the ground
instantly. 
 	"That wasn't near as hard as she used to hit...I think I'm wearing her
down!" he thought happily half way to unconsiousness.
	"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 walked up to 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 with a
dumb looking grin. 
	Ranma smiled at the boy and he sighed. "What a loser, I hope it isn't
his," she thought amused. Cries of pain floated over the crowd 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.]
	[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 old man placidly.
	[Not great...not yet,] said Ranma without turning as she walked away
calmly towards the edge of the tiny village.
	[What did you do to my sister?] said the boy angrily as he walked over
to
Ranma. 
The elder stiffened and sucked in a quick breath, [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 turned to the boy and
smiled [This really hurt.] She grabbed his arm with blinding speed and he
yelped in surprise 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; he clutched his arm and rocked back and
fourth slowly. He stayed that way for a moment and tried to catch his
breath as the pain died down. [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, it was no longer broken. Ranma walked out of the village with
her animals following close behind her.

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; a few
seconds later he emerged with a small curved knife in his teeth. 
"Ranma, girl or not you die for what you've done to me!" thought the
piglet angrily; that was when he saw a shadow loom over him, he turned
and saw a small delicate looking foot come towards his face. He squealed
in fear and pain as it landed on his head squashing him flat. 

Shampoo cursed as she felt her foot hit something soft and round, it
squealed loudly and scampered away. Ranma woke with a start and charged
at the Amazon. Shampoo jumped up barely avoiding Ranma. She flipped over
her and came down slashing at Ranma's back with her sword; Ranma screamed
as the Amazon made a long shallow cut along her back. The pigtailed girl
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 belly and shoved as hard as he could.
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; the
girl
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. The
girl
cried out as she felt her back slam into the tree. She slumped
unconscious. and
Ranma looked at her a moment before walking away.

A few minutes later Shampoo woke with a start. "Why didn't she kill me?"
she wondered as she inspected herself. "Maybe she
can't." she smiled at her opponent's weakness.

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,
and it would be almost three days before Shampoo attacked again.

The next day Ranma found herself in 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 broken 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 and the boy was blind.
Ranma felt her chest become tight. [Stand boy be man,] she pulled the boy
to his feet and wiped his face; he placed his hands on her face, and
gently rubbed her features in confusion. [Not how see, I show.] Ranma
clutched the boy's head and closed her eyes; The boy cried out again in
surprise
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.] 
[I simply gave him what he deserved,] said the sorceress 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.
"You're going soft boy," said Genma's sign.
"Kindness is not a weakness," was her reply.

The boy woke in his mother's arms as the woman wept clutching him
tightly. The village looked on in anger. [Mom, there is something wrong
with my eyes,] the boy sounded frightened and weak.
[Yes I know.] The woman pulled away. [What?]
[She did something to my eyes mom!] he said as tears streamed 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. They 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 surprise attack; She
quickly back flipped 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; she screamed and jumped off with a new rage
etched into her features. She dropped the bonbori and pulled out a nasty
looking sword and turned slashing at Ranma; the pigtailed girl ducked and
rolled away again causing Shampoo to take a large section of the counter
off. Ranma leapt over the remains of 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. Once outside and a fair
distance away Ranma turned toward the restaurant only to see it explode
in a ball of fire. 

She found herself poking around the remains of the business 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 too 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 and turning a few bodies; 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 trees.
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 in terror 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, so 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 around the
trees, 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, when she reached it she could only stop and stare at her
precarious situation; She had come to a cliff looking down Ranma 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 screamed as she charged Ranma.
The girl dodged and weaved from Shampoo's blows trying 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. Glancing
around desperately she hoped she missed something, any escape she might
try; unfortunately, there was none. She turned and stared down the Amazon
who stalked at her with cold, crazed, determination; She glared at Ranma
with 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 yelled in an inhuman battle
cry and tuned on Shampoo; the Amazon 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 watched them shake in terror and shocked
rage; finally she screamed, she had lost. She rose to her feet and pulled
a small knife from her robes. She looked at it and then Ranma, finally
she screamed again and charged at Ranma; She would win or die. The pig
tailed girl 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; her other
arm flailed about trying to find some purchase in the rocky cliff side;
Tears fell from her eyes as she looked down and felt the hand of death in
her heart. 
"Give me your other hand!" said Ranma as she reached for the other arm.
Shampoo's expression changed in a split 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 left her face.
"Noooooooo!" screamed Ranma as she reached for the Amazon's fading
figure.
Shampoo's last words were a curse to Ranma; she watched as the Amazon
fell seemingly hanging in the air for hours before she finally vanished
into the fog below.
Exhausted the sorceress 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 peering over
the cliff in silent mourning.

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."
That was all she told them; 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."
Ranma lay back in her chair and closed her eyes.
"You didn't kill her; she died because she stabbed you." Dr. Tofu was
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," Ranma looked reflective, "I remember that
decision
more clearly than anything else." 
"Ranma...If it helps...you did the right thing." said Akane quietly as
she grabbed her around the neck, Ranma was flustered for a moment and
recovered when she was released before the girl noticed. 
"I admire your strength to keep from doing it for so long." Tofu frowned
and looked away from the two girls for a moment, "Even if I don't agree
with your decision." 
"Dr. Tofu?" Akane was 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 to
sleep again.

   Well, that's chapter 5.  I hope it shed some light on Ranma's trip and
why
she is the way she is now. 
	C&C to carrotglace@juno.com



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