My next story begins here. I didn't create these characters or their setting. I am using them without permission and realize that I could get in serious trouble for this. I also realize that I am making no profit on this work, and not really capable of being a good lawsuit victim. C&C welcomed and encouraged. Flames used for experiments in spontaneous combustion. This is a fusion meaning NO ONE is OOC. After all the enviorment shapes the way we are, and these people all have a different enviorment now. Version 0.11 Date Started: 12/01/98 Last revised: 5/23/99 Speach " " Thought < > ---------------------- Ranma 1/2: Wild Ranma ---------------------- "Listen Boy," A middle aged, plump man growls, "You are going to marry one of the Tendo girls, and your not even going to open your mouth about that little trick of yours." The person he growls to probably would have had a nasty reply, if he were conscious that is. As it was he had a bad bump on his head and was no condition to tell his father off. The city the man walked through was one of the largest, possibly the best, in the world, Tokyo. What made it a special city was simply the way it was. For starters almost all the streets where cobbled, not just main ones. And the church was absolutely spectacular. And some of the most modern technology was here too, why,there where even gas powered street lamps in the more prosperous regions. Magic too was very common in Tokyo. Lesser mages could be found everywhere; many of weaker mages could be hired for a wide verity of tasks. Tokyo had the greatest concentration of mages anywhere short of the great cities of the Western Empire, but Tokyo has more Crest Graphs. In fact Crest Graphs where the primary reason that older man was there that day. Crest Graphs where the greatest source of magic. While minor magics could be cast from the one use Crest Cards, know simply as Cards, they weren't strong enough to be used more than once or with the stronger magics. Crest Graph, however, could handle any magic, but not everyone could use a Graph. Added to this was the fact that the knowledge needed to make Crest Graphs had long since been lost made them a hoarded commodity, passed from generation to generation. The Saotome clan had long owned many Graphs; it was the clan's greatest legacy. Saotome Genma, the plump middle-aged, had planned to join his family to the Tendo's joining the powerful Tendo clan to his own. All Genma's plans went awry, however, when his only child was born without the ability to use the simplest Card, let alone the powerful Graphs. So Genma took his child from his mother and began a journey to attempt to give him the ability. On the way his son learned ordinary combat skill sand became quite competent in them, but it wasn't enough. Finally Genma just gave up, he had not only failed to give his son an ability in magic, but he failed to cure his son of his greatest failing, if anything the trip may have made it worse. After that final fateful day at Jusenkyou Genma relised that nothing could help his son, and so he just gave up. But that was in the past, and despite his failure his son was still going to marry a Tendo, regardless of what his son wanted... ---------------------- That was Ranma's first thought after regaining conciseness, second was a traditional, It didn't take long to answer either question. Ranma's head was killing him, and he was in an unusual position, he was moving too, and that's what gave it away. This last thought was followed by a certain amount of disgust, directed at a father that disrupted his entire life for the sake of greed. Ranma of course isn't going to let his old man get away with this. So slowly, with careful movement, Ranma reached towards his back and a brown leather pack that was there. From this pack he drew a tube about as long as his forearm, which looked much like an extremely wide barreled shotgun. Ranma grins and gently pushed the open end of the weapon into his father's back. "Where we going Pops?" Ranma asked, trying to sound curious and harmless. Genma of course froze the instant he felt the barrel of Ranma's weapon press into his back. While Genma doubts his son would actually use that...thing...on him, but better to be safe than sorry. "You know where we're going boy, to the Tendo's. After all you've got a fiancée to meet." "And if I don't want a fiancée?" Ranma asked, at the same time he armed the weapon in his hand. It made a distinct whining sound before letting off a dangerous click. Genma began to visibly sweat, but tried to hide his nervousness from his son, "It doesn't matter boy, it's a matter of honor that you marry a Tendo. Besides where already here." And they where, the Tendo home was very large, surrounded by its own walls it was the largest house in the neighborhood. It even had its own training hall, more likely to be for the use of magic than anything else. Ranma growled as he gazed on the gate of the Tendo home, unfortunately Ranma's honor was indeed important to him, and now that he was here he felt he had no choice but to go along with his father's crazy plan. "Let go," He snarled, then he walked up and knocked on the outer gate, concealing his weapon while he waited for someone to answer the gate. ---------------------- Kasumi was the first to hear the knock on the door, after all she wasn't being included in the discussion over the new fiancée. She was such an embarrassment to her father that she wasn't even going to be considered for the young man that was coming to her home. Kasumi had long been the caregiver of the Tendo home, not only because her mother died years ago, but also because she had no ability to use either Graphs or Cards. While for most families this wasn't a problem, for hers, however, it was almost enough to be disowned for. Kasumi didn't get out much, her father more or less forbidden her from having any friends, and she rarely had a chance to get leave the house. A fiancée would have been a chance to get away from what had begun to feel like a prison, but her father told her that she was not going to be considered in the decision of who Saotome Ranma was going to marry, and she was slightly disappointed. Since Kasumi wasn't in the main room with the rest of the family she herd the knock before the rest of her family, and since her father hadn't been forbidden to SEE the new fiancée she quickly moved to the gate to answer it, and to get the first look at the new guest. Kasumi's first thought was favorable. The two people in gateway where dressed for travel. The younger of the two was dressed in a red silk shirt with lightweight pants and arm bracers. Strangely enough he wore two packs. Off his right shoulder was the standard traveler's pack with a small tent attached to the bottom. But off his left shoulder there was a pack similar to one a scholar would have used. Extremely waterproof, it was the kind of pack that would keep its contents dry even if submerged, but this pack was much larger than any Kasumi had seen before. Kasumi thought for a moment, and then she turned her attention to the other person outside the gate. The other person was wearing clothing much more familiar to Kasumi, it was after all a variation of what her father and youngest sister wore all the time. The older man was wearing what was known as a gi, a non-formal mage costume. Made for ease of movement the pants and long-sleeved shirt combination had become so popular that many combat arts outside of magic used them. (Note: the gi is exactly like you'll find in the anime. And save for the packs Ranma is identical in appearance as in the anime.) "Hello," Genma began, "I am Saotome Genma and this is my son Ranma, is this the Tendo residence?" Kasumi smiled and replies, "Yes this is, I am Tendo Kasumi. My father is waiting for you in the living room." Genma racked his brains, trying to remember Soun's last letter, the one that contained descriptions of his daughters. After a moment he remembered the oldest daughter was named Kasumi. "Thank you child. Please take me to your father at once, I have some matters to discus with him before an agreement is made." Kasumi's smile wavered a bit, but she still bowed politely and led Genma and Ranma into the main room of her home. ---------------------- Ranma followed his father and the young woman that introduced herself as Kasumi into the house. As they walked towards what had to be the main room, Ranma sneaked glances at the person leading them. Kasumi appeared to be a little older than he was, and if she had not introduced herself as Mr. Tendo's daughter he would have taken her for a maid or servant. Kasumi was dressed in a functional yet plain dress and wore an apron like it was fitted to her. Her gait reminded him of the walk to he had seen people use when they didn't want to be noticed. He thought, Ranma knew all about the threat of being disowned, his father had often told him that only the fact that he was an only child prevented his own abandonment at an early age. Even for older people though being disowned was a harsh punishment, without a family name a person couldn't be anything but the lowest of servants, dooming their children to eternal poverty. Of course Ranma had something to fall back on, if he could get out Japan. The ancient ruins that dotted the world where almost always filled with treasure of ancient times. But Japan's ruins have been off limits for years, a garreted death sentance involved for anyone caught within them. In a particualr way a forbidden trip into the ruins of China had set Ranma on the path his life must follow... Ranma had to stop himself from laughing out loud at that particular thought. That particular trip had been at his father's insitance, and for once one of his father's plans had actually benefited Ranma. That had been years ago, and with that fateful trip Ranma finally had a purpose that wasn't his father's. Of course Genma was less than pleased. Ranma's thoughts where interupted as he and his father entered entered the main room and saw the rest of the Tendo daughters for the first time. All of the Tendos where siting down at a lower dinning table. The only male sitting down had to be Mister Tendo. His brown gi was almost identical to Genma's, right down to the kind of belt holding it closed. Across the table from Mr. Tendo sat the two other Tendo daughters. The girl that was seated to the right of the table was Nabiki, the middle daughter. Nabiki was dressed in a formal gi, and a very fancy one at that. For a second Ranma thought she was a full user, but a second look at the patterns on the gi showed that Nabiki could only use the more common Cards. The other girl a the table appeared younger than her sisters and was most deffinetly a full user. The gi she wore was pretty much what her father wore but in a bright yellow. Her belt, however, seemed a bit longer than usual, but that's not really important. Ranma thinks after only a second of looking at the two younger daughters, "Genma my old friend, so good to see you again," Soun began rising to clasp Genma's arm, "And how was the training trip?" Genma sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat, "I am afraid that I have failed old friend. Nothing I seem to have tried has worked, in fact he maybe be even worse know then he was when we started." Soun face showed great suprise, "How could he be any worse Genma? When you left he could do nothing at all, you don't get worse than that." "It will take a while to explain old friend. Why don't I tell you what I tried first?" ---------------------- Over the next several hours Genma recounts disaster after disaster. Genma's attempts to make Ranma into a Graph user had taken the two to all the corners of Japan and many places beyond. Unfrotuntaly (or fortuntaly, form Ranma's point of view) the incredable amount of leads Genma had found on the problem where dead ends. The few that weren't left no pernemant side effects (aside from the one that turned Ranma into a Newt for a week.) "Well at least until that last place," Genma was saying, almost having reached the end of his tale, "After the failure in Kyoto I decieded that it would be best to begin to try places outside of Japan. So I took the boy to a place I had heard of in China." "Oh China," Nabiki exclaimed outloud, looking impressed as did the rest of the Tendos. "Well there is a place in China called Jusenkyo, which is also known as the Pools of Change. Unfortunatly I failed there too, increasing my son's shame three fold." "What'd you mean shame," Ranma shouted, gettng up into his father's face, "You don't know what its like old man. You have know idea what its like." Ranma shifts his attention from his father to the Tendos, "What this old fool isn't telling you is that Jusenkyo is also known as the Pools of Sorrows, it's not someplace you'd want to go, its got a..." Ranma's next word is cut of as his father, deceiding he had had enough of his son's incolence, threw Ranma into the koi pond next to the house. The Tendos' confusion changes to shock as the one that rises from the koi pond is NOT the same person who fell in. The person that emerged from the koi pond slowly walked back into the house alowing the ones inside to study the new figure. At first galnce all that appears to be differnet between Ranma and the new person is firey red hair. That lasts only as long as it takes Ranma to return to the house, and flop down where he was siting before. Akane was the first to find her voice, "You, you, you BOUNCED!" Nabiki was next, "You, you're a girl!" Kasumi just stared. Ranma blinked once and the looked down at her hands, "Yeah. You see Jusenkyo is exactly what it says it is. It's a place of change and of sorrows..." ----------------------- "Jusenkyo is a valley," Ranma began, figiting slightly, and kept her eyes on the floor, "Its got lots of springs in it and most of the springs have bamboo poles sticking out of them. Through the ages many different things have fallen in and drowned in the springs. What really makes the place the Pools of Sorrow is what happens after something drowns in the pool." "You see," Ranma continued, still not looking up, "Whenever some person, or animal, falls in a spring they'll take the shape of the last thing that drowned in the pool. People change into animals and animals turn into people. It's not pernemant, hot water'll turn you back to normal, but cold water starts it all over again." "When pops told me about Jusenkyo I was kind of doubtful, none of the other stuff he tried before had worked so why would this? Anyway when we got there we didn't know anything about the pools. This old fool deceides that the right way to use the springs is to toss someone into the pool, so he uses Sleep on me and throws me into a likely pool and fishes me out." Ranma took time out to glare at her father for a moment, "Anyway I manage to track down Pops a couple days later, after beating him up for throwing me in we came back to Japan. On the way back we meet the guide that was supposed to be at the springs, and he told us how to change me back. He also said that you couldn't use Jusenkyo to cure a Jusenkyo curse. Next thing I know where in Tokyo and Pops is telling me about how he's engaged me to some girl." Soun was the first to speak "A sad tale, to go on such a trining trip and to only fail in your goal." Soun sighed, "Oh well, Genma lets talk in private and decide which of my daughters is best for your son. We have a lot to discuss." Genma and Soun slowly strowl off laughing about all times leaving the Tendo daughters with Ranma in the amin room. ---------------------- "We aren't getting married," Akane stated in a matter of fact tone. "I never said we where," Replied Ranma in the same tone, "If your pops is anything like my pops he'll never give up till I marry one of you." Nabiki sighed and her face changed to resignation, "It'll be me," she said in a tone of finality, "Dad can get more for Akane than he could for me." Akane seemed both pleased and upset about that. "No," Kasumi disagred, "It'll be me," strangly she didn't seem to disappointed (and she wasn't,) "If Mr. Saotome agrees, I'll be the one chosen." "I don't know," Ranma's voice was thoughtfull, "Pops'd probably agrue about it for a while. But in the end they'll..." Ranma is inturpted by the return of the fathers. Neither of the looked entirly happy, but they were far from mad. The two sit back down at the table and call for attention. "We have come to a decision," Soun began "We are pleased to announce," Genma began, though is voice indicated that he wasn't as pleased as he said. "That the one of you to marry Ranma," Soun continued, "Is my eldest daughter, Kasumi." Akane was relived, she didn't have to marry the shape changing wimp anymore. Nabiki was a little peaved, she had at least wanted to know this young man before he got tossed off. Ranma was quite, this was what he expected. He only hoped that his new...fiancée was someone he could get along with. Kasumi felt strange, she wasn't sure what to think. Part of her was happy, part was relived, part was worried, part was concerened, and part was scared. The only thing she could get out was a blank look and a tintative, "Oh my." Soun smiled at the newly engaged couple and cointinued, "Now that that is settled, Ranma why don't you go on and move into Kasumi's room now. I'm sure you too have a lot of things to discuse." Ranma was brainlocked, did Mr. Tendo just say what he thought he did? Kasumi blinked and rasied a hand, "Er,father, did you just say move into my room?" Soun blinked, not expecting a responce, "Why yes Kasumi I did. Why do you ask?" "NO WAY!" Ranma jumped to his feet 1. Kasumi is engaged to Ranma. 2. Ranma and Kasumi manage to talk Genma and Soun away from putting them in the same room (or more specifically the same bed ;) 3. Ranma is put up in the guest room while Genma bunks with Soun. ('In case something happens,' Genma states with a wink and a nudge.) 4. Kasumi and Ranma have a breif private chat about the engagement while Ranma is unpacking his meger belongings. He does not open the scholar pack, and refuses the question Kasumi asks about it. 5. They agree not to make a big deal over the engagement for now and Ranma manges to get to sleep without incident. 6. The next morning the living arangments are explained to Ranma. (Akane, Nabiki, and Ranma will attend school full time. Kasumi attends the morning classes, but is off after lunch.) 7. The three Tendos and Ranma leave for school. 8. Ranma gets splashed on the way to school, but is turned back by a hand card Nabiki usually uses to make tea. (She charges him for the card). 9. They arrive at the school and meet Kuno. Nabiki introduces Ranma to Kuno as 'the guy staying at our place'. Ranma and Kuno argue for a bit, but a fight does not break out (Kuno totally dismisses Ranma's engagement to Kasumi, 'it is not of my concern'.) 10. Ranma and Akane are in the same morning classes. After being introduced to the class (using name and rank) Ranma takes his seat. 11. Kuno then bursts into the classroom yelling about 'The cads possible engaement to the fair Akane Tendo'. 12. The usual third story drop occurs, but Kasumi brings Ranma the water. Kuno is also pounded as per normal. Ranma goes with Kasumi as her day ends. End Episode