Wild Destiny

Prologue
          On that fateful day, the clouds seemed to be moving in for a downpour on Tokyo. But that could not ruin Tendou Soun's joyous feeling at the moment. He held the postcard in his shaky hands with overwhelming tears. "Ra-Ranma. . . Coming here?!" He inhaled deeply and sighed. "Oh how I've waited for this day!!"
          After some minutes of reflection on the horrendous writing on the postcard and concluding an animal must have written it, Soun called his three daughters from the Tendou gathering room. "KASUMI! NABIKI! AKANE!
          "Kasumi!"
          The nineteen-year-old brunette replied from the kitchen, "Hai, otou-san?"
          "Nabiki!"
          The short-haired girl looked up from her magazine at the call of her name, "Hmm?"
          "Akane! Where is that girl?"
          The youngest daughter was no where to be found in the Tendou home until footsteps arrived at the front door. "I'm hoooooome!" she shouted. As soon as she made it into her room, she quickly changed into her gi and then headed towards the training hall to practice. She stacked two cement blocks on top of another and then struck her fist directly on the top block, smashing everything to pieces.
          She looked at the mess with satisfaction and wiped the sweat from her face. "Whew!"
          "Akane will always be Akane," said Nabiki as she walked into the room. "No wonder the boys think you're so weird."
          Akane frowned at her sister, "Why should I care?! Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, ya know."
          "No," she said, quietly, turning towards the doorway. "Then I guess this wouldn't interest YOU." She glanced back and saw curiosity on Akane's face and smiled.
          Later that day, the rain began to come down. The sound of the droplets splashing into the pond could not compare to the chorus of the Tendou daughters, "FIANCE?!!"
          "Yes. The son of a very good friend of mine," Soun explained. "The son's name is Saotome Ranma. If one of you three girls marry him and carry on this doujou, then the Tendou family legacy would be secure." He nodded, firmly, thinking that his future was also secure since his daughter and her husband could care for him in his old age.
          Akane was the first to voice her opinion of such a notion, "Don't WE have some say in who we marry?!"
          "Akane's right, otou-san," Nabiki piped in. "We've never even MET Ranma."
          Soun grinned, holding up the postcard to the girls, "That's easily fixed."

          Meanwhile somewhere else in Tokyo, a young, blonde girl was running down the street, carrying a bag of groceries. It was just her luck to get stuck with making dinner *and* stuck in the onslaught rain. She heard the thunder roaring above and leapt into the air in fright, "EEEEEEEEEEK!!"
          Tsukino Usagi wasn't fond of the thunder and lightning but at that moment what frightened her even more was the escapade happening on the streets. "It's. . . It's a. . . uhh?!!" She watched as the short, red-headed girl kicked the panda's face, knocking him back onto the slippery road.
          "That IS a panda, isn't it?" a bystander questioned.
          The panda stood up and fell into a fighting position. Everyone continued watching as the bold girl took a defensive stance. Usagi stared at the two beings, wondering what in the world had happened to the neighborhood. The panda finally attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. What amazed Usagi even more was the girl was able to dodge all of them.
          The panda's left arm slipped by the girl's head as she yelled, "Well, I STILL say this whole thing SUCKS!" She grabbed his arm. "Picking my fiancee for me. . ." she heaved the panda's huge body effortlessly over herself, "without even ASKING!!"
          Usagi suddenly jumped up as she realized the panda had crashed into a traffic sign right next to her. "OmigodI'mGonnaGetKilled!" She was about to run away but slipped in a puddle and fell on her butt. "OuweOuwe!!" She saw the strong girl glaring at the panda, who was climbing on his feet again.
          "Back for more, old man?"
          The panda reached for the traffic sign and uprooted it from the ground. Not expecting that, the red-haired girl backed away as the animal prepared to attack with the weapon. She noticed Usagi was going to get hurt if she remained there. It didn't take a genius to see the situation was going to be nasty. She decided to charge at the panda before he could make a move.
          Usagi was just standing up when her eyes nearly popped out of her head, seeing the panda holding the sign. The panda was about to swing it at the charging girl when the girl suddenly disappeared from the panda's view. The traffic sign in the panda's hand slipped and with great momentum flung itself in direction where Usagi was standing and embedded itself in the brick wall.
          Above the building, the girl was standing with a surprised Usagi in her arms. The panda looked up at them, sweating as the people around him began to snicker. Someone commented, "Did ja see that? That panda tried to kill that poor girl."
          "What a reckless creature."
          "No wonder pandas are wanted."
          "Don't ja mean endangered?"
          The panda roared at the crowds, hoping to scare them away. Most people left the scene, but being scared was the last thing on their list. The animal looked back up at the building but no longer saw the red-headed girl nor the blonde one. After a few moments of silence staring up at the sky, the panda shrugged, grabbed the backpack, and continued his journey.