SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny "rewrite"

By Arun"arun2110@sancharnet.in"

Chapter#01 "Completed on 10/28/2002" "Revision#5"

A Ranma One-Half - Sailor Moon crossover with a pinch of Ramayana.

Disclaimers:

The characters of Ranma One-half and Sailor Moon belong to their
respective owners. I do not own them.

Author's notes (new):

    The older version was clumsy... Yes, that's the word that I think
best describes it. I believe this one isn't. I have changed names and
they are now Chinese: They make sense. Much thanks goes to Yanei Wu in
this regard. I have also done away with little idiosyncrasies that I
think made me look like a fan fiction writer and have endeavored to
make myself look more professional. I hope that you, the reader, will
think so too. ^_^

    Now, on with the story...



Honshu Island: Near the banks of the Agano river, more than a decade
ago...

    A pit by a bamboo groove far-removed from human settlement, the
overwhelming stench of rotting meat and feces, and the yowling of some
thirty odd starving cats. What could they have in common? A man and his
son, that's what.

    "Poppa! I don't want to be thrown in there again," the little boy
said in a timid, trembling voice.

    The man glared at his son.

    "No son of mine will be afraid of mere cats," he announced, as he
tied the boy up. "Are you a man, Ranma?"

    Ranma, for that was the boy's name, stiffened at the insult. He
tried to banish his fear from his face, but did not succeed completely.

    "I ain't afraid of no c... c... cat," he replied, putting on a
stiff upper lip.

    Genma smiled in spite of himself. His son was coming along nicely
and by the time he reached his late teens, he would be ready to face
his mother as a man among men. Having proven thus, he would marry a
Tendo and his, as well as the school's future would be assured. 'The
Saotome clan will once again become a name to be reckoned with!'

    "That's my boy!" he said, proudly. "Now, go in there, Ranma, and
learn the Neko-ken."

    Ranma nodded, albeit fearfully, in reply, his eyes never straying
from the pit.

    Still smiling proudly, Genma picked up his son, and carried him to
the pit, walking at a brisk pace. He knew training Ranma in the Neko-
ken so far from human contact was dangerous, but it could not be
helped. Things had gotten a little too hot at Niigata, where the
emergency medical services were only a few minutes away, and because of
that, he had to train Ranma in the wilderness, making do with only a
old medical kit. He could wait a little longer, but he had already
procrastinated too long and the training could not be postponed any
longer. To do so would place Ranma in more danger than he was already
in, trying to master the technique.

    When he had initiated the training regimen, Genma had such high
hopes for the Neko-ken, but once the actual training started, his
enthusiasm had been replaced with disappointment. Ranma developed a
severe phobia of cats, and his father, having learnt in his childhood
that the best way to overcome a fear was to face it, took it upon
himself to rid his son of it.

    'Maybe this time, he'll learn the damn technique,' Genma thought,
as he threw his son in. With a heavy heart, he ignored Ranma's pleas
for mercy, as he retreated to hiding place some distance from the pit.

****************************************************************

    Just as Genma reached his chosen hiding place, Ranma let out an
extra-loud scream of agony. The cats were more crazed than usual with
hunger and one of them, maddened by the smell of fresh fish, scratched
Ranma's eyes with its claws. Ranma's reflexes kicked in just just in
time, saving him from a life of darkness by mere fractions of a second,
but his eyelid was not so lucky. The claws nearly tore it in half. Warm
blood flowed like a raging river from the wound and Ranma's terror only
increased as a cat flicked its wet tongue over his cheeks, licking the
lifeblood off his face. The will to live fled him then and his
consciousness began its first ever retreat into the dark recesses off
the mind where the primeval demon that is the Neko-ken lurked. However,
before he completely lost himself in the throes of the technique and
irrevocably damaged his psyche, the rampaging cats fell silent and
Ranma felt comforting warmth at his side. He opened his eyes and saw...

****************************************************************

    A Boodham, according to the ancient texts, is one of the most
powerful fundamental forces of nature. Thi was a Boodham. Not just any
Boodham, mind you, Thi was The Boodham. Thi's ki skills were beyond
compare and Thi had served one of the Mumoorthigals - the God of
Destruction, Shiva, as his weapon and counselor for countless
millennia, before finally, some thirty thousand years ago, 'retiring'
from the God's service. Ever since then, Thi had searched for that
perfect one being who'd help it complete The Cycle.

    And not once in those thirty thousand years had anyone ever come
close to meeting the requirements. Sure, there were a few bright spots
amongst the human population every now and then, but even they were
lacking in one way or another. And so, Thi waited, for that perfect
human specimen, with whom it could unite.

    Time had no meaning to its race, but weariness is a concept well
known to every living thing and Thi grew weary - weary of the wait,
weary of the terms set by The Covenant and weary of life. That was why
Thi wanted to unite, for a Boodham could die only if its host did, and
you could unite only with a deserving human host and with none other.

    Those thirty thousand years had not been all boring - there had
been some bright spots: like the battle with Vi, the most proficient
mana manipulating Boodham that Thi had ever met. Still, these fun times
were few and far between, and the wait had been a very boring affair,
which was why it felt very grateful towards the human boy in the pit.
He fulfilled every condition set in The Covenant and then, some more.

    He was more than worthy and after centuries of wait, The Covenant
could finally be fulfilled. And Thi, unwilling to wait even a moment
longer, approached the boy, only to be repelled by the pain and agony
the boy was suffering. Naturally, Thi's curiosity was awakened by this
new discovery and Thi expanded its senses further, carefully feeling
its environment with its ki.

    The first thing Thi sensed was the boy and the cats. And then, the
boy's father. Thi did not know whether to feel pity for the boy or
anger towards his father, for it did not take a genius to put one and
one together. The boy was being trained in the Neko-ken, that horrible
technique created by the Gods to fight the Ashuras, and the boy's
trainer, his father, seemed to be well aware of the effects success in
the technique would have on his son. The Neko-ken had been banned after
the first century of practice for a reason and the boy's idiot father
did not seemed concerned about the danger his son was in.

    'What a waste of potential!' Thi thought somberly, for as powerful
as the Neko-ken was, it was still nothing compared to the true power of
the boy's mind. The damage that was already done was not irreparable,
however, as time and love, given enough time, would heal the wounds
inflicted by the cats.

    'Surely, if the boy is left with his father, all my gifts would be
wasted and he would, at most, become one of the best warriors of his
generation, which is truly a tragedy,' Thi thought. The boy had the
potential to become one of the true masters of The Art with just a
nudge in the right direction.

    Having made up its mind to remove the boy from his father's
influence, Thi extended its senses still further and got the second
shock of the day. The boy was very close to mastering the Neko-ken,
even though he had been subjected to just ten sessions in the pit,
which was a far cry from the fifty odd ones that other would-be
'masters' of the technique had to endure. Thi shook its 'head' in
wonder and manifested physically by his side, thinking that he would
not be able to sense its presence.

    Obviously, it has assumed wrong, for when the cats froze, the boy
turned around groggily and his eyes met Thi's. Thi hesitated for the
briefest of moments, afraid that it would inadvertently break The
Covenant by uniting against the boy's wishes, but once again, the boy
surprised it by raising his right hand and beckoning it.

    Happier than it had been for centuries, Thi moved closer to the boy
and manifested itself completely for the first time. The boy's eyes
widened in surprise, but he did not react as the pulsing energy that
was Thi's physical form engulfed him in a warm embrace.

    His name, Thi sensed, was Ranma.

    As the hug deepened, Ranma's heartbeat slowed to a crawl. His
wounds disappeared, leaving no trace that they had ever been there, and
time dilated, making him blink once in wonder. The air in the pit
became saturated with energy and random molecules of gas began to
vibrate in the audible range, producing a pleasant, soothing hum. Tiny
blue white motes of light sparked into existence all around Ranma and
glided down, winking out of existence with little flashes of organic
light.

    Ranma's body levitated off the ground on its own accord, finally
coming to rest a foot from the ground. His arms and legs spread
outwards on their own accord, and his eyes closed in rapture.

    Tiny veins of power began to glow just under his skin and his mouth
snapped open in a silent scream of ecstasy as his senses overloaded. He
felt, heard, tasted, sensed and saw literally everything, and it was
all too much for his body to bear.

    Just as the rite reached the halfway point, Thi sensed another
Boodham approach and paused. Fortunately, the newcomer was its old
friend, Vi, and as it happened, Vi, too, wanted the same thing as Thi.

    Thi thought about it and made its decision. There were no clauses
in The Covenant that forbid the union of two Boodhams with a single
human and furthermore, the union would ultimately benefit Ranma, giving
him full reign over mana and ki should he ever master his potential.

    'Be welcome, True Friend!' Thi whispered telepathically to Vi.

    Vi moved forward and initiated its own union with Ranma. Thi waited
patiently at the sidelines, until Vi had completed half the rite before
joining Vi in the middle of the pit and the two of them continued the
rite simultaneously.

    The changes became apparent, immediately. Whereas before, Ranma had
been opaque, now, he was one big, translucent flash bulb. The cats
vanished in a flash of bright white light, and the hum became a
breathtaking symphony of colors and music that continued to rise.

    As the rite reached its end, Ranma sensed his father by the mouth
of the pit and opened his eyes. He saw the concerned look on Genma's
face and tried to speak, but his thought processes were too jumbled and
he could not formulate any words in his mind. Seeing the growing
despair in Genma's face, he tried again, and failed even faster than
before, as his senses expanded even further, and then, without any
warning, he vanished.

*****************************************************************

    Having thrown Ranma into the pit, Genma quickly covered to his
hiding place behind a very large boulder, a hundred or so yards
downwind from the pit. As much as he cared about his son, the clan's
honor and his self-preservation instincts came first and he neither
wanted to rescue his son, nor be anywhere near him when he mastered the
Neko-ken.

    Of course, Genma knew that it was only a matter of time before
Ranma learned the technique - the boy was that kind of student.
Therefore, he was only slightly surprised when the yowling and the
screeching stopped a few minutes after the start of the training
session. He had expected Ranma to take at least another two or three
sessions, but the boy had a way of exceeding his wildest expectations
in almost everything he did. It had happened so many times before that
this time, he had almost expected it.

    Still, fearing for his own safety, which overrode almost everything
else, Genma remained hiding, until he heard a decidedly strange hum
from the direction of the pit. He tried to ignore it, but his curiosity
got the better of him and he dared sneak a peek. His eyes first scoured
over the land for any intruders and finding none, fell on the glowing
pit.

    'Glowing pit? What the...'

    At once, and for the only time in his life, Genma's concern for his
son's well being completely overrode his self-preservation instincts,
and family honor and The Art be damned, Genma bee lined for the pit
post haste. The hum grew in frequency, as he got closer to the pit,
until by the time Genma actually reached the pit, it was so loud that
Genma's potbelly began to bounce up and down and down and up. Standing
at the edge, Genma peered in and caught sight of a translucent Ranma,
floating in midair and glowing with enough energy to light up Japan for
a year. Ranma opened his eyes then and his eyes met with his father's.

    Time slowed and there was a flash, which blinded Genma. He screamed
and fell on his knees, clutching his eyes in pain, as his optical nerve
overloaded. When finally his eyesight returned, Genma searched
everywhere, but found no traces of Ranma. He searched for five days and
finally, on the fifth day, he abandoned the search as hopeless. In
despair, he headed to the nearest bar, which was in Niigata, to drown
his sorrows in sake. The next morning, he woke up in the gutter where
the bar owner had ordered him thrown with the worst hangover ever, took
stock of his situation. There was no going back to Nodoka without an
excellent lie, he knew, for she would decapitate him for the role he
played in the untimely demise of their only son. Thus inspired, Genma's
survival instincts kicked in and crafted with the looniest, stupidest,
lousiest lie ever to feed his wife; one, she would surely believe in.

*****************************************************************

    The Pools of Sorrow: 156 BC...

    It was a beautiful day and Li Jiang, the Guardian of The Pools of
Sorrow, enjoyed every single minute of it, as he tilled the rice
paddies. The pools had claimed no guests, err, victims for six months
and he was very grateful to the Gods for this unexpected streak of good
fortune. No guests meant that he did not have to deal with raving
loons.

    The day was so pleasant that Li Jiang began to reminiscence about
some of the more wackier moments in the job: like the time when a
squirrel fell into the spring of the drowned sixty-year old,
hyperactive, amorous pervert. 'Poor squirrel!' chuckling to himself at
the joke, Li Jiang shook his head with a wry grin on his face and
lifted the plough to the next paddy. Half the work was done and at the
speed at which he was going, all the fields would be plowed before
evening.

    'Maybe tomorrow I can take Li Chan hunting,' Li Jiang thought to
himself, when suddenly his ki senses flared. Immediately, he laid down
the plough and turned his attention towards the pools. Something
unexpected was happening and unexpected things had a way of becoming
tragic stories in The Pools of Sorrow.

    'Should have known that this lull wouldn't last forever,' Li Jiang
thought resignedly to himself. True to his thoughts, a strange looking
boy materialized in a bright flash above one of the pools. He hung in
the air for the tiniest fraction of a second before gravity pulled him
down, plunging him straight into the Spring of the Drowned Dragon.

    'Spring of the Drowned Dragon? Since when was there a Spring of the
Drowned Dragon? Heck, I didn't even know that there was a pool over
there,' Li Jiang thought confusedly. Before his thoughts could continue
any further, however, the memories of the Forbidden Pool were pushed
into his head and Li Jiang collapsed on the mud, clutching his head
with both his hands in silent agony. Images, thoughts and excerpts
written by the very first Guardians describing the entire history of
the pool were forced into his mind in the space of a few moments and
when it was all over, Li Jiang was half-blind.

    His sight took a couple of seconds to return to normal and when he
could see again, the Guardian leapt out of the paddy and scampered
towards the pools, making a mental note to record what he had learnt
for posterity at a later time.

*****************************************************************

    From Ranma's point of view, he lay suspended two feet above the
ground, looking into his father's eyes one second and the next, he was
fifteen feet in the air in a valley dotted with little springs. Gravity
did not exert its hold on him for a few milliseconds and when finally
it did, he could offer no resistance.

    Still, startled by this sudden change of heart on nature's part, he
yelped loudly as he plummeted towards one of the springs. A sense of
correctness and deja vu filled him as he broke the water surface, and
he felt his body shift again.

    Not completely aware of the changes that were happening to him,
Ranma took a few seconds to reorient himself before kicking towards the
surface. Unfortunately, he miscalculated his own power and instead of
just surfacing, he shot a good thirty yards into the air. There he
hovered with lazy flaps of his wings. 'Wings? What wings?' Ranma
thought in surprise and gave himself a quick once over. His examination
only served to confirm his worst fears.

    He was not a human anymore. He was short and he was a dragon.

    'Short... Dragon...'

    Unsurprisingly, natural curiosity and surprise gave way to shock,
and Ranma's consciousness fled him, sending the heir to the Saotome
branch of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryuu plummeting towards the ground once
again. If he had been conscious as he fell, Ranma would have noticed
the Forbidden Spring dry up and disappear below him, but he was not and
therefore, he completely missed it.

*****************************************************************

    Sprinting through the distance that separated the boy and himself,
Li Jiang began to fear in his heart for the boy's safety. More than a
minute had passed since the boy's impromptu bath in the spring and
there was still no sign of him.

    Naturally, Li Jiang assumed the worst and briefly wondered whether
he should use the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken to cover the distance
faster, but decided against it. He would need all the ki he could
channel to bring the boy back to the land of the living, if he had
indeed drowned. Thankfully, before his fertile imagination could run
any wilder, supplying his consciousness with some very gruesome
imagery, the pool surface broke and out jumped the boy, launching
himself an impressive thirty feet into the air. There, his cursed form
hovered, while he conducted a brief examination of his new self.

    'And next he'll faint,' Li Jiang thought. He had seen enough
victims of the pools to predict their reactions with a fair degree of
certainty now and the boy was displaying all the symptoms of the
classic I-can't-believe-this-really-happened-to-me syndrome.

    And indeed, Ranma fainted, but before he could fall into another
pool, Li Jiang caught him.

    'Poor kid! This must be a horrifying experience for him,' the
Guardian thought, as he carried the young drake to safety.

    Once inside the safe environ of his hut, Li Jiang lit a fire and
heated some water. Then, sitting beside the fire, he tended to it and
cradled the young dragon in his lap, patting him lightly. When the
water was sufficiently warm, he took some in a fired-clay bowl and
poured it over the dragon. Immediately, the mythical beast transformed
into a very naked, indignant and cute little boy.

    "Gyah!" Ranma shouted, awakening out of some forgotten nightmare.
He took a few fractions of second to reorient himself to his
surroundings before his turned his attention on himself. Seeing himself
naked in the lap of a stranger, he jumped out of Li Jiang's lap and
retreated to one corner of the hut. From his position there, he glared
at the Guardian, his eyes seemingly boring into his opponent's, as he
assumed a guarded stance.

    "Honored Guest..."

    Immediately, Ranma focused his attention completely on Li Jiang.
Somehow, by the very tone of Li Jiang's voice, he seemed to realize
that the Guardian was a warrior. Accordingly, he shifted his stance,
unconsciously closing all visible gaps in his defense.

    'Who is this boy and how come he is so skilled at such a young
age?' the Guardian thought, curiously. Whoever taught the boy must have
been a very gifted teacher.

    "Who are you?" Ranma asked, not liking one whit the look that the
stranger gave him. He had been in tough situations before, but he
instinctively knew that this was going to be the toughest one yet. Pop
was nowhere in sight and he was trapped, no, cornered inside a hut with
a skilled veteran, who was probably hostile, to keep him company.

    Li Jiang caught the challenging tone in Ranma's voice and smiled in
spite of himself. The boy had spunk, if nothing else. Not wanting to
provoke a conflict that would end with the child harboring an
instinctive mistrust towards him, he raised his arms in supplication
and smiled in a friendly manner.

    "I mean you no harm... There are no weapons in my hands, see?" he
said in Miao, turning his arms around to prove his point.

    'What language is the guy speaking anyway? It sounds strangely
familiar,' Ranma thought. The situation was becoming more curious by
the minute and he did not like it at all.

    The guide saw the confusion in the boy's face and he knelt down,
taking care to keep his movements as slow and simple as possible. With
slow, deliberate movements, he took the remains of the fried pheasant
leftover from dinner and pushed the bowl in front of the boy. He then
pointed his forefinger at himself and pronounced his name.

    "Li Jiang... that's my name. What's yours?"

    Ranma looked at the pheasant and then, back at Li Jiang, tilting
his head as he did. His stance wavered just a little and Li Jiang
decided he could not have been more correct when he thought that food
was the best way to reach the boy. Ranma's stomach chose that moment to
growl in protest, further reinforcing Li Jiang's conviction about the
correctness of his decision.

    Eyeing the food with hungry eyes, Ranma's hand went to his stomach
and he dropped out of his stance, shooting a glance at Li Jiang.

    "Go on," Li Jiang urged in a soothing voice, "you can eat it."

    Ranma noted the friendly tone in Li Jiang's voice and even though
he did not understand one whit of it, he understood the gist of the
message. He shot a friendly smile at the Guardian and literally dived
in.

    'Oh, Gods!' Li Jiang thought in shock and amazement, as he watched
Ranma rip through the pheasant like a starved lion. 'What is he?'

    Finally, Ranma finished his impromptu exhibition of Musabetsu
Kakutou Ryuu's special technique, The Tasmanian Devil, and burped
loudly. This initiated a round of snickers from Jiang, but Ranma cared
not about such and contended himself with rubbing his stomach in
satisfaction. He had never had such a full meal before.

    Li Jiang chose then to reintroduce himself again by clearing his
throat.

    "Li Jiang," he said pointing his fingers at himself when Ranma's
attention was focused on him. "That's my name. What's yours?"

    Ranma scratched the base of his pigtail, tilted his head sideways
once again and looked up at Li Jiang with trust in his eyes. As far as
he was concerned, anyone who parted with food was trustworthy and going
by that logic, this new stranger, dressed in queer clothes and speaking
a weird tongue must be trustworthy, too.

    "Ranma Saotome," he said at length, when Li Jiang smiled at him.

    "Ranma Sautome?" Li Jiang said, feeling the name roll off his
tongue. He liked it.

    Ranma shook his head.

    "Sa-o-to-me."

    Li Jiang repeated the word again and looked at Ranma, who nodded.
He had got the pronunciation right.

    "Where?" Ranma said, pointing at the ground.

    It took a few moments for Li Jiang to realize what Ranma was
saying, but realize it he did.

    "Ju-se-n-kyo."

    "Huh?"

    'His tongue seems to be related to mine, but his dress; I have
never seen anything like it... I wonder where he came from?'

    "Ju-se-n-kyo," he repeated.

    Ranma raised his left eyebrow, non-verbally asking whether the name
was supposed to have any meaning to him.

    Li Jiang shook his head and sighed. He hated what he was about to
do to the boy, but it had to be done. He raised a lone finger of his
right hand into the air and signaled that Ranma should wait a little
while.

    Ranma nodded and Li Jiang stepped out of the hut. He took a little
water in a porcelain cup with him and beckoned Ranma to follow him.

    Again, Ranma nodded in acquiescence and followed Li Jiang out of
the hut.

    Once they were at a safe distance from the hut, Li Jiang raised his
right hand and began to draw little hypnotizing patterns into the air.

    Ranma watched, bedazzled and quite unable to take his eyes off the
little dance.

    Then, when Ranma's attention was focused elsewhere, Li Jiang cast
an eye towards the heavens, and asking forgiveness for what he was
about to do, drenched Ranma with the cold water. Immediately, Ranma
revoked back to his cursed draconian form. His inexperienced mind
registered the transformation and he spent the next few seconds
checking himself out, just to verify the facts. Finally, his eyes
turned upward and he looked accusingly at Li Jiang, his eyes filled
with fear and betrayal, only to find the older man kneeling on the
ground with tears brimming in his eyes. Apparently, Li Jiang felt as
sorry for him as he felt himself.

    Despair took root in Ranma's heart then and a red-green-black
corona of ki flared around him. Thin veins of power blossomed all over
his body and his aura exploded outwards, scorching earth and throwing
Li Jiang a few feet back. Finally, his ki reserves exhausted, Ranma
slipped into unconsciousness.

******************************************************************

    A month passed and during that time, Li Jiang took Ranma into his
household and raised him as his own son. Li Jiang's son, Li Chin and
Ranma became close friends during that time, and Ranma gained a
passable knowledge of Miao through the Guardian's tutoring.

    Slowly, the young Saotome began to trust, learning to love Li Jiang
as his own father, now that Genma was not there for him. His love was
reciprocated by both the Guardian and his son, who treated him as their
own kith and kin. Still, all the love they showered upon Ranma was not
nearly enough to overcome the trauma of his training. Ranma frequently
experienced nightmares during the night, and during some of the
nightmares, lost control over his ki and his physical form. Alarmed by
these changes in the boy, Li Jiang did some research and learnt that
the hybrid aberration of the human physique that Ranma exhibited was a
sign of a pure dragon.

    Li Jiang, shocked by this discovery to say the least, mulled over
his course of action for a week before making up his mind. Accordingly,
he set out with Ranma and Li Chin to the Musk capital, hoping to
convince the Musk Emperor to adopt, or take Ranma into his house as a
servant. A dragon such as Ranma needed much control over his ki to be
written off as safe to those around him and the only way he could learn
that control was through other dragons.

    The trip lasted a week at the end of which they reached the first
of the Musk outposts. There, Li Jiang explained his position to the
Chief of the Watch and requested an armed escort for the rest of the
journey to the Musk capital. The Chief of the Watch reluctantly granted
Li Jiang's request, and the Guardian, Ranma, Li Chin and their escort
of two seasoned Musk warriors set out to the Musk palace.

    The journey to the capital took a further three days, and once
inside the walls of the capital, the Musk soldiers left them to their
own designs and headed back to the outpost. Li Jiang, then, navigated
the streets of the 'city' to the palace; his two wards always a few
steps in front or behind him. Once they reached the palace gates, he
gave a brief explanation of the purpose of his visit to the guards, who
then consulted their commander before letting the trio in.

    Inside, he requested an audience with the Emperor through one of
the ministers. The minister nodded his accent, and the trio were duly
bathed and dressed in plain silken clothes before being led to the
throne room.

    "Honorable Emperor," Li Jiang said, bowing reverently in front of
the throne, "the Guardian of the Pools of Sorrow pays his respects to
thee."

    The Emperor stood up. Standing at just over six feet, he was a very
tall man by Chinese standards, and had an awe-inspiring figure. His
brownish crop of hair was tied behind his head and his pale red eyes
had slits like a cat, or rather, a dragon. He carried himself with an
air of nobility and he looked down upon them with a pleased smile in
his face.

    "Be welcome in my house, my friend," the Emperor said, his eyes
twinkling joyously at the unexpected visit. He gestured towards the
seats on one side of the hall. "Be seated. It has been a long while
since you last paid my humble abode a visit, Guardian. What brings you
here now on this very day?" he asked, seating himself.

    Li Jiang, Ranma and Li Chan followed the Emperor's example and made
themselves comfortable. Immediately, a burly looking, mountain goat-
faced woman brought them wine, sweetmeats and cold water from the
mountain springs.

    "Honorable Emperor," Li Jiang begun when the attendant had
retreated beyond hearing range, "little more than a month ago, a new
spring revealed itself in valley of the Pools of Sorrow. I'm here to
inform Your Majesty of the events surrounding the spring's discovery
and subsequent destruction as well as request a boon."

    The Emperor nodded. He reclined as comfortably as he could in his
silk-cushioned throne and bade Li Jiang to continue.

    "Proceed with your tale, Guardian. I'm very curious about what you
have to say!"

    Li Jiang cleared his throat and begun his narration.

    "Honorable Emperor, I was tilling the fields on the day of the last
new moon, when...."

    He spoke for the better part of an hour, exaggerating a great many
things and downplaying very little, and the Emperor listened to him
intently throughout the narration, interrupting him only to clear one
doubt or another. Finally, Li Jiang finished his tale, and by then, the
Emperor was right on the edge of his seat, his eyebrows furrowed in
rapt attention and his lips curling upwards in utter fascination.

    "This is the most amazing tale I have ever heard," he said finally
when Li Jiang was done, focusing his eyes on Ranma. "This is little
Ranma, I suppose."

    "Yes, Honored Emperor. This is Ranma Saotome, my adopted son.
Ranma, meet the dragon-emperor of the Musk."

    Not knowing how to react to a dragon, since he had never seen one,
Ranma simply let his jaw hang open and stared awestruck at the Emperor.

    The Emperor, in turn, had to take only one look at Ranma's
awestruck face before he burst into hearty laughter.

    "Yes, young Ranma," he said, when, finally, he gained control of
his mirth, "I am part dragon and I can clearly see that you are, too."

    The boy nodded, a wee bit shyly. Now that he had overcome the
initial surprise, doubts began to creep into his heart. After all,
dragons were supposed to be very powerful creatures and would it not be
wise to just leave them be? Of course, Ranma's mind forgot the fact
that he, too, was a dragon.

    Before Li Jiang could begin to coax Ranma's trust towards the
Emperor, fate intervened. The crown prince of the Musk, an eight year
old boy about three inches taller than Ranma, came running into the
room unannounced. Upon eyeing the visitors, he excused himself politely
and began to withdraw, but the Emperor stopped him.

    "Ranma," he said, introducing his son, "this is my son, Shin Nan.
Shin, this is Ranma and his elder brother, Li Chin. Will you take them
outside, and play with them while I discuss some very pressing matters
with their father?"

    Shin Nan nodded and grabbing Ranma's and Li Chin's hands, dashed
out of the room. Soon, sounds of three little boys having the time of
their lives began to echo through the halls of the palace.

    "Now, Guardian," the Emperor asked when the boys were out of
earshot, "what boon do you request of me?"

    "It pertains to Ranma, Honorable Emperor. I beseech you to take him
into your custody and raise him, until such a time comes, when he is
ready to face the outside world," Li Jiang replied in measured tones.

    "I wouldn't have it any other way, Guardian. With his phenomenal ki
potential, he'll become a menace to society and to himself, if he
doesn't learn to control it. Furthermore, it is my duty as a dragon -
he, too, is a member of my race, and as such, he's part family."

    Pause.

    "My decision is made... I'll adopt him, Guardian, I'll adopt him as
my own son, even though I'm afraid I do not understand why you would
ask this particular boon off me..." the Emperor said.

    "My Liege, I beg that the words I speak never go beyond these four
walls."

    The Emperor nodded.

    "Very well. It shall be as you wish."

    Li Jiang nodded once. The Emperor's words were never broken.

    "I beg forgiveness for lying to you, Honorable Emperor. The boy is
not part dragon, as I had you believe only a minute ago, My Liege," he
said, "he's a true dragon."

    If the Emperor was surprised, he did not let it show in his
features. Rather, he leaned back against his chair and with an affected
air of nonchalance, spoke in a soft voice.

    "Go on."

    "I believe that the boy is not of this world, but from another,
Your Majesty. It is also my belief that he has a great trial ahead of
him... It is my hope that you will take him under your house, teach him
the ways of a warrior and prepare him for the trials ahead."

    The Emperor closed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the hand rest
a couple of times. Finally, his fingers paused and he opened his eyes.

    "I grant thee the boon you seek, Guardian. I will personally see to
it that his training is tough and rigorous."

    Li Jiang smiled, gratefully.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    The Emperor nodded with a tilt of his head.

    "When do you plan on returning home?" he asked.

    "As soon as possible, Your Majesty. I still have to inform the
Matriarch and the Council of Joketsuzoku Elders what has transpired
and..."

    The Emperor nodded, again, leaning back on his throne once more.

    "You will dine with me tonight, of course."

    "Honorable Emperor..."

    The Emperor held up his arms, forestalling any arguments.

    "Argue not, Guardian. My mind is set."

    Li Jiang took a deep breath.

    "Very well, Your Majesty. My son and I will dine with you tonight,
but tomorrow, I beg that Your Majesty grants me leave then. I have
errands to run, my crops to attend to and I do not wish to outstay Your
Majesty's hospitality."

    "And when you leave, I shall order an escort to take you right to
the doorsteps of The Council."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm very grateful for Your hospitality."

    The Emperor nodded with a soft smile.

    "We of the Musk look after our friends," he shot a glance at Li
Jiang, "and allies."

    Pause.

    "That reminds me," he continued, "you must feel very tired after
your journey, Guardian. In fact, you look tired... Guards!"

    Immediately, two spear-wielding wolf-men appeared at the door.

    "Take my guest to one of the free bed chambers."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," the duo replied simultaneously.

    The Emperor nodded and turned to Li Jiang.

    "I shall send your son to you once my sons and he have finished
playing. Now, go and rest."

    Li Jiang bowed humbly and retreated, following the guards to his
room.

    Time passed quickly the rest of the day and when dusk came, a
dinner was held in Li Jiang's honor, and they ate, drank, and made
merry well into the night. The next morning, Li Jiang and Li Chan bade
farewell to Ranma, and left the Musk capital.

*****************************************************************

    A month later...

    The Emperor stood atop the bulwarks of his palace, looking down
upon his capital with his hands clasped behind his back. He stood thus,
unmoving with his eyes staring into the far off distance, until he was
interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him.

    "Your Majesty, Master Hai Fung has come for the audience you
requested."

    The Emperor nodded.

    "Very well. Show him to my inner chambers. I'll be with him
shortly."

    The guard nodded, paid his respects, bowed one final time and ran
off into the fortress walls. The Emperor followed him deliberately at a
slow pace into the palace. He negotiated the winding passageways to his
chambers and entered without knocking to find Hai Fung seated on a
bamboo chair.

    "Welcome, Master."

    The former sensei and mentor of the Emperor stood up and bowed
slightly. His pointed, tiger-like ears and eyes showed his tiger
ancestry, and he carried himself with a bearing that would have done
any pureblooded tiger proud.

    The Emperor bowed at his waist in return and straightened himself
before his Master did.

    "Be very welcome, Master," he repeated.

    "Thank You, Your Majesty," the old warrior replied, waiting, until
Qin Shi was seated before taking his seat in deference to the Emperor's
station.

    "Does this day find you in good health and cheer, Master?"

    "Yes, it has..."

    Qin Shi nodded.

    "Master, I called you here to ask a boon off you."

    "A boon?"

    "Yes, Master, a boon to teach my two sons The Art of War and The
Art of Peace."

    Hai Fung nodded. It was common knowledge that the Emperor had
adopted a young dragon as his second son.

    "I... I am much honored, Your Majesty. When do I start?"

    Qin Shi nodded.

    "As soon as possible, Master... Perhaps even as early as tomorrow
if it suits you."

    Pause.

    "I suppose... Yes, I'd like it very much," Qin Shi replied.

    "Then, that's settled... A cup of tea, Master?"

    "Yes, I'd like that very much, Your Majesty."

    Qin Shi nodded and ordered some tea for the two of them. While they
waited, the conversation strayed into less important matters, and the
two of them reminiscenced about a time when the two of them were
student and Master, and not Emperor and Advisor. Finally, after an hour
of small talk, Hai Fung left, leaving the Emperor alone to his own
devices.

*****************************************************************

    The next day...

    The Emperor snored on in his chambers, seemingly unaware of the two
shadows that crept upon him silently with the utmost caution.

    A lone cock crowed in the distance as the first rays of the morning
sun began to stray into the room. Still, the Emperor lay still. Sensing
success, the two shadows crept in closer still, until they were
crouched only a few feet from the foot of the bed. Then, with a mighty
battle cry, the two launched themselves at the Emperor, bending their
legs in anticipation of a rough landing as they reached the apex of
their flight.

    The Emperor, who had long since sensed his two sons creeping in on
him, rolled over and avoided them at the last possible moment. He
pushed himself off the bed with his hands and landed softly on the
soles of his feet.

    "You lose, boys," he said with an affected air of boredom. "I saw
that one coming from a mile away!"

    In truth, it was all bluster and internally, Qin Shi was trying to
overcome the shock that two very inexperienced children had crept into
his bedchambers almost without his noticing it. Nevertheless, shocked
as he was, he was still ready for the ritual morning spar, and spar,
they did.

    Moving with a grace that went above mere poetry to something beyond
that, the three wound through the passageways, until finally they
reached the open grounds within the palace walls. Qin Shi smiled
contentedly to himself while evading, blocking, and parrying strikes
and counter strikes the two boys launched at him. And as they danced,
he noticed the difference in this styles: Shin's moves were faster and
had more strength behind them, whereas Ranma executed his attacks to
perfection to inflict the maximum damage with the least force. More
importantly, he could not quite place his fingers on the Ranma's style,
as the boy kept switching styles, unrecognizable ones at that, before
he could build an effective counter against any of them. It appeared
that the young dragon was a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none.

    In short, Ranma was the most fascinating fighter he had ever fought
with and Qin Shi's smile grew in intensity as he admired the fighting
skill of his two sons.

    'Our expectations might be realized, after all,' he thought,
remembering the conversation he had the day before with his Master, Hai
Fung. It had been evident then and it was evident now that Ranma was
destined to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest warrior ever in
the history of the tribe.

    The boy's speed had only increased slightly since his arrival two
weeks back, but on careful examination, Qin Shi could see that Ranma
was already directing his ki to super-boost his moves on an unconscious
level. 'How did he learn to use his ki so quickly?' Qin Shi thought
disbelievingly. 'It's just not possible!'

    No sooner had Qin Shi thought such, a near hit by a ki powered
punch from Ranma proved him wrong. Shocked beyond belief by this new
revelation Qin Shi lost his focus and Shin utilized this momentary lack
of concentration to sneak a glancing hit into his father's guard. The
blow signaled the end of the impromptu spar and Qin Shi raised his
hands into the air, accepting his defeat. The two boys fell upon him
squealing with laughter and he carried the victorious duo into the
palace on his shoulders.

    "You two fought very well today," Qin Shi said as he sat his sons
down on the breakfast table.

    Shin and Ranma looked at each other, and smiled impishly as the
servants laid the table. They chattered amongst themselves as the table
was being laid, but once the table was set, Ranma abandoned all
thoughts of talk and dug into his meal, devouring it with a gusto that
never failed to awe the viewers. Qin Shi took a small bite himself and
spared a glance at his second son. Noting the increase in bulk since
his arrival, he nodded to himself. Ranma had been a bag of bones when
he had first laid eyes on the boy, but he looked a lot better now.

    "Ranma, would you tell me the name of the style you were using just
now?" he asked.

    "That was the Saotome branch of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryuu, the
Anything Goes School of martial arts. I'm the heir to the school..."
the boy begun and trailed off, remembering that now, there was no
school and therefore, technically, he could not be the heir.

    Qin Shi nodded, gulping down a mouthful of smoked salmon.

    "I can easily see why you were the heir," he said in admiration.

    Ranma blushed and his hands automatically went to scratch the base
of his pigtail. Qin Shi found the gesture too cute to resist and
pinched Ranma's cheeks affectionately.

    "That's my boy," he said. "Anyways, I'm going to take the two of
you to meet your new sensei today."

    "Can't you teach us, father?"

    "Who is it, father?"

    Ranma and Shin asked simultaneously.

    Qin Shi shook his head.

    "No, as much as I want to, I cannot... I have a kingdom to mind,
after all," he explained. The Emperor's first duty lay with his
kingdom, after all. "As for who he is, he was my teacher and he taught
me everything I know."

    Shin seemed to accept his father's explanation, but to Qin Shi's
consternation, Ranma's questioning look did not waver. He was not going
to be shut up with just a few tidbits of information, it seemed. 'And
is it any wonder? From what he revealed about his other father, it is
not the least surprising that he doesn't exactly trust his martial arts
teachers.'

    "His name is Hai Fung, Ranma, and he's one of the greatest warriors
in the history of our nation. C'mon, let's finish our meal and then,
I'll answer all your questions regarding the Master."

    Ranma nodded, finally, in acceptance, willing, for the time being,
to take his father's word on the subject.

*****************************************************************

    After breakfast, Qin Shi escorted the boys out of the fortress and
into the woods to the east of the city walls. There, after about a
quarter of an hour's walk, they came upon a clearing, where Hai Fung
stood waiting for them.

    Qin Shi bowed to him, and Ranma and Shin followed their father's
example. Hai Fung bowed in return and bade Qin Shi to join him at his
side. When Qin Shi was in position, Hai Fung exchanged a few words with
the Emperor and beckoned the boys to him. Ranma and Shin scurried from
their positions a few dozen yards off to the side and on reaching Hai
Fung's side, bowed, once again paying their respects to his age and
station. Pleased by this show of respect, Hai Fung smiled and as if by
magic, took a stick from literally out of nowhere, taking the
opportunity to spank his students behinds.

    Twin cracks echoed across the clearing and the boys yelped loudly,
jumping into the air, holding their stinging behinds with both their
hands. They jumped up and down a couple of times, yapping like licked
puppies and giving Hai Fung the evil eye. The Emperor, who stood
watching the proceedings from the sidelines, could not contain his
mirth at the sight of the two pissed children and burst out laughing.

    Hai Fung's face, however, took on a grim expression and he threw
the stick away, shaking his head in disgust.

    "I have never seen such a worthless lot," he said to them and
turned to Qin Shi, "but seeing that I have nothing better to do with my
time, I guess that I'll have to make do with these two."

    Qin Shi nodded. Experience had taught him that such was Hai Fung's
way of praising his students.

    "I'll be looking forward to see what you can accomplish with them,
Master."

    Hai Fung nodded once, and turned towards Ranma and Shin.

    "Children!" he said, solemnly. "My name is Hai Fung, and I'll be
teaching you The Art of War and The Art of Peace. You'll refer to me as
Master and you just learned your first lesson: Never drop your guard,
lest it becomes the last thing you ever do. Your enemy is always
waiting and watching you, bidding his time, until you put the wrong
foot forward and then, he'll strike... Remember, if I had chosen to, I
could have hit you anywhere I wanted and you'd be dead, or dying right
now."

    Pause.

    "Life is very fragile. All it takes is that one perfectly placed
strike to end it. It is that one strike that you must always be on the
guard against. Do you understand that?" he added.

    Ranma and Shin nodded, slowly, still rubbing their behinds. Their
butts still stung like hell, but their opinion of the old geezer had
increased a bit. Perhaps the old man wasn't a complete homicidal
maniac, after all...

    "Ranma and Shin, introduce yourselves," Qin Shi said, stepping
forward.

    "I'm Ranma Saotome Qin, Master," Ranma said.

    "And I'm Shin Nan, Master," Shin added.

    Hai Fung rubbed his thin, long beard, thoughtfully, weighing his
students against some ancient scale.

    "And what schools do you practice?" he asked them.

    "Saotome branch of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryuu."

    "Northern Wind School of Wu Shu."

    Hai Fung nodded at Shin and turned towards Ranma with a thoughtful
expression.

    "Musabetsu Kakutou Ryuu?" he asked. In all his years as a warrior
and as a teacher, he had never heard of such a school.

    "Yes," Ranma replied, "it means School of Indiscriminate
Grappling..."

    "Indiscriminate Grappling? What a queer name... We'll see how
effective your school is, Ranma. Care for a spar?"

    "Sure!" Ranma replied, super-fast.

    "Oh, no, you don't," Hai Fung added, quickly. "If you think you're
ready for a sparring session with me, young man, you're dead wrong." He
turned to Shin. "Shin, step into the middle of the clearing and prepare
yourself for a friendly spar.

    Shin nodded and the two contestants walked to the middle of the
clearing. Sure enough, in spite of his ever-increasing skill, Ranma was
no match for Shin, whose meager knowledge and conscious control of ki
won the day. Ranma, for what it was worth, ended up sprawled on the
forest floor, clutching his stomach and groaning, while a triumphant
Shin stood gloating over him. Hai Fung smiled amusedly at the show and
turned towards Qin Shi, speaking quietly.

    "Both of them have huge potential and Ranma's style is one of the
most efficient, if not the most deadly one I have ever seen. Even now,
with almost no knowledge and control of ki, he is nearly on par with
Shin, which is simply astounding.

    "As for Shin, he depends too much on his ki and takes it for
granted. His potential is great, too, and with the right training, both
of them will surpass me one day. Truly, My Emperor, my prayers to the
Gods have been heard: Their answer stands right before me in the forms
of these two," he said with gleaming eyes.

    Qin Shi nodded.

    "Then, I trust the boys under your care, Master. I must go now and
attend to the matters of the court."

    "Of course," Hai Fung nodded, "please, don't let us keep you from
Your duties... As you can see," he pointed to the two boys, who were
circling each other warily once again with determined looks in their
eyes, "everything's fine and dandy here."

    "Then, I'll go," the Emperor said quietly to Hai Fung, before
addressing the boys loudly. "I must go now, Shin... Ranma... I'll see
you two at supper tonight and you can tell me about your first day
under the Master's tutelage." 'Err, torture... Hehehehe!'

    Unaware of what they were in for, the boys shot a quick nod in Qin
Shi's direction and returned to their staring match.

    "Master..." Qin Shi bowed solemnly.

    Hai Fung's lips creased upwards in a gentle smile and he returned
his student's bow, bending just a little bit lower than the Emperor.

    Qin Shi straightened himself, and flicking off some imaginary
specks of dust on his robes, walked out of the clearing without looking
back again.

    Hai Fung and the boys watched his disappearing form; until the
thicket hid him altogether, before turning to face, or rather, look at
one another curiously.

    "Now, boys," Hai Fung begun, breaking the silence, "let's see some
of the moves you know and we can take it from there."

    And so, the training session began. It did not end until both Ranma
and Shin had exhausted themselves completely and utterly.

*****************************************************************

    Five years later...

    Ranma and Shin stood in the middle of the very same clearing. The
trees had grown and changed, and so had the boys.

    The changes were most visible in Ranma, for he was perhaps a foot
taller than before. All signs of malnutrition had long since
disappeared and in the place of the scrawny little kid, there stood
now, a determined young man with a small ponytail that stretched to his
shoulder blades. The hair was tied neatly in a knot, and he was dressed
in an indigo shirt and black pants. A single emblem, the seal of the
Musk royal family, hung around his neck and he had intricately carved
wooden bracers made from thin strips of the Tree of Life on both his
wrists. His muscles stood bulging and a towering flame of ki burned
around his body, lighting the clearing in a bluish-white light.

    Shin, too, had grown and he stood just as tall as Ranma, though the
changes were less apparent in him. His slit eyes had become sharper and
more piercing, and he was dressed in the same fashion as Ranma, bearing
the same emblem, wrist guards, shirt and pants. His muscles knotted and
strained under his shirt, and a soft wind blew against his dress,
outlining the well-developed physique underneath. An aura, similar and
yet, weaker than Ranma's, burned around him, and it, too, bathed the
area in much the same manner as Ranma's.

    The two stood there for the longest time, not moving, sizing each
other up, until finally, at some unspoken signal, the two leapt at each
other in complete silence. They met in midair and the battle began.

    They fought without using ki blasts, though the opponents used
their ki to boost their strength, stamina and speed to inhuman levels.
Even so, the air shuddered under their passing and huge clouds of dust
were thrown into the air as earth gave under the tremendous forces
exerted by the two. The ground shook and thunderclaps rang across the
clearing, steadily increasing in frequency, until the end of one could
not be discriminated from the start of another.

    Every once in a while, one of the combatants would be forced to
brace himself against the ground as the other pounded at his defenses
with animalistic ferocity. During those times, huge explosions rang
through the clearing, tearing the forest floor, and throwing clods of
dirt and rocks into the air as the defender used force redirection
techniques to redirect the opponent's blows downwards.

    Finally, after an eternity of ear-shattering explosions, the pair
separated and peace returned to the clearing once more. Standing there
in the middle of the now destroyed clearing, they gazed long and hard
at each other, breathing hard, their rivalry clearly written on their
faces. Finally, after a staring contest that seemed to stretch forever,
they turned towards their master and bowed at their waists.

    "Well done, my dear students," Hai Fung said, emerging from
underneath the shadows of one of the trees. How he stood there unseen
and unobserved until then was a mystery, but emerge, he did.

    "Thank you, Master," the two said in unison.

    "Yes," Hai Fung nodded to himself, stroking his white beard
thoughtfully, "it was a nice fight, but something was missing..."

    "Missing?" the two asked in amazement. They had just torn up the
whole clearing and emerged literally unscathed, and that was all he
could say! Why, the nerve of him!

    "Yeah!" Hai Fung nodded, gravely. His demeanor screamed his
disappointment at them. Perhaps he had been dead wrong when he chose
them as his heirs, after all.

    "Pray tell, Master," Ranma, the more adventurous of the two, spoke.
"What exactly was missing in that fight?"

    Hai Fung shot him an evil eye.

    "Curious, are you?" he asked, tilting his head to further examine
the bold young man before him.

    Ranma nodded.

    Hai Fung eyed Ranma some more, judging him against some new but
still very ancient scale. Finally, he nodded in return.

    "Come to me, Ranma. As you're obviously the more curious than your
brother, I'll tell you first."

    Ranma looked at Shin, stuck his tongue out in a very un-royal
manner and walked up to Hai Fung with a bounce in his strides. Yes,
this was going to be the day when the Master finally acknowledged him
as his best student.

    "Come closer... My old bones fail me!"

    'Yeah, right! And I'm really the four hundred year old mummy that
rules the Joketsuzoku.' Thankfully, Ranma did not give voice to his
thoughts, rather opting to keep them to himself. Secretly, however, he
gave himself a pat on his back for his quick tactical sense and his
even quicker wit. Every time he thought he had reached the peak and
could go no further, he proved himself wrong.

    "I'm coming, Master," he said and closed the distance between them
to less than three feet.

    Whap!

    "I thought I told you to not use ki in the fight. Now, look around
you. The whole clearing's destroyed and we don't have any place to
train tomorrow?"

    The stick broke in the middle: Ranma's back proved too hard for it,
but boy, had it stung? Ranma looked at the broken stick, at the evil
old troll who wielded it and then, back at the stick.

    "That hurt, you know," he complained in an annoyed voice, rubbing
his rapidly reddening butt. Was it any wonder that it was always too
sore to sit upon come suppertime?

    "Hehehehe..."

    That was Shin. He had always enjoyed a good show and this time was
no different from any other.

    "Nice challenge, 'big' brother," Ranma said, sneering lopsidedly at
his sibling, "but I guess you'll have to try again later. Obviously,
you're too young to beat me."

    Whap!

    Another sting. Another glare. Where was the old man getting his
sticks from, anyway?

    "And you," Hai Fung said, focusing his attention on Shin, "what
were you thinking, when you begun using the forbidden Blades of Heaven
technique?"

    "I... eh... I..." Shin stuttered. Now, how was he going to escape
out of this mess? Oh, yeah, he was going to escape the same way he
always did. "But... But... But... He started it!"

    "Huh?" Ranma asked, his mind going into overdrive, trying to figure
out exactly how he had started something his brother did. Finally, it
all came back to him. "I did not!" he shouted.

    "Yes, you did!"

    "Did not!"

    "Did, too!"

    "Oh, shut up both of you," Hai Fung said, exasperation creeping
into his old mind.

    The bickering duo shut up and focused their attention on Hai Fung,
once again.

    "Thank you," Hai Fung said. "Now, get your scaly butts to the
palace. The lessons in advanced ki manipulation will start tomorrow."

    "Thank you, Master," the two said in perfect harmony, bowing to Hai
Fung as they did.

    Hai Fung bowed slightly in return and the two made off into the
forest, starting their bickering brawl as soon as they thought they
were out of earshot.

    "Don't worry, Shin, I'll go easy on you next time!"

    Shin snorted in mock disgust.

    "You're speaking as though you beat me back there... If my memory
serves me right and I know it does, I was the one mopping the floor
with you. Which side of the bed did you wake up today, little brother?"

    Ranma laughed, derisively.

    "C'mon, porky, admit it, you couldn't beat me even if your life
depended on it."

    "Arghhh! That's it! How many times have I warned you to not call me
by that name, Ranma?" Shin shouted in indignation, balling his fists.

    Ranma smirked, refusing to answer the question.

    "A thousand times... No, a ten thousand times," Shin shouted
indignantly, again.

    "I'm sorry, brother," Ranma said, sincerely. "Did I hurt your poor
widdle porky heart?"

    "That's it! Die!" Shin screamed at the top of his lungs and
launched himself at Ranma; murder in his eyes.

    The situation deteriorated steadily from then on and by the time
the palace patrol came upon them, they had succeeded in beating each
other unconscious and make a bloody mess of themselves.

*****************************************************************

    A week and a half later...

    Ranma and Shin sat in the middle of a large clearing bordered by
trees and shrubs. The boys looked as good as new: The wounds from their
recent 'disagreement' had healed and the scars disappeared. Their
comradeship, too, had revived during that time, and as they sat
together, Hai Fung could almost feel the brotherly love radiating
between them. Glossing over the last five years of his life, he
marveled at the leaps and bounds his students had made in The Art and a
little self-indulgent smile blossomed on his face.

    "Shall we start today's lessons?" he asked, finally breaking the
silence and eyeing them critically.

    "Yes, Master!" the two replied in unison.

    Hai Fung nodded.

    "Close your eyes and meditate. When you find your center, reach for
your ki and allow it manifest visually."

    The duo nodded and closed their eyes in uncanny unison. They had
done this so many times before that it was almost second nature to them
now.

    Presently, a white corona of power formed around Ranma, and then,
Shin.

    "Good," Hai Fung said, taking two very thin, green strips of wood
from the ground beside him and handing it to them.

    "Try to focus your ki into that strip," he said.

    Ranma's aura immediately turned blue and a huge current of ki
flooded his strip, incinerating it completely in mere seconds.

    Whap!

    Ranma glared at Hai Fung, rubbing his sore pate and muttering evil
things about accursed old mummies under his breath.

    Hai Fung gave his student enough time to recover, noticing with
affected aloofness the fact that Ranma's aura did not disappear when
his attention was focused elsewhere. His mind boggled at the control
the boy had managed to achieve at such a young age and he smirked to
himself as memories of his younger days came back. Finally, when he
surmised that the two had gained sufficient control of their auras, he
broke the silence.

    "Good work, Ranma," he said, opting first to congratulate Ranma to
throw the boy off-balance.

    "Huh?" came Ranma's wise reply. Just a minute ago, he had been hit
with The Evil Stick and now, he was being congratulated. 'What the
hell's going on?'

    "You didn't lose control of your aura, when you were focused
elsewhere," Hai Fung explained. "That's a very good sign."

    "Heh." Now that he had the answer, Ranma's ego came bursting to the
fore. "Thanks, I guess, Master," he said, shooting a sidelong glance at
Shin. 'One more scratch on the board for Ranma Saotome Qin. Beat that,
big brother!'

    "Now, try again," he said, handing another strip to Ranma, "this
time, however, don't try to use your ego, err, confidence as a proxy to
channel your ki into the wood."

    "As you wish, Master," Ranma replied. 'That explains why the old
man hit me, I guess.'

    "Remember... When using weapons forged from metal and such, you can
use your confidence, or for that matter, any emotion you choose as a
proxy, though I'm firmly against such practice. When it comes to wood
and such, however, never, ever use your emotions to channel your ki.
Just will your ki to flow into them and it will."

    The boys remained silent for almost a long minute as they digested
this new lesson. Finally, Shin broke it.

    "Why, Master? Is there any difference?" he asked.

    "A very good question, Shin," Hai Fung replied, taking the
opportunity to give his student a pat on the back. "Trees and all other
living things have well defined ki lines in their physical bodies.
These lines are formed and reinforced throughout their life. They
survive death, slowly growing stronger in bones and other, more
permanent, organs. As such, channeling ki through a piece of wood is
like performing a ki transfer. you must not taint the ki you wish to
transfer with emotions because 'emotion-tainted' ki destroys the
harmony in the body.

    "This is not to say that ki transfers cannot be accomplished using
'emotion-tainted' ki. They can be done, but their disadvantages are too
many and they far outweigh the advantages. Take for example, wood. It
becomes stronger when you focus 'emotion-tainted' ki through it, but
what it gains in strength, it loses in flexibility. In extreme cases,
like when you channeled too much of your confidence-flavored ki into
that strip of wood, the ki lines are completely torn apart and the wood
disintegrates. The same is true for humans and animals alike. Channel
enough tainted ki through something and it'll burn into a crisp.

    "Pure ki, however, has none of these shortcomings and has many
things going in its favor. In fact, a pure ki transfer is similar to
absorbing the ki in the air. The only difference: you channel it into
the recipient's system instead of him drawing it willfully. It's not
tainted by emotions and therefore, it has no set path, which it has to
follow, but rather, follows the paths set by the recipient's body."

    Ranma and Shin nodded.

    "Excuse me, Master," Ranma asked, when Hai Fung once again closed
his eyes in meditation.

    "Yes?"

    "But what about swords and other handcrafted weapons? Why can we
use tainted ki with them?"

    Hai Fung took a deep breath.

    "That, my dear Ranma, depends on a number of factors. The make of
the weapon, the material used, the skill of the smith who forged it -
they all influence the way the weapon interacts with ki.

    "Take folded weapons, like that broadsword the Emperor has, for
example. That one was folded forty-seven times by the Emperor's great
grandfather himself. Its folds are so intricate and numerous that it's
almost alive... Such is the complexity of the ki lines it bears. A
weapon such as that sword can easily slice through six, seven, eight
feet of granite without taking a nick. you can focus pure ki, or
tainted ki into it and it wouldn't make much of a difference... The ki
lines are so complex that all the shortcomings of one proxy are
overcome by the advantages of the other. Such weapons are called Spirit
Borne and you should be wary of anyone who wields them. They are nigh
impossible to counter in a battle.

    "There's another class of Spirit weapons: Those made from extremely
old bone and wood. These artifacts bear huge ki lines within them, and
can store and channel prodigious amounts of ki. The Spirit Bane, the
most powerful of this class, we have in our armory, was made using a
highly secret composite technology known only to our people."

    "Oh!" the two boys said simultaneously.

    "Yes," Hai Fung replied, taking a deep breath. "The Spirit Bane is
made of three separate parts: shaven strips from the canine of Jia
Long, the first dragon, a wooden spine from the very first Tree of Life
and a bronze casing, folded over fifty times. The bronze acts as the
focus for the user. The spine acts as the storage medium for the ki and
the teeth of The First One act as the channel. The weapon is so
powerful that the only one to ever lay hands on it was The Divine
Emperor himself! It is said that, with that weapon, one can match the
power of the Phoenix-God Saa Fuu Lang for limited intervals of time."
Hai Fung did not bother to add that the either of them was already
strong enough to wield The Spirit Bane.

    "And then, there are the normal weapons. These are crafted with far
less skill than the spirit and the folded weapons, and as such, are far
less potent in the battlefield... you can channel ki into these
weapons, but they only respond perfectly to the hands that shaped them.
This is why, all Musk and Joketsuzoku soldiers craft their own
weapons."

    Ranma and Shin nodded.

    "Thank you for the lesson, Master."

    "You're welcome, children. Now, get back to the exercise at hand."

    The boys took the strips in their hands and as before, tried to
focus their ki into them. As usual, Ranma was the first to accomplish
the task, though Shin, as always, was not too far behind.

    "Excellent," Hai Fung said, when both of them had managed to not
only channel the ki into the wood, but also to maintain it. "Ranma,
move to that rock over there and Shin, you move to that one," he said,
pointing to two medium sized boulders at the far edge of the clearing.

    When the boys were at their prescribed places, Hai Fung spoke
again.

    "I want you to channel your ki into the strips in your hands and
hit the boulders with the boulder with the strip. I want you to focus a
cutting edge on your strips with your ki and use it to 'cut' the
boulder."

    The two nodded and set upon the task. Hai Fung closed his eyes and
waited for the ear shattering explosions to begin.

    He did not have to wait long for the explosions started almost as
soon as he closed his eyes.

    Bam!

    Bam! Bam! Bam!

    "Ranma! Shin! For God's sake, I thought I asked you to cut the
rock, not shatter it into a million pieces."

    "Sorry, Master," the two replied, meekly.

    Hai Fung sighed. He knew that it was too much to expect the two to
get everything perfect in the first go, but he could not help himself.
'It's fortunate that I planned for this beforehand, else today would
have been wasted.'

    "Very well. Run to the northern wall of the palace embankments and
you'll find a large pile of boulders there. Carry 'one' here and try
again. Every time you crush a rock, you'll repeat the process, until
you get everything right."

    The two acquiesced, bowed and took off.

    'Now, where was I again?' Hai Fung thought, eyeing their fast
disappearing figures and lazily stroking his beard. 'Oh, yes, ramen and
fried rabbit...'

*****************************************************************

    Fifteen years later...

    Qin Shi sat on his throne, absent-mindedly stroking his beard with
his left hand. 'It's now time to pass my responsibilities to the next
generation,' he thought to himself lethargically. He was growing too
old for the job and just like his father, he planned to abdicate in
favor of his sons.

    The fact that Ranma and Shin had grown into fine warriors was a big
bonus. They were as well trained in The Art of Peace as they were in
The Art of War, and one could not have hoped to find a better Emperor
anywhere in the kingdom.

    "Honorable Emperor," the Chief of the Palace Guards said, bowing in
reverence before Qin Shi, "the Princes have arrived for their daily
audience."

    "Excellent!" Qin Shi replied, straightening himself against his
chair. "Show them in and summon my advisors."

    The Chief of the Palace Guard bowed again and exited the throne
room.

    Presently, Shin and Ranma entered the great hall.

    "Good morning, Honorable Father," the two said, kneeling before Qin
Shi. "Has this morning found you in good health and cheer?"

    "Arise, children," Qin Shi replied. "I'm well. How fare you?"

    "We're as well as can be, Honorable Father," Shin replied.

    Qin Shi nodded.

    "Very well. Come and sit besides me, children, whilst we wait for
my court. I bear important tidings and you need but wait a few minutes
before all is revealed."

    Shin and Ranma nodded, and before sitting on their seats to the
left of the Emperor, exchanged confused, questioning glances. What news
could be so important that the Emperor had to have his entire court
present, before he could speak of it?

    Fortunately, they were in luck. The courtiers were not nearly as
tardy as they always were and arrived en masse in short order. Soon,
the throne room was filled with whispers and rumors were flying about
everywhere.

    "Honorable Emperor," one of the oldest and most respected courtiers
finally dared to ask, "why has Your Excellency summoned us at this wee
hour of the morning? The sun is pale and the cock, yet to crow!"

    Qin Shi stared down the impudent man with a glare and cleared his
throat. Immediately, all whispers died and silence reigned in the room.
The courtier, for his part, bowed deeply in apology and sat on his
chair.

    "My reign is at an end, I fear," Qin Shi begun, "and it's now time
to pass on the Throne of the Dragons to one of my sons."

    Pause.

    "I summoned all of you here to bear witness to the naming
ceremony." He cast his eyes on Ranma and Shin. "Come and stand before
me, my children, so that I might pass on my burden to you."

    Ranma and Shin stood up from their seats and turned to face their
father, their shock at this sudden turn of events, clearly written on
their faces.

    "Long and fruitful has been my reign, but the time has come now to
end it," Qin Shi addressed the hall in a solemn voice. "Shin Nan, Ranma
Saotome Qin... Are you willing to bear the weight of the Musk nation
and carry it into the future?"

    "Yes, we are, Honorable Emperor," the two replied, solemnly.

    "It is well, then," Qin Shi said and once again, turned to address
his court. "Many Emperors have ruled the Musk before me and many more
shall before the end of the Earth, but none, I hope, will ever face the
dilemma I face today. Standing before me are my two sons, each near and
dear to my heart in his own unique way. They're both highly skilled in
The Arts and they have proven themselves repeatedly, both on the field
and off against our enemies: The Phoenix and The Ox. Both of them would
make a fine emperor, but as per the laws set by my ancestors, only one
can inherit the Throne of the Dragons.

    "I have given the decision many an hour of careful thought, and
yet, I cannot decide between them. In my eyes, they are both equals and
I cannot place one over the other. As such, I decree that they be put
through a trial by combat and the one that wins shall be the rightful
heir to my throne!" he announced.

    Pause.

    "Does anyone among you wish to contest their rights to the throne?"
Qin Shi asked his courtiers. It was part of tradition that the Emperor
should ask his courtiers the last question, just as it was tradition
that no one raises his voice against it.

    "I do, Honorable Emperor," Ranma said, stepping forward.

    Qin Shi raised an eyebrow, shocked by Ranma's challenge and yet,
doing well to conceal it. He eyed his youngest son with appraising
eyes, trying to discern the reason behind his challenge. Ranma stood
silently before him, looking very much like a teenager, as he had
stopped aging when he turned eighteen - a sign of the control he had
attained over his ki.

    "You would refuse your Emperor," Qin Shi asked.

    "Yes, Sire, I would. I refuse to spill dragon blood, now and
forever," Ranma replied, meeting his father's piercing gaze and not
backing down one little bit.

    "Think about what you say, young Ranma, before your words force my
hand."

    Ranma nodded, bowing in reverence.

    "My mind is set, Sire."

    Qin Shi looked at Ranma imploringly for the longest minute, but
Ranma did not flinch. Finally, Qin Shi took his eyes off him and spoke.

    "Hear this then, proud Prince," he said addressing the entire
court, "by the venerated laws of our people, there is only one
punishment for your willful disobedience of My Word. I, Qin Shi, the
fourteenth Emperor to sit on The Dragon Throne, cast thee out of the
Musk nation. you have a fortnight to leave the lands of the Musk,
failing which, you'll be hunted down to the ends of the earth."

    Qin Shi cast his eyes about the hall, looking so majestic that no
one dared to breathe lest they offend him.

    "I also decree that Shin Nan, the First born of the Royal House, to
be the rightful heir to The Dragon Throne."

*****************************************************************

    The stars were bright and white, and the night sky brimmed with
them.

    A cold wind blew from the north. It rustled the leaves of autumn as
it wound its way through the Valley of the Musk, relentlessly driving
out the mist that had settled on the valley. It was as fresh, if not as
invigorating, as the sweet, fragrant filled air of spring.

    A wolf pack howled in the far distance and to their beat, a lone
owl hooted from atop an ancient oak. The forest assumed a life of its
own as darkness approached and black shadows began to play tricks on
the mind's eye.

    Ranma sat atop a tall boulder, his form outlined against the night
sky. His shoulders were drooped and his head hung low. His silken robe
fluttered in the wind and his slow, irregular breaths condensed into a
cloud of white as it touched the cool night air.

    "Ranma?"

    Silence.

    "Ranma?"

    Again, there was a long pause.

    "Ranma, where are you?" Shin's voice sounded very close now.

    Finally, Ranma raised his head and acknowledged his brother's call.

    "I'm here, big brother," he whispered into the cold night. It had
been many years, since he passed the stage where he could be tracked
and now, not even Hai Fung and Shin, the closest among the Musk in
terms of skill, could do that.

    He had to wait only a few seconds, before Shin's face appeared at
the base of the boulder.

    "May I join you?" Shin asked.

    When Ranma did not reply, Shin jumped into the air, landing lightly
right next to Ranma.

    "Father's worried about you, brother," he said; whispered, sitting
beside Ranma. "He asked me to search for you, when he saw that you
weren't present at the dinner table."

    "I know..." Ranma replied in a quiet, subdued voice. "I just needed
time on my own..."

    "I understand."

    Pause.

    "I'm sorry it had to come to this," Shin added.

    "Me, too, brother," Ranma replied in a strained voice, "but it
couldn't be helped. you know my feelings on the subject and I'll never,
ever spill dragon blood over some earthly title."

    Shin nodded.

    "Still, father's very downcast and he has eaten but little."

    Ranma sighed and closed his eyes.

    "I don't fault him... He should know that. Things would have turned
out the same way, I feel... I'd have refused to fight you no matter
what."

    'Just like I would have, little brother!' Shin thought. If Ranma
had not objected first to the emperor's idea, he would have.

    "Yes, I know and father knows, too... Still, he blames himself..."

    "He shouldn't. Come, we'll go the palace right now, and I'll...
I'll talk with him..." Ranma said and stood up.

    Shin, however, remained seated.

    "Ranma, are you well?" he asked.

    Ranma gazed into the far off distance, taking his time to frame an
answer.

    "No, I'm not, but if father's willing to bear the pain, then so am
I."

    Pause.

    "Come, let's go," Ranma breathed and jumped off the boulder.

*****************************************************************

    Qin Shi stood at the palace gates with Shin Nan, the new Emperor,
and Hai Fung at his side. Eleven days had passed, since he delivered
the ultimatum to Ranma and every second of those eleven days had been
pure hell. Sleep, thirst, hunger - everything eluded him, and he had
spent many a sleepless night standing alone on the palace bulwarks,
looking into the night sky, silently shedding tears of remorse.

    The days were made harder by the fact that it was he, with his own
words, who had thrown Ranma out of the nation. Even now, as he stood
watching his son saying his farewells to his friends, the whole
situation looked too surreal to be true and even though he knew that it
was not, he wished that it were, too.

    After what seemed like a very long wait, Ranma finished with his
friends and acquaintances, and moved onto the three most important
people in his life. He faced his father first, and without a word
passing between them, hugged him.

    "Fare thee well, father," he said, tenderly, "I'll miss you."

    "Farewell, Ranma. I'll miss you, too. May the Gods bless you with a
long and happy life."

    Ranma tightened his hug and took a deep, strangled breath.

    "I'm sorry I disappointed you, father."

    "Nonsense, my child," Qin Shi replied. "I'd never be disappointed
by anything you do."

    Pause.

    "Take care and think of me sometime," he continued.

    Ranma released the hug gingerly and locked eyes with his father.

    "I'll do that, father. You'll think of me, won't you?"

    "Of course I will," Qin Shi replied, nearly moved to tears, "I love
you, my son."

    "And I love you," Ranma replied, "I must go now, father."

    Qin Shi nodded, only reluctantly releasing Ranma's hands.

    Ranma forced a smile on his melancholy face and looked at Qin Shi
one last time, before turning to Hai Fung.

    "Master, I beg pardon for the dishonor I have brought upon you," he
said to the wizened grandmaster.

    Hai Fung, who for the first time in a very long while looked his
age, shook his head in denial.

    "You haven't disgraced me, child. Your actions have always been
honorable, and I call you my student with much pride and honor."

    "Thank you, Master," Ranma said, solemnly bowing. "My conscience
rests a little more peacefully... I'll try to practice what you taught
me."

    "I know you will. It's the hope of every teacher that his student
becomes better than he is. I have been truly blessed on that account,
having taught not one, but two such students," he shot a sidelong
glance at Shin. "I'm very grateful to the two of you."

    Ranma nodded as did Shin.

    "Thank you, Master, for everything you have taught me," Ranma said
and bowed, again, in respect.

    Hai Fung returned it with a great deal of decorum and watched with
a heavy heart as Ranma moved onto his brother.

    The two brothers hugged each other tightly without muttering a
word. They remained thus for the longest time before separating.

    "I guess this is it, brother. I..."

    "Don't say it," Shin said, placing his finger on Ranma's lips and
silencing him. "We'll meet again in the future and the goodbyes can
wait, until then."

    Ranma nodded.

    "I hope so."

    Pause.

    "I'll be on my way then," he said, and shouldered his backpack,
while at the same time turning to leave.

    "Wait a minute, brother, I have a question to ask of you," Shin
interrupted.

    Ranma turned around and looked at Shin quizzically.

    "Yes, Brother..." he ventured.

    "I was wondering whether you'd tell us where you're going, so that,
we could, you know, maybe visit you sometime?"

    Ranma's lips curved upwards in a small smile.

    "I'd like that very much," he replied. "As for where I'm going, I'm
going to seek asylum in the land of our allies, the Joketsuzoku. I hope
to learn their arts before going wherever fate takes me."

    Shin nodded in tacit approval. Even though the ideologies of the
Joketsuzoku and the Musk conflicted with each other, the two states got
along just fine. The threat posed by the Phoenix tribe and their God-
King forced an unlikely friendship upon them, and relations between the
two states were always cordial and warm.

    "A wise choice. Convey my greetings to Matriarch Shi Huu and the
other Elders," he said.

    Ranma nodded, smiled forlornly and departed, never again to enter
the Musk Lands.

*****************************************************************

    The walk to the Village of the Councilors took eight days and Ranma
spent the time planning, or rather, re-planning his future. All his
life, he had been raised to become an emperor of a kingdom and now, he
did not even have a nation to call his own. Such a sudden change is
always hard to deal with and in Ranma's case, it was made all the more
hard by the fact that he did not have his family to fall back on
either. As a result, the hike became almost a pilgrimage to rediscover
himself and his center.

    At the end of the eight days, Ranma encountered a duo of guards at
the outskirts of the Joketsuzoku capital. They probed him with their ki
and he, in a show of good faith, reigned in his ki as tightly as he
could, in difference to their station and bowed, exposing himself to
them as a sign of good faith.

    "Who are you and what are you doing here, Stranger?" the guard
nearest to Ranma asked in a polite voice, after she had returned
Ranma's bow.

    "I'm a Musk warrior, Honored Ones, and I have come to seek shelter
with the Joketsuzoku," Ranma replied in his most unpretentious voice.

    "Be welcome, Joketsuzoku-Friend," the guard said, bowing slightly.
"I'm Hwa Shi and my companion is Yue Shi."

    "And I'm Ranma Saotome Qin of the Musk Royal House, Honored Ones,"
Ranma replied, "and I would be most glad if you'd point me towards the
Village of the Councilors."

    'Do wonders ever cease? I'd never thought that a Musk Prince could
be so polite!' "What news have you for the Council, Prince of the
Musk?" Hwa Shi asked.

    "I bring no ill-tidings, Honored Ones, but rather, a request for
The Council."

    Hwa Shi nodded. If he thought that the message was no concern of
hers, then she was not going to press the issue. Plenty took place
between the powers-that-be in the Musk and the Joketsuzoku camps, and
the common populace was usually kept in the dark about it.

    "Would you like to be escorted to The Hall, Honorable One?" she
asked. The Hall was the shortened form of The Hall of The Councilors.

    "Yes," Ranma replied with a slight nod, "I'd like that very much."

    "Very well... If you'll follow Yue Shi, she'll take you there."

    Ranma nodded at Hwa Shi and turned towards her companion, who led
him through the forest and into the maze of winding streets that led to
The Hall. Finally, they reached a low, thatched, circular building at
the center of the village. It was easily the biggest one in the village
and a squad of ten highly skilled ki adepts stood guard around it.

    One of those ten, the squad leader, walked up to meet Yue Shi with
a smile on her face.

    "Sister, what brings you to The Hall of The Councilors?" she asked,
examining Ranma from head to toe.

    Yue Shi smiled.

    "And it's nice to meet you, too, sister," she replied. "As for why
I am here," she shot a glance at Ranma, "I was escorting Prince Ranma
of the Musk here."

    The squad leader gave Ranma an once-over and nodded.

    "Thank you, then, Yue Shi," she said, dismissing the Joketsuzoku,
"I can take things from here. I'm sure that you need to return to your
post as fast as you can."

    Yue Shi nodded, gratefully and bowed. She turned around and headed
back to the outpost. Ranma and the squad leader watched her for a
couple of seconds before turning to regard one another again.

    "I'm Saa Long, Prince Ranma. Welcome to the Joketsuzoku," she said
with a slight bow.

    Ranma nodded, returning the bow with one of his own.

    "This way, please," Saa Long said, leading the way towards the
entrance of the Hall.

    Ranma followed Saa Long's lead quietly, and waited at the door for
a few minutes whilst Saa Long went in and announced his presence to The
Council. Finally, after a couple of minutes, she stepped outside and
showed him into the dim lit main hall of the building. The room was
filled with the overpowering smell of burned incense and as Ranma
entered, his eyes water and he coughed, being unaccustomed to such
levels of smoke. His body took a few seconds to adjust itself to the
creepy atmosphere in the room and when it did, he saw a large round
table positioned at the very center of the room with the various elders
seated around it.

    "Matriarch Shi Huu, I'm Ranma of the Qin and I bear greetings from
the new emperor of the Musk Empire, my brother, Shin Nan," Ranma said,
bowing once to the room's occupants and then to the oldest woman in the
room, the Matriarch.

    The Matriarch, for her part, coughed once into her hands and let
her eyes wander over Ranma's physique, judging him in her mind's eye.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she nodded her approval.
Immediately, the tense atmosphere in the room relaxed.

    "Hai Fung has trained you well, Prince of the Musk," the aged
Matriarch said at length.

    "You're too kind, Honored Matriarch," Ranma replied. "Forgive this
one for intruding in unannounced during your meeting."

    Shi Huu smiled, leaning forward on her seat. Contrary to popular
opinion, not all the Musk were uncivilized brutes. The young man before
her was evidence of that.

    "May I ask, Prince, what brings one of the heirs to the Throne of
the Dragons to our humble village?"

    "I'm here to request asylum with the Joketsuzoku, Honored
Matriarch. My father, the Musk Emperor, has cast me out of the Musk
nation for disobeying his words."

    "You disobeyed your father's words and he cast you out?" Shi Huu
asked, hiding her surprise quite well. The Musk warriors had always
been the most powerful in the valley and with someone like Ranma to
lead them, they would have become nigh invincible. Yet, here he stood
telling her that he had been cast out for disobeying his father's
words. Would the Musk really throw away such a chance at greatness for
the sake of a few laws? 'Yes, they would... Just like I would,' she
added to herself mentally almost as an after thought. The law was the
law and nothing stood above it, after all.

    "Yes," Ranma replied, nodding emphatically, "I refused to fight my
brother for the right to the Throne and father cast me out."

    "Oh!" Shi Huu said, exposing her toothless mouth in a smile, "you
stood up to the Musk Emperor? Hmm! Well, then, I guess I have no choice
but to offer you shelter, do I?"

    Ranma's face brightened with gratitude.

    "Thank you, Honorable Matriarch. My gratitude knows no bounds," he
said, bowing deeply at his waist.

    "Now, young man," Shi Huu said, raising off her seat with a small,
queer smile on her face, "let us not be hasty. If you want to stay with
the Joketsuzoku, you have to earn your stay... the hard way. What can
you do that can possibly benefit the tribe?"

    "Master Hai Fung always said I could have earned my living as a
teacher, if I weren't a prince. Perhaps I can impart my knowledge of
The Art to your warriors as a token of my gratitude for your
hospitality."

    "Young man," Shi Huu said with a slight frown. The boy wasn't an
imposture, or... was he? He was a dragon and there weren't that many
dragons in the world, but there were some and not all were as benign as
the ones that gave birth to the Musk Dynasty. "If you were a real Musk
prince, you'd have known that it's an unforgivable crime to teach Musk
techniques to outsiders, even allies such as the Joketsuzoku," she said
waving her hand around with a flourish at the warriors that surrounded
them.

    Ranma nodded, agreeing with the Matriarch's wisdom. He would not be
able to teach the Joketsuzoku the Musk techniques. 'But...'

    "Quite true, Honorable Matriarch. I cannot teach you the techniques
developed by my forefathers. However, nothing prevents me from teaching
the techniques I developed."

    Shi Huu raised an eyebrow. 'He could be telling the truth... He
certainly has the potential to reach the level of mastery needed to
create truly powerful ki techniques. Nevertheless, do I take that
chance... After all, not everyone with the potential to become great
becomes great!'

    "And how powerful are these techniques of yours?" she asked, after
ruminating over her thoughts for several moments.

    "I'm willing to fight the most powerful warrior in your nation,
using only my techniques to prove their prowess."

    Shi Huu snickered. The boy definitely did not lack in self-
confidence. She had to give him that. However, he was going to lose.
The elite cream of the Musk warriors were, and always had been, faster
than their enemies and their allies, but their repertoire was too small
to make that edge in speed lethal to their opponent. Moreover, they
concentrated too much on particular field of The Art and would never be
fearsome opponents in a one-on-one duel, even though they were nigh
invincible when they worked in teams.

    "As the Matriarch of the Joketsuzoku, I'm the most experienced
warrior in the Joketsuzoku nation and I accept your challenge. If you
can prove that your techniques are as powerful as you claim them to be,
you'll be a very welcome addition to our tribe, indeed."

    Pause.

    "Even if you fail to defeat me, I grant you asylum within the lands
of the Joketsuzoku. We," she said, looking around, "value our allies
and will not abandon one in your time of need!"

    Ranma bowed at his waist.

    "I'm forever indebted to your kindness, Honorable Matriarch."

    Shi Huu nodded and attacked Ranma without preamble. The battle was
going to be as much a test of mettle as it was of skill, and if the boy
were as good as he claimed, he would not require any time to prepare
himself for a duel, or even take a proper stance.

    Ranma, without rising from his bow, seemed to feel the incoming
killing strike to his neck and somersaulted over the heads of indignant
Joketsuzoku Elders thrice, before catapulting himself out of The Hall
and high into the air with a mighty shove of his arms. There he
hovered, nearly forty feet in the air, looking at his opponent with an
appraising eye.

    Using this little breather to their advantage, the Joketsuzoku
common folk parted, giving the two combatants a very wide berth in the
center of the village. Word had spread about the Musk Prince in the
village and they had all gathered to see what a dragon looked like, but
now, they were going to see the fight of their lives.

    Shi Huu, for her part, slid to a stop outside The Hall, and awaited
his return to ground level. If she were to follow him into the air, she
would deplete her ki levels and put herself at a severe disadvantage
for the rest of the fight.

    Ranma, when he realized that she was not going to engage him in
mid-air combat, floated down and assumed a stance. Shi Huu was upon
him, immediately, and they exchanged blows too fast for the naked eye
to see. Ranma slid around her Amaguriken and retreated, shooting a
small ki blast at the ground to cover his retreat.

    Observing this second retreat, Shi Huu shook her head. Perhaps the
boy had been kidding all along. He seemed to have a lot of ki, but no
real skill.

    When he had retreated a safe distance, Ranma began to circle Shi
Huu, leading her into a spiral. He carefully avoided her blows, closing
the distance between them ever so slightly with each step. His eyes
were always set upon her with grim determination, and his mind and aura
was as calm as the waters of a frozen lake.

    Finally, just as he got within the effective range of her fists,
Ranma allowed himself a little smile of triumph.

    "You lose, Honorable Matriarch," he whispered into her ears, before
punching up at the sky with his right fist, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!"

    The slight breeze that had been blowing through the village
suddenly became a raging tornado and Shi Huu could only watch in utter
disbelief as the tornado sucked her up into the air. She tried to use
her ki to escape the winds, but the action only strengthened the
tornado and made it that much harder to escape. It took her precious
seconds to realize that it was her ki, which served as the fuel for the
twister, but by then, her ki reserves were almost completely expended.

    Still, she pulled in her ki before she lost consciousness, hoping
that the action would be enough to starve the tornado.

    It was.

    Immediately, the tornado disappeared, leaving her stranded in mid-
air, with no ki to expend. She fell down hard and staggered after a few
seconds into a clumsy stance, only to lose consciousness mere moments
later.

    Everyone was stunned with disbelief. Their most experienced warrior
had been defeated by a mere teenager who had not even been hit once in
the fight.

*****************************************************************

    Outside the village healer's house, half an hour later...

    The Joketsuzoku Elders gossiped in a faint murmur as they awaited
the prognosis of Shi Huu. The boy had proven himself a match for the
Matriarch and rightfully, earned his shelter in the village.

    Inside the tent, Ranma stood beside his downed opponent as he bored
the healer about Shi Huu's health.

    "How is the Honorable Matriarch doing?" he asked.

    "She'll be fine, though I'm not that sure about The Council, as
well as the men and women out there," the village healer, Yein Luo, a
crone well past her hundreds, replied. Like Hai Fung, she, too, was
around four-feet high with a well-maintained mane of silver-white hair.
And like all other Wise Ones [1], she had a staff made of silver wood,
which acted as a ki battery. It was literally gushing with her ki to
his trained eyes.

    "Hmm!" Ranma said, his demeanor saying: Oh, that's perfectly
understandable.

    Of course, he did not understand what she said.

    Looking at Ranma, Yein Luo shook her head in mirth. He seemed to be
very easy to read when he was uncomfortable and right now, she could
tell he was. Obviously, he had not understood her words and needed a
more detailed explanation.

    "As Shi Huu said before the start of the battle, she's the premier
warrior in the village - not the most skilled, mind you, but her
experience in the field more than makes up for any lack in skill - and
she's one of the few who're privy to all our secret techniques. It'd be
nigh impossible for anyone in the village, least of all, an outsider,
to defeat her, and yet, here you are. you have not only defeated her,
but you have done it without receiving a scratch in return."

    Pause.

    "This is not only unbelievable, but unprecedented," she added.

    Light dawned at the end of the tunnel and Ranma nodded in
comprehension, his face lighting up.

    "Well, I suppose that it's reasonable," he said.

    "How did you create that tornado, anyway, Ranma?" Yein Luo asked,
her curiosity getting the better of her as she attended to Shi Huu.

    Ranma smiled, congenially.

    "Well, do you practice the fighting arts, Honorable..."

    "Yein Luo."

    "Honorable Healer Yein Luo?"

    "Yes, I do. However, I'm not very proficient at it. I know a couple
of secret techniques: The Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken and The Splitting
Cat's Hair for example, but most of the higher stuff goes right past
me," she replied.

    Ranma nodded. He had surmised as much. Even though her ki was
tightly focused, she did not have the enormous reserves that
characterized all warriors.

    "I'll teach you that," he pointed his thumb behind him, "if you'll
teach me The Healing Arts."

    Yein Luo nodded, wiping Shi Huu's face with lukewarm water from a
bowl. It sounded like a good proposition and she would be loathe
passing up such an opportunity.

    "It's a deal. I'll teach you what I know and you teach me what you
know."

    Ranma nodded in acquiescence.

    "Thank you, Honorable..."

    "Yein Luo would be enough, Ranma," she said, placing some herbs
over the steaming bowl.

    "Thank you, Yein Luo," he said, bowing to her.

    Shi Huu chose that moment to return to the world of the living.

    "Oh! My aching head!" she moaned.

    "Don't overexert yourself so soon, Honorable One. Even though you
might think otherwise, you aren't as strong as you once used to be,"
Yein Luo advised.

    This was, of course, the wrong thing to say to Shi Huu. She snorted
in disgust and tried to sit up, but the exercise proved too great a
task for her frail body. She collapsed back onto the bed and lay
gasping.

    Yein Luo shook her head sadly in resignation. Things were not going
the way she hoped they would. The Matriarch, her grandmother, needed at
least a week of bed rest to rebuild her ki reserves, but the old woman
was too bullheaded to follow her advise. Any sign of feebleness on her
part would weaken her position in the Council, after all.

    "Anything I can do to help?" Ranma enquired, his eyes focused on
Shi Huu's gasping form. He could sense Yein Luo's distress and Shi
Huu's weakening ki.

    "No," Yein Luo shook her head, "I'm afraid there's nothing you can
do, Ranma. The Honorable Matriarch's ki reserves are severely depleted
and she needs the ki she lost in her battle with you to survive."

    "Well, I can help if that's the case," Ranma announced, gladly and
moved over to Shi Huu. He pressed his right hand against her chest and
began performing a ki transfusion right before Yein Luo's astonished
face.

    Half a dozen Elders rushed into the house, ready for battle, only
to stop and stare in astonishment as Ranma completely loosened his hold
on his ki. A milky-white glow five-feet thick formed around him as he
gently placed his hand on Shi Huu's chest and transferred his ki to her
body. Within minutes, Shi Huu's reserves were restored to their
original level and Ranma took his hand off her.

    Watching Ranma perform the ki transfer, the Elders nodded to
themselves. This action on his part confirmed what they already knew.
Ranma was definitely prime breeding material.

    Thus, unaware of the danger he was in, Ranma unwittingly started
the husband-hunting season.

    Looking up and drawing his ki into himself, once again, Ranma
shuddered as his danger sense went haywire. Suddenly, he felt as if the
whole world was ganging up against him.

    The Elders watched Ranma's shudder and smiled, evil plans forming
in their minds. Oh, if only they were just two hundred and thirty odd
years younger!

    Ranma saw their smiles and paled. He was not going to have a single
moment of peace in his life. He just knew it.

    Poor Ranma.

    Grin.

*****************************************************************

    The day after...

    Shi Huu sat up in the bed, smiling at Ranma's friendly face.

    "I'm much indebted to you, Ranma," she said, her voice brimming
with gratitude.

    Ranma nodded, bowing to her.

    "How do you fare, Honorable Matriarch?"

    "I'm doing all right, thanks to you, child."

    Ranma straightened from his bow.

    "You're welcome, Honorable One."

    Pause.

    "As much as I wish it was not so, I have an ulterior motive for
this visit..." he said.

    Shi Huu smirked.

    "Don't we all?" she asked in reply.

    The comment put Ranma a little at ease. Still, there was some
hesitation in eyes.

    "What troubles you, Ranma?" Shi Huu asked, finally when he did not
speak.

    "The Elders and the warriors keep calling me either boy, or child,
or..." he said at length.

    Shi Huu raised an eyebrow.

    "And?"

    Pause.

    "Is there anything wrong with it?" she asked, mostly out of doubt.

    "Yes, there is," he replied, his voice quiet and commanding. "I'm
not a child. In fact, I'm twenty-seven. It's just that I stopped
growing seven years back," he muttered.

    Shi Huu was surprised and her eyes widened accordingly. If Ranma
had come that close to attaining true mastery of The Art, her decision
to accept him into the folds of the tribe was vindicated even further
than it already was. Without a word, she looked at the trio of Elders
who were by her side. They were eyeing the boy in a rather disquieting
fashion, completely oblivious to her presence. Shaking her head, she
turned back to Ranma.

    "They'll call you Ranma from now on," she said, "I'll make sure of
that."

    "Thank you, Honorable One."

    Pause.

    "May I ask for another boon?" he asked.

    Shi Huu nodded.

    "I know that I'm to start taking classes as soon as possible..." he
paused.

    "Go on..." Shi Huu prompted.

    "I was wondering whether I can take Yein Luo as one of my students
and learn The Healing Arts from her in return."

    "I don't see any reason why you couldn't do that," she replied.
There might be hope yet, of Yein Luo getting into the Council, after
all.

    Ranma nodded, a Cheshire cat grin forming on his face.

    "As you wish, Honorable One."

    Shi Huu nodded.

    "Thank you for your wise counsel, Honorable One," Ranma said,
gratefully.

    "You're welcome."

    Ranma stood up and bowed.

    "I'll take leave, now, Honorable Ones," he said to the four of them
when he rose up.

    They bowed in return and he left.

    When he was gone, Shi Huu turned towards the trio of Elders in the
room.

    "I'm sure all of you realize that if what Ranma said was true, then
he's very close to attaining true mastery of The Art."

    Nod.

    "I saw the way you looked at him just now. Believe me, I, too, feel
the same way, but I ask you to exercise some restraint. He's too great
a find to be squandered through magical potions and the like; wouldn't
you agree?"

    Again, they nodded.

    "I'm glad you agree with me 'cause I was going to do this whether
you agree to it or not." She cleared her throat. "Your grandchildren
may chase him, but they'll do it politely. That means: No magical, or
mind altering potions, no marriage challenges and such. They can seduce
him, however, but only if he's willing... In short, they have to woo
him the way everyone else does and they have to make him fall in love
with her... Else... I needn't make myself clear on that one, do I?"

    The three nodded in acceptance, even though they did not actually
plan to follow the Matriarch's commands. They were sure that with just
a little nudge in the right direction, the newest addition to the
Joketsuzoku would see things their way and greatly enrich their
family's gene pool.

    The nudge, of course, would be in classic, no holds barred
Joketsuzoku style and all the men in the village were going to go mad
with lust.

*****************************************************************

    A week and a half later...

    Ranma awoke long before the sun rose up in the eastern horizon and
took the time to practice his very own kata, developed soon after he
first defeated Master Hai Fung. This had become a rhythm for him: Get
up, practice, eat, teach, eat, goof around with the other men, get bear
hugged by scantily clad, super cute girls, faint, get up, again, eat
and sleep.

    By sunup, the whole village was buzzing with activity. Ranma ended
his morning exercises and returned to Yein Luo's house, for breakfast.
The healer, on arrival at the village, had graciously offered him her
abode for lodging, while his very own house was being built and he
accepted it, as he had nowhere else to go.

    Strangely enough, his host was not present at the dining table and
Ranma had to fetch the food from the kitchen, before settling down for
a nice cold breakfast. When he was done with his meal, he headed out to
his morning classes in one of the thickets around the village.

    A couple of hours later, Ranma returned exhausted from a long
morning spent teaching very old and very stubborn students. He opened
the door of Yein Luo's house and felt a ki he hadn't felt before. It
was sweet, bitter, piquant and slightly sour, and tasted divine to his
senses: The perfect flavor.

    His curiosity piqued, Ranma made his way upstairs, finally coming
to a standing halt in front of a room, he had assumed to be a
storeroom.

    It wasn't.

    He opened the door, took in the contents, developed a healthy
nosebleed and dropped unconscious, hitting the floor with his head and
making a nice, resounding and unhealthy thunk.

    The stress of the impact from Ranma's very hard head was too much
for the floor and it developed cracks.

    Poor floor.

    Poor Ranma.

*****************************************************************

    Lein hummed a folk song as she dried her naked form softly with a
silken towel. She tied the towel around the soft brown mane of hair on
her head, and stepped out of the bath into her room.

    'Nothing beats a lukewarm bath taken after spending ten days
without one,' she thought, contentedly, removing the towel and ran her
right hand over her hair. Her movements were made in such a way that
they attenuated the smooth, feminine curves of her form against the
mirror.

    She loved her job as a healer, but the work hours and the tours
were pure murder. Summons at unearthly hours were common and one of
them had come from a border settlement a month ago. Even though she
left for her patient immediately, it had taken her ten days just to get
to the village, and ten days more to get back. Another ten had been
spent taking care of the terminally ill Matriarch of the village, whom
she had, through a miracle of sorts, managed to bring back from the
brink of death.

    On arriving back to the Village of the Councilors, all she wanted
to do was a soak and a nice, long, warm bath.

    Unfortunately, fate and her friends thought otherwise.

    As soon as she stepped into the village walls, her friends
accidentally 'found' her and they took it upon themselves to bring her
up to date on the hottest gossip item of the year: Ranma, the latest
addition to the village, and how he had successfully defeated her great
grandmother, Shi Huu, the all-powerful Matriarch herself.

    Though unwilling to begin with, Lein succumbed to the unbridled
enthusiasm of Shan Pu and the rest of the gang, and soon became part of
the Ranma-mania in no time at all. Once that was done, they spent the
rest of the morning roaming around the village, gossiping and generally
having fun. For all her skill, Lein was at the very excitable age of
twenty-three, and had to have her daily dose of fun, after all.

    Seeing the way the girls in the village drooled over this Ranma,
she silently found herself curious about how he looked and acted and
whether he would find her attractive or not. She did not have to wait
long to find out, she realized, after her friends informed her that
Ranma was staying in her house. She hastily excused herself and went
home, determined to make a good presentation of herself to him. She was
not chasing him, of course, she was just curious about him.

    However, her plans went awry. Ranma had not arrived immediately, or
even a little later. Three hours passed with her sitting in the hall
waiting and finally, seeing no sign of him, she decided to take a bath
to freshen up and rid herself off the damnable nervousness that was
plaguing her. The bath took nearly half an hour and as she dried
herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror, she heard a dull thud
from behind her.

    She looked back and saw a strange boy lying on the floor
unconscious, a small puddle of red forming near his face. Even though
she did not recognize him, she realized what had happened and shook her
head, chuckling to herself.

    Donning a silken robe, she moved towards him. She knelt down by his
side and awakened him up with the help of a pressure point in his
forehead. The boy opened his eyes slowly, looked at her face, her open
robe and the assets on display, and fainted.

    Ranma would always say in the following years that he had not eaten
that afternoon and this was the cause of his fainting spells.

    He was lying, of course.

    All his life, Ranma had been secluded from members of the opposite
sex. Even though he knew the truth about the birds and the bees, thanks
to Wu Zhu Yu and Dang Shen, his bodyguards at the palace, he had never
given the subject much thought as all the women in his life had
reminded him of, well, one animal, or the other. That, of course, had
changed with his introduction to the Joketsuzoku women and their very
healthy bodies.

    In the eight days he had spent in the Village of the Councilors, he
had been presented with glimpses of many an 'economically' dressed,
drop dead gorgeous femme fatales. Yet, everything he had seen until
then paled against sight of her soft, glowing, creamy white skin, and
the thin, transparent veneer of silken material that hid and yet, did
not hide the soft, smooth curves of her body.

    From the deep-blue, crystal clear orbs that were her eyes, his eyes
trailed down, past the nape of her neck to her shoulders and her
wonderfully pert, delicious looking breasts. They paused there, taking
in the sight of them for the smallest fraction of a second, before
trailing downwards to her feasty, exposed hips and the little bush of
straight, light-brown hair that surrounded and hid the lips of her
luscious vulva. Ranma's brain overloaded at the dirty thoughts that
filled his mind and he knew no more.

    Lein sighed, took his head in her arms and rested him against her
chest.

    Slap! Slap!

    "Just give me a couple of minutes," Ranma moaned, drunkenly,
without opening his eyes. Some incredibly soft and warm pillow
supported his head and he did not want to wake up, ever.

    Lein snickered.

    Slowly, Ranma opened his eyes, frightened to death and quivering.
Now, he had done it. She was probably going to pound him to within an
inch of his life. His eyes fell on her person and he felt faint, his
fears forgotten.

    "Don't faint," she said, pleadingly, "I promise to not hurt you."

    It was the sweetest voice he had heard in his entire life. He
opened his eyes, again and fought the fainting spell that threatened to
deliver him into the clutches of unconsciousness once more.

    "Who are you?" she asked.

    His heart skipped several beats, when he saw her lips move.

    "I... I... I'm..." he shook his head to clear it. His mind was hazy
and he could not remember anything. "I do..." again, he caught sight of
her eyes and again, he felt his memories fading, "I'm... err... I don't
know who I am!" His desperate frustration was clear in his voice.

    She snickered, again.

    Her laughter proved too much for his overburdened senses and he
gladly welcomed the sweet call of unconsciousness as it embraced him
with loving hands.

    Looking at his unconscious body, Lein smiled to herself. She was
beginning to feel comfortable with this stranger and it was affecting
her in a weird sort of way. She slapped him lightly, once again, and he
opened his eyes, only to faint when she snickered again.

    'Does he find me so despicable?' she thought, and it brought hot
tears to her eyes, which rolled and cascaded down her cheeks. A single,
sparkling star collected near her chin and fell on his forehead.

    Ranma was having the time of his life in his dreams, when it began
to rain. Not wanting to transform into a dragon, he woke up and laid
eyes on her angelic face. Tiny beads of stardust trickled from her eyes
and he found himself paralyzed with remorse. He wanted to make those
tears go away, but he was at odds as to how he was going to make that
happen. If only he knew the reason for her distress.

    Building up his courage, he opened his mouth to speak, but his
voice failed him and no words came out.

    He closed his mouth, waited a moment, opened it and tried again.

    "Why are you crying?" he tried to ask. It came out as a silly
squeak.

    She looked into his eyes and saw the concern in them. She smiled in
spite of herself and amazingly enough, he did not faint, though his
eyes clouded. She heard his heart pounding away inside his chest and
hers pounded in harmony with it.

    'He likes me!' she realized with a start.

    She blushed and he panicked.

    When she smiled, he felt his worries disappear and his heart
struggled to break free from the stifling confines of his chest. Her
cheeks reddened then, and he decided that she looked like a Goddess
when she was like that. His eyes began to cloud once more. He shook his
head forcibly and cleared the fog that threatened to strip away his
sanity. He wanted to see her forever, damn it!

    The blush continued to grow in strength. 'Maybe I'm doing something
wrong,' he thought and it frightened him.

    Coming to the wrong conclusion and panicking, he removed himself
from her lap and retreated to the far edge of the room. Hugging the
wall and waving his arms around in an overwhelmed manner, he begun
apologizing to her, asking her to forgive whatever mistake he had
committed.

    "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I swear..." he found himself
blabbering on and on with no respite.

    She found his nonsensical blabbering very endearing. He looked so
cuddly and cute waving his arms around like that. Her blush subsided
and her tongue unraveled itself. 'You're so cute!'

    "Am I really?" he asked, ceasing his 'Look! I am a birdie,'
impression. Now, it was his turn to blush.

    When she heard his question, her blush returned with a vengeance.

    "Did I say that aloud?" the question was directed more to herself
than to him.

    He nodded.

    "I'm sorry," she whispered.

    "Don't be," he whispered back.

    Pause.

    "Ummm... You're not mad at me, or anything, are you?"

    She shook her head.

    He exhaled deeply. He was immensely grateful that she was not angry
with him. He did not know what he would have done, if she had been.
Extricating himself from the wall, he moved just a little closer to
her. Amazingly, he found that he could think clearer now. His heart
still pounded desperately in his chest, but it was not as bad as
before.

    And his name came back to him.

    "Ummm... I'm Ranma. Sorry about this," he apologized, scratching
the base of his neck.

    She looked shocked for a moment, and then burst out into a hearty
laugh.

    "You... You... are... Ranma," she managed between gasps, when she
found herself unable to rein in her laughter.

    Ranma felt his heart grow despondent. 'She thinks I'm nothing more
than a big joke.' He turned away to hide the tears that were creeping
into his eyes.

    She saw him turning away and caught the glint of tears of pain on
his cheeks. Instantly, her laughter died away. She rose up and went up
to him. She took his shoulders in her arms and turned him around.

    "Don't cry, I'm not laughing 'cause I think that you're a joke,"
she explained, somehow knowing intuitively the reason for his tears.

    His expression brightened.

    "You swear."

    She laughed joyously and nodded.

    His heart began to pound, once again. Her lips looked so inviting
when she laughed. His chest felt heavy and he sighed in contentment.

    "Yes, I swear. I heard all about you and how you defeated great,
great grandmother, and I guess, I was expecting you to be more
rugged... like the others."

    "Rugged..." 'What 'others?' Is it possible that she's in love with
someone else?' His shoulders slumped in defeat.

    "I meant:" she continued, seeing the look on his face, "rugged,
like the warriors that I take care of when they're sick, or hurt."

    His shoulders rose up again. 'Thank you, God!' he thought; screamed
in his mind.

    "What's your name?" he asked. It would not do to say he was in love
with her without knowing her name, after all.

    She blushed and covered her mouth with her right hand.

    "Oh my! I forgot that, didn't I?" she asked, embarrassedly.

    "Yes, you did," he replied.

    "My name's Lein."

    'Lein.' He rolled the name in his mouth and decided that he liked
it very much.

    "Thank you, for taking care of me, Lein," he said and bowed to her.
As much as he wanted to be spend every waking hour with her, he knew
that he would go mad, if he were in her proximity for even a minute
longer. He straightened from his bow and his hands went to the base of
his neck.

    'He looks absolutely adorable like this,' she thought and swooned.

    When she did not reply, he continued, "ummm... It was nice meeting
you, Lein. I... I apologize for, um... you know, um..." he pointed
towards the towel she had used to dry herself.

    She blushed twelve shades of red. Too embarrassed to open her mouth
to reply, she nodded her head. Apology accepted.

    "Ummm... Thank you, again, your adorable cuteness, for taking care
of me," he shouted as he bounded out of the room.

    'He thinks I'm cute.' Her hand automatically went up to her cheek
and she swooned, again.

    "Nice to see you, too, great granddaughter," an old and very
familiar voice cackled from the side. Startled out of her reverie, Lein
turned and saw Shi Huu perched atop the tree outside her window.

    "Great, great grandmother, what're you doing here?" Lein asked, not
at all surprised to find the old woman on the tree.

    Shi Huu grinned, mischievously.

    "Nothing," she whistled, innocently, "I just wanted to see how my
great, great granddaughter and her lover were getting along," she
replied, hopping off the tree and into the room through the window.

    Lein blushed.

    "He's not my lover, great, great grandmother," she whispered,
embarrassedly. Gods! Old people could be so embarrassing. 'At least,
not yet, and not for very long, if I have any say about it!'

    "Child, you don't live for three hundred years without recognizing
the signs of love," Shi Huu replied, "I saw the way he looked at you.
He's fallen head over heels in love with you."

    "He has?" Lein blurted out, before she could rein in her wayward
emotions and control herself.

    "Oh, yes, child. And by the looks of it, so have you."

    Lein's cheeks reddened, yet again. 'My cheeks are going to turn
permanently red, if this keeps on much longer!'

    Shi Huu nodded and continued.

    "Yes, he is. Moreover, before you ask for it, you have my
blessings, granddaughter. He's definitely the perfect match for you:
Both your Yin and Yang's perfectly complement each other. In fact, I
have never seen anyone else whose Yin and Yang complemented each other
so perfectly."

    Lein's eyes widened. Of course, she knew of the legends. When two
people with complementary Yin and Yang meet, nothing on Earth could
stop them from falling in love. They were soul mates, after all.

    "Moreover, your marriage would greatly strengthen the family," the
old woman said and hopped off.

    Lein nodded, mutely, her heart, fluttering like a butterfly's
wings.

*****************************************************************

    Ranma ran out of the house and into the street, wandering around
the streets with a very light heart and an even lighter spring in his
steps.

    Everywhere he went, he saw skimpily dressed girls. All the men and
boys were drooling at them, and the married women had a dreamy look on
their faces and in their eyes. The married men, too, had goofy grins
and all of them were quite friendly towards Ranma. Ranma, of course,
did not understand what was going on and he wondered why they were all
acting so friendly all of a sudden.

    'Must be some sort of Joketsuzoku festival or something!' he
thought to himself.

    Just as he was about to turn a corner, a voice beckoned him.

    "Hold on there, sonny!"

    Ranma turned around and had a very frightening close encounter of
the face-to-face kind with one of the younger Elders. She stood atop
her staff, nicely balancing her four-foot frame and eyed him,
speculatively.

    "Argh! A demon!" Ranma shouted and jumped high into the air.

    The Elder snorted in disgust. She was at that ripe age, where her
looks were her worst enemy and to have it pointed out to her in so rude
a manner, just made her want to puke and die in disgust. 'Children,
nowadays, are so disrespectful!' she thought, indignantly.

    "It's little old beautiful me, and not some demon in disguise," she
said, sweetly, putting on her most ugly smile to his horror. "Come
down. I have a proposition for you."

    Ranma released his ki and landed softly on the ground.

    "Elder, forgive my insolence, but you're as ugly as they come
and..."

    Thunk!

    "Now, why did you have to go and do that?" Ranma complained. It was
his turn to act indignant now. "I was just telling you the truth." He
had hoped that his long days of suffering under sticks and other
torture items were over, but apparently, one could not hope to cheat
fate.

    Thunk!

    Now, there were two matching bumps, one on each side of his head.

    Hello, demon Ranma.

    Grin.

    The Elder waved her staff around and with a flourish, brought it to
rest by her side.

    Ranma raised an eyebrow at this display, while at the same time,
rubbing the bumps, gingerly.

    "Sonny, I want you to consider what I'm about to tell you very,
very carefully, before you make any decision," she said.

    Ranma felt alarm bells going off inside his brain, but decided to
ignore it for the time being. She wouldn't dare to attack him, would
she?

    "Go on, Elder," he said, slowly in a measured voice.

    "Sonny, I have been observing you, since you stepped into this
village and I feel that a nice lad such as you should not be walking
around without a girl in his arms. Therefore, being the gracious woman
I am, I'm offering my granddaughter to be wedded to you as your
wife..."

    Boom!

    When the sonic boom died away, the Elder looked at the rapidly
disappearing cloud of dust that was Ranma and chuckled evilly.

    "Look's like son-in-law's a bit uncooperative. If he's reluctant,
then a more direct approach must be taken," she spoke aloud.

    Lightning flashed in the background and a peal of thunder shook the
very air. The first shot in the 'Ranma, be my husband,' contest had
been fired and hell was about to break loose.

    Poor Ranma.

    Poor village.

    Poor, poor Ranma.

*****************************************************************

    Ranma's life took a turn towards the worse from that day on and it
just kept on getting worse. All eligible girls in the village chased
him, and threw themselves at him every chance they got. The boys grew
insanely jealous and the girls steadily became increasingly violent as
time passed.

    Indeed, several times during the course of the first week, huge
brawls broke out between the girls, when several prospective suitors
tried to seduce him simultaneously. Soon, the private brawls became
huge free for all hit-fests and toothless grins became that much more
common in the village.

    Eventually, the married ones decided they had enough, and refused
to work in the fields, until some sort of agreement, regarding the
rules and regulations of the husband hunt were reached. The nights were
very memorable, sure, but the damage done during the daytime was
getting harder and harder to repair by the day and soon enough, they'd
be too tired to enjoy the nights.

    An emergency council meeting was called, and it was decreed that
none should try to seduce Ranma, or drug him, or force him to do
anything he did not want to, which was exactly what Shi Huu had advised
before, but now, the other Elders were a little more willing to follow
her words. Things slowly returned to normal from then on, though the
rivalries sparked during those three weeks continued to fester for many
more years to come.

    Many of the boys in the village rejoiced at the fact that Lein
stayed clear of the brawls, until a chance happening one day shattered
their hopes.

    On that fateful day, Ranma met Lein on the way back from one of his
classes and she smiled at him. Of course, Ranma fainted immediately,
and one of the bullies in the village, Yue Shi, who fancied himself as
one of Lein's suitors, decided to show an unconscious Ranma what he
thought of the newcomer's carousing ways.

    He had not landed three blows on Ranma, when Lein exploded in an
uncharacteristic display of anger and figuratively castrated him. His
friends did not fare much better.

    After that, it was generally accepted, though never spoken vocally,
that everyone should stay on Lein's good side when it came to Ranma.

*****************************************************************

    Two months after the end of the husband hunting season...

    Shi Huu sat facing Ranma in the middle of the glade. Ranma listened
to her, nodding every once in a while.

    "No, Ranma, Hai Fung was wrong. Two different types of channels
crisscross the human body. One is for ki and the other is for mana. Ki
is like Yang, it's easily accessible and its nature causes its users to
grow stronger when they use it. Mana is like the Yin, it's dark,
mysterious and not easily accessible. It's also vastly more powerful
than ki, if you know how to use it.

    "The body cannot survive without both ki and mana. As the body
ages, it uses more and more ki, and mana... We die when the rate of
consumption exceeds the rate of production. Masters of The Art have
found a way to circumvent this process: With enough ki, the body can
live far longer than normal. This is what ma